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"α Becket, Thomas",2,0,0,0
EN See Becket, St Thomas α
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"α Kempis, Thomas",3,0,0,0
EN See Kempis, Thomas α
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"A level",4,0,0,0
EN An abbreviation for \BAdvanced level,\b the examination taken by British pupils, usually near the age of 18, which qualifies them for entrance to higher education and the professions. It is a single-subject examination at a level representing two further years of study beyond the \JGCSE\j.
University matriculation requirements normally specify A levels in at least two subjects. One A level is deemed equivalent to two passes in the Advanced Supplementary \I(A / S level)\i examination.
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"A-bomb",5,0,0,0
EN See atomic bomb
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"Aachen",6,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bkhen]
EN 50░47N 6░04E, pop (1995e) 252 000. Manufacturing city in Cologne district, \JGermany\j; 64 km/40 mi SW of Cologne, near the Dutch and Belgian borders; N capital of Charlemagne's empire; 32 German emperors crowned here; annexed by \JFrance\j, 1801; given to \JPrussia\j, 1815; badly bombed in World War 2; railway; technical college; textiles, glass, machinery, chemicals, light \Jengineering\j, foodstuffs, \Jrubber\j products; cathedral (15th-c), town hall (1350); Bad Aachen hot springs; international riding, jumping, and driving tournament.
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"Aakjaer, Jeppe",7,0,0,0
PN [\Baw\bkyayr]
DT1 1866
DT2 1930
EN Novelist and poet, born in Aakjaer, Denmark. A leader of the 'Jutland movement' in Danish literature, his works include the novel \IVredens B°r\i (1904, Children of Wrath) and the poems of \IRugens Sange\i (1906, Songs of the Rye). He wrote much in the Jutland \Jdialect\j, into which he translated some of Burns's poems.
MEX Burns, Robert
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"Aalto, (Hugo Henrik) Alvar",8,0,0,0
PN [\Bawl\btoh]
DT1 1898
DT2 1976
EN Architect and designer, the father of \JModernism\j in Scandinavia, born in Kuortane, \JFinland\j. He studied at \JHelsinki\j \JPolytechnic\j, and evolved a unique architectural style based on irregular and asymmetric forms and the imaginative use of natural materials. He designed numerous public and industrial buildings in \JFinland\j, including the Finlandia concert hall in \JHelsinki\j. In the 1930s he also pioneered the use of factory-made laminated birchwood for a distinctive style of Finnish furniture.
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"Aaltonen, WΣin÷ (Valdemar)",9,0,0,0
PN [\Bahl\btonen]
DT1 1894
DT2 1966
EN Sculptor, born in St Mσrtens, \JFinland\j. He studied at \JHelsinki\j, and became one of the leading Finnish sculptors, working in many styles. His best-known works are the bust of Sibelius (in the \JGothenburg\j Museum) and the statue of the Olympic runner Paavo Nurmi (commissioned by the Finnish government in 1924).
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"Aar, River",10,0,0,0
EN See Aare, River
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"aardvark",11,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)d\bvah(r)k]
EN A southern African \Jmammal\j \I(Orycteropus afer); \i length, 1-1.5┐m / 31/4-5┐ft; long ears, pig-like snout, long sticky tongue, strong claws; digs burrows; inhabits grassland and woodland; eats ants and termites; mainly nocturnal; also known as \Bant bear\b or \Bearth pig.\b It is the only member of the order Tubulidentata. \B(Family:\b Orycteropodidae.)
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"aardwolf",12,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)d\bwulf]
EN A rare southern African \Jcarnivore\j \I(Proteles cristatus)\i of the hyena family; slender, yellow with black stripes; inhabits dry plains; eats mainly termites; lives in a den (often an abandoned \Jaardvark\j burrow); nocturnal; also known as \Bmaned \Jjackal\j.\b
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"Aare, River",13,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bruh]
HS , Fr \BAar\b
EN Largest river entirely in \JSwitzerland\j; emerges from Lake Grimsel in the Bernese Alps and flows N then W through Lake Brienz, Lake Thun, and Lake Biel to enter the Rhine; length, 295┐km / 183┐mi; navigable from the Rhine to Thun.
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"Aarhus",14,0,0,0
EN See ┼rhus or Aarhus
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"Aaron",15,0,0,0
PN [\Bair\bon]
DT1 15
DT1b th
DT2 13
DT2b th-c BC
EN Biblical \Jpatriarch\j, the first high priest of the Israelites, and said to be the founder of the priesthood; the elder brother of Moses. He was spokesman for Moses to the Egyptian pharoah in his attempts to lead their people out of \JEgypt\j. He later joined rebellious Israelites in making a \Jgolden calf\j for idolatrous worship.
He and his sons were ordained as priests after the construction of the Ark of the Covenant and the \JTabernacle\j, and he was confirmed as hereditary high priest by the miracle of his rod blossoming into an almond tree (hence various plants nicknamed 'Aaron's Rod').
MEX Moses
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"Aaron's rod",16,0,0,0
EN See Aaron
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"Aaron, Hank",17,0,0,0
PN [\Bair\bon]
HS , popular name of \BHenry Lewis Aaron,\b nickname \BHammerin' Hank\b
DT1 1934
EN \JBaseball\j player, born in Mobile, AL. A right-handed batting outfielder, he set almost every batting record in his 23-season career with \JMilwaukee\j Braves, \JAtlanta\j Braves, and \JMilwaukee\j Brewers: 2297 runs batted in, 1477 extra-base hits, and 755 home runs, still a major league record.
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"Aasen, Ivar (Andreas)",18,0,0,0
PN [\Baw\bsen]
DT1 1813
DT2 96
EN Philologist, lexicographer, and writer, born in Sunm°re, \JNorway\j. A fervent nationalist, he was the creator of the 'national language' called \ILandsmσl\i (later known as \INynorsk,\i 'New Norwegian'), based on W Norwegian dialects. It eventually achieved recognition alongside the official Dano-Norwegian \IRiksmσl\i ('language of the realm') in 1885.
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"abaca",19,0,0,0
EN A fibre obtained from the leaf-stalks of a species of banana \I(Musa textilis)\i native to the \JPhilippines\j; the oldest, outermost stalks give the strongest, darkest fibres, 0.9-2.7┐m / 3-9┐ft long; also called \BManila \Jhemp\j.\b Strong and buoyant, it is used for cables, carpets, and ships' hawsers. \B(Family:\b Musaceae.)
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"abacus",20,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bbakuhs]
EN A device for performing calculations by sliding bead counters, representing various values, along a set of rods or in grooves. It may have originated in \JBabylonia\j, and was used in ancient China, \JGreece\j, and \JRome\j. It became widespread in Europe in the \JMiddle Ages\j, as well as in China and \JJapan\j, where it is still in use.
In \JJapan\j, for example, it is taught in primary schools as part of arithmetic, and there is a recognized examination and licence system. However, since the huge growth of the Japanese \Jelectronics\j industry, the \Jabacus\j is increasingly being replaced by the calculator.
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"Abadan",21,0,0,0
PN [aba\Bdahn\b]
EN 30░20N 48░16E, pop (1995e) 396 000. Oil port in Khuzestan province, WC \JIran\j, close to the \JIraq\j border; on \JAbadan\j I, in Shatt al-Arab delta, at head of Persian Gulf; terminus of \JIran\j's major oil pipelines; airport; severely damaged in the \JIran\j--\JIraq\j War.
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"Abailard",22,0,0,0
EN See Abelard, Peter
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"Abakanowicz, Magdalena",23,0,0,0
PN [aba\Bkan\bovich]
DT1 1930
EN Artist, born in Falenty, near Warsaw. She studied at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts (1950--5), and sought to escape from conventional art forms through weaving. In the 1960s she achieved international recognition with her monumental abstract woven fibre installations called "Abakans'. After 1965 she taught at the State College of Arts, \JPoznan\j, becoming professor in 1979.
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"Abakans",24,0,0,0
EN See Abakanowicz, Magdalena
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"Abalkin, Leonid Ivanovitch",25,0,0,0
PN [a\Bbal\bkin]
DT1 1930
EN Russian economist. He was director of the Institute of Economics of the Academy of Sciences and member of the former Supreme Soviet with special responsibility for economic affairs. His published works centre on the theoretical problems of political economy under Socialism.
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"abalone",26,0,0,0
PN [aba\Bloh\bnee]
EN A primitive marine snail which feeds on \Jalgae\j on rocky shores; characterized by a single row of holes extending back from the front margin of its ovoid shell; collected for decoration and for human consumption; also called \Bormer.\b \B(Class:\b Gastropoda. \BOrder:\b Archaeogastropoda.)
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The common name for a shellfish of the \Jgenus\j \Ihaliotis.\i The shell is shaped like an ear, and has a series of holes running around it. In \JNew Zealand\j, the same animal is called a paua, and it is also known around the world, from its appearance, as an ear shell, or sea-ear. The Latin name \Iauris maris,\i has become the French \Ioreille-de-mer,\i and this is the origin (by corruption) of the alternative name ormer.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Abarbanel, Isaac ben Jehudah",27,0,0,0
PN [abah(r)ba\Bnel\b]
DT1 1437
DT2 1508
EN Jewish writer and philosopher, born in \JLisbon\j. His works comprise commentaries on the \JBible\j and philosophical treatises. His eldest son, \BJuda Leon\b (known as \BLeo Hebraeus\b in Latin) (c.1460-1535), a doctor and philosopher, wrote \IDialoghi di Amore\i (1535, trans Philosophy of Love).
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"Abati, Niccolo dell'",28,0,0,0
EN See Abbate, Niccolo dell
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"Abbado, Claudio",29,0,0,0
PN [a\Bbah\bdoh]
DT1 1933
EN Musical conductor, born in Milan, \JItaly\j. From a distinguished musical family, he began training in \Jpiano\j, composition, and conducting. He made his British debut in Manchester (1965), was conductor and director at La Scala, Milan (1968--86), and principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (1979--87).
Other posts include principal conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (1971), musical director of the Vienna State Opera (1986--91), and principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (1989). In 1994 he was artistic director of the \JSalzburg\j Easter Festival and triumphed with a spectacular postmodern production of Mussorgsky's \IBoris Godunov\i.
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"Abbas",30,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 566
DT2a c.
DT2 652
EN Ancestor of the Abbasid dynasty of the Islamic empire who ruled as caliphs of \JBaghdad\j (750-1258). He was the maternal uncle of the \Jprophet\j Mohammed. A rich merchant of Mecca, he was at first hostile to his nephew, but ultimately became one of the chief apostles of \JIslam\j.
MEX Mohammed
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"Abbas Hilmi Pasha",31,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bbas \Bhil\bmee]
DT1 1874
DT2 1943
EN The last \Jkhedive\j of \JEgypt\j (1892-1914). He succeeded his father, Tewfik Pasha, and attempted to rule independently of British influence. At the outbreak of war in 1914 he sided with Turkey, and was deposed when the British made \JEgypt\j a protectorate.
MEX Tewfik Pasha
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"Abbas I",32,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bbas]
HS , known as \BAbbas the Great\b
DT1 1571
DT2 1629
EN The fifth Safavid shah of \JPersia\j. After his accession (1588), he set about establishing a counterweight to the Turkmen tribal chiefs who had constituted the principal political and military powers in the state. From 1598 he was able to recover \JAzerbaijan\j and parts of Armenia from the Ottomans, and Khurasan from the Uzbeks. He transferred his capital from Qazvin to Isfahan, and established diplomatic and economic relations with W Europe.
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"Abbas Pasha",33,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bbas \Bpa\bsha]
DT1 1813
DT2 54
EN \JKhedive\j of \JEgypt\j from 1848. A grandson of Mehemet Ali, he took an active part in his grandfather's Syrian war, but later did much to undo the progress made under him, notably by blocking the construction of the Suez Canal.
MEX Mehemet Ali
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"Abbas, Ferhat",34,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bbas]
DT1 1899
DT2 1985
EN Algerian nationalist leader, born in Taher, \JAlgeria\j. He founded a Muslim Students' Association in 1924, then became a chemist. In 1955 he joined the Front de LibΘration Nationale (FLN), the main Algerian resistance organization, founding in 1958 the 'Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic' in \JTunis\j. After independence in 1962, he was appointed President of the National Constituent Assembly, but fell out of favour and was exiled. He was rehabilitated shortly before his death.
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"Abbasids",35,0,0,0
PN [a\Bba\bsidz]
EN A dynasty of caliphs, which replaced that of the Ummayyads in 749, establishing itself in \JBaghdad\j until its sack by the \JMongols\j in 1258. Early Abbasid power reached its peak under Harun al-Rashid (786-809). The \JAbbasids\j came from the family of the \JProphet\j Mohammed's uncle \JAbbas\j, and were thus able to claim legitimacy in the eyes of the pious.
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"Abbate, Niccolo dell",36,0,0,0
PN [a\Bbah\btay]
HS , also spelled \BAbati\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1512
DT2 71
EN \JFresco\j painter, born in Modena, \JItaly\j. He died in Paris, having executed frescoes for the palace of \JFontainebleau\j. Few of his frescoes are extant, but the Louvre has a collection of his drawings.
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"Abbe, Cleveland",37,0,0,0
DT (1838-1916)
EN meteorologist; born in New York City. He worked on the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey before apprenticing himself in 1864 at the Russian Pulkovo Observatory, home of the then largest refracting \Jtelescope\j in the world. On his return in 1866 he tried but failed to establish an observatory in New York City.
In 1868 he became the director of the \JCincinnati\j Observatory. While there, he implemented a daily \Jweather\j bulletin for the Chamber of Commerce using telegraphed reports of storms. In 1871 he became scientific assistant to the Weather Bureau of the Signal Corps and continued forecasting until his death.
In 1879 Abbe proposed establishing time zones based on the system used by the railroads; this was adopted in 1883 when the U.S.A. was divided into four zones. An author and editor of many publications on the \Jweather\j, he is credited with setting high standards for the new science of \Jmeteorology\j.
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"Abbe, Ernst",38,0,0,0
PN [abuh]
DT (1840-1905)
EN German physicist and developer of optical instruments.
Abbe was professor of physics and observatory director at Jena. He worked on optical theory and with Carl Zeiss (1816-88), an instrument maker, and Otto Schott (1851-1935), a glass maker, was able to improve several devices. These include the Abbe condenser for converging light on \Jmicroscope\j specimens; the achromatic \Jlens\j, which is free from colour distortion (1886); and the Abbe refractometer. From 1888 he was the sole owner of the Zeiss company, whose optical instruments were of the highest standard. In 1893 he patented the now-familiar prismatic binocular.
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"abbey",39,0,0,0
EN A building or group of buildings used by a religious order for worship and living. It houses a community under the direction of an abbot or abbess as head, who is elected for a term of years or for life. Abbeys were centres of learning in the \JMiddle Ages\j.
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"Abbey Theatre",40,0,0,0
EN Irish theatre. The Abbey is the Dublin playhouse by whose name the Irish National Theatre Society Ltd is popularly known. The Society's predecessors were the Irish Literary Theatre (1899-1901), founded by W. B. Yeats, Augusta Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn and George Moore; and the Irish National Dramatic Company of Frank and Willie Fay.
The aim of the Society, formed by the Fay brothers, Yeats, Lady Gregory and J. M. Synge, was to encourage new writers, in Synge's words, to 'work in English that is perfectly Irish in essence'. The Abbey Street theatre, converted from a former morgue, was the gift in 1904 of an English admirer of Yeats, Annie Horniman.
The Fay brothers were amateurs, both capable actors with practical stage experience. Yeats and the Fays had compatible approaches to theatre, but by 1908 Miss Horniman had removed the Fays, whom she detested, and by 1911 her subsidy also. With the death of Synge in 1909 Yeats was effectively in control.
The indisputable dramatic genius of these years is Synge, whose disreputable peasant characters provoked riotous nationalist demonstrations, especially against The Playboy of the Western World (1907). More to the Abbey audience's taste were Lady Gregory's folk dramas. Synge's mantle passed to Sean O'Casey and his synthesis of poetic vernacular and urban realism.
O'Casey's irreverent treatment of the patriotic myths of Easter 1916 in The Plough and the Stars (1926) caused more riots. 'You have disgraced yourselves again,' Yeats told the audience. Sadly, O'Casey abandoned the Abbey when in 1928 it rejected his part- expressionistic The Silver Tassie.
Alongside the uncommon brilliance of Synge and O'Casey, the Abbey had consolidated a line of essentially realist dramas on local themes, initiated by Padraic Colum (Broken Soil, 1903), Lennox Robinson (The Clancy Name, 1908) and T. C. Murray (Birthright, 1910). Robinson also inaugurated the Dublin Drama League (1919-29), opening the Abbey stage to experimental European and American drama. The relative security of an annual government subsidy from 1925 enabled the directors to accommodate a little theatre, the Peacock.
Their better-known players, including Cyril Cusack, remained at risk to the rewards of London and \JHollywood\j. Under the autocratic rule of Ernest Blythe, with Yeats now infrequently present, the Abbey languished but survived. In the 1930s and 40s the discipline of acting and direction slackened, vulgarizing perhaps its best writer of the period, George Shiels. A few substantial new playwrights - including Paul Vincent Carroll and M. J. Molloy - emerged. Hugh Hunt's tenure (play-director 1935-8) was too brief to establish reform.
The fire which destroyed the old Abbey in 1951 exiled the company for 15 years to the decrepit Queen's Theatre, a larger house requiring runs longer than the Abbey's practice. Its new home, on the old site, is a 628-seat modern theatre with sophisticated stage and lighting facilities.
After an indecisive start, the new Abbey found its confidence, enlivened by the considerable talents of the directors Tomas MacAnna, Alan Simpson, Joe Dowling, and a gifted company. However, recent times have seen both trouble and triumph. On the one hand there have been five artistic directors in about eight years, and the Abbey's primacy has been challenged by the resurgent Gate Theatre. On the other, in recent years the Abbey has undertaken successful European and American tours, and it has had the stimulus of distinguished guest directors.
It remains a writers' theatre and was an important instrument in the dramatic revival which began in the 1960s. Among the contemporary Irish writers mainly associated with it are Brian Friel, Bernard Farrell, Tom Murphy, Tom Kilroy, Hugh Leonard, Tom MacIntyre, Frank McGuinness and Sebastian Barry. So, despite its recent turbulent history, the Abbey continues to be at the centre of Irish theatre and a major force in Irish cultural life.
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"Abbey, Edward",41,0,0,0
DT (1927-89)
EN author, conservationist; born in Home, Pa. Raised on a \JPennsylvania\j farm, he moved permanently to the Southwest in 1947. He published his first book, the novel \IJonathan Troy,\i in 1954. In \IDesert Solitaire\i (1968), an account of his years as a part-time ranger in the Arches National Monument, \JUtah\j, he called for, among other things, a ban on motor vehicles in wilderness preserves.
\IThe Monkey Wrench Gang\i (1976), a novel about a gang of ecological saboteurs, was a bestseller and made him a \Jcult\j hero; although he disavowed such extremists who actually engaged in sabotage on behalf of ecological goals, he became increasingly quirky in his writings and public statements.
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"Abbey, Edwin Austin",42,0,0,0
DT (1852-1911)
EN painter, illustrator; born in Philadelphia. In 1872 he worked as an illustrator for \IHarper's Magazine,\i New York. He later painted murals in \JBoston\j (1895-1901) and at the \JPennsylvania\j capitol (1908). Much of his life was spent in England, painting historical subjects.
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"Abbot, C(harles) G(reely)",43,0,0,0
DT1 1872
DT2 1973
EN Astrophysicist, born in Wilton, NH. As director of the Astrophysical Observatory at the Smithsonian Institution (1907-44), he carried out important research on solar radiation. He became the 'grand old man' of US solar physics, devising an apparatus for converting solar \Jenergy\j to power just before his 100th birthday.
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"Abbot, Francis (Ellingwood)",44,0,0,0
DT (1836-1903)
EN philosopher; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. Forced to resign as a Unitarian pastor because of his free-thinking views (1868), he devoted himself to aggressively promoting them: he was president of the National Liberal League (1876-78), editor of \IThe Index: A Journal of Free Religion\i (1870-80), and author of such works as \IScientific Theism\i (1885).
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"Abbot, George",45,0,0,0
DT1 1562
DT2 1633
EN Protestant clergyman, born in Guildford, Surrey, south-east England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and rose to be Master of University College (1597), Dean of Winchester (1600), and three times Vice-Chancellor of \JOxford University\j (1600-5). He owed his promotion to the sees of Lichfield (1609), London (1610), and Canterbury (1611) to the Earl of Dunbar. A sincere but narrow-minded Calvinist, he was equally opposed to Catholics and to heretics.
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"Abbott and Costello",46,0,0,0
EN Comedy film partners: \BBud Abbott,\b originally \BWilliam A Abbott\b (1896-1974), born in Asbury Park, NJ, and \BLou Costello,\b originally \BLouis Francis Cristillo\b (1908-59), born in Paterson, NJ. Both men had theatrical experience before teaming up as a comedy double act, Costello playing the clown and Abbott his straight man. They began performing on radio (1938), appeared on Broadway (1939), and made a number of successful comedy films, beginning with \IBuck Privates\i (1941).
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"Abbott, Berenice",47,0,0,0
DT (1898-1991)
EN photographer; born in Springfield, Ohio. After a short time at Ohio State University (1917-18) and a few weeks at Columbia University in New York City (1918), she took up the study of drawing and sculpture in New York City (1918-21), Paris (1921-23 - partially under Antoine Bourdelle), and Berlin (1923). Back in Paris she became an assistant to the photographer, Man Ray (1923-25), and then opened her own portrait studio (1926-29); one of her best-known portraits was of James Joyce.
Meanwhile, she had discovered the work of Eugene Atget (1857-1927), the French photographer known for his semidocumentary studies of cityscapes and activities in Paris and its suburbs; on his death she acquired his \Jarchives\j and thereafter promoted his work.
She went back to New York City and worked as an independent documentary and portrait photographer (1929-68); she occasionally did commissions for \IFortune\i and other magazines, but became best known for the series she did for the Federal Art Project (under the Works Progress Administration), a thorough and sensitive documentation of Manhattan during the 1930s, published as \IChanging New York\i (1939).
In 1940 she turned to a new subject, capturing in photographs such scientific phenomena as magnetism, gravity, and motion; some of her work was used to illustrate high school physics texts. She also taught photography at the New School for Social Research (1935-68). Her final major projects included photographing a series on rural \JCalifornia\j and U.S. Route 1 from Maine to \JFlorida\j. In 1968 she moved up to Maine where she worked until near her death.
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"Abbott, Diane (Julie)",48,0,0,0
DT1 1953
EN British politician, born in London, England, UK. She studied at Cambridge, and was an administration trainee in the civil service before working for the National Council for Civil Liberties, the Greater London Council, and Lambeth Borough Council.
She joined the Labour Party in 1981, and served on the Westminster City Council 1982--6. Elected to parliament as MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington in 1987, she became the first black woman member of the \JHouse of Commons\j.
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"Abbott, George",49,0,0,0
DT 1887-1995
EN American director, playwright and actor. In his 1963 \Jautobiography\j Abbott praised his Harvard drama teacher George Pierce Baker in a way that defined his own theatrical creed: 'Professor Baker gave you no nonsense about inner meanings and \Jsymbolism\j; he turned your whole thoughts and energies into the practical matter of how to make a show.' Taking Baker's lessons to heart, Abbott became the most practical showman in Broadway history, and performer, co-author and director of over 130 productions.
He first acted on a Broadway stage in 1913; in the autumn of 1989 he directed a workshop production of a new musical called Frankie. As both director and co-author his specialities were racy \Jmelodrama\j (Broadway, 1926), split-second \Jfarce\j (Three Men on a Horse, 1935) and peppy musicals with vigorous \Jchoreography\j (On Your Toes, 1936; Damn Yankees, 1955).
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"Abbott, Grace",50,0,0,0
DT (1878-1939)
EN social worker, activist; born on Grand Island, Nebr. She studied at the Universities of \JNebraska\j and \JChicago\j and in 1908 went to live at \JChicago\j's Hull House to head the Immigrants' Protective League. Author of forceful articles exposing the exploitation of immigrants, she also campaigned for child labor laws, and as director of the federal Children's Bureau (from 1919), she administered grants to provide health care for mothers and children. She was president of the National Conference of Social Workers (1923-24), an adviser to the \JLeague of Nations\j (1922-34), and professor of public welfare at the University of \JChicago\j (1934-39).
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"Abbott, Jacob",51,0,0,0
DT1 1803
DT2 79
EN Clergyman, born in Hallowell, ME, the father of Lyman Abbott. He founded Mount Vernon School for Girls in \JBoston\j (1829) and was the author of \IThe Young Christian\i (1832) and many other works.
MEX Abbott, Lyman
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"Abbott, Lyman",52,0,0,0
DT (1835-1922)
EN Congregational clergyman, editor; born in Roxbury, Mass. He graduated from New York University (1853) and joined a law firm before turning to the ministry and becoming ordained in 1860. Between 1860-65, he had a parish in Terre Haute, Ind. At the end of the \JCivil War\j, he went to New York City, where, in addition to serving a parish, he worked with the American Union Commission for more sympathetic reconstruction policies in the South.
He became editor of a new periodical, \IThe Illustrated Christian Weekly\i (1870-76), then joined Henry Ward Beecher at the \IChristian Union; \i Abbott replaced Beecher as editor in 1881 and the magazine's name was changed to \IOutlook\i in 1893. When Beecher died in 1890, Abbott took over his Brooklyn parish; he retired in 1899 to devote his final years to editing, writing, and guest preaching and speaking. He was noted for the intelligence, balance, and tolerance that he combined with traditional Christian teachings.
BK AmBg
#
"ABC Islands",53,0,0,0
EN An abbreviated name often applied to the three main islands of \JAruba\j, \JBonaire\j, and Curacao in the S Netherlands \JAntilles\j, off the N coast of \JSouth America\j.
BK a
#
"Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud",54,0,0,0
EN See Saud, al-
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#
"Abd-ar-Rahman I",55,0,0,0
PN [abder\Brah\bman]
DT1 731
DT2 88
EN An Umayyad emir who survived the massacre of his family by the \JAbbasids\j in 750, and conquered most of Muslim \JSpain\j. He founded the emirate of al-Andalus (756), with its capital at C≤rdoba.
SX m
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#
"Abd-ar-Rahman III",56,0,0,0
PN [abder\Brah\bman]
DT1 891
DT2 961
EN Emir of C≤rdoba, who ruled from 912 and proclaimed himself caliph in 929. Under him the Umayyad emirate reached the peak of its power, extending its boundaries in successful campaigns against the Fatimids and the kings of Leon and Navarre.
SX m
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#
"Abd-el-Kader",57,0,0,0
PN [abdul\Bka\bder]
DT1 1807
DT2 83
EN Algerian nationalist hero, born in Mascara, \JAlgiers\j. After the French conquest of \JAlgiers\j, the Arab tribes of Oran elected him as their emir, and with great perseverance he waged a long struggle with the French (1832-47). Eventually crushed by overpowering force, he took refuge in Morocco, and began a crusade against the enemies of \JIslam\j, but was defeated at Isly in 1844.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Abd-el-Krim",58,0,0,0
PN [abdul\Bkrim\b]
HS , nickname \Bthe Wolf of the Rif Mountains\b
DT1 1882
DT2 1963
EN \JBerber\j chief, born in Ajdir, Morocco. He led unsuccessful revolts against \JSpain\j and \JFrance\j (1921, 1924-5), formed the Republic of the Rif and served as its president (1921-6), but was brought to surrender by a large Franco-Spanish army under Marshal PΘtain. He was exiled to the island of RΘunion. Granted amnesty in 1947, he went to \JEgypt\j, where he formed the North African Liberation Committee.
MEX PΘtain
SX m
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#
"Abd-ul-Hamid II",59,0,0,0
PN [abdul\Bha\bmid]
HS , nickname \BThe Great Assassin\b
DT1 1842
DT2 1918
EN The last sultan of Turkey (1876-1909). He promulgated the first Ottoman constitution in 1876, but his reign was notable for his cruel suppression of revolts in the Balkans, which led to wars with \JRussia\j (1877-8), and especially for the Armenian massacres of 1894-6. A reform movement by the revolutionary Young Turks forced him to summon a parliament in 1908, but he was deposed and exiled in 1909.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Abd-ul-Medjid",60,0,0,0
PN [abdul\Bme\bjid]
DT1 1823
DT2 61
EN Sultan of Turkey from 1839. He continued the Westernizing reforms of the previous reign of Mahmut II (1785-1839), reorganizing the court system and education, and granting various rights to citizens, including Christians. In 1854 he secured an alliance with Britain and \JFrance\j to resist Russian demands, thus precipitating the \JCrimean War\j (1854-6).
SX m
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#
"Abdias",61,0,0,0
EN See Obadiah
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#
"Abdias, Book of",62,0,0,0
EN See Obadiah, Book of
BK a
XCY y
#
"abdication",63,0,0,0
EN A political situation which occurs when the ruler of a country gives up the throne or other high office. Most abdications take place under duress: the ruler is forced to abdicate following a wartime defeat, a revolution, or a constitutional crisis. Napoleon Bonaparte was forced to abdicate twice - once in 1814, and again in 1815.
Edward VIII of Britain was forced to abdicate in 1936 because of public disapproval of his proposed marriage to a divorcee. Some rulers choose to abdicate, perhaps because of illness or old age, or simply because they feel they have ruled for too long. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands voluntarily abdicated in 1948, as did her daughter, Queen Juliana, in 1980.
BK a
#
"Abdim's stork",64,0,0,0
EN A small stork \I(Ciconia abdimii)\i native to Africa and the south-west Arabian Peninsula; feeds in drier habitats than other storks; eats insects, especially locusts.
BK a
#
"abdomen",65,0,0,0
EN The lower part of the trunk, extending from within the pelvic floor to under the cover of the chest wall. Except for the vertebral column, pelvis, and ribs, it is bounded entirely by muscles. It contains most of the \Jalimentary canal\j (from \Jstomach\j to \Jrectum\j), the liver, \Jpancreas\j, \Jspleen\j, \Jkidneys\j, and bladder, and the internal organs of reproduction. The cavity has a lining (the \Iperitoneum)\i which covers or completely surrounds and suspends the majority of the various contents. Major blood vessels and nerves pass into it from the chest and out of it to the lower limbs.
BK a
#
"abdominal thrust",66,0,0,0
EN See Heimlich manoeuvre
BK a
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#
"Abdul Rahman (Putra Alhaj), Tunku",67,0,0,0
PN [abdul \Brah\bman]
DT1 1903
DT2 90
EN The first prime minister of Malaya (1957-63) and \JMalaysia\j (1963-70), born in Alor Star, Kedah, Malaya. The son of the Sultan of Kedah, he trained as a lawyer at Cambridge and joined the civil service in Kedah in 1931. In 1945 he founded the United Malays' National Organization (UMNO), and in 1952 entered Malayan politics, becoming chief minister (1955) and then prime minister. He negotiated the formation of the Federation of \JMalaysia\j, remaining as prime minister. He left active politics in 1970, then became the first secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
SX m
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#
"Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem",68,0,0,0
PN [abdul \Bja\bber]
HS , originally \BLewis Ferdinand Alcindor\b, known as \BLew Alcindor\b
DT1 1947
EN \JBasketball\j player, born in New York City, USA. A talented player from youth, his exceptional height (7┐ft 2┐in/2┐m 5┐cm) made him a formidable opponent. He studied at the University of \JCalifornia\j (1965), then joined the National \JBasketball\j Association (NBA) \JMilwaukee\j Bucks (1969), leading them to victory in the NBA championships (1971).
Already converted to \JIslam\j, he took an Arabic name (1971). He moved to the L A Lakers in 1984, and went on to establish an individual points record of 38┐387. He retired in 1989.
BK Biog99
#
"Abdullah (ibn Hussein)",69,0,0,0
PN [ab\Bdu\bla ibn hu\Bsayn\b]
DT1 1882
DT2 1951
EN First king of Jordan (1946-51), the second son of Hussein ibn Ali and grandfather of King Hussein. Emir of the British mandated territory of Transjordan in 1921, he became king when the mandate ended in 1946, but was assassinated.
MEX Hussein
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#
"Abdullah, Sheikh Mohammed",70,0,0,0
PN [ab\Bdu\bla]
HS , nickname \BThe Lion of Kashmir\b
DT1 1905
DT2 82
EN Kashmiri statesman, born in Soura, near Srinagar, Kashmir, India. A Muslim, he spearheaded the struggle for constitutional government against the (Hindu) Maharajah of Kashmir during the years between the two World Wars. He was imprisoned in 1931, and on his release formed the All Jammu and Kashmir \JMoslem\j Conference (renamed the National Conference in 1938).
He agreed to the accession of the state to India, but was imprisoned (1953-68) when he reaffirmed the right of the people of Kashmir 'to decide the future of the State'. He was chief minister from 1975 until his death.
SX m
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#
"Abe, Kobo",71,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bbay]
DT1 1924
DT2 93
EN Novelist and playwright, born in \JTokyo\j. He trained as a doctor, but turned to literature after graduating. Recognition in \JJapan\j came with the award of the Akutagawa Prize for \IThe Wall\i in 1951. His predominant theme of alienation was explored in a series of works, his novels including \IInter \JIce Age\j Four\i (1971), \IThe Woman in the Dunes\i (1965), and \ISecret Rendezvous\i (1980).
SX m
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#
"Abegg, Richard",72,0,0,0
PN [abeg]
DT (1869-1910)
EN German physical chemist.
Abegg's Rule (for which he is best remembered) states that each element has a positive valence and a negative valence, whose sum is 8. This idea reflects in primitive form the '\Joctet\j rule', ie the trend shown by most elements of the second and third (short) periods to attain an outer \Joctet\j of electrons, but even as a mnemonic it applies only to elements of the fourth to seventh periodic groups.
BK Scie
#
"Abel",73,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bbel]
EN Biblical character, the second son of \JAdam and Eve\j. He is described as a shepherd, whose offering God accepts; but he was then murdered by his brother, Cain.
MEX \JAdam and Eve\j; Cain
SX m
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#
"Abel, John Jacob",74,0,0,0
PN [aybel]
DT (1857-1938)
EN US biochemist: detected adrenalin, and crystallized \Jinsulin\j; isolated amino acids from blood.
An Ohio farmer's son, Abel studied very widely in Europe before returning to Johns Hopkins University equipped with a wide knowledge of chemistry, \Jbiology\j and medicine, as professor of \Jpharmacology\j. He studied the adrenal hormone now known as adrenalin (epinephrine); and in 1926 first crystallized \Jinsulin\j and showed it was a protein and contained zinc.
He was the first to isolate amino acids from blood, in 1914. He did this by passing blood from an artery through a Cellophane tube immersed in saline; the amino acids dialysed through the tube and the blood was returned to a vein of the animal. The proof that amino acids are present in blood is fundamental in animal biochemistry and the method used led the way towards \Jdialysis\j in the treatment of kidney disease.
BK Scie
#
"Abel, Karl Friedrich",75,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bbel]
DT1 1725
DT2 87
EN Musician, born in K÷then, \JGermany\j. He was a noted composer of symphonies, and a virtuoso on the viola da gamba. In 1758 he went to England, where he was appointed chamber musician to Queen Charlotte. With Johann Christian Bach he promoted a celebrated series of concerts in London.
MEX Bach, J C
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BK bg a
#
"Abel, Niels Henrik",76,0,0,0
PN [ahbel]
DT (1802-29)
EN Norwegian mathematician: pioneer of group theory; proved that no algebraic solution of the general fifth-degree equation exists.
Abel was the son of a Lutheran minister. In 1821 he went to Oslo to study at the university, but his father's death forced him to give this up in order to support the large family of which he was the eldest; he was extremely poor throughout his life. In 1825 he visited \JGermany\j and \JFrance\j and with Leopold Crelle (1780-1855) founded Crelle's Journal in which much of his work was published, since Abel could not persuade the French AcadΘmie des Sciences to do so.
Having failed to find a university post in \JGermany\j, and with his health failing due to tuberculosis, he returned to \JNorway\j, where he died shortly afterwards aged 26. Two days later a letter from Crelle announced that the professorship of \Jmathematics\j at Berlin, one of the most prestigious posts in the world, had been awarded to him.
Despite his tragically early death Abel largely founded the theory of groups, and in particular commutative groups, which were later known as Abelian groups. He also showed that the general fifth-degree equation is not solvable algebraically (ironically Gauss threw this proof away unread when Abel sent it to him). He revolutionized the important area of elliptic integrals with his theory of elliptic and transcendental functions, and contributed to the theory of infinite series.
BK Scie
#
"Abel, Sir Frederick (Augustus)",77,0,0,0
PN [aybel]
DT (1827-1902)
EN British chemist: expert on military explosives.
An early pupil of Hofmann at the Royal College of Chemistry, he became chemist to the War Department in 1854. He showed that guncotton (obtained by nitrating cotton) could be made safe by removing traces of acid, which, if not removed, led to instability. In 1889 with Dewar he invented 'cordite', a mixture of guncotton and nitroglycerin gelatinized with \Jpropanone\j and \Jpetroleum\j jelly, which became the standard British military propellant. It produces little smoke on firing, an important advantage on a battlefield.
BK Scie
#
"Abelard, Peter",78,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bbelah(r)d]
DT1 1079
DT2 1142
EN Theologian, born near \JNantes\j, \JFrance\j. He studied under Roscellinus and Guillaume de Champeaux (c.1070-1171). As lecturer in the cathedral school of Notre Dame in Paris, he became tutor to HΘlo∩se, the 17-year-old niece of the canon Fulbert. They fell passionately in love, but when their affair was discovered, they fled to Brittany, where HΘlo∩se gave birth to a son. After returning to Paris, they were secretly married.
HΘlo∩se's relatives took their revenge on Abelard by castrating him. He fled in shame to the abbey of St Denis to become a monk, and HΘlo∩se took the veil at Argenteuil as a nun. In 1121, a synod at Soissons condemned his Nominalistic doctrines on the Trinity as heretical, and Abelard took to a hermit's hut at Nogent-sur-Seine, where his pupils helped him build a monastic school he named the Paraclete.
In 1125 he was elected abbot of St Gildas-de-Rhuys in Britanny, and the Paraclete was given to HΘlo∩se and a sisterhood. In his final years he was again accused of numerous heresies and he retired to the monastery of Cluny. After his death, he was buried in the Paraclete at HΘlo∩se's request, and when she died in 1164 she was laid in the same tomb. In 1817 they were buried in one sepulchre at PΦre Lachaise.
MEX Roscellinus
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#
"Abeles, Sir (Emil Herbert) Peter",79,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bblz]
DT1 1924
DT2 1999
EN Industrialist, born in Budapest, \JHungary\j. He studied in Budapest, then went to Sydney in 1949. The following year he founded Alltrans, which in 1967 merged with Thomas Nationwide Transport (TNT). Under his leadership TNT expanded into all forms of road transport, air courier services, and containerized and bulk shipping.
In 1979 TNT and Rupert Murdoch's News Limited gained control of Ansett Airlines, and Abeles became joint managing director of the new company, resigning in 1992. Knighted in 1972, he is known for his friendships with prominent politicians, particularly Bob Hawke.
BK Biog99
#
"Abell, Kjeld",80,0,0,0
DT 1901-61
EN Danish playwright. He began his career designing Balanchine's ballets at the Kongelige Teater. His first writing for the theatre, the ballet-scenario The Widow in the Mirror (1934), introduced a recurrent Abell theme, the anguish caused by alienation from life. Ballet undoubtedly influenced the plays that followed, beginning with The Melody that Got Lost (1935) produced at the Riddersalen cabaret theatre.
His early expressionistic plays (see \Jexpressionism\j), The Melody and Eve Serves Her Childhood, sharply depict the suffocating effect of bourgeois values. His plays during and immediately after World War II, such as Anna Sophie Hedvig, Judith, The Queen on Tour, Silkeborg and Days on a \JCloud\j, identify activism as essential to freedom and escapism as self-annihilation. His later plays became more complex and mystical, such as Vetsera Does Not Bloom for Everyone, The Blue \JPekingese\j and The Scream.
BK Thea
#
"Abelson, Phillip H(auge)",81,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bblson]
DT1 1913
EN Physical chemist, born in \JTacoma\j, Washington, USA. He studied at Washington State College and the University of \JCalifornia\j at Berkeley, and was appointed director of the \Jgeophysics\j laboratory of the Carnegie Institution, WA, in 1953 (president 1971).
In 1940 he assisted Edwin Mattison McMillan to bombard uranium with neutrons, which led to the discovery of a new element, neptunium. From 1941 he worked on the Manhattan atomic bomb project, developing diffusion methods for obtaining enriched uranium-235; this was the fuel for the first A-bomb.
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#
"Aberconwy and Colwyn",82,0,0,0
PN [aber\Bkon\bwee, \Bkol\bwin]
EN pop (1995e) 110 700; area 1130 sq km / 436 sq mi. County (unitary authority from 1996) in NC Wales, UK; drained by the R Conwy; administrative centre, Colwyn Bay; other chief town, Llandudno; seaside resorts on north coast; tourism, livestock, light industry; part of Snowdonia National Park; castle at Conwy; Bodnant Gardens, Great Orme Cable Railway, Welsh Mountain Zoo.
BK Geog99
#
"Abercrombie, Lascelles",83,0,0,0
PN [aber\Bkrom\bbee]
DT1 1881
DT2 1938
EN Poet and critic, born in Ashton-upon-Mersey, Greater Manchester, north-west England, UK. He studied at Malvern College and Victoria University, Manchester, became professor of English at Leeds (1922) and London (1929), and reader at Oxford (1935). His works include \IThe Idea of Great Poetry\i (1925) and \IPrinciples of Literary Criticism\i (1932).
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Abercrombie, Sir (Leslie) Patrick",84,0,0,0
PN [aber\Bkrom\bbee]
DT1 1879
DT2 1957
EN British architect and pioneer of town planning in Britain, the brother of Lascelles Abercrombie. He was professor of town planning at Liverpool (1915-35) and University College, London (1935-46). His major work was the replanning of London, as seen in the \ICounty of London Plan\i (1943) and the \IGreater London Plan\i (1944).
MEX Abercrombie, Lascelles
SX m
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#
"Abercromby, Sir Ralph",85,0,0,0
PN [aber\Bkrom\bbee]
DT1 1734
DT2 1801
EN Soldier and hero of the Napoleonic Wars, born in Menstrie, Clackmannanshire, C Scotland, UK. He went to Rugby School, studied law at Edinburgh and \JLeipzig\j, served in Europe in the Seven Years' War (1756-63), and was MP for Clackmannanshire (1774-80). He led successful operations against the French in St Lucia and Trinidad (1795-6), and also led the successful amphibious operation of the Anglo-Turkish forces against the French at Aboukir Bay in 1801, but was mortally wounded in the action.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Aberdare, Henry Austin Bruce, Baron",86,0,0,0
PN [aber\Bdair\b]
DT1 1815
DT2 95
EN British statesman, born in Duffryn, Aberdare, S Wales, UK. He was called to the bar in 1837, and was elected Liberal MP for Merthyr Tydfil (1852-73). Home secretary under Gladstone (1868-73), he then became Lord President of the Council (1873-4). Influential in the movement for the establishment of the University of Wales, he was its first chancellor in 1895.
MEX Gladstone
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#
"Aberdeen",87,0,0,0
EN 57░10N 2░04W, pop (1995e) 221 000. Seaport city council (\JAberdeen\j City), and administrative centre of Aberdeenshire council, NE Scotland, UK; on the North Sea, between Rivers Dee (S) and Don (N), 92 km/57 mi NE of Dundee; royal burgh since 1179; airport; \Jhelicopter\j port; ferries to Orkney and Shetland; railway; university (1494); Robert Gordon University (1992, formerly Institute of Technology); port trade and fishing, finance, oil supply service, granite ("Granite City'), tourism; Art Gallery; Gordon Highlanders Regimental Museum; maritime museum; St Machar's Cathedral (1131); Bridge of Dee (1500); Brig o' Balgownie (c.1320); Aberdeen festival (Jul--Aug).
BK Geog99
#
"Aberdeen terrier",88,0,0,0
EN See Scottish terrier
BK a
XCY y
#
"Aberdeen, George Hamilton Gordon, 4th Earl of",89,0,0,0
DT1 1784
DT2 1860
EN British statesman and prime minister (1852-5), born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. He studied Cambridge, succeeding his grandfather as earl in 1801. He was foreign secretary twice, under the Duke of Wellington (1828-30) and then Sir Robert Peel (1841-6). A confirmed free-trader, he resigned with Peel over the repeal of the corn-laws in 1846.
In 1852 he was made prime minister of a coalition government that was immensely popular at first, until he reluctantly committed Britain to an alliance with \JFrance\j and Turkey in the \JCrimean War\j in 1854. The gross mismanagement of the war aroused popular discontent, and he was forced to resign.
MEX Wellington; Peel, Robert
SX m
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#
"Aberfan",90,0,0,0
PN [aber\Bvan\b]
EN 51░42N 3░21W. Village in \Jcoal\j-mining region, Merthyr Tydfil county, S Wales, UK; scene of major disaster in 1966, when a landslip of mining waste engulfed several houses and the school, killing 144, including 116 children.
BK a
#
"Aberhart, William",91,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bberhah(r)t]
HS , nickname \BBible Bill\b
DT1 1878
DT2 1943
EN Canadian politician, born in Huron Co, \JOntario\j, Canada. He studied at Queen's University, Kingston, and in 1915 became principal of Crescent Heights School, \JCalgary\j, where he remained until 1935. He then became a member of the Alberta legislature, formed his own Social Credit Party, and became provincial premier (1935-43). He had founded the \JCalgary\j Prophetic \JBible\j Institute in 1918, and his evangelical style of public-speaking gave him his byname.
SX m
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#
"Abernathy, Ralph D(avid)",92,0,0,0
DT (1926-90)
EN Baptist clergyman, \Jcivil rights\j activist; born in Linden, Ala. An early \Jcivil rights\j organizer and leading confidante of Martin Luther King Jr., he was pastor of the West Hunter Street Baptist Church in \JAtlanta\j, Ga. throughout his \Jcivil rights\j career (1961-90). He was King's chosen successor as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) (1968-77).
Although he was a competent leader, the SCLC never regained the influence it had under King. He resigned the SCLC leadership to run unsuccessfully for Andrew Young's congressional seat (1977). Turning away from the \Jcivil rights\j movement, he devoted his attention to the West Hunter Street Baptist Church and the issues of worldwide peace.
BK AmBg
#
"Abernethy, John",93,0,0,0
PN [aber\Bneth\bee]
DT1 1764
DT2 1831
EN Surgeon, celebrated for his eccentric lectures and manners, born in London, England, UK. In 1813 he was appointed surgeon to Christ's \JHospital\j, London, in 1814 professor of anatomy and surgery to the College of Surgeons, and in 1815 full surgeon to St Bartholomew's \JHospital\j, a post which he resigned in 1829. His practice increased with his celebrity, which the eccentricity and rudeness of his manners helped to heighten.
SX m
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#
"aberration (astronomy)",94,0,0,0
EN In \Jastronomy\j, the aberration of starlight is the apparent change in the observed position of a star, caused by a combination of the Earth's velocity in \Jorbit\j around the Sun, and the finite velocity of light.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The effect is nonrelativistic; which means that \Jspecial relativity\j is not required to derive it. It can be demonstrated simply from Newtonian mechanics, so long as we assume that the speed of light is constant. This effect is responsible for the "tunnel vision" effect of travelling at relativistic speeds, an effect which is popular with film and \Jtelevision\j directors.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK a
#
"aberrations",95,0,0,0
HS (\Joptics\j)
EN Deviations in lenses from perfect images, as consequences of the laws of \Jrefraction\j. \IChromatic\i \Jaberrations\j result from the dependence of the bending power of a lens on wavelength, and may produce images having coloured haloes.
Colour-independent \Jaberrations\j \I(monochromatic)\i deform an image \I(distortion,\i \Ifield curvature,\i \Icoma,\i \Iastigmatism)\i and blur it \I(spherical aberration).\i Aberrations in cameras, binoculars, and other optical instruments can be minimized using \Jlens\j combinations. Mirrors have similar monochromatic \Jaberrations\j to lenses, but no chromatic \Jaberrations\j.
BK a
#
"Aberystwyth",96,0,0,0
PN [aber\Bist\bwith]
EN 52░25N 4░05W, pop (1995e) 12 600. Administrative centre of Cardiganshire county, W Wales, UK; university and resort town, at the mouth of the Ystwyth and Rheidol Rivers, on Cardigan Bay; built around a castle of Edward I, 1227; college of University of Wales (1872); National Library of Wales (1955); railway; boatbuilding, brewing, agricultural trade; university theatre summer season.
BK Geog99
#
"Abidjan",97,0,0,0
PN [abee\Bjan\b]
EN 5░19N 4░01W, pop (1995e) 2 722 000. Industrial seaport and former capital (1935--83) of C⌠te d'Ivoire, W Africa; on N shore of EbriΘ lagoon; port facilities added in early 1950s; airport; railway; university (1958); farm machinery, \Jmetallurgy\j, car assembly, electrical appliances, plastics, soap, \Jcoffee\j and \Jcocoa\j trade, timber products, \Jtobacco\j, food processing, beer, chemicals; Ifan museum.
BK Geog99
#
"Abington, Fanny",98,0,0,0
DT 1737-1815
EN English actress. By 1755 she was working with Theophilus Cibber at the Haymarket Theatre and in 1756 joined Drury Lane. After a period acting in Ireland she returned to Drury Lane to join Garrick's company. She played Lady Teazle in Sheridan's The School for Scandal (1777). Having retired, she made an unsuccessful return in 1799, by which time she was overweight and no longer a leader of fashion.
BK Thea
#
"abiogenesis",99,0,0,0
PN [aybiyoh\Bjen\besis]
EN See spontaneous generation
BK a
XCY y
#
"ablaut",100,0,0,0
PN [\Bab\blowt]
EN Vowel changes in related forms of a word, found in Indo-European languages. \JAblaut\j can be seen in English in several sets of verb forms, such as \Idrive / drove / driven.\i
BK a
#
"ABM",101,0,0,0
EN See antiballistic missile (ABM)
BK a
XCY y
#
"Abney level",102,0,0,0
EN See clinometer
BK a
XCY y
#
"Abney, Sir William (de Wiveleslie)",103,0,0,0
PN [\Bab\bnee]
DT1 1844
DT2 1920
EN Chemist and educationist, born in Derby, \JDerbyshire\j, C England, UK. Assistant secretary (1899) and adviser (1903) to the Board of Education, he was known for his research in photographic chemistry and colour photography, and did important pioneer work in photographing the solar spectrum.
SX m
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#
"abnormal psychology",104,0,0,0
EN The scientific study of the nature and origins of psychologically abnormal states. In contrast to clinical \Jpsychology\j and \Jpsychiatry\j, where the emphasis is on the assessment and treatment of individuals, abnormal \Jpsychology\j seeks more general theories about disorders, in such areas as personality, intelligence, and social behaviour.
BK a
#
"┼bo",105,0,0,0
EN See Turku
BK a
XCY y
#
"abolitionist movement",106,0,0,0
EN A 19th-c movement to end \Jslavery\j in the US South; distinguished from earlier anti-slavery movements by its uncompromising attitude. Blacks as well as whites, and women as well as men took active parts. Abolitionism crystallized around the American Anti-Slavery Society, founded in 1833. Its great achievement was to make \Jslavery\j an issue that could not be ignored.
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"Abomey",107,0,0,0
PN [a\Bbo\bmay]
EN 7░14N 2░00E, pop (1995e) 78 000. Town in Zou province, S Benin, W Africa; 105 km/65 mi NW of Porto Novo; capital of old \JYoruba\j kingdom of Dahomey; burned by the Portuguese and abandoned to the French, 1892; Royal Palace of Djema, including the tomb of King Gbehanzin (still guarded by women), a world heritage site.
BK Geog99
#
"abominable snowman",108,0,0,0
EN See Bigfoot or Sasquatch; \JYeti\j
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#
"Aboriginal art",109,0,0,0
EN The art of the Australian \JAborigines\j, which originated at least 13┐000 years ago - dates of up to 30┐000 years have been suggested. Two main stylistic traditions exist: the figurative and the geometric (the latter based on the marks left by animals, humans, and artefacts in the sand). Paints include red ochre, white clay, and charcoal.
Carvings on rock and in wood are also common. Much of the art depicts episodes from the 'Dreamtime', the creation period of Aboriginal legend, though sorcery paintings and everyday records of hunting and gathering are also widespread. \JAboriginal art\j is placed on rock, wood, bark, and the human body.
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"Aboriginal land rights",110,0,0,0
EN The rights of \JAustralia\j's indigenous people to the land they inhabited, formerly unrecognized by the white settlers of \JAustralia\j. Although Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders are spiritually attached to their traditional land, they have been dispossessed of it since 1788. Land rights symbolize the struggle for the autonomy and self-determination of Aboriginal people, and have become a national political issue in \JAustralia\j since the 1970s.
Governments have granted some Aboriginal land claims since then, but the issue attracts controversy because of the opposing interests of mining companies, pastoralists, and the states. The controversy came to a head following the landmark High Court \IMabo\i case, named after one of the plaintiffs.
In 1992 the Court rejected the doctrine of \Iterra nullius\i - that the land claimed by the colonizers had no prior owners - finding that native title continued to exist after British annexation. While \IMabo\i might become the basis for a new relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, the political difficulties of reconciliation through recognition of native title are immense.
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"Aborigines",111,0,0,0
PN [abo\Brij\bineez]
EN The indigenous inhabitants of \JAustralia\j, the first of whom reached the continent c.60┐000 years ago. By 1788, when European occupation began, there were c.600 territorially defined groups, subsisting on hunting and gathering, with a population of 300┐000-1 million.
Numbers then fell dramatically, partly through conflict with the Europeans, but mainly through European diseases, especially the smallpox epidemics of 1789 and 1829. By 1933 the population had fallen to c.66┐000; it then steadily increased, and now numbers c.250┐000.
At first Europeans portrayed Aboriginals as 'noble savages', but this image quickly gave way to contempt, and policies were designed to turn them into Christians with European lifestyles. In the late 19th-c, Social Darwinist ideas were influential, maintaining that \JAborigines\j were an inferior race incapable of self-management and destined to die out. In \JVan Diemen's Land\j (\JTasmania\j) the government removed the last survivors of massacre and disease to Flinders I in the late 1820s; the last full-blooded Aborigine, Truganini, died there in 1876.
A community of people with mixed descent remains in \JTasmania\j. Elsewhere in \JAustralia\j, strenuous efforts were made to confine them to government reserves or Christian missions.
Aborigines have not accepted their lot passively. In the 1950s they began moving into the cities of south-east \JAustralia\j and formed advancement groups; but it was not until the mid-1960s that activism became prominent. In 1965 Charles Perkins (1936-) became the first Aboriginal university graduate, and helped organize 'freedom rides' in \JNew South Wales\j to protest against discrimination.
In 1967 90..8% of Australian voters approved a referendum which granted the federal government the power to count \JAborigines\j in the \Jcensus\j and to make laws on their behalf, thus enabling them to be provided with official assistance. Although their condition has since improved significantly, they remain the most disadvantaged group in Australian society. Their disadvantages were the basis for a campaign, begun in 1972, for 'land rights'.
Opposition to their claims has come from mining and pastoral interests, and from conservative governments, particularly in \JQueensland\j. Nevertheless by the mid-1980s \JAborigines\j had gained freehold title to about 6% of \JAustralia\j (mostly in the N and C), and were in the process of being granted further areas. The landmark \IMabo\i decision in the Australian High Court recognized, for the first time, that Aboriginal people had rights to land in \Jcommon law\j based on prior occupancy of the continent.
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"abortion",112,0,0,0
EN The spontaneous or induced termination of \Jpregnancy\j before the fetus is viable. In the UK and for legal purposes, this is taken to be the 24th week, although some fetuses expelled before then may survive. In the USA and in some European countries, the time limit may be set some weeks earlier.
There is no consensus on the matter in the USA, but the Supreme Court decision in \IRoe\i v. \IWade\i (1973) made abortions legal during the first six months of \Jpregnancy\j. Spontaneous \Jabortion\j \I(miscarriage)\i occurs in about 20% of apparently normal pregnancies, and may not be recognized. It may arise from defects in the products of conception, in the uterus and placenta, or in the maternal environment, such as maternal illness. \JAbortion\j can be induced by the use of drugs (recently especially prostaglandins and mitepristone) and by surgery.
Unless permitted by the \JAbortion\j Acts, induced \Jabortion\j is a criminal offence in the UK. The moral issues surrounding \Jabortion\j have received increasing publicity in the 1990s, with conflict between extremists from 'pro-life' (anti-abortion) and 'right-to-choose' (pro-abortion) groups leading to violent confrontation, especially in the USA.
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#
"Aboukir Bay, Battle of (Aug 1798)",113,0,0,0
EN (Aug 1798) A naval battle during the War of the Second Coalition, in which Nelson destroyed the French fleet under Brueys off the coast of \JEgypt\j; also known as the \BBattle of the Nile.\b This victory forced Napoleon to abandon his Egyptian campaign, aimed at threatening British territory in India, and return to \JFrance\j.
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#
"Aboukir Bay, Battle of (July 1799)",114,0,0,0
EN (July 1799) The last French victory of the Egyptian campaign, in which Napoleon's Army of \JEgypt\j captured Aboukir citadel, north-east of Alexandria, defeating an Ottoman Turkish force over twice the size, led by Mustafa Pasha; also known as the \BBattle of Aboukir.\b
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"Abrabanel",115,0,0,0
EN See Abarbanel, Isaac ben Jehudah
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#
"Abraham, Abram, or Ibrahiz",116,0,0,0
DT1a after
DT1 2000
DT1b BC
EN Revered in the \JHebrew\j \JBible\j as the father of the \JHebrew\j people and of several other nations. According to \IGenesis\i he came from the Sumerian town of Ur ('Ur of the Chaldees') in modern \JIraq\j, and migrated with his family and flocks to the 'Promised Land' of Canaan, where he settled at Shechem (modern Nablus).
He lived to be 175 years old, and was buried with his first wife Sarah in \JHebron\j. By Sarah he was the father of Isaac (whom he was prepared to sacrifice at Moriah at the command of the Lord, as a test of his faith); by Sarah's Egyptian maid, \JHagar\j, he was the father of Ishmael, the ancestor of twelve clans; by his third wife Keturah he had six sons who became the ancestors of the Arab tribes. He is traditionally regarded as the father of \JJudaism\j, \JChristianity\j, and \JIslam\j. \I(Gen\i 22).
MEX \JHagar\j; Ishmael
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"Abraham, Plains / Heights of",117,0,0,0
EN The site of a battle (1759), Quebec City, Canada, in which British forces under Wolfe defeated French, Amerindian, and Canadian forces under Montcalm and Vaudreuil, and gained control over Quebec. Wolfe and Montcalm were both killed in the battle.
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"Abraham, Sir Edward (Penley)",118,0,0,0
DT1 1913
EN Biochemist, born in \JSouthampton\j, Hampshire, S England, UK. He studied at Oxford, where he became professor of chemical \Jpathology\j (1964--80). He had a major role in early studies of the penicillins, and especially of the cephalosporin \Jantibiotics\j.
BK Biog99
#
"Abraham, William",119,0,0,0
HS , nickname \BMabon\b
DT1 1842
DT2 1922
EN Trade unionist and politician, born in Cwmavon, \JGwent\j. A leading figure in the miners' union in South Wales, he was a strong advocate of sliding-scale agreements whereby wages were regulated by the selling price of \Jcoal\j, and also a believer in compromise with the \Jcoal\j owners. He was elected MP for the Rhondda (1885-1918) and for the West Rhondda division (1918-20), and devoted himself to mining legislation.
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"Abrahams, Peter",120,0,0,0
DT1 1919
EN Novelist, born in Vrededorp, South Africa. Most of his work was produced in exile. The impoverished township where he was born is vividly recreated in a memoir, \ITell Freedom\i (1954). His third novel, \IMine Boy\i (1946), won critical notice.
His mature work produced novels which dealt mainly with the political struggles of black people, such as \IA Wreath for Udomo\i (1956), \IA Night of their Own\i (1965), \IThis Island Now\i (1966), and \IThe View from Coyaba\i (1985).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1945 Song of the City
1946 Mine Boy
1948 The Path of Thunder
1950 Wild Conquest
1954 Tell Freedom: Memories of Africa (semi-autobiographical)
1956 A Wreath for Udomo
1965 A Night of Their Own
1966 This Island Now
1985 The View from Coyaba
\IStories\i
1942 Dark Testament
\IOther\i
1953 Return to Goli
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#
"Abram",121,0,0,0
EN See Abraham, Abram, or Ibrahiz
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#
"Abrams, Creighton Williams",122,0,0,0
DT (1914-74)
EN soldier; born in Springfield, Mass. The son of a railroad repairman, he graduated (1936) in the bottom third of his West Point class but became one of the boldest junior armored commanders of World War II. His tank unit played an important role in the relief of Bastogne, \JBelgium\j, during the Battle of the Bulge.
In 1962, during racial unrest when James Meredith became the first black to enter the University of Mississippi, Abrams served as chief of staff of federal troops posted in Memphis, Tenn. Appointed to succeed William Westmoreland as U.S. commander in Vietnam in June 1968, he was effectively assigned to do little more than preside over the policy of "Vietnamization" that led to the gradual disengagement and eventual withdrawal of U.S. forces there.
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"abrasives",123,0,0,0
EN Hard, rough, or sharp textured materials used to wear down, rub, or polish materials which are less hard, as in the traditional grindstone or whetstone. Naturally occurring abrasive substances include various forms of \Jsilica\j (sand, \Jquartz\j, or flint), \Jpumice\j, and emery (an \Jaluminium\j oxide mineral). Artificial \Jabrasives\j include silicon carbide, synthetic diamond, and \Jboron\j carbide. They can be used as powders or incorporated in hand or machine tools.
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"Abravanel",124,0,0,0
EN See Abarbanel, Isaac ben Jehudah
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#
"Abravanel, Maurice",125,0,0,0
DT (1903-93)
EN conductor; born in Saloniki, \JGreece\j. After conducting in Europe and at the Metropolitan Opera (1936-38), he began a brilliant tenure with the \JUtah\j Symphony (1947-79), where he became known for performing works of American and other contemporary composers.
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"Abruzzi or Abruzzo",126,0,0,0
PN [a\Bbrut\bsee]
EN pop (1995e) 1 254 000; area 10 794 sq km/4152 sq mi. Region in EC \JItaly\j, between the \JApennines\j and the Adriatic Sea, in the valley of the upper Sangro; \Jcereals\j, chemicals, foodstuffs processing, fishing, tanning, tourism, textiles, winter sports; resort village of Pescasseroli; national park (400 sq km/150 sq mi) in the S, established in 1922.
BK Geog99
#
"Absalom",127,0,0,0
PN [\Bab\bsalom]
DT1 11
DT1b th-c BC
EN Third and favourite son of King David of Israel in the \JOld Testament\j. A handsome, vain young man, he rebelled against his father and drove him from \JJerusalem\j, but in an ensuing battle he was killed by Joab.
MEX David
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"Absalon or Axel",128,0,0,0
PN [\Bab\bsalon]
DT1 1128
DT2 1201
EN Danish clergyman and statesman, the founder of the city of \JCopenhagen\j. The foster-brother of \BValdemar I\b (1131-82), he was appointed Bishop of Roskilde (1158), and elected \JArchbishop\j of Lund (1177). As chief minister to Valdemar he led an army against the Wends in 1169, and extended Danish territories in the Baltic. In 1169 he built a fortress at Havn which became the nucleus of \JCopenhagen\j.
MEX Saxo Grammaticus
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"abscess",129,0,0,0
EN A localized collection of pus in an organ or tissue, surrounded by an inflammatory reaction which forms a well-defined wall (an \Jabscess\j cavity). It is commonly due to infection with pus-forming \I(pyogenic)\i \Jbacteria\j, but occasionally a foreign body is responsible.
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"abscissa",130,0,0,0
In \Jmathematics\j, the abscissa is the x-axis of a graph, while the y-axis is called the ordinate. The word is related to abscission layer because an abscissa was originally a section of a line which was cut off. The abscissa is at right angles to the ordinate.
A handy mnemonic to recall which is which of abscissa and ordinate is to think of them as the \Iabxissa\i and the \Iyordinate.\i
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"abscission layer",131,0,0,0
When deciduous plants lose their leaves, a number of changes take place in the cells of the leaf, mainly involving the transfer of valuable minerals from the leaf before it is lost. The break in the leaf's petiole, when it comes, happens at the abscission zone. This is a layer of cells which may be laid down early in the leaf's formation, or just before it drops.
The layer is made of parenchyma cells which are often smaller than usual, and which may lack the lignin that is found in most of the other nearby cells. The abscission zone is a protective layer, preventing \Jwater\j loss or microbial attack after the leaf has fallen.
Abscission is less common in annual plants, which die rather than shed their leaves, but abscission also turns up when plants shed their seeds, and petals are commonly abscised after \Jpollination\j has taken place.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Abse, Dannie",132,0,0,0
PN [\Bab\bsee]
DT1 1923
EN Writer and physician, born in \JCardiff\j, S Wales, UK. He studied at the Welsh National School of Medicine, King's College London, and Westminster Hospital, becoming senior specialist in the chest clinic at the Central Medical Establishment, London, in 1954.
His literary output includes several volumes of poetry, two novels, and a number of plays. His autobiographical volumes are \IA Poet in the Family\i (1974), \IA Strong Dose of Myself\i (1983), \IThere was a Young Man from Cardiff\i (1991), and the novel \IAsh on a Young Man's Sleeve\i (1954).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPoetry\i
1948 After Every Green Thing
1952 Walking Under Water
1957 Tenants of the House
1962 Poems, Golders Green
1968 A Small Desperation
1973 Funland and Other Poems
1981 Way Out in the Centre
1970 Selected Poems
1977 Collected Poems 1948-76
1989 White Coat, Purple Coat: Collected Poems 1948-88
\INovels\i
1954 Ash on a Young Man's Sleeve
1956 Some Corner of an English Field
1970 O. Jones, O. Jones
\IPlays\i
1956 Fire in Heaven
1961 The Eccentric
1967 Three Questor Plays
1972 The Dogs of Pavlov
1979 Pythagoras
\IAutobiography\i
1956 Some Corner of an English Field
1974 A Poet in the Family
1983 A Strong Dose of Myself
1991 There Was a Young Man from Cardiff
\IEditor\i
1983 Wales in Verse (anthology)
1984 Doctors and Patients (anthology)
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#
"absolute humidity",133,0,0,0
For most purposes, where we are more interested in the drying effects of air, the relative \Jhumidity\j is the most relevant concern, because this tells us how much \Jwater\j is present, as a fraction of the maximum possible. The absolute \Jhumidity\j measures how much \Jwater\j is actually present in a certain amount of air, and is usually measured in grams of \Jwater\j per cubic metre, although it may also be explained as the vapour pressure exerted by the \Jwater\j in the air.
As air becomes warmer, it is able to carry more \Jwater\j vapour, as shown in this table, where the pressure values are given in both mm of mercury and millibars, while the \Jwater\j mass is given in grams per cubic metre. At each \Jtemperature\j, the air is at 100% relative \Jhumidity\j.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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#
"absolute liability",134,0,0,0
EN See strict liability
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"absolute magnitude",135,0,0,0
A bright star which is a long way off can easily look less bright than a dim star which is close to us here on \Jearth\j. This difference is the relative \Jmagnitude\j, which is important in navigation, but absolute \Jmagnitude\j is a much more useful measure when you are trying to map the galaxy or work out how the main sequence stars develop.
Star magnitudes are like golf scores, where the best numbers are the smallest. Our own \Jsun\j, for example, has a relative magnitude of -26.7 on the standard scale. The idea of absolute magnitude was first put forward by Ejnar Hertzsprung (1873 - 1967), who gave his name to the \JHertzsprung-Russell diagram\j.
In the table, a number of the nearest and brightest stars are listed: as you can see, some of them do not fit into both categories. The brightness of a star as we see it on \Jearth\j depends in part on the inverse square law, which says that the brightness of a glowing object is reduced to a quarter when the distance is doubled. But if we are going to estimate the absolute magnitudes of stars, we need to know how far away they are, so we can apply that law.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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#
"absolute temperature",136,0,0,0
This term is commonly used to refer to what is more correctly called the Kelvin \Jtemperature\j scale, in which \Jtemperature\j is measured in kelvin. One kelvin represents the same \Jtemperature\j difference as one \JCelsius\j degree, but the zero point on the scale is \Jabsolute zero\j, the \Jtemperature\j at which all movement and all vibration has ceased. A \JCelsius\j \Jtemperature\j may be converted to an absolute \Jtemperature\j by the addition of 273.15 to the \JCelsius\j value.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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#
"absolute zero",137,0,0,0
EN The \Jtemperature\j of a system for which a reversible isothermal process involves no heat transfer. It represents the state of lowest possible total \Jenergy\j of a system, and is denoted by 0┐K (-273..15░C). It is unattainable, according to the third law of \Jthermodynamics\j.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Absolute zero is the \Jtemperature\j at which molecules cease to have any rotational, translational or vibrational movement: they do not turn, they do not move sideways, and they do not vibrate in any way.
The existence of an \Jabsolute zero\j can be inferred from the way in which most gases contract by 1/273 of their volume at 0░C for each drop in the \Jtemperature\j by one degree \JCelsius\j. On this basis, an \Jideal gas\j will have zero volume at -273░C. In reality, no gas is ideal, and all gases have liquefied, and then solidified, before they reach this \Jtemperature\j, and so they retain a finite volume, even at \Jabsolute zero\j.
But even if gases did behave in an ideal way, there was an obvious contradiction, since below 0K, a gas sample would have a negative volume, and this led to the belief that there must be such a limiting \Jtemperature\j. This idealised relationship is usually referred to either as Charles's Law or as Gay-Lussac's Law, depending on which of these worthies is favoured by the writer.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"absolution",138,0,0,0
EN A declaration of forgiveness of sins. In Christian worship, it is understood as God's gracious work in Jesus Christ, pronounced by a priest or minister either in private after confession or as part of the \Jliturgy\j in public worship.
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"absolutism",139,0,0,0
EN A theory of kingship elaborated and practised in early modern Europe, associated notably with \JLouis XIV\j of \JFrance\j; sometimes equated loosely with systems of government in which one person exercises unlimited power. Absolute power was justified by the belief that monarchs were God's representatives on Earth.
Armed with this notion of Divine Right, kings were owed unquestioning obedience by their subjects; as a corollary, the powers of hereditary monarchs were tempered by concepts of fundamental law and responsibility to their subjects and to God.
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"absorbed dose",140,0,0,0
EN See \Jradioactivity\j units
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"absorption spectrum",141,0,0,0
The emission spectrum of an element depends on \Iexcited electrons,\i electrons which gain \Jenergy\j, and move into higher orbitals around a nucleus. As there are only a limited number of orbitals, each associated with a particular \Jenergy\j state, when an \Jelectron\j drops down into a lower orbital again, a certain amount of \Jenergy\j is emitted, equal to the difference in \Jenergy\j between the two orbitals.
This \Jenergy\j is emitted in the electromagnetic spectrum, often in the visible region that we see as light-a typical example is the "sodium flame" that we see when salt or glass (both sodium compounds) are heated in a gas flame, or in a "sodium lamp".
In a reverse operation, when white light shines through a group of atoms, some quanta of light which have just the right amount of \Jenergy\j, will be absorbed by atoms, with the \Jenergy\j being used to "promote" an \Jelectron\j into a higher orbital.
This jump will often involve "promotion" up through several orbitals, while the \Jelectron\j later drops back down by smaller stages, emitting quanta with other wave lengths, so the specific colour of light absorbed in the first place will never be seen, even with a delay, when the absorbed \Jenergy\j is released again. When light which has passed through a \Jcloud\j of atoms or ions is examined, the spectrum will show black lines at all those wave-lengths where light has been absorbed. The same thing applies to light which has come from a star, as the atoms in the star's outer layers will absorb light quite effectively.
This is extremely important in \Jastronomy\j, where the absorption spectrum gives us wonderful clues about the speed at which a body is travelling towards us or away from us. As a body moves towards us, there is a form of the Doppler effect known as a blue shift, and as it moves away, there is a red shift. These shifts cannot be measured just by looking at the light itself, as all frequencies move equally, but the absorption lines also move.
This is the theoretical basis of the work which has recently allowed Hubble Space \JTelescope\j scientists to take the spectra of stars more than fifty light years away, and to detect the local gravitational and tidal effects of orbiting planets, as seen in the absorption spectra of those stars.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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#
"abstract art",142,0,0,0
EN A form of art in which there is no attempt to represent objects or persons, but which relies instead on lines, colours, and shapes alone for its aesthetic appeal. It seems to have emerged c.1910, and was partly a reaction against 19th-c Realism and Impressionism. Early abstract artists include Kandinsky, Mir≤, Pevsner, and Brancusi. Stylistically, abstract art ranges from the 'geometrical' (Mondrian, \IDe Stijl,\i Constructivism) to the 'organic' (Arp, Moore).
More recent developments include action painting and Op Art. Historically, abstract tendencies have been present in one form or another in most cultures. Two trends should be distinguished: (a) the simplification, distortion, or reduction of natural appearances, characteristic not only of \JCubism\j, \JExpressionism\j, and many other kinds of \Jmodern art\j, but present too in much figurative art in earlier periods (such as \JMannerism\j), which always has its starting-point in objective reality; and (b) the total rejection - in theory, at least - of any dependence on natural appearances.
Such works establish their own 'reality' and are intended to appeal in their own right. Only the latter should, strictly speaking, be called 'abstract', but the term is often used imprecisely to cover a wide range of 20th-c art.
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"abstract expressionism",143,0,0,0
EN See action painting
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#
"absurd, theatre of the",144,0,0,0
EN see theatre of the absurd
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#
"absurdism",145,0,0,0
EN The expression in art of the meaninglessness of human existence. It is explored in Camus' \ILe Mythe de Sysiphe\i (1942, The Myth of Sisyphus), where human efforts are seen as pointless but compulsory. Its potential for comedy and terror has been exploited especially in the theatre \B(Theatre of the Absurd),\b as in the plays of Ionesco, Beckett, and Pinter.
BK a
#
"Abu al-Faraj",146,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bboo alfa\Braj\b]
HS , also known as \BBar-Hebraeus\b
DT1 1226
DT2 86
EN Syrian historian, born in Armenia. A master of \JSyriac\j, Arabic, and Greek, he was equally learned in philosophy, \Jtheology\j, and medicine. At the age of 20, he was made a bishop, and as Bishop of \JAleppo\j rose to the second highest dignity among the Eastern Jacobite (Monophysite) Christians.
SX m
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#
"Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani",147,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bboo alfa\Braj\b alisfa\Bhah\bnee]
DT1 897
DT2 967
EN Arabic scholar and literary historian, born in \JBaghdad\j. His greatest work, \IAl-Aghani,\i is a treasury of Arabic song and poetry.
SX m
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#
"Abu al-Hassan ibn al Haytham",148,0,0,0
EN See Alhazen
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#
"Abu Dhabi or Abu Zabi",149,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bboo \Bda\bbee]
EN pop (1995e) 883 000; area c.67 600 sq km/26 000 sq mi. Largest of the seven member states of the United Arab Emirates; capital Abu Dhabi, pop (1995e) 359 000; main oasis settlement, al-Ayn; vast areas of desert and salt flats; coastline 400 km/250 mi; a major oil region; petrochemical and gas liquefaction industry at Das I; power and \Jdesalination\j complex at Taweelah.
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"Ab√ MΓdε, IlyΓ",150,0,0,0
DT (?1890-1957)
EN poet; born in \JLebanon\j. He moved to \JEgypt\j where he worked as a tobacconist, then emigrated to the U.S.A. (1911). He published several books, notably \IAl-Jadowil,\i ("\IThe Brooks\i "), (1925). Largely self-taught, he set up a biweekly literary review, \Ial-Samir,\i in New York City (1929). It became a daily in 1936 and he edited it until his death. He was known as a romantic poet, a poet of moods.
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#
"Abu Mashar",151,0,0,0
EN See Albumazar or Abu-Mashar
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#
"Abu Mena",152,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bboo \Bmen\ba]
EN A site at Bumma, north-west \JEgypt\j, sacred to the 3rd-c AD martyr Abu Mena (St Menas). Many miracles were associated with his burial place, which was a centre of pilgrimage for almost 400 years. The ruins of the early 5th-c \Jbasilica\j erected here by Emperor Arcadius are a world heritage site.
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"Abu Nasr al-Farabi",153,0,0,0
EN See al-Farabi, Mohammed
BK bg a
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#
"Abu Nuwas",154,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bboo \Bnoo\bwas]
DT1a c.
DT1 760
DT2a c.
DT2 815
EN Poet, considered one of the greatest poets of the Abbasid period. He abandoned older, traditional forms for erotic and witty lyrics. He was a favourite at the court in \JBaghdad\j, and figures in the \IArabian Nights.\i
MEX \JAbbas\j
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Abu Simbel",155,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bboo \Bsim\bbel]
EN 22░22N 31░38E. The site of two huge \Jsandstone\j temples carved by Pharaoh Rameses II (c.1304-1273 BC) out of the Nile bank near \JAswan\j; now a world heritage site. They were dismantled and relocated in the 1960s when the rising waters of the newly-constructed \JAswan\j High Dam threatened their safety.
BK a
#
"Abu Tammam, Habib ibn Aus",156,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bboo \Bta\bmam]
DT1 807
DT2a c.
DT2 850
EN Poet, born near Damascus, \JSyria\j. He travelled extensively, and on one of his journeys discovered a private library of desert poetry at Hamadhan. From this he compiled a celebrated anthology of early Arab poetry, the \IHamasu.\i
SX m
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#
"Abu Zabi",157,0,0,0
EN See Abu Dhabi or Abu Zabi
BK a
XCY y
#
"Abu-Bakr or Abu-Bekr",158,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bboo \Bba\bker]
DT1a c.
DT1 573
DT2 634
EN The first Muslim caliph, one of the earliest converts to \JIslam\j, born in Mecca. He became chief adviser to Mohammed, who married his daughter A∩shah, and on the death of the \Jprophet\j was elected leader of the Muslim community (632). In his short reign he put down a religious and political revolt, and set in motion the great wave of Arab conquests over \JPersia\j, \JIraq\j, and the \JMiddle East\j.
MEX A∩shah; Mohammed
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Abu-Bekr",159,0,0,0
EN See Abu-Bakr or Abu-Bekr
BK bg a
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#
"Abuja",160,0,0,0
PN [a\Bboo\bja]
EN 9░05N 7░30E, pop (1995e) 412 000. New capital (from 1991) of \JNigeria\j, in Federal Capital Territory, C \JNigeria\j; planned in 1976, to relieve pressure on the \Jinfrastructure\j of Lagos; under construction at the geographical centre of the country; government offices began moving from Lagos in the 1980s.
BK Geog99
#
"abulia",161,0,0,0
EN A lack of drive or inability to make decisions or to translate decisions into action. The term was considered a cardinal feature of \Jschizophrenia\j by early psychiatrists, and can be paraphrased as 'the spirit is willing but the \Jenergy\j for action is lacking'.
BK a
#
"abundance",162,0,0,0
(1) The term used in ecological studies to describe the numbers of a particular species in an \Jecosystem\j. With large animals, it may be expressed in animals per hectare or square \Jkilometre\j. With \Jbacteria\j, it is more likely to be expressed as organisms per millilitre of fluid.
The methods used to assess abundance will depend on the organism, but must avoid any possibility of sampling bias. This generally means starting from a point selected on a map, or randomly selected at the site, and then proceeding in a pre-determined \Jstraight line\j, so that the sample collectors are not tempted to stray into or out of certain areas.
Large animals living on plains or open ground are generally assessed from the air, with an aeroplane flying over the area at a fixed height, while a trained observer counting every animal which is seen inside two markers on the plane. Typically, these markers, at the chosen height, define a strip which is 200, 500 or 1000 metres wide, so that the sampled area is a belt transect. If the length of the transect is measured, the observer immediately has an estimate of abundance in numbers per unit of area.
Plants and slow-moving animals are often more easily assessed with a ground-based study. A belt transect may be carried out by walking over the ground, counts all specimens which fall within a fixed distance of the pre-determined line. Small plants and sessile animals are often estimated by laying down a quadrat, a square frame, and counting the numbers which fall inside the area of the frame.
Quadrats must also be applied to the sampled area in a random way, and it is usual to take a number of samples with averaging, or sometimes the elimination of the highest and lowest counts, followed by averaging of the remainder.
(2)The term is also found used, generally as "natural abundance" when referring to the amounts of one or another of the \Jisotopes\j of an element (particularly an element which is radioactive) which are found in natural conditions. Such abundances are usually given in percentages.
The abundances of different \Jisotopes\j in a radioactive decay series is important in \Jgeology\j, as it can often give a good indication of the age of a mineral sample.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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#
"abuse of process",163,0,0,0
EN The unjust or improper use of a legal proceeding. In civil law, it refers to the bringing of a suit where there is no reasonable chance of success, or for such reasons as to burden the defendant with an onerous lawsuit. In criminal law, abuse of process covers a wide range of conduct. It most often involves deliberate and sometimes negligent delays in prosecution, so that the defence has an unrealistic chance of obtaining evidence to establish innocence.
It may also involve a further prosecution on slightly altered charges after an acquittal, in order to harass the defendant. When the conduct gives rise to genuine unfairness or \Jprejudice\j to the preparation or conduct of the defence, a resulting conviction may be overturned.
BK a
#
"abyssal hills",164,0,0,0
EN Low hills which occur on the deep sea floor. Large areas of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean floors and more than three-quarters of the Pacific floor are covered by these hills, no higher than about 1000┐m / 3000┐ft. They tend to occur as series of parallel ridges 1-10┐km / 1/2-6┐mi across, and represent the rugged \Jtopography\j of mid-ocean ridges subdued by burial beneath thick layers of sediments.
BK a
#
"abyssal plains",165,0,0,0
EN Extremely flat areas of the deep ocean floor which may extend for more than 1000┐km / 600┐mi. They typically have slopes less than 1:1000, and are found off continental margins where sediments can enter the deep sea unobstructed. They are common in the Atlantic and Indian oceans, but rare in the Pacific, where deep trenches and island arcs serve as barriers to the transport of sediment from the continents. Abyssal plains represent thick deposits of primarily land-derived sediments smoothing over more rugged topographic features of the sea floor.
BK a
#
"Abyssinia",166,0,0,0
EN See \JEthiopia\j
BK a
XCY y
#
"Abyssinian cat",167,0,0,0
EN A breed of domestic cat, popular in the USA (known as the \Bforeign short-haired); \b reddish-brown, each hair with several dark bands; orange-red nose; two types: \BAbyssinian\b \B(standard Abyssinian\b or \Bruddy Abyssinian)\b and the redder \Bred Abyssinian.\b
EN Feminist, lawyer, and politician, born in New York City, USA. She studied at Hunter College and Columbia University, and practised as a lawyer in New York City. A prominent peace campaigner, she founded Women Strike for Peace (1961) and the National Women's Political \JCaucus\j. Winning a seat in Congress (1971), she was a vigorous champion of welfare issues.
BK Biog99
#
"acacia",169,0,0,0
EN See wattle
BK a
XCY y
#
"AcadΘmie Francaise",170,0,0,0
EN See academy
BK a
XCY y
#
"Academus",171,0,0,0
EN See academy
BK bg a
XCY y az
#
"academy",172,0,0,0
EN A place of learning or association formed for scientific, literary, artistic, or musical purposes, the word deriving from the Greek hero \IAcademus,\i who gave his name to the olive grove where \JPlato\j taught (387 BC). From the Renaissance the term was applied in Europe to institutions of higher learning (eg the \IAccademia della Crusca,\i 1587) and advanced teaching (until the term 'university' became widespread in the 18th-c).
It was also used to describe societies of distinguished figures and experts in the arts and sciences (eg the \IAcadΘmie Francaise,\i 1634). Since the 19th-c, the term has been used in many countries for national centres to promote science, literature, and the arts.
BK a
#
"Academy Award",173,0,0,0
EN See Academy; 23815 Oscar
BK a
XCY y
#
"Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences",174,0,0,0
EN An American academy widely known since 1927 for its annual awards for creative merit and craftsmanship in film production. It has been influential in establishing technical standards.
The awards are announced in a widely publicized ceremony in March, and deal with a wide range of categories, including awards of merit for technical achievement in film science and \Jengineering\j, and special awards to individuals whose contribution to cinema has been preeminent.
The categories include:
Best Actor (Leading Role)
Best Actor (Supporting Role)
Best Actress (Leading Role)
Best Actress (Supporting Role)
Best Picture
Best Foreign Language Film
Best Achievement in Animated Short Films
Best Achievement in Art Direction
Best Achievement in \JCinematography\j
Best Achievement in Costume Design
Best Achievement in Directing
Best Achievement in Documentary Features
Best Achievement in Documentary Short Subjects
Best Achievement in Film Editing
Best Achievement in Live Action Short Films
Best Achievement in Makeup
Best Achievement in Music (Original Score)
Best Achievement in Music (Original Song)
Best Achievement in Sound
Best Achievement in Sound Effects Editing
Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
BK a
#
"Acadia",175,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkay\bdia]
EN Part of \JFrance\j's American empire; what is today Prince Edward Island, \JNova Scotia\j, and New \JBrunswick\j, Canada. The first settlement was established at Port Royal in 1605 by Champlain, and the area was exchanged between \JFrance\j and England until the Treaty of \JUtrecht\j (1713) handed most of \JAcadia\j to Britain. In 1755, 10┐000 Acadians were evicted from the territory by the British for resolving to pursue a policy of \Jneutrality\j in the conflicts between \JFrance\j and Britain. The last French stronghold, Louisbourg, fell in 1758.
BK a
#
"acanthus",176,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkan\bthuhs]
EN A plant with thick, prickly leaves \I(Acanthus spinosus),\i stylized representations of which are often used to decorate mouldings or carved parts of a building. It was first used by the Greeks in the 5th-c BC, especially on the capitals of Corinthian columns. In recent centuries it is often found in carved furniture decoration. \B(Family:\b Acanthaceae.)
BK a
#
"Acapulco",177,0,0,0
PN [aka\Bpul\bkoh]
EN 6░51N 99░56W, pop (1995e) 657 000. Port and resort town in Guerrero state, S Mexico; on the \JPacific Ocean\j, 310 km/193 mi SW of \JMexico City\j; airfield; leading Mexican tourist resort ("the Mexican Riviera'); Fort \JSan Diego\j; badly damaged by hurricane Pauline in 1997.
BK Geog99
#
"Acari",178,0,0,0
PN [\Bak\bariy]
EN See mite
BK a
XCY y
#
"ACAS",179,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bkas]
EN \JAcronym\j for \BAdvisory, Conciliation and \JArbitration\j Service,\b a UK body set up under the Employment Protection Act (1975) under the management of a council appointed by the \Jsecretary of state\j for employment. Its function is to provide facilities for conciliation, \Jarbitration\j, and mediation in industrial disputes.
BK a
#
"Accademia della Crusca",180,0,0,0
EN See academy
BK a
XCY y
#
"acceleration",181,0,0,0
EN For linear motion, the rate of change of velocity with time; equals force divided by mass; symbol \Ia,\i units m / s\U2\u; a vector quantity. For rotational motion, the rate of change of angular velocity with time; equals \Jtorque\j divided by moment of \Jinertia\j; angular acceleration symbol \fa\n, units radians / s\U2\u; a vector quantity.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Acceleration can mean a change in either speed, or direction, or both, and is defined as something which happens when a force acts on a mass. On this definition, a \Jsatellite\j moving in a regular 24 hour \Jorbit\j around the \Jearth\j, is said to be accelerating, even though it appears to be staying in one place.
This is just one of many examples of the way in which scientific understanding appears to be contrary to "common sense", but when Sir Isaac Newton "discovered gravity", the role of the legendary apple in his thinking was to make him wonder why the moon stayed in the sky when it was affected by the same gravitational pull as the apple.
Once Newton realised that a moving object would keep moving in a \Jstraight line\j, unless a force acted on it, and once he realised that circular motion could only happen if a force kept pulling on the orbiting object to keep it circling, the rest was easy.
(This is a bit like the "Columbus trick" of standing an egg on its end -- people are supposed to have told Columbus he had achieved little, that anybody could have done what he did, so he challenged them to stand an egg on end. When they failed, the legend tells us he struck the blunt end a quick blow on the table, cracking the shell inwards and making a flat surface on which the egg could stand. "That's easy," they said, to which Columbus supposedly said "It is now". Newton's trick in recognising that the moon was falling is in the same area of ease -- easy once somebody had done it.)
Acceleration is measured in terms of the change from one time unit to the next, so if an object is travelling at 30 metres per second, and a second later, is travelling at 35 metres per second, we say it is accelerating at 5 metres per second per second. If the force keeps acting in the same way (as a gravitational pull does), then we can predict that after a further nine seconds, the object will have accelerated to 80 metres/second. This sort of acceleration is called uniformly accelerated motion.
The beauty of this sort of calculation is that we can use it to calculate when a cannon ball will reach the highest point in its climb, before it starts to fall to \Jearth\j again, provided we know how fast it is travelling, the direction it is travelling in, and the acceleration due to gravity at that point. All that we have to do is remember that gravity is a vector quantity, so it has direction, and can produce either negative or positive acceleration, depending on whether the cannon ball is still going up, or whether it has started to fall back towards the ground.
(Throughout science, scientists have been able to get funding for their work by suggesting war-like uses for their inventions. \JGalileo\j Galilei suggested that the \Jtelescope\j would be useful in identifying ships while they were a long way off a port that they were attacking. "Gunnery tables" were one of the needs which drove the development of computers during World War II. So in the Renaissance, when physicists were able to explain the flight of a cannon-ball, the way was set to produce tables which would tell ignorant soldiers the angle and \Jgunpowder\j load needed to hit a target, and they were on a winner, so far as funding was concerned.)
Altogether, there are seven variables which can be measured or calculated about an accelerating or moving mass. These are the rate of acceleration (a), the force acting on the body (F, measured in newtons), the mass of the body (m, measured in kilograms), the time period under study (t, measured in seconds), the distance travelled during that time (s, measured in metres), the velocity at the start of the time (u, measured in metres per second or ms-1), and the velocity at the end of the time (v, also measured in metres per second or ms-1). These variables are linked together by these equations:
F = ma
v\U2\u = u\U2\u + 2as
v = u + at
s = ut + 1/2at\U2\u
Depending on the values which have been measured, the equations can be manipulated, according to the usual rules of \Jalgebra\j, so other values may be calculated, but all of these rely on the requirement that acceleration is uniform, which in turn requires that the force is constant.
The idea of acceleration comes to us from \JGalileo\j Galilei, who was probably the first to realise that it would be easier to time objects sliding down a slope than it was to time objects falling directly down. This, together with the primitive timing devices which he and his colleagues made, allowed \JGalileo\j to see clearly, for the first time, what acceleration really was.
Galileo used slow objects because he lacked any effective timing devices. If the shortest unit of time that you can estimate is a second, this makes it very hard to observe and measure any acceleration. He recognised that a sliding or rolling object is still subject to the same force, but in smaller amounts over a longer period of time. He also realised that the final speed at the bottom would be the same, whether it was achieved directly through a simple drop, or indirectly after running down a long ramp, the sort of ramp that physicists call an inclined plane.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK a
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"acceleration due to gravity",182,0,0,0
The gravity pull of the \Jearth\j is not uniform all over the world. In general, it is smallest at the equator, and it is greater at sea level than at a higher altitude. Another factor which plays a part is the mean density of the rocks closest to the point where the acceleration due to gravity is being measured.
The total pull is the sum of all of the small pulls, and close to a large mountain range, the principle of \Jisostasy\j ensures that the rock beneath the surface is less dense. In addition, the mass of rock above the \Jearth\j's surface in the nearby mountain actually produces a measurable upward component in the force due to gravity.
In the table shown, the American locations are all at close to the same latitude, while varying in altitude, the other locations have values given for sea level. All are actual measurements, with the exception of the \JNorth Pole\j value, which has been calculated from known data.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"accent",183,0,0,0
EN The emphasis on a syllable in speech, resulting from a combination of loudness, pitch, and duration; also known as \Baccentuation,\b and sometimes referred to as \Bstress.\b It can be clearly heard in the contrast between the two forms of \I\Bpres\bent\i (noun), \Ipre\Bsent\b\i (verb). A similar notion is found in music, where a particular note or beat can be given extra emphasis.
BK a
#
"accent (regional)",184,0,0,0
EN The features of pronunciation which mark a speaker's regional background or social class. Accent is to be distinguished from \Jdialect\j, which involves the study of other linguistic features, such as grammar and vocabulary.
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#
"accentor",185,0,0,0
EN A \Jsparrow\j-like bird native to N Africa, Europe, and Asia; brownish-grey to chestnut above, often streaked; grey beneath; feeds on ground; eats insects in summer, seeds in winter. \B(Genus:\b \IPrunella,\i 12 species. \BFamily:\b \JPrunellidae\j.)
BK a
#
"accentuation",186,0,0,0
EN See accent
BK a
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#
"acceptance",187,0,0,0
EN The act of adding one's signature to a bill of exchange, thus accepting a liability to pay the bill at maturity if the original signatory fails to do so. If the acceptor is of high financial standing, such as a merchant bank, this makes the bill more marketable. The acceptor is taking the risk, and makes a charge for this. In the UK the top accepting houses form the Accepting Houses Committee.
BK a
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"accepting house",188,0,0,0
EN A merchant bank which buys ('accepts') three-month bills of exchange issued by companies. In the UK, the top accepting houses in London form the Accepting Houses Committee.
BK a
#
"Accepting Houses Committee",189,0,0,0
EN See accepting house
BK a
XCY y
#
"Accesi",190,0,0,0
EN Two Italian acting companies, of the commedia dell'arte. Both begun under the patronage of Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duke of \JMantua\j, the first may have been founded around 1595, the other around 1600 by Tristano Martinelli and Pier Maria Cecchini. The troupe toured \JItaly\j and \JFrance\j and merged briefly with Giovan Battista Andreini's troupe, the Fedeli, before dissolving about 1626, at which time Silvio Fiorillo was the company's outstanding player in his role as Captain Matamoros.
BK Thea
#
"access",191,0,0,0
EN In law, a situation where custody of a child has been granted by a court to a parent or guardian following a divorce, a judicial separation, or the annulment of a marriage, and the non-custodial parent is given permission to be with the child. The court may permit the child to stay with the non-custodial parent on a regular basis or during the holidays, or may limit the non-custodial parent's access to visiting the child at his or her home.
Access may be refused if it is considered by the court not to be in the child's interests. Where a child is in the care of a local authority, both parents are normally permitted access, though in certain circumstances such access may be supervised.
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"access course",192,0,0,0
EN In the UK, a bridging course offered to would-be students not in possession of normal entry requirements which, on successful completion, will permit them to start the course of their choice. It is often provided specifically for students who have been prevented from obtaining formal qualifications, or who have been otherwise disadvantaged.
BK a
#
"access time",193,0,0,0
EN The length of time required to retrieve information from computer memory or other computer storage media, such as magnetic disks or tapes. Access times from integrated circuit memory are much shorter than those from magnetic disks.
BK a
#
"accessory",194,0,0,0
EN See \Jaccomplice\j
BK a
XCY y
#
"Accipitridae",195,0,0,0
EN \BEagles, hawks, vultures\b
Eagles and their kin (family \JAccipitridae\j, order Falconiformes) are frequently referred to as 'raptors' as a holdall term of convenience covering hawks, eagles, vultures, kites, and all other members of this large and varied cosmopolitan family of more than 200 species.
Some species are little bigger than thrushes, while others rival in size the largest of all flying birds. Most have exceptional powers of flight and sight, with strong hooked beaks and powerful, sharply-taloned feet. Most (but not all) hunt mainly by \Jday\j.
Females are usually larger than males-in some species nearly twice the size. Most are mainly black, brown, or gray in plumage, but polymorphism is widespread.
The raptors are so diverse as to defeat generalization, with many aberrant or specialized species, but five basic 'models' are widespread: kites, harriers, vultures, hawks, and eagles. One especially large and cosmopolitan group, the \Jgenus\j \IAccipiter\i with nearly 50 species, are specialized forest bird-catchers: they rely on stealth and sudden attack from cover, and they have short, rounded wings to maximize acceleration and long tails for maneuverability.
Typical members include the Northern Goshawk \IAccipiter gentilis\i of boreal forests across the Northern Hemisphere.
Vultures specialize in carrion, and scores of vultures of several species may congregate at a large carcass on the plains of Africa or India.
Many have specialist roles: the Lappet-faced Vulture \ITorgos tracheliotus,\i for example, eats mainly the skin, tendons, and other coarse tissue, leaving muscles and other soft parts to the Griffon vultures of the \Jgenus\j \IGyps; \i Hooded Vultures \INecrosyrtes monachus\i pick up the scraps, and Lammergeirs \IGypaetus barbatus\i tackle the large bones.
Many of the very large eagles (such as the Golden Eagle \IAquila chrysaetos\i of the Northern Hemisphere and the Wedge-tailed Eagle \IAquila audax\i of \JAustralia\j soar high over open country, relying on acute eyesight to locate small mammals on the ground. Members of the large and widespread \Jgenus\j \IButeo,\i as well as numerous snake-catchers, such as the Bateleur \ITerathopius ecaudatus\i of Africa, hunt in somewhat similar ways.
Several of the largest eagles, such as the unusually blue-eyed Monkey-eating Eagle \IPithecophaga jeffryi\i of the \JPhilippines\j are tropical forest-dwellers that specialize in eating monkeys. The white-tailed kites, such as the widespread Black-shouldered Kite \IElanus caeruleus,\i are small raptors that hover over open country like kestrels (\JFalconidae\j) and feed mainly on large insects.
Harriers, such as the Marsh Harrier \ICircus aeruginosus,\i are similarly widespread. Harriers have slight bodies and very large wings and long tails optimized for extremely slow flight; they fly in methodical search patterns low over grasslands, searching for mice and similar small prey in thick cover.
Other widespread groups are represented by the Black Kite \IMilvus migrans,\i a small scavenger common over much of the Old World, and the fish eagles, such as the majestic Steller's Sea Eagle \IHaliaeetus pelagicus\i of \JJapan\j and eastern \JSiberia\j and the Bald Eagle \IHaliaeetus leucogaster,\i symbolic bird of the United States of America.
Some raptors are extremely specialized. The Bat-hawk \IMachaerhamphus alcinus,\i for example, hunts mainly bats; the Osprey \IPandion haliaetus\i lives entirely on fish captured by plunge-diving; the Everglade Kite \IRostrhamus sociabilis\i preys exclusively on aquatic snails; the Eurasian Honey-buzzard \IPernis apivorus\i raids the nests of bees and wasps for their larvae; the Palm-nut Vulture \IGypohierax angolensis\i of West Africa (the only vegetarian raptor) subsists on fruit of the oil-palm.
Some species have anatomical specialization's, such as the remarkably flexible ankle joint of the African Harrier-hawk \IPolyboroides typicus,\i which facilitates groping in narrow tree cavities for the nestling birds and similar hole-dwellers on which it largely preys. There are behavioral specialties as well: the Egyptian Vulture \INeophron percnopterus,\i for example, throws stones at large eggs to break them.
Raptors inhabit all continents except \JAntarctica\j, and occupy all habitats from desert to \Jrainforest\j. Many are common, but some of the largest eagles require enormous hunting ranges; the magnificent Martial Eagle \IPolemaetus bellicosus\i of Africa, for example, needs about 200-300 square kilometers per pair, which may make it the most thinly-spread of all birds.
Vultures are largely confined by diet and foraging technique to regions of open country rich in large mammals, such as India and East Africa. Most tropical species are sedentary, but many species nesting across northern Eurasia and \JNorth America\j are strongly migratory.
Raptors form permanent pair-bonds and most nests are dispersed (though a few, such as the Letter-winged Kite \IElanus scriptus\i of arid \JAustralia\j, nest in colonies). Courtship displays are mostly aerial. Most species build leaf-lined nests of sticks in trees (but the harriers, \ICircus,\i nest on the ground).
Most species lay clutches of 2-3 eggs, but a few very small species lay up to 5-6. The incubation period varies (roughly according to size) from 28-50 days, and fledging periods range from 28 days to as much as 120 days in large eagles and up to 150 days in some vultures. Typically, the female incubates and cares for the young, the male fetches food for both mate and chicks.
BK wan
#
"acclimatization",196,0,0,0
(1)Plants and animals usually do best in the climate conditions under which they normally live. When they move to a new environment, the body slowly changes to become better able to deal with the new conditions. Athletes in particular need to become acclimatized to unusual situations, like running a marathon at high altitude (and low oxygen) in \JMexico City\j, as happened in the 1968 \JOlympic Games\j.
(2)A more common use of the term refers to the practice of introducing plants and animals to new environments, with the intention of either releasing them into the wild, or farming them. In most cases, the successfully introduced plants and animals have proven to be a problem, as they are placed in an environment where they lack natural predators which would keep them under control. Because of this, it is often possible to check the advance and spread of the new species, using biological control.
Examples of acclimatized species include birds from Europe in \JNorth America\j and \JAustralia\j, deer in \JAustralia\j and \JNew Zealand\j, wild horses in America and \JAustralia\j, while almost every crop plant used by humans today has been acclimatized for different environments. The same general principle of biological problems and control methods applies to weeds and animals which are introduced accidentally or allowed to escape into a new environment, such as mink and \Jcoypu\j in Britain, and tumbleweed (also called Russian Thistle, from Russia) in America.
Some species were introduced as biological controls, like the \Jmongoose\j, introduced into \JFiji\j and Hawaii to control rats, and the cane \Jtoad\j, \IBufo marinus,\i introduced into many Pacific islands and also into \JAustralia\j, to help control the cane beetle. In each case, the introduced species did not touch its target, but caused havoc to other wildlife, in part because it came from a similar habitat, and quickly settled in to its new home. Mongooses have also been introduced on St. Croix to control snakes, and caused damage there as well.
Other species like the bulbul (both \JAustralia\j and Hawaii) or the English \Jsparrow\j (Australia and the USA) were introduced because of their supposed aesthetic values. Starlings may well have been introduced into other countries for the same reason, and kudzu vine, now a major pest in the southern United States was originally introduced as a ground cover.
Yet other species just invaded with humans. Hawaii has a problem with what they regard as the brown tree snake of \JGuam\j. This snake wiped out many bird species on \JGuam\j after it arrived there from \JAustralia\j, probably by plane, and has been known to travel to the islands of \JMicronesia\j by plane, riding in cargo crates.
Mention of \JAustralia\j turns up in many of the best-known case studies, partly because it is a highly diverse continent with wide range of species ready to be exported, and has provided possums to \JNew Zealand\j, \IMelaleuca\i to \JFlorida\j and \IHakea\i to South Africa, and partly because the 19th century saw a wide range of enthusiastic and well-meaning "Acclimatization Societies" in the colonies which made up \JAustralia\j at that time.
These groups merrily sent animals to all parts of the world, and received animals in return which might be edible, or provide some easy form of economic exploitation, or even just "look nice" or "sound nice". Once again, the diversity of climate and existing biota in \JAustralia\j offered a large number of opportunities to new arrivals.
Australia's feral animals include \Jcattle\j, camels, horses, donkeys, cats, dogs, foxes, pigs, goats, rabbits, hares, rats, mice, \Jcarp\j, \Jtrout\j, mosquito fish, cane toads, and a wide range of birds.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"accommodation",197,0,0,0
Most of the focusing of light reaching our eyes comes from the action of the \Jcornea\j, while the last 25% is handled by the \Jlens\j of the eye. When the ciliary muscle which surrounds the \Jlens\j is relaxed, the \Jlens\j is able to focus distant objects onto the \Jretina\j. The \Jlens\j is flat when the ciliary muscle is relaxed, because a series of suspensory ligaments are pulling the \Jlens\j outwards in all directions.
To focus on closer objects, the eye needs to have a more powerful \Jlens\j, a fatter \Jlens\j, and that means tightening the ciliary muscle, pulling the ciliary process and the choroid forward to the \Jlens\j, loosening the hold of the ligaments, and allowing the elastic \Jlens\j to sag into a fatter shape.
The near point of vision is the closest point to which we can accommodate. For young people, this is about 10 cm (4 inches), but as people get older, and the \Jlens\j loses elasticity, this extends further away. Around the age of 40, the near point may have extended to 20 cm (8 inches), and around 60, it may be as great as 80 cm (30 inches) for an unaided eye. This loss of accommodation with age is called presbyopia.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"accomplice",198,0,0,0
EN A person who knowingly, voluntarily, and with a common interest participates with at least one other in committing a crime. The \Jaccomplice\j may be a \Iperpetrator\i \I(principal\i in the USA) or an \Iaccessory,\i ie someone who either incites the crime or assists the perpetrator before or after it has been committed.
BK a
#
"accordion",199,0,0,0
EN A portable musical instrument of the reed organ type, fed with air from bellows activated by the player. In the most advanced models a treble keyboard is played with the right hand, while the left operates (usually) six rows of buttons, producing bass notes and chords.
The earliest type was patented in Vienna in 1829, since when, despite continuous improvements to its tone and mechanism, it has remained primarily an instrument for popular music, though several major 20th-c composers, including Berg and Prokofiev, have written for it.
BK a
#
"accountancy",200,0,0,0
EN The profession which deals with matters relating to money within an organization. Traditionally its role was that of recording the organization's economic transactions; but it now handles a wide range of activities, including financial planning, management accounting, taxation, and treasury management (managing money), as well as recording and presenting accounts for management and owners.
The content and form of published accounts are set by company law, stock exchanges, and standards issued by professional \Jaccountancy\j bodies.
BK a
#
"Accra",201,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkrah\b]
EN 5░33N 0░15W, pop (1995e) 1 134 000. Seaport capital of \JGhana\j, on the Gulf of Guinea coast, 415 km/258 mi SW of Lagos; founded as three forts and trading posts, 17th-c; capital of Gold Coast, 1877; capital of \JGhana\j, 1957; airport; railway; university (1948) at Legon 13 km/8 mi W; food processing, fishing, brewing, \Jengineering\j, scrap metal trade, cacao, gold, timber, fruit, export of zoo animals.
BK Geog99
#
"accretion",202,0,0,0
EN In \Jastronomy\j, a process in which a celestial body, particularly a star in a binary star system, or a \Jplanet\j, accumulates extraneous matter falling in under gravity often from an orbiting disk. In binary stars this can cause intense X-ray emission.
BK a
#
"acculturation",203,0,0,0
EN A process involving the adoption and acceptance of the ideas, beliefs, and symbols of another society. This may occur by \Iimmigration,\i when incoming members of a society adopt its culture, or by \Iemulation,\i when one society takes on cultural features from another, such as happened in colonial contexts.
BK a
#
"Accum, Friedrich",204,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bkuhm]
DT1 1769
DT2 1838
EN Chemist, born in Buckeburg, \JGermany\j. In 1793 he came to London, where he pioneered the introduction of gas lighting, and did much to arouse public opinion against unclean food and dishonest trading.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"accumulator",205,0,0,0
EN A device to store electricity, by accepting a charge and later releasing it; also called a \Bbattery.\b It is a lead-acid system, with plates of lead \Joxides\j and an \Jelectrolyte\j of sulphuric acid. Each cell produces 2 volts of direct current. Accumulators are widely used to start car engines, and also to propel electric vehicles such as milk floats.
Other systems include nickel-iron \I(Nife)\i and nickel-cadmium \I(Nicad)\i plates, with alkaline electrolytes, producing 1..5 volts per cell. Some are made in small sizes, to replace torch and other batteries with rechargeable versions.
BK a
#
"accuracy",206,0,0,0
Accuracy in science has a number of aspects to it. If something is simply measured, there is normally a degree of uncertainty about it, because of the limits of the measuring instrument. If a value is calculated from measurements, then the result of the calculation is subject to all of the uncertainty of those measurements.
As a general rule, uncertainties are additive. If a result \Bc\b is obtained from measurement a which has an uncertainty of 1%, and measurement \Bb\b which has an uncertainty of 2%, then the uncertainty of \Bc\b is 3%. This is because you have no way of being sure that the two errors are not both operating in the "same direction" at any given time.
\BSignificant digits\b
In any value, there will be a number of significant digits, sometimes referred to as significant figures. These are the reliably known digits in the number. In the value 0.0081, there are two significant digits, as the zeros are merely place holders, while 3.2001 has five significant digits.
There is a particular problem with a number like 60. If we say that two towns are 60 km apart, this probably means "more than 55 but less than 65", so there is just one significant digit, but if the speed limit is 60 km/hr, there are two significant digits in the number, as any numerate police officer will explain while filling out your speeding ticket.
In the abc percentage example above, c is less certain than either \Ba\b or \Bb,\b but if \Bc = a/b,\b and the values of \Ba\b and \Bb\b are 32 and 77 respectively, how many people will report that the value of \Bc\b is 0.42, and how many will return their calculator's answer of 0.4155844155844? Since we have established that there is a 3% uncertainty in the value, all we can say is that the value probably lies between 0.41 and 0.43. Most of the digits produced in the calculator's display are not significant digits.
There is a reversal of this problem if you use a calculator to work out 2.5 x 3.2, since most calculators will simply give this as "8", when the most correct answer is "8.0", because the inputs each had two significant digits.
Spurious accuracy is often generated when calculations are carried out. A fire in London may be reported as having caused damage of "a hundred million pounds", probably meaning that the damage bill will be somewhere between 50 million and 150 million, but reporters who own calculators will normally convert this into dollars on the current exchange rate, all the way down to the last cent. A sign in a tree advertising "apples for sale, one mile ahead" will be converted to read "apples for sale 1.612 km ahead".
\BScientific notation\b
The common practice in science is to use exponential notation, otherwise called scientific notation, in order to make meanings clear. The value .0081 is written as 8.1 x 10\U-3\u, showing clearly that there are two significant digits. The number 48 500 can either be written as 4.85 x 10\U4\u, or as 4.850 x 10\U4\u, reflecting three and four significant figures respectively.
\BA point to ponder:\b A common source of false accuracy is in the collection of "sports statistics". It is strange but true, but if all the pundits who make a living from sports statistics were laid end to end, they still wouldn't agree. On a more serious note, what are the odds of Seles beating Hingis if Seles has won 19 of the 25 matches they have played together? Would you change your estimation if Hingis had lost the first nineteen, and then won the last six matches? With this in mind, what do you need, as well as some statistics, before you can make an accurate judgement?
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"accusatorial system",207,0,0,0
EN See prosecution
BK a
XCY y
#
"acetaldehyde",208,0,0,0
PN [asi\Btal\bdihiyd]
EN CH\D3\dCHO, IUPAC \Bethanal,\b boiling point 21░C. The product of gentle \Joxidation\j of \Jethanol\j, intermediate in the formation of acetic acid; a colourless liquid with a sharp odour. A reducing agent, the compound is actually the one detected in the 'breathalyzer' test.
BK a
#
"acetals",209,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bsitlz]
EN Substances of the general structure R\D2\dC(OR)\D2\d, formed by the reaction of an alcohol with an aldehyde, \Jwater\j also being formed. Internal acetal formation gives most sugars ring structures.
BK a
#
"acetate film",210,0,0,0
EN See safety film
BK a
XCY y
#
"acetic acid",211,0,0,0
PN [a\Bsee\btik]
EN CH\D3\dCOOH, IUPAC \Bethanoic acid,\b boiling point 118░C. The product of \Joxidation\j of \Jethanol\j. The pure substance is a viscous liquid with a strong odour. Its aqueous solutions are weakly acidic; partially neutralized solutions have a \JpH\j of about 5. Vinegar is essentially a 5% aqueous solution of acetic acid.
BK a
#
"acetone",212,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bsitohn]
EN CH\D3\dCOCH\D3\d, IUPAC \Bpropanone,\b boiling point 56░C. A volatile liquid with an odour resembling ethers. It is a very widely used solvent, especially for plastics and lacquers.
BK a
#
"acetyl",213,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bsitiyl]
EN CH\D3\dCO-, IUPAC \Bethanoyl.\b A functional group in chemistry, whose addition to a name usually indicates its substitution for \Jhydrogen\j in a compound.
BK a
#
"acetylcholine",214,0,0,0
PN [asitiyl\Bkoh\bleen]
EN An \Jacetyl\j \Jester\j of \Jcholine\j (C\D7\dH\D1\d\D6\dNO\D2\d\U+\u) which functions as a \Jneurotransmitter\j in most animals with nervous systems. In mammals it is present in the brain, spinal cord, and ganglia of the autonomic nervous system, as well as the terminals of motor neurones (which control skeletal muscle fibres) and the post-ganglionic fibres of the parasympathetic nervous system.
BK a
#
"acetylene",215,0,0,0
PN [a\Bset\bileen]
EN HC\f║\nCH, IUPAC \Bethyne,\b boiling point -84░C. The simplest alkyne, a colourless gas formed by the action of \Jwater\j on \Jcalcium\j carbide. It is an important starting material in organic synthesis, and is used as a fuel, especially (mixed with oxygen) in the oxyacetylene torch.
BK a
#
"Achaea",216,0,0,0
EN See \JAchaeans\j
BK a
XCY y
#
"Achaeans",217,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkee\banz]
EN In classical \JGreece\j, the inhabitants of Achaea, the territory to the S of the Corinthian Gulf.
BK a
#
"Achaemenes",218,0,0,0
EN See \JAchaemenids\j
BK a
XCY y
#
"Achaemenids",219,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkiy\bmenidz]
EN The first royal house of \JPersia\j, founded by the early 7th-c BC ruler, Achaemenes. Its capitals included Parsagadae, \JSusa\j, and \JPersepolis\j.
BK a
#
"Achard, Franz (Karl)",220,0,0,0
PN [ashah(r)]
DT1 1753
DT2 1821
EN Chemist, born in Berlin. He took up Andreas Marggraf's discovery of sugar in beet, and perfected a process for its extraction on a commercial scale, then in 1801 opened the first beet sugar factory, in \JSilesia\j.
MEX Marggraf
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Achebe, Chinua",221,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bchaybay]
HS , originally \BAlbert Chinualumogo\b
DT1 1930
EN Novelist, born in Ogidi, \JNigeria\j. He studied at the University College of Ibadan, and his early career was in broadcasting. He was in Biafran government service during the Nigerian \JCivil War\j (1967--70), and then taught at US and Nigerian universities. His first novel, \IThings Fall Apart\i (1958), presenting an unsentimentalized picture of the Ibo tribe, was heralded as a fresh voice in African literature, and has since been translated into over 40 languages.
Writing exclusively in English, his other novels include \IArrow of God\i (1964), \IAnthills of the Savanna\i (1987), which was short-listed for the Booker Prize, and \IA Tribute to James Baldwin\i (1989). He has also written short stories, poetry, and children's books. His essays include \IBeware, Soul Brother\i (1971) on his experiences during the War.
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1958 Things Fall Apart
1960 No Longer at Ease
1964 Arrow of God
1966 A Man of the People
1987 Anthills of the Savannah
1989 A Tribute to James Baldwin
\IStories\i
1962 The Sacrificial Egg and Other Stories
1972 Girls at War and Other Stories
\IChildren's Books\i
1966 Chike and the River
1972 How the Leopard Got His Claws
1978 The Flute
1978 The Drum
\IPoetry\i
1971 Beware, Soul Brother
1973 Christmas in \JBiafra\j and Other Poems
\IEssays\i
1975 Morning Yet on Creation Day
1983 The Trouble with Nigeria
1987 Hopes and Impediments: Selected Essays, 1965--87
\ICo-Editor\i
1971 Okike: an African Journal of New Writing
1971 The Insider: Stories of War and Peace from Nigeria
1978 Don't Let Him Die
1985 African Short Stories
BK Biog99
#
"Achelous, River",222,0,0,0
PN [akel\Boh\bus]
HS , Gr \BAkhel≤÷s\b
EN Second longest river of \JGreece\j; rises in the Pindus Mts, flows S through mountain gorges to the fertile Agrinion plain and enters the Ionian Sea opposite Cephalonia I; length 220┐km / 137┐mi.
BK a
#
"Achenbach, Andreas",223,0,0,0
PN [\Bakh\benbakh]
DT1 1815
DT2 1910
EN Landscape and marine painter, born in Kassel, \JGermany\j. He studied at St Petersburg, then travelled extensively in Holland, Scandinavia, and \JItaly\j, where he produced many \Jwater\j-colours. His paintings of the North Sea coasts of Europe had considerable influence in \JGermany\j, and he came to be regarded as the father of 19th-c German \Jlandscape painting\j.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"achene",224,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkeen\b]
EN A dry fruit, not splitting to release the single seed. It is usually small, often bearing hooks, spines, or other structures which aid in dispersal.
BK a
#
"Achernar",225,0,0,0
PN [a\Bker\bna(r)]
EN See Eridanus
BK a
XCY y
#
"Acheron",226,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bkeron]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the chasm or abyss of the Underworld, and the name of one of the rivers there which the souls of the dead have to cross. It is also the name of a river in Epirus, which disappeared underground, and was thought to be an entrance to \JHades\j.
BK a
#
"Acheson, Dean (Gooderham)",227,0,0,0
DT (1893-1971)
EN diplomat, lawyer; born in Middletown, Conn. He was educated at Groton School and Yale, and received his law degree from Harvard in 1918. He served in the navy during World War I, then as private secretary to Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis (1919-21).
After serving briefly as undersecretary of the treasury under Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933), he returned to private practice before becoming assistant \Jsecretary of state\j (1941-43) and a council member of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) (1943).
As undersecretary of state (1945-47), he helped formulate America's \JCold War\j "containment" policy vis-a-vis the \JSoviet Union\j and was closely involved in the creation of the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine. As secretary of state (1947-53) he was instrumental in the creation of \JNATO\j, the rebuilding and rearming of \JGermany\j, formulation of atomic policy, and the non-recognition of Communist China.
He advised Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and recommended withdrawal from Vietnam. His memoirs, \IPresent at the Creation\i (1969), received a Pulitzer Prize (1970).
BK AmBg
#
"Acheson, Edward Goodrich",228,0,0,0
DT (1856-1931)
EN inventor, metallurgist, electrical engineer; born in Washington, Pa. With little formal schooling, he invented a rock-boring machine for \Jcoal\j mines and by 1880 was working in Thomas Edison's lab. In the late 1880s he helped install electrical plants in Europe.
Back in America, he made several inventions (including electrical wire \Jinsulation\j), discovered Carborundum, and founded several companies that produced products he pioneered in developing for the electrothermal process - an electric furnace, artificial \Jgraphite\j, lubricants.
BK AmBg
#
"Acheson, Lila Bell",229,0,0,0
EN See Wallace, DeWitt
BK bg a
XCY y
#
"Acheulian",230,0,0,0
PN [a\Bshoo\blian]
EN In Europe, Africa, and Asia, a broad term for early prehistoric cultures using symmetrically-flaked stone handaxes. These first appear in E Africa (eg at Koobi Fora, \JKenya\j) c.1..5 million years ago, but were still being made c.150┐000 BC. In Europe they are characteristic of N \JFrance\j / England during the Lower Palaeolithic Age, c.300┐000-200┐000 BC. The name derives from finds made c.1850 at Saint-Acheul, a suburb of \JAmiens\j in the Somme Valley, N \JFrance\j.
BK a
#
"Acheulian tools",231,0,0,0
The Acheulian (also called Acheulean) tools can be distinguished from the earlier Oldowan tools (the primitive finds made in the Olduvai Gorge) by the way the makers retouched some of the larger flakes into objects which are far more clearly tools than anything in an Oldowan tool kit, which was basically made up of choppers and scrapers. Typically, the Acheulian tools include hand axes with both faces worked, and edges which go most of the way around the tool.
The simplest stone tool is a flake, struck from a \Jbasalt\j boulder, or some other fine-grained cobble, by hitting it on a second boulder. More complex tools are made when further blows release more flakes, but the best tools only come when both of the new faces are worked further, to refine the edge. The Oldowan tools could almost be mistaken for broken pieces of rock, although the best ones feel "just right" when they are held in the hand.
Even as casts, they have a "just right" feel when they are held in the right hand (to this writer and his students, that is), but felt far less comfortable in the left hand. While this is more inference than proof, studies of the directions of strike in flaking also point to a right-hand predominance as far back as 1.9 million years ago.
Working a cobble to get a bifacial flake requires a higher level of intelligence: it requires the ability to plan ahead, and a greater degree of spatial reasoning. The Acheulian tools that began to appear 1.5 million years ago, were bifacial handaxes. Sites as old as 800 000 years show clear evidence of suitable stone being carried several kilometres and up to 20 kilometres, showing either a highly-developed ability to plan ahead on the part of \IHomo erectus,\i or exchange networks, or both.
In European sites, the Acheulian tools are often divided into the Abbevillian (hard-hammer) tools and the Chellan (soft-hammer) tools, based on the implement used to touch them up. Oddly enough, given the early date at which they appear in Africa, some of the oldest European sites like Issernia in \JItaly\j and Vallonet in the south of \JFrance\j do not feature these tools at all. It is only the later sites, like Ambrona, Torralba, Boxgrove and Hoxne, which feature Acheulian tools. In later sites still, Mousterian tools are found.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"Achilles",232,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkil\beez]
EN A legendary Greek hero, son of Peleus and Thetis, who dipped him in the River \JStyx\j so that he was invulnerable, except for the heel where she had held him. When the Trojan War began, his mother hid him among girls on Scyros, but he was detected by Odysseus and so went to Troy.
The whole story of the \IIliad\i turns on his excessive pride; in his anger he sulks in his tent. When his friend \JPatroclus\j is killed, he rejoins the battle, kills Hector, brutally mistreats his body, but finally allows \JPriam\j to recover it. He was killed by Paris, who shot him in the heel with a poisoned arrow.
BK a
#
"Achilles tendon",233,0,0,0
The \Jtendon\j which connects the heel-bone or calcaneus to the calf muscle or gastrocnemius muscle. It gets its name from the legend of \JAchilles\j, whose only weakness was at his heel. The more correct name is calcaneal \Jtendon\j, reflecting the fact that the \Jtendon\j joins the calcaneus to the gastrocnemius.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"achondroplasia",234,0,0,0
PN [aykondro\Bplay\bzhuh]
EN An inherited form of \Jdwarfism\j, in which growth of the limb bones is disproportionately shortened. There is a characteristic bulging of the forehead, and a saddle nose. Circus dwarfs are commonly achondroplastic.
BK a
#
"achromatic lens",235,0,0,0
A \Jlens\j composed of several segments of different \Jrefractive index\j, so arranged that the different wavelengths of light, usually separated by chromatic \Jaberrations\j, are together again after passing through the \Jlens\j, although they get there by slightly different paths.
Typically, the achromatic \Jlens\j is made up of a doublet of two lenses cemented together with a clear adhesive. One of the lenses is diverging (biconcave), while the other is converging (biconvex), with each of the lenses having the same curvature, so they fit snugly together. They are also sometimes referred to more simply as "colour-corrected lenses".
It is generally not possible to correct all \Jaberrations\j with a single \Jlens\j pair, and the expensive lenses found in microscopes and cameras often contain a number of separate lens pairs, often referred to as elements of the compound lens.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"Achurch, Janet",236,0,0,0
DT 1864-1916
EN English actress. Her career is identified with Ibsen and Shaw. As a member of F.R. Benson's company in the 1880s, she established a reputation as a tragedian. On taking over the management of London's Novelty Theatre in 1889 she played Nora in the first British production of A Doll's House, returning to play Mrs Linde as her final stage appearance in 1911. In 1900 she starred in the premieres of \JCandida\j and Captain Brassbound's Conversion.
BK Thea
#
"acid",237,0,0,0
EN Usually, a substance reacting with metals to liberate \Jhydrogen\j gas, or dissolving in \Jwater\j with \Jdissociation\j and the formation of \Jhydrogen\j ions. Acids are classed as strong or weak depending on the extent to which this \Jdissociation\j occurs. More general concepts of acidity are that an acid is a proton donor or an \Jelectron\j pair acceptor. Strong acids are corrosive.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Most of the protonic acids, the acids which contain acidic \Jhydrogen\j atoms, exhibit a number of properties when they are in an aqueous solution, or dissolved in \Jwater\j. These are generally the properties of hydrated \Jhydrogen\j ions.
òThey cause changes in a number of coloured organic compounds, mainly vegetable \Jpigments\j such as litmus, so that these compounds are referred to as indicators;
òThey conduct an electric current;
òThe solutions taste sour and vinegary (this is best taken on trust, as strong acids can burn the tongue quite nastily-early chemists took all sorts of risks which we need not repeat);
òThey neutralise metal \Joxides\j and hydroxides, forming salts and \Jwater\j;
òUnless they are oxidising acids (like nitric acid), they react with metals more active than \Jhydrogen\j in the activity series, releasing \Jhydrogen\j as a gas.
As far back as 1680, Robert Boyle noted that acids dissolve many things, affect indicators such as litmus, and can be neutralised by bases, but until chemical analysis improved, there was little more that could be said about acids, although Antoine Lavoisier suggested that all acids had in common the fact that they contained oxygen.
By 1810, Sir Humphry Davy had shown that \Jhydrogen\j chloride was made up of just \Jhydrogen\j and \Jchlorine\j. The first useful theory of what an acid was came from Svante Arrhenius in 1884, when he suggested that acids are substances which contain \Jhydrogen\j, and produce \Jhydrogen\j ions in solution.
The "\Jhydrogen\j ions" of Arrhenius are still the common talk of chemistry classes, but in truth, naked protons probably do not exist in acids. Rather, we assume that most or all of the protons exist as hydronium ions (sometimes called hydroxonium ions), H3O+, formed by a proton attaching itself to a \Jwater\j molecule. With this being kept in mind, in the rest of this discussion, it will be referred to as a "proton".
The next advance came in 1923, when T. M Lowry (1874 - 1936) and J. N. Br°nsted (1879 - 1947) independently suggested an extended version of the Arrhenius theory, generally called either the Br°nsted theory, or the Lowry-Br°nsted theory, although American books tend to call it the Br°nsted-Lowry theory. Under their definition, an acid is a proton donor, and a base is a proton acceptor, while an acid-base reaction simply involves the transfer of a proton from the acid to the base. So when \Jhydrogen\j chloride is dissolved in \Jwater\j, the HCl is an acid donating a proton to a \Jwater\j molecule, which accepts the proton, and so is a base in this reaction.
The main implication of this theory is that certain chemical species can act as either an acid or a base, depending on the context. An example is the HS- ion, which can accept a proton to form \Jhydrogen\j sulphide, or donate a proton, leaving a S\U2-\u ion. A secondary implication is that each acid, in donating a proton, then becomes a base, able to accept a proton at some later time. The strength (or weakness) of an acid (or base) will depend on the attractions that the different species have for each other.
There was another advance in 1923, when the delightfully-named (for a scientist) Gilbert Newton Lewis (1875 - 1946) set out his theory that an acid is any species that can accept a share in an \Jelectron\j pair, while a base is any species that can "donate" a share in an \Jelectron\j pair. This theory, however, was not fully formulated until 1938.
On the Lewis definition, \Jboron\j trifluoride is an acid, although it does not qualify as a Lowry-Br°nsted acid. \JBoron\j trifluoride does not have a complete \Joctet\j of electrons around the \Jboron\j, and so the molecule can act as an electron-pair acceptor when it reacts with ammonia.
While the Lewis model is a more difficult one for the non-specialist to consider, it offers particular advantages to the chemist, in that it is a more general theory, and so can be used to explain more observable chemical effects. On that basis, the Lewis concept is the one generally favoured by chemists.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK a
#
"acid rain",238,0,0,0
EN A term first used in the 19th-c to describe polluted rain in Manchester, England. Colloquially it is used for polluted rainfall associated with the burning of \Jfossil\j fuels. Acid \Jpollution\j can be wet (rain, snow, mist) or dry (gases, particles). A number of gases are involved, particularly sulphur dioxide (SO\D2\d) and \Joxides\j of \Jnitrogen\j (NO). Reactions in the \Jatmosphere\j lead to the production of sulphuric acid (H\D2\dSO\D4\d) and nitric acid (HNO\D3\d).
In Europe c.85% of SO\D2\d in the air comes from the burning of \Jfossil\j fuels; chemical plants which remove the sulphurous emissions are being fitted to some power stations. The main emissions of \Joxides\j of \Jnitrogen\j, including (NO) and (NO\D2\d), are from \Jfossil\j-fuel power generation and the \Jinternal combustion engine\j. Acid rain is implicated in damage to forests and the acidification of soils and lakes.
In 1985, 19 countries formed the 'Thirty Percent Club', agreeing to lower their emissions of SO\D2\d by 30% by 1993, using 1980 emissions as the baseline. European Community states also agreed to reduce emissions of SO\D2\d by 20% of 1980 levels by 1993, with further reductions of 40% by 1998 and 60% by 2003.
The Commission on Long-Range Transboundary Air \JPollution\j also aims to reduce emissions of NO but, like emissions of SO\D2\d, these are the subject of international debate.
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"acid test",239,0,0,0
One form of acid test, the one best known to geologists and crystal collectors is the test for calcite. Calcite and \Jquartz\j can look very similar, and in some rocks with small crystals, testing for hardness is not easy. A drop of dilute hydrochloric acid gives us an answer straight away: if the mineral "fizzes", it is a carbonate, and so probably calcite, if it does not "fizz, you have a sample of \Jquartz\j.
The real "acid test" is used to identify gold, or more particularly, faked gold, which is an alloy of some other less valuable metal with some gold. One of the tests which is used by jewellers uses a black streak plate, and a streak taken from the metal. Gold is an unusual metal, because it is one of the few metals which resists acid. If you "streak" the metal across a piece of black pottery (Wedgwood, for example), the streak can then be tested with acid. The more it disappears, the more cheap metal there must have been in the original sample.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"acidic oxides",240,0,0,0
EN See \Joxides\j
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"Ackerley, Joseph (Randolf)",241,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bkerlee]
DT1 1896
DT2 1967
EN Writer, born in Herne Hill, Kent, south-east England, UK. In 1956 he published \IMy Dog Tulip,\i and in 1960 his only novel, \IWe Think the World of You,\i in which an Alsatian dog plays a lead role. He was also literary editor of \IThe Listener\i (1935-59).
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"Ackerman, Nathan W. (Ward)",242,0,0,0
DT (1909-71)
EN psychiatrist, family therapist, educator; born in \JRussia\j. Brought as a four-year-old to the U.S.A. (he became a citizen in 1920), he took his B.A. (1929) and M.D. (1933) at Columbia University. After serving a residency and on the staff of the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kans. (1935-37), he returned to New York City to become chief psychiatrist of the Jewish Board of Guardians (1937-51).
In addition to various other teaching and staff posts in the field of \Jpsychiatry\j, he was a professor of \Jpsychiatry\j at Columbia's medical school (1957-71). He was the recipient of many honors and authored numerous articles and books, but he was most widely known and honored for pioneering "family therapy" - namely, the approach that treated individuals with mental illness in the context of their families.
To this end he founded the Family Institute in 1960, now known as the Ackerman Family Therapy Institute, in New York City, a major clinical center as well as training ground for therapy that focuses on the psychodynamics of troubled families.
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"Ackermann family",243,0,0,0
EN The most important family of German actors in the 18th century. Having joined the Sch÷nemann troupe in 1740, Konrad (Ernst) (1712-71) soon left to set up his own troupe, along with Sophie Schr÷der (1714-92), whom he later married. The Ackermann troupe toured widely in Central and Eastern Europe and introduced to the German stage the genre of the bⁿrgerliches Trauerspiel, becoming widely known for the comparative realism of its acting, particularly after Ekhof joined the troupe in 1764.
After his stepfather's death, Friedrich Schr÷der took over the troupe, eventually settling it permanently in the \JHamburg\j Town Theatre. Ackermann's two daughters, Dorothea (1752-1821) and Charlotte (1757-74), were also actresses.
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"Ackermann, Rudolph",244,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bkerman]
DT1 1764
DT2 1834
EN Art publisher, born in \JSaxony\j, \JGermany\j. In 1795 he opened a print shop in London and published a well-known set of coloured engravings of London. He is said to have introduced \Jlithography\j as a fine art into England.
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"Ackroyd, Peter",245,0,0,0
DT1 1949
EN Writer, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, and spent some time at Yale. He is chiefly known for his biographical studies of Pound, T S Eliot, and Dickens, and also for his fiction, which includes \IThe Last Days of Oscar Wilde\i (1983), \IHawksmoor\i (1985, Whitbread), \IFirst Light\i (1989), \IDan Leno and the Limehouse Golem\i (1994), and \IMilton in America\i (1996). His other work includes poetry, \Jtelevision\j criticism, and regular reviews for \IThe Times\i since 1986.
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1982 The Great Fire of London
1983 The Last Days of Oscar Wilde
1985 Hawksmoor
1987 Chatterton
1989 First Light
1992 English Music
1993 The House of Doctor Dee
1994 Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem
\IPoetry\i
1973 London Lickpenny
1978 Country Life
1987 The Diversions of Purley
\IOther\i
1976 Notes for a New Culture
1979 Dressing Up
1980 Ezra Pound and His World
1984 T S Eliot
1990 Dickens
1991 Introduction to Dickens
1995 Blake
1996 Milton in America
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"Acland, Sir Richard (Thomas Dyke)",246,0,0,0
PN [\Bak\bland]
DT1 1906
DT2 90
EN British politician. He studied at Oxford, entered parliament in 1931, but resigned from the Liberals to found, with J B Priestley, the Common Wealth Party (1942). Consistent with its advocacy of public ownership on moral grounds, he gave away his Devon family estate to the National Trust. He became a Labour MP in 1945, but resigned in 1955 in protest against Labour support for Britain's nuclear defence policy.
MEX Priestley, J B
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"acne",247,0,0,0
PN [\Bak\bnee]
EN A chronic \Jinflammation\j of the sweat glands in the skin, notably affecting the face, upper chest, and back. It is particularly found in adolescents.
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"Aconcagua, Cerro",248,0,0,0
PN [akon\Bkag\bwa]
EN 32░39S 70░01W. Mountain rising to 6960┐m / 22┐834┐ft in \JMendoza\j province, W Argentina; in the \JAndes\j, E of the Chilean border; 112┐km / 70┐mi north-west of \JMendoza\j; the highest peak in the Western hemisphere; \JUspallata\j Pass at its S foot; first climbed in 1897 by the Fitzgerald expedition.
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"aconite",249,0,0,0
EN See monkshood; 3465 winter aconite
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"Acontius, Jacobus",250,0,0,0
EN See Aconzio, Jacopo
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"Aconzio, Jacopo",251,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkon\btsioh]
HS , Lat \BJacobus Acontius\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1500
DT2 66
EN Engineer, courtier, and writer, born in Trent, \JItaly\j. He went to \JBasel\j in 1557, and in 1559 to England, after repudiating \JRoman Catholicism\j. His antidogmatic \IStratagemata Satanae\i (1565) offers a very early advocacy of toleration.
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"acorn",252,0,0,0
EN The fruit of the oak tree, actually a specialized nut borne in a cup-shaped structure, the cupule.
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"acornworm",253,0,0,0
EN A worm-like, marine \Jinvertebrate\j, length up to 2.5┐m / 8 1/4┐ft; body soft, divided into a proboscis, collar, and trunk; gill slits supported by skeletal rods; c.70 species, found in soft intertidal and subtidal sediments. \B(Phylum:\b Hemichordata. \BClass:\b Enteropneusta.)
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"Acosta, (Bertram Blanchard) Bert",254,0,0,0
DT (1895-1954)
EN aviator, aeronautical engineer; born in \JSan Diego\j, Calif. One of the best-known civil aviators in the 1920s, he helped establish the first transcontinental (\JNorth America\j) mail service (1920) and set a number of early speed and endurance records. He was a member of the crew of the \IAmerica\i that made the sixth nonstop transatlantic flight (June 1927).
Although he made one more brief bid for glory by flying for the Loyalists in the Spanish \JCivil War\j in 1936, he was frequently in trouble with the law and his own \Jalcoholism\j, and he died penniless.
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"acouchi",255,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkoo\bshee]
EN A \Jcavy\j-like rodent; inhabits Amazonian forests; eats plants; resembles a small \Jagouti\j, but with a longer tail (white, used for signalling). \B(Genus:\b \IMyoprocta,\i 2 species. \BFamily:\b Dasyproctidae.)
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"acoustic beat",256,0,0,0
The effect of having two waves of very similar but different frequency. At certain times, the two waves are in the same phase, so that they add to each other. When they are in opposite phase, they cancel each other out. The number of beats per second is equal to the frequency difference of the two sources.
One common use of beats is in tuning \Jguitar\j strings. Once the lowest pitched string has been set to a reference tone from a tuning fork, a pitch pipe, or something similar, the others may then be tuned, one after another by clamping off the lower pitched string of a pair at the fifth fret (or the fourth, in one case), and controlling the tension of the higher pitched string, until no beats can be detected, then using the newly tuned string as the lower of the next pair of strings.
A less common version of acoustic beating can be found in older (World War II) vintage \Jaircraft\j, where the engines can occasionally be heard to show a beat phenomenon. This effect is even more marked in films made during that time, possibly as a way of demonstrating the faithfulness of the sound recording.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"acoustic coupler",257,0,0,0
EN A device which allows a computer or terminal to communicate with other computers over a \Jtelephone\j network using a standard \Jtelephone\j handset. Digitally coded data is transmitted as audio signals.
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"acoustics",258,0,0,0
EN The study of sound: the production, detection, and propagation of sound waves, and the absorption and reflection of sound. It includes the study of how electrical signals are converted into mechanical signals, as in loudspeakers, and the converse, as in microphones; also, how sound is produced in musical instruments, and perceived by audiences in concert halls; the protection of workers from damaging levels of sound; and the use of detection techniques, such as \Jsonar\j and ultrasonic scanning.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Practical \Jacoustics\j began in around 500 BC, when Greek theatres had open vases strategically placed around them to enhance sound levels by \Jresonance\j. Modern theatres are designed, as far as possible, to avoid "dead spots" where sounds reflected from different surfaces interfere with each other. Another major concern is to produce an auditorium which mimics the acoustic effects of a full auditorium, which means that an empty seat needs to have similar properties of absorption and reflection as a full seat.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Acquart, AndrΘ",259,0,0,0
DT 1922-
EN French stage designer. He is known primarily for his work in the 1960s on such productions as The Blacks (1959), directed by Roger Blin, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (1961), co-directed by Jean Vilar and Georges Wilson, and Biedermann and the Firebugs (1960), directed by Jean-Marie Serreau. His designs are abstract, utilizing skeletal structures such as tubes or movable flats and multiple playing levels.
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"acquired characteristics",260,0,0,0
The features of a living thing which are not inherited. The view of \Jevolution\j attributed to Lamarck (earlier espoused by Erasmus Darwin) was that the acquired characteristics like a blacksmith's brawny arms were inherited by the blacksmith's children, so that the term often appears as "the inheritance of acquired characteristics".
In a way, this simple belief is easy to understand: blacksmiths were probably naturally brawny to begin with, and if their children were trained to the forge, then they, too, would develop significant muscles, but only because they had inherited their father's genes and trade. It was and is an attractive belief, because it suggests that the efforts of the parents to improve themselves may not be entirely wasted. Sadly, attractiveness is not a key requirement for scientific theories.
The Lamarckian legend has it that Lamarck suggested that giraffes wanted (wished for) longer necks, their necks grew, and the longer necks were then inherited. In fact, Lamarck suggested that the giraffes had a want (a need) of longer necks, and that longer necks were inherited. In a sense, he was quite close to the Darwinian view of variability occurring in nature, with some variants being more successful than others.
The classical experiment refuting the inheritance of acquired characteristics is probably to be found in the need for certain cultures to continue circumcising their male offspring, and Charles Darwin recorded that in the Muslim \JCelebes\j (Sulawesi in modern \JIndonesia\j), boys went naked up to the age of six or seven, and a correspondent had assured him that the prepuces of boys there were noticeably shorter, \Jcircumcision\j being a later operation than is the Jewish practice.
A more formal experiment was carried out by August Weismann (1834 - 1914), who cut off the tails of mice through 22 generations, but obtained no shortening effect in the offspring.
The other "experiment" carried out on this effect is the celebrated "case of the midwife \Jtoad\j", the studies undertaken by Dr Paul Kammerer, which ended when he took his life in 1926. Born in 1880, Kammerer was well-known as a biologist in Vienna who was immensely skilful in breeding amphibians. One of these involved the two European salamanders, \ISalamandra atra,\i an \Jalpine\j species, and \ISalamandra maculosa,\i found in the lowlands, which produces tadpoles, unlike the \Jalpine\j species.
Kammerer apparently managed to demonstrate that the lowland species, bred under \Jalpine\j climatic conditions, produced live metamorphosed young, while the \Jalpine\j species in lowland climatic conditions, produced tadpoles after several attempts. More importantly, the changes became more pronounced after several generations.
Then came the work with the midwife \Jtoad\j, \IAlytes obstetricans,\i which mates on land. The male \Jtoad\j grips the female (amplexus) and holds on until the female lays eggs in \Jwater\j, and the male then covers these with sperm. For those species mating in \Jwater\j, the male grips the slippery female with small horny spines, called nuptial pads. The midwife \Jtoad\j, mating on land, does not need these pads. Kammerer reported that when the midwife \Jtoad\j was forced to mate in \Jwater\j, the males, over several generations, developed nuptial pads.
After many years' breeding, the strain of toads died out during the disruptions caused by the First World War, and one surviving male was preserved. One of the pads was converted into \Jmicroscope\j slides, the other survived on the preserved specimen. When this specimen was shown to have been injected with Indian ink to produce the "pad", a scandal broke out, leading to Kammerer's suicide.
To this \Jday\j, nobody knows who did the injecting. Some suggest Kammerer was a simple \Jfraud\j, others suggest that an assistant may have "touched up" a fading specimen. The best available account is in a book by Arthur Koestler, called \IThe Case of the Midwife Toad.\i The doctrine of inheritance of acquired characteristics was popular in Stalin's \JRussia\j, and the story of Kammerer was made into a propaganda film called \ISalamandra.\i
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Acre",261,0,0,0
EN 32░55N 35░04E, pop (1995e) 48 300. Ancient town in Northern district, NW Israel; resort centre on the \JMediterranean Sea\j; capital of the Crusader kingdom after capture of \JJerusalem\j in 1187; railway; ancient and modern harbour; fishing, light industry; \Jcrypt\j of the Knights \JHospitallers\j of St John, 18th-c city walls, 18th-c mosque.
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"acridine",262,0,0,0
PN [\Bak\brideen]
EN C\D13\dH\D9\dN, melting point 111░C. A \Jcoal\j-tar base structurally related to \Janthracene\j. An important class of dyestuffs is derived from it.
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"acrobatics",263,0,0,0
EN Form of physical entertainment. One of the most ancient and prevalent, it is represented in Egyptian and Etruscan murals by leapers and vaulters. The earliest work devoted to the subject is Arcangelo Tuccaro's Trois dialogues de l'exercice de sauter et voltiger en l'air (1599). The most basic move is the salto or leap into the air, in which neither hands nor feet must move.
All sorts of combinations are possible - backwards, forwards, sideways (the Arab jump), the flip-flop (a backward somersault from a standing position), and from trampolines and flying trapezes. The salto mortale or death-defying leap is so called from its dangerousness. A double salto mortale was first performed by an Englishman named Tomkinson in 1840.
Other forms of acrobatics include the antipodean, in which one acrobat lies on his back and juggles the other performer with his feet; and its offshoot, the Icarian games, invented by the Englishman Cottrelly c.1850, in which performers are tossed, balanced and caught by the feet of their partners, lying on specially constructed cushions.
In popular amusements like the commedia dell'arte and the \Jharlequinade\j, acrobatics is at a premium, but it is neglected by the dramatic stage, except in actors' training. Tom Stoppard in Jumpers (1972) used acrobatics as a \Jmetaphor\j for mental \Jgymnastics\j.
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"acromegaly",264,0,0,0
PN [akroh\Bmeg\balee]
EN An adult disorder which arises from the over-secretion of growth hormone by specific cells of the front pituitary \Jgland\j. There is enlargement of many tissues, with coarsening and thickening of the subcutaneous tissues and the skin. The skull, jaw, hands, and feet enlarge.
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"acronym",265,0,0,0
EN A word formed from the initial letters of the words it represents, as in \INATO\i (=\INorth Atlantic Treaty Organization),\i especially one which can be pronounced as a word. Some authorities distinguish acronyms from \Binitialisms\b (eg \IBBC)\i which have to be pronounced letter by letter.
Both should be distinguished from an \Bacrostic\b - a composition, usually a poem, in which typically the initial letters of the lines make up words. The pattern may also make use of letters from other parts of the lines or combinations of letters (such as the first and last), to produce a wide variety of puzzles and riddles.
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"Acropolis, The",266,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkro\bpolis]
EN The citadel of ancient \JAthens\j. Rising high above the city, the fortified outcrop contained the national treasury and many sacred sites and shrines, most of them (such as the \JParthenon\j and the Erechtheum) associated with the worship of Athene, the patron goddess of \JAthens\j. The present ruins date mainly from the second half of the 5th-c BC. The term \Iacropolis\i in its general sense is not restricted to \JAthens\j, but applies to any such citadel in ancient \JGreece\j.
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"acrostic",267,0,0,0
EN See \Jacronym\j
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"acrylic acid",268,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkril\bik]
EN CH\D2\d=CH.COOH, IUPAC \Bprop-2-enoic acid.\b The simplest unsaturated carboxylic acid. Its nitrile, CH\D2\d=CH.C\f║\nN, is the \Jmonomer\j of a range of polymers used as fibres and paints. Its methyl \Jester\j and the related CH\D2\d=C(CH\D3\d)-COOCH\D3\d, \Bmethylmethacrylate,\b form other polymers used in paints, \Jadhesives\j, and safety glass.
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"acrylic painting",269,0,0,0
EN An art form using plastic paints, ie colours mixed with a vehicle made from a polymethyl methacrylate solution in mineral spirits. Quick-drying but impermanent, it was popular in the 1960s with young painters whose works are now a source of worry to their owners - including many public galleries.
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"Act of Congress",270,0,0,0
EN A bill sanctioned by the US legislature, consisting of the two houses of Congress: the \JHouse of Representatives\j and the Senate. The bill must then be signed by the president to become law.
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"act of God",271,0,0,0
EN In law, any natural phenomenon such as an \Jearthquake\j or a hurricane which, without human intervention, exclusively and directly causes an accident; known in Scots law as a \Idamnum fatale.\i A gust of wind which directly causes a car to veer off the road constitutes an \Jact of God\j.
Heavy rain or \Jfog\j to which drivers do not respond appropriately, with the result that their negligence leads to an accident, is not an \Jact of God\j. The climatic conditions would have to be sufficiently exceptional for the defendant to overcome the test of foreseeability in a negligence action.
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"Act of Parliament",272,0,0,0
EN A bill which has passed five stages (first reading, second reading, committee stage, report stage, third reading) in both houses of the UK parliament, and received the royal assent. The same kind of procedure applies in other parliamentary systems, although the specific stages through which a bill passes may vary.
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"Actaeon",273,0,0,0
PN [ak\Btee\bon]
EN A hunter in Greek \Jmythology\j, whose story epitomizes the fate of a mortal who encounters a god. He came upon \JArtemis\j, the goddess of chastity, while she was bathing and therefore naked: she threw \Jwater\j at him, changing him into a stag, so that he was pursued and then killed by his own hounds.
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"acting",274,0,0,0
EN The impulse to make-believe and play is common to humanity. To act is both to do and to pretend to do. For both actor and spectator, the uncanny power of any performance springs from an ambiguous tension between what is actual and what is fictional.
This ambiguity is present in all acting, however much a particular society or individual may wish to resolve it. In the 20th century many Western theories of acting have stressed the integrity of the doing, while in the 18th century, for example, Europeans were more concerned with the authentic nature of the pretence, its style and social aptness.
Throughout history, the unease aroused by this ambiguity has been reflected in the status of the actor. Even in classical \JGreece\j (see Greek theatre, ancient), where acting had religious and political importance, there is evidence from the 4th century bc onwards that the technitai of Dionysus were viewed with ambivalence.
Certainly in \JRome\j acting was felt to be the work of slaves and aliens (see Roman theatre), while in modern Europe players long existed on the margins of law and religion (MoliΦre could not be buried in consecrated ground). This ambivalence can be traced elsewhere.
In Asia, outside the confines of local prestige, religious purpose or court patronage, performers were, and often still are, equated with wanderers and beggars. Although in ancient India actors were believed to trace their ancestry to a member of the highest caste, the priestly Bharata, sacred myths tell how they were soon condemned to the lowest caste for their satire and mockery of the sages.
Only through the intervention of kings could this ambivalence be allayed. In China, decrees from as early as 1369 banned actors from entering for state examinations.
The social assimilation of the acting profession in the West, around the beginning of the 20th century, was paralleled by sustained and serious evaluation of its art. In England, for example, Irving's knighthood in 1895, the first to be bestowed on an actor, was followed not only by further theatrical knighthoods (six before 1914) but also by the founding of the Academy of Dramatic Art (later RADA).
Similar developments are evident throughout Europe, most notably in \JRussia\j where for \JStanislavsky\j training combined with a radical analysis of the art. \JStanislavsky\j's accounts of his psycho-physical method constitute the first systematic examination of acting, in the West, written from the viewpoint of the actor. Earlier writings are either anecdotal or, as with Diderot, written from the perspective of the auditorium.
In the East, such approaches to practice can be found in works like the Natyasastra (c.200 bc) and Zeami's treatises on the n⌡ (c.1402-30). The systematic encoding of traditional acting genres found in such manuals emphasizes a performer's obligation to embody the received wisdom and aesthetics of particular styles and techniques.
Training in the genre rather than rehearsal for the individual play is paramount. In Asian theatre, the master-pupil relationship is ubiquitous. Imparting the traditional form through example, through long apprenticeship and disciplined physical preparation and practice, establishes the importance of performance over text, of the transmitted skill in its present- tense embodiment over individual expression.
The art of acting lies in showing and sharing an action, image, character or story. It is rooted in the present-tense encounter of actor with actor, and/or actor with audience. The material of the art is the body, voice and being of the performer. Different styles demand different skills of this material.
Bodily skills may range from the acrobatic and pantomimic, as in traditional Chinese theatre, through schematic languages of dance and gesture, as found in kutiyattam or \Jkathakali\j, to the faithful reproduction of everyday motions, as in Western \Jnaturalism\j.
Vocal skills likewise may range from song, through chant or declamation, to conversational speech. This is not simply a contrast between a presentational mode of acting with its emphasis on display and a representational mode with its stress on verisimilitude. It relates to a range of percepts of which masks and trance are an ambiguous part.
Acting works with living presence. This is of the utmost importance in performance and of the utmost contention in discussion. Contraries abound - inspiration versus technique, talent versus training. Kean or \JKemble\j, Irving or Coquelin, Duse or Bernhardt?
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"Acting Company",275,0,0,0
EN American company, originally known as the City Center Acting Company. John Houseman and Margot Harley organized the first graduating class of the drama division of the Juilliard School into a permanent repertory troupe, which began performing at the City Center in New York in 1972.
By 1984 it functioned as the touring arm of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. The company's members are selected nationally by auditions. Alumni of the company include Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, William Hurt and Christopher Reeve.
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"actinides",276,0,0,0
PN [\Bak\btiniydz]
EN Elements with an atomic number between 89 and 104 in which an inner \Jelectron\j shell is filling, the best known being uranium (92) and \Jplutonium\j (94). Those heavier than uranium are known as the \Itransuranic elements.\i All of their \Jisotopes\j are radioactive, and most are artificially made. They are chemically similar to \Jlanthanides\j.
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"actinomorphic flower",277,0,0,0
EN A flower which is radially symmetrical or of regular shape so that, if cut through the middle in any plane, each half is identical.
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"actinomycete",278,0,0,0
PN [aktinoh\Bmiy\bseet]
EN A typically filamentous bacterium. Most have branching filaments, forming a fungal-like network, and require the presence of oxygen for growth. They are usually found in soil and decaying vegetation, feeding as saprophytes. Some species are disease-causing in plants and animals, including the causative agents of tuberculosis and \Jpotato\j scab. \B(Kingdom:\b Monera. \BOrder:\b Actinomycetales.)
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"actinomycosis",279,0,0,0
PN [aktinohmiy\Bkoh\bsis]
EN An infection with \IActinomyces israeli,\i in which chronic abscesses are formed in many tissues, notably in and around the face and neck, where they discharge onto the skin. The filaments of the organism form yellow granular masses in the abscesses \I(sulphur granules),\i and can be seen with the aid of a \Jmicroscope\j.
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"action",280,0,0,0
EN In mechanics, the difference between kinetic \Jenergy\j \IK\i and potential \Jenergy\j \IV\i \I(K-V),\i summed over time; symbol \II\i or \IS,\i units J.s (joule.second). Formally, action is the sum over time of the lagrangian. It is crucial to the least-action formulation of mechanics, and to the path-integral formulation of quantum theory.
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#
"action painting",281,0,0,0
EN A form of abstract art which flourished in the USA from the late 1940s, its leading exponent being Jackson Pollock. The snappy term was introduced by the critic Harold Rosenberg in 1952 in preference to the more cumbersome \Iabstract \Jexpressionism\j,\i though the latter has not gone out of use. Many US art historians, for example, consider action painting to be a genre within abstract \Jexpressionism\j.
The physical act of applying paint to canvas is emphasized, rather than the picture as a finished artefact; so the paint is thrown or dribbled onto the canvas which may be tacked to the floor. Persons may roll naked or ride bicycles across the wet surface. In \JFrance\j, a similar movement was called \ITachisme\i \I(tache,\i 'blot, mark').
BK a
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"action potential",282,0,0,0
EN A brief electrical signal transmitted along a nerve or muscle fibre following stimulation. At the site of the action potential, the inside of the fibre temporarily becomes positively charged with respect to the outside, because of a transient change in the permeability of the fibre's plasma membrane to sodium and \Jpotassium\j ions (ie sodium flows in and later \Jpotassium\j flows out of the fibre). It provides the basis for the transmission of information.
BK a
#
"actions, limitation of",283,0,0,0
EN See limitation of actions
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#
"Actium, Battle of",284,0,0,0
PN [\Bak\btium]
EN (31 BC) The decisive victory of Octavian (later the Emperor Augustus) over the forces of Antony and Cleopatra off the coast of north-west \JGreece\j. It traditionally marks the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire.
BK a
#
"activated charcoal",285,0,0,0
EN Wood, carbonized by heating in limited air and treated with acid to make it adsorb large quantities of gases and polymeric materials from solution. It is used in gas masks, unducted cooker hoods, and vacuum technology, and for decolourizing solutions.
BK a
#
"activated complex",286,0,0,0
EN The arrangement of atoms during a \Jchemical reaction\j involving two or more reacting molecules which is unstable, and which decomposes either to regenerate starting material or to form products.
BK a
#
"active galaxy",287,0,0,0
EN See Galaxy (\Jastronomy\j)
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#
"activity (physics)",288,0,0,0
EN See \Jradioactivity\j units
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#
"Acton (of Aldenham), John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, Baron",289,0,0,0
DT1 1834
DT2 1902
EN Historian, born in Naples, \JItaly\j, grandson of Sir John Acton. He studied at St Mary's College, Oscott, Ireland, and at Munich University. He sat as a Liberal member of parliament (1859-64), and was created a baron in 1869. As a leader of the Liberal Roman Catholics in England, he opposed the doctrine of papal infallibility. In 1895 he was appointed professor of modern history at Cambridge, and was founder editor of the \ICambridge Modern History.\i
MEX Acton, Sir John
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"Acton, Sir John (Francis Edward)",290,0,0,0
DT1 1736
DT2 1811
EN British naval officer in the service of Tuscany and Naples, and prime minister of Naples under Ferdinand IV (reigned 1759-1806), born in Besancon, \JFrance\j. He became successively admiral and generalissimo of the Neapolitan forces, and then prime minister. He fell from power on the entry of the French into Naples in 1806 and fled to \JPalermo\j in \JSicily\j.
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"Actors Studio, The",291,0,0,0
EN American acting workshop. Founded in 1947 by Group Theatre alumni Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford and Robert Lewis, the Actors Studio is a unique workshop for professional actors. It is not a school; it charges no tuition fees and once an actor is accepted (by a rigorous audition process) he or she becomes a member for life. Under Lee Strasberg, its artistic director from 1951 to 1982, the Studio became renowned as the high temple of the Method.
Studio actors have been both praised for their psychological revelation and attacked for self-indulgence and \Jmannerism\j, but the influence of the Method is undeniable and has come to be identified as the quintessential American style. The enduring legacies are the films directed by Kazan and the performances of the Studio's many illustrious members - from Marlon Brando, James Dean and Montgomery Clift to Dustin Hoffman, Robert de Niro, Al Pacino, Shelley Winters, Geraldine Page and Frank Corsaro, who is the Studio's present artistic director.
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#
"Actors Theatre of Louisville",292,0,0,0
EN American theatre. One of the leading regional theatres, located in \JLouisville\j, Kentucky, it was founded by Richard Block and Ewel Cornett in 1964 and is noted for encouraging and producing original scripts. Block was replaced in 1969 by Jon Jory, whose leadership proved beneficial.
In 1972 the company moved to their present location, the Old Bank of \JLouisville\j Building. In 1977 the Actors Theatre initiated the Festival of New American Plays. Scripts such as Gin Game and Crimes of the Heart premiered at the Actors Theatre, moved to Broadway, and won Pulitzer Prizes for Drama.
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#
"Acts of the Apostles",293,0,0,0
EN A \JNew Testament\j book, the second part of a narrative begun in Luke's Gospel, which traces the early progress of Jesus's followers in spreading the Christian faith. It begins with the \Jresurrection\j and \Jascension\j of Jesus, but concentrates largely upon the growth of the \JJerusalem\j Church, its spread to \JSamaria\j and Antioch, and the missionary journeys of Paul to \JAsia Minor\j, the Aegean lands, and \JRome\j.
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"actual bodily harm",294,0,0,0
EN See bodily harm
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#
"actuary",295,0,0,0
EN A statistician specializing in life expectancy, sickness, retirement, and accident matters. Actuaries are employed by insurance companies and pension funds to calculate probability and risk.
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"actuator",296,0,0,0
EN A mechanical or electrical device used to bring other equipment into operation; sometimes called a \Bservomotor.\b It commonly refers to the equipment used for the automatic operation of brake valves in car or train brake systems.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
All control systems require that some action be taken on some external object, either a fuel, \Jwater\j or gas supply, or an alarm, or a warning light, or something else. This means an output device of some type has to be designed and built into the system.
These actuators, output devices for control, are as varied in their type and application as the sensors that feed information to the control system. All they have in common is that each one performs some physical action based on the inputs to the system. An electrical current in a conductor can cause a magnetic effect. If a current flows through a wire, there will be a weak magnetic field around the wire, and if you coil the wire up, the electrical field gets stronger, at least while the current is flowing. This is how solenoids work: they are coils of insulated wire, hollow in the centre (the coil, not the wire!). When electricity flows through the wire of the \Jsolenoid\j, this causes a magnetic field which can move a magnetised rod in or out of the centre of the coil, and this movement can then create some physical effect.
This physical effect can be used to create "electric relays", which turn electric switches on and off, allowing for indirect switching of signals in a system. A current flowing through one part of a circuit will activate a \Jsolenoid\j which then moves a metal rod to close another circuit allowing a current to flow there.
Most automatic washing machines use solenoids to control the \Jwater\j supply. A simple system such as a float senses the depth of the \Jwater\j, and the \Jsolenoid\j slams the \Jwater\j supply off as soon as the float reaches the right level. If your washing machine or dishwasher floods, this is usually because the \Jsolenoid\j has failed to work properly-these solenoids are generally cheap and easy to replace, provided you can work out where to look for them inside the machine.
Electric motors provide rotational movement in a process (that is, they make something turn or spin). Normal motors are limited in their usefulness in a control system, mainly because the amount of movement is difficult to control precisely, and stepper motors are usually a preferred choice.
These stepper motors turn in response to individual electrical pulses, each of which turns the motor shaft through a fixed angle (usually about 7.5 degrees). By controlling the number of pulses which are in the output, the stepper motor can be accurately positioned. The motors in scanners, disc drives, mechanical plotters and dot matrix printers are all stepper motors. Stepper motors are also common in robots, and are responsible for the whining noises made as a robot's limbs move.
Piston actuators consist of movable rods, working in much the same way as the \Jsolenoid\j but operated by non-electrical means such as pneumatics (gas) or \Jhydraulics\j (liquid) under pressure. Pistons work more slowly than solenoids, but they are much more powerful, and so they can move larger objects.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK a
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"actus reus",297,0,0,0
HS (Lat 'guilty act') and \B\Imens rea\i\b (Lat 'guilty mind')
EN Two elements which criminal law in common-law countries requires must be present in all crimes. The Latin maxim states: \IActus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea\i ('The intent \I(mens rea)\i and the act \I(actus reus)\i must both concur to constitute a crime'). The \Iactus reus\i is any overt act towards an intended crime, and may include an act of omission, if there is a legal duty to act; but the crime will not be committed unless the \Imens rea,\i the intent needed to commit that crime, is also present.
The type of intent required depends on the crime; in theft there must be intent to permanently deprive the victim of the property, while in murder there must be intent to kill.
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"Acuff, (Claxton) Roy",298,0,0,0
DT (1903-92)
EN country music singer, fiddler, songwriter; born in Maynardville, Tenn. Forced by poor health to abandon a promising \Jbaseball\j career, he polished his skills as a singer and fiddler and began to play publicly in 1932. He performed on radio in the 1930s with the \JTennessee\j Cracklers, then joined the "Grand Ole Opry" in 1938 with the Smoky Mountain Boys, becoming that radio program's first network broadcasting host.
During World War II he was immensely popular and became known as "the King of Country Music." In the 1940s he appeared in several films and toured the United States. His unique moaning singing style influenced such musicians as Hank Williams. Among his most famous songs are "The Great Speckled Bird" and "Wabash Cannon Ball."
Although his style of country music was somewhat pushed aside by the late 1950s, he continued to appear on "Grand Ole Opry"; he was a co-owner of Acuff-Rose, a music publishing company, and he remained active in \JTennessee\j Republican politics.
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"acuity",299,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkyoo\bitee]
EN Acuteness of perception, especially of vision or hearing; the smallest visual features (usually measured in terms of angular size in the retinal image) that can be seen, or auditory difference that can be heard. The bars of a fine grating can just be resolved when the spacing of the bars in the image is approximately equal to the diameter of a single retinal receptor (about a 500th of a \Jmillimetre\j).
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"acupressure",300,0,0,0
EN A system of treatment said to be the forerunner of \Jacupuncture\j. It involves the application of pressure using thumb and fingers, but sometimes also the palms, knees, elbows, and feet, to stimulate \Jacupuncture\j points and meridians. Practitioners may have a background in martial arts such as tai chi chuan, and the healing aspects of these arts include \Jacupressure\j techniques together with dietary advice and remedial exercises.
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"acupuncture",301,0,0,0
EN (Lat \Iacus\i 'needle' + \Ipunctura\i 'piercing') A medical practice known in China for over 3000 years, which has come to attract attention in the West. It consists of the insertion into the skin and underlying tissues of fine needles, usually made of steel, and of varying lengths according to the depth of the target point.
The site of insertion of each needle is selected according to the points and meridians related to the tissue or organ believed to be disordered, and several hundred specific points have been identified. Areas which are painful on pressure may also be selected ('trigger point' \Jacupuncture\j).
Studies are now in progress to establish which disorders benefit from \Jacupuncture\j, but \Jneuralgia\j, \Jmigraine\j, sprains, and \Jasthma\j are claimed to respond, while infectious disease and tumours are unlikely to do so. It is also employed as an analgesic during surgery in the Far East, where skills in local or general anaesthesia are often not easily available.
Today, \Jacupuncture\j is used widely among the general population in China; equipment can be purchased in shops, and used in the way simple pain killers are employed in the West. The efficacy of the method is now being subjected to statistically-controlled trials, but accounts of successes remain anecdotal. Its mechanism of action is also unknown.
In the terms of Chinese philosophy it is believed to restore the balance of the contrasting principles of \Iyin\i and \Iyang,\i and the flow of \IQi\i in hypothetical channels of the body \I(meridians).\i Research has shown that brain tissue contains \Jmorphine\j-like substances called \Iendorphins,\i which may be released in increased amounts when deep sensory nerves are stimulated by injury near the body surfaces. A possible mode of action therefore is that these substances are released by \Jacupuncture\j, and some degree of tranquillity and analgesia is induced.
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"acyl",302,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bsiyl]
EN IUPAC \Balkanoyl.\b In chemistry, the general name for an organic functional group R.CO-, where River represents H or an \Jalkyl\j group.
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"ADA",303,0,0,0
EN A computer programming language developed for the US Department of Defense which permits the development of very large computer systems, and can cope with complex real-time applications. It was named after Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, who worked with Charles Babbage.
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"Adad",304,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bdad]
EN The Mesopotamian god of storms, known throughout the area of Babylonian influence; the Syrians called him Hadad, and in the \JBible\j he is Rimmon, the god of thunder. He helped to cause the Great Flood in \IGilgamesh.\i His symbol was the \Jlightning\j held in his hand; his animal was the bull.
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"Adair, John",305,0,0,0
PN [a\Bdair\b]
DT1a c.
DT1 1655
DT2 ?
DT2 1722
EN Scottish surveyor and cartographer, who did notable work in mapping Scotland and its coast and islands. He prepared maps of counties in the central belt of Scotland (1680-6), and in 1703 published \IDescription of the Sea-Coast and Islands of Scotland\i (Part 1).
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#
"Adair, John (Eric)",306,0,0,0
PN [a\Bdair\b]
DT1 1934
EN British leadership-development consultant and writer. He studied at Cambridge, London, and Oxford universities, and developed his Action-Centred Leadership model while involved with leadership training at Sandhurst (1963--9) and as an associate director of the Industrial Society (1969--73).
The model states that a leader has to ensure that needs are met in three related areas - getting the task done, maintaining the team, and establishing the personal requirements of individual members.
BK Biog99
#
"Adair, Red",307,0,0,0
PN [a\Bdair\b]
HS , popular name of \BPaul Adair\b
DT1 1915
EN Fire-fighting specialist, born in Houston, \JTexas\j, USA. He is regularly called in as a troubleshooter to deal with major oil fires. In 1984 he and his team put out a major fire on an offshore rig near \JRio de Janeiro\j, and in 1988 they were the first men to board the Piper Alpha oil rig in the North Sea after it was destroyed by an explosion.
He was also one of the first called to extinguish the oil fires started in \JKuwait\j by Saddam Hussein at the end of the Gulf conflict (Operation Desert Storm, 1991). He is the subject of a film, \IHellfighters\i (1968), starring John Wayne.
BK Biog99
#
"Adalbert",308,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bdalbert]
DT1a c.
DT1 1000
DT2 72
EN German \Jarchbishop\j, born of a noble Saxon family. In 1043 he was appointed \JArchbishop\j of Bremen and \JHamburg\j. As papal legate to the North (1053), he extended his spiritual sway over Scandinavia, and carried \JChristianity\j to the Wends.
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#
"Adalbert, St (Benedictine missionary)",309,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bdalbert]
DT1 ?
DT2 981
EN Benedictine missionary. In 961 he was sent by Emperor Otto I at the request of St Olga, Princess of \JKiev\j, to convert the Russians. He became the first Bishop of \JMagdeburg\j in 968. Feast \Jday\j 20 June
MEX Olga; Otto I
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#
"Adalbert, St, known as the Apostle of the Prussians",310,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bdalbert]
HS , known as \Bthe \JApostle\j of the Prussians\b
DT1 956
DT2 97
EN Missionary priest, born in \JBohemia\j. In 982 he was appointed the first native Bishop of \JPrague\j, but the hostility of the corrupt \Jclergy\j obliged him to withdraw to \JRome\j in 990. He then took the Gospel to the Hungarians, the \JPoles\j, and finally the Prussians, who murdered him. He was canonized in 999; feast \Jday\j 23 April.
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#
"Adam and Eve",311,0,0,0
EN Biblical characters described in the Book of Genesis as the first man and woman created by God. Adam was formed from the dust of the ground and God's breath or spirit; Eve was made from Adam's rib. Biblical traditions describe their life in the garden of Eden, their disobedience and banishment, and the birth of their sons Cain, Abel, and Seth.
Their fall into sin is portrayed as a temptation by the serpent (the Devil) to disobey God's command not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Many further traditions emerged in later Jewish and Christian writings.
MEX Abel; Cain
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#
"Adam de la Halle",312,0,0,0
EN See Halle, Adam de la
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#
"Adam of Bremen",313,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2a c.
DT2 1085
EN Ecclesiastical historian. As a canon at Bremen Cathedral from c.1066, he compiled a monumental \IGesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum\i (History of the Archbishopric of \JHamburg\j, completed c.1075), the most important source for the history, \Jgeography\j, and politics of N Europe for the 8-11th-c.
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#
"Adam's needle",314,0,0,0
EN A species of yucca \I(Yucca gloriosa)\i native to south-east USA with short, woody trunk, stiff erect leaves, and numerous white bell-shaped flowers; commonly grown in gardens. \B(Family:\b Agavaceae.)
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#
"Adam's Peak",315,0,0,0
HS , Sinhala \BSri Pada\b
EN 6░49N 80░30E. Sacred mountain in \JSri Lanka\j, rising to 2243┐m / 7359┐ft north-east of Ratnapura; pilgrimages are made (Dec-Apr) to the foot-shaped hollow found on the mountain's summit, believed to be the footprint of \JBuddha\j by Buddhists, of Adam by Muslims, of the god Siva by Hindus, and of St Thomas the \JApostle\j by some Christians.
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"Adam, Adolphe (Charles)",316,0,0,0
PN [adπ]
DT1 1803
DT2 56
EN Composer, born in Paris. The son of the pianist \BLouis Adam\b (1758-1848), he wrote some successful operas, such as \ILe Postillon de Longjumeau\i (1835), but is chiefly remembered for the ballet \IGiselle\i (1841).
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#
"Adam, Auguste Villiers de L'Isle",317,0,0,0
EN See Villiers de L'Isle Adam, comte (Count) (Philippe) Auguste (Mathias)
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#
"Adam, James",318,0,0,0
EN See Adam, Robert
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#
"Adam, Juliette",319,0,0,0
PN [adπ]
HS , \InΘe\i \BLamber\b
DT1 1836
DT2 1936
EN Writer, born in Verberie, \JFrance\j. During the period of the French empire her salon became renowned for her gatherings of wits, artists, and politicians. She produced stories and books on social and political questions, and in 1879 founded the \INouvelle Revue.\i She later published her \IMΘmoires\i (1895-1905).
SX f
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#
"Adam, Louis",320,0,0,0
EN See Adam, Adolphe (Charles)
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#
"Adam, Paul (Auguste Marie)",321,0,0,0
PN [adπ]
DT1 1862
DT2 1920
EN Novelist and essayist, born in Paris. Among his numerous novels are \IChair Molle\i (1885) and \ILa Force\i (1899). He was co-founder of \ISymboliste\i and other French literary periodicals.
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#
"Adam, Robert",322,0,0,0
DT1 1728
DT2 92
EN Architect, born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, E Scotland, UK. He studied at Edinburgh and in \JItaly\j (1754-8), and became architect of the king's works (1761-9), jointly with Sir William Chambers. He established a practice in London in 1758, and during the next 40 years he and his brother \BJames Adam\b (1730-94), succeeded in transforming the prevailing Palladian fashion in \Jarchitecture\j by a series of romantically elegant variations on diverse classical originals.
One of their greatest projects was the Adelphi (demolished 1936), off the Strand, London. Good surviving examples of their work are Home House in London's Portland Square, and Register House in Edinburgh.
MEX Chambers, William; Kauffmann
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#
"Adamic, (Alojzij) Louis",323,0,0,0
DT (?1899-1951)
EN writer; born in Blato, \JSlovenia\j, Yugoslavia. He emigrated to America (1913), became a citizen (1918), and served in the United States Army in World War I. He lived in Milford, N.J., and wrote many articles, stories, and books based on his experiences in America and his former life in Yugoslavia, the best known being \IThe Native's Return: An American Immigrant Visits Yugoslavia and Discovers His Old Country\i (1934).
Although he supported Tito, he was opposed to Soviet \JCommunism\j, and when he was found dead of a gunshot wound, there was inconclusive speculation as to whether he had committed suicide or been murdered by Soviet agents.
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#
"Adamnan, St",324,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bdamnan]
DT1a c.
DT1 625
DT2 704
EN Monk, born in Co \JDonegal\j, N Ireland. At 28 he joined the Columbian brotherhood of Iona, and was chosen abbot in 679. He came to support the Roman views on the dating of Easter and the shape of \Jtonsure\j. His works include the \IVita Sancti Columbae\i (Life of St Columba), which reveals much about the Iona community. Feast \Jday\j 23 September.
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#
"Adamov, Arthur",325,0,0,0
DT 1908-70
EN French playwright. Armenian in origin, Adamov settled in Paris in 1924. Between 1947 and 1953 he completed seven plays. Influenced by Strindberg, they depict a world of terror and persecution stemming from Adamov's own dreams and neuroses, but with stage images that embody a whole state of mind. The masterpiece of this period is Professor Taranne (1953). In 1955 Adamov's Ping-Pong heralded a move towards a more politicized theatre.
His Paolo Paoli (directed by Roger Planchon, 1957) was praised as the first successful Brechtian play in \JFrance\j. Adamov's later successes were Off Limits (directed by Garran and Grⁿber, 1969) and Si l'ΘtΘ revenait (If Summer Returned), published in 1970. A. A. ThΘΓtres d'Adamov, a posthumous tribute directed by Planchon, was performed at the ThΘΓtre National Populaire in 1975.
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#
"Adams (nΘe Kiskadden), Maude",326,0,0,0
DT 1872-1953
EN American actress. Her adult career began in New York at 16 and in 1890 she began an association with producer Charles Frohman which lasted until 1915. In 1897 she capitalized on her eternal youthfulness and whimsy as Lady Babbie in The Little Minister, a character rewritten for her by Barrie.
She also starred in American productions of his Quality Street (1901), Peter Pan (1905), What Every Woman Knows (1908), The Legend of Leonora (1914) and A Kiss for Cinderella (1916). Other parts included the title role in Rostand's L'Aiglon, the strutting hero in his Chantecler, and Shakespeare's Viola, Juliet, Rosalind and Portia.
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#
"Adams, (Llewellyn) Sherman",327,0,0,0
DT (1899-1986)
EN governor, government official; born in East Dover, Vt. A lumber company executive and New Hampshire Republican legislator (1941-44), he served New Hampshire in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (1945-47). As governor (1949-53), he streamlined government and encouraged business development. As President Eisenhower's domineering chief of staff (1953-58), he resigned under pressure after accepting expensive gifts from businessmen. He later developed a ski resort.
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"Adams, Abigail",328,0,0,0
DT (1744-1818)
EN First Lady; born in Weymouth, Mass. A minister's daughter, she married John Adams in 1764, beginning a classic partnership that lasted for 54 years. She had no formal schooling but taught herself Latin and then educated her five children, one of whom, John Quincy Adams, became the sixth president. Adams was often away on government business and she ran the family farm in Quincy.
She and Adams maintained a long correspondence during those years of separation; her letters displayed a political bent which exceeded that of most Revolutionary period women. She was not overly happy as first lady; she resented both the expense of entertaining and the lack of privacy.
She and Adams resided in Philadelphia until 1800, when she supervised the move to Washington, D.C. Following the presidency, she continued her letter writing (Thomas Jefferson was one of her correspondents). She is the only woman to have been both the wife and the mother of U.S. presidents.
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"Adams, Alvin",329,0,0,0
DT (1804-87)
EN businessman; born in Andover, Vt. Orphaned as a child, he began working odd jobs at age 16. In 1840 in New York City he formed Adams & Company, an express package business between \JBoston\j and New York City. The company prospered, buying routes in New England (1841) and in the west and south as far as St. Louis (1842), eventually opening 35 offices in \JCalifornia\j (1849). In 1854 the Adams Express Company incorporated and expanded to Europe.
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#
"Adams, Ansel (Easton)",330,0,0,0
DT (1902-84)
EN photographer, conservationist; born in \JSan Francisco\j. A commercial photographer for 30 years, he made visionary photos of western landscapes that were inspired by a boyhood trip to \JYosemite\j. He won three Guggenheim grants to photograph the national parks (1944-58). Founding the f/64 group with Edward Weston in 1932, he developed zone exposure to get maximum tonal range from black-and-white film. He served on the Sierra Club Board (1934-71).
BK AmBg
#
"Adams, Brooks",331,0,0,0
DT (1848-1927)
EN historian, lawyer; born in Quincy, Mass. (grandson of President John Quincy Adams, son of Charles Francis Adams, brother of Henry Adams). After graduating from Harvard (1870), he served his father as secretary in Geneva and practiced law in \JBoston\j. His major historical work, \IThe Law of Civilization and Decay\i (1895), a cyclical view of history, influenced his brother Henry. He lectured on law at \JBoston\j University (1904-11).
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#
"Adams, Charles Francis",332,0,0,0
DT (1807-86)
EN diplomat; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. (son of John Quincy Adams, grandson of John Adams). He practiced law in \JBoston\j, wrote and edited family histories, and served in the \JMassachusetts\j legislature as a Whig. He was a member of the \JHouse of Representatives\j (Rep., Mass.; 1859-61).
As ambassador to \JGreat Britain\j (1861-68), he skillfully lobbied to keep Britain neutral during the \JCivil War\j. He declined the presidency of \JHarvard University\j, but served as one of the University's overseers.
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#
"Adams, Charles Kendall",333,0,0,0
DT (1835-1902)
EN university president, historian; born in Derby, Vt. As president of Cornell University (1885-92), he established new schools of law and history and political science and recruited a scholarly faculty. Known as a "building president," he greatly expanded enrollments and the campus of the University of \JWisconsin\j as president there (1892-1901).
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#
"Adams, Diana",334,0,0,0
DT (1926-93)
EN ballet dancer; born in Stanton, Va. She studied with Edward Canton and Anthony Tudor and appeared in two Broadway musicals before she joined the Ballet Theatre in 1943. There she performed featured roles in several ballets. She joined the New York City Ballet in 1950 where she created numerous roles until her retirement in the mid-1960s.
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#
"Adams, Douglas (Noel)",335,0,0,0
DT1 1952
EN Writer, born in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, EC England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, then worked as a writer, producing material for radio and \Jtelevision\j shows, and also for stage revues. He is known for his humorous \Jscience fiction\j novels, especially \IThe Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy\i (1979, originally a radio series, 1978, 1980, later televised). Later works include \IThe Meaning of Liff\i (1984, with John Lloyd), \IMostly Harmless\i (1992), and \IThe Illustrated Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy\i (1994).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1979 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
1980 The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
1982 Life, the Universe and Everything
1984 The Meaning of Liff (with John Lloyd)
1984 So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
1987 Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
1988 The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
1990 Last Chance to See... (with Mark Carwardine)
1990 The Deeper Meaning of Liff (with John Lloyd)
1992 Mostly Harmless
1994 The Illustrated Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
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"Adams, Edwin",336,0,0,0
DT 1834-77
EN American actor. He established himself during the \JCivil War\j as a travelling star distinguished for his playing of romantic or light comedy characters in such vehicles as The Lady of Lyons and Narcisse. In 1869, Edwin Booth selected him to play Mercutio opposite his Romeo for the opening of Booth's Theatre, where he later featured in the title role in a dramatization of Tennyson's Enoch Arden.
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"Adams, Franklin P. (Pierce)",337,0,0,0
DT (1881-1960)
EN journalist; born in \JChicago\j. A New York based columnist for four decades through 1941, Adams was better known under the byline "F.P.A." He had top writers vying to contribute to his "Conning Tower" where he also supplied his own crisp, humorous verse and wide-ranging commentary; on a regular basis he substituted a diary of his doings on the New York literary scene, in a style parodying 18th-century English diarist Samuel Pepys.
He was a panelist on the popular radio show \IInformation Please\i (1938-48) and he is also remembered for his 1910 verse, "Tinker to Evers to Chance."
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"Adams, Gerry",338,0,0,0
DT1 1948
EN Northern Ireland politician, born in \JBelfast\j, NE Northern Ireland, UK. He joined Sinn FΘin, and during the 1970s was interned because of his connections with the IRA. In 1978 he became vice-president of Sinn FΘin and later its president.
Elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1982, the following year he was also elected to the UK parliament as member for \JBelfast\j West, but he declined to take up his seat at Westminster. He achieved national prominence as the chief contact with the IRA during the events relating to the IRA ceasefire (1994--6), and retained his seat in the 1997 general election.
BK Biog99
#
"Adams, Hannah",339,0,0,0
DT (1755-1831)
EN compiler of historical data; born in Medford, Mass. Privately educated and in frail health from childhood, she was encouraged by a boarder in her family home to research comparative religions. Her \IAlphabetical Compendium of the Various Sects\i (1784) was well received and went into several editions in the United States and England.
Her other compilations include \IA Summary History of New England\i (1799), \IHistory of the Jews\i (1812), and \ILetters of the Gospels\i (1824). She is remembered as the first American woman to support herself by writing.
BK AmBg
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"Adams, Harriet S",340,0,0,0
EN See Stratemeyer, Edward L
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XCY y
#
"Adams, Henry (Brooks)",341,0,0,0
DT (1838-1918)
EN historian; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. (grandson of President John Quincy Adams, son of Charles Francis Adams, brother of Brooks Adams). After graduating from Harvard and studying law in \JGermany\j, he served as secretary to his father during the latter's term as ambassador to England (1861-68).
On returning to the U.S.A. he went to Washington, D.C., but, disillusioned by the new government, he turned to teaching both medieval and American history at Harvard (1870-77) (where he is credited with introducing the seminar system into U.S. education). He left teaching and returned to Washington, D.C., where although he had a small circle of elite friends, he remained out of step with the new nation; he expressed this in his novel \IDemocracy\i (1880).
He continued to publish biographies and a nine-volume \IHistory of the United States of America from 1801 to 1817\i (1889-91). After the death of his wife, Marian Hooper (1885), he traveled to many parts of the world but he always returned to Washington.
He privately published \IMont-Saint-Michel and Chartres\i (1904) and \IThe Education of Henry Adams\i (1907), but their success led to trade editions (1913 and 1918, respectively); the latter, now regarded as an idiosyncratic American classic, was his detached view of his problematic relationship with his times, and he did not have to deal with the irony of its receiving a posthumous Pulitzer Prize (1919).
BK AmBg
#
"Adams, Henry Cullen",342,0,0,0
DT (1850-1906)
EN U.S. representative; born in \JOneida\j County, N.Y. A dairy farmer in \JWisconsin\j, he was Dairy and Food Commissioner of \JWisconsin\j (1895-1902) and a Democratic congressman (1903-06). He championed the National Food and Drugs Act and Meat Inspection Laws.
BK AmBg
#
"Adams, Herbert Baxter",343,0,0,0
DT (1850-1901)
EN historian, educator; born in Shutesbury, Mass. Educated at Amherst College and Heidelberg, \JGermany\j, he joined the faculty of Johns Hopkins University at its inception (1876) and played a major role in the professionalization of American history.
His \IJohns Hopkins Studies in Historical and Political Science\i series (1877) set standards throughout the country. He was one of the founders of the American Historial Society (1884) and was its secretary until 1900.
BK AmBg
#
"Adams, Herbert Samuel",344,0,0,0
DT (1858-1945)
EN sculptor; born in West Concord, Vt. He studied in Paris (1885-90), taught at the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, (1890-98), and settled in New York City and Plainfield, N.H. He is noted for his marble and polychrome sculptures and for the bronze doors of St. Bartholomew's Church, New York City (1902).
BK AmBg
#
"Adams, John Bodkin",345,0,0,0
DT1 1899
DT2 1983
EN British physician. A general practitioner in Eastbourne, south-east England, UK, he was tried in March 1957 for the murder of one of his patients, Edith Alice Morrell. Morrell had died in mysterious circumstances, following long courses of heroin and \Jmorphine\j prescribed by Adams, who was a beneficiary of her will.
Although found not guilty, he was struck off the Medical Register, but reinstated in 1961. While some believed he had killed patients for personal gain, others have argued that he was practising a form of \Jeuthanasia\j.
SX m
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"Adams, John Couch",346,0,0,0
DT (1819-92)
EN British astronomer: predicted existence of Neptune.
As the son of a tenant farmer, Adams had financial problems in entering Cambridge, but his career was successful and he remained there throughout his life.
By 1820 it had become apparent to astronomers that the motion of Uranus could not be explained by Newton's law of gravitation and the influence of the known planets alone, since a small but increasing perturbation in its \Jorbit\j had been observed. While still an undergraduate, Adams proved that the deviation had to be due to the influence of an eighth, undiscovered, planet.
He sent his prediction for its position to Airy, the Astronomer Royal, who was sceptical of its value and ignored it. Only when Leverrier, in \JFrance\j, announced similar results 9 months later did Airy initiate a search by James Challis (1803-82) at the Cambridge Observatory, based on Adams's prediction.
The \Jplanet\j, now named Neptune, was however found first by Johann Galle (1812-1910) in Berlin in 1846, using Leverrier's figures. A bitter controversy about the credit for the prediction soon developed. Adams's precedence was eventually recognized, despite his taking no part in the debate. He turned down the subsequent offers of a knighthood and the post of Astronomer Royal.
BK Scie
#
"Adams, John Quincy",347,0,0,0
DT (1767-1848)
EN sixth U.S. president; born in Braintree (later Quincy), Mass. (son of John Adams). Reared for public service, he traveled in childhood on his father's diplomatic missions and at age 14 was private secretary to the American envoy at St. Petersburg. In 1787 he graduated from Harvard and was admitted to the bar in 1790.
Successively ambassador to the Netherlands, \JGreat Britain\j, \JPortugal\j, and Berlin, he was elected as a \JMassachusetts\j Federalist to the U.S. Senate (1803); in 1806, however, his support of Jefferson outraged New England Federalists and he lost his seat in 1808. In 1809 he was ambassador to \JRussia\j; in 1814, a member of the commission to negotiate peace with \JGreat Britain\j; and from 1815 to 1817, ambassador to \JGreat Britain\j.
As a brilliant \Jsecretary of state\j under President Monroe (1817-25), Adams negotiated with \JSpain\j the treaty for the acquisition of \JFlorida\j and wrote a good deal of the "Monroe Doctrine" (1823). In 1824 he won the presidential election over Andrew Jackson, but only after a close vote in the \JHouse of Representatives\j. Cold in manner and too independent to command a following, he was an ineffective president and lost to Jackson in 1828.
In 1831 he entered the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j where for the rest of his life he was a champion of the antislavery faction. In 1841 he successfully defended the African mutineers of the slave ship \IAmistad.\i He suffered a stroke while sitting in the House and died two days later.
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"Adams, John Quincy, Inaugural Address",348,0,0,0
\BInaugural Address
Friday, March 4, 1825\b
In compliance with an usage coeval with the existence of our Federal Constitution, and sanctioned by the example of my predecessors in the career upon which I am about to enter, I appear, my fellow-citizens, in your presence and in that of Heaven to bind myself by the solemnities of religious obligation to the faithful performance of the duties allotted to me in the station to which I have been called.
In unfolding to my countrymen the principles by which I shall be governed in the fulfilment of those duties my first resort will be to that Constitution which I shall swear to the best of my ability to preserve, protect, and defend. That revered instrument enumerates the powers and prescribes the duties of the Executive Magistrate, and in its first words declares the purposes to which these and the whole action of the Government instituted by it should be invariably and sacredly devoted-to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to the people of this Union in their successive generations.
Since the adoption of this social compact one of these generations has passed away. It is the work of our forefathers. Administered by some of the most eminent men who contributed to its formation, through a most eventful period in the annals of the world, and through all the vicissitudes of peace and war incidental to the condition of associated man, it has not disappointed the hopes and aspirations of those illustrious benefactors of their age and nation.
It has promoted the lasting welfare of that country so dear to us all; it has to an extent far beyond the ordinary lot of humanity secured the freedom and happiness of this people. We now receive it as a precious inheritance from those to whom we are indebted for its establishment, doubly bound by the examples which they have left us and by the blessings which we have enjoyed as the fruits of their labors to transmit the same unimpaired to the succeeding generation.
In the compass of thirty-six years since this great national covenant was instituted a body of laws enacted under its authority and in conformity with its provisions has unfolded its powers and carried into practical operation its effective energies. Subordinate departments have distributed the executive functions in their various relations to foreign affairs, to the revenue and expenditures, and to the military force of the Union by land and sea.
A coordinate department of the judiciary has expounded the Constitution and the laws, settling in harmonious coincidence with the legislative will numerous weighty questions of construction which the imperfection of human language had rendered unavoidable. The year of jubilee since the first formation of our Union has just elapsed; that of the declaration of our independence is at hand. The consummation of both was effected by this Constitution.
Since that period a population of four millions has multiplied to twelve. A territory bounded by the Mississippi has been extended from sea to sea. New States have been admitted to the Union in numbers nearly equal to those of the first Confederation. Treaties of peace, amity, and commerce have been concluded with the principal dominions of the \Jearth\j. The people of other nations, inhabitants of regions acquired not by conquest, but by compact, have been united with us in the participation of our rights and duties, of our burdens and blessings.
The forest has fallen by the ax of our woodsmen; the soil has been made to teem by the tillage of our farmers; our commerce has whitened every ocean. The dominion of man over physical nature has been extended by the invention of our artists. Liberty and law have marched hand in hand. All the purposes of human association have been accomplished as effectively as under any other government on the globe, and at a cost little exceeding in a whole generation the expenditure of other nations in a single year.
Such is the unexaggerated picture of our condition under a Constitution founded upon the republican principle of equal rights. To admit that this picture has its shades is but to say that it is still the condition of men upon \Jearth\j. From evil-physical, moral, and political-it is not our claim to be exempt. We have suffered sometimes by the visitation of Heaven through disease; often by the wrongs and injustice of other nations, even to the extremities of war; and, lastly, by dissensions among ourselves-dissensions perhaps inseparable from the enjoyment of freedom, but which have more than once appeared to threaten the dissolution of the Union, and with it the overthrow of all the enjoyments of our present lot and all our earthly hopes of the future.
The causes of these dissensions have been various, founded upon differences of speculation in the theory of republican government; upon conflicting views of policy in our relations with foreign nations; upon jealousies of partial and sectional interests, aggravated by prejudices and prepossessions which strangers to each other are ever apt to entertain.
It is a source of gratification and of encouragement to me to observe that the great result of this experiment upon the theory of human rights has at the close of that generation by which it was formed been crowned with success equal to the most sanguine expectations of its founders. Union, justice, tranquillity, the common defense, the general welfare, and the blessings of liberty-all have been promoted by the Government under which we have lived. Standing at this point of time, looking back to that generation which has gone by and forward to that which is advancing, we may at once indulge in grateful exultation and in cheering hope.
From the experience of the past we derive instructive lessons for the future. Of the two great political parties which have divided the opinions and feelings of our country, the candid and the just will now admit that both have contributed splendid talents, spotless integrity, ardent patriotism, and disinterested sacrifices to the formation and administration of this Government, and that both have required a liberal indulgence for a portion of human infirmity and error.
The revolutionary wars of Europe, commencing precisely at the moment when the Government of the United States first went into operation under this Constitution, excited a collision of sentiments and of sympathies which kindled all the passions and embittered the conflict of parties till the nation was involved in war and the Union was shaken to its center. This time of trial embraced a period of five and twenty years, during which the policy of the Union in its relations with Europe constituted the principal basis of our political divisions and the most arduous part of the action of our Federal Government.
With the catastrophe in which the wars of the \JFrench Revolution\j terminated, and our own subsequent peace with \JGreat Britain\j, this baneful weed of party strife was uprooted. From that time no difference of principle, connected either with the theory of government or with our intercourse with foreign nations, has existed or been called forth in force sufficient to sustain a continued combination of parties or to give more than wholesome animation to public sentiment or legislative debate.
Our political creed is, without a dissenting voice that can be heard, that the will of the people is the source and the happiness of the people the end of all legitimate government upon \Jearth\j; that the best security for the beneficence and the best guaranty against the abuse of power consists in the freedom, the purity, and the frequency of popular elections; that the General Government of the Union and the separate governments of the States are all sovereignties of limited powers, fellow-servants of the same masters, uncontrolled within their respective spheres, uncontrollable by encroachments upon each other; that the firmest security of peace is the preparation during peace of the defenses of war; that a rigorous economy and accountability of public expenditures should guard against the aggravation and alleviate when possible the burden of taxation; that the military should be kept in strict subordination to the civil power; that the freedom of the press and of religious opinion should be inviolate; that the policy of our country is peace and the ark of our salvation union are articles of faith upon which we are all now agreed.
If there have been those who doubted whether a confederated representative democracy were a government competent to the wise and orderly management of the common concerns of a mighty nation, those doubts have been dispelled; if there have been projects of partial confederacies to be erected upon the ruins of the Union, they have been scattered to the winds; if there have been dangerous attachments to one foreign nation and antipathies against another, they have been extinguished.
Ten years of peace, at home and abroad, have assuaged the animosities of political contention and blended into harmony the most discordant elements of public opinion. There still remains one effort of magnanimity, one sacrifice of \Jprejudice\j and passion, to be made by the individuals throughout the nation who have heretofore followed the standards of political party. It is that of discarding every remnant of rancor against each other, of embracing as countrymen and friends, and of yielding to talents and virtue alone that confidence which in times of contention for principle was bestowed only upon those who bore the badge of party communion.
The collisions of party spirit which originate in speculative opinions or in different views of administrative policy are in their nature transitory. Those which are founded on geographical divisions, adverse interests of soil, climate, and modes of domestic life are more permanent, and therefore, perhaps, more dangerous. It is this which gives inestimable value to the character of our Government, at once federal and national. It holds out to us a perpetual admonition to preserve alike and with equal anxiety the rights of each individual State in its own government and the rights of the whole nation in that of the Union.
Whatsoever is of domestic concernment, unconnected with the other members of the Union or with foreign lands, belongs exclusively to the administration of the State governments. Whatsoever directly involves the rights and interests of the federative fraternity or of foreign powers is of the resort of this General Government. The duties of both are obvious in the general principle, though sometimes perplexed with difficulties in the detail. To respect the rights of the State governments is the inviolable duty of that of the Union; the government of every State will feel its own obligation to respect and preserve the rights of the whole.
The prejudices everywhere too commonly entertained against distant strangers are worn away, and the jealousies of jarring interests are allayed by the composition and functions of the great national councils annually assembled from all quarters of the Union at this place. Here the distinguished men from every section of our country, while meeting to deliberate upon the great interests of those by whom they are deputed, learn to estimate the talents and do justice to the virtues of each other. The harmony of the nation is promoted and the whole Union is knit together by the sentiments of mutual respect, the habits of social intercourse, and the ties of personal friendship formed between the representatives of its several parts in the performance of their service at this metropolis.
Passing from this general review of the purposes and injunctions of the Federal Constitution and their results as indicating the first traces of the path of duty in the discharge of my public trust, I turn to the Administration of my immediate predecessor as the second. It has passed away in a period of profound peace, how much to the satisfaction of our country and to the honor of our country's name is known to you all.
The great features of its policy, in general concurrence with the will of the Legislature, have been to cherish peace while preparing for defensive war; to yield exact justice to other nations and maintain the rights of our own; to cherish the principles of freedom and of equal rights wherever they were proclaimed; to discharge with all possible promptitude the national debt; to reduce within the narrowest limits of efficiency the military force; to improve the organization and discipline of the Army; to provide and sustain a school of \Jmilitary science\j; to extend equal protection to all the great interests of the nation; to promote the civilization of the Indian tribes, and to proceed in the great system of internal improvements within the limits of the constitutional power of the Union.
Under the pledge of these promises, made by that eminent citizen at the time of his first induction to this office, in his career of eight years the internal taxes have been repealed; sixty millions of the public debt have been discharged; provision has been made for the comfort and relief of the aged and indigent among the surviving warriors of the Revolution; the regular armed force has been reduced and its constitution revised and perfected; the accountability for the expenditure of public moneys has been made more effective; the Floridas have been peaceably acquired, and our boundary has been extended to the \JPacific Ocean\j; the independence of the southern nations of this hemisphere has been recognized, and recommended by example and by counsel to the potentates of Europe; progress has been made in the defense of the country by fortifications and the increase of the Navy, toward the effectual suppression of the African traffic in slaves; in alluring the aboriginal hunters of our land to the cultivation of the soil and of the mind, in exploring the interior regions of the Union, and in preparing by scientific researches and surveys for the further application of our national resources to the internal improvement of our country.
In this brief outline of the promise and performance of my immediate predecessor the line of duty for his successor is clearly delineated.
To pursue to their consummation those purposes of improvement in our common condition instituted or recommended by him will embrace the whole sphere of my obligations. To the topic of internal improvement, emphatically urged by him at his inauguration, I recur with peculiar satisfaction. It is that from which I am convinced that the unborn millions of our posterity who are in future ages to people this continent will derive their most fervent gratitude to the founders of the Union; that in which the beneficent action of its Government will be most deeply felt and acknowledged.
The magnificence and splendor of their public works are among the imperishable glories of the ancient republics. The roads and aqueducts of \JRome\j have been the admiration of all after ages, and have survived thousands of years after all her conquests have been swallowed up in despotism or become the spoil of barbarians. Some diversity of opinion has prevailed with regard to the powers of Congress for legislation upon objects of this nature.
The most respectful deference is due to doubts originating in pure patriotism and sustained by venerated authority. But nearly twenty years have passed since the construction of the first national road was commenced. The authority for its construction was then unquestioned. To how many thousands of our countrymen has it proved a benefit? To what single individual has it ever proved an injury?
Repeated, liberal, and candid discussions in the Legislature have conciliated the sentiments and approximated the opinions of enlightened minds upon the question of constitutional power. I can not but hope that by the same process of friendly, patient, and persevering deliberation all constitutional objections will ultimately be removed. The extent and limitation of the powers of the General Government in relation to this transcendently important interest will be settled and acknowledged to the common satisfaction of all, and every speculative scruple will be solved by a practical public blessing.
Fellow-citizens, you are acquainted with the peculiar circumstances of the recent election, which have resulted in affording me the opportunity of addressing you at this time. You have heard the exposition of the principles which will direct me in the fulfilment of the high and solemn trust imposed upon me in this station. Less possessed of your confidence in advance than any of my predecessors, I am deeply conscious of the prospect that I shall stand more and oftener in need of your indulgence.
Intentions upright and pure, a heart devoted to the welfare of our country, and the unceasing application of all the faculties allotted to me to her service are all the pledges that I can give for the faithful performance of the arduous duties I am to undertake.
To the guidance of the legislative councils, to the assistance of the executive and subordinate departments, to the friendly cooperation of the respective State governments, to the candid and liberal support of the people so far as it may be deserved by honest industry and zeal, I shall look for whatever success may attend my public service; and knowing that "except the Lord keep the city the watchman waketh but in vain," with fervent supplications for His favor, to His overruling providence I commit with humble but fearless confidence my own fate and the future destinies of my country.
BK Webster
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"Adams, John, alias Alexander Smith",349,0,0,0
HS , alias \BAlexander Smith\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1760
DT2 1829
EN British seaman, and a ringleader in the mutiny against Captain William Bligh on the \IBounty\i in 1789. With other mutineers he founded a colony on Pitcairn I. When the island was visited in 1809 by the US sealer \ITopaz,\i Adams was the sole European survivor. Revered as the \Jpatriarch\j of the Pitcairn settlement, he received a royal pardon for his part in the mutiny.
MEX Bligh
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"Adams, John, Inaugural Address",350,0,0,0
\BInaugural Address in the City of Philadelphia
Saturday, March 4, 1797\b
When it was first perceived, in early times, that no middle course for America remained between unlimited submission to a foreign legislature and a total independence of its claims, men of reflection were less apprehensive of danger from the formidable power of fleets and armies they must determine to resist than from those contests and dissensions which would certainly arise concerning the forms of government to be instituted over the whole and over the parts of this extensive country. Relying, however, on the purity of their intentions, the justice of their cause, and the integrity and intelligence of the people, under an overruling Providence which had so signally protected this country from the first, the representatives of this nation, then consisting of little more than half its present number, not only broke to pieces the chains which were forging and the rod of iron that was lifted up, but frankly cut asunder the ties which had bound them, and launched into an ocean of uncertainty.
The zeal and ardor of the people during the Revolutionary war, supplying the place of government, commanded a degree of order sufficient at least for the temporary preservation of society. The Confederation which was early felt to be necessary was prepared from the models of the Batavian and Helvetic confederacies, the only examples which remain with any detail and precision in history, and certainly the only ones which the people at large had ever considered. But reflecting on the striking difference in so many particulars between this country and those where a courier may go from the seat of government to the frontier in a single \Jday\j, it was then certainly foreseen by some who assisted in Congress at the formation of it that it could not be durable.
Negligence of its regulations, inattention to its recommendations, if not disobedience to its authority, not only in individuals but in States, soon appeared with their melancholy consequences-universal languor, jealousies and rivalries of States, decline of navigation and commerce, discouragement of necessary manufactures, universal fall in the value of lands and their produce, contempt of public and private faith, loss of consideration and credit with foreign nations, and at length in discontents, animosities, combinations, partial conventions, and insurrection, threatening some great national calamity.
In this dangerous crisis the people of America were not abandoned by their usual good sense, presence of mind, resolution, or integrity. Measures were pursued to concert a plan to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty. The public disquisitions, discussions, and deliberations issued in the present happy Constitution of Government.
Employed in the service of my country abroad during the whole course of these transactions, I first saw the \JConstitution of the United States\j in a foreign country. Irritated by no literary altercation, animated by no public debate, heated by no party animosity, I read it with great satisfaction, as the result of good heads prompted by good hearts, as an experiment better adapted to the genius, character, situation, and relations of this nation and country than any which had ever been proposed or suggested. In its general principles and great outlines it was conformable to such a system of government as I had ever most esteemed, and in some States, my own native State in particular, had contributed to establish.
Claiming a right of suffrage, in common with my fellow-citizens, in the adoption or rejection of a constitution which was to rule me and my posterity, as well as them and theirs, I did not hesitate to express my approbation of it on all occasions, in public and in private. It was not then, nor has been since, any objection to it in my mind that the Executive and Senate were not more permanent. Nor have I ever entertained a thought of promoting any alteration in it but such as the people themselves, in the course of their experience, should see and feel to be necessary or expedient, and by their representatives in Congress and the State legislatures, according to the Constitution itself, adopt and ordain.
Returning to the bosom of my country after a painful separation from it for ten years, I had the honor to be elected to a station under the new order of things, and I have repeatedly laid myself under the most serious obligations to support the Constitution. The operation of it has equaled the most sanguine expectations of its friends, and from an habitual attention to it, satisfaction in its administration, and delight in its effects upon the peace, order, prosperity, and happiness of the nation I have acquired an habitual attachment to it and veneration for it.
What other form of government, indeed, can so well deserve our esteem and love?
There may be little solidity in an ancient idea that congregations of men into cities and nations are the most pleasing objects in the sight of superior intelligences, but this is very certain, that to a benevolent human mind there can be no spectacle presented by any nation more pleasing, more noble, majestic, or august, than an assembly like that which has so often been seen in this and the other Chamber of Congress, of a Government in which the Executive authority, as well as that of all the branches of the Legislature, are exercised by citizens selected at regular periods by their neighbors to make and execute laws for the general good.
Can anything essential, anything more than mere ornament and decoration, be added to this by robes and diamonds? Can authority be more amiable and respectable when it descends from accidents or institutions established in remote antiquity than when it springs fresh from the hearts and judgments of an honest and enlightened people? For it is the people only that are represented. It is their power and majesty that is reflected, and only for their good, in every legitimate government, under whatever form it may appear.
The existence of such a government as ours for any length of time is a full proof of a general dissemination of knowledge and virtue throughout the whole body of the people. And what object or consideration more pleasing than this can be presented to the human mind? If national pride is ever justifiable or excusable it is when it springs, not from power or riches, grandeur or glory, but from conviction of national innocence, information, and benevolence.
In the midst of these pleasing ideas we should be unfaithful to ourselves if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections. If an election is to be determined by a majority of a single vote, and that can be procured by a party through artifice or corruption, the Government may be the choice of a party for its own ends, not of the nation for the national good. If that solitary suffrage can be obtained by foreign nations by flattery or menaces, by \Jfraud\j or violence, by terror, intrigue, or venality, the Government may not be the choice of the American people, but of foreign nations. It may be foreign nations who govern us, and not we, the people, who govern ourselves; and candid men will acknowledge that in such cases choice would have little advantage to boast of over lot or chance.
Such is the amiable and interesting system of government (and such are some of the abuses to which it may be exposed) which the people of America have exhibited to the admiration and anxiety of the wise and virtuous of all nations for eight years under the administration of a citizen who, by a long course of great actions, regulated by prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude, conducting a people inspired with the same virtues and animated with the same ardent patriotism and love of liberty to independence and peace, to increasing wealth and unexampled prosperity, has merited the gratitude of his fellow-citizens, commanded the highest praises of foreign nations, and secured immortal glory with posterity.
In that retirement which is his voluntary choice may he long live to enjoy the delicious recollection of his services, the gratitude of mankind, the happy fruits of them to himself and the world, which are daily increasing, and that splendid prospect of the future fortunes of this country which is opening from year to year. His name may be still a rampart, and the knowledge that he lives a bulwark, against all open or secret enemies of his country's peace. This example has been recommended to the imitation of his successors by both Houses of Congress and by the voice of the legislatures and the people throughout the nation.
On this subject it might become me better to be silent or to speak with diffidence; but as something may be expected, the occasion, I hope, will be admitted as an apology if I venture to say that if a preference, upon principle, of a free republican government, formed upon long and serious reflection, after a diligent and impartial inquiry after truth; if an attachment to the \JConstitution of the United States\j, and a conscientious determination to support it until it shall be altered by the judgments and wishes of the people, expressed in the mode prescribed in it; if a respectful attention to the constitutions of the individual States and a constant caution and delicacy toward the State governments; if an equal and impartial regard to the rights, interest, honor, and happiness of all the States in the Union, without preference or regard to a northern or southern, an eastern or western, position, their various political opinions on unessential points or their personal attachments; if a love of virtuous men of all parties and denominations; if a love of science and letters and a wish to patronize every rational effort to encourage schools, colleges, universities, academies, and every institution for propagating knowledge, virtue, and religion among all classes of the people, not only for their benign influence on the happiness of life in all its stages and classes, and of society in all its forms, but as the only means of preserving our Constitution from its natural enemies, the spirit of sophistry, the spirit of party, the spirit of intrigue, the profligacy of corruption, and the pestilence of foreign influence, which is the angel of destruction to elective governments; if a love of equal laws, of justice, and humanity in the interior administration; if an inclination to improve agriculture, commerce, and manufacturers for necessity, convenience, and defense; if a spirit of equity and humanity toward the aboriginal nations of America, and a disposition to meliorate their condition by inclining them to be more friendly to us, and our citizens to be more friendly to them; if an inflexible determination to maintain peace and inviolable faith with all nations, and that system of \Jneutrality\j and impartiality among the belligerent powers of Europe which has been adopted by this Government and so solemnly sanctioned by both Houses of Congress and applauded by the legislatures of the States and the public opinion, until it shall be otherwise ordained by Congress; if a personal esteem for the French nation, formed in a residence of seven years chiefly among them, and a sincere desire to preserve the friendship which has been so much for the honor and interest of both nations; if, while the conscious honor and integrity of the people of America and the internal sentiment of their own power and energies must be preserved, an earnest endeavor to investigate every just cause and remove every colorable pretense of complaint; if an intention to pursue by amicable negotiation a reparation for the injuries that have been committed on the commerce of our fellow-citizens by whatever nation, and if success can not be obtained, to lay the facts before the Legislature, that they may consider what further measures the honor and interest of the Government and its constituents demand; if a resolution to do justice as far as may depend upon me, at all times and to all nations, and maintain peace, friendship, and benevolence with all the world; if an unshaken confidence in the honor, spirit, and resources of the American people, on which I have so often hazarded my all and never been deceived; if elevated ideas of the high destinies of this country and of my own duties toward it, founded on a knowledge of the moral principles and intellectual improvements of the people deeply engraven on my mind in early life, and not obscured but exalted by experience and age; and, with humble reverence, I feel it to be my duty to add, if a veneration for the religion of a people who profess and call themselves Christians, and a fixed resolution to consider a decent respect for \JChristianity\j among the best recommendations for the public service, can enable me in any degree to comply with your wishes, it shall be my strenuous endeavor that this sagacious injunction of the two Houses shall not be without effect.
With this great example before me, with the sense and spirit, the faith and honor, the duty and interest, of the same American people pledged to support the \JConstitution of the United States\j, I entertain no doubt of its continuance in all its \Jenergy\j, and my mind is prepared without hesitation to lay myself under the most solemn obligations to support it to the utmost of my power.
And may that Being who is supreme over all, the Patron of Order, the Fountain of Justice, and the Protector in all ages of the world of virtuous liberty, continue His blessing upon this nation and its Government and give it all possible success and duration consistent with the ends of His providence.
BK Webster
#
"Adams, John, U.S. president",351,0,0,0
DT (1735-1826)
EN second U.S. president; born in Braintree (now Quincy), Mass. He studied at Harvard and settled into law practice in \JBoston\j. Although he defended British soldiers after the \JBoston\j Massacre (1770), he had also shown "patriot" sympathies by pamphleteering against the Stamp Act in 1765.
Having gained prominence as a political thinker and writer, he was sent as a \JMassachusetts\j delegate to the First (1774) and Second (1775-77) Continental Congresses; he helped edit Jefferson's \JDeclaration of Independence\j and led the debate that ratified it (1776).
During the \JAmerican Revolution\j he chaired several committees and served on many more, was commissioner to \JFrance\j and Holland, and in 1779 drafted the influential \JMassachusetts\j constitution. After the war he was ambassador to England (1785-88), where he wrote the \IDefense of the \JConstitution of the United States\j.\i After eight frustrating years as vice-president under Washington (1789-97), he assumed the presidency (1797-1801).
The prickly Adams proved less able as a practical politician than as a theorist; his regime was torn by partisan wrangles between Hamiltonian Federalists and Jeffersonian Democrat-Republicans, all of whom he antagonized; his persistence in negotiating peace with \JFrance\j when his fellow Federalists were urging war cost him their support.
Meanwhile his Alien and Sedition Acts (1798), which virtually forbade criticism of the government, outraged many citizens. Defeated for reelection by Jefferson in 1800, Adams retired from public life. In later years he pursued an extensive correspondence with many men, including his one-time opponent Thomas Jefferson, and both men died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing of the \JDeclaration of Independence\j.
BK AmBg
#
"Adams, Leason Heberling",352,0,0,0
DT (1887-1969)
EN geophysicist; born in Cherryvale, Kans. In 1920, he and E. D. Williamson published their invention of a new method of \Jannealing\j optical glass; Adams gained further reknown for his research in the elastic properties of minerals and rocks at high pressure, especially as related to the composition of the \Jearth\j. He served as professor of \Jgeophysics\j at the University of \JCalifornia\j: Los Angeles from 1958 until his retirement in 1965.
BK AmBg
#
"Adams, Louisa (Catherine)",353,0,0,0
DT (1775-1852)
EN First Lady; born in London, England (mother of Charles Francis Adams, grandmother of Henry Adams). Daughter of a Maryland merchant and English mother, she met the young John Quincy Adams in London in 1795 when her father was the first U.S. consul; they were married in 1797.
Renowned for her beauty, and accustomed to a more elegant life than were the Adams clan, she stayed by her husband as he pursued his career of public service in Europe and Washington but she often suffered from both physical illness and mental depression. In 1840 she began a memoir, \IThe Adventures of a Nobody,\i but her many letters provide the most revealing glimpse of her world.
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#
"Adams, Marian Hooper ('Clover')",354,0,0,0
DT (1843-85)
EN hostess, photographer; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. Her mother died when she was five and she would remain extremely close to her wealthy physician father. Privately educated in Cambridge, Mass., she volunteered for the Sanitary Commission during the \JCivil War\j, then traveled abroad (1866), where she met young Henry Adams in London. Back in Cambridge, she and Henry married in 1872, and their home in \JBoston\j soon became an intellectuals salon.
In 1877 she and Henry moved to Washington, D.C., and now their home on Lafayette Square, across from the \JWhite House\j, again became the gathering place for a lively circle of intellectuals, politicians, and all who aspired to be among the elite. (Her gossipy letters to her father provide a superb view of the Washington of the \Jday\j.) She had by this time taken up photography and did her own developing.
She and Henry were planning a new home on Lafayette Square when her father died in 1885; profoundly depressed, she took her own life with a developing chemical. Henry Adams commissioned Augustus Saint-Gaudens to sculpt the brooding figure that marks her (and his) burial place in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington.
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#
"Adams, Richard (George)",355,0,0,0
DT1 1920
EN Novelist, born in Berkshire, S England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and after wartime service in the army worked as a civil servant in the Department of the Environment (1948--74). He made his name as a writer with the best-selling \IWatership Down\i (1972), an epic tale of a community of rabbits.
Later books include \IShardik\i (1974), \IThe Iron Wolf\i (1980), \IThe Bureaucrats\i (1985), \ITraveller\i (1988), and \ITales from Watership Down\i (1996). His \Jautobiography\j \IThe Day Gone By\i appeared in 1990.
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1972 Watership Down
1974 Shardik
1975 Nature Through the Seasons
1976 The Tyger Voyage
1977 The Ship's Cat
1977 The Plague Dogs
1978 Nature Day and Night
1980 The Girl in a Swing
1980 The Iron Wolf
1982 Voyage Through the Antarctic
1984 Maia
1985 The Bureaucrats
1985 A Nature Diary
1986 The Legend of Te Tuna
1988 Traveller
1996 Tales from Watership Down
\IPoetry\i
1986 Occasional Poets (anthology)
\IAutobiography\i
1990 The Day Gone By
BK Biog99
#
"Adams, Roger",356,0,0,0
DT (1889-1971)
EN chemist; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. After completing his graduate studies in \JGermany\j, he joined the faculty of the University of Illinois (1916-50s). He was influential in changing the emphasis of chemistry education in the U.S.A. from pure research toward a meshing of academic and industrial needs; the University of Illinois became particularly noted for providing chemists for industry. He is also regarded as one of the founders of the modern field of \Jorganic chemistry\j.
BK AmBg
#
"Adams, Samuel",357,0,0,0
DT (1722-1803)
EN politician, Revolutionary leader; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. (second cousin of John Adams). After studying law, he failed at several business enterprises, then devoted himself to politics. One of the first and most outspoken colonists to oppose British laws and policies, in the \JMassachusetts\j legislature (1765-74) he promoted corresponding with other colonies' leaders, wrote newspaper articles criticizing British rule, and composed and circulated a declaration of colonists' rights.
He helped organize the \JBoston\j Tea Party (1773) and by 1774 was advocating open resistance to Britain. He served in the First and Second \JContinental Congress\j and signed the \JDeclaration of Independence\j. At first he backed George Washington as commander-in-chief, but he criticized what he thought was an overly cautious pursuit of the war. Regarded as too radical by many, he resigned from Congress in 1781 but supported the Federal Constitution of 1787. He was governor of \JMassachusetts\j (1794-97).
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#
"Adams, Sir John",358,0,0,0
DT1 1920
DT2 84
EN British nuclear physicist, and founder member of CERN (Centre EuropΘan pour la Recherche NuclΘare) at Geneva. He went from school in London into the Siemens Research Laboratory in Woolwich, then worked on wartime radar development. At Harwell he engineered the world's first major postwar accelerator (the 180┐MeV cyclotron) in 1949.
At CERN he engineered the 25┐GeV proton synchroton (1954), and became director-general there in 1960. In 1961 he established the laboratory at Culham for research on controlled nuclear fusion, and was appointed controller of the new ministry of technology in 1964. He returned to Geneva to mastermind the building of the 450 GeV super-proton-synchroton (1969-76), and was director-general of CERN for a second time (1976-80).
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#
"Adams, Tony",359,0,0,0
DT1 1966
EN Footballer, born in Romford, Essex, SE England, UK. He played for Arsenal's youth team before joining the club as a centre back in 1983, eventually becoming team captain. He was the Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year in 1987. He captained England in 1994, 1995, and during the European Cup in 1996, and by the end of that year had won 46 caps, but he was hampered by injuries in 1997.
BK Biog99n
#
"Adams, Walter (Sydney)",360,0,0,0
DT (1876-1956)
EN US astronomer: discovered first white dwarf star.
Adams was born in \JSyria\j, where his American parents were missionaries, but he returned with them when he was 9 and was educated in the USA and in Europe.
Adams's work was principally concerned with the spectroscopic study of stars. He showed how dwarf and giant stars could be distinguished by their spectra, and established the technique of spectroscopic \Jparallax\j to deduce a star's distance. In 1915 he observed the spectrum of \JSirius\j B, the faint companion of \JSirius\j, and discovered it to be an exceptionally hot star.
Since it is only 8 light years distant he realized that it must therefore be very small (otherwise it would be brighter), and hence of very high density. \JSirius\j B proved to be a 'white dwarf' and the first of a new class of stellar objects; such stars are the final stage in the \Jevolution\j of stars of similar mass to the Sun, which have collapsed to form extremely dense objects.
Adams also searched for the relativistic spectral shift expected from a heavy star's presumed intense gravitational field. This he succeeded in finding in 1924, thereby proving his hypothesis about the nature of \JSirius\j B and strengthening the case for Einstein's \Jgeneral relativity\j theory as well. Adams spent most of his working life at the Mount Wilson Observatory in southern \JCalifornia\j, and was its director from 1923 until 1946.
BK Scie
#
"Adams, Will(iam)",361,0,0,0
DT1 1564
DT2 1620
EN Navigator, born in Gillingham, Kent, south-east England, UK. He took service with the Dutch in 1598, and reached \JJapan\j in 1600. The first Englishman to visit \JJapan\j, he was cast into prison as a pirate at the instigation of jealous Portuguese traders, but was freed after building two fine ships for \JShogun\j Ieyasu, receiving a pension, the rank of \Jsamurai\j, and 'living like unto a lordship in England' (1600-20).
MEX Tokugawa
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#
"Adams, William (Bridges)",362,0,0,0
DT1 1797
DT2 1872
EN Engineer and inventor, born in Madeley, Staffordshire, C England, UK. He built some of the first steam rail-cars, and in 1847 patented the fish-plate which is universally used for jointing rails.
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#
"Adams-Stokes attacks",363,0,0,0
EN Brief sudden periods of unconsciousness \I(syncope)\i resulting from a transient cessation of the action of the heart \I(asystole)\i or of a disorder of rhythm, such as ventricular fibrillation. The patient is pulseless, and may develop convulsions. Recovery is attended by flushing of the face, but sudden death may occur. The syndrome is named after physician William Stokes and surgeon Robert Adams, working in Dublin in the 19th-c.
BK a
#
"Adamson, Joy (Friedericke Victoria)",364,0,0,0
HS , \InΘe\i \BGessner\b
DT1 1910
DT2 80
EN Naturalist and writer, born in \JAustria\j. Living in \JKenya\j with her third husband, British game warden \BGeorge Adamson\b (1906-89), she studied and painted wildlife, and made her name with a series of books about the lioness Elsa: \IBorn Free\i (1960), \IElsa\i (1961), \IForever Free\i (1962), and \IElsa and Her Cubs\i (1965). She was murdered in her home by tribesmen.
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#
"Adamson, Robert",365,0,0,0
DT1 1821
DT2 48
EN Chemist and pioneer in photography, born in Scotland, UK. In 1843 he helped David Hill apply the calotype process of making photographic prints on silver chloride paper. Working together, they produced some 2500 calotypes, mainly portraits but also landscapes (1843-8).
MEX Hill, David
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#
"Adan",366,0,0,0
EN See Aden
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#
"Adana",367,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bdana]
EN 37░00N 35░19E, pop (1995e) 1 021 000. Commercial capital of Adana province, S Turkey, on R Seyhan; fourth largest city in Turkey; railway; airfield; university (1973); centre of a fertile agricultural region.
BK Geog99
#
"Adanson, Michel",368,0,0,0
PN [adπs⌡]
DT1 1727
DT2 1806
EN Botanist, born in Aix-en-\JProvence\j, \JFrance\j, the first exponent of classification of plants into natural orders, before Linnaeus. His works include \ILes Familles naturelles des plantes\i (1763, Natural Families of Plants). The \Jbaobab\j \Jgenus\j of African trees, \IAdansonia,\i is named after him.
MEX Linnaeus
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#
"adaptation (biology)",369,0,0,0
HS (\Jbiology\j)
EN The process of adjustment of an individual organism to environmental conditions. It may occur by natural selection, resulting in improved survival and reproductive success, or involve physiological or behavioural changes that are not genetic. As well as being a process, an adaptation can also be the end product of such a process, ie any structural, behavioural, or physiological character that enhances survival or reproductive success.
BK a
#
"adaptation (literature)",370,0,0,0
EN The process of taking a work of art from one medium and interpreting it in terms of another. The process can be seen in many domains: in the illustration of scenes from classical epic, \Jmythology\j, and the \JBible\j through the use of painting, statuary, and \Jstained glass\j; in the dramatization of sacred texts (eg the mediaeval miracle and mystery plays) and historical records (eg 'history plays'); and in prose versions of plays themselves (eg Lamb's \ITales from Shakespeare).\i With modern communications technology, adaptation has become a major source of cultural recycling.
Film and \Jtelevision\j (united via the video cassette) are particularly voracious, but radio and audio tapes also reprocess much written material. Shakespeare's plays have been imaged on film, voiced for radio, reduced for \Jtelevision\j, and even abstracted in \Jcartoon\j versions \I(The Animated Tales,\i 1992). The novels of Dickens have been a magnetic subject for film-makers, with David Lean's \IGreat Expectations\i (1946) a classic example.
Epics such as \IBen Hur\i and \IQuo Vadis?\i were soon exploited by the cinema, where biblical subjects have always exerted a fascination - as have the sacred texts of other cultures in their own film industries (the \JBombay\j 'theologicals'). \JHollywood\j became known as 'the writer's graveyard' (Fitzgerald), but adaptation thrived, and the Western proved to be a favourite subject. Meanwhile the relative intimacy of TV has offered scaled-down possibilities.
The domestic drama of Chekov, Ibsen, and Shaw has transferred successfully to the small screen, as have the novels of Jane Austen and Trollope. The adaptation process works both ways, as fictions may also bear the impress of cinematic technique (eg James Joyce, Graham Greene, Salman Rushdie).
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"adaptive optics",371,0,0,0
EN The continual adjustment of optical components to counter the effects of distortions introduced during the passage of light from object to imaging device. The field is especially important in \Jastronomy\j, where adaptive optical techniques will allow most distortion due to atmospheric turbulence to be removed, improving the resolution of ground-based optical telescopes by up to one thousand times.
BK a
#
"adaptive radiation",372,0,0,0
EN A burst of \Jevolution\j in which a single ancestral type diverges to fill a number of different ecological roles or modes of life, usually over a relatively short period of time, resulting in the appearance of a variety of new forms. This phenomenon may occur after the colonization of a new habitat, such as the radiation of Darwin's finches in the Galapagos Is.
BK a
#
"adaptive suspension",373,0,0,0
EN A pneumatic or hydro-pneumatic suspension system fitted to a motor car or a commercial vehicle that damps out the variations in road surface, and maintains the vehicle at a constant level while in use. This levelling device can be controlled electronically, allowing the suspension system to adapt itself automatically to the road surface conditions and the speed of travel.
BK a
#
"adaptogen",374,0,0,0
EN A substance which maintains or stimulates the body's mechanisms for adapting to change in both the internal and external environment. Health and survival depends upon keeping a physiological balance even in the presence of adverse factors such as infectious organisms, toxins, and radiation. Herbs such as \IEleutherococcus senticosus\i are used as general adaptogens, but the term is also applied to more specific adaptors of self-regulation, such as immune stimulants.
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#
"Adcock, Fleur",375,0,0,0
DT1 1934
EN Poet, born in Papakura, \JNew Zealand\j. She studied at Victoria University, Wellington, taught at the University of Otago, then held various library posts in \JNew Zealand\j and the UK, where she has lived since 1963.
Her poetry is notable for its unsentimental treatment of personal and family relationships, its psychological insights, and its interest in classical themes. She has also edited \IThe Oxford Book of \JNew Zealand\j Verse\i (1982) and \IThe Faber Book of Twentieth Century Women's Poetry\i (1987), and co-edited \IThe Oxford Book of Creatures\i (1995).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPoetry\i
1964 The Eye of the Hurricane
1967 Tigers
1971 High Tide in the Garden
1974 The Scenic Route
1979 The Inner Harbour
1983 Selected Poems
1986 The Incident Book
1986 Hotspur
1988 Meeting the Comet
1991 Time Zones
\IEditor\i
1982 The Oxford Book of \JNew Zealand\j Verse
1987 The Faber Book of Twentieth Century Women's Poetry
1995 The Oxford Book of Creatures (co-editor)
BK Biog99
#
"Addams, Charles Samuel",376,0,0,0
DT1 1912
DT2 88
EN Cartoonist, born in Westfield, NJ. He was a regular contributor to \IThe New Yorker\i from 1935 onwards, specializing in macabre humour and a ghoulish group which was immortalized on \Jtelevision\j in the 1960s as \IThe Addams Family.\i
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#
"Addams, Jane",377,0,0,0
DT (1860-1935)
EN social reformer, pacifist; born in Cedarville, Ill. Raised in comfort by her widowed father, a state senator and abolitionist (he was a friend of Abraham Lincoln), she studied at the Women's Medical College of \JPennsylvania\j for a few months before spinal illness and a realization that she was not cut out to be a doctor led her to withdraw (1882).
Disturbed by urban poverty and searching for meaningful work, she visited Toynbee Hall, a pioneering settlement house in London, which inspired her, with Ellen Starr, to found Hull House, a settlement house in \JChicago\j (1889). She lived and worked out of Hull House for the rest of her life, developing educational, cultural, and medical programs for the community, while lobbying for improved housing, fair labor practices, and just treatment for immigrants and the poor.
Hull House also had great influence beyond \JChicago\j by both inspiring similar institutions in American cities and by training many individuals who became notable reformers. Addams herself was so far in advance of many Americans on social issues in her \Jday\j that she was attacked by some as a subversive. A staunch supporter of women's suffrage, she served as vice-president of the National American Suffrage Alliance (1911-14).
An unwavering pacifist, she was president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (1919-35) and shared the Nobel Prize for Peace (1931). She lectured and published widely; her many books include \ITwenty Years at Hull-House\i (1910) and \IPeace and Bread in Time of War\i (1922).
BK AmBg
#
"addax",378,0,0,0
PN [\Bad\baks]
EN A horse-like \Jantelope\j \I(Addax nasomaculatus)\i native to N African deserts; resembles the \Joryx\j, but has thicker, spiralling horns; pale with clump of brown hair on the forehead; never drinks; lives in herds.
BK a
#
"adder",379,0,0,0
EN A venomous snake of the family Viperidae; three species: \IVipera berus\i \B(European adder\b or \Bcommon European viper,\b the only venomous British snake) and the puff adders; also Australian \Bdeath adders\b of family Elapidae (2 species). The name is used in place of 'viper' for some other species, such as the \Bhorned \Jadder\j / viper\b and \Bsaw-scaled \Jadder\j / viper.\b
BK a
#
"adder's tongue",380,0,0,0
EN A fern native to grasslands of Europe, Asia, N Africa, and \JNorth America\j \I(Ophioglossum vulgatum); \i underground \Jrhizome\j producing a fertile spike 5┐cm / 2┐in long bearing sporangia and sheathed by a single oval; the entire frond is 10-20┐cm / 4-8┐in long. \B(Family:\b Ophioglossaceae.)
BK a
#
"Adderley, (Julian) 'Cannonball'",381,0,0,0
DT (1928-75)
EN jazz musician; born in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was an alto saxophonist, a sideman with Miles Davis in 1958-59, and the leader of his own soulful, hard-bop bands thereafter.
BK AmBg
#
"Addington, Henry",382,0,0,0
EN See Sidmouth (of Sidmouth), Henry Addington, 1st Viscount
BK bg a
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#
"Addington, Maybelle",383,0,0,0
EN See Carter Family, The
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#
"Addinsell, Richard",384,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bdinsel]
DT1 1904
DT2 77
EN Composer, born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, SC England, UK. A student of law at Oxford, he went on to study music in London, Berlin, and Vienna. He composed much film music, including the popular 'Warsaw \JConcerto\j' for the film \IDangerous Moonlight\i (1941).
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Addis Ababa or Adis Abeba",385,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bdis \Bab\baba]
EN 9░02N 38░42E, pop (1995e) 1 943 000. Capital of \JEthiopia\j; altitude 2400 m/7874 ft; founded by Menelik II, 1887; capital, 1889; occupied by \JItaly\j, 1936--41, declared capital of Italian East Africa; airport; railway to port of Djibouti; university (1950); \Jtobacco\j, foodstuffs, textiles, chemicals, cement; national museum, national library, St George Cathedral, Menelik II's tomb; headquarters of UN Economic Commission for Africa, and of the Organization of African Unity.
BK Geog99
#
"Addison's disease",386,0,0,0
EN A medical condition resulting from the destruction of the adrenal \Jcortex\j by infection (commonly tuberculosis) or by an auto-immune reaction. A fall in the output of corticosteroids causes physical weakness, mental apathy, low blood pressure, and increased skin pigmentation.
Without treatment, death is unavoidable. Taking synthetic steroids by mouth restores the patient to normal health, but these must be continued for life.
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#
"Addison, Christopher, 1st Viscount",387,0,0,0
DT1 1869
DT2 1951
EN British statesman, born in Hogsthorpe, Lincolnshire, E England, UK. He qualified in medicine at St Bartholomew's \JHospital\j, London, and became professor of anatomy at Sheffield University. Liberal MP for Hoxton (1910-22), he was parliamentary secretary to the Board of Education (1914), minister of munitions (1916), and Britain's first minister of health (1919).
He resigned in 1921 and joined the Labour Party. Elected MP for \JSwindon\j, he was made minister of agriculture in 1929. Created a baron in 1937, he assumed leadership of the Labour peers in 1940, becoming Leader of the \JHouse of Lords\j in 1945.
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#
"Addison, Joseph",388,0,0,0
DT1 1672
DT2 1719
EN Essayist and politician, born in Milston, Wiltshire, S England, UK. A student at Oxford, he was a distinguished Classical scholar, beginning his literary career in 1693 with a poetical address to Dryden. In 1699 he obtained a pension to train for the diplomatic service, and spent four years abroad.
While under-\Jsecretary of state\j (1705-8) he produced his opera \IRosamond\i (1706), and in 1708 was elected to parliament for Malmesbury. He became a member of the Kitcat Club, and contributed to the \ITatler,\i started by his friend Richard Steele in 1709. In 1711 he and Steele founded the \ISpectator,\i 274 numbers of which were his own work.
In 1716 he became a lord commissioner of trade, and married Charlotte, Countess of Warwick. In the Hanoverian cause, he issued (1715-16) a political newspaper, the \IFreeholder,\i which cost him many of his old friends, and he was satirized as 'Atticus' by Alexander Pope. In 1717 he was appointed \Jsecretary of state\j under \JSunderland\j, but resigned his post because of failing health.
MEX Dryden; Pope, Alexander; Steele, Richard
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"Addison, Thomas",389,0,0,0
DT (1793-1860)
EN British physician: a founder of endocrinology.
A graduate in medicine from Edinburgh and London, his early work included the first clear descriptions of appendicitis, lobar \Jpneumonia\j and the action of poisons on the living body. In 1855 his small book On the Constitutional and Local Effects of Disease of the Supra-renal Capsules described two new diseases: one is 'pernicious' anaemia; the other, also an anaemia, is associated with bronzing of the skin and weakness, and is known as Addison's disease.
He found that cases of the latter showed post- mortem changes in the suprarenal capsules (one on top of each kidney). Later, physiological studies by others showed that the suprarenal capsules are glands, now known as the adrenal glands, which produce a complex group of \Jhormones\j. Addison's disease was the first to be correctly attributed to endocrine failure (ie disorder of the ductless glands of internal secretion).
BK Scie
#
"addition of vectors",390,0,0,0
Keep in mind that a vector is a measure which has both a scale size and a direction attached to it. In most cases, if there are two vectors, they can be added together, and replaced by a single composite vector, usually called the resultant. Graphically, you can represent this by a parallelogram, where the sides have the appropriate directions, and sizes which match the scale size of each vector. Then a diagonal line, drawn from the start of the first vector to the end of the second vector, shows the size and direction of the resultant.
Most reference books will suggest that all vectors may be added, but there is one class of vectors, called Poynting vectors, which can not be added together in the usual way, though these are rather too specialised to deal with here.
In physics, it is common to speak of the resultant force, which is the net force produced when two different forces act on a body at the same time. Yachts sail because of the resultant force which arises from \Jwater\j pushing against the hull and keel, combined with the wind force on the sail give a resultant force pushing the boat forward, much as two fingers, squeezing on an orange pip, give the pip a resultant force away from the hand.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"addition reaction",391,0,0,0
EN A \Jchemical reaction\j in which a product contains all atoms of two or more reactants, eg the chlorination of \Jethylene\j, CH\D2\d=CH\D2\d+Cl\D2\d\f(r)\nCH\D2\dCl.CH\D2\dCl. Similarly, \Baddition polymerization\b is the formation of a polymer without elimination from the reactants, for example, the formation of \Jpolyethylene\j, \In\i CH\D2\d=CH\D2\d\f(r)\n(-CH\D2\d.CH\D2\d-)\I\Dn.\d\i The product of an addition reaction is known as an \Badduct.\b
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"additives",392,0,0,0
EN Strictly, any chemical, even a vitamin, added to a food during its processing or preparation; more usually, chemicals which have been added in order to achieve a specific aim. They include (a) \Ipreservatives,\i which reduce spoilage by \Jbacteria\j, (b) \Ianti-oxidants,\i which prevent fats from becoming rancid, (c) \Iemulsifiers,\i which permit a stable mixture of oil and \Jwater\j, (d) \Icolouring matter,\i to vary colour to specifications, (e) \Isweeteners,\i and (f) \Iflavouring agents / enhancers,\i to achieve a given flavour.
Many additives are naturally occurring compounds; others are synthetic. Legislation exists in most countries to ensure that food additives are technologically desirable and at the same time safe. However, in recent years many consumers have come to fear synthetic additives, leading to an increase in the use of natural additives.
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"adduct",393,0,0,0
EN See addition reaction
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"Ade, George",394,0,0,0
DT (1866-1944)
EN journalist, writer, playwright; born in Kentland, Ind. He was a \JChicago\j newspaperman (1890-1900) whose collected columns, \IFables in Slang\i (1899), became a classic of midwestern vernacular satire. He continued to publish more collections of his "fables," and between 1900-10 he wrote a dozen popular Broadway plays and musicals.
Collections of his trademark fables, such as \IPeople You Know\i (1903) and \IHand-Made Fables\i (1920), are the most durable of his voluminous writings. He lived in \JIndiana\j after 1904 but traveled widely.
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#
"Adejumo, Moses Olaiya",395,0,0,0
EN [Baba Sala] 1936- Nigerian actor- manager. The founder-owner of the Alawada Theatre ('theatre of the one who entertains'), Olaiya, whose stage name is Baba Sala, is the most popular comedian in \JNigeria\j today; and his registered company (both acting and trading) is the most commercially successful, despite performances being almost entirely in \JYoruba\j.
A deeply religious Christian, since 1965 he has performed continually all over \JNigeria\j and coastal West Africa. His satirical comedies are improvisations which debunk social pretensions. He and his Alawada Theatre perform extensively on \Jtelevision\j, and since the late 1970s he has become increasingly involved in film-making.
In 1984 Olaiya made a feature film, Orun Mooru (Heaven Is Heated). Subsequently he has also turned to video as a medium.
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#
"Adela, Princess",396,0,0,0
PN [a\Bday\bla]
DT1a c.
DT1 1062
DT2 1137
EN Princess of England, the youngest daughter of William the Conqueror. In 1080 she married Stephen, Count of Blois, and had nine children, the third of whom came to be King Stephen of England. She had a flair for administration, and was cultured and pious.
MEX Stephen; William I (of England)
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#
"Adelaide",397,0,0,0
EN 34░56S 138░36E, pop (1995e) 1 082 000. Port capital of South \JAustralia\j, on the Torrens R where it meets the St Vincent Gulf; founded, 1837; the first Australian municipality to be incorporated, 1840; airfield; railway; three universities (1874, 1966, 1991); oil refining, motor vehicles, electrical goods, shipbuilding; trade in wool, grain, fruit, wine; fine beaches to the W, including Maslin Beach (the first nude bathing beach in Australia); many parks; two cathedrals; major wine-growing area to the S (McLaren Vale) and to the N (Barossa Valley); Adelaide Festival Centre; South Australian Museum (large collection of \Jaboriginal art\j); Art Gallery of South Australia; Constitutional Museum; Ayers House (1846), headquarters of the South Australian National Trust; Maritime Museum in Port Adelaide; arts festival, held every two years; Adelaide Cup Day (May).
BK Geog99
#
"Adelaide, Queen",398,0,0,0
DT1 1792
DT2 1849
EN Consort of King William IV of \JGreat Britain\j, the eldest daughter of George, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Meiningen. In 1818 she married William, Duke of Clarence, who succeeded his brother, \JGeorge IV\j, to the throne as William IV (1830-7). Their two children, both daughters, died in infancy.
MEX \JGeorge IV\j; William IV
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#
"Adelaide, St",399,0,0,0
HS , Ger \BAdelheid\b
DT1 931
DT2 99
EN Holy Roman Empress, a daughter of Rudolf II of Burgundy. She married Lothair of \JItaly\j in 947. After his death in 950 she was imprisoned by his successor, Berengar II, but was rescued by King Otto I of \JGermany\j, who married her as his second wife in 951. They were crowned emperor and empress in 962.
Their son was \BOtto II\b (955-83). As queen mother, she exercised considerable influence. She became joint regent for her grandson \BOtto III\b (980-1002), and then sole regent (991-6). Thereafter she retired to a convent in \JAlsace\j. Feast \Jday\j 16 December.
MEX Otto I
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#
"AdΘlie Land",400,0,0,0
PN [a\Bday\blee]
HS or \BAdΘlie Coast,\b Fr \BTerre AdΘlie\b
EN area c.432┐000┐km\U2\u / 167┐000┐mi\U2\u. Territory in \JAntarctica\j 66-67░S, 136-142░E; first seen by the French navy in 1840; explored 1911-14 and 1929-31; French territory, 1938; French research station at Base Dumont d'Urville.
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"Adelphi Theatre",401,0,0,0
EN (London) Of four theatres on the same site in the Strand, the first was built in 1806 and called the Sans Pareil. It was renamed the Adelphi in 1819. During the long management (1844-74) of Benjamin Webster, it was rebuilt to accommodate 1,500 (1858).
It was well attended for most of this time, and the description 'Adelphi dramas' was familiarly attached to strong melodramas. Buckstone and Boucicault were among the featured dramatists. William Terriss's murder at the stage door of the Adelphi in 1897 brought the great years of the theatre to an abrupt end. It was subsequently twice rebuilt, in 1901 and in 1930.
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"Aden or Adan",402,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bdn]
EN 12░50N 45░00E, pop (1995e) 427 000. Commercial capital of Republic of Yemen; port on the Gulf of Aden, at the entrance to the \JRed Sea\j; taken by British, 1839; capital of former Aden protectorate; after opening of Suez Canal (1869), an important coaling station and transshipment point; British crown colony, 1937; scene of fighting between nationalist groups in 1960s; capital of former South Yemen, 1968--90; airport; oil refining, shipping.
BK Geog99
#
"Aden, Gulf of",403,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bdn]
EN E arm of the \JRed Sea\j, lying between Yemen (north) and \JSomalia\j (south); connected to the \JRed Sea\j by the Strait of Ba\mab al Mandab; length 885┐km / 550┐mi.
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"Adenauer, Konrad",404,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bdenower]
DT1 1876
DT2 1967
EN German statesman, born in Cologne, \JGermany\j. He studied at Freiburg, Munich, and \JBonn\j, before practising law in Cologne, where he became lord mayor in 1917. A member of the Centre Party under the Weimar Republic, he became a member of the Provincial Diet and of the Prussian State Council (president 1920-33).
In 1933, he was dismissed from all his offices by the Nazis, and imprisoned in 1934 and again in 1944. In 1945, under Allied occupation, he was again mayor of Cologne, and founded the Christian Democratic Union. As chancellor from 1949 (re-elected 1953 and 1957), his policy was to rebuild West \JGermany\j on a basis of partnership with other European nations through \JNATO\j and the European Economic Community, with the ultimate aim of bargaining from strength for the reunification of \JGermany\j. He retired in 1963.
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#
"adenine",405,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bdeneen]
EN C\D4\dH\D5\dN\D5\d. A base derived from purine; one of the five found in nucleic acids, where it is generally paired with \Jthymine\j or uracil.
BK a
#
"adenoids",406,0,0,0
EN An accumulation of lymphoid tissue, arranged as a series of folds behind the opening of the auditory tube in the nasopharynx; also known as the \Bpharyngeal \Jtonsils\j.\b When enlarged in children they can block or reduce the size of the auditory tube opening and fill the nasopharynx, giving an abnormal \Jresonance\j to speech.
BK a
#
"adenosine triphosphate (ATP)",407,0,0,0
PN [a\Bden\boseen]
EN A molecule formed by the condensation of \Jadenine\j, \Jribose\j, and triphosphoric acid: HO-P(O)OH-O-P(O)OH-O-P(O)OH-OH. It is a key compound in the mediation of \Jenergy\j in both plants and animals. Energy is stored when it is synthesized from \Badenosine diphosphate\b (ADP) and phosphoric acid, and released when the reaction is reversed.
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"Ader, ClΘment",408,0,0,0
PN [adair]
DT1 1841
DT2 1926
EN Engineer and pioneer of \Javiation\j, born in Muret, \JFrance\j. In 1890 he built a steam-powered bat-winged aeroplane, the \IEole,\i which made the first powered take-off in history, but it could not be steered, and flew for no more than 50┐m.
SX m
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#
"adhesives",409,0,0,0
EN Materials whose function is to bind one substance to another. Examples are (1) substances of biological origin, generally \Jwater\j soluble, known as \Iglues,\i which are usually proteins or carbohydrates, and (2) synthetic materials, both \Jthermoplastic\j and thermosetting resins and rubbers.
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"Adi Granth",410,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bdee \Bgrahnt\b]
HS (\JHindi\j 'First Book')
EN The principal Sikh scripture, originally called the \BGranth Sahib\b (\JHindi\j 'Revered Book'). The name Adi Granth distinguishes it from the Dasam Granth, a later second collection. The text used today is an expanded version of Guru Arjan's original compilation, and is revered by all Sikhs.
BK a
#
"adiabatic demagnetization",411,0,0,0
EN See magnetic cooling
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"adiabatic process",412,0,0,0
PN [adia\Bbat\bik]
EN In \Jthermodynamics\j, a process in which no heat enters or leaves a system, such as in a well-insulated system, or in some process so rapid that there is not enough time for heat exchange. Sound waves in air involve adiabatic pressure changes. The compression and power strokes of a car engine are also adiabatic.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Adiabatic cooling is an example of an adiabatic process, and is usually discussed in terms of the \Jtemperature\j drop which arises when a mass of air rises and expands. No heat has left the mass of air, but the cooling effect is still measurable with a thermometer. The usual result of adiabatic cooling is the condensation of \Jwater\j drops as the air rises, resulting in rain or even snow.
The distinction between heat and \Jtemperature\j, which is critically important in understanding this process, was first made clearly by Joseph Black.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK a
#
"Adie, Kate",413,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bdee]
HS , popular name of \BKathryn Adie\b
DT1 1945
EN News reporter and correspondent, born in \JSunderland\j, Tyne and Wear, NE England, UK. She studied at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, then joined local BBC radio (1969--76), moving to BBC TV South (1977--8).
As a reporter for BBC TV News (1979--81), correspondent (1982), and chief correspondent (1989-- ), she has become a familiar figure presenting reports from the heart of war-torn countries around the world. Among her awards are the Royal Television Society's News Award (1981, 1987), and the BAFTA Richard Dimbleby Award (1989).
BK Biog99n
#
"Adige, River",414,0,0,0
PN [ah\Bdi\bje]
HS , Ger \BEtsch,\b ancient \BAthesis\b
EN River in N \JItaly\j, rising in three small \JAlpine\j lakes at Passodi Resia; flows E and S, then E into the Adriatic Sea, south-east of Chioggia; length 410┐km / 254┐mi; chief river of \JItaly\j after the Po.
BK a
#
"adipic acid",415,0,0,0
PN [a\Bdi\bpik]
EN HOOC-(CH\D2\d)\D4\d-COOH, IUPAC \Bhexanedioic acid,\b melting point 153░C. It is one of the monomers for nylon, the other being 1,6-diaminohexane.
BK a
#
"adipose tissue",416,0,0,0
EN See fat
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"Adirondack Mountains",417,0,0,0
PN [adi\Bron\bdak]
EN Mountain range largely in north-east New York State, USA; rises to 1629┐m / 5344┐ft at Mount Marcy; named after an American Indian tribe; source of the Hudson and Ausable Rivers; locations such as Lake Placid are noted winter resorts; largest state park in USA.
BK a
#
"Adis Abeba",418,0,0,0
EN See Addis Ababa or Adis Abeba
BK a
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#
"adit",419,0,0,0
A horizontal passage which leads into a mine.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"adjutant",420,0,0,0
EN A stork native to tropical south-east Asia. There are two species: the \Bgreater adjutant stork\b \I(Leptoptilos dubius),\i and the \Blesser,\b \Bhaircrested,\b or \BJavan adjutant stork\b \I(Leptoptilos javanicus); \i grey and white; head nearly naked; eats carrion, frogs or fish; related to the \Jmarabou\j.
BK a
#
"Adler, (Pearl)",421,0,0,0
DT (1900-62)
EN Polly madam; born in Avanovo, \JRussia\j. Emigrating at age 12, she worked in factories, and in 1920 opened a house of prostitution in New York City. Her clients included politicians, gangsters, and vice squad police, and this was said to be the reason she survived so long. Subpoenaed by the Seabury Commission in 1930, she refused to testify. She closed down in 1943 and moved to Los Angeles. She later graduated from college and wrote \IA House is Not a Home\i (1953).
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#
"Adler, Alfred",422,0,0,0
DT1 1870
DT2 1937
EN Pioneer psychiatrist, born in Vienna. He trained in Vienna, and first practised as an ophthalmologist, but later turned to mental disease and became a prominent member of the psychoanalytical group which formed around Sigmund Freud in 1900. His most widely referenced work, \IStudie ⁿber Minderwertigkeit von Organen\i (1907, trans Study of Organ Inferiority and its Psychical Compensation), aroused great controversy.
In 1911 he broke with Freud and investigated the \Jpsychology\j of the individual person considered to be different from others. His main contributions include the concept of the inferiority complex and his special treatment of \Jneurosis\j as the exploitation of shock. He moved to the USA to teach in 1932.
MEX Freud, Sigmund
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#
"Adler, Cyrus",423,0,0,0
DT (1863-1940)
EN educator; born in Van Buren, Ark. A graduate of the University of \JPennsylvania\j, he was named librarian of the Smithsonian Institution in 1892. In 1908 he became president of the new Dropsie College for \JHebrew\j and Cognate Learning, Philadelphia, and in 1924 president of the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York. He edited the \IJewish Quarterly Review\i (1910-40). He was a founder (1929) and later president of the American Jewish Committee.
BK AmBg
#
"Adler, Dankmar",424,0,0,0
DT (1844-1900)
EN architect; born in Langsfeld, \JGermany\j. A childhood immigrant to America, he trained in \JChicago\j and \JDetroit\j, Mich. Adler was the \Jengineering\j and structural expert in his partnership with Louis Sullivan (1882-95); famous for their midwestern skyscrapers, the pair completed 120 buildings, including the Guaranty Building, Buffalo, N.Y. (1894-95). Adler was largely responsible for the nation's first registration act for architects being passed in Illinois in 1897.
BK AmBg
#
"Adler, Elmer",425,0,0,0
DT (1884-1962)
EN printer; born in Rochester, N.Y. A collector of books and fine prints, he founded Pynson Printers in 1922 to produce works of high graphic quality, and in 1930 founded \IColophon: A Book Collector's Quarterly.\i After closing Pynson in 1940, he moved his collection to Princeton University, where he established a department of graphic arts and was a professor and curator.
BK AmBg
#
"Adler, Larry",426,0,0,0
DT1 1914
EN Musician and self-taught virtuoso on the \Jharmonica\j, born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He studied at Baltimore City College, and began his show business career in New York City at the age of 14. He played as a soloist with some of the world's leading symphony orchestras, and wrote the music for several films, including \IGenevieve\i (1954).
He emigrated to Britain after being blacklisted in the USA for alleged pro-Communist leanings, and there worked as a journalist and restaurant critic, contributing to leading newspapers and magazines. His \Jautobiography\j \IIt Ain't Necessarily So\i was published in 1985.
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilm Scores\i
1954 Genevieve
1963 The Great Chase
1964 High Wind In Jamaica
1964 King And Country
\IPublications\i
1937 How I Play
1960 Larry Adler's Own Arrangements
1963 Jokes And How to Tell Them
1985 It Ain't Necessarily So (\Jautobiography\j)
BK Biog99
#
"Adler, Mortimer J(erome)",427,0,0,0
DT1 1902
EN Philosopher and writer, born in New York City, USA. He taught at the University of \JChicago\j (1930--52), where in 1946 he helped design the Great Books programme, and directed the Institute for Philosophical Research from 1952.
He popularized the great ideas of Western civilization in such works as \IGreat Books of the Western World\i (54 vols, 1954, revised 1990), \IHow to Read a Book\i (1940, revised 1972), and \ISix Great Ideas\i (1981).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPublications\i
1940 How to Read a Book (revised 1972)
1941 A Dialectic of Morals
1954 Great Books of the Western World (revised 1990)
1958 The Capitalist Manifesto (with Louis O Kelso)
1958 The Revolution in Education (with Milton Mayer)
1978 Aristotle for Everyone
1980 How to Think About God
1981 Six Great Ideas
\IPublished lectures\i
1965 The Conditions of Philosophy
1967 The Difference of Man and the Difference it Makes
1970 The Time of Our Lives
\IMemoirs\i
1977 Philosopher at Large: an Intellectual Autobiography
BK Biog99
#
"Adler, Samuel",428,0,0,0
DT (1809-91)
EN rabbi; born in Worms, \JGermany\j. He was educated, ordained, and served as a rabbi in \JGermany\j (1842-57). In 1857 he came to New York to become rabbi of Temple Emanu-El. He wrote numerous monographs and played a leading role in Reform \JJudaism\j; his revision of the prayer book became a model for later Reform prayer books.
BK AmBg
#
"Adler, Stella",429,0,0,0
DT 1903-92
EN American actress. One of a family of \JYiddish\j actors from Riga who achieved popular success in America, Stella studied at the American Laboratory Theatre in the 1920s, joined the Group Theatre in 1931 and married its founder, Harold Clurman. A tall, statuesque blonde, Adler ironically succeeded best in playing downtrodden Depression-era housewives in the Group's productions of Clifford Odets's Awake and Sing! (1935) and Paradise Lost (1935).
From 1949, when she founded the Stella Adler \JConservatory\j, she was an exhilarating teacher. Countering her arch- rival Lee Strasberg's Method with its focus on self, she urged students to transcend their own experiences by investigating the play's circumstances rather than their own. (See also \JYiddish\j theatre.)
BK Thea
#
"administrative law",430,0,0,0
EN The body of law relating to administrative powers exercised principally by central and local government. The exercise of such powers can be the subject of scrutiny by the courts or tribunals on legal, but not policy, grounds. In several countries, administrative law is distinguished from constitutional law by being concerned purely with matters of public administration, and not with broad constitutional issues which may impinge on administrative matters.
BK a
#
"Admiral's Cup",431,0,0,0
EN A yacht race for up to three boats per nation, first contested in 1957 and held biennially. Races take place in the English Channel, at \JCowes\j, and around the Fastnet rock. The trophy is donated by the Royal Ocean Racing Club.
BK a
#
"Admiral's Men",432,0,0,0
EN English company. These Elizabethan players took their name from their patron, Lord Howard, who was created Lord High Admiral in 1585, the year in which the Admiral's Men first appeared at Court. It was Edward Alleyn's acting in Christopher Marlowe's plays at Philip Henslowe's Rose that established the company's reputation.
In 1594 the formation of the Lord Chamberlain's Men nudged the Admiral's Men into second place in the theatrical hierarchy. Henslowe's financial involvement helped the company to evade the general prohibition of plays after the Isle of Dogs affair in 1597. But Henslowe was not himself a member of the Admiral's Men: he was the owner of their theatre.
When, in 1599, the Lord Chamberlain's Men opened the Globe, very close to the Rose, the Admiral's Men suffered in the competition for audiences. Unlike their rivals, they did not own their own theatre, and may not have commanded the same loyalty from their actors. Alleyn's increasing involvement in his business partnership with Henslowe deprived them of a star.
The move north of the river, to the Fortune, in 1600 brought a new audience and sufficient prosperity. As London's acknowledged second company, they were granted royal patronage and the title of Prince Henry's Men after the accession of James I.
Regular writers included Dekker, Munday and Chettle, but the sinking reputation of the Fortune during the 1620s announced the company's creative impoverishment. As the Palsgrave's Men, they continued their occupation of the Fortune, but without much success.
By 1631, when some of the Fortune actors joined a newly formed Prince Charles's Men at Salisbury Court, the long tradition of the Admiral's Men had been broken.
BK Thea
#
"Admiralty Court",433,0,0,0
EN An English court which is part of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court. Its work deals with maritime claims in civil law, such as salvage. In the USA, the federal district courts exercise \Jjurisdiction\j over maritime actions. In Scotland, the Court of Session and the Sheriff Court have \Jjurisdiction\j in such matters.
BK a
#
"Admiralty Islands",434,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 35 200; area 2000 sq km/800 sq mi. Island group in N Papua New Guinea, part of the \JBismarck\j Archipelago; c.40 islands, main island, Manus; chief town, Lorengau; German protectorate, 1884; under Australian mandate, 1920; fishing, copra, pearls.
BK Geog99
#
"adolescence",435,0,0,0
EN That period of personal development marked by the onset of puberty and continuing through the early teenage years. While it is associated with the process of physical maturation, normally occurring more quickly in girls than in boys, the actual age-range and behavioural patterns involved can vary considerably from one society to another.
Adolescence in the Third World, for example, is more likely to mean working in the fields for one's parents and taking on adult responsibilities from as young as age 9 or 10 than a prolonged period of schooling as it does in more prosperous societies. Whatever the differences, adolescents commonly want to be independent of their parents; the conflicts this may generate are sometimes said to reflect 'the generation gap'.
BK a
#
"Adonis",436,0,0,0
PN [a\Bdoh\bnis]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, a beautiful young man who was loved by \JAphrodite\j. He insisted on going hunting and was killed by a boar, but \JPersephone\j saved him on condition that he spent part of the year with her in the Underworld. There was a yearly commemoration of the event, with wailing and singing. There is a clear connection with the growth and death of vegetation, and similar Eastern ceremonies.
BK a
#
"adoption",437,0,0,0
EN A legal procedure in which a civil court makes an order giving parental rights and duties over a minor to someone other than the natural parents. On adoption, the minor becomes the legal child of his or her adoptive parents, and the same as any natural child. Natural parents lose all rights in the child and in his or her property.
BK a
#
"adoptionism",438,0,0,0
EN In early \JChristianity\j, the understanding of Jesus as a human being of sinless life adopted by God as son, usually thought to be at the time of his \Jbaptism\j by John in the River Jordan. Such teaching was declared heretical, in that it implied that Jesus could not have had a fully divine nature. Associated with Arianism, it figured in 4th-c controversies over the person of Christ, in \JSpain\j in the 8th-c, and in some scholastic \Jtheology\j (eg Abelard, Lombard).
BK a
#
"Adorno, Theodor (Wiesengrund)",439,0,0,0
PN [a\Bdaw(r)\bnoh]
HS , originally \BTheodor Wiesengrund\b
DT1 1903
DT2 69
EN Social philosopher and musicologist, born in Frankfurt, \JGermany\j. He was a student in Frankfurt and later an associate of the Institute for Social Research, becoming a member of the movement known as the 'Frankfurt School'. In 1934 he emigrated to the USA to teach at the Institute in exile, returning to Frankfurt in 1956.
His philosophy is most fully presented in \INegative Dialectics\i (1966). His sociological writings on music, mass-culture, and art include \IPhilosophie der neuen Musik\i (1949, Philosophy of Modern Music) and \IMahler\i (1960).
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"Adrastea",440,0,0,0
PN [adras\Btee\ba]
EN A tiny natural \Jsatellite\j of Jupiter, discovered in 1979 by Voyager 2; distance from the \Jplanet\j 129┐000┐km / 80┐000┐mi; diameter 24┐km / 15┐mi.
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#
"adrenal glands",441,0,0,0
PN [a\Bdree\bnl]
EN Paired compound endocrine glands in mammals, one situated above each kidney; also known as the \Bsuprarenal glands.\b Each comprises an outer \Jcortex\j and an inner medulla. The \Jcortex\j consists of three zones, which produce specific steroid \Jhormones\j: the outer zone produces mineralocorticoids (eg \Jaldosterone\j), whereas the intermediate and inner zones produce \Jglucocorticoids\j (eg \Jcortisol\j) and sex \Jhormones\j (\Jandrogens\j, oestrogens, and progestagens). The medulla secretes a specific \Jcatecholamine\j (either adrenaline or noradrenaline). The various groups of \Jhormones\j are chemically similar in all vertebrates.
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"adrenaline or adrenalin",442,0,0,0
PN [a\Bdren\balin]
EN A hormone released from the adrenal medulla in response to stress, and in some other circumstances; also known as \Bepinephrine\b in the USA. It increases heart rate, raises blood pressure, and causes release of sugar into the blood from liver stores.
Thus, in situations of stress the body is prepared for the 'fight or flight reaction'. It may also be a \Jneurotransmitter\j in the brain, where it is associated with many functions, including cardiovascular and respiratory responses. Therapeutic uses include acute \Jasthma\j, heart attack, and severe allergic responses.
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#
"adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH)",443,0,0,0
PN [a\Bdree\bnohkaw(r)tikoh\Btroh\bfik]
EN A chemical substance (a \Jpeptide\j) produced in the front lobe of the pituitary \Jgland\j; also known as \Bcorticotrophin.\b It stimulates the synthesis and release of \Jglucocorticoids\j from the adrenal \Jcortex\j, and is released in response to physical, emotional, or chemical stress through a releasing factor produced in the \Jhypothalamus\j.
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"Adrian (Gilbert) (b. Adrian Adolph Greenburg)",444,0,0,0
DT (1903-59)
EN fashion designer; born in Naugatuck, Conn. Discovered as a student in Paris by Irving Berlin, he designed costumes for countless Broadway shows and \JHollywood\j films (1920s-1930s). Under his own Beverly Hills label (1941-53), he designed women's couture and quality ready-to-wear; his trademarks included padded shoulders and dolman sleeves.
BK AmBg
#
"Adrian IV",445,0,0,0
HS , also \BHadrian,\b originally \BNicholas Breakspear\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1100
DT2 59
EN The first and only Englishman to become pope (1154-9), born in Abbots Langley, \JHertfordshire\j, south-east England, UK. He studied at Merton Priory and Avignon, became a monk in the monastery of St Rufus, near Avignon, and in 1137 was elected its abbot. Complaints about his strictness led to a summons to \JRome\j, where the pope recognized his qualities and appointed him Cardinal-Bishop of Albano in 1146.
In 1152 he was sent as papal legate to Scandinavia to reorganize the Church, where he earned fame as the '\JApostle\j of the North'. One of his early acts as pope is said to have been the issue of a controversial bull granting Ireland to Henry II. In 1155 he crowned Frederick I Barbarossa as Holy Roman Emperor in front of his massed army in a show of strength in support of the papacy, but he later engaged in a bitter struggle with him for supremacy in Europe.
MEX Frederick I; Henry II (of England)
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"Adrian VI",446,0,0,0
HS , originally \BAdrian Dedel\b
DT1 1459
DT2 1523
EN The only Dutch pope (1522-3), born in \JUtrecht\j, The Netherlands. He studied in \JLouvain\j, became a doctor of \Jtheology\j (1491), and was appointed tutor in 1507 to the seven-year-old Charles, later to be King of \JSpain\j (as Charles I) and Holy Roman Emperor (as Charles V). In 1516, Charles made Adrian inquisitor-general of Aragon and co-regent. As pope he tried to attack the sale of indulgences which had prompted Luther's first revolt, and allied with the emperor, England, and \JVenice\j against \JFrance\j.
MEX Luther; Charles V (Emperor)
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"Adrian, Edgar Douglas, Baron Adrian",447,0,0,0
DT (1889- 1977)
EN British neurophysiologist: showed frequency code in nerve transmission.
Adrian began his research in \Jphysiology\j in Cambridge before the First World War, but in 1914 he speedily qualified in medicine and tried to get to \JFrance\j. In fact he was kept in England working on war injuries and his later work was a mixture of 'pure' research and applications to medical treatment.
In the 1920s he began his best-known work. Already, crude methods were available for detecting electrical activity in nerve fibres. Adrian used thermionic diode amplifiers to reliably record nerve impulses in a single nerve fibre, and to show that they do not change with the nature or strength of the stimulus, confirming work by his friend K Lewis (1881-1945) in 1905 on this 'all or none' law.
He went on to show that a nerve transmits information to the brain on the intensity of a stimulus by frequency \Jmodulation\j, ie as the intensity rises the number of discharges per second (perhaps 10-50) in the nerve also rises - a fundamental discovery. He then worked on the brain, using the discovery by Berger in 1924 that electrical 'brainwaves' can be detected.
From 1934 he studied these brainwave rhythms, which result from the discharge of thousands of neurones and which can be displayed as an electroencephalogram (\JEEG\j). Within a few years the method was widely used to diagnose \Jepilepsy\j cases, and later to locate lesions, eg those due to tumours or injury.
Adrian was linked with Trinity College Cambridge for nearly 70 years and did much to advance \Jneurophysiology\j. He was a very popular figure; as a student he was a skilful night roof- climber and an excellent fencer, and he sailed and rock-climbed until late in life. He helped to organize a famous hoax exhibition of modern pictures in 1913.
He was never solemn, moved very quickly and claimed his own brainwaves were as rapid as a \Jrabbit\j's; as a motorist his quick reflexes alarmed his passengers. When in a hurry he would use a \Jbicycle\j in the long dark basement corridors of the Physiological Laboratory. He shared a Nobel Prize in 1932.
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"Adriani, Placido",448,0,0,0
EN died c.1740 Italian actor. A Benedictine monk, residing in Naples, he played the role of Pulcinella in monastery recitals. His manuscript collection, Selva, overo Zibaldone di concetti comici (1734), is a rich repository of commedia dell'arte scenarios, plots and lazzi (see lazzo).
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#
"Adrianople, Battle of",449,0,0,0
EN (AD 378) A battle between the Romans and the \JVisigoths\j at present-\Jday\j Edirne in European Turkey. This was one of the crucial battles of the ancient world, as the crushing Visigoth victory, under Fritigern, opened up Roman territory to Germanic invasion. Two-thirds of the Roman army, including Emperor Valens, were killed.
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"Adriatic Sea",450,0,0,0
PN [aydree\Ba\btik]
EN Arm of the \JMediterranean Sea\j, between the E coast of \JItaly\j and the Balkan Peninsula; Gulf of \JVenice\j at its head (north-west); separated from the Ionian Sea (south) by the Strait of Otranto; length 800┐km / 500┐mi; width 93-225┐km / 58-140┐mi; maximum depth 1250┐m / 4100┐ft; highly saline; lobster, sardines, \Jtuna\j; chief ports, \JVenice\j, \JRijeka\j, \JAncona\j, Bari, Brindisi; flat, sandy Italian coast; rugged, irregular E coast.
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"adsorption",451,0,0,0
EN The extraction of a component from one phase into another phase, usually by chemical interaction \I(chemisorption)\i between the material adsorbed (the \Badsorbate)\b and the surface of the adsorbing material (the \Badsorbent).\b Sometimes, the adsorbate is incorporated into the structure of the adsorbent; an example is the \Jadsorption\j of \Jhydrogen\j gas by \Jpalladium\j, which can adsorb several hundred times its own volume of the gas.
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"adult education",452,0,0,0
EN The provision of further or continuing educational opportunities for people over the minimum school-leaving age; also known as \Bcontinuing education.\b Frequently this takes place in institutions specially set up to cater for mature learners, but it is also common for schools and colleges and other centres of learning to be used. A wide network of providers exists.
In addition to the formal opportunities offered by institutions, there are numerous informal sources of adult education, such as broadcast programmes on radio and \Jtelevision\j, as well as correspondence and distance-learning courses, for people who wish to or must learn at home or as part of their job.
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"Advaita",453,0,0,0
PN [ad\Bviy\bta]
HS (Sanskrit, 'non-dual')
EN An influential school of \JVedanta\j \JHinduism\j, revived in a modern form during the 20th-c. Associated primarily with the thought of Shankara (8th-c), it holds that there is only one absolute reality, \JBrahman\j. All selves are in effect identical, since in essence they are one with \JBrahman\j.
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"Advent",454,0,0,0
EN In the Christian Church, a period of penitence and preparation for the celebration of the first coming of Christ at Christmas, and for his promised second coming to judge the world. It begins on \BAdvent Sunday,\b the fourth Sunday before Christmas (in effect, the Sunday nearest 30 November).
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"Adventists",455,0,0,0
EN Those Christians whose most important belief is in the imminent and literal Second Coming of Christ. Found in most periods of history and in most denominations, a separate movement began in the USA with William Miller (1781-1849), who predicted Christ's return (and the end of the world) in 1843-4, and whose followers eventually formed a denomination called \BSeventh Day \JAdventists\j.\b
They believe that the Second Coming of Christ is delayed only by a failure to keep the Sabbath (Friday evening to Saturday evening), which, along with \JOld Testament\j dietary laws, is held to rigorously.
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"adventitious roots",456,0,0,0
In general, "adventitious" in a plant means "found in an unusual place", so adventitious buds are buds found in some place other than the leaf axils. Adventitious roots are found coming from leaves and stems in some plants. In a strict sense, the roots on the runners of grass are adventitious, and so are the prop roots which grow from the lower nodes on a corn \I(Zea mays)\i plant. The cuttings of rose and \Jgeranium\j which are "struck" by placing them in damp soil are able to develop because adventitious roots develop on the piece of stem which is the cutting.
The most spectacular adventitious roots are those found on the \Jbanyan\j tree and the pandanus palm. The \Jbanyan\j is a kind of fig which drops roots from its branches to the ground. These roots then help support the branches, allowing the tree to extend the branches further, so that some large specimens occupy as much as two hectares (five acres).
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"adversary politics",457,0,0,0
EN A political situation said to exist in two-party electoral systems (eg the UK) where the policies of the parties and government are polarized between right and left, resulting in significant reversals in policy when government changes. It is usually associated with a 'first past the post' electoral system.
Because the system works against successful challenges from third parties, the views of the majority of the electorate occupying the 'middle ground' are not reflected.
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"adverse possession",458,0,0,0
EN The creation of an ownership right in real property through hostile, open, and continuous possession for a period of time, such as when a squatter seizes possession, or a tenant refuses to pay rent. The period required was traditionally 20 years, but is now 12 years in England and Wales (with exceptions for crown land or land owned by charitable institutions), and is fixed by statute from 5 to 20 years in most US jurisdictions.
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"advertising",459,0,0,0
EN The practice of informing and influencing others not personally known to the communicator through paid messages in the media; also the advertisements themselves. From humble origins (eg tradesmen's signs), advertising has developed in parallel with modern industrial society and the mass media. News-sheets in the 17th-c carried brief statements (eg announcing the sale of patent medicines), but it was not until the late 19th-c, with the advent of mass production of consumer goods, that the industry developed on the huge scale found today.
Advertising for consumer goods, whether of the 'fast moving' variety (eg washing powders) or 'durables' (eg cars) has long been the most conspicuous kind, on poster sites, in the press, and on \Jtelevision\j. 'Display' ads for such products in newspapers or magazines are characterized by their size and use of graphics (especially photographs), slogans, and large type.
In contrast, 'classified' ads are typically single-column width, consisting of words only, and grouped together under headings (eg 'personal', 'situations vacant', or 'wanted'). Other approaches include direct marketing (by post or \Jtelephone\j) and direct response advertising (via tear-off coupons), both of which have resulted from the difficulty mass media advertising has in reaching a target audience and measuring its own effectiveness.
Manufacturers and retailers are not the only groups to realize the value of communicating with the general public through advertising. Governments, political parties, service industries (eg banks and financial institutions), trade unions, employers' associations, pressure groups, and charities also employ advertising as a major means of promoting ideas and causes.
Regulations on who may advertise and on the quantity and nature of ads, especially commercials, vary from country to country. In recent years some advertisers have found the sponsorship of sporting and cultural events a convenient way to side-step controls applying elsewhere to the promotion of their products (especially cigarettes) and a means of associating these with healthy or prestigious activities.
From being small-scale brokers of advertising space on behalf of newspaper proprietors, most modern \Badvertising agencies\b now offer a 'full service', comprising market research and creative expertise, media planning, and media buying. The influence of the USA in developing advertising techniques (Madison Avenue) has been central. Since the 1960s, however, 'creative shops' have offered specialist design and copywriting services, with 'media independents' later doing the same for media planning and buying.
Advertising is only one, though perhaps the most controversial, of the elements of the 'marketing mix'. As such it has always been subject to attack, whether on moral, ideological, or aesthetic grounds. Underlying this criticism is the presumption that advertising has pernicious effects on individuals, social groups, or whole societies. Apologists respond by claiming that advertising merely reflects the values and styles already existing in society.
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"Advisory, Conciliation, and Arbitration Service",460,0,0,0
EN See ACAS
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#
"advocacy planning",461,0,0,0
EN A form of planning in which the planner acts for the interests of a particular group or community in opposition to plans prepared by the official planning authority. It is a means of aiding groups whose interests may be damaged or not represented by the planning authority. The planner is responsible to the group, and not to the authority.
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"advocate",462,0,0,0
EN A term frequently applied to lawyers practising in the courts as professional representatives of those who bring or defend a case. In Scotland, the term is used as an equivalent to an English \Jbarrister\j, and denotes exclusive right of audience before the superior courts.
Also in Scotland, since 1993, a hybrid form of lawyer called a \Bsolicitor advocate\b has been created from existing solicitors who, on passing further examinations, will be permitted to appear in the High Court or the Court of Session. These senses are not found in other jurisdictions.
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"╞",463,0,0,0
EN See Russell, George William
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#
"aechmea",464,0,0,0
PN [ak\Bmay\ba]
EN A member of a \Jgenus\j of plants (epiphytes) native to tropical America; rosettes of succulent leaves forming a \Jwater\j-filled cup in the centre, \Jinflorescence\j produced on a stout, well-developed stalk. Many species are grown as house plants. \B(Genus:\b \IAechmea,\i 172 species. \BFamily:\b Bromeliaceae.)
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"Aedes",465,0,0,0
PN [ay\Bee\bdeez]
EN The yellow-fever mosquito, found in coastal and riverside habitats throughout the tropics and subtropics; eggs laid in stagnant \Jwater\j; aquatic larvae colourless except for black respiratory siphon. The adult females feed on blood, transmitting diseases such as yellow fever and \Jdengue\j. \B(Order:\b \JDiptera\j. \BFamily:\b Culicidae.)
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"Aegean civilization",466,0,0,0
PN [ee\Bjee\ban]
EN The \JBronze Age\j cultures which flourished in the third and second millennia BC on the islands of the \JAegean Sea\j and around its coasts.
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"Aegean Islands",467,0,0,0
PN [ee\Bjee\ban]
EN pop (1995e) 467 000; area 9122 sq km/3521 sq mi. Island group and region of \JGreece\j; the name is generally applied to the islands of the \JAegean Sea\j, including Lesbos, \JChios\j, \JSamos\j, Lemnos, and Thasos; a major tourist area.
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"Aegean Sea",468,0,0,0
PN [ee\Bjee\ban]
EN Arm of the \JMediterranean Sea\j, bounded W and N by \JGreece\j, north-east and E by Turkey, S by islands of \JCrete\j and Rhodes; dotted with islands on which the Aegean civilization of 3000-1000 BC flourished; length (N-S) 645┐km / 400┐mi; width 320┐km / 200┐mi; greatest depth, 2013┐m / 6604┐ft; sardines, sponges; \Jnatural gas\j off north-east coast of \JGreece\j; tourism.
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"Aegina",469,0,0,0
PN [ee\Bjiy\bna]
EN pop (1995e) 11 800; area 83 sq km/32 sq mi. One of the largest of the Saronic Islands, \JGreece\j, SW of \JAthens\j; chief town Aiyna; a popular resort; Temple of Aphaia.
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#
"aegis",470,0,0,0
PN [\Bee\bjis]
EN Originally a goatskin, and then, in Greek \Jmythology\j, a fringed piece of armour or a shield. Zeus shakes his aegis, which may possibly be the thunder-\Jcloud\j; Athene's is equipped with the \JGorgon\j's head.
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"Aegisthus",471,0,0,0
PN [\Bee\bgisthuhs, \Bee\bjisthuhs]
EN In Greek legend, the son of Thyestes; while \JAgamemnon\j was absent at Troy he became the lover of Clytemnestra. Together they killed \JAgamemnon\j on his return to \JArgos\j. Aegisthus was later killed by Orestes.
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"Aegithalidae",472,0,0,0
EN \BLong-tailed tits\b
The long-tailed tits make up a small family of songbirds (family \JAegithalidae\j, order Passeriformes, suborder Oscines) consisting of six species in the \Jgenus\j \IAegithalos\i and one, perhaps three, species in \IPsaltriparus; \i \IAegithalus\i is confined to Eurasia, while the Bushtit \IPsaltriparus\i inhabits forest and woodland on the west coast of \JNorth America\j.
The relationships of the little-known Pygmy Tit \IPsaltria\i \Iexilis\i of the mountain forests of Java remain enigmatic, but it may belong in this family. Their closest relatives are the true tits, family \JParidae\j.
Long-tailed tits are very small, and few weigh more than 10 grams. They have loose, fluffy plumage, stocky bodies, short wings, and long tails (especially long in the case of the Long-tailed Tit \IAegithalos\i \Icaudatus); \i their legs are rather long and slender, and their bills are short and pointed. Plumage patterns are simple, and colors are usually restricted to black, white, dark gray, and muted shades of dull red.
All species are strongly sociable, living in permanent groups of up to about 20 birds; they seem always on the move, but they probably remain always within an extensive group territory. Sometimes they associate for a time with flocks of other woodland birds, especially in winter. The group even roosts together at night, cuddled up close together on a branch.
One species, the common Long-tailed Tit \IAegithalos\i \Icaudatus\i occurs in forests and woodlands across Eurasia from the \JBritish Isles\j to \JJapan\j. The other members of \IAegithalos\i are essentially Himalayan in distribution, inhabiting mainly high-altitude forest and \Jalpine\j scrub, though one species, the Black-throated Tit \IAegithalos\i \Iconcinnus,\i extends as far east as \JTaiwan\j.
The ancestors of the Bushtit \IPsaltriparus\i \Iminimus\i may have reached the present distribution via the Bering Strait during some former period of milder climate, but now the North American species is considerably isolated, geographically, from others of its family. It occurs from extreme south-western British Columbia southward in coastal and mountain forests to the highlands of \JGuatemala\j. It occurs in three more-or-less isolated populations that may represent distinct species.
All populations are strongly sedentary, although high-altitude forms retreat to find milder conditions at lower levels in winter.
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"Aegothelidae",473,0,0,0
EN \BOwlet-nightjars\b
Owlet-nightjars (family \JAegothelidae\j, order Caprimulgiformes, suborder Caprimulgi) are small, nocturnal, insect-eating birds restricted to the Australasian region. In many ways they resemble nightjars (family \JCaprimulgidae\j) but their closest relatives are the frogmouths (family \JPodargidae\j). Fossil species are known, including one from the Pleistocene of \JNew Zealand\j that may have been flightless.
Anatomically, owlet-nightjars are distinctive in several respects. They have a bronchial syrinx like frogmouths, but they differ in a number of other features: for example, they have an oil \Jgland\j and two carotid arteries, but they lack powder-down.
All other members of the order Caprimulgiformes have a caecum, but owlet-nightjars do not. The tail is moderately long, but the wings are short and rounded. The bill is short but very wide, and nearly obscured by dense bristles and filoplumes on the face and forehead.
Most species are about 25 cm in total length. They perch upright, but do not use the 'broken branch' posture typical of frogmouths. The plumage is fluffy, and cryptically patterned in gray, fawn, slate, brown, buff, rufous, and white. Males and females are similar, and there is little age or seasonal variation. Downy chicks are white.
Owlet-nightjars are common and widespread, but often overlooked because of their nocturnal habits and because they roost in tree cavities during the \Jday\j, leaving only their soft calls to reveal their presence. However, they can often be induced to stick their heads out of their hideaways to look about by lightly tapping the tree-trunk below with a stick.
New Guinea has five of the eight species, one of which, the Australian Owlet-\Jnightjar\j \IAegotheles cristatus,\i is also very widespread in \JAustralia\j, and another occurs in eastern \JIndonesia\j. An endemic species on New Caledonia was discovered during the first phase of European exploration of the Pacific, but has not been seen since. All are sedentary birds confined to forest and woodland.
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"╞lfric",474,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bfrik, \Bal\bfrich]
HS , also known as \B╞lfric Grammaticus\b ('The Grammarian')
DT1a c.
DT1 955
DT2a c.
DT2 1020
EN \JAnglo-Saxon\j clergyman and writer, the greatest vernacular prose writer of his time. He became a monk and later abbot at the new monastery of Cerne \JAbbas\j in \JDorset\j, S England, and subsequently the first Abbot of Eynsham in Oxfordshire, SC England.
He composed two books of 80 \IHomilies\i in Old English, a paraphrase of the first seven books of the \JBible\j, and a book of \ILives of the Saints.\i He also wrote a Latin grammar and Latin-English glossary, accompanied by a Latin \IColloquium\i which gives a vivid picture of social conditions in England at the time.
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"Aelian",475,0,0,0
PN [\Bee\blian],
HS , in full \BClaudius Aelianus\b
DT1a c.
DT1 170
DT2a c.
DT2 235
EN Greek rhetorician, born in Praeneste, near \JRome\j. He taught \Jrhetoric\j in \JRome\j c.220, and wrote numerous works, including \IVaria historia\i (Historical Miscellanies) and \IDe natura animalium\i (On the Characteristics of Animals).
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"Aelred of Rievaulx",476,0,0,0
EN See Ailred of Rievaulx, St
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"Aemilian Way",477,0,0,0
PN [iy\Bmeel\bian]
EN A continuation of \JRome\j's major trunk road to the N, the Flaminian Way. It ran from Rimini on the Adriatic coast to the River Po.
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"Aeneas",478,0,0,0
PN [ee\Bnee\bas]
EN In Roman legend, the ancestor of the Romans. He was a Trojan hero, the son of Anchises and Venus, who escaped after the fall of Troy, bearing his father on his shoulders. After wandering through the Mediterranean, he reached \JItaly\j at Cumae and visited the Underworld, where the destiny of \JRome\j was made clear to him.
He married the daughter of the King of Latium, and allied himself to the Latins in local wars. His son founded Alba Longa, and a line of kings from whom Romulus was said to be descended.
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"Aeolian deposits",479,0,0,0
Wind-blown deposits of sediment, typically of sand grain size. When these deposits are later eroded, they show a characteristically chaotic arrangement, as aeolian deposits are usually more frequently moved and moved again after their first deposition, while \Jwater\j-borne deposits tend to settle and remain, unless they are deposited in a river bed or delta. The windward and leeward slopes of the temporary dunes show different angles of repose, and "blow-outs" are common, and it is these characteristics which make it easy to recognise the aeolian deposits.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"aeolian harp",480,0,0,0
PN [ee\Bohl\bian]
EN A wooden soundbox fitted with strings (usually about a dozen) of various thicknesses, but tuned to a single pitch, which are made to vibrate freely by the surrounding air, producing an ethereal, 'disembodied' sound. It takes its name from Aeolus, god of the winds.
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"Aeolians",481,0,0,0
PN [ee\Bohl\bianz]
EN A sub-group of Hellenic peoples who colonized the north-west coast of \JAsia Minor\j and the islands of the N Aegean (eg Lesbos) towards the end of the second millennium BC.
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"Aeolus",482,0,0,0
PN [\Bee\bolus]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the god of the winds. In the \IOdyssey\i Aeolus lived on an island, and gave Odysseus the winds tied in a bag so that his ship would not be blown off course. The ship had nearly reached Ithaca when Odysseus' men opened the bag, thinking it contained treasure. As a result, the ship was blown far away.
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"Aepyornis",483,0,0,0
PN [eepi\Baw(r)\bnis]
EN See elephant bird
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"aerenchyme",484,0,0,0
This is a form of tissue found in the stems and roots of many \Jwater\j plants. It is a variation of parenchyma (thin-walled randomly-arranged cells), but with air cavities within it. These cavities serve to assist in gas exchange within the plant (gases diffuse much faster through air than through \Jwater\j), and also to help the plant to float.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"aerial",485,0,0,0
EN See antenna \B(technology)\b
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"aerial photography",486,0,0,0
EN Photography of the ground surface from an aerial viewpoint such as a \Jballoon\j or \Jaircraft\j, with application to archaeology, \Jecology\j, \Jgeology\j, and wartime reconnaissance. In \Baerial survey mapping,\b the \Jaircraft\j flies at a constant height along specified paths, taking pictures at regular intervals to build up a mosaic of overlapping images; ground contour and building heights are measured by viewing pairs of images stereoscopically.
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"aerobe",487,0,0,0
PN [\Bair\bohb]
EN An organism that requires the presence of oxygen for growth and reproduction. The great majority of all living organisms are aerobic, requiring oxygen for \Jrespiration\j. Some micro-organisms, typically \Jbacteria\j, are anaerobic, able to grow only in the absence of oxygen; these are known as \Banaerobes.\b
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
There is good reason to believe that the first living things were anaerobic, and that the aerobes only sprang up after the \Jearth\j's \Jatmosphere\j was "poisoned" by large amounts of free oxygen, generated by the first photosynthesisers.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"aerobics",488,0,0,0
PN [air\Boh\bbiks]
EN A system of physical training in which exercises such as walking, swimming, and running are pursued for a sufficiently long period to improve performance. The increases can be assessed using a point scoring system available on charts for different ages and types of effort.
In the 1980s the term was particularly used for movement exercises in time to music, which became popular among keep-fit groups of all ages. The use of oxygen by muscles in carrying out any form of physical activity is known as \Iaerobic \Jmetabolism\j.\i
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"aerocapture",489,0,0,0
EN A proposed technique for placing a \Jspacecraft\j in \Jorbit\j around a \Jplanet\j, without the expenditure of chemical propellants, by taking advantage of planetary \Jatmosphere\j. The \Jspacecraft\j would be equipped with an aerobrake similar to the heat shields on space capsules like Apollo, and would be navigated into the planet's upper \Jatmosphere\j, where friction would slow it down.
The technique offers the prospect of reducing trip times to the outer planets by using less massive \Jspacecraft\j, and of carrying heavier payloads to Mars for sample return missions and, eventually, human exploration.
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"aerodynamics",490,0,0,0
EN The study of the flow of air and the behaviour of objects moving relative to air; a subject which is applicable to other gases, and is part of the larger subject of fluid mechanics. Aerodynamic principles explain flight. The shape and orientation of an \Jaircraft\j wing (curved upper surface, wing tilted down) mean that the air above the wing travels further than the air beneath. Air above the wing thus travels faster and so has lower pressure (Bernoulli's principle).
The pressure difference provides lift to support the \Jaircraft\j. The available lift increases with wing area, and decreases with altitude. The movement of an \Jaircraft\j through the air produces a force which impedes motion, called \Idrag,\i dependent on the \Jaircraft\j size and shape.
Air movement across the surface is impeded by friction, which produces additional drag called \Ifrictional drag; \i this causes heating, which can sometimes be extreme, as in the case of space re-entry vehicles. Friction losses increase with wing area and velocity, and decrease with altitude.
At velocities greater than the speed of sound (Mach 1, approximately 331.5┐m / 1088┐ft per second) air can no longer be treated as incompressible and new rules apply, giving rise to \Bsupersonic aerodynamics.\b Passing from subsonic to \Jsupersonic\j speeds, \Jaircraft\j cross the 'sound barrier', marked by a dramatic increase in drag.
Supersonic drag is reduced using thin, swept-back wings typical of military fighter \Jaircraft\j. \JAircraft\j flying at \Jsupersonic\j speeds produce sonic booms - shock waves in the air around the \Jaircraft\j, produced because the \Jaircraft\j's velocity is too great to allow the air pressure to adjust smoothly around it. Vehicles moving through air experience drag forces which increase fuel consumption.
Also, buildings and bridges sway due to wind. These effects must be allowed for in design, and can be minimized by attending to the shape of the object as seen by the oncoming air stream. Wind tunnels allow scale models to be exposed to simulated wind conditions, and aerodynamic properties of design can be determined. Of special importance are effects of abnormal air flows such as turbulence and vortices.
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"aerofoil (airfoil)",491,0,0,0
The name given to a particular cross-section, found in the propeller, the \Jturbine\j and the \Jboomerang\j. It is also the most desirable shape for the sail of a racing yacht, especially when it is sailing upwind, and it can also be seen in the cross-section of a bird's wing. When a fluid (gas or liquid) flows past this shape, the surface provides lift, as predicted by Bernoulli's principle.
The shape is designed to produce laminar flow, and to ensure that the path taken by the fluid over one surface is greater than the path taken over the other surface. This difference in distance, over the same time, translates into a difference in speed, which translates in turn into a difference in pressure, providing lift.
In the case of an \Jaircraft\j, the wing is usually tilted slightly upwards, so that further lift is provided from that source as well, but the aerofoil effect is still important.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"aerometry",492,0,0,0
PN [air\Bom\betree]
EN The measurement of airflow through the nose and mouth during speech. In the pronunciation of most sounds, air comes through the mouth; but in the case of nasal consonants (eg [m], [n]) and nasal vowels (eg [⌡], as in French \Ibon)\i the air travels wholly or partly through the nose. Using an \Baerometer,\b the variations in the use of the nasal cavity in running speech can be plotted.
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"aeronautics",493,0,0,0
EN The broad body of scientifically based knowledge describing aeroplanes as objects subject to the laws of physics. The term is usually taken to mean knowledge which focuses upon the vehicle itself, rather than upon the associated commercial or operational usage, although in practice such a definition is not rigidly adhered to.
Thus, aeronautics is taken to cover such topics as the generation of lift to make the aeroplane fly, the physical factors affecting manoeuvring, the production of thrust through the use of propellers and jets, the strength of the structure, and the way these various elements are combined to produce a functioning vehicle.
\BMore information provided by AND Reference Data\b
As early as the 16th-c, \JLeonardo da Vinci\j was designing flying machines based on emulating the flapping motion of birds' wings, but the vehicle which first carried people clear of the \Jearth\j's surface was a hot-air \Jballoon\j constructed by the Montgolfier brothers and flown on an ascent over Paris in 1783 by De Rosier and D'Arlandes. The Frenchman Charles was developing a lighter-than-air \Jballoon\j (or aerostat) at about the same time, but it was 1852 before the practical problems of controlling direction of travel and coping with adverse \Jweather\j were overcome by the development of the \Jballoon\j into an \Jairship\j by Henri Gifford.
In the intervening period, research was being conducted using models which would be recognized today as a conventional \Jaircraft\j configuration and, by 1853, Sir George Cayley, the father of aeronautics, had constructed a man-carrying glider. Also during this period (1847), John Stringfellow and William Henson built a steam-powered \Jaircraft\j which, although unfortunately incapable of sustained flight, had a significant influence on subsequent \Jaircraft\j design.
The development of man-carrying gliders was pursued vigorously by Otto Lilienthal who, from his study of bird flight, recognized the importance of curved airfoil sections to increase the efficiency of wing surfaces. With the continuing refinement of the \Jinternal combustion engine\j, invented in 1876 by Nikolaus August Otto and successfully harnessed car propulsion by Karl Benz in 1885, the way was cleared for the most significant landmark in manned, powered flight. In 1903, Orville Wright took off and flew for 12 seconds in a 12-hp engined bi-plane constructed by his brother, Wilbur, in their cycle workshop. As the reliability of the structures and engines improved, the latter particularly through Lawrence Hargrave's radical rotary design, so pioneers exploited the new medium. Amongst these were Henry Farman, who made the first cross-country flight in 1908, and Louis Bleriot, who flew across the English Channel the following year.
World War 1 provided a powerful stimulus to all aspects of aeronautical research and development, and in 1919, John William Alcock and Arthur Brown crossed the Atlantic in a twin-engined Vickers Vimy bomber. This feat was followed by flights of ever-increasing range, including the overflight of the \JNorth Pole\j by Richard Byrd in 1927. Later pioneering flights included Charles Lindbergh's solo crossing of the Atlantic; Amelia Earhart over the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans; Amy Johnson from England to \JAustralia\j, and James Mollinson to South Africa and India.
World War 2 created a similar impetus. By the end of that conflict the later marks of the Spitfire, designed by Reginald Mitchell; the Hurricane, designed by Sidney Camm; and the Messerschmitt, designed by Wilhelm Messerschmitt and Walter Rethel, were representative of the highest states of \Jevolution\j of piston-engined \Jaircraft\j. This war also heralded the arrival of the jet fighter: in 1939 the Heinkel HE 178, built by Ernst Heinkel, became the world's first jet \Jaircraft\j. It was followed less than two years later by the Gloster E 28/39 powered by a jet engine designed by Frank Whittle.
Rocket-powered \Jaircraft\j had been introduced into limited service by the \JLuftwaffe\j during the later stages of the war, and research was continued by the USA. In 1947, Charles (Chuck) Yeager flew a Bell X-1 rocket-powered research \Jaircraft\j to become the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound, breaking the so-called sound barrier. This marked a significant advance in aeronautical \Jengineering\j.
The considerable use of long-range bomber \Jaircraft\j during the war led directly to the development of passenger-carrying \Jaircraft\j, and to the rapid growth of international air travel. By 1968 the world's first \Jsupersonic\j airliner, the Tupolev TU-144, had flown; followed a little later by the Anglo-French \JConcorde\j. The latter has remained in scheduled service. Its normal cruising speed is twice that of sound.
Among other significant developments have been Sidney Camm's Harrier, (the first Vertical-Take-Off-and-Landing [VTOL] \Jaircraft\j successfully to enter service); and the incorporation on some \Jaircraft\j, notably the General Aerodynamics F-111 fighter/bomber and the BAC \JTornado\j, of swing wings. This concept, first conceived by Barnes Wallis, enables the angle of sweep-back of the wings to be varied in flight, in order to optimize aerodynamic efficiency during the various stages of flight.
With some military \Jaircraft\j capable of reaching and operating on the fringes of space, the distinction between aeronautics and astronautics is becoming increasingly blurred. Indeed, future developments will probably draw on both sciences. The concept of \Jaircraft\j taking off from normal airfields and climbing to achieve \Jearth\j \Jorbit\j before re-entering the \Jatmosphere\j prior to a conventional aircraft-style approach and landing has already been explored by British Aerospace in their Horizontal-Take-Off-and-Landing (HOTOL) project.
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"aerophone",494,0,0,0
EN Any musical instrument in which air is the main vibrating agent. Aerophones form one of the main categories of instruments in the standard classification of Hornbostel and Sachs (1914). They are subdivided into types according to (a) the main material they are made of, and (b) how the air is set in motion (via a mouthpiece, a reed, or neither).
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"aeroplane / airplane",495,0,0,0
EN The general name given to a vehicle whose operational medium is air and which supports itself in the Earth's \Jatmosphere\j by means of \Ilift.\i Lift is produced through specially shaped fixed wings attached to the aeroplane's body or \Ifuselage; \i these alter the airflow so that the pressure distribution of the air over the wing creates an upward force.
The airflow is in turn produced by the aeroplane being 'pushed' or 'pulled' through the air by the propulsion device driven by a motor. By means of design, the lift produced by the wing can be made greater than the weight of the airframe and propulsive system, allowing a payload to be carried.
The first truly powered flight was made by Orville Wright in December 1903, when he flew 260┐m / 852┐ft. However, it was not until World War 1 that governments on both sides of the conflict put money into the development of engines and airframes. This led to the rapid development of specialized \Jaircraft\j, particularly the fighter.
After the War, the needs of American transcontinental passenger travel produced \Jaircraft\j with multi-engines, metal skins, and retractable undercarriages to replace the previously fabric-covered types. World War 2 saw a further investment in \Jaircraft\j by both the Axis and Allied powers, culminating in the world's first operational jet fighter, the Me 262.
In the period following the War, jet engines were applied to ever larger passenger \Jaircraft\j, culminating in the introduction of the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet in 1970. This period also saw the arrival of the \Jsupersonic\j \JConcorde\j in 1976. Similarly, warplanes of all types had jet engines applied to them, the trend being towards ever higher speeds.
Recent developments in civilian \Jaircraft\j have been away from higher speed towards more economical and quieter operation, while military and large commercial \Jaircraft\j are becoming increasingly reliant upon \Jelectronics\j to control and keep them stable in flight.
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"aerosol",496,0,0,0
EN An airborne suspension of microscopic particles or liquid droplets, typically formed by forcing a liquid through a fine nozzle under pressure. \JAerosol\j sprays are useful as a means of depositing fine even layers of material, such as in paint sprays.
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"Aertsen, Pieter",497,0,0,0
PN [\Bairt\bsen]
DT1 1508
DT1b / 9
DT2 79
EN Painter, born in \JAmsterdam\j. He worked in Antwerp (1535-c.55), the first of a family dynasty of painters. Few of his religious altarpieces survived the turmoils of the Reformation. He is best known for paintings of everyday life and contemporary domestic interiors, but these frequently include some religious reference.
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"Aeschines",498,0,0,0
PN [\Bees\bkineez]
DT1a c.
DT1 390
DT1b BC
DT2 ?
EN Orator, born in \JAthens\j. He advocated appeasement of Philip II of Macedon, and was a member of a Greek embassy that negotiated peace with Philip in 346. Demosthenes tried to have him indicted for \Jtreason\j in 343, and in 330 Aeschines tried to prevent Demosthenes from being awarded a golden crown for his services to \JAthens\j. Defeated, Aeschines withdrew to Rhodes, where he established a school of eloquence.
MEX Demosthenes; Philip II (of Macedon)
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"Aeschylus",499,0,0,0
DT 525/4-456/5 bc
EN Greek tragic playwright. A native of Eleusis, Aeschylus is said to have produced tragedies as early as 499, and won his first victory at the Great Dionysia (see Greek theatre, ancient) in 484. He fought against the Persians at the Battle of Marathon (490), and probably also at Salamis (480).
He became the most popular tragedian of his \Jday\j, winning a total of 13 victories at \JAthens\j and also visiting \JSicily\j to produce plays for the tyrant Hieron I of Syracuse. It was on a later visit to \JSicily\j that he died. Already by the time of \JAristophanes\j, who affectionately parodies his style in Frogs, he was regarded as the first of the great tragedians.
For at least part of his career he played the leading role in his own plays, as was normal until the time of \JSophocles\j. He is said to have been responsible for reducing the role of the Chorus and for introducing the second actor - clearly a momentous innovation. Many of his plays belonged to connected tetralogies.
He is said to have written 90 plays: we know the titles of over 70; seven survive under his name. Persians (472), which depicts the despair of the Persian court on hearing of the Greek victory at Salamis, is the earliest drama we possess and the only surviving Greek tragedy on a historical subject. It did not belong to a connected tetralogy.
Seven against Thebes (467) was the third play of a tetralogy about Oedipus and his family, the others being \JLaius\j, Oedipus and the \Jsatyr\j play Sphinx. Suppliant Women (once thought to be the earliest play but now dated between 466 and 459) almost certainly belonged to a connected tetralogy about the daughters of Danaus. \JAgamemnon\j, Choephori (Libation-Bearers) and Eumenides together form the Oresteia (458), the only connected trilogy that survives (the lost \Jsatyr\j play \JProteus\j completed the tetralogy).
The seventh play, \JPrometheus\j Bound, was until recently accepted as authentic by most scholars, but detailed examination of its language, metre and stagecraft has made it very probable that it is post-Aeschylean, perhaps datable to the 440s. It was accompanied by the lost \JPrometheus\j Unbound, in which \JPrometheus\j was released from his torment by \JHeracles\j. Like the Oresteia, \JPrometheus\j Bound employs three actors.
Fragments also survive, not extensive but providing valuable evidence for Aeschylus' \Jsatyr\j plays, as well as for lost tragedies.
The surviving plays, though few in number, are extremely diverse. Each is fairly simple in plot, though those of the Oresteia, perhaps influenced by \JSophocles\j, are more complex than the others. Each, except Suppliant Women and Eumenides, invests a single public event (such as the Persian defeat or the murder of \JAgamemnon\j by his wife Clytemnestra) with great moral and religious significance.
Before it occurs, or is announced, the event is foreshadowed with foreboding or (in Choephori) with illusory hope, and we become more and more aware of the network of forces making it inevitable; afterwards its ethical implications are explored and its future consequences predicted.
Characterization tends to be subordinate to the deeds which the characters perform rather than being pursued for its own sake; but this does not prevent those characters from being fully intelligible in human terms. The Chorus is constantly exploited and its songs carry much of the moral and emotional weight of the drama.
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"Aesculapius",500,0,0,0
PN [eeskyu\Blay\bpius]
EN The Latin form of \BAsclepius,\b the Greek god of healing. His \Jcult\j was transferred from Epidauros to \JRome\j in 291 BC after a plague.
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"Aesop",501,0,0,0
PN [\Bee\bsop]
DT1 ?
DT1 6
DT1b th-c BC
EN Legendary Greek fabulist. The fables attributed to him are in all probability a compilation of tales from many sources. The stories were popularized by the Roman poet Phaedrus in the 1st-c AD, and rewritten in sophisticated verse by La Fontaine in 1668.
MEX La Fontaine; Phaedrus
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"Aesthetic / Esthetic Movement",502,0,0,0
EN A view of art based on the theory that art is autonomous and should not be judged by non-aesthetic criteria, whether moral, religious, or political; it flourished in the 19th-c. The French writer Victor Cousin first used the phrase \Il'art pour l'art\i ('art for art's sake') in 1836, but the doctrine occurs in various forms in the writings of (among others) Kant, Coleridge, and Emerson.
Aestheticism was attacked for its exaggerated detachment from everyday life by Ruskin and later by Tolstoy. The view that purely 'formal' rather than associational or 'literary' qualities are paramount has played a major role in 20th-c discussion.
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"aesthetics / esthetics",503,0,0,0
EN The philosophical investigation of art, understood to include all the visual arts, music, literature, drama, and dance. The term originally denoted the study of sense-experience generally, and began to emerge as a sub-field of philosophy concerned with beauty and artistic value with the work of Baumgarten and Kant in the 19th-c.
Aesthetics now deals with such issues as what it is for an object or a performance to be a work of art; whether there are objective standards for judging it; and what meaning and function can be ascribed to art and the concepts used within it.
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"aestivation",504,0,0,0
Australia does not have animals which hibernate in winter. Instead, it has migratory moths which perform the summer equivalent of hibernating. To be technical, they aestivate.
Late each spring, the bogong moths \I(Agrotis infusa)\i fly along the mountain ranges that parallel the Australian east coast to spend their summer in the \JAustralian Alps\j, more than 1000 kilometres from where they hatched and developed, and 1500 metres or more above sea level. Once in the high country, the moths land on granite outcrops and pack together in crevices in the rocks, where they stay for as long as five months, from November to April. During all this time, they hardly feed at all, though they may occasionally fly out at dusk to drink some \Jwater\j. Just as hibernating mammals slow down their metabolisms, so do the aestivating moths.
Digressing briefly, 'hibernate' and 'aestivate' are derived from the Latin words for 'winter' and 'summer' respectively, but that aside, both processes are very similar, with the animals involved preparing in advance for their long quiet period. There is related effect called quiescence, where animals respond to bad conditions by 'shutting down', but quiescence is a spontaneous reaction, not a planned and prepared-for one.
The next generation of bogongs begins when these adults emerge from shelter and return to their homes in April (\JAustralia\j's autumn) to mate and lay eggs in pastures across three states. The newly hatched grubs ('cutworms' to farmers) then lurk in the soil, feeding on the winter annuals which are their preferred food. They grow during the winter and spring, then change into moths, and fly to the high country to wait out the hot Australian summer.
Aestivation lets the adult moths live across summer when there is no suitable food for them. Summer is also the time when grasses take over the open country where the bogongs breed, and their grubs do not thrive on grasses, so the species depends on \Jaestivation\j each year. To last through the summer, the adult moths need to have a good \Jenergy\j store. In fact, their dry weight is 60% fat, with some protein and a smaller amount of \Jcarbohydrate\j.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"╞thel-",505,0,0,0
HS (\JAnglo-Saxon\j name)
EN See Athelstan or ╞thelstan; Ethelbert or ╞thelbert; Etheldreda or ╞thelthryth, St; Ethelflaed or ╞thelflaed
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"Aethelbert",506,0,0,0
EN See Ethelbert or ╞thelbert
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"Aethelflaed",507,0,0,0
EN See Ethelflaed or Aethelflaed
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"╞thelthryth",508,0,0,0
EN See Etheldreda or ╞thelthryth, St
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"aether",509,0,0,0
EN See ether, physics
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"Aδtius, Flavius",510,0,0,0
PN [ay\Bee\btius]
DT1a c.
DT1 390
DT2 454
EN Roman general, born in Moesia. In 433 he became patrician, consul, and general-in-chief, and maintained the empire against the barbarians for 20 years. His crowning victory was at ChΓlons over \JAttila\j in 451. Three years later Emperor Valentinian III (reigned 425-55), jealous of his greatness, stabbed him to death.
MEX \JAttila\j; Theodoric I
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"affenpinscher",511,0,0,0
EN This wiry-haired, smaller-than-average dog has a face resembling a monkey - it is otherwise known as the "Monkey Dog."
\BHistory:\b
The \JAffenpinscher\j may have been the ancestor of the familiar Brussels Griffon, although some believe it was the other way around. Or perhaps these animals may have both descended from the former German Pinscher. Certainly, the \JAffenpinscher\j was known in Europe during the fifteenth century, and is considered to be one of Europe's oldest toy breeds.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
A stocky small dog. \IHeight:\i 9 - 11 in (23 - 28 cm). \IWeight:\i 6 - 9 lb (2.7 - 4 kg). The \JAffenpinscher\j has a rounded head, prominent eyes, shaggy hair around the face, and the ears are set high on the head. The coat is usually stiff and quite dense, and preferably colored black.
\BBehavior:\b
The \JAffenpinscher\j makes an excellent watch-dog as it bravely defends its territory. However, its endearing expressions can fool owners into allowing this potentially bossy and exuberant dog to take control of the family. Initially, the young \JAffenpinscher\j should be kept under close control so it becomes an excellent companion.
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"affinity",512,0,0,0
EN A relationship by marriage. Countries generally have rules prohibiting marriage between certain people where there is an affinity - for example between parents and their step-children. Such prohibitions also apply where there is \Iconsanguinity\i (a blood relationship).
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"affirmative action",513,0,0,0
EN Policies requiring institutions to act 'affirmatively' in employment practices to avoid discrimination on grounds of race, ethnic origin, gender, disability, or sexual orientation; usually found in the USA. Executive Order 10925 issued by President Kennedy contained the first use of the term.
Affirmative action policies can range from encouraging the employment of minorities to the setting of quotas of minorities to be employed.
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"affix",514,0,0,0
EN A grammatical element which cannot occur on its own, but must always attach to the root or stem of a word. Every language has a limited or closed set of affixes. In English, they may precede the stem \B(prefixes),\b as in \I\Bim\bpossible,\i or follow it \B(suffixes),\b as in \Iform\Bal.\b\i Some other languages have \Binfixes,\b which are attached within the word.
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"afforestation",515,0,0,0
EN The planting of woodland areas. The aim may be to increase the extent of economically useful wood (eg \Jconifer\j plantations in upland UK) or to protect against soil erosion and \Jdesertification\j by providing shelter belts and vegetation cover on bare ground.
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"Afghan hound",516,0,0,0
EN This elegant-looking dog has a fine noble head complemented by a luxuriant flowing coat and a majestic gait. The extremely fast Afghan Hound is ideally suited for racing across the open plains or quickly changing direction in the rough terrain of mountainous regions.
\BHistory:\b
As its name suggests, the Afghan Hound originated from \JAfghanistan\j, where it was bred as a sight hound. It was trained to chase and knock down its quarry, and then to keep it there until the handler could catch up. Originally, the short-haired variety were bred for the plains region and the long-haired dogs were restricted to the mountains.
Nomads found the Afghan Hound invaluable as a guard for their herds and as a watch-dog for their camps. Historical evidence of cave drawings suggests a similar dog existed as far back as 4000 years ago. In 1907 the Afghan Hound was shown in London under the name of Oriental \JGreyhound\j, and in 1926 was granted official recognition as the Afghan Hound.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
A tall, refined-looking dog with a springy gait. \IHeight:\i for the adult dog 27 - 29 in (69 - 74 cm) \IWeight:\i 55 66 lb (25 - 30 kg). The skull and muzzle should be long, with preferably dark eyes slanting slightly upward. The long ears should be well-covered with silky hair.
\BBehavior:\b
Despite their elegant and aloof appearance, Afghan Hounds are often very demanding of their owner's attention. Generally, this dog has a gentle nature and is very sociable with other dogs and people. Their height gives them an air of superiority and confidence when meeting most other dogs, yet their playful manner soon puts other dogs and people at ease.
As Afghan Hounds are intelligent animals, they require lots of mental as well as physical stimulation. Considerate owners should provide these noble animals with plenty of exercise and attention. It is a sheer delight to watch an Afghan Hound race across an open space and playfully gambol around.
Although Afghan Hounds are easy to train, a wise owner should be aware that they are sight hounds and so have a strong chase-reflex. They can simply take off, or at least be very distracted by moving animals or objects such as cats or a windblown paper bag.
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"Afghan Wars",517,0,0,0
EN A series of wars (1838-42, 1878-80, 1919) between Britain and \JAfghanistan\j, prompted by the British desire to extend control in the region to prevent the advance of Russian influence towards India. The third Afghan War resulted in the country's independence (1921).
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"Afghanistan",518,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 21 017 000, plus an estimated 21/2 million nomadic tribesmen and 3 million living in \JPakistan\j and \JIran\j as refugees; area 647 497 sq km/249 934 sq mi. Republic in S Asia, divided into 29 provinces; timezone GMT +41/2; capital, Kabul; other chief towns, Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat, \JKandahar\j; Pathans the main ethnic group, with several minorities; official languages Pushtu, Dari (Persian); chief religion \JIslam\j, mostly Sunni; unit of currency the Afghani, subdivided into 100 puls.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
A mountainous country centred on the Hindu \JKush\j system, reaching over 7000 m/24 000 ft in the C and NE; many secondary ranges; to the NW, height decreases towards the border; also NW, the fertile valley of Herat; arid uplands to the S; desert in the SW; landlocked, over 500 km/300 mi from the sea; continental climate, winter severity increased by altitude; summers warm everywhere except on highest peaks; protected from summer monsoons by S mountains; rain mostly during spring and autumn; annual rainfall averages 338 mm/131/4 in; winters generally cold, with much snow at higher altitudes; a desert or semi-arid climate at lower levels.
\IHistory and government\i
Nation first formed in 1747 under Ahmad Shah Durrani; seen by Britain as a bridge between India and the \JMiddle East\j, but Britain failed to gain control during a series of Afghan Wars (the last in 1919); feudal monarchy survived until after World War 2, when the constitution became more liberal under several Soviet-influenced 5-year economic plans; king deposed (1973) and a republic formed; new constitution, 1977; coup (1978) installed a new government under the communist leader, Nur Mohammad Taraki; further coup (1979) brought to power Hafizullah Amin, which led to the invasion by USSR forces and the establishment of Babrak Karmal as head of state (1979--86); new constitution, 1987, provided for an executive president, bicameral National Assembly, and council of ministers; election of Nazibullah, 1987; Soviet withdrawal implemented, 1988--9; regime met heavy guerrilla resistance from the Mujahideen (Islamic fighters), and its influence extends effectively over only 20 %of the population; resignation of President Najibullah, 1992; new Constituent Assembly, 1992, provides for a 2-year rotating presidency; continuing unrest and disunity among Mujahideen groups, hindering implementation of UN-led peace plans and proposals for new constitution; power struggle between president and prime minister led to new conflict, 1994--5, with emergence of a new Muslim force, the \Italiban\i(army of students); \Italiban\ivictory imposed strict Islamic regime, with execution of Najibullah (Sep 1996), followed by counter-attack by Mujahideen alliance.
\IEconomy\i
Over 60% of labour force engaged in agriculture, especially wheat, fruit, nuts and vegetables, \Jmaize\j, \Jbarley\j, cotton, sugar-beet, sugar cane; sheep, \Jcattle\j, goats; forest wood for fuel; food processing, textiles (especially carpets), leather goods, plastics, fertilizers, furniture, footwear, mechanical spares; \Jnatural gas\j production in the N, largely for export; most sectors have been affected by the \JCivil War\j, especially sugar and textiles.
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"Afinogenov, Aleksandr (Nikolaevich)",519,0,0,0
DT 1904-41
EN Soviet playwright. He searched for a new psychological drama in the post- revolutionary years of transition from primitive agit-prop to doctrinaire socialist realism. He was a Communist Party member from 1922. His early plays - Robert Tim (1923), The Other Side of the Slot (adapted from Jack London, 1926), At the Breaking Point (1927), Keep Your Eyes Peeled (1927) and Raspberry Jam (1928) - were produced by the Proletkult Theatre, where Afinogenov served as literary manager and director, and reflected the group's proletarian bias.
Tiring of the schematic, Proletkult style, he formally broke with the organization in 1928, joining the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers (RAPP), whose approach to art he helped to define in The Creative Method of the Theatre: The Dialectics of the Creative Process (1931). However, in his 1929 drama The Eccentric, a character study of a romantic non-communist dreamer, the author had the temerity to cast communists as villains.
His best play, Fear (1931), which brings subtlety and humanity to a confrontation between a good communist and an unenlightened but salvageable elder scientist, was considered pivotal in the Soviet dramatic canon, and was successfully staged by \JStanislavsky\j at the Moscow Art Theatre. His remaining plays include Distant Point (1935), a Soviet philosophical drama; Hail, \JSpain\j! (1936), a popular romantic piece; and Mashenka (1940), an amalgam of personal and patriotic dramas.
His insistence on psychological realism at the expense of ideological concerns cost Afinogenov his Party membership in 1937. It was restored in 1938.
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"AFL / CIO",520,0,0,0
EN Organizations (AFL / \JCIO\j) American Federation of Labor - Congress of
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"aflatoxin",521,0,0,0
PN [afla\Btok\bsin]
EN A toxin produced by the mould \IAspergillus flavus\i (from \IA\i spergillus \Ifla\i vus \Itoxin)\i commonly found in groundnuts (peanuts), cottonseed, soybeans, wheat, \Jbarley\j, \Jsorghum\j, and nuts such as pistachios, almonds, and cacao, where the climate favours its growth.
The major epidemic of 'Turkey-X disease' in turkeys in the USA in 1960 was caused by feeding with contaminated groundnuts. Symptoms of poisoning include weight loss, loss of co-ordination, convulsions, and death. It also damages the liver, and causes liver tumours when fed long-term at low doses.
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"Afonso I",522,0,0,0
EN See Alfonso I or Alfonso Henriques
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"Africa",523,0,0,0
EN area c.30.97 million┐km\U2\u / 11.6 million┐mi\U2\u. Second largest continent, extending S from the \JMediterranean Sea\j; bounded W by the \JAtlantic Ocean\j and E by the Indian Ocean and the \JRed Sea\j; bisected by the Equator; maximum length, 8000┐km / 5000┐mi; maximum width, 7200┐km / 4500┐mi; highest point, Mount \JKilimanjaro\j (5895┐m / 19┐340┐ft); major rivers include the \JCongo\j, \JNiger\j, Nile, Zambezi.
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"Africa, Partition of",524,0,0,0
EN The division of the continent of Africa into colonial territories, which occurred in the last three decades of the 19th-c. Europeans had traded with Africa for several centuries, using a series of coastal settlements. Portuguese efforts to penetrate the interior in the 16th-17th-c had largely failed, and only the Dutch at the Cape had been able to establish a dynamic permanent settlement.
In the course of the 19th-c, efforts to abolish the \Jslave trade\j, missionary endeavours, and optimistic views of African riches helped to encourage colonial ambitions. The countries involved in the Partition included Britain, \JFrance\j, \JGermany\j, \JPortugal\j, and \JItaly\j, as well as the \JBoers\j in the S, and (in his private capacity) King Leopold of the Belgians.
When the French and the Italians completed the Partition of N Africa in the years before World War 1, only \JLiberia\j and \JEthiopia\j remained independent. At the end of the two World Wars, a repartitioning occurred with the confiscation of German and Italian territories. Most of the countries created by the Partition achieved independence in or after the 1960s, and the Organization of African Unity pledged itself to the maintenance of the existing boundaries.
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"African art",525,0,0,0
EN Visual art forms of the Continent of Africa, originally rock painting and drawings, in open shelters rather than caves. Scratched or incised drawings occur more abundantly throughout the Sahara than anywhere else in the world, and extend chronologically from ancient times almost to the present \Jday\j.
Early representations of wild animals, some now extinct, attest to a hunting culture that flourished before c.4000 BC. The style, as in European Palaeolithic art, is naturalistic. Later rock art is more schematic. Horses and chariots, and later camels, appear. In S Africa the \JBushmen\j have practised their own form of rock painting and drawing from early times to the present.
The major form of African tribal (as opposed to prehistoric) art, practised mainly in the W \JSudan\j, the Guinea Coast, Middle Africa, and the \JCongo\j, has been sculpture, especially masks and small figures, stools and thrones, as well as everyday objects. Materials, apart from wood, include ivory, metal (mostly bronze), terracotta, raffia, and occasionally stone. Painting has been much less important.
In the early 20th-c, African sculpture inspired artists such as Picasso to employ 'primitive' forms in reaction against the conventions of 19th-c \Jnaturalism\j. In recent years, especially since c.1960, artists working in independent states have created original forms of art by combining traditional African with modern Western ideas, techniques, and aesthetic attitudes.
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"African buffalo",526,0,0,0
EN A member of the \Jcattle\j family, native to S and E Africa \I(Syncerus caffer); \i heavy black or brown body; thick horns lying across head like a helmet, with tips curved upwards; large drooping ears; also known as \BCape buffalo\b (small form called \Bdwarf forest buffalo).\b
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"African dance",527,0,0,0
EN A vast number of dances, often part of traditional tribal structures, which operate within larger geographical boundaries (not always identical with current political boundaries). Some relate to religious belief or communicate socially acceptable moral codes; others express social hierarchies or celebrate ceremonial and social events.
Dancing and drumming occur together with clapping and singing. Performances take place within a community as part of a \Jcarnival\j or an arts festival, and in a theatrical context for tourists. Movement is typically from a crouched position, bare-footed with knees bent and shuffling steps, the motion beginning in the hips.
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"African Golden Cat",528,0,0,0
EN \BLatin Name:\b \IProfelis aurata\i\b
\BSize:\b head and body 70-55 cm; tail 28-32 cm\b
\BWeight:\b 13-18 kg\b
\BDistribution:\b Central Africa, from \JSenegal\j across to Kenya\b
A strongly built animal about twice the size of a domestic cat, the African Golden Cat can be found in a variety of colors from rich red-brown to silver-gray and occasionally even black. Different colored animals can be found in the one area and can sometimes be given different names. A red-furred animal may be known by locals as a golden cat, while a gray one is a silver cat.
It is found in rain forest and dense jungle areas and spends most of the \Jday\j resting in the lower branches of trees. At night it hunts for birds and small mammals, such as tree hyraxes and rodents; it is also strong enough to bring down small antelopes such as duikers.
Length of \Jpregnancy\j is 75-78 days and one to three kittens are born.
It features strongly in local stories and superstitions. In certain pygmy tribes, the tail is said to bring good luck during elephant hunts.
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"African history",529,0,0,0
EN The study of the history of the continent of Africa. Early approaches were bedevilled by the way Europeans regarded history as the study of societies through \Jliteracy\j, the examination of pre-literate societies being dubbed 'pre-history'. Africans themselves, however, though largely non-literate, had a clear conception of history which they maintained through oral traditions.
Much could be established about the African past through the archaeological record and through literate sources derived from the ancient world, \JIslam\j, and the earliest European travellers. The Portuguese in particular observed, interacted with, and recorded features of several African societies from the 15th-c, and also began the process of collecting traditions.
This was developed by explorers, missionaries, administrators, and anthropologists in the 19th-c and early 20th-c. It was only after World War 2 that the professional study of African history was put on a sound footing, and rapid strides were made in the utilization of all available sources, including oral history (often with a chronological depth up to five centuries). There is now a vigorous school of indigenous African historians.
\BMore information provided by AND Reference Data\b
Long before the birth of Christ, Africa was home communities and civilizations whose influences spread through the continent over thousands of years. Hunters and gatherers were gradually displaced by agriculturists and iron-workers, who brought with them different forms of political organization in successive waves of migratory movements. The continent had been widely explored by Africans themselves by the time European ships first touched W African shores.
Unlike the long history of European encounters with N African Muslim states across the Mediterranean, contact with W Africa dated back no further than the 15th-c. Merchant interests in W Europe provided the impetus to attempt navigation of the W bulge and S tip of Africa, in order to reach the Indian subcontinent. The most prominent navigators in the 15th-c were the Portuguese, especially in the era of Prince Henry the Navigator. Bartholomeu Diaz led the first expedition, which sailed around the Cape in 1488. Permanent trading posts gradually sprang up along the W African littoral between \JSenegal\j as far as \JAngola\j. Trade was conducted with African communities by the Portuguese, Dutch, Danes, French, and English, both on the coast and in the interior, through the agency of middlemen. As the New World became part of the European mercantile \Jorbit\j, trade relations with the peoples of the African coastline were increasingly dominated by the \Jslave trade\j. Slaving reached its peak in the 18th-c, with over six million Africans transported across the Atlantic.
At the end of the 18th-c, European contact with Africa was still largely restricted to its coastline. There were notable exceptions: James Bruce, for example, journeyed into \JEthiopia\j and brought back drawings and travel accounts, which he published in 1790. French scholars in North Africa produced scholarly reams on both \JEgypt\j and \JAlgeria\j, under the direction of Napoleon I and Louis Philippe respectively. The decoding, by Jean-Franτois Champollion, of Egyptian hieroglyphic script in 1822 also gave a spur to the study of Egyptology and archaeology.
But between 1790--1875 the nature of the European presence in Africa was rapidly and profoundly transformed. The gap between their respective technologies and political structures widened tremendously, as the economies of W Europe began to industrialize, and competing nation-states projected their rivalries with renewed vigour into the distant trading zones of the globe. Exploration, in its best and worst sense, drew scores of travellers and explorers into the interior of the African continent. A spirit of scientific enquiry prompted some; others were drawn by commercial and religious ambition. During this era, African exploration was the symptom of a new kind of interest in the continent which prefigured colonization.
Several mercantile powers, notably Britain, sought to make the transition from the \Jslave trade\j to legitimate commerce. Britain banned the \Jslave trade\j in her own dominions in 1807, and \Jslavery\j itself in 1833. Quite apart from philanthropic and religious pressures, the British government also recognized sound economic reasons. However, poorer nations, such as \JPortugal\j, remained economically dependent on \Jslavery\j for some time.
With increasing industrialization, European governments had greater resources available to embark on colonial enterprises. Britain acquired colonies on the W African coast, including the Gold Coast in 1821, which acted as outposts against the \Jslave trade\j. The British government between 1805--30 financed a series of expeditions to demystify the interior of W Africa. In addition, geographical societies arose in several European capitals to promote the exploration of the Dark Continent, a term coined by British explorer and journalist, Henry Morton Stanley, in the 1870s. Missionaries, too, invested their lives in the exploration and evangelization of Africa from the early 19th-c.
River systems, regarded as the key to African \Jgeography\j, were initially targeted for exploration by the various interested bodies and individuals. Mungo Park, a Scottish surgeon, was commissioned to explore the \JNiger\j by the African Association of London, later the Royal Geographical Society. His first journey, which established the E flow of the \JNiger\j, took place during 1795--7. He drowned on his second journey, seeking the mouth of the river. The latter, in the river delta of the Gulf of Guinea, was reached by the British explorer Richard Lander during his 1830--1 expedition.
The existence of the Zambezi R was unknown to Europeans until the Scottish missionary, Dr David Livingstone, encountered it on his journey (1852--6) through the \JKalahari\j Desert to L Ngami in the NW. His quest was to reveal the extent of the \Jslave trade\j, and it took him upstream of the Zambezi and all the way to \JLuanda\j on the W coast. On his return he saw the Victoria Falls on the Zambezi, which local Africans referred to as Mosi oa Tunya (Smoke that Thunders). Livingstone continued down the Zambezi until he reached Quelimane on the E coast. After publishing his findings on both the \Jslave trade\j and his travels, he made a second journey to establish missionary outposts and explore the Shire and Rovuma rivers. He made his last journey between 1865--71, exploring L Nyasa, L Tanganyika, and the headwaters of the \JCongo\j, when he became severely ill. Stanley was sent to Livingstone's rescue by the New York Herald in 1871, but Livingstone was determined to continue his explorations and died at L Bangweulu in 1873.
Since 1850, locating the source of the Nile had become the main focus of exploration. Two Englishmen, Richard Burton and John Speke, were the first Europeans to see L Tanganyika in 1858. Speke went on N alone and reached L Victoria (L Nyanza) the same year, believing he had found the source of the Nile. In 1862 he was accompanied by James Grant, and the two found \JRipon\j Falls, the outlet from Nyanza which gave rise to the Nile. The unravelling of the central mystery of Africa's river systems was completed in 1875, when Stanley made a circuit of L Victoria, followed the Lualuba R to the \JCongo\j R, and traced the \JCongo\j to its mouth.
By 1875, while there were still many gaps in European knowledge about Africa's \Jgeography\j, the areas of ignorance were diminishing. Smaller-scale explorations uncovered much of geographical and ethnographic interest. Following the emphasis on river systems, the mysteries of African peoples became a focus of considerable attention.
Francis Galton published travel accounts in 1853 of his journey to Ovamboland in N SW Africa, with Swede Karl Johan Andersson (1827--67). Galton continued his scientific career as a eugenicist in Britain, and criticized later European travellers whose interactions with the same African groups were less altruistic. Andersson remained in the region, exploring the Kavango R area and L Ngami.
Vivid, published accounts of European explorations tended to diminish journeys of similar \Jmagnitude\j undertaken by Africans, mixed-race residents of the African interior, and even other Europeans. Several traders of Portuguese descent who lived in the Angolan interior had, in fact, visited Barotseland on the Zambezi R before Livingstone. One, Silva Porto (1817--90), a Portuguese resident of BihΘ, received little recognition for his significant findings, and his manuscripts remained unpublished. The Hungarian explorer, Lßzl≤ \JMagyar\j (1817--64), who married an African king's daughter in BihΘ, was more successful in publishing information on the interior peoples of present-\Jday\j C and S \JAngola\j in 1859.
The acclaim that Livingstone met with in Britain and elsewhere was due in large part to his outspokenness on the issue of \Jslavery\j at a time when the anti-slavery movement provided receptive audiences. The Portuguese government initially attempted to hold its ground against the pressures of the international anti-slavery movement. But, after increasing debate, they officially abolished the trade in 1875. \JSlavery\j, however, went on in various guises, and demand for slaves continued to affect large areas of Africa for several decades.
The aim of exploration was to facilitate Portuguese claims to a C African empire in the face of British and German competition. In the centre of the trans-African route was the prominent trading kingdom of Mwata Yamvo, which became the goal of Portuguese explorers. The earliest Portuguese explorer to reach Mwata Yamvo had been Lourenτo Pinto (nd) between 1849--50; but \JPortugal\j's most renowned explorer, Serpa Pinto (1846--1900), succeeded in a W--E traverse of the continent, with the help of Silva Porto, between 1877--9. Other official explorers despatched by \JLisbon\j were Hermenegildo de Brito Capelo (nd) and Roberto Ivens (nd), who circuited the region of the Mbundu chiefships in 1878--9. The latter's mission was eclipsed at the outset by Stanley's sensational and well-publicized arrival in Boma and \JLuanda\j. Verney Lovett Cameron had been the first to traverse C Africa between 1872--5, moving from E--W. Cameron's condemnatory account of the continuing impact of \Jslavery\j fuelled the debate over abolition in \JLisbon\j.
Other European explorers in C Africa included Anton Lux (nd) and Paul Pogge (1838--84) during 1875--6, sponsored by the Berlin Geographical Society. The same organization promoted the journey of Max Bⁿchner (1852--1905) to Mwata Yamvo in 1879. Von Mechow explored the Kwango in 1880. Such activity was symptomatic of awakening German public and state interest in acquiring African colonies. On the French side, the most influential explorer was Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza (1852--1905), who launched his first expedition into the \JCongo\j R basin during 1875--8.
The focus of European interest in Africa had shifted again by the 1870s. The potential resources that Africa offered were increasingly highlighted, especially after unexpected diamond discoveries in Kimberley in 1875. Explorers were superseded by a new breed of commercial and colonial agents. Stanley, for example, became an agent for Leopold II of \JBelgium\j, and was instrumental, albeit perhaps unintentionally, in opening up the \JCongo\j's equatorial forest and local African labour for exploitation. De Brazza's second expedition up the \JCongo\j R (1879--82), which agreed a protection treaty with the Teke people, prevented any initiative by Stanley to take over the N basin area on behalf of the Belgian king.
Official colonial agents were authorized to solicit treaties of protection from African chiefs, but on occasion reluctant European governments had their hands forced by treaties obtained by agents - often calling themselves explorers - despatched by colonial pressure groups. The latter sought to mobilize metropolitan action on colonial acquisition. Among them was Karl Peters (nd), active in East Africa on behalf of the Society for German Colonization from the mid-1880s. This treaty-seeking reached its highest pitch immediately before the convening of the Berlin Conference in 1884. The Conference fixed most of the colonial boundaries in Africa, and committed European powers irrevocably to direct colonization of the African territories to which they had laid claim.
Dr Patricia Hayes, Bucknell University
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"African horse sickness",530,0,0,0
EN A disease of horses caused by a virus of the Orbivirus group. It affects all Equidae, but asses, mules, and zebra are more resistant than horses. The organism is transmitted by a mosquito and is highly infectious. It causes mainly respiratory signs, often with swelling of the head and neck. There is a high mortality rate, and the disease is notifiable in the UK. A vaccine is available which protects against some strains of the virus.
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"African hunting dog",531,0,0,0
EN A member of the dog family \I(Lycaon pictus),\i native to S Africa; also known as \BCape hunting dog; \b the only dog with four toes on each foot; long legs; large rounded ears; mottled light and dark coat; inhabits open plains; packs hunt large grazing mammals.
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"African languages",532,0,0,0
EN The languages of the continent of Africa; c.1300, spoken by c.400 million people. They are difficult to classify, because relatively few have been systematically described, and it is not always clear whether two varieties are separate languages or dialects of the same language.
Few had written form before the Christian missionary activities of the 19th-c. Many of these languages do not have official status, but are subservient to the languages of \Jcolonialism\j, especially English and French. There are few with more than a million speakers. It is generally agreed, however, that there are four main groups.
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"African lily",533,0,0,0
EN An evergreen perennial \I(Agapanthus africanus)\i with thick, tough rhizomes, native to S Africa; leaves strap-shaped, leathery, growing to 1┐m / 3┐ft; flowers with six \Jperianth\j-segments, bell-shaped, blue, rarely white, in large umbels on leafless stalks. \B(Family:\b Liliaceae.)
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"African literature",534,0,0,0
EN The literature of the continent of Africa. Much still belongs to the oral tradition, closely linked to both secular occupation and religious ritual. Throughout the many language groups, there is a wealth of dirges, laments, love songs, chants, celebrations, invectives, and poems inciting warriors to battle, with musical accompaniment. Literature is written in both African and the post-colonial languages.
Much vernacular composition tends to be in drama and poetry, such as Kwasi Fiawoo's Ewe play \IToko Atolia\i (1937, The Fifth Landing Stage), and Okot p'Bitek's satirical poem in Acholi; whereas Africans writing in English or French will often prefer fiction. Notable examples include the English novels of Chinua Achebe (among them \IThings Fall Apart,\i 1958), the plays of Wole Soyinka, and the French poetry of AimΘ CΘsaire.
\IAfrican Literature Today\i provides an annual review of the field; while the anthology \IDaughters of Africa\i (1992) adds women's writing to what is now available. The quite different culture of South Africa has produced a number of distinguished novelists, most recently writing against or despite the \Japartheid\j state, among them Olive Schreiner (1855-1920), Nadine Gordimer, J M Coetzee, and Christopher Hope (1944-) .
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"African marigold",535,0,0,0
EN A misleading name for \ITagetes erecta,\i a popular garden annual originating from Mexico, with deeply cut leaves and showy yellow, orange, or red flower-heads up to 10┐cm / 4┐in diameter. \BFrench marigold,\b \ITagetes erecta,\i also from Mexico, is very similar but has smaller flower-heads. \B(Family:\b Compositae.)
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"African Methodist Episcopal Church",536,0,0,0
EN A Church formed at a national meeting of Black Methodists in 1816 in the USA, the culmination of a movement begun in 1787. It expanded rapidly after the \JCivil War\j, and today has over a million members. In 1841 it established the first African-American publishing house in the USA.
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"African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church",537,0,0,0
EN An African-American Methodist Church in the USA, dating from 1821, which emerged when a group reacted against the discrimination they experienced as members of a New York City Methodist foundation. The Church grew rapidly after the \JAmerican Civil War\j, and by 1990 its membership was approaching 1..5 million.
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"African music",538,0,0,0
EN The indigenous music of the African continent. Generalization is difficult because of the size of the continent, the diversity of its peoples and languages, the profound influence of Arab culture in the N, and the more recent infiltration of Western music in all parts.
The most typical features seem to be: the absence, until the 20th-c, of any system of \Jmusical notation\j (except in the ancient chant of the Ethiopian church); the ubiquity of song, especially in a solo-refrain form; the close interaction of language and music, both vocal and instrumental; the importance of improvisation; and the complexity and sophistication of rhythm.
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"African National Congress (ANC)",539,0,0,0
EN The most important of the Black South African organizations opposed to the \JPretoria\j regime. It began life in 1912 as the South African Native National Congress, and under the influence of Gandhi organized passive resistance to white power.
Banned by the South African government in 1961, it began a campaign of industrial and economic sabotage through its military wing, and in the 1980s started attacking persons as well as property. Based in \JZambia\j for several years, it was estimated to have a force of 6000 guerrillas. It was unbanned in February 1990, and suspended its armed struggle in August 1990, shortly before commencing negotiations with the South African government.
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"African theatre",540,0,0,0
EN The roots of theatre in Africa are ancient and complex and lie in areas of community festival, seasonal rhythm and religious ritual as well as in the work of court jesters, travelling professional entertainers and storytellers. Since the late 1950s, in a movement that has paralleled the political emancipation of so much of the continent, there has grown a theatre that comments back from the colonized world to the world of the colonialists, that discusses the shared experience in the shared languages, and its own cultural and linguistic integrity.
Contemporary African theatre serves a purpose within communities and cultures that is much greater than simply that of entertainment or diversion. This functional quality gives the theatre a sense of purpose, and influences not only its material but also the nature of its performance and reception. The present- \Jday\j theatre is enriched and complemented by its coexistence with traditional forms, skills and understanding.
Its vitality, diversification and variety of form and content warn against too homogeneous a view of African theatre, but centuries of European economic and political domination have inevitably influenced Africa's cultural life, and especially its theatre. During the first half of the 20th century indigenous theatre movements often reflected Western models, whether in the Nigerian and Ghanaian 'concert party' or the \Jvaudeville\j presentations of southern African theatre.
The Western influences were, however, effectively subverted and eventually dominated or replaced by indigenous forms. The influence of Western-style education continues to determine elements of theatrical form and language in much contemporary drama, but here again we can see playwrights and performers working increasingly on their own terms and asserting a powerful cultural and political identity.
Theatre in many parts of Africa has been at the forefront of the anti- colonial struggle, and has not relaxed its sense of purpose in the post-independence world. (Witness the banning of Hubert Ogunde's work not only by the colonial government of \JNigeria\j in the 1940s but also by the independent government of the 1960s; or the imprisonment of Wole Soyinka during the Nigerian \Jcivil war\j; or Ngugi wa Thiong'o's exile from \JKenya\j.)
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"African violet",541,0,0,0
EN A perennial with hairy leaves in a dense rosette \I(Saintpaulia ionantha); \i white, pink, blue, purple, or red flowers; native to tropical E Africa. Their wide colour range and long flowering period make them popular house plants, with numerous hybrids and cultivars available. It was named after its discoverer, a German provincial governor, Adalbert Saint Paul-Illaire. \B(Family:\b Gesneriaceae.)
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"African-American theatre",542,0,0,0
EN African-American theatre has a dual origin. First came the indigenous theatre consisting of folk tales, songs, music, dance and \Jmimicry\j that blacks performed in cabins, at camp meetings and in open parks like Gongo Square in \JNew Orleans\j. African in spirit, these expressions were transformed by the American environment. Then came the African theatre in imitation of white playhouses and scripted dramas that William Henry Brown established in 1821.
The African theatre had no successors in antebellum America, except for two plays written by the ex-slave William Wells Brown. Black indigenous expressions, however, were by the 1840s adopted by white comedians and fashioned into blackface minstrelsy that caricatured black folk on Southern plantations.
Ironically, the now disdained minstrel show opened the professional stage to African-Americans. At the same time black performers were polishing their acting skills in short farces which were added to their shows. Since black playgoers were segregated in an upper gallery section in most theatres, these shows played primarily to white audiences.
Yet their success ensured perpetuation of the genre into the first decades of the 20th century. Vying for popularity with the minstrels were the ubiquitous 'Tom shows', which, based on the dramatization of Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), also began to employ blacks as slave characters. But eventually the play was denounced by black leaders.
Black companies of higher calibre emerged after the \JCivil War\j. The Astor Place Company of Coloured Tragedians under J. A. Arneaux came into being in 1884 with a Shakespearian repertoire, and in 1889 Theodore Drury gave the first performance of his Opera Company.
In straight drama William Edgar Easton wrote two historical plays on the Haitian revolution: Dessalines (1893) and Christophe (1911), which were produced by Henrietta Vinton Davis. Scott Joplin composed his opera Treemonisha (1911), but it remained unproduced for decades. In 1897 Bob Cole organized a stock company and training school at Worth's Museum in New York. Others followed, urged on by black critics. In New York the Negro Players were formed in 1912 and the Lafayette Players in 1915.
Blacks first appeared on Broadway in dramatic roles in Three Plays for a Negro Theatre (1917) by the white writer Ridgely Torrence. In 1920 Charles Gilpin gave a stunning performance for the Provincetown Players in The Emperor Jones (1920). W. E. B. DuBois, editor of the Crisis, urged formation of a nationwide movement of little theatres presenting plays 'about us, by us, for us, and near us'.
His magazine and Opportunity sponsored playwriting competitions and published prizewinning entries. In the years ahead black college drama professors would begin writing and directing original plays with their students.
Three dramas by white playwrights demonstrated the reach of black histrionic talent. Paul Green's In Abraham's Bosom (1926) shared Pulitzer Prize honours with an experienced cast including the gifted Rose McLendon; Dubose and Dorothy Heyward's 1927 hit \JPorgy\j inspired the operatic version by George Gershwin; and Marc Connelly's The Green Pastures (1930) earned a Pulitzer Prize and a five-year run.
The 1930s witnessed an upsurge of socially relevant plays like Hall Johnson's Run Little Chillun (1933), Langston Hughes's Mulatto (1935), and Stevedore (1934) by white authors Paul Peters and George Sklar. The short-lived Federal Theatre Project through its Negro units in 22 cities sponsored black playwrights and productions, including Theodore Browne's Natural Man (1937) in Seattle, Theodore Ward's Big White Frog (1938) in \JChicago\j, and Orson Welles's production of the 'voodoo' Macbeth (1936) in Harlem.
In the 40s the American Negro Theatre made steady progress in training and production at its Harlem-based Library Theatre. Paul Robeson's record-breaking Othello (1943) belongs to this decade. After World War II the \Jcivil rights\j movement gained momentum. Plays such as Alice Childress's Trouble in Mind (1955) and Loften Mitchell's A Land Beyond the River (1957) dealt unambiguously with the racial problem and used racially mixed casts.
Companies like Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival began to cast black actors in traditionally white roles. The trend towards \Jintegration\j was reflected in Lorraine Hansberry's award- winning drama A Raisin in the Sun (1959), and Ossie Davis's satiric comedy Purlie Victorious (1961).
The search for a black identity led to experimentation with new dramatic forms. In 1969 Charles Gordone's No Place to Be Somebody captured the Pulitzer Prize. Other significant playwrights of the period were Ed Bullins, Phillip Hayes Dean, Adrienne Kennedy, Ron Milner, Charlie Russell, Joseph Walker and Richard Wesley.
Among the few theatre groups to survive when funding was withdrawn were the Negro Ensemble Company of New York, the Free Southern Theatre in \JNew Orleans\j and the Inner City Cultural Center in Los Angeles. African-American theatre had gained immeasurably from this period of upheaval. Important black productions of recent years include Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls...and Vinnette Carroll's Your Arms Too Short to Box with God, both in 1976, Phillip Hayes Dean's monodrama Paul Robeson (1978), and Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning A Soldier's Play (1981).
The most important voice to emerge in the 1980s was that of August Wilson, who wrote and staged a series of plays chronicling black life in this century. Two met with particular success, Fences (1983) and The \JPiano\j Lesson (1990).
BK Thea
#
"Africanus, Sextus Julius",543,0,0,0
PN [afri\Bkah\bnus]
DT1a c.
DT1 160
DT2a c.
DT2 240
EN Traveller and historian, born in \JLibya\j. He wrote \IChronologia,\i a history of the world from the creation to AD 221. His chronology, which antedates Christ's birth by three years, was accepted by Byzantine Churches.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Africar",544,0,0,0
EN A basic car specifically designed in the mid-1980s for operation in Africa. The hope was to produce a machine that could eventually be mass-produced in Africa, requiring minimal maintenance and using easily available spare parts. It was designed so that it could easily be extended to carry greater loads, giving increased flexibility. The design is still being evaluated.
BK a
#
"Afrika Korps",545,0,0,0
EN A German expeditionary force of two divisions under the command of Rommel, sent to N Africa (Mar 1941) to reinforce Italian troops there. It had been given special desert training in \JGermany\j, and proved highly effective in desert warfare between 1941 and 1944.
BK a
#
"Afrikaans",546,0,0,0
EN South African or Cape Dutch, the language of Dutch colonization, and a variety of West Germanic, but with many loan words from Bantu and other languages. It became a written language in the late 19th-c. In the Namaland region of south-west Africa, there is an \JAfrikaans\j-based \Jpidgin\j used in communication between tribesmen and \JAfrikaners\j.
BK a
#
"Afrikaners",547,0,0,0
EN An early 18th-c term to describe those Europeans who had been born in the Dutch colony at the Cape and were therefore 'Africans', also known as \BBoers\b (Dutch 'farmers'). They emerged as a separate people derived from an admixture of Dutch, German, French, and non-white. During the 18th-c they penetrated the interior of the Cape as pastoral farmers.
After 1835, groups left Cape Colony and established independent republics in the interior, which later coalesced into the Orange Free State and the South African Republic. After the Boer War (1899-1902) the British hoped to encourage emigration to South Africa, transforming the \JAfrikaners\j into a minority.
Such large-scale emigration failed to materialize, and after the Union of South Africa in 1910 the \JAfrikaners\j became the dominant force in white South African politics. Never a monolithic force, they have produced repeated political fission in the search for security against the African majority.
BK a
#
"Afro-Asiatic languages",548,0,0,0
EN The major language family in N Africa, the E horn of Africa, and south-west Asia. It comprises more than 200 languages, spoken by 200 million people. The major subgroup is the Semitic family, consisting principally of Arabic, \JHebrew\j, Tigrinya, and Amharic. Egyptian is now extinct. Amongst other subgroups are Cushitic, \JBerber\j, and Chadic.
BK a
#
"Afsluitdijk Sea Dam",549,0,0,0
PN [\Bahf\bsluhdiyk]
EN A sea dam built (1927-32) across the \JZuider Zee\j inlet to facilitate land reclamation; length 32┐km / 20┐mi.
BK a
#
"afterburning",550,0,0,0
EN A method of increasing the thrust of a jet engine. Fuel is injected into the hot exhaust gases leaving the engine, thereby igniting the fuel and providing extra thrust.
BK a
#
"AFV",551,0,0,0
EN See armoured fighting vehicle (AFV)
BK a
XCY y
#
"Aga Khan",552,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bga \Bkahn\b]
EN Title of the hereditary head of the Ismailian sect of Muslims, who trace their origins to the mediaeval Assassins. The title has been held by four men: \BHasan Ali Shah\b (r.1818-81); \BAli Shah\b (r.1881-5); \BSir Sultan Muhammad Shah\b (r.1885-1957), and \BKarim,\b 49th imam of the line (r.1957-) . In the 20th-c the Aga Khans have played prominent roles as world statesmen; Aga Khan III served as President of the \JLeague of Nations\j, while Aga Khan IV is a noted philanthropist.
BK a
#
"Aga Khan III",553,0,0,0
PN [ahga \Bkahn\b]
HS , in full \BAga Sultan Sir Mohammed Shah\b
DT1 1877
DT2 1957
EN Imam of the Ismaili sect of Muslims, born in \JKarachi\j, \JPakistan\j. He succeeded to the title in 1885, and in 1910 founded Aligarh University. He worked for the British cause in both World Wars, and in 1937 was president of the \JLeague of Nations\j Assembly. A keen racecourse enthusiast, he owned several Derby winners.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Aga Khan IV, Karim",554,0,0,0
PN [ahga \Bkahn\b]
DT1 1936
EN Imam of the Ismaili sect of Muslims, born in Geneva, \JSwitzerland\j the grandson of Aga Khan III. He succeeded his grandfather as 49th Imam in 1957. Educated at Le Rosey in \JSwitzerland\j, he later studied oriental history at Harvard. He married an English woman, \BSarah Croker Poole\b, in 1969 (dissolved, 1995), and has two sons and one daughter. He is a leading owner and breeder of race horses in \JFrance\j and Ireland.
BK Biog99
#
"Agadir",555,0,0,0
PN [aga\Bdeer\b]
EN 30░30N 9░40W, pop (1995e) 147 000. Seaport in Sud province, W Morocco; on the Atlantic coast, 8 km/5 mi N of the mouth of the R Sous; named Santa Cruz by the Portuguese, 1505--41; taken by the French in 1913; extensive rebuilding after \Jearthquake\j in 1960; airport; fishing, tourism; 16th-c kasbah fortress; African People's Arts Festival (Jul).
BK Geog99
#
"Agamemnon",556,0,0,0
PN [aga\Bmem\bnon]
EN King of \JArgos\j and commander of the Greek army in the Trojan War. In the \IIliad,\i Homer calls him 'king of men'. On his return home he was murdered by his wife Clytemnestra.
BK a
#
"agamid",557,0,0,0
PN [a\Bga\bmid]
EN A lizard native to Africa (except Madagascar), S and south-east Asia, and \JAustralia\j; body usually broad, head large, scales with ridges and spines; tongue thick and fleshy; tail cannot be shed; some species able to change colour; also known as \Bchisel-tooth lizard.\b \B(Family:\b Agamidae, 300 species.)
BK a
#
"Aga±a",558,0,0,0
PN [a\Bgah\bnya]
EN 13░28N 144░45E, pop (1995e) 1300. Port and capital town of \JGuam\j, Mariana Is, W \JPacific Ocean\j; taken by \JJapan\j, 1941; destroyed during its recapture by the USA, 1944; university (1952); US naval base; cathedral (1669).
BK Geog99
#
"agapanthus",559,0,0,0
EN See African lily
BK a
XCY y
#
"agar",560,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bgah(r)]
EN A jelly-like compound produced from \Jseaweed\j. It is used, after sterilization and the addition of suitable \Jnutrients\j, for culture of fungi or \Jbacteria\j for medicinal or research purposes.
BK a
#
"Agassiz, Alexander (Emmanuel Rodolphe)",561,0,0,0
DT (1835-1910)
EN oceanographer; born in NeuchΓtel, \JSwitzerland\j. He came to the U.S.A. (1849) to join his father, the naturalist Jean Louis Agassiz. He graduated from Harvard with degrees in \Jengineering\j (1857) and \Jzoology\j (1862), then amassed a fortune in the copper mines of Lake Superior (1866-69).
He was curator of Harvard's Museum of Comparative \JZoology\j (1873-85), founded by his father. He made numerous oceanographic zoological expeditions, wrote many books, and examined thousands of \Jcoral\j reefs to refute Darwin's ideas on \Jatoll\j formation.
BK AmBg
#
"Agassiz, Jean Louis Rodolphe",562,0,0,0
PN [agasee]
DT (1807-73)
EN Swiss-US naturalist and glaciologist: proposed former existence of an \JIce Age\j.
Agassiz owed much of his scientific distinction to the chance of his birth in \JSwitzerland\j. He studied medicine in \JGermany\j, but \Jzoology\j was his keen interest. He studied under Cuvier in Paris and then returned home and worked with enthusiasm on \Jfossil\j fishes, becoming the world expert on them (his book describes over 1700 ancient species of fish).
Holidaying in his native Alps in 1836 and 1837, he formed the novel idea that glaciers are not static, but move. He found a hut on a \Jglacier\j which had moved a mile over 12 years; he then drove a \Jstraight line\j of stakes across a \Jglacier\j, and found they moved within a year.
Finding rocks which had been moved or scoured, apparently by glaciers, he concluded that in the past, much of Northern Europe had been ice-covered. He postulated an '\JIce Age\j' in which major ice sheets had formed, moved and were now absent in some areas - a form of catastrophism, in contrast to the extreme \Juniformitarianism\j of Lyell. We now know that a series of ice ages has occurred.
In 1846 Agassiz was invited to the USA to lecture, enjoyed it and stayed to work at Harvard. He found evidence of past \Jglaciation\j in \JNorth America\j; it too had undergone an \JIce Age\j. His studies on \Jfossil\j animals could have been used to support Darwin's ideas on \Jevolution\j, but in fact Agassiz was America's main opponent to Darwin's view that species had evolved.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
While the work Agassiz did contributed greatly to our understanding of the forces that shape \Jevolution\j, Agassiz was, himself, opposed to Darwin's ideas. Born in a French-speaking part of \JSwitzerland\j, he went to Paris in November 1831, where he worked with Cuvier until Cuvier's death some six months later. Cuvier was so impressed with the scientific skills of the young Swiss that he gave him his notes and drawings on \Jfossil\j fish for Agassiz to develop further.
Agassiz is mainly recalled today for this "work" on the \Jfossil\j fishes, but it was in fact more a case of bringing together the efforts of many other collaborators, many of them amateurs. In particular, Professor Thomas Traill of Edinburgh University, John Malcolmson, an Indian Army surgeon, and a third Scotsman, Hugh Miller, a former stonemason who provided many of the specimens that Malcolmson drew and described. Miller would later publish a popular work, The Old Red \JSandstone\j, which made the subject more popular.
Returning to \JSwitzerland\j, Agassiz began studying glaciers in about 1836, even as he continued his works on the \Jfossil\j fish, and in 1837, he first used the term "\JIce Age\j" (Eiszeit). In \JSwitzerland\j, he readily identified the main signs of past glaciers, glacial erratic boulders and moraines, from which he deduced that most of Europe had once been in the grip of an \JIce Age\j. Later, his travels in north America (he moved there in 1846) would reveal many more signs of the same effects on that continent as well.
Agassiz was firmly committed to a \Jbiology\j in which the forms of living things reflected the plans of a careful designer, and he was unwilling to accept Darwin's notion of new species arising under the influence of mere chance in the form of natural selection, a stand that he maintained up until his death.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Scie
#
"agate",563,0,0,0
PN [\Bag\bayt]
EN A form of chalcedony, a fine-grained variety of the mineral \Jquartz\j. It is formed in cavities, and characterized by fine colour-banding of successive growth layers. Colour variations result in semi-precious stones such as \Jonyx\j (white / grey), carnelian (red), and \Jchrysoprase\j (apple-green).
BK a
#
"Agate, James (Evershed)",564,0,0,0
DT 1877-1947
EN British critic. Theatre critic of The Sunday Times from 1923 until his death, \JAgate\j established himself as the most feared and most courted of theatrical judges. Determined always to write well, his views could be unreliable; he delighted in flamboyant actors, from Sarah Bernhardt to Donald Wolfit, and tended to resist radical change in the London theatre.
His natural \Jconservatism\j was a discouragement to dramatic innovation. \JAgate\j's self-consciousness is disarmingly confessed in the title of his nine-volume diary, Ego (1932-47). Among his 20 volumes of selected criticism is Buzz, Buzz! (1918), Brief Chronicles (1943), Red-Letter Nights (1944) and Immoment Toys (1945). He also wrote a \Jbiography\j of the French actress Rachel.
BK Thea
#
"Agatha, St",565,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2 251
EN Christian martyr from \JCatania\j, \JSicily\j. According to legend, she rejected the love of the Roman consul, Quintilianus, and suffered a cruel martyrdom in 251. She is the patron saint of \JCatania\j, is invoked against fire and \Jlightning\j, and is also the patron saint of bell-founders. Feast \Jday\j 5 February.
SX f
BK bg a
#
"Agathocles",566,0,0,0
PN [a\Bgath\bokleez]
DT1 361
DT2 289
DT2b BC
EN Tyrant of Syracuse, \JSicily\j, from 317 BC. He fought the Carthaginians and invaded \JTunisia\j, styling himself King of \JSicily\j c.304 BC. Under him \JSicily\j achieved her last period of independent power before the Roman conquest.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Agathon",567,0,0,0
DT c.447-c.401 bc
EN Greek tragic playwright. A tragedian at \JAthens\j, he departed c.407 for the court of Archelaus of Macedon. Aristotle mentions a tragedy of his (Antheus) in which plot and characters were entirely invented (not drawn from myth), and another which contained enough material for an epic. He also says that Agathon was the first to write choral odes which were mere interludes, irrelevant to the play's action. A few fragments survive.
BK Thea
#
"agave",568,0,0,0
PN [a\Bgah\bvee]
EN An evergreen perennial native to S USA, \JCentral America\j, and N \JSouth America\j; stems very short, tough; leaves sword-shaped, often spiny on margins, thick, fleshy, and waxy, forming a rosette. The plant grows for many years, adding a few leaves and building up reserves each year, finally producing a huge branched \Jinflorescence\j up to 7┐m / 23┐ft high, with many flowers, after which it dies.
Many species produce useful fibres, such as henequen. In Mexico, the sap of several species is fermented to produce pulque; stems and leaf bases are used to make mescal, an alcoholic drink of which tequila is one variety. \B(Genus:\b \IAgave,\i 300 species. \BFamily:\b Agavaceae.)
BK a
#
"age-sets",569,0,0,0
EN Social groups recruited by age. Individuals typically join an age-set at \Jadolescence\j, passing with their fellow-members through a series of grades such as warrior and elder. \JAge-sets\j are best known among E African peoples such as the Masai.
BK a
#
"Agee, James",570,0,0,0
DT (1909-55)
EN writer, poet; born in Knoxville, Tenn. He attended St. Andrews School, Tenn., (1914-24), Phillips Exeter (1925-28), and Harvard (1928-32). Based in New York City, he worked for several periodicals, and is known for his study of tenant farmers in \JAlabama\j, \ILet Us Now Praise Famous Men\i (1941), co-authored with the photographer Walker Evans. He is also known for poetry, film scripts, such as \IThe African Queen\i (1952), and his novels, notably \IA Death in the Family\i (1957).
BK AmBg
#
"ageing",571,0,0,0
EN See senescence
BK a
XCY y
#
"ageing population",572,0,0,0
The term used to describe a population in which the mean age and median age are rising. Around the world, ageing populations arise from declining birth rates, women postponing childbirth, and better health care keeping the elderly alive for a longer period.
The effect is often made more apparent in large cities, where the older, more established citizens occupy the inner suburbs and the central city, while young people with children are forced into the outer suburbs where land is cheaper.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"Agenbegyan, Abel",573,0,0,0
DT1 1932
EN Economist, born in Tbilisi, Georgia. Director of the Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering, with his colleagues he developed the models for managing the national economy which the Soviet government started to apply in the late 1980s. He was personal adviser to President Gorbachev on economic affairs.
BK Biog99
#
"Agence France Press (AFP)",574,0,0,0
PN [azhπs frπs]
EN An international news agency, with headquarters in Paris. The direct successor to Havas (established in 1832), AFP is the oldest surviving world agency, and one of the largest.
BK a
#
"Agent Orange",575,0,0,0
EN (2,4,5-T or 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy acetic acid) A \Jherbicide\j used as a \Jdefoliant\j in jungle warfare, for example by the British in Malaya and the USA in Vietnam. Its name derives from the orange rings painted around the containers used in Vietnam. It is toxic to humans because it contains traces of \Jdioxin\j, which produces severe skin eruptions \I(chloracne),\i and also birth abnormalities and cancer in laboratory animals.
BK a
#
"Ager Fikir",576,0,0,0
EN (Patriotic Theatre Association) The first professional Ethiopian theatre company. It was established in 1935, before the Italian invasion, in order to present short propaganda plays to prepare the people of Addis Ababa for resistance. After the restoration of the monarchy it was revived.
Programmes were largely musical, though many short plays were performed. The present home was acquired in 1953. Today, full- length plays and music and dance shows are performed there to popular audiences four times a week.
BK Thea
#
"Agesilaus",577,0,0,0
PN [ajeesi\Blay\bus]
DT1 444
DT2 360
DT2b BC
EN King of Sparta (399-360 BC). Called on by the Ionians to assist them in 397 BC against Artaxerxes II (reigned 404-358 BC), he launched an ambitious campaign in Asia, but the Corinthian War recalled him to \JGreece\j. At Coronea (394 BC) he defeated the Greek allied forces, and peace was eventually concluded in favour of Sparta (387 BC). He precipitated the Battle of Leuctra against Thebes (371 BC), a disaster which signified the end of Spartan ascendancy and the beginning of a decade of Theban supremacy in \JGreece\j.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Aggeus",578,0,0,0
PN [\Bag\bayus]
EN See Haggai, Book of
BK a
XCY y
#
"aggiornamento",579,0,0,0
PN [ajaw(r)na\Bmen\btoh]
EN The process of making the life, doctrine, and worship of the Roman \JCatholic Church\j effective in the modern world. This was initiated by Pope John XXIII at the Second Vatican Council.
BK a
#
"agglomerate",580,0,0,0
EN Coarse volcanic rock that consists of a mixture of fragments of various sizes and shapes. It is usually deposited as part of a volcanic cone and derived from the rocks through which the volcanic \Jmagma\j has travelled on its way to the surface.
BK a
#
"agglutinating language",581,0,0,0
EN A type of language in which words are typically made up of sequences of elements, as in English \Ide-human-ize.\i Such languages are at the opposite extreme from \Ifusional\i languages, in which there is no necessary one-to-one correspondence between the string of elements and the total meaning of the word.
BK a
#
"Agincourt, Battle of",582,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bzhinkaw(r)t]
EN (1415) A battle between \JFrance\j and England during the Hundred Years' War. \JHenry V\j of England was forced to fight near Hesdin (Pas-de-\JCalais\j) by the French who, ignoring the lessons of CrΘcy (1346) and Poitiers (1356), pitched cavalry against dismounted men-at-arms and archers. Though heavily outnumbered, the English won another overwhelming victory, and returned in 1417 to begin the systematic conquest of Normandy.
BK a
#
"aging",583,0,0,0
EN See senescence
BK a
XCY y
#
"agit-prop",584,0,0,0
EN Term that describes theatre pieces devised to ferment political action (agitation) and propaganda.
BK Thea
#
"Agitprop",585,0,0,0
EN An abbreviation for the \BDepartment of Agitation and Propaganda,\b established in 1920 as a section of the Central Committee Secretariat of the Soviet Communist Party. Its role was to ensure the compatibility of activities within society with Communist Party \Jideology\j. The term later came to be widely used in an artistic or literary context for works which adopted an ideological stance.
BK a
#
"Agnelli, Giovanni",586,0,0,0
PN [ag\Bnel\bee]
DT1 1866
DT2 1945
EN Manufacturer, born in \JPiedmont\j, \JItaly\j. He studied at a military academy, and became a cavalry officer. In 1899 he founded Fiat (Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino). He was appointed a senator in 1923, and mobilized Italian industry in World War 2.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Agnes of Assisi, St",587,0,0,0
DT1 1197
DT2 1253
EN Christian saint, born in Assisi, \JItaly\j, the daughter of Count Favorino Scifi and the younger sister of St Clare. In 1211, she joined her sister in a convent, co-founding the order of the Poor Ladies of San Damiano (Poor Clares). In 1219 she became abbess of a newly established community of the order at Monticelli.
MEX Clare, St
SX f
BK bg a
#
"Agnes, St",588,0,0,0
DT1 4
DT1b th-c
EN Christian martyr, born in \JRome\j. She is thought to have been killed at \JRome\j c.304 in her 13th year, during the persecutions of Diocletian. She is said to have refused to consider marriage, and consecrated her maidenhood to God. Honoured as the patron saint of virgins, her emblem is a lamb. Feast \Jday\j 21 January.
MEX Diocletian
SX f
BK bg a
#
"Agnesi, Maria Gaetana",589,0,0,0
PN [anyayzee]
DT (1718-99)
EN Italian mathematician and scholar: remembered in the naming of the cubic curve 'the Witch of Agnesi'.
Born in Milan, Maria was one of the 24 children of a professor of \Jmathematics\j at the University of \JBologna\j. With his encouragement she spoke seven languages by the age of 11, and by the age of 14 she was solving problems in ballistics and \Jgeometry\j. Her interests covered logic, physics, \Jmineralogy\j, chemistry, botany, \Jzoology\j and \Jontology\j; her father arranged her public debates.
From this time she suffered a recurring illness in which convulsions and headaches were symptoms. Her father agreed that she should in future lead a quiet life free from social obligations. Maria thereafter devoted herself to the study of new mathematical ideas. Her Instituzioni analitiche ad uso della giovent∙ (1748, Analytical Institutions) was published as a teaching manual.
In 1750, she was appointed to the chair of \Jmathematics\j and philosophy at \JBologna\j. Maria Agnesi's work was one of promise rather than fulfilment: she made no original discoveries and her major work was written as a guide to students. The cubic curve named the Witch of Agnesi was formulated by Fermat. A mistranslation caused the use of 'witch' for 'curve'.
BK Scie
#
"Agnew, Spiro T(heodore)",590,0,0,0
PN [\Bag\bnyoo]
DT1 1918
DT2 96
EN US vice-president, born in Baltimore, MD. After service in World War 2 he graduated in law from Baltimore University (1947). In 1966 he was elected governor of Maryland on a liberal platform, introducing anti-racial-discrimination legislation that year. As a compromise figure acceptable to most shades of Republican opinion, he was Nixon's running mate in 1968 and 1972, and took office as vice-president in 1969. He resigned in 1973, following an investigation into alleged tax violations.
MEX Nixon
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Agni",591,0,0,0
PN [\Buhg\bni]
EN The Hindu god of fire, especially important to the priesthood, because in the fire-\Jcult\j he takes offerings and sacrifices to the gods. More hymns are addressed to him than to any other god. His chariot is drawn by red horses, and clears a way through the jungle by burning: but he is welcome in every home as a principle of life and because he drives away demons.
BK a
#
"Agnon, Shmuel Yosef",592,0,0,0
HS , originally \BShmuel Josef Czaczkes\b
DT1 1888
DT2 1970
EN Novelist, born in Buczacz, \JPoland\j. He went to Palestine in 1907, studied in Berlin (1913-24), then settled permanently in \JJerusalem\j and changed his surname to Agnon. He wrote in \JHebrew\j an epic trilogy of novels on Eastern Jewry in the early 20th-c: their translated titles are \IBridal Canopy\i (1931), \IA Guest for the Night\i (1939), and \IDays Gone By\i (1945). He is also known for several volumes of short stories. In 1966 he became the first Israeli to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"agnosia",593,0,0,0
PN [ag\Bnoh\bzia]
EN A condition found in some brain-damaged individuals, whereby they are unable to recognize objects despite adequate basic visual and intellectual abilities. It is often specific to a particular sensory modality; for example a patient might be able to recognize by touch but not by sight.
BK a
#
"agnosticism",594,0,0,0
EN Strictly, the view that God's existence cannot be known \I(\Jtheism\j)\i nor denied \I(\Jatheism\j).\i The term was derived from the 'unknown' God in \IActs\i 17.23, and first used (by T H Huxley) in 1869: agnostics were contrasted with \Bgnostics,\b or metaphysicians.
It was later extended to include the view that knowledge must be restricted to what is available to the senses, and that anything not so available (including therefore religion and God) is irrelevant to life today.
BK a
#
"Agostini, Giacomo",595,0,0,0
PN [ago\Bstee\bnee]
DT1 1944
EN Motor-cyclist, born in Lovere, \JItaly\j. He won a record 15 world titles between 1966 and 1975, including the 500┐cc title a record eight times (1966--72, 1975); 13 of the titles were on an MV Agusta, the others on a Yamaha. He won 10 \JIsle of Man\j TT Races (1966--75), including the Senior TT five times (1968--72). After retirement in 1975, he became manager of the Yamaha racing team.
BK Biog99
#
"Agostino (di Duccio)",596,0,0,0
PN [agos\Btee\bnoh]
DT1 1418
DT2 81
EN Sculptor, born in Florence, \JItaly\j. His best and most original work is the relief decoration for the Tempio Malatestiano at Rimini, a church designed by Alberti.
MEX Alberti, Leon Battista
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Agoult, Marie de Flavigny, comtesse d'(Countess of)",597,0,0,0
PN [agoo]
HS , pseudonym \BDaniel Stern\b
DT1 1805
DT2 76
EN Writer, born in Frankfurt, \JGermany\j, the daughter of the French emigrΘ Comte de Flavigny. She was educated at a convent in Paris. She married Comte d'Agoult in 1827, but in 1834 left him for Franz Liszt, by whom she had three daughters; the youngest, Cosima, married first Hans von Bⁿlow, and later Wagner. A close friend of George Sand, she held a famous salon in Paris, and wrote on numerous subjects.
MEX Bⁿlow, Hans; Liszt; Sand; Wagner, Richard
SX f
BK bg a
#
"agouti",598,0,0,0
PN [a\Bgoo\btee]
EN A \Jcavy\j-like rodent, native to Central and \JSouth America\j and Caribbean Is; length, 50┐cm / 20┐in; rat-like with long legs and minute black tail. \B(Genus:\b \IDasyprocta,\i 11 species. \BFamily:\b Dasyproctidae.)
BK a
#
"Agra",599,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bgra]
EN 27░17N 77░58E, pop (1995e) 973 000. City in Uttar Pradesh, NE India, 190 km/118 mi SE of Delhi; founded, 1566; Mughal capital until 1659; taken by the British, 1803; seat of the government of North-West Provinces, 1835--62; airfield; railway; university (1927); commerce, glass and leather crafts, carpets; Taj Mahal (1632--54), Pearl Mosque of Shah Jahan, Mirror Palace (Shish Mahal), a world heritage site; Great Mosque, fort (16th-c), tomb of Akbar to the N at Sikandra.
BK Geog99
#
"agranulocytosis",600,0,0,0
PN [aygranyoolohsiy\Btoh\bsis]
EN A clinical condition in which granulocytes (a type of white cell) disappear from the blood, and leave the patient vulnerable to infection. It has many causes, including certain drugs and diseases that damage the bone marrow.
BK a
#
"agraphia",601,0,0,0
EN See dysgraphia
BK a
XCY y
#
"agribusiness",602,0,0,0
EN The combined businesses of: farmers, who produce commodities; input industries, which supply them with equipment, chemicals, and finance; and merchants, processors, and distributors, who convert commodities into foodstuffs, ready for sale to consumers. In many countries the \Jagribusiness\j sector employs more labour and generates more income than any other sector of the economy.
BK a
#
"agrichemicals",603,0,0,0
EN Farm inputs derived from the chemical industry - in particular, inorganic fertilizers and sprays.
BK a
#
"Agricola, Georgius",604,0,0,0
PN [agrikola]
DT (1494-1555)
EN German mineralogist, geologist and metallurgist: described mining and metallurgical industries of 16th-c.
Born in \JSaxony\j, Agricola trained in medicine in \JLeipzig\j and in \JItaly\j. The link between medicine and minerals led to his interest in the latter, and his work as a physician in \JSaxony\j put him in ideal places to develop this interest and to extend it to mining and metal extraction by smelting, and related chemical processes.
His book De natura fossilium (1546, On the Nature of Fossils) classifies minerals in perhaps the first comprehensive system. Later he wrote on the origin of rocks, mountains and volcanoes. His best-known book, De re metallica (1556, On the Subject of Metals) is a fine illustrated survey of the mining, smelting and chemical technology of the time. An English edition (1912) was prepared by the American mining engineer H C Hoover (who became president of the USA, 1929-33) and his wife.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Agricola's \IDe Re Metallica\i went through ten editions in three languages over a period of some 180 years, a record which is probably only eclipsed by the great religious works of the world. Agricola first studied classics and taught Latin and Greek before taking up the study of medicine, which he seems to have practised without a great deal of enthusiasm.
After he began to practise at Joachimsthal, Agricola developed an interest in mining and \Jgeology\j, both important in that mining community, and in 1536, he moved to another mining town, Chemnitz, (another mining town, known as Karl-Marx-Stadt from 1953 to 1990) where he was elected burgomaster in 1546. He wrote a number of other books before the posthumous publication of his greatest work, \IDe Re Metallica,\i in 1556.
In this last book, he ruled out the use of divining-rods and other magical means of finding ores, describing in fine detail the methods of surveying and digging, assaying ores, smelting, mine administration, and even the occupational diseases of miners. He also noted that ore-bearing rocks are found in layers which persist over large distances, contributing the idea of stratigraphy to the infant science of \Jgeology\j.
The "fossils" in Agricola's book were any items found buried in the ground. He identifies a large number of fossils (in our modern sense) as resembling various life forms, but usually stopped short of actually suggesting that they came from things which had formerly been alive.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Scie
#
"Agricola, Gnaeus Julius",605,0,0,0
PN [a\Bgri\bkola]
DT1 40
DT2 93
EN Roman statesman and soldier, born in FrΘjus (formerly, Forum Julii). Having served with distinction in Britain, Asia, and Aquitania, he was elected consul in 77, and returned to Britain as governor some time after. In 80 and 81 he extended Roman occupation N into Scotland, and in 84 defeated Calcagus at Mons Graupius.
After this campaign, his fleet circumnavigated the coast, for the first time discovering Britain to be an island. The news of Agricola's successes inflamed the jealousy of \JDomitian\j, and in 84 he was recalled.
MEX \JDomitian\j
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Agricola, Johann",606,0,0,0
PN [a\Bgri\bkola]
HS , originally \BSchneider\b or \BSchnitter,\b also called \BMagister Islebius\b
DT1 1492
DT2 1566
EN Protestant reformer, born in Eisleben, \JGermany\j. Having studied at \JWittenberg\j and \JLeipzig\j, he was sent to Frankfurt by Luther in 1525 to institute Protestant worship there. Appointed in 1536 to a chair at \JWittenberg\j, he resigned in 1540 over his opposition to Luther in the great Antinomian controversy. He later became court preacher in Berlin.
MEX Luther
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Agricola, Rudolphus",607,0,0,0
PN [a\Bgri\bkola]
HS , originally \BRoelof Huysmann\b
DT1 1443
DT2 85
EN Humanist, born near \JGroningen\j, The Netherlands. He studied in \JItaly\j (1473-80), Heidelberg, and Worms, and his writings had a profound influence on Erasmus. He was the foremost scholar of the Renaissance 'new learning' in \JGermany\j.
MEX Erasmus
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Agricultural Revolution",608,0,0,0
EN The name popularly given to a series of changes in farming practice occurring first in England and later throughout W Europe. Some historians date these as far back as the end of the 16th-c, but the term usually covers the period 1700-1850. The main changes included: greater intensity of productive land use; the reduction of fallow land and waste lands; the introduction of crop rotation; the development of artificial grasses; and scientific animal breeding.
Many such changes were facilitated by the replacement of open fields by enclosures. They also depended upon tenant farming and market production replacing subsistence and peasant agriculture. The widespread use of mechanized farming techniques, such as threshing machines and mechanical ploughs, mostly post-dated the changes of this agricultural revolution.
\BAdditional information provided by Cambridge Dictionary of Scientists\b
A History of Agriculture in the Developed World
Until the middle of the 18th-c the authorities on agriculture were Roman writers such as Lucius Columella (1st-c) and Rutilius \JTaurus\j Aemilianus Palladius (4th-c) the ability of agriculture to support a non-agricultural community remained strictly limited. Innovation began in the Low Countries at the very end of the 17th-c, but new ideas were taken up and developed in Britain where, because of the lower population density, there was greater opportunity for them to produce dramatic increases in productivity.
Agricultural reforms were of three types. The first were innovations in husbandry, such as the selective stock-breeding methods developed by Robert Bakewell (1725-95) in Leicestershire in the middle of the 18th-c, and the four-year rotation of crops devised slightly earlier by Charles, Viscount Townshend-'Turnip' Townshend (1674-1738).
Samuel Marsden (1764-1838) pioneered the breeding of Australian sheep for wool, and this work was carried on in the middle of the 19th-c by John MacArthur (1767-1834) and especially by his wife Elizabeth (1766-1850), who introduced the \Jmerino\j sheep to \JNew South Wales\j. William James Farrer (1895-1906) emigrated to Australia in 1870 and, by his scientific breeding of specialist strains of wheat, was almost single-handedly responsible for the success of the Australian wheat industry.
Except in undeveloped areas, the advances that could be made by improvements in methods were limited. In the middle of the 18th-c, however, advances in technology began to make a great difference to agriculture. One of the first areas of improvement was plough design.
The plough with an iron coulter was invented by ancient Egyptians, and had not been much altered until several improved types were brought out in the mid-18th-c. In 1771 James Arbuthnot introduced the use of a mould-board, which was much more efficient.
James Anderson (1739-1808) invented the Scotch plough for use on heavy ground and James Smith (1789-1850) designed the subsoil plough for use on land with poor drainage. One of the most influential figures was Robert Ransome (1753-1830), who invented a self-sharpening plough and also designed one that could be dismantled and modified, thus obviating the necessity for small farmers to have several expensive pieces of equipment.
Other inventors produced other pieces of machinery. Jethro Tull (1674-1741) invented the seed drill in 1701, and the horse hoe a few years afterwards. The effect of these two inventions, although not felt until two generations later because of the scepticism with which they were received, revolutionized the way in which \Jcereals\j were cultivated and greatly improved yield.
James Meikle (c.1690-1717), an East Lothian miller, produced a winnowing machine around 1720 and his son Andrew Meikle, besides inventing the \Jfantail\j which allowed windmills to turn into the wind automatically and thus to work more efficiently, also invented the first effective threshing drum. His design, which used a revolving drum and longitudinal beater bars, is essentially the same as that used in modern combine harvesters.
At the same time, steam power was coming into use on the farm, following the inventions of Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) and WATT. Steam threshing was introduced by the Shropshire ironmaster John Wilkinson (1728-1808) in 1798, and the use of steam power rapidly spread. Steam ploughing came into use during the 1850s in places where the fields were long and flat enough to make it economic, and continued until steam power was superseded by the diesel engine and by the ubiquitous tractors produced by such manufacturers as Harry George Ferguson (1884-1960) and Henry Ford (1863-1947).
Where horse power was still necessary, however, other inventions improved productivity. James Smith's (1789-1850) experimental reaper of 1811 did not work because the speed of the horses affected the action of the gathering drum, but an effective reaper was designed in 1827 by Patrick Bell (1799-1869) .
When sent to America, this machine enabled the production of the first commercially successful reaping machines by Obed Hussey (in 1833) and Cyrus Hall McCormick (in 1834). Mechanical reapers caught on very quickly thereafter, and by 1870 a quarter of all the harvest in Britain was being cut mechanically.
In the 20th-c the development of diesel and electric power, and machinery in general, came together with the production of ever more complex and efficient pieces of equipment, such as the combine harvester and the electric milking machine. As in other areas, however, these were the products of research teams and commercial companies rather than individual pioneers.
The above advances were largely technological, or the direct result of farming experience, such as the use of liming to reduce the soil acidity that results from sustained crop removal. Agricultural scier1ce began with LAVOISIER'S work, was enhanced by DAVY'S lectures and his book on the subject (1813), and emerged fully with LIEBIG'S books \IChemistry and its Applications to Agriculture and Physiology\i (1840) and \IThe Natural Laws of Husbandry\i (1862) .
By the middle of the 19th-c studies by BOUSSINGAULT, LAWES and others had shown the importance of \Jnitrogen\j (N), \Jphosphorus\j (P) and \Jpotassium\j (K) in plant \Jnutrition\j, chemical fertilizers were supplementing the use of \Jmanure\j and Lawes had founded the agricultural research centre at his Rothamsted estate in 1842. By the early 20th-c the long-neglected fundamental work in \Jgenetics\j by MENDEL was being applied in agricultural botany by BIFFEN and others. S M Babcock (1843-1931) in the USA had developed scientific dairying. ELEANOR ORMEROD had effectively created the study of agricultural \Jentomology\j and given a scientific basis for insect pest control.
The Second World War intensified studies on food production, and on animal and human \Jnutrition\j. Some insecticides had been used since the 1870s; but DDT, introduced by P H M▄LLER from1939, was highly effective and widely used, until its injurious effects in food chains was fully appreciated, notably by RACHEL CARSON in the 1960s, and bans on its use in the UK and USA soon followed. In \JGermany\j organophosphorus esters were made and tested for use in chemical warfare, and some of these (e.g. Parathion) found major uses as insecticides after 1945. Rodenticides to reduce food losses were also needed, and after 1939 work by K P Link in \JWisconsin\j led to warfarin which was highly effective: its anticoagulant effect on animal blood also causes it to find important use in medicine.
Another wartime effort was directed to finding chemicals to destroy the enemy's crops. One result was '2,4-D', which has a valuable selective action in attacking \Jdicotyledons\j but hardly affects \Jmonocotyledons\j (which include \Jcereals\j). Although not used in war, it has been much used as an agricultural \Jherbicide\j as a result. Unselective destruction of all above-ground plant growth without soil toxicity is achieved by paraquat, which was marketed as able to replace the plough and is widely used. Unselective crop destruction, notably by 'Agent Orange', was employed during the Vietnam War.
More recently, emphasis in agricultural science has moved from newer pesticides and fungicides towards 'greener' methods of biological control, by methods such as the use of one insect species to control another, or the use of insect \Jhormones\j to achieve deception and facilitate trapping. Modern \Jgenetics\j has opened up a range of techniques with applications in agriculture, and the 'green revolution' has led to great interest not only in improved strains of animals and food crops but also in the better understanding and management of ecosystems. The importance of such advances, especially in the less developed countries, was signalled by the award of the Nobel Prize not for science but for peace in 1970 to Norman E Borlaug (1914- ) of the USA, in recognition of his work on the development of a new short-stemmed wheat.
Sukie Hunter
BK a
#
"agriculture",609,0,0,0
EN The cultivation of crops and the keeping of domesticated animals for food, fibre, or power. Settled agriculture enabled primitive people, who depended on hunting, fishing, and gathering, to live in communities, which could then grow as their agricultural productivity grew. This was aided by the development of such implements as ploughs, hoes, and sickles - and in drier countries by the construction of irrigation systems.
In mediaeval Britain, agriculture was based on the manorial three-field system, growing two crops of \Jcereals\j, followed by a year's fallow. Livestock were grazed on the common pastures, but lack of winter feed kept productivity low. Enclosures in the 16th-18th-c made experimentation easier, particularly in the selective breeding of livestock. New rotations, which included turnips as a winter livestock feed, also contributed to a rapid improvement in agricultural productivity.
By 1990, 37% of the world's land area was in agricultural production - 10% in crops and 26% in permanent pasture. Nearly 5% of this land was irrigated. World agricultural production is dominated by \Jcereals\j: total world cereal production in 1990 was nearly 2 thousand million tonnes. China was the largest producer (404 million tonnes), followed by the USA (313 million tonnes); W Europe produced 285 million tonnes.
\BMore information provided by AND Reference Data\b
Until the middle of the 18th-c, the authorities on agriculture were Roman writers such as Lucius Columella (1st-c) and Rutilius \JTaurus\j Aemilianus Palladius (4th-c); the ability of agriculture to support a non-agricultural community remained strictly limited. Innovation began in the Low Countries at the very end of the 17th-c, but new ideas were taken up and developed in Britain where, because of the lower population density, there was greater motivation for them to produce dramatic increases in productivity.
Agricultural reforms were of three types. The first were innovations in husbandry; such as the selective stock-breeding methods developed by Robert Bakewell in Leicestershire in the middle of the 18th-c, and the four-year rotation of crops devised slightly earlier by Charles, Viscount Townshend - "Turnip' Townshend. Samuel Marsden pioneered the breeding of Australian sheep for wool, and this work was carried on in the middle of the 19th-c by John Macarthur, and especially by his wife Elizabeth, who introduced the \Jmerino\j sheep to \JNew South Wales\j. William James Farrer emigrated to \JAustralia\j in 1870 and, by his scientific breeding of specialist strains of wheat, was almost single-handedly responsible for the success of the Australian wheat industry.
Except in undeveloped areas, the advances that could be made by improvements in methods were limited. In the middle of the 18th-c, however, advances in technology began to make a great difference to agriculture. One of the first areas of improvement was plough design. The plough with an iron coulter was invented by ancient Egyptians, and had not been much altered until several improved types were brought out in the mid-18th-c. In 1771 James Arbuthnot (nd) introduced the use of a mould-board which was much more efficient. James Anderson (1739--1808) invented the Scotch plough for use on heavy ground, and James Smith (1789--1850) invented the subsoil plough for use on land with poor drainage. One of the most influential figures was Robert Ransome (1753--1830), who invented a self-sharpening plough, and also designed one that could be dismantled and modified, thus obviating the necessity for small farmers to have several expensive pieces of equipment.
Other inventors produced other pieces of machinery. Jethro Tull invented the seed drill in 1701, and the horse hoe a few years afterwards. The effect of these two inventions, although not felt until two generations later because of the scepticism with which they were received, revolutionized the way in which \Jcereals\j were cultivated, and greatly improved yield. James Meikle (c.1690--1717), an East Lothian miller, produced a winnowing machine around 1720, and his son Andrew Meikle, besides inventing the \Jfantail\j which allowed windmills to turn into the wind automatically and thus to work more efficiently, also invented the first effective threshing drum. His design, which used a revolving drum and longitudinal beater bars, is essentially the same as that used in modern combine harvesters.
At the same time, steam power was coming into use on the farm, following the inventions of Richard Trevithick and James Watt. Steam threshing was introduced by the Shropshire ironmaster John Wilkinson in 1798, and the use of steam power rapidly spread. Steam ploughing came into use during the 1850s in places where the fields were long and flat enough to make it economic, and continued until steam power was superseded by the diesel engine and by the ubiquitous tractors produced by such manufacturers as Harry George Ferguson and Henry Ford.
Where horse power was still necessary, however, other inventions improved productivity. James Smith's experimental reaper of 1811 did not work because the speed of the horses affected the action of the gathering drum, but an effective reaper was designed in 1827 by Patrick Bell. When sent to America, this machine enabled the production of the first commercially successful reaping machines by Obed Hussey (in 1833) and Cyrus Hall McCormick (in 1834). Mechanical reapers caught on very quickly thereafter, and by 1870 a quarter of all the harvest in Britain was being cut mechanically. In the 20th-c, the development of diesel and electric power, and machinery in general, came together with the production of ever more complex and efficient pieces of equipment, such as the combine harvester and the electric milking machine. As in other areas, however, these were the products of research teams and commercial companies rather than individual pioneers.
The third type of agricultural reform was the development of agricultural science. This began in a small way with the great 18th-c French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, who pioneered the application of chemistry to agriculture. Justus von Liebig founded the science of agricultural chemistry in the mid-19th-c, and many other scientists, such as Augustus Voelcker and Jean-Baptiste Boussingault carried out valuable research into the chemical and physical foundations of agriculture. In 1842, the Rothamsted Agricultural Laboratory was founded by John Bennet Lawes who, with his partner Joseph Henry Gilbert, was largely responsible for the development of chemical fertilizers. In the 1890s in the USA, Stephen Moulton Babcock developed dairying as a science, and introduced a test for the fat content of milk; while George Washington Carver carried out important research into such products as peanut butter. In the UK, Sir Rowland Biffen, appointed first professor of agricultural botany at Cambridge in 1908, pioneered the breeding of rust-resistant strains of wheat.
In the 20th-c, interest centred particularly on the problems of the Third World. In the aftermath of World War 2, John Boyd Orr, the first director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, did a great deal to improve the world food supply; while George Beadle and other researchers studied the \Jgenetics\j of foodstuffs, such as \Jmaize\j - work which eventually led to the prospect of creating disease-resistance and other desirable characteristics in food plants by gene transfer.
Sukie Hunter
BK a
#
"agrimony",610,0,0,0
PN [\Bag\brimonee]
EN An erect perennial \I(Agrimonia eupatoria)\i growing to 60┐cm / 2┐ft, native to Europe, W Asia, and N Africa; leaves hairy, \Jpinnate\j with pairs of small leaflets alternating with large ones; flowers 5-8┐mm / 0.2-0.3┐in diameter, 5-petalled, yellow, in a long terminal spike. The fruit is a burr with hooked spines around the top. \B(Family:\b Rosaceae.)
BK a
#
"Agrippa",611,0,0,0
EN See Herod \JAgrippa\j I; 15282 Herod \JAgrippa\j II
BK bg a
XCY y
#
"Agrippa von Nettesheim, Henricus Cornelius",612,0,0,0
PN [a\Bgri\bpa fon \Bne\btes-hiym]
DT1 1486
DT2 1535
EN Occultist philosopher, born in Cologne, \JGermany\j. He travelled widely and had a varied, if insecure, career as physician, diplomat, teacher, and soldier. His major and influential work, a treatise on magic, \IDe occulta philosophia,\i was completed in 1510 and published in 1533.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Agrippa, Marcus Vipsanius",613,0,0,0
PN [a\Bgri\bpa]
DT1a c.
DT1 63
DT2 12
DT2b BC
EN Roman commander and statesman. His third wife was Julia, daughter of the emperor Augustus, whom he helped to gain power. He defeated Sextus, the son of Pompey, at Mylae and Naulochus in 36 BC, and Mark Antony at Actium in 31 BC.
MEX Antonius; Augustus; Julia; Pompey
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Agrippina, known as Agrippina the Elder",614,0,0,0
PN [agri\Bpee\bna]
HS , known as \BAgrippina the Elder\b
DT1a c.
DT1 14
DT1b BC
DT2a AD
DT2 33
EN Roman noblewoman, the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius \JAgrippa\j and grand-daughter of Emperor Augustus. She married Germanicus Caesar (15 BC-AD 19), and was the mother of \JCaligula\j and Agrippina the Younger. Regarded as a model of heroic womanhood, she accompanied her husband on his campaigns.
Her popularity incurred the anger of Emperor Tiberius, who banished her in 29 to the island of Pandateria, where she died of starvation in suspicious circumstances.
MEX \JAgrippa\j, Marcus Vipsanius; Augustus; \JCaligula\j; Tiberius; Agrippina (the Younger)
SX f
BK bg a
#
"Agrippina, known as Agrippina the Younger",615,0,0,0
PN [agri\Bpee\bna]
HS , known as \BAgrippina the Younger\b
DT1 15
DT2 59
EN Roman noblewoman, the daughter of Agrippina (the Elder). She first married Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, by whom she had a son, the future Emperor Nero. Her third husband was Emperor Claudius, though her own uncle. She persuaded Claudius to adopt Nero as his successor, then proceeded to poison all Nero's rivals and enemies, and finally (allegedly) the emperor himself. Her ascendancy proved intolerable to Nero, who eventually put her to death.
MEX Claudius; Nero; Agrippina (the Elder)
SX f
BK bg a
#
"agroforestry",616,0,0,0
EN The cultivation of tree or bush crops (such as \Jcoffee\j, oil palm, \Jrubber\j, or tea), sometimes alternating with annual food crops, to give a sustainable and economically viable agricultural cropping system. Such systems are frequently used in place of the climax forest vegetation of the humid or sub-humid tropics.
BK a
#
"agronomy",617,0,0,0
EN The theory and practice of field-crop production and soil management. The subject embraces several disciplines, including plant breeding, plant \Jphysiology\j, plant \Jpathology\j, and soil conservation.
BK a
#
"Aguesseau, Henri Francois d'",618,0,0,0
PN [agesoh]
DT1 1668
DT2 1751
EN Jurist, born in Limoges, \JFrance\j. A steady defender of the rights of the people and of the Gallican Church, he was advocate general and attorney general to the Parlement of Paris, and three times Chancellor of \JFrance\j under \JLouis XV\j (1717-18, 1720-22, 1737-50).
MEX Louis XV
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Aguilera Malta, Demetrio",619,0,0,0
DT 1909-79
EN Ecuadorian playwright, poet, novelist and diplomat. He was one-fifth of the famous Grupo de \JGuayaquil\j, a leftist literary group dedicated to social change but committed as well to literary excellence.
In the early period he wrote realistic social dramas, but his best efforts clearly belong to his expressionistic period (see \Jexpressionism\j), with El tigre (The Tiger, 1955), a play of magical realism in the \Jsupernatural\j tropics, Dientes blancos (White Teeth, 1955) and Honorarios (Fees, 1957). During his later years as a diplomat he wrote Infierno negro (Black Hell, 1967) and Muerte, S.A. (Death Inc., 1970).
BK Thea
#
"Aguinaldo, Emilio",620,0,0,0
DT (1870-1964)
EN Filipino revolutionary. He led the uprising against \JSpain\j (1896-98) and later the U.S.A. (1899-1901); captured in 1901, he took an oath of allegiance to the U.S.A. and retired from politics.
BK AmBg
#
"Agulhas, Cape",621,0,0,0
PN [a\Bgul\byas]
EN 34░50S 20░00E. The most southerly point of the African continent, 160┐km / 100┐mi south-east of the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa; running past it, round the whole S coast, is a reef, the Agulhas Bank, an important fishing ground.
BK a
#
"Agustφn, JosΘ",622,0,0,0
DT 1944-
EN Mexican playwright and novelist. He combines novelistic and dramatic techniques into interesting compositions. Abolici≤n de la propiedad (Abolition of Property), first staged in 1979, relies on \Jtelevision\j recordings and projections in dealing with an almost psychopathic perception of reality.
Cφrculo vicioso (Vicious Circle, 1972), an exposΘ of corruption in the Mexican penal system, was originally censored by the Mexican authorities for its gross language.
BK Thea
#
"Agutter, Jenny",623,0,0,0
PN [\Bag\buhter]
DT1 1952
EN Film and stage actress, born in \JTaunton\j, Somerset, SW England, UK. She became known following her role in \IThe Railway Children\i (1970). Her other film credits include \IThe Snow Goose\i (1971, Emmy, Best Supporting Actress), \IEquus\i (1977, BAFTA), \IChild's Play 2\i (1991), and \IBlue Juice\i (1995).
\BMajor Works\b
\IStage\i
1972 School for Scandal
1973 Arms and the Man
1974 The Tempest
\IFilms\i
1970 The Railway Children
1970 Walkabout
1975 Logan's Run
1997 The Eagle Has Landed
1977 Equus
1981 An American Werewolf in London
1990 Child's Play 2
1995 Blue Juice
\ITelevision\i
1967 Long After Summer
1971 The Cherry Orchard
1971 The Snow Goose
1984 Love's Labours Lost
1985 Silas Marner
1986 Murder She Wrote
1990 Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less
BK Biog99
#
"Ahab",624,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bhab]
DT1 9
DT1b th-c BC
EN King of Israel (c.873-c.852 BC), the son of Omri. He was a warrior king and builder on a heroic scale, extending his capital city of \JSamaria\j and refortifying \JMegiddo\j and Hazor. He married Jezebel, daughter of the king of Tyre and Sidon, who introduced the worship of the \JPhoenician\j god, \JBaal\j, and thus aroused the hostility of the \Jprophet\j Elijah.
MEX Elijah; Jezebel
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Ahaggar Mountains",625,0,0,0
PN [aha\Bgah(r)\b]
HS or \BHoggar Mountains\b
EN Mountain range in S \JAlgeria\j, N Africa; rises to 2918┐m / 9573┐ft at Mount Tahat, the highest point in \JAlgeria\j; peaks rise from a plateau with a mean elevation of c.2000┐m / 6500┐ft; includes the 'mountain of goblins', Garet el Djenoun (2327┐m / 7634┐ft), according to legend a holy mountain.
BK a
#
"Aharonov-Bohm effect",626,0,0,0
PN [aha\Bron\bof \Bbohm\b]
EN An effect produced when a single \Jelectron\j beam is divided into two parts, passing either side of a \Jsolenoid\j containing a magnetic field, and recombining at a screen beyond. A quantum mechanical interference pattern is produced which is sensitive to the magnetic vector potential rather than to the magnetic field.
It reveals the nature of the interaction between wave function and electromagnetic influence. The effect, first described in 1959 by Yakir Aharonov and David Bohm, has been confirmed experimentally.
BK a
#
"Ahern, Bertie",627,0,0,0
PN [a\Bhern\b]
DT1 1951
EN Irish politician and prime minister (1997-- ). He studied at Rathmines College of Commerce and University College Dublin, became a \Jhospital\j accountant and union organizer, and became a member of the Dßil in 1977.
After a series of junior posts, he became minister of state at the departments of Taoiseach and Defence (1982), minister for labour (1987--91) and finance (1991--4), and leader of the opposition and President of Fianna Fßil in 1994. He became head of a coalition government after defeating John Bruton in 1997.
BK Biog99
#
"Ahidjo, Ahmadou",628,0,0,0
PN [a-hee\Bjoh\b]
DT1 1924
DT2 89
EN Cameroonian statesman and president (1960-82), born in Garoua, \JCameroon\j. He became prime minister in 1958, and led his country to independence in 1960. He was elected the first president of the new Republic of \JCameroon\j, a post which he held until his retirement. He then went into exile in \JFrance\j.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Ahimsa",629,0,0,0
PN [a\Bhim\bsa]
EN The principle of respect for all life and the practice of non-injury to living things, found in certain Hindu sects, \JBuddhism\j, and especially \JJainism\j. It is based on the belief that violence has harmful effects on those who commit it, including an unfavourable future rebirth. The rule of non-violence was applied by Mahatma Gandhi in the political sphere during India's struggle for independence.
BK a
#
"Ahmad Shah Durani",630,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bmad shah ju\Brah\bnee]
DT1 1724
DT2 73
EN Founder and first monarch of \JAfghanistan\j. A chieftain of the Durani clan of the Abdali tribe, and a cavalry general under the Persian emperor Nadir Shah, he was elected king of the Afghan provinces in 1745. He established his capital at \JKandahar\j, and made nine successful invasions of the Punjab.
In 1761 he defeated the Marathas decisively at the Battle of Panipat, but was eventually obliged to acknowledge Sikh power in the Punjab.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Ahmadabad or Ahmedabad",631,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bmadabad]
EN 23░00N 72░40E, pop (1995e) 3 110 000. Commercial centre and industrial city in \JGujarat\j, W India; on the R Sabarmati, 440 km/273 mi N of \JBombay\j; founded, 1411; fell to the Mughals, 1572; British trading post, 1619; centre of Gandhi's activities during the 1920s and 1930s; airfield; railway; university (1949); textiles; several temples, mosques, forts; Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram.
BK Geog99
#
"Ahmadiyya",632,0,0,0
PN [ah\Bmahd\biya] or \BAhmadis\b
EN An Islamic religious movement founded in 1899 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (c.1839-1908), believed to be the \JMessiah\j \JMahdi\j. Rejected by orthodox \JIslam\j, the sect is marked by its missionary zeal. It is active in Asia, Africa, and Europe.
BK a
#
"Ahmed Arabi",633,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bmed \Ba\brabee]
HS , also known as \BArabi Pasha\b
DT1 1839
DT2 1911
EN Egyptian soldier and nationalist leader. He was the leader of a rebellion against the \Jkhedive\j, Tewfik Pasha, in 1881 which led to the setting up of a nationalist government. The British intervened to protect their interests in the Suez Canal, and he was defeated at Tel-el-Kebir (1882) and exiled to Ceylon. He was pardoned in 1901.
MEX Tewfik Pasha
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Ahmose I",634,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bmohs]
DT1 16
DT1b th-c BC
EN Egyptian pharoah, who founded the 18th dynasty. He freed \JEgypt\j from the alien Shepherd Kings (Hyksos), and established control over Nubia.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Ahmose II",635,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bmohs]
DT1 6
DT1b th-c BC
EN Egyptian pharaoh (ruled 570-26 BC). He cultivated the friendship of the Greeks, and greatly promoted the prosperity of \JEgypt\j. A major achievement of his reign was the building of the temple of Isis at Memphis.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Ahriman",636,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\briman]
EN The supreme evil spirit, Angra Mainyu, the lord of darkness and death in \JZoroastrianism\j. Ahriman is engaged in a continuing struggle with Ahura Mazda, \JZoroaster\j's name for God.
BK a
#
"Ahura Mazda",637,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bhura \Bmaz\bda]
HS (Persian 'Wise Lord')
EN The name for God used by \JZoroaster\j and his followers. The world is the arena for the battle between Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, the spirit of evil - a battle in which Ahura Mazda will finally prevail and become fully omnipotent.
BK a
#
"Ahvenanmaa",638,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bvenanmah]
EN pop (1995e) 24 800; area 1550 sq km/600 sq mi. Island group forming a district of \JFinland\j, in the Gulf of Bothnia between Sweden and \JFinland\j; capital, Maarianhamina; 6554 islands, 80 inhabited; first language, Swedish.
BK Geog99
#
"AI",639,0,0,0
EN See artificial intelligence (AI)
BK a
XCY y
#
"Ai Qing",640,0,0,0
PN [iy ching]
DT1 1910
DT2 96
EN Poet, born in Jinhua Co, China. He studied painting in \JFrance\j (1928-31), but returned to China and began to write socially and politically conscious poetry. In 1949 he became associate editor of the \IPeople's Literature\i journal. He was an active propagandist for Communist-controlled literature, but in 1957 was accused of revisionism. In 1959 he was exiled to Zinjiang for 17 years. He began to publish again in 1978.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Aidan, St",641,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bdn]
HS , known as the \BApostle of Northumbria\b
DT1 ?
DT2 651
EN A monk from the Celtic monastery on the island of Iona, born in Ireland. He was summoned in 635 by King Oswald of \JNorthumbria\j to evangelize the North. He established a church and monastery on the island of Lindisfarne, and was appointed the first bishop there. He later founded several churches throughout \JNorthumbria\j. Feast \Jday\j 31 August.
MEX Oswald, St
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Aidoo, Ama Ata",642,0,0,0
DT 1942-
EN Ghanaian playwright and novelist; Secretary for Education in the Rawlings government. Her reputation rests upon her two plays, The Dilemma of a Ghost (1964) and Anowa (1970). The Dilemma of a Ghost explores the problems of a marriage between a Ghanaian man who has achieved academic honours in the United States and a black American woman whom he brings home to \JGhana\j. Anowa is concerned with the legacy of \Jslavery\j, and the tragic outcome. Aidoo now lives in Zimbabwe.
BK Thea
#
"AIDS",643,0,0,0
EN \JAcronym\j for \Bacquired immuno-deficiency syndrome,\b the result of infection with a human immuno-deficiency virus (\JHIV\j). Groups at high risk of acquiring the disease are homosexual or bisexual men, individuals with a history of intravenous drug abuse, sufferers from haemophilia who have received many transfusions of blood or of coagulation factor VIII prior to 1986, persons who have had casual sexual relationships, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, \JSan Francisco\j, or New York City, and sexual partners and children of any of those.
The origin of \JHIV\j virus is unknown, but it is possible that it originated from a group of African monkeys, themselves immune to the disease. In humans, transmission is by direct blood or seminal contact. The virus enters cells of the immune system, notably T-helper cells and macrophages, which engulf \Jbacteria\j and cell debris. In this way the defence of the body against infection is slowly destroyed.
Infected individuals may remain free from symptoms and show \JHIV\j \Jantibodies\j only in the blood. With the passage of months or years, infections from organisms that usually do not cause illness develop, along with a rare form of skin cancer. \JLymph\j nodes throughout the body enlarge, and \Jdementia\j may occur. Mortality is high, but during the 1990s slow progress towards a treatment was being made through the use of new combinations of durgs (AZT, 3TC, protease inhibitors).
\BAdditional information provided by Cambridge Dictionary of Scientists\b
AIDS and HIV
In 1981, the first reports of a new disease came from medical centres on the USA's West Coast. Its key feature was collapse of the body's immune system, leading to low resistance to some cancers and to infections, such as \Jpneumonia\j, which are usually treatable, but which in these cases were often fatal. By 1982 it was named as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
The AIDS epidemic spread, with deaths from it in the USA increasing from 2000 in 1984 to over 10 times as many in 1986. Its victims were then almost entirely among the 'five H's': homosexual men, heroin addicts, hookers, Haitians and haemophiliacs. At a fairly early stage it was judged to be viral in origin, with its spread associated with the transfer of body fluids such as blood or semen during sexual contact, or from mother to child before birth, or during blood transfusion or by sharing of contaminated hypodermic needles. The 100% fatality rate and rapidly increasing number of victims (especially in Africa) clearly warranted major investigation.
However, the expansion of AIDS research soon exposed some unusual aspects. These included intense and damaging rivalry between two leading research groups (those led by MONTAGNIER at the Pasteur Institute in Paris and by Robert Gallo (1937- ) of the National Cancer Institute in Washington, DC); the moralistic overtones associated with studies on a mainly sexually-transmitted disease; and the large sums of money linked with research on AIDS, on patentable test methods for identifying its victims and on drugs for its treatment.
By the early 1990s it was widely agreed that AIDS follows infection by one of the strains of a \Jretrovirus\j, human immunodeficiency virus (\JHIV\j), which attacks the T-lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). Then, after a period of normally some years, AIDS develops. Treatment was attempted from 1986 with the costly drug AZT (now called zidovudine), but a large-scale trial begun in 1988 showed by 1993 that this alone gave no clear benefits, whether the drug treatment began early on patients shown to be HlV-positive or was delayed until the full symptoms of AIDS were present.
Despite intensive efforts by epidemiologists to predict the pattern of spread of the disease, their projected figures have recurrently needed revision; the number of cases in the early 1990s was much below earlier projections.
Predictions that the disease would spread among heterosexuals have largely been unfulfilled in the USA and northern Europe, but in parts of Africa have been realized, with up to 50% of the general population infected in countries such as \JKenya\j, while significant infection in some less-developed European countries such as \JRomania\j has occurred through poor medical hygiene. Some geographical areas and population groups have remained unaffected by the epidemic (e.g. parts of the \JMiddle East\j), for reasons that are unclear. The scale and intensity of research on AIDS is remarkable; by 1992, over 36 000 research papers had been published on it, over $6000 million had been spent on the study of the disease and an estimated 500 000 victims of it had died.
As a result of this massive programme, \JHIV\j is one of the most fully studied of all disease-causing microorganisms. It is known to be highly variable, with its genetic make-up changing frequently to give new strains; this adds to the difficulty of devising a protective vaccine. But many questions are unanswered, such as: where and when did the virus originate? Why are so few T-lymphocytes in the blood of most HlV-positive people infected? Why is there a delay of typically 7 years between infection by \JHIV\j and the onset of AIDS? And why do a very small number of \JHIV\j carriers fail to develop AIDS?
Problems also arise with test animals. Chimpanzees are used because they can be infected with \JHIV\j. However, they are costly and not easy to work with, and their \Jimmunology\j does not model human patients closely-they are not made ill by \JHIV\j and do not proceed to develop AIDS. Trials of protective vaccines in human subjects will offer obvious problems. Despite the difficulties, the potential problem of AIDS is so important that great efforts will continue to be made both to develop a vaccine against \JHIV\j, and to secure an effective drug for treatment: AIDS is seen by many workers as the greatest threat to public health of our time.
EN poet, writer; born in Savannah, Ga. He was raised in Cambridge, Mass., attended Harvard (B.A. 1907-12), lived in England for various periods, and settled in Brewster, Mass. (1940). He wrote for leading periodicals, and was noted for his rather difficult poetry, such as \IThe Preludes for Memmon\i (1931), and for his demanding novels and short stories.
BK AmBg
#
"Aiken, George L.",645,0,0,0
DT 1830-76
EN American playwright. He is known for one play: Uncle Tom's Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, a dramatization of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, presented in September 1852 with Aiken in the part of George Harris. In response to audience demand for more episodes from the novel, Aiken prepared a sequel, The Death of Uncle Tom, or the Religion of the Lowly, and in mid-November combined the two plays into one drama of six acts, now the standard version.
BK Thea
#
"Aiken, Howard (Hathaway)",646,0,0,0
DT (1900-73)
EN computer engineer, mathematician; born in Hoboken, N.J. He was educated at the Universities of \JWisconsin\j and \JChicago\j before joining the faculty of Harvard, where he spent most of his professional career (1939-61). With his colleagues at Harvard - and with some assistance from International Business Machines - by 1944 he had built the Mark I, the world's first program-controlled calculator; an early form of a digital computer, it was controlled by both mechanical and electrical devices.
Although he went on to build the Mark II (1947) and other computers, they would soon be made obsolete by more advanced \Jelectronics\j. On retiring from Harvard he taught at the University of Miami (1961-73).
BK AmBg
#
"Aiken, Joan (Delano)",647,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bken]
DT1 1924
EN British writer, the daughter of Conrad Aiken. She was educated privately, then worked as a librarian for the UN Information Committee (1943--9) and as features editor for \IArgosy\i magazine (1955--60). Her many books for children include \IAll You've Ever Wanted\i (1953), \IThe Kingdom and the Cave\i (1960), \ITales of Arabel's Raven\i (1974), and \IVoices Hippo\i (1988). Among her adult novels are \IThe Silence of Herondale\i (1964), \ICastle Barebane\i (1976), \IMansfield Revisited\i (1985), \IThe Haunting of Lamb House\i (1991), and \IThe Jewel Seed\i (1997).
\BMajor Works\b
\IBooks for children\i
1960 The Kingdom and the Cave
1962 The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
1964 Black Hearts in Battersea
1966 Night Birds on Nantucket
1968 The Whispering Mountain
1969 Night Fall
1970 Smoke From Cromwell's Time
1971 The Cuckoo Tree
1973 Winterthing & The Mooncusser's Daughter
1974 Midnight is a Place
1974 Tales of Arabel's Raven
1974 Not What You Expected
1976 Tale of a One-Way Street
1976 The Angel Inn
1978 Mice and Mendelson
1978 Go Saddle the Sea
1979 Arabel and Mortimer
1980 The Shadow Guests
1981 The Stolen Lake
1983 Mortimer's Cross
1983 Bridle the Wind
1984 Fog Hounds, Wind Cat, Sea Mice
1984 The Kitchen Warriors
1985 The Last Slice of Rainbow
1985 Mortimer Says Nothing
1986 Dido and Pa
1986 Past Eight O'Clock
1987 A Goose on Your Grave
1987 Beware of the Moon
1988 The Teeth of the Gale
1988 The Erl King's Daughter
1989 Blackground
1989 Give Yourself a Fright
1989 Voices
1990 A Foot in the Grave
1992 Morningquest (with Lizza Aiken)
1992 Mortimer and Arabel
1993 A Creepy Company
1993 The Midnight Moropus
1993 The Shoemaker's Boy
1993 Is
1994 Eliza's Daughter
1994 The Winter Sleepwalker
1995 Cold Shoulder Road
1995 A Handful of Gold
1996 The Cockatrice Boys
1996 Emma Watson
\IStories for Children\i
1953 All You've Ever Wanted
1955 More than You Bargained For
1968 A Necklace of Raindrops
1969 A Small Pinch of Weather
1970 Armitage, Armitage, Fly Away Home
1971 The Kingdom Under the Sea (folk-tales)
1971 The Green Flash
1972 A Harp of Fish Bones
1976 A Bundle of Nerves
1977 The Faithless Lollybird
1984 Up the Chimney Down and Other Stories
1990 A Fit of Shivers
\IPoetry for Children\i
1976 The Skin Spinners
\IPlays for Children\i
1978 Street
\IBooks for adults\i
1964 The Silence of Herondale
1965 The Fortune Hunters
1966 Trouble with Product X (US Beware of the Bouquet)
1967 Hate Begins at Home (US Dark Interval)
1967 The Ribs of Death (US The Crystal Crow)
1970 The Embroidered Sunset
1970 The Butterfly Picnic (US A Cluster of Separate Sparks)
1972 Died on a Rainy Sunday
1975 Voices in an Empty House
1976 Castle Barebane
1977 Last Movement
1977 The Five-Minute Marriage
1978 The Smile of the Stranger
1980 The Lightning Tree (US The Weeping Ash)
1982 The Girl from Paris
1982 The Way to Write for Children
1982 A Whisper in the Night
1983 Foul Matter
1984 Mansfield Revisited
1987 Deception
1990 Jane Fairfax
1991 The Haunting of the Lamb House
1997 The Jewel Seed
\IStories for Adults\i
1969 The Windscreen Weepers
1979 A Touch of Chill
BK Biog99n
#
"Aikenvald, Yuly (Isaevich)",648,0,0,0
DT 1872-1928
EN Russian literary critic and theatre reviewer. He became embroiled in the pre-revolutionary debate over theatre's true nature and proper function. His article 'Rejecting the Theatre' (Studio, 1912) defied attempts by the \Jsymbolists\j (see \Jsymbolism\j) Meyerhold, Evreinov and others to poeticize theatre by asserting that it had no value except as dramatic literature.
Aikenvald's broadside encouraged directors Nemirovich-Danchenko and Komissarzhev-sky, critic D. N. Ovsyaniko- Kulikovsky and dramatist-actor A. I. Yuzhin-Sumbatov to publish Debating the Theatre (1912), in which they defended their roles as artistic interpreters.
BK Thea
#
"aikido",649,0,0,0
PN [iy\Bkee\bdoh]
EN An ancient Japanese art of self-defence, with ethical and philosophical undertones - a combination of karate and judo deriving from ancient \Jjujitsu\j. There are two main systems, \Itomiki\i and \Iuyeshiba.\i
BK a
#
"Ailey, Alvin",650,0,0,0
DT (1931-90)
EN choreographer, modern dancer, director; born in Rogers, \JTexas\j. He studied with Lester Horton, made his debut with the company in 1950, and became director in 1953. A noted Broadway dancer and choreographer, he formed the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in 1958 and founded a school (1971) and junior troupe (1972). His works, influenced by classical ballet, jazz, Afro-Caribbean, and modern dance, explore a wide range of black experience, from gospel music to social inequality.
BK AmBg
#
"Ailian, Dai",651,0,0,0
DT1 1916
EN Dancer and choreographer, born in Trinidad. She studied during the 1930s in Britain, working from 1940 in China, where she was instrumental in introducing the principles and study of Western ballet. In 1959 she co-founded what is now known as the Central Ballet of China, and became the company's artistic adviser.
BK Biog99
#
"Ailly, Pierre d'",652,0,0,0
PN [ayee]
HS , Lat \BPetrus de Alliaco\b
DT1 1350
DT2 1420
EN Theologian and nominalist philosopher, born in CompiΦgne, \JFrance\j. He became Chancellor of the University of Paris and Bishop of CompiΦgne, and was appointed cardinal (1411) by the anti-pope John XXIII. He was prominent in the election of Pope Martin V in 1417, an event which ended the Great Schism.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Ailred of Rievaulx, St",653,0,0,0
PN [\Bayl\bred, ree\Bvoh\b]
HS , also \BAelred\b or \BEthelred\b
DT1 1109
DT2 66
EN Chronicler, born in Hexham, \JNorthumberland\j, north-east England, UK. A Cistercian monk at Rievaulx Abbey, he was a friend and adviser to both David I of Scotland and Stephen of England, and wrote a vivid Latin account of the battle between them at Northallerton, Yorkshire (1138). Feast days 12 January, 3 March.
MEX David I; Stephen
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Aimee, Anouk",654,0,0,0
PN [emay]
HS , originally \BFrancoise Sorya\b
DT1 1934
EN Film actress, born in Paris, \JFrance\j. She studied dance at the \JMarseille\j Opera, and drama under Rene Simon in Paris, and made her film debut in \ILa Maison Sous la Mer\i (1947). Later films include \ILa Dolce Vita\i (1960, The Sweet Life), \IUn Homme et Une Femme\i (1966, A Man and a Woman), and \IJustine\i (1969).
\BMajor Works\b
1947 La Maison Sous la Mer
1949 Les Amants de Verone (The Lovers of Verona)
1950 The Golden Salamander
1960 La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life)
1961 Lola
1966 Un Homme et Une Femme (A Man and a Woman)
1969 Justine
BK Biog99
#
"Ainsworth, William Harrison",655,0,0,0
PN [\Baynz\bwerth]
DT1 1805
DT2 82
EN Historical novelist, born in Manchester, Greater Manchester, north-west England, UK. He studied for the law, but began a literary career instead, and is chiefly remembered for popularizing the story of the highwayman Dick Turpin in \IRookwood\i (1834) and the legend of Herne the Hunter in \IWindsor Castle\i (1843). He edited \IAinsworth's Magazine\i (1842-54), and wrote nearly 40 popular historical romances.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Ainu",656,0,0,0
PN [\Biy\bnoo]
EN The caucasoid aboriginals of \JJapan\j, now intermarried with other Japanese and culturally assimilated; their own language and religion has largely disappeared. Traditionally hunters and fishers, today many are factory workers and labourers. Population c.15┐000.
BK a
#
"air",657,0,0,0
EN See atmosphere
BK a
XCY y
#
"air cushion vehicle (ACV)",658,0,0,0
EN A revolutionary form of sea transport in which the vehicle is supported on a cushion of air; also called a \Bground effect machine,\b or (following the principle proposed by Christopher Cockerell in 1950) a \Bhovercraft.\b An ACV is propelled by an airscrew, and rides on a cushion of air trapped between the hull and the surface of the \Jwater\j by a flexible skirt, usually made of heavy-duty neoprene, which allows it to surmount obstacles.
Cockerell's design was one in which the cushion pressure was maintained by angled peripheral jets; later versions with flexible skirts often had a single plenum chamber supplying the air, which then leaked out under the skirt. The development of Cockerell's craft was delayed for a decade, while funding was found for the project.
The success of the concept also depended on the development of the flexible skirt, and this became available only in 1960. As a result, the first regular \Jhovercraft\j service did not begin until 1962 (across the River Dee estuary, between Rhyl and Wallasey in Britain). Hovercrafts are now in use worldwide in many varied forms.
BK a
#
"air force",659,0,0,0
EN The branch of the armed forces which operates \Jaircraft\j and missiles. The first air forces were founded 1911-14. During World War 1 these fledgling air arms became major military organizations engaged in prosecuting war in the air. Air forces proved decisive to the outcome of World War 2, whether they fought in a tactical role (fighters and short-range ground-attack aircraft), strategically (long-range bombers), or at sea (coastal and carrier-based \Javiation\j).
The advent of atomic weapons post-1945 changed air forces from being newcomers to warfare into the elite of military establishments. In the USA the US Air Force (USAF) was split from the army in 1947, in the 1950s was given responsibility for the US long-range nuclear missile force, and is now the most powerful air force in the world. The US, Royal, Russian, and French navies maintain separate, sea-warfare oriented air forces with great striking power in their own right.
BK a
#
"air resistance",660,0,0,0
EN See drag
BK a
XCY y
#
"Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS)",661,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bwaks]
EN An \Jaircraft\j-mounted radar system able to detect and track hostile intruders at long range and direct friendly fighters to intercept them. The US Air Force operates the Boeing E-3 Sentry \JAWACS\j. The Sentry is also flown by a joint European \JNATO\j unit, has been supplied to Saudi \JArabia\j, and is on order for the British and French air forces.
BK a
#
"airbrush",662,0,0,0
EN A miniature spray-gun used to create smoother tonal transitions and more delicate colour effects than are possible with a conventional brush. The technique is mainly used by commercial illustrators.
BK a
#
"aircraft",663,0,0,0
EN Any vehicle designed to operate within the Earth's \Jatmosphere\j, supporting itself by means of lift generated by wings or other methods.
BK a
#
"aircraft carrier",664,0,0,0
EN A naval vessel on which \Jaircraft\j can take off and land, developed during World War 1. The first carrier, HMS \IFurious\i (1918), was a battle-cruiser with forward and after flight-decks. The alighting \Jaircraft\j had to fly alongside and sideslip onto the deck, forward of the bridge. \IFurious\i was reconstructed in 1925 and fitted with an island bridge layout on the starboard side of a continuous flight-deck. This became the conventional carrier design.
The USA and \JJapan\j rapidly developed the carrier to hold many more \Jaircraft\j, and during World War 2 US supremacy in the use of \Jaircraft\j carriers was a deciding factor in reversing the fortunes of war in the Pacific. Britain's later significant contributions were the steam catapult, the angled flight-deck, and the mirror landing-sight.
The USA now have the five largest carriers. The USS \INimitz\i (91┐487 tonnes displacement) has 260┐000 shaft \Jhorsepower\j, is 323┐m / 1092┐ft long, has a crew of 5684, and carries over 90 \Jaircraft\j. The first nuclear-powered carrier, the USS \IEnterprise,\i was completed in 1961.
BK a
#
"Airedale terrier",665,0,0,0
EN This large, wiry, hairy Terrier is characterized by its ever-alert expression and its loyalty to its owners.
\BHistory:\b
The Airedale is named after a river in the north of England that was famous for its otters. These small aquatic mammals were notorious for deleting the fish stock so highly prized by both professional and amateur fisherfolk, and so the Airedale Terrier was especially bred for that region.
It was crossed from the \JOtter Hound\j and the now extinct Black and Tan Terrier. The combination of these two breeds provided the Airedale with the admirable characteristics of an excellent sense of smell, swimming ability, and a resilient strength.
Although initially known by various names including the Working Terrier, the Airedale was officially recognized as a breed in 1879. Although the Airedale was always too large to enter the narrow burrows of rabbits, it was especially good at tracking.
The Airedale's excellent sense of smell provided the English and German police forces with an excellent early recruit for their tracking services. However, it was during the First World War that the Airedale truly made its mark in history. Both the German and English armed forces used the Airedale in the battlefields.
This strong dog was well-suited to the mud and \Jwater\j of the trenches and was used for both the early detection of opposing forces and for carrying dispatches in difficult terrain.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
A large, elegant dog with a well-proportioned body and a characteristic alert expression. \IHeight:\i for the adult male 23 - 24 in (58.4 - 61 cm). \IWeight:\i no specific weight but generally proportionate to its height, around 45 - 60 lb (20.4 - 27.2 kg). Airedales should have a long flat skull with an elongated muzzle, and muscular jaws ending with a black nose. The small v-shaped ears should hang towards the side of the head. The stiff and wiry coat should be colored black and tan.
\BBehavior:\b
Although outwardly a gentle dog, new owners are strongly advised to strictly control the activities of their young Airedale, or it will quickly take over as leader of the family. In Africa, India, Canada, and America, the Airedale has been used to hunt lions and bears. Its history shows that the Airedale is a large dog that is readily trained.
However, wise owners will remember that this dog is very scent-oriented and may be readily distracted by interesting odors. The Airedale can make an excellent family dog as it is generally very sociable with people and other dogs, and is slow to anger. This hardy, resilient dog will thrive when given attention and regular exercise.
BK wan
#
"airplane",666,0,0,0
EN See aeroplane / airplane
BK a
XCY y
#
"airship",667,0,0,0
EN A self-propelled steerable \Jaircraft\j whose lift is generated by using lighter-than-air gases to provide \Jbuoyancy\j. The main body is cigar-shaped, with engines and gondolas (cabins) being suspended from it. There are three types of \Jairship\j construction: \Irigid,\i \Isemi-rigid,\i and \Inon-rigid.\i In the first type, the body shape is maintained by a rigid frame, with the lift being provided by individual gas cells fitted within the envelope defined by the frame.
In the non-rigid \I(blimp)\i type, the shape of the body is maintained by using the pressure of the gas. A semi-rigid type is similar to a non-rigid type, but with a keel running the length of the \Jairship\j. The lighter-than-air gas used to provide \Jbuoyancy\j was originally \Jhydrogen\j, but its highly inflammable nature and poor safety record led to its replacement by \Jhelium\j. Following its heyday in the 1930s, the \Jairship\j has spasmodically been revived as a cheap observation and patrolling platform, but so far with only limited success.
BK a
#
"Airy, Sir George (Biddell)",668,0,0,0
PN [ayree]
DT (1801-92)
EN British geophysicist and astronomer: proposed model of \Jisostasy\j to explain gravitational anomalies.
Airy was successful early in life, his talent and \Jenergy\j leading to his appointment as Astronomer Royal in 1835, a post he held for 46 years. He much extended and improved the astronomical measurements made in Britain. Airy's researches were in the fields of both \Joptics\j and \Jgeophysics\j. He experimented with cylindrical lenses to correct astigmatism (a condition he suffered from himself); and he studied the Airy discs in the \Jdiffraction\j pattern of a point source of light.
In \Jgeophysics\j he proposed that mountain ranges acted as blocks of differing thickness floating in hydrostatic equilibrium in a fluid mantle, rather like icebergs in the sea. He was thus able to explain gravitational anomalies that had been observed in the \JHimalayas\j, as due to the partial counteraction of the gravitational attraction of the \Jtopography\j above sea level with that of a deep 'root' extending into the mantle. His model of \Jisostasy\j satisfactorily explains the gravity field observed over mountainous terrain in much of the world.
Airy was arrogant and unlucky in his failings, now almost better known than his successes. He failed to exploit Adams's prediction of a new \Jplanet\j, Neptune; he was against \JFaraday\j's idea of 'lines of force' (a fruitful intuition, in fact); and although he expended great effort to ensure precise measurements of the transits of Venus, observed in 1874 and 1882, the results failed to give accurate measurements of the scale of the \Jsolar system\j because Venus's \Jatmosphere\j makes the timing of its apparent contact with the Sun's disc uncertain. An ingenious inventor of laboratory devices, he was remarkably precise, to the extent of labelling empty boxes 'empty'.
BK Scie
#
"A∩shah or Ayeshah",669,0,0,0
PN [a\Bee\bsha]
DT1a c.
DT1 613
DT2 78
EN Third and favourite of the nine wives of the \Jprophet\j Mohammed, and daughter of Abu-Bakr, the first caliph. When Mohammed died in 632 she resisted the claims to the caliphate of Ali, Mohammed's son-in-law, in favour of her father. She led a revolt against Ali in 656, but was defeated and exiled to \JMedina\j. She is known as the 'mother of believers'.
MEX Abu-Bakr; Ali; Mohammed
SX f
BK bg a
#
"aisles",670,0,0,0
EN The corridors running lengthways on either side of the W (entrance) part of a church, singly or in pairs. Aisles flank the nave, and are separated from it by a line of arches or columns.
BK a
#
"Ait-Ben-Haddou",671,0,0,0
PN [iyt ben \Bha\bdoo]
EN A walled village in SC Morocco; a world heritage site. It is a spectacular example of a pre-Saharan ksar, or fortified village, with red \Jearth\j houses and decorated kasbahs clinging to the steep side of an escarpment.
BK a
#
"Aitken, Robert Grant",672,0,0,0
PN [\Bayt\bken]
DT1 1864
DT2 1951
EN Astronomer, born in Jackson, CA. He was professor of \Jmathematics\j and \Jastronomy\j at the University of the Pacific (1891-5), then joined Lick Observatory, CA, where he became director (1930-5). His discovery of more than 3000 double stars gained him the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1932.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Aitken, Sir (John William) Max(well)",673,0,0,0
PN [\Bayt\bken]
DT1 1910
DT2 85
EN Newspaper publisher, born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the son of the 1st Lord Beaverbrook. He established a reputation as a socialite before the war, but served with great distinction as a fighter pilot. He became a Conservative MP for Holborn (1945-50), then joined his father in running Beaverbrook Newspapers (the \IDaily Express\i and the \ISunday Express).\i They had frequent disagreements.
When Lord Beaverbrook died in 1964, Max renounced his claim to the barony but retained his father's baronetcy. He became a leading ocean-racing skipper, and promoted offshore powerboat racing and \Jmotor racing\j.
MEX Beaverbrook
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Aix-en-Provence",674,0,0,0
PN [eks π provπs]
EN 43░31N 5░27E, pop (1995e) 128 000. Ancient city in Bouches-du-Rh⌠ne department, SW \JFrance\j; 30 km/19 mi N of \JMarseille\j in a fertile plain surrounded by mountains; founded as Aquae Sextiae in 123BC;important centre for Provencal literature since the 15th-c; airport; railway; university (1409); olive oil, fruit, almond processing; many fountains; archbishopric; 11th--16th-c St Saver Cathedral, Baroque town hall (1658), art galleries, thermal springs, casino; home of CΘzanne; International Music Festival (Jul--Aug); Saison d'Aix (Jun--Sep).
BK Geog99
#
"Aix-La-Chapelle",675,0,0,0
EN See Aachen
BK a
XCY y
#
"Ajaccio",676,0,0,0
PN [a\Bzhak\bseeoh]
EN 41░55N 8░40E, pop (1995e) 61 800. Seaport and capital of the Island of \JCorsica\j, \JFrance\j; on the W coast, at the head of Golfe de Ajaccio; founded by the Genoese, 1492; made capital by Napoleon, 1811; \JCorsica\j's second largest port; airport; railway; car ferries to \JMarseille\j, \JToulon\j, Nice; fishing, timber trade, tourism; casino; Maison Bonaparte (birthplace of Napoleon).
BK Geog99
#
"Ajanta Caves",677,0,0,0
PN [a\Bjan\bta]
EN A group of 29 Buddhist cave-temples and monasteries cut into cliffs over River Wagurna, near Ajanta, \JMaharashtra\j, India; a world heritage site. The caves, which were built from the 2nd-c BC onwards, are particularly noted for their wall paintings. They were abandoned in the 7th-c, when building activity was transferred to Ellora, and rediscovered in 1819.
BK a
#
"Ajax, known as Telamonian Ajax",678,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bjaks]
HS , Latin form of Greek \BAias.\b
EN A legendary Greek hero during the Trojan War. The son of Telamon, King of Salamis, therefore known as \BTelamonian Ajax.\b He was proverbial for his size and strength; in all the worst situations he 'stood like a tower'. When the armour of the dead \JAchilles\j was not given to him, he went mad and killed himself.
BK a
#
"Ajax, son of Oileus",679,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bjaks]
HS , Latin form of Greek \BAias.\b
EN A legendary Greek hero who fought in the Trojan War, the son of Oileus, King of Locris. When he returned from Troy, he provoked the anger of the gods, and was killed by Poseidon as he reached the shore of \JGreece\j.
BK a
#
"Ajman",680,0,0,0
PN [aj\Bman\b]
EN pop (1995e) 84 400; area c.250 sq km/100 sq mi. Smallest of the seven member states of the United Arab Emirates, entirely surrounded by the territory of Shariqah except on the coast; capital, \JAjman\j; relatively undeveloped, with no significant oil or gas reserves yet discovered.
EN Athlete, born in London, England, UK. He joined the army in 1975, and went on to become one of the leading athletes of the 1990s. His achievements include gold medals in the 4 x 100┐m relay at the 1986 European Championships and Commonwealth Games (1986), the 400┐m hurdles at the 1990 European Championships (also breaking a 22-year world record) and Commonwealth Games, the 4 x 400┐m relay at the 1991 World Championships in \JTokyo\j, and the 4 x 400┐m relay in the 1993 European Cup. His Olympic medals include silver in the 4 x 100┐m relay (1984) and bronze for the same event in 1994. Since 1993 he has become known as a \Jtelevision\j presenter.
BK Biog99n
#
"Akahito, Yamabe no",682,0,0,0
PN [aka\Bhee\btoh]
DT1 8
DT1b th-c
EN Japanese poet. A minor official at the imperial court, he seems to have kept his position largely through his poetic ability. He is known as one of the 'twin stars' - Hitomaro being the other - of the great anthology of classical Japanese poetry called the \IManyoshu\i (Collection of a Myriad Leaves).
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Akalaitis, JoAnne",683,0,0,0
DT 1937-
EN American actress and director. She is a founding and continuing member of the avant-garde group Mabou Mines. Her experimental works have been performed at major art centres and festivals throughout the USA and Europe. From 1990 to 1993 Akalaitis was artistic director of the New York Shakespeare Festival.
BK Thea
#
"Akan",684,0,0,0
EN A cluster of Twi (Kwa)-speaking peoples mostly in \JGhana\j, and in the C⌠te d'Ivoire and \JTogo\j, comprising several kingdoms. The best known and largest is the \JAsante\j (Ashanti). All recognize matrilineal descent, and have a long urban and trading tradition. Population c.5 million.
BK a
#
"Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge",685,0,0,0
PN [akashee kiykyoh]
EN A major steel suspension bridge across the Akashi Straits between \JHonshu\j and Shikoku, \JJapan\j, begun in 1978 and due for completion in 1998. It will carry a road and railway on two decks and have a main span of 1780┐m / 5840┐ft.
BK a
#
"Akbar the Great",686,0,0,0
PN [\Bak\bber]
HS , in full \BJalal ud-Din Muhammad Akbar\b
DT1 1542
DT2 1605
EN Mughal emperor of India, born in Umarkot, \JSind\j. He succeeded his father, Humayun, in 1556, and assumed power in 1560. The early years of his reign were marred by \Jcivil war\j and rebellion, but after triumphing over his enemies within the empire he turned to foreign conquest, extending his control to the whole of N India. He reformed the tax system, promoted commerce, encouraged science, literature, and the arts, and abolished \Jslavery\j. Although brought up a Muslim, he pursued a tolerant and eclectic religious policy.
MEX Jahangir
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Akeley, Carl (Ethan) (1864-1926) and Mary Lee Akeley",687,0,0,0
PN [\Bayk\blee]
HS , nΘe \BJobe\b
DT1 1878
DT2 1966
EN Naturalists and explorers, born in Clarendon, NY and Tappan, OH, respectively. He worked as a taxidermist in Rochester, NY, and then at the \JMilwaukee\j Museum. By the time he joined the staff at the Field Museum of Natural History in \JChicago\j (1895), he was perfecting new techniques for making large habitat groups of wild animals - sculpting realistic forms on which real skins, horns, and other bodily parts were placed. He made several trips to Africa (1896, 1905, 1909, 1926), and invented a special motion-picture camera for naturalists to study wildlife (1916).
He died in Africa, two years after he married Mary Lee Jobe, his second wife. She had explored in the Canadian Rockies (1913-18), and she continued his African expedition (1926-7). Returning to Africa in 1935 and 1946, she collected further materials for the American Museum of Natural History, New York City. She won international recognition for her work in informing the world of the importance of maintaining primitive and natural life in Africa.
SX g
BK bg a
#
"Aken, Jerome van",688,0,0,0
EN See Bosch, Hieronymus
BK bg a
XCY y
#
"Akenside, Mark",689,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bkensiyd]
DT1 1721
DT2 70
EN Poet and physician, born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, north-east England, UK. In 1744 he published his best-known work, the didactic poem \IThe Pleasures of Imagination.\i His haughty and pedantic manner was caricatured in Tobias Smollett's \IAdventures of Peregrine Pickle\i (1757). In 1761 he was appointed one of the physicians to the queen.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Akhel≤÷s, River",690,0,0,0
EN See Achelous, River
BK a
XCY y
#
"Akhenaton",691,0,0,0
PN [ake\Bna\bton]
HS , also \BAkh(e)naten\b or \BAmenhotep (Amenophis) IV\b[amen\Bhoh\btep]
DT1 14
DT1b th-c BC
EN Egyptian king of the 18th dynasty. He renounced the worship of the old gods, introduced a monotheistic solar \Jcult\j of the \Jsun\j-disc (Aton), and changed his name. He built a new capital at Amarna (Akhetaton), where the arts blossomed while the empire weakened. He was married to \JNefertiti\j.
MEX \JNefertiti\j; Tutankhamen
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Akhmatova, Anna",692,0,0,0
PN [akh\Bmah\btofa]
HS , pseudonym of \BAnna Andreeyevna Gorenko\b
DT1 1889
DT2 1966
EN Poet, born in Odessa, \JUkraine\j. She studied in \JKiev\j before moving to St Petersburg. In 1910 she married Nicholas Gumilev, and with him started the Neoclassicist Acmeist movement. After her early collections of lyrical poems, including \IEvening\i (1912) and \IBeads\i (1914), she developed an Impressionist technique.
Following the publication of \IAnno Domini\i (1922), she was officially silenced until 1940, when she published \IThe Willow.\i Among her best-known works is \IRequiem,\i written in the late 1930s, a poetic cycle on the Stalin purges. In 1946 her verse was again banned. She was 'rehabilitated' in the 1950s, and received official tributes on her death.
MEX Gumilev
SX f
BK bg a
#
"Akiba ben Joseph",693,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkee\bba ben \Bjoh\bzef]
HS , also spelled \BAkiva\b
DT1a c.
DT1 50
DT2 135
EN Rabbi and teacher in Palestine. He founded a rabbinical school at Jaffa, and played a great part in reshaping the \JMishnah\j. He was a supporter of the unsuccessful revolt of bar Kokhba against \JHadrian\j (131-5), and was put to death by the Romans.
MEX bar Kokhba
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Akihito",694,0,0,0
PN [aki\Bhee\btoh]
DT1 1933
EN Emperor of \JJapan\j (1989-- ), born in \JTokyo\j, \JJapan\j, the son of \JHirohito\j. He studied among commoners at the elite Gakushuin school, and in 1959 married \BMichiko Shoda\b (1934-- ), the daughter of a flour company president, who thus became the first non-aristocrat to enter the imperial family.
An amateur marine biologist, he is also an accomplished cellist. On becoming emperor in 1989, the new \IHeisei\i ("the achievement of universal peace') era commenced.
BK Biog99
#
"Akimov, Nikolai (Pavlovich)",695,0,0,0
DT 1901-68
EN Soviet stage and film designer. His graceful, whimsical and vibrantly colourful stage realizations defined the character of the \JLeningrad\j Theatre of Comedy, where he was artistic director (1935-49, 1955-68). As a designer in the 1920s Akimov worked in \JLeningrad\j and Moscow on Soviet dramas. He began directing in 1929 and in 1932 staged a controversial formalist production of Hamlet for Moscow's Vakhtangov Theatre.
His sharp and witty style was most clearly demonstrated in his Theatre of Comedy productions, particularly Evgeny Shvarts's The Shadow (1940, 1960), The Dragon (1944, 1962) and An Ordinary Miracle (1956), and in Sukhovo-Kobylin's The Case (1964) and Krechinsky's Wedding (1966).
From 1951 to 1955 he served as the Lensoviet Theatre's artistic director, where he staged Saltykov-Shchedrin's Shadows (1953) and an earlier version of The Case (1955). He also designed theatre posters and wrote two books which blended memoirs with theatre aesthetics and practice. In 1960 he was named a People's Artist of the USSR.
BK Thea
#
"Akins, Z÷e",696,0,0,0
DT 1886-1958
EN American playwright and screenwriter. She began her career with an experimental free-verse drama, The Magical City (1916). Early sophisticated comedies and wistful tragedies about jaded, worldly women were followed by a rash of popular comedies. Her first and best hit was DΘclassΘe (1919).
Others were Papa (1919), Greatness: A Comedy (1921, also called The \JTexas\j Nightingale), Daddy's Gone A-Hunting (1921) and The Greeks Had a Word for It (1929, later filmed as The Golddiggers). In 1935 she won the Pulitzer Prize for her adaptation of Edna Ferber's The Old Maid.
BK Thea
#
"akita",697,0,0,0
EN The Japanese are very proud to have produced this magnificent dog. It is a large and very strong dog with a tenacious spirit.
\BHistory:\b
Originally the \JAkita\j was restricted to the nobility because of its excellent hunting skills. At first it was bred to hunt deer and wild pigs. Later, when it was discovered just how formidable the \JAkita\j could be, it was even used to hunt bears. The breed has remained essentially the same for the past 300 years.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The \JAkita\j is a large stocky dog and is one of the three Spitz types of dogs from \JJapan\j. \IHeight:\i for the adult male 26 - 28 in (66 - 71 cm). \IWeight:\i 88 - 110 lb (40 - 50 kg). Both the eyes and ears are triangular, and the triangular head is broad and flat with a powerful short muzzle. The general appearance of the body is one conveying power, with a rounded well-muscled chest, shoulders and flanks. The two-layered coat is made up of a thick undercoat and a coarse outer coat.
\BBehavior:\b
This magnificent dog was originally bred by the Japanese to be a powerful hunting dog. Over its 300-year history, the breed has changed very little. During feudal times, the \JAkita\j was used extensively for dog-fighting. Either as a result of dog-fighting or because fewer were bred after this practice was outlawed, \JAkita\j numbers went into steep decline. The remaining dogs regained popularity and were once again used extensively, but this time as police and guard dogs.
The \JAkita\j can make a wonderful pet, especially for those people who insist on keeping the dog in its place from the beginning. This noble and truly magnificent animal is certainly not for the faint-hearted. However, once the dominance hierarchy is well-established, the \JAkita\j can be a wonderful companion.
The \JAkita\j should be given a lot of exercise and responds very well to training. As this dog has a lot of muscle, it requires slightly more than the average amount of food. It is especially important to provide the young growing \JAkita\j with sufficient food and exercise. The dog's coat will benefit from regular brushing and infrequent bathing.
BK wan
#
"Akiva ben Joseph",698,0,0,0
EN See Akiba ben Joseph
BK bg a
XCY y
#
"Akkadian",699,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkay\bdian]
EN One of the oldest languages in the Semitic (Afro-Asiatic) family, with a substantial literature written in cuneiform script. It is now extinct.
BK a
#
"Akko",700,0,0,0
EN See Acre
BK a
XCY y
#
"Akmola",701,0,0,0
EN 51░10N 71░30E, pop (1995e) 290 000. Capital of \JKazakhstan\j (from 1997), on R Ishim; founded as a fortress, 1830; airport; railway junction; agricultural machinery, \Jceramics\j, foodstuffs, clothing.
BK Geog99
#
"Akron",702,0,0,0
EN 41░05N 81░31W, pop (1995e) 232 000. Seat of Summit Co, NE Ohio, USA, on the Little Cuyahoga R; laid out, 1825; city status, 1865; airfield; railway; university (1913); centre of US \Jrubber\j industry; metal products, tyres, machinery; polymer research centre; Goodyear World of Rubber Museum, E J Thomas Performing Arts Hall, Blossom Music Centre.
BK Geog99
#
"Akrotiri",703,0,0,0
PN [akro\Btee\bree]
EN Bay on S coast of Cyprus; main port town, \JLimassol\j; British base on peninsula separating Akrotiri Bay (east) from Episkopi Bay (west).
BK a
#
"Aksakov, Sergei Timofeyevitch",704,0,0,0
PN [ak\Bsah\bkof]
DT1 1791
DT2 1859
EN Novelist, born in \JUfa\j, \JRussia\j. He held government posts in St Petersburg and Moscow before a meeting with Gogol in 1832 turned him to literature. His house became the centre of a Gogol \Jcult\j. He wrote \IThe Blizzard\i (trans, 1834), \IChronicles of a Russian Family\i (trans, 1846-56), and \IYears of Childhood\i (trans, 1858). His writing shows his love of country sports and deep feeling for nature.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Aksum",705,0,0,0
EN 14░08N 38░43E. Ancient city in the highlands of N \JEthiopia\j; a world heritage site. During the 1st-7th-c AD it was the capital of a powerful kingdom dominating trade - particularly in ivory and skins - between the Sudanese Nile Valley and the Roman Mediterranean through the \JRed Sea\j port of Adulis (near modern \JMassawa\j). Its multi-storied stone buildings, massive funeral slabs, and coinage are notable.
BK a
#
"Aksyonov, Vasily (Pavlovich)",706,0,0,0
DT 1932-
EN Soviet novelist and playwright. He is part of the intellectual tradition of literary \Jparody\j and grotesque realism of Gogol and others. As part of the Young Prose movement centred on Valentin Kataev's journal Youth (1955), he became a spokesman for the post-World War II generation. His early novels, characterized by racy dialogue, Western-style fashions and colloquialisms, reflect the problems of youth and maturation in Soviet society.
His later writing is more experimental and fantastic, reverting to the Russian avant-garde of the 1920s. Always on Sale, a realistic social satire and highly theatricalist pastiche of popular culture, was a great success in Oleg Efremov's 1965 production at Moscow's Sovremennik Theatre.
Your Murderer (published in English, 1977), subtitled 'An Anti- alcoholic Comedy in Eight Scenes with a Prologue and an Epilogue', is a grotesque, fanciful \Jparable\j of an artist who is destroyed by his own creation. A third play, The Heron (unpublished), is a Chekhovian \Jparody\j set at a health resort. In 1980 Aksyonov emigrated to the United States.
BK Thea
#
"Aktie Tomaat",707,0,0,0
EN (Action \Jtomato\j, or the \Jtomato\j campaign) Dutch theatre movement. Late in 1969, tomatoes were thrown at actors during a performance by the Nederlandse Comedie at the municipal theatre of \JAmsterdam\j: students from the Toneelschool (Amsterdam School of Drama) were launching a protest against the limited theatrical repertory, lacking in social relevance, and against the authoritarian status of the director, who subordinated the actors to his views.
This protest linked up with the call for democracy by students and workers in Europe and America. As a result, new Dutch companies, such as Werkteater, organized on democratic principles, emerged: the director became a creative assistant or member of a collective; actors could start to explore their creative potential; productions were improvised and dramatic texts updated. The new theatre groups were subsidized by the Ministry of Culture.
BK Thea
#
"Aktyubinsk",708,0,0,0
PN [ak\Btyoo\bbyinsk]
EN 50░16N 57░13E, pop (1995e) 267 000. Capital city of Aktyubinskaya oblast, NW \JKazakhstan\j; in the S foothills of the Ural Mts, on the left bank of the R Ilek; established, 1869; airport; railway; \Jengineering\j, agricultural machinery, chemicals, building materials, clothing, furniture, foodstuffs.
BK Geog99
#
"Al Fayed, Mohamed",709,0,0,0
PN [al \Bfa\byed]
DT1 1933
EN Businessman, born in \JEgypt\j. He studied at Alexandria University, and made rapid progress in the international business world, becoming owner of the Ritz Hotel in Paris in 1979, and of Harrods in London in 1985, and one of the world's wealthiest men. One of his children, \BDodi\b (1955--97), received worldwide publicity in 1997 when the press discovered his relationship with Princess Diana. A graduate of Sandhurst military academy, he became a film producer, renowned for his flamboyant lifestyle. He was killed along with Diana in a car accident in Paris while trying to escape the attentions of paparazzi.
BK Biog99n
#
"al-Banna, Hassan",710,0,0,0
PN [al\Bba\bna]
DT1 1906
DT2 49
EN Islamic fundamentalist, born in Mahmudiya, near \JCairo\j. In 1928 he founded in \JEgypt\j the Society of Muslim Brothers (better known as the Muslim Brotherhood or Brethren), which preached a return to the purity of early \JIslam\j. In 1948 the Egyptian prime minister, Nuqrashi-Pasha, was killed by a Brotherhood member, and in 1949 al-Banna was himself murdered, though he had condemned the assassination. His movement has had considerable influence on contemporary Islamic \Jfundamentalism\j.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"al-Farabi, Mohammed",711,0,0,0
PN [al fa\Brah\bbee]
HS , also known as \BAbu Nasr,\b \BAlfarabius,\b and \BAvennasar\b
DT1a c.
DT1 870
DT2 950
EN Islamic philosopher, born in Farab, Turkmenia. He was much influenced by \JPlato\j's \IRepublic,\i and can be regarded as the first Islamic Neoplatonist. He also published a utopian political philosophy of his own, known under the title \IThe Perfect City.\i
MEX \JPlato\j
SX m
BK bg a
#
"al-Fatah",712,0,0,0
EN See PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization)
BK a
XCY y
#
"Al-Fayed, Dodi",713,0,0,0
DT1 1955
DT2 1997
Dodi al-Fayed was the 41 year old son of billionaire Mohamed al-Fayed owner of Harrods Department Store in London. Al-Fayed formed his film production company in the early 80s. Known as Allied Stars, the company went on to produce films such as "Chariots of Fire" (1980), "Hook" with Dustin Hoffman and "The Scarlet Letter" (1995) with Demi Moore. He was tragically killed in a car accident in Paris with Princess Diana on August 31st 1997.
BK Webster
#
"al-Khwarizmi, (Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Musa)",714,0,0,0
PN [al-khwahrizmee]
DT (c.800-c.850)
EN Persian mathematician: introduced modern number notation.
Little is known of al-Khwarizmi's life; he was a member of the \JBaghdad\j Academy of Science and wrote on \Jmathematics\j, \Jastronomy\j and \Jgeography\j. His book \JAlgebra\j introduced that name, although much of the book deals with calculations. However, he gives a general method (al-Khwarizmi's solution) for finding the two roots of a quadratic equation
ax\U2\u + bx + c = 0 (where a \F╣\n0);
he showed that the roots are
x\D1\d = [- b + (b\U2\u - 4ac)\U1/2\u]/2a
and x\D2\d = [- b - (b\U2\u - 4ac)\U1/2\u]/2a
In his book \ICalculation with the Hindu Numerals\i he described the Hindu notation (misnamed 'Arabic' numerals) in which the digits depend on their position for their value and include zero. The term '\Jalgorithm\j' (a rule of calculation) is said to be named after him. The notation (which came into Europe in a Latin translation after 1240) is of huge practical value and its adoption is one of the great steps in \Jmathematics\j. The 10 symbols (1-9 and 0) had almost their present shape by the 14th-c, in surviving manuscripts.
BK Scie
#
"al-Kindi",715,0,0,0
PN [al\Bkin\bdee]
DT1a c.
DT1 800
DT2a c.
DT2 870
EN Arab philosopher, born in Kufa, \JIraq\j. Known as 'the philosopher of the \JArabs\j', he was one of the first responsible for spreading Greek thought (particularly that of Aristotle) in the Arab world and synthesizing it with Islamic doctrine.
MEX Aristotle
SX m
BK bg a
#
"al-RayhΓnε, Amεn",716,0,0,0
DT (1876-1940)
EN poet; born in \JLebanon\j. He went with his family to New York City (1888) and worked for a time with them as a peddler. He toured with a theater company and turned to poetry. He wrote \IMyrtle and Myrrh\i (1905) and \IThe Book of Khalid\i (1911), and was often referred to as the "father of prose poetry in Arabic."
Always conscious of his position as an ambassador between East and West, he wrote, "Neither Crescent nor Cross we adore/Nor \JBuddha\j nor Christ we implore/Nor Muslim nor Jew we abhor/We are free."
BK AmBg
#
"Alabama",717,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 4 283 000; area 133 911 sq km/51 705 sq mi. State in SE USA, divided into 67 counties; the "Heart of Dixie', the "Camellia State', or "Yellowhammer'; first permanent settlement by the French at Mobile, 1711; N \JAlabama\j became part of the USA in 1783, the remainder being acquired by the Louisiana Purchase in 1803; the 22nd state to be admitted to the Union, 1819; seceded, 1861; \Jslavery\j abolished, 1865; refused to ratify the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution and placed under military rule, 1867; re-admitted to the Union in 1868, but Federal troops remained until 1876; capital, Montgomery; other chief cities, Birmingham, Mobile, \JHuntsville\j; rivers include the \JAlabama\j (formed by the confluence of the Tallapoosa and Coosa Rivers), Tombigbee, Mobile, \JTennessee\j, Chattahoochee; highest point Mt Cheaha (734 m/2408 ft); a mountainous NE, separated from the S coastal plain by the rolling plain of the Appalachian \JPiedmont\j; diversified agriculture, after the boll weevil blight of 1915; \Jcattle\j, poultry, cotton, soybeans, peanuts; chemicals, textiles, paper products, processed food; iron and steel industry centred on Birmingham; \Jcoal\j, oil, stone; lumbering, fishing; many \Jcivil rights\j protests in the area in the 1950s and 1960s.
BK Geog99
#
"Alabama (continued 2)",718,0,0,0
\BHistory\b
\B\IIndian Days, Exploration, and Settlement\b\i\b
Cliff-dwelling Indians lived in the \JAlabama\j region 8,000 years ago. Excavations in Russell Cave, in northeastern Jackson County, have revealed details of their lives. Later the \JCherokee\j, Creek, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Indians lived in the region. Whites called these groups Civilized Tribes because they adopted many European customs.
Alonso Alvarez de Pi±eda, a Spanish explorer, sailed into Mobile Bay in 1519. In 1528, an expedition led by Panfilo de Narvaez passed through \JAlabama\j coastal waters. ┴lvar N·±ez Cabeza de Vaca, the first European to cross \JNorth America\j, was a member of this expedition. Hernando de Soto, another Spaniard, led an expedition into the \JAlabama\j region from the northeast in 1540.
He became the first white person to explore the interior. De Soto (also called Soto) and the Indians fought a bloody battle at Mabila, north of present-\Jday\j Mobile. De Soto's forces defeated Chief Tuskalusa and his warriors, and burned their village.
In 1559, Tristßn de Luna, a Spanish adventurer from Mexico, searched for gold in the \JAlabama\j region. He organized small settlements on Mobile Bay and at the present site of Claiborne. In 1561, he was removed from his command and forced to return to Mexico.
The first permanent group of white settlers in the \JAlabama\j region were French. In 1699, two French-Canadian brothers, Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'lberville, and Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, sailed to Dauphin Island in Mobile Bay. In 1702, they founded Fort Louis nearby along the Mobile River. Fort Louis became the capital of the French colony known as Louisiana.
In 1711, river floods forced the French to move 27 miles (43 km) south to the present site of Mobile. This settlement, also called Fort Louis, became the first permanent white settlement in \JAlabama\j. It was renamed Fort CondΘ in 1720. The settlement was the capital of French Louisiana until 1722, when \JNew Orleans\j became the capital.
In 1763, the French gave most of their colony of Louisiana to Britain in the Treaty of Paris. This treaty ended the French and Indian War. The Mobile area became part of West \JFlorida\j, under British control. Northern \JAlabama\j was included in the Illinois country, a region in what is now the central United States.
In 1779, \JSpain\j declared war on Britain. In 1780, Bernardo de Gßlvez captured Mobile from the British. In the Treaty of Paris signed in 1783, Britain gave the Mobile region to \JSpain\j.
\B\ITerritorial Days\b\i\b
In 1795, Thomas Pinckney, a US statesman, negotiated the Treaty of San Lorenzo. This treaty, also called the Pinckney Treaty, fixed the southern boundary of the United States along the 31st parallel of north latitude. All of present-\Jday\j \JAlabama\j except the Mobile area lay north of the line and became part of the United States. In 1798, the \JAlabama\j region, except the Mobile area, became part of the Mississippi Territory organized by the U.S. Congress.
During the \JWar of 1812\j against Britain, the United States seized the Mobile area from \JSpain\j. On April 15, 1813, the Stars and Stripes flew over the entire \JAlabama\j region for the first time. Also in 1813, the Creek Indians massacred several hundred pioneers at Fort Mims near Tensaw. In 1814, U.S. forces, under General Andrew Jackson, defeated the Creek in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.
The Creeks then surrendered their land to the United States. William Weatherford, a half-breed Creek chief also known as Red Eagle, led the tribe in its bitter fight against Jackson's troops.
In 1817, the \JAlabama\j Territory was organized. St. Stephens, on the Tombigbee River, was the capital.
\B\IEarly Statehood\b\i\b
A constitutional convention met in \JHuntsville\j in 1819 and drew up the territory's first constitution. On Dec. 14, 1819, \JAlabama\j entered the Union as the 22nd state. \JHuntsville\j served as the capital of \JAlabama\j for a little more than a year. William Wyatt Bibb, who had been governor of the \JAlabama\j Territory, became the new state's first governor. Cahaba became the capital in 1820. In 1825, floods from the \JAlabama\j River caused great damage to Cahaba. Because of the floods, the capital was moved to Tuscaloosa in 1826.
In 1838, federal troops marched into the remaining Indian territory of \JAlabama\j, in the northeast section of the state. They demanded that all the Indians move to the west. By 1840, all but a few scattered tribes had moved west beyond the Mississippi River.
Alabama suffered severe financial troubles during the 1840s and 1850s. The state bank, created during the 1820s, was poorly managed. The bank issued too much money and, as a result, the money decreased in value. The bank also loaned large amounts of money for political reasons. In 1837, a financial panic and depression swept across the United States.
The \JAlabama\j state bank could not afford to pay back the money it owed to its depositors. For this reason, Governor Benjamin Fitzpatrick began to liquidate (close) the bank during the early 1840s. Many Alabamians lost all their savings. The state also suffered from a \Jdrought\j that ruined crops, and from several epidemics of yellow fever.
During the 1840s, many people in the North wanted the federal government to outlaw \Jslavery\j in the nation's western territories. In 1848, a Democratic state convention in \JAlabama\j adopted the "Alabama Platform" supported by William L. Yancy, a prominent statesman. This platform declared that the federal government did not have the right to bar slaves from the territories.
\B\IThe \JCivil War\j and Reconstruction\b\i\b
Disagreements over \Jslavery\j continued during the 1850s. Economic rivalries between the agricultural South and the industrial North and disagreements about the right of states also created conflicts. These conflicts deepened after Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. \JAlabama\j seceded (withdrew) from the Union on Jan. 11, 1861, and declared itself the Republic of \JAlabama\j.
The \JAlabama\j secession convention invited other Southern States to send delegates to Montgomery. On February 8, the convention established the Confederate States of America, with Montgomery as its capital. For this reason Montgomery is known as the Cradle of the Confederacy. The capital of the Confederate States was moved to Richmond, Va., in May 1861.
The most important \JCivil War\j action in the state was the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864, won by Union forces under Rear Admiral David G. Garragut. Union forces also made several raids into \JAlabama\j during the war. In 1863, Confederate forces led by General Nathan Bedford Forrest captured a much larger group of Union raiders at \JCedar\j Bluffs. In 1865, Union General James H. Wilson led the largest raid into \JAlabama\j and won victories at Selma and Montgomery.
Most of \JAlabama\j escaped the ruin that spread across the South during the \JCivil War\j. However, Florence, \JHuntsville\j, Montgomery, Selma, and other cities in the northern and central parts of the state suffered destruction and looting.
Alabama faced mounting financial problems during the Reconstruction period that followed the war. The state debt increased from $8 million to more that $32 million from 1866 to 1873. The state government came under the control of former Northerners called carpet-baggers and Southerners called scalawags.
On June 25, 1868, \JAlabama\j was readmitted to the Union. In 1874, conservative Democrats succeeded in electing most state officials. The state government was reformed, and a new constitution was adopted in 1875.
\B\IState Prosperity\b\i\b
State prosperity followed the Reconstruction period. During the 1870s, several railroads were completed. Also during the 1870s, Alabamians proved they could make iron by burning iron ore with coke, rather than with charcoal. This was important because north-central \JAlabama\j had large deposits of coal, from which coke is made. The same region also had vast supplies of iron ore and \Jlimestone\j, the two other minerals needed to make iron and steel.
In 1880, \JAlabama\j's first blast furnace, Alice No. 1, began operating in Birmingham. Within a few years, Birmingham became a great iron and steel center. Important iron and steel works were also built in Anniston, Bessemer, Decatur, Russellville, and Talladega.
By 1890, iron and steel making had become \JAlabama\j's most important manufacturing industry. The lumber industry and textile industry also grew rapidly in the late 1800s.
\B\IWorld War I and the Great Depression\b\i\b
Alabama's industry and commerce grew after the United States entered World War I in 1917. Shipbuilding became an important industry in Mobile. \JAlabama\j farmers increased production of cotton and food to meet the demands of the war effort.
In the mid-1920s, the \JAlabama\j State Docks agency built new port facilities at Mobile. \JAlabama\j's trade with other countries increased greatly as a result. In 1929, the Alabama-Tombigbee river system flooded large areas in southern \JAlabama\j, causing about $6 million damage.
Many Alabamians suffered financial setbacks during the \JGreat Depression\j of the 1930s. Between 1929 and 1931, more than 60 \JAlabama\j banks failed, with a loss of more than $16 million. During the early 1930s, \JAlabama\j passed a state income tax law and the Budget Control Act to help save the state from \Jbankruptcy\j.
In 1933, the federal government created the \JTennessee\j Valley Authority (TVA). The TVA was given the responsibility of building flood-control and electric-power projects on the \JTennessee\j River. The TVA took over Wilson Dam and two \Jnitrate\j plants at Muscle Shoals.
The dam and plant had been built by the government during World War I and the 1920s. The TVA later built Wheeler and Guntersville dams on the \JTennessee\j River. The \JAlabama\j Power Company, a private firm, also built dams and hydroelectric plants during the 1930s. These plants provided inexpensive power for \JAlabama\j factories, and so boosted the state's industrial growth.
\B\IThe Mid-1900s\b\i\b
During World War II (1939-1945), \JAlabama\j's agricultural and industrial production expanded greatly. The government established the Redstone Arsenal in \JHuntsville\j in 1941. The arsenal developed the rocket, satellites, and \Jspacecraft\j that launched the United States into the space age.
After the war, \JAlabama\j became an important producer of chemicals, minerals, \Jrubber\j products, and textiles. \JAlabama\j's industrial growth slowed down during the 1950s, and many Alabamians left the state to find jobs in the North and West. Iron ore production in \JAlabama\j dropped sharply during the 1950s. By the early 1960s, most of \JAlabama\j's iron ore mines had closed.
During the 1950s and 1960s, \JAlabama\j farmers became less dependent on cotton. Farm income came increasingly from broiler chickens, \Jcattle\j, hogs, peanuts, and soybeans. As agricultural methods and products changed, fewer farmworkers were needed. Many moved to the cities, and \JAlabama\j became mainly an urban state.
Like many other states, \JAlabama\j faced serious racial problems in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1955 and 1956, \Jcivil rights\j leader Martin Luther King, Jr. directed the Montgomery bus boycott. Many blacks refused to ride in public buses in Montgomery because the law required them to sit in the rear. In 1956, a federal court ordered Montgomery to desegregate its buses.
In 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States had ruled that compulsory segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. But in 1963, Governor George C. Wallace personally tried to halt the \Jintegration\j of \JAlabama\j's public schools. In June, he stood in the doorway of Foster Auditorium at the University of \JAlabama\j in Tuscaloosa and refused to admit two blacks.
President John F. Kennedy called the National Guard to active duty, and the troops enforced the law. In September, Wallace tried to prevent the \Jintegration\j of public elementary and secondary schools in several cities. President Kennedy again called in the National Guard, and the black students were admitted.
Since 1963, \JAlabama\j has gradually integrated most of its public schools. In March 1965, King led a five-\Jday\j march from Selma to Montgomery to protest discrimination in voter registration. In August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which made thousands of \JAlabama\j blacks eligible to vote.
Republicans gained increasing success in \JAlabama\j, a traditionally Democratic state. In 1965, Barry M. Goldwater became the first Republican presidential candidate to carry \JAlabama\j since 1872.
In 1960, the government established the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center at \JHuntsville\j. The Saturn 5 rocket system, which powered the first missions that landed astronauts on the moon, was developed at \JHuntsville\j during the 1960s.
\B\IRecent Developments\b\i\b
Alabama, like other states, faced financial problems in the 1980s and early 1990s. The state government sought ways to provide sufficient funds for such services as state-supported nursing homes and public education. In 1980, the state legislature increased taxes on cigarettes and alcohol to increase funds for government services.
The rising costs of \Jpetroleum\j and \Jnatural gas\j have led to increased use of \Jcoal\j. This action has spurred further development of \JAlabama\j's \Jcoal\j deposits.
Industry continues to grow in the state, and the population has been rising steadily. Blacks are playing an increasingly important role in local and state politics. Republicans have also been gaining strength in local and state governments. In 1986, Guy Hunt became the first Republican to be elected governor of \JAlabama\j since Reconstruction. But he was removed from office in 1993, following his conviction for \Jfelony\j ethics violations. Hunt appealed the conviction.
BK Webster
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"Alabama (continued)",719,0,0,0
\BLand and Climate\b
\B\ILand\b\i\b
Breathtaking forest-covered mountains, hills, and ridges cover much of north \JAlabama\j, and the bright red clay soils add splashes of color to the landscape. In fact, the Appalachian Mountain Range has its birthplace in \JAlabama\j. Also, there are many dams to help prevent floods, and hydroelectric power stations are housed at some of the larger ones.
In the southern part of \JAlabama\j, the hills give way to thick pine forests, rolling grasslands, and low croplands. The Mobile Delta area has many swamps and bayous, and along the Gulf of Mexico are pristine beaches of white sand.
\B\ISoil\b\i\b
Alabama's Black Belt is known for its black clay soils. Parts of the East Gulf Coastal Plain have sandy soils. Red soils cover most other parts of the state. In many areas, these red soils were once covered by gray or yellow topsoil. Much of the fertile topsoil was carried away by erosion after farmers cut down trees and plowed the land. Today, many \JAlabama\j farmers help save fertile soils by contour plowing, terracing, and other conservation methods.
\B\IMinerals\b\i\b
Valuable deposits of \Jcoal\j and \Jlimestone\j lie fairly close together in the Birmingham area of \JAlabama\j. These minerals are used in the production of iron and steel. \JAlabama\j's most important \Jcoal\j beds are located in the north-central part of the state. Major deposits of \Jlimestone\j are also found in northern \JAlabama\j.
Alabama has important oil and \Jnatural gas\j fields in Choctaw, Escambia, Mobile, and other southwestern counties. Other minerals found in the state include \Jasphalt\j, \Jbauxite\j, clay, \Jdolomite\j, marble, mica, salt, sand and gravel, \Jsandstone\j, and talc.
\B\INatural Resources\b\i\b
Natural resources of \JAlabama\j include thick pine forests, areas of fertile soil, valuable mineral deposits, and deep rivers.
\B\IRegions\b\i\b
Most of southern \JAlabama\j lies less than 500 feet (150 meters) above sea level. The surface of the state rises gradually toward the northeast. \JAlabama\j has six main land regions and the coastline:
-East Gulf Coastal Plain
-Black Belt
-Piedmont
-Appalachian Ridge and Valley Region
-Cumberland Plateau
-Interior Low Plateau
-Coastline
\B\IEast Gulf Coastal Plain\b\i\b
This is \JAlabama\j's largest land region. It covers the entire southern two-thirds of the state, except for a narrow strip of land called the Black Belt. In western \JAlabama\j, the plain extends north almost to \JTennessee\j. The plain has several sections; the low, swampy land of the Mobile River Delta makes up the southwestern section. The southeastern part is called the Wiregrass area. It is named for a tough grass that once grew there in pine forests.
Today, the Wiregrass area is an important farming region. The northern part of the plain is often called the Central Pine Belt because many pine forests cover its low, rolling hills. In the western part of this section, the soils are gravely and sandy, and are not good for growing crops.
\B\IBlack Belt\b\i\b
The Black Belt is a narrow strip of rolling prairie wedged between the northern and southern parts of the East Gulf Coastal Plain. The Black Belt was named for the sticky black clay soils of its rolling uplands. Early in \JAlabama\j's history, farmers developed large plantations in this region. Boll weevils came to the Black Belt in 1915, and damaged the cotton crop. Some farmers then changed from growing cotton to raising livestock.
\B\IPiedmont\b\i\b
The \JPiedmont\j region, in east-central \JAlabama\j, is an area of low hills and ridges separated by sandy valleys. The clay soils of these hills and ridges have been badly eroded. Most of the land is forested. Cheaha Mountain, the highest point in \JAlabama\j, rises 2,407 feet (734 meters) on the northwestern edge of the \JPiedmont\j.
Deposits of \Jcoal\j, iron ore, \Jlimestone\j, and marble, together with electric power from projects on the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers, make the \JPiedmont\j an important manufacturing area. Textile production is the main industry in many small cities of the region.
\B\IAppalachian Ridge and Valley Region\b\i\b
This is an area of \Jsandstone\j ridges and fertile \Jlimestone\j valleys. It lies northwest of the \JPiedmont\j. The region has \Jcoal\j, iron ore, and limestone-the three basic minerals used in making iron and steel. For this reason, Birmingham and other large cities in the region developed as centers of iron and steel production.
\B\ICumberland Plateau\b\i\b
The Cumberland Plateau, also known as the Appalachian Plateau, lies northwest of the Appalachian Ridge and Valley Region. The surface varies from flat to gently rolling land. It reaches a height of about 1,800 feet (549 meters) above sea level in the northeast.
The land slopes to about 500 feet (150 meters) where it meets the East Gulf Coastal Plain in the southwest. Farmers could not grow large crops in the plateau's sandy soils until the 1880s, when commercial fertilizers came into common use. Today, farmers raise hogs and poultry there, and grow cotton, hay, potatoes, and vegetables.
\B\IInterior Low Plateau\b\i\b
This region lies in the northwestern part of the state. Much of the land is in the valley of the \JTennessee\j River. Farmers in the region grow corn, cotton, and hay. The plateau has \Jwater\j transportation and hydroelectric power, which encourage manufacturing. Decatur and "The Shoals," the area of Muscle Shoals, Florence, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia, are industrial centers.
\B\ICoastline\b\i\b
Alabama's general coastline extends for 53 miles (85 km) along the Gulf of Mexico. The tidal shoreline, which includes small bays and inlets, is 607 miles (977 km) long. Mobile Bay, at the mouth of the Mobile River, is the chief feature of the \JAlabama\j coastline. It is an important harbor area. The Mississippi Sound borders the coast west of Mobile Bay.
Perdido Bay is at the border between \JAlabama\j and \JFlorida\j. The long, sandy peninsula between Mobile and Perdido Bays is known as the Gulf Coast. Dauphin Island, \JAlabama\j's largest coastal island, lies at the entrance to Mobile Bay. An overseas highway connects the island with the mainland.
\B\IRivers and Lakes\b\i\b
Navigable rivers flow through almost every part of \JAlabama\j. The Mobile River and its tributaries flow south to the Gulf of Mexico. They form the most important river system in the state. The \JAlabama\j and Tombigbee, \JAlabama\j's longest rivers, meet about 45 miles (72 km) north of Mobile and form the Mobile River.
The \JAlabama\j River begins where the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers meet, just north of Montgomery. The Tombigbee starts in Mississippi and flows southeast into \JAlabama\j. Its main tributary in \JAlabama\j is the Black Warrior.
The Chattahoochee River forms much of the border between \JAlabama\j and Georgia. The \JTennessee\j River is the most important river in northern \JAlabama\j. It flows west across almost the entire width of the state.
Alabama has no large natural lakes, but dams on rivers have created many artificial lakes. The largest of these, Guntersville Lake, covers 110 square miles (285 km\U2\u). It is formed by Guntersville Dam on the \JTennessee\j River. Other large artificially created lakes, in order of size, include Wheeler on the \JTennessee\j River, Martin on the Tallapoosa River, and Weiss on the Coosa River.
\B\IClimate\b\i\b
Alabama has a mild climate. January temperatures average about 52║F (11║C) in the southern part of the state, and about 46║F (8║C) in the north. July temperatures average about 80 ║F (27 ║C) throughout the state. \JAlabama\j's lowest temperature, -27║F (-33║C), occurred at New Market on January 30, 1966. The highest temperature, 112║F (44║C), was at Centreville on September 5, 1925.
Alabama's annual precipitation (rain, melted snow, and other moisture) averages from about 65 inches (165 cm) on the coast to 53 inches (135 cm) in the north. Snow falls in the north, but is rare on the coast.
\B\IFor more information click on \b\i\JAlabama (continued 2)\j
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"Alabama claims",720,0,0,0
EN (1869-72) A US / British diplomatic dispute, arising from damage inflicted during the \JAmerican Civil War\j by Confederate naval vessels (one named \IAlabama)\i built in Britain. It was resolved in 1872 by an international tribunal (\JItaly\j, \JSwitzerland\j, \JBrazil\j), with an indemnity to the USA of $15┐500┐500.
BK a
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"alabaster",721,0,0,0
EN A fine-grained banded variety of the mineral \Jgypsum\j; pale and translucent. It is soft enough to be carved and polished by hand for ornamental use.
BK a
#
"Alacoque, St Marguerite Marie",722,0,0,0
PN [alakok]
DT1 1647
DT2 90
EN French nun at Paray-le-Monial, and a member of the Visitation Order. The founder of the devotion to the Sacred Heart, she was canonized in 1920. Feast \Jday\j 17 October.
SX f
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"Alaia, Azzedine",723,0,0,0
PN [a\Bliy\ba]
EN Tunisian fashion designer. He was educated in \JTunis\j, where he studied sculpture, then worked for Dior and other designers before giving his first show in New York City (1982). His designs emphasize the figure, and he is noted for his black leather-studded gauntlets, little black dresses, and use of zippers.
SX m
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#
"Alain-Fournier, Henri",724,0,0,0
PN [alφ\ti foornyay]
HS , pseudonym of \BHenri-Alban Fournier\b
DT1 1886
DT2 1914
EN Writer, born in Sologne, \JFrance\j. He became a literary journalist in Paris, and was killed at St RΘmy soon after the outbreak of World War 1. He left a semi-autobiographical fantasy novel, \ILe Grand Meaulnes\i (1913, trans The Lost Domain), now considered a modern classic.
SX m
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"Alamßn, Lucas",725,0,0,0
PN [ala\Bman\b]
DT1 1792
DT2 1853
EN Mexican statesman and historian, born in Guanajuanto, Mexico. As a deputy to the Spanish \JCortes\j (1820-1), he spoke out for Mexican independence. Mexico's most influential Conservative, and chief minister under Bustamante (1829-32), he founded the National Museum, and died shortly after completing his monumental \IHistoria de Mexico\i (1842-52).
SX m
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#
"Alamo",726,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bamoh]
EN A battle fought during the 1836 Texan War of Independence against Mexico, when 180 Texans and US citizens held the old mission / fort of \JAlamo\j against a large number of Mexican troops. In an epic of resistance they held out for 11 days until the last survivors were overwhelmed.
BK a
#
"Alanbrooke (of Brookeborough), Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount",727,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\blanbruk]
DT1 1883
DT2 1963
EN British field marshal, born in BagnΦres-de-Bigorre, \JFrance\j. He joined the Royal Field Artillery in 1902, and in World War 1 rose to general staff officer. In World War 2 he commanded the 2nd corps of the British Expeditionary Force (1939-40), covering the evacuation from \JDunkirk\j in \JFrance\j.
He became commander-in-chief of home forces (1940-1), Chief of the Imperial General Staff (1941-6), and principal strategic adviser to Winston Churchill. He became a field marshal in 1944, and was created baron in 1945 and viscount in 1946. His war diaries presented a controversial view of Churchill and Eisenhower.
MEX Churchill, Sir Winston; Eisenhower
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#
"┼land",728,0,0,0
EN See Ahvenanmaa
BK a
XCY y
#
"Alarc≤n (y Ariza), Pedro Antonio de",729,0,0,0
PN [alah(r)\Bhon\b]
DT1 1833
DT2 91
EN Writer, born in Guadix, \JSpain\j. He served with distinction in the African campaign of 1859-60, and became a radical journalist. He published a war diary, travel notes, and poems, but is best known for his novels, particularly \ISombrero de tres picos\i (1874) on which Manuel de Falla based his ballet \IThe Three-Cornered Hat.\i
MEX Falla
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#
"Alarc≤n, Juan Ruiz de",730,0,0,0
EN see Ruiz de Alarc≤n (y \JMendoza\j), Juan
BK Thea
#
"Alaric I",731,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\barik]
DT1a c.
DT1 370
DT2 410
EN King of the \JVisigoths\j (395-410), born in Dacia. After his election as king, he invaded \JGreece\j (395), but was eventually driven out by Flavius Stilicho. In 401 he invaded \JItaly\j until checked by Stilicho at Pollentia (402). He agreed to join the Western emperor, Honorius, in an attack on Arcadius, but when Honorius failed to pay the promised subsidy Alaric laid siege to \JRome\j, and in 410 pillaged the city. Later that year he set off to invade \JSicily\j, but died at Cosenza.
MEX Honorius, Flavius; Stilicho
SX m
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#
"Alaric II",732,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\blarik]
DT1 450
DT2 507
EN King of the \JVisigoths\j (485-507), who reigned over Gaul S of the Loire, and over most of \JSpain\j. In 506 he issued a code of laws known as the Breviary of Alaric \I(Breviarum Alaricianum).\i An Arian Christian, he was killed at the Battle of VouillΘ, near Poitiers, by the orthodox Clovis, King of the Franks.
MEX Clovis
SX m
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#
"Alas (y Ure±a), Leopoldo",733,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bas]
HS , pseudonym \BClarφn\b
DT1 1852
DT2 1901
EN Writer, born in Zamora, \JSpain\j. He was professor of law at \JOviedo\j, but better known as a forceful literary critic (his pseudonym means '\Jbugle\j'). He published short stories \I(Cuentos morales,\i 1896), a drama \ITeresa,\i and several novels, including \ILa regenta\i (1885, The Regent's Wife).
SX m
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#
"Alaska",734,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 647 000; area 1 518 748 sq km/586 412 sq mi. US state, divided into 23 boroughs, in the extreme NW corner of the continent, "The Last Frontier' or "The Great Land', separated from the rest of the nation by Canada; first permanent settlement by Russians on Kodiak I, 1784; managed by the Russian-American Fur Company, 1799--1861; period of decline, as Russians withdrew from the area; bought by the USA, 1867 (known as Seward's Folly, after the chief US negotiator); gold discovered in 1889 (at Nome) and 1902 (at \JFairbanks\j); territorial status, 1912; Aleutian islands of Attu and Kiska occupied by the Japanese (Jun 1942--Aug 1943); granted statehood as the 49th state, 1959; large oil reserves discovered in 1968 (\JAlaska\j Pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez completed in 1977); the largest state, but the least populated; capital, \JJuneau\j; other chief city, \JAnchorage\j; bounded N by the Beaufort Sea and \JArctic\j Ocean, W by the Chukchi Sea, Bering Strait, and Bering Sea, S by the Gulf of \JAlaska\j and the \JPacific Ocean\j, and E by Canada (\JYukon\j territory and British Columbia); a third of the area within the \JArctic\j Circle; rivers include the \JYukon\j (with tributaries the Porcupine, Tanana, and Koyukuk), Colville, Kuskokwim, Susitna and Copper; North Slope in the N, rising to the Brooks Range, part of the Rocky Mts; Kuskokwim Mts in the SW; Aleutian Is and Aleutian Range in the SW; Chugach Mts along the S coast; Wrangell Mts in the SE; highest point Mt McKinley (6194 m/20 321 ft); oil, \Jnatural gas\j, wide range of minerals; food processing, paper, lumber, seafood; eight national parks; tourism; balance between industrial development and landscape preservation an ongoing controversy.
BK Geog99
#
"Alaska Highway",735,0,0,0
EN An all-\Jweather\j road which runs from Dawson Creek in British Columbia, Canada, to \JFairbanks\j in \JAlaska\j, linking the state to the North American highway system. It was built in 1942 to supply military forces stationed in \JAlaska\j during World War 2.
BK a
#
"Alaska, Gulf of",736,0,0,0
EN area 1┐327┐000┐km\U2\u / 512┐000┐mi\U2\u. N part of the \JPacific Ocean\j, between the Alaskan Peninsula (west) and the mainland Alaskan Panhandle (east); warm Alaskan Current keeps ports ice-free; main port, Valdez.
BK a
#
"Alaskan malamute",737,0,0,0
EN This large and very powerful animal was once a working dog and a constant companion for the North American \JInuit\j.
\BHistory:\b
The Alaskan \JMalamute\j is one of the Spitz-type dogs that has been used for centuries by the North American \JInuit\j. The Alaskan \JMalamute\j was bred to be hardy enough to withstand the extreme cold and strong enough to drag heavy sleds across the frozen wastes of the \JArctic\j.
Records reveal that Alaskan Malamutes sometimes carried packs as heavy as 50 pounds (22.5 kg). It is likely that the Alaskan \JMalamute\j is a direct descendant of the boreal wolf. The present-\Jday\j characteristics of stockiness and muscularity have been selectively bred over the generations, while the Alaskan Malamutes' other traits of stamina and height can still be seen in its ancestor, the wolf.
The modern-\Jday\j use of motor sleds has meant that the Alaskan \JMalamute\j is now called to be a sled dog only during displays and competitions. Yet this incredible dog is still loved by the people of the \JArctic\j Circle, as it provides both protection for their property and excellent companionship for their families.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The Alaskan \JMalamute\j is a large solid-looking dog that resembles a very stocky wolf. \IHeight:\i 21 - 28 in (55 - 71 cm). \IWeight:\i 85 - 125 lb (38.6 - 56.7 kg). Small upright ears are set far back on a proportionately large and broad head. The small triangular eyes are deep-set and fix you with a penetrating gaze over a thick muzzle containing powerful jaws.
The muscular body slopes straight back from high shoulders towards rugged thighs. A thick bushy tail is carried high and curved over the back. The Alaskan \JMalamute\j has a double coat: the inner coat is thick and woolly and covered by a coarse outer coat. The most common coat colors are usually light gray or black and white.
\BBehavior:\b
As an adult, the Alaskan \JMalamute\j is a tall dog, and so is usually also very confident. The Alaskan \JMalamute\j is normally good-natured with other dogs and can be extremely playful, although owners should be aware that other smaller dogs can sometimes become fearful and aggressive the first time they meet an Alaskan \JMalamute\j. However, once they see the \JMalamute\j remaining calm, the fear goes away.
When you look into the eyes of an Alaskan \JMalamute\j you are met with the steady gaze of a very intelligent dog. This dog has a tenacious spirit that allows it to overcome many difficulties in life. Its keen sense of hearing makes it an excellent watch-dog, and its size and power means it really can act as a true guard dog.
If you intend to keep your Alaskan \JMalamute\j around people, then the dog must be adequately socialized. The dog must be allowed to learn that people are not harmful to it, and should also not be pushed around. The Alaskan \JMalamute\j can make a wonderful family dog if it is kept under strict control from the beginning. Care should be taken that the dog does not accidentally knock over small children, and rough play should be inhibited.
As this dog thrives on the attention it receives from people, it can be readily trained and most certainly enjoys the work. This intelligent dog requires the stimulation of regular activities and exercise to maintain it in peak condition.
Traditionally, this dog has been kept in cold or temperate climates where it still often prefers to sleep outside. Where this dog is kept in hotter climates, it should only be given intensive or sustained exercise during the cooler parts of the \Jday\j so as to avoid heat exhaustion.
If the Alaskan \JMalamute\j is exercised regularly it will require quite a lot of food to keep it in top form. Usually an Alaskan \JMalamute\j which receives little exercise will moderate its own diet, and leftover food should be discarded. The thick double coat should be brushed several times a week to keep it in top form, especially when molting. The Alaskan \JMalamute\j is rarely ill and makes an excellent companion.
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#
"Alastor",738,0,0,0
PN [a\Blas\btaw(r)]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, an avenging demon or power. The name was used by Shelley as the title of a poem outlining a myth of his own making, in which a young poet is led through various symbolic states and ultimately to destruction.
BK a
#
"Alaudidae",739,0,0,0
EN \BLarks\b
Larks (family \JAlaudidae\j, order Passeriformes, suborder Oscines) are small, brown, unobtrusive birds of open country. They rarely perch in trees except, in some species, to sing. They range in size from about 11-20 cm. In shape and proportions they much resemble sparrows and many other small songbirds, and their distinguishing characteristics are not obvious to casual examination. Despite their unassuming appearance they are in fact quite distinct, and have no close living relatives.
Among their anatomical peculiarities is a lack of an ossified pessulus in the syrinx, and their legs are unique in bearing scutes (scales) both front and back; like pipits and wagtails (family \JMotacillidae\j), their hind claws are extremely long, sharp, and almost straight.
Most larks are brown in plumage, variably streaked with black, and many are extremely difficult to tell apart (their songs, however, are strongly species-specific). Males usually resemble females and young birds resemble adults. Most species are territorial when nesting but form flocks in winter, though they do not roost communally.
More than half of all lark species are confined to Africa, and many other species migrate or visit there. Larks are also common across Europe and Asia, but only one species (the Singing Bushlark \IMirafra\i \Ijavanica)\i reaches \JAustralia\j, and only one (the Horned Lark \IEremophila\i \Ialpestris)\i inhabits North or \JSouth America\j.
All larks are terrestrial, inhabiting open country of all kinds, including prairies, deserts, steppes, and \Jtundra\j. Where species are numerous, partitioning often involves degrees of tolerance to the density of trees. In Europe, for example, Woodlarks \ILullula\i \Iarborea\i and Skylarks \IAlauda\i \Iarvensis\i often occur in the same region: the former favors scattered trees but the latter tends to shun them.
In the patterns of their movements larks range the spectrum of possibilities from highly sedentary species to long-distance migrants. The Horned Lark, for example, nests throughout the \JArctic\j \Jtundra\j (its breeding distribution is so enormous that it may be among the world's most numerous birds), but migrates to spend the winter across \JNorth America\j and southern Eurasia. In the tropics, insectivorous species tend to be sedentary, whereas seed-eaters are often strongly nomadic.
Nesting is usually seasonal in temperate species but many desert forms breed after rain. Larks form monogamous pairs, and displays usually take the form of complex songs uttered in display-flights of various kinds. All larks nest on the ground, usually in a simple shallow scrape lined with grass, and often in the shade of a tussock or a stone. A number of species of \IMirafra\i differ in building domed nests.
Tropical species usually lay 2-3 eggs but those nesting in temperate or \JArctic\j regions usually lay four. Both incubation and fledging periods are usually about 10-12 days. In most species only the female incubates but in others the male assists; both sexes participate in rearing the young, which usually leave the nest several days before they can fly.
BK wan
#
"Alawada Theatre",740,0,0,0
EN see Adejumo, Moses Olaiya
BK Thea
#
"Alawi",741,0,0,0
PN [a\Blah\bwee]
EN Moroccan royal family, tracing their line to the grandson of the \JProphet\j Mohammed, Hasan bin Ali, from which they derive their name.
BK a
#
"Alawi (Islam)",742,0,0,0
EN Offshoot sect of Shiite \JIslam\j, found mainly in the north-west mountains of \JSyria\j, as well as in \JLebanon\j and Turkey. Persecuted over the centuries for their heterodox beliefs, the Alawis have observed the outward forms of Sunni \JIslam\j while observing their own rites in secret.
In \JSyria\j, where the Alawis (also known as \BNusayris)\b represent some 6% of the total population, members of the sect have advanced through the military and the Baath Party to head the national government, particularly since the presidency of Hafez al-Asad (1971-) , an \JAlawi\j.
BK a
#
"Alba Iulia",743,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bba \Byool\bya]
EN 46░04N 23░33E, pop (1995e) 74 000. Capital of Alba county, WC \JRomania\j, on the R Mures; founded by the Romans, 2nd-cAD;former seat of the princes of \JTransylvania\j; railway; wine trade, footwear, soap, furniture; 12th-c Romanesque church, Bathyaneum building.
BK Geog99
#
"Alba, Duke of",744,0,0,0
EN See Alva or Alba, Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo, duque d'(Duke of)
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#
"Albacete",745,0,0,0
PN [alba\Bthay\btay]
EN 30░00N 1░50W, pop (1995e) 130 000. Capital of \JAlbacete\j province, Castilla-La Mancha, SE \JSpain\j; 251 km/156 mi SE of Madrid; bishopric; railway; footwear; clothing, tools, wine, flour, cutlery, souvenir knives; cathedral (16th-c); fairs and fiestas (Sep).
BK Geog99
#
"albacore",746,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bbakaw(r)]
EN Large \Jtuna\j fish \I(Thunnus alalunga)\i with long pectoral fins, widespread in open waters of tropical and warm temperate seas; length up to 1.3┐m / 4 1/4┐ft, with an iridescent blue band on sides of body; extensively fished commercially, and much prized by sea anglers. \B(Family:\b Scombridae.)
BK a
#
"Alban, St",747,0,0,0
PN [\Bawl\bbn]
DT1 3
DT1b rd-c
EN Roman soldier, venerated as the first Christian martyr in Britain. A pagan Romano-Briton living in the town of \JVerulamium\j (now St Albans), he was scourged and beheaded AD c.305 for sheltering and changing clothes with a fugitive Christian priest who had converted him. Feast \Jday\j 17 or 20 June.
SX m
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#
"Albani, Francesco",748,0,0,0
PN [al\Bbah\bnee]
DT1 1578
DT2 1660
EN Painter of the Bolognese school, born in \JBologna\j, \JItaly\j. He studied first under Denis Calvaert (c.1540-1619), and afterwards under Ludovico Carracci. He painted about 45 altarpieces, but most of his work deals with mythological or pastoral subjects.
MEX Carracci
SX m
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#
"Albania",749,0,0,0
EN A Republic in the W part of the Balkan Peninsula, divided into 26 districts (\Irrethet\i); pop (1995e) 3 549 000, coastline 418 km/260 mi; area 28 748 sq km/11 097 sq mi; timezone GMT +1; capital, Tiranδ; other chief towns, Shkodδr, Durrδs, Vlorδ, Korcδ, Elbasan; unit of currency the lek (100 qintars); mainly Albanians (96%), some Greeks, Vlachs, Gypsies, and Bulgarians; language, Albanian; population mainly Muslim in origin, with some Orthodox and Catholic Christians.
\IPhysical description and climate\i. A mountainous country, relatively inaccessible and untravelled; N \JAlbanian\j Alps rise to 2692 m/8832 ft; rivers include the Drin, Shkumbin, Seman, Vijosδ; many lakes throughout the country; Mediterranean-type climate; hot and dry on the plains in summer (average Jul 24--25░C), thunderstorms frequent; mild, damp, and cyclonic winters (average Jan 8--9░C); winters in the mountains often severe, with snow cover lasting several months; annual mountain precipitation exceeds 1000 mm/40 in.
\IHistory and government\i. Independence followed the end of Turkish rule in 1912, but Italian forces occupied the country, 1914--20; became a republic in 1925, and a monarchy in 1928, under Zog I; occupied by \JGermany\j and \JItaly\j in World War 2; new republic in 1946, headed by Enver Hoxha (until 1985); dispute with the \JSoviet Union\j in 1961; withdrew from Warsaw Pact in 1968; maintained close links with China; Socialist People's Republic instituted in 1976; first free multi-party elections, March 1991; worsening economic and political circumstances led to Government of National Stability, June 1991; \JAlbanian\j Labour Party renamed Socialist Party of Albania at 10th Congress, June 1991; supreme legislative body is the single-chamber People's Assembly of 140 deputies; election by universal suffrage every four years; Assembly elects the Presidium, and forms the government (the Council of Ministers).
\IEconomy\i. The seventh 5-year plan (1981--5) particularly concerned industrial expansion, especially in oil (chiefly at Kucova, where a pipeline connects with the port of Vlorδ), mining, chemicals, \Jnatural gas\j; hydroelectric power plants on several rivers; agricultural product processing, textiles, oil products, cement; main crops wheat, sugar-beet, \Jmaize\j, potatoes, fruit, grapes, oats.
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#
"Albanian",750,0,0,0
EN The official language of \JAlbania\j, spoken also by substantial numbers in neighbouring regions of Yugoslavia, \JGreece\j, and \JItaly\j - in all, some 3 million speakers. It is an idiosyncratic development within the Indo-European group, with no written records earlier than the 15th-c, and much interference with its present-\Jday\j structure from substantial word-borrowing.
BK a
#
"Albany (Australia)",751,0,0,0
EN 34░57S 117░54E, pop (1995e) 19 900. Resort and seaport in Lower Great Southern statistical division, Western \JAustralia\j; one of the oldest towns in \JAustralia\j, founded in 1826; once used as a stopover point for vessels on their way to India; airfield; railway; canning, wool, agricultural trade.
BK Geog99
#
"Albany (USA)",752,0,0,0
EN 42░39N 73░45W, pop (1995e) 103 000. Capital of New York State in Albany Co, E New York, USA; on the Hudson R, 232 km/144 mi N of New York City; the second oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the 13 original colonies, settled by the Dutch, 1624; state capital, 1797; railway; two universities (1844, 1848); State Capitol, Schuyler Mansion; annual Tulip Festival.
BK Geog99
#
"Albany Congress",753,0,0,0
EN (1754) A US colonial gathering of delegates at which Benjamin Franklin proposed a 'plan of union' for the separate British colonies. Both the colonial governments and the British authorities rejected the idea.
BK a
#
"Albany Regency",754,0,0,0
EN A US political faction centred on Martin Van Buren (president, 1837-41), and on the city of Albany, NY, which he made his power base. It was notorious for its use of the 'spoils system' of filling public office.
EN Wife of Charles Edward Stuart ('\JBonnie Prince Charlie\j'), the daughter of Prince Gustavus Adolphus of Stolberg. In 1772 she married the ageing Prince Charles in Florence. She left him in 1780 and the marriage was dissolved in 1784, whereupon she took up with the Italian playwright, Count Vittorio Alfieri. After his death in 1803 she lived with a French painter, Francois Fabre.
MEX Alfieri; Stuart, Charles
SX f
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#
"albatross",756,0,0,0
EN A large, slender-winged seabird, wingspan up to 3┐m / 10┐ft; glides near \Jwater\j in air currents; lands only to breed. \B(Order:\b Procellariiformes \B(tubenoses).\b \BFamily:\b \JDiomedeidae\j, 14 species.)
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#
"albedo",757,0,0,0
PN [al\Bbee\bdoh]
EN The ratio of the radiation reflected by a surface to the total incoming solar radiation, expressed as a decimal or percentage. The degree of \Jreflectance\j varies according to the type of surface: snow-covered ice has an \Jalbedo\j of 0..8 (80%), a dry sandy desert 0..37 (37%), a tropical \Jrainforest\j 0..13 (13%). The average planetary \Jalbedo\j is close to 0..3 (30%).
BK a
#
"Albee, Edward (Franklin)",758,0,0,0
PN [\Bawl\bbee, \Bal\bbee]
DT1 1928
EN Playwright, born near Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He studied at Trinity College, CT, and at Columbia University. His major works include \IThe Zoo Story\i (1958), a one-act duologue on the lack of communication in modern society, \IThe American Dream\i (1960), and \IWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?\i (1962, filmed 1966), which won several awards. \IA Delicate Balance\i (1966), \ISeascape\i (1975), and \IThree Tall Women\i (1991) won Pulitzer Prizes. Other plays include \IWalking\i (1982), \IMarriage Play\i (1988), and \IFragments\i (1993).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPlays\
1958 The Zoo Story
1959 The Death of Bessie Smith
1959 The Sandbox
1960 The American Dream
1962 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1963 The Ballad of the Sad CafΘ (adapted from Carson McCullers' novel)
1964 Tiny Alice
1965 Malcolm (adapted from James Purdy's novel)
1966 A Delicate Balance
1968 Box
1968 Quotations from Mao-Tse Tung
1971 All Over
1975 Seascape
1975 Listening
1976 Counting the Ways
1978 The Lady from Dubuque
1979 Lolita (adapted from V Nabakov)
1981 The Man Who Had Three Arms
1982 Finding the Sun
1982 Walking
1988 Marriage Play
1991 Three Tall Women
1992 The Lorca Play
1993 Fragments
BK Biog99
#
"Albee, Edward F.",759,0,0,0
EN see \Jvaudeville\j
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#
"Albee, Fred (Houdlette)",760,0,0,0
DT (1876-1945)
EN orthopedic surgeon; born in Alna, Maine. Starting in 1906 in New York, he pioneered the techniques of bone grafting. By 1911, he had perfected techniques for fusing tubercular vertebrae without using metal. He invented machine tools for his operations (1912). His techniques found widespread use during World War I. After the war, he turned his attention to victims of industrial accidents in New York and \JNew Jersey\j.
BK AmBg
#
"AlbΘniz, Isaac (Manuel Francisco)",761,0,0,0
PN [al\Bbe\bnith]
DT1 1860
DT2 1909
EN Composer and pianist, born in Camprod≤n, \JSpain\j. He studied under Liszt, and became a brilliant pianist and composer of picturesque works for \Jpiano\j based on Spanish folk music, notably \IIberia\i (1906-9). He also wrote several operas.
MEX Liszt
SX m
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#
"Alberoni, Giulio",762,0,0,0
PN [albe\Broh\bnee]
DT1 1664
DT2 1752
EN Spanish statesman and cardinal, born in Firenzuola, \JItaly\j. He became prime minister of \JSpain\j and was made a cardinal in 1717. His domestic policies were liberal and wise, but in foreign affairs his decisions were often impetuous and irresponsible. He violated the Treaty of \JUtrecht\j by invading \JSardinia\j, and was subsequently confronted by the Quadruple Alliance of England, \JFrance\j, \JAustria\j, and Holland, resulting in the destruction of the Spanish fleet. Dismissed in 1719, he returned to \JItaly\j.
SX m
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#
"Albers, Josef",763,0,0,0
DT (1888-1976)
EN painter; born in Bottrop, \JGermany\j. In 1933, fleeing from Nazism, he emigrated to America to continue his teaching career at Black Mountain College, \JNorth Carolina\j (1933-49), and at Yale University (1950-60). A series of paintings, \IHomage to the Square,\i reveals his fascination with color relationships. He was influential in introducing the Bauhaus art school concepts from \JGermany\j, which stressed craftsmanship and a functional approach to design.
BK AmBg
#
"Albert I",764,0,0,0
DT1 1875
DT2 1934
EN King of the Belgians (1909-34), born in Brussels, the younger son of Philip, Count of Flanders. At the outbreak of World War 1 he refused a German demand for the free passage of their troops, and after a heroic resistance led the Belgian army in retreat to Flanders. He commanded the Belgian and French army in the final offensive on the Belgian coast in 1918. After the war he took an active part in the industrial reconstruction of the country.
SX m
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#
"Albert Medal",765,0,0,0
EN In the UK, a civilian decoration, instituted in 1866 to commemorate the Prince Consort (1819-61), to reward gallantry in saving life. In October 1971 all surviving holders of the medal exchanged it for the George Cross.
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#
"Albert Nile",766,0,0,0
EN Upper reach of the River Nile in north-west \JUganda\j; issues from the north-east corner of Lake Albert, close to the Victoria Nile Delta; flows north-east into the \JSudan\j; known in \JSudan\j as the Bahr el Jebel until its meeting point with the Bahr el Ghazal to form the White Nile.
BK a
#
"Albert, Abraham Adrian",767,0,0,0
DT (1905-72)
EN mathematician; born in \JChicago\j. Known primarily for his work with associative and nonassociative algebras and Riemann matrices, this National Academy of Science member chaired the University of \JChicago\j \JMathematics\j Department (1958-62), fought for government funding of math (1950s-60s), and was vice- president of the International Mathematical Union (1971).
BK AmBg
#
"Albert, Carl (Bert)",768,0,0,0
DT1 1908
DT2 2000
EN US politician, born in North McAlester, Oklahoma, USA. He studied at the universities of Oklahoma and Oxford, then practised as a lawyer in Oklahoma. He became a Democratic member of the US \JHouse of Representatives\j (1947--77), and as majority leader (from 1962) created an alliance between Northern liberals and Southern "boll weevils' to ensure the passage of President Johnson's Great Society legislation.
In 1968, he presided over the disastrous Democratic convention, ruling against the delegates opposed to the war in Vietnam. Speaker of the House in 1971, he finally voted against the war in 1973. He retired in 1977.
BK Biog99
#
"Albert, Eugen (Francis Charles) d'",769,0,0,0
PN [albair]
DT1 1864
DT2 1932
EN Pianist and composer, born in Glasgow, W Scotland, UK. He composed several operas, notably, \ITiefland\i (1903), a suite, a symphony, many songs, and much music for the \Jpiano\j.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Albert, First Duke of Prussia",770,0,0,0
DT1 1490
DT2 1568
EN Last grand master of the Teutonic Order and first duke of \JPrussia\j, the younger son of the Margrave of Ansbach. Elected grand master in 1511, he embraced the Reformation, and declared himself duke following the advice of Martin Luther.
MEX Luther
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Albert, Heinrich",771,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bbert]
DT1 1604
DT2 51
EN Composer, born in Lobenstein, \JGermany\j. After studying at \JLeipzig\j, he became organist in K÷nigsberg (1631). He did much to develop \ILieder,\i and composed many airs, songs, chorales, and hymn tunes.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Albert, known as Albert the Bold",772,0,0,0
HS , known as \BAlbert the Bold\b
DT1 1443
DT2 1500
EN Duke of \JSaxony\j, the son of Frederick the Gentle. He was joint ruler with his brother Ernest from 1464 until 1485 when, by the Treaty of \JLeipzig\j, they divided their inheritance between them. The two branches of the Wettin family then became known as the \IAlbertine\i and \IErnestine\i lines.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Albert, known as the Bear",773,0,0,0
HS , known as \Bthe Bear\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1100
DT2 70
EN Count of Ballenstδdt from 1123, and founder of the House of Ascania which ruled in Brandenburg for 200 years. In 1134, in return for service in \JItaly\j, he was invested by Emperor Lothar III with extensive lands between the Elbe and the Oder.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Albert, Lake",774,0,0,0
HS , Zaire \BLake Mobuto SΘsΘ Seko\b
EN area c.6400┐km\U2\u / 2500┐mi\U2\u. Lake in EC Africa; in the W Rift Valley on the frontier between Zaire and \JUganda\j; length, c.160┐km / 100┐mi; width, 40┐km / 25┐mi; altitude, 619┐m / 2031┐ft; receives the Victoria Nile (north-east) and Semliki (south-west) Rivers; Albert Nile flows N; European discovery by Samuel Baker, 1864; originally named after Queen Victoria's consort.
BK a
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"Albert, Prince",775,0,0,0
HS , in full \BFrancis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha\b
DT1 1819
DT2 61
EN Prince Consort to Queen Victoria, born at Schloss Rosenau, near Coburg, \JGermany\j, the younger son of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Louisa, daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Altenburg. He studied in Brussels and \JBonn\j, and in 1840 married his first cousin, Queen Victoria - a marriage that became a lifelong love match. Ministerial distrust and public misgivings because of his German connections limited his political influence, although his counsel was usually judicious and far-sighted.
He planned and managed the \JGreat Exhibition\j of 1851, whose profits enabled the building of museum sites in South Kensington and the Royal Albert Hall (1871). He died of typhoid in 1861, occasioning a long period of seclusion by his widow. The Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens was erected to his memory in 1871.
MEX Victoria
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"Alberta",776,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 2 702 000; area 661 190 sq km/255 285 sq mi. Province in W Canada, bordered S by the USA; mainly a rolling plain, with edge of Rocky Mts in W; rivers, lakes, and forests in N, with much open prairie; treeless prairie in S; drained (N) by Peace, Slave, and Athabasca Rivers, and (S) by North Saskatchewan, Red Deer, and Bow Rivers (S); largest lakes, Athabasca, Claire, Lesser Slave; several national parks; capital, \JEdmonton\j; other chief cities, \JCalgary\j, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat; oil, \Jnatural gas\j, grain, \Jcattle\j, timber products, \Jcoal\j, food processing, chemicals, fabricated metals, tourism; originally part of Rupert's Land, granted to Hudson's Bay Company, 1670; sovereignty acquired by the Dominion, 1869; status as province, 1905; governed by a lieutenant-governor and an elected 83-member Legislative Assembly.
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#
"Albertazzi, Giorgio",777,0,0,0
DT 1925-
EN Italian actor and director. He began his career as an actor in the early 1940s, and became internationally known in films like L'annΘe derniΦre α Marienbad and Morte di un bandito. He is a strong lead player with an impressive stage presence. Among his major roles in classic drama have been Shakespeare's Hamlet, Macbeth and Richard III (the last in his own version, most recently in 1988), Pirandello's Enrico IV and Ibsen's Peer Gynt (1988).
He has directed in theatre and film and, since 1985, with Lucia di Lammermoor, for the musical stage. He has supported the work of modern foreign dramatists on the Italian stage, most recently directing the Italian premiere of Arnold Wesker's Letter to a Daughter (1993).
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"Alberti, Domenico",778,0,0,0
PN [al\Bbair\btee]
DT1a c.
DT1 1710
DT2 40
EN Composer, born in \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j. His music is almost entirely forgotten, but he is remembered as the inventor of the \IAlberti bass,\i common in 18th-c keyboard music, in which accompanying chords are split up into figurations based upon each chord's lowest note.
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"Alberti, Leon Battista",779,0,0,0
PN [al\Bbair\btee]
DT1 1404
DT2 72
EN Architect, born in \JGenoa\j, \JItaly\j. Influenced by Vitruvius Pollio, he wrote \IDe re aedificatoria\i (10 vols, 1485), which stimulated interest in antique Roman \Jarchitecture\j. His own designs, which include the churches of S Francesco at Rimini and S Maria \JNovella\j at Florence, are among the best examples of the pure Classical style. One of the most brilliant figures of the Renaissance, he was also skilled as a musician, painter, poet, and philosopher.
MEX Rossellino, Bernardo; Vitruvius
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"Albertina",780,0,0,0
EN An art gallery founded in 1768 by Duke Albert of \JSaxony\j-Tescha. Since 1795 it has been housed in the former Taroucca Palace in Vienna. Its holdings include a vast collection of graphic material.
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"Albertus Magnus, St, Graf von (Count of) BollstΣdt",781,0,0,0
HS , known as \BDoctor Universalis\b ('Universal Doctor')
DT1a c.
DT1 1200
DT2 80
EN Philosopher, bishop, and doctor of the Church, born in Lauingen, \JGermany\j. In 1254 he became provincial of the Dominicans in \JGermany\j, and in 1260 was named Bishop of Ratisbon. Of his works the most notable are the \ISumma theologiae\i and the \ISumma de creaturis.\i
He excelled all his contemporaries in the breadth of his learning, and did more than anyone to bring about that union of \Jtheology\j and Aristotelianism which is the basis of scholasticism. He was canonized in 1931 and named a doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI. Thomas Aquinas was his most famous pupil. Feast \Jday\j 15 November.
MEX Aquinas; Aristotle
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"Albery, James",782,0,0,0
DT 1838-89
EN English playwright. His one outstanding success, Two Roses (1870), established Henry Irving as a star. Charles Wyndham got Albery to adapt the saucy marital \Jfarce\j Les Dominos Roses into The Pink Dominos (1877). Where's the Cat? (1880) was a disappointment for the critics, who ruined Albery's talent by expecting too much of it.
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"Albigenses",783,0,0,0
PN [albi\Bjen\bseez]
HS or \BAlbigensians\b
EN Followers of a form of \JChristianity\j which in the 11th-c and 12th-c especially had its main strength in the town of Albi, south-west \JFrance\j. It was derived from 3rd-c followers of the Persian religious teacher, Mani, whose ideas gradually spread along trade routes to Europe, especially \JItaly\j and \JFrance\j.
Also known as \BCathari\b or \BBogomils,\b they believed life on Earth to be a struggle between good (spirit) and evil (matter). In extreme cases, they were rigidly ascetic, with marriage, food, and procreation all condemned. They believed in the transmigration of souls. Condemned by the Roman \JCatholic Church\j, they were devastated in the early 13th-c crusade against them, which also broke down the distinctive civilization of \JProvence\j, \JFrance\j.
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"Albin, Eleazar",784,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2 1759
EN English naturalist and \Jwater\j-colourist, who published the first book on British birds with coloured plates. His works include \IThe History of Insects\i (1720), illustrated with his own metal engravings, and \IA Natural History of British Birds\i (3 vols, 1731-8).
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"albinism",785,0,0,0
EN A common inherited pigmentary disorder of vertebrates: affected individuals lack pigmentation of the skin, hair, eyes (iris), feathers, or scales. The disorder can be harmful, as the missing \Jpigments\j protect against sunlight and / or provide camouflage against predators. Albinism is found in all human races: the absence of pigment (or \Imelanin)\i results in white hair, pink skin, and pink irises. Varying degrees of non-pigmentation occur.
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"albino horse",786,0,0,0
EN A breed of horse; white with pale blue or brown eyes; developed in USA by deliberately cross-breeding naturally occurring albino individuals of other breeds.
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"Albinoni, Tomasso (Giovanni)",787,0,0,0
PN [albi\Bnoh\bnee]
DT1 1671
DT2 1751
EN Composer, born in \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j. He wrote 48 operas, and a number of concertos which have been revived in recent times. He was one of the first composers to write concertos for solo violin.
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"Albinus",788,0,0,0
EN See Alcuin
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"Albizu Campos, Pedro",789,0,0,0
DT (1891-1964)
EN revolutionary; born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Educated at Harvard (B.S. 1916, LL.B. 1923), he joined the Nationalist Party in 1924 and was the most prominent \Iindependentista\i of his time. He was jailed from 1936-47 for advocating the violent overthrow of the U.S. administration of Puerto Rico.
He masterminded a 1950 nationalist uprising in Puerto Rico and was accused of being behind the October 31, 1950, assassination attempt on President Truman at Blair House. After he was sentenced to prison for 53 years, Governor Luis Mu±oz Marφn offered him a conditional pardon in 1953, but withdrew it after the nationalist attack on the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j the next year. Campos spent his final years in prison.
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"Alboin",790,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bboyn]
DT1 ?
DT2 574
EN King of the Lombards in Pannonia from 561. He fought against the \JOstrogoths\j, and slew Kunimond, King of the Gepids in 566, marrying his daughter Rosamond. In 568 he invaded \JItaly\j, subdued it as far as the Tiber, and made his capital at \JPavia\j.
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"Albrechtsberger, Johann Georg",791,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bbrekhtsberger]
DT1 1736
DT2 1809
EN Composer and writer on musical theory, born in Klosterneuburg, \JAustria\j. He became court organist at Vienna and chapel master of St Stephen's. Hummel and Beethoven were among his pupils.
MEX Beethoven; Hummel
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"Albright, Horace Marden",792,0,0,0
DT (1890-1987)
EN conservationist, business executive; born in Bishop, Calif. The son of a millwright, he obtained a law degree from the University of \JCalifornia\j and was admitted to the bar in 1914. In 1916, as an official of the U.S. Department of the Interior, he helped found the National Park Service.
He served as superintendent of \JYellowstone\j National Park from 1919-29 and in 1929 became the second director of the park service. He resigned in 1933 to start a second career in business, as vice-president and general manager of the United States \JPotash\j Co. He rose to president of the company in 1946.
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"Albright, Ivan (Le Lorraine)",793,0,0,0
DT (1897-1983)
EN painter; born in North Harvey, Ill. He studied at the Art Institute of \JChicago\j (1920-23) and lived in various places until settling in Woodstock, Vt. A former medical draftsman, he drew on this background, both in his preoccupation with decay and in his paintings' macabre surrealistic details - as in \IThat Which I Should Have Done I Did Not Do\i (1931-32). He attained his widest exposure from the painting that was the centerpiece of the movie, \IThe Picture of Dorian Gray\i (1945).
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"Albright, Madeleine K(orbel)",794,0,0,0
DT1 1937
EN US \Jsecretary of state\j (from 1997), born in \JCzechoslovakia\j. Formerly permanent US representative to the UN, in the second Clinton administration she became the first women to head the State Department.
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#
"Albright, W(illiam) F(oxwell)",795,0,0,0
DT (1891-1971)
EN archaeologist, biblical scholar; born in Coquimbo, \JChile\j. Son of missionaries, he came to the U.S.A. at age 12. He directed the American School of Oriental Research, \JJerusalem\j (1920-29, 1933-36), and taught at Johns Hopkins (1929-58). An authority on biblical languages and commentator on the Dead Sea scrolls, he brought archaeology and linguistics to bear on biblical studies, identified numerous biblical villages during many Middle Eastern expeditions, and authored 800 publications.
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"Albufeira",796,0,0,0
PN [albu\Bfay\bra]
EN 37░05N 8░15W, pop (1995e) 25 500. Fishing village and resort, Faro district, S \JPortugal\j; 38 km/24 mi W of Faro, in a bay on the S coast; figs, almonds, tourism; Moorish-style \Jarchitecture\j; \JPortugal\j's busiest seaside resort.
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"Albumazar or Abu-Mashar",797,0,0,0
PN [albuma\Bzah\b(r)]
DT1 787
DT2 885
EN Astronomer and astrologer, born in Balkh, \JAfghanistan\j. He spent much of his life in \JBaghdad\j, where he became the leading astrologer of his \Jday\j, and his books were widely circulated.
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#
"albumins",798,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bbyuminz]
EN Part of a system of classification of simple proteins, usually referring to those that are readily soluble in \Jwater\j and in dilute salt solutions. They are present in most animals and plants. Two important \Jalbumins\j are serum albumin (in blood), and lactalbumin (in milk).
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"Albuquerque",799,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bbuhkerkee]
EN 35░05N 106░39W, pop (1995e) 428 000. Seat of Bernalillo Co, C New Mexico, USA, on the Rio Grande; largest city in the state; settled, 1706; later a military post during the Mexican War, 1846--70; city status, 1890; airport; railway; two universities (1889, 1940); agricultural trade, \Jelectronics\j, processed foods; base for many federal agencies (eg Atomic Energy Commission); health resort; tourism; church of San Felipe de Neri (1706), the Old Town Plaza, National Atomic Museum; Feria Artesana (Aug), International Balloon Fiesta (Oct).
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#
"Albuquerque, Affonso d'",800,0,0,0
PN [alboo\Bker\bkay]
HS , known as \BAffonso the Great\b
DT1 1453
DT2 1515
EN Portuguese viceroy of the Indies, born near \JLisbon\j. He landed on the Malabar coast in 1502, conquered \JGoa\j (1510), and established the basis of the Portuguese East Indies. He established a reputation for his wisdom and fairness, but was replaced peremptorily by the king in 1515.
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#
"Alcaeus",801,0,0,0
PN [al\Bsee\bus]
DT1a c.
DT1 620
DT2a c.
DT2 580
DT2b BC
EN One of the greatest Greek lyric poets. He lived at Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, and was a contemporary of Sappho. He was the first exponent of the so-called \IAlcaic\i four-lined stanza, which was named after him. Of the ten books of odes he is said to have composed, only fragments now remain.
MEX Sappho
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#
"Alcamenes",802,0,0,0
PN [al\Bkam\beneez]
DT1 5
DT1b th-c BC
EN Greek sculptor, the pupil and rival of Phidias. A Roman copy of his '\JAphrodite\j' is in the Louvre.
MEX Phidias
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#
"Alcazar",803,0,0,0
PN [al\Bka\bzah(r)]
EN The name of several palaces built by the Moors in cities of S \JSpain\j. In 1936 the \JAlcazar\j of Toledo was the scene of a protracted siege during the Spanish \JCivil War\j.
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"Alcedinidae",804,0,0,0
EN \BRiver kingfishers\b
The \JAlcedinidae\j (order Coraciiformes) are one of the three families of kingfishers (the others are \JHalcyonidae\j and Cerylidae) and, like the \JHalcyonidae\j, are confined to the Old World. A typical member of this family is a small, solitary, brightly-colored, silent, and inconspicuous forest waterside bird that spends much of its time, intent and motionless, on a low perch a meter or so above the surface, scanning the water below for fish. When changing hunting perches it flies, low and bullet-like, and usually follows minutely the course of its home stream or river.
There are perhaps 24 species arranged in three genera: \IAlcedo\i (about 16 species), \ICeyx\i (5 species), and \IIspidina\i (3 species).
Most members of the \Jgenus\j \IAlcedo\i are about the size of the familiar Common or River Kingfisher \IAlcedo atthis\i of Europe-about 16 cm in length and 35-40 grams in weight, but members of both \ICeyx\i and \IIspidina\i are very much smaller.
River kingfishers have large heads; short and rounded wings; short tails; small feet; and long, straight, dagger-like bills. The syndactylous feet have three or four toes (the second is reduced or absent in some species). Anatomically, there is no caecum, and the feathers lack aftershafts. The bill is black in some species, bright red in others. The basic plumage pattern is similar in all species--brilliant blue above, and white or chestnut below.
Some species have a white loral spot just in front of the eye, and all have a conspicuous tuft of white feathers behind the ear. The sexes are similar in appearance; there is no seasonal variation, and juveniles differ from adults in being somewhat duller and a little shorter-billed.
The river kingfishers have an extensive distribution in the Old World, with the ranges of three especially common and closely related forms almost defining that of the family as a whole. The Common Kingfisher is found across Europe and Asia to \JJapan\j and the Solomon Islands; \IAlcedo semitorquata\i in most of Africa; and the Azure Kingfisher \IAlcedo azurea\i in \JAustralia\j.
Several species are very widespread but a few have very small distributions: the Sulawesi Kingfisher \ICeyx fallax,\i for example, is confined to Sulawesi, \JIndonesia\j. The \Jgenus\j \ICeyx\i is restricted to the Australasian and Oriental Regions, while \IIspidina\i occurs only in Africa and Madagascar. Many species inhabit streams in dense forest, but others occur in woodland, and some occur in a wide range of habitats from mangroves to paddyfields.
Few species are entirely migratory, but the River Kingfisher in northern Europe and Asia wanders as necessary to avoid frozen waterways in winter, and the Pygmy Kingfisher \IIspidina picta\i is a conspicuous migrant in South Africa.
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"Alcestis",805,0,0,0
PN [al\Bses\btis]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the wife of Admetus; he was doomed to die, and she saved him by offering to die in his place. The action so impressed \JHeracles\j that he wrestled with the messenger of death and brought her back to life.
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"alchemy",806,0,0,0
EN The attempt from early times to find an elixir of immortal life. The first reference is by a Chinese Taoist in 140 BC, and a Chinese alchemical text dates from AD 142. The word \Ialchemy\i may be an Arabic derivative from Chinese, and the practice probably spread to Europe via Arab traders, where it was taken up by such scholars as Roger Bacon (1214-92).
Alchemists sought to convert base metals into gold - not to create wealth, but as a step towards discovering the recipe for eternity. Chinese Taoists initially sought an immortality pill through refining mercury sulphide: this led to many deaths, including Tang emperors. Later alchemists aimed to promote internal processes towards immortality.
Alchemists needed accurate scales, clocks, and \Jtemperature\j control. Their work thus facilitated important discoveries in chemistry, medicine, \Jmineralogy\j, and \Jpharmacology\j, including the development of natural drugs, experiments with \Jarsenic\j, copper, iron, lead and mercury, knowledge of dyeing, and (probably) the invention of fireworks and \Jgunpowder\j. They also discovered anaesthesia and distillation.
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"Alciatus, Andrea Alciato",807,0,0,0
PN [al\Bchah\btus]
DT1 1492
DT2 1550
EN Jurist, born in Milan, \JItaly\j. He was one of the leaders of legal \Jhumanism\j, and a correspondent of More and Erasmus.
MEX Erasmus; More, Thomas
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#
"Alcibiades",808,0,0,0
PN [alsi\Bbiy\badeez]
DT1a c.
DT1 450
DT2 404
DT2b BC
EN Athenian statesman and general, a member of the aristocratic Alcmaeonid family. A ward of \JPericles\j and a pupil of \JSocrates\j, he was a leader against Sparta in the Peloponnesian War, and a commander of the Sicilian expedition (415 BC). Recalled from there to stand trial for sacrilege, he fled to Sparta and gave advice which contributed substantially to \JAthens\j' defeat in \JSicily\j (413 BC) and her economic discomfiture at home.
Falling out with the Spartans in 412 BC, he began to direct Athenian operations in the E Aegean, and won several notable victories; but finding himself unjustly blamed for the Athenian defeat off Notium (406 BC), he went into voluntary exile, where he actively intrigued with the Persians until his assassination in 404 BC.
MEX \JPericles\j; \JSocrates\j; Thrasybulus
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"Alcidae",809,0,0,0
EN \BAuks\b
Auks (family \JAlcidae\j, order Charadriiformes) in many respects resemble miniature penguins, but the family is confined to seas and oceans of the Northern Hemisphere. Though they look very similar and have similar life-styles (especially in pursuing their prey like penguins using their wings as paddles to 'fly' underwater), they are not at all related.
A plethora of English names-including guillemot, puffin, murre, auklet, and several others-attaches to the group, leading to potential confusion that ornithologists usually attempt to avoid by using the name 'alcid' to refer to the family as a whole.
There are about 22 species, grouped among 10-14 genera. Their closest relatives are the gulls, from which, according to the \Jfossil\j record, they diverged some time during the Upper Cretaceous period nearly 100 million years ago.
Several species are enormously abundant, ranking among the most numerous seabirds in the Northern Hemisphere, and several alcid breeding colonies are veritable avian cities, numbering in the millions of nesting pairs.
Auks range in size from the tiny Least Auklet \IAethia pusilla,\i which is only about 14 cm long, to the Razorbill \IAlca torda,\i which is about 36 cm long and weighs about one kg. One species, the Great \JAuk\j \IPinguinus impennis,\i was much larger, weighing around five kg, but it became extinct last century (the last breeding pair was shot on a small rocky islet off the coast of \JIceland\j in June 1844).
The tail is very short, and the wings narrow and tapered. The wings are used for propulsion underwater and have a total area comparatively much smaller than that of most other flying birds, resulting in a characteristically 'whirring' flight style. The legs are short, the feet are webbed, and the hind toe is much reduced or absent. Bill forms vary widely, and in some species-notably the puffins-bear brightly colored plates while breeding, which fall off in winter. Several of the larger species-such as the Razorbill-molt their flight feathers simultaneously, so the birds are unable to fly for several weeks while new ones grow.
In plumage most species are black above, white below, but several are entirely black (some with bold white wing-patches), and some of the smaller auklets are largely brown in color. Many species have elongated plumes on the head in summer. Winter plumages often differ from breeding plumage in various ways, but a common feature is a white throat. The sexes are nearly identical, though males are usually slightly larger than females.
Auks are marine birds that come ashore only to breed. Many species nest in the high \JArctic\j, but the major center of diversity in the Bering Sea (where 18 species occur, 12 of which are endemic), though several species extend along the west coast of \JNorth America\j to Baja \JCalifornia\j.
In contrast to their diversity in the Bering Sea, only three species are endemic in the North Atlantic: the Little \JAuk\j \IAlle alle,\i the Atlantic Puffin \IFratercula arctica,\i and the Razorbill. All species are migratory to some extent, though many-such as guillemots and some auklets-do little more than disperse from their breeding colonies. Little Auks and several other species nesting in the high \JArctic\j move far southward to spend the winter along both coasts of \JNorth America\j and western Europe, where many reach the Bay of Biscay.
Auks nest in simple pairs, each partner cooperating fully in incubating the eggs and feeding the chick. Courtship often involves calling, displaying the brightly colored interior of the mouth, and various ritualized postures. Alcids are unique among all birds in the diversity of their nesting behavior: some nest in colonies on sea cliffs, on high narrow ledges or in rock crevices, but several-notably the puffins-nest in burrows and one species-the Marbled Murrelet-nests in trees.
Some colonies are enormous, and may contain as many as eight species breeding together. The black guillemots \I(Cepphus)\i and four small auklets (Xantus' Murrelet, Craveri's Murrelet, Ancient Murrelet \ISynthliboramphus antiquus\i and the rare Japanese Murrelet \ISynthliboramphus wumiausume)\i lay a clutch of two, but the puffins and auklets lay only one.
The eggs are very variable in color but many are markedly pyriform in shape; when moved they tend to roll in a circular path, which reduces the risk of rolling off the cliff ledge during incubation. The incubation and fledging periods vary widely according to species, but most eggs hatch at 28-35 days and chicks fledge from 18-40 days after hatching.
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"Alcindor, Lew",810,0,0,0
EN See Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem
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#
"Alcmaeon (mythology)",811,0,0,0
PN [alk\Bmee\bon]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the son of Amphiaraos. To avenge his father's death, he killed his mother, and was pursued by the \JFuries\j until he came to a land which had not seen the Sun at the time of his mother's death; he found this recently-emerged land at the mouth of the River Achelous. He was commanded by Apollo to lead the expedition of the Epigoni against Thebes.
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#
"Alcmaeon, (of Croton)",812,0,0,0
PN [alk\Bmee\bon]
DT1 6
DT1b th-c BC
EN Greek physician and philosopher from Croton, \JItaly\j. The first recorded anatomist, he was the true discoverer of the Eustachian tubes, and a pioneer of embryology through anatomical dissection.
SX m
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#
"Alcmaeonids",813,0,0,0
PN [alk\Bmiy\bonidz]
EN An aristocratic Athenian family to which many prominent Athenian politicians belonged. It was particularly influential in the period 632-415 BC.
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#
"Alcman",814,0,0,0
DT1a fl.
DT1 620
DT1b BC
EN Greek lyric poet, probably born in Sardis, Lydia. The first to write erotic poetry, he composed in Doric \Jdialect\j the \IParthenia\i (songs sung by choruses of virgins), bridal hymns, and verses in praise of love and wine.
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"Alcock, Sir John William",815,0,0,0
DT1 1892
DT2 1919
EN Aviator, born in Manchester, Greater Manchester, north-west England, UK. He served as a captain in the Royal Naval Air Service in World War 1, then became a test pilot with Vickers \JAircraft\j. On 14 June 1919, with Arthur Whitten Brown as navigator, he piloted a Vickers-Vimy biplane non-stop from St John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden, Co \JGalway\j, Ireland, in a time of 16┐h 27┐min. Soon afterwards Alcock was killed in an aeroplane accident in \JFrance\j.
MEX Brown, Arthur
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#
"alcohol strength",816,0,0,0
EN The measurement of the amount of \Jethanol\j (the active constituent) in alcoholic drinks, commonly expressed using either volumetric measures or proof strength. The volumetric measure is becoming increasingly popular: this declares the volume of \Jethanol\j present in a unit volume of the alcoholic beverage; for example, an average red wine contains 12% by volume \Jethanol\j or 90 millilitres of \Jethanol\j per average bottle.
\IProof spirit\i is a mixture containing a standard amount of \Jethanol\j: in the UK it is 57..07% by volume, while in the USA it is 50%. Thus, a bottle of Scotch which claims to be 70░ proof is in fact 70% of 57..07% (volume), or 40% \Jethanol\j by volume.
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"Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)",817,0,0,0
EN A self-help group for alcoholics trying to stop drinking. Founded in the USA in 1935 by 'Bill W' (William Griffith Wilson, (1895-1971) and 'Dr Bob S' (Robert Holbrook Smith, 1879-1950), it consists of local groups where members (identified by first names only) meet to give each other support. There are more than a million members in 92 countries. In the early 1990s it influenced the development of several similar programmes for various types of dependencies.
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"alcoholism",818,0,0,0
EN An ambiguous term, for some implying a disease, for others a severe form of alcohol dependence. It is also used as a term of opprobrium relating to anyone who has continuing difficulties associated with excessive alcohol consumption. A major limitation of the term is that it suggests a dichotomy between abstinence and moderate drinking, on the one hand, and excessive and uncontrolled drinking, on the other.
'Alcohol abuse' can be found in all social classes, though there is evidence that those suffering from anxiety or depression are most susceptible, with a recent notable increase in the disease among housewives and the young and long-term unemployed.
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#
"alcohols",819,0,0,0
EN IUPAC \Balkanols.\b Generally organic compounds containing a hydroxyl (-OH) function bonded to a carbon atom which is not itself bonded to further atoms other than carbon or \Jhydrogen\j. When none or one of these atoms is carbon, the alcohol is called \Iprimary; \i with two or three carbon substituents, it is \Isecondary\i or \Itertiary\i respectively.
Compounds in which the hydroxyl group is bonded directly to an aromatic ring are called \Iphenols,\i and are not classed as alcohols. Characteristic reactions of alcohols include \Jdehydration\j to ethers, and reaction with acids to give esters. In everyday use, the word \Balcohol\b is often restricted to \Iethanol\i \B(\Jethyl\j alcohol),\b CH\D3\dCH\D2\dOH.
BK a
#
"Alcott, (Amos) Bronson",820,0,0,0
DT (1799-1888)
EN educator, mystic, author; born near Wolcott, Conn. (father of Louisa May Alcott). Largely self-educated, he became an itinerant teacher (1823-33) before settling in \JBoston\j to found his own school (1834). By this time he was a mystic and transcendentalist and his radical ideas of educating children - plus his acceptance of a black girl as a pupil - led to the failure of his school (1839). He settled in Concord, Mass., but after an 1842 trip to England, where a school (Alcott House) based on his theories had been set up, he returned to establish a utopian community, Fruitlands, outside \JBoston\j (1844).
Devoted to vegetarianism as well as to high thinking, the community failed within 8 months. He took his family back to Concord, and although he had to move about to teach and lecture, he spent most of the rest of his life there, the center of the transcendentalists. He was appointed superintendent of schools in Concord (1857) and he is credited with several innovations including the first parent-teacher association.
The success of Louisa May Alcott's \ILittle Women\i (1868) gave the family financial security and allowed him to set up his Concord Summer School of Philosophy and Literature (1879). He wrote poetry, several books on his theories of education, a \Jbiography\j of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and an \Jautobiography\j, but his greatest impact seems to have come through his personal presence and conversation.
BK AmBg
#
"Alcott, Louisa M(ay)",821,0,0,0
DT (1832-88)
EN writer; born in Germantown, Pa. She was tutored by her father, Amos Bronson Alcott, until 1848, and studied informally with family friends such as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Theodore Parker. Residing in \JBoston\j and Concord, Mass., she worked as a domestic servant, a teacher, and at other jobs to help support her family (1850-62); during the \JCivil War\j she went to Washington, D.C., to serve as a nurse.
Unbeknown to most people, she had been publishing poems, short stories, thrillers, and juvenile tales since 1851, under the pen name of "Flora Fairfield"; in 1862 she also adopted the pen name "A. M. Barnard"; some of her melodramas were actually produced in \JBoston\j stages. But it was her account of her \JCivil War\j experiences, \IHospital Sketches\i (1863), that confirmed her desire to be a serious writer.
She began to publish stories under her real name in \IAtlantic Monthly\i and \ILady's Companion\i and took a brief trip to Europe in 1865 before becoming editor of a girls' magazine, \IMerry's Museum,\i in 1868. The great success of \ILittle Women\i (1869-70) gave her financial independence and also created a demand for more writings.
For the rest of her life she turned out a steady stream of novels and short stories, most for young people, and, like \ILittle Women,\i drawing fairly directly on her family life: \ILittle Men\i (1871), \IEight Cousins\i (1875), \IJo's Boys\i (1886). She also tried her hand at adult novels - \IWork\i (1873), \IA Modern Mephistopheles\i (1877) - but did not have the literary talent to attract serious readers.
Like so many women of her \Jday\j and class, she supported women's suffrage and temperance; but she never found much happiness in her personal life. She grew impatient with the demands made on her as a successful writer, she became the caretaker of her always impractical father, and she became increasingly beset by physical ailments that led to a succession of remedies and healers. Sickly and lonely, she died at age 55 on the \Jday\j of her father's funeral.
BK AmBg
#
"Alcuin",822,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bkwin]
HS , originally \BEalhwine,\b Lat \BAlbinus\b
DT1a c.
DT1 737
DT2 804
EN Scholar and adviser to the emperor Charlemagne, born in York, North Yorkshire, N England, UK. He studied at the cloister school, of which he became master in 778. In 781, he met Charlemagne at Parma, and joined the court at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen).
Here he devoted himself first to the education of the royal family, but through his influence the court became a school of culture for the Frankish empire, inspiring the Carolingian Renaissance. His works comprise poems; works on grammar, \Jrhetoric\j, and dialectics; theological and ethical treatises; lives of several saints; and over 200 letters.
MEX Charlemagne
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Alcyone",823,0,0,0
EN See Halcyone or Alcyone
BK a
XCY y
#
"Alda, Alan",824,0,0,0
PN [\Bawl\bda]
DT1 1936
EN Actor and director, born in New York City, USA. He made his Broadway debut in \IOnly in America\i (1959), and his film debut in \IGone Are the Days\i (1963), but it was his extensive involvement in the \Jtelevision\j series \IM\i\U*\u\IA\i\U*\u\IS\i\U*\u\IH\i (1972--83) that earned him his greatest popularity. He won numerous awards for the series (including five Emmies), which provided a showcase for his talents as a socially conscious writer, director, and performer.
His acerbic sense of humour has been uppermost in such films as \IThe Four Seasons\i (1981), \ISweet Liberty\i (1985), and \IA New Life\i (1988). Later films include \ICrimes and Misdemeanours\i (1990), \ICanadian Bacon\i (1995), and \IEveryone Says I Love You\i (1997).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1981 The Four Seasons
1985 Sweet Liberty
1988 A New Life
1990 Crimes and Misdemeanours
1995 Canadian Bacon
1997 Everyone Says I Love You
\ITelevision\i
1972--83 M*A*S*H*
BK Biog99
#
"Aldabra Islands",825,0,0,0
PN [al\Bdab\bra]
EN 9░25S 46░20E; \BArea:\b 154┐km\U2\u / 59┐mi\U2\u. \JCoral\j \Jatoll\j nature reserve in south-west Indian Ocean, north-west of Madagascar; 1200┐km / 750┐mi south-west of MahΘ; outlying dependency of the \JSeychelles\j; occupied by scientific staff; habitat of the giant land \Jtortoise\j; nature reserve, established in 1976; a world heritage site.
BK a
#
"Aldebaran",826,0,0,0
PN [al\Bdeb\baran]
EN See \JTaurus\j
BK a
XCY y
#
"aldehydes",827,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bdihiydz]
EN IUPAC \Balkanals.\b Organic compounds containing a (-CHO) function. Aldehydes are readily oxidized (to carboxylic acids) and reduced (to alcohols). The aldehyde function is found in most sugars, notably \Jglucose\j.
BK a
#
"Alden, John",828,0,0,0
DT (c. 1599-1687)
EN Pilgrim; born in England. He was a cooper aboard the \IMayflower\i and signed the Mayflower Compact. Although he did marry Priscilla Mullens, there is no basis for the story told in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's \IThe Courtship of Miles Standish.\i He held several important posts within the Duxbury colony, where he had moved to from nearby Plymouth c. 1627.
BK AmBg
#
"alder",829,0,0,0
EN A small, deciduous N temperate tree, often growing by \Jwater\j or in wet soils; leaves oval or rounded; male and female flowers on separate plants; male catkins long, pendulous; females short, erect, becoming woody and cone-like in fruit. \B(Genus:\b \IAlnus,\i 35 species. \BFamily:\b Betulaceae.)
BK a
#
"Alder, Kurt",830,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bder]
DT1 1902
DT2 58
EN Organic chemist, born in Chorzow, \JPoland\j (formerly Konigshⁿtte, \JGermany\j). With Otto Diels he discovered in 1928 the Diels-Alder diene reaction, valuable in organic synthesis, and they shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1950.
MEX Diels
SX m
BK bg a
#
"alderfly",831,0,0,0
EN A slow, awkwardly flying insect with two pairs of large, translucent wings held over its body at rest; found around well-aerated, freshwater ponds and streams; larvae aquatic and carnivorous. \B(Order:\b \JMegaloptera\j. \BFamily:\b Sialidae, c.50 species.)
BK a
#
"Alderney",832,0,0,0
PN [\Bawl\bdernee]
EN pop (1995e) 2280; area 8 sq km/3 sq mi. Third largest of the Channel Is, UK, off the coast of French Normandy, W of \JCherbourg\j; separated from \JFrance\j by the Race of \JAlderney\j; in the Bailiwick of \JGuernsey\j, with its own legislative assembly; chief town, Saint Anne; tourism, dairy farming.
BK Geog99
#
"Alderton, John",833,0,0,0
DT1 1940
EN Actor, born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, EC England, UK. A member of the York Repertory Company, he made his debut in \IEmergency Ward 10\i (1961), and his West End debut in \ISpring and Port Wine\i at the Apollo Theatre. From 1969 he has appeared regularly on stage, and became popularly known on \Jtelevision\j with series such as \IPlease Sir\i, \IMy Wife Next Door\i, and \IForever Green\i (with actress wife Pauline Collins). His films include \IPlease Sir\i (1971), \IIt Shouldn't Happen to a Vet\i (1976), and \IClockwork Mice\i (1995).
\BMajor Works\b
\ITelevision\i
Please Sir
My Wife Next Door
Forever Green
\IFilms\i
1968 Duffy
1971 Please Sir
1974 Zardoz
1976 It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet
1995 Clockwork Mice
BK Biog99n
#
"Aldhelm, St",834,0,0,0
PN [\Bald\bhelm]
HS , also spelled \BEaldhelm\b
DT1a c.
DT1 640
DT2 709
EN \JAnglo-Saxon\j scholar and clergyman. He studied at Malmesbury and Canterbury, and became the first Abbot of Malmesbury about 675, and the first Bishop of Sherbourne in 705. A great scholar, he wrote Latin treatises, letters, and verses, as well as some English poems that have perished. Feast \Jday\j 25 May.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Aldington, Richard",835,0,0,0
PN [\Bawl\bdingtn]
HS , originally \BEdward Godfree\b
DT1 1892
DT2 1962
EN Writer, born in Hampshire, S England, UK. He studied at London University, and in 1913 became editor of \IThe Egoist,\i the periodical of the Imagist school. His experiences in World War 1 led to his best-known novel, \IDeath of a Hero\i (1929). He published several volumes of poetry, \IPoetry of the English-Speaking World\i (1941), and many critical works and biographies. \IWellington\i (1946) was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. He married Hilda Doolittle in 1913 (divorced, 1937).
MEX Doolittle, Hilda
SX m
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#
"Aldiss, Brian (Wilson)",836,0,0,0
PN [\Bawl\bdis]
DT1 1925
EN Science-fiction writer and novelist, born in Dereham, Norfolk, E England, UK. He studied at Framlingham College, and his first novel, \IThe Brightfount Diaries\i, appeared in 1955. He is best known as a writer of \Jscience fiction\j, such as \IHothouse\i (1962) and \IThe Saliva Tree\i (1966).
There are two collections of short stories (1988, 1989), and he has produced histories of \Jscience fiction\j such as \IBillion Year Spree\i (1973) and \ITrillion Year Spree\i (1986). Among later works are a novel, \IDracula Unbound\i (1991), and the poetry collections \IAt the \JCaligula\j Hotel\i (1995) and \IThe Poems of Makhtumkuli\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels/Science fiction works\i
1955 The Brightfount Diaries
1957 Space, Time and Nathaniel
1958 Non-Stop
1959 Canopy of Time
1961 The Male Response
1962 Hothouse
1963 The Airs of Earth
1964 The Dark-Light Years
1964 Introducing SF
1964 Greybeard
1965 Earthworks
1966 The Saliva Tree
1967 An Age
1968 Report on Probability A
1968 Farewell, Fantastic Venus!
1969 A Brian Aldiss Omnibus
1969 Barefoot in the Head
1970 The Hand-Reared Boy
1970 The Shape of Further Things
1971 The Moment of Eclipse
1971 A Soldier Erect
1971 Brian Aldiss Omnibus II
1973 Billion Year Spree: a history of science fiction
1973 \JFrankenstein\j Unbound
1974 The Eighty-Minute Hour
1975 Science Fiction Art: the fantasies of SF
1977 Brothers of the Head
1977 Last Orders
1978 Rude Awakening
1978 Enemies of the System
1979 This World and Nearer Ones
1979 New Arrivals, Old Encounters
1980 Life in the West
1980 Moreau's Other Island
1981 Foreign Bodies
1982 Helliconia Spring
1983 Helliconia Summer
1984 Seasons in Flight
1985 Helliconia Winter
1985 The Horatio Stubbs Saga
1985 The Pale Shadow of Science
1986 ... And the Lurid Glare of the Comet
1986 Trillion Year Spree (with David Wingrove)
1987 Cracken at Critical
1987 Ruins
1988 Forgotten Life
1988 Science Fiction Blues
1989 A Romance of the Equator
1990 Bury My Heart at W H Smith's
1991 Dracula Unbound
1992 Home Life with Cats
1993 Remembrance Day
1993 A Tupolev Too Far
1994 Somewhere East of Life
1995 The Detached Retina
1995 At the \JCaligula\j Hotel
1995 The Secret of This Book
\IStories\i
1962 Best Fantasy Stories
1965 Best SF Stories of Brian W Aldiss
1969 Intangibles Inc. and other Stories
1988 Best SF Stories of Brian Aldiss
\IPoetry\i
1995 At the \JCaligula\j Hotel
1996 The Poems of Makhtumkuli
BK Biog99
#
"aldosterone",837,0,0,0
PN [al\Bdos\bterohn]
EN A type of hormone (a mineralocorticoid) secreted from the adrenal \Jcortex\j into the blood. Its primary role in humans is to stimulate sodium reabsorption and \Jpotassium\j excretion by the \Jkidneys\j, in order to maintain \Jelectrolyte\j and \Jwater\j balance. Excessive secretion is known as \Baldosteronism,\b indicated by \Jpotassium\j depletion, sodium retention, and \Jhypertension\j.
BK a
#
"Aldred or Ealdred",838,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bdred]
HS , also found as \BAlred\b
DT1 ?
DT2 1069
EN \JAnglo-Saxon\j clergyman. He became Abbot of Tavistock (1027), Bishop of Worcester (1044), and \JArchbishop\j of York (1060), and was the first English bishop to visit \JJerusalem\j. He crowned William I, and proved a faithful servant to the Norman king.
MEX William I (of England)
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Aldredge, Theoni",839,0,0,0
DT 1932-
EN American costume designer. Born in \JGreece\j, Aldredge studied and then worked at the Goodman Theatre in \JChicago\j before moving to New York in 1958. From 1962 onwards she was a principal designer for the New York Shakespeare Festival. From the mid-1970s she has been part of the collaborative team - Michael Bennett, Robin Wagner and Tharon Musser - that produced Chorus Line and Dreamgirls, among others.
Aldredge has designed landmark productions such as Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Hair. She also designs for ballet, opera, \Jtelevision\j and film, including Network and The Great Gatsby. Costumes for the elegant but short-lived musical Nick and Nora (1991) were designed by her. Aldredge is a collaborative artist; her designs are integrated with and supportive of the direction and overall visual statement of a production.
BK Thea
#
"Aldrich, Nelson W(ilmarth)",840,0,0,0
DT (1841-1915)
EN U.S. representative/ senator; born in Foster, R.I. After prospering in the wholesale grocery business, he was elected from \JRhode Island\j as a Republican to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (1879-81) and to the U.S. Senate (1881-1911). A friend of business interests and the high protective tariff, he became a major power in the Republican controlled Senate after 1897; he was known for the Aldrich-Vreeland Act for monetary reform (1908), the Payne-Aldrich Tariff (1909), and the Aldrich Plan for reforming the American banking system. His own investments allowed him to leave a large fortune to his heirs and favored philanthropies.
BK AmBg
#
"Aldrich, Thomas Bailey",841,0,0,0
DT (1836-1907)
EN writer, poet; born in Portsmouth, N.H. He worked in New York City mainly in publishing (1852-65), published poetry, settled in \JBoston\j (1865), and was editor of the \IAtlantic Monthly\i (1881-90). He remains best known for his novel, \IThe Story of a Bad Boy\i (1870).
BK AmBg
#
"Aldridge, Ira (Frederick)",842,0,0,0
DT (1807-67)
EN stage actor; probably born in New York City. He got his start in his teens with the African Theatre, established by William Henry Brown in New York City in 1821 to present all-black casts in a variety of plays. In 1824 Aldridge went to England, where for the next 25 years he became widely known throughout Britain and Ireland.
In 1833 he replaced the mortally ill Edmund Kean as Othello at London's Covent Garden Theatre (to mixed reviews). He played both comedy and tragedy and is credited with introducing psychological realism in acting in the 1850s, before his European counterparts. In 1852 he began a series of highly successful appearances in Europe and \JRussia\j, receiving several decorations from heads of state. His return to the London stage in 1865 was well received. He died in \JPoland\j while on an engagement there.
BK AmBg
#
"Aldrin, Buzz",843,0,0,0
PN [\Bawl\bdrin]
HS , popular name of \BEdwin Eugene Aldrin\b
DT1 1930
EN Astronaut, born in Montclair, \JNew Jersey\j, USA. He trained at West Point, flew combat missions in Korea, and later flew in \JGermany\j with the 36th Tactical Wing. In 1966 he set a world record by walking in space for 5┐h 37┐min during the Gemini 12 mission. He was the second man to set foot on the Moon in the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.
BK Biog99
#
"Aldrovandi, Ulisse",844,0,0,0
PN [aldro\Bvan\bdee, oo\Blee\bsay]
DT1 1522
DT2 1605
EN Naturalist, born in \JBologna\j, \JItaly\j. He studied medicine at the University of \JBologna\j (1553), occupied successively its chairs of botany and natural history, and established its botanical garden in 1567. He published many handsomely illustrated books on birds, fishes, and insects.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Aldus Manutius",845,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bdus ma\Bnoot\bius]
HS , Latin name of \BAldo Manucci\bor \BManuzio\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1450
DT2 1515
EN Scholar and printer, born in Bassiano, \JItaly\j. He was the founder of the Aldine Press, which produced the first printed editions of many Greek and Roman classics. He had beautiful founts of Greek and Latin type made, and was the first to use italics on a large scale.
MEX Campagnola, Giulio; Francia
SX m
BK bg a
#
"ale",846,0,0,0
EN An alcoholic beverage brewed from \Jbarley\j which has been malted (ie softened in \Jwater\j and allowed to germinate). It was a popular drink prior to the introduction of hops as a flavouring agent, thus creating beer. However, the term \Iale\i is still used to describe the hops-flavoured brew, while \Ibeer\i has a broader international interpretation at present, and includes lager and stouts.
BK a
#
"Aleardi or Aleardo, conte di (Count of)",847,0,0,0
PN [alee\Bah(r)\bdee]
DT1 1812
DT2 78
EN Italian patriot and poet, born in Verona, \JItaly\j (then in \JAustria\j). He took part in the rising against \JAustria\j in 1848, became a deputy in the Italian parliament (1866), and later a senator. He was popular in his time as a writer of patriotic lyrics.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"aleatory music",848,0,0,0
PN [\Bayl\biatree]
EN Music of which the composition or performance is, to a greater or lesser extent, determined by chance or by whim. The notation may be conventional but indeterminate (ie with the notes but not their sequence composed), or it may take some 'graphic' form which conveys only a general pattern to performers, or elicits an intuitive response from them. The chief proponent of aleatory music has been John Cage.
BK a
#
"alecost",849,0,0,0
EN See costmary
BK a
XCY y
#
"Aleichem, Sholem",850,0,0,0
PN [a\Blay\bkhem]
HS , also spelled \BSholom\b or \BShalom,\b pseudonym of \BSolomon J Rabinowitz\b
DT1 1859
DT2 1916
EN Writer, born in Pereyaslev, \JUkraine\j. After working as a rabbi, he devoted himself to writing and \JYiddish\j culture. The pogroms of 1905 drove him to the USA, where he attempted to establish himself as a playwright for the \JYiddish\j theatre in New York City.
His short stories and plays portray Jewish life in \JRussia\j in the late 19th-c with vividness, humour, and sympathy, and were first widely introduced to a non-Jewish public in 1943 in Maurice Samuel's \IThe World of Sholom Aleichem.\i The popular musical \IFiddler on the Roof\i is based on the stories of Aleichem.
SX m
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#
"Aleixandre, Vicente",851,0,0,0
PN [alayk\Bsahn\bdray]
DT1 1898
DT2 1984
EN Poet, born in Seville, \JSpain\j. It was the appearance of his collected poems, \IMis poemas mejores\i (1937), that established his reputation as a major poet. His later publications include \IEn un vasto dominio\i (1962, In a Vast Domain) and \IAntologia total\i (1976). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1977.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Alekhine, Alexander Alexandrovich",852,0,0,0
PN [alekeen]
DT1 1892
DT2 1946
EN Chess player, world champion (1927-35, 1937-46), born in Moscow. He became addicted to chess from the age of 11 and gained the title of master at St Petersburg in 1909. After the Russian Revolution, he worked as a magistrate in \JFrance\j, and became a French citizen. He defeated Capablanca in 1927 to win the world championship, and defended it successfully (apart from a defeat by Euwe in 1935) for nearly 20 years.
MEX Capablanca; Euwe
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Alekseev, K.S.",853,0,0,0
EN see \JStanislavsky\j
BK Thea
#
"Alemßn, Mateo",854,0,0,0
PN [ale\Bman\b]
DT1 1547
DT2a c.
DT2 1614
EN Novelist, born in Seville, \JSpain\j. His great work is a picaresque novel, \IGuzmßn de Alfarache\i (1599, trans The Spanish Rogue), about a boy running away from home. He emigrated to Mexico in 1608.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Alembert, Jean le Rond d'",855,0,0,0
PN [dalπbair]
DT (1717-83)
EN French mathematician: discovered d'Alembert's principle in mechanics.
D'Alembert's forename comes from that of the church, St Jean le Rond, on whose steps he was found as a baby. He was probably the illegitimate son of a Parisian society hostess, Mme de Tenzin, and the chevalier Destouches; the latter paid for his education while he was brought up by a glazier and his wife. He studied law, and was called to the bar in 1738, but then flirted briefly with medicine before choosing to study \Jmathematics\j and to live on his father's annuity.
Early research by d'Alembert clarified the concept of a limit in the \Jcalculus\j and introduced the idea of different orders of infinities. In 1741 he was admitted to the AcadΘmie des Sciences and 2 years later published his TraitΘ de dynamique (Treatise on Dynamics), which includes d'Alembert's principle, that Newton's Third Law of Motion holds not only for fixed bodies but also for those free to move.
A wide variety of new problems could now be treated, such as the derivation of the planar motion of a fluid. He developed the theory of partial differential equations and solved such systems as a vibrating string and the general wave equation (1747). He joined Euler, A I Clairault (1713-65), Lagrange and Laplace in applying \Jcalculus\j to celestial mechanics and determined the motion of three mutually gravitating bodies. This then allowed many of the celestial observations to be understood; for example, d'Alembert explained mathematically (1754) Newton's discovery of precession of the equinoxes, and also the perturbations in the orbits of the planets.
D'Alembert was then persuaded by his friend, Denis Diderot (1713-84), to participate in writing his encyclopedia, contributing on scientific topics. This project was denounced by the Church after one volume, and d'Alembert turned instead to publishing eight volumes of abstruse mathematical studies.
Shortly before his death J H Lambert (1728-77) wished to name his 'newly discovered moon of Venus' after d'Alembert, but the latter was sufficiently acute to doubt (correctly) from calculations that it existed, and gently declined the offer.
BK Scie
#
"Alentejo",856,0,0,0
PN [alφ\ti\Bte\bzhu]
EN Sparsely populated agricultural area of SEC \JPortugal\j, south-east of the River Tagus (the name is from Arabic, 'beyond the Tagus'); divided in 1936 into the two provinces of \BAlto Alentejo\b and \BBaixo \JAlentejo\j; \b low-lying plain with cork tree forests, heaths, \Jmaquis\j; prehistoric standing stones and chambered cairns; chief towns, \JEvora\j, Beja; corn, \Jcattle\j, pigs; noted for the Alter Real breed of horse.
BK a
#
"Aleotti, Giovanni Battista",857,0,0,0
DT 1546-1636
EN Italian architect, engineer and stage designer. He spent most of his working life in the service of the court of the Estensi at \JFerrara\j, where he built the Teatro degli Intrepidi in 1605. His finest surviving work is the Teatro Farnese in Parma (1618), one of the largest baroque theatres, with a seating capacity of 4,500. Aleotti is thought to have introduced sliding flat wings by 1618, replacing traditional Serlian (see Serlio) fixed angle wings and permitting frequent and rapid shifts of scene. (See also Torelli.)
BK Thea
#
"Aleppo",858,0,0,0
PN [a\Ble\bpoh]
EN 36░12N 37░10E, pop (1995e) 1 597 000. Capital city of Halab governorate, NW \JSyria\j; 350 km/217 mi N of Damascus; chief commercial and industrial centre of N \JSyria\j; airport; road and rail junction; university (1960); industrial refrigeration plant; old city, a world heritage site; Cotton Festival (Sep).
BK Geog99
#
"Alessi, Galeazzo",859,0,0,0
PN [a\Ble\bsee]
DT1 1512
DT2 72
EN Architect, born in \JPerugia\j, \JItaly\j. After studying ancient \Jarchitecture\j, he gained a reputation within Europe from his designs for palaces and churches in \JGenoa\j and elsewhere. He was a friend of \JMichelangelo\j.
MEX \JMichelangelo\j
SX m
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#
"Aletsch",860,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bech]
EN area 117..6┐km\U2\u / 45..4┐mi\U2\u. \JGlacier\j in SC \JSwitzerland\j, W and S of the Aletschhorn; length, 23..6┐km / 14..6┐mi; the largest \Jglacier\j in Europe.
BK a
#
"Aleut",861,0,0,0
PN [al\Byoot\b]
EN Peoples of the Aleutian Is and W \JAlaska\j, who are physically, linguistically, and culturally similar to the Eskimo. In the past, they lived in villages and hunted seals, walruses, whales, and bears. Community life and culture were disrupted by Russian occupation of the area in the 18th-19th-c, and the population has since declined from c.25┐000 to c.2500 in the 1980s.
BK a
#
"Aleutian Islands",862,0,0,0
PN [a\Bloo\bshn]
EN pop (1995e) 14 000; area 18 000 sq km/7000 sq mi. Group of c.150 islands stretching c.1600 km/1000 mi from the Alaskan Peninsula, USA; chief islands Attu, Andreanof, Rat, Umnak, Unimak, Unalaska (chief town, Dutch Harbor); many volcanic peaks over 1000 m/3000 ft; discovered by Russian explorers in 18th-c; purchased by USA, 1867; several military bases; wildlife refuge.
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#
"alewife",863,0,0,0
EN Deep-bodied, \Jherring\j-like fish \I(Alosa pseudoharengus),\i locally abundant along the American Atlantic seaboard; length up to 40┐cm / 16┐in; migrates into rivers (Mar / Apr) to spawn in slow backwaters; commercially fished using traps and nets (seines). \B(Family:\b Clupeidae.)
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#
"Alexander",864,0,0,0
HS (Greek \Jmythology\j)
EN See Paris (\Jmythology\j)
BK a
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"Alexander (nΘe Quigley), Jane",865,0,0,0
DT 1939-
EN American actress. She came to stardom as the white mistress of the black boxing champion in The Great White Hope (1968). Dedicated to regional theatre, to which she returns frequently, she was critically acclaimed as Lavinia in O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra at the American Shakespeare (Festival) Theatre in 1971.
Other New York theatre appearances include Six Rms Riv Vu (1972), First Monday in October (1978), William Gibson's Monday After the Miracle (1982), Shadowlands (1990) and The Visit (1992). In 1993 she was selected to head the controversial National Endowment for the Arts.
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"Alexander (of Tunis), Sir Harold (Rupert Leofric George) Alexander, 1st Earl",866,0,0,0
DT1 1891
DT2 1969
EN British soldier, born in London, England, UK. He trained at Sandhurst, and in World War 1 commanded a battalion of the Irish Guards on the Western Front. He commanded 1 Corps as rearguard at the \JDunkirk\j evacuation (1940), and was the last man to leave \JFrance\j.
In 1942 he commanded in \JBurma\j, then became commander-in-chief \JMiddle East\j (1942-3), his North African campaign being one of the most complete victories in military history. He commanded the invasions of \JSicily\j and \JItaly\j (1943), and became supreme allied commander in the Mediterranean. He was later Governor-General of Canada (1946-52) and minister of defence (1952-4) in the Conservative government.
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"Alexander Archipelago",867,0,0,0
EN Group of 1100 mountainous islands south-east of \JAlaska\j, USA; chief islands Chichagof, Baranof (\JSitka\j naval base and national monument), Admiralty, Kupreanof, Kuiu, and Prince of Wales.
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"Alexander I, (of Russia)",868,0,0,0
HS (of \JRussia\j)
DT1 1777
DT2 1825
EN Tsar of \JRussia\j (1801-25), born in St Petersburg, \JRussia\j, the grandson of Catherine the Great. The early years of his reign were marked by the promise of liberal constitutional reforms and the pursuit of a vigorous foreign policy. In 1805 \JRussia\j joined the coalition against Napoleon, but after a series of military defeats was forced to conclude the Treaty of Tilsit (1807) with \JFrance\j.
When Napoleon broke the treaty by invading \JRussia\j in 1812, Alexander pursued the French back to Paris. At the Congress of Vienna (1814-15) he laid claim to \JPoland\j. During the last years of his reign his increased political reactionism and religious \Jmysticism\j resulted in the founding of the Holy Alliance.
His mysterious death at Taganrog caused a succession crisis which led to the attempted revolutionary coup of the Decembrists.
MEX Napoleon; Catherine the Great
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"Alexander I, (of Scotland)",869,0,0,0
HS (of Scotland)
DT1a c.
DT1 1077
DT2 1124
EN King of Scots, the fifth son of Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret. In 1107 he succeeded his brother, Edgar, but only to that part of the kingdom N of the Forth. He married Sibilla, a natural daughter of \JHenry I\j of England.
MEX \JHenry I\j; Margaret (of Scotland) St
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"Alexander I, (of Yugoslavia)",870,0,0,0
HS (of Yugoslavia)
DT1 1888
DT2 1934
EN King of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (1921-9), then King of Yugoslavia (1929-34), born in Cetinje, Yugoslavia, the second son of Peter I. He tried to build up a strong and unified Yugoslavia, imposing a royal dictatorship in 1929, but was assassinated in Marseilles.
MEX Peter I (of \JSerbia\j)
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"Alexander II, (of Russia), known as Alexander the Liberator",871,0,0,0
HS (of \JRussia\j), known as \BAlexander the Liberator\b
DT1 1818
DT2 81
EN Tsar of \JRussia\j from 1855, born in St Petersburg, \JRussia\j, the son of \JNicholas I\j. He succeeded to the throne during the \JCrimean War\j, and signed the Treaty of Paris which ended it in 1856. A determined reformer, the great achievement of his reign was the emancipation of the serfs in 1861 (hence his byname), followed by reform of the legal and administrative systems, and the establishment of elected assemblies in the provinces.
Despite his liberal views, his government was severe in repressing peasant unrest and revolutionary movements, and he was assassinated.
MEX \JNicholas I\j (of \JRussia\j)
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"Alexander II, (of Scotland)",872,0,0,0
HS (of Scotland)
DT1 1198
DT2 1249
EN King of Scots, born in Haddington, East Lothian, E Scotland, UK, who succeeded his father, William I, in 1214. He allied with the disaffected English barons and made an incursion as far S as Dover. The accession of Henry III of England allowed a rapprochement, cemented by his marriage in 1221 to Henry's sister, Joan, and the frontier question was settled by the Treaty of York (1237).
Her death without children in 1238, and Alexander's marriage to the daughter of a Picardy nobleman, Marie de Coucy, then strained relations with England. His reign is notable for the vigorous assertion of royal authority in the W Highlands and the south-west during the years of peace with England.
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"Alexander III (of Russia)",873,0,0,0
DT1 1845
DT2 94
EN Tsar of \JRussia\j (1881-94), born in St Petersburg, \JRussia\j, the younger son of Alexander II. He followed a repressive policy in home affairs, especially in the persecution of Jews. Abroad, he consolidated \JRussia\j's hold on C Asia to the frontier of \JAfghanistan\j, provoking a crisis with Britain (1885).
MEX 22909 Nicholas II
00886 Alexander II \B(of \JRussia\j)\b
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"Alexander III, (of Scotland)",874,0,0,0
HS (of Scotland)
DT1 1241
DT2 86
EN King of Scots (1249-86), the son of Alexander II. In 1251 he married \BMargaret\b (1240-75), the eldest daughter of Henry III of England. He completed the consolidation of the W part of the kingdom by annexing the \JHebrides\j and the \JIsle of Man\j, after defeating Haakon IV of \JNorway\j at Largs in 1263. The period between 1266 and the death of Queen Margaret in 1275 has often been seen as a golden age for Scotland.
MEX Alexander II, (of Scotland)
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"Alexander III, originally Orlando Bandinelli\",875,0,0,0
HS , originally \BOrlando Bandinelli\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1105
DT2 81
EN Pope (1159-81), born in Siena, \JItaly\j. He was engaged in a struggle with Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, who refused to recognize him, and set up antipopes until compelled to sign the Treaty of \JVenice\j (1177). He was also involved in the quarrel between Henry II of England and Thomas α Becket.
MEX Becket; Frederick I; Henry II (of England)
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"Alexander Nevski, St",876,0,0,0
HS , also spelled \BNevsky\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1218
DT2 63
EN Russian hero and saint, prince of \JNovgorod\j. In 1240 he defeated the Swedes in a famous battle on the River Neva, near the site of modern \JLeningrad\j, and in 1242 he defeated the Teutonic knights on the frozen Lake Peipus. Although a \Jvassal\j of the Mongol occupation army, he sought to live with them in peace, and suppressed anti-Mongol revolts. He was canonized by the \JRussian Orthodox Church\j in 1547. Feast \Jday\j 30 August or 23 November.
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"Alexander of Battenberg",877,0,0,0
EN See Battenberg, Prince Alexander of
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"Alexander of Hales",878,0,0,0
HS , known as \BDoctor Irrefragabilis\b ('Irrefutable Doctor')
DT1a c.
DT1 1170
DT2 1245
EN English theologian and philosopher, born in Hales, \JGloucestershire\j, SWC England, UK. He became a professor of philosophy and \Jtheology\j in Paris, and later entered the Franciscan order. He is known chiefly from the major work ascribed to him, the \ISumma theologica.\i
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"Alexander of Tralles",879,0,0,0
PN [\Btra\bleez]
DT1 6
DT1b th-c
EN Greek physician, born in Tralles. He practised in \JRome\j, where he wrote his \ITwelve Books on Medicine,\i a major work on \Jpathology\j which was current for several centuries in Latin, Greek, and Arabic.
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"Alexander Severus",880,0,0,0
PN [\Bse\bverus]
DT1 205
DT2 35
EN Roman emperor (221-35), the cousin and adopted son of Heliogabalus, whom he succeeded. A weak ruler, under the influence of others (especially his mother), he failed to control the military. Though successful against the Sassanid Ardashir I, he was murdered by mutinous troops during a campaign against the Germans.
MEX Ardashir I; Heliogabalus
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"Alexander technique",881,0,0,0
EN A method of releasing unwanted physical and mental tension from the body by encouraging posture training and self-awareness, developed by the Australian actor Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955). Parents are taught to improve their self-awareness, particularly of bad posture and tension in the neck.
Re-educating the muscle system to relax these tensions is said to result not only in a lightness and ease of movement throughout the body but also to have beneficial effects on the mind, emotions, and spirit. The technique is becoming popular as a treatment for headache, backache, anxiety, and depression, and particularly benefits stage performers.
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"Alexander the Great",882,0,0,0
DT1 356
DT2 323
DT2b BC
EN King of Macedonia (336-323 BC), born at Pella, the son of Philip II and Olympias. He was tutored by Aristotle, and ascended the throne when less than 20 years old. After crushing all opposition at home, he set out to conquer \JGreece\j's hereditary enemy, Achaemenid \JPersia\j.
This he achieved with great rapidity in a series of famous battles: Granicus (334 BC), Issus (333 BC), and Gaugmela (331 BC). By 330 BC, Darius III had fled, and the capitals of \JSusa\j, \JPersepolis\j, and Ecbatana had been taken. In the next three years, the E half of the empire was also conquered, and Alexander set out for India. He reached the Punjab, and had set his sights on the Ganges, when his troops mutinied and forced his return. He died shortly after at \JBabylon\j.
MEX Aristotle; Philip II (of Macedon)
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"Alexander VI",883,0,0,0
HS , originally \BRodrigo Borgia\b
DT1 1431
DT2 1503
EN Pope (1492-1503), born in Jßtiva, \JSpain\j, the father of Cesare and Lucretia Borgia. In 1455 he was made a cardinal by his uncle, Calixtus III, and on the death of Innocent VIII was elevated to the papal chair, which he had previously secured by bribery. He endeavoured to break the power of the Italian princes, and to appropriate their possessions for the benefit of his own family, employing the most execrable means to gain this end.
During his pontificate, he apportioned the New World between \JSpain\j and \JPortugal\j, and introduced the \Jcensorship\j of books.
MEX Savonarola; Borgia, Cesare; Borgia, Lucretia
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"Alexander, Archibald",884,0,0,0
DT (1772-1851)
EN Protestant clergyman, educator; born near \JLexington\j, Va. The son of a merchant/farmer, he underwent a religious conversion in 1789, began to evangelize, and proved to be a fluent and persuasive preacher. Ordained in the Presbyterian ministry in 1794, he served two terms as president of Hampden-Sidney College (1796-1801, 1802-07).
He became a professor at the newly established Princeton Theological Seminary in 1812 and remained there for the rest of his life. His teaching, along with a series of published essays, reviews, tracts, and sermons, gave him wide influence among the Presbyterians of his time.
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"Alexander, Bill",885,0,0,0
DT1 1948
EN Stage director, born in Hunstanton, Norfolk, E England, UK. He worked at the \JBristol\j Old Vic (1971--3), and the Royal Court Theatre, London (1972--8), before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1977, where he became associate director (1984--91), and honorary associate director (1991-- ). In 1993 he joined the Birmingham Repertory Theatre as artistic director.
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#
"Alexander, Cecil Frances",886,0,0,0
HS , \InΘe\i \BHumphreys\b
DT1 1818
DT2 95
EN Poet and hymn writer, born in Co Wicklow, Ireland. In 1848 she published her immensely popular \IHymns for Little Children,\i which included the well-known 'All Things Bright and Beautiful', 'Once in Royal David's City', and 'There is a green hill far away'.
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"Alexander, De Alva Standwood",887,0,0,0
DT (1845-1925)
EN U.S. representative, historian; born in Richmond, Maine. A member of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the \JCivil War\j, he was a teacher and newspaperman in \JIndiana\j before becoming a lawyer in 1877. In 1885 he moved his practice to Buffalo, N.Y.; he served this district as a Republican congressman (1897-1911). He wrote a three-volume \IPolitical History of the State of New York\i (1906-09) and \IThe History and Procedure of the House of Representatives\i (1916).
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#
"Alexander, Franz (Gabriel)",888,0,0,0
DT1 1891
DT2 1964
EN Psychoanalyst, born in Budapest. He worked at the Institute for \JPsychoanalysis\j in Berlin, then settled permanently in the USA in 1932, where he founded the \JChicago\j Institute for \JPsychoanalysis\j. His work on psychosomatic disorders was especially influential.
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"Alexander, George (George Samson)",889,0,0,0
DT 1858-1918
EN Anglo-Scottish actor and theatre manager. He was with Irving at the London \JLyceum\j from 1881 to 1889, most notably as Valentine in Faust (1885). He bought the lease on the St James's, where his declared policy was to encourage and support the writing of new plays by British authors.
The first English producer of Oscar Wilde - Lady Windermere's Fan (1892) - and the creator of Jack \JWorthing\j in The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), he enjoyed his greatest (and boldest) success with Pinero's The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1893), which made a star of Mrs Patrick Campbell. Later Pinero premieres included The Princess and the Butterfly (1897), His House in Order (1906), The Thunderbolt (1908) and Mid-Channel (1909).
The 1902 production of Stephen Phillips's Paolo and Francesca earned for Alexander an undeserved reputation as an upholder of literary standards. He was, in fact, a shrewd businessman and efficient theatre manager, who took risks only occasionally. He was knighted in 1911.
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"Alexander, Grover (Cleveland)",890,0,0,0
DT (1887-1950)
EN \Jbaseball\j player; born in \JElba\j, Neb. One of \Jbaseball\j's great (right-handed) pitchers, he won 373 games and pitched 90 shutouts during his Hall of Fame career, mostly with the Philadelphia Phillies and \JChicago\j Cubs (1911-30). An epileptic and admitted alcoholic, his life was portrayed in the 1952 film, \IThe Winning Team,\i starring Ronald Reagan.
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"Alexander, Hattie Elizabeth",891,0,0,0
DT (1901-68)
EN pediatrician, microbiologist; born in Baltimore, Md. Educated at Baltimore's Goucher College (B.A. 1923), she worked as a bacteriologist for state and federal Public Health Services for three years to save money for medical school. She received the M.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1930 and specialized in \Jpediatrics\j at the Harriet Lane Home in Baltimore.
She was a research and teaching staff member of New York's Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center for 37 years. Her studies on influenzal meningitis resulted in a successful treatment for this previously fatal disease (1939). Her 1940s research into DNA made her one of the first geneticists.
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"Alexander, Jean",892,0,0,0
DT1 1925
EN Actress, born in Liverpool, \JMerseyside\j, NW England, UK. After several years with repertory companies, she began to appear on \Jtelevision\j, and eventually joined the cast of the long-running \ICoronation Street\i (1964--87). Her character of the dowdy, tactless gossip, Hilda Ogden, made her a national institution and won her the Royal Television Society's Best Performance Award in 1984. Her \Jautobiography\j, \IThe Other Side of the Street\i, was published in 1989.
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#
"Alexander, John (White)",893,0,0,0
DT (1856-1915)
EN painter; born in Allegheny, Pa. He began as an illustrator for \IHarper's Weekly\i in New York (c. 1874), studied in \JGermany\j and \JVenice\j (1877), returned to New York (1879), and moved to Paris (1890-1901). He settled in New York (1901), and was a successful portrait painter using an art nouveau style, as seen in \IIsabella; or the Pot of Basil\i (1897).
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"Alexander, Samuel",894,0,0,0
DT1 1859
DT2 1938
EN Philosopher, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. He studied at Oxford, and in 1893 was appointed to the chair of philosophy at Manchester University. His growing concern for the situation of European Jewry led him to introduce Chaim Weizmann, his colleague at Manchester, to Arthur James Balfour - a meeting which led to the Balfour Declaration, establishing the principle of a Jewish national home.
MEX Balfour, Arthur; Weizmann
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"Alexanderson, Ernst F(rederick) W(erner)",895,0,0,0
DT (1878-1975)
EN electrical engineer, inventor; born in \JUppsala\j, Sweden. He came to the United States in 1901 and went to work for the General Electric Co. the following year. He invented radio receiving and transmitting systems, and by 1930, had perfected a complete \Jtelevision\j system. He produced a successful color \Jtelevision\j receiver in 1955.
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"Alexandra Feodorovna",896,0,0,0
PN [\Bfyod\borovna]
DT1 1872
DT2 1918
EN German princess, and Empress of \JRussia\j as the wife of Nicholas II, born in Darmstadt, \JGermany\j, the daughter of Grand Duke Louis of Hesse-Darmstadt and Alice Maud Mary (the daughter of Queen Victoria). She married Nicholas in 1894. Deeply pious and superstitious, she came under the influence of the fanatical Rasputin. During World War 1, while Nicholas was away at the front, she meddled disastrously in politics. When the revolution broke out, she was imprisoned by the \JBolsheviks\j, and shot in a cellar at Yekaterinburg.
MEX Nicholas II; Rasputin
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#
"Alexandra, Princess, the Hon Lady Ogilvy",897,0,0,0
DT1 1936
EN Daughter of George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of \JGreece\j. In 1963 she married \BSir Angus James Bruce Ogilvy\b (1928-- ). They have a son, \BJames Robert Bruce\b (1964-- ) and a daughter, \BMarina Victoria Alexandra\b (1966-- ).
James married Julia Rawlinson and they have a son, \BAlexander Charles\b (1996-- ) and a daughter \BFlora Alexandra\b (1994-- ). Marina married Paul Mowatt and they have a daughter, \BZenouska May Mowatt\b (1990-- ), and a son, \BChristian Alexander Mowatt\b (1993-- ).
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#
"Alexandra, Queen",898,0,0,0
DT1 1844
DT2 1925
EN Consort of King Edward VII of \JGreat Britain\j, the eldest daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark (reigned 1863-1906). She married Edward in 1863 when he was Prince of Wales, and became known for her charity work; in 1902 she founded the Imperial (now Royal) Military Nursing Service, and in 1912 instituted the annual Alexandra Rose Day in aid of hospitals.
MEX Edward VII
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"Alexandria",899,0,0,0
EN 31░13N 29░55E, pop (1995e) 3 631 000. Seaport capital of Alexandria governorate, N \JEgypt\j; on the Mediterranean coast, 180 km/112 mi NW of \JCairo\j; second largest city of \JEgypt\j and the country's main port; founded in 332BCby Alexander the Great; capital of the Ptolemies 304--30BC;former centre of Hellenistic and Jewish culture; noted for its famous royal libraries; airport; railway; university (1942); car assembly, oil refining, \Jnatural gas\j processing, food processing, trade in cotton, vegetables and grain; Catacombs of Kom El Shugafa (1st--2nd-cAD),Graeco-Roman museum, Pompey's Pillar (297), Serapium temple ruins, Abu'l \JAbbas\j mosque.
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"Alexandria, Library of",900,0,0,0
EN The greatest library in the Ancient World and the most important centre for literary studies; founded by Ptolemy I and greatly extended by Ptolemy II. At one time it was reputed to have contained 700┐000 volumes. It was destroyed in the civil wars of the 3rd-c AD.
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"alexandrine",901,0,0,0
PN [alig\Bzahn\bdrin]
EN A French term for a line of verse consisting of 12 syllables (= a Latin hexameter). Common in French poetry and dramatic verse, it is used most often in English for contrast, as in the last line of the Spenserian stanza, or in Pope, who both uses and describes an alexandrine in the line 'Which, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along'.
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"Alexandrov, Pavel Sergeyevich",902,0,0,0
PN [alek\Bsahn\bdrof]
DT1 1896
DT2 1982
EN Mathematician, born in Bogorodsk, \JRussia\j. The leader of the Soviet school of topologists, he developed many of the methods of combinatorial \Jtopology\j.
MEX Hopf
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#
"Alexey I Mihailovitch",903,0,0,0
PN [a\Blek\bsay, mi\Bhiy\blovich]
DT1 1629
DT2 76
EN Second Romanov tsar of \JRussia\j (1645-76), who succeeded his father, Michael Romanov. He waged war against \JPoland\j (1654-67), regaining \JSmolensk\j and \JKiev\j. His attempts to place the Orthodox Church under secular authority brought him into conflict with the \JPatriarch\j, Nikon. By his second wife he was the father of Peter I.
MEX Sophia Alexeyevna; Peter I (of \JRussia\j)
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#
"Alexeyev, Mikhail Vasilevich",904,0,0,0
PN [alek\Bsay\bef]
DT1 1857
DT2 1918
EN Russian soldier. In World War 1 he was appointed Chief of the Imperial General Staff (1915), and directed the retreat from Warsaw after the crushing German victory. After the Revolution in 1917 he organized the volunteer army against the \JBolsheviks\j.
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#
"Alexeyev, Vasiliy",905,0,0,0
PN [alek\Bsay\bef]
DT1 1942
EN Weightlifter, born in Pokrovo-Shishkino, \JRussia\j. He set 80 world records (1970--7), more than any other athlete in any sport. Olympic super-heavyweight champion in 1972 and 1976, he won eight world titles and nine European titles. He was made a major in the Russian army, and obtained the title of Master of Sport.
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#
"alexia",906,0,0,0
EN See \Jdyslexia\j
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#
"Alexis",907,0,0,0
PN [a\Blek\bsis]
HS , in full \BAlexey Petrovitch\b
DT1 1690
DT2 1718
EN Prince, born in Moscow, the eldest son of Peter I. Having opposed the tsar's reforms, he was excluded from the succession, and escaped to Vienna, and thence to Naples. Induced to return to \JRussia\j, he was condemned to death, then pardoned, but died in prison a few days after. His son became tsar as Peter II (reigned 1727-30).
MEX Peter I (of \JRussia\j)
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"Alexius I Comnenus",908,0,0,0
PN [kom\Bnee\bnus]
DT1 1048
DT2 1118
EN Byzantine emperor (1081-1118), the founder of the Comnenian dynasty, born in \JIstanbul\j. He defeated a major invasion mounted by the Normans of \JSicily\j under Robert Guiscard (1081-2) and later under Bohemond I (1083); in alliance with the Cumans he destroyed the Patzinaks at Mount Levounion (1091). He built up a new fleet with the aim of re-establishing Byzantine rule in \JAsia Minor\j.
This coincided with the arrival of the First Crusade (1096-1100), with which he co-operated to recover \JCrete\j, Cyprus, and the W coast of Anatolia. His reign is well known from the \IAlexiad,\i the \Jbiography\j written by his daughter, Anna Comnena.
MEX Anna Comnena; Bohemond I; Guiscard
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#
"alfalfa",909,0,0,0
EN See \Jlucerne\j
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#
"Alfieri, Vittorio, conte di (Count)",910,0,0,0
DT 1749-1803
EN Italian playwright and poet. He wrote in both French and Italian, his first tragedy Cleopatra appearing in 1775. Over the next decade he produced the bulk of his dramatic work, including 19 tragedies, non-dramatic verse and many political writings. At their best his plays reveal a distinctively personal blend of the classical and romantic, a taste for Aristotelian rules combined with a highly individual insistence on the exercise of heroic will.
But although 19th- century actors like Salvini performed some of Alfieri's great poetic dramas abroad, and several have survived on the modern Italian stage, none has entered the European repertoire. Of his 21 tragedies perhaps the best are Oreste (1778), Virginia (1778), Saul (1782) and Mirra (1786); none of his six comedies now attracts interest.
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"Alf÷ld",911,0,0,0
PN [\Bol\bfuld]
EN Great Plain region of S \JHungary\j, E of the River Danube, extending into adjoining countries; a flat area covering about half of \JHungary\j, crossed by a system of canals which provide irrigation for grain and fruit; livestock on the arid grasslands \I(pusztas); \i national parks at Hortobßgy, Bⁿkk, and Kiskunsßg.
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#
"Alfonsφn (Foulkes), Raul",912,0,0,0
PN [alfon\Bseen\b]
DT1 1927
EN Argentinian president (1983-9), born in Chascom·s, Argentina. He studied at military and law schools, joining the Radical Union Party in 1945. He served in local government (1951-62), but was imprisoned by the Per≤n government for his political activities in 1953. When constitutional government returned, he was elected president. He ensured that several leading military figures were brought to trial for human rights abuses, and in 1986 was co-recipient of the Council of Europe's human rights prize.
MEX Per≤n, Juan
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#
"Alfonso I or Alfonso Henriques",913,0,0,0
HS , also spelled \BAfonso\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1110
DT2 85
EN Earliest king of \JPortugal\j, born in Guimarπes, \JPortugal\j. He was only two years old at the death of his father, Henry of Burgundy, the conqueror and first Count of \JPortugal\j, so that the management of affairs fell to his mother, Theresa of Castile. Wresting power from her in 1128, he defeated the Moors at Ourique (1139), and proclaimed himself king. He took \JLisbon\j (1147), and later all \JGalicia\j, Estremadura, and Elvas.
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#
"Alfonso III",914,0,0,0
HS , known as \BAlfonso the Great\b
DT1 ?
DT2 910
EN King of Le≤n, Asturias, and \JGalicia\j (866-910). He fought over 30 campaigns and gained numerous victories over the Moors, occupied Coimbra, and extended his territory as far as \JPortugal\j and Old Castile.
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"Alfonso X",915,0,0,0
HS , nicknames \BAlfonso the Astronomer\b or \BAlfonso the Wise\b
DT1 1221
DT2 84
EN King of Le≤n and Castile (1252-84), born in Burgos, \JSpain\j. He captured Cadiz and \JAlgarve\j from the Moors, and thus united \JMurcia\j with Castile. The founder of a Castilian national literature, he caused the first general history of \JSpain\j to be composed in Castilian, as well as a translation of the \JOld Testament\j to be made by Toledo Jews. His great code of laws \I(Siete Partidas)\i and his planetary table were of major importance. In 1282, he lost power following a rising under his son, Sancho IV.
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"Alfonso XII",916,0,0,0
DT1 1857
DT2 85
EN King of \JSpain\j (1874-85), the son of Isabella II. After a period of republican rule following the overthrow of his mother by the army in 1868, he was formally proclaimed king. In 1876 he suppressed the last opposition of the Carlists (supporters of the Spanish pretender Don Carlos de Bourbon and his successors), and drafted a new constitution.
In 1879 he married \BMaria Christina\b (1858-1929), daughter of Archduke Charles Ferdinand of \JAustria\j, and was succeeded by his son, Alfonso XIII.
MEX Alfonso XIII; Carlos, Don
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"Alfonso XIII",917,0,0,0
DT1 1886
DT2 1941
EN King of \JSpain\j (1886-1931), the posthumous son of Alfonso XII. In 1906 he married princess Ena, grand-daughter of Queen Victoria. After \Jneutrality\j during World War 1, the Spanish were defeated by the Moors in Morocco in 1921, and from 1923 he associated himself with the military dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. In 1931 the king agreed to elections, which voted overwhelmingly for a republic. He refused to abdicate, but left \JSpain\j, and died in exile.
MEX Primo de Rivera
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"Alfred",918,0,0,0
HS , known as \BAlfred the Great\b
DT1 849
DT2 99
EN King of \JWessex\j (871-99), born in Wantage, Berkshire, S England, UK, the fifth son of King Ethelwulf. When he came to the throne, the Danes had already conquered much of \JNorthumbria\j, parts of Mercia, and East Anglia, and threatened to subdue \JWessex\j itself. He inflicted on them their first major reverse at the Battle of Edington, Wiltshire (878), and began to win back Danish-occupied territory by capturing the former Mercian town of London (886). He stole the military initiative from the Danes by reorganizing his forces into a standing army, building a navy, and establishing a network of burhs (fortified centres).
These developments were complemented by his revival of religion and learning, a programme designed to win God's support for victory over the pagan Danes and to consolidate loyalty to himself as a Christian king. He personally translated several edifying Latin works into English. He forged close ties with other English peoples not under Danish rule, and provided his successors with the means to reconquer the Danelaw and secure the unity of England.
The famous story of his being scolded by a peasant woman for letting her cakes burn has no contemporary authority, and is first recorded in the 11th-c.
MEX Orosius
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"AlfvΘn, Hannes (Olof G÷sta)",919,0,0,0
PN [alfvayn]
DT (1908-95)
EN Swedish theoretical physicist: pioneer of plasma physics.
Educated at \JUppsala\j, AlfvΘn worked in Sweden until 1967, when he moved to \JCalifornia\j. Much of his work was on plasmas (gases containing positive and negative ions) and their behaviour in magnetic and electric fields. In 1942 he predicted magnetohydrodynamic waves in plasmas (AlfvΘn waves) which were later observed.
His ideas have been applied to plasmas in stars and to experimental nuclear fusion reactors. He shared a Nobel Prize in 1970 for his pioneering theoretical work on \Jmagnetohydrodynamics\j.
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"AlfvΘn, Hugo Emil",920,0,0,0
PN [al\Bfen\b]
DT1 1872
DT2 1960
EN Composer and violinist, born in Stockholm. He was a prolific composer in the late Romantic tradition, his works including five symphonies and the ballet \IProdigal Son\i (1957). His best-known piece is \IMidsommarvaka\i (1904, Midsummer Vigil), better known as the \ISwedish Rhapsody.\i
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"algae",921,0,0,0
EN An informal grouping of primitive, mainly aquatic plants that have \Jchlorophyll\j \Ia\i as their primary photosynthetic pigment; body \I(\Jthallus\j)\i not organized into root, stem, and leaf; no true vascular system; reproductive organs not surrounded by a layer of sterile cells; range in form from simple unicellular plant plankton to massive seaweeds many metres in length.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
While there are a number of flagellates which have chloroplasts, nobody knows for sure whether these are closely related to the \Jalgae\j or not. If the serial endosymbiosis theory is correct, then it is quite possible that the organism which became the chloroplasts was absorbed by larger cells on more than one occasion. So it might be possible for organisms which are only distantly related to have similar structures.
Still, the problem "\Jalgae\j", the Glaucocystophyta have to be dealt with somewhere, so we will consider them here. The chloroplasts of the glaucophytes are much more like cyanobacteria, the blue-green bacteria, often wrongly called the blue-green \Jalgae\j. They contain \Jchlorophyll\j a and phycobilin \Jpigments\j, as do the cyanobacteria, and they have the same peptidoglycan wall, as well as a circular \Jchromosome\j with a limited range of genes on it. These chloroplasts are technically called cyanelles.
\BBrown algae\b
A large group of mainly marine seaweeds, characterised by their photosynthetic \Jpigments\j which include chlorophylls a and c, \Fa\n-\Jcarotene\j, \Fb\n-\Jcarotene\j, fucoxanthin; and several other lesser \Jpigments\j. Their reproduction is usually sexual, involving a sperm with two whip-like flagella. Over 1500 species known in about 240 genera around the world, mainly from intertidal and sublittoral zones, and the body form ranges from filamentous to large blades. The most spectacular of these \Jalgae\j are the giant kelps which make up whole forests off the coasts of \JCalifornia\j and \JTasmania\j, supporting whole ecosystems.
While they can also be found referred to as the class \JPhaeophyceae\j, it is probably more correct to identify the brown \Jalgae\j as either the division or the \Jphylum\j Phaeophyta. This may be considered to be made up of one class, or three, depending on the life cycles, which are unknown for many of the genera. There are, in any case, eleven orders. The larger kelps (order Laminariales to botanists) are sources of two important industrial substances, algin and fucoidin.
Algin is the source of the alginates which are found in many foodstuffs, printer's ink, soaps and shampoos, in moulding material for artificial limbs, film coatings, paints, varnishes, toothpaste, lipsticks, shaving cream and beer. Some of the Laminariales have also been used as a source of kombu, a common food in \JJapan\j and China. The \Jalgae\j are dried, pressed into blocks, and cut into thin slices for cooking. Brown \Jalgae\j are used in many parts of the world as fertiliser, providing \Jpotassium\j, together with smaller amounts of \Jphosphorus\j and \Jnitrogen\j.
The kelps are differentiated into a stipe (similar to a trunk), blades (rather like leaves) and a holdfast (superficially like roots, but wrapping around rocks, rather than penetrating into the sand or mud). The kelps were once thought of as ancestral to the modern trees, because of their apparent similarity, but this resemblance is probably more due to the effects of convergence in \Jevolution\j.
Fossils of brown \Jalgae\j are known from the Triassic, although there may have been similar \Jalgae\j much earlier. The free-swimming cells have a characteristic biflagellate arrangement which probably indicates an origin in similar free-swimming cells of an early ocean. The presence of \Jchlorophyll\j c and fucoxanthin suggest a relationship (albeit a distant one) to the yellow-brown \Jalgae\j, the diatoms, and the dinoflagellates.
The other main orders are the Chordariales, Desmarestiales, Dictyotales, Ectocarpales, Fucales, and the Sphacelariales.
\BDiatoms and golden algae\b
The diatoms are microscopic, single-celled green \Jalgae\j common in marine and freshwater habitats, with about 5500 species in 190 genera. They have an external shell (frustule) which is often ornate, containing \Jsilica\j, and consisting of two separate valves. They commonly reproduce by splitting in two in a process known as binary fission. Their green colour derived from their \Jchlorophyll\j \Jpigments\j: they have \Jchlorophyll\j a and \Jchlorophyll\j c, carotenes and xanthophylls. They are generally placed in the class: Bacillarophyceae, and linked to the golden \Jalgae\j, or Chrysophyceae.)
The Chrysophyceae (sometimes promoted to their own \Jphylum\j, Chrysophyta) are sometimes called the "golden-brown flagellates". There are 75 genera and about 300 species, distributed across freshwater and marine environments. The chloroplasts which give them their colour are similar to those of the brown \Jalgae\j and the dinoflagellates. They have \Jsilica\j coverings and often have calcified plates as well. Some of the pigmented (photosynthetic) species are also capable of ingesting food particles, making rather a joke of the traditional biological division between plants and animals.
The diatoms are a much more interesting group, in part because they fossilise so well-if the fossil types are taken into account, around 10 000 species are known. These fossil forms often occur in vast numbers, forming diatomaceous \Jearth\j. Older deposits have been degraded to \Jchert\j (diatoms can be traced back at least as far as the Jurassic), but more recent deposits are mined as a source of material for filters and as \Jabrasives\j in polishes and toothpastes. The deposits in the Santa Maria oilfields of \JCalifornia\j can be as much as 1000 metres deep, with as many as six million frustules (shells) in a single millilitre (cubic \Jcentimetre\j).
Most diatoms do not need an external source of vitamins as the golden \Jalgae\j do, although some cases have been seen where the diatoms needed vitamin B\D12\d. Reproduction in these two groups is rarely to occasionally sexual, with binary fission being the norm.
\BDinoflagellates\b
A microscopic, single-celled organism, mostly marine, but also found in brackish \Jwater\j, fresh \Jwater\j, and beach sand, and as symbionts in some types of \Jcoelenterate\j. There are about 1000 species in about 120 genera. They are classified either as an alga (Class: Dinophyceae) or as a \Jflagellate\j protozoan (Phylum: Mastigophora).
They sometimes contain \Jchlorophyll\j pigment for \Jphotosynthesis\j; characterised by two whip-like organelles (flagella), one lying in a groove around the cell, called the sulcus. Most species are enclosed in a rigid shell (test) encrusted with \Jsilica\j. They range in size from 25 to 500 micrometres across.
They may also be placed in the division or \Jphylum\j Pyrrophyta, with two classes, the Dinophyceae and the Cryptophyceae (which are themselves sometimes poked into a separate \Jphylum\j, the Cryptophyta-classification is like that, being more a matter of opinion and interpretation, rather than easy facts). These things do not always fit easily as plants, especially as some of the motile forms have a pigmented eye spot which seems to be light-sensitive.
Those with \Jchlorophyll\j have both \Jchlorophyll\j a and \Jchlorophyll\j c, and some xanthophyll \Jpigments\j that are only found in this group. One of these, peridinin, gives them their characteristic brown colour. Some of the "phosphorescence" seen in tropical waters when a ship or a paddle disturbs the water, is due to dinoflagellates like \INoctiluca scintillans.\i These oceanic forms are more commonly unarmoured, with the armoured forms being more common in coastal plankton.
Dinoflagellates are also the cause of an algal bloom which is often called "red tide" or "red \Jwater\j". If this is caused by \INoctiluca scintillans,\i there is no need to worry, but another dinoflagellate, \IGymnodinium mikimotoi,\i causes a much nastier problem. A \IGymnodinium\i bloom can kill a variety of marine life, though whether fish are killed by having their gills choked with the dinoflagellates, or whether it is a toxin in the \Jalgae\j is uncertain. When the \Jalgae\j are absorbed by fish in smaller doses, the toxin they produce may remain in the meat, and cause severe symptoms or even death.
This effect, often called ciguatera poisoning, is apparently caused by a toxin similar in structure to curare. It can also be acquired from eating shellfish like mussels and oysters. In all, there are about thirty species known to carry these toxins. Strictly, ciguatera is only caused by one species, \IGambierdiscus toxicus,\i while other diseases such as paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) are caused by \Ialexandrium\i sp. and \IGymnodinium catenatum,\i and diarrhoetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) is caused by yet other species.
The dinoflagellate problems of the world may be getting worse. There is evidence that they thrive on the eutrophication caused by \Jpollution\j, and resting spores of a number of dinoflagellates have been found in the ballast tanks of ships, suggesting that species will be introduced into new areas from time to time. Any new species of any sort is a potential problem when it is first released into a new area, as it is unlikely to have any natural predators to keep it in balance.
\BGreen algae\b
A large and diverse group of 7000 species of alga-like plants in 450 genera. They are characterised by the photosynthetic \Jpigments\j, chlorophylls a and b, which give them their green colour; typically storing food as starch in chloroplasts; found mainly in fresh \Jwater\j. Many have motile stages (zoospores) that swim using flagella.
They may be treated either as the class Chlorophyceae, or as the \Jphylum\j Chlorophyta. The \Jphylum\j Chlorophyta, when recognised, is divided into the Chlorophyceae and the Charophyceae. The green \Jalgae\j will be treated here as a \Jphylum\j divided into those two classes. (Other taxonomists prefer to recognise three other classes, carved from the Chlorophyceae: the Prasinophyceae, the Ulvophyceae, and the Conjugatophyceae.)
The Charophyceae is the smaller of the two classes. Commonly known as the stoneworts, there are about 250 species in six recognised genera. They are mostly found in fresh \Jwater\j, and as they are submerged plants, they are generally overlooked. They are usually encrusted with \Jcalcium\j carbonate, and some aspects of their reproduction suggest that they are more closely related to the land plants than any other algal group. \IChara\i and \INitella\i are the two most common genera.
The Chlorophyceae, as the term is used here, include everything from single-celled motile and non-motile forms, to large non-motile "plants" and motile colonies like Volvox. Among the multicellular forms, there are simple filaments, broad sheets of parenchyma-type tissue, and long coenocytic filaments with multiple nuclei.
The desmids are single-celled \Jalgae\j which lack flagella. They reproduce by conjugation, a process in which a tube is formed between two strains so that an amoeboid \Jgamete\j can pass through. These, and similar filamentous \Jalgae\j, sometimes called the Conjugatophyceae, are mainly found in fresh \Jwater\j.
The green \Jalgae\j are not particularly important in an economic sense. The Japanese make miso soup from \IUlva\i sp. the sea \Jlettuce\j, and this is sometimes used to make laver in \JJapan\j and Wales, as is \IMonostroma.\i Some experimentation has been carried out on the use of \BChlorella\b as a food source or \Jenergy\j-capturing mechanism, but this remains largely in the realm of \Jscience fiction\j.
Fossil green \Jalgae\j have been suggested for all ages back to the Precambrian, and there are definite signs in rocks from the Ordovician onwards, while the Charophyceae are clearly present from the Silurian onwards.
\BRed algae\b
The red \Jalgae\j of the \Jphylum\j Rhodophyta are a large and diverse group of alga-like plants. They range in form from single cells to large differentiated bodies, with some of the most important being the encrusting lawns of coralline \Jalgae\j, which serve to bind the world's \Jcoral\j reefs together.
Their reddish colour stems from the mixture of photosynthetic \Jpigments\j, as they contain \Jchlorophyll\j a, phycobilins (phycocyanin and phycoerythrin, which produces the characteristic red colouring), and carotenoids inside their cells. These \Jpigments\j can make effective use of red light, the wavelength which penetrates deepest into the sea, and so they may even be found 250 metres below the surface of the sea.
Reproduction in this group involves the production of an egg cell inside a specialised organ (an oogonium) receptive to the male \Jgamete\j. In some classifications, they are reduced to a mere class, the Rhodophyceae, but this now appears to be an unwise decision. It is probably better to regard them as a division or \Jphylum\j with a single class. (The word oogonium is sometimes written as "÷ogonium", to indicate that the pronunciation of the "oo" is like that in "\Jzoology\j".)
The red \Jalgae\j are economically important. The stabilising and thickening agent, carrageenan (also called carrageenin), is used in chocolate milk, cheeses, ice cream, confectionery, insect sprays, \Jwater\j-base paints and cosmetics, and it can also be eaten as a dessert like \Iblancmange\i when it is flavoured. Carrageenan is mainly prepared from the red alga \IChondrus crispus,\i commonly found on the Atlantic coast of the United States.
Another product, funori, is a \Jcolloid\j like carrageenan, obtained from \IGloiopeltis.\i It is a \Jwater\j-soluble sizing used in paints, hair-dressing and as a starch in laundering.
Biologically, the most important product is \Jagar\j, which has been known from \JJapan\j since 1760. Once it was produced almost exclusively from \IGelidium,\i but now a much wider algal range is cropped. \JAgar\j (or agar-agar, as it is also called) has some of the physical properties of gelatin, while being chemically different. A 1.5g scoop of \Jagar\j will turn 100 mL of boiling \Jwater\j into a firm jelly when it is allowed to set, and \Jagar\j plates are the basis of most bacterial culture methods, and also for the culture of fungi and even plant tissue.
Agar is also useful as a treatment for intestinal orders, since it absorbs large amounts of \Jwater\j, provides bulk, and is a mild laxative. \JAgar\j is also used to make capsules which are needed to carry drugs beyond the \Jstomach\j for slow release.
Red \Jalgae\j are also useful as a source of foods. Dulse, found in many parts of the world, is derived from \IRhodymenia,\i and \IPorphyra,\i or purple laver. It is widely used as a food, and even cultivated in beds in \JJapan\j. Dried \IPorphyr,\i known in Japanese as \Inori,\i is used as the wrapping on sushi.
The red \Jalgae\j may be conveniently divided into two sub-classes, the Bangiophycidae with about 70 species, all simple marine \Jalgae\j, and the Florideophycidae, with some 3500 species, mostly marine, but with about 200 species found in fresh \Jwater\j.
The calcified \Jalgae\j of the Florideophycidae were once considered to be corals, and are still called the "coralline algae". These species are commonly found around the low-tide mark.
\BYellow-brown algae\b
Aquatic \Jalgae\j containing the photosynthetic \Jpigments\j \Jchlorophyll\j a and c, fucoxanthin and various carotenoids which produce the yellow-green colour of the chloroplasts. There are about 75 genera and 400 species, mainly living in fresh \Jwater\j or soil, although there are a few marine species.
They vary in form from single cells to filaments and they produce motile spores (zoospores) with a hairy forward-pointing \Jflagellum\j and a naked backward-pointing \Jflagellum\j. Generally placed in the class Xanthophyceae, or the \Jphylum\j Xanthophyta, they are mainly significant as planktonic species at the low end of the food chain. There is little \Jfossil\j evidence of this group.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Algardi, Alessandro",922,0,0,0
PN [al\Bgah(r)\bdee]
DT1 1598
DT2 1654
EN Sculptor, born in \JBologna\j, \JItaly\j. His chief work is a colossal relief, in St Peter's, \JRome\j, showing Pope Leo I restraining \JAttila\j from marching on the city.
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"Algarve",923,0,0,0
PN [al\Bgah(r)v\b]
EN area 5072┐km\U2\u / 1958┐mi\U2\u. Region and former province of S \JPortugal\j, bounded W and S by the \JAtlantic Ocean\j; Moorish kingdom, 1140; capital, Faro; figs, almonds, fishing, fish canning, tourism; \BCosta do Algarve\b is the S Atlantic coast of \JPortugal\j from Cape St Vincent (west) to River Guadiana on the Spanish border; the most popular tourist resort area in \JPortugal\j, with resorts at \JPraia\j da Luz, \JPraia\j da Rocha, \JPraia\j do Carvoeiro, \JAlbufeira\j, Vilamoura.
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"Algazel, Abu Mohammed al-",924,0,0,0
EN See Ghazali, Abu Hamid Mohammed al-
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#
"algebra",925,0,0,0
EN A branch of \Jmathematics\j in which unknown quantities are represented by letters or other symbols. It was developed and brought to Europe by the \JArabs\j, from whose word \Ial-jabr\i the name of the subject is derived. In classical \Jalgebra\j (or \Barithmetic algebra),\b the operations in use are those of arithmetic; whereas in \Babstract algebra,\b developed in the 19th-20th-c, different operations are defined.
In particular, in many abstract algebras, the commutative law does not apply. William Hamilton (1805-65) developed the non-commutative \Jalgebra\j of quaternions, Arthur Cayley and others matrix \Jalgebra\j, and George Boole the \Jalgebra\j of sets that bears his name. \INon-associative\i algebras do not follow the associative laws of arithmetic; examples are \BJordan algebras,\b named after the German physicist Paul Jordan in the 1930s, and most of the \BLie algebras\b extensive in modern physics.
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"algebraic geometry",926,0,0,0
EN The study of \Jgeometry\j by algebraic means. Originally it was the study of curves and surfaces from their equations using algebraic methods, and often avoiding the \Jcalculus\j (thus contrasting it with differential geometry). The subject became part of projective \Jgeometry\j, and once complex numbers were admitted during the 19th-c, deep connections were found by Riemann and PoincarΘ to complex function theory.
Many unresolved questions were reformulated and solved by Oscar Zariski in the 20th-c with the introduction of techniques of modern \Jalgebra\j, leading to a great generalization of the subject. This in turn was overtaken by the methods of Alexandre Grothendieck, which introduce deep geometric ideas into algebraic number theory.
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"Algeciras",927,0,0,0
PN [alje\Bsee\bras]
EN 36░09N 5░28W, pop (1995e) 102 000. Seaport and resort in Cßdiz province, \JAndalusia\j, SW \JSpain\j; on W side of Algeciras Bay, opposite \JGibraltar\j; founded by the Moors, 713; largely destroyed, 14th-c; rebuilt, 18th-c; scene of Algeciras Conference (over the future of Morocco), 1906; railway; car ferries to Canary Is, Melilla, Tangier, \JGibraltar\j; paper, tourism, trade in oranges, cork; Old Algeciras; watersports; fair and fiestas (Jun), patronal fiestas (Aug), Festival of \JSpain\j (Aug).
BK Geog99
#
"Alger, Horatio",928,0,0,0
DT (1834-99)
EN author; born in Revere, Mass. He graduated from Harvard Divinity School (1860), and became a Unitarian minister (1864), but resigned and settled in New York City (1866). His inspirational novels such as \IRagged Dick\i (1867) made his name synonymous with the American ideal of young men gaining success through hard work. He died impoverished after giving his wealth to the poor.
BK AmBg
#
"Alger, Russell Alexander",929,0,0,0
DT (1836-1907)
EN soldier, politician; born in Lafayette Township, Ohio. A lawyer and lumberman, he was an officer with the \JMichigan\j cavalry and fought for the Union in various battles including Gettysburg. He was a Republican governor of \JMichigan\j (1885-86) and was head of the Grand Army of the Republic (1889). As secretary of war (1897-99) he was blamed for the U.S. unpreparedness during the opening months of the Spanish-American War and was forced to resign.
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"Algeria",930,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 28 513 000; area 2 460 500 sq km/949 753 sq mi. N African republic, divided into 31 departments (\Iwilaya\i); timezone GMT +1; capital, \JAlgiers\j (Alger); other chief towns, Constantine, Oran, Annaba, Blida, Tlemcen, Skikda, Mostaganem; 99% of the population of Arab or \JBerber\j origin; chief religion, \JIslam\j, 99% Sunni Muslim; official language Arabic, with French also spoken; unit of currency, the dinar.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
Mountains rise from Mediterranean coast in a series of ridges and plateaux to the Atlas Saharien; 91% of population located on narrow coastal plain; part of \JSahara Desert\j in S; major depression, Chott Melrhir, in NE; Ahaggar Mts in far S, rising to 2918 m/9573 ft at Mt Tahat; typical Mediterranean climate on N coast; rainfall annual average of 400--800 mm/15.8--31.5 in (mostly Nov--Mar); snow on higher ground; \JAlgiers\j annual rainfall of 760 mm/30 in, average maximum daily temperatures 15--29░C; rest of the country an essentially rainless Saharan climate.
\IHistory and government\i
Indigenous peoples (Berbers) driven back from the coast by many invaders, including Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, \JArabs\j, Turks, and French; became a province of the Roman Empire; \JIslam\j and Arabic introduced by \JArabs\j, 8th--11th-c; Turkish invasion, 16th-c; French colonial campaign in 19th-c led to control by 1902; guerrilla war (1954--62) with French forces by the National Liberation Front (FLN); independence gained, 1962; first president of the republic, Ahmed Ben Bella, replaced after coup in 1965; elections and a new constitution, 1976; cancellation of general election, 1991, following the likely victory of the Islamic Salvation Front; formation of a non-party transitional government; state of emergency, 1992, with continuing violence involving Islamic fundamentalists, including attacks on foreigners, 1993; under the constitution, governed by a president and a 430-member National People's Assembly, elected every 5 years; a 200-member National Transition Council introduced in 1994.
\IEconomy\i
Large-scale \Jnationalization\j after 1963; agriculture, mainly on N coast (wheat, \Jbarley\j, oats, grapes, \Jcitrus\j fruits, vegetables); food processing, textiles, clothing; \Jpetroleum\j products account for c.30% of national income; \Jnatural gas\j reserves estimated to be world's fourth largest; pioneer in the development of liquid \Jnatural gas\j; constructed with \JItaly\j the first trans-Mediterranean gas pipeline.
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"Algiers",931,0,0,0
PN [al\Bjeerz\b]
EN 36░50N 3░00E, pop (1995e) 3 208 000. Seaport capital of \JAlgeria\j, N Africa; 805 km/500 mi SW of \JMarseille\j (\JFrance\j); founded 10th-c by Berbers on the site of Roman Icosium; Turkish rule established by Barbarossa, 1518; taken by the French, 1830; Allied headquarters and seat of de Gaulle's provisional government in World War 2; University of \JAlgeria\j (1879); university of sciences and technology (1974); airport; railway; trade, commerce and administration, wine; Sidi Abderrahman Mosque, Sidi Mohammed Sherif Mosque, Djama Djehid Mosque (16th-c); cathedral; national library; Bardo Museum, Museum of Antiquities, National Museum of Fine Arts.
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"alginates",932,0,0,0
EN The \Jcalcium\j salts of alginic acid, found in seaweeds, forming viscous solutions which hold large amounts of \Jwater\j. They are used in food manufacturing as thickening agents in such products as ice-creams and yogurts. They are not digested in the small \Jintestine\j, but are fermented by the microflora of the large \Jintestine\j.
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"Algol",933,0,0,0
EN An eclipsing binary star in Perseus, the prototype of the Algol-type variable stars. English astronomer John Goodricke (1764-86) suggested in 1782 that the variations were due to an unseen companion revolving around the star with immense velocity, a theory confirmed by \Jspectroscopy\j in 1889. There is also a third star in \Jorbit\j. Distance: 35 parsec.
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"ALGOL (Algorithmic Language)",934,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bgol]
EN \JAcronym\j for \BALGOrithmic Language,\b a high-level programming computer language developed in Europe in the late 1950s for mathematical and scientific use at approximately the same time as \JFORTRAN\j was being developed in the USA.
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"Algonkin",935,0,0,0
PN [al\Bgong\bkin]
HS or \BAlgonquin\b
EN Scattered small groups of \JAmerican Indians\j speaking Algonkian (Algonquian) languages, living in forest regions around the \JOttawa\j River in Canada. Most were slaughtered by the \JIroquois\j or died from European diseases: only c.2000 survive. They work mainly as trappers, hunters' guides, and market gardeners.
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"Algonquin",936,0,0,0
EN See Algonkin
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"algorithm",937,0,0,0
EN A set of explicit, finite, and precisely determined rules, the step-by-step application of which to a complex problem will yield a solution or optimal results. The set of rules for doing simple multiplication is an \Jalgorithm\j. Because they are precise and can be applied without judgment, algorithms can be programmed into computers.
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"Algren, Nelson",938,0,0,0
DT (1909-81)
EN writer; born in \JDetroit\j, Mich. He trained as a journalist after a childhood in the \JChicago\j slums. After working at a variety of jobs during the Depression, he settled in \JChicago\j and became a leading exponent of the \JChicago\j school of realism; his five streetwise novels include \IThe Man With the Golden Arm\i (1949, National Book Award) and \IA Walk on the Wild Side\i (1956).
After 1956 he wrote mostly stories and essays, producing only one novel (1981). In later years he became known for having had an affair with the French intellectual/writer, Simone de Beauvoir.
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"Alhambra",939,0,0,0
PN [al\Bham\bbra]
EN The palace-fortress of the Moorish kings, built at \JGranada\j, \JSpain\j, in the 13th-14th-c; a world heritage site. It was partially demolished and rebuilt by Charles V in the 16th-c, but retains many beautiful halls and gardens characteristic of mediaeval Islamic \Jarchitecture\j.
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"Alhazen",940,0,0,0
PN [alhazen]
DT (c.965-1038)
EN Egyptian physicist: made major advances in \Joptics\j.
Alhazen rejected the older idea that light was emitted by the eye, and took the view that light was emitted from self- luminous sources, was reflected and refracted and was perceived by the eye. His book The Treasury of \JOptics\j (first published in Latin in 1572) discusses lenses (including that of the eye), plane and curved mirrors, colours and the \Jcamera obscura\j (pinhole camera).
His career in \JCairo\j was nearly disastrous. Born in Basra (now in \JIraq\j), he saw in \JCairo\j the annual flooding of the Nile and persuaded the caliph al-Hakim to sponsor an expedition to southern \JEgypt\j with the object of controlling the river and providing an irrigation scheme. Alhazen's expedition showed him only the difficulties, and on his return he realized that the caliph would probably ensure an unpleasant death for him.
To avoid this, he pretended to be mad, and maintained this successfully until the caliph died in 1021. Alhazen then considered studying religion, before turning fully to physics in middle age. His mathematical and experimental approach is the high point of Islamic physics, and his work in \Joptics\j was not surpassed for 500 years.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Alhazen was the first person known to have used a \Icamera obscura\i to study the \Jsun\j during eclipses, and he correctly explained the optical illusion which causes the \Jsun\j and the moon to look larger when they are near the horizon. One of his most interesting piece of work came when he noticed that the twilight only ceases or begins when the \Jsun\j is 19░ below the horizon, and tried to measure the height of the \Jatmosphere\j from that information. He estimated the height of a homogeneous \Jatmosphere\j to be some 90 kilometres.
Alhazen also studied the motion of bodies, and proposed something very similar to Newton's first law of motion, that moving bodies continue to move until some force acts on them. Today, he is commemorated in the Arabic world as a great scholar, and on the moon, by having his name attached to a plain to the west of the Mare Crisium.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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#
"Ali",941,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2 661
EN Fourth caliph (656-61), the cousin and son-in-law of Mohammed. He converted to \JIslam\j when still a boy, and married the \Jprophet\j's daughter, Fatima. He withdrew, or was excluded from government during the caliphates of Abu-Bakr and Omar, and disagreed with Uthman in the interpretation of the Koran.
Opposition to his caliphate, led by Muawiyah, began a major division within \JIslam\j between Sunni and Shiah Muslims. He was murdered in the mosque at Kufa. He is held by Shiah Muslims to be the only true successor to the \Jprophet\j.
EN Egyptian ruler, a slave from the Caucasus who distinguished himself in the service of Ibrahim Katkhuda and rose to be chief of the Mamluks. Victorious in the power-struggle that followed the death of Ibrahim in 1754, he had himself declared sultan (1768) and proceeded to establish in \JEgypt\j an adminstration independent of Ottoman overlordship. Defeated by Ottoman forces in 1772, he was forced to take refuge in \JSyria\j. Under him \JEgypt\j briefly achieved independence for the first time in more than 200 years.
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#
"Ali Pasha",943,0,0,0
HS , known as \Bthe Lion of Janina\b
DT1 1741
DT2 1822
EN Turkish leader. An \JAlbanian\j brigand and assassin, he became Pasha of Trikala in 1787 and Janina (in \JGreece\j) in 1788, and in 1803 became Governor of Rumili. At Janina he maintained a barbarous but cultured court often visited by European travellers, among them Lord Byron. He intrigued with \JFrance\j and Britain, but was deposed in 1820 and put to death.
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#
"Ali, (Chaudri) Mohamad",944,0,0,0
DT1 1905
DT2 80
EN Pakistani statesman and prime minister (1955-6), born in Jullundur, India. He studied at Punjab University, and in 1945 was the first Indian to be appointed financial adviser of war and supply. In 1947, on the partition of India, he became the first secretary-general of the \JPakistan\j government, in 1951 finance minister, and in 1955 prime minister. He resigned in 1956 because of lack of support from members of his own party, the Muslim League.
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"Ali, Muhammad",945,0,0,0
DT1 1942
EN \JBoxer\j, born in \JLouisville\j, Kentucky, USA. He was an amateur \Jboxer\j (1954--60), who then became the Olympic light-heavyweight champion. He won the world heavyweight title in 1964, defeating Sonny Liston when he retired at the end of the sixth round. At that time he joined the Black Muslims and adopted the name Muhammad Ali.
In 1967, he refused to be drafted into the army on religious grounds, and was stripped of his title and barred from the ring. He took his case to the Supreme Court and had his boxing licence restored in 1970. In 1971 he was beaten by Joe Frazier, but beat him in 1974, and went on to meet George Foreman later that year, knocking him out in eight rounds to regain his title. He was beaten by Leon Spinks (1953-- ) in a split decision (Feb 1978), but regained the title the same year - the first man to win the world heavyweight title three times. His flamboyant style has made him a legend, and his slogan "I am the greatest' became a catch phrase.
Ali was President Carter's special envoy to Africa in 1980 (attempting to persuade nations to boycott the Olympics). He has starred in two films, \IThe Greatest\i (1976) and \IFreedom Road\i (1978), and an Oscar-winning documentary film, \IWhen We Were Kings\i, recounting the 1974 Ali v. Foreman fight, appeared in 1996. Ali retired in 1981.
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#
"Alia, Ramiz",946,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\blia]
DT1 1925
EN \JAlbanian\j statesman and president (1985--92), born in Shkoder, Albania. A former president of the youth wing of the ruling Communist Party of Labour of Albania (APL), he was inducted into the Party's central committee in 1954 and made minister of education (1955) and head of agitprop (1958).
He entered the APL's secretariat (1960) and \JPolitburo\j (1961), and on the death of Hoxha (1985) took over as APL leader. Although returned to power in the country's first multi-party elections in 1991, he was defeated the following year.
BK Biog99
#
"Alißkmon, River",947,0,0,0
PN [ali\Bak\bmon]
HS , ancient \BHaliacmon\b
EN River in W Macedonia region, N \JGreece\j; rises near the \JAlbanian\j border, flows south-east then north-east to enter the Gulf of Salonika; longest river in \JGreece\j; length 297┐km / 185┐mi.
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#
"alibi",948,0,0,0
EN A type of defence to a criminal charge: the defendant claims that at the time of the crime he or she was elsewhere. In English law, details of an \Jalibi\j defence have to be given within seven days of committal; usually an \Jalibi\j defence cannot be 'sprung' upon a criminal court. Most US jurisdictions also require advance notice of an \Jalibi\j defence. In Scotland, a plea of special defence, such as an \Jalibi\j, must be put at the first court appearance, unless special cause is shown.
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"Alicante",949,0,0,0
PN [alee\Bkan\btay]
EN 38░23N 0░30W, pop (1995e) 263 000. Seaport and capital of Alicante province, SE \JSpain\j; 422 km/262 mi SE of Madrid; airport; railway; car ferries to \JMarseille\j, Oran, Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca; popular winter resort; metal products, textiles, paper, \Jtobacco\j, \Jfertilizer\j, trade in fruit and wine; promenade, Castle of St Barbara, Church of St Mary (14th-c); bonfires in honour of St John (Jun).
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#
"Alice Maud Mary, Princess",950,0,0,0
DT1 1843
DT2 78
EN British princess, the second daughter of Queen Victoria. In 1862 she married \BPrince Louis of Hesse-Darmstadt\b (1837-92). They had four daughters: the eldest became the mother of Louis, Earl Mountbatten; the youngest, Alexandra, married Nicholas II of \JRussia\j.
MEX Alexandra Feodorovna; Mountbatten (of \JBurma\j)
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#
"Alice Springs",951,0,0,0
EN 23░42S 133░52E, pop (1995e) 21 600. Urban centre in \JNorthern Territory\j, C \JAustralia\j; administrative and supply centre for the settlements and \Jcattle\j stations of the Outback; established, 1890; airfield; railway terminus; Flying Doctor Service regional headquarters; tourist centre for the region; \Javiation\j museum; Camel Cup camel races (May); Bangtail Muster with rodeos, parades, and \Jcattle\j round-ups (May); \JAlice Springs\j Show Day (5 Jul); Henley-on-Todd Regatta, with mock yacht races on the dry bed of the Todd R (Aug).
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#
"alien",952,0,0,0
EN A person who is not a citizen of a state. A citizen of country X is usually an alien in country Y and vice versa. In the UK, for example, aliens may hold most kinds of property, but may not vote or hold a public office. The US constitution prohibits discrimination against aliens in jobs that do not require state security.
Aliens may acquire citizenship of a country by naturalization or, in some cases, marriage. It has yet to be decided whether any of this applies in the case of the other modern use of the term, referring to visitors from outer space.
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"Alien and Sedition Acts",953,0,0,0
EN (1798) US laws passed to crush political opposition, led by Thomas Jefferson, then vice-president. Two Alien Acts gave the president great power over foreigners. The Sedition Act authorized fining and imprisonment for public criticism of the government. They lapsed or were repealed during the period 1800-2.
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"alienation",954,0,0,0
EN Until the mid-20th-c, known mainly as a term referring either to the legal transfer of property or to progressive insanity. It then acquired currency as a key term in sociology, deriving from its earlier use by Hegel and Marx, denoting the \Jdisorientation\j, depersonalization, and powerlessness of the individual in an increasingly bureaucratized industrial society.
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#
"alienation-effect",955,0,0,0
HS or \BV-effect\b
EN A common translation of German \IVerfremdungseffekt,\i a term coined by Brecht to describe any theatrical means - directorial, histrionic, or literary - used to help an audience see as unfamiliar what they assume to be familiar. These effects remind the audience that what they are watching is only a play, and not real life. The audience is thus distanced from what is taking place on the stage.
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#
"alimentary canal",956,0,0,0
EN A tube in which foodstuffs are ingested, digested, and absorbed, and waste products excreted; also known as the \Bgut,\b or the \Bgastro-intestinal tract.\b It may exist as a simple structure with only one opening to the exterior (as in coelenterates, platyhelminths), or as a more complex structure with two openings (as in vertebrates). In the latter case, food is ingested via the mouth, and unassimilated material is expelled from the anus.
In many animals the canal is anatomically divided to provide partial separation (eg in invertebrates such as insects and cephalopods), or complete separation (eg in higher vertebrates such as mammals and birds) into regions which secrete different enzymes and absorb digestive products.
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#
"Alinsky, Saul (David)",957,0,0,0
DT (1909-72)social activist; born in
EN \JChicago\j. Director of the Industrial Areas Foundation (1939-72), he organized \JChicago\j slum dwellers to demand better housing and education, then trained others to be community organizers. After the 1964 race riots, he brought his organizing skills to urban ghettos. In \IRules for Radicals\i (1971), he articulated his principles of social activism.
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#
"aliphatic compound",958,0,0,0
PN [ali\Bfat\bik]
EN A carbon compound, especially one derived from a fatty acid, containing no aromatic groups.
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#
"aliyah",959,0,0,0
PN [ah\Blee\bah]
HS (Heb 'ascend')
EN The name given to the waves of Jewish migration to Palestine. The different waves were inspired by the push of persecution and the pull of \JZionism\j, and drew Jews from \JRussia\j, C Europe, and the \JMiddle East\j. The first two waves, spanning the years 1882-1914, were in response to pogroms in \JRussia\j and C Europe as well as the encouragement of the World Zionist Organization, and brought an estimated 60-70┐000 Jews to Palestine.
The next three waves (1919-39), initially encouraged by the Balfour Declaration and the establishment of the British Mandate in Palestine, incurred opposition from Palestinian \JArabs\j as 365┐000 immigrants began to change the demographic balance. To preserve the peace in Palestine with the onset of World War 2, Jewish \Jimmigration\j was halted.
The sixth aliyah, coming mostly between 1945 and the establishment of the state of Israel, brought over 118┐000 Jews, including many survivors of the \JHolocaust\j. By 1948, the Jewish community numbered c.650┐000, or one third of the population of Palestine. Since statehood, numerous waves of immigrants have reached Israel, such as the Falashas from \JEthiopia\j (1984) and emigrΘs from the former \JSoviet Union\j, reaching a peak of 10┐000 a month in early 1990.
BK a
#
"alkali",960,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bkaliy]
EN A strong base, especially sodium and \Jpotassium\j hydroxides. Solutions of alkalis have high values of \JpH\j, and are used as cleaning materials, as they dissolve fats. The \Balkali metals\b are Group I of the \Jperiodic table\j: \Jlithium\j, sodium, \Jpotassium\j, rubidium, and caesium. They are all characterized by being readily oxidized to compounds in which they exist as singly charged cations, and by having hydroxides which are strong bases.
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"alkaline-earth",961,0,0,0
EN Strictly, the elements \Jcalcium\j, \Jstrontium\j, \Jbarium\j, and \Jradium\j, but often including \Jberyllium\j and \Jmagnesium\j as well, hence Group II of the \Jperiodic table\j. These elements mainly form compounds in which they occur as doubly charged cations, and are largely responsible for the hardness of \Jwater\j.
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#
"alkaloids",962,0,0,0
EN Organic, \Jnitrogen\j-containing bases from plants which include complex ring structures. Their functions are not fully understood, but may include protection against grazing animals, and a role in \Jnitrogen\j assimilation. Many \Jalkaloids\j have biological activity, and have been used as drugs, such as \Jquinine\j, \Jmorphine\j, and \Jcocaine\j. However, they may also be very toxic, as in the case of \Jstrychnine\j.
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#
"alkanamides",963,0,0,0
EN See \Jamides\j
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#
"alkanes",964,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bkaynz]
EN Saturated \Jhydrocarbons\j, having a general formula C\Dn\d H\D2n +2\d, derived from \Jmethane\j by the addition of successive -CH\D2\d- groups. Also known as \Iparaffins,\i they are generally unreactive, but make up the major components of \Jpetroleum\j.
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#
"alkanet",965,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bkanet]
EN The name given to several plants of the borage family. True alkanet \I(Alkanna tinctoria)\i is a bristly perennial growing to 15┐cm / 6┐in; leaves oblong; flowers with a red tube and blue lobes; native to S Europe. The roots yield a red dye of the same name. \B(Family:\b Boraginaceae.)
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#
"alkanoic acids",966,0,0,0
EN See carboxylic acids
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#
"alkanols",967,0,0,0
EN See alcohols
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#
"alkanones",968,0,0,0
EN See \Jketones\j
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#
"alkanoyl",969,0,0,0
EN See acyl
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#
"alkenes",970,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bkeenz]
EN \JHydrocarbons\j containing one or more double bonds; also called \Bolefins.\b With one double bond, their general formula is C\Dn\d H\D2n\d. They are mainly reactive by addition.
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#
"alkyl",971,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bkiyl]
EN A group C\Dn\d H\D2n+1\d-, derived from an alkane, such as methyl (CH\D3\d-), \Jethyl\j (C\D2\dH\D5\d-), and \Jpropyl\j (C\D3\dH\D7\d-).
BK a
#
"alkynes",972,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bkiynz]
EN \JHydrocarbons\j containing one or more triple bonds; also called \Bacetylenes.\b With one triple bond, the general formula is C\Dn\d H\D2n-2\d.
BK a
#
"All Blacks",973,0,0,0
EN The \JNew Zealand\j national rugby union football team. The term was first applied to the team that toured Britain in 1905.
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#
"All Fools' Day",974,0,0,0
EN See April Fool
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#
"All Saints' Day",975,0,0,0
EN A Christian festival commemorating all the Church's saints collectively; held on 1 November in the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Eastern Churches; formerly known as \BAll Hallows\b (Old English \Ihalga,\i 'saint'); the preceding evening is \JHallowe'en\j.
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"All Souls' Day",976,0,0,0
EN In the Roman \JCatholic Church\j, the \Jday\j (2 Nov) set apart as a \Jday\j of prayer for souls in \Jpurgatory\j; also celebrated by some Anglicans; in the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrated about two months before Easter.
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"All-India Muslim League",977,0,0,0
EN A political organization (founded 1906) to protect Indian Muslim rights. During the 1930s and 1940s it campaigned under M A Jinnah's leadership for an independent Muslim state separate from future independent India. It was the dominant party in \JPakistan\j after 1947.
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"Allah",978,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bah]
EN The Islamic name for God. Prior to Mohammed, Allah was the supreme but not the sole deity in \JArabia\j. It was Mohammed's mission to proclaim Allah as the sole God, the creator and sustainer of all things, who in the last days will judge all of humanity. Allah is known to human beings through the revelation of his will in the Koran which he delivered piecemeal to his \JProphet\j Mohammed.
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"Allahabad",979,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bla-habahd]
EN 25░25N 81░58E, pop (1995e) 873 000. City in Uttar Pradesh, NE India; on N bank of R Yamuna where it joins the R Ganges, 560 km/348 mi SE of New Delhi; founded, 1583; ceded to the British, 1801; airfield; railway; cotton, sugar; centre of \JHindi\j literature; Great Mosque, Sultan Khossor's caravanserai, fort containing the Asoka pillar (240BC);Hindu religious festival (Kumbh Mela), held every 12 years.
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#
"Allais, Maurice",980,0,0,0
PN [alay]
DT1 1911
EN Economist and engineer, born in Paris, \JFrance\j. He was professor of economic theory at the Institute of Statistics in Paris (1947--68), and since 1954 has been director of the Centre for Economic Analysis.
His primary contributions have been in the reformulation of the theories of general economic equilibrium and maximum efficiency, and in the development of new concepts relating to capital and consumer choice. He received the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1988.
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#
"Allan, David",981,0,0,0
DT1 1744
DT2 96
EN Genre and portrait painter, known as the 'Scottish Hogarth', born in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, C Scotland, UK. He studied in Glasgow and in \JRome\j, went to London (1777-80) to paint portraits, and became director of the Edinburgh Academy of Arts in 1786. He illustrated Allan Ramsay's \IGentle Shepherd\i and some of Robert Burns' poems.
MEX Hogarth
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#
"Allan, Sir Hugh",982,0,0,0
DT1 1810
DT2 82
EN Shipowner, born in Saltcoats, North Ayrshire, W Scotland, UK. He settled in 1826 in Canada, where his company of shipbuilders prospered, and founded the Allan Line of steamers. His financial support of the 1872 Conservative Party election campaign led to a scandal which brought down the government.
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#
"Allan, Sir William",983,0,0,0
DT1 1782
DT2 1850
EN Historical painter, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. In 1805 he went to St Petersburg, then spent several years in \JRussia\j and Turkey, painting scenes of Russian life. In 1841 he was appointed Queen's \JLimner\j (painter) in Scotland. His Scottish historical paintings include scenes from the novels of Sir Walter Scott.
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#
"Allard, Harry A. (Ardell)",984,0,0,0
DT (1880-1963)
EN botanist; born in Oxford, Mass. He worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (1906-46), concentrating his research on the \Jphysiology\j and \Jpathology\j of \Jtobacco\j and cotton. In 1920, with Wightman Garner, he discovered photoperiodism, a fundamental botanical law stating that the blossoming and fruiting of plants depends on the amount of exposure to light.
Allard was a consummate naturalist whose field explorations to study the plants of Virginia and West Virginia resulted in a variety of publications dealing with the songbirds, amphibians, and the "musical" insects of the region, such as crickets and grasshoppers.
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#
"Allardice, Robert",985,0,0,0
EN See Barclay-Allardice, Robert
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#
"Allbutt, Sir Thomas (Clifford)",986,0,0,0
DT1 1836
DT2 1925
EN Physician, born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, London, and Paris universities, practised medicine at Leeds, and became professor of medicine at Cambridge in 1892. In 1867 he introduced the short clinical thermometer. He wrote many medical works, especially on the heart and on the history of medicine.
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#
"Allcock, Tony",987,0,0,0
DT1 1955
EN British bowls player. His achievements include world outdoor champion (1980, 1984, 1988), world outdoor singles champion (1992, 1996), world indoor singles champion (1986--7), and world indoor pairs champion with David Bryant (1986--7, 1989--92). His books include \IImprove Your Bowls\i (1988) and \IBowl to Win\i (1994).
BK Biog99n
#
"Allegheny Mountains",988,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\buhgenee, aluh\Bgay\bnee]
EN Mountain range in E USA; W part of the Appalachian Mts; extends over 800┐km / 500┐mi from N \JPennsylvania\j SSW through Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia; forms the watershed between the Atlantic and the Mississippi R; highest point Spruce Knob, 1481┐m / 4859┐ft; rich in timber, \Jcoal\j, iron, and \Jlimestone\j.
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#
"allegory",989,0,0,0
EN A literary device by which another level of meaning is concealed within what is usually a story of some kind; also, the story itself. Myth and \Jfable\j are both allegorical. \JAllegory\j may therefore be understood as extended \Jmetaphor\j, or a continuous figure of speech. The form allows (indeed, invites) interpretation; it has often been used for works with a religious or political bearing, such as Bunyan's \IPilgrim's Progress\i (1678) and Orwell's \IAnimal Farm\i (1945).
BK a
#
"allele",990,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bleel, a\Bleel\b]
HS or \Ballelomorph\b
EN One of the alternative forms of a gene which can occur at a given point on a \Jchromosome\j (a \Ilocus).\i Alleles at a given locus controlling a particular character may vary in their effect, and there may be two, three, or more such alleles available in a population, of which each individual carries two - one from the father and one from the mother.
The term, introduced in 1902 to apply to Mendelian inheritance, is today increasingly applied to a short variant sequence of DNA, either within or adjacent to a functional gene.
BK a
#
"allemande",991,0,0,0
PN [ale\Bmahnd\b]
EN A dance originating in the 16th-c, probably in \JGermany\j. In the 17th-c it became a standard movement in the suite for lute or keyboard. It is in 4 / 4 time and moderate tempo, and usually begins with a short note before the first main beat.
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#
"Allen, Bryan",992,0,0,0
EN See MacCready, Paul (Beattie)
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#
"Allen, Edgar",993,0,0,0
EN See Doisy, Edward (Adelbert)
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#
"Allen, Ethan",994,0,0,0
DT (1738-1789)
EN soldier, Vermonter; born in Litchfield, Conn. He and his brothers acquired large landholdings in the "New Hampshire Grants" as \JVermont\j was then known. He formed the Green Mountain Boys, and resisted all efforts by New York and New Hampshire to control the \JVermont\j area. He and Benedict Arnold jointly captured Fort Ticonderoga (1775) but he was then captured by the British during an attack on Montreal.
After his imprisonment (1775-78), he returned to the new Republic of \JVermont\j. He sought to represent \JVermont\j as an independent political entity - he even negotiated with the British in pursuit of this goal. He died two years before \JVermont\j achieved statehood.
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#
"Allen, Florence (Ellinwood)",995,0,0,0
DT (1884-1966)
EN jurist, women's suffrage activist; born in \JSalt Lake City\j, \JUtah\j. The daughter of the first woman admitted to Smith College, she studied music but decided she lacked the talent to become a concert pianist and took up law instead. Admitted to the Ohio bar in 1914, she served as legal counsel for the suffragist movement, became assistant prosecutor for Cuyahoga County (1919) and was elected a common pleas court judge (1920).
In 1922 she won election to the Ohio Supreme Court. Appointed to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1934, she served for 25 years and in 1958 became the first woman named to a federal appellate chief judgeship. She retired from the bench the following year. Despite strong support from women's groups, she never received the U.S. Supreme Court nomination she sought.
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#
"Allen, Fred (b. John F. Sullivan)",996,0,0,0
DT (1894-1956)
EN comedian; born in Cambridge, Mass. Starting as a juggler as a youth, he switched to comedy when he found he was getting more laughs for his quips than applause for his skill. He appeared in \Jvaudeville\j and Broadway shows in the 1920s and moved into radio in the 1930s.
As host of \ITown Hall Tonight\i (1934-40) and then CBS's \ITexaco Star Theatre\i (1940-49), he wrote much of his material and was one of the first American comedians to employ situations and a cast of characters that satirized topical events. He converted somewhat reluctantly to \Jtelevision\j, starring in \IThe Colgate Comedy Hour\i (1953-54) and \IFred Allen's Sketchbook\i (1954).
The nature of his characteristically wry, ironic, even occasionally mordant humor was expressed in the title of his \Jautobiography\j, \ITreadmill to Oblivion\i (1954).
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"Allen, Frederick Lewis",997,0,0,0
DT (1890-1954)
EN author, editor; born in \JBoston\j. He became editor of \IHarper's Magazine\i in 1941 and was widely known for his colorful works of \Jsocial history\j, including \IOnly Yesterday\i (1931).
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"Allen, George",998,0,0,0
DT1 1832
DT2 1907
EN Publisher and engraver, born in Newark, \JNottinghamshire\j, C England, UK. A pupil of Ruskin, whose publisher he subsequently became, he started a business in Bell Yard, Fleet Street, which ultimately merged with others and became the house of Allen and Unwin.
MEX Ruskin
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"Allen, Gracie",999,0,0,0
EN see Burns, George
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"Allen, Henry Justin",1000,0,0,0
DT (1868-1950)
EN publisher, governor; born in Pittsfield, Pa. Starting as a reporter in Kansas, he bought his first newspaper in 1895, later publishing the \IWichita Beacon\i (1907-28), exposing local corruption. He worked for the American Red Cross in \JFrance\j in 1917-18, returning to be Republican governor of Kansas (1919-23); although he generally supported fairly liberal and reform legislation, he became best known for passing the Kansas Industrial Act to curb striking unions (1920). Briefly a U.S. senator (1929-31), he returned to journalism.
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"Allen, James (Alfred) Van",1001,0,0,0
EN See Van Allen, James (Alfred)
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"Allen, Paula Gunn",1002,0,0,0
DT1 1939
EN Poet and novelist, born in Cubero, New Mexico, USA. Of mixed Laguna Pueblo, Sioux, and Chicano parentage, she has been associated with the Native American Studies programme at the University of \JCalifornia\j, Berkeley. She has written several volumes of poetry and novels, all exploring a bicultural world.
\BMajor Works\b
\IPoetry\i
1974 The Blind Lion
1978 Coyote's Daylight Trip
1981 Starchild
1981 A Cannon between My Knees
1982 Shadow Country
1988 Skins and Bones
1991 Grandmothers of the Light: A Medicine Woman's Sourcebook
\INovels\i
1983 The Woman Who Owned The Shadows: The Autobiography of Ephanie Atenico
\IEditor\i
1989 Spider Woman's Granddaughters
\IOther\i
1987 The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine In American Indian Traditions
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"Allen, Ralph",1003,0,0,0
HS , known as \Bthe Man of Bath\b
DT1 ?
DT1 1694
DT2 1764
EN English philanthropist. A deputy postmaster at Bath, south-west England, UK, he made a fortune by improving postal routes in England. He built the mansion of Prior Park, near Bath.
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"Allen, Red",1004,0,0,0
HS , originally \BHenry Allen, Jr\b
DT1 1908
DT2 67
EN Jazz trumpeter and singer, born in \JAlgiers\j, LA. As a boy, he marched alongside his father's famous \JNew Orleans\j Brass Band. In \JChicago\j in 1927, he joined King Oliver's band and travelled with it to New York, where he made his first recordings. He played the Mississippi steamboats (1928-9), then joined Fletcher Henderson's orchestra (1932-4).
He recorded prolifically, but when he joined Armstrong's orchestra (1937-40) he was kept in the background. When he finally made it to Europe in 1959, he was lionized, and for the rest of his days he happily played \JDixieland\j either in the raucous band at the Metropole in New York or on European tours.
MEX Armstrong, Louis; Henderson, Fletcher; Oliver, King
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"Allen, Richard",1005,0,0,0
DT (1760-1831)
EN Methodist minister, church founder; born in Philadelphia. Born a slave, he was sold as a child to a farmer in \JDelaware\j. He converted to \JMethodism\j as a young man and then converted his owner, who allowed Allen to obtain his freedom. While working at odd jobs, he educated himself and traveled throughout the mid-Atlantic state preaching.
By 1874 he was accepted as a Methodist preacher and he returned to Philadelphia to preach (1786-87). After an incident in which white parishioners forced the African-Americans present to segregate themselves, Allen led his black parishioners to form a Free African Society (1787). In 1794 he established a separate Methodist church for African-Americans.
In 1816 a number of independent black Methodist churches around the Northeast came together to form the African Methodist Episcopal Church; Allen was ordained its first bishop (April 11, 1816) and led it until his death as it expanded not only as a religious force but also in civil and social activism. This has often been called one of the most enduring institutions ever organized by African-Americans.
Allen himself was a strong patriot, even supporting the \JWar of 1812\j, and he denounced the notion of sending African-Americans to colonize in Africa.
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"Allen, Sir George Oswald Browning",1006,0,0,0
HS , known as \BGubby Allen\b
DT1 1902
DT2 89
EN Cricketer, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. He studied at Cambridge, played for England in 25 Tests, and was captain in the Tests against India in 1936. He is the only player to have taken all ten wickets in an innings at Lord's (10-49 against Lancashire, 1929), and with Lake E G Ames (1905-90) he holds the all-time Test eighth-wicket record with a partnership of 246 against \JNew Zealand\j in 1931.
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"Allen, Sir Harry Brookes",1007,0,0,0
DT1 1854
DT2 1926
EN Pathologist, born in Geelong, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. He studied at Melbourne University, and became its Foundation professor of \Jpathology\j (1906-24). On a visit to the UK in 1890 he persuaded the General Medical Council in London to recognize medical degrees conferred by Melbourne, pioneering the eventual wider recognition of colonial academic qualifications.
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"Allen, Steve",1008,0,0,0
DT1 1921
EN Entertainer, born in New York City, USA. Born into a show business family, his early life was spent travelling with their \Jvaudeville\j act. He later worked in \JHollywood\j for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), and successfully pioneered the first late-evening talk show, \IThe Tonight Show\i (1953). A diversely talented man, he composed many hit songs including "This Could Be the Start of Something Big' and "Impossible'.
\BMajor Works\b
\IAlbums\i
1955 Jazz for Tonight
\IComposer - songs\i
This Could Be The Start of Something Big
Impossible
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"Allen, Terry (de la Mesa)",1009,0,0,0
DT (1888-1969)
EN soldier; born in Fort Douglas, \JUtah\j. The famously profane son of a professional soldier, "Terrible Terry" Allen failed to graduate from West Point, and fought as a professional \Jboxer\j for a time. During World War II, he became the only officer to lead two infantry divisions in battle - the 1st, composed largely of regulars, in \JSicily\j in 1943, and the conscript 104th, which he trained in Oregon and led in \JFrance\j and \JGermany\j in 1944-45.
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"Allen, Viola",1010,0,0,0
DT 1869-1948
EN American actress. In 1884 the actor John McCullough engaged her to play his daughter in Virginius, then made her his leading lady. Later she played opposite W.E. Sheridan, Tommaso Salvini and Joseph Jefferson III. She was leading lady in Charles Frohman's Empire Stock Company. An intelligent and appealing actress, she was highly regarded for such portrayals as Viola and the double roles of Hermione and Perdita. She retired in 1918.
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"Allen, Walter (Ernest)",1011,0,0,0
DT1 1911
DT2 95
EN Novelist and critic, born in Birmingham, West Midlands, C England, UK. He studied at Birmingham University, then held several university posts in Britain and the USA. His first novel, \IInnocence is Drowned,\i was published in 1938, and he scored a considerable success with \IDead Man Over All,\i in 1950. He wrote several critical works, including \IThe English Novel: A Short Critical History\i (1954).
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"Allen, William (1532-94)",1012,0,0,0
DT1 1532
DT2 94
EN Clergyman, born in Rossall, Lancashire, north-west England, UK. He became principal of St Mary's Hall, Oxford, but after the accession of Queen Elizabeth in 1558 he went into exile in Flanders (1561) rather than take the Oath of Supremacy. In 1568 he founded the English college at Douai to train missionary priests for the reconversion of England to Catholicism, and supervised the Reims-Douai translation of the \JBible\j. In 1587 he was created a cardinal.
MEX Elizabeth I
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"Allen, William (1803-79)",1013,0,0,0
DT (1803-79)
EN U.S. representative, governor; born in Edenton, N.C. He moved to Ohio (1819) and was admitted to the bar in 1827. He served in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Dem., Ohio; 1833-35) and in the U.S. Senate (Dem., Ohio; 1837-49). An ardent expansionist, he was chairman of the committee on foreign relations.
He acted as a spokesperson for President James Polk during the deliberations on the start of the Mexican War. An antiwar Democrat during the \JCivil War\j, he later served as governor of Ohio (1874-76). Ohio placed his statue in the U.S. Capitol.
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"Allen, William (Hervey)",1014,0,0,0
DT (1889-1949)
EN writer, poet; born in \JPittsburgh\j, Pa. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy but took his B.S. from the University of \JPittsburgh\j (1915). He served briefly on the Mexican border with the National Guard and then with the U.S. Army in \JFrance\j during World War I; his war diary, \IToward the Flame\i (1926), was highly regarded in its \Jday\j. After some graduate study at Harvard, he taught English at a high school in Charleston, S.C. (1919-25) and then at several colleges.
During the 1920s he published many volumes of his poetry and lectured on poetry at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference (Vt.), but his reputation as a poet soon faded. Instead, he is best known for his still-relevant \Jbiography\j of Edgar Allan Poe, \IIsrafel\i (1926), and for a swashbuckling historical novel, \IAnthony Adverse\i (1933). The popularity of the latter freed him to go on writing historical novels set in the \JCivil War\j and the \JPennsylvania\j frontier, but nothing ever repeated the success he enjoyed with \IAnthony Adverse.
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"Allen, William (McPherson)",1015,0,0,0
DT (1900-85)
EN \Jaircraft\j manufacturer; born in Lolo, Montana. A Harvard educated lawyer, he worked for the legal counsel of Boeing \JAircraft\j, joining the company's board of directors in 1931. First as president and then chairman and chief executive officer, from 1945 to 1972 he guided Boeing as it became the world's largest commercial jet transport producer.
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"Allen, Woody",1016,0,0,0
DT1 1935
EN Film actor and director, born in Brooklyn, New York City, USA. \IWhat's New, Pussycat?\i (1965) saw the start of a prolific film-making career that initially consisted of slapstick lunacy and genre \Jparody\j in such productions as \IBananas\i (1971) and \ILove and Death\i (1975). \IAnnie Hall\i (1977) marked a shift in style and substance to more concentrated, autobiographical pieces and won him Oscars for writing and direction.
Subsequently, he has explored his concerns with mortality, sexual inadequacies, show-business nostalgia, \Jpsychoanalysis\j, and urban living in such films as \IInteriors\i (1978), \IManhattan\i (1979), \IBroadway Danny Rose\i (1984), and \IHannah and Her Sisters\i (1986, Oscar). His books include \IGetting Even\i (1971) and \IWithout Feathers\i (1976).
Later films include \IHusbands and Wives\i (1992) - whose release ironically coincided with the much-publicized breakdown of his long-term relationship with actress \BMia Farrow\b (1945-- ) - \IBullets over Broadway\i (1994, Oscar), and \IEveryone Says I Love You\i (1997). In 1993 his private life received adverse publicity after losing a court battle for custody of three of their children, following the revelation of an affair with Farrow's adopted daughter, Soon-Yi.
\BMajor Works\b
\IActor/Director\i
1971 Bananas
1973 Sleeper
1975 Love and Death
1977 Annie Hall
1979 Manhattan
1984 Broadway Danny Rose
1986 Hannah and Her Sisters
1989 Crimes and Misdemeanors
1990 Scenes from a Mall
1992 Husbands and Wives
1997 Everyone Says I Love You
\IDirector only\i
1978 Interiors
1984 The Purple Rose of Cairo
1987 September
1988 Another Woman
1990 Alice
1994 Bullets Over Broadway
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"Allenby, Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount",1017,0,0,0
DT1 1861
DT2 1936
EN British soldier, born in Brackenhurst, \JNottinghamshire\j, C England, UK. He trained at Sandhurst, and joined the Inniskilling Dragoons. In World War 1 he commanded the 1st Cavalry Division and then the Third Army in \JFrance\j (1915-17). Thereafter he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Egyptian expeditionary force against the Turks, took Beersheba and Gaza, and entered \JJerusalem\j (1917). In 1918 he routed the Egyptians in the great cavalry battle of \JMegiddo\j. He was later high commissioner in \JEgypt\j (1919-25).
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"Allende (Gossens), Salvador",1018,0,0,0
PN [a\Byen\bday]
DT1 1908
DT2 73
EN Chilean statesman and president (1970-3), born in Valparaφso, \JChile\j. He helped found the Chilean Socialist Party, was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1937, served as minister of health for three years, and was a senator (1945-70). He sought, and failed to win, the presidency in 1952, 1958, and 1964, but was narrowly successful in 1970.
He tried to build a Socialist society within the framework of a parliamentary democracy, but met widespread opposition from business interests. He was overthrown by a military junta, led by General Augusto Pinochet, and died in the fighting.
MEX Pinochet
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"Allende, Isabel",1019,0,0,0
PN [a\Byen\bday]
DT1 1942
EN Novelist, born in Lima, \JPeru\j, the niece and god-daughter of Salvador Allende, the former president of \JChile\j. Several months after the overthrow of \JChile\j's coalition government in 1973, she fled \JChile\j, seeking sanctuary in Venezuela. Her first novel, \IThe House of the Spirits\i (1985), which arose directly out of her exile, became a worldwide best-seller and critical success. Her later books include \IOf Love and Shadows\i (1987) and \IThe Infinite Plan\i (1993).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1985 The House of the Spirits
1987 Of Love and Shadows
1993 The Infinite Plan
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"allergy",1020,0,0,0
EN A reaction of the body or tissue to contact with certain foreign substances. These substances are called \Ballergens,\b and in sensitive individuals they react with proteins \I(\Jantibodies\j)\i produced within the body by cells of the immune system. The reaction between the allergen and \Jantibodies\j results in the liberation of substances which damage body cells and tissues, including \Jhistamine\j, hydroxtryptamine, and bradykinin. A large number of substances found in nature (eg \Jpollen\j) are actual or potential allergens, and are capable of inducing a wide range of illnesses such as \Jasthma\j and \Jdermatitis\j.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Approximately one person in eight is genetically predisposed to be allergic.
\ITreatment:\i Avoidance of allergen where possible (e.g. house dust mite for \Jasthma\j sufferers). Medications include anti-histamines which reduce the acute effects of symptoms or long term corticosteroid drugs which can prevent symptoms from occurring.
Modern technology is responsible for producing new chemical allergens each year in plastics, paints, food additives, etc. Thus allergic disease is increasing in western countries.
\IWritten by Jane King\i
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"alley farming",1021,0,0,0
EN An \Jagroforestry\j system developed to maintain soil productivity, in which rows of fast-growing leguminous trees are planted at intervals of 4-6┐m / 13-20┐ft within fields of annual crops. The trees reclaim \Jnutrients\j from deep soil layers and fix atmospheric \Jnitrogen\j. Their branches can be used as nitrogen-rich forage or as green \Jmanure\j, thus making a useful contribution to sustainable agriculture.
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"Alley, Rewi",1022,0,0,0
DT1 1897
DT2 1987
EN Writer and teacher, born in Springfield, Canterbury, \JNew Zealand\j. After service in World War 1 and a failed farming venture, he went to China in 1927. There he spent the rest of his life promoting the concept of industrial co-operative education. From 1938 he was involved with the \IGung Ho\i ('work together') scheme, and from 1945 at Shandan in China he directed a model school to teach peasants how to produce goods for the community by employing low technology methods.
He wrote over 70 books, including volumes of travel and poetry. Sympathetic to the Communists, he was one of the few Westerners who remained in China after they came to power there in 1949.
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"Alleyn, Edward",1023,0,0,0
DT 1566-1626
EN English actor. He is known to have been with the Admiral's Men at the Rose by 1592, where he played Marlowe's towering heroes. His career, unlike that of his fellow leading actor Richard Burbage, was interrupted when he retired from the stage in 1597, and with his father-in-law Philip Henslowe ran the Bear Garden and built the Fortune as a new home for the Admiral's Men.
When the Fortune opened in 1600, Alleyn returned to the stage. His highly rhetorical style may by then have seemed old- fashioned, but he did not finally retire until 1604. In 1613 he began the building of the College of God's Gift at Dulwich (then a few miles southeast of London).
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"AllgΣu Alps",1024,0,0,0
PN [\Bahl\bgoy]
HS , Ger \BAllgΣuer Alpen\b
EN Mountain range extending E from Lake Constance along the Austro-German border to the Lech River valley; highest peak, the MΣdelegabel (2645┐m / 8678┐ft); major \Jcattle\j-rearing area (the AllgΣu breed), dairying; many spas and medicinal springs.
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"Allgood, Sara",1025,0,0,0
DT1 1883
DT2 1950
EN Actress, born in Dublin. At the Abbey Theatre she created the parts of Juno Boyle and Bessie Burgess in Sean O'Casey's \IJuno and the Paycock\i and \IThe Plough and the Stars\i (1926) respectively. In 1940 she settled in \JHollywood\j, and appeared in over 30 films, including \IJane Eyre\i (1943), \IThe Lodger\i (1944), and \IBetween Two Worlds\i (1944).
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"Alliaco, Petrus de",1026,0,0,0
EN See Ailly, Pierre d''
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#
"Alliance",1027,0,0,0
EN See Liberal Party (UK); Social Democratic Party (SDP)
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#
"Alliance for Progress",1028,0,0,0
EN A 10-year programme of modernization and reform for countries in \JLatin America\j, sponsored by the US government in 1961 on the initiative of President Kennedy. Few of its aims were achieved, despite numerous specific development projects.
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"Allibone, Samuel Austin",1029,0,0,0
DT (1816-89)
EN bibliographer; born in Philadelphia. He started out in business, working for an insurance company in Philadelphia. Between 1867 and 1879, as editor of the American Sunday School Union, he published many indices and anthologies, including \IAn Alphabetical Index to the New Testament\i (1868) and \IProse Quotations from \JSocrates\j to Macaulay\i (1876). His invaluable three-volume \ICritical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors\i was published in 1858 and 1871.
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"Allies",1030,0,0,0
EN The term generally applied to the nations that fought the 'Axis' powers during World War 2. By 1942 the combatant countries comprising the Allies included \JGreat Britain\j and the \JBritish Commonwealth\j, USA, \JSoviet Union\j, \JFrance\j, and China, while Costa Rica, \JCuba\j, \JBrazil\j, and Mexico had also declared war on \JGermany\j and \JJapan\j. By March 1945 they had been joined by \JBulgaria\j, \JFinland\j, \JHungary\j, \JItaly\j (which nations had been previously allied to Nazi Germany), and Turkey.
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"alligator",1031,0,0,0
EN A \Jcrocodile\j-like \Jreptile\j of family Alligatoridae; short broad snout; fourth tooth from the front on each side of the lower jaw is hidden when the jaws are closed (unlike the \Jcrocodile\j); two species: \BAmerican alligator\b \I(Alligator mississippiensis)\i from south-east USA, and the rare \BChinese alligator\b \I(Alligator chinensis).\i
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"Allingham, Margery",1032,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\binguhm]
DT1 1904
DT2 66
EN Detective-story writer, the creator of the fictional detective Albert Campion, born in London, England, UK. She wrote a string of elegant and witty novels, including \ICrime at Black Dudley\i (1928), \ITiger in the Smoke\i (1952), and \IThe China Governess\i (1963).
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"Allingham, William",1033,0,0,0
DT1 1824
DT2 89
EN Poet, born in Ballyshannon, Co \JDonegal\j, Ireland. In 1874 he succeeded James Froude as editor of \IFraser's Magazine.\i His works include \IDay and Night Songs\i (1854), illustrated by Rossetti and Millais, and \IIrish Songs and Poems\i (1887).
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"Allison, William B. (Boyd)",1034,0,0,0
DT (1829-1908)
EN U.S. senator; born in Perry, Ohio. A lawyer by profession, he entered Ohio politics and joined the new Republican Party. In 1857 he moved to \JIowa\j and practiced law before going to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Rep., \JIowa\j; 1963-72).
Although implicated in the Credit Mobilier railroad scandal of 1870, he went on to serve in the U.S. Senate (1873-1908) where he became one of the leaders of the Republican delegation, renowned for his ability to unite opposing groups. A fiscal conservative, he took moderate stands on currency issues such as the Bland-Allison Silver Act (1878).
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"alliteration",1035,0,0,0
EN The repetition of a consonantal sound or sounds; to be distinguished from \Bassonance,\b the repetition of a vowel sound. Both are illustrated in these lines by Keats: 'Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn / Among the river sallows, borne aloft / Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies'. The dominant consonants here are \Il,\i \Im / n,\i and \Iw; \i an example of assonance is the link between \Ismall,\i \Imourn,\i and \Iborne.\i An intrinsic part of the sound-structure of poetry, alliterative effects may also be cultivated in prose.
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"Allitt, Beverley",1036,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bit]
DT1 1969
EN British convicted murderer. A nurse by profession, she was convicted in 1993 of the murder of four children in her care and of the attempted murder of three others. Dubbed the UK's first female serial killer, she allegedly suffered from a medical condition termed "Mⁿnchhausen's syndrome by proxy'.
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"allium",1037,0,0,0
EN A member of a large \Jgenus\j of perennials, all with a strong, distinctive onion smell, native to the Northern hemisphere; most form bulbs with a brown papery skin; leaves usually tubular, sometimes elliptical or strap-shaped; flowers with six \Jperianth\j-segments, bell- or star-shaped, in dense umbels.
In many species the flowers are mixed with, or completely replaced by bulbils, which allow the plant to reproduce vegetatively. They include several well-known vegetables and ornamentals. \B(Genus:\b \IAllium,\i 450 species. \BFamily:\b Liliaceae.)
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"allopathy",1038,0,0,0
PN [a\Blo\bpathee]
EN (Gr \Iallos,\i 'different' + \Ipathos,\i 'suffering') A term used by Samuel Hahnemann to describe the approach of orthodox medicine, which gives treatment to suppress the symptoms of an illness using the principle of opposites (eg analgesics for pain, purgatives for \Jconstipation\j). This contrasts with the homeopathic approach, which encourages rather than suppresses the body's reaction to a disease process.
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"allophone",1039,0,0,0
EN See \Jphoneme\j
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"Allori, Alessandro",1040,0,0,0
PN [a\Blaw\bree]
DT1 1535
DT2 1607
EN Florentine mannerist painter, adopted and trained by Bronzino, whose name he and his son, \BCristofano\b (1577-1621), later adopted. They both were portrait painters at the Medici court, and executed religious works for the churches of Florence.
MEX Bronzino
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"Allosaurus",1041,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bosawrus]
EN A large flesh-eating \Jdinosaur\j reaching 11┐m / 36┐ft in length and two tonnes in weight; bipedal, powerful hindlimbs, and short forelimbs, both with three claws; muscular tail assisted in balancing; teeth with serrated edges; known from the Upper Jurassic period of \JNorth America\j. \B(Order:\b Saurischia.)
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"allotrope",1042,0,0,0
EN One of several forms in which an element may exist. These may be different molecular forms, as O\D2\d and O\D3\d, or they may be different crystal modifications, as \Jgraphite\j and diamond (allotropes of C).
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Sulphur is found in several forms, \Jphosphorus\j occurs in two forms, and tin is also capable of arranging itself in two distinct ways.
There is a popular legend that Napoleon's troops, retreating from Moscow, suffered the indignity of having their trousers fall down, as a result of their tin buttons crumbling in the intense Russian cold. Sadly, there is no truth to this legend.
Carbon must have one of the highest number of allotropes, with eight distinct forms known, apart from the common ones mentioned above: two forms of \Jgraphite\j, two forms of diamond, chaoit (discovered in 1968), and carbon VI, found in 1972. Two distinct fullerenes were also discovered in 1985 by Robert F. Curl, Harold W. Kroto and Richard E. Smalley, along with two graduate students, J. R. Heath and S. C. O'Brien.
That being said, the major allotropes of carbon are diamond and \Jgraphite\j. In diamond each carbon atom has four single (sigma) bonds to four other carbon atoms and is in a tetrahedral arrangement. This gives the diamond a very strong 3-dimensional structure. \JGraphite\j has a two dimensional structure, which explains why it is such an effective \Jlubricant\j.
Each carbon atom in \Jgraphite\j is surrounded by three other carbon atoms in the same plane (a trigonal planar arrangement). The bond order between each carbon atom in the plane is 1.5. The different planes of carbon atoms are weakly held together by the interacting \Jpi\j-clouds, but this is much less effective, allowing the planes to slip past each other. Berzelius converted amorphous carbon to \Jgraphite\j in 1841.
The allotropes of \Jphosphorus\j have very different chemical properties. White \Jphosphorus\j will auto-ignite at 29░C, while red \Jphosphorus\j only does so at 260░C.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"alloy",1043,0,0,0
EN A blend of a metal with one or more other metals or with a non-metallic substance. Most pure metals lack the properties needed to make them practically useful, and are nearly always used as some alloy. The properties of the alloy may differ considerably from those of any of the constituents, and vary with the proportions used, as with brass.
Alloys known since ancient times include bronze (copper with tin), brass (copper with zinc), and \Jpewter\j (lead with tin). Modern alloys include stainless steels (iron / \Jchromium\j / nickel), and high \Jtemperature\j-resistant alloys for use in gas turbines (containing \Jtitanium\j).
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"Allport, Gordon (Willard)",1044,0,0,0
DT (1897-1967)
EN psychologist; born in Montezuma, Ind. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1922, then spent 1922-24 in Europe on a fellowship. He was instructor of social ethics at Harvard (1924-26) and assistant professor of \Jpsychology\j at Dartmouth (1926-30); he returned to Harvard's \Jpsychology\j faculty in 1930, where he became Cabot Professor of Social Ethics in 1966. His most influential work was \IPersonality: A Psychological Interpretation\i (1937), revised as \IPatterns and Growth in Personality\i (1961).
Among his several innovative approaches to the study of human \Jpsychology\j was his use of individuals' personal writings and artistic creations. He was a guest professor at various institutions, served as president of the American Psychological Association from 1939-40, and was awarded the American Psychological Foundation's gold medal in 1963.
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"Allsopp, Samuel",1045,0,0,0
PN [\Bawl\bsop]
DT1 1780
DT2 1838
EN British philanthropist, a member of the brewing firm of Allsopp & Sons, Burton-on-Trent, C England, UK. The youngest of his three sons, \BHenry\b (1811-87), to whom the development of the firm was largely due, represented Worcestershire in parliament (1874-80), and in 1886 was created Lord Hindlip.
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"allspice",1046,0,0,0
EN An evergreen tree \I(Pimenta dioica)\i native to tropical America and the West Indies; leaves elliptical; flowers creamy; fruit small, round; also known as \Bpimento\b or \BJamaican pepper.\b Spice made from its dried, unripe fruits has a flavour like that of \Jcinnamon\j, cloves, and \Jnutmeg\j combined, hence the name. \B(Family:\b Myrtaceae.)
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"Allston, Robert (Francis Withers)",1047,0,0,0
DT (1801-64)
EN farmer, governor; born in Waccamaw, S.C. A West Point graduate (1821), he spent a year on the Geodetic Coastal Survey when family matters called him home to oversee the rice plantation. An innovative farmer, he improved cultivation methods and developed better varieties of seed, samples of which won medals at the 1855 Paris Exposition.
In 1843 he published \IMemoir on Rice.\i In addition to farming, he was South Carolina's surveyor general (1823-27), a state representative (1828-30) and a state senator (1832-56) until he was elected governor (1856-58). As governor, he emphasized the importance of local taxation to supplement the support of schools.
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"Allston, Washington",1048,0,0,0
DT (1779-1843)
EN painter; born in \JGeorgetown\j County, N.C. He spent many years in England (1801-18), studied with Benjamin West (1801-03), became friends with Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Washington Irving, and produced romantic paintings, such as \IThe Rising of a \JThunderstorm\j at Sea\i (1804).
He returned to \JBoston\j (1818), settled in Cambridgeport, Mass., and continued to paint poetic and narrative subjects, as in \IThe Flight of Florimell\i (1819) and \IThe Moonlit Landscape\i (1819). His most famous pupil was Samuel F. B. Morse.
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"Alltrans",1049,0,0,0
EN See Abeles, Sir (Emil Herbert) Peter
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"alluvium",1050,0,0,0
EN A geological term for unconsolidated material deposited by a river. The material ranges in size from clay, through silt and sand, to gravel. \JAlluvium\j is generally well sorted (ie deposits are of a uniform or narrow size range), and the material is rounded.
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"Alma-Ata",1051,0,0,0
EN See Almaty
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"Alma-Tadema, Sir Lawrence",1052,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bma \Btad\bema]
DT1 1836
DT2 1912
EN Painter of Classical-genre paintings, born in Dronrijp, The Netherlands. He studied at the Antwerp Academy of Art, and came to specialize in subjects from Greek, Roman, and Egyptian antiquity. He achieved great popularity with such Classical idyllic scenes as 'Tarquinius Superbus' (1867) and 'The Conversion of Paula' (1898).
He was a painstaking technician and spared no expense. For 'The Roses of Heliogabalus' (exhibited Royal Academy, 1896), fresh roses were sent weekly from the S of \JFrance\j so that every petal - and the picture contains thousands - could be depicted accurately. He settled permanently in England in 1873, and was knighted in 1899.
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"Almack, William",1053,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2 1781
EN British clubman, of either Yorkshire or Scottish origin (possibly originally \BMcCall).\b He came at an early age to London, opening a gaming club in Pall Mall in 1763, and Almack's Assembly Rooms in King Street, St James's, in 1765. These became centres of London society.
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"Almagro, Diego de",1054,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bmagroh]
DT1a c.
DT1 1475
DT2 1538
EN Conquistador, born in Almagro, \JSpain\j. He was on the first exploratory expedition from \JPeru\j against the Incas led by Francisco Pizarro (1524-8). In the second expedition (from 1532), he joined Pizarro in 1533 at Cajamarca, and occupied the Inca capital of Cuzco.
In 1535-6 he led the conquest of \JChile\j, but came back to Cuzco in 1537 and, after a dispute with Pizarro, occupied it by force, thus beginning a \Jcivil war\j between the Spaniards. Early in 1538 he was defeated by an army led by Pizarro's brother, Hernando, and was captured and executed.
MEX Pizarro, Francisco
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"Almaty",1055,0,0,0
PN [al\Bma\btee]
EN 43░15N 76░57E, pop (1995e) 1 198 000. Former capital city of \JKazakhstan\j (to 1997, now Akmola); in the N foothills of the Zailiyskiy Alatau range, c.300 km/185 mi from the Chinese frontier; established in 1854 as a military fortress and trading centre; destroyed by \Jearthquake\j, 1887; airport; railway; university (1934); Academy of Sciences (1968); \Jengineering\j, printing, film-making, foodstuffs, \Jtobacco\j, textiles, leather; noted tourist and athletic centre; \JAscension\j cathedral (1904, world's second highest wooden building).
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"Almeida, Brites de",1056,0,0,0
PN [al\Bmay\bda]
DT1a fl.
DT1 1385
EN Legendary Portuguese heroine, born in Aljubarrota, \JPortugal\j. She is said to have been a baker; about 1385, during the war between John I and the King of Cadiz, she led her townspeople against the Spanish forces and killed seven of them with her baker's shovel. The incident was celebrated by Camoens in a poem.
MEX Camoens
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"Almeida, Francisco de",1057,0,0,0
PN [al\Bmay\bda]
DT1a c.
DT1 1450
DT2 1510
EN Portuguese soldier and first viceroy of the Portuguese Indies (1505-9), until he was superseded by Affonso d'Albuquerque. He was killed in South Africa on his voyage home in a skirmish with natives at Table Bay.
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"Almeida-Garrett, Joπo Baptista da Silva Leitπo",1058,0,0,0
EN See Garrett, Joπo Baptista de Almeida
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"Almirante, Giorgio",1059,0,0,0
PN [almi\Bran\btay]
DT1 ?
DT1 1915
DT2 88
EN Leader of \JItaly\j's neo-Fascist Party, born near Parma, \JItaly\j. He helped to found the neo-Fascist movement after the war, becoming national secretary of the Party in 1969. He retired in 1987 because of ill health.
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"Almodovar, Pedro",1060,0,0,0
PN [almo\B\Ut\u\b;\B\Uh\u\b;o\Bvar\b]
DT1 1951
EN Film director, born in Calzada de Calatrava, \JSpain\j. His films are known for their provocative treatment of sexual themes. \IMujeres Al Borde de Un Ataque de Nervous\i (1988, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) won several prizes, and had an Oscar nomination as Best Foreign Film. Later films include \IAtame!\i (1990, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) and \IHigh Heels\i (1991).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1983 Entre Tinieblas (Dark Habits)
1986 Matador
1987 La Ley Del Deseo (The Law of Desire)
1988 Mujeres Al Borde de Un Ataque de Nervous (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown)
1990 Atame! (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!)
1991 High Heels
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"Almohads",1061,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bmuhhadz]
EN See \JBerber\j
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"almond",1062,0,0,0
EN A small, deciduous, sometimes spiny tree \I(Prunus dulcis)\i growing to 8┐m / 26┐ft, native to Asia; leaves narrowly oval, toothed; flowers pink fading to white, appearing before the leaves; fruit greyish, velvety, 3.5-6┐cm / 11/2-21/2┐in, oval; thin, leathery flesh surrounding pitted stone.
The \Bsweet almond\b (variety \Idulcis)\i is the source of edible almond nuts; \Bbitter almond\b (variety \Itamara)\i is inedible, but provides oil of bitter almonds used in industry; ornamental flowering almonds are other species. \B(Family:\b Rosaceae.)
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"Almond, Edward Mallory",1063,0,0,0
DT (1892-1979)
EN soldier; born in Luray, Va. A veteran of World War I and World War II, he commanded the amphibious invasion of Inchon, Korea, and captured the South Korean capital, Seoul (1950). When a massive Chinese counteroffensive threw the United Nations' drive into reverse, he led the X Corps in a fighting withdrawal southward from Choisin Reservoir.
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"Almoravids",1064,0,0,0
PN [almo\Bra\bvidz]
EN See \JBerber\j
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"Almquist or Almqvist, Carl Jonas Love",1065,0,0,0
PN [\Balm\bkwist]
DT1 1793
DT2 1866
EN Writer, born in Stockholm. He had a bizarrely chequered career as a clergyman and teacher; he was accused of \Jforgery\j and attempted murder, and fled to the USA. From 1865 he lived in Bremen under an assumed name. His prolific literary output, ranging from \JRomanticism\j to (from the late 1830s) Social Realism, encompassed novels, plays, poems, and essays, and was published in a 14-volume series, \IT÷rnrosens Bok\i (1832-51, The Book of the Briar Rose).
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"aloe",1066,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\boh]
EN A member of a large \Jgenus\j of shrub- or tree-like evergreens, native to Africa, especially S Africa, and \JArabia\j; leaves sword-shaped, tough, fleshy, often waxy and toothed, in rosettes at tips of stems; flowers tubular, yellow to red; often planted for ornament. The drug \Bbitter aloes\b is obtained from the sap. \B(Genus:\b \IAloe,\i 275 species. \BFamily:\b Liliaceae.)
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"Alonso de Santos, JosΘ Luis",1067,0,0,0
DT 1942-
EN Spanish playwright, acting teacher and critic. He became associated with the independent collective theatre movement during his student years. The premiere of his first original play coincided with Franco's death in November 1975, and he is recognized as a major author of the new theatre of democratic \JSpain\j.
Among important works are La estanquera de Vallecas (Hostages in the Barrio, 1981), El ßlbum familiar (Family Album, 1982) and Bajarse al moro (Going down to Marrakesh, 1985), the latter widely acclaimed, translated and filmed. Typically Alonso de Santos's plays are bitter-sweet comedies. Their surface humour, creative use of contemporary slang and intertextual references to filmic codes make them particularly appealing to a younger generation of theatregoers.
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"Alonso, Alicia",1068,0,0,0
PN [a\Blon\bsoh]
HS , originally \BAlicia de la Caridad del Cobre Martφnez Hoyo\b
DT1 1921
EN Dancer and choreographer, born in \JHavana\j, \JCuba\j. She launched her career in the USA where she studied and performed with the School of American Ballet and George Balanchine. In 1948 she returned to \JCuba\j to form the Alicia Alonso Company, which grew into a national ballet company for \JCuba\j. As a dancer she was famed for several roles, particularly the title role in \IGiselle\i.
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"Alonso, Dßmaso",1069,0,0,0
PN [a\Blon\bsoh]
DT1 1898
DT2 1990
EN Poet and philologist, born in Madrid. He travelled widely in Europe and America as teacher and lecturer, then became professor of romance philology at Madrid University, establishing his reputation as an authority on G≤ngora y Argote. He also published poetry, of which \IHijos de la ira\i (1944, Children of Wrath) is the best known.
MEX G≤ngora
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"alopecia",1070,0,0,0
PN [alo\Bpee\bsha]
EN Hair loss resulting from the failure of hair formation by the hair follicles. It may be patchy \I(alopecia areata)\i or generalized \I(\Jbaldness\j).\i It may be inherited, or stem from an underlying general illness or toxin (eg a drug) which disturbs the follicular activity.
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"Aloysius, St",1071,0,0,0
EN See Gonzaga, Luigi, St
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"Alp-Arslan",1072,0,0,0
HS (Turk 'hero-lion')
DT1 1030
DT2 72
EN Seljuk sultan, who succeeded his uncle Tⁿgrⁿl Beg in 1062. A skilful and courageous commander, he devoted his energies to extending the frontiers of the Seljuk empire. He restored good relations with the Abbasid caliph, and was about to launch a major offensive against its rivals, the Fatimids, when he was recalled to meet a Byzantine offensive in Armenia. At Manzikert in 1071 he defeated a numerically superior army, opening up the interior of Anatolia to penetration by the nomadic Turkmen tribes.
MEX Fatima
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"alpaca",1073,0,0,0
PN [al\Bpa\bka]
EN A domesticated member of the camel family, from \JPeru\j and \JBolivia\j \I(Lama pacos); \i resembles a long-haired \Jllama\j, but with a shorter face, neck, and legs; kept mainly for wool; sheared every two years; two breeds: \Ihuacaya\i and \Isuri.\i It may be cross-bred with the vicu±a (to produce the finer-woolled \Ipaco-vicu±a)\i or with the \Jllama\j.
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"Alpe Adria",1074,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bpay \Bad\bria]
EN A working association of 11 neighbouring regions in \JAustria\j, \JGermany\j, \JItaly\j, and former Yugoslavia, linked by cultural and economic interests; established in 1978; Ober÷sterreich, \JSalzburg\j, and Steiermark federal states in \JAustria\j; Veneto, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions in \JItaly\j; Bayern in \JGermany\j; \JCroatia\j; and \JSlovenia\j.
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"Alpers, Boris (Vladimirovich)",1075,0,0,0
DT 1894-1974
EN Soviet theatre critic and scholar. Following the 1917 Revolution he adopted a Bolshevik bias in his writing. A former member of Meyerhold's Dr Dapertutto Studio on Borodinsky Street (1914-15), Alpers helped to establish the Ligovsky Dramatic Theatre in Petrograd (1921-4), and later the Moscow Theatre of the Revolution, where he headed the literary section (1924-7) and where many of the 'social themes' originally proposed at the Ligovsky were realized.
From 1921 he wrote reviews, theoretical articles and books, the most important being The Theatre of the Social Mask (1931), written in the late 1920s, which presented the first proper assessment of Meyerhold's work to that point.
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"Alpha Centauri",1076,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bfa sen\Btaw\bree]
EN See \JCentaurus\j
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"alpha decay",1077,0,0,0
EN A naturally occurring radioactive decay process in which the atomic nucleus breaks up into a lighter nucleus and an alpha particle, which is ejected. It is governed by the \Jstrong nuclear force\j. Lead-210 is an alpha particle source with a half-life of 21 years.
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"alpha particle",1078,0,0,0
EN A particle emitted in alpha decay. It is composed of two neutrons plus two protons, the same as the \Jhelium\j nucleus, and identified as such by Ernest Rutherford in 1906; charge +2. It typically travels a few centimetres in the air before being brought to rest by collisions with air molecules. It causes the production of many ions, and in living tissue substantial biological damage.
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"alphabet",1079,0,0,0
EN The most economical and versatile form of writing system yet devised, because it breaks words down into their phonic components, assigning letters or combinations of letters to represent speech sounds. Thus, in English, the letter (or \Igrapheme)\i \Im\i represents the sound (or \Iphoneme)\i [m] in such words as \Imat; \i less obviously, the series \Io...e\i represents the long [ou] vowel sound in such words as \Ibone.\i
The symbols of an alphabetic writing system are not tied to the meanings of the words they represent, and the need for several thousand pictograms, for instance, is avoided. Most alphabets contain less than 30 symbols. However, they differ substantially in the regularity with which they correspond to the sound system: Spanish and Welsh, for instance, have a very regular system, whereas English and Irish \JGaelic\j (particularly in its most traditional form) have many exceptional spelling patterns which can be learned only by special rules.
Also, the alphabets of W European languages give vowels and consonants the same status, as full letters; but in the case of \Iconsonantal\i alphabets (eg the alphabets of India), the two types of sound are treated differently: the consonants are assigned the function of 'mapping out' the basic form of the word, and the vowels are added as diacritic marks.
The \JHebrew\j and Arabic alphabets take this system one step further, and allow the marking of the vowel diacritics to be optional. The model for all Western alphabets was the Etruscan (c.800 BC), itself based on the Greek alphabet, which had modified the \JPhoenician\j consonantal alphabet by adding vowel letters to it.
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"alphanumeric characters",1080,0,0,0
EN A set of characters which includes all the lower and upper case letters of the alphabet (a to z, A to Z), the digits 0 to 9, and some punctuation characters. The term is widely used in business computing, particularly with languages such as COBOL.
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"Alpher, Ralph (Asher)",1081,0,0,0
DT1 1921
EN Physicist, born in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. After studying at George Washington University, he spent World War 2 as a civilian physicist and afterwards worked at Johns Hopkins University and in industry. Together with Hans Bethe and George Gamow, he proposed in 1948 the "alpha, beta, gamma' theory, which suggests the possibility of explaining the abundances of chemical elements as the result of thermonuclear processes in the early stages of a hot, evolving universe. These ideas became part of the "\Jbig bang\j' model of the universe.
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"Alphonso",1082,0,0,0
EN See Alfonso I or Alfonso Henriques
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#
"Alphonsus Liguori, St",1083,0,0,0
EN See Liguori, St Alfonso Maria de''
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#
"alphorn",1084,0,0,0
EN A musical instrument found in rural communities, particularly in the Swiss Alps. Most alphorns are about 1.8┐m / 6┐ft long, made of wood, and can sound the first five or six harmonics; but examples up to twice that length are not uncommon.
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"alpine",1085,0,0,0
EN A botanical term for vegetation growing in mountains above the tree-line; also used for plants naturally occurring in such regions. Alpines are typically low-growing or dome-shaped perennials, adapted to withstand high levels of solar radiation and \Jdrought\j as well as cold.
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"Alpini, Prospero",1086,0,0,0
PN [al\Bpee\bnee]
HS , Lat \BProsper Alpinus\b
DT1 1553
DT2 1616
EN Botanist and physician, born in Marostica, \JItaly\j. While in \JCairo\j he observed the sexual \Jfertilization\j of the date palm, in which male and female flowers are on different trees, and described 57 wild or cultivated species in \JEgypt\j. In 1594 he became lecturer in botany at Padua, and director of the botanic garden there (1603). His \IDe medecina Egyptorum\i (1591) brought the \Jcoffee\j plant and the banana to European attention.
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"Alps",1087,0,0,0
EN Principal mountain range of Europe, covering 259┐000┐km\U2\u / 100┐000┐mi\U2\u in \JSwitzerland\j, \JFrance\j, \JGermany\j, \JAustria\j, \JLiechtenstein\j, \JItaly\j, \JSlovenia\j, \JCroatia\j, and Yugoslavia; a series of parallel chains over 1000┐km / 600┐mi SW-NE; originally formed by collision of African and European tectonic plates; source of many great European rivers, notably the Rhine, Po, and Rh⌠ne; \BWestern Alps\b (highest peaks in parentheses) consist of (1) \IAlpes-Maritimes\i (Cima Sud Argentera 3297┐m / 10┐817┐ft); (2) \IAlpes Cottiennes\i or \ICottian Alps\i (Monte Viso 3851┐m / 12┐634┐ft); (3) \IAlpes Dauphine\i (Barre des Ecrins 4101┐m / 13┐455┐ft); (4) \IAlpes Graian\i or \IGraian Alps\i (Gran Paradiso 4061┐m / 13┐323┐ft); \BMiddle Alps\b consist of (1) \IAlpi Pennine\i (\JMont Blanc\j 4807┐m / 15┐771┐ft, highest peak in the range; Matterhorn 4477┐m / 14┐688┐ft); (2) \IAlpi Lepontine\i (3553┐m / 11┐657┐ft); (3) \IAlpi Retiche\i or \IRhaetian Alps\i (Piz Bernina 4049┐m / 13┐284┐ft); (4) \IBerner Alpen\i or \IBernese Alps\i (Finsteraarhorn 4274┐m / 14┐022┐ft); (5) \IAlpi Orobie; \i (6) \I╓tztaler Alpen\i (Wildspitze 3774┐m / 12┐382┐ft); (7) \IDolomiti\i or \IDolomites\i (Marmolada 3342┐m / 10┐964┐ft); (8) \ILechtaler Alpen\i (3038┐m / 9967┐ft); \BEastern Alps:\b (1) \IZillertaler Alpen\i or \IAlpi Aurine\i (3510┐m / 11┐516┐ft); (2) \IKitzbⁿhler Alpen\i (2559┐m / 8396┐ft); (3) \IKarnische Alpen\i or \ICarnic Alps\i (2781┐m / 9124┐ft); (4) \IJulijske Alpe\i or \IJulian Alps\i (Triglav 2863┐m / 9393┐ft); (5) \IHohe Tauern\i or \INoric Alps\i (\JGrossglockner\j 3797┐m / 12┐457┐ft); (6) \INiedere Tauern\i (2863┐m / 9393┐ft); notable passes include the Mont Cenis, St Bernard (Little and Greater), Gemmi, Simplon, St Gotthard, Splugen, Stilfserjoch (Stelvio), and Brenner; railway tunnels at Col de FrΘjus, Lotschberg, Simplon, and St Gotthard; summer pasture on many lower slopes; major tourist region, with highly developed facilities; \Jmountaineering\j and \Jskiing\j; towns have manufactures concerned with native and imported products such as textiles, clocks, chocolate, wooden goods; in 1911 Karl Blodig was the first to climb all peaks over 4000┐m (13┐000┐ft).
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"Alred",1088,0,0,0
EN See Aldred or Ealdred
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"Alsace",1089,0,0,0
PN [al\Bsas\b]
EN pop (1995e) 1 674 000; area 8280 sq km/3196 sq mi. Region of NE \JFrance\j, comprising the departments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin, part of Upper Rhine Plain on frontier with \JGermany\j; crossed S--N by Rhine and Ill Rivers; traditional scene of Franco--German conflict; formerly part of Lorraine before becoming part of German Empire; Treaty of \JWestphalia\j (1648) returned most of \JAlsace\j to \JFrance\j; ceded to \JGermany\j, 1871; returned to \JFrance\j, 1919; occupied by \JGermany\j in World War 2; chief towns, \JStrasbourg\j, \JMulhouse\j, Colmar; several spas, wine towns, and vineyards; fertile and industrially productive region; wine, beer, pottery, chemicals, paper, printed fabrics, textile dyeing and spinning, machinery, car manufacture.
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"alsatian",1090,0,0,0
EN See German shepherd dog
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#
"alsike",1091,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bsiyk]
EN A species of clover \I(Trifolium hybridum),\i probably native to Europe, grown as a fodder crop and now occurring in many temperate countries; a variable perennial growing to 60┐cm / 2┐ft; leaves with three-toothed leaflets, widest towards the tip; pea-flowers white or pink, in lax rounded heads to 3┐cm / 1 1/4┐in across. \B(Family:\b Leguminosae.)
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"Alsop, Joseph (Wright), Jr.",1092,0,0,0
DT (1910-89)
EN journalist; born in Avon, Conn. He wrote a syndicated political column, "Capital Parade" (1937-40) with Robert Kinter. He interrupted his career for wartime service with the U.S. Navy. In 1946 he started a new column, "Matter of Fact," which he wrote with his brother, Stewart Alsop, until 1958, then by himself until 1974. His interest in archaeology led him to write \IFrom the Silent Earth\i (1964).
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#
"Alsop, Stewart",1093,0,0,0
DT (1914-74)
EN journalist; born in Avon, Conn. A self-described New Deal liberal, he wrote a widely syndicated political column with his brother, Joseph Alsop, from 1946 to 1958. Later a \INewsweek\i columnist, he wrote \IStay of Execution\i (1973) about his final battle with leukemia.
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#
"Alston, Richard",1094,0,0,0
PN [\Bawl\bston]
DT1 1948
EN Choreographer, born in Stoughton, West Sussex, S England, UK. He studied at \JEton\j and Croydon College of Art (1965--7), and at the London School of Contemporary Dance (1967--70). He co-founded Strider in 1972 (disbanded 1975), the forerunner of the contemporary dance company Second Stride.
He studied in New York with Merce Cunningham (1975--7), then joined Ballet Rambert as resident choreographer (1980--6), and director (1986--92). In 1994 he became artistic director of the Richard Alston Dance Company.
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#
"alta comedia",1095,0,0,0
EN see comedia
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#
"Altai Mountains",1096,0,0,0
PN [\Bahl\btiy]
HS , Chin \BAltai Shan\b
EN Major mountain system of C Asia, extending from \JRussia\j (north-west) south-east along the border between north-west China and \JMongolia\j, into \JMongolia\j itself; source of the Irtysh and Ob Rivers; highest point, Mount Belukha (4506┐m / 14┐783┐ft); major mineral reserves.
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"Altaic",1097,0,0,0
PN [al\Btay\bik]
EN A hypothesized family of languages extending from the Balkan peninsula to the north-east of Asia; not accepted as a genetic family by many linguists. About 40 languages fall into three groups: Turkic, of which Turkish is the main member, spoken by c.45 million people in and near Turkey; Mongolian, of which Mongol is the main member, spoken by c.4 million in \JMongolia\j and China; and Manchu-Tungus, of which Evenki (as Tungus is now known) may have 30┐000 speakers. Manchu, once a lingua franca between China and the outside world, is now spoken by few of the 3 million who live in the Manchu province of China.
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"Altair",1098,0,0,0
PN [al\Btair\b]
EN See Aquila (\Jastronomy\j)
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"Altamira",1099,0,0,0
PN [alta\Bmee\bra]
EN 43░18N 4░08E. A Palaeolithic \Jlimestone\j cave of c.13┐500 BC on the N Spanish coast near Santander, celebrated for its vivid ceiling paintings of game animals (principally \Jbison\j, bulls, horses, hinds, and boars), some over 2┐m / 61/2┐ft long. Though discovered in 1879 by local landowner Marcelino de Sautuola, its authenticity was not established before 1902. It is now a world heritage site.
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"altarpiece",1100,0,0,0
EN In a Christian church, a carved or painted screen placed above the altar facing the congregation; known as an \Iancona\i (Ital), \Iretable\i (Fr), or \Ireredos\i (Eng). The earliest examples appeared in the 10th-11th-c. The \Ipala d'oro\i (gold \Jaltarpiece\j) in St Mark's, \JVenice\j, commissioned 1105, consists of gold and enamel-work, as well as sculptured figures, and includes images of Christ in Majesty with angels and saints, with scenes from the \JNew Testament\j and the life of the titular saint, Mark.
An \Jaltarpiece\j consisting of two panels is called a \Idiptych; \i three panels make a \Itriptych.\i They vary greatly in size, and were numerous in late mediaeval and Renaissance churches. In Protestant countries this development ended abruptly at the Reformation, and many altarpieces were destroyed, but in Catholic countries their production was encouraged, leading to the luxurious altarpieces of the Baroque period, both painted (Rubens, \JCaravaggio\j, van Dyck) and carved (Bernini). The modern preference for plain altars set forward, as in the early Church, has practically ruled out the \Jaltarpiece\j. There is simply nowhere to put it.
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"altazimuth",1101,0,0,0
PN [al\Btaz\bimuhth]
EN A type of \Jtelescope\j in which the principal axis can be moved independently in altitude (swinging on a horizontal axis) and \Jazimuth\j (swinging on a vertical axis). It is used in very large optical telescopes and radio telescopes, as well as simple amateur telescopes.
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"Altdorfer, Albrecht",1102,0,0,0
PN [\Balt\bdaw(r)fer]
DT1a c.
DT1 1480
DT2 1538
EN Painter, engraver, and architect, the leading member of the Danube School of German painting, born in \JRegensburg\j, \JGermany\j. His most outstanding works are biblical and historical subjects set against highly imaginative and atmospheric landscape backgrounds. He was also a pioneer of copperplate etching.
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"Alter, David",1103,0,0,0
DT (1807-81)
EN US physicist: contributed to spectral analysis.
A physician and inventor as well as a physicist, Alter was one of the earliest investigators of the spectrum. In 1854 he showed that each element had its own spectrum, conclusively proved a few years later by Bunsen and Kirchhoff in their pioneer research on the Fraunhofer lines. He also forecast the use of the spectroscope in \Jastronomy\j.
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"alternating current (AC)",1104,0,0,0
EN An electrical current whose direction of flow reverses periodically; the alternative is \Bdirect current (DC),\b where the flow is in a single direction only. The variation of current with time is usually sinusoidal, as produced naturally by rotating coils in magnetic fields (generators). Household current is AC, with frequencies varying to some extent between countries, eg 50┐Hz (UK), 60┐Hz (USA). Power transmission and transformers rely on AC.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Electricity comes to our homes in two different forms. We have the high voltage electricity which comes down the power lines, and the low voltage electricity which we get from torch batteries. But if you look carefully at a torch (flashlight) battery, you will see that the two \Jpoles\j are marked with plus and minus signs. The electricity from a dry cell (or any other cell for that matter) always flows in the same direction.
Join the \Jpoles\j of an electric cell with a conductor, and electrons flow from the negative electrode to the positive one. Unfortunately, Benjamin Franklin defined "positive" and "negative" in an arbitrary way, and so the "official" direction for current flow is from positive to negative-the opposite direction to the way the electrons travel. Usually, this does not matter, but you always need to be careful when you read old books about electricity, as they will probably use this convention.
Your power sockets have no \Jpoles\j at all, no positive and negative. Either 100 or 120 times each second, the current changes direction: we say it alternates. First it flows one way, and then it flows the other, giving us AC, or alternating current. The first thing we have to do with the electric power for computers and other electronic equipment, is to feed it to a transformer-\Jrectifier\j unit.
The transformer changes the voltage down to a safer level, and the \Jrectifier\j changes the electricity from AC to DC, which most electronic appliances need. So why bother to use high voltage AC at all? There are good reasons why: we waste less power when we send higher voltages down the wires, and a transformer only works on a variable current.
The stated voltages in different areas are misleading for two reasons. In the first place, a 240 volt supply can easily be 10 volts out, either way, and a 110 volt supply can vary by about five volts, depending on where the power is being received, with regard to the nearest step-down transformer (often called a "pole transformer" or a "sub-station"). Secondly, the peak voltage with a sine wave (sinusoidal) AC will actually be \F╓\n2 times the stated voltage. So a 240 volt supply can deliver as much as 350 volts at the peak of the high end of the range.
The variation between 50 Hz and 60 Hz AC standards is a little harder to explain. Early records reveal that German and British AC was 50 Hz in their AC sources, while in the USA, it was recognised that the most dangerous AC was 40 Hz, as this was the frequency most likely to cause fibrillation in the heart of a person exposed to electric shock. Yet while the US standard was set further away from the danger zone, many other parts of the world have stayed with the more risky 50 Hz.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"alternation of generations",1105,0,0,0
EN The progression of the life-cycle of a plant through two reproductive forms. The \Bsexual generation\b or \Igametophyte\i produces haploid gametes. These fuse and give rise to a diploid \Isporophyte,\i which produces haploid spores from which grow new gametophytes \B(asexual generation).\b
In \Jalgae\j, the \Jgametophyte\j is the dominant generation, occupying the major portion of the life-cycle, although the two generations are generally indistinguishable in structure. In bryophytes the \Jgametophyte\j is also dominant, but is very different in structure from the \Jsporophyte\j.
In ferns, \Jgymnosperms\j, and flowering plants, the \Jsporophyte\j is dominant; the \Jgametophyte\j of flowering plants is represented only by the \Jpollen\j tube and the embryo-sac. Alternation of generations also occurs in some animals; in coelenterates, for example, a sexual medusa-like stage alternates with an asexual polyp-like stage.
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"alternative and augmentative communication",1106,0,0,0
EN A means of communicating devised to help severely disabled people who are unable to speak or write normally because of a physical or mental handicap. \IAugmentative\i systems supplement normal language use; \Ialternative\i systems replace normal language entirely.
Examples include the use of sign languages, symbol boards, speech synthesizers, and \Jbraille\j. Typically, users wear or sit in front of a device containing a selection of letters, words, or messages, and type, touch, or point to the element they wish to communicate, using any mobile part of their body (eg foot, mouth, eyebrow) to operate a keyboard, switch, or pointing device. Major advances are in progress, following developments in electronic and computational technology.
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"alternative energy",1107,0,0,0
EN Sources of \Jenergy\j which do not rely on the burning of \Jfossil\j fuels (eg \Jcoal\j, gas, oil) or nuclear power to provide \Jenergy\j. With the controversial nature of nuclear power, and the recognition that \Jfossil\j fuels are a non-renewable resource and contribute significantly to \Jpollution\j, there is considerable interest in some countries in alternative sources, such as \Jsolar power\j, geothermal power, hydroelectric power, tidal power, and wind power.
Such sources are particularly important in countries which lack \Jfossil\j fuels, and are seen as having potential in economically developing countries. Alternative sources are often seen as being environmentally sound because \Jpollution\j is rarely a problem. However, their development is not without controversy: schemes to build barrages across estuaries to harness tidal \Jenergy\j are often attacked because of damage to estuarine ecosystems; hydroelectric power projects may require valleys to be flooded and people made homeless; the large number of wind towers needed for wind power are a visual intrusion.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The major problems with most \Jalternative energy\j sources involve keeping up an even supply of energy, and meeting peak demands. Wind farms produce very little energy in a dead calm, solar energy systems do not work so well at night, and tidal power gives nothing at the slack points, close to high and low tide. There is also no easy way of increasing the power of a system when people need a maximum power level on cold winter nights.
One solution lies in using the \Jalternative energy\j sources to produce power and store it, either by charging batteries (which is not very efficient, and costs a lot) or by pumping \Jwater\j from low level storages to higher storages. The problem here is that there are not very many good sites for storage at the tops of mountains-usually, you need a long deep valley for the job.
In one French tidal power installation, at Rance, there is a walled-off section inside the tidal dam which is kept full as the tide runs out, while the system is generating power from the rest of a tidal dam. At low tide, when there is no flow in either direction, \Jwater\j is allowed to pour from this dammed-off portion, generating power.
By the time this section is emptied, the tide is running back into the main dam, so the smaller dam is now closed off, and \Jenergy\j comes from the main flow. Then at the top of the tide, when there is no tidal flow, \Jwater\j is allowed to pour into the smaller dam until such time as the \Jwater\j outside the main dam has started to drop again.
As people start to evaluate \Jalternative energy\j properly, they will begin to realize that there are hidden 'carbon costs' associated with even an apparently clean method such as hydroelectricity. For example, a dam needs concrete and steel, and those require the use of energy which usually means burning \Jfossil\j fuels. There are also the costs of excavation and blasting, hauling materials, and producing the generators.
There is also a carbon cost from the plants which no longer are able to grow where the dam is now, and there will also be \Jmethane\j generated in the deep \Jwater\j of the dam, where vegetation rots in the oxygen-free \Jwater\j at the bottom of the dam. Some experts think that a hydroelectric dam may have to run for as long as 300 years to pay back the carbon costs associated with establishing the dam in the first place.
To take an extreme example, the Balbina dam in \JBrazil\j is a shallow dam covering 310,000 hectares (766,000 acres), with a third of that area being less than 4 metres (13 feet) deep. In \Jmethane\j and carbon dioxide (CO\D2\d), the dam generates the equivalent of 12 million tonnes of CO\D2\d, dropping to one million tonnes after ten years, and after 50 years, will still be producing an equivalent of 500,000 tonnes of CO\D2\d. Yet the output from a \Jfossil\j fuel power station delivering the same amount of electricity would be less than 400,000 tonnes a year, and you would not have to wait 50 years to get to that sort of level.
A better example, the Tucurui dam, also in \JBrazil\j, produces just half of the CO\D2\d of an equivalent \Jfossil\j fuel station, but this evaluation leaves out the initial carbon cost of building the dam. Around the world, hydroelectric dams cover some 600,000 square kilometres (230,000 square miles), and may be responsible for as much as 7% of the human-created CO\D2\d that fuels the \Jgreenhouse effect\j.
Advances in \Jalternative energy\j will require newer, lighter materials for the blades of wind turbines, materials with a low carbon cost, and materials for solar cells which also have a low carbon cost. The biggest of the wind turbines can now produce half a megawatt under ideal conditions, and researchers suggest that the year 2050 might see as much as 20% of the world's power taken from the wind.
The other needed advance is in \Jenergy\j storage methods, with \Jhydrogen\j from \Jelectrolysis\j usually being seen as the best prospect. \JHydrogen\j, of course, is highly flammable or explosive, in the right mix of gases, but it is easy to store, and \Jhydrogen\j is cheaper to transmit over longer distances (anything over 1,000 kilometres/620 miles) than the electrical \Jenergy\j that it represents. The only drawback is that, unlike cables, pipelines cannot cross large oceans.
The future may also see us all tapping into a global grid, with power cables linking the continents. Mountainous countries like \JNepal\j (current generating capacity 278 megawatts) could provide hydroelectric power from their steep valleys, and generate as much as 40,000 megawatts. At present, a 6,000 \Jkilometre\j (3,700 mile) transmission of electrical power is reasonably efficient. With that sort of cable length east and west, most developed countries could draw on \Jsolar power\j for 24 hours a \Jday\j.
Around the world, a variety of plant-based fuels have been tried, ranging from \JBrazil\j's large (but now uneconomic) \Jethanol\j production from sugar cane, coconut oil fuels, rape seed oil, oils derived from an alga called \IChlorella,\i several diatoms, and the saps of different trees.
Other attempts have been made to extract fuels from rubbish, and even from tallow derived from sheep. None of these has been highly successful but sooner or later we are going to run low on \Jfossil\j fuels, and when we do, some of these alternative technologies could come into their own.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"alternative medicine",1108,0,0,0
EN Approaches to the treatment of illness using procedures other than those recommended by orthodox medical science. The demand for such treatment has increased in recent years, as individuals who have not been relieved of their complaints by orthodox methods have become more inclined to look elsewhere for treatment.
There are many different approaches, and a recent publication on alternative medicine lists over 600 entries. Some of these procedures are based on theories of disease for which there is scanty evidence, and some invoke principles that most people would recognize as bizarre.
The fact that many of these approaches are empirical in their origin is not in itself a fault, as many medical treatments now incorporated into orthodox medical practice began as empirical observations, and only later acquired scientific justification. The problem is how to distinguish the genuinely effective from witchcraft and \Jsuperstition\j.
Hardly any of the therapeutic methods used as alternative medicine have been, or are readily capable of being, rigorously assessed, using the standard scientific techniques of critical assessment and refutation, or of comparison with the natural course of the ailment or with other remedies claimed to influence the ailment. At present, most of the claims for the success of alternative remedies remain anecdotal.
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"Altgeld, John Peter",1109,0,0,0
DT (1847-1902)
EN governor; born in Nieder Selters, \JGermany\j. Brought to Ohio as a baby, he received little schooling while working on his father's farm. A Union private in the \JCivil War\j (1864-65), he then taught school in Ohio, moving to Missouri where he became a lawyer in 1871 and a county attorney (1874-75). Moving to \JChicago\j, he opened his own law practice, making a fortune in real estate. He wrote \IOur Penal Machinery and Its Victims\i (1884), becoming Superior Court judge (1886-90), then \Jchief justice\j (1890-91).
As the Democratic governor of Illinois (1893-97), he gained sudden fame - and offended the conservative establishment - when he pardoned the remaining Haymarket Riot anarchists, claiming they had not been given a fair trial. He improved prison conditions and reformed trial and parole procedures. He advocated child labor laws and opposed the use of federal troops to end the Pullman Strike in 1894.
After campaigning for William Jennings Bryan in 1896, he lost his own re-election campaign, returning to his law practice with his partner, Clarence Darrow. He was penniless when he died but his reputation as a progressive reformer increased over the years.
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"Althusser, Louis",1110,0,0,0
PN [alt-hⁿser]
DT1 1918
DT2 90
EN Political philosopher, born in \JAlgiers\j. He studied in \JAlgiers\j and in \JFrance\j, was imprisoned in concentration camps during World War 2, and from 1948 taught in Paris. He joined the Communist Party in 1948, and wrote influential works on Marxist theory, including \IPour Marx\i (1965, For Marx) and \ILΘnin et la philosophie\i (1969, Lenin and Philosophy). In 1980 he murdered his wife, and was confined in an asylum until his death; self-justifying autobiographical pieces were published in 1992.
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"Altichiero",1111,0,0,0
PN [alti\Bkyay\broh]
DT1a c.
DT1 1330
DT2a c.
DT2 1395
EN Painter and possible founder of the Veronese School, born near Verona, \JItaly\j. He worked in Verona and also in Padua, where his frescoes in the \JBasilica\j of S Antonio (painted 1372-9) and in the Oratory of S Giorgio (1377-84) combine the solid Realism of Giotto with a new Gothic elegance typical of the later 14th-c. In S Giorgio he shared the work with a painter called Avanzo.
MEX Giotto
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"altimeter",1112,0,0,0
EN A device carried by an \Jaircraft\j to measure its height above the ground. The usual type operates by sending out a radio signal, and measuring the time taken by the signal to return, since the speed at which the radio signal travels is known. When the ground rises below the \Jaircraft\j, and the \Jaircraft\j maintains level flight, the \Jaltimeter\j registers a drop in altitude.
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"Altiplano",1113,0,0,0
PN [alti\Bplah\bnoh]
EN The arid plateau of W \JBolivia\j and S \JPeru\j between the W and E cordilleras; elevation 3000-5000┐m / 9800-16┐400┐ft. It is covered by widespread alluvial and glacial deposits, and the rivers and streams of the plateau drain into Lake Titicaca (Bolivia / Peru) and Lake Poop≤ (Bolivia). Both are closed lake basins, ie they do not drain to the sea.
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"Altizer, Thomas J(onathan) J(ackson)",1114,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\btiyzer]
DT1 1927
EN Theologian, born in Cambridge, \JMassachusetts\j, USA. He studied at \JChicago\j University, then taught religion, and later English, at Emory University (1956--68) and the State University of New York (from 1968).
As a proponent of one strand of the 1960s "Death of God' \Jtheology\j, he held that in the \JIncarnation\j God became fully human and lost his divine attributes and existence. His writings include \IThe Gospel of Christian Atheism\i (1966) and \IThe Self-Embodiment of God\i (1977).
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"Altman, Benjamin",1115,0,0,0
DT (1840-1913)
EN businessman, art collector; born in New York City. Much of his early life is obscure and he had little formal education. By 1865 he owned a dry goods store in New York City, and later founded B. Altman & Company (1906), which became one of the country's most stylish department stores.
He collected paintings and sculptures among other art works during his many visits to Europe. He bequeathed his collection to the Metropolitan Museum and a legacy to the National Academy of Design.
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"Altman, Robert",1116,0,0,0
DT1 1925
EN Film director, born in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. After serving in World War 2 as a pilot, he took up writing for radio and magazines, then produced industrial films. His first feature film was \IThe Delinquents\i (1957). He gained instant recognition for \IM\i\U*\u\IA\i\U*\u\IS\i\U*\u\IH\i (1970), and went on to direct and/or produce a series of highly individualistic films, noted especially for their simultaneous layers of dialogue.
Impatient with \JHollywood\j's conservative and commercial approach to film-making, he moved to Europe, although he returned to America to make such films as \INashville\i (1975), \IThe Player\i (1991), and \IKansas City\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1957 The Delinquents
1957 The James Dean Story
1967 Countdown
1970 MASH
1971 McCabe and Mrs Miller
1972 Images
1973 The Long Goodbye
1975 Nashville
1976 Buffalo Bill and the Indians
1977 Three Women
1982 Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
1983 Streamers
1984 Secret Honor
1991 The Player
1996 Kansas City
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"Altman, Sidney",1117,0,0,0
DT1 1939
EN Biochemist, born in Montreal, Canada. He became affiliated with Yale in 1971, and holds dual citizenship. He showed that the RNA molecule could rearrange itself, thereby altering the material it produces without requiring an \Jenzyme\j - a breakthrough in our understanding of genetic processes. He shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Thomas Cech in 1989.
BK Biog99
#
"Alto Paranß, River",1118,0,0,0
EN See Paranß, River
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#
"altocumulus clouds",1119,0,0,0
EN Middle-level clouds of the cumulus family at altitudes of c.2000-7000┐m / 6500-23┐000┐ft. They are white and / or grey in colour, and usually indicate fine \Jweather\j. \JCloud\j symbol: Ac.
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"altostratus clouds",1120,0,0,0
EN Middle-level clouds of the stratus family, similar to stratus clouds but less dense and occurring at higher elevations, typically c.2000-7000┐m / 6500-23┐000┐ft. They are greyish in colour with a sheet-like appearance, and give a warning of warm, rainy \Jweather\j associated with the passage of a warm front. \JCloud\j symbol: As.
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"Altounyan, Roger Edward Collingwood",1121,0,0,0
PN [altoonyan]
DT (1922-87)
EN British medical pioneer; introducer of the anti-\Jasthma\j drug sodium cromoglycate.
Of Irish-Armenian and English parentage, he was also the grandson of W G Collingwood (1854-1932), the friend and biographer of John Ruskin (1819-1900). Roger Altounyan was born in \JSyria\j, but spent summer holidays sailing in the Lake District with his sisters. Here the family met Arthur Ransome (1884-1967) and became the model for his Swallows and Amazons children's books. Roger's \Jasthma\j, however, was fact as well as fiction.
He studied medicine, and practised it at the Armenian \JHospital\j in \JAleppo\j run by his father and grandfather. In 1956 he returned to England and joined a pharmaceutical company. He was concerned that \Jasthma\j was not taken seriously and determined to find a cure.
For the next 10 years he worked in his own time testing compounds on himself, inducing \Jasthma\j attacks two or three times a week with a brew of guinea pig hair, to which he was allergic, almost certainly to the detriment of his own health. Compound 670, sodium cromoglycate, has been much used to prevent attacks of allergic \Jasthma\j and rhinitis. The Spinhaler device he invented to inhale the drug was based on \Jaircraft\j propellers; he had been a pilot and flying instructor during the war.
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"altruism",1122,0,0,0
EN The philosophical thesis that people sometimes do or should intentionally promote the interests of others to the detriment of their own interests. It is usually contrasted with \Iegoism,\i which asserts that all actions are really self-interested. Sociobiologists have recently studied how apparently altruistic behaviour in animals can be adaptive for the species.
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"alum",1123,0,0,0
EN Usually KAl(SO\D4\d)\D2\d.12H\D2\dO. Hydrated \Jpotassium\j \Jaluminium\j sulphate, \Bcommon alum.\b Other alums have Al substituted by Fe \B(iron alum)\b or Cr \B(chrome alum).\b All form large, octahedral crystals. Common \Jalum\j hydrolyzes in \Jwater\j to give gelatinous Al(OH)\D3\d, and can be used as a coagulant in \Jwater\j clarification.
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"alumina",1124,0,0,0
PN [a\Bloo\bmina]
EN Al\D2\dO\D3\d. Aluminium(III) oxide, the principal ingredient of \Jbauxite\j. It occurs in various forms, including emery or \Jcorundum\j (used as \Jabrasives\j), and the coloured forms, rubies and sapphires. Hydrated \Jalumina\j is used in \Jchromatography\j.
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"aluminate",1125,0,0,0
PN [a\Bloom\binuht]
EN Salt containing an anion derived from Al(OH)\D3\d by the replacement of \Jhydrogen\j by metal. \BSodium aluminate\b (NaAlO\D2\d) is used in \Jwater\j purification, coagulating various impurities in a precipitate of hydrated \Jalumina\j.
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"aluminium",1126,0,0,0
PN [alyoo\Bmin\byuhm] or \Baluminum\b [a\Bloo\bminuhm]
EN Al, element 13, melting-point 660░C, density 2.7┐g / cm\U3\u. A silvery metal, the third most abundant element in the Earth's crust, occurring mostly as aluminosilicates. It is extracted mainly by \Jelectrolysis\j of \Jalumina\j from \Jbauxite\j fused with cryolite (Na\D3\dAlF\D6\d). Although the metal is strongly electropositive, it forms a tough oxide coating and is then passive to further \Joxidation\j. Its cheapness, lightness, and \Jcorrosion\j resistance have found it many uses as an alloy in materials ranging from cooking utensils to \Jaircraft\j components. In its compounds, it mainly shows an \Joxidation\j state of +3.
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"Alva or Alba, Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo, duque d'(Duke of)",1127,0,0,0
DT1 1507
DT2 82
EN Spanish general and statesman, born in Piedrahita, \JSpain\j. A brilliant tactician, he became a general at 26, and a commander-in-chief at 30. After the \Jabdication\j of Charles V in 1556, he overran the States of the Church, but was obliged by Philip II to conclude a peace and restore all his conquests.
On the revolt of the Netherlands, he was sent as lieutenant-general in 1567 to enforce Spanish control there, establishing the 'Bloody Council' which drove thousands of Huguenot artisans to emigrate to England. He defeated William of Orange, and entered Brussels in triumph in 1568. Recalled by his own desire in 1573, he commanded the successful invasion of \JPortugal\j in 1581.
MEX Philip II (of \JSpain\j); William I (of the Netherlands)
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"alvar",1128,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bvah(r)]
EN A particularly fervent devotional Hindu saint of the Vaishava tradition. The word means 'diver', and is attributed to one who enters into the depth of mystical experience. Alvars are closely associated with the Tamils of S India.
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"Alvarado, Pedro de",1129,0,0,0
PN [alva\Brah\bt\buh\buoh]
DT1a c.
DT1 1485
DT2 1541
EN Conquistador, a companion of CortΘs during the conquest of Mexico (1519-21), born in \JBadajoz\j, \JSpain\j. He became Governor of Tenochtitlßn, where the harshness of his rule incited an Aztec revolt. He was sent by CortΘs on an expedition to \JGuatemala\j (1523-7), during which he also conquered parts of El Salvador. He returned to \JSpain\j, and in 1529 was appointed Governor of \JGuatemala\j.
MEX CortΘs
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"┴lvarez Lleras, Antonio",1130,0,0,0
DT 1892-1956
EN Colombian playwright. Considered to be the father of the modern Colombian theatre, he wrote 15 plays. From his first effort in 1907 to his masterpiece, El virrey Solis (The Viceroy Solis, 1948), he sought to internationalize Colombian theatre with psychologically realistic plays that were didactic and often historical.
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#
"Alvarez Quintero",1131,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bvareth keen\Btay\broh]
EN Playwrights and brothers: \BSerafφn Alvarez Quintero\b (1871-1938) and \BJoaquin Alvarez Quintero\b (1873-1944), born in Utrera, \JSpain\j. They were the joint authors of well over 100 modern Spanish plays, all displaying a characteristic gaiety and sentiment. Some are well known in the translations of Helen and Harley Granville-Barker, such as \IFortunato,\i \IThe Lady from Alfaqueque,\i and \IA Hundred Years Old\i (all produced in 1928), and \IDon Abel Writes a Tragedy\i (1933).
MEX Granville-Barker
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"Alvarez, JosΘ",1132,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bvareth]
DT1 1768
DT2 1827
EN Spanish sculptor of the Classical school. He was imprisoned in \JRome\j for refusing to recognize Joseph Bonaparte as King of \JSpain\j, but was later released and employed by Napoleon to decorate the Quirinal Palace. In 1816 he became court sculptor to Ferdinand VII in Madrid.
MEX Bonaparte, Joseph
SX m
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#
"Alvarez, Luis W(alter)",1133,0,0,0
PN [alvahrez]
DT (1911-88)
EN US physicist: developed the bubble-chamber technique in \Jparticle physics\j.
Alvarez was a student under Compton, and then joined Lawrence at the University of \JCalifornia\j at Berkeley in 1936. He remained there, becoming professor of physics in 1945.
Alvarez was an unusually prolific and diverse physicist. He discovered the phenomenon of orbital \Jelectron\j capture, whereby an atomic nucleus 'captures' an orbiting \Jelectron\j, resulting in a \Jnuclide\j with a lower proton number. In 1939, together with Bloch, he made the first measurement of the \Jmagnetic moment\j of a neutron.
During the Second World War he worked on radar, developing such devices as microwave navigation beacons and radar landing approach systems for \Jaircraft\j, and also worked on the American atomic bomb project. In 1947 he built the first proton linear accelerator, and later developed the bubble-chamber technique for detecting charged subatomic particles, which in turn led to a great increase in the number of known particles. For this he received the Nobel Prize for physics in 1968.
He was ingenious in the application of physics to a variety of problems. He used the X-ray component of natural cosmic radiation to show that Chephren's pyramid in \JEgypt\j had no undiscovered chambers within it; and he used physics applied to the Kennedy assassination evidence to confirm that only one killer was involved.
With his son Walter (1940- ) , a geologist, he studied the problem of the catastrophe of 65 000 000 years ago which killed the dinosaurs and other \Jfossil\j species; they concluded from tracer analysis that a probable cause was Earth's impact with an asteroid or \Jcomet\j, resulting in huge fires and/or screening of the Sun by dust.
His interest in optical devices led him to found two companies; one to make variable focus spectacle lenses, devised by him to replace his bifocals; the other to make an optical stabilizer, which he invented to avoid shake in his cine camera and in binoculars. He was an engaging and popular personality.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Luis Alvarez worked in his later years with his son Walter, trying to unravel the mystery of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, when the dinosaurs became extinct. It began with a \JCalifornia\j team studying the rocks at this boundary in Gubbio in \JItaly\j, looking for a chemical signature which might identify the same boundary in other parts of the world. On this clearly marked boundary, they found clear evidence of the rare metal iridium in clays, right on the boundary.
Typically, the levels of iridium were about 100 times higher than normal, and extrapolating this to the whole world, it suggested an input of iridium which could only have come from an asteroid with around 200 000 tonnes of iridium in it, something which would demand an asteroid about 10 km across.
Any asteroid travelling across space would probably crash into the \Jearth\j at around 15-20 km/s, and should leave a crater about 60 km across. It would send up huge tidal waves, pour vast amounts of mud into the sky, where it would evaporate to leave dust clouds high in the \Jstratosphere\j. Here was something that the physicist Alvarez (the father) could relate to, as he was aware that other physicists were worried about a "nuclear winter", where atomic bombs might put enough dust into the high \Jatmosphere\j to reflect away the \Jsun\j's rays, and maybe start a new \JIce Age\j.
Even a single volcanic eruption can put a "blip" in the \Jearth\j's \Jweather\j, so nuclear winter was a likely scenario, and Alvarez realised that an asteroid of that size would have the same \Jenergy\j as about a million one megatonne \Jhydrogen\j bombs. Perhaps, thought the Alvarezes and their colleagues, they had the answer.
Since then, similar raised levels of iridium have shown up at over 100 Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary sites, and a likely site for the impact has been found: the Yucatαn Peninsula in Mexico, although others favour the Manson crater in \JIowa\j which may be too small (or were there several asteroid impacts at about the same time?). There is other evidence to support this theory, like the carbon deposits found just above the iridium layer in some places, which may have been caused by wildfires started at the same time.
The problem, of course, is that there have been other extinctions where there seem to have been no \Jasteroids\j, and there have been asteroid impacts which seem not to be associated with extinctions, but if the theory is ever established beyond doubt, it is likely that Alvarez will be remembered more for that contribution than for any work leading to a Nobel Prize.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Scie
#
"alveoli",1134,0,0,0
EN See lungs
BK a
XCY y
#
"Alvey programme",1135,0,0,0
EN A UK-based collaborative research programme involving industry, government, and academic institutions which was intended to develop information technology and, in particular, fifth generation computers. It was established in 1982 through a working party chaired by John Alvey (1925-) .
BK a
#
"Alypius",1136,0,0,0
PN [a\Blip\bius]
DT1a fl.c.
DT1 360
DT1b BC
EN Greek writer on music. His surviving work, published in 1652, consists of a list of symbols for the notation of the Greek modes and scales.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"alyssum",1137,0,0,0
PN [\Bal\bisuhm]
EN An annual to perennial, mat-forming or bushy but low-growing, native to Europe and Asia; leaves narrow; flowers cross-shaped, white, blue, or yellow. \BGolden \Jalyssum\j,\b a grey-leaved, yellow-flowered perennial, is often grown in gardens, but the popular white garden annual commonly called \Jalyssum\j is a different, though related, plant. \B(Genus:\b \IAlyssum,\i 150 species. \BFamily:\b Cruciferae.)
BK a
#
"Alzheimer's disease",1138,0,0,0
PN [\Balts\bhiymer]
EN A common form of generalized cerebral atrophy which results in slowly progressive \Jdementia\j affecting all aspects of brain function. It leads ultimately to total disintegration of the personality. The disease was first described in 1906 by a German neurologist, Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915).
Current theories as to its cause include a slow viral infection, environmental toxins (eg \Jaluminium\j), a systemic metabolic illness, and the involvement of a heritable factor in certain forms.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
While the condition gets worse as the patient gets older, and while the incidence is greater in older people, there is no evidence to suggest that the condition is in any way related to the ageing process. The main problem is that the disease can be identified with a fair amount of confidence, but it can only be confirmed absolutely by an autopsy after death, when abnormal proteins and evidence of nerve cell loss can be identified.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK a
#
"Alzheimer, Alois",1139,0,0,0
PN [\Balts\bhiymer]
DT1 1864
DT2 1915
EN Psychiatrist and neuropathologist, born in Marktbreit, \JGermany\j. He studied medicine in Wⁿrzburg and Berlin universities, and in 1912 became professor of \Jpsychiatry\j and \Jneurology\j at Breslau University (now \JWroclaw\j, \JPoland\j). He is remembered for his full clinical and pathological description, in 1907, of pre-senile \Jdementia\j \I(Alzheimer's disease).\i
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Amadeus",1140,0,0,0
EN See Hoffmann, E(rnst) T(heodor) W(ilhelm)
BK bg a
XCY y
#
"Amado, Jorge",1141,0,0,0
PN [a\Bmah\bdoo]
DT1 1912
EN Novelist, born in Ferradas, \JBrazil\j. Brought up on a cacao plantation in NE \JBrazil\j, his early writing focused on the poverty and social conditions of the plantation workers. He became a journalist in 1930, was imprisoned for his political beliefs in 1935, and spent several periods in exile.
He was elected a Communist deputy of the Brazilian parliament (1946--7). His novels include \ITerras do sem-fin\i (1944, trans The Violent Land), \IGabriela, cravo e canela\i (1958, Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon), and \ITenda dos milagres\i (1969, Tent of Miracles).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1944 The Violent Land
1958 Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon
1966 Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
1969 Tent of Miracles
1977 Tieta, The Goat Girl
1982 The Swallow and the Tom Cat
BK Biog99
#
"Amagatsu, Yushio",1142,0,0,0
PN [ama\Bgat\bsoo]
DT1 1948
EN Choreographer and dancer, born in Yokosuka, \JJapan\j. He became artistic director of the \Ibutoh\i dance-theatre troupe Sankai Juku (Studio of the Mountain and Sea). His company, based partly in Paris, was formed in 1975 out of intensive physical and psychological workshops.
BK Biog99
#
"Amal",1143,0,0,0
PN [\Bam\bal]
EN The first political organization of \JLebanon\j's Shiite Muslims, the country's largest yet economically most disadvantaged community. Founded in the mid-1970s by the charismatic Shiite cleric, the Imam Musa al-Sadr, the party has been led since al-Sadr's 1978 disappearance in \JLibya\j by the lawyer Nabih Berri (1939-) . Its militia was believed to number over 4000 before the 1991 demobilization of militias in \JLebanon\j.
BK a
#
"Amalekites",1144,0,0,0
PN [a\Bmal\bekiyts]
EN An ancient nomadic people, notorious for their treachery, who lived S of Canaan. According to \IGen\i 36.12, they were descended from Esau.
BK a
#
"amalgam",1145,0,0,0
EN An alloy of mercury with some other metal(s), known since classical times. Copper, zinc, and tin amalgams are used in dentistry. Gold amalgam was used in Renaissance \Jgilding\j techniques.
BK a
#
"Amalrik, Andrei (Alekseevich)",1146,0,0,0
DT 1938-80
EN Soviet historian and playwright. An outspoken dissident, after years of intermittent exile and internment for his plays and political writings, Amalrik emigrated in 1976. His Notes of a Revolutionary (1982) is a personal \Jbiography\j and a cultural history of the USSR, 1966-76, focusing upon the individual's destruction by the governmental system.
Amalrik's short plays reflect his childhood interest in the puppet theatre, as well as the influence of the Russian poet- dramatist Velimir Khlebnikov, Beckett and, especially, Ionesco. My Aunt Is Living in Volokolamsk (1963, 1964, 1966), East-West: A Dialogue in Suzdal (1963), The Fourteen Lovers of Ugly Mary-Ann (1964), The Story of the Little White Bull (1964), Is Uncle Jack a Conformist? (1964) and Nose! Nose? No-se! (adapted from Gogol's short story, 'The Nose', 1964), all one-acts, are characterized by Freudian-based sex and violence, illogical character behaviour and language which ranges from aphoristic to nonsensical.
BK Thea
#
"Amalthea",1147,0,0,0
PN [amal\Bthee\ba]
EN The fifth natural \Jsatellite\j of Jupiter, discovered in 1892; distance from the \Jplanet\j 181┐000┐km / 112┐000┐mi; diameter 270┐km / 168┐mi.
BK a
#
"Amanita",1148,0,0,0
EN See fly agaric
BK a
XCY y
#
"Amanullah Khan",1149,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bmanula \Bkahn\b]
DT1 1892
DT2 1960
EN Ruler of \JAfghanistan\j (1919-29), born in Paghman, \JAfghanistan\j. After an inconclusive religious war against the British in India (1919-22), independence for \JAfghanistan\j was recognized by Britain by the Treaty of Rawalpindi (1922). He assumed the title of king in 1926, but his zeal for Westernizing reforms provoked rebellion in 1928. He abdicated and fled the country in 1929, and went into exile in \JRome\j.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"amaranth",1150,0,0,0
PN [\Bam\baranth]
EN An annual or perennial herb, native to tropical and temperate regions; flowers usually small and forming dense inflorescences, \Jperianth\j-segments in whorls of three or five, often brightly coloured; also known as \Bpigweed.\b Some Asian species yield edible grain used as a substitute for cereal. \B(Genus:\b \IAmaranthus,\i 60 species. \BFamily:\b Amaranthaceae.)
BK a
#
"Amarasimha",1151,0,0,0
DT1a probably
DT1 6
DT1b th-c
EN Sanskrit lexicographer. He wrote the \IAmara-kosha,\i a dictionary of synonyms in verse.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Amarillo",1152,0,0,0
PN [ama\Bril\boh]
EN 35░13N 101░50W, pop (1995e) 174 000. Seat of Potter Co, NW \JTexas\j, USA; airport; railway; commercial, banking, and industrial centre for the \JTexas\j panhandle; oil refining, meat packing, flour milling, zinc smelting, helicopters.
BK Geog99
#
"amaryllis",1153,0,0,0
PN [ama\Bril\bis]
EN A large bulb, native to tropical America \B(Genus:\b \IHippeastrum,\i 75 species); flowers flaring, trumpet-shaped, up to 15┐cm / 6┐in long, in a range of bright colours, 1-10 (but usually 2-4) on a hollow stalk, appearing in spring before the strap-shaped leaves. The popular pot plants are mostly complex hybrids increased by bulb division. It is often confused with the belladonna lily \I(Amaryllis bella-donna).\i \B(Family:\b Amaryllidaceae.)
BK a
#
"Amaterasu",1154,0,0,0
PN [amate\Bra\bsu]
EN The principal deity in the \JShinto\j religion of \JJapan\j. She is both the Sun-goddess who rules all the gods and the mother-goddess who ensures fertility. Once when she shut herself in her cave, the whole world became darkened and no plants could grow. The other gods played music and offered presents to make her return.
BK a
#
"Amati, Andrea",1155,0,0,0
PN [a\Bmah\btee]
DT1a c.
DT1 1520
DT2 80
EN Violin-maker, the founder member of a famous family of violin-makers from Cremona, \JItaly\j. His earliest known label dates from 1564. Other members of the family were his younger brother, \BNicol.\b (1530-1600); Andrea's two sons, \BAntonio\b (1550-1638) and \BGeronimo\b (1551-1635); and the latter's son, \BNicol.\b (1596-1684), the master of Guarnieri and Stradivari.
MEX Guarnieri; Stradivari
SX g
BK bg a
#
"amatol",1156,0,0,0
EN A group of high explosives consisting of mixtures of trinitrotoluene (TNT) and ammonium \Jnitrate\j. It was much used in World War 1 to economize on TNT, but later fell out of favour because of such faults as the absorption of undesirable \Jwater\j from the air \I(hygroscopicity).\i
BK a
#
"Amazon ant",1157,0,0,0
EN An ant that depends entirely on slaves of other ant species to run its nest and care for its larvae. The workers have sickle-shaped jaws \I(mandibles)\i used as weapons when raiding other nests. \B(Order:\b \JHymenoptera\j. \BFamily:\b Formicidae.)
BK a
#
"Amazon, River",1158,0,0,0
HS , Port \BRio Amazonas\b
EN River in N \JSouth America\j, the largest in the world by volume, and the second longest; two major headstreams, the Mara±≤n and the Ucayali, rising in the \JAndes\j of \JPeru\j (c.150┐km / 83┐mi from the Pacific) and joining S of Iquitos; flows generally W-E across \JBrazil\j, entering the Atlantic in a wide delta; drains a basin c.7┐000┐000┐km\U2\u / 2┐700┐000┐mi\U2\u; more than 1100 tributaries; ocean steamers as far as Iquitos, 3680┐km / 2287┐mi from the Atlantic; deepest point (37┐m / 121┐ft) at the influx of the Trombetas R; large island, Ilha de Maraj≤, at the delta; length from Lake Lauricocha (at the headwaters of the Mara±≤n) 6280┐km / 3902┐mi; from Lake Vilafro following the Ucayali and Apurφmac headwaters to the mouth of the Amazon via the Canal do Norte, 6449┐km / 4007┐mi; river levels at Manaus fluctuate by over 15┐m / 50┐ft; N channels of the delta made dangerous by a frequent tidal bore \I(Pororoca)\i moving up river at up to 65┐kph / 40┐mph, with waves sometimes 5┐m / 16┐ft high; cargo launches reach the interior, carrying fish, cedarwood, flour, \Jrubber\j, and jute; discovered by Europeans, 1500; first descended 1541, ascended 1637; opened to world shipping, 1866; free navigation guaranteed by \JColombia\j-Brazil treaty, 1929.
BK a
#
"Amazons",1159,0,0,0
PN [\Bam\baznz]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, a nation of women soldiers, located by Herodotos in Scythia (\JRussia\j). Strong and athletic, they were said to mutilate the right breast in order to use the bow. With no apparent basis in fact, this story fascinated the Greeks and was a frequent subject in art, perhaps because of its suggestion of an alternative society.
BK a
#
"Ambartsumian, Viktor Amazaspovich",1160,0,0,0
DT1 1908
DT2 96
EN Astrophysicist, born in Armenia. He studied at the University of \JLeningrad\j, was professor of astrophysics there (1934-43) and at Erevan, and founded the Byurakan Astronomical Observatory. He devised and developed theories of young star clusters, and devised a method for computing the mass ejected from \Jnova\j stars.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"ambassador",1161,0,0,0
EN The highest ranking diplomat resident abroad, who officially represents his or her country in relations with foreign governments. Ambassadors are to be distinguished from \Bconsuls,\b whose chief functions are to protect citizens abroad, and to protect the commercial interests of these citizens.
BK a
#
"Ambedkar, Bhimrao Ramji",1162,0,0,0
PN [\Bam\bbedker]
DT1 1893
DT2 1956
EN Indian politician and champion of the depressed castes, born near \JBombay\j, India. He studied at \JBombay\j, Columbia University in New York City, and the London School of Economics, and practised as a \Jbarrister\j in London. He later became a member of the \JBombay\j Legislative Assembly and leader of 60 million Untouchables.
Appointed law minister in 1947, he was the principal author of the Indian Constitution. He resigned in 1951, and with some thousands of his followers he publicly embraced the Buddhist faith not long before his death.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"ambergris",1163,0,0,0
PN [\Bam\bbergrees]
EN ('grey amber') A grey waxy substance found in the intestines of the sperm whale, \IPhyseter catodon; \i up to 450┐g / 1┐lb per whale; formerly used in perfumes to make the fragrance last longer.
BK a
#
"Ambler, Eric",1164,0,0,0
DT1 1909
DT2 1998
EN Novelist and playwright, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Colfe's \JGrammar School\j and London University, and worked as an advertising copy-writer before turning to writing thrillers, invariably with an espionage background. He published his first novel, \IThe Dark Frontier\i, in 1936.
His best-known books are \IEpitaph for a Spy\i (1938), \IThe Mask of Dimitrios\i (1939), \IDirty Story\i (1967), and \IThe Intercom Conspiracy\i (1970). He has received the Crime Writers' Association Award four times, as well as the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1964). Later books include \IHere Lies: An Autobiography\i (1985) and \IThe Story So Far\i (1993).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1936 The Dark Frontier
1937 Uncommon Danger
1938 Epitaph for a Spy
1938 Cause for Alarm
1939 The Mask of Dimitrios
1940 Journey into Fear
1951 Judgment on Deltchev
1953 The Schirmer Inheritance
1956 The Night-Comers
1959 Passage of Arms
1962 The Light of Day
1964 A Kind of Anger
1967 Dirty Story
1970 The Intercom Conspiracy
1972 The Levanter
1974 Doctor Frigo
1977 Send No More Roses
1981 The Care of Time
\IAutobiography\i
1983 Here Lies: An Autobiography
1993 The Story So Far
\IScreenplays\i
1944 The Way Ahead (with Peter Ustinov)
1947 The October Man
1948 The Passionate Friends
1950 Highly Dangerous
1951 The Magic Box
1952 Gigolo and Gigolette, in Encore
1952 The Card
1953 Rough Shoot
1953 The Cruel Sea
1954 Lease of Life
1954 The Purple Plain
1957 Yangtse Incident
1958 A Night to Remember
1959 Wreck of the Mary Deare
1970 Love Hate Love
\IEssays\i
1963 The Ability to Kill
\IEditor\i
1964 To Catch a Spy
BK Biog99
#
"Amboise, Georges d'",1165,0,0,0
PN [Σmbwahz]
DT1 1460
DT2 1510
EN Clergyman and French statesman, born in Chaumont-sur-Loire, \JFrance\j. Bishop of Montauban (1474) and \JArchbishop\j of \JRouen\j (1493), he became cardinal and prime minister under Louis XII in 1498. An able minister, who carried out many important domestic reforms, he effected the Treaty of Blois in 1505 that brought about an alliance between \JFrance\j and \JSpain\j.
MEX Louis XII
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Ambrose, St",1166,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 339
DT2 97
EN Roman clergyman and doctor of the Church, born in Trier, \JGermany\j. He practised law in \JRome\j, and in 369 was appointed consular prefect of Upper \JItaly\j, whose capital was Milan. When the bishopric fell vacant in 374, he was chosen bishop by universal acclamation, even though he was still only a catechumen undergoing instruction.
He was quickly baptized, and consecrated bishop eight days later. He fought for the integrity of the Church at the imperial court, resisting Empress-regent Justina over the introduction of Arian churches. He introduced the use of hymns and made many improvements in the \Jliturgy\j, notably the \IAmbrosian ritual\i and \IAmbrosian chant.\i Feast day 7 December.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"ambrosia beetle",1167,0,0,0
EN A small dark beetle that burrows into wood. The adults have cylindrical bodies with short, clubbed antennae. The fleshy, legless larvae feed on fungi that line the walls of tunnels made in the wood. \B(Order:\b Coleoptera. \BFamily:\b Scolytidae.)
BK a
#
"ameba",1168,0,0,0
EN See amoeba / ameba
BK a
XCY y
#
"Amen",1169,0,0,0
EN See \JAmun\j
BK a
XCY y
#
"Amenhotep II",1170,0,0,0
PN [ahmen\Bhoh\btep]
DT1 15
DT1b th-c BC
EN King of \JEgypt\j in the 18th Dynasty (1450-1425 BC), the son of Thuthmose III. He fought successful campaigns in Palestine and on the Euphrates. His mummy was found in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings, Thebes.
MEX Thuthmose
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Amenhotep III",1171,0,0,0
PN [amen\Bhoh\btep]
DT1a c.
DT1 1411
DT2 1379
DT2b BC
EN King of \JEgypt\j (1417-1379 BC), the son of Thuthmose IV. He consolidated Egyptian supremacy in \JBabylonia\j and \JAssyria\j. In a reign of spectacular wealth and magnificence, he built his great capital city, Thebes, and its finest monuments, including the Luxor temple, the great pylon at Karnak, and the colossi of \JMemnon\j.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Amenhotep IV",1172,0,0,0
EN See \JAkhenaton\j
BK bg a
XCY y
#
"amenorrhoea / amenorrhea",1173,0,0,0
PN [ameno\Bree\ba]
EN The absence of normal \Jmenstruation\j. It arises when the cyclical hormonal control (by the front pituitary \Jgland\j and ovaries) of normal \Jmenstruation\j is disturbed by physical or psychological factors.
BK a
#
"America's Cup",1174,0,0,0
EN Yachting's most famous race, held approximately every 4 years. The trophy was originally called the One Hundred Guinea Cup, and was donated by the Royal Yacht Squadron for a race around the \JIsle of Wight\j, S England, UK in 1851. It was renamed the \JAmerica's Cup\j after the schooner \IAmerica\i won the race six years later.
The New York Yacht Club offered the cup as a challenge trophy. Between 1870 and 1983 it remained in US ownership until the successful challenge of \IAustralia II.\i The USA won it back in 1987, and then successfully held off a challenge from \JNew Zealand\j in 1988, which resulted in a lengthy legal battle.
BK a
#
"American Anti-Slavery Society",1175,0,0,0
EN See abolitionist movement
BK a
XCY y
#
"American black and tan coonhound",1176,0,0,0
EN This is an excellent tracking dog in its determined pursuit of its quarry. This dog is often known as the "treeing hound," as it forces the raccoon to take refuge in a tree.
\BHistory:\b
The American Black and Tan Coonhound has a most impressive ancestry. This dog was bred from a combination of the Talbot Hound from the eleventh century, the \JFoxhound\j, the Kerry \JBeagle\j from Ireland, the \JBloodhound\j, and the American Virginia \JFoxhound\j. The American Black and Tan Coonhound was bred especially for the local conditions of tracking and treeing raccoons and opossums.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The American Black and Tan Coonhound is a large powerful dog with an athletic build. \IHeight:\i 23 - 27 in (58 - 69 cm). \IWeight:\i 55 - 75 lb (25 - 34 kg). This dog has the appearance of a classic hound. The well-set, light brown eyes reveal the dog's intelligence as they look out at you over a long square muzzle. The long drooping ears are set well back on the large well-proportioned head.
This dog has a long powerful neck with a muscular yet athletic body. The long tail usually flows down towards the ground but is held upright when the dog is alert. The dense coat is short and, as the name suggests, is colored black with tan markings above the eyes, on the sides of the muzzle, and on the lower extremities of the legs and feet.
\BBehavior:\b
The American Black and Tan Coonhound gains a degree of confidence from its large size and appears to be a very well-balanced dog. This animal is very intelligent and perfectly bred for the tasks of tracking and chasing. This very alert dog makes an excellent watch-dog. It acts as a real deterrent when it sounds off its magnificent hound-like bark. Unlike its smaller cousins, the American Black and Tan Coonhound also satisfies the requirements of a true guard dog, as it can be very territorial.
This dog is normally very gregarious and gets along very well with other dogs. Understandably, care should be taken so as not to upset the social hierarchy when several of these hounds are kept together. Generally, these American Black and Tan Coonhounds are kept as working dogs. However, where they are to be kept as companion animals, they should be socialized with people when they are puppies. Their large size and robust physique mean they are not normally scared of larger children and can become excellent companions, although care should be taken that smaller children do not get bowled over in rough games. Never leave small children unattended with several hounds together.
The American Black and Tan Coonhound is a marvel to watch as it nimbly races across difficult terrain. It should be provided with lots of exercise and thrives if given regular tasks. Bored, under-exercised dogs have a tendency to become snappy and unhappy. This well-mannered dog is readily trainable with an assertive owner, who will be rewarded with a very loyal hound. The American Black and Tan Coonhound is a tenacious dog. Once it fully understands the task it will tirelessly keep at it until it succeeds.
This dog has few common ailments but its feet should be checked after working, and particular attention should be given to its ears. The large hanging ears may be susceptible to infections or become damaged during a chase. A truly magnificent working dog.
BK wan
#
"American Black Bear",1177,0,0,0
EN \B\I(Ursus americanus)\b\i\b
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear that is native only to the continent of \JNorth America\j. These bears are forest animals and live in a highly varied habitat throughout most of Canada, the United States and occasionally Mexico. The official name for the American black bear is \IUrsus americanus.\i \IUrsus\i is the Latin word meaning "bear" while \Iamericanus\i simply means American, the location where the bear is found in the wild. Native Americans viewed the American black bear with respect and reverence and included the bear in many of their religious customs.
Some of the names they used included "phantom of the woods" and "spirit of the forest." Today, for most people who live in \JNorth America\j, it is the one bear many people can count on seeing in the wild at least once in their lifetime. It is estimated that there are between 400,000 and 750,000 American black bears throughout \JNorth America\j. This is a very small number of bears when one considers that there are more American black bears than all other bears in the world put together.
\BAnatomy and Characteristics\b
The American black bear is a large \Jmammal\j whose size and weight are extremely variable depending on the ready availability of food and the existing climatic conditions.
The height of an adult male American black bear measured from the ground to the highest point of the shoulder averages from 75 to 90 centimeters (approximately 2.5 to 3 feet). Measured from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail, the length of an adult male American black bear averages from 137 to 183 centimeters (approximately 4.5 to 6 feet).
The weight of an American black bear, which is highly variable, ranges from 55 to 270 kilograms (approximately 125 to 600 pounds) with adult males within a geographic region averaging about a third larger than adult females. The largest American black bear recorded to date was found in Riding Mountain National Park in \JManitoba\j, Canada, weighing in at 365 kilograms (803 pounds).
All American black bears have a heavy body with strong muscular legs. They have a broad head with a Roman or convex face. The ears of the black bear are small, rounded and set well back on the head. The eyes are small in relation to the size of the head. The tail is short and stubby at 10 to 13 centimeters (4 to 5 inches). Black bears lack the distinct shoulder hump of the brown bear.
American black bears move in a manner similar to most other bears. They amble or pace with both legs on one side of their body moving together. The front feet of the black bear are turned-in (pigeon-toed). When galloping, black bears have been clocked at 25 to 30 miles per hour over a short distance. Black bears are also strong and skillful swimmers. They will swim for pleasure as well as to gather food. American black bears are outstanding tree climbers. They climb to feed and also to avoid their enemies.
Black bears have relatively flat feet with five toes. Their non-retractable claws are much shorter than that of a brown bear. The claws are round and taper to a sharp point. The hind and front claws are about the same length but the front claws are more sharply curved. From a distance, the front claws of a black bear are not as visible as they are on a brown bear. The most common colors of the claws are black or grayish brown.
While once long ago, American black bears may have primarily been meat eaters, today they are, in fact, omnivores. To accommodate this, both their teeth and digestive tracts have undergone major changes so that they can extract sufficient \Jnutrients\j from vegetable matter to maintain their large body mass.
American black bears are covered with a soft dense underfur which serves as \Jinsulation\j to keep them warm. They also have a covering of long, thick guard hairs. Black bears shed their fur annually. The name, the American black bear, is actually a misnomer, given the many color phases of this bear. Only about 70 per cent of black bears are truly black in color. Researchers have determined that in the eastern areas where the climate is wetter, "black" bears predominate, while in the drier inland areas to the west, brown and blond bears are more common. Many American black bears also show a white throat or chest patch.
There is also an American black bear which has beautiful cream-colored fur. This bear, called the Kermode bear, is often referred to as the "ghost bear." It is found only on three small, isolated islands off the western coast of British Columbia in Canada. The brown eyes and black nose of these bears eliminate any possibility that the Kermode bears are an albino race. A female Kermode bear may give birth to both black and white-phased cubs within the same litter.
Black bears have good eyesight. They have binocular vision as do most predators, including humans. This gives them good depth perception. It is thought that most bears may be somewhat nearsighted due to feeding close to the ground. Despite this, black bears are still able to detect moving prey from far away. They also appear to have color vision. Bears demonstrate excellent hearing.
No animal has a better sense of smell than a bear. It has been said that a bear uses its nose to learn about its world in the same way that we use our eyes. An old Native American saying sums it up best: "A pine needle fell in the forest. The eagle saw it. The dear heard it. The bear smelled it." Because their sense of smell is so important, bears will often rise to a standing position or move to a higher elevation, to better "sniff the air."
In the wild, American black bears have been known to live for over 30 years. The age of a bear is normally determined by taking a small premolar tooth. The tooth is then cross-sectioned and the age is determined by the number of rings. This is similar to how the age of a tree is determined. Surviving into adulthood is very difficult for black bears. Many hazards await a small cub, including starvation, disease, accidents and predation by other animals including male bears. Mother bears or sows are very protective but the dangers are great.
\BBehavior\b
American black bears are known to be extremely intelligent and clever. Another defining characteristic of this species is their intense curiosity in everything around them. Their inquisitive nature and willingness to play either alone or with other members of a family unit (i.e., mother and siblings) has entertained many a wildlife observer. But it should also be remembered that they are also highly unpredictable. They are easily conditioned to human garbage and then become problem bears.
Lacking the ability to vary their facial expressions, bears are nonetheless very expressive and communicative animals. In addition to posturing and scenting, bears use many different vocalizations to express themselves both to other bears and to other animals. American black bears, like many other bears, roar when they are very angry. A few of the other sounds they make include bawling to express pain; squalling when they are disappointed; and chomping when they are annoyed.
Most adult male bears live a very solitary life except for periodic mating with a receptive female. Females on the other hand, spend almost all of their lives in a family unit either as a cub growing into adulthood or as a mother raising her cubs. Even juvenile bears who have been driven off by their mother just before she mates once more, will live together as litter mates for several months to more than a year. This has led us to study the importance of the family unit as a basic construct for understanding bears' behavior.
American black bear cubs usually spend the first sixteen to eighteen months of life at the side of their mother and in the company of one or more siblings. They are then driven off, sometimes very fiercely, by their mother. With females coming into estrus, mating, conceiving and giving birth and then raising cubs in a repeating cycle, females live the majority of their lives within a family unit. Adult bears, usually as a mating pair, may also live together for a short period during the breeding season.
In the world of the bear, bigger means stronger and more dominant. For the most part, bears have learned to avoid serious fights which might critically injure both combatants. The older adult males are usually the biggest and the most dominant bears. Next come the adult females and below them are the juvenile bears. This dominance hierarchy works most of the time, but a female with cubs will often fight to the death to protect her young cubs. Also, large males of almost equal size will sometimes fight over a dead animal or some other food source that they both happen to discover at the same time.
Female American black bears normally become sexually mature between their third to fifth year with some waiting up to seven years for their first mating. Copulation normally takes place in a manner similar to members of the (canine) dog family. In warmer climates, mating may take place as early as May or June while in more northern (and therefore colder) locations, mating may be delayed until July or early August. Females will normally mate with several males over the two to three weeks of the breeding season. Females will normally breed every other year.
Through a process called delayed implantation, the fertilized \Jovum\j divides a few times and then floats free within the uterus for about six months with its development arrested. Sometime around the denning period, the embryo will attach itself to the uterine wall and after a period of rapid growth lasting about eight weeks (in January or February), the cubs will be born while the mother is still in \Jhibernation\j. If the mother has not put on enough fat reserves to last her through the winter, the embryo stops growing and is simply reabsorbed.
The number of cubs born normally ranges from one to four with two to three cubs being average. As a rule, a first-time mother will have only one cub. The number of cubs a female will have increases as she gets older.
At birth, the cubs are blind, toothless, covered with fine gray hair and very tiny. They weigh from 240 to 330 grams (approximately 8.5 to 11.5 ounces). Virtually helpless, they are, however, able to move sufficiently to suckle on their mother who remains asleep. Her milk is calorically very rich containing over 20 per cent fat.
In contrast, human milk only contains about 4 per cent fat. The cubs eyes open between 28 and 40 days after they are born. The cubs are able to walk by about five weeks. At this time, they have grown to about five pounds. Over the next several months, the cubs will develop rapidly such that they weigh between 40 and 60 pounds by the time they are six months of age.
Living in the wild is very dangerous for bear cubs. Of all American black bear cubs born, only 50 per cent will live to see their third birthday. Starvation and disease claim a number of cubs. Also, wolves, bobcats, eagles, mountain lions and, in more urban areas, dog packs have been known to kill young cubs who become separated from their mother's side.
Infanticide is also a factor. Predation of cubs by adult male black bears is common. Three reasons have been suggested to account for \Jinfanticide\j: to provide food; to create a breeding opportunity for an adult male bear; and to reduce competition for common territory. While the mother is foraging, the cubs are often placed under the shelter of a thicket or in a nearby tree. In the event of danger, the cubs will stay in the tree while their mother either takes guard on the forest ground below, or climbs the tree after them.
The cubs will stay with their mother for the entire first year. They are generally weaned between July and September of their first year and stay with their mother through the first full winter. Their survival is totally dependent on the skill of the mother in both protecting them and teaching them the basics of what to eat, where and how to get food, where to den, and how to cope with danger.
As adolescents, young American black bears are still in extreme danger. Normally they are driven off by their mother as she prepares to breed once more during their second summer. The juvenile bears must now become rapidly self sufficient if they are to stay alive and find enough food to build up their fat reserves to last over the long winter. Occasionally, young bears will spend a period of time together after they have been driven off by their mothers.
The American black bear appears to be the bear species which has the greatest ability to live in close proximity to humans. By far the most widely distributed bear in \JNorth America\j, its range extends from the northern tree limit of the \JArctic\j, to the south through most of Canada and the United States. It is found as far south as the Sierra Madre Mountains which are located in north-west Mexico.
The preferred habitat of the American black bear includes forests with occasional open areas such as meadows. This includes the hardwood forests along the eastern side of \JNorth America\j as well as the coniferous forests found in the more central and western parts of the continent. The only habitat from which black bears are absent are those areas where heavy deforestation has occurred.
The American black bear is currently known to be present in 32 of the 48 continental American states. \JCalifornia\j, \JIdaho\j, Montana, Oregon, and Washington are estimated to have black bear populations numbering over 10,000. However, \JAlaska\j, with an estimated population of 100,000 black bears, is clearly the heart of black bear country.
In many areas, the bear numbers are relatively stable. In a few states, the number of black bears is very low due to habitat reduction. Hawaii has never had bears. In Canada, American black bears are present in healthy numbers in 9 of the 10 provinces and both of the northern territories. British Columbia is estimated to have over 100,000 bears while \JOntario\j is estimated to have 70,000 bears. Canada's smallest province, Prince Edward Island, no longer has a resident black bear population.
While American black bears are certainly not numerous in Mexico, it is thought that some bears may be present in several Mexican states, particularly in the northwest areas of the country. This is a more isolated area with mountain habitat possibly providing large enough ranges for black bears to have survived.
\BDiet and Habitat\b
American black bears, like all wild creatures, seek foods which will give them the highest amount of food \Jenergy\j for the least amount of work. They are primarily wanderers and foragers. They are constantly moving to take advantage of seasonal food sources and scavenge whatever they may unexpectedly find in their travels.
Eating hundreds of different types of plants, researchers have determined that more than 75 per cent of a black bear's diet consists of vegetable matter including berries; flowers; grasses and sedges; herbs; tubers and roots; and nuts of all kinds. For the remaining portion of their diet, animal matter such as decaying animal carcasses, fish, small marine animals, ants and other insects, honey, elk and moose calves and a variety of other small mammals (e.g., ground squirrels, marmots, etc.) are consumed.
American black bears like to feed in the cool of the evening or in the early morning. During the heat of the \Jday\j, they will often seek shade in the dense underbrush.
Bears have home ranges, but are not territorial in that they don't normally fight to keep other bears out of an area. The home range is the land a bear usually travels as it lives its life. The size of the home range of an individual black bear will vary with the concentration of high quality food sources. The richer the food sources and the closer together they are, the smaller the range a bear needs.
In different parts of \JNorth America\j, the home ranges of adult female black bears may vary from 6.5 square kilometers (approximately 2.5 square miles) to 26 square kilometers (10 square miles). In the far north, the size of a bear's home ranges is often far larger. Adult males will normally have a home range which is about four times larger than the females at 26 to 124 square kilometers (approximately 10 to 40 square miles). The home range of a mature male bear will often overlap the home range of several female bears.
Within the home range of a black bear, not all of the land is suitable habitat. Rather, most home ranges are composed of several smaller food source areas connected by travel lanes. Open areas are usually avoided by black bears as they prefer wooded cover. Stream and creek beds are often used as travel lanes because of the thick undergrowth and a barrier-free escape route. This is particularly true in areas where there is heavy urban build-up.
\BHibernation\b
During late summer and early fall, all bears from the cold northern climates must, in order to survive, gain as much weight as possible. By gorging on locally available nut crops, berries, etc., American black bears are able to make very large weight gains. Such gains may be as much as 14 kilograms (30 pounds) per week. At such times, foraging may occur both \Jday\j and night with rest periods very infrequent.
Most American black bears, including all who live in areas with severe \Jweather\j climates, will hibernate for between four and seven months. Where the \Jweather\j is much more temperate and the period without food available is quite short, black bears may either not hibernate or they may simply nest in a thicket or other sheltered area for brief periods of time. In northern areas, the body of a bear undergoes many remarkable changes as bears prepare to survive the long, very cold winter.
Hibernation is an \Jenergy\j-saving process bears have developed to allow them to survive for long periods when there is insufficient food available to maintain their body mass. It is a different type of \Jhibernation\j than that experienced by bats, marmots and a number of other small rodents. As they stop eating and become increasingly sluggish, the bear will enter a cave; dig out a den; or hole up in a dense brush pile, hollow log or tree cavity.
While hibernating, a bear's heart rate drops from between forty to seventy beats per minute to only eight to twelve beats per minute and its \Jmetabolism\j slows down by half. Unlike other hibernators, the bear's body \Jtemperature\j undergoes only a minor reduction of 3 to 7 degrees \JCentigrade\j (5 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit). During the entire period of \Jhibernation\j, the black bear will neither pass \Jurea\j or solid fecal waste. While \Jurea\j poisoning causing death would occur in all other animals, bears have developed a unique process of recycling the \Jurea\j into usable proteins.
Most black bears vacate their winter dens over a one to two month period commencing in April or May. Both the climatic conditions (snow cover and \Jtemperature\j) and physiological factors such as the bear's age, their health and their remaining fat reserves, affect the exact time that they leave their den. Adult males usually emerge first while females with newborn cubs are usually the last to leave their dens.
During the \Jhibernation\j period, all bears lose a great deal of weight. Adult males and adolescent bears lose between 15 per cent and 30 per cent of their weight while it is not uncommon for a female cub with newborn cubs to have lost as much as 40% of her weight. The black bear will then resume its normal foraging pattern as it completes the cycle of life.
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"American Civil Liberties Union",1178,0,0,0
EN A leading US group which promotes \Jcivil rights\j. It has tended to use the courts to gain changes based on the rights afforded under the Constitution, and is particularly concerned with freedom of speech and maintaining an open society.
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"American Civil War",1179,0,0,0
The \JAmerican Civil War\j resolved two great issues: the nature of the Federal Union (and the relative power of the states and central government); and the existence of black \Jslavery\j. On his election as US president (Nov 1860), Abraham Lincoln was opposed to the extension of \Jslavery\j. This provoked South Carolina into seceding from the Union (Dec 1860). Following the secession of a further six Southern states (Mississippi, \JFlorida\j, \JAlabama\j, Georgia, Louisiana, and \JTexas\j) a Southern Constitution was drawn up, and Jefferson Davis was sworn in as provisional president of the Confederate States (Feb 1861).
Hostilities commenced when Confederate forces under Pierre Gustav Beauregard fired on Fort Sumter, Charleston, SC (12 Apr 1861). Lincoln quickly proclaimed a blockade of the Southern ports, and called for the raising of an army of 75'000 men. This prompted the secession of four more Southern states, and Richmond, VA, became the Confederate seat of government.
During the early summer, George B McClellan, commander of the Federal forces in S Ohio, advanced into West Virginia and, having eliminated Confederate resistance in three small but very significant battles, made it possible for the new state of West Virginia to join the Union in 1863. Meanwhile, some 350'00 Union troops marched on Richmond under the command of Irvin McDowell (1818--85). Ignoring the advice of his army commander, Winfield Scott, Lincoln ordered McDowell to attack Beauregard's Confederate forces, which were attempting to hold the important rail crossroads at Manassas. Further Union troops were to hold Joseph Eggleston Johnston's Confederate Army of the Shenandoah at Bull Run, to prevent it reinforcing Beauregard. In the ensuing battle (Jul 1861), the Union forces were forced to retreat to Washington. A notable defensive action on the part of Confederate brigade commander, Thomas Jonathan Jackson, earned him the nickname Stonewall.
Following defeat at Bull Run (Manassas), Lincoln called for a further 500'000 army recruits; he also determined a policy of simultaneous and widespread multiple offensives, together with an intensification of the naval blockade. McClellan was appointed as commander of the Army of the Potomac. However, until the appointment, much later in the war, of Ulysses S Grant as overall commander (Mar 1864), Lincoln's generals were unsuccessful.
In early 1862 Grant commenced a major campaign to gain control of the \JTennessee\j and Cumberland rivers. His initial successes (Feb 1862) in capturing the Confederate strongholds of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, TN, were followed by John Pope's capture of New Madrid, MO, and Island Number 10 in the Mississippi R (Apr 1862). Continuing S towards \JCorinth\j, Grant was surprised at Shiloh, and hard-pressed by strong Confederate forces under Albert Sidney Johnston and Beauregard (Apr 1862). Only the death of Johnston and the later arrival of Union reinforcements from Nashville under Don Carlos Buell (1818--98) enabled Grant to recover and force a Confederate withdrawal. With the subsequent occupation of \JCorinth\j, the Union forces controlled the upper and lower reaches of the Mississippi. \JNew Orleans\j was taken (May 1862) by David Glasgow Farragut, the naval fleet commander, who had run the Confederate forts of St Philip and Jackson, 90'mi S of the city.
In the E, McClellan had initiated his Peninsular Campaign, planning to attack Richmond from the SE along the peninsula between the York and James rivers, rather than by a direct overland assault (favoured by Lincoln). After slow progress up the peninsula, delayed by a month-long siege of \JYorktown\j (May 1862) and rearguard Confederate action at Williamsburg, his troops approached Richmond, where they were attacked by J E Johnston's forces at Seven Pines (May 1862). Johnston was seriously wounded, and his troops withdrew into Richmond. He was replaced by Robert E Lee, who engaged McClellan in a series of indecisive but costly actions, the Seven Days Battle (25 Jun--1 Jul 1862), which convinced McClellan of the need for considerable reinforcement before approaching Richmond again. Lincoln, who had surreptitiously withheld a large number of McClellan's troops to defend Washington, insisted on withdrawal. He transferred most of McClellan's Army of the Potomac to Pope's Army of Virginia, and replaced McClellan as general-in-chief with Henry Wager Halleck.
Pope was then ordered to move overland to Richmond, but Lee defeated him at the Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas, Aug 1862). Pope was then dismissed by Lincoln, and McClellan reinstated. McClellan reorganized his troops to pursue Lee into Maryland. However, despite having obtained a copy of Lee's orders and dispositions, McClellan was unable to score a decisive victory at Antietam (Sharpsburg, Sep 1862) against the numerically inferior Confederates, allowing Lee to retreat into Virginia. Lincoln again relieved McClellan of his command, and substituted Ambrose E Burnside, who led the demoralized Union troops into a major defeat at Fredericksburg, VA (Dec 1862). Lincoln appointed a new army commander, Joseph (Fighting Joe) Hooker, who engaged Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville (May 1863), but was outmanoeuvred by Jackson.
Lee regrouped and reorganized his forces, and once again invaded the N, moving into \JPennsylvania\j, shadowed by Hooker. Hooker requested further reinforcements, and resigned his command when this was refused. George Gordon Meade succeeded him, and encountered Lee unexpectedly at Gettysburg. This developed into a climactic battle (Jul 1863), with Meade holding a defensive position, and successfully withstanding Lee's attacks. However, with Meade declining to counter-attack, Lee retreated into Virginia. Almost simultaneously, this change in Confederate fortunes was reflected in the W, where Union forces commanded by Grant, and ably assisted by gunboats under David Dixon Porter, had captured \JVicksburg\j (Jul 1863), the major Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi. Having eliminated the few remaining Confederate posts, Grant consolidated Union control of the Mississippi.
After the Battle of Shiloh in 1862, Bluell had been ordered against the vital rail centre at Chattanooga, TN, which was being held by Confederate Braxton Bragg. However, Bragg invaded Kentucky, and drew Buell out of \JTennessee\j. Their armies met at Perryville (Oct 1862) and, after an indecisive battle, Bragg retreated S. Buell's tardy pursuit displeased Lincoln, who replaced him with William Starke Rosecrans. The latter forced Bragg to retreat further after the Battle of Murfreesboro (Stone's River, 31 Dec 1862--2 Jan 1863), but Bragg received reinforcements from Lee, and later in the year defeated Rosecrans at Chickamauga (Sep 1863). Rosecrans took refuge in Chattanooga, besieged by Bragg. Grant, newly appointed departmental commander of the West, then replaced Bragg with George Henry Thomas, and himself proceeded to the relief of Chattanooga. With Hooker, Thomas, and William Tecumseh Sherman, he scored a signal victory there (Nov 1863), routing Bragg's forces. Bragg was replaced by J E Johnston.
In March 1864, Grant succeeded Halleck, and became commander of all Union armies. His strategy to the end of the war was for the Army of the West, under Sherman, to destroy the remains of J E Johnston's Confederate army and their resources in N Georgia, while he accompanied Meade's Army of the Potomac against Richmond. On his march S towards Richmond, Grant fought the costly and indecisive Battle of the Wilderness (May 1864), and at Spotsylvania (May 1864) he was repulsed with heavy losses. Following further serious losses against Lee's forces at Cold Harbor (Jun 1864), and the failure of an assault against Beauregard at Petersburg (Jun 1864), a vital centre for rail communications with Richmond, Grant settled down to a nine-month siege of the city, gradually increasing his encirclement of the region to cut off Richmond from the rest of the Confederacy. During this period, cavalry were active on both sides. Union cavalry under Philip Henry Sheridan had raided the Richmond area while assisting Grant's campaign; and in July, Confederate troops led by Jubal Anderson Early advanced to the suburbs of Washington, before being repulsed by Sheridan.
Confederate steamships had been active since early in the war, harassing Northern shipping and blockade-running in the North and South Atlantic, as well as the \JPacific Ocean\j. These were originally captained by authorized privateers, but later the Confederacy acquired its own navy, comprising British-built raiders. In June 1864, the most notorious of these, the \JAlabama\j, under the command of Raphael Semmes, was sunk by the USS Kearsage just outside \JCherbourg\j harbour in \JFrance\j, ending a commission during which Semmes had captured some 69 Union ships. Following the sinking, Semmes received a hero's welcome in \JSouthampton\j, England. He returned to America, and eventually assumed command of the Confederate navy. He scuttled its remaining ships in the James R (Apr 1865).
In the W, meanwhile, Sherman had advanced towards \JAtlanta\j in pursuit of Johnston. He eventually forced a confrontation at Kennesaw Mountain (Jun 1864), but was beaten, with heavy losses. Johnston's failure to eliminate Sherman's army displeased the Confederate president, who replaced him with John Bell Hood. The latter initiated several unsuccessful offensives against Sherman, and finally evacuated \JAtlanta\j (Sep 1864). After initial pursuit, Sherman left Thomas to deal with Hood (Nashville, Dec 1864), while he began a 300-mi march of destruction through Georgia to the sea. Reaching Savannah (Dec 1864), he turned N again, and advanced through only light opposition. Lee had recently been appointed Confederate general-in-chief, and had immediately reinstated Johnston; the latter, however, perceiving that it would be impossible to arrest Sherman's advance, surrendered near Durham, NC (Apr 1865).
The end came in the E, when Lee's forces, diminished by casualties, disease, and desertions, evacuated both Richmond and Petersburg (Apr 1865) and attempted to move W to join up with Johnston in \JNorth Carolina\j. However, cut off by Sheridan's cavalry, and pursued by Grant and Meade, he eventually surrendered at Appomattox Court House (9 Apr 1865). There remained only isolated Confederate units, the last of which surrendered in June 1865.
Both the Confederate and Union armies had used African-Americans as labourers in the war, but only the Union used them as combat troops. In August 1862, the enlistment of 5000 such troops was officially approved in the North, and eventually c.180'000 served in the Union army, many of them former slaves who had run away from their Southern owners. These troops, who were required to serve under white officers and who received lower pay than whites, demonstrated great courage in several engagements.
The larger population and the superior resources of the North finally prevailed against the cotton-based farming economy of the South. The cost to both sides, however, was enormous: Union forces suffered 359'000 dead and 275'000 injured, the Confederates 258'000 dead and some 225'000 wounded.
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"American Colonization Society",1180,0,0,0
EN A US pre-abolitionist anti-\Jslavery\j group, aimed at resettling freed slaves in Africa. It was supported by some slaveholders, anxious to keep freed blacks separate from slaves.
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"American Conservatory Theater",1181,0,0,0
EN Non-commercial regional American repertory company. Combining performing with a training school, ACT was founded in 1965 by William Ball. It has made its home in \JSan Francisco\j since 1967. As a result of \Jearthquake\j damage, in 1990-1 ACT moved from the Geary to the Palace of Fine Arts Theater.
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"American eagle",1182,0,0,0
EN See bald eagle
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"American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL / CIO)",1183,0,0,0
EN A US federation of trade unions, formed in 1955 from the merger of the AFL (mainly craft unions, founded in 1886) with the \JCIO\j (mainly industrial workers' unions, founded in 1935). It has c.14..5 million members. Its aims include educational campaigns on behalf of the labour movement, the settlement of disputes among affiliates, and political support for beneficial legislation. Policy is decided at a biennial convention.
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"American football",1184,0,0,0
EN The national fall (autumn) and winter sport in the USA, played between September and January. It resembles rugby, but forward passing of the ball is permitted. It is played on a rectangular field 360┐ft (110┐m) by 160┐ft (49┐m), divided into 5-yd (4.6-m) segments which give the field a gridiron effect.
The object is to score \Itouchdowns\i - the moving of the ball across the goal line in a running or passing play. This is similar to the \Itry\i in rugby, but progress has to be made upfield by a series of \Iplays,\i and a team must make 10┐yd (9.1┐m) of ground within four plays, otherwise it loses possession of the ball. Six points are awarded for a touchdown and one point for a \Iconversion\i (kicking the ball between the posts and over the crossbar), as in rugby. A goal kicked from anywhere on the field (a \Ifield goal)\i is worth 3 points.
Teams consist of more than 40 squad members, but only 11 are allowed on the field for each team at any one time. Special units come on for specific roles. When a team is attacking, the 11 players will be different from those on the field when they are on the defence. The game was first played in US colleges in the mid-19th-c, and the first rules were drawn up at Princeton College in 1867.
The professional game in the USA comes under the auspices of the National Football League, which is divided into the American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC). The leading teams of the two conferences meet in a series of play-off games each January for the Super Bowl (instituted 1966-7).
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"American foxhound",1185,0,0,0
EN See \Jfoxhound\j
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"American Indians",1186,0,0,0
EN The original inhabitants of the American continent, who arrived during the last glacial period (according to some estimates, 14-40┐000 years ago, but the issue is controversial) from Asia, crossing from \JSiberia\j over the Bering Strait, perhaps in three waves. They settled in \JNorth America\j, where the earliest sites are now thought to date from c.17┐000 years ago, extended into Middle America (Mesoamerica), and reached what is now \JChile\j by c.13┐000 years ago.
Common origins with the Chinese north-east of the Yenisey River have been suggested. There are similarities (eg knife shapes) between Indian and late Palaeolithic / \JNeolithic\j Chinese cultures, and there are stylistic resemblances between the \Jtotem\j-pole art of North and \JSouth America\j and Shang dynasty shamanistic motifs.
\BNorth American Indians\b The palaeo-Americans were hunter-gatherers, who established themselves in the forested E coastal zone, on the grassy Great Plains, in the NW, and in the W deserts. The sharp and pronounced climatic changes and over-hunting resulted in a dramatic decline in big-game animals, and the \Jextinction\j of many species, including the mammoth. Except on the Great Plains, it brought to an end the mobile hunting adaptation based on communal game drives. Instead a new pattern emerged, based largely on sedentary resources such as nuts, seeds, and shellfish.
In the W, a Desert culture developed (at least 7000 years ago) where people settled in densely populated villages, and cultivated plants, produced baskets and other artifacts, and built adobe shelters. On the Plains the people became specialized \Jbison\j hunters, and (much later) started to grow crops and live in permanent settlements. In the E, which was colder and densely forested, seasonal movement occurred in response to food availability; people mainly survived by collecting nuts and seeds, and hunting \Jcaribou\j and sea mammals.
From the 16th-c, with the coming of European settlers, the lives of most Indians were severely disrupted. Conflict over land resulted in numerous bloody clashes, and many died from diseases introduced by Europeans. The population was very much reduced, from an estimated 1.5 million at its height, and by the 1880s most Indians had been confined to reservations. In the past generation there has been increasing political activity on the part of Indians to reclaim land rights.
\BMiddle American Indians\b The cultural and geographical region includes all of C and S Mexico, and extends into the Central American states of \JGuatemala\j, \JBelize\j, \JHonduras\j, and El Salvador. The cultivation of a cereal crop (\Jmaize\j) accelerated economic and social development, giving rise to indigenous civilizations based upon them. During the Formative Era (2500 BC-AD 300) the foundations of future cultural development were laid: the emergence of hieroglyphic writing, calendrics, astronomical observation, monumental \Jarchitecture\j, large religious and ceremonial centres, specialization in art and craft, and intensive agriculture.
Because of the spread of \Jmaize\j from the highlands and the introduction of new strains more suited to dry areas, people were able to live in more densely concentrated settlements. The area was warm, and an ideal environment for agriculture. The first beginnings of high civilization occurred in the Olmec culture c.1200 BC.
The \IClassic Period\i (AD 300-900) represented Mesoamerican civilization at its height, during which the Maya civilization flourished in parts of \JGuatemala\j, the Yucatßn, and the Mexican Chiapas. In the \IPost-Classic\i period (900-1520), the Mayans were superseded by the Toltecs and then the \JAztecs\j, based in the C highlands of Mexico, who flourished and expanded over several centuries until the arrival of the Spanish.
In 1521, CortΘs and a small army of soldiers took the last Aztec emperor captive, and the empire ceased to exist. At its height, the Indian population was much larger than in \JNorth America\j - some suggest as many as 20 million. Today most Middle Americans live in small farming and trading village communities, are Roman Catholic and Spanish-speaking, and show a high rate of admixture with the descendants of the Spanish settlers.
\BSouth American Indians\b The earliest peoples were hunter-gatherers, who were gradually replaced by sedentary agricultural societies. Between c.3000 and 1500 BC in most of the region, settled life based on \Jhorticulture\j became the norm. The people probably obtained \Jmaize\j from Middle America, though there is evidence that several local plants (eg the \Jpotato\j tuber) were domesticated as early as 5-7000 BC. Later, from c.1000 BC, larger-scale societies developed, culminating in AD 1000 in one of the world's major civilizations, the Inca.
In the century before the Spanish invasion of the region, the Inca state brought together much of the Andean area in the New World's largest empire. In the Amazon basin, tropical forest hunting-and-gathering culture existed from at least 2000 BC. With the European conquest in the 16th-c, some of the groups in the S became extinct, while others were absorbed into colonial society. But in a few remote parts, there are groups which have preserved their culture virtually intact.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
\BHistory\b
Although the past remains enshrouded in mystery, one thing is certain - Native Americans arrived in America long before Columbus sailed to the European "New World."
Although historians are not sure how Native Americans evolved in America, there are a number of theories. Some historians believe a land bridge once joined \JSiberia\j and \JAlaska\j, and humans may have traveled over it between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago. Other scholars have discovered evidence that challenges this belief that Native Americans traveled to \JNorth America\j over the Bering Land Bridge.
While recent \Jradiocarbon dating\j of remains in a rock shelter on a \Jsandstone\j cliff in northeastern \JBrazil\j indicate Indians have been there for at least 32,000 years -- longer than previously thought. Humans certainly occupied this shelter where charcoal hearths and stone tools were found. If humans occupied \JSouth America\j, some scholars argue that perhaps the peoples of \JNorth America\j actually came from the south, rather than from the north.
Thus far we have based most of what we know about pre-Columbian Native peoples on European studies of their eighteenth and nineteenth-century customs. These studies certainly are marred by European values and beliefs. Rather than starting from the present and working backwards, perhaps we should look at prehistoric cultures and move forward. For example, if we assume that people migrated over the Bering Land Bridge, we need to know who occupied \JSiberia\j at that time.
Many Native cultures have more in common with Mediterranean peoples than ancient people from \JSiberia\j. What was the influence of pre-Columbian visitors and settlers on America? Evidence shows that Phoenicians, Druids, and Africans visited here nearly 2,000 years ago. On the east coast, many remained and mixed with the American people, thus affecting their culture as well as their language, economy, and physical characteristics.
Finally, we cannot ignore the oral traditions passed on by the elders to the young in everyday life. Much is missing from written accounts of their way of life -- both present and past. In the oral tradition, learning is a part of daily life. Children learned about their history, culture, and religious beliefs as a part of their daily activities, but written accounts are sparse. Thus to modern scholars the early history of America before Columbus remains something of a mystery
Although historians do not know the names of all Indian tribes, the following recalls some of the main tribes from different regions
\BTribes of the Northwest Coast and California\b
The tribes of the Pacific Coast of what is now Washington, Oregon, and Northern \JCalifornia\j included the \JHaida\j, Kwakiutl, Nootka and Bella Coola of British Columbia; the coastal \JSalish\j of Washington; and the Yurok, \JHupa\j, and Modoc of Oregon and \JCalifornia\j. The Tlingit and Tsimshian lived along the Alaskan coast.
\BTribes of the Great Plains\b
The Great Plains area includes the territory stretching from Alberta, Canada, into \JTexas\j and west from the middle of the Dakotas, Oklahoma, \JNebraska\j, and Kansas to the foothills of the Rockies.
The tribes of this area included the well known Blackfeet, Crow, and Pawnee and the lesser known Mandan and Prairie. The French explorers also called the Dakota tribes the Sioux and Cheyenne. The tribes of the Great Plains are also remembered in such place names as \JIowa\j, Omaha, and \JWichita\j
\BTribes of the Great Basin and Plateau\b
The Great Basin covers over 200,000 square miles of grim desert scrub land and salt flats in what is now Nevada, \JUtah\j, the Western edge of \JColorado\j, and the southern portions of Washington and \JIdaho\j. The Plateau lies to the north and northwest of the Great Basin. On today's map, this includes parts of British Columbia and Alberta, Washington, Oregon, Montana, and \JIdaho\j
The tribes of the Great Basin and Plateau included the Utes (after whom \JUtah\j is named),Nez Perce (who bred the Appaloosa horse) Washos, \JPaiute\j, Walla Walla, Yakima, \JFlathead\j, Paloos, Shoshone, Bannock, Shoshone-Bannock, Chinook, Cayuse, and Kootenai.
\BTribes of the Eastern Woodlands, North and South\b
The lands of the northern woodlands cover the vast region stretching from the \JAtlantic Ocean\j to the Mississippi River, from the upper shores of Lake Superior to the northern border of what is now \JTennessee\j.
Over 40 different tribes inhabited this region in which the impressive \JIroquois\j Confederacy of tribes was formed just before whites settled the northeast. This League of the \JIroquois\j which had a governing council of fifty chiefs united the Mohawk, \JOneida\j, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca tribes, originally, with the Tuscarora joining later.
The Confederacy has its own oral constitution, and a set of laws that created peace for the member tribes for many years. This Confederacy, however, fought the Algonquian tribes and the independent Huron (known for their farming techniques).
Other tribes in this region included Mahicans, Ojibwa, Chippewa, \JDelaware\j, Powhatan, Unami, Winnebago, Micmac, Sauk, Fox, Menominee, and Montauk. There were also tribes at Narragensett and Penobscot.
The lands of the southeast woodlands stretch from the Gulf of Mexico to what is now lower Mississippi, Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia, from the Atlantic coastal marshes to the Mississippi River.
Tribes in this region included Chickasaw, \JCherokee\j (who had a written language), Creek, Choctaw, Natchez, Apalachee, Miccosukee and Timuaca, along with the famous \JSeminole\j tribes of \JFlorida\j.
\BTribes of the Southwest\b
The Southwest stretches from the northern borders of the Grand \JCanyon\j, east to \JColorado\j, and south through New Mexico and \JArizona\j.
Tribes of this area included the famous Navajo, Apache and \JHopi\j (known for their \JHopi\j Kachina figurines representing their spirits). Ancient tribes included the Anasazi, who lived at Mesa Verde. New Mexican tribes included Acoma, Jemez, Taos and a dozen other Pueblos who built the adobe houses. \JArizona\j tribes include Pima, \JPapago\j and \JZuni\j.
\BFurther reading: \IIndian Tribes of \JNorth America\j,\b\i by Josepha Sherman, published by Todtri Productions Limited\b
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"American Laboratory Theatre",1187,0,0,0
EN American acting school. Inspired by the first American appearance of the Moscow Art Theatre in January 1923, the American Laboratory Theatre (originally called the Theatre Arts Institute) was founded six months later as a school for training young actors in the \JStanislavsky\j system: a significant first step in translating \JStanislavsky\j's ideas about truth in acting into an American idiom.
The focus of the school was the classes taught by Richard Boleslavski and Maria Ouspenskaya, two impassioned ΘmigrΘs from \JStanislavsky\j's company. The Lab (disbanded in 1933) and its theatre (1925-30), were important links between the appearance of \JStanislavsky\j's company and the establishment in 1931 of America's first true theatrical collective, the Group Theatre.
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"American Legion",1188,0,0,0
EN In the USA, an association for former members of the armed forces (veterans), the largest in the world. Incorporated in 1919, its aims are to rehabilitate veterans, promote child welfare, ensure a strong national defence, and encourage patriotism.
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"American literature",1189,0,0,0
EN The first literary works of the English-speaking peoples of \JNorth America\j were sermons, journals, and histories - concerns reflected in the work of the early poets Ann Bradstreet (c.1612-72) and Edward Taylor (c.1645-1729). In the Revolutionary period the most important work was practical or political, eg Benjamin Franklin's \IPoor Richard's Almanac\i (1732-58). Franklin's \IAutobiography\i (1781) is a memorable testament to a Puritan sensibility.
After the international impact of Washington Irving's \ISketch-Book\i (1819-20), Fenimore Cooper likewise became a celebrity in the USA and Europe with his \ILeatherstocking Tales\i (1823-41), which introduced the theme of the problematic relationship between the wilderness and encroaching American civilization. Transcendentalism was enunciated by Ralph Waldo Emerson in \INature\i (1836) and by H D Thoreau in \IWalden\i (1855). Walt Whitman's free-form \ILeaves of Grass\i (appearing 1855-92) is the most sustained and successful response to Emerson's call for a literature free from European influence.
By contrast, the poetry of Emily Dickinson offers unique concentration and intensity. Another group that spoke for the darker side of existence in the USA included Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville. Poe's sinister \ITales\i (1840, 1845) continue to fascinate; while Hawthorne's \IThe Scarlet Letter\i (1850), and Melville's epic \IMoby-Dick\i (1852), are central works of the American imagination. But Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-\Jslavery\j novel \IUncle Tom's Cabin\i (1852) was the best-selling novel of the century.
Henry James and W D Howells (1837-1920) reacted against the parochialism of American literature, James going to Europe and producing a definitive series of novels on the clash of the two cultures, and Howells editing literary journals that published work by the European realists, James, and himself.
Howells also published Mark Twain, whose \IHuckleberry Finn\i (1885) is one of the few humorous books of the 19th-c whose humour remains uncorroded. Kate Chopin's brilliant short novel, \IThe Awakening\i (1899), went unregarded for 60 years, while Stephen Crane's \IThe Red Badge of Courage\i (1895) was accepted as a classic.
Naturalism was the dominant mode of American fiction until after World War 1, whether in stories like those by Jack London of life in hostile environments, or in the depiction by Theodore Dreiser of the developing industrial centres. The novels of Edith Wharton took New York society as their subject.
T S Eliot and Ezra Pound came to Europe after the war, using experimental verse to express their dismay at the decline of European civilization. Wallace Stevens too adopted the modernist faith in aesthetic values in a world where moral certainties seemed no longer tenable.
In the novel, Ernest Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald represented 'The Lost Generation', while another important innovator, William Faulkner, wrote a series of novels about the South. American drama makes its appearance with the plays of Eugene O'Neill, which rework autobiographical material with classical and expressionist techniques, and Arthur Miller (eg \IDeath of a Salesman,\i 1949).
The novels of Jewish writers Bernard Malamud and Saul Bellow invoke urban life with subtlety and humour, while Norman Mailer (like Hemingway) sees his writing as a form of action. The most significant postwar poets have been Robert Lowell, John Berryman, and Sylvia Plath, who dealt harrowingly with the anguish and madness of the contemporary world, and John Ashbery, who imports the postmodern condition into poetry.
The recent novel has tended to polarize between the 'new journalism' represented by Truman Capote and Tom Wolfe, and the postmodern experimentalism of John Barth and Thomas Pynchon; but meanwhile, writers such as Gore Vidal, John Updike, and Philip Roth continue the history of America in fiction.
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"American Medical Association (AMA)",1190,0,0,0
EN An association founded in Philadelphia in 1847 'to promote the science and art of medicine and the betterment of public health'. Its membership includes over 300┐000 US doctors from all specialties, expressing a corporate view on most aspects of health care.
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"American Museum of Natural History",1191,0,0,0
EN An institution founded in New York City in 1869. It includes the Hayden \JPlanetarium\j, as well as the zoo in Bronx Park, run by the American Zoological Society.
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"American Muslim Mission",1192,0,0,0
EN See Black Muslims
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"American ostrich",1193,0,0,0
EN See \Jrhea\j
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"American presidency",1194,0,0,0
American politicians, historians, and political scientists have long debated the position of the president in American political life. The central question was (and to some extent still remains) this: how much power should be concentrated in the hands of one person? Does the presidency fit into the framework of checks and balances laid out in the Constitution, or has it come to usurp undue power in the nation's political life?
The Founding Fathers of the USA were children of the Enlightenment. Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, Gouverneur Morris, James Wilson, and their peers believed that people, through the use of reason, could construct a humane and efficient government - one that would govern rather than rule, and inform rather than instruct. After a series of debates during the summer of 1787, the Founding Fathers designed a presidency that should be significant but not dominant in the national life. Indeed, the US Constitution's Article I dealt with establishing the legislature, presumably signifying its primary importance. Article II provided for a chief executive to command the army, navy, and militias, to make treaties (with advice and consent of the Senate), to grant reprieves and pardons, and to appoint ambassadors, Supreme Court judges, and other officers of the nation. The authors of the Constitution granted these powers to the president in confident anticipation that George Washington would be the first to hold that office. Most historians concur that Washington was a model first president. He abided strictly by the Constitution, shunned political parties, and retired after two terms of office. He had set a pattern of restrained and judicious government.
Members of the \JMassachusetts\j and Virginia dynasties (1797--1829) followed in Washington's footsteps. They used the presidential powers sparingly, and adhered to the notion of checks and balances in government. An important exception occurred in 1802, when Thomas Jefferson exceeded constitutional limits in purchasing the Louisiana Territory from \JFrance\j.
Andrew Jackson (president 1829--37) ended the vision of a limited presidency. A frontiersman and a "man of the people', he used the presidential veto often, "killed' the Bank of the United States, and instituted a vigorous "spoils system' that replaced previous appointees with men of his own choosing. He used the presidential powers to their fullest extent, and was both praised and vilified for his actions.
James K(nox) Polk (president 1845--9) stands out as the most vigorous of Jackson's immediate successors. Polk settled the Oregon dispute with \JGreat Britain\j, and provoked a war with Mexico that acquired vast areas of new land for the USA. He retired after one term in office, and the presidency again took its place among the checks and balances until the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in 1861.
Faced with the \JCivil War\j crisis, Lincoln suspended habeas corpus, extended the size of the army and navy, and hired and fired generals. He increased the power of the presidency by making himself responsible for the course of the war. His actions held the nation together, but at a cost to himself and to the office. Many people resented his assumption of extra-constitutional powers, and some even charged him with desiring to become a dictator. His assassin, John Wilkes Booth, shouted Sic semper tyrannis ("thus ends tyranny') after shooting Lincoln.
Following Lincoln's death (1865), the presidency entered a period of gradual decline. One president (Andrew Johnson) was impeached, but not convicted; one (Ulysses S Grant) allowed corrupt men into his Cabinet; and another (Rutherford B Hayes) came to the presidency tainted by a deal struck in the \JHouse of Representatives\j. During this period (1865--1901) the president was often thwarted by Congress, which experienced a resurgence of its power.
Theodore Roosevelt's presidency (1901--9) signalled another change in the political balance of power. He busted trusts, took Panama from \JColombia\j in order to be able to dig the Canal, and sent the Great White Fleet around the world. In him, the president became the policeman of the country, just as the country was starting to see itself as the policeman of the world. Woodrow Wilson, the scholar-politician, also asserted the power of the presidency (1913--21) as he led the USA into World War 1 as a democratic cause, but the Senate rejected the Versailles Treaty and America's participation in the \JLeague of Nations\j. The rejection was a sharp reminder of Congressional powers and of the need for the president to maintain support, both in Congress and among the people at large. The president became less vital under the corruption of Warren Harding's administration and the \Jlaissez-faire\j politics of Calvin Coolidge. The start of the \JGreat Depression\j (1929), however, brought the presidency to the fore of the nation again.
Herbert Hoover (president 1929--33) saw the presidency as limited, and he called for private charity, rather than government programmes, to combat the \JGreat Depression\j. It took the inventiveness, forcefulness, and at times ruthlessness of Franklin D Roosevelt (president 1933--45) to make the presidency responsible for the economic well-being of the American people. Roosevelt closed the banks, created numerous new government agencies, and tangled with the Supreme Court. He used radio "fireside chats' to bring average Americans into his corner and to circumvent congressional opposition. Elected to the presidency four times (1932, 1936, 1940, 1944), and commander-in-chief during World War 2, he held more power than any other president, before or since. His successors have struggled with and against his legacy. They have faced the awkward reality that presidential power had become more all-pervasive than the Founding Fathers had ever intended it to be.
Since 1945, the president has remained in the forefront of US politics. The advent of \Jtelevision\j and the threat posed by the \JCold War\j made the president more powerful than Congress. In 1961, John F Kennedy brought youth and glamour to the \JWhite House\j. Americans began to feel that their president must be handsome, witty, and graceful, as well as commanding and assertive. But after Kennedy's assassination in 1963, the presidency floundered for nearly 20 years. The Vietnam War, the \JWatergate\j scandal, the pardon of Richard Nixon, economic difficulties, and the \JIran\j hostage crisis (1979--81) all helped to create a pessimistic view of the Oval Office. \JTelevision\j both portrayed and magnified the weaknesses and failings of the presidency during these years (1963--81). It took the skills of the actor-turned-president, Ronald Reagan (1981--9), to make the presidency well respected once more. Reagan used Franklin Roosevelt's method of appealing to the people over the heads of the congressional leaders, even though he was seeking to reverse the trend towards "big government' that Roosevelt had initiated. George Bush (1989--93), less skilled in public relations, found his programme blocked by a Congress controlled by the opposition party.
After 200 years, the USA has not definitively answered a central constitutional question: does the president or the Congress determine the course of the nation? The presidency's power has thrived at times and suffered at others, but there has been a clear trend towards the presidency holding a more exalted and significant role than Congress. Whether through intention or circumstance, the presidency looms large in public consciousness. Popular expectations and desires focus upon the president; indeed, many Americans have come to look upon the president not only as the greatest authority in political affairs but also as the final arbiter of American society. Only the passage of time will indicate whether this movement towards presidential omnipotence has been a lasting or an ephemeral one.
Samuel Crompton, Holyoke Community College
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"American Repertory Theatre",1195,0,0,0
EN (USA) The first company of this name, founded in 1946 by Eva Le Gallienne, Margaret Webster and Cheryl Crawford, was located on Columbus Circle, New York. It was defunct by 1948. The second company (ART) under Robert Brustein began an association in 1980 with \JHarvard University\j.
Dedicated to neglected works from the past, to new American plays and to innovative classical productions, the theatre has staged controversial productions, innovative direction and experimental work, such as the 1985 presentation of portions of Robert Wilson's The Civil Wars and inaugural productions, such as Marsha Norman's 'night, Mother (1982).
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"American Revolution",1196,0,0,0
The \JAmerican Revolution\j developed from the issue of the authority of the British parliament to levy direct taxes on its American colonies; it culminated in the War of Independence (1775--83), and the establishment of the USA and, indirectly, Canada.
The first of the three main phases was marked by progressively deteriorating relations between Britain and the colonies over Britain's increasingly authoritarian rule and its resulting limitation on American economic freedom. Strong but diffused American resentment became focused in opposition to parliament's Stamp Act (1765), introduced by the British government under George Grenville. This act sought to raise revenue from the colonies, both to contribute towards their defence and to offset some of the debts accrued during the recently concluded French and Indian Wars. Colonial opposition centred on boycotting British imports, outspoken criticism from elected representatives, and the formation of the Sons of Liberty under Samuel Adams. There were other revolutionary parties, concentrated in the East Coast ports, led by Richard Henry Lee (1732--94), Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and others.
In repealing the Stamp Act (Mar 1766), parliament claimed to have recognized the difference (that had been distinguished by Benjamin Franklin - American envoy to Britain) between acceptable "external taxes' incurred through normal commercial duties, and unacceptable "internal taxes' levied by a parliament in which the colonies were not represented. However, the repeal was followed immediately by the Declaratory Act, proclaiming parliament's authority to legislate for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever'. More trouble erupted with the passage of a series of laws introduced by the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Charles Townshend. These Townshend Acts (Jun 1767) raised revenue to pay British colonial officials, increased the efficiency of the customs service, and suspended the New York legislature. One of the incidents arising from the tension resulting from further and increasingly effective trade boycotts involved British troops. It began as a snowball fight but, believing themselves to be under attack, the troops panicked and fired on the crowd throwing snow at them, killing five (The \JBoston\j Massacre, 15 Mar 1770).
Following the repeal of most of the Townshend Acts, many colonists hoped for a peaceful settlement with the government of Lord North. However, radicals, organized by Samuel Adams, vigorously opposed any reconciliation. In May 1773, parliament granted favourable tea export-duty concessions to the near-bankrupt British East India Company, precipitating another crisis by putting the American tea traders at a disadvantage. The radicals, roused by Samuel Adams and Josiah Quincy, and disguised as Mohawk Indians, boarded the company ship Dartmouth at \JBoston\j, and threw its cargo of tea into the harbour - the \JBoston\j Tea Party (16 Dec 1773). At the same time as this happened, tea cargoes were confiscated in Charleston.
Parliament's swift riposte was the passing of four acts, referred to by the colonists as the Intolerable Acts which, amongst other effects, significantly amended the \JMassachusetts\j charter, closed \JBoston\j as a port, and appointed General Thomas Gage as Governor of \JMassachusetts\j. What was seen as alarming and drastic action on the part of parliament prompted the calling of the \JContinental Congress\j in Philadelphia (Sep 1774) to orchestrate resistance. Prominent at this first Congress were Samuel Adams, his cousin John Adams, and John Dickinson (1732--1808), known as the Penman of the Revolution for his earlier articles opposing the Townshend Acts - among them "Letter from a Farmer in \JPennsylvania\j'. John Hancock and George Washington were also present. Congress petitioned King \JGeorge III\j for a return to their status of 1763, while agreeing to enforce the boycott on British ports.
A second \JContinental Congress\j was called for May 1775, but this was preceded in April by the first military skirmishes of the war when General Gage sent British troops to seize military stores at \JLexington\j and Concord. In the ensuing battle, Gage's troops were driven back to \JBoston\j. Moderate colonists, who previously had been loyal to the king (seeing their dispute as being only with a corrupt government), began to rally to the radicals' cause. They were persuaded by the king's intransigence and by the arguments in Thomas Paine's pamphlet, "Commonsense'. In June 1776, following a proposal by delegate Richard Henry Lee, a committee was appointed under the leadership of Thomas Jefferson to draw up a \JDeclaration of Independence\j, and independence was declared on 4 July that year.
Meanwhile, the second phase of the Revolution was signalled by a deteriorating military situation. Following the armed action at \JLexington\j, Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys of \JVermont\j irregulars with Benedict Arnold's forces captured forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point, seizing the British artillery in the process (May 1775). Washington, whom Congress had appointed commander of the continental forces, sent Harry Knox (1750--1806) 300┐mi to \JBoston\j to recover the British heavy cannons.
The first major engagement came in the Battle of Bunker Hill (Jun 1775). The actual battle site, Breed's Hill, across the Charles R from \JBoston\j, was occupied by colonists who had besieged Gage's troops in the town. British troops under General William Howe, supported by fire from warships in the harbour, made a frontal assault on the hill. They sustained serious losses until the colonists' ammunition was exhausted, whereupon the colonists (under Israel Putnam, Colonel William Prescott (1726--95), and John Stark) retreated, claiming a moral victory.
In July 1775, Congress authorized an expedition against Quebec. Philip John Schuyler was to advance via L Champlain to meet up with Arnold approaching along the Kentucky R. After delays through ill-health, Schuyler resigned in favour of Richard Montgomery (1738--1775). The expedition finally commenced in September, entering a friendly Montreal in November. Montgomery then moved on to assist Arnold in besieging Quebec, but was killed during an attempt to storm the town. Arnold was badly wounded, but maintained the siege throughout the winter. The colonists, weakened by smallpox, starvation, and desertion, were eventually forced to retreat ahead of the newly arrived British reinforcements commanded by the Governor of Quebec, General Sir Guy Carleton. By June 1776 they had left Canada and fallen back on Ticonderoga, but in October Arnold built a fleet of warships on L Champlain, forcing Carleton to do likewise. Arnold was defeated in the subsequent battle, but had succeeded in delaying the British advance, causing Carleton to return to winter quarters in Canada.
In early 1776, Congress authorized Washington to bombard the besieged British in \JBoston\j. The siting of the captured Ticonderoga cannons overlooking the town convinced Howe of the futility of defence and, with Washington's agreement, he evacuated \JBoston\j without attack. He then sailed for \JHalifax\j, \JNova Scotia\j, together with many colonists who remained loyal to the Crown.
Congress had decided that New York should be defended, so Washington moved his troops to occupy the S end of Manhattan Island. Howe followed from \JHalifax\j, and landed his troops on \JStaten Island\j. More British troops arrived with Howe's brother, Admiral Richard Howe, bringing his forces to some 34000 men. Admiral Howe had been authorized to discuss surrender terms with the colonists but, when the latter showed no interest, British troops were landed on Long Island (Jul 1776) and defeated an outpost at Brooklyn Heights commanded by Israel Putnam (Aug 1776). Shortly after, Washington withdrew by night from an untenable position and, after more peace negotiations, was forced into a series of further withdrawals, pursued first by Howe, then by General Charles Cornwallis. Congress fled from Philadelphia to Baltimore.
However, despite his forces being seriously depleted and demoralized, Washington surprised the British by an audacious night crossing of the ice-packed \JDelaware\j R, and took Trenton, NJ, capturing some 1000 mercenaries in the process (Dec 1776). Colonist morale received a further boost when Washington rounded on Cornwallis, who was in pursuit, threatening his lines of communication near Princeton (Jan 1777) and forcing him into a precipitate retreat. Howe, alarmed by Washington's successes, concentrated his troops around New York.
British strategy in 1777 until the end of the war was to isolate New England from the other states. In order to achieve this, Sir John Burgoyne was to move S from Canada to meet up at Albany with Lt Col Barry St Leger, advancing E from L \JOntario\j, and Howe, moving N from New York. While Burgoyne and St Leger commenced their moves in June and July, Howe became obsessed with capturing Philadelphia; he left General Sir Henry Clinton in command in New York, and embarked his army for Chesapeake Bay. At Brandywine Creek (Sep 1777), Washington was badly beaten, attempting to prevent Howe's occupation of Philadelphia. After a further unsuccessful attempt on British lines located at Germantown, N of the capital (Oct 1777), Washington went into winter quarters at \JValley Forge\j, 20┐mi NW of Philadelphia. While there, enduring serious privations from cold, disease, and lack of food, his troops received valuable training from Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, a Prussian officer in the service of \JFrance\j.
American defeats were offset by success against the planned British invasion from Canada. Initially, Burgoyne had enjoyed an easy victory at Fort Ticonderoga when General Arthur St Clair (1736--1818) evacuated the fort without a fight (Jul 1777). However, his advance towards Albany was seriously hindered by the continued harassment of forces under the newly appointed American general, Horatio Gates. Burgoyne's position was further weakened by desperate food shortages, and by St Leger's return to L \JOntario\j after punishing engagements at Fort Stanwix and Oriskany (Aug 1777). Finally, after battles at Bennington, VT (Aug 1777), and against Arnold at Freemans Farm (Sep 1777), Burgoyne engaged Arnold at Blemis Heights (Oct 1777), where he was defeated. Having retreated to Saratoga, Burgoyne then surrendered to Gates (Oct 1777). This had a decisive effect on American morale, and was instrumental in \JFrance\j's crucial entry into the war on the side of the Americans. In December 1777, King \JLouis XVI\j recognized the independence of the United States.
Howe had resigned after Burgoyne's defeat, and his replacement, Clinton, had been ordered to abandon Philadelphia and return to New York. Washington followed Clinton, and in June 1778 Americans led by General Charles Lee attacked the British rearguard at Monmouth Courthouse, NJ. Clinton countered the attack, and only the intervention of Washington prevented an American retreat from what should have been a decisive victory. Lee was court-martialled and later dismissed.
The following month, a French fleet under the command of Admiral Comte Hector d'Estaing arrived off New York. Unable to enter New York harbour, and having tried unsuccessfully to assist General John Sullivan against the British at \JRhode Island\j, d'Estaing withdrew to the West Indies, leaving the Royal Navy unchallenged in American waters.
Apart from British raids in \JMassachusetts\j and Connecticut, American attacks under Sullivan against Britain's Indian allies in New York, and the taking of Vincennes, IN, in February 1778 by Colonel George Rogers Clark (1752--1818), action in the N entered a stalemate. British strategy was now aimed at the S, and in November 1778 Clinton sent an army S to join British troops from \JFlorida\j under General Augustine Prevost (nd). Landing at Savannah (Dec 1778), Clinton's troops overcame American opposition, and occupied the town (29 Dec). By the end of 1778, most of Georgia was under the control of a British governor, Sir James Wright (nd). An American campaign led by General Benjamin Lincoln, and assisted by French troops landed by Admiral d'Estaing, failed to dislodge the British from Savannah. The siege was abandoned (Oct 1779), and d'Estaing returned to \JFrance\j. Later (May 1780), Lincoln was forced to surrender his whole army of 5000 men while attempting to defend Charleston against more of Clinton's troops, who had been evacuated from New York to reinforce the S. Clinton returned his troops to New York to guard against a possible threat from a recently landed French force under the Comte de Rochambeau, leaving Cornwallis in command in the S. Congress sent an army under General Gates to retake the S; but having invaded South Carolina he was heavily defeated by Cornwallis at Camden (Aug 1780), leaving the latter free to invade \JNorth Carolina\j virtually unopposed. Other American misfortunes during this period included the defection of Arnold, and a long-runnning series of mutinies precipitated by considerable arrears of pay and poor conditions of service.
Cornwallis's advance was halted by news of the defeat of a party of loyalists under Major Patrick Ferguson at Kings Mountain (Oct 1780). Having received more troops from Clinton, Cornwallis went after the new American commander, General Nathaniel Greene. The first contact was made by Cornwallis's cavalry leader, Banastre Tarleton, whose forces were destroyed at Cowpens (Jan 1781) by part of Greene's army under Daniel Morgan (1736--1802). Later, Cornwallis won a narrow victory over Greene at Guilford Court House, NC (Mar 1781), but at the expense of serious casualties. Thus weakened, Cornwallis withdrew to join part of Clinton's forces in Virginia.
Some 8000 British troops under Francis Rawdon, Lord Hastings, remained in the S. Despite defeating Greene at Hobkirk's Hill (Apr 1781), at Ninety-Six (1781), and later, under Colonel Alexander Stuart (nd), at Eutaw Springs (Sep 1781), they faced continual harassment from irregulars led by such men as Francis Marion (1732--95), Andrew Pickens (1739--1817), and Thomas Sumter, and retired to Savannah and Charleston for the remainder of the war.
Ignoring Clinton's orders to hold \JNorth Carolina\j, Cornwallis meanwhile had entered Virginia, where he began fortifying \JYorktown\j, opposed by forces under the Marquis de Lafayette, von Steuben, and Anthony Wayne. Washington had joined forces with Rochambeau at Newport, RI, in July 1780. After an unsuccessful campaign to retake New York, and appeals to \JFrance\j for more help, they were joined by the fleet of Admiral Franτois, comte de Grasse (1722--88) and French troops at Chesapeake Bay, from where they moved S to besiege \JYorktown\j. Rescue efforts by Clinton were indecisive and late, and in October 1781 Cornwallis surrendered his army of 7000 men. Fighting on land effectively ceased with this surrender, and subsequently Clinton's successor, Sir Guy Carleton, evacuated Savannah (Jul 1781) and Charleston (Dec 1781), together with many loyalists. The British forces finally evacuated New York in December 1783, leaving Washington to enter in triumph.
At sea privateers such as John Paul Jones caused some serious losses to British shipping while operating around the \JBritish Isles\j. The activities of the Spanish and Dutch fleets were also instrumental in keeping the British fleet occupied, thus hampering an effective blockade of American ports and, together with the French, threatening the invasion of Britain. The chief British protagonists who at various times and places engaged de Grasse in generally indecisive encounters were Admiral Sir George Rodney (1718--92), later to defeat and capture de Grasse at the Battle of the Saints off Dominica (1782), Admiral Samuel Hood, who had failed to reach the besieged forces at \JYorktown\j, and Admiral Thomas Graves (?1725--1802), who had also attempted to reach \JYorktown\j.
The news of the surrender of \JYorktown\j led to the resignation of the British prime minister, Lord North, and his cabinet (Mar 1782). He was replaced by the Marquis of Rockingham, who died four months later. His successor, Lord Shelburne, agreed to a preliminary peace treaty (Nov 1782) drawn up by Franklin, John Adams, John Ray, and Henry Laurens (1724--1792), acknowledging the independence of the United States. However, the definitive peace treaty was delayed until the formal cessation of hostilities between Britain and America's allies (Treaty of Paris, 1783), whereupon the last British forces withdrew from New York. The third phase of the Revolution had begun with the \JDeclaration of Independence\j in 1776, which effectively created 13 free and independent states. Immediately after this declaration, the Second \JContinental Congress\j set up a committee under John Dickinson to draw up a constitution for the United States. The committee's draft proposals for a central goverment were rejected, and not until 1781 were the Articles of Confederation adopted, binding the states in a league of friendship. When the weaknesses of these Articles became apparent, mainly through the inability of Congress to raise taxes or enforce decisions, Congress sought initially to revise them. However, in September 1787 the Constitutional Convention presented further proposals for central government. These were advocated by the rising Federalist movement, named after the 85 essays defending the Constitution. These essays, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay (originally under the pseudonym Publius) were influential in securing the required majority of states to ratify the Constitution in 1788. With the abolition of the Articles of Confederation and the adoption of the new Constitution, the Revolution was effectively over.
Two other consequences of the Revolution should be noted. First, \JAmerican Indians\j allied themselves with both sides during the conflict, and fought sporadically but fiercely. Notably, the tribes of the League of the \JIroquois\j disagreed over which side to take, and after some of them sided with the British, American troops engaged them and demolished their settlements, destroying the League both as a military force and as a union. Secondly, by supporting the \JDeclaration of Independence\j and its contention that liberty is one of the unalienable rights due to all people, the Revolution benefited African-Americans by helping to eliminate slave-holding in the Northern states, and to create abolition movements in the South.
BK AND
#
"American Samoa",1197,0,0,0
PN [sa\Bmoh\ba]
EN pop (1995e) 56 400; area 197 sq km/76 sq mi. Territory of the USA, in the CS \JPacific Ocean\j, some 3500 km/2175 mi NE of \JNew Zealand\j, divided into five counties; five principal volcanic islands and two \Jcoral\j atolls; capital, Fagatogo; timezone GMT -11; people largely of Polynesian origin; main religion, \JChristianity\j; official language, English; main island, Tutuila (109 sq km/42 sq mi); to the E and N are Aunu'u, the Manu'a Group (Ta'u, Olosega, Ofu), the atolls of Swain's I, and the uninhabited Rose I; main islands hilly, with large areas covered by thick bush and forest; Tutuila rises to 653 m/2142 ft, Ta'u to 970 m/3182 ft; tropical maritime climate, with small annual range of \Jtemperature\j (eg Pago Pago average Jan 28.3░C, Jul 26.7░C) and plentiful rainfall (annual average, 5000 mm/200 in); US acquired rights to \JAmerican Samoa\j in 1899, and the islands were ceded by their chiefs, 1900--25; now an unincorporated territory of the USA, administered by the Department of the Interior; bicameral legislature established in 1948; governor is administrative head of the executive branch; legislature (the \IFono\i) comprises the Senate (18 members, chosen every four years by county councils according to Samoan custom) and the \JHouse of Representatives\j (20 members, plus one non-voting member, chosen every two years by popular vote); principal crops are \Jtaro\j, breadfruit, yams, bananas, coconuts; fish canning, \Jtuna\j fishing, local inshore fishing, handicrafts.
BK Geog99
#
"American Shakespeare Theatre",1198,0,0,0
EN (USA) Founded in Stratford, Connecticut, in 1951 as the American Festival Theatre under the guidance of Lawrence Langner, its name was changed in 1972. The octagonal theatre, reminiscent of the exterior of the original Globe Theatre, with a thrust stage and an auditorium seating about 1,500, opened on 12 July 1955 with Julius Caesar. The repertoire included non-Shakespearian works. Since 1979 production has been sporadic, and since 1982 virtually non-existent.
BK Thea
#
"American Sign Language (ASL)",1199,0,0,0
EN A sign language widely used by the deaf in the USA; also known as \BAmeslan.\b The system contains over 4000 signs, and is used by over half a million deaf people - by many, as a native language.
BK a
#
"American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals",1200,0,0,0
EN See RSPCA
BK a
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#
"American Veterinary Medical Association",1201,0,0,0
EN See veterinary science
BK a
XCY y
#
"American water spaniel",1202,0,0,0
EN The American Water Spaniel was bred to be a powerful working gun dog. It is only one of the few breeds that are credited with being purely American.
\BHistory:\b
It is believed that the American Water Spaniel was developed as a breed in the \JMiddle East\j before being brought to America. Dedicated breeders selectively bred the American Water Spaniel until it became the truly magnificent Spaniel of today. The breed was made up from crossing various \Jwater\j spaniels such as the Old English and the Irish, with a contribution from the Curly Coated Retriever.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
This powerfully built medium-sized dog has the appearance of an athlete, just waiting for its owner's command to spring into action. \IHeight:\i 15 18 in (38 - 46 cm). \IWeight:\i 25 45 lb (11.3 - 20.4 kg). It has a long, lean head with eyes neatly filling but not protruding from the sockets. The long ears set the face to provide a very endearing and gentle expression.
The medium-length muscular neck smoothly flows onto a compact body with a broad chest. The muscular flanks are complemented by a long tail which seems to never stop wagging. The dense coat is closely curled and may be colored dark chocolate or liver, with just a small amount of white on the chest or toes.
\BBehavior:\b
This medium-sized dog has a gentle nature, but it has managed to retain the qualities of a working gun dog. It is very intelligent and responds well to training. As the name suggests, this dog was bred to retrieve from \Jwater\j, and it is generally an excellent swimmer. Owners of the American Water Spaniel should not be surprised if their dog pulls them in the direction of lakes and other bodies of \Jwater\j.
American Water Spaniels make very good watch-dogs and will happily alert their owner to the sound of intruders. In most cases they get along very well with other dogs but benefit from socialization as puppies. Like other spaniels, the American Water Spaniel can make an excellent companion dog for both single people and families alike. Although they may be content with only moderate exercise, they will thrive if they are worked regularly.
These dogs require regular thorough brushing and particular attention should be given to their ears.
BK wan
#
"American whitewood",1203,0,0,0
EN See tulip tree
BK a
XCY y
#
"Amery, John",1204,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bmeree]
DT1 1912
DT2 45
EN British pro-Nazi adventurer, the son (later disowned) of Lake S Amery. Recruited by the Nazis in \JFrance\j, he began pro-Hitler broadcasts from Berlin in 1942. He tried to raise an anti-Bolshevik free corps in the British internee camp at St Denis to fight for the Nazis on the Russian front (1943), and made speeches for Hitler in \JNorway\j, \JFrance\j, \JBelgium\j, and Yugoslavia (1944). Captured by Italian partisans in 1945, he was tried in London for high \Jtreason\j, and hanged in December 1945.
MEX Amery, Lake S
SX m
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#
"Amery, L(eopold Charles Maurice) S(tennett)",1205,0,0,0
DT1 1873
DT2 1955
EN British statesman, born in Gorakpur, India. He studied at Oxford, and became Conservative MP for Sparkbrook, Birmingham, a seat which he held for 34 years. He served as colonial under-secretary, First Lord of the Admiralty, and colonial secretary between 1919 and 1929, then returned to office in Churchill's wartime administration as \Jsecretary of state\j for India and \JBurma\j. He became famous for his exhortation to Neville Chamberlain, in May 1940, adapting Cromwell's words, 'In the name of God, go!'
MEX Chamberlain, Neville
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#
"Ames, Adelbert",1206,0,0,0
DT (1835-1933)
EN governor; born in Rockland, Maine. A West Point graduate (1861), he saw continuous action, distinguishing himself at 1st Bull Run, Gettysburg, and Petersburg. Governor of the Mississippi military district (1868-70), he served in the U.S. Senate (Rep., Miss.; 1870-74). Returning as governor of Mississippi (1874-76), he was unable to quell widespread disorder, including the \JVicksburg\j riots, and resigned when threatened with \Jimpeachment\j.
He moved to New York City, investing in \JMinnesota\j flour mills and manufacturing in Lowell, Mass. As a volunteer brigadier general, he saw service in \JCuba\j during the Spanish-American War in 1898, retiring to Lowell afterward.
BK AmBg
#
"Ames, Ezra",1207,0,0,0
DT (1768-1836)
EN painter; born in Framingham, Mass. He worked in Worcester, Mass. (1790-93), settled in Albany, N.Y., (1793), and started as a carriage painter and miniaturist. Later he painted portraits, including that of Vice-President George Clinton (1812).
BK AmBg
#
"Ames, James Barr",1208,0,0,0
DT (1846-1910)
EN legal scholar; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. He was educated at Harvard and taught at Harvard Law School from 1872 until his death. He advanced the case method of instruction by compiling and publishing cases on torts, partnerships, trusts, and equity \Jjurisdiction\j. He took part in founding the \IHarvard Law Review\i in 1887 and published \ILectures on Legal History\i (1913).
BK AmBg
#
"Ames, Jessie Daniel",1209,0,0,0
DT (1883-1972)
EN suffragist, \Jcivil rights\j activist; born in Palestine, \JTexas\j. Educated at Southwestern College (1902), she made lynching a southern white women's issue by linking feminism to racial justice. She became director of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation Women's Committee (1929) and founded the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching (1930-42). She remained politically active until 1968.
BK AmBg
#
"Ames, Joseph",1210,0,0,0
PN [aymz]
DT1 1689
DT2 1759
EN Bibliographer and antiquarian, born in Yarmouth, \JIsle of Wight\j, S England, UK. He became an ironmonger or ship-chandler in London, and at the suggestion of friends compiled \ITypographical Antiquities\i (1749), the foundation of English bibliography.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Ames, Oakes (1804-73)",1211,0,0,0
DT (1804-73)
EN capitalist, U.S. representative; born in Easton, Mass. At age 16 he began working at Oliver Ames & Co., his father's shovel factory, and when his father retired in 1844, he took over the company with his brother, Oliver Jr. Their business flourished, riding the waves of the \JCalifornia\j Gold Rush of 1848, the Australian gold rush, the westward exodus, and the \JCivil War\j.
Active in politics, Oakes served in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Rep., Mass.; 1863-73). In 1865 he joined CrΘdit Mobilier, financiers of the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1872 he was investigated for selling CrΘdit Mobilier railroad stock to Congressmen below par value in order to influence their votes on behalf of the financial scheme. His actions were condemned by a House resolution in 1873 and he died soon thereafter.
BK AmBg
#
"Ames, Oakes (1874-1950)",1212,0,0,0
DT (1874-1950)
EN botanist; born in North Easton, Mass. He taught and performed research at Harvard (1898-1941). In 1900 he was instrumental in founding Harvard's Atkins Garden in \JCuba\j. His skilled administration (1937-45) brought Harvard's Botanical Museum to prominence. He amassed a large collection of orchid specimens, his specialty, and made major contributions to studies of their \Jtaxonomy\j and \Jevolution\j.
A pioneer in economic botany, he devised the Ames charts in which plant families were pictured and identified by their economic products. His theory (1930s) that civilization was directly dependent on agriculture - eventually supported by archaeological findings - was summed up in his masterwork, \IEconomic Annuals and Human Culture\i (1939).
BK AmBg
#
"Ames, William",1213,0,0,0
PN [aymz]
HS , Lat \BAmesius\b
DT1 1576
DT2 1633
EN Puritan theologian, born in \JIpswich\j, Suffolk, E England, UK. He wrote mostly in Latin, and spent the later half of his life in Holland, where he became a professor of \Jtheology\j. He is celebrated for his exposition of Calvinist doctrine.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Ames, Winthrop",1214,0,0,0
DT 1871-1937
EN American producer and director. Ames, a wealthy Bostonian, was the first American to make a serious study of the European art theatres and their scenic innovations. In 1912 he introduced the 'new stagecraft' to New York by bringing over Reinhardt's production of Sumrun. He encouraged Norman Bel Geddes's experiments in stage lighting at his two New York theatres, the Little and the Booth.
Ames prepared minutely detailed prompt scripts, 'mother copies', for his productions, most notably Galsworthy's The Pigeon (1912), Schnitzler's The Affairs of Anatol (1912), Shaw's The Philanderer (1913), Snow White (1913, his own adaptation), Maeterlinck's The Betrothal (1918), and Kaufman and Connelly's Beggar on Horseback (1924).
BK Thea
#
"Ameslan",1215,0,0,0
EN See American Sign Language (ASL)
BK a
XCY y
#
"amethyst",1216,0,0,0
EN A violet-to-purple form of \Jquartz\j. It is prized as a precious stone.
BK a
#
"Amhara",1217,0,0,0
EN A Semitic-speaking people of the Ethiopian C highlands who, with the Tigray, dominate the country. They are descended from the original Semitic conquerors from S \JArabia\j. The Christian empire of \JEthiopia\j was ruled by \JAmhara\j dynasties (1260-1974) which, by intermarriage and cultural assimilation, incorporated people from almost every ethnic group of the empire. \IAmharic\i is the official language of \JEthiopia\j. Population c.9 million.
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#
"Amherst (of Arakan), William Pitt, 1st Earl",1218,0,0,0
DT1 1773
DT2 1857
EN Colonialist, born in Bath, south-west England, UK, the nephew and adopted son of Jeffrey, 1st Baron Amherst. In 1816 he was sent as ambassador to China, but his mission failed when he refused to kow-tow to the emperor. In 1823 he was appointed Governor-General of India, where he weathered the first Burmese War and was rewarded with an earldom (1826).
MEX Amherst, Jeffrey
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#
"Amherst, Jeffrey, 1st Baron Amherst",1219,0,0,0
DT1 1717
DT2 97
EN British soldier, born in Sevenoaks, Kent, south-east England, UK. Joining the army at the age of 14 he played an important part in the North American phase of the Seven Years' War (1756-63). He was in command of the expedition against the French in Canada, and captured Louisburg (1758). Appointed commander-in-chief of North America in 1759, he captured Montreal in 1760. He was Governor-General of British North America (1760-3), then commander-in-chief of the British army (1772-96).
SX m
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#
"amicable numbers",1220,0,0,0
EN Two numbers such that each is the sum of all the divisors of the other. Thus 284 and 220 are amicable, for the divisors of 284 are 1,2,4,71,142, whose sum is 220, and the divisors of 220 are 1,2,4,5,10,11,20,22,44,55,110, whose sum is 284. Note that 1 is counted as a divisor.
Pythagoras is credited with the discovery of amicable numbers, though he seems only to have known of this pair. Fermat in 1636 announced that 17┐296 and 18┐416 were amicable. Since then other pairs of amicable numbers have been found. In former times, such numbers were prominent in magic and \Jastrology\j.
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#
"Amichai, Yehuda",1221,0,0,0
PN [\Bam\bichiy]
DT1 1924
EN Poet, born in Wⁿrzburg, \JGermany\j. In 1936 he went with his family to what was then Palestine. A dozen volumes of verse since \INow and in Other Days\i (1955, trans title) are divided in subject-matter between the idyll of childhood and the struggle of Israel to establish and defend its identity. These include \INow in the Turmoil\i (1968, trans title) and \IAmen\i (1978, trans by Amichai with Ted Hughes).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPoetry\i
1955 Now and in Other Days
1968 Now in the Turmoil
1978 Amen
BK Biog99
#
"Amici, Giovanni Battista",1222,0,0,0
PN [ameechee]
DT (1786-1868)
EN Italian microscopist: improved the compound \Jmicroscope\j.
Amici trained as an engineer and architect in \JBologna\j; he became a teacher of \Jmathematics\j but was soon invited to Florence to head the observatory and science museums there. His interest from his youth was in optical instruments, especially microscopes. At that time compound microscopes were inferior to simple types, partly because of \Jaberrations\j and also because of the false idea that enlargement was the dominant target of design.
Amici devised in 1818 a catadioptric (mirror) design that was free of chromatic aberration and used it to observe the circulation of protoplasm in Chara cells; at once he became distinguished as an optician and as a biologist. By 1837 he had a design with a resolving power of 0.001 mm and a numerical aperture of 0.4 that was able to magnify 6000 times. His objectives had up to six elements; he invented the technique of immersion microscopy, using oil.
He also much improved telescopes, but his main interest remained in \Jbiology\j, where he made the notable discovery of the \Jfertilization\j of phanerogams, observing in 1821 the travel of the \Jpollen\j tube through the \Jpistil\j of the flower.
BK Scie
#
"Amidah",1223,0,0,0
PN [a\Bmee\bda]
EN (Heb 'standing') The principal component of the daily prayers of Talmudic \JJudaism\j, recited while standing, and said silently except when in a congregational service. It consists of 19 (originally 18) benedictions, firstly in praise of God, secondly asking for his help (petitions), and closing with thanksgiving. An altered form of the prayer is also recited on sabbaths and festivals.
BK a
#
"amides",1224,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bmiydz, \Ba\bmidz]
EN Inorganic salts of ammonia, eg sodium amide (NaNH\D2\d), strongly basic and hydrolyzed by \Jwater\j to NH\D3\d and OH\U-\d.
BK a
#
"amides, also called alkanamides",1225,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bmiydz, \Ba\bmidz]
EN Organic compounds containing the function -CO.NR\D2\d, also called \Balkanamides,\b derived from carboxylic acids by substituting NR\D2\d for OH (R is H or any \Jalkyl\j group). \BPolyamides\b include proteins and some artificial polymers, such as nylon.
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#
"Amiel, Henri FrΘdΘric",1226,0,0,0
PN [amyel]
DT1 1821
DT2 81
EN Philosopher and writer, born in Geneva. He was professor of aesthetics (1849) and then moral philosophy (1853-81) at the Academy of Geneva. His fame as an intellectual and critic rests on his diaries from 1847 onwards, published posthumously as \IJournal in time\i (1883).
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#
"Amiens",1227,0,0,0
PN [amy\ti], ancient \BSamarobriva\b
EN 49░54N 2░16E, pop (1995e) 136 000. Agricultural market town and capital of Somme department, N \JFrance\j; 130 km/81 mi N of Paris, on left bank of R Somme; railway; university (1964); bishopric; textiles, food processing, chemicals, market gardening; war-time cemeteries at Arras to the E; Gothic cathedral (13th-c), largest in area in \JFrance\j, a world heritage site.
BK Geog99
#
"Amies, Sir (Edwin) Hardy",1228,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bmeez]
DT1 1909
EN Couturier, and dressmaker by appointment to Queen Elizabeth II. He worked as a trainee in Birmingham, C England, UK before becoming a managing designer in London in 1934, where he made his name especially with his tailored suits for women.
He founded his own fashion house in 1946, and started designing for men in 1959, receiving the British Fashion Council Hall of Fame Award in 1989. His books include \IThe Englishman's Suit\i (1994). He was knighted in 1989.
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#
"Amin (Dada), Idi",1229,0,0,0
PN [a\Bmeen\b]
DT1a c.
DT1 1925
EN Ugandan soldier and dictator (1971-9). After a rudimentary education he joined the army, rising from the ranks to become a colonel in 1964. As a friend of prime minister Milton Obote, he was made commander-in-chief of the army and air force, but worsening relations between them resulted in a coup establishing a military dictatorship (1971).
He proceeded to expel all Ugandan Asians and many Israelis, seized foreign-owned businesses and estates, and ordered the killing of thousands of his opponents, making his regime internationally infamous. His decision in 1978 to annex the Kagera area of \JTanzania\j gave President Nyerere the opportunity to send his troops into \JUganda\j.
Within six months Amin was defeated. He fled to \JLibya\j, and later attempted to make his home in several countries, and eventually settled in exile in Saudi \JArabia\j.
MEX Museveni; Obote
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#
"amines",1230,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bmeenz, \Ba\bmeenz]
EN Organic compounds derived from ammonia by the substitution of the \Jhydrogen\j atoms by one, two, or three \Jalkyl\j groups; these are \Iprimary,\i \Isecondary,\i and \Itertiary\i amines respectively. They are basic compounds; their solutions, when partially neutralized by strong acids, have \JpH\j values of about 9.
BK a
#
"amino acids",1231,0,0,0
PN [a\Bmee\bnoh, a\Bmiy\bnoh]
EN Aminoalkanoic acids with the general formula R-CH(NH\D2\d)COOH. About 24 are involved in protein synthesis; 10 of these cannot be made by the human body, and thus form an essential component of the diet \B(essential amino acids).\b All amino acids except the simplest, \Jglycine\j (R=H), are chiral. Nearly all which occur in nature have the arrangement shown in the figure, called the \IL-configuration.\i
BK a
#
"aminobenzene",1232,0,0,0
EN See \Janiline\j
BK a
XCY y
#
"aminoethanoic acid",1233,0,0,0
EN See \Jglycine\j
BK a
XCY y
#
"Amiot, Jacques",1234,0,0,0
EN See Amyot or Amiot, Jacques
BK bg a
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#
"Amis, Martin",1235,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bmis]
DT1 1949
EN Novelist and journalist, the son of Kingsley Amis. He studied at Exeter College, Oxford, and wrote his first novel, \IThe Rachel Papers\i (1973), when he was 21. Later works include \IDead Babies\i (1975), \IOther People\i (1981), \IMoney\i (1984), \ITime's Arrow\i (1991), \IThe Information\i (1995), and \INight Train\i (1997). He has also produced a collection of short stories, \IEinstein's Monsters\i (1986), and a great deal of literary journalism.
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1973 The Rachel Papers
1975 Dead Babies
1978 Success
1984 Money
1986 The Moronic Inferno and Other Visits to America
1989 London Fields
1991 Time's Arrow
1993 Visiting Mrs Nabakov and Other Excursiosn
1995 The Information
1997 Night Train
\IStories\i
1981 Other People: a mystery story
1987 Einstein's Monsters
BK Biog99
#
"Amis, Sir Kingsley",1236,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bmis]
DT1 1922
DT2 95
EN Novelist and poet, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and became a lecturer in English literature at Swansea (1948-61) and a fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge (1961-3). He achieved huge success with his first novel, \ILucky Jim\i (1954), the story of a comic anti-hero in a provincial university; Jim appeared again as a small-town librarian in \IThat Uncertain Feeling\i (1956), and as a provincial author abroad in \II Like It Here\i (1958).
After the death of \BIan Fleming,\b he wrote a James Bond novel, \IColonel Sun\i (1968), under the pseudonym of \BRobert Markham,\b as well as \IThe James Bond Dossier\i (1965). His later novels include \IJake's Thing\i (1978), \IThe Old Devils\i (1986, Booker), \IThe Folks that Live on the Hill\i (1990), \IThe Russian Girl\i (1992), and \IYou Can't Do Both\i (1994). He was married (1965-83) to the novelist \BElizabeth Jane Howard\b (1923-) , and was knighted in 1990.
MEX Amis, Martin
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#
"Amiss, Dennis (Leslie)",1237,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bmis]
DT1 1943
EN Cricketer, born in Birmingham, West Midlands, C England, UK. He played with distinction for Warwickshire, and won admiration by the way he endured a battering by West Indian bowlers in 1976, which re-established his place in first-class cricket. He made 50 appearances in Test matches for England, and scored 11 centuries.
BK Biog99
#
"Amman",1238,0,0,0
PN [a\Bman\b]
EN 31░57N 35░52E, pop (1995e) 1 736 000. Industrial and commercial capital city of Jordan; in \JAmman\j governorate, East Bank, on the R \JZarqa\j; capital of the Ammonite kingdom in Biblical times; capital of Transjordan, 1923; many refugees after the Arab--Israeli Wars; airport; railway; university (1962); noted for its locally-quarried coloured marble; food processing, textiles, paper, plastics; Roman amphitheatre (1st-cBC),archaeological museum.
BK Geog99
#
"Amman, Jakob",1239,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1645
DT2a c.
DT2 1730
EN Swiss Mennonite bishop whose followers founded the Amish (Ger \IAmisch)\i sect in the 1690s. Their members still practise an exclusively rural and simple way of life in various parts of the USA and Canada.
SX m
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#
"Ammanati, Bartolommeo",1240,0,0,0
PN [ama\Bnah\btee]
DT1 1511
DT2 92
EN Architect and sculptor, born in Settignano, \JItaly\j. Working in the late Renaissance style he executed the ducal palace at Lucca, part of the Pitti Palace and the Ponte Santa Trinitα (destroyed in World War 2) in Florence.
SX m
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#
"Ammann, Othmar Hermann",1241,0,0,0
DT1 1879
DT2 1965
EN Structural engineer, born in Schaffhausen, \JSwitzerland\j. He emigrated to the USA in 1904, where he designed some of America's greatest suspension bridges, including the George Washington Bridge (3500┐ft) in New York (1931), Golden Gate Bridge (4200┐ft) in \JSan Francisco\j (1937), and Verrazano Narrows Bridge (4260┐ft) in New York (1965), each in its \Jday\j the longest span in the world.
SX m
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#
"ammeter",1242,0,0,0
An ammeter is a specialised \Jgalvanometer\j, set up so a moving needle can be used to estimate the current in amperes which is flowing in a circuit. To do this, the ammeter needs to be inserted in series into the circuit.
Since the ammeter must have a measurable resistance if it is to react to the current, it is normal to place a shunt, a comparatively large piece of low-resistance metal, in parallel with the \Jgalvanometer\j coil. In this way, virtually all of the current flows past the coil, unaffected by it. A small amount of current flows through the coil, and so long as the resistances of the coil and the shunt are both known, the small measured current in the coil can be used to estimate the much larger current in the shunt, which is, with the small current in the coil, the total current flowing in the circuit as a whole.
While a voltmeter is a \Jgalvanometer\j wired in parallel to a circuit and with a large resistance in series with it, an ammeter is a \Jgalvanometer\j wired in series to a circuit, with a very small resistance in parallel.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"Ammianus Marcellinus",1243,0,0,0
PN [ami\Bah\bnus mah(r)se\Blee\bnus]
DT1a c.
DT1 330
DT2 90
EN Roman historian, born of Greek parents in Antioch. He wrote in Latin a history of the Roman Empire from AD 98 in 31 books, of which only the last 18 are extant.
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#
"ammine",1244,0,0,0
PN [\Bam\been]
EN Co-ordinated ammonia, or a compound with co-ordinated ammonia. Ammines were among the first identified co-ordination compounds or complex ions, eg [Co(NH\D3\d)\D6\d]\U3+\u, hexamminecobalt(III).
BK a
#
"Ammon",1245,0,0,0
EN See \JAmun\j
BK a
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#
"ammonia",1246,0,0,0
EN NH\D3\d, boiling point -33░C. A colourless gas with a pungent odour; its molecule is pyramidal with bond angles c.107░C. It is a weak base; aqueous solutions partially neutralized with strong acid have a \JpH\j c.9.5. It reacts with acids to form ammonium ions. An important industrial chemical, it is mainly prepared by the Haber process.
BK a
#
"ammonia-soda process",1247,0,0,0
EN See Solvay process
BK a
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#
"ammonite",1248,0,0,0
EN An extinct, \Jnautilus\j-like \Jmollusc\j; found extensively as \Jfossil\j shells from the Devonian to the Upper Cretaceous periods; shell external in life, typically a flattened spiral, divided internally by transverse walls. \B(Class:\b \JCephalopoda\j. \BSubclass:\b Ammonoidea.)
BK a
#
"Ammonites",1249,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bmoniyts]
EN An ancient Semitic people who in \JOld Testament\j times lived in S Transjordan. Tradition had it that they were descended from Lot.
BK a
#
"ammonium",1250,0,0,0
EN NH\D4\d\U+\u. A cation formed by the reaction of ammonia with acid. It is found in many salts, particularly the chloride \I(sal ammoniac)\i and the carbonate \I(sal volatile).\i Aqueous solutions of ammonia are often called \Iammonium \Jhydroxide\j.\i
BK a
#
"Ammonius",1251,0,0,0
PN [a\Bmoh\bnius]
HS , known as \BAmmonius Saccas\b
DT1a c.
DT1 160
DT2 242
EN Greek philosopher, who received his surname because in his youth he was a sack-carrier in Alexandria. He was the founder of Neoplatonic philosophy, and the teacher of \JPlotinus\j, \JOrigen\j, and Longinus, but left no writings.
MEX Longinus; \JOrigen\j; \JPlotinus\j
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#
"Ammons, Elias Milton",1252,0,0,0
DT (1860-1925)
EN rancher, public official; born in Macon County, Ga. He went to \JColorado\j and entered the \Jcattle\j business in 1886. A "Silver Republican" after 1896, he was governor of \JColorado\j (1913-15). He was accused of favoring the mine owners during a coalfield strike in 1913-14. He returned to business enterprises.
BK AmBg
#
"amnesia",1253,0,0,0
EN Memory disability, often associated with brain damage or a traumatic event. \BRetrograde amnesia\b is the inability to remember material learned before the precipitating event. \BAnterograde amnesia\b is difficulty in learning new material. The most common form of \Jamnesia\j is one in which short-term memory is adequate, long-term episodic memory (the ability to remember specific past events) is poor, and long-term semantic memory (memory for facts, such as word meanings) is relatively intact.
BK a
#
"Amnesty International",1254,0,0,0
EN A human rights organization founded in London in 1961 largely by the efforts of Peter Benenson, a Catholic lawyer. It is based in the UK, but there are several groups in other, mainly industrialized, countries. The fundamental concern of Amnesty is to seek the immediate and unconditional release of prisoners of conscience, as long as they have not advocated violence.
It also campaigns against torture and the death penalty, and tries to produce independent, authoritative reports on countries' abuses of human rights.
BK a
#
"amniocentesis",1255,0,0,0
PN [amniohsen\Btee\bsis]
EN A procedure in \Jpregnancy\j which involves the withdrawal of amniotic fluid within the uterus by the insertion of a needle through the abdominal wall and the uterus. Amniotic fluid is in close contact with the fetus, and abnormalities in its development reflect many inherited and congenital fetal abnormalities. These include haemolytic disease of the newborn, Down's syndrome, and spina bifida. The procedure can also reveal the sex of the fetus and other normal features of development.
BK a
#
"amoeba / ameba",1256,0,0,0
PN [a\Bmee\bba]
EN A naked, single-celled protozoan which moves by protoplasmic flow, changing its shape by the formation of irregular lobes \I(pseudopodia); \i feeds by engulfing food particles with pseudopodia, or by infolding of the outer surface \I(invagination); \i c.0.6┐mm / 0.025┐in across; reproduces mainly by splitting in two \I(binary fission).\i Most are free-living in aquatic habitats; some are parasitic, and can cause amoebic \Jdysentery\j in humans. \B(Phylum:\b Sarcomastigophora. \BClass:\b Rhizopoda.)
BK a
#
"Amon",1257,0,0,0
EN See \JAmun\j
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#
"Amontons, Guillaume",1258,0,0,0
PN [am⌡t⌡]
DT (1663-1705)
EN French physicist: discovered interdependence of \Jtemperature\j and pressure of gases.
In his teens Amontons became deaf, and his interest in mechanics seems then to have begun. He later improved the design of several instruments, notably the hygrometer, the \Jbarometer\j and the constant-volume air thermometer. In 1699 he discovered that equal changes in the \Jtemperature\j of a fixed volume of air resulted in equal variations in pressure, and in 1703 seemed near to suggesting that at a sufficiently low \Jtemperature\j the pressure would become zero.
Unfortunately his results were ignored and it was almost a century later before Charles rediscovered the relationship. His work on the thermal expansion of mercury, however, contributed to the invention of the mercury thermometer by Fahrenheit.
BK Scie
#
"Amorites",1259,0,0,0
PN [\Bam\boriyts]
EN The name borne by various Semitic peoples who lived in \JMesopotamia\j, \JSyria\j, and Palestine in \JOld Testament\j times.
BK a
#
"amorphous solid",1260,0,0,0
EN A solid in which the atoms are in some disordered arrangement, lacking the perfect ordered structure of crystals, as in glass, \Jrubber\j, and polymers. Many substances may form either amorphous or crystalline states having radically different properties.
BK a
#
"amortization",1261,0,0,0
PN [amaw(r)tiy\Bzay\bshn]
EN A method used in \Jaccountancy\j which reduces the value of a depreciating asset, such as a quarry, over the length of its expected life. It also applies to intangible assets (eg goodwill) and patents which have been acquired at a price, but which may not be resaleable.
EN British statesman, born in Tiverton, Devon, south-west England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and became a Conservative MP in 1945. He was minister of pensions (1951-3), minister at the board of trade (1953-4), and minister of agriculture (1954-8). He became a viscount during his period as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1958-60).
SX m
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#
"Amory, Thomas",1263,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bmoree]
DT1a c.
DT1 1691
DT2 1788
EN English writer and eccentric, of Irish descent. He is best known for his \ILife of John Buncle\i (2 vols, 1756-66) a combination of \Jautobiography\j, fantastic descriptions, deistical \Jtheology\j, and sentimental \Jrhapsody\j.
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#
"Amos",1264,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bmos]
DT1 835
DT2 765
DT2b BC
EN \JOld Testament\j \Jprophet\j, the earliest \Jprophet\j in the \JBible\j to have a book named after him. A herdsman from the village of Tekoa, near \JBethlehem\j of Judaea, he denounced the iniquities of the N kingdom of Israel.
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#
"Amos, Book of",1265,0,0,0
EN One of the twelve so-called 'minor' prophetic writings in the \JHebrew\j \JBible\j / \JOld Testament\j; attributed to the \Jprophet\j Amos, who was active in the N kingdom of Israel in the mid-8th-c BC. It proclaims judgment on Israel's neighbours for idolatry, and on Israel itself for social injustices and ethical immorality.
BK a
#
"Amoy",1266,0,0,0
HS (China)
EN See Xiamen, Hsia-men, or \JAmoy\j
BK a
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#
"amp",1267,0,0,0
EN See \Jampere\j
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#
"Ampato, Nevado de",1268,0,0,0
PN [nay\Bva\bt\buh\buoh t\buh\buay am\Bpa\btoh]
EN Andean massif in the Cordillera Occidental, S \JPeru\j; height, 6310┐m / 20┐702┐ft; Ca±on del Colca nearby, a gorge cut by the River Colca; 60┐km / 37┐mi long and 3000┐m / 10┐000┐ft deep, considered to be the deepest \Jcanyon\j in the world.
BK a
#
"ampere",1269,0,0,0
PN [\Bam\bpair]
EN The base SI unit of current; symbol \IA,\i often called \Bamp,\b named after AndrΘ AmpΦre; defined as the constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length, of negligible cross-section, and placed 1 metre apart in vacuum, would produce a force equal to 2┐x┐10\U-7\u┐N / m.
BK a
#
"AmpΦre's law",1270,0,0,0
PN [\Bam\bpair, πpair]
EN In magnetism, the magnetic field resulting from electric current flowing in a wire; formulated by AndrΘ AmpΦre in 1827. For any closed loop drawn around the wire, the sum of magnetic flux density contributions at each point along the line is proportional to the current enclosed by the loop.
BK a
#
"AmpΦre, AndrΘ Marie",1271,0,0,0
PN [πpair]
DT (1775-1836)
EN French physicist and mathematician: pioneer of \Jelectrodynamics\j.
AmpΦre was a very gifted child, combining a passion for reading with a photographic memory and linguistic and mathematical ability. He was largely self-taught. His life was disrupted by the \JFrench Revolution\j when, in 1793, his father, a Justice of the Peace, was guillotined along with 1500 fellow citizens in Lyon.
For a year AmpΦre seems to have suffered a state of shock; he was aged 18. Ten years later, his adored young wife died following the birth of his son. His second marriage, undertaken on the advice of friends, was a disaster. His professional life ran more smoothly.
In 1802 AmpΦre was appointed to the first of a series of professorships, and in 1808 was appointed inspector-general of the university system by Napoleon, a post he retained until his death.
AmpΦre was a versatile scientist, interested in physics, philosophy, \Jpsychology\j and chemistry, and made discoveries in this last field that would have been important had he not been unfortunate in being pre-empted by others on several occasions. In 1820 he was stimulated by Oersted's discovery, that an electric current generates a magnetic field, to carry out pioneering work on electric current and \Jelectrodynamics\j.
Within months he had made a number of important discoveries: he showed that two parallel wires carrying currents flowing in the same direction attracted one another while when the currents ran in opposite directions they were repelled; he invented the coiled wire \Jsolenoid\j; and he realized that the degree of deflection of Oersted's compass needle by a current could be used as a measure of the strength of the current, the basis of the \Jgalvanometer\j.
Perhaps his most outstanding contribution, however, came in 1827, when he provided a mathematical formulation of \Jelectromagnetism\j, notably AmpΦre's Law, which relates the magnetic force between two wires to the product of the currents flowing in them and the inverse square of the distance between them. It may be generalized to describe the magnetic force generated at any point in space by a current flowing along a conductor.
The SI unit of electric current, the \Jampere\j (sometimes abbreviated to amp) is named in his honour. The \Jampere\j is defined as that steady current which, when it is flowing in each of two infinitely long, straight, parallel conductors that have negligible areas of cross-section and are 1 metre apart in a vacuum, causes each conductor to exert a force of 2 x 10\U-7\u N on each metre of the other.
BK Scie
#
"amphetamine",1272,0,0,0
EN A powerful stimulant of the central \Jnervous system\j, which causes wakefulness and alertness, elevates mood, increases self-confidence, loquaciousness, and the performance of simple mental tasks, and improves physical performance. Initially, it decreases appetite. It is widely abused to increase \Jenergy\j and alertness, but tolerance often develops after repeated use. Its effects are followed by mental depression and fatigue.
It was once used clinically as a slimming aid, but therapeutic use is now restricted to the treatment of \Jnarcolepsy\j because of the problems of addiction and tolerance. Prolonged use may result in paranoia or clinical \Jpsychosis\j. As a drug of abuse it is called \Bspeed; \b it is illegally manufactured as a powder which can be sniffed ('snorted') or injected. \JAmphetamine\j sulphate was formerly available medically under the trade name \BBenzedrine.\b It is now available only as dexamphetamine sulphate, an isomer, under the proprietary name \BDexedrine.\b
BK a
#
"amphibian",1273,0,0,0
EN A vertebrate animal of class Amphibia (c.4000 species), exhibiting a wide range of characters and lifestyles; usually four legs and glandular skin, lacking scales or other outgrowths; larvae usually live in \Jwater\j and breathe through feathery external gills; undergo a \Jmetamorphosis\j during development, when the gills shrink and disappear; adults breathe using lungs (and partly through the skin); three major groups: salamanders and newts \B(Order:\b Urodela or Caudata), frogs and toads \B(Order:\b Anura or Salientia), and the legless caecilians \B(Order:\b Gymnophiona or Apoda).
BK a
#
"amphiboles",1274,0,0,0
PN [\Bam\bfibohlz]
EN A group of hydrous silicate minerals of considerable chemical complexity, characterized structurally by a double-chain of linked SiO\D4\d tetrahedra, with iron, \Jmagnesium\j, \Jcalcium\j, sodium, and \Jaluminium\j among the elements which may be present between the chains. It is widely distributed in igneous and metamorphic rocks. Common varieties include \Jhornblende\j, actinolite, and tremolite. Fibrous forms belong to the \Jasbestos\j group of minerals.
BK a
#
"amphioxus",1275,0,0,0
PN [amfi\Bok\bsuhs]
EN A primitive chordate; body slender, length up to 70┐mm / 23/4┐in, tapered at both ends; \Jnotochord\j present, extending into head; possesses gill slits and segmented muscle blocks, resembling ancestors of vertebrates; 23 species found in shallow marine sediments; also known as \Blancelet.\b \B(Subphylum:\b Cephalochordata.)
BK a
#
"amphisbaena",1276,0,0,0
PN [amfis\Bbee\bna]
EN A \Jreptile\j native to South and \JCentral America\j, Africa, south-west Asia, and south-west Europe; body worm-like with encircling rings; no legs or only front legs present; small eyes covered by skin; the only truly burrowing \Jreptile\j; eats small animals; also known as \Bworm lizard\b or \Bringed lizard.\b \B(Order:\b Squamata. Suborder: Amphisbaenia, 140 species.)
BK a
#
"amphitheatre / amphitheater",1277,0,0,0
EN An open-air theatre where tiers of seats are situated round a central circular or oval performance space. The Romans developed this form of building from Campanian (or possibly Etruscan) origins for gladiatorial combats, naval exhibitions, and other events. There are good examples at \JPompeii\j (70 BC), Verona (AD 290) and, most famously, the Colosseum in \JRome\j (AD 72-80).
BK a
#
"Amphitrite",1278,0,0,0
PN [amfi\Btriy\btee]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, a goddess of the sea, married to Poseidon. She is the mother of Triton and other minor deities.
BK a
#
"Amphitryon",1279,0,0,0
PN [am\Bfit\brion]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the husband of Alcmene. In his absence, Zeus took his shape and so became the father of \JHeracles\j.
BK a
#
"amphoteric",1280,0,0,0
PN [amfo\Bte\brik]
EN In chemistry, having two different properties, usually that of being an acid and a base. An example is \Jaluminium\j \Jhydroxide\j (Al(OH)\D3\d), which forms salts of Al\U3+\d in acid and of AlO\D2\d\U-\d in \Jalkali\j.
BK a
#
"amplitude",1281,0,0,0
EN In a wave or \Joscillation\j, the maximum displacement from equilibrium or rest position; symbol \IA.\i It is always a positive number.
BK a
#
"amplitude modulation (AM)",1282,0,0,0
EN In wave motion, the altering of wave \Jamplitude\j in a systematic way, leaving frequency unchanged. In AM radio, an electrical signal is used to modulate the \Jamplitude\j of the broadcast carrier radio wave. A radio receiver reproduces the signal from the modulated wave by \Idemodulation.\i
BK a
#
"Amr ibn al-As",1283,0,0,0
PN [\Bam\bribnal\Bas\b]
DT1 ?
DT2 664
EN Arab soldier. A convert to \JIslam\j, he joined the \Jprophet\j Mohammed in c.629, and took part in the conquest of Palestine in 638. In 639 he undertook the conquest of \JEgypt\j, becoming its first Muslim governor (642-44). He helped Muawiyah to seize the caliphate from Ali.
MEX Mohammed; Muawiyah
SX m
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#
"Amritsar",1284,0,0,0
PN [am\Brit\bser]
EN 31░35N 74░57E, pop (1995e) 768 000. City in Punjab, NW India; centre of the Sikh religion; founded in 1577 by Ram Das around a sacred tank, known as the pool of immortality; the Golden Temple, found at the centre of the tank, is particularly sacred to Sikhs; under the gold and copper dome is kept the sacred book of the Sikhs, Adi Granth; centre of the Sikh empire in the 19th-c, and of modern Sikh \Jnationalism\j; massacre of Indian nationalists, 1919; battle between the Indian Army and Sikh militants inside the Golden Temple led to 1000 deaths, including a Sikh leader, 1984; militants re-established in temple, 1986; airport; university (1969); commerce, textiles, silk.
BK Geog99
#
"Amritsar Massacre",1285,0,0,0
PN [am\Brit\bser]
EN A massacre at \JAmritsar\j, Punjab, in April 1919. Local disturbances caused the British army commander, General Dyer, to believe that another Indian Mutiny was imminent. When a public meeting took place in a walled garden (the Jallianwalabagh), he ordered his troops to open fire on an unarmed crowd which had no chance of escape; 380 were killed and 1200 injured. Dyer was censured and resigned, but a public subscription was opened for him in Britain. The massacre was the cue for the opening of Gandhi's Non-Co-operation Movement, and transformed the whole tenor of Indian \Jnationalism\j.
BK a
#
"Amsberg, Claus-Georg von",1286,0,0,0
EN See Beatrix
BK bg a
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#
"Amsterdam",1287,0,0,0
PN [\Bam\bsterdam]
EN 52░23N 4░54E, pop (1995e) 728 000. Major European port and capital city of The Netherlands, in North Holland province, W Netherlands; at the junction of the R Amstel and an arm of the Ijsselmeer; chartered, 1300; member of the Hanseatic League, 1369; capital, 1808; airport (Schiphol), railway; two universities (1632, 1880); harbour industry developed after World War 2; major transshipping point; important commercial and cultural centre; banking, shipbuilding, \Jengineering\j, cars, \Jaircraft\j, textiles, brewing, foodstuffs, publishing and printing, chemicals, data processing, diamond-cutting; Concertgebouw Orchestra; House of Anne Frank, Rembrandt House (1606), Oude Kerk (consecrated 1306), Nieuwe Kerk (15th-c), royal palace (17th-c), \JRijksmuseum\j, Stedelijk Museum, Van Gogh Museum; international Windjammer Regatta "Sail \JAmsterdam\j' (Aug).
BK Geog99
#
"Amsterdamse Schouwburg",1288,0,0,0
EN Dutch theatre. The first municipal theatre of \JAmsterdam\j, built by Jacob van Campen, was opened on 3 January 1638 with a performance of Joost van den Vondel's Gijsbrecht van Aemstel, which marked the beginning of a New Year's tradition that would continue for centuries. It was here that in 1655 the first Dutch actress, Ariana Roozemond, appeared on stage.
Two subsequent theatres (1664-1772 and 1774-1890) were destroyed by fire. The present theatre was built in 1894 at the Leidseplein. The resident company chooses its repertory from all over the world.
BK Thea
#
"amu",1289,0,0,0
EN See atomic mass unit (amu)
BK a
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#
"Amudarya, River",1290,0,0,0
PN [amu\Bda\brya]
HS , ancient \BOxus\b
EN River formed by the junction of the Vakhsh and Pyandzh Rivers on the Turkmenia-\JAfghanistan\j frontier, forming part of the border; flows W and north-west to enter the Aral Sea in a wide delta; length 1415┐km / 879┐mi; largest river of C Asia, and an important source of irrigation.
BK a
#
"Amun",1291,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bmun]
HS , also spelled \BAmon,\b \BAmmon,\b or \BAmen\b
EN From the time of the Middle Kingdom, the supreme deity in Egyptian religion. Later he was given the qualities of the \Jsun\j-god Re, hence the usual title \BAmun-Re.\b The name means 'the hidden one'.
EN Explorer, born in Borge, \JNorway\j. From 1903 to 1906 he sailed the Northwest Passage from E-W, and located the Magnetic \JNorth Pole\j. In 1910 he set sail in the \IFram\i in an attempt to reach the \JNorth Pole\j, but hearing that Peary had apparently beaten him to it, he switched to the Antarctic and reached the South Pole in December 1911, one month ahead of Captain Scott.
In 1926 he flew the \Jairship\j \INorge\i across the \JNorth Pole\j with Ellsworth and Nobile. In 1928 he disappeared when searching by plane for Nobile and his \Jairship\j \IItalia,\i which had gone missing on another flight to the Pole.
MEX Ellsworth; Nobile; Peary; Scott, River F
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"Amur River",1293,0,0,0
PN [a\Bmoor\b], Chin \BHeilong Jiang\b
EN River in north-east China and \JRussia\j, part of the international border; main source rises in the Greater Khingan Range, Inner \JMongolia\j; flows generally E then north-east to enter the Sea of Okhotsk; length, 4350┐km / 2700┐mi; scene of several Sino-Soviet incidents since the 1960s.
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"amyl",1294,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bmiyl, \Ba\bmil]
EN CH\D3\dCH\D2\dCH\D2\dCH\D2\dCH\D2\d-, IUPAC \Bpentyl.\b A group derived from \Jpentane\j by removing one \Jhydrogen\j atom. \BAmyl alcohol\b is a fraction of fusel oil, boiling point c.130░C, a mixture of several \Jisomers\j of C\D5\dH\D11\dOH. \BAmylose\b is a low molecular weight fraction of starch. \BAmyloid\b is a combination of protein and polysaccharides deposited as a fibrous substance in some animal organs affected by certain diseases (e.g. kuru).
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"amyl nitrite",1295,0,0,0
EN (C\D5\dH\D11\dNO\D2\d) A drug in the form of a volatile liquid, administered by inhalation, which acts very rapidly and very briefly. It has some use in the treatment of \Jangina\j but is also sold as a sex aid ('poppers'). It is also used in the emergency treatment of \Jcyanide\j poisoning.
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"amylases",1296,0,0,0
PN [\Bam\bilayziz]
EN A group of enzymes which speed up the breakdown of starch and \Jglycogen\j into disaccharides and small polysaccharides. They occur widely in plants and animals; for example, \fa\n\d-amylase is found in \Jsaliva\j and the pancreatic secretions of some vertebrates, ▀-amylase in plants.
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"Amyot or Amiot, Jacques",1297,0,0,0
PN [\Bam\byoh]
DT1 1513
DT2 93
EN Humanist, born in Melun, \JFrance\j. He translated many Classical texts, the most important being his French version of \JPlutarch\j's \ILives,\i which was the basis of Sir Thomas North's translation into English, and of some of Shakespeare's history plays.
MEX \JPlutarch\j; North, Thomas
SX m
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"An Lushan",1298,0,0,0
PN [an looshan]
HS , also spelled \BAn Lu-shan\b
DT1 ?
DT2 757
EN Chinese general under the Tang dynasty in China (618-907), of Turkish origin. He overthrew the crown, and established the short-lived Yan dynasty (755-7). He was patronized by Yang Guifei, mistress to Emperor \JXuanzong\j (ruled 712-55), who adopted him as her son.
Controlling 160┐000 troops as commandant of three north-east regions, he revolted in 755, capturing Luoyang and Changan (\JXian\j). The emperor fled and Yang was executed. An Lushan made himself emperor on \JXuanzong\j's \Jabdication\j (755), but was murdered by his own son (757).
MEX \JXuanzong\j
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"Anabaptists",1299,0,0,0
EN The collective name given to groups of believers stemming from the more radical elements of the 16th-c Reformation; also known as \BRebaptizers.\b They believed in the \Jbaptism\j of believing adults only, refusing to recognize infant \Jbaptism\j. They emphasized adherence to the word of scripture, strict Church discipline, and the separation of Church and state.
Being prepared to criticize the state, they frequently suffered savage persecution. They were associated with Thomas Mⁿntzer and the Zwinglian prophets in \JWittenberg\j (1521); the Swiss brethren in Zⁿrich (1525); and Jan Mattys (d.1534) in Mⁿnster (1533-4), where the \JAnabaptists\j achieved supremacy; and spread to Moravia, N and W \JGermany\j, the Low Countries (especially the \JMennonites\j in Holland), and later the USA. They were the forerunners of the \JBaptists\j, who are in many respects their spiritual heirs.
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"anabatic wind",1300,0,0,0
EN A local upslope wind which develops best in a valley. During the \Jday\j the air in contact with the valley sides is heated to a greater degree than air at the same elevation but above the valley floor. This leads to convectional rising of the heated air, and a circulation pattern of upslope airflow from valley floor to ridge, to replace rising air. Windspeeds of 10-15┐m / 32-50┐ft per second can occur.
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"anabolic steroids",1301,0,0,0
EN Drugs with structures similar to the male sex \Jhormones\j \I(\Jandrogens\j)\i but with reduced androgenic activity and increased anabolic activity to promote weight and muscle development. They are used clinically to accelerate recovery from protein deficiency, in muscle-wasting disorders, and sometimes in breast cancer. They are used illegally to promote the performance of athletes and racing animals, and were first used by weightlifters and bodybuilders.
The International Olympic Committee requires that medal winners at major competitions are subject to urine sample analysis to prove themselves drug free. The International \JWeightlifting\j Association also has random checks. In women, anabolic steroids can cause masculinization - growth of facial hair, deepening of the voice, etc.
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"anabolism",1302,0,0,0
EN See \Jmetabolism\j
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"anaclitic therapy",1303,0,0,0
EN A form of \Jpsychotherapy\j in which the patient is allowed to regress. The term \Banaclitic depression\b was introduced by RenΘ Spitz (1887-1974), a Hungarian-born US psychoanalyst, who in 1946 described a syndrome of regression in infants separated from their love objects. It has also been used to describe changes in infants in institutions.
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"anaconda",1304,0,0,0
EN A \Jboa\j from \JSouth America\j \I(Eunectes murinus),\i the largest snake in the world; may be more than 11┐m / 36┐ft long, weighing over 500┐kg / 1100┐lb; dull colour with large irregular dark spots; inhabits slow-moving \Jwater\j; may climb low trees; eats birds, mammals, caimans, turtles; also known as the \Bgreen \Janaconda\j.\b
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"Anacreon",1305,0,0,0
PN [a\Bna\bkreeon]
DT1a c.
DT1 570
DT2a c.
DT2 475
DT2b BC
EN Greek lyric poet, from Teos, modern Turkey. He was invited to \JSamos\j by Polycrates to tutor his son, and after the tyrant's downfall, was taken to \JAthens\j by Hipparchus, son of the tyrant Pisistratus. He was famous for his satires and his elegant love poetry, of which only fragments remain.
MEX Pisistratus; Polycrates
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"anaemia / anemia",1306,0,0,0
EN A reduction in the amount of oxygen-carrying pigment, haemoglobin, in the red cells circulating in the blood. The condition causes skin pallor, weakness, and breathlessness. There are many causes, including blood loss, excessively rapid destruction of red blood cells, and failure of their normal maturation in the bone marrow.
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"anaerobe",1307,0,0,0
EN See aerobe
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"anaesthetics / anesthetics, general",1308,0,0,0
EN Drugs which produce a reversible state of unconciousness deep enough to permit surgery. They may be inhaled (eg halothane, nitrous oxide) or given intravenously (eg thiopentone, alphaxalone). \INitrous oxide\i ('laughing gas') was discovered by Joseph Priestley in 1776, and its use in surgical operations was suggested in 1799 by Humphry Davy, who noted its analgesic action. However, for the next few decades it was used only as fairground entertainment.
In 1844 the US dentist Horace Wells (1815-48) successfully allowed one of his own teeth to be extracted under its influence, and in 1846 American William Morton (1819-68) successfully used it in major surgery. After 1860 its use became established. \IEther\i was discovered in 1540 by Valerius Cordus (1515-44), and shown to control \Jcolic\j pain in 1795. The US surgeon Crawford Williamson Long (1815-78) first used it surgically for minor operations in 1842.
\IChloroform\i was discovered in 1831 and first used in 1847 as a general anaesthetic by Scottish obstetrician James Young Simpson (1811-70), despite strong opposition from the Church. Today, intravenous anaesthetics are used for short operations only. 'Basal' anesthesia is usually induced before the patient leaves the ward to relieve anxiety and hasten the induction of anaesthesia in the theatre. The medical speciality is known as \Banaesthesiology,\b and the presence of a specialist (an \Banaesthetist)\b is required during surgical operations.
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"anaesthetics / anesthetics, local",1309,0,0,0
EN Drugs which produce a reversible loss of sensation in a localized region of the body by blocking nerve impulses. Regional anaesthesia is achieved by topical application or by injection at the site of an operation (as in tooth extraction), near a main nerve trunk (eg to allow operations in limbs), or between spinal vertebrae \B(epidural anaesthesia).\b
The first local anaesthetic was \Jcocaine\j, introduced in the 1880s, but this is now obsolete because of problems of addiction and toxicity. Commonly used local anaesthetics include procaine, lignocaine (lidocaine), and benzocaine.
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"anaglyph",1310,0,0,0
EN A picture for stereoscopic viewing in which the separate right-eye and left-eye images are reproduced in different colours, usually red and blue-green. The observer wears coloured spectacles of complementary colours, so that each eye sees only its appropriate image.
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"anagram",1311,0,0,0
EN The re-arrangement of the letters of a word or sentence to produce a new form or a puzzle. Often an ingenious analogue to the original word can be found, eg \Itotal abstainers\i \f(r)\n\Isit not at ale bars.\i
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"analgesics",1312,0,0,0
EN Drugs which relieve pain. \BNarcotic analgesics\b (eg \Jcodeine\j, \Jmorphine\j, heroin) act by mimicking the natural brain \Jendorphins\j responsible for the subjective perception of pain. \BNon-narcotic analgesics\b (eg aspirin, \Jparacetamol\j, ibuprofen) act by blocking the synthesis of prostaglandins (substances formed at the site of injury involved in the production of pain responses).
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"analog computer",1313,0,0,0
HS , also spelled \Banalogue\b
EN Computers which accept, as inputs, continuous electrical or mechanical variables (such as voltage or current or the rotation rate or position of a shaft) and respond immediately to calculate relevant output signals. The processing is generally done by special electrical circuits, usually operational amplifiers, or by complex mechanical arrangements of gears, cogs, etc.
Examples range from the \Jautomobile\j speedometer to the anti-\Jaircraft\j 'predictors' of World War 2. Analog computers are inherently real-time systems, and continue to find special purpose applications, particularly in control systems, although many of their former tasks are now done using the much more versatile digital computers.
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"analog-to-digital (A / D) conversion",1314,0,0,0
HS , also spelled \Banalogue\b
EN A process of converting analog signals, such as voltage, into a digital form which can be used in a digital computer. It is usually carried out by specialized electronic circuits or discrete integrated circuits called \Ianalog-to-digital converters.\i A / D converters and the converse D / A converters are common in computer-controlled processes.
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"analogue / analog signal",1315,0,0,0
EN See digital techniques
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"analogy",1316,0,0,0
EN A type of inference whose form is 'because \Ix\i is like \Iy\i in some respects it will be in other respects'. Analogy can be suggestive, and sometimes works, but it is not a deductive proof. The argument from analogy for the existence of God, popular in the 18th-c and 19th-c, maintained that the universe is like a mechanism; therefore just as a mechanism requires a maker, so does the universe.
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"analytic / analytical geometry",1317,0,0,0
EN A method of attacking geometrical problems by referring to a point by its co-ordinates in a system; also known as \BCartesian\b or \Bco-ordinate \Jgeometry\j.\b For the plane, the commonest system is of two perpendicular axes, when all points can be identified by a number pair, \I(x,\i\Iy).\i
In three-dimensional \Jgeometry\j a number triple is needed \I(x,\i\Iy,\i\Iz).\i Other systems of co-ordinates, such as polar co-ordinates, have been developed which are more suitable for some types of problems. Descartes is generally credited with inventing this system, but the use of axes in the study of conic sections was known to Apollonius.
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"analytic language",1318,0,0,0
EN A type of language in which words do not vary their form to show their grammatical function in a sentence; also known as an \Bisolating language.\b In such languages (eg Chinese), the relationships between the words are shown solely by their order. Analytic languages are opposed to \Bsynthetic languages,\b in which words typically combine a grammatical meaning with their dictionary meaning; for example, the English word \Ihorses\i contains the meaning of 'plural' in addition to the sense of 'animal'. Most languages display features of both systems.
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"analytic philosophy",1319,0,0,0
EN The dominant tradition in 20th-c Anglo-American academic philosophy, often contrasted with French or German philosophical traditions such as \Jphenomenology\j or \Jexistentialism\j. Much influenced by Frege, Russell, Moore, and Wittgenstein early in the century, it emphasized the importance of logical and linguistic analysis to solve or dissolve philosophical problems.
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"analytical chemistry",1320,0,0,0
EN A branch of chemistry dealing with the composition of material. It includes qualitative and quantitative determinations of elements present, as well as structural analysis. The methods used are based either on chemical reactions or on physical properties, generally electrochemical or spectroscopic.
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"anamorphosis",1321,0,0,0
EN An image drawn or painted in trick perspective so that it appears distorted from a normal viewpoint, but when seen from an extraordinary angle, or through a \Jlens\j, appears normal. A famous example is the skull in Holbein's \IAmbassadors\i in the National Gallery, London.
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"Anand, Mulk Raj",1322,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bnand]
DT1 1905
EN Novelist, critic, and man of letters, born in \JPeshawar\j, modern \JPakistan\j. He left India for Britain, where he eventually published his first novel, \IUntouchable\i (1935), with a preface by E M Forster.
His novels, such as \IThe Coolie\i (1936) and \IThe Village\i (1939, the first of a trilogy) promote the underdog in society, depicting life in the poverty-stricken Punjab. He later began an ambitious seven-volume autobiographical work of fiction, \IThe Seven Ages of Man\i.
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1935 Untouchable
1936 The Coolie
1937 Two Leaves and a Bud
1938 The Village
1940 Across the Black Waters
1942 The Sword and the Sickle
1945 The Big Heart
1953 Private Life of an Indian Prince
1960 The Woman and the Cow (reissued as Gauri, 1976)
\IAutobiographical Novels\i
1951 Seven Summers
1968 Morning Face
1976 Confessions of a Lover
1984 The Bubble
1990 Little Plays of Mahatma Gandhi
\IOther\i
1981 Conversations in Bloomsbury
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"Ananda",1323,0,0,0
PN [a\Bnan\bda]
DT1 5
DT1b th
DT2 6
DT2b th-c BC
EN The cousin and favourite pupil of the \JBuddha\j. Noted for his devotion to the \JBuddha\j, and a skilled interpreter of his teachings, he was instrumental in establishing an order for women disciples.
MEX \JBuddha\j
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"Ananke",1324,0,0,0
PN [a\Bnang\bkee]
EN The 12th natural \Jsatellite\j of Jupiter, discovered in 1951; distance from the \Jplanet\j 21┐200┐000┐km / 13┐174┐000┐mi; diameter 30┐km / 19┐mi.
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"anaphylaxis",1325,0,0,0
PN [anafuh\Blak\bsis]
EN A type of \Jhypersensitivity\j reaction which occurs when an individual has been previously sensitized by contact with an \Jantigen\j. It occurs within a few minutes after exposure, and the clinical response depends upon the tissue affected. Examples of local \Janaphylaxis\j include \Jasthma\j, hay fever, and oedema of the tissues of the throat. A severe degree of generalized \Janaphylaxis\j \B(anaphylactic shock)\b may also result in a sudden attack of wheezing, collapse, and cardiac arrest, and may be fatal.
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"anarchism",1326,0,0,0
EN A generic term for political ideas and movements that reject the state and other forms of authority and coercion in favour of a society based exclusively upon voluntary co-operation between individuals. To anarchists the state, whether democratic or not, is always seen as a means of supporting a ruling class or elite, and as an encumbrance to social relations. However, they differ in their view of the nature of their future society, their proposals ranging from a communist society based on mutual aid to one based on essentially self-interested voluntary exchange.
They reject involvement in political institutions, and support civil disobedience action against the state, and on occasions political violence. Anarchist movements were most prevalent in Europe in the second half of the 19th-c and early 20th-c, but virtually died out apart from fringe groups after the Spanish \JCivil War\j.
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"anarthria",1327,0,0,0
EN See dysarthria
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"Anasazi",1328,0,0,0
PN [ana\Bsah\bzee]
EN The prehistoric Indian inhabitants of the arid 'Four Corners' region of the US Southwest (where \JArizona\j, New Mexico, \JColorado\j, and \JUtah\j meet), c.200 BC-AD 1500. The name, from Navajo, means 'enemy ancestors'. The villages were of pithouses before c.700, pueblos or cliff dwellings later, while the economy was predominantly horticultural, based on \Jmaize\j, beans, and squashes. The modern descendants are the \JHopi\j of \JArizona\j, and the Rio Grande \JPueblo\j groups of New Mexico.
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"Anastasia",1329,0,0,0
PN [ana\Bstah\bzia]
HS , in full \BGrand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaievna Romanova\b
DT1 1901
DT2 18
DT2b ?
EN Youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of \JRussia\j, believed to have perished when the Romanov family were executed by the \JBolsheviks\j in 1918. Various people later claimed to be Anastasia, especially Mrs 'Anna Anderson' Manahan, who died in Virginia, USA, in 1984 at the age of 82. For more than 30 years she fought unsuccessfully to establish her identity as Anastasia. Her story inspired two films \I(Anastasia,\i with Ingrid Bergman; \IIs Anna Anderson Anastasia?,\i with Lilli Palmer) and several books.
MEX Nicholas II
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"Anatidae",1330,0,0,0
EN \BDucks, geese, and swans\b
Often collectively known as wildfowl, the ducks, geese, and swans make up the family \JAnatidae\j (order Anseriformes), a cosmopolitan group of aquatic birds familiar to almost everyone. All have short tails, pointed wings, long or moderately long necks, and a uniquely spatulate bill which is difficult to describe but almost impossible to mistake.
A striking characteristic of the group is that virtually all members molt the flight feathers of their wings simultaneously, which renders them temporarily flightless for several weeks while new ones grow. There are about 147 species, the bulk of which can conveniently be broken up into nine groups or tribes.
A tropical group, the whistling-ducks, Dendrocygnini (9 species), are set apart by several behavioral features: they habitually perch in trees, they engage in mutual preening, and both sexes incubate the eggs. Swans and geese make up the tribe Anserini, typical members of which include the \JBlack Swan\j \ICygnus atratus\i of \JAustralia\j, the Mute Swan \JCygnus\j olor of Eurasia, the Greylag Goose \IAnser anser\i (ancestor of the domestic goose), and the Canada Goose \IBranta canadensis.\i
The tribe Tadornini contains the Old World shelducks and several South American groups, such as the sheldgeese \I(Chloephaga,)\i and the three steamer ducks \ITachyeres\i of \JPatagonia\j, two of which are flightless. The Anatini are usually referred to as 'dabbling ducks' because most obtain their food at or near the surface and do not normally dive; the group includes the pintails, widgeons, shovelers, and teal, as well as the almost ubiquitous Mallard \IAnas platyrhynchos,\i ancestor of the domestic duck.
Especially in Northern Hemisphere species, males have a bright nuptial plumage that is replaced by a female-type '\Jeclipse\j' plumage while the flight feathers are molted. The Aythyini is made up of the pochards, which dive for most of their food.
Well known species include the Canvasback \IAythya valisineria\i of \JNorth America\j and the Tufted Duck \IAythya fuligula\i of Europe. The tribe Cairinini is mostly tropical in distribution, but it includes the Wood Duck \IAix sponsa\i of \JNorth America\j and the Australian Wood Duck \IChenonetta jubata\i of \JAustralia\j, as well as the Spurwinged Goose \IPlectropterus gambensis\i of Africa.
The Common Eider \ISomateria mollissima\i and its three close relatives make up the tribe Somateriini, all of which are largely marine and breed mostly in \JArctic\j or subarctic regions. The tribe Mergini includes the scoters, goldeneyes, and mergansers. All are good divers, and several feed largely on fish; the group, most notably the scoters \I(Melanitta)\i and the Oldsquaw \IClangula hyemalis\i -lives largely at sea, except when nesting.
The stifftails, Oxyurini, are represented on all continents except \JAntarctica\j by small tubby little ducks-such as the Ruddy Duck \IOxyura jamaicensis\i in \JNorth America\j, in which males have chestnut bodies and bright blue bills, as well as the bizarre Musk Duck \IBiziura lobata\i in \JAustralia\j. Stifftails have long spiky tails, are secretive, largely nocturnal, and dive for much of their food.
Consensus is far from general on the relationships of several species, including the Torrent Duck \IMerganetta armata\i of rushing mountain torrents in the \JAndes\j, the Pink-eared Duck \IMalacorhynchus membranaceus\i (a nomadic species adapted to exploit blue-green \Jalgae\j blooms in temporary floodwaters), and the Freckled Duck \IStictonetta naevosa\i (both of \JAustralia\j), and the Blue Duck \IHymenolaimus malacorhynchos\i of \JNew Zealand\j, which also inhabits fast mountain streams and feeds largely on green \Jalgae\j and aquatic insects.
Wildfowl occupy wetlands of all kinds, from mangrove swamps to \Jalpine\j streams, on all continents except \JAntarctica\j, and on a number of oceanic islands. But not all groups are equally widespread. The dabbling ducks \I(Anas)\i for example, are found almost everywhere, but the 'typical' geese \I(Anser\i and \IBranta)\i are virtually confined to the Northern Hemisphere, and several groups, such as the pygmy-geese \I(Nettapus)\i are restricted to the tropics.
Some species, such as the Northern Pintail \IAnas acuta,\i are extremely widespread, but others are severely curtailed: the Northern Pintail's close relative, Eaton's Pintail \IAnas eatoni,\i for example, is confined to Kerguelen Island and the Crozets. Wildfowl are highly mobile, and most species are migratory or at least locally nomadic.
Most wildfowl form simple pairs for breeding, and courtship displays-usually conducted on the \Jwater\j-are varied and often spectacular. Many of the smaller ducks nest in tree cavities some distance from the ground, but others nest on the ground; a characteristic feature of wildfowl nests is that most are lined with feathers that the female plucks from her own breast.
The role of the sexes varies widely among species: among geese and swans, for example, the male often helps incubate the eggs, but in ducks the female almost invariably incubates alone. Chicks hatch alert and down-covered, and are fully mobile almost immediately. Clutch size, incubation, and fledging periods vary widely: in swans, for example, incubation takes about 34-40 days, but in teal only about 28 days.
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"Anatoli, Alexander",1331,0,0,0
EN See Kuznetsov, Alexander Vasilievich
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"Anatolia",1332,0,0,0
PN [ana\Btoh\blia]
HS , Turk \BAnadolu\b
EN Asiatic region of Turkey, usually synonymous with \JAsia Minor\j; a mountainous peninsula between the \JBlack Sea\j (north), \JAegean Sea\j (west), and the \JMediterranean Sea\j (south).
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"Anatolian",1333,0,0,0
PN [ana\Btoh\blian]
EN A group of Indo-European languages, now extinct, spoken c.2000 BC in the area of present-\Jday\j Turkey and \JSyria\j. The major language is Hittite, which is recorded on tablets inscribed with cuneiform writing from the 17th-c BC: these are the oldest known Indo-European texts.
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"Anatolian shepherd dog",1334,0,0,0
EN \B(\JAnatolian\j Karabash Dog)\b
Originally a working sheep dog, this powerful animal now usually serves as an excellent guard dog.
\BHistory:\b
The \JAnatolian\j Shepherd Dog undoubtedly originated from the ancient \JMastiff\j. Large working dogs have certainly been around central Asia for hundreds of years. In Roman times this dog was used as a hunter of large game and even as a gladiator. The \JAnatolian\j Shepherd Dog has emerged as perhaps the most successful, and certainly the most famous, of Turkey's working dogs.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The \JAnatolian\j Shepherd Dog is a large and sturdy working dog. Although it is quite muscular it remains well-proportioned and moves with a stylish grace. \IHeight:\i 27 - 31 in (68.5 - 79 cm). \IWeight:\i 85 - 150 lb (39 - 69.5 kg). The broad head is complemented by muscular jaws. The well-set eyes look over a medium-length muzzle. This dog has a straight back and a well-defined waist. The mid-length tail has a slight upward curve.
\BBehavior:\b
This large and powerful dog is very confident and has a most determined character. Its alert manner and strong sense of territory make the \JAnatolian\j Shepherd Dog an excellent watch-dog. Its large size and formidable presence acts as a real deterrent and means that this dog also makes a wonderful guard dog.
Generally the \JAnatolian\j Shepherd Dog gets along very well with other dogs, but it is important that it should be well socialized as a puppy. Its sheer size can provoke fear and aggression in other dogs. Wise owners will not allow their dog to run at others, even in play, until the dogs are better acquainted.
Initially, owners of the \JAnatolian\j Shepherd Dog should be very assertive and continue until the dog clearly understands its position in the owner's family. Its large size makes this dog unsuitable for small children, but with firm handling the \JAnatolian\j Shepherd Dog can become a very loyal companion.
Given sufficient exercise, this former working dog will thrive. If allowed to become bored it may become snappy. The \JAnatolian\j Shepherd Dog has few common ailments but its ears should be checked regularly, particularly during hot \Jweather\j.
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"anatomy",1335,0,0,0
EN The science concerned with the form, structure, and spatial relationships of a living organism, and the relation of structure to function. It originally referred to the cutting up of the body to determine the nature and organization of its parts, but nowadays it includes many other aspects of study. \ITopographic\i or \Igross\i anatomy deals with the relative positions of various body parts. \ISystemic\i anatomy is concerned with the study of groups of related structures (eg the respiratory system).
\IApplied\i anatomy considers anatomical facts in relation to clinical medicine.
\IFunctional\i anatomy deals not only with the structural basis of function in the various systems (eg the musculo-skeletal system), but also with the relation of one system to another, and so merges with \Jphysiology\j.
\IDevelopmental\i anatomy is concerned with the prenatal organization and structural changes within the embryo and fetus \I(embryology),\i and with postnatal growth and development.
\IMorbid\i or \Ipathological\i anatomy deals with the anatomy of diseased tissues.
\IRadiological\i anatomy is the study of organs and tissues using radiographic techniques (X-rays, computer-assisted \Jtomography\j, magnetic \Jresonance\j imaging).
\INeuroanatomy\i is the study of the structure and function of nervous systems (central, peripheral, autonomic).
\IComparative\i anatomy describes and compares the form, structure, and function of different animals.
\IVeterinary\i anatomy is the science dealing with the form and structure of the principal domesticated animals. Anatomical science also involves
\Ihistology,\i the study of the \Jarchitecture\j of tissues and organs, and \Icell \Jbiology\j,\i concerned with the basic elements of the cell.
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"Anaxagoras",1336,0,0,0
PN [anak\Bsa\bgoras]
DT1a c.
DT1 500
DT2 428
DT2b BC
EN Greek philosopher, born in Clazomenae. For 30 years he taught in \JAthens\j, where he had many illustrious pupils, among them \JPericles\j and \JEuripides\j. His scientific speculations led to his prosecution for impiety, and he was banished from \JAthens\j. His most celebrated cosmological doctrine was that matter is infinitely divisible into particles, which contain a mixture of all qualities, and that mind \I(nous)\i is a pervasive formative agency in the creation of material objects.
MEX \JEuripides\j; \JPericles\j
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"Anaximander",1337,0,0,0
PN [anaksimander]
DT (611-547 bc)
EN Ionian (Greek) natural philosopher: suggested Earth was a curved body in space.
A pupil of Thales, Anaximander's writings are now lost, but he is credited with a variety of novel ideas. He was the first Greek to use a \Jsundial\j (long known in the \JMiddle East\j), and with it found the dates of the two solstices (shortest and longest days) and of the equinoxes (the two annual occasions when day and night are equal).
He speculated on the nature of the heavens and on the origin of the Earth and of man. Realizing that the Earth's surface was curved, he believed it to be cylindrical (with its axis east to west); and he was probably the first Greek to map the whole known world. He visualized the Earth as poised in space (a new idea).
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#
"Anaximenes",1338,0,0,0
PN [anak\Bzim\beneez]
DT1 ?
DT2a c.
DT2 500
DT2b BC
EN Greek philosopher, born in \JMiletus\j. He was the third of the three great Milesian thinkers, succeeding Thales and Anaximander. He posited that the first principle and basic form of matter was air, which could be transformed into other substances by a process of condensation and rarefaction.
MEX Anaximander; Thales
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"Anchises",1339,0,0,0
PN [an\Bkiy\bseez]
EN In Roman \Jmythology\j, the Trojan father of \JAeneas\j. The \IAeneid\i gives an account of \JAeneas\j's piety in carrying Anchises on his shoulders out of the blazing city of Troy.
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#
"anchor",1340,0,0,0
EN A device which prevents a vessel from drifting. The flukes or arms of an anchor dig into the seabed, thus resisting a horizontal pull; it is made fast to the ship by a heavy cable, usually of studded chain. There are two basic types: the old-fashioned anchor with a stock, usually depicted on badges and flags; and the modern, more common, stockless anchor.
The stockless anchor consists of a shank and a crown, which are free to move in relation to each other, so that when in use the flukes will adopt an angle of about 45░ to the shank. When stowed, the flukes are parallel to the shank.
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#
"Anchorage",1341,0,0,0
EN 61░13N 149░54W, pop (1995e) 266 000. City and seaport in SC \JAlaska\j, USA, at the head of Cook Inlet; largest city in the state; founded as a railway construction camp, 1914; severely damaged by \Jearthquake\j, 1964; important transportation hub; administrative and commercial centre; a vital defence centre, with Fort Richardson military base and Elmendorf air force base nearby; airport; railway; university (1957); mining, tourism; Earthquake Park, National Bank Heritage Library; Iditarod Sled Race (Mar), Great \JAlaska\j Shootout (Nov), Fur Rendezvous (Nov).
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#
"anchovy",1342,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bchovee]
EN Any of the small \Jherring\j-like fishes of the family Engraulidae, widespread in surface coastal waters of tropical and temperate seas; support extensive commercial fisheries, much of the catch being processed before sale. (5 genera, including \IAnchoa,\i \IEngraulis.)\i
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#
"ancien rΘgime",1343,0,0,0
PN [πsyφ\ti ray\Bzheem\b]
EN The social and political system of \JFrance\j existing from the late 16th-c to the outbreak of the \JFrench Revolution\j (1789). The term implies a hierarchical, corporative society, bound closely to the dynastic state, and is associated particularly with mechanisms upholding traditional orders and privileges.
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#
"ancient lights",1344,0,0,0
EN In English law, an easement acquired through long use, and not by consent or permission, whereby one property can claim the right against another property to enjoy at least a reasonable amount of light. Where it exists, this right may restrict building on neighbouring property. A restrictive covenant against building may be more effective, but such a covenant cannot be acquired through long use.
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"ancona",1345,0,0,0
EN See \Jaltarpiece\j
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#
"Ancre, Baron de Lussigny, marquis d'",1346,0,0,0
PN [πkruh]
HS , originally \BConcino Concini\b
DT1 ?
DT2 1617
EN Adventurer, born in Florence, \JItaly\j. He came to the French court in 1600, in the train of Marie de' Medici, the wife of Henry IV, and became chief favourite of the queen-regent during the minority of \JLouis XIII\j. His prodigality was immense, and he squandered vast sums on the decoration of his palaces. Hated alike by nobility and populace, he was assassinated in the Louvre during a rebellion.
MEX Marie de' Medicis
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"Ancus Marcius",1347,0,0,0
PN [\Bang\bkus \Bmah(r)\bsius]
DT1 7
DT1b th-c BC
EN Traditionally, the fourth king of \JRome\j. He is said to have conquered the neighbouring Latin tribes, and settled them on the Aventine.
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#
"Andalusia",1348,0,0,0
EN <PRON>, Eng [andaloo\Bsee\ba]
pop (1995e) 6 915 000; area 87 268 sq km/33 685 sq mi. Large and fertile autonomous region of S \JSpain\j; dominated by the great basin of the R Guadalquivir and (S) by the Baetic Cordillera, rising to 3478 m/11 411 ft at Cerro de MulhacΘn, \JSpain\j's highest peak; S coastal strip known for its tourist resorts on the Costa del Sol and the Costa de la Luz; sugar cane, fruit, bananas, wine, cotton; chief cities, Mßlaga, Cßdiz, \JGranada\j, C≤rdoba; many remains of Moorish rule (8th--15th-c).
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#
"Andalusian horse",1349,0,0,0
EN A breed of horse; height, 16 hands / 1.6┐m / 51/2┐ft; grey (occasionally black); developed in \JSpain\j over many centuries by crossing African, Spanish, and German horses; a less refined version is called the \BAndalusian-Carthusian\b or \BCarthusian.\b
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#
"andalusite",1350,0,0,0
PN [anda\Bloo\bsiyt]
EN One of the three varieties of mineral \Jaluminium\j silicate (Al\D2\dSiO\D5\d), found in metamorphic rocks, the others being \Ikyanite\i and \Isillimanite.\i Its importance lies as an indicator of the pressure and \Jtemperature\j of metamorphism in rocks.
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"Andaman and Nicobar Islands",1351,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bdaman, nikoh\Bbah(r)\b]
EN pop (1995e) 302 000; area 8300 sq km/3200 sq mi. Union territory of India, comprising two island groups in the Bay of Bengal; separated from \JMyanmar\j, \JThailand\j, and \JSumatra\j by the Andaman Sea; over 300 islands, stretching 725 km/450 mi N to S; occupied by \JJapan\j in World War 2; part of India, 1950; British penal colony on Andaman Is, 1858--1945; Cellular Jail at Port Blair now a national shrine; Nicobar Is 120 km/75 mi S, a mountainous group of 19 islands; occupied by Denmark, 1756--1848; annexed by Britain, 1869; chief town, Nankauri; tropical forest covers both islands; monsoons frequent (May--Oct); fishing, \Jrubber\j, fruit, rice, hardwood timber.
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"Andaman Sea",1352,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bdaman]
EN area 564┐900┐km\U2\u / 218┐000┐mi\U2\u. north-east arm of the Indian Ocean; bounded E by \JMyanmar\j and \JThailand\j, N by the Gulf of Martaban, S by \JSumatra\j, and W by the Andaman and Nicobar Is.
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"Andean bear",1353,0,0,0
EN See spectacled bear
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#
"Andean Community",1354,0,0,0
EN An organization modelled on the European Community, with five member countries: \JBolivia\j, \JColombia\j, \JEcuador\j, \JPeru\j, and Venezuela. It was previously known as the \BAndean Pact\b (1969-96)
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"Anders, Wladyslaw",1355,0,0,0
DT1 1892
DT2 1970
EN Polish soldier, born in Blonie, \JPoland\j. He served on the staff of the Russian division and Polish Corps in World War 1 (1914-17). At the outbreak of World War 2 he was captured by the Russians (1939-41), but released to command a Polish ex-POW force organized in \JRussia\j, which he led through \JIran\j into \JIraq\j.
In 1943 he became commander of the 2nd Polish Corps in \JItaly\j, capturing Monte Cassino. After the war, deprived of his nationality by the Polish Communist government, he was a leading figure in the Free Polish community in Britain, and inspector-general of the Polish forces-in-exile.
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#
"Andersen, Dorothy H. (Hansine)",1356,0,0,0
DT (1901-1963)
EN pathologist, pediatrician; born in Asheville, N.C. Discoverer of cystic fibrosis (1938) and related diagnostic tests, she did work on congenital heart defects leading to breakthroughs in open-heart surgery. Working at Babies \JHospital\j at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (1935-63), she became chief pathologist (1952). Independent and free-thinking, she loved the outdoors and carpentry.
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"Andersen, Hans Christian",1357,0,0,0
DT1 1805
DT2 75
EN Writer, one of the world's great story-tellers, born in Odense, Denmark. After his father's death he worked in a factory, but soon displayed a talent for poetry. He became better known by his \IWalk to Amager,\i a literary satire in the form of a humorous narrative.
In 1830 he published the first collected volume of his \IPoems,\i and in 1831 a second, under the title of \IFantasies and Sketches.\i He wrote many other works, but it is such fairy-tales as 'The Tin Soldier', 'The Tinderbox', and 'The Ugly Duckling' that have gained him lasting fame and delighted children throughout the world.
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"Anderson, Carl (David)",1358,0,0,0
DT (1905-91)
EN US physicist: discovered the \Jpositron\j and the muon.
Anderson, the only son of Swedish immigrants, was educated in Los Angeles and at the \JCalifornia\j Institute of Technology, where he remained for the rest of his career.
Anderson discovered the \Jpositron\j accidentally in 1932 (its existence had been predicted by Dirac in 1928). As a result, Dirac's relativistic quantum mechanics and theory of the \Jelectron\j were rapidly accepted and it became clear that other \Jantiparticles\j existed. Anderson shared the 1936 Nobel Prize for physics with V F Hess for this discovery.
Anderson discovered the \Jpositron\j while studying cosmic rays, which he did by photographing their tracks in a \Jcloud\j chamber in order to find the \Jenergy\j spectrum of secondary electrons produced by the rays. A lead plate divided the chamber so that the direction of movement of the particles could be deduced (they are slowed or stopped by the lead). Also, a magnetic field was applied to deflect particles in different directions according to their charge and by an amount related to their mass.
Many positive particles were seen which were not protons; they were too light and produced too little \Jionization\j. Anderson identified their mass as about that of an \Jelectron\j, concluding that these were positive electrons, or positrons. The discovery was confirmed by Blackett and Occhialini the following year.
Anderson discovered another elementary particle within the same year, again by observing cosmic ray tracks. It had unit negative charge and was 130 times as heavy as an \Jelectron\j, and seemed a possible confirmation of Yukawa's theory of a particle communicating the \Jstrong nuclear force\j (now called a \Jpi\j-\Jmeson\j or pion).
However a series of experiments by Anderson in 1935 revealed that it was not and the role of this mu-\Jmeson\j (or muon), as it is now called, remained unclear. The true \Jpi\j-\Jmeson\j was first found by Powell in 1947. Positrons are inherently stable, but as they are \Jantiparticles\j of electrons the two annihilate each other. Mesons are intrinsically unstable and decay rapidly.
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"Anderson, Clive (Stuart)",1359,0,0,0
DT1 1953
EN Television presenter and \Jbarrister\j, born in London, England, UK. He studied law at Cambridge, where he was president of Footlights, and was called to the bar in 1976. He wrote scripts for radio and \Jtelevision\j, began acting as a TV warm-up man, and joined BBC Radio 4 as chairman of the popular \IWhose Line Is It Anyway?\i (1988).
The show later transferred to Channel 4 Television, where he was also given his own chat-show \IClive Anderson Talks Back\i (from 1989). Later work includes the BBC documentary series, \IOur Man In ...\i (1995-- ), which he also wrote, and he is presenter of \IClive Anderson All Talk\i (1996-- ), and \IHypotheticals\i (1997-- ).
\BMajor Works\b
1998 BBC2 If I Ruled the World
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"Anderson, Dame Judith",1360,0,0,0
DT (1898-1992)
EN actress; born in Adelaide, \JAustralia\j. She made her stage debut in Sydney, \JAustralia\j, in 1915 and launched her American career three years later. Her long association with Broadway began in 1922. Notable for her portrayals of powerful women, her interpretations of Lady Macbeth and of Robinson Jeffers's Medea helped her earn the sobriquet of "First Lady of the American theater." Her credits include 29 motion pictures and many \Jtelevision\j series, among them \ISanta Barbara\i (1984-87).
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"Anderson, Edgar S. (Shannon)",1361,0,0,0
DT (1897-1969)
EN botanist, geneticist; born in Forestville, N.Y. He was a research assistant at Harvard (1920-22), then became a geneticist at the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) (1922-30) and a professor at Washington University, St. Louis (1922-31). He then joined Harvard's Arnold \JArboretum\j and lectured at Harvard (1931-35) before returning to Washington University (1935-69) and the MBG (1952-69).
He made major contributions to studies of the \Jcytology\j, crossbreeding, \Jevolution\j, and classification of flowering plants, especially \Jmaize\j, American irises, and \Jtobacco\j. He coined the term "introgressive hybridization" (1938) to describe the gradual introduction of genetic material of one species into another due to repeated backcrossing.
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"Anderson, Elizabeth Garrett",1362,0,0,0
DT (1836-1917)
EN British physician; pioneered the acceptance of women into British medical schools.
Elizabeth Garrett was born in London, where her father had a pawnbroker's shop. He later built an expanding business malting grain at Snape in Suffolk. Educated by a governess at home, followed by boarding school in London, she settled to the duties of daughter at home, helping to run the large household. She joined the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women, whose aim was to improve the status of women through education and employment.
Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to graduate in medicine in America (1849) gave a lecture on 'Young Women Desirous of Studying Medicine', which impressed Elizabeth Garrett and her friend Emily Davies (1830-1921) who decided that Elizabeth should work to open the medical profession in England to women and that Emily Davies would pursue higher education for women (she founded Girton College, Cambridge). As she was the youngest, Elizabeth's sister Millicent (Fawcett) was to work for the vote for women.
After graduation in New York Elizabeth Blackwell was inscribed on the British Medical Register. The Medical Council decided in future to exclude all holders of foreign degrees. To practise medicine in Britain Elizabeth Garrett had to gain admission to a British medical school.
With the financial support of her father she became an unofficial medical student at the Middlesex \JHospital\j in 1860. Although she had the approval of the Dean, students and staff objected and she had to leave. No medical school or university in \JGreat Britain\j would admit a woman, so she applied to the Society of Apothecaries, which provided a minimum qualification in medicine.
After taking counsel's opinion, the Society was unable to refuse her application because of the wording of its Charter, an opening closed soon after her success. She attended a course by T H Huxley on natural history and \Jphysiology\j and John Tyndall's course on physics at the Royal Institution, at their invitation.
Only private tuition for the Apothecaries' medical course was open to her and she found tutors at the medical schools at St Andrews, Edinburgh and London. She passed the Apothecaries' Hall examination in 1865, becoming the first woman to complete a recognized course of medical training with legal qualifications in Britain.
As a woman Elizabeth Garrett was barred from any \Jhospital\j appointment and was unacceptable as an assistant in general practice. She was dependent on an allowance from her father for some time. She became a consultant physician to women and children from her home in London.
Although willing to attend male patients she feared that to do so might create a scandal. In 1865, just before a \Jcholera\j epidemic reached London, she opened the St Mary's Dispensary for Women and Children in a poor area of London and became visiting medical officer to a children's \Jhospital\j in East London.
The \JSorbonne\j in Paris admitted women in 1868 and in 1870 Elizabeth Garrett became the first woman MD from that university. In 1871 she married James Skelton Anderson (died 1907) and combined family life with her work. The London School of Medicine for Women, which was initiated by Sophia Jex-Blake, opened in 1874 and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson served on the Executive Committee, taught in the school and worked for the students to be admitted to the University of London's examinations.
In 1883 she was elected Dean, the same year that Mary Scharlieb and Edith Shove became the first women to gain medical degrees from London University. The School became a college of the University of London. From 1886 Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was concerned with the New \JHospital\j for Women which served as the teaching \Jhospital\j for the London School of Medicine for Women.
In 1908 she was elected mayor of Aldeburgh, the first woman mayor in England. It was due to the efforts of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson that medical education and medical science was opened to women in Britain.
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"Anderson, Gerry",1363,0,0,0
DT1 1929
EN British creator of puppet-character programmes for \Jtelevision\j. He entered the British film industry as a trainee with the Colonial Film Unit, later directing several \Jtelevision\j series. He enjoyed great success with adventure series that combined a range of popular puppet characters with technologically advanced hardware and special effects.
Among the best known are \IFireball XL--5\i (1961), \IThunderbirds\i (1964--6), \ICaptain Scarlett and the Mysterons\i (1967), and \ITerrahawks\i (1983--4). He also branched out into live action shows with human actors, such as \IThe Protectors\i (1971), \ISpace 1999\i (1973--6), and \ISpace Precinct\i (1993--5).
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"Anderson, Gillian",1364,0,0,0
DT1 1968
EN Actor, born in \JChicago\j, Illinois, USA. Brought up in London, her family returned to the USA, where she became involved in community theatre, and studied at DePaul University. She then found theatre parts in New York City, eventually moving to Los Angeles, where she was offered the part of Dana Scully in the new series \IThe X-Files\i (1993-- , Golden Globe, Emmy), which has since become a \Jcult\j classic. She now lives in Vancouver.
\BMajor Works\b
\ITelevision\i
1993- The X-Files
\IFilms\i
1992 The Turning
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"Anderson, J(ohn) H(enry)",1365,0,0,0
DT 1814-74
EN Scottish conjuror, known as the Great Wizard of the North. His genius for publicity brought him years of success in the provinces and in London, and in 1845 he opened his 5,000-seat City Theatre in Glasgow, where for five months he produced minstrel shows, operas and variety as a setting for his demonstrations of magic and \Jsecond sight\j. Anderson originated the pulling of rabbits from top hats and of a live goose from 'The Magic Scrapbook' (Queen Victoria's favourite trick). When his theatre and apparatus burned down, he resumed touring in Europe, the USA and \JAustralia\j.
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"Anderson, John (1726-96) (Scientist)",1366,0,0,0
DT1 1726
DT2 96
EN Scientist, born in Roseneath, Argyll and Bute, W Scotland, UK. He studied at Glasgow, where he became professor of oriental languages, and then of natural philosophy. He also established a bi-weekly class for mechanics, and at his death left all he had to found Anderson's College in Glasgow.
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"Anderson, John (1893-1962) (Philospher)",1367,0,0,0
DT1 1893
DT2 1962
EN Philosopher, born in Scotland, UK. He was professor of philosophy at Sydney from 1927, and can be regarded as the founder and main exponent of an Australian school of philosophy, espousing a distinctive blend of realism, empiricism, and \Jmaterialism\j.
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"Anderson, Joseph R. (Reid)",1368,0,0,0
DT (1813-92)
EN industrialist; born in Botetourt County, Va. An 1836 West Point graduate, he spent five years as an army engineer before joining the Tredegar Iron Company in Richmond, Va. In 1848 he bought the company and turned it into one of the best iron works in the country. As a supporter of the Confederacy, he supplied Southern forces with ordnance and he himself fought in the \JCivil War\j until wounded (1861-63).
He returned to Tredegar where his expert management kept the works running throughout the war, as both the Confederacy's sole supplier of heavy ordnance and the prime supplier of everything from plates for iron-clad ships to railroad trains. Confiscated by the Union in 1865, the company was returned to him in 1867.
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"Anderson, Lindsay (Gordon)",1369,0,0,0
DT 1923-94
EN British director. Having begun his career by making documentary films, he became a forceful member of George Devine's team at the Royal Court. There he directed Willis Hall's The Long and the Short and the Tall (1959) and John Arden's Serjeant Musgrave's Dance (1959); and later the plays of David Storey, which began with In Celebration (1969) and continued through several lovingly detailed studies of contemporary life - The Contractor (1969), Home (1970), The Changing Room (1971), The Farm (1973) and Life Class (1974).
He also worked at the National Theatre and on Broadway, and made a powerful screen impact with the film If (1968), about British public school life and \Jaberrations\j. The success of the latter led to a new career in films and \Jtelevision\j, to which he brought his left-leaning, half-satirical \Jnaturalism\j.
In his later years he worked less in the theatre, although his partnership with Storey continued at the National Theatre with Early Days (1980), The March on \JRussia\j (1989) and Stages (1992). In 1987 he directed a revival of Philip Barry's 1928 American comedy Holiday at the Old Vic.
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"Anderson, Marian",1370,0,0,0
DT (1902-93)
EN contralto; born in Philadelphia. Anderson grew up singing in a church choir, and at age 19 she began formal study. In 1925 she won a major vocal competition in New York City that gained her a career as a recitalist, but was always constricted by the limitations placed on African-American artists.
In the 1930s she traveled across Europe and America, finding acclaim as perhaps the greatest living contralto. Her most electrifying moment came in 1939, when she was refused permission to sing in Washington's Constitution Hall because of her race; instead, she sang at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, for an audience of 75,000.
In 1955 she became the first African-American singer to appear at the Metropolitan Opera. Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, Anderson spent the next two years in a worldwide farewell tour.
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"Anderson, Mary (1859-1940) (American actress)",1371,0,0,0
DT 1859-1940
EN American actress. Her major assets were her classical physical beauty and a rich, expressive voice. She made her New York debut in 1877. W. S. Gilbert wrote a short play, Comedy and Tragedy, for her. Americans proudly called her 'Our Mary', though in 1890 she settled in England. During her 14- year career on both sides of the Atlantic she played 18 leading roles.
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"Anderson, Mary (1872-1964) (Labor leader)",1372,0,0,0
DT (1872-1964)
EN labor leader; born in Lidkoping, Sweden. Emigrating to the U.S.A. at age 16, she became active in union work, becoming an officer of the International Boot and Shoe Workers' Union in \JChicago\j. She was also active in the Women's Trade Union League and worked to obtain equal pay to women for equal work. She was the first director of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor (1920-44).
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"Anderson, Maxwell",1373,0,0,0
DT (1888-1959)
EN playwright; born in Atlantic, Pa. After taking an M.A. at Stanford, he served as an editor with the \INew Republic\i (1918-24) before achieving his first success, collaborating with Lawrence Stallings on a realistic war drama, \IWhat Price Glory?\i (1924). Thereafter he alternated between romantic blank-verse such as \IElizabeth the Queen\i (1930) and \IWinterset\i (1935) and more realistic dramas such as \IKey Largo\i (1939) and \IThe Bad Seed\i (1954).
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"Anderson, Philip W(arren)",1374,0,0,0
DT1 1923
DT2 94
EN British stage and film director, born in \JBangalore\j, India. He studied at Oxford, made short documentary films during the 1950s, and won an Oscar for \IThursday's Children\i (1955). He was a leading proponent of the Free Cinema critical movement, with its focus on working-class themes. He joined the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 1957.
His first feature film was \IThis Sporting Life\i (1963), followed by \IIf....\i (1968), \IO Lucky Man!\i (1973), \IBritannia Hospital\i (1982), and \IThe Whales of August\i (1987). He also acted cameo parts on film.
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1955 (with Guy Brenton) Thursday's Children
1963 This Sporting Life
1968 If...
1973 O Lucky Man
1974 In Celebration
1982 Britannia Hospital
1985 If You Were There...
1987 The Whales of August
1989 Glory! Glory!
\ITheatre\i
1957 The Waiting of Lester Abbs
1959 The Long and the Short and the Tall
1959 Serjeant Musgrave's Dance
1960 The Lily White Boys
1960 Billy Liar
1961 The Fire-Raisers
1963 The Diary of a Madman
1964 Julius Caesar
1966 The Cherry Orchard
1969 Celebration
1969 The Contractor
1970 Home
1971 The Changing Room
1973 The Farm
1974 Life Class
1975 The Sea Gull
1975 The Bed Before Yesterday
1980 Early Days
1981 Hamlet
1984 The Playboy of the Western World
1987 The Whales of August
1989 The March on Russia
1990 Jubilee
1992 Stages
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"Anderson, Robert",1375,0,0,0
DT (1805-71)
EN soldier; born near \JLouisville\j, Ky. A West Point graduate (1825) he served in the Mexican War. As an artillery officer, he commanded the Federal garrison at Fort Sumter, S.C., surrendering there on April 13, 1861, after a 34-hour bombardment that signaled the opening of the \JCivil War\j. He spent most of the rest of the war keeping Kentucky in the Union until disabilities forced his retirement in 1863. In April 1865 he returned to Fort Sumter for the raising of the original flag.
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"Anderson, Robert W(oodruff)",1376,0,0,0
DT 1917-
EN American playwright. He came to prominence by winning the National Theatre Conference Prize with Come Marching Home (1945). Tea and Sympathy (1953), a sensitive study of a young man's growth from innocence into experience, is still considered his outstanding work. Other plays produced by the Playwrights' Company were All Summer Long (1953) and Silent Night, Lonely Night (1959). The Days Between (1965) helped inaugurate the American Playwrights' Theatre. He also wrote one-act plays.
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"Anderson, Sherwood",1377,0,0,0
DT (1876-1941)
EN writer; born in Camden, Ohio. He was raised in the small town of Clyde, Ohio. After age 14 his schooling was erratic; after a succession of jobs he moved to \JChicago\j. He served in the Spanish-American War (1898-99), then attended an academy in Springfield, Ohio. In 1900 he began working as a copywriter and he established his own mail-order company in Cleveland (1906).
From his early years he despised business ethics and resented his dependence on business earnings, and in 1912, suffering from an amnesic nervous breakdown, he walked out on his family and his job managing a paint factory. After his recovery he resumed his \JChicago\j advertising work (1913-22). After publishing two novels (1916, 1917) with the help of Theodore Dreiser and Carl Sandburg, he wrote \IWinesburg, Ohio\i (1919), the collection of stories that is considered his masterpiece.
Subsequent works included his finest novel, \IPoor White\i (1920); another collection of stories, \IThe Triumph of the Egg\i (1921); and the novels \IMany Marriages\i (1923) and \IDark Laughter\i (1925). He won the first \IDial\i literary award (1921). Private patronage after 1922 enabled him to move to a farm in Marion, Va., where he bought and edited two local newspapers (1927-29).
Although his standing among his fellow writers remained high, the literary quality of his work declined greatly. Much of his late work, both journalistic and fictional, concerned Southern industrial conditions; roving reportage on the Depression was collected in \IPuzzled America\i (1935).
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"Anderson, Sir John",1378,0,0,0
EN See Waverley, John Anderson, 1st Viscount
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#
"Anderson, Sir Kenneth (Arthur Noel)",1379,0,0,0
DT1 1891
DT2 1959
EN British soldier, born in India. He trained at Sandhurst, and was commissioned into the Seaforth Highlanders. In World War 1 he served in \JFrance\j (1914-16), then fought under Allenby in Palestine (1917-18). In World War 2 he fought at \JDunkirk\j (1940), and was commander of the 1st British Army in North Africa (1942-3), capturing \JTunis\j (1943). He later became Governor-General of \JGibraltar\j (1947-52).
MEX Allenby
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"Anderson, Thomas",1380,0,0,0
DT1 1819
DT2 74
EN Organic chemist, born in Scotland, UK. He studied at Edinburgh and Stockholm, became professor of chemistry at Glasgow, and is remembered for his discovery of \Jpyridine\j.
SX m
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#
"Anderson, Willa",1381,0,0,0
EN See Muir, Edwin
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#
"Andersson, Bibi",1382,0,0,0
DT1 1935
EN Actress, born in Stockholm, Sweden. She began her career in 1949 as a film extra, and is best known for her roles in many Ingmar Bergman films, such as \IThe Seventh Seal\i (1956) and \IPersona\i (1966). As a theatre actress she has been attached to both the Malm÷ Municipal Theatre and the Royal Dramatic Theatre, Stockholm.
Her later stage successes have been at Dramaten, where she also began directing in the early 1990s. She has been the recipient of many awards, including the British \JAcademy Award\j for Best Foreign Actress (1971) for her part in \IThe Touch\i.
Major Works
Films
1956 The Seventh Seal
1966 Persona
1971 The Touch
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#
"Andersson, Dan(iel)",1383,0,0,0
DT1 1888
DT2 1920
EN Poet and novelist, born in Skattl÷sbergett, Sweden. One of Sweden's foremost writers of his time, he treated religious and metaphysical themes in his novels, such as the autobiographical \IDe Tre Heml÷sa\i (1918, Three Homeless Ones). His poems about traditional charcoal-burners in \IKolarhistorier\i (1914) and \IKolvakterens Visor\i (1915) turned them into national folk-figures.
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#
"Andersson, Johan Gunnar",1384,0,0,0
DT1 1874
DT2 1960
EN Archaeologist, born in Knista, Sweden. Trained as a geologist, he went to China in 1914 as technical adviser to the government, but became fascinated by \Jfossil\j remains. He was the first to identify prehistoric pottery in China, at Yang-shao-ts'un, Hunan, in 1921. He also initiated excavations in the \Jlimestone\j caves at Chou-k'ou-tien near Peking (1921-6), finding important fossils of \IHomo erectus\i (Peking Man).
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"Anderton, Sir (Cyril) James",1385,0,0,0
DT1 1932
EN British police officer. Educated in Manchester, NW England, UK, he joined the local police force in 1953, becoming chief inspector in 1967, and chief constable of the Greater Manchester Police Force (1976--91). He was known for his outspoken and sometimes controversial opinions. He was knighted in 1991.
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#
"Andes",1386,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bdeez]
EN Major mountain range in \JSouth America\j, running parallel to the Pacific coast from Tierra del Fuego (south) to the Caribbean (north), passing through Argentina, \JChile\j, \JBolivia\j, \JPeru\j, \JEcuador\j, \JColombia\j, and Venezuela; extends over 6400┐km / 4000┐mi; rises to 6960┐m / 22┐834┐ft in the Cerro Aconcagua (Argentina), the highest point in \JSouth America\j; in N Argentina, \JBolivia\j, \JPeru\j, and \JColombia\j, there are several parallel ranges \I(cordilleras)\i and high plateaux; highest peaks are in the Cordillera Agostini on the Chile-Argentina border, with many lakes and tourist resorts; Puna de Atacama to the N, a desolate plateau, average height 3350-3900┐m / 11┐000-12┐800┐ft; C \JAndes\j in \JBolivia\j covers two-fifths of the country in an elevated plateau \I(\Jaltiplano\j)\i of 3000-3600┐m / 9800-11┐800┐ft, enclosing Lake Poop≤ and Lake Titicaca; Bolivian \JAndes\j split into E and W ranges (Cordillera Oriental / Occidental); system divides into many separate ranges in \JPeru\j; narrows in \JEcuador\j, and includes such active volcanoes as \JChimborazo\j (6310┐m / 20┐702┐ft) and Cotopaxi (5896┐m / 19┐344┐ft); three main ranges in \JColombia\j (Cordillera Occidental / Central / Oriental); system continues north-east into Venezuela as the Sierra Nevada de MΘrida; connects via E Panama to the C American ranges.
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"andesite",1387,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bdeziyt]
EN Fine-grained volcanic rock of intermediate composition containing plagioclase feldspar with biotite, \Jhornblende\j, or pyroxene; chemically equivalent to \Jdiorite\j. Andesites are formed at the continental edge of subduction zones, forming new continental crust, as in the \JAndes\j Mts, \JSouth America\j.
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"Andhra Pradesh",1388,0,0,0
PN [andra pra\Bdaysh\b]
EN pop (1995e) 71 824 000; area 276 814 sq km/106 850 sq mi. State in S India, bounded E by the Bay of Bengal; capital, Hyderabad; made a separate state based on \JTelugu\j-speaking area of Madras, 1953; unicameral Legislative Assembly with 295 seats; sugar cane, groundnuts, cotton, rice, \Jtobacco\j; textiles, sugar milling, chemicals, cement, \Jfertilizer\j, paper, carpets, \Jnatural gas\j, oil refining, shipbuilding, \Jforestry\j.
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"Andorra",1389,0,0,0
PN [an\Bdo\bra]
EN A small, independent, neutral state on the S slopes of the C \JPyrenees\j between \JFrance\j and \JSpain\j, divided into seven parishes; pop (1995e) 67 900 area 453 sq km/175 sq mi; timezone GMT +1; capital, \JAndorra\j la Vella; language, \JCatalan\j, also French and Spanish; currency, French francs and Spanish pesetas; a mountainous country, reaching 2946 m/9665 ft at Coma Pedrosa, occupying two valleys (del Norte and del Orient) of the R Valira; cold, dry, sunny winters, lowest average monthly rainfall (34 mm/1.34 in) in Jan; one of the oldest states in Europe, under the joint protection of \JFrance\j and \JSpain\j since 1278; Co-Princes of the Principality are the President of \JFrance\j and the Bishop of Urgel; independence, 1993; the General Council of the Valleys appoints the head of the government, who appoints four councillors elected from the parishes; hydroelectric power on the R Valira; no restriction on currency exchange, and no direct or value-added taxes; commerce, \Jtobacco\j, potatoes, construction, \Jforestry\j; in recent years, textiles, publishing, leather, mineral \Jwater\j, furniture; tourism; \Jskiing\j at five mountain resorts; airports at La Seu-\JAndorra\j and at La Seo de Urgel in \JSpain\j.
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"Andorra la Vella",1390,0,0,0
PN [an\Bdo\bra la \Bvel\bya]
EN 42░30N 1░30E, pop (1995e) 25 500. One of the seven parishes of the Principality of \JAndorra\j, with a capital town of the same name; on the E side of the Pic d'Enclar (2317 m/7602 ft), 613 km/381 mi NE of Madrid; altitude 1029 m/3376 ft; airports.
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"Andrade, Jorge",1391,0,0,0
DT 1922-84
EN Brazilian playwright. His plays divide into the 'rural' cycle - O telesc≤pio (The \JTelescope\j, (1954), A morat≤ria (The Moratorium, 1955), Pedreira das almas (Stone Quarry of Souls, 1956) and Vereda da salvacπo (Path to Salvation, 1964) - and the 'urban' plays, of which the best-known is Os ossos do Barπo (The Baron's Bones, 1963).
Born into a traditional rural aristocratic family, Andrade specialized in showing the \Jdecadence\j of \JSπo Paulo\j society. Marta, a arvore e o rel≤gio (Martha, the Tree and the Clock, 1970) climaxed his varied production. Rasto atrßs (Step Backwards), his last major play, is an autobiographical projection of a father-son relationship in a context of class \Jdecadence\j.
BK Thea
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"Andrßssy, Gyula, Gr≤f (Count)",1392,0,0,0
PN [\Bon\bdrahshee]
DT1 1823
DT2 90
EN Statesman and prime minister (1867-71), born in Kassa, \JHungary\j (now \JKosice\j, Slovak Republic). A supporter of Kossuth, he was prominent in the struggle for independence (1848-9), after which he remained in exile until 1858. When the Dual Monarchy was formed in 1867, he was made prime minister of \JHungary\j (1871-9).
MEX Kossuth
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"Andre, Carl",1393,0,0,0
PN [\Bon\bdray]
DT1 1935
EN Sculptor, born in \JMassachusetts\j, USA. Best known for his minimalist sculptures of the 1960s, such as "Equivalents', his initial experiments with wood-cutting were inspired by Constantine Brancusi. A job on the \JPennsylvania\j Railroad in the 1960s led to experimentation with mass-produced materials. An interest in \Jmathematics\j and the philosopher \JLaozi\j are evident in his work.
\BMajor Works\b
1960 Equivalents
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"AndrΘ, John",1394,0,0,0
PN [on\Bdray\b]
DT1 1751
DT2 80
EN British soldier, born in London, England, UK of French-Swiss descent. In 1774 he joined the army in Canada, and became aide-de-camp to Sir Henry Clinton, and adjutant-general. When Benedict Arnold obtained the command of West Point in 1780, AndrΘ was selected to negotiate with him for its betrayal. While returning to New York he was captured and handed over to the US military authorities. He was tried as a spy, and hanged.
MEX Arnold, Benedict; Clinton, Henry
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#
"Andrea da Firenza",1395,0,0,0
PN [an\Bdray\ba da fi\Brent\bsa]
HS , originally \BAndrea Bonaiuti\b
DT1a fl.c.
DT1 1343
DT2 77
EN Florentine painter. His most famous work is the monumental \Jfresco\j cycle in the Spanish Chapel of the Dominican Church of S Maria \JNovella\j in Florence, painted c.1366-8. His only other documented work is the 'Life of S Ranieri', frescoes in the Campo Santo in Pisa, completed in 1377.
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#
"Andrea del Sarto",1396,0,0,0
EN See Sarto, Andrea del
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#
"AndreΣ, Johann Valentin",1397,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bdraye]
DT1 1586
DT2 1654
EN Theologian, born near Tⁿbingen, \JGermany\j. Long regarded as the founder or restorer of the Rosicrucians, he wrote \IChymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosenkreuz\i (1616).
SX m
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#
"andrecium",1398,0,0,0
PN [an\Bdree\bsiuhm]
EN See flower; stamen
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#
"Andreev, Leonid (Nikolaevich)",1399,0,0,0
DT 1871-1919
EN Russian prose writer, playwright and journalist. Prolific and controversial, he rivalled Chekhov and \JGorky\j in popularity and importance during the pre- revolutionary period (c.1905-17). Andreev is an extreme example of the soul sickness, spiritual confusion and sense of isolation suffered by the Russian artistic intelligentsia of this era.
His macabre short stories, like his metaphysical dramas, contemplate man's folly, vanity and brutality and life's horror and falsity, and feature madness, death and all manner of sexual and spiritual perversion. His most representative 'cosmic' dramas include The Life of Man (1906), Tsar Hunger (1907), Black Masks (1908), Anathema (1909) and his international classic, He Who Gets Slapped (1915).
The Life of Man, which utilizes puppet-like characters and stylized speech and action, was produced by both Meyerhold and \JStanislavsky\j in 1907. Andreev's sombreness was parodied in his time. His eventual repudiation of the revolutionary cause made his plays unpopular in the Soviet period.
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"Andreini family",1400,0,0,0
EN Italian actors, originally from Tuscany. The family's founder Francesco Dal Gallo (1548-1624) took the name Andreini when he entered a commedia dell'arte troupe. He perfected the type of the braggart soldier and headed the Gelosi company on its pioneering visit to Paris in 1603-4.
His wife Isabella (1562-1604) played Innamorata with the Gelosi and was the most famous actress of her time. Their eldest son Giovan Battista or Giambattista (1576 or 1579-1654) played Innamorato under the name Lelio. With Tristano Martinelli he founded the Fedeli troupe, which toured \JItaly\j (1613-14) and went to Paris, where he became a favourite of \JLouis XIII\j. He was a prolific writer of tragicomedies, comedies, mystery plays and pastorals. His wife Virginia (1583-1638) performed under the name Florinda.
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"Andress, Ursula",1401,0,0,0
DT1 1936
EN Film actress, born in \JBern\j, \JSwitzerland\j. She made her international debut in \IDr No\i (1963), her later films including \IWhat's New, Pussycat?\i (1965), \ICasino Royale\i (1967), and \IThe Clash of the Titans\i (1981).
\BMajor Works\b
1963 Dr No
1965 She
1965 What's New, Pussycat?
1967 Casino Royale
1971 Red Sun
1981 The Clash of the Titans
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"Andretti, Mario (Gabriele)",1402,0,0,0
PN [an\Bdre\btee]
DT1 1940
EN Motor-racing driver, born in Montona, \JItaly\j. After moving to the USA in 1955, he became a US citizen in 1959. He started out in midget car racing, then progressed to the US Automobile Club circuit, in which he was champion three times.
In a Formula One career stretching from 1968 to 1982, he competed in 128 Grand Prix, winning 16. His most successful year was 1978, when he won the racing drivers' world championship. He was also twice winner, in 1969 and 1981, of the \JIndianapolis\j 500.
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"Andrew (Albert Christian Edward), Duke of York",1403,0,0,0
DT1 1960
EN British prince, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II. He studied at Gordonstoun School, Moray, north-east Scotland, UK, and Lakefield College, \JOntario\j, south-east Canada, then trained at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, where he was commissioned as a \Jhelicopter\j pilot.
He saw service in the Falklands War (1982). In 1986 he married \BSarah (Margaret) Ferguson\b (1959-) , and was made Duke of York. They have two children, \BPrincess Beatrice Elizabeth Mary\b (1988-) and \BPrincess Eugenie Victoria Helena\b (1990-) . The couple separated in 1992, and divorced in 1996.
MEX Elizabeth II
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"Andrew's Beaked Whale",1404,0,0,0
EN \B\BFamily:\b Ziphiidae\b \I(beaked whales)\i\b
\BScientific Name: \IMesoplodon bowdoini\i\b
\BIdentification:\b
Length at birth presumed to be about 6.5 ft (2 m), adults approximately 14 ft (4.3 m); maximum length of males 15 ft (4.57 m), females 15 ft (4.67 m).
Color of stranded specimens is dark blue-black head and body, anterior part of beak white from the tip to the position of the teeth. Body often has many long scars. Dorsal fin small and triangular, slightly more than half way from the rostrum to the flukes. Short, thick beak, with one massive tooth on either side of the lower jaw, about mid-length of the beak in males. Teeth do not erupt in females. Only the tips (denticles) of the teeth are visible, the remainder obscured by the lower lips which form an arch dorsally. Melon not prominent.
\BDistribution\b
Majority of records are strandings from temperate waters of South Pacific and Indian Oceans, in \JNew Zealand\j, \JAustralia\j and subantarctic Macquarie and Campbell Islands. Majority might live in deep water, far from land.
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#
"Andrew, Agnellus (Matthew)",1405,0,0,0
DT1 1908
DT2 87
EN Roman Catholic bishop and broadcaster, born near Glasgow, W Scotland, UK. Ordained in 1932, he became assistant to the head of religious broadcasting at the BBC (1955-67), and adviser to the Independent Broadcasting Authority (1968-75).
Meanwhile he became known as a TV commentator for many papal and national events, and was founder and director of the National Catholic Radio and TV Centre at Hatch End, Greater London (1955-80). Having been made titular Bishop of Numana, he became from 1980 external head of the Vatican commission for communication.
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"Andrew, John Albion",1406,0,0,0
DT (1818-67)
EN governor; born in Windham, Maine. He attended Bowdoin College where he was known for his strong antislavery views. A \JBoston\j lawyer, he helped to organize the Free Soil Party (1848), became a leader of the new Republican Party, and raised money for John Brown's defense (1859).
As governor of \JMassachusetts\j (1860-66), he worked indefatigably to raise and equip regiments for the Union cause. Most notably, he successfully worked for the creation of the first regiment (the 54th) of African-Americans in the Union army.
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"Andrew, St",1407,0,0,0
DT1a d.
DT1 60
EN One of the 12 apostles, the brother of Simon Peter. A fisherman, he was converted by John the Baptist. Tradition says he preached the Gospel in \JAsia Minor\j and Scythia, and was crucified in Achaia (\JGreece\j) by order of the Roman governor. He is the patron saint of Scotland and of \JRussia\j. Feast \Jday\j 30 November.
MEX John the Baptist, St; Peter, St
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#
"Andrewes, Lancelot",1408,0,0,0
DT1 1555
DT2 1626
EN Anglican clergyman and scholar, born in Barking, Essex, south-east England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, took orders in 1580, and rose to become Dean of Westminster in 1601. He attended the \JHampton Court\j Conference, and took part in the translation of the Authorized Version of the \JBible\j (1607).
In 1605 he was consecrated Bishop of Chichester; in 1609 he was translated to Ely, and in 1618 to Winchester. A powerful preacher and defender of Anglican doctrines, he is considered one of the most learned theologians of his time.
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"Andrews Sisters, The",1409,0,0,0
EN popular musical group consisting of (1915-67); Maxine (1918-) ; and (Patricia) Patti (1920-) LaVerne (or Maxene) all born in \JMinneapolis\j, Minn. Of Norwegian-Greek parentage, they formed a harmony trio in 1932, won some local amateur contests, and gained national attention with their recording of "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" (1937).
They performed on radio with the Glenn Miller Orchestra in the 1930s and 1940s and had another big hit with "Boogie Woogie \JBugle\j Boy" (1940). They appeared as themselves in numerous movies including \IBuck Privates\i (1941), \ISwingtime Johnny\i (1943), and \IHollywood Canteen\i (1944).
After a brief retirement in the mid-1950s, they performed in nightclubs until Laverne's death (1967). Maxine and Patti returned in the early 1970s (with a stand-in for their sister) in a musical, \IOver Here,\i designed to evoke their earlier appeal.
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"Andrews, (Elisha) Benjamin",1410,0,0,0
DT (1844-1917)
EN college president; born in Hinsdale, N.H. A popular teacher of history and political economy, he became president of Brown University (1889-98), where he expanded enrollments and established a new Women's College. As chancellor of the University of \JNebraska\j (1900-08) he added new departments and schools.
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"Andrews, Bert",1411,0,0,0
DT (1901-53)
EN journalist; born in \JColorado\j Springs, Colo. As Washington reporter and bureau chief for the \INew York Herald Tribune\i in the 1940s and early 1950s, he scored many scoops and won a 1947 Pulitzer Prize for articles on government loyalty investigations; he also helped uncover evidence that led to the \Jperjury\j conviction of Alger Hiss.
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"Andrews, Eamon",1412,0,0,0
DT1 1922
DT2 87
EN Broadcaster, born in Dublin, Ireland. He began sports commentating for Radio Eireann in 1939 and subsequently worked on various programmes for BBC Radio, including \ISports Report\i (1950-62). On \Jtelevision\j he hosted the parlour game \IWhat's My Line?\i (1951-63) and \IThis is Your Life\i (1955-87). Active as a chat show host and children's programmes presenter, as well as being a keen businessman, he later returned to \IWhat's My Line?\i (1984-7).
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"Andrews, Frank M(axwell)",1413,0,0,0
DT (1884-1943)
EN soldier, aviator; born in Nashville, Tenn. The son of a newspaperman, he graduated from West Point in 1906 and served in the \Javiation\j section of the Signal Corps during World War I. As the first commander of the army's General Headquarters Air Force (1935-39), Andrews helped develop the B-17 bomber (which would be a key weapon of World War II), and became a prominent advocate of air power as an offensive weapon.
Rugged in looks, and firm but softspoken, he campaigned to establish the Air Corps as an independent service. Andrews held senior commands in the Caribbean and the \JMiddle East\j (1941-43) before succeeding Eisenhower (who had become supreme Allied commander in North Africa) as the head of U.S. forces in Europe (1943). He was killed in an air crash in \JIceland\j on May 3, 1943. Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C., is named after him.
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"Andrews, John Bertram",1414,0,0,0
DT (1880-1943)
EN labor expert, social reformer, economist; born in South Wayne, Wis. After earning a Ph.D. in history and economics at the University of \JWisconsin\j under labor historian John R. Commons (1908), he became the executive secretary of a new organization he had helped to found, the American Association for Labor Legislation - a promoter of progressive labor legislation.
To support its work he would also found and edit the \IAmerican Labor Legislation Review\i (1911-43). A pioneer in the industrial-hygiene and safety movement in the U.S.A., he wrote a report (1908) that led to federal legislation prohibiting the use of poisonous white phosphorous in matches (1912).
His most significant work was on behalf of health and unemployment insurance for working people; he appointed a commission to investigate the feasibility of such insurance (1912); the commission recommended (1915) a compulsory mutual insurance plan modeled on programs operating in Britain and \JGermany\j, but this was attacked from all sides - unions as well as insurance companies.
He continued to speak out for progressive approaches to issues of employment in the U.S.A., but, accepting that Americans were not willing to go along with this kind of compulsory insurance, he helped develop voluntaristic models; elements of his plan for unemployment insurance were incorporated into the Social Security Act of 1935.
In addition to his overt advocacy of his ideas on social reform, he collaborated with his old professor John Commons on several academic texts such as \IPrinciples of Labor Legislation\i (1916), and he taught labor law and other social issue courses at Columbia University.
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"Andrews, Julie",1415,0,0,0
DT1 1935
EN Singer and actress, born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, SE England, UK. Radio and stage successes led to her selection for the New York City production of \IThe Boyfriend\i (1954), and several long-running Broadway musicals, notably \IMy Fair Lady\i (1956) and \ICamelot\i (1960).
With her film debut in \IMary Poppins\i (1964) she won an Oscar, and this was followed by a further nomination for \IThe Sound of Music\i (1965). Voted the world's most popular star, she broadened her range in \IS.O.B.\i (1981), \IVictor/Victoria\i (1982), \IDuet for One\i (1987), and \IA Fine Romance\i (1992). Since 1970 she has appeared almost exclusively in films directed by her second husband, Blake Edwards (1922-- ).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1964 Mary Poppins
1964 The Americanization of Emily
1965 The Sound of Music
1966 Hawaii
1967 Thoroughly Modern Millie
1968 Star!
1981 S.O.B
1982 Victor/Victoria
1987 Duet for One
1990 Chin-Chin
1992 A Fine Romance
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"Andrews, LaVerne",1416,0,0,0
EN See Andrews Sisters, The
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#
"Andrews, Maxine",1417,0,0,0
EN See Andrews Sisters, The
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#
"Andrews, Patti",1418,0,0,0
EN See Andrews Sisters, The
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#
"Andrews, Roy Chapman",1419,0,0,0
DT (1884-1960)
EN US naturalist and palaeontologist.
Andrews's career was mostly spent with the American Museum of Natural History, New York, and with its expeditions (especially to Asia) to collect specimens. His more dramatic finds included the \Jfossil\j remains of the largest land \Jmammal\j yet found, Paraceratherium, a relative of the rhino which stood 5.5 m high; and the first \Jfossil\j \Jdinosaur\j eggs. He had a special interest in whales and other cetaceans (aquatic mammals) and built up a fine collection of them; and he found evidence of very early human life in central Asia.
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#
"Andrews, Stephen (Pearl)",1420,0,0,0
DT (1812-1886)
EN abolitionist, linguist, social thinker; born in Templeton, Mass. A Baptist minister's son, he went to Louisiana at age 18 and studied and practiced law there; appalled by \Jslavery\j, he became an abolitionist. Having moved to \JTexas\j in 1839, he and his family were almost killed because of his abolitionist lectures and had to flee (1843).
He went off to England where he failed at his scheme to raise funds to free slaves in America. But he became interested in Pitman's new shorthand writing system and on his return to the U.S.A. he taught and wrote about this new passion while continuing his abolitionist lectures. He also became interested in \Jphonetics\j and the study of foreign languages, eventually learning 30 including Chinese.
By the end of the 1840s he began to focus his energies on utopian communities, establishing Modern Times in Islip, N.Y., (1851), and then Unity Home in New York City (1857). By the 1860s he was propounding an ideal society called Pantarchy, and from this he moved on to a philosophy he called "universology," which stressed the unity of all knowledge and activities. The last two decades of his life saw him at the center of many of the progressive social reform circles in New York City.
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"Andrews, Thomas",1421,0,0,0
DT (1813-85)
EN British physical chemist: showed existence of critical \Jtemperature\j and pressure for fluids.
The son of a \JBelfast\j merchant, Andrews studied chemistry and medicine in Scotland. In Paris he studied chemistry under Dumas and at Giessen he studied under Liebig. In \JBelfast\j he first practised medicine and later became professor of chemistry. He proved that 'ozone' is an allotrope of oxygen (ie a different form of the element; ozone was later shown to be O\D3\d; ordinary oxygen is O\D2\d).
He was a fine experimenter and is best known for his work on the continuity of the liquid and gaseous states of matter (1869). Using carbon dioxide, he showed that above its 'critical \Jtemperature\j' (31║C) it cannot be liquefied by pressure alone. This example suggested that at a suitably low \Jtemperature\j, any gas could be liquefied, as was later demonstrated by Cailletet.
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#
"Andrews, William Loring",1422,0,0,0
DT (1837-1920)
EN bibliophile; born in New York City. A wealthy businessman, he collected rare books, and from 1865, commissioned limited editions distinguished for their \Jtypography\j, illustrations, and bindings. He was founder of the Grolier Club in New York City.
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"Andreyev, Leonid Nikolayevich",1423,0,0,0
PN [an\Bdray\bef]
HS , also spelled \BAndreev\b
DT1 1871
DT2 1919
EN Writer and artist, born in Orel, \JRussia\j. He suffered much from poverty and ill health as a student, and attempted suicide, before taking to writing and portrait painting. Many of his works have been translated into English, such as \IKrasnysmekh\i (1905, The Red Laugh) and \IRasskaz o semi poveshennykh\i (1908, The Seven That Were Hanged).
\BMajor Works\b
\IStories\i
1901 Once There Lived
1902 The Abyss
1902 In the Fog
1905 His Excellency The Governor
1908 The Seven That Were Hanged
\IPlays\i
1906 The Life of Man
1907 Tsar Hunger
1908 Black Masks
1909 Anathema
1915 He Who Gets Slapped
BK Biog99n
#
"Andriano·, KyvΘli",1424,0,0,0
DT ?1887-1978
EN Greek actress. She distinguished herself in innocent girl roles and played in a great number of bourgeois dramas, captivating audiences with her melodious voice and sentimental gestures. Eventually she acted in mature roles: Mary Stuart in Schiller's classical drama, and the mother in Brecht's Mother Courage. Several Greek playwrights wrote dramas especially for her to act in.
BK Thea
#
"Andrianov, Nikolay",1425,0,0,0
PN [andri\Bahn\bof]
DT1 1952
EN Gymnast, born in Vladimir, \JRussia\j. He won 15 Olympic medals (including seven golds) between 1972 and 1980. In addition, he won 12 world championship medals, including the overall individual title in 1978.
BK Biog99
#
"Andric, Ivo",1426,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bdrich]
DT1 1892
DT2 1975
EN Yugoslav diplomat and writer, born near Travnik, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A member of the diplomatic service, he was minister in Berlin at the outbreak of war in 1939. His chief works (trans titles), \IThe Bridge on the Drina\i (1945) and \IBosnian Story\i (1945), earned him the 1961 Nobel Prize for Literature and the nickname 'the Yugoslav Tolstoy'.
MEX Tolstoy
SX m
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#
"Androcles",1427,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bdrokleez]
EN According to a Roman story, a slave who escaped from his master, met a lion, and extracted a thorn from its paw. When recaptured, he was made to confront a lion in the arena, and found it was the same animal, so that his life was spared.
BK a
#
"androgens",1428,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bdrojenz]
EN Chemical substances, usually steroid sex \Jhormones\j, which induce masculine characteristics. In men the androgen \Itestosterone\i is secreted in the testes by the cells of Leydig, with small amounts of additional \Jandrogens\j secreted by the adrenal \Jcortex\j. \JTestosterone\j may be converted to the more powerful \Idihydrotestosterone\i by such target organs as the prostate \Jgland\j.
Androgens are necessary for the development of male genitalia in the fetus; during puberty they promote the development of secondary sexual characteristics (growth of the penis and testes; the appearance of pubic, facial, and body hair; an increase in muscle strength; and deepening of the voice); in adults, they are required for the production of sperm and the maintenance of libido. Small amounts of ovarian and adrenal \Jandrogens\j are present in women. They are probably responsible for the adolescent growth spurt in girls.
BK a
#
"android",1429,0,0,0
EN See robotics \B(\Jcybernetics\j)\b
BK a
XCY y
#
"Andromache",1430,0,0,0
PN [an\Bdrom\bakee]
EN In Greek legend, the wife of Hector, the hero of Troy. After the fall of the city she became the slave of the Greek \JNeoptolemus\j.
BK a
#
"Andromeda (astronomy)",1431,0,0,0
PN [an\Bdrom\bida]
HS (\Jastronomy\j)
EN A \Jconstellation\j in the N sky, one of 48 listed by Ptolemy (AD 140), named for the daughter of \JCepheus\j and Cassiopeia. Its brightest stars are Alpheratz and Mirach. It contains the \BAndromeda galaxy,\b the largest of the nearby galaxies, about 700 \Jkiloparsec\j away. Spiral, like the \JMilky Way\j, about 38┐kpc in diameter, it is the most remote object easily visible to the naked eye.
BK a
#
"Andromeda (mythology)",1432,0,0,0
PN [an\Bdrom\beda]
HS (\Jmythology\j)
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the daughter of \JCepheus\j, King of the Ethiopians, and Cassiopeia. To appease Poseidon, she was fastened to a rock by the sea-shore as an offering to a sea-monster. She was rescued by Perseus, who used the \JGorgon\j's head to change the monster to stone. The persons named in the story were all turned into constellations.
BK a
#
"Andronicus",1433,0,0,0
PN [an\Bdron\bikus]
HS , known as \BCyrrhestes\b
DT1 1
DT1b st-c BC
EN Greek architect, born in Cyrrhus. He constructed the Tower of the Winds at \JAthens\j, known in the \JMiddle Ages\j as the Lantern of Demosthenes.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Andronicus of Rhodes",1434,0,0,0
PN [an\Bdron\bikus]
DT1a fl.
DT1 70
DT2 50
DT2b BC
EN Greek philosopher. He lived in \JRome\j in Cicero's time, and edited the writings of Aristotle.
MEX Aristotle; Cicero
SX m
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#
"Andronicus, Livius",1435,0,0,0
EN See Livius Andronicus
BK bg a
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#
"Andropov, Yuri Vladimirovich",1436,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bdropof]
DT1 1914
DT2 84
EN Russian politician, born in Nagutskoye, \JRussia\j. He began work in the shipyards of the upper Volga at Rybinsk (later called Andropov), where he became politically active. After World War 2 he was brought to Moscow to work for the Communist Party central committee. He was ambassador in Budapest (1954-7), and came to the notice of the strict ideologist, Mikhail Suslov, for his part in crushing the Hungarian uprising of 1956.
In 1967 he was appointed \JKGB\j chief, and in 1973 became a full member of the \JPolitburo\j. His firm handling of dissident movements enhanced his reputation, enabling him to be chosen as Brezhnev's successor in 1983, but he died after less than 15 months in office.
MEX Brezhnev; Suslov
SX m
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#
"Andros (Bahamas)",1437,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 8900; area 5955 sq km/2300 sq mi. Island in the W \JBahamas\j, W of New Providence I, on the Great Bahama Bank; largest island in the \JBahamas\j; chief towns on the E coast; W shore is a long, low, barren bank.
BK Geog99
#
"Andros (Greece)",1438,0,0,0
EN area 380┐km\U2\u / 147┐mi\U2\u. Northernmost island of the \JCyclades\j, \JGreece\j, in the \JAegean Sea\j, between \JEuboea\j and Tinos; length 40┐km / 25┐mi; chief town, Andros; bathing beaches at Batsi and Gavrion; rises to 994┐m / 3261┐ft.
BK a
#
"Andros, Sir Edmund",1439,0,0,0
DT (1637-1714)
EN colonial governor; born in London, England. He became governor of the newly created Dominion of New England (including \JMassachusetts\j, Plymouth, Maine, Connecticut, \JRhode Island\j, New Hampshire) in 1686. His aristocratic manner and Anglican sympathies alienated the Bostonians and he was overthrown in a citizens' revolt in 1689.
BK AmBg
#
"anechoic chamber",1440,0,0,0
PN [ane\Bkoh\bik]
EN A room or chamber in which all walls and surfaces are lined with a sound-absorbing material to minimize reflected sound; also called a \Bdead room.\b A sound produced in such a chamber will have no echo. It is important in acoustic experiments in which reflected sound would confuse results.
BK a
#
"Aneirin or Aneurin",1441,0,0,0
PN [a\Bniy\brin]
DT1a fl.
DT1 6
DT1b th
DT2 7
DT2b th-c
EN Welsh court poet. His principal work, the \IGododdin,\i celebrates the British heroes who were annihilated by the Saxons in the bloody Battle of Cattraeth (Catterick, North Yorkshire) about the year 600. The poem's language, metrical forms, and general technique suggest a long tradition of praise-poetry in the \JBrythonic\j language.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"anemometer",1442,0,0,0
EN A device for measuring the speed of a current of air, usually used to determine the speed of wind, or of a vehicle passing through air. There are three main techniques: (1) the speed of rotation of various types of windmill (eg shaped vanes or cups on horizontal arms); (2) the rate of cooling of an electrically heated wire; and (3) pressure differences developed in an open-ended tube facing the direction of the air-flow or gas stream.
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#
"anemone",1443,0,0,0
PN [a\Bne\bmonee]
EN A perennial found throughout N temperate and \Jarctic\j regions, often forming large colonies; flowers with 5-9 \Jperianth\j-segments ranging from white to yellow, pink, or blue, but hybrids exhibit an even greater colour range; the flower stalks have a whorl of small, divided leaves two-thirds of the way up; the main, basal leaves appear later. \B(Genus:\b \IAnemone,\i 150 species. \BFamily:\b Ranunculaceae.)
BK a
#
"aneroid barometer",1444,0,0,0
EN See \Jbarometer\j
BK a
XCY y
#
"anesthetics",1445,0,0,0
EN See anaesthetics / anesthetics, general; anaesthetics / anesthetics, local
BK a
XCY y
#
"Aneto, Pico de",1446,0,0,0
PN [\Bpee\bkoh t\buh\buay a\Bnay\btoh]
EN 42░37N 0░40E. Highest peak of the \JPyrenees\j Mts, rising to 3404┐m / 11┐168┐ft in Huesca province, north-east \JSpain\j.
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#
"aneurysm",1447,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\byurizm]
EN The abnormal enlargement of a segment of a blood vessel (usually an artery) due to the weakening or rupture of some of the layers of the wall of the vessel. If the inner layer \I(intima)\i ruptures, blood passes between the layers of the vessel wall and may escape into surrounding tissues. Rupture of an \Janeurysm\j of the \Jaorta\j or pulmonary trunk often proves fatal.
BK a
#
"Anfinsen, Christian B(oehmer)",1448,0,0,0
DT (1916-95)
EN US biochemist: made discoveries related to the shape and activity of enzymes.
Educated at Swarthmore and Harvard, Anfinsen afterwards worked at Harvard and from 1950 at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. In 1960 Moore and W H Stein (1911-80) found the sequence of the 124 amino acids which make up ribonuclease and it became the first \Jenzyme\j for which the full sequence was known. However, it was clear that enzymes owe their special catalytic ability not only to the sequence of amino acid units but also to the specific shape adopted by the chain-like molecule.
Anfinsen showed that, if this shape is disturbed, it can be restored merely by putting the molecule into the precise environment (of \Jtemperature\j, salt concentration, etc) favourable for it, when it spontaneously takes up the one shape (out of many possibilities) that restores its enzymic activity. He deduced that all the requirements for this precise three-dimensional assembly must be present in the chain sequence; and he showed that other proteins behaved similarly. He shared the Nobel Prize for chemistry with Moore and Stein in 1972.
BK Scie
#
"Angas, George Fife",1449,0,0,0
DT1 1789
DT2 1879
EN Shipowner, born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, north-east England. He is regarded as a founder of South \JAustralia\j. He was appointed commissioner for the formation of the colony in 1834, and emigrated to Adelaide in 1851.
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#
"angel",1450,0,0,0
EN A celestial spirit, said to serve God in various capacities, such as acting as a messenger, or as a guardian of individuals. In traditional \JChristianity\j, angels were understood to have been created before the world. They feature prominently in Christian art, often depicted with a human body and wings. They are sometimes held to be objects of devotion.
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"angel dust",1451,0,0,0
EN The street name of the drug \Bphencyclidine\b(l-(l-phenylcyclohexyl) piperidine, or \BPCP)\b which is a hallucinogen. It was originally introduced in the 1950s as a general anaesthetic, but soon withdrawn; it is still used in veterinary medicine to produce a trance-like anaesthetic state. As a drug of abuse it is also called 'angel's mist', 'peace pills', 'goon', 'hog', and 'T'.
BK a
#
"Angel Falls",1452,0,0,0
EN 5░57N 62░33W. Waterfall in south-east Venezuela, on a tributary of the River Caronφ; highest waterfall in the world, with a total drop of 980┐m / 3215┐ft; named after the US aviator, Jimmy Angel, who crashed nearby in 1937.
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"Angel, (James Crawford) Jimmy",1453,0,0,0
DT (?1899-1956)
EN adventurer, pilot; birthplace unknown. He joined the Canadian Air Corps at age 16 and during World War I was shot down over \JFrance\j. He became a soldier of fortune and served in China and \JSouth America\j as well as doing stunts in \JHollywood\j.
In 1935, seeking a gold mine on Mount Auyantepui, a plateau in southeastern Venezuela, he flew over the highest waterfall in the world (3,212 feet); as he was the first white person to discover it, the Western world named it Angel Falls. He died in Balboa, \JPanama Canal\j Zone, after a stroke suffered during a minor plane accident.
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#
"Angeles, Victoria de los",1454,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bjeles]
DT1 1923
EN Lyric soprano, born in \JBarcelona\j, \JSpain\j. Her operatic debut was at \JBarcelona\j in 1944. She then performed at the Paris Opera and La Scala, Milan (1949), Covent Garden (1950), the New York Metropolitan (1951), and subsequently at all the great houses and festivals throughout the world. After retiring from the stage in 1969, she continued to give recitals.
BK Biog99
#
"angelfish",1455,0,0,0
EN Any of several small, brightly coloured fish found in shallow waters of warm seas, commonly around \Jcoral\j reefs; deep, flattened body; small mouth, with gill cover bearing a spine; very popular in marine aquaria; also called \Bbutterfly fish.\b The name is also used for \Jmonkfish\j. \B(Family:\b Chaetodontidae.)
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#
"angelica",1456,0,0,0
PN [an\Bjel\bika]
EN A robust herb growing to 2┐m / 6┐ft or more \I(Angelica archangelica),\i native from N and E Europe to C Asia; stem hollow; leaves divided into oval leaflets up to 15┐cm / 6┐in, the stalks with an inflated base; flowers small, greenish-white, clustered in large rounded umbels. Candied leaf stalks are used for flavouring. Aromatic oil produced from the roots is used in perfumes and herbal liqueurs (eg Chartreuse). \B(Family:\b Umbelliferae.)
BK a
#
"Angelico, Fra",1457,0,0,0
PN [an\Bje\blikoh]
HS , originally \BGuido di Pietro,\b monastic name \BGiovanni da Fiesole\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1400
DT2 55
EN Painter, born in Vicchio, \JItaly\j. He entered the Dominican monastery of San Domenico at Fiesole, and in 1436 was transferred to Florence where he worked for Cosimo de' Medici. In 1445 he was summoned by the pope to \JRome\j, where he worked until his death. His most important frescoes are in the Florentine convent of S Marco, which is now a museum.
These aids to contemplation are characterized by pale colours, crisp delineation of form, the use of local landscape as background, and an air of mystical piety. In \JRome\j only the frescoes in the chapel of Nicholas V survive.
MEX Cosimo de' Medici
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#
"AngΘlique, MΦre",1458,0,0,0
EN See Arnauld, AngΘlique
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#
"Angell, James (Rowland)",1459,0,0,0
DT (1869-1949)
EN educator, psychologist; born in Burlington, Vt. (son of James Burrill Angell). Influenced by such teachers as John Dewey and William James, he completed his graduate studies in Europe and spent a year (1893) as instructor in \Jpsychology\j at the University of \JMinnesota\j before going to the University of \JChicago\j where he was a faculty member and an administrator (1894-1919, serving as acting president in 1919).
While there he began the new \Jpsychology\j department (1905) that became internationally renowned. A proponent of the "\JChicago\j school" of \Jpsychology\j, known as "functionalism," he espoused a rationalism that was influenced by John Dewey. He wrote \IPsychology\i (1904), a widely used textbook.
He went to New York City to head the Carnegie Corporation (1920-21), then became president of Yale (1921-37); at Yale he established residential colleges, strengthened professional schools and the graduate school of arts and sciences, and greatly increased the endowment. Upon retiring he served as an educational consultant to the National Broadcasting Corporation.
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#
"Angell, Joseph K. (Kinnicutt)",1460,0,0,0
DT (1794-1857)
EN legal scholar; born in Providence, R.I. He devoted his life to writing on legal subjects in such classics as \IThe Law of Private Corporation Aggregate\i (1832) and \IThe Common Law in Relation to Watercourses\i (1824).
BK AmBg
#
"Angell, Sir Norman",1461,0,0,0
PN [\Bayn\bjl]
HS , originally \BRalph Norman Angell-Lane\b
DT1 1872
DT2 1967
EN Writer and pacifist, born in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, EC England, UK. He wrote \IThe Great Illusion\i (1910) and \IThe Great Illusion, 1933\i (1933) to prove the economic futility of war even for the winners. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1933.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Angelou, Maya",1462,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bjeloo]
DT1 1928
EN Writer, singer, dancer, and African-American activist, born in St Louis, Missouri, USA. She has had a variety of occupations in what she describes as "a roller-coaster life'. She toured Europe and Africa in the musical \IPorgy and Bess\i, and in New York City joined the Harlem Writers Guild. In the 1960s she was involved in black struggles, then spent several years in \JGhana\j as editor of \IAfrican Review\i.
Her multi-volume \Jautobiography\j, commencing with \II Know Why the Caged Bird Sings\i (1970), was a critical and popular success. Her later books include \IAll God's Children Need Travelling Shoes\i (1986) and \IMy Painted House, My Friendly Chicken and Me\i (1994). She has published several volumes of verse, including \IAnd Still I Rise\i (1987) and \IComplete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou\i (1995).
\BMajor Works\b
\ITheatre\i
1960 Cabaret for Freedom
1966 Medea
1966 The Least of These
1967 Gettin' Up Stayed On My Mind
1974 Ajax
1976 And Still I Rise
1975 Look Away
1988 Moon and Rainbow Shawl
\IFilms\i
1972 Georgia, Georgia
1974 All Day Long
1993 Poetic Justice
1996 How to Make an American Quilt
\IAutobiography\i
1969 I Know Why the Caged Birds Sings
1974 Gather Together in My Name
1976 Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas
1981 The Heart of a Woman
1986 All God's Children Needs Travelling Shoes
1990 I Shall Not Be Moved
1994 My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken and Me
\IPoetry\i
1971 Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Dine
1975 Oh Pray My Wings are Gonna Fit Me Well
1983 Shaker, Why Don't You Sing?
1987 Now Sheba Sings the Song
1987 And Still I Rise
1993 On the Pulse of Morning
1995 Complete Collected Poems of Mary Angelou
\IFilmscripts\i
1974 All Day Long
\IEssays\i
1993 Lessons in Life
\ITelevision\i
1968 Black, Blue, Black
1977 Roots
1982 Sister, Sister
\IOther\i
1975 Assignment America
1976 The Legacy
1976 The Inheritors
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#
"angelshark",1463,0,0,0
EN See \Jmonkfish\j
BK a
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#
"Angevins",1464,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bjevinz]
EN Three ruling families of the mediaeval county (and later duchy) of \JAnjou\j in W \JFrance\j.
(1) Henry II, founder of the Angevin or Plantagenet dynasty in England, was a descendant of the earliest counts of \JAnjou\j. He established the 'Angevin empire' by taking control of Normandy, \JAnjou\j, and Maine (1150-1), acquiring \JAquitaine\j (1152), and succeeding Stephen in England (1154).
(2) The French crown had annexed \JAnjou\j by 1205, and in 1246 Louis IX's brother Charles, future king of Naples and \JSicily\j, became count.
(3) The third line was descended from Charles of \JValois\j, brother of Philip IV, who married Charles of \JAnjou\j's granddaughter in 1290. This family died out in 1481.
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#
"angina",1465,0,0,0
PN [an\Bjiy\bna]
EN A sudden severe pain or sensation of constriction over the front of the chest resulting from inadequate blood supply to the heart muscle \B(\Jangina\j pectoris).\b The pain is increased with exercise, and rapidly subsides with rest. It may spread to the jaw and arms (usually the left).
It usually results from the narrowing or blockage of one or more of the arteries which supply the heart muscle with blood. It is commonly relieved by the use of drugs which either dilate the blood vessels or reduce the force of cardiac contraction.
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#
"angiography",1466,0,0,0
PN [anji\Bog\brafee]
EN A radiological technique used to demonstrate the pathways and configuration of blood vessels in various parts of the body. A radio-opaque solution is injected into a main arterial trunk, which increases the X-ray contrast between the blood vessel and its surrounding tissues.
After the injection, a number of X-ray plates are taken in rapid succession to follow the course of the blood. The technique is used to show narrowing or blockage of blood vessels, and also reveals increased vascularity of specific tissue, as in cancer.
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#
"Angiolieri, Cecco",1467,0,0,0
PN [anjoh\Blyay\bree]
DT1a c.
DT1 1260
DT2a c.
DT2 1312
EN Poet, born in Siena, \JItaly\j. Nothing is known of his life except from his sonnets, the only kind of verse he wrote, which reveal a cynical, sardonic character. He attacked Dante in three poems.
MEX Dante
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#
"angioplasty",1468,0,0,0
EN See \Jballoon\j angioplasty
BK a
XCY y
#
"angiotensin",1469,0,0,0
EN See \Jrenin\j
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#
"Angkor Thom",1470,0,0,0
PN [\Bang\bkaw(r) \Btom\b]
EN 13░26N 103░50E. The ancient capital of the Khmer Empire, 240┐km / 150┐mi north-west of Phnom Penh, \JCambodia\j. The moated and walled city was built on a square plan, extending over 100┐km\U2\u / 40┐mi\U2\u, and completed in the 12th-c. Abandoned in the 15th-c, it was rediscovered in 1861.
\BAngkor Wat\b is the largest of the temples surrounding the site - linked, richly-sculptured sanctuaries on a massive platform 1000┐m / 3300┐ft square, the work of Suryavarman II (1113-50). Its five \Jsandstone\j towers in the shape of lotus buds rise 65┐m / 200┐ft.
BK a
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"angle",1471,0,0,0
EN A geometrical figure formed by two straight lines meeting at a point. Angles are measured in revolutions (especially per minute [rpm] or per second [rps] when measuring angular velocity), in right angles, degrees (░), radians (rad), or grad. 1 revolution┐=┐4 right angles┐=┐360░┐=┐2\fp\n┐rad┐=┐400┐grad.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
A variety of special angles are defined in \Jgeometry\j. A \Iright angle\i is a quarter of a full turn, usually described as 90 degrees or one grade (there are 400 centigrades to a full circle, and this rarely used unit is the reason why the preferred name for the "centigrade" \Jtemperature\j scale is \JCelsius\j).
An acute angle is an angle of less than 90░, while an \Iobtuse angle\i is greater than a right angle, but less than 180░. A \Ireflex angle\i is an angle greater than 180░, and the rarely used \Istraight angle\i is exactly 180░. Two \Icomplementary angles\i sum to 90░. Two \Isupplementary angles\i sum to 180░, with each of the angles being referred to as the "supplementary" of the other. Two \Iexplementary angles\I (also called \Iconjugate angles)\i sum to 360░.
The angle between two curves is taken to be the angle between the tangents to the two curves at the point of intersection, while the angle between a line and a plane is found by taking the angle between the line and the (vertical) projection of that line onto the plane.
A number of other named angles appear when a \Jstraight line\j intersects two parallel straight lines. In this diagram, HGB and FGA are \Iopposite angles\i (which are always equal, and which are also called \Ivertically opposite angles\i or \Ivertical angles),\i while HGB and FGB are adjacent angles (which are always supplementary when formed in this way). Angles FGA and DFG are called \Ialternate angles\i (which are always equal).
The angles EFD and FGB are \Icorresponding angles\i (which are always equal) while angles DFG and FGB are \Ico-interior angles\i (which are always supplementary).
While it is usual to start bearings from the vertical, with the positive direction being clockwise, angles in \Jmathematics\j are typically measured from the horizontal position, and the positive sense is taken as counter-clockwise.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK a
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"angle of repose",1472,0,0,0
Also known as the angle of rest, this is the maximum angle that a set of particles will remain piled at, after avalanching has just taken place. While the angle of repose is mainly of interest to geologists studying the nature of sand dunes and of current bedding in sandstones, the angle of repose is also relevant to the study of sloping talus or scree deposits at the bases of cliffs, and to explaining the way in which an ant lion catches its prey. An understanding of the angle of repose will also help to explain why snow fields are sometimes buried under avalanches of snow from higher slopes.
The angle of repose depends on the material, with both the shape of the grains and the surface properties of the grains being important. Smooth glass beads have a measured angle of repose of 23.9 degrees, while spherical \Jquartz\j grains deliver an angle of repose of 31.5 degrees in air and 31.4 degrees in \Jwater\j.
A sand with coarse elongated grains, like \ILithothamnium\i sand, can have an angle of repose of 36.2 degrees, bettered only by long-grain rice, at 36.4 degrees. If smooth glass beads are etched with hydrofluoric acid to roughen their surfaces, the angle of repose can increase by as much as 10 degrees, showing that there is a frictional effect involved.
In most cases, the materials will hold a much steeper slope, called the angle of initial yield. Spherical \Jquartz\j sand grains, for example, can pile up to 45.1 degrees in air, and 44.6 degrees in \Jwater\j, but these slopes are unstable. Sooner or later, the surface will tumble down in an avalanche, and settle out at the angle of repose.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"anglerfish",1473,0,0,0
EN Any of about 13 families of bizarre shallow to deep-sea fishes which have a dorsal fin spine modified as a lure to attract prey; family Lophiidae includes large bottom-dwelling European species (length up to 1.5┐m / 5┐ft) with broad flattened head, capacious mouth, and narrow tail; also called \Bgoosefish.\b
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#
"Angles",1474,0,0,0
EN A Germanic people from the S Danish peninsula and neighbourhood. With the Saxons, they formed the bulk of the invaders who, in the two centuries following the Roman withdrawal from Britain (409), conquered and colonized most of what became England. Anglian rulers were apparently dominant by the 8th-c, and the Angles ultimately gave their name to England, its language, and people.
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#
"Anglesey",1475,0,0,0
PN [\Bang\bglsee]
EN pop (1995e) 67 200; area 715 sq km/276 sq mi. Island unitary authority (from 1996) in NW Wales, UK; separated from \JGwynedd\j by Menai Straits, spanned by two bridges; chief towns, \JHolyhead\j, Beaumaris, Amlwch, \JLlangefni\j, Menai Bridge; linked to Holy I by an embankment (the Cob); ferry link from \JHolyhead\j to Dun Laoghaire and Dublin, Ireland; agriculture, \Jaluminium\j, sheep rearing, marine \Jengineering\j, tourism; RAF base at Valley; Ucheldre Centre, Oriel M⌠n, Beaumaris Castle, Sea Zoo, Plas Newydd.
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"Anglesey, Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of",1476,0,0,0
PN [\Bang\bglsee]
DT1 1768
DT2 1854
EN British soldier, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and sat in parliament at intervals between 1790 and 1810. He served in the army with distinction in Flanders (1794), Holland (1799), and the \JPeninsular War\j (1808), and for his services as commander of the British cavalry at Waterloo, where he lost a leg, he was made Marquess of \JAnglesey\j.
In 1828 he was appointed \JLord-Lieutenant\j of Ireland, where he advocated Catholic Emancipation. From 1846 to 1852 he was Master-General of the Ordnance.
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"Angleton, James (Jesus)",1477,0,0,0
DT (1917-87)
EN public official; born in Boise, \JIdaho\j. He graduated from Yale and in World War II became a member of the Office of Strategic Services. He was director of counterintelligence at the Central Intelligence Agency (\JCIA\j) (1954-74). He came to distrust everyone and pursued Soviet agents within the \JCIA\j itself as well as throughout the world.
His resignation was demanded (1974) following news that he had conducted clandestine mail-opening and surveillance searches within the agency in pursuit of a Soviet "mole." The quintessential \Jparody\j of a suspicious intelligence officer, he was said to relax by reading poetry and cultivating orchids.
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"Anglican chant",1478,0,0,0
EN See chant
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"Anglican Communion",1479,0,0,0
EN A fellowship of some 26 independent provincial or national Churches, several extra-provincial dioceses, and Churches resulting from unions of Anglicans with other Churches, spread throughout the world, but sharing a close ecclesiastical and doctrinal relationship with the \JChurch of England\j.
Most of these Churches are found in the \JBritish Commonwealth\j, and owe their origins to missionary activities of the \JChurch of England\j in the 19th-c; a major exception is the Episcopal Church in the USA, which was fostered by the Scottish Episcopal Church. Churches from non-Commonwealth countries, such as \JBrazil\j, China, and \JJapan\j, are also part of the Anglican Communion.
The Communion is based on co-operation, since there is no worldwide uniform authority, but every 10 years the \JArchbishop\j of Canterbury invites bishops throughout the Anglican Communion to take part in the Lambeth Conference, a consultative body that considers issues of common concern even though it has no decisive policy-making authority. The 1968 Lambeth Conference also set up an Anglican Consultative Council to act during the 10-year intervals. There were over 70 million Anglicans in 1997.
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"Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission",1480,0,0,0
EN See ARCIC
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"Anglicanism",1481,0,0,0
EN See Church of England
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"angling",1482,0,0,0
EN The sport of catching fish, one of the world's most popular pastimes, performed in virtually every country, practised with a rod, line, and hook. Many forms of \Jangling\j exist: freshwater fishing, fly fishing, game fishing, and deep sea fishing. The oldest fishing club still in existence is the Ellem club in Scotland. Rules governing the time of year when different types of fishing take place are very strict, as are the rules governing the type of, and excessive use of, bait.
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"Angliss, Sir William Charles",1483,0,0,0
DT1 1865
DT2 1957
EN Businessman, born in Dudley, West Midlands, C England, UK. He emigrated to \JAustralia\j in 1884, eventually opening a butcher's shop in Melbourne. In 1934, when the family company was sold to the Vestey family interests, it had become the largest meat exporter in \JAustralia\j.
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"Anglo-Burmese Wars",1484,0,0,0
EN Two wars fought largely to advance British trade and the East India Company: the first (1824-6) brought control of Arakan and Tehnasserim; the second (1852-3) led to the occupation of Lower \JBurma\j. In 1885 \JMandalay\j was occupied, and in 1886 all \JBurma\j was proclaimed a province of British India.
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"Anglo-Catholicism",1485,0,0,0
EN A movement within the \JChurch of England\j, the term first appearing in 1838. It stresses the sacramental and credal aspects of Christian faith, and continuity and community with the wider \JCatholic Church\j, especially with \JRoman Catholicism\j.
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"Anglo-Irish Agreement",1486,0,0,0
EN A joint agreement allowing the Irish Republic to contribute to policy in Northern Ireland for the first time since 1922, signed (15 Nov 1985) by the British and Irish prime ministers, Margaret Thatcher and Garrett Fitzgerald. It established an intergovernmental conference to discuss political, security, and legal matters affecting Northern Ireland; early meetings focused on border co-operation. Both governments pledged not to change the status of Northern Ireland without the consent of the majority.
The Agreement was opposed by the Republic's Opposition party, Fianna Fßil; Unionist leaders withdrew co-operation with ministers and boycotted official bodies. This boycott ended in 1992 when representatives of the main Unionist parties met with the Socialist Democratic and Labour Party, the Alliance Party, and Irish government ministers to discuss the future of talks under the Agreement.
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"Anglo-Maori Wars",1487,0,0,0
EN A succession of conflicts (1843-7, 1860-70) in which \JMaori\j people attempted, unsuccessfully, to resist the occupation of \JNew Zealand\j by British settlers. Although faced by trained British troops, the Maoris did not suffer a decisive military defeat. The main fighting finished in 1864 after the Kingite Maoris, who had led the resistance, retreated to the C North Island, where the troops could not easily follow them. It is likely that the British learned the art of trench warfare from the Maoris during these conflicts.
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"Anglo-Saxon",1488,0,0,0
EN See Old English
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"Anglo-Saxons",1489,0,0,0
EN A term probably first used to distinguish the Saxons of England from those of the continent; occasionally adopted by the 10th-c English kings for all their subjects, though 'English' was preferred; now commonly employed for the entire Old English people from the incoming of Angles, Saxons, and \JJutes\j in the 5th-c to the \JNorman Conquest\j.
Among the main themes in \JAnglo-Saxon\j history are the emergence of the early kingdoms, their conversion to \JChristianity\j, their response to attacks by the \JVikings\j, and their eventual unification into a single realm, England, literally 'land of the Angles'.
The \JAnglo-Saxons\j left an enduring legacy, including an advanced system of government and a rich economy. One of the main sources of events during the period is the \BAnglo-Saxon Chronicle,\b first compiled during the reign of Alfred, and then erratically maintained in various locations over the next two centuries (in the case of the Peterborough Chronicle, until 1154).
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"Angola",1490,0,0,0
PN [ang\Bgoh\bla]
EN pop (1995e) 11 539 000; area 1 246 700 sq km/480 354 sq mi. A republic of SW Africa, divided into 18 provinces; separate province of Cabinda enclosed by the \JCongo\j; capital, \JLuanda\j; other chief towns, Huambo, Benguela, Lobito, Namibe (MocΓmedes), Cabinda, Malanje, Lubango; timezone GMT +1; major ethnic groups include the Bakongo, Mbundu, \JOvimbundu\j, Lunda-Chokwe, Nganguela, Nyaneka-Humbe, Herero, Ambo; c.30 000 Europeans (mainly Portuguese); religions Roman Catholic (68%) and Protestant (20%); official language, Portuguese, with many Bantu languages spoken; unit of currency, the kwanza of 100 lweis.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
A narrow coastal plain, widening in the N towards the \JCongo\j delta; high plateau inland, mean elevation 1200 m/4000 ft; highest point, Serro M⌠co (2619 m/8592 ft); numerous rivers, few navigable for any length; mostly a tropical plateau climate, with a single wet season (Oct--Mar) and a long dry season; more temperate above 1500 m/5000 ft; at Huambo on the plateau, average annual rainfall 1450 mm/57 in, average daily temperatures 24--29░C; temperature/rainfall much reduced on the coast, which is semi-desert as far N as \JLuanda\j (eg at Namibe in the S, average annual rainfall 55 mm/2.2 in; in the far N, 600 mm/23.6 in).
\IHistory and government\i
Area became a Portuguese colony after exploration in 1482; estimated 3 million slaves sent to \JBrazil\j during the next 300 years; boundaries formally defined during the Berlin West Africa Congress, 1884--5; became an Overseas Province of \JPortugal\j, 1951; \Jcivil war\j followed independence (1975), with three internal factions: the Marxist MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of \JAngola\j), UNITA (the National Union for the Total Independence of \JAngola\j), and the FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of \JAngola\j); USA supplied arms to the FNLA and UNITA (1975--6); Cuban combat troops arrived from 1976 at request of MPLA; South African forces occupied an area along the \JAngola\j--\JNamibia\j frontier (1975--6), and were active again in support of UNITA, 1981--4; refuge given to Namibian independence movement SWAPO (South West Africa People's Organization), which launched attacks on Namibia from Angolan territory; at end of 1988, Geneva agreement linked arrangements for independence of Namibia with withdrawal of Cuban troops, and the cessation of South African attacks and support for UNITA; peace agreement, 1991; 1992 elections brought MPLA victory, later rejected by UNITA, leading to a resumption of the conflict in 1993; \JLusaka\j peace protocol, 1994; governed by a president (also head of state) who exercises power via a Council of Ministers and a 220-member National People's Assembly.
\IEconomy\i
Agriculture (\Jcassava\j, corn, vegetables, plantains, bananas, \Jcoffee\j, cotton, sisal, timber, \Jtobacco\j, \Jpalm oil\j, \Jmaize\j); reserves of diamonds, \Jmanganese\j, iron ore, \Jgypsum\j, \Jasphalt\j, \Jlimestone\j, salt, \Jphosphates\j; extraction and refining of oil (mainly off the coast of Cabinda province), provides over 90% of recent export earnings; oil refining, food processing, textiles, cement, paper, pulp; airport at \JLuanda\j; several airfields and railways.
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"Angora cat",1491,0,0,0
PN [ang\Bgaw\bra]
EN A breed of domestic cat; white long-haired type originated in Turkey \I(Angora\i is an old name for \JAnkara\j); resembles the Persian cat, but with longer body and smaller head; breed not recognized in the UK; name formerly used for all long-haired cats.
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"Angora goat",1492,0,0,0
PN [ang\Bgaw\bra]
EN A breed of domestic \Jgoat\j, originating in Turkey \I(Angora\i is an old name for \JAnkara\j); bred mainly in \JNorth America\j, S Africa, and \JAustralasia\j for wool; silky hair (length up to 20┐cm / 8┐in), called \Imohair.\i
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"angostura",1493,0,0,0
PN [anggo\Bstoor\ba]
EN A flavouring agent used in cocktails and some fruit juices, deriving from the bark of a South American tree \I(Gallipea aspuria).\i It was originally used in medicines.
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"AngoulΩme, Louis Antoine de Bourbon, duc d' (Duke of)",1494,0,0,0
PN [πgoolem]
DT1 1775
DT2 1844
EN French soldier and aristocrat, the eldest son of Charles X of \JFrance\j. He fled from \JFrance\j with his father after the revolution of 1789, and in 1799 married his cousin, \BMarie ThΘrΦse\b (1778-1851), the only daughter of \JLouis XVI\j. After the Restoration in 1814 he made a feeble effort to oppose Napoleon on his return from \JElba\j.
In 1823 he led the French army of invasion into \JSpain\j to restore Ferdinand VII (reigned 1808-33) to his throne. After the July revolution in 1830, he renounced his claim to the throne, and accompanied his father into exile.
MEX Charles X; \JLouis XVI\j; Napoleon
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"Angra do Heroφsmo",1495,0,0,0
PN [\Bang\bgra duh ero\Beezh\bmu]
EN 38░40N 27░14W, pop (1991) 11 672. Fortified town and seaport in the \JAzores\j; a world heritage site, on S coast of Terceira I; founded, 1464; capital of the \JAzores\j until 1832; bishopric; airport; fruit, \Jflax\j, grain, \Jtobacco\j, soap, tourism; Sanjoaninas festival (Jun).
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"Angry Brigade",1496,0,0,0
EN A left-wing group with anarchist sympathies, active in Britain in the 1960s and early 1970s, which took sporadic violent action against representatives of the establishment in the name of the working class. Its leaders were tried and imprisoned for a bomb attack on the \Jsecretary of state\j for employment's home in 1971.
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"Angry Young Men",1497,0,0,0
EN See Amis, Sir Kingsley; Braine, John (Gerard); Osborne, John (James); Sillitoe, Alan; Wain, John (Barrington)
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"σngstr÷m or angstrom",1498,0,0,0
PN [\Bang\bstruhm]
EN Unit of length common in \Jcrystallography\j or any other subject which studies features of approximately atomic dimensions; symbol \I┼,\i named after Anders ┼ngstr÷m; equal to 10\U-10\u┐m.
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"┼ngstr÷m, Anders (Jonas)",1499,0,0,0
DT (1814-74)
EN Swedish spectroscopist: detected \Jhydrogen\j in the Sun.
┼ngstr÷m was educated at \JUppsala\j and taught physics at the university there until his death. He was an early spectroscopist and deduced in 1855 that a hot gas emits light at the same wavelengths at which it absorbs light when cooler; this was proved to be so in 1859 by Kirchhoff.
From 1861 he studied the Sun's spectrum, concluding that \Jhydrogen\j must be present in the Sun, and mapping about 1000 of the lines seen earlier by Fraunhofer. A non-SI unit of length, the σngstr÷m (┼) is 10\U-10\um; it was used by him to record the wavelength of spectral lines.
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"Anguilla",1500,0,0,0
PN [an\Bgwil\ba]
EN pop (1995e) 7100; area 155 sq km/60 sq mi. Most northerly of the Leeward Is, E Caribbean, 112 km/70 mi NW of St Kitts; British dependent territory; capital, The Valley; timezone GMT -4; chief religion, \JChristianity\j; official language, English; unit of currency, the East Caribbean dollar; also includes Sombrero I and several other offshore islets and cays; low-lying \Jcoral\j island covered in scrub; tropical climate; low and erratic annual rainfall, 550--1250 mm/22--50 in; hurricane season (Jul--Oct); colonized by English settlers from St Kitts, 1650; ultimately incorporated in the colony of St Kitts-Nevis-\JAnguilla\j; separated, 1980; governor appointed by the British sovereign; 11-member Legislative Assembly; tourism, postage stamps, fishing, peas, corn, sweet potatoes, salt, boatbuilding.
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"angular acceleration",1501,0,0,0
EN See acceleration
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"angular momentum",1502,0,0,0
EN A vector quantity in rotational motion, equal to the product of moment of \Jinertia\j with angular velocity; also called the \Bmoment of momentum; \b symbol \IL,\i units kg.m\U2\u / s. The rate of change of angular momentum is called \Itorque.\i
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"angular velocity",1503,0,0,0
EN See velocity
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"angwantibo",1504,0,0,0
PN [ang\Bgwan\btiboh]
EN A West African primitive primate (\Jprosimian\j); golden brown with pointed face; no tail; first finger reduced to a stump, and second short; grips branches strongly between thumb and remaining fingers; also known as \Bgolden \Jpotto\j.\b \I(Arctocebus calabarensis.\i \BFamily:\b Lorisidae.)
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"Anhimidae",1505,0,0,0
EN \BScreamers\b
The screamers make up a small group (family \JAnhimidae\j, order Anseriformes, suborder Anhimae) of goose-like marsh birds confined to \JSouth America\j and most nearly related to the ducks and other wildfowl (family \JAnatidae\j). There are three species.
Ranging up to about 90 cm in body length, they are heavy-bodied and small-headed, with long fleshy legs, partly webbed feet and rather fowl-like bills. The hind toe is long and level with the three forward toes (unlike wildfowl, in which the hind toe is small and elevated). Two sharp spurs, up to five centimeters long, on the leading edge of each wing are probably used in aggressive encounters. Their ribs lack uncinate processes, a feature unique in birds.
They differ from other waterfowl in lacking a penis and well defined feather tracts, and in molting their flight feathers progressively instead of simultaneously. One species (the Horned Screamer \IAnhima cornuta)\i has a cartilaginous spine-like horn arising from the forehead; the feature is soft, slender, curved, and up to 15 cm long. Its function is unknown.
The other two species have loose spiky crests. An especially striking feature of screamer anatomy is that small air pockets between the skin and muscle are so dense and numerous that they cause audible crackling or rumbling noises when the bird takes flight. Screamers swim freely (but do not dive) and fly strongly. At least one species often soars.
The three species differ only moderately in size. Plumage colors are mainly black, white, or shades of brownish gray. The sexes are similar, and there is little age or seasonal variation.
Screamers are noisy, gregarious birds that often feed in flocks, sometimes in the company of domestic \Jcattle\j and other livestock. At night they roost in shallow \Jwater\j, though the Horned Screamer perches freely in trees and may spend the night there.
The Crested Screamer \IChauna torquata\i has an extensive distribution, especially on the pampas of Argentina, Uruguay, and southern \JBrazil\j; the Black-necked Screamer \IChauna chavaria\i has a restricted distribution in parts of \JColombia\j and Venezuela, while the Horned Screamer inhabits tropical savannas from \JColombia\j east to the Guianas and south to \JBolivia\j. All are non-migratory and favor marshlands.
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"anhinga",1506,0,0,0
EN See darter
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"Anhingidae",1507,0,0,0
EN \BDarters\b
Darters are aquatic, fish-eating birds that dive for their prey. They resemble cormorants except for their slim, dagger-like bills and long, full tails, and they are often treated as a subfamily Anhinginae of the cormorants, family \JPhalacrocoracidae\j (order Pelecaniformes, suborder Pelecani).
Widespread in tropical and warm temperate parts of the world, the family has four members (one in each America, Africa, India and Southeast Asia, and \JAustralasia\j). Whether all four are full species is debatable; sometimes all are merged in a single species, or the Old and New World forms are arranged in two species, or all four are each given specific status, as here. They are called anhingas in \JNorth America\j, from a local Amerindian name for the bird.
Like other pelecaniform birds, darters have all four toes joined in a single web. All four forms are approximately equal in size-about one meter in body length, and weighing up to about 1.5 kg. Towards the tip, the bill has fine serrations along the cutting edges of both mandibles. The nostrils have no external openings. The slender head is about the same size in cross-section as the long flexible, snake-like neck. The eighth and ninth neck vertebrae are modified and linked in an unusual fashion to impart a sudden, trigger-like action to stabbing motions of the head. There is only one carotid artery (cormorants have two).
As in cormorants, the plumage is not waterproof, so after a few fishing sessions the bird must leave the water to dry its feathers. For this, a darter often selects a high perch on some convenient dead tree, and stands in heraldic pose with its wings outstretched.
Darters take off from \Jwater\j with some difficulty, but fly strongly; unlike cormorants, they are fond of soaring. There are marked age, seasonal, and sexual differences in plumage. Characteristic plumage features include prominent transverse bars on the tail feathers, and long, lanceolate scapulars, each with a silvery white stripe. Adult males are mainly black, with either a black crest on the nape (New World forms) or a bold white stripe along the side of the neck (Old World forms); females and immatures are mainly gray above, dingy white below.
Darters fish alone but are otherwise gregarious. They are nearly neutral in \Jbuoyancy\j, and often swim with the body submerged and only the snake-like neck breaking the surface (hence a common local name, snakebird). They occasionally dive with an abrupt forward lunge, like other diving birds, but they usually prefer to sink slowly and quietly.
Darters typically inhabit extensive swamps where the \Jwater\j is calm and the margins well wooded. They tend to favor freshwater over salt water, and avoid rough waters that interfere with their fishing efficiency. They are mainly sedentary or only locally nomadic over salt \Jwater\j, and avoid rough waters that interfere with their fishing efficiency.
The four species are allopatric, with no overlap in distribution: \IAnhinga anhinga\i occupies the New World; \IAnhinga rufa\i inhabits Madagascar and Africa south of the Sahara; \IAnhinga melanogaster\i occurs from India eastwards to \JIndonesia\j and the \JPhilippines\j; and \IAnhinga novaehollandiae\i inhabits \JAustralia\j and New Guinea.
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"anhydride",1508,0,0,0
PN [an\Bhiy\bdriyd]
EN (Gk 'without \Jwater\j') In chemistry, often referring to an acid. An inorganic \Janhydride\j is usually a non-metal oxide. Organic anhydrides are usually condensation products of two molecules; for example, acetic acid (CH\D3\dCOOH) gives acetic \Janhydride\j (CH\D3\d-CO-O-CO-CH\D3\d).
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"anil",1509,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bil]
EN A tropical American shrub \I(Indigofera \Janil\j),\i but cultivated in the Old and New World as a source of the blue dye indigo; also called \Bindigo plant.\b \B(Family:\b Leguminosae.)
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"aniline",1510,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bileen]
EN C\D6\dH\D5\dNH\D2\d, \Bphenylamine,\b or (IUPAC) \Baminobenzene,\b boiling point 184░C. A liquid with an unpleasant smell, a weaker base than ammonia. It is the starting material for many dyestuffs, known as \Ianiline dyes.\i
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"animal",1511,0,0,0
EN A living organism; one of the main kingdoms of biological classification, \BAnimalia,\b containing all vertebrates and invertebrates. The term \Ianimal\i is sometimes used only for four-legged creatures (mammals, reptiles, and amphibians), but correctly fish and birds are also animals, as are insects, spiders, crabs, snails, worms, \Jstarfish\j, sponges, corals, \Jjellyfish\j, and many other groups.
All animals obtain their nourishment by eating other living organisms or the remains of living organisms, and most can respond quickly to changes in their surroundings by moving part of their body or their entire body.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Any member of the Kingdom Animalia, distinct from the other three kingdoms: Monera, Plantae and Fungi. The bodies of animals consist of one or more cells which, unlike those of the Plantae and Fungi, lack cell walls and, unlike Monera, have the chromosomal material of each cell enclosed within a nucleus.
The most obvious characteristic of animals is that, unlike plants, they are unable to use the \Jenergy\j of sunlight to power their life processes (autotrophy) and must obtain their nourishment by feeding on other living organisms, the excretions or secretions of these, or their dead remains.
Animals comprise three subkingdoms: the \JProtozoa\j, which consist of single cells or simple colonies of these; the Parazoa or sponges, which have a body made up of many cells but lack nerve cells, muscle cells and definite organs; and the Metazoa, which have bodies that are organized into definite tissues and organs.
The Metazoa is a very diverse group of many phyla, of which the more familiar are the Coelenterata (or \JCnidaria\j) (jellyfishes, anemones, corals); the Nematoda (roundworms, threadworms); Platyhelminthes (flatworms, flukes, tapeworms); Mollusca (bivalves, snails, slugs, octopuses, squids); Annelida (ragworms, earthworms, leeches); Arthropoda (insects, centipedes, millipedes, crustaceans, spiders, scorpions); Echinodermata (starfishes, sea-urchins, crinoids); and \JChordata\j (sea-squirts, fishes, frogs, reptiles, birds, mammals).
Most animals are free-living and can move rapidly towards a favourable stimulus and away from an unfavourable one. Some aquatic animals, (such as sponges, corals and barnacles), spend their adult lives fixed in one place but can respond to stimuli by extending or retracting their bodies.
Their larvae are usually free-living and are dispersed by swimming and by \Jwater\j currents. All metazoans (except some degenerate parasites) have a mouth, but coelenterates and platyhelminths lack an anus, possession of which enables food to be digested and absorbed progressively as it passes through the gut.
All animals require to take in oxygen and to get rid of carbon dioxide. In aquatic animals this exchange of dissolved gases takes place through the skin or through gills, which are branched, thin-walled extensions of the skin. Some terrestrial animals, such as scorpions and snails, also possess gills, protected in a damp pouch.
Others, such as insects and spiders have a system of air-filled tubes (tracheae) that branch to every part of the body. Gas exchange in terrestrial chordates is by means of lungs, which are extremely subdivided bags that communicate to the \Jatmosphere\j via the nose and mouth.
The body fluids of annelids, molluscs, arthropods and chordates are circulated through the body by one or more pumping devices known as hearts. The heart reaches its greatest development in the chordates, which are also the only animals to have a completely closed circulatory system (heart to arteries to capillaries to veins to heart).
All metazoans are sensitive to a range of chemical stimuli: many have chemosensory organs in or around the mouth or on tentacles or antennae arising from the head.
Eyes occur in some annelids and molluscs and in most arthropods and chordates. Organs sensitive to the pitch of sounds are restricted to some arthropods and most chordates. All metazoans have a \Jnervous system\j, usually with a concentration of nervous tissue near the anterior end and several strands extending backwards from this.
A \Jnervous system\j, with brain, is found in annelids, arthropods, molluscs and chordates. All animals have, to some extent, the capacity to modify their behaviour on the basis of past experience. In most phyla, this learning ability is slight. It is best developed in the chordates, particularly mammals.
\IWritten by Ronald Strahan\i
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"animal husbandry",1512,0,0,0
EN The keeping of domesticated animals for food, fibre, skins, or to pull loads. Domestication started in the \JMiddle East\j c.9000 BC with sheep; pigs were domesticated c.6000 BC and \Jcattle\j c.5500 BC.
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"animal impersonation",1513,0,0,0
EN Possibly the earliest form of acting, as primitive tribesmen or their shamans disguised themselves as animal divinities to ensure successful hunts, evoke fertility daimons or propitiate malign influences. The painting of the deer dancer in the Trois FrΦres cave in AriΦge, \JFrance\j, probably shows such an impersonation, and the Indians of New Mexico preserved such a deer dance to the 20th century.
The daimonic element can be traced in surviving folk customs, such as the hobby-horses of the \Jmummers\j' plays, and particularly in the combats against dragons, ranging from the grotesque Balinese barong to the dragon marched in procession in Suffolk as late as 1903.
The folk plays of Attica were strong on animal impersonation, and the \Jsatyr\j chorus from which tragedy is traditionally claimed to have sprung was clad in goatskins, horsetails and fox ears. Vestiges of these practices recur in the fantastic choruses of \JAristophanes\j' comedies: birds, wasps and frogs.
The portrayal of animals as individual characters by human actors became immensely popular after the \JFrench Revolution\j. As a result of Rousseau's ideas, the noble savage was held to exist even under the skin of an \Jape\j. English \Jpantomime\j was another important context for animal impersonation. The leading artists in this field were George Conquest the elder, George Ali and Charles Lauri.
Conquest triumphed in such outlandish parts as an \Joctopus\j, a crab and a giant porcupine whose costume consisted of 2,500 separate pieces. The Brothers Griffiths kept music-hall audiences in stitches with their wrestling lion and the famous Blondin donkey, which seemed lifelike but contorted its legs in a \Jcartoon\j fashion as soon as it was forced on to the tightrope.
Modern drama, fixated on realism, has been chary of this type of performance. In a playful mode, Maeterlinck made a dog and cat major characters in The Blue Bird (1908) and Shaw provided his Androcles with a waltzing lion (1913). Nevertheless, realism was challenged by such experiments as the \Jdinosaur\j and mammoth in Thornton Wilder's Skin of Our Teeth (1942) and the scaly amphibians in Edward Albee's Seascape (1975).
For the most part, modern animal impersonation has been relegated to \Jpantomime\j and \Jmusical comedy\j: the cat in Dick Whittington, Nana the St Bernard in Peter Pan (1904), the \Jbeagle\j Snoopy in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Caroline the cow in Gypsy (1959), the feline cast of Cats and the wolf in Into the Woods. Horses have been merged with their riders in Anouilh's Beckett (1959) and Kopit's Indians (1968) and stylized into elegant gymnasts in Shaffer's Equus (1973).
However, a more three-dimensional and moving equine hero appeared in Mark Rozovsky's dramatization of Kholstomer, Tolstoy's story of a gelding (directed by Georgy Tovstonogov, \JLeningrad\j, 1975); it was recreated in English as Strider. Several recent adaptations of Kafka's \JMetamorphosis\j have provided the greatest stretch for an actor: when Steven Berkoff's version was played in New York, the cockroach was interpreted by the great ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov.
BK Thea
#
"Animal Protection Society of America",1514,0,0,0
EN See RSPCA
BK a
XCY y
#
"animal protein factor",1515,0,0,0
EN An essential growth factor found exclusively in animal products, now known to be vitamin B\D12\d.
BK a
#
"animals as performers",1516,0,0,0
EN The training of animals not to perform an agricultural or military function but simply to entertain, most specifically by imitating human behaviour, blatantly advertises man as Lord of Creation. The earliest recorded example is the lion Antam-Nekht under Pharaoh Rameses II (1292-1225 bc); and trained tigers who would allow a man to put his head safely in their mouths were known in early China and India (12th-9th centuries bc). Wandering performers in both the ancient and medieval worlds showed off simple tricks with bears and apes.
The most famous trained animal of Shakespeare's \Jday\j was the bay horse Morocco, shown by John Banks; as exhibited in the yard of the Belle Sauvage, London, it returned gloves to their owners, told the number of coins, and danced (warranting a mention in Love's Labour's Lost).
The heyday of the performing animal came in the 'Age of Enlightenment', when animaux savants rivalled the noble savage as exemplars of natural perfectibility. In England learned pigs were frequently on view solving mathematical puzzles. During the early romantic period of \Jmelodrama\j and \Jpantomime\j, animals starred: Coco the stag, a headliner at the Cirque Olympique, was seriously compared to ballet dancers when he leaped over 16 horses in 1813.
Covent Garden and Drury Lane admitted horses, lions and elephants to their pantomimic spectacles, and dog drama retained its favour on the London stage well into the century. In the 1850s, when Charles Kean revived 'legitimate' drama at the Princess's Theatre, he put horses on stage (see hippodrama).
Meanwhile the exhibition of wild animals at circuses was undergoing a change. New training methods stressed animal \Jpsychology\j and work therapy, based on Pavlov's experiments and those of the Swiss psychologist J. Gaule. The result could be seen in the work of Carl and Wilhelm Hagenbeck who developed the round cage that filled the entire arena, allowing the animals more freedom (1888).
Almost every kind of animal has been recruited into show business, from wrestling Floridian alligators to boxing kangaroos (first shown by Prof. Landermann at the London Aquarium in 1892). Today live animals are still to be seen in grand opera and \Jmusical comedy\j - e.g. the dog Sandy in Annie.
BK Thea
#
"animism",1517,0,0,0
EN A belief in spiritual beings thought capable of influencing human events, based on the idea that animals, plants, and even inanimate objects have souls like humans. The 19th-c anthropologist Edward Tylor (1832-1917) regarded it as the earliest form of religion, a view not accepted by modern anthropologists.
BK a
#
"Animuccia, Giovanni",1518,0,0,0
PN [animoo\Bchia\b]
DT1a c.
DT1 1500
DT2 71
EN Composer, born in Florence, \JItaly\j. In 1555 he became choirmaster at St Peter's in the Vatican. He was influenced by St Philip Neri, for whose oratory he composed the \ILaudi\i - semi-dramatic religious pieces in popular style from which \Joratorio\j developed.
MEX Neri
SX m
BK bg a
#
"anion",1519,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\biyon]
EN A negatively charged atom or group of atoms, such as Cl\U-\u (chloride) or SO\D4\d\U2-\u (sulphate). Anions are so called because they migrate towards the \Janode\j in an electrochemical cell.
BK a
#
"anisotropic",1520,0,0,0
EN See \Jisotropic\j
BK a
XCY y
#
"Aniston, Jennifer",1521,0,0,0
DT1 1969
EN Actor, born in Sherman Oaks, \JCalifornia\j, USA. She trained at the High School for the Performing Arts in New York City, worked off-Broadway, then went to \JHollywood\j, where she eventually achieved success through her role as Rachel Green in the acclaimed \Jtelevision\j series \IFriends\i (1994-- ). Roles in feature films include \ILeprechaun\i (1993), \IShe's the One\i (1996), and \I'Til There Was You\i (1997).
\BMajor Works\b
\ITelevision\i
1994- Friends
\IFilms\i
1993 Leprechaun
1996 She's the One
1997 'Til There Was You
1998 Picture Perfect
BK Biog99
#
"anistropy",1522,0,0,0
A term which is used to describe materials which do not have the same properties in all directions, usually because the particles are in some way asymmetrical. In crystals, anisotropy needs to occur if the mineral is to show birefringence. Displays made of liquid crystals depend on particles which are long and narrow, and which usually show a degree of chirality or handedness, so that when they particles clump together, they produce helical clumps.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"Anjou",1523,0,0,0
PN [πzhoo]
EN Former province in the Paris Basin of north-west \JFrance\j, now occupying the department of Maine-et-Loire and small parts of Indre-et-Loire, Mayenne, and Sarthe; former capital, Angers; lost provincial status in 1790; Henry II of England, first of the Plantagenets (or \JAngevins\j) was son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of \JAnjou\j; \JAnjou\j also gave a line of kings to \JSicily\j and Naples.
BK a
#
"Ankara",1524,0,0,0
PN [\Bang\bkara]
EN 39░55N 32░50E, pop (1995e) 2 854 000. Capital city of \JAnkara\j province and of Turkey, on a tributary of the R Ova; second largest city in Turkey; formerly an important location on the caravan route from \JIstanbul\j to the E; conquered by Alexander the Great, 4th-cBC;part of Roman and Byzantine Empires; under Turkish rule, 11th-c; government transferred here from \JIstanbul\j, 1923; airport; railway; five universities (1206, 1946, 1956, 1982, 1984); textiles, \Jmohair\j, leather, cement.
BK Geog99
#
"ankh",1525,0,0,0
PN [ank]
EN A cross with a loop for its upper vertical arm. In ancient \JEgypt\j it was an emblem of life.
BK a
#
"ankiya nat",1526,0,0,0
EN Indian theatre form. Ankiya nat is a kind of religious drama which originated and still exists in Assam, a beautiful, remote state in northeastern India. Ankiya nat was created by Sankaradeva (c.1449-1568), an ardent devotee of Lord \JVishnu\j who in his earthly manifestation as Krishna is worshipped by many Assamese Hindus. Ankiya means 'act' and nat means 'drama'. Thus, ankiya nat is a one-act drama composed in a particular form. Sankaradeva wrote many popular plays for the repertory as a means of maintaining and spreading the tenets of Vaishnavism among his people.
Performances of ankiya nat usually take place inside prayer halls (nam-ghar), roofed structures open at the side, located in the sacred confines of a monastery. Companies consist of about 15 amateur actors, made up either of monks or village artists. Normally, men play all the parts in the monastery productions, but women may participate in performances in communities where taboos are not rigidly enforced.
Perhaps the most striking characters are the giant effigies made of \Jbamboo\j and covered with papier-mΓchΘ painted to represent demons and animals. Some of the figures are at least 15 feet high and must be manipulated by several actors at once. Masks of birds, snakes, monkeys and bears are worn when a particular play demands the presence of such fanciful characters. Typically, performances are organized to coincide with religious festivals, such as the birth of Krishna. A performance event usually begins around 9 PM and continues until sunrise.
The strength of ankiya nat is in its close links with the religious beliefs of the Assamese people, particularly the devotees (bhaktas) of Krishna. It does not seem to have changed drastically, even though the state has undergone many dramatic changes in its economic and social organization in recent times.
BK Thea
#
"ankle",1527,0,0,0
EN The region of the lower limb between the calf and the foot; specifically, the joint between the tibia and \Jfibula\j and the talus (one of the tarsal bones). Movement at the joint is important during the stance phase of walking, particularly in ensuring a smooth and controlled contact of the foot with the ground.
BK a
#
"ankylosaur",1528,0,0,0
PN [\Bang\bkilosaw(r)]
EN A small four-legged \Jdinosaur\j, heavily armoured with rectangular bony plates along body and tail; head small, teeth reduced or absent; fed on vegetation; known from the Cretaceous period of \JNorth America\j. \B(Order:\b \JOrnithischia\j.)
BK a
#
"ankylosing spondylitis",1529,0,0,0
PN [angki\Bloh\bzing spondi\Bliy\btis]
EN A progressive inflammatory disease that affects mainly young men, giving rise to rigidity of the spine, and reduced movement of the chest and occasionally of the joints. Its cause is unknown, but a very high proportion of cases have human leucocyte \Jantigen\j (\JHLA\j) B27.
BK a
#
"Anna Amalia",1530,0,0,0
PN [a\Bmah\blia]
DT1 1739
DT2 1807
EN Duchess of Saxe-Weimar and notable patron of German literature. Widowed in 1758 after only two years of marriage, she acted as regent for her infant son, Charles Augustus, with great skill and prudence (1758-75). She attracted to the court at Weimar the leading literary figures in \JGermany\j, and founded the Weimar Museum.
SX f
BK bg a
#
"Anna Comnena",1531,0,0,0
PN [kom\Bnay\bna]
DT1 1083
DT2 1148
EN Byzantine princess and historian, the daughter of Alexius I Comnenus. In 1097 she married Nicephorus Bryennius, for whom she tried in vain to gain the imperial crown after her father's death in 1118. She took up literature, and after her husband's death (1137) retired to a convent where she wrote the \IAlexiad,\i an account of Byzantine history and society for the period 1069-1118.
MEX Alexius I
SX f
BK bg a
#
"Anna Ivanovna",1532,0,0,0
PN [i\Bvah\bnovna]
DT1 1693
DT2 1740
EN Tsarina of \JRussia\j from 1730, the younger daughter of Ivan V and niece of Peter the Great. After the early death of Peter II (1715-30) she was elected to the throne by the Supreme Council in 1730, with conditions that severely limited her authority. She proceeded to abolish the Council, and ruled as an autocrat with her German favourite, \BErnst Johann Biron\b (1690-1772), who became the real power behind the throne.
MEX Peter I (of \JRussia\j)
SX f
BK bg a
#
"Annan, Kofi",1533,0,0,0
DT1 1938
EN UN secretary-general (from 1997), born in \JKumasi\j, \JGhana\j. He studied in the USA and \JSwitzerland\j, joining the UN in 1962, and held posts in the High Commission for Refugees and the World Health Organization. After joining the UN secretariat, he became (1993) under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations. He replaced Boutros Boutros-Ghali to become the first secretary-general from sub-Saharan Africa.
BK Biog99
#
"Annapolis",1534,0,0,0
PN [a\Bna\bpolis]
EN 38░59N 76░30W, pop (1995e) 35 400. Capital of state in Anne Arundel Co, C Maryland, USA; port on the S bank of the Severn R; named after Princess (later Queen) Anne, 1695; US capital, 1783--4; railway; business and shipping centre; US Naval Academy (1845); tourist centre; site of the statehouse where the treaty ending the American War of Independence was ratified (1784).
BK Geog99
#
"Annapolis Convention",1535,0,0,0
EN (1786) In the \JAmerican Revolution\j, a gathering at \JAnnapolis\j, MD, of delegates from five states to discuss commercial problems. The main result was a call for a meeting the following year to consider changes in the Articles of Confederation. That meeting wrote the present Federal Constitution.
BK a
#
"Annapurna, Mount",1536,0,0,0
PN [ana\Bpoor\bna]
EN Mountain massif in the C \JHimalayas\j, \JNepal\j; length c.56┐km / 35┐mi; includes Annapurna I (8091┐m / 26┐545┐ft), Annapurna II (7937┐m / 26┐040┐ft), Annapurna III (7556┐m / 24┐790┐ft), Annapurna IV (7525┐m / 24┐688┐ft), and several other peaks over 6000┐m / 20┐000┐ft; part of the Pokhara trekking region; Annapurna I first climbed in 1950 by Maurice Herzog's French expedition.
BK a
#
"Annas",1537,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bas]
DT1 1
DT1b st-c
EN Israel's high priest, appointed in AD 6 and deposed by the Romans in 15, but still described later by this title in the \JNew Testament\j. He apparently questioned Jesus after his arrest \I(John\i 18) and Peter after his detention \I(Acts\i 4). His other activities are described in the works of Flavius Josephus.
MEX Caiaphas; Jesus Christ; Josephus; Peter, St
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Anne",1538,0,0,0
DT1 1665
DT2 1714
EN Queen of \JGreat Britain\j and Ireland (1702-14), born in London, England, UK, the second daughter of James II (then Duke of York) and his first wife, Anne Hyde. In 1672 her father became a Catholic, but Anne was brought up as a staunch Protestant. In 1683 she married Prince George of Denmark (1653-1708), bearing him 17 children. Probably only six were born alive and only one survived infancy - William, Duke of \JGloucester\j, who died in 1700 at the age of 12. For much of her life she was greatly influenced by her close friend and confidante, Sarah Churchill, the future Duchess of Marlborough.
In 1688, when her father James II was overthrown, she supported the accession of her sister Mary and her brother-in-law William, and in 1701, after the death of her own son, signed the Act of Settlement designating the Hanoverian descendants of James I as her successors. Her reign saw the union of the parliaments of Scotland and England (1707), and the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-13).
She finally broke with the Marlboroughs in 1710-11, when Sarah was supplanted by a new favourite, Sarah's cousin, Mrs Abigail Masham, and the \JWhigs\j were replaced by a Tory administration. She was the last Stuart monarch.
MEX Churchill, Sarah; Mary II; Masham; William III; James II (of England)
SX f
BK bg a
#
"Anne (Elizabeth Alice Louise), Princess",1539,0,0,0
DT1 1950
EN British Princess Royal, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, born in London, England, UK. In 1973 she married Lieutenant (now Captain) Mark Phillips of the Queen's Dragoon Guards, but they were divorced in 1992; their children are: \BPeter Mark Andrew\b (1977-- ) and \BZara Anne Elizabeth\b (1981-- ).
She married \BTimothy Laurence\b (1955-- ) in 1992. An accomplished horsewoman, she has ridden in the British Equestrian Team, and was European cross-country champion (1972). She is a keen supporter of charities and overseas relief work; as president of Save the Children Fund she has travelled widely promoting its activities.
BK Biog99
#
"Anne Boleyn",1540,0,0,0
EN See Boleyn, Anne
BK bg a
XCY y
#
"Anne of Austria",1541,0,0,0
DT1 1601
DT2 66
EN Queen of \JFrance\j, born in \JValladolid\j, \JSpain\j, the eldest daughter of Philip III of \JSpain\j and wife of \JLouis XIII\j of \JFrance\j, whom she married in 1615. The marriage was unhappy, and much of it was spent in virtual separation, due to the influence of the king's chief minister Cardinal Richelieu.
In 1638, however, they had their first son, Louis, who succeeded his father in 1643 as \JLouis XIV\j. Anne was appointed regent for the boy king (1643-51), and wielded power with Cardinal Mazarin as prime minister. After Mazarin's death in 1661, she retired to a convent.
MEX Mazarin; \JLouis XIII\j; Louis XIV
SX f
BK bg a
#
"Anne of Bohemia",1542,0,0,0
DT1 1366
DT2 94
EN Queen of England, the first wife of Richard II. The daughter of Emperor Charles IV (reigned 1355-78), she married Richard in 1382.
MEX Richard II
SX f
BK bg a
#
"Anne of Brittany",1543,0,0,0
DT1 1476
DT2 1514
EN Duchess of Brittany and twice queen of \JFrance\j. She struggled to maintain Breton independence, but in 1491 was forced to marry Charles VIII of \JFrance\j (reigned 1483-98), whereby Brittany was united with the French crown. In 1499, a year after his death, she married his successor, Louis XII.
MEX Louis XII
SX f
BK bg a
#
"Anne of Cleves",1544,0,0,0
DT1 1515
DT2 57
EN German princess and queen consort of England, the fourth wife of \JHenry VIII\j, the daughter of John, Duke of Cleves, a noted champion of \JProtestantism\j in \JGermany\j. A plain-featured and unattractive girl, she was selected for purely political reasons after the death of Jane Seymour, and was married to Henry in 1540. The marriage was annulled by parliament six months later.
MEX \JHenry VIII\j; Seymour, Jane
SX f
BK bg a
#
"Anne of Denmark",1545,0,0,0
DT1 1574
DT2 1619
EN Danish princess, and queen of Scotland and England. The daughter of King Frederik II of Denmark (reigned 1559-88), in 1589 she married James VI of Scotland, the future James I of England. She was a lavish patron of the arts and \Jarchitecture\j, and appeared in dramatic roles in court masques by Ben Jonson.
MEX Jonson; James I (of England)
SX f
BK bg a
#
"Anne, St",1546,0,0,0
DT1a fl.
DT1 1
DT1b st-c BC
DT2 1
DT2b st-c AD
EN Wife of \BSt Joachim,\b and mother of the Virgin Mary, first mentioned in the \IProtevangelium\i of James, in the 2nd-c. She is the patron saint of carpenters. Feast \Jday\j 26 July.
MEX Mary (mother of Jesus)
SX f
BK bg a
#
"annealing",1547,0,0,0
EN The relief of internal stresses in metals after heat treatment or working (hammering, forging, or drawing), or in glass after moulding or blowing. It is effected by maintaining the object at a moderate \Jtemperature\j to allow for molecular or crystalline re-arrangement. This improves its properties, or restores its original properties when the object is eventually cold.
BK a
#
"Annecy",1548,0,0,0
PN [ansee]
EN 45░55N 6░08E, pop (1995e) 52 700. Industrial town and capital of Haute-Savoie department, E \JFrance\j; in the foothills of the French Alps, on N shore of Lac d'\JAnnecy\j; railway; bishopric; textiles, watches, paper, bearings; popular tourist centre; on route to Little St Bernard and Mt Cenis passes.
BK Geog99
#
"annelid",1549,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\belid]
EN A ringed worm; a bilaterally symmetrical worm of \Jphylum\j Annelida; body divided into cylindrical rings (segments) containing serially arranged organs; body cavity \I(coelom)\i present; head typically well defined; includes earthworms, bristleworms, and leeches.
BK a
#
"Annenberg, Walter (Hubert)",1550,0,0,0
DT1 1908
EN Publisher and philanthropist, born in \JMilwaukee\j, \JWisconsin\j, USA. Inheriting a communications empire that included the \IPhiladelphia Inquirer\i, the \IRacing Forum\i, and broadcasting stations, he founded \ISeventeen\i magazine (1944) and the immensely successful \ITV Guide\i (1953), besides purchasing \IThe Philadelphia Daily News\i (1957).
A prominent Republican, he served as US ambassador to Britain (1969--74). He assembled a large art collection that he donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and used some of his huge fortune to endow a graduate school of communications at the University of \JPennsylvania\j.
BK Biog99
#
"Annenkov, Yury (Pavlovich)",1551,0,0,0
DT 1889-1974
EN Russian designer. He assisted in the theatrical experiments by Nikolai Evreinov, Fyodor Komissarzhevsky and others; and designed at Nikita Baliev's Moscow Bat (later, the Chauve-Souris) and (from 1913) at Kugel's and Kholmskaya's St Petersburg Crooked Mirror Theatre. The Annenkov-Evreinov collaboration extended to expressionist designs for Evreinov's Soviet mass spectacle The Storming of the Winter Palace (1920) and The Chief Thing (1921) (see \Jexpressionism\j).
Annenkov also contributed large-scale designs to The Field of Mars May Day Celebration (1918) and The Hymn to Liberated Labour (1920), staged in front of the old St Petersburg stock exchange. He helped introduce futurist theatre ideas into \JRussia\j, and his 1921 manifesto 'The Theatre to the End' posited a 'theatre of pure method', based upon gymnastic and circus performance, which inspired Meyerhold. In 1924 Annenkov emigrated to \JGermany\j and \JFrance\j.
BK Thea
#
"Annensky, Innokenty (Fyodorovich)",1552,0,0,0
DT 1856-1909
EN Russian poet, critic and playwright. \JEuripides\j, all of whose plays he translated, was the model for his four dramas, in which he attempted to contemporize the Greek myths while maintaining their universality: Melanippe, the Philosopher (1901), King Ixion (1902), Laodamia (1906), and Thamira, the Cither Player (1906).
These deal with the conflict between art and life, beauty and suffering. Only Thamira was staged, by Tairov in a cubist production at Moscow's Kamerny Theatre (1916).
BK Thea
#
"Annigoni, Pietro",1553,0,0,0
PN [ani\Bgoh\bnee]
DT1 1910
DT2 88
EN Painter, born in Milan, \JItaly\j. He was one of the few 20th-c artists to put into practice the technical methods of the old masters. His most usual medium was \Jtempera\j, although there are frescoes by him in the Convent of S Marco at Florence (executed in 1937).
His Renaissance manner is shown at its best in his portraits, such as those of Queen Elizabeth II (1955, 1970) and President Kennedy (1961).
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Anning, Mary",1554,0,0,0
DT (1799-1847)
EN British palaeontologist.
Mary Anning had the good fortune to be born in Lyme Regis in \JDorset\j, a place of great geological interest and, when a year old, to survive a \Jlightning\j strike. Her nurse sheltered with her beneath a tree during a \Jthunderstorm\j with two others; only Mary survived.
Her father, a cabinetmaker, supplemented his income by selling local fossils to summer visitors. He died when Mary was 11 years old and she, apparently well trained by him, continued to help the family income by the same means. Her brother discovered the head of a marine \Jreptile\j in the cliffs between Lyme Regis and Charnmouth in 1811 and Mary carefully excavated the complete remains, named Ichthyosaurus in 1817; she sold it to a collector for ú23.
This was the beginning of a lifetime's fruitful \Jfossil\j- hunting; her value to palaeontologists was in her local knowledge, her skill in recognition and the care she took to present her finds in an uninjured state. In 1823 she discovered the complete skeleton of an little-known saurian, named Plesiosaurus by William Conybeare (1787-1857) and described by him at a meeting of the Geological Society in London in 1824.
Another major discovery of hers at Lyme was described as Pterodactylus macronyx by William Buckland (1784-1856) in 1829; this \Jfossil\j of a strange flying \Jreptile\j attracted much attention.
Mary Anning supplied fossils to palaeontologists, collectors and museums, as well as to the visitors to her shop in Lyme Regis and attracted the general public to fossil-collecting and to herself, by her successes. She became both knowledgeable and aware of the significance of her discoveries. She left no publications and her contribution to the 'golden age' of British \Jgeology\j has been largely neglected; her discoveries were described and collected by others.
In her later years she was assisted by a small government grant awarded by the prime minister, Lord Melbourne, at the prompting of Buckland and the Geological Society of London. When she died her work was acknowledged by the president of the Society in his anniversary address. Later a stained-glass window to her memory was placed by the Fellows in the parish church at Lyme Regis.
BK Scie
#
"Anno, Mitsumasu",1555,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bnoh]
DT1 1926
EN Children's writer and illustrator, born in Tsuwano, \JJapan\j. Renowned for his visual puzzles, his best work can be seen in \ITopsy-Turvies: Pictures to Stretch the Imagination\i (1970) and \IAnno's Alphabet: an Adventure in Imagination\i (1975).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPublications\i
1970 Topsy-Turvies: Pictures to Stretch the Imagination
1975 Anno's Alphabet: an Adventure in Imagination
BK Biog99
#
"annual",1556,0,0,0
EN A plant which germinates, flowers, sets seed, and dies within one year. The definition is not strict: in mild \Jweather\j some annuals may germinate late in the season, overwinter as seedlings or young plants, and complete their life-cycle in the next year.
BK a
#
"annual ring",1557,0,0,0
EN One of the concentric rings visible when the stem or root of a woody plant is cut across. Each ring is formed by two bands of \Jxylem\j vessels: large diameter vessels produced early in the year form pale springwood; smaller vessels formed late in the year form darker summerwood. Usually one ring marks one year's growth, providing a means of calculating the age of trees. If there is more than one growing period in the year, there are correspondingly more rings, called \Ifalse annual rings.\i
BK a
#
"annuity",1558,0,0,0
PN [a\Bnyoo\bitee]
EN A financial contract by which an insurance company agrees, in exchange for premiums which may be recurrent or lump-sum, to provide a regular income for life. The recipient may be one person, normally retired, or it is possible to contract for full or reduced payments to surviving spouses or other dependents.
The payments may be fixed in money terms, or index-linked to a price index. An annuity enables the recipients to spend their capital as well as the income on it, without the risk of running out of funds before they die.
BK a
#
"annulment",1559,0,0,0
EN A judicial declaration of nullity of marriage. A null marriage is one that was never valid (ie it is \Ivoid),\i for example because it involved parties within the prohibited degrees of affinity or consanguinity, or because it became invalid \I(voidable)\i due to the behaviour of one of the parties (eg an inability or refusal to consummate the marriage).
BK a
#
"Annunciation",1560,0,0,0
EN The angel Gabriel's foretelling to Mary of the birth of Jesus and of the promise of his greatness \I(Luke\i 1.26-38). Many of the features of this account are parallel to the \Jannunciation\j of the birth of John the Baptist \I(Luke\i 1.5-25). The feast \Jday\j (25 Mar) is also known as \BLady Day.\b
BK a
#
"Annunzio, Gabriele d'",1561,0,0,0
EN See d'Annunzio, Gabriele
BK bg a
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"anoa",1562,0,0,0
PN [a\Bnoh\ba]
EN A rare member of the \Jcattle\j family, from Sulawesi; height, c.80┐cm / 30┐in; straight backward-pointing horns; inhabits forests; young have thick dark coats; two species: \Blowland anoa\b \I(Bubalus depressicornis)\i and \Bmountain anoa\b \I(Bubalus quarlesi); \i also known as \Bdwarf buffalo,\b \Bwood ox,\b \Bsapi-utan,\b or \Bsapi-outan.\b
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"anode",1563,0,0,0
EN In \Jelectrolysis\j and gas discharge tubes, the positive electrode from which electrons leave the cell or tube. In a battery, the \Janode\j is the negative terminal by which electrons leave the battery. An anion is a negative ion that moves towards the positive \Janode\j in \Jelectrolysis\j.
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"anodizing",1564,0,0,0
EN A metal protection process, usually applied to \Jaluminium\j or \Jmagnesium\j. The object to be coated is made the \Janode\j in an electrolytic bath which produces a thin but dense protective oxide layer. Such a coating can also be made to take dyes, and so produce a decorative effect.
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"anointing the sick",1565,0,0,0
EN The ritual application of oil performed in cases of (usually) serious illness or preparation for death. In the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, which claim scriptural authority for the practice, it is recognized as a sacrament to be performed by a priest. It was formerly sometimes called \Bextreme unction.\b
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"anole",1566,0,0,0
PN [a\Bnoh\blee]
EN An \Jiguana\j found from south-east USA to N \JSouth America\j (including the West Indies); can change colour, but this is slow and controlled by chemical changes in the blood; some species signal with a brightly coloured expandable blade of skin under the throat. \B(Genus:\b \IAnolis,\i several species.)
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"anomia",1567,0,0,0
PN [a\Bnoh\bmia]
EN A clinical language disability in which the chief problem is recalling the names of things. It is often found as a symptom of \Japhasia\j. While typically involving nouns, the word-finding difficulties can relate to any part of speech.
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"anomie",1568,0,0,0
PN [anoh\Bmee\b]
EN A personal or wider social condition in which individuals or society at large no longer identify with or feel guided by customary norms and values. In individuals, the concept embraces extreme despair, and a sense of alienation from society, which may lead to suicide.
Society at large is said to be 'anomic' when its members no longer agree on a fundamental normative and moral order. The term was introduced by Durkheim in 1897. He considered the condition to be one cause of suicide, indicating the importance of social factors to psychiatric illness.
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"Anopheles",1569,0,0,0
PN [a\Bnof\bileez]
EN The \Jmalaria\j mosquito, found in all major zoogeographical regions. The adult females transmit a malaria-causing agent when taking blood from vertebrates. The males feed on nectar and plant fluids. The larvae are aquatic, feeding at the \Jwater\j surface using short feeding bristles. \B(Order:\b \JDiptera\j. \BFamily:\b Culicidae.)
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"anorexia nervosa",1570,0,0,0
PN [ano\Brek\bsia ner\Bvoh\bsa]
EN A psychological illness which mainly affects young women, characterized by significant weight loss (usually deliberately induced), an unrealistic fear of being overweight, and a loss of normal menstrual functioning. There is a distortion of body image, and sufferers are frequently hyperactive, have faddish eating habits, and some have depressed mood.
The term was first used by the English physician Sir William \JGull\j (1816-90) in 1874, but there are clear historical accounts of a similar condition dating back centuries, indicating that this is not a symptom of modern living. Current views hold that there are both biological and psychological causes, and that early treatment is likely to produce a better outcome than any delay, which may lead to chronicity of the illness and a fatal outcome in a proportion of sufferers.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
An eating disorder most in, but not exclusive to, teenage girls. The sufferer limits his or her food intake sometimes to a life-threatening degree. Often the anorexic patient desires her body image to conform with a petite fashionable size, but there may be a deeper suffering or need to which this "self-starvation" is a desperate attempt to draw attention (e.g. low self-esteem and/or insecurity).
Symptoms include: emaciation and cessation of menstrual periods. Treatment is over long periods, and usually involves a psychologist or psychiatrist and some degree of \Jpsychotherapy\j or hypnotherapy. Self-help groups are recommended.
\IWritten by Jane King\i
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"Anouilh, Jean (Marie Lucien Pierre)",1571,0,0,0
DT 1910-87
EN French playwright and script-writer. A brilliant theatrical craftsman, he was commercially very successful. Anouilh's first plays were written in a naturalist vein, but he soon moved towards a more light-hearted style of bitter-sweet comedy, perfected in Le Bal des voleurs (The Thieves' Carnival), directed by Barsacq (1938). This started a fruitful collaboration which included his best-known play Antigone (1944), derivative of Pirandello and of revivals of Greek myth between the wars.
The play contains references to contemporary life, and appealed both to Nazi sympathizers and to Resistance workers. After the war, Anouilh's plays bridged the gap between the classics and the boulevard. His output in the 1950s and 1960s was voluminous and he set his plays in different historical periods, but his themes, notably the contrast between youthful purity and adult compromise, varied little - in e.g. L'Alouette (The Lark, 1953), Pauvre Bitos (Poor Bitos, 1956), Cher Antoine (Dear Antoine, 1969) and Becket (1959). Anouilh also directed revivals of MoliΦre and of Vitrac's Victor.
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"Anoura",1572,0,0,0
EN See Anura or Anoura
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#
"Anquetil, Jacques",1573,0,0,0
PN [πketeel]
DT1 1934
DT2 87
EN Racing cyclist, born in Normandy, \JFrance\j. He won the Tour de \JFrance\j five times, including four successive wins between 1961 and 1964. He retired in 1969.
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"Anschluss",1574,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bshlus]
EN The concept of union between \JAustria\j and \JGermany\j, expressly forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles (1919), but with some support in both countries after the collapse of the Habsburg Empire. Hitler pursued the idea once in power, and in 1938, after the resignation of Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg, the Germans were 'invited' to occupy \JAustria\j. The union of \JAustria\j and \JGermany\j was formally proclaimed on 13 March 1938.
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"Anschⁿtz, Ottomar",1575,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bshⁿts]
DT1 1846
DT2 1907
EN Photographer, born in Yugoslavia. He was a pioneer of instantaneous photography, and was one of the first to make a series of pictures of moving animals and people.
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"Anselm, St",1576,0,0,0
DT1 1033
DT2 1109
EN Scholastic philosopher and clergyman, born in \JAosta\j, \JItaly\j. He left \JItaly\j in 1056 and settled at the Benedictine abbey of Bec in Normandy. He moved to England to succeed Lanfranc as \JArchbishop\j of Canterbury in 1093. His strong principles brought him into conflict both with William II and \JHenry I\j, and he was temporarily exiled by each of them.
Much influenced by Augustine he sought 'necessary reasons' for religious beliefs, notably the famous ontological argument for the existence of God. He may have been canonized as early as 1163; feast \Jday\j 21 April.
MEX Lanfranc; William II (of England)
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"Anseranatidae",1577,0,0,0
EN \BMagpie goose\b
The \JMagpie\j Goose \IAnseranas semipalmata\i is the sole member of the family \JAnseranatidae\j (order Anseriformes). Traditionally the species is included within the family \JAnatidae\j (although almost invariably assigned to a tribe or subfamily of its own), but recent genetic studies have confirmed that it is even more distinct than previously thought (the possibility that it may be more closely related to the screamers, \JAnhimidae\j, than to the \JAnatidae\j also cannot be ruled out), and current consensus is that it warrants full family status.
A number of external and behavioral features hint at its distinctness: \JMagpie\j Geese, for example, have only partly-webbed feet, long, fully functional hind toes, and both sexes incubate. Moreover, they differ also from 'true' wildfowl (ducks, geese, and swans) in molting their flight feathers sequentially like other birds rather than simultaneously (all wildfowl are flightless for two or three weeks each year while they undergo their annual molt).
Magpie Geese are about 70-90 cm in length and weigh about 2-3 kg, though males are substantially larger than females. They have long, slender necks, long legs, rather short tails, and long, broad, blunt-ended, 'fingered' wings. There is a conspicuous high, bony knob on the crown, which tends to grow with age. The plumage is boldly black and white, and the sexes are similar.
Magpie Geese are strongly aquatic, and typically forage in shallow \Jwater\j, upending like barnyard ducks to reach the bottom to the limit of their long necks. They do not normally dive. They are strongly gregarious, roosting communally and living usually in small groups that seasonally coalesce into very much larger flocks, often thousands strong.
The \JMagpie\j Goose inhabits tropical freshwater lagoons and billabongs, mainly on the coastal plain, in northern \JAustralia\j and southern New Guinea. Two centuries ago its distribution extended much farther south than it does now, and it was once common along the lower Darling, Murray, and Murrumbidgee Rivers in the southern interior. Assisted by rigid protection and various rehabilitation strategies, it is currently regaining some of its former range in the south.
Magpie Geese are short-distance migrants, and much of the population is involved in an annual cycle of movements between coastal swamps and nearby interior wetlands for nesting; during the dry season they are nomadic, roaming widely in response to changing \Jwater\j levels.
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"Ansermet, Ernest (Alexandre)",1578,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bsermay]
DT1 1883
DT2 1969
EN Conductor and musical theorist, born in Vevey, \JSwitzerland\j. He studied at \JLausanne\j, and gave up teaching \Jmathematics\j in 1910 to devote his time to music. He was conductor of the \JMontreux\j Kursaal in 1912 and of Diaghilev's Russian Ballet (1915-23). In 1918 he founded the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, whose conductor he remained till 1967. His compositions include a symphonic poem, \Jpiano\j pieces, and songs.
MEX Diaghilev
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"Ansett, Sir Reginald (Myles)",1579,0,0,0
DT1 1909
DT2 81
EN Pioneer of passenger flight, born in Inglewood, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. He opened a regular air service to Melbourne in 1936, and by 1957 had formed the largest private transport system in the Southern hemisphere, with a country-wide network of air and coach services. In 1979 Ansett's group was taken over by a consortium of Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd and Sir Peter Abeles' TNT.
MEX Abeles
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#
"Ansgar or Anskar, St",1580,0,0,0
HS , Ger \BSt Scharies,\b known as \Bthe \JApostle\j of the North\b
DT1 801
DT2 65
EN Frankish clergyman and missionary to Scandinavia, born in Picardy, \JFrance\j. He became a Benedictine monk, and in 826 he was sent to preach the Gospel in Denmark. In 829 he was allowed to build the first church in Sweden. Consecrated \Jarchbishop\j of the newly founded archdiocese of \JHamburg\j in 831 he was named as papal legate to all the Northern peoples. He is the patron saint of Scandinavia. Feast \Jday\j 3 February.
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"Anshan or An-shan",1581,0,0,0
EN 41░05N 122░58E, pop (1995e) 1 546 000, administrative region 2 835 596. City in Liaoning province, NE China; organized mining and smelting began here c.100BC;railway; site of China's largest iron and steel complex, agricultural machinery, construction materials, chemicals, textiles, \Jporcelain\j, electrical appliances; Qianlian Shan (Thousand Lotuses Hill), 10th-c Buddhist hermitage; Eryijiu (19 Feb) Park; c.10 km/6 mi SE, Tanggangzi hot springs park.
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"Anshutz, Thomas (Pollock)",1582,0,0,0
DT (1851-1912)
EN painter; born in Newport, Ky. After studying at the National Academy of Design in New York (1871), he worked with Thomas Eakins at the \JPennsylvania\j Academy of Design (1876), and later became a member of the faculty. His paintings, such as \ISteelworkers Noontime\i (c. 1884), reveal his study of anatomy and geometric design, and his populist subject matter. He influenced many pupils, including Robert Henri, Charles Demuth and John Sloan.
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"Anski, S. (Solomon Z. Rapoport)",1583,0,0,0
DT 1863-1920
EN Russian-born playwright. He is immortalized by his \JYiddish\j play The Dybbuk, written in 1914, which resulted from research into small mystical ethnic sects, in this case the Chassidim. It was first produced by the Vilna Troupe just after Anski's death, and subsequently toured throughout the world. (See also Habimah.)
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"Anson, (Adrian Constantine) 'Cap'",1584,0,0,0
DT (1852-1922)
EN \Jbaseball\j player/manager; born in Marshalltown, \JIowa\j. During his 22-year career as a first baseman for the \JChicago\j White Stockings (1876-97), he compiled a lifetime batting average of .334 and amassed 3,041 total hits. He served as player-manager for \JChicago\j for 19 years (1879-97) and managed the New York Giants in 1898.
As prestigious and popular as any player until Babe Ruth, he is generally recognized as having used his influence to bar African-Americans from playing major league \Jbaseball\j from the 1880s. He was elected to \Jbaseball\j's Hall of Fame in 1939.
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"Anson, George Anson, Baron",1585,0,0,0
DT1 1697
DT2 1762
EN English naval commander, born at Shugborough Park, Staffordshire, C England, UK. He entered the navy in 1712, and was made a captain in 1724. In 1739 he received the command of a Pacific squadron, and sailed from England (1740), circumnavigating the globe in three years and nine months. In 1761 he was appointed Admiral of the Fleet. He wrote \IVoyage Round the World\i (1748), the story of his travels.
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"Anstey, Christopher",1586,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bstee]
DT1 1724
DT2 1805
EN Writer, born in Brinkley, Cambridgeshire, EC England, UK. He studied at King's College, Cambridge, where he became a fellow (1745-54). In 1766 he wrote the \INew Bath Guide,\i an epistolary novel in verse, which achieved great popularity.
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"Anstey, F",1587,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bstee]
HS , pseudonym of \BThomas Anstey Guthrie\b
DT1 1856
DT2 1934
EN Writer, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and in 1880 was called to the bar. A whimsical humorist, he wrote \IVice Versa\i (1882), \IThe Brass Bottle\i (1900), and many other novels and dialogues. He also joined the staff of \IPunch\i (1887-1930).
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"ant",1588,0,0,0
EN A social insect, characterized by a waist of 1-2 narrow segments, forming perennial colonies in nests made in wood, soil, plant cavities, or other constructions. The nest contains one or more fertile queens, many wingless, sterile workers, and winged males that fertilize queens during mass nuptial flights. Most ants scavenge animal remains; some are predators; others feed on fungi, seeds, or honeydew. \B(Order:\b \JHymenoptera\j. \BFamily:\b Formicidae, c.14┐000 species.)
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"ant bear",1589,0,0,0
EN See \Jaardvark\j
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"ant lion",1590,0,0,0
This southern hemisphere insect is the larval stage of some members of the lacewing group (order \JNeuroptera\j) from the family Myrmeleontidae. These are the most common lacewings, and the larvae which are referred to as ant lions make small conical pits in sandy soil, which they use to trap insects, mostly ants, which they eat as food.
The \Jlarva\j makes its pit by backing into dry sand and flipping grains up into the air. Some sand falls back into the hole that is produced, some falls further away. As the hole gets deeper, the sides of the hole become unstable, and sand tumbles down, until the sides are at the angle of repose. As the ant lion burrows deeper, still only flipping sand from the centre of the developing pit, a conical hole develops, and when this is two to three centimetres across, the ant lion settles at the bottom, waiting for a stray insect to come by, with just its nippers showing.
Ant lions prey on small insects. Mostly they eat ants, but they will also eat small insects like weevils, beetles, and anything else which strays over the edge. The falling animal triggers a small avalanche, and tumbles to the bottom, where it may be immediately grabbed by the ant lion. More usually, it escapes, and starts to climb the sides of the pit, pushing more sand down, and triggering further avalanches.
At this point, the ant lion becomes active, flipping more sand from the bottom, triggering even more avalanches, while some of the tumbling grains which fall back into the hole also help to push the insect back down the slope. Eventually, it seizes its prey, and pumps it full of toxin and digestive juices. After sucking it dry, the ant lion uses the same head-flip action to cast the dried husk from its pit. The sand-flipping action seems to be a reflex, triggered by objects falling on the insect's head.
The ant lions are most commonly found in the Australian region, but the same burrowing habit is seen in the northern hemisphere, where the insect in question is a fly \Jlarva\j of the family Rhagionidae, a remarkable example of convergence in \Jevolution\j.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Antananarivo",1591,0,0,0
PN [antanana\Bree\bvoh]
EN 18░52S 47░30E, pop (1995e) 944 000. Capital of Madagascar, on a ridge in the EC part of the island; altitude c.1350 m/4400 ft; divided into upper and lower towns; airport; railway; university (1955); textiles, \Jtobacco\j, leather, food processing; two cathedrals, Queen's palace, Ambohitsorahitra palace, museum of art and archaeology, Zoma market, casinos, Mohamasina sports stadium and racecourses.
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"Antar",1592,0,0,0
HS , in full \Bl'Antarah Ibn ShaddΣd Al-Absi\b
DT1 6
DT1b th-c
EN Arab poet and warrior, born of a \JBedouin\j chieftain and a black slave near \JMedina\j, Saudi \JArabia\j. The author of one of the seven Golden Odes of Arabic literature, and the subject of the 10th-c \IRomance of Antar,\i he is regarded as the model of \JBedouin\j heroism and chivalry.
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"Antarctic Circle",1593,0,0,0
EN Imaginary line on the surface of the Earth at 66░30S, marking the southernmost point at which the Sun can be seen during the summer \Jsolstice\j, and the northernmost point at which the midnight Sun can be seen in S polar regions.
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"Antarctic Ocean",1594,0,0,0
EN The S regions of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans surrounding \JAntarctica\j; narrowest point the Drake Passage between \JSouth America\j and the Antarctic Peninsula (1110┐km / 690┐mi).
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"Antarctica",1595,0,0,0
EN S Polar continent, area nearly 15.5 million┐km\U2\u / 6 million┐mi\U2\u; surrounded by ice-filled ring of ocean waters containing scattered island groups; mainly S of 65░S, almost entirely within the Antarctic Circle; c.22┐400┐km / 14┐000┐mi coastline, mainly of high ice cliffs; indented by Ross and Weddell Seas; divided into Greater and Lesser \JAntarctica\j, separated by the Transantarctic Mts, highest point 5140┐m / 16┐863┐ft at Vinson Massif; no permanent population; no flowering plants, grasses, large land mammals; species of \Jalgae\j, moss, \Jlichen\j, and sea plankton provide food for fish, birds, whales, and seals; average depth of surface ice sheet 1500┐m / 5000┐ft, overlying rock; inland ice moves slowly towards the periphery, pushing long tongues into the sea and creating shelf ice over large areas; drift ice develops along the whole coastline; many icebergs in adjacent waters, the largest of the tabular type (10-60┐m / 30-200┐ft high); movement of pack ice varies widely in different longitudes; outward blowing winds prevail, often of hurricane force; blizzards common, especially in autumn and winter; lowest \Jtemperature\j on Earth (-88.3░C) recorded at \JVostok\j Station; major scientific explorations since first winter base established in 1899 by Borchgevrink; during International Geophysical Year (1957-8) 12 countries maintained 65 bases in \JAntarctica\j; Antarctic Treaty signed by these nations in 1959, providing for international co-operation in scientific research, and prohibiting military operations, nuclear explosions, and disposal of radioactive waste; 50-year ban on mining and mineral extraction, 1991; territorial claims made by the UK (British Antarctic Territory), \JNorway\j (Dronning Maud Land), \JFrance\j (Terre AdΘlie), \JAustralia\j (Enderby Land, Wilkes Land, \JGeorge V\j Coast, part of Oates Coast), \JNew Zealand\j (160░E to 150░W), \JChile\j (90░W to 53░W), and Argentina (74░W to 25░W); South Pole first reached by Amundsen in 1911; major \Jiceberg\j loss in Antarctic Peninsula, through global warming, Feb 1995.
\BAdditional information provided by Cambridge Dictionary of Scientists\b
Antarctica: The Continent For Science
The Antarctic is a continent of extremes, one of which is that its inhabitants are almost exclusively scientists. The unique properties of this remote and ice-hound continent have made it a natural laboratory for, in particular, the \Jearth\j sciences, life sciences, space science and environmental studies.
The place names of \JAntarctica\j are a record of its discoverers-men like Bellingshausen, Weddell, Dumont d'Urville and Amundsen. Most were adventurers and explorers; others such as COOK and ROSS could be considered scientists through their additional scientific observations. The exploration of \JAntarctica\j continued through the efforts of men such as Shackleton, Byrd and Mawson in the early 20th-c, the so-called 'heroic era' characterized by the outstanding physical efforts of individuals.
Routine scientific studies largely began in 1957 when the International Geophysical Year provided the impetus for many nations to establish permanent bases and year-round scientific programs, as well as convenient means of adding credibility to territorial claims. The logistics of simply maintaining bases has meant that most Antarctic science since has been a team effort. Most such work has concentrated on mapping the \Jgeology\j and \Jgeophysics\j of the Antarctic, and studies of the unique and abundant marine life. While richly rewarding, such studies have been of limited wider relevance.
Ironically it has been the most obviously unique feature of the Antarctic that has been the most informative about the rest of the world-the ice sheet which covers 98% of the continent. Ice cores drilled into the 4 km thick ice sheet preserve a wealth of climatic information covering the past 150 000 years, revealing information about air \Jtemperature\j, precipitation levels, atmospheric composition and CO\D2\d levels, \Jmeteorite\j falls, volcanic activity through the deposited acids and dust, and past solar flares through the resulting deposits of \Jberyllium\j-10. (This is formed when high-\Jenergy\j particles associated with solar flares act on \Jnitrogen\j in our upper \Jatmosphere\j to give \Jberyllium\j, later deposited on Earth.)
The continuity and purity of Antarctic ice cores has thus provided one of the most comprehensive records of past climate available. Analysis of more recent snowfalls, over a scale of a few years, has provided unique baseline data on man-made pollutants such as pesticides, lead from car exhausts, fallout from bomb tests, etc, stretching back to before the industrial revolution. One of the most recent discoveries made in the Antarctic has been the most dramatic, possibly so important that the whole future of human existence may depend upon it.
In 1984 FARMAN observed a 40% depletion in ozone levels in the \Jstratosphere\j above the Antarctic. Constant studies since have shown that ozone levels around both the South and \JNorth Pole\j have continued to drop alarmingly. Since the \Jozone layer\j protects life from the more harmful effects of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation, its disappearance may well have dramatic and severe effects for all life forms over the coming years. The cause has been identified as the manufacture and use of \Jchlorofluorocarbons\j (CFCs) during the past 20-30 years, and Farman's discovery directly resulted in worldwide government action to limit the use of CFCs.
In 1995 a dramatically large \Jiceberg\j (2888 km\U2\u/1115 sq mi) broke away from N W \JAntarctica\j into the Weddell Sea: a major event that may link with a rise of 2.5░C in average temperatures during the last 50 years.
As concern grows about global environmental issues, the Antarctic is likely to become an increasingly important laboratory for studying marine populations such as whales, and for taking a more careful look at other environmental issues such as climatic warming. A deep drilling project from1996 should give information on past global climate, and so aid prediction of future change.
DM
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"Antares",1596,0,0,0
PN [an\Btah\breez]
EN See \JScorpius\j
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"antbird",1597,0,0,0
EN A forest-dwelling bird native to the New World tropics; eats insects, spiders, lizards, frogs; follows army ants, feeding on animals they disturb; includes \Bantpittas,\b \Bantthrushes,\b \Bantwrens,\b \Bantvireos,\b \Bantshrikes,\b and \Bgnateaters.\b \B(Family:\b \JFormicariidae\j, 236 species.)
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"anteater",1598,0,0,0
EN A \Jmammal\j, native to Central and \JSouth America\j, which eats ants and termites; an edentate group, comprising four species: \Bgiant anteaters\b (inhabiting grassland), \Bnorthern\b and \Bsouthern tamanduas\b (grassland or forest), and \Bsilky anteaters\b (forest); numbats are also known as \Ibanded anteaters,\i and pangolins as \Iscaly anteaters.\i \B(Family:\b Myrmecophagidae.)
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"antelope",1599,0,0,0
EN A hoofed \Jmammal\j, found mainly in Africa; classified as gazelles (tribe: Antilopini), four-horned antelopes (tribe: Boselaphini), spiral-horned antelopes (tribe: Strepsicerotini), dwarf (or pygmy) antelopes (tribe: Neotragini), grazing antelopes (subfamily: Hippotraginae, including horse-like antelopes of the tribe Hippotragini, and ox-antelopes of the tribe: Alcelaphini), pronghorns (subfamily: Antilocaprinae), duikers (subfamily: Cephalophinae), and \Jgoat\j antelopes (subfamily: Caprinae, which includes goats and sheep). \B(Family:\b \JBovidae\j, 116 species.)
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"antelope goat",1600,0,0,0
EN See Rocky Mountain \Jgoat\j
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#
"antenatal diagnosis",1601,0,0,0
EN See prenatal diagnosis
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"antenna (biology)",1602,0,0,0
HS (\Jbiology\j)
EN One of a pair of specialized sensory appendages on the head of an \Jinvertebrate\j animal; insects typically have one pair, crustaceans two pairs; varies in shape and size: long and thin in shrimps, feather-like in moths, club-shaped in weevils.
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"antenna (technology)",1603,0,0,0
HS (technology)
EN The component of a radio or \Jtelevision\j system by which electromagnetic signals are transmitted or received; also known as the \Baerial.\b In high-frequency practice, additional elements termed \Ireflectors\i and \Idirectors\i are included to increase directional efficiency.
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"Antenor",1604,0,0,0
PN [an\Btay\bnaw(r)]
DT1 6
DT1b th-c BC
EN Athenian sculptor, known to have executed bronze statues of 'Harmodius' and 'Aristogiton', and a statue of a kore (a freestanding figure of a maiden) in the Acropolis.
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"anterior",1605,0,0,0
A technical term used in \Jbiology\j to describe the front end, or head end, of a living thing. Some animals with radial symmetry, such as an \Jechinoderm\j, cannot be described as having anterior and posterior regions, although it may well still have dorsal and ventral surfaces.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Antheil, George",1606,0,0,0
DT (1900-59)
EN composer; born in Trenton, N.J. After childhood studies in \Jpiano\j and composition (with Ernest Bloch), he made a sensation on a 1922 European tour with his "ultra-modern" compositions such as \ISonate sauvage.\i Becoming a favorite of the influential Parisian avant-garde, Antheil in 1926 premiered his most famous/infamous work, the \IBallet mΘcanique,\i a percussive score including an airplane engine and other noisemakers.
Returning to the U.S.A. in 1927, he settled into a long career of relatively conservative composing, including a number of film scores. His \Jautobiography\j, \IBad Boy of Music,\i appeared in 1945.
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"anthelmintics",1607,0,0,0
PN [anthel\Bmin\btiks]
EN Drugs which paralyse or kill parasitic worms \I(helminths),\i such as ringworms, tapeworms, and schistosomes. Ancient treatment included \Jantimony\j compounds and absinthium (wormwood), the leaves and flowers of \IArtemesia absinthium.\i \JGalen\j used aspidium extract of the male fern \I(Dryopteris felixmas)\i for tapeworms. Many of these treatments were used until quite recently. They are now mostly replaced by safer, more effective drugs such as mebendazole, piperazine, and niridazole.
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"anthem",1608,0,0,0
EN A sacred vocal composition to an English text, often from the Book of Psalms. 16th-c composers, including Byrd and Tallis, wrote numerous examples, but the anthem was not included in the rubric of the Anglican \Jliturgy\j until 1662. Purcell excelled in the genre, and also in the instrumentally-accompanied anthem which flourished after the Restoration.
The notion later developed a secular sense, referring to a song of praise composed in honour of someone or something, as in the case of \Bnational anthems.\b
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"Anthon, Charles",1609,0,0,0
DT (1797-1867)
EN classicist; born in New York City. He was admitted to the bar in 1919 and was made professor of Greek and Latin at Columbia University the next year. He was the first American to prepare critical editions of classical authors \I(Horatii Poemata,\i 1830). He did the first American edition of \ILemprierΦ's Classical Dictionary,\i which he virtually rewrote; his contribution was recognized when the third edition (1833) was called \IAnthon's Classical Dictionary.\i His nephew Charles Edward Anthon (1823-83) was the numismatist and president of the American Numismatic and Archaeological Society of New York (1869-83).
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"Anthony (Deuster), Joseph",1610,0,0,0
DT 1912-93
EN American actor and director. In 1948 he made his New York directing debut with Celebration. Working in both films and the theatre, Anthony's stage credits include: The Rainmaker (1954), The Lark (1955), The Most Happy Fella (1956), Winesburg Ohio (1958), The Best Man (1960), Mary, Mary (1961), Romulus (1962), 110 in the Shade (1963), Slow Dance on the Killing Ground (1964) and Finishing Touches (1973).
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"Anthony Island",1611,0,0,0
EN A provincial park in the Queen Charlotte Is (\JHaida\j \IG'waii)\i off the coast of British Columbia, Canada; a world heritage site. For 2000 years the island was inhabited by the \JHaida\j nation. Although it was abandoned in the late 19th-c, their village with its longhouses and \Jtotem\j \Jpoles\j has been preserved.
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"Anthony, C L",1612,0,0,0
EN See Smith, Dodie
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"Anthony, St",1613,0,0,0
EN See Antony or Anthony of Padua, St
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"Anthony, Susan B(rownell)",1614,0,0,0
DT (1820-1906)
EN women's rights leader; born in Adams, Mass. Raised as a Quaker and observant of the working conditions of the women in her father's cotton mill, she briefly attended Deborah Moulson's Seminary for Females in Philadelphia (1837) and then took up teaching, becoming headmistress at the Canajoharie (N.Y.) Academy (1845-48). Returning to her family - her parents knew the prominent abolitionists and had attended the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, N.Y., in 1848 - she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1850.
After she was denied a chance to speak at meetings of temperance advocates, she dedicated herself to winning full rights for women. Teamed with Stanton, she gained her first success with the passage of New York State's Married Women's Property Act (1860). An ardent abolitionist, she nevertheless opposed the male-only Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. Between 1868-70 she was publisher of the \IRevolution,\i a woman suffrage paper.
With Stanton, she founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (1869); dissatisfaction with Stanton and Anthony's methods and goals led to a schism within the movement, but in 1890 the two main groups were united as the National American Woman Suffrage Association, of which Anthony served as president (1892-1900). She constantly spoke out against injustices of all kinds but concentrated most of the energies of her final decades in seeking a constitutional amendment to allow women to vote.
Although stronger in organizational skills than as a public speaker, she seemed indefatigable in traveling throughout the country to promote her cause. In 1872 she cast a ballot in the 1872 election and was arrested and fined; in 1905 she personally visited President Theodore Roosevelt to urge his support for women's suffrage. She initiated the \IHistory of Woman Suffrage,\i seeing the first four volumes into print (1881-1902).
As late as 1904 she was in Berlin, \JGermany\j, helping to found the International Woman Suffrage Alliance. The ridicule that had greeted her in her first decades was replaced by respect, and she became internationally known as the symbol of the women's rights movement.
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"anthracene",1615,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bthraseen]
EN C\D14\dH\D10\d, melting point 216░C. A colourless, cancer-causing, aromatic compound isolated from \Jcoal\j tar. Its blue \Jfluorescence\j is used in scintillation counters to detect \fb\n-particles. Oxidized to \Banthraquinone,\b it is the raw material for the \Ializarin\i series of dyestuffs.
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"anthracite",1616,0,0,0
EN A hard and lustrous variety of \Jcoal\j, containing more than 90% carbon. It is the highest grade of \Jcoal\j, and burns with a very hot, virtually smokeless flame.
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"anthrax",1617,0,0,0
EN A disease resulting from infection with \IBacillus anthracis,\i contaminating wool or hides. Initially the organisms cause localized skin lesions which enlarge, ulcerate, and become black ('malignant pustules'). Blood poisoning, \Jpneumonia\j, and death may occur.
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"anthropic principle",1618,0,0,0
EN A suggestion, due originally to Fred Hoyle in the 1950s, that humans exist because physical laws governing the universe exhibit special features. For example, if gravitation were stronger relative to \Jelectromagnetism\j than it actually is, stars such as our Sun would burn out too quickly for life to evolve nearby. If \Jstrong nuclear force\j were slightly weaker relative to \Jelectromagnetism\j, the only stable element would be \Jhydrogen\j.
Some propound the idea of multiple universes which may or may not be stable. Others hold a stronger version of the principle, that a direct link exists between human existence and the actual form of the laws of nature. The anthropic principle is difficult to reconcile with unified theories in physics, which attempt a complete specification of the laws of nature.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
An extension to this, the strong anthropic principle, implies that if the laws of the Universe did not support the development of intelligent creatures to ask about the initial conditions of the Universe, intelligent life would never have evolved to ask the question in the first place. In other words, the laws of the Universe are the way they are because if they were different, no intelligent beings would be able to consider the laws of the Universe at all. Hoyle's view thus becomes the weak anthropic principle.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Anthropoidea",1619,0,0,0
PN [anthro\Bpoy\bdia]
EN A group of primates comprising monkeys and apes; face usually flat; ears small; fingers and toes with nails, not claws; live in complex social groups; also known as \Banthropoid apes\b (though this term is sometimes used only for apes).
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"anthropological linguistics",1620,0,0,0
EN The study of language variation and use in relation to the cultural patterns and beliefs of (usually primitive) communities. It frequently examines linguistic evidence for allegiance to religious, occupational, or kinship groups.
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"anthropology",1621,0,0,0
EN The scientific study of human beings, traditionally identified as a 'four-field' discipline, encompassing \Barchaeology,\b \Bsocial\b and \Bcultural \Janthropology\j,\b \Bbiological \Janthropology\j,\b and even \Blinguistics.\b The primary concern of archaeologists is 'digging up history' - recovering and documenting the material remains of past communities.
Cultural and social anthropologists study particular living societies, and attempt through comparison to establish the range of variation in human, social, and cultural institutions, and the reasons for these differences. Physical anthropologists study local biological adaptations and human evolutionary history. The fourth field, linguistics, the study of language, is now generally regarded as a separate speciality.
Many specialists believe that even the three core disciplines of \Janthropology\j are no longer linked in a single scientific enterprise; those who defend the traditional disciplinary range of the subject tend to be concerned above all with questions of human adaptation. Anthropologists are commonly drawn into development projects in Third World countries, to advise on local social conditions.
Anthropological expertise has also been applied in the USA (and to some extent elsewhere) in dealing with problems of multi-ethnic communities, nowadays particularly with regard to indigenous rights, medicine, and education. Such developments fall under the heading of \Bapplied \Janthropology\j.\b
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
When a scientist starts a \Jchemical reaction\j in a test tube, the result is always the same whether or not the observer is there. In some cases, though, the scientist can have an influence on the result. Perhaps the scientist's body warmth changes something, or maybe the scientist absorbs a few cosmic rays that would otherwise have hit an instrument, but the effect is still very small.
When scientists study animal behaviour they are very careful to hide themselves, so that the animals will not react to their presence. Even so, you can never be absolutely certain that the animals are unable to see, hear, or smell their observers.
When humans are the 'animals' being watched, there is even more likelihood of the observer having some influence on those being observed. Anthropologists are very aware of this, and proceed very carefully when they are studying their chosen subjects. Yet even when they are sure that they are having no influence on the people around them, the anthropologists are generally being studied as well.
People will try to make the stranger welcome, and often say what they think the stranger wants to hear. On top of this, anthropologists are only human, and may well hear what they want to hear. While anthropologists continue to argue about it, most people believe now that American anthropologist Margaret Mead's studies of \JSamoa\j were tainted in one or both of these ways.
Some critics consider that Englishman Bronislaw Malinowski's studies of Trobriand Islands culture are also tainted, because Malinowski did not realize that the 'primitives' he was studying had a sense of humour, and delighted in telling him tall tales. Yet even if Mead, Malinowski, and every other anthropologist has made errors in their observations, they have also carried out, and will continue to carry out, a most important job.
One of the greatest values of \Janthropology\j comes when we turn it back on its originators, using the observational skills of \Janthropology\j to study our own societies. Only now are we beginning to realize that our own society is made up of a multitude of cultures.
Anthropology also serves another very important purpose: as the whole world becomes more westernized, more committed to a world culture, so people are losing track of how their ancestors lived. They tend to ignore the ways of their parents, dismissing them as primitive and worthless, but in a generation or two, people will realize that this was unwise. At that time, the work of the anthropologists in recording the myths, legends, and customs will prove that they have merit which fully excuses any minor flaws in their methods.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"anthropometry",1622,0,0,0
EN The comparative study of the dimensions of the human body and their change with time. The main dimensions examined include weight, height, skinfold thickness, mid-arm \Jcircumference\j, relative limb lengths, and waist-to-hip ratios. Standard charts exist to allow a comparison of an observed anthropometric value with the range of normality within a group (eg the growth of a child). The study also sheds light on human \Jevolution\j, \Jnutrition\j, and climatic adaptability, and influences the design of many products, such as clothes, car seats, and space capsules.
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"anthropomorphism",1623,0,0,0
EN The application to God or gods of human characteristics, such as a body (as in Greek \Jmythology\j), or the mental, psychological, or spiritual qualities of human beings. It is often used to indicate insufficient appreciation of transcendence and mystery of the divine.
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"anthroposophy",1624,0,0,0
EN An esoteric system of belief developed by Rudolph Steiner, asserting that the key to understanding the universe lies in new modes of human spiritual development and apprehension.
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"anti-aircraft gun (AA-gun)",1625,0,0,0
EN A gun firing a shell at high velocity at a high angle designed to shoot down \Jaircraft\j. AA-guns (sometimes known as 'flak' from the German expression, \IFliegerabwehrkanone)\i began to be supplanted by missiles at the end of World War 2. On the modern battlefield, radar-guided 'Triple A' (standing for \BAnti-Aircraft Artillery)\b has an important role in providing low-level, close-in defence against hostile \Jaircraft\j, helicopters, and missiles.
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"anti-anxiety drugs",1626,0,0,0
EN See benzodiazepines
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"anti-art",1627,0,0,0
EN An imprecise term sometimes referring to \JDada\j, or to any movement which debunks traditional notions of art, or seeks to undermine its values.
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"Anti-Comintern Pact",1628,0,0,0
EN An agreement between \JGermany\j and \JJapan\j, concluded in 1936, which outlined both countries' hostility to international \Jcommunism\j. The Pact was also signed by \JItaly\j in 1937. In addition to being specifically aimed against Soviet \JRussia\j, it also recognized Japanese rule in Manchuria.
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"Anti-Corn-Law League",1629,0,0,0
EN An association formed in Manchester (Sep 1838), largely under the patronage of businessmen and industrialists, to repeal the British Corn Laws, which imposed protective tariffs on the import of foreign corn. The League was both an important element in the growing movement for \Jfree trade\j in early 19th-c Britain, and an important political pressure group. The Corn Laws were repealed by Robert Peel in 1846.
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"anti-hero",1630,0,0,0
EN A central character in a novel or play who deviates from or contradicts conventional values and behaviour. Famous examples are Hasek's hero in \IThe Good Soldier Sweik\i (1921-3), and Yossarian in Heller's \ICatch-22\i (1961).
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"anti-literature",1631,0,0,0
EN The conception and practice of writing which challenges established ideas of what literature should be, on formal, ideological, or other grounds. Much experimental literature exhibits these tendencies.
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"Anti-Masonic Party",1632,0,0,0
EN (1830-6) A US group dedicated to driving Freemasons out of public life, arising from the highly publicized disappearance (1826) of the author of a book revealing Masonic secrets. It was the first 'third party' in the USA, nominating a presidential candidate in 1832 at the first national party convention. It declined after 1836.
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"anti-novel",1633,0,0,0
EN A novel which, while still (of necessity) using the conventions of fiction, exposes their artifice in different ways and invites reconsideration of the novel's implicit claim to represent reality. Sterne's \ITristram Shandy\i (1760-7) is an early example; 20th-c practitioners include James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Flann O'Brien, Vladimir Nabokov, Thomas Pynchon, and Michel Butor.
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"Anti-Saloon League",1634,0,0,0
EN A US organization established in 1895, with the aim of forbidding alcoholic drink by amending the US Constitution and by state and local anti-alcohol laws. The League remained in being during and after the Prohibition period, and became part of the National Temperance League in 1950.
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"antiballistic missile (ABM)",1635,0,0,0
EN A missile capable of destroying hostile ballistic missiles or their payloads in flight at short, medium, or long ranges inside or outside the \Jatmosphere\j. Their development was restricted by the US-Soviet ABM Treaty of 1972.
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"Antibes",1636,0,0,0
PN [πteeb]
EN 43░35N 7░07E, pop (1995e) 72 800. Fishing port and fashionable resort on the Riviera, in Alpes-Maritimes department, SE \JFrance\j; facing Nice across a long bay; best known for its luxurious villas and hotels sheltered by the pines of Cap d'Antibes; 3 km/13/4 mi W, Napoleon landed with 1000 men on his return from \JElba\j in 1815; railway; perfumes, flowers, olives, fruit, chocolates; Roman remains; museums, including the MusΘe Picasso.
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"antibiotics",1637,0,0,0
EN Substances derived from one \Jmicro-organism\j which can selectively destroy other (infectious) organisms without harming the host. The antibiotic effect has been known for at least 2500 years: the Chinese applied mouldy soybean curd to boils and similar infections. Pasteur recorded that \Janthrax\j bacilli grew rapidly in sterile (but not non-sterile) urine (1877).
The development of \Jpenicillin\j (1941) was the start of the era of safe and effective \Jantibiotics\j. Many new \Jantibiotics\j have since been discovered (nearly 100), each with a slightly different range of activities. Several are now synthesized. Resistance to \Jantibiotics\j caused by uncontrolled use represents a serious medical hazard.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
One of the problems with \Jantibiotics\j is that they are all anti-biotic, opposed to life. That is to say, they are biologically active molecules which interfere in some way with the processes of life. In most cases, the \Jantibiotics\j we use have side effects, and the art of using them wisely includes selecting one which will be concentrated in the area where the infection is located, and choosing one which has limited side effects. Vancomycin, commonly identified as "the antibiotic of last resort" is a good example, as its side effects have limited its use in the past. This antibiotic needs to be injected intravenously (not into the muscle) and it has been known to cause damage to the auditory nerve and to the kidney, which means that it has to be administered only under supervised conditions. (There are one or two instances where oral administration, that is, swallowing, is appropriate: in these cases, the drug has proven to be extremely unpalatable, and to have caused vomiting.)
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"antibodies",1638,0,0,0
EN Proteins which help protect against disease-causing micro-organisms (\Jbacteria\j, viruses, parasites), present mainly in the gamma \Jglobulin\j fraction of serum; also known as \Bimmunoglobulins.\b Antibody production is carried out by \IB lymphocytes,\i and may be regulated by \Ihelper T\i and \Isuppressor T lymphocytes.\i
The first exposure of the body to a foreign cell or molecule (an \Iantigen)\i produces an immune response which is directed specifically against the \Jantigen\j that triggered it. \JAntibodies\j are produced which eliminate the antigens by a number of mechanisms. Subsequent exposure of the body to the same \Jantigen\j results in a more rapid and larger immune response. This state of heightened responsiveness is known as a state of \Iimmunity.\i
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"Antichrist",1639,0,0,0
EN A notion found in the \JBible\j only in the Johannine Letters, referring sometimes to a single figure and at other times to many who are adversaries and deceivers of God's people. In later centuries, it was conceived as a supreme evil figure, often identified with one's opponents.
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"anticline",1640,0,0,0
EN A geological fold structure in the form of an arch, with the younger strata at the top of the succession. It is formed as a result of compressional forces acting in a horizontal plane on rock strata.
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"anticoagulants",1641,0,0,0
EN Drugs which slow down or prevent the normal process of blood clotting, such as \Jheparin\j and warfarin. They are used in the treatment and prevention of diseases caused by thrombi (blood clots) which block blood-vessels. Warfarin is also used as a rat poison, where death occurs by internal haemorrhage, but resistance has developed in a number of rat colonies, giving rise to the 'super-rat'.
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"anticonvulsants",1642,0,0,0
EN Drugs used in the control of \Jepilepsy\j. All sedatives are anticonvulsant at high doses, but useful drugs in current use include \Jphenobarbitone\j, phenytoin, sodium valproate, and clonazepam. The first successful drug treatment for \Jepilepsy\j was \Jpotassium\j bromide, used in 1857 by English physician Sir Charles Locock (1799-1875), who incorrectly believed it to suppress libido (at the time \Jepilepsy\j was thought to be associated with sexual activity). The first major advance in the field was the introduction of \Jphenobarbitone\j in \JGermany\j in 1912.
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"anticyclone",1643,0,0,0
EN A meteorological term for a high pressure system. Anticyclones are areas of generally clear skies and stable \Jweather\j conditions. They occur in a variety of sizes and modes of origin, and warm anticyclones are a semi-permanent feature of subtropical areas (eg the \JAzores\j and Hawaiian high pressure zones).
A \Iblocking\i \Janticyclone\j may persist for several weeks, travelling very slowly and diverting depressions around it. In the Northern hemisphere, surface winds blow in a clockwise direction out of an \Janticyclone\j; in the Southern hemisphere the direction is anticlockwise.
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"antidepressants",1644,0,0,0
EN Drugs which cause elevation of mood in depressed patients. There are two major classes: \Itricyclics\i (eg imipramine, amitriptyline) and \Imonoamine oxidase inhibitors\i (eg isocarboxazid, phenelzine). During the clinical investigation of some antihistamine drugs in 1958, Swiss physician Richard Kuhn (1900-67) found that imipramine was beneficial in depressed patients, and this type of drug is widely used today.
The second class was also discovered fortuitously in 1952, when the anti-tubercular drug ipraniazid was noted to have mood-elevating effects. However this type of drug has severe adverse interactions with certain foods, such as cheese and red wine, and its use is therefore quite limited. \JLithium\j is used in manic depression.
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"antidiuretic hormone (ADH)",1645,0,0,0
PN [anteediyu\Bret\bik]
EN A chemical substance (a \Jpeptide\j) manufactured in the \Jhypothalamus\j, but stored in and released from the back part of the pituitary \Jgland\j of mammals; also known as \Bvasopressin.\b It is one of the most fundamental \Jhormones\j, being instrumental in conserving body fluids, and has known effects on memory, circadian rhythm, and the control of blood pressure in the brain.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
ADH is the standard abbreviation for antidiuretic hormone. This hormone is normally produced by the body, but can be suppressed by a diuretic like \Jethanol\j or \Jcaffeine\j.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Antietam, Battle of",1646,0,0,0
PN [an\Btee\btam]
EN (1862) A battle of the \JAmerican Civil War\j, fought in Maryland. It was the bloodiest battle in American history (with over four times the US casualties of \JD-Day\j). In military terms the North won a technical victory. This helped dissuade Britain and \JFrance\j from giving diplomatic recognition to the Confederacy and attempting to mediate the conflict, which they were about to do. It also allowed President Lincoln to issue his Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
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"antiferromagnetism",1647,0,0,0
EN See \Jferromagnetism\j
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"antifreeze",1648,0,0,0
EN A substance added to \Jwater\j in the cooling system of an engine to prevent the system freezing during cold \Jweather\j. This is necessary since \Jwater\j expands when it freezes, and this can lead to cracking in those parts of the engine where the cooling system is circulated. Substances used as anti-freeze include \Jethanol\j and methanol, which can evaporate in \Jwater\j solution; \Jethylene\j-glycol is more reliable, but more expensive.
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"antigen",1649,0,0,0
EN See \Jantibodies\j
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"Antigone",1650,0,0,0
PN [an\Btig\bonee]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, a daughter of Oedipus, King of Thebes. After the Seven Champions had attacked the city, Antigone buried the body of her brother Polynices (one of the attackers), so defying King Creon's order that such a traitor should remain unburied. She was condemned to death by starvation, but hanged herself. In \JSophocles\j' play of the same name, Antigone becomes a symbol of the individual's right to defy the state over a matter of conscience.
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"Antigonus I",1651,0,0,0
PN [an\Btig\bonus]
HS , known as \BCyclops\b or \BMonophthalmos\b (Gr 'One-eyed')
DT1 382
DT2 301
DT2b BC
EN Macedonian soldier, one of the generals of Alexander the Great. After Alexander's death, he received the provinces of \JPhrygia\j Major, Lycia, and Pamphylia. On Antipater's death in 319 BC, he aspired to the sovereignty of Asia, and waged incessant wars against the other generals, making himself master of all \JAsia Minor\j and \JSyria\j.
In 306 BC he assumed the title of king, together with his son Demetrius Poliorcetes, but was defeated and slain at Ipsus in \JPhrygia\j.
MEX Alexander the Great; Cassander; Lysimachus; Seleucus; Antipater (of Macedon)
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"Antigonus II",1652,0,0,0
PN [an\Bti\bgonus]
HS , known as \BGonatas\b
DT1a c.
DT1 319
DT2 239
DT2b BC
EN King of Macedon. He did not mount his throne until 276 BC, seven years after the death of his father, Demetrius Poliorcetes. \JPyrrhus\j of Epirus overran Macedonia in 274 BC, but Antigonus soon recovered his kingdom, and consolidated it despite incessant wars.
MEX \JPyrrhus\j
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"Antigua and Barbuda",1653,0,0,0
PN [an\Btee\bga, bah(r)\Bbyoo\bda]
EN pop (1995e) 63 900; area 442 sq km/171 sq mi. Group of three islands in the Leeward group of the Lesser \JAntilles\j, E Caribbean; Antigua (280 sq km/108 sq mi), Barbuda (161 sq km/62 sq mi), lying 40 km/25 mi to the N, and Redonda (1 sq km/ 1/3 sq mi), uninhabited, lying 40 km/25 mi to the SW; capital, St John's (on Antigua); other main town, Codrington (on Barbuda); timezone GMT -4; people mostly of African descent; official language, English; dominant religion, \JChristianity\j; unit of currency, the Eastern Caribbean dollar; W part of Antigua rises to 470 m/1542 ft at Boggy Peak; Barbuda a flat \Jcoral\j island reaching only 44 m/144 ft at its highest point, with a large lagoon on its W side; climate tropical (24░C, Jan, to 27░C, Aug/Sep); mean annual rainfall of 1000 mm/40 in; Antigua discovered by Columbus, 1493; colonized by English, 1632; ceded to Britain, 1667; Barbuda colonized from Antigua, 1661; administered as part of the Leeward Is Federation, 1871--1956; an associated state of the UK, 1967; independence achieved, 1981; a governor-general and a bicameral legislature (a 17-member Senate and a 17-member \JHouse of Representatives\j); tourism (60% of national income), cotton, vegetables, pineapples, light manufacturing.
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"Antigua or Antigua Guatemala",1654,0,0,0
PN [an\Btee\bgwa]
EN 14░33N 90░42W, pop (1995e) 35 900. Capital city of SacatepΘquez department, S \JGuatemala\j, SW of \JGuatemala\j City; founded by the Spanish, 1543; capital, until largely destroyed by \Jearthquake\j, 1773; old city flourished in the 18th-c, with many churches, university (1680), printing press, and population of c.60 000; now a world heritage site; cathedral (1534); Holy Week processions.
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"antihistamines",1655,0,0,0
EN Drugs used in the relief of allergic reactions, such as hay fever (but not \Jasthma\j). They are so called because they act by blocking the action of the substance \Jhistamine\j, produced in the body during allergies. They are also used in the treatment of motion sickness. Drowsiness is a common side effect, and certain \Jantihistamines\j are used as sedatives.
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"antiknock",1656,0,0,0
EN A chemical substance added to a spark ignition engine's fuel to improve combustion and prevent knocking. An example is tetra-\Jethyl\j lead.
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"Antikythera mechanism",1657,0,0,0
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
A small "machine" made of bronze, and made in Rhodes, around the year 87 BC. It is now believed to be an analogue astronomical computer, a calendrical device or orrery for calculating the position of the \Jsun\j and the moon, as well as the rising and setting of certain stars. It was recovered from a wreck in 1900.
The main interest to this mechanism is the degree of precision required at a time when the normal gears were used in heavy machinery, and did not need exact gear ratios-near enough was good enough. This is not the case when it comes to a precision instrument with some 24 different gears and 13 axles in it. To build something like that demanded good mathematical knowledge and high mechanical precision.
The wreck was found just before Easter in the year 1900, when a sponge diving party was returning in two caiques from the sponge fishing grounds in Tunisian waters off the North African coast to their home on the island of Syme. They sheltered from rough \Jweather\j near the island of Aigilia or Antikythera (now correctly spelled Andikithira, but also known as Cerigotto, Sijiljo, and Stus). The island is opposite the island of Kythera, and gets its name from this fact. It is about halfway between Kythera and \JCrete\j.
After the \Jweather\j cleared, the divers decided to test the waters for sponges, and Elias Stadiatis found the wreck at a depth of some 42 metres. It was about 50 metres long, and statues and amphoras were spread out for the taking. The salvage operation took ten divers nine months, all in the days before scuba gear was invented, and without the benefit of diving suits. It was a further six months before they reported their find to the authorities, although it appears that they had probably managed to sell a lot of the smaller items from the wreck in that time. It was only in 1975 that Derek de Solla Price was able to unravel the operation of the device.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Antill, John Henry",1658,0,0,0
DT1 1904
DT2 86
EN Composer, born in Ashfield, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. Entering the \JNew South Wales\j \JConservatory\j at 21, he studied composition with Alfred Hill, becoming a member of the \JConservatory\j orchestra and later of the ABC (now Sydney) Symphony Orchestra. His major work, the ballet \ICorroboree\i (1944), blends Aboriginal and western themes. Other compositions include operas and choral works, ballet suites, and a symphony.
MEX Hill, Alfred
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"Antilles",1659,0,0,0
PN [an\Btil\beez]
EN The whole of the West Indies except the \JBahamas\j; \BGreater Antilles\b include \JCuba\j, \JJamaica\j, \JHispaniola\j (\JHaiti\j and the Dominican Republic), and Puerto Rico; \BLesser Antilles\b include the Windward Is (south), Leeward Is (north), and the Netherlands \JAntilles\j off the coast of Venezuela.
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"antimatter",1660,0,0,0
EN See \Jantiparticles\j
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"antimony",1661,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\btimonee]
EN Sb (Lat \Istibium),\i element 51, melting point 631░C. A metalloid in the \Jnitrogen\j family; common \Joxidation\j states 3 and 5; expands on solidifying. It is used in type-metal alloys, and also as an impurity in \Jgermanium\j to make n-type semiconductors.
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"Antin, Mary",1662,0,0,0
DT (1881-1949)
EN author, social reformer; born in Polotsk, \JRussia\j. She emigrated to the United States in 1894 and was educated at Barnard College. Her books, such as \IFrom Polotzk to Boston\i (1899) and \IThe Promised Land\i (1912), detailed immigrant life in America. A lecturer and activist, she campaigned against restrictive \Jimmigration\j legislation.
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"antinode",1663,0,0,0
One identifiable point in a standing wave created when two equal and opposite waves cancel each other out. These are most easily observed in a plucked string, such as a \Jguitar\j string, where waves pass up and down the string. As the string vibrates, the two ends of the string are held still, while the centre of the string shows the greatest degree of movement.
The clamped points are called nodes, from the Latin word for a knot, while the central point in the string is called an antinode. When harmonics are heard, the first of these involves the addition of extra antinodes, one quarter and three quarters of the way along, and an extra node at the midway point, and so on.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"antinomianism",1664,0,0,0
EN A doctrine in Christian \Jtheology\j to the effect that Christians are exempt from ordinary moral laws and should be governed instead by divine grace and individual conscience. The first 'antinomian controversy' was between Luther and Agricola during the Reformation.
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"Antioch",1665,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bteeok]
EN 36░12N 36░10E, pop (1995e) 128 000. Capital of Hatay province, S Turkey; near the Mediterranean, 90 km/56 mi W of \JAleppo\j (\JSyria\j); founded, 300BC;centre of early \JChristianity\j; destroyed by \Jearthquake\j, 526; \Jtobacco\j, olives, cotton, grain; archaeological museum.
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"Antiochus I",1666,0,0,0
PN [anti\Boh\bkus]
HS , known as \BAntiochus Soter\b (Gr 'Saviour')
DT1 324
DT2 261
DT2b BC
EN Seleucid king of \JSyria\j. He was the son of Seleucus I, one of Alexander's generals, whose murder in 280 gave him the whole Syrian empire, but left him too weak to assert his right to Macedonia. He gained his surname for a victory over the Gauls, but fell in battle with them.
MEX Seleucus I
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"Antiochus II",1667,0,0,0
PN [an\Btiy\bokus]
HS , known as \BAntiochus Theos\b ('God')
DT1 286
DT2 247
DT2b BC
EN Seleucid king of \JSyria\j, the son and successor of Antiochus I. He married Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy II, exiling his first wife, Laodice, and her children. On his death there followed a struggle between the rival queens. Berenice and her son were murdered, and the succession went to Laodice's son, Seleucus II (reigned 246-226 BC).
MEX Antiochus I; Ptolemy II
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"Antiochus III",1668,0,0,0
PN [anti\Boh\bkus]
HS , known as \BAntiochus the Great\b
DT1a c.
DT1 242
DT2 187
DT2b BC
EN Seleucid king of \JSyria\j, the grandson of Antiochus II, who succeeded his brother, Seleucus III, in 223 BC. He waged war with success against Ptolemy IV Philopator, and though defeated at Raphia near Gaza (217 BC), he obtained entire possession of Palestine and Coele \JSyria\j (198 BC). He later became involved in war with the Romans, who had conquered Macedonia.
He crossed over into \JGreece\j, but was defeated in 191 BC at Thermopylae, and in 190 or 189 BC by Scipio at \JMagnesia\j. To raise tribute money, he attacked a rich temple in Elymais, but the people rose against him and killed him.
MEX Antiochus II; Scipio Africanus
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"Antiochus IV",1669,0,0,0
PN [an\Btiy\bokus]
HS , known as \BAntiochus Epiphanes\b
DT1a c.
DT1 215
DT2 163
DT2b BC
EN Seleucid king of \JSyria\j, the son of Antiochus III. He succeeded his brother in 175 BC, then fought against \JEgypt\j and conquered a great part of it. He twice took \JJerusalem\j, provoking the Jews to a successful insurrection under Mattathias and his sons, the \JMaccabees\j.
MEX Antiochus III
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"antioxidants",1670,0,0,0
EN Substances which slow down the \Joxidation\j of others, often by being oxidized themselves, which have been implicated as a cause of cancer and a mediator of tissue damage. Aerobic organisms (which cannot survive without oxygen) have evolved protective mechanisms to avoid the lethal effects of \Joxidation\j.
In human beings, these include \Jenzyme\j systems (eg superoxide dismutase), and certain vitamins (eg A, C, E), which are beneficial in treating rheumatoid \Jarthritis\j and Parkinson's disease as well as protecting against \Jcarcinoma\j of the gastro-intestinal tract.
Enzyme preparations are available which can be taken in tablet form as a dietary supplement to suppress \Jinflammation\j in various forms of \Jarthritis\j, and many foodstuffs have \Jantioxidants\j added as preservatives. The term is usually applied to additives in foods and plastics, an example being ascorbic acid.
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"antiparticles",1671,0,0,0
EN Partners of subatomic particles having the same mass and spin but opposite charge, \Jmagnetic moment\j, and other quantum attributes. When \Jantiparticles\j meet their particle partners the two annihilate, as predicted by Paul Dirac in 1928. The antiparticle is usually denoted by a bar over the symbol for the corresponding particle.
Antiparticle partners of \Jelectron\j \Ie\U-\u\i and proton \Ip\i are the \Jpositron\j \Ie\U+\u\i and \Jantiproton\j \Ip\ma,\i respectively. Antimatter composed of \Jantiparticles\j is possible, but highly unstable, and not observed naturally. \JAntiparticles\j are seen in \Jradioactivity\j, cosmic rays, and \Jparticle physics\j experiments. Force-carrying particles such as photons are identical to their \Jantiparticles\j.
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"Antipater",1672,0,0,0
PN [an\Bti\bpater]
HS (of Idumaea)
DT1 ?
DT2 43
DT2b BC
EN The father of Herod the Great, appointed by Julius Caesar procurator of Judaea in 47 BC. He died by poisoning.
MEX Caesar; Herod
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"Antipater (of Idumaea)",1673,0,0,0
PN [an\Bti\bpater]
DT1 ?
DT2 4
DT2b BC
EN Judaean prince, the son of Herod the Great by his first wife. He conspired against his half-brothers and had them executed, then plotted against his father, and was himself executed five days before Herod died.
MEX Herod
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"Antipater (of Macedon)",1674,0,0,0
PN [an\Bti\bpater]
HS (of Macedon)
DT1 398
DT2 319
DT2b BC
EN Macedonian general. He was highly trusted by Philip II of Macedonia and Alexander the Great, and was left by the latter as regent in Macedonia (334 BC). He discharged his duties with great ability, both before and after the death of Alexander.
MEX Alexander the Great; Philip II (of Macedon)
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"Antiphon",1675,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\btifon]
DT1a c.
DT1 480
DT2 411
DT2b BC
EN The earliest of the ten Attic orators. He belonged to the oligarchical party, and was influential in establishing the government of the Four Hundred (411 BC). On its fall he was condemned to death, in spite of a noble defence.
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"Antiphon (Greece)",1676,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\btifon]
DT1 5
DT1b th-c BC
EN Greek philosopher and Sophist. Nothing is known of his life, but he is generally distinguished from Antiphon the orator. He is important as the author of two works, \IOn Truth\i and \IOn Concord,\i which survive in fragmentary form.
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"antiphon (religion)",1677,0,0,0
EN In the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox liturgies, a chant with a prose text which precedes or follows a psalm. It is linked with the practice of antiphonal psalmody, in which verses were sung alternately by two groups of singers, or by soloist and choir. A collection of antiphons is known as an \Bantiphoner.\b
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"antipodes",1678,0,0,0
EN Any two places which are on the opposite sides of the Earth when connected by a \Jstraight line\j passing through the centre of the Earth. For example, the Antipodes Is, \JNew Zealand\j, 49░42S and 178░50E and the Baie de la Seine, \JFrance\j, 49░45N and 1░W are antipodes. The term is also loosely used by Europeans to refer to \JAustralasia\j.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The early Christian church was absolutely wedded (in public) to a flat \Jearth\j. In private, the scholars knew what was what, but it was not for consumption by the general public, who were given a different account altogether. After all, if you accepted a spherical \Jearth\j, how did you explain passages like Romans 10:18, where the words went "unto the ends of the world"? It seems that the early scholars were agreed on one thing: it was better not to challenge the faith of the simple with complex ideas.
Cosmas of Alexandria was a Christian writer who wrote his "Christian Topography" in about 548 AD. In it, he used the \JApostle\j Paul's declaration (Hebrews 9:1-2) that the first \JTabernacle\j was a pattern for this world-it was one cubit by two (Exodus 37:10), so that gave us the dimensions of the flat world. Saint Basil had ducked the issue, before Cosmas, and Cosmas got stuck into him. We had the God-given power to tread on scorpions or serpents, he said, and if there were such a thing as the Antipodes, he wanted to know, how could we possibly exercise that power?
Cosmas was not the first, nor would he be the last. Julius Scolinus (fl. c. 250 AD) asserted that the \Jearth\j was flat-he later influenced St Augustine, St Boniface, Isidore of Seville, the Venerable Bede, even Boethius, who wrote "God forbid that anybody think we accept stories of antipodes, which are in every way contradictory to Christian faith".
Lactantius, tutor to the son of the Emperor Constantine, was often called "the Christian Cicero". He asked "Can anyone be so foolish as to believe that there are men whose feet are higher than their heads, or places where things may be hanging downwards, trees growing backwards, or rain falling upwards? Where is the marvel of the hanging gardens of \JBabylon\j, if we are to allow the hanging world of the Antipodes?"
It was even a standard part of the heresy charges at one stage to say that the heretic "believed in the Antipodes". The notion of a spherical \Jearth\j remained alive, and sensible Christian scholars maintained their knowledge, but the rabble leaders, the noise makers, the Inquisitors, would have howled them down if they dared to speak out-such knowledge was unsuitable for the ordinary peasants.
The flat \Jearth\j tradition seems less forceful as we come into the \JMiddle Ages\j-presumably more people were able to read the Greek classics, and see the reasoning behind the spherical \Jearth\j argument. "Flat \Jearth\j" more or less trickled away, although there were possibly still some adherents, just as there are today.
It was a silly geographical error which drew Christopher Columbus to discover the Americas, and it was an equally silly error which was one reason for James Cook to visit \JAustralia\j and \JNew Zealand\j, in search of the Great South Land, at least partly because of the "counterpoise argument", which said that there had to be a large antipodean land mass to balance the weight of the northern continents.
Alexander Dalrymple believed there needed to be a large mass of land. It was, he said, ". . . wanting on the South of the Equator to counterpoise the land to the North, and to maintain the equilibrium necessary for the Earth's motion". Perhaps, if anybody had stopped to calculate what the \Jearth\j weighed, Cook might not have searched the South Pacific and found \JAustralia\j.
In reality, of course, the mass of surface land is not a serious issue in the balance of the globe, which merely rotates around its centre of gravity, without being in any way influenced by "imbalances": it is only mechanical devices, spinning on axles which "wobble". Any irregular body, rotating freely in space, can turn freely.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"antipope",1679,0,0,0
EN In the Roman \JCatholic Church\j, a claimant to the office of pope in opposition to one regularly and canonically appointed. Antipopes featured prominently in the period of Great Schism in the Western Church (1378-1417). They included Clement VII and Benedict XIII (in Avignon, \JFrance\j) and Alexander V and John XXIII (in Pisa, \JItaly\j).
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"antiproton",1680,0,0,0
EN The antiparticle partner of the proton; symbol \Ip\ma.\i Spin and mass are as for the proton, but the charge is -1. Discovered in 1955, antiprotons are created in \Jparticle accelerators\j by the collisions of protons with nuclei, and can in turn be accelerated and used in \Jparticle physics\j experiments.
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"antipsychiatry",1681,0,0,0
EN A view that mental illness does not exist, and that therefore the practice of \Jpsychiatry\j is simply a form of social control. This view has been most forcefully propounded by the Hungarian-born US psychiatrist Thomas S Szasz (1920-) . A related argument is that every patient is unique and every illness is unique, therefore there is no value in classifying either patients or diseases.
These views are now generally considered extreme and of fringe interest only, though they did help to inform more compassionate models of care, particularly addressing problems of institutionalization.
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"antirrhinum",1682,0,0,0
EN See snapdragon
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"antiseptic",1683,0,0,0
EN A substance which kills or prevents the growth of micro-organisms (germs). The practice of using chemicals to control the suppuration of wounds and the spread of disease, and preserving dead bodies \I(embalming)\i was widespread centuries before micro-organisms were understood. Lister introduced the practice of \Jantiseptic\j surgery (using \Jphenol\j) in 1867. Commonly used antiseptics include alcohols, phenols, salts of heavy metals, and \Jchlorine\j- and \Jiodine\j-releasing compounds.
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"Antisthenes",1684,0,0,0
PN [an\Btis\btheneez]
DT1a c.
DT1 445
DT2a c.
DT2 365
DT2b BC
EN Greek philosopher, thought to be co-founder, with his pupil Diogenes, of the Cynic school. He was a rhetorician and a disciple of \JGorgias\j, and later became a close friend of \JSocrates\j. Only fragments of his many works survive.
MEX Diogenes of Sinope; \JGorgias\j; \JSocrates\j
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"antisubmarine warfare",1685,0,0,0
EN A practice of warfare aimed at hunting down and destroying hostile submarines. Sonar is the primary means of detecting hostile submarines, while depth charges and homing torpedoes launched by \Jaircraft\j, surface warships, or hunter-killer submarines are the primary means of destroying them.
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"antitank gun",1686,0,0,0
EN A gun firing a shell at high velocity, capable of piercing or blasting through the armour of an enemy tank or armoured fighting vehicle.
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"antitank missile",1687,0,0,0
EN A missile which may be fired by an infantryman, or launched from a \Jhelicopter\j or combat vehicle, aimed at destroying enemy tanks and armoured fighting vehicles. It may be wire or \Jlaser\j guided.
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"Antitrust Acts",1688,0,0,0
EN US laws passed to control the development of monopoly \Jcapitalism\j. The Sherman Act (1890) forbade all combinations 'in restraint of trade'. Ambiguities in wording led to its use against labour unions instead of the monopolistic corporations, or \Itrusts.\i The Clayton Act (1914) was intended to close the ambiguities and make enforcement easier.
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"antivitamin factors",1689,0,0,0
EN Compounds occurring naturally in foods which reduce the availability of a vitamin, or which modify its normal function. For example, \Javidin\j, a protein in raw egg white, can bind the B-vitamin, biotin, reducing its absorption. Many of the antivitamin factors are destroyed on cooking.
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"antlers",1690,0,0,0
EN Bone outgrowths from the head of true deer; only on males, except in \Jreindeer\j; \Iwater deer\i the only species without antlers; used in display, defence, and competition for mates; shed each year (unlike the 'horns' of other ruminants), and grow larger the following year; covered in soft skin ('velvet') when growing; if branched, the number of spikes \I(tines)\i increases with age; also known as \Bdeer-horn.\b
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"Antlia",1691,0,0,0
PN [ant\Blee\ba]
HS (Lat 'air \Jpump\j')
EN A small Southern hemisphere \Jconstellation\j.
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"antlion",1692,0,0,0
EN The \Jlarva\j of a nocturnal, \Jdamselfly\j-like insect with a long \Jabdomen\j and lightly patterned wings. \JAntlion\j larvae prey on other insects, typically lying in wait, often at the base of a steep-sided, conical trap into which the prey fall. \B(Order:\b \JNeuroptera\j. \BFamily:\b Myrmeliontidae, c.600 species.)
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"Antofagasta",1693,0,0,0
PN [antofa\Bgas\bta]
EN 23░38S 70░24W, pop (1995e) 235 000. Port and capital of Antofagasta region, \JChile\j; largest city in N \JChile\j; developed with 19th-c mineral and agricultural trade; airport; railway; 2 universities; exports nitrates and copper; metal refining; huge anchor high in mountains was used as navigational aid by shipping; regional, geological, and anthropological museums; public gardens and beaches, sports stadium.
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"Antoine, AndrΘ",1694,0,0,0
DT 1858-1943
EN French actor and director. Between 1887 and 1894 his ThΘΓtre Libre (Free Theatre), which had begun life as an amateur company, operated as a small experimental theatre club in Paris. It laid the foundations of stage \Jnaturalism\j, a form that was to dominate Western theatre for the next century. His lead was followed by Otto Brahm and J.T. Grein who founded the Independent Theatre in London in 1891.
Antoine aimed to free theatre from the conventions of bedroom \Jfarce\j or spectacular \Jmelodrama\j by performing new plays dealing with contemporary issues. He also introduced the work of major foreign naturalists to the Paris stage, e.g. Ibsen's \JGhosts\j (1890), The Wild Duck (1891) and Strindberg's Miss Julie (1893). In 1888 he saw performances by the Meiningen company and was deeply impressed by their ensemble playing. He aimed for similar effects, notably in Hauptmann's The Weavers (1893).
In 1897 the ThΘΓtre Libre reopened as the ThΘΓtre Antoine, and in 1906 he was appointed director of the OdΘon. In this period he developed his techniques of naturalist theatre: he was the first French director to do away with footlights, to lower house lights completely during performances and to treat the set like a real environment rather than a decorative background. Above all, Antoine revolutionized acting in \JFrance\j, rejecting grand postures and declamatory speech and encouraging an intimate acting style and realistic use of space (e.g. turning one's back on the audience).
Antoine was also the first modern French director to take Shakespeare seriously. During his time at the OdΘon he produced the first unbowdlerized French King Lear (1904) as well as other plays little known at the time such as Troilus and Cressida (1912). After World War I he worked in films for a while.
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"Antonelli, Giacomo",1695,0,0,0
PN [anto\Bne\blee]
DT1 1806
DT2 76
EN Clergyman, born in Sonnino, \JItaly\j. In 1819, he came to \JRome\j, and entered the Grand Seminary, where he gained the favour of Pope Gregory XVI (1831-46). In 1847 he was made cardinal-\Jdeacon\j by \JPius IX\j, and in 1848 was premier and minister of foreign affairs. He accompanied the pope in his flight to Gaeta in 1848, and returned with him to \JRome\j, becoming foreign secretary (1850), and supporting the policy of absolute papal administrative power.
MEX Pius IX
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"Antonello da Messina",1696,0,0,0
PN [anto\Bnel\boh da me\Bsee\bna]
DT1a c.
DT1 1430
DT2 79
EN Painter, born in Messina, \JItaly\j. He was the only major 15th-c Italian artist to come from \JSicily\j. An accomplished master of \Joil painting\j, he helped popularize the medium, his style being a delicate synthesis of the northern and Italian styles. In 1475 he was working in \JVenice\j where his work influenced Giovanni Bellini's portraits. His first dated work, the 'Salvator Mundi' (1465), and a self-portrait are in the London National Gallery.
MEX Bellini, Giovanni
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"Antonescu, Ion",1697,0,0,0
PN [anto\Bnes\bkoo]
DT1 1882
DT2 1946
EN Romanian general and dictator for the Nazis in World War 2, born in Pitesti, \JRomania\j. He served as military attachΘ in \JRome\j and London, and became chief-of-staff and minister of defence in 1937. In September 1940 he assumed dictatorial powers and forced the \Jabdication\j of Carol II. He headed a Fascist government allied to Nazi \JGermany\j until 1944, when he was overthrown and executed for war crimes.
MEX Carol II; Michael
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"Antonine Wall",1698,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\btoniyn]
EN A defensive barrier built by the Roman Emperor, Antoninus Pius, in AD 142, at the N end of the British province. Constructed of turf upon a foundation of cobbles, the 'wall' ran from the Forth estuary to the Clyde.
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"Antoninus Pius",1699,0,0,0
PN [anto\Bniy\bnus \Bpiy\bus]
HS , originally \BTitus Aurelius Fulvus\b
DT1a AD
DT1 86
DT2 161
EN Roman emperor, born in Lanuvium. He inherited great wealth, and in 120 was made consul. Sent as proconsul into Asia by Emperor \JHadrian\j, in 138 he was adopted by him, and the same year came to the throne. His reign was proverbially peaceful and happy. In public affairs he acted as the father of his people, and the persecution of Christians was partly stayed by his mild measures. In his reign the empire was extended, and the Antonine Wall, named after him, built between the Forth and Clyde rivers. He was called \IPius\i for his defence of \JHadrian\j's memory. Marcus Aurelius was his adopted son and successor.
MEX Aurelius; \JHadrian\j
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"Antoninus, M Aurelius",1700,0,0,0
EN See Aurelius
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"Antonioni, Michelangelo",1701,0,0,0
PN [antoni\Boh\bnee]
DT1 1912
EN Film director, born in \JFerrara\j, \JItaly\j. After studying political economy at \JBologna\j University, he began as a film critic before becoming an assistant director in 1942. He made several documentaries (1945--50) before turning to feature films, often scripted by himself, and notable for their preoccupation with character study rather than plot.
He gained an international reputation with \IL'avventura\i (1959), followed by other outstanding works, such as \ILa notte\i (1961, The Night), \IBlow-up\i (1966), \IZabriskie Point\i (1969), \IProfessione: Reporter\i (1975, The Passenger), and \IIl mistero di Oberwald\i (1979, The Oberwald Mystery). He lost the power of speech after a stroke in 1985, but managed to make a further film, \IBeyond the Clouds\i (1995). He received an Academy lifetime achievement award in 1995.
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1950 Cronaca di un Amore (Chronicle of a Love)
1952 I Vinti (The Vanquished)
1955 Le Amiche (Girlfriends)
1957 Il Grido (The Cry)
1960 L'Avventura
1966 Blow-Up
1969 Zabriskie Point
1975 Professione: Reporter (The Passenger)
1979 Il mistero di Oberwald (The Oberwald Mystery)
1995 Beyond the Clouds
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"Antonius, Marcus",1702,0,0,0
PN [an\Btoh\bnius]
HS or *Mark Antony\B\b
DT1a c.
DT1 83
DT2 30
DT2b BC
EN Roman triumvir, related on his mother's side to Julius Caesar. After assisting Caesar in Gaul (53-50 BC), he went to \JRome\j to become tribune of the plebians (49 BC). Caesar left him in charge in \JItaly\j, and at Pharsalia (48 BC) Antony led the left wing of Caesar's army against Pompey. In 44 BC he was made consul together with Caesar, and on Caesar's assassination, the flight of the conspirators left him with almost absolute power.
Besieged and defeated at Mutina by Octavian Augustus (43 BC), he fled beyond the Alps; but in Gaul he visited the camp of Lepidus, and gained the favour of the army, with which he returned to \JRome\j. Augustus, Antony, and Lepidus then established themselves as triumvirs to share the whole Roman world, defeating Brutus and Cassius at Philippi (42 BC). After meeting Cleopatra in Asia, he followed her to \JEgypt\j (41-40 BC), until called back by news of a quarrel in \JItaly\j between his kinsmen and Augustus.
A new division of the Roman world was now arranged, Antony taking the East, and Augustus the West, while Lepidus had to be content with Africa; Antony also married Augustus's sister Octavia (40 BC). Differences grew up between Antony and Augustus, and in 37 BC Antony separated from Octavia and rejoined Cleopatra.
His position in the East, his relations with Cleopatra, and his unsuccessful campaigns against the \JParthians\j (36 and 34 BC), were seized upon by Augustus, and in the naval engagement of Actium (31 BC) Antony and Cleopatra were defeated. Antony went back to \JEgypt\j, where, deceived by a false report of Cleopatra's suicide, he committed suicide.
EN Soviet \Jaircraft\j designer, born in Troitskoe, \JRussia\j. He studied at the \JLeningrad\j \JPolytechnic\j Institute, became head of the experimental design department in 1946, and designer in general for the \Jaircraft\j industry in 1962. He received the Lenin Prize in 1962 and the Order of Lenin twice. After World War 2 he became senior designer with the ministry of \Javiation\j (until 1963). The author of over 50 books on glider and \Jaircraft\j design, his name is perpetuated in the AN-225 six-engined super heavylift \Jaircraft\j which carried the Soviet shuttle orbiter \IBuran\i above its fuselage, shown at the Paris Airshow in 1989.
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"Antony or Anthony of Padua, St",1704,0,0,0
DT1 1195
DT2 1231
EN Monk, born in \JLisbon\j. At first an Augustinian monk, in 1220 he entered the Franciscan order, and became one of its most active propagators. He was canonized by Gregory IX (c.1170-1241) the year after his death. According to legend, he preached to the fishes when people refused to listen to him; hence he is the patron of the lower animals, and is often shown accompanied by an ass. Feast \Jday\j 13 June.
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"Antony or Anthony, St",1705,0,0,0
HS , known as \BAntony the Great,\b also called \BAntony of Egypt\b
DT1a c.
DT1 251
DT2 356
EN Religious hermit, the father of Christian monasticism, born in Koman, Upper \JEgypt\j. He sold his possessions for the poor at the age of 20 and withdrew into the wilderness. He spent 20 years in the most rigorous seclusion, during which he withstood a series of temptations by the devil which became famous in Christian \Jtheology\j and art. In 305 he left his retreat to found a monastery, at first only a group of separate and scattered cells near Memphis and Arsinoδ - one of the earliest attempts to instruct people in the monastic way of life. Feast \Jday\j 17 January.
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"antonym",1706,0,0,0
EN See \Jsynonym\j
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"Antrim, Ir Aontroim",1707,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 707 000; area 2831 sq km/1093 sq mi. County in NE Northern Ireland, UK, divided into nine districts (Antrim, Ballymena, Ballymoney, \JBelfast\j, Carrickfergus, Larne, Lisburn, Moyle, Newtownabbey); the name is also used for one of these districts, pop (1995e) 44 300, and its administrative centre; bounded SW by Lough Neagh, N by the \JAtlantic Ocean\j, and E by the Irish Sea; rises N and E to the Antrim Mts; includes the islands of Rathlin, the Skerries, and the Maidens; county town, \JBelfast\j; other chief towns, Lisburn, Ballymena, Carrickfergus; Irish linen, textiles, \Jcattle\j, sheep, potatoes, \Jflax\j, oats, shipbuilding; \Jbasalt\j rock formation, Giant's Causeway, on N coast.
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#
"Antwerp, Flemish Antwerpen, French Anvers",1708,0,0,0
EN 51░13N 4░25E467, pop (1995e) 474 000. Capital city of Antwerpen district, N \JBelgium\j; on the right bank of the R Scheldt, 88 km/55 mi from the North Sea; chief port of \JBelgium\j and fourth largest port in the world; chartered, 1291; centre of the mediaeval cloth trade with England; airport; railway; colonial university (1920); shipbuilding and repairing, oil refining, synthetic fibres, plastics, \Jpetrochemicals\j, agrochemicals, \Jengineering\j; foodstuffs, diamonds (major international centre); 16th-c town hall, Cathedral of Our Lady (1352), Church of St Jacob (15th--16th-c), Royal Museum of Fine Arts, famous zoo; home of Rubens and van Dyck.
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"Anubis",1709,0,0,0
PN [an\Byoo\bbis]
EN An Egyptian god associated with death. He has the head of a \Jjackal\j or wild dog of the desert. Guard of the necropolis, he takes part in the process of embalming.
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"Anura or Anoura",1710,0,0,0
PN [a\Bnoo\bra]
EN An order of amphibians comprising the frogs and toads (3500 species); adults with no tail; move by thrusting backwards with long hind legs; larvae called \Itadpoles; \i also known as \BSalientia.\b
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"Anuradhapura",1711,0,0,0
PN [anarahda\Bpoor\ba]
EN 8░20N 80░25E, pop (1995e) 42 600. Capital of Anuradhapura district, \JSri Lanka\j, 205 km/127 mi N of Colombo; \JSri Lanka\j's first capital; founded, 4th-cBC;Sri Mahabodhi Tree, allegedly the oldest tree in the world (2200 years), all that remains of the Bo tree beneath which \JBuddha\j found Enlightenment, a world heritage site; Thuparama Dagaba, built to enshrine the collarbone of \JBuddha\j.
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#
"anus",1712,0,0,0
EN The terminal part of the gastro-intestinal tract, opening into the natal cleft between the buttocks; the lower limit of the anal canal. In conjunction with the rest of the anal canal, it is guarded by internal and external sphincters under autonomic and voluntary control respectively. It may exhibit bleeding during defaecation, as a result of haemorrhoids.
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"Anvers",1713,0,0,0
PN [πvayr]
EN See Antwerp, Flemish Antwerpen, French Anvers
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#
"anvilhead",1714,0,0,0
EN See hammerkop
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#
"Anville, Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'",1715,0,0,0
PN [πveel]
DT1 1697
DT2 1782
EN Geographer and map-maker, born in Paris. He greatly improved the standards of ancient and mediaeval map-making, and became the first geographer to the King of \JFrance\j.
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"Anyang",1716,0,0,0
EN See Xiaotun
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"ANZAC",1717,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bzak]
EN \JAcronym\j for \BAustralia and \JNew Zealand\j Army Corps,\b a unit in which troops from both countries fought during World War 1 in the \JMiddle East\j and on the Western Front. \BAnzac Day\b (25 Apr) commemorates the \JGallipoli\j landing in 1915; the fighting lasted until Jan 1916, during which time 7600 were killed and 19┐000 wounded. Australian and British law prohibit the word 'Anzac' from commercial use.
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"Anzengruber, Ludwig",1718,0,0,0
DT 1839-89
EN Austrian playwright. He was happiest writing about the Austrian peasantry, whose \Jdialect\j he was able to capture. Two of his greatest successes, The Parson of Kirchfeld (1870) and The Cross-Makers (1872), reflect the conflict between orthodox Catholicism and liberalism in contemporary \JAustria\j, while The Perjured Peasant (1871) is a grim study of family life among the peasantry.
His major Volksstⁿck achievement was The Fourth Commandment (1877), which advocated the maintenance of traditional family values and loyalties. His plays were first produced in the commercial theatres of Vienna, not at the Burgtheater.
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#
"Anzilotti, Dionisio",1719,0,0,0
PN [antsi\Blo\btee]
DT1 1867
DT2 1950
EN Jurist, born in Pistoia, \JItaly\j. Professor at \JRome\j (1911-37), he was a founder of the positive school of international law, which derived law from the practice of nations rather than from theorizing. Later he became a judge of the Permanent Court of International Justice (1921-30), and its president (1928-30).
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"ANZUS",1720,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bzuhs]
EN \JAcronym\j for the treaty concluded in 1951 between \JAustralia\j, \JNew Zealand\j, and the United States for mutual security in the Pacific against armed attack. The treaty, which remains in force indefinitely, encompasses not only the metropolitan territories of the three, but also island territories under their \Jjurisdiction\j, their armed forces, and their \Jaircraft\j and shipping.
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"aorta",1721,0,0,0
PN [ay\Baw(r)\bta]
EN The largest blood vessel in the body, which conveys oxygenated blood from the left ventricle of the heart to the rest of the body. It is conveniently divided into three parts:
(1) the \Bascending \Jaorta\j,\b passing upwards, backwards, and to the right, giving branches to the heart,
(2) the \Baortic arch,\b running backwards and crossing to the left side, giving major branches to the head and upper limbs, and
(3) the \Bdescending \Jaorta\j,\b passing through the thorax and \Jabdomen\j before terminating as major vessels to the lower limbs. The thoracic branches supply the chest wall, and the abdominal branches supply the contents of the \Jabdomen\j.
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"Aosta",1722,0,0,0
PN [ah\Bos\bta]
EN 45░43N 7░19E, pop (1995e) 37 800. Capital town of \JAosta\j province, Valle d'\JAosta\j, NW \JItaly\j; in the fertile valley of the Dora Baltea, ringed by the Alps; Gran Paradiso National park; largely French-speaking; railway; important traffic junction for routes across the Alps; iron and steel, publishing, textiles, tourism, wine making, woodworking; cathedral, old town surrounded by well-preserved Roman walls; traditional handicraft exhibition (Jan).
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"aoudad",1723,0,0,0
PN [\Bow\bdad]
EN Wild sheep from the dry mountains of N Africa \I(Ammotragus lervia)\i (introduced into south-west USA); sandy colour, with long fringe along throat; both sexes with curved horns up to 76┐cm / 30┐in long; also known as \BBarbary sheep,\b \Bmaned sheep,\b \Budad,\b \Barui,\b or \Bfechstal.\b
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"Aouita, Said",1724,0,0,0
PN [a\Bwee\bta]
DT1 1960
EN Athlete, born in Rabat, Morocco. A middle- and long-distance track athlete, he set world records at 1500┐m and 5000┐m in 1985 to become the first man for 30 years to hold both records. He has since broken world records at 2┐mi and 2000┐m. The 1986 overall Grand Prix winner, he was the 1984 Olympic and 1987 World 5000┐m champion.
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#
"Aozou Strip",1725,0,0,0
PN [\Bow\bzoo]
EN A 100┐km / 60┐mi-wide strip of mountainous desert in N Chad, NC Africa; \BArea:\b 114┐000┐km\U2\u / 44┐000┐mi\U2\u; disputed territory on the frontier with \JLibya\j, which occupied the area in 1973; \JLibya\j's claim based on an unratified 1935 agreement between \JFrance\j and \JItaly\j; returned to Chad by \JLibya\j, 1994; \BArea:\b rich in uranium and mineral deposits.
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"Apache",1726,0,0,0
PN [a\Bpah\bchee]
EN North \JAmerican Indians\j who dominated much of the south-west during the 19th-c; divided into many smaller groups, lacking any centralized organization. From 1861 they fought against Federal troops in the Apache and Navajo wars, eventually surrendering in 1886. Population c.50┐000 (1990 \Jcensus\j).
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"Apaloochy",1727,0,0,0
EN See Appaloosa
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"apartheid",1728,0,0,0
EN (\JAfrikaans\j 'apartness') The former policy of separate racial development in the Republic of South Africa, supported traditionally by the Nationalist Party, and later by other right-wing parties. The \Jideology\j had several roots: Boer concepts of racial, cultural, and religious separation arising out of their sense of national uniqueness; British liberal notions of indirect rule; the need to preserve African traditional life while promoting gradualism in their Christianization and westernization; and the concern for job protection, promoted by white workers to maintain their status in the face of a large and cheaper black \Jproletariat\j.
Under the policy, different races were given different rights. In practice the system was one of white supremacy, blacks having no representation in the central state parliament. Many of the provisions of \Japartheid\j regarding labour, land segregation \I(reserves,\i \IHomelands,\i \IBantustans),\i municipal segregation, social and educational separation, and a virtually exclusive white franchise, were in place before the Nationalist victory of 1948, but after that date it was erected into a complete political, social, and economic system, down to the provisions of 'petty \Japartheid\j' relating to transport, beaches, lavatories, park benches, etc.
The whole system was backed by extensive repression. Its principal architect, Hendrik Verwoerd, was assassinated in 1966. The process of dismantling its provisions began in the late 1980s, following the political initiatives of President de Klerk, but its social effects are likely to prove more lasting. Its death knell was sounded when the country's white community voted in favour of a multi-racial society, followed by the signing of a new constitutional agreement by de Klerk and Nelson Mandela in November 1993 and the implementation of free elections in April 1994.
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"apatite",1729,0,0,0
PN [\Bap\batiyt]
EN A common phosphate mineral widely distributed in minor quantities in many igneous and metamorphic rocks; most varieties can be represented by the formula Ca\D5\d(PO\D4\d)\D3\d(OH,F,Cl). It crystallizes as hexagonal prisms, in various colours, mostly green.
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"Apatosaurus",1730,0,0,0
PN [a\Bpat\bosawrus]
EN A giant, semi-aquatic \Jdinosaur\j that probably ate vegetation around swamps and lakes; four-legged, limbs pillar-like, hindlimbs longer than forelimbs; tail whip-like; neck very long; skull with sloping face; known from the Upper Jurassic period of \JColorado\j; formerly known as \B\IBrontosaurus.\i\b \B(Order:\b Saurischia.)
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"ape",1731,0,0,0
EN An anthropoid primate; comprises the \Blesser apes\b \I(gibbons)\i and \Bgreat apes\b \I(\Jorang-utan\j,\i \Igorilla,\i \Ichimpanzee); \i differs from most monkeys in having no tail and in using arms to swing through trees, not by walking along branches. \B(Family:\b Pongidae, 10 species.)
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"APEC",1732,0,0,0
EN \JAcronym\j for \BAsia-Pacific Economic Co-operation,\b a common market founded in Nov 1989 to promote multi-lateral trade in the Asia-Pacific region. Members: \JAustralia\j, \JBrunei\j, Canada, \JChile\j, China, Hong Kong, \JIndonesia\j, \JJapan\j, \JMalaysia\j, Mexico, \JNew Zealand\j, Papua New Guinea, \JPhilippines\j, \JSingapore\j, South Korea, \JTaiwan\j, \JThailand\j, USA. It is the world's third largest \Jfree trade\j grouping, with c.320 million people.
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"Apelles",1733,0,0,0
PN [a\Bpe\bleez]
DT1 4
DT1b th-c BC
EN Greek painter, probably born in Colophon, \JAsia Minor\j. He visited Macedon, where he became the friend of Alexander the Great, and is said to have accompanied him on his expedition to Asia. None of his work has survived, but his fame lives in ancient writings.
MEX Alexander the Great
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"Apennines",1734,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bpeniynz]
HS , Ital \BAppennino\b
EN Mountain range extending down the Italian peninsula into \JSicily\j; length 1400┐km / 870┐mi; width 30-150┐km / 20-90┐mi; N division includes the Appno Ligure, Appno Tosco-Emilliano, and the Appno Umbro-Marchigiano, highest point Monte Cimone (2176┐m / 7138┐ft); C division includes the Appno Abruzzese and the Appno Napoletano, highest point Gran Sasso d'Italia (2914┐m / 9560┐ft); S division includes the Appno Lucano and La Sila, highest point Monte Pollino (2248┐m / 7375┐ft), an \Jearthquake\j region; typically Mediterranean vegetation in foothills, with olive groves, vineyards, orchards; open forest above, until c.1800┐m / 6000┐ft, then slopes covered with stones and scree; stock-farming (goats and sheep), some arable farming, \Jforestry\j; marble quarries at Carrara; mineral springs.
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"aperture",1735,0,0,0
EN The opening, usually circular, through which light enters an optical system, such as a camera \Jlens\j. It is often adjustable in diameter by means of an iris diaphragm to control the intensity of light transmitted - the 'stop' of a \Jlens\j system.
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"aperture synthesis",1736,0,0,0
EN A method of combining several small telescopes to simulate some properties of very large telescopes. It has been used successfully at radio frequencies to enable astronomers to see fine detail in sources. The technique was developed by UK astronomer Martin Ryle at Mullard Radio \JAstronomy\j Observatory.
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"aperture, also called the film gate",1737,0,0,0
EN In \Jcinematography\j, the rectangular opening in a camera or other projector at which each frame of film is held stationary while it is exposed; also called the \Bfilm gate.\b
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"Apgar, Virginia",1738,0,0,0
DT (1909-1974)
EN physician, anesthesiologist; born in Westfield, N.J. Best known for pioneering work in anesthesia relating to childbirth, she developed the Apgar Score to evaluate newborns (1952). She also created the first department of anesthesiology at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (1938-49) where she was the first woman to head both a department and to hold a full professorship in anesthesiology (1949).
Her deepening interest in maternal and child health eventually led to an executive position with the National Foundation-March of Dimes (1959) where she spent the rest of her life fostering public support for birth defect research. With her fundraising ability, the annual income of the National Foundation increased from $19 million to $46 million by the time of her death. She also made birth defects an academic subspecialty at Cornell University Medical College where she taught (1965-73). Author of scores of papers, she was a much admired teacher most appreciated for her humanitarian qualities.
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"aphasia",1739,0,0,0
EN A disorder of language caused by brain damage; also (especially in the UK) known as \Bdysphasia.\b The patient appears intellectually and physically capable of using language (eg there is movement of the tongue and lips and no \Jdeafness\j) but suffers from a variety of linguistic disabilities.
There are many different types: one important distinction is between \BBroca's aphasia\b (a disorder of production, characterized by word-finding difficulties and telegrammatic speech) and \BWernicke's aphasia\b (a disorder of comprehension, characterized by fluent but largely nonsensical speech). The study of the disorder is known as \Baphasiology.\b
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"aphelion",1740,0,0,0
EN See periapsis
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#
"aphid",1741,0,0,0
EN A soft-bodied bug that feeds on plant sap. Aphids have complex life cycles, typically including several asexually reproducing generations of live-bearing females, and one sexually reproducing generation per year. Many species produce wax for protection. Others produce honeydew, and are tended by ants. About 4000 species are known, mainly from the Northern hemisphere, including some that are serious pests, such as blackfly and greenfly. \B(Order:\b \JHomoptera\j. \BFamily:\b Aphididae.)
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"aphonia",1742,0,0,0
EN See dysphonia
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"aphrodisiacs",1743,0,0,0
EN Drugs which induce sexual desire and / or improve sexual performance; named after \JAphrodite\j, the goddess of love. Over 500 substances have been advocated throughout history, notably Spanish fly (responsible for many deaths), rhino horn, and mandrake root. No drug to date has been proved to act as a true aphrodisiac. Alcohol induces desire only.
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"Aphrodite",1744,0,0,0
PN [afro\Bdiy\btee]
EN The Greek goddess of sexual love, said to have been born from the sea-\Jfoam\j at \JPaphos\j in Cyprus. This indication of an Eastern origin to her \Jcult\j is borne out by resemblances to the worship of Ishtar.
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"Apia",1745,0,0,0
PN [\Bap\bia]
EN 13░48S 171░45W, pop (1995e) 42 800. Capital town of Western \JSamoa\j, on N coast of Upolu I, SW \JPacific Ocean\j; a rapidly expanding cluster of villages; copra, \Jcocoa\j, bananas.
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"apiculture",1746,0,0,0
EN The keeping of bees in hives for honey and wax production. Bees may be also used for pollinating orchards and crops, such as oilseed rape. Bee-keeping is known from the Stone Age, when crude hives were made, probably from wood. European farmers built straw \Ikeps,\i which resembled upside-down baskets. Commercial bee-keeping started in the 1880s. As a hobby, collectors \B(apiarists)\b keep bees both for their honey and to study their habits.
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"Apis",1747,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bpis, \Bah\bpis]
EN The Egyptian bull-god, representing or incarnating the Ptah of Memphis. An actual bull was selected from the herd, black with a triangular white patch on the forehead, and kept at Memphis; after death it was mummified and placed in a special necropolis, the Serapeum.
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"APL",1748,0,0,0
EN Abbreviation of \BA Programming Language,\b a scientific computer programming language, developed in the 1960s. It is of special interest to mathematicians.
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"Apo, Mount",1749,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bpoh]
EN Active \Jvolcano\j and highest mountain in the \JPhilippines\j, near the south-east coast of Mindanao I; rises to 2954┐m / 9691┐ft; part of a national park.
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"apoapsis",1750,0,0,0
EN See periapsis
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#
"apocalypse",1751,0,0,0
HS (Gr 'revelation of the future')
EN A literary genre which can be traced to post-Biblical Jewish and early Christian eras; it especially comprises works in highly symbolic language which claim to express divine disclosures about the heavenly spheres, the course of history, or the end of the world. The most famous example is the Book of Revelation in the \JNew Testament\j. The notion also includes poems by Blake and Yeats ('The Second Coming'), novels such as Lawrence's \IWomen in Love\i (1920), much \Jscience fiction\j, and cataclysmic films such as Coppola's \IApocalypse Now\i (1979).
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"Apocalypse of John",1752,0,0,0
EN See Revelation, Book of
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"Apocrypha, New Testament",1753,0,0,0
PN [a\Bpok\brifa]
EN Christian documents, largely from the early Christian centuries, which are similar in title, form, or content to many \JNew Testament\j works, being called Gospels, Acts, Epistles, or Apocalypses, and often attributed to \JNew Testament\j characters, but not widely accepted as canonical. Some derive from \JGnosticism\j or heretical circles, but others are just of a popular nature.
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"Apocrypha, Old Testament",1754,0,0,0
PN [a\Bpok\brifa]
HS (Gr 'hidden things')
EN Usually, a collection of Jewish writings found in the Greek version of the \JHebrew\j \JBible\j (the \ISeptuagint),\i but not found in the \JHebrew\j \JBible\j itself; in a more general sense, any literature of an esoteric or spurious kind. Most of these writings were also in the Latin version of the Christian \JBible\j approved at the Council of Trent (the \IVulgate),\i so Roman Catholics tend to consider them as inspired and authoritative, and designate them as \Bdeuterocanonical\b (accepted by Catholics as part of the canon, but recognized not to be accepted by all), while Protestants and most others attribute less authority to them, referring to them as \BApocrypha.\b Corresponding to this distinction, non-Catholic Bibles tend to locate the Apocrypha as a separate collection between the two Testaments or after the \JNew Testament\j, while Catholic Bibles tend to place the writings among the \JOld Testament\j works themselves.
Agreement is also not complete over which writings are to be included in this collection. Modern studies prefer to limit the Apocrypha to 13 writings found in most \JSeptuagint\j manuscripts, and to exclude additional works found only in the Vulgate, which are then assigned to a much larger body of writings called the \JOld Testament\j \BPseudepigrapha.\b The Apocrypha would thus include: 1 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Additions to the Book of Esther, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus (or Sirach), 1 Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah, Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Young Men, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon (the last three being Additions to the Book of Daniel), 1 and 2 \JMaccabees\j. Roman Catholics consider all of this list to be deuterocanonical except for 1 Esdras. Most of the Apocrypha were composed in the last two centuries BC.
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"Apodidae",1755,0,0,0
EN \BSwifts\b
Swifts (family \JApodidae\j, order Apodiformes) are the most aerial of all birds. They feed entirely in the air, drink and bath in flight, they even copulate in midair (they are the only birds that do), and regularly spend the night on the wing. Some of the migratory forms may not land for months at a time.
The swifts are a virtually cosmopolitan group with about 94 member species, but the precise total is extremely uncertain-the \Jtaxonomy\j of several groups remains among the most difficult of all birds.
Swifts vary greatly in size, from about 10-25 cm in length and less than eight grams (Glossy Swiftlet \ICollocalia esculenta)\i to about 180 grams (Purple Needletail \IHirundapus celebensis)\i in weight. As in hummingbirds (which are possibly their closest relatives), the bones of the wing (ulna and humerus) are extremely short and stout, but the carpus is unusually long, resulting in long, slender, glider-like wings, supremely adapted to high-speed, efficient, effortless flight.
In many species (such as the Chimney Swift \IChaetura pelagicus\i and its relatives) the tail is short, stiff, and blunt and each feather has a spiny tip. However, in others (such as the Common Swift \IApus apus)\i the tail is longer, less stiff, lacks spiny tips, and is sometimes forked. The bill is very short but the gape is very wide. The extremely short legs and strong-clawed feet are strongly adapted for clinging, but useful for little else.
In all species the plumage is mostly dull brown or sooty black in color, frequently with patches of white in various combinations on the rump, flank, belly, or forehead. Swifts are strongly social birds that often gather in screaming mobs at dusk.
The \Jgenus\j \ICollocalia\i is made up of about 20 small species known as swiftlets. The group is of culinary interest because several species (notably the Edible-nest Swiftlet \ICollocalia fuciphaga)\i provide the essential ingredient of the famous birds'-nest soup. Some species have the ability to navigate in total darkness using \Jecholocation\j.
Swifts occur across almost all of North and \JSouth America\j, Africa, Eurasia, but only barely reach \JAustralasia\j, although several swiftlets extend to islands of the southwestern Pacific.
Most species are tropical, but several--notably the Black Swift \ICypseloides niger\i and Chimney Swift of \JNorth America\j, the Common Swift of Europe, and the White-throated Needletail \IHirundapus caudacutus\i of eastern Asia--nest at high northern latitudes and migrate across the equator to winter in the \JCentral America\j, Africa, and \JAustralia\j.
Swifts form simple monogamous pairs that cooperate fully in nesting. Nests are usually shallow semicircular platforms glued to a rock-face on cliffs, behind waterfalls, in caves, inside hollow trees or-notably in the Chimney Swift of North American and the Common Swift of Europe-inside buildings. A few nest in burrows, or even in the abandoned nests of swallows.
The palm swifts of Africa and Asia \I(Cypsiurus)\i glue their nests to palm leaves (and their single egg to the nest), and incubate in a vertical posture. Several swiftlets, notably the Black-nest Swiftlet \ICollocalia maxima\i and the Edible-nest Swiftlet, nest in utter darkness, and find their way by \Jecholocation\j. Nest material is consolidated and the resulting structure glued to its supporting surface with sticky \Jsaliva\j from glands that are much enlarged in the nesting season.
Swifts specialize in exploiting a food resource that is exceptionally unreliable: small flying insects are abundant in warm, dry \Jweather\j but very scarce on days that are cold, windy, or rainy. As a response to this, swifts have evolved eggs that are tolerant of chilling, and chicks that are exceptionally resistant to short periods of starvation; growth and development are simply suspended for a time, and lost ground regained when conditions improve. This also means that the incubation and fledgling periods of swifts are unusually long and variable compared to those of most birds of comparable size.
Incubation averages about 19-20 days in many species of \IApus,\i and about 22-23 in \ICypseloides,\i while fledging varies from about 35-56 days. Species of \ICypseloides\i lay only one egg and most swiftlets lay two eggs, but many species of \IAeronautes\i and \IChaetura\i lay five or six. The eggs are white and unmarked. Chicks are fed by presentation of a ball of insects stuck together with \Jsaliva\j and carried back to the nest in a distended throat pouch.
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"apogee",1756,0,0,0
EN See periapsis
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"Apollinaire, Guillaume",1757,0,0,0
PN [apoli\Bnair,\b gi\Byom\b]
HS , pseudonym of \BWilhelm Apollinaris de Kostrowitzki\b
DT1 1880
DT2 1918
EN Poet and art critic, born in \JRome\j, \JItaly\j. He settled in Paris in 1900, and became a leader of the movement rejecting poetic traditions in outlook, rhythm, and language. His work, bizarre, Symbolist and fantastic, is expressed chiefly in \IL'Enchanteur pourissant\i (1909, The Decaying Enchanter), \ILe Bestiaire\i (1911, The \JBestiary\j), \ILes Alcools\i (1913, The Spirits) and \ICalligrammes\i (1918). Wounded in World War 1, during his convalescence he wrote the play \ILes Mamelles de TirΘsias\i (1918, The Breasts of Tiresias), for which he coined the term \Isurrealist.\i
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"Apollinaris the Younger",1758,0,0,0
PN [apoli\Bnah\bris]
DT1a c.
DT1 310
DT2a c.
DT2 390
EN Syrian clergyman, the son of Apollinaris the Elder, presbyter of Laodicea. One of the sternest opponents of Arianism, he became Bishop of Laodicea from 360. He upheld a doctrine \I(Apollinarianism)\i condemned by the Council of Constantinople (381) as denying the true human nature of Christ.
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"Apollo asteroid",1759,0,0,0
EN An asteroid whose \Jorbit\j brings it within one astronomical unit (150 million┐km / 93 million┐mi) of the Sun.
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"Apollo programme",1760,0,0,0
EN The first crewed mission to the Moon, undertaken by NASA at the direction of President Kennedy in response to the space leadership position established by the USSR. The first landing (20 Jul 1969) was made by the Apollo 11 crew of Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin in the \Jspacecraft\j \IEagle.\i It is by far the most ambitious space achievement to date, and was also a scientific triumph, because of the far-reaching value of lunar sample analysis. Over 300┐kg / 660┐lb of soil, cores, and rocks were returned by all six landed missions.
Long duration \Jseismology\j and space physics experiments were deployed near the landers. The focus of the US space programme for over a decade, it was preceded by Mercury and Gemini manned spaceflight demonstration projects, and Ranger, Surveyor, and Lunar Orbiter robotic lunar exploration missions. Undertaken in an \Jatmosphere\j of intense competition with the USSR, it required immense technological development in all elements of spaceflight.
The Saturn V launch vehicle remains the most powerful ever developed. The three-man crew in each mission was launched inside a Command Module which stayed in lunar \Jorbit\j, while the Lunar Module with two crew members descended to the surface. Following the surface activities, part of the Lunar Module was launched to rendezvous with the Command Module in \Jorbit\j. The crew were recovered from an ocean landing after re-entry and parachute descent.
Major events of the programme included: the first manned lunar mission (Apollo 8, Christmas 1968); the first landing mission (Apollo 11, Jul 1969); the pin-point landing at Surveyor 3 site (Apollo 12, Nov 1969); the oxygen tank explosion on the aborted Apollo 13; and the first lunar rover excursion (Apollo 15). The last flight was undertaken (Dec 1972) by the Apollo 17 crew, who stayed 75 hours on the lunar surface and travelled 34┐km / 21┐mi in the lunar rover.
The landing sites were: 11, Mare Tranquillitatis; 12, \JOceanus\j Procellarum; 14, Mare Imbrium; 15, Hadley Rille; 16, Descartes; and 17, \JTaurus\j Littrow. The programme was managed by NASA's Johnson Space Center, using the capabilities of all other NASA Centers.
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"Apollo, (Phoebus)",1761,0,0,0
PN [a\Bpol\boh]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the god of poetic and musical inspiration; also a destructive force, sending disease with his arrows. He is depicted as an ideal of male beauty, or as an archer. In historic times he was the god who spoke through the Delphic oracle, and his shrine was the island of Delos. Later poetry stresses his connection with the Sun.
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"Apollo-Soyuz project",1762,0,0,0
PN [so\Byoos\b]
EN A landmark joint space mission conducted by the USA and USSR in 1975, following an agreement signed by President Nixon and Chairman Kosygin in 1972. Intended primarily as a political gesture during a period of US-Soviet \Jdetente\j, Apollo-Soyuz also demonstrated the capability for joint operations between the major space powers and, as such, the potential for on-\Jorbit\j emergency rescue missions.
The rendezvous (17 Jul 1975) lasted 48 hours. The crews (T Stafford, V Brand, D Slayton and A Leonov, V Kubasov) conducted a series of joint experiments. A special adaptor docking module was constructed for the mission.
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"Apollodoros or Apollodorus, Athenian painter",1763,0,0,0
PN [apo\Blo\bdorus]
DT1 5
DT1b th-c BC
EN Athenian painter. He is said to have introduced the technique of \Ichiaroscuro\i (light and shade).
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"Apollodoros or Apollodorus, Athenian scholar",1764,0,0,0
PN [apo\Blo\bdoros]
DT1 2
DT1b nd-c BC
EN Athenian scholar. He was the author of a work on \Jmythology\j and one on \Jetymology\j, and is best known for his verse \IChronicle\i of Greek history from the fall of Troy.
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"Apollodoros or Apollodorus, Greek architect",1765,0,0,0
PN [apo\Blo\bdoros]
DT1 2
DT1b nd-c
EN Greek architect, who designed Trajan's column in \JRome\j. He was executed in AD 129 for his fearless criticism of Emperor \JHadrian\j's design for a temple.
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"Apollonius (of Perga)",1766,0,0,0
PN [apawlohneeuhs]
DT (c.260-190bc)
EN Greek mathematician: wrote classic treatise on conic sections.
Apollonius was a student in Alexandria and later taught there, specialising in \Jgeometry\j. Of his books, one survives, On Conic Sections. It deals with the curves formed by intersecting a plane through a double circular cone. These are the circle, \Jellipse\j, \Jparabola\j and hyperbola (the last three were named by Apollonius).
Much of the book on the properties of conics is original; it represents the high point of Greek \Jgeometry\j and, although at the time the work appeared to have no uses, Kepler 1800 years later found that the planets moved in ellipses and the curves now have many applications in ballistics, rocketry and \Jengineering\j.
Apollonius was also interested in \Jastronomy\j and especially in the Moon, and proposed a theory of epicycles to describe the sometimes apparently retrograde motions of the outer planets.
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"Apollonius of Tyana",1767,0,0,0
PN [apo\Bloh\bnius]
DT1a c.
DT1 3
DT2a c.
DT2 97
EN Greek philosopher and seer, born in Tyana, \JCappadocia\j. A zealous neo-Pythagorean teacher, he was hailed as a sage and a worker of miracles. He was worshipped after his death, and a century later Philostratus wrote a largely apocryphal history presenting him as a sort of heathen rival to Christ.
MEX Philostratus
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"Apollonius, known as Apollonius Rhodius",1768,0,0,0
PN [apo\Bloh\bnius]
HS , known as \BApollonius Rhodius\b
DT1 3
DT1b rd-c BC
EN Greek scholar, born in Alexandria, \JEgypt\j, but long resident in Rhodes. He wrote many works on grammar, and an epic poem about the quest for the Golden Fleece, the \IArgonautica,\i which was greatly admired by the Romans.
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"Apollonius, known as Dyskolos ('Bad-tempered')",1769,0,0,0
PN [apo\Bloh\bnius]
HS , known as \BDyskolos\b ('Bad-tempered')
DT1 2
DT1b nd-c
EN Greek grammarian, the first to reduce Greek \Jsyntax\j to a system. He wrote a treatise \IOn Syntax\i and shorter works on pronouns, conjunctions, and adverbs.
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"apologetics",1770,0,0,0
HS (Lat \Iapologia\i 'defence')
EN A branch of \Jtheology\j which justifies Christian faith in the light of specific criticisms or charges. An early example is Justin Martyr's \IApology\i (2nd-c).
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"apomixis",1771,0,0,0
PN [apo\Bmik\bsis]
EN Asexual reproduction without \Jfertilization\j in plants, in which meiosis and fusion of gametes are suppressed. \JApomixis\j also includes vegetative reproduction, in which part of a plant becomes detached and may develop into a separate individual.
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"apostle",1772,0,0,0
EN In its broadest sense, a missionary, envoy, or agent; more narrowly used at times in the \JNew Testament\j to refer to the 12 chosen followers of Jesus (less \JJudas Iscariot\j, replaced by Matthias according to \IActs\i 1) who witnessed the resurrected Jesus and were commissioned to proclaim his gospel. At times the term also included Paul and other missionaries or itinerant preachers \I(Acts\i 14.14; \IRom\i 16.7).
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"Apostlebirds",1773,0,0,0
EN See Corcoracidae
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"Apostles' Creed",1774,0,0,0
EN A statement of Christian faith widely used in Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches, and recognized by the Orthodox Churches. It stresses the trinitarian nature of God (as Father, Son, and \JHoly Spirit\j) and the work of Christ. In its present form, it dates from the 8th-c, but its origins go back to the 3rd-c.
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"Apostolic Constitution",1775,0,0,0
EN One of the most solemn documents issued in the name of a pope, concerned with major matters of doctrine or discipline for the Roman \JCatholic Church\j at large.
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"apostolic succession",1776,0,0,0
EN The theory that a direct line of descent can be traced from the original apostles of Christ through episcopal succession to the bishops of the present-\Jday\j Church which supports it, guaranteeing preservation of the original teaching of the apostles. This is now disputed by most \JNew Testament\j scholars, but features in Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican teaching.
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"apothecary",1777,0,0,0
EN In most countries an old term for a pharmacist at a time when drugs were crude and mostly derived from plants. In England, apothecaries were general medical practitioners; the Society of Apothecaries was founded by James I in 1617 and gained further powers over the next two centuries. As a licensing body, the examinations it sets are subject to approval by the General Medical Council.
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"Appalachian Mountains",1778,0,0,0
PN [apa\Blay\bshuhn, apa\Blay\bchian]
EN Mountain system in E \JNorth America\j extending from the Gulf of St Lawrence south-west to C \JAlabama\j (2570┐km / 1600┐mi); a series of parallel ranges separated by wide valleys; highest peak Mount Mitchell (2037┐m / 6683┐ft), \JNorth Carolina\j; the \BOlder Appalachians\b in the E include (from N to S) the Shichshock, Notre Dame, White and Green Mts, the Berkshire Hills, and the Blue Ridge Mts; the C band of \BFolded\b or \BNewer Appalachians\b includes the Great Appalachian Valley, formed N-S by the St Lawrence lowland, the Lake Champlain lowland, the Hudson R, and other valleys (notably Shenandoah Valley, Virginia); the \BAppalachian Plateau\b in the W includes the Catskill, Allegheny, and Cumberland Mts; glaciers in the Canadian and New England areas; rich in minerals, especially \Jcoal\j; a major barrier to westward exploration in early US history; Great Smoky Mountains National Park (\JTennessee\j), Shenandoah National Park (Virginia), the Appalachian Trail (world's longest continuous hiking trail, 3300┐km / 2050┐mi).
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"Appaloosa",1779,0,0,0
EN A breed of horse; height, 14-15 hands / 1.4-1.5┐m / 4.7-5┐ft; short tail; dark with pale spots, or pale with dark spots; sometimes dark with pale hindquarters; name often used for these markings; also called \BApaloochy\b or \BPalouse.\b
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"apparat",1780,0,0,0
EN The aggregate of full-time officials of the Soviet Communist Party \I(apparatchiki).\i Originally drawn from professional revolutionaries, and based on Lenin's doctrine of democratic centralism, the role of the \Japparat\j was to execute the decisions of the party leadership in a disciplined, bureaucratic manner with little scope for discussion or discretion. The term is also sometimes used to refer to a functionary.
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"apparition",1781,0,0,0
EN The visual experience of seeing a person or animal (either living or dead) not actually present. The term \Bcrisis apparition\b is applied if the person or animal seen is experiencing a crisis at the time, such as death or injury.
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"appeal",1782,0,0,0
EN A legal procedure whereby a superior court considers an application by a party to a case concerning the decision reached in a lower court or tribunal. In criminal cases, the appeal may concern the verdict and / or the sentence. In civil cases, it may concern a subsidiary factor, such as the amount of damages awarded or the actual decision itself. Appeals may involve matters of fact or law, as in the US appellate court; however, appeals to the \JHouse of Lords\j are solely on points of law.
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"appeasement",1783,0,0,0
EN A foreign policy based on conciliation of the grievances of rival states by negotiation and concession to avoid war. The term is most often applied to the British and French unsuccessful attempts before World War 2 to satisfy Hitler's demands over German grievances arising out of the Treaty of Versailles. As a result, Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland, secured \JAnschluss\j with \JAustria\j, and gained the Sudetenland from \JCzechoslovakia\j.
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"Appel, Karel Christian",1784,0,0,0
DT1 1921
EN Painter, born in \JAmsterdam\j, The Netherlands. He studied at the Royal College of Art in \JAmsterdam\j, and became one of an influential group of Dutch, Belgian, and Danish Expressionists known as "Cobra'. His work, featuring swirls of brilliant colour and aggressively contorted figures, has many affinities with American abstract Expressionism. He settled in New York City in the 1960s.
\BMajor Works\b
1950 Child With Birds (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1956 Θtienne-Martin (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1959 Tragic Space (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
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"appendicitis",1785,0,0,0
EN The obstruction and \Jinflammation\j of the appendix; one of the commonest surgical emergencies. It causes abdominal pain and vomiting. If the appendix is not removed surgically, it may cause generalized \Jperitonitis\j and death.
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"appendix",1786,0,0,0
EN A blind-ended tube which arises from the caecum at the beginning of the large bowel on the right side of the \Jabdomen\j; also known as the \Bvermiform appendix.\b In humans, it is variable in length (2-20┐cm / 3/4-8┐in) and its function is unknown. If its single blood supply is cut off, due often to blockage and swelling, it rapidly becomes infected and inflamed \B(appendicitis)\b and has to be removed as soon as possible. It is present in apes and numerous other mammals (eg rabbits, rodents), where it is large, and plays a role in digestion.
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"Appert, Nicholas-Francois",1787,0,0,0
PN [apair]
DT (c.1749- 1841)
EN French chef: devised an improved method of food preservation.
As a innkeeper's son, Appert was familiar with food preparation and he became a chef and confectioner. A government prize was offered for improved methods of preserving food, especially for military use, and from 1795 Appert experimented with sealing food into glass jars using waxed cork bungs. Using heat-sterilization of the vessel and contents he was successful and in 1810 he claimed the 12 000 franc prize.
He used autoclaves (pressure cookers) to give a \Jtemperature\j a little above the boiling point of \Jwater\j. \JTinplate\j cans came into use in England after 1810 and were sealed by soldering. Appert's work was highly praised, but he died in poverty. Pasteur's work, which rationalized Appert's success, came in the 1860s.
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"Appia, Adolphe",1788,0,0,0
DT 1862-1928
EN Swiss theorist and designer. Appia reformed theatrical and operatic scenography. Having studied music and drawing, after a performance of Wagner's The Master Singers in 1888 he resolved 'to reform the art of the theatre [la mise en scΦne]'. In 1891-2 he wrote his notes towards the production of The Ring and La Mise en scΦne du drame wagnΘrien (published in Paris in 1895), and in 1892 his most important work, La Musique et la mise en scΦne, first published (with his own drawings) in German as Die Musik und die Inszenierung (Munich, 1899).
In 1906 he met ╔mile Jaques-Dalcroze, the creator of the system of \Jeurhythmics\j, and in 1909 began sketches for his 'rhythmic spaces'. Appia and Dalcroze prepared plans for an ambitious school and festival in Hellerau (\JGermany\j), where singers, dancers, musicians and designers would work in creative harmony. The Institute operated from 1911 to 1914 and staged two festivals (1912 and 1913).
In 1914 Appia met Gordon Craig, a kindred spirit. L'Oeuvre d'art vivant was published in 1921. Eventually, in December 1923, Tristan and Isolde, with a full design by Appia, was performed at La Scala, Milan, to a mixed reception. In 1924, the young director WΣlterlin asked Appia to design the whole of The Ring for his theatre in Basle. But after a few performances the plan was abandoned, as Appia's work was deemed 'too revolutionary'.
Although his output as a theatre designer was pitifully small, his influence on scene and lighting designers cannot be overstressed. He abolished trompe-l'oeil scenery, called for non-naturalistic and symbolic, architectural sets, used light creatively and insisted on the alliance of music and action, of body and spirit.
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"Appian of Alexandria",1789,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bpian]
HS , Gr \BAppianos\b
DT1 2
DT1b nd-c
EN Roman historian and lawyer, a native of Alexandria, \JEgypt\j. He compiled 24 books of Roman conquests down to \JVespasian\j, written in Greek, of which nine survive complete.
MEX \JVespasian\j
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"Appian Way",1790,0,0,0
PN [\Bap\bian]
EN The first of \JRome\j's major trunk roads, constructed in 312 BC by Appius Claudius Caecus. It ran initially from \JRome\j south-east to Capua. Later it was extended across the peninsula to Brundisium on the Adriatic coast.
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"apple",1791,0,0,0
EN A small deciduous tree; flowers white or pinkish, in clusters, appearing with the oval leaves; fruit a swollen, fleshy receptacle (or \Ipome),\i containing a core, which is the real fruit. \BCrab apples\b are wild species native to N temperate regions with smooth leaves and small, sour fruits.
All eating and cooking apples - over 1000 cultivars - belong to the cultivated apple of gardens and orchards \I(Malus domestica),\i a complex hybrid probably derived from several wild species of crab apple, and which has leaves woolly beneath and large sweet fruits. \B(Genus:\b \IMalus,\i 35 species. \BFamily:\b Rosaceae.)
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"Applegate, Jesse",1792,0,0,0
DT (1811-88)
EN colonist, cattleman; born in Kentucky. He went to Oregon in 1843 and opened the southern road to that area in 1845. He raised beef \Jcattle\j in the Umpqua valley and wrote the Western classic \IA Day with the Cow Column in 1843\i (1876). He was an influential supporter of President Abraham Lincoln and the Union.
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"Appleton layer",1793,0,0,0
EN A strongly ionized region of the upper part of the \Jionosphere\j, at heights of about 200-400┐km / 125-250┐mi, which is responsible for the reflection of short radio waves back to Earth. Discovered in 1925 by Edward Appleton, it is also known as the \BF layer.\b
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"Appleton, Daniel",1794,0,0,0
DT (1785-1849)
EN publisher; born in Haverhill, Mass. Starting as a dry goods merchant, he became increasingly involved in bookselling and in 1831 began publishing books, eventually under the imprint D. Appleton & Company, which he passed on to his sons.
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"Appleton, Nathan",1795,0,0,0
DT (1779-1861)
EN manufacturer, banker; born in New \JIpswich\j, N.H. One of the founders of the cotton-mill industry in \JMassachusetts\j, he pursued both profits and attractive working conditions for his employees. As a U.S. representative (Whig, Mass.; 1831-33) he argued for a protective tariff and for the Bank of the United States. He wrote \ICurrency and Banking\i (1841) and was active in \JBoston\j's cultural life.
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"Appleton, Sir Edward (Victor)",1796,0,0,0
DT (1892-1965)
EN British physicist: pioneer of ionospheric physics; discovered reflective layers within the \Jionosphere\j.
Appleton studied physics at Cambridge, but it was service in the First World War as a signals officer which led to his interest in radio. In 1924 he was appointed professor of experimental physics at King's College, London. In 1939 he was appointed secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and later became vice-chancellor of Edinburgh University.
In 1901 Marconi had transmitted radio signals across the Atlantic, to the astonishment of many in the scientific community who believed that, since electromagnetic radiation travels in straight lines and the Earth's surface is curved, this was not possible. Shortly afterward, A E Kennelly (1861-1939) and Heaviside proposed a reflecting layer of charged particles in the \Jatmosphere\j as the explanation.
In a classic experiment in 1925, Appleton became the first to demonstrate beyond doubt the existence of such a reflecting layer within the \Jionosphere\j. He transmitted signals between \JBournemouth\j and Cambridge (a distance of 170km); and by slowly varying the frequency and studying the received signal he showed that interference was occurring between the part of the signal that travelled in a \Jstraight line\j from transmitter to receiver (the direct, or ground, wave) and another part that was reflected by the \Jionosphere\j (the sky wave).
Measurement of the interference caused by the different path lengths enabled him to measure the height of the reflecting layer, about 70 km. This was the first radio distance measurement. This layer is now known as the Heaviside layer or E layer. Further work revealed a second layer above the first, which is now called the Appleton layer or F layer .
The E layer is more effective after dark, since the Sun's ultraviolet rays interact with the \Jionosphere\j, which is why distant radio stations are more readily picked up at night. For his achievements Appleton received the Nobel Prize for physics in 1947.
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"applied linguistics",1797,0,0,0
EN The application of linguistic theory, practice, and methodology to situations which present language-related tasks or problems. The most well-established field is that of language teaching and learning, particularly with reference to foreign languages. Here, the linguist can contribute such useful background information as a contrastive analysis of the structures of the learner's native language and those of the target language, to enable predictions to be made about likely sources of difficulty and error.
Other fields of interest to the applied linguist include interpreting and translating, dictionary-making, the teaching of reading and writing, and the many areas of language \Jpathology\j (eg stuttering, \Japhasia\j, \Jdyslexia\j).
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"Appomatox Court House",1798,0,0,0
PN [apo\Bmat\boks]
EN The site in Virginia, USA, of the surrender of the Confederate army under Robert E Lee to Union forces under Ulysses S Grant, at the end of the \JAmerican Civil War\j (9 Apr 1865). Although a few Confederates remained under arms, it marked the effective end of the war.
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"Apponyi, Albert Georg, Gr≤f (Count)",1799,0,0,0
PN [\Bop\bonyuh]
DT1 1846
DT2 1933
EN Hungarian statesman, born in Vienna. He entered the Hungarian Diet in 1872, and was leader of the moderate Opposition which became the National Party in 1891. In 1899 he and his supporters went over to the Liberal Government Party, and he became President of the Diet (1901-3). He frequently represented his country at the \JLeague of Nations\j.
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"approximation",1800,0,0,0
In \Jmathematics\j, it is common to express irrational numbers (surds) such as \Fp\n and e, by a limited number of decimal places. When this happens, there has been a degree of approximation.
For example, when \Fp\n is given as 3.14159, this does not pretend to be an exact value: it is a statement in mathematical shorthand that the values lies between 3.141585 and 3.141595. In other words, the approximation is accurate to half a unit in the last significant digit quoted. This loss of accuracy is usually referred to as "the error".
The term approximation also refers to the method used to arrive at a value such as a surd by iteration: carrying out a procedure, then taking the output of the procedure and inserting that into the process as an input for the next round.
A related mathematical activity is "rounding-off", when the number of decimal places is reduced. The general rule is that 4, 3, 2 and 1 are "rounded down", while 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are "rounded up", but you need to be careful when you perform this action. As an example, if you are multiplying 2.54 by 1.414, the result on your calculator will read 3.59156, but this shows spurious accuracy, and it would be more normal to round this to either 3.59, or even 3.6. If you had started by rounding the numbers you were multiplying, you might have got
2.54 x 1.41 = 3.5814; or
2.5 x 1.31 = 3.525
2.5 x 1.4 = 3.5
If there are quite a few calculations to be carried out, these errors can accumulate, and cause quite a large error in the final result. In computers, where graphics packages may often require huge numbers of calculations, the programming has to be specified and designed with this risk of rounding-off errors very much in mind.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"appulse",1801,0,0,0
EN The seemingly close approach of two celestial objects as perceived by an observer; particularly, the close approach of a \Jplanet\j or asteroid to a star without the occurrence of an \Joccultation\j.
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"apraxia",1802,0,0,0
PN [a\Bprak\bsia]
EN Difficulty in controlling voluntary movements of the limbs or vocal organs; also called \Bdyspraxia.\b In particular, there may be an inability to control sequences of sounds or gestures. The intention to act or communicate is present, but the patient cannot carry it out.
EN Russian naval commander, known as the 'father of the Russian navy'. In the service of Peter the Great from 1682, he was appointed admiral in 1707 and built up the navy into a powerful fighting force. In the Great Northern War (1700-21) he routed the Swedish fleet in 1713, thus taking control of the Baltic.
MEX Peter I (of \JRussia\j)
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"apricot",1804,0,0,0
EN A deciduous shrub or small tree \I(Prunus armeniaca)\i 3-10┐m / 10-30┐ft, native to China and C Asia, and widely cultivated; flowers white or pale pink, appearing before the broadly oval, toothed leaves; fruits globose, velvety, 4-8┐cm / 11/2-3┐in, yellow or orange; flesh tart becoming sweet; stone ridged along one edge. \B(Family:\b Rosaceae.)
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"April Fool",1805,0,0,0
EN A person tricked or made a fool of on 1 April (\JAll Fools' Day\j or April Fools' Day). In origin this may have been the final \Jday\j of the festivities celebrating the spring \Jequinox\j, which began on Old \JNew Year's Day\j (25 Mar until 1564). The custom is also probably linked to the continental festival of \JCarnival\j, which takes place prior to Lent, and to the older Feast of Fools celebrated in December.
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"April Theses",1806,0,0,0
EN A programme of revolutionary action drawn up by Lenin in April 1917 shortly after the February Revolution in \JRussia\j. In it he advocated the transformation of the Russian 'bourgeois-democratic' revolution into a 'proletarian-socialist' revolution under the slogan of 'All power to the Soviets'.
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"apron stage",1807,0,0,0
EN The part of the stage in front of the \Jproscenium\j. It is often a movable structure and sometimes lower than the main stage.
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"apse",1808,0,0,0
EN A semi-circular or polygonal vaulted recess in a church, usually at the end of a chapel or \Jchancel\j. It was originally used to contain the praetor's chair in a Roman \Jbasilica\j.
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"Apterygidae",1809,0,0,0
EN \BKiwis\b
Confined to \JNew Zealand\j, the kiwis (Apterygidae, order Struthioniformes, suborder Apteryges) are the smallest and most aberrant of the ratites. They are related to the \JOstrich\j (\JStruthionidae\j) of Africa, the rheas of \JSouth America\j (\JRheidae\j), and the emus and cassowaries of \JAustralasia\j (\JCasuariidae\j), but their closest relatives appear to have been the extinct moas, which were also endemic to \JNew Zealand\j. There are three living species of kiwis, but several \Jfossil\j forms are known.
Kiwis differ strikingly from other ratites in anatomy, appearance, and behavior. They are, for example, rigidly nocturnal, whereas other ratites are diurnal (although on Stewart Island the common Brown Kiwi \IApteryx australis\i sometimes forages during overcast days). The eyes are small, the ears large, the bill long and slender, and the body compact and pair-shaped; the powerful legs make up about a third of the total body weight.
The wings are very small, claw-tipped, and hidden in plumage; there is no external tail. The base of the bill is surrounded by many long, tactile bristles. Their feathers lack aftershafts and have weak barbules, which gives kiwi plumage a distinctively loose and shaggy appearance. Colors are shades of brown and gray, without conspicuous patterns; seasonal or sexual plumage differences are negligible.
Kiwis grow to about 55 cm in body length and weigh between 1.2-3.5kg (according to species). Females are about 20% heavier than males and their bills are much longer. They have two functional ovaries but only the left oviduct is present; there is no brood patch. Kiwis are unusual among birds in possessing a highly developed sense of smell.
Kiwis are mainly nocturnal, solitary, and territorial. They can be located at night with the use of spotlights, but they are otherwise very difficult to observe, and little is known of their behavior in the wild. During the \Jday\j they roost in burrows, either in the form of natural cavities, such as under fallen trees, or tunnels dug by the birds themselves.
Kiwis are entirely confined to \JNew Zealand\j. Before European settlement, two of the three species (Brown and Little Spotted Kiwis, \IApteryx australis\i and \IApteryx owenii)\i were widely distributed on both main islands, but the latter is now apparently extinct except on the tiny offshore island of Kapiti, where it was introduced in 1913.
So far as is known, the third species (Great Spotted Kiwi \IApteryx haastii)\i has always had a restricted distribution on the western slopes of the Southern Alps on the South Island. They occur at all altitudes from seashore to subalpine tussock grasslands.
Kiwis mainly inhabit native forest such as kauri or southern beech, but they sometimes occur in other habitats such as scrub, tussock grasslands, and even plantations of exotic pines. Key requirements are soil soft enough to probe and burrow in, underneath a canopy of dense foliage. All species are sedentary.
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"Apuleius, Lucius",1810,0,0,0
PN [apu\Blay\bus]
DT1 2
DT1b nd-c
EN Roman writer, satirist, and rhetorician, born in Madaura, \JNumidia\j. He studied at \JCarthage\j and \JAthens\j, travelled widely, and was initiated into numerous religious mysteries. Having married a wealthy widow, Aemilia Pudentilla, he was charged by her relations with having employed magic to gain her affections. His \IApologia\i was an eloquent vindication.
He settled in \JCarthage\j, where he devoted himself to literature and the teaching of philosophy and \Jrhetoric\j. His romance, \IMetamorphoses\i or \IThe Golden Ass,\i is a satire on the vices of the age, especially those of the priesthood and of quacks.
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"Apus",1811,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bpus]
HS (Lat 'bird of paradise')
EN A rather small and inconspicuous Southern hemisphere \Jconstellation\j.
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"Aqaba",1812,0,0,0
PN [\Bak\baba]
EN 29░31N 35░00E, pop (1995e) 67 100. Seaport in Maan governorate, East Bank, SW Jordan, at N end of the Gulf of \JAqaba\j, on the border with Israel; Jordan's only outlet to the sea; airport; railway; an ancient trade route through the \JRed Sea\j--Jordan rift valley; container terminal facilities; \Jphosphates\j, thermal power, fertilizers, timber processing, tourism; popular winter seaside resort.
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"aqua fortis",1813,0,0,0
Literally "strong \Jwater\j" in Latin, this is an old-fashioned name for concentrated nitric acid.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"aqua vitae",1814,0,0,0
Literally "\Jwater\j of life" in Latin, this term was originally used by the alchemists to indicate unrectified alcohol. The term survives now as the French eau de vie (brandy), and the \JGaelic\j forms \Iuisge bheatha\i and "\Iusquebaugh\i", both used to represent whisky.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"aquaculture",1815,0,0,0
EN See mariculture
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"aquamarine",1816,0,0,0
EN A variety of the mineral beryl, used as a gemstone. It is transparent, usually sea-green or bluish-green.
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"aquaplaning",1817,0,0,0
EN A phenomenon which can take place when a tyre is operating on a wet road. Under certain circumstances a layer or wedge of \Jwater\j becomes interposed between the tyre and the road, and the tyre 'planes', ie loses adhesion. As a result, steering and braking can become ineffective.
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"aquarium",1818,0,0,0
EN A building suitably equipped for the display of aquatic plant and animal life. The first public aquarium was the Aquatic Vivarium, in Regent's Park Zoo, London, which opened in 1853. In recent times open-air \Bdolphinariums\b have become popular for the displaying of dolphins, and underwater \Boceanariums\b can be found in popular tourist resorts, such as Disney World in \JFlorida\j. Small tanks are available for use as domestic aquariums in which tropical fish can be kept.
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"Aquarius",1819,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkwair\bius]
HS (Lat '\Jwater\j bearer')
EN A \Jconstellation\j of the zodiac, lying between \JPisces\j and \JCapricornus\j. It contains the Helix Nebula, the closest planetary nebula to us.
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"aquatint",1820,0,0,0
EN A form of etching which gives a tonal effect like a wash drawing (shaded with diluted ink or watercolour, applied with a brush). The copper plate is dusted with a thin layer of powdered \Jresin\j, which is fixed to the metal by heating. When immersed in acid, the plate is bitten all over, but as a mass of tiny specks rather than as lines. Gradations of tone from pale grey to deep (but not solid) black are achieved by timing the immersion.
The technique was perfected in \JFrance\j in 1768 by Jean-Baptiste Le Prince, but the greatest master to use it was Goya, notably in \ILos caprichos\i (1799). In the 20th-c, aquatint has been revived by Picasso, AndrΘ Masson (1896-1987), and others.
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"aquavit",1821,0,0,0
EN A colourless spirit, distilled from potatoes or \Jcereals\j, and usually flavoured with caraway seeds. It is a popular drink in Scandinavia.
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"Aquaviva, Claudius",1822,0,0,0
PN [akwa\Bvee\bva]
DT1 1543
DT2 1615
EN Clergyman, born in Naples, \JItaly\j. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1567, and was appointed fifth general of the Jesuit order in 1581. He was a great educator and organizer; his book, \IRatio atque institutio studiorum\i (1586, The Reason and Establishment of Studies), laid the basis for later Jesuit education.
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"aqueduct",1823,0,0,0
EN An artificial channel for the conveyance of \Jwater\j. The Romans built thousands of miles of aqueducts to bring \Jwater\j to their towns. Many are in the form of arch bridges, and some of these spectacular structures, such as the Pont du Gard at Nεmes, \JFrance\j, still survive.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
While the most spectacular part of an \Jaqueduct\j consists of the arched bridges over valleys, these were massive challenges, and avoided whenever possible. For the most part, the \Jaqueduct\j was a channel that was laid in a ditch.
This ditch was excavated, then given a smooth concrete base. Next, the side walls were filled in using stone slabs or masonry, which was then covered with a layer of \Imaltha\i concrete, a mixture of lime, pork fat, and the rubbery milk of unripe figs. This produced a surface which was totally impervious to \Jwater\j.
Finally, the top was covered over with vaulting, a semicircular stone arch, and then the whole ditch was back-filled. The standard form was a channel four feet (1.2 metres) wide, and the height of the channel was just on six feet (1.8 metres). If you visit a surviving relic like Pont du Gard, look for the tunnel which disappears into the hill on the Nεmes side of the \Jaqueduct\j.
Pont du Gard was a huge structure, but it had to be built because the valley was filled with a raging torrent each spring. When this sort of expense was not demanded by regular floods, the Romans took their \Jaqueduct\j down into the valley in a lead pipe, a siphon, which was able to carry the \Jwater\j under pressure, and deliver it to the same height on the other side of the valley. This proved a great deal cheaper than bridging the valley.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"aquifer",1824,0,0,0
EN Water-bearing rock strata, commonly sandstones or \Jchalk\j with high \Jporosity\j and permeability. They provide much of the world's \Jwater\j supply, which may be exploited directly by sinking wells or pumping into a reservoir. The \Jchalk\j in the London Basin (UK) and the Dakota \Jsandstone\j (USA) are important aquifers.
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"Aquila (astronomy)",1825,0,0,0
PN [\Bak\bwila]
HS (Lat 'eagle')
EN A \Jconstellation\j on the celestial equator. Its brightest star is \JAltair\j, distance 5.2 parsec.
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"Aquila, known as Ponticus ('from Pontus')",1826,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bkwila]
HS , known as \BPonticus\b ('from Pontus')
DT1 2
DT1b nd-c
EN Translator of the \JOld Testament\j into Greek, a native of Sinope. He is said to have been first a pagan, then a Christian, and finally a Jew.
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"aquilegia",1827,0,0,0
PN [akwi\Blee\bjuh]
EN See \Jcolumbine\j
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"Aquinas, St Thomas",1828,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkwiy\bnas]
HS , known as \BDoctor Angelicus\b ('angelic doctor')
DT1 1225
DT2 74
EN Scholastic philosopher and theologian, born in the castle of Roccasecca, near Aquino, \JItaly\j. He studied with the Benedictines of Monte Cassino, and at the University of Naples; and, against the bitter opposition of his family, entered the Dominican order of mendicant friars (1244). His brothers kidnapped him and kept him a prisoner in the paternal castle for over a year; in the end he made his way to Cologne to become a pupil of Albertus Magnus.
In 1252 he went to Paris, and taught there, until in 1258 he was summoned by the pope to teach successively in Anagni, Orvieto, \JRome\j, and Viterbo. He died at Fossanuova on his way to defend the papal cause at the Council of Lyon, and was canonized in 1323. His prolific writings display great intellectual power, and he came to exercise enormous intellectual authority throughout the Church.
In his philosophical writings he tried to combine and reconcile Aristotle's scientific rationalism with Christian doctrines of faith and revelation. His best-known works are two huge encyclopedic syntheses. The \ISumma contra Gentiles\i (1259-64) deals chiefly with the principles of natural religion.
His incomplete \ISumma theologiae\i (1266-73) contains his mature thought in systematic form, and includes the famous 'five ways' or proofs of the existence of God. \IThomism\i now represents the general teaching of the \JCatholic Church\j. Feast \Jday\j 7 March.
MEX Albertus Magnus, St
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"Aquino, Cory",1829,0,0,0
PN [a\Bkee\bnoh]
HS , popular name of \B(Maria) Corazon Aquino\b, \InΘe\i \BCojuangco\b
DT1 1933
EN \JPhilippines\j politician and president (1986--92), born in Tarlac province. She studied at Mount St Vincent College, New York, before marrying a young politician, \BBenigno S Aquino\b (1932--83), in 1956, who became the chief political opponent to Ferdinand Marcos.
Imprisoned on charges of murder and subversion (1972--80), he was assassinated by a military guard at Manila airport in 1983 on his return from three years of exile in the USA. Corazon was drafted by the Opposition to contest the 1986 presidential election, and claimed victory over Marcos, accusing the government of ballot-rigging. She took up her husband's cause, leading a non-violent "people's power' campaign which succeeded in overthrowing Marcos. She survived several coup attempts during her presidency, but did not stand for re-election in 1992.
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"Aquitaine",1830,0,0,0
PN [akwi\Btayn\b]
EN pop (1995e) 2 881 000; area 41 308 sq km/15 945 sq mi. Region of SW \JFrance\j comprising the departments of Dordogne, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, and PyrΘnΘes-Atlantiques; united with \JGascony\j under the French crown, 11th-c; acquired by England on the marriage of Henry II to Eleanor of \JAquitaine\j, 1152; remained in English hands until 1452; chief town, \JBordeaux\j; drained by rivers Garonne, Dordogne, Gironde; several caves with ancient rock paintings; Bergerac and \JBordeaux\j areas noted for wines; Parc des Landes de Gascogne regional nature park; several spas; wine, fruit, \Jresin\j, \Jtobacco\j, shipbuilding, chemicals, oil refining.
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"Ara",1831,0,0,0
HS (Lat 'altar')
EN A small Southern hemisphere \Jconstellation\j.
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"Arab horse",1832,0,0,0
EN A breed of horse; height, usually 14-15 hands / 1.4-1.5┐m / 4.7-5┐ft; grey, brown, or black; wide nostrils and concave face; spirited, with great stamina; three groups: \IKehylan,\i \ISeglawi,\i and \IMuniqi,\i which are seldom interbred.
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"Arab League",1833,0,0,0
EN A League of Arab States, founded in 1945, with the aim of encouraging Arab unity. The League's headquarters was established in \JEgypt\j, but moved to \JTunis\j after the signing of \JEgypt\j's peace treaty with Israel in 1979. It returned to \JCairo\j in 1990. In 1994 the Arab League had 22 member states, including Palestine, represented by the Palestine Liberation Organization. Its existence was in question following the invasion of \JKuwait\j and the Gulf War (1990-1).
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"Arab-Israeli Wars",1834,0,0,0
EN Five wars (1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982) fought between Israel and the Arab states over the territorial and strategic consequences of the creation of the Jewish state. In 1948, the end of the British Mandate and the declaration of Israeli statehood on 14 May led to war. By the armistice of 1949, Israel had consolidated its hold over territorial Palestine except for the Golan Heights, West Bank, and Gaza Strip.
These territories, along with the Egyptian \JSinai\j Peninsula, were occupied in the Six Day War of 1967. In all, some 800┐000 Palestinians were made refugees in 1948 and another 300┐000 in 1967. The wars of 1956 (the Suez Crisis) and 1973 (the \JYom Kippur\j or Ramadan War) had no such territorial consequences, and were more opportunistic. In 1982, Israel invaded \JLebanon\j in its only engagement primarily with Palestinian forces, and suffered domestic and international criticism for its conduct of the war.
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"arabesque",1835,0,0,0
PN [ara\Bbesk\b]
EN Flowing linear ornament, based usually on plant forms. It occurs widely throughout history, but is especially favoured by Islamic artists.
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"Arabi Pasha",1836,0,0,0
EN See Ahmed Arabi
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"Arabia",1837,0,0,0
EN area c.2┐590┐000┐km\U2\u / 1┐000┐000┐mi\U2\u. Peninsula of south-west Asia, bounded N by the Syrian Desert, E by the Persian Gulf, W by the \JRed Sea\j, and S by the Arabian Sea; divided politically into the states of Saudi \JArabia\j, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, \JBahrain\j, \JQatar\j, and \JKuwait\j; an important world source of \Jpetroleum\j.
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"Arabian camel",1838,0,0,0
EN See dromedary
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#
"Arabian Gulf",1839,0,0,0
EN See Gulf, the
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"Arabian hound",1840,0,0,0
EN See saluki
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"Arabian Sea",1841,0,0,0
EN area 3┐863┐000┐km\U2\u / 1┐492┐000┐mi\U2\u. north-west part of the Indian Ocean; principal arms include the Gulf of Oman (north-west) and the Gulf of Aden (west); bounded N by \JPakistan\j and \JIran\j, E by India, W by Oman and South Yemen; depths of 2895┐m / 9498┐ft in the N to 4392┐m / 14┐409┐ft in the SW; trade route between Indian subcontinent, Persian Gulf states, and Mediterranean.
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"Arabic",1842,0,0,0
EN A language of the S Semitic group within the Afro-Asiatic family, spoken by over 150 millions as a mother-tongue. Its spread outside the Arabian peninsula was concomitant with the spread of \JIslam\j in the 7th-8th-c AD. The language has two forms. \BColloquial Arabic\b exists as the vernacular varieties of the major Arabic-speaking nation-states, such as \JEgypt\j, Morocco, and \JSyria\j, which are not always mutually intelligible.
\BClassical Arabic,\b the language of the Koran, provides a common, standard written form for all the vernacular variants, and a common medium for affairs of state, religion, and education throughout the Arabic-speaking world. The language is written from right to left.
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"Arabic drama",1843,0,0,0
EN see \JMiddle East\j and North Africa -- Theatre
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"Arabic literature",1844,0,0,0
EN The great age of Arabic literature was from the 6th-c to the 12th-c, although there has been a revival in the 20th-c in drama and fiction. The earlier literature was almost exclusively in poetry, with the oral tradition permitting the cultivation of poetic forms of great complexity, such as the pre-Islamic \Iqasida,\i represented in the celebrated \IMuallaqat\i collection of seven golden odes.
The Umayyad period (661-750) saw the introduction of the \Ighazal,\i a shorter form used for erotic and mystical poetry, in which Omar ibn Abi Rabi'a (644-c.720) excelled, and much political satire. Exposure to Greek and Roman civilization during the Abassid period (750-1055) helped the development of secular prose, best exhibited by Al-Jahiz (776-869); while under the patronage of the 9th-c \JBaghdad\j caliphs and at the 10th-c Hamdanid court at \JAleppo\j, historical writing flourished alongside poetry.
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"arable farming",1845,0,0,0
EN Farming which involves regular ploughing and planting of annual crops, such as \Jcereals\j, potatoes, sugar-beet, and vegetables. It is predominant in flatter and drier areas, where ploughing is easy and where dry summers allow crops to ripen and be harvested.
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"Arabs",1846,0,0,0
EN A diverse group of people, united by their use of Arabic as a first language, who live primarily in south-west \JIran\j, \JIraq\j, \JSyria\j, the Arabian Peninsula, the \JMaghreb\j region of N Africa, \JEgypt\j, and \JMauritania\j. Originating primarily from W Asia, they have in some areas incorporated peoples from sub-Saharan Africa and C Asia. A great unifying force is \JIslam\j, the religion of 95% of all \JArabs\j. They played a crucial world-historical role in the East-West diffusion of culture. The majority live in cities and towns; 5% are pastoral nomads living in deserts.
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"arachidonic acid",1847,0,0,0
EN A polyunsaturated fatty acid with 20 carbons and 4 unsaturated bonds. It is stored in cell membranes, and when released gives rise to the prostaglandins and \Jleukotrienes\j. Arachidonic acid is synthesized in the body from linoleic acid (18 carbons, 2 double bonds), which is an essential component of the diet in that it cannot be synthesized by humans.
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"Arachne",1848,0,0,0
PN [a\Brak\bnee]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, an excellent weaver from Lydia, who challenged Athena to a contest. When \JArachne\j's work was seen to be superior, Athena destroyed the web and \JArachne\j hanged herself. Athena saved her, but changed her into a \Jspider\j.
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"Arachnida",1849,0,0,0
PN [a\Brak\bnida]
EN A large, diverse class of mostly terrestrial arthropods, comprising c.70┐000 species of mites, scorpions, pseudoscorpions, spiders, harvestmen, and whip scorpions; body divided into \Iprosoma\i (fused head and thorax) and \Iopisthosoma\i (\Jabdomen\j); head lacking antennae and compound eyes; four pairs of legs present, and a pair of fangs \I(chelicerae); \i breath by means of specialized regions of the body wall with a thin, highly-folded cuticle \I(book lungs)\i or by means of internal air tubes \I(tracheae).\i
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"arachnodactyly",1850,0,0,0
PN [araknoh\Bdak\btilee]
EN See Marfan's syndrome
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"Arafat, Yasser",1851,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\brafat]
HS , originally \BMohammed Abed Ar'ouf Arafat\b
DT1 1929
EN Palestinian leader, born in \JJerusalem\j, Israel. He studied at \JCairo\j University (1952--6), and co-founded the \JFatah\j resistance group in 1959. This group gained control of the Palestine Liberation Organization, founded in 1964, and he became the chairman of its executive committee. In the 1980s the growth of factions within the PLO reduced his power, and in 1982 the Israeli invasion forced him to leave \JBeirut\j, and to relocate the PLO executive in \JTunis\j.
In 1988, King Hussein of Jordan surrendered his right to administer the West Bank, indicating that the PLO might take over the responsibility. Arafat, to the surprise of many Western politicians, persuaded most of his colleagues to formally acknowledge the right of Israel to co-exist with an independent state of Palestine.
Elected president of the PLO Central Committee in 1988, his support for Saddam Hussein in the 1990 Gulf Crisis hurt his international standing, but his reputation was largely restored following his support of Palestinian participation in the Madrid peace talks of 1991. He continues to be criticized by Palestinian hardliners for his role in the negotiations which led to the recognition of a Palestinian state in 1993. He shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.
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"Arafura Sea",1852,0,0,0
PN [ara\Bfoo\bra]
EN area 1┐037┐000┐km\U2\u / 400┐000┐mi\U2\u. Section of the \JPacific Ocean\j, bounded N and north-east by \JIndonesia\j and New Guinea, and S by \JAustralia\j; shallow depths (27-55┐m / 90-180┐ft) because of underlying continental shelf.
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"Arago, (Dominique) Francois (Jean)",1853,0,0,0
PN [aragoh]
DT (1786-1853)
EN French physicist.
Beginning his career as a secretary at the Bureau de Longitudes, Arago went with Biot to \JSpain\j in 1806 to complete the geodetic measurements of an arc of the meridian. The return journey was eventful as the ship was wrecked and he was almost enslaved at \JAlgiers\j.
He made distinguished researches in many branches of physics, and in 1838 suggested a crucial experiment to decide between the particle and wave theories of light, by measuring its speed in air and in \Jwater\j. The experiment was tried by Foucault in 1850 and pointed to the wave theory.
Arago was the first to discover that substances other than iron have magnetic properties. He also discovered the production of magnetism by electricity; a piece of iron, surrounded by a coil of wire, was briefly magnetized by passing a current from either a capacitor or a voltaic cell through the coil.
The device called Arago's disc consists of a horizontal copper disc with a central vertical spindle; the disc can be spun by a belt and pulley. Above it, and separately mounted, is a pivoted compass needle. When the disc is spun, the needle follows it; if the rotation of the plate is reversed, the needle slows, stops and also reverses. The effect is due to eddy currents in the disc, although Arago did not know this. The value of his experiments in electricity and magnetism is that they later inspired \JFaraday\j to make his major discoveries.
Arago was a close friend of Humboldt for half a century; the latter wrote of Arago as 'one gifted with the noblest of natures, equally distinguished for intellectual power and for moral excellence'.
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"Arag≤n",1854,0,0,0
PN [ara\Bgon\b]
EN pop (1995e) 1 188 000; area 47 669 sq km/18 400 sq mi. Autonomous region of NE \JSpain\j; featureless upland region largely occupying the basin of the R Ebro; \JPyrenees\j in the N; sparsely populated; almonds, figs, vines, and olives grown by irrigation near rivers; a former kingdom (11th--15th-c), controlling much of N \JSpain\j, and conquering parts of S \JItaly\j in the 14th--15th-c.
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"Arag≤n, House of",1855,0,0,0
PN [ara\Bgon\b]
EN The ruling house of one of \JSpain\j's component kingdoms, founded (1035) by Ramiro I, the illegitimate son of Sancho the Great of Navarre. It was united by marriage with the ruling house of \JBarcelona\j in 1131. Fernando II of Aragon married Isabel of Castile in 1469, and the crowns of Aragon and Castile were finally united in 1479.
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"Aragon, Louis",1856,0,0,0
PN [arag⌡]
DT1 1897
DT2 1982
EN Political activist and writer, born in Paris. One of the most brilliant of the Surrealist group, he co-founded the journal \ILittΘrature\i with AndrΘ Breton in 1919. He published two volumes of poetry, \IFeu de joie\i (1920) and \ILe Mouvement perpΘtuel\i (1925), and a Surrealist novel, \ILe Paysan de Paris\i (1926). After a visit to the \JSoviet Union\j in 1930 he became a convert to \JCommunism\j, later writing a series of social-realistic novels entitled \ILe RΘel\i (1933-51).
MEX Breton, AndrΘ
SX m
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#
"aragonite",1857,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bragoniyt]
EN A mineral form of \Jcalcium\j carbonate (CaCO\D3\d), occurring in some high-pressure \Jalpine\j metamorphic rocks, sedimentary carbonate rocks, and in the shells of certain molluscs of which it forms the lining (mother-of-pearl).
BK a
#
"Araguaia, River",1858,0,0,0
PN [ara\Bgwiy\ba]
EN Main tributary of the Tocantins R, north-east \JBrazil\j, rising in C \JBrazil\j, and flowing NNE; length estimated at 1770-2410┐km / 1100-1500┐mi; separates in mid course into two branches, enclosing Bananal I, world's largest river island (area 20┐000┐km\U2\u / 7700┐mi\U2\u), now containing a national park (area 5623┐km\U2\u / 2170┐mi\U2\u); chief tributary (R Garcas) noted for its mosquitos.
BK a
#
"Arakan Pagoda",1859,0,0,0
EN See Mahamuni \JPagoda\j or Arakan \JPagoda\j
BK a
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#
"Arakan Yoma",1860,0,0,0
PN [ara\Bkahn yoh\bma]
EN Mountain range in south-west \JMyanmar\j, between the Arakan coast on the Bay of Bengal and the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River valley; rises to over 1980┐m / 6496┐ft; forms a climatic barrier, cutting off C \JMyanmar\j from the effects of the south-west monsoon.
BK a
#
"Araki, Sadao",1861,0,0,0
PN [arakee]
DT1 1877
DT2 1966
EN Japanese soldier and politician. An ultra-nationalist, he was a leader of the right-wing \IKodaha\i ('Imperial Way') faction of the army. After World War 2 he was convicted as a war criminal and sentenced to \Jlife imprisonment\j, but released in 1965.
SX m
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#
"Aral Sea",1862,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bral]
HS , Russian \BAral'skoye More\b
EN Inland sea, E of the \JCaspian Sea\j, mainly in \JKazakhstan\j; world's fourth largest lake, originally c.65┐000┐km\U2\u / 25┐000┐mi\U2\u, c.420┐km / 260┐mi long, 280┐km / 175┐mi wide, maximum depth 70┐m / 230┐ft; contains several small islands; generally shallow, with little navigation; sodium and \Jmagnesium\j sulphate mined along shores; diversion of \Jwater\j from rivers supplying the sea for cotton irrigation projects has seriously upset ecological balance; rapidly decreasing in size (shrunk by half since 1960 and twice as saline - caused chiefly by irrigation taking too much \Jwater\j from its feeder rivers) sea level dropped by 12┐m / 40┐ft; new desert (the Aralkum) of 2.6 million┐ha / 6.5 million┐acres; \Jwater\j now heavily polluted, with loss of fishing industry, reduced wildlife, and increased disease.
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"Aram, Eugene",1863,0,0,0
DT1 1704
DT2 59
EN Scholar and murderer, born in Ramsgill, North Yorkshire, N England, UK. Though self-taught, he became a schoolmaster, amassed considerable materials for a comparative lexicon, and postulated the relationship between Celtic and Indo-European tongues. In 1745 he was tried for the murder of a wealthy shoemaker, but acquitted for want of evidence.
In 1759, on fresh evidence coming to light about the murder charge, he was tried at York, and hanged. His story was the subject of a romance by Edward George Lytton and a \Jballad\j by Thomas Hood.
SX m
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#
"Aramaic",1864,0,0,0
PN [ara\Bmay\bik]
EN One of the oldest languages in the Semitic group, still spoken by small communities in the \JMiddle East\j. It is the basis of \JSyriac\j, a present-\Jday\j \Jdialect\j spoken by a million people in the \JMiddle East\j and the USA. A \Jdialect\j of \JAramaic\j was the language used by Jesus and his disciples.
BK a
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"Aramidae",1865,0,0,0
EN \BLimpkin\b
The Limpkin \IAramus guarauna\i is the sole surviving member of the family \JAramidae\j (order Gruiformes, suborder Grues). It has a number of features in common with rails (family \JRallidae\j), but some characteristics of its skeleton and plumage are crane-like (family \JGruidae\j). Several \Jfossil\j limpkins are known, extending back at least to the Eocene some 54 million years ago.
The Limpkin is about 70 cm long and it weighs about one kg. Its general appearance and mannerisms resembles a large rail. Its usual posture is hunched and rail-like, and it often skulks in dense cover, flicking its tail nervously.
Foraging birds walk steadily along shallow or muddy margins, periodically probing soft mud delicately with the long, slender, and slightly down-curved bill. The neck and legs are long, the wings are broad and blunt, and the tail short. The plumage is dull brown, faintly glossed with green, and liberally streaked with white.
Males closely resemble females, and there is little age or seasonal variation. Chicks are plain dark brown. Though the feet are un-webbed, it is an efficient swimmer. It takes flight reluctantly, with dangling legs. Where unpersecuted, it is extremely tame, and may be active at any time of \Jday\j or night. It sometimes climbs to the tops of tall stream-side trees to rest, preen, or scan its surroundings.
The Limpkin is sedentary, and occupies an extensive range extending from the southeastern United States through much of West Indies and Central and \JSouth America\j (east of the \JAndes\j) to central Argentina. It is most characteristic of densely wooded swamps with a lush growth of aquatic plants.
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#
"Aran Islands",1866,0,0,0
EN Group of three islands (Inishmor, Inishmaan, Inisheer) off south-west coast of \JGalway\j Co, Connacht, W Ireland; at the mouth of \JGalway\j Bay; each has an airstrip with flights from Carnmore, near \JGalway\j; boat service from Rossaveel; several monastic ruins and Dun Aengus fort.
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"Aranda",1867,0,0,0
PN [a\Bran\bda]
EN The language spoken by the Aboriginal people of the region round \JAlice Springs\j, \JNorthern Territory\j, \JAustralia\j, predominantly associated with the MacDonnel Ranges; c.500-1000 live in \JAlice Springs\j, with several thousand others in surrounding settlements.
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"Aranda, Pedro Pablo Abarca y Bolea, conde de (Count of)",1868,0,0,0
DT1 1718
DT2 99
EN Spanish statesman and general, born in SiΘtamo, \JSpain\j. He was made ambassador to \JPoland\j in 1760, but in 1766 was recalled to Madrid and made prime minister, with the task of restoring order after risings. He became prime minister again in 1792, but antagonized Godoy, and died in Aragon in enforced retirement.
MEX Godoy
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#
"Araneae",1869,0,0,0
PN [a\Bran\bee-ee]
EN See \Jspider\j
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#
"Arany, Jßnos",1870,0,0,0
PN [\Baw\brony]
DT1 1817
DT2 82
EN Poet, born in Nagy-Szalonta, \JHungary\j. With \BSandor Pet÷fi\b (1823-49) he was a leader of the popular national school, and is regarded as one of the greatest of Hungarian poets. His chief work is the \IToldi\i trilogy (1847-54), the story of the adventures of a young peasant in the 14th-c Hungarian court.
SX m
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#
"Ararat, (Great) Mount",1871,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\brarat]
HS , Turkish \B(Bⁿyⁿk) Agri Dagi\b
EN 39░44N 44░15E. Highest peak in Turkey; in E Turkey, close to the frontier with \JIran\j and Armenia; height 5165┐m / 16┐945┐ft; said to be the landing place of Noah's Ark; \BLittle Ararat\b \B(Kⁿcⁿk Agri Dagi)\b lies to the SE, rising to 3907┐m / 12┐818┐ft.
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"Arason, J≤n",1872,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\brason]
DT1a c.
DT1 1484
DT2 1550
EN Icelandic national hero and clergyman, the last Roman Catholic bishop in \JIceland\j, born in Eyjafj÷rSur, \JIceland\j. He was a turbulent, charismatic figure, and a poet of both religious and satirical verse. In 1524 he was consecrated Bishop of H≤lar. He fiercely resisted the imposition of \JLutheranism\j from Denmark by the crown, and was declared an outlaw. Eventually he and two of his sons were captured in an ambush, and summarily beheaded.
SX m
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#
"Araucanians",1873,0,0,0
PN [araw\Bkayn\bianz]
EN A South American Indian group of C \JChile\j. Two divisions, the Picunche and the Huilliche, assimilated into Spanish society in the 17th-c; the Mapuche resisted for over three centuries, but were finally defeated by the Chilean army in the 1880s, and were settled on reservations. They presently number about 200┐000, living on reservations and in towns and cities in \JChile\j and Argentina.
BK a
#
"araucaria",1874,0,0,0
PN [araw\Bkair\bia]
EN An evergreen \Jconifer\j, native to much of the Southern hemisphere except Africa; branches horizontal, in whorls; leaves usually scale-like, sometimes large; all produce edible seeds and useful timber, often sold as \Bparana pine.\b \B(Genus:\b \IAraucaria,\i 18 species. \BFamily:\b Araucariaceae.)
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"Arawak",1875,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\brawak]
EN \JAmerican Indians\j of the Greater \JAntilles\j and \JSouth America\j. In the \JAntilles\j, they settled in villages and cultivated \Jcassava\j and \Jmaize\j; frequently attacked by the Caribs, many were later killed by the Spanish. In \JSouth America\j, they lived in isolated small settlements in tropical Amazonian forests, and practised hunting, fishing, and farming. A few survivors live along the coastal strip of \JGuyana\j and Suriname. Arawakan languages are still widespread, spoken in parts of an area which extends from \JCentral America\j to S \JBrazil\j.
BK a
#
"Arbarbanel",1876,0,0,0
EN See Abarbanel, Isaac ben Jehudah
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#
"Arber, Agnes",1877,0,0,0
DT (1879-1960)
EN British botanist: her careful investigations of plant structure made a lasting contribution to botanical knowledge.
Agnes Robertson became an enthusiastic student of botany while attending the North London Collegiate School for Girls. The school was unusually good in its teaching of science and it was there that she learned about plant anatomy and classification. The school had a Science Club to which Ethel Sargant, who had also attended the school, gave talks on botany.
After taking degree examinations at University College, London, and Newnham College, Cambridge, Agnes Robertson became a research assistant to Ethel Sargant at her private laboratory and worked on seedling structures. From 1903-08 she returned to London to take up research on \Jgymnosperms\j.
After her marriage in 1909 she worked at the Balfour Laboratory in Cambridge until 1927 and thereafter in her own laboratory at home. For the next 50 years her researches were mainly concerned with the anatomy and morphology of monocotyledonous plants and her researches were gathered into book form. She published Herbals, Their Origin and Evolution (1912), Water Plants: A Study of Aquatic Angiosperms (1920), and \JMonocotyledons\j (1925).
She also produced in the Cambridge Botanical Handbook series The Gramineae: A Study of Cereal, \JBamboo\j, and Grass (1934). In 1946 she was elected to the fellowship of the Royal Society; she was the third woman to receive the honour. After the Second World War she turned more to philosophy and wrote The Natural Philosophy of Plant Form (1950), The Mind and the Eye (1954) and The Manifold and the One (1957).
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#
"Arber, Werner",1878,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bber]
DT1 1929
EN Microbiologist, born in GrΣnichen, \JSwitzerland\j. He studied at Geneva University and the University of Southern \JCalifornia\j, becoming professor of molecular \Jbiology\j at \JBasel\j from 1970. In the 1960s he proposed that when \Jbacteria\j defend themselves against attack by viruses, they use selective enzymes which cut the DNA chain of the infecting virus. He shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1978.
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#
"Arbez, Edward (Philip), S. S.",1879,0,0,0
DT (1881-1967)
EN Catholic theologian; born in Paris, \JFrance\j. Emigrating to the U.S.A. as a seminarian, he studied Near Eastern languages before being ordained a Sulpician priest. While teaching at Catholic University (1928-43) and elsewhere, Arbez earned renown as a biblical scholar; he cofounded the Catholic Biblical Society of America (1936) and chaired the editorial board of the New American \JBible\j.
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#
"arbitration",1880,0,0,0
EN The settlement of a dispute by reference to an independent party, the \Barbitrator\b (in Scotland, the \Barbiter).\b Contracts may provide for disputes to be settled in this way, in an attempt to avoid proceedings in the courts. There are specialist trade tribunals engaged in settling business disputes, such as the London Maritime Arbitrators Association and the Grain and Feed Trade Association.
The American \JArbitration\j Association helps settle labour disputes. \JArbitration\j and other forms of alternative dispute resolution are increasingly popular alternatives in the USA to expensive, time-consuming, formal litigation. Both private and public US agencies provide \Jarbitration\j services; the American Bar Association has a special committee on dispute resolution. Arbitrators, like judges, are immune from action in negligence. \JArbitration\j settlements may be binding, and are generally enforceable.
BK a
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"Arblay, Madame d'",1881,0,0,0
EN See Burney, Fanny
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#
"Arbor Day",1882,0,0,0
EN In the USA, \JNew Zealand\j, and parts of Canada and \JAustralia\j, a \Jday\j (whose date varies from place to place) set apart each year for planting trees and increasing public awareness of the value of trees; first observed in the State of \JNebraska\j, USA, in 1872.
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#
"arbor vitae",1883,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bbaw(r) \Bvee\btiy]
EN An evergreen coniferous tree or shrub native to \JNorth America\j, China, \JJapan\j, and Formosa; leaves scaly, overlapping, in opposite pairs, cones urn-shaped with thin scales. The name is rarely used for individual species, which are called \Bcedars\b or \Bthujas,\b qualified by country of origin or timber colour. \B(Genus:\b \IThuja,\i 6 species. \BFamily:\b Cupressaceae.)
BK a
#
"arboretum",1884,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)bo\Bree\btum]
EN A botanical garden, or a section of a botanical garden, used for the display and study of trees, shrubs, and vines.
BK a
#
"Arbus, Diane",1885,0,0,0
DT (1923-71)
EN photographer; born in New York City (sister of Howard Nemerov). Daughter of a wealthy department store merchant, she began as a fashion photographer, but from about 1954 on she concentrated on such subjects as deviants, nudists, dwarfs, drug-addicts, and ugly or poor people she might meet on the street.
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#
"Arbuthnot, John",1886,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bbuhth\bnot]
DT1 1667
DT2 1735
EN Physician and writer, born in Inverbervie, Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland. UK. A close friend of Jonathan Swift and all the literary celebrities of the \Jday\j, he was also a distinguished doctor and writer of medical works, and a physician in ordinary to Queen Anne (1705).
In 1712 he published five satirical pamphlets against the Duke of Marlborough, called \IThe History of John Bull,\i which was the origin of the popular image of John Bull as the typical Englishman. He helped to found the Scriblerus Club, and was the chief contributor to the \IMemoirs of Martinus Scriblerus\i (1741).
MEX Anne; Marlborough
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#
"Arbuthnot, May Hill",1887,0,0,0
DT (1884-1969)
EN educator; born in Mason City, \JIowa\j. While she was principal of the Cleveland (Ohio) Kindergarten-Primary Training School (1922-27), the school was made a department of elementary education at Western Reserve University and she became associate professor. She established the first nursery schools in Ohio, and the Western Reserve Nursery School that she founded became a nationally known center for the study of early education.
In 1939 she and William Gray of the University of \JChicago\j produced the \IBasic Readers: Curriculum Foundation Series\i (1940, 1946), the "Dick and Jane" books used by more than half the children in the U.S.A. Her college textbook, \IChildren and Books\i (1947), became the most widely used textbook on children's literature, largely because of her insistence on high standards of evaluation and the importance of literary quality. Her \IArbuthnot Anthology of Children's Literature\i (1953) went into several later editions.
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#
"Arbuzov, Aleksei (Nikolaevich)",1888,0,0,0
DT 1908-
EN Soviet actor, director and playwright. He is one of the most prolific and popular dramatists at home and in the West; his sense of love and fantasy as twin salvations from the fragility and cruelty of life is reflected in his drama. His first full-length plays - Class (1930), Six Favourites and The Distant Road (1935) - were followed by the extremely popular Tanya (1939), centring on a dependent woman who transforms herself into a socially aware heroine.
Arbuzov's next plays, written for the Moscow Theatrical Studio, which he co-founded with V.N. Plyuchek, include Sunrise City (co- written with the collective, 1940), The Immortal One (with A.K. Gladkov, 1942) and The Little House in Cherkizovo (1943). Following A Meeting with Youth (1947), a dramatization of Turgenev's On the Eve (1948), and European Chronicle (1952), Arbuzov wrote the youth chronicle play, The Years of Wandering (1954), the strongly Chekhovian The Twelfth Hour (1959) and his most popular drama, \JIrkutsk\j Story (1959), a simple tale of young love and hardship set in a Siberian hydroelectric plant.
My Poor Marat (English title - The Promise, 1965) was an international hit. His plays of the 1970s, published in the collection Choice, include Tales of the Old Arbat (Once Upon a Time), In This Pleasant Old House, My Eye-Catcher, An Old-Fashioned Comedy (English title - Do You Turn Somersaults?), Evening Light and Cruel Games (1978). His most recent plays, Remembrances (1981) and The Victorious One, return to the safe, familiar conflicts between extracurricular romance and family, professional and personal life. Arbuzov's theatre studio has promoted new playwrights.
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"arc",1889,0,0,0
EN Part of the curve bounding a region, usually the arc of a circle. The length of an arc of a circle radius \Ir,\i that subtends an angle \fq\n\d at the centre of the circle, is \Ir\i \fq\n\d. The \Bminor arc\b is the smaller of the two possible arcs \IAB; \i the \Bmajor arc\b is the greater of the two.
BK a
#
"Arc de Triomphe",1890,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)k duh \Btree\b⌡f]
EN A triumphal arch commemorating Napoleon's victories, designed by Jean Chalgrin (1739-1811) and erected (1806-35) in the Place Charles de Gaulle, Paris. It is 49┐m / 162┐ft high and 45┐m / 147┐ft wide.
BK a
#
"Arc, Joan of",1891,0,0,0
EN See Joan of Arc, St
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#
"Arc-et-Senans",1892,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)k ay suhn⌡]
EN 47░02N 5░46E. A royal saltworks situated N of Arbois, \JFrance\j; a world heritage site. The architect, Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, had only partially realized his plan to incorporate a saline extraction plant with an ideal town, when building came to a halt in 1779. The works were abandoned by the end of the 19th-c.
BK a
#
"Arcadia (Ancient Greece)",1893,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bkay\bdia]
EN The mountainous area in the centre of the \JPeloponnese\j. Its inhabitants claimed to be pre-Dorian, and the oldest settlers of Hellenic stock in \JGreece\j.
BK a
#
"Arcadia (mythology)",1894,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bkay\bdia]
EN An ideal pastoral existence; also known as \BArcady.\b \IEt in Arcadia ego\i is a proverbial expression found engraved on a tombstone in a painting by Poussin, usually taken to mean that death is present, even in the ideal world.
BK a
#
"Arcadius",1895,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bkay\bdius]
DT1 377
DT2 408
EN Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, born in \JSpain\j. After the death of his father, Emperor Theodosius (395), he received the E half of the Roman Empire, the W half falling to his brother Honorius. An ineffectual ruler, he was dominated by his ministers and by his wife (married 395), Empress \BEudoxia\b (?-404).
MEX Honorius, Flavius; Theodosius; Theophilus
SX m
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#
"Arcaro, Eddie",1896,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bka\broh]
HS , popular name of \BGeorge Edward Arcaro\b
DT1 1916
EN Jockey, born in \JCincinnati\j, Ohio, USA. He was winner of the Kentucky Derby on five occasions, and was six times the leading money-winner in the USA. In 1941 and 1948 he won the horse-racing triple crown (the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes).
BK Biog99
#
"Arcesilaus",1897,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)sesi\Blay\bus]
DT1a c.
DT1 316
DT2a c.
DT2 241
DT2b BC
EN Greek philosopher, born in Pitane, Aeolia. He became the sixth head of the Academy founded by \JPlato\j; he modelled his philosophy on the critical dialectic of \JPlato\j's earlier dialogues but gave it a sharply sceptical turn, directed particularly against Stoic doctrines.
MEX \JPlato\j
SX m
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#
"arch",1898,0,0,0
EN Part of a building, or a structure in its own right, made up of wedge-shaped stones or other pieces over an opening, which support both each other and any weight above. All classical and Norman arches are semicircular; other styles use a variety of shapes, including the elliptical, horseshoe, lancet, ogee, pointed, segmental, and Tudor. A \Brelieving\b or \Bdischarging\b arch has no opening, being placed in a wall to direct weight away from an aperture further below.
BK a
#
"Arch Street Theatre",1899,0,0,0
EN (Philadelphia) Believing that Philadelphians would support a newer, more elegant playhouse than the Chestnut, a group of citizens pledged the money to build the Arch Street Theatre and leased it to William B. Wood. It opened in 1828. From 1861, it enjoyed its most prosperous and famous period when Mrs John Drew (see Drew-Barrymore family) became manageress. For nearly a decade, she maintained a peerless company of actors in excellent productions. The theatre was demolished in 1936.
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#
"Arch, Joseph",1900,0,0,0
DT1 1826
DT2 1919
EN Preacher and reformer, born in Barford, Warwickshire, C England, UK. While still a farm labourer he became a Primitive Methodist preacher. In 1872 he founded the National Agricultural Labourers' Union, and later was MP for north-west Norfolk.
SX m
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#
"Archaean or Archean eon",1901,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bkee\ban]
EN The earlier of the two geological eons into which the Precambrian is divided; the period of time from the formation of the Earth (c.4600-2500 million years ago).
BK a
#
"Archaebacteria",1902,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)keebak\Bteer\bia]
EN A recently established kingdom comprising the \Jmethane\j-producing \Jbacteria\j \I(methanogens).\i They differ from true \Jbacteria\j and all higher organisms (the \Ieucaryotes,\i in which the cells have a true nucleus) in numerous detailed characters relating to their ribonucleic acids, \Jenzyme\j systems, and metabolic pathways. They possibly represent the oldest known life forms, existing more than 3 thousand million years ago.
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"archaeology / archeology",1903,0,0,0
EN The study of past peoples and societies through the systematic analysis of their material remains. It originated as an aspect of the revival of interest in classical culture during the Renaissance, and was, until the study of human antiquity was established in the 1860s, an almost exclusively European and antiquarian pursuit, interpreting chance survivals of monuments and artefacts by reference to biblical and classical precedent.
The emphasis since has shifted firmly to the study of human development over the long period of more than 2 million years in which written records were non-existent \I(prehistory)\i or at best rudimentary \I(protohistory),\i and to the recovery of new data through excavation, field survey, laboratory study, and computer analysis. Radiometric dating methods established the discipline on a new and firmer footing in the 1950s and 1960s, and quantification and an increasing preoccupation with theory wrought an almost equivalent revolution in the 1970s and 1980s.
Archaeology has continued throughout to grow in scope, so that it now involves \Janthropology\j, \Jecology\j, and \Jsystematics\j alongside the more traditional preoccupations of history, art history, and \Jtaxonomy\j. Politically too it has an often potent role to play in the modern world, its finest monuments standing at once as symbols of ancient culture and contemporary nationhood.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Sooner or later, the things we make get lost or stolen or they stray. This has been happening for two million years that we know about, for we have stone tools made that long ago in Olduvai Gorge, \JTanzania\j. The early humans of Olduvai almost certainly used wood, string, leather as well as other materials, but these are only rarely preserved. Future archaeologists will have a marvellous time sifting through our rubbish, because we will leave behind us so many things which will not rot, and will not break down over time. When they look at us, they will have a much clearer picture of us than we can ever have of the \JVikings\j, the Saracens, or the people who built Angkor Thom.
The sciences and the arts cross boundaries when they work in archaeological investigation. While an archaeological dig looks for answers to more recent historical questions, and so seems to belong in the Arts faculty in a university, yet their methods have more to do with \Jgeology\j. Dating relies on the identification of \Jpollen\j by botanists, and zoologists must advise about the way the strata have been mixed by burrowing animals, other dating methods will use physics and chemistry.
Even geographers will have a part to play, showing how aerial photographs and \Jsatellite\j photographs reveal the structures buried underground. For example, an archaeologist can look at a piece of ground where there was a ditch 3,000 years ago, and the ditch will still show up on the photograph. Old roads, the buried foundations of old buildings, and many other traces of humans will appear on the prints when the right filters are used at the correct time of \Jday\j. The principle is simple: disturbed soil, even soil disturbed 3,000 years ago, absorbs heat at a different rate, loses moisture faster, and carries different plants on it. All of these differences give the soil a different \Jtemperature\j signature.
Because new snow is laid down at the \JPoles\j each year, with more in winter than in summer, scientists can spot layers, one per year, running back into the past when they drill into the thick ice of \JGreenland\j and the Antarctic. Along the way down through the ice, they can detect \Jradioactive fallout\j from the first atom bomb tests, further down they can see a fine band of the volcanic dust that was spewed into the air more than 100 years ago when the volcanic island of Krakatau erupted in \JIndonesia\j, and they can trace other volcanic eruptions in the same way, back to the eruption which buried \JPompeii\j in AD 79.
Then there are the even earlier eruptions, like that in the Greek island of Santorini, probably around 1628 BC, which probably gave us the legend of Atlantis as it destroyed \JKnossos\j, and ended the civilization of the Minoans. Until recently, the date for this event was uncertain but now it has been confirmed, both from the ice cores, and also from tree ring studies in Ireland, which show that there was a year of high dust, around 1628 BC.
Almost every science can be utilized to provide evidence for the archaeologist. Medical experts can examine bones to find signs of disease, or they can explore the remnants of old cesspits, and find traces of intestinal worms, undigested foods, and whatever the people used to clean themselves with.
Even \Janthropology\j, the study of living human populations, has a part to play in the development of archaeological science. Stone tool remnants last for a very long time, and so are studied by archaeologists for clues about the past, but they always have to be wary of their assumptions. In a recent study in the Irian Jaya highlands, \JIndonesia\j, anthropologists studied the behaviour and work of the Kim-Yal stone axe makers in Langda Village.
They observed how axes were made and used, and even measured where the waste flakes went, but they found nothing out of the ordinary there. Then came an interesting discovery, that broken and worn-out axe blades were normally carried back to the village because the users felt 'sorry' for them. The researchers noted with interest that Homer's \IIliad\i mentions this sort of attachment to tools, and suggested that maybe this sort of thinking is more common in human societies than we have realized.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Archaeopteryx",1904,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)ki\Bop\bteriks]
EN The oldest \Jfossil\j bird, known from the Jurassic period of Europe; characterized by feathers and a wishbone; distinguished from modern birds by reptilian features such as the long bony tail supported by vertebrae, three clawed fingers on wings and sharp teeth on both jaws.
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"Archangel",1905,0,0,0
EN 64░32N 40░40E, pop (1995e) 431 000. Port and capital city of \JArchangel\j oblast, European \JRussia\j; on R Severnaya Dvina, on an inlet of the White Sea; one of the largest sea and river ports in the state; harbour often icebound in winter; founded, 1584; airfield; railway; fishing, clothing, footwear, shipbuilding, transport equipment, timber; monastery dedicated to the \JArchangel\j Michael.
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"archbishop",1906,0,0,0
EN A bishop appointed to have \Jjurisdiction\j over other bishops; often, the head of a province. The title sometimes refers to a bishop exercising special functions. In Eastern Churches, a hierarchy of archbishops is recognized.
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"archdeacon",1907,0,0,0
EN A clergyman in the Anglican Church responsible for the administration of the whole or such part of a diocese as the bishop may authorize. The office formerly existed also in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.
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"archegonium",1908,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)ke\Bgoh\bnium]
EN The flask-shaped, female \Jgamete\j-producing organ of bryophytes, pteridophytes, and \Jgymnosperms\j. It is related to the development of land plants.
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"Archelaus, Greek philospher and cosmologist",1909,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)ke\Blay\bus]
DT1 5
DT1b th-c BC
EN Greek philosopher and cosmologist. He is reputed to have been the pupil of Anaxagoras and the teacher of \JSocrates\j.
MEX Anaxagoras; \JSocrates\j
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"Archelaus, the son of Herod the Great",1910,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)ke\Blay\bus]
DT1 1
DT1b st-c
EN Ethnarch of Judaea, the son of Herod the Great, who succeeded his father in AD 1. His heirship being disputed by his brother Herod Antipas, Archelaus went to \JRome\j, where his authority was confirmed by Octavianus Augustus. After a nine-year reign, he was deposed by Augustus for his tyranny, and banished.
EN Writer and former parliamentarian. He became Conservative MP for Louth (1969--74), but resigned after a financial disaster that led to \Jbankruptcy\j. In order to pay his debts he turned to writing fiction. His first book, \INot a Penny More, Not a Penny Less\i (1975), was an instant best-seller.
Later books include \IShall We Tell the President?\i (1976), \IKane and Abel\i (1979), \IFirst Among Equals\i (1984), \IAs the Crow Flies\i (1991), \IThe Fourth Estate\i (1996), and the plays \IBeyond Reasonable Doubt\i (1987) and \IExclusive\i (1990). Several of his books have been dramatized on \Jtelevision\j. He was created a life peer in 1992.
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1975 Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less
1976 Shall We Tell the President?
1979 Kane and Abel
1982 The Prodigal Daughter
1984 First Among Equals
1985 A Matter of Honour
1991 As the Crow Flies
1993 Honour Among Thieves
1996 The Fourth Estate
\IShort Stories\i
1980 A Quiver Full of Arrows
1988 A Twist in the Tale
1995 Twelve Red Herrings
\IPlays\i
1987 Beyond Reasonable Doubt
1990 Exclusive
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"Archer, Fred(erick)",1912,0,0,0
DT1 1857
DT2 86
EN Champion jockey, born in \JCheltenham\j, \JGloucestershire\j, SWC England, UK. He rode his first race in 1870, and during his career rode 2748 winners, including the Derby five times. His record of 246 winners in one season remained intact until it was beaten by Gordon Richards in 1933.
MEX Richards, Gordon
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"Archer, Frederick (Scott)",1913,0,0,0
DT (1813-57)
EN British inventor of the wet collodion photographic process.
Orphaned early in life, Archer was apprenticed to a London silversmith. This led him first to study coins and then to design them and to work as a portrait sculptor. To obtain likenesses for this he began in 1847 to use the primitive photographic methods of the time. He experimented to improve them and tried collodion (a solution of \Jnitrocellulose\j in ether), on paper and then on glass, as part of the sensitive material.
In 1851 he published his method: collodion containing iodide was flowed over a glass plate. This was followed by silver \Jnitrate\j solution. The moist plate was quickly exposed in the camera and then developed, fixed and washed to give a glass negative from which positive paper prints could be made. The moist plate was much more sensitive to light than its predecessors and allowed exposures to be reduced to 2-20 s.
Archer was diffident, poor, generous and unworldly. Talbot claimed (falsely) that the whole process was covered by his patents, but by 1854 his attempts to prevent the use of collodion by legal injunctions had failed and, as the daguerrotype patents had lapsed in 1853, the public could take up photography without restraint and did so enthusiastically.
Despite the need to carry a tent and portable laboratory, the wet collodion process quickly supplanted all others and was widely used by amateurs and professionals until 1880 when the more convenient gelatine dry plate was introduced.
Archer died poor and unappreciated, and his family received niggardly provision from Government and professional photographers who had profited by use of his unpatented methods. Only after many years was his contribution recognized.
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"Archer, Robyn",1914,0,0,0
DT1 1948
EN Singer and actress, born in Adelaide, South \JAustralia\j. She studied at Adelaide University and became a teacher of English until 1974, when she took up a singing career. In 1975 she played Jenny in Weill's \IThreepenny Opera\i, since when her name has been linked particularly with the German cabaret songs of Weill, Eisler, and Dessau.
Her one-woman cabaret \IA Star is Torn\i (1979) and her 1981 show \IThe Pack of Women\i both became successful books and recordings, the latter also being produced for \Jtelevision\j in 1986. In 1989 she was commissioned to write a new opera, \IMambo\i, for the Nexus Opera, London. She is artistic director of the 1998 and 2000 Adelaide Festivals.
\BMajor Works\b
\ITheatre\i
1975 Threepenny Opera
1979 A Star is Torn
1981 The Pack of Women
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"Archer, Thomas",1915,0,0,0
DT1 1668
DT2 1743
EN Baroque architect, born in Tanworth, Warwickshire, C England, UK. He studied at Oxford, then travelled abroad. His works include the churches of St John, Westminster (1714) and St Paul, Deptford (1712), and Roehampton House in Surrey.
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"Archer, William",1916,0,0,0
DT 1856-1924
EN Scottish journalist and drama critic. Archer's alliance with George Bernard Shaw in the promotion of Ibsen was influential in the move to raise the literary standards of British drama at the end of the 19th century. The first of Archer's own translations from Ibsen was performed in London in 1880 under the title Quicksands, or The Pillars of Society.
A collected edition in 11 volumes was published in 1906-8. Archer was a fierce defender of the best of contemporary drama: The Old Drama and the New (1923) is a vigorous defence of the plays of T.W. Robertson.
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"archerfish",1917,0,0,0
EN Any of the Asian marine and freshwater fishes renowned for their ability to dislodge or shoot down insect prey by spitting drops or jets of water over distances up to 3┐m / 10┐ft; body length up to 25┐cm / 10┐in. \B(Family:\b Toxotidae.)
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"archery",1918,0,0,0
EN The use of the bow and arrow, one of the first weapons used in battle. Until the development of \Jgunpowder\j in the 14th-c, the bowman was the most powerful member of any army. When \Jarchery\j was no longer used in warfare its practice decreased, but in the late 17th-c it gained popularity as a sport.
The governing body, the \IFΘdΘration Internationale de Tir α l'Arc\i was formed in 1931. In competition, a series of arrows is fired from 30, 50, 70, and 90┐m (roughly 100-300┐ft) for men, and 30, 50, 60, and 70┐m (roughly 100-230┐ft) for women. The circular target consists of 10 scoring zones. The smallest is gold-coloured and worth 10 points if hit.
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"archetype",1919,0,0,0
EN (Gr 'original pattern') A prototype or permanent form of an event (birth / death), character (rebel / witch), or disposition. Seen as recurring in life, archetypes are a fertile source of images in art and literature.
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"Archilochus of Paros",1920,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bkil\bokus]
DT1 760
DT2 670
DT2b BC
EN Greek poet from the island of Paros, regarded as the first of the lyric poets. Much of his renown is for vituperative satire. Only fragments of his work have survived.
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"Archimedes",1921,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)kimeedeez]
DT (c.287-212 bc)
EN Sicilian Greek mathematician and physicist: pioneer of statics and \Jhydrostatics\j.
A member of a wealthy noble family, \JArchimedes\j studied in Alexandria but returned to Syracuse in \JSicily\j, whose king Hieron II was a relative. \JArchimedes\j was the finest scientist and mathematician of the ancient world but little is firmly known of his life, although legends exist. He is known to have used experiments to test his theories, which he then expressed mathematically.
He devised weapons against the Roman fleet when it attacked Syracuse in 215 bc; the Romans took the city in 212 bc and \JArchimedes\j was killed. Cicero found and restored his tomb in 75 bc.
In \Jmathematics\j, \JArchimedes\j used geometrical methods to measure curves and the areas and volumes of solids (e.g. the volume of a sphere, 4\Fp\nr\U3\u/3); he used a close approximation for \Fp\n (he showed it to be between 223/71 and 220/70) and developed his results without the use of the \Jcalculus\j (which came nearly 2000 years later). He used a new notation to deal with very large numbers, described in his book \ISand-Reckoner.\i
In applied \Jmathematics\j, he created mechanics; his innovations ranged from the directly practical (eg the compound pulley and the Archimedian screw) to derivations of the theory of levers and centres of gravity, forming the basic ideas of statics. He founded \Jhydrostatics\j, contributing ideas which included specific gravity and the \JArchimedes\j principle: this states that when a body is wholly or partly immersed in a fluid, it experiences a buoyant force (upthrust) which shows itself as an apparent loss of weight, equal to the weight of fluid displaced. (The fluid can be liquid or gas.)
Gauss thought that \JArchimedes\j had only Newton as a mathematical equal.
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"Archimedes screw",1922,0,0,0
EN A device to raise \Jwater\j; named after the Greek mathematician \JArchimedes\j, who is said to have invented it. It consists of a broad threaded screw inside an inclined cylinder; as the screw is turned, the \Jwater\j is raised gradually between the threads and is run off at the top.
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"Archipenko, Alexander Porfirievich",1923,0,0,0
DT (1887-1964)
EN sculptor; born in \JKiev\j, \JRussia\j. He studied at the \JKiev\j School of Art (1902-05), in Paris (1908-21), and settled in New York City (1923). He taught at many institutions, including Moholy-Nagy's New Bauhaus School, \JChicago\j (1937-39), and became famous for his combinations of sculpture and painting, as in \IMedrano II\i (1914).
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"architecture",1924,0,0,0
EN The art or science of building; particularly used to differentiate between building and the art of designing buildings. In the latter context, there has been great division of opinion as to what exactly constitutes \Jarchitecture\j. The most usual standpoint is typified by Ruskin in \IThe Seven Lamps of Architecture\i (1849): 'Architecture is the art which so disposes and adorns the edifices raised by man, for whatsoever uses, that the sight of them may contribute to his mental health, power, and pleasure.'
Pevsner, in \IAn Outline of European Architecture\i (1943) puts it more succinctly: 'A \Jbicycle\j shed is a building; Lincoln Cathedral is a piece of \Jarchitecture\j.' Traditionally, therefore, \Jarchitecture\j has tended to concentrate on aspects of higher culture, looking at ennobling buildings such as the \JParthenon\j (\JAthens\j) and the Pantheon (\JRome\j), and studying the work of great artist-architects such as Wren and Schinkel.
Nevertheless, the practice of \Jarchitecture\j in the 19th-c, and especially in the 20th-c, has increasingly involved a larger number and variety of often complex skills and disciplines, ranging from the technical considerations of structural \Jengineering\j, environmental services, and \Jenergy\j conservation, to the functional considerations of room layout, interior design, and human comfort, as well as the overtly intellectual considerations stressed by Ruskin and Pevsner.
Correspondingly, there has been a greater acceptance of the wider concerns and domain of \Jarchitecture\j as anything which has been consciously, or even unconsciously, designed and built for the use of people.
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"architrave",1925,0,0,0
EN In Classical or Renaissance \Jarchitecture\j, the lowest and least decorated of the three bands of an \Jentablature\j. An architrave can also refer to the stone frame surrounding a door or window aperture.
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"archives",1926,0,0,0
EN A place where historical records and other important documents are preserved; also, the materials themselves. The first National \JArchives\j were established in \JFrance\j in 1789. Such institutions, known elsewhere as Public Record Offices, are usually the centralized repository of a nation's official documents. In recent years, the term has also come to be used for the backup storage of computer data files.
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"archon",1927,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bkohn]
EN In ancient \JAthens\j, an annually appointed public official whose duties were mainly legal and religious; each year nine were chosen.
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"ARCIC",1928,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bkik]
EN \JAcronym\j for \BAnglican-Roman Catholic International Commission,\b instituted in 1966 by Pope Paul VI and \JArchbishop\j Michael Ramsey (1904-88). The Commission meets regularly, and produces statements on areas of substantial agreement between the two Churches on important points of doctrine.
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"Arcimboldo, Giuseppe",1929,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)chim\Bbohl\bdoh]
HS , also spelled \BArcimboldi\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1530
DT2 93
EN Painter, born in Milan, \JItaly\j. He became a designer of stained-glass windows for Milan cathedral. He later moved to \JPrague\j, where he was court painter to the \JHabsburgs\j, executing the work for which he is best known - fantastic heads composed of fragmented landscape, animals, vegetables, flowers, and other non-human objects, brightly coloured and with a great attention to detail.
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"Arctic",1930,0,0,0
EN Area in the Northern hemisphere which lies N of the tree-line or, more loosely, to the N of the \JArctic\j Circle; \JArctic\j conditions of climate, vegetation, and life-forms obtain in \JGreenland\j, Svalbard, and the N parts of Canada, \JRussia\j, \JAlaska\j, and \JIceland\j.
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"Arctic Circle",1931,0,0,0
HS or \BPolar Circle\b
EN An arbitrary boundary marking the southernmost extremity of the northernmost area of the Earth; the area to the N of the tree-line; placed at 66░17N, but often defined as the area N of 70░N.
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"Arctic fox",1932,0,0,0
EN A fox widespread on \JArctic\j land masses \I(Alopex lagopus); \i hairy feet and small ears; eats lemmings, birds, hares, fish, carrion; coat thickens in winter; two forms: one white in winter, brown in summer; the other \B(blue fox\b of \JGreenland\j) pale blue-grey in winter, darker blue-grey in summer.
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"Arctic Ocean",1933,0,0,0
EN Body of \Jwater\j within the \JArctic\j Circle; world's smallest ocean, 13┐986┐000┐km\U2\u / 5┐400┐000┐mi\U2\u; frozen all year except in marginal areas; greatest depth, Eurasia Basin, 5122┐m / 16┐804┐ft; forms the cold East \JGreenland\j Current and the \JLabrador\j Current; hummocky icefields in winter, pack-ice during summer, carried S by surface currents (generally melting N of the major shipping lanes); unexplored until Amundsen's flight, 1926; research suggests the Ocean is experiencing a period of warming.
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"Arctic tern",1934,0,0,0
EN A small tern found worldwide \I(Sterna paradisaea); \i migrates further than any other bird (approximately 36┐000┐km / 22┐000┐mi per year); spends N summer in the \JArctic\j, and N winter in the Antarctic.
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"Arcturus",1935,0,0,0
EN See Bo÷tes
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"Ardashir I",1936,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)da\Bsheer\b]
HS or \BArtaxerxes\b
DT1a c.
DT1 211
DT2 42
EN Founder of the new Persian dynasty of the Sassanids. He overthrew Ardavan (Artabanus V), the last of the Parthian kings in AD c.226. He murdered Darius III, but was defeated by Alexander Severus in 233.
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"Ardeidae",1937,0,0,0
EN \BHerons, egrets, and bitterns\b
Few wetlands anywhere in the world lack herons or egrets (family \JArdeidae\j, order Ciconiiformes) of one species or another, and several are among the commonest and most familiar of all wetland birds.
There are about 65 species in all, divided into two subfamilies: the herons (Ardeinae) and the bitterns (Botaurinae). The herons, in turn, are commonly divided into three tribes, the tiger-herons Tigriornithini, the night-herons Nycticoracini, and the \Jday\j herons Ardeini. Pure white species are often known as egrets, but there is no taxonomic significance to the distinction.
Bitterns differ most obviously from herons in their extreme secretiveness-bitterns very seldom leave the cover of dense reed-beds. Most herons are medium to large birds (ranging up to 140 cm in the largest, the \JGoliath\j Heron \IArdea \Jgoliath\j)\i but bitterns of the \Jgenus\j \IIxobrychus\i are very much smaller (about 30 cm).
In typical herons and egrets, the neck and legs are long and the body slender. Unlike most other large wetland birds, herons keep their heads retracted between their shoulders in sustained flight. The bill is sometimes extremely long and slender (as in the Chestnut-bellied Heron \IAgamia agami)\i or-most often-relatively deep and spear-like; it is exceptionally broad and flat in the Boat-billed Heron \ICochlearius cochlearius.\i In most herons and egrets, plumage colors are usually muted shades of blue, gray, dull chestnut, black, or white.
Many species, especially among herons and egrets, acquire long filmy display plumes (once heavily in demand for the millinery trade) on the head, back, or flanks during the breeding season. In most species, the sexes are similar or nearly so, but in the smaller bitterns \IIxobrychus,\i females are heavily streaked but males are boldly patterned in black, yellow, \Jcinnamon\j, or buff.
All species have abundant powder-down (used in preening) in the form of paired tufts on the breast, rump, and (sometimes) on the back and thighs.
The tiger-herons have an exclusively tropical distribution, and most inhabit the banks of forested rivers and streams. The New Guinea Tiger-heron \IZonerodius heliosylus,\i for example, is confined to Papua-New Guinea, but it has a close relative in Africa and several others in \JSouth America\j. The night-herons (Nycticoracini) are stocky, medium-sized herons that are mainly nocturnal.
There are several species, of which the nearly cosmopolitan Black-crowned Night Heron \INycticorax nycticorax,\i and its close relative the Rufous Night-heron \INycticorax caledonicus\i of \JAustralasia\j are the best known. Most of the best known herons and egrets are members of the Ardeini, which usually forage by \Jday\j. About 35 species of herons and their relatives occur around the world.
The \JCattle\j Egret \IBubulcus ibis\i is especially notable in that it forages in grasslands alongside large grazing mammals, snapping up the insects disturbed by the larger animal as it feeds. Within the past century, it has made the shift from buffalo and similar animals to human livestock, especially \Jcattle\j.
Though originally confined to Africa and India, it had become established-apparently by self-colonization-in \JSouth America\j by the late l800s, in \JAustralia\j around 1900, and in \JNorth America\j and Europe by the early 1950s; it now occurs virtually everywhere that \Jcattle\j are raised.
Few herons or bitterns are entirely sedentary, but most undertake only local movements in response to changing \Jwater\j-levels. A few, however, (notably the North American Great Blue Heron \IArdea herodias\i and the Grey Heron \IArdea cinerea\i of Eurasia) undertake regular and sometimes lengthy migrations that take them into \JSouth America\j, Africa, and India. Similarly, most bitterns are at least partly migratory, and several species nesting in North America and northern Eurasia very markedly so.
Most herons are birds of freshwater wetlands, but the Reef Egret \IEgretta sacra\i is almost exclusively marine. Bitterns require dense reed-beds or similar aquatic vegetation, but they are otherwise almost cosmopolitan.
Some herons and most bitterns usually nest in isolated pairs, but others often nest with other waterbirds in large mixed colonies that may include ibises, spoonbills, and cormorants, as well as other herons. In courtship, a typical male heron establishes a nest site, then advertises for a female partner using calls and displays that usually involve ritualized postures and the use of ornamental plumes (the details varying with the species).
An especially striking feature of heron courtship is the pronounced color changes of the bill, eyes, legs, or other areas nude of feathers: during courting, Great Egrets \IArdea alba,\i for example, the lores turn from dull yellow to bright turquoise green.
Typically, heron nests are stick platforms in trees, among reeds, or on the ground, and are built by the female from material gathered by the male. The 3-7 eggs are usually unmarked white, buff, or pale blue, and are incubated by the female alone, or both parents in shifts (according to species) until they hatch at about 16-30 days. The chicks are fed by regurgitation; they may leave the nest in as little as a week, but return to it to be fed.
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"Arden, Elizabeth",1938,0,0,0
DT (1878-1966)
EN beautician, business executive; born in Woodbridge, \JOntario\j, Canada. She moved to New York City in 1907 and under the name Elizabeth Arden opened a beauty salon that launched an international business empire based on salons, hundreds of "scientifically formulated" beauty products, and an exclusive image - all packaged in her trademark pink.
With her rival Helena Rubinstein she made makeup acceptable to "respectable" American women, to whom Arden introduced eyeshadow, mascara, and lipstick tinted to match their outfits. As Elizabeth N. Graham she operated Maine Chance Stables in Kentucky (1930s-early 1960s) where the 1947 Kentucky Derby winner was bred.
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"Arden, John",1939,0,0,0
DT1 1930
EN Playwright, born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, N England, UK. He studied at King's College, Cambridge, and the Edinburgh College of Art. His first play, the romantic comedy \IAll Fall Down\i, was produced in 1955. His aggressive awareness of N England is particularly evident in \IThe Workhouse Donkey\i (1963), a \Jcaricature\j of northern local politics, and in \ISergeant Musgrave's Dance\i (1959), following the tradition of Brecht in its staging.
He has continually experimented with dramatic form and theatrical technique. His wife, \BMargaretta D'Arcy\b, has collaborated with him in many plays, such as \IThe Happy Haven\i (1960), \IThe Island of the Mighty\i (1972), and \IWhose is the Kingdom?\i (1988). He has also written \Jtelevision\j and radio scripts, essays, such as \IAwkward Corners\i (1988, with his wife), and the novels \ISilence Among the Weapons\i (1982), \IBooks of Bale\i (1988), and \IJack Juggler and the Emperor's Whore\i (1995).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPlays\i
1955 All Fall Down
1956 The Life of Man
1957 The Waters of Babylon
1958 Live Like Pigs
1959 Serjeant Musgrave's Dance
1960 Soldier, Soldier
1962 Wet Fish
1963 The Workhouse Donkey
1963 Ironhand
1964 Armstong's Last Goodnight
1965 Left-Handed Liberty
1968 The True History of Squire Jonathan and his Unfortunate Treasure
1970 The Bagman
1978 Pearl
1979 To Put It Frankly
1980 Don Quixote
1982 Garland for a Hoar Head
1982 The Old Man Sleeps Alone
\IPlays with Margaretta D'Arcy\i
1960 The Business of Good Government
1960 The Happy Haven
1964 Ars Longa Vita Brevis
1966 Friday's Hiding
1966 The Royal Pardon
1968 The Hero Rises Up
1972 Island of the Mighty
1972 The Ballygombeen Bequest
1975 The Non-Stop Connolly Cycle
1978 Vandaleur's Folly
1978 The Little Gray Home in the West
1984 The Manchester Enthusiasts
1988 Whose is the Kingdom?
1994 A Suburban Suicide
\INovels\i
1982 Silence Among the Weapons
1988 Books of Bale
1991 Cogs Tyrannic (novellas)
1995 Jack Juggler and the Emperor's Whore
\IOther\i
1977 To Present the Pretence (essays)
1988 Awkward Corners (with Margaretta D'Arcy)
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"Ardnamurchan Point",1940,0,0,0
PN [ardna\Bmer\bkhan]
EN 56░44N 6░14W. Cape in south-west Highland, W Scotland, UK; N of Mull I; westernmost point on British mainland; lighthouse (1849) has a fixed light visible for 30┐km / 20┐mi.
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"Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)",1941,0,0,0
EN An area in England and Wales which does not merit National Park status, but where special measures are needed to preserve its natural interest and beauty. They are generally smaller than National Parks, and are the responsibility of local authorities and the Countryside Commission.
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"area under the curve",1942,0,0,0
This is a calculation often carried out by physicists and mathematicians when they seek the answer to a complex problem. For example, the area beneath a section of the statisticians' normal curve tells you how many cases fall in a given range, and the area beneath a graph of speed against time tells you how far something has travelled.
To take this second example, imagine you have a walker who travels at 5 km/hr for two hours, then at 4 km for three hours, then runs at 12 km for an hour. The distance travelled will be 5x2 + 4x3 + 12 kilometres, a total of 34 km.
This simple sort of problem is fairly easy to tackle and solve, but in reality, we do not usually walk at an exact number of kilometres per hour in neat one-hour blocks. More commonly, we will vary our rate continuously, and so a way of calculating the area under the curve is more useful, as you can see in this next diagram:
For most mathematical curves, there are simple ways of calculating the area under the curve, such as the Trapezoidal Rule, where the points on the curve are joined by straight lines before the area is calculated. Simpson's Rule is more accurate, as the points on the curve are joined by an arc of a \Jparabola\j, but it is also only an approximation.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"areca",1943,0,0,0
EN See betel-nut
BK a
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#
"Arecibo Observatory",1944,0,0,0
PN [ari\Bsee\bboh]
EN A radio \Jastronomy\j observatory in Puerto Rico, built in 1963. A natural hollow has been lined with a metallic mesh to create the world's largest single radio \Jtelescope\j, 305┐m / 1000┐ft in diameter.
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#
"arena stage",1945,0,0,0
EN (Washington, DC) In 1950, six people associated with George Washington University founded a theatrical company, Arena Stage. They opened their first season in a cinema, presenting their plays 'in the round'. Zelda Fichandler, one of the founding members, remained its director until 1991, succeeded by Doug Wager. A full company of actors, directors and designers now inhabits a 500-seat thrust stage playhouse, an 800-seat mainstage, and a cabaret theatre, the Old Vat Room.
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#
"Arends, Leslie (Cornelius)",1946,0,0,0
DT (1895-1985)
EN U.S. representative; born in Melvin, Ill. A graduate of Oberlin, and a World War I navy veteran, he worked for the county farm bureau before going to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Rep., Ill.; 1935-74). He was minority whip (1939-53) and majority leader (1957-63).
BK AmBg
#
"Arendt, Hannah",1947,0,0,0
DT (1906-75)
EN historian, political philosopher; born in \JHanover\j, \JGermany\j. Of Jewish ancestry, she received her doctorate in philosophy at Heidelberg (1929) and fled Hitler's \JGermany\j for \JFrance\j (1933) and the United States (1940), where she was naturalized in 1951. Her reputation as a scholar and writer was firmly established with the publication of \IThe Origins of Totalitarianism\i (1951), which linked Nazism and \JCommunism\j to 19th-century \Jimperialism\j and anti-Semitism.
Internationally recognized as the best-known American political theorist of her generation, she was both a prominent member of America's literary and academic elite and a revered mentor. Her teaching career included stints at Princeton (1953, 1959), Berkeley, the University of \JChicago\j (1963-67), Columbia, Northwestern, and Cornell Universities, and the New School for Social Research (1967-75).
Her most controversial major work, \IEichmann in \JJerusalem\j, a Report on the Banality of Evil\i (1963), suggested that it was simplistic to pin all the guilt for Nazi genocide on functionaries such as Adolf Eichmann; she maintained that other Germans, Western countries, and even the Jews had consented actively or passively to evil as well.
BK AmBg
#
"Arensberg, Walter (Conrad)",1948,0,0,0
DT (1878-1954)
EN art collector; born in \JPittsburgh\j, Pa. He studied at Harvard (B.A. 1900; 1903-04), lived in New York City and worked as a newspaper reporter, then married and settled in \JBoston\j (1907). He collected works by cubist artists, was a founder of the literary magazine, \IOthers\i (1917), and attempted to prove through the use of cryptology that Francis Bacon wrote the works of Shakespeare. He moved to \JCalifornia\j (1922), purchased pre-Columbian artworks, and donated his collection to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1950).
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#
"Arensky, Anton Stepanovich",1949,0,0,0
PN [a\Bren\bskee]
DT1 1861
DT2 1906
EN Composer, born in \JNovgorod\j, \JRussia\j. He studied under Rimsky-Korsakov, and from 1895 conducted the court choir at St Petersburg. His compositions include five operas, two symphonies, and vocal and instrumental pieces.
MEX Rimsky-Korsakov
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#
"Areopagus",1950,0,0,0
PN [aray\Bop\bagus]
EN In ancient \JGreece\j, the name for the hill in \JAthens\j which was the seat of the oldest council of state, and also for the council whose meetings took place there. The name means 'the hill of \JAres\j' (the god of war).
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"Arequipa",1951,0,0,0
PN [aray\Bkee\bpa]
EN 16░25S 71░32W, pop (1995e) 692 000. Capital of \JArequipa\j department, S \JPeru\j; in a valley at the foot of El Misti \Jvolcano\j; altitude 2380 m/7808 ft; built on the site of an ancient Inca city; main commercial centre for S \JPeru\j; airfield; railway; two universities (1828, 1964); wool, textiles, soap; cathedral (1612, rebuilt 19th-c), La Companφa church, Puente Bolφvar, Santa Catalina convent.
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#
"Ares",1952,0,0,0
PN [\Bair\beez]
HS (\Jmythology\j)
EN The Greek god of war, son of Zeus and Hera, often perceived as hostile, rather than as a national deity, as in other mythologies. He represents the sudden violence of battle, and often helps foreigners rather than the Greeks.
BK a
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"Aretaeus",1953,0,0,0
PN [are\Btee\bus]
DT1 2
DT1b nd-c
EN Greek physician of \JCappadocia\j, considered to rank next to \JHippocrates\j. The first four books of his great work on medicine, preserved nearly complete, treat of the causes and symptoms of diseases; the other four, of the cures.
MEX \JHippocrates\j
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#
"arΩte",1954,0,0,0
PN [a\Bret\b]
HS (Fr 'edge')
EN A sharp, jagged mountain ridge separating cirques or valleys. It is formed by glacial erosion, and often further weathered by frost shattering.
BK a
#
"Arethusa",1955,0,0,0
PN [are\Bthyoo\bza]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, a nymph who was pursued by the river-god Alpheus from Arcadia in \JGreece\j to Ortygia in \JSicily\j. The myth attempts to account for the fresh-\Jwater\j fountain which appears in the harbour of Syracuse and was believed to have flowed under the Ionian Sea.
BK a
#
"Aretino, Pietro",1956,0,0,0
DT 1492-1556
EN Italian satirist and playwright. Noted for his vigorous satires against papal and secular figures and his scurrilous dialogues I ragionamenti (1534-6), Aretino wrote one tragedy, L'Orazia (1545), and some of the most lively comedies of the period, including La cortigiana (The Courtesan, 1525) and Il marescalco (The Stablemaster, 1527). For the production of his comedy La Talanta at \JVenice\j in 1541 Vasari prepared a theatre in the Casa di Cannaregio, a significant early example of an indoor fitted stage.
BK Thea
#
"Arezzo",1957,0,0,0
PN [a\Bret\bsoh]
EN 43░28N 11░53E, pop (1995e) 93 300. Capital town of Arezzo province, Tuscany, \JItaly\j; 80 km/50 mi SE of Florence; on the site of an Etruscan settlement; \Jengineering\j, textiles, furniture, pottery, leather, jewellery making (gold); antiques centre, trade in olive oil and wine; birthplace of \JPetrarch\j; Church of Pieve di Santa Maria (12th--14th-c); Gothic cathedral (begun 1277); mediaeval jousting (Sep).
BK Geog99
#
"argali",1958,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bgalee]
EN A wild sheep \I(Ovis ammon)\i from the margins of the Gobi Desert; the largest living sheep (1.2┐m / 4┐ft tall at the shoulder); pale brown with white rump; large \Jcurling\j horns on either side of head; also known as \Bargalis,\b \BSiberian argali,\b or \BMarco Polo's sheep.\b
BK a
#
"Argall, Sir Samuel",1959,0,0,0
DT (1609-1624)
EN sea-captain, adventurer; born in England. He pioneered a northerly route for sailing from England to Virginia (1609-10). In 1612, he abducted and detained Pocahontas (who later married John Rolfe) to insure safety from Indians raids. In 1613, he eradicated a French Jesuit colony on Mount Desert Island in Maine. He also served what was considered an unsatisfactory term as deputy-governor of Virginia (1617-19).
BK AmBg
#
"Argand, AimΘ",1960,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)gπ]
DT1 1755
DT2 1803
EN Physicist and chemist, born in Geneva, \JSwitzerland\j. He lived for a time in England, where in 1784 he invented the \IArgand burner,\i the first scientifically designed oil lamp, which came to be used in lighthouses.
SX m
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#
"Argand, Jean-Robert",1961,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)gπ]
DT1 1768
DT2 1822
EN Mathematician, born in Geneva, \JSwitzerland\j. After him is named the \IArgand diagram,\i in which complex numbers are represented by points in the plane.
SX m
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#
"Argelander, Friedrich Wilhelm August",1962,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)ge\Blan\bder]
DT1 1799
DT2 1875
EN Astronomer, born in Memel, \JGermany\j. Between 1852 and 1861 he plotted the position of all stars of the Northern hemisphere above the ninth \Jmagnitude\j.
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#
"Argensola",1963,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)khen\Bsoh\bla]
EN Poets and brothers: \BBartolomΘ Leonardo de Argensola\b (1562-1631) and \BLupercio de Argensola\b (1559-1613), born in Barbastro, \JSpain\j. Both studied at Huesca University, and entered the service of Maria of \JAustria\j. Their poems led them to be styled the 'Spanish Horaces', but they were also official historians of Aragon.
MEX Horace
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#
"Argenson, RenΘ Louis, marquis d'",1964,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)zhπs⌡]
DT1 1694
DT2 1757
EN French statesman, born in Paris. He became councillor to the Parlement of Paris in 1716, and foreign minister under \JLouis XV\j (1744-7). His journal is an important source of information about the period.
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#
"Argentina",1965,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 34 513 000; total area claimed 3 761 274 sq km/1 451 852 sq mi; area (American continent) 2 780 092 sq km/1 073 115 sq mi (excluding the Falkland Is); area (Antarctic continent) 964 250 sq km/372 200 sq mi (excluding S Georgia, Orkney Is, and S Sandwich Is). A republic of SE \JSouth America\j, divided into a Federal District (Buenos Aires), 22 provinces, and a National Territory (Tierra del Fuego); bounded E by the S Atlantic, W by \JChile\j, NE by Uruguay and \JBrazil\j, and N by \JBolivia\j and \JParaguay\j; Atlantic coastline 4725 km/2936 mi; capital, Buenos Aires; other chief towns, C≤rdoba, Rosario, La Plata, \JMendoza\j, San Miguel de Tucumßn; standard timezone GMT -3; c.85% of population of European origin, 15% of mestizo/Indian origin; 93% Roman Catholic, with Protestant and Jewish minorities; official language, Spanish; currency, the peso of 100 centavos (formerly the austral).
\IPhysical description\i
The \JAndes\j stretch the entire length of Argentina (N--S), forming the boundary with \JChile\j; extend far to the E in N Argentina, width decreases towards the S; high ranges, plateaux, and rocky spurs in the NW; highest peak, Aconcagua (6960 m/22 831 ft); a grassy, treeless plain (the \Ipampa\i) to the E; uneven, arid steppes in the S; island of Tierra del Fuego, off the S tip; N Argentina drained by the \JParaguay\j, Paranß, and Uruguay Rivers, which join in the R Plate estuary; several rivers flow to the Atlantic in the S; many lakes in the pampa and \JPatagonia\j regions, the largest being Lago Argentino (1415 sq km/546 sq mi).
\IClimate\i
Most of Argentina is in the rainshadow of the \JAndes\j; dry steppe or elevated desert in the NW corner; moderately humid sub-tropical climate in the NE, with average annual \Jtemperature\j and rainfall 16░C and 500--1000 mm/20--40 in at Buenos Aires; semi-arid central \Ipampa\i, with temperatures ranging from tropical to moderately cool; rainshadow desert plateau extends to the coast between 40░S and 50░S; some rainfall prevents absolute barrenness; S part directly influenced by strong prevailing westerlies.
\IHistory and government\i
Settled in the 16th-c by the Spanish; independence declared in 1816, and United Provinces of the Rφo de la Plata established; federal constitution 1853, re-established in 1983 after successive military governments; acquisition of the Gran Chaco after war with \JParaguay\j (1865--70); Juan PΘron elected president (1946, 1973), succeeded by his wife Isabel (deposed, 1976); attempt to control the Falkland Is in 1982 failed following war with the UK; new constitution, 1994; governed by a president, elected for a 4-year term, and a bicameral National Congress, with a 257-member Chamber of Deputies elected for four years and a 72-member Senate elected for nine years.
\IEconomy\i
Considerable European settlement since the opening up of the pampas in the 19th-c; agricultural produce, chiefly \Jcereals\j, oilseed, sunflowers, \Jsorghum\j; meat; also potatoes, cotton, sugar cane, sugar beet, \Jtobacco\j, linseed oil, rice, soya, grapes, olives, peanuts; foodstuffs processing, beverages, cement, \Jfertilizer\j, steel, plastics, paper, pulp, textiles, motor vehicles; oil and gas; \Jcoal\j, gold, silver, copper, iron ore, \Jberyllium\j, mica, \Jtungsten\j, \Jmanganese\j, \Jlimestone\j, uranium.
BK Geog99
#
"Argentina, La",1966,0,0,0
HS , popular name of \BAntonia MercΘ\b
DT1 1890
DT2 1936
EN Dancer, born in Buenos Aires. She moved to \JSpain\j with her parents, both Spanish dancers, when she was two, becoming a dancer with Madrid Opera at 11. She later devoted herself to Spanish dance, for which she became internationally renowned.
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#
"Argentine-Brazilian War",1967,0,0,0
EN (1825-8) A war fought to decide the possession of the Banda Oriental, territory to the E of the River Uruguay occupied by \JBrazil\j in 1817. As a result of British pressure and mediation, the province became the independent republic of Uruguay (1828).
BK a
#
"Argolid",1968,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bgolid]
EN The fertile plain between the mountains and the sea in the E \JPeloponnese\j near the town of \JArgos\j. It flourished particularly in Mycenaean times: besides \JArgos\j itself, \JMycenae\j and Tiryns were located there.
BK a
#
"argon",1969,0,0,0
EN Ar, element 18, boiling point -189░C. The commonest of the noble or rare gases, with no known compounds, it makes up about 1% of the Earth's \Jatmosphere\j, and is fractionally distilled with difficulty from oxygen (boiling-point -183░C). It is used to provide inert atmospheres, especially inside incandescent light bulbs.
BK a
#
"argonaut",1970,0,0,0
EN See paper \Jnautilus\j
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#
"Argonauts",1971,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bgonawts]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the heroes who sailed in the ship \IArgo\i to find the Golden Fleece. Under Jason's leadership they sailed through the Symplegades (presumably the Dardanelles) and along the \JBlack Sea\j coast to Colchis. Their return is variously described, and may have included a river-passage to the North Sea.
BK a
#
"Argos",1972,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bgohs, -gos]
EN 37░38N 22░43E, pop (1995e) 22 000. Ancient town in \JPeloponnese\j region, S \JGreece\j, in a fertile plain near the Gulf of Argolikos; involved in wars with Sparta, 7th--4th-cBC;railway; commercial and agricultural centre; many archaeological remains.
BK Geog99
#
"argument",1973,0,0,0
EN In \Jmathematics\j, the angle made with the real axis by the line joining the origin to the point \IP\i representing the complex number \Iz.\i When the complex number is written in the form \Ir\i (cos┐ \fq\n\d+\Ii\i sin┐ \fq\n\d), \fq\n\d is the argument.
BK a
#
"Argus, Odysseus's dog (mythology)",1974,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bgus]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the name of Odysseus's dog. He greeted his master on his return after 20 years absence, and then died.
BK a
#
"Argus, the Watchman (mythology)",1975,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bgus]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, a watchman with a hundred eyes, appointed by Hera to watch over Io; after Argus was killed by Hermes, the eyes were placed in the tail of the peacock..
EN Scottish Protestant, a follower of Mary, Queen of Scots, and one of those involved in the assassination of Darnley. He later supported James VI and I and became Lord High Chancellor of Scotland (1572).
MEX Darnley; Mary, Queen of Scots; James I (of England)
EN Scottish royalist, born in Dalkeith, Midlothian, EC Scotland, UK. He was imprisoned by Cromwell for a suspected royalist plot (1657-60), but his titles were restored after the Restoration. In 1681 he opposed the Test Act, and was sentenced to death for \Jtreason\j, but escaped to Holland. In 1685, he conspired with Monmouth to overthrow the king; he landed in Scotland, but failed to rouse the Covenanters to his cause, and was executed.
MEX Cromwell, Oliver; Monmouth
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#
"Argyll, Archibald Campbell, Marquess and 8th Earl of",1978,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bgiyl\b]
DT1 1607
DT2 61
EN Scottish political leader during the English \JCivil War\j. He became a member of Charles I's privy council in 1626, but in 1638 joined the Covenanters in support of Scottish \JPresbyterianism\j. In the English \JCivil War\j he joined the parliamentary side, and formed a Scottish government under Cromwell's patronage.
After the execution of the king he repudiated Cromwell, accepting the proclamation of Charles II as king in Scotland (1649), but following the defeat of the Scottish army at Worcester he submitted to Cromwell again. At the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 he was executed.
MEX Cromwell, Oliver; Charles I (of England); Charles II (of England)
SX m
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#
"Argyll, John Campbell, 2nd Duke of",1979,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bgiyl\b]
DT1 1678
DT2 1743
EN Scottish Unionist, one of the strongest supporters of the Act of Union of 1707, born in Petersham, south-west Greater London, England, UK. An outstanding soldier, he took part in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14). At the time of the Jacobite rising in Scotland (1715-16) he commanded the Hanoverian forces that dispersed the Jacobite troops without a battle.
SX m
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#
"┼rhus or Aarhus",1980,0,0,0
PN [\Baw(r)\bhoos]
EN 56░08N 10░11E, pop (1995e) 266 000. Capital of σrhus county, E Jutland, Denmark; in a wide bay of the Kattegat, S of σlborg; cultural and educational hub of C Jylland; railway; university (1928); \Jengineering\j, foodstuffs, machinery, textiles; cathedral (1201).
BK Geog99
#
"aria",1981,0,0,0
EN A song with an Italian text, especially one which forms part of a larger work, such as an opera, \Joratorio\j, or cantata. The 'da capo' or ternary structure (A-B-A) of most Baroque arias is often referred to simply as 'song form'.
BK a
#
"Ariadne",1982,0,0,0
PN [ari\Bad\bnee]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the daughter of the King of \JCrete\j (Minos). She enabled Theseus to escape from the labyrinth by giving him a ball of thread. He fled with her, but deserted her on the island of \JNaxos\j; there she eventually became the wife of Dionysus.
BK a
#
"Ariane",1983,0,0,0
EN See European Space Agency (\JESA\j)
BK a
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#
"Arianism",1984,0,0,0
EN See Arius
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#
"Aribau, Bonaventura Carles",1985,0,0,0
PN [ari\Bbah\boo]
DT1 1798
DT2 1862
EN Economist and writer, born in \JBarcelona\j, \JSpain\j. He became a banker in Madrid, and was appointed director of the Mint and of the Spanish Treasury (1847). He was the author of \IOda a la Patria\i (1832, Ode to the Fatherland), a poem which had a tremendous influence on contemporary \JCatalan\j writers.
SX m
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#
"Arica",1986,0,0,0
PN [a\Bree\bka]
EN 18░28S 70░18W, pop (1995e) 207 000. Port on the Pacific coast of \JChile\j, SW of La Paz, \JBolivia\j; most northerly city in \JChile\j; acquired from \JPeru\j after the War of the Pacific, 1883; airport; railway; major trading outlet for \JBolivia\j; oil pipeline with \JBolivia\j; port trade, fishmeal, tourism; Museo Hist≤rico y de Armas (Pacific war museum); San Marcos cathedral built in iron by Eiffel, customs house.
BK Geog99
#
"arid zone",1987,0,0,0
EN A climatic zone in which potential \Jevapotranspiration\j (the maximum loss of \Jwater\j, given an unlimited supply) exceeds precipitation. Geographers use an upper limit of 250┐mm / 10┐in of annual rainfall to define the zone, which is found between latitudes 15░ and 30░N and S of the Equator. Most of the world's hot deserts are found in the arid zone.
BK a
#
"└rεda, Nasεb",1988,0,0,0
DT (1887-1946)
EN poet; born in Hims, \JSyria\j. He studied at a Russian school before he emigrated to the U.S.A. (1905). Settling in New York City, he worked as a journalist and was a member of the Pen Bond, a group of noted Arab emigrΘ writers. Offended by American \Jmaterialism\j, he longed for his homeland. His poems were collected and published as \IAl-Arwah, al-Ha'ira,\i ("\ITroubled Spirits\i "), (1946).
BK AmBg
#
"Ariel",1989,0,0,0
PN [\Bair\beeuhl]
EN The fourth-largest \Jsatellite\j of Uranus: distance from the \Jplanet\j 191┐000┐km / 119┐000┐mi; diameter 1160┐km / 720┐mi. It was discovered in 1851 by British amateur astronomer William Lassell (1799-1880).
BK a
#
"Aries",1990,0,0,0
PN [\Bair\beez]
HS (Lat 'ram')
EN A \Jconstellation\j in the N sky; brightest star, Hamal. It is a spring sign of the zodiac, lying between \JPisces\j and \JTaurus\j. The 'first point of \JAries\j' is the place on the celestial sphere where the vernal \Jequinox\j lies, but precession has pushed this into the neighbouring \Jconstellation\j \JPisces\j.
BK a
#
"aril",1991,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bril]
EN The outgrowth surrounding a fertilized seed or \Jovule\j. It is often fleshy and brightly-coloured, as in the berry-like arils of the yew and spindle tree, but also hairy or spongy, as in the buoyant seeds of \Jwater\j lilies.
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#
"Ariosto, Ludovico",1992,0,0,0
DT 1474-1533
EN Italian poet and playwright. He was one of the first major Italian dramatists to write in the vernacular rather than in Latin; his first play La Cassaria (The Chest, performed 1508), perhaps the first commedia erudita, was presented with painted perspective settings. His prose comedy, I suppositi (1509),was widely influential and imitated in Europe, as in George Gascoigne's The Supposes.
Ariosto later recast both plays into verse. His La Lena and Il negromante (Lena and The Magician, 1528 and 1529 respectively) were both put on during \Jcarnival\j at \JFerrara\j. His non-dramatic verse epic Orlando furioso has been adapted for stage performance, notably by Luca Ronconi (1968).
BK Thea
#
"Aristaeus",1993,0,0,0
PN [aris\Btee\bus]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, a minor deity of the countryside, who introduced bee-keeping, vines, and olives. He pursued \JEurydice\j, the wife of Orpheus, who trod on a snake and died; in revenge her sister dryads killed his bees. \JProteus\j told him to sacrifice \Jcattle\j to appease the dryads, and in nine days he found bees generated in the carcasses.
BK a
#
"Aristarchus (of Samos)",1994,0,0,0
PN [aristah(r)kuhs]
DT (c.320-c.250tbc)
EN Greek astronomer: proposed heliocentric \Jcosmology\j; and made first estimate of astronomical distances.
Although little is known of the life of Aristarchus, he was perhaps the first to propose that the Earth moved around the Sun, in contrast to the accepted thinking of his \Jday\j. He also attempted to estimate the relative distances of the Sun and the Moon, using the fact that when the Moon is exactly half light and half dark it forms a right angle with the Earth and the Sun.
Although his result was wildly inaccurate, it was the first experimental attempt at measuring an astronomical distance. His work makes him the most original of the Greek astronomers and in the modern view the most successful. His heliocentric scheme was made precise by Copernicus in the 16th-c.
BK Scie
#
"Aristarchus of Samothrace",1995,0,0,0
PN [aris\Btah(r)\bkos]
DT1a c.
DT1 215
DT2 145
DT2b BC
EN Alexandrian grammarian and critic, best known for his edition of Homer. He wrote many commentaries and treatises, edited several authors, and was the founder of a school of philologists.
SX m
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#
"Aristides, Athenian soldier and statesman",1996,0,0,0
PN [aris\Btiy\bdeez]
HS , known as \BAristides the Just\b
DT1a c.
DT1 530
DT2a c.
DT2 468
DT2b BC
EN Athenian soldier and statesman. He became chief archon (489-488 BC), but about 483 BC his opposition to Themistocles' naval policy led to his ostracization. When the Persians invaded in 480 BC Aristides returned from banishment to serve at the Battle of Salamis, and was the Athenian general at \JPlataea\j (479 BC). Through him, \JAthens\j, not Sparta, became the ruling state of the Delian League.
MEX Themistocles
SX m
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#
"Aristides, Greek Christian apologist",1997,0,0,0
PN [aris\Btiy\bdeez]
DT1 2
DT1b nd-c
EN Greek Christian apologist. He wrote an early \IApology for the Christian Faith,\i mentioned by Eusebius and Jerome, which came to light late in the 19th-c.
MEX Eusebius of Caesarea; Jerome, St
SX m
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#
"Aristippus",1998,0,0,0
PN [aris\Btip\bus]
DT1 4
DT1b th-c BC
EN Greek philosopher, a native of Cyrene in Africa, hence the name of his followers, the \ICyrenaics,\i who became an influential school. Their main doctrines were hedonism and the primacy of one's own immediate feelings. He became a pupil of \JSocrates\j at \JAthens\j, and taught philosophy both at \JAthens\j and Aegina.
MEX \JSocrates\j
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#
"Aristogeiton",1999,0,0,0
EN See Harmodius
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#
"Aristophanes",2000,0,0,0
DT c.447-after
EN 388 bc Greek comic playwright. \JAristophanes\j was regarded as the greatest poet of the Athenian 'Old Comedy' (see Greek theatre, ancient), and is the only one whose work survives. He spent most of his adult life during the Peloponnesian War. He wrote about 40 plays in all, of which eleven survive.
In Acharnians (Men of Acharnae, a village near \JAthens\j; 425) an Athenian makes a private peace treaty with Sparta. Knights (424) is a savage attack on the demagogue Cleon. Clouds (produced in 423) ridicules the philosopher \JSocrates\j. Wasps (422) satirizes the Athenians' alleged passion for jury service. Peace (421) celebrates an imminent peace treaty with Sparta. In Birds (414) two Athenians found an ideal city among the birds.
In Lysistrata (411) the women of \JGreece\j hold a 'sex strike' to force the men to end the war. Thesmophoriazusae (Women Celebrating the Thesmophoria, a women's festival; 411) travesties \JEuripides\j. In Frogs (405) the god Dionysus visits the underworld to fetch \JEuripides\j back. In Ecclesiazusae (Women Holding an Assembly; c.392) the women take control at \JAthens\j. In Plutus (Wealth, 388) the god Wealth is cured of his \Jblindness\j.
The plots of these plays are exuberant fantasies set in a world in which anything is possible. Typically the play centres on a 'comic hero', elderly (unless female) but lusty, and a 'great idea' for setting the world, or at least the 'hero's' own problems, to rights. The 'great idea' encounters opposition, and the Chorus is called in either to assist the 'hero' or to oppose him.
The 'hero' usually triumphs (but in Clouds, Wasps and Frogs, where he has ideas that \JAristophanes\j disapproves of, he is made to see the error of his ways); and the play often ends with a series of short, farcical scenes in which enemies or spongers are beaten off.
All the plays except Plutus are totally lacking in moral uplift. Honesty, decency and courage barely exist, and subjects for cheerful humour include torture, rape, \Jblindness\j and starvation. \JAristophanes\j never allows considerations of relevance, dramatic illusion or consistency to get in the way of a good joke.
The main targets of his political attacks are the demagogues - politicians who depended on the support of the poorer classes in \JAthens\j - and the \Jsophists\j, among whom he includes \JSocrates\j and \JEuripides\j. More attractive, perhaps, is his constant devotion to the cause of peace, a devotion that is surely sincere. There is no doubt, however, that his main purpose was to entertain his audience and win their applause, not to alter their views.
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"Aristotle",2001,0,0,0
PN [aristotl]
DT (384-322 bc)
EN Athenian (Greek) philosopher and naturalist: provided philosophical basis of science which proved dominant for 18 centuries.
Son of the court physician at Macedon, Aristotle was orphaned early and moved to \JAthens\j, where he became \JPlato\j's finest pupil. In 342 bc he returned to Macedon as tutor and then adviser to Philip II's son Alexander, who became Alexander the Great. Later he became a public teacher in \JAthens\j, using a garden he owned (the \JLyceum\j). His collected lectures cover most of the knowledge of the time in science, and some other fields such as logic and ethics (but not \Jmathematics\j), and include much of Aristotle's own work in \Jzoology\j and anatomy.
He was a first-class naturalist and marine biologist, whereas his record of older views in physics and \Jcosmology\j contained many misguided, although defensible, ideas. Aristotle's books survived in the Arab world, and re-entered Christian Europe in Latin translation in the 12th and 13th-c. It was no fault of the writer that his books were accorded almost divine authority, and some of the erroneous ideas were not easily displaced (eg that bodies 'outside the sphere of the Moon' are perfect and unchanging). His status as a major figure in philosophy has never changed.
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"arithmetic",2002,0,0,0
EN The practical skill of calculating with numbers, in contrast to number theory. The four operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are defined over the set of all real numbers, and used essentially for practical results. Examples include the total cost of buying two items, one costing 30p and the other 40p (addition); the change received from a $5 bill when buying an item costing $2 (subtraction); the cost of 4 litres of oil at 50 francs a litre (multiplication); and the number of papers that can be bought for $10 if one paper costs $1 (division).
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"arithmetic average / mean",2003,0,0,0
EN See mean
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"arithmetic sequence",2004,0,0,0
EN A sequence in which the difference between any one term and the next is constant; sometimes called an \Barithmetic progression.\b The term \Barithmetic series\b is now usually reserved for the sum of the terms of the arithmetic sequence. Thus the terms 1,4,7,10 form an arithmetic sequence; 1+4+7+10 is an arithmetic series. If the first term of an arithmetic sequence is \Ia\i and the common difference is \Id,\i the sequence is \Ia,\i\Ia\i +\Id,\i\Ia\i +\I2d..\i., the \In\ithterm is \Ia\i +\I(n\i -1)\Id,\i and the sum of the terms in the sequence is 1/2\In\i [2\Ia\i +\I(n\i -1)\Id\i ].
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"Arius",2005,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\brius]
HS (Gr \BAreios)\b
DT1a c.
DT1 250
DT2 336
EN Founder of Arianism, born in \JLibya\j. He trained in Antioch, and became a presbyter in Alexandria. He claimed (c.319) that, in the doctrine of the Trinity, the Son was not co-equal or co-eternal with the Father, but only the first and highest of all finite beings, created out of nothing by an \Jact of God\j's \Jfree will\j. He won some support, but was deposed and excommunicated in 321 by a synod of bishops at Alexandria.
The subsequent controversy was fierce, so the Council of Nicaea (Nice) was called in 325 to settle the issue. Out of this came the definition of the absolute unity of the divine essence, and the equality of the three persons of the Trinity. Arius was banished, but recalled in 334, and died in Constantinople.
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"Arizona",2006,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 4 097 000 area 295 249 sq km/114 000 sq mi. State in SW USA, divided into 14 counties; the "Grand Canyon State'; Spanish exploration, 1539; part of New \JSpain\j (1598--1821), then included in newly-independent Mexico; acquired by the USA in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) and the Gadsden Purchase (1853); a separate territory, 1863; until 1886 frequently attacked by Apache Indians (under Cochise, then \JGeronimo\j); joined the Union as the 48th state, 1912; capital, Phoenix; other chief cities, Tucson, Mesa, Tempe; bounded S by Mexico; rivers include the \JColorado\j (forms most of the W border), Gila, and Salt; the Hoover Dam causes the \JColorado\j R to swell into L Mead; several mountain ranges (highest the \JSan Francisco\j Mts); highest point Humphreys Peak (3862 m/12 670 ft); the \JColorado\j Plateau (N) is a high, dry plain incised by deep canyons (notably the Grand Canyon on the \JColorado\j R); to the S are desert basins interspersed with bare mountain peaks, then relatively low, desert plains; a huge area of national and state forest in the centre; scant rainfall and aridity; \Jcattle\j on irrigated land; dairy products, cotton, \Jlettuce\j, hay; computer equipment, aerospace components, timber products, machinery; produces two-thirds of the nation's copper supply; tourism the most important industry (Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, \Jmeteor\j craters); Kitt Peak National Observatory; Navajo, \JHopi\j, Apache, \JPapago\j, and other Indian reservations; largest Indian population in the USA.
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"Arjuna",2007,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bjuna]
EN An Indian hero. In the \IBhagavadgita,\i he hesitates before entering the battle, knowing the killing which will ensue. His charioteer, Krishna, urges him to fulfil the action which is his duty as a warrior, explaining that the whole universe needs the fulfilment of actions which advance God's will.
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"ark",2008,0,0,0
EN See Ark of the Covenant; 23034 Noah
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"Ark of the Covenant",2009,0,0,0
EN A portable wooden chest overlaid with gold and having a cherub with extended wings mounted at each end of the golden lid (the 'mercy seat'). In the \JHebrew\j \JBible\j / \JOld Testament\j it is described as having many successive functions - containing the two tablets of the \JDecalogue\j, serving as a symbol of the divine presence guiding Israel, and acting as a safeguard in war.
Biblical traditions suggest it was constructed under Moses, taken into battle in David's time, housed in the Temple under Solomon, and is now lost (though reports of its location in a remote monastery in \JEthiopia\j and in other places have been made in recent years). \JTorah\j scrolls are still kept in containers called 'arks' in Jewish synagogues.
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"ark shell",2010,0,0,0
EN A sedentary bivalve \Jmollusc\j with two similar, typically trapezoidal shells (valves); adults typically attached to a substrate surface by tough filaments \I(byssus\i threads); c.250 species, mostly marine. \B(Class:\b \JPelecypoda\j. \BOrder:\b Arcoida.)
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"Arkansas",2011,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bkansaw]
EN pop (1995e) 2 473 000; area 137 749 sq km/53 187 sq mi. State in SC USA, divided into 75 counties; the "Land of Opportunity'; the first white settlement established by the French as part of French Louisiana, 1686; ceded to the US as part of the Louisiana Purchase, 1803; included in the Territory of Missouri, 1812; became a separate territory, 1819; joined the Union as the 25th state, 1836; seceded, 1861; re-admitted, 1868; capital, Little Rock; other chief cities, Fort Smith, North Little Rock, Pine Bluff; rivers include the Mississippi (forms the E border), Red (part of SW border), and \JArkansas\j; the \JBoston\j Mts, part of the Ozark Plateau, rise in the NW, and the Ouachita Mts in the W; highest point, Mt Magazine (860 m/2821 ft); the mountainous region is bisected by the \JArkansas\j R valley; extensive plains in the S and E; over half the state covered by commercial forest; many lakes; poultry, soybeans, rice (the nation's leading producer), \Jcattle\j, dairy, cotton; processed foods, electrical equipment, paper, timber products, chemicals; the nation's leading \Jbauxite\j producer; \Jpetroleum\j, \Jnatural gas\j; a major tourist area; resistance to school desegregation made Little Rock a focus of world attention in 1957.
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"Arkansas River",2012,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bkansaw, ah(r)\Bkan\bsas]
EN River in SC USA; rises in the Rocky Mountains, \JColorado\j; flows south-east through Kansas, Oklahoma, and \JArkansas\j; joins the Mississippi S of Memphis; length 2330┐km / 1450┐mi; major tributaries the Cimmaron, Canadian, Neosho, Verdigris; navigable for its length in \JArkansas\j.
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"Arkwright, Sir Richard",2013,0,0,0
DT1 1732
DT2 92
EN Inventor of mechanical cotton-spinning, born in Preston, Lancashire, north-west England, UK. He became a barber in Bolton, later (with John Kay) devoting himself to inventions in cotton-spinning. In 1768 he set up his celebrated spinning-frame in Preston - the first machine that could produce cotton thread of sufficient strength to be used as warp.
He introduced several mechanical processes into his factories, and many of his rivals copied his designs. Popular opinion went against him on the grounds that his inventions reduced the need for labour, and in 1779 his large mill near Chorley was destroyed by a mob. He was knighted in 1786.
MEX Kay; Paul, Lewis
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"Arlecchino",2014,0,0,0
EN see commedia dell'arte; \JHarlequin\j; zanni
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"Arlen, Michael",2015,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\blen]
HS , originally \BDikran Kouyoumdjian\b
DT1 1895
DT2 1956
EN Novelist, born in Ruschuk, \JBulgaria\j. He studied in England and was naturalized in 1922. He made his reputation with \IPiracy\i (1922), \IThe Green Hat\i (1924), and his short story collections, \IThe Romantic Lady\i (1921) and \IThese Charming People\i (1923).
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"Arles",2016,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)l]
EN 43░41N 4░38E, pop (1995e) 54 200. Old town in Bouches-du-Rh⌠ne department, SE \JFrance\j; 72 km/45 mi NE of \JMarseille\j, at head of the Rh⌠ne delta; capital of Gaul, 4th-c; formerly an important crossroads and capital of \JProvence\j; railway; boatbuilding, metalwork, foodstuffs, hats; Roman remains, including a huge arena and theatre (a world heritage site), 11th-c cathedral; associations with van Gogh and Gauguin; several art museums.
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"Arlington",2017,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 184 000; area 68 sq km/26 sq mi. County of Virginia, USA, a suburb of Washington, DC; site of the \BArlington National Cemetery\b(1920) with a memorial amphitheatre and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; Pentagon Building; Washington National Airport.
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"Arlington, Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of",2018,0,0,0
DT1 1618
DT2 85
EN English statesman, born in Arlington, N Greater London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford, becoming \Jsecretary of state\j under Charles II and one of the king's Cabal ministry. In 1674 he was unsuccessfully impeached for popery and self-aggrandizement. After serving as Lord Chamberlain he retired to Suffolk.
MEX Charles II (of England)
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"Arliss, George",2019,0,0,0
DT 1868-1946
EN British-born American actor and playwright. His greatest successes occurred in the USA. Arliss, with his distinctive features (long, narrow face, pointed nose, habitual monocle), spent 40 years perfecting the playing of villains, great historical leaders and wise old men. His most notable stage roles, in addition to the title role in Disraeli (1911), were in The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1901) with Mrs Patrick Campbell, The Darling of the Gods (1902), Hedda Gabler (1904) and Rosmersholm (1907) with Minnie Maddern Fiske, Paganini (1915), The Green Goddess (1921) and Old English (1924).
Shylock (1928) was his last formal stage appearance. In 1923 he returned to London after a 22-year absence to appear in Archer's The Green Goddess. His successful film career began in 1920. He also wrote or collaborated on six plays.
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"Arlott, (Leslie Thomas) John",2020,0,0,0
DT1 1914
DT2 91
EN Writer, journalist, and broadcaster, born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, S England, UK. Educated there, he worked as a police detective (1934-45) before joining the BBC, where as a cricket commentator on radio and \Jtelevision\j he became one of the country's most recognizable broadcasting voices.
He wrote numerous books about cricket and cricketers, including \IHow to Watch Cricket\i (1949, 1983) and \IArlott on Cricket\i (1984). He won the Sports Journalist of the Year Award in 1979, and was Sports Presenter of the Year in 1980.
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"Arlt, Roberto",2021,0,0,0
DT 1900-42
EN Argentine playwright, journalist and novelist. Arlt is the link between the celebrated Golden Decade (1900-10) of Argentine theatre and the contemporary movement. His eight plays, written between 1932 and 1942, transform conventional reality by means of illusions, dreams, fantasies and the grotesque in order to create a new world. He found his inspiration in the European master painters - Goya, Dⁿrer, Breughel.
Most of his eight plays were premiered by Le≤nidas Barletta, the father of the Argentine independent theatre movement, in his Teatro del \JPueblo\j. Major titles are Saverio el cruel (Saverio the Cruel), which shows the strong influence of the Quijote, Arlt's favourite book, La isla desierta (The Desert Island, 1937) and La fiesta del hierro (The Iron Fiesta, 1940).
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"arm",2022,0,0,0
EN A term commonly used to denote the whole of the upper limb; more precisely, in anatomy, the region between the shoulder and elbow joints, distinguished from the \Iforearm\i (between the elbow and wrist joints), and the \Ihand\i (beyond the wrist joint). The arm articulates with the trunk via the \Ipectoral girdle\i (the \Jscapula\j, or shoulder blade, and \Jclavicle\j).
The bones are the \Ihumerus\i in the arm, the \Iradius\i (on the outside) and \Iulna\i (on the inside) in the forearm, the \Icarpals\i in the wrist region, and the \Imetacarpals\i and \Iphalanges\i in the hand. The muscles on the front of the arm and forearm cause flexion of the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and digits (fingers and thumb). The muscles on the back of the arm and forearm are \Iextensors,\i causing opposite movements at these places.
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"armadillo",2023,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)ma\Bdil\boh]
EN A nocturnal \Jmammal\j (an edentate), found from \JSouth America\j to S USA; long snout and tubular ears; head and body covered with bony plates; large front claws for digging; eats ants, termites, and other small animals. \B(Family:\b Dasypodidae, 20 species.)
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"Armageddon",2024,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)ma\Bged\bn]
EN A place mentioned in the \JNew Testament\j \I(Rev\i 16.16) as the site of the final cosmic battle between the forces of good and evil in the last days. The name is possibly a corruption of 'the mountains of \JMegiddo\j' or some other unknown location in Israel.
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"Armagh (city)",2025,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bmah\b]
EN 54░21N 6░39W, pop (1995e) 14 700. City in Armagh district, Co Armagh, SE Northern Ireland, UK; seat of the kings of Ulster, 400BC--AD333; religious centre of Ireland in the 5th-c, when St Patrick was made \Jarchbishop\j here; Protestant and Catholic archbishoprics; city status, 1995; textiles (linen), \Jengineering\j, shoes, food processing; St Patrick's Cathedral (Roman Catholic, 1840--73), observatory (1791), Royal School (1627); Navan Fort nearby, palace of the kings of Ulster.
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"Armagh (county)",2026,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bmah\b]
EN pop (1995e) 131 000; area 1254 sq km/484 sq mi. County in SE Northern Ireland, UK, divided into two districts (Armagh, Craigavon); the name is also used for one of these districts, pop (1995e) 51 600, and its administrative centre; bounded S and SW by the Republic of Ireland; rises to 577 m/1893 ft at Slieve Gullion; county town, Armagh; other chief towns include Lurgan and Portadown; potatoes, \Jflax\j, apples, linen.
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"Armani, Giorgio",2027,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bmah\bnee]
DT1 1935
EN Fashion designer, born in \JPiacenza\j, \JItaly\j. He studied medicine in Milan, and after military service worked in a department store until he became a designer for Nino Cerruti (1930-- ) in 1961. He set up his own company in 1975, designing first for men, then women, including loose-fitting blazers and jackets.
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"armed forces",2028,0,0,0
EN The military organizations which a country officially establishes in order to impose its will onto other countries or to defend itself from attack by other countries. Such forces are to be distinguished from unofficial armed groups (such as brigands) and from the internal law-enforcement agencies (such as the police).
The three main branches of the armed forces are the army, navy, and air force; but there may be some overlap between these branches (eg the marines), and the personnel may be of various kinds (eg professionals, conscripts, mercenaries, reserves).
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"Armenia (republic)",2029,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bmeen\bia]
EN pop (1995e) 3 671 000; area 29 800 sq km/11 500 sq mi. Republic in S Transcaucasia, consisting of 3 city areas and 37 rural districts; capital, Yerevan; timezone GMT +3; major ethnic groups, Armenian (90%), Azer (3%), Kurd (2%), Russian (2%), but ethnic conflict since 1990 makes accurate current estimates impossible; official language, Armenian; religions, Christian (Armenian Church), Russian Orthodox; currency, the dram.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
Mountainous, rising to 4090 m/13 418 ft at Mt Aragats (W); largest lake, L Sevan (E), 1401 sq km/541 sq mi, the main source of irrigation system and hydroelectric power; chief river, the Araks; climate varies with elevation; chiefly dry and continental; winter average -3░C, summer 25░C.
\IHistory and government\i
Partitioned between Turkey and \JPersia\j, 1639; ceded to \JRussia\j, 1828; proclaimed a Soviet Socialist Republic by the \JSoviet Union\j, 1920; constituent republic of the USSR, 1936; \Jdeclaration of independence\j, 1991; governed by an elected president, a prime minister, and a 190-member Supreme Council; lays claim to Turkish Armenia; dispute with neighbouring \JAzerbaijan\j over Nagorno-Karabakh region.
\IEconomy\i
Large mineral resources, chiefly copper; also molybdenum, gold, silver; building materials, chemicals, carpets, electrical \Jengineering\j, foodstuffs, machine tools, textiles; hydroelectric power on R Razdan; grains, cotton, tropical fruits, grapes, olives, livestock.
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"Armenia (Turkey), ancient Minni",2030,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bmeen\bia]
HS , ancient \BMinni\b
EN Ancient kingdom largely occupying the present-\Jday\j Van region of E Turkey and parts of north-west \JIran\j and the republic of Armenia; south-east of the \JBlack Sea\j and south-west of the \JCaspian Sea\j; ruled by the Ottoman Turks from 1514; E territory ceded to \JPersia\j, 1620; further districts lost to \JRussia\j, 1828-9; today Turkish Armenia comprises the north-east provinces of Turkey; chief towns, Kars, Erzurum, Erzincan; Armenian nationalist movement developed in the 19th-c, with terrorist activities since the 1970s.
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"Armenians",2031,0,0,0
EN A people who came from Armenia, now north-east Turkey and the republic of Armenia. Of Indo-European origin, they speak a language of that family with some Caucasian features, and are Christians, affiliated to the Armenian Catholic branch of the Roman \JCatholic Church\j, or the Monophysite Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox) Church. Their highly developed ancient culture, particularly in fine art, \Jarchitecture\j, and sculpture, reached its zenith in the 14th-c.
Highly nationalistic, their resentment of foreign domination during the 19th-c provoked their Russian and Turkish rulers. During World War 1, the Turks deported two-thirds of Armenians (1.75 million) to \JSyria\j and Palestine; 600┐000 were either killed or died of starvation during the journey; later, many settled in Europe, America, and the USSR. Today 4.15 million live in the republics of the former \JSoviet Union\j, including 2.7 million in Armenia; very few still live in Turkey.
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"Armfelt, Gustaf Mauritz",2032,0,0,0
DT1 1757
DT2 1814
EN Swedish soldier and statesman, born near Turku, \JFinland\j. In the service of Gustav III, he fought in the war against \JRussia\j (1788-90) and negotiated the peace. He became Gustav IV's ambassador to Vienna (1802-4) and his army commander in \JPomerania\j against Napoleon (1805-7). After the deposition of Gustav in 1809 he was expelled from Sweden, and entered the service of Tsar Alexander I.
MEX Napoleon; Gustav III; Gustav IV
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"armillary sphere",2033,0,0,0
EN A celestial globe, first used by the Greek astronomers, in which the sky is represented by a skeleton framework of intersecting circles, the Earth being at the centre. In antiquity, it was of major importance for measuring star positions. The first Chinese sphere dates from the 4th-c BC; they had a 20-ton sphere in the 11th-c.
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"Armin, Robert",2034,0,0,0
DT c.1568-1615
EN Elizabethan actor. He succeeded Will Kempe as leading 'clown' in the Lord Chamberlain's Men. We know from Armin's own Quips upon Questions (1600) that he inherited some of Richard Tarlton's skills as an extemporizer, but also that he considered himself a 'foolosopher'.
The recognizable transition in Shakespeare's plays from broad clown to wise fool must owe something to the contrasting playing styles of Kempe and Armin - clearly an actor whom Shakespeare trusted as well as a talented singer - for he is thought to have been the original Lavache, Pandarus and Fool to King Lear. His play, The Two Maids of Moreclacke (1609), was performed by the Children of the King's Revels.
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"Arminius",2035,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bmin\bius]
DT1 ?
DT2 19
EN Chief of the German Cherusci, who served as an officer in the Roman army and acquired Roman citizenship. However, in AD 9 he allied with other German tribes against the Romans, and annihilated an entire Roman army of three legions commanded by Publius Quintilius Varus. He was later murdered by some of his own kinsmen.
MEX Varus
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"Arminius, Jacobus",2036,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bmin\bius]
HS , Lat name of \BJakob Hermandszoon\b
DT1 1560
DT2 1609
EN Theologian, born in Oudewater, The Netherlands. He studied at \JUtrecht\j, Leyden, Geneva, and \JBasel\j, and was ordained in 1588. Despite early opposition to the strict Calvinistic doctrine of \Jpredestination\j he was made professor of \Jtheology\j at Leyden in 1603. In 1604 his colleague Gomarus attacked his doctrines, and from this time on he was engaged in a series of bitter controversies. In 1608 Arminius asked the States of Holland to convoke a synod to settle the controversy, but he died before it was held.
MEX Gomarus
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"Armistice Day",2037,0,0,0
EN The anniversary of the \Jday\j (11 Nov 1918) on which World War 1 ended, marked in the UK by a two-minute silence at 11 o'clock, the hour when the fighting stopped (the armistice agreement having been signed six hours earlier); replaced after World War 2 by \BRemembrance Sunday.\b The US equivalent is Veterans' Day.
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"Armitage, Edward",2038,0,0,0
DT1 1817
DT2 96
EN Painter, born in London, England, UK. He studied under Delaroche, and became professor at the Royal Academy schools in 1875. He produced chiefly historical and biblical subject-paintings.
MEX Delaroche
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"Armitage, Karole",2039,0,0,0
DT1 1954
EN Dancer and choreographer, born in Madison, \JWisconsin\j, USA. Trained in classical ballet, she moved from the Ballets de GenΦve, \JSwitzerland\j (1972--4) to the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in New York (1976--81). She then began a choreographic career which took her to Paris, where she created pieces for Paris OpΘra Ballet.
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"Armitage, Kenneth",2040,0,0,0
DT1 1916
EN Sculptor, born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. He studied at the Royal College of Art and the Slade School of Art, London (1937--9), and exhibited at the \JVenice\j Biennale in 1952 with other British sculptors. His bronzes are usually of semi-abstract figures, united into a group by stylized clothing.
\BMajor Works\b
1951 People in the Wind (Tate, London)
1951 Family Going For A Walk (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
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"Armory show",2041,0,0,0
EN An art exhibition, officially entitled \BThe International Exhibition of Modern Art,\b held at the 69th Regiment Armory in New York, 1913. It introduced \Jmodern art\j to the USA.
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"Armour, Jean",2042,0,0,0
EN See Burns, Robert
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"Armour, Tommy",2043,0,0,0
DT (1895-1968)
EN golfer; born in Edinburgh, Scotland. After immigrating to the U.S.A. in 1925, he won the U.S. Open (1927), and the British Open (1931). He became a successful teaching pro after retiring from competition.
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"armoured car",2044,0,0,0
EN Typically a four-wheel-drive, light-armoured fighting vehicle with protection against small-arms fire, armed with a machine gun or small calibre cannon in a rotating turret. The first 'armoured cars' were iron-plated chariots carrying a \Jcrossbow\j on a platform (11th-c China). The first mechanical armoured cars were developed just before 1914, and their roles today on the battlefield are largely unchanged - that of reconnaissance and rear area protection.
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"armoured fighting vehicle (AFV)",2045,0,0,0
EN A generic term for combat vehicles such as tanks, armoured cars, armoured personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles which have armour protection against hostile fire.
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"arms control",2046,0,0,0
EN Any restraint exercised by one or more countries over the level, type, deployment, and use of their armaments, occurring through agreement or unilaterally. Its aim is to reduce the possibility of war and / or reduce its consequences. It is premised on the notion that states can reduce arms to their mutual benefit, including that of reducing the burden of costs, without abandoning their hostile stance.
Originating in the USA in the 1950s, it has gained increasing acceptance as a policy: several major agreements have been reached about nuclear missiles, as well as about biological and chemical weapons.
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"arms race",2047,0,0,0
EN The continual accumulation in terms of numbers and capacity of military weapons by two or more states, in the belief that only by maintaining a superiority will their national security be guaranteed. Many maintain that the continual growth in weapons becomes a threat to security by increasing international tension and distrust.
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"arms, coats of",2048,0,0,0
EN See \Jheraldry\j
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"Armstead, Henry Hugh",2049,0,0,0
DT1 1828
DT2 1905
EN Sculptor, born in London, England, UK. His best-known works are reliefs and bronze statues for the Albert Memorial, the fountain at King's College, Cambridge, and the reredos at Westminster Abbey.
EN British civil servant. He studied at Oxford, and entered the civil service in 1950, becoming deputy head of the Home Office and the Treasury. In 1970 he became principal private secretary to the prime minister, Edward Heath, and under Margaret Thatcher was secretary to the cabinet and head of the home civil service.
He achieved unwanted notoriety when he gave evidence in the 'Spycatcher' case in \JAustralia\j (1987), and admitted that he had sometimes been "economical with the truth'. He retired from the civil service in 1988, and was made a life peer.
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#
"Armstrong, Edwin H(oward)",2051,0,0,0
DT (1890-1954)
EN US radio engineer.
Many teenagers build radio receivers; Armstrong was unusual in also making a transmitter before he became a student of electrical \Jengineering\j at Columbia. Then, during the First World War, he worked on the problem of locating \Jaircraft\j by detecting the stray radio emission from their ignition systems; a side- result was his development of the superheterodyne circuit, which made radio tuning much easier and helped make radio popular. From 1934 he taught electrical \Jengineering\j at Columbia and by 1939 he had devised a major advance in radio transmission: FM.
Previously, radio signals conveyed speech or music by changes in the \Jamplitude\j of the carrier radio waves (amplitude \Jmodulation\j, AM). The snag of this is that electrical storms and appliances introduce random noise (static). Armstrong's method was to vary the carrier signal by changes in frequency (frequency \Jmodulation\j, FM) which is largely free from interference. This requires use of high frequencies that have only a limited range, but it has become the preferred mode for radio and TV use.
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#
"Armstrong, Gillian (May)",2052,0,0,0
DT1 1952
EN Film director, born in Melbourne, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. A student of theatre design and later of film, she won a scholarship to the Film and Television School in Sydney. Early works include the drama \IThe Singer and the Dancer\i (1976), which won the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Award for Best Short.
Several of her films focus attention on the difficulties facing independent women, such as \IMy Brilliant Career\i (1979), \IHigh Tide\i (1987), \IThe Last Days of Chez Nous\i (1991), and \ILittle Women\i (1996). She has won many AFI awards, including Best Film and Best Director.
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1979 My Brilliant Career
1987 High Tide
1991 The Last Days of Chez Nous
1996 Little Women
1997 Oscar and Lucinda
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#
"Armstrong, Hamilton Fish",2053,0,0,0
DT (1893-1973)
EN editor, author; born in New York City. He served in the U.S. Army in World War I and became first the managing editor (1922-28) and then the editor (1928-72) of \IForeign Affairs.\i He wrote \IEurope Between Two Wars\i (1934) and \IThe Calculated Risk\i (1947). He often served as a foreign policy advisor to the federal government.
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"Armstrong, Harry George",2054,0,0,0
DT (1899-1983)
EN physician, airman; born in DeSmet, S.D. After serving a U.S. Marine Corps enlistment, he attended college and medical school, obtained a medical degree, and practiced industrial medicine in \JMinneapolis\j, Minn., for several years. Commissioned in the Medical Reserve Corps in 1929, he opted to specialize in the new field of \Javiation\j medicine. He was air surgeon, U.S. 8th Air Force, in England during World War II and became surgeon general of the U.S. Air Force in 1949.
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"Armstrong, Henry",2055,0,0,0
DT (1912-88)
EN \Jboxer\j, minister; born in Columbus, Miss. He is the only professional \Jboxer\j ever to hold three world titles simultaneously in three different weight classifications: He won the featherweight crown in 1937, and in 1938 he added both the welterweight and lightweight championships. After retiring in 1945, he became a minister and devoted himself to helping underprivileged young people through such organizations as Youthtown in Desert Wells, Ariz.
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"Armstrong, Henry Edward",2056,0,0,0
DT1 1848
DT2 1937
EN Chemist, born in London, England, UK. He studied chemistry in London and \JLeipzig\j, and became professor of chemistry (1871-1913) in the London institutions which later formed Imperial College. His major contribution was in chemical education, where he pioneered the \Jheuristic\j method, and he was a forceful advocate for environmental concern.
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"Armstrong, John",2057,0,0,0
DT (1755-1816)
EN soldier, explorer; born in \JNew Jersey\j. He was a militia officer in the \JAmerican Revolution\j and then served in the regular army (1784-93). He commanded Fort Pitt (1785-86) and was sent on a secret government exploration mission into Spanish territory and up the Missouri River (1790). He fought heroically in General Harmar's Indian campaign (1790) and later served as treasurer of the Northwest Territory.
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"Armstrong, Johnnie",2058,0,0,0
DT (?-1529)
EN Celebrated Scottish Border freebooter and \Jcattle\j-rustler ('reiver'), and hero of many Border ballads. He was either John Armstrong of Gilnockie, near Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway, who was hanged in 1529, or John Armstrong ('Black Jock') of Mangerton, who was executed in 1530.
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"Armstrong, Louis",2059,0,0,0
HS , nickname \BSatchmo\b
DT1 1898
DT1b / 1900
DT2 71
EN Jazz trumpeter and singer, born in \JNew Orleans\j, LA. Having learned to play the \Jcornet\j in a waifs' home, he moved to \JChicago\j in 1922 to join King Oliver's band. His melodic inventiveness, expressed with uninhibited tone and range on the trumpet, established the central role of the improvising soloist in jazz, especially in a series of recordings known as the 'Hot Fives' and 'Hot Sevens' (1925-8).
Thereafter, every jazz musician emulated Armstrong's melodic style and rhythmic sense. He was also a popular singer (hit recordings include 'When It's Sleepy Time Down South', 'Mack the Knife', 'Hello Dolly!') and entertainer, in such films as \IPennies from Heaven\i (1936), \ICabin in the Sky\i (1943), and \IHigh Society\i (1956), but he remained primarily a jazz musician, touring the world with his \JNew Orleans\j-style sextet.
MEX Oliver
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"Armstrong, Neil (Alden)",2060,0,0,0
DT1 1930
EN Astronaut, born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, USA. He studied at Purdue University, then became a fighter pilot in Korea and later a civilian test pilot. In 1962 he was chosen as an \Jastronaut\j and commanded Gemini 8 in 1966. In 1969 with Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins he set out in Apollo 11 on a successful Moon-landing expedition.
On 20 July 1969 Armstrong and Aldrin became in that order the first men to set foot on the Moon. Armstrong later taught aerospace \Jengineering\j at \JCincinnati\j University (1971--9). He published \IFirst on the Moon\i in 1970.
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"Armstrong, William",2061,0,0,0
DT1 16
DT1b th-c
EN 'Kinmont Willie' of the Border \Jballad\j of that name, a Dumfriesshire moss-trooper. He was rescued in 1596 by Walter Scott, 1st Lord Scott of Buccleuch (1565-1611), from \JCarlisle\j Castle.
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"Armstrong, William George, Baron",2062,0,0,0
DT1 1810
DT2 1900
EN Inventor and industrialist, born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, north-east England, UK. In 1840 he produced a much improved hydraulic engine, in 1842 an apparatus for producing electricity from steam, and in 1845 the hydraulic crane. His factory later became famous for its ordnance, especially the Armstrong breech-loading gun. His house at Cragside, \JNorthumbria\j, was the first to be be lit by incandescent electric light bulbs developed by Swan.
MEX Swan
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"Armstrong-Jones, Antony",2063,0,0,0
EN See Snowdon, Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of
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#
"Armstrong-Jones, Lady Sarah",2064,0,0,0
EN See Margaret (Rose), Princess
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#
"army",2065,0,0,0
EN The branch of the armed forces configured and equipped to make war on land. The term \Iarmy,\i while referring to a nation's land forces, is also conferred on large military formations engaged in a particular theatre of war (the British 'Eighth Army', for example). These are subdivided into Army Corps and Divisions, and may be combined for command purposes into Army Groups.
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"army ant",2066,0,0,0
EN A tropical ant with very reduced or absent eyes. It forms enormous colonies characterized by group foraging behaviour and frequent changes in nest site. A bivouac nest formed by living ants protects the wingless queen and the brood. \B(Order:\b \JHymenoptera\j. \BFamily:\b Formicidae.)
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"Arnall, Ellis (Gibbs)",2067,0,0,0
DT (1907-92)
EN governor; born in Newnan, Ga. A lawyer and Democratic Georgia assemblyman, elected Speaker (1933-37), he became Georgia's attorney general (1939-43). A progressive governor (Dem., 1943-47), he ended prison chain gangs, abolished the \Jpoll tax\j, and restored accreditation of the state university. Founding an \JAtlanta\j law firm afterward, he served as President Truman's director of the Office of Price Stabilization in 1952.
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"Arnarson, Ing≤lfur",2068,0,0,0
DT1a late
DT1 9
DT1b th-c
EN Viking from H÷rdaland, \JNorway\j. He was honoured as the first settler of \JIceland\j in AD 874, and his descendants held the hereditary post of supreme chieftain of the Icelandic parliament \I(Althing)\i after its foundation in 930.
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"Arnason, J≤n",2069,0,0,0
HS , known as \Bthe Grimm of Iceland\b
DT1 1819
DT2 88
EN Collector of folk-tales, born in \JIceland\j. He collected and published a huge collection of Icelandic folk-tales and fairy-tales (1862-4), translated as \ILegends of Iceland\i by Eirφkur Magn·sson (1864-6).
MEX Grimm
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"Arnaud, ArsΦne",2070,0,0,0
EN See Claretie, Jules
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#
"Arnaud, Yvonne (Germaine)",2071,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bnoh]
DT1 1892
DT2 1958
EN Actress, born in \JBordeaux\j, \JFrance\j. She studied in Paris, and trained as a concert pianist, before taking up acting. She enjoyed a long career on the British stage, appearing in many musicals and farces. She made her film debut in \IDesire\i and appeared in several cinema adaptations of her stage successes, such as \IThe \JGhosts\j of Berkeley Square\i (1947) and \IMon Oncle\i (1958). Resident for many years near Guildford, Surrey, a theatre there was opened in her honour in 1965.
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"Arnauld, AngΘlique",2072,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)noh]
HS , known as \BMΦre AngΘlique de Saint Jean\b
DT1 1624
DT2 84
EN French Jansenist religious, the niece of Antoine Arnauld. She entered the convent of Port-Royal des Champs in Paris, where she became sub-prioress then abbess (1678). During the persecution of the Port-Royalists she was known for her heroic courage.
MEX Arnauld, Antoine
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"Arnauld, Antoine",2073,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)noh]
HS , known as \Bthe Great Arnauld\b
DT1 1612
DT2 94
EN French philosopher, lawyer, mathematician, and priest, associated with the Jansenist movement and community at Port Royal, Paris. He was a controversialist, and his activities as head of the Jansenists led to his expulsion from the \JSorbonne\j, persecution, and ultimately refuge in \JBelgium\j. While at Port Royal he collaborated with Pascal and \BPierre Nicole\b (1625-95) on the work known as the \IPort Royal Logic\i (1662).
MEX Pascal
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"Arnauld, Jacqueline-Marie-AngΘlique",2074,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)noh]
HS , known as \BMΦre AngΘlique\b
DT1 1591
DT2 1661
EN French Jansenist, the sister of Antoine Arnauld. She was made abbess of Port-Royal in 1602 at the age of 11, and ultimately reformed the convent by the severity of her discipline.
MEX Arnauld, Antoine
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"Arndt, Ernst Moritz",2075,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)nt]
DT1 1769
DT2 1860
EN Poet and German patriot, born in the island of Rⁿgen (then Swedish). He studied at Stralsund, Greifswald, and Jena, and in 1805 became professor of history at Greifswald. In his \IGeist der Zeit\i (1806, Spirit of the Times) he attacked Napoleon with such boldness that he had to take refuge in Stockholm (1806-9).
In 1818 he became professor of history in the new University of \JBonn\j; but, aiming steadily at constitutional reforms, he was suspended in 1819 and not restored till 1840. His other works include political addresses, reminiscences, letters, and poems.
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"Arne, Thomas (Augustine)",2076,0,0,0
DT1 1710
DT2 78
EN Composer, born in London, England, UK. He studied at \JEton\j, became skilful as a violinist, then turned to composing with his first opera \IRosamond\i (1733). He was appointed composer to Drury Lane Theatre, for which he composed famous settings of Shakespearean songs. 'Rule, Britannia' (originally written for \IThe \JMasque\j of Alfred)\i is his, as well as two oratorios and two operas.
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"Arneaux, J. A.",2077,0,0,0
DT 1855-?
EN African-American actor. He took to the stage as a song-and-dance artist, then as a legitimate actor and manager of the Astor Place Company of Coloured Tragedians, the leading black dramatic troupe in America in the 1880s, based in New York. Arneaux's roles included Iago, Macbeth and Pythias, but his favourite part was Richard III, in which he ranked with Macready, Edwin Booth and Lawrence Barrett.
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"Arnheim, Rudolf",2078,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)n\bhiym]
DT1 1904
EN Art theorist and psychologist, born in Berlin, \JGermany\j. He studied at the University of Berlin, worked in \JRome\j with the International Institute of Educational Films (1933--8), then taught at both the New School for Social Research and Sarah Lawrence College (1943--68), \JHarvard University\j (1968--74), and the University of \JMichigan\j (from 1974).
He taught film history, but is most noted as a pioneering theorist of the \Jpsychology\j of the arts. Among his influential books are \IArt as Visual Perception\i (1954, 1974), \IToward a Psychology of Art\i (1966), and \IEntropy and Art\i (1971).
\BMajor Works\b
1954, 1974 Art as Visual Perception
1966 Toward a Psychology of Art
1971 Entropy and Art
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#
"Arnhem",2079,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bnem]
EN 52░00N 5░53E, pop (1995e) 136 000. Capital city of Gelderland province, E Netherlands; on the right bank of the lower Rhine, 53 km/33 mi SE of \JUtrecht\j; seat of the law courts, several government agencies, and the provincial government; on the site of a Roman settlement; charter, 1233; heavily damaged in World War 2; scene of unsuccessful airborne landing of British troops (Sep 1944); railway; tin-smelting, artificial fibres, salt, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, \Jengineering\j; Grote Kerk (15th-c), town hall (1540), St Walburgisbasiliek (1422), Dutch open-air museum (N), safari park, Burgers Zoo.
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#
"Arnhem Land",2080,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bnem]
EN The peninsular plateau in N \JAustralia\j, E of Darwin; named after the Dutch ship which arrived here in 1618; chief town, Nhulunbuy; now contains \JKakadu\j national park, and a reserve for \JAborigines\j; \Jbauxite\j and uranium mining.
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#
"arni",2081,0,0,0
EN See \Jwater\j buffalo
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#
"Arnim, Achim von",2082,0,0,0
HS , originally \BKarl Joachim Friedrich Ludwig von Arnim\b
DT1 1781
DT2 1831
EN Writer of fantastic but original romances, born in Berlin. He stirred up a warm sympathy for old popular poetry, and published over 20 volumes, mainly tales and novels, including (with Clemens von Brentano) the folk-song collection \IDes Knaben Wunderhorn.\i His wife, \BBettina\b (1785-1859), Brentano's sister, was as a girl infatuated with Goethe, and afterwards published a (largely fictitious) \ICorrespondence\i with him, as well as 10 volumes of tales and essays.
MEX Brentano, Clemens
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"Arnim, Jⁿrgen, Freiherr (Baron) von",2083,0,0,0
DT1 1891
DT2 1971
EN German soldier, born of an old Silesian military family. He served at first in the infantry in World War 1, then became a tank expert. In World War 2 he took over the 5th Panzer Army in \JTunisia\j in 1943, and succeeded Rommel in command of Army Group Africa. In May 1943 he surrendered his troops to the Allies, and was interned in Britain and later in the USA.
MEX Rommel
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#
"Arno, Peter",2084,0,0,0
HS , originally \BCurtis Arnoux Peters\b
DT1 1904
DT2 68
EN Cartoonist, born in New York City. He was one of the first contributors to the \INew Yorker\i magazine, from 1925, with satirical drawings of New York cafe society. He also wrote musical revues, including \IHere Comes the Bride\i (1931).
SX m
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#
"Arnobius the Elder",2085,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bnoh\bbius]
DT1 ?
DT2 330
EN A teacher of \Jrhetoric\j in Sicca, \JNumidia\j (Africa). He became a Christian c.300, and wrote a vigorous defence of \JChristianity\j \I(Adversus nationes).\i
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"Arnold of Brescia",2086,0,0,0
PN [\Bbre\bshia]
DT1a c.
DT1 1100
DT2 55
EN Clergyman and politician, born in Brescia, \JItaly\j. He adopted the monastic life, but his criticism of the Church's wealth and temporal power led to his banishment from \JItaly\j (1139). In \JFrance\j he met with bitter hostility from St Bernard of \JClairvaux\j, and took refuge for five years in Zⁿrich. An insurrection against the papal government in \JRome\j drew him there (1143), and for 10 years he struggled to found a republic on ancient Roman lines. On the arrival of Emperor Frederick I in 1155, he was executed.
MEX Bernard of \JClairvaux\j, St
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"Arnold, Aberhard",2087,0,0,0
DT1 1883
DT2 1935
EN Founder of the Bruderhof movement in Nazi \JGermany\j, born in \JWroclaw\j, \JPoland\j (formerly Breslau, Germany). He studied \Jtheology\j at Halle, but disqualified himself from the degree through his insistence on being baptised on profession of faith. A convinced pacifist associated with the Student Christian Movement, he linked spiritual authenticity with an awareness of economic injustice. A selection of his writings and addresses, \IGod's Revolution,\i was published in 1984.
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"Arnold, Benedict",2088,0,0,0
DT (1741-1801)
EN soldier, patriot, traitor; born in Norwich, Conn. Prior to the \JAmerican Revolution\j he was a prosperous trader. He was an outstanding leader in military situations. He captured Fort Ticonderoga (1775) - in conjunction with Ethan Allen - and nearly captured Quebec City, where he was wounded in his leg. In 1776, he delayed a possible British invasion of New York by means of a makeshift fleet on Lake Champlain.
In 1777, he inspired American troops and led them to the victory that brought about Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga (he was again wounded in his leg). He became bitter due to Congressional slights, and he moved into traitorous correspondence with British leaders. In 1780, he attempted to betray vital West Point to the British. Failing in this, he remained in the British camp, conducted raids against both Virginia, and his native Connecticut, and then retired to England where he received some money but no honor for having changed sides. He spent his last years as a not very successful trader in Canada and the West Indies.
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"Arnold, Henry Harley",2089,0,0,0
DT (1886-1950)
EN soldier, aviator; born in Gladwyne, Pa. A physician's son, he graduated from West Point in 1907 and served in the infantry before transferring to the Signal Corps. Bored with garrison routine, Arnold volunteered for flight training, receiving instruction from no less an authority than Orville Wright, and obtained a pilot's license in 1911. An ally of air visionary William Mitchell, Arnold became a leading advocate of air power during the 1920s and 1930s.
As commander of the Army Air Corps (1938) and, from 1941 onward, as chief of the Army Air Forces, he built a mighty air fleet - 64,000 \Jaircraft\j and 2.4 million men - and developed strategic and tactical air doctrine, including the massive long-range bombing of \JGermany\j and \JJapan\j. Arnold retired in 1946, a year before the air force became an independent service. Given a fifth star as a general of the army in 1944, his commission was changed to general of the air force in 1949. Arnold wrote several books, including \IThis Flying Game\i (1936) and \IGlobal Mission\i (1949).
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"Arnold, Joseph",2090,0,0,0
DT1 1782
DT2 1818
EN Botanist, born in Beccles, Suffolk, E England, UK. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, and accompanied Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles as naturalist to \JSumatra\j, where he died. He discovered the largest flower known, \IRafflesia arnoldi.\i
MEX Raffles
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#
"Arnold, Mary Augusta",2091,0,0,0
EN See Ward, Mary Augusta
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"Arnold, Matthew",2092,0,0,0
DT1 1822
DT2 88
EN Poet and critic, born in Laleham, Surrey, south-east England, UK, the eldest son of Dr Thomas Arnold of Rugby. He studied at Oxford, and became one of the lay inspectors of schools in 1851, an office from which he retired in 1886. He made his mark with \IPoems: A New Edition\i (1853-4), which contained 'The Scholar Gipsy' and 'Sohrab and Rustum', and confirmed his standing as a poet with \INew Poems\i (1867), which contained 'Dover Beach' and 'Thyrsis'.
Appointed professor of poetry at Oxford in 1857, he published several critical works, including \IEssays in Criticism\i (1865, 1888) and \ICulture and Anarchy\i (1869), and books on religious themes such as \ILiterature and Dogma\i (1872) and \ILast Essays on Church and Religion\i (1877).
MEX Arnold, Thomas; Ward, Mary Augusta
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"Arnold, Samuel",2093,0,0,0
DT1 1740
DT2 1802
EN Composer, born in London, England, UK. He became organist to the Chapels Royal (1783) and to Westminster Abbey (1793). He is best remembered for his valuable collection of cathedral music (1790) and his 36-volume edition of Handel (1786-97).
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"Arnold, Sir Edwin",2094,0,0,0
DT1 1832
DT2 1904
EN Poet and journalist, born in Gravesend, Kent, south-east England, UK. He taught at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and in 1856 became principal of Deccan College, Poona. Returning in 1861, he became editor of the \IDaily Telegraph\i in 1863. He is best known for \IThe Light of Asia\i (1879), on \JBuddhism\j.
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"Arnold, Sir Malcolm (Henry)",2095,0,0,0
DT1 1921
EN Composer, born in Northampton, \JNorthamptonshire\j, C England, UK. He studied at the Royal College of Music (1938--40) and was principal trumpet player with the London Philharmonic Orchestra until 1948. Of his film scores, \IBridge over the River Kwai\i received an Oscar (1957). His works include nine symphonies, the \Joverture\j \ITam O'Shanter\i, 18 concertos, five ballets, two one-act operas, and a great deal of vocal, choral, and chamber music. He was knighted in 1993.
\BMajor Works\b
\IOrchestral and band music\i
7 Symphonies
18 Concertos, including:-
Clarinet
Flute
Harmonica
Piano (3 and 4 hands)
Organ
Trumpet in D, B flat
Horn
Guitar
8 players
Viola
\IChamber orchestra\i
1975 Fantasy on a theme of John Field
1955 Serenade
2 \ILittle Suites\i
1 Divertimento
3 Sinfoniettas
1966 4 Cornish Dances
1957 4 Scottish Dances
1956 A Grand Grand overture
1951 A Sussex overture
1950 2 Sets of English Dances
1950 Serenade for small orchestra
1943 Comedy overture
\ITam O'Shanter\i (\Joverture\j)
\BOther miscellaneious works\b
\IStage music\i
\IOpera\i
1951 The Danang master
1956 The open window
\IBallets\i
1953 Homage to the queen
1954 Rinaldo and Armide
1956 Solitaire
1957 Bridge over the River Kwai
1959 Sweeny Todd
1963 Electia
\IVocal\i
\IPsalms\i
\ICantatas\i
\ISongs\i
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"Arnold, Thomas",2096,0,0,0
DT1 1795
DT2 1842
EN Educationist, scholar, and headmaster of Rugby School, born in East \JCowes\j, \JIsle of Wight\j, S England, UK the father of Matthew Arnold and Mary Augusta Ward. He studied at Oxford, took \Jdeacon\j's orders in 1818, and in 1828 was appointed headmaster of Rugby. He reformed the school system (especially by introducing sports and ending bullying).
The style of teaching he introduced was graphically described in Thomas Hughes's \ITom Brown's Schooldays\i (1857). In 1841 he was appointed professor of modern history at Oxford.
MEX Arnold, Matthew; Hughes, Thomas; Ward, Mary Augusta
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"Arnold, Thurman (Wesley)",2097,0,0,0
DT (1891-1969)
EN lawyer, government official; born in Laramie, Wyo. Dean of the University of Virginia Law School (1927-30) and iconoclastic law professor at Yale (1930-37), he wrote \IThe \JFolklore\j of Capitalism\i (1937). An assistant attorney general in Washington (1938-43), he spearheaded anti-trust indictments. He served as an appellate judge (1943-45) before returning to private practice.
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"Arnolfo di Cambio",2098,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bnol\bfoh dee \Bkam\bbioh]
DT1a c.
DT1 1245
DT2 1302
EN Italian sculptor and architect, the designer of Florence Cathedral. A pupil of Nicola Pisano, he worked on his master's shrine of S Dominic, \JBologna\j, and the pulpit at Siena before going to \JRome\j in 1277. His tomb of Cardinal de Braye at Orvieto set the style for wall-tombs for more than a century. The remains of his sculptural decoration for Florence Cathedral are in the cathedral museum.
MEX Pisano, Nicola
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"Arnon, Daniel I(srael)",2099,0,0,0
DT1 1910
EN Plant physiologist, born in Warsaw, \JPoland\j. Raised in the USA, he spent his career at the University of \JCalifornia\j, Berkeley (1936--78). He demonstrated that \Jwater\j (hydroponic) culture of tomatoes, using mineral supplements, produces similar yields as soil crops, but is economically feasible only if available soil is incapable of supporting growth (1939).
His pioneering investigations of \Jphotosynthesis\j began in the late 1940s, when he and colleagues isolated chloroplasts from spinach cells, and in 1954 published results of the first photosynthetic process outside the living cell.
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"Arnoux's Beaked Whale",2100,0,0,0
EN \BFamily:\b \IZiphiidae\i \I(beaked whales)\i
\BScientific Name:\b \IBerardius arnuxii\i\b
\BIdentification:\b
Length at birth possibly 13 ft (4 m), at adulthood 29.5 ft (9 m). Maximum length recorded 31.5 ft (9.6 m). Color of stranded specimens is black or gray dorsally, lighter ventrally. From more than one sighting of living Arnoux's beaked whales in antarctic waters, the color is described as light brown or brown, slightly lighter on the head. The dorsal fin is small, and triangular to falcate.
Two throat grooves, forming a V, are characteristic of beaked whales. Teeth do erupt in females, unlike in other beaked whales. The lower jaw extends a few inches beyond the upper jaw, and it bears two pairs of teeth near the tip. The beak is clearly demarcated from the forehead by a horizontal crease above the gape. The melon is rounded and prominent.
A gregarious species, often in groups of 6 to 10, but sometimes solitary, and groups of up to 50 reported. Very shy, avoid ships. Surface activity, including spy-hopping, flipper and fluke slapping, head lunging, and breaching have been observed.
\BDistribution\b
Southern Hemisphere, circumpolar south of about 34░S to Antarctic ice edge. Strandings more common on \JNew Zealand\j than Australian coasts. The strandings have occurred in summer months, suggesting a seasonal movement to the vicinity of the continental shelf.
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"aromatherapy",2101,0,0,0
EN A popular form of complementary medicine which uses concentrated essential oils extracted from plants. Some aromatherapists have a background in conventional medicine or in paramedical disciplines such as \Jphysiotherapy\j, but others may use alternative systems such as traditional Chinese medicine or \Jradiesthesia\j. The application of oil to the skin is an effective way of getting active agents to be absorbed into the bloodstream, and \Jaromatherapy\j treatment is often combined with massage.
Some oils are used topically (eg \Jeucalyptus\j or tea tree oil as antiseptics); others may be taken internally, either by mouth or in the form of a suppository or pessary. Cosmetic \Jaromatherapy\j is offered by many beauty salons, sometimes in conjunction with facial massage, usually using proprietary brands of preblended oils.
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"aromatic compound",2102,0,0,0
EN A compound related to benzene, with bonding usually represented as alternate single and double bonds, but more stable than that arrangement would predict. Unlike an aliphatic compound with multiple bonds, it will react more often by substitution than by addition. Its name is derived from the odour of benzene.
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"Aronson, Boris",2103,0,0,0
DT (1900-1980)
EN set designer; born in \JKiev\j, \JRussia\j. Winner of the New York Drama Critics Award in 1964 for \IFiddler on the Roof,\i he began his New York career in 1924 working for the Unser Theatre and for the \JYiddish\j Art Theatre. His sets included those for \IThree Men on a Horse\i (1935), \IDetective Story\i (1949), and \IJ.B.\i (1958). An admirer of Marc Chagall, he excelled in stylized settings, but he was also capable of straightforward realism.
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"Aroostook War",2104,0,0,0
PN [a\Broo\bstuk]
EN (1838-9) A US / Canadian boundary dispute between the state of Maine and the province of New \JBrunswick\j, leading to near-hostilities. It was resolved by a temporary truce, and permanently settled by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842).
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"Arp, Jean or Hans",2105,0,0,0
DT1 1887
DT2 1966
EN Sculptor, born in \JStrasbourg\j, \JFrance\j. He was one of the founders of the \JDada\j movement in Zⁿrich in 1916. During the 1920s he produced many abstract reliefs in wood, but after 1928 he worked increasingly in three dimensions, becoming a major influence on organic abstract sculpture, based on natural forms. In 1921 he married the artist, \BSophie Tauber\b (1889-1943). After World War 2, he wrote several poems and essays.
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"Arpßd",2106,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bpad]
DT1 ?
DT2 907
EN The national hero of \JHungary\j. A \JMagyar\j chieftain in the Caucusus, he led the Magyars from the \JBlack Sea\j into the Valley of the Danube (c.896) and occupied modern \JHungary\j. He founded the Arpßd royal dynasty of \JHungary\j, from St Stephen (997) to 1301.
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"arquebus",2107,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bkwebuhs]
EN A firearm dating from the 15th-c, a development of the hand cannon, in outline a forerunner of the \Jmusket\j. Fired in action by a flame held to the touch-hole, the weapon was supported by a forked rest holding up the barrel at the operator's chest height.
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"Arrabal, Fernando",2108,0,0,0
PN [ara\Bbal\b]
DT1 1932
EN Playwright and novelist, born in Melilla, Spanish Morocco. He studied law in Madrid and drama in Paris, then settled permanently in \JFrance\j. His first play, \IPique-nique en campagne\i (1958, trans Picnic on the Battlefield), established him in the tradition of the Theatre of the Absurd. He coined the term \Ipanic theatre\i, intended to shock the senses, employing sadism and blasphemy to accomplish its aims.
Other plays include \ILe CimetiΦre des voitures\i (1958, The Car Cemetery) and \IEt ils passΦrent des menottes aux fleurs\i (1969, And They Put Handcuffs on the Flowers) - a work based on conversations with Spanish political prisoners, which was eventually banned in \JFrance\j and Sweden while becoming his first major success in America in 1971. He writes in Spanish, his work being translated into French by his wife.
\BMajor Works\b
\IPlays\i
1958 The Car Cemetery
1959 Picnic on the Battlefield
1967 The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria
1969 And They Put Handcuffs on the Flowers
\INovels\i
1959 \JBaal\j Babylon
\IScreenplays\i
1970 Long Live Death
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"Arran",2109,0,0,0
EN area 430┐km\U2\u / 166┐mi\U2\u. Island in North Ayrshire, W Scotland, UK; separated from W coast mainland by the Firth of Clyde; rises to 874┐m / 2867┐ft at \JGoat\j Fell; chief centres, Brodick, Lamlash, Lochranza; ferry links between Brodick and Ardrossan and Lochranza and Claonaig; a major tourist area; Brodick castle and country park, \JBronze Age\j Moss Farm Road stone circle, 13th-14th-c Lochranza castle.
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"arrangement",2110,0,0,0
EN A transcription or reworking of a musical composition, usually (but not always) for a different performing medium. Before c.1600, arrangements (or 'intabulations') of vocal music formed a major part of the keyboard and lute repertory, and in more recent times instruments such as the \Jaccordion\j and the \Jguitar\j, for which only a limited original repertory exists, have had to rely largely on arrangements.
Since the 18th-c at least, publishers have seized on arrangements as a means of increasing their sales of a popular work. Such arrangements often fail to respect the composer's intentions, but the type of arrangement which is perhaps most despised by musicians today is that which aims to bring older music 'up to date' (even though some of the greatest composers have engaged in this practice, as in Mozart's arrangements of some Handel oratorios).
Despite its long history, the practice of musical arrangement tends to divide present-\Jday\j musicians on both aesthetic and ethical grounds, and some look favourably only on those arrangements in which a creative intention is present.
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"Arras",2111,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bras]
EN 50░17N 2░46E, pop (1995e) 44 000. Old frontier town and capital of Pas-de-\JCalais\j department, N \JFrance\j, between Lille and \JAmiens\j; formerly famous for its tapestries; railway; bishopric; agricultural equipment, \Jengineering\j, sugar beet, vegetable oil, hosiery; town hall (16th-c), cathedral (18th-c); birthplace of Robespierre; many war cemeteries nearby; Vimy Ridge memorial, 10 km/6 mi N.
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"Arrau, Claudio",2112,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\brow]
DT1 1903
DT2 91
EN Pianist, born in Chillßn, \JChile\j. He studied at the Stern \JConservatory\j, Berlin (1912-18), and taught there (1924-40). He is renowned as an interpreter of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, and Brahms. His musical thoughts were collected in \IConversations with Arrau\i by Joseph Horowitz (1982).
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"array processor",2113,0,0,0
EN A particular type of digital computer which allows arrays of numbers to be processed simultaneously. In suitable applications, this can lead to marked increases in computing speeds.
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"arrest",2114,0,0,0
EN The stopping and detaining of a person suspected of a criminal offence; referred to as \Bapprehension\b in Scotland. Arrests are carried out mainly by the police, but a \Bcitizen's arrest\b is possible in certain circumstances. A person wrongly arrested may bring civil proceedings for false imprisonment. In English law (but not, for example, in the USA), a distinction is drawn between serious offences for which arrest may be made without a warrant \B(arrestable offences)\b and relatively minor offences for which a warrant is always required.
Arrestable offences include those for which a person not previously convicted might be imprisoned for five years or more. Attempts to commit such crimes are included in the definition. In the USA, \Bfelony arrests\b may be made outside the home without a warrant if there is probable cause to believe the accused committed a \Jfelony\j; \Bmisdemeanour arrests\b may be made without a warrant only where the offence occurred in the arrestor's presence.
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"arrest(Scotland)",2115,0,0,0
HS (Scotland)
EN A civil remedy in Scotland, whereby a court takes control of property owned by a debtor, but in the hands of a third party (eg a bank).
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"Arrhenius, Svante (August)",2116,0,0,0
PN [arayneeus]
DT (1859- 1927)
EN Swedish physical chemist: proposed theory of ionic \Jdissociation\j.
Arrhenius came from a family of farmers, and his father was an estate manager and surveyor. He attended \JUppsala\j University and did very well in physical science, and then moved to Stockholm to work for a higher degree on aqueous solutions of electrolytes (acids, bases and salts); he concluded that such solutions conduct a current because the \Jelectrolyte\j exists in the form of charged atoms or groups of atoms (positive cations and negative anions), which move through the solution when a current is applied.
He obtained good evidence for this during the 1880s but his theory was only slowly accepted, especially in Sweden. (Since then, further evidence has substantially confirmed his views, and has also shown that salts are largely ionic even in the solid state.) In 1903 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry. His work was surprisingly varied and included \Jimmunology\j, cosmic physics and the first recognition of the '\Jgreenhouse effect\j' (heat gain by the \Jatmosphere\j due to carbon dioxide). He also studied the effect of \Jtemperature\j on the rates of chemical reactions, and showed that
k = A exp (- E/RT)
where k is the rate constant for the reaction, A is the frequency factor, E is the activation \Jenergy\j for the reaction, River is the gas constant and T the Kelvin \Jtemperature\j (this is the Arrhenius equation).
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"arrhythmia",2117,0,0,0
PN [a\Brit\buh\bu\bmia]
EN A disturbance of the normal regular rhythm of the heart. There are many types, some of which are harmless, but a few are a serious threat to life.
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"Arriaga, Juan Cris≤stomo",2118,0,0,0
PN [ari\Bah\bga]
DT1 1806
DT2 26
EN Composer, born in \JBilbao\j, \JSpain\j. A child prodigy, his first opera, \ILos esclavos felices\i (The Happy Slaves), was produced in 1820. He became assistant professor at the Paris Conservatoire in 1824. Although he died at the age of 19, his compositions show remarkable maturity, and include three string quartets and a symphony.
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"Arrian",2119,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\brian]
HS , Lat \BFlavius Arrianus\b
DT1a c.
DT1 95
DT2 180
EN Greek historian, a native of Nicomedia in Bithynia. An officer in the Roman army, in 136 he was appointed prefect of \JCappadocia\j (legate in 131-7). His chief work is the \IAnabasis Alexandrou,\i or history of the campaigns of Alexander the Great, which has survived almost entire. His accounts of the people of India, and of a voyage round the Euxine, are valuable for studies of ancient \Jgeography\j.
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"Arrivφ, Francisco",2120,0,0,0
DT 1915-
EN Puerto Rican playwright, director and critic. His early plays - Club de solteros (Bachelors' Club, 1940) and El diablo se humaniza (Humanizing the Devil, 1941) - are fantastic and farcical. Major works include Marφa Soledad (Marφa Solitude, 1947), the trilogy Mßscara puertorrique±a (Puerto Rican Mask, 1956-9), C≤ctel de Don Nadie (Mr Nobody's Cocktail, 1964) and the musical Solteros 72 (Bachelors 72). Arrivφ founded the theatre group Tinglado Puertorrique±o in 1945.
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"Arrol, Sir William",2121,0,0,0
DT1 1839
DT2 1913
EN Engineer, born in Houston, Renfrewshire, W Scotland, UK . He studied at night school, and started his own \Jengineering\j business at the age of 29. His firm constructed the second Tay Railway Bridge (1882-7), the Forth Railway Bridge (1883-90), and Tower Bridge in London (1886-94). He was also an MP (1892-1906).
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"Arrow War",2122,0,0,0
EN See Opium Wars
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"arrow worm",2123,0,0,0
EN A slender \Jinvertebrate\j animal with a translucent body bearing lateral and tail fins; predatory; head armed with several paired spines to catch prey; c.70 marine species, mostly found in open \Jwater\j. \B(Phylum:\b Chaetognatha.)
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"Arrow, Kenneth J(oseph)",2124,0,0,0
DT1 1921
EN Economist, born in New York City, USA. He studied at Columbia University, and became professor at Stanford (1949--68) and Harvard (1968--79). His primary field was the study of collective choice based on uncertainty and risk. He shared the 1972 Nobel Prize for Economics.
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"arrow-poison frog",2125,0,0,0
EN A slender frog, native to Central and \JSouth America\j; often brightly coloured; inhabits woodland; eggs laid on ground; adults carry tadpoles to \Jwater\j; skin very poisonous; local Indians rub arrow-heads on live frogs to poison the tips for hunting; also known as \Bpoison-arrow frog.\b Some South American true toads of \Jgenus\j \IAtelopus\i are called \Barrow-poison toads.\b \B(Family:\b Dendrobatidae, 116 species.)
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"arrowroot",2126,0,0,0
EN A type of starch obtained from the tuberous roots of several plants. The most important is probably \BWest Indian arrowroot\b \I(Maranta arundinacea),\i a rhizomatous perennial growing to 2┐m / 61/2┐ft; leaves with sheathing bases; sepals and petals in threes; native to \JSouth America\j, and cultivated in New World tropics for edible starch.
\BEast Indian arrowroot\b is obtained from \ICurcuma angustifolia,\i a relative of ginger, and from \ITacca pinnatifida.\i \BQueensland arrowroot\b is from a species of canna, \ICanna edulis.\i \BPortland arrowroot,\b inedible and formerly used for laundry, was obtained from lords-and-ladies \I(Arum maculatum).\i
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"Arrowsmith, Aaron",2127,0,0,0
DT1 1750
DT2 1823
EN Cartographer, born in Winston, Durham, north-east England, UK. In about 1770 he went to London, and by 1790 had established a great map-making business. His nephew, \BJohn Arrowsmith\b (1790-1873), was also an eminent cartographer.
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"Arrufat, Ant≤n",2128,0,0,0
DT 1935-
EN Cuban playwright and poet. El vivo al pollo (Chicken for the Living, 1959) uses traditional bufo theatre to \Jparody\j a natural fear of death in the case of a woman who embalms her husband. With La zona cero (Zero Zone, 1959) the illogical patterns and comedy routines he developed earlier reached a climax in a Beckett-style absurdism (see theatre of the absurd).
After La repetici≤n (The Repetition, 1963), and Todos los domingos (Every Sunday, 1965), he wrote Los siete contra Tebas (Seven against Thebes) which won the UNEAC prize for 1968, but he was censured for a work considered antithetical to revolutionary goals. Arrufat remains in \JCuba\j and works as a journalist/writer. His later plays are unpublished and unstaged.
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"ars antiqua",2129,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)z an\Btee\bkwa]
EN A term used to distinguish the music of the late 12th-c and 13th-c from that of the succeeding period. It is particularly associated with the theorists and composers of the Notre Dame school in Paris, notably LΘonin and PΘrotin.
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"ars nova",2130,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)z \Bnoh\bva]
EN In music, a term for the 'new art' of the 14th-c, as distinct from that of the preceding period. Its principal representatives were the composer Guillaume de Machaut (c.1300-77), and the theorist Philippe de Vitry (1291-1361).
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"arsenic",2131,0,0,0
EN As, element 33. A grey metalloid in the \Jnitrogen\j family, usually showing \Joxidation\j states 3 and 5. It is used in some lead alloys and in semiconductors, especially \Jgallium\j arsenide (GaAs). The name is commonly applied to \Jarsenic\j (III) oxide (As\D2\dO\D3\d), the highly poisonous white \Jarsenic\j of rodent control and detective novels.
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"arsenicals",2132,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bsen\biklz]
EN Drugs developed in the early 20th-c by German scientist Paul Ehrlich, who systematically screened a series of organic \Jarsenic\j-containing substances in the search for a drug effective in trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness). Number 606 in the series was most effective, and the drug was often known as '606'.
It was called \BSalvarsan,\b which was subsequently found to be effective against spirochaete infections. In 1910 it was shown to cure \Jsyphilis\j, and was used thus until replaced by \Jpenicillin\j in 1945. Arsenicals have generally been abandoned in favour of newer, safer drugs.
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"arsine",2133,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bseen]
EN AsH\D3\d, boiling point -55░C. A gaseous \Jhydride\j of \Jarsenic\j, formed by reducing solutions of \Jarsenic\j compounds.
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"Arsinoδ",2134,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Bsin\bohee]
DT1 316
DT2 270
DT2b BC
EN Macedonian princess, the daughter of Ptolemy I, and one of the most conspicuous of Hellenistic queens. She married first (c.300 BC) the aged Lysimachus, King of Thrace, secondly (and briefly) Ptolemy Ceraunus, and finally (c.276 BC) her own brother, Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Several cities were named after her.
MEX Lysimachus; Ptolemy I; Ptolemy II
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"arson",2135,0,0,0
EN The unlawful destruction of, or damage to, property by fire; known as \Bfire-raising\b in Scotland. In English law, the relevant statute creates another criminal offence covering unlawful damage, however caused, but also preserves the separate crime of arson, even though this seems to add little to the scope of the law. In the USA, the definition of arson varies among the states.
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"Arsonval, (Jacques-)ArsΦne d'",2136,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)s⌡val]
DT1 1851
DT2 1940
EN Physicist, born in Borie, \JFrance\j. He was director of the laboratory of biological physics at the CollΦge de \JFrance\j from 1882, and professor from 1894. He invented the reflecting \Jgalvanometer\j named after him, and experimented with high-frequency oscillating current for electromedical purposes.
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"art",2137,0,0,0
EN Originally, 'skill' (of any kind), a meaning the word has in everyday contexts. Modern usage referring especially to painting, drawing, or sculpture emerged by c.1700, but significantly Dr Johnson's primary meaning of the word (1755) was still 'The power of doing something not taught by nature and instinct; as to \Iwalk\i is natural, to \Idance\i is an art.' This contrast between art and nature goes back to the \JMiddle Ages\j. Nor did Johnson's five other meanings of the word make any reference to what we nowadays call 'the visual arts'.
However, the modern sense of art as a uniquely significant form of creation, and of an artist as a creative genius of a special kind, does seem to have made headway during Johnson's lifetime. The related concept of \Bfine arts,\b considered as sharing common principles and distinct from science, religion, or the practical concerns of everyday life, also emerged in the 18th-c, together with a new subject, \Iaesthetics,\i the philosophy of art.
The artist was now considered distinct from the artisan, or skilled manual worker. By the 19th-c, art was normally (instead of occasionally) associated with the imaginative and creative productions of objects for abstract contemplation, with no useful function. The highly significant phrases 'artistic temperament' and 'artistic sensibility' occur first in the mid-19th-c. The definition of art has become controversial again in the 20th-c. New forms, such as film, \Jtelevision\j, street theatre, pop music, and happenings are claimed by some to be art, by others, not.
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"Art Brut",2138,0,0,0
PN [ah(r) broo]
EN A term coined by French painter Jean Dubuffet (1901-85) for the art of untrained people, especially mental patients, prisoners, and socially dispossessed persons generally. Dubuffet built up a collection of about 5000 such items, presented in 1972 to the city of \JLausanne\j.
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"Art Deco",2139,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)t \Bdek\boh]
EN A term abbreviated from the Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts DΘcoratifs et Industriels Modernes ('International Exhibition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts'), 1925. It has come to refer to decorative arts of the 1920s and 1930s generally, and the 'modernistic' style associated with them: a mixture of \JCubism\j, Art Nouveau, and the Russian ballet, with a fondness for strident colours and for the \Jstreamlining\j found in \Jaircraft\j and \Jautomobile\j design, but used nonfunctionally for household objects such as wireless sets, tables, and teapots.
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"art for art's sake",2140,0,0,0
EN See Aesthetic / Esthetic Movement
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"art gallery",2141,0,0,0
EN See Hermitage; 19571 Louvre; 21227 Metropolitan Museum of Art; 22524 National Gallery; 22525 National Gallery of Art; 22526 National Gallery of \JAustralia\j; 22542 National Portrait Gallery; 25227 Pitti Palace; 25800 \JPrado\j; 27178 \JRijksmuseum\j; 31170 Tate Gallery; 32202 Tretyakov Gallery; 32893 Uffizi
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"Art Nouveau",2142,0,0,0
PN [ah(r) noo\Bvoh\b]
EN (Fr 'new art') A movement which flourished from c.1890 to c.1905, mainly in the decorative arts, characterized by naturalistic plant and flower motifs, and writhing patterns of sinuous, \Jcurling\j lines; called \IJugendstil\i in \JGermany\j, \ISezessionstil\i in \JAustria\j, and \IStile Liberty\i (after the shop in Regent St, London) in \JItaly\j. Typical products include the drawings of Beardsley, the furniture of Mackintosh, the \Jarchitecture\j of Gaudφ, the jewellery of Lalique, the glassware of Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), and the Paris Metro stations by Hector Guimard (1867-1942).
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"art therapy",2143,0,0,0
EN The use of self-expression through drawing and painting as a form of treatment for emotional problems. It was introduced to England during the 1940s as a result of a collaboration between artist Adrian Hill and psychotherapist Irene Champernowne. Self-expression through drawing, painting, and \Jcollage\j is combined with \Jpsychotherapy\j as a way of releasing emotional tension, and also to allow the therapist to interpret the meaning of symbols in the work which can give insight into the content of the subject's \Jsubconscious\j mind.
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"Artamidae",2144,0,0,0
EN \BWoodswallows, currawongs, butcherbirds\b
The woodswallows, currawongs, and butcherbirds make up a family (Artamidae, order Passeriformes, suborder Oscines) of small to large, open-country birds confined almost entirely to \JAustralasia\j.
There are about 20 species, and their closest relatives are the crows (\JCorvidae\j). The family also includes the aberrant and little known Bornean Bristlehead \IPityriasis\i \Igymnocephala,\i long mysterious as to its relationships, but now known on DNA-DNA hybridization evidence to be an artamid.
Woodswallows are stocky birds about 20 cm in length, short-legged and stout-billed, that spend much of their time on the wing. Their plumage is subdued in both color and pattern, and limited mainly to shades of white, black, blue-gray, and dull chestnut, and the sexes are nearly identical. A striking plumage feature is the presence of powder-downs, otherwise found (among passerines) only in some members of the \JCotingidae\j.
An equally distinctive behavioral feature is their habit of cuddling up to one another on their perches. All species live in groups of up to 10 or so, and two species, the Masked Woodswallow \IArtamus\i \Ipersonatus\i and the White-browed Woodswallow \IArtamus\i \Isuperciliosus,\i are very often seen in flocks of thousands, very often of both species mixed together.
The butcherbirds (\Jgenus\j \ICracticus)\i number six or seven species, and vary from 20-40 cm in length. They have long, wedge-shaped, slightly hooked bills, and rather long, square-cut tails. All have bold plumage patterns made up of black, gray, and white, but one species, the Black Butcherbird \ICracticus\i \Iquoyi,\i has a rufous morph restricted to parts of tropical \JQueensland\j. Currawongs \I(Strepera)\i generally resemble butcherbirds, especially in the shape of the bill, but they are much larger (length about 50 cm).
One species (the Black Currawong \IStrepera\i \Ifuliginosa\i of \JTasmania\j) is entirely black in plumage, another (the abundant Pied Currawong \IStrepera\i \Igraculina)\i is black with white undertail coverts and white patches in the wings and tail. Of the butcherbirds, magpies, and currawongs, only the Pied Currawong forms large flocks in winter (and roosts communally).
The most obvious distinctive feature of the Australian \JMagpie\j \IGymnorhina\i \Itibicen\i is a large white patch on the nape of an otherwise black head. The color of the back varies geographically: the northern subspecies \Itibicen\i has a black back, whereas the southern \I(hypoleuca)\i and western \I(dorsalis)\i subspecies both have white backs. Magpies usually live in groups that mutually defend permanent territories. Common suburban birds over much of \JAustralia\j, they often become quite tame, and are notorious for attacking domestic pets and humans who stray too near their nests.
The family is centered on \JAustralia\j and the south-west Pacific, but only \IArtamus\i extends beyond \JAustralia\j and New Guinea. The Ashy Woodswallow \IArtamus\i \Ifuscus\i extends westwards to eastern India and the White-breasted Woodswallow \IArtamus\i \Ileucorynchus\i occurs eastward to \JFiji\j. \IArtamus\i reaches its greatest diversity in \JAustralia\j, where there are six species.
The butcherbirds (\Jgenus\j \ICracticus)\i are confined to \JAustralia\j and New Guinea; in \JAustralia\j the most common species, the Pied Butcherbird \ICracticus\i \Inigrogularis,\i tends to favor the more arid interior and the Grey Butcherbird \ICracticus\i \Itorquatus\i more humid coastal areas. Currawongs are confined to mainland \JAustralia\j, though one, the Pied Currawong, also has a population on Lord Howe Island.
The Australian \JMagpie\j is widespread across \JAustralia\j, including \JTasmania\j, and it has been introduced to \JNew Zealand\j. Currawongs are strongly associated with forests, but the group is otherwise best represented in open savanna woodland. Most woodswallows are migratory in southern \JAustralia\j, sedentary elsewhere. Two species, the Masked Woodswallow \IArtamus\i \Ipersonatus\i and the White-browed Woodswallow \IArtamus\i \Isuperciliosus,\i are strongly nomadic and partly migratory. Butcherbirds, currawongs, and magpies are mostly sedentary, but the Pied Currawong leaves \Jalpine\j forests in autumn to form large flocks in adjacent coastal lowlands.
Woodswallows breed in colonies, and magpies live in permanent groups in which only the dominant pair actually breed, while some butcherbirds apparently nest in simple pairs. In woodswallows \I(Artamus)\i the nest is usually placed on the top of a decayed stump, often 10 meters or more from the ground. The nest is a loose, shallow assembly of miscellaneous materials such as grass, roots, and feathers, with no distinct lining, but butcherbirds, currawongs, and magpies all build large, conspicuous, cup-shaped nests of sticks lined with grass and placed in tree forks several meters from the ground.
All lay clutches of 2-5 eggs. The incubation period is 20-23 days and the nestling period 28-31 days. The female alone builds the nest and incubates the eggs (except both sexes in \IArtamus)\i and often rears the chicks alone until they fledge, although they continue to be fed for several months.
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"Artaud, Antonin",2145,0,0,0
DT 1896-1948
EN French poet, actor, director and theoretician. His extraordinary influence on theatre is based largely on his two short-lived attempts at directing and on his volume of essays, The Theatre and Its Double (1938). The double of theatre was life, the vital, metaphysical reality that shadows our everyday actions. Western society had lost contact with this life and so theatre had to be like a violent plague, from which people would emerge either dead or purged.
In 1926 he founded the ThΘΓtre Alfred Jarry together with Robert Aron and Roger Vitrac. Productions included Strindberg's Dream Play and Vitrac's Victor (both 1928). The manifestos for this theatre stressed the idea that theatre should no longer be mere entertainment but genuine action with real effects on the real world. The features of what he later called Theatre of Cruelty are all to be found here: violence, sexuality, social taboos, and the eruption of dramatic action outside the safe confines of the stage.
In 1935 he founded his second theatre, the ThΘΓtre de la CruautΘ, which failed to outlive its first production, an adaptation of Shelley's The Cenci: primeval theatre did not harmonize with Parisian theatregoing. With his health gradually deteriorating, Artaud spent most of the rest of his life in asylums, emerging in 1946 to produce a torrent of work.
Artaud's writings move the emphasis from the writer to the director and stress the essentially physical, three- dimensional quality of theatre. Though he himself failed, his work has been enormously influential; many directors - e.g. Brook, Grotowski, Planchon, Blin - have acknowledged their debt to him.
BK Thea
#
"Artaxerxes",2146,0,0,0
EN See Ardashir I
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#
"Artaxerxes I",2147,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)ta\Bzerk\bseez]
HS , known as \BLongimanus\b ('long-handed')
DT1 5
DT1b th-c BC
EN King of \JPersia\j (464-425 BC), the second son of Xerxes I. In a long and peaceful reign, he sanctioned the Jewish religion in \JJerusalem\j, and appointed Nehemiah as Governor of \JJudea\j in 445.
MEX Nehemiah; Xerxes I
SX m
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#
"Artedi, Peter",2148,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Btay\bdee]
DT1 1705
DT2 35
EN Swedish ichthyologist and botanist, known as 'the father of ichthyology'. He wrote \IIchthyologia,\i a systematic study of fishes, edited by Linnaeus, his closest friend, and published in 1738. The classification of animals and plants in his work inspired Linnaeus.
MEX Linnaeus
SX m
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#
"Artef",2149,0,0,0
EN New York \JYiddish\j company. An \Jacronym\j for Workers' Theatre Group, it was a proletarian \JYiddish\j theatre collective of amateurs led by experienced professionals. From the first 'studio' of 26 students in 1926 the collective grew to six studios by 1936 and produced over 80 plays, both agit-prop and non-political, before folding in 1953.
BK Thea
#
"Artemis",2150,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\btemis]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the daughter of Zeus and \JLeto\j, twin sister of Apollo, and goddess of the Moon. She was originally a mother-goddess of Asia, with a \Jcult\j especially at Ephesus; in \JGreece\j she was a virgin-goddess, associated with wild creatures and the protector of the young. Being connected with hunting, she is depicted with bow and arrows.
BK a
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"Artemisia I",2151,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)te\Bmiz\bia]
DT1 5
DT1b th-c BC
EN Ruler of \JHalicarnassus\j and the neighbouring islands. She accompanied Xerxes in his expedition against \JGreece\j, and distinguished herself at Salamis (480 BC).
MEX Xerxes
SX f
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#
"Artemisia II",2152,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)te\Bmiz\bia]
DT1 ?
DT2a c.
DT2 350
DT2b BC
EN Sister and wife of Mausolus, ruler of Caria. She succeeded him on his death (c.353-352 BC), and erected a magnificent \Jmausoleum\j at \JHalicarnassus\j to his memory, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Also known as a botanist, \IArtemisia\i (wormwood) is named after her.
SX f
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#
"arteriole",2153,0,0,0
EN See artery
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#
"arteriosclerosis",2154,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)teeriohskle\Broh\bsis]
EN An umbrella term covering several pathological changes in medium-sized arteries. The most important is \Iatheroma,\i in which \Jcholesterol\j and other substances are deposited in the inner layer of the vessel.
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"artery",2155,0,0,0
EN A vessel of the body which usually conveys blood to body tissues. Large, medium, and small arteries \B(arterioles)\b can be distinguished. Regulation of the blood supply is determined by the activity of a smooth muscle component (under sympathetic control) which changes the diameter of the vessel cavity. With increasing age, arteries tend to become blocked with \Iatheroma\i - porridge-like deposits of \Jcholesterol\j-based material.
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"artesian basin",2156,0,0,0
EN A shallow basin-shaped \Jaquifer\j with impermeable rock strata above and below it, thus confining the \Jgroundwater\j under pressure. Sinking a well into the \Jaquifer\j allows the water to rise to the surface without pumping. The Great Artesian Basin in E \JAustralia\j is the largest such \Jaquifer\j.
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"Artevelde, Jacob van",2157,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\btevelduh]
DT1a c.
DT1 1295
DT2 1345
EN Flemish statesman, born in \JGhent\j, \JBelgium\j. He organized an alliance of Flemish towns in the conflict between \JFrance\j and England at the outbreak of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453). Elected Captain of \JGhent\j in 1338, he ruled like an autocrat. When Edward III of England declared himself King of \JFrance\j in 1340, he insisted on \JGhent\j making a treaty that accepted Edward's sovereignty. In 1345 he proposed that Edward the Black Prince should be made Count of Flanders, but was assassinated in an ensuing riot.
MEX Edward III
SX m
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#
"arthritis",2158,0,0,0
EN An \Jinflammation\j of joints associated with swelling, pain, redness, and local heat. Pain and limitation of movement are characteristic. A large number of different conditions of metabolic, infective, or immunological origin may cause \Jarthritis\j, and they may involve one or many joints.
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"arthropod",2159,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bthropod]
EN A member of the largest and most diverse \Jphylum\j of animals (Arthropoda), characterized by jointed limbs and an external chitinous skeleton. Arthropods have segmented bodies, most segments carrying a pair of limbs variously modified for locomotion, feeding, \Jrespiration\j, or reproduction. The external skeleton \I(cuticle)\i is moulted periodically to permit growth.
Size ranges from 80┐\fm\n\dm to 3.6┐m / 113/4┐ft. Arthropods have a long \Jfossil\j history from the Cambrian to the present, and are the most abundant animals on Earth, including the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, trilobites, centipedes, millipedes and several minor groups.
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"Arthur",2160,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT1 6
DT1b th-c
EN Semi-legendary king of the Britons. He may originally have been a Romano-British war leader in W England called \BArturus; \b but he is represented as having united the British tribes against the invading Saxons, and as having been the champion of Christendom as well. He is said to have fought against the invaders in a series of momentous battles, starting with a victory at 'Mount \JBaden\j' (?516) and ending with defeat and death at 'Camlan' (537), after which he was buried at Glastonbury.
The \IAnglo-Saxon Chronicle\i makes no mention of him, however; he first appears in Welsh chronicles long after the event. The story of Arthur blossomed into a huge literature, interwoven with legends of the Holy Grail and courtly ideas of the Round Table of knights at Camelot, in such writers as \JGeoffrey of Monmouth\j, ChrΘtien de Troyes, Layamon, and Sir Thomas Malory.
MEX Geoffrey; Malory; Troyes
SX m
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"Arthur's Pass",2161,0,0,0
EN Main mountain pass through the Southern Alps, NC South Island, \JNew Zealand\j; altitude 924┐m / 3031┐ft; discovered by the explorer, Sir Arthur Dobson in 1864; set in a national park, area 944┐km\U2\u / 364┐mi\U2\u, established in 1929.
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"Arthur, Chester A(lan)",2162,0,0,0
DT (1830-86)
EN twenty-first U.S. president; born in Fairfield, Vt. A lawyer, he joined New York's Republican political machine, which led to a patronage appointment as New York customs collector and an uproar when antipatronage President Hayes removed Arthur. Nominated as vice-president to Garfield in 1880 to pacify party regulars, Arthur became president on Garfield's assassination in July 1881.
He surprised all by making solid appointments and signing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883. He lost the 1884 nomination due to his declining health as well as to his having antagonized many Republican politicians.
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"Arthur, Jean (b. Gladys Georgianna Greene)",2163,0,0,0
DT (1905-91)
EN movie actress; born in New York City. As a teenager she modeled for popular artist Howard Chandler Christy and this led to some small roles in the New York theater. She made her movie debut in \ICameo Kirby\i (1923) and continued to appear in unsatisfying roles until 1932 when she went back to act on the New York stage. She returned to films in 1934 but didn't find her true screen persona until 1935 in \IThe Whole Town's Talking.\i
From then on, as a husky-voiced, no-nonsense, independent woman, her presence in a series of movies such as \IMr. Deeds Goes to Town\i (1936) guaranteed both critical and popular acceptance. Her last major role was in \IShane\i (1953) but she appeared in occasional \Jtelevision\j and theater productions and in 1956 she had her own \Jtelevision\j comedy series. She taught drama at Vassar and other colleges for several years.
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#
"Arthur, Prince, Duke of Brittany",2164,0,0,0
DT1 1187
DT2 ?
DT2 1203
EN Duke of Brittany, and claimant to the throne of England as the grandson of Henry II. He was the posthumous son of Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany, Henry's fourth son, and on the death of his uncle, Richard I (1199) he became a claimant to the throne. The French king, Philip II, upheld Arthur's claim until Richard's brother, John, came to terms with Philip. Arthur was soon in his uncle's hands and was imprisoned, first at \JCalais\j and then at \JRouen\j, where he died. It was popularly believed that King John was responsible for his death.
MEX John; Henry II (of England)
SX m
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#
"Arthur, Prince, eldest son of Henry VII",2165,0,0,0
DT1 1486
DT2 1502
EN The eldest son of \JHenry VII\j, born in Winchester, Hampshire, S England. When still under two years old a marriage was arranged between him and Catherine of Aragon in order to provide an alliance between England and \JSpain\j. The wedding took place in 1501, but Arthur, a sickly youth, died soon after.
MEX Catherine of Aragon; Henry VII
SX m
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#
"Arthur, Sir George",2166,0,0,0
DT1 1784
DT2 1854
EN British diplomat, born near Plymouth, Devonshire, south-west England, UK. He was Governor of British \JHonduras\j (1814-22), \JVan Diemen's Land\j (1823-36), Upper Canada (1837-41), and \JBombay\j (1842-6).
SX m
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#
"artichoke",2167,0,0,0
EN See globe artichoke; 17044 \JJerusalem\j artichoke
BK a
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#
"Articles of Confederation",2168,0,0,0
EN The organizing document of the USA from 1781 to 1789. It established a single-house Congress, with one vote for each state and with no executive, courts, or independent revenue. Its weaknesses quickly became obvious, and it was replaced by the present Constitution.
BK a
#
"articulation",2169,0,0,0
EN The process of modifying the airflow above the \Jlarynx\j to produce a variety of speech-sounds. The jaws open to varying degrees, the tongue makes contact with the palate in various positions, and the lips can be rounded or spread. Sounds are classified according to their \Iplace\i of articulation (eg the part of the palate with which the tongue makes contact) and their \Imanner\i of articulation (eg whether the air flows freely, as in the production of a vowel, or is impeded, as with a consonant).
BK a
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"artificial insemination (AI)",2170,0,0,0
EN The instrumental introduction of seminal fluid into the vagina in order to fertilize an \Jovum\j. The semen may be that of the husband \B(AIH)\b or of a donor \B(AID).\b The technique is also widely used in animal husbandry.
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"artificial intelligence (AI)",2171,0,0,0
EN A term applied to the study and use of computers that can simulate some of the characteristics normally ascribed to human intelligence, such as learning, deduction, intuition, and self-correction. The subject encompasses many branches of computer science, including \Jcybernetics\j, knowledge-based systems, natural language processing, pattern recognition, and robotics. Progress has been made in several areas, notably problem-solving, language comprehension, vision, and locomotion.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
There are a number of steps along the way to artificial intelligence. At the lower end, we may find game-playing, where the alternative game positions are evaluated according to some artificial rule. This can result in a computer doing the equivalent of playing "Pawn to King 4" because the rules of evaluation give this move a value of 305.2 points, rather than because the machine is aware that this move will infuriate the opponent it is playing.
We do not perceive a chess board as a computer perceives it: rather, experts engage in a procedure called "chunking". If you ask an expert player to look briefly at a game in progress, and then to reproduce the whole board, there will be subtle differences in the two versions. The relationships of whole sets of pieces will be reconstructed, so the facts of the game are the same, but a pawn or a knight may be placed on the wrong square, still threatening the king as before, but from a new position.
The binary logic of a computer only allows two possibilities: right or wrong, with no opportunity to offer a value for "maybe" or "possibly", and this will remain a major stumbling block for artificial intelligence or machine intelligence, for some years to come.
Other \Jboard games\j which have been explored include Go, draughts (checkers), a variety of card games, including Solitaire, but also extending to bidding in Bridge, poker, and \JBlackjack\j. In each of these cases, the "play" is based on the fast calculation of probabilities, giving the program an advantage over humans.
The most challenging aspects of artificial intelligence come in communication. There must be a limited set of rules that we use to construct a sentence, and another limited set of rules that we use to interpret a statement, but what \Iare\i these rules? Noam Chomsky offered us a perfectly constructed sentence, "Colourless green ideas sleep furiously", but what would a machine intelligence make of this? How could we stop machines from generating such statements, unless they did so for valid reasons like Chomsky's?
On the other hand, what would speech recognition software make of "I threw a stare at the bare hare"? The distinction between "I" and "eye" may be easy enough, but after that, the going gets hard. In most cases, the threw/through problem would be resolved by deciding that a verb must follow a pronoun, but the stair/stare, bear/bare and hair/hare problems would be much harder. Humans deal with such problems by reviewing what has passed in the conversation, identifying an attribute of stairs (they are usually attached, and so hard to throw), and an attribute of bear hairs (you would be unlikely to throw things at them) to work out what the sentence really means.
The problem here is amassing the bank of data about words and concepts, and their attributes. We do it naturally, without thinking, right through our lives, but nobody has yet worked out just what mental rules we use in classifying the things we encounter. It is unlikely that any speech application will ever use a particular word in a poem because it has a value of 305.2 in this context. If one ever does, it is unlikely that the poetry so produced will win any prizes.
Another interesting challenge for machine intelligence will be the recognition of "tone of voice". The \JInternet\j community has long recognised this, with the introduction of "smileys" or "emoticons", small collections of punctuation marks such as :-) (a smile) or ;-) (a winking smile) to indicate what written text cannot easily convey. Tall tale tellers, for example, indicate that they are telling a tale by keeping an extremely straight face, and showing no emotion at all. In this case, the machine may need to gather information about the attributes of speakers as well as for words.
Visual recognition works rather better, with neural networks that have been "trained" on large numbers of writing samples showing quite good capability to read hand-writing, but mistakes can still occur, equivalents in the visual area of the bare hare problem.
\BThe future of artificial intelligence\b
Artificial intelligence is the branch of computing which looks at the ways in which computers may match human intelligence. As we do not yet understand what human intelligence is, or how it works, there is probably a long way to go. The term itself was coined by John McCarthy in 1956, and he and Marvin Minsky founded the AI laboratory at MIT (\JMassachusetts\j Institute of Technology) in 1957. Other laboratories were also set up in the early 1960s.
Many of the people working in the area still adhere to "strong AI", and believe that in almost no time at all, computers will be doing everything humans do. Marvin Minsky, for example, referred once to people as "computers made of meat". This school of thought considers that pain, love, consciousness, a feeling for beauty and humour can all arise from a sufficiently complex computer with sufficiently complex algorithms.
Others disagree, seeing the computer as an overgrown mechanical calculator, able to carry out very complex calculations, but without any true "understanding". To this group, the computer which plays chess at grandmaster level still has no knowledge of, or love of, the game of chess.
Most public attention has been given to the popular idea of "robots", usually seen as electro-mechanical servants, able to carry out all of the useful and annoying tasks like vacuum cleaning the carpet without taking the pet hamster into the cleaner as well, and able to bath the baby without getting soap in its eyes. In this case, the intelligence needed is mainly to distinguish between objects while manipulating them, and while "strong AI" might be useful, it is not really necessary for such a robot to function effectively.
The near future is rather more likely to see intelligent software, rather than intelligent hardware, with neural nets, agents and expert systems being at the top of everybody's wish list, while a state-of-the-art project announced during 1997 was to complete robots which would collect slugs. The idea behind this plan is that slugs move a small amount, making them more recognisable, but they move slowly enough to be easy to catch, there are plenty of them, and it probably did not escape the planners that nobody really loves slugs all that much, so objections should be rare, even if people find out that the slugs are to be "digested" to provide the \Jenergy\j to charge the robots' batteries.
\BNeural nets.\b These are artificial networks (either in hardware, or simulated by software) which mimic the biological networks of neurons in the brains of animals. A large number of simple processors, each with a small allocation of memory, are linked to each other by unidirectional connectors. These connectors transmit numeric data, and each unit operates solely on the basis of local data stored in memory, and on the inputs received.
As a general rule, neural networks need to be "trained", for example by being given some hundreds of hand-written samples to "read", and then being told what each sample actually says, so that the network is trained to decipher a wider range of hand-writing. The network will ideally begin to generalise from what it "learns".
\BAgents.\b An agent is a piece of software which runs in the background, analysing patterns, and using these to make judgements about the best future actions. The software would also be able to communicate with other agents on your behalf, and using your known characteristics and constraints, book you the best available airline ticket, restaurant table, or whatever. In most media presentations, the agent is compared with a butler who knows your tastes, and arranges things to suit you.
Agents are likely to feature first on the \JInternet\j, where they may be able to select news stories for you to read, refining the search criteria, based on a profile created from stories that you previously have identified as interesting. Such an agent will probably have a small degree of randomness thrown in, so that it occasionally offers you something completely novel. Agents are also likely to be used in \JInternet\j marketing, where they will use data about the products you have bought, along with information about things like your clothing sizes, to alert you to good offers in selected areas.
\BExpert systems.\b These are computer programs which contain a knowledge base of some sort, along with algorithms which allow the system to infer new facts from what it knows already, and from new data as they are received. Ideally, the expert system will work as well as a human expert, but the performance of such systems usually varies wildly. The 1987 share market crash, for example, is often blamed on computer programs which over-reacted to market fluctuations, making the situation worse, and triggering a stronger reaction. This, of course, is one of the better examples of what computerists call GIGO - Garbage In [means] Garbage Out.
Typical applications of expert systems include medical diagnosis, where the system may well be better able to connect several unusual symptoms than a trained medical practitioner who is looking at a more "obvious" explanation, investment and financial planning, and even in the routine winnowing of large numbers of suspects in a case of serious crime, such as serial rape or murder. Several police forces are using expert systems to predict the areas where crime is most likely at a given time, in order to locate spare officers in the vicinity.
Case-based reasoning is often used to develop the "skills" of these systems. Most experts are less than willing to write a set of "rules" for working in their field of expertise, but more willing to describe the steps they would take in tackling a specific case. By assembling a set of case studies, programmers can fine-tune their systems. Some case-based systems aim to collect an exhaustive set of cases to hold ready for use.
The analogy here is with people who have a set of stories ready to tell, and at a given stimulus, will tell one of those stories. As they do so, they observe how effective that response was, and may learn from this to modify their future behaviour.
\BThe \JFrankenstein\j threat\b
The popular notion of creations turning on their creators remains alive and kicking, especially where robots and computers with some degree of AI are concerned.
The term "robotics" was first used in the March 1942 issue of \IAstounding\i (\Jscience fiction\j), where a character says "Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics". The story was, of course, the work of Isaac Asimov, who rejected the notion that robots must always destroy their creators. Together with editor John W. Campbell, Asimov worked out what would be needed in the way of safeguards, and the story "Runaround" goes on to list the rules, which remain a valid starting point for AI today:
1.A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2.A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings except when such orders conflict with the First Law.
3.A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
An interesting addendum comes in the form of the "Hobson block". Proposed in his book \IBlack Holes and Time Warps\i by Kip S. Thorne, this is a "block" which may in future need to be placed on computers, in order to prevent the computers from warning humans every time the humans act in such a way as to endanger themselves. The lack of this block, suggests Thorne, would make life lose its zest and richness. He is uncertain whether the idea originated with him, and thinks it may have come from a \Jscience fiction\j source, now forgotten.
Even with Asimov's rules, the question of artificial intelligence running amok is a popular one in fiction, from \JFrankenstein\j's monster through to HAL, the renegade computer in Arthur C. Clarke's \I2001: A Space Odyssey,\i which promotes the Third Law of Robotics to first place in the list of priorities (because it assumes that the most important law is to preserve the space craft's "mission", even if that means killing humans who may elect to interfere with that.
At the moment, this is an interesting theme for \Jscience fiction\j, but by the year 2025, when Marvin Minsky believes that there could be real ("strong AI") machine intelligence (see \IThe Turing Option,\i a \Jscience fiction\j novel by Minsky and Harry Harrison), the question will probably raise more fears and worries than genetic \Jengineering\j does today.
As a side issue, in the plot line of \I2001: A Space Odyssey,\i HAL was commissioned in very early 1997. HAL was able to do a number of things which were not generally available at the start of 1997, including providing intonations in speech and the ability to "lip-read" speech.
Interestingly, lip-reading is currently being explored as a way of resolving apparent similarities in words such as "me" and "knee" which sound similar but look very different, but there are no plans for straight-forward lip reading computer software, not even on the horizon.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"artificial language",2172,0,0,0
EN An attempt to overcome the difficulties of understanding caused by the diversity of the world's languages, by creating a new, independent language which is no-one's mother tongue, can be learned by anyone, and expresses the most common range of meanings. Special attention is paid to making the grammar, word-formation, and pronunciation as regular and as simple as possible. Over 100 artificial languages have been created, but few have achieved widespread success other than \JEsperanto\j.
BK a
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"artificial respiration",2173,0,0,0
EN A procedure to maintain the movement of air into and out of the lungs when natural breathing is inadequate or has ceased. A short-term emergency method is 'mouth-to-mouth' \Jrespiration\j. With the head of the patient bent backwards and the nose pinched, the resuscitator takes a deep breath and expels this into the open mouth and lungs of the victim, either directly or via a mouthpiece, repeating the manoeuvre 10-15 times a minute.
When more prolonged assistance is indicated, a mechanical ventilator supplies a predetermined volume of oxygen at given intervals, applying intermittent positive pressure to the airways of a patient, usually via a tube inserted in the \Jtrachea\j.
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"Artigas, JosΘ Gervasio",2174,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)\Btee\bgas]
DT1 1764
DT2 1850
EN National hero of Uruguay, born in \JMontevideo\j. He became the most important local patriot leader in the wars of independence against \JSpain\j, and also resisted the centralizing pretensions of Buenos Aires. He spent the last 30 years of his life in exile in \JParaguay\j.
SX m
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#
"artillery",2175,0,0,0
EN The heavy ordnance of an army; in particular, its longer-range weapons, as distinct from the small arms that each individual soldier carries. Modern artillery includes guns (known as 'tube' artillery) and missiles, both of which may be used in the traditional artillery role of bringing down destructive firepower on an enemy at a distance.
Tube artillery may be mounted on towed carriages or tracked chassis (self-propelled guns) and fire a range of projectiles including small nuclear weapons. Rocket artillery includes simple, unguided bombardment missiles, multi-launch rocket systems, and medium-range, nuclear-armed battlefield missiles.
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"Artin, Emil",2176,0,0,0
DT (1898-1962)
EN mathematician; born in \JHamburg\j, \JGermany\j. After emigrating (1937), he taught at the University of \JIndiana\j (1938-1946) and Princeton (1946-58), returning to the University of \JHamburg\j (1958). He is best known for work in higher \Jalgebra\j, including the L-series functions, class field theory and hypercomplex numbers. In his spare time he enjoyed \Jastronomy\j, \Jbiology\j, and old music.
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"artiodactyl",2177,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)tioh\Bdak\btil]
EN An \Jungulate\j \Jmammal\j; foot with two or four toes (first always absent, second and fifth small or absent); weight carried on the third and fourth toe, which usually form a \Icloven hoof; \i also known as the \Beven-toed ungulate.\b \B(Order:\b Artiodactyla, 192 species.)
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"Artois",2178,0,0,0
PN [arh(r)twa]
HS , Lat \BArtesium\b
EN Former province of north-east \JFrance\j, now occupying the department of Pas-de-\JCalais\j; former capital, Arras; belonged to Flanders until 1180; part of Austrian and Spanish Netherlands in \JMiddle Ages\j; ceded to \JFrance\j, 1659.
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"Arts and Crafts Movement",2179,0,0,0
EN A predominantly English movement in \Jarchitecture\j, art, and the applied arts during the second half of the 19th-c, which advocated the renewed use of handicraft and simple decoration in reaction to industrial machinery and contemporary aesthetic eclecticism. The movement centred on William Morris, whose 'Red House' (1859) by the architect Philip Webb is a good early example of the style.
Its origins lie in the writings of Pugin and Ruskin, and its intention was to change both the appearance and the way in which art and \Jarchitecture\j were produced. It had a great and lasting effect on British, German, and American \Jarchitecture\j, particularly the Garden City town-planning movement.
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"Arts Council of Great Britain",2180,0,0,0
EN Agency through which funds from central government sources are distributed to the arts in Britain. The Arts Council was inaugurated in August 1946. Like its wartime predecessor CEMA, the ACGB's aims were philanthropic - to improve artistic standards and to encourage the appreciation of the arts around the country. It was allowed to subsidize only non-profit- distributing companies.
The Council itself consisted of up to 16 members, appointed by the government, which was afterwards expected not to interfere with its decisions. The \Jday\j-to-\Jday\j running of the ACGB's affairs was left in the hands of a secretary- general and his staff, assisted by unpaid boards of expert advisers.
Initially the ACGB's funds were very small, but its influence was considerable. It helped ambitious new companies such as the English Stage Company, encouraged local authorities to lay the foundations for a new regional repertory movement, supported the establishment of two national companies, and opposed \Jcensorship\j, which was abolished in 1968.
From 1965 to 1984 the ACGB became the main financial support for 12 Regional Arts Associations and subsidized most forms of theatre, apart from the amateur and narrowly commercial. Under its influence a new generation of theatre buildings came into existence, designed for 'an age of subsidy', with large foyers and uneconomically small seating capacities. As the ACGB became more central to theatre in Britain, the tensions within it emerged as conflicts.
The regions objected to the preferential treatment given to London and the national companies, commercial managements complained of the unfair competition with the subsidized sector. It became more difficult for the ACGB to stay at arm's length from government; and from being the champion of the arts, it came to seem more like government's whipping boy.
Mrs Thatcher's administration was opposed in principle to such 'quangos' (quasi-autonomous non-governmental organizations), but the system was by now well established. In 'The Glory of the Garden' (1984), a modestly reformist document from the new chairman, Sir William Rees-Mogg, it was envisaged that many of the ACGB's grant-giving powers should devolve to the RAAs, while new money should be sought from sponsorship. ABSA (the Association for Business Sponsorship of the Arts) was founded; market principles were embraced.
The paradox of the 1980s was that state subsidies more than doubled within a government which did not believe in subsidy, but needed to compensate the arts for the weaknesses of its market system. In 1992 the new prime minister John Major introduced a National Heritage Ministry which embraced many arts previously scattered among several ministries.
The ACGB's main role was now to fund the national companies, with the RAAs responsible for the regional ones. The beneficial effects of the growth of the ACGB's resources and the establishment of the new ministry do not seem to have percolated down to many arts companies, which are as uncertain of their futures as ever. The wages of actors have not improved in real terms since the 1950s, and unemployment rates are still high.
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"Arts Theatre (Belfast)",2181,0,0,0
EN (\JBelfast\j) From 1982, known as the \JBelfast\j Civic Arts Theatre. It was built in 1961 to house the Arts Theatre Studio which, founded in 1950, presented mainly world drama - Sartre, \JTennessee\j Williams, T. S. Eliot - employing local actors, a policy which survived until the 1960s when the economics of the new theatre enforced the more popular fare of musicals, West End successes and local farces. The Studio ceased its activities in 1977, the theatre becoming a venue for independent productions.
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#
"Arts Theatre (London)",2182,0,0,0
EN (London) Opening in 1927, the theatre gave private performances of unlicensed experimental plays for members. Successful from the first, with a series of productions transferring to the commercial theatre, it continued this role until 1962, hosting tours by foreign artists and companies.
Under the management of Alec Clunes from 1942 to 1950 it gained a national reputation, with premieres of work such as Christopher Fry's The Lady's Not for Burning (1948). The intimacy of the small stage and 347-seat auditorium was particularly suited to the new wave of absurd drama in the 1950s (see theatre of the absurd), and Beckett's Waiting for Godot, Pinter's The Caretaker and Albee's Zoo Story were all given their first English performances there. Since 1962 it has served as a West End transfer house for fringe theatre productions.
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#
"Artzybasheff, Boris",2183,0,0,0
DT (1899-1965)
EN illustrator; born in \JKharkov\j, \JRussia\j. He studied in St. Petersburg, \JRussia\j (1907-18), emigrated to New York City (1919), and worked as an engraver, illustrator, and set designer. Known for his illustrations of books for adults and children, such as his \ISeven Simeons\i (1937), he also created surrealistic covers for \ITime, Life,\i and \IFortune\i magazines.
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#
"Artzybashev, Mikhail Petrovich",2184,0,0,0
PN [ah(r)tsi\Bbah\bshef]
DT1 1878
DT2 1927
EN Writer, born in \JKharkov\j province, \JUkraine\j. His liberalist novel \ISanin\i (1907) had an international reputation at the turn of the century.
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"Aruba",2185,0,0,0
PN [a\Broo\bba]
EN pop (1995e) 69 400; area 193 sq km/74 sq mi. Island of the E Caribbean, 30 km/19 mi N of the Paraguana Peninsula, Venezuela; composed of coralline \Jlimestone\j; rises to 189 m/620 ft at Jamanota in the hilly SE; formally separated from the Netherlands \JAntilles\j Federation in 1986, and became a self-governing member of the Kingdom of The Netherlands; governor represented head of state; governed by a Council of Ministers and elected legislature of 21 members; full independence in 1996; capital, Oranjestad; airport; tourism, oil refining, rum distilling, cigarettes, beverages.
BK Geog99
#
"arum lily",2186,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bruhm, \Bair\buhm]
EN A fleshy-stemmed perennial \I(Zantedeschia aethiopica)\i native to S Africa, and widely introduced elsewhere; leaves large, arrowhead-shaped, glossy; 'flower' consisting of a yellow cylindrical spadix surrounded by sheathing; white \Jspathe\j 15┐cm / 6┐in long; also called \Bcalla lily.\b It is often used as a florist's flower. \B(Family:\b Araceae.)
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"Arundel, Thomas",2187,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bruhndl]
DT1 1353
DT2 1414
EN English clergyman and statesman, the third son of Robert FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel. Chancellor of England (1386-96), he became \JArchbishop\j of York in 1388 and \JArchbishop\j of Canterbury in 1396. Banished by Richard II in 1397, he returned from exile with Henry IV and crowned him in 1399. He then became Chancellor again, and was a bitter opponent of the \JLollards\j.
MEX Richard II; Henry IV (of England)
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"Arup, Sir Ove (Nyquist)",2188,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bruhp]
DT1 1895
DT2 1988
EN Civil engineer, born of Danish parents in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, north-east England, UK. He studied philosophy and \Jengineering\j in Denmark before moving to London in 1923. He became increasingly concerned with the solution of structural problems in Modernist \Jarchitecture\j, and was responsible for the structural design of Coventry Cathedral and St Catherine's College, Oxford. He later evolved the structural design which permitted the realization of the Sydney Opera House (1956-73).
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"Arusha Declaration",2189,0,0,0
PN [a\Broo\bsha]
EN An important policy statement by President Nyerere of \JTanzania\j in 1967, proclaiming village \Jsocialism\j, self-reliance, \Jnationalization\j, and anti-corruption measures against politicians. It was a significant attempt to create a socialist route to African development, but for both internal and external reasons it failed.
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"Arval Brethren",2190,0,0,0
PN [\Bah(r)\bval]
EN An ancient priestly college at \JRome\j whose original function was to propitiate the gods of the fields \I(arva).\i Revived by the first emperor, Augustus, its duties were extended to include prayer and sacrifice for the well-being of the Imperial House.
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"Arya Samaj",2191,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\brya sa\Bmahj\b]
EN A dogmatic and militant Hindu sect founded c.1875 by Dyanand Sarasawati (1824-83). He demanded a return to the purity of the Rig \JVeda\j and its principles, as opposed to the accretions and corruptions that subsequently entered \JHinduism\j.
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"Aryan",2192,0,0,0
PN [\Bair\bian]
EN A prehistoric people and their language, an extinct member of the Indo-European language family. Aryans reputedly colonized \JIran\j and N India, and gave rise to the Indian subcontinent's Indo-Aryan languages. Nazi \JGermany\j embraced unscientific notions of Germanic peoples as the purest members of an \JAryan\j race of Indo-European-speaking peoples responsible for human progress. The term \IAryan\i is no longer regarded as scientifically valid within \Janthropology\j.
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"Arzner, Dorothy",2193,0,0,0
DT (1900-79)
EN director, scriptwriter; born in \JSan Francisco\j. After working on a newspaper, she was hired as a stenographer at Famous Players, rising to the positions of film editor and scriptwriter. Her work was so good that she was promoted to director, making her debut with \IFashions for Women\i (1927).
She became \JHollywood\j's only female director of the 1930s, directing 15 more movies until 1943; during World War II she made training films for the Women's Army Corps. She was never allowed to direct again and it was not until the 1980s that her pioneering role was recognized.
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"ASA rating",2194,0,0,0
EN See ISO speed rating
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#
"Asad, Hafez al-",2195,0,0,0
PN [a\Bsad\b]
DT1 1928
EN Syrian general and president (1971-- ), born in Qardaha, Syria. A member of the minority \JAlawi\j sect of \JIslam\j, he rose to high government office through the military and the Arab nationalist Ba'ath Party. He was minister of defence and commander of the air force (1966--70), instigated a coup in 1970, and became prime minister and then president.
After the 1973 Arab--Israeli War, he negotiated a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from \JSyria\j. In 1976 he sent Syrian troops into \JLebanon\j, and did so again in early 1987, by 1989 imposing Syrian control over the greater part of \JLebanon\j. A contender for leadership in the Arab world, he was one of the few Arab leaders to support \JIran\j in its war with rival \JIraq\j.
He also supports the Palestinian radicals against Arafat's mainstream PLO. Having long enjoyed Soviet support, he was isolated in the early 1990s by the end of the \JCold War\j and the growth of Russian--American co-operation in the \JMiddle East\j.
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#
"Asam",2196,0,0,0
EN Architects and decorators: \BCosmas Damian Asam\b (1686-1739) and \BEgid Quirin Asam\b (1692-1750), born in \JBavaria\j, sons of the \Jfresco\j painter Hans Georg Asam (1649-1711). They worked together, the former as a \Jfresco\j painter and the latter as a sculptor, combining \Jarchitecture\j, sculpture, painting, and lighting effects in church interiors to produce highly emotional decoration and melodramatic high altars, such as that of the Abbey Church at Weltenburg.
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"Asante",2197,0,0,0
EN See Ashanti or \JAsante\j
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#
"asbestos",2198,0,0,0
EN The name applied to varieties of fibrous minerals of the serpentine and amphibole groups. Fibres can be separated and woven into cloths or felted into sheets. It is an excellent insulator of heat and electricity, does not burn, and is resistant to chemical attack. The varieties used in manufacture are principally \Ichrysotile\i (white \Jasbestos\j), a form of serpentine, and \Icrocidolite\i (blue \Jasbestos\j), an amphibole.
Amosite (brown \Jasbestos\j) has also had fairly widespread use. All forms of \Jasbestos\j cause asbestosis, and crocidolite and amosite are carcinogenic (the link between chrysotile and cancer is controversial); as a result, several countries have banned their use, either totally or partially.
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"asbestosis",2199,0,0,0
PN [azbes\Btoh\bsis]
EN A clinical condition resulting from the inhalation of \Jasbestos\j fibres over long periods of time. It is a form of fibrosis affecting the lungs, which manifests itself after a latency period of some 15-25 years. It is not necessarily fatal, though combined with other factors it may lead to premature death.
Exposure to \Jasbestos\j can also cause lung cancer and mesothelioma (a cancer of the lining of the chest or \Jabdomen\j). The latency period for lung cancer (usually fatal) is generally 15-35 years, and for mesothelioma (invariably fatal) 15-50 years.
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"Asbj÷rnsen, Peter Christian",2200,0,0,0
PN [\Bas\bbyoe(r)nsen]
DT1 1812
DT2 85
EN Folklorist, born in Oslo (formerly, Christiania). He studied at the university there, then for four years was a tutor in the country. In long journeys on foot he collected a rich store of popular poetry and \Jfolklore\j, and, with his lifelong friend \BJ÷rgen Moe\b (1813-82), Bishop of Christiansand, published the famous collection of Norwegian folk tales, \INorske Folkeeventyr\i (1841-4).
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#
"Asbury, Francis",2201,0,0,0
DT (1745-1816)
EN Protestant religious leader; born in Handsworth, Staffordshire, England. He came to America in 1771 as a missionary. A powerful preacher, he toured the colonies and the Mississippi territory and developed the system of circuit-riding for the frontier ministry. Appointed superintendent of American Methodists in 1772, he fought for many years against British efforts to retain control of the American organization.
He appointed himself bishop in 1785 and over the next 30 years established \JMethodism\j as one of the leading U.S. denominations.
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#
"Ascaris",2202,0,0,0
PN [\Bas\bkaris]
EN A \Jgenus\j of parasitic roundworm found in vertebrate hosts, typically pigs and humans; usually present in low numbers in the small \Jintestine\j; sexes separate; length of females up to 250┐mm / 10┐in; eggs resistant, often transmitted in \Jmanure\j. \B(Phylum:\b Nematoda.)
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#
"ascension",2203,0,0,0
EN See right \Jascension\j
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#
"Ascension Island",2204,0,0,0
EN 7░56S 14░22W; pop (1992e) 1500; area 88 sq km/35 sq mi. Small, arid, volcanic island in the S Atlantic, 1125 km/700 mi NW of St Helena; highest point, Green Mountain (859 m/2818 ft); discovered by the Portuguese on \JAscension\j Day 1501; British territory, since 1815, administered under the Admiralty; made a dependency of St Helena in 1922; British and US air bases; British forces sent to the island in 1982 in support of the Falkland Islands Task Force; NASA tracking station; Atlantic relay station for the BBC; cable station.
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#
"Ascension, Feast of",2205,0,0,0
EN In the Christian calendar, the fifth Thursday (being 40 days - \IActs\i 1) after Easter. It commemorates Jesus's last appearance to his disciples, his being 'lifted up' or 'taken away' from them, prior to the attestation of his later presence to them through the \JHoly Spirit\j.
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"asceticism",2206,0,0,0
PN [a\Bset\bisizm]
EN A variety of austere practices involving the renunciation or denial of ordinary bodily and sensual gratifications. These may include fasting, \Jmeditation\j, a life of solitude, the renunciation of possessions, denial of sexual gratification, and, in the extreme, the mortification of the flesh.
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"Asch, Moses ('Moe')",2207,0,0,0
DT (1905-86)
EN record producer; born in Warsaw, \JPoland\j. The son of novelist Sholem Asch, he came with his family to the U.S.A. (1909) and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He studied \Jengineering\j in \JKoblenz\j, \JGermany\j. One of his first jobs was installing sound equipment in \JYiddish\j theaters. In 1939 he founded Asch Records to record his father's stories but he soon turned to recording folk singers such as Josh White, Burl Ives, and Pete Seeger, and jazz musicians such as Coleman Hawkins and Mary Lou Williams.
In 1948 he founded (with Marion Distler) Folkways Records and in addition to recording songs by Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, and a large catalogue of folk, jazz, gospel, children's, and other traditional American music, he enlarged the Folkways catalogue to include folk and traditional music from literally every corner of the world.
Folkways Records not only provided a service to those specializing in obscure ethnographic music but introduced blues and folk music that influenced several generations of young Americans. Always open to new proposals, Asch also issued unusual novelty recordings, from the sounds of frogs to electronic music; he also cofounded Oak Publications, a music publisher.
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"Asch, Sholem",2208,0,0,0
DT (1880-1957)
EN writer, playwright; born in Kutno, \JPoland\j. He studied at the \JHebrew\j school in his village, then moved to Warsaw, \JPoland\j (1899), where he wrote stories, plays, poems, and novels in \JHebrew\j and \JYiddish\j. He emigrated to New York City (1909), and began as a writer for \JYiddish\j newspapers there. His play, \IThe God of Vengeance,\i enjoyed considerable success in a production in Berlin, \JGermany\j (1910) and several other of his plays would be produced in the \JYiddish\j theater in New York.
He continued his prolific career as a writer, occasionally in English, but mostly in \JYiddish\j, and although he became a U.S. citizen in 1920 and long maintained a home in \JFlorida\j, he often lived abroad. Most of his works dealt with Jewish subjects, as in \IMottke the Thief\i (1917) and \IThree Cities\i (1933). His most famous books (to English readers) formed a trilogy - \IThe Nazarene\i (1939), \IThe Apostle\i (1943), and \IMary\i (1949) - in which he attempted to portray Jesus, Paul, and Mary in a way that bridged \JChristianity\j and \JJudaism\j, but he so antagonized some American Jews that he moved to Israel in 1956.
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"Ascham, Roger",2209,0,0,0
PN [\Bash\bam]
DT1 1515
DT2 68
EN Humanist, born in Kirby Wiske, North Yorkshire, N England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, where he became reader in Greek (c.1538). In defence of \Jarchery\j he published \IToxophilus\i (1545), which ranks among English classics on account of its style. He was tutor to the Princess Elizabeth (1548-50), and later became Latin secretary to Queen Mary I. His principal work was \IThe Scholemaster,\i a treatise on Classical education, published in 1570.
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#
"Asche, Oscar",2210,0,0,0
DT 1872-1936
EN British actor. He worked with F.R. Benson and Beerbohm Tree, from whom he took over the management of Her/His Majesty's Theatre. He made his reputation in Shakespearian roles, though he also played opposite Ellen Terry in Gordon Craig's 1903 production of Ibsen's The \JVikings\j, and gained his greatest success in his own musical fantasy Chu Chin Chow (based on Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves), which ran from 1916 to 1921.
BK Thea
#
"ASCII code",2211,0,0,0
PN [\Bas\bkee]
EN A set of widely used binary codes, defined as the \BAmerican Standard Codes for Information Interchange.\b ASCII-96, an 8-bit code including a parity check bit, the most common code in use for storing text character strings in computers, allows 96 printing characters to be defined (letters, digits, arithmetic symbols, and punctuation characters) together with a number of control characters, such as printer carriage return and halt processing. An \BASCII keyboard\b is a special type of keyboard which allows all the ASCII characters to be coded.
BK a
#
"Asclepiades",2212,0,0,0
PN [askle\Bpiy\badeez]
DT1 1
DT1b st-c BC
EN Greek physician, born in Pruss, Bithynia. He seems to have been a peripatetic teacher of \Jrhetoric\j before settling in \JRome\j as a physician, where his introduction of Greek medical ideas proved influential.
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"Asclepios or Asclepius",2213,0,0,0
PN [as\Bklee\bpius]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, a hero who became a god of healing, the son of Apollo and Koronis, educated by \JChiron\j the \Jcentaur\j. He overreached himself by restoring \JHippolytus\j to life, and was killed by the thunderbolt of Zeus.
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"Ascoli, Graziadio Isaia",2214,0,0,0
PN [as\Bkoh\blee]
DT1 1829
DT2 1907
EN Philologist, born in G÷rz (Gorizia), \JItaly\j. He was appointed professor of philology in Milan in 1860, and is known mainly for his work on Italian dialectology. He founded and edited \IArchivio glottologico italiano\i in 1873.
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#
"Ascomycetes",2215,0,0,0
PN [askohmiy\Bseet\beez]
EN A subdivision of the true fungi, characterized by a minute sac-like reproductive structure \I(ascus)\i within which a complex sexual process results in the formation of eight haploid spores \I(ascospores); \i asexual reproduction is also common; includes cup fungi, yeasts, truffles, and many parasitic forms. (Division: \IEumycota.)\i
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"ascorbic acid",2216,0,0,0
EN Vitamin C, largely found in \Jcitrus\j fruits, green vegetables, and potatoes. It functions in the body to maintain tissue integrity; a deficiency causes \Jscurvy\j. Megadoses of vitamin C, up to 20 times the amount required per \Jday\j, have been promoted for prevention of the common cold, and even greater quantities as an anti-cancer agent.
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"ASDIC",2217,0,0,0
PN [\Baz\bdik]
EN An \Jacronym\j of \BAdmiralty Submarine Detection Investigation Committee\b (1917), an early form of submarine detection device used on warships of the Royal Navy. \JASDIC\j used \Jsonar\j as its operating principle.
BK a
#
"ASEAN",2218,0,0,0
EN See Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
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#
"asepsis",2219,0,0,0
PN [ay\Bsep\bsis]
EN The absence of micro-organisms from body surfaces (eg the skin) or from wounds. This ideal state is rarely achieved in surgical operations, but procedures adopted in operating theatres are designed to this end; these include skin sterilization, the wearing of sterile surgical gloves and gowns, the chemical or heat sterilization of instruments, swabs, and bandages, and the removal of contaminated air from the theatre.
BK a
#
"asexual reproduction",2220,0,0,0
EN See reproduction
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#
"Asgard",2221,0,0,0
PN [\Baz\bgah(r)d]
EN In Norse \Jmythology\j, the home of the gods, created by Odin in the upper branches of the World-Tree, and therefore in the approximate centre of things. It is full of gardens and palaces.
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#
"ash",2222,0,0,0
EN A deciduous tree native to the Northern hemisphere; leaves \Jpinnate\j; flowers sometimes without \Jperianth\j, borne in dense clusters appearing before leaves; seeds \I(keys)\i have a papery wing which aids in wind dispersal. The timber is valuable, and various species, including weeping forms, are often planted for ornament. \B(Genus:\b \IFraxinus,\i 70 species. \BFamily:\b Oleaceae.)
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"Ash Wednesday",2223,0,0,0
EN The first \Jday\j of Lent. The name derives from the ritual, observed in the ancient Church and continued in Roman Catholic and some Anglican Churches, of making a cross on the forehead of Christians with ashes which have previously been blessed. The ashes are obtained by burning the branches used in the previous year's \JPalm Sunday\j service.
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"Ashanti or Asante",2224,0,0,0
PN [a\Bshan\btee]
EN A Kwa-speaking \JAkan\j people of S \JGhana\j and adjacent areas of \JTogo\j and C⌠te d'Ivoire. They form a confederacy of chiefdoms, founded by the ruler Osei Tutu in the late 17th-c; the paramount chief was established at \JKumasi\j, and the Golden Stool was the symbol of Ashanti unity.
The independent Ashanti state was at the height of its powers in the early 19th-c, and became a major threat to British trade on the coast, until defeated (1873) by a force under Sir Garnet Wolseley. The state was annexed by the British in 1902. Traditional culture and religion still flourish, with rich ceremonial and internationally famous art.
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"Ashari, al-",2225,0,0,0
PN [a\Bshah\bree]
DT1 873
DT1b / 4
DT2 935
DT2b / 6
EN Islamic theologian and philosopher, born in Basra, \JIraq\j. In 915 he moved to \JBaghdad\j, where he formed his own school of followers. His major work is \IMaqalat,\i which defends the idea of God's omnipotence and reaffirms traditional interpretations of religious authority within \JIslam\j.
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"Ashbee, Charles Robert",2226,0,0,0
DT1 1863
DT2 1942
EN Designer, architect, and writer, born in Isleworth, W Greater London, England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, and was founder and director of the Guild of Handicraft (1888-1908) in London's East End (later in \JGloucestershire\j), employing over 100 craftworkers, the largest-scale attempt to put into practice the ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement. As an architect he specialized in church restoration, and he was also a noted silversmith.
MEX Mairet; Scott, MacKay Hugh Baillie
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"Ashbery, John (Lawrence)",2227,0,0,0
DT1 1927
EN Poet and critic, born in New York City, USA. He studied at Harvard, Columbia, and New York universities, then spent some years as an art critic in Europe. He became associated with the New York School of poetry, publishing his first volume in 1953. \ISome Trees\i (1956) attracted considerable critical attention, and his 12th collection, \ISelf-Portrait in a Convex Mirror\i (1975) received several prizes, including the Pulitzer Prize. Later volumes include \IIce Storm\i (1987), \IFlow Chart\i (1991), and \IHotel Lautreamont\i (1992).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPoetry\i
1953 Turandot and Other Poems
1956 Some Trees
1960 The Poems
1962 The Tennis Court Oath
1966 Rivers and Mountains
1966 Sunrise in Suburbia
1966 Three Madrigals
1969 Fragments
1970 The Double Dream of Spring
1970 The New Spirit
1972 Three Poems
1975 The \JVermont\j Notebook (with Joe Brainard)
1975 Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror
1975 The Serious Doll
1977 Houseboat Days
1979 As We Know
1981 Shadow Train
1984 A Wave
1985 Selected Poems
1987 The Ice Storm
1987 April Galleons
1991 Flow Chart
1992 Hotel Lautreamont
\INovel\i
1969 Nest of Ninnies
\IOther\i
1969 Melville
1978 Three Plays
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"Ashburton, Baron",2228,0,0,0
EN See Dunning, John, 1st Baron Ashburton
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"Ashby (of Brandon), Eric, Baron",2229,0,0,0
DT1 1904
DT2 92
EN Botanist and educator, born in London, England, UK. He studied at London and \JChicago\j universities, and was appointed professor of botany at Sydney University in 1938. He held the chair of botany at Manchester (1947-50), then became President and Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University, \JBelfast\j (1950-9) and Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University (1967-9). He chaired the Royal Commission on Environmental \JPollution\j (1970-3). Knighted in 1956, he was created a life peer in 1973.
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"Ashcan School",2230,0,0,0
EN A derisive name given to a group of US Realist painters and illustrators, also called \IThe Eight.\i Formed in 1907, they included Robert Henri (1865-1929), John Sloan (1871-1951), and later George Bellows. They painted everyday, non-academic subjects in an attempt to bring art back into direct contact with ordinary life, especially street life in New York City.
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"Ashcroft, Dame Peggy",2231,0,0,0
DT 1907-91
EN British actress. She first took the West End by storm as the innocent Naemi in Jew Suss (1929). Her special quality of radiant freshness caused some critics, including James \JAgate\j, to state that she was too simple and lightweight for major classical roles, but the 1932/3 Old Vic season revealed her range as an actress in such parts as Juliet, Rosalind, Lady Teazle and Shaw's Cleopatra. Her subsequent career was remarkable for its versatility, command and, not least, her instinct for major challenges.
Against all expectations, she was a brilliantly sluttish Cleopatra to Michael Redgrave's Antony at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in 1953, an electric Beatrice to John Gielgud's Benedict in 1950 and 1955, a savage Hedda Gabler in 1954, and Shen Teh in Brecht's The Good Person of Setzuan. She played all the major Shakespearian women except Lady Macbeth. Her roles in contemporary plays ranged from Hester in Terence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea (1952) to Beth in Harold Pinter's Landscape (1969) and Winnie in Samuel Beckett's Happy Days (1975).
Her last stage performance was as Lilian Baylis in Save the Wells at the Royal Opera House in 1986, although she continued to act in film and \Jtelevision\j dramas until shortly before her death, appearing in Madame Soutsatzka, a film directed by John Schlesinger in 1988.
A committed socialist, Ashcroft energetically furthered the interests of her profession by serving on the council of Equity, on the Arts Council and on the artistic committee of the English Stage Company. She was at the centre of the Royal Shakespeare Company for 30 years and became a director in 1968; among her many honours, she received a DBE in 1956 and a special Laurence Olivier award in 1991 for a lifetime's achievement in the theatre.
In 1962 a new theatre in her place of birth, Croydon in south London, was named after her. At her death, glowing tributes to her talent and professional integrity defined her place in the pantheon of British actors.
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"Ashdod",2232,0,0,0
PN [ash\Bdohd\b]
EN 31░48N 34░38E, pop (1995e) 101 000. Seaport in Southern district, W Israel; on the \JMediterranean Sea\j, 40 km/25 mi S of Tel Aviv--Yafo; ancient Philistine city; modern city founded in 1956 as the major port of S Israel; railway; ancient and modern harbour; light industry, tourism.
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"Ashdown, Paddy",2233,0,0,0
DT1 1941
EN British politician, born in India. After a childhood and youth spent in India and Ulster, he joined the Royal Marines, serving in the special boat squadron. He then studied Mandarin at Hong Kong University, and spent five years in the diplomatic service. He overturned a large Conservative majority in his \Jconstituency\j of Yeovil and entered the \JHouse of Commons\j as a Liberal in 1983. In 1988 he won the leadership election for the new Liberal and Social Democratic Party.
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"Ashe, Arthur (Robert)",2234,0,0,0
DT (1943-93)
EN tennis player, author; born in Richmond, Va. He was the first black player ever to win the U.S. championship (1968), the \JDavis Cup\j (1968-70), the Australian Open (1970), and Wimbledon (1975). While actively protesting \Japartheid\j in South Africa, he was granted a visa in 1973 to become the first black professional to play in that country. He retired from competition after suffering a heart attack in 1979.
He wrote a three-volume history of African-American athletes in the U.S.A., \IA Hard Road to Glory\i (1988). He became a spokesperson for AIDS education after it was revealed in 1992 that he had contracted the AIDS virus from a blood transfusion.
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"Asher, Jane",2235,0,0,0
DT1 1946
EN Actress and cake designer, born in London, England, UK. She studied at North Bridge House and Miss Lambert's Parents' National Educational Union. From 1957 she performed regularly in the theatre and on \Jtelevision\j, her films including \IAlfie\i (1966), \IHenry VIII and His Six Wives\i (1970), and \IParis By Night\i (1988).
Among her many books on baking are \ICalendar of Cakes\i (1989) and \IJane Asher's Complete Book of Cake Decorating Ideas\i (1993), and she is proprietor of Jane Asher's Party Cakes Shop and Tea Room in Chelsea, London. She is married to the cartoonist Gerald Scarfe.
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1961 The Greengage Summer
1966 Alfie
1970 Deep End
1970 \JHenry VIII\j and His Six Wives
1983 Runners
1988 Paris By Night
\IStage Plays\i
1998 Things We Do For Love (Alan Ayckbourn)
\IPublications\i
1982 Jane Asher's Party Cakes
1983 Jane Asher's Fancy Dress
1984 Silent Nights for You and Your Baby
1986 Jane Asher's Quick Party Cakes
1987 The Moppy Stories
1987 Easy Entertaining
1988 Keep Your Baby Safe
1988 Children's Parties
1989 Calendar of Cakes
1990 Eats for Treats
1993 Jane Asher's Book of Cake Decorating Ideas
1994 Round the World Cookbook
1995 Time to Play
1996 The Longing
1996 101 Things I Wish I'd Known before...
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"Asher, tribe of",2236,0,0,0
EN One of the 12 tribes of ancient Israel, said to be descended from Jacob's eighth son Asher \I(Gen\i 30.12f). Its territory included the narrow coastal plain from Carmel to the outskirts of Sidon and bordered on the E by the Galilean hills.
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"Ashes, the",2237,0,0,0
EN A symbolic trophy contested by the cricket teams of England and \JAustralia\j. It originated in 1882 after the \ISporting Times\i printed a mock obituary to English cricket following the country's first defeat by \JAustralia\j on home soil. An urn containing the ashes of a stump used in that match remains at Lord's cricket ground.
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"Ashford, Bailey Kelly",2238,0,0,0
DT (1873-1934)
EN physician; born in Washington, D.C. An authority on tropical diseases, he discovered the parasitic hookworm that caused the anemia endemic to agricultural workers in Puerto Rico. He helped wipe out the disease there, thus launching a campaign to wipe it out throughout the world. He organized the Institute of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, which was administered by Columbia University after 1926. He did research on the American hookworm.
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"Ashford, Emmett (Littleton)",2239,0,0,0
DT (1914-80)
EN \Jbaseball\j umpire; born in Los Angeles. He became professional \Jbaseball\j's first black umpire in 1951 and major league's first black umpire in 1966. Known for his flamboyant calling of balls and strikes, he umpired American League games from 1966 to 1970.
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"Ashikaga shogunate",2240,0,0,0
PN [ashikahga]
DT1 1338
DT2 1569
EN Second major Japanese shogunate, established by a Kamakura chieftain, Ashikaga Takanji (1305-58) following his seizure of the imperial capital \JKyoto\j in 1336. He established his government at Muromachi, an outlying district of \JKyoto\j. Ashikaga rule was never absolute, extensive castle-building occurred, and a damaging \Jcivil war\j (1467-77) sparked off a century of disorder which ended with the supremacy of Nobunaga (1569). Zen \JBuddhism\j spread rapidly during the period, the first Christian mission arrived (1549), and trade with China and Korea flourished.
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"Ashkenazim",2241,0,0,0
PN [ashke\Bnah\bzim]
EN Jews of C and E European descent, as distinguished from \JSephardim\j Jews, who are of Spanish or Portuguese descent. The terms arose in the \JMiddle Ages\j when Europe and W Asia were divided between Christian and Islamic countries. Cut off, the Ashkenazim developed their own customs, traditions of interpretation of the Talmud, music, and language (\JYiddish\j).
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"Ashkenazy, Vladimir",2242,0,0,0
PN [ashke\Bnah\bzee]
DT1 1937
EN Pianist and conductor, born in Nizhni \JNovgorod\j (formerly \JGorky\j), \JRussia\j. He graduated from Moscow Conservatory (1960) and in 1962 was joint winner (with John Ogdon) of the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition, Moscow. He left the \JSoviet Union\j in 1963 and made his London debut that year.
He settled in \JIceland\j in 1973 with his wife, an Icelandic pianist, and became musical director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London (1987--5) and the Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berlin (1989-- ).
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"Ashley, Laura",2243,0,0,0
HS , \InΘe\i \BMountney\b
DT1 1925
DT2 85
EN Fashion designer, born in Merthyr Tydfil, S Wales, UK. She married Bernard Ashley in 1949, and they started a business manufacturing furnishing materials and wallpapers with patterns based upon document sources mainly from the 19th-c. When she gave up work to have a baby, she experimented with designing and making clothes, and this transformed the business into an international chain of boutiques selling clothes, furnishing fabrics, and wallpapers. Her work was characterized by a romantic style and the use of natural fabrics, especially cotton.
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"Ashmole, Elias",2244,0,0,0
DT1 1617
DT2 92
EN Antiquary, born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, C England, UK. He qualified as a lawyer in 1638 and subsequently combined work for the royalist cause with the study of \Jmathematics\j, natural philosophy, \Jastronomy\j, \Jastrology\j, and \Jalchemy\j, entering Brasenose College, Oxford. In 1652 he issued his \ITheatrum chymicum,\i and in 1672 his major work, a \IHistory of the Order of the Garter.\i In 1677 he presented to the University of Oxford a fine collection of rarities, thus founding the \IAshmolean Museum\i (built in 1682).
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"Ashmolean Museum",2245,0,0,0
EN A museum at \JOxford University\j, England, UK. Elias Ashmole (1617-92) donated the core of the collection to the University in 1675, and the museum was opened eight years later. Its holdings include a distinguished collection of archaeological relics, paintings, prints, and silverware.
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"Ashmore and Cartier Islands",2246,0,0,0
EN Area c.3┐km\U2\u / 11/2┐mi\U2\u. Uninhabited Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean 320┐km / 200┐mi off the north-west coast of \JAustralia\j; consists of the Ashmore Is (Middle, East and West) and Cartier I; formerly administered by the \JNorthern Territory\j, it became a separate Commonwealth Territory in 1978; Ashmore Reef is a national nature reserve.
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"Ashmun, Jehudi",2247,0,0,0
DT (1794-1828)
EN colonial agent, author; born in Champlain, N.Y. A graduate of the University of \JVermont\j (1816), he entered the Congregational ministry, then became involved in various educational and journalistic enterprises. In 1822, he shipped from Baltimore to \JLiberia\j with a boatload of returning African-American slaves.
There he held off an attack by native chiefs and survived the fever that killed his wife. He stayed on and was appointed the American Colonization Society's agent (1824-28). He wrote \IThe History of the American Colony in \JLiberia\j from December 1821 to 1823.
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"ashram",2248,0,0,0
PN [\Bash\bram]
EN An Indian religious community whose members lead lives of austere self-discipline and dedicated service in accordance with the teachings and practices of their particular school. A well-known \Jashram\j was that of Mahatma Gandhi.
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"ashrama",2249,0,0,0
PN [\Bash\brama]
EN In Hindu tradition, any of the four stages of life: the pupil, the householder, the forest-dweller and, when all human bonds have been broken, the total renunciation of the world. Seldom followed in practice, these four stages represent the ideal way of life.
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"Ashton, Julian (Rossi)",2250,0,0,0
DT1 1851
DT2 1942
EN Painter and teacher, born in Alderstone, Surrey, south-east England, UK. In 1878 he emigrated to \JAustralia\j and, while working as an illustrator for the Melbourne newspaper \IThe Age,\i covered the capture of the Ned Kelly gang. He later moved to Sydney, and in 1896 founded the Sydney Art School. He organized the Grafton Gallery (London) exhibition of Australian art in 1898, and worked strenuously for the recognition of Australian artists.
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"Ashton, Sir Frederick (William Mallandaine)",2251,0,0,0
DT1 1906
DT2 88
EN British choreographer, born in \JGuayaquil\j, \JEcuador\j. Following education at an English public school, he studied under LΘonide Massine and Marie Rambert, who commissioned his first piece, \IA Tragedy of Fashion\i (1926). After a year in America, he returned to Britain to help found the Ballet Club, which later became Ballet Rambert (now the Rambert Dance Company).
He joined the Vic Wells Ballet in 1935 as dancer / choreographer, and remained there as the company developed into the Royal Ballet. In 1963 he succeeded Ninette de \JValois\j as director of the company, a post he held for seven years. He was knighted in 1962.
MEX Massine; Rambert; \JValois\j
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"Ashton, Sir John William",2252,0,0,0
HS , known as \BWill Ashton\b
DT1 1881
DT2 1963
EN Landscape painter, born in York, North Yorkshire, N England, UK. His family moved to Adelaide, South \JAustralia\j, when he was three. In 1899 he returned to England and studied in the artists' colony at St Ives, Cornwall. He quickly established a reputation as a landscape artist, especially for his bridges of the Seine and other French and Mediterranean subjects, and was a leading opponent of modern trends in painting.
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"Ashton, Winifred",2253,0,0,0
EN See Dane, Clemence [nΘe Winifred Ashton, Diana Cortis]
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#
"Ashura",2254,0,0,0
PN [a\Bshoo\bra]
EN A Muslim fast \Jday\j observed on the 10th of \JMuharram\j, particularly among Shiite Muslims, in commemoration of the death of Husain, grandson of Mohammed (10 Oct 680), with processions in which the faithful beat their breasts or whip themselves. It is a holiday in countries, such as \JIran\j, with mainly Shiite Muslim populations.
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"Ashurbanipal",2255,0,0,0
EN See Assurbanipal or Ashurbanipal; Sardanapalus
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"Asia",2256,0,0,0
EN area c.44.5 million┐km\U2\u / 17.2 million┐mi\U2\u. The largest continent; bounded N by the \JArctic\j Ocean, E by the \JPacific Ocean\j, S by the Indian Ocean, and W by Europe; maximum length, 8500┐km / 5300┐mi; maximum width, 9600┐km / 6000┐mi; chief mountain system, the \JHimalayas\j, rising to 8848┐m / 29┐028┐ft at Mount Everest; major rivers include the Yangtze (Changjiang), Yellow, Brahmaputra, Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy), Indus, and Ganges.
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"Asia Minor",2257,0,0,0
EN See Anatolia
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"Asia-Oceania",2258,0,0,0
EN In the enormous geographic area of the Asian mainland and adjoining islands of the western \JPacific Ocean\j theatrical arts are ancient, highly developed, rich in diversity, and very much alive today for large segments of the population. From \JPakistan\j in the west to the Hawaiian Islands in the east, and from China in the north to \JIndonesia\j in the south, there are 700-800 distinct forms, or genres. Each reflects the unique language, religious views, social structures and daily lives of the people who have created them.
Even to the uninitiated observer, ky⌡gen comedies in \JJapan\j stand apart from kabuki or bunraku, also from \JJapan\j, and they are artistic and cultural worlds away from bhavai in India, or \JBeijing\j opera in China, forms which also feature comic elements. At the same time, shared features link genres within and between countries. We can even identify pan-Asian-Pacific traditions and patterns of performance.
Four major geographic (and cultural) regions may be identified within this vast sweep of land and ocean. South Asia, which encompasses the present nation-states of \JBangladesh\j, India, \JNepal\j, \JPakistan\j and \JSri Lanka\j, is the home of \JHinduism\j and \JBuddhism\j, the source of dramatic themes from the epics, the \JRamayana\j and the \JMahabharata\j, and of a pervasive and multi-faceted classical dance tradition. A baroque love of brilliant theatrical display and the vibrant use of colour, emotion and rhythm in performance mark South Asian forms.
China, Hong Kong, \JTaiwan\j, \JJapan\j and Korea comprise East Asia. They share cultures based on Confucian civil ethics, systems of imperial rule and Buddhist philosophy. The Chinese writing system of calligraphic characters was adopted in all these areas, and in the process Chinese literature and Chinese arts of brush painting, music and dance were introduced. In East Asia a spirit of decorum and restraint, and a concern for structural simplicity and clarity, are apparent in the performing arts.
The countries of Southeast Asia - \JBurma\j, \JCambodia\j, \JIndonesia\j, Laos, \JMalaysia\j, the \JPhilippines\j, \JSingapore\j, \JThailand\j and Vietnam - have welcomed religions, literature and dance from both South and East Asia, and fused these with rich indigenous performance traditions. Malay peoples settled in \JIndonesia\j, \JMalaysia\j, southern \JThailand\j, \JSingapore\j and the \JPhilippines\j, and today these people share many theatre traits.
Oceania contains some 20 Pacific island nations in the sub-regions of \JMelanesia\j, \JMicronesia\j and \JPolynesia\j whose original settlement can often be traced back to common ancestors. These Pacific voyagers brought with them their religious songs, genealogical chants and dances, spreading them across the island groupings, through \JFiji\j, Tahiti and \JSamoa\j and as far east as Hawaii.
Three quite different social milieux have nourished the region's theatre forms. First, elite forms of theatre have been created with the support of the ruling classes, propounding the \Jideology\j of rulers at centres of political and economic power. In the past these were theatres of the court, performed by court functionaries - actors, dancers, musicians, storytellers - for court occasions.
Performance was a civic-political ritual demonstrating and confirming royal prerogatives, and it reflected the culture's highest literary and artistic values (e.g. in India, Sanskrit drama; in \JJapan\j, bugaku, n⌡. Eventually, and especially during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the royal courts who had supported these arts lost power or were replaced, and performers were forced to turn to other audiences for support.
Today, most former 'royal' theatre forms continue to be performed as important cultural artifacts, even as 'state' arts, preserved with modest levels of government support.
A completely different elite theatre was created in the 20th century by and for a new Western-oriented, university- educated, professional, managerial and student elite. The theatre of this elite was 'spoken drama', imported from the West and representing '\Jmodernism\j'. It began as an amateur enterprise, idealistically motivated, in the manner of Europe's 'little theatres', and even today audiences are small and economic self-sufficiency is illusive.
In the 1910s-1930s, it was primarily a theatre of realism, devoted to social reform. By the beginning of World War II, artists were divided sharply into two opposing groups: those committed to humanistic, psychological drama of the individual, and those allied to 'progressive' or 'socialist' ideologies who saw theatre as a means of promoting the struggle for socialist/communist societies.
This division continues today, with profound consequences: countries with communist governments (China, North Korea and Vietnam) attempt to restrict or completely ban 'bourgeois' theatre, while many capitalist-democratic countries (South Korea, \JTaiwan\j, India, \JIndonesia\j, \JMalaysia\j and \JThailand\j) censor or ban 'leftist' theatre.
Perhaps no political control of theatre has been as total as that exercised by \JJapan\j during World War II at home and throughout its Asian-Pacific empire. Consequently modern theatre is valued as a part of the modernizing process, but its creators are often at odds with whatever government is in power because they tend to be independent-minded. Direct government subsidy is usually predicated on social and political conformity.
Censorship of new plays is stringent almost everywhere (\JJapan\j and the \JPhilippines\j being notable exceptions). Current modern theatre in Asia and the Pacific region encompasses the older realism, Western classical drama (especially Shakespeare's plays, which are performed everywhere), variations of 'socialist realism' in communist countries, avant-garde experiments with new forms often in international and 'intercultural' settings, as well as uniquely local movements.
Folk theatre is created by local villagers-turned- performers for festivals and religious occasions and for entertainment of their own communities. Although the artistic quality may be high and a performer may enjoy social esteem, performing is occasional and not an occupation.
In thousands of village communities, and in urban enclaves as well, folk performances continue to be organized as religio-civic rites, expressing the solidarity of the local community. Among such forms are mani-rimdu in \JNepal\j, sandae-guk in Korea, and kutiyattam in India.
In Asia's large cities and towns commercial theatre forms have evolved, for a public audience. Commercial troupes perform regularly for the general ticket-buying public in permanent theatre buildings. Most important urban commercial theatre genres began as outcast theatres despised by the intelligentsia. Ironically, some are today considered reputable, even 'classical' forms of 'national theatre' (in \JJapan\j, kabuki, bunraku; in China, jingxi, yueju; in \JIndonesia\j, wayang).
Religion
Everywhere in Asia and \JOceania\j, early performance has been associated with man's relations to the gods. In animistic belief, performance is service to the gods, a request for good health or a good harvest, a channel to invite the spirits of the sacred world into the temporary world of mankind. The belief in spirit possession, that the human performer is a mere vessel for a god's appearance, is widespread.
Religious myths, legends and characters of saints, gods, spirits and demons provide the material of traditional drama in all countries. Buddhist jataka stories, tales about Lord \JBuddha\j in a former life, are the source of scores of plays in \JThailand\j, Laos, \JBurma\j and \JCambodia\j. The Confucian ethics of fidelity to ruler, husband and father inform Japanese bunraku, Chinese jingxi and Korean shinp'a dramas alike.
Krishna and Rama, incarnations of Brahmanic god \JVishnu\j, not only are heroes in India's regional theatres but they populate the plays of such genres as wayang in \JIndonesia\j and \JMalaysia\j, masked drama in \JThailand\j and shadow plays in \JCambodia\j as well. Persian and Arabic stories entered \JPakistan\j and \JBangladesh\j with the introduction of \JIslam\j, and the Arabian hero, Amir Hamza, appears in \JMalaysia\j and \JIndonesia\j. Muslim and Christian influences contend in Philippine komedya, and Christian biblical stories and later medieval romances are dramatized in Sri Lankan pasku and Indian cavittu natakam.
However, this dramatic material did not travel intact and unaltered from one culture to another. Just as Japanese \JBuddhism\j is different from Chinese \JBuddhism\j (to say nothing of Sri Lankan Buddhism), Chinese stories dramatized in Korea and \JJapan\j are greatly altered and acquire a local flavour.
The Hindu \JRamayana\j contains one of the world's great mythic motifs: the withdrawal of the hero (Rama) from affairs of the world, initiation through \Jasceticism\j, the gaining of spiritual power and return to temporal rule. In various forms, this quest theme occurs in dramas in \JThailand\j, \JIndonesia\j, \JMalaysia\j and \JCambodia\j. When Rama himself appears on the \JJavanese\j or Balinese stage he is localized into a \JJavanese\j or Balinese king.
East-West interchange
Asian and Pacific performance styles and content have been carried by performers to neighbouring countries, resulting in performance similarities among cultures. Indian-style dance became known to performers far beyond that country's boundaries. It fused with local dance styles, creating numerous related dance forms. Korean and Japanese artists learned masked dances at the Chinese court in the early Tang Dynasty (618-907), returned home and transplanted the Chinese performing style to their own courts, in the process establishing kiak in Korea and bugaku and gigaku in \JJapan\j.
Western entrepreneurs and colonial administrations brought popular forms of Western music, dance and theatre into India, the \JPhilippines\j and \JJapan\j from the 16th century, and later into other countries. In the early decades of the 20th century, Chinese and Korean students studying in \JJapan\j discovered Western \Jmelodrama\j and serious drama through Japanese productions and translations.
By the time of World War II, Asian playwrights, directors and actors had travelled to Europe and the United States, learning Western spoken drama and realistic theatre. With Ibsen and \JStanislavsky\j as their inspiration, they returned to create modern, serious, realistic drama in their own countries. English-language theatre became strongly established in \JSingapore\j and the \JPhilippines\j, and, to a lesser extent, in Hong Kong, \JMalaysia\j and \JBurma\j, all areas under long-lasting British or American colonization.
Concurrently, traditional Asian artists were performing on tour in the West for the first time. Artists of the European avant-garde were able to see Mei Lanfang, kabuki, and Cambodian and Balinese dance troupes. In the 50 years following the end of World War II, theatrical interchange between Asia- \JOceania\j and Europe-America has become established as a continuous process.
Happenings, absurdism, deconstructionism and multiculturalism echo in theatre practice East and West. Western actors, dancers, musicians, directors and playwrights are seriously studying performance forms of Asia and \JOceania\j, often gaining considerable mastery of them.
Performance training and transmission
In most Asian traditional theatre the process of preparing for performance is centred in the actor, for the actor is the source and repository of information. In many forms there are strong dramatic texts, written by specialist playwrights, that exemplify local literary standards and modes. But in other genres the centrality of the actor extends to script composition: the actor may be a playwright or improvise dialogue, and in some cases song lyrics, during performance.
In order to function at this high technical level, the first task of the actor (dancer or musician) is to become proficient in the artistic and performance 'codes', the artistic languages, of the theatre form. One does not begin by training to 'act'; one begins by training to be a skilled 'artist'.
The Indian \Jkathakali\j actor spends his childhood forming his body into a pliable instrument for the leaps and whirls of dance; for the eye, mouth and cheek movements expressive of emotion; and for the 600 hand gestures that he must flawlessly execute when on stage enacting a role.
Zeami, writing in 15th- century \JJapan\j, said the actor should spend from the age of seven to seventeen mastering the 'two arts' (nikyoku) of chanting and dance before seriously studying role-playing - that is, 'acting'. The Indonesian or Malaysian puppeteer learns the 100-plus battle movements of the shadow puppets. Second, and only after this firm artistic base has been laid, the performer learns to enact roles in plays.
He or she acts within a generic role type that has been developed by earlier generations of performers. Young male hero, older male authority figure, young woman, older woman, villain (often 'foreign', or an ogre, demon or jin, a creature outside the human realm) and clown are roles found in most traditional theatre forms.
A performance then, is one momentary arrangement of pre- known elements, one in a series of performances which are rather like the changing patterns of a kaleidoscope. Performances are examples of an existing artistic form much more than they are the 'production of a play'. To put together a traditional performance does not require the special outside vision of a director. Actors, dancers and musicians are themselves the source of knowledge of how to perform, and they are capable of working as a self- directing ensemble.
Because the musical, dance and voice techniques are so highly developed and demanding in Asian and Oceanic performance, systems for transmitting performance knowledge to the next generation are vital to genres' survival. The most common method of professional training is for a pupil to apprentice him- or herself to a master over an extended period, perhaps a lifetime. The art may be passed from father to son, or within hereditary clans.
These master-pupil relationships are strongly formalized in India, \JThailand\j and especially \JJapan\j, with severe penalties exacted on a disciple who abandons a teacher. In some cases a master may take a group of students and train them together in a school, indicating the sacred nature of performance transmission. Today numerous formal academies also exist to teach young performers of Chinese opera, Indian classical dance, Indonesian, Thai and Cambodian dance-dramas and other forms. Most governments in Asia today either run or subsidize academy training.
Song, dance, masks and puppetry
It is often said that all Asian performance is 'dance'. This is true in the sense that all acting follows well defined movement codes, and that every stage movement is carefully controlled. The dance is a major structural component in the dramatic composition and storytelling of many forms. Formal set dances, with opening, development and conclusion, and specific placement within the play structure, are easily recognizable.
There is good reason to call such performances 'dance dramas'. Other forms are built around song. In these, sung lyrics are the major component of dramatic structure, and the 'actor' is required to have developed exceptional vocal skill. For convenience, we often call these forms 'operas' in English - for example, Korean p'ansori or Chinese kunqu.
Actors in scores of genres wear masks, the mask's transformative power allowing the performer to wholly transcend self and portray gods, spirits of the dead, demons, mythological figures, and animals as well as ordinary humans.
A unique feature of theatre in Asia is the immense importance of puppetry, especially shadow theatre. Doll or marionette puppet theatre (see puppets) is known in almost every country of Asia (India, \JPakistan\j, \JBurma\j, \JIndonesia\j, China, Korea and \JJapan\j). Varieties of leather shadow play are seen from India in the west, through \JMalaysia\j, \JThailand\j, \JCambodia\j, \JIndonesia\j and the \JPhilippines\j to the south, and into China in the east.
Among Asian puppet forms are some of the most sophisticated literary and theatre arts in the world ( in \JJapan\j, bunraku; in \JIndonesia\j, wayang, for example; see shadow puppets). Throughout Asia puppet theatre forms have served as progenitors and models for the later development of human theatre forms. Nowhere in Asia is this medium a 'child's' theatre.
Most theatre forms in Asia are interwoven fabrics of music, dance and acting, 'total theatre' in which all performance aspects are fused into a single form. The nature of each form is largely dependent upon the particular balance among its many constituent parts, upon what element is emphasized and what element is subordinated.
Throughout Asia and \JOceania\j, governments and artistic organizations seek to preserve and invigorate traditional, indigenous theatre forms that reflect their cultural legacy. The challenge of radio, film and \Jtelevision\j for audiences is daunting. Since the 1960s and 70s avant-garde playwrights and directors have sought to return to traditional performing 'roots', rejecting the Western realist theatre imported over the past century.
Realism in any case does not interest most Asian audiences, for it lacks the vital theatricality of familiar traditional forms. Burgeoning economies provide audiences in many countries with the means to support artistic pursuits. Traditional revival and radical experiments in form and content are two contrasting and significant features of present-\Jday\j theatre.
BK Thea
#
"Asian Games",2259,0,0,0
EN A multi-sport competition first held at New Delhi, India in 1951, and since 1954 held quadrennially. The Far Eastern Games, the predecessors of the Asian Games, were first held at Manila in 1913.
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"Asiatic Black Bear",2260,0,0,0
EN \B\I(Ursus thibetanus)\i\b
The Asiatic black bear is a medium-sized bear that is native only to Asia. These bears are forest animals and occupy the temperate habitat which lies between the brown bears of the north and the \Jsun\j and sloth bears who live in the south. The official name for the Asiatic black bear is \IUrsus thibetanus.\i \IUrsus\i is the Latin word meaning "bear" while \Ithibetanus\i simply refers to \JTibet\j, one of the early locations where the bear was originally known to exist in the wild. The Asiatic black bear is most commonly referred to as the moon bear of \JTibet\j, the Tibetan black bear or the Himalayan black bear. The moon refers to the moon-shaped white patch these bears have on their chest. Because of the great deal of time Asiatic black bears spend in trees, they have also been given the colorful Malayan name "Bagindo nan tinggih" which translates into "he who sits high up in a tree."
Paleontologists believe that Asiatic black bears and American black bears may have shared a common ancestor as recently as 3 to 4 million years ago.
The Asiatic black bear lives across much of southern Asia. Its preferred habitat is forested hills and mountains and the tropical moist forest below \Jalpine\j elevations. This area includes the countries of \JPakistan\j, \JAfghanistan\j, eastward into northern India, China and finally across southeast Asia. Separate populations are also known to be present in eastern \JRussia\j, South Korea, \JTaiwan\j and \JJapan\j. In parts of their range, they share the habitat with brown bears.
At present, we do not have any reliable estimates of how many Asiatic black bears still exist in the wild. Reasonable bear populations are felt to still exist in parts of China and \JRussia\j although no figures are available. Researchers believe, however, based on many sources, that the numbers are declining rapidly. Throughout most of their range, conservation efforts on behalf of Asiatic black bears are almost nonexistent and where there is supposedly legal protection, it is rarely enforced.
\BAnatomy and Characteristics\b
The Asiatic black bear is a large \Jmammal\j whose size and weight show a high degree of variance depending on the amount of available food and climatic conditions.
The height of an adult male Asiatic black bear measured from the ground to the highest point of the shoulder averages from 75 to 100 centimeters (approximately 2.5 to 3.25 feet). Measured from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail, the length of an adult male Asiatic black bear averages from 150 to 210 centimeters (approximately 5 to 7 feet).
The weight of an Asiatic black bear, which is highly variable, ranges from 90 to 115 kilograms (200 to 255 pounds). A very large adult male Asiatic black bear may weigh over 180 kilograms (400 pounds) prior to \Jhibernation\j when it has its full fat resources. Males are generally slightly larger than females within a specific geographic area.
Asiatic black bears have a strong muscular body with more developed front shoulders and shorter legs than do brown bears and American black bears. The large, round head has a convex or Roman profile similar to an American black bear. The ears are large, shaped like a bell and stick out to the side of the head. The eyes are small in relation to the size of the head. They have a short stubby tail about 10 centimeters (4 inches) long.
Asiatic black bears move in a manner similar to most other bears. They walk in a plantigrade manner similar to other bears (i.e., both heel and toe make contact with the ground when walking in a manner similar to humans). When they amble or pace, both legs on one side of their body move together. The front feet are turned - in (pigeon-toed). Asiatic black bears are able to gallop very quickly. They are also strong and skillful swimmers.
Asiatic black bears are outstanding tree climbers. They climb to feed, rest, \Jsun\j themselves, avoid their enemies and also to hibernate. They have relatively flat feet with five toes. The heel pads of the front paws are larger than most bears while the rear paws are narrow and taper towards the rear. Their short non-retractable claws are 4 to 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) in length. The claws are sharply curved and taper to a sharp point to assist them when climbing. They are whitish in color.
While long ago Asiatic black bears may have primarily been meat eaters, today they are, in fact, omnivores. To accommodate this, both their teeth and digestive tracts have undergone major changes so that they can extract sufficient \Jnutrients\j from vegetable matter to maintain their large body mass.
Asiatic black bears are covered with a soft dense underfur which serves as \Jinsulation\j to keep them warm. They also have a covering of long, thick guard hairs. Asiatic black bears shed their fur each year. During the molt, the bears will rub against trees and rocks to help remove clumps of old fur. A complete new coat is generally in place by fall.
The Asiatic black bear has very dense jet black fur. A very pronounced thick mane, often as long as 15 centimeters (6 inches), also surrounds the head. In the area of the chest, the bear has a crescent moon-shaped patch of cream-colored or yellowish-white markings. As well, the Asiatic black bear has cream-colored or white fur along its lower lip and chin.
Asiatic black bears have good eyesight. They have binocular vision which also gives them excellent depth perception. This is necessary in order to detect and follow moving prey. Most bears are thought to be somewhat nearsighted due to feeding close to the ground. They also appear to have color vision. Bears demonstrate excellent hearing.
Bears have the keenest sense of smell of all animals. It has been said that a bear uses its nose to learn about its world in the same way that we use our eyes. Because their sense of smell is so important, bears will often rise to a standing position or move to a higher elevation to better "sniff the air."
In the wild, Asiatic black bears may live for 25 years or more. The age of a bear can be determined by pulling a small premolar tooth from a sedated bear and later cross-sectioning and counting the number of rings. Each ring indicates one year that the bear has lived. This is similar to how the age of a tree is determined. Surviving into adulthood is very difficult for Asiatic black bears. Many cubs do not survive due to starvation, disease, accidents and predation by other animals including male bears. Brown bears and tigers, who share different parts of their habitat, will also attack Asiatic black bears. Mother bears or sows are very protective but there are many formidable problems in trying to raise bear cubs.
\BBehavior\b
Asiatic black bears are known to be extremely intelligent and clever. They seem to learn very quickly. They are also described as being easily annoyed by intrusions of other animals including humans. Their habit of attacking local livestock often brings them into conflict with rural landowners.
Regarding the communicative patterns of the Asiatic black bear, posturing, scenting and a number of different vocalizations are used in interactions both with other bears and other animals. Asiatic black bears, like all bears, roar when they are very angry.
Asiatic black bears make more use of trees than any other bear. They use trees as regular locations to rest during the \Jday\j as well as using them for food gathering and to avoid their enemies.
While most adult male bears live solitary lives, Asiatic black bear males appear to have more contact with other bears. Family groupings including a male, female, and cubs have been observed on a number of occasions.
Asiatic black bear cubs usually spend the first two to three years of life with their mother and one or more siblings. As a rule, the cubs are then driven off by the mother although there are reports of sows being seen with cubs from two litters.
Normally, bears are shy and try to avoid trouble. In the natural process of determining who will win in situations such as which of two bears will occupy a particular range, which male will breed with a particular female and other possible confrontations, the smaller bear will usually give way to the bigger, more dominant bear. Asiatic black bears appear to be quite tolerant of each other and less likely to engage in major battles, even between two bears of relatively equal dominance. Female Asiatic black bears normally become sexually mature in their third year. Copulation takes place in a manner similar to members of the (canine) dog family.
Mating normally takes place over a one to two \Jday\j period in late April to early June. Reports indicate, however, that mating has been observed as early as March and as late as December. Females will normally breed every two to three years.
In Asiatic black bears, the growth of the embryo, which is formed immediately after a successful mating stops growing for a period of several months. This process is called delayed implantation. Sometime around the denning period, the free-floating embryo attaches itself to the uterine wall and then continues to grow. After a period of rapid growth lasting about eight weeks, the cubs will be born while the mother is still in \Jhibernation\j. If the mother has not put on enough fat reserves to last her through the winter, the embryo aborts and is absorbed by her body.
The female usually enters a rock cavity or hollow tree during winter or early spring. Normally, two cubs are born with four cubs being the maximum number of cubs observed. The health of the mother and the available food supply are important in determining how many cubs a sow will have. The cubs weigh approximately 370 grams (13 ounces).
The cubs' eyes open approximately one week after they are born. The cubs are able to walk within four to five weeks. Over the next several weeks, the cubs develop rapidly on the rich milk provided by the mother. They will then be able to follow her when she leaves the den to forage.
It is estimated that for every two Asiatic black bear cubs born, only one will survive to become a breeding adult bear. There are many dangers including predation by other bears, domestic dogs, tigers and wolves. Starvation, disease and accidents also claim the lives of many cubs.
The survival of the bear cubs is totally dependent on the skill of the mother. She must teach them to how to find, catch and eat specific foods; how to avoid danger; and many other skills.
Juvenile Asiatic black bears are still in extreme danger. Once they have been driven off by their mother, they must become rapidly self sufficient if they are to stay alive and find sufficient food to build up their fat reserves to last over the long winter. Occasionally, young bears will spend a period of time together after they have been driven off by their mothers.
\BDiet and Habitat\b
The Asiatic black bear still remains an active \Jcarnivore\j even though it has now adapted so that it eats both meat and plant material. They are opportunistic foragers who spend the majority of their time wandering in semi-predictable patterns to obtain food.
Asiatic black bears, like most wild creatures, seek foods which will return the highest nutritional value for the least expenditure of \Jenergy\j. They will readily kill other mammals both large and small. They are hated by farmers for the killing of local livestock. Where other mammals are not available to the bear, such as in \JJapan\j, they are able to subsist on a more plant-based diet. They will carry out their activities during both daylight and at night. However, where they are increasingly coming in contact with humans, they have developed into primarily nocturnal creatures or animals of the night.
Seasonal availability and geographic location are the biggest factors determining the supplementary food sources of the bears. Eating virtually anything edible, their diet also consists of termites, beetles, larvae, honey, fruits, nuts and berries.
The size of the home range of an individual Asiatic black bear will vary with the concentration of high \Jenergy\j food sources. Thus, the more concentrated the food sources, the smaller the range necessary to maintain an animal.
While information on the specific territorial habits of these bears is just coming to light, it is presumed that it will be similar in nature to that of the American black bear.
\BHibernation\b
In the northern parts of their range, Asiatic black bears hibernate as do all bears from the northern hemisphere. Normally, they will enter their dens in November and leave them in late March or early April. Prior to denning, Asiatic black bears try to gain as much weight as possible in order to survive \Jhibernation\j.
As colder \Jweather\j arrives, bears undergo many remarkable physiological changes in preparation for \Jhibernation\j. \JHibernation\j is an \Jenergy\j-saving process bears have developed to allow them to survive long periods when there is insufficient food available to maintain their body mass. It is a different type of \Jhibernation\j than that experienced by bats, marmots and a number of other small rodents. As they stop eating and become increasingly lethargic, the bears will enter a cave; dig out a den; or hole up in a dense brush pile, hollow log or tree cavity.
While hibernating, a bear's heart rate drops from between forty to seventy beats per minute to only eight to twelve beats per minute and its \Jmetabolism\j slows down by half. Unlike many other animals who hibernate, its body \Jtemperature\j only undergoes a minor reduction of 3 to 7 degrees \Jcentigrade\j (5 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit).
During the entire period of \Jhibernation\j, the Asiatic black bear will neither pass \Jurea\j or solid fecal waste. While \Jurea\j poisoning causing death would occur in all other animals, bears have developed a unique process of recycling the \Jurea\j into usable proteins.
During the \Jhibernation\j period, all bears lose a great deal of weight. Adult males and adolescent bears lose between 15 per cent and 30 per cent of their weight while it is not uncommon for a female cub with newborn cubs to have lost as much as 40 per cent of her weight.
The Asiatic black bear will then resume its normal foraging pattern as it completes the cycle of life.
Asiatic black bears living in more southern parts of their range may sleep only for short periods or simply descend from higher elevations to warmer valleys where they are able to continue feeding uninterrupted.
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"Asiatic wild horse",2261,0,0,0
EN See Przewalski's horse
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"Asimov, Isaac",2262,0,0,0
DT (1920-92)
EN writer, scientist; born in Petrovichi, \JRussia\j. He came to New York City at age three. A Columbia Ph.D., he taught biochemistry at \JBoston\j University School of Medicine after 1949. He was an author, lecturer, and broadcaster of legendary prolificacy and astonishing range, but is most admired as a popularizer of science \I(The Collapsing Universe\i (1977)) and a \Jscience fiction\j writer \I(I, Robot\i (1950)), \IThe Foundation Trilogy\i (1951-53)). He coined the term "robotics."
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"Asinius",2263,0,0,0
EN See Pollio, Gaius Asinius
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"Asities",2264,0,0,0
EN See Philepittidae
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"Aske, Robert",2265,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2 1537
EN English rebel leader, a Yorkshire attorney at Gray's Inn, who headed the Catholic rising known as the Pilgrimage of Grace in protest at \JHenry VIII\j's dissolution of the monasteries. He was hanged in York for \Jtreason\j.
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"Askew, Anne",2266,0,0,0
DT1 1521
DT2 46
EN Protestant martyr, born near \JGrimsby\j, North East Lincolnshire, EC England, UK. Early embracing the Reformed doctrines, in 1545 she was arrested on a charge of heresy. After examination and torture on the rack, she was burned at Smithfield.
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"Askey, Arthur",2267,0,0,0
HS , nickname \BBig-hearted Arthur\b
DT1 1900
DT2 82
EN Comedian, born in Liverpool, \JMerseyside\j, north-west England, UK. He made his professional debut in 1924, and became a leading comedian in summer seasons at British seaside resorts, achieving national recognition on radio with \IBand Wagon\i (from 1938). He used his smallness of stature (1.6┐m / 5┐ft 2┐in) in his humour, and cultivated a cheery manner. His twangy pronunciation of 'I thank you!' became a catchphrase.
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"Asmara or Asmera",2268,0,0,0
PN [as\Bme\bra]
EN 15░20N 38░58E, pop (1995e) 386 000. Capital of Eritrea; altitude 2350 m/7710 ft; occupied by Italians, 1889; regional capital, 1897; occupied by British, 1941; airport; university (1958); meat processing, distilling, textiles; cathedral (1922), mosque (1937), archaeological museum.
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"Asmoneans",2269,0,0,0
PN [azmo\Bnee\banz]
EN See \JMaccabees\j
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"Asoka or Ashoka",2270,0,0,0
PN [a\Bshoh\bka]
DT1 3
DT1b rd-c BC
EN King of India (c.264-238 BC), the last ruler of the Mauryan dynasty. After his invasion of the Kalin\dtga country, he renounced armed conquest and became a convert to \JBuddhism\j, which subsequently spread throughout India and beyond. He adopted a policy called \Idharma\i (principles of right life), advocating toleration, honesty, and kindness, and had his teachings engraved on rocks and pillars at certain sites. With his death the Mauryan empire declined and his work was discontinued.
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"asp",2271,0,0,0
EN A venomous African snake \I(Naja haje)\i of family Elapidae; Cleopatra is said to have committed suicide by forcing this species to bite her; also known as the \BEgyptian cobra.\b The name is also used for venomous African \Bburrowing asps\b \B(atractaspid snakes\b or \Bmole vipers)\b of family Colubridae, and for the European \IVipera aspis\i \B(European asp,\b \Basp viper,\b or \Baspic viper)\b of family Viperidae.
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"asparagus",2272,0,0,0
EN A perennial native to Europe and Asia; erect or spreading, some species climbers, all with feathery foliage; the true leaves reduced to tiny scales and replaced by tiny modified branches functioning as leaves; flowers tiny, white or yellow, bell- or star-shaped; berries green, red, or black. Young shoots of \IAsparagus officinalis\i are prized as a vegetable. \B(Genus:\b \IAsparagus,\i 300 species. \BFamily:\b Liliaceae.)
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"asparagus fern",2273,0,0,0
EN Not a fern, but a species of \Jasparagus\j \I(Asparagus setaceus),\i a perennial with feathery foliage commonly grown as a pot plant and florists' foliage plant. \B(Family:\b Liliaceae.)
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"Aspasia",2274,0,0,0
PN [a\Bspay\bzha]
DT1 5
DT1b th-c BC
EN Mistress of \JPericles\j, born in \JMiletus\j, Anatolia. Intellectual and vivacious, she was lampooned in Greek satire, but was held in high regard by \JSocrates\j and his followers, and was a great inspiration to \JPericles\j, who successfully defended her against a charge of impiety.
MEX \JPericles\j; \JSocrates\j
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"Aspdin, Joseph",2275,0,0,0
DT1 1779
DT2 1855
EN Bricklayer and inventor, born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. A stonemason by trade, in 1824 he patented what he called \IPortland cement,\i manufactured from clay and \Jlimestone\j.
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"aspect ratio",2276,0,0,0
EN In visual presentation, especially in cinema and \Jtelevision\j, the proportion of the picture width to its height, e.g. 4:3, often expressed with the height as unity, 1..33:1. It is usually abbreviated \BAR.\b
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"Aspel, Michael (Terence)",2277,0,0,0
DT1 1933
EN British broadcaster and writer. Following \Jnational service\j, he became a radio actor (1954) and a \Jtelevision\j announcer (1957), but came to public prominence as a \Jtelevision\j newsreader (1960--8). In 1968 he became a freelance broadcaster, known for his genial interviewing style in \IAspel and Company\i (1984--93) and as presenter of \IThis is Your Life\i (from 1988).
He writes regularly for magazines, and his books include one for children (\IHang On!\i, 1982) and an \Jautobiography\j (\IPolly Wants a Zebra\i, 1974).
\BMajor Works\b
\IBooks for Children\i
1982 Hang On!
1985 Child's Play (with Richard Hearsey)
\IAutobiography\i
1974 Polly Wants a Zebra
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"aspen",2278,0,0,0
EN A species of \Jpoplar\j \I(Populus tremula),\i also called \Btrembling aspen,\b because the greyish-green, rounded-to-ovoid leaves have flattened stalks, allowing the blades to flutter in the slightest breeze. The movement is accentuated by a flashing of the pale undersurface, giving the impression of constant movement. \B(Family:\b Salicaceae.)
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"Aspen Lodge",2279,0,0,0
EN See Camp David
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"Aspergillus",2280,0,0,0
PN [asper\Bjil\bus]
EN A \Jgenus\j of typically asexually reproducing \Jfungus\j that can cause food spoilage and produce disease in humans. (Subdivision: Ascomycetes. \BOrder:\b Eurotiales.)
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"asphalt",2281,0,0,0
EN A semi-solid bituminous residue of the \Jevaporation\j of \Jpetroleum\j (formed by slow \Jevaporation\j in nature or by distillation in industry). It is usually employed mixed with some solid mineral matter for roofing, road-making, etc. Many natural deposits (eg in Trinidad) have a natural mineral content.
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"asphodel",2282,0,0,0
PN [\Bas\bfodel]
EN The name applied to two related genera native to the Mediterranean region and Asia, with erect stems, narrow, grass-like leaves, and spikes of flowers each with six \Jperianth\j-segments. \IAsphodelus\i (12 species) has leaves V-shaped in cross-section, flowers white or pink. \IAsphodeline\i (15 species) has leaves triangular in cross-section, flowers yellow. \B(Family:\b Liliaceae.)
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"asphyxia",2283,0,0,0
EN Life-threatening interruption of the passage of air through the airways to the lungs. It is commonly due to physical obstruction from drawing into the upper respiratory tract such materials as vomit or \Jwater\j, as in drowning. It is also the result of strangulation, and of severe generalized disease of the lungs.
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"aspidistra",2284,0,0,0
EN An evergreen perennial \I(Aspidistra elatior),\i native to E Asia; leaves long-stalked, elliptical, leathery, lasting several years; flowers bell-shaped with a lid formed by the umbrella-shaped style, dull purple; borne at ground level and pollinated by slugs. It tolerates shade and \Jdrought\j, and is much favoured as a pot-plant. \B(Family:\b Liliaceae.)
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"Aspinall, Sir John (Audley Frederick)",2285,0,0,0
PN [\Bas\bpinawl]
DT1 1851
DT2 1937
EN Mechanical engineer, born in Liverpool, \JMerseyside\j, north-west England, UK. He rose from \Jlocomotive\j fireman to be chief mechanical engineer and general manager of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (1899-1919). He designed many types of locomotives and completed one of the first main-line railway electrification schemes in Britain, from Liverpool to Southport, in 1904.
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"aspirator",2286,0,0,0
Also known as a "pooter" (which rhymes with "scooter), or as an "inhalator", it is a small device for sucking up tiny animals without getting them into the throat or lungs of the collector. In general terms, the aspirator consists of a tube to suck on, with a piece of fine material over it to act as a filter, a larger chamber in which the insects or other animals may be held, and a second tube which is placed close to or over the target animal.
Aspirators are generally used to catch "dry" animals, since worms and other slimy animals tend to get stuck on the sides of the catching tube, but an aspirator can be used successfully to catch small \Jwater\j animals, so long as the \Jwater\j level in the catching chamber is monitored carefully (you don't want a mouthful of swamp \Jwater\j, do you?).
While your writer knows of no cases of diseases caused by the use of an aspirator, it should be noted that there are some fairly unpleasant \Jbacteria\j found in the soil and in leaf litter, including \ILegionella.\i Aspirators can also cause a sore throat when used to catch ants which release formic acid, or some millipedes (juliform diplopods) which secrete small amounts of hydrocyanic acid from a pore in their sixth segment. They are generally safe when used to catch insects attracted to a white sheet placed near a lamp at night.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid",2287,0,0,0
EN A very widely used drug effective against many types of minor pain (headache, \Jmenstruation\j, \Jneuralgia\j), \Jinflammation\j (it is frequently prescribed for rheumatoid diseases), and fever. It has more recently been discovered to prevent the formation of blood clots, and therefore to reduce the incidence of coronary and cerebral \Jthrombosis\j. The bark of the willow and certain other plants have been used for centuries in the cure of 'agues' (fever).
The active ingredient \Isalicin\i is the chemical precursor of aspirin. The German chemist Felix Hoffman (1868-1946) first synthesized aspirin, and it was introduced into medicine in 1899 by German pharmacologist Heinrich Dreser (1860-1924). It owes all its medicinal effects to its ability to prevent the synthesis of prostaglandins, a family of biologically active chemicals found throughout the body. A side-effect of taking aspirin may be gastric bleeding.
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"Asplund, Erik Gunnar",2288,0,0,0
DT1 1885
DT2 1940
EN Architect, born in Stockholm. He designed the Stockholm City Library (1924-7), and was responsible for most of the buildings in the Stockholm Exhibition of 1930. Their design was acclaimed for the imagination with which the architect used simple modern forms and methods, such as the \Jcantilever\j and glass walls.
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"Asquith, Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford",2289,0,0,0
DT1 1852
DT2 1928
EN British statesman and prime minister (1908-16), born in Morley, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. He studied at Oxford, was called to the bar in 1876, and was Liberal member for East Fife (1886-1918). He became home secretary (1892-5), Chancellor of the Exchequer (1905-8), and succeeded Campbell-Bannerman as prime minister. He introduced the Parliament Act of 1911, limiting the power of the \JHouse of Lords\j.
He was also confronted by the \Jsuffragette\j movement, the threat of \Jcivil war\j over Home Rule for Ireland, and the international crises which led to World War 1. In 1915 he headed a war coalition, but was ousted in 1916 by supporters of Lloyd George and others who thought his conduct of the war was not sufficiently vigorous. He lost his East Fife seat in 1918, then returned to the Commons as MP for Paisley in 1920.
His disagreements with Lloyd George weakened the Liberal Party, though he was later recognized as leader again (1923-6). He was created an earl in 1925.
MEX Campbell-Bannerman; Lloyd-George, David
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#
"ass",2290,0,0,0
EN A rare wild horse; small, long ears, short erect mane; pale grey or brown; inhabits drier terrain than other horse species; domesticated thousands of years ago for carrying loads; three species: the \BAfrican wild ass\b \I(Equus (Asinus) asinus); \i the \BAsiatic wild ass\b from S Asia \I(Equus (Asinus) hemionus,\i also called \Bonager,\b \Bkulan,\b and \Bhemione); \b and the \Bkiang\b \I(Equus (Asinus) kiang)\i from \JTibet\j. The modern \Idonkey\i (or \Iburro)\i is a domesticated form of the African wild ass. \B(Genus:\b \IEquus.\i Subgenus: \IAsinus.)\i
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"Assad, Hafez al-",2291,0,0,0
EN See Asad, Hafez al-
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#
"Assam",2292,0,0,0
PN [a\Bsam\b]
EN pop (1995e) 24 132 000; area 78 523 sq km/30 310 sq mi. State in E India, bounded NW by \JBhutan\j and SE by \JBangladesh\j; almost completely separated from India by \JBangladesh\j; important strategic role in World War 2, during Allied advance into \JBurma\j; unicameral legislature of 126 members; crossed by the R Brahmaputra; world's largest river island of Majuli is a pilgrimage centre; capital, Dispur; produces almost half of India's crude oil, oil refining, timber, tea, rice, jute, cotton, oilseeds.
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#
"Assamese",2293,0,0,0
EN See Indo-\JAryan\j languages
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#
"assassin bug",2294,0,0,0
EN A small, cone-nosed bug which mostly feeds on the body fluids of small arthropods. The immature stages often conceal themselves with debris and litter. Some suck the blood of vertebrates, and are important medically as carriers of Chagas' disease.
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"Assassin, The Great",2295,0,0,0
EN See Abd-ul-Hamid II
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#
"assault",2296,0,0,0
EN An attack upon the person of another, causing them to fear actual injury. Contact is not an essential ingredient of assault: threatening gestures can suffice. In common usage, and in some statutes and jurisdictions, the term \Iassault\i is used to include the related concept of \Ibattery.\i
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"assaying",2297,0,0,0
EN A chemical analysis which determines the amount of the principal or potent constituent of a mixture. The term usually implies the analysis of precious metals or drugs.
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"Asselyn, Jan",2298,0,0,0
PN [\Bas\blin]
DT1 1610
DT2 52
EN Painter, born in \JAmsterdam\j. He travelled to \JItaly\j, and became a successful painter of Italianate landscapes which depict imaginary Arcadian vistas inspired by the Roman countryside.
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#
"assemblage",2299,0,0,0
EN An imprecise term referring to art objects formed by sticking together bits and pieces to make a three-dimensional whole. Picasso's 'Glass of Absinthe' (1914) pioneered the technique; more recently the term has been stretched to include collages by Jean Dubuffet (1901-85), readymades by Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), and a variety of objects made from sacks, crushed automobiles, chairs, old clothes, etc by such artists as Robert Rauschenberg (1925-) and Edward Kienholz (1927-) .
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"Assemblies of God",2300,0,0,0
EN A Christian pentecostalist denomination formed in the USA and Canada in the early 20th-c. It promotes mission work all over the world, and believes \Jbaptism\j by the \JHoly Spirit\j to be evidenced by speaking in tongues.
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"assembly language",2301,0,0,0
EN A set of convenient mnemonics corresponding to the machine-code instructions of a specific central processor unit or \Jmicroprocessor\j, defined by the manufacturer. Assembly language is more convenient for the programmer than machine code, and is translated \B(assembled)\b into machine code by an \Bassembly program,\b usually known as an \Bassembler.\b
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"Asser",2302,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bser]
DT1 850
DT2 ?
DT2 909
EN Welsh scholar, bishop, and counsellor to Alfred the Great. He spent his youth in the monastic community at St David's. Gaining a reputation for scholarship, he was enlisted into the royal service by Alfred, and made Bishop of Sherborne sometime before 900. He is best known for his unfinished Latin \Jbiography\j of King Alfred.
MEX Alfred
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#
"Asser, Tobias (Michael Carel)",2303,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bser]
DT1 1838
DT2 1913
EN Jurist, born in \JAmsterdam\j. A professor of international law at \JAmsterdam\j (1862-93), he was a founder of the Institute of International Law in 1873. In 1911 he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Austrian pacifist \BAlfred Fried\b (1864-1921) for his work in creating the Permanent Court of \JArbitration\j at the Hague Peace Conference of 1899.
SX m
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#
"Assignats",2304,0,0,0
PN [aseenya]
EN Originally, paper bonds issued by the Constituent Assembly in \JFrance\j (1789). They were later (1790) accepted as currency notes, in view of the shortage of coin, until the abolition of paper currency in 1797.
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"Assisi, Francis of, St",2305,0,0,0
EN See Francis of Assisi, St
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#
"assistance dogs",2306,0,0,0
EN Dogs which are trained to assist people with various handicaps, such as the Guide Dogs for the Blind. Dogs are also trained to help deaf people (Hearing Dogs for the Deaf) and the wheelchair-bound, especially paraplegics (Dogs for the Disabled).
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"Assize Court",2307,0,0,0
EN A legal system in England and Wales, dating from the time of Henry II, which was abolished by the Courts Act, 1971. Assize Courts were presided over by High Court judges, who travelled on circuit to hear criminal and civil cases. The functions of Assize Courts continue to be exercised by High Court judges sitting in Crown Courts throughout England and Wales.
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"Associated Press (AP)",2308,0,0,0
EN An international news agency, with headquarters in New York City. Founded in 1848, it is the world's largest news-gathering co-operative, owned by US newspaper and broadcasting companies. In addition to its general news and photo service, AP provides, with Dow Jones & Co, a specialized economic and financial news service.
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"associated state",2309,0,0,0
EN A former colony that has a free and voluntary arrangement with the UK as the former colonial power. The state enjoys the right of self-government, but recognizes the British sovereign as head. The concept was introduced for states (eg Antigua, \JGrenada\j) wishing to be independent, but economically unable to support themselves.
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"association",2310,0,0,0
EN See \Jdissociation\j
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#
"Association football",2311,0,0,0
HS (also known as \Bsoccer)\b
EN An 11-a-side team game played on a grass or synthetic pitch (or field) measuring 90-120┐m / 100-130┐yd in length, and 45-90┐m / 50-100┐yd wide. At each end of the field is a goal net measuring 8┐yd (7.3┐m) wide by 8┐ft (2.4┐m) high. The object is to move the ball around the field, with the feet or head, until a player is in a position to put the ball into the net and score a goal. The goalkeeper defends the goal, and he is the only person allowed to touch the ball with his hands while it is in play, provided he touches it within his specifically defined area.
The ancient Greeks, Chinese, Egyptians and Romans all played a form of football. In the early 19th-c it became an organized game in Britain, and was played in most universities and public schools. Standard rules were drawn up at Cambridge University in 1848, and 1863 the Football Association was formed. The first FA Cup final was played in 1872. Professionalism increased amongst northern clubs, and the game was legalized in 1885. The Football League was formed in 1888.
The world governing body, the FΘdΘration Internationale de Football Association (\JFIFA\j), was formed in Paris in 1904. The first World Cup was organized in Uruguay in 1930. The European governing body, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), was formed in 1954, and it controls the major European club competitions.
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"Association of Caribbean States",2312,0,0,0
EN An association created by 25 Caribbean basin countries in 1994, with the aim of promoting a common approach to regional economic and political issues. It included the members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). It had 21 members in 1996.
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"Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)",2313,0,0,0
EN An association formed in 1967 to promote economic co-operation between \JIndonesia\j, \JMalaysia\j, the \JPhilippines\j, \JSingapore\j, and \JThailand\j. \JBrunei\j joined in 1984 and Vietnam in 1995; Laos assumed observer status in 1992.
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"associative operation",2314,0,0,0
EN In \Jmathematics\j, the principle that the order in which successive operations are performed does not affect the result; for example (2┐+┐3)┐+┐4┐=┐2┐+┐(3┐+┐4). An operation * is associative over a set \IS\i if \Ia\i *\I(b*c)\i =\I(a*b)\i*\Ic\i for all \Ia,\i\Ib,\i\Ic\i in \IS.\i Over the set of real numbers, addition and multiplication are associative; subtraction and division are not.
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"assonance",2315,0,0,0
EN See alliteration
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#
"Assumption",2316,0,0,0
EN The claim concerning the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ, that on her death she was 'assumed' (taken up, body and soul) to heaven. This was believed by some Christians in the ancient Church, widely accepted thereafter in Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and defined by Pope Pius XII as an article of faith in 1950.
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"assurance",2317,0,0,0
EN Chiefly in the UK, a general term for insurance related to a person's life. In exchange for recurrent or lump-sum premiums, the insurance company guarantees a fixed sum on the policy-holder's death, or at some agreed date if they survive. Such policies may be \Iwithout profits,\i ie for a fixed sum, or \Iwith profits,\i in which case the amount received reflects the company's success in investing the premiums.
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"Assurbanipal or Ashurbanipal",2318,0,0,0
PN [asoorbanipal]
DT1 7
DT1b th-c BC
EN King of \JAssyria\j (668-627 BC), the last of the great Assyrian kings, the son of Esarhaddon and grandson of \JSennacherib\j. A patron of the arts, he founded at \JNineveh\j the first systematically gathered and organized library in the \JMiddle East\j, containing a vast number of texts on numerous subjects copied from temple libraries throughout his empire.
MEX Esarhaddon; Sardanapalus; \JSennacherib\j
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"Assyria",2319,0,0,0
PN [a\Bsi\bria]
EN The name given first to the small area around the town of Assur on the Tigris in Upper \JMesopotamia\j, and then much later to the vast empire that the rulers of Assur acquired through conquering their neighbours on all sides. At its height in the 9th-c and 8th-c BC, the Assyrian Empire stretched from the E Mediterranean to \JIran\j, and from the Persian Gulf as far N as the mountains of E Turkey. The empire was destroyed in an uprising of Medes and Babylonians in 612 BC.
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"Assyrian architecture",2320,0,0,0
EN See Sumerian and Assyrian \Jarchitecture\j
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#
"Assyrian art",2321,0,0,0
EN The art associated with \JAssyria\j, dating from c.1500 BC, to the destruction of \JNineveh\j (612 BC). Stylistically akin to Babylonian art, the best-known examples are the gigantic stone winged and human-headed lions which guarded entrances, and the wall decorations in the form of stone bas reliefs, originally painted, representing battles and hunting-scenes.
Human figures tend to be stylized somewhat in the Egyptian manner, but animals are beautifully drawn in lively movement. There is an extensive collection in the British Museum.
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"Astaire, Fred",2322,0,0,0
DT (1899-1987)
EN actor, dancer, choreographer, singer; born in Omaha, Nebr. He began dance lessons at the age of five, and by the time he was seven he was touring the \Jvaudeville\j circuit with his sister Adele as his dance partner. In 1917 they made their Broadway debut in the musical \IOver the Top.\i
When Adele married, Fred was on his own, and made his first film appearance with Joan Crawford in \IDancing Lady\i (1933). Then he was paired with Ginger Rogers in \IFlying Down to Rio\i (1933), and they went on to make 9 more musical films, revolutionizing the film musical with an assortment of original and innovative routines. After Rogers turned to dramatic roles, Astaire made more dance films with several partners.
Although not so widely appreciated as a singer, his breezy renditions of certain period pieces are classics of their kind. The urbane, exuberant, sophisticated dancer turned to drama in 1959, in \IOn the Beach,\i and continued in serious roles, winning an Emmy for \IA Family Upside Down\i (1978). He was the winner of a special Oscar (1949).
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"Astarte",2323,0,0,0
PN [a\Bstah(r)\btay]
EN See Ishtar
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#
"Astbury, John",2324,0,0,0
HS , known as \BAstbury of Shelton\b
DT1 1688
DT2 1743
EN Potter, probably born in Staffordshire, C England, UK. In the early 18th-c he established a factory in Shelton, Staffordshire, where he developed a distinctive type of earthenware pottery known as \IAstbury ware.\i His style was continued by his son \BThomas Astbury\b from c.1725.
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#
"Astbury, William Thomas",2325,0,0,0
DT1 1889
DT2 1961
EN X-ray crystallographer, born in Longton, Staffordshire, C England, UK. He studied at Cambridge and London, and from 1945 held the new chair of biomolecular structure at Leeds. Using X-ray \Jdiffraction\j photographs, his pioneering studies on protein fibres laid the basis for much later work. He probably coined the phase \Imolecular \Jbiology\j; \i and with Florence Bell in 1938 offered the first hypothetical structure for the key genetic material DNA.
SX m
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#
"aster",2326,0,0,0
EN A member of a large group of mainly perennials from America, Eurasia, and Africa; flower-heads daisy-like, usually in clusters; outer ray florets blue, purple, pink, or white, often autumn or late-summer flowering. Several are popular ornamentals. \B(Genus:\b \IAster,\i 250 species. \BFamily:\b Compositae.)
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"asterism",2327,0,0,0
EN A conspicuous or memorable group of stars, smaller than a \Jconstellation\j. An example is the Plough.
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"asteroids",2328,0,0,0
EN Rocky objects generally found in orbits lying between those of Mars and Jupiter, formerly called \Bminor planets\b (a term now rarely used). This 'main belt' of \Jasteroids\j has its inner edge c.100 million┐km / 60 million┐mi outside Mars' orbit, and is c.165 million┐km / 100 million┐mi wide. Only a few are large enough to have visible discs (hence the name, meaning 'starlike'), so most sizes are inferred. The orbits of c.5000 of the larger \Jasteroids\j are known.
The first asteroid, Ceres (diameter 940┐km / 580┐mi) was discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi (1746-1826) in 1801, and has an orbital period of 4.6 years. Other large \Jasteroids\j are Pallas (590┐km / 370┐mi), Vesta (580┐km / 360┐mi), Hygiea (430┐km / 270┐mi), Interamnia (340┐km / 210┐mi), Davida (320┐km / 200┐mi), and Cybele (310┐km / 190┐mi).
Asteroids are classified according to telescopically measured visible and near-infrared colours, inferences about their composition being based on a comparison with \Jmeteorite\j types. \IC\i types are thought to be analogous to carbonaceous meteorites; \IS\i types are thought to be composed of silicates mixed with nickel / iron; and \IM\i types are thought to be metallic (nickel / iron); there are also several unclassified \Jasteroids\j.
They are believed to have originated in the formation of the \JSolar System\j, when planetesimals accreted from solar nebula. The more primitive carbonaceous \Jasteroids\j may have evolved little since then, while the other types may have been parts of larger bodies first accreted and later broken up by collisions. Recently a few dozen small (few km-diameter) \Jasteroids\j have been discovered in highly elliptical orbits that come inside the orbit of Mars, some crossing the orbit of Earth - the Apollo, Amor, and Aten families.
The total number of near-Earth \Jasteroids\j is thought to be over 1000; these, and the larger number of unseen boulder-size objects, may collide with the Earth and Moon periodically. Such \Jasteroids\j are relatively easy to visit by \Jspacecraft\j, and may in the future represent economically useful resources for an expanding space economy. The first flyby of a main-belt asteroid, Gaspra, was achieved by NASA's \JGalileo\j \Jspacecraft\j, on its way to Jupiter, in October 1991.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The asteroid belt has gaps in it, caused by \Jresonance\j effects from Jupiter. Similar gaps exist in Saturn's rings, due to the \Jresonance\j effects of shepherd moons. These cleared spaces are called Kirkwood gaps.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"asthenosphere",2329,0,0,0
PN [as\Bthee\bnosfeer]
EN The Earth's upper mantle, extending from the base of the \Jlithosphere\j at c.100┐km / 60┐mi down to 700┐km / 430┐mi below the surface. A seismic discontinuity defines the boundary between the upper and lower mantle. The \Jasthenosphere\j is considerably less rigid than the \Jlithosphere\j above.
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"asthma",2330,0,0,0
EN A condition in which there is narrowing and obstruction of the airways (\Jbronchi\j and bronchioles) which in the early stages is paroxysmal and reversible. Narrowing results from the contraction of the bronchial muscles, and is an exaggerated response in hypersensitive individuals to various allergens. Common amongst these are \Jpollen\j, house dust, and the detritus of house mites that inhabit mattresses, etc.
Psychological factors and chest infection contribute in some cases. The first attacks may occur at any age, but are usually early in life. They commonly consist of sudden episodes of breathlessness, with wheezing which may last several hours or days. In rare cases, severe persistent asthmatic attacks may be fatal, especially if treatment is delayed.
In most patients, treatment involves periodic inhalation of one or more of several available drugs which relax the bronchioles or damp down any \Jinflammation\j. Exposure to the causative \Jantigen\j, if known, should be avoided.
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"astigmatism",2331,0,0,0
EN In vision, an actual asymmetry in the optical system of the eye, so that the eye's ability to focus horizontal and vertical lines is different. In \Joptics\j, the term refers to \Jaberrations\j of a \Jlens\j image due to the position of an object off the \Jlens\j axis.
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"Astley, Philip",2332,0,0,0
DT 1742-1814
EN English equestrian and circus manager. On leaving the cavalry, he opened a riding school outside London (1768), where he combined equestrianism with clowns and tumblers to constitute the first true circus. In 1788 he erected his Royal Amphitheatre and began staging plays without a licence, until forced by the authorities to close; he had already built his cirque in Paris, which prospered from 1782 to 89.
The \JFrench Revolution\j forced him home. In 1804 he rebuilt his London Amphitheatre to seat 2,500 spectators, and then built the Olympic Pavilion at a cost of ú800. It lost ú10,000 in its first season. (See also hippodrama.)
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"Astley, Thea",2333,0,0,0
DT1 1925
EN Novelist and short-story writer, born in Brisbane, \JQueensland\j, \JAustralia\j. Educated in \JQueensland\j, she was brought up a Roman Catholic, and much of her writing has been influenced by her Catholicism and the environment of N \JQueensland\j. She has won the prestigious Miles Franklin Award three times, for novels including \IThe Slow Natives\i (1965) and \IThe Acolyte\i (1972).
An acute observer of contemporary \JAustralia\j, and a skilled satirist, her novels often focus on misfits, and attack the narrow-mindedness of middle-class life. In 1979 she published a collection of related short stories, \IHunting the Wild Pineapple\i, and in 1980 retired from Macquarie University to write full time, her works since then including \IReaching Tin River\i (1990) and \IVanishing Points\i (1992). In 1996 she won the Age Book of the Year award for \IThe Multiple Effects of Rainshadow\i.
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1958 Girl with a Monkey
1960 A Descant for Gossips
1962 The Well-Dressed Explorer
1965 The Slow Natives
1968 A Boat Load of Home Folk
1972 The Acolyte
1974 A Kindness Cup
1982 An Item from the Late News
1985 Beach-masters
1989 Reaching Tin River
1990 Slow Nature
1992 Vanishing Points
1996 The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow
\IStories\i
1979 Hunting the Wild Pineapple
1987 It's Raining for Mango
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#
"Aston, Anthony (Matt Medley)",2334,0,0,0
DT c.1682-c.1753
EN English actor- manager. He was a strolling player with Doggett in the provinces and in Ireland in the late 1690s. His first play, Love in a Hurry, was performed in 1709. In 1710 he began performing the medleys for which he became famous. These were touring variety shows of short plays, scenes, songs and dances performed by Aston and members of his family, and their success earned him the nickname Matt Medley.
In 1735 he campaigned successfully against the proposed Playhouse Bill, which would have strengthened the power of the patent companies against shows like his. His play The Fool's Opera contains an autobiographical sketch.
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"Aston, Francis (William)",2335,0,0,0
DT (1877-1945)
EN British chemical physicist: invented mass spectrograph.
After graduating in chemistry in Birmingham, Aston worked for 3 years as a chemist in a nearby brewery. In his leisure at home he designed and made an improved vacuum \Jpump\j and in 1903 he returned to physics as a career, working on discharge tubes in Birmingham and, from 1909, in Cambridge as J J Thomson's assistant.
They worked on the 'positive rays' which Thomson had found to be generated within one part of a vacuum tube through which an electric discharge is passed. Aston and Thomson believed that their experiments on positive rays from tubes containing neon gas showed it to contain atoms with masses of about 20 and 22 units. Proof of this, and extension of the work, was interrupted by the First World War.
Aston's war work at the Royal \JAircraft\j Establishment linked him with a talented group of physicists, including Lindemann, Taylor, Adrian, G P Thomson and H Glauert (1892-1934). Soon after the war he devised a mass spectrograph which was able to separate atoms of similar mass and measure these masses accurately (his third spectrograph to 1 in 10\U5\u; 1 in 10\U9\u is now easily available on commercial machines).
Aston showed clearly that over 50 elements consisted of atoms of similar but different relative atomic mass (eg for S; 32, 33 and 34) but the same atomic number (ie nuclear charge). The Aston rule is that the masses are approximately \Jintegers\j; the apparent deviations of relative atomic masses of the elements from \Jintegers\j results from the presence of \Jisotopes\j.
Aston found that isotopic masses are not exactly integral (by about 1%) and he related the discrepancy (the 'packing fraction') to the force binding the nucleus together. Atomic \Jenergy\j generation from nuclear reactions, on Earth or in the stars, can be calculated from packing fractions.
The modern mass spectrograph has played a central part in nuclear physics and radiochemistry, and more recently in exact analysis in \Jorganic chemistry\j. Aston was a 'one device' investigator, but he chose a device whose value has been immense.
He was a shy man, a poor teacher, with a passion for sports and for sea travel. He won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1922.
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"Astor (of Hever), John Jacob Astor, Baron",2336,0,0,0
DT1 1886
DT2 1971
EN Newspaper proprietor, born in New York City, New York, USA, the son of William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount. He studied at Oxford, was aide-de-camp to the viceroy of India (1911-14), and was elected MP for Dover in 1922. He became chairman of the Times Publishing Company after the death of Lord Northcliffe, resigning his directorship in 1962.
MEX Astor, 1st Viscount
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"Astor Place Opera House",2337,0,0,0
EN (New York) Situated on Broadway at East 9th St and Astor Place, the theatre was notorious for the riot which broke out in 1849, triggered by the feud between the English star W.C. Macready and the American star Edwin Forrest, and by anti-English sentiment among the local Irish populace. The militia, called in to quell the riot, fired at the crowd. Thirty- one people were killed and 150 wounded. The theatre was renamed, and eventually torn down in 1891.
BK Thea
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"Astor, (Roberta) Brooke",2338,0,0,0
HS , \InΘe\i \BRussell\b
DT1 ?
DT1 1902
EN Socialite, philanthropist, and writer, born in Portsmouth, NH. Largely self-educated, she was a magazine journalist and the author of four books. She married three times (once divorced, twice widowed). Her third husband, \BVincent Astor,\b left her with a fortune that allowed her to become a philanthropist of major proportions. She awarded an average of 100 grants a year ($9 million a year) to civic projects, social projects, and cultural institutions in New York City. The New York Public Library, where she served as a trustee, was one of her major beneficiaries.
EN British politician, born in New York City, New York, USA, the son of William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount. He studied at Oxford, and was elected MP for Plymouth in 1910. On passing to the \JHouse of Lords\j in 1919 he became parliamentary secretary to the local government board (later the Ministry of Health) and his wife, Nancy Astor, succeeded him in the lower house. He was proprietor of \IThe Observer.\i
MEX Astor, Nancy
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#
"Astor, John Jacob (1763-1848)",2340,0,0,0
DT (1763-1848)
EN fur trader, real estate investor, millionaire; born in Waldorf, near Heidelberg, \JGermany\j. He moved to England at age 16 and then to New York City (1784). He worked at various jobs but soon entered the fur trade and had his own business by 1786. The leading merchant in the North American fur trade by 1800, he gained access to the China trade and invested heavily in New York City real estate. He combined all his fur holdings into the American Fur Company (1808).
He planned the Astoria colony in Oregon (1811) but sold the property when it was threatened by the \JWar of 1812\j. His Manhattan real estate continued to prosper and he sold his fur interests in 1834. He administered his estate wisely and at his death, his worth was at least $20 million, making him the wealthiest man in America. Among his most far-reaching bequests was $350,000 to found a public library in New York City. (The famous New York City hotel named after him, the Waldorf-Astoria, carries on the names of two hotels originally built by his grandsons.)
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#
"Astor, John Jacob (1864-1912)",2341,0,0,0
DT (1864-1912)
EN financier, inventor; born in Rhinebeck, N.Y. (great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, 1763-1848). He built the Astoria section of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 1897. He served in the Spanish-American War. He invented a \Jbicycle\j brake and an improved \Jturbine\j engine. He went down with the \ITitanic\i after a notable display of courage and gallantry.
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#
"Astor, Mary",2342,0,0,0
HS , originally \BLucille Langhanke\b
DT1 1906
DT2 87
EN Film actress, born in Quincy, IL. She made her film debut in \IThe Beggar Maid\i (1921) and was soon established as a beautiful innocent in such historical dramas as \IBeau Brummell\i (1924) and \IDon Juan\i (1926). She won an Oscar for \IThe Great Lie\i (1941, with Bette Davis). Later roles included \IMeet Me in St Louis\i (1944) and \IReturn to Peyton Place\i (1961), and she was also active on stage and \Jtelevision\j.
EN Viscountess, politician; born in Danville, Va. In 1906 she married the 2nd Viscount Astor, to whose seat in Britain's Parliament she succeeded (Conservative, 1919-45). The first woman to sit in the \JHouse of Commons\j, she promoted temperance and women's rights and wrote an early \Jautobiography\j, \IMy Two Countries\i (1923).
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#
"Astor, William Backhouse",2344,0,0,0
DT (1792-1875)
EN financier; born in New York City (son of John Jacob Astor, 1763-1848). He worked as a clerk for his father, and upon the latter's death, he became the richest man in the U.S.A. He continued the family practice of dealing in New York City real estate and was known as the "landlord of New York." He added to his father's bequest to the Astor Library, which was later absorbed into the main branch of the New York Public Library.
BK AmBg
#
"Astor, William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount",2345,0,0,0
DT1 1848
DT2 1919
EN Newspaper proprietor, born in New York City, a great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, the fur trader. Defeated in the election for governor of New York State (1881), he was US minister to \JItaly\j (1882-5). He emigrated to Britain in 1892 and bought the \IPall Mall Gazette\i and \IPall Mall Magazine.\i He became a British citizen in 1899, bought \IThe Observer\i in 1911, and was made a viscount in 1917.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Astorga, Emanuele, Baron d'",2346,0,0,0
PN [a\Bstaw(r)\bga]
DT1a c.
DT1 1680
DT2 1757
EN Composer, born in Agosta, \JItaly\j. He composed numerous chamber cantatas and some operas, but is best known for his \IStabat Mater\i (1707).
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Astrakhan",2347,0,0,0
PN [astra\Bkhahn\b]
EN 46░22N 48░04E, pop (1995e) 516 000. Capital city of \JAstrakhan\j oblast, SE European \JRussia\j; on a huge island in the Volga delta; altitude, 22 m/72 ft below sea-level; protected from floods by 75 km/47 mi of dykes; founded, 13th-c; the most important port in the Volga--Caspian basin; airport; railway; university (1919); fishing, fish processing, metalwork, chemicals, textiles, foodstuffs, river vessels; major transshipment centre for oil, fish, grain, wood; known for \Jastrakhan\j fur; \JKremlin\j fortress (16th-c).
BK Geog99
#
"astral projection",2348,0,0,0
EN The popular interpretation of an out-of-the-body experience in which it is believed that the person's consciousness is contained in a non-physical 'astral body' which temporarily separates from the physical body. People reporting such an experience have said that they can witness events in the vicinity of their astral body (when they claim it is in a different location from their physical body), although the validity of such claims has yet to be established.
BK a
#
"astrobiology",2349,0,0,0
EN See exobiology
BK a
XCY y
#
"astrodome",2350,0,0,0
EN An open space or building covered by a vast translucent plastic dome; usually a sports centre or arena. The first and most famous example is the eponymous \JAstrodome\j, Houston, TX (1964), officially known as the Harris County Domed Municipal Stadium, architects Lloyd Jones Brewer and Wilson Morris Crain Anderson.
BK a
#
"astrolabe",2351,0,0,0
PN [\Bas\btrolayb]
EN An ancient instrument (c.200 BC) for showing the positions of the Sun and bright stars at any time and date. If fitted with sights, it was also used for measuring the altitude above the horizon of celestial objects, and in this mode was a 15th-c forerunner of the \Jsextant\j.
BK a
#
"astrology",2352,0,0,0
EN A system of knowledge whereby human nature can be understood in terms of the heavens. It relies upon precise measurement and a body of \Jsymbolism\j which has come to be associated with each of the signs of the zodiac and the planets (including the Sun and Moon). It rests on a foundation of ancient philosophy, particularly on the idea that the force which patterns the heavens likewise orders humanity.
As with religion, it is a source of both trivial \Jsuperstition\j and profound insight. The most significant stages in the development of \Jastrology\j took place in the first millennium BC in \JMesopotamia\j and \JGreece\j. From there it spread worldwide, developing distinct branches and great variation in method. It blossomed most in those periods representing peaks of cultural achievement - Classical \JGreece\j, Renaissance Europe, and Elizabethan England.
Today it thrives in several Eastern countries, and in the West is undergoing something of a rebirth, though the modern emphasis is on self-knowledge rather than on predicting events. \JAstrology\j is the mother of \Jastronomy\j, although the two parted company in the 17th-c.
BK a
#
"astrometry",2353,0,0,0
EN See \Jastronomy\j
BK a
XCY y
#
"astronaut",2354,0,0,0
EN The NASA term for a \Jspacecraft\j crew member; originally applied to pilots, but now including scientists and payload specialists. Over 80 crewed missions were carried out to the end of 1991. The longest flight duration was 84 days by the Skylab 4 crew. Fifteen US women had flown in space; and 10 astronauts had lost their lives in accidents directly related to spaceflight. By the beginning of 1993, the cumulative crew time in space was over 2700 crew days.
BK a
#
"Astronomer Royal",2355,0,0,0
EN Formerly the title of the director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, England. Since 1972, it has been an honorary title awarded to a distinguished British astronomer. The title of \BAstronomer Royal for Scotland\b is held by the director of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh.
BK a
#
"astronomical unit (AU)",2356,0,0,0
EN The mean distance of the Earth from the Sun, c.149.6 million┐km / 93┐million┐mi (precise value, 149.597870╫10\U9\u┐m); a convenient measure of distance within the \JSolar System\j. Mean distances of other planets from the Sun are: Mercury 0.39┐AU, Venus 0.72┐AU, Mars 1.52┐AU, Jupiter 5.2┐AU, Saturn 9.6┐AU, Uranus 19┐AU, Earth 1┐AU, Neptune 30┐AU, Pluto 40┐AU. There are 63┐240┐AU in one light year.
BK a
#
"astronomy",2357,0,0,0
People have always gazed in wonder at the Sun, Moon, and stars, but \Jastronomy\j can be said to have really started when the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and Chinese dragooned the stars into constellations around 3000 ¼BC. \JAstronomy\j provided the calendar for ancient civilizations. The helical rising of the star \JSirius\j and the passage of the Sun through the equinoxes defined the year of 365 days. The time between similar lunar phases led to the month. The interval between new, first quarter, full, and last quarter Moon became the week. And the fact that there were about 12 lunar months in a year triggered the division of night and day into 12 intervals - the hours. Hipparchus of Nicaea accurately measured the length of the seasons, discovered the precession of the Earth's spin axis, and produced the first catalogue of 1080 star positions.
The accurate measurement of size and distance started with Eratosthenes of Cyrene, who obtained excellent values for the radius of the spherical Earth, and Aristarchus of \JSamos\j who used \Jeclipse\j timing to measure the Earth--Moon distance. Unfortunately Aristarchus obtained an Earth--Moon value that was a mere 5% of its true value. Aristotle introduced the first practical proofs that the Earth was spherical, but he also dogmatically insisted that the sphere was the perfect solid shape, and the sphericity of heavenly bodies and orbits convinced him that the heavens were a region of perfection and as such were unchangeable. This distinction between a perfect heaven and a corruptible Earth survived for nearly 2000 years.
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn were the five known planets, and the explanation of their complicated path amongst the fixed stars provided a challenging intellectual exercise. Eudoxus of Cnidus (c.408--355 ¼BC) not only had a spherical spinning Earth at the centre of the universe, but he also introduced a mathematical scheme to explain the motion of the Sun, Moon, and planets. Each was given a series of transparent crystal spheres. The axis of each sphere was embedded in the next sphere out. By a judicious choice of 26 spheres with different axis directions and spin periods, the planetary motion could be modelled. Claudius Ptolemaeus of Alexandria revised the system using eccentric and epicyclic circles that combined two perfect spherical motions of differing periods and amplitudes. This complicated, workable, and intellectually satisfying system was in vogue for nearly 1400 years.
Little progress was made between ¼AD 200 and 1500. Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish monk, suggested that the Sun-at-centre (heliocentric) model for the \JSolar System\j would be simpler than its Earth-centred (geocentric) successor. His book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (1450, On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) set out methods for calculating the size of the system and predicting the motion of the planets. The Copernican model was at the centre of one of the most violent intellectual controversies the world had known, and it took a century or two for the truth to be accepted. It became clear that verification required the accurate measurement of stellar and planetary positions, and this task fell to the Danish astronomer, Tycho Brahe. Brahe improved the accuracy by a factor of nearly 20. He also collected together a vast number of planetary positional observations, and these prepared the way for the work of Johannes Kepler. Kepler discovered that planets had elliptical orbits, and the Sun was at the focus of these ellipses. He also introduced a relationship between the orbital size and period. These three laws formed the connecting link between the geometrical makeshifts of Copernicus and the ancients, and the gravitational discoveries of Isaac Newton.
Galileo Galilei made a series of spectacular discoveries by observing the sky through a \Jtelescope\j. His 1609--10 observations of the four major satellites of Jupiter and the phases of Venus firmly established the Copernican doctrine. His measurements of the height of lunar mountains and the rotation of the Sun, as exhibited by the movements of the sunspots, broke the bonds of Aristotelian perfection. Telescopes quickly improved. Jeremiah Horrocks observed a transit of Venus across the solar disc; Johannes Hevelius constructed lunar charts; Christiaan Huygens discovered the true nature of Saturn's rings; and Giovanni Cassini discovered a gap in these rings and four Saturnian satellites.
In 1687 Isaac Newton published Principia, and at a stroke unified celestial and terrestrial science. His gravitational force, proportional to the product of the masses divided by the square of the distances, not only explained the fall of an apple, but also the \Jorbit\j of the Moon and planets, and Kepler's three laws. Newton used gravitation to measure the mass of the Sun. He also calculated the \Jorbit\j of a \Jcomet\j. Edmond Halley continued this cometary work; he not only showed that comets were periodic but also accurately predicted the 1759 return of "his' \Jcomet\j, thus confirming Newton's breakthrough. Halley mapped the S sky and discovered that stars moved. Over many centuries the closer stars moved against a background of the more distant ones. The first modern star catalogue was produced by John Flamsteed.
By his discovery of binary stars, William Herschel showed that Newton's laws extended throughout the observable universe. Herschel also discovered the \Jplanet\j Uranus (in 1781) and estimated the shape of the \JMilky Way\j galaxy. Astrophysics dawned when Joseph von Fraunhofer catalogued the dark lines in the \JSolar System\j. The scale of the universe started to be established when Friedrich Bessel measured (in 1838) the distance to the star 61 Cygni. And Newtonian gravitation had a crowning distinction when John Couch Adams and Urbain Le Verrier used gravitational perturbation analysis to predict the position of Neptune, which was discovered in 1846.
The foundations of astronomical \Jspectroscopy\j were laid in 1859 when Gustave Kirchoff correctly interpreted the process responsible for the Fraunhofer lines in the solar spectrum. Stellar spectra were first classified by Pietro Angelo Secchi, and this was greatly developed by Edward Pickering at Harvard. Variations on the stellar spectra were caused by changes in surface \Jtemperature\j. William Huggins not only showed that the Earth, stars, and planets were made from the same atoms, but he also used Doppler shifts to measure the movement of astronomical objects. Joseph Norman Lockyer inaugurated solar physics by measuring the spectra of solar prominences at the time of total \Jeclipse\j. The work of Walter Maunder (1851--1926) on the variability of solar activity and George Hale on solar magnetism continued this advance.
In 1866 Giovanni Schiaparelli demonstrated the connection between the comets and \Jmeteor\j showers, and also noticed (in 1877) "canals' on Mars. This sparked a great increase in planetary observational work under the guidance of people such as Percival Lowell. Pluto was discovered in 1930.
During the late 19th-c photography played a large role in the advancement of \Jastronomy\j. The first photograph of a star was taken in 1850. Solar prominences were photographed in 1870, a stellar spectrum in 1872, the nebula M 42 in 1880, and the \JMilky Way\j in 1889. 1891 and 1892 saw the photographic discovery of an asteroid and a \Jcomet\j. The source of solar \Jenergy\j and the age of the Earth were also topics of great interest in the late 19th-c. Albert Einstein's theory of mass-\Jenergy\j commensurability pointed to the answer, but astronomers had to wait until 1938 for the detailed solution put forward by Hans Bethe.
In 1904 Jacobus Kapteyn (1851--1922) initiated important research into the motion of stars in the \JMilky Way\j, and the size of the Galaxy was defined by the work of Harlow Shapley on the distribution of star clusters. This relied on the discovery of the period-luminosity relationship in \JCepheid variable\j stars by Henrietta Swan Leavitt.
Around 1914 Ejnar Hertzsprung and Henry Russell modified and extended the classification of stellar spectra. Knowing stellar distances, they were able to introduce what was to become known as the Hertzsprung--Russell diagram. This not only stressed that there were giant and dwarf stars, but also acted as the basis for studies of the finite lifetime of stars and their \Jevolution\j. Great strides in the study of stellar interiors were made by Arthur Eddington. In 1916 he discovered that stellar \Jenergy\j transport was by radiation as opposed to convection, and that stellar equilibrium depended on radiation pressure as well as gas pressure and gravitation. His model of the interior of a typical star indicated that the central \Jtemperature\j was tens of millions of degrees. In 1924 he found that the luminosity of a star depended almost exclusively on its mass. In the mid-1920s, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (1900--79) showed that the major constituents of stars were \Jhydrogen\j and \Jhelium\j. Fred Hoyle and William Fowler put forward a theory showing how nuclear fusion synthesized all the other elements in the centre of stars.
The ever-increasing size of astronomical telescopes enabled detailed \Jspectroscopy\j to be applied to fainter and fainter objects. Edwin Hubble not only discovered (in 1924) that extra-galactic nebulae were galaxies like our own but, together with Vesto Melvin Slipher, measured their radial velocities and, in 1929, discovered that the universe was expanding.
Cosmology, the study of the origin of the universe, became a popular subject, with the "\Jbig bang\j' theory, first proposed by Georges Lemaεtre, vying with the Continuous Creation theory put forward by Hermann Bondi, Thomas Gold, and Fred Hoyle. The discovery in 1964 of the 3-K microwave background by Arno Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson strongly favoured the "\Jbig bang\j'.
Radioastronomy started in 1937, when Grote Reber built a 9.4m diameter antenna. In 1942 James Hey (1909-- ) discovered radio waves from the Sun, and in 1944 Hendrick van de Hulst predicted that interstellar \Jhydrogen\j would emit 21-cm radio waves. Unusual radio sources such as Cassiopeia A and \JCygnus\j A were found, and the detection of the 21┐cm radiation in 1951 soon enabled Jan Hendrik Oort to map the galaxy using radio waves.
The launch of the space race in the late 1950s saw telescopic devices lifted above Earth's blanketing \Jatmosphere\j. The first X-ray source was discovered in 1962, and in 1969 two men walked on the Moon. Infra-red and ultra-violet satellites have followed, and space probes have to date flown past all the major planets, revealing a host of new details. Unusual stellar and galactic objects continue to be found. White dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes, and quasars are typical examples. Today, astronomers are still struggling to understand such diverse topics as the large-scale structure of the universe, the origin of galaxies, and the origin of the \JSolar System\j. Vague hints indicate that planetary systems other than our own exist, but messages from extra-terrestrial life forms have yet to be detected.
Carole Stott
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
\BThe oldest science?\b
The oldest science may very well be \Jastronomy\j. If not, we know that the oldest scientific records we have are astronomical. Accurate dates and descriptions of comets, eclipses, and other unusual events have been found going back for more than three thousand years, and some people believe they can see traces of astronomical observations in carved bones which may be 40 000 years old.
Simple star-gazing can be done by looking up at night. But to do any more means measuring, counting, recording, comparing and contrasting, which is exactly what the earliest known civilisations did. The Mayans in America, the Babylonians, Egyptians, and Chinese all made careful written records of what they saw and measured.
In \JNorth America\j, many Indian tribes recorded astronomical events in their pottery. Recently, some Australian aboriginal paintings have been reinterpreted, and these may also refer to astronomical events. In many parts of the world, oral traditions are rich with myths and legends, stories describing events seen in the night sky.
We usually do not realise how important the stars were to pre-industrial people. Before electricity, there were only candles and oil lamps offering a weak light. So people's eyes were more dark-adapted, and able to see more stars. More importantly, the light was kept inside dwellings, so people who went outside had no problems with light \Jpollution\j. There just wasn't any light to reflect down from the sky, and until a few hundred years ago, there were no large cities producing smoke and smog to hide the stars at night.
\BThe origins of astronomy\b
"\IHowbeit, we cannot choose but confess, that the true reason and knowledge of agriculture, dependeth principally upon the observation of the order in heavenly bodies\i", wrote Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79), as he was later translated by Philemon Holland (1552 - 1637). Pliny realised that the science of \Jastronomy\j had its basis in the needs of farmers, because before there were calendars, people used the night sky to track the change of seasons.
It was the farmers who needed to know the seasons, to find the best time to sow crops. In \JEgypt\j, for example, the floods which came pouring down the Nile were predictable, but only if you knew the date, the time of year. And before there were calendars, only the astronomers were able to tell the date accurately.
Watch the same star each night, and time the star's setting over a period of a week or two. You will soon discover that the setting time changes. With the exception of the \Jsun\j, every star in the sky sets about four minutes earlier each night. (To put it another and more difficult way, the stars actually set each \Jday\j at the same time, except for the \Jsun\j which sets four minutes later each \Jday\j. To understand that properly, you will need to realise that 365 lots of about four minutes adds to just 24 hours, and to know something about the difference between a sidereal \Jday\j and a solar \Jday\j.)
The astronomer-priests of the old civilisations had mapped the skies, and observed them carefully. They knew the same stars always rose, just after sunset, at the same time of year. In ancient \JEgypt\j, the first rising of \JSirius\j in the morning sky, ahead of the Sun, indicated the start of their year. In ancient \JRome\j, the \IDog days\i were the hottest days of summer, in early July. These were caused, said the Romans, by the sun and \JSirius\j (the "Dog-star") rising at the same time, and combining their heats. In England, the "Dog days" are the hottest days of their summer, when heat waves of 25░C can occur.
A point to ponder: After the nuclear \Jholocaust\j, you have become the Great Calendar Keeper of Blob. Your digital watch has died of flat battery disease, and the last printed calendar was used to light a fire ten years ago. Which of the annual events that happen in your area, ordinary things, could be used to identify the time of year?
\BPutting a scale on things\b
A \Jlouse\j very close to us, a mouse nearby, and a house further away, can all make the same size image on our \Jretina\j. Yet we know the house is larger than the other two, because we look at things with experience. More importantly, there are all sorts of depth clues we can take into account when we look at a \Jlouse\j, a mouse and a house. Our eyes are able to estimate distance quite well, so we know the \Jlouse\j is closer than the other two. When we look at the skies, we have no background clues, and the distances are too great for our eyes to notice any differences in angle. So whatever we learn about the distances of things we can see in the night sky, it demands some clever \Jmathematics\j.
The one thing we can measure fairly easily is the subtended angle of something. When we look at the \Jsun\j from the Earth, we say it subtends an angle of half a degree. If you draw lines to the two sides of the \Jsun\j (or to the top and the bottom) then the lines will join here on \Jearth\j to make an angle of half a degree. This is the \Jsun\j's subtended angle from the Earth. From Mercury, the \Jsun\j would subtend a larger angle, and from Neptune, the angle would be smaller. The moon is closer to us than the \Jsun\j, but it subtends the same angle.
Subtended angle was one of the few slender clues we had before 1800, one of the few things astronomers could work with. \JGalileo\j Galilei used this idea when he decided to assume that the star Vega was probably the same size as the \Jsun\j, and then to calculate how far away Vega was, using subtended angles. He dangled a weight from a fine silk cord, and checked to see how far back he could stand, while still having the cord block out all of the light from Vega. Then knowing how far he was from the cord, and the thickness of the cord, he could work out the angle subtended by the star.
Galileo's answer, 5 seconds of arc, made him believe that Vega is 400 times as far away as the Sun. Measurements a few years ago showed that the subtended angle is really 0.0032 seconds of arc, about 1500 times smaller than \JGalileo\j had thought. (The angle that \JGalileo\j calculated, 5 seconds of arc, is the difference between pointing at the left eye and pointing at the right eye of somebody two kilometres away. The actual angle is the difference between the left and right eyes of a person on a very high hill, 3000 kilometres from you.)
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK AND
#
"astrophysics",2358,0,0,0
EN The application of physical laws and theories to stars and galaxies, with the aim of deriving theoretical models to explain their behaviour. Its biggest triumph has been accounting for \Jenergy\j production inside stars, and there have been notable successes in explaining the properties of galaxies and quasars.
BK a
#
"Astruc, Jean",2359,0,0,0
PN [astrⁿk]
DT1 1684
DT2 1766
EN Physician and biblical scholar, medical consultant to \JLouis XV\j, born in Sauve, \JFrance\j. His work on Moses laid the foundations for modern criticism of the \JPentateuch\j. He also wrote on the diseases of women and on venereal disease.
SX m
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#
"Asturias",2360,0,0,0
PN [as\Btoo\brias]
EN pop (1995e) 1 100 000; area 10 565 sq km/4078 sq mi. Autonomous region and former principality of N \JSpain\j, co-extensive with the modern province of \JOviedo\j; mountainous region along the Bay of Biscay; largely occupied by the Cordillera Cantabrica, rising to 2646 m/8681 ft in the Picos de Europa; centre of Christian resistance to Muslim invasion, 8th--9th-c; part of Kingdom of Leon, 911; scene of unsuccessful left-wing revolution, 1934; \Jmaize\j, fruit, livestock; \Jcoal\j (nearly half of \JSpain\j's needs), \Jfluorspar\j, zinc, iron ore.
BK Geog99
#
"Asturias, Miguel Angel",2361,0,0,0
PN [as\Btoor\bias]
DT1 1899
DT2 1974
EN Novelist and poet, born in \JGuatemala\j City. A law graduate from the National University, he spent many years in exile, particularly in Paris, where he studied \Janthropology\j. His novels, many of which reflect Mayan Indian influences, include \IEl se±or presidente\i (1946, The President), \IHombres de maφz\i (1949, Men of Maize), and a trilogy on the foreign exploitation of the banana trade. In the Guatemalan civil service from 1946, he was ambassador to \JFrance\j, 1966-70. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1966 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1967.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Asunci≤n",2362,0,0,0
PN [asoon\Bsyohn\b]
EN 25░15S 57░40W, pop (1995e) 693 000. Federal capital of \JParaguay\j; transport and commercial centre on the E bank of the R \JParaguay\j; established, 1537; capital of La Plata region until 1580; airport; railway; two universities (1890, 1960); food processing, footwear, textiles; cathedral, La Encarnaci≤n church, Pante≤n Nacional de los HΘroes.
BK Geog99
#
"Aswan",2363,0,0,0
PN [a\Bswahn\b]
EN 24░05N 32░56E, pop (1995e) 234 000. Capital of \JAswan\j governorate, S \JEgypt\j; on the E bank of the R Nile, 900 km/560 mi S of \JCairo\j; \JAswan\j Dam to the S, at limit of navigation (1898--1902); \JAswan\j High Dam further S at head of L Nasser (1971); airfield; railway; steel, textiles, winter tourism; \JAswan\j museum, Roman Nilometer, Temples of Ptolemy VII, Seti I, Rameses II; Tombs of the Ancient Nobles, Aga Khan \JMausoleum\j, Coptic monastery of St Simeon (6th-c), Temples of Philae, Temple of Kalabsha (transported 55 km/34 mi from its original site and re-erected near \JAswan\j High Dam).
BK Geog99
#
"Aswan High Dam",2364,0,0,0
PN [a\Bswahn\b]
EN A major gravity dam on the River Nile in \JEgypt\j, impounding Lake Nasser; completed in 1970; situated 6.4┐km / 4┐m upstream from the lesser \JAswan\j Dam; height 111┐m / 364┐ft; length 3600┐m / 11┐811┐ft. It has the capacity to generate 2100 megawatts of hydroelectricity.
BK a
#
"asymptote",2365,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bsimtoht]
EN In \Jmathematics\j, a line (usually straight) which is approached by a curve. This can be shown in a graph where the curve \Iy\i┐=┐1 / \Ix\i approaches the line \Iy\i┐=┐0 as \Ix\i becomes large; so \Iy\i┐=┐0 is an asymptote.
BK a
#
"asynchronous transmission",2366,0,0,0
EN A protocol for the transmission of data between one computer and another, in which each character of information is transmitted by itself. A signal is sent to say the character is coming (a \Istart bit),\i the bits of the character are sent, then another signal (the \Istop bit(s))\i is sent to say the character has completed.
BK a
#
"Atacama Desert",2367,0,0,0
PN [ata\Bkah\bma]
HS , Span \BDesierto de Atacama\b
EN Arid desert area in N \JChile\j, claimed to be the world's driest area; a series of dry salt basins, extending 960┐km / 596┐mi S from the \JPeru\j border to the River Copiap≤; bounded W by the Pacific coastal range and E by the Cordillera de Domeyko; average altitude 600┐m / 2000┐ft; almost no vegetation; town of Calama recorded a 400-year \Jdrought\j up to 1971; \Jwater\j is piped to the towns and \Jnitrate\j fields from the Cordillera; ceded to \JChile\j by \JPeru\j and \JBolivia\j, 1883-4; copper, nitrates, \Jiodine\j, \Jborax\j deposits.
BK a
#
"Atahualpa",2368,0,0,0
PN [ata\Bwal\bpa]
DT1 ?
DT2 1533
EN Last Inca ruler of \JPeru\j. On the death of his father, he received the N half of the Inca empire, and in 1532 overthrew his brother, Huascar, who ruled the S half. A year later he was captured by invading Spaniards under Francisco Pizarro. Although his subjects paid a vast ransom to secure his release, Atahualpa was executed.
MEX Pizarro, Francisco
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BK bg a
#
"Atalanta",2369,0,0,0
PN [ata\Blan\bta]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j a heroine, nurtured by a she-bear, who grew up to be a strong huntress. She refused to marry any man who would not take part in a foot-race with her: those who lost were killed. Eventually Hippomenes (or Milanion) threw three golden apples of the \JHesperides\j at her feet, so that her attention was diverted and she lost.
BK a
#
"Atanasoff, John (Vincent)",2370,0,0,0
PN [a\Btan\basof]
DT1 1903
DT2 95
EN Physicist and computer pioneer, born in Hamilton, NY. He studied at the University of \JFlorida\j, \JIowa\j State College, and the University of \JWisconsin\j. In 1942, with the help of Clifford Berry (1918-63), he built an electronic calculating machine - the ABC (Atanasoff-Berry Computer) - one of the first calculating devices using vacuum tubes.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Atatⁿrk",2371,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\btaterk]
HS , originally \BMustafa Kemal\b
DT1 1881
DT2 1938
EN Turkish army officer, politican, and president (1923-38), born in Salonika, \JGreece\j. He raised a nationalist rebellion in Anatolia in protest against the post-war division of Turkey, and in 1921 established a provisional government in \JAnkara\j. In 1922 the Ottoman Sultanate was formally abolished, and in 1923 Turkey was declared a secular republic, with Kemal as president. He became a virtual dictator, and launched a social and political revolution introducing Western fashions, the emancipation of women, educational reform, the replacement of Arabic script with the Latin alphabet, and the discouragement of traditional Islamic loyalties in favour of a strictly Turkish \Jnationalism\j. In 1935 he assumed the surname Atatⁿrk ('Father of the Turks').
SX m
BK bg a
#
"ataxia",2372,0,0,0
PN [a\Btak\bsia]
EN Unsteadiness experienced on walking and standing, resulting from a failure of the central \Jnervous system\j to control the movement of muscles in the lower limbs. In some cases it develops because the brain is deprived of information concerned with the position of the limbs in space \B(sensory \Jataxia\j).\b
BK a
#
"Atchison, David Rice",2373,0,0,0
DT (1807-86)
EN U.S. senator; born in Frogtown, Ky. Moving to Missouri to practice law, he served briefly as a federal judge (1841-43). He was appointed and then elected to the U.S. Senate (Dem., Mo.; 1843-55). A supporter of \Jslavery\j, he helped frame the Kansas-\JNebraska\j Act (1854). After losing his seat in the Senate, he went back to Missouri and supported those who attacked the anti-slavery settlers in Kansas. He moved to \JTexas\j during the \JCivil War\j but returned to Missouri to spend his final years as a farmer.
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"atelier",2374,0,0,0
PN [atelyay]
HS (Fr 'artist's studio')
EN An abbreviation of \Iatelier libre\i (literally 'free studio' - in the sense that anyone can attend, on payment of a fee), which provides a nude model for artists to work from, but no instruction. The most famous, the \JAtelier\j Suisse in Paris, opened c.1825 and was attended by Delacroix, Courbet, Manet, Monet, CΘzanne, and others. They exist throughout Europe.
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"Atelier, ThΘΓtre de l'",2375,0,0,0
EN (Paris) A 19th-century theatre in Montmartre, which was reopened by Dullin in 1922 as L'\JAtelier\j and became one of the Cartel houses, producing a wide repertoire of classic, Elizabethan and modern playwrights, notably Pirandello and Salacrou. Alongside the producing company, Dullin ran a school in which many famous French actors and directors trained, e.g. Artaud, Barrault, Blin, Vilar and Barsacq, who took over the theatre with his Compagnie des Quatre Saisons in 1940.
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"Aten or Aton",2376,0,0,0
EN In Ancient \JEgypt\j, originally the name of the Sun's disc, and then that of the \Jsun\j-god. In the reign of the Pharaoh \JAkhenaton\j, the \Jcult\j of Aten temporarily replaced that of \JAmun\j-Re; this is sometimes interpreted as an early form of \Jmonotheism\j.
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"Athabascan or Athapascan",2377,0,0,0
PN [atha\Bbas\bkn]
EN A language family spoken by various American Indian groups living in \JAlaska\j and north-west Canada, W of Hudson Bay; the term is often used for the Indians themselves. Before the arrival of Europeans, some groups migrated S, and settled in the Great Plains and New Mexico (Apaches and Navajo are of Athabascan origin). They lived mainly in small independent hunting-and-gathering bands, and there was little tribal unity.
They engaged in the fur trade after Europeans reached \JNorth America\j. Today some supply trapped animals for the fur trade and are hunters' guides, and a few are assimilated into the dominant US culture: but most still live by hunting and fishing.
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"Athanaric",2378,0,0,0
PN [a\Bthan\barik]
DT1 ?
DT2 381
EN Prince of the W \JGoths\j, who fought three campaigns against the Roman Emperor Valens (ruled 364-78). He was finally defeated in 369, and driven out by the \JHuns\j from the N of the Danube.
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"Athanasian Creed",2379,0,0,0
PN [atha\Bnay\bzhn]
EN A statement of Christian faith, written in Latin probably in the 5th-c AD. Called \IQuicunque vult\i after the opening words, it remains a historic statement of Trinitarian doctrine, still sometimes used liturgically. The Greek text is known in Eastern Churches, but with the omission of the \Ifilioque\i clause.
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"Athanasius, St",2380,0,0,0
PN [atha\Bnay\bzius]
DT1a c.
DT1 296
DT2 373
EN Christian theologian and prelate, born in Alexandria. A distinguished participant at the Council of Nicaea (325), he was chosen \JPatriarch\j of Alexandria and Primate of \JEgypt\j. As a result of his stand against the heretic Arius, he was dismissed from his see on several occasions by emperors sympathetic to the Arian cause.
However, his teaching was supported after his death at the Council of Constantinople (381). His writings include works on the Trinity, the \JIncarnation\j, and the divinity of the \JHoly Spirit\j. The \IAthanasian Creed\i (representing his beliefs) was little heard of until the 7th-c. Feast \Jday\j 2 May.
MEX Arius
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"atheism",2381,0,0,0
EN The denial of the existence of God or gods. It includes both the rejection of any specific belief in God or gods, and the view that the only rational approach to claims about divine existence is one of scepticism. Justification of \Jatheism\j is often made on the grounds that some branch of science or \Jpsychology\j has rendered belief in God or gods superfluous, or that experiential verification of religious belief is lacking. Theists argue that such justification has not proved to be logically grounded.
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"Atheling",2382,0,0,0
EN See Edgar the ╞theling (Prince)
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"Athelstan or ╞thelstan",2383,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bthelstan]
DT1a c.
DT1 895
DT2 939
EN \JAnglo-Saxon\j king, the grandson of Alfred the Great, and the son of Edward the Elder, whom he succeeded as King of \JWessex\j and Mercia in 924. A warrior king of outstanding ability, he extended his rule over parts of Cornwall and Wales, and kept Norse-held \JNorthumbria\j under control. In 937 he defeated a confederation of Scots, Welsh, and \JVikings\j from Ireland in a major battle (Brunanburh), and his fame spread far afield. At home, he improved the laws, built monasteries, and promoted commerce.
MEX Alfred; Skallagrφmsson; Edward (the Elder)
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"Athenaeus",2384,0,0,0
PN [athe\Bnee\bus]
DT1 2
DT1b nd-c
EN Greek writer, born in Naucratis, \JEgypt\j. He lived first in Alexandria and later in \JRome\j. He wrote \IDeipnosophistae\i (Banquet of the Learned), a collection of anecdotes and excerpts from ancient authors reproduced as dinner-table conversations.
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"Athenais",2385,0,0,0
EN See Eudocia
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"Athene or Athena",2386,0,0,0
PN [a\Bthee\bna]
EN The Greek goddess of wisdom. She was not born, but sprang fully armed from the head of Zeus; she was the patron of \JAthens\j, and her emblem was the owl.
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"Athens",2387,0,0,0
EN 38░00N 23░44E, pop (1995e) Greater \JAthens\j 3 172 000. Capital city of \JGreece\j, in a wide coastal plain between the Ilissus and Cephissus Rivers, surrounded by hills; ancient Greek city-state extending over Attica by the 7th-cBC;great economic and cultural prosperity under \JPericles\j, 5th-cBC;taken by the Romans, 146BC;part of the \JOttoman Empire\j, 1456; capital of modern \JGreece\j, 1835; occupied by Germans in World War 2; two airports; railway; three universities (1836, 1837, 1984); port and main industrial area at \JPiraeus\j; textiles, machine tools, shipbuilding, chemicals, food processing, tourism; hill of the Acropolis (156 m/512 ft), with the \JParthenon\j (5th-cBC),Propylaea (437--432BC),Temple of Athena Niki (432--421BC),Ionic Erechtheion (421--406BC),and Acropolis museum; to the S, the Odeon of Herod Atticus (2nd-cBC),\Jportico\j of Eumenes, remains of the Asklepieion (4th-cBC),and site of the Odeum of \JPericles\j; to the N, the excavated area of the Ancient Agora (market-place); Olympieion, Arch of \JHadrian\j (AD131--2), Stadion; Parliament Building, National Garden, National Archaeological Museum; Carnival (Feb), \Ison et lumiΦre\i(Apr--Oct), folk dancing in open-air theatre (May--Sep), \JAthens\j Festival of Music and Drama (Jul--Sep).
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"atherosclerosis",2388,0,0,0
PN [atherohskle\Broh\bsis]
EN The irregular deposition of substances (lipids, mainly \Jcholesterol\j and triglycerides) on the inner wall of arteries and arterioles; seen as sharply-defined, raised, cream-coloured patches. Together with associated scarring, these cause narrowing of the affected blood vessel. Common sites are the \Jaorta\j and blood vessels to the brain and heart, but no vessel is immune.
The disorder increases with age, and the consequences to health vary with the blood vessel affected. Thus \Jangina\j pectoris, paralysis, or \Jgangrene\j of the limb may arise when the coronary arteries, cerebral arteries, or arteries to the lower limbs respectively are affected. Contributing causes include high animal-fat dietary intake, high blood pressure, \Jobesity\j, and lack of exercise.
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"Atherton, David",2389,0,0,0
DT1 1944
EN Conductor, born in \JBlackpool\j, Lancashire, NW England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, and was founder and musical director of the London Sinfonietta (1967--73). In 1968 he became the youngest ever conductor of the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, later joining the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra as principal conductor and artistic adviser (1980--3) and principal guest conductor (1983--6). He was principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1985--9), and has been musical director and principal conductor with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra since 1989.
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"Atherton, George Washington",2390,0,0,0
DT (1837-1906)
EN land grant lobbyist, college president; born in Boxford, Mass. As president of \JPennsylvania\j State College (later University) (1882-1906) he regenerated a virtually moribund institution. A champion of land-grant colleges, Atherton was instrumental in drafting the Hatch (1887) and Second Morrill (1890) Acts, which established their funding and agricultural research base.
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"Atherton, Gertrude (Franklin)",2391,0,0,0
DT (1857-1948)
EN writer; born in \JSan Francisco\j. She began writing during an unhappy marriage, and after being widowed in 1887, continued professionally. She maintained her ties to \JSan Francisco\j but traveled widely and lived in Europe for many years. Her 56 books include melodramatic historical and society novels, works set in old \JCalifornia\j \I(The Splendid Idle Forties,\i 1902), and innovative fictionalized biographies of Alexander Hamilton and others. Many of her novels depict strong-willed women, and her \IBlack Oxen\i (1923) promoted the possibility of rejuvenation through a medical operation.
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"Atherton, Mike",2392,0,0,0
DT1 1968
EN Cricketer, born in Manchester, Greater Manchester, NW England, UK. He studied at Cambridge and made his first-class debut for the University v Essex in 1987, his debut for Lancashire the same year, and his first-team debut for England in 1989 against \JAustralia\j. A leading batsman, he was appointed England captain (1993-- ), touring the West Indies (1993--4), \JAustralia\j (1994--5), South Africa (1995--6), and Zimbabwe and \JNew Zealand\j (1996--7).
His captaincy has experienced mixed fortunes, and England's failure to regain the Ashes at home in 1997 led to speculation about his future role. Awards include Cricket Writer's Young Cricketer of the Year (1990) and the Cornhill Player of the Year (1994).
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"athlete's foot",2393,0,0,0
EN A common form of \Jringworm\j infection \I(tinea pedis)\i in which a \Jfungus\j causes itching and fissuring of the skin between the toes. It is usually acquired in swimming baths and from shower floors.
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"athletics",2394,0,0,0
EN Tests of running, jumping, throwing, and walking skills for trained athletes, also known (especially in the USA) as \Btrack and field.\b The track events are divided into six categories: \Isprint races\i (100┐m, 200┐m, and 400┐m); \Imiddle distance races\i (800┐m and 1500┐m); \Ilong distance races\i (5000┐m and 10┐000┐m); \Ihurdle races\i (110┐m - 100┐m for women - and 400┐m); \Irelay races\i (4┐x┐100┐m and 4┐x┐400┐m); and the men-only \Isteeplechase\i (3000┐m). In addition there is the endurance test of the \Imarathon.\i
The field events involve jumping and throwing. \IJumping events\i consist of the high jump, long jump, triple jump, and pole vault (men only). The \Ithrowing events\i are the discus, shot put, javelin throw, and hammer throw (men only). \IWalking races\i take place on either the road or the track. In addition, two-\Jday\j multi-event competitions exist in the form of the \Idecathlon\i (10 events) for men and \Iheptathlon\i (7 events) for women.
Such competitions date to \JEgypt\j in c.3800 BC and they formed part of the ancient \JOlympic Games\j. The \Jathletics\j events are now the most important part of the Modern Olympics. The governing body is the International Amateur Athletic Federation, founded in 1912.
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"Athletics Congress",2395,0,0,0
EN See USA Track and Field
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"Athlone",2396,0,0,0
PN [ath\Blohn\b]
EN 53░25N 7░56W, pop (1995e) 15 200. Town in Co \JWestmeath\j, \JLeinster\j, C Ireland; on R Shannon, W of Dublin; railway; technical college; barracks; radio transmitter; textiles, industrial and electrical cable; remains of town wall, 13th-c Franciscan abbey, 13th-c castle; river boating centre; all-Ireland amateur drama contest (Jul).
EN Conservative politician, born in Banff, Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland, UK. She studied at the Royal College of Music, and was an accomplished pianist and composer. In 1899 she married the future 8th Duke of Atholl, \BJohn George Murray\b (1871-1942), becoming Duchess of Atholl in 1917. She became MP for Kinross and Perthshire in 1923, and was the first Conservative woman minister as parliamentary secretary to the Board of Education (1924-9).
She was responsible for translating an unexpurgated edition of \IMein Kampf\i to warn of Hitler's intentions, and published the best-selling \ISearchlight on Spain\i in 1938. After losing her parliamentary seat in 1939, she worked to aid refugees from totalitarianism.
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"Atiyah, Sir Michael (Francis)",2398,0,0,0
PN [a\Btee\bah]
DT1 1929
EN Mathematician, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge (1952), lectured at Cambridge and Oxford, became professor of \Jmathematics\j at Oxford (1963--9), and was appointed Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1990.
He has worked on algebraic \Jgeometry\j, algebraic \Jtopology\j, index theory of differential operators, and the \Jmathematics\j of quantum field theory, where he has been particularly concerned with bridging the gap between mathematicians and physicists. In 1966 he was awarded the Fields Medal.
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"Atkin (of Aberdovey), James Richard Atkin, Baron",2399,0,0,0
DT1 1867
DT2 1944
EN Judge, born in Brisbane, \JQueensland\j, \JAustralia\j. He studied at Oxford, and became a lawyer specializing in commercial cases. In the Court of Appeal (1919-28) and the \JHouse of Lords\j (1928-44) he delivered notable opinions in many leading cases, and made important contributions to legal education.
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"Atkins, Anna, nΘe Children",2400,0,0,0
DT (1799-1871)
EN British botanist: the first to use photography to illustrate scientific studies.
Anna was the only child of J G Children, a Fellow of the Royal Society whose wife had died shortly after Anna's birth. Her father was a friend of the Herschel family and Anna knew John Herschel from childhood. She had a close relationship with her father and shared his scientific interests. No doubt this position helped her acceptance in the male scientific circle. She was a skilled illustrator and provided over 200 drawings for her father's translation of Lamarck's book The Genera of Shells, published in 1823.
Anna married J P Atkins in 1825; there were no children and she continued her scientific interests and collaboration with her father. Children chaired the Royal Society meeting at which Talbot announced his 'calotype' photographic process, and father and daughter took up the process enthusiastically. In the same year she became an active member of the Botanical Society of London.
The calotype process was difficult (partly because Talbot's information was inadequate), but in 1842 Herschel described his 'cyanotype' process. To illustrate her large collection of \Jalgae\j Anna Atkins turned to photography. As she explains in her preface 'The difficulty of making accurate drawings of objects as minute as many of the \JAlgae\j and Confervae, has induced me to avail myself of Sir John Herschel's beautiful process of Cyanotype, to obtain impressions of the plants themselves.'
She made contact photograms of \Jalgae\j, totalling 389 pages of illustration and 14 of handwritten text, and making more than a dozen copies of the whole, which were sent to scientific friends and institutions. And so with her Photographs of British \JAlgae\j: Cyanotype Impressions (3 vols, 1843-53) she became the first to apply photography to illustrate scientific studies, predating Talbot's Pencil of Nature (1844-46), although the latter includes photographs made with a camera. Atkins's work is both permanent and suited to its subject, with seaweeds shown as paler images on a rich blue background.
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"Atkinson, Brooks",2401,0,0,0
DT (1894-1984)
EN journalist, drama critic; born in Melrose, Mass. He was the erudite, highly influential theater critic for the \INew York Times\i for over 30 years (1925-42, 1946-60). After a wartime assignment as \ITimes\i correspondent in China and the \JSoviet Union\j, he won a 1947 Pulitzer Prize for reporting.
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"Atkinson, Henry",2402,0,0,0
DT (1782-1842)
EN soldier; born in \JNorth Carolina\j. He entered the army in 1808 and became a colonel after the \JWar of 1812\j. He led the \JYellowstone\j expedition (1819) and an expedition to the upper Missouri River (1825). He was in general command during the Black Hawk War (1832).
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"Atkinson, Rowan (Sebastian)",2403,0,0,0
DT1 1955
EN British comic actor and writer, born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE England, UK. He studied electrical \Jengineering\j at the universities of Newcastle upon Tyne and Oxford, first appeared in \JOxford University\j revues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and in 1981 became the youngest performer to have had a one-man show in the West End.
Subsequent appearances include \IThe Nerd\i (1984), \IThe New Revue\i (1986), and \IThe Sneeze\i (1988). Television roles include \INot the Nine O'Clock News\i (1979--82), \IBlackadder\i (1983--9), \IThe Thin Blue Line\i (1995--6), and \IMr Bean\i (from 1990--4, 1996 in the USA). Film credits include \IFour Weddings and a Funeral\i (1994), \IThe Lion King\i (voiceover, 1994), and \IBean: the Ultimate Disaster Movie\i (1997).
\BMajor Works\b
\ITelevision\i
1979--82 Not the Nine O'Clock News
1983--9 Blackadder
1995--6 The Thin Blue Line
1990--4 Mr Bean
\IFilms\i
1989 The Tall Guy
1994 Four Weddings and a Funeral
1994 The Lion King (voiceover)
1997 Bean: the Ultimate Disaster Movie
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"Atkinson, Thomas (Wittlam)",2404,0,0,0
DT1 1799
DT2 1861
EN Architect and travel-writer, born in Cawthorne, South Yorkshire, N England, UK. He became successively a quarryman, stonemason, and architect. Between 1848 and 1853 he travelled some 40┐000 miles in Asiatic \JRussia\j with his wife \BLucy,\b painting and keeping journals which formed the basis of several works on that part of the world.
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"Atlanta",2405,0,0,0
EN 33░45N 84░23W, pop (1995e) 437 000. State capital in Fulton Co, NW Georgia, USA; largest city in the state, near the Appalachian foothills; founded at the end of the railway in 1837 (named Terminus); renamed \JAtlanta\j, 1845; a Confederate supply depot in the \JCivil War\j; burned by General Sherman, 1864; capital, 1887; airport; railway; four universities (1835, 1836, 1865, 1913); industrial, transportation, commercial, and cultural centre; \Jaircraft\j, automobiles, textiles, food products, steel, furniture, chemicals; professional teams, Braves (\Jbaseball\j), Hawks (\Jbasketball\j), Falcons (football); High Museum of Art, Alliance Theatre, Oakland Cemetery, Martin Luther King Jr historic site, Grant Park.
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"Atlanta Campaign",2406,0,0,0
EN See March Through Georgia
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"Atlantic Charter",2407,0,0,0
EN A declaration of common objectives by Roosevelt and Churchill after a secret meeting off Newfoundland (Aug 1941). It announced agreement on principles which should govern postwar settlements, several of which paralleled Wilson's Fourteen Points of 1918. The Charter was endorsed by the USSR and 14 other states at war with the Axis Powers, and served as an ideological basis for Allied co-operation during the war.
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"Atlantic City",2408,0,0,0
EN 39░21N 74░27W, pop (1995e) 38 700. Town in Atlantic Co, SE \JNew Jersey\j, USA; on the Atlantic coast, 96 km/60 mi SE of Philadelphia; railway; popular seaside resort with famed boardwalk (over 9 km/51/2 mi long) and piers; many casinos; convention centre; Miss America Pageant (Sep).
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"Atlantic Hump-backed Dolphin",2409,0,0,0
EN \B\BFamily:\b Delphinidae\b \I(dolphins, small toothed whales)\i\b
\BScientific Name: \ISousa teuszii\i\b
\BIdentification:\b
Length of newborn about 3 ft (1 m), adults are up to about 9 ft (2.8 m) long, weigh up to 626 lbs (284 kg).
Coloration is variable, generally slate gray on the back and sides, light gray to white ventrally. Long, distinct beak, well developed melon. The body is quite deep, especially from the middle to, and including, the tail stock. Dorsal fin is variable in shape, generally sits on a wide hump or ridge about the middle of the back. Groups generally 5 to 7 individuals, although herds of up to 25 seen occasionally. Feed mainly on schooling fish. Fishermen on the coast of \JMauritania\j have a co-operative relationship with Atlantic hump-backed and bottlenose dolphins to capture mullet in beach seines.
\BDistribution:\b
West coast of Africa, from \JCameroon\j to \JSenegal\j and \JMauritania\j to 20░N. Possibly extends as far south as \JAngola\j. Occurs primarily in inshore coastal and estuarine waters, and is known to enter the rivers \JNiger\j and Bandiala.
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"Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway",2410,0,0,0
EN See Intracoastal Waterway
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"Atlantic Ocean",2411,0,0,0
EN Body of \Jwater\j extending from the \JArctic\j to the Antarctic, separating North and \JSouth America\j (west) from Europe and Africa (east); \BArea:\b c.82┐217┐000┐km\U2\u / 31┐700┐000┐mi\U2\u; depths of 5725┐m / 18┐783┐ft reached in Argentine abyssal plain; average depth 3700┐m / 12┐000┐ft; maximum depth, Puerto Rico Trench, 8648┐m / 28┐372┐ft; principal arms (west), \JLabrador\j Sea, Gulf of Mexico, \JCaribbean Sea\j; (east), North Sea, Baltic Sea, Mediterranean and \JBlack Sea\j, Bay of Biscay, Gulf of Guinea; (south), Weddell Sea; continental shelf narrow off coast of Africa and \JSpain\j, broader in north-west Europe and off Americas; 'S' shaped, submarine Mid-Atlantic Ridge between \JIceland\j and the Antarctic Circle, centre of \Jearthquake\j and volcanic activity; sea-floor spreading, such that North and \JSouth America\j are moving away from Africa and Europe, rate of 2┐cm / 0.8┐in per year (north), 4.1┐cm / 1.6┐in (south); major surface circulation, clockwise in N, counter-clockwise in S; main currents include the Gulf Stream (N Atlantic Drift), and the N Equatorial, Canary, S Equatorial, \JBrazil\j, Benguela, and Equatorial Counter Currents; Sargasso Sea, a sluggish region at centre of movement in the N Atlantic; main islands include \JIceland\j, Faeroes, British Is, Newfoundland, \JAzores\j, \JBermuda\j, Madeira, Canary Is, Cape Verde Is, Trinidad and Tobago, \JAscension\j, St Helena, Tristan da Cunha, Falkland Is, S Georgia; mineral resources include \Jmanganese\j nodules, offshore oil and gas, and metal-rich sediments; several major fishing areas; important international communications highway, particularly from \JMiddle East\j to Europe.
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"Atlantic Provinces",2412,0,0,0
EN See Maritime Provinces
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"Atlantic Spotted Dolphin",2413,0,0,0
EN \BFamily:\b \IDelphinidae\i \I(dolphins, small toothed whales)\i
\BScientific Name:\b \IStenella frontalis\i\b
\BIdentification:\b
Length at birth 2.5 to 4 ft (0.8 to 1.2 m), adults are up to 7.5 ft (2.3 m) in length and 315 lbs (143 kg) in weight.
The body is robust, and the beak moderately long and stocky, like the bottlenose dolphin, in contrast to the pantropical spotted dolphin which has a slender body and long, thin beak. There is a distinct crease between the melon and the beak. No spots are present on the body at birth, and young animals resemble bottlenose dolphins, being dark gray dorsally, lighter gray on the sides and with a white belly.
Spotting appears all over the body in \Jadolescence\j and increases as the animal ages, some individuals becoming so heavily spotted that other coloration details are obscured. In some populations, generally confined to (but not universal among) offshore animals, adults remain unspotted.
Groups usually fewer than 50 individuals, with most 5 to 15 in coastal waters. Often very surface active, and frequently ride the bow waves of ships. Group structure tends to be fluid, and there may be segregation by age and breeding status.
Food includes a wide variety of fish and \Jsquid\j.
\BDistribution:\b
As the common name suggests, occurs only in the \JAtlantic Ocean\j. Distribution is tropical to warm temperate waters, where they are found over the offshore continental shelf and in the deep ocean, from southern \JBrazil\j to New England in the west, and to the coast of Africa in the east. The north-south limits off West Africa are not known.
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"Atlantic Wall",2414,0,0,0
EN An incomplete network of coastal fortifications, supplemented by beach-obstacles and minefields, constructed in 1942-4 between the Pas-de-\JCalais\j and the Bay of Biscay as part of Hitler's plans for an impregnable 'Fortress Europe' capable of repelling any Allied landings. On \JD-Day\j its 'invincibility' was shown to be a myth.
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"Atlantic White-sided Dolphin",2415,0,0,0
EN \B\BFamily:\b Delphinidae\b \I(dolphins, small toothed whales)\i\b
\BScientific Name: \ILagenorhynchys acutus\i\b
\BIdentification:\b
Length at birth 3.5 to 4 ft (1.1 to 1.2 m), adult length and weight of males 9 ft (2.8m) and 518 lbs (235 kg), females 8 ft (2.5 m) and 401 lbs (182 kg).
Like other species of \ILagenorhynchus,\i body is stocky, beak is short and thick and the dorsal fin is tall and falcate. The tail stock is quite broad, is keeled both dorsally and ventrally, and only narrows just cranial to the flukes. There is a complex coloration, which is distinctive. Much of the back, including the dorsal fin, head and upper jaw, the flippers and flukes are black or charcoal gray, and there are two narrow dark gray lines, one from the beak to the eye which it encircles, the other from the angle of the gape to the cranial insertion of the flipper.
The lower jaw and the belly are white, but the white does not continue to the ventral side of the tail stock. The sides of the animal are pale gray from just anterior to the eye to the attachment of the flukes. A white patch extends along the upper margin of the gray flank, from the level of the dorsal fin to midway along the tail stock, and a narrow ochre band extends from the middle of the tail stock to just cranial to the flukes, between the black dorsum and the gray side of the tail stock.
Small groups of 6 to 8 are seen in inshore areas, particularly in summer, while offshore herds can be very large and number several hundred. There seems to be some segregation within herds, as immature and maturing individuals are absent from reproductive groups, which consist mostly of mature females and young, and only a few mature males. Food includes small schooling fish and \Jsquid\j, and feeding often is in association with large whales. They are often very surface active.
\BDistribution:\b
Confined to cold temperate to subarctic waters of the North Atlantic, from about New England and the Chesapeake Bight in the west and \JFrance\j in the east, and north to southern \JGreenland\j, \JIceland\j and southern \JNorway\j. Seems to prefer deep waters adjacent to and including the continental slope.
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"Atlantic, Battle of the",2416,0,0,0
EN (1940-3) The conflict arising out of German attacks on shipping in the Atlantic during World War 2. The German strategy was to cut off Britain's supplies of food and munitions by submarine action. Only at the end of 1943 were the attacks countered, and the threat brought under control.
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"Atlantis",2417,0,0,0
PN [at\Blan\btis]
EN According to \JPlato\j, an island in the ocean W of \JSpain\j, whose armies once threatened Europe and Africa, and which disappeared into the sea. \JPlato\j claimed to have heard of the island from the Egyptians, and this has generated many speculative books and expeditions; but it was simply a fictional place where he could locate his ideas of social organization.
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"Atlas (astronomy)",2418,0,0,0
EN The 15th natural \Jsatellite\j of Saturn, discovered in 1980; distance from the \Jplanet\j 138┐000┐km / 86┐000┐mi; diameter 40┐km / 25┐mi.
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"Atlas (mythology)",2419,0,0,0
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, a Titan who was made to hold up the heavens with his hands, as a punishment for taking part in the revolt against the \JOlympians\j. When books of maps came to be published, he was often portrayed as a frontispiece, hence the name \Iatlas.\i
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"Atlas Mountains",2420,0,0,0
EN A system of folded mountain chains in Morocco, \JAlgeria\j, and \JTunisia\j, north-west Africa; includes (1) the volcanic \BAnti-Atlas\b range in south-west Morocco which runs SW-NE for 250┐km / 155┐mi and rises to heights over 2500┐m / 8000┐ft; (2) the \BHaut Atlas\b range, the largest in the group, running SW-NE for 650┐km / 400┐mi from Morocco's Atlantic coast, rising to Mount Toubkal (4165┐m / 13┐665┐ft); (3) the \BMoyen Atlas\b (north) rising to 3343┐m / 10┐968┐ft at Caberral; (4) E-W along Morocco's Mediterranean coast, the \BEr Rif Mts,\b rising to over 2000┐m / 6500┐ft; (5) the \BAtlas Saharien\b which extends north-east of the Haut Atlas across N \JAlgeria\j; (6) the \BTell Atlas,\b a smaller coastal range running along \JAlgeria\j's Mediterranean seaboard.
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"Atlas, Charles (b. Angelo Siciliano)",2421,0,0,0
DT (1894-1972)
EN body-builder, trainer; born in Acri, \JItaly\j. Coming to the U.S.A. in 1904, he was anemic and weak as a youth and began to work out at a Brooklyn Young Men's Christian Association gym; there he developed his own system of pitting muscle against muscle - what he later (1921) called "dynamic tension" - and built up his body so that he soon was attracting attention as a strong man at Coney Island; he had meanwhile adopted the name of a statue of the ancient Atlas. Invited to model by sculptors, he posed for several public sculptures (including, it is alleged, George Washington in Washington Square, New York City).
In 1922 he won a contest for "the World's Most Perfectly Developed Man," and to capitalize on his reputation, he opened a gymnasium to teach his system. He also launched a mail-order course in body-building, advertising it with his eventually legendary image of the "97-pound weakling" who loses his girl to a bully at the beach. (It is probably apocryphal that Atlas himself experienced this exact event.)
This mail-order course became so popular, even throughout the world - it was translated into at least seven languages - that he soon gave up his gymnasium to concentrate on it. A precursor of the modern body-building movement, he maintained his own body so well that in 1938, weighing only 178 pounds, he pulled a 145,000-pound train 122 feet.
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"atman",2422,0,0,0
PN [\Baht\bman]
HS (Sanskrit, 'soul' or 'self')
EN In \JHinduism\j, the human soul or essential self. In the teaching of the Upanishads, it is seen as being one with the absolute, and identified with \JBrahman\j.
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"atmosphere",2423,0,0,0
EN The layer of gas surrounding any \Jplanet\j or star. Earth's \Jatmosphere\j is composed of air, which on average is made up of 78% \Jnitrogen\j, 21% oxygen, and 1% \Jargon\j, with traces of other rare gases, carbon dioxide, and \Jhydrogen\j. Moist air may contain up to 31% \Jwater\j vapour. Earth's \Jatmosphere\j is divided into several concentric shells, the lowest being the \Itroposphere,\i followed by the \Istratosphere,\i \Imesosphere,\i and \Ithermosphere.\i
The outer shell of the \Jatmosphere\j, at c.400┐km / 250┐mi, from which light gases can escape, is termed the \Iexosphere.\i The \Jatmosphere\j contains the gases vital to life, and shields the Earth from harmful ionizing radiation.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
\BComposition and structure\b
We could last for a few days without \Jwater\j and for a few weeks without food, but we couldn't last for more than a few minutes without the \Jatmosphere\j and its life giving oxygen. The \Jatmosphere\j saves us in other ways: it keeps us warm (the \Jgreenhouse effect\j) and absorbs the \Jsun\j's harmful ultraviolet radiation. Without the \Jatmosphere\j, plants could not survive.
The \Jatmosphere\j is a mixture of gases. Some are permanent and occur in constant amounts in the lower \Jatmosphere\j. The remainder occur in variable amounts.
Nitrogen (78 per cent) and oxygen (21 per cent) make up about 99 per cent of the \Jatmosphere\j and the remaining gases total only 1 per cent between them. These percentages are remarkably constant all over the world up to a height of about 85 kilometres (53 miles) but small variations in the amounts of the 'variable gases' can be very important.
The amounts of \Jnitrogen\j and oxygen stay the same because there is a balance between the amounts being put in and the amounts being removed:
\BNitrogen\b
\IInput\i - Decay of plant and animal matter.
\IRemoval\i - Mainly by \Jbacteria\j living in the roots of leguminous plants such as peas, beans, clover, and peanuts, and by certain free living \Jbacteria\j and blue green \Jalgae\j.
\BOxygen\b
\IInput\i - By plants during \Jphotosynthesis\j. In the presence of sunlight, carbon dioxide and \Jwater\j are combined to produce sugar and oxygen.
\IRemoval\i - Burning of fuels, combination with other substances to form \Joxides\j (e.g. rust), breathing of animals, decay of plants and other organic matter.
The permanent gases, such as \Jargon\j, which are present in very small amounts, are relatively harmless and unimportant.
\BWater\b
Water is an amazing substance and exists in the \Jatmosphere\j in three forms - gas (vapour) and liquid (clouds, rain) and solid (ice, hail, snow). The enormous variations in our \Jweather\j are due in large part to variations in the amount of \Jwater\j vapour in the \Jatmosphere\j.
\IInput\i - \JEvaporation\j from \Jwater\j surfaces or sublimation from ice or snow. Breathing from animals and \Jtranspiration\j from plants. ('Sublimation' means that the ice or snow turns directly to vapour without going trough the liquid phase.)
\IRemoval\i - Formation of clouds and precipitation (rain, hail, snow). Deposition (\Jfog\j, dew and frost).
\BCarbon dioxide\b
Carbon dioxide is extremely important. Plants probably regard it as we do oxygen because it is vital to their existence and growth. Carbon dioxide should be harmless to us in the small amounts that occur in the \Jatmosphere\j but, there is a great deal of concern that the amount of carbon dioxide in the \Jatmosphere\j is increasing, and that this will enhance the \Jgreenhouse effect\j and result in climate change.
\IInput\i - Decay of vegetation, volcanic eruptions, breathing of animals, burning of \Jfossil\j fuels (oil, \Jcoal\j).
\IRemoval \i- By plants during \Jphotosynthesis\j.
Most of the remaining variable gases are certainly not harmless. They are pollutants and pose grave threats to health, particularly in large cities.
Sulphur dioxide is released through the burning of \Jfossil\j fuels and this can lead to rain containing sulphuric acid. This \Jacid rain\j is already a major environmental problem in many areas of the northern hemisphere. Among other things, it corrodes metals and painted surfaces, and turns lakes acidic.
Automobile engines emit several pollutants including \Jnitrogen\j dioxide which can result in the production of ozone. Ozone plays a vital role high in the \Jatmosphere\j in absorbing dangerous ultraviolet radiation. But in cities it is a menace, because it is the primary ingredient of photochemical smog which irritates eyes and throats and damages plants.
\BAtmospheric layers\b
The \Jatmosphere\j can be divided into layers or 'spheres' according to \Jtemperature\j.
The \Jtemperature\j changes at different levels might seem surprising. Perhaps you expected that the \Jtemperature\j would keep falling from the surface to the top of the \Jatmosphere\j, as it does when you are climbing a mountain; but, as you can see, there are significant rises in \Jtemperature\j in the \Jstratosphere\j and the \Jthermosphere\j. The \Jtemperature\j rise in the \Jstratosphere\j is due to absorption of ultraviolet radiation by ozone, and in the \Jthermosphere\j it is due to absorption of even shorter wave ultraviolet radiation by oxygen.
As far as the \Jweather\j is concerned, all the action takes place in the \Jtroposphere\j, the lowest layer. The tropopause, the boundary between the \Jtroposphere\j and the \Jstratosphere\j, acts like a lid and impedes air crossing the boundary. For all practical purposes, \Jwater\j vapour and clouds are confined to the \Jtroposphere\j. But beautiful nacreous or mother of pearl clouds sometimes occur at altitudes of around 30 kilometres (17 miles).
The \Jionosphere\j is an electrified region in the upper \Jatmosphere\j, mainly the \Jthermosphere\j, where there are relatively large numbers of charged particles. Radio waves are reflected by the \Jionosphere\j and this made radio contact possible around the world before the advent of satellites. TV waves are too short to be reflected and TV broadcasts were restricted to 'line of sight' before the satellite era.
Beyond the \Jthermosphere\j, some 400-500 kilometres (250-300 miles) above the \Jearth\j's surface, lies the exosphere, the outer layer, where the \Jatmosphere\j is extremely thin and there are large distances between individual atoms and molecules. Some of the lighter, faster moving particles can escape the \Jearth\j's gravitational pull and shoot off into space.
Temperatures in the rarefied air of the \Jthermosphere\j depend upon how much radiation is being absorbed, and so they vary enormously from \Jday\j to night and depend upon whether the \Jsun\j is quiet or there are flares or \Jsunspot\j activity. In the outer layer, the exosphere, \Jtemperature\j no longer has its customary meaning.
Further and further out in the exosphere the \Jatmosphere\j gets progressively thinner, but there is no outer limit. Like old soldiers it just gradually fades away.
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"atmospheric physics",2424,0,0,0
EN The application of physical principles to the layer of gas surrounding planets, especially Earth. The subject includes such fields as \Jthermodynamics\j, convection, gas density distributions, condensation, fluid mechanics, radiation, and heat transfer. It allows an understanding of \Jcloud\j formation, solar heating of the \Jatmosphere\j, the origin of wind patterns, and other features essential to \Jweather\j forecasting and \Jpollution\j control.
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"atmospheric pressure",2425,0,0,0
EN The pressure or force exerted by the \Jatmosphere\j on the Earth's surface. The average pressure at sea level is taken as standard, and it is usual to modify measurements taken at different elevations so that they refer to this level. Pressure varies with elevation (decrease with altitude) and \Jtemperature\j. Units of measurement vary: at sea level, average pressure is 1013.25┐mb (millibars, the units generally used by meteorologists), 101┐325┐Pa (pascals), 760┐mm of mercury (760┐torr), 29.92┐in of mercury, or 14.7┐lb / sq┐in. Pressure is measured using a \Jbarometer\j.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
We live at the bottom of a restless ocean of air. Although we can't see the air, we are aware of it because we can feel the wind and watch it blow the branches of the trees. But even if there is no wind or we are indoors, the air still exerts pressure. This is due to the ceaseless bombardment of all objects exposed to the billions of gas molecules that make up the air.
The size of these molecules is unimaginably small, just as their number is unimaginably large - there are about 27 billion billion molecules in a cubic \Jcentimetre\j of air (.061 cubic inches) near sea level and yet, relatively, they have plenty of room. Each time one of these molecules hits us it makes a tiny, tiny contribution to the air pressure, which amounts to some 1013 millibars (14.7 lbs per square inch) near sea level.
Most of the time we are blissfully unaware of air pressure and the molecular bombardment because the air exerts its pressure in all directions. The pressure on your front is the same as on your back. But you soon become aware that something is wrong if the pressure changes significantly; when you climb or descend rapidly in a small \Jaircraft\j, your ears will 'pop' as your body adjusts to the changing pressure of the air. In large passenger \Jaircraft\j, the cabins are kept at a more uniform pressure (pressurization) and this reduces the discomfort of 'popping' ears.
\BAtmospheric pressure demonstration\b
Many experiments can be devised to demonstrate that air has pressure. If you have a vacuum \Jpump\j and start removing the air from an enclosed metal can with flexible sides, the pressure of the external air will crush the can. Suction cups are based on air pressure; when you press the cup against a smooth wall you force the air from inside the cup as you flatten it against the wall. Air pressure will hold the flattened cup tightly against the wall.
\BMeasuring air pressure\b
In 1643, an Italian called Torricelli invented the first \Jbarometer\j. He inverted a glass tube full of liquid (mercury) into a pool of the liquid and found that the pressure of the \Jatmosphere\j balanced the weight of liquid in the glass tube. Torricelli didn't call his invention a 'barometer' - this word was introduced by Boyle, an Anglo-Irish scientist, in 1665.
Mercury is the favoured liquid for barometers because it is so heavy compared with other liquids, and the \Jbarometer\j tube can be relatively short, one metre (3.3 feet) or less. Liquids other than mercury can be used. Pascal, a French scientist who lived at the same time as Torricelli, with typical French style and panache, used red wine which required a tube about 14 metres (46 feet) long.
If you really want to impress the neighbours, you can construct a \Jwater\j \Jbarometer\j as Otto von Guericke, the mayor of \JMagdeburg\j, \JGermany\j, did in 1652. Because \Jwater\j is 13 times lighter (less dense) than mercury, the tube was so long that it poked above the roofs of the houses. He had a doll floating on the top of the \Jwater\j column (Wettermannchen - little weatherman).
The doll disappeared from sight when the \Jwater\j level went down. This meant that the pressure was falling and that stormy \Jweather\j might be coming. When the pressure rose again, so would the \Jwater\j level, and, as the \Jweather\j became fine again, the doll would pop out, much to everyone's delight.
One of the common barometers in use today is called an aneroid, which means 'without fluid'. It contains a flexible metal cell from which some of the air has been evacuated. When the air pressure rises, it presses the sides of the cell closer together and when the pressure falls the cell opens up again. The cell is connected through a spring and a set of levers to a \Jpointer\j that moves across a dial so that you can read the pressure. The movements of the cell are quite small but they are magnified by the system of levers.
Mercury-in-glass barometers are expensive, cumbersome, and difficult to transport. Aneroids have now largely replaced them, even for scientific purposes. Many household aneroid barometers have words like 'stormy', 'rain', 'change', 'fair', and 'dry' on their dials.
If your aneroid \Jbarometer\j is a modern one, the figures on the dial may be in hectopascals - the major unit of air pressure that is now accepted around the world. The previous unit was the millibar and before that inches of mercury or millimetres of mercury. The relationship between these units is:
ò 1000 hectopascals = 1000 millibars (the numerical values are the same, only the names of the units are different);
ò 1000 hectopascals = 29.53 inches of mercury;
ò 1000 hectopascals = 750 millimetres of mercury.
It is important that we say 'inches of mercury' or 'millimetres of mercury' not simply 'inches' or 'millimetres'. The air pressure balances a column of mercury, and the same pressure would balance a column of \Jwater\j some 13 times higher.
Pressure may also be measured in torrs, where 1 torr equals 1 mm of mercury.
\BPressure changes with height\b
What falls as it rises and rises as it falls? The answer is the \Jbarometer\j, because pressure decreases as altitude increases and so the \Jbarometer\j reading will fall as you climb a mountain or go up in a \Jballoon\j. The molecules of the air are affected by gravity and there are many more molecules in the bottom part of the column than there are in the upper part. The number of molecules per unit volume and the density of air fall off rapidly with height. (There may be exceptions on hot days when the \Jtemperature\j decreases very rapidly with height in the layer of air in contact with the hot surface. The effect of lower temperatures may outweigh the effect of lower pressures so that density may increase with height through a shallow layer of air.)
The air pressure at a particular height is the pressure exerted by the air in the column above that height - it is equivalent to the weight of the air above the point; the air below makes no contribution. It is therefore obvious that air pressure will decrease rapidly with height, particularly in the lower \Jatmosphere\j.
The air pressure at sea level normally varies between about 1040 and 970 hectopascals, but values as high as 1084 and as low as 870 have been recorded. At 5,500 metres (18,000 feet) the pressure is only about half that at sea level and at 10,000 metres (33,000 feet -- a little over Mount Everest), it is down to less than one-third.
As air pressure decreases so does the amount of oxygen in it. Some experienced climbers can scale high mountains without oxygen, but most people would become distressed without it. Athletes need to acclimatize before they compete at elevated arenas; this was very evident when the \JOlympic Games\j were held at \JMexico City\j in 1968.
The cabins of high-flying passenger \Jaircraft\j are pressurized to a level equivalent to about 1,800 metres (6,000 feet), by pumping air into them to keep the pressures reasonably close to those to which the passengers are accustomed. Otherwise the passengers would become uncomfortable and distressed.
Because air pressure decreases with height, pilots can use aneroid barometers to tell how high an \Jaircraft\j is flying (provided they don't put the \Jbarometer\j in a pressurized cabin). These barometers are called altimeters and their scales are marked in height units rather than pressure units.
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"atoll",2426,0,0,0
EN A roughly circular structure of \Jcoral\j reefs enclosing a lagoon. Atolls occur in warm, clear, tropical oceanic waters where corals and coralline \Jalgae\j can flourish. Darwin first theorized that they are the final stage in a progression of reef formations. In the first stage, a \Ifringing reef \i grows adjacent to land with little or no lagoon separating it from the shore. The second stage, a \Ibarrier reef,\i lies offshore with a lagoon separating it from the land.
An \Iatoll\i is the third and most mature stage, where the original land is no longer present. Darwin theorized that as volcanic islands subsided below sea level, reefs might continue to grow upward towards the surface. Drilling on several atolls has shown them to be supported by volcanic pedestals, confirming Darwin's hypothesis.
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"atom",2427,0,0,0
An atom is the smallest possible piece of matter that can take part in normal chemistry.
No one has ever seen, nor probably ever will see, an atom, but that does not deter the physicist from trying to draw a plan of it, with the aid of such clues to its structure as he has.
- Maria Goeppert Mayer (1906 - ), "The Structure of the Nucleus", \IScientific American Reader\i (1953), page 116, \IScientific American\i March 1951, p. 22.
For convenience, we all accept the polite fiction that an atom is a piece of matter made up of a nucleus and some surrounding electrons, which we visualise as orbiting the nucleus in shells, rather like swarms of moonlets around a giant \Jplanet\j. It is a convenient example of a model used to explain a complex situation.
The nucleus of an atom is made of protons, usually with neutrons as well. All matter is made of atoms, from the thinnest gas in the space between the stars to our own bodies, the \Jplanet\j \Jearth\j, and the \Jsun\j itself.
There are 103 types of atom named in the standard \Jperiodic table\j. These 103 atom types are usually called elements, and most of them come in several different types called \Jisotopes\j. Scientists believe they have found traces of some very radio-active atoms of other elements, but only 103 elements have been given official names.
The ancient Greeks believed in atoms, but they had no evidence for the existence of such things. They just thought about it, and decided that it made sense for matter to be made of small bits which could not be split up any more. In fact, the word "atom" comes from a Greek word meaning indivisible. Some of the Greeks who were interested in atoms include \JDemocritus\j and \JLeucippus\j.
While the Greeks had no evidence for atoms existing, they thought atoms seemed highly likely, and so they decided that would be enough. Science works best when there is evidence for a theory, and our modern idea of atoms could not get started until much later, when John Dalton (1766 - 1844) suggested that the developing science of chemistry made far more sense if matter was made of atoms. (Before Dalton, of course, Daniel Bernoulli had said that gases had to be made of small particles.)
By Dalton's time, many chemists were beginning to discover and prepare pure samples of the different elements. Once people could look at pure samples of oxygen, \Jphosphorus\j and so on, they were most of the way to accepting that atoms existed.
Dalton's hobby was \Jmeteorology\j, the study of \Jweather\j, and he studied the gases that make up the air. Around 1800, chemists believed that there were two gases in the air we breathe: oxygen and \Jnitrogen\j, and that the two gases had different weights. Dalton wondered how much each of the two gases contributed to the pressure he was measuring with his \Jbarometer\j.
From his experiments, Dalton developed his law of partial pressures, which says that the pressure exerted by a gas in a mixture is the same as the pressure that gas would exert if it was there by itself. The law was interesting, but the main thing is that it led Dalton to think about gases as though they were made of very small particles, bouncing around.
Each gas, he decided, must be made of similar particles, all of the same weight. The different weights of different gases would be explained by different types of atom having different weights. Without the law of partial pressures, Dalton may never have thought about atoms at all, but somebody else would have done so soon enough, for the time was right.
The best evidence to support Dalton's idea of atoms came from Joseph Louis Proust (1754 - 1826), who analysed copper carbonate, and showed in 1799 that this chemical always had the same proportions of copper, carbon and oxygen, no matter where it came from, or how it was prepared. There were always five parts of copper, one of carbon, and four of oxygen.
When Proust showed that other chemicals also had constant composition, the way was ready for John Dalton to suggest that the elements were elements because each element was made of atoms that were identical, and Proust's observations were accepted as a law of science, either called Proust's Law, or the law of definite proportions.
So even if Dalton had not come to the idea of atoms from his studies on gases, somebody else would soon have done so, starting from the problem of explaining Proust's law. It was an idea whose time had arrived.
Of course, Dalton was only partly right. The atoms of an element are very similar, but they often contain different \Jisotopes\j, (this is why copper has an \Jatomic weight\j of 63.5, because it is a mix of 69.1% of atoms with a mass of 63 units, and 30.9% of atoms with a mass of 65). Then again, atoms which are exactly the same can also be arranged in different ways, to make what we call allotropes, like diamond, \Jgraphite\j and buckyballs, or oxygen (O\D2\d) and ozone (O\D3\d).
And in some ways, Dalton was partly wrong. He thought that \Jwater\j (eight parts oxygen, one part \Jhydrogen\j by weight) showed that oxygen was eight times as heavy as \Jhydrogen\j. We know now that \Jwater\j is H\D2\dO, with twice as many \Jhydrogen\j atoms as oxygen atoms, so the oxygen atom is sixteen times as heavy as a \Jhydrogen\j atom, but only eight times as heavy as the two \Jhydrogen\j atoms in a \Jwater\j molecule.
Late in the 19th century, the study of \Jradioactivity\j showed people that there had to be both positive and negative particles inside atoms. J. J. Thomson, who had shown that the \Jelectron\j was a particle, proposed an atomic model in 1904 that was a bit like a plum pudding. A large positively charged particle had smaller negative electrons scattered through it, and this was about as good a model as people could make until the proton had been discovered.
In 1911, Ernest Rutherford and Hans Geiger tried firing alpha particles, charged \Jhelium\j nuclei, at a piece of very thin gold foil. Most of the alpha particles went straight through, but a very few of them bounced off the gold foil. They used gold foil because it can be hammered into very thin sheets, just a few atoms thick, and because gold has very heavy atoms.
They were testing some aspects of the "plum pudding" model, and the bounce-backs were a complete surprise. Rutherford said later "It was about as credible as if you had fired a 15-inch shell at a piece of tissue paper and it came back and hit you".
The only explanation was that the bouncing particles were hitting something much denser than a plum pudding atom. They had to be hitting a concentrated nucleus instead. That was easy: in the Rutherford atom, you just assumed that the electrons were circling around the outside of the nucleus, and all would be fine.
Or would it? When particles move in a circle or an \Jellipse\j, this is what physicists call acceleration. The particles may be moving at the same speed, but they are continually changing direction, and one thing the physicists knew was that when you accelerate a charged particle, it radiates, giving off \Jenergy\j. That means the electrons fall in towards the nucleus, and merge with it. This means that the Rutherford atom cannot exist. A better model was needed.
Enter Niels Bohr, who had studied with Rutherford, but was also familiar with the work of Max Planck. Bohr's solution was to propose that electrons could only \Jorbit\j in certain stable orbits. This allowed the "orbital" model to live again.
The answer came from Louis Victor de Broglie: it all works perfectly well, so long as you consider that the well-known particles we call electrons are actually waves, but when he proposed this in a thesis for a doctorate in physics, people laughed, and he was almost failed. Luckily, Albert Einstein was told about de Broglie's idea, thought about it, and said that de Broglie might very well be correct. Einstein, after all, had been toying with a related idea some fifteen years earlier.
With de Broglie's revolutionary thought, the quantum theory was away and running. The next stage in unravelling the atom came with the discovery of the neutron in 1932, then the discoveries of nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, and more.
Other evidence for atoms comes from our ability to measure \Jatomic weight\j, experiments to measure atoms and molecules, \Jmass spectrometer\j, chemical analysis, and X-ray \Jcrystallography\j, as well as from the X-ray spectra studied by Henry Moseley.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"atom trap",2428,0,0,0
EN A device for trapping atoms whose velocity has been greatly slowed using \Jlaser\j cooling. The trapping is performed either by magnetic fields or by an intense \Jlaser\j beam focused to a spot. The trapped atoms allow a detailed study of their atomic properties.
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"atomic bomb",2429,0,0,0
EN A nuclear explosive device (the \BA-bomb)\b which achieves its destructive effects through \Jenergy\j released during the fission of heavy atoms (as in uranium-235 or \Jplutonium\j-239). The bombs were developed in the USA from 1942 onwards under the code-name 'Manhattan', and used to destroy the Japanese cities of \JHiroshima\j and \JNagasaki\j (Aug 1945). Atomic weapons have been supplanted by the very much more destructive thermonuclear weapons, but a fission weapon trigger is an essential component of these devices. Fission devices are also used for low-yield 'tactical' weapons, and in 'enhanced radiation' or neutron weapons. They can be delivered by submarines, artillery, or \Jaircraft\j.
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"atomic clock",2430,0,0,0
EN See clock
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"atomic force microscope",2431,0,0,0
EN A \Jmicroscope\j using a mechanical sensor to form an image of a surface fine enough to see the individual atoms. The sample is moved under a very sharp tip mounted on a soft \Jcantilever\j spring. A detector, often optical, monitors deflections of the \Jcantilever\j and passes this information to an electronic display system. Unlike the scanning tunnelling \Jmicroscope\j, the atomic force \Jmicroscope\j can image non-conducting surfaces. One of a class of \Iscanning probe microscopes,\i it was invented by Gerd Binnig, Christopher Gerber, and Calvin Quate in 1986.
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"atomic mass unit (amu)",2432,0,0,0
EN Unit of mass; symbol \Iu; \i defined as 1 / 12 of the mass of the carbon-12 atom; value 1\Iu\i┐=┐1.66┐╫┐10\U-27\u┐kg; used to express relative atomic masses of atoms; sometimes called a \Bdalton.\b
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"atomic number",2433,0,0,0
EN See proton number
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"atomic physics",2434,0,0,0
EN The study of the structure and properties of atoms, and of their interactions with electromagnetic radiation and with other atoms. In 1911 Ernest Rutherford interpreted the scattering of alpha particles passing through gold foil as demonstrating that atoms contain a hard central nucleus, c.10\U-14\um in diameter, complete atoms being c.10\U-10\u┐m across. He visualized the atom as a central positively-charged nucleus with negatively-charged electrons orbiting round it, rather like planets orbiting the Sun. However, such atoms would be unstable, according to the laws of classical mechanics, decaying by the emission of electromagnetic radiation.
Further, they would not exhibit observed atomic spectra. These problems were solved by the improved atomic model of Niels Bohr (1913), in which an \Jelectron\j in a particular \Jorbit\j around the nucleus had a specific \Jenergy\j depending on the \Jorbit\j radius. Since only certain orbits were allowed, electrons could only have certain energies, giving rise to a pattern of discrete allowed \Jenergy\j levels.
Electrons in an allowed \Jorbit\j would not radiate electromagnetic \Jenergy\j, but \Jelectron\j jumps from one \Jorbit\j to another would correspond to the emission or absorption of well-defined quantities of light, in agreement with observed atomic spectra.
Though the Bohr model still provides a useful visual model, current atomic theory is an extension which incorporates quantum mechanics. Electrons have wave properties, and the Bohr orbits can then be explained as the requirement of fitting a whole number of \Jelectron\j waves round the nucleus.
Electrons in atoms are better represented as distributions of electric charge each labelled by a particular set of quantum numbers, rather than by point particles in circular orbits. Every possible set of quantum numbers corresponds to an \Jenergy\j level, though not all can be occupied at once. Whereas Bohr's theory allowed a partial understanding of atomic spectra, modern quantum theory allows their explicit detailed calculation.
The quantum numbers required to specify electrons in (unexcited) atoms of elements determine exactly the position of those elements in the \Jperiodic table\j; and \Jelectron\j structure determines the type of chemical bond that will be formed with other atoms. The properties of \Jhydrogen\j atoms can be calculated with great precision; but for more complicated atoms, the problems of predicting properties become severe.
Spectroscopy and collisions between atoms are used to test predictions of \Jenergy\j levels and other properties. Exotic atoms (eg negative \Jcalcium\j ions) can now be produced and studied. The direct technological applications of atomic physics include lasers and atomic clocks.
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"atomic radius",2435,0,0,0
EN The effective size of an atom: in a metal, half the distance between the nuclei of the two nearest neighbour atoms in the solid (also called the \Bmetallic radius); \b in non-metals, half the distance of the closest approach of the nuclei of two identical non-bonded atoms.
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"atomic spectra",2436,0,0,0
EN A set of specific frequencies of electromagnetic radiation, typically light, emitted or absorbed by atoms of a certain type. A given spectral line corresponds to the transition of an \Jelectron\j between two specific \Jenergy\j levels. \BEmission spectra\b are produced by applying \Jenergy\j to atoms, for example by heating or electrical discharge, raising the electrons to a higher \Jenergy\j level; the excited electrons emit light upon returning to an unexcited state.
\BAbsorption spectra\b are observed by passing light through a substance. Spectra in infrared correspond to molecular vibrations and rotations; X-ray spectra correspond to the transitions of electrons deep inside heavy atoms. The study of spectra is called \Bspectroscopy,\b a major analytic technique in physics and chemistry. The study of \Jhydrogen\j spectra by Swiss physicist Johann Balmer (1825-98) and others was important to the development of quantum mechanics.
BK a
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"atomic weight",2437,0,0,0
EN See relative atomic mass
BK a
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#
"atomism",2438,0,0,0
EN A tradition dating back to the 5th-c BC, associated particularly with \JDemocritus\j and \JLeucippus\j, which maintains that matter is composed ultimately of indivisible particles and that all its properties must be explained in terms of them. Classical \Jatomism\j anticipated the 17th-c corpuscularian philosophy of Locke, Boyle, and Gassendi; but modern \Jparticle physics\j has a very different origin and approach.
BK a
#
"atonality",2439,0,0,0
EN The property of music which is not written in a key. While any music not written in the tonal system, which prevailed between c.1600 and c.1920, might be described as 'atonal', the term is most commonly applied to music written in the post-tonal but pre-serial style of Schoenberg's \IEwartung\i (1909) and other compositions of that period.
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#
"atonement",2440,0,0,0
PN [a\Btohn\bmnt]
EN In Christian \Jtheology\j, the process whereby sinners are made 'at one' with God, through the life, death, and \Jresurrection\j of Jesus Christ. No one theory is recognized as authoritative, but the theories of Irenaeus (stressing 'victory' over evil), Anselm (stressing 'satisfaction' made to God), and Abelard (stressing the force of example of Christ) have been commonly held.
BK a
#
"Atonement, Day of",2441,0,0,0
EN See Yom Kippur
BK a
XCY y
#
"atractaspid snake",2442,0,0,0
EN See asp
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#
"Atreus",2443,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\btryoos]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, a king of \JArgos\j who quarrelled with his brother Thyestes, and placed the flesh of Thyestes' children before him at a banquet. \JAtreus\j was the father of \JAgamemnon\j and Menelaus.
BK a
#
"atrial natriuretic factor",2444,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\btrial naytriu\Bret\bik]
EN A chemical substance (a \Jpeptide\j) isolated from granules found within the muscle cells of the \Jatrium\j of the heart in various mammals (eg humans, rats). It inhibits the re-absorption of sodium by the kidney tubules, and the secretion of \Jrenin\j and antidiuretic hormone, and also lowers blood presssure. It possibly acts as a hormone involved in the regulation of body salt, \Jwater\j, and blood pressure.
BK a
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"Atrichornithidae",2445,0,0,0
EN \BScrub-birds\b
The two species of scrub-birds are the sole members of the family \JAtrichornithidae\j (Passeriformes, suborder Oscines) which inhabit dense forests in southern \JAustralia\j. Their closest relatives are the lyrebirds (family \JMenuridae\j), with which they share an unusual anatomical feature involving the musculature of the syrinx: there are only three pairs of intrinsic muscles instead of the usual four.
They have many other unusual anatomical features, and lyrebirds and scrub-birds are usually regarded as being relict survivors of a very ancient offshoot of passerine stock. With a total length of about 21 cm, the Noisy Scrub-bird \IAtrichornis\i \Iclamosus\i is the larger species, the Rufous Scrub-bird \IAtrichornis\i \Irufescens\i (16 cm) is the smaller.
Both species are endangered. The Noisy Scrub-bird was believed extinct for many decades until its dramatic rediscovery on an isolated headland in Western \JAustralia\j in 1961. A reserve was promptly established to protect the tiny remnant population, and in 1975 a small captive colony was successfully established. Though its population continues to slowly grow, its status remains precarious because of its severely restricted distribution.
Both species remain in dense undergrowth so persistently that they are all but impossible to observe-though their whistled songs are extraordinarily loud, intense, and piercing. They forage mainly in deep leaf-litter (and often under it) and roost in bushes or low trees. They very seldom fly, and their rudimentary clavicles (collarbones) suggest that they are probably close to flightlessness.
Scrub-birds have sharply pointed bills, strong feet, long graduated tails, and short, rounded wings. The plumage is mainly brown or rufous-brown above, paler below, with very fine black cross bars. The slightly larger males have a blackish band across the breast, which also extends along the flanks in the Rufous Scrub-bird; age and seasonal variation is negligible.
The Rufous Scrub-bird has an extensive but severely fragmented distribution in the mountains of north-eastern \JNew South Wales\j and far southeastern \JQueensland\j. That is, from the Mistake Mountains to Barrington Tops, but the only known population of the Noisy Scrub-bird is confined to an isolated headland at Two People Bay near Albany on the south coast of Western \JAustralia\j. A small group was translocated to nearby Mount Manypeaks in 1983.
Strongly sedentary, both species have very exacting habitat requirements that include high \Jhumidity\j, dense undergrowth, an unbroken foliage canopy, and a thick layer of leaf-litter. Both species are reduced to a surviving population of around 250 breeding pairs.
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"atrium",2446,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\btrium]
HS (plural \Batria)\b
EN The entrance hall or open inner court of a Roman house; in mediaeval \Jarchitecture\j, an open court in front of a church; generally, any cavity or entrance in a building. Atria have become particularly fashionable in late-20th-c hotels and office blocks, sometimes rising to great height.
BK a
#
"atropine",2447,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\btropeen, \Ba\btropin]
EN A drug extracted from \Jdeadly nightshade\j \I(Atropa belladonna),\i used as a poison during the Roman Empire and later. It acts by blocking nerve transmission mediated by \Jacetylcholine\j. Safer derivatives are now used in a wide variety of disorders, commonly in motion-sickness preparations, and also in \Jophthalmology\j, to dilate the pupil during eye examinations.
BK a
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"Atropos",2448,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\btropos]
EN See Moerae or Moirai
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#
"attachment",2449,0,0,0
EN In \Jpsychology\j, the infant-care-giver relationship, and the actions (eg crying, cuddling) which promote this relationship. The dominant explanation for attachment is the ethological theory of British psychiatrist John Bowlby (1907-90), which argues that early reciprocity between parent and child is determined by genetic factors in both participants, modified by the parent's own attachment history. Experience of disrupted relationships thus may be repeated in successive generations.
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"Attalids",2450,0,0,0
PN [\Bat\balidz]
EN The flamboyant Hellenistic dynasty which ruled over large parts of W \JAsia Minor\j from the 3rd-c to the 2nd-c BC. Keen patrons of the arts, they made their beautiful capital, \JPergamum\j, one of the main cultural centres of the Graeco-Roman world.
BK a
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"attar",2451,0,0,0
EN A fragrant essential oil distilled from plants; also called \Botto.\b The best known is \Jattar\j of roses, obtained from the petals of the damask rose \I(Rosa damascena),\i cultivated in the Balkans.
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"Attenborough, Sir David (Frederick)",2452,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\btenbruh]
DT1 1926
EN Naturalist and broadcaster, born in London, England, UK, the brother of Richard Attenborough. After service in the Royal Navy (1947--9) and three years in an educational publishing house, he joined the BBC in 1952 as a trainee producer. The series \IZoo Quest\i (1954--64) allowed him to undertake expeditions to remote parts of the globe to capture intimate footage of rare wildlife in its natural habitat.
He was the controller of BBC 2 (1965--8) and director of programmes (1969--72) before returning to documentary-making with such series as \ILife on Earth\i (1979), \IThe Living Planet\i (1984), \IThe First Eden\i (1987), and \IThe Private Life of Plants\i (1995). He was knighted in 1985 and made a Companion of Honour in 1996.
\BMajor Works\b
1998 Darwin: The Life (BBC 2)
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#
"Attenborough, Sir Richard (Samuel), Baron",2453,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\btenbruh]
DT1 1923
EN Actor and film director, born in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, EC England, UK, the brother of David Attenborough. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, before making his film debut in \IIn Which We Serve\i (1942).
Initially typecast as weak and cowardly youths, he was seen to chilling effect as Pinkie in \IBrighton Rock\i, on stage in 1943 and on film in 1947. He won British Academy Awards as the kidnapper in \ISeance on a Wet Afternoon\i (1964) and the bombastic sergeant major in \IGuns at Batasi\i (1964).
He became a producer in partnership with Bryan Forbes, and directed such large-scale epics as \IA Bridge Too Far\i (1977). A 20-year crusade to film the life of Mahatma Gandhi led to an Oscar for \IGandhi\i (1982).
In 1987 he made \ICry Freedom\i, a \Jbiography\j of the black activist Steve Biko, and in 1992 a \Jbiography\j of Charles Chaplin. The following year he directed \IShadowlands\i, the story of C S Lewis's marriage, and in 1996 appeared \IIn Love and War\i. He married actress Sheila Sim (1922-- ) in 1944, was knighted in 1976, and became a baron in 1993.
\BMajor Works\b
\IActor\i
1942 In Which We Serve
1946 School for Secrets
1947 Brighton Rock
1947 Dancing With Crime
1948 London Belongs to Me
1948 The Guinea Pig
1949 The Lost People
1949 Boys in Brown
1950 Morning Departure
1951 Hell Is Sold Out
1951 The Magic Box
1952 The Gift Horse
1952 Father's Doing Fine
1953 Eight O'Clock Walk
1955 The Ship That Died of Shame
1956 Private's Progress
1956 The Baby and the Battleship
1957 Brothers in Law
1958 Dunkirk
1958 The Man Upstairs
1958 Sea of Sand
1958 Danger Within
1959 I'm All Right Jack
1959 Jet Storm
1959 SOS Pacific
1960 The Angry Silence
1960 The League of Gentlemen
1961 All Night Long
1962 Only Two Can Play
1962 The Dock Brief
1963 The Great Escape
1964 Seance on a Wet Afternoon
1964 The Third Secret
1964 Guns at Batasi
1965 The Flight of the Phoenix
1966 The Sand Pebbles
1967 Dr Dolittle
1968 The Bliss of Mrs Blossom
1968 Only When I Larf
1969 The Last Grenade
1969 The Magic Christian
1970 A Severed Head
1970 Loot
1971 Ten Rillington Place
1974 And Then There Were None
1975 Rosebud
1975 Brannigan
1975 Conduct Unbecoming
1977 The Chess Players
1979 The Human Factor
1993 Jurassic Park
1994 Miracle on 34th Street
1996 In Love and War
1997 Jurassic Park: The Lost World
\IDirector\i
1969 Oh, What a Lovely War!
1972 Young Winston
1977 A Bridge Too Far
1978 Magic
1982 Gandhi
1985 A Chorus Line
1987 Cry Freedom
1992 Chaplin
1993 Shadowlands
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"attention",2454,0,0,0
EN A phenomenon where the processing capacity of the brain is directed towards a particular type of incoming, competing information. The classic example is the 'cocktail party phenomenon', where we are able to listen successfully to a single speaker in a room full of other speakers.
\IEarly selection\i theories suppose that we can filter out unwanted material at an early stage of processing; \Ilate selection\i theories suppose that most material is fully processed, and selection occurs only when we come to make a response. Sustained attention is difficult to maintain, and substantial decrements in performance are often obtained in vigilance tasks (eg detecting rare signals on a radar screen), if attention is to be maintained for more than 20 minutes.
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"attenuation",2455,0,0,0
EN The reduction in \Jmagnitude\j of some quantity, caused either by absorption when passing through a medium or by increasing distance from its source. Sunlight is attenuated by clouds; sounds die away with distance from their source.
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"Atterbury, Francis",2456,0,0,0
DT1 1663
DT2 1732
EN Anglican clergyman and controversialist, born in Milton, Buckinghamshire, SC England, UK. He studied at Oxford, took \Jholy orders\j, and became dean of \JCarlisle\j (1704), Prolocutor of \JConvocation\j (1710), dean of Christ Church (1712), and Bishop of Rochester and Dean of Westminster (1713). In 1715 he refused to sign the bishops' declaration of fidelity, and in 1722 was committed to the Tower for complicity in an attempt to restore the Stuarts. He was deprived of all his offices, and exiled.
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#
"Attersee",2457,0,0,0
PN [\Bat\berzay]
HS or \BKammersee\b[\Bkam\berzay], Eng \BLake Atter\bor \BLake Kammer\b
EN 47░55N 13░32E. Largest \JAlpine\j lake in \JAustria\j, in V÷cklabruck district, Ober÷sterreich, N \JAustria\j; \BArea:\b 45..9┐km\U2\u / 173/4┐mi\U2\u; length 20┐km / 12┐mi; width 2-3┐km / 11/4-13/4┐mi; maximum depth 171┐m / 561┐ft; lakeside summer resorts at Seewalchen, Kammer, Weyregg, Steinbach, Weissenbach.
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"Attica",2458,0,0,0
PN [\Bat\bika]
EN The south-east promontory of C \JGreece\j, and the most easterly part of the Greek mainland. In Classical \JGreece\j, it was the territory which made up the city-state of \JAthens\j.
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"Atticus, Titus Pomponius",2459,0,0,0
PN [\Bat\bikus]
DT1 109
DT2 32
DT2b BC
EN Intellectual, businessman, and writer, born in \JRome\j. He acquired the surname Atticus because of his long sojourn in \JAthens\j (85-65) to avoid the \JCivil War\j. He was a wealthy and highly cultivated man who espoused the Epicurean philosophy and combined his literary activities with a successful business career. Cicero's \ILetters to Atticus\i form a famous and prolific correspondence.
MEX Cicero
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#
"Attila",2460,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\btila]
HS , known as \Bthe Scourge of God\b
DT1a c.
DT1 406
DT2 53
EN King of the \JHuns\j (434-53). He ruled with his elder brother until 445, his dominion extending over \JGermany\j and Scythia from the Rhine to the frontiers of China. In 447 he devastated all the countries between the \JBlack Sea\j and the Mediterranean, defeating Emperor \JTheodosius II\j (ruled 408-50).
In 451 he invaded Gaul, but was routed by Aδtius, the Roman commander, and Theodoric I, King of the \JVisigoths\j, on the Catalaunian Plain. He retreated to \JHungary\j, but then made an incursion into \JItaly\j, devastating several cities, \JRome\j itself being saved only by the personal mediation of Pope Leo I. The Hunnish empire decayed after his death.
MEX Aδtius; Leo I; Theodoric I
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#
"Attis or Atys",2461,0,0,0
PN [\Bat\bis]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the young male vegetation god connected with the Asiatic \Jcult\j of Cybele; he died after castrating himself, and was resurrected. The story was later associated with the spring festival.
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"Attlee, Clem",2462,0,0,0
HS , popular name of \BClement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee\b
DT1 1883
DT2 1967
EN British statesman and prime minister (1945-51), born in London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and was called to the bar in 1905. He became a Labour MP in 1922, Ramsay MacDonald's parliamentary secretary (1922-4), under-\Jsecretary of state\j for war (1924), and postmaster-general (1931). He succeeded Lansbury as Leader of the Opposition in 1935. In Churchill's war cabinet, he was dominions secretary (1942-3) and deputy prime minister (1942-5).
As Leader of the Opposition he accompanied Eden to the \JSan Francisco\j and \JPotsdam\j conferences (1945), and after the Labour victory returned to \JPotsdam\j as prime minister. He carried through a vigorous programme of reform, nationalizing several industries, and introducing the National Health Service. Independence was granted to India (1947) and \JBurma\j (1948). He was again Leader of the Opposition (1951-5), then resigned and accepted an earldom.
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"attorney",2463,0,0,0
EN A person who has power to act for another in all or a specified number of matters; \Bpower of attorney\b refers to the authority so given. In England and Wales, the Enduring Powers of Attorney Act (1985) provides a method whereby such a power may survive a loss of the other person's mental capacity.
This overcomes a crucial shortcoming of the earlier law, which invariably ended the power at a time when it was sometimes most needed. US law provides for an analogous durable power of attorney.
This term is also used in some jurisdictions as a general label for lawyers.
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"attorney general",2464,0,0,0
EN The chief legal officer of a number of nations or states, who represents the government in its legal actions. In England and Wales, the attorney general is a member of the \JHouse of Commons\j and of the government. In the USA, the federal attorney general is an appointed member of the president's cabinet. In \JAustralia\j, the USA, and several other countries, each constituent state has its own attorney general. The chief law officer in Scotland is termed the \ILord Advocate,\i and is likewise a member of the government.
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"Attucks, Crispus",2465,0,0,0
DT (?1723-70)
EN Revolutionary figure; birthplace unknown. Little or nothing is known for sure of his exact origins, but it is generally believed that he was a mulatto and that he was either an escaped or freed slave. (In 1750 a notice for a runaway slave named "Crispus" appeared in a \JBoston\j newspaper.) He may well have been a sailor on a whaling ship or at least he worked around the \JBoston\j wharves. He was later described as a large man "whose looks was enough to terrify any person," but that may have been the perception of someone uncomfortable with African-Americans.
In any case, on March 5, 1770, he evidently joined a group of \JBoston\j men and youths who - annoyed at the British authorities trying to enforce new tax laws - had begun to throw snowballs at a lone British soldier guarding the State House. Fearing that the situation was getting out of control, a captain called out a small unit of the guard. As the crowd began to throw stones along with their taunts and push came to shove, the threatened soldiers fired, hitting 11 colonists; five died on the spot or later, and among them was Attucks.
Exactly what his role had been is not known but he was quickly made into a hero; he is the only participant in the so-called \JBoston\j Massacre whose name has passed into popular legend. In 1888 a statue of Attucks, by the famed Augustus Saint-Gaudens, was dedicated on \JBoston\j Common.
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"Attwell, Mabel Lucie",2466,0,0,0
DT1 1879
DT2 1964
EN Artist and writer, born in London, England, UK. She studied at Heatherley's and other art schools, and married cartoonist \BHarold Earnshaw.\b She was noted for her child studies, both humorous and serious, with which she illustrated her own and other stories for children. Her immensely popular 'cherubic' style was continued in annuals and children's books by her daughter, working under her mother's name.
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#
"Attwood's machine",2467,0,0,0
Often referred to incorrectly as an "Attwood machine" or even as an "Atwood machine", this is a device of the teaching physics laboratory. It consists of a light pulley with low-friction bearings, over which a string carrying masses is hung. The "machine" is used to measure the acceleration of significant masses when acted on by a small net force.
When there is a mass of 4.5 gram on one side and 5.5 gram on the other side, the force of gravity acting on the system is that which would act on a mass of one gram, but it has now to accelerate a total mass of 10 gram, so the acceleration which is observed is much slower than that normally caused by the force of attraction due to gravity. As you can see in Understanding physics, slowing down acceleration is important in helping people to study its effects.
Usually, friction in the device represents a problem, so the system is given a small starting nudge, and the time taken to travel from a fixed point A to another fixed point B, and then to a third fixed point C is used to calculate the acceleration.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"Atwater, Caleb",2468,0,0,0
DT (1778-1867)
EN educator, archaeologist; born in North Adams, Mass. An Ohio lawyer and legislator, he founded the Ohio state school system and wrote the important \IEssay on Education\i (1841). As Ohio's state archaeologist he made the earliest North American archaeological survey (published 1820).
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#
"Atwater, Helen Woodard",2469,0,0,0
DT (1876-1947)
EN home economist; born in Somerville, Mass. (daughter of Wilbur Olin Atwater). After graduating from Smith College she assisted her father in his seminal calometric research. She joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Home Economics to publicize new findings on \Jnutrition\j and food preparation to rural women (1909-23), and edited the \IJournal of Home Economics\i (1923-41).
BK AmBg
#
"Atwater, Wilbur Olin",2470,0,0,0
DT (1844-1907)
EN agricultural chemist, educator; born in Johnsburg, N.Y. He was professor of chemistry at Wesleyan University (1873-1907) and directed the first agricultural experiment station in Middletown, Conn., (1875-77). He was involved in \Jfertilizer\j testing as well as the investigation of nutritional and calorimetric standards.
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"Atwood, Margaret (Eleanor)",2471,0,0,0
DT1 1939
EN Novelist, short-story writer, poet, and critic, born in \JOttawa\j, \JOntario\j, Canada. She studied at the University of Toronto and Radcliffe College, becoming a lecturer in English literature. Her first published work, a collection of poems entitled \IThe Circle Game\i (1966), won the Governor-General's Award.
Since then she has published many volumes of poetry and short stories, but is best known as a novelist. Her controversial \IThe Edible Woman\i (1969) is one of several novels focusing on women's issues. Her futuristic novel, \IThe Handmaid's Tale\i (1985, filmed with a script by Pinter, 1990), was short-listed for the Booker Prize, as was \ICat's Eye\i in 1989. Later books include \IThe Robber Bride\i (1994) and \IAlias Grace\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1969 The Edible Woman
1972 Surfacing
1976 Lady Oracle
1979 Life Before Man
1981 Bodily Harm
1985 The Handmaid's Tale
1989 Cat's Eye
1994 The Robber Bride
1996 Alias Grace
\IPoetry\i
1966 The Circle Game
1968 The Animals in That Country
1970 The Journals of Susanna Moodie
1970 Procedures for Underground
1971 Power Politics
1978 Two-Headed Poems
1981 True Stories
1984 Interlunar
1990 Selected Poems: 1966-1984
\IShort Stories\i
1977 Dancing Girls
1983 \JBluebeard\j's Egg
\IEditor\i
1982 The New Oxford Book of Canadian Verse in English
\IOther\i
1972 Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature
1982 Seconds Words
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#
"Atwood, Wallace (Walter)",2472,0,0,0
DT (1872-1949)
EN geographer; born in \JChicago\j. He graduated from the University of \JChicago\j in 1897, thoroughly inspired by Rollin D. Salisbury. He taught at \JChicago\j and Harvard, then assumed the presidency of Clark University (1920-46). He traveled on every continent and wrote much, especially in the area of physical \Jgeography\j.
BK AmBg
#
"Auber, Daniel-Francois-Esprit",2473,0,0,0
PN [ohbair]
DT1 1782
DT2 1871
EN Composer of operas, born in Caen, \JFrance\j. His best-known works are \ILa Muette de Portici,\i usually entitled \IMasaniello\i (1828), and \IFra Diavolo\i (1830).
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#
"aubergine",2474,0,0,0
PN [\Boh\bberzheen]
EN A bushy perennial \I(Solanum meleagrum)\i with funnel-shaped, violet flowers and large, edible berries, native to New World tropics; also its fruit, variable in shape and colour, but typically egg-shaped and purple; also called \Begg-plant.\b It is widely cultivated as an annual vegetable in temperate regions. \B(Family:\b Solanaceae.)
BK a
#
"Aubert, Marie Henriette Suzanne",2475,0,0,0
PN [ohbair]
HS , known as \BMother Aubert\b
DT1 1835
DT2 1926
EN Catholic nun and religious founder, born in Lyon, \JFrance\j. She came to \JNew Zealand\j in 1860 to do missionary work among the mainly rural \JMaori\j people, but moved to Wellington in 1899 to work with the urban poor. She undertook commercial production of \JMaori\j herbal remedies and published books in the \JMaori\j language. In 1892 she founded a religious order to extend and continue her charitable work, the Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion.
SX f
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#
"Aubert, Pierre",2476,0,0,0
PN [ohbair]
DT1 1927
EN Swiss statesman, born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, \JSwitzerland\j. A member of the local assembly (1960--8), in annual elections he became vice-president of \JSwitzerland\j (1982) then president (1983, 1987).
BK Biog99
#
"Aublet, Jean Baptiste (Christophe FusΘe)",2477,0,0,0
PN [ohblay]
DT1 1720
DT2 78
EN Botanist and humanist, born in Salon, \JFrance\j. He spent over 10 years in \JMauritius\j and the French West Indies, where he established gardens of medicinal plants, and made extensive collections in French Guiana, founding forest botany in tropical America. He was also the first secular \Jslavery\j abolitionist.
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#
"aubretia",2478,0,0,0
PN [aw\Bbree\bsha]
EN A mat-forming perennial \I(Aubretia deltoidea); \i slightly greyish leaves; pink to purple or blue cross-shaped flowers; native to south-east Europe. \B(Family:\b Cruciferae.)
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"Aubrey, John",2479,0,0,0
PN [\Baw\bbree]
DT1 1626
DT2 97
EN Antiquary and folklorist, born in Easton Percy, Wiltshire, S England, UK. He studied at Oxford and London, training as a lawyer, but was never called to the bar. Only his quaint, credulous \IMiscellanies\i (1696) of \Jfolklore\j and ghost-stories was printed in his lifetime, but he left a large mass of unpublished materials. He also collected biographical and anecdotal material on celebrities of his time, which appeared in \ILetters by Eminent Persons\i (1813), better known as \IBrief Lives.\i
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"Aubusson, Pierre d'",2480,0,0,0
PN [ohbⁿs⌡]
DT1 1423
DT2 1503
EN French soldier and clergyman, and Grand Master of the Knights \JHospitallers\j from 1476, born in Monteil-au-Vicomte, \JFrance\j. His outstanding achievement was his defence of Rhodes in 1480 against a besieging army of Turks under Sultan Mohammed II. In 1481 he made a treaty with the Turks under Sultan Bayezit II by agreeing to imprison the sultan's rebellious brother, Djem; and in 1489 was created cardinal for handing Djem over to Pope Innocent VIII.
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"Auch",2481,0,0,0
PN [ohsh]
EN 43░39N 0░36E, pop (1995e) 25 500. Ancient town and capital of Gers department, S \JFrance\j, on R Gers; important city of Roman Gaul; former capital of \JGascony\j and Armagnac; railway; archbishopric; furniture, hosiery, brandy, pΓtΘ; folk museum, Gothic cathedral.
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#
"Auchinleck, Sir Claude John Eyre",2482,0,0,0
PN [\Bokh\binlek]
DT1 1884
DT2 1981
EN British soldier. He studied at Wellington College, and joined the 62nd Punjabis in 1904. In 1941 he became commander-in-chief in India, then succeeded Wavell in N Africa. He made a successful advance into Cyrenaica, but was later thrown back by Rommel. His regrouping of the 8th Army on El Alamein paved the way for ultimate victory, but at the time he was made a \Jscapegoat\j for the retreat, and was replaced by General Alexander in 1942. In 1943 he returned to India, and was created field-marshal in 1946.
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"Auchinloss, Louis Stanton",2483,0,0,0
DT1 1917
EN Novelist, short-story writer, and critic, born in Lawrence, New York, USA. He trained as a lawyer and was admitted to the New York bar in 1941. His first novel, \IThe Indifferent Children\i (1947), appeared under his pseudonym, but later books carried his own name, such as \IPursuit of the Prodigal\i (1960) and \IThe Embezzler\i (1966). Later works include \IThe Country Cousin\i (1978), \IDiary of a Yuppie\i (1987), and \ILady of Situations\i (1991).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1977 The Indifferent Children
1960 Pursuit of the Prodigal
1966 The Embezzler
1978 The Country Cousin
1987 Diary of a Yuppie
1991 Lady of Situations
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#
"Auckland",2484,0,0,0
PN [\Bawk\bland]
EN 36░55S 174░43E, pop (1995e) 887 000 (urban area). Seaport city in North Island, \JNew Zealand\j; principal port of \JNew Zealand\j; founded, 1840; capital, 1840--65; airport; railway; university (1883); textiles, footwear, clothing, chemicals, steel, \Jelectronics\j, carpets, plastics, food processing, vehicle assembly; Waitemata Harbour spanned by Auckland Harbour Bridge (1959); two cathedrals, \JNew Zealand\j Heritage Park, Howick colonial village, art gallery, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Museum of Transport and Technology.
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#
"auction bridge",2485,0,0,0
EN See bridge \B(recreation)\b
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"Auden, W(ystan) H(ugh)",2486,0,0,0
DT (1907-73)
EN poet, writer; born in York, England. He studied at Oxford (1925-28), taught, traveled extensively, wrote several plays, and emigrated to New York City (1939), becoming a U.S. citizen in 1946. He taught at many institutions, was an editor for literary periodicals, and is known as a humanist poet, as in \IHomage to Clio\i (1960). In the 1930s he collaborated with Christopher Isherwood on verse plays, and he later wrote the libretto for Stravinsky's \IThe Rake's Progress\i (1951). One of the most respected men of letters of his time, he returned to England in 1972.
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"Audenarde",2487,0,0,0
PN [ohdn\Bah(r)d\b]
EN See Oudenaarde
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"Audiberti, Jacques",2488,0,0,0
DT 1899-1965
EN Southern French poet and playwright; author of 26 plays. The first to be staged, Quoat- Quoat (1946), was written without thought of performance. His poetic exuberance linked him with writers of the postwar avant- garde such as Vauthier. Many of his plays were produced again by Marcel MarΘchal in Lyon in the 1960s. They deal with the eternal conflict between forces of good and evil in settings often borrowed from history or myth.
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"audio frequency",2489,0,0,0
The term used to describe those frequencies which we can hear, making this a rather subjective definition. Humans can hear sounds as low as about 15 vibrations per second, a tone we call 15 hertz or 15 Hz. Teenagers can hear tones as high as 20 kHz, or 20 000 hertz, but after the teens, your hearing slowly gets worse, so that you stop hearing the highest tones.
By the time you are thirty, you will only be able to hear 15 kHz, or less, if you have been exposed to a lot of very loud music. By the time you are sixty, you will hear little above 10 kHz, and by seventy, your upper limit will be about 6 kHz, not much more than the highest note on a \Jpiano\j. Bats and porpoises can make noises as high as 120 kHz, and they can hear 150 kHz. Dogs can hear tones as high as 50 kHz.
Deafness can be caused by a number of different ways. If your ear is blocked in some way, sounds may not reach the ear drum, so that you cannot hear them. If the small bones in the ear are jammed, the sound will not reach the oval window. And even if they get that far, the nerve which carries sound to the brain may not work. These differences can be important, especially if your name happened to be Beethoven.
The deaf composer was able to "listen" to the \Jpiano\j as he played it, by holding a stick between his teeth, and pushing the other end against the \Jpiano\j. The sound vibrations travelled along the stick, through Beethoven's teeth, into the bones of his skull, and so to his cochlea, where they were faintly heard, enough for him to keep composing, even after he was deaf. Whatever caused his \Jdeafness\j, we can tell from this that Beethoven had no problems with his auditory nerves.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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#
"audio-visual aids",2490,0,0,0
EN Sources other than print which are used to help people teach and learn. These may include pieces of equipment such as still, overhead, and film projectors, tape recorders, and radio or \Jtelevision\j sets, as well as pictures, graphics, charts, films, videotapes, and audiotapes. They may be used singly or in combination, as with a synchronized tape-slide sequence, or the interactive video-disc which can be linked with a \Jmicrocomputer\j to provide moving or still pictures as well as screen text and graphics.
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"audiogram",2491,0,0,0
EN A widely used profile of hearing ability, used in the diagnosis of hearing impairment. It is a graph showing the absolute threshold for the intensity of pure tones as a function of their frequency. It is commonly represented as a hearing loss, which is the difference (in decibels) between the measured threshold and the average of thresholds obtained from a large number of young, healthy ears.
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"audiology",2492,0,0,0
EN The study of the \Jphysiology\j of hearing, and of diseases that affect the external, middle and inner ear and the associated nerve. It is specifically concerned with assessing the nature and degree of hearing loss and conservation, and with the rehabilitation of people with hearing impairment. The scientific measurement of hearing is known as \Baudiometry.\b A wide range of audiometric tests is now employed, using an \Baudiometer.\b
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"audiometry",2493,0,0,0
EN See audiology
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"audit",2494,0,0,0
EN The process of checking that the accounts of an organization have been kept in accordance with good practice and with relevant laws (eg the Companies Acts, in the UK), and that the accounts fairly reflect the activities of the organization and its state of affairs at a certain date. All limited companies must have accounts audited.
Auditors are appointed by shareholders and report to them. They are usually members of professional \Jaccountancy\j firms. In the USA, government audits are performed by the Central Accounting Office.
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"auditory perception",2495,0,0,0
EN The ability to detect and respond appropriately to sounds; and the study of this ability. It encompasses a range of specializations distinguished by the type of sound considered (eg music perception, speech perception), the theory and methods employed in the study (eg psychoacoustics, auditory \Jpsychophysics\j), and by the different aspects of the ability considered (eg sound localization, pitch perception).
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"auditory tube",2496,0,0,0
EN A tube connecting the middle ear to the nasopharynx, made partly of bone and cartilage, and lined with mucous membrane; also known as the \BEustachian tube\b [yu\Bstay\bshn], after Italian physician Bartolommeo Eustachio (1520-74). It enables air to enter or leave the middle ear, so balancing the pressure on either side of the tympanic membrane, thus allowing it to vibrate freely. In aeroplanes, failure to equalize pressure during take-off and landing leads to popping sounds (and occasional pain) in the ear; chewing helps to keep the auditory tube open and so reduce this tendency. In the young child (up to age 7) the tube is more horizontal than in the adult, leading to a greater incidence of ear infections.
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"Audley (of Walden), Thomas Audley, Baron",2497,0,0,0
PN [\Bawd\blee]
DT1 1488
DT2 1544
EN English nobleman, born in Earls Colne, Essex, south-east England, UK. He studied law, and became attorney for the Duchy of Lancaster (1530) and king's serjeant (1531). Active in furthering \JHenry VIII\j's designs, he profited abundantly by ecclesiastical confiscations. In 1529 he was appointed Speaker of the \JHouse of Commons\j and in 1532 became Lord Chancellor. He was created a baron in 1538.
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"Audouin, Jean Victor",2498,0,0,0
PN [ohdwφ\ti]
DT1 1797
DT2 1841
EN Entomologist and naturalist, born in Paris. Trained as a doctor, he became professor of \Jentomology\j at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. He was co-author of the \IDictionnaire classique d'histoire naturelle\i (1822), and compiled the ornithological section of the compendious \IDescription de l'╔gypte\i (1826). \IAudouin's gull\i was named after him.
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"Audrey, St",2499,0,0,0
EN See Etheldreda or ╞thelthryth, St
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"Audubon, John James",2500,0,0,0
DT (1785-1851)
EN painter, naturalist; born in Les Cayes, \JHaiti\j. The illegitimate son of a French sea captain and merchant, Jean Audubon, and a \JCreole\j woman, he was taken to \JFrance\j and legally adopted by Audubon and his wife (1794). He began drawing birds as a teenager (but few now accept his claim that he studied under the great David in Paris). In 1803 he moved to his father's estate near Philadelphia, where he spent his time hunting, experimenting with birds (he is credited with the first banding of wild birds in America), and also drawing the birds he hunted.
After convincing her father that he could support her, in 1808 he married Lucy Bakewell; but soon he was going bankrupt operating stores and other business enterprises in Kentucky while he pursued his two real passions: observing and drawing wildlife. To make his finished paintings - for which he used a mix of pastel, watercolor, \Jtempera\j and, later, oils - he would shoot or trap birds and other wildlife (or sometimes buy dead specimens in the market); at home he set them in lifelike poses by passing wires through the animals.
Audubon moved to \JNew Orleans\j in 1821, and Lucy soon was providing much of their income by tutoring, while Audubon contributed some by doing portraits and teaching art. Determined to publish his bird paintings in a large format, he was advised to go to Europe to find skilled engravers; he went to \JGreat Britain\j (1826) where, in addition to lining up subscribers, he eventually obtained the help of master engraver Robert Havell, Jr. The great "double elephant" folio edition of \IThe Birds of America\i (4 vols., 1827-38), with hand-colored engravings, enjoyed immediate success; the text was published separately (5 vols., 1831-39) as \IOrnithological Biography.\i
He returned to America (1829-30 and 1831-34) to continue his search for as many species of birds as he could find. He went back to Europe (1834-39), and then settled permanently in the U.S.A. He issued a smaller edition of \IThe Birds of America\i (1840-44), and with the naturalist John Bachman, worked almost until his death on \IThe Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America\i (3 vols., 1845-54). Although criticized for certain scientific and artistic failings, Audubon's work still engages people with its dramatic and detailed images of wildlife.
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"Auenbrugger, Leopold",2501,0,0,0
PN [\Bow\benbruger]
DT1 1722
DT2 1809
EN Physician, born in \JGraz\j, \JAustria\j. He was the first to use percussion (tapping parts of the body and using the sound to aid diagnosis) in medical practice. He also wrote the libretto for one of Salieri's operas.
MEX Salieri
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"Auer, Carl, Freiherr (Baron) von Welsbach",2502,0,0,0
PN [ower]
DT (1858-1929)
EN Austrian chemist: invented the gas mantle.
Auer studied at Vienna \JPolytechnic\j and at Heidelberg, the latter under Bunsen. In 1885 Auer succeeded in showing that the lanthanoid 'element' didymium was actually a mixture of two new elements, praseodymium and neodymium. He is perhaps better known, however, as the inventor of the gas mantle, a fabric net impregnated with thorium oxide and cerium oxide that glows incandescent when heated in a gas flame.
Hitherto, gas lighting had relied on the \Jluminescence\j of the flame itself. Unfortunately, the invention of electric lighting made his invention largely redundant within a few years. Following an unsuccessful attempt to improve Edison's bulb with an osmium filament, he later found another use for cerium, as an alloy with iron as the 'flint' of \Jcigarette\j lighters.
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#
"Auerbach, Berthold",2503,0,0,0
PN [\Bow\berbakh]
HS , originally \BMoses Baruch Auerbacher\b
DT1 1812
DT2 82
EN Novelist, born in Nordstetten, \JGermany\j. He studied at the universities of Tⁿbingen, Munich, and Heidelberg, and developed a special interest in Spinoza, on whose life he based a novel (1837), and whose works he translated (1841). In his \ISchwarzwΣlder Dorfgeschichten\i (1843, Black Forest Village Stories), on which his fame chiefly rests, he gives charming pictures of Black Forest life.
MEX Spinoza
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#
"Auerbach, Charlotte",2504,0,0,0
PN [owerbakh]
DT (1899-1994)
EN German-British geneticist: discoverer of chemical mutagenesis.
Lotte Auerbach, born in \JGermany\j and the daughter and grand-daughter of scientists, herself studied science at four German universities and then taught in schools in Berlin until, in 1933, all Jewish teachers were dismissed. She escaped to Edinburgh, followed by her mother, worked for a PhD and obtained a lowly job at the Institute of Animal \JGenetics\j there, becoming a lecturer in 1947.
Discussions with the geneticist H J Mⁿller led her to study \Jmutation\j in animal cells (a \Jmutation\j is a change, spontaneous or induced, in a gene or a \Jchromosome\j; such a change in the hereditary material leads to an abrupt alteration in the characteristics of an organism). Mⁿller had shown that X-rays produced mutations: Lotte Auerbach first showed that mustard gas ([CH\D2\dCH\D2\dC\Dl\d]2S, used in the First World War) did so in the fruit fly, \IDrosophila.\i
She became an authority on such chemical mutations, which have been of great value in research and in cancer treatment, and she directed the Medical Research Council Mutagenesis Research Unit 'for as long as she could conceal her age from her employers', not retiring until 1969. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1957.
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#
"Auerbach, Frank",2505,0,0,0
PN [\Bow\berbak]
DT1 1931
EN Artist, born in \JGermany\j. He moved to Britain in 1939, and studied at St Martin's School of Art (1948--52) and the Royal College of Art (1952--5). He works with oil paint of predominantly \Jearth\j colours. His subject matter is figurative, portraits of a few close friends, and familiar views of Primrose Hill and Camden Town in London.
\BMajor Works\b
Portrait of E.O.W. (Whitworth Gallery, Manchester)
Mornington Crescent - Early Morning
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#
"Auerbach, Red",2506,0,0,0
PN [\Bow\berbak]
HS , popular name of \BArnold Jacob Auerbach\b
DT1 1917
EN \JBasketball\j coach, born in New York City, USA. During his career as coach of the \JBoston\j Celtics (1950--66), his teams won nine National \JBasketball\j Association championships, eight of them consecutively (1959--66). Famous for lighting a cigar after each victory, he retired from coaching in 1966 to become the team's general manager.
BK Biog99
#
"Auger effect",2507,0,0,0
PN [\Boh\bzhay]
EN In atoms, the filling of a vacancy in an inner \Jelectron\j \Jenergy\j level by an \Jelectron\j from an outer \Jenergy\j level of the same atom. The excess \Jenergy\j evolved causes emission of another \Jelectron\j. The effect, discovered by French physicist Pierre-Victor Auger in 1925, forms the basis of Auger \Jspectroscopy\j.
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#
"Auger, Pierre Victor",2508,0,0,0
PN [ohzhay]
DT (1899- )
EN French physicist: discovered the Auger effect.
Auger was educated at the ╔cole Normale SupΘrieure and subsequently became professor of physics at the University of Paris. After the Second World War he held a succession of posts in French and European science administration and was director general of the European Space and Research Organization at his retirement.
Auger is remembered for his discovery in 1925 of the Auger effect, in which an atom absorbs \Jenergy\j in the form of an X- ray \Jphoton\j, and loses it by emitting an \Jelectron\j. Auger \Jspectroscopy\j uses the effect to yield information about the electronic structure of atoms, particularly if they form part of a crystal.
BK Scie
#
"Augereau, Pierre Francois Charles, duc de (Duke of) Castiglione",2509,0,0,0
PN [ohzheroh]
DT1 1757
DT2 1816
EN French soldier, born in Paris. He achieved rapid promotion under Napoleon in \JItaly\j, where he fought with distinction at Lodi and Castiglione (1796). He opposed Napoleon's assumption of power as first consul in 1799, but was reconciled and promoted marshal in 1804 and created Duke of Castiglione in 1808.
MEX Napoleon
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#
"Augier, (Guillaume Victor) Emile",2510,0,0,0
DT 1820-89
EN French playwright. Augier is the most important chronicler of French society of his time. His plays - particularly his last, The House of Fourchambault (1878) - expose the hypocrisy, false moral values and obsession with money of the \Jbourgeoisie\j. He also developed French \Jnaturalism\j by offering serious examinations of topical issues. Augier's first play, Hemlock (1844), had a classical theme.
Later plays turned to contemporary subjects: Le Mariage d'Olympe (The Marriage of Olympia, 1855); Le Gendre de Monsieur Poirier (Monsieur Poirier's Son-in-Law), a 19th-century version of MoliΦre's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme; A False Step (The Poor Lionesses, 1858); Les EffrontΘs (The Shameless Ones, 1861), in which he exposed the link between manipulation of the stock exchange and the press; Lions et Renards (Lions and Foxes, 1869), which continues his virulent attack on the political manoeuvring of the \JJesuits\j; Maεtre GuΘrin (1864), which returns to a comedy of manners, focusing on the character of a dubious lawyer; and Madame Caverlet (1876), which deals with the question of divorce.
BK Thea
#
"augmentative communication",2511,0,0,0
EN See alternative and augmentative communication
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"Augsburg",2512,0,0,0
PN [\Bowgs\bberg], Ger [\Bowgs\bboork], ancient \BAugusta Vindelicorum\b
EN 48░22N 10░54E, pop (1995e) 263 000. Industrial and commercial city in Schwaben district, \JGermany\j; at the confluence of the Lech and Wertach Rivers, 48 km/30 mi NW of Munich; founded by the Romans, 15BC;influential commercial centre in 15th-c; seat of the famous Diets of 1530 and 1555; railway; university (1970); textiles, \Jaircraft\j, machinery, heavy \Jengineering\j, chemicals, cars, construction; birthplace of Brecht and Holbein; Renaissance town hall (1615--20), St Ulrich's Minster (1500), \JRococo\j Schaezler Palais; Mozart Summer Festival.
BK Geog99
#
"Augsburg Confession",2513,0,0,0
PN [\Bowgs\bberg]
EN A statement of faith composed by Luther, Melanchthon, and others for the Diet of Augsburg (1530), the official text being written by Melanchthon in 1531. The earliest of Protestant Confessions, it became authoritative for the Lutheran Church.
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#
"Augsburg, League of",2514,0,0,0
PN [\Bowgs\bberg]
EN (1686) A defensive alliance formed by the Holy Roman Emperor, \JBavaria\j, \JSpain\j, Sweden, and several German states, to defend the Treaties of Nijmegen (1678-9) and Ratisbon (1684), and to challenge \JLouis XIV\j's legalistic pursuit of territory, especially in disputed border areas (his \IrΘunion\i policy). However, continuing mutual provocation between \JFrance\j and the League resulted in the \BWar of the League of Augsburg\b (1689-97), also known as the \BWar of the Grand Alliance.\b
BK a
#
"Augsburg, Peace of",2515,0,0,0
PN [\Bowgs\bberg]
EN A compromise settlement agreed by Protestant and Catholic representatives at the Diet of Augsburg in 1555. The Peace adopted the noteable principle of \Icuius regio eius religio,\i establishing the right of princes to determine their subjects' faith and enforce religious uniformity, while condemning dissent.
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#
"augury",2516,0,0,0
PN [\Bawg\byuree]
EN In ancient \JRome\j, the principal means of divining the will of the gods. It involved observing natural phenomena such as \Jlightning\j, the flight patterns of wild birds, or the feeding habits of sacred chickens. It was taken very seriously, since success in any enterprise was believed to be dependent on knowing the will of the gods and acting in accordance with it. The augurs themselves were not professional priests, but distinguished public men who had undergone training in traditional augural lore and been admitted to the college of augurs - a select body of 16.
BK a
#
"August, Bille",2517,0,0,0
PN [\Bow\bgust]
DT1 1948
EN Film director and photographer, born in Denmark. He studied in Stockholm and \JCopenhagen\j, and since 1979 has directed several feature films and TV films. \IPelle Erobreren\i (1987, Pelle the Conqueror) was awarded the Golden Palm in \JCannes\j in 1988, and in 1989 won an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Later films include \IJerusalem\i (1996).
BK Biog99
#
"Augusta (Georgia)",2518,0,0,0
PN [aw\Bguhs\bta]
EN 33░28N 81░58W, pop (1995e) 49 500. Seat of Richmond Co, E Georgia, USA, on the Savannah R; founded as a river trading post; established in 1735; changed hands many times during the War of Independence; state capital, 1786--95; housed Confederate powder works in the \JCivil War\j; airfield; railway; popular resort with a notable golf club; trade and industrial centre.
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#
"Augusta (Maine)",2519,0,0,0
PN [aw\Bguhs\bta]
EN 44░17N 69░50W, pop (1995e) 21 600. State capital of Maine, USA, in Kennebec Co, S Maine; on the Kennebec R 72 km/45 mi from its mouth; established as a trading post, 1628; city status, 1849; airfield; wood products, fabrics, shoes.
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"Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace",2520,0,0,0
Mention the name "Lovelace" to people, and most of them will think either of Lovelace Watkins or of Linda Lovelace. On the other hand, mention "Byron" and most folk will think only of Lord Byron the romantic poet, the original Byronic hero, dashing around and fighting for Greek independence against the Turks.
A few who know their nautical history might go so far as to think of the poet's grandfather, Foul Weather Jack Byron, an eighteenth century admiral in Britain's Royal Navy. Foul Weather Jack was so known because his every departure to sea was accompanied by inclement conditions. Byron Bay (now a popular resort on the coast of \JNew South Wales\j) was named by Lieutenant James Cook (he was yet to be promoted to Captain) after Foul Weather Jack, but there were other interesting Byrons as well.
Ada Byron was the daughter of the poet, and the great grand-daughter of the admiral. Her life was full of storms worse than any of great grand-father's, and there were some heroic aspects about her life which would have done credit to her father.
Augusta Ada Byron was an only child, for the very good reason that her mother left her father soon after she was born. It seems much of her skill in \Jmathematics\j was passed on to Ada by her mother. We will come back to why she used her middle name later. Lady Byron, Ada's mother, started life as Anne Milbanke, but seems to have kept the title after her separation from Lord Byron. She had studied \Jmathematics\j with a Cambridge don, and Byron once called his wife "The Princess of Parallelograms". Lady Byron saw to it that Ada was equally well trained, and this obviously helped Ada to realise her full potential.
But so too did Ada's husband, who was prepared to get himself elected to the Royal Society to help her. The Earl of Lovelace did this in order to obtain for Ada an indirect access to the Society's library. The Royal Society in those days would not consider letting a mere woman become a Fellow, or even have access to their library. More fool them, but at least we live in more sensible times now. So whatever Ada achieved, she did with the help of her family, and with active encouragement from Charles Babbage, but with no great help from other quarters.
Her abilities seem to have first become publicly apparent when she was in her late twenties. She had almost given up on doing things mathematical, when she came across an Italian account of some lectures given at Turin by Charles Babbage in 1840. These lectures on Babbage's \IAnalytical Engine\i had been written up by an engineer, Luigi Menabrea, and published in Geneva in 1842. Ada translated these notes, and told Babbage about it.
Babbage suggested that she should have written her own article, since she knew the subject so well. In the end, Ada published her version, the translation accompanied by her own notes, three times as long as the translation, in Taylor's \IScientific Memoirs\i for 1843. Babbage's Analytical Engine was to be a cogs and wheels computer which would calculate all sorts of tables. Babbage seems to have had all of the methods worked out, but he was not so good at describing his intentions. Ada was highly effective in this role, and much of what we know about Babbage today comes from her.
Her account was far more than a parroting of Babbage's ideas, although it is hard now to determine who generated what. It was certainly Ada who first introduced us to the idea of a program for a computer, and she also invented jump instructions and loops . These are points in a program where the program chooses between two alternative courses of action, based on values calculated by the computer, or repeats an action, over and over again, until a condition is met.
A hundred and two years after she came up with the idea, the first working computer lacked a jump instruction in its basic set. Babbage may have been ahead of his time, but so was Ada! But bad blood, they say, will out in the end, and maybe it did for Ada. Whatever the cause, she became addicted to laudanum, a tincture of opium. If this wasn't enough, she also became a compulsive gambler, dragging Babbage and her husband into her "unbeatable" system for winning on the horses. It was done with good intent: they planned this way to raise the money needed to build Babbage's machine.
There is only one unbeatable system for winning at the horses, and it is called being a bookmaker, but Ada was trying to win as a punter, and she lost, again and again. Her obsession held firm, and she simply got further and further into debt. The woman who first told the world that analytical machines could do only what they were instructed, that they were limited to what we can tell them about, seems to have published no more. Yet there was more to publish, for she became interested in \Jcybernetics\j and brain function. She died at thirty six, less than totally fulfilled, but her name lives on. Not as Lovelace, but by her given name, Ada.
She is one of two people to have a computer language named after them, and the only woman who is honoured in this way. Not even the Royal Society could stop that. PASCAL, of course is fairly well-known, but there is also a computer language called ADA.
But why was she called Ada? Why not Augusta? The answer is to be found in the family correspondence. Lord and Lady Byron separated, you will remember, soon after Ada was born, and it seems Lady Byron was convinced Byron was engaged in an incestuous relationship with his half-sister, Augusta Leigh, and it seems likely that this explains why the estranged mother called her daughter by her second baptismal name?
Incidentally, the degree of consanguinity, of "common blood" between half-brother and half-sister is the same as for first cousins. It may seem to be a greater breach of the \Jtaboo\j we feel about incest, but from a strictly mathematical or genetic point of view, Byron and Augusta Leigh were as genetically different as two first cousins.
So if there was a relationship (and many people seemed to think there was), it was in fact no more incestuous than the relationship of Charles Darwin to his wife. Then again, Augusta Byron Leigh's lawful husband, Charles Leigh, was her first cousin, and Foul Weather Jack married a first cousin as well. Jack's brother (the 5th Lord Byron, \Ialias\i "the Wicked Lord") had a son who also married a cousin. This may explain why Lady Caroline Lamb said the Byrons were "mad, bad, and dangerous to know". Seeing the lady was his mistress for nine months, she may have known whereof she spoke, but she alone seems not to have been Byron's cousin.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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#
"Augustan age",2521,0,0,0
EN The age of the Emperor Augustus in \JRome\j (27 BC-AD 14), graced by the poets Horace, \JOvid\j, and Virgil; hence, the classical period of any national literature. Examples include the half-century after the revolution settlement in England (1689), during which Dryden, Pope, Addison, Steele, Swift, and (later) Johnson were active; and in \JFrance\j, the earlier age of Corneille, Racine, and MoliΦre under \JLouis XIV\j (1643-1715).
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#
"Augustine, St, also known as Augustine of Canterbury",2522,0,0,0
PN [aw\Bguhs\btin]
HS , also known as \BAugustine of Canterbury\b
DT1 ?
DT2 604
EN Clergyman, the first \JArchbishop\j of Canterbury, born probably in \JRome\j. He was prior of the Benedictine monastery of St Andrew in \JRome\j, when in 596 he was sent, with 40 other monks, by Pope Gregory I to convert the \JAnglo-Saxons\j to \JChristianity\j. Landing in Thanet, the missionaries were kindly received by ╞thelbert, King of Kent, whose wife was already a Christian.
A residence was assigned to them at Canterbury, where they devoted themselves to monastic exercises and preaching. The conversion and \Jbaptism\j of the king contributed greatly to the success of their efforts. In 597 Augustine went to \JArles\j, and there was consecrated Bishop of the English. Feast \Jday\j 26 / 27 May.
MEX Gregory I; Mellitus
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#
"Augustine, St, originally Aurelius Augustinus, also known as Augustine of Hippo",2523,0,0,0
PN [aw\Bguhs\btin]
HS , originally \BAurelius Augustinus,\b also known as \BAugustine of Hippo\b
DT1 354
DT2 430
EN The greatest of the Latin Fathers of the Church, born in Tagaste, \JNumidia\j (modern \JAlgeria\j). His father was a pagan, but he was brought up a Christian by his devout mother, Monica. He went to \JCarthage\j to study, and had a son (Adeonatus) by a mistress there. He became deeply involved in Manicheanism, which seemed to offer a solution to the problem of evil, a theme which was to preoccupy him throughout his life.
In 383 he moved to teach at \JRome\j, then at Milan, and became influenced by Scepticism and then by \JNeoplatonism\j. After the dramatic spiritual crises described in his \Jautobiography\j, he finally became converted to \JChristianity\j and was baptized (together with his son) by St Ambrose in 386. He returned to N Africa and became Bishop of Hippo in 396, where he was a relentless antagonist of the heretical schools of Donatists, Pelagians, and Manicheans.
The \IConfessions\i (400) is a classic of world literature and a spiritual \Jautobiography\j, as well as an original work of philosophy. \IThe City of God\i (412-27) is a work of 22 books presenting human history in terms of the conflict between the spiritual and the temporal. Feast \Jday\j 28 August.
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#
"Augustinians",2524,0,0,0
EN A religious order united in 1255 following the monastic teaching and 'rule' of St Augustine; also known as the \BAugustinian\b or \BAustin Friars; \b in full, the \BOrder of the Hermit Friars of St Augustine\b \B(OSA).\b It established missions and monasteries throughout the world, and was responsible for founding many famous hospitals. There are also Augustinian nuns of second or third orders ('tertiaries').
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#
"Augustulus, Romulus",2525,0,0,0
PN [aw\Bgus\btyulus]
HS , nickname of \BFlavius Momyllus Romulus Augustus\b
DT1 5
DT1b th-c
EN Last emperor of the W half of the old Roman Empire (ruled 475-476). His father, Orestes, had risen to high rank under Emperor Julius Neppos, on whose flight he conferred the vacant throne on Augustus (he received his nickname, a diminutive form of Augustulus, because he was still a child at the time), retaining power in his own hands. After Orestes was killed by the barbarians, Augustulus was forced to retire to a villa near Naples.
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#
"Augustus I",2526,0,0,0
DT1 1526
DT2 86
EN Elector of \JSaxony\j, born in Freiberg, modern \JGermany\j, who succeeded his brother Maurice as leader of the German Protestant princes. He first favoured the Calvinistic doctrine of the sacraments, and then, becoming Lutheran, persecuted the Calvinists (from 1574). He gave a great impetus to the arts, education, and commerce, reorganizing \JSaxony\j into a model state. The Dresden library and most galleries owe their origin to him.
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#
"Augustus II",2527,0,0,0
HS , known as \BAugustus the Strong\b
DT1 1670
DT2 1733
EN King of \JPoland\j and elector of \JSaxony\j, born in Dresden, \JGermany\j (formerly Saxony). He succeeded to the electorship as Frederick Augustus I in 1694, and became a Roman Catholic in order to secure his election to the Polish throne as Augustus II in 1697. In alliance with Peter the Great of \JRussia\j and Frederik IV of Denmark, he planned the partition of Sweden, invading Livonia in 1699.
Defeated by Charles XII of Sweden, he was deposed in 1706 and replaced by Stanislaus Leszczynski. After the defeat of the Swedes by Peter the Great at \JPoltava\j (1709), he recovered the Polish throne.
MEX Charles XII; Saxe
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#
"Augustus, (Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus)",2528,0,0,0
DT1 63
DT1b BC
DT2a AD
DT2 14
EN Founder of the Roman Empire, the son of Gaius Octavius, senator and praetor, and great nephew (through his mother, Atia) of Julius Caesar. On Caesar's assassination (44 BC), he abandoned student life in Illyricum and returned to \JItaly\j where, using Caesar's money and name (he had acquired both under his will), he raised an army, defeated Antony, and extorted a wholly unconstitutional consulship from the Senate (43 BC).
When Antony returned in force from Gaul later that year with Lepidus, Octavian made a deal with his former enemies, joining the so-called Second \JTriumvirate\j with them, and taking Africa, \JSardinia\j, and \JSicily\j as his province. A later redivision of power gave him the entire western half of the Roman world, and Antony the eastern. While Antony was distracted there by his military schemes against Parthia, and his liaison with Cleopatra, Octavian consistently undermined him at home.
Matters came to a head in 31 BC, and the Battle of Actium followed, Octavian emerging victorious as the sole ruler of the Roman world. Though taking the inoffensive title \Iprinceps\i ('first citizen'), he was in all but name an absolute monarch. His new name, Augustus ('exalted'), had historical and religious overtones, and was deliberately chosen to enhance his prestige.
His long reign (27 BC-AD 14) was a time of peace and reconstruction at home, sound administration and steady conquest abroad. In gratitude the Romans awarded him the title \IPater Patriae\i ('Father of his Country') in 2 BC, and on his death made him a god \I(divus Augustus).\i
EN pioneer probation officer, philanthropist; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. Little is known of his background or early years but by 1841 he was a shoemaker, albeit one who employed several assistants. Attending the \JBoston\j Police Court that year, he witnessed a case involving a common drunkard; at Augustus's request, the man's sentence was deferred for three weeks and he was released to Augustus's supervision; at the end of the probationary period the man was able to convince the judge of his reformation and received a nominal fine.
After this incident Augustus appeared almost daily in various \JBoston\j courts, acting as counsel for prisoners, furnishing bail, and sometimes finding homes for juvenile defenders; his unorthodox approach often brought him into conflict with court officials. He continued to work at his shoemaking business until 1846 when he seems to have acquired enough money to support himself.
Between 1842-58, using his own money and some modest contributions from others, he posted bail for 1,946 people. He is regarded as "the father of probation" in the U.S.A.
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"Augustusburg",2530,0,0,0
EN The 18th-c Baroque residence of the former electors of Cologne at Brⁿhl, north-west \JGermany\j; a world heritage site. It was designed by Konrad Schlaun, and later Francois CuvilliΘ (architect of the \JRococo\j hunting lodge of Falkenlust, which lies across the park) for Elector Clemens August (1700-61).
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#
"auk",2531,0,0,0
EN A small, black-and-white, short-winged seabird, the Northern hemisphere equivalent to the penguin (which it superficially resembles); inhabits cool seas; excellent swimmer; breeding colonies contain millions of birds. \B(Family:\b \JAlcidae\j, 21 species.)
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#
"Auld Lang Syne",2532,0,0,0
PN [ohld lang ziyn]
EN A Scottish song, sung communally with arms crossed and hands linked at moments of leave-taking or at the end of the year. The words were adapted by Robert Burns in 1791 from an earlier lyric, and later fitted to the pentatonic tune (of uncertain origin) to which they are sung today. The title (literally 'old long since') refers to past times.
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#
"AulΘn, Gustaf Emmanuel Hildebrand",2533,0,0,0
PN [ow\Blen\b]
DT1 1879
DT2 1977
EN Lutheran theologian and church music composer, born in Ljungby, Sweden. Professor of systematic \Jtheology\j at Lund (1913-33) and Bishop of StrΣngnaumΣs (1933-52), he was a leading representative of the Scandinavian school of \Jtheology\j. His most famous study, \IChristus victor\i (1931), presented the death of Christ as a triumph over the powers of evil. He was also president of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music (1944-50).
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#
"Aumale, Henri-EugΦne-Philippe-Louis d'OrlΘans, duc d' (Duke of)",2534,0,0,0
PN [ohmal]
DT1 1822
DT2 97
EN French soldier, born in Paris, the fourth son of Louis-Philippe. After an army career, at the revolution of 1848 he retired to England, where he wrote \IHistoire des princes de CondΘ\i (1869-97) and other works. Elected to the Assembly in 1871, in 1886 he bequeathed his magnificent chΓteau of Chantilly to the nation.
MEX Louis-Philippe
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#
"Aung San Suu Kyi, Daw",2535,0,0,0
PN [owng san soo kyee]
DT1 1945
EN Political leader, born in Yangon, \JMyanmar\j (formerly \JRangoon\j, \JBurma\j), the daughter of the assassinated General Aung San, who was hailed as the father of Burmese independence. She studied in India and at Oxford, and came to be committed to the cause of democracy in her country.
Social unrest forced dictator General Ne Win (1911-- ) to resign in 1988, and the military took power. In response, she co-founded the National League for Democracy (NLD), but was later arrested along with many NLD members (1989). The NLD won a resounding victory in the ensuing elections, but she was to remain under house arrest. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, she was released in July 1995.
BK Biog99
#
"Aungerville or de Bury, Richard",2536,0,0,0
PN [\Bawng\bgervil]
DT1 1287
DT2 1345
EN Clergyman, born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, E England, UK. He studied at Oxford, became a Benedictine monk at Durham, and tutored Edward III. He was made successively dean of Wells and Bishop of Durham, besides acting for a time as High Chancellor. His principal work, \IPhilobyblon,\i describes the state of learning in England and \JFrance\j.
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#
"aura",2537,0,0,0
EN The \Jenergy\j field which radiates from all living organisms, and which some people claim to see in the form of a luminous glow of various colours. The aura may also be revealed by such techniques as Kirlian photography. The shape, colour, and strength of the aura may be affected by a person's emotional, mental, and physical well-being, and therapists claim to be able to detect dysfunction in the internal organs through analyzing its appearance. There is current research interest in the computer analysis of Kirlian images for diagnostic purposes.
BK a
#
"Aurangzeb or Aurungzib",2538,0,0,0
PN [\Baw\brangzeb]
HS ('ornament of the throne'), kingly title \BAlamgir\b
DT1 1618
DT2 1707
EN Last of the Mughal emperors of India, the third son of Emperor Shah Jahan. When Shah Jahan became seriously ill in 1657, Aurangszeb defeated his brothers and confined his father, beginning his rule without formal coronation in 1658. During his long reign, the empire remained outwardly prosperous and extended its boundaries, but his puritanical and narrow outlook alienated the various communities, particularly the Hindus, whom he treated with great harshness. Opposed by his own rebellious sons and by the Mahratta empire in the S, he died a fugitive at Ahmadnagar.
MEX Shah Jahan
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#
"Aurelian",2539,0,0,0
PN [aw\Bree\blian]
HS , in full \BLucius Domitius Aurelianus\b
DT1a c.
DT1 215
DT2 75
EN Roman emperor, born of humble origins in Dacia or Pannonia. Enlisting early as a common soldier he rose rapidly to the highest military offices. On the death of Claudius II (270), he was elected emperor by the army. By restoring good discipline in the army, order in domestic affairs, and political unity to the Roman dominions, he merited the title awarded him by the Senate, \IRestitutor Orbis\i ('Restorer of the World'). He was assassinated by his own officers during a campaign against the Persians.
MEX Zenobia
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#
"Aurelian Way",2540,0,0,0
EN See Roman roads
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#
"Aurelius",2541,0,0,0
PN [aw\Breel\bius]
HS , in full \BCaesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus,\b originally \BMarcus Annius Verus\b
DT1 121
DT2 80
EN One of the most respected emperors in Roman history, born in \JRome\j. When only 17, he was adopted by Antoninus Pius, who had succeeded \JHadrian\j and whose daughter Faustina was selected for his wife. From 140, when he was made consul, till the death of Antoninus in 161, he discharged his public duties with great conscientiousness, at the same time devoting himself to the study of law and philosophy, especially Stoicism.
Peaceful by temperament, his reign suffered from constant wars, and though in Asia, Britain, and on the Rhine the barbarians were checked, permanent peace was never secured. His death was felt to be a national calamity, and he was retrospectively idealized as the model of the perfect emperor.
MEX Antoninus Pius
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#
"Auric, Georges",2542,0,0,0
PN [ohrik]
DT1 1899
DT2 1983
EN Composer, born in LodΦve, \JFrance\j. He studied under Vincent d'Indy, and became one of \ILes Six.\i His compositions range widely from full orchestral pieces and ballets to songs and film scores, such as \IPassport to Pimlico\i (1949) and \IMoulin Rouge\i (1952). In 1962 he was appointed director of the Paris OpΘra and OpΘra-Comique, but in 1968 resigned most of his official positions in order to compose.
MEX Cocteau; Durey; Honegger; Milhaud; Poulenc; Tailleferre; d'Indy, Vincent
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#
"auricula",2543,0,0,0
PN [a\Brik\byula]
EN A European \Jalpine\j \I(Primula auricula)\i displaying a rosette of fleshy leaves with a mealy white bloom; flowers in clusters on a common stalk. Numerous hybrids are cultivated, some with intricately patterned flowers. \B(Family:\b Primulaceae.)
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"auricular therapy",2544,0,0,0
PN [aw\Brik\byuler]
EN A form of \Jacupuncture\j which developed outside China, using points on the ear which relate to remote areas of the body. The entire body is said to be represented on the surface of the ear, and more than 200 ear \Jacupuncture\j points have now been described on a comprehensive map constructed by Dr Paul Nogier in 1951.
The application of needles, electronic stimulation, or \Jlaser\j to these points is said to cure disease in the related part. Ear \Jacupuncture\j is now widely used to treat addictions (eg to \Jtobacco\j, drugs, and alcohol) and for pain relief during childbirth and dentistry.
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#
"Auriga",2545,0,0,0
PN [aw\Briy\bga]
HS (Lat 'charioteer')
EN A prominent Northern hemisphere \Jconstellation\j in the \JMilky Way\j, containing many star clusters. Its brightest star is Capella, sixth-brightest in the sky, actually a close pair of giant yellow stars, distance 14 parsec.
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"Aurignacian",2546,0,0,0
PN [awrig\Bnay\bshn]
EN In European prehistory, a division of Upper Palaeolithic culture, named after the cave site at Aurignac, Haute Garonne, south-west \JFrance\j, excavated in 1852-60 by French archaeologist Edouard Lartet (1801-71). \JAurignacian\j stone scrapers, blades, and bone points occur throughout \JFrance\j / \JGermany\j c.38┐000-28┐000 BC, less frequently in \JHungary\j / \JAustria\j.
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"Auriol, Jacqueline",2547,0,0,0
PN [ohreeol]
DT1 1917
DT2 2000
EN French aviator, the daughter-in-law of Vincent Auriol. She broke the women's jet speed record in 1955 by flying at 715┐mph (1150┐kph) in a French \IMystΦre\i. She published \II Live To Fly\i in 1970.
BK Biog99
#
"Auriol, Jean-Baptiste",2548,0,0,0
DT 1806-81
EN French acrobatic clown. He first worked with Ducrow, performing his famous bottle dance. After appearances throughout Europe he made his Parisian debut with Franconi (1847), where his leaps had a phenomenal success: he performed a salto mortale over 24 soldiers and a double salto over 12 horses (see acrobatics). Auriol's voice 'like a child's trumpet' and his jester's costume set the style for European clowns for two decades.
BK Thea
#
"Auriol, Vincent",2549,0,0,0
PN [ohreeol]
DT1 1884
DT2 1966
EN French statesman, born in Revel, \JFrance\j. He studied law at \JToulouse\j, and entered politics in 1914. A socialist politician, he became president of the two constituent assemblies of 1946, and the first president of the Fourth Republic (1947-54).
SX m
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"Aurobindo, Sri",2550,0,0,0
PN [\Bow\brobindoh \Bgoh\bsay]
HS , originally \BAurobindo Ghose\b
DT1 1872
DT2 1950
EN Philosopher, poet, and mystic, born in \JCalcutta\j, India. He studied at Cambridge, and became a professor in Baroda and \JCalcutta\j. Renouncing \Jnationalism\j and politics for \Jyoga\j and Hindu philosophy, he founded an \Jashram\j at \JPondicherry\j in 1910. His writings include \IThe Life Divine\i (1940) and \IAurobindo on Himself\i (1953).
SX m
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#
"aurochs",2551,0,0,0
PN [\Baw\broks]
HS (plural, \Baurochsen)\b
EN An extinct large wild ox \I(Bos primigenius),\i formerly widespread in Europe, Asia, and N Africa; the ancestor of domestic \Jcattle\j; bulls large with long forward-pointing horns; females smaller with shorter horns; last individual killed in \JPoland\j in 1627; also known as \Burus,\b or \Bwild ox; \b name formerly used for the European \Jbison\j.
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"Aurora (Gods)",2552,0,0,0
PN [aw\Braw\bra]
EN The Roman name of the goddess of the dawn, equivalent to the Greek Eos.
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"aurora (lights)",2553,0,0,0
PN [aw\Braw\bra]
EN A diffuse coloured light in the upper \Jatmosphere\j (100┐km / 60┐mi) over polar regions, visible at night. It is caused by charged particles from the Sun colliding with oxygen and \Jnitrogen\j atoms in the \Jatmosphere\j. It is seen most frequently in the \Bauroral zones,\b which have a radius of c.22░ around the geomagnetic \Jpoles\j. In the N it is known as the \Iaurora borealis\i or \Inorthern lights; \i in the S as the \Iaurora australis.\i
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#
"Aurungzeb(e)",2554,0,0,0
EN See Aurangzeb or Aurungzib
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#
"Auschwitz",2555,0,0,0
PN [\Bow\bshvitz]
EN The largest Nazi \Jconcentration camp\j, on the outskirts of Oswiecim, south-west \JPoland\j, where 3-4 million people, mainly Jews and \JPoles\j, were murdered between 1940 and 1945; a world heritage site. Gas chambers, watch towers, and prison huts are preserved at the camp, part of which is now a museum.
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"auscultation",2556,0,0,0
PN [awskuhl\Btay\bshn]
EN The process of listening to and analyzing the audible sounds within the body, usually with the aid of a stethoscope. These include the sounds (vibrations) in blood vessels, heart, lungs, \Jbronchi\j, and intestines, induced by the flow of blood, air, or gas within the various organs.
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"Ausgleich",2557,0,0,0
PN [\Bows\bgliykh]
HS (Ger 'compromise')
EN The arrangement which created the Dual Monarchy of \JAustria\j-\JHungary\j. It was made in 1867 between the Imperial government of \JAustria\j and representatives of \JHungary\j, following the Austrian defeat by \JPrussia\j (1866).
BK a
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"Auslan",2558,0,0,0
The Australian variant of sign language. Like the other sign languages of the world, this is a complete language, complete with its own grammar and \Jsyntax\j, not just a method of "spelling out" English words, as most people believe. The facility for "spelling out" usually exists in sign languages, but it is secondary to the language of sign, which is as distinct from English (or French) as English and French are from each other.
Oddly enough, American Sign Language (ASL) is derived from the French version of signing, having been developed by Laurent Clerc and introduced in the USA in 1816. As a result, an American "signer" is more able to understand and be understood in Paris than in London. Auslan, being derived from the British form of signing, would be more readily understood in London than in Paris.
An Australian researcher has just completed a \JCD\j-ROM on Auslan, which is available from \JDeafness\j Resources \JAustralia\j, in Parramatta, NSW, \JAustralia\j.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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#
"Ausonius, Decimus Magnus",2559,0,0,0
PN [aw\Bsohn\bius]
DT1a c.
DT1 309
DT2 92
EN Latin poet, born in Burdigala (\JBordeaux\j, \JFrance\j). He taught \Jrhetoric\j there for 30 years, and was then appointed by Emperor Valentinian I to be tutor to his son Gratian. He later held the offices of quaestor, prefect of Latium and consul of Gaul. His works include epigrams, poems on his deceased relatives and on his colleagues, epistles in verse and prose, and idylls.
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"Austen, Jane",2560,0,0,0
DT1 1775
DT2 1817
EN Novelist, born in Steventon, Hampshire, S England, UK, where her father was \Jrector\j. She spent the first 25 years of her life there, and later lived in Bath, \JSouthampton\j, Chawton, and Winchester. The fifth of a family of seven, she began writing for family amusement as a child. \ILove and Friendship\i (published 1922) dates from this period.
Her early published work satirized the sensational fiction of her time, and applied common sense to apparently melodramatic situations - a technique she later developed in evaluating ordinary human behaviour. Of her six great novels, four were published anonymously during her lifetime and two under her signature posthumously. \ISense and Sensibility,\i published in 1811, was begun in 1797; \IPride and Prejudice\i appeared in 1813; \IMansfield Park,\i begun in 1811, appeared in 1814; \IEmma\i in 1815.
Her posthumous novels were both published in 1818; \IPersuasion\i had been written in 1815, and \INorthanger Abbey,\i begun in 1797, had been sold in 1803 to a publisher, who neglected it, and reclaimed it in 1816.
SX f
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#
"Austen, Winifred",2561,0,0,0
DT1 1876
DT2 1964
EN Wildlife artist, born in \JRamsgate\j, Kent, south-east England, UK. She illustrated Patrick Chalmers' \IBirds Ashore and Aforeshore\i (1935), and painted postcards under the signature 'Spink'.
SX f
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#
"Auster, Paul",2562,0,0,0
PN [\Baw\bster]
DT1 1947
EN Novelist, born in Newark, \JNew Jersey\j, USA.He studied at Columbia University, then lived in \JFrance\j for four years. Since 1974 he has published poems, essays, novels and translations. His use of detective-story techniques to explore modern urban identity is evident in \IThe New York Trilogy\i (1985--6). Later books include \IThe Music of Chance\i (1990) and \ILeviathan\i (1992).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1982 Squeeze Play
1987 The Country of Last Things
1985--6 The New York Trilogy
1989 Moon Palace
1990 The Music of Chance
1992 Leviathan
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#
"Austerlitz, Battle of",2563,0,0,0
PN [\Bow\bsterlits]
DT1 1805
EN Napoleon's most decisive victory, also known as \Bthe Battle of the Three Emperors,\b fought in Moravia against a larger combined Austro-Russian army under Kutuzov. It forced \JAustria\j to make the Treaty of \JPressburg\j and withdraw from the Third Coalition.
BK a
#
"Austerlitz, Frederick",2564,0,0,0
EN See Astaire, Fred
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#
"Austin",2565,0,0,0
PN [\Baw\bstin]
EN 30░17N 97░45W, pop (1995e) 513 000. Capital of state in Travis Co, SC \JTexas\j, USA, on the \JColorado\j R; settled, 1835; capital of the Republic of \JTexas\j, 1838; \JTexas\j government moved to Houston (1842) for fear of marauding Mexicans and Indians; returned in 1845 when \JTexas\j joined the Union; airfield; railway; two universities (1876, 1881); commercial centre for an extensive agricultural region; electronic and scientific research; tourism; Aqua Festival (Aug); famous for its moonlight tower lights, since 1895; underwent remarkable growth during the economic boom of the 1980s.
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"Austin (of Longbridge), Herbert Austin, Baron",2566,0,0,0
DT1 1866
DT2 1941
EN Car manufacturer, born in Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire, SC England, UK. He studied at Brampton College, went to \JAustralia\j in 1884, and worked in \Jengineering\j shops there. He returned to England in 1893, and in 1895, with the Wolseley Company, produced his first three-wheeled car. In 1905 he opened his own works near Birmingham, its enormous output including the popular 'Baby' Austin 7 (1921). He was also Conservative MP for King's Norton (1918-24).
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"Austin Friars",2567,0,0,0
EN See Augustinians
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"Austin, Alfred",2568,0,0,0
DT1 1835
DT2 1913
EN Poet, born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. He studied at the University of London, and was called to the bar in 1857, but then abandoned law for literature. His works include \IThe Season: a Satire\i (1861), \IThe Human Tragedy\i (1862), and an \Jautobiography\j (1911). He became Poet Laureate in 1896.
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"Austin, J(ohn) L(angshaw)",2569,0,0,0
DT1 1911
DT2 60
EN Philosopher, born in Lancaster, Lancashire, north-west England, UK. He studied at Oxford, where he was a leading figure in the Oxford Philosophy movement, and became professor there in 1952. His distinctive contribution was the meticulous examination of ordinary linguistic usage to resolve philosophical perplexities, pioneering the analysis of speech acts. His best-known works are \IPhilosophical Papers\i (1961), \ISense and Sensibilia\i (1962), and \IHow to Do Things with Words\i (1962).
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"Austin, John",2570,0,0,0
DT1 1790
DT2 1859
EN Jurist, born in Creeting Mill, Suffolk, E England, UK. In 1818 he was called to the bar, and in 1826 was appointed professor of \Jjurisprudence\j in the University of London. His \IProvince of \JJurisprudence\j Determined,\i defining the sphere of ethics and law, came to revolutionize English views on the subject.
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"Austin, Mary (b. Hunter)",2571,0,0,0
DT (1868-1934)
EN writer, naturalist; born in Carlinville, Ill. After graduating from Blackburn College (1888), she moved to \JCalifornia\j, married, and settled in the Owens Valley; her close observations of desert and Indian life there informed her first book, \IThe Land of Little Rain\i (1903). After separating from her husband (1905), she lived in Carmel, Calif., and New York City; in the latter she became associated with the circle of Mabel Dodge and she was influenced by Dodge to settle permanently in Santa Fe, N.M., from 1924 on.
Her move to New Mexico rekindled her interest in the natural world of the desert and Indian culture. Her 32 books and more than 200 articles include poetry, realistic fiction \I(A Woman of Genius,\i 1912), and pioneering studies of Native American life \I(The American Rhythm,\i 1923). Her \Jautobiography\j, \IEarth Horizon\i (1932), conveys the mystical, feminist, and socialist philosophy that she developed.
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"Austin, Moses",2572,0,0,0
DT (1761-1821)
EN merchant, colonist; born in Durham, Conn. He managed lead mines in Virginia and Missouri. Following the depression of 1819, he applied for and received a permit from Spanish authorities to settle 300 American families in \JTexas\j (1821). He died before going to \JTexas\j.
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"Austin, Robert Sargent",2573,0,0,0
DT1 1895
DT2 1973
EN British etcher. He studied at the Royal College of Art, and became an artist and teacher, with a great knowledge of all techniques of printmaking. His mature work from the decade 1930-40 includes some of the finest prints of the period. Most of his life was spent refining the traditional art of line \Jengraving\j.
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"Austin, Stephen Fuller",2574,0,0,0
DT (1793-1836)
EN \JTexas\j colonist; born in Wythe County, Va. (son of Moses Austin). After varied work experiences in Missouri, \JArkansas\j, and Louisiana, where he also studied law, he founded the first legal settlement of Anglo-Americans in \JTexas\j (1822). He went to \JMexico City\j to reconfirm his father's land grant and returned with almost dictatorial powers. He fixed the land system, mapped and charted the province, and encouraged a steady flow of immigrants from the U.S.A.
He originally opposed separation from Mexico, but he was imprisoned by Mexican authorities (1834-35) after he attempted to change \JTexas\j' status within the Mexican confederation. Freed without a trial, he participated in the \JTexas\j Revolution and sought support from the U.S.A. He lost the election for president of the \JTexas\j Republic to Sam Houston but served briefly as its \Jsecretary of state\j.
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"Austral Islands",2575,0,0,0
PN [\Bos\btral]
EN See Tubuai Islands
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"Austral, Florence",2576,0,0,0
PN [\Baws\btral]
HS , originally \BFlorence Wilson\b
DT1 1894
DT2 1968
EN Soprano, born in Richmond, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. She adopted the name of her country as a stage name prior to her debut in 1922 at Covent Garden, London. She appeared in the complete cycles of \IThe Ring\i at Covent Garden and at the Berlin State Opera, which she joined as principal in 1930. She returned to \JAustralia\j after World War 2, where she taught until her retirement in 1959.
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"Australasia",2577,0,0,0
EN A term used loosely to include \JAustralia\j and the islands of \JTasmania\j, \JNew Zealand\j, New Guinea (including New Britain), New Caledonia, and Vanuatu; often described as equivalent to all of \JOceania\j below the Equator and N of 47░S; the name is not commonly used in these areas.
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"Australasian babblers",2578,0,0,0
EN See Pomatostomidae
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"Australia",2579,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 19 089 000; area 7 692 300 sq km/2 969 228 sq mi. An independent country; the smallest continent in the world, entirely in the S hemisphere, between 113░09E and 153░39E and 10░41S and 43░39S; almost 40% of its land mass is N of the Tropic of Capricorn; timezones GMT +8 (Western \JAustralia\j), GMT +91/2 (\JNorthern Territory\j and South \JAustralia\j), GMT +10 (\JNew South Wales\j, \JQueensland\j, \JTasmania\j, Victoria, \JAustralian Capital Territory\j); capital, \JCanberra\j; other chief cities, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Sydney; population 1% Aborigine and Asian, 99% Caucasian; official language English; religions Anglican (under 30%), Roman Catholic (over 25%); currency the Australian dollar of 100 cents.
\IPhysical description\i
The Australian continent consists largely of plains and plateaux, most of which average 600 m/2000 ft above sea-level. The West Australian Plateau occupies nearly half the whole area. In the centre are the MacDonnell Ranges: highest points Mt Liebig (1525 m/5000 ft) and Mt Zeil (1510 m/4954 ft). NW is the Kimberley Plateau rising to 936 m/3070 ft at Mt Ord. W are the Hamersley Ranges rising to 1226 m/4022 ft at Mt Bruce. Most of the plateau is dry and barren desert, notably the Gibson Desert (W), the Great Sandy Desert (NW), the Great Victoria Desert (S), and the Simpson Desert (C). In the S is the Nullarbor Plain, crossed by the Trans-Australian Railway. The Eastern Highlands or Great Dividing Range lie parallel to the E seaboard, rising to 2228 m/7310 ft in Mt Kosciusko, in the \JAustralian Alps\j. Between the W Plateau and the E Highlands lies a broad lowland belt extending S into the Murray--Darling plains. Off the NE coast, stretching for over 1900 km/1200 mi, is the \JGreat Barrier Reef\j. The island of \JTasmania\j, a S extension of the E Highlands, rises to 1617 m/5305 ft at Mt Ossa, and is separated from the mainland by the \JBass Strait\j. The country's longest river is the Murray, its chief tributaries being the Darling, Murrumbidgee, and Lachlan.
\IClimate\i
More than a third of \JAustralia\j receives under 260 mm/10 in mean annual rainfall; less than a third receives over 500 mm/20 in. Half the country has a rainfall variability of more than 30%, with many areas experiencing prolonged \Jdrought\j. Darwin's average daily \Jtemperature\j is 26--34░C (Nov) and 19--31░C (Jul); rainfall varies from 386 mm/15.2 in (Jan) to zero (Jul). About 26% of total land area is unused (mainly desert); c.67% is used for agricultural purposes, including arid grazing (44%) and non-arid grazing (17%). Fertile land with a temperate climate and reliable rainfall is limited to the lowlands and valleys near the coast in the E and SE, and to a small part of the SW corner. The population is concentrated in these two regions. Melbourne's average daily \Jtemperature\j is 6--13░C (Jul) and 14--26░C (Jan--Feb), with monthly rainfall averaging 48--66 mm/1.9--2.6 in. In \JTasmania\j, climatic conditions vary greatly between mountain and coast; there is much heavier rainfall in the W (over 2500 mm/100 in per annum in places) than in the E (500--700 mm/20--28 in per annum).
\IHistory and government\i
The \JAborigines\j are thought to have arrived in \JAustralia\j from SE Asia c.40 000 years ago. The first European visitors were the Dutch, who explored the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1606 and landed in 1642. Abel Tasman charted N and W coasts, named New Holland (1644). Captain James Cook arrived in \JBotany Bay\j in 1770, and claimed the E coast for Britain. \JNew South Wales\j was established as a penal colony in 1788. Increasing numbers of settlers were attracted to \JAustralia\j, especially after the introduction of Spanish Merino sheep (1797). Gold was discovered in \JNew South Wales\j and Victoria (1851) and in Western \JAustralia\j (1892). Transportation of convicts to E \JAustralia\j ended in 1840, but continued until 1853 in \JTasmania\j and 1868 in Western \JAustralia\j. During this period, the colonies drafted their own constitutions and set up governments: \JNew South Wales\j (1855), \JTasmania\j and Victoria (1856), South \JAustralia\j (1857), \JQueensland\j (1860), and Western \JAustralia\j (1890). In 1901 the Commonwealth of \JAustralia\j was established with \JCanberra\j chosen as the site for its capital. A policy of preventing \Jimmigration\j by non-whites stayed in force from the end of the 19th-c until 1974. Recognition of Aboriginal \Jcivil rights\j has been a major issue since the 1960s. \JAustralia\j is divided into six states and two territories. The legislature (as of 1980) comprises a bicameral Federal Parliament with a 76-member Senate elected for six years, and a 147-member \JHouse of Representatives\j elected every three years. The prime minister and the Cabinet of Ministers are responsible to the House. The head of state is a governor-general, representing the Queen (as Queen of \JAustralia\j), who presides over an executive council. A republican movement has been growing in strength since the 1980s. \JNorthern Territory\j has been self-governing since 1978.
\IEconomy\i
Australia is the world's largest wool producer, and a top exporter of veal and beef. The country's most important crop is wheat; other major \Jcereals\j are \Jbarley\j, oats, \Jmaize\j, and \Jsorghum\j. Discoveries of \Jpetroleum\j reserves, \Jbauxite\j, nickel, lead, zinc, copper, tin, uranium, iron ore, and other minerals in the early 1960s have turned Australia into a major mineral producer. Commercial oil production began in 1964; the \JGippsland\j basin produces two-thirds of Australia's oil and most of its \Jnatural gas\j, but major discoveries have been made off the NW coast. Manufacturing industry has expanded rapidly since 1945, especially in \Jengineering\j, shipbuilding, car manufacture, metals, textiles, clothing, chemicals, food processing, and wine.
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"Australia Day",2580,0,0,0
EN A public holiday in \JAustralia\j commemorating the founding of the colony of \JNew South Wales\j on 26 January 1788; held annually on 26 January.
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"Australia Telescope",2581,0,0,0
EN An array of radio telescopes distributed across \JAustralia\j which use aperture synthesis to achieve very high resolving power. It is the most important radio \Jtelescope\j in the Southern hemisphere. The operating authority is the Australian National Radio \JAstronomy\j Observatory.
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"Australia, Order of",2582,0,0,0
EN An order established by Queen Elizabeth II in 1975, to accord recognition to Australian citizens (and others). The order comprises the sovereign, the Governor-General of \JAustralia\j, and the Prince of Wales. Appointments to the order are recommended by a Council, which researches nominations. The ribbon is of royal blue silk, with a central band of golden mimosa blossoms.
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"Australian Alps",2583,0,0,0
EN Chain of mountains in south-east \JAustralia\j forming the S part of the Great Dividing Range; extends c.300┐km / 185┐mi south-west from \JAustralian Capital Territory\j to the Goulburn R, Victoria; includes the Snowy Mts, Bowen Mts, and Barry Mts; rises to 2228┐m / 7310┐ft at Mount Kosciusko; much used for winter sports.
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"Australian Antarctic Territory",2584,0,0,0
EN area 6┐043┐852┐km\U2\u / 2┐332┐927┐mi\U2\u of land, 84┐798┐km\U2\u / 32┐732┐mi\U2\u of ice shelf. Situated S of 60░S and lying between 142░ and 136░E (excluding Terre AdΘlie); claimed by \JAustralia\j, 1936; scientific station at Mawson, 1954; Davis Base, 1957; \JAustralia\j assumed custody of the US Wilkes Station on the Budd Coast in 1959, replacing it by the Casey Station in 1961.
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"Australian art",2585,0,0,0
EN The art of Europeans in \JAustralia\j began in the late 18th-c. Single-storied colonial houses with verandahs reflected English Georgian and Regency styles. In the 1830s, Gothic was employed for Anglican churches (eg St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, 1837) and Greek for public buildings. From the earliest years, graphic artists drew native flora and fauna for scientific purposes, while landscape painters such as John Glover (1767-1849) and Conrad Martens (1801-78) tried to reconcile the Picturesque approach favoured in Europe with the harsh realities of local scenery.
Later painters such as Tom Roberts and Frederick McGubbin (1855-1917), while influenced by current European styles (eg Impressionism), developed an independent and distinctively Australian vision of nature. Abstract and Surrealist art was slow to reach \JAustralia\j; an adherence to traditional figurative forms has helped artists like Roberts, William Dobell (1899-1970), Sydney Nolan, and Russell Drysdale to create a highly expressive art distinct from the fashions of the Western avant garde.
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"Australian Capital Territory",2586,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 296 000; area 2400 sq km/925 sq mi. Territory in SE \JAustralia\j, created in 1911 to provide a location for the national capital, \JCanberra\j; bordered on all sides by \JNew South Wales\j; Jervis Bay on the E coast ceded (1915) for its use as a port; mountainous in the S; urbanized floodplains of the Murrumbidgee and Molonglo Rivers in the N; c.50% of the workforce employed by the government; \Jelectronics\j, computing; state holidays \JCanberra\j Day (Mar), Bank Holiday (Aug), Labour Day (Oct).
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"Australian cattle dog",2587,0,0,0
EN Also known as the Blue Heeler, \JQueensland\j Heeler, and the Australian Heeler, the \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j was especially bred to move \Jcattle\j over long distances in the rugged Australian Outback. The \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j has been selectively bred for its bravery and to have a strong biting instinct. These characteristics were necessary for snapping at the legs of the \Jcattle\j it was driving. The \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j is now very popular as a companion animal.
\BHistory:\b
Australian bush \Jcattle\j had rarely, or never, seen people and dogs, so the early Australian stockmen needed a really brave dog to move their \Jcattle\j. Also, it was necessary to drive these wild \Jcattle\j over long distances in the extremely hot and dry conditions of the Australian Outback. The \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j was therefore custom-bred. A stockman called Timmins is credited with starting the breed by taking a tough breed of working dog called a Smithfield and crossing it with a \JDingo\j.
This dog, known as the Timmins Biter, was very useful in some ways but difficult to control and very vocal. The breed was improved for control, by crossing with Collies, but this over-emphasized barking, so it was necessary to cross the breed again with Dingoes. To further modify behavior, the breed was then said to have been crossed with the \JDalmatian\j, and more recently the \JAustralian Kelpie\j. This especially bred dog was originally called the \JQueensland\j Blue Heeler, then later renamed the \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j has a rugged and sturdy appearance with a symmetrical body. \IHeight:\i 18 - 20 in (46 - 51 cm) for the male and 17 - 19 in (43 - 48 cm) for the female. \IWeight:\i about 33 - 51 lb (15 - 23 kg). The head is wedge-shaped and can be very broad in some dogs.
The brown, oval eyes are of medium size and are matched with upright, medium-sized ears. The body is muscular but proportionate with a straight back and legs. The coat is short, straight, and quite dense. It is colored either blue or red and may have tan coloring and white speckled markings.
\BBehavior:\b
The \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j is only a medium-sized dog but it behaves as though it is very large. This breed is tough and very determined. Generally speaking, the \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j is slow to excite, well-balanced, and often very independent.
The \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j makes an excellent watch-dog as it has a strong sense of territory. This dog will readily bark at any potential territorial incursion from another dog, a person or even a teasing cat, so it should be encouraged to bark at the sounds and events that you consider important, such as burglars. From the beginning, you should reprimand your dog for barking when you are sure the disturbance is not important.
As the \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j is only of medium size it is not generally used as a guard dog, as it has a limited deterrent value. However, in reality its strong sense of territory can make it a formidable guard dog.
Care must be taken to adequately socialize the \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j with other dogs. Allowing it to freely mix with other puppies and older dogs dramatically reduces the potential for later problems. The characteristics of chasing and biting have been bred into this dog, so poorly socialized Australian Cattle Dogs which are fearful of other dogs will sometimes attack first.
In the majority of cases the \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j gets along with people of all ages. However, these dogs are not for the faint-hearted. Both the bitch as well as the dog can be very dominant animals. If people are assertive towards their \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j from the start, they will get on really well.
As long as the \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j is not allowed to regularly win all the games it plays with people, it can make an excellent family dog. Tug-of-war and chasing are games to be avoided. The dog's powerful jaws and excellent maneuverability mean it will usually win. Such play is similar to arm wrestling in people and is taken very seriously by the dog.
As with most dogs, the \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j will thrive on the attention it receives from its owners. This dog will readily obey the more assertive person and be inclined to disobedience with the faint-hearted. Once it is established that the dog is a junior member of the social hierarchy, it will be a marvelous socializer and ready to please all those around it.
As this dog was bred to be a worker, it thrives on regular exercise. A poorly exercised \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j can become withdrawn and aggressive. Housing requirements need only be minimal, as this dog is very hardy and is happy to live outdoors.
Except for when it is working, this dog only requires an average amount of food. Generally the \JAustralian Cattle Dog\j will moderate its own food intake, but bored un-worked dogs will put on weight if over-fed.
Australian Cattle Dogs have few common ailments and are generally a robust and healthy breed. They can make excellent companion animals as long as owners behave assertively towards them from the outset, and provide them with plenty of exercise.
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"Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU)",2588,0,0,0
EN \JAustralia\j's national trade union organization, formed in 1927. Its prestige has come from representing the unions' case before the Australian Conciliation and \JArbitration\j Commission, and in helping to settle industrial disputes. In 1992, there were 227 unions in the country, with a claimed total membership of 3.1 million. Trade union membership in \JAustralia\j declined from 50% in 1982 to 40% in 1992.
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"Australian East Coast Temperate and Sub-Tropical Rainforest Parks",2589,0,0,0
EN A series of national parks, and nature and flora reserves, which extends along the length of the \JNew South Wales\j coast; a world heritage area. The region provides a representative sample of the whole animal and plant life of E \JAustralia\j, as well as striking examples of landscape diversity, including the Mount Warning \Jvolcano\j and segments of the Great Escarpment.
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"Australian gold rush",2590,0,0,0
EN Traces of gold were first found in \JAustralia\j in 1823, but the first significant find was in 1851, when Edward Hargraves publicized his find and attracted 2000 to the site at \JOphir\j in \JNew South Wales\j. In the same year, large gold finds were made in Victoria, which accounted for 35% of world gold production 1851-60. Gold was also found in \JQueensland\j (1867) and Western \JAustralia\j (1893). The discovery transformed \JAustralia\j. It drew thousands of immigrants (342┐000 arrived from overseas 1852-61), created a mass movement for democracy, and gave a tremendous boost to the economy.
Cities, in particular Melbourne (which grew from 29┐000 to 473┐000, 1851-91), symbolized the new-found prosperity. Although some miners struck it rich, most did not, and this led to pressure to open pastoral land for farming. Gold also attracted thousands of Chinese miners, who were greatly resented by the Europeans; this led to anti-Chinese laws and the beginning of the 'White \JAustralia\j' Policy.
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"Australian Imperial Force (AIF)",2591,0,0,0
EN The volunteer military forces raised in \JAustralia\j in both world wars. In World War 1, 330┐770 men served overseas in the first AIF, of whom 54┐000 were killed and 155┐000 were wounded. In World War 2, 690┐000 men and 35┐000 women served in the second AIF.
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"Australian kelpie",2592,0,0,0
EN The Australian \JKelpie\j is \JAustralia\j's most popular working dog and is used primarily to control sheep. Like the Australian \JCattle\j Dog, the \JKelpie\j was originally bred to work under the hot dry conditions of the Australian Outback. A well-trained and fit Australian \JKelpie\j can do the work of several people and run 40 miles (60 km) per \Jday\j. As they are excellent sheep dogs, Australian Kelpies are not only used extensively throughout \JAustralia\j, but also in \JNew Zealand\j where the climate and terrain are very different. Australian Kelpies can make excellent companion animals and this is now the task for most of them.
\BHistory:\b
The standard northern breeds of sheep dogs were found wanting by the pioneering Australian shepherds. The imported sheep dogs had difficulty coping with the hot dry conditions and the vast distances that had to be covered. It is believed that during the 1880s Smooth Coated Collies (a Scottish breed) were crossed with Dingoes to produce the basic Australian \JKelpie\j. Then it is likely further cross-breeding took place with other Collies to yield the modern dog.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The Australian \JKelpie\j is a symmetrical medium-sized dog with an athletic appearance. \IHeight:\i 17 - 20 in (43 - 51 cm). \IWeight:\i 28 - 33 lb (13 - 15 kg). The dark almond-shaped eyes show the intelligence of this dog and the straight upright ears complete the impression of being constantly alert. The long narrow head is supported by an elegant, slightly arched neck over a deep-chested body.
The straight muscular legs are complemented by arched toes with hard pads. The coat color varies between black, black and tan, red, red and tan, light or dark brown, and blue.
\BBehavior:\b
Some people say that the Australian \JKelpie\j is a difficult dog to control. Certainly the Australian \JKelpie\j is a very confident dog with a strong tendency towards independence. However, just like a high performance motor car, if these characteristics are properly harnessed the Australian \JKelpie\j performs amazingly well. Assertive people find the Australian \JKelpie\j straightforward to train. As it was originally bred from Collie stock, the Australian \JKelpie\j has a very strong chase reflex and a powerful herding instinct. Although it will sometimes defer to larger dogs, if they are slow to move, the Australian \JKelpie\j delights in herding them as it does the sheep.
The Australian \JKelpie\j has a strong sense of territory. This means that these dogs provide an excellent watch-dog service both in the city as well as the country.
Generally, the Australian \JKelpie\j is sociable with other dogs, but they do have a very strong sense of dominance hierarchy (who is the boss). If several of these dogs are kept together, it is not a good idea to treat them equally. This human sense of "fair play" only results in fighting when the people have left.
Usually this dog really enjoys the company of people. However, because a trained dog is so valuable, some farmers can not help but allow these dogs to become very dominant. The males in particular can be very aggressive towards people if they think they can push them around. For example, some male Kelpies will not allow workers other than their owner in the same utility truck with them.
If these dogs are socialized with people from the time they are puppies, they can be excellent family dogs. Nevertheless, it is often necessary to sterilize the males before they become too bossy.
Although they can be very independent, the Australian \JKelpie\j, like most other dogs, thrives on its owner's attention.
These dogs were bred to run all \Jday\j and it is preferable to provide them with lots of exercise. The Australian \JKelpie\j is an intelligent dog and if it is not being worked, should be provided with lots of interesting things to do. Otherwise, a bored and under-exercised Australian \JKelpie\j can bark excessively and be destructive.
Usually the Australian \JKelpie\j is housed outdoors in a simple kennel, content to "rough it" with only a piece of tin to keep the frost off, whereas others assume it is their right to sleep on their owners' beds.
When working or exercising heavily, the Australian \JKelpie\j should be provided with a fair quantity of food, 1.5 lb (0.75 kg) per \Jday\j; the amount of food should be gradually reduced during off-work periods.
The Australian \JKelpie\j has few common ailments but when working, its feet should be regularly checked for any minor injuries. Also, the tips of the ears should be looked at frequently for fly bites, and a repellent used if necessary.
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"Australian Labor Party (ALP)",2593,0,0,0
EN \JAustralia\j's oldest political party, founded in 1891 in \JNew South Wales\j following the defeat of the trade unions in the 1890 strike. The party spread to all States by the mid-1900s and formed the world's first labour government in \JQueensland\j in 1899 for one week. It has always been a social democratic party, committed to evolutionary not revolutionary change. Despite a commitment to '\Jsocialism\j', it has generally been moderate and pragmatic when in government.
Two major splits in the ALP occurred: in 1916-17 over conscription, and in 1955 over attitudes to \Jcommunism\j. ALP has had varied success in winning federal government (1908-9, 1910-13, 1914-15, 1929-32, 1941-9, 1972-4, 1983-) , but managed to stay in office in the recession of the early 1990s.
Its most important national figures have been Prime Ministers W M ('Billy') Hughes (1915-16), James Scullin (1929-32), John Curtin (1941-5), Ben Chifley (1945-9), Gough Whitlam (1972-4), River J Lake ('Bob') Hawke (1983-91), and Paul Keating (1991-) . The party has always had fewer members than its main rival, the Liberal party.
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"Australian languages",2594,0,0,0
EN The aboriginal languages of \JAustralia\j. About 50 survive, spoken by fewer than 50┐000 people, and with vastly differing degrees of fluency. Most speakers are bilingual in their indigenous language and English, though there are now some bilingual school programmes, which will ensure the immediate survival of some languages.
The majority of the languages, however, are near \Jextinction\j, and only five have more than 1000 speakers. Some of the languages are used as lingua francas, one of the most vigorous being \JWarlpiri\j, spoken in the \JNorthern Territory\j.
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"Australian literature",2595,0,0,0
EN After a number of convict and gold-rush novels in the mid-19th-c, Australian literature began to assume its own identity at the turn of the century with distinctive bush ballads and short stories, many published in the Sydney \IBulletin.\i The Australian past was explored in historical novels and family sagas between the wars, which also saw the homespun Jindyworobak movement, though neither of these managed to incorporate the aboriginal experience.
Since 1945, Australian literature has been enriched and diversified by many influences, and with novelists such as Nobel prize-winner Patrick White (eg \IVoss,\i 1957), Booker prize-winner Thomas Keneally (eg \ISchindler's Ark,\i 1982), and Peter Carey (eg \IIllywhacker,\i 1985), poets such as Les A Murray (1938-) , Chris Wallace-Crabbe (1934-) , and A D Hope (1905-) , and a vigorous and inventive drama, it now has a recognized international standing.
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"Australian republicanism",2596,0,0,0
EN The desire to sever ties with Britain and instal an Australian, non-hereditary head of state. An intermittent theme in Australian history since the 19th-c, republicanism has gained prominence since the late 1980s, and the Australian Republican Movement, supported by the Labor government of Paul Keating, aims for a republic by 2001, the centenary of Australian federation. Opinion polls have suggested that republicans outnumber monarchists in \JAustralia\j.
Debate about a republic focuses not only on the monarchy, however, but addresses issues of \Jnationalism\j, increased executive power, reconciliation with Aboriginal people, a new flag, \JAustralia\j's place in Asia, the country's identity as a multicultural nation, and its opportunity for radical political reform, such as the abolition of the states. Many argue that a republic is inevitable, but whatever its form, such a change will necessitate constitutional amendments which depend on successful referenda.
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"Australian robins",2597,0,0,0
EN See Petroicidae
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"Australian Rules football",2598,0,0,0
EN A handling and kicking game which is a cross between \Jassociation football\j and rugby. Surprisingly, it has few rules. It is played with 18 players per side on an oval field measuring c.165┐m / 180┐yd long by c.137┐m / 150┐yd wide. The object is to score goals by kicking the ball between the opponent's goal posts for six points. Smaller posts are positioned either side of the main goal, and if the ball is kicked through that area then 1 point is scored. The first recorded game was played between Scotch College and Melbourne \JGrammar School\j in 1858.
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"Australian shepherd",2599,0,0,0
EN Contrary to what its name suggests, the \JAustralian Shepherd\j is a dog developed in America. The Aussie, as it is affectionately known, was considered by the \JAmerican Indians\j to be a ghost dog because of its piercing blue eyes, and it is legend that the Indians left the owners of the ghost-eyed dogs alone.
\BHistory:\b
It is unlikely that we will ever know the exact history of the \JAustralian Shepherd\j. Dogs very similar in looks and ability to the Aussie have been around since the early 1600s and were used by the Spanish to move and protect the sheep that were shifted from winter pastures. Similar breeds exist around the world - the English Shepherd in America, the Coolie in \JAustralia\j, the Welsh Bob-Tail in Scotland, and the Berger \JPyrenees\j in \JFrance\j. Any or all of these may be related, and it is most likely that the early Spanish dogs were spread around the world and developed independently.
The similarities between the breeds can be attributed to the similar task for which each of these breeds was used. The Aussie was so named because it was thought that the Basque shepherds who came to America in the early 1900s brought them from \JAustralia\j along with the sheep that they were tending. Aussies were brought to the public eye by Jay Sisler, who used his dogs as \Jrodeo\j acts and as the stars in a number of Disney movies, including \IRun, Appaloosa, Run\i and \IStub, The Best Cowdog in the West.\i In June 1957 the first \JAustralian Shepherd\j Club was formed.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The most striking feature of the Aussie is its bob-tail. Roughly 50% of dogs born have a natural bob-tail, and the rest are docked. This gives the dog a characteristic tail-wagging action that Aussie lovers call the "wiggle-butt," because the whole rear of the dog gets involved. \IHeight:\i 18 - 23 in (46 - 58 cm). \IWeight:\i 35 - 70 lb (16 - 32 kg). They come in an amazing variety of coat colors and patterns and can be black, red, blue-merle (black base with a mottled pattern) and red merle, all with or without white and/or copper trim.
The coat is of moderate length with an undercoat that is suitable to the climate in which it lives. It should not be silky or harsh, and is an all-\Jweather\j coat. Unlike the Border Collie, whom they resemble, Aussies are not known for their ability to "eye" stock. They do, however, have a penetrating and very intelligent gaze from their brown, blue, green or marbled eyes.
\BBehavior:\b
The \JAustralian Shepherd\j is a natural athlete and is a joy to watch when it is working. This is an intelligent dog with a great aptitude for work. The Aussie is determined enough to work stock, but also remains gentle enough to be a companion animal. Its alert manner makes the \JAustralian Shepherd\j perfect for the role of watch-dog. The insistent bark of the \JAustralian Shepherd\j serves as a real deterrent to would-be intruders.
The Aussie is one of the few working dogs that makes a great companion for singles, couples and families alike. Of course it is wise to allow proper socialization with a range of people when the dog is young. There can be an element of competition between the Aussie and other dogs, but generally it is very sociable.
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"Australian treecreepers",2600,0,0,0
EN See Climacteridae
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"Australian Workers' Union (AWU)",2601,0,0,0
EN The largest Australian trade union from the early 1900s to 1970, and still one of the largest. It was formed in 1894 by the amalgamation of the shearers' union (formed 1886) and the rural labourers' union (formed 1890), and has traditionally recruited lesser-paid workers. It has always been a conservative force in trade union and labour politics.
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"Australopithecus",2602,0,0,0
PN [ostraloh\Bpith\bekus]
EN Early hominids known from fossils found in \JEthiopia\j, \JKenya\j, \JTanzania\j, and South Africa; dated c.5.5-1.0┐mya (million years ago); although most finds are c.4.0-1.5┐mya. They were truncally erect and bipedal, narrow-chested, and pot-bellied, with long powerful arms, and short legs. Face and jaws were strongly constructed and projecting; braincases were small. Overall they probably resembled upright chimpanzees, but living in open savannah environments, not forest or woodland, as do present apes.
Features such as erect bipedalism, reduced canines, parabolic tooth rows, and rotary chewing reveal their close evolutionary links with humans. Several australopithecine species are known, all showing marked size variation (30-70+┐kg / 66-155+┐lb), with males much larger than females. \IAustralopithecus afarensis\i lived in E Africa 4+-2.8┐mya; \IAustralopithecus africanus\i lived in S Africa 3.0-2.5┐mya; \IAustralopithecus robustus\i lived in S Africa c.2.0-?1.0┐mya; \IAustralopithecus boisei\i lived in E Africa 2+-1.4┐mya.
Another species, \IAustralopithecus aethiopicus,\i is identified on a 2.6┐my-old skull from Lake Turkana, \JKenya\j, and may represent an early stage in the \Jevolution\j of \IA. boisei\i from an \IA. afarensis\i -like ancestor. Compared with other primates, all australopithecines have relatively large cheek teeth (premolars and molars), but in \IA. robustus\i and \IA. boisei\i they are enormous, suggesting much crushing and grinding of hard food objects.
Bigger-brained hominids \I(\JHomo\j),\i probably evolved from \IA. afarensis\i or \IA. africanus; \i later species \I(A. robustus\i and \IA. boisei)\i persist well after earliest \IHomo,\i showing that they are not direct ancestors.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The brain size of the species showed only a small increase over their time, ranging from about 400 cc to about 550 cc, rather less than we think was necessary for real intelligence.
\I\BAustralopithecus afarensis\b\i
The earliest member of a group of animals which probably include our direct ancestors, this species was named after the Afar region in \JEthiopia\j. The first member of this species was found by Donald Johanson and M. Taieb in 1974, and it is the most complete skeleton of the \Jgenus\j that has been discovered so far, with more than 40% of the bones present.
The bones are those of a female, aged about 20, and nicknamed "Lucy". The jaw (mandible) was complete, most of the skull (cranium) was there, along with ribs, vertebrae, her pelvis, arm and leg bones, one wrist and a hand, revealing fine finger bones, far too light for knuckle-walking, as practised by chimpanzees and gorillas today.
Lucy stood about 1.25 metres (4 feet) tall, and her brain would have been about the size of a large orange. She probably weighed about 23 kg (50 pounds), and her wisdom teeth had erupted not long before she died. She appears to have been able to climb trees, but would have walked upright with a "pigeon-toed, and lurching gait".
(The evidence for her walking comes from the skull, the pelvis, the shape of the knee-joint in the \Jfemur\j, and possibly more. Other specimens have provided us with evidence that they could have walked upright, but the best part of the "more" comes in the form of the \JLaetoli\j footprints, dated accurately to 3.6 million years ago (mya), and showing the tracks of two bipedal (two-footed) walkers, walking side-by-side. While there is no proof that the tracks were made by a member of \IA. Afarensis,\i there is no other likely candidate known to have lived in that area at that time.)
The remains of 13 individuals, found together at \JHadar\j site 333 suggest that these animals lived in social groups, probably small kinship groups, much as chimpanzees and gorillas do today. The species seems to have flourished between 3.7 and 2.8 mya (million years ago), and to have been a savannah species. (Others prefer a dating of around 3.9 to 3.0 mya.)
\I\BAustralopithecus africanus\b\i
The first \IAustralopithecus\i specimen discovered was the \JTaung skull\j, a brain cast and a partial skull. Raymond Dart found this in a box of rocks that had been sent to him, when he found the brain cast first, and the skull portion soon after. They were the remains of a juvenile, whose face proved to be somewhat \Jape\j-like, but whose brain showed clearly that the animal walked upright.
Dart was experienced in interpreting brain casts, and so he was able to see right away, both from the brain cast and also from the bones, that this animal had a skull which attached to a vertical spine, lying directly below the skull, rather than behind it, as in chimpanzees and gorillas. The position of the large hole in the skull where the spinal nerve leaves the brain, the foramen magnum, was immediately obvious in the cast of the brain.
We cannot be certain how the Taung child died, but we can deduce that the skull was left on its side in some sort of cave, where the brain case was slightly more than half-filled with the mud which later would harden to produce the cast which Dart found first. The rest of the skull was also in the box of rocks, but the face was hidden in a matrix of rock, which Dart had to work over, very carefully, over several years, to bring the face of the young animal to the surface.
Dart was aware of the problems Eugene Dubois faced when he declared that \JJava Man\j, his \IHomo erectus\i was the original \Jape\j man, giving it the \Jgenus\j name \IPithecanthropus erectus,\i meaning \Jape\j (pithecus) man (anthropus) who stands erect. So Dart gave his animal the name \IAustralopithecus africanus:\i the southern \Jape\j from Africa. Today, we might argue that this is not the best name to give to an upright walking individual, even if it had a small brain, but Dart was trying not to draw too much fire upon himself. Not that it mattered, because the Piltdown Man supporters, British scientists who were convinced that the small-brained thing was wrong, attacked it and Dart in any case.
Later, Robert Broom would find a \Jfossil\j specimen that he called \Iplesianthropus,\i meaning "close to human", but this \Jfossil\j proved to be very much the same species, and so "Mrs Ples" became just another specimen of the existing species \JAustralopithecus\j africanus. (Why "Mrs Ples"? The specimen had lived a goodly life, and the teeth suggested that it was a female, so given her age, she was accorded the honorific "Mrs", while "Ples" was just an abbreviation of her short-lived independent scientific name.
The species flourished between, on present estimates, 3 and perhaps 2 mya (million years ago), mainly in the East African Rift Valley, though it may have been more widely spread. The later finds confirmed Dart's original diagnosis, based on a single brain cast: whatever these things were, they walked on their hind legs, much like us. Their limbs tell us this, their hands tell us this, their pelvises say the same thing, and so do the footprints left by their probable ancestors at \JLaetoli\j.
Dart was rather keen on the idea that these animals may have used tools, and explained the absence of any stone remnants by suggesting that they were part of an osteodontokeratic culture, that they used bones, teeth and horns as primitive tools, and that these later wore away or rotted. This notion was later taken up by the playwright Robert Ardrey, in a series of popular "accounts" of human \Jevolution\j, and it was even echoed in the opening titles of Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: \IA Space Odyssey,\i where an \Jape\j, in the first throes of intelligence, uses a bone as a club to strike other bones, and then other apes.
But the question still remained: is this an \Jape\j-like human, or a human-like \Jape\j? The answer to that lies hidden inside the jaw, where it remained hidden until 1987. In both humans and the other apes, the "adult" teeth come into place in a specific way. There is one order of appearance in humans, and a different order in the other apes. Hidden inside the Taung baby's skull, teeth were erupting, and if we knew how they were developing, we would know what the Taung baby was, human or ape.
Sadly, there is only one Taung baby, and you cannot slice it up, just to see what is inside. You can take X-rays, but there is too much other material in the way, and the things we are looking for are much too faint. It seemed for many years as though we would never know what was inside the jaw. Then in 1987, Conroy and Vannier had a bright idea. Instead of cutting the skull into thin slices, we could make a series of "slices" with X-rays, and feed all of the results into a computer. The computer would then use back projection to build up a three-dimensional picture of what was inside the bones, and show us how the Taung baby's teeth were erupting. In short, a CAT scan would give us the answer.
So the researchers took a series of X-ray "slices", just 2 mm apart, in three different dimensions: vertically, from front to back, vertically, from side to side, and horizontally. (They called it the sagittal, coronal and transaxial planes, if you prefer the technicalities.) The detail is less important, though, than what they found, because the answer was delightful: "the Taung 'child' is not a little human, but just as important, it is not a little \Jape\j." The Taung baby is a betwixt-and-between, a half-and-half, a missing link, and we would never have known if the two researchers had not decided to give it a CAT scan! As it was, we had to wait more than sixty years to find out about it.
This was at first called \IZinjanthropus boisei,\i but then recognised in 1965 to have similarities to \IAustralopithecus africanus,\i causing it to be moved to the \Jgenus\j \Iaustralopithecus.\i Many researchers now class this individual as a different \Jgenus\j, and call it \IParanthropus boisei.\i The species name \Iboisei\i stays with the specimen as it was validly applied in the first place: it commemorates Charles Boise, a wealthy patron who helped finance Louis Leakey's researches.
A. boisei seems to have lived between about 2.1 and 1.1 mya, in east Africa. The individuals were probably about 1.2 metres (4 feet) tall, and some had cranial (brain capacities) of around 550 cc.
These animals flourished between 2 and 1.5 mya, and lived in southern Africa at the same time as \IA. Boisei\i was living further north, although they may have been a little smaller. The two species have a number of similarities such as the sagittal ridge (the bony crest on the skull like a Mohawk's hair-style) which indicates that the animals had extremely strong jaw muscles. The same sagittal ridge can be seen in the skulls of modern gorillas (and also on the outside of the "living animal" in the famous film of the "Big Foot", whose makers apparently did not know that the sagittal ridge is not visible on a living animal-their "creature" has a ridged head, which makes no anatomical sense).
While some researchers have suggested that \IA. Robustus\i and \IA. Boisei\i could be male and female of a single species, it is rather unlikely that such rigorous segregation of the sexes would be applied in such a primitive species, with several thousand kilometres separating the male and female camps, not if the species were to survive. There is more likelihood that these could be variants of the same species, but this is likely to remain conjecture for some time to come, and a two-species theory seems more probable.
The climate in southern Africa in their time was arid, and the land would have been mainly open savannah, where these animals must have lived on tough fruits and plants, an assumption borne out by the evidence of microscopic scratches found on \Jfossil\j teeth, and also the powerful jaw muscles.
These animals probably walked upright, much as we do, but their gait would have been rather different, as their big toe was a lot smaller, and this would make them walk with a rocking motion. Their hands were much like ours, but their teeth were very different from any teeth seen in apes today. There is no evidence to suggest that they left any descendants. Certainly, this species appears well after the first definite members of the \Jgenus\j \JHomo\j, so they are unlikely to be in any way part of the human ancestral line.
\I\BAustralopithecus aethiopicus\b\i
The species has only recently been named, after a great deal of argument, based mainly on a single specimen, the "Black Skull", from the colour of the \Jfossil\j, otherwise identified as KNM-WT 17000, a number which tells us the specimen is held in the \JKenya\j National Museums, and was found on the western side of Lake Turkana, while the 17000 is just a reference number.
It seems to have lasted from 2.6 to 2.3 mya (million years ago), and has a major sagittal ridge, rather like \IA. Robustus\i and \IA. Boisei.\i The similarities are actually quite superficial, and when the type specimens (or their casts, to be found in many major museums) are compared, they can be seen to be quite different.
The cranial capacity is much less, at 410 cc, but the fine detail of the bones that go to make up the skull shows that the Black Skull had far more in common with \IA. Afarensis\i than with \IA. Robustus\i or \IA. Boisei,\i in spite of the Black Skull having the most massive sagittal crest of any member of the Australopithecines. In spite of its greater similarity to \IA. Afarensis,\i there are those who refer to it as \IParanthropus aethiopicus.\i
\I\BAustralopithecus anamensis\b\i
Named in 1995 from the remains of about nine fragmented individuals, this species probably lived around 4.2 to 3.9 mya (million years ago), and it shows a mix of "primitive" skull features (that is, they resemble the older apes), along with more advanced body features. A tibia (the larger of the two lower leg bones), for example, suggest that the owner walked upright, and there is part of a humerus (an upper arm bone) which is very like a modern human bone.
\I\BArdipithecus ramidus\b\i
This species was only named in 1994, and at 4.4 mya, is the oldest \Jhominid\j species. It is known mainly from skull fragments, but probably stood 1.2 metres tall. The teeth are somewhere between those of \JAustralopithecus\j afarensis and earlier apes, and other fossils found at the same sites suggest that it may have been a forest dweller.
If, as seems likely, it was bipedal, this makes for problems, as we have always assumed that the bipedal gait was adopted when our ancestors moved onto the savannah. There have been other more recent finds, so there will be more information available on this species soon. This \Jgenus\j and species have been validly described, but can still be found referred to in some popular accounts under its original name of \IAustralopithecus ramidus.\i
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Austria",2603,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 8 097 000; area 83 854 sq km/32 368 sq mi. A federal republic in C Europe, divided into nine federal states (\ILΣnder\i); capital, Vienna (Wien); other chief cities, \JGraz\j, Linz, \JSalzburg\j, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt; timezone GMT +1; official language, German; mostly Austrians, with Croatian and Slovene minorities; main religion (85%), Roman Catholic; unit of currency, the Schilling of 100 Groschen.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
Almost entirely mountainous, at E end of the Alps; main ranges the ÷tztal, Zillertal, Hohe Tauern, and Niedere Tauern; highest point, \JGrossglockner\j (3797 m/12 457 ft); chief passes into \JItaly\j, the Brenner and Pl÷cken; most of the country in the drainage basin of the R Danube; largest lake, Neusiedler See; three climatic regions: the Alps (often sunny in winter but cloudy in summer); the Danube valley and Vienna basin (driest region); and the SE, a region of heavy thunderstorms, often severe winters but warmer summers; most rain in summer months; winters cold, especially with winds from the E or NE; warm, dry wind (the F÷hn) in some N--S valleys, especially in autumn and spring, which can result in fires and snow-melt leading to avalanches.
\IHistory and government\i
Part of Roman Empire until 5th-c, then occupied by Germanic tribes; a frontier area of Charlemagne's empire; became a duchy and passed to the Habsburg family (1282), who made it the foundation of their Empire; Habsburg defeats in 19th-c (notably, the Austro--Prussian War), and Hungarian \Jnationalism\j led to the Dual Monarchy of \JAustria\j--\JHungary\j, 1867; assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Serbian nationalists triggered World War 1; republic established in 1918; annexed by the German \JReich\j in 1938 (the \IAnschluss\i), under the name \BOstmark\b; occupied by British, American, French, and Russian troops from 1945, obtaining independence in 1955; \Jneutrality\j declared, since when \JAustria\j has been a haven for many refugees; Federal Assembly includes a National Council (\INationalrat\i, elected for four years, 183 deputies) and a Federal Council (\IBundesrat\i, 63 members); a president holds office for six years, and appoints a federal chancellor; each of the nine provinces is administered by its own government, headed by a governor elected by a provincial parliament.
\IEconomy\i
Principal agricultural areas to the N of the Alps, and along both sides of the Danube to the plains of the E frontier with \JHungary\j; crops, \Jcattle\j, orchards, vineyards; \Jforestry\j on lower mountain slopes; wide range of metal and mineral resources, especially iron and steel (iron ore in the Erzberg Mts), \Jlignite\j, lead ore, zinc ore, \Jantimony\j ore, \Jgraphite\j, talc, anhydrous \Jgypsum\j, \Jkaolin\j, clay, salt; oil and \Jnatural gas\j; oil refining, ore processing, \Jpetrochemicals\j; hydroelectric power; textiles, paper, \Jceramics\j, wood products, clothing, chemicals, foodstuffs, glassware, metal goods, electrical goods, vehicles, tourism (summer and winter); river ports at Linz and Vienna.
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"Austria-Hungary, Dual Monarchy of",2604,0,0,0
EN A constitutional arrangement created by the Ausgleich ('compromise') of 1867. In \JAustria\j-\JHungary\j the Habsburg emperors Francis Joseph (until 1916), and Charles (1916-18), ruled over the twin kingdoms of \JAustria\j (incorporating German-, Czech-, Polish-, Slovenian-, and Ruthenian-speaking regions of their empire) and \JHungary\j (incorporating \JMagyar\j, Romanian, Slovak, and South Slav regions). The separate kingdoms possessed considerable autonomy over internal policy, with overall foreign and financial policy remaining in the hands of the Imperial government. The Dual Monarchy provided a temporary solution to the internal problems of the Habsburg Empire, but was ultimately destroyed by defeat in World War 1.
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"Austrian School",2605,0,0,0
HS (economics)
EN A school of economics which has its roots in the work of late 19th-c Austrian economists, Carl Menger, Eugen von B÷hm Bawerk, and later, Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich von Hayek, who developed the major tenets of marginalism, diminishing marginal utility, opportunity cost, and time preferences of saving, consumption, and production. In recent years, the school's followers have opposed governmental planning, and stressed the importance of markets and relative prices in coordinating individuals' actions.
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"Austrian Succession, War of the",2606,0,0,0
EN (1740-8) The first phase in the struggle between \JPrussia\j and \JAustria\j for mastery of the German states, developing after 1744 into a colonial conflict between Britain and the Franco-Spanish bloc. Hostilities were prompted by Frederick II of \JPrussia\j's seizure of the Habsburg province of \JSilesia\j on the accession of the Archduchess Maria Theresa (1740). Subsequently the war demonstrated the volatility of European alliances, and the ineffectiveness of much military campaigning.
Prussia repeatedly deserted its allies; and relations between the 'Pragmatic Army' states were strained by conflicting interests. The fighting spread from C Europe to the Austrian Netherlands, the Mediterranean, and \JItaly\j, embroiling the New World and India before peace was concluded at the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748).
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"Austro-Asiatic languages",2607,0,0,0
EN A group of over 100 languages spoken in south-east Asia. Few of them had written forms until recent times, and their connections with other languages in the region are uncertain. The major group is the Mon-Khmer, which has three main languages: Mon (Tailang), Khmer, and Vietnamese.
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"Austro-Prussian War",2608,0,0,0
EN (1866) A war between \JAustria\j and \JPrussia\j occasioned by a dispute over the duchies of \JSchleswig\j and Holstein. It was declared on 14 June, decided by the Prussian victory at K÷niggrΣtz (sometimes known as Sadowa) on 3 July, and ended by the Treaty of \JPrague\j on 23 August. \JAustria\j's defeat hastened German unification; allowed \JItaly\j, \JPrussia\j's ally, to acquire Venetia; and precipitated the creation of Austria-\JHungary\j.
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"Austronesian languages",2609,0,0,0
EN The most numerous and (after Indo-European) the most widely dispersed of the world's great language families; also called \BMalayo-Polynesian languages.\b Extending from \JTaiwan\j to Madagascar and from \JMalaysia\j, the \JPhilippines\j, and \JIndonesia\j E through the \JPacific Islands\j, it contains over 700 separate languages.
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"autarky",2610,0,0,0
PN [\Baw\btah(r)kee]
EN A self-sufficient economy, with no external trade. The term is often used in economics to describe policies of decreasing reliance on external trade by tariffs or quotas.
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"auteur theory",2611,0,0,0
PN [oh\Bter\b]
EN A concept, popular in the 1960s, of the film director as the sole creative artist, imposing a personal viewpoint on every aspect of the production, rather than co-ordinating the work of many contributors. The director's personality is thus consistently expressed throughout a series of films.
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"authoritarianism",2612,0,0,0
EN A form of government, or a theory advocating such government, which is the opposite of democracy, in that the consent of society to rulers and their decisions is not necessary. Voting and discussion are not usually employed, except to give the appearance of democratic legitimacy to the government, and such arrangements remain firmly under the control of the rulers.
Authoritarian rulers draw their authority from what are claimed to be special qualities of a religious, nationalistic, or ideological nature, which are used to justify their dispensing with constitutional restrictions. Their rule, however, relies heavily upon coercion.
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"authority",2613,0,0,0
EN The right to issue commands without that right being questioned. In effect, authority is a form of legitimate power, in that those subject to it voluntarily consent to its exercise. Sources of authority are rational-legal (eg elections, qualifications), tradition (eg the monarchy), and charisma (eg Hitler). Included in most cases of authority is the right to use coercion against those who do not consent.
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"Authorized Version of the Bible",2614,0,0,0
EN The English translation of the \JBible\j commissioned by James I and accomplished by a panel of leading scholars of the \Jday\j; widely called the \BKing James Bible.\b They used Greek and \JHebrew\j texts, but were indebted also to earlier English translations. Noted for its literary excellence, the 'Authorized Version' gained wide popular appeal after its first publication in 1611, but was never formally 'authorized' by king or Parliament.
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"autism",2615,0,0,0
EN A condition characterized by abnormal functioning in social interaction together with repetitive behaviour and poor communication, almost always commencing before three years of age. One in 2000 children suffer from this disorder, which is four times more common in males. It was first described by Leo Kanner (1894-1981), an Austrian-born US child psychiatrist, in 1943.
Intelligence is very variable in autistic children, and outcome is crucially dependent on the facilities for teaching. In the best facilities, up to 80% of children are eventually able to look after themselves. The cause is unknown.
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"auto sacramental",2616,0,0,0
EN Spanish dramatic genre. One-act religious allegories illustrating the central dogmas of the \JCatholic Church\j, autos sacramentales were performed on the Feast of Corpus Christi in \JSpain\j from the 16th to the 18th century. In Madrid they were sponsored by the city authorities, Calder≤n being the sole author from 1648 till his death (1681), and were performed in the open air on a stage. They were suppressed in 1765.
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"auto-da-fΘ",2617,0,0,0
PN [awtohda\Bfay\b]
HS (Port 'act of faith')
EN The public burning at the stake of heretics and sinners condemned by the Spanish Inquisition. It was last carried out in \JSpain\j in 1781, and in Mexico in 1815.
BK a
#
"auto-destructive art",2618,0,0,0
EN An artefact, typically a painting or piece of sculpture, deliberately constructed in a way guaranteed to self-destruct almost immediately. Examples include pictures executed with acid, and disintegrating kinetic machines.
BK a
#
"auto-immune diseases",2619,0,0,0
EN A group of apparently unrelated disorders which are believed to possess a common underlying immunological mechanism. This involves the production by the body of \Jantibodies\j which react against and damage the body's own tissues. The diseases include rheumatoid \Jarthritis\j, diabetes mellitus, pernicious anaemia, haemolytic anaemia, some forms of \Jglomerulonephritis\j, thyroid disease, and Addison's disease.
BK a
#
"autobiography",2620,0,0,0
EN A narrative of a life written by the subject. There are examples from antiquity in the \IMeditations\i of Marcus Aurelius (2nd-c) and the \IConfessions\i of St Augustine (4th-c), and some remarkable early modern instances, such as the arresting \Jautobiography\j by Benvenuto Cellini (c.1560) and the self-searching \IEssays\i of Montaigne (from 1580). The 17th-c puritan 'spiritual \Jautobiography\j' influenced the early novel.
However, \Jautobiography\j proper implies a self-creation as well as self-criticism on the part of the author, and as such is a post-Romantic art (the term was first used by Southey in 1809), though heralded by Rousseau's \IConfessions\i (1781-8). Among celebrated autobiographers are Goethe, de Quincey, Stendhal, Benjamin Franklin, George Sand, Hector Berlioz, J S Mill, Ulysses S Grant, Anthony Trollope, T E Lawrence, Robert Graves, H G Wells, and Leonard Woolf.
BK a
#
"autochthony",2621,0,0,0
PN [aw\Btok\bthonee]
EN The notion that, upon independence, members of the Commonwealth were not only no longer subordinate to the British, but that the status of their independent constitution was rooted in their own soil, not drawn from the UK. The term was popularized by British political scientist, Sir Kenneth Clinton Wheare (1907-79).
BK a
#
"autoclave",2622,0,0,0
A steam pressure cooker used in the sterilization of instruments and culture vessels used in microbiology, and also to sterilize surgical instruments.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"autofocus",2623,0,0,0
EN The automatic focusing of a camera \Jlens\j by electronic means on a chosen part of the subject to ensure a sharp image. Various methods are used; for example, a sound-ranging system measures distance from the return time of the echo of an emitted ultrasonic pulse. Single \Jlens\j reflex cameras use a phase (separation) detection method.
The apex of the cone of light from the camera \Jlens\j is judged to be in focus, convergent, or divergent by its separation into two beams, using small lenses in front of a linear charge-coupled device array, and the spread (phase) is then measured from the response of the array. The data controls a small motor which drives the lens to correct focus.
BK a
#
"autogiro",2624,0,0,0
EN A non-fixed-wing \Jaircraft\j whose lift is provided (unlike a \Jhelicopter\j) by non-powered horizontal blades, which are brought into action by means of an engine providing horizontal thrust propelling the \Jaircraft\j forward. This type of aeroplane was popular in the 1930s, but nowadays is mainly used for sport.
BK a
#
"Autolycus",2625,0,0,0
PN [aw\Btol\bikus]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the maternal grandfather of Odysseus, who surpassed all men in thieving. He was said to be a son of Hermes. The name was also used by Shakespeare for a pedlar, 'a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles', in \IThe Winter's Tale.\i
BK a
#
"autolysis",2626,0,0,0
PN [aw\Btol\buhsis]
EN The process of breakdown and disintegration of tissues or cells due to the action of their own self-dissolving \B(autolytic)\b enzymes. It occurs after the death of an organism, and sometimes in pathological conditions (eg pancreatitis in humans).
BK a
#
"automated teller machine (ATM)",2627,0,0,0
EN The formal name for the 'service tills' now common outside most banks and building societies, through which money can be withdrawn and other transactions carried out. The ATMs are linked to the banks' computers to enable on-line monitoring of customer's accounts to take place through the machines.
BK a
#
"automatic exposure",2628,0,0,0
EN The automatic setting of the shutter speed and \Jlens\j aperture (f-number) of a camera to give the optimum exposure for a subject, as determined by the measurement of its brightness using a \Jphotocell\j, and taking into account the speed of the film in use. In \Iaperture priority\i mode, the user chooses an f-number to give the depth of field required, and the corresponding shutter speed is automatically selected.
In \Ishutter priority\i mode, the appropriate shutter speed is chosen and the \Jlens\j aperture is then set automatically. In \Iprogram\i mode, both shutter speed and aperture are selected by the metering system according to a pre-set program.
BK a
#
"automatic pilot",2629,0,0,0
EN A device that automatically controls a vehicle (\Jaircraft\j, ship, land vehicle) so that it will follow a preset course. It makes suitable adjustments to the vehicle's control systems to compensate for the offsetting effects of the environment or terrain.
BK a
#
"automatic writing",2630,0,0,0
EN The production of written text without the writer's conscious predetermination of the content, if any, of the message produced. It is sometimes associated with mediums, who claim the messages come from spirits of the deceased.
BK a
#
"automation",2631,0,0,0
EN The control of a technical process without using a human being to intervene to make decisions. The result of one operation is fed back to control the next. Central heating is a simple automatic system: the thermostat is a sensor, feeding information back to the heater, which then adjusts automatically, switching on and off as necessary.
Computers are the most widespread example of automation, controlling systems which humans would find too time-consuming. A widely-known example is in \Javiation\j, where the automatic pilot system ('George') relieves the pilot of the routine tasks of flying.
BK a
#
"automaton",2632,0,0,0
PN [aw\Btom\batn]
EN A mechanical device that imitates the actions of a living creature, human or animal. Such devices, constructed in the ancient world and in the \JMiddle Ages\j, benefited from the development of clock mechanisms during the 17th-c. Some are made as toys, but others are useful as research or control mechanisms, and in the remote handling of hazardous materials.
BK a
#
"automobile",2633,0,0,0
EN See car; 22068 motor insurance
BK a
XCY y
#
"autonomic nervous system (ANS)",2634,0,0,0
EN That part of the \Jnervous system\j which supplies the glands (eg the salivary and sweat glands), heart muscle, and smooth muscle (eg the walls of blood vessels and the bladder). It consists of groups of nerve cells outside the central \Jnervous system\j, interposed between it and the target organs. The \Isympathetic\i (south) system is distributed throughout the whole body, particularly to the blood vessels.
The \Iparasympathetic\i (P) system is distributed to the gastro-intestinal, respiratory, and urogenital systems, and to the eye. Where S and P fibres supply the same structure, their effects are often opposite, to produce a balance with multiple gradations: for example, S nervous activity increases heart rate, P decreases it; S dilates the pupil, P constricts it. In general terms, the S system prepares the body for action, while the P is concerned with the conservation of \Jenergy\j.
BK a
#
"autorad",2635,0,0,0
EN See DNA profiling
BK a
XCY y
#
"autoradiography",2636,0,0,0
EN A technique for recording the positions of radioactive atoms in a specimen, by placing it over a fine-grain photographic \Jemulsion\j. The radiation then produces a latent image corresponding to the site of each radiation source. The developed \Jemulsion\j shows the distribution of the radioactive content of the specimen (eg a biological tissue containing a radioactive isotope).
BK a
#
"autosomes",2637,0,0,0
EN Chromosomes other than the X and Y chromosomes. The term was coined in \Jgenetics\j at a time (1906) when sex-determination was little understood. Distinguishing the sex chromosomes from the autosomes cleared the way for the understanding of a wide variety of sex-determining mechanisms.
BK a
#
"autotrophic organism",2638,0,0,0
PN [awtoh\Btrof\bik]
EN An organism that is capable of synthesizing complex organic substances from simple inorganic substrates. These organisms include the photosynthetic green plants that use atmospheric carbon dioxide as their main source of carbon in the synthesis of organic compounds, and the micro-organisms that obtain \Jenergy\j for \Jmetabolism\j by the \Joxidation\j of inorganic substrates such as iron, sulphur, and \Jnitrogen\j \I(chemotrophic\i organisms).
BK a
#
"autumn crocus",2639,0,0,0
EN See meadow saffron
BK a
XCY y
#
"autumnal equinox",2640,0,0,0
EN See \Jequinox\j
BK a
XCY y
#
"Auvergne",2641,0,0,0
PN [ohvairn]
EN pop (1995e) 1 361 000; area 26 013 sq km/10 041 sq mi. Region and former province of C \JFrance\j, comprising the departments of Allier, Cantal, Haute-Loire, and Puy-de-D⌠me; Roman province, later a duchy and (10th-c) principality, united to \JFrance\j in 1527; \BHaute-Auvergne\ba mountainous area (W), \BBasse-Auvergne\bin R Allier valley; highest peaks in the Monts Dore, with Puy de Sancy at 1886 m/6188 ft; source of the Loire, Cher, Allier, Dordogne, and Lot Rivers; capital, Clermont-Ferrand; agriculture, mineral springs, \Jcattle\j, wheat, wine, cheese.
BK Geog99
#
"Auxerre",2642,0,0,0
PN [ohzair]
EN 47░48N 3░32E, pop (1995e) 41 800. Market town and capital of Yonne department, C \JFrance\j; on the R Yonne, surrounded by orchards and vineyards; one of the oldest towns in \JFrance\j; railway; bishopric; wine, paints, metal goods; Gothic cathedral (13th--16th-c); abbey church of St Germain with 9th-c frescoes.
BK Geog99
#
"auxiliary language",2643,0,0,0
EN A natural language adopted by people of different speech communities for the needs of trade, education, and communication, though it may not be the native language of any of them. English and French are used in this way in many parts of Africa.
BK a
#
"auxiliary store",2644,0,0,0
EN See backing store
BK a
XCY y
#
"auxins",2645,0,0,0
PN [\Bawk\bsinz]
EN A large group of plant \Jhormones\j vital to many processes, produced in meristems, and principally involved in controlling the growth of shoots and roots, as well as in fruit formation, leaf and fruit fall, tropisms, and nastic movement. They play an important role in the function of other \Jhormones\j. The precise effects vary with the concentration of auxin in the tissues, low levels promoting growth, high levels inhibiting it. They are used commercially as rooting compounds, weedkillers, and to induce parthenocarpy.
BK a
#
"Auyuittuq",2646,0,0,0
PN [ow\Byoo\bituk]
EN National park in Northwest Territories, N Canada, on south-east Baffin I; dominated by the Penny Highlands, rising to over 2094┐m / 6870┐ft, capped by the Penny Ice Cap; glaciers in the surrounding valleys; established in 1972.
BK a
#
"Auzangate",2647,0,0,0
PN [owsang\Bga\btay]
EN 13░47S 71░15W. Andean peak in a spur of the Cordillera de Carabaya, part of the Cordillera Occidental, south-east \JPeru\j; height, 63┐394┐m / 20┐977┐ft.
BK a
#
"avadavat",2648,0,0,0
PN [\Bav\badavat]
EN An Asian bird of the waxbill family. There are two species: the \Bgreen avadavat\b \I(Amandava formosa),\i from India, and the \Bred avadavat\b / \Bstrawberry finch\b \I(Amandava amandava),\i from \JPakistan\j to south-east Asia (introduced on many Indo-Pacific islands).
BK a
#
"Avadh",2649,0,0,0
PN [\Bav\bad]
EN A semi-independent N Indian province within the Mughal Empire, annexed in 1856 by the British East India Company. Loss of rights by hereditary land revenue receivers caused resentment, and contributed towards the 1857 uprising.
BK a
#
"avahi",2650,0,0,0
PN [a\Bvah\bhee]
EN See indri or indris
BK a
XCY y
#
"Avalon",2651,0,0,0
PN [\Bav\balon]
EN In Celtic \Jmythology\j, the land of the dead, the place to which King Arthur was taken after his death. The name possibly means 'land of apples'.
BK a
#
"avant garde",2652,0,0,0
PN [\Bav\bπ \Bgah(r)d\b]
EN (Fr 'vanguard') A term first used to describe the radical artists of mid-19th-c \JFrance\j and \JRussia\j, often with political associations. Since then it has been applied to the innovative, experimental artists of any time; described by W H Auden as 'the antennae of the race'.
BK a
#
"avatar",2653,0,0,0
PN [ava\Btah(r)\b]
EN In \JHinduism\j, the descent to Earth of deity in a visible form. The idea derives from the tradition associated with the deity \JVishnu\j, who from time to time appears on Earth in animal or human form in order to save it from destruction or extraordinary peril.
BK a
#
"Ave Maria",2654,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bvay ma\Bree\ba]
EN See Hail Mary
BK a
XCY y
#
"Avebury",2655,0,0,0
PN [\Bayv\bbree]
EN 51░27N 1░51W. Village in North Wiltshire district, Wiltshire, S England, UK; on the River Kennet, c.110┐km / 70┐mi W of London; the largest megalithic monument in England, a world heritage site; in use c.2600-1600 BC; consists of a 427┐m / 1400┐ft diameter earthwork, with a 9┐m / 30┐ft-deep ditch and a 5┐m / 16┐ft-high outer bank; entrances at the cardinal points, and approached by a 2.4┐km / 11/2┐mi avenue of 100 paired stones; three stone circles within the enclosure, the largest of nearly 100 boulders; nearby Silbury Hill is the largest prehistoric construction in Europe; also nearby, West Kennet long barrow, containing 30 burials in five chambers, the largest chambered tomb in England; Windmill Hill, one of the oldest known \JNeolithic\j sites, with remains dating back to about 3100 BC.
BK a
#
"Avedon, Richard",2656,0,0,0
PN [\Bav\bedon]
DT1 1923
EN Photographer, born in New York City, USA. Educated at a public school, he was a fashion photographer for \IHarper's Bazaar\i (1945--65). Known for his stark portraits of people in unusual poses, he published his first book of celebrity portraits, \IObservations\i, in 1959.
In 1963 he left his studio to photograph aspects of the Civil Rights and Anti-War movements. He worked for \IVogue\i, and won a national award for visual excellence in 1976.
BK Biog99
#
"Avennasar",2657,0,0,0
EN See al-Farabi, Mohammed
BK bg a
XCY y
#
"avens",2658,0,0,0
PN [\Bav\binz]
EN Either of two plants from \Jgenus\j \IGeum,\i both native to temperate regions. \BWood avens\b \I(Geum urbanum),\i also called \Bherb Bennet,\b is an erect perennial growing to c.60┐cm / 2┐ft; leaves divided into small, unequal lateral leaflets and a large, lobed terminal leaflet; flowers 5-petalled, erect, yellow, petals spreading; fruits with hooked beak, forming burr-like head. \BWater avens\b \I(Geum rivale)\i is similar, but flowers are bowl-shaped, drooping, petals pinkish. \B(Family:\b Rosaceae).
BK a
#
"Aventinus",2659,0,0,0
PN [aven\Btiyn\bus]
HS , Latin name of \BJohannes Thurmayr\b
DT1 1477
DT2 1534
EN Humanist scholar and historian, born in Abensberg (Latin \IAventinum),\i \JBavaria\j, \JGermany\j. Known as the 'Bavarian Herodotos', he taught Greek and \Jmathematics\j at \JCracow\j, and wrote a history of \JBavaria\j.
MEX Herodotos
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Avenzoar",2660,0,0,0
PN [aven\Bzoh\ber]
HS , Arabic \BIbn Zohr\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1072
DT2 1162
EN Arab physician, born in Seville. Considered the greatest clinician in the western caliphate, he published influential medical works describing such conditions as kidney stones and pericarditis.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Averroδs",2661,0,0,0
PN [a\Bve\broheez]
HS , Latin form of \BIbn Rushd\b
DT1 1126
DT2 98
EN The most famous of the mediaeval Islamic philosophers, born in C≤rdoba, \JSpain\j. He was a judge successively at C≤rdoba, Seville, and in Morocco, and wrote on \Jjurisprudence\j and medicine. In 1182 he became court physician to Caliph Abu Yusuf, but in 1185 was banished in disgrace (for reasons now unknown) by the caliph's son and successor.
Many of his works were burnt, but after a brief period of exile he was restored to grace and lived in retirement at Marrakesh until his death. The most important of his works were the \ICommentaries on Aristotle,\i many of them known only through their Latin (or \JHebrew\j) translations, which greatly influenced later Jewish and Christian writers and offered a partial synthesis of Greek and Arabic philosophical traditions.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"aversion therapy",2662,0,0,0
EN A process in which an unpleasant experience is induced (eg by pharmacological, physical, or electrical means) in association with an undesirable behaviour, in an attempt to inhibit or eliminate by this conditioning the undesirable behaviour. The technique has been used in a wide range of conditions, including smoking and alcohol dependence; some have tried to use it in changing sexual orientation.
BK a
#
"Avery, Milton (Clark)",2663,0,0,0
DT (1885-1965)
EN painter; born in Altmar, N.Y. He recorded little information about himself, but it is known that he arrived in New York City in 1925 and devoted himself to painting. His approach, called \Jmodernism\j, linked realism with abstract art. His use of color in paintings such as \IAutumn\i (1944), \ISailfish in Fog\i (1959), and \IDark Inlet\i (1963), is inventive and poetic.
BK AmBg
#
"Avery, Oswald (Theodore)",2664,0,0,0
PN [ayveree]
DT (1877-1955)
EN US bacteriologist: showed that the genetic material of bacterial chromosomes is DNA.
Born in Canada, Avery went to New York when he was 10 and remained there for his work-ing life; he qualified in medicine at Columbia in 1904, and from 1913 researched in bacteriology at the Rockefeller Institute \JHospital\j. His special interest was pneumococci (the \Jbacteria\j causing \Jpneumonia\j).
In 1928 he was intrigued by the claim of the British microbiologist F Griffith (1881-1941) that a non-virulent, 'rough' (ie unencapsulated) pneumococcus could be transformed into the virulent, smooth (capsulated) form in the mouse by the mere presence of some of the dead (heat-killed) smooth \Jbacteria\j.
Avery found this so strange that he repeated the work, and also showed in 1944 that the substance that caused the transformation is deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Prudently, he did not go on to surmise that genes are simply DNA, which was surprising enough to be accepted only slowly after 1950 and formed the basic idea of molecular \Jbiology\j.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Avery and his colleagues, Colin MacLeod and Maclyn McCarty, were building on the earlier work of Fred Griffith, who had observed a "transformation" effect when he added heat-killed virulent \Jbacteria\j to some live harmless \Jbacteria\j, making the harmless \Jbacteria\j virulent, and able to kill mice. Clearly there was something in the heat-killed which matched the description "gene", because the changes were inherited by the later \Jbacteria\j.
By the 1940s, enzymes had been isolated which could be used to assess the two candidate chemicals: nucleic acids and proteins. They found that only the DNA-destroying \Jenzyme\j prevented transformation of the \Jbacteria\j, and so they reported, in the careful language of the scientist, in the \IJournal of Experimental Medicine\i in 1944:
"The inducing substance has been likened to a gene . . . if . . . [DNA] actually proves to be the transforming principle, as the evidence strongly suggests, then the nucleic acids of this type must be regarded not merely as structurally important but as biochemically active in determining the biochemical activities and specific characteristics of pneomococcal [bacterial] cells . . . nucleic acids must be regarded as possessing biological specificity, the chemical basis of which is as yet undetermined."
Or as we would put it today, given the hindsight we have into the genetic code, DNA is able to be encoded to store information.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Scie
#
"Avery, Samuel Putnam",2665,0,0,0
DT (1822-1904)
EN art connoisseur, philanthropist; born in New York City. He had little formal schooling, worked as an engraver of bank notes, became a wood engraver, and illustrated books. He established an art book publishing company (1865-88), collected engravings and etchings, and was one of the founders of the Metropolitan Museum. He also endowed and built the Avery Architectural Library at Columbia College (1891).
BK AmBg
#
"Avery, Sewell (Lee)",2666,0,0,0
DT (1874-1960)
EN corporate executive; born in Saginaw, Mich. He joined the United States \JGypsum\j Co. (1901), which as president (1905-37) and chairman (until 1951) he developed into a major international building materials manufacturer despite the Depression of the 1930s.
His effective but autocratic tenure as chief executive officer and chairman of Montgomery Ward and Co. (1931-55) was marked by fights with executives, stockholders and directors. In a highly publicized 1944 episode, federal soldiers literally carried him from his office for noncompliance with a War Labor Board order.
BK AmBg
#
"Avery, Tex",2667,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bveree]
HS , originally \BFrederick Bean\b
DT1 1908
DT2 80
EN Film \Jcartoon\j director, born in \JTexas\j. He joined the Walter Lantz animation studio in 1929, then moved to Warner Brothers, where he was noticed for his zany comedy, creating Daffy Duck, and developing Bugs Bunny in \IA Wild Hare\i (1940). With MGM his creations included Droopy (1943) and Screwy \JSquirrel\j (1944). In 1955 he moved into \Jtelevision\j commercials, and later joined Hanna-Barbera for the \Jtelevision\j series \IThe Flintstones\i (1979).
SX m
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#
"Avesta",2668,0,0,0
PN [a\Bves\bta]
EN The scriptures of \JZoroastrianism\j, written in Avestan, a language of the E branch of the Indo-European family. Traditionally believed to have been revealed to \JZoroaster\j, only the Gathas, a set of 17 hymns, may be attributed to him. Few portions of the original survive.
BK a
#
"aviation",2669,0,0,0
EN All forms of flying, and the uses to which \Jaircraft\j are put. \JAviation\j is divided into two principal areas. \BMilitary aviation\b deals with the use of \Jaircraft\j by military forces, either as a weapon in its own right, or as a platform from which to launch other weapons, together with the \Jaircraft\j's use as a reconnaissance vehicle and military transport. \BCivil aviation\b deals with the organization and use of \Jaircraft\j as a means of commercial transportation.
The principal interest is the use of \Jaircraft\j on scheduled and chartered flights to carry passengers and cargo, but the subject also covers the use of \Jaircraft\j for pleasure, business, and medical services. Because of the international character of civil \Javiation\j, governments play a major role in its conduct and regulation, through both national legislation and international agreements. This governmental influence was a major factor in commercial airline operation until the early 1980s, when the US domestic market was deregulated.
The result was a massive increase in competition, which led in turn to a reorganization of the airlines into larger groupings. It seems likely that this process will continue in the international market, which will lead to an increase in air travel, and increased pressure on airports and air traffic control.
BK a
#
"Avicebron",2670,0,0,0
PN [avise\Bbron\b]
HS , Arabic \BSolomon ibn Gabirol\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1020
DT2a c.
DT2 1070
EN Poet and philosopher of the Jewish 'Golden Age', born in Mßlaga, \JSpain\j. Most of his prose work is lost: an ethical treatise in Arabic survives, as does a Latin translation of his most famous work, \IFons Vitae,\i a dialogue on the nature of matter and the soul, which was influential among later Christian scholastics. His poetry became part of the mystical tradition of the Kabbalah.
SX m
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#
"Avicenna",2671,0,0,0
PN [avi\Bse\bna]
HS , Arabic \BIbn Sina\b
DT1 980
DT2 1037
EN Philosopher and physician, born near Bokhara, Kazakastan. Renowned for his learning, he became physician to several sultans, and for some time vizier in Hamadan, \JPersia\j. He was one of the main interpreters of Aristotle to the Islamic world, and the author of some 200 works on science, religion, and philosophy. His medical textbook, \ICanon of Medicine,\i long remained a standard work.
SX m
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#
"avidin",2672,0,0,0
EN See antivitamin factors
BK a
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#
"Avignon",2673,0,0,0
PN [aveeny⌡], Lat \BAvenio\b
EN 43░57N 4░50E, pop (1995e) 92 200. Walled capital of Vaucluse department, SE \JFrance\j, on left bank of R Rh⌠ne; papal residence 1309--76; railway; archbishopric; chemicals, soap, paper, artificial fibres; popular tourist centre; Gothic Palais des Papes; ruins of 12th-c Pont St Benezet, subject of the folk-song "Sur le Pont d'Avignon'; many churches and museums; centre of school of painting; John Stuart Mill died here.
BK Geog99
#
"Avignon Festival",2674,0,0,0
EN French theatre festival. It was established by Jean Vilar in 1947 to provide a new context for theatre-going. It is held in July, when commercial and state theatres in \JFrance\j are closed. Vilar's work at Avignon created an \Jatmosphere\j of celebration and participation, and laid the foundations for his production style at the ThΘΓtre National Populaire in the 1950s; his choice of Avignon helped give impetus to the decentralization movement in French theatre. The festival grew rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s and is now one of the largest and most prestigious in the world.
BK Thea
#
"Avignon School",2675,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bveeny⌡]
EN A group of artists, mostly Italian, who worked for the papal court in exile in Avignon (1309-77), especially Martini. Their influence continued after the popes returned to \JItaly\j. The 'Pietα', c.1460, by an unknown artist (Louvre) is considered the masterpiece of the school.
BK a
#
"┴vila",2676,0,0,0
PN [\Bav\beela], also \BAvila de los Caballeros\b, ancient \BAvela\b, \BAbula\b, or \BAbyla\b
EN 40░39N 4░43W, pop (1995e) 46 300. Ancient walled city, capital of ßvila province, Castilla-Le≤n, C \JSpain\j; 115 km/71 mi W of Madrid; altitude, 1130 m/3707 ft; bishopric; railway; wine, livestock, tourism; birthplace of Queen Isabella and St Teresa; cathedral (11th-c), Monastery of St Thomas, Churches of St Peter and St Vincent, town walls; old town and churches are a world heritage site; Holy Week, Fiesta of St John (Jun), summer fiesta (Jul), Fiesta of St Teresa (Oct).
BK Geog99
#
"Avila, El",2677,0,0,0
PN [el \Bav\beela]
EN area 851┐km\U2\u / 328┐mi\U2\u. National park in N Venezuela; on the Caribbean, directly E of \JCaracas\j; established in 1958.
BK a
#
"Avison, Charles",2678,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bvison]
DT1a c.
DT1 1709
DT2 70
EN Composer, born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, north-east England, UK. Also known as a critic, he wrote an \IEssay on Musical Expression\i (1752).
SX m
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#
"avocado",2679,0,0,0
PN [avoh\Bkah\bdoh]
EN An evergreen tree growing to 18┐m / 60┐ft \I(Persea americana),\i covered with aromatic oil glands, thought to be native to \JCentral America\j; leaves oval, leathery; flowers 2┐cm / 0.8┐in, greenish-white, 6-lobed; berry pear-shaped, leathery, growing to 15┐cm / 6┐in long, green, yellow, or purplish, with thick yellowish-green edible flesh surrounding a single large stone.
It is cultivated on a large scale in many warm regions such as Mexico and the Mediterranean: the cultivated plants are smaller and bushier than wild ones, with fruits of various colours and sizes, ripening at different times of the year. \B(Family:\b Lauraceae.)
BK a
#
"avocet",2680,0,0,0
PN [\Bav\boset]
EN A long-legged wading bird, found in fresh and saline waters worldwide; catches small animals by sweeping a long, slender, up-curved bill from side to side on the surface of submerged mud. \B(Genus:\b \IRecurvirostra,\i 4 species. \BFamily:\b \JRecurvirostridae\j.)
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"Avogadro's constant",2681,0,0,0
PN [avoh\Bgad\broh]
EN The physical quantity of molecules in a mole or of electronic charges in a \Jfaraday\j. It is defined as the number of atoms in a sample of carbon with a mass of 12┐g in which all atoms have nucleon number = 12. Its approximate value is 6.023┐╫┐10\U23\u.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
While this is often referred to as "Avogadro's number", it is actually a measurement, in which the unit is mole\U-1\u. It is correct to say that the number of particles in a gram-mole is 6.023┐x┐10\U23\u, but this is not "Avogadro's number".
The SI unit for Avogadro's constant is the gram-mole, but you will occasionally find the value given in mksA (or MKS) units as a \Jkilogram\j-mole, when the constant is generally given as 6.02252┐x┐10\U26\u kmol\U-1\u.
There are certain numerical values which exist in science, numbers which have an independent existence, like \Fp\n, e, or \F╓\n2, but Avogadro's constant has to be determined experimentally. A variation on Avogadro's constant is Loschmidt's number, indicated with the symbol N\DL\d, which is the number of particles in a unit volume of an \Jideal gas\j at standard \Jtemperature\j and pressure. It has the value 2.687 19┐x┐10\U25\u m\U-3\u.
Josef Loschmidt (1821 - 1895) was a Viennese schoolmaster who now is little more than a footnote in the pages of the history of chemistry. Yet he published circular structures for benzene in 1861, four years before KekulΘ, and in 1865, he estimated the number of molecules in a volume of gas, using the kinetic theory of gases, offering an actual number, while Avogadro had only offered the hypothesis that the numbers would be the same for different gases.
German-speaking chemists, and those with an understanding of what Loschmidt actually achieved, are inclined to prefer the term "Loschmidt's number".
EN Italian physicist: proposed a method for finding molecular formulae of gases.
Trained in law like his forefathers and working as a lawyer for some time, after 1800 he turned to science and held professorships in physics for much of his life. His fame now rests on one brilliant and important idea. He considered Gay-Lussac's Law of combining volumes and with little evidence offered a daring explanation for it in 1811. His idea, Avogadro's Law, was that 'equal volumes of all gases, under the same conditions of \Jtemperature\j and pressure, contain the same number of smallest particles'.
There is now ample evidence that he was right; in some cases (eg the \Jnoble gases\j) the smallest particles are atoms; for most other gases, they are combinations of atoms (molecules). The law gives a direct method of finding the molecular formula of a gas, and such a formula in turn gives the relative atomic masses of the elements present in it. Avogadro's Law shows that the simple gases \Jhydrogen\j and oxygen are diatomic (H\D2\d and O\D2\d) and that \Jwater\j is H\D2\dO (and not HO as Dalton believed).
However, the law was largely rejected or ignored for 50 years (although AmpΦre accepted it) until Cannizzaro in 1860 convinced a Chemical Congress at \JKarlsruhe\j of its value.
The SI base unit of amount of substance is the mole (which is related to Avogadro's Law). The mole is defined as containing as many elementary entities (usually atoms or molecules, and specified for each case) as there are atoms in 0.012 kg of carbon-12. Thus for a compound, 1 mole has a mass equal to its relative molecular mass in grams. The number of entities in a mole, the Avogadro constant, N\DA\d, is 6.022 x 10\U23\u mol\U-1\u; and 1 mole of any \Jideal gas\j, at STP, (standard \Jtemperature\j and pressure) has a molar volume of 22.415 dm\U3\u.
For example: since the relative atomic masses ('atomic weights') of carbon and oxygen are 12 and 16 respectively, a mole of carbon dioxide (CO\D2\d) will weigh 12 + (2 x 16) = 44 g, and will have a volume at STP close to 22.4 dm\U3\u.
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"Avon",2683,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bvn]
EN pop (1995e) 980 000; area 1346 sq km/520 sq mi. Former county in SW England, UK; created in 1974 from parts of Somerset and \JGloucestershire\j; replaced in 1996 by the unitary authorities of Bath and NE Somerset, \JBristol\j, South \JGloucestershire\j, and NW Somerset.
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#
"Avon, 1st Earl of",2684,0,0,0
EN See Eden, Sir (Robert) Anthony, 1st Earl of Avon
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#
"Avon, River",2685,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bvn]
EN See England
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#
"AWACS",2686,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bwaks]
EN See Airborne Warning and Control System (\JAWACS\j)
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#
"Awash",2687,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bwash]
EN National park in Lower Awash Valley, \JEthiopia\j, in the East African Rift Valley; \BArea:\b 13┐000┐km\U2\u / 4000┐mi\U2\u; noted for its wildlife, including leopards, lions, and crocodiles; a world heritage site.
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"Awe, Loch",2688,0,0,0
EN Picturesque loch in Argyll and Bute, W Scotland, UK; length 37┐km / 23┐mi; south-east of Oban; drained by River Awe; many early lake dwelling-sites \I(crannogs); \i Ben Cruachan rises to 1124┐m / 3688┐ft (north); Inverliever Forest (west); hydroelectric power station; 15th-c Kilchurn castle, Inshail chapel.
BK a
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"Axel",2689,0,0,0
EN See Absalon or Axel
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#
"Axelrod, Julius",2690,0,0,0
PN [\Bak\bselrod]
DT1 1912
EN Pharmacologist, born in New York City, USA. As chief of the \Jpharmacology\j section of the National Institute of Mental Health from 1955, he discovered the substance which inhibits neural impulses, laying the basis for significant advances in \Jneurophysiology\j. He shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1970.
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#
"axiom",2691,0,0,0
EN A proposition that is assumed to be true, on which later studies may be developed. The most famous axioms are those on which Euclidean \Jgeometry\j was developed.
(1) A \Jstraight line\j may be drawn from any one point to any other point.
(2) A finite \Jstraight line\j may be extended at each end.
(3) A circle can always be drawn with any point as centre and with any radius.
(4) All right angles are equal to each other.
(5) If a \Jstraight line\j meets two other straight lines so that the two adjacent angles on one side of it are together less than two right angles, the other lines when extended will meet on that side of the first line. This fifth axiom has been recast in many different, consistent forms. A more complete and rigorous set of axioms for Euclidian \Jgeometry\j was developed by Hilbert in 1899. Axiomatic foundations are now conventional in all of \Jmathematics\j.
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"axis deer",2692,0,0,0
EN See chital
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"Axis Powers",2693,0,0,0
EN The name given to the co-operation of Nazi \JGermany\j and Fascist \JItaly\j (1936-45), first used by Mussolini. In May 1939 the two countries signed a formal treaty, the \IPact of Steel.\i In September 1940, \JGermany\j, \JItaly\j, and \JJapan\j signed a tripartite agreement, after which all three were referred to as Axis Powers.
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#
"axolotl",2694,0,0,0
PN [\Baks\bolotl]
EN A rare Mexican \Jsalamander\j \I(Ambystoma mexicanum)\i from high altitude in Lake Xochimilco; pale with three pairs of feathery gills; large fin around tail; usually breeds as juvenile form and never leaves \Jwater\j, but some individuals do become land-dwelling adults; family also known as \Bmole salamanders.\b \B(Family:\b Ambystomatidae.)
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"axon",2695,0,0,0
EN See neurone / neuron
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"axonometric and isometric projection",2696,0,0,0
EN A system for producing measured three-dimensional architectural drawings without perspective. It is produced by placing the plan at an angle and projecting the verticals upwards. All lines are drawn to scale, so that the drawing appears distorted due to the lack of perspective.
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"Axum",2697,0,0,0
EN A Greek-influenced Semitic trading state on the Eritrean coast, founded about the beginning of the Christian era and trading with Meroe. From its port at Adulis it dominated the trade of the \JRed Sea\j, and in the 3rd-c extended its power to Yemen. At the height of its influence under King Ezana (c.320-50), who accepted \JChristianity\j, it later became the basis of the Christian kingdom of \JEthiopia\j.
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"Ayacucho, Battle of",2698,0,0,0
PN [iya\Bkoo\bchoh]
EN (1824) The final major battle of the Spanish-American Wars of Independence, fought in the Peruvian \JAndes\j. It was a notable victory for the Venezuelan general, Sucre.
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"ayatollah",2699,0,0,0
PN [iya\Btol\ba]
EN (Persian 'sign of God') A Shiite Muslim religious title: a clergyman who has reached the third level of Shiite higher education, is recognized as a mujtahid, and is over 40. The word is particularly associated today with the Islamic Republic of \JIran\j.
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"Ayckbourn, Sir Alan",2700,0,0,0
PN [\Bayk\bbaw(r)n]
DT1 1939
EN Playwright, born in London, England, UK. He began his theatrical career as an acting stage manager in repertory before joining Stephen Joseph's Theatre-in-the-Round company at Scarborough. After his first success, \IRelatively Speaking\i (1967), he was quickly established as a master of \Jfarce\j. He has made considerable experiments with staging and dramatic structure: \IThe Norman Conquests\i (1974) is a trilogy in which each play takes place at the same time in a different part of the setting, and \IWay Upstream\i (1982) is set on and around a boat and necessitates the flooding of the stage.
Among his most successful farces are \IAbsurd Person Singular\i (1973) and \IJoking Apart\i (1979). He has also collaborated in musicals, notably \IJeeves\i (with Andrew Lloyd Webber, 1975), and is recognized as a theatre director. His later plays include \IWoman in Mind\i (1986), \IMan of the Moment\i (1990), \IInvisible Friends\i (1991), and \ICommunicating Doors\i (1995). He was knighted in 1997.
\BMajor Works\b
\IPlays\i
1963 Mr Whatnot
1967 Relatively Speaking
1970 How the Other Half Loves
1971 Time and Time Again
1973 Absurd Person Singular
1974 The Norman Conquests (trilogy)
1975 Absent Friends
1976 Confusions
1977 Bedroom Farce
1977 Just Between Ourselves
1978 Ten Times Table
1979 Joking Apart
1980 Sisterly Feelings
1980 Taking Steps
1982 Seasons Greetings
1982 Way Upstream
1984 Intimate Exchanges
1985 A Chorus of Disapproval
1986 Woman in Mind
1987 A Small Family Business
1988 Henceforward
1989 Man of the Moment
1990 Body Language
1991 The Revenger's Comedies
1993 Time of My Life
1993 Wildest Dreams
1994 Haunting Julia
1995 Communicating Doors
1998 Things We Do For Love
Plays for Children
1990 This Is Where We Came In
1990 Callisto 5
1991 My Very Own Story
1991 Invisible Friends
1993 Mr A's Amazing Maze Plays
1994 The Musical Jigsaw Play
\IMusical Theatre\i
1975 Jeeves (with Andrew Lloyd Webber)
1981 Suburban Strains (with Paul Todd)
1983 Making Tracks (with Todd)
1992 Dreams from a Summer House (with John Pattison)
1995 A Word from our Sponsor (with Pattison)
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"Aycock, Charles Brantley",2701,0,0,0
DT (1859-1912)
EN governor; born in Wayne County, N.C. A Goldsboro lawyer, he was a United States attorney general in \JNorth Carolina\j (1893-97). As Democratic governor (1901-05), he established a \Jliteracy\j test to remove black voters from the rolls, while funding new school construction and teacher training for whites. He returned to his law practice afterward.
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"Aydelotte, Frank",2702,0,0,0
DT (1880-1956)
EN college president, foundation officer; born in Sullivan, Ind. As president (1921-40) he developed Swarthmore (Pa.) College into an academically outstanding institution with innovations like an honors program. He was director of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (1940-47). Long associated with the Rhodes Trust, he planned the Guggenheim Awards and Commonwealth Fellowships.
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"aye-aye",2703,0,0,0
PN [\Biy\biy]
EN A nocturnal primitive primate (\Jprosimian\j) from Madagascar \I(Daubentonia madagascariensis); \i shaggy coat, long bushy tail, and large ears; fingers extremely long and slender, especially the third finger (used to probe for wood-boring insects); inhabits trees. \B(Family:\b Daubentoniidae.)
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"Ayer, Edward Everett",2704,0,0,0
DT (1841-1927)
EN book collector; born in Kenosha, Wis. A prosperous railway lumberman, he amassed a book collection rich in materials on \JAmerican Indians\j, which he donated in 1911 to \JChicago\j's Newberry Library. He helped found the Field Museum of Natural History and was its first president (1893-98).
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#
"Ayer, Francis Wayland",2705,0,0,0
DT (1848-1923)
EN advertising agent; born in Lee, Mass. He founded the Philadelphia advertising firm N. W. Ayer & Son (1869) and transformed the previously unsavory occupation of advertising into a respected profession. His pioneering advocacy of advertisers' interests, use of market research, and development of slogans and trademarks became industry practice; his \IAmerican Newspaper Annual and Directory\i became a standard reference work. He was also an internationally known dairy stock breeder.
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"Ayer, Sir A(lfred) J(ules)",2706,0,0,0
PN [air]
DT1 1910
DT2 89
EN Philosopher, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford, where he was a pupil of Gilbert Ryle. He became professor at University College London, then at Oxford (1947-59). His first and best book was \ILanguage, Truth and Logic\i (1936), a concise and forceful account of the antimetaphysical doctrines of the Vienna Circle of philosophers he had become acquainted with in the 1930s.
His later publications include \IThe Problem of Knowledge\i (1956) and \IThe Central Questions of Philosophy\i (1972). He was knighted in 1970.
MEX Ryle, Gilbert; Schlick
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"Ayers Rock",2707,0,0,0
PN [airz]
HS , Aboriginal name \BUluru\b
EN 25░18S 131░18E. A huge red rock in south-west \JNorthern Territory\j, \JAustralia\j, 450┐km / 280┐mi south-west of \JAlice Springs\j; within the Uluru National Park (1325┐km\U2\u / 511┐mi\U2\u); rises from the desert to a height of 348┐m / 1142┐ft; 3.6┐km / 2 1/4┐mi long, 2.4┐km / 11/2┐mi wide, 8.8┐km / 51/2┐mi in \Jcircumference\j; resort town of Yulara 20┐km / 12┐mi NW; the largest monolith in the world; named after South \JAustralia\j premier, Sir Henry Ayers.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Aboriginal history and culture stretches back in time for thousands of years. For \JAborigines\j, Uluru (Ayers Rock) is at the very core of their existence. Uluru is situated in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, and is considered to be one of the natural wonders of the world.
Aboriginal art of the region - the most commonly recognized being the 'dot' painting style of the Western Desert people, is one of the most recognizable artistic styles of the Aboriginal people.
Depending on the time of \Jday\j, position of the \Jsun\j and atmospheric conditions, Uluru's vast build metamorphoses through various shades, from glowing reds and soft oranges to lilacs.
European presence in the Centre has not been long, but ever since Uluru was called 'Ayers Rock' and described by explorer W.C. Gosse as 'the most wonderful natural feature I have seen', the region has developed an aura of fascination for travellers the world over.
Back in the 19th century, camels were just about the only way to reach the Centre.
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"Ayers, Sir Henry",2708,0,0,0
PN [airz]
DT1 1821
DT2 97
EN Politician, born in Portsea, Hampshire, S England, UK. He emigrated to South \JAustralia\j in 1841 and took up a post with the South \JAustralia\j Mining Association, with which he was associated for 50 years. Elected in 1863 to the first Legislative Council for the state under responsible government, he was a member of the Council for 36 years, and premier on several occasions. \IAyers Rock\i was named after him in 1873.
MEX Gosse, William Christie
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"Ayeshah",2709,0,0,0
EN See A∩shah or Ayeshah
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"Ayeyarwady, River",2710,0,0,0
HS , formerly \BIrrawaddy\b
EN Major river dissecting \JMyanmar\j N-S, formed in Kachin state, N \JMyanmar\j, by the meeting of the Mali Hka and Nmai Hka; flows S through gorges, then W and S to form a delta beginning 290┐km / 180┐mi from the sea; empties into Andaman Sea in a broad front of tidal forests spreading for 260┐km / 160┐mi; easternmost arm of delta linked to Yangon (\JRangoon\j) by canal; chief tributary, River Chindwin; navigable to Bhamo (1300┐km / 800┐mi inland); length c.1600┐km / 1000┐mi; with the Nmai Hka, c.2000┐km / 1300┐mi; large proportion of population in valley and delta; major rice-growing region.
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"Ayia Napa",2711,0,0,0
PN [\Bah\bya \Bnap\ba]
EN 34░59N 34░00E, pop (1995e) 981. Old fishing village in \JFamagusta\j district, SE Cyprus; with nearby Paralimni, the second most important tourist area on the island; monastery (16th-c).
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"Aykroyd, Dan",2712,0,0,0
DT1 1952
EN Actor, born in \JOttawa\j, Canada. He studied at Carleton University, \JOttawa\j, joined the Second City Comedy improvization group in Toronto, made a name for himself as a stand-up comedian, then joined the cast of the anarchic \Jtelevision\j show \ISaturday Night Live\i (1975--9).
He wrote the screenplay for and starred in \IThe Blues Brothers\i (1980), and earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his first dramatic role in \IDriving Miss Daisy\i (1989). Later films include \IExit to Eden\i (1994), \IFeeling Minnesota\i (1996), and \IGrosse Pointe Blank\i (1997).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1980 The Blues Brothers
1982 Doctor Detroit
1983 Trading Places
1984 Ghostbusters
1985 Spies Like Us
1987 Dragnet
1989 My Stepmother is an Alien
1989 Driving Miss Daisy
1992 Chaplin
1992 My Girl
1994 Exit to Eden
1996 Feeling Minnesota
1997 Grosse Pointe Blank
1998 Blues Brothers 2000
\ITelevision\i
1975--9 Saturday Night Live
1997 Soul Man
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"Aylesbury",2713,0,0,0
PN [\Baylz\bbree]
EN 51░50N 0░50W, pop (1995e) 60 800. County town of Buckinghamshire, SC England, UK; N of the Chiltern Hills, 60 km/37 mi NW of London; railway; furniture, chemicals, food processing, \Jengineering\j; 13th-c St Mary's Church.
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"Aylmer, John",2714,0,0,0
PN [\Bayl\bmer]
DT1 1521
DT2 94
EN Clergyman, born in Norfolk, E England, UK. In 1541 he graduated from Cambridge and became tutor to Lady Jane Grey. He fled to the European mainland to escape persecution during the reign of Mary I, then returned to become \JArchdeacon\j of Lincoln (1562) and Bishop of London (1577). He showed equal rigor to Catholics and Puritans, and was pilloried as 'Morrell', the 'proude and ambitious pastoure', in Spenser's \IShepherd's Calendar.\i
MEX Grey, Lady Jane; Mary I
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"Aylmer, Sir Felix (Edward)",2715,0,0,0
PN [\Bayl\bmer]
HS , originally \BAylmer-Jones\b
DT1 1889
DT2 1979
EN British actor. He studied at Oxford, and made his first stage appearance in 1911, after which he went to Birmingham Repertory, developing into a character actor with a remarkable range. He served as president of British Actors' Equity (1949-69), the British professional actors' union, and was also an enthusiastic Dickens scholar.
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"Aylward, Gladys",2716,0,0,0
PN [\Bayl\bwerd]
DT1 1902
DT2 70
EN Missionary in China, born in London, England, UK. In 1930, she spent her entire savings on a railway ticket to Tientsin in N China. With a Scottish missionary, Mrs Jeannie Lawson, the pair founded an inn, the famous Inn of the Sixth Happiness, in an outpost at Yangcheng.
From there, in 1938, she trekked across the mountains leading over 100 children to safety when the war with \JJapan\j brought fighting to the area. She returned to England in 1948, preached for five years, then in 1953 settled in \JTaiwan\j as head of an orphanage.
SX f
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"Ayn, al-",2717,0,0,0
PN [iyn]
EN 24░11N 55░45E, pop (1995e) 150 000. Rapidly developing new city in Abu Dhabi emirate, United Arab Emirates; 150 km/93 mi E of the city of Abu Dhabi; former oasis village; E terminus of the highway from Abu Dhabi; university (1977); small industrial areas to the S; date and palm plantations; fort, archaeological sites; al-Ayn National Park, 16 km/10 mi S.
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"Ayodhya",2718,0,0,0
PN [a\Byod\bya]
EN Town in the N Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and the location of the ancient Babri Masjid shrine. During the 1980s the shrine became the target of intense agitation by the Hindu followers of the Bharatiya Janata Paksh and related Hindu fundamentalist organizations. These asserted that the shrine lay over the birthplace of the god Rama, and that a temple to the god should be built on the site.
In December 1992 a group of militant Hindus stormed the site, destroyed the shrine, and began to erect a temple. This sparked off intense communal violence in many parts of India, and plunged the minority Congress government of Narasimha Rao into crisis.
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"Ayr",2719,0,0,0
PN [air]
EN 55░28N 4░38W, pop (1995e) 49 300. Administrative centre of South Ayrshire, SW Scotland, UK; on the Firth of Clyde, at mouth of R Ayr, 48 km/30 mi SW of Glasgow; railway; metal products, machinery, carpets, agricultural trade, tourism; Loudoun Hall (15th--16th-c), Tam o' Shanter Museum; Alloway, 3 km/13/4 mi S, birthplace of Burns; Culzean castle (1777), 19 km/12 mi SW.
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"Ayrton, Hertha, nΘe (Phoebe) Sarah Marks",2720,0,0,0
DT (1854-1923)
EN British electrical engineer; the first woman to present a paper to the Royal Society.
Sarah Marks (she later adopted the name Hertha) was the daughter of a Polish Jew who fled to England following persecution under the Tsarist regime and died when she was 7, leaving his widow with six sons and two daughters to care for. Mrs Marks was a strong-minded woman who believed that women needed a better, not worse, education than men because 'women have the harder battle to fight in the world'.
Consequently, she took the offer of her sister Marion Hartog to raise and educate her elder daughter Sarah, then 9, at her school in London. The young Sarah was gritty, stubborn, undisciplined and disliked conformity, but she was educated by the talented family she had joined. She learned French from her uncle and \Jmathematics\j and Latin from her cousin Numa, senior wrangler at Cambridge.
An introduction to Mrs Barbara Bodichon, who became a life-long friend, led to her entry to Girton College, Cambridge in 1876, and she sat the Tripos examination in 1880. At this time women students took the examination unofficially within their college; the names of the successful students were not published, nor were degrees awarded.
She went to Finsbury Technical College, intending to follow a career of research and invention, having patented in 1884 an instrument for dividing a line into any number of equal parts.
In 1885 she married W E Ayrton (1847-1908), professor of physics at the college and Fellow of the Royal Society. During a visit to \JChicago\j in 1893 Ayrton lost the only copy of 3 years' work on 'Variation of Potential Difference of the Electric Arc, with Current, Size of Carbons, and Distance Apart' (a servant used it to light a fire) and thereafter he lost any inclination to repeat the work. Hertha Ayrton, who had previously assisted him in the work, began the whole research afresh.
She improved the technique, obtained consistent results expressed in curves and equations and published some of the results in the Electrician in 1895. She presented papers to the British Association and to the Institution of Electrical Engineers and became recognized as the authority on the electric arc.
She was elected a member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1899, their first female member. In 1900 she spoke at the International Electrical Congress in Paris. In 1901 her paper 'The Mechanism of the Electric Arc' was read to the Royal Society by an associate of her husband, as women were not then permitted to do so.
Her book The Electric Arc was published in 1902, a history of the electric arc from the time of Humphry Davy; it became the accepted textbook on the subject. She was proposed for the fellowship of the Royal Society in 1902, but was not accepted because she was a married woman.
In 1904 Ayrton read her own paper 'The Origin and Growth of Ripple Marks' before the Royal Society and became the first woman to do so. In 1906 she received the Hughes Medal for original research on the electric arc and on sand ripples.
From 1905-10 she worked for the War Office and the Admiralty on standardizing types and sizes of carbons for searchlights, both with her husband and, after his death, alone; her suggestions were adopted by the War Office and the Admiralty.
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"Ayrton, Michael",2721,0,0,0
PN [\Bair\bton]
DT1 1920
DT2 75
EN Painter, sculptor, book illustrator, and art critic, born in London, England, UK. His early painting falls into the wartime English neo-Romantic movement. In 1954 he took up sculpture and began treating subjects from Classical \Jmythology\j. His fascination with the legend of the \Jminotaur\j led to his building of a maze in brick and stone in the Catskill Mountains, NY.
SX m
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"Ayton, Sir Robert",2722,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\bton]
DT1 1570
DT2 1638
EN Poet and courtier, born in Kinaldie, near St Andrews, Fife, E Scotland, UK. He studied at St Andrews University and in Paris, and became a courtier of James I in London. He wrote lyrics in English and Latin, and is credited with the prototype of the song '\JAuld Lang Syne\j'.
MEX James I (of England)
SX m
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"Aytoun, William Edmonstoune",2723,0,0,0
PN [\Bay\btoon]
DT1 1818
DT2 65
EN Poet and humorist, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. He studied at Edinburgh University, and was called to the Scottish bar in 1840. In 1836 he began a lifelong connection with \IBlackwood's Magazine,\i to which he contributed parodies and \Jburlesque\j reviews. In 1845 he was appointed professor of \Jrhetoric\j and belles lettres at Edinburgh. His works include \ILays of the Scottish Cavaliers\i (1848) and the \IBon Gaultier Ballads\i (1855).
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Ayub Khan, Mohammad",2724,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\byub \Bkahn\b]
DT1 1907
DT2 74
EN Pakistani soldier and president (1958-69), born in Hazara, India. He studied at Aligarh \JMoslem\j University, trained at Sandhurst, and became commander-in-chief of \JPakistan\j's army (1951) and a field marshal (1959). He became president after a bloodless army coup, and established a stable economy and political autocracy. In 1969, after widespread civil disorder, he relinquished power and martial law was re-established.
EN A sacred system of medicine from ancient India, originating c.5000 BC. Good health is seen as a state of harmony between the air \I(vata)\i which governs movement, fire \I(pitta)\i which governs digestion and warmth, and \Jwater\j \I(kapha)\i which governs cohesion, growth, and lubrication.
A practitioner will take a history which includes an astrological assessment, and emphasis is placed on the prevention of disease and a patient's own responsibility for curing any illness. Treatment may include fasting, bathing, diets, and enemas to purify the body, followed by massage, prayers, and yogic breathing, as well as prescriptions from a large herbal pharmacopoeia.
BK a
#
"azalea",2726,0,0,0
PN [a\Bzay\blia]
EN A deciduous species of \Jrhododendron\j. The name is used in \Jhorticulture\j to distinguish it from the evergreen species. \B(Genus:\b \IRhododendron.\i \BFamily:\b Ericaceae).
BK a
#
"Aza±a (y Dφaz), Manuel",2727,0,0,0
PN [a\Bthan\bya]
DT1 1880
DT2 1940
EN Spanish statesman and president (1936-9), born in Alcalß de Henares, \JSpain\j. A \Jbarrister\j, author, and lecturer in Madrid University, he became war minister in 1931, then prime minister (1931-3), and leader of the Republican Left (1936). He was elected president of the Second Republic, but was forced into exile by General Franco.
MEX Franco
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Azande",2728,0,0,0
PN [a\Bzan\bday]
EN A cluster of ethnically mixed Sudanic-speaking agricultural people of south-west \JSudan\j, Zaire, and the Central African Republic. In the 18th-c, they were formed into a series of kingdoms by the Ambomu, led by the ruling Avongara clan, and are known for their elaborate system of beliefs in witchcraft, \Jdivination\j, and magic. Population c.800┐000.
BK a
#
"Azariah, Prayer of",2729,0,0,0
PN [aza\Briy\ba]
EN One of three additions to the Book of Daniel in the \JOld Testament\j Apocrypha or in Catholic versions of the \JBible\j, usually linked with the Song of the Three Young Men; known also as the \IBenedictus es\i in Catholic forms of worship. It depicts a lamentation for the sins of Israel on the mouth of Azariah (Abednego in \IDan\i 1.6ff), one of those cast into the furnace for their faithful adherence to Israel's religion.
BK a
#
"Azariah, Vedanayakam Samuel",2730,0,0,0
DT1 1874
DT2 1945
EN Clergyman and first Indian bishop of the Anglican Church of India, \JBurma\j, and Ceylon, born in Vellalanvillai, Madras, India. A firm believer in co-operation between foreign and Indian church workers, and in the development of indigenous leadership in a united Indian Church, he was appointed Bishop of Dornakal, Andhra Pradesh, in 1912. He was chairman of the National Christian Council of India, \JBurma\j, and Ceylon from 1929.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Azeglio, Massimo Taparelli, marchese d' (Marquess of)",2731,0,0,0
PN [a\Bzel\byoh]
DT1 1798
DT2 1866
EN Italian statesman, painter, and writer, born in Turin, \JItaly\j. A son-in-law of Manzoni, he studied painting in \JRome\j, and wrote political novels. He took a leading part in the \JRisorgimento\j and the 1848 revolution, and became Prime Minister of \JSardinia\j (1848-52).
MEX Manzoni
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Azenberg, Emanuel",2732,0,0,0
DT 1934-
EN American producer. His single major client has been Neil Simon, for whom he has produced plays since 1972. Recent productions have included Biloxi Blues, Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George and Simon's Lost in Yonkers (1991).
BK Thea
#
"Azerbaijan",2733,0,0,0
PN [azerbiy\Bjahn\b]
EN pop (1995e) 7 500 000; area 86 600 sq km/33 428 sq mi. Republic in E Transcaucasia, with 61 administrative districts; capital, \JBaku\j; other chief towns, Gyandzha, Sumgait; timezone GMT +3; major ethnic groups, Azerbaijani (83%), Russian (6%), Armenian (6%), though ethnic conflict since 1990 makes accurate current estimates impossible; languages, Azerbaijani (official), Russian; religion, Shiite Muslim; currency, the manat.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
Mountainous country, crossed by the Greater Caucasus (N) and Lesser Caucasus (SW), separated by the R Kura plain; highest peak, Mt Bazar-Dyuzi (4480 m/14 698 ft); dry and subtropical in C and E \JAzerbaijan\j, with mild winters and long hot summers (often reaching over 40░C); SE humid with annual rainfall of 1193--1396 mm/47--55 in.
\IHistory and government\i
Ruled alternately by Turkey and \JPersia\j in 18th-c; divided between \JPersia\j and \JRussia\j, 1828; proclaimed a Soviet Socialist Republic by the \JSoviet Union\j, 1920; constituent republic of the USSR, 1936; \Jdeclaration of independence\j, 1991; governed by an elected president, a prime minister, and a 50-member National Council (\IMilli Majlis\i); ongoing conflict with Armenia over disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
EN Brazilian playwright. Azevedo was responsible for the direction taken by Brazilian drama during the second half of the 19th century. A prolific writer, his adaptations and translations were regularly performed in \JRio de Janeiro\j. His most popular work, A Capital Federal (The Federal Capital, 1897), itself an adaptation of one his earlier plays, turned on humorous contrasts between rural and urban lifestyles.
The revista (revue) form he cultivated gained quick popular acceptance. A satire of customs and primarily political issues, the revista sometimes used a unified plot and at other times independent sketches without continuity. It attracted a greater public during those years than did the more serious theatre.
BK Thea
#
"Azhar, El",2735,0,0,0
PN [az\Bhah(r)\b]
EN Muslim university and mosque founded in AD 969 at \JCairo\j, \JEgypt\j. From its inception it has been a significant influence in Muslim higher education. It is said to be the oldest university in the world.
BK a
#
"azidothymidine",2736,0,0,0
EN See AZT
BK a
XCY y
#
"Azikiwe, Nnamdi",2737,0,0,0
PN [azee\Bkee\bway]
DT1 1904
DT2 96
EN Nigerian statesman and president (1963-6), born in Zungeri, \JNigeria\j. He studied at US universities, and in 1937 began to take a leading part in the Nigerian nationalist movement, becoming president of the National Council of \JNigeria\j and the Cameroons. He became prime minister of the E region (1954-9), Governor-General of \JNigeria\j (1960-3), and was elected the first president of the Nigerian republic. While in Britain during the military uprising of 1966 his office was suspended, although he returned privately to \JNigeria\j.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"azimuth",2738,0,0,0
EN The direction of an object measured in degrees clockwise around the horizon from N point to a point on the horizon vertically beneath the object. The notion is used in \Jastronomy\j, navigation, gunnery, and other contexts where it is important to determine a bearing as well as an altitude.
BK a
#
"azo-dyes",2739,0,0,0
PN [\Baz\boh]
EN An important class of dyes originally made (1861) by Peter Griess (1829-88), a German-born chemist who worked mainly as a brewery chemist at Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK. All have two \Jnitrogen\j atoms joined: -N=N-.
BK a
#
"azolla",2740,0,0,0
PN [a\Bzol\ba]
EN An aquatic, free-floating fern, native to tropical and subtropical regions, and widely naturalized even in cooler areas such as Europe, despite suffering badly in winter; stem only a few cm long, branched with scale-like, overlapping fronds covered with non-wettable hairs, reddish in autumn. It often covers the surface of \Jwater\j in lakes, ponds, and ditches. \B(Genus:\b \IAzolla,\i 6 species. \BFamily:\b Azollaceae.)
BK a
#
"Azores",2741,0,0,0
PN [a\Bzaw(r)z\b]
EN pop (1995e) 240 000; area 2300 sq km/900 sq mi. Island archipelago of volcanic origin, 1370--1880 km/850--1170 mi W of Cabo da Roca on mainland \JPortugal\j; Portuguese autonomous region; duty-free zone; three widely separated groups of islands: Flores and Corvo (NW), Terceira, Graciosa, Sπo Jorge, Faial, Pico (C), and Santa Maria with the Formigas Islands and Sπo Miguel, the principal island (E); settled by the Portuguese, 1439; chief town, Ponta Delgada; grain, fruit, tea, \Jtobacco\j, wine, dairy produce, fish canning; highest point, Pico (2351 m/7713 ft).
BK Geog99
#
"Azorφn",2742,0,0,0
PN [atho\Brin\b]
HS , pseudonym of \BJosΘ Martφnez Ruiz\b
DT1 1874
DT2 1967
EN Novelist and critic, born in Mon≤var, \JSpain\j. He studied law, then became a writer, his novels including \IDon Juan\i (1922) and \IDona InΘs\i (1925). He was also one of the leading literary critics of his time.
SX m
BK bg a
#
"Azov, Sea of",2743,0,0,0
PN [a\Bzof\b]
HS , Russ \BAzovskoye More\b
EN Gulf in north-east of \JBlack Sea\j; connected to the Sea by the Kerch Strait; main arms, Gulf of Taganrog (north-east) and Sivash or Putrid Sea (west); latter mostly swamp, almost completely cut off from the Sea of Azov by a sandspit (Tongue of Arabat); shallow \Jwater\j, tending to freeze (Nov-Mar); maximum depth 15.3┐m / 50.2┐ft; river deposits cause further shallowing and silting of harbours; important source of freshwater fish.
BK a
#
"AZT",2744,0,0,0
EN An abbreviation for \Bazidothymidine,\b a drug which inhibits replication of viruses, including the AIDS virus, \JHIV\j. Developed as \Bzidovudine,\b it was granted a licence unusually rapidly, in response to pressure from AIDS patients. Clinical trials have demonstrated the drug to be of limited use in therapy: it can slow the progress of the disease, but it cannot cure AIDS symptoms. In addition, it has inherent toxicity, and resistance develops rapidly.
BK a
#
"Aztec-Tanoan languages",2745,0,0,0
EN A group of North American Indian languages which form a bridge between the indigenous languages of North and \JSouth America\j, most of which have few speakers today. An exception is Aztec itself, spoken in Mexico, which has about a million speakers.
BK a
#
"Aztecs",2746,0,0,0
EN The most powerful people of \JCentral America\j during the 15th-16th-c. Their main city, Tenochtitlan (present-\Jday\j \JMexico City\j), near Lake Texcoco, became the most densely populated city of the region. They built up a great and powerful despotic state, with a strong military force, subjugating nearly all the people of C Mexico, and eventually ruling 400-500 small tribute-paying states (probably 5-6 million people), which provided them with raw materials and produce. People captured in wars were offered for human sacrifice to the Aztec gods.
The \JAztecs\j were famous for their agriculture, cultivating all available land, introducing irrigation, draining swamps, and creating artificial islands in the lakes. Their best-known ruler was Montezuma II. They developed a form of hieroglyphic writing, a complex calendar system, and built famous pyramids and temples. The Aztec empire was finally destroyed by the Spanish under CortΘs in 1521.
BK a
#
"Azuero",2747,0,0,0
PN [a\Bsway\broh]
EN Peninsula in WC Panama, on the \JPacific Ocean\j coast, forming the W side of the Gulf of Panama; length 80┐km / 50┐mi; rises to 829┐m / 2720┐ft at Cerro Canajagua.
BK a
#
"B'nai B'rith",2748,0,0,0
PN [bniy brith]
HS (Heb 'sons of the covenant')
EN The oldest and largest Jewish service organization, founded in the USA in 1843. It pursues educational and community activities, and concerns itself with the rights of Jews throughout the world. Included in the organization are the Hillel Foundation (for Jewish college students), the Anti-Defamation League (a \Jcivil rights\j group), and B'nai B'rith Women.
BK b
#
"Ba Jin",2749,0,0,0
DT1 1904
EN Writer, born in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. He studied in Shanghai and \JNanjing\j, and also in \JFrance\j (1927--9), and became an enthusiastic anarchist. His major trilogy (\IFamily\i, 1931, \ISpring\i, 1938, and \IAutumn\i, 1940) attacked the traditional family system, and was immensely popular with the younger generation.
During the Cultural Revolution (1966--76) he was purged and punished, and compelled to do manual work. He re-emerged in 1977, and published a collection of essays about his experience entitled \IRandom Thoughts\i (1979).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPublications\i
1931 Family
1938 Spring
1940 Autumn
1979 Random Thoughts (essays)
BK Biog99
#
"Baade, (Wilhelm Heinrich) Walter",2750,0,0,0
PN [bahduh]
DT (1893-1960)
EN German-US astronomer: classified stars into different population types; his work gave larger estimates for the size and the age of the universe.
Educated in \JGermany\j at G÷ttingen, Baade was on the staff of the University of \JHamburg\j for 11 years before moving to the USA in 1931. He spent the Second World War at the Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories studying the Andromeda galaxy (as a German immigrant he was excluded from military service). He used the 100 in \Jtelescope\j and had the advantage of the wartime blackout of Los Angeles, which cleared the night sky.
He identified two fundamentally distinct classes of star in the galaxy - hot young blue stars in the spiral arms of the galaxy, which he called Population I stars, and older redder stars in the central region, which he called Population II. This distinction was to prove fundamental to theories of galactic \Jevolution\j.
He showed that \Jcepheid variable\j stars found in Andromeda, whose period/luminosity relationship had been discovered 30 years earlier by Leavitt and quantified by Shapley as a means of calculating their distance, could also be divided into the two categories. In 1952 he demonstrated that Leavitt and Shapley's period/luminosity relationship was only valid for Population I cepheids, and calculated a new relationship for Population II cepheids.
Hubble, in the 1920s, had used the \Jcepheid variable\j technique to calculate the distance of the Andromeda galaxy as 800 000 light years, from which he estimated the age of the universe to be 2000 million years. However, Hubble's estimate proved to have depended upon Population II cepheids, for which the original period/luminosity relationship was invalid; using his new relationship Baade showed that Andromeda was more than 2 million light years away and that the universe was therefore at least 5000 million years old. (This revised time scale came as a relief to geologists, who had estimated the age of the Earth as 3000-4000 million years or more.)
Baade also discovered two \Jasteroids\j, Hidalgo and Icarus, which strangely are those with (respectively) orbits which take them farthest and nearest to the Sun of all known \Jasteroids\j. He also worked on supernovae and the optical identification of radio sources.
BK Scie
#
"Baader, Andreas",2751,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah\bder]
DT1 1943
DT2 77
EN Anarchist and terrorist, born in Munich, \JGermany\j. He became associated with the student protest movement of the later 1960s and was imprisoned in 1968. Critical of \JGermany\j's post-war \Jmaterialism\j and military dominance by the USA, he formed with Ulrike Meinhof the Rote Armee Fraktion (Red Army Faction), a band of underground urban guerrillas.
The Faction helped Baader escape from prison in 1970 and carried out a series of terrorist outrages. He was captured and sentenced to \Jlife imprisonment\j in 1977. An attempt was made by the Faction to secure his release by holding a Lufthansa airliner hostage at \JMogadishu\j, \JSomalia\j, and when this was thwarted he committed suicide.
MEX Meinhof
SX m
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#
"Baader, Franz Xaver von",2752,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah\bder]
DT1 1765
DT2 1841
EN Roman Catholic theologian and mystical philosopher, born in Munich, \JGermany\j. A follower of B÷hme, he regarded Hume's philosophy as atheistic, and opposed Kant by maintaining that the true ethical end is not obedience to a moral law, but a realization of the divine life.
MEX B÷hme; Hume, David; Kant
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Baader-Meinhof",2753,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah\bder \Bmiyn\bhof]
EN The popular name for \IRote Armee Fraktion\i (RAF), after leaders Andreas Baader (1943-77) and Ulrike Meinhof (1934-76); a left-wing German revolutionary, terrorist group which carried out political bombings in \JGermany\j in the early 1970s. Baader, Meinhof, and 18 other members were arrested in 1972. On a much smaller scale, RAF continued into the 1980s.
BK b
#
"Baal",2754,0,0,0
PN [bayl]
EN (Heb 'lord') The \JPhoenician\j god of rain and fertility, his voice being the thunder; in the \JBible\j, used for gods of various localities in \JSyria\j and Canaan, and eventually for the great god of the Canaanites, whose \Jcult\j was often associated with the goddess Asherah or Ashtoreth. He also features in the Ugaritic Ras Shamra texts in conflicts with the gods Yam (the sea) and Mot (death).
BK b
#
"Baal-Shem-Tov",2755,0,0,0
HS , originally \BIsrael ben Eliezer,\b also known by his \Jacronym\j, \BBesht\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1699
DT2 1760
EN Jewish teacher and healer in \JPoland\j, born in \JUkraine\j. He founded the Jewish spiritual movement of Hasidism c.1750.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Baalbek",2756,0,0,0
PN [\Bbahl\bbek], ancient \BHeliopolis\b
EN 34░00N 36░12E, pop (1995e) 15 600. Town in E \JLebanon\j where the Phoenicians built a temple to the Sun-god, \JBaal\j; a world heritage site; Temple of Jupiter, Temple of Bacchus; centre of Muslim Shiite activity; arts festival.
BK Geog99
#
"Baath or Ba'ath",2757,0,0,0
PN [bahth]
HS (Arabic 'resurgence')
EN The \Jideology\j of the Baath (or Ba'ath) Arab Socialist Party, founded in 1940 by a Christian, Michel Aflaq, and a Muslim, Salah al-Din Bitar, synthesizing \JMarxism\j with a pan-Arab \Jnationalism\j that aims to unite Arab nations. The party was most prominent in \JSyria\j and \JIraq\j, where it had a close relationship with the military. In \JIraq\j, the party seized power in the coup of 1968 which installed Saddam Hussein as leader.
BK b
#
"Bab-ed-Din",2758,0,0,0
PN [babuh\Bdin\b]
HS , (Arabic 'gateway of righteousness'), popular name of \BMirza Ali Mohammed\b
DT1 1819
DT2 50
EN Religious leader, born in \JIran\j. In 1844 he declared himself the Bab ('Gateway') to the prophesied 12th Imam, then claimed to be the Imam himself. He was imprisoned in 1847, and later executed at Tabriz. The religion he founded \I(Babism)\i was the forerunner of the Baha'i faith.
MEX Baha-Allah
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Baba Malay",2759,0,0,0
EN See Malay \B(language)\b
BK b
XCY y
#
"Baba Sala",2760,0,0,0
EN see Adejumo, Moses Olaiya
BK Thea
#
"Babangida, Ibrahim",2761,0,0,0
PN [babang\Bgee\bda]
DT1 1941
EN Nigerian soldier, politician, and president (1985--93), born in Minna, Nigeria. He studied at military schools in Nigeria, and carried out further training in the UK and USA. He took part in the overthrow of the government of Shehu Shagari in 1983, and was made commander-in-chief of the army.
In 1985 he led a coup against President Buhari and assumed the presidency himself. He stood down in August 1993, following a period of controversy over election results, leaving the military regime in power.
BK Biog99
#
"Babar or Babur",2762,0,0,0
HS , (Arabic 'tiger'), originally \BZahir-ud-din Muhammad\b
DT1 1483
DT2 1530
EN First Mughal Emperor of India, born in Ferghana, \JKyrgyzstan\j. After failing to establish himself in Samarkand, he invaded India, defeating Ibrahim Lodi decisively at the Battle of Paniput in 1526, and laying the foundation for the Mughal Empire. The following year he defeated the Hindu Rajput confederacy. A soldier of genius, he was also a cultured man with interests in \Jarchitecture\j, music, and literature. Himself a Muslim, he initiated a policy of toleration towards his non-Muslim subjects.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Babbage, Charles",2763,0,0,0
DT (1791-1871)
EN British mathematician and computer scientist: inventor of the programmable computer.
As the talented child of affluent parents, Babbage entered Cambridge in 1814 to study \Jmathematics\j. He and his friend John Herschel put effort into spurring their teachers to achieve a better standard in \Jmathematics\j teaching, translating continental textbooks for their use and advocating Leibniz's \Jcalculus\j notation rather than Newton's. Babbage became professor of \Jmathematics\j in Cambridge in 1828, and worked on the theory of functions and on \Jalgebra\j.
However, he soon concerned himself with the poor quality of the mathematical tables then available, which were rich in errors. He was convinced that mechanical calculation could give error-free results; the subject became obsessive for him and was ultimately to change him from a sociable young man into an irascible elder who clashed even with the street musicians whose activities, he claimed, 'ruined a quarter of his work potential'.
After making a small-scale mechanical calculator in 1822, Babbage designed his 'Difference Engine No 1', which was to perform arithmetical operations using toothed wheels. Hand- powered, it was to work on decimal principles - the binary system is logically linked with \Jelectronics\j and was yet to come.
Over 10 years later, in 1833, the project was abandoned with only 12 000 of the 25 000 parts made and the then large sum of ú17 470 expended. Airy, the Astronomer Royal, pronounced the project 'worthless' and the Government withdrew its support. A modest section of the engine with about 2000 components, made as a demonstration piece in 1832, works impeccably to this \Jday\j and is the first known automatic calculator.
Babbage promptly began to design a more advanced 'Analytical Engine' and worked on this until his death. It was to have a punched card input, a 'store' and 'mill' (equivalent to the memory and processor in a modern computer) and would give a printed, punched or plotted output.
Construction of its 50 000 geared wheels, to be mounted on 1000 vertical axles, never began in Babbage's time. In the late 1840s he also planned a simpler and more elegant calculator ('Difference Engine No 2') to work with numbers up to 31 digits, but could not get government support for either machine.
In 1985 the \JScience Museum\j in London began to build, in public view, Difference Engine No 2. Its 4000 bronze, cast iron and steel components were assembled to make the 3 ton machine with only modest changes in Babbage's design. It was completed in time for the Museum's exhibition commemorating his 200th birthday; its first full-scale calculation was to form the first 100 values in the table of powers of 7, and it has operated without error ever since then. It cost nearly ú300000. Its automatic printer is still to be built.
Babbage worked not only in \Jmathematics\j and statistics, but also on cryptology, climatology, tree-rings as historic climatic records, and the theory of what we would now call mass production and operational research; but his main claim to fame is as the central ancestral figure in the history of computing.
He was assisted in his work by Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (1815-52), the daughter of the poet Byron, who spent much time assisting him and publicizing his work; the best account of Babbage's views on the general theory of his 'engines' is due to her and the US Defense Department programming language ADA is named for her. The two of them also tried to devise a system for predicting the winners of horse races (she was a fearless horsewoman) and lost money in the process.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Charles Babbage's name is known to almost every schoolchild these days, but even a few years ago, he was known only to the select few. Yet those same school-children, having never to look up mathematical tables of sines, cosines, tangents, logarithms and more, would not realise the huge work needed to calculate those same tables. Babbage knew all about the effort required, and the high levels of accuracy required: it was the reason why he wanted to make his machine.
And why don't the children need to use tables? Because every high school student these days is expected, as part of their \Jmathematics\j syllabus, to own a machine which does all that Babbage's machine could ever do, and much more besides. In actual fact, Babbage wanted his Difference Engine to do just two things: to calculate the values for tables, and to create a page of type, ready to print, but it only ever achieved the calculations, and then only for simple polynomials. These days, any standard home computer set-up can do all of that, without even thinking.
Most of the time, we only hear about the failures in Babbage's scheme, the Analytical Engine which he and Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (referred to after this as "Ada") worked so hard to achieve. Since this machine was a failure, we ought to wonder why they kept trying for so long.
The explanation for their persistence is that there was one Difference Engine which worked, the one Sir David Brewster saw and wrote about to Sir Walter Scott in 1832, and over which he waxed lyrical. But before we sample Brewster's enthusiasm, here is a quick lesson in \Jmathematics\j. In the theory of prime numbers, there is a formula which \Iseems\i to generate prime numbers. People who go for this sort of thing know it well, but it hardly rates as a commonplace:
y = x\U2\u + x + 41
Just by the way, this formula does not work: it fails to generate a prime when x = 40, and again when x = 41, but it is at least an "interesting" formula (as mathematicians use the term "interesting": for example, 1729 was a highly interesting number to G. H. Hardy), and it was the formula Brewster saw being calculated on the small Difference Engine. It might be worth wondering, though, whether Sir Walter Scott was aware of the interesting nature of the formula.
People often say Babbage was a misunderstood genius, but reading Brewster's account, we see how a science journalist could understand what Babbage was doing, and describe it in terms which could be understood by the average novelist. Genius, yes, but Babbage was by no means misunderstood.
Here is Brewster's account of Babbage's machine:
The figures as they were calculated by the machine were not exhibited to the eye as in sliding rules and similar instruments, but were actually presented to the eye on two opposite sides of the machine; the number 383, for example, appearing in numbers before the person employed in copying....
While the machine was occupied in calculating [the] table, a friend of the inventor undertook to write down the numbers as they appeared. In consequence of the copyist writing quickly, he rather more than kept pace with the engine, but as soon as five figures appeared, the machine was at least equal in speed to the writer.
At another trial, \Ithirty-two\i numbers of the same table were calculated in the space of \Itwo minutes and thirty seconds,\i and as these contained \Ieighty-two figures,\i the engine produced thirty-three figures every minute, or more than one figure in every two seconds. On another occasion it produced forty-four figures per minute. This rate of computation could be maintained for any length of time; it is probable that few writers are able to copy with equal speed for many hours together.
Maybe the most important point to recall here is that Babbage had worked out all of the main features of his machine: the only things which remained were to get them to work together. This required higher-precision machining than was available in those days, some say, but the necessary thinking was all in place.
On the other hand, some people say that even the \Jengineering\j was up to standard, that the only lack was in project management. It was, after all, one of the first major R&D projects undertaken anywhere in the world, so Babbage's son may have been correct when he claimed that another five hundred pounds would have seen the project completed and operational. If the first Analytical Engine had worked, what a different world we might live in now, if we were already more than a hundred years into the age of the computer!
And finally, a couple of side-issues: as early as 1832, Babbage saw clearly the need for \Jalternative energy\j sources, and suggested the volcanoes and glaciers of \JIceland\j might be tapped for power. He was also aware of the population explosion that had already started in his time: when Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote in \IThe Vision of Sin,\i 1842:
Every moment dies a man,
Every moment one is born
Babbage was quick to correct him:
Every moment dies a man,
Every moment 1 1/16 is born
But Babbage was not alone in his efforts. Thomas Fowler, a self-taught Devonshire printer and bookseller, devised a digital calculating device, based on ternary arithmetic, but little is known of him. He sought assistance from Sir George Biddell Airy (1801 - 1892), the Astronomer Royal and a scientific adviser to the government, asking Airy's assistance in presenting his machine to the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He wrote to Airy:
I have led a very retired life in this town without the advantage of any hints or assistance from anyone, and I should be lost amidst the crowd of learned and distinguished persons assembled at the meeting, without some kind of friend to take me by the hand and protect me.
Fowler made his machines from wood rather than metal, and one of them was later demonstrated in London to some acclaim. Babbage, the astronomer Francis Baily and the mathematician and logician, Augustus De Morgan, both examined it and confirmed its originality and efficiency.
Fowler's machine was more fully digital than Babbage's decimal-based machine, since it used as its active element not rotating wheels but sliding rods which could occupy only one of three positions at any time, making it a base-3 operation.
By only having three distinct physical states, Fowler could make his parts less precisely, and this made Fowler's calculator a better prospect than Babbage's. Sadly, it seems to have gone no further: Fowler's son wrote in a biographical notice after his father's death that "the government of the \Jday\j refused even to look at my father's machine, on the express ground that they had spent such large sums with no satisfactory result, on Babbage's 'calculating engine'".
Doron Swade found the Airy-Fowler correspondence in 1993. It is detailed in \I'It will not slice a \Jpineapple\j': Babbage, Miracles and Machines\i by Doron Swade, a chapter in F. Spufford and J. Uglow, eds; \ICultural Babbage: Technology, Time and Invention,\i Faber and Faber, London, 1996.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Scie
#
"Babbitt, Bruce (Edward)",2764,0,0,0
DT1 1938
EN US statesman, born in Flagstaff, \JArizona\j, USA. He trained as a lawyer, served as \JArizona\j's attorney-general (1975--8), and became state governor (1978--87). An unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, he was appointed secretary of the interior in 1993, and was reappointed in the 1997 administration.
BK Biog99
#
"Babbitt, Irving",2765,0,0,0
DT (1865-1933)
EN scholar, humanist; born in Dayton, Ohio. This Harvard professor (1894-1933) and scholar of French literature espoused the New \JHumanism\j, a conservative creed that called politically for self-discipline and restraint, and literarily for a traditional canon of classic authors; it provoked sharp liberal opposition.
BK AmBg
#
"Babbitt, Isaac",2766,0,0,0
DT (1799-1862)
EN goldsmith, inventor; born in \JTaunton\j, Mass. He became a goldsmith by age 24 and he manufactured the first tableware made of an alloy known as Brittania metal (1824). While superintendent of the South \JBoston\j Iron Works, he made the first brass cannon cast in the U.S.A. (1834). He patented (1839) an important part for machinery lined with a soft, silver-white alloy, soon called Babbitt metal. Suffering from overwork and strain, he was committed to an asylum in Somerville, Mass., where he died.
BK AmBg
#
"Babbitt, Milton",2767,0,0,0
DT1 1916
EN Composer and theorist, born in Philadelphia, \JPennsylvania\j, USA. He studied at New York University and then Princeton, where he later taught (1938). He was a leading proponent of total \Jserialism\j, and composed many works for the electronic synthesizer. In recognition, The Columbia-Princeton Music Center made him a director.
\BMajor Works\b
\IElectronic music\i
1961 Composition for synthesizer
\IInstrumental music\i
1948 Compostion for 4 instruments
1948 Compostion for 12 instruments
1950 Compostion for viola and piano
1957 Partitions for piano
3 String Quartets (most recent written in 1969)
String Trio
Wind Octet
Solo pieces
\IVocal music\i
1964 \IPhilomel\i for synthesizer, live soprano voices and recorded soprano voices
Vision and Prayer (words by Dylan Thomas)
Articles on 12-tone and electronic music
BK Biog99
#
"babbler",2768,0,0,0
EN A \Jsongbird\j native to warmer regions of the Old World; soft, fluffy plumage and short wings; eats insects, fruit, seeds, and nectar; usually found in small groups. The name is also used for the \Bsooty babbler\b (a chat of the family \JTurdidae\j). \B(Family:\b \JTimaliidae\j, over 280 species.)
BK b
#
"Babcock, George (Herman)",2769,0,0,0
DT (1832-93)
EN engineer, inventor; born near Otsego, N.Y. At age 12 he moved to Westerly, R.I., where he became friends with his future partner, Stephen Wilcox. With his father, Babcock invented the first polychromatic printing press. He and Wilcox later produced an improved type of \Jsteam engine\j. At the same time, the partners designed and produced a \Jwater\j tube boiler that could withstand far greater pressures than earlier types, making possible the development of more powerful steam engines.
BK AmBg
#
"Babcock, Harold (Delos)",2770,0,0,0
DT1 1882
DT2 1968
EN Physicist, born in Edgerton, WI. He was on the staff of the Mount Wilson Observatory, CA (1909) when he measured the magnetic field of the star 78 Virginis, which provided a link between electromagnetic and relativity theories. With his son, \BHorace Welcome Babcock\b (1912-) , he invented the solar magnetograph (1951).
SX m
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#
"Babcock, Horace Welcome",2771,0,0,0
DT (1912- )
EN US astronomer: made first measurements of stellar magnetic fields.
Horace Babcock was the son of Harold Delos Babcock (1882-1968), also an astronomer, in collaboration with whom his most profitable work was done. Both worked at the Mount Wilson Observatory, Horace as director from 1964-78. It had been known since 1896 that some spectral lines are 'split' in the presence of strong magnetic fields (the Zeeman effect), and in 1908 Hale had shown that light from sunspots is split in this way and that magnetic fields of up to 0.4 T (tesla) in strength must be present in sunspots. A generalized solar magnetic field could not, however, be detected at that time.
In 1948 the Babcocks developed equipment for measuring the Zeeman splitting of spectral lines far more precisely than had hitherto been possible. This allowed them to detect the Sun's magnetic field, which is about 10\U-4\u T in strength. They discovered that the Sun's magnetic \Jpoles\j periodically flipped polarity, and went on to measure the magnetic fields of many other stars. Some of these were found to be 'magnetic variables', their field strength varying by several tesla over periods as short as a few days.
BK Scie
#
"Babcock, Orville E.",2772,0,0,0
DT (1835-84)
EN Union soldier; born in Franklin, Vt. An 1861 West Point graduate, he became an aide-de-camp to General Grant in 1864 and soon became a confidant of the commander-in-chief. He was acquitted of \Jfraud\j charges in the "Whiskey Ring" scandal of the 1870s, largely as a result of Grant's intercession.
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#
"Babcock, Stephen (Moulton)",2773,0,0,0
DT (1843-1931)
EN agricultural chemist; born in Bridgewater, N.Y. He did most of his important work at the \JWisconsin\j Agricultural Station (1888-1913). He is best known for his test for butterfat in milk (1890). In addition, he helped develop the process of cold curing of cheese (1900) and his experiments led to studies that developed the vitamin concept. He is known as "the father of scientific dairying."
BK AmBg
#
"Babel, Isaac (Emmanuilovich)",2774,0,0,0
DT 1894-1941
EN Russian Jewish short story writer and playwright. He was noted for his polished language, careful attention to character and vivid sense of history. His two famous short story collections, The Odessa Tales (1921-3) and Red Cavalry (1926), are based upon personal experience of the Jewish underworld in Odessa and the brutality of the Russian \JCivil War\j. His play Sunset (1928) was successfully produced at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1928.
Mariya (published 1935), set in Petrograd in 1920, dramatizes the disintegration of a family in the wake of the Bolshevik victory. It was banned while in rehearsal. A third play, The Chekist, was seized and probably destroyed at Babel's arrest on undisclosed charges in 1939. He died in a prison camp.
BK Thea
#
"Babel, Tower of",2775,0,0,0
EN Probably the site of an important temple shrine in the ancient city of \JBabylon\j. In the \JBible\j \I(Gen\i 11.1-9) the legend is related of how its construction led to the confusion of languages, and the consequent dispersion of peoples, as a punishment by God for human pride.
BK b
#
"Babeuf, Francois-Noδl",2776,0,0,0
PN [baboef]
HS , originally \BGracchus Babeuf\b
DT1 1760
DT2 97
EN Political agitator in revolutionary \JFrance\j, born in St Quentin, \JFrance\j. During the Revolution, he helped organize a conspiracy aiming to destroy the Directory and establish an extreme democratic and communistic system. When this was discovered, he was guillotined.
SX m
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#
"Babi",2777,0,0,0
EN See Baha'i
BK b
XCY y
#
"Babi Yar",2778,0,0,0
EN A huge ravine near \JKiev\j in \JUkraine\j into which over 30┐000 Jews were herded and massacred by Nazi German troops in 1941. It is also the title of a poem by Yevegeny Yevtushenko (1961) and a novel by Anatoly Kuznetsov (1966) dedicated to the victims.
BK b
#
"BabilΘe, Jean",2779,0,0,0
PN [babeelay]
HS , originally \BJean Gutman\b
DT1 1923
EN Dancer and choreographer, born in Paris. He studied at the Paris OpΘra Ballet School, and enjoyed some of his greatest successes as a member of the Ballets de Champs-ElysΘes and Ballets de Paris. In the 1950s he was a guest of the Paris OpΘra Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, before forming his own company.
SX m
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#
"Babinet, Jacques",2780,0,0,0
PN [babeenay]
DT1 1794
DT2 1872
EN Physicist, born in Lusignan, \JFrance\j. He standardized light measurement by using the red cadmium line's wavelength as the standard for the angstrom unit. \IBabinet's principle,\i that similar \Jdiffraction\j patterns are produced by two complementary screens, is named after him.
SX m
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#
"Babington, Antony",2781,0,0,0
DT1 1561
DT2 86
EN Conspirator, born in Dethick, \JDerbyshire\j, C England, UK. In 1586 he was induced by Ballard and other Catholic emissaries to put himself at the head of a conspiracy aiming to murder Queen \JElizabeth I\j and release Mary, Queen of Scots. \JCipher\j messages were apparently intercepted by Walsingham in which Mary was implicated by her approval of the plot, and these were later used against her. Babington fled, was captured at Harrow, and executed with the others.
MEX \JElizabeth I\j; Throckmorton; Walsingham, Francis
SX m
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#
"Babinski, Joseph (Francois Felix)",2782,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bbin\bskee]
DT1 1857
DT2 1932
EN Neurologist, born in Paris. He is known for his description of a foot reflex which is symptomatic of upper motor neurone disease. Independently of \BAlfred Fr÷hlich\b (1871-1953), a Viennese pharmacologist, he investigated an endocrinal disorder, adiposogenital dystrophy, or \IBabinski-Fr÷hlich disease.\i
SX m
BK bg b
#
"babirusa",2783,0,0,0
PN [babi\Broo\bsa]
EN A wild pig native to Sulawesi \I(Babyrousa babyrussa); \i pale, almost hairless body; long lower tusks; upper canines in the male grow from the top of the snout, and curl towards the eyes; inhabits riverbanks; swims well.
BK b
#
"Babits, Mihßly",2784,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah\bbeech]
DT1 1883
DT2 1941
EN Poet of the 20th-c literary renaissance, born in Szekszßrd, \JHungary\j. He studied at Budapest University and became a teacher, before turning to literature. He was also a novelist, and a translator of Dante, Shakespeare, and the Greek classics.
SX m
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#
"baboon",2785,0,0,0
EN A ground-dwelling African monkey; long dog-like muzzle with large teeth; males with swollen, naked buttocks; troops contain up to 100 individuals. (Genera: \IPapio,\i 5 species; \IMandrillus,\i 2 species; \ITheropithecus,\i 1 species.)
BK b
#
"Babrius",2786,0,0,0
PN [\Bbab\brius]
DT1 2
DT1b nd-c
EN Greek writer of fables. Little is known of him except that he collected Aesopic fables, which he turned into popular verse. These had almost all been lost, until 123 of them were discovered at \JMount Athos\j, \JGreece\j, in 1841.
MEX Aesop
SX m
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#
"Babson, Roger (Ward)",2787,0,0,0
DT (1875-1967)
EN statistician, business forecaster, author; born in \JGloucester\j, Mass. An indifferent student, he was pushed by his father to study bookkeeping and \Jengineering\j. He set up the Business Statistical Organization, Inc. (1904) and published the \IComposite Circular\i and the \IBabsonchart,\i which advised his clients on when to buy and sell their stocks, bonds, and commodities.
He established the Babson Institute (later Babson College) in 1919; in 1927 he established Webber College (\JFlorida\j) to train women for business. His statistical compilations were of great importance to a generation of businessmen during the pre-computer era. He published some 40 books, most of them on statistical and financial matters.
BK AmBg
#
"Babur",2788,0,0,0
EN See Babar or Babur
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XCY y
#
"Baby Doc",2789,0,0,0
EN See Duvalier, Jean-Claude
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"baby talk",2790,0,0,0
EN The way in which adults talk to very young children, mimicking what are perceived to be the main features of child language. It includes simplified sentence structures (eg \IMummy gone)\i and word pronunciations (eg \Idoggie).\i Many parents lapse naturally into this style of speech, though some are critical of it, and try to avoid it.
However, there is no evidence that the use of baby talk does any harm to the process of language acquisition, and the use of simplified structures may actually facilitate it.
BK b
#
"Babylon",2791,0,0,0
EN 32░33N 44░25E. From the 18th-c BC, the capital of the Babylonian Empire, situated on the River Euphrates S of \JBaghdad\j, modern \JIraq\j. Its massive city walls and 'hanging gardens', attributed by classical tradition to \JSemiramis\j, wife of Shamshi-Adad V (823-811 BC), regent (811-806 BC), were one of the wonders of the ancient world.
Semi-subterranean vaulted rooms provided with hydraulic lifting gear in the later Palace of Nebuchadnezzar (604-562 BC) have been claimed as remains of the gardens, but their site is not definitely known.
BK b
#
"Babylonia",2792,0,0,0
PN [babi\Blohn\bia]
EN The region in Lower \JMesopotamia\j around the ancient city of \JBabylon\j, which formed the core twice in antiquity of extensive but short-lived empires. The first, covering the whole of \JMesopotamia\j, was created by the great Amorite king \JHammurabi\j (c.1795-1750 BC) but destroyed by the \JHittites\j c.1595 BC. The second came into being with the Babylonian overthrow of \JAssyria\j in 612 BC and lasted until the Persian conquest in 539-538 BC.
Under its greatest ruler Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC), it stretched as far E as the Mediterranean. Although the Persians ended Babylonian political power for good, culturally Babylonian influence lasted for centuries, particularly in the fields of \Jastrology\j, \Jastronomy\j, and \Jmathematics\j.
BK b
#
"Babylonian art",2793,0,0,0
EN The art associated with ancient \JBabylonia\j (the S part of modern \JIraq\j), dating from c.2500 BC, until the conquest of the country by Alexander (331 BC). What survives is religious and courtly, such as the stylized stone statues of Gudea (eg in the Louvre) made c.2100 BC, the wall-paintings and coloured bas-reliefs representing religious sacrifices, royal ceremonies, and (as in neighbouring \JAssyria\j) comparatively realistic hunting scenes.
Figures follow the typical Ancient Near-Eastern conventions, with frontal bodies, profile heads and legs, and large staring eyes. Precious metals occur in the objects from the royal cemetery at Ur, made c.2500 BC.
BK b
#
"Babylonian exile",2794,0,0,0
EN The mass deportation of the Jews from Palestine to \JBabylonia\j in 587-586 BC, after the failure of their revolt against Nebuchadnezzar.
BK b
#
"Baca, Elfego",2795,0,0,0
DT (1865-1945)
EN Mexican-American hero; born in Socorro, N.M. A fearless lawman, he protected Mexican-Americans from Texans in New Mexico Territory. In 1884, he arrested a drunken \JTexas\j cowboy and killed another Texan who tried to free him; besieged and shot at by a mob of Texans, Baca surrendered, was tried, and was found innocent. He was sheriff of Socorro County and then turned to practicing law (1894-1945).
BK AmBg
#
"Bacall, Lauren",2796,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bkawl\b]
HS , originally \BBetty Joan Perske\b
DT1 1924
EN Actress, born in New York City, USA. A student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she made her stage debut in 1942. She married her co-star Humphrey Bogart in 1945, appearing with him in such thrillers as \IThe Big Sleep\i (1946) and \IKey Largo\i (1948).
After Bogart's death in 1957, she turned to the stage, her Broadway successes including the musical \IApplause!\i (1970--2), for which she received a Tony award. Later films include \IMurder on the Orient Express\i (1974), \IThe Shootist\i (1976, BAFTA), \IMr North\i (1988), and \IAppointment with Death\i (1988), and she received an Oscar nomination for her supporting role in \IThe Mirror Has Two Faces\i (1996). She was also married (1961--9) to the actor \BJason Robards Jr\b. Her \Jautobiography\j, \IBy Myself\i (1979), was an international best-seller.
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1946 The Big Sleep
1948 Key Largo
1974 Murder on the Orient Express
1976 The Shootist
1988 Mr North
1988 Appointment with Death
1996 The Mirror Has Two Faces
BK Biog99
#
"baccarat",2797,0,0,0
EN A casino card game, the most popular version being \B\Ibaccarat banque,\i\b in which the bank plays against the players. Another variant is \B\Ichemin de fer,\i\b whereby all players take it in turn to hold the bank. Baccarat is derived from popular 15th-c games, and is thought to have been introduced into \JFrance\j from \JItaly\j during the reign of Charles VIII. The object is to assemble, either with two or three cards, a points value of 9.
Picture cards and the ten count as 0. The ace counts as 1, and other cards according to their face value. If the total is a double figure then the first figure is ignored, eg 18 would count as 8.
BK b
#
"Bacchanalia",2798,0,0,0
PN [baka\Bnayl\bia]
EN The orgiastic rites of Bacchus (Dionysus), the god of nature, fertility, and wine. They were banned from \JRome\j in 186 BC on the grounds that they were a threat to morality and public order.
BK b
#
"Bacchylides",2799,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bkil\bideez]
DT1 5
DT1b th-c BC
EN Greek lyric poet, the nephew of Simonides of Ceos, and a contemporary of \JPindar\j in Hiero's court at Syracuse. Fragments of his Epinician Odes (written to celebrate victories in the great athletic festivals) were discovered in 1896.
MEX \JPindar\j; Simonides of Ceos
SX m
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#
"Baccio della Porta",2800,0,0,0
EN See Bartolommeo, Fra
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Bacciochi, Maria Anna Elisa",2801,0,0,0
PN [baki\Bo\bkee]
HS , \InΘe\i \BBonaparte\b
DT1 1777
DT2 1820
EN Eldest of the sisters of Napoleon, born in Ajaccio, \JCorsica\j. She married Felice Bacciochi, and was created a princess by her brother in 1805, and made Grand Duchess of Tuscany in 1809.
SX f
BK bg b
#
"Bach flower remedies",2802,0,0,0
EN A system of flower remedies for illnesses, and especially for disharmonies of the personality and emotional state, devised by British medical microbiologist Edward Bach (1880-1936). Bach theorized that the dew condensing on a plant would, when exposed to sunlight, absorb the \Jenergy\j of the plant into the \Jwater\j molecules.
From this premise he developed a system of herbal remedies prepared from 38 different species of flower. He believed that every disorder arises as a result of an imbalance of inner \Jenergy\j, and that nature has a cure for all illnesses in the form of healing plants.
BK b
#
"Bach, C(arl) P(hilipp) E(manuel)",2803,0,0,0
HS , known as \Bthe Berlin Bach\b or \Bthe \JHamburg\j Bach\b
DT1 1714
DT2 88
EN Composer, born in Weimar, \JGermany\j, the second surviving son of J S Bach. He studied at the Thomasschule, \JLeipzig\j, where his father was cantor, and at Frankfurt University. In 1740 he became cembalist to the future Frederick II, and later became \IKapellmeister\i at \JHamburg\j (1767).
He was famous for his playing of the organ and clavier, for which his best pieces were composed. He published \IThe True Art of Clavier Playing\i (1753), the first methodical treatment of the subject, introduced the \Jsonata\j form, and wrote numerous concertos, keyboard sonatas, church music, and chamber music.
MEX Bach, J S; Frederick II (of \JPrussia\j)
SX m
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#
"Bach, Edward",2804,0,0,0
DT1 1880
DT2 1936
EN British medical microbiologist. He theorized that the dew condensing on a plant would, when exposed to sunlight, absorb the \Jenergy\j of the plant into the \Jwater\j molecules. From this premise he developed a system of herbal remedies prepared from 38 different species of flower.
He believed that every disorder arises as a result of an imbalance of inner \Jenergy\j, and that nature has a cure for all illness in the form of healing plants. \IBach flower remedies\i are especially used for disharmonies of the personality and emotional state.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bach, J(ohann) C(hristian)",2805,0,0,0
HS , known as \Bthe London Bach\b or \Bthe English Bach\b
DT1 1735
DT2 82
EN Composer, born in \JLeipzig\j, \JGermany\j, the 11th son of J S Bach. He studied under his brother C P E Bach in Berlin, and from 1754 worked in \JItaly\j. After becoming a Catholic, he was appointed organist at Milan in 1760, and for a time composed only ecclesiastical music, including two Masses, a \Jrequiem\j, and a 'Te Deum', but later he began to compose opera. In 1762 he was appointed composer to the London Italian opera, and became musician to Queen Charlotte.
EN Composer, born in \JLeipzig\j, \JGermany\j, the ninth son of J S Bach. He studied there at the Thomasschule and at \JLeipzig\j University, and became in 1750 \IKapellmeister\i at Bⁿckeburg. He was an industrious but undistinguished church composer.
MEX Bach, J S
SX m
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#
"Bach, Johann Sebastian",2807,0,0,0
DT1 1685
DT2 1750
EN Composer, one of the world's greatest musicians, born in Eisenach, \JGermany\j. He was orphaned by the age of 10, and brought up by his elder brother, \BJohann Christoph Bach\b (1671-1721), organist at Ohrdruf, who taught him the organ and clavier. He attended school in Lⁿneburg, before in 1703 becoming organist at Arnstadt. He found his duties as choirmaster irksome, and angered the authorities by his innovative \Jchorale\j accompaniments.
In 1707 he married a cousin, \BMaria Barbara Bach\b (1684-1720), and left to become organist at Mⁿhlhausen. In 1708 he transferred to the ducal court at Weimar, and in 1711 became \IKapellmeister\i to Prince Leopold of Anhalt-C÷then, where he wrote mainly instrumental music, including the 'Brandenburg' Concertos (1721) and \IThe Well-tempered Clavier\i (1722).
Widowed in 1720, and left with four children, he married in 1721 \BAnna Magdalena Wilcke\b (1701-60), and had 13 children by her, of whom six survived. In 1723 he was appointed cantor of the Thomasschule in \JLeipzig\j, where his works included perhaps c.300 church cantatas, the \ISt Matthew Passion\i (1727), and the \IMass in B Minor.\i Almost totally blind, he died in \JLeipzig\j.
One of his main achievements was his remarkable development of \Jpolyphony\j. Known to his contemporaries mainly as an organist, his genius as a composer was not fully recognized until the following century.
MEX Beethoven; Buxtehude; Haydn; Mozart; Bach, C P E; Bach, J C; Bach, J C F; Bach, W F
SX m
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#
"Bach, W(ilhelm) F(riedemann)",2808,0,0,0
HS , known as \Bthe Halle Bach\b
DT1 1710
DT2 84
EN Composer, born in Weimar, \JGermany\j, the eldest and most gifted son of J S Bach. He studied at the Thomasschule and \JLeipzig\j University, and in 1733 became organist at Dresden and in 1747 at Halle. His way of life became increasingly dissolute, and from 1764 he lived without fixed occupation at \JBrunswick\j, G÷ttingen, and Berlin, where he died. He was the greatest organ player of his time, but very few of his compositions were published, as he rarely bothered to write them down.
MEX Bach, J S
SX m
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#
"Bache, Benjamin Franklin",2809,0,0,0
DT (1769-98)
EN journalist; born in Philadelphia (a grandson of Benjamin Franklin). From the age of seven to 16 he lived in \JFrance\j under his grandfather's supervision and learned the printing trade there. On Franklin's death in 1790, Bache inherited a printing house in Philadelphia, where, at the age of 21, he established a newspaper called the \IGeneral Advertiser\i (later the \IAurora General Advertiser).\i
He came to be nicknamed "Lightning Rod Junior." Although his paper, unlike others, covered congressional proceedings at length, it was mainly devoted, in the tradition of the time, to virulent and reckless attacks on political opponents - in Bache's case, George Washington (who was accused of having "debauched" the nation as president), John Adams, and the Federalist Party.
During the Adams presidency, Federalist sympathizers wrecked Bache's shop on one occasion; on another, he was severely beaten by a Federalist he had slandered. He was also arrested and held briefly on charges of libeling the president. Not long afterward, he fell victim to a yellow fever epidemic.
BK AmBg
#
"Bache, Jules S. (Semon)",2810,0,0,0
DT (1861-1944)
EN financier, art collector; born in New York City. He was educated at Charlier Institute, New York City, and in Frankfurt, \JGermany\j. He began his financial career as a clerk for Leopold Cahn & Co. (1880), and by 1892 was head of the banking firm under the new name of J. S. Bache & Co.
He made a fortune as a broker, served on many boards, and, assisted by the art dealer, Joseph Duveen, amassed an impressive collection of Old Master paintings. The collection, including works by Titian, Rembrandt, and Velazquez, was given to the Metropolitan Museum in 1944.
BK AmBg
#
"Bache, Richard",2811,0,0,0
DT (1737-1811)
EN merchant; born in Settle, Yorkshire, England (son-in-law of Benjamin Franklin). Emigrating to New York City in 1765, he settled in Philadelphia and married Sarah Franklin in 1767. During the Revolution he was on the Board of War and succeeded his father-in-law as postmaster general (1776-82). His family firm issued private insurance policies and engaged in business with the West Indies and Newfoundland.
BK AmBg
#
"Bache, Theophylact",2812,0,0,0
DT (1734-1807)
EN merchant; born in Settle, Yorkshire, England (brother of Richard Bache). He came to New York City in 1751 and ran a mercantile firm (in conjunction with his brother Richard after 1765). He was a Loyalist during the \JAmerican Revolution\j. His business suffered after 1789. He was governor of New York \JHospital\j.
BK AmBg
#
"Bachelard, Gaston",2813,0,0,0
PN [bashuhlah(r)]
DT1 1884
DT2 1962
EN Philosopher, born in Bar-sur-Aube, \JFrance\j. He had an unusual range of interests and influence in the history of science, \Jpsychoanalysis\j, and literary criticism, which were connected in such works as \ILa Psychoanalyse du feu\i (1937) and \ILa Flamme d'une chandelle\i (1961).
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"Bacher, Ali",2814,0,0,0
PN [\Bbakh\ber]
DT1 1942
EN Cricketer and sports administrator, born in Roodepoort, South Africa. His career was deeply intertwined with South Africa's exclusion from and subsequent return to international sport. He captained \JTransvaal\j and South Africa with great success, but his Test career was cut short by international sports boycotts of South African teams.
He was a leading figure in organizing the 'rebel' tours to South Africa in the 1980s, but rapidly adjusted to political change, and emerged as a key figure in the new non-racial administrative structures by the end of that decade. In 1990 he received the Jack Cheetham Memorial Award for his efforts to normalize sport in South Africa.
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#
"Bachman, John",2815,0,0,0
DT (1790-1874)
EN clergyman, naturalist; born in Rhinebeck, N.Y. A naturalist and a spiritual thinker from his youth, he was ordained as a Lutheran minister (1814) and led a congregation in Charleston, S.C. (1815-65). He met John James Audubon in 1831; they coauthored \IThe Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America\i (1845-49) and two of Bachman's daughters married Audubon's sons.
Unfortunately connected with the movement toward secession (1861), Bachman was forced to leave Charleston at the end of the \JCivil War\j, but he was known for his personal kindnesses to African-Americans.
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"Bachofen, Johann Jakob",2816,0,0,0
PN [\Bbahk\bhohfen]
DT1 1815
DT2 87
EN Jurist and historian, born in \JBasel\j, \JSwitzerland\j. Professor of \JRoman law\j at \JBasel\j from 1841, he is known for his work on the theory of matriarchy, \IDas Mutterrecht\i (1841).
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"Baciccia",2817,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bchee\bchia]
HS , popular name of \BGiovanni Battista Gaulli\b
DT1 1639
DT2 1709
EN Painter, born in \JGenoa\j, \JItaly\j. He is best known for his ambitious and spectacular Baroque illusionistic ceiling frescoes, such as the ceiling of the Jesuit Church of the Gusφ in \JRome\j. He also painted portraits of the papal court which are of a quieter mood.
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"bacillus",2818,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bsil\buhs]
EN Any rod-shaped bacterium; also a large and diverse \Jgenus\j of rod-shaped \Jbacteria\j, typically motile by means of flagella. They are widely distributed as saprophytes in soil and aquatic habitats. Some are disease-causing, including the causative agent of \Janthrax\j. \B(Kingdom:\b Monera. \BFamily:\b Bacillaceae.)
BK b
#
"back e.m.f.",2819,0,0,0
As an electric motor turns, the wires of the motor's windings cross the magnetic field of the motor's magnets. This makes the motor act as a generator, producing a current opposing the current which drives the motor. The old term e.m.f. (for electromotive force), extinct elsewhere, is reserved for this one remaining special use.
The main significance of the back e.m.f. is that a motor, once it is up to speed, draws a great deal less current, and uses a great deal less \Jenergy\j. A motor which is turning very slowly draws more current, and may even burn out while it is gaining momentum, so it is usual to start a motor on full power and then slow it down, as can be seen with most ceiling fans. The rapid drop in back e.m.f. during a "brown out", when the supply voltage is reduced can also lead to a paradox, where the full voltage does not harm a \Jpump\j motor, but a fraction of the voltage can burn out the windings.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"back projection",2820,0,0,0
EN The technique of projecting an image on to a translucent screen to be viewed from the opposite side, advantageous when the audience area cannot be darkened, as in museums and exhibitions and for large-screen \Jtelevision\j. In a form of composite \Jcinematography\j, the performance of actors is photographed to appear against a moving background scene projected from the rear on to such a screen.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
In computerized \Jtomography\j, ultrasound imaging, and also in radio \Jastronomy\j, a method used to combine very large amounts of information to create a detailed image, as in the analysis of large numbers of X-ray measurements to produce a "slice" view of a person's head or neck.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"back slang",2821,0,0,0
EN A type of secret language used mainly by children, in which words are spelled backwards and pronounced according to the new spelling: for example, \Iweek\i might be pronounced as \Ikew.\i Some children train themselves to reach high speeds in speaking backwards.
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#
"back translation",2822,0,0,0
EN A test of the quality of a foreign language translation. The translated text is re-translated into the original language, and the two versions compared. The closer the correspondence, the better the translation.
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"Back, Sir George",2823,0,0,0
DT1 1796
DT2 1878
EN \JArctic\j explorer, born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, north-west England, UK. He sailed with Sir John Franklin on Polar expeditions (1818-22, 1825-7), and in 1833-5 went in search of explorer Sir John Ross, discovering Artillery Lake and the Great Fish River (now \IBack's River),\i which he traced to the Frozen Ocean. In 1836-7 he further explored the \JArctic\j shores. He was knighted in 1839, and made admiral in 1857.
MEX Franklin, John; Ross, John
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"backcross",2824,0,0,0
EN In experimental \Jgenetics\j, the mating of a first generation hybrid with an individual that is genetically identical with one of its parents. Such experiments are used to detect linkages between genes.
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"backgammon",2825,0,0,0
EN A board game for two players. Equipment similar to that used in \Jbackgammon\j was excavated from Tutankhamen's tomb. Introduced to Britain by the Crusaders, it became known as \Jbackgammon\j from c.1750. Each player has 15 round, flat pieces of a particular colour, which are moved around the board on the throw of two dice.
The board is divided into two halves; the inner table and the outer table. The object is to move your own pieces around the board and 'home' to your own inner table. You win by being the first to remove all your pieces from the board.
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"background processing",2826,0,0,0
EN A lower priority task carried out on a computer while it is also engaged in doing other tasks. For example, many computers operate their printer(s) in this way, without apparently interrupting the user.
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"background radiation",2827,0,0,0
EN Naturally occurring \Jradioactivity\j which can be detected at any place on Earth. It results from cosmic rays reaching the Earth from outer space, and from the radioactive decay of minerals in the soil.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The background radiation (often called the "background count" in older references) can vary markedly depending on altitude (more cosmic radiation at high altitudes), \Jgeology\j (more \Jradioactivity\j in granites) and choice of building materials.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Backhuysen or Bakhuizen, Ludolf",2828,0,0,0
PN [\Bbak\bhoysen]
DT1 1631
DT2 1708
EN Dutch marine painter, born in Emden, \JGermany\j. He is best known for his 'Rough Sea at the Mouth of the Maas' (Louvre) and several seascapes in London, \JAmsterdam\j, and The Hague.
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"backing store",2829,0,0,0
EN A general term used in computing to describe the place where the computer stores the long term data needed to carry out its tasks (eg to calculate a payroll the computer needs to have available the employee records together with the current tax tables); also known as \Bbulk store\b or \Bsecondary store.\b
It has a higher capacity but lower access time than the main memory of a computer, and is normally in the form of magnetic tape storage or magnetic disk storage, but could be a card with a magnetic stripe which is updated each time the card is used.
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"Backus, Isaac",2830,0,0,0
DT (1724-1806)
EN Protestant religious leader; born in Norwich, Conn. He underwent religious conversion during the Great Awakening in 1741 and a few years later founded the conservative New Light Church in Norwich, Conn. He convinced himself that the Scriptures required adult \Jbaptism\j by immersion and joined the Baptist sect in 1751. From 1756 until his death he was pastor of a Baptist church in Middleborough, Mass., where he became a noteworthy defender of religious freedom and the separation of church and state.
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"Backus, John",2831,0,0,0
DT (1924- )
EN US computer scientist: developed first high-level computer language.
Born in Philadelphia and educated at Columbia, Backus was closely associated with \JIBM\j for much of his career.
The Second World War gave a great stimulus to the development of electronic computers, but until the early 1950s they still had to be programmed in a very basic fashion. Backus demonstrated the feasibility of high-level computer languages, in which a problem could be expressed in a readily understandable form, which was then converted into the basic instructions required by the computer via a 'compiler'.
In 1954 he published the first version of \JFORTRAN\j (FORmula TRANslator) and by 1957 it was commercially available for use on \JIBM\j computers. High-level languages have greatly aided the use of computers in solving scientific problems, and \JFORTRAN\j itself remains the most widely used scientific programming language.
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#
"Bacon, Delia Salter",2832,0,0,0
DT (1811-59)
EN author, lecturer; born in Tallmadge, Ohio. A schoolteacher, she turned her lectures and dramatic readings into public performances in New York and other cities. She devoted her last years to marshaling the case for Francis Bacon's authorship of Shakespeare's plays, a theory that Nathaniel Hawthorne helped her publish in 1857.
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"Bacon, Francis",2833,0,0,0
DT1 1909
DT2 92
EN Artist, born in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. He settled permanently in England in 1928. After working as an interior designer he began painting in c.1930 without any formal training, making a major impact in 1945 with his 'Three Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion'.
Although the initial inspiration for his work was \JSurrealism\j, he made frequent use of imagery annexed from old masters, usually translated into blurred and gory figures imprisoned in unspecific, architectural settings. A technical perfectionist, Bacon destroyed a great deal of his prolific output. He is widely regarded as Britain's most important post-war artist.
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"Bacon, Francis Thomas",2834,0,0,0
DT1 1904
DT2 92
EN British engineer, the designer of a practical fuel cell. He studied at Cambridge, then worked for Sir Charles Parsons as an engineer (1925-40). He proposed the use of \Jhydrogen\j-oxygen fuel cells in submarines, and carried out research at the Anti-Submarine Establishment (1941-6) and at Cambridge University (1946-56).
He was principal consultant to the National Research and Development Council (1956-62) and the Atomic Energy Authority (1971-3). His designs were first put to practical use in space to provide power, heat, and clean drinking \Jwater\j on board US \Jspacecraft\j. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society (1973), and awarded the first Grove Medal (1991).
MEX Grove, William Robert; Parsons, Charles
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"Bacon, Francis, Viscount St Albans",2835,0,0,0
DT (1561-1626)
EN English statesman and natural philosopher: advocate of inductive method in science.
Son of a statesman and courtier, Bacon was trained in law to follow the same path; with much effort and little scruple, he succeeded and held office under James I, finally becoming Lord High Chancellor in 1618. Convicted of taking bribes, he was banished from Court and office in 1621.
His views of scientific method were influential and were expressed in a series of books and essays. He criticized Aristotle and the deductive method and advocated 'induction', in which emphasis is on the exhaustive collection of scientific data (with careful choice and the exclusion of extraneous items) until general causes and conclusions emerge almost mechanically; Bacon was antagonistic to imaginative speculation.
His ideas were certainly influential in science and probably even more in philosophy. His personality was unattractive and his writings abstruse, but his confidence that nature could be understood and even controlled was important, and as a critic and a \Jprophet\j his role in the scientific development of the following centuries is significant. His own direct scientific work was limited; the best example is his conclusion on the nature of heat, which by argument and thought-experiments he decided was 'an expansive motion restrained, and striving to exert itself in the smaller particles'.
Ahead of his time, he suggested in The Great Instauration (1620) that marine science be developed, including study of 'the Ebbs and Flows of the Sea ... its Saltness, its various Colours, its Depth; also of Rocks, Mountains and Vallies under the Sea and the like'.
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"Bacon, Henry",2836,0,0,0
DT1 1866
DT2 1924
EN Architect, born in New York City. He studied briefly at the University of Illinois (1884), then trained as a draughtsman. He is best remembered for his last work, the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.
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"Bacon, John",2837,0,0,0
DT1 1740
DT2 99
EN Sculptor, born in London, England, UK. He became one of the first students of the Royal Academy Schools, and is responsible for the monuments to William Pitt the Elder in Westminster Abbey and the Guildhall, the statue of Dr Johnson in St Paul's, and others.
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"Bacon, Leonard",2838,0,0,0
DT (1802-91)
EN Protestant clergyman; born in \JDetroit\j, Mich. The son of a missionary, he graduated from Yale in 1820 and, after three years at Andover Theological Seminary, was ordained in 1824. He had planned to return to the western frontier as a missionary, but the First Church of \JNew Haven\j offered him a pulpit. He accepted and remained there 41 years. An opponent of \Jslavery\j, in 1848 he helped launch the free soil journal, \IThe Independent.\i He was professor of \Jtheology\j at Yale from 1866-71.
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"Bacon, Nathaniel",2839,0,0,0
DT (1647-76)
EN colonial leader; born in Suffolk, England. He emigrated to Virginia c. 1674. A landowner and planter, he opposed Governor Sir William Berkeley's Indian policies. In 1676, Bacon attacked the Pamunkey, Susquehanna, and Occaneechi tribes without a commission from Berkeley. After Berkeley denounced him as a traitor, Bacon marched on Jamestown. When a compromise settlement failed, Bacon captured and burned Jamestown.
At one point he controlled nearly all of Virginia, but troops were on their way from England to support Berkeley. Bacon died of influenza in October 1676 and the rebellion soon collapsed.
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"Bacon, Peggy (Margaret Francis)",2840,0,0,0
DT (1895-1987)
EN printmaker, painter, author; born in Ridgefield, Conn. Based in New York City, she studied with John Sloan at the Art Students League, New York (1915-20), and began her work in painting, \Jdrypoint\j etching, and \Jlithography\j. She illustrated many books for children and adults, and published her witty caricatures of famous literary and artistic personalities, such as \IOff With Their Heads\i (1934).
She participated in the art colony at Woodstock, N.Y., (1920), returned to New York City (1923), then settled in Maine, where she continued her work for periodicals and resumed a painting career (1950s) she had abandoned in 1920.
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"Bacon, Roger, English philosopher and alchemist",2841,0,0,0
DT (c.1214-92)
EN English philosopher and alchemist: supporter of experimental method in science.
Probably a member of a wealthy family, Bacon studied at Oxford under Robert Grosseteste (c. 1175-1253) and in Paris, and joined the Franciscan Order as a monk about 1247. He was not himself an experimentalist nor a mathematician (although he did some work in \Joptics\j), but he saw that these two approaches were needed for science to develop; and he foresaw a control of nature by man, as his namesake Francis Bacon was also to foresee 350 years later.
He made imprecise predictions about mechanical transport - on land, above and below the surface of the sea, and in the air, circumnavigation of the globe and robots. He had a wide knowledge of the science of the time, together with \Jalchemy\j, and was thought to have magic powers. He knew of \Jgunpowder\j, but did not invent it.
He saw \Jtheology\j as the supreme area of knowledge but his difficult personality led to conflict with his colleagues. Among 13th-c thinkers, his attitude to science is nearest to that of the present \Jday\j.
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"Bacon, Sir Nicholas",2842,0,0,0
DT1 1510
DT2 79
EN English statesman, born in Drinkstone, Suffolk, E England, UK . He attained high legal offices which, as a Protestant, he lost under Mary I. Following the accession of \JElizabeth I\j (1558), he was made Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and along with Cecil was given the management of Church affairs. A staunch anti-Catholic, he was an implacable enemy of Mary, Queen of Scots. His son was Francis Bacon.
MEX Bacon, Francis; Cecil, William; \JElizabeth I\j; Mary, Queen of
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"Baconthorpe or Bacon, John",2843,0,0,0
HS , known as \BDoctor Resolutus\b ('Resolute Doctor')
DT1a c.
DT1 1290
DT2a c.
DT2 1346
EN Philosopher and theologian, born in Baconsthorpe, Norfolk, E England, UK, the grandnephew of Roger Bacon. A Carmelite by training, he taught at Cambridge, and wrote commentaries on the Arab philosopher Averroδs. He anticipated Wycliffe's teaching that priests should be subordinate to kings.
MEX Averroδs; Bacon, Roger; Wycliffe
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"bacteria",2844,0,0,0
HS (sing \Bbacterium)\b
EN A diverse division of microscopic organisms that all share a \Iprocaryotic\i cellular organization, ie each cell lacks a true nucleus bounded by a nuclear membrane. The genetic information is carried on a loop of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in the \Jcytoplasm\j. Most \Jbacteria\j are single-celled. Basic bacterial shapes are spherical \I(coccus),\i rod-like \I(bacillus),\i and spiral \I(spirillum).\i
These may occur singly, or in chains, pairs, clusters, or other groupings. Some (the actinomycetes) have a branching, filamentous structure, and may form a mycelium. Most have a rigid cell wall containing peptidoglycan, the exceptions being the mycoplasms and halobacteria. Cell division typically occurs by symmetrical binary fission; some form spores; \Jmitosis\j never occurs. Bacteria range in size from less than 1┐╡ \I(Chlamydia)\i to about 0.5┐mm (spirochaete), but most are between 1 and 10┐╡.
They differ greatly in their growth requirements. Some can grow only in the presence of oxygen \B(aerobic \Jbacteria\j),\b while others grow only in the absence of oxygen \B(anaerobic \Jbacteria\j).\b They occur in soil, \Jwater\j, and air, as well as in symbiotic associations with other organisms, and as parasites or disease-causing agents. They cause many human diseases, including \Janthrax\j, plague, \Jpneumonia\j, \Jsyphilis\j, tetanus, and tuberculosis. The scientific study of \Jbacteria\j is known as \Bbacteriology.\b
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
There are two ways of looking at \Jbacteria\j. You can think of them as single-celled life forms, or you can think of them as cell-free life forms, acellular life forms. Inside each bacterium, there are regions which are specialized, almost like the tissues of larger animals, but there are no membranes to cut off the different parts of the bacterium from one another.
The \Jbacteria\j are grouped with several other types of organism which have this same basic plan as the procaryotes. The other life forms on \Jearth\j, the eucaryotes, are able to live in a wide range of habitats, but there is a lower limit to their size.
The smallest known eucaryote is an alga called \IMicromonas,\i which has just one \Jmitochondrion\j and one very small \Jchloroplast\j. If eucaryotes were to get any smaller than about five cubic microns, the size of \IMicromonas,\i they would have to lose one of these essential organelles.
So larger than the viruses, but smaller than the eucaryotes, we have to assume that the \Jbacteria\j have found a convenient niche to occupy.
One of the best references stated in 1989 that there were 4,000 known species of \Jbacteria\j, but the question we have to ask is: how many unknown species are there? Most bacteriology is involved in culturing species, but what can we know of the species which do not thrive in a culture medium?
In 1990, two Norwegian researchers made an intensive study of one gram of soil from a beech forest in \JNorway\j, and found that it contained between 4,000 and 5,000 species. One gram of sediment from shallow \Jwater\j off the Norwegian coast produced similar results, with almost no overlap.
If two samples from the same area can produce results like this, how many brand-new species live in the intestines of an African cockroach, a South American \Jarmadillo\j, or an Australian dunnart? And what of the bacterial species that live up to 500 metres (1,640 feet) below the ground? How many brand-new species of bacteria are there in \JAustralia\j's artesian basins?
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"bacteriological warfare",2845,0,0,0
EN A form of warfare using organic agents such as micro-organisms and viruses which cause disease and death in humans. Many such agents have been investigated, including \Janthrax\j, plague, and botulinus toxin.
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"bacteriophage",2846,0,0,0
EN A virus that infects \Jbacteria\j, reproducing only inside living \Jbacteria\j. \JBacteriophage\j virions (complete infective virus particles) are typically very small, and may contain either ribonucleic or deoxyribonucleic acid.
BK b
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"Bactria",2847,0,0,0
PN [\Bbak\btria]
EN The name given in antiquity to the area roughly corresponding to N \JAfghanistan\j and the adjacent parts of S \JRussia\j. It was ruled for centuries by foreign conquerors, notably the \JAchaemenids\j and the \JSeleucids\j. In the second half of the 3rd-c BC \JBactria\j at last became an independent state, and under a series of able Indo-Greek rulers went on to establish an empire that at its height covered not only all \JAfghanistan\j but large parts of Russian Central Asia and \JPakistan\j.
BK b
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"Bad Aachen",2848,0,0,0
EN See Aachen
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#
"Badajoz",2849,0,0,0
PN [\Bbad\bajoz]
EN 38░50N 6░59W, pop (1995e) 123 000. Capital of \JBadajoz\j province, SW \JSpain\j, on R Guadiana, 401 km/249 mi SW of Madrid; bishopric; former Moorish capital; scene of a battle in the \JPeninsular War\j, 1812; airport; railway; tinned vegetables, textiles; cathedral (13th-c).
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"Badarayana",2850,0,0,0
EN The name applied to an unknown Indian philosopher, the reputed author of the \IVedanta\i (or \IBrahama)\i \ISutra,\i sometimes identified with the 5th-c sage Vyasa, who is traditionally credited with compiling the \IMahabharata.\i Nothing is known of Badarayana apart from his connection with the \IVedanta Sutra,\i which cannot be dated with certainty. He may simply be a personification of an anonymous process of editing.
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"Baden",2851,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah\bdn]
EN 48░01N 16░14E, pop (1995e) 25 700. Capital of \JBaden\j district, Nieder÷sterreich, NE \JAustria\j; 30 km/19 mi S of Vienna, on the R Schwechat; connected to Vienna by tram; principal Austrian spa, with sulphurous waters, known since Roman times; tourism, casino.
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#
"Baden-Powell, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, Baron",2852,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\bdn \Bpow\bel]
DT1 1857
DT2 1941
EN British general and founder of the Boy Scout movement, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Charterhouse, joined the army in 1876, served in India and \JAfghanistan\j, and won fame during the Boer War as the defender of Mafeking (1899-1900). He is best known as the founder in 1908 of the Boy Scouts and in 1910, with his sister \BAgnes\b (1858-1945), of the Girl Guides. He published \IScouting for Boys\i in 1908, founded the Wolf Cubs in 1916, and was acclaimed world chief scout in 1920.
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"Bader, Sir Douglas (Robert Stuart)",2853,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah\bder]
DT1 1910
DT2 82
EN Wartime aviator, born in London, England, UK. Commissioned from Cranwell in 1930, he lost both legs in a flying accident in 1931 and was invalided out, but overcame his disability and returned to the RAF in 1939. He commanded the first RAF Canadian Fighter Squadron, evolving tactics that contributed to victory in the Battle of Britain, but was captured in August 1941 after a collision with an enemy \Jaircraft\j over BΘthune.
A great pilot and leader of what Churchill called 'the Few', he set an example of fortitude and heroism that became a legend. He was knighted in 1976.
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"badger",2854,0,0,0
EN A nocturnal \Jmammal\j, usually grey-brown with a black and white head; pointed face; length 0.5-1┐m / 11/2-3 1/4┐ft; lives in burrows; species include the \BOld World badger\b \I(Meles),\i \Bhog badger\b \I(Arctonyx),\i \Bstink badger\b \I(Mydaus),\i \Bferret badger\b \I(Melogale),\i all native to European and Asian woodlands; also the \BAmerican badger\b \I(Taxidea)\i from open country in \JNorth America\j. \B(Family:\b Mustelidae, 8 species.)
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"Badger, Daniel D.",2855,0,0,0
DT (1806-84)
EN iron fabricator; born in Portsmouth, N.H. He pioneered the use of cast-iron building fronts; his New York foundry (established 1846) produced architectural ironwork for New York and \JChicago\j buildings.
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"Badger, Joseph",2856,0,0,0
DT (1708-65)
EN painter; born in Charlestown, Mass. Beginning work as a glazier and a house and sign painter, he began painting portraits in \JBoston\j some time after 1740. Because his portraits were often unsigned, many were previously attributed to John Singleton Copley and Joseph Blackburn. His paintings, characterized by unsophisticated color and naive technique, include \IMrs. Cornelius Waldo\i (1750), \IThomas Cushing\i (c. 1745), and \IJames Bowdoin\i (c. 1746-47).
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"Badger, Walter Lucius",2857,0,0,0
DT (1886-1958)
EN chemical engineer; born in \JMinneapolis\j, Minn. He was noted for his work on the desalinization of sea \Jwater\j at \JDetroit\j Edison (1917-37). He was affiliated with the University of \JMinnesota\j (1912-37) and was subsequently an \Jengineering\j consultant to Dow Chemical Company (1937-44) and numerous other companies.
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"Badin, Stephen T. (Theodore)",2858,0,0,0
DT (1768-1853)
EN Catholic missionary; born in OrlΘans, \JFrance\j. Emigrating after the \JFrench Revolution\j, he studied at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Md., and became the first priest ordained in America (1793). The hardy, morally rigorous "\Japostle\j of Kentucky" labored for over two decades in the frontier region of the Middle West - almost singlehandedly in the early years. He bought land where Notre Dame University now stands and was buried there.
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"Badlands",2859,0,0,0
EN Arid region of south-west South Dakota and north-west \JNebraska\j, USA; an area of barren, eroded landscapes and \Jfossil\j deposits E of the Black Hills; \JBadlands\j National Monument; several other areas in these states are also described in this way.
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"badminton",2860,0,0,0
EN An indoor court game played by two or four people using rackets and a shuttlecock. Its name derives from \JBadminton\j House, the seat of the Duke of Beaufort, where the Duke's family and guests played in the 19th-c; but a similar game was being played in China over 2000 years ago. It developed from the children's game of \Ibattledore and shuttlecock.\i The object is to volley the shuttle over the central net. Points are won by forcing errors when you are the server.
BK b
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"Badoglio, Pietro",2861,0,0,0
PN [bah\Bdol\byoh]
DT1 1871
DT2 1956
EN Italian soldier and prime minister (1943-4), born in Grazzano Monferrato, \JItaly\j. He served in World War 1, and was promoted field-marshal in 1926. He was Governor-General of \JLibya\j (1928-33) and directed the conquest of \JAbyssinia\j, now \JEthiopia\j (1935-6).
On \JItaly\j's entry into World War 2 in 1940 he was made commander-in-chief, but resigned during the Greek humiliation of Italian arms in \JAlbania\j. Following Mussolini's downfall (1943) he formed a non-Fascist government, negotiated an armistice with the Allies, declared war on \JGermany\j, and held power till 1944.
MEX Mussolini
SX m
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#
"Baeck, Leo",2862,0,0,0
PN [bek]
DT1 1873
DT2 1956
EN Jewish religious leader, born in Lissa, \JGermany\j. He was rabbi (1912-42) in Berlin, and was the political leader of German Jewry when the Nazis came to power. He was imprisoned in the Theresienstadt \Jconcentration camp\j (1942-5), and after the war became a lecturer in Britain.
SX m
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#
"Baedeker, Karl",2863,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\bdeker]
DT1 1801
DT2 59
EN Publisher, born in \JEssen\j, \JGermany\j. He started his own publishing business at \JKoblenz\j in 1827, and is best known for the authoritative guidebooks which still bear his name.
SX m
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#
"Baekeland, Leo (Hendrik)",2864,0,0,0
PN [baykland]
DT (1863-1944)
EN Belgian-US industrial chemist: introduced Bakelite, the first widely used synthetic plastic.
Baekeland became an academic chemist in his native \JGhent\j, but a honeymoon visit to the USA led him to settle there from 1889, working as an independent consultant. From 1893 he made 'Velox' photographic paper, but sold out to Kodak in 1899. A few years later he studied the already known reaction of \Jphenol\j C\D6\dH\D5\dOH with methanal, H.CHO. Under suitable conditions the dark solid product is a thermosetting \Jresin\j, rigid and insoluble.
Baekeland manufactured it from 1909, and mixed with fillers as 'Bakelite', it has been much used for moulded electric fittings. It is now known to be a highly cross-linked three-dimensional polymer of high relative molecular mass, consisting largely of benzenoid rings linked by methylene (-CH\D2\d-) groups at their 1-, 3- and 5- positions.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
If you were in your thirties, and you invented a new sort of photographic paper, who would you take it to? Leo Baekeland thought he knew the answer in the 1890s. In those days, you took it to the experts in photography, Kodak, planning to ask $50 000 for the rights, and willing to settle for $25 000. At least, that is what Baekeland claimed he had planned. This was later, of course, after he had accepted George Eastman's offer of a million dollars.
Well, it sounds like a good story, but Baekeland seemed rather too bright to have been quite so naive. A super-scholar, Baekeland completed his doctorate at the age of 21, and had his professorial chair at the ripe old age of 24. He won a three-year travelling scholarship to America, and while he was there, he invented 'Velox' photographic paper. Once he had Eastman's million dollars safely salted away, Baekeland opened a laboratory and proceeded to fiddle.
When Leo Baekeland was just a nine-year-old lad in \JBelgium\j, von Baeyer had tried adding \Jformaldehyde\j to \Jphenol\j (they called it carbolic acid in those days). The end result was a resinous material which stuck to the laboratory glassware, ruining it. Nothing would clean the glassware, for there were no solvents which would attack the \Jresin\j. So Baekeland stood the whole problem on its head. Why not, he asked, make the \Jresin\j even tougher and more resistant? In effect, he concluded that this particular sow's ear was not going too well on the silk purse market, but it might possibly make do as a boot-heel!
So where earlier chemists had treated the mixture gently, hoping to save their test-tubes and retorts, Baekeland got stuck in, doing dreadful things, and producing dreadful messes and ruined glassware-several years worth of dreadful messes and ruined glassware, in fact, so it was lucky he was rich! Eventually, he found that heating the \Jresin\j with an alkaline catalyst makes the stuff go soft at first, and then irreversibly hard. If you did this while the \Jresin\j was in some sort of a mould, you had a permanent shape. He had invented Bakelite, the first thermosetting "plastic".
It was not the first plastic, for this title belongs to \Jcelluloid\j, which is made from cotton. But Bakelite was the first true synthetic, the first plastic made from entirely different materials. The importance of Bakelite, of course, was that you can mould it into complex shapes, and it will keep its shape after it has hardened. And it was comparatively cheap.
The world's manufacturers went bananas over Bakelite. You could make cheap cabinets for radios, you could even make cheap knobs to go on the radios and crystal sets of the \Jday\j, and they could be styled in "modern" ways, in art deco designs. You could make buttons, knife-handles, the cases of telephones, and even cameras were made from Bakelite.
In the early twentieth century, many workers were gainfully employed making containers from \Jtinplate\j, long, involved, intricate jobs. Now, all of a sudden, we had Bakelite. Now it was possible to make complex shapes like that with only a few chemicals and a simple mould. A few more skills had been lost, and a few more jobs.
Today, we take these things for granted, but it needed something like Bakelite, a material which lent itself to mass production, to get modern style quickly and cheaply into every home. Perhaps we should wonder, too, just what influence the moulding methods and their needs had on the shapes which were adopted. Maybe the influence ran even deeper.
Since that time, plastics have changed our lives in every imaginable way. Without the right plastics, there could have been no uranium enrichment, so there would have been no atomic bombs possible during World War II. And if the "Bomb" had not been developed during the war, maybe there still would be no nuclear weapons today. But that's drawing a rather long bow, and we probably should not try to blame Baekeland for nuclear weapons. But we certainly can credit him with introducing us to the Age of Plastics.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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#
"Baer, (Arthur) 'Bugs'",2865,0,0,0
DT (1886-1969)
EN journalist; born in Philadelphia. His syndicated column of breezy commentary, begun in 1919 for William Randolph Hearst's \INew York American,\i reached up to 15 million readers and lasted nearly 50 years.
BK AmBg
#
"Baer, (Maxmillion) Max",2866,0,0,0
DT (1909-59)
EN \Jboxer\j; born in Omaha, Neb. He held the heavyweight championship from 1934 to 1935, posting a career record of 65 wins, 13 losses, one no-decision, with 50 knockouts.
BK AmBg
#
"Baer, George Frederick",2867,0,0,0
DT (1842-1914)
EN lawyer, railroad executive; born near Lavansville, Pa. He worked as a printer's devil for, then later owned, a Somerset County, Pa., newspaper. He interrupted law studies to serve in the \JCivil War\j (1862-64). He served as legal counsel for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, and later was president of the organization that managed all the Reading holdings.
An associate of the financier J. P. Morgan, he gained notoriety in 1902 when, taking a hard line on a United Mine Workers strike, he argued that propertied classes rather than labor unions were best fitted to look after workers' interests. He left a fortune of $15 million when he died.
BK AmBg
#
"Baer, Karl Ernst von",2868,0,0,0
PN [bair]
DT (1792-1876)
EN Estonian embryologist: discoverer of the mammalian \Jovum\j.
Baer's wealthy family was of German descent, so it was natural for him to study in \JGermany\j after graduating in medicine at Dorpat in \JEstonia\j. He taught at K÷nigsberg in \JGermany\j from 1817-34, when he moved to St Petersburg. His best-known discoveries, however, were made in K÷nigsberg.
There, in 1826, he studied the small follicles discovered in the mammalian \Jovary\j by River de Graaf (1641-73) in 1673, and named after him; they had often been assumed to be mammalian eggs. Baer showed that the Graafian follicle of a friend's bitch contained a microscopic yellow structure which was the egg (\Jovum\j). He identified structures within the embryo (the fertilized and developing egg), including the \Jnotochord\j, a gelatinous cord which develops into the backbone and skull in vertebrates, and he found the neural folds (which later form the central \Jnervous system\j).
In 1817 C H Pander (1794-1865) had noted three layers of cells in the vertebrate embryo, which were to be named by Remak in 1845 ectoderm (outer skin) mesoderm (middle skin) and endoderm (inner skin). These 'germ layers' each develop into specialized organs later (eg the mesoderm forms muscles and bones); Baer emphasized that the embryos of various species are at first very similar and may not be distinguishable and that, as it develops, the embryo of a higher animal passes through stages which resemble stages in the development of lower animals. This idea was later to be fruitful in embryology and in \Jevolution\j theory.
Baer led expeditions to \JArctic\j \JRussia\j to collect plant and animal specimens, studied fishes and collected human skulls (in 1859 he suggested that human skulls might have a common ancestral type, but he never supported Darwin's ideas). His fame rests on his position as a founder of modern embryology.
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#
"Baeyer, Johann (Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf) von",2869,0,0,0
PN [biyer]
DT (1835-1917)
EN German organic chemist: master of classical organic synthesis.
Baeyer's life spanned a period of rapid change in science and technology; from \JFaraday\j's laws of \Jelectrolysis\j to X- ray \Jcrystallography\j and from the first rail services to regular air transport. His father was a Prussian soldier who became a general.
The boy was a keen chemical experimenter, which prompted a poet visiting the family to write a verse on the dreadful smells he caused. When Baeyer was 12 he made his first new substance, the beautiful blue crystalline carbonate CuNa\D2\d(CO\D3\d)2.3H\D2\dO; and he celebrated his 13th birthday by buying a lump of the bronze-purple dye indigo.
After his military service in 1856 he went to study chemistry in \JGermany\j's best-known laboratory, that of Bunsen in Heidelberg. However his interest soon focused on the organic side, which Bunsen had given up, and so he joined KekulΘ as his first research student. His first independent work was done during 12 years spent teaching \Jorganic chemistry\j in a small Berlin technical college. He moved from there to \JStrasbourg\j and then to Munich, working there for 40 years.
Baeyer was a hugely talented organic chemist with an instinctive feel for structures and reactions. He was an experimenter who saw theory as a tool which was easily expendable after use: he wrote 'I have never planned my experiments to find out if I was right, but to see how the compounds behave'.
His preference was for simple equipment, mainly test-tubes and glass rods; he was suspicious even of mechanical stirrers. He had no superior as an organic chemist in his Munich period and all the best men in the field worked with him.
His successes included the structure and synthesis of indigo. His work on the purine group began with studies on uric acid and included the synthesis of the useful barbiturate drugs (named, he said, after a lady friend named Barbara). Other work dealt with hydrobenzenes, terpenes and the sensitively explosive polyalkynes.
It was in connection with the latter that he devised his strain theory to account for the relative stabilities of carbocyclic rings, which in modified form is still accepted. Absent-minded and genial, he was very popular with his students. He won the Nobel Prize in 1905.
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#
"Baez, Joan",2870,0,0,0
PN [biy\Bez\b]
DT1 1941
EN Folksinger, born in \JStaten Island\j, New York City, USA. During the revival of traditional folk music in the 1960s she became popular with young audiences for her songs and political views. She gave free concerts supporting \Jcivil rights\j, \JUNESCO\j, and anti-Vietnam war rallies, and was imprisoned briefly (1967) for refusing to pay tax towards war expenses.
In 1968 she published an \Jautobiography\j, \IDaybreak\i, and a further volume \IAnd A Voice To Sing With\i appeared in 1987. A legendary protest figure for over three decades, she continues to perform at fund-raising events around the world.
\BMajor Works\b
\IAlbums\i
1960 Joan Baez
1961 Joan Baez 2
1962 Joan Baez In Concert
1963 Joan Baez In Concert Part 2
1964 Joan Baez 5
1965 Farewell Angelina
1966 Portrait
1966 Noel
1967 Joan
1968 Baptism
1968 Any Day Now: Songs Of Bob Dylan
1969 David's Album
1969 Joan Baez In Italy
1970 24 July 1970 All Arena Civica di Milano
1970 One Day At A Time
1971 Blessed Are
1971 Carry It On
1971 Sacco And Vanzetti
1972 Come From The Shadows
1973 Where Are You Now My Son
1974 Gracias A La Vida
1975 Diamonds And Rust
1975 Live In Japan
1976 From Every Stage
1976 Gulf Winds
1977 Blowing Away
1979 Honest Lullaby
1979 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
1979 Country Music Album
1981 European Tour
1983 Live Europe 83
1988 Recently
1989 Diamonds And Rust In The Bullring
1989 Speaking Of Dreams
\IBrothers In Arms\i
1992 Play Me Backwards
1993 No Woman No Cry
1995 Ring Them Bells
\ICompilations\i
1970 The First Ten Years
1972 The Ballad Book
1974 The Contemporary Ballad Book
1975 The Love Song Album
1976 Hits Greatest And Others
1977 The Best Of Joan Baez
1980 Spotlight On Joan Baez
1983 Very Early Joan
1994 Rare, Live And Classic
1996 Diamonds
BK Biog99
#
"Baffin Bay",2871,0,0,0
EN Ice-blocked \JArctic\j gulf between \JGreenland\j (east) and Baffin, Bylot, Devon, and Ellesmere Is (west); length c.1125┐km / 700┐mi; width 110-650┐km / 70-400┐mi; depth over 2400┐m / 8100┐ft; navigation only in summer; first entered by John Davis, 1585; explored by William Baffin, 1615; important whaling area in the 1800s; seafowl and fur-bearing animals along coast.
BK b
#
"Baffin Island",2872,0,0,0
EN Largest island in the Canadian \JArctic\j Archipelago, in the \JArctic\j Ocean; separated from \JLabrador\j by the Hudson Strait, and from \JGreenland\j to the E by the Davis Strait and Baffin Bay; \BArea:\b 318┐186┐km\U2\u / 122┐820┐mi\U2\u; length c.1600┐km / 1000┐mi; width 209-725┐km / 130-450┐mi; irregular coastline, with several peninsulas and deep bays; mostly a plateau rising to c.915┐m / 3000┐ft; first visited by Frobisher, 1576-8; chief settlements Frobisher Bay, Lake Harbour, Pond Inlet; population mainly \JInuit\j.
BK b
#
"Baffin, William",2873,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1584
DT2 1622
EN Navigator, probably born in London, England, UK. From 1612 to 1616 he was pilot on several expeditions in search of the Northwest Passage. The most significant of these were the voyages under the command of Robert Bylot in the \IDiscovery,\i during which they visited Hudson Strait (1615), and were the first Europeans to find Baffin Bay (1615) and Lancaster, Smith, and Jones Sounds (1616).
He was possibly the first person to determine a degree of longitude at sea by lunar observation. Thereafter he carried out extensive surveys of the \JRed Sea\j (1616-21), and was killed at the siege of Ormuz.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"bagatelle",2874,0,0,0
PN [baga\Btel\b]
EN A restricted form of \Jbilliards\j, played on a table with nine numbered cups instead of pockets. Popular in the UK, especially in the N of England, the Midlands, and N Wales, it is played in many different forms on a rectangular table, with measurements varying according to local conditions.
BK b
#
"Bagehot, Walter",2875,0,0,0
PN [\Bba\bjuht]
DT1 1826
DT2 77
EN Economist and journalist, born in Langport, Somerset, south-west England, UK. He graduated in \Jmathematics\j at University College, London, was called to the bar in 1852, and succeeded his father-in-law, James Wilson (1805-60), as editor of the \IEconomist\i in 1860. His \IEnglish Constitution\i (1867) is still a standard work. He advocated many constitutional reforms, including the introduction of life peers.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bagerat",2876,0,0,0
PN [bage\Braht\b]
EN The former city of Khalifatabad, founded in the 15th-c by General Ulugh Khan Jahan in the S Ganges delta, present-\Jday\j \JBangladesh\j; a world heritage site. Its mosques and palaces spring from a unique marriage of local architectural styles with that of imperial Delhi.
BK b
#
"Bagford, John",2877,0,0,0
DT1 1650
DT2 1716
EN Antiquary, born in London, England, UK. Originally a shoemaker, he made a scrapbook collection of English broadside ditties and verses in 64 volumes for Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, known as \IThe Bagford Ballads.\i
MEX Harley
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Baggara",2878,0,0,0
EN See Baqqarah or Baggara
BK b
XCY y
#
"Baghdad",2879,0,0,0
PN [bag\Bdad\b]
EN 33░20N 44░26E, pop (1995e) 5 385 000. Capital city of \JIraq\j, on R Tigris; a commercial and transportation centre; founded, 762; enclosed on three sides by ancient walls; sacked by \JMongols\j, 1258; later under Mongol, then Turkish rule; independent capital, 20th-c; badly damaged through bombing during the Gulf War, 1991; airport; railway; university (1958); oil refining, distilling, tanning, \Jtobacco\j, textiles, gum, brick, tiles, metal industry, cement; Abbasid palace, Mustansiriyah law college (13th-c).
BK Geog99
#
"Baghlan",2880,0,0,0
PN [bag\Blahn\b]
EN pop (1995e) 900 000 area 17 109 sq km/6604 sq mi. Province in NEC \JAfghanistan\j; N of Kabul; capital, \JBaghlan\j Jadid, pop (1992e) 62 000; \JSalang\j Pass and Tunnel, on the main Russian supply route to Kabul, the focus of resistancee by Mujahideen guerrillas during the Russian occupation of \JAfghanistan\j (1979--89).
BK Geog99
#
"Bagley, Sarah",2881,0,0,0
DT1a fl.
DT1 1835
DT2 47
EN Labour leader, of whose early life nothing is known. She was active during the 1830s and 1840s in the mills of Lowell, MA, where she led 'turn-outs' (strikes) and organized the Female Labor Reform Association. She played a major role in the successful campaign for a 10-hour working \Jday\j in \JMassachusetts\j.
SX f
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#
"Bagnold, Enid (Lady Roderick Jones)",2882,0,0,0
DT 1889-1981
EN British playwright and novelist. Her novels Serena Blandish (1925), National Velvet (1935) and Lottie Dundas (1943) were adapted for the stage. Her later stage plays, including The \JChalk\j Garden (1955, New York; 1956, London) and The Chinese Prime Minister (1964, New York; 1965, London), retain a literary flavour. The \JChalk\j Garden was highly praised as a fine 'artificial comedy' by Kenneth Tynan. The Last Joke (1960) and Call Me Jacky (1967) failed to find a public in either New York or London.
BK Thea
#
"bagpipes",2883,0,0,0
EN A musical instrument of great antiquity consisting of a bag (usually of sheepskin) which the player fills with air through a blow-pipe or bellows, and squeezes with his arm so that the air then passes through the sounding pipes. One of these, the chanter, is fitted with a reed and finger-holes, and is used for playing melodies; two or three other pipes supply the continuous accompanimental \Jdrone\j which is a distinctive (and to some ears maddening) feature of the \Jbagpipes\j.
The Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland have their different types of \Jbagpipes\j, as also do Ireland and \JNorthumberland\j, and various types of \Jbagpipes\j are found throughout Europe.
BK b
#
"Baguio",2884,0,0,0
PN [\Bbag\bioh]
EN 16░25N 120░37E, pop (1995e) 174 000. Summer capital of the \JPhilippines\j, in Benguet province, NW \JLuzon\j I; mountain resort town and official summer residence of the President; two universities (1911, 1948); military academy; gold, copper; summer festival.
BK Geog99
#
"Baha'i",2885,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bhiy\b]
EN A religious movement arising out of the Persian Islamic sect \JBabi\j in the 1860s, when Mirza Husayn Ali (1817-92), known as Baha Allah ('Glory of God'), also spelled Baha' Ullah, declared himself the \Jprophet\j foretold by the founder of the \JBabi\j movement, Mirza Ali Mohammed (1819-50). Baha'ism teaches the oneness of God, the unity of all faiths, the inevitable unification of humankind, the harmony of all people, universal education, and obedience to government.
It has no priesthood, and its adherents are expected to teach the faith. Local assemblies meet for informal devotions in homes or rented halls. There is little formal ritual, but there are ceremonies for marriage, funerals, and the naming of babies. Its headquarters is in Haifa, Israel. There were over 6 million adherents in 1997.
BK b
#
"Baha-Allah",2886,0,0,0
PN [bah\Bhah\bula]
HS , (Arabic 'glory of God'), originally \BMirza Huseyn Ali\b
DT1 1817
DT2 92
EN Religious leader, born in Teheran, the founder of the Islamic Baha'i sect. He became a follower of Bab-ed-Din, the founder of the Persian \JBabi\j sect. Persecuted and imprisoned in 1852, he was exiled to \JBaghdad\j, Constantinople, and Acre. In 1863 he proclaimed himself as the \Jprophet\j that Bab-ed-Din had foretold, and became the leader of the new Baha'i faith.
MEX Bab-ed-Din
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bahamas",2887,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 274 000; area 13 934 sq km/5378 sq mi. Archipelago of c.700 low-lying islands and over 2000 cays, forming a chain extending c.800 km/500 mi SE from the coast of \JFlorida\j; two oceanic banks of Little Bahama and Great Bahama; highest point 120 m/394 ft; capital, Nassau; major town, Freeport; timezone GMT -5; over 75% of the population live on New Providence or Grand Bahama; 85% black, 15% white; official language, English; dominant religion, \JChristianity\j; unit of currency, Bahamian dollar; climate subtropical, with average temperatures 21░C (winter) and 27░C (summer); mean annual rainfall 750--1500 mm/30--60 in; hurricanes frequent (Jun--Nov); visited by Columbus in 1492, but first permanent European settlement not until 1647, by English and Bermudan religious refugees; British Crown Colony, 1717; notorious rendezvous of \Jbuccaneers\j and pirates; independence, 1973; a bicameral assembly, consisting of a House of Assembly with 49 elected members and a Senate with 16 nominated members; head of state, the British monarch, represented by a governor-general; tourism the mainstay of the economy, especially at New Providence (Nassau and Paradise I) and Grand Bahama; important financial centre (status as a tax haven); oil refining, fishing, rum and liqueur distilling, cement, pharmaceuticals, steel pipes, fruit, vegetables.
BK Geog99
#
"Bahasa Indonesia",2888,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bha\bsa]
EN The Malay \Jdialect\j of the S Malay Peninsula, which has been the standard language of \JMalaysia\j since 1949; also called \BBahasa Malaysia.\b It was first given official status by the Japanese occupiers during World War 2. It is often referred to simply as \BIndonesian.\b
BK b
#
"Bahia",2889,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bee\ba]
EN pop (1995e) 12 770 000; area 561 026 sq km/216 556 sq mi. State in Nordeste region, NE \JBrazil\j, bounded E by the Atlantic; capital Salvador; agriculture, chemical and petrochemical industries, oil; \JBrazil\j first claimed for \JPortugal\j by Cabral in 1500, when he stepped ashore N of P⌠rto Seguro in SE \JBahia\j.
BK Geog99
#
"Bahφa Blanca",2890,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bee\ba \Bblang\bka]
EN 38░45S 62░15W, pop (1995e) 284 000. City in Buenos Aires province, E Argentina; at the head of the Bahφa Blanca Bay, SW of Buenos Aires; includes five ports on R Naposta, including naval base of Puerto Belgrano; founded in 1828; university (1956); airport; railway; oil refining, wool and food processing, timber trade, fishing.
BK Geog99
#
"Bahr, Hermann",2891,0,0,0
DT 1863-1934
EN Austrian playwright and critic. A leading light within the Jung Wien (Young Vienna) group of writers, he introduced \Jnaturalism\j and other avant-garde literary movements to his Viennese readers. He was also a prolific playwright, but only his comedy The Concert (1909) has proved to be durable. In 1918 he was briefly part of a directorial \Jtriumvirate\j at the Burgtheater.
BK Thea
#
"Bahrain",2892,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 555 000; area 678 sq km/262 sq mi. Group of 35 islands comprising an independent state in the Persian Gulf midway between the \JQatar\j Peninsula and mainland Saudi \JArabia\j; Saudi--\JBahrain\j causeway (25 km/16 mi); capital, \JManama\j; other city, al-Muharraq; timezone GMT +3; major ethnic groups, Arab (73%), Iranian (9%), with Pakistani and Indian minorities; religion, \JIslam\j (c.65% Shia); official language, Arabic; currency, \JBahrain\j dinar; island of \JBahrain\j c.48 km/30 mi long, 13--16 km/8--10 mi wide, area 562 sq km/217 sq mi, highest point Jabal Dukhan (135 m/443 ft); largely bare and infertile, though many major drainage schemes begun since 1973; cool N/NE winds with a little rain (Dec--Mar), average 35 mm/1.4 in, \Jtemperature\j 19░C (Jan); summer average \Jtemperature\j of 36░C and a \Jhumidity\j of 97% (Sep), dominated by either a moist NE wind (the \IShamal\i) or the hot, sand-bearing \IQaws\ifrom the S; a flourishing centre of trade, 2000--1800BC;since the late 18th-c, governed by the Khalifa family; treaty of protection with the UK in 1861; independence in 1971; experimental parliamentary system established (1973--5); now a constitutional monarchy governed by the amir, who appoints a Council of Ministers headed by a prime minister; oil (on land and offshore), \Jnatural gas\j, lime, \Jgypsum\j; oil refining, \Jaluminium\j smelting, ship repairing; a major centre for oil trading, banking, and commerce.
BK Geog99
#
"Baierl, Helmut",2893,0,0,0
DT 1927-
EN German playwright. Born in \JCzechoslovakia\j, from 1957 Baierl was dramaturge for the Deutsches Theater, transferring to the Berliner Ensemble in 1959. His first play, The Finding (1958), used Brechtian techniques to deal with peasant re-education. His reworking of Brecht's Mother Courage in the contemporary GDR context, Frau Flinz (1961), was staged with Helene Weigel in the title role.
BK Thea
#
"Ba∩f, Jean Antoine de",2894,0,0,0
PN [bah\Beef\b]
DT1 1532
DT2 89
EN French poet, born in \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j. He was a member of the \IPlΘiade,\i author of \ILes amours de MΘline\i (1552), and other works. He attempted to introduce blank verse into French poetry, and experimented with combinations of poetry and music.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Baiji",2895,0,0,0
EN \B\BFamily:\b Pontoporiidae\b \I(Chinese River dolphin, Franciscana)\i\b
\BScientific Name: \ILipotes vexillifer\i\b (other common names: Yangtze or Chinese River dolphin)\b
\BIdentification:\b
Length at birth believed to be less than 3 ft (0.95 m), maximum adult length and body weight are 7.5 ft (2.3 m) and 297.5 lbs (135 kg) in males, and 8.5 ft (2.6 m) and more than 529 lbs (240 kg) in females. Body is moderately robust. There is a long beak, from the base of which the forehead rises steeply to the rounded melon. The beak is slightly upturned. Dorsal fin is low and triangular and about two-thirds of the distance from the snout to the flukes.
Flippers are broad and rounded. Body coloration is predominantly pale to dark bluish gray dorsally, light gray to white ventrally. The sides of the face and of the tail stock are pale. The most commonly seen group size is 2 to 6, although aggregations of up to 13 have been described.
Such sightings are very rare nowadays, as the numbers of this species have become so dangerously low. Generally shy of boats, usually expose only the top of the head, dorsal fin and a small part of the back when they surface. Food includes a wide variety of small fish.
\BDistribution:\b
Confined to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China, although its range was formerly more extensive.
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#
"Baikal or Baykal, Lake",2896,0,0,0
PN [biy\Bkal\b]
EN area 31┐500┐km\U2\u / 12┐160┐mi\U2\u. Crescent-shaped lake in S \JSiberia\j, \JRussia\j; largest freshwater lake in Eurasia, and deepest in the world; length (SW-NE) 636┐km / 395┐mi; width 24-80┐km / 15-50┐mi; maximum depth 1620┐m / 5315┐ft; in a deep tectonic basin, fed by over 300 rivers and streams; only outlet, the River Angara; contains 22 islands, the largest being Ostrov Ol'khon (length 51┐km / 32┐mi); hot springs on the shores; earthquakes frequent; freezes over (Jan-Apr); Trans-Siberian railway passes the S shore; measures to control serious \Jpollution\j introduced since 1971.
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"Baikie, William Balfour",2897,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\bkee]
DT1 1825
DT2 64
EN Explorer, naturalist, and linguist, born in \JKirkwall\j, Orkney Is, north-east Scotland, UK. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, and in 1848 became a naval surgeon. On the \JNiger\j expedition of 1854, he succeeded through the captain's death to the command of the \IPleiad,\i and penetrated 400┐km / 250┐mi farther than any previous traveller.
On a second expedition in 1857 he founded a settlement at Lukoja. Within five years he had opened the navigation of the \JNiger\j, translated parts of the \JBible\j and prayer book into \JHausa\j, and founded a city state.
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"Baikonur or Baykonyr Cosmodrome",2898,0,0,0
PN [biyko\Bnoor\b]
EN A Russian space centre constructed in the 1950s in Karaganda oblast, \JKazakhstan\j. It was from here that the first artificial \Jsatellite\j and manned space flight were launched. \JRussia\j is to lease part of this complex for 20 years, and a new Cosmodrome is planned for Svobodnyy in the far East.
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"bail",2899,0,0,0
EN The freeing from custody of a person charged with a crime and awaiting trial. There are often conditions imposed to secure the person's attendance at a court on a future date, and, in certain circumstances, other matters (such as the non-interference with witnesses). Frequently the security involves a sum of money pledged by the person or a guarantor (a \Isurety)\i with the police or a court.
This money is liable to be forfeited in the event of the accused person's non-appearance. There are several differences in the operation of the bail procedure between legal systems; for example, in Scotland bail may be granted only on conditions which do not (except in special circumstances) include a pledge or a deposit of money. Breach of any such conditions is itself an offence.
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"Bailey bridge",2900,0,0,0
EN A prefabricated bridge used by combat engineers, which can be rapidly constructed on the battlefield. The system was devised by British engineer Sir Donald Bailey (1901-85) during World War 2, and consists of a basic diamond braced unit of welded steel, 3╫1.5┐m / 10╫5┐ft square, which can be easily manipulated by a squad of six men and joined together to make complex bridging structures.
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"Bailey, Anna (b. Warner) 'Mother Bailey'",2901,0,0,0
DT (1758-1851)
EN heroine; born in Groton, Conn. She figured prominently in heroic situations during the \JAmerican Revolution\j and the \JWar of 1812\j. In 1781, she brought her aunt and cousins to where her uncle lay dying during the battle of Groton Heights (an incident that became a well-known story). She married the local postmaster, Elijah Bailey. In 1813 she gave her flannel petticoat to be used as cartridge wadding, as the town of Groton defended itself against British cannon fire. This episode was celebrated in story and song.
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"Bailey, Charles P. (Philamore)",2902,0,0,0
DT (1911-93)
EN surgeon; born in Wanamassa, N.J. He took his B.A. at Rutgers, his M.D. from Hahnemann Medical College (Philadelphia) (1932) and went on to earn M.S. and D.Sc. degrees at the University of \JPennsylvania\j. He was chief of thoracic surgery at Hahnemann University \JHospital\j during the 1940s and 1950s; director of cardiovascular surgery at the Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills, N.J. (1956-61); professor and director of general surgery at the New York Medical College and Flower-Fifth Avenue Hospitals (1959-62); and held numerous other administrative, surgical, and teaching posts.
During the 1940s he pioneered in surgical procedures, techniques, and instruments that made possible direct surgery on the human heart. Admired as an innovative and intrepid surgeon, he was also known for his often volatile temperament and uncompromising ways. In the late 1960s he began studying law in the evenings at Fordham Law School (New York City); after he took his law degree he stopped doing surgery in the mid-1970s and became a consultant to law firms and insurance.
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"Bailey, David (Royston)",2903,0,0,0
DT1 1938
EN Photographer, born in London, England, UK. Originally specializing in fashion photography as a freelance from 1959, his creative approach soon extended to portraits expressing the spirit of the 1960s and to some outstanding studies of the nude. He writes extensively on all aspects of his craft and has been a director of televison commercials and documentaries since the 1970s. His publications include \INudes 1981--84\i (1984) and \IThe Lady is a Tramp\i (1995).
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"Bailey, Francis Lee",2904,0,0,0
DT1 1933
EN US criminal lawyer. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he founded a detective agency there to conduct his own case research. As a defence attorney, he defended the \JBoston\j Strangler, Albert Desalvo, and the kidnapped heiress, Patty Hearst, convicted of bank robbery with her left-wing terrorist abductors.
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"Bailey, Frederick",2905,0,0,0
EN See Douglass, Frederick
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"Bailey, Gamaliel",2906,0,0,0
DT (1807-59)
EN physician, journalist, abolitionist; born in Mount Holly, N.J. In his early years he worked as a physician, but his true calling was abolitionism. He and James G. Birney edited the \ICincinnati Philanthropist\i (1836) - the first anti-\Jslavery\j organ in the West. He later founded a daily, the \IHerald\i (1843). He moved to Washington, D.C., to serve as editor-in-chief of the \INational Era\i (1847-59), the periodical of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. Tolerant and cool-headed, he stood up to mobs to defend his abolitionist publications, exerting a wide moral and political influence for the anti-\Jslavery\j movement.
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"Bailey, Irving W. (Widmer)",2907,0,0,0
DT (1884-1967)
EN botanist; born in Tilton, N.H. (son of astronomer and archeaologist Solon Bailey). He taught and performed research at Harvard (1903-55), beginning his career in \Jforestry\j in 1909. In 1920 he traveled to British Guiana to study "ant plants," tropical trees whose cavities are home to certain species of ants. This experience in the rain forest engendered his research on tree anatomy and \Jphysiology\j relative to training forest managers in understanding and conserving their resources.
During his most productive years (1920s-1930s), he traveled throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe to become a recognized authority on forest climatology and \Jecology\j; his laboratory research at the Carnegie Laboratory at Stanford University (summers, 1930-40) produced major contributions to studies of the microscopy of the cambium, the layer of cells responsible for the secondary growth in woody plants.
His suggestions in the "Bailey Report" (1945) for the reorganization of Harvard's botanical museum were instituted in 1935-54 and established his reputation in administration as well as research. After retirement in 1955, he investigated the \Jevolution\j of flowering plants, especially the cacti and the \Jbuttercup\j/\Jmagnolia\j family.
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"Bailey, James (Anthony)",2908,0,0,0
DT (1847-1906)
EN showman; born in \JDetroit\j, Mich. Proprietor of Cooper & Bailey (1872-81), he took that circus on a world tour, then combined forces with chief rival P. T. Barnum to form Barnum and Bailey's circus (1881-1906).
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"Bailey, Joseph Weldon",2909,0,0,0
DT (1863-1929).
EN U.S. representative/senator; born near Crystal Springs, Miss. Elected to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Dem., Tex.; 1891-1901) and to the U.S. Senate (1901-13), he successfully weathered accusations of wrongdoing in an oil company scandal that arose from his work on behalf of the Hepburn Rate Bill of 1906.
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"Bailey, Liberty Hyde",2910,0,0,0
DT (1858-1954)
EN botanist, horticulturist; born in South Haven, Mich. He assisted Asa Gray at Harvard (1882-83), became an authority on the hybridization of apples, squashes, and grasses at \JMichigan\j Agricultural College (1885-88), then taught at Cornell (1888-1913), where he developed \Jhorticulture\j into a science, and published the four-volume \ICyclopedia of American Agriculture\i (1907-09), and the six-volume \ICyclopedia of Horticulture\i (1917).
He continued research on hybridization, and performed the first experiments in growing plants under continuous electric illumination. He was a dedicated teacher of both college students and New York farmers, and was considered both a naturalist and a rural sociologist. After his retirement from teaching (1913), he devoted his life to world travel, studying and collecting new plant species, and making major contributions to taxonomic research.
He coined the term "\Jcultivar\j" during the 1920s for a plant variant that originates under cultivation. He donated his specimen collection to the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium at Cornell, which he founded in 1935 and directed until 1952. A social philosopher who felt that knowledge of plants was one of the greatest hopes for humanity, Bailey wrote over 65 books and published hundreds of scientific papers.
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"Bailey, Mildred (b. Rinker)",2911,0,0,0
DT (1907-51)
EN jazz musician; born in Tekoa, Wash. A prototypical jazz singer, she was featured with Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, and Red Norvo, and recorded with numerous all-star groups between 1929-48.
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"Bailey, Nathan or Nathaniel",2912,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2 1742
EN English lexicographer. He was the compiler of \IAn Universal Etymological English Dictionary\i (1721, supplement 1727), used by Dr Johnson as the basis of his own dictionary. All that is known about Bailey is that he was a Seventh-\Jday\j Adventist, and kept a boarding-school in Stepney, London.
MEX Johnson, Samuel
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"Bailey, Pearl",2913,0,0,0
DT (1918-88)
EN vocalist, movie/stage actress; born in Newport News, Va. An irrepressible show business personality, she began as a dancer and won an amateur contest in Philadelphia in 1933, which led to work in touring shows. In 1938 she won a singing contest at Harlem's Apollo Theatre and was subsequently featured with big bands led by Noble Nissle, Edgar Hayes, Cab Calloway, and Cootie Williams, with whom she recorded in 1945.
In 1946, she starred in the Broadway musical \ISt. Louis Woman.\i In 1952, she married the drummer-bandleader Louis Bellson, whom she performed with thereafter. Beginning with \ICarmen Jones\i in 1954, she appeared in numerous films, \Jtelevision\j, and stage shows, including \IHello, Dolly!\i in 1967-69. She hosted her own \Jtelevision\j variety show in 1970-71. Her \Jautobiography\j, \IThe Raw Pearl,\i was published in 1968.
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"Bailey, Sir Donald (Coleman)",2914,0,0,0
DT1 1901
DT2 85
EN Engineer, born in \JRotherham\j, South Yorkshire, N England, UK. He studied at Sheffield, and joined the Ministry of Supply. During World War 2 he designed the prefabricated, mobile, rapidly-erected \IBailey bridge.\i He was knighted in 1946.
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"Bailey, Stephen (Kemp)",2915,0,0,0
DT (1916-82)
EN educator, foundation official; born in Newton, Mass. A Harvard Ph.D., professor, and academic administrator, he specialized in public administration and frequently advised the government on public policy. His many published works on government and administration include \ICongress Makes a Law\i (1950) and \IThe Purposes of Education\i (1976).
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"Bailey, Trevor",2916,0,0,0
DT1 1923
EN Cricketer, writer, and sports broadcaster, born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, SE England, UK. An all-rounder, he played in 61 Test matches, where his adhesive batting earned him his nickname. He made over 2200 runs in Test cricket, and took 132 Test wickets. He played for Essex for 20 years. On retirement he established a reputation as a radio commentator.
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"bailiff",2917,0,0,0
EN An officer of the sheriff or the county court who is responsible for executing warrants, processes, and writs. He may also seize goods as a method of obtaining payment, such as for unpaid rent. The equivalent position in Scotland is that of the Sheriff officer whose duty is to serve, process, and execute writs and warrants of the Sheriff Court. Many Sheriff officers are also messengers-at-arms, which empowers them to carry out the same duties for the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary.
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"Baillie (of Jerviswood), Robert",2918,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\blee]
DT1 1634
DT2 84
EN Presbyterian conspirator, a native of Lanarkshire, C Scotland, UK, who joined Monmouth's supporters in London. On the discovery of the alleged Rye House Plot (1683) to murder Charles II of England and James, Duke of York, he was arrested and sent to Scotland. He was tried at Edinburgh, condemned to death on flimsy evidence, and hanged.
MEX Monmouth
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"Baillie, Dame Isobel",2919,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\blee]
DT1 1895
DT2 1983
EN Soprano, born in Hawick, Scottish Borders, south-east Scotland, UK. She worked as an assistant in a music shop, then as a clerk in Manchester Town Hall, and made her debut with the HallΘ Orchestra in 1921. After studies in Milan, she won immediate success in her opening season in London in 1923. Regarded as one of this century's greatest \Joratorio\j singers, she gave over 1000 performances of the \IMessiah.\i
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"Baillie, John",2920,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\blee]
DT1 1886
DT2 1960
EN Theologian, born in Gairloch, Highland, N Scotland, UK. He studied at \JInverness\j Academy and Edinburgh, and trained for the ministry at New College, Edinburgh, \JMarburg\j, and Jena. After World War 1 he went to the USA, where he taught at Auburn Theological Seminary (1920-7) and Union Seminary (1930-5), both in New York, before returning to Scotland. He was a key contributor to mid-century religious, social, and intellectual life in Scotland.
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"Baillie, Lady Grizel",2921,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\blee]
HS , \InΘe\i \BHume\b
DT1 1665
DT2 1746
EN Poet, born in Borders, Scotland, south-east Scotland, UK, the daughter of the Scottish Covenanter, \BSir Patrick Hume\b (1641-1724). In 1684 she supplied him with food during his concealment in the vault beneath Polwarth Church near Duns, Scottish Borders, and helped shelter the Covenanting scholar, Robert Baillie of Jerviswood, whose son she married in 1692. She is remembered for her songs.
MEX Baillie, Robert
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"Baillie, Matthew",2922,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\blee]
DT1 1761
DT2 1823
EN Physician and anatomist, born in Shotts, North Lanarkshire, C Scotland, UK. After seven years at Glasgow and Oxford (1773-80), he studied anatomy under his uncle William Hunter, and in 1783 took over Hunter's anatomy school in London. He was the author of the first treatise in English on morbid anatomy (1793).
MEX Hunter, William
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"Baillieu, William Lawrence",2923,0,0,0
PN [\Bbayl\byoo]
DT1 1859
DT2 1936
EN Businessman, born in Queenscliff, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. He gained an interest in the London Bank of \JAustralia\j, and invested in lead and zinc extraction at Broken Hill, \JNew South Wales\j. A member of the Legislative Council of Victoria (1901-22), he was involved in most significant business developments of the period and was a founder of the Melbourne newspaper \IThe Herald.\i His son, \BClive Latham Baillieu\b (1889-1967), became 1st Baron Baillieu of Sefton in 1953.
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"Bailly, Jean Sylvain",2924,0,0,0
PN [bahyee]
DT1 1736
DT2 93
EN Astronomer and politician, born in Paris. He studied Halley's \Jcomet\j and the satellites of Jupiter, later writing his great \IHistoire de l'astronomie\i (1775-87). As president of the National Assembly and Mayor of Paris during the Revolution in 1789, he conducted himself with great integrity, but lost his popularity by allowing the National Guard to fire on anti-royalist crowds. He withdrew from public affairs but was guillotined.
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"Baily, Edward Hodges",2925,0,0,0
DT1 1788
DT2 1867
EN Sculptor, born in \JBristol\j, south-west England, UK. He executed many of the well-known London statues, including that of Lord Nelson in Trafalgar Square.
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"Baily, Francis",2926,0,0,0
DT (1774-1844)
EN British astronomer: discovered Baily's beads.
Baily was a stockbroker and amateur astronomer. He observed the phenomenon known as Baily's beads seen during total solar eclipses where, for a few seconds just before and after totality, brilliant beads of light are seen around the edge of the Moon. These are caused by the Moon's irregular surface allowing rays of sunlight to shine fleetingly down suitably aligned lunar valleys. Baily observed the effect during the solar eclipse of 1836.
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"Bain, Alexander",2927,0,0,0
PN [bayn]
DT1 1818
DT2 1903
EN Empirical philosopher and psychologist, born in \JAberdeen\j, Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland, UK. He became professor of logic at \JAberdeen\j University (1860-81), and founded the journal \IMind\i in 1876. His \Jpsychology\j was firmly based on \Jphysiology\j, and he sought to explain mind through a physical theory of the association of ideas.
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"Bainbridge, Beryl",2928,0,0,0
DT1 1934
EN British writer, born in Liverpool, \JMerseyside\j, NW England, UK. She began writing in the 1960s, and became known for her terse, black comedies, such as \IThe Dressmaker\i (1973, filmed 1979), \IFilthy Lucre\i (1986) and \IAn Awfully Big Adventure\i (1989, filmed 1995). Several novels tackle historical subjects, notably \IYoung Adolf\i (1978), \IWatson's Apology\i (1984), and \IThe Birthday Boys\i (1991).
She has also written several plays, both for theatre and \Jtelevision\j. Later works include collections of her journalistic essays (1993) and stories (1994), and the novel \IEvery Man for Himself\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1967 A Weekend with Claud
1968 Another Part of the Wood
1972 Harriet Said...
1973 The Dressmaker (filmed 1989)
1974 The Bottle Factory Outing
1975 Sweet William (filmed 1980)
1976 A Quiet Life
1977 Injury Time
1978 Young Adolf
1980 Winter Garden
1984 Watson's Apology
1985 Mum and Mr Armitage
1986 Filthy Lucre
1989 An Awfully Big Adventure (staged 1992, filmed 1995)
1991 The Birthday Boys
1996 Every Man For Himself
1998 Master Georgie
\IPlays\i
1976 Tiptoe Through the Tulips
1977 The Warrior's Return
1977 It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow
1981 Journal of Bridget Hitler
1981 Somewhere More Central (TV)
1986 Evensong (TV)
\IEssays\i
1993 Something Happened Yesterday
\ITelevision\i
1984 English Journey (series)
1986 Forever England (series)
\IEssays\i
1993 Something Happened Yesterday
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"Bainbridge, William",2929,0,0,0
DT (1774-1833)
EN naval officer; born in Princeton, N.J. He became a captain (1800) after serving in the undeclared naval war with \JFrance\j (1798-1800). In 1803 his ship, the USS \IPhiladelphia\i ran aground and was captured by the Tripolitans; he suggested the raid that later burned the ship.
Following his release in 1805 he became the commandant of the Charlestown, Mass., navy yard, and as captain of the USS \IConstitution\i he won a notable victory over the British \IJava\i (1812). He organized the first school for U.S. naval officers in 1817.
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"Bainton, Edgar Leslie",2930,0,0,0
DT1 1880
DT2 1956
EN Composer, teacher, and conductor, born in London, England, UK. He studied at the Royal College of Music, London, before being appointed professor, and later principal, of the \JConservatory\j of Music, Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1938 he was appointed director of the \JConservatory\j in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, and from that time played a key role in the music life of his adopted city, conducting the State Symphony Orchestra and later the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. A prolific composer, he wrote three operas, chamber music, song settings, and \Jpiano\j pieces.
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"Bainton, Roland",2931,0,0,0
DT1 1894
DT2 1984
EN Congregational minister and Reformation scholar, born in Ilkeston, \JDerbyshire\j, C England, UK. Taken to Canada by his father in 1898, he was educated at Whitman College and Yale University. He taught Church history at Yale Divinity School (1920-62), and became a leading scholar of the Protestant Reformation in America.
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"Baird's Beaked Whale",2932,0,0,0
EN \B\BFamily:\b Ziphiidae\b \I(beaked whales)\i\b
\BScientific Name: \IBerardius bairdi\i\b
\BIdentification:\b
The largest whale in this family, adult males can reach lengths of 39 ft (11.9 m) and females 42 ft (12.8 m). Maximum weight is approximately 26,455 lbs (12,000 kg). Length at birth is about 15 ft (4.5 m). Long tube-like beak and prominent, rounded forehead. Dorsal fin small and triangular, and rounded at the tip, situated about two-thirds of the distance from rostrum to flukes. There is a V-shaped pair of grooves on the throat. Color is dark brownish gray, usually there are numerous scratches or splotches on the back and sides.
The lower jaw bears two pairs of teeth near the tip, the anterior pair protruding and being visible even when the mouth is closed. The blow is conspicuous, but low and rounded. Animals at the surface often blow several times in rapid succession. Groups are often seen in tight formation, drifting along at the surface. Group size is usually 5 to 20 individuals, although groups of up to 50 are seen occasionally. They are deep divers, and feed mainly on deep \Jwater\j and benthic fish, cephalopods, and crustaceans.
\BDistribution\b
Occur in deep - more than 3,281 ft (1,000 m) - offshore waters of the North Pacific, near the continental slope and oceanic seamounts, from the Pribilof Islands and \JAlaska\j, south to southern Californian waters in the east, and from Kamchatka and the Sea of Okhotsk to southeastern \JJapan\j in the west.
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"Baird, John Logie",2933,0,0,0
DT (1888-1946)
EN British electrical engineer: \Jtelevision\j pioneer.
Son of a Presbyterian minister, Baird was educated in Glasgow, almost completing a course in electrical \Jengineering\j. His poor health made a career difficult and several ventures failed, including making and selling foods, boot-polish and soap. After a serious illness in 1922 he devoted himself to experimentation and developed a crude TV apparatus, able to transmit a picture and receive it over a range of a few feet. The first real demonstration was within two attic rooms in Soho in early 1926.
In the following year he transmitted pictures by \Jtelephone\j line from London to Glasgow and in 1928 from London to New York. In 1929 his company gave the first BBC TV transmissions, soon achieving daily half-hour programmes with synchronized sound and vision. He used a mechanical scanning system, with 240 lines by 1936, but then the BBC opted to use the Marconi-EMI electronic scanning system, with 405 lines.
Baird also pioneered colour, stereoscopic and big screen TV, and ultra-short-wave transmission. \JTelevision\j has no single inventor, but to Baird is due its first commercial success, although his methods have largely been replaced.
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"Baird, Spencer Fullerton",2934,0,0,0
DT (1823-87)
EN zoologist, naturalist; born in Reading, Pa. A protΘgΘ of John J. Audubon while a student at Dickinson College in \JPennsylvania\j, he attended medical school before turning to natural history. In 1850 he became assistant secretary (later secretary, 1878-87) of the Smithsonian Institution, where he directed the research and collections program while concurrently publishing a series of monographs, including \IMammals of North America\i (1859) and, with two collaborators, \IHistory of North American Birds\i (1875-84). The first U.S. commissioner of fish and fisheries, he founded the marine biological laboratory at Woods Hole, Mass.
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"Baire, RenΘ",2935,0,0,0
EN See Lebesque, Henri Leon
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"Bairnsfather, (Charles) Bruce",2936,0,0,0
DT1 1888
DT2 1959
EN Cartoonist, born in Murree, India. He served in \JFrance\j during World War 1, and became famous for his war cartoons featuring the character 'Old Bill'. During World War 2, he was an official war cartoonist attached to the US army in Europe.
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"Baisakhi",2937,0,0,0
PN [biy\Bsah\bki]
EN A Sikh festival (generally celebrated on 13 Apr) commemorating the founding in 1699 of the Khalsa order of baptized Sikhs by the tenth guru of \JSikhism\j, Guru Gobind Singh.
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"baiting",2938,0,0,0
EN Popular entertainment. Now officially obsolete, baiting was notable for its cruelty. In the Roman games, specialized \Jgladiators\j, the venationes and bestiarii, were set to kill exotic beasts. In the \JMiddle Ages\j, the baiting of bulls was required by law as a hygienic measure prior to their slaughter by butchers, and survived in English towns like Tutbury and Stamford as 'bull-running'.
Bear-baiting began in England as an exclusively aristocratic pastime until the 15th century. By Shakespeare's \Jday\j public animal contests were licensed, and the Bear Garden in London was permitted to play on Sunday. It was later rebuilt as a three-storey amphitheatre, managed by Henslowe of the Rose. \JElizabeth I\j was a great enthusiast; her Treasury paid for the provisioning of the baiting animals. Edward Alleyn was made Royal Keeper of Bulls and Mastiffs in 1604, a source of considerable profit.
Three bear gardens existed in Restoration London, and one persisted in Birmingham until 1773. Parliament finally forbade the practice in 1835, but it was carried on in private for at least another 50 years.
Among other cities, baiting was also carried on in Dresden, K÷nigsberg, Berlin, Moscow (till 1867) and Vienna, where a new establishment was designed in 1735 by Antonio Galli da Bibiena and Antonio Caradini. As late as 1828, John Orlando Parry saw dogs in Paris gored and tossed by savage bulls, and a bull chained to a stake fighting an elkhound. More recently, deer- baiting has been observed at Midwestern American county fairs.
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"Baja California",2939,0,0,0
PN [\Bba\bha]
EN A long peninsula in NW Mexico, bounded E by the Gulf of \JCalifornia\j, S and W by the \JPacific Ocean\j, and N by the USA; length 1220 km/760 mi; area c.144 000 sq km/55 000 sq mi; divided into the states of Baja \JCalifornia\j Norte (pop (1995e) 1 843 000) and Baja \JCalifornia\j Sur (pop (1995e) 353 000); San Pedro Mßrtir Mts rise to 3095 m/10 154 ft; \JColorado\j R flows into the N of the Gulf; geographical isolation much eased by highway completed in 1970s down the whole peninsula; chief towns, Mexicali, Ensenada, La Paz; cotton, wheat, grapes, olives, sugar, \Jcattle\j, food processing, fish packing, copper, tourism.
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"Bajazet",2940,0,0,0
EN See Bayezit I
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"Baker, (Hobart A. H.) Hobey",2941,0,0,0
DT (1892-1918)
EN \Jhockey\j/football player; born in Bala-Cynwyd, Pa. He was a football and \Jhockey\j legend at Princeton University (1911-14). A \Jhockey\j pioneer in the United States, the college \Jhockey\j Player of the Year award is named in his honor. He was killed in an airplane crash in World War I.
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"Baker, Benjamin (A.)",2942,0,0,0
DT 1818-90
EN American playwright. He deserted his prompter's post at William Mitchell's Olympic Theatre, and for Mitchell's benefit night wrote A Glance at New York in 1848, starring Frank Chanfrau as Mose. Encouraged by a run of 74 performances, Baker created more adventures for Mose: New York as It Is (1848), Mose in \JCalifornia\j (1849) and Mose in China (1850).
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"Baker, Chet",2943,0,0,0
HS , popular name of \BChesney H Baker\b
DT1 1929
DT2 88
EN Jazz trumpeter and singer, born in Yale, OK. He played in US army bands (1946-52), then joined the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, and his brilliant interplay with Mulligan brought critical and popular success. As a leader, his signature tune became 'My Funny Valentine', which epitomized his image as a lonely, searching wanderer. His boyish good looks led to minor movie roles in the 1950s, but his erratic personal life made him a perpetual outsider.
A full-length documentary film, \ILet's Get Lost\i (1987), shadowed him on his incessant round of European jazz clubs, with juxtaposed clips of his bright-eyed youth. He died in \JAmsterdam\j, purportedly by leaping from his hotel window, but suspicions remain that he was pushed.
SX m
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"Baker, Dame Janet (Abbott)",2944,0,0,0
DT1 1933
EN Mezzo-soprano, born in \JHatfield\j, South Yorkshire, N England, UK. She studied music in London in 1953, making her debut in 1956 at Glyndebourne. She has enjoyed an extensive operatic career, especially in early Italian opera and the works of Benjamin Britten. As a concert performer, she is noted for her interpretations of Mahler and Elgar. She became a Companion of Honour in 1994.
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"Baker, Edward Dickinson",2945,0,0,0
DT (1811-61)
EN U.S. representative/senator, soldier; born in London, England. Brought to the U.S.A. as a child, he became a lawyer and practiced in Springfield, Ill., where he became a friend of Abraham Lincoln. After defeating Lincoln in a Whig party primary for the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j, he took the seat in 1845 but resigned in 1846 to volunteer for service in the Mexican War.
Lincoln (who would name his second son after Baker) took the seat (1847-49) but Dickinson regained it (1849-51) - in part because of Lincoln's opposition to the war. Baker moved out to the West Coast where he practiced law in \JSan Francisco\j and represented Oregon as a Republican in the U.S. Senate (1860-61), resigning to serve as a colonel with a \JCalifornia\j volunteer unit. He was killed on October 21 at Ball's Bluff, Va.
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"Baker, Ella Josephine",2946,0,0,0
DT (1903-86)
EN \Jcivil rights\j activist; born in Norfolk, Va. After graduating from Shaw University in Raleigh, Va. (1927), Baker moved to New York City where she immediately became involved in work to better the conditions in Harlem, joining the Young Negroes Cooperative League and becoming its national director in 1931.
In the 1930s she worked for the Workers Education Project of the Works Progress Administration and added a concern with women's rights to her commitment to equal rights for African-Americans. She worked for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (1940-46) but was disillusioned by its slow pace. She took an active role in the formative stage of such groups as the Southern Christian Leadership Congress (1948) and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (1960).
She was also active in founding the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (1964) and was widely credited with inspiring many of the founders of the Students for a Democratic Society and the Black \JPanther\j Party. Although not as well known as some of the other leaders of the \Jcivil rights\j movement, she was highly respected by those inside the movement.
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"Baker, George (known as Father Divine)",2947,0,0,0
DT (?1877-1965)
EN \Jevangelist\j; born near Savannah, Ga. He began preaching to poor blacks in the rural South, migrated northward, and eventually established himself in New York City, where he launched the Peace Mission movement in 1919. Calling himself Father Divine, he established a large following among African-Americans in New York and Philadelphia.
He preached communal living and racial equality, and prohibited \Jtobacco\j, liquor, and cosmetics. Although more than 170 Peace Mission settlements were established, the movement did not long survive the death of its founder.
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"Baker, George F. (Fisher)",2948,0,0,0
DT (1840-1931)
EN banker, philanthropist; born in Dorchester, Mass. He began as a clerk in the state banking department in Albany, N.Y. (1856) and in 1863 he helped found the First National Bank of New York, rising to second president by 1877. In 1908 he established First Security Corporation to buy and sell stocks, bonds, and notes. From 1909-31 he chaired the bank's board and was on the board of directors of 87 corporations. He gave away over $19 million of his personal fortune, including $6 million to the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.
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"Baker, George Pierce",2949,0,0,0
DT (1866-1935)
EN teacher, director; born in Providence, R.I. A professor of drama at Harvard, his course in playwriting led to the formation of the influential 47 Workshop. Eugene O'Neill was among his students.
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"Baker, James A(ddison), III",2950,0,0,0
DT1 1930
EN US \Jsecretary of state\j (1989--92), born in Houston, \JTexas\j, USA. He studied at Princeton and the University of \JTexas\j Law School, saw service in the US Marines, and became a successful corporate lawyer. He was appointed under-secretary of commerce (1975--6) in the Gerald Ford administration, and managed Ford's 1976 presidential and George Bush's 1979 Republican Party nomination campaigns.
President Reagan appointed him \JWhite House\j chief-of-staff in 1981 and treasury secretary in 1985. After directing Bush's victorious presidential campaign in 1988, he became \Jsecretary of state\j in 1989, and in 1992 returned to the \JWhite House\j as chief-of-staff, to run Bush's re-election campaign.
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"Baker, Josephine",2951,0,0,0
DT (1906-75)
EN dancer, entertainer; born in St. Louis, Mo. An amateur singer and dancer by age eight, she ran off at age 13 to tour with a \Jvaudeville\j show. In 1921 she made her Broadway debut in \IShuffle Along\i and also began to sing in Harlem's Plantation Club. In 1925 she went to Paris with a show called \ILa Revue NΦgre,\i but the show failed and she and many cast members were stranded there. She was hired to appear in an all-black act at the Folies BergΦre and became an instant success with her scanty costume, lively dancing, scat singing, and uninhibited cavorting.
As the epitome of "\Ile jazz hot,\i " "Josephine" would remain the toast of \JFrance\j for five decades and also gain an international status that reached her homeland largely as a reputation; she would never accept the second-class status assigned to most blacks in America, so she long boycotted the U.S.A., becoming a French citizen in 1937. Her appearances on stage and in public were distinguished by her exotic costumes and outrageous behavior.
During World War II she cooperated with the French Resistance movement by providing intelligence she was able to pick up through her privileged travels abroad. After the war she took up the cause of world brotherhood, adopting 12 children of various races and religions and raising them at her estate in \JFrance\j. In 1951, while touring in the States, she was refused service in the Stork Club and this led to false charges by columnist Walter Winchell that she was a communist and had consorted with Nazis during World War II.
In the 1950s she took up the cause of racial equality in America, forcing the \Jintegration\j of several theaters and night clubs, and she was among those who addressed the crowds before the Lincoln Memorial at the 1963 March on Washington. Her plans for a "world village" at her estate, meanwhile, collapsed under financial debt and in order to raise money she made a comeback in 1973-75.
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"Baker, Kenneth (Wilfred)",2952,0,0,0
DT1 1934
EN British statesman. He studied at Oxford, and in 1960 entered local politics as a Conservative councillor in Twickenham. In 1968 he was elected an MP, representing Acton and later Mole Valley. After holding junior posts (1970--4) he became parliamentary private secretary to Edward Heath when he was Leader of the Opposition.
In the Margaret Thatcher administration he rose from minister of state in the Department of Trade to become \Jsecretary of state\j for the environment (1985--6) and for education (1986--9), responsible for introducing a controversial education reform bill: in-service training days for teachers then came to be known as \IBaker days\i. He was later appointed chairman of the Conservative Party (1989--90) and home secretary (1990--2). He was made a Companion of Honour in 1992.
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"Baker, Newton (Diehl)",2953,0,0,0
DT (1871-1937)
EN public official, lawyer; born in Martinsburg, W.Va. Educated at Washington and Lee Law School, he served as city solicitor and progressive mayor (1912-15) of Cleveland, Ohio, and was later appointed secretary of war under President Wilson (1916-21). Accused of \Jpacifism\j, he nevertheless prosecuted America's war effort with vigor and expertise. He supported the \JLeague of Nations\j and was appointed to the Permanent Court of International Justice (1928).
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"Baker, Norma Jean",2954,0,0,0
EN See Monroe, Marilyn
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"Baker, Oliver (Edwin)",2955,0,0,0
DT (1883-1949)
EN geographer; born in Tiffin, Ohio. Much of his career was spent with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (1912-42). In 1942 he began the department of \Jgeography\j at the University of Maryland. He was the authority on agricultural land utilization in \JNorth America\j; he also had a keen interest in China. He is especially noted for the \IAtlas of World Agriculture\i (1917), which he coauthored with V. C. Finch.
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"Baker, Ray Stannard",2956,0,0,0
DT (1870-1946)
EN journalist, writer; born in Lansing, Mich. A \JChicago\j journalist, he became a leading muckraking crusader for \IMcClure's Magazine\i (1898-1906) and \IAmerican Magazine\i (1906-15). He made his home in Amherst, Mass., after 1910. While with the \IAmerican Magazine\i he began a series of essays under the pen name, "David Grayson"; the first collection, \IAdventures in Contentment\i (1907), was so popular that he continued publishing eight more volumes.
His \IFollowing the Color Line\i (1908) collected his pioneering articles on race relations. He became a supporter of Woodrow Wilson and accompanied him to the Versailles peace conference after World War I. His later work included an edition of Wilson's papers (16 vols. 1925-27) and a Pulitzer Prize-winning \Jbiography\j (8 vols. 1927-39).
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"Baker, Richard (Douglas James)",2957,0,0,0
DT1 1925
EN Broadcaster and author, born in London, England, UK. He studied in Cambridge, worked as an actor and teacher, and joined the BBC as an announcer in 1950. He became known as a \Jtelevision\j newsreader (1954--82), and as a commentator on major state occasions.
He also introduced the \Jtelevision\j productions of BBC Promenade Concerts (1960--95), and has presented many radio series, such as \IStart the Week with Richard Baker\i (1970--87). He was BBC radio personality of the year in 1984. His books include \IThe Magic of Music\i (1975), \ILondon, a theme with variations\i (1989), and \IRichard Baker's Companion to Music\i (1993).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPublications\i
1966 Here is the News (broadcasts)
1972 The Terror of Tobermory
1975 The Magic of Music
1977 Dry Ginger
1979 Richard Baker's Music Guide
1982 Mozart
1989 London, a theme with variations
1993 Richard Baker's Companion to Music
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"Baker, Sara Josephine",2958,0,0,0
DT (1873-1945)
EN physician, public health administrator; born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Her efforts led to greatly reduced levels of infant mortality in New York City before World War II and the creation of agencies to foster child health care. A \Jsuffragette\j, she lectured widely on public health (1916-31) and was the author of numerous books and articles.
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"Baker, Sir Benjamin",2959,0,0,0
DT1 1840
DT2 1907
EN Civil engineer, born in Keyford, Somerset, south-west England, UK. In 1861 he entered into a long association with John Fowler as consulting engineer. They together designed the London Metropolitan Railway, Victoria Station, and many bridges, including the Forth Rail Bridge (1883-90). Baker was also consulting engineer for the \JAswan\j Dam in \JEgypt\j (1902) and the \JHudson River\j Tunnel in New York (1888-91).
MEX Fowler, John
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"Baker, Sir Herbert",2960,0,0,0
DT1 1862
DT2 1946
EN Architect, born in Kent, south-east England, UK. He designed Groote Schuur, near Cape Town, for Cecil Rhodes, the Union government buildings at \JPretoria\j, and (with Edwin Lutyens) New Delhi in India. Other well-known buildings of his include the new \JBank of England\j and South Africa House in London.
MEX Lutyens
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"Baker, Sir Samuel (White)",2961,0,0,0
DT1 1821
DT2 93
EN Explorer, born in London, England, UK. In 1860 he undertook the exploration of the Nile sources, meeting Speke and Grant at Gondokoro in 1863. In 1864 Baker reached the inland sea into which the Nile flows, and named it Albert Nyanza (now Lake Mobutu Sese Seko). He was knighted in 1866.
MEX Grant, James Augustus; Speke
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"Baker, Snowy",2962,0,0,0
HS , popular name of \BReginald Leslie Baker\b
DT1 1884
DT2 1953
EN Athlete, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. A swimming champion at 13, two years later he played rugby union for his state. At the age of 18 he won the Australian middleweight and heavyweight boxing titles in one night. At Sydney University he gained blues for cricket, rugby, rowing, and \Jathletics\j. It was claimed that in his career he played at least 26 sports. He later moved to \JHollywood\j, where he starred in a number of movies, and taught horsemanship to film stars.
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"Bakewell, Joan (Dawson)",2963,0,0,0
DT1 1933
EN Broadcaster and writer, born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, NW England, UK. She studied at Cambridge, and became known for her regular contributions and series on BBC \Jtelevision\j, such as \ILate Night Line Up\i (1965--72), \IHoliday\i (1974--8), and \IHeart of the Matter\i (1988-- ). Her ITV work included four series of \IReports Action\i (1976--8), and she also did a great deal of radio broadcasting, such as \IPM\i (1979--81).
Television critic of \IThe Times\i (1976--81), she was a \ISunday Times\i columnist (1988--90), and writes regularly for magazines. Her books include \IA Fine and Private Place\i (1977, with John Drummond), \IThe Complete Traveller\i (1977), and \IThe Heart of the Heart of the Matter\i (1996). She won the Richard Dimbleby Award in 1994.
\BMajor Works\b
\IPublications\i
1970 The New Priesthood: British \Jtelevision\j today (with Nicholas Garnham)
1977 A Fine and Private Place (with John Drummond)
1977 The Complete Traveller
1996 The Heart of the Heart of the Matter
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"Bakewell, Robert",2964,0,0,0
DT1 1725
DT2 95
EN Agriculturist, born in Dishley, Leicestershire, C England, UK. By selection and inbreeding he improved the standard and methods of management of sheep, \Jcattle\j, and draught horses. He established the Leicester breed of sheep and Dishley breed of longhorn \Jcattle\j, and aroused a wide interest in breeding methods.
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"Bakhuizen",2965,0,0,0
EN See Backhuysen or Bakhuizen, Ludolf
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#
"baking powder",2966,0,0,0
EN A mixture of sodium \Jbicarbonate\j, tartaric acid, and \Jpotassium\j tartrate, used in baking. It is added to dough (a mixture of flour and \Jwater\j), and when heated, carbon dioxide is released, causing the dough to rise.
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"Bakst, LΘon",2967,0,0,0
DT 1866-1924
EN Russian painter and designer. He emigrated to Paris in 1909, having begun his stage career designing at the Hermitage, the Imperial private theatre. Bakst was a co-founder, with Alexandre Benois, of the World of Art Group and was the most significant designer of the first period of the Ballets Russes, where he worked with Diaghilev until 1914. Bakst's use of colour revolutionized all of Western design.
Drawing on ancient and eastern styles, he designed costumes and sets that suggested free-flowing movement, and chose deep, rich shades for the decor. He believed that colour had significant emotional effects upon the spectators. This is most evident in Scheherazade (1910), ClΘopΓtre, L'Oiseau de feu (The Firebird, 1910), Le Dieu bleu (1912), Thamar (1912), L'AprΦs-midi d'un faune (1912), \JDaphnis\j and Chloδ (1912), and La Belle au bois dormant (1921) with the Ballets Russes in London.
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"Baku",2968,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bkoo\b]
EN 40░22N 49░53E, pop (1995e) 1 140 000. Seaport capital of \JAzerbaijan\j; on the Apsheron Peninsula, on the W coast of the \JCaspian Sea\j; industrial, scientific, and cultural centre; airport; railway; university (1919); oil refining, metalworking, \Jpetrochemicals\j, tyres, solar research and development; oil pipeline to Batumi on the \JBlack Sea\j; Kiz-Kalasyi (Virgin's Tower, 12th-c), Shirvan Shah's Palace.
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"Bakunin, Mikhail Aleksandrovich",2969,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bkoo\bnin]
DT1 1814
DT2 76
EN Anarchist, born near Moscow. He took part in the German revolutionary movement (1848-9) and was condemned to death. Sent to \JSiberia\j in 1855, he escaped to \JJapan\j, and arrived in England in 1861. In September 1870 he attempted an abortive rising at Lyon. As leader of \Janarchism\j, he was the opponent of Karl Marx in the Communist International, and at the Hague Congress in 1872 was outvoted and expelled.
MEX Marx
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"Balaclava, Battle of",2970,0,0,0
DT1 1854
EN A battle fought between British and Russian forces during the early stages of the \JCrimean War\j. The Russian attack on the British base at Balaclava was unsuccessful, but the British sustained the heavier losses.
BK b
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"Balaenicipitidae",2971,0,0,0
EN \BShoebills\b
Sometimes referred to as the 'Shoe-billed Stork' or 'Whale-headed Stork', the Shoebill \IBalaeniceps rex\i is the sole member of the \JBalaenicipitidae\j, (order Ciconiiformes, suborder Ciconiae). Its affinities have long been disputed, and it has been variously placed in the suborder Ardeiae, in a suborder of its own, or even included in the \JCiconiidae\j (storks).
Though traditionally associated with storks, it shows many anomalous features: for example, it bears powder down feathers on the lower back (like herons but unlike storks), and in flight it carries its head drawn back, again like herons but unlike storks. Though it is here left in its traditional place, thorough analysis of skeletal characteristics some decades ago indicated a close relationship with the pelicans (family \JPelecanidae\j), a conclusion more recently confirmed and amplified by DNA studies.
The Shoebill stands about 120 cm tall. It has long dark legs with very long toes. The wings are large and broad, the tail short. The neck is rather short but the head is very large, with a shaggy crest and an enormous bulging, hook-tipped bill. Its plumage is mainly slate gray. Seasonal, sexual, or age differences in appearance are negligible. It is at least partly nocturnal, mainly solitary, and rather quiet, sluggish, and unobtrusive in general behavior. It flies strongly, and sometimes soars.
The Shoebill inhabits tropical East Africa, from eastern Zaire to northern \JUganda\j and southern \JSudan\j. It is a characteristic bird of the dense \Jpapyrus\j swamps along the White Nile. It is mainly sedentary.
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"Balaguer, Joaquφn (Vidella)",2972,0,0,0
PN [bala\Bgair\b]
DT1 1907
EN Dominican Republic president (1960--2, 1966--78, 1986--95), born in Villa \JBison\j≤, Dominican Republic. Professor of law at \JSanto Domingo\j University from 1938, he served in the dictatorial regime of Rafael Trujillo (president, 1930--60), after whose assassination he fled to the USA in 1962. He returned in 1965 to win the presidency as leader of the Christian Social Reform Party. He returned to power in 1986, at the age of 79.
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"Balakirev, Mili Alekseyevich",2973,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bla\bkiryef]
DT1 1837
DT2 1910
EN Composer, born in Nizhni \JNovgorod\j, \JRussia\j. He turned to composing after an early career as a concert pianist, and became the leader of the national Russian school of music. He founded the Petersburg Free School of Music (1862), and was director of the Imperial Capella (1883). His compositions include two symphonies, a symphonic poem \ITamara,\i and the oriental fantasy for \Jpiano\j, \IIslamey.\i
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"balalaika",2974,0,0,0
PN [bala\Bliy\bka]
EN A Russian musical instrument: a lute with a triangular body, flat back, long neck, and three strings which are strummed by the player's fingers. It is used to accompany singing and dancing, or as a member of larger ensembles.
BK b
#
"balance of payments",2975,0,0,0
EN The difference, for a country, between the income and expenditure arising out of its international trading activities. The \Icurrent account\i handles the country's income from selling goods abroad (exporting), offset by its expenditure on goods imported. The difference between these two totals is the \Btrade balance.\b Also included are 'invisible' services bought and sold abroad, such as air transport, banking, insurance, shipping, and tourism.
The \Icapital account\i deals with private and corporate investment abroad, borrowing and lending, and government financial transactions. \BA balance of payments deficit\b drains a nation's reserves of convertible currency and gold, and can lead to a \Jdevaluation\j of its currency.
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"Balanchine, George (b. Georgi Melitonovich Balanchivadze)",2976,0,0,0
DT (1903-83)
EN ballet dancer, choreographer; born in St. Petersburg, \JRussia\j. Trained at the School of Imperial Ballet/State Academy of Dance, he choreographed his first piece in 1922. From 1923-24 he was balletmaster at Petrograd's experimental Maly Theatre. While on a European tour with the Soviet State Dancers in 1924, he defected to the West. His \Jchoreography\j for Diaghilev's Ballet Russe, created between 1925-29, included the masterworks, \IApollo\i and \IProdigal Son.\i Before immigrating to America in 1933, Balanchine created several ballets for European companies and for his own company, Les Ballets.
In 1934, with Lincoln Kirstein, he formed the School of American Ballet, and in 1935, the American Ballet Company, which staged his first American work, \ISerenade,\i the same year. After the company's financial failure in 1938, Balanchine did the \Jchoreography\j for a number of films and Broadway shows, including \ICabin in the Sky\i (1940) and \ISong of Norway\i (1944), until Kirstein established the Ballet Society in 1946.
Soon after the 1948 premiere of \IOrpheus,\i one of Balanchine's finest works, the company was renamed the New York City Ballet and given a permanent home at New York's City Center. Balanchine, often working with limited funding, revolutionized classical ballet by creating stark, abstract, usually plotless ballets; drawing on serious music, often Stravinsky's, his ballets emphasized "pure" dance and ensemble work.
By 1964, when the company moved to Lincoln Center, his reputation was at its peak. In later years he created elaborate "story" ballets such as \IDon Quixote, Coppelia,\i and the perennial favorite, \IThe Nutcracker,\i demonstrating the remarkable range of his talents. Known for his incredible series of "Balanchine ballerinas," he also created some of his most memorable roles for men. Long before he died, his over 200 works had gained him the reputation as the premier choreographer of the 20th century.
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"Balard, Antoine JΘr⌠me",2977,0,0,0
PN [balah(r)]
DT1 1802
DT2 76
EN Chemist, born in Montpelier, \JFrance\j. Professor at the \JSorbonne\j and CollΦge de \JFrance\j, he discovered bromine (1826), hypochlorous acid, and \Jchlorine\j monoxide.
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"Balassa or Balassi, Bßlint",2978,0,0,0
PN [\Bbaw\blawshaw]
DT1 1554
DT2 94
EN Hungarian knight, adventurer, and lyric poet, born in KΘkk÷. His poetry was inspired by military heroism, love, and religion, and he also experimented in drama. He died fighting the Turkish invaders.
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#
"Balaton, Lake",2979,0,0,0
PN [\Bbol\boton]
EN area 598┐km\U2\u / 231┐mi\U2\u. Lake in WC \JHungary\j; length 77┐km / 48┐mi; width 8-14┐km / 5-9┐mi; largest and shallowest lake in C Europe; \JHungary\j's largest recreation area, with resorts at Si≤fok, Keszthely, and Balatonfⁿred (spa with carbonic waters).
BK b
#
"Balbo, Cesare, conte (Count)",2980,0,0,0
PN [\Bbal\bboh]
DT1 1789
DT2 1853
EN Italian statesman and writer, born in Turin, \JItaly\j. He was a prime minister in the first Piedmontese constitutional ministry. He published a \Jbiography\j of Dante in 1839, and a historical essay demonstrating his view that \JItaly\j had only prospered when free from foreign domination.
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#
"Balbo, Italo",2981,0,0,0
PN [\Bbal\bboh]
DT1 1896
DT2 1940
EN Italian politician and aviator, born in \JFerrara\j, \JItaly\j. One of the leaders of the March on \JRome\j, he was the first minister of \Javiation\j in \JItaly\j, and led mass flights to \JBrazil\j (1929) and the USA (1933). In 1933 he became Governor of \JLibya\j. In 1940 he was killed when his plane was brought down at Tobruk.
SX m
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#
"Balboa, Vasco N·±ez de",2982,0,0,0
PN [bal\Bboh\ba]
DT1 1475
DT2 1519
EN Explorer, born in Jerez de los Caballeros, \JSpain\j. In 1511 he joined an expedition to DariΘn as a stowaway. Taking advantage of an insurrection, he took command, founded a colony at DariΘn, and extended Spanish influence into neighbouring areas. On one of these expeditions he climbed a peak and sighted the \JPacific Ocean\j, the first European to do so, and took possession for \JSpain\j.
The governorship was granted in 1514 to Pedro Arias Dßvila (?1440-1531), for whom Balboa undertook many successful expeditions, but after a disagreement in 1519 Balboa was beheaded.
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#
"Balbuena, Bernardo de",2983,0,0,0
PN [bal\Bbway\bna]
DT1 1568
DT2 1627
EN Poet and clergyman, born in Valdepe±as, \JSpain\j. He spent his working life in \JCentral America\j, where all his poetry was written, and became Bishop of Puerto Rico in 1620. His main work was an epic on the national hero, Bernardo del Capio (1624).
SX m
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"Balch, Emily Greene",2984,0,0,0
DT (1867-1961)
EN pacifist, social reformer, economist; born in \JJamaica\j Plain (now in \JBoston\j), Mass. Educated at Bryn Mawr College, she taught sociology and economics at Wellesley College (1896-1918). Never one to remain in an ivory tower, she took an active role in labor disputes and other social issues. In 1910 she published \IOur Slavic Fellow Citizens,\i a pioneering work in its sympathetic view of immigrants.
As the impact of World War I spread, she joined others in trying to mediate an end, and she was fired from Wellesley because of her support for \Jdissidents\j. She turned, somewhat, from advocating economic and socialist solutions, to embracing Quakerism. A founder of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (1919), she devoted the remainder of her life to its cause. She shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946.
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"Balchen, Bernt",2985,0,0,0
DT (1899-1973)
EN air force officer, aviator; born in Tveit, \JNorway\j. He came to the United States in 1926, becoming a citizen in 1931. He piloted Admiral Byrd's first flight over the South Pole in 1929. During World War II, flying from Sweden, he evacuated several thousand Norwegians and 1,000 American airmen. In 1944 he commanded a supply operation for the Norwegian underground.
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#
"Balchin, Nigel (Marlin)",2986,0,0,0
DT1 1908
DT2 70
EN Novelist, born in Wiltshire, S England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, after which he combined writing with his work as an industrial psychologist. During World War 2 he was scientific adviser to the Army Council, from which experience he wrote his best-known novel, \IThe Small Back Room\i (1943). Later novels explore the problems of psychologically and physically disabled men, as in \IA Sort of Traitors\i (1949) and \IThe Fall of a Sparrow\i (1955).
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"Balcon, Sir Michael (Elias)",2987,0,0,0
DT1 1896
DT2 1977
EN Film producer, born in Birmingham, West Midlands, C England, UK. He entered the film industry in 1921, and founded Gainsborough Pictures in 1928. In 1931 he took charge of production at Gaumont-British Pictures, where he made \IThe Thirty-Nine Steps\i (1935). After a brief period working for MGM in \JHollywood\j, he became executive producer for Ealing Films (1938-59), and is remembered for a string of successful comedies and thrillers, including \IWhisky Galore\i (1948), \IThe Blue Lamp\i (1949), and \IThe Lavender Hill Mob\i (1951). He was knighted in 1948.
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"bald cypress",2988,0,0,0
EN See swamp cypress
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#
"bald eagle",2989,0,0,0
EN A large eagle (length 80-100┐cm / 30-40┐in), native to \JNorth America\j \I(Haliaeetus leucocephalus); \i numbers now declining; found near \Jwater\j; eats fish, birds, and mammals. The name refers to the white plumage on its head and neck. The national symbol of the USA, it is also known as the \BAmerican eagle.\b \B(Family:\b \JAccipitridae\j.)
BK b
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"Balder, Baldur, or Baldr",2990,0,0,0
PN [\Bbawl\bder, \Bbal\bder]
EN Norse god, the most handsome and gentle of the children of Odin and Frigga; the name means 'bright'. He taught human beings the use of herbs for healing. Frigga made a spell so that nothing which grew out of or upon the Earth could harm him, but Loki made Hodur (Balder's blind brother) throw a dart of \Jmistletoe\j at him. Balder died, to return after \JRagnarok\j to the new Earth.
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"Baldinucci, Filippo",2991,0,0,0
PN [baldi\Bnoo\bchee]
DT1 1624
DT2 96
EN Art historian, born in Florence, \JItaly\j. He was entrusted by Cardinal Leopoldo Medici with the arrangement of the Medici collection.
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"baldness",2992,0,0,0
EN Commonly described as permanent loss of hair from the front and / or top of the head, usually in men, because of the degeneration and reduction in the size of hair follicles. Genetic factors, ageing, and \Jandrogens\j (eunuchs are seldom bald) may be causative agents.
There is no effective cure. An improper diet, certain endocrine and skin disorders, as well as some chemical or physical agents may damage the hair follicles leading to either permanent or temporary \Jbaldness\j in either sex at any age. Some other primates also develop \Jbaldness\j, such as the oukari monkey of \JSouth America\j.
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"Baldovinetti, Alesso",2993,0,0,0
PN [baldovi\Bnet\bee]
DT1a c.
DT1 1425
DT2 99
EN Painter, born in Florence, \JItaly\j. His frescoes, noted for their landscape backgrounds, are mostly poorly preserved as a result of his experiments in technique, but he also executed mosaics of great beauty and worked on \Jstained glass\j.
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"baldpate",2994,0,0,0
EN See wigeon or widgeon
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"Baldung or Grien, Hans",2995,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1476
DT2 1545
EN Painter and engraver, born in Weiersheim, \JGermany\j. He may have been a pupil of Dⁿrer. His mature works display deliberate exaggeration of late Gothic styles to obtain often morbid quasi-Expressionist effects in the manner of Grⁿnewald, as in 'Die Frau und den Tod' (\JBasel\j, Death and the Maiden) and 'Die Eitelkeit' (Vienna, Vanity).
MEX Dⁿrer
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"Baldwin",2996,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2 1190
EN Clergyman, born in Exeter, Devon, south-west England, UK, in poor circumstances. He became Bishop of Worcester in 1180, and \JArchbishop\j of Canterbury in 1184. He crowned Richard I, made a tour of Wales preaching in favour of the \JCrusades\j, and himself died on a Crusade.
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"Baldwin (of Bewdley), Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl",2997,0,0,0
DT1 1867
DT2 1947
EN British statesman and prime minister (1923-24, 1924-29, 1935-37), born in Bewdley, Hereford and Worcester, WC England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, and became vice-chairman of the family iron and steel business. A Conservative MP in 1908, he became President of the Board of Trade (1921), and unexpectedly succeeded Bonar Law as premier. His period of office included the General Strike (1926) and was interrupted by the Ramsay MacDonald coalition (1931-5), in which he served as Lord President of the Council.
He skilfully avoided a party split by his India Act (1935), but the Hoare-Laval pact and the policy of non-intervention in \JSpain\j (1936) came to be regarded as betrayals of the \JLeague of Nations\j. He displayed considerable resolution during the constitutional crisis culminating in Edward VIII's \Jabdication\j (1937). He had the party politician's sure touch in domestic matters, but was criticized for his apparent failure to recognize the threat from Nazi \JGermany\j. He resigned and was made an earl in 1937.
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"Baldwin I",2998,0,0,0
DT1 1172
DT2a c.
DT2 1205
EN Emperor of Constantinople, born in Valenciennes, \JFrance\j. He succeeded his father as Count of Hainault and Flanders in 1195. In 1202 he joined the fourth Crusade, and in 1204 was chosen the first Latin emperor of Constantinople. The Greeks, invoking the aid of the Bulgarians, rose and took Adrianople. Baldwin laid siege to the town, but was defeated in 1205 and died in captivity.
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"Baldwin, Billy",2999,0,0,0
DT (1903-84)
EN interior decorator; born in Roland Park, Maryland. In 1935 he joined the New York firm of Ruby Ross Wood, assuming control in 1952. Glossy dark walls and mixed patterns were among his hallmarks.
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"Baldwin, Evelyn Briggs",3000,0,0,0
DT (1862-1933)
EN \JArctic\j explorer; born in Springfield, Mo. He was the superintendent of city schools in Kansas (1887-91) and an observer for the U.S. Weather Bureau (1892-1900). He made a daring but unsuccessful attempt to reach the \JNorth Pole\j (1901-02). He served in minor government posts (1918-33). He was nearly destitute at the time of his death in an auto accident in Washington, D.C.
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"Baldwin, Henry",3001,0,0,0
DT (1780-1844)
EN Supreme Court justice; born in \JNew Haven\j, Conn. He served in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Fed., Penn.; 1817-22) and was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Jackson (1830-44).
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"Baldwin, James (Arthur)",3002,0,0,0
DT 1924-87
EN African-American novelist, essayist and playwright. A popular black author, Baldwin wrote two plays. In The Amen Corner (produced at Howard University in 1954 and on Broadway in 1965, but coolly received by critics), a fanatical woman pastor tries unsuccessfully to turn her son against the father whose love she has rejected; Blues for Mr Charlie (1964) involves the murder of an angry black youth by a white bigot.
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"Baldwin, James (Mark)",3003,0,0,0
DT1 1861
DT2 1934
EN Psychologist, born in Columbia, SC. A specialist in child \Jpsychology\j and social \Jpsychology\j, he was professor at Toronto (1889), Princeton (1893), Johns Hopkins (1903), and the University of Mexico (1909), settling in Paris in 1913. He was the founder-editor of the \IPsychological Review\i (1894-1909), and editor of the \IDictionary of Philosophy and Psychology\i (1901-6).
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"Baldwin, Loammi",3004,0,0,0
DT (1745-1807)
EN engineer, soldier, judge; born in Woburn, Mass. A self-educated cabinetmaker, land surveyor, and civil engineer, he used to walk from Woburn to Cambridge to hear lectures on \Jmathematics\j at Harvard. An opponent of British rule, he fought briefly in the \JAmerican Revolution\j, achieving the rank of colonel.
He represented Woburn in the \JMassachusetts\j legislature (1778-79, 1800-04) and was high sheriff of Middlesex County. He was the chief engineer of the Middlesex Canal that joined \JMassachusetts\j' Merrimack and Charles Rivers (1794-1804). He also developed from grafts a hardy variety of apple that is named for him.
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"Baldwin, Mark (Phillip)",3005,0,0,0
DT1 1954
EN Choreographer and dancer, born in \JNew Zealand\j. He studied at the University of Auckland, \JNew Zealand\j, and became a dancer with the \JNew Zealand\j Ballet and Australian Dance Theatre before joining the Rambert Dance Company in London (1982--92), also as choreographer (1992--4).
He became resident choreographer with Sadlers Wells (1994--5) and with the Scottish Ballet (1996-- ). In 1996 he received the Time Out Dance Award and the Grand Prix International Special Judges' Prize for his dance film video \IDanse 8.\i
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"Baldwin, Matthias (William)",3006,0,0,0
DT (1795-1866)
EN \Jlocomotive\j engineer; born in Elizabethtown, N.J. A toolmaker and jeweler, he began manufacturing hydraulic and bookbinding machinery about 1825. In 1832 he built the \Jlocomotive\j \IOld Ironsides.\i He developed tight-fitting steam joints, which allowed high pressures. Baldwin's \Jlocomotive\j works eventually produced over 1,000 locomotives.
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"Baldwin, Robert",3007,0,0,0
DT1 1804
DT2 58
EN Canadian statesman, born in Toronto (formerly York), \JOntario\j, Canada. He was called to the bar in 1825, and became a member of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada in 1829. He condemned the Rebellion of 1837 and supported the Union of Upper and Lower Canada. With \BLouis Hippolyte Lafontaine\b (1807-64) he was joint prime minister of the united province of Canada (1842-3, 1848-51).
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"Baldwin, Roger (Nash)",3008,0,0,0
DT (1884-1981)
EN social activist; born in Wellesley, Mass. He taught sociology and was chief probation officer in St. Louis, Mo., before serving prison time as a conscientious objector during World War I. He was the director (1920-50) and national chairman (1950-55) of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that he had helped to found. During this time, the ACLU defended many controversial clients. On retiring, he taught for some years at the University of Puerto Rico.
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"Baldwin, Roger Sherman",3009,0,0,0
DT (1793-1863)
EN governor, U.S. senator, abolitionist; born in \JNew Haven\j, Conn. (grandson of Roger Sherman). He served as the Whig governor of Connecticut (1844-46) and as a U.S. senator (Whig, Conn.; 1847-50). Known for his abolitionist sympathies, he was the defense counsel for the African slaves arrested in the \IAmistad\i case (1841).
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"Bale, John",3010,0,0,0
DT1 1495
DT2 1563
EN Cleric and playwright, born in Cove, Suffolk, E England, UK. A Carmelite by training, he became a Protestant in 1533, and was later made Bishop of \JOssory\j in \JLeinster\j. He became so obnoxious to Catholics with his polemical writings that his house was attacked and five servants killed. On Queen \JElizabeth I\j's accession he was made a prebendary of Canterbury. His drama, \IKing John,\i is considered the first English historical play.
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"Balearic Islands",3011,0,0,0
PN [bali\Ba\brik]
EN pop (1995e) 708 000; area 5014 sq km/1935 sq mi. Archipelago of five major islands and 11 islets in the W Mediterranean near the E coast of \JSpain\j; conquered by Arag≤n, 14th-c; capital, Palma de Mallorca; E group chiefly comprises \JMajorca\j, \JMinorca\j, and Cabrera; W group chiefly comprises Ibiza and \JFormentera\j; popular tourist resorts; airports at Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, and Mah≤n; car ferries to \JBarcelona\j, Alicante, Valencia, \JGenoa\j, \JMarseille\j; fruit, wine, grain, \Jcattle\j, fishing, textiles, chemicals, cork, timber.
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#
"baleen",3012,0,0,0
EN A fibrous material from the mouth of some species of whale; forms a sieve during feeding; formerly used in manufacturing, when strong, light, flexible material was needed (eg to strengthen women's corsets); also known as \Bwhalebone\b (though it is not in fact bone).
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"Balenciaga, Crist≤bal",3013,0,0,0
PN [balenthi\Bah\bga]
DT1 1895
DT2 1972
EN Fashion designer, born in Guetaria, \JSpain\j. He trained as a tailor, and in 1915 opened dressmaking and tailoring shops of his own in Madrid and \JBarcelona\j. He left \JSpain\j for Paris in 1937 because of the Spanish \JCivil War\j, and became a fashion designer. He retired in 1968.
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#
"Balewa, Sir Abubakar Tafawa",3014,0,0,0
PN [ba\Blay\bwa]
DT1 1912
DT2 66
EN Nigerian statesman and first federal prime minister (1957-66), born in Bauchi, \JNigeria\j. A member of the Northern People's Congress, he entered the Federal Assembly in 1947, was minister of works (1952-3) and of transport (1953-7), then became premier. He was knighted when \JNigeria\j became independent in 1960, and was assassinated in the military uprising of 1966.
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"Balfe, Michael William",3015,0,0,0
PN [balf]
DT1 1808
DT2 70
EN Composer, born in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. In 1823 he went to London, and in 1825-6 studied in \JItaly\j under Rossini, which inspired him to sing in opera with considerable success. In 1833 he returned to England, and in 1846 was appointed conductor of the London Italian Opera. Of his numerous operas, operettas, and other compositions, the most enduring success was \IThe Bohemian Girl\i (1843).
MEX Rossini
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"Balfour, Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl",3016,0,0,0
PN [\Bbal\bfer]
DT1 1848
DT2 1930
EN British statesman and philosopher, born in Whittinghame, East Lothian, E Scotland, UK. He studied at Cambridge, and entered parliament in 1874 as a Conservative MP for \JHertford\j. He was returned for East Manchester (1885), was secretary for Scotland (1886), chief secretary for Ireland (1887), and First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the \JHouse of Commons\j (1892-3).
His premiership saw the end of the Boer War (1902), the Education Act (1905), and the establishment of the Committee of Imperial Defence. In 1911 he resigned the leadership of the House owing to the constitutional crisis. He followed Churchill to the Admiralty (1915) and served under Lloyd George as foreign secretary (1916-19).
He was responsible for the famous \IBalfour declaration\i (1917) which promised Zionists a national home in Palestine, and as Lord President of the Council (1921) was responsible for the controversial note cancelling Allied war debts to America.
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#
"Balfour, Francis (Maitland)",3017,0,0,0
DT1 1851
DT2 82
EN Embryologist, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK, the brother of Arthur Balfour. He studied at Cambridge, where he became the first professor of animal morphology in 1882 after publishing his \ITreatise on Comparative Embryology\i (1880).
MEX Balfour, Arthur James
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"Balfour, George",3018,0,0,0
DT1 1872
DT2 1941
EN Electrical engineer and pioneering contractor, the founder of the construction firm of Balfour Beatty Ltd, born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, S England, UK. He served an apprenticeship in a foundry in Dundee, and qualified as a journeyman engineer. After working for a New York company specializing in electric tramways and power plants, he founded his own company in 1909 with an accountant, Andrew Beatty.
They built and operated the tramway systems for many towns, and the first major hydro-electric schemes in Scotland, as well as pioneering the National Grid in the 1930s. He was Unionist MP for Hampstead (London) from 1918 until his death.
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"Bali",3019,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah\blee]
EN pop (1995e) 3 037 000; area 5561 sq km/2146 sq mi. Island province of \JIndonesia\j, between Java (W) and Lombok (E); mountainous, with peaks rising to 3142 m/10 308 ft at Gunung Agung (E); chiefly Hindu population; Dutch control by 1908; capital, Denpasar; rice, \Jcattle\j, \Jcoffee\j, copra, salt, onions, handicrafts; major tourist area.
EN Russian actor and director. He co-founded (with Nikolai Tarasov) and directed Moscow's Bat (1908-22), \JRussia\j's first real cabaret. The Bat began as a Moscow Art Theatre-related enterprise, whose main attraction was the rotund, moonfaced Baliev, expert at improvising horseplay with the customers from the stage and cavorting in specially designed entr'acte numbers. In 1920 Baliev emigrated to Paris with part of the company. As the Chauve-Souris they gave numerous performances in Paris, London and America.
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"Bßlint",3021,0,0,0
EN See Balassa or Balassi, Bßlint
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#
"Balkan Wars",3022,0,0,0
EN (1912-13) A series of military campaigns fought in the Balkans. In 1912, \JBulgaria\j, \JSerbia\j, \JGreece\j, and \JMontenegro\j attacked Turkey, securing swift victories. A preliminary peace was drawn up by the Great Powers in May 1913, in which Turkey surrendered most of her European territories on condition that a new state of \JAlbania\j was created.
Disputes between the Balkan allies over the spoils of war led to a second war, in which \JBulgaria\j attacked her former allies, and was defeated. As a result of the two wars, Turkish territory in Europe was reduced to an area around Adrianople and Constantinople, \JAlbania\j was established, \JSerbia\j and \JMontenegro\j almost doubled in size, and tension among the Great Powers in Europe was considerably increased.
BK b
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"Balkans",3023,0,0,0
HS (Turkish, 'mountains')
EN Mountainous peninsula in south-east Europe (the \BBalkan Peninsula),\b and the countries it contains; lies between the Adriatic Sea (west), Ionian Sea (south-west), \JBlack Sea\j (east), \JAegean Sea\j (south-east), and \JMediterranean Sea\j (south); partly bounded N by the Danube River and its tributaries; \BArea:\b c.500┐000 km\U2\u / 200┐000 mi\U2\u; chief ranges are the Carpathian, Balkan, Rhodope, and Pindus Mountains, and branches of the Dinaric Alps; chief land pathway (via the Bosphorus) between E and C Europe and the \JMiddle East\j; Balkan countries (some of which extend to the N of the peninsula proper) are \JAlbania\j, Bosnia-Herzegovina, \JBulgaria\j, \JCroatia\j, \JGreece\j, Macedonia, \JRomania\j, \JSlovenia\j, Yugoslavia; the ethnic, religious, and political mix in the region, chiefly comprising \JSlavs\j (C), Turks (south-east), Romanians (north-east), Albanians (south-west), and Greeks (south), has brought a history of conflict recorded since classical times; \JOttoman Empire\j supreme 15th-18th-c; partition of region into modern states, especially in 19th-c, with much subsequent instability, notably the Balkan Wars (1912-13) and the 1990s conflict in former Yugoslavia.
BK b
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"Balkhash, Lake",3024,0,0,0
PN [bal\Bkash\b]
EN area 17┐000-22┐300┐km\U2\u / 6500-8500┐mi\U2\u. Crescent-shaped lake in south-east \JKazakhstan\j, 160┐km / 100┐mi W of the Chinese border; length 605┐km / 376┐mi; maximum width 74┐km / 46┐mi; maximum depth 26┐m / 85┐ft; no outlet; salt extraction, fishing, copper; chief harbours, Burylbaytal, Burlyu-Tobe; gradually shrinking.
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"Ball, C(harles) Olin",3025,0,0,0
DT (1893-1970)
EN food technologist; born in Abilene, Kans. While in graduate school at George Washington University (1919-22) he researched sterilization of canned foods for the National Canners Association. From 1922-41 he worked for the American Can Co. in Illinois and New York where he generated some of his 29 patents, including the basic heat-cool-fill canning method (1936), the method and apparatus for open can sterilization (1937), and processes for canning milk (1938-39).
He worked for the Owens-Illinois Glass Co. (1944-46) and taught food science at Rutgers University (1949-63). He was a founding member of the Institute of Food Technology (1939).
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"Ball, Frank Clayton",3026,0,0,0
DT (1857-1943)
EN industrialist, philanthropist; born in Greensburg, Ohio. Following their father's death, he and his four brothers (Lucius, William, George, and Edmund Ball) entered the business of making tin cans and glass jars to ship oils and varnishes. Moving their firm to Muncie, Ind., the Ball Brothers (incorporated in 1887) expanded into making glass fruit jars and caps that were based on the "Mason jar" (whose patent had expired).
They continued to improve their product by their own inventions and by buying exclusive rights to others'. By allowing millions of people to "put up" their own foods in jars, the firm prospered even during the \JGreat Depression\j. Frank was president of the company (1880-1943). Turning to philanthropy, he and his brothers gave over $7 million to institutions, mostly in \JIndiana\j.
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"Ball, John, Botanist and alpinist",3027,0,0,0
DT1 1818
DT2 89
EN Botanist and alpinist, born in Dublin. He was the first president of the \JAlpine\j Club (1857) and author of the \IAlpine Guide\i (1863-8). Liberal MP for Carlow, Ireland, he was colonial under-secretary (1855-7), and wrote on the botany of Morocco and \JSouth America\j.
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"Ball, John, English rebel",3028,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2 1381
EN English rebel. An excommunicated priest, he was executed as one of the leaders in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, led by Wat Tyler.
MEX Tyler, Wat
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"Ball, Lucille (DΘsirΘe)",3029,0,0,0
DT (1910-89)
EN \Jtelevision\j comedian, movie actress; born in Celaron, N.Y. Leaving school at age 15 to become a stage actress, her early efforts were unsuccessful; she turned to modeling (as Diane Belmont) which led to her first movie role, in \IRoman Scandals\i (1934). She appeared in numerous movies and radio shows afterward but didn't become truly successful until 1951, when she teamed up with her Cuban-born, bandleader husband, Desi Arnaz, to play the zany middle-class couple, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo in \Jtelevision\j's prototypical situation comedy \II Love Lucy.\i
With near perfect timing and a genius for sightgags, redhaired Ball careened through 179 episodes of the original sitcom as a ditzy housewife; the 1953 episode on which she gave birth to "Little Ricky," filmed to coincide with delivery of her real-life son, was said to attract more viewers than the concurrent inauguration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Desilu Productions, which she and Arnaz founded in 1950, was a successful independent producer of \Jtelevision\j shows before Gulf-Western acquired it. After divorcing Arnaz in 1960, she appeared on Broadway in \IWildcat\i (1961) and then soloed in two other successful sitcoms, \IThe Lucy Show\i (1962-1968) and \IHere's Lucy\i (1968-73). She continued to appear on \Jtelevision\j specials almost to her death.
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"Ball, Michael (Ashley)",3030,0,0,0
DT1 1962
EN Actor and singer, born in the West Midlands, C England, UK. He studied at the Guildford School of Acting (1981--4), then made his professional debut. His first starring role was in \IThe Pirates of Penzance\i (1985, Manchester Opera House), and he made his West End debut in \ILes Miserables\i later that year. Other major productions include \IPhantom of the Opera\i (1987), \IAspects of Love\i (1989, Broadway debut 1990), and \IPassion\i (1996). Television work includes his own series (1993, 1994) and he has made many recordings. The Variety Club of \JGreat Britain\j voted him Most Promising Artiste in 1989.
\BMajor Works\b
\IMusical Theatre\i
1985 Pirates of Penzance
1985 Les Miserables
1987 Phantom of the Opera
1989 Aspects of Love
1996 Passion
\IAlbums\i
1992 Michael Ball
1993 Always
1993 West Side Story
1994 One Careful Owner
1996 The Musicals
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"Ball, Murray Hone",3031,0,0,0
DT1 1939
EN Cartoonist, born in Fielding, \JNew Zealand\j. He is known for the wry social comment of his widely syndicated comic strips: \IBruce the Barbarian\i, \IStanley the Palaeolithic Hero\i, and \IFootrot Flats\i.
\BMajor Works\b
Bruce the Barbarian
Stanley the Palaeolithic Hero
Footrot Flats
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#
"Ball, Thomas",3032,0,0,0
DT (1819-1911)
EN sculptor; born in Charlestown, Mass. He moved to \JBoston\j (1837-53), traveled to \JItaly\j (1854-57), returned to \JBoston\j (1857-64), traveled, then settled in \JNew Jersey\j (1897). He became known for his naturalistic bronze sculptures, notably the equestrian statue of George Washington in \JBoston\j's Public Garden (1864).
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"Balla, Giacomo",3033,0,0,0
DT1 1871
DT2 1958
EN Artist, born in Turin, \JItaly\j. After a visit to Paris in 1900 he was strongly influenced by Impressionism and Divisionism. He was one of the founders of \JFuturism\j and a signatory to the 1910 Futurist Manifesto. Primarily concerned with conveying movement and speed in painterly terms, he achieved this by imitating time-lapse photography. By 1930, he was painting in a more conventional style.
MEX Boccioni; Marinetti; Severini
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"ballad",3034,0,0,0
EN An elementary poetic form found in many languages which tells and / or dramatizes a story in a lyrical stanza apt for oral transmission (and singing): four lines of varying length, rhyme scheme \Iabab.\i The traditional, anonymous \Jballad\j sang of wars, feuds, and fatal love stories, often with chilling power and great pathos; the modern 'literary' \Jballad\j has been used by many 19th-c and 20th-c poets (eg Coleridge, Keats, D H Lawrence, Auden).
BK b
#
"ballad opera",3035,0,0,0
EN Although called a type of opera, \Jballad\j opera is more like a play interspersed with songs, the songs having new words set to already known tunes. The most famous example is The Beggar's Opera, which enjoyed phenomenal popularity in its own \Jday\j and is now the only \Jballad\j opera to be regularly revived.
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#
"ballade",3036,0,0,0
PN [ba\Blad\b]
EN An Old French form, consisting normally of three eight-line stanzas and a concluding four-line section, strictly rhymed. Used by de Machaut and Villon in the 14th-15th-c, it has been resurrected by a few sophisticated poets in the 19th-20th-c.
BK b
#
"Ballantyne",3037,0,0,0
EN Printers and brothers: \BJames Ballantyne\b (1772-1833) and \BJohn Ballantyne\b (1774-1821), born in Kelso, Scottish Borders, south-east Scotland, UK. They studied at Kelso \JGrammar School\j (1783) with Sir Walter Scott. James studied for the law, but in 1797 started the Tory \IKelso Mail.\i
In 1802, having already printed some ballads for Scott, he produced the first two volumes of the \IBorder Minstrelsy.\i After moving the firm to Edinburgh, Scott became a secret partner in the business, which in 1808 expanded into the printing, publishing, and bookselling firm of John Ballantyne & Co, but by 1826 the firm was bankrupt.
MEX Scott, Walter
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"Ballantyne, John",3038,0,0,0
EN See Bellenden or Ballantyne, John
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"Ballantyne, R(obert) M(ichael)",3039,0,0,0
DT1 1825
DT2 94
EN Writer of boys' books, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK, a nephew of James and John Ballantyne. He studied at the Edinburgh Academy, joined the Hudson's Bay Company in 1841, and worked as a clerk at the Red River Settlement in the backwoods of N Canada until 1847, before returning to Edinburgh in 1848. He wrote his first stories on his experiences in Canada, with books such as \IThe Young Fur Traders\i (1856). \IThe \JCoral\j Island\i (1858) is his most famous work.
MEX Ballantyne, James
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"Ballarat or Ballaarat",3040,0,0,0
PN [\Bbal\barat]
EN 37░36S 143░58E, pop (1995e) 36 500. City in SWC Victoria, \JAustralia\j, NW of Melbourne; railway; centre of a wool-producing district; largest gold reserves in the country discovered here, 1851; scene of the \JEureka Stockade\j, the gold-diggers' rebellion against state authority, 1854; textiles, brewing, metal products; \JEureka Stockade\j reconstruction; Sovereign Hill historic park; gold museum; vintage trams.
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"Ballard, J(ames) G(raham)",3041,0,0,0
DT1 1930
EN Writer, born in Shanghai, China. He studied at Cambridge, and became a \Jscience fiction\j writer, fashioning a series of novels at once inventive, experimental, and often bizarre. His early novels, including his first, \IThe Drowned World\i (1962), offer a view of the world beset by elemental catastrophe. He has been admired chiefly for his short stories, particularly those included in such collections as \IThe Terminal Beach\i (1964), \IThe Disaster Area\i (1967), and \IVermilion Sands\i (1973).
His 1973 novel \ICrash\i was made into a controversial film by David Cronenberg in 1996. \IEmpire of the Sun\i (1984; filmed by Spielberg, 1987), a mainstream novel which is portentously autobiographical, was short-listed for the Booker Prize. A sequel, \IThe Kindness of Women\i, appeared in 1991. Later works include \IRushing to Paradise\i (1994) and \IA User's Guide to the Millennium\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1962 The Drowned World
1965 The Drought
1966 The Crystal World
1970 The Atrocity Exhibition
1972 Concrete Island
1973 Crash (filmed 1996)
1975 High Rise
1979 The Unlimited Dream Company
1984 Empire of the Sun (filmed 1987)
1991 The Kindness of Women
1994 Rushing to Paradise
1996 A User's Guide to the Millennium
\IStories\i
1963 The Four-Dimensional Nightmare
1964 The Terminal Beach
1973 \JVermilion\j Sands
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"Ballard, Lucinda",3042,0,0,0
DT 1908-93
EN American costume designer. An assistant to scenic designers Norman Bel Geddes and Claude Bragdon early in her career, Ballard was an active designer (principally of costumes) for theatre, film and ballet. She received the first Tony Award for Costume Design for the plays Happy Birthday, Another Part of the Forest, Street Scene, John Loves Mary and The Chocolate Soldier in the 1947 Broadway season. She also won awards in 1961 for The Gay Life and in 1945 for I Remember Mama.
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"Ballesteros, Sevvy",3043,0,0,0
PN [ba-ye\Bstair\bos]
HS , popular name of \BSeveriano Ballesteros\b
DT1 1957
EN Golfer, born in Pedrena, \JSpain\j. A highly combative, adventurous player, he has continually set records. When he won the (British) Open in 1979 he was the youngest player to do so in the 20th-c, and he took the title again in 1984 and 1988. Other wins include the US Masters (1980, 1983) and the World Matchplay (1981--2, 1984--5, 1991).
The leading money winner in Europe in the years 1976--8, 1986, and 1988, he is the first man to win 50 European golf tournaments. His brothers Manuel, Baldomero, and Vicente are also all top golfers.
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"ballet",3044,0,0,0
EN A theatrical form of dance typically combined with music, stage design, and costume in an integrated whole, based around a scenario. Italian Renaissance court spectacles developed into the French \Iballet de cour\i under \JLouis XIV\j. Ballet became a professional theatre form in the 18th-c, gradually formalizing its technique in the early 19th-c.
It can be divided roughly into historical periods; mid-19th-c Romantic ballets such as \ILa Sylphide,\i \IGiselle,\i and the late 19th-c Russian classics (eg \ISwan Lake,\i \IThe Sleeping Beauty); \i 20th-c neoclassical works, such as Balanchine's \IApollo; \i and modern ballets, such as Ashton's \IMonotones\i and MacMillan's \IGloria.\i Recent works may incorporate modern and jazz elements. The ballet technique is based on turn out from the hip socket.
There are five positions of the feet and a codified system of arm positions \I(port de bras).\i Exercises at the barre (the horizontal support found in studios) move to extended phrases \I(enchainements)\i in the centre of the space. Intensive training is required from a young age, often in specialist schools.
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"Ballet Rambert",3045,0,0,0
EN See Rambert Dance Company
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"Ballets Russes",3046,0,0,0
PN [\Bbal\bay \Broos\b]
EN A ballet company created by Diaghilev, and active in Europe 1909-29. It was famous for nurturing new talents and for collaborations between great painters (Bakst, Benois, Picasso), composers (Rimsky-Korsakov, Satie, Stravinsky), and choreographers (Fokine, \JNijinsky\j, Massine, Nijinska, Balanchine).
It had a repertoire of 20th-c classics including \ILes Sylphides,\i \ILe Sacre du printemps\i (The Rite of Spring) and \IPetrushka.\i Colourful Russian spectacles were set alongside experimental European \Jmodern art\j, for example by Cocteau, Massine, Picasso, and Satie in \IParade\i (1917). The 1987 reconstruction of \JNijinsky\j's long-lost 1913 version of \ILe Sacre du printemps\i was based on detailed historical evidence, and performed by the Joffrey Ballet in the USA and Europe.
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"ballistic missile",3047,0,0,0
EN A missile which acquires its \Jenergy\j during its launch phase, flying on a trajectory dictated by its initial velocity added to the factors of gravity and aerodynamic drag, until it reaches the target. A \Bcruise missile,\b by contrast, flies with wings through the \Jatmosphere\j under continuous power. A rifle bullet is in effect a \Jballistic missile\j, but more specifically the term applies to the big intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles which carry nuclear warheads.
They may be propelled by a single rocket or several stages of rocket booster which fall away as the fuel they carry is expended. The missile's 'payload' is then free to fly on, arcing through space on its ballistic trajectory, before re-entering the \Jatmosphere\j to impact on the target.
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"ballistics",3048,0,0,0
EN The study of what takes place when a projectile is fired from a firearm. Ballistics has three aspects: (1) \Iinternal,\i concerning the way the object is thrown into the air; (2) \Iexternal,\i investigating the way it moves in flight; (3) \Iterminal,\i analyzing its impact on the target. \BForensic ballistics\b helps in the investigation of gun crimes.
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"balloon",3049,0,0,0
EN A flexible envelope filled with a lighter-than-air gas which provides the \Jbuoyancy\j force to rise upwards. A popular children's toy, large balloons are also used for meteorological and scientific research as well as for pleasure. The envelope of a modern hot-air \Jballoon\j is made from either nylon or Dacron, which is then coated with polyurethane applied under pressure to make the material more airtight.
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"balloon angioplasty",3050,0,0,0
PN [\Ban\bjiohplastee]
EN The insertion of a \Jcatheter\j into an artery that has narrowed pathologically. A \Jballoon\j at the tip of the \Jcatheter\j is expanded at the site of the constriction, which causes the blood vessel to dilate. The procedure is successful in many cases of narrowing of the arteries to the limbs, kidney, and heart.
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"ballooning",3051,0,0,0
EN Sailing through the air in a basket attached to a fabric bag filled with gas that is lighter than air. The first manned flight was by PilΓtre de Rozier and Marquis d'Arlandes at Paris in 1783 in a \Jballoon\j designed by the Montgolfier brothers.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Joseph Gay-Lussac, the chemist, was probably the first person to ascend in a \Jballoon\j for scientific reasons, but he gets little credit for that deed today. In the Tuileries Gardens in Paris, there is a memorial to the Montgolfier brothers and their hot-air \Jballoon\j, and the French proudly feature the same brothers on a ten franc coin. For some reason, Jacques Charles, another chemist doesn't rate the same Gallic admiration, yet he also was a remarkable balloonist.
And yet, when Charles heard of the Montgolfiers' flight, he recognised that the \Jhydrogen\j of Henry Cavendish would make a better \Jballoon\j, provided you could make it work. The standard yarn has it that Charles was a better inventor than the Montgolfiers because he recognised that \Jhydrogen\j was a better gas for \Jballooning\j. What he really deserves credit for is recognising that you can't hold \Jhydrogen\j in a paper bag, as the Montgolfiers had tried to do.
Where the Montgolfiers held their hot air in paper-lined linen, Charles used thin silk, painted with varnish ("gum elastic" in "lintseed" oil, according to Benjamin Franklin, who saw it) to make it gas-proof. By the by, the Montgolfiers were paper manufacturers, among other things, which may have influenced \Itheir\i choice in materials, both for the \Jballoon\j and for the fuel.
Just ten days after the Montgolfiers' first human flight, Jacques Charles and a companion flew in a \Jhydrogen\j \Jballoon\j. Alas, when his companion climbed from the \Jballoon\j as they landed, the \Jballoon\j took off again, and Charles became the world's first solo flier. Which may be why we've heard so little of Jacques Charles, the balloonist. He landed safely again, some time after dark, and some distance away, but he shied away from balloons thereafter.
Of the two sorts of balloons, the Parisians preferred the MontgolfiΦre to the CharliΦre. This was mainly because the hot-air balloons were quickly launched, while the CharliΦre took up to four days to inflate with \Jhydrogen\j. In those days, \Jhydrogen\j was made by adding dilute sulphuric acid to a barrel full of iron filings. So Jacques Charles wasn't destined to make himself famous with his CharliΦre, and today is only recalled for Charles' Law, which some people say was first discovered by Gay-Lussac.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Ballou, Adin",3052,0,0,0
DT (1803-90)
EN Universalist clergyman, reformer; born in Cumberland, R.I. A Universalist minister who preached throughout \JMassachusetts\j (1823-41), he was founder of the Hopedale Community - one of the first of such American Utopian enterprises - in Milford, Mass., (1841-68). He preached non-resistance throughout the \JCivil War\j, then saw his community turned into an industrial center; still he remained pastor of Hopedale Parish (through 1880). Although his efforts at establishing a utopian community failed, he exerted considerable influence on Unitarian and Universalist thought during his almost 60 years as a clergyman.
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"Ballou, Hosea",3053,0,0,0
DT (1771-1853)
EN Universalist clergyman, theologian; born in Richmond, N.H. Raised in poverty, brought up a Baptist, and self-educated, he was for many years a circuit-riding preacher in \JRhode Island\j and \JMassachusetts\j. He settled in \JBoston\j, Mass., in 1817 where he helped found the Universalist Church, edited Universalist publications, and developed a liberal \Jtheology\j that denied original sin and the full deity of Christ. From 1827 until his death he was pastor of the Second Universalist Society of \JBoston\j.
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"ballroom dance",3054,0,0,0
EN A social dance form developed in the early 20th-c, revealing the strong influence of American \Jragtime\j, syncopated rhythms producing the foxtrot, quickstep, and tango. Also popular were animal dances (such as the Turkey Trot, Bunny Hug) and Latin-American dances (such as the cha-cha-cha and \Jsamba\j). The 1950s and 1960s rock 'n roll era moved young people's dance out of the ballroom and into the club or disco.
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"balm",3055,0,0,0
EN A name applied to various plants, but especially to \Bbee balm\b or \Blemon balm\b \I(Melissa officinalis),\i a member of the mint family, Labiatae.
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"Balmain, Pierre (Alexandre Claudius)",3056,0,0,0
PN [balmφ\ti]
DT1 1914
DT2 1982
EN Fashion designer, born in St Jean-de-Maurienne, \JFrance\j. He started studying \Jarchitecture\j in Paris, but turned to dress designing, working for Edward Molyneux and Lucien Lelong, and in 1945 opened his own house. Famous for elegant simplicity, his designs included evening dresses, tailored suits, sportswear, and stoles. He also designed for the theatre and cinema.
MEX Mortensen
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"Balmer, Johann Jakob",3057,0,0,0
PN [balmer]
DT (1825-98)
EN Swiss mathematician: discovered relationship between \Jhydrogen\j spectral lines.
Son of a farmer, Balmer studied in \JGermany\j and, from 1850, taught in a girls' school in Basle. Rather late in life he became interested in spectra and reported his first research when aged 60. The lines in the Sun's spectrum had earlier seemed to be randomly scattered, but Kirchhoff had shown that, if the spectrum of an individual element was considered, this was not so; for example, the spectrum of \Jhydrogen\j consists of lines which converge with diminishing wavelength, \Fl\n.
Balmer found in 1884 that one set of the \Jhydrogen\j lines fitted the relation \Fl\n=Am\U2\u/(m\U2\u-4) where m has integral values 3,4,5... for successive lines, and A is a constant. This is the Balmer series; originally empirical, it pointed to the need to find an explanation for the data, which led through Rydberg's work to Bohr's theory and to quantum theory.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Johann Balmer measured dark lines in the photographs of spectra from stars, and tried to explain why the lines happened where they did. To do this, Balmer found he needed three sets of numbers. The first was a constant, the second was a set of numbers: 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, and the third was also a set of numbers: 5, 12, 21, 32, 45, each four less than the matching number in the first series.
Balmer spent most of his life as a teacher at a girls' school in \JBasel\j, but when he was sixty, he announced a fascinating discovery, a pattern that he had detected in the "\Jhydrogen\j lines" of the spectra of stars. It was a mathematical pattern for which Balmer had no explanation, but it was clearly a significant pattern. In fact, a proper explanation would have to wait until Niels Bohr, who was born in the year of Balmer's discovery, could unravel it in explaining how electrons actually move around atoms.
He found some trouble, according to what he wrote, suggesting to us (with the benefit of hindsight) that some of the observers whose results he studied may have been plagued by a red shift, which systematically moves all of the lines across the spectrum from where they are expected to be, and by different fixed amounts for stars at different distances from the \Jearth\j.
Balmer began by stating his empirically derived constant, b = 3645.6 x 10\U-7\u mm, and then went on to show how this may be applied. Some editorial comment has been added in bold type in square brackets.
The wavelengths of the first four \Jhydrogen\j lines are obtained by multiplying the fundamental number b = 3645.6 in succession by the coefficients 9/5; 4/3; 25/21; 9/8. At first sight these coefficients do not form a regular series, but if we multiply the numbers in the second and the fourth by 4, a consistent regularity appears [so Balmer multiplies some of these numbers by 4/4 to get a series which now reads 9/5, 16/12, 25/21, 36/32] and the coefficients have for numerators the numbers 3\U2\u, 4\U2\u, 5\U2\u, and 6\U2\u, and for denominators a number that is less by 4.
For several reasons it seems to me probable that the four coefficients which have just been given belong to two series, so that the second series includes again the terms of the first series; and so I am able to present the formula for the coefficients in the more general form:
m\U2\u / m\U2\u - n\U2\u
in which m and n are whole numbers
For n = 1, we obtain the series 4/3, 9/8, 16/15, 25/24 etc., for n = 2, the series 9/5, 16/12, 25/21, 36/32, 49/45, 64/60, 81/77, 100/96 etc. In this second series the second term is already in the first series but in a reduced form.
The king hit, the sting in the tail in Balmer's paper is yet to come. He mentions a fifth line from the series, at 3969.65 ┼ngstr÷m units, and adds:
"I knew nothing of such a fifth line which must lie within the visible part of the spectrum . . . and I was compelled to assume that the temperature relations were not favourable to the development of this line or that the formula was not generally applicable."
On reference to Professor Hagenbach he informed me that many more \Jhydrogen\j lines are known which have been measure by Vogel and by Huggins . . . While the formula in general gives somewhat larger numbers than those contained in the published lists of Vogel and of Huggins, yet the difference between the calculated and the observed wavelengths is so small that the correspondence is in the highest degree striking. Comparisons of wavelengths measured by different investigators show in general no exact agreement; and yet the observations of one man may be brought to correspond with those of another by a slight reduction in an entirely satisfactory way . . .
From these comparisons, it appears that the formula holds also for the fifth \Jhydrogen\j line."
We now use a slightly different formula to derive the frequencies of the lines in a series, rather than their wavelengths:
v=cR\DH\d(1/n\U2\u \D1\d - 1/n\U2\u \D2\d)
where is the frequency of the line, c is the speed of light in a vacuum, R\DH\d is the Rydberg constant for \Jhydrogen\j (approximately 1.097 x 10\U7\u m\U-1\u), and n\D2\d is always larger than n\D1\d.
A number of series have since been named. The Balmer series derives from n\D1\d = 2, while the Lyman series, in the ultraviolet, derives from n\D1\d = 1. The Paschen series derives from n\D1\d = 3, the Brackett series from n\D1\d = 4, and the Pfund series from n\D1\d = 5.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Balmont, Konstantin Dmitryevitch",3058,0,0,0
DT1 1867
DT2 1943
EN Poet, translator, and essayist, born in Gumische, \JRussia\j. A leading Russian Symbolist, his work was coloured by the wide travelling he did during his periodic exiles, which added a vein of exoticism to his work.
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"Balmoral Castle",3059,0,0,0
EN A castle and estate of 9700┐ha / 24┐000┐acres located on Upper Deeside, Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland, UK. It has been in the possession of the British Royal family since 1852, and is used by them as a holiday home. The 19th-c castle was rebuilt under the direction of Prince Albert.
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"Balnaves, Henry",3060,0,0,0
PN [bal\Bna\bvis]
DT1a c.
DT1 1512
DT2 79
EN Reformer, born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, E Scotland, UK. In 1543 he was appointed \Jsecretary of state\j by the regent, James Hamilton. Shortly after, however, he was imprisoned with John Knox in Blackness Castle for his \JProtestantism\j. When the castle was captured by the French (1547), Balnaves, with Knox and others, was sent to \JRouen\j. While in prison there, he wrote a treatise on justification, published in 1584 as \IThe Confession of Faith.\i In 1566 he was allowed to return to Scotland, and took an active part on the side of the Lords of the Congregation.
MEX Knox, John
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"balsa",3061,0,0,0
EN A fast-growing tree \I(Ochroma pyramidale),\i reaching 25┐m / 80┐ft or more, with very light, soft timber, native to lowland areas of tropical America; leaves broadly oval to circular, 30┐cm / 12┐in or more in diameter; flowers 15┐cm / 6┐in long, white. \B(Family:\b Bombacaceae.)
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"balsam",3062,0,0,0
EN An annual with a translucent stem; leaves alternate, opposite or in threes; flowers 2-lipped with funnel-shaped tube and curved spur, the capsule exploding to scatter seeds, especially when touched. The \BHimalayan balsam\b \I(Impatiens glandulifera)\i has flowers 2..5-4┐cm / 1-11/2┐in, purplish-pink; native to the top \JHimalayas\j.
The \Borange balsam\b \I(Impatiens capensis)\i has flowers 2-3┐cm / 0..8-1..2┐in, orange with brown blotches within; native to E \JNorth America\j. The \Btouch-me-not\b \I(Impatiens noli-tangere)\i has flowers 3..5┐cm / 11/2┐in, orange with brown spots; native to Europe and Asia. \B(Family:\b Balsaminaceae).
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"balsam poplar",3063,0,0,0
EN See \Jpoplar\j
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"Balthasar, Hans Urs von",3064,0,0,0
PN [\Bbal\btazah(r)]
DT1 1905
DT2 88
EN Catholic theologian, born in \JLucerne\j, \JSwitzerland\j. The author of some 60 books on \Jtheology\j, philosophy, and spirituality, he drew considerable inspiration for his \Jtheology\j from the religious experiences of the mystic \BAdrienne von Speyr\b (1902-67), with whom he formed a secular institute after leaving the \JJesuits\j. His chief work is \IHerrlichkeit\i (1961-9, trans The Glory of the Lord: a Theological Aesthetic).
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"Balthus",3065,0,0,0
DT1 1908
EN Painter, born in Paris, \JFrance\j. He had no formal training, but received early encouragement from Bonnard and Derain. He held his first one-man exhibition at the Galerie Pierre, Paris, in 1934, and later became director of the French School in \JRome\j.
His work includes landscapes and portraits, but he is chiefly known for his interiors with adolescent girls, painted in a highly distinctive naturalistic style with a hint of Surrealism. He has grown in fame and popularity in recent years, despite the fact that he has lived for many years as a virtual recluse.
\BMajor Works\b
1933 The Street (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1934 Guitar Lesson
1936 AndrΘ Derain (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1937 The Mountain
1937--38 Joan Mir≤ And His Daughter Dolores (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1938 Therese
1939 Girl With Green And Red Jacket (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1941--3 The Living Room (\JMinneapolis\j Institute of Art)
1943 Patience
1949 The MΘditerranΘe's Cat
1954 Le Passage du Commerce Saint-AndrΘ
1955 Nude in Front of a Mantel
1957 Golden Afternoon
1973 Card Players
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"Baltic Exchange",3066,0,0,0
EN An abbreviation for the \BBaltic Mercantile and Shipping Exchange,\b a major world market for cargo space on sea and air freight, which originated in the London \Jcoffee\j houses, and is still found in the City of London. It was known as the Virginia and Baltic from 1744, reflecting the growth of trade with America. The Exchange also handles the market in some commodities, such as grain.
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"Baltic languages",3067,0,0,0
EN A branch of the Indo-European family of languages, principally comprising \JLatvian\j and Lithuanian. Both have written records from the 14th-c, and each has a standard form and official status in its country. There are striking similarities between the Baltic and Slavic languages, but it is not certain whether these derive from their common origin, or from prolonged contact.
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"Baltic Sea",3068,0,0,0
PN [\Bbawl\btik]
HS , Ger \BOstsee,\b ancient \BMare Suevicum\b
EN area 414┐000┐km\U2\u / 160┐000┐mi\U2\u. An arm of the \JAtlantic Ocean\j enclosed by Denmark, Sweden, \JGermany\j, \JPoland\j, \JEstonia\j, \JLatvia\j, \JLithuania\j, \JRussia\j, and \JFinland\j; connected to the North Sea by the Kattegat, \JSkagerrak\j, Danish Straits, and the Kiel Canal; chief arms, the Gulfs of Bothnia, \JFinland\j, Riga; main islands, Hiiumma, Saaremaa, ┼land, Gotland, ╓land, Bornholm, Rⁿdgen, Fehmarn; mean depth 55┐m / 180┐ft; deepest point, Gotland Deep (c.463┐m / 1519┐ft); low \Jsalinity\j; generally shallow, with large areas frozen in winter; navigation impossible for 3-5 months yearly; main ports include Kiel, Gdansk, St Petersburg, Riga, \JCopenhagen\j, Stockholm, \JHelsinki\j.
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"Baltic Shield",3069,0,0,0
EN The geological name for the continental mass made up of Precambrian crystalline rocks exposed in parts of \JNorway\j, Sweden, and \JFinland\j, and forming the underlying basement of the continent. They are the oldest rocks in Europe, and are made up predominantly of granites and gneisses.
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"Baltic states",3070,0,0,0
EN The countries of \JEstonia\j, \JLatvia\j, and \JLithuania\j on the E shore of the Baltic Sea. They were formed in 1918 from the Russian Baltic provinces or governments of \JEstonia\j, Livonia, and Courland, and parts of the governments of Pskov, \JVitebsk\j, Kovno, Vilna, and Suvalki. The states remained independent until 1940, when they were annexed by the USSR. They became independent again in 1990, following the collapse of \Jcommunism\j.
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"Baltimore",3071,0,0,0
PN [\Bbol\btimaw(r)]
EN 39░17N 76░37W, pop (1995e) 786 000. Port in N Maryland, USA, on the Patapsco R, at the upper end of Chesapeake Bay; established, 1729; developed as a seaport and shipbuilding centre (Baltimore clippers); city status, 1797; rebuilt after 1904 fire; largest city in the state; airport; railway (first in the USA); six universities; trade in \Jcoal\j, grain, metal products; shipbuilding, food processing, copper and oil refining, chemicals, steel, aerospace equipment; major centre for culture and the arts; professional team, Orioles (\Jbaseball\j); first Roman Catholic cathedral in the USA (1806--21); Inner Harbour, Edgar Allan Poe House; Preakness Festival (May).
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"Baltimore Incident",3072,0,0,0
EN A brief but serious dispute (1891) between the USA and \JChile\j, stemming from the death of two American sailors from the cruiser \IBaltimore\i in a brawl in \JValparaiso\j. A war between the two countries was averted by a Chilean apology.
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"Baltimore, David",3073,0,0,0
DT1 1938
EN Microbiologist, born in New York City, USA. He studied chemistry at Swarthmore, the \JMassachusetts\j Institute of Technology, and Rockefeller University, then conducted research into virology at the Salk Institute (1965--8), became professor of \Jbiology\j at MIT (1972), and was later director of the Whitehead Institute at Cambridge, MA.
In 1970 he discovered the reverse transcriptase \Jenzyme\j which can transcribe DNA into RNA. For his research into the connection between viruses and cancer he shared the 1975 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
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"Baltimore, George Calvert, Baron",3074,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1580
DT2 1632
EN English statesman and colonialist, born in Kiplin, North Yorkshire, N England, UK. He entered parliament in 1609, was knighted in 1617, and became \Jsecretary of state\j (1619-25). In 1625 he declared himself a Catholic, resigned his office, was created Baron Baltimore in the Irish \Jpeerage\j, and retired to his Irish estates. He then made plans to found a province in America, and after failing in Newfoundland and Virginia, applied for a charter further S, in what is now Maryland. He died before the grant was made final, and the patent passed to his son, \BCecil Baltimore\b (c.1605-75).
SX m
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"Baluchi",3075,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bloo\bchee]
EN \JBaluchi\j-speaking peoples of \JBaluchistan\j (\JPakistan\j), \JIran\j, \JAfghanistan\j, Punjab (India), and \JBahrain\j; divided into Sulaimani and Makrani groups. Once nomads, most are now settled agriculturalists, with \Jcattle\j, goats, camels, etc. They are well known for their carpets and embroidery.
BK b
#
"Baluchistan",3076,0,0,0
PN [baloochi\Bstahn\b]
EN pop (1995e) 6 341 000; area 347 190 sq km/134 015 sq mi. Province in W and SW \JPakistan\j; bounded W by \JIran\j, N by \JAfghanistan\j, and S by the Arabian Sea; ancient trading centre between India and \JMiddle East\j; treaties of 1879 and 1891 brought the N section under direct British control; incorporated into \JPakistan\j in 1947--8; capital, \JQuetta\j; mountainous terrain, with large areas of desert; cotton, \Jnatural gas\j, fishing, salt, mineral reserves.
BK Geog99
#
"Baluchitherium",3077,0,0,0
PN [baloochi\Bthee\brium]
EN See Indricotherium
BK b
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#
"Balzac, HonorΘ de",3078,0,0,0
DT1 1799
DT2 1850
EN Novelist, born in Tours, \JFrance\j. He studied at the CollΦge de Vend⌠me and the \JSorbonne\j. From 1819 to 1830 he led a life of frequent privation and incessant industry, incurring a heavy burden of debt which harassed him to the end of his career. His first success was \ILes Chouans\i (1829, The Chouans). After writing several other novels, he formed the idea of presenting in \ILa ComΘdie humaine\i (The Human Comedy) a complete picture of modern civilization.
Among the masterpieces which form part of his vast scheme are \ILe PΦre Goriot\i (Father Goriot), \ILes Illusions perdues\i (Lost Illusions), \ILes Paysans\i (The Peasants), \ILa Femme de trente ans\i (The Thirty-Year-Old Woman), and \IEugΘnie Grandet,\i in which detailed observation and imagination are the main features. His industry was phenomenal, writing 85 novels in 20 years, but his work did not bring him wealth.
During his later years he lived principally in his villa at SΦvres. In 1849, when his health had broken down, he travelled to \JPoland\j to visit Eveline Hanska, a rich Polish lady, with whom he had corresponded for more than 15 years. In 1850 she became his wife, and three months later, Balzac died.
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"Bamako",3079,0,0,0
PN [bama\Bkoh\b]
EN 12░40N 7░59E, pop (1995e) 791 000. River-port capital of Mali, on the R \JNiger\j; mediaeval centre of Islamic learning; capital of French \JSudan\j, 1905; airport; railway; power plant, \Jceramics\j, food processing, pharmaceuticals, metals, textiles, cycles, chemicals, \Jtobacco\j; zoo, botanical gardens.
BK Geog99
#
"Bambaataa",3080,0,0,0
DT1 1958
EN Record producer, arranger, and disc jockey, born in New York City, USA. He worked in high schools and public parks during the 1970s, and developed the style of music known as "rap'. His record \IPlanet Rock\i (1982) was a major influence on dance records on both sides of the Atlantic.
BK Biog99
#
"Bambara",3081,0,0,0
PN [bam\Bbah\bra]
EN A Mande-speaking agricultural people of Mali, W Africa, divided into several small chiefdoms. Many are now urbanized and intermingled with other groups. They are known for their elaborate \Jcosmology\j and \Jmetaphysics\j, their indigenous writing, and religious sculptures. They founded two important states, at Segu (c.1650) and at Kaarta (now in Mali, c.1753-4). Population c.2.5 million.
BK b
#
"bamboo",3082,0,0,0
EN A giant woody grass, mostly tropical or subtropical, with a few temperate species; usually forming large clumps growing rapidly - up to 40┐cm / 15┐in a \Jday\j - and reaching heights of 36┐m / 120┐ft. Some species flower annually; others only once after several to many years, and then all together, after which the entire population dies. They provide edible shoots and light timber, including garden canes. (Genera: \IBambusa\i and others. \BFamily:\b Gramineae.)
BK b
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"Bamian, Buddhas of",3083,0,0,0
PN [\Bbam\bian]
EN Two enormous images of \JBuddha\j cut into the cliffs of the Bamian Valley, \JAfghanistan\j, in the 6th-c. The figures, which are 53┐m / 174┐ft and 35┐m / 115┐ft high, were defaced by Iranian conqueror Nader Shah's troops in the 18th-c.
BK b
#
"Bampton, Deborah (Ellen)",3084,0,0,0
DT1 1961
EN British football player and manager. She joined Arsenal Ladies' Football Club as player-manager (1992--3), where her honours included the Women's Football Association Cup, League Cup, and National League (1992--3). She is a member, and former captain, of the England Women's Football Team (82 caps), and player-manager of Croydon Women's Football Club.
BK Biog99n
#
"Ban Chao",3085,0,0,0
PN [ban chow]
HS , also spelled \BPan Ch'ao\b
DT1 32
DT2 102
EN Chinese military leader and administrator, who first established Chinese control over Turkestan. Deputy commander of an army which crushed an opposing force of 70┐000, he later (AD 91) became protector of the Western Regions and conquered the whole of W Turkestan up to the Caspian for the \JHan dynasty\j. After his death his younger brother \BBan Yong\b tightened Chinese control of Turkestan.
MEX Ban Gu; Ganying
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"Ban Gu",3086,0,0,0
PN [ban goo]
HS , also spelled \BPan Ku\b
DT1a AD
DT1 32
DT2 92
EN Chinese historian, the brother of Ban Chao. His \IHistory of the Former Han\i (Han Shu) was, like \JSima\j Qian's earlier work, based on official documentation, other histories and oral traditions, but with wider social, scientific, and artistic coverage. Started by AD 54, and completed by Ban Gu's sister \BBan Zhao,\b it is a major source on the earlier \JHan dynasty\j. Equivalent to 800┐000 English words, it established the format for the great series of standard histories on all succeeding dynasties.
MEX Ban Chao; \JSima\j Qian
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"Banach, Stefan",3087,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah\bnahkh]
DT1 1892
DT2 1945
EN Mathematician, born in Krakow, \JPoland\j. He studied at Lvov, where he became lecturer in 1919, and professor in 1927. He is regarded as one of the founders of functional analysis, and he founded an important school of Polish mathematicians.
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#
"banana",3088,0,0,0
EN A giant perennial herb, superficially resembling a tree. The true stem lies underground, at intervals bearing buds which produce large, oar-shaped leaves. It is the closely sheathing bases of the leaves which form the soft, hollow, trunk-like 'stem' rising to a height of several metres above ground. The underground bud also produces the \Jinflorescence\j, which grows up the hollow centre of the stem, emerging from the crown of leaves to droop towards the ground.
The male flowers are borne towards the tip of the \Jinflorescence\j, protected by large, reddish bracts. The female flowers are borne in clusters or hands in the lower part of the \Jinflorescence\j; as the fruits develop after \Jfertilization\j, they bend backwards to point away from the ground. Wild bananas are native to south-east Asia, and produce inedible fruit with numerous seeds but little pulp.
Cultivated bananas are grown throughout the tropics as a staple food, producing a higher yield per acre than potatoes. Fruit for export is cut while still green, and ripened on the voyage. They are often sold as unblemished yellow fruits, but are not fully ripe until flecked with brown spots. Cooking bananas are referred to as \Bplantains.\b Banana leaves also yield useful fibre and thatch, and some species are planted for their ornamental flowers. \B(Genus:\b \IMusa,\i 35 species. \BFamily:\b Musaceae.)
BK b
#
"Banares",3089,0,0,0
EN See Benares or Banares
BK b
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#
"Bances y L≤pez Candamo, Francisco Antonio de",3090,0,0,0
DT 1662-1704
EN Spanish playwright; the last notable Spanish dramatist of the Golden Age. Many of his plays have strong political overtones, especially El esclavo en grillos de oro (The Slave in Golden Shackles, 1692), whose plot resembles Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, and La piedra filosofal (The Philosopher's Stone, 1693). Por su rey y por su dama (For King and Lady, 1685) remained popular until the 19th century, and his treatise Teatro de los teatros de los pasados y presentes siglos (Theatre of the Theatres of Past and Present Ages, 1689-93) is the only work of dramatic theory in the age of Calder≤n.
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"Bancroft, Anne",3091,0,0,0
DT1 1931
EN Actress, born in New York City, USA. She made her professional debut on \Jtelevision\j in an adaptation of Turgenev's \ITorrents of Spring\i. For her performance in the stage production of \IThe Miracle Worker\i in 1959, she won a Tony Best Actress award, and an Oscar for the film version in 1962.
Later films include \IThe Slender Thread\i (1965), \IThe Graduate\i (1968), \IThe Elephant Man\i (1980), \I84 Charing Cross Road\i (1986), and \ITorch Song Trilogy\i (1988).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1962 The Miracle Worker
1965 The Slender Thread
1968 The Graduate
1976 Silent Movie
1977 Turning Point
1980 The Elephant Man
1985 Agnes of God
1986 84 Charing Cross Road
1988 Torch Song Trilogy
1997 Great Expectations
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#
"Bancroft, Edward",3092,0,0,0
DT (1744-1821)
EN secret agent, inventor; born in Westfield, Mass. He moved to England and was a double agent - working simultaneously for both Benjamin Franklin and the British government - during the \JAmerican Revolution\j. He remained in England and made discoveries in textile dyes manufacturing.
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#
"Bancroft, George",3093,0,0,0
DT (1800-91)
EN historian, diplomat; born in Worcester, Mass. He tried unsuccessfully to establish a preparatory school for boys before he began writing his 10-volume \IHistory of the United States\i (1834-74). His writing showed a marked bias in favor of democracy; he viewed the American political experiment as the highest form of civilization. He supported James K. Polk's "dark horse" candidacy for the Democratic nomination in 1844 and was rewarded with the post of secretary of the navy (1845-46).
He established the Naval Academy at \JAnnapolis\j (1845) and aided the work of the Naval Observatory. He served as ambassador to \JGreat Britain\j (1846-49) and later to \JPrussia\j and \JGermany\j (1867-74). After returning to the U.S.A. he spent his final years writing various historical books and articles.
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#
"Bancroft, Hubert Howe",3094,0,0,0
DT (1832-1918)
EN historian, publisher; born in Granville, Ohio. Beginning as a bookseller in Buffalo, he founded his own lucrative publishing and mercantile house in \JSan Francisco\j (1858). After collecting 60,000 source volumes, "The Macaulay of the West," as he has been known, edited and published \IThe Native Races of the Pacific States\i (1875), the first of his landmark 39-volume \IHistory of the Pacific States of America\i (1875-1900). He continued publishing until 1916.
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#
"Bancroft, Richard",3095,0,0,0
DT1 1544
DT2 1610
EN Anglican clergyman, born in Farnworth, Lancashire, north-west England, UK. He graduated from Cambridge in 1567, and after a series of preferments was consecrated Bishop of London in 1597. He attended Queen \JElizabeth I\j during her last illness, and took the lead at the \JHampton Court\j Conference. He succeeded Whitgift as \JArchbishop\j of Canterbury in 1604, and assisted in re-establishing episcopacy in Scotland.
MEX Whitgift
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"Bancroft, Sir Squire",3096,0,0,0
DT 1841-1926
EN English actor-manager, who made his London debut in T. W. Robertson's Society at the Prince of Wales's in 1865. In 1867, after creating the role of Captain Hawtree in Robertson's Caste, he married the theatre's lessee, Marie Wilton, thereby entering matrimony and theatre management.
The Bancrofts managed companies at the Prince of Wales's until 1879 and subsequently at the Haymarket (1880-5), offering an ensemble alternative to the star-centred regime of Irving at the \JLyceum\j. Bancroft retired, already rich, at the age of 44. In 1897, he followed Irving to become the second actor to receive a knighthood.
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#
"Bancroft, Wilder Dwight",3097,0,0,0
DT (1867-1953)
EN physical chemist; born in Middletown, R.I. A professor at Cornell University (1895-1937), he founded and edited the \IJournal of Physical Chemistry\i (1896-1932). He did research in \Jelectrochemistry\j, \Jcolloid\j chemistry, and contact catalysis. His career was cut short by an accident in 1937.
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#
"Band Aid",3098,0,0,0
EN See Geldof, Bob
BK b
XCY y
#
"band-width",3099,0,0,0
EN In radio and \Jtelevision\j transmission, the range of frequencies required for the satisfactory reproduction of a signal. For \Jtelevision\j, it is determined by the field frequency, the number of scanning lines, and the colour-coding system, typically requiring 5.5┐mHz for 625-line 50-field systems but considerably more for high-definition TV.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
In computing, and especially in \JInternet\j use, people tend to recall that a wider band-width usually means a larger amount of information, and so messages which repeat a lot of material from earlier messages, or angry messages which "flame" other people, or useless advertising ("Spam") are generally dismissed as "a waste of bandwidth".
The term is also used to indicate the amount of information that can be sent through a system in one second. Again, people will compare the band-width demands of \Jfax\j transmission, and electronic mail transmission of the same message, which packs the same information into a much shorter message, and so uses "narrower band-width" or "less band-width".
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK b
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"Banda, Hastings (Kamuzu)",3100,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1906
EN Malawi statesman, prime minister (1963-6) and first president (1966-94), born in Kasungu, Malawi. He studied medicine in the USA and in Britain. His opposition to the Central African Federation caused him to give up his successful London practice (1955) and return via \JGhana\j to Nyasaland (1958).
Leader of the Malawi African Congress, he was jailed in 1959, became minister of national resources (1961), then prime minister and president of the Malawi (formerly, Nyasaland) republic. Made life president in 1971, he established a strong, one-party control of Malawi, but following growing opposition he was defeated in a referendum for multi-party democracy in 1993, and was defeated in the 1994 elections.
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#
"Bandar Seri Begawan",3101,0,0,0
PN [\Bbahn\bdah seree begawan]
EN 4░56N 114░58E, pop (1995e) 80 900. Capital of \JBrunei\j, SE Asia, 20 km/12 mi from mouth of \JBrunei\j R; airport; town wharf used mainly for local vessels since opening of deep-\Jwater\j port at Muara in 1972; Mesjid Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin mosque (1958), Churchill Museum, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Aquarium.
EN Sri Lankan (Ceylonese) statesman and prime minister (1956-9), born in Colombo. He studied at Oxford, and was called to the bar in 1925. He became president of the Ceylon National Congress, then helped to found the United National Party, which formed the government of Ceylon in 1948-56. In 1951 he resigned from the government and organized the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which returned him to parliament as Leader of the Opposition, and in 1956 he became prime minister on a policy of \Jnationalization\j and neutralism. He was assassinated by a Buddhist monk.
EN Sri Lankan (Ceylonese) prime minister (1960--5, 1970--7, 1994-- ), born in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka. Following the assassination of her husband, S W R D Bandaranaike, in 1959, she became leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, won the Ceylon general election (1960), and became the world's first woman prime minister. She held the position for a second time following independence, and again in 1994.
BK Biog99
#
"Bandeira (Filho), Manuel (Carneiro de Sousa)",3104,0,0,0
PN [ban\Bdair\ba]
DT1 1886
DT2 1968
EN Poet, born in \JRecife\j, \JBrazil\j. His first books of poetry, \IA Cinza das Horas\i (1917, Destruction of the Hours) and \ICarnaval\i (1919, Carnival), identified him with the contemporary Modernist movement. His works were highly influential among aspiring Brazilian writers, and he became a much respected national figure.
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#
"bandeirante",3105,0,0,0
PN [banday\Bran\btay]
EN A 17th-c Brazilian slave-raider and explorer. Based on \JSπo Paulo\j, parties of bandeirantes \I(bandeiras)\i opened up much of the interior of \JBrazil\j, including the Amazon basin. They are today seen in \JBrazil\j as a heroic pioneering myth.
BK b
#
"Bandelier, Adolph (Francis Alphonse)",3106,0,0,0
DT (1840-1914)
EN explorer, archaeologist, author; born in \JBern\j, \JSwitzerland\j. Brought by his family to Illinois in 1848, he went back to \JSwitzerland\j to study \Jgeology\j at the University of \JBern\j, then returned to Illinois and worked in a bank. After studying on his own (and a visit to Mexico in 1877), he published several works on the \JAztecs\j (late 1870s).
These gained him the sponsorship of the Archaelogical Institute of America and he went off to the Southwest in 1880; for the next decade he lived with the \JPueblo\j Indians, studying their ways and history and engaging in some excavations; this work resulted in further publications. In 1892 he went to \JPeru\j and \JBolivia\j to continue his researches.
In 1903 he came back to the U.S.A. and joined the staff of the American Museum of Natural History in New York and taught at Columbia University. In 1911, having joined the staff of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, he went to continue his researches in \JSpain\j and died in Seville.
As a scholar he worked to dispose of such legends as Quivira and the Seven Cities of Cibola, but he himself wrote two novels, \IThe Delight Makers\i (1890) and \IThe Gilded Man\i (1893). His early work in the Southwest gained him the distinction of being called the first American archaeologist.
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#
"Bandello, Matteo",3107,0,0,0
PN [ban\Bde\bloh]
DT1a c.
DT1 1485
DT2 1561
EN Cleric and writer of \Inovelle\i or tales, born in Castelnuovo, \JItaly\j. For a while a Dominican, he was driven from Milan by the Spaniards after the Battle of \JPavia\j (1525), and settling in \JFrance\j was made Bishop of Agen (1550). His 214 tales (1554-73) were used as source material by Shakespeare and others.
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#
"bandicoot",3108,0,0,0
EN An Australasian \Jmarsupial\j (family: Peramelidae, 17 species); superficially rat-like, but larger with longer snout and ears; digs in soil with front claws; eats invertebrates; also includes the Australian \Brabbit-eared bandicoots\b (or \Bbilbies)\b of family Thylacomyidae (2 species) from dry areas.
BK b
#
"Bandiera",3109,0,0,0
EN Revolutionaries and brothers: \BAttilio Bandiera\b (1810-44) and \BEmilio Bandiera\b (1819-44) [band\Byair\ba], born in \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j. As lieutenants in the Austrian navy, where their father, Baron Francesco Bandiera (1785-1847) was an admiral, they attempted a rising in Naples against Austrian rule in favour of Italian independence, but were betrayed and shot at Cosenza.
SX g
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#
"Bandinelli, Baccio",3110,0,0,0
PN [bandi\Bne\blee]
DT1a c.
DT1 1493
DT2 1560
EN Sculptor, born in Florence, \JItaly\j. A rival of \JMichelangelo\j, he executed the statues of 'Hercules and Cacus' outside the Palazzo Vecchio, and '\JAdam and Eve\j' (National Museum, Florence). His best works are the bas-reliefs in the Florence Cathedral.
MEX \JMichelangelo\j
SX m
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#
"Bandung",3111,0,0,0
PN [ban\Bdung\b]
EN 0░32N 103░16E, pop (1995e) 1 921 000. Capital of Java Barat province, W Java, \JIndonesia\j; 180 km/112 mi SE of Jakarta; founded, 1810; former administrative centre of Dutch East Indies; \BBandung Conference\b(1955), at which 29 non-aligned countries met to facilitate joint diplomatic action; airport; railway; two universities (1955, 1957); nuclear research centre (1964); chemicals, plastics, textiles, \Jquinine\j; \JSundanese\j cultural centre.
BK Geog99
#
"Banerjea, Sir Surendranath",3112,0,0,0
PN [\Bba\bnerjee]
DT1 1848
DT2 1925
EN Indian politician and journalist, born in \JCalcutta\j, India. A fervent nationalist, he founded the \JCalcutta\j Indian Association in 1876 and was editor of \IThe Bengali\i newspaper (1879-1921). He was one of the initiators of the Indian National Congress, but subsequently broke with Congress because of its extremism.
SX m
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#
"Banerjee, Satyendranath",3113,0,0,0
PN [\Bba\bnerjee]
DT1 1897
EN Artist, born in \JWest Bengal\j, India. He became a protΘgΘ of Rabindranath Tagore, and a teacher at the \JCalcutta\j College of Arts. Examples of his work are hung in art galleries throughout India and in private collections.
BK Biog99
#
"Bang, Bernhard (Lauritz Frederik)",3114,0,0,0
DT1 1848
DT2 1932
EN Veterinary surgeon, born in Sor°, Denmark. He studied medicine but later became interested in the healing of animals, and in 1880 was appointed professor of veterinary surgery at \JCopenhagen\j, where he investigated bacillary diseases, mainly of \Jcattle\j. He is known particularly for his work on bovine brucellosis, known as \IBang's disease.\i
SX m
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#
"Bang-Hansen, Kjetil",3115,0,0,0
DT 1940-
EN Norwegian director. Much of his work has been done outside Oslo. With several associates (dubbed the 'Molde Group') Bang-Hansen established Teater Vσrt in Molde in 1972, before moving to Rogaland Teater, \JStavanger\j, and the Nationale Scene, Bergen. He believes in theatre as an artistic end in itself, an encounter between performers and spectators, unrestricted by political \Jideology\j, and in the need to discover performance styles in free approaches to texts.
Among many extraordinary productions, often with designer Helge Hoff Monsen, have been Peer Gynt (1978), Raskolnikov (1982) and The Royal House of Thebes (1985). After briefly heading Nationaltheatret (1986-8), Bang-Hansen has freelanced, often at the Norske Teatret, where key productions have included The Pretenders (1989) and The Tidings Brought to Mary (1993).
BK Thea
#
"Bangalore",3116,0,0,0
PN [bangga\Blaw(r)\b]
EN 12░59N 77░40E, pop (1995e) 2 869 000. Capital of \JKarnataka\j, SC India, 290 km/180 mi W of Madras; founded, 1537; former military headquarters of the British-administered district of \JMysore\j (1831--1947); airfield; railway; university (1964); \Jaircraft\j, machine tools, light \Jengineering\j, \Jelectronics\j, trade in \Jcoffee\j.
BK Geog99
#
"Banghazi",3117,0,0,0
EN See Benghazi or Banghazi
BK b
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#
"Bangkok",3118,0,0,0
PN [bang\Bkok\b]
EN 13░44N 100░30E, pop (1995e) 6 456 000. Capital city of \JThailand\j; on Chao Praya R, 25 km/15 mi from its mouth on the Bight of \JThailand\j; capital, 1782; old city noted for its many canals; accessible to small ocean-going vessels; since 1955, headquarters of the SE Asia Treaty Organization; airport; railway; eight universities; commerce, paper, \Jceramics\j, textiles, timber, \Jaircraft\j, matches, food processing, cement; Grand Palace, Temples of the Golden \JBuddha\j and Reclining \JBuddha\j; Phra Pathom Chedi, world's tallest Buddhist monument, 60 km/37 mi W.
BK Geog99
#
"Bangladesh",3119,0,0,0
PN [banggla\Bdesh\b]
EN pop (1995e) 117 372 000; area 143 998 sq km/55 583 sq mi. Asian republic lying between the foothills of the \JHimalayas\j and the Indian Ocean, divided into 24 regions; capital, \JDhaka\j; other chief towns, \JChittagong\j, Khulna, Narayanganj; timezone GMT +6; one of the world's most densely populated areas; \JBengali\j (98%), with Biharis and tribal minorities; chief religion, \JIslam\j (mainly Sunnis), with some Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian; official language, \JBengali\j (Bangla), with English as a second language; currency, the taka of 100 paisa (since 1976).
\IPhysical description and climate\i
Mainly a vast, low-lying alluvial plain, cut by a network of rivers, canals, swamps, and marsh; main rivers the Ganges (Padma), Brahmaputra (Jamuna), and Meghna, joining in the S to form the largest delta in the world; subject to frequent flooding; in the E, fertile valleys and peaks of \JChittagong\j Hill Tracts, rising to 1200 m/3900 ft; lush vegetation, with \Jbamboo\j and palm forests in the E, mixed monsoon forest in the C, and mangroves and hardwood forest in vast areas of the S delta; tropical monsoon climate; a hot season (Mar--Jun) with heavy thunderstorms; very humid, with higher temperatures inland; main rainy season June--September; cyclones in the Bay of Bengal cause sea surges and widespread inundation of coastal areas; major cyclone of April 1991 brought economic disaster.
\IHistory and government\i
Part of the State of Bengal until Muslim East Bengal created in 1905, separate from Hindu \JWest Bengal\j; reunited, 1911; again partitioned in 1947, with \JWest Bengal\j remaining in India and East Bengal forming East \JPakistan\j; disparity in investment and development between East and West \JPakistan\j (separated by over 1600 km/1000 mi), coupled with language differences, caused East \JPakistan\j to seek autonomy; rebellion in 1971 led to independence, helped by India; political unrest led to suspension of constitution in 1975, and assassination of first president, Sheikh Mujib; further coups in 1975, 1977, and 1982; constitution restored, 1986; unrest in 1990 led to fresh elections in 1991, and a constitutional amendment reducing presidential power; parliament has one 330-member chamber, with 30 seats reserved for women; members elected every five years.
\IEconomy\i
About 60% of working population employed in agriculture, especially rice; tea, \Jtobacco\j, sugar; supplies 80% of world's jute; jute mills, paper, food processing, textiles, glass, oil refining, fishing; \Jnatural gas\j, \Jcoal\j, \Jpeat\j, \Jlimestone\j.
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#
"Bangor",3120,0,0,0
PN [\Bbang\bger]
EN 53░13N 4░08W, pop (1995e) 48 200. City in \JGwynedd\j, NW Wales, UK; opposite the island of \JAnglesey\j; railway; university (1884); cathedral (founded 6th-c); chemicals, \Jengineering\j, electrical goods; tourism; Theatre \JGwynedd\j.
BK Geog99
#
"Bangui",3121,0,0,0
PN [\Bbahn\bgwee]
EN 4░23N 18░37E, pop (1995e) 698 000. Capital of Central African Republic; on the R Ubangi, 1030 km/640 mi NE of \JBrazzaville\j; founded, 1889; airport; university (1969); handles Chad trade; cotton, \Jcoffee\j, timber products, cigarettes, metal products, office machinery, beer; Boganda Museum.
BK Geog99
#
"Bani-Sadr, Abolhassan",3122,0,0,0
PN [\Bban\bee \Bsa\bdr]
DT1 1935
EN Iranian politician, and first president of the Islamic Republic of Iran (1980--1), associated with Ayatollah Khomeini from 1966. He studied economics and sociology at the \JSorbonne\j in Paris, having fled there in 1963 after a brief imprisonment in Iran.
An important figure in the Iranian Revolution of 1978--9, he was soon criticized by the fundamentalists and dismissed. He fled to \JFrance\j where he was granted asylum.
BK Biog99
#
"Banim",3123,0,0,0
EN Novelists and brothers: \BJohn Banim\b (1798-1842) and \BM∞chael Banim\b (1796-1874), born in Kilkenny, Ireland. John studied art at Dublin and became a miniature painter; Michael became a postmaster. They collaborated in such novels as the \ITales of the O'Hara Family\i (1826), a faithful portrayal of humble Irish folk.
SX g
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#
"Banjalang",3124,0,0,0
EN One of the principal Aboriginal communities of north-east \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. The Banjalang language is currently the object of a revival programme.
BK b
#
"banjo",3125,0,0,0
EN A plucked string instrument developed in the 19th-c from earlier similar instruments used by W African slaves in the USA. It has a long neck and fingerboard, fretted like a \Jguitar\j's, and five metal strings (gut, in older instruments). These pass over a bridge which presses against a parchment (or plastic) membrane stretched over a circular frame. It is played either with a \Jplectrum\j or with the fingers.
BK b
#
"Banjul",3126,0,0,0
PN [\Bban\bjul]
EN 13░28N 16░35W, pop (1995e) 58 700. Seaport capital of The Gambia, W Africa; on Island of St Mary in R Gambia estuary, 195 km/121 mi SE of \JDakar\j; established in 1816 as a settlement for freed slaves; airport; peanuts, crafts, tourism; Fort Bullen (1826).
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#
"bank",3127,0,0,0
EN An organization which offers a wide range of services to do with the handling of money. Most banks are \Icommercial banks,\i which keep money on behalf of their customers, lend it to them, and offer them such facilities as currency exchange, money transfer, credit facilities, mortgages, and investment advice. A \Icentral bank\i in a country (such as the \JBank of England\j or the Bank of America) is the banker for the government, issuing money on its behalf and setting the chief interest rate for loans; it is much involved in the country's monetary policy.
Merchant banks offer specialized services to businesses, such as managing shares, dealing in gold or foreign currencies, and providing funds to finance a new business. Savings banks were founded in the 19th century to encourage people to save, small deposits being placed in interest-bearing accounts. There are also several international banks, which regulate currency matters between countries and handle international loans, notably the World Bank.
BK b
#
"bank base rate",3128,0,0,0
EN A base lending rate for UK clearing banks, used as the primary measure for interest rates since 1981. It is influenced by government economic policy through the \JBank of England\j.
BK b
#
"bank card",3129,0,0,0
EN See cheque card
BK b
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#
"Bank of England",3130,0,0,0
EN The central bank of Britain, founded in 1694, but in state ownership only since 1946. It controls the supply of money, prints notes, and acts as a banker to the government and to other banks, and manages the gold and currency reserves. It is referred to as 'The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street', as a result of its location in the City of London. The chief officer of the Bank is the Governor, appointed by the government.
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#
"bank rate",3131,0,0,0
EN A former interest rate at which the \JBank of England\j would lend to discount houses, and an important instrument of government economic policy. It was abandoned in 1973, and replaced by the minimum lending rate (MLR). A change in rate was the signal to other lending institutions to follow suit.
BK b
#
"Bankhead, John Hollis",3132,0,0,0
DT (1872-1946)
EN lawyer, politician; born in Moscow, Ala. (uncle of Tallulah Bankhead). He graduated \JGeorgetown\j Law School (1893) and returned to \JAlabama\j and the law office of his father's business friend. As a state representative (1903-05), he once wrote a law to disenfranchise African-Americans.
In 1930 he ran successfully for the U.S. Senate as a "Jeffersonian Democrat" and embraced New Deal farm programs (Dem., 1931-46). The Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act (1937) established the Farm Security Administration which, among other things, assisted migrant workers. During the war he fought unsuccessfully the president's policy of keeping food prices low. He collapsed during a political battle to prevent the continuation of price controls and died a month later.
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"Bankhead, Tallulah",3133,0,0,0
DT 1902-68
EN American stage, film and \Jtelevision\j actress. She was noted for her vibrant \Jenergy\j, sultry voice, explosive speech and impetuous behaviour. She achieved fame in The Dancers (London, 1923) and later as Regina in The Little Foxes (1939) and as Sabina in The Skin of Our Teeth.
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#
"bankruptcy",3134,0,0,0
EN The state of being reduced to financial ruin through being unable to meet financial commitments. Legally, individuals and partnerships are in this state when a court in \Jbankruptcy\j proceedings declares them to be bankrupt, the debtor's property being thereafter administered for the benefit of the creditors. These proceedings are started by a creditor (or sometimes the debtor) petitioning a court for \Jbankruptcy\j (in England or Wales) or sequestration (in Scotland).
In the USA, \Jbankruptcy\j is a legal concept through which a debtor seeks refuge from creditors through federal statutes that allow the debtor to formulate a schedule of payments to creditors. An analogous notion, \Bliquidation,\b applies to companies; this may be either compulsory (as when a company is unable to pay its debts) or voluntary (as when its members have decided to cease trading).
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"Banks, Don",3135,0,0,0
DT1 1923
DT2 80
EN Composer, born in Melbourne, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. He attended the Melbourne \JConservatory\j (1947-9), then studied in London, \JSalzburg\j, and Florence. Having settled in England, he became music director of Goldsmith's College (1969-71). He returned to \JAustralia\j in 1973, became head of Composition and Electronic Music Studies at \JCanberra\j School of Music in 1974, and head of the School of Composition Music Studies at the Sydney \JConservatory\j in 1978.
His work was particularly influenced by Milton Babbitt and by jazz. His compositions include a horn \Jconcerto\j, a violin \Jconcerto\j, a trilogy for orchestra, \IAn Australian Entertainment\i (1979), and many film and TV scores.
MEX Babbitt, Milton
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"Banks, Gordon",3136,0,0,0
DT1 1937
EN Footballer, born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, N England, UK. An outstanding goalkeeper, he started his career with Chesterfield and Leicester City but was transferred to Stoke City. His performances in the 1966 and 1970 World Cups were outstanding. A serious eye injury sustained in a car crash in 1972 ended his playing career.
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"Banks, Iain",3137,0,0,0
DT1 1954
EN Novelist, born in Fife, E Scotland, UK. He worked as a testing technician in Scotland and as a solicitor's clerk in England before attracting equal measures of fame and notoriety with his first novel, a gruesome Gothic fantasy, \IThe Wasp Factory\i (1984). Later books include \IThe Bridge\i (1986) and \IWhit\i (1995).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1984 The Wasp Factory
1985 Walking on Glass
1986 The Bridge
1987 Consider Phlebas
1989 Canal Dreams
1995 Whit
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"Banks, John",3138,0,0,0
DT c.1652-1706
EN English playwright. After three heroic plays, of which the best is The Destruction of Troy (1678), Banks established an entirely new genre dubbed 'she-tragedies', based on the sufferings of the heroine and emphasizing pathos. The Unhappy Favourite (1681), centring on Queen Elizabeth and Essex, was followed by one on \JAnne Boleyn\j. The Innocent Usurper (1683) and The Island Queens (1684), on Lady Jane Grey and Mary Queen of Scots, were politically sensitive, and banned from performance.
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"Banks, Lynne (Reid)",3139,0,0,0
DT1 1929
EN British writer and actress. She studied in Canada, and in London at the Italia Conti Stage School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. After a brief career as an actress (1949--54), she joined ITN as a reporter (1955--62), taught English in Israel (1963--71), and became a full-time lecturer from 1971.
Her best-known novel is \IThe L-Shaped Room\i (1960, filmed 1962), and she has also written plays and biographical novels. Her many books for children include \IThe Adventures of King Midas\i (1977), \IThe Indian in the Cupboard\i (1980, filmed 1995), \IThe Mystery of the Cupboard\i (1993), and \IAngela and Diabola\i (1997).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPlays\i
1954 It Never Rains
1956 All in a Row
1956 The Killer Dies Twice
1962 Already, It's Tomorrow
1993 Travels of Yoshi and the Tea-Kettle (for children)
\INovels\i
1960 The L-Shaped Room (filmed 1962)
1962 An End to Running
1968 Children at the Gate
1970 The Backward Shadow
1974 Two Is Lonely
1981 Defy the Wilderness
1984 The Warning Bell
1986 Casualties
\IBiographical fiction\i
1976 Dark Quartet: the story of the Br÷ntes
1977 Path to the Silent Country: Charlotte Br÷nte's years of fame
\IFor Young Adults\i
1973 One More River
1975 Sarah and After
1977 My Darling Villain
1981 The Writing on the Wall
1988 Melusine
\IFor Children\i
1976 The Adventures of King Midas
1977 The Farthest-Away Mountain
1978 I, Houdini
1980 The Indian in the Cupboard (filmed 1995)
1984 Maura's Angel
1985 The Fairy Rebel
1986 Return of the Indian
1989 The Secret of the Indian
1992 The Magic Hare
1993 Mystery of the Cupboard
1994 Broken Bridge
1996 Harry the Poisonous Centipede
1997 Angela and Diabola
\IHistory\i
1979 Letters to my Israeli Sons
1982 Torn Country, USA
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"Banks, Nathaniel P(rentiss)",3140,0,0,0
DT (1816-1894)
EN U.S. representative, soldier; born in Waltham, Mass. Largely self-educated, he became a lawyer (1839) but turned to publishing. He then served in the \JMassachusetts\j legislature (1849-53) before going to the \JHouse of Representatives\j (Dem., 1853-55; Know-Nothing, 1855-57); he was Speaker of the House (1856-57). Turning Republican, he became governor of \JMassachusetts\j (1858-60).
Shortly after succeeding George McClellan as head of the Illinois Central Railroad (1860-61), he was commissioned a major general with the Union army. He led Federal forces in several unsuccessful actions against Stonewall Jackson, but succeeded in capturing Port Hudson, La., (1863); however, after the disastrous Red River Campaign of 1864, he resigned from the army. He returned to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Rep., 1865-73; Dem., 1875-77; Rep., 1877-79; Rep., 1889-91).
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"Banks, Sir Joseph",3141,0,0,0
DT (1743-1820)
EN British naturalist and statesman of science.
Educated at Harrow, \JEton\j and Oxford, Banks was wealthy and able to indulge his interest in science; he was a passionate and skilful botanist and this took him on several major expeditions at his own expense. The best known of these began in 1768; young Banks had learned that Cook was to sail to the south Pacific to observe the transit of Venus in 1769 and realized this would be a great opportunity to see entirely new plants and animals.
He joined the expedition, which lasted 3 years, with his staff of eight, and returned with a large collection of new specimens to find himself a celebrity. The voyage was the first to be organized and equipped for biological work, even though the Government's secret plan was political - to secure a territorial advantage over the French. Banks brought back 1300 new plant species, as well as the idea that \JBotany Bay\j would form a suitable penal settlement.
He became president of the Royal Society in 1778 and held the post for 42 years, as the dominant personality in British science. His successes included the introduction of the tea plant in India (from China) and breadfruit in the Caribbean (after a frustrated first attempt in which HMS Bounty, carrying the breadfruit, was diverted by a mutiny). Banks did much to establish the Botanic Garden at Kew, which he planned as a major collecting centre and source of advice on all aspects of plants.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Jonathan Swift invented the schism in Lilliput between the Big-Endians and the Little-Endians, which features in his book \IGulliver's Travels,\i possibly as a sort of \Jparody\j of the predecessors of the political correctness we know in today's society. The Lilliputian argument centred on which end of a boiled egg should be attacked to open the egg. Surely nobody thought that so soon after, fact would closely imitate fiction, but it did, when the Blunt-Endians and the Pointed-Endians engaged in a real-life brawl over pointed-end or blunt-end \Jlightning\j conductors.
After Benjamin Franklin flew his famous kite, he recommended the use of pointed-end \Jlightning\j conductors. When the Royal Navy asked the Royal Society for their advice, they echoed Benjamin Franklin. Use pointed ends on your \Jlightning\j rods, the Royal Society said.
We know now that charge accumulates far better at a point, so Franklin and the Royal Society were right, and this could have been proved by experiment. But then politics reared its ugly head. Franklin, you see, was more than a scientist, publisher, inventor and kite flier. He was a signatory to the American \JDeclaration of Independence\j, a rebel, in fact. And that made him a person undesirable to the person of King George the Third of \JGreat Britain\j, better known to Americans simply as "King George", or, with reasonable accuracy, as "mad King George".
Franklin was \Ipersona non grata\i to the \Inon compos mentis,\i you might say. And here, in the middle of London, were the gentlemen of the Royal Society siding almost treasonably with revolutionaries. That, at least, was how Farmer George saw it. But there were others who supported the King and argued that a knobby end on the \Jlightning\j rod was better. So when the Royal Navy suffered a \Jlightning\j strike at Purfleet in 1775, right on the magazine where the navy stored its \Jgunpowder\j, the knob-endians were delighted, and not just with the bang. Clear evidence, they cried that the pointed rod at Purfleet was incapable of doing the job.
George had the pointed conductors removed from his palace, to be replaced by knobby ones, and required the Royal Society's members to reverse their stand. Their President, Sir John Pringle, answered icily that the Royal Society was unable to reverse the laws of nature. These days, we can explain George's health problems (he almost certainly had \Jporphyria\j) but even in his own time, people doubted his sanity. One wit reported having seen George conversing with a tree, and claimed the tree had got the better of the exchange.
But ill or not, George was a man of influence. He had to be kept happy, and it seems that when the time came to replace Sir John Pringle as President, the Royal Society was willing to replace him with somebody favoured by the king, Joseph Banks. Banks was in high favour with the king, and this was due in no small part to his tour to southern parts with James Cook. But he had also been a Fellow of the Royal Society since 1766, he had served on its council several times, and he was quite wealthy.
So the well-qualified Banks was elected and served as President of the Royal Society for forty two years. From this position, Banks could influence many things, including the establishment of a convict settlement at his beloved \JBotany Bay\j. And so the world got \JAustralia\j. Banks also succeeded in having \JKew Gardens\j in London established, and he sent off many botanical explorers around the world, including one William Bligh in command of H.M.S. \IBounty,\i and Robert Brown. Matthew Flinders was another protegΘ of Banks.
His name lives on in the Australian plant \Jgenus\j Banksia, a name given by the son of Linnaeus, and in the scientific name of a common Pacific brown alga, Neptune's Necklace, or \IHormosira banksii.\i As well as that, \JAustralia\j commemorates him with a number of place names derived from the name Banks.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"banksia",3142,0,0,0
EN A low shrub or small tree, native to \JAustralia\j; leaves sometimes very small, usually narrow, sharply toothed, leathery; flowers commonly cream, also orange, red, or purplish with four \Jperianth\j segments and protruding style; up to 1000 in spectacular globular or cylindrical heads up to 40╫18┐cm / 15╫7┐in, which become cone-like in fruit with woody capsules, shaggy with persistent remains of flowers.
Typical of dry bush country, most species are adapted to withstand fires, re-sprouting from woody tubers or trunks protected by thick fibrous bark; in many the capsules open only after experiencing strong heat, remaining closed for years before releasing seeds onto ground newly cleared by fire. It is named after Sir Joseph Banks. \B(Genus:\b \IBanksia,\i 58 species. \BFamily:\b Proteaceae.)
BK b
#
"Bann, River",3143,0,0,0
EN Major river in Northern Ireland; rises in the Mourne Mts, and flows 40┐km / 25┐mi north-west to enter the S end of Lough Neagh; flows N for 53┐km / 33┐mi through Lough Beg to enter the Atlantic.
BK b
#
"Banna, al-",3144,0,0,0
EN See al-Banna, Hassan
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#
"Bannatyne, George",3145,0,0,0
DT1 1545
DT2 1608
EN Antiquary and collector of poems, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. He became a wealthy merchant in Edinburgh, but his claim to fame was his 800-page manuscript of early Scottish poetry of the 15th and 16th-c (the \IBannatyne Manuscript).\i The Bannatyne Club was founded in his honour in 1823 to encourage the study of Scottish history and literature.
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#
"Banneker, Benjamin",3146,0,0,0
DT (1731-1806)
EN astronomer, mathematician; born near Baltimore, Md. Grandson of an Englishwoman and a freed black slave, but son of a slave father and freed black mother, he was allowed to attend a local elementary school where he showed a talent for math and science. As a youth, he made a clock entirely out of wood that kept time for some 50 years. Although his main occupation was farming, he devoted his spare time to applied sciences.
Between 1792-1802, he published an almanac that used his astronomical and tide calculations and his \Jweather\j predictions along with proverbs, poems, and essays contributed by himself and others; this almanac was often cited by opponents of \Jslavery\j as evidence of African-Americans' abilities. Thomas Jefferson, who knew of Banneker's work, had him hired in 1791 to assist the surveyors laying out the new capital and the District of Columbia.
He in turn did not shrink from urging Jefferson to abolish \Jslavery\j and to adopt more progressive policies for black Americans, of whom he was probably the best known in his \Jday\j and for some decades.
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#
"Banner System",3147,0,0,0
EN A military organization in China set up by Nurhachi to reduce tribal divisions between the Manchu peoples. Companies of 300 troops under first four then eight differently coloured banners were organized. The army of 170┐000 bannermen made possible the Manchu conquest of China and the establishment of the Qing dynasty (1644).
BK b
#
"Bannerman, Helen Brodie",3148,0,0,0
HS , \InΘe\i \BBoog Watson\b
DT1 1826
DT2 1946
EN Children's writer and illustrator, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. Her husband was a doctor in the Indian Medical Service and she spent much of her life in India, where she produced the children's classic, \IThe Story of Little Black Sambo\i (1899), and several other illustrated books for children.
SX f
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"Bannister, Edward (Mitchell)",3149,0,0,0
DT (1828-1901)
EN painter; born in St. Andrews, New \JBrunswick\j, Canada. A prominent Negro painter in his \Jday\j, he moved to \JBoston\j (c. 1848), studied at the Lowell Institute under William Rimmer (1855), and settled in Providence, R.I. (c. 1870). His recently rediscovered landscapes, such as \IFishing\i (1881), were painted in the naturalistic Barbizon style, a French approach popular in America (c. 1830-70).
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#
"Bannister, Jack (John)",3150,0,0,0
DT 1760-1836
EN English actor. After moderate successes in tragedy at Drury Lane, he began a new career as a comedian when he created the part of Don Ferolo Whiskerandos in Sheridan's The Critic (1779). A popular light comedian with a fair singing voice, he was particularly associated with the summer seasons at the Haymarket under George Colman the younger, who wrote parts for Bannister and helped him to compile one of the first authentic one-man shows under the title of Bannister's Budget.
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#
"Bannister, Nathaniel (Harrington)",3151,0,0,0
DT 1813-47
EN American actor and playwright. The author of at least 40 plays, ranging through ancient history (Gaulantus the Gaul, 1836), local incidents (The Maine Question, 1839), romantic comedy (The Gentleman of Lyons, 1838) and moral dilemmas (The Destruction of \JJerusalem\j, 1837), Bannister wrote mainly spectacles to please the public. Putnam, the Iron Son of '76 (1844) enchanted audiences with horses on stage.
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#
"Bannister, Sir Roger (Gilbert)",3152,0,0,0
DT1 1929
EN Athlete and neurologist, born in Harrow, NW Greater London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and completed his medical training at St Mary's Hospital, London, in 1954.
At an \Jathletics\j meeting at Iffley Road, Oxford, on 6 May 1954, he became the first man to run the mile in under 4 minutes (3┐min 59.4┐s), with the help of pacemakers. He was knighted in 1975, and appointed Master of Pembroke College, Oxford, 1985--93.
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#
"Bannockburn, Battle of",3153,0,0,0
EN (1314) A battle fought near Stirling between English forces under Edward II and the Scots under Robert Bruce. It resulted in a decisive victory for the Scots. The English army was largely destroyed, and many English nobles were killed or captured. The battle made Bruce a national hero, and inspired Scottish counter-attacks against N England.
BK b
#
"Banpo or Pan-p'o",3154,0,0,0
EN The remains of a 6000-4000 BC \JYangshao\j village at \JXian\j, on the Yellow River, China. Excavated in the 1960s, 46 round, sunken houses have been found from an estimated total of 200. \JMillet\j, pottery kilns, \JYangshao\j painted pots with bird, fish and frog motifs, stone tools, and 174 burials (including a coffin) have been found, with evidence of a hierarchical social structure. The population probably exceeded 600.
BK b
#
"banteng or banting",3155,0,0,0
EN A rare south-east Asian ox \I(Bos javanicus); \i long upward-curving horns; male black with white rump and 'stockings'; females brown; inhabits forests and dry regions; often nocturnal; shy; domesticated form called \BBali \Jcattle\j; \b can be cross-bred with zebu; also known as \Btsaine\b or \Btembadau.\b
BK b
#
"Banting, Sir Frederick Grant",3156,0,0,0
DT (1891-1941)
EN Canadian physiologist: co- discoverer of \Jinsulin\j.
Banting studied in Toronto for the church, but after a year changed to medicine and, after graduation in 1916, joined the Canadian Army Medical Corps, winning an MC for gallantry in action in 1918. After the war he set up a practice in London, \JOntario\j, and also worked part-time in the \Jphysiology\j department of the University of Toronto.
Diabetes mellitus is a disease in which \Jglucose\j appears copiously in the blood and urine, disturbing the \Jmetabolism\j. It is not curable and until Banting's work it was always fatal. It was known that the disease was linked to failure of the \Jpancreas\j and probably to the cells in it known as the islets of Langerhans.
In 1921 Banting devised a possible method for obtaining from these islets the unknown hormone that was suspected of controlling \Jglucose\j levels and whose absence would cause the disease. J J River Macleod (1876-1935), professor of \Jphysiology\j at Toronto, was not impressed by the research plan or by Banting's skills, but eventually gave him the use of a university laboratory, experimental dogs and a recently qualified assistant, C H Best (1899-1978), to try the method while Macleod himself went on holiday.
In 1922, after 8 months' work, they announced their success. Extracts of a hormone (\Jinsulin\j) were obtained, and with the help of a chemist, J B Collip (1892-1965), these extracts were purified sufficiently to inject and treat diabetic patients. The effect was dramatic, and since 1923 millions of diabetics have led manageable lives using \Jinsulin\j to control their \Jglucose\j levels. Industrial production of \Jinsulin\j (from pig \Jpancreas\j) began in 1923.
In 1923 a Nobel Prize was awarded to Banting and Macleod. Banting was furious at the omission of Best and shared his half-prize with him; Macleod shared his with Collip. Banting became a professor at Toronto. When the Second World War began he joined an army medical unit and researched on war gases, but was killed in an air crash in Newfoundland.
In 1926 \Jinsulin\j was isolated in pure form, but it was a generation later before Sanger deduced its chemical structure and 1966 before it was made by synthesis; it is a protein molecule built of 51 amino acid units.
Insulins from different mammalian species differ in one or more amino acid units. For diabetics, \Jinsulin\j from pigs or oxen has long been used but from 1978 human \Jinsulin\j has been available by a genetic \Jengineering\j process based on the bacterium Escherichia coli.
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#
"Bantu-speaking peoples",3157,0,0,0
EN Ethnically diverse groups who speak one of 500 Bantu languages or dialects (which belong to the Benue-\JCongo\j sub-group of the \JNiger\j-\JCongo\j family). They comprise altogether about 60 million people living in the S part of Africa, occupying a third of the continent. They may well have had their origins in the region of modern \JCameroon\j, with a second nucleus of dispersal in the \JKatanga\j area.
From there they spread S interacting with Khoisan peoples, E as far as Madagascar, and north-east where they mingled with coastal Arab traders. Generally regarded as iron-working cultivators, their dispersal occurred in the early years of the Christian era. In South Africa, the term \BBantu\b has been used as a racial classification.
BK b
#
"Bantustans",3158,0,0,0
EN See \Japartheid\j
BK b
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#
"Banville, (Etienne Claude Jean Baptiste) ThΘodore (Faullain) de",3159,0,0,0
PN [bπveel]
DT1 1823
DT2 91
EN Poet and playwright, born in Moulins, \JFrance\j. He was given the title \Iroi des rimes\i (King of Rhymes) for his ingenuity in handling the most difficult forms of verse - the mediaeval ballades and rondels. His \IGringoire\i (1866) holds an established place in French repertory.
SX m
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#
"banyan",3160,0,0,0
EN A large evergreen species of fig \I(Ficus benghalensis),\i native to the Old World tropics. It is notable for its aerial roots, which grow from the horizontal branches to the ground, becoming trunk-like, so that an apparent group of trees may in fact be only one. \B(Family:\b Moraceae.)
BK b
#
"Bao Dai",3161,0,0,0
PN [bow diy]
HS , (Vietnamese 'keeper of greatness'), originally \BNguyen Vinh Thuy\b
DT 1913-1997
EN Indo-Chinese ruler, born in HuΘ, Vietnam, the son of Emperor Khai Dai. He ruled as Emperor of Annam (1932-45), then in 1949, having renounced his hereditary title, returned to \JSaigon\j as chief of the State of Vietnam within the French Union. In 1955 he was deposed and South Vietnam became a republic.
SX m
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#
"baobab",3162,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\bohbab, \Bbow\bbab]
EN A deciduous tree \I(Adansonia digitata)\i native to arid parts of C Africa; its short but massive barrel- or bottle-shaped trunk 9-12┐m / 30-40┐ft high and up to 9┐m / 30┐ft in girth contains large stores of \Jwater\j. The edible pulp of its woody fruits is called \Imonkey bread.\i \B(Family:\b Bombacaceae.)
BK b
#
"baptism",3163,0,0,0
EN A sacramental practice involving \Jwater\j, symbolizing initiation into a church. The Christian ritual is usually traced to the \JNew Testament\j, where new converts were immersed in \Jwater\j \I(Acts\i 8.38-9) and where the rite was linked with the imparting of the Spirit and with a confession of repentance and faith \I(Acts\i 2.38, 10.47).
Jesus Christ's \Jbaptism\j by John marked the start of his ministry. Today, Church practices vary over infant and adult \Jbaptism\j, and over the use of immersion or sprinkling.
BK b
#
"Baptist, John the",3164,0,0,0
EN See John the Baptist, St
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"baptistery / baptistry",3165,0,0,0
EN A church or part of a church used to administer \Jbaptism\j, and containing the font.
BK b
#
"Baptists",3166,0,0,0
EN A worldwide communion of Christians, who believe in the \Jbaptism\j only of believers prepared to make a personal confession of faith in Jesus Christ. They have certain links with the 16th-c \JAnabaptists\j, but mainly derive from early 17th-c England and Wales, where Baptist churches spread rapidly, and in the USA, where the first Baptist church was established in 1639, at Providence, RI.
A rapid increase took place in the late 18th-c and 19th-c in the USA, especially among the Southern black population. Black Baptist churches, and their ministers, played an important role in the \Jcivil rights\j movement of the 1960s, led by Martin Luther King. Strongly biblical, the emphasis in worship is on scripture and preaching.
Individual congregations are autonomous, but usually linked together in associations or unions. The Baptist World Alliance was formed in 1905. In 1990 there were over 140 member denominations, representing over 35 million baptized members.
BK b
#
"Baqqarah or Baggara",3167,0,0,0
PN [baga\Bra\b]
EN A nomadic Arabic-speaking people of the \JSudan\j, possibly descended from \JArabs\j who migrated during the \JMiddle Ages\j from \JEgypt\j to Chad and then eastwards. They lack any centralized political authority. \JCattle\j are kept in the arid region between the Nile and Lake Chad, migrating seasonally in search of \Jwater\j. Population c.5 million.
BK b
#
"bar",3168,0,0,0
EN Unit of pressure; symbol bar; equal to 10\U5\u┐Pa (pascal, SI unit); 1┐bar is approximately \Jatmospheric pressure\j. The \Bmillibar\b (mb; 1┐bar┐=┐1000┐mb) proves to be of greater use for practical measurements. At sea level, \Jatmospheric pressure\j is c.1013.25┐mb.
BK b
#
"bar Kokhba, Simon",3169,0,0,0
PN [\Bkokh\bba]
HS , also spelled \Bbar Kochba\b
DT1 ?
DT2 135
EN Jewish leader in Palestine. With the rabbi Akiba ben Joseph, he led a rebellion of Jews in Judaea from 132 in response to the founding of a Roman colony (Aelia Capitolina) in \JJerusalem\j. It was suppressed by \JHadrian\j with ruthless severity, and he was killed at the Battle of Bethar.
MEX Akiba ben Joseph; \JHadrian\j
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bar Mitzvah",3170,0,0,0
PN [bah(r) \Bmits\bva]
HS (Heb 'son [\Ibar\i ] / daughter [\Ibat\i ] of the commandment')
EN Jewish celebrations associated with reaching the age of maturity and of legal and religious responsibility, being 13 years plus one \Jday\j for boys. The child reads a passage from the \JTorah\j or the Prophets in the \Jsynagogue\j on the Sabbath, and is then regarded as a full member of the congregation. Non-Orthodox synagogues have a \BBat Mitzvah\b ceremony for girls at 12 years plus one \Jday\j.
BK b
#
"Bar, Confederation of",3171,0,0,0
EN (1768) A military alliance of Polish gentry established at Bar, Podolin, directed against the Russian-backed king, Stanislas Poniatowski. The Confederation advocated the preservation of the privileges of the Polish aristocracy and the \JCatholic Church\j. Its suppression in 1772 led to the first partition of \JPoland\j.
BK b
#
"BΣr, Karl Ernst von",3172,0,0,0
EN See Baer, Karl Ernst von
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Bar-Daisan",3173,0,0,0
EN See Bardesanes
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Bar-Hebraeus",3174,0,0,0
EN See Abu al-Faraj
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Bara, Theda",3175,0,0,0
DT (1890-1955)
EN movie actress; born in \JCincinnati\j, Ohio. The daughter of a tailor, she acted briefly in stock companies and then showed up in \JHollywood\j as an extra. The creation of the \JHollywood\j studio machine, she was assigned her new name, billed as the daughter of an Eastern potentate, and turned into an overnight star in \IA Fool There Was\i (1915).
Known as "the Vamp" becamse of her screen portrayals of exotic "man-hungry" women, her famous line, "Kiss me, my fool!" and the offscreen image she cultivated (such as giving interviews while stroking a snake), she made some 40 movies, most by 1919. That year she went to New York to become a Broadway actress, but her reputation did her no good so she returned to \JHollywood\j. By this time, though, changing tastes made her seem absurd, and after a few more unsuccessful movies, she retired in 1926 and effectively vanished.
BK AmBg
#
"Barabbas",3176,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bra\bbas]
DT1 1
DT1b st-c
EN Political rebel and murderer (as described in \IMark\i 15, \ILuke\i 23), who was arrested but apparently released by popular acclaim in preference to Pilate's offer to release Jesus of \JNazareth\j. He was possibly also called 'Jesus Barabbas' (in some manuscripts of \IMatt\i 27.16-17).
MEX Jesus Christ
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Baraga, (Irenaeus) Frederic",3177,0,0,0
DT (1797-1868)
EN Catholic missionary; born in \JAustria\j. A parish priest, he emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1830 and worked among Chippewa and \JOttawa\j Indians in upper \JMichigan\j, where he became vicar apostolic (1853) and ultimately bishop (1865). He published devotional works and a grammar and dictionary of Indian languages.
BK AmBg
#
"Baraka, Imamu Amiri",3178,0,0,0
DT1 1934
EN Writer and political activist, born in Newark, \JNew Jersey\j, USA. He studied at Howard University, travelled widely, and taught at many institutions, notably the State University of New York, Long Island (from 1980). He published a number of works as Le Roi Jones, then became a Muslim and changed his name (1967).
Based in Newark, NJ, he has worked as a publisher (1958), and founded a repertory theatre (1965) and a community centre (1966). In addition to his poetry, such as \IReggae or Not!\i (1982), he has written plays, short stories, essays, and nonfiction.
\BMajor Works\b
\IPlays\i
1958 A Good Girl is Hard to Find
1961 Dante (adapted as an autobiographical novel, The System of Dante's Hell, 1965)
1964 Dutchman
1964 The Slave
1964 The Baptism
1964 The Toilet
1967 Slave Ship: A Historical Pageant
1976 S-1
1977 The Motion of History
1979 What was the Relationship of the Lone Ranger to the Means of Production?
\IPoetry\i
1961 Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note
1964 The Dead Lecturer
1967 A Poem for Black Hearts
1969 Black Magic
1970 It's Nation Time
1972 Spirit Reach
1973 Afrikan Revolution
1976 Hard Facts
1979 Selected Poems
1982 Reggae or Not!
\IShort Stories\i
1967 Tales
\IEssays\i
1966 Home: Social Essays
\IOther\i
1963 Blues People: Negro Music in White America
1968 Black Music
1971 Raise Race Rays Raze: Essays since 1965
1982 Money: A Jazz Opera (with George Gruntz)
1984 Daggers and Javelins: Essays 1974-1979
1984 The Autobiography of LeRoi Jones
BK Biog99
#
"Bßrßny, Robert",3179,0,0,0
PN [\Bba\branyuh]
DT1 1876
DT2 1936
EN Physician and otologist, born in Vienna. He headed the ear, nose, and throat unit at \JUppsala\j University in Sweden from 1917, and pioneered the study of the balancing apparatus of the inner ear, for which he was awarded the 1914 Nobel Prize for \JPhysiology\j or Medicine.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Barba, Eugenio",3180,0,0,0
DT1 1936
EN Italian theatre director and founder of Odin Teatret, an experimental theatre company and centre for collective research in performance. In 1979 he established the International School of Theatre Anthropology. His theoretical writings include \IThe Floating Islands\i (1984), \IBeyond the Floating Islands\i (1986), and \IThe Paper Canoe\i (1994).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPublications\i
1984 The Floating Islands
1986 Beyond the Floating Islands
1991 A Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology (with Nicola Savarese)
1994 The Paper Canoe
BK Biog99
#
"Barbados",3181,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)\Bbay\bdos]
EN pop (1995e) 261 000; area 430 sq km/166 sq mi. Most easterly of the Caribbean Is, divided into 11 districts; in the \JAtlantic Ocean\j 320 km/200 mi NW of Trinidad; capital, \JBridgetown\j; other main town, Speightstown; timezone GMT -4; population, 80% African descent, 16% mixed race, 4% European; official language, English; main religion, \JProtestantism\j; unit of currency, \JBarbados\j dollar; island is small, triangular, length 32 km/20 mi (NW--SE), rising to 340 m/1115 ft at Mt Hillaby, ringed by a \Jcoral\j reef; tropical climate, with average annual \Jtemperature\j 26.5░C, mean annual rainfall 1420 mm/56 in; colonized by the British, 1627; self-government, 1961; independent sovereign state within the Commonwealth, 1966; executive power rests with the prime minister, appointed by a governor-general; 21-member Senate, and a House of Assembly with 28 elected members; major industry, tourism; also, sugar cane, rum, molasses; cotton, bananas, onions, vegetables; oil and \Jnatural gas\j; garments, electronic and electrical equipment, medical supplies.
BK Geog99
#
"Barbara, St",3182,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2a c.
DT2 200
EN Christian virgin martyr, the patron saint of artillerymen. According to legend, which seems to have no foundation in historic fact, she was a maiden of great beauty whose father immured her in a tower to discourage suitors. On discovering that she had become a Christian, her father beheaded her, and was instantly struck by \Jlightning\j. Her emblem is a tower. Feast \Jday\j 4 December.
SX f
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#
"Barbarelli, Giorgio",3183,0,0,0
EN See \JGiorgione\j
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XCY y
#
"Barbari, Jacopo de'",3184,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1475
DT2a c.
DT2 1516
EN Venetian painter and engraver. He worked from 1500 in \JGermany\j (where he was known as \BJakob Walch)\b and the Netherlands. From 1510 he was court painter at Brussels. He is chiefly noted for his engravings, mainly of mythological figures, which were influential in the development of N European graphic art.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Barbarossa",3185,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)ba\Bro\bsa]
HS , ('Redbeard'), nickname of \BKhair-ed-Din\b
DT1 ?
DT2 1546
EN Barbary pirate, born in Mitilini, \JGreece\j. With his brothers he became a Turkish corsair, attacking shipping in the Mediterranean. After the execution of his brother Horuk (1518), he captured \JAlgiers\j (1529) and was made admiral of the Ottoman fleet (1533), conquering \JTunisia\j, and defeating the Holy Roman Emperor (Charles V) at Preveza (1538).
MEX Charles V (Emperor)
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BK bg b
#
"Barbarossa, Frederick I",3186,0,0,0
EN See Frederick I (Emperor), known as Frederick Barbarossa ('Redbeard')
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Barbary ape",3187,0,0,0
EN A monkey (\Jmacaque\j) native to N Africa \I(Macaca sylvanus),\i and maintained artificially on the Rock of \JGibraltar\j; not an \Jape\j; stocky with no tail; spends much time on the ground; lives in troops of up to 30 individuals; also known as \Bmagot\b or \Brock \Jape\j.\b
BK b
#
"Barbary Coast",3188,0,0,0
EN The coast of N Africa from Morocco to Tripolitania (\JLibya\j), famous for piracy between the 16th-c and 18th-c. This coast and the Barbary States of Morocco, \JAlgeria\j, \JTunisia\j, and Tripolitania take their name from the Berbers who inhabited this region.
BK b
#
"Barbary sheep",3189,0,0,0
EN See aoudad
BK b
XCY y
#
"barbastelle",3190,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)ba\Bstel\b]
EN A bat, native to Europe, Asia, and N Africa; fur extends onto wings and tail membrane; ears large and broad; flies with slow wingbeats; eats insects. \B(Genus:\b \IBarbastella,\i 2 species. \BFamily:\b Vespertilionidae.)
BK b
#
"Barbauld, Anna Letitia",3191,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)\Bbawld\b]
HS , \InΘe\i \BAikin\b
DT1 1743
DT2 1825
EN Writer, born in Kibworth-Harcourt, Leicestershire, C England, UK. She married a dissenting minister, Rochemont Barbauld, in 1774, and during the next 10 years published her best work, including \IEarly Lessons for Children\i and \IHymns in Prose for Children.\i With her brother she began the well-known series \IEvenings at Home\i in 1792.
SX f
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#
"Barbeau, Jean",3192,0,0,0
DT 1945-
EN Quebec playwright. He followed Michel Tremblay in the use of joual, the popular French of Quebec, in plays such as Manon Lastcall (1970) and Joualez-moi d'amour (Speak to Me of Love, 1970) which deal humorously with the cultural \Jschizophrenia\j of Quebec. Le Chemin de Lacroix (The Way of Lacroix), 0-71 and Ben-Ur, all three published in 1971, concern the social victims of his province's malaise.
Recent plays have turned to more universal concerns, such as Le Jardin de la Maison Blanche (The \JWhite House\j Garden, 1979) and Les Gars (The Guys, 1984), which attack the materialistic values of contemporary North American society.
BK Thea
#
"barbel",3193,0,0,0
EN Slender-bodied fish \I(Barbus barbus)\i of the \Jcarp\j family Cyprinidae, widespread in European rivers on clean gravel beds; body length up to 90┐cm / 3┐ft; lips fleshy, bearing four long barbels; migrate upstream to spawn (Apr-Jun); fine sport fish. The name is also used for other species of the \Jgenus\j.
BK b
#
"Barber, (Walter Lanier) 'Red'",3194,0,0,0
DT (1908-92)
EN \Jbaseball\j broadcaster; born in Columbus, Miss. He was the broadcaster for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees from 1939 to 1966. Known for his colorful phrases, such as "sitting in the catbird seat," he was elected to \Jbaseball\j's Hall of Fame in 1978. He enjoyed a "revival" in the final decade of his life as a weekly sports commentator on the National Public Broadcasting System.
BK AmBg
#
"Barber, Chris",3195,0,0,0
DT1 1930
EN Jazz musician, born in Welwyn Garden City, \JHertfordshire\j, SE England, UK. A trombonist and vocalist, he joined the Ken Colyer band, taking it over in 1954. By the end of the decade the Chris Barber Jazz Band was well established, and had made several hit singles, notably "Petite Fleur', with soloist Monty Sunshine (1928-- ). Several successful albums followed, including \IChris Barber Bandbox\i and \IBest of Chris Barber\i (both 1960).
\BMajor Works\b
\IAlbums\i
1960 Chris Barber Bandbox
1960 Elite Syncopations
1960 Chris Barber, Best of
1968 Chris Barber in Budapest
BK Biog99
#
"Barber, Edwin Atlee",3196,0,0,0
DT (1851-1916)
EN archaeologist; born in Baltimore, Md. While a West Philadelphia postmaster and Ph.D. student, he became the country's leading authority on \Jceramics\j. He was \Jceramics\j curator (1901-07) and director (1907-16) of the \JPennsylvania\j Museum and School of Industrial Arts, Philadelphia. He published numerous standard works on ancient and modern \Jceramics\j.
BK AmBg
#
"Barber, Samuel",3197,0,0,0
DT (1910-81)
EN composer; born in West Chester, Pa. From a musical family, Barber decided on his career in childhood and attended the Curtis Institute of Music from 1924-34. There he wrote the orchestral works \IThe School for Scandal\i and \IMusic for a Scene from Shelly,\i which gained him attention in America and Europe. His \IAdagio for Strings,\i premiered by Toscanini in 1938, was an immediate hit and remains his best-known score.
In the late 1930s Barber joined the Curtis faculty; he left teaching and served in the military from 1942. After the war he settled into a house in Mt. Kisco, N.Y., with composer Gian-Carlo Menotti, who wrote the libretto to Barber's opera \IVanessa\i (1958). His music, long popular with listeners, is marked by a classical clarity often joined to a late-Romantic wistfulness; later work, such as the \JPiano\j \JConcerto\j (a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1963) uses more modernistic techniques without giving up Barber's basic expressiveness.
\IAntony and Cleopatra,\i written for the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera in 1966, was a celebrated failure, although later productions of a revised version fared better.
BK AmBg
#
"Barbera, Joseph (Roland)",3198,0,0,0
EN See Hanna-Barbera
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"barberry",3199,0,0,0
EN A deciduous or evergreen shrub, native to N temperate regions and \JSouth America\j; long shoots with 3-pointed spines; leaves often spiny; flowers yellow, orange, or reddish; berries red or black, globose or cylindrical; several species grown as ornamentals, especially purple-leaved forms.
The common barberry \I(Berberis vulgaris)\i is a necessary host in the life-cycle of the cereal disease \Iblack rust; \i in some countries, especially the USA, attempts to break the life-cycle of the rust have involved the eradication of barberry populations. \B(Genus:\b \IBerberis,\i 450 species. \BFamily:\b Berberidaceae.)
BK b
#
"barbershop quartet",3200,0,0,0
EN A group of singers who perform four-part 'close-harmony' arrangements of popular sentimental songs in a suave, nostalgic style. It is particularly associated with the USA, where it originated in the late 19th-c.
BK b
#
"barbet",3201,0,0,0
EN A plump, brightly-coloured bird, inhabiting the tropics worldwide (especially Africa); usually a forest-dweller; named after its 'beard' of feathers, at the base of a large bill; eats fruit, flowers, and insects. \B(Family:\b \JCapitonidae\j, over 70 species.)
BK b
#
"Barbie, Klaus",3202,0,0,0
HS , known as \Bthe Butcher of Lyon\b
DT1 1913
DT2 91
EN Nazi leader, born in Bad Godesberg, \JGermany\j. He joined the Hitler Youth in 1931, graduating to the SS, and worked for the \JGestapo\j in the Netherlands, \JRussia\j, and finally Lyon, where he sent thousands of people to \JAuschwitz\j. After the War, he fled to \JSouth America\j with his family under an assumed name, but was traced by Nazi hunters, and extradited from \JBolivia\j in 1983. He was tried in \JFrance\j on 177 crimes against humanity, found guilty, and sentenced to \Jlife imprisonment\j.
SX m
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#
"Barbirolli, Sir John (Giovanni Battista)",3203,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)bi\Brol\bee]
DT1 1899
DT2 1970
EN Conductor and cellist, born in London, England, UK of French and Italian parents. He served in World War 1, played in several leading string quartets (1920-4), succeeded Toscanini as conductor of the New York Philharmonic (1937), and returned to England as permanent conductor (1943-58) of the HallΘ Orchestra in Manchester. In 1939 he married oboist \BEvelyn Rothwell\b (1911-) . He was created a knight in 1949, and awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society in 1950.
MEX Toscanini
SX m
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#
"barbiturates",3204,0,0,0
EN Drugs derived from barbituric acid, itself first prepared on St Barbara's Day, 1863. \IBarbitone\i (US \Ibarbital)\i was introduced into medicine in 1903; \Iphenobarbitone\i (US \Iphenobarbital)\i in 1912. Over 50 different \Jbarbiturates\j have been used at some time as sedatives, sleep inducers, and anti-epileptic drugs.
They cause severe tolerance, ie increasingly higher doses are required to produce the same effect. The doses are progressively more dangerous, and poisoning becomes a major risk; they are also addictive. As sedatives and sleeping pills they have generally been replaced by the safer benzodiazepines.
BK b
#
"Barbizon School",3205,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah(r)\bbizon]
EN A group of French landscape painters working c.1830-80 at Barbizon, a village in the Forest of Fontainbleau. Pioneers of \Iplein air\i painting, they sketched out-of-doors, directly from nature, in a way that foreshadowed the Pre-Raphaelites in England and the Impressionists in \JFrance\j. Leading members were ThΘodore Rousseau (1812-67), Charles Francois Daubigny (1817-78), Narciso-Virgilio Dφaz (1807-76), and Constant Troyon (1810-65).
BK b
#
"Barbo, Praise-God",3206,0,0,0
EN See Barebone or Barbon, Praise-God
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Barbosa, JosΘ Celso",3207,0,0,0
DT (1857-1921)
EN physician, public official, activist; born in Bayam≤n, Puerto Rico. He was the first black to attend Puerto Rico's prestigious Jesuit Seminary, then the island's only secondary institution. After graduating (1875), he attended the University of \JMichigan\j, graduating first in his medical school class (1880).
A life-long political activist and Puerto Rico's first prominent black politician, he formed the Republican Party (July 4, 1899) and was the father of the statehood \Jideology\j. He established the newspaper \IEl Tiempo\i (1907) and was a member of the Puerto Rican Senate (1917-21).
BK AmBg
#
"Barbour, John",3208,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah(r)\bber]
DT1a c.
DT1 1320
DT2 95
EN Poet, clergyman, and scholar, probably born in \JAberdeen\j, north-east Scotland, UK, known as 'the father of Scottish poetry and history'. He was \JArchdeacon\j of \JAberdeen\j from 1357, or earlier, till his death. His national epic, \IThe Brus,\i written in the 1370s, is a narrative poem on the life and deeds of King Robert I, the Bruce, preserving many oral traditions.
MEX Bruce, Robert
SX m
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#
"Barbour, Philip Pendleton",3209,0,0,0
DT (1783-1841);
EN Supreme Court justice; born in Barboursville, Va. He was a member of the Virginia legislature (1812-14) and the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Dem., Va.; 1814-25, 1827-30). President Jackson named him to a federal district court in Virginia (1830) and to the U.S. Supreme Court (1836-41).
BK AmBg
#
"Barbuda",3210,0,0,0
EN See Antigua and Barbuda
BK b
XCY y
#
"Barbusse, Henri",3211,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)bⁿs]
DT1 1873
DT2 1935
EN Novelist, born in AsniΦres, \JFrance\j. A volunteer, he fought in World War 1, which inspired his masterpiece, \ILe Feu\i (1916, trans Under Fire). Other works include \ILe Couteau entre les dents\i (1921, The Knife between the Teeth) and \ILe Judas de JΘsus\i (1927). A noted pacifist, he later settled in the \JSoviet Union\j.
SX m
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#
"Barca, Pedro Calder≤n de la",3212,0,0,0
EN See Calder≤n de la Barca, Pedro
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"barcarolle",3213,0,0,0
EN An instrumental or vocal piece in a lilting 6 / 8 metre, evoking the songs of the Venetian gondoliers. A well-known example is the Barcarolle in Offenbach's opera \ILes Contes d'Hoffman\i (The Tales of Hoffman).
BK b
#
"Barcelona",3214,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)se\Bloh\bna], Span [barthe\Bloh\bna]
EN 41░21N 2░10E, pop (1995e) 1 637 000. Major seaport and capital of \JBarcelona\j province, NE \JSpain\j, 621 km/386 mi NE of Madrid; second largest city in \JSpain\j; airport; railway; car ferries to Mah≤n, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, Canary Is; two universities (1440, 1968); centre of \JCatalan\j art and literature, and of the separatist political movement; textiles, \Jpetrochemicals\j, oil refining, \Jengineering\j, \Jaircraft\j; Gothic Quarter, cathedral (13th-c), Ramblas Palace, Church of the Holy Family, Museum of \JCatalan\j Art, Maritime Museum, Bishop's Palace, Palace of la Virreina art gallery; Casa Mila (1906--10), Casa Gⁿell (1900--14), and Parque Gⁿell (1900--14), architectural creations by Antonio Gaudφ, now world heritage monuments; Fiesta of St George (Apr), Fiesta Mayor (Sep); location of the 1992 Summer \JOlympic Games\j.
BK Geog99
#
"Barclay de Tolly, Mikhail Bogdanovich, Knaz (Prince)",3215,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)\Bkliy\b duh \Btol\byuh]
DT1 1761
DT2 1818
EN Russian soldier of Scottish descent, born in Luhda-Grosshof, Livonia (modern \JEstonia\j and \JLatvia\j). He entered a Russian regiment in 1786 and gained rapid promotion. In the war against \JFinland\j he defeated the Swedes, and forced a surrender by crossing the frozen Gulf of Bothnia in strength (1808).
Tsar Alexander I appointed him minister of war in 1810. Forced to give battle to Napoleon at \JSmolensk\j (1812), he was defeated and was superseded by Kutuzov. He fought at Borodino (1812), was again promoted commander-in-chief after the Battle of Bautzen (1813), served at Dresden and \JLeipzig\j (1813), and took part in the capture of Paris (1814). In 1815 he was made a prince.
SX m
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#
"Barclay, Alexander",3216,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1475
DT2 1552
EN Poet and writer, probably born in Scotland, UK. In 1508 he was chaplain of Ottery St Mary, Devon, and perhaps c.1511 became a monk at Ely. His famous poem, \IThe Shyp of Folys of the Worlde\i (1509), is partly a translation and partly an imitation of the German \IDas Narrenschiff\i (1494, The Ship of Fools) by Sebastian Brant.
MEX Brant, Sebastian
SX m
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#
"Barclay, John",3217,0,0,0
DT1 1582
DT2 1621
EN Satirical writer, born in Pont-α-Mousson, \JFrance\j. He lived in London and \JRome\j and wrote, mostly in Latin, politico-satirical novels directed against the \JJesuits\j, such as \IEuphormio\i (1603), and \IArgenis\i (1621) on allegorical romance.
SX m
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#
"Barclay, Robert (1648-90)",3218,0,0,0
DT1 1648
DT2 90
EN Quaker, born in Gordonstoun, Moray, north-east Scotland, UK. He studied at the Scots College in Paris, returning to Scotland (1664), where he became a Quaker in 1667. He published many tracts in defence of Quakerism, especially \IApology for the True Christian Divinity\i (1678). He became one of the proprietors of East \JNew Jersey\j in 1682, and was appointed its nominal nonresident governor.
SX m
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#
"Barclay, Robert (1843-1913)",3219,0,0,0
DT1 1843
DT2 1913
EN British banker, under whom in 1896 the merger of 20 banks took place to form Barclay & Co Ltd. In 1917 the name was changed to Barclay's Bank Ltd.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Barclay, William",3220,0,0,0
DT1 1907
DT2 78
EN Theologian, religious writer, and broadcaster, born in Wick, Highland, N Scotland, UK. He studied at the universities of Glasgow and \JMarburg\j, and was ordained in the Church of Scotland in 1933. In 1963 he was appointed to the chair of divinity and biblical criticism at Glasgow, from which he retired in 1974.
He is remembered for his many popular writings and broadcasts, such as \IA \JNew Testament\j Wordbook\i (1955). His \IDaily Study Bible\i won international acclaim, and in 1968 he published his own translation of the \JNew Testament\j.
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"Barclay-Allardice, Robert",3221,0,0,0
HS , known as \BCaptain Barclay\b
DT1 1779
DT2 1854
EN Scottish soldier and sportsman, celebrated for walking 1000 mi in 1000 consecutive hours. He succeeded to the estate of Urie in 1797, and joined the army in 1805, before retiring to take up management of his estates. His remarkable walking feat was performed at Newmarket from June to July 1809.
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"barcode",3222,0,0,0
EN A pattern of black vertical lines, with information coded in the relative widths of the lines. This type of coding is very widely used in the retail market, such as on food packages. The barcoded labels can be read by special \Jbarcode\j scanners, and the output entered into a computer to link the product with such factors as price and stock level. There are standards for barcodes, such as the European Article Numbering Code and, in \JNorth America\j, the Universal Product Code.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The main effect of barcodes is social or societal. They save on labour costs in adding price tags to items, and in ensuring high levels of stock control. The "barcoding" of an item, passing it over a \Jlaser\j \Jbarcode\j reader, can be done by unskilled staff, but that simple act registers an amount on a customer's bill at the front of the store. It also records a sale which then registers as a drop in inventory at the back of the store. This change is usually noted on some form of \Jdatabase\j, which can be used to generate automatic orders for extra stock, and also to analyse seasonal variations in sales of stock items.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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#
"bard",3223,0,0,0
EN Among ancient Celtic peoples, a poet-minstrel who held a privileged place in society, singing the praises of chiefs and celebrating heroic deeds, historical events, genealogies, and the passing of laws. The bards of Gaul disappeared under the Roman Empire, but in Ireland, Wales, and the \JGaelic\j-speaking area of Scotland they survived until the 18th-c.
In Wales, the bardic tradition was revived in the Romantic period, and contestants today for the Chair at the National Eisteddfod must compose their poems in the classical bardic verse-form, in strict metre, with \Jalliteration\j and internal rhyming.
BK b
#
"Bard, John",3224,0,0,0
DT (1716-99)
EN physician; born in Burlington, N.J. After practicing medicine in Philadelphia, he moved to New York City (1746). He performed the first recorded dissection of a cadaver in the United States for the purpose of instruction (1750) and the first surgical delivery of a live fetus (1759). He was a precursor of the public sanitation movement in New York City, advocating measures to prevent the spread of yellow fever.
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#
"Bard, Samuel",3225,0,0,0
DT (1742-1821)
EN physician; born in Philadelphia (son of John Bard). He studied medicine in London and Edinburgh and remained in New York City as a Loyalist during the \JAmerican Revolution\j. He helped found the first medical college in New York State (1765), with which he was affiliated until about 1795.
The college was united with Columbia University (1792) and Bard became its dean. He also helped found New York \JHospital\j (1791), the public library, and the New York Dispensary. He was primarily interested in \Jobstetrics\j and \Jmidwifery\j.
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#
"Bardeen, John",3226,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)\Bdeen\b]
DT1 1908
DT2 91
EN Physicist, born in Madison, \JWisconsin\j, USA. He studied electrical \Jengineering\j at \JWisconsin\j University, and mathematical physics at Princeton (1936). After World War 2, he joined a new solid-state physics group at Bell Telephone Laboratories, where with Walter Brattain and William Shockley he developed the point-contact transistor (1947), for which they shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1956.
Professor at Illinois University (1951--75), with Leon Cooper and John Schrieffer he received the Nobel Prize for Physics again in 1972 for the first satisfactory theory of \Jsuperconductivity\j (the \IBardeen--Cooper--Schrieffer\i or \IBCS theory\i), thereby becoming the first person to receive the Nobel Prize for Physics twice.
BK Biog99
#
"Bardesanes",3227,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)de\Bsah\bneez]
HS , also called \BBar-Daisan\b
DT1 154
DT2 222
EN Syrian Christian theologian and poet, born in Urfa, Turkey (formerly Edessa). Known as 'the last of the Gnostics', he wrote numerous hymns, and was the author of \IDialogue of Destiny,\i written in \JSyriac\j.
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"Bardot, Brigitte",3228,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)\Bdoh\b]
HS , originally \BCamille Javal\b
DT1 1934
EN Film actress, born in Paris, \JFrance\j. A ballet student and model, her appearance on the cover of \IElle\i led to her film debut in Jean Boyer's \ILe Trou Normand\i (1952, Crazy for Love). \IEt Dieu crΘa la femme\i (1956, And God Created Woman) established her reputation as a sex kitten.
Her roles exploited an image of petulant sexuality that was reinforced by a much publicized off-camera love life. Her many screen credits include \ILa VeritΘ\i (1960, The Truth), \ILe MΘpris\i (1963, Contempt) and \IViva Maria\i (1965). She retired from the screen in 1973 and has devoted herself to campaigning for animal rights.
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1952 Le Trou Normand (Crazy for Love)
1954 Act of Love
1955 Helen of Troy
1955 Doctor at Sea
1956 Et Dieu crΘa la femme (And God Created Woman)
1960 La VeritΘ (The Truth)
1962 Vie PrivΘe (A Very Private Affair)
1963 Le MΘpris (Contempt)
1965 Viva Maria
1968 Shalako
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#
"Barebone or Barbon, Praise-God",3229,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1596
DT2 1679
EN Leather merchant and controversial Anabaptist preacher, born in London. He was nominated by Oliver Cromwell to sit in the Short Parliament of 1653, which was nicknamed after him the Barebone's Parliament. His fiery preaching attracted huge crowds and often occasioned riots. Fiercely opposed to the restoration of Charles II, he was imprisoned in the Tower in 1661-2.
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"Barebone's Parliament",3230,0,0,0
EN The British 'Parliament of Saints' (4 Jul-12 Dec 1653), nominated by the Council of Officers of the Army to succeed the Rump Parliament; named after radical member Praise-God Barebone. It instituted civil marriage and sought legal reforms; but collapsed after disagreements over the abolition of \Jtithes\j and lay patronage in the Church.
BK b
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"Barenboim, Daniel",3231,0,0,0
PN [\Bba\brenboym]
DT1 1942
EN Pianist and conductor, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Educated at Santa Cecilia Academy in \JRome\j, he studied with his father, then with Nadia Boulanger and others. He made his debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 1953. A noted exponent of Mozart and Beethoven, he gained his reputation as pianist/conductor with the English Chamber Orchestra.
He was musical director of the Orchestre de Paris (1975--87), and musical director-designate of the new Paris OpΘra at the Place de la Bastille in 1987. He became musical director of the \JChicago\j Symphony Orchestra in 1991. In 1967 he married the cellist \BJacqueline du PrΘ\b (d.1987).
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"Barents Euro-Arctic Council",3232,0,0,0
EN An organization established in 1993 to renew trade and economic co-operation in the Barents Sea region. Its members are Denmark, \JFinland\j, \JIceland\j, \JNorway\j, \JRussia\j, and Sweden, with one Sami (Lapp) representative.
EN area 1┐405┐000┐km\U2\u / 542┐000┐mi\U2\u. Shallow arm of the \JArctic\j Ocean, lying N of \JNorway\j and European \JRussia\j; warm North Cape Current disperses pack-ice in the S; \JMurmansk\j and Vard÷ ports are ice-free; fishing area.
BK b
#
"Barents, Willem",3234,0,0,0
PN [\Bba\bruhnts]
HS , also spelled \BBarentz\b
DT1 ?
DT2 1597
EN Dutch navigator. He was pilot to several Dutch expeditions in search of the Northeast Passage, and died off Novaya Zemlya. His winter quarters were found undisturbed in 1871, and in 1875 part of his journal was recovered by another expedition. The \IBarents Sea\i was named after him.
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"BarΦre (de Vieuzac), Bertrand",3235,0,0,0
PN [barair]
DT1 1755
DT2 1841
EN Revolutionary and regicide, born in \JTarbes\j, \JFrance\j. He was originally a moderate in the National Convention, but later helped form the Committee of Public Safety, which he defended with great eloquence. After the fall of Robespierre (1794) he was imprisoned, but escaped. He served under Napoleon, was later exiled at the Restoration, but returned to Paris under an amnesty in 1830.
MEX Robespierre
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"Barham, Richard (Harris)",3236,0,0,0
HS , pseudonym \BThomas Ingoldsby\b
DT1 1788
DT2 1845
EN Humorist, born in Canterbury, Kent, south-east England, UK. He studied at Oxford, was ordained (1813), and in 1821 received a minor canonry of \JSt Paul's Cathedral\j. In 1837 he began his series of \Jburlesque\j metrical tales under his pseudonym which, collected under the title of \IThe Ingoldsby Legends\i (3 vols, 1840-7), became popular for their droll humour, irony, and esoteric learning.
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"Bari",3237,0,0,0
PN [\Bba\bree]
EN 41░07N 16░52E, pop (1995e) 359 000. Seaport and capital town of Bari province, Puglia, SE \JItaly\j; on a peninsula in the Adriatic Sea, NW of Brindisi; archbishopric; airport; car ferries; university (1924); naval college; industrial and commercial centre; \Jpetrochemicals\j, textiles, shipbuilding, food processing, printing, paper making, glass; site of \JItaly\j's first atomic power station; Cathedral of San Nicola (begun 1087); annual Levante Fair (Sep).
BK Geog99
#
"barite",3238,0,0,0
PN [\Bbair\biyt]
EN The mineral form of \Jbarium\j sulphate (BaSO\D4\d), the chief ore of \Jbarium\j. Found in hydrothermal vein deposits, it is used in paints, paper making, and drilling muds; earlier known as \Bbarytes.\b
BK b
#
"barium",3239,0,0,0
PN [\Bbair\bium]
EN Ba, element 56, in Group II of the \Jperiodic table\j, melting point 725░C. It is a very reactive metal. In most of its compounds, it occurs as Ba\U2+\u, eg BaO\D2\d is \Jbarium\j (II) \Jperoxide\j. Its soluble compounds are highly poisonous, but the very insoluble sulphate, BaSO\D4\d, is used in the so-called \Bbarium meal\b to provide material opaque to X-rays.
BK b
#
"bark",3240,0,0,0
EN In its everyday sense, the rough, protective outer layer of the woody parts of trees and shrubs; in botany, the term also embraces several inner tissues, including cork and \Jphloem\j. Continued growth causes the bark to stretch, often cracking, flaking, or peeling in distinctive patterns as it is replaced by new growth from the cambium layers.
BK b
#
"bark beetle",3241,0,0,0
EN A small, dark beetle whose egg chamber is excavated by adults under tree bark. The fleshy, legless larvae tunnel away from the chamber after hatching. Some species carry fungal diseases of trees. \B(Order:\b Coleoptera. \BFamily:\b Scolytidae.)
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#
"bark painting",3242,0,0,0
EN A traditional product of Australian \JAboriginal art\j: human and animal figures, sometimes geometrically stylized but occasionally naturalistic, painted on irregularly-shaped pieces of bark. They were created mainly for use in magical and initiation ceremonies, but sometimes, apparently, for aesthetic delight.
BK b
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"Barke, James",3243,0,0,0
DT1 1905
DT2 58
EN Novelist, born in Torwoodlee, Scottish Borders, south-east Scotland, UK. His novels include \IThe World his Pillow\i (1933) and \IThe Land of the Leal\i (1939), but he is chiefly remarkable for his devoted research on the life of Robert Burns, resulting in a five-volume cycle of novels (1946-54), an edition of \IPoems and Songs of Robert Burns\i (1955), and the posthumous \IBonnie Jean,\i about Burns and Jean Armour.
MEX Burns, Robert
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"Barker, George Granville",3244,0,0,0
DT1 1913
DT2 91
EN Poet, born in Loughton, Essex, south-east England, UK. He lived abroad, teaching at universities in the USA and \JJapan\j, but has lived mainly by his writing. He published his first book of poetry in 1933, his early career suffering by comparison with his contemporary Dylan Thomas.
He wrote prolifically in the following decades, a major work being \IThe True Confession of George Barker\i (1950). He has also published essays, plays, scripts, and novels, and his \ICollected Poems\i appeared in 1987.
MEX Thomas, Dylan
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"Barker, Harley Granville",3245,0,0,0
EN See Granville Barker, Harley
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#
"Barker, Howard",3246,0,0,0
DT1 1946
EN Playwright, born in London, England, UK. He studied history at the University of Sussex. His first play, \ICheek\i, was produced at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1970. He has since written over 20 plays, including \IStripwell\i (1975), \IVictory\i (1983), \IThe Power of the Dog\i (1984), and \IThe Possibilities\i (1988). Later works include \IA Hard Heart\i (1992) and \IThe Europeans\i (1993).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPublished plays\i
1977 Stripwell
1977 Claw
1978 Fair Slaughter
1981 Love of a Good Man
1981 All Bleeding
1981 That Good Between Us
1981 Credentials of a Sympathiser
1981 No End of Blame
1982 Birth on a Hard Shoulder
1982 The Loud Boy's Life
1982 Hang of the Gaol
1983 Victory
1984 The Castle
1984 Scenes from an Execution
1984 Crimes in Hot Countries
1985 Power of the Dog
1985 Passion in Six Days
1985 Downchild
1988 The Last Supper
1988 Lullabies for the Impatient
1988 Possibilities
1989 Pity in History
1990 Seven Lears
1990 Golgo
1990 europeans
1990 Judith
1992 Collected Plays, Vol I
1992 A Hard Heart
1992 The Early Hours of a Reviled Man
1993 Collected Plays, Vol II
1996 Collected Plays, Vol III
\IPoetry\i
1985 Don't Exaggerate
1986 Breath of the Crowd
1987 Gary the Thief/Gary Upright
1991 The Ascent of Monte Grappa
1996 The Tortmann Diaries
\IEssays\i
1989 Arguments for a Theatre
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#
"Barker, Jacob",3247,0,0,0
DT (1779-1871)
EN merchant, financier; born on Swan Island, Maine. He followed his brother to New York City at age 16 to become a seaman, but was persuaded to work for a company that sold goods on commission. He acquired part ownership in a fleet of merchant vessels. His first independent business venture (1801) ended in \Jbankruptcy\j, but he started again as a ship merchant and became wealthy.
Although he lost all his ships to the British in the \JWar of 1812\j, during the war he helped raise money for the American government. In 1815 he founded the Exchange Bank on Wall Street, which failed in 1819. During the depression of 1823, the Life & Fire Insurance Company, of which he was a director, failed; he and six others were indicted for \Jfraud\j, a charge that he fought in letters and published articles.
He moved to Louisiana, became a lawyer, and during the \JCivil War\j, even though he had antisecessionist feelings, he presided over the Bank of Commerce. In 1869, sick and once again poor, he went to live at his son's home in Philadelphia.
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#
"Barker, James Nelson",3248,0,0,0
DT 1784-1858
EN American playwright and poet. Among his plays are America (1805); Tears and Smiles (1807); The Embargo (1808); the first produced American play about Pocahontas, The Indian Princess (1808); and Marmion; or, The Battle of Flodden Field (1812), in which England's treatment of 16th-century Scotland was translated to America.
Barker's greatest contributions are his 11 essays on drama in the Democratic Press and his remarkable tragedy of New England intolerance, Superstition; or, The Fanatic Father (1824).
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"Barker, Ronnie",3249,0,0,0
DT1 1929
EN Comic actor, born in Bedford, \JBedfordshire\j, SC England, UK. An amateur performer, he made his professional debut at Aylesbury Repertory Theatre in \IQuality Street\i (1948). An affable figure, adept at precisely detailed characterizations, tongue-twisting comic lyrics, and saucy humour, his many radio and \Jtelevision\j appearances include \IThe Frost Report\i (1966--7), the widely popular \IPorridge\i (1974--7), \IOpen All Hours\i (1976, 1981--5) and, in partnership with Ronnie Corbett, the long-running \IThe Two Ronnies\i (1971--87). His film roles include \IWonderful Things\i (1958), \IRobin and Marian\i (1976), and \IPorridge\i (1979). He retired in 1987 and his \Jautobiography\j, \IDancing in the Moonlight\i, appeared in 1993.
\BMajor Works\b
\ITelevision\i
1966-7 The Frost Report
1974--7 Porridge
1976, 1981--5 Open All Hours
1971--87 The Two Ronnies
\IFilms\i
1958 Wonderful Things
1976 Robin and Marian
1979 Porridge
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#
"Barker, Sir Ernest",3250,0,0,0
DT1 1874
DT2 1960
EN Political scientist, born in Cheshire, NWC England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and was fellow of several Oxford Colleges before becoming principal of King's College, London (1920-7), and professor of political science and fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge (1928-39). His works include \IReflections on Government\i (1942) and \IPrinciples of Social and Political Theory\i (1951).
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#
"Barkhausen, Heinrich Georg",3251,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)khowzen]
DT (1881-1956)
EN German physicist: developed early microwave components.
Barkhausen moved from his studies at Bremen and G÷ttingen to Dresden, where he became professor of electrical \Jengineering\j. His early research established the theory of the amplifier valve (1911), and he went on to discover the Barkhausen effect (1919). This is the discontinuous way in which the \Jmagnetization\j of a piece of ferromagnetic material rises under an increasing applied field. It occurs because a ferromagnet is made up of many magnetic domains and these change direction or size in a sudden manner.
His work on ultra-high-frequency oscillators and early microwave components was done in 1920 with K Kurz, and was rapidly developed for military radar during the Second World War.
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#
"barking deer",3252,0,0,0
EN See muntjac or muntjak
BK b
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#
"barking wolf",3253,0,0,0
EN See \Jcoyote\j
BK b
XCY y
#
"Barkla, Charles Glover",3254,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah(r)k\bla]
DT1 1877
DT2 1944
EN Physicist, born in Widnes, Lancashire, north-west England, UK. He became professor of physics at London (1909-13) and of natural philosophy at Edinburgh (1913-44). He conducted notable research into X-rays and other short-wave emissions, and was awarded the 1917 Nobel Prize for Physics.
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#
"Barkley, Alben W(illiam)",3255,0,0,0
DT (1877-1956)
EN vice-president, U.S. representative/senator; born in Lowes, Ky. As a U.S. representative and senator, he backed the wartime administrations of Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt. In 1949, under Harry Truman, he became the oldest vice-president to take office, and as "the Veep," became something of a humorous figure.
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#
"Barlach, Ernst",3256,0,0,0
DT 1870-1938
EN German sculptor and playwright. He bridges the symbolist movement (see \Jsymbolism\j) and \Jexpressionism\j. His central theme is salvation. Der tote Tag (The Dead Day, 1917) treats the expressionist generation conflict in religious terms. The hero of Der arme Vetter (The Poor Cousin, 1919) sacrifices his life to save his cousin from \Jmaterialism\j.
Barlach experimented with a modern form of the mystery play in Die Sintflut (The Flood, 1924). Der blaue Boll (Boozer Boll, 1926) is a poetic return to his earlier themes. His writings were banned by the Nazis, and his final work Der Graf von Ratzeburg remained unproduced until 1956, when his plays were revived by Hans Lietzau in Berlin.
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#
"barley",3257,0,0,0
EN A cereal of Middle Eastern origin \I(Hordeum vulgare),\i cultivated in temperate regions; \Jinflorescence\j a dense head with long, slender bristles; grains in 2, 4, or 6 rows. It is more tolerant of \Jdrought\j, cold, and poor soil than wheat, and an important crop in such regions as N Europe.
Germinated grains produce malt used in brewing beer and making whisky; its flour is used in cakes and porridge. It is also an important animal feed. \B(Family:\b Gramineae.)
BK b
#
"Barlow, Joel",3258,0,0,0
DT (1754-1812)
EN poet, diplomat, writer; born in Reading, Conn. He graduated from Yale (1778), and engaged in various activities before becoming a lawyer (1786); his early writings, including his poem, \IThe Vision of Columbus\i (1787; revised as \IThe Columbiad,\i 1807), made him known as one of the "\JHartford\j [or Connecticut] Wits."
Going off to \JFrance\j in 1788 as an agent for a land speculation scheme, he spent the next 17 years there or in London - with time out to serve as U.S. consul in \JAlgiers\j. He supported himself by writing, and although he had become more sympathetic to radical thinkers, by 1794 he had become rich through his investments. On returning to the U.S.A. in 1805, he settled near Washington, D.C.
He was appointed ambassador to \JFrance\j in 1811 and he died in \JPoland\j where he had gone in hopes of negotiating a treaty with Napoleon I. Barlow is probably best known today for his mock epic poem, "Hasty Pudding" (1796).
BK AmBg
#
"Barlow, Peter",3259,0,0,0
DT (1776-1862)
EN British mathematician.
Self-educated, Barlow taught \Jmathematics\j at the Royal Military College, Woolwich, from 1801. Of his books on \Jmathematics\j, the best known is Barlow's Tables (1814) which gives the factors, squares, cubes, square and cube roots, reciprocals and hyperbolic logarithms of all \Jintegers\j from 1 to 10 000. Remarkably accurate, it was familiar to generations of students and was in print until the 1950s.
He also worked on magnetism and devised a method for correcting ships' compasses for deviation due to iron in the ship's structure, by use of an iron plate suitably positioned. The 'Barlow \Jlens\j' is a negative achromatic combination of flint and crown glass used to produce \Jmagnification\j of a photographic or telescopic image.
Used in addition to a camera \Jlens\j as a 'telescopic converter' it will give a \Jmagnification\j of 2x or 3x with acceptably little aberration. A similar use of a Barlow \Jlens\j is between the objective and eyepiece of a \Jtelescope\j, where again it increases \Jmagnification\j by extending the focal length of the main \Jlens\j.
BK Scie
#
"barn",3260,0,0,0
EN See cross-section
BK b
XCY y
#
"barn owl",3261,0,0,0
EN An owl of worldwide distribution; legs feathered; inhabits forests, open country, and habitation; eats small vertebrates, especially mammals and insects; nests in crevices high above ground (or in buildings); sometimes called \Bscreech owl.\b \B(Genus:\b \ITyto,\i 6 species. \BFamily:\b \JTytonidae\j.)
BK b
#
"Barna, Victor",3262,0,0,0
HS , originally \BGy÷z÷ Braun\b
DT1 1911
DT2 72
EN Table tennis player, born in Budapest. He won a record 20 English titles between 1931 and 1953, including five singles titles (1933-5, 1937-8), and also won 15 world titles, including five singles (1930, 1932-5). One of the game's greatest players, he emigrated to \JFrance\j before becoming a British citizen in 1938. After retirement, he played exhibitions and formed the Swaythling Club, a social club for ex-\Jtable tennis\j internationals.
SX m
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#
"Barnabas",3263,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah\bnuhbuhs]
DT1 1
DT1b st-c
EN Christian missionary, originally a Levite from Cyprus called Joseph \I(Acts\i 4.36). He was a companion and supporter of Paul during Paul's early ministry to the Gentiles, but later separated from him after a dispute over John Mark \I(Acts\i 15.36) and went to Cyprus. The so-called \ILetter of Barnabas\i is a spurious 2nd-c work.
SX m
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#
"barnacle",3264,0,0,0
EN A marine \Jcrustacean\j that lives attached by its base to hard substrates or to other organisms; body enclosed within a shell formed of calcareous plates; typically feeds by filtering food particles from the \Jwater\j with modified thoracic limbs \I(cirri); \i c.1000 species, found from the intertidal zone to deep sea; some parasitic on crabs. \B(Subclass:\b Cirripedia.)
BK b
#
"barnacle goose",3265,0,0,0
EN A goose native to the N Atlantic \I(Branta leucopsis).\i In the \JMiddle Ages\j it was thought these geese hatched from goose-necked barnacles. They were thus considered fish, not birds, and were eaten on Friday when only fish was permitted. \B(Family:\b \JAnatidae\j.)
BK b
#
"Barnard's star",3266,0,0,0
EN One of the very few stars which is named after the astronomer who studied it. In June 1916, E E Barnard (1857-1923) of Yerkes Observatory, USA, measured a proper motion of 10.31 seconds of arc per year, still the largest known. In about 180 years this star moves through our sky by a distance equal to the diameter of the full Moon. The second-nearest star to the Sun, distance 1.81 parsec, it is a red dwarf, too faint to see with the naked eye.
BK b
#
"Barnard, Chester (Irving)",3267,0,0,0
DT (1886-1961)
EN businessman, public official, foundation executive; born in Malden, Mass. After working as an engineer with the American \JTelephone\j and Telegraph Company in \JBoston\j (1909-22), he moved on to head the \JPennsylvania\j and then \JNew Jersey\j Bell companies (1922-48). He served on various civic boards and during World War II was president of the United Service Organizations for National Defense (1942-45) and director of the National War Fund (1943-46).
After the war he was a U.S. representative on the Atomic Energy Committee and he chaired various science foundations. His later reputation derives from his books, \IThe Functions of the Executive\i (1938) and \IOrganization and Management\i (1948).
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#
"Barnard, Christiaan (Neethling)",3268,0,0,0
DT1 1922
EN Surgeon, born in Beaufort West, South Africa. He graduated from Cape Town medical school, and after research in America returned to Cape Town in 1958 to work on open-heart surgery and organ transplantion. In December 1967 at Groote Schuur \JHospital\j he performed the first successful human heart transplant.
The recipient, Louis Washkansky, died of \Jpneumonia\j 18 days later, drugs given to prevent tissue rejection having heightened the risk of infection. A second patient, Philip Blaiberg, operated on in January 1968, survived for 594 days. Barnard retired in 1983.
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#
"Barnard, Edward Emerson",3269,0,0,0
DT (1857-1923)
EN US astronomer: discovered Amalthea and Barnard's star.
Despite a background of poverty and poor schooling, Barnard became a professional astronomer with great skill as an observer; he discovered a variety of interesting celestial objects. By the time he was 30 he had found more than 10 comets, and in 1892 he discovered Amalthea, the first new \Jsatellite\j of Jupiter to be discovered for nearly three centuries.
In 1916 he discovered the star with the largest proper motion, a red star 6 light years away which moves across the sky at 10.3" of arc per year and which is now known as Barnard's star. With M Wolf (1863-1932), he showed that 'dark nebulae' were clouds of dust and gas.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
There is a myth that scientists ought to have humble beginnings. Or there used to be such a myth. Now, the days of the self-trained expert are probably behind us, and you need a nice rigorous education from a place of higher learning, with no room for humble beginnings. Even if that training is in a discipline that will be outmoded next week.
What do we do, for example, with specialists in \Jhelium\j-cooled super-conductors when new super-conductors are discovered? All of a sudden, a 98 kelvin super-conductor turns up, one that can be cooled with liquid \Jnitrogen\j, and super-\Jconductivity\j becomes much more low-tech. All of a sudden, there is a whole new range of unemployed experts!
And it gets worse when a one twenty Kelvin super-conductor is announced the week after that, and what happens if they find room-\Jtemperature\j super-conductors a few weeks or a few years later? Not a lot, because most physicists are able to re-train, or redirect their talents at some cost.
A century ago, specialising in blind alleys was much less of a problem. Or it was less of a problem, if only because so many of the scientists then were trained on the job, as they went. Coupled with this, many of them were able to bring to the task skills from outside experience. More important still, they were able to add their amateur enthusiasm, or transfer it to other tasks.
Edward Barnard is a good example. He grew up in a poor family, in Nashville \JTennessee\j, where he later worked for a photographer. That early photographic experience of Barnard the young man was later to be of use to Barnard the famous astronomer.
He started in \Jastronomy\j by buying a \Jtelescope\j and studying the stars. In his spare time, Barnard managed to fit in some university courses, and became well-known for his skills of observation. When the Lick Observatory opened in 1888, he was invited to join their staff.
A year later, Barnard took some of the earliest astronomical photographs, and he was the first to discover a \Jcomet\j with the aid of astronomical photography. Maybe it was just to prove his versatility, but he was also the last astronomer to discover a planetary \Jsatellite\j without the use of photography. The \Jsatellite\j, Jupiter Five, or Amalthea, is also known to Americans as Barnard's \Jsatellite\j, but the rest of the world would hardly remember him by that today. Barnard's lasting memorial around the world is a star, one of the few that bears the name of a person.
Most \Jscience fiction\j readers have heard of Barnard's Star, and many of them probably think that it is fictional. But there really is such a star, a red dwarf that Barnard spotted first. If you ask which star is nearest the \Jsun\j, you expect to be told that it is Alpha Centauri-just four point three light years away. And for the moment, that is correct, but in less than 10 000 years, the answer will be Barnard's Star, just 3.85 light years away. In 10 000 years, it will be almost one and a half light years closer than it is now.
Barnard has a more beautiful memorial, one he created himself, the \IAtlas of Selected Regions of the \JMilky Way\j.\i There are 700 copies of this work around the world, each with 51 original photographic prints. And every single one of these prints was personally checked by Barnard for any imperfections, all 35 700 of them. It was his last work, for Barnard died before the Atlas could be published.
The Atlas is a work of breathtaking beauty, well worth travelling a long way to see. If he had to choose between a star in his name or that book as his memorial, he might just be tempted to choose the book. He was lucky, he got both, and a half-share in a \Jsatellite\j as well.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Barnard, Frederick A. P. (Augustus Porter)",3270,0,0,0
DT (1809-89)
EN college president; born in Sheffield, Mass. This mathematician and scientist was president of Columbia College (later University) (1864-89), which he developed into a major university, admitting women (1883; Barnard College is named for him), establishing the Teachers College and the School of Mines, and pioneering the elective system.
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"Barnard, George Grey",3271,0,0,0
DT (1863-1938)
EN sculptor, collector; born in Bellefonte, Pa. He studied at the Art Institute of \JChicago\j (1880-83), in Paris (1883-87), traveled, and collected medieval antiquities that became part of the \JCloisters\j Museum, New York. Based in New York City from 1896, he was known for his idealized marble sculptures.
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"Barnard, Henry",3272,0,0,0
DT (1811-1900)
EN educator; born in \JHartford\j, Conn. Raised by his prosperous farmer-father, he went to Yale (B.A. 1830) where he came to feel strongly about the need for education of all classes of Americans. He taught at an academy for a year after graduation, then read law and was admitted to the bar (1835); from 1835-36 he traveled in Europe where he met many prominent individuals.
Serving in the Connecticut legislature (1837-39), he set up a board to supervise the common schools of the state and then ended up heading the board; during four years he greatly upgraded the public schools attended by the state's poor. Between 1843-49 he was hired by \JRhode Island\j and effected much the same kind of reforms. By now he was known throughout most of the United States for his advanced views on public education and was much in demand as a speaker.
In 1849 he returned to Connecticut to head a new teachers training school and serve as superintendent of the state's public schools. His writings were spreading his views and in 1855 he founded the \IAmerican Journal of Education; \i as publisher and editor until 1882, he greatly helped to improve public education throughout the United States.
Chancellor of the University of \JWisconsin\j (1858-60) and president of St. John's College (\JAnnapolis\j, Md.) (1866-67), he went on to be the first United States commissioner of education (1867-70). Along with Horace Mann, he earned his status as the foundation-layer of modern public education in America.
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"Barnard, Marjorie Faith",3273,0,0,0
HS , pseudonym \BM Barnard Eldershaw\b
DT1 1897
DT2 1987
EN Novelist, historian, and biographer, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. She studied at Sydney University and became librarian at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. She wrote many books in conjunction with \BFlora Sydney Patricia Eldershaw\b (1897-1956) under their joint pseudonym.
Best known are \IA House is Built\i (1929) and the anti-Utopian novel \ITomorrow and Tomorrow\i (1947, eventually published in unexpurgated form in 1983). Her substantial \IA History of Australia\i (1962) was also a popular work.
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"Barnardo, Thomas John",3274,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)\Bnah(r)\bdoh]
DT1 1845
DT2 1905
EN Physician and philanthropist, the founder of homes for destitute children, born in Dublin. A clerk by profession, he was converted to \JChristianity\j in 1862 and, after a period spent preaching in the Dublin slums, went to London in 1866 to study medicine with the aim of becoming a medical missionary. Instead he founded in 1867, while still a student, the East End Mission for destitute children in Stepney and a number of homes in Greater London, which came to be known as the \IDr Barnardo's Homes.\i
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"Barnato, Barney",3275,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)\Bnah\btoh]
HS , originally \BBarnett Isaacs\b
DT1 1852
DT2 97
EN Financier and speculator, born in London, England, UK. He went out to Kimberley, South Africa, with a small circus in 1873, made a fortune in diamonds there, and engineered the Kaffir boom in mining stocks (1895).
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"Barnave, Antoine (Pierre Joseph Marie)",3276,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)nahv]
DT1 1761
DT2 93
EN French revolutionary, born in \JGrenoble\j, \JFrance\j. He brought back the royal family from their abortive flight to Varennes (1791), but subsequently developed royalist sympathies, advocated a constitutional monarchy, and was guillotined.
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"Barnay, Ludwig",3277,0,0,0
DT 1842-1924
EN German actor. After his years with the Meiningen company as an actor of heroic roles, he made tours of England and America. In 1883 he was a co-founder with L'Arronge of the Deutsches Theater, though he soon left the company to start his own Berliner Theater in 1887. His last years were spent directing the Berlin Royal Theatre and the Court Theatre in Hannover.
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"Barnburners",3278,0,0,0
EN A faction within the US Democratic Party in New York State (in the 1840s), which arose through opposition to extending \Jslavery\j into Western territory conquered during the Mexican War. Many Barnburners, led by former President Van Buren, joined the Free Soil Party in 1848. Their name derived from the story of a Dutch farmer who burned down his barn (the Democratic Party) in order to drive out rats (slavery).
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"Barnes, Albert Coombs",3279,0,0,0
DT (1872-1951)
EN pharmacologist, art collector; born in Philadelphia. He studied at Philadelphia Medical School (M.D. 1892), and interned at the State \JHospital\j of the Insane, Warren, Pa. After study and travel in Europe, he devoted himself to chemical research, developing a new \Jantiseptic\j, Argyrol (1902), that made him a fortune.
By 1905 he began collecting late-19th- and early-20th-century French art, wrote several books on art, and in 1922 established the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pa., where he housed his collection. Dogmatic in his ideas about art, and ornery in his dealings with art professionals, he allowed only a select few individuals to view his collection during his lifetime.
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"Barnes, Clive Alexander",3280,0,0,0
DT 1927-
EN English-born American dance and drama critic. Born in London, he went to the United States in 1965 as dance and later drama critic for the New York Times and the New York Post. Noted for his clever style, Barnes has been accused of being pro-British and of supporting the avant-garde more than the Broadway theatre.
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"Barnes, Djuna",3281,0,0,0
DT (1892-1982)
EN writer, poet; born in Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y. She studied at Pratt Institute and the Art Students League, N.Y., illustrated, and wrote short stories, poetry, and plays. She became an expatriate in Paris (1920-40), then returned to New York City where she lived as a virtual recluse (1940-82). Her best known work is \INightwood\i (1936), a modernist novel praised by T. S. Eliot.
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"Barnes, Ernest William",3282,0,0,0
DT1 1874
DT2 1953
EN Anglican clergyman, born in Birmingham, West Midlands, C England, UK. He studied at Cambridge where, as one of the most outstanding mathematical scholars of his time, he became a lecturer in 1902. He was ordained in 1908, became Master of the Temple in 1915, and Bishop of Birmingham in 1924. His strongly-held modernist and pacifist views involved him in continued controversy within the \JChurch of England\j.
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"Barnes, John (Charles Bryan)",3283,0,0,0
DT1 1963
EN Footballer, born in Kingston, \JJamaica\j. He played for Watford, moving to Liverpool in 1988, and to Newcastle in 1997. By early 1997 he had won 79 caps playing for England.
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"Barnes, Julian",3284,0,0,0
DT1 1931
EN Playwright and writer of screenplays, born in London, England, UK. His only major commercial success has been \IThe Ruling Class\i (1968). Later plays, which include \IThe Bewitched\i (1974), \ILaughter\i (1978), \IRed Noses\i (1985), and \ISunset and Glories\i (1990), show him to be a master of non-naturalistic techniques drawn from Elizabethan theatre, mediaeval and 19th-c \Jfarce\j, German Expressionist drama, and the \Icommedia dell'arte\i. Other plays include \ILunar Park Eclipsis\i (1995) and \ICorpsing\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPlays\i
1968 The Ruling Class
1974 The Bewitched
1978 Laughter
1985 Red Noses
1990 Sunset and Glories
1995 Lunar Park Eclipsis
1996 Corpsing
\IRadio plays\i
1973 My Ben Jonson
1979 The Two Hangmen (from Wedekind and Brecht)
1981 Barnes' People One
1981 The Jumping Minuses of Byzantium
1983 A Mad World My Masters (from Middleton)
1983 Barnes' People Two
1984 The Primrose Path (from Feydeau)
1986 The Old Law (from Middleton, Rowley and Massinger)
1986 Barnes' People Three
1987 Don Juan and Faust (from Grabbe)
1987 The Magnetic Lady (from Jonson)
1989 More Barnes' People
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"Barnes, Thomas",3285,0,0,0
DT1 1785
DT2 1841
EN Editor and journalist, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, became dramatic critic of \IThe Times\i in 1809, and editor in 1817, a post which he held for 24 years. During his editorship \IThe Times\i became known as 'the Thunderer'.
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"Barnes, William",3286,0,0,0
DT1 1801
DT2 86
EN Pastoral poet, born in Sturminster Newton, \JDorset\j, S England, UK. He taught in a school at Dorchester, then went to Cambridge and took \Jholy orders\j. He became \Jcurate\j of Whitcombe in 1847, and \Jrector\j of Winterborne Came, \JDorset\j, in 1862. His three volumes of poetry were collected in 1879 as \IPoems of Rural Life in the \JDorset\j Dialect.\i He also wrote several philological works.
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"Barnet, (Charles Daly) Charlie",3287,0,0,0
DT (1913-91)
EN bandleader; born in New York City. He was a saxophonist from a New York socialite family who led his first band on the \IS.S. Republic\i in 1929 and subsequently played on many Atlantic crossings for the Cunard and Red Star lines. In 1933 he formed a big band in New York, and in the following year it became the first white orchestra to appear at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. His personal wealth enabled him to resist racial and musical barriers, and he became one of the first bandleaders to routinely employ African-American musicians and to perform compositions by Duke Ellington.
In 1939 he recorded his hit theme song "\JCherokee\j," and he continued to lead an orchestra until 1949, when he disbanded. He occasionally formed bands for specific engagements in the 1950s and 1960s. His \Jautobiography\j, \IThose Swinging Years,\i was published in 1984.
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"Barnett, Samuel A(ugustus)",3288,0,0,0
DT1 1844
DT2 1913
EN Anglican clergyman and social reformer, born in \JBristol\j, south-west England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and in 1873 went to a Whitechapel parish where his sympathy with the poor of London was aroused. In 1884 he founded Toynbee Hall in Whitechapel, and went on to advocate other educational reforms, poor relief measures, and universal pensions. In 1894 he became Canon of \JBristol\j, and from 1906 was Canon of Westminster.
MEX Toynbee
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"Barneveldt, Jan van Olden",3289,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah(r)\bnevelt]
DT1 1547
DT2 1619
EN Dutch statesman and lawyer, born in Amersfoort, The Netherlands. As adviser to Prince Maurice, he opposed his warlike schemes and in 1609 concluded a truce with \JSpain\j. This caused a political rift which eventually resulted in his being represented as a secret friend of \JSpain\j. He was illegally arrested, condemned as a traitor, and executed.
MEX Maurice (Prince of Orange)
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"Barney, Joshua",3290,0,0,0
DT (1759-1818)
EN naval officer; born in Baltimore, Md. He served with distinction in the \JAmerican Revolution\j (he was three times captured and imprisoned). His management of the flotilla in the Chesapeake Bay and his conduct at the battle of Bladensburg (1814) were outstanding events during the \JWar of 1812\j.
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"Barney, Natalie Clifford",3291,0,0,0
DT (1876-1972)
EN hostess, writer; born in Dayton, Ohio. Born into a wealthy family (her grandfather made railroad cars), she was educated at a French boarding school, becoming completely bilingual. She finished her schooling at a private school for girls in New York City (1894), then was introduced into society in Washington, D.C.; her beauty, wealth, artistic talents, and personal charm led to several engagements, but, finding herself attracted to her own sex, she went to Paris in 1898.
She soon became one of the most notable lesbians of her time, and while she wrote poetry, plays, fiction, and epigrams, she was mostly admired for the support she gave to other women writers and for her various love affairs with women. Her international salon at her home on rue Jacob attracted the cultivated and artistic from several lands for some 60 years and inspired much of her own writing.
Remy de Goncourt addressed his \ILettres └ l'Amazone\i (1912-13) to her, and one of her volumes of epigrams was called \IPensΘes d'une Amazone.\i (She did most of her writing in French.) Her most enduring relationship (1915-70) was with the American painter, Romaine Brooks. Her memoirs such as \ISouvenirs indiscrets\i (1960) and \ITraits et portraits\i (1963) provide an invaluable testimony to the world she inhabited.
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"Barney, Nora Stanton (b. Blatch)",3292,0,0,0
DT (1883-1971)
EN civil engineer, architect, suffragist; born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England (daughter of Harriet Stanton Blatch, granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton). She moved to New York City as a girl. The first female civil \Jengineering\j graduate from Cornell University, she began in 1914 to design and build houses, and after 1923 became a prominent developer of exclusive houses in suburban Connecticut. She led the fight in New York State for women's suffrage and was a lifelong activist on behalf of feminism and peace.
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"Barnhart, Clarence L. (Lewis)",3293,0,0,0
DT (1900-93)
EN lexicographer; born near Plattsburg, Mo. Beginning his career at the publishing firm of Scott, Foresman, he joined forces with the educator and psychologist Edward L. Thorndike to edit the Thorndike-Barnhart school dictionaries, for many years the most widely used school dictionaries in the U.S.A. But perhaps his most lasting contribution to lexicography was his editing of the \IAmerican College Dictionary\i (1947), which introduced the participation of leading linguists and psychologists and was the forerunner of the entire line of Random House dictionaries.
With his son Robert he also edited the two-volume \IWorld Book Dictionary\i (first published 1963), which is sold as part of the \IWorld Book Encyclopedia.\i He was also active in promoting a more linguistically informed approach to reading in association with the linguist Leonard Bloomfield and edited \ILet's Read: A Linguistic Approach\i (1961).
He founded his own publishing company, Barnhart Books, which with his son David published periodic compilations of new words (neologisms), subsequently collected in book form. He is widely regarded as the doyen of American lexicographers of the twentieth century.
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"Barnum, P(hineas) T(aylor)",3294,0,0,0
DT (1810-91)
EN showman; born in Bethel, Conn. The self-proclaimed prince of humbug, he was a publisher when he became intrigued by Joice Heth, a black woman claiming to be George Washington's nurse; he successfully promoted her in the late 1830s. In 1842 he opened his New York museum of natural history and "curiosities," including "the Egress" and the midget, Tom Stratton ("General Tom Thumb"), whom he took to meet Queen Victoria.
In 1850 he brought Jenny Lind, the Swedish singer, to America. In 1855 he published the first edition of his \Jautobiography\j, \IThe Life of P. T. Barnum.\i He knew what the public wanted and how to promote his unique attractions. In 1871 he introduced "The Greatest Show on Earth," a three ring circus which he transported by rail.
Joining with rival James Bailey in 1881, he featured exotic animals, including one he advertised as "the last mastodon on \Jearth\j" (actually, Jumbo the elephant). A liberal Republican, he served in the Connecticut legislature (1865-69) and as mayor of Bridgeport (1875-76).
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"Barocci or Baroccio, Federigo",3295,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bro\bchee]
DT1a c.
DT1 1528
DT2 1612
EN Painter, born in Urbino, \JItaly\j. In 1548 he went to \JRome\j and fell under the influence of Correggio. He later developed a very personal colour scheme of vivid reds and yellows, and his fluent pictorial style had considerable influence on Rubens and his school. His 'Madonna del Popolo' is in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
MEX Correggio; Rubens
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"barograph",3296,0,0,0
Most barographs are operated by a simple clockwork mechanism, which turns a cylinder once in slightly over seven days. A piece of paper is attached to the cylinder, and a pen, controlled by an aneroid \Jbarometer\j, draws a trace which shows the \Jatmospheric pressure\j. This will often be combined with another pen or pens to record relative \Jhumidity\j and \Jtemperature\j in different colours on the same sheet.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
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#
"Baroja (y Nessi), Pφo",3297,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bro\bha]
DT1 1872
DT2 1956
EN Writer, born in San Sebastißn, \JSpain\j. He wrote more than 70 volumes of novels and essays, distinguished by quiet humour and a vivid style derived from the 19th-c Russian and French masters. His best novels are those with a Basque setting.
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"barometer",3298,0,0,0
EN A meteorological instrument used to measure \Jatmospheric pressure\j, invented in 1643 by Torricelli. It was based on the principle that the height of a column of mercury in a tube sealed at one end and inverted in a dish of mercury will change according to the \Jatmospheric pressure\j exerted on the dish of mercury.
This is still in common use, and several types exist. Another method of measuring pressure is the \Baneroid \Jbarometer\j,\b a metallic box containing a vacuum, and with flexible sides which act as a bellows expanding and contracting with changing \Jatmospheric pressure\j. Changes of pressure through time are recorded on a \Bbarograph.\b
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The aneroid \Jbarometer\j relies on the small movements of the sides of the metal box as the pressure changes. Under full (sea level) pressure, the box is compressed, but because it is made of springy metal, it is able to expand very slightly as the pressure is reduced. This movement is then magnified by a series of levers, which move a needle around a calibrated dial.
The aneroid \Jbarometer\j is very much easier to carry out into the field than a mercury-filled Torricellian \Jbarometer\j, because it is lighter, more compact, and less fragile, as well as being easier to read. The device made it very much easier for explorers in the 19th century to assess their altitude, and it became a common piece of explorers' equipment in Africa, \JAustralia\j and \JSouth America\j within just a few years of its invention in 1843.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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#
"Baron (Michel Boyron)",3299,0,0,0
DT 1653-1729
EN French actor. After MoliΦre's death he moved from his company to the H⌠tel de Bourgogne, creating some of Racine's young heroes, and thence to the ComΘdie- Francaise on its formation in 1680. At his peak his outstanding ability, good looks and intelligence enabled him to take leading roles in both tragedy and comedy.
He also wrote several comedies, the most interesting of which are L'Homme α bonnes fortunes (The Philanderer, 1686) and the one-act Le Rendez-vous des Tuileries (1685), in which several actors of the ComΘdie-Francaise appeared as themselves.
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#
"baron / baroness",3300,0,0,0
EN In the UK, a title of nobility, ranking below viscount; the title held by most life peers. Originally the term was used for a tenant-in-chief (one who held his land direct from the sovereign).
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"Baron, Salo (Wittmayer)",3301,0,0,0
DT (1895-1989)
EN educator, author; born in Tarnow, \JGalicia\j (now \JAustria\j). Educated in \JAustria\j, he came to the U.S.A. in 1927. He held the first Miller Chair of Jewish History, Literature and Institutions at Columbia University (1930-63). He edited the \IJewish Social Studies\i quarterly, and wrote the 18-volume \ISocial and Religious History of the Jews\i (1937-52). A member of many educational and government organizations, he testified about the history of European anti-Semitism at the 1961 trial of \IAdolf Eichmann.\i
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"baronet",3302,0,0,0
HS (abbreviation \Bbart)\b
EN In the UK, a hereditary title, not part of the \Jpeerage\j and not a knighthood, although baronets and knights are both styled 'Sir'. The form, which was originally purchased by the holder, was created by James I in 1611 to raise money to pay the troops in Ireland.
BK b
#
"Baronius, Caesar",3303,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bron\bius]
HS , originally \BCesare Baronio\b
DT1 1538
DT2 1607
EN Church historian, born in Sora, \JItaly\j. He was one of the first pupils of St Philip Neri, and attached himself to his Congregation of the Oratory, becoming its superior in 1593. He wrote the first critical Church history, the \IAnnales Ecclesiastici\i (1588-1607). He became a cardinal in 1596, and was made Vatican librarian.
MEX Neri
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#
"Barons' War",3304,0,0,0
EN (1215-17) A war in England during the reign of John. Despite the granting of \JMagna Carta\j, many barons still defied John, and offered the crown to Prince Louis of \JFrance\j. After John's death, the French and baronial army was routed at Lincoln (May 1217), and the war was effectively ended by the Treaty of Kingston-on-Thames (Sep 1217).
BK b
#
"Barons' Wars",3305,0,0,0
EN (1236-7) A war in England during the reign of Henry III. After the Provisions of Oxford failed to achieve a settlement, some barons led by Simon de Montfort captured Henry at Lewes (1264). Earl Simon was killed at \JEvesham\j (1265), and the king was restored to power by the Dictum of Kenilworth (1266).
BK b
#
"Baroque (art and architecture)",3306,0,0,0
PN [ba\Brok,\b ba\Brohk\b]
The word Baroque derives from the Italian barocco (an irregular pearl, hence "misshapen') and was originally used in the 18th-c to abuse the work of Gianlorenzo Bernini and his followers. The art historians Jacob Burckhardt and Heindrich W÷lfflin pioneered its present-\Jday\j more positive sense: to describe the qualities in European art from c.1600 to c.1750. The Baroque style appears in all the arts, but is most recognizable in \Jarchitecture\j and in decorative schemes where sculpture and/or painting are integrated with \Jarchitecture\j. The elements of the Classical tradition - such as columns and figures built like antique statues - are loosened, twisted, or in some way reshaped to create a dynamic or organic effect. Specific Baroque characteristics are curved wall surfaces, lavish unconfined decoration, rhythmically fluttering forms (especially drapery), and the use of theatrical effects, such as illusionism and controlled lighting, to astonish the spectator. The style is associated with the absolute authority of hereditary monarchs and the \JCatholic Church\j. By stirring the emotions, it seeks to persuade the spectator of the unquestionable dogma of the church or state.
The roots of the Baroque lie in the \JRome\j of popes Paul V (pontiff 1605--21), Urban VIII (pontiff 1623--44), Innocent X (pontiff 1644--55), and Alexander VII (pontiff 1655--67), and spread to the rest of the Catholic world towards the end of the century. The principal artists of the Roman Baroque are the sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini, the architect Francesco Borromini, and the painter-architect Pietro Berrettini da Cortona. Early in his career Bernini transformed sculpture by carving and polishing in such a way that his marble acquired the soft appearance of melting wax. His "Apollo and Daphne' (1622--5) demonstrates astonishing intricacy and \Jnaturalism\j in the treatment of lithe figures and rustling leaves, producing an effect of lightness and movement hitherto unknown in sculpture. His bronze "Baldacchino' (1624--33) is a much imitated fusion of architectural and sculptural elements - four twisted columns holding supporting free-standing angels who hold the ceremonial canopy, as they might in a piece of temporary decoration. Bernini excelled at recreating the visions and ecstatic martyrdoms which feature so prominently in 17th-c lives of saints. In the Cornaro Chapel (1645--52), busts of the family contemplate a white marble group of the "Ecstasy of St Theresa' floating inside a coloured marble frame, with gilded rays conveying light from a concealed source. At Sta Andrea al Quirinale (1658--70) the whole space of the church becomes a stage on which the martyrdom and \Jresurrection\j of the saint are enacted, amongst a chorus of \Jstucco\j angels.
Borromini employed complex \Jgeometry\j in the ground plans of his churches to create half-distinct, subsidiary "cells' within broadly unified spaces. Sta Carlo alle Quatro Fontane (1637--41) has a cross shape apparently carved into the walls of a roughly oval church. The plan of Sta Ivo alla Sapienza (1642--50) is as complex as any in the Baroque: around a hexagon are placed alternating "lobes', the odd ones semi-circles and the even ones triangles with cut corners. This near star-shape is maintained from floor to vault, in a baffling sequence of straight, convex, and concave walls. Borromini habitually curved facades and rounded the corners of rooms, to express the bulk of the building behind or the volume of the space in front. He invented much of the architectural detail used throughout the Baroque: doors and windows with ear-shapes in their surrounds and hat-shaped lintels; angels with wings folded in a variety of ways to suit their position.
In his painted ceiling in the Barberini Palace (1633--9), Pietro da Cortona perfected the Baroque illusion of the room apparently open to the sky and packed with swirling figures. These ideas were also used in the nave vault of the Gesú (1674--9), frescoed by Giovanni Battista Gaulli, called Baciccio (1639--1709), and popularized in the perspectival treatises of Andrea Pozzo (1642--1709). At Sta Maria della Pace (1656--7) Cortona integrated the church facade with its surroundings, creating for it a piazza of consistent decoration almost like an interior - an idea developed at the Piazza Sta Ignazio (1727--8) by Filippo Raguzzini (c.1680--1771). The style of Carlo Fontano is an accessible and influential digest of the Roman Baroque taken from the ideas of Bernini (his master) and Borromini.
Elsewhere in \JItaly\j, especially in the S, there were local variants of the Roman manner. The two most famous architects of the later Italian Baroque both worked in Turin -- Guarino Guarini and Filippo Juvarra. Guarini's Chapel of the Holy Shroud (1667--90) is built as a light-filled dome, like a basket, out of a series of tiny stone ligaments, with echoes of Gothic and even Moorish \Jarchitecture\j. His influence also depends upon the many destroyed or unexecuted designs which he recorded in his Architettura Civile, (1737, trans Civil Architecture). Juvarra's Stupinigi Palace (1729--33), the Versailles of Turin, adapts Borromini's complex \Jgeometry\j to palace design, surrounding a vast domed hall with ranges on a honeycomb plan.
The second phase of the Baroque finds its best expression in C Europe, especially in \JAustria\j, \JBavaria\j, and \JBohemia\j, all then part of the Holy Roman Empire. Towards the end of the 17th-c, a provincial and old-fashioned version of Italian \Jarchitecture\j, built by travelling masons from around \JComo\j, was replaced in this region by the work of Roman-trained architects such as Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt (himself half Italian). Fischer von Erlach used his study in \JRome\j of ancient remains for theatrical effect in the pair of giant Trojan columns incorporated in the facade of his Karlskirche (1716--37) in Vienna. The Upper Belvedere (also in Vienna, 1721--2) by Hildebrandt has walls covered with a tartan of rustification, banded pilasters, and Borromini-style window surrounds. The severity of a palace skyline is here mitigated by Hildebrandt's touches of fantasy; a curvilinear \Jgable\j; sculptural groups like pinnacles; balustrades interrupted to allow light for attic windows; and octagonal domed pavilions with the lead of their roofs shaped to look like flaps of a tent.
In \JBavaria\j the Asam brothers (also Roman-trained) formed an architectural and decorative team: Cosmos Damian was also a painter, and Egid Quirin a sculptor. Their Abbey Church at Weltenburg (1716--21) is the most complete realization of the Baroque "staged miracle' outside \JItaly\j: above the richly carved oval dome of the nave there seems to float a painted heaven, lit by hidden windows; and through the ornate triumphal arch of the high altar a polychrome statue of St George and the Dragon emerges in silhouette from out of the glare of a "light chamber' behind.
Johann Balthasar Neumann made his name as a military engineer before turning to \Jarchitecture\j. He worked throughout S \JGermany\j, especially at Wⁿrzburg, where he designed the residence for the prince-bishops. His pilgrimage church of Vierzehnheiligen (1743--72, "fourteen saints') is of the "wall-pillar' type - with aisle and galleries as high as the nave, and separated from it by free-standing piers. Neumann uses these piers to plot a curving interior within the straight-sided Latin cross of the church as a whole. This "alternative' shape is still a cross, but now made up of a series of six intersecting ovals (two in the transepts, four down the length of the nave and choir). There is no dome, but three shallow oval vaults over the main zones of the nave are painted with heavenly visions to give the same effect. A similar contrast of simple, straight-sided exterior and dazzling, curvacious interior occurs at the remote Bavarian pilgrimage church, die Wies (1746--54), built by Dominikus Zimmermann (1685--1766) and decorated by his brother Johann Baptist Zimmermann (1680--1758).
The \JFrance\j of \JLouis XIV\j, which became \JRome\j's chief rival as an artistic centre, produced \Jarchitecture\j too correct in its detail to be called Baroque, though some echoes of the style can be felt in the salon at Vaux-le-Vicomte (1657--61) or the garden front of Versailles (1669), both by Louis le Vau. The French, however, were the inventors of the \JRococo\j, a style distinguished from the Baroque by its lightness and the applied (even straggling) quality of its capricious and asymmetrical ornament. In the Salon Ovale (1735--40) of the H╓tel de Soubise, Paris, Gabriel Germain Boffrand (1667--1754) discarded structural members (such as pilasters) in favour of a single flat decorative element - the intricately gilded frame. These frames surround paintings, various wall panels, and a sequence of slightly recessed mirrors and French windows. Franτois CuvilliΘs (1696--1768), a Fleming trained in \JFrance\j, was responsible for popularizing the style in \JGermany\j, especially through the circular Hall of Mirrors of his Munich garden pavilion, the Amalienburg (1734--9). The vault is a simple white "sky' with a few birds in gilded \Jstucco\j. At its base, tangled patterns of trees, reeds, fountains, and figures seem to cling to a narrow \Jcornice\j, like a vine on a trellis, occasionally turning to grow upwards. Most S German interiors of the years c.1730--70 have this light and fanciful decoration, and are often called \JRococo\j.
British \Jarchitecture\j c.1700 exhibits some discreet Baroque characteristics. Sir Christopher Wren and James Gibbs both use Gothic forms (such as the steeple) recreated out of Classical elements, as Borromini had done. A similar "picturesque' revival prompted Sir John Vanbrugh to give his country houses "something of the Castle Air'; his work is otherwise Baroque in its variety and its jagged, dramatic massing of elements. His assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor created Baroque effects of surprise and awe by alternating intricate decoration with the bare blocks of masonry, of deliberately disproportionate scale. In general, however, Protestant Britain was the least inclined of all European countries to adopt the Baroque, and the first to reject it. By the 1730s the sober Palladianism of Lord Burlington was regarded as the architectural equivalent of common sense. A similar hankering for antique rationality (in art as in society) created the movement called Neoclassicism, which replaced the Baroque throughout Europe during the 1760s and 1770s.
Dr Desmond Shawe-Taylor, University of \JNottingham\j
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"Baroque (music)",3307,0,0,0
EN A period in musical history extending from c.1580 to c.1730. Its features include a gradual replacement of modality by \Jtonality\j, a love of melodic ornamentation, the enrichment of harmony by more essential \Jchromaticism\j, the prominence accorded to instrumental music, and the formation of the orchestra. Genres originating in the Baroque period include the opera, \Joratorio\j, cantata, \Jsonata\j, and \Jconcerto\j.
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"Barossa",3308,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bros\ba]
EN pop (1995e) 35 400. A NE suburb of Outer Adelaide, South \JAustralia\j; the Barossa Valley is a noted wine-producing area; wine festival every two years celebrates the grape harvest (alternating with Adelaide Festival of Arts).
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"Barotse",3309,0,0,0
EN See Lozi
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"barque",3310,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)k]
EN A sailing vessel with three or more masts. The aftermost mast is fore- and aft-rigged and the remainder square-rigged - a style which was especially prevalent in the last decade of the 19th-c, when sail made its last stand against competition from steamships.
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"Barr Smith, Robert",3311,0,0,0
DT1 1824
DT2 1915
EN Pastoralist and wool-broking pioneer, born in Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, W Scotland, UK. He studied at Glasgow University, then settled in South \JAustralia\j in 1854, where he joined the company established by a fellow Scot, Thomas Elder. The two men went into partnership under the style of Elder, Smith & Co to become one of the world's largest wool-brokers, with extensive pastoral holdings. Closely involved for many years with Adelaide University, he established the library there which bears his name.
MEX Elder, Thomas
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"Barr, Alfred H",3312,0,0,0
DT (1902-81)
EN art historian, museum administrator; born in \JDetroit\j, Mich. He studied at Princeton, Harvard, and in Europe. He taught the first American college course in \Jmodern art\j at Wellesley College (1926). He became the founding director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City (1929-43) and continued to be affliated with the museum for the rest of his life. He wrote a number of influential books about \Jmodern art\j and artists, including \IWhat is Modern Painting?\i (1943) and \IPicasso, 50 Years of His Art\i (1946).
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"Barr, Murray Llewellyn",3313,0,0,0
DT (1908- )
EN Canadian geneticist.
Working in 1949 with a research student in the medical school at London, \JOntario\j, Barr found that a characteristic small mass of chromatin can be detected in the nuclei of the nerve cells of most female mammals, but it is absent in the males. So this 'Barr body' provides the marker in a simple test for the sex of an individual; previously sex could be detected at cell level only by examining chromosomes in dividing cells.
It allows the sex of a fetus to be found long before birth, which is valuable if a parent carries a sex-linked genetic disorder. Barr also devised methods, using a smear of cells from a patient's mouth, to locate some chromosomal defects, such as certain types of hermaphroditism.
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"barracuda",3314,0,0,0
PN [bara\Bkoo\bda]
EN Any of the voracious, predatory fishes widespread in tropical and warm-temperate seas; body slender, length up to 1.8┐m / 6┐ft, jaws armed with many short teeth; feeds on other fish; some species important commercially and as sport fish. \B(Genus:\b \ISphyraena.\i \BFamily:\b Sphyraenidae.)
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"Barranquilla",3315,0,0,0
PN [baran\Bkeel\bya]
EN 11░00N 74░50W, pop (1995e) 962 000. Modern industrial capital of Atlßntico department, N \JColombia\j; on R Magdalena, 18 km/11 mi from its mouth; \JColombia\j's principal Caribbean port; founded, 1721; airport; three universities (1941, 1966, 1967); bull ring; commerce, foodstuffs, footwear, drinks, \Jtobacco\j, furniture, textiles, \Jpetrochemicals\j; modern cathedral; 5 sports stadia; 4-\Jday\j \Jcarnival\j.
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"Barras, Paul Francois Jean Nicolas, comte de (Count of)",3316,0,0,0
PN [bara]
DT1 1755
DT2 1829
EN French revolutionary, born in Foxemphoux, \JFrance\j. An original member of the Jacobin Club, he voted for the king's execution. He conducted the siege of \JToulon\j, and suppressed the revolt in the S of \JFrance\j. Hated by Robespierre, he played the chief part in the tyrant's overthrow, and was appointed virtual dictator by the terrified Convention.
In 1795, faced with a royalist rising, he called his young friend Napoleon to his aid, who assured his own future with the historical 'whiff of grape-shot'. The Directory being appointed, Barras was nominated one of the five members. Once more dictator in 1797, he guided the state almost alone, until his covetousness had rendered him so unpopular that Napoleon overthrew him easily in the coup of 18 Brumaire (9 Nov) 1799.
MEX Napoleon; Robespierre; Tallien
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"Barrault, Jean-Louis",3317,0,0,0
DT 1910-94
EN French actor and director. His first performances were at the \JAtelier\j in the 1930s; in 1940 he joined the ComΘdie-Francaise, where he began to direct as well as act: his production of Claudel's Le Soulier de Satin (The Satin Slipper) in 1943 was a particular success.
In 1946 he and Madeleine Renaud left to found their own company at the Marigny Theatre and, after 1959, at the OdΘon (with state subsidy), where their policy was to produce both new plays and classics. He produced six of Claudel's plays. Barrault had observed the mime artist ╔tienne Decroux whose performances were outstanding for the detail and inventiveness of their physical action. He produced many new authors, including Ionesco, Duras and Vauthier, and made adaptations for the stage, the most famous being Rabelais (1968), performed in a Montmartre wrestling hall.
In 1972 he converted the former Orsay station into a performance space and in 1981 moved to the ThΘΓtre du Rond-Point on the Champs-╔lysΘes. Originally identified with total theatre, Barrault became, in old age, an enormously respected star actor.
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"BarrΘ, (Mohammed) Siad",3318,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bray\b]
DT1 1919
DT2 95
EN Somali soldier and president (1969-91). Educated at a military academy in \JItaly\j, he served as a police officer in the British and Italian trust administrations (1941-50). He joined the Somali army as a colonel in 1960, and became president after a military coup. Towards the end of his rule, the country broke up into warring factions, and he was deposed, leaving behind \Jcivil war\j, \Jfamine\j, and an international crisis in which many aid agencies, the UN, and the USA became involved.
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"Barre, Raymond",3319,0,0,0
DT1 1924
EN French statesman and prime minister (1976--81), born in St Denis, RΘunion. He made his reputation as an influential neo-liberal economist at the \JSorbonne\j and as vice-president of the European Commission (1967--72). He was minister of foreign trade under President Giscard d'Estaing, and was appointed prime minister after the resignation of Jacques Chirac.
During the 1980s he built up a firm political base in the Lyon region, representing the centre--right Union for French Democracy. He contested the 1988 presidential election, but was eliminated in the first ballot.
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"barrel",3320,0,0,0
EN A measure of volume, its value depending on the substance it contains. A barrel of alcohol is 189 litres; a barrel of \Jpetroleum\j is 159 litres.
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"barrel organ",3321,0,0,0
EN A mechanical musical instrument. By turning a handle at the side, the player both feeds a bellows and operates a rotating cylinder fitted with metal pins which allow air access to a set of pipes; the placing of the pins determines which pipes sound and when. The instrument is of great antiquity. It was widely used to play hymns in churches in the 18th-19th-c, and also as a street instrument, often with a pet monkey perched on top.
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"Barren Grounds",3322,0,0,0
EN The name given to the \Jtundra\j region of N Canada, dominated by \Jmuskeg\j or sphagnum bog. It is an area of marshy depressions and meandering rivers, with an abundance of mosquitoes, and is a major range for \Jcaribou\j.
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"BarrΦs, (Auguste) Maurice",3323,0,0,0
PN [bares]
DT1 1862
DT2 1923
EN Politician and novelist, born in Charmes-sur-Moselle, \JFrance\j. A member of the Chamber of Deputies (1889-93), he was an \Japostle\j of \Jnationalism\j, \Jindividualism\j, provincial patriotism, and national \Jenergy\j. He wrote a trilogy on his own self-analysis \I(Le Culte du Moi,\i 1888-91), a nationalistic trilogy that included \IL'Appel du Soldat\i (1906), and many other works, including \IColette Baudoche\i (1909).
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"Barrett, Lawrence",3324,0,0,0
DT 1838-91
EN American actor and manager. Slender, with a sensitive face and an unusual vocal range, and often associated with Edwin Booth, Barrett alternated Othello and Iago with him in 1871-2. At Booth's Theatre he was Adrian de Mauprat to Booth's celebrated Richelieu, and also starred as James Harebell in W. G. Wills's The Man o'Airlie, one of his most acclaimed roles.
Although estranged for a time, Booth and Barrett were reconciled in 1880 and made 'joint starring' tours. Barrett also managed theatres in \JSan Francisco\j and \JNew Orleans\j, and commissioned and staged original plays. His most successful roles after Harebell were Lanciotto in George Henry Boker's Francesca da Rimini (1883), Hernani, Cassius and, late in his career, Othello.
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"Barrett, William",3325,0,0,0
DT (1913-92)
EN philosopher, critic; born in New York City. Educated at the City College of New York and Columbia University, he was associated with the \IPartisan Review\i group of intellectuals in the 1930s but moved gradually to the right in his political thought. He taught philosophy at New York University from 1950-79.
His widely praised \IIrrational Man\i (1958) explained European \Jexistentialism\j to the general reader. His memoir, \IThe Truants: Adventures among the Intellectuals,\i appeared in 1982.
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"Barrett, Wilson",3326,0,0,0
DT 1846-1904
EN British actor-manager. His real gift was in \Jmelodrama\j, preferably with religious overtones. He had major successes with George R. Sims's The Lights o' London (1881) and Henry Arthur Jones's The Silver King (1882), and with his own adaptations of The Manxman (1894) and Quo Vadis? (1900).
He wasted himself on inferior material, often his own - e.g. The Sign of the Cross (1895), a \Jmelodrama\j which requires a Roman patrician to face the lions for love of a Christian maiden (an outrageous success in London). Barrett was, at various times, manager of theatres in Leeds and Hull as well as in London.
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"Barrie, Sir J(ames) M(atthew)",3327,0,0,0
DT 1860-1937
EN Scottish playwright and novelist. J. L. Toole staged his first successful play, Walker, London (1892). Later, in Quality Street (1902) and The Admirable Crichton (1902), Barrie discovered a profitable way of combining escapist romance with social problems. He was a craftsman, not simply the permanent adolescent, unwilling or unable to join the adult world, like the leading character of his most famous play, Peter Pan (1904).
If Alice Sit-by-the-Fire (1905) and Mary Rose (1920) are fatally flawed by mawkishness, What Every Woman Knows (1908) and Dear Brutus (1917) are strengthened by the quiet satire that is present in everything that Barrie wrote. Some of his one- act plays are good examples of the genre. He was knighted in 1913.
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"barrier islands",3328,0,0,0
EN Long, straight, narrow islands or peninsulas which generally parallel the coast and are separated from the mainland by a lagoon or salt marsh. Though barrier islands may have been formed in several ways, many appear to have been created as sea level rose between 5000 and 6000 years ago, moving large masses of sand across the continental shelf.
Around 4000 years ago, sea level temporarily stabilized, and many barrier islands acquired their current shape. During the last 1000 years, sea level has again been rising, causing these islands to continue to migrate towards the mainland.
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"barrier reef",3329,0,0,0
EN See \Jatoll\j
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"barrigudo",3330,0,0,0
EN See woolly monkey
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"Barringer Crater",3331,0,0,0
EN See \JMeteor\j Crater or Barringer Crater
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"Barrington, George",3332,0,0,0
HS , originally \BGeorge Waldron\b
DT1 1755
DT2 1804
EN Writer and adventurer, born in Maynooth, Co \JKildare\j, Ireland. In London he turned pickpocket, and was transported to \JBotany Bay\j (1790). Set free in 1792, he rose to the position of high constable of Parramatta, \JNew South Wales\j, and published historical works on \JAustralia\j.
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"Barrington, Ken(neth Frank)",3333,0,0,0
DT1 1930
DT2 81
EN Cricketer, born in Reading, Berkshire, S England, UK. First capped in 1955, he did not return to Test cricket until 1959, when he became a permanency, playing in 82 Tests, and making a total of 6806 runs for an average of 58.67. He scored 20 Test centuries, including 256 against \JAustralia\j at Old Trafford in 1964. He retired early from top-class cricket because of ill health, and died in \JBarbados\j during the England tour of the West Indies while acting as assistant manager.
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"Barrington, Sir Jonah",3334,0,0,0
DT1 1760
DT2 1834
EN Judge, politician, and memorialist, born in Abbeyleix, Co Laois, Ireland. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, was called to the Irish bar in 1788, and became MP for various constituencies. He became involved in intricate political manoeuvres and was gradually overwhelmed by debts, resulting in his disgrace and dismissal in 1830. After settling in \JFrance\j, he wrote \IThe Rise and Fall of the Irish Nation\i (1833) and \IPersonal Sketches of his own Time\i (3 vols, 1827-32).
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"barrister",3335,0,0,0
EN A member of the legal profession in England and Wales whose work is mainly concerned with advocacy in the courts. Barristers have exclusive right of audience in the High Court and superior courts. In addition to trials and preparation for trials, they may also write advisory opinions. Not all barristers are in practice; many use the qualification for work in education, industry, or administration.
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"Barron, James",3336,0,0,0
DT (1768-1851)
EN naval officer; born probably in Norfolk, Va. After youthful service in the \JAmerican Revolution\j, he became a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy (1798). Commanding the USS \IChesapeake\i in its disastrous fight with the British \ILeopold\i (1807), he was courtmartialed and found guilty of negligence.
After five years with the French navy, he returned to the U.S. Navy; convinced that Stephen Decatur was leading an effort to block his career, he challenged and killed Decatur in a duel (1820). Despised by most in the navy, he remained on inactive status until his death.
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"Barros, Joπo de",3337,0,0,0
DT1 1496
DT2 1570
EN Historian, born in Viseu, \JPortugal\j. Governor of Portuguese Guinea, he is known for his monumental \IDecades\i (1552-1615), the history of the Portuguese in the East Indies, which earned him the title of the 'Portuguese Livy'.
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"Barrow, (Edward Grant) Ed",3338,0,0,0
DT (1868-1953)
EN \Jbaseball\j manager/ executive; born in Springfield, Ill. After managing the \JDetroit\j Tigers in 1903-1904, he led the \JBoston\j Red Sox to a World Series championship as their manager in 1918. He became general manager of the New York Yankees (1921-45), where he shaped the famous pennant-winning teams of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1953.
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"Barrow, Clyde",3339,0,0,0
DT (1909-34)
EN and Parker, Bonnie (1911-34) robbers, murderers; Barrow born in ?Houston, \JTexas\j; Parker born in Rowena, \JTexas\j. They met in 1930 and soon became America's most famous and romanticized outlaws. They killed at least 13 persons and escaped from several police ambushes before they were killed at a roadblock in Louisiana.
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"Barrow, Errol Walton",3340,0,0,0
DT1 1920
DT2 87
EN Barbadian politician and prime minister (1961-76, 1986-7), born in \JBarbados\j. He flew in the Royal Air Force (1940-7), then studied at London University and Lincoln's Inn. Returning to \JBarbados\j he was elected to the House of Assembly in 1951, co-founding the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). In the elections following independence (1961) the DLP was victorious, and he became the first prime minister.
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"Barrow, Isaac",3341,0,0,0
DT1 1630
DT2 77
EN Mathematician and divine, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he became a fellow in 1649. He was professor of \Jgeometry\j at Gresham College, London (1662), and the first Lucasian professor of \Jmathematics\j at Cambridge (1663), but resigned in 1669 to make way for Isaac Newton. He founded the library of Trinity College, Cambridge, where he became Master in 1673.
MEX Newton, Isaac
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"Barrow, Sir John",3342,0,0,0
DT1 1764
DT2 1848
EN Naval administrator and traveller, born in Dragley Beck, Lancashire, north-west England, UK. He worked on a whaler in \JGreenland\j waters, taught \Jmathematics\j at a school in Greenwich, and in 1792 was appointed private secretary to Lord Macartney, the British envoy to China.
As second secretary to the Admiralty (1804-45), he promoted \JArctic\j expeditions by Sir John Ross, Sir James Clark Ross, and Sir John Franklin. \IBarrow Strait\i and \IPoint Barrow\i in the \JArctic\j, and \ICape Barrow\i in the Antarctic, were named in his honour, as was the northern duck, \IBarrow's goldeneye.\i
MEX Franklin, John; Ross, John; Ross, James Clark
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"Barrows, Harlan (Hiram)",3343,0,0,0
DT (1877-1960)
EN geographer; born in Armada, Mich. He was chairman of the department of \Jgeography\j at the University of \JChicago\j (1919-42). His work in historical \Jgeography\j and the conservation of natural resources was widely respected. His presidential address delivered before the Association of American Geographers (1922), "Geography as Human Ecology," remains one of those most quoted.
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"Barry, comtesse du",3344,0,0,0
EN See du Barry, Marie Jeanne Gomard de Vaubernier, comtesse (Countess)
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"Barry, Elizabeth",3345,0,0,0
DT c.1658-1713
EN English actress. Barry's first known role was in Otway's \JAlcibiades\j (1675) for the Duke's Company. Her great success as Monimia in Otway's The Orphan (1680) showed her ability to move an audience to pity. By the late 1680s she was co-manager with Betterton of the United Company, and from 1695 of the new company formed at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre.
She retired in 1710. Her acting was marked by an unusual control and intensity, and she was praised for her identification with her roles. At her best in tragedy, she had many major parts written for her by Otway, Congreve and others. She is regarded as the first great English actress.
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"Barry, James",3346,0,0,0
DT1 1741
DT2 1806
EN Historical painter, born in Cork, Co Cork, Ireland. He studied in \JItaly\j (1766-70), and in 1782 was appointed professor of painting at the Royal Academy, from which his irritable temper brought about his expulsion (1799). His most celebrated paintings are '\JAdam and Eve\j' (1771) and 'Venus Rising from the Waves' (1772).
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"Barry, John",3347,0,0,0
DT (1745-1803)
EN naval officer; born in County Wexford, Ireland. He went to sea early and settled in Philadelphia by 1760. An ardent patriot, he became a Continental Navy captain (1776) and commanded the USS \ILexington\i and \IEffingham\i (1776-78). He conveyed John Laurens to \JFrance\j aboard the USS \IAlliance\i and fought a grueling battle on his return voyage. He brought the Marquis de Lafayette back to \JFrance\j after the victory at \JYorktown\j (1781), and captured numerous British vessels in 1782.
After the \JAmerican Revolution\j, he worked in the merchant trade and retired before being recalled to the naval service in 1794. He became the senior captain in the navy and commanded all U.S. ships in the West Indies (1798-99). He returned to Philadelphia (1801) and remained the senior naval officer until his death.
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"Barry, Leonora (Marie Kearney)",3348,0,0,0
DT (1849-1923)
EN labor leader; born in County Cork, Ireland. Emigrating to the United States in 1852, she worked in a clothing factory. In 1884 she organized a local assembly of the Knights of Labor. She served as general investigator for the Knights' women's department (1886-90).
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"Barry, Philip (James Quinn)",3349,0,0,0
DT 1896-1949
EN American playwright, popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Barry's first two plays were written in George Pierce Baker's Workshop 47 at Harvard: A Punch for Judy (1921) and You and I (1923), a Broadway success. Focusing on the problems of family relations, romance, sexual intrigue and profession vocation, he developed a modern comedy of manners: In a Garden (1925), Paris Bound (1927), Holiday (1928), The Animal Kingdom (1932), and The Philadelphia Story (1939), which starred Katharine Hepburn.
These plays feature the 'Barry girl', a well heeled if somewhat spoiled young woman who rejects materialist culture and upper-class society. Barry's protagonists, male and female, struggle to serve liberal ideals. Less well received were his quasi-allegorical plays on metaphysical themes: Hotel Universe (1930), The Joyous Season (1934), Here Come the Clowns (1938, perhaps his best serious play) and Liberty Jones (1941).
Productions in the 1940s were only moderately successful, even though Hepburn acted in Without Love (1942) and Tallulah Bankhead starred in Foolish Notion (1945). His last play, Second Threshold (1951), was finished posthumously by Robert E. Sherwood.
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"Barry, Sir Charles",3350,0,0,0
DT1 1795
DT2 1860
EN Architect, born in London, England, UK. He was apprenticed to a firm of surveyors before going to \JItaly\j (1817-20). On his return, he designed the Travellers' Club (1831), the Manchester Athenaeum (1836), the Reform Club (1837), and the new Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament, 1840-70), completed after his death by his son \BEdward Middleton Barry\b (1830-80). His work showed the influence of the Italian Renaissance. His fifth son, \BSir John Wolfe-Barry\b (1836-1918), was engineer of the Tower Bridge and Barry Docks.
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"Barry, Spranger",3351,0,0,0
DT ?1717-77
EN Irish actor-manager. In 1746 he left Dublin for Drury Lane, where he played Othello and Macbeth and successfully established himself as an actor of sighing lovers, acting opposite Garrick in plays by Otway and Rowe. In 1750 he joined Covent Garden and for 12 nights played Romeo in direct competition with Garrick's performances in Drury Lane; Barry was praised for 'the amorous harmony of his features, his melting eyes and unequalled plaintiveness of voice'. In 1756 he played Lear with great majesty. In 1757 he built the Crow Street Theatre, Dublin.
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"Barrymore",3352,0,0,0
EN see Drew-Barrymore family
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"Barrymore, Ethel",3353,0,0,0
DT (1879-1959)
EN stage and film actress; born in Philadelphia. Daughter of Maurice Barrymore and a member of the famous family of actors, she had her first success in \ICaptain Jinks of the Horse Marines\i (1901), and made some early silent films. In 1944 she won an \JAcademy Award\j for best supporting actress in \INone But the Lonely Heart.\i She was admired for her portrayal of lovable eccentrics.
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"Barrymore, John",3354,0,0,0
DT (1882-1942)
EN stage and film actor; born in Philadelphia. Brother of Ethel Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore of the great acting family, he made his debut in 1903 and became a matinee idol. He triumphed as a stage Hamlet in 1922, then turned to films and radio. Married four times, he caricatured his own decadent, alcohol-ridden life in a series of minor comedies, including \IThe Great Profile\i (1940).
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"Barrymore, Lionel",3355,0,0,0
DT (1878-1954)
EN stage, film, and radio actor; born in Philadelphia. Brother of Ethel Barrymore and John Barrymore of the great acting family, he was known as a fine character actor. His film career included 15 Dr. \JKildare\j movies, as well as \IYou Can't Take It with You\i (1938). He is well remembered for his depiction of Scrooge in the 1936 radio presentation of Dickens' \IA Christmas Carol.\i Radio became his primary career after he was confined to a wheelchair. Listeners in the 1940s knew him as \IThe Mayor of the Town.\i
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"Barrymore, Maurice (b. Herbert Blythe)",3356,0,0,0
DT (1849-1905)
EN stage actor; born in Fort \JAgra\j, India (father of Ethel, John, and Lionel Barrymore). Giving up a possible law career, he began acting in London in 1872; he became an instant success in New York in 1875 and went on to star in a variety of roles over the next 25 years. In 1876 he married Georgiana Drew, actress-daughter of the famous British-American actors, John and Louisa Lane Drew, thus founding what would become known as "The Royal Family of Broadway."
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"Barsacq, AndrΘ",3357,0,0,0
DT 1909-1973
EN French theatre director. Russian in origin, he began as a designer. With Jean DastΘ and Maurice Jacquemont he founded the Compagnie des Quatre Saisons in 1937. In 1940 he took over from Dullin as director of the \JAtelier\j where, largely unsubsidized, he revived Russian classics and produced popular modern playwrights such as Anouilh, Marcel AymΘ, FΘlicien Marceau, RenΘ de Obaldia and Francoise Sagan. He made a fine adaptation of Dostoevsky's The Idiot (1966).
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"Barstow, Dame Josephine (Clare)",3358,0,0,0
DT1 1940
EN Soprano, born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, N England, UK. She studied at Birmingham University and the London Opera Centre (1965--66), making her debut with Opera for All (1964). Resident principal with Sadlers Wells (1967--8) and the Welsh National Opera (1968--70), she made her Covent Garden debut in 1969 and her US debut in 1977. She continues to perform with major opera houses around the world, and was made a dame in 1995.
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"Barstow, Stan(ley)",3359,0,0,0
DT1 1928
EN Novelist, born in Horbury, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. Raised in a working-class environment, he began work in the \Jengineering\j industry. He achieved immediate success with his first novel, \IA Kind of Loving\i (1960), which was later adapted for film and stage. He was among a number of contemporary writers who depicted the realities of working-class life during the l950s and 1960s. Later novels include \IA Brother's Tale\i (1980), \IJust you Wait and See\i (1986), \INext of Kin\i (1991), and \IIn My Own Good Time\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1960 A Kind of Loving
1961 The Desperadoes
1962 Ask Me Tomorrow
1964 Joby
1966 The Watchers on the Shore
1968 A Raging Calm
1971 A Season with Eros
1976 The Right True End
1980 A Brother's Tale
1982 A Kind of Loving: The Vic Brown Trilogy
1984 The Glad Eye
1986 Just you Wait and See
1987 B-Movie
1989 Give Us This Day
1991 Next of Kin
1996 In My Own Good Time
\IPlays\i
1970 Listen for the Trains, Love
1977 Joby (TV script)
1978 An Enemy of the People (adapted from Ibsen)
1984 The Human Element (TV script)
1984 Albert's Part (TV script)
1966 Ask Me Tomorrow (with Alfred Bradley)
1970 A Kind of Loving
1972 Stringer's Last Stand
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"Bart, Jean",3360,0,0,0
EN See Barth or Bart, Jean
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"Bart, Lionel",3361,0,0,0
DT1 1930
DT2 1999
EN Composer and lyricist, born in London, England, UK. In 1959, \ILock Up Your Daughters\i ended the US domination of the musical theatre in London. He followed it with \IFings Ain't Wot They Used T'be\i (1959), \IOliver\i (1960, adapted from Dickens's \IOliver Twist\i), and \IBlitz!\i (1962), a cavalcade of East End life during the Second World War. \IMaggie May\i, a between-the-wars story of a Liverpool prostitute, followed in 1964, but his \JRobin Hood\j musical, \ITwang!\i (1965), was a flop, as was \ILa Strada\i (1969).
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"barter",3362,0,0,0
EN Trade conducted without the use of currency. Goods are directly exchanged for one another, each party to the exchange seeking to make a profit. In the absence of a currency, the relative value of goods must often be negotiated through haggling.
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"Barth or Bart, Jean",3363,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)t]
DT1 1650
DT2 1702
EN Privateer, born in \JDunkirk\j, \JFrance\j. He served first in the Dutch navy, but on the outbreak of war with Holland joined the French service. In 1691, in command of a small squadron in the North Sea, he destroyed many English vessels. In 1694, after a desperate struggle with a superior Dutch fleet, he recaptured a convoy of 96 ships and brought them to \JDunkirk\j. Soon after he was taken prisoner and carried to Plymouth, but escaped in a fishing-boat to \JFrance\j. King \JLouis XIV\j received him with distinction at Versailles, and in 1697 appointed him to the command of a squadron.
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"Barth, Heinrich",3364,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)t]
DT1 1821
DT2 65
EN Explorer, born in \JHamburg\j, \JGermany\j. After studying archaeology at Berlin, in 1849 he was appointed by the British government to a mission to C Africa to supress \Jslavery\j. He continued his explorations on his own, travelling nearly 12┐000┐mi. Afterwards he was appointed professor of \Jgeography\j at Berlin University.
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"Barth, John (Simmons)",3365,0,0,0
DT1 1930
EN Novelist and short-story writer, born in Cambridge, Maryland, USA. He studied at Johns Hopkins University, and was a professional drummer before turning to literature and teaching. Much admired by academic critics, his novels include \IThe Floating Opera\i (1956), \IGiles Goat-Boy\i (1966), \ITidewater Tales\i (1987), and \IThe Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor\i (1991).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1956 The Floating Opera
1958 The End of the Road
1960 The Sot-Weed Factor
1966 Giles Goat-Boy: or, the Revised New Syllabus
1968 Lost in the Fun-house
1974 Chimera
1979 Letters
1982 Sabbatical
1984 The Friday Book
1987 Tidewater Tales
1991 The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor
\IOther\i
The Friday Book (collection of non-fiction pieces)
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"Barth, Karl",3366,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)t]
DT1 1886
DT2 1968
EN Theologian, born in \JBasel\j, \JSwitzerland\j. He studied at \JBern\j, Berlin, Tⁿbingen, and \JMarburg\j. While pastor at Safenwil, Aargau, he wrote a commentary on St Paul's Epistle to the Romans (1919) which established his theological reputation. He became professor at G÷ttingen (1921), Mⁿnster (1925), and \JBonn\j (1930), refused to take an unconditional oath to Hitler, was dismissed, and so became professor at \JBasel\j (1935-62).
His \Jtheology\j emphasized the finiteness of man, and God's unquestionable authority and 'otherness'. His many works include the monumental \IKirchliche Dogmatik\i (4 vols, 1932-67, Church Dogmatics, incomplete).
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"BarthΘ, Richmond",3367,0,0,0
DT (1901-89)
EN sculptor; born in Bay St. Louis, Miss. An early African-American artist, he studied at the Art Institute of \JChicago\j (c. 1920-24), and at the Art Students League, New York (1931). Based in St. Anne, \JJamaica\j, he was a painter who became a sculptor of expressive bronze works, such as \IBoxer\i (1942).
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"BarthΘlemy Saint-Hilaire, Jules",3368,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)taylemee sπtilair]
DT1 1805
DT2 95
EN French statesman and scholar, born in Paris. He was co-founder of the journal \ILe Bons Sens\i (1830), became professor at the CollΦge de \JFrance\j, and produced a massive 35-volume translation of Aristotle (1833-95). He became a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1848, and was foreign minister (1880-1).
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"Barthelme, Donald",3369,0,0,0
DT (1931-89)
EN writer; born in Philadelphia. He left Houston, \JTexas\j, journalism in the early 1960s to live in New York City as a professional fiction writer. A regular \INew Yorker\i contributor, he was an influential postmodernist whose deadpan tone, fragmented narrative structure, and linguistic playfulness were widely imitated. His eight volumes of collected stories and four novels include \ICome Back, Dr. Caligari\i (1964), \ISnow White\i (1967), \IThe Dead Father\i (1975), and \IParadise\i (1986).
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"Barthes, Roland (GΘrard)",3370,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)t]
DT1 1915
DT2 80
EN Writer, critic, and teacher, born in \JCherbourg\j, \JFrance\j. After researching and teaching he began to write, and his collection of essays entitled \ILe DegrΘ zΘro de l'Θcriture\i (1953, trans Writing Degree Zero) immediately established him as \JFrance\j's leading critic of Modernist literature.
His literary criticism avoided the traditional value judgments and investigation of the author's intentions, addressing itself instead to analysis of the text as a system of signs whose underlying structure forms the 'meaning' of the work as a whole. For 16 years he was a member of the faculty of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris, and from 1976 was professor of literary \Jsemiology\j at the CollΦge de \JFrance\j, gaining international recognition as a developer of \Jsemiology\j and \Jstructuralism\j.
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"Bartholdi, (FrΘdΘric) Auguste",3371,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)\Bthol\bdee], Fr [bah(r)toldee]
DT1 1834
DT2 1904
EN Sculptor, born in Colmar, \JFrance\j. He specialized in enormous monuments, such as the 'Lion of Belfort', and created the colossal bronze Statue of Liberty, 'Liberty Enlightening the World', in New York harbour, unveiled in 1886.
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"Bartholin, Erasmus",3372,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)tohlin]
DT (1625-98)
EN Danish mathematician: discovered double \Jrefraction\j of light.
Bartholin qualified in medicine in \JLeiden\j and Padua (his father and brother were both distinguished anatomists) and he taught medicine and \Jmathematics\j at \JCopenhagen\j from 1656. His pupils included R÷mer and Prince George, who married the British Queen Anne. In 1669 he described in a book his study of the crystals of \JIceland\j spar (a form of calcite, CaCO\D3\d) including his discovery that it produces a double image of objects observed through it.
He realized that the crystals split a light ray into two rays by what he called ordinary and extraordinary \Jrefraction\j. He gave no theory of this double \Jrefraction\j, which much puzzled other physicists; Huygens argued that the effect supported the wave theory of light, rather than Newton's idea that light consisted of particles. In the early 19th-c, work by E Lake Malus (1775-1812) and Fresnel on polarized light made double \Jrefraction\j easier to understand.
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"Bartholin, Thomas",3373,0,0,0
EN See Rudbeck, Olof
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#
"BartholomΘ, Paul Albert",3374,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)tolomay]
DT1 1848
DT2 1928
EN Sculptor, born in Thiverval, \JFrance\j. He is best known for the group of statuary inspired by his wife's death, 'Aux morts' (1895), and for the monument to Rousseau in the PanthΘon.
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"Bartholomew, John George",3375,0,0,0
DT1 1860
DT2 1920
EN Cartographer, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. He studied at Edinburgh, then entered his father's firm. His works include the \ISurvey Atlas of Scotland\i (1895-1912) and a \IPhysical Atlas of the World\i (2 vols, 1889-1911). He is best known for his system of layer colouring of contours.
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#
"Bartlett, (Edward Lewis) 'Bob'",3376,0,0,0
DT (1904-68)
EN public official; born in Seattle, Wash. His family moved to \JFairbanks\j, \JAlaska\j, soon after his birth. He was a newspaper reporter (1925-33) and a gold miner (1936-39). He was the secretary of \JAlaska\j (1939-44) and \JAlaska\j's territorial delegate to Congress (1945-59) before becoming one of the new state's first two U.S. Senators (Dem., \JAlaska\j; 1959-68). \JAlaska\j placed his statue in the U.S. Capitol.
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"Bartlett, John",3377,0,0,0
DT (1820-1905)
EN lexicographer; born in Plymouth, Mass. The self-educated Bartlett began his publishing career as a bookseller in Cambridge, Mass. His \IFamiliar Quotations,\i which included American, along with the more traditional British and Biblical selections, was first published in 1855; it continues to this \Jday\j in revised editions, and "Look it up in \IBartlett!\i " is now as famous as many of its contents.
He joined Little, Brown and Co. publishers in 1863. He prepared the second American edition of Izaak Walton's \IThe Compleat Angler\i and, in 1894, he and his wife compiled \IPhrases and Passages in the Dramatic Works of Shakespeare.\i
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"Bartlett, Josiah",3378,0,0,0
DT (1729-95)
EN physician, governor; born in Amesbury, Mass. A self-taught physician in Kingston, N.H. (1750-79), he reformed medical diagnosis and treatment. A member of the \JContinental Congress\j (1775-76, 1778-79), he signed the \JDeclaration of Independence\j, afterwards serving as common pleas judge. He was chief of justice of the state superior court (1788-90), and New Hampshire's first governor (1790-94).
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"Bartlett, Neil",3379,0,0,0
DT (1932- )
EN British-American inorganic chemist; prepared first noble gas compounds.
Bartlett studied in Newcastle upon Tyne and later worked in Canada and the USA. Although it had been previously accepted that the \Jnoble gases\j were not chemically reactive (the valence theory of chemical bonding being in accord with this), Bartlett used \Jplatinum\j hexafluoride, PtF\D6\d, a highly reactive compound, to prepare \Jxenon\j hexafluoroplatinate Xe\U+\u[PtF\D6\d]\U-\u (he had shown in 1961 that blood-red PtF6 combined with oxygen to give a red salt, O\D2\d\U+\uPtF\D6\d\U-\u). Since 1962 many other compounds, mainly of krypton and \Jxenon\j, have been made using the \Jnoble gases\j.
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"Bartlett, Paul (Wayland)",3380,0,0,0
DT (1865-1925)
EN sculptor; born in \JNew Haven\j, Conn. In Paris (1874) he attended the Θcole des Beaux-Arts (1879), worked with Emmanuel Fremiet, and made Paris his home. Specializing in the sculpting of animal figures, he is known for the patina on his bronze sculptures, as in \IThe Bear Tamer\i (1887), and for the equestrian statue of Lafayette (1899-1908).
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"Bartlett, Robert (Abram)",3381,0,0,0
DT (1875-1946)
EN explorer; born in Brigus, Newfoundland, Canada. He began his \JArctic\j explorations in 1897 and captained Robert E. Peary's ship \IRoosevelt\i twice (1905-06, 1908-09). He became a U.S. citizen in 1911 and a lieutenant commander in the U.S. naval reserves (1920).
He commanded the \IKarluk\i on Stefansson's expedition (1913-14) and when it was frozen and crushed in the \JArctic\j ice, he walked across the ice to \JSiberia\j and returned with rescuers for 13 other members of the expedition. He headed expeditions to various \JArctic\j locations (1925-41), and was especially noted for his scientific work on \JGreenland\j. During World War II, he searched for sites for Allied naval bases in the \JArctic\j.
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"Bartlett, Sir Frederic (Charles)",3382,0,0,0
DT1 1886
DT2 1969
EN Psychologist, born in Stow-on-the-Wold, \JGloucestershire\j, SWC England, UK. Professor of experimental \Jpsychology\j at Cambridge (1931-52), he wrote on practical (ergonomic) problems in applied \Jpsychology\j, but is best-known for his pioneering cognitive approach to understanding human memory.
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"Bart≤k, BΘla",3383,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah(r)\btok]
DT1 1881
DT2 1945
EN Composer, born in Nagyszentmikl≤s, \JHungary\j. He studied in \JPressburg\j and at the Budapest Academy of Music, then toured widely as a pianist. He first collected folksongs in 1904, discovering a treasury of national material, which he recorded and classified. From 1907 he was professor of \Jpiano\j at the Budapest Academy, a post relinquished only in 1934 in order to devote more time to ethnomusicological research.
He left \JHungary\j in 1939, and settled in the USA. His works include the opera \IDuke \JBluebeard\j's Castle,\i the ballets \IThe Wooden Prince\i and \IThe Miraculous Mandarin,\i two violin and three \Jpiano\j concertos, orchestral music including the \IConcerto for Orchestra,\i chamber music including six string quartets, works for violin and \Jpiano\j, songs, choruses, and folksong arrangements.
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"Bartoli, Francesco",3384,0,0,0
DT 1745-1806
EN Italian actor. A second-string actor in Antonio Sacco's company, Bartoli brought intelligence and a cultivated mind to his most important writing on the theatre, Notizie istoriche de'comici italiani che fiorirono intorno all'anno MDL fino a'giorni presenti (Historical Particulars of Italian Players Who Flourished Around the Year 1550 to the Present Day, 2 vols., 1782). It is an indispensable early source book for information on Italian performers and companies, particularly those of the commedia dell'arte.
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"Bartolommeo, Fra",3385,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)tolo\Bmay\boh]
HS , originally \BBaccio della Porta\b
DT1 1472
DT2 1517
EN Painter, leading artist of the High Renaissance, born near Florence, \JItaly\j. Under the influence of Savonarola he publicly burnt many of his paintings and in 1500 became a Dominican novice, but Raphael's visit to Florence in 1504 encouraged him to take up painting again.
He worked in \JVenice\j (1507), then in Florence (c.1509-12), before going to \JRome\j. His work is distinguished by controlled composition, delicate drawing, and the use of colour.
MEX Raphael; Savonarola
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"Bartolozzi sounds",3386,0,0,0
EN Special musical sounds (including microtones and chords) employed by woodwind players following techniques developed by Italian composer Bruno Bartolozzi (1911-80), and set out in his \INew Sounds for Woodwind\i (1967).
BK b
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"Bartolozzi, Francesco",3387,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)to\Blot\bsee]
DT1 1727
DT2 1815
EN Engraver, born in Florence, \JItaly\j. He settled in London to become engraver to \JGeorge III\j, and in 1802 was superintendent of the Royal Academy of Engravers in \JLisbon\j. His prints, said to be more numerous than those of any engraver, include line engravings and stippled works, printed in brown and red, called \IBartolozzi red.\i
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#
"Bartolus",3388,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)\Btoh\blus]
HS , Latin name of \BBartolo di Sassoferrato\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1314
DT2 57
EN Jurist and judge, born in Venatura, \JItaly\j. Professor at Pisa and \JPerugia\j, he was the leader of the school of commentators on \JRoman law\j who sought to derive principles of general application which could be used to solve contemporary problems. He was also a founder of international private law.
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"Barton, Bruce (Fairchild)",3389,0,0,0
DT (1886-1967)
EN advertising executive, author, U.S. representative; born in Robbins, Tenn. He was a magazine editor and publicist before founding a New York advertising agency with George Batten, Roy Durstine and Alex Osborn (1919); for more than 40 years he headed what became BBDO, one of the country's largest advertising agencies.
He created the character Betty Crocker. The author of numerous inspirational essays, he was best known for his best-selling book, \IThe Man Nobody Knows\i (1925), which presented Jesus Christ as a successful salesman. A conservative and an opponent of the New Deal, he served two terms in the \JHouse of Representatives\j (Rep., N.Y.; 1937-41).
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"Barton, Clara",3390,0,0,0
DT (1821-1912)
EN nurse, organizer; born in Oxford, Mass. An adventurous and strong-willed farmer's daughter, she nursed an invalid brother as a child, became a teacher at age 15, and worked in the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, D.C., during the 1850s. After the Union defeat at the 1st Battle of Bull Run (July 1861) she advertised for provisions for the wounded and received such a large contribution that she set herself up as a distributing agency.
From mid-July 1862 Barton operated as a freelance front-line nurse, distributing comforts and tending the sick and wounded of the Army of the Potomac. In 1864 she served as superintendent of nurses for the Army of the James, her only official connection - she had difficulty taking orders, and preferred to work on her own.
After the war Barton worked under the auspices of the International Red Cross in Europe to distribute relief to the French in the Franco-Prussian War. When she returned to the U.S.A. she campaigned for the establishment of an American Red Cross. She headed the agency for 23 years after its incorporation in 1881.
Small, slightly built but physically hardy, she expended a large portion of her substantial energies in the field; at age 79 she spent six weeks tending the ill and homeless in Galveston, \JTexas\j, after the disastrous flood there. A poor manager, unwilling to delegate, and more unwilling to share authority, Barton resigned under pressure as head of the Red Cross in June 1904, after which the agency experienced a thoroughgoing reorganization.
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"Barton, Donald C. (Clinton)",3391,0,0,0
DT (1889-1939)
EN geologist; born in Stow, Mass. He taught at Washington University (1914-16), then served as a research geologist in several U.S. oil companies (1916-39). His innovative use of the torsion balance to discover the salt domes that overlie oil deposits, revolutionized the field of petrogeology.
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"Barton, Elizabeth",3392,0,0,0
HS , known as \Bthe Maid of Kent\b or \Bthe Nun of Kent\b
DT1 ?
DT1 1506
DT2 34
EN \JProphet\j, born in Kent, south-east England, UK. A domestic servant in Aldington, she began to go into trances and make prophetic utterances against the authorities after an illness in 1525. She denounced \JHenry VIII\j's divorce and marriage to \JAnne Boleyn\j, was charged with \Jtreason\j, and hanged at Tyburn.
MEX Henry VIII
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#
"Barton, Frances",3393,0,0,0
EN See Abington, Fanny
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#
"Barton, Gordon Page",3394,0,0,0
DT1 1929
EN Transport entrepreneur and Australian politician, born in \JSurabaya\j, Java. He studied at Sydney University, and purchased the Interstate Parcel Express Company which formed the base for the international Ipec and Skypac freight and courier network, becoming managing director in 1962. An interest in progressive politics led to his forming the Liberal Reform Group, which later became the Australia Party.
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"Barton, John",3395,0,0,0
DT1 1928
EN Stage director, born in London, England, UK. He studied at King's College, Cambridge, where he was a fellow (1954--60), and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1960, where he became associate director (1964--91). He wrote and directed \IThe Hollow Crown\i (1961), an anthology about English monarchs, and is the author of \IPlaying Shakespeare\i (1984), based on the \Jtelevision\j series he made in 1982.
\BMajor Works\b
\IPublications\i
1962 The Hollow Crown (and 1972)
1970 The Wars of the Roses
1981 The Greeks
1984 Playing Shakespeare
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#
"Barton, Ralph",3396,0,0,0
DT (1891-1931)
EN illustrator, caricaturist; born in Kansas City, Mo. At the height of his career during the 1920s, when he was based in New York City but often traveled to Paris, his work was in demand by every magazine and book publisher and he came to epitomize the era he so cleverly caricatured. Often depressed, an insomniac, and a workaholic, he was constantly on the move, and married four times. He was a dandy who knew all the smart people, and could afford all the expensive toys, but ended up committing suicide.
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"Barton, Sir Derek (Harold Richard)",3397,0,0,0
DT1 1918
DT2 98
EN Organic chemist, born in Gravesend, Kent, SE England, UK. He studied at Imperial College, London, and was professor there for over 20 years, before moving in 1985 to \JTexas\j A & M University. He introduced conformational analysis as a method for studying the shape of organic molecules and the effect of shape on reactivity, and shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1969.
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"Barton, Sir Edmund",3398,0,0,0
DT1 1849
DT2 1920
EN Australian statesman and jurist, the first prime minister of the Australian Commonwealth (1901-3), born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. He was leader of the Federation movement from 1896, headed the committee that drafted the Commonwealth constitution bill, and led the delegation that presented it to the British parliament in 1900.
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"Bartram, John",3399,0,0,0
DT (1699-1777)
EN botanist; born near Darby, Pa. He developed an early interest in botany while growing up on his father's farm. After completing country school at age 12, he taught himself classical languages, medicine, and surgery from books. In 1728 he purchased land at Kingsessing, near Philadelphia, which he developed into the first botanical garden in the American colonies and where he conducted the first hybridization experiments in America.
Around 1733 he began corresponding with English naturalist Peter Collinson, with whom he exchanged seeds and plant specimens. This relationship led to his correspondence with Swedish biologist and taxonomist Carl Linnaeus, who called Bartram "the greatest natural botanist in the world." By 1750, Bartram was acclaimed throughout Europe. He made frequent collecting expeditions from Canada to \JFlorida\j, some with his botanist son William Bartram until the early 1770s.
In 1743, he became a member of Benjamin Franklin's American Philosophical Society, and in 1765 was appointed botanist to King \JGeorge III\j. A naturalist as well as a botanist, Bartram described and collected zoological specimens, proposed geological surveys of North American mineral sites, and argued that fossils be investigated scientifically, rather than exploited as curiosities. A Quaker, he demonstrated his opposition to \Jslavery\j by freeing his slaves; his outspoken religious opinions caused him to be disowned by his coreligionists in the Society of Friends. \IBartramia,\i a \Jgenus\j of mosses, was named in his honor.
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"Bartram, William",3400,0,0,0
DT (1739-1823)
EN botanist; born in Kingsessing (Philadelphia), Pa. As a youth he showed a talent for drawing specimens collected by his father, John Bartram, America's first botanist, but he first worked as a merchant and trader (1757-61). In 1765 he accompanied his father on an expedition to \JFlorida\j, and remained in the American south, drawing natural flora, gathering botanical specimens, becoming an accomplished ornithologist, and befriending both colonial planters and members of indigenous tribes.
After his father's death (1777), he returned to \JPennsylvania\j to become a partner with his brother John Bartram to care for his father's botanical garden (1777-1812). He declined a professorship of botany at the University of \JPennsylvania\j (1782), preferring to write on natural history and his observations on Indians; his literary accounts of his travels greatly influenced the 19th-century romantic movement; \ITravels through North and South Carolina, Georgia etc.\i (1791) is regarded as his masterpiece.
In 1786, William Bartram was elected to the American Philosophical Society. He remained active as a botanist, dying suddenly after writing a description of a plant.
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"Baruch",3401,0,0,0
PN [\Bba\brukh]
DT1 7
DT1b th
DT2 6
DT2b th-c BC
EN Biblical character, described as the companion and secretary of the \Jprophet\j Jeremiah \I(Jer\i 36), possibly of a wealthy family. His name became attached to several Jewish works of much later date, known as: 1 Baruch (the Book of Baruch); 2 (the \JSyriac\j Apocalypse of) Baruch; and 3 (the Greek Apocalypse of) Baruch. There is also a Christian Apocalypse of Baruch in Ethiopic.
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"Baruch, Bernard (Mannes)",3402,0,0,0
DT (1870-1965)
EN financier, public official, philanthropist; born in Camden, N.C. Starting on Wall Street at $3 a week, he became a multimillionaire by his mid-thirties through his stock investments. He chose to devote himself to public affairs and became a friend of Woodrow Wilson, who appointed him chairman of the War Industries Board (1917) and a member of the president's war council. He participated in the postwar peace conference, and with John Foster Dulles he coauthored \IThe Making of the Reparation and Economic Sections of the Treaty\i (1920).
Preferring to act as a personal consultant instead of holding official appointments, he continued to advise every president - and their top appointments - from Wilson through John F. Kennedy. Occasionally he did accept an appointment. During the 1930s, for instance, he advocated that the U.S. prepare and organize itself for the war he saw coming and in 1934 he accepted an appointment by President Franklin Roosevelt to chair a committee on mobilization legislation.
After World War II he also accepted an appointment from President Harry Truman - as ambassador to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (1946). But for the most part he preferred his near-legendary role as "Mr. Baruch," offering advice from a park bench. He made many gifts to educational institutions, notably his \Ialma mater,\i City College of New York.
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"Bary, Heinrich Anton de",3403,0,0,0
EN See de Bary, Heinrich Anton
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"barycentre",3404,0,0,0
EN For a group of objects composed of matter, such as the \JSolar System\j or a cluster of stars, the point at which total mass may be considered to be concentrated ('the centre of gravity') for the purposes of calculating its gravitational effect on other objects.
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"baryon",3405,0,0,0
PN [\Bba\brion]
EN In \Jparticle physics\j, a collective term for heavy matter particles which experience strong interactions. Baryons are composed of three quarks. The least massive \Jbaryon\j is the proton, into which other baryons decay.
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"Baryshnikov, Mikhail Nikolaievich",3406,0,0,0
PN [ba\Brish\bnikof]
DT1 1948
EN Dancer, born in Riga, \JLatvia\j. He trained at the Riga Choreography School, then with the Kirov Ballet in St Petersburg. In 1974 he defected to the West while on tour in Canada, joining the American Theater Ballet, and later the New York City Ballet, where he worked with George Balanchine.
He returned to American Theater Ballet, taking over as artistic director (1980--9), and in 1990 formed the White Oak Dance Project with Mark Morris. He has taken part in several \JHollywood\j films, including \IThe Turning Point\i (1977).
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"barytes",3407,0,0,0
EN See \Jbarite\j
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"baryton",3408,0,0,0
EN An obsolete musical instrument resembling a bass viol, with (usually) six strings which were bowed and a further 10-15 which were plucked. Between 1765 and 1778 Haydn wrote numerous pieces for the instrument.
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"bas-relief",3409,0,0,0
PN [bah ruh\Bleef\b]
EN Low relief sculpture, in which the design projects only very slightly from the background, as on a coin. Masters of the technique include Donatello and Desiderio da Settignano.
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"Basaldella, Mirko",3410,0,0,0
PN [basal\Bde\bla]
DT1 1910
DT2 1969
EN Sculptor and painter, born in Udine, \JItaly\j. He studied in \JVenice\j, Florence, and Milan, and first exhibited in \JRome\j in 1936. He is best known for the bronze memorial doors he designed for the Ardeatine caves near \JRome\j.
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"basalt",3411,0,0,0
PN [\Bba\bsawlt]
EN The most common extrusive \Jigneous rock\j, characterized by low \Jsilica\j content, and composed essentially of plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene. It is a dark, fine-grained rock, solidified from \Jlava\j erupted from fissures or craters. Submarine basalts, extruded along mid-ocean ridges, form the oceanic crust. Subaerial eruptions produce extensive flows, the largest of which form the Deccan Plateau, India, and the Columbia-Snake River Plateau, USA. It is commonly used as a building stone and road-stone aggregate.
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"base (chemistry)",3412,0,0,0
EN A substance liberating \Jhydroxide\j ions in \Jwater\j, an acceptor of protons, or a donor of \Jelectron\j pairs: each of these definitions includes the previous one. The term is thus the opposite of an acid, whatever definition of acid is used. In \Jwater\j, strong bases include the hydroxides of the \Jalkali\j metals, while weak bases include ammonia and the amines.
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"base (mathematics)",3413,0,0,0
EN The number on which a system of counting is constructed \B(number-base).\b The numbers in common use are in base ten, which uses ten symbols 0-9, and expresses numbers in multiples of powers of ten; thus 'three hundred and forty-two' is written 342, since it is:
3 ╫ 10\U2\u + 4 ╫ 10 + 2. A number in base five, which uses five symbols 0-4, would be written as the sum of multiples of powers of five; thus 'seventy-three' (in base ten) is:
2 ╫ 25 + 4 ╫ 5 + 3 = 2 ╫ 5\U2\u + 4 ╫ 5 + 3 = 243\Dfive\d: other than base ten, base two is the commonest base.
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"baseball",3414,0,0,0
EN A team game played on a wedge-shaped field, with a diamond-shaped infield (the \Idiamond),\i by two sides of players with a bat and ball. One team, on offence or \Iat bat,\i tries to score the most runs by having their players circle the bases before they are put \Iout\i by the other team which is \Iin the field.\i An out is made when the batter fails to hit a legally pitched ball on three successive occasions (a \Istrikeout,),\i or when the fielding team catches a batted ball before it touches the ground, tags a member of the offensive team between the bases, or touches a base before an offensive player reaches that base.
The defensive team is aided in stopping the offensive team by fielding batted balls with an oversized glove or \Imitt.\i Each game is made up of nine innings unless the score is tied, in which case the game is extended into \Iextra innings\i until one team outscores the other in a particular inning.
Each inning is divided into two parts - the \Itop\i and \Ibottom.\i The visiting team always bats first (the top) and the home team always bats last (the bottom). Each team at bat is allowed three outs in its half inning. The major confrontation of the game centres on the \Ipitcher\i and \Ibatter.\i The pitcher hurls the ball (at upwards of 145┐kph / 90┐mph) towards the batter, who stands on the home plate poised to strike the ball. If the batter swings at the ball and fails to hit it, or if the pitcher throws the ball into a designated strike zone between the batter's knees and his chest, without the batter swinging at the ball, a \Istrike\i is called.
Three strikes causes a batter to be declared out. Conversely, if the pitcher fails to throw the ball into the strike zone and the batter does not swing, a \Iball\i is called. Four balls allow the batter to take first base. The home plate umpire, who stands behind the catcher, determines if the ball is within the strike zone (which comprises the area over home plate extending from the midway point between the top of the batter's shoulders to the top of his pants, down to the top of his knees). If the batter strikes the ball beyond the playing area's limits (within the foul lines), or if he circles the bases before being put out, he has hit a \Ihome run\i (or \Ihomer).\i
Baseball is called the \Inational pastime\i in the USA. Professional teams usually consist of 25 players. The \IMajor League\i of \JNorth America\j is divided into the American and National Leagues. The American League consists of 14 teams and the National of 12 based in the USA and Canada. In the National League 9 players can participate at one time for each team, while in the American League 10 take part because that league employs the designated hitter rule allowing a team to replace the pitcher in its batting order with a player who bats but does not play the field.
The culmination of the season, which runs from April through October, is a best-of-seven game \IWorld Series\i between the champions of each league. The origins of the game are unclear. The person most widely cited as the game's inventor is a West Point cadet, Abner Doubleday, who in 1839 laid out a diamond at Cooperstown, NY, where the modern day \JBaseball\j Hall of Fame stands.
However, there is evidence that the game was played much earlier, and gradually evolved into its present form. The first formal set of \Jbaseball\j rules were drawn up by Alexander Cartwright in 1845. \JBaseball\j is becoming increasingly popular in \JJapan\j and \JLatin America\j, and in 1992 a Canadian team (the Toronto Blue Jays) won the World Series for the first time.
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"Basel",3415,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah\bzl]
EN 47░35N 7░35E, pop (1995e) 177 000. Capital of \JBasel\j-Stadt demicanton and of \JBasel\j canton, NE \JSwitzerland\j; on the R Rhine, 69 km/43 mi N of \JBern\j; centre of the Regio Basiliensis "natural region'; second largest city in \JSwitzerland\j; river port at the terminus of Rhine navigation; on the site of a Roman fort; mediaeval centre for silk, dyeing, and printing; joined the Swiss Confederacy, 1501; influential centre during the Reformation; scene of the first Zionist conference, 1897; airport (\JBasel\j-\JMulhouse\j, on French territory, shared with \JFrance\j); railway junction; oldest Swiss university (1460); major European communications crossroads; \JSwitzerland\j's leading centre for transshipment and international commerce; pharmaceuticals, salt, synthetics, chemicals, textiles, \Jmetallurgy\j, \Jengineering\j, foodstuffs, tourism; Gothic minster (11th-c, largely rebuilt 14th-c), town hall (1504--14), Spalentor (1400), European World Trade and Convention Centre, zoological and botanical gardens, many museums and theatres; space-age pylon (symbolizing the city's location at the junction of \JFrance\j, \JGermany\j, and \JSwitzerland\j); annual Swiss Industries Fair, 3-\Jday\j \JBasel\j Carnival (Fasnacht).
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"Baselitz, Georg",3416,0,0,0
PN [\Bba\bselitz]
DT1 1938
EN Avant-garde artist, born in Deutschbaselitz, \JGermany\j. He studied art in East Berlin (1956--7), before emigrating to the West in 1957. He had his first one-man show in Berlin in 1961. His violent subject-matter and his "wild Expressionist' style have affinities with Munch and Kokoschka. His forte is painting figures, animals, trees, and other objects upside down.
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"basenji",3417,0,0,0
EN The Basenji is somewhat of an unusual dog, as it does not bark. Also, it cleans itself rather like a cat, and has an unusual trotting gait rather like a thoroughbred horse.
\BHistory:\b
The Basenji has a truly amazing history. There are reports of pictures just like the Basenji appearing in the tombs of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs. Yet the breed was virtually unknown to western culture until the nineteenth century. This ancient breed originated in Zaire, formerly known as the \JCongo\j, in Central Africa, around 3400 BC. During the 1870s, English explorers found the dogs living with local people.
The Europeans discovered the Basenji had been carefully bred to concentrate their best traits. The dogs were truly amazing, both for their prowess at tracking and as watch-dogs.
Veronica Tudor Williams is credited for carrying out the difficult task of scouring remote areas of Africa to obtain the best specimens. She then had the difficult task of transporting them overseas for breeding. As the Basenji had not been exposed to European canine diseases such as distemper, there were many initial setbacks to overcome.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The Basenji is a symmetrical, athletic-looking dog with an appearance of being alert. \IHeight:\i 16 - 17 in (40.6 - 43.2 cm). \IWeight:\i 21 - 24 lb (9.5 - 11 kg). The almond-shaped dark eyes are small and quite deeply set. The small upright ears are set high on the head and a long way forwards. The wrinkles on its face provide it with an interesting facial expression.
The medium-length neck thickens as it smoothly flows over muscular shoulders with a full chest. The dog has a definite waist and a curly tail held high. The coat is short and quite silky over a supple skin. The coat color is usually chestnut with white markings but may also be white, black, white and black, or tan.
\BBehavior:\b
This medium-sized dog has a cheerful and confident temperament with a tendency towards independence. It has been selectively bred to be an excellent watch-dog. However, although it does not bark, it sounds a characteristic call rather like a yodel.
Generally, the Basenji gets along well with other dogs. Although they may act differently in some ways, a wise owner will ensure that they have plenty of chance to socialize with other dogs as a puppy, and so avoid any later problems. As they have had thousands of years of living with people, these dogs are especially good with families and make excellent companion animals. Basenjis enjoy close contact with people and respond quite well to training. As they are intelligent and active dogs they should be provided with regular exercise and plenty of stimulation.
Basenjis are a hardy breed and cope well with hot conditions, as may be expected because of their origins. During cold \Jweather\j a simple kennel should be provided. To avoid roaming, these dogs should be adequately fenced, as some may become notorious for their Houdini-like exploits.
Their food requirements will vary with their age and amount of exercise, but as a guide they will need about just over a pound (0.5 kg) a \Jday\j.
As a breed the Basenji generally has few weaknesses but may suffer from breathing problems. This dog likes to keep itself very clean and will fastidiously lick its coat.
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"Basevi, George",3418,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bsay\bvee]
DT1 1794
DT2 1845
EN Architect, born in London, England, UK. A pupil of Sir John Soane, he travelled in \JGreece\j and \JItaly\j (1816-19), designed in Neoclassical style the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, laid out part of London's Belgravia, and designed country mansions and Gothic churches.
MEX Soane
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"Basho, Matsuo",3419,0,0,0
DT1 1644
DT2 94
EN Poet, born in Ueno (Iga), \JJapan\j. He was raised in an \Jatmosphere\j of poetry. Becoming master of the \Jhaiku\j, he started his own school, but later retired to a hermitage. Influenced by Zen \JBuddhism\j, he then journeyed extensively, and composed his celebrated book of travels \IThe Narrow Road to the Deep North\i (1689) in a mixture of poetic prose and \Jhaiku\j.
SX m
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"BASIC",3420,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\bsik]
EN \JAcronym\j for \BBeginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code,\b a high-level computer programming language developed in the late 1950s at Dartmouth College in the USA, which has the advantage of being relatively simple to learn and implement.
It has since been widely adopted as a standard language by \Jmicrocomputer\j manufacturers, though there are now a large number of 'dialects' of BASIC for different types of computer which are not readily interchangeable. More recently BASIC has been overtaken by C as a programming language for microcomputers.
BK b
#
"basic oxides",3421,0,0,0
EN See \Joxides\j
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XCY y
#
"Basidiomycetes",3422,0,0,0
PN [basidiohmiy\Bseet\beez]
EN A subdivision of the true fungi, characterized by a sexual reproduction process that forms a club-shaped structure \I(basidium)\i bearing four haploid spores \I(basidiospores); \i basidia arranged on fruiting body (mushroom); includes edible mushrooms, agarics, puffballs, and many parasitic forms. (Division: \JEumycota\j.)
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"Basie, Count",3423,0,0,0
DT (1904-84)
EN jazz musician; born in Red Bank, N.J. He received his first \Jpiano\j lessons at age six from his mother and worked as an accompanist to silent films while still in high school. He studied organ informally with Fats Waller, whom he replaced in a New York \Jvaudeville\j act called \IKatie Crippin and Her Kids.\i Between 1924-27, he toured on the Keith Circuit with the Gonzelle White \Jvaudeville\j show until it got stranded in Kansas City, then a bustling center of jazz and blues activity. He played \Jpiano\j at a silent movie theater there, then spent a year with Walter Page's Blue Devils in 1928-29.
When this band broke up, he began a five-year association with Benny Moten's orchestra, whose sidemen included blues singer Jimmy Rushing, trumpeter Hot Lips Page, and Lester Young, the highly innovative tenor saxophonist. Upon Moten's death in 1935, these musicians formed the nucleus of Basie's first band. Under his leadership they broadcast from the Reno Club in Kansas City, where a radio announcer dubbed him "Count"; through these broadcasts, he attracted the attention of the well-connected talent scout John Hammond, who set up his first tour.
The band played a residency at the Grand Terrace in \JChicago\j, then opened at the Roseland in New York in December 1936. Basie began a prolific series of recordings the following year, and in 1938 he played a long residency at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, where his reputation as leader of one of the premier swing bands was firmly established. He led his band on a continual series of U.S. tours throughout the 1940s, but in 1950 economic conditions compelled him to disband and front a sextet for two years.
He formed a new 16-piece band in 1952 and began a long association with producer Norman Granz of Verve Records; this outfit established a new and enduring prototype for big bands and radio and \Jtelevision\j studio orchestras. In 1954, the band undertook the first of its many European tours.
During the 1960s, the Basie orchestra accompanied various singers, including Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennett, and Sammy Davis Jr., on recordings and concert tours. He made numerous appearances with all-star groups in the 1970s, but maintained a regular touring schedule with his band until his death. His \Jautobiography\j, \IGood Morning Blues,\i written with Albert Murray, was published posthumously in 1985.
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"basil",3424,0,0,0
EN A bushy aromatic annual or perennial \I(Ocimum basilicum),\i growing to 1┐m / 3 1/4┐ft, but often less; stems square; leaves oval, pale, glossy, in opposite pairs; flowers 2-lipped, white or purplish, in whorls; probably native to south-east Asia, but widely cultivated in Europe and USA as a culinary herb and for use in perfumery. \B(Family:\b Labiatae.)
BK b
#
"Basil I",3425,0,0,0
HS , known as \BBasil the Macedonian\b
DT1a c.
DT1 812
DT2 886
EN Byzantine emperor. He rose in the imperial service from obscure origins to become co-ruler in 867 with Michael III, whom he murdered in the same year. The dynasty he founded ruled Constantinople until 1056.
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#
"Basil II",3426,0,0,0
HS , known as \BBasil Bulgaroctonus\b ('slayer of the Bulgars')
DT1a c.
DT1 958
DT2 1025
EN Byzantine emperor, who came to the throne as sole ruler in 976. A palace revolution was crushed by his alliance with Vladimir I the Great, Prince of \JKiev\j. Vladimir's troops became the core of the future Varangian Guard, the elite unit of the Byzantine army. Basil's 15-year war against the Bulgarians culminated in the victory in the Belasica Mountains which earned him his surname. \JBulgaria\j was annexed to the empire by 1018, while the E frontier was extended to Lake Van in Armenia.
MEX Vladimir I
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#
"Basil, St",3427,0,0,0
HS , known as \BBasil the Great\b
DT1a c.
DT1 329
DT2 79
EN One of the greatest of the Greek fathers, born in Caesarea, \JCappadocia\j, the brother of Gregory of Nyssa. He studied at Byzantium and \JAthens\j, lived for a time with hermits in the desert, and in 370 succeeded Eusebius of Caesarea as bishop of his native city. A fierce opponent of Arianism, he improved monastic standards and wrote many seminal works. Feast \Jday\j 1 Jan (east), 2 Jan (west).
MEX Gregory of Nyssa
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"Basil, Wassili de",3428,0,0,0
EN See de Basil, Colonel Wassili
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#
"basilica",3429,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bzil\bika]
EN Originally a royal palace or large oblong hall with double colonnades, for the administration of justice and commerce. It was later adopted by early Christians as a similarly arranged church with two or more aisles, timber roof, and apse. The name derives from Greek \Ibasileus,\i 'king'.
BK b
#
"Basilides",3430,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bsil\bideez]
DT1 2
DT1b nd-c
EN Gnostic philosopher, who founded a sect in Alexandria. His esoteric doctrines seem to have blended Christian thought with elements from \JZoroaster\j, Indian philosophy, and magic. His disciples \I(Basilidians)\i were active in \JEgypt\j, \JSyria\j, \JItaly\j, and even Gaul into the 4th-c.
SX m
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#
"Basiliensis, Regio",3431,0,0,0
PN [\Brej\bioh basil\Byen\bsis]
EN area 234┐km\U2\u / 90┐mi\U2\u. Transnational 'natural region' encompassing the frontier districts of \JFrance\j, \JSwitzerland\j, and \JGermany\j, in the Upper Rhine Valley, between the Jura Mts and the Black Forest; administrative centre, \JBasel\j; regional centres at \JMulhouse\j and Freiburg; international co-operation between local governments, industries, and universities promoted since 1963.
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"basilisk (biology)",3432,0,0,0
EN An \Jiguana\j native to \JSouth America\j; male with bony projections on head and prominent sail-like crests along back; tail long; may run upright on long hind legs; can even run on \Jwater\j for short distances. \B(Genus:\b \IBasiliscus,\i 5 species.)
BK b
#
"basilisk (mythology)",3433,0,0,0
EN A fabulous beast, a small dragon-like creature combining features of the snake and the cockerel. Its eye could freeze and kill, hence the expression 'If looks could kill'. It is equivalent to the \Bcockatrice,\b which was hatched by a serpent from the egg of a cock.
BK b
#
"Basilius, John",3434,0,0,0
EN See Bessarion or Basilius, John
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"Basinger, Kim",3435,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\bsinjer]
DT1 1953
EN Film actress, born in \JAthens\j, Georgia, USA. She appeared in \Jtelevision\j commercials and was a top model before making her feature film debut in \IHard Country\i (1981). Other films include \IThe Real McCoy\i (1993), and \IThe Getaway\i (1994). She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in \IL.A. Confidential\i (1997).
EN Printer, born in Wolverley, Hereford and Worcester, WC England, UK. He became a writing master in Birmingham, and from 1740 carried on a successful japanning (varnishing) business there. In about 1750 he began to make experiments in letter founding, and produced the types named after him. In 1758 he became printer to Cambridge University.
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"basketball",3437,0,0,0
EN A five-a-side team ball game, invented by James Naismith in 1891 in Springfield, MA; but a similar game was played by the \JOlmecs\j in Mexico in the 10th-c BC. It is especially popular as a professional sport in the USA. Played on a court, the object is to throw the ball through your opponent's basket, situated at the end of the court, and 10┐ft (3.05┐m) above the ground. Virtually all professional \Jbasketball\j players are well over 6┐ft (1.8┐m) tall.
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"Baskin, Leonard",3438,0,0,0
DT1 1922
DT2 2000
EN Graphic artist and sculptor, born in New \JBrunswick\j, \JNew Jersey\j, USA. He studied at New York University and Yale, and later in \JFrance\j and \JItaly\j. His sculptures, begun in the 1950s, show his dedication to social \Jhumanism\j, as seen in the wood, bronze, and stone series "Dead Men', "Birdmen', and "Oppressed Men'.
His etchings, woodblocks, and graphics exhibit his elegiac and technically sophisticated approach, as seen in "Man of Peace' (1952) and "Angel of Death' (1959). He taught at Smith College, Northampton, MA (1953--74). In 1990 he undertook his major work, the long-delayed Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial for Washington, DC.
\BMajor Works\b
1951--6 Man with a Dead Bird (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1952 Man of Peace
1955 Blake
1956 Hanged man
1959 Barlach Dead
1959 Angel of Death
1960 Man With Owl
1961 Seated Birdman (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1976 Prodigal Son
1978 Ruth and Naomi
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"basking shark",3439,0,0,0
EN Extremely large, inoffensive shark \I(Cetorhinus maximus),\i second only to the whale shark as the largest living fish; length up to 10┐m / 33┐ft, weight c.6000┐kg / 13┐200┐lb; lives in oceanic surface waters feeding entirely upon plankton filtered by stiff bristles on its long gill arches. \B(Family:\b Cetorhinidae.)
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"Basle",3440,0,0,0
EN See \JBasel\j
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"Basle, Council of",3441,0,0,0
EN (1431-49) A controversial Council of the Church. It was intended to continue the work of the Council of Constance, against heresy, and initiating reform, but fell into dispute with Pope Eugenius IV for asserting the authority of the Council over that of the pope. When the pope attempted to dissolve it, the Council appointed Felix V, the last of the antipopes.
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"Basov, Nikolai Gennadiyevich",3442,0,0,0
PN [\Bbas\bof]
DT1 1922
EN Physicist, the inventor of masers and lasers, born in St Petersburg, \JRussia\j. At the Lebedev Physics Institute in Moscow (deputy director 1958--73, director from 1973), his work provided the theoretical basis for the development of the maser in 1955, for which he shared the 1964 Nobel Prize for Physics. In 1958 he invented the laser.
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"Basque Provinces",3443,0,0,0
PN [bask]
EN pop (1995e) 2 110 000; area 7261 sq km/2803 sq mi. Autonomous region of N \JSpain\j, comprising the provinces of ß\Jlava\j, Guip·zcoa, and Vizcaya; coastal hills, separated from the main ridge of the Cordillera Cantabrica to the S by valleys growing wheat; rivers provide hydroelectric power; industries centred around \JBilbao\j and San Sebastian include \Jmetallurgy\j, paper, furniture.
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"Basques",3444,0,0,0
PN [basks]
EN A people living in northern parts of \JSpain\j and neighbouring areas in \JFrance\j, and now thought to originate from local \JMesolithic\j populations. They are physically similar to their neighbours, and are Roman Catholics, but their language, Basque, spoken by c.500┐000, does not relate to any other European language, and is thought to be a remnant of the languages spoken in W Europe before the advent of the Indo-European family.
Despite extensive cultural and linguistic assimilation, urbanized Basques retain strong ethnic identity, and their main city \JBilbao\j is a centre of Basque \Jnationalism\j. Most Basques sided with the Spanish Republic during the Spanish \JCivil War\j (1931-6), and an autonomous Basque Republic resisted Franco's Nationalists until crushed in 1937.
Many thereafter went into exile. Since the death of Franco (1975), the new liberal Spanish monarchy has granted Basques some local autonomy (1978-9), but the more militant continue to agitate for a separate Basque state, engaging in \Jterrorism\j for this end. Population c.805┐000 in \JSpain\j, 130┐000 in \JFrance\j, and 170┐000 elsewhere, mainly in \JSouth America\j and the USA.
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"Basra",3445,0,0,0
PN [\Bbaz\bra]
EN 30░30N 47░50E, pop (1995e) 822 000. Port capital of Basra governorate, SE \JIraq\j, at head of the Shatt al-Arab, c.120 km/75 mi from the Persian Gulf; major centre of literature, \Jtheology\j, and scholarship in 8th--9th-c; modern administrative and commercial centre; airport; railway; university (1967); oil refining, fertilizers; port badly affected in 1980s by \JIran\j--\JIraq\j war and again in 1991 during and after the Gulf War.
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"bass",3446,0,0,0
PN [bas]
EN Marine and brackish-\Jwater\j fish \I(Dicentrarchus labrax)\i found in the surf zone around rocks and beaches of the north-east Atlantic; body blue-grey with silver sides, length up to 1┐m / 3 1/4┐ft; valuable commercial and sport fish. \B(Family:\b Serranidae.) The name is also used for other species of the families Serranidae and Centrarchidae.
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"Bass Strait",3447,0,0,0
PN [bas]
EN A channel separating \JTasmania\j from Victoria, \JAustralia\j, maximum width 240┐km / 150┐mi, depth 50-70┐m / 180-240┐ft; named in 1798 after the British explorer George Bass (1771-1803); oil and \Jnatural gas\j.
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"Bass, (Mary) Elizabeth",3448,0,0,0
DT (1876-1956)
EN physician; born in Carley, Miss. She attended local schools and became a teacher (1892-99). As women were then excluded from southern medical schools, in 1900 she enrolled in the Woman's Medical College of \JPennsylvania\j, graduating in 1904. With five female colleagues, she established a free dispensary for the indigent women and children of \JNew Orleans\j in 1905.
In 1911 she and Edith Ballard became the first female faculty members at Tulane University school of medicine, where she taught for 30 years. Her work on behalf of women in medicine opened the doors for many who came after her, internationally as well as locally. She also amassed a major collection of printed materials by and about women in medicine (now part of Tulane's medical library) and she wrote numerous articles and essays on this subject.
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"Bass, George",3449,0,0,0
PN [bas]
DT1 1771
DT2 1803
EN Naval surgeon, born in Aswarby, Lincolnshire, EC England, UK. With Matthew Flinders he explored (1795-1800) the strait between \JTasmania\j and \JAustralia\j that bears his name. He died while mining in \JSouth America\j.
MEX Flinders
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"Bass, Michael Thomas",3450,0,0,0
PN [bas]
DT1 1799
DT2 1884
EN Brewer, born in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, C England, UK. He entered the family business (founded by his grandfather, William Bass, in 1777), which he expanded considerably. He helped to improve the lot of working people both as employer and as Liberal MP (1848-83). His son, \BMichael Arthur Bass\b (1837-1909), became Baron Burton in 1886.
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"Bassae",3451,0,0,0
PN [\Bbas\bay]
EN A temple dedicated to Apollo Epicurius on the slopes of Mount Lykaion, south-west Arcadia, \JGreece\j; a world heritage site. It was built in the 5th-c BC by Ictinus for the people of Phigalia after their city escaped a plague epidemic. Rediscovered in 1763, it has since been largely re-erected.
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"Bassani, Giorgio",3452,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bsah\bnee]
DT1 1916
DT2 2000
EN Novelist and poet, born in \JBologna\j, \JItaly\j. He lived until 1943 in \JFerrara\j, where much of his fiction is set. His first major success was \ICinque storie ferraresi\i (1956, Five Stories of \JFerrara\j), most of them composed in the aftermath of World War 2.
A sensitive chronicler of Italian Jews and their suffering under \JFascism\j, other major works include \IIl giardino dei Finzi-Contini\i (1962, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, filmed in 1971) and \IL'airone\i (1968, The Heron, Campiello Prize).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1956 Five Stories of Ferrara
1962 The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (filmed 1971)
1968 The Heron
1972 The Smell of the Hay
\IPoetry\i
1978 In Great Secrecy
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"Bassano, Jacopo da",3453,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bsah\bnoh]
HS , also known as \BGiacomo da Ponte\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1510
DT2 92
EN Founder of genre painting in Europe, born in Bassano, \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j. His best paintings are of peasant life and biblical scenes, and include the \Jaltarpiece\j of the Nativity at Bassano, '\JCalvary\j' (c.1538, Cambridge), and 'Pastoral' (c.1565-70, \JLugano\j). His four sons were also painters.
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"basse taille enamel",3454,0,0,0
PN [bas \Btiy\b]
EN A technique of enamelling on silver, or occasionally gold, where the metal is carved and engraved, and translucent coloured enamel is applied on top with the image shining through. It was introduced about the end of the 13th-c, probably in Paris.
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"Basse-Terre",3455,0,0,0
PN [bas tair]
EN pop (1995e) 169 000; area 848 sq km/327 sq mi. One of the two main islands of the French Overseas Department of \JGuadeloupe\j, Lesser \JAntilles\j, E Caribbean; separated from \JGrande-Terre\j I by the narrow RiviΦre SalΘe; mountainous, with active \Jvolcano\j Grande SoufriΦre rising to 1484 m/4869 ft; national park in C of island; capital, Basse-Terre, pop (1990) 14 107; tourism.
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"basset hound",3456,0,0,0
EN The \JBasset Hound\j first gained stardom as a breed when it was made famous on TV by Cleo. Following her popularity, the breed was made internationally famous when its endearing expression and other lovable characteristics were used to advertise the casual shoes called Hush Puppies; the breed was further popularized by the \Jcartoon\j character Fred Basset.
The \JBasset Hound\j is an ancient breed of dog originating from \JFrance\j in the 1600s. It is believed that the short legs were originally the result of a congenital bone disease. The scenting ability of the dog remained perfect, and only the legs were shorter.
A plausible story is that rather than this being seen as a problem, peasant hunters were delighted: before it was necessary to follow the long-legged hounds on a horse; now it could be followed on foot. If you have ever run after a \JBasset Hound\j, you will realize that despite its short legs, it can still move fast enough.
\BHistory:\b
The \JBasset Hound\j may have descended from some now extinct breed of French hunting dog such as the Basset d'Artois. Originally the short-legged variety may just have been kept as a curiosity, or perhaps the story of utilizing the short-legged variety for hunting on foot has some merit.
Some authorities believe the \JBasset Hound\j was brought back from Constantinople (\JIstanbul\j) after the \JCrusades\j. However, the \JBasset Hound\j is certainly not of British or American origin. The English added the \JBloodhound\j strain to the breed to produce a dog with a longer head.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The short legs make the dog appear that it is half the height it should be, and twice the length. It is, however, a most substantial dog and its short legs are very powerful.
\IHeight:\i 13 15 in (33 - 38 cm). \IWeight:\i 40 - 55 lb (18 - 25 kg). The \JBasset Hound\j has a dome-shaped broad head with loose skin falling in folds over the eyebrows. The muzzle is blunt-ended and the large teeth have a scissor bite. The lightly set oval eyes are usually hazel and contribute to the dog's endearing expression of good-natured intelligence.
The ears start well back on the head and hang pendulously in loose folds curving slightly inwards. The muscly neck has a pronounced arch to it over strong shoulders. The powerful body is barrel-shaped with wrinkled forequarters.
The coat is short and dense and is generally any hound combination such as black, white and tan, or even yellow or white.
\BBehavior:\b
This large dog on short legs has a gentle temperament and is slow to anger. This dog knows that it is powerful and requires a strong hand when it is young. Its independent nature means that it must be adequately fenced or it will have a tendency to roam.
A \JBasset Hound\j can make a good watch-dog if it is encouraged to bark at the things you think are important. It certainly has an amazing bark which acts as a powerful deterrent to any would-be intruder.
Basset Hounds are normally sociable with other dogs and are keen to play. Their powerful bodies give them confidence and other dogs find their reduced height non-threatening.
Excellent family pets can be made from Basset Hounds because they are very tolerant of children. However, they do not take to commands easily unless you are most insistent. They are inclined to be very stubborn and it requires a deal of patience to train a Basset Hound. Children should not be allowed to tease the Basset Hound because although it does look very cuddly, it is still a very powerful animal under extreme provocation.
The \JBasset Hound\j should be exercised regularly, as it is easily bored. This hardy dog should be provided with a simple kennel for protection from the elements. The \JBasset Hound\j's long ears reduce air circulation and can become a problem. It is advisable to provide them with a deep and narrow food bowl so that their ears are not soiled with food. Failure to keep the ears clean can result in sores and other infections on the outside and they should also be regularly checked inside for infections. The nose should be checked periodically and especially after exercise, as grass seeds and other items can often become lodged inside.
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"basset-horn",3457,0,0,0
EN An 18th-c musical instrument belonging to the \Jclarinet\j family, with a lower compass than that of the normal \Jclarinet\j. It was much used by Mozart, but fell into disuse in the 19th-c.
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"Basseterre",3458,0,0,0
PN [bas\Btair\b]
EN 17░17N 62░43W, pop (1995e) 14 300. Capital and chief port of St Kitts-Nevis, N Leeward Is, E Caribbean, on SW coast of St Kitts I; airport; distribution centre; electrical components, garments, data processing, beverages; cathedral.
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"Bassi, Agostino Maria",3459,0,0,0
PN [\Bba\bsee]
DT1 1773
DT2 1856
EN Biologist and pioneer bacteriologist, born in Lodi, \JItaly\j. He studied at \JPavia\j, and his work on animal diseases partly anticipated that of Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch. As early as 1835 he showed that a disease of silkworms (muscardine) was fungal in origin and contagious, and proposed that many other diseases are transmitted by micro-organisms.
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"Bassi, Laura (Maria Catarina)",3460,0,0,0
PN [basee]
DT (1711-78)
EN Italian physicist; the first female professor of physics at any university.
Laura Bassi was born in \JBologna\j, the daughter of a lawyer, and was educated at home by the family physician, who was a professor at the university and a member of the Academy of the Institute for Sciences (Istituto delle Scienze). Bassi was instructed in \Jmathematics\j, philosophy, anatomy, natural history and languages and news of her remarkable ability spread. She became an object of curiosity and was pressed to appear in public.
In March 1732 she was elected to the Institute Academy and a month later engaged in a public debate with five scholars of the university and was awarded a degree from the University of \JBologna\j. Bassi was given an official position at the university, but the Senate attempted to restrict her appearances as a lecturer to ceremonial public events and the social circles of the city.
She continued to study \Jmathematics\j and gave private lessons at her home, while successfully petitioning for wider responsibilities and a higher salary to cover the cost of equipment for physical and electrical experiments. She was one of the first scholars to teach Newtonian natural philosophy in \JItaly\j. At the age of 65 she was appointed to the Chair of Experimental Physics at \JBologna\j. She married and had eight children, five of whom survived childhood.
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"Bassompierre, Francois de",3461,0,0,0
PN [bas⌡pyair]
DT1 1579
DT2 1646
EN French soldier and statesman, born in Harouel, \JFrance\j. Promoted to the rank of Marshal of \JFrance\j in 1622, he later served as ambassador to \JSwitzerland\j, \JSpain\j, and England, but he was implicated in an unsuccessful plot to overthrow Cardinal Richelieu, and was imprisoned in the Bastille (1631-43). His \IMemoirs,\i written in the Bastille, are an important source for contemporary history.
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"bassoon",3462,0,0,0
EN A musical instrument consisting of a jointed wooden pipe, about 2┐m 54┐cm / 8┐ft 4┐in long, doubled back on itself, and fitted with metal keys and a curved crook with a double reed. It is, in effect, a bass oboe. The larger \Bdouble \Jbassoon\j,\b or \Bcontrabassoon,\b sounds one octave lower than the standard instrument.
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"basswood",3463,0,0,0
EN An American species of lime \I(Tilia americana),\i producing useful timber and bass / bast, the stringy inner bark used for mats and ropes. \B(Family:\b Tileaceae.)
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"Bastia",3464,0,0,0
PN [bas\Btee\ba]
EN 42░40N 9░30E, pop (1995e) 39 900. Port and capital of Haute-Corse department, NW \JCorsica\j, \JFrance\j; in NE corner on narrow Cap Corse between mountains and sea; founded by the Genoese, 1380; capital of \JCorsica\j until 1811; largest port and chief town of the island; airport; railway; fishing, wine, \Jtobacco\j, shipping trade, tourism.
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"Bastian, Adolf",3465,0,0,0
PN [\Bba\bstian]
DT1 1826
DT2 1905
EN Ethnologist, born in Bremen, \JGermany\j. He studied at Berlin, Heidelberg, \JPrague\j, Jena, and Wⁿrzburg, and travelled widely, collecting material for his ethnological studies in most continents. He is best known for his theory that variations in folk cultures could be traced back to the effects of local geographical conditions on a basic set of elementary ideas \I(Elementargedanken)\i common to mankind.
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"Bastian, Henry (Charlton)",3466,0,0,0
DT1 1837
DT2 1915
EN Biologist and physician, born in Truro, Cornwall, south-west England, UK. He studied at University College, London, where he became professor of pathological anatomy (1867), \Jhospital\j physician (1871), and professor of clinical medicine (1887-95). He championed the doctrine of spontaneous generation, and became one of the founders of British \Jneurology\j through his work on \Japhasia\j.
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"Bastien-Lepage, Jules",3467,0,0,0
PN [bastyφ\ti luhpahzh]
DT1 1848
DT2 84
EN Painter, born in Damvillers, \JFrance\j. His pictures are mostly of genre rustic scenes, such as 'The Hayfield' (1878, MusΘe d'Orsay), but he also produced portraits, such as those of Sarah Bernhardt and the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII).
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"Bastille",3468,0,0,0
PN [bas\Bteel\b]
EN A mediaeval fortress and prison in E Paris, the symbol of Bourbon despotism, stormed by a Parisian mob on 14 July 1789. Its destruction came to have a unique place in French Revolutionary \Jideology\j as marking the end of the \Iancien rΘgime.\i The anniversary of the \Jday\j is a French national holiday.
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"Bastos, Augustos Roa",3469,0,0,0
DT1 1917
EN Paraguayan novelist, living in exile since 1947. The author of several works of fiction, he has been a journalist, screenwriter, and teacher, and until his retirement in 1985 was a professor at the University of \JToulouse\j. \II the Supreme\i (1947, trans title) is his masterpiece.
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1947 I the Supreme
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#
"bat",3470,0,0,0
EN A nocturnal \Jmammal\j, widespread in tropical and temperate regions; hibernates in winter in cold areas; usually hangs head-down at rest; the only \Jmammal\j capable of sustained flight (the wing is a web of skin stretched between elongated fingers and joined to the rear legs and tail); probably evolved to exploit night-flying insects. Most members of the suborder Microchiroptera eat insects; some also eat fish, frogs, birds, or other bats. They use \Jecholocation\j to detect prey and avoid obstacles, and have a nose and ears which are often complex in shape.
In contrast, \Bfruit bats\b (or \Iflying foxes)\i of the Old World tropics (suborder: Megachiroptera, 170 species) eat fruit and flowers detected by smell. They include the largest bats, with large eyes and a dog-like head (small ears and a long muzzle). They have better vision than other bats, and few use \Jecholocation\j. A quarter of living \Jmammal\j species are bats. The name \Bfruit bat\b is also used for \Jgenus\j \IArtibeus\i (14 fruit-eating species) from the New World tropics (suborder: Microchiroptera; family: Phyllostomidae). \B(Order:\b Chiroptera, 951 species.)
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"Bat Mitzvah",3471,0,0,0
EN See Bar Mitzvah
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#
"Bata, Tomas",3472,0,0,0
DT1 1876
DT2 1932
EN Industrialist, born in Zlin, Czech Republic. From a small shoemaking business, he built up the largest leather factory in Europe, in 1928 producing 75┐000 pairs of shoes a \Jday\j.
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#
"Batak",3473,0,0,0
EN Six closely-related ethnic groups of C \JSumatra\j, \JIndonesia\j, speaking Austronesian languages. Their ancestors were Proto-Malayan people fairly isolated in the Sumatran highlands until the early 19th-c. Indian cultural influences date back to the 2nd-3rd-c AD. The most literate and Christianized group are the Toba Batak, well-known for trade and their key role in national government. They are one-third Muslim, one-third Christian, and the rest adhering to traditional religion.
BK b
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"Batalha, Monastery of",3474,0,0,0
PN [ba\Btal\bya]
EN A Dominican abbey, in Batalha, W \JPortugal\j, one of the great examples of Christian Gothic \Jarchitecture\j; a world heritage site. It was founded in 1388 by King Joπo I (r.1385-1433) in fulfilment of a vow made at the Battle of Aljubarrota, where Portuguese independence was established.
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#
"Batavian Republic",3475,0,0,0
PN [ba\Btayv\bian]
EN The name given to Holland 1795-1806, after that country had been conquered by Revolutionary French forces in 1794-5. Between 1806 and 1810 the Kingdom of Holland was ruled by Napoleon's brother, Louis Bonaparte, but Holland was incorporated into \JFrance\j between 1810 and the collapse of French rule in 1813.
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#
"batch processing",3476,0,0,0
EN A defined series of tasks which are submitted to larger computers and executed only when time becomes available on the computer. This is in contrast to \Binteractive computing,\b where the user accesses the computer in a conversational mode.
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#
"Batchelor, Joy",3477,0,0,0
DT1 1914
DT2 91
EN Animated-\Jcartoon\j producer, born in Watford, \JHertfordshire\j, south-east England, UK. A fashion artist for \IHarper's Bazaar,\i she tried her hand at animation with \IRobin Hood\i (1935), and in 1941 married fellow-producer John Halas, to form the Halas-Batchelor animation unit. They made the first British feature-length \Jcartoon\j, \IHandling Ships,\i in 1945, and the \ICharley\i series (1947). Other films included Orwell's \IAnimal Farm\i (1954) and the \Jtelevision\j series \ITales of Hoffnung\i (1965).
MEX Halas, John
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"bateleur",3478,0,0,0
PN [bate\Bler\b]
EN An aerobatic hawk of the group known as \Bsnake eagles\b or \Bsnake hawks\b \I(Terathopius ecaudatus); \i native to Africa S of the Sahara; very long wings and short tail; eats reptiles, mammals, and carrion; robs other carrion-feeding birds; flies about 300┐km / 190┐mi each \Jday\j. \B(Family:\b \JAccipitridae\j.)
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#
"Bateman family",3479,0,0,0
EN American theatre folk Hezekiah Linthicum Bateman (1812-75) was the American manager of London's \JLyceum\j Theatre, where he brought Henry Irving to prominence in The Bells (1871) and then in Hamlet (1874). When Bateman died, his wife Sidney (1823-81) assumed the management and later managed Sadler's Wells (1879).
Their daughters Kate (1843-1917) and Ellen (1844-1936) began performing Shakespeare in New York when they were six and five, then various Shakespearian roles, male and female, in both London and New York. Daughters Virginia (1853-1940) and Isabel (1854-1934) made their London debuts in 1865, then joined Irving.
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"Bateman, H(enry) M(ayo)",3480,0,0,0
DT1 1887
DT2 1970
EN Cartoonist, born in Sutton Forest, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. He lived in England from infancy. From 1906, he developed a purely visual style of comic strip for \IPunch\i and other periodicals. He is best known for a series of humorous drawings depicting embarrassing 'The Man Who...' situations such as \IThe Guardsman Who Dropped His Rifle.\i
MEX Caran d'Ache
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#
"Bates, (Michael) Jeremy",3481,0,0,0
DT1 1962
EN Tennis player, born in \JSolihull\j, West Midlands. He was educated at Strodes \JGrammar School\j and \JSolihull\j Sixth Form College, and after winning national tennis titles at junior level turned professional in 1980. A member of the \JDavis Cup\j team (1984--95), his achievements include the Wimbledon mixed doubles title (1987), the mixed doubles champion Australian Open (1991), and the singles title Korean Open (1994). A former British number one, he retired in 1996.
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"Bates, (Theodore Lewis) Ted",3482,0,0,0
DT (1901-72)
EN advertising executive; born in \JNew Haven\j, Conn. He worked in advertising agencies after graduating from Yale, then founded his own New York advertising agency (1940). The agency grew into the fifth largest in the world through pioneering \Jtelevision\j advertising in the 1950s and by creating aggressive campaigns for major consumer product manufacturers like Colgate-Palmolive. He created Anacin's headache hammers and the Wonder Bread slogan, "Builds Strong Bodies 12 Ways."
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#
"Bates, Alan",3483,0,0,0
DT1 1934
EN Actor, born in Allestree, \JDerbyshire\j, C England, UK. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, and made his stage debut in 1955. His film debut was in \IThe Entertainer\i (1960), and he was then seen in some of the most popular British films of the decade, including \IA Kind of Loving\i (1962), \IGeorgy Girl\i (1966), and \IWomen in Love\i (1969).
Later films include \IThe Go-Between\i (1971), \IWe Think the World of You\i (1988), \IHamlet\i (1990), \ISecret Friends\i (1991), and \IGentlemen Don't Eat Poets\i (1997). Television work includes the series \IThe Mayor of Casterbridge\i (1978), \IAn Englishman Abroad\i (1982, BAFTA), \IPack of Lies\i (1987), and \IOliver's Travels\i (1995).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1960 The Entertainer
1962 A King of Loving
1966 Gregory Girl
1967 Far From the Madding Crowd
1969 Women in Love
1971 The Go-Between
1988 We Think the World of You
1990 Hamlet
1991 Secret Friends
1997 Gentlemen Don't Eat Poets
\ITelevision\i
1978 The Mayor of Casterbridge
1982 An Englishman Abroad
1987 Pack of Lies
1995 Oliver's Travels
BK Biog99
#
"Bates, Daisy May",3484,0,0,0
HS , \InΘe\i \BO'Dwyer\b
DT1 1863
DT2 1951
EN Anthropologist, born in \JTipperary\j, Ireland. She was commissioned by \IThe Times\i to investigate the condition of \JAborigines\j, and from 1899 spent most of her life in the N and W of \JAustralia\j. She made detailed notes of Aboriginal life and customs, and worked for Aboriginal welfare, setting up camps for the aged.
MEX Morant; Sutherland, Margaret Ada
SX f
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#
"Bates, Edward",3485,0,0,0
DT (1793-1869)
EN public official, cabinet member; born in Belmont, Va. A Missouri state legislator, U.S. congressman (Whig, Mo.; 1827-29) and moderate voice in antebellum politics, he attracted national notice with an 1847 speech. In 1860 he unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination.
He was Lincoln's attorney general (1861-64) - the first cabinet officer from west of the Mississippi - but resigned after his influence eroded because of his opposition to government wartime practices. Back in Missouri he opposed the post-war policies of the Radical Republicans.
BK AmBg
#
"Bates, H(enry) W(alter)",3486,0,0,0
DT1 1825
DT2 92
EN Naturalist and traveller, born in Leicester, Leicestershire, C England, UK. He explored the valley of the Amazon (1848-59), accompanied by his friend Alfred Russel Wallace for the first four years, returning with 8000 species of hitherto unknown insects. In 1861 he published his distinctive contribution to the theory of natural selection in a paper explaining the phenomenon of \Jmimicry\j.
MEX Wallace, Alfred Russel
SX m
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#
"Bates, H(erbert) E(rnest)",3487,0,0,0
DT1 1905
DT2 74
EN Novelist, playwright, and short-story writer, born in Rushden, \JNorthamptonshire\j, C England, UK. He began his working life as a solicitor's clerk, provincial journalist, and warehouse clerk. His first play, \IThe Last Bread,\i and his first novel, \IThe Two Sisters,\i appeared in 1926. He is one of the greatest exponents of the short-story form. His best-known works are \IFair Stood the Wind for France\i (1944), \IThe \JJacaranda\j Tree\i (1949), and \IThe Darling Buds of May\i (1958), which became a popular \Jtelevision\j series in the UK.
SX m
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#
"Bates, Katherine Lee",3488,0,0,0
DT (1859-1929)
EN poet, writer; born in Falmouth, Mass. Her father died soon after her birth, and her family moved to Wellesley (then Grantville), Mass., where she was schooled locally and graduated from Wellesley (B.A. 1880; M.A. 1891). She taught on the high school level for five years before teaching English at Wellesley (1885-1925).
She wrote travel books, children's stories, textbooks, and poetry, as in \IAmerica the Dream\i (1930). She is best known for her poem, "America the Beautiful" (1895), written after a visit to Pikes Peak and the World's Columbian Exposition in \JChicago\j (1893). Set to the music of Samuel Ward, the poem continues to rival the national anthem in popularity.
BK AmBg
#
"Bates, William",3489,0,0,0
DT1 1860
DT2 1931
EN US ophthalmologist. His book, \IBetter Eyesight Without Glasses\i (1919), explained poor sight as a disturbance of normal mind-body co-ordination which results from mental, emotional, or other disturbances. He developed a series of exercises to achieve healthy eyesight which emphasize relaxation, memory, imagination, and perception to improve the communication between the eyes and the brain.
SX m
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#
"Bateson, Gregory",3490,0,0,0
DT (1904-80)
EN cultural anthropologist; born in Grantchester, England. A scientist's son, he studied \Jbiology\j and \Jpsychology\j before turning to \Janthropology\j at Cambridge University in England. He emigrated to the United States and made his career there. His first major work, \INaven,\i a study of ritual and \Jsymbolism\j based on fieldwork in New Guinea, appeared in 1936.
With Margaret Mead, to whom he was married (1936-50), he was involved in the culture and personality movement. He later studied problems of communication and learning among aquatic mammals and human schizophrenics and published his final work, \IMind and Nature,\i in 1978.
BK AmBg
#
"Bateson, William",3491,0,0,0
DT (1861-1926)
EN British geneticist: a founder of \Jgenetics\j.
Bateson was described as 'a vague and aimless boy' at school and he surprised his teachers by getting first-class honours in science at Cambridge in 1883. He then spent 2 years in the USA. He returned to Cambridge, taught there and in 1910 became director of the new John Innes Institution. From the time of his US visit he was interested in variation and \Jevolution\j, and by 1894 he had decided that species do not develop continuously by gradual change but evolve discontinuously in a series of 'jumps'.
To support his view against opposition, he began breeding experiments, unaware of Mendel's work of 1866. When the latter was rediscovered in 1900, Bateson saw that it gave support for his 'discontinuity' theory and he translated and publicized Mendel's work and extended it to animals by his own studies on the inheritance of comb shape in fowls. He showed that Garrod's work on human inborn errors of \Jmetabolism\j had a Mendelian interpretation.
He also found that some genes can interact; so that certain traits are not inherited independently, which is in conflict with \JMendel's laws\j. This interaction results from '\Jlinkage\j', that is genes being close together on the same \Jchromosome\j, as Morgan and others showed. Bateson coined the word '\Jgenetics\j' but he never accepted the ideas of natural selection or chromosomes.
BK Scie
#
"batfish",3492,0,0,0
EN Any of two groups of fishes with wing-like extensions; the deep-bodied Indo-Pacific \Jgenus\j \IPlatax\i \B(Family:\b Ephippidae), and the bizarre Ogcocephalidae (including \IOgcocephalus)\i with flattened triangular bodies and elbow-like pectoral fins; both sold as curios.
BK b
#
"Bath",3493,0,0,0
EN 51░23N 2░22W, pop (1995e) 83 600. Spa town in Bath and North East Somerset county, SW England, UK; on R Avon, 19 km/12 mi ESE of \JBristol\j; noted since Roman times for its hot springs; chartered in 1189; fashionable spa centre in 18th-c; railway; university (1966); tourism, printing, plastics, \Jengineering\j; Roman baths, 15th-c Roman bath museum, abbey church, notable Georgian crescents; City of Bath a world heritage site; Mid-Somerset festival (Mar), Festival of the Arts (May).
BK Geog99
#
"Bath, Henry Frederick Thynne, 6th Marquess of",3494,0,0,0
DT1 1905
DT2 92
EN Stately home operator, born in Longleat House, Wiltshire, S England, UK. He inherited the family Elizabethan manor house, containing a fine art collection and library but in a poor state of repair. Faced with crippling death duties, he caused a sensation by opening the house to the paying public as a tourist attraction in 1949. He introduced lions and other wild animals to the estate grounds in the 1960s, creating the first safari park.
SX m
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#
"Bath, Most Honourable Order of the",3495,0,0,0
EN A British order of chivalry, formally created by George I in 1725, but traditionally founded by Henry IV in 1399 at the \JTower of London\j, when he conferred the honour on the 46 esquires who had attended him at his bath the night before his coronation. The order comprises the sovereign and three classes: Knights and Dames Grand Cross (GCB), Knights and Dames Commander (KCB), and Companions (CB). The ribbon is crimson, and the motto \ITria juncta in uno\i ('three joined in one'), namely England, Scotland, and Ireland.
BK b
#
"batholith",3496,0,0,0
EN A very large \Jigneous rock\j mass, typically granite, intruded while molten into the surrounding country rock, outcropping over at least 100┐km\U2\u / 40┐mi\U2\u and extending to unknown depth. It is characteristic of orogenic belts and subduction zones, such as the Andean \Jbatholith\j in \JSouth America\j or the Coast Range of W Canada and \JAlaska\j.
BK b
#
"Bathurst",3497,0,0,0
EN See Banjul
BK b
XCY y
#
"Bathurst and Melville Islands",3498,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 2100; area 7487 sq km/2890 sq mi. Islands off the NW coast of \JNorthern Territory\j, \JAustralia\j, c.80 km/50 mi N of Darwin; Aboriginal communities; town of Nguiu on Bathurst I (population 1000) founded as a Catholic mission in 1911; wood-carving and pottery.
BK Geog99
#
"bathymetry",3499,0,0,0
EN The measurement of the depths of sea-bottom features in large bodies of \Jwater\j. \BBathymetric charts\b indicate the depths of \Jwater\j in feet, fathoms, or metres, and are used to show the morphology of submarine topographic features. Detailed bathymetric mapping was only possible with the advent of continuous \Jecho-sounding\j, which was first extensively used during the German \JMeteor\j Expedition (1925-7).
BK b
#
"bathypelagic zone",3500,0,0,0
EN The open ocean environment lying beneath the mesopelagic zone, extending from a depth of 1000┐m / 3300┐ft down to 4000┐m / 13┐200┐ft. It lies above the \Babyssal pelagic\b (4000-6000┐m / 13┐200-19┐800┐ft) and the \Bhadal pelagic\b (6000┐m-11┐000┐m / 19┐800┐ft-36┐300┐ft) zones, but in common usage these zones are sometimes included under bathypelagic. All three environments are aphotic (without sunlight) and with few exceptions must depend on a continuous rain of organic detritus from above to support life.
All three are characterized by nearly constant \Jsalinity\j, cold \Jwater\j temperatures, and high levels of dissolved \Jnutrients\j. The bathypelagic zone includes the \Jwater\j overlying the continental slope and rise, whereas the abyssal pelagic zone encompasses the \Jwater\j overlying the abyssal hills and plains. The hadal pelagic zone is reserved for the waters isolated in deep ocean trenches.
BK b
#
"bathyscaphe",3501,0,0,0
PN [\Bbath\biskayf]
EN Any free-moving vessel designed for underwater exploration, consisting of a flotation compartment with an observation capsule underneath. Originally designed by Piccard in 1848, they have proved capable of reaching depths of over 10┐000┐m / 32┐000┐ft. Modern submersibles (such as \IAlvin,\i which explored the \ITitanic)\i are much more manoeuvrable.
BK b
#
"bathysphere",3502,0,0,0
PN [\Bbath\bisfeer]
EN A specially strengthened spherical vessel in which observers may be lowered to great depths by a parent vessel. First used in 1930, it achieved 923┐m / 3028┐ft in 1934. Other forms of underwater exploration craft have made them obsolescent.
BK b
#
"batik",3503,0,0,0
PN [ba\Bteek\b]
EN A form of dyeing in which parts of the fabric are left undyed because of wax printed or painted onto it. The fabric is then crushed to crack the wax, and dyed. Removal of the wax leaves undyed areas covered in fine lines. This method, a form of \Iresist dyeing,\i originated in \JIndonesia\j.
BK b
#
"Batista (y Zaldφvar), Fulgencio",3504,0,0,0
PN [ba\Btee\bsta]
DT1 1901
DT2 73
EN Cuban soldier and dictator, born in Oriente province. A labourer's son, he rose from sergeant-major to colonel in the army coup against President Machado (1931-3) and was later elected president (1940-4), fostering a major programme of social and economic reform. He stepped down in 1944, and travelled abroad, but returned to power following another army revolt in 1952, overthrowing President Prio. This regime was marked by oppression and corruption, and he was overthrown by Fidel Castro in 1959. He then found refuge in the Dominican Republic.
MEX Castro
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#
"Baton Rouge",3505,0,0,0
PN [\Bba\bton \Broozh\b]
EN 30░27N 91░11W, pop (1995e) 228 000. Capital of state in East Baton Rouge parish, SE Louisiana, USA; a deep-\Jwater\j port on the Mississippi R; founded, 1719; governed successively by \JFrance\j, Britain, and \JSpain\j; ceded to the USA as part of the Louisiana Purchase, 1803; declared its independence under the name Feliciana, 1810; incorporated as a town within Louisiana, 1817; state capital, 1849--61 and since 1882; airfield; railway; university (1860); oil refining, petrochemical industries, machinery; State Museum, Riverside Museum, the old capitol, Huey Long grave and memorial; during its history, it has been ruled by seven different governments; French, British, Spanish, West Floridan, Louisiana, Confederate, USA.
BK Geog99
#
"Batoni or Battoni, Pompeo Girolamo",3506,0,0,0
PN [ba\Btoh\bnee]
DT1 1708
DT2 87
EN Painter, born in Lucca, \JItaly\j. He trained and settled in \JRome\j. From 1735 he received many important commissions for religious, mythological, and historical paintings, but it is for his portraits, particularly of distinguished foreign visitors, that he is most famous.
SX m
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#
"Batten, Jean",3507,0,0,0
DT1 1909
DT2 82
EN Pioneer aviator, born in Rotorua, \JNew Zealand\j. In 1934, in a Gypsy Moth, she broke Amy Johnson's record for the flight from England to \JAustralia\j by nearly five days. She became the first woman to complete the return journey, and in 1935 flew over the S Atlantic to Argentina.
MEX Johnson, Amy
SX f
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#
"Battenberg, Prince Alexander of",3508,0,0,0
DT1 1820
DT2 93
EN First prince of \JBulgaria\j, and uncle of Earl Mountbatten, born in Verona, \JItaly\j. An officer in the Hessian army, he was elected prince of the new principality of \JBulgaria\j in 1879. In 1885 he annexed E \JRomania\j after an uprising there, thereby provoking the hostility of \JSerbia\j. In 1886 he was overpowered by pro-Russian army conspirators in his palace in Sofia, and forced to abdicate.
MEX Mountbatten, Prince Louis Alexander
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#
"Battenberg, Prince Louis Alexander of",3509,0,0,0
EN See Mountbatten, Prince Louis Alexander, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"battered baby / child syndrome",3510,0,0,0
EN See child abuse
BK b
XCY y
#
"battery (electricity)",3511,0,0,0
EN A device that converts chemical \Jenergy\j into electrical \Jenergy\j. The first battery, made by Alessandro Volta in c.1800, was the basis of the \Ivoltaic cell\i - two chemicals immersed in an \Jelectrolyte\j, enabling electrons to travel from one to the other along a circuit. \IPrimary cells\i only discharge electricity, whereas \Isecondary cells\i (or \Iaccumulators)\i can also be recharged.
The batteries commonly encountered in torches, toys, cameras, etc are 'dry' primary cells, in which the \Jelectrolyte\j has been treated so that it will not spill out of the battery. 'Wet' primary cells are used in \Jtelephone\j and railway signalling systems. Secondary cells are used in motor vehicles.
BK b
#
"battery (law)",3512,0,0,0
EN In several legal systems, the intentional touching of another person without that person's consent. It involves physical contact beyond that customary in everyday life, but not necessarily physical damage or force. Also, the person need not be aware that a battery is to take place (as in the case of a blow from behind) or has taken place (they might suffer a battery while unconscious). Consent may sometimes be implied, such as in the context of lawful sporting activity or a mutual fight.
BK b
#
"battery farming",3513,0,0,0
EN See factory farming
BK b
XCY y
#
"battle cruiser",3514,0,0,0
EN A powerful warship capable of defeating an enemy cruiser squadron. Originally a cross between an armoured cruiser and a \Jbattleship\j, it evolved to be of \Jbattleship\j size but lightly armoured and very fast.
BK b
#
"battleship",3515,0,0,0
EN The most powerful warship capable of engaging an enemy; the word is derived from 'line-of-battle ship'. All other vessels originally served subsidiary purposes which aided the \Jbattleship\j in its role. The largest battleships ever built were the Japanese \IMusashi\i and \IYamato\i (72┐800 tonnes), each mounting 18..1-inch guns; both were sunk in World War 2.
The largest \Jbattleship\j now in service is the USS \INew Jersey\i (58┐000 tonnes), mounting nine 16-inch guns. Gun armament is now supplemented by \Jcruise missile\j batteries.
BK b
#
"Battling Bella",3516,0,0,0
EN See Abzug, Bella
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Batuta, ibn",3517,0,0,0
EN See Ibn Battutah
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Baty, Gaston",3518,0,0,0
DT 1885-1952
EN French theatre director. The only non- acting member of the Cartel, he brought the stage techniques of \Jexpressionism\j to the Paris theatre, attacking the predominance of literary theatre in \JFrance\j between the wars. From 1930 to 1947 he ran the ThΘΓtre Montparnasse, where he strove for complex staging methods with an emphasis on pictorial qualities.
BK Thea
#
"baud",3519,0,0,0
PN [bawd]
EN A unit, named after the French inventor, J M E Baudot, which is used to measure the rate of transmission of digital data: the \Bbaud rate.\b For most purposes, one \Jbaud\j can be regarded as equivalent to a transmission rate of one bit per second. The \Jbaud\j rate of a communication line is thus the number of bits per second that the line can (but rarely does) carry.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Originally, a \Jbaud\j rate of one meant the transmission of one \JMorse code\j "dot" per second. It was proposed in 1927, to commemorate Baudot, who had actually invented the first teleprinter, but the meaning has been extended over the years, until it is almost incomprehensible to people not professionally involved in telecommunications. In its original sense, the \Jbaud\j rate was the reciprocal of the duration of the shortest signalling element, so if a telegraphist could send two dots per second, this was a \Jbaud\j rate of 2, and so on.
Because most \Jtelephone\j lines carry signals which are compressed, the actual \Jbaud\j rate of transmission can be many times the stated \Jbaud\j rate capacity of the lines being used. As a result, any discussion based on \Jbaud\j rates usually leads to confusion and argument, and the rate is better replaced by a simple functional term, such as bytes per second, or bits per second, or characters per second.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK b
#
"Baudelaire, Charles (Pierre)",3520,0,0,0
PN [bohduhlair]
DT1 1821
DT2 67
EN Symbolist poet, born in Paris. He was sent on a voyage to India, but stopped off at \JMauritius\j. On his return to Paris in 1842, he met Jeanne Duval, a half-caste, who became his mistress and inspiration. He spent much of his time in the studios of Delacroix, Manet, and Daumier.
His masterpiece is a collection of poems, \ILes Fleurs du mal\i (1857), for which author, printer, and publisher were prosecuted for impropriety in 1864, but which earned the praise of critics and was to exert an influence far into the 20th-c. Later works include \ILes Paradis artificiels\i (1860) and \IPetits PoΦmes en prose\i (1869). His preoccupation with the macabre, the perverted, and the horrid was an essential feature of his work.
MEX Daumier; Delacroix; Manet
SX m
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#
"Baudot code",3521,0,0,0
A simple code for a character set, used to transmit teletype messages, and also to input information into early digital computers. The code was usually stored on paper tape before sending, and consisted of sets of up to five holes in parallel across the tape.
This system only allows for 32 signals, or 31 if "five blanks" is left out of the calculations, as it must be, for obvious reasons. To allow the transmission of alphabetic, numeric and punctuation characters, two codes are reserved to switch between two different sets of characters. The figure set (FIGS) code is 11011, while the letter set (LTRS) code is 11111.
The letter set consists of the alphabet, a carriage return, a line feed, and a space, while the figure set contains the numerals, punctuation, carriage return, line feed and space characters again. The combination 00000 (no holes at all) is the only one not used, since it cannot be distinguished from the absence of a message.
Where CR is {carriage return}, LF is {linefeed}, BELL is the {bell}, SP is space, and STOP is the stop character. The (hexadecimal) 00 character cannot be used as it matches a piece of blank tape.
While this is represented as a single standard code, there were many local variations. In some computer applications, one switching character was used to change between alpha and numeric, rather than having two separate characters for switching between sets. Other specialised characters such as currency symbols were used in some implementations.
(Source for the code: \IThe Free On-line Dictionary of Computing,\i http://\Jwombat\j.doc.ic.ac.uk/, Editor Denis Howe dbh@doc.ic.ac.uk)
BK Webster
XCY y
#
"Baudouin I",3522,0,0,0
PN [bohdwφ\ti]
DT1 1930
DT2 93
EN King of the Belgians (1951-93), born at Stuyvenberg Castle, near Brussels, the elder son of Leopold III and his first wife, Queen Astrid. He succeeded to the throne in July 1951 on the \Jabdication\j of his father over the controversy of the latter's conduct during World War 2. In 1960 he married the Spanish \BDo±a Fabiola de Mora y Arag≤n.\b A Roman Catholic, in 1990 he resigned his throne for a \Jday\j to overcome a constitutional crisis caused by his refusal to sign a law legalizing \Jabortion\j.
MEX Leopold III
SX m
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#
"Baudry, Paul Jacques AimΘ",3523,0,0,0
PN [bohdree]
DT1 1828
DT2 86
EN Painter, born in La Roche-sur-Yon, \JFrance\j. He is chiefly known for the 30 large panels, illustrative of music and dancing, executed for the foyer of the Paris Opera (1866-76).
SX m
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#
"Bauer, Catherine (Krouse)",3524,0,0,0
DT (1905-64)
EN urban planner, housing expert; born in Elizabeth, N.J. After graduating from Vassar and spending a year in Paris, she wrote articles on \Jarchitecture\j and worked in publishing in New York where she met Lewis Mumford, who was to become her mentor and lifelong friend. In the 1930s she alternated between Europe and New York, writing influential articles on the progressive social as well as architectural ideas behind European housing communities.
Her book \IModern Housing\i (1934) called for quality low-cost housing and led to her appointment as executive secretary of the American Federation of Labor Housing Conference, which in turn brought about the first public housing legislation in the U.S.A. She served in the U.S. Housing Authority (1937-40), then went to teach at the University of \JCalifornia\j: Berkeley.
There she met and married the architect William Wurster, and from 1930-50, they lived in Cambridge, Mass., where she continued to teach and work for better housing; they returned to Berkeley in 1950 where she taught until her death. In her teaching, speeches, consultancies, writings, and travels, she moved beyond the simple issues of public housing to become a respected voice on urban planning in the broadest sense. \IShaping an Urban Future\i (1969) is a collection of her essays.
BK AmBg
#
"Bauer, Georg",3525,0,0,0
EN See Agricola, Georgius
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XCY y
#
"Bauer, Harold",3526,0,0,0
DT (1873-1951)
EN pianist; born near London. A student of Paderewski, he pursued an international career, living mainly in the U.S.A. after his 1900 debut there. In 1918 he founded the Beethoven Association in New York.
BK AmBg
#
"Bauer, Wolfgang",3527,0,0,0
DT 1941-
EN Austrian playwright. He has helped to revive the Volksstⁿck tradition in contemporary terms. From Pig Transport in 1962, his \Jdialect\j plays have presented violent images of a materialistic society in which sex, sadism, drugs and pop music are the only release from boredom. Designed as provocation, works like Magic Afternoon (1968), Sylvester, or the Massacre at the Sacher Hotel (1971), Magnet Kisses (1976) and Memory Hotel (1980) are deliberately inartistic in style.
BK Thea
#
"Bauernfeld, Eduard von",3528,0,0,0
DT 1802-90
EN Austrian playwright, whose satirical comedies of Viennese manners were mostly produced at the Burgtheater. The best-known are Bourgeois and Romantic (1833), Of Age (1846), The Categorical Imperative (1850) and From Society (1867).
BK Thea
#
"Bauhaus",3529,0,0,0
PN [\Bbow\bhows]
EN An influential school of arts and crafts founded in Weimar by Walter Gropius in 1919. The aim was for artists and architects to work together to create a new unity in the arts. At first expressionist in style, the Bauhaus quickly championed the stark simplicity of functionalism. Students and teachers included Feininger, van Doesburg, Moholy-Nagy, Kandinsky, Klee, and Mies van der Rohe.
The school was constantly troubled by opposition from local people and politicians, and by divisions amongst its own members. It moved to Dessau in 1925, but was closed by Hitler in 1933, many members living thereafter in the USA. A new director was appointed in 1987, and the renamed Bauhaus Dessau Foundation now contains a collection, studio, academy, and workshop.
BK b
#
"Bauhin, Caspar or Gaspard",3530,0,0,0
DT1 1560
DT2 1624
EN Botanist and physician, born in \JBasel\j, \JSwitzerland\j. He was professor of anatomy and botany at \JBasel\j, and compiled an influential medical textbook, \ITheatrum anatomicum\i (1605, trans Microcosmographia, A Description of the Body of Man). He was also the author of \IPinax theatri botanici\i (1623, Illustrated Exposition of Plants), which introduced a system of binomial nomenclature by \Jgenus\j and species. It was much used by Linnaeus and still important as a compendium of all plants known in the early 17th-c.
MEX Linnaeus
SX m
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#
"Baum, (Lyman) Frank",3531,0,0,0
DT (1856-1919)
EN writer; born in Chittenango, N.Y. A sickly child, he studied at home, became an actor (1870s), worked in the family oil business, then moved to South Dakota. While working as a journalist there, he wrote his first book, \IFather Goose: His Book,\i published in 1899 after he had moved to \JChicago\j to work on a trade magazine for window decorators (1897-1902). It was successful, but his next book, \IThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz\i (1900), was even more successful; he himself adapted it for the musical stage in 1901.
After traveling to Europe, he settled in Pasadena, Calif. (1902), where he turned out 13 more books in the Oz series and many other children's stories - mostly in the fantasy genre - using pen names such as Schuyler Staunton, Laura Bancroft, Captain Hugh Fitzgerald, Suzanne Metcalfe, Floyd Akens, and Edith Van Dyne. Although appreciated primarily as children's tales, the Oz books have also been read as incorporating Baum's views on American society.
BK AmBg
#
"Baum, Vicki",3532,0,0,0
PN [bowm]
HS , originally \BVicki Hedvig\b
DT1 1888
DT2 1960
EN Novelist, born in Vienna. After writing several novels and short stories in German, she made her name with \IGrand Hotel\i (1930), which became a best-seller and a popular film. She emigrated to the USA in 1931, where her later novels incuded \IFalling Star\i (1934), \IHeadless Angel\i (1948), and \IThe Mustard Seed\i (1953).
SX f
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#
"BaumΘ, Antoine",3533,0,0,0
PN [bohmay]
DT1 1728
DT2 1804
EN Chemist, born in Senlis, \JFrance\j. He invented the hydrometer named after him, and the \IBaumΘ scale\i of measurement for use with a hydrometer, and many dyeing processes.
SX m
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#
"Baumeister, Willi",3534,0,0,0
PN [\Bbow\bmiyster]
DT1 1889
DT2 1955
EN Painter, born in \JStuttgart\j, \JGermany\j. For some years he was a professor at the Frankfurt School of Art, but the Hitler regime prohibited him from teaching and he turned to scientific research on colour and to prehistoric archaeology. These interests are reflected in his work such as 'African Histories', a series of paintings depicting strange organic forms, and his illustrations for the \JBible\j stories and the 'Epic of \JGilgamesh\j' (1942-53).
SX m
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#
"Baumer, Gertrude",3535,0,0,0
PN [\Bbow\bmer]
DT1 1873
DT2 1954
EN Leader of the German feminist movement, born in Hohenlimburg, \JGermany\j. She studied at Berlin University, and became president of the League of German Women's Associations (1910-19). She also edited the newspaper \IDie Frau\i (1893-1944). A member of the Reichstag (1920-33), she lost this position on the advent of Nazi power. After World War 2 she founded the Christian Social Union.
SX f
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#
"Baumgarten, Alexander Gottlieb",3536,0,0,0
PN [\Bbowm\bgah(r)tn]
DT1 1714
DT2 62
EN Philosopher of the school of Christian von Wolff, born in Berlin. In 1740 he became professor of philosophy at Frankfurt-an-der-Oder. His main works were \IMetaphysica\i (1739) and \IAesthetica\i (1750-58), a long unfinished treatise which pioneered this field and helped establish the modern term \Iaesthetics.\i
MEX Wolff, Christian
SX m
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#
"Baur, Ferdinand Christian",3537,0,0,0
PN [bowr]
DT1 1792
DT2 1860
EN Theologian and \JNew Testament\j critic, born in Schmiden, \JGermany\j. He held the Tⁿbingen chair of \Jtheology\j from 1826, and founded the 'Tⁿbingen School' of \Jtheology\j, the first to use strict historical research methods in the study of early \JChristianity\j.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bausch, Pina",3538,0,0,0
PN [bowsh]
HS , popular name of \BPhilippine Bausch\b
DT1 1940
EN Choreographer and dancer, born in \JSolingen\j, \JGermany\j. She trained first at the \JEssen\j Folkwangschule and then in New York City. After a season with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company and another with US choreographer Paul Taylor, she returned to \JEssen\j, where she staged several operas for the \JWuppertal\j Theatre.
Her success led to an invitation to found her own company, and she began to produce her own work in the 1970s, including \IRite of Spring\i (1975), \ICafΘ Muller\i (1978), and \I1980\i (1980). Her \Jchoreography\j and particularly her unusual stagings mark a turning point in contemporary dance, and remain a powerful influence. In 1996 her company performed at the Edinburgh International Festival's 50th anniversary celebrations.
BK Biog99
#
"bauxite",3539,0,0,0
PN [\Bbawk\bsiyt]
EN A natural mixture of hydrated \Jaluminium\j oxide minerals produced by the weathering of rocks in hot, humid climates in which more soluble constituents are leached out. It is the chief ore of \Jaluminium\j.
BK b
#
"Bavaria",3540,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 11 677 000; area 70 553 sq km/27 233 sq mi. Province in SE \JGermany\j; bounded (E) by Czech Republic and (S) by \JAustria\j; largest province in former West \JGermany\j, and Europe's oldest existing political entity; capital, Munich; chief towns, Augsburg, Passau, Nuremberg, Wⁿrzburg, \JRegensburg\j; chief rivers, the Danube, Isar, Lech, Main; surrounded by the Bavarian Forest (E), Fichtelgebirge (NE), Bavarian Alps (S); a third of the area is forested; agriculture, electrical and mechanical \Jengineering\j, clothing, timber, tourism; many spas and climatic health resorts.
BK Geog99
#
"Bavarian Alps",3541,0,0,0
HS , Ger \BBayerische Alpen\b
EN Mountain range extending E and W from Lake Constance to \JSalzburg\j; highest peak, the \JZugspitze\j (2962┐m / 9718┐ft); Allga\umu Alps form W section; called the \BTirol Alps\b in \JAustria\j.
BK b
#
"Bavarian Forest",3542,0,0,0
HS , Ger \BBayerische Wald\b
EN Mountain range bounded north-west by Chamb and Regen Rivers and south-west by the Danube valley; merges N into the Bohemian Forest in the Czech Republic; highest peak, the Einodriegel (1126┐m / 3694┐ft); largest continuous forest in Europe; contains \JGermany\j's first national park.
BK b
#
"Bavarian Succession, War of the",3543,0,0,0
EN (1778-9) A short episode in the political rivalry between \JAustria\j and \JPrussia\j for hegemony among the German states. Military manoeuvring gave way to stalemate; the Habsburg acquisition of Innviertel further tarnished Frederick the Great's prestige.
BK b
#
"Bawden, Nina (Mary)",3544,0,0,0
DT1 1925
EN Writer, born in London, England, UK. She studied at Oxford, and worked in town and country planning (1946--7). She has written several novels for adults, including \IWho Calls the Tune\i (1953), \IUnder the Skin\i (1964), \IWalking Naked\i (1981), \ICircles of Deceit\i (1987, televised 1990), \IFamily Money\i (1991), and \INice Change\i (1997).
She is also well known as a writer of adventure stories for children, such as \IThe Witch's Daughter\i (1966), and her most successful work, \ICarrie's War\i (1973), based on her own childhood experiences. Later stories include \IKeeping Henry\i (1988) and \IGranny the Pag\i (1995).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1953 Who Calls the Tune
1954 Odd Flamingo
1956 Change Here for Babylon
1957 Devil by the Sea
1960 Just Like a lady
1964 Walking Naked
1969 The Birds in the Trees
1979 Familiar Passions
1987 Circles of Deceit
1991 Family Money
1997 Nice Change
Childen's Stories
1963 The Secret Passage
1966 The White Horse Gang
1966 The Witch's Daughter
1967 A Handful of Thieves
1969 The Runaway Summer
1971 Squib
1973 Carrie's War
1975 The Peppermint Pig
1978 Rebel on a Rock
1979 The Robbers
1982 Kept in the Dark
1985 The Finding
1988 Keeping Henry
1989 The Outside Child
1992 Humbug
1993 The Real \JPlato\j Jones
1995 Granny the Pag
BK Biog99
#
"Bawden, Sir Frederick",3545,0,0,0
EN See Pirie, Norman Wingate
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#
"Bax, Clifford",3546,0,0,0
DT 1886-1962
EN British playwright, poet and critic. Bax wrote successful historical tragedies such as The Rose Without a Thorn (1932) and The House of Borgia (1935). He adapted Karel Capek's The Insect Play (1922-3) with Nigel Playfair, and experimented with commedia dell'arte and \Jparody\j in Midsummer Marriage (1924). During World War II he turned to radio plays on mystical themes, and in 1945 published a strong plea for the establishment of a National Theatre.
BK Thea
#
"Bax, Sir Arnold (Edward Trevor)",3547,0,0,0
HS , pseudonym \BDermot O'Byrne\b
DT1 1883
DT2 1953
EN Composer, born in London, England, UK. He studied \Jpiano\j at the Royal Academy of Music, London. His love of all things Celtic was expressed early in Irish short stories, which he wrote under his pseudonym, and musically in orchestral pieces (1912-13), songs set to the words of revival poets, the choral \ISt Patrick's Breastplate\i (1923-4), and \IAn Irish Elegy\i (1917), for English horn, harp, and strings.
Between 1921 and 1939 he wrote his seven symphonies. Other works include tone poems, such as \IIn the Faery Hills\i (1909) and \ITintagel\i (1917), chamber music, and \Jpiano\j concertos. In 1942 he was made Master of the King's (from 1952 Queen's) Musick.
SX m
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"Baxendale, Leo",3548,0,0,0
DT1 1930
EN Strip cartoonist, born in Lancashire, NW England, UK. He first worked as a label designer, and later joined the \ILancashire Evening Post\i (1950). He began to freelance strips to the \IBeano\i comic, beginning with \ILittle Plum\i (1953), followed by \IMinnie the Minx\i (1953) and \IThe Bash Street Kids\i. He designed the new weekly comic \IWham\i (1964), and despite leaving the field in 1974 remains the most imitated artist in British comics.
\BMajor Works\b
1953 Little Plum
1953 Minnie the Minx
The Bash Street Kids
1964 Wham
BK Biog99
#
"Baxter, George",3549,0,0,0
DT1 1804
DT2 67
EN Engraver and print maker, born in Lewes, East Sussex, south-east England, UK, the son of John Baxter. He developed a method of printing in oil colours, using copper or steel plates for his outlines, with neutral tones on the same plate obtained by aquatint or stipple. His process was patented in 1835.
MEX Baxter, John
SX m
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#
"Baxter, James Keir",3550,0,0,0
DT 1926-72
EN \JNew Zealand\j playwright and poet. Having begun in radio drama, he went on to write stage plays, of which The Wide Open Cage (1959) was the most successful. Others on religious and social themes followed, notably The Band Rotunda (1967), The Devil and Mr Mulcahy (1967) and The Day that Flanagan Died (1969), as well as plays derived from Greek myth, such as The Sore-footed Man (1967) and The Temptations of Oedipus (1970).
BK Thea
#
"Baxter, John",3551,0,0,0
DT1 1781
DT2 1858
EN Printer, the first to use an ink-roller, born in Surrey, south-east England, UK. He settled in Lewes and published the illustrated \IBaxter's Bible\i and the first book of cricket rules.
MEX Baxter, George
SX m
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#
"Baxter, Richard",3552,0,0,0
DT1 1615
DT2 91
EN Nonconformist clergyman, born in Rowton, Shropshire, WC England, UK. He adopted Nonconformist views as minister at Kidderminster (1640-60). During the \JCivil War\j, his sympathies were almost wholly with the Puritans, and after Naseby he acted as army chaplain. At the Restoration he was appointed a royal chaplain, but in 1662 the Act of Uniformity drove him out of the \JChurch of England\j. Frequently persecuted for his views, he was imprisoned for 18 months in 1685 for alleged sedition.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bay Cat",3553,0,0,0
EN \BLatin Name:\b \ICatopuma badia\i\b
\BSize:\b head and body 50 cm; tail 30 cm\b
\BWeight:\b 2-3 kg\b
\BDistribution:\b Borneo\b
This cat can occur in two different color phases - one reddish-brown(it is also known as the Bornean Red Cat), the other a dark blue-gray. The belly is paler in both cases. It has a long slim tail with a white streak running from half way along the bottom to the tip. There are also faint white stripes on the face.
The Bay Cat is found in dense forests, often near rocky outcrops, where it hunts small mammals and birds.
Like many of the small cats, not a great deal is known about it.
Breeding habits, including litter size and length of \Jpregnancy\j, are unknown.
BK wan
#
"Bay of Pigs",3554,0,0,0
EN The attempted invasion of \JCuba\j (Apr 1961) by Cuban exiles supported by the USA. The invasion force of 1300 men landed at Bahφca de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs) on the S coast, but was rapidly overwhelmed and defeated by Cuban troops commanded by Fidel Castro.
BK b
#
"bay owl",3555,0,0,0
EN An owl native to Africa and south-east Asia; inhabits wet tropical forest; eats insects and vertebrates. \B(Genus:\b \IPhodilus,\i 2 species. \BFamily:\b \JTytonidae\j.)
BK b
#
"bay tree",3556,0,0,0
EN See sweet bay
BK b
XCY y
#
"Bay, Howard",3557,0,0,0
DT (1912-86)
EN set designer; born in Centralia, Wash. Winner of many awards for his sets, he was the designer for \IThe Little Foxes\i (1939), \IOne Touch of Venus\i (1943), \IThe Music Man\i (1957), and \IMan of La Mancha\i (1965).
BK AmBg
#
"Bayard, James Asheton, Jr.",3558,0,0,0
DT (1799-1880)
EN U.S. senator; born in \JWilmington\j, Del. Son of a prominent U.S. senator, Bayard continued the family dynasty with his election to the Senate from \JDelaware\j (1851-64). He began as a conservative Democrat but after 1857 became a Republican, although he continued to oppose anti-\Jslavery\j legislation and resigned in 1864 to protest the test (for anti-\Jslavery\j) for officeholders. He returned to the Democrats after Lincoln's assassination and was chosen to fill out another term in the Senate (1867-69).
BK AmBg
#
"Bayard, James Asheton, Sr.",3559,0,0,0
DT (1767-1815)
EN U.S. representative/senator; born in Philadelphia. Elected to the \JHouse of Representatives\j (Fed., Del.; 1797-1803) and to the U.S. Senate (1804-13), he was a signatory of the Treaty of \JGhent\j, ending the \JWar of 1812\j.
BK AmBg
#
"Bayard, Pierre du Terrail, chevalier de",3560,0,0,0
PN [bayah(r)]
DT1a c.
DT1 1476
DT2 1524
EN French soldier, known as 'the knight without fear and without reproach', born in the ChΓteau Bayard, near \JGrenoble\j, \JFrance\j. In the service of Louis XII he fought with legendary bravery at Milan (1501) and Barletta (1502), and campaigned in \JSpain\j and against the Genoese and Venetians, taking Brescia by storm in 1512. At Marignano he gained a brilliant victory for Francis I, and defended MΘziΦres in 1521. He was mortally wounded while defending the passage of the River Sesia in \JItaly\j.
MEX Francis I; Louis XII
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#
"Bayazid I",3561,0,0,0
EN See Bayezit I
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XCY y
#
"Bayer, Johann",3562,0,0,0
DT1 1572
DT2 1625
EN Astronomer, born in Rhain, \JGermany\j. His \IUranometria\i (1603) depicts the positions of nearly a thousand stars in addition to those given by Tycho Brahe. His designations by the letters of the Greek alphabet in preference to the Arabic proper names are still used for the brighter stars.
MEX Brahe
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#
"Bayes, Thomas",3563,0,0,0
DT1 1702
DT2 61
EN Mathematician, born in London, England, UK. He was one of the first six Nonconformist ministers to be publicly ordained in England. He is principally remembered for his posthumously published \IEssay Towards Solving a Problem in the Doctrine of Chances\i (1763), in which he was the first to study the idea of statistical inference, and to estimate the probability of an event from the frequency of its previous occurrences.
SX m
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#
"Bayesian probability",3564,0,0,0
An approach to probability which has its basis in common sense, but which offers powerful opportunities in some areas. It was developed in the late 18th century by an English clergyman, the Rev. Thomas Bayes, and the idea is to begin your studies with what you already know, and adjust your assumptions, based on the results that you obtain.
In non-mathematical terms, the reasoning is similar to that of a teacher who asks a bright student a question, which the student answers wrongly. Rather than accepting that the student does not know the answer, the teacher thinks that perhaps the student does know, and made a mistake, so the teacher asks another question. If the student had answered correctly, that would have been sufficient, and there would have been no more questions.
On the other hand, if a poor student answers correctly, the teacher's prior knowledge may cause the teacher to wonder if the student just guessed the answer, and so to ask a further question. If the poor student's answer had been incorrect in the first place, the teacher would have accepted it with out further questioning as it confirmed her prior judgement.
Suppose we have a set of discrete alternatives a\D1\d, a\D2\d, a\D3\d, a\D4\d . . . a\Dn\d, for a given set of trials, and that we can write the probability of a\D1\d as p(a\D1\d). To make this concrete, suppose we are looking at a set of test scores, and the probability that a student has mastered the skill being assessed in the test, which has twenty questions. The alternatives are the test scores, from 0 to 20, and what we need to assess is the probability that the student is a master of that skill, given a particular score.
Beginning with a prior estimate of probability p(a1|b), the probability of a particular score being obtained by a student who has mastered the skill, we can then use a simple formula to estimate the probability that a particular student has mastered the skill, given that student's score:
p(a\Di\d|b) = [p(b|a\Di\d) x p(a\Di\d)] / [p(b|a\D1\d) x p(a\D1\d) + p(b|a\D2\d) x p(a\D2\d) . . . . + p(b|a\Dn\d) x p(a\Dn\d)]
Or we may take this form of the equation, where there are two events, A and B:
p(A|B) = [p(B|A) x p(A)] / [p(B|A) x p(A) + p(B|~A) x p(~A)
Here we may define event A as "mastery" and event B as a particular score, or we may look at them in terms of the likelihood of guilt in a particular situation, or almost anything else. If we only have a limited amount of information available, or a limited number of data points, this will tend to give us a better average estimate of the true situation. To take a simple example, if four experimenters are trying to find out what the frequency of heads and tails should be when you toss two coins, there are four possibilities, which would give results as shown in the table.
Now suppose we take a Bayesian approach, beginning with the reasonable assumption that there should be a "half and half" chance for heads and tails. Under the same conditions, the head-head and tails-tails observations will lead to a conclusion that the coin is biased to a particular result, rather than suggesting that the same result will always be achieved. The head-tail and tail-head cases will still lead to the conclusion that there is an equal probability of getting heads or tails, so the overall set of results is more accurate.
The examples here tend to relate to educational settings, simply because the writer devoted two years of his life to researching and developing such applications, but the same reasoning can just as easily be applied to estimating \Jbaseball\j batting averages, or almost any other measure which is mathematically equivalent to a probability. Bayesian probability has now become important in the law courts of the world, where it provides the most appropriate way of dealing with DNA evidence or blood grouping. This need arises because of a peculiar situation that arises when a lawyer says something like "there is a one in a hundred thousand chance of somebody else having this DNA profile".
Suppose a random citizen (we will call him AB) has been accused on the basis of a blood spot left behind at a murder, which matches AB's profile to a level that the prosecution are calling "one in a hundred thousand". Further, they say, somebody of AB's racial group was seen leaving the area. That makes the odds even better, because his race are just 10% of the population. "That makes it one in a million", says the prosecutor. In fact, it brings it down, not up, says the defence lawyer, who has read up on this topic.
The defence may well be correct, if they can show that most of the people of that DNA profile type are in AB's racial group, so what we need to do is use a Bayesian probability, but the example gets a bit confusing, so let us look at a case where paternity has been alleged, and DNA evidence seems to support the claim. Once again, the frequency of that DNA type in a small community can be quite different to what you get in the whole nation, so we do a calculation of the probability of the accused being the father of the child at the centre of the case.
We have, from all of the tests, a Combined Paternity Index, (CPI). This is calculated as the product of the paternity indices for each individual system tested. The CPI tells us how likely it is that the alleged father (or a man genetically identical to the alleged father) contributed the paternal genes to the child, divided by the likelihood of another unrelated man of the same race contributing the paternal genes.
As well, we have a Prior Probability (Pr). This is a numerical value in the range 0-1 (that is, ranging from impossibility to total certainty) which indicates the likelihood of a certain event occurring. This value is estimated, before genetic testing, on the basis of known, non-genetic circumstances surrounding the event. That means taking into account non-statistical evidence, such as casual acquaintance versus an intimate relationship. Since the laboratory does not know of the existence or the substance of these circumstances, a prior probability of 0.5 is customarily assigned for the purpose of \Jneutrality\j, but this can be varied.
Now we can calculate the probability of paternity:
P = (CPI) (Pr) / (CPI) (Pr) + (1-Pr)
where P = Posterior Probability of Paternity, CPI = Combined Paternity Index and Pr = Prior Probability
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"Bayeux Tapestry",3565,0,0,0
PN [\Bbiy\buh, biyoe]
EN An embroidered wall-hanging in coloured wool on linen, narrating events leading up to the invasion of England by William of Normandy, and the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Probably commissioned by William's half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux in N \JFrance\j, and embroidered in S England c.1067-77, its length is 68┐m / 224┐ft, and its height 46┐cm-54┐cm / 18-21┐in. The contemporary social, military, architectural, and iconographic information the tapestry provides is of unparalleled importance.
BK b
#
"Bayezit I",3566,0,0,0
PN [baja\Bzet\b]
HS , also spelled \BBajazet\b or \BBayazid,\b nickname \BYildrim\b ('Thunderbolt')
DT1a c.
DT1 1354
DT2 1403
EN Sultan of the Ottoman empire. He succeeded his father (1389), and conquered \JBulgaria\j, with parts of \JSerbia\j, Macedonia, and Thessaly, and most of \JAsia Minor\j. His rapid conquests earned him his nickname. For 10 years he blockaded Constantinople, defeating a large army of crusaders under Sigismund of \JHungary\j (1396). He would have entirely destroyed the Greek empire if he had not been defeated by \JTimur\j near \JAnkara\j (1402).
MEX Sigismund; \JTimur\j
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Baykonyr Cosmodrome",3567,0,0,0
EN See Baikonur or Baykonyr Cosmodrome
BK b
XCY y
#
"Bayle, Pierre",3568,0,0,0
DT1 1647
DT2 1706
EN Protestant philosopher and critic, born in Carlat, \JFrance\j. In 1675 he took the chair of philosophy at Sedan until forced into exile at the University of Rotterdam in 1681, where he published a strong defence of liberalism and religious toleration. He was dismissed from the university in 1693 following the accusation that he was an agent of \JFrance\j and an enemy of \JProtestantism\j. In 1696 he completed his major work, the \IDictionnaire historique et critique,\i a sceptical analysis of philosophical and theological arguments, which came to be influential in the 18th-c Enlightenment.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Baylis, Lilian Mary",3569,0,0,0
DT 1874-1937
EN British theatre manager. An eccentric lover of opera, utterly unafraid of big schemes, she began her association with the Old Vic in 1898, when it was run as a temperance hall by her aunt, Emma Cons. Taking over in 1912, she mounted for the first time a complete cycle of Shakespeare's First Folio plays (1914-23), establishing a reputation for herself and the theatre, which was eventually to become the temporary stage of the new National Theatre company.
Appointed a Companion of Honour in 1929, she reopened Sadler's Wells Theatre in 1931, founding the companies that eventually became the Royal Ballet and the English National Opera.
BK Thea
#
"Bayliss, Sir William Maddock",3570,0,0,0
DT1 1860
DT2 1924
EN Physiologist, born in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, C England, UK. He studied science at University College, London, and taught \Jphysiology\j there (1888-1924). Much of his experimental work was done with his colleague Ernest Henry Starling, including work on the cardiovascular system and the discovery of secretin, the first known hormone (which word they coined). His best-known work is \IPrinciples of General Physiology\i (1915). He was knighted in 1922.
MEX Starling
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Baylor, Elgin (Gay)",3571,0,0,0
DT1 1934
EN \JBasketball\j player, born in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He spent his playing career with the \JMinneapolis\j (later Los Angeles) Lakers (1958--72), and went on to coach with the \JNew Orleans\j Jazz before returning to Los Angeles as an executive with the Clippers.
BK Biog99
#
"Bayne-Jones, Stanhope",3572,0,0,0
DT (1888-1970)
EN bacteriologist, medical administrator; born in \JNew Orleans\j. Known primarily for his work as a medical administrator, he held a series of posts at the University of Rochester (1924-32), was dean of the Yale School of Medicine (1935-40), and was president of the Joint Administrative Board of New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center (1947-53).
BK AmBg
#
"bayonet",3573,0,0,0
EN A steel blade, thought to have been invented in Bayonne, \JFrance\j, in the 17th-c, which turns an infantryman's firearm into a thrusting weapon. Originally plugging into the end of the \Jmusket\j, by the early 19th-c bayonets were designed to fit into a slot beneath the muzzle, allowing the weapon to be fired at will. The bayonet was sheathed in a short scabbard when not in use. Modern infantry weapons still retain a facility for taking a bayonet, and modern bayonets have become more universally functional, including such tools as wirecutters.
BK b
#
"bayou",3574,0,0,0
PN [\Bbiy\boo]
EN A section of still or slow-moving marshy \Jwater\j cut off from a main river channel. It is often in the form of an oxbow lake. Bayous are typical of the Mississippi River delta in Louisiana, USA.
BK b
#
"Bayreuth",3575,0,0,0
PN [biy\Broyt\b]
EN 49░56N 11░35E, pop (1995e) 73 500. Industrial and marketing town, capital of Oberfranken district, \JGermany\j, on a tributary of R Main; world famous as a festival city committed to the operas of Wagner; railway; university (1975); textiles, machinery, electricity supply; 16th-c old palace, new palace (1753), Wagner theatre (1872--6); Wagner Festival (Jul--Aug).
BK Geog99
#
"Bazaar Malay",3576,0,0,0
EN See Malay \B(language)\b
BK b
XCY y
#
"Bazaine, Achille (Francois)",3577,0,0,0
PN [bazen]
DT1 1811
DT2 88
EN French soldier, born in Versailles, \JFrance\j. In the war with \JAustria\j of 1859 he captured Solferino in \JItaly\j, and in the Mexican expedition was placed in command of the army (1862). He was promoted Marshal of \JFrance\j in 1864. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1, he was trapped by the Prussians at Metz, and surrendered after a siege of 54 days. For this he was court-martialled and imprisoned in 1873, but a year later escaped to \JSpain\j.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bazaine, Jean RenΘ",3578,0,0,0
PN [bazen]
DT1 1904
DT2 75
EN Painter, born in Paris. His style developed through \JCubism\j to abstract art. He produced a number of very successful tapestry designs as well as \Jstained glass\j and mosaics.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bazalgette, Sir Joseph William",3579,0,0,0
PN [\Bbaz\baljet]
DT1 1819
DT2 91
EN Engineer, born in Enfield, N Greater London, England, UK. He constructed London's drainage system and the Thames embankment, and was a notable pioneer of public health \Jengineering\j. He was knighted in 1874.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bazelon, David (Lionel)",3580,0,0,0
DT (1909-93)
EN judge; born in Superior, Wis. His father, a storekeeper, died when he was two and left the family in poverty. Bazelon worked his way through the University of Illinois and Northwestern University and began practicing law in 1932. Confirmed to the bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia, in 1950, he became chief judge in 1962.
He earned a reputation as a strong \Jcivil rights\j advocate, and issued landmark rulings that expanded the scope of the insanity defense in criminal cases. He also issued important rulings that protected the employment rights of homosexuals and that led to a government ban on the \Jpesticide\j DDT.
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"Bazin, RenΘ",3581,0,0,0
PN [bazφ]
DT1 1853
DT2 1932
EN Novelist, born in Angers, \JFrance\j. He depicted with charm and colour the life of peasant folk in the various French provinces, and in some of his novels, such as \ILes OberlΘ\i (1901), dealt with the social problems of his time.
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"Baziotes, William",3582,0,0,0
DT (1912-63)
EN painter; born in \JPittsburgh\j, Pa. Based in New York, he was one of the founders of the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors (1940). His calligraphic approach to painting can be seen in such works as \IMoon Forms\i (1947), and \IPompeii\i (1955).
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"bazooka",3583,0,0,0
EN A US infantry weapon developed during World War 2 which fires a small rocket projectile from a simple launching tube. The projectile's warhead is effective against light tank armour.
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"bazouka",3584,0,0,0
EN See kazoo or bazouka
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"BBC",3585,0,0,0
EN Abbreviation of \BBritish Broadcasting Corporation,\b the UK organization responsible for making and transmitting its own \Jtelevision\j and radio programmes locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. It began radio broadcasts in November 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, and received a Royal Charter in 1927, thereafter maintaining a national radio service (a monopoly until 1973).
It began its \Jtelevision\j service in 1936 (a monopoly until 1955). Financed almost wholly by viewers' licence fees, it is formally independent of government, and committed to a public-service ethos. It is widely respected for its news service, its world external services, its patronage of the arts (especially music and drama), and its educational broadcasting, and has been instrumental in promoting a standardized form of spoken English.
In the early 1990s its roles and methods of operation were being subjected to major review, especially in the light of the competition presented by new commercial radio stations (such as Classic FM) - a process which generated considerable debate and controversy, both within and outside the organization.
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"BCD",3586,0,0,0
EN See binary coded decimal (BCD)
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"BCG",3587,0,0,0
EN An abbreviation of \IBacille Calmette-GuΘrin,\i a vaccine named after French bacteriologists Albert Calmette (1863-1933) and Camille GuΘrin (1872-1961). It is a vaccine that consists of attenuated living tubercle \Jbacteria\j. It has no power to cause tuberculosis, but in humans it conveys considerable protection against this disease over a number of years. It is now used only for special groups at risk.
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"BCS theory",3588,0,0,0
EN A quantum theory of \Jsuperconductivity\j; developed by John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and Robert Schrieffer in 1957. Bound states of two electrons \I(Cooper pairs)\i form, which account for zero electrical resistance and the Meissner effect. There has been experimental verification of the prediction that magnetic fields through a superconducting ring should have values that are multiples of a basic magnetic unit (the \Ifluxoid).\i
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"beach",3589,0,0,0
EN Unconsolidated \Jearth\j materials ranging in size from silt to boulders, which occur along a shore. Broadly defined, a beach extends from the upper landward limit of wave effects (usually the base of a sea cliff or dune) offshore to the greatest depths normally affected by wave activity (where storm waves break).
Beaches of fine sand and silt-size particles normally occur where gentle wave action dominates, whereas pebbles, cobbles, and boulders are characteristic of beaches with high wave \Jenergy\j. Beaches can be divided into a breaker zone, surf zone, beach face, and berm (the almost horizontal area at the top). A beach is among the most dynamic of \Jearth\j surface features, often changing profile on a seasonal or even daily basis.
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"Beach Boys, The",3590,0,0,0
EN US singing / instrumental group, formed in \JCalifornia\j in 1961, consisting orginally of brothers \BBrian Wilson\b (1942- , vocalist, bass \Jguitar\j, keyboards, songwriter), \BCarl Wilson\b (1946- , vocalist, guitar) and \BDennis Wilson\b (1944-83, vocalist, drums), with cousin \BMike Love\b (1941- , vocalist) and \BAlan (Al) Jardine\b (1942- , vocalist, bass \Jguitar\j, guitar); later also \BBruce Johnston\b (1944-) and others.
They found fame in the 1960s with Brian's cheerful songs of teenage West Coast life, surfing, fast cars and motorcycles, and all-American girls, including 'I Get Around', '\JCalifornia\j Girls', and 'Good Vibrations'. In 1966, with the technically innovative album \IPet Sounds,\i an increasingly reclusive Brian Wilson emulated the Beatles' imaginative use of recording techniques in a 'concept album'. Later, more pensive hit singles included 'I Can Hear Music' and 'Darling'.
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"beach flea",3591,0,0,0
EN See sand hopper
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"Beach, Amy (Marcy)",3592,0,0,0
DT (1867-1944)
EN composer, pianist; born in Henniker, N.H. After serious \Jpiano\j studies, she made her professional debut in \JBoston\j, Mass., in 1884, and appeared the next year with the \JBoston\j Symphony. That same year she married Dr. H. H. A. Beach, who encouraged her shift to composing, even though she had little formal instruction in it. Her \IGaelic Symphony,\i premiered by the \JBoston\j Symphony in 1896, was the first such work by an American woman, as was the \JPiano\j \JConcerto\j the orchestra premiered four years later (with the composer as soloist).
Between 1910-14 she lived in Europe where she again gave \Jpiano\j concerts, usually of her own work. Employing a conservative, Romantic style, she composed over 150 works - many settings of well-known poets' works - and gained some prominence in Europe as well as in America; but she was continually hampered by the era's resistance to woman composers, expressed perhaps by the fact that she went through most of her public career known as "Mrs. H. H. A. Beach."
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"Beach, Moses Yale",3593,0,0,0
DT (1800-68)
EN publisher, inventor; born in Wallingford, Conn. Apprenticed to a cabinetmaker at an early age, he later worked on his own and developed several inventions, including rag-cutting machinery that eased the making of paper. In 1838 he bought the \INew York Sun\i from Benjamin H. Day, his brother-in-law; as its editor until 1848 he organized a news syndicate and, in a competition with James Gordon Bennett's aggressive \INew York Herald,\i stressed efforts to gather news rapidly.
As circulation declined, Beach sold the paper in 1860 to a Christian revivalist, who gave it back after a year; in 1868 he sold it again to Charles Anderson Dana.
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"Beach, Sylvia Woodbridge",3594,0,0,0
DT (1887-1962)
EN bookseller, publisher; born in Baltimore, Md. In 1919 she established the Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris, which became an avant-garde publishing house and mecca for American expatriates. In 1922 she published the first edition of James Joyce's \IUlysses,\i which had been rejected by other publishers as pornographic.
In 1941 she closed her bookstore in defiance of the German occupation and later she was interned for seven months. She never reopened the store but she was widely honored for her support of Joyce and other authors.
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"Beachcomber",3595,0,0,0
EN See Morton, John Cameron (Andrieu Bingham Michael)
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"Beaconsfield, Earl of",3596,0,0,0
EN See Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield
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"Beadle, Erastus (Flavel)",3597,0,0,0
DT (1821-94)
EN publisher; born in Pierstown, N.Y. Establishing a printing business in 1852, he published popular songbooks and the first "dime novels," inexpensive, paper-bound, fast-paced adventure novels with heroes like Nick Carter and Deadwood Dick.
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"Beadle, George (Wells)",3598,0,0,0
DT (1903-89)
EN US geneticist: pioneer of biochemical \Jgenetics\j.
Born on a farm at Wahoo, NE, Beadle first planned to return there after graduation, but became an enthusiast for \Jgenetics\j and was persuaded to work for a doctorate at Cornell on \Jmaize\j \Jgenetics\j. In 1935 he worked with B Ephrussi in Paris on the \Jgenetics\j of eye-colour in the fruit fly Drosophila; as a result of this work, ingeniously transplanting eye buds in the larvae, they suspected that genes in some way controlled the production of the eye pigment.
When he returned to the USA, to a job at Stanford, he met the microbiologist E Lake Tatum (1909-75), and in 1940 they decided to use the pink bread \Jfungus\j Neurospora crassa for a study of biochemical \Jgenetics\j. It grew easily, reproduced quickly and has an adult stage which is haploid (only one set of chromosomes) so that all mutant genes show their phenotypic expression. (Drosophila, like other higher organisms, has two genes for every character, so dominant genes can mask recessives).
Beadle and Tatum exposed Neurospora to X-rays to produce mutations and then examined the mutant strains to find their ability or inability to synthesize a nutrient needed for their own growth. They concluded that the function of a gene is to control production of a specific \Jenzyme\j; they did not know that Garrod had reached the 'one gene- one-enzyme' idea 30 years earlier by studying human metabolic disease.
The value of their work was in providing an experimental method that allowed biochemical \Jgenetics\j to develop. It did so speedily, and their central idea remains unchallenged. More precisely, we would now say that one functional unit of DNA controls the synthesis of one \Jpeptide\j chain. Beadle, Tatum and Lederberg shared a Nobel Prize in 1958.
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"Beadle, Wiliam Henry Harrison",3599,0,0,0
DT (1838-1915)
EN educator; born in Parke County, Ind. He studied civil \Jengineering\j at the University of \JMichigan\j and rose to the rank of brevet brigadier general during the \JCivil War\j. He went to the Dakota Territory in 1869. As surveyor general for that area, he put all his efforts toward the judicious and cautious use of the public school lands. He wrote the education article in the South Dakota state constitution and was president of the Madison State Normal School (1889-1906). South Dakota placed his statue in the U.S. Capitol.
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"beagle",3600,0,0,0
EN Perhaps the most famous \Jbeagle\j of all is "Snoopy," the canine philosopher, from the \Jcartoon\j strip called \IPeanuts.\i The real-life dog is equally loved; of the hounds, it is most popular as a companion animal.
\BHistory:\b
The \JBeagle\j is credited as coming from \JGreat Britain\j, and the breed dates back to the 1600s. However, the breed may be considerably older and in fact may have originated from \JGreece\j, where a small \JBeagle\j-like hunting hound was used in 400 BC. A \JBeagle\j-like dog was used in \JFrance\j as a courser for hares and brought to England at the time of the \JNorman Conquest\j in 1066. Although there seem to have been efforts to vary the size of the breed from large to pocket-size over the years, now just two distinct sizes have been settled on.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The \JBeagle\j is a symmetrical and smoothly muscular dog. \IHeight:\i 10 - 13 in (25.4 - 33 cm) for the smaller \JBeagle\j, and 13 - 15 in (33 - 38 cm) for the larger. The weight is not specified but should be proportionate to the height. The broad head is large and dome-shaped with a narrow muzzle. The large round eyes may be either deep-set or prominent and are very meaningful, with an alert but soulful expression.
The long flat ears hang down and forwards over a strong neck. The body has a low chest with a straight back supported by straight legs. The tail is of medium-length and carried high. The coat is short and dense and may be any of the hound colors, except liver, which is generally excluded from the show ring.
\BBehavior:\b
This medium to small dog is an excellent tracker of small game and loves to run all \Jday\j. It has been bred to hunt as a pack animal and so is very sociable with members of its own pack. Like many dogs, the \JBeagle\j has a definite sense of who's the boss, and care should be taken not to undermine the social hierarchy if several dogs are kept together. Although originally bred as a hunter, the \JBeagle\j has a gentle nature in most circumstances.
Given the right training, the \JBeagle\j will make an excellent watch-dog. It also has a wonderfully melodious bark. Beagles make excellent family pets and are very sociable with people. As they are slow to anger and a medium size, they are excellent playmates for children. They are big enough not to suffer the many indignities from enthusiastic children, and small enough not to bowl them over during vigorous play.
As they are a uniform size and generally have a placid nature, Beagles have been used as laboratory animals. Traditionally, they have been used as circus dogs because they can be taught many tricks. Nowadays their other characteristics have been recognized and put to really good use. Beagles are frequently used as modern-day specialist working dogs.
In some countries, government agencies such as Quarantine services use them for the detection of contraband foodstuffs, while commercial enterprises use them for the detection of termites in buildings, and even for leaks in gas and oil pipelines. Beagles are easy-care dogs and if housed outside, only require a simple kennel.
They will thrive on lots of exercise but will happily settle for moderate exercise with lots of mental stimulation. The \JBeagle\j's coat is easy to care for by regular brushing but they should not be washed too frequently. Owners of Beagles living indoors may choose to "dry clean" them by rubbing powder into the coat and then giving it a good brushing.
They require about 1.25 lb (0.5 kg) of food a \Jday\j, depending on their age and activity. They have few common ailments but their ears should be given careful attention and cleaned regularly. When they are used as working dogs, their feet must be checked regularly for any injuries. The \JBeagle\j is a superb dog.
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"Beaglehole, John Cawte",3601,0,0,0
DT1 1901
DT2 71
EN Writer and historian, born in Wellington, \JNew Zealand\j. He graduated from Victoria University College, to which he returned in 1936 as lecturer in history, remaining there as professor of \JBritish Commonwealth\j history (1963-6). His life's work was the masterly Hakluyt Society edition of \IThe Journals of Captain James Cook on his Voyages of Discovery\i (1955-67), associated with which was his \IThe Endeavour Journal of Sir Joseph Banks\i (1962). He was awarded the Order of Merit in 1970.
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"Beaker culture",3602,0,0,0
EN A prehistoric culture defined archaeologically by finely-made, pottery drinking vessels for mead or beer, often burnished and geometrically decorated. Found in graves of the 3rd millennium BC from \JSpain\j, \JCzechoslovakia\j, and \JHungary\j to \JItaly\j and Britain, Beakers have often been taken as evidence for trans-European migrations perhaps originating in \JSpain\j. Equally, they could be no more than a status symbol disseminated widely by trade, and copied locally.
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"Beal, Gifford (Reynolds)",3603,0,0,0
DT (1879-1956)
EN painter; born in New York City. A pupil of William Merritt Chase, he lived in New York, summered on the shores of \JMassachusetts\j, and painted city and marine scenes, as in \IThe Albany Boat\i (1915), and \IFreight Yards\i (1920).
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"Beale, Dorothea",3604,0,0,0
DT1 1831
DT2 1906
EN Pioneer of women's education, born in London, England, UK. She was principal of \JCheltenham\j Ladies' College (1858-1906), and in 1885 founded St Hilda's College, \JCheltenham\j, as the first English training college for women teachers. She sponsored St Hilda's Hall in Oxford for women teachers in 1894.
MEX Buss
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"Beale, Edward Fitzgerald",3605,0,0,0
DT (1822-93)
EN explorer, naval officer; born in Washington, D.C. Although a naval officer (1842-51), he made six transcontinental journeys carrying important dispatches (including the first authentic report of gold in \JCalifornia\j in 1848). He was an Indian agent and the surveyor general for \JCalifornia\j and Nevada (1851-65). Later, he served briefly as U.S. ambassador to \JAustria\j-\JHungary\j.
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"Beale, Mary",3606,0,0,0
HS , \InΘe\i \BCradock\b
DT1 1632
DT2 99
EN Painter, born in Barrow, Suffolk, E England, UK. She became a portrait painter and a devoted follower of the most celebrated portraitist of her \Jday\j, Sir Peter Lely. Very little is known of her work before c.1670, but several of her husband's diaries record her painting commissions, which include several portraits of clerics.
MEX Lely
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"beam weapons",3607,0,0,0
EN See directed \Jenergy\j weapons
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"Beamon, Bob",3608,0,0,0
DT1 1946
EN Athlete, born in New York City, USA. A long jumper who was not considered a great stylist, he smashed the world record at the 1968 \JOlympic Games\j in \JMexico City\j with a jump of 8.9┐m/29┐ft 2┐in - 55┐cm/21┐in further than the previous record.
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"bean",3609,0,0,0
EN A general name applied to the seeds of many plants, but particularly those belonging to the pea family, Leguminosae, many of which are edible.
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"Bean, 'Judge' Roy",3610,0,0,0
DT (?1825-1903)
EN frontier figure; born in Mason County, Ky. He left Kentucky for \JCalifornia\j in 1847, and seems to have spent the next 15 years in such enterprises as goldseeking and cattlerustling. He joined a band of Confederate irregulars during the \JCivil War\j and then followed the railroad construction crews as a saloonkeeper and gambler.
In 1882 he settled in the \JTexas\j camp of Vinegaroon; he had it renamed Langtry after his idol, the English actress Lillie Langtry, then set himself up as justice of the peace, "the law west of the Pecos." Holding court in his saloon, "The Jersey Lily," he threatened to use his six-shooter to enforce his notion of justice. In 1898 he gained national attention for staging a boxing match on a sandbar in the middle of the Rio Grande (to avoid the ban on boxing in Texas), featuring the heavyweight champion, Bob Fitzsimmons.
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"Bean, Alan L(aVern)",3611,0,0,0
DT1 1932
EN Astronaut, born in Wheeler, \JTexas\j, USA. He studied at the University of \JTexas\j, then served as a naval test pilot (1955) before joining the crewed spaceflight program (1963). He was a crew member of the historic Apollo 12 Moon-walk mission, and commander of the second crew to occupy the orbiting Skylab 3. Following retirement in 1975, he continued to work for NASA as an adviser.
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"Bean, Charles Edwin Woodrow",3612,0,0,0
DT1 1879
DT2 1968
EN Journalist and war historian, born in Bathurst, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. He studied at \JOxford University\j, and became offical correspondent to the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). He landed with the AIF at \JGallipoli\j in 1915, then accompanied the troops to \JFrance\j where he served until the end of the war. His major work was the 12-volume \IOfficial History of \JAustralia\j in the War of 1914-18\i (1921-39), writing six of the volumes himself, and editing the others.
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"Bean, L. L. (Leon Lenwood)",3613,0,0,0
DT (1872-1967)
EN outdoor clothing and equipment retailer; born in Greenwood, Maine. A Maine trapper in his youth, he launched a thriving mail-order and retail business in Freeport, Maine, after inventing his \Jrubber\j-soled Maine Hunting Shoe (1912). Incorporated as L. L. Bean (1934), the company became known for the quality and practicality of its outdoor products, which attracted an international clientele.
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"bear",3614,0,0,0
EN A carnivorous \Jmammal\j, widespread in the Northern hemisphere; head large with short, rounded ears and long muzzle; body bulky with thick (usually shaggy) coat and very short tail; eats meat \B(\Jpolar bear\j),\b or meat and plants (other species). It may rest for long periods during winter months, but this is not true \Jhibernation\j as the body \Jtemperature\j does not fall. \B(Family:\b Ursidae, 7 species.)
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"bear market",3615,0,0,0
EN A stock market term for a situation when stock prices have fallen and it is feared that they will fall further. 'Bears' will sell shares in the hope of buying them back when the prices has fallen; they may even contract to sell shares they do not yet own.
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"bear's breech",3616,0,0,0
EN A stout perennial native to S Europe \I(Acanthus mollis); \i 30-80┐cm / 12-30┐in high; leaves large, deeply divided, spiny; flowers in a long spike, zygomorphic, 2-lipped, white with purple veins. The leaves of this or similar species are thought to provide a common decorative motif in classical art and \Jarchitecture\j. \B(Family:\b Acanthaceae.)
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"bear-baiting",3617,0,0,0
EN See baiting.
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"bearbaiting",3618,0,0,0
EN A popular sport in Britain in the 16th-c, forbidden by law in 1835. The bear was chained to a stake or put into a pit, and then attacked by dogs. Betting took place on the performance of individual dogs. The Master of Bears was a crown office with a daily stipend.
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"bearberry",3619,0,0,0
EN A low, mat-forming evergreen shrub \I(Arctostaphyllos uva-ursi),\i native to \Jarctic\j moorland in the Northern hemisphere; leaves 1-2┐cm / 0..4-0..8┐in, elliptic or widest above middle, dark green above, pale beneath; flowers drooping, 4-6┐mm / 1/8- 1/4┐in, almost globular, white tinged with pink; berry round, glossy red. \B(Family:\b Ericaceae.)
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"Beard, Charles A(ustin)",3620,0,0,0
DT (1874-1948)
EN historian; born in Knightstown, Ind. Coming from an independent Quaker background, he edited a local newspaper before going on to DePauw University and becoming exposed to progressive thinkers and social reformers of his time. After graduating (1898) he went on to \JOxford University\j, England, where - with money supplied by a Kansas socialist, Mrs. Walter Vrooman - he helped found Ruskin Hall, a college for workers.
After marrying Mary Ritter in 1900, he brought her back to Ruskin Hall and continued developing his ideas on improving society, as expressed in his first book, \IThe Industrial Revolution\i (1901). In 1902 he went to Columbia University to study; he joined the faculty (1904-17) and became one of the leaders in adopting the "new history," a progressive approach to using the past to advance the present.
In 1913 he published his seminal work, \IAn Economic Interpretation of the \JConstitution of the United States\j; \i highly controversial in its \Jday\j, it argued that America's "founding fathers" had acted more on economic motives than for abstract ideals. In 1917 he resigned from Columbia to protest the treatment of those opposed to America's involvement in World War I. From then on he never held a regular academic appointment - he lived on his writings, investments, and on the income from a dairy farm in Connecticut - but he remained a prominent public figure as a writer and activist, working for reforms in public administration, speaking out on current affairs, and constantly refining his views about the past.
He collaborated with his wife, Mary Ritter Beard, on several major books, starting with \IThe Rise of American Civilization\i (1927), which emphasized economic forces on American history. In the 1930s he somewhat conditionally endorsed Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal domestic policies, but he definitely rejected Roosevelt's foreign policies and ended up with the isolationists, even charging Roosevelt with having maneuvered \JJapan\j into attacking the U.S.A. In his final years he modified his earlier views on the influence of economics on history, and lost some of his standing, but he remains one of the American historians to be reckoned with.
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"Beard, Dan(iel Carter)",3621,0,0,0
DT (1850-1941)
EN illustrator, youth leader; born in \JCincinnati\j, Ohio. He was a surveyor (1874-78) before he became an illustrator. He wrote \IWhat to Do and How to Do It: The American Boy's Handy Book\i (1882), the first of his 16 books on handicrafts. He was praised by Mark Twain for his illustrations in \IA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court\i (1889). To promote magazines that he edited, he organized the Sons of Daniel Boone (1905) and the Boy Pioneers of America (1909), precursors of the Boy Scouts.
When the Boy Scouts of America was formed (1910), he designed the Scout hat, neckerchief and shirt. He wrote and illustrated many articles for the Scout's magazine, \IBoys' Life.\i As National Scout Commissioner (1910-41), he argued for voluntary leadership within the Scouts and became known as "Uncle Dan" to a generation of American boys.
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"Beard, James",3622,0,0,0
DT (1903-85)
EN cooking expert, author; born in Portland, Ore. He published his first cookbook in 1940, hosted the first televised food show (1946-47), and founded his own New York cooking school (1955). He championed American cuisine in numerous articles and more than two dozen cookbooks, including \IJames Beard's American Cookery\i (1972) and \IThe New James Beard\i (1981).
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"Beard, Mary Ritter",3623,0,0,0
DT (1876-1958)
EN historian, social reformer; born in \JIndianapolis\j, Ind. (wife of Charles Beard). She met Charles Beard while both were students at DePauw University (Asbury, Ind.) and they married in 1900. She followed him to \JOxford University\j, England, where she became involved in both women's suffrage and working-class education activities; on their return to the U.S.A. (1902), she began graduate school at Columbia University but dropped out in 1904 and thereafter became a self-directed scholar. (She also raised two children.)
She continued to work for women's suffrage, labor reforms, and other progressive causes, but by about 1915 she began to concentrate on her writing and lecturing, specifically to bring to light women's contributions to society across the centuries. From her early work, \IWomen's Work in Municipalities\i (1915), to her classic summation, \IWomen as a Force in History\i (1946), she prefigured many of the themes that would be taken up by women's historians and feminists of later generations.
She also collaborated with her husband on several influential volumes such as \IThe Rise of American Civilization\i (1927) and \IThe Basic History of the United States\i (1944). Although she managed to inject some of her own findings about women's roles into these collaborations, both this element and her own contribution tended to be overshadowed by her husband's towering reputation, and only in later decades would her own work be truly recognized.
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"bearded collie",3624,0,0,0
EN The \JBearded Collie\j was traditionally used as a working sheep dog, but now makes an excellent companion animal.
\BHistory:\b
It is likely that the ancestors of the Collies came to \JGreat Britain\j with the Romans about 500 BC, but it is the Scottish who are attributed with starting the breed. The Collie breeds were further developed by cross-breeding them with (perhaps) the Newfoundland and even \JDeerhound\j; then, more recently, the \JBearded Collie\j was selectively bred for its own special characteristics.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The \JBearded Collie\j is a medium-sized dog whose shaggy coat masks a quite athletic animal. \IHeight:\i 20 - 22 in (51 - 56 cm). \IWeight:\i 45 - 55 lb (20.4 - 25 kg). This Collie both stands and then runs with a special dignity and grace. It has light brown almond-shaped eyes with a broad head that tapers out to broad-based, shaggily furred and hanging ears. The \JBearded Collie\j has a body resembling that of a lighter version of an \JOld English Sheepdog\j, except that it does have a tail.
\BBehavior:\b
The \JBearded Collie\j is normally a gentle and confident dog with a stable temperament. It was bred to shepherd sheep and it still retains a strong chase reflex. When training, the distractions of other movement should be avoided.
The \JBearded Collie\j can make an excellent watch-dog, as it has a powerful bark to deter would-be intruders. It usually gets along well with other dogs, but will readily accept people as a substitute.
Most often the \JBearded Collie\j will make an excellent companion animal, and will welcome the attention and games that children play. However, although these dogs are slow to reach their maximum tolerance level, they can still be snappy under extreme provocation.
The \JBearded Collie\j is a dog that loves to please and receive the attention of its owner. Although this dog will be content to be a companion animal, it will truly thrive if it is given work or other energetic activities to carry out.
As little air gets to circulate under its long ears, they should be regularly cleaned to avoid any infections. After this Collie has been working or exercising vigorously, the feet should also be checked to retain their healthy condition.
This hardy dog copes well with the cold and only requires a simple kennel. If it is routinely kept indoors or in hotter climates, it may shed more fur and so require frequent grooming.
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"bearded lizard",3625,0,0,0
EN An Australian \Jagamid\j lizard; group of large spines behind each ear; body with numerous small spines; throat with deep pouch which can be enlarged as a threat display (hence 'beard'); also known as \Bbearded dragon.\b \B(Genus:\b \IAmphibolurus,\i 3 species.)
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#
"bearded tit",3626,0,0,0
EN See \Jreedling\j
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#
"bearded vulture",3627,0,0,0
EN See lammergeier
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#
"Beardon, Romare (Howard)",3628,0,0,0
DT (?1912-88)
EN painter, collagist; born in Charlotte, N.C. Now regarded as a major American artist, he studied with George Grosz at the Art Students League, New York (1936-37), and at Columbia University (1943). He also studied philosophy and art at the \JSorbonne\j, Paris (1951). He worked in such mediums as \Jcollage\j, oil, graphics, tapestry, and as set and costume designer for the Alvin Ailey Ballet Company, New York (1971).
Based in New York City, he founded the Spiral Group (1963), an organization promoting his fellow African-American artists. His \Jcollage\j work, such as \ISaturday Morning\i (1969) and \IPatchwork Quilt\i (1970), is influenced by \Jcubism\j and African \Jsymbolism\j.
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"Beardsley, Aubrey (Vincent)",3629,0,0,0
PN [\Bbeerdz\blee]
DT1 1872
DT2 98
EN Illustrator, born in Brighton, East Sussex, south-east England, UK. He became famous through his fantastic posters and illustrations for \IMorte d'Arthur,\i \ISalomΘ,\i \IThe Rape of the Lock,\i and other works, as well as for the \IYellow Book\i magazine (1894-96) and his own \IBook of Fifty Drawings,\i mostly executed in black and white, in a highly individualistic asymmetrical style. With Wilde he is regarded as leader of the 'Decadents' of the 1890s.
MEX Wilde, Oscar
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"beardworm",3630,0,0,0
EN A sedentary marine worm that lives in a vertical tube buried in fine oceanic sediments; feeds by absorbing \Jnutrients\j through tentacles on head; mouth, gut and anus absent in adults; body slender, length up to 0..8┐m / 2..6┐ft; c.100 species found from shallow \Jwater\j to deep sea. \B(Phylum:\b Pogonophor.)
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#
"bearings",3631,0,0,0
EN Mechanical devices supporting rotating shafts with a minimal amount of frictional resistance. A large number of different bearings exist to meet special circumstances, although the best known is probably the \Bball bearing.\b In this type the rotating shaft is supported by a number of balls which are interposed between it and the fixed mounting.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
(1) Roller bearings were probably used on carts in what we now call Denmark, about 100 BC, made of wood and bronze, while Egyptian carts show evidence of the use of lubricants such as mutton tallow, which may have been used to lubricate bearings.
The development of modern bearings really took off with the patenting, in 1839, of Babbitt metal. This is an alloy, mainly of tin, but with small amounts of \Jantimony\j, copper and lead. The range has since been extended, but all have similar compositions, and a similar silvery appearance. These alloys are also sometimes referred to as white metals.
In a few special cases, such as the food and chemical industries, wooden bearings, made from the very dense wood of the \Jlignum vitae\j tree, may be used. These bearings are better able to withstand the effects of the acids, alkalis, bleaches, and oils that are likely to be found in these processes. Lignum vitae is very dense, very hard, and contains a large amount of \Jresin\j, making it largely self-lubricating, but other woods may be used, such as hard maple, which requires a treatment with neutral oil.
(2) In navigation, a set of measured compass directions, used to locate a position on a map. In marine terms, a lighthouse may be said to bear due north (0░), while another landmark may be said to bear due east (90░), giving bearings of 0░ and 90░ respectively.
Bearings are usually measured in degrees, with south taken as 180░ and west as 270░, while north may be either 0░ or 360░.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"beat generation",3632,0,0,0
EN A group of US writers of the 1950s who rejected conventional society and its values for a life and writing based on an authentic individual experience, according to the poet Allen Ginsberg \I(Howl,\i 1957), 'of God, sex, drugs, and the absurd'. Besides Ginsberg, novelist Jack Kerouac \I(On the Road,\i 1957) and poets Gregory Corso (1930-) and Laurence Ferlinghetti (1919-) were principal beat writers. Their 'outsider' lifestyle was taken over by the hippies of the 1960s.
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"beating the bounds",3633,0,0,0
EN In England, at Rogationtide, a traditional ceremonial walk round the boundaries of a parish, during which boundary marks are beaten with sticks, sometimes willow wands, and / or bumped by lifting up boys for the purpose. The aim is to establish the boundaries and to ensure well-being.
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"Beatitudes",3634,0,0,0
EN The common name for the opening pronouncements of blessing upon the poor, the hungry, and others in Jesus's great Sermon on the Mount, reported in Matthew's gospel (nine listed in \IMatt\i 5.3-10) and the Sermon on the Plain in Luke's gospel (four listed in \ILuke\i 6.20-3).
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"Beatles, The",3635,0,0,0
DT1 1960
DT2 70
EN British pop group, formed in Liverpool, north-west England, UK in 1960, consisting at that time of \BJohn Lennon\b (1940-80, rhythm \Jguitar\j, keyboards, vocals), \BPaul McCartney\b (1942- , bass \Jguitar\j, vocals), \BGeorge Harrison\b (1943- , lead \Jguitar\j, \Jsitar\j, vocals), and \BPete Best\b (1941- , drums).
In 1962 Best was replaced by \BRingo Starr\b (1940- , real name Richard Starkey), and the band signed a record contract. 'Love Me Do' became a hit in the UK, and their appearances at the Cavern Club in Liverpool and elsewhere in the UK overflowed with idolizing fans. 'Beatlemania' spread around the world in 1964, buoyed by international hits such as 'She Loves You' and 'I Want to Hold Your Hand', and by the overwhelming success of a concert tour in American stadiums.
At press conferences and interviews, the Beatles projected a fey, carefree, somewhat cynical image that influenced the attitudes of their teenage admirers just as their long hair and 'granny' glasses influenced their looks. The image was sustained in their films \IA Hard Day's Night\i (1964) and \IHelp!\i (1965). The string of early hits, all written by Lennon and McCartney, also included 'Please Please Me', 'Can't Buy Me Love', 'And I Love Her', and 'Yesterday'.
In 1966 the Beatles stopped performing in public. They then produced \ISergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band\i (1967), a loose programme of songs on the theme of alienation: at its best (as in 'Mr Kite', 'She's Leaving Home', 'A Day in the Life') it uses the devices of pop music to express a poetic vision. The group dissolved acrimoniously in 1970.
MEX Lennon; McCartney
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"Beaton or Bethune, David",3636,0,0,0
DT1 1494
DT2 1546
EN Scottish statesman and Roman Catholic clergyman, born in Balfour, Fife, E Scotland, UK. He studied at the universities of St Andrews, Glasgow, and Paris, and was at the French court (1519) as Scottish 'resident' and twice later as ambassador to negotiate James V's marriages.
In 1525 he took his seat in the Scots Parliament as Abbot of Arbroath and was appointed Privy Seal. Made a cardinal in 1538, he became \JArchbishop\j of St Andrews. On James's death, he produced a forged will, appointing himself and three other regents of the kingdom during the minority of Mary, Queen of Scots. The nobility, however, elected the Protestant Earl of Arran regent. Beaton was arrested, but soon regained favour and was made chancellor (1543). He was assassinated by a band of conspirators in his castle of St Andrews.
MEX Mary, Queen of Scots; Wishart
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"Beaton or Bethune, James",3637,0,0,0
DT1 1470
DT2 1539
EN Scottish clergyman and statesman, the uncle of Cardinal David Beaton. He graduated from St Andrews in 1493, and rose rapidly to be \JArchbishop\j of Glasgow (1509) and of St Andrews (1522). A zealous supporter of \JFrance\j and an opponent of the Reformation, he initiated the persecution of Protestants.
MEX Hamilton, Patrick; Beaton, David
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"Beaton, Sir Cecil (Walter Hardy)",3638,0,0,0
DT1 1904
DT2 80
EN Photographer and designer, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, and became an outstanding photographer of fashion and high-society celebrities, including royalty. He also designed scenery and costumes for many ballet, operatic, theatrical, and film productions, including \IMy Fair Lady\i and \IGigi.\i His publications include \IMy Royal Past\i (1939), \IThe Glass of Fashion\i (1959), and \IThe Magic Image\i (1975), and he also wrote several volumes of \Jautobiography\j (1961-78).
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"Beatrix",3639,0,0,0
DT1 1938
EN Queen of The Netherlands (1980-- ), born in Soestdijk, The Netherlands, the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard Leopold. In 1966 she married West German diplomat \BClaus-Georg Wilhelm Otto Friedrich Gerd von Amsberg\b (1926-- ); their son, \BPrince Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand\b (1967-- ) is the first male heir to the Dutch throne in over a century.
There are two other sons, \BJohan Friso Bernhard Christiaan David\b (1968-- ) and \BConstantijn Christof Frederik Aschwin\b (1969-- ). She acceded to the throne on her mother's \Jabdication\j in 1980.
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"Beats",3640,0,0,0
EN See Burrows, William (Ward); Corso, Gregory (Nunzio); Ferlinghetti, Lawrence (Monsanto); Ginsberg, Allen; Kerouac, Jack
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"beats (physics)",3641,0,0,0
EN In physics, regular low-frequency variations in \Jamplitude\j, resulting from an interference effect between waves of similar wavelength. The effect is exploited in \Jpiano\j tuning and in heterodyne radio receivers.
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"Beattie, James",3642,0,0,0
DT1 1735
DT2 1803
EN Poet and essayist, born in Laurencekirk, Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland, UK. After some years as a schoolmaster in Fordoun he became a master at \JAberdeen\j \JGrammar School\j, and in 1760 professor of moral philosophy at \JAberdeen\j. He is chiefly remembered for his long poem, \IThe Minstrel\i (1771-74), a forerunner of \JRomanticism\j.
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"Beatty, David Beatty, 1st Earl",3643,0,0,0
DT1 1871
DT2 1936
EN Naval commander, born in Nantwich, Cheshire, NWC England, UK. He entered the navy in 1884, and by 1912 had been appointed to command the 1st Battle Cruiser Squadron. At the outbreak of World War 1 he steamed into \JHeligoland\j Bight and destroyed three German cruisers. In 1915 he pursued German battle cruisers near the Dogger Bank, sinking the \IBlⁿcher,\i and in 1916 fought in the Battle of Jutland. He succeeded Lord Jellicoe as commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet in 1916, and became First Sea Lord in 1919.
MEX Jellicoe
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"Beatty, John Lee",3644,0,0,0
DT 1948-
EN American designer. Active since the early 1970s with the Manhattan Theatre Club and Circle Repertory Company, among others, by the mid-1980s Beatty had become the most prolific designer in New York. A master of poetic or lyric realism, he designed the premieres of virtually all the plays of Lanford Wilson, several by Beth Henley and many new plays at the New York Shakespeare Festival.
He also designed McNally's Lips Together, Teeth Apart (1991) and Ain't Misbehavin' (1978). He is known for playful and theatrical settings, such as the \Jcaricature\j environment for Song of \JSingapore\j (1991).
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"Beatty, Warren",3645,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\btee]
HS , originally \BHenry Warren Beaty\b
DT1 1937
EN Actor and film-maker, born in Richmond, Virginia, USA, the younger brother of actress Shirley MacLaine. He made his film debut in \ISplendor in the Grass\i (1961). A broodingly handsome leading man, his enduring Casanova image has done a disservice to his many political interests and consistent efforts to expand the scope of his talents.
At the same time as acting, he produced \IBonnie and Clyde\i (1967), co-wrote \IShampoo\i (1975), and co-directed \IHeaven Can Wait\i (1978). He was the producer, co-writer and star of \IReds\i (1981), which won him an Oscar as Best Director. Later films include \IDick Tracy\i (1990), \IBugsy\i (1991), and \ILove Affair\i (1994).
\BMajor Works\b
\IActor\i
1961 Splendor in the Grass
1961 The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone
1962 All Fall Down
1964 Lilith
1965 Mickey One
1966 Promise Her Anything
1966 Kaleidoscope
1967 Bonnie and Clyde
1970 The Only Game in Town
1971 McCabe and Mrs Miller
1973 Year of the Woman
1974 The Parallax View
1975 Shampoo
1975 The Fortune
1987 Ishtar
1991 Bugsy
1994 Love Affair
\IActor/Director\i
1978 Heaven Can Wait
1981 Reds
1990 Dick Tracy
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"Beau, Louis Victor",3646,0,0,0
DT (1895-1986)
EN aviator; born in New York City. An air service veteran of the Western Front in World War I, he commanded the Mediterranean Air Transport Service during World War II. After the war, he became national commander of the Civil Air Patrol, the civilian auxiliary of the air force.
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"beauceron",3647,0,0,0
EN The \JBeauceron\j is a very substantial French sheep dog. It is still used both as a working sheep dog, a police dog and a determined guard dog.
\BHistory:\b
Originating in \JFrance\j, the \JBeauceron\j was closely linked to another ancient breed of French dog, the \JBriard\j. The breeds were believed to be interchangeable, with the only difference being that the \JBeauceron\j was short-haired and the \JBriard\j long-haired. However, in the 1800s a special group of experts were called upon to determine further differences between the dogs, and they were then given the separate breed names.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The \JBeauceron\j has a solid muscular appearance without being too heavy, as it stands four square and alert. \IHeight:\i 24 - 27 in (61 - 70 cm). \IWeight:\i unspecified proportionate to height. The head is long and flat, with a slightly rounded top over a medium-length muzzle. The eyes are rounded and non-protruding, and together with the smallish upright ears provide an alert, confident appearance.
The oblique body is complemented by slightly sloping shoulders and broad hindquarters. The tail is long and carried low, with just a slight hook to it. The \JBeauceron\j has a double coat consisting of a short dense undercoat with a thick outer layer. The coat color is generally black and tan, but may also be black, red, gray, or gray and tan.
\BBehavior:\b
This noble dog was bred to be brave and determined enough to drive several hundred sheep at a time. Its instinct to herd and chase are particularly strong.
It makes an excellent watch-dog because of its alert demeanor and territorial characteristics. Also, its bravery and strength of character have now been put to good use. It is regularly used both for police and guard dog duties.
The \JBeauceron\j gets on well with other dogs, but it is vital that it be properly socialized as a puppy. Failure to socialize the \JBeauceron\j may result in it attacking other dogs and injuring them should they stray into its territory. Likewise, a wise owner will protect people from the territorial nature of their \JBeauceron\j. As with most dogs, it will make an excellent companion animal.
However, with family dogs, serious consideration should be given to sterilizing non-breeding males. This dog really enjoys the attention of confident and assertive owners who will find it a joy to work with. It is not a dog for the faint-hearted.
The \JBeauceron\j will thrive on lots of exercise and may become withdrawn and snappy if left idle. The dog is slow to reach behavioral maturity, and a slow build-up of simple routines should be established first. Owners who insist on keeping the \JBeauceron\j in a city situation will have to provide it with considerable attention and positive tasks. If kept outdoors, the coat will require regular brushing and periodic attention should be given to the feet when the dog is exercised vigorously.
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"Beauchamp, Pierre",3648,0,0,0
PN [bohshπ]
DT1 1636
DT2 1705
EN Dancer, choreographer, and ballet master, born in Versailles, \JFrance\j. He became superintendent of the Court Ballets of \JLouis XIV\j, and in 1671 was appointed director of the AcadΘmie Royale de Danse. Some credit him with the invention of classical ballet's five positions. He also created his own notation system.
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#
"Beaufort Scale",3649,0,0,0
PN [\Bbyoo\bfert]
EN A scale of windspeed, ranging from 0 to 12, devised by Admiral Francis Beaufort (1774-1857) in the mid-19th-c, which uses descriptions of the way common outdoor features (eg smoke, trees) respond to different wind conditions.
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"Beaufort Sea",3650,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bfert]
EN Region of the \JArctic\j Ocean, N of \JAlaska\j and W of the Canadian \JArctic\j archipelago; covered with pack-ice; major oil deposit discovered at Prudhoe Bay (1968), linked by pipeline to Valdez.
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"Beaufort, Henry",3651,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bfert]
DT1 1377
DT2 1447
EN English clergyman, the second illegitimate son of John of Gaunt and his mistress Catherine Swynford, and half-brother of Henry IV. He was chancellor three times (1403-4, 1413-17, and 1424-6), and in 1426 was made a cardinal. In 1431 he conducted the young King \JHenry VI\j to Paris, to be crowned as King of \JFrance\j and England, and for several years was the dominant figure in his government.
MEX \JHenry VI\j; John of Gaunt
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"Beaufort, Lady Margaret, Countess of Richmond",3652,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bfert]
DT1 1443
DT2 1509
EN Daughter of John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, and mother of King \JHenry VII\j. In 1455 she married Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond. The Lancastrian claim to the English crown was transferred to her with the \Jextinction\j of the male line, and it was in the right of his mother's descent from John of Gaunt that \JHenry VII\j ascended the throne after the defeat of Richard III in 1485.
MEX Henry VII
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"Beaufort, Sir Francis",3653,0,0,0
PN [bohfert]
DT (1774-1857)
EN British hydrographer; inventor of Beaufort wind scale.
Born in Ireland, Beaufort joined the Royal Navy at an early age and saw active service for over 20 years. In 1806 he proposed the Beaufort wind scale, ranging from 0-12, and specifying the amount of sail that a ship should carry in each situation. Thus force 12 was a wind 'that no canvas can withstand'. He also devised a useful concise notation for meteorological conditions in general. The scale was officially adopted by the Admiralty some 30 years later. Beaufort became hydrographer to the Royal Navy and retired as a rear admiral.
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"Beauharnais, Alexandre, vicomte de (Viscount of)",3654,0,0,0
PN [bohah(r)nay]
DT1 1760
DT2 94
EN French soldier, son of the governor of Martinique, where he was born. In 1779 he married JosΘphine de Tascher de la Pagerie who later became the wife of Napoleon. He became president of the Constituent Assembly in Paris in June 1791, and was given command of the army of the Rhine in 1793. During the Reign of Terror he was arrested as an aristocratic 'suspect' and guillotined.
MEX JosΘphine; Napoleon
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"Beauharnais, EugΦne Rose de",3655,0,0,0
PN [bohah(r)nay]
DT1 1781
DT2 1824
EN French soldier, the son of Alexandre de Beauharnais and JosΘphine. In 1805 he was made a prince of \JFrance\j and Viceroy of \JItaly\j. In 1806 he married Princess Amelia Augusta of \JBavaria\j, and was formally adopted by Napoleon and made heir apparent to the throne of \JItaly\j. After Napoleon's \Jabdication\j in 1814 he retired to \JBavaria\j, and was created Duke of Leuchtenberg.
MEX JosΘphine; Napoleon; Beauharnais, Alexandre de
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"Beauharnais, Hortense EugΘnie CΘcile",3656,0,0,0
PN [bohah(r)nay]
DT1 1783
DT2 1837
EN Queen of Holland, born in Paris, the daughter of Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais. As a child she was a great favourite of her stepfather, Napoleon, and in 1802 married his brother Louis, King of Holland; the youngest of their three children became \JNapoleon III\j.
MEX \JNapoleon III\j; Beauharnais, Alexandre de
SX f
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"Beaujolais",3657,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bzholay]
EN Sub-division of the old province of Lyonnais in EC \JFrance\j, now forming part of Rho\cfne and Loire departments; granite upland on edge of Massif Central; major wine-growing region; N part known as Beaujolais Villages; centre Villefranche.
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"Beaumarchais, Pierre Augustin Caron de",3658,0,0,0
DT 1732-99
EN French playwright. His work for the stage was only part of a busy life as government agent, financial speculator and commercial entrepreneur. Having earned himself a place at court, he wrote EugΘnie (1767) - a domestic drama and his first serious work - but Les Deux Amis (The Two Friends, 1770) proved a failure.
He turned to comedy with the first of his Figaro plays, The Barber of Seville, an exquisite confection of all the genre's traditional devices and a huge success at the ComΘdie-Francaise (1775); but the underlying note of seriousness in its sequel, The Marriage of Figaro, prevented its public performance until 1784, when a record run ensued.
Beaumarchais's next work was an opera, Tarare (1787), with music by Salieri; then in 1792 he returned to heavy-handed domestic sentiment with the last Figaro play, La MΦre Coupable (The Guilty Mother). The trilogy charts a progression from 'artificial' comedy to 'realistic' domestic drama.
Meanwhile he had founded the SociΘtΘ des Auteurs, introducing an author's royalty on all theatrical performances, and established a printing press to publish the first complete edition of \JVoltaire\j's works.
EN British theatre impresario. From the mid-1930s to the early 1960s this modest, retiring man was one of the most powerful impresarios in British theatre, helping such dramatists as Christopher Fry and Terence Rattigan. He managed H. M. Tennent Ltd, which became associated with star-studded West End productions of small-cast, opulently dressed and staged plays, and, consequently, became a target for such 'angry young men' as Kenneth Tynan. Beaumont became a governor of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in 1950 and was also a member of the National Theatre board from 1962 to 1968.
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"Beaumont, Francis",3660,0,0,0
DT 1584-1616
EN English playwright and poet. His first play, The Woman Hater (1605), is a comedy of humours written for the Boys of St Paul's. The only other extant play of which he was sole author is the splendidly good-humoured The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1607), performed by the Children of the Chapel Royal, in which the bourgeois taste for chivalric romance is kindly mocked.
The rest of his plays were written in a famous collaboration with John Fletcher. The two succeeded Shakespeare as leading playwrights for the King's Men in about 1609, providing the company with popular successes such as Philaster (c.1609), The Maid's Tragedy (c.1610) and A King and No King (1611), and becoming leaders of refined theatrical taste.
Their natural home was the Blackfriars. Of the many plays ascribed to them, only a handful (in addition to the three already mentioned) can be partly attributed to Beaumont, including \JCupid\j's Revenge (c.1611), The Coxcomb (1612), The Scornful Lady (c.1613) and The Captain (1613) .
BK Thea
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"Beaumont, William",3661,0,0,0
PN [bohmont]
DT (1785-1853)
EN US surgeon; made pioneer studies of human digestive \Jphysiology\j.
Beaumont was a farmer's son who became a village schoolmaster and later qualified in medicine. In the \JWar of 1812\j he became an army surgeon, rather minimally licensed to practise on the basis of his 2 years spent as an apprentice to a country doctor.
In 1822 at Fort Mackinac a young Canadian trapper was accidentally shot by a duck gun at close range, producing gross abdominal wounds and an opening into the \Jstomach\j. Beaumont was nearby, saved his life, and tended him for 2 years. He was left with a permanent fistula (opening) into the \Jstomach\j. Beaumont employed him and for 10 years was able to study digestion rather directly.
Gastric juice could be obtained; and the lining of the \Jstomach\j could be examined easily, and its movements, and the effects of different diets and emotions. Beaumont's 238 observations gave a firm basis to the \Jphysiology\j of gastric digestion (they also much exasperated the trapper). The work also suggested to Bernard the value of artificial fistulas in experimental \Jphysiology\j, using animals. The trapper lived to be 82, greatly outliving his surgeon.
EN Confederate soldier; born in \JSt. Bernard\j Parish, La. An 1838 West Point graduate, he was twice wounded in the Mexican War. He resigned from the U.S. service during the secession crisis. He opened the \JCivil War\j with the bombardment of Fort Sumter, S.C., commanded the Confederate left wing at the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861, succeeded the mortally wounded A. S. Johnston in command of the Army of \JTennessee\j at Shiloh in 1862, and commanded the Charleston defenses during Union siege operations of 1862-64. Small and animated, Beauregard graded high in defense of static positions but performed less ably on a fluid battlefield. After the war he held several public offices in Louisiana.
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"Beaurepaire, Sir Francis Joseph Edmund",3663,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\brepair]
DT1 1891
DT2 1956
EN Freestyle swimmer, born in Melbourne, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. A prominent figure in the Olympics of 1908, 1912, 1920, and 1924, his most prestigious year was 1910, when he set four world records. He was active in local politics, and became Lord Mayor of Melbourne (1940-2).
SX m
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"beauty",3664,0,0,0
HS (physics)
EN See bottom or beauty
BK b
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#
"Beauvais",3665,0,0,0
PN [bohvay]
EN 49░25N 2░08E, pop (1995e) 58 000. Market town and capital of Oise department, N \JFrance\j; on R ThΘrain, 76 km/47 mi N of Paris; railway; bishopric; former tapestry-making centre; agricultural equipment, rayon, tiles, fruit, dairy produce; cathedral (13th--16th-c), with highest Gothic vault in existence (48 m/156 ft).
BK Geog99
#
"Beauvoir, Simone de",3666,0,0,0
EN See de Beauvoir, Simone
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#
"Beaux, Cecilia",3667,0,0,0
DT (1855-1942)
EN painter; born in Philadelphia. She was influenced by the work of Thomas Eakins and became a portrait painter. After studying in Paris at the AcadΘmie Julien (1887), she set up a studio in New York City (1890). Her sensitive academic work, as in \IDorothea and Francesca\i (1898), and \IMother and Daughter\i (1898), remains popular.
BK AmBg
#
"Beaux-Arts",3668,0,0,0
PN [bohzah(r)]
EN A decorative classical architectural style of the late 19th-c, particularly popular in \JFrance\j. The name derives from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. It is typified by the grandeur of the OpΘra, Paris (1861-75), architect J Lake C Garnier.
BK b
#
"Beaux-Arts, Ecole des",3669,0,0,0
PN [bohzah(r), aykol day]
EN The main official art school in Paris. It dates from 1648, when the first class was taught by Charles Le Brun. Abolished at the Revolution, but refounded in 1796, it was installed in its present quarters on the left bank of the Seine by 1830. It was immensely important throughout the 19th-c, but became notoriously conservative in the 20th-c.
BK b
#
"beaver",3670,0,0,0
EN A large \Jsquirrel\j-like rodent from \JNorth America\j, N Europe, and Asia; semi-aquatic; hind feet webbed; tail broad, flat, and scaly; builds a 'lodge' from logs and mud in woodland ponds; often dams streams to create ponds; was formerly hunted for fur; young called \Ikits.\i \B(Family:\b Castoridae, 2 species.)
BK b
#
"beaver scout",3671,0,0,0
EN See scouting
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"Beaverbrook (of Beaverbrook and of Cherkley), (William) Max(well) Aitken, Baron",3672,0,0,0
DT1 1879
DT2 1964
EN Politician and newspaper magnate, born in Maple, \JOntario\j, Canada. He moved to Britain in 1910, entered parliament (1911-16), and became private secretary to Bonar Law. When Lloyd-George became premier, he was made minister of information (1918). In 1919 he took over the \IDaily Express,\i which he made into the most widely-read daily newspaper in the world.
He founded the \ISunday Express\i (1921) and bought the \IEvening Standard\i (1929). In World War 2 Churchill successfully harnessed Beaverbrook's dynamic administrative powers to the production of much-needed \Jaircraft\j. He was made minister of supply (1941-2), Lord Privy Seal, and lend-lease administrator in the USA.
MEX Churchill, Sir Winston; Lloyd-George, David
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"Beazley, Kim (Christian)",3673,0,0,0
DT1 1948
EN Politician, born in Perth, Western \JAustralia\j, \JAustralia\j. He was educated at the University of Western \JAustralia\j and \JOxford University\j as a Rhodes Scholar, returning to take up an academic post at Murdoch University. In 1980 he was elected as an MP for the West Australian seat of Swan, but transferred to the seat of Brand in 1996.
He held a number of portfolios, including defence, employment, education, and training, during the Australian Labor Party's 13 years in power, and became deputy Prime Minister (1995--6). Since 1996 he has been leader of the Australian Labor Party Opposition.
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"Bebel, Ferdinand August",3674,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\bbel]
DT1 1840
DT2 1913
EN Socialist, born in Cologne, \JGermany\j. He became a leader of the German Social Democrat movement, and its chief spokesman in the Reichstag. He wrote widely on \JSocialism\j, on the Peasants' War, and on the status of women.
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"bebop",3675,0,0,0
EN A jazz style, also known as \Bbop,\b characterized by fast tempos and agitated rhythms, cultivated in the decade after World War 2 by small groups of musicians, among them Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk.
BK b
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"Beccafumi, Domenico",3676,0,0,0
PN [beka\Bfoo\bmee]
HS , originally \BDomenico di Pace\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1486
DT2 1551
EN Painter, born in Siena, \JItaly\j. His paintings are characterized by unusual perspective, complicated figure poses, and complex colour effects, and the result is individual enough to be usually regarded as an early manifestation of the post-Renaissance style known as \JMannerism\j. Much of his best work remains in the Pinacoteca, Siena.
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"Beccaria, Cesare, marchese de (Marquess of)",3677,0,0,0
PN [be\Bkah\bria]
DT1 1738
DT2 94
EN Jurist and philosopher, born in Milan, \JItaly\j. In 1764 he published anonymously \IDei delitti e delle pene\i (On Crimes and Punishments), denouncing \Jcapital punishment\j and torture, and advocating the prevention of crime by education. The work had a widespread influence on the punishment and prevention of crime. In 1768 he was made professor of political philosophy at Milan.
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"bΦche de mer",3678,0,0,0
PN [besh duh \Bmair\b]
EN A French culinary term, referring to the food obtained from a marine animal found in the south-west Pacific, also known as a \Bsea cucumber; \b the name derives from Portuguese \Ibicho da mar\i 'sea worm'. It is a part of some Chinese cuisine, but rarely appears on Western menus.
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#
"Beche, Sir Henry Thomas de la",3679,0,0,0
EN See de la Beche, Sir Henry Thomas
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"Becher, Johann Joachim",3680,0,0,0
PN [\Bbekh\ber]
DT1 1635
DT2 82
EN Chemist, born in Speyer, \JGermany\j. He worked on minerals, and his \IPhysica subterranea\i (1669) was the first attempt to bring physics and chemistry into close relation.
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"Bechet, Sidney",3681,0,0,0
DT (1897-1959)
EN jazz musician; born in \JNew Orleans\j. As a clarinetist and saxophonist, he was a pioneer in establishing jazz as a solo idiom. In 1919, he became the first jazz musician to receive critical attention; in 1926, as a sideman, he made a strong impression on Duke Ellington's emerging style. After spearheading a traditional jazz revival in the 1940s, he settled in \JFrance\j where he was widely honored.
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"Bechstein, Karl",3682,0,0,0
PN [\Bbek\bstiyn], Ger [\Bbekh\bshtiyn]
DT1 1826
DT2 1900
EN \JPiano\j manufacturer, born in Gotha, \JGermany\j. He founded his famous factory in Berlin in 1856.
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"Bechtel, Stephen Davison",3683,0,0,0
DT (1900-89)
EN \Jengineering\j/construction executive; born in Aurora, Ind. He joined his father's western construction company, W. A. Bechtel Corporation, in 1919, eventually becoming president (1936-60). He built Hoover Dam (1931). His other \Jengineering\j design and construction companies, consolidated as Bechtel Corporation (1946), became the largest such corporation in the world, building numerous power plants, pipelines, oil refineries, and factories worldwide.
His son, Stephen Davison Bechtel, Jr. (born in 1925) spent his career at Bechtel Corporation, overseeing projects including the trans-\JAlaska\j pipeline and the Washington, D.C., subway system.
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"Beck, Aaron T(emkin)",3684,0,0,0
DT1 1921
EN Psychiatrist, born in \JRhode Island\j, USA. He became professor of \Jpsychiatry\j and director of the Center for Cognitive Therapy at the University of \JPennsylvania\j. He introduced cognitive therapy as a treatment approach for neurotic disorders, particularly depression. His books include \IDepression: Causes and Treatment\i (1972) and \ILove is Never Enough\i (1988).
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"Beck, Julian",3685,0,0,0
DT1 1925
DT2 85
EN Actor, producer, and director, born in New York City. With \BJudith Malina\b (1926-) he was co-founder of the Living Theater. Known for his experimental and improvisatory approach, among his publications is \IThe Life of the Theater\i (1972).
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"Beck, Lewis Caleb",3686,0,0,0
DT (1798-1853)
EN physician, scientist; born in Schenectady, N.Y. Licensed as a physician in 1818, he used his rural travels to collect natural observations. He taught scientific subjects at Rutgers (1830-31, 1838-53) and elsewhere, and wrote various works, including a \IGazetteer of Illinois and Missouri\i (1823).
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"Beckenbauer, Franz",3687,0,0,0
PN [\Bbek\benbower]
HS , nickname \Bthe Kaiser\b
DT1 1945
EN Footballer, born in Munich, \JGermany\j. As player, coach, manager, and administrator, he became a dynamic force in German football during the 1970s. He captained the West German national side to European Nations Cup success in 1972 and to the World Cup triumph of 1974. In 1972 he was European Footballer of the Year. He became manager of \JGermany\j in 1986, and is currently president of Bayern Munich.
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"Becker, Boris",3688,0,0,0
PN [\Bbe\bker]
DT1 1967
EN Tennis player, born in Leimen, \JGermany\j. He first came to prominence in 1984 when he finished runner-up in the US Open. In 1985 he became the youngest ever winner of the men's singles at Wimbledon, as well as the first unseeded winner.
He successfully defended his title in 1986, and won it for a third time in 1989. He won the US Open in 1989, the Australian Open in 1991 and 1996, and the Association of Tennis Professionals world title in 1992.
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"Becker, Carl (Lotus)",3689,0,0,0
DT (1873-1945)
EN historian; born in Lincoln Township, \JIowa\j. A graduate of the University of \JWisconsin\j, he taught at several colleges before becoming professor of history at Cornell (1917-41). He was a master of both elite and popular thought in 18th-century America and Europe, and his historical writing combined scholarly learning with an accessible style.
He was equally honored as a teacher. His best known work was \IThe Heavenly City of the Eighteenth Century Philosophers\i (1932), which reflected his characteristically conservative-skeptical view of modern history. Other works include \IThe Eve of Revolution\i (1918), \IProgress and Power\i (1936), and \IHow New Will the Better World Be\i (1943), which expressed his views of international relations in the world after World War II.
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"Becker, Gary (Stanley)",3690,0,0,0
DT1 1930
EN Economist, born in Pottstown, \JPennsylvania\j, USA. Except for a period at Columbia University (1957--69), he has worked at the University of \JChicago\j as an active participant in the "\JChicago\j school' of economics.
Since the mid-1960s, he has concentrated on his "new economics of the family', his controversial ideas challenging the singular consumptive nature of the family, viewing it instead as a multi-person unit which produces "joint utility' from the skills and knowledge of different family members. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1992.
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"Becker, John J.",3691,0,0,0
DT (1886-1961)
EN composer; born in Henderson, Ky. He taught in colleges and administrated for the Works Progress Administration in the Midwest, meanwhile composing, conducting, and promoting modernist music with only occasional success. His pieces include pioneering multimedia works.
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"Becket, St Thomas α",3692,0,0,0
DT1 1118
DT2 70
EN Saint and martyr, \JArchbishop\j of Canterbury, born in London, England, the son of a wealthy Norman merchant. He studied in London and Paris, then took up \Jcanon law\j at \JBologna\j and Auxerre. In 1155, he became Chancellor, the first Englishman since the Conquest to hold high office. A skilled diplomat and brilliant courtly figure, he changed dramatically when created \JArchbishop\j of Canterbury (1162), resigning the chancellorship, and becoming a zealous ascetic, serving the Church as vigorously as he had the king.
He thus came into conflict with Henry II's aims to keep the \Jclergy\j in subordination to the state. He unwillingly consented to the Constitutions of Clarendon (1164) defining the powers of Church and state, but remained in disfavour. He fled the country after having his goods confiscated and the revenues of his sees sequestered.
After two years in \JFrance\j, he pleaded personally to the pope, and was reinstated in his see. In 1170 he was reconciled with Henry, and returned to Canterbury, amid great public rejoicing. New quarrels soon broke out, however, and Henry's rashly-voiced wish to be rid of 'this turbulent priest' led to Becket's murder in Canterbury cathedral (29 Dec 1170) by four of the king's knights. He was canonized in 1173, and Henry did public penance at his tomb in 1174.
In 1220 his bones were transferred to the Trinity Chapel, for many years a popular place of pilgrimage, as described by Chaucer in the prologue to \IThe Canterbury Tales.\i Feast \Jday\j 29 December.
MEX Henry II; Theobald
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"Beckett, Margaret (Mary)",3693,0,0,0
DT1 1943
EN British stateswoman. She studied at Manchester College of Science and Technology, became a metallurgist, then became a research assistant for the Labour party (1970--4). Elected an MP in 1974, she went on to hold a number of political posts, eventually becoming deputy leader of the Labour Party (1992--4, including a short term as leader in 1994).
She held shadow ministerial posts in social security (1984--9), the Treasury (1989--92), health (1994--5), and trade and industry (1995--7), and became president of the Board of Trade and \Jsecretary of state\j for trade and industry in 1997.
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"Beckett, Samuel (Barclay)",3694,0,0,0
DT 1906-89
EN Irish-French playwright and novelist. He grew up in Dublin, moved to London and then to Paris, where he lived almost continuously from 1937, writing in both French and English and doing the translating himself. Beckett became known as a playwright relatively late in life, after he had written his famous prose trilogy (Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable).
It was in 1953 that En Attendant Godot was successfully produced by Roger Blin in \JFrance\j; then in 1955 by Peter Hall in England. In both places the play, so different from anything audiences were accustomed to, had an explosive effect on theatre. In Godot and subsequent plays - especially Endgame (first performed as Fin de Partie, directed by Blin in London, 1957), Krapp's Last Tape (1958) and Happy Days (1961) - Beckett succeeded in creating rituals for celebrating nothing which are both philosophically uncompromising and theatrically inventive.
His characters' dialogue owes much to comic cross-talk acts. Through whittling away the traditional elements of plot, setting and character, he created a dynamic image for the static experience of waiting, remembering, and struggling with a sense of futility. His characters are often devoid of 'personality', possessing only the clown's self-conscious awareness that his sole function is to keep the game going.
His creation of literal images for degenerating life conditions have become proverbial - e.g. Hamm's parents living in dustbins (Endgame) or Winnie, buried up to her waist, then her neck (Happy Days).
From the late 1960s Beckett wrote only short dramatic fragments, in which the clown figure of his earlier plays has been replaced by ghostly shapes, only half seen, struggling to retain a feeble hold of themselves and of their space. He also became more involved in directing his own works, e.g. Waiting for Godot in Berlin in 1975.
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"Beckett, Sir Edmund",3695,0,0,0
EN Grimthorpe, Edward Beckett
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"Beckett, Walter",3696,0,0,0
EN See Boyd, Martin (a Beckett)
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"Beckford, William Thomas",3697,0,0,0
DT1 1760
DT2 1844
EN Writer and art collector, born in Fonthill, Wiltshire, S England, UK. From 1777 he spent much time on the European mainland, meeting \JVoltaire\j in 1778, and later making a grand tour in Flanders, \JGermany\j, and \JItaly\j. He is best known for his Gothic novel, \IVathek,\i which was published in \JFrance\j in 1787. He returned to England in 1796, and proceeded to erect a Gothic palace, Fonthill Abbey, designed by James Wyatt, where he lived in seclusion until 1822.
MEX \JVoltaire\j; Wyatt, James
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"Beckmann, Ernst Otto",3698,0,0,0
DT (1853-1923)
EN German chemist: discovered a rearrangement reaction and a method for determining relative molecular mass in solution.
Beginning as an apprentice pharmacist, Beckmann turned to chemistry with success, being professor at three universities before being appointed first director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry at Berlin-Dahlem in 1912. His distinction began in 1886, when he discovered the Beckmann rearrangement - the reaction of ketoximes with acid reagents to give a substituted amide, often in high yield:
RR'C = NOH \F(r)\n R'CONHR
The reaction has been used to prepare some \Jamides\j, and also in studies on \Jstereochemistry\j and on reaction mechanism. Beckmann's work led him to seek a general method for finding the relative molecular mass of a reaction product; he devised a method, using Raoult's Law, by measuring the rise in boiling point of a solvent caused by dissolving in it a known amount of the substance whose molecular mass is required.
To measure this small \Jtemperature\j rise he devised the Beckmann thermometer, which has a reservoir for adjusting its range and will measure accurately a small rise in \Jtemperature\j.
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"Beckmann, Max",3699,0,0,0
DT1 1884
DT2 1950
EN Expressionist painter, draughtsman, and printmaker, born in \JLeipzig\j, \JGermany\j. He trained at Weimar, and in 1904 moved to Berlin where he began painting large-scale, dramatic works. The suffering he experienced as a \Jhospital\j orderly in World War 1 led him to develop a highly individual style influenced by \JGothic art\j, which he used to give voice to the disillusionment he saw around him in post-war \JGermany\j.
When he learnt that his work was to be included in an exhibition of Degenerate Art to be mounted by the Nazis in 1937, he fled to Holland, where he lived until emigrating to the USA in 1947.
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"Becknell, William",3700,0,0,0
DT (?1796-1865)
EN fur trader, explorer; born in Amherst County, Va. He moved to Missouri and became the first American trader to do business in Santa Fe, N.M. (1821). He pioneered the Cimarron cut-off and the Santa Fe Trail (1822). He moved to \JTexas\j, fought in the \JTexas\j Revolution (1836) and later joined the \JTexas\j Rangers.
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"Beckwourth, (James Pierson) Jim",3701,0,0,0
DT (1798-1867)
EN pioneer, mountain man; born in Fredericksburg, Va. Born a slave but raised free in St. Louis, Mo., by his mulatto mother and white father, Beckwourth participated in the Ashley-Henry fur-trading expeditions into the Rocky Mountains (1823-26) and lived with the Crow Indians (1826-37).
Serving as guide, trapper, trader, army scout, and hunter (1837-50), he discovered the pass - later named after him - in the Sierra Nevada Mountains that opened a route to \JCalifornia\j's Sacramento Valley (1850) and started a ranch nearby. His \ILife and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth\i (1856) describes the life of the frontiersmen known as mountain men.
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"Becque, Henry",3702,0,0,0
DT 1837-99
EN French playwright. His early plays showed his committed \Jsocialism\j: Michel Pauper (1870), La Navette (The Shuttle, 1878) and Les HonnΩtes Femmes (Honest Women, 1880). In 1882 Les Corbeaux (The Crows) received its premiere at the ComΘdie-Francaise, a stormy event which signalled the arrival of \Jnaturalism\j in the national theatre. Becque had moved beyond the well made play to the well observed play: the 'crows' are birds of prey who descend on the women of a family after the death of the father.
The Parisienne (1885), first staged at the Renaissance with RΘjane, had even less plot and was the prototype of the 'slice of life' play. These two major works heralded the bitter comedies, the comΘdies rosses, that would become a major feature of the ThΘΓtre Libre repertoire.
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"becquerel",3703,0,0,0
PN [\Bbek\berel]
EN The activity of a radioactive source as the number of disintegrations per second; SI unit; symbol \IBq; \i named after Henri Becquerel.
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"Becquerel family",3704,0,0,0
The most famous Becquerel, Antoine Henri, was the third in a line of four physicists. His grandfather, Edmond Becquerel, helped found the science we now call \Jelectrochemistry\j, and his father, Alexandre Becquerel (1820 - 1891) had investigated \Jfluorescence\j and phosphorescence, which was relevant when Henri Becquerel came to study the minerals in which he first detected radio-activity. Then his son Jean also became a physicist as well.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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#
"Becquerel, (Antoine) Henri",3705,0,0,0
PN [bekuhrel]
DT (1852-1908)
EN French physicist: discoverer of \Jradioactivity\j.
Like his father and grandfather before him, Becquerel studied physics, and like them he was interested in \Jfluorescence\j; he also succeeded to the posts they had held in Paris. Educated mainly at the ╔cole Polytechnique, he became professor of physics there in 1895. Partly by chance, he found in 1896 that a uranium salt placed on a wrapped photographic plate caused this to blacken.
He soon found that this did not require light; that it was due to the uranium only; and that the radiation was not reflected like light. He found it was able to ionize air. Although similar to the X-rays discovered in 1895 by R÷ntgen, it was not the same. His work was soon confirmed and was the starting point for all studies on \Jradioactivity\j.
He shared the Nobel Prize for physics in 1903 with the Curies. His other studies, on magnetic effects and on light absorption by crystals, were valuable; but his work on \Jradioactivity\j gave physics a new direction.
Radiotherapy (later used to treat cancer) began with his observation that \Jradium\j carried in his pocket produced a burn. The SI unit of \Jradioactivity\j is the becquerel (Bq), defined as an activity of one disintegration per second.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Becquerel was actually exploring the effects of sunlight on a fluorescent salt, uranium \Jpotassium\j sulphate. R÷ntgen had observed that x-rays caused \Jfluorescence\j, and \Jcathode\j rays were associated with x-rays, which came from a "cathode ray tube". Becquerel was curious to see if fluorescent salt might also be emitting x-rays, as well as visible light. As he had inherited his father's supply of fluorescent materials, he had what he needed, ready to hand.
He wrapped a photographic plate in black paper, sealing it in, to keep out the sunlight, and placed the "encrusted crystals" of the minerals in sunlight, lying on the photographic package. The idea was that the x-rays, known to pass straight through paper, would then \Jfog\j the film, producing a dark patch on the plate that he was to call a silhouette, and demonstrating their presence. The result was a successful "exposure", and Becquerel became convinced that he was onto something. Then came a lucky stroke. Here it is, translated from Becquerel's own words:
I particularly insist on the following fact, which appears to me exceedingly important and not in accord with the phenomena which one might expect to observe: the same encrusted crystals placed with respect to the photographic plates in the same conditions and acting through the same screens, but protected from the incident rays and kept in the dark, still produce the same photographic effects.
I may relate how I was led to make this observation: among the preceding experiments, some had been made ready on Wednesday the twenty-sixth and on Thursday the twenty-seventh of February, and as on those days the \Jsun\j had only shown itself intermittently, I kept my arrangements all prepared and put back the holders in the dark of the drawer of the case, and left in place the crusts of the uranium salt. Since the \Jsun\j did not show itself for several days I developed the plates on the first of March, expecting to find the images very feeble. The silhouettes appeared on the contrary with great intensity. I at once thought that the action might be able to go on in the dark . . .
Later, Becquerel demonstrated that the radiation emitted by uranium shared certain characteristics with X rays but, unlike x-rays, could be deflected by a magnetic field and therefore must consist of charged particles. As a result of this discovery, he took on a doctoral student, Marie Sklodowska \JCurie\j, and the rest, as they say, is history.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"bed bug",3706,0,0,0
EN A flattened, flightless bug. Adults and developing nymphs are nocturnal, emerging from concealment to suck blood mainly from mammals, including humans. They are a pest of human dwellings, but are not known to transmit diseases.
BK b
#
"bed sore",3707,0,0,0
EN An ulcerated area of skin and subcutaneous tissue, usually over a bony prominence in bed-ridden or unconscious patients. The lesion is due to pressure which reduces the blood supply to the affected part.
BK b
#
"Bedchamber Crisis",3708,0,0,0
EN A British political crisis which occurred in May 1839, after Melbourne, prime minister in the Whig government, offered to resign, and advised the young Queen Victoria to appoint Peel and the Tories. The Queen refused to dismiss certain Ladies of the Bedchamber with Whig sympathies, whereupon Peel refused office and the Whig government continued.
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"Beddoes, Thomas",3709,0,0,0
DT (1760-1808)
EN British physician and chemist: mentor of Humphry Davy.
A man of wide talents, Beddoes studied classics, modern languages, science and medicine at Oxford and in 1788 was appointed reader in chemistry there. However, his sympathy with the French revolutionaries led to his resignation in 1792. He then turned to medicine, and linked this with his interest in the new gases ('airs') discovered in the previous few years, several by his friend Priestley.
With the help of friends he set up his Medical Pneumatic Institution in \JBristol\j to study the therapeutic uses of gases. In 1798 he appointed the 19-year-old Davy to join him. A year later they observed the anaesthetic potential of 'nitrous oxide', N2O (unhappily neglected for half a century). Beddoes then guided Davy in his early work on \Jelectrochemistry\j, as well as introducing him to influential friends in science and in literature.
In 1801 Davy left for the Royal Institution and soon Beddoes also left for London and returned to medical practice. Beddoes's greatest discovery was Davy (as Davy's was \JFaraday\j) but, although much overshadowed by his pupil, Beddoes's own talents, probably partly unused, were real. His Institution was perhaps the first specialized institute of a type now common.
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"Beddoes, Thomas Lovell",3710,0,0,0
DT1 1803
DT2 49
EN Poet, born in Clifton, \JBristol\j, south-west England, UK, the eldest son of Thomas Beddoes. He studied at Oxford, and in 1822 published \IThe Bride's Tragedy,\i a sombre murder drama. From 1825 he was engaged in the composition of a Gothic-Romantic drama, \IDeath's Jest-book,\i which appeared in 1850, a year after his suicide.
MEX Beddoes, Thomas
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"Bede or Baeda, St",3711,0,0,0
HS , known as \Bthe Venerable Bede\b
DT1a c.
DT1 673
DT2 735
EN \JAnglo-Saxon\j scholar, theologian, and historian, born near Monkwearmouth, Durham, north-east England. At the age of seven he was placed in the care of Benedict Biscop at the monastery of Wearmouth, and in 682 moved to the new monastery of Jarrow in Durham, where he was ordained priest in 703 and remained a monk for the rest of his life, studying and teaching.
His devotion to Church discipline was exemplary and his industry enormous. He wrote homilies, lives of saints, lives of abbots, hymns, epigrams, works on chronology, grammar and physical science, and commentaries on the Old and New Testaments; and he translated the Gospel of St John into \JAnglo-Saxon\j just before his death.
His greatest work was his Latin \IHistoria ecclesiastica gentis anglorum\i (Ecclesiastical History of the English People), which he finished in 731, and which is the single most valuable source for early English history. He was canonized in 1899; feast \Jday\j 25 May.
MEX Benedict Biscop
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"Bedford",3712,0,0,0
EN 52░08N 0░29W, pop (1995e) 80 800. County town of \JBedfordshire\j, SC England, UK; a residential town 32 km/20 mi SE of Northampton and 75 km/47 mi N of London; railway; foodstuffs, \Jengineering\j; John Bunyan (1628--88) was imprisoned here for 12 years, during which time he wrote \IThe Pilgrim's Progress\i.
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"Bedford Level",3713,0,0,0
EN See Fens, the or the Fen Country
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"Bedford, 13th Duke of",3714,0,0,0
EN See Russell, John Robert, 13th Duke of Bedford
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"Bedford, Brian",3715,0,0,0
DT 1935-
EN British-born American actor. Since his US acting debut in Peter Shaffer's Five Finger Exercise (1959) Bedford has devoted his career to the US and Canadian stages, winning awards in The Knack (1965) and School for Wives (1971). His numerous appearances at the Stratford Festival over a dozen seasons have included Malvolio, Angelo, Leontes, Richard II, Tartuffe, Bottom, Richard III and six roles opposite Maggie Smith.
He played the British actor W. C. Macready in Richard Nelson's Two Shakespearian Actors (1992). Since 1975 he has had starring roles in Equus, Deathtrap, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, The Real Thing and his own one-man show based on Shakespeare's life and works, The Lunatic, the Lover and the Poet.
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"Bedford, David",3716,0,0,0
DT1 1949
EN Distance athlete, born in London, England, UK. An athlete of great stamina, he set the 10┐000┐m world record in 1972 (27:30.8). His only major championship victory was the international cross-country title in 1971. After retiring from competition he stayed in \Jathletics\j as a promoter.
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"Bedford, John of Lancaster, Duke of",3717,0,0,0
DT1 1389
DT2 1435
EN English prince, the third son of Henry IV. In 1414 his brother, \JHenry V\j, created him Duke of Bedford, and during the war with \JFrance\j he was appointed Lieutenant of the Kingdom. After Henry's death (1422), Bedford became Guardian of England, and Regent of \JFrance\j during the minority of his nephew, \JHenry VI\j.
He defeated the French in several battles, but in 1428 failed to capture OrlΘans. In 1431 he had Joan of Arc burned at the stake in \JRouen\j, and crowned \JHenry VI\j King of \JFrance\j in Paris; but in 1435 a treaty was negotiated between Charles VII and the Duke of Burgundy, which ruined English interests in \JFrance\j.
MEX \JHenry VI\j; Joan of Arc
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#
"Bedfordshire",3718,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 550 000; area 1235 sq km/477 sq mi. County in SC England, UK; drained W--E by the R Ouse; county town, Bedford; \JLuton\j a new unitary authority from 1997; distribution centre, motor vehicles, bricks, wheat, \Jbarley\j.
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"BΘdier, (Charles Marie) Joseph",3719,0,0,0
PN [baydyay]
DT1 1864
DT2 1938
EN Scholar and mediaevalist, born in Paris. In 1893 he was appointed professor of mediaeval French language and literature at the CollΦge de \JFrance\j. His \IRoman de Tristan et Iseult\i in 1900 gained him a European reputation, and \ILes LΘgendes Θpiques\i (1908-13) developed his theory of the origin of the great cycles of romance.
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"bedlington terrier",3720,0,0,0
EN The \JBedlington Terrier\j, otherwise known as the Gypsy Dog, has the appearance of a spring lamb. However, looks can deceive, as this dog is a true Terrier and is quite capable of defending itself.
\BHistory:\b
The \JBedlington Terrier\j is a British breed which dates back to the 1800s. Its exact origins are unclear but it seems to have been started in the north of England. It is likely that the shorter legged \JDandie Dinmont Terrier\j was its ancestor. It is probable that it was crossed with a \JWhippet\j to provide it with longer legs and sleek lines. There is a remote possibility that it was later crossed with the \JPoodle\j to introduce some of that breed's characteristics. British Kennel Club records suggest that the first recognized \JBedlington Terrier\j was a male called "Old Flint" who was born in 1873. It is almost certain that the early breeders set out to produce a dog that looked like a lamb and succeeded.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The \JBedlington Terrier\j is a graceful dog which moves with delicate agility. It was not bred to catch rats like other terriers, but for coursing hares. Consequently, it required longer legs for the necessary speed and also the ability to rapidly change direction.
\IHeight:\i 15 - 16 in (38 - 40.6 cm); under Canadian standards, 16.5 in (42 cm) for the adult dog and 15.5 in (39.4 cm) for the bitch. \IWeight:\i 17 - 23 lb (7.7 - 10.4 kg). The narrow rounded head, covered with a silky topknot, has no stop before reaching its black nose, and the eyes are small and well-set into the head. The medium-sized ears, covered in fine fur and silky tips are low-set and fall close to the cheek. The neck is long and tapering and holds the head erect. Although very flexible, the body is muscular, with a characteristically arched back. The medium-length tail is carried low with a slight curl. The coat is thick and woolly and is usually colored blue, liver, blue and tan, or sandy.
\BBehavior:\b
The \JBedlington Terrier\j is usually a gentle dog but it can be quite spirited should the occasion arise. It does make an excellent watch-dog and will happily alert its owner to potential intruders. Normally the \JBedlington Terrier\j does get along very well with other dogs. However, at first sight its lamb-like appearance may provoke other dogs to rush at it. However, other dogs soon recognize it as a fellow and normal social behavior follows. It is a good idea to socialize this dog with others when it is a puppy. This dog is a terrier and will not flinch when faced with a fight.
With people, the \JBedlington Terrier\j is peaceful and at ease, making a perfect companion for single people and families alike. The dog seems to positively soak up the attention its owner provides, and so is readily trainable.
Although the \JBedlington Terrier\j is only a relatively small dog, it does benefit from regular exercise. It is a wonderful experience to see it galloping across the park with its rapid turns and sprints.
Food requirements vary between just under and just over a pound (0.3 - 0.5 kg) daily, depending on age and exercise. Clipping and grooming this dog requires a degree of experience, and new owners are advised to seek expert help.
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"Bednorz, (Johannes) Georg",3721,0,0,0
PN [\Bbed\bnaw(r)ts]
DT1 1950
EN Physicist, born in \JGermany\j. He studied at Mⁿnster and Zⁿrich universities, then joined Karl Mⁿller at the \JIBM\j Zⁿrich Research Laboratory at Rⁿschlikon (1982). Their work was chiefly directed to finding novel superconductors which would show \Jsuperconductivity\j at higher temperatures than the near-\Jabsolute zero\j level previously observed. Following the success of this project in 1986--7, they shared the 1987 Nobel Prize for Physics.
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"Bedouin",3722,0,0,0
EN Arabic-speaking nomads of \JArabia\j, \JSyria\j, Jordan, \JIraq\j, and other desert areas in the \JMiddle East\j. They mainly herd animals in the desert during winter months - camels, sheep, goats, and (in the case of the Baqqarah) \Jcattle\j - and cultivate land in summer; camel herders have the highest prestige.
Many have been forced to settle in one locality, because of political or economic moves, such as restrictions on their grazing land, or \Jnationalization\j of their land. They are divided into largely independent, endogamous patrilineal tribal groups, each controlled by its sheikh and council of male elders. There are also several \Jvassal\j tribes, whose members work for others as artisans, blacksmiths, entertainers, etc.
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"Bedser, Sir Alec (Victor)",3723,0,0,0
DT1 1918
EN Cricketer, born in Reading, Berkshire, S England, UK. With his twin brother, \BEric\b (1918-- ), he was in the Surrey side which won seven consecutive county championships in the 1950s. He was the leading English bowler in the eight years after World War 2, and took 236 wickets in 51 Tests.
Against \JAustralia\j at Trent Bridge in 1953 he took 14 wickets for 99 runs, and in all first-class cricket he took 1924 wickets. He later managed MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) teams abroad, and for a time was chairman of the selection committee. He was knighted in 1997.
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"bedstraw",3724,0,0,0
EN An annual or perennial, found almost everywhere; weak, 4-angled stem, often with tiny hooks, narrow leaves in whorls; flowers tiny, white, yellow, or greenish, 4-petalled, in open clusters; fruits often burrs. \B(Genus:\b \IGalium,\i 400 species. \BFamily:\b Rubiaceae.)
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"bee",3725,0,0,0
EN A winged insect that builds and provisions a nest for its young; the common name of several different types of hymenopteran, including solitary mining bees \B(Family:\b Andrenidae), carpenter bees \B(Family:\b Anthophoridae), bumblebees, orchid bees, stingless bees, and honeybees (all \BFamily:\b Apidae).
Social structure ranges from the solitary bees, in which each queen effectively raises her own brood, to honeybees, which form a complex society with a caste system and overlapping, co-operating generations. \B(Order:\b \JHymenoptera\j.)
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"bee dancing",3726,0,0,0
EN The patterned movements of honey-bees used to signal the direction and distance of \Jpollen\j and nectar to other members of the colony. The phenomenon was first documented by the Austrian biologist Karl von Frisch, who plotted the way in which worker bees perform circling or tail-wagging 'dances' depending on the distance of the food from the hive.
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"Bee or Bega, St",3727,0,0,0
DT1 7
DT1b th-c
EN Irish princess, who took the veil from St Aidan. She founded the nunnery of St Bees in Cumberland.
MEX Aidan, St
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"bee orchid",3728,0,0,0
EN The name for various species of the \Jgenus\j \IOphrys,\i widespread throughout Europe, W Asia, and N Africa; remarkable for their flowers which mimic insects. The lower lip \I(labellum)\i of the flower resembles a female insect in both colour and texture, and the flower emits a powerful pheromone-like scent to attract males of the same species.
The males are induced to attempt copulation with the mimic, and in doing so pollinate the flower. In \IOphrys apifera,\i which mimics bumblebees, the flowers are also capable of self-\Jpollination\j. Other species of \IOphrys\i resemble flies, wasps, sawflies, and even spiders. \B(Genus:\b \IOphrys,\i 30 species. \BFamily:\b Orchidaceae.)
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"Bee, Barnard (Elliott)",3729,0,0,0
DT (1824-61)
EN Confederate soldier; born in Charleston, S.C. A West Point graduate (1845) and Mexican War hero, Bee left his frontier post in 1861 to fight for the Confederacy. At the first battle of Bull Run he inadvertently originated the nickname "Stonewall" for General T. J. Jackson and his brigade when he exhorted his inexperienced troops to rally by crying, "Look at Jackson's brigade - it stands like a stone wall! Rally behind the Virginians." Mortally wounded, Bee survived the battle by one \Jday\j.
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"bee-eater",3730,0,0,0
EN A brightly-coloured bird native to the Old World, especially Africa and S Asia; slender, pointed bill; eats ants, bees, and wasps caught in flight. Some species migrate thousands of kilometres. \B(Family:\b \JMeropidae\j, 24 species.)
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"bee-keeping",3731,0,0,0
EN See apiculture
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"Beebe, (Charles) William",3732,0,0,0
DT (1887-1962)
EN US naturalist: pioneer of deep-sea exploration.
Graduating from Columbia (New York) in 1898, Beebe's first interest was in ornithology and he joined the staff of the New York Zoological Society. After service as a fighter pilot in the First World War, he returned in 1919 to direct the Society's Department of Tropical Research.
Further work on birds was overtaken by his interest in deep-sea exploration. In his 'bathysphere' he reached a record depth of about 1000 m near \JBermuda\j in 1934 and later went even lower. He found that light was absent below 600 m, and discovered previously unknown organisms at these depths. A A Piccard (1884-1962) later went even deeper.
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"Beebe, Lucius (Morris)",3733,0,0,0
DT (1902-66)
EN journalist, author; born in Wakefield, Mass. After graduating from \JHarvard University\j (1927) Beebe worked as a journalist, notably for the \INew York Herald Tribune\i (1929-50), chronicling Manhattan's high society in \Jrococo\j prose in the syndicated column "This New York."
Also an authority on railroads and the West, his books include \IHigh Iron\i (1938); \IThe Overland Limited\i (1963); \ILegends of the Comstock Lode\i (1950); and \ISan Francisco's Golden Era\i (1960). He moved to San Francisco and began the column "This Wild West" for the \IChronicle\i in 1960.
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"beech",3734,0,0,0
EN A deciduous, shallow-rooted tree native to the Northern hemisphere; leaves oval, margins wavy; flowers tiny, males in long-stalked clusters, females (and later, nuts) in pairs enclosed in 4-lobed, spiny case. The leaves are very resistant to decay, forming deep, nutrient-poor litter in beech woods, discouraging the growth of other plants.
Young beech trees retain dead leaves throughout the winter, and make good hedges. In the Southern hemisphere, it is replaced by the closely related \Broble beech.\b \B(Genus:\b \IFagus,\i 10 species. \BFamily:\b Fagaceae.)
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"Beech, Walter (Herschel)",3735,0,0,0
DT (1891-1950)
EN \Javiation\j manufacturer; born in Pulaski, Tenn. In 1932, after serving as a pilot in the U.S. Army, working as a test pilot, and organizing his first company, Travel Air, he founded the Beech \JAircraft\j Company, which incorporated in 1936. During World War II the company produced over 7,000 planes, including Model 18 twin engines.
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"Beecham, Sir Thomas",3736,0,0,0
DT1 1879
DT2 1961
EN Conductor and impresario, born in St Helens, \JMerseyside\j, north-west England, UK. He studied at Oxford, travelled extensively, and began his career as conductor with the New Symphony Orchestra in 1906. He soon branched out as a producer of opera, introducing British audiences to Diaghilev's Russian ballet.
He was principal conductor (1932) and artistic director (1933) of Covent Garden, and in 1943 was conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. In 1944 he returned to Britain, having married \BBetty Humby\b (d.1958), the pianist. In 1947 he founded the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted at Glyndebourne (1948-9).
He did much to foster the works of Delius, Sibelius, and Richard Strauss, and was noted for his candid pronouncements on musical matters, his 'Lollipop' encores, and his after-concert speeches.
MEX Diaghilev
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"Beecher Stowe, Harriet",3737,0,0,0
EN See Stowe, Harriet (Elizabeth) Beecher
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"Beecher, Catharine Esther",3738,0,0,0
DT (1800-78)
EN educator, author; born in East Hampton, N.Y. (daughter of Lyman Beecher, sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe). The eldest of eight surviving children, she was educated at home and in private school. In 1821 she began teaching and went through a religious crisis brought on by her father's attempt to force his Calvinist views on her.
After her fiance's death in 1823, she founded the \JHartford\j Female Seminary, launching a life-long campaign as lecturer, author, and advocate for women's education. She left her \JHartford\j school in 1831 and later founded similar schools for young women in \JCincinnati\j, Ohio, and \JMilwaukee\j, Wis.; to promote female education in the West she founded the American Women's Education Association in 1852.
Her goal was to rescue women who wasted their lives in frivolous "feminine" pursuits as well as those exploited as factory hands, but her ideal woman was one who presided over an intelligent, cultured, well-managed household. Among her many published works was \ITreatise of Domestic Economy\i (1841), and in 1869 she and her sister Harriet Beecher Stowe collaborated on a new edition, retitled \IThe American Woman's Home,\i which became an immensely influential guide for generations of American housewives.
Although she was in the forefront on many social issues of her \Jday\j, she did not believe that women should be involved in political affairs and she opposed woman suffrage.
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"Beecher, Henry Ward",3739,0,0,0
DT (1813-87)
EN Protestant clergyman, reformer; born in Litchfield, Conn. One of 13 children of clergyman Lyman Beecher (one of his sisters was author Harriet Beecher Stowe), he graduated from Amherst in 1834 and studied under his father at Lane Theological Seminary in \JCincinnati\j, Ohio.
In 1839 he became pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in \JIndianapolis\j, Ind., where he developed a forceful, emotional preaching style. Named the first pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1847, he crusaded from the pulpit for temperance and against \Jslavery\j and became one of the most influential public figures of his time.
He supported Free Soil political candidates and, later, Republicans; on the outbreak of the \JCivil War\j his church raised and equipped a volunteer regiment. He edited the religious publications \IThe Independent\i and \IThe Christian Union\i (later \IOutlook)\i during the 1860s and 1870s. He was acquitted on an adultery charge after a sensational trial in 1874. His many books include \IEvolution and Religion\i (1885).
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"Beecher, Lyman",3740,0,0,0
DT (1775-1863)
EN Presbyterian minister, revivalist; born in \JNew Haven\j, Conn. (father of Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe). Son of a blacksmith, he attended Yale and its Divinity School, becoming ordained in 1799. Between 1799-1810, he preached at East Hampton, Long Island, N.Y., and then at Litchfield, Conn. (1810-26); his brand of Calvinism called for constant church services and strong opposition to drinking.
Invited to \JBoston\j in 1826, for six years he preached a fiery evangelicism that at one point inspired a mob to attack a Catholic convent. In 1832 he went to \JCincinnati\j, Ohio, to head the newly founded Lane Theological Seminary and to serve as pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church there.
His evangelical zeal and arrogance led to years of strife with more conservative Presbyterians, but he stayed until 1850, when he retired to the Brooklyn home of his son Henry Beecher.
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"Beeching, Richard, Baron",3741,0,0,0
DT1 1913
DT2 85
EN Engineer and administrator, born in \JMaidstone\j, Kent, south-east England, UK. He studied at Imperial College, London, became chairman of the British Railways Board (1963-5), and deputy chairman of ICI (1966-8). He is best known for the scheme devised and approved under his chairmanship (the \IBeeching Plan)\i for the substantial contraction of the rail network of the UK. He was created a life peer in 1965.
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"beefeater",3742,0,0,0
EN See Yeomen of the Guard
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"Beelzebub",3743,0,0,0
PN [bee-\Bel\bzebuhb]
HS (Gr \BBeelzebul)\b
EN In the \JNew Testament\j Gospels, the 'prince of demons', the equivalent of Satan. He is possibly linked with the \JOld Testament\j figure \IBaal-zebub\i ('lord of flies'), the god of Ekron, or with the Canaanite \IBaal-zebul\i ('lord of the high place').
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"Beene, Geoffrey",3744,0,0,0
DT1 1927
EN Fashion designer, born in Haynesville, Louisiana, USA. He studied fashion in New York City and Paris, in 1949 beginning a design career noteworthy for unconventional designs even before he started his own New York company (1962). His high-quality, ready-to-wear clothing for women and men, subtly coloured and distinctively simple, brought him eight Coty Awards.
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"beer",3745,0,0,0
EN An alcoholic beverage made from ale (malted \Jbarley\j) which has been flavoured with hops - a drink popular since ancient Egyptian times. It is currently an umbrella term covering a wide range of drinks, distinguished by the type of yeast used, such as \Ibitter\i (a beer brewed with more hops and a lighter malt than \Imild),\i \Ilager\i (a light beer which matures over a long period of time at a low \Jtemperature\j), and \Istout\i or \Iporter\i (types of dark ale produced from the brewing of roasted malt).
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"Beer, Gavin de",3746,0,0,0
EN See de Beer, Sir Gavin (Rylands)
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"Beer, George Louis",3747,0,0,0
DT (1872-1920)
EN historian, colonial specialist; born on \JStaten Island\j, N.Y. After achieving success in the \Jtobacco\j business (1893-1903), he retired and wrote three important books on the British colonial system in relation to the American colonies (1907, 1908, 1912). He wrote \IThe English Speaking Peoples\i (1917), and was chief of the colonial division of the American delegation at the Paris Peace Conference.
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"Beer-Hoffman, Richard",3748,0,0,0
DT 1886-1945
EN Austrian playwright, director and novelist. He was one of the Young Vienna group with Schnitzler and Hofmannsthal. After writing poetic historical tragedy and \Jpantomime\j, in 1919 he presented the first part of his major work, an \JOld Testament\j cycle (Jacob's Dream, Young David, The History of King David) experimenting with symbolic tableaux and pageant elements.
All his plays are variations on the theme of fate, and the later parts of the trilogy, banned in 1933, remain unperformed. Their portrayal of faith as the acceptance of suffering has seemed unacceptable after the \JHolocaust\j.
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"Beerbohm Tree, Herbert",3749,0,0,0
EN See Tree, Sir Herbert (Draper) Beerbohm
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"Beerbohm, Sir (Henry) Max(imilian)",3750,0,0,0
PN [\Bbeer\bbohm]
HS , nickname \Bthe Incomparable Max\b
DT1 1872
DT2 1956
EN Writer and caricaturist, born in London, England, UK, the half-brother of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree. He studied at Oxford, and published his first volume of essays under the title \IThe Works of Max Beerbohm\i (1896). In 1910 he married US actress Florence Kahn (d.1951), and went to live, except during the two World Wars, in Rapallo, \JItaly\j.
His caricatures were collected in various volumes beginning with \ITwenty-five Gentlemen\i (1896) and \IPoet's Corner\i (1904). His best-known work was his only novel, \IZuleika Dobson\i (1911), a \Jparody\j of Oxford undergraduate life.
MEX Tree, Herbert Beerbohm
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"Beers, Clifford (Whittingham)",3751,0,0,0
DT (1876-1943)
EN founder of mental hygiene movement; born in \JNew Haven\j, Conn. Trained as a scientist at Yale, he was hospitalized after a mental breakdown (1900-03). As a result of indignities and violence he experienced, he was determined to reform the mental health system. His book, \IThe Mind That Found Itself\i (1908), created a sensation, calling for a true therapeutic approach to mental illness instead of just custodial care.
That year he also founded the Connecticut Society for Mental Hygiene; in 1909 he founded the National Commission for Mental Hygiene, which under his lifelong leadership became an international movement that would have a major impact on every aspect of mental health care. Although much of what he advocated would come to be accepted practice, he was greatly honored in his lifetime for his pioneering work.
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"Beersheba",3752,0,0,0
PN [beer\Bshee\bba]
EN 31░15N 34░47E, pop (1995e) 141 000. Industrial town in South district, S Israel; on N edge of Negev desert; important centre for development of Negev; railway; airfield; university (1965); desert farming research; oil pipeline; ruins of ancient city to the E.
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"Beery, Wallace",3753,0,0,0
DT (1889-1949)
EN movie actor; born in Kansas City, Mo. (half-brother of Noah Beery.) After working in the circus and in Broadway musicals, he went to \JHollywood\j and began his long movie career in 1913. At first he played tough villains but with sound movies he assumed a new persona as a rough-edged but lovable character. He won an Oscar for best actor in \IThe Champ\i (1931) and although he did not retain the popularity he enjoyed during the 1930s, he continued in movies until his death.
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"Beeson, Charles Henry",3754,0,0,0
DT (1870-1949)
EN scholar, medievalist; born in Columbia City, Ind. He took a B.A. (1893) and an M.A. (1895) in classics at \JIndiana\j University and taught there as instructor in Latin (1895-96) before going to the graduate school of the University of \JChicago\j to study under William Gardner Hale. He collaborated with Hale and others to produce various Latin readers.
He was awarded a Ph.D. by the University of Munich in 1907, where he began to explore the influence of classical Latin language upon medieval writers. He returned to the University of \JChicago\j in 1909 and became professor of Latin.
His skill in detecting textual errors led to his work in codes and ciphers for the military intelligence division of the U.S. General Staff during World War I. His standard \IPrimer of Medieval Latin Grammar\i appeared in 1925 and his other scholarly work on medieval Latin texts was wide-ranging.
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"Beeston",3755,0,0,0
EN 52░56N 1░12W; pop (1995e) 69 300. Town linked with Stapleford in Broxtowe district, \JNottinghamshire\j, C England, UK; 5 km/3 mi SW of Nottingham; railway; \Jengineering\j, pharmaceuticals, textiles.
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"Beeston family",3756,0,0,0
EN English theatrical family. Christopher Beeston (c.1580-1639), actor and theatre manager, made his reputation at the Red Bull as autocratic business manager for Queen Anne's Men from 1612 to 1619. In 1616 he acquired the lease of the Cockpit in Drury Lane, converting and renaming it the Phoenix in 1617.
There he exerted a major influence on the Jacobean and Caroline theatre, acknowledged in the popular name of the last company he established there, Beeston's Boys (1637-40). His son William (c.1606-82) inherited control of Beeston's Boys in 1639, and during and after the Interregnum maintained his theatrical ambitions at the Salisbury Court.
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"beeswax",3757,0,0,0
EN Wax secreted by bees of the family Apidae, including bumblebees, stingless bees, and honeybees. It is produced by glands beneath the abdominal body plates \I(sterna\i or \Iterga),\i and used in nest construction.
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"beet",3758,0,0,0
EN An annual, biennial, or perennial native to Europe and Asia; leaves shiny, often tinged dark red. Cultivated beets, all derived from the wild beet \I(Beta vulgaris),\i are divisible into two groups: \Bleaf beets,\b including spinach beets and chards, are grown as leaf vegetables; \Broot beets,\b including \Jbeetroot\j and \Jmangel-wurzel\j, are biennials grown for their edible, swollen roots.
\BSugar-beet,\b containing up to 20% sugar in the root, has largely replaced sugar-cane as the source of sugar in W Europe. \B(Genus:\b \IBeta,\i 6 species. \BFamily:\b Chenopodiaceae.)
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"Beethoven, Ludwig van",3759,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\btohvn]
DT1 1770
DT2 1827
EN Composer, born in \JBonn\j, \JGermany\j. Miserably brought up by a father who wanted him to become a profitable infant prodigy, he joined the Elector of Cologne's orchestra at \JBonn\j. In 1787 he had lessons from Mozart in Vienna, and in 1792 returned to that city for good, apart from a few excursions. He first joined Prince Lichnowsky's household and studied under Haydn, Albrechtsberger, and possibly Salieri. His music is usually divided into three periods.
In the first (1792-1802), which includes the first two symphonies, the first six quartets, and the 'PathΘtique' and 'Moonlight' sonatas, his style gradually develops its own individuality. His second period (1803-12) begins with the 'Eroica' symphony (1803), and includes his next five symphonies, the difficult 'Kreutzer' \Jsonata\j (1803), the Violin \JConcerto\j, the 'Archduke' trio (1811), and the 'Razumovsky' quartets.
His third great period begins in 1813, and includes the Mass, the 'Choral' symphony (1823), and the last five quartets. Beethoven was tolerated by Vienna society despite his physical unattractiveness and arrogance. Just as he was developing a reputation as a composer, he began to go deaf, but stoically accepted the fact. None of this stopped him from falling in love with his pupils, including Giulietta Guicciardi and Josephine von \JBrunswick\j.
From 1812 he was increasingly assailed by health, business, and family worries, which included prolonged litigation to obtain custody of his dead brother's son, Karl. His last work was completed at Gneixendorf in 1826, where he developed a severe chill (exacerbated by returning to Vienna in an open chaise), from which he died.
EN A winged insect with forewings modified as rigid, horny cases covering membranous hindwings and \Jabdomen\j beneath; hindwings used in flight, sometimes missing; biting mouthparts; range in size from less than 0.5┐mm / 0.2┐in to c.170┐mm / 7┐in; development includes distinct larval and pupal phases; c.350┐000 species known, including many pests. Most feed on live plants or plant material, but some are carnivorous or carrion-feeders. \B(Order:\b Coleoptera.)
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"Beeton, Isabella Mary",3761,0,0,0
HS , \InΘe\i \BMayson,\b known as \BMrs Beeton\b
DT1 1836
DT2 65
EN British writer on cookery. She studied in Heidelberg and became an accomplished pianist. In 1856 she married \BSamuel Orchard Beeton,\b a publisher. She became a household name after the publication of her \IBook of Household Management,\i first published in parts (1859-60) in a women's magazine founded by her husband, and covering cookery and other branches of domestic science.
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"beetroot",3762,0,0,0
EN See beet
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"Bega, St",3763,0,0,0
EN See Bee or Bega, St
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"Beggarstaaff, J and W",3764,0,0,0
EN See Nicholson, Sir William Newzam Prior
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"Begin, Menachem (Wolfovitch)",3765,0,0,0
PN [\Bbayg\bin]
DT1 1913
DT2 92
EN Israeli statesman and prime minister (1977-83), born in Brest-Litovsk, \JBelarus\j. He studied law at Warsaw University, and as an active Zionist became head of the Betar Zionist movement in \JPoland\j in 1931. At the invasion of \JPoland\j in 1939 he fled to \JLithuania\j, where he was arrested by the Russians. Released in 1941, he enlisted in the Free Polish Army, and was sent to British-mandated Palestine in 1942. Discharged from the army the following year, he became commander-in-chief of the Irgun Zvai Leumi resistance group.
In 1948 he founded the right-wing Herut Freedom Movement, becoming chairman of the Herut Party, and in 1973 led the Likud front, a right-of-centre nationalist party, forming a coalition government in 1977. In the late 1970s he sought a peaceful settlement with the Egyptians, and attended peace conferences in \JJerusalem\j (1977), and at Camp David at the invitation of President Carter (1978). He shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize with President Sadat of \JEgypt\j.
MEX Sadat
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"begonia",3766,0,0,0
EN A tuberous or rhizomatous perennial, sometimes a shrub or climber, native to warm regions, especially America; leaves asymmetric, one side larger than the other, often spotted or marked with white or red; male flowers with two large and two small petals, females with 4-5 more petals; fruit a winged capsule; sometimes called \Belephant's ear,\b from the shape of its leaves. It reproduces readily from leaf-cuttings placed on damp soil, a technique much used in \Jhorticulture\j. Many species are grown for ornament. \B(Genus:\b \IBegonia,\i 900 species. \BFamily:\b Begoniaceae.)
BK b
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"Behaim, Martin",3767,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\bhiym]
DT1 1449
DT2 1507
EN Navigator and geographer, born in Nuremberg, \JGermany\j. He settled in \JPortugal\j about 1484 and was associated with the later Portuguese discoveries along the coast of Africa. He revisited Nuremberg in 1490, and there constructed the oldest extant terrestrial globe. A crater on the near side of the Moon is named after him.
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"Beham, Hans Sebald",3768,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\bham]
DT1 1500
DT2 50
EN Painter and engraver, born in Nuremberg, \JGermany\j. He was one of Albrecht Dⁿrer's seven followers known as the 'Little Masters'. Working in Frankfurt, he produced hundreds of woodcuts and copper engravings as illustrations for books.
MEX Dⁿrer
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"Behan, Brendan (Francis)",3769,0,0,0
PN [\Bbee\ban]
DT1 1923
DT2 64
EN Writer, born in Dublin. He left school at 14 to become a house painter, and soon joined the IRA. In 1939 he was sentenced to three years in Borstal for attempting to blow up a Liverpool shipyard, and soon after his release given 14 years by a Dublin military court for the attempted murder of two detectives, but was released by a general amnesty (1946). He was in prison again in Manchester (1947), and deported in 1952.
His first play, \IThe Quare Fellow\i (1956; filmed 1962), starkly dramatised the prison \Jatmosphere\j prior to a hanging. His exuberant Irish wit, spiced with balladry and bawdry and a talent for fantastic \Jcaricature\j, found rein in his next play \IThe Hostage\i (1958, first produced in Irish as \IAn Giall).\i It is also evident in the autobiographical novel, \IBorstal Boy\i (1958), and in \IBrendan Behan's Island\i (1963).
MEX Behan, Domenic
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"Behan, Dominic",3770,0,0,0
PN [\Bbee\ban]
DT1 1928
DT2 89
EN Novelist and folklorist, born in Dublin, Ireland the brother of Brendan Behan. He adapted old airs and poems into contemporary Irish Republican material, notably in \IThe Patriot Game.\i Resentfully overshadowed for much of his life by the legend of his brother, he lived largely outside Ireland from 1947 as a journalist and singer. He ultimately settled in Scotland, where he won acceptance as a writer and nationalist. His only novel, \IThe Public Life of \JParable\j Jones,\i was published just before his death.
MEX Behan, Brendan
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"Behar",3771,0,0,0
EN See Bihar or Behar
BK b
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#
"behaviour / behavior modification",3772,0,0,0
EN Techniques for changing an individual's behaviour by controlling the consequences of the behaviour and / or the environmental conditions in which the behaviour occurs. It is employed to develop new behaviours or to eliminate existing ones. The approach is controversial, being viewed by some as a form of 'manipulation'; but it is a potentially valuable tool within applied \Jpsychology\j.
BK b
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"behaviour / behavior therapy",3773,0,0,0
EN A type of psychological treatment, formulated by psychotherapist Joseph Wolpe, which emphasizes the alteration of thoughts by altering behaviour. It is often applied to neurotic illnesses (eg phobias) on the presumption that these are learned forms of behaviour which can be 'unlearned'.
The term was coined by H J Eysenck in the 1950s. The range of techniques now used include processes of desensitization and flooding for anxiety responses, and the use of rewards and punishments for patients suffering from mental handicap.
BK b
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"behaviourism / behaviorism",3774,0,0,0
EN The view that \Jpsychology\j is most effectively pursued by analyzing the overt behaviour of people and animals, in preference to subjective states, thoughts, or hypothetical internal dynamics. It has had an important influence on modern \Jpsychology\j, but is now rarely held in its extreme form.
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"Behn, Aphra",3775,0,0,0
DT 1640-89
EN English playwright and novelist. She lived for a year in Surinam, an experience on which her \Jnovella\j Oroonoko was based. In 1666 she was employed as a spy by the English government. The first English professional woman playwright, she wrote at least 17 plays, mostly comedies, but including one \Jfarce\j opera, The Emperor of the Moon (1687), which made use of massive stage spectacle.
Her comedies, well crafted and vigorous, return frequently to the miseries of mercenary, loveless marriages. She wrote political comedies of Tory propaganda, e.g. The \JRoundheads\j (1681), as well as satires on contemporary behaviour, e.g. The Lucky Chance (1686) and Sir Patient Fancy (1678). Her best play The Rover (1677), based on Killigrew's Thomaso, sets the rake's freedom against the independence and wit of Hellena. She produced a sequel in 1681.
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"Behn, Sosthenes",3776,0,0,0
DT (1882-1957)
EN businessman; born on Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands. After being educated in Paris, he immigrated to the U.S.A. in 1898, but immediately left to join his brother Hernand Behn in opening a brokerage house in Puerto Rico. In 1914 the sugar crop failed and Behn Brothers, Inc. acquired the local \Jtelephone\j system as security against a crop loan. The brothers expanded, adding the Cuban \Jtelephone\j system (1916), and in 1919 linked the Cuban system to \JFlorida\j.
In 1920 they incorporated the International \JTelephone\j and Telegraph Corporation (IT&T) in Maryland; Sosthenes served as president until 1948, then became chairman of the board (1948-56). There followed a period of rapid growth as IT&T built a network of international cable and local systems in countries throughout the world.
As world conditions deteriorated in the 1930s and 1940s, Sosthenes sold local \Jtelephone\j companies to governments and consolidated operations in \JGreat Britain\j and the United States. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and the French Legion of Honor for service in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I.
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"Behrens, Peter",3777,0,0,0
PN [\Bbair\benz]
DT1 1868
DT2 1940
EN Architect and designer, born in \JHamburg\j, \JGermany\j. Trained as a painter, he was appointed director of the \JDusseldorf\j Art and Craft School (1903-7). In 1907 he became artistic adviser to Walther Rathenau at the AEG electrical company in Berlin, for whom he designed a \Jturbine\j assembly works (1909) of glass and steel, a landmark in industrial architectural style. He was professor at \JDusseldorf\j and Vienna, and trained several notable modern architects, including Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Walter Gropius.
MEX Rathenau
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"Behring, Emil (Adolf) von",3778,0,0,0
PN [bayring]
DT (1854-1917)
EN German bacteriologist: co-discoverer of \Jdiphtheria\j antitoxin.
Behring studied at Berlin and after qualifying in medicine joined the Army Medical Corps. In 1889 he became assistant to Koch, and from 1895 he was professor of hygiene at \JMarburg\j. It was already known that the \Jbacteria\j causing tetanus produced a chemical toxin that was responsible for most of the illness of the patient; the toxin could be obtained from a culture.
In 1890 Behring worked with Kitasato and showed that blood serum from an animal with tetanus could, if injected into other animals, give them a temporary resistance to the disease and so contained an antitoxin. Similar antitoxic immunity was found with \Jdiphtheria\j, then a major killer of children; this part of his work was done with Ehrlich.
A \Jdiphtheria\j antitoxin to protect human patients was soon made (best from the blood serum of an infected horse) and found to be protective, and also to be useful for those already having the disease; it was possibly first used on an infected child on Christmas night, 1891, in Berlin.
Behring was awarded the first Nobel Prize in medicine or \Jphysiology\j for this work, in 1901. In 1913 he showed that a mixture of toxin and antitoxin gives more lasting immunity than the antitoxin alone, and later methods for preventing the disease used this method until it in turn gave way to the use of toxoid (which is toxin treated with formalin, introduced by G Ramon (1886-1963) in 1923). Since then, large-scale \Jimmunization\j of young children has given good control over the disease.
Much honoured, Behring ranks high in medical science; but he was always a lone researcher with few pupils, with much of his \Jenergy\j spent in disputes and in his unsuccessful search for a vaccine against tuberculosis.
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"Behrman, S(amuel) N(athaniel)",3779,0,0,0
DT (1893-1973)
EN playwright, screenwriter, journalist; born in Worcester, Mass. He studied at Clark University before enrolling at Harvard (B.A. 1916) where he studied in George Pierce Baker's playwriting course. His first sophisticated comedy, \IThe Second Man\i (1927), was a hit. Working with the Theater Guild, he wrote several adaptations for the Lunts, \IAmphitryon 38\i (1937) and \II Know My Love\i (1949).
He cofounded the Playwrights' Company in 1938 and wrote the autobiographical drama, \INo Time for Comedy\i (1939). A writer of screenplays for \JHollywood\j, he was also author of \IDuveen\i (1952), a profile of the art collector, and \IPortrait of Max\i (1960), a \Jbiography\j of Max Beerbohm.
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"Beiderbecke, Bix",3780,0,0,0
DT (1903-31)
EN jazz musician; born in Davenport, \JIowa\j. He was a cornetist, pianist, and composer whose meteoric career began in 1923 with the Wolverines and continued with Jean Goldkette, Frankie Trumbauer, Paul Whiteman, and Glen Gray. He was the first important white jazz artist. His early death from \Jpneumonia\j, complicated by \Jalcoholism\j, fueled his legend as the romanticized figure depicted in the novel \IYoung Man With a Horn\i (1938).
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"Beidler, John Xavier",3781,0,0,0
DT (1831-90)
EN vigilante; born in Mountjoy, Pa. A "jack of all trades," he was a saloon owner, a ruthless vigilante, and the collector of customs for Montana and \JIdaho\j (1886-90). He was present at the apprehension and the hanging of dozens of outlaws in Montana (1863-65), including the notorious bandit Henry Plummer.
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"Beijing",3782,0,0,0
PN [bay\Bzhing\b]
EN 39░55N 116░25E; pop (1995e) 7 892 000, administrative region 11 598 000; municipality area 17 800 sq km/6900 sq mi. Capital city and municipality of NE Chin; as Yenching, principal city of NE China, and secondary capital of Liao dynasty (10th-c); seized by \JMongols\j (1215); as Khanbaligh, capital of the \JYuan dynasty\j (1271--1368), and fully described by \JMarco Polo\j (late 13th-c); extensively rebuilt by Ming dynasty (1368--1644); capital of Qing dynasty (1644--1912); looted by Western armies, 1860, 1900; government moved to other cities after fall of Qing, 1912; named Beiping ("Northern Peace') by Nationalists, 1928; occupied by Japanese, 1937--45; capital of People's Republic of China, 1949; airport; railway; two universities (1898, 1950); important industrial centre - electricity, textiles, \Jpetrochemicals\j, light and heavy \Jengineering\j; major tourist location - Imperial Palace (formerly the Forbidden City); Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace, 1417, restored 1651), Tiananmen Square, Mao Zedong Memorial Hall (1977), Niu Jie (oldest Muslim temple, 996), Fayuan Si Temple (696), Tiantan (Temple of Heaven, 1406--20), Yiheynan (Summer Palace, rebuilt 1888 after Anglo-French sacking in 1860), Lugouqiao Bridge (\JMarco Polo\j Bridge); to the N, tombs of 13 Ming emperors; 75 km/47 mi NW, part of the Great Wall of China.
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"Beijing opera",3783,0,0,0
EN see jingxi
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"Beilby, Sir George Thomas",3784,0,0,0
PN [\Bbeel\bbee]
DT1 1850
DT2 1924
EN Industrial chemist, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. He improved the method of shale oil distillation, and invented a manufacturing process for synthesizing alkaline cyanides. He was knighted in 1916.
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#
"Beilstein, Friedrich Konrad",3785,0,0,0
PN [biylshtiyn]
DT (1838-1906)
EN German-Russian encyclopedist of \Jorganic chemistry\j.
A student of \Jorganic chemistry\j under several of the masters of the subject in \JGermany\j, Beilstein was lecturer at G÷ttingen and later professor at St Petersburg. His own experimental researches were modest. He is remembered for his Handbook of Organic Chemistry (1881), which formed a substantially complete catalogue of organic compounds. The compilation (in many volumes) has been continued by the German Chemical Society and is of great value to organic chemists.
Beilstein's test for halogen in an organic compound is quick and useful. An oxidized copper wire is coated with the compound and heated in a gas flame. If the flame is coloured blue- green, halogen is probably present. However, some \Jnitrogen\j compounds give the colour, so the test is only decisive if negative.
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"Beira",3786,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\bra]
EN 19░46S 34░52E, pop (1995e) 337 000. Seaport capital of Sofala province, \JMozambique\j, SE Africa, at the mouth of the Buzi and PunguΘ Rivers, 725 km/450 mi NNE of \JMaputo\j; \JMozambique\j's main port; occupied by the Portuguese, 1506; founded as the seat of the \JMozambique\j Company, 1891; airport; railway; minerals, cotton, foodstuffs.
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"Beirut",3787,0,0,0
PN [bay\Broot\b]
EN 33░52N 35░30E, pop (1995e) 1 564 000. Seaport capital of \JLebanon\j, on a promontory which juts into the \JMediterranean Sea\j; airport; railway; American University (1866), Lebanese University (1953), Arab University (1960); Grand Seraglio, Cathedrals of St Elie and St George, national museum; the "Green Line' refers to the division of the city during the 1975--6 \Jcivil war\j into Muslim (W) and Christian (E) sectors; Israeli attack on Palestinian and Syrian forces in 1982 led to the evacuation of Palestinians to camps such as Sabra, Chatila, and Bourj Barajneh; severely damaged by continued fighting; restoration work begun following reduction of tension and release of foreign hostages, 1991.
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"Beissel, Johann Conrad",3788,0,0,0
DT (1690-1768)
EN religious leader, composer; born in Eberbach-am-Neckar, \JGermany\j. Fleeing persecution, he came to America in 1720; in 1732 at Ephrata, Pa., he found the Solitary Brethren of the Community of Seventh Day \JBaptists\j. Self-trained in music, he wrote many robust, homespun hymns for his community.
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"BΘjart family",3789,0,0,0
EN French actors. Their careers were intimately linked with that of MoliΦre. Joseph, the eldest brother (c.1616-59), was a co-founder in 1643 of MoliΦre's first theatrical venture, the Illustre-ThΘΓtre, and shared his fortunes as a strolling player in the provinces. Madeleine (1618-72) became MoliΦre's touring companion and mistress. Her devoted support as performer/manager was hugely important to him for almost 30 years.
She played tragic heroines and created several of MoliΦre's outspoken soubrettes (e.g. Dorine in Tartuffe). Her sister GeneviΦve (1624-75), known as Mlle HervΘ, also a constant member of MoliΦre's company, was noted for tragic roles though she played BΘlise in Les Femmes savantes (The Learned Ladies). Louis (1630-78), known as L'╔guisΘ on stage, played old men and supporting roles such as La FlΦche in L'Avare (The Miser), where MoliΦre made use of his limp.
Armande (-GrΘsinde-Claire-╔lizabeth) (1641-1700), Madeleine's youngest sister or possibly her illegitimate daughter, was a member of MoliΦre's itinerant company and became his wife in 1662 - an unhappy marriage but a successful stage partnership. She played most of MoliΦre's young heroines (e.g. CΘlimΦne in The Misanthrope, Elmire in Tartuffe, Henriette in The Learned Ladies and AngΘlique in Le Malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid)), parts which he had fashioned for her. With the help of La Grange she rallied the company after MoliΦre's death.
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"BΘjart, Maurice",3790,0,0,0
PN [bayzhah(r)]
HS , originally \BMaurice Jean Berger\b
DT1 1927
EN Choreographer, born in \JMarseille\j, \JFrance\j. He trained at the Marseilles OpΘra Ballet and then in Paris and London. He moved to the Royal Swedish Ballet, and in 1954 founded his own company in Brussels, where he worked as choreographer and director, returning to \JFrance\j in 1979. He became director of BΘjart Ballet \JLausanne\j (1987-92) and Rudra BΘjart Ballet \JLausanne\j (1992-) .
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"Beke, Charles Tilstone",3791,0,0,0
DT1 1800
DT2 74
EN Explorer and biblical critic, born in London, England, UK. A scholar of ancient history, philology, and ethnography, he wrote \IOrigines Biblicae, or Researches in Primeval History\i (1834). He explored \JAbyssinia\j (1840-3), where he studied the course of the Blue Nile, mapped 70┐000┐mi\U2\u, and collected 14 vocabularies. In 1874 he explored the region at the head of the \JRed Sea\j in search of Mount \JSinai\j.
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#
"BΘkΘsy, Georg von",3792,0,0,0
DT (1899-1972)
EN physiologist, physicist; born in Budapest, \JHungary\j. He was concurrently a physicist at the University of Budapest and the Hungarian Post Office, which had charge of \JHungary\j's newly installed \Jtelephone\j system (1923-46). There his work on improving \Jtelephone\j communication led to his later investigations of the mechanisms of human hearing. After the Russian takeover of Budapest, he went to the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm (1946-47), then emigrated to the U.S.A. to join Harvard (1947-66), where he continued his studies of the human ear and how it transmits sounds to the brain.
At the University of Hawaii (1966-72), he expanded his research to include other senses. In addition to receiving many awards for his pioneering investigations of aural \Jphysiology\j, he became the first physicist to win a Nobel Prize in \Jphysiology\j or medicine (1961). He left his extensive art collection to the Nobel Foundation.
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"Bekhterev, Vladimir Mikhailovich",3793,0,0,0
PN [\Bbyek\bterof]
DT1 1857
DT2 1927
EN Neuropathologist, born in Viatka province, \JRussia\j. As professor at Kazan he studied neural electricity, and founded the Psychoneurological Institute in St Petersburg (\JLeningrad\j). He developed a theory of conditioned reflexes, independently of Pavlov.
MEX Pavlov
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"Bekka, the",3794,0,0,0
EN See Beqaa, al-
BK b
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#
"bel",3795,0,0,0
EN See \Jdecibel\j
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#
"Bel and the Dragon",3796,0,0,0
EN An addition to the Book of Daniel, part of the \JOld Testament\j Apocrypha, or Chapter 14 of Daniel in Catholic versions of the \JBible\j. It contains two popular tales, probably from the 2nd-c BC: one of how Daniel discredited Bel (patron god of \JBabylon\j) and its priests, and the other of Daniel in the lion's den.
BK b
#
"Bel Geddes, Norman",3797,0,0,0
DT (1893-1958)
EN industrial and theatrical designer; born in Adrian, Mich. After study at the Art Institute of \JChicago\j he became stage designer at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1918. From 1920 to 1937 his designs for Broadway plays, notably \IThe Miracle\i (1923), and his film sets marked him as an innovator in modern stage lighting. A vigorous self-promoter and visionary, he pioneered industrial design with the 1927 establishment of a firm to create streamlined versions of household appliances, cars, ships, and airplanes.
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"Bel, Joseph Achille Le",3798,0,0,0
EN See Le Bel, Joseph Achille
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"Belarus",3799,0,0,0
PN [bela\Brus\b]
EN pop (1995e) 10 424 000; area 207 600 sq km/80 134 sq mi. Republic in NE Europe, with six administrative regions; capital, Minsk; other chief towns, Gomel', \JVitebsk\j, Mogilev, Bobruysk, Grodno, Brest; timezone GMT +3; major ethnic groups, Belorussian (78%), Russian (13%), Polish (4%), Ukrainian (3%), Jewish (1%); languages, Belorussian (official), Russian; religions, Roman Catholic, Orthodox; currency, Belorussian rouble.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
Largely flat, with low hills in the NW rising to 346 m/1135 ft at Mt Dzyarzhynskaya; chief rivers, the Dnepr, Zapadnaya Dvina, Neman; c.11 000 lakes; a third of the area covered by forests; climate varies from maritime near Baltic to continental and humid; average annual \Jtemperature\j -6░C (Jan), 18░C (Jul); average annual rainfall 550--700 mm/22--28 in.
\IHistory and government\i
Formed part of Grand Duchy of \JLithuania\j, 13th-c; under Polish control, 16th-c; partition of \JPoland\j led to Belorussia becoming part of the Russian Empire at end of 18th-c; W Belorussia ceded to \JPoland\j at Treaty of Riga, 1921; regained by \JSoviet Union\j as part of Nazi--Soviet Non-aggression Pact, and became a Soviet Socialist Republic, 1939; \Jdeclaration of independence\j, 1991; new constitution (1994) introduces an elected president serving a maximum of two 5-year terms, and a 360-member parliament.
\IEconomy\i
Machine tools, vehicles, agricultural machinery, glass, foodstuffs, fertilizers, textiles, \Jelectronics\j, artificial silk, \Jflax\j, leather, oil extraction and refining, salt extraction; farmland covers 46% of the land area; meat and dairy production.
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"Belasco, David",3800,0,0,0
DT 1859-1931
EN American director and playwright. He moved to New York as stage manager and resident dramatist for the new Madison Square Theatre (1882), and later for Daniel Frohman's \JLyceum\j Theatre until he became an independent producer in 1890. His first successes were in collaboration with Henry C. DeMille, beginning with The Wife (1887).
Until 1902 Belasco produced plays for the Theatrical Syndicate, including Madam Butterfly (1900), Under Two Flags (1901), The Auctioneer (1901) and Dubarry (1901). He then entered the richest phase of his career (1902-15), in which he presented 42 original productions and revivals in New York City and on tour. The most famous were The Darling of the Gods (1902), The Girl of the Golden West (1905), The Rose of the Rancho (1906), The Easiest Way (1909) and The Governor's Lady (1912). He also built the Belasco Theatre (1907), where he staged spectacular productions.
As a playwright he affixed his name to 70 works, but none holds the stage today. His greatest theatrical contribution was in creating and managing stage effects. He pioneered the use of electric lights to create mood, and combined a scenic realism with melodramatic action and sentimental idealization of character. The Belasco Theatre is currently owned by the Shubert Organization.
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"Belau",3801,0,0,0
PN [be\Blow\b]
EN 7░30N 134░30E; pop (1996e) 16 800; area 494 sq km/191 sq mi. Republic in the W \JPacific Ocean\j, the smallest of the four political units to emerge out of the US Trust Territory of the \JPacific Islands\j; organized into 16 states; a group of c.350 small islands and islets, c.960 km/600 mi E of the \JPhilippines\j; most W group of the Caroline Is; timezone GMT +10; chief ethnic group, 83% Palauan; chief languages, Palauan, English; chief religions, 66% \JChristianity\j, 25% traditional beliefs; currency, the US dollar; largest island, Babeldoab (367 sq km/142 sq mi); warm climate all year, with high \Jhumidity\j; average annual \Jtemperature\j, 27░C; average annual rainfall, 3810 mm/150 in; typhoons common; held by \JGermany\j, 1899--1914; mandated to \JJapan\j by \JLeague of Nations\j, 1920; invaded by USA, 1944; compact of free association with the USA, signed in 1982, but not confirmed until 1993; independence, 1994; member of the UN, 1995; governed by a president, elected for a 4-year term, and a National Congress consisting of a 14-member Senate and a 16-member House of Delegates; constitution also provides for an advisory body of chiefs; tourism, \Jtaro\j, \Jpineapple\j, breadfruit, bananas, yams, \Jcitrus\j fruit, coconuts, pepper, fishing.
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"Belaval, Emilio (S.)",3802,0,0,0
DT 1903-72
EN Puerto Rican playwright, director and producer. A major contributor to modern Puerto Rican theatre, in 1939 he created Areyto, a popular but short-lived theatre group. His plays are La presa de los vencedores (The Victors' Prey, 1939), Hay que decir la verdad (The Truth Must Be Told, 1940), La muerte (Death, 1950), La vida (Life, 1958) and Cielo caφdo (Fallen Sky, 1960).
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"Belcher, Sir Edward",3803,0,0,0
DT1 1799
DT2 1877
EN British naval commander, born in \JHalifax\j, \JNova Scotia\j, Canada. He entered the navy in 1812, and explored the W coast of America (1836-42). In 1852 he commanded a fruitless expedition sent out to search for Sir John Franklin. He was knighted in 1867.
MEX Franklin, John
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#
"Belding, Don",3804,0,0,0
DT (1898-1969)
EN advertising executive; born in Grants Pass, Ore. He worked in the Los Angeles branch of the advertising agency Lord and Thomas (1923-42), which, with Emerson Foote and Fax Cone, he took over and renamed Foote, Cone and Belding (1942). He retired as chairman of this major international advertising agency in 1957.
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#
"BelΘm",3805,0,0,0
PN [be\Blem\b]
EN 1░27S 48░29W, pop (1995e) 1 309 000. Port capital of Parß state, Norte region, N \JBrazil\j; at the mouth of the Tocantins R; founded, 1616; airport; railway; university (1957); trade in jute, nuts, \Jrubber\j, black pepper, \Jcassava\j, \Jaluminium\j; cathedral (1748); Teatro da Paz, Santo Aleixandre church; Emilio Goeldi Museum, 17th-c MercΩs Church, Basilica of Nossa Senhora de NazarΘ (1909).
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"BelΘm Monastery",3806,0,0,0
EN A magnificent monastery of the Hieronymite hermit order founded in 1499 by Emmanuel I in BelΘm, a present-\Jday\j suburb of \JLisbon\j, \JPortugal\j. It commemorates Vasco da Gama's discovery of a sea-passage to India, and was built on the site of the chapel in which he is said to have prayed. The complex includes a museum and the Church of Santa Maria.
BK b
#
"belemnite",3807,0,0,0
EN An extinct, \Jsquid\j-like \Jmollusc\j; found extensively as \Jfossil\j shells from the Upper Carboniferous period to the Eocene epoch; shell internal in life, typically bullet-shaped. \B(Class:\b \JCephalopoda\j. \BOrder:\b Belemnoidea.)
BK b
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"Belfast",3808,0,0,0
EN 54░35N 5░55W, pop (1995e) 283 000. Capital of Northern Ireland in \JBelfast\j district, Antrim, NE Northern Ireland; at the mouth of the Lagan R, on \JBelfast\j Lough; original settlement and castle destroyed in 1177; settled in the 17th-c by English, Scots, and \JHuguenots\j, becoming a centre of Irish Protestanism; capital, 1920; well-defined Nationalist (Catholic) and Unionist (Protestant) areas; disrupted by civil unrest since 1969; two airports (Aldergrove, City); railway; university (1908); shipyards, \Jaircraft\j, linen, \Jengineering\j, footwear, food processing; city hall (1900), St Anne's Cathedral (begun 1898), Ulster Museum, Parliament House at Stormont.
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#
"Belgian Congo",3809,0,0,0
EN See Democratic Republic of \JCongo\j (formerly Zaire or Za∩re)
BK b
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#
"Belgian malinois",3810,0,0,0
EN Except for a shorter coat and reddish colors, this is nearly identical to the blackcoated Belgian Shepherd Dog and the Tervuren. \IHeight:\i 22 26 in (56 - 66 cm). \IWeight:\i 60 75 lb (27.2 - 34 kg).
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"Belgian shepherd dog",3811,0,0,0
EN \B(Groenendael: Tervuren: Malinois: Laekenois)\b
The Belgian Shepherd Dog is a breed consisting of four sheep dog varieties, all of which are very elegant-looking and hard-working animals.
\BHistory:\b
The early ancestors of the Belgian Shepherd Dog were probably those depicted in the drawings accompanying the Duke of Hapsburg in the fifteenth century. By the 1800s there were at least four closely related varieties of sheep dogs in \JBelgium\j and other European countries. However, as more land was fenced off and industrialization took its toll, sheep dogs were needed in far fewer numbers.
Breeders decided that these similar dogs should all be called the Belgian Shepherd Dog. Four varieties of the breed would be recognized, depending upon their coat types. The Groenendael is long-haired and colored black with small white markings; the Tervuren is also long-haired but colored red, fawn or gray, while the Malinois is short-haired and red, fawn or gray with a black overlay; and the Laekenois's rough coat is reddish fawn with shades of black, although the Laekenois is not recognized in the USA.
The Belgian Shepherd Dog has exceled itself as a fearless war dog. It was capable of carrying messages under terrifying conditions and across hazardous terrain during the First World War. More recently, the Belgian Shepherd Dog has served as a police dog and a guard dog.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
An elegant, symmetrical dog with a graceful appearance. \IHeight:\i 24 - 26 in (61 - 66 cm) for the dog and 22 - 24 in (56 - 61 cm) for the bitch. \IWeight:\i 66 lb (30 kg) under FCI standards elsewhere weight is proportionate to height. The Belgian Shepherd Dog has a long sharp face with a tapering muzzle. The lively medium-sized eyes are very slightly oval and set well in. The straight, upright ears are triangular with a rounded base. The body consists of a long, straight, muscular back, with a \Jstomach\j curving up to make a waist. The medium-to-long tail hangs down and is carried when the dog is in motion.
\BBehavior:\b
This tall dog is very confident in its manner and usually very calm. It appears to go about its business in a very easy-going manner.
The Belgian Shepherd is excellent both as a watch-dog and as a guard dog. It has a powerful bark and a determined brave spirit. Although it can be made to be aggressive, it is still readily controllable in experienced hands, and so makes a wonderful law enforcement dog.
The Belgian Shepherd is normally very sociable with other dogs because of its size and confident manner. Naturally, if it is confined it may be highly territorial towards other dogs passing by.
Although the Belgian Shepherd originated as a working dog, its usually gentle nature makes it ideal as a companion animal. Like most former working dogs, it thrives on the attention of its owners. This dog will be most happy when carrying out tasks and activities to please you.
When training the Belgian Shepherd, the owner should be aware that it still retains a strong herding instinct and chase reflex; it may have a tendency to take off after moving objects.
This large, intelligent dog does require plenty of exercise and may become disgruntled if closely confined. Be sure not to overfeed your Belgian Shepherd Dog. It has a tendency to overeat, especially if it is only exercised sometimes and is bored.
These dogs have few common ailments but the long-haired varieties should be regularly brushed to maintain coat condition. Excess hair in the ears and between the toes should be removed.
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"Belgium",3812,0,0,0
HS , official name \BKingdom of \JBelgium\j,\b Fr \BRoyaume de Belgique,\b Flemish \BKoninkrijk Belgiδ\b
EN pop ┐(1995e) 10┐099┐000; \BArea:\b 30┐518┐km\U2\u / 11┐780┐mi\U2\u. Kingdom of north-west Europe, divided into nine provinces; coastline 64┐km / 40┐mi; capital, Brussels; other chief towns, Antwerp, \JGhent\j, Charleroi, LiΦge, Bruges, \JNamur\j, Mons; timezone GMT +1; a line drawn E-W just S of Brussels divides the population, by race and language, into two approximately equal parts; to the N, Flemings of Teutonic stock, speaking Flemish; to the S, French-speaking Latins, known as Walloons; ethnic divisions, 55% Fleming, 33% \JWalloon\j, 12% mixed or other; languages, 56% Flemish (Dutch), 32% French, 1% (on E border) German; Brussels officially a bilingual city; religion, 75% Roman Catholic; currency, Belgian franc of 100 centimes.
\IPhysical description and climate.\i Mostly low-lying, with some hills in the south-east region (Ardennes), average elevation 300-500┐m / 1000-1600┐ft; large areas of fertile soil, intensively cultivated for many centuries; main river systems, Sambre-Meuse and Scheldt, drain across the Dutch border, linked by complex network of canals; low-lying, dune-fringed coastline along the North Sea; climate cool and temperate with strong maritime influences.
\IHistory and government.\i Part of the Roman Empire until 2nd-c AD; invasion by Germanic tribes, and part of the Frankish Empire; early \JMiddle Ages\j, growth of several semi-independent provinces and cities, from 1385 absorbed by the House of Burgundy; ruled by the \JHabsburgs\j from 1477 until the Peace of \JUtrecht\j (1713), known as the Spanish Netherlands; transferred to \JAustria\j as the Austrian Netherlands, 1713; conquered by the French, 1794; part of the French Republic and Empire until 1815, then united with the Netherlands; Belgian rebellion, 1830, led to recognition as an independent kingdom under Leopold of Saxe-Coburg; occupied by \JGermany\j in both World Wars; a hereditary and constitutional monarchy, legislative power vested in a monarch, a 71-member Senate, and a 150-member Chamber of Representatives; in recent decades, political tension between Walloons and Flemings has caused the collapse of several governments; Wallonia and Flanders given regional 'subgovernments', 1980; new federal constitution implemented, dividing \JBelgium\j into the autonomous regions of Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels, 1993.
\IEconomy.\i One of the earliest countries in Europe to industrialize, using rich coalfields of the Ardennes; famous textile industry of Flanders since \JMiddle Ages\j; long-standing centre for European trade; major iron and steel industry, with wide range of metallurgical and \Jengineering\j products; processed food and beverages, chemicals, textiles, glass, \Jpetroleum\j, trade in \Jgemstones\j (especially diamonds); agriculture mainly livestock; also wheat, potatoes, sugar-beet, \Jflax\j; full economic union (\JBenelux\j Economic Union) between \JBelgium\j, Netherlands, and Luxembourg in 1948; member of the European Union; Brussels the headquarters of several major international organizations.
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"Belgrade",3813,0,0,0
EN 44░50N 20░30E, pop (1995e) 1 574 000. Capital city of Yugoslavia and of the republic of \JSerbia\j, at the junction of the Danube and Sava Rivers; airport; railway; university (1863); arts university (1957); communications centre; machine tools, electrical equipment, light \Jengineering\j, vehicles, pharmaceuticals, textiles, foodstuffs; Kalemegdan fortress, Prince Eugene's Gate (1719), Palace of Princess Ljubica, St Mark's Church, tomb of Sheikh Mustapha, cathedral, several museums; international film festival (Feb), international festival of modern dramatic art (Sep), \JBelgrade\j Music Festival (Oct).
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"Belgrano, General",3814,0,0,0
PN [bel\Bgrah\bnoh]
EN An Argentinian cruiser, formerly owned by the US Navy in World War 2, sunk by HM submarine \IConqueror\i during the Falklands conflict in 1982, with great loss of life. Her armament of fifteen 6-inch guns posed a serious threat to the ships of the British task force, but her sinking proved to be one of the most controversial incidents of the war.
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"Belidor, Bernard Forest de",3815,0,0,0
PN [\Bbe\blidaw(r)]
DT1 1698
DT2 1761
EN Engineer, born in \JCatalonia\j, \JSpain\j. As professor of artillery at La FΦre military academy, he wrote some of the best-known and most comprehensive \Jengineering\j handbooks in pre-revolutionary \JFrance\j, covering military \Jengineering\j (ballistics and fortifications) and civil \Jengineering\j. His works influenced \Jengineering\j practice for a century after their publication.
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"Belisarius",3816,0,0,0
PN [beli\Bsair\bius]
DT1 505
DT2 65
EN Byzantine general under Emperor \JJustinian\j, born in Germania, \JIllyria\j. He defeated the Persians (530), suppressed an insurrection in Constantinople (532), and defeated the Vandals in Africa (533-4) and the \JOstrogoths\j in \JItaly\j (535-40). He later again drove back the Persians (542), and repelled an assault of the \JHuns\j on Constantinople (559). Falsely accused of conspiracy against the emperor, he was imprisoned (562), but was restored to favour soon after.
MEX \JJustinian\j
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"Belize",3817,0,0,0
PN [be\Bleez\b]
EN pop (1995e) 212 000; area 22 963 sq km/8864 sq mi. Independent state in \JCentral America\j, divided into six districts; capital, Belmopan; other chief towns, Orange Walk, \JBelize\j City, Corozal, Dangriga, Punta Gorda, San Ignacio; timezone GMT -6; lowest population density of \JCentral America\j; major ethnic groups, Spanish--Mayan Mestizo (40%), Creoles (30%), Mayan Indian (10%), Garifuna (8%), several minorities; chief religion, Roman Catholic (60%); official language, English, with Spanish, \Jcreole\j, and Mayan languages also spoken; currency, \JBelize\j dollar of 100 cents.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
An extensive coastal plain, swampy in the N, more fertile in the S; Maya Mts extend almost to the E coast, rising to 1120 m/3674 ft at Victoria Peak, flanked by pine ridges, tropical forests, savannahs, and farm land; \JBelize\j R flows W--E; inner coastal waters protected by world's second longest barrier reef; generally subtropical climate, but tempered by trade winds; coastal temperatures 10--35.6░C, with greater range in mountains; variable rainfall, average 1295 mm/51 in (N), 4445 mm/175 in (S); dry season (Feb--May); occasionally damaged by hurricanes.
\IHistory and government\i
Evidence of early Mayan settlement; colonized in the 17th-c; first settlers came from \JJamaica\j to cut logwood; British government tried to secure protection of wood-cutters by treaties with \JSpain\j; created a British colony in 1862, administered from \JJamaica\j until 1884; ministerial system of government, 1961; internal self-government, 1964; changed name from British \JHonduras\j to \JBelize\j, 1973; full independence, 1981; Guatemalan claims over \JBelize\j territory resulted in long-standing British military presence; Guatemala signed accord respecting \JBelize\j self-determination, 1991; British monarch is chief-of-state, represented by a governor-general; bicameral National Assembly, with an 8-member Senate and a 29-member \JHouse of Representatives\j.
\IEconomy\i
Traditionally based on timber and forest products, more recently on agriculture, especially sugar, \Jcitrus\j fruit, \Jcocoa\j, rice, \Jtobacco\j, bananas, beef; fishing, boatbuilding, food processing, clothing, textiles, furniture, batteries, tourism, cigarettes; since 1980s, significant \Jimmigration\j from Salvadorean and Guatemalan refugees.
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"Belize City",3818,0,0,0
EN 17░29N 88░10W, pop (1995e) 59 400. Seaport in \JBelize\j district, \JBelize\j, \JCentral America\j; at the mouth of the \JBelize\j R where it meets the \JCaribbean Sea\j; capital of \JBelize\j until 1970; occasionally badly damaged by hurricanes; airport; timber, coconuts, fishing, commerce, tourism; 19th-c cathedral; Government House.
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"Belkin, Samuel",3819,0,0,0
DT (1911-76)
EN rabbi, educator; born in Swislicz, \JPoland\j. He came to the U.S.A. in 1929. Named a professor at Yeshiva University (New York City) in 1940, he became its president in 1940 and chancellor in 1975. He became dean of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary in 1941. He was a member of a number of academic and Jewish organizations including the American Academy of Political and Social Science and the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the U.S.A. and Canada.
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"bell",3820,0,0,0
EN A hollow vessel of bronze or other material which, when struck, vibrates to produce a ringing sound (or rather, a complex of sounds) which, if the bell is tuned, may be heard as a musical note of definite pitch. Bells have been made for some 4000 years for a variety of uses and in many different shapes and sizes.
A bell fastened to a cat's collar as a warning to birds may be no larger than a small \Jgooseberry\j; the enormous 'Tsar Kolokol' bell in the \JKremlin\j, Moscow is about 6.9 / 22┐ft 8┐in in diameter and weighs over 200┐000┐kg / 190┐tons. These two examples also illustrate the two basic types of bell. The cat's bell is of the \Iclosed\i (or \Icrotal)\i variety: a hollowed sphere, with one or more slits in the surface, which is shaken to cause a loose pellet inside to strike against the inner surface.
The \JKremlin\j monster is an example of the open bell, cast (like most ship's bells and church bells) in the shape of an upturned cup; such bells are usually sounded by means of a clapper suspended from the inside of the bell, but in some cases (such as the huge bells of some Buddhist temples) they are struck externally with a ramrod.
EN British astronomer: discoverer of first pulsar.
It is probably no coincidence that Jocelyn Bell's father, a \JBelfast\j architect, designed the Armagh \JPlanetarium\j. She decided, after studying physics at Glasgow, to work for a PhD in radioastronomy with Hewish at Cambridge. He had built a large radiotelescope there, with 2048 fixed dipole antennas spread over 18 000 m\U2\u.
Bell checked the recorders daily, examining the 30 m of chart paper, as part of a survey of radio-emitting quasars (remote quasi-stellar objects) looking in particular for scintillations due to the \Jsolar wind\j. In mid-1967 she saw a small unusual signal, and she found after a few weeks that it recurred.
The radio pulsation had a precise period of over a second, and with some effort was shown not to be an equipment malfunction or to be man- made. The name pulsar was coined, and Bell found a second example late in 1967; over 500 are now known.
The explanation due to Gold, and now accepted, is that pulsars are neutron stars, small but very massive stars, rapidly spinning. They form at the end of a star's life, before its final collapse to a black hole.
Bell Burnell went on to research in \Jastronomy\j at London and Edinburgh, and a chair at the Open University.
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"Bell's palsy",3822,0,0,0
EN Paralysis of the muscles of one side of the face innervated by the VIIth cranial nerve (the facial nerve). Damage to the nerve may be caused by trauma, virus infection, or undue pressure as the nerve emerges through its canal at the base of the skull. The condition is named after Scottish surgeon Charles Bell (1774-1842).
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"Bell, (James Thomas) 'Cool Papa'",3823,0,0,0
DT (1903-91)
EN \Jbaseball\j player; born in Starkville, Miss. An outfielder for the St. Louis Stars, \JPittsburgh\j Crawfords, and Homestead Grays (black \Jbaseball\j teams of the 1920s and 1930s), he was universally regarded as the fastest player, white or black, ever to play the game. A solid .350 hitter and prolific base stealer, he was elected to \Jbaseball\j's Hall of Fame in 1974.
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"Bell, Acton",3824,0,0,0
EN See Brontδ, Anne
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#
"Bell, Acton / Currer / Ellis",3825,0,0,0
EN See Brontδ, Anne; 04971 Charlotte; 04972 Emily
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"Bell, Alexander Graham",3826,0,0,0
DT (1847-1922)
EN British-American speech therapist; inventor of the \Jtelephone\j.
The son and grandson of speech therapists, Bell followed the same interest but he also studied sound waves and the mechanics of speech. He emigrated to Canada in 1870 and moved to the USA in 1871. From 1873 he was professor of vocal \Jphysiology\j at \JBoston\j and could experiment on his belief that if sound wave vibrations could be converted into a fluctuating electric current this could be passed along a wire and reconverted into sound waves by a receiver.
Success produced the '\Jtelephone\j', patented by him in 1876, and the start of the AT & T company. Soon Edison much improved Bell's \Jtelephone\j transmitter. Bell made other improvements in \Jtelegraphy\j, improved Edison's \Jgramophone\j, worked with Langley and on Curtis's flying machines and founded the journal Science.
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"Bell, Alexander Melville",3827,0,0,0
DT1 1819
DT2 1905
EN Educationist, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK, the father of Alexander Graham Bell. A teacher of elocution at Edinburgh University and University College, London, he moved to Canada in 1870, then settled in Washington, DC. In 1867 he published \IVisible Speech,\i a system showing the position of the vocal organs for each sound.
MEX Bell, Alexander Graham
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"Bell, Andrew",3828,0,0,0
DT1 1753
DT2 1832
EN Educationist, founder of the 'Madras System' of education, born in St Andrews, Fife, E Scotland, UK. After taking Episcopal orders he went to India (1787), and in 1789 became superintendent of the Madras military orphanage. Finding it impossible to obtain teaching staff, he taught with the aid of the pupils themselves by introducing the monitorial system.
His pamphlet entitled \IAn Experiment in Education\i (1797) attracted little attention in Britain until in 1803 Joseph Lancaster also published a tract recommending the monitorial system. In 1811 he became superintendent of the National Society for the Education of the Poor, whose schools soon numbered 12┐000.
MEX Lancaster, Joseph
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#
"Bell, Currer",3829,0,0,0
EN See Brontδ, Charlotte
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#
"Bell, Ellis",3830,0,0,0
EN See Brontδ, Emily (Jane)
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"Bell, Eric Temple",3831,0,0,0
DT (1883-1960)
EN mathematician; born in \JAberdeen\j, Scotland. Emigrating to America in 1902, he taught longest at the \JCalifornia\j Institute of Technology (1926-53). He contributed significantly to numerical functions, analytic number theory, multiple periodic functions, and Diophantine analysis. He published \IMen of Mathematics\i (1937), 17 \Jscience fiction\j books, short stories, and poetry.
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"Bell, George Kennedy Allen",3832,0,0,0
DT1 1883
DT2 1958
EN Clergyman and ecumenist, born on Hayling I, Hampshire, S England, UK. He studied at Oxford, was ordained in 1907, and became Dean of Canterbury (1924-9), and Bishop of Chichester (1929-58). A strong supporter of the ecumenical movement, he risked misunderstanding during World War 2 by his efforts towards peace with \JGermany\j and his condemnation of the policy of saturation bombing.
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#
"Bell, Gertrude (Margaret Lowthian)",3833,0,0,0
DT1 1868
DT2 1926
EN Archaeologist and traveller, born at Washington Hall, Durham, north-east England, UK. She studied at Oxford, and travelled much in the \JMiddle East\j. During World War 1 she was seconded to the \JMesopotamia\j Expeditionary Force in Basra and \JBaghdad\j, subsequently becoming oriental secretary to the British High Commission in \JIraq\j, and first director of antiquities there.
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#
"Bell, Henry",3834,0,0,0
DT1 1767
DT2 1830
EN Engineer and pioneer of steam navigation, born in Linlithgow, West Lothian, EC Scotland, UK. In 1812 he successfully launched the 30-ton \IComet\i on the Clyde. Plying regularly between Greenock and Glasgow, it was the first passenger-carrying steam-boat in European waters.
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"Bell, John (Australian actor)",3835,0,0,0
DT 1940-
EN Australian actor and director. In Britain he acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1964 to 1969, and acted and directed at Lincoln Repertory Theatre. A co-founder of \JNimrod\j Theatre, Sydney, in 1970, he remained an artistic director there till 1985, directing several innovative Shakespearian productions.
He is now director of the Bell Shakespeare Company, a touring company dedicated to productions that appeal to young audiences as well as to the general public. His major roles include Arturo Ui (1971, 1985), Hamlet (1973), \JHenry V\j (1964) and Cyrano de Bergerac (1980-1). He was awarded an OBE in 1978.
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"Bell, John (sculptor)",3836,0,0,0
DT1 1811
DT2 1895
EN Sculptor, born in Hopton, Suffolk, E England, UK. He produced the Guards' Memorial (1858) in Waterloo Place, and the American group in the Hyde Park Albert Memorial (1873). He popularized carved wooden breadknives and trenchers.
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"Bell, John (U.S. senator)",3837,0,0,0
DT (1797-1869)
EN U.S. senator, cabinet officer; born in Nashville, Tenn. A prominent \JTennessee\j lawyer, he served in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (1827-41), first as a Democrat, then as a Whig; as the latter, he served less than a year as secretary of war (1841) and then as a moderate U.S. senator from \JTennessee\j (1847-59).
Although he owned slaves, he was opposed to the spread of \Jslavery\j in the new territories and states, and he spent fruitless years trying to fend off the oncoming confrontation over \Jslavery\j. In 1860 he was presidential candidate for the Constitutional Union Party, in an effort to present a plea against secession that would appeal to those who saw the Republicans as extremists. (He won three states.) But when the \JCivil War\j broke out, his last public act was to advise \JTennessee\j to join the Confederacy.
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"Bell, John Stewart",3838,0,0,0
DT1 1928
DT2 90
EN Physicist, born in \JBelfast\j. He studied at \JBelfast\j University, and worked at the UK Atomic Energy Research Establishment before joining the staff at CERN in Geneva (1960). Here he developed the equations known as \IBell's inequalities,\i which predicted how measurements on one proton would affect measurements made on another. Subsequent experimental results have validated his predictions, confirming him as one of the leading theoretical physicists of his generation.
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#
"Bell, Lawrence (Dale)",3839,0,0,0
DT (1894-1956)
EN \Jaircraft\j designer; born in Mentone, Ind. He began as an airplane mechanic, then worked in management for several companies including Glenn Martin. In 1935 he organized the Bell \JAircraft\j Corporation which produced helicopters, guided missiles, and other \Jaircraft\j. In 1947 he designed the X-1, the first rocket-propelled airplane, in which Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier.
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"Bell, Martin",3840,0,0,0
DT1 1938
EN Television journalist, born in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, EC England, UK. He studied at Cambridge and joined the BBC in 1962, becoming overseas reporter (1964--76), diplomatic correspondent (1976--7), chief North American correspondent (1977--89), Berlin correspondent (1989--93), Vienna correspondent (1993--4), and foreign affairs correspondent (1994--6).
Awards include the Royal Television Society's Reporter of the Year (1976, 1992) and the Radio and Television Industries Club Newscaster of the Year (1995). He fought an 'anti-sleaze' campaign in the 1997 general election, and was returned - much to his own surprise, describing himself as an "accidental MP' in his maiden speech - as Independent MP for Tatton.
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"Bell, Patrick",3841,0,0,0
DT1 1799
DT2 1869
EN Clergyman and inventor, born in Auchterhouse, Angus, E Scotland, UK. He worked on the development of a mechanical reaper, the prototype of which earned a ú50 premium from the Highland and Agricultural Society in 1827. Its adoption by British farmers was very slow, however, and when four of his reapers were sent to the USA they enabled Cyrus McCormick and others to realize their full potential.
MEX McCormick
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"Bell, Robert Anning",3842,0,0,0
DT1 1863
DT2 1933
EN Painter, designer, illustrator, and decorator, born in London, England, UK. He studied painting from 1881 at the Royal Academy Schools, Westminster School of Art and in Paris. He executed mosaics in the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Cathedral, and held successive posts at Liverpool University (from 1894), Glasgow School of Art (1911), and the Royal College of Art, London, where he was professor of design (1918-24).
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"Bell, Sir Charles",3843,0,0,0
DT (1774-1842)
EN British anatomist and surgeon: pioneer of \Jneurophysiology\j.
Bell learned surgery from his elder brother John (a distinguished surgeon and anatomist) and at Edinburgh University. He moved to London in 1804 and became well known and liked as a surgeon and lecturer on surgery. He treated wounded from the battles of Corunna and Waterloo.
From 1807 he showed that nerves are not single units, but consist of separate fibres within a common sheath; that a fibre conveys either sensory or motor stimuli, but not both (ie it transmits impulses in one direction only); and that a muscle must be supplied with both types of fibre.
In this way Bell began modern \Jneurophysiology\j. His work was as fundamental and as revolutionary as that of Harvey on the circulation of the blood. Later he discovered the long thoracic nerve (Bell's nerve); and he showed that lesions of the seventh cranial nerve produce facial paralysis (Bell's palsy).
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"Bell, Thomas",3844,0,0,0
DT1 1792
DT2 1800
EN Naturalist, born in Poole, \JDorset\j, S England, UK. A dental surgeon at Guy's \JHospital\j (1817-61), he lectured in and became professor of \Jzoology\j at King's College, London, in 1836. His \IBritish Stalk-eyed Crustacea\i (1853) remains a standard work on British crabs and lobsters.
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"Bell, Thomas Montgomery",3845,0,0,0
DT (1861-1941)
EN U.S. representative; born in Nacoochee Valley, Ga. He was a teacher, a salesman, and a superior court clerk (1898-1904) before going to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Dem., Ga.; 1905-31). He became majority whip, returning to Gainsville, Ga., afterward.
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"Bell, Vanessa",3846,0,0,0
HS , \InΘe\i \BStephen\b
DT1 1879
DT2 1961
EN Painter and decorative designer, a leading member of the Bloomsbury Group, born in London, England, UK, the elder sister of Virginia Woolf. She studied at the Royal Academy Schools (1901-4), and in 1907 married the critic \BClive Bell\b (1881-1964), but in 1916 left him to live at Firle, Sussex, with Duncan Grant, a fellow-contributor to Roger Fry's Omega Workshops (1913-19). Elected to the London Group in 1919, she exhibited with them regularly from 1920.
MEX Fry, Roger; Grant, Duncan; Stephen, Leslie; Woolf, Virginia
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#
"bell-flower",3847,0,0,0
EN A member of a large variable \Jgenus\j of mostly annuals and herbaceous perennials, low and spreading to tall and erect, often forming clumps, native throughout N temperate regions; leaves very narrow to almost circular; flowers 5-lobed bells, usually large and showy, and almost always blue, sometimes pink or white, solitary or in long inflorescences; fruit a capsule opening by pores, shedding seeds like a pepper-pot when shaken. Many species are cultivated for ornament. \B(Genus:\b \ICampanula,\i 300 species. \BFamily:\b Campanulaceae.)
BK b
#
"bell-ringing",3848,0,0,0
EN The art of ringing church bells, also known as \Bcampanology.\b Its two popular forms are \Bchange ringing,\b a hand-pulled method, and the \Bcarillon\b method, performed with the use of a keyboard connected to the clappers of the bells.
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"Bella, Stefano della",3849,0,0,0
DT1 1610
DT2 64
EN Engraver, born in Florence, \JItaly\j. He worked for Cardinal Richelieu and for the Grand Duke of Tuscany. His engravings were in the manner of Jacques Callot, and his enormous output consisted of battle-pieces, landscapes, and animal and \Jmasque\j designs.
MEX Callot
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"belladonna",3850,0,0,0
HS (Ital 'fair lady')
EN A liquid extract of the \Jdeadly nightshade\j plant \I(Atropa belladonna),\i so called because Italian ladies used to apply it to their eyes to make the pupils dilate, an effect deemed attractive. The main active constituent is \Jatropine\j.
BK b
#
"belladonna lily",3851,0,0,0
EN A large bulb \I(Amaryllis bella-donna),\i native to S Africa; leaves strap-shaped; flowers trumpet-shaped, 7-9┐cm / 23/4-31/2┐in long, white to pink, 6-12 on a solid stalk appearing in autumn after the leaves have died. A popular ornamental, it is often confused with \IHippeastrum,\i which is the \Jamaryllis\j of \Jhorticulture\j. \B(Family:\b Amaryllidaceae.)
BK b
#
"Bellamy, David (James)",3852,0,0,0
DT1 1933
EN British botanist, writer, and broadcaster. He studied at London University, taught at Durham (1960--80), and became a professor at \JNottingham\j in 1987. He established the Conservation Foundation in 1988. The writer of numerous conservation-oriented books, he is best known for his eccentric manner in TV programmes designed to create a greater awareness and understanding of the natural environment.
Working as both presenter and scriptwriter, his many programmes include \ILife in Our Sea\i (1970), \IBellamy's Britain\i (1975), \IBellamy's Birds' Eye View\i (1988), and \IBellamy's Border Raids: The Peak District\i (1994).
\BMajor Works\b
\ITelevision\i
1970 Life in our Sea
1973 Bellamy on Botany
1975 Bellamy's Britain
1977 Bellamy's Europe
1979 Botanic Man
1980 Up a Gum Tree
1981 Backyard Safari
1982 The Great Seasons
1983 Bellamy's New World
1984 You Can't See the Wood
1985 Discovery
1985 Seaside Safari
1985 End of the Rainbow Show
1986 Bellamy's Bugle
1986 Turning the Tide
1988 Bellamy's Bird's Eye View
1990 Moa's Ark
1991, 1992 Bellamy Rides Again
1991 Wetlands
1992 England's Last Wilderness
1993 Blooming Bellamy
1993 Routes of Wisdom
1994 Bellamy's Border Raids: the Peak District
1998 A Welsh Herbal
Publications
1974 Peatlands
1974 Bellamy on Botany
1975 Bellamy's Britain
1977 Bellamy's Europe
1977 Life Giving Sea
1978 Botanic Man
1979 Half of Paradise
1981 The Great Seasons
1981 Backyard Safari
1982 Discovering the Countryside with David Bellamy, Vols I & II
1983 Discovering the Countryside with David Bellamy, Vols III & IV
1983 The Mouse Book
1983 Bellamy's New World
1984 The Queen's Hidden Garden
1986 Turning the Tide
1986 The Vanishing Bogs of Ireland
1989 Bellamy's Changing Countryside, 4 vols
1989 England's Last Wilderness (with Brendan Quayle)
1990 England's Lost Wilderness
1991 Wilderness in Britain (with Jane Gifford)
1991 How Green Are You?
1991 Tomorrow's Earth
1992 World Medicine (with Andrea Pfister)
1993 Blooming Bellamy
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"Bellamy, Edward",3853,0,0,0
DT (1850-98)
EN writer; born in Chicopee Falls, Mass. He studied law, then turned to journalism, founding the Springfield (Mass.) \IDaily News\i in 1880. He also tried his hand at fiction, but he had become increasingly absorbed in contemporary social issues. In 1888 he published a utopian romance, \ILooking Backward: 2000-1887,\i and its million-copy sales enabled him to devote the ensuing years to refining his notions of state \Jcapitalism\j.
The Nationalist Party was established to promote his ideas; he founded \IThe New Nation\i (1891), a journal; and he further expounded his ideas in \IEquality\i (1897). He died prematurely of tuberculosis.
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"Bellamy, George Anne",3854,0,0,0
DT ?1731-88
EN Irish actress. Named George because she was born on St George's Day, she appeared as a child actress at Covent Garden in 1741, playing Prue in Congreve's Love for Love and appearing with Garrick in private performances. In 1744 she made her adult debut as Monimia in Otway's The Orphan. Her many lovers, extravagant lifestyle and furious rows with company members did nothing for her acting.
In 1750 she played Juliet to Garrick's Romeo. Performing as Euridice in Oedipus, she was so 'overcome by the horror of the piece that she was carried off in a state of insensibility'. Illness made her look old and she retired in 1770; her ghosted \Jautobiography\j was published in 1785.
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"Bellamy, Joseph",3855,0,0,0
DT (1719-90)
EN Protestant theologian; born in Cheshire, Conn. A farmer's son, he graduated from Yale in 1735, studied \Jtheology\j with Jonathan Edwards, and preached in several churches before becoming pastor in \JBethlehem\j, Conn., in 1738, where he remained for the rest of his life. His influential \ITrue Religion Delineated\i (1750) was both a defense of Edwardian \Jtheology\j and a softening of it - he made the possibility of atonement universal rather than limited to the elect.
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"Bellamy, Ralph",3856,0,0,0
DT 1904-91
EN American actor. He made his debut in New York in 1929 as Ben Davis in Town Boy. By 1943 he had made 84 films and for the rest of his career alternated between film, theatre and \Jtelevision\j. In 1958 he won awards for his performance as Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Sunrise at Campobello.
BK Thea
#
"Bellanca, Dorothy (b. Jacobs)",3857,0,0,0
DT (1894-1946)
EN labor leader, social reformer; born in Zemel, Lativia. Emigrating in 1900, she went to work in a factory at age 13 and became an organizer for the United Garment Workers of America, leading a strike of fellow buttonhole makers in 1912. A founder of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (1914) and member of its executive board (1916-18, 1934-46), she devoted 30 years to organizing campaigns and several major strikes. She also served on committees involved with labor issues and was an active American Labor Party member and supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
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"Bellanca, Giuseppe Mario",3858,0,0,0
DT (1886-1960)
EN aeronautical designer/manufacturer; born in Sciacca, \JSicily\j. Emigrating to America to join relatives (1912), he became a noted airplane designer when his plane, \IColumbia,\i set an endurance record (1927) and made a successful transatlantic crossing two weeks after Charles Lindbergh's (June 4-6, 1927). Developer of the single-engine Cruisair passenger series (1930-50), he was viewed as a better designer than a businessman.
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"Bellany, John",3859,0,0,0
DT1 1942
EN Painter and etcher, born in Port Seton, East Lothian, E Scotland, UK. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art (1960--5) and at the Royal College of Art (1965--8). He is one of the generation of Scots who, in the 1970s, adopted an expressive form of Realism inspired by Leger and by German art.
BK Biog99
#
"Bellarmine, St Robert",3860,0,0,0
PN [\Bbel\bermin]
HS , originally \BRoberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino\b
DT1 1542
DT2 1621
EN Jesuit theologian, born in Montepulciano, \JItaly\j. He entered the order of \JJesuits\j at \JRome\j in 1560, and studied \Jtheology\j at Padua and \JLouvain\j. In 1570 he was appointed to the chair of \Jtheology\j at \JLouvain\j, but returned to \JRome\j in 1576 to lecture at the Roman College. In 1592 he became \Jrector\j there, was made a cardinal in 1599 against his own inclination, and in 1602 \JArchbishop\j of Capua.
After the death of Clement VIII, he evaded the papal chair, but was induced by Paul V to hold an important place in the Vatican from 1605 until his death. He was canonized in 1930, and was the chief defender of the Church in the 16th-c. In the 17th-c, stone beer jugs with a \Jcaricature\j of his likeness, called \Ibellarmines,\i were produced by Flemish Protestants to ridicule him. Feast \Jday\j 17 May.
SX m
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#
"Bellay, Joachim du",3861,0,0,0
PN [belay]
DT1 1522
DT2 60
EN Poet and prose writer, born in Lire, \JFrance\j. After his friend and fellow-student, Ronsard, he was the most important member of the \IPlΘiade.\i His \IDΘfense et illustration de la langue Francaise\i (1549, The Defence and Illustration of the French Language), the manifesto of the \IPlΘiade,\i advocating the rejection of mediaeval linguistic traditions and a return to Classical and Italian models, had a considerable influence at the time.
MEX Ronsard
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#
"Belle-Isle, Charles Louis Fouquet, duc de (Duke of)",3862,0,0,0
PN [bel eel]
DT1 1684
DT2 1761
EN French statesman and soldier, born in Villefranche, \JFrance\j. After serving in many wars, he became a Marshal of \JFrance\j in 1741. In the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-8) he stormed \JPrague\j in 1742, then led the skilful retreat to Eger. He raised the siege of \JGenoa\j (1747), and drove the Austrians into Lombardy before the war ended. During the Seven Years' War he was minister for war (1758-60).
SX m
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#
"Belleau, RΘmy",3863,0,0,0
PN [beloh]
DT1 1528
DT2 77
EN Poet, born in Nogent le Rotrou, \JFrance\j. He was a member of the \IPlΘiade,\i and published in 1556 a translation of \JAnacreon\j that was at first believed to be an original imitation. \IBergerie\i (1565) is a medley of delicately descriptive prose and verse, of which 'Avril' still appears in anthologies.
MEX \JAnacreon\j
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#
"Bellenden or Ballantyne, John",3864,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2 1587
EN Scottish ecclesiastic and writer. He studied at St Andrews and the \JSorbonne\j. His translations in 1533 of Boece's \IHistoria Gentis Scotorum,\i and of the first five books of Livy, are interesting as vigorous specimens of early Scottish prose. He enjoyed great favour at the court of James V, and became \JArchdeacon\j of Moray and Canon of Ross. Becoming involved in ecclesiastical controversy, he went into exile in \JRome\j.
SX m
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#
"Belleroche (Raymond Poisson)",3865,0,0,0
DT c.1630-90
EN French actor and playwright. He acted at the H⌠tel de Bourgogne until 1680, and then at the first ComΘdie-Francaise. He developed the character of Crispin as a comic type, using his considerable bulk, large mouth and tendency to stutter to advantage, and became a favourite of \JLouis XIV\j. He also wrote farcical comedies and founded a minor theatrical dynasty.
BK Thea
#
"Bellerophon",3866,0,0,0
PN [be\Ble\brofon]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, a hero who was sent to Lycia with a letter telling the king to put him to death. The king set him impossible adventures, notably the killing of the \JChimera\j. In later accounts it is said that Athena helped him to tame Pegasus.
BK b
#
"Bellerose (Pierre le Messier)",3867,0,0,0
EN died 1670 French actor-manager. A leading tragedian in the first half of the 17th century, he joined the ComΘdiens du Roi at the H⌠tel de Bourgogne in 1622 and was director from 1635-47, remaining a company member. He had a fine speaking voice, though some contemporaries preferred the greater aggression of his arch-rival Montdory at the Marais.
BK Thea
#
"Bellingham, John",3868,0,0,0
EN See Perceval, Spencer
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XCY y
#
"Bellingshausen, Fabian Gottlieb Benjamin von",3869,0,0,0
PN [\Bbel\bings-howzn]
DT1 1778
DT2 1852
EN Explorer, born in ╓sel, \JEstonia\j. In 1819-21 he led an expedition around the world which made several discoveries in the Pacific, and sailed to 70░S, probably discovering the Antarctic continent. The \IBellingshausen Sea\i was named after him.
SX m
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#
"Bellini",3870,0,0,0
PN [be\Blee\bnee]
EN A family of 15th-c Venetian painters. \BJacopo Bellini\b (c.1400-70) studied under Gentile da Fabriano, painting a wide range of subjects, but only a few of his works remain. His son \BGentile Bellini\b (c.1429-1507) worked in his father's studio, and painted many portraits, especially that of Sultan Mohammed II in Constantinople (now in the National Gallery, London).
His other son, \BGiovanni Bellini\b (c.1430-1516), was the greatest Venetian painter of his time. He painted many 'Pietα' and 'Madonna' themes, altarpieces, and pagan allegories, notably 'The Feast of the Gods' (1514). His innovations of light and colour became the hallmark of Venetian art, continued by his pupils \JGiorgione\j and Titian.
BK b
#
"Bellini, Gentile",3871,0,0,0
PN [be\Blee\bnee]
DT1a c.
DT1 1429
DT2 1507
EN Painter, born in \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j, the son of Jacopo Bellini and brother of Giovanni Bellini. He worked in his father's studio, and was chosen to paint the portrait of Sultan Muhammad II in Constantinople (c.1480, National Gallery, London). He is also known for his scenes of \JVenice\j.
MEX Bellini, Giovanni; Bellini, Jacopo
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#
"Bellini, Giovanni",3872,0,0,0
PN [be\Blee\bnee]
DT1a c.
DT1 1430
DT2 1516
EN Painter, born in \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j, the son of Jacopo Bellini and brother of Gentile Bellini. One of his chief contributions to Italian art was his successful \Jintegration\j of figures with landscape background. Another is his naturalistic treatment of light. Almost all his pictures are religious, although he painted the occasional pagan \Jallegory\j.
He is perhaps best known for a long series of Madonnas to which he brought a humanistic sensibility usually absent in Raphael's more austere renderings of the subject. All the most talented younger painters of his \Jday\j - \JGiorgione\j and Titian among them - came to his studio, and through them his innovations were perpetuated.
EN Painter, born in \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j, the father of Gentile Bellini and Giovanni Bellini. He studied under Gentile da Fabriano, and painted a wide range of subjects; but only a few Madonnas in \JItaly\j and drawings in the Louvre and the British Museum remain, which show his interest in architectural and landscape setting.
MEX Fabriano; Bellini, Gentile; Bellini, Giovanni
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#
"Bellini, Vincenzo",3874,0,0,0
PN [be\Blee\bnee]
DT1 1801
DT2 35
EN Operatic composer, born in \JCatania\j, \JItaly\j. An organist's son, he was sent by a Sicilian nobleman to the Conservatorio of Naples. \IIl Pirata\i (1827) carried the composer's name beyond \JItaly\j, but he is now best known for \ILa Sonnambula\i (1831) and \INorma\i (1832). He influenced several later operatic composers, including Wagner.
MEX Wagner, Richard
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#
"Bellman, Carl Michael",3875,0,0,0
DT1 1740
DT2 95
EN Poet and writer of popular songs, born in Stockholm. His most important collections of songs are the \IFredmans Epistlar\i (1790, Epistles of Fredman), with their overtones of biblical \Jparody\j and \Jburlesque\j, and the \IFredmans sσnger\i (1791, Songs of Fredman). The songs combine broad humour and \Jrococo\j charm, and are still popular throughout Scandinavia.
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#
"Bello, AndrΘs",3876,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\boh]
DT1 1781
DT2 1865
EN Venezuelan writer and polymath, born in \JCaracas\j. He studied in \JCaracas\j, then lived in London (1810-29), before finally settling in \JChile\j, where he became a senior public servant, senator, and first \Jrector\j of the University (1843). The most remarkable Latin American intellectual of the 19th-c, his writings embrace language, law, education, history, philosophy, poetry, drama, and science.
SX m
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#
"Belloc, (Joseph) Hilaire (Pierre)",3877,0,0,0
PN [\Bbel\bok]
DT1 1870
DT2 1953
EN Writer, born in St \JCloud\j near Paris, \JFrance\j, the son of a French \Jbarrister\j and his English wife. The family moved to England during the Franco-Prussian war, and he studied at the Oratory School, Birmingham, under Newman, and at Oxford. He became a naturalized British subject in 1902, and a Liberal MP in 1906, but, disillusioned with politics, did not seek re-election in 1910.
He was a close friend of G K Chesterton, who illustrated many of his books. He is best known for his nonsensical verse for children: \IThe Bad Child's Book of Beasts\i (1896) and the \ICautionary Tales\i (1907). He also wrote many travel books, including \IPath to Rome\i (1902) and \IThe Old Road\i (1910), reconstructing the Pilgrim's Way; several historical studies such as \IRobespierre\i (1901) and \INapoleon\i (1932); and religious works, including \IEurope and the Faith\i (1920) and \IThe Great Heresies\i (1938). He was an energetic Roman Catholic apologist.
MEX Chesterton; Newman, John Henry
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#
"Bellotti-Bon, Luigi",3878,0,0,0
DT 1820-83
EN Italian actor and company manager. He acted with Gustavo Modena's young company in 1845 (together with Tommaso Salvini). In the 1850s he was a member of the Reale Sarda with Ristori and Rossi, and went with them to Paris, Dresden and Berlin, on what was one of the first 'international' tours undertaken by an Italian company since the decline of the commedia dell'arte.
In 1859 he formed a company of his own, encouraging the leading and emerging playwrights of the \Jday\j to write for it. The troupe enjoyed great success, and in 1873 he expanded his single company into three. This stretched his resources. He turned increasingly to French adaptations, but failed to hold his audience.
When the financial collapse came, he shot himself. He was one of the most accomplished and innovative actor-managers of the century, and his tragedy prompted intense discussion of the problems confronting Italian drama and theatre.
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#
"Bellotto, Bernardo",3879,0,0,0
PN [be\Blo\btoh]
DT1 1720
DT2 80
EN Painter, born in \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j, the nephew of Antonio \JCanaletto\j. He attained high excellence as a painter, and also as an engraver on copper. He is known for his detailed views of many European cities, renowned for their accuracy and realism. His paintings of Warsaw were used after World War 2 in the restoration of the historic areas of the city.
MEX \JCanaletto\j
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#
"Bellow, Saul",3880,0,0,0
DT1 1915
EN Writer, born in Lachine, Quebec, Canada. In 1924 his family moved to \JChicago\j, and he attended university there and at Northwestern University. He abandoned his postgraduate studies at \JWisconsin\j University to become a writer, and his first novel, \IThe Dangling Man\i, appeared in 1944.
Other works include \IThe Victim\i (1947), \IHenderson the Rain-King\i (1959), \IHerzog\i (1964), \IHumboldt's Gift\i (1975; Pulitzer, 1976); both \IA Theft\i and \IThe Bellarosa Connection\i appeared in 1989. Later works include a collection of essays \IIt All Adds Up\i (1994). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976.
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1944 The Dangling Man
1947 The Victim
1953 The Adventures of Augie March
1956 Seize the Day
1959 Henderson the Rain-King
1964 Herzog
1970 Mr Sammler's Planet
1982 The Dean's December
1987 More Die of Heartbreak
1989 The Bellarosa Connection
1989 A Theft
\IStories\i
1968 Mosby's Memoirs and Other Stories
1984 With His Foot in His Mouth and Other Short Stories
1993 Something to Remember Me By
\IOther\i
1994 It All Adds Up (essays)
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#
"Bellows, George (Wesley)",3881,0,0,0
DT (1882-1925)
EN painter, lithographer; born in Columbus, Ohio. After studying at the University of Ohio and rejecting the possibility of a career in \Jbaseball\j, he came to New York to study painting with Robert Henri (1904). His life-long interest in \Jathletics\j was reflected in many of his strongest paintings, such as \IStag at Sharkey's\i (1907).
He helped to organize the famous Armory Show in 1913 but he continued to work within the more conservative traditions of social realism and family portraiture. Moved by the horrors of World War I, he did a powerful series of anti-war paintings. In 1916 he took up \Jlithography\j and book illustrations and is credited with reviving these as serious mediums for American artists.
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"Belmondo, Jean-Paul",3882,0,0,0
PN [bel\Bmon\bdoh]
DT1 1933
EN Actor, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, NC \JFrance\j. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, took part in provincial tours, and appeared in several films, but it was the film \IA Bout de Souffle\i (1959, Breathless) which made him famous. Later films include \ILe Voleur\i (1967, The Thief) and \IHold Up\i (1985).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1959 A Bout de Souffle (Breathless)
1959 A Double Tour
1960 Moderato Cantabile
1961 La Ciociara
1962 Un Singe en Hiver
1964 That Man From Rio
1967 Le Voleur (The Thief)
1968 La SirΦne de Mississippi
1969 The Brain
1985 Hold Up
1988 L'Intineraire d'un Enfant GatΘ
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#
"Belmont, Alva (Erskine Smith Vanderbilt)",3883,0,0,0
DT (1853-1933)
EN socialite, suffragist, reformer; born in Mobile, Ala. Born into a moderately wealthy Southern family, she was educated in \JFrance\j where her family moved after the \JCivil War\j. Returning to the U.S.A. with her mother and sisters in the early 1870s, they settled in New York City and by 1875 Alva was marrying William K. Vanderbilt, grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt. She immediately set about to advance the Vanderbilts' status by commissioning Richard Morris Hunt to design their mansion on Fifth Avenue - the setting in 1883 of a legendary costume ball.
Divorced from Vanderbilt in 1895 on grounds of his adultery, she was awarded a generous annual income as well as their Newport "cottage," Marble House. Having arranged the marriage of her daughter, Consuelo, to the Duke of Manchester (1895), in 1896 she married Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont (the son of August Belmont and Perry's daughter). After her husband's death in 1908, she suddenly put herself and fortune at the service of the struggle for women's suffrage and rights.
She opened her Newport mansion to feminist groups, published articles, founded a new suffrage organization, contributed to various feminist groups, and sponsored the 1914 tour of the English suffragist Christabel Pankhurst. She also supported such causes as the Women's Trade Union League and even contributed to keeping the \IMasses,\i the socialist magazine, from going bankrupt.
From 1921-33 she served as president of the National Woman's Party, during which time she actually lived mainly in \JFrance\j where she maintained three elaborate residences. Although her intrusive and aristocratic manner antagonized some of the women's rights leaders of the time, she was sincere in her own way about gaining equality for women.
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"Belmont, August",3884,0,0,0
DT (1816-90)
EN banker, art collector; born in Alzei, \JGermany\j. He began his career sweeping the Rothschild's offices in Frankfurt when he was 14. Showing a talent for finance, he was transferred to Naples and then to \JHavana\j to manage the Rothschild branches, but he saw better opportunities in America and in 1837 he established what soon became the highly successful August Belmont & Company on Wall Street, with his first client the Rothschilds.
He became a U.S. citizen, married the daughter of Matthew Perry, and became active in the Democratic Party. Although of Jewish descent, he was accepted into New York society due to his charm and wealth. Between 1844-50 he served as consul general for \JAustria\j in the United States. President Franklin Pierce appointed him ambassador to the Netherlands (1853-57).
Although a Democrat, he opposed \Jslavery\j and during the \JCivil War\j used his influence to obtain support for the Union. He had been a knowledgeable admirer of art since his youth and he acquired a large collection (auctioned off after his death). He also liked horses and racing; New York's Belmont Park was named to honor his years as president of the American Jockey Club.
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"Belmopan",3885,0,0,0
PN [belmoh\Bpan\b]
EN 17░18N 88░30W, pop (1995e) 5900. Capital of \JBelize\j, \JCentral America\j, between the \JBelize\j and Sibun Rivers, 80 km/50 mi inland, W of \JBelize\j City; made capital in 1970, following major hurricane damage to \JBelize\j City in 1961; airfield; new settlement at the Valley of Peace for refugees from El Salvador and \JGuatemala\j was made permanent in 1985.
BK Geog99
#
"Belo Horizonte",3886,0,0,0
PN [\Bbel\boh oree\Bzon\btay]
EN 19░54S 43░54W, pop (1995e) 2 628 000. Commercial and industrial capital of Minas Gerais state, Sudeste region, SE \JBrazil\j; N of \JRio de Janeiro\j, altitude 800 m/2625 ft; \JBrazil\j's first planned modern city, founded, 1897; International (39 km/24 mi) and National (8 km/5 mi) airports; railway; three universities (1927, 1954, 1958); industrial area (c.10 km/6 mi from city centre) third largest in \JBrazil\j; commerce, mining, steel, cars, textiles, agricultural processing; Minascentro Convention Centre, Mineirπo sports stadium (second largest in \JBrazil\j), Museum of Modern Art, monument in the Parque de Mangabeiras commemorating pope's visit of 1982; notable modern \Jarchitecture\j in suburb of Pampulha.
BK Geog99
#
"Belo, Carlos (Felipe Ximenes)",3887,0,0,0
DT1 1948
EN Roman Catholic bishop, born in East \JTimor\j, \JIndonesia\j. Ordained bishop in 1983, he became an outspoken critic of the Indonesian regime's actions in East \JTimor\j, and shared the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1996.
BK Biog99n
#
"Belon, Pierre",3888,0,0,0
PN [bel⌡]
DT1 1517
DT2 64
EN Naturalist, born near Le Mans, \JFrance\j. He travelled in \JAsia Minor\j, \JEgypt\j, and \JArabia\j, and wrote valuable treatises on trees, herbs, birds, and fishes. He was one of the first to establish the homologies between the skeletons of different vertebrates.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Belorussia",3889,0,0,0
EN See \JBelarus\j
BK b
XCY y
#
"below",3890,0,0,0
EN Elizabethan stage direction indicating the location of a character on the main stage in contrast to a character above; also the area underneath the trestle stage from which access was possible through a trap.
BK Thea
#
"Belshazzar",3891,0,0,0
PN [bel\Bsha\bzer]
HS , Gr \BBalt(h)asar\b
DT1 ?
DT2 539
DT2b BC
EN Son of Nabonidus, king of \JBabylon\j (556-539 BC), and ruler after his father was exiled in 550 BC. In the Book of Daniel, mysterious writing appears on the wall of his palace, which Daniel interprets as predicting the fall of the empire to the Persians and Medes. He died during the capture of \JBabylon\j.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Beltane",3892,0,0,0
EN An ancient Celtic festival held at the beginning of May, and also in late June, when bonfires were lit on the hills. The custom of lighting bonfires continued in many localities, especially in the N of Scotland, into the last century, and is still celebrated in Peebles.
BK b
#
"Belter, (Johann Heinrich) John Henry",3893,0,0,0
DT (1804-63)
EN furniture maker; born in \JGermany\j. He was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker in Wⁿrttemberg, and was trained to be a carver of rich ornamentation. He emigrated to New York City (1844), married, and opened a furniture shop. He designed highly popular Victorian \Jrococo\j furniture, and patented his invention (1856) for laminating \Jrosewood\j in thin panels, steaming the pieces in molds, and carving them with fruit and floral motifs.
By 1858 he had opened a large factory in New York City. Several years after his death, when there was less demand for his elaborate designs, the factory closed (1867).
BK AmBg
#
"Beluga",3894,0,0,0
EN \BFamily:\b \IMonodontidae\i \I(white whales)\i
\BScientific Name:\b \IDelphinapterus leucas\i\b (other common names: white whale, belukha)\b
\BIdentification:\b
Body length at birth 5 ft (1.6 m), adult length approximately 13 ft (4 m) for males, 11.5 ft (3.5 m) for females, maximum weight approximately 3,527 lbs (1,600 kg), although these figures may vary geographically. Robust body, small bulbous head with a slight beak. A shallow ridge runs along the midline of the back, which has no dorsal fin. Like the Irrawaddy dolphin, there is often a visible and relatively flexible neck in the \Jbeluga\j.
As well, the body is unusually flexible - they can rotate the flippers and heads, twist the body around while swimming, and scull backwards using the flukes. Coloration dark gray or brownish gray at birth, getting lighter with age to become pure white at 6 to 13 years old.
White whales are highly gregarious, most often seen in groups of up to 15 but can be in groups of thousands. Groups are often segregated by age and sex. They are very vocal, particularly when in large groups, emitting loud clicks, yelps, squeaks and shrill whistles (they are sometimes called "sea canaries"). They commonly swim upside down when calling. Generally swim slowly, but have been known to reach 14 miles/hr (22 km /h).
Food believed to be mainly benthopelagic fish and crustaceans. Dives mostly up to 5 minutes, but can remain submerged for as long as 15 minutes or more, and travel 1 to 2 miles (2 to 3 km) between breaths, an advantage in seas with dense ice cover.
\BDistribution:\b
High northern latitudes, throughout the \Jarctic\j and subarctic regions, where they are seen mostly in shallow coastal waters. They move into deep, offshore waters on occasions. Seasonal movements are very variable, depending on the population and on biological and environmental conditions. They tend to form small groups in winter, but in summer they gather in bays in large herds, sometimes in the thousands, and are very surface active. Some animals swim hundreds of miles up major rivers.
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"beluga (fish)",3895,0,0,0
PN [be\Bloo\bga]
EN Very large \Jsturgeon\j \I(Huso huso)\i found in the \JCaspian Sea\j, \JBlack Sea\j, and adjacent rivers; body length up to 5┐m / 16┐ft; weight over 1000┐kg / 2200┐lb; fished commercially for \Jcaviar\j, but numbers now much reduced by over-fishing and \Jpollution\j; one of the largest freshwater fish known. \B(Family:\b Acipenseridae.)
BK b
#
"beluga (mammal)",3896,0,0,0
PN [be\Bloo\bga]
HS (\Jmammal\j)
EN A small toothed whale \I(Delphinapterus leucas),\i native to shallow \JArctic\j seas and rivers; white when adult; no dorsal fin; eats fish, \Jsquid\j, crustaceans, and molluscs; also known as the \Bwhite whale\b or \Bsea canary.\b \B(Family:\b Monodontidae.)
BK b
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"Belukha, Mount",3897,0,0,0
PN [byi\Bloo\bkha]
EN 49░46N 86░40E. Highest peak in the Altai range; height 4506┐m / 14┐783┐ft; gives rise to 16 glaciers.
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"Belushi, John",3898,0,0,0
DT (1949-82)
EN comedian; born in \JChicago\j. After appearing with the Second City comedy troop in the 1970s, he achieved national recognition in \INational Lampoon's Lemmings\i (1973). On the National Broadcasting Company's \ISaturday Night Live\i (1974-79), he portrayed uniquely manic characters. He left to star in films, including \IThe Blues Brothers\i (1980), then died of a drug overdose in \JCalifornia\j.
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"Bely, Andrey",3899,0,0,0
DT 1880-1934
EN Russian poet, novelist, critic, theorist and playwright. His dramas - He Who Has Come (1903) and The Jaws of Night (1907) - are from the period when he championed the mystery play; they describe a portentous moment in time in which the \Jearth\j is poised between apocalypse and the Second Coming, a situation recreated in his 1910 novel, The Silver Dove.
Their dialogue and settings are infused with Bely's intense, hallucinogenic orchestration of rhythms, sound, light and colour. His critical essay on The Cherry Orchard (1904) pointed in a new direction, towards a symbolic realism in which the infinite is revealed in the instant. His essay 'Theatre and Modern Drama' rejected both the mystery play and symbolist drama (see \Jsymbolism\j).
His final experiences with theatre involved adapting his two city novels for the stage. Petersburg (1913) was presented as The Death of a Senator at the Moscow Art Theatre (1925), with Michael Chekhov in the title role. Bely gave Meyerhold his Moscow adaptation, but it never reached the stage.
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"Belzoni, Giovanni Battista",3900,0,0,0
PN [belt\Bzoh\bnee]
DT1 1778
DT2 1823
EN Explorer and antiquity-hunter, born in Padua, \JItaly\j. In 1815 he went to \JEgypt\j, and there was commissioned by Mehemet Ali to construct hydraulic machinery for irrigation purposes. He devoted himself thereafter to tomb robbing and the exploration of Egyptian antiquities, including the removal from Thebes of the colossal bust of Rameses II, which he sent to the British Museum.
EN Congolese novelist, playwright and journalist. During the 1970s he published plays, mainly for the radio. They range in theme from corruption in the old and new Africa to the intellectual's dilemma about involvement in a guerrilla war, and incorporate traditional elements and popular speech: L'Enfer c'est OrfΘo (Hell Is Orfeo, 1970, published under the pseudonym Martial Malinda), L'Homme qui tua le \Jcrocodile\j (The Man who Killed the \JCrocodile\j, 1972), Une Eau dormante (Sleepy Waters, 1975), Tarentelle noire et diable blanc (Black \JTarantula\j and White Devil, 1976) and Un Foutu de monde pour un blanchisseur trop honnΩte (A Rotten World for an Over-Honest Laundryman, 1979).
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"Bembo, Pietro",3902,0,0,0
PN [\Bbem\bboh]
DT1 1470
DT2 1547
EN Poet and scholar, born in \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j. In 1513 he was made secretary to Pope Leo X, and in 1539 a cardinal by Paul III, who appointed him to the dioceses of Gubbio and Bergamo. Bembo was the restorer of good style in both Latin and Italian literature, especially with his treatise on Italian prose \I(Prose della volgar lingua,\i 1525), which marked an era in Italian grammar.
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"Bemelmans, Ludwig",3903,0,0,0
DT (1898-1962)
EN writer, illustrator; born in Meran, \JAustria\j (now Merano, \JItaly\j). Educated in \JBavaria\j, he emigrated to New York City (1914), worked at various occupations, wrote for periodicals, and became famous for children's books, such as \IMadeline\i (1939), which he illustrated as well as wrote.
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"Bemis Heights, Battle of",3904,0,0,0
PN [\Bbee\bmis]
EN A preliminary conflict during the Saratoga campaign, in the US War of Independence.
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"Ben Bella, (Mohammed) Ahmed",3905,0,0,0
PN [ben \Bbe\bla]
DT1 1918
EN A key figure in the Algerian War of Independence against \JFrance\j, and Algeria's first prime minister (1962--3) and president (1963--5), born in Maghnia, Algeria. He fought with the Free French in World War 2, and in 1949 became head of the Organisation SpΘciale, the paramilitary wing of the Algerian nationalist Parti du Peuple AlgΘrien.
In 1952 he escaped from a French-Algerian prison to \JCairo\j, where he became a key member of the Front de LibΘration Nationale (FLN). Captured by the French in 1956, he spent the remainder of the war in a French prison. Following independence (1962) he became president, but was deposed in 1965. After 15 years of imprisonment, he went into voluntary exile in 1980, returning to Algeria in 1990.
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"Ben Macdhui",3906,0,0,0
PN [muhk\Bdoo\bee]
HS , \JGaelic\j \BBen Muich-Dhui\b
EN 57░04N 3░40W. Second highest mountain in the UK; in Cairngorm Mts, NC Scotland; 29┐km / 18┐mi north-west of Braemar; height 1309┐m / 4295┐ft.
BK b
#
"Ben Nevis",3907,0,0,0
EN 56░48N 5░00W. Highest mountain in the UK; in Grampian Mts, Highland, W Scotland; 7┐km / 4┐mi E of Fort William; height 1344┐m / 4409┐ft.
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"Ben-Ami, Jacob",3908,0,0,0
DT 1890-1977
EN Russian-born American actor and director. He achieved critical acclaim on both \JYiddish\j and English- speaking stages. Ben-Ami emigrated to New York in 1912. In 1919 he founded his own Jewish Art Theatre, where he discarded the old starring system. His Broadway acting career extended to 1972 and included Michael Cape in O'Neill's Welded (1924), Arthur Kober in Evening Song (1934) and Forman in The Tenth Man (1959).
He was a member of Eva Le Gallienne's Civic Repertory Theatre from 1929-31, portraying a memorable Trigorin in The \JSeagull\j. He acted and directed for the Theatre Guild, and toured his \JYiddish\j productions to Africa and \JSouth America\j. (See also \JYiddish\j theatre.)
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"Ben-Gurion, David",3909,0,0,0
PN [ben \Bgu\brion]
HS , originally \BDavid Gruen\b
DT1 1886
DT2 1973
EN Israeli statesman and prime minister (1948-53, 1955-63), born in Plonsk, \JPoland\j. Attracted to the Zionist Socialist movement, he emigrated to Palestine in 1906, working as a farm labourer and forming the first Jewish trade union in 1915. Expelled by the Ottomans for pro-Allied sympathies, he helped to raise the Jewish Legion in America and served in it in the Palestine campaign against Turkey in World War 1.
He was general secretary of the General Federation of Jewish Labour (1921-33), and in 1930 became leader of the Mapai (Labour) Party, which became the ruling party in the state of Israel, whose birth he announced in May 1948. After his retirement from political life, he came to symbolize the Israeli state.
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"Ben-Zvi, Itzhak",3910,0,0,0
PN [ben \Btsvee\b]
DT1 1884
DT2 1963
EN Israeli statesman and president (1952-63), born in \JPoltava\j, \JUkraine\j. Having migrated to Palestine in 1907 he became a prominent Zionist, and was a founder of the Jewish Labour Party. He was elected president of Israel on the death of Weizmann in 1952. A prominent scholar and archaeologist, he wrote on the history of the \JMiddle East\j.
MEX Weizmann
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"Benacerraf, Baruj",3911,0,0,0
DT1 1920
EN Immunologist, born in \JCaracas\j, Venezuela. He was research director at the National Centre for Scientific Research in Paris (1950--6) and professor at New York University (1957--68) and Harvard (from 1970). His research led to the discovery of immune-response genes that regulate \Jimmunology\j in organ transplants, for which he shared the 1980 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
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"Benares or Banares",3912,0,0,0
PN [be\Bnah\bres]
EN 25░22N 83░08E, pop (1995e) 1 002 000. City in Uttar Pradesh state, N India; on N bank of R Ganges, 120 km/75 mi E of Allahabad; one of the seven most sacred Hindu cities, reputed to be \JShiva\j's capital while on Earth; also a holy city of Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains; Hindu city since the 6th-c; invaded by Afghans, 1033; ceded to Britain, 1775; airfield; railway; two universities (1916, 1958); textiles, brassware, jewellery; over 1400 Hindu temples and shrines, including the Golden Temple (1777) and Durga Temple; stairs (\Ighats\i) along c.7 km/4 mi of the high bank of the Ganges, used by pilgrims to bathe in the sacred waters; mosque dedicated to Muslim emperor Aurangzeb.
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"Benaud, Richie",3913,0,0,0
PN [\Bben\boh]
HS , popular name of \BRichard Benaud\b
DT1 1930
EN Cricketer, broadcaster, and international sports consultant, born in Penrith, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. He played in 63 Test matches for \JAustralia\j (captain in 28), including three successful tours of England (1953, 1956, 1961). An all-rounder, he scored 2201 Test runs, including three centuries, and took 248 wickets with subtle leg-spin bowling. He is now a well-known cricket commentator.
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"Benavente y Martφnez, Jacinto",3914,0,0,0
DT 1866-1954
EN Spanish playwright; a circus impresario before turning to the theatre. His first full-length play, El nido ajeno (Another's Nest, 1894), was considered too sharply critical of society. However, Gente conocida (People of Importance, 1896) established his career, which was to last for 50 years. He wrote 18 plays in the period 1901-4. La noche del sßbado (Saturday Night, 1903) brought an international reputation which was confirmed by Los intereses creados (Bonds of Interest, 1907).
Se±ora ama (M'lady, 1908) shows patient feminine virtue triumphing over a husband's philandering. La malquerida (The Passion Flower, 1913) is a tragedy brought on by a man's passion for his stepdaughter. In 1909 Benavente helped found a short-lived Children's Theatre, which opened with his interesting fairy-tale play El prφncipe que todo lo aprendi≤ en libros (The Prince Who Learned Everything Out of Books). His later plays were more conservative.
He became director of the Teatro Espa±ol in 1920, but his Nobel Prize in 1922 provoked almost as much protest as that of Echegaray. He declared for the Republic in 1936 but made his peace with Franco's regime. Benavente's 175 plays include all types of drama, though many are mediocre and repetitive, especially after 1920.
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"Benbow, John",3915,0,0,0
DT1 1653
DT2 1702
EN English naval commander, born in \JShrewsbury\j, Shropshire, WC England, UK. He was master of the fleet at Beachy Head (1690), and at Barfleur and La Hague (1692). He commanded squadrons off \JDunkirk\j (1693-5), and as a rear-admiral was commander-in-chief West Indies from 1698.
In 1702, he came up against a superior French force off Santa Marta. For four days he kept up a running fight, almost deserted by the rest of his squadron, until his right leg was smashed by a chain shot and he was forced to return to \JJamaica\j, where he died.
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"Benbridge, Henry",3916,0,0,0
DT (?1743-1812)
EN painter; born in Philadelphia. He worked in \JItaly\j and exhibited his \IPortrait of Pascal Paoli\i (1769) in London before returning to Philadelphia (1770). Settling in Norfolk, Virginia (c. 1800), he was the first teacher of Thomas Sully (c. 1801) and worked as a portrait painter.
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"Bench, Johnny (Lee)",3917,0,0,0
DT1 1947
EN Baseball player, born in \JOklahoma City\j, Oklahoma, USA. Playing in the National League with the \JCincinnati\j Reds, he was the outstanding catcher of the 1970s. He hit over 200 home runs, and led the league three times in seven years for runs batted in. He was the National League's Most Valuable Player on several occasions.
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"Benchley, Robert (Charles)",3918,0,0,0
DT (1889-1945)
EN writer, humorist, actor; born in Worcester, Mass. Onetime editor of the \IHarvard Lampoon,\i he worked as a journalist and magazine editor. He became the leading humorist of his \Jday\j as the \INew Yorker\i 's columnist, "Guy Fawkes," and drama critic (1927-40).
A member of the Algonquin Round Table, he became a popular radio personality, film actor, and screenwriter; he performed several of his humorous monologues in short films, including the first such made in the U.S.A., \IThe Treasurer's Report\i (1928). His benign comic sketches were collected in 15 volumes, including \IBenchley Beside Himself\i (1943).
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"benchmark",3919,0,0,0
EN A surveyor's mark placed permanently on some buildings and rock outcrops. Their elevations are surveyed with respect to a fixed datum level, and can be used in further topographical surveys.
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"Bender, Charles Albert",3920,0,0,0
DT (1884-1954)
EN \Jbaseball\j player; born in Crow Wing County, Minn. A Chippewa Indian, he won 210 games during his 16-year career as a right-handed pitcher (1903-25), mostly with the Philadelphia \JAthletics\j. He pitched two no-hitters. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1953.
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"Bender, George Harrison",3921,0,0,0
DT (1896-1961)
EN U.S. representative/ senator; born in Cleveland, Ohio. Elected to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Rep., Ohio; 1939-49), he was an outspoken critic of the liberal policies of presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. However, during his brief term in the U.S. Senate (1954-57), he supported President Eisenhower's internationalist policies. He spent a year as a special assistant to the secretary of the interior (1957-58).
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"Bender, Lauretta",3922,0,0,0
DT (1897-1987)
EN psychiatrist; born in Butte, Mont. She received her M.D. from the State University of \JIowa\j in 1926. She was a senior psychiatrist at New York City's Bellevue \JHospital\j (1930-56) and did important research in childhood \Jschizophrenia\j and brain injury and devised the Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test. In 1936 she married her colleague Paul F. Schilder, a highly regarded psychoanalyst who had practiced in Vienna. From 1956 she was principal research scientist at three major New York State mental health facilities. Her four-volume \IBellevue Studies\i series (1952-55) was a major contribution to the literature on child \Jpsychology\j.
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"Bendigo",3923,0,0,0
PN [\Bben\bdigoh]
EN 36░48S 144░21E, pop (1995e) 31 900. City in NC Victoria, \JAustralia\j, NNW of Melbourne; centre of a wine-producing area; gold mined here until the 1950s; railway; agricultural trade, textiles, \Jrubber\j, railway \Jengineering\j; the Central Deborah gold mine; wax museum; reconstructed Sandhurst Town; the Bendigo Pottery (1858), \JAustralia\j's oldest pottery; the only surviving Chinese Joss House of the 1860s; Chinese Dragon Festival at Easter.
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"Bendix, Reinhard",3924,0,0,0
DT (1916-91)
EN sociologist; born in Berlin, \JGermany\j. A 1938 emigrant to the U.S.A., he was educated at the University of \JChicago\j and spent most of his academic career at the University of \JCalifornia\j: Berkeley; from 1947-61, he was with the sociology department, from 1962-91, with the political science department. He wrote many books on the sociology of industrial society, political sociology, and the German sociologist Max Weber, who was an important influence on his own work.
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"Bendix, Vincent",3925,0,0,0
DT1 1882
DT2 1945
EN Inventor, born in Moline, IL. At 16 he ran away to New York City, and studied \Jengineering\j at night school. He founded the Bendix Co of \JChicago\j (1907), mass-producing automobiles, and pioneering the starter drive (1913). The Bendix Corporation was formed in 1924, which eventually produced a wide range of technical equipment. His interest in \Javiation\j prompted the Bendix Transcontinental Air Race (1931), and he later formed Bendix Helicopters.
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"Bene, Carmelo",3926,0,0,0
DT 1937-
EN Italian actor, director and playwright. His radical reorchestrations of classic drama, like his versions of Shakespeare - Amleto (1975), Romeo e Giulietta (1976) and Riccardo III (1977) - or compositions such as Nostra Signora dei Turchi (Our Lady of the Turks, 1973) and S. A. D. E. (1974) have been highly original, controversial attempts to evolve contemporary performance styles centred on the physical and vocal qualities of the actor, but exploiting technical facilities, particularly light, sound and costuming. These have won him a wide following, but also charges of empty flamboyance and \Jdecadence\j.
His performance skills were remarkably demonstrated in his \Joratorio\j version of Manzoni's Adelchi (1984), first presented on stage, then transferred to Italian \Jtelevision\j. His commitment to striking scenic adaptation has persisted in work like Hammelette for Hamlet, an '\Joperetta\j inqualificabile'(1987), adapted from Laforgue, and in revivals like his version of Benelli's La Cena delle beffe (1989). Bene is a prolific commentator on his own approaches to the art of theatre.
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"Benedek, Ludwig von",3927,0,0,0
DT1 1804
DT2 81
EN Austrian soldier, born in Oedenburg, \JHungary\j. He distinguished himself in \JGalicia\j (1846), \JItaly\j (1847), and \JHungary\j (1849), and in 1859 drove back the Piedmontese at Solferino. In 1866 he commanded the northern Austrian army in the war with \JPrussia\j; but after the defeat of Sadowa in 1866 he was superseded.
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"Benedek, Therese (b. Friedmann)",3928,0,0,0
DT (1892-1977)
EN psychoanalyst, author; born in Eger, \JHungary\j. She studied at the University of Budapest (M.D. 1916) and taught \Jpediatrics\j in Poszony. Her marriage to Tibor Benedek in 1919 took her to \JLeipzig\j, \JGermany\j, where she became a psychoanalyst and developed a lifelong interest in the \Jpsychology\j of women. She came to the United States in 1936 and joined the \JChicago\j Institute of \JPsychoanalysis\j (to 1970). She published five important books, including \IPsychosexual Functions in Women\i (1952).
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"Beneden, Eduard van",3929,0,0,0
PN [beneden]
DT (1846-1910)
EN Belgian embryologist and cytologist: discovered that the number of chromosomes per cell is constant for a particular species.
Van Beneden followed his father in taking charge of \Jzoology\j teaching at LiΦge in 1870. His course of teaching was based largely on his own researches, which he did not publish, but one of his students published them after van Beneden's death. He showed in the 1880s that the number of chromosomes is constant in the cells of an animal body (except the sex cells) and the number is characteristic of the species (eg 46 in each human cell).
He worked particularly with the chromosomes in the cell nuclei of an intestinal worm from horses; these chromosomes are conveniently large and few (four in the body cells, two in the sex cells). He found that the \Jchromosome\j number is not doubled in the formation of the sex cells (the ova and spermatozoa) so that these have only half the usual number (a process called meiosis).
When they unite, the normal number is restored, with results in accord with Mendel's work in \Jgenetics\j. In fact, van Beneden misinterpreted some of his observations, which were clarified by the work of Weismann and de Vries.
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"Benedetti, Mario",3930,0,0,0
DT 1920-
EN Uruguayan playwright, novelist and critic. After three plays, including Ida y vuelta (Return Trip, 1958), a bitter satire on problems of moral decay in the national identity, Benedetti left the theatre because productions fell short of his expectations. He subsequently wrote Pedro y el capitßn (Pedro and the Captain, 1979), a virulent play about torture written during the worst period of Uruguayan political repression. ICTUS, a major professional theatre in \JChile\j, adapted his novel, Primavera con una esquina \Jrota\j (Spring with a Broken Corner, 1984), for the stage.
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"Benedict Biscop, St",3931,0,0,0
PN [\Bbi\bshop]
DT1a c.
DT1 628
DT2a c.
DT2 689
EN \JAnglo-Saxon\j clergyman. He became a monk in 653, journeyed to \JRome\j five times, and in 669-671 was Abbot of St Peter's, Canterbury. In 674 he founded a monastery at Wearmouth, endowing it richly with books, and in 682 founded a second monastery at Jarrow. He is said to have introduced stone edifices and glass windows to England. One of his pupils was the Venerable Bede. Feast \Jday\j 12 January.
MEX Bede
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"Benedict of Nursia, St",3932,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 480
DT2a c.
DT2 547
EN The founder of Western monasticism, born in Nursia near \JSpoleto\j, \JItaly\j. He studied at \JRome\j, and became convinced that the only way of escaping the evil in the world was in seclusion and religious exercise; so as a boy of 14 he withdrew to a cavern or grotto near Subiaco, where he lived for three years.
The fame of his piety led to his being appointed the abbot of a neighbouring monastery at Vicovaro, but he soon left it, as the morals of the monks were not strict enough. Multitudes still sought his guidance; and from the most devoted he founded 12 small monastic communities.
He ultimately established a monastery on Monte Cassino, near Naples, afterwards one of the richest and most famous in \JItaly\j. In 515 he is said to have composed his \IRegula monachorum,\i which became the common rule of all Western monasticism. He was declared the patron saint of all Europe by Pope Paul VI in 1964. Feast \Jday\j 11 July.
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"Benedict XV",3933,0,0,0
HS , originally \BGiacomo della Chiesa\b
DT1 1854
DT2 1922
EN Pope (1914-22), born in Pegli, \JSardinia\j, \JItaly\j. He studied at the University of \JGenoa\j, and the Collegia Capranica in \JRome\j, and was ordained in 1878. He became secretary to the Papal Embassy, \JSpain\j, in 1883, then secretary to Cardinal Rampolla, bishop (1900), \JArchbishop\j of \JBologna\j (1907), and cardinal (May, 1914).
Although a junior cardinal, he was elected to succeed Pius X in September 1914, soon after the outbreak of World War 1. He made repeated efforts to end the war, and organized war relief on a munificent scale.
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"Benedict, Kirby",3934,0,0,0
DT (1810-74)
EN judge; born in Connecticut. He read law in Connecticut and was admitted to the bar before 1834. Migrating westward, he established a private practice in Illinois, and later worked as a government attorney there. President Pierce named him a federal judge for the New Mexico Territory in 1853, and he dispensed frontier justice from Taos and Santa Fe until 1866, when he left the bench to return to private practice.
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"Benedict, Ruth",3935,0,0,0
DT (1887-1948)
EN US anthropologist.
Ruth Fulton was born in New York City, the eldest daughter of a surgeon. She was 2 years old when her father died and her mother's grief was hysterical, and ritually repeated on every anniversary. Her childhood was spent with her maternal grandparents on their farm near Norwich, NY and later with her aunt.
Fulton graduated at Vassar in 1909, studying philosophy and English literature, moved to \JCalifornia\j to teach and in 1914 married Stanley Rossiter Benedict. The marriage was not a success; looking for occupation, Ruth Benedict chanced upon \Janthropology\j. In 1921 she went to Columbia to study for a doctorate under Franz Boas (1858-1942).
From 1923, as lecturer in \Janthropology\j at Columbia, despite her partial \Jdeafness\j and acute shyness, she undertook fieldwork among several southwestern tribes of native Americans: the Zu±φ, the Cochiti and the Pima.
Her views were presented in Patterns of Culture (1934). Benedict saw cultures as 'personality writ large' and psychological normality as culturally defined, so that the misfit becomes one whose disposition is not contained by his culture. She made a plea for tolerance of all 'the co-existing and equally valid patterns of life which mankind has created for itself'.
Sharply criticized by some, nevertheless Patterns of Culture was a most influential work, translated into 14 languages and frequently reprinted.
Benedict was made associate professor at Columbia in 1936 and served 3 years as head of the department. About this time she joined the protest against \Jracism\j and intolerance, and published Race: Science and Politics (1940).
During the Second World War she moved to Washington as head of the Basic Analysis Section, Bureau of Overseas Intelligence, Office of War Information. With Margaret Mead and others, she applied anthropological methods to the study of complex societies and culture, working from documentary materials to make a number of national character studies.
From her study of the Japanese she produced The \JChrysanthemum\j and the Sword (1946), regarded as one of the best accounts of Japanese culture written by a westerner.
In 1947 Ruth Benedict became president of the American Anthropological Association and in 1948 was made a full professor at Columbia shortly before her death.
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"Benedictines",3936,0,0,0
EN A religious order following the 'rule' of St Benedict of Nursia; properly known as the \BOrder of St Benedict\b \B(OSB).\b The order consists of autonomous congregations, and has a long tradition of scholarship and promotion of learning.
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"Benediktsson, Einar",3937,0,0,0
DT1 1864
DT2 1940
EN Poet and entrepreneur, born near Reykjavφk. He studied law at \JCopenhagen\j and became a country magistrate in \JIceland\j. A fervent nationalist, he became convinced that only foreign investment could bring prosperity to \JIceland\j. He devoted many years to touring Europe seeking capital (unsuccessfully) for his ambitious industrial schemes to exploit \JIceland\j's natural resources of hydro power and fishing. He published five volumes of ornate poetry that harked back to the skaldic tradition.
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"Benedix, Roderich",3938,0,0,0
DT 1811-73
EN German playwright and director. He managed theatres in Frankfurt, Cologne and \JLeipzig\j, and was a prolific writer of popular light comedy in the manner of Scribe. Benedix's plays are no longer performed.
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"BΘneke, Walter",3939,0,0,0
DT 1928-
EN El Salvadorian playwright. BΘneke has also been ambassador to \JGermany\j and \JJapan\j. He wrote two prize- winning plays. El paraφso de los imprudentes (Paradise of the Imprudent, 1956), with its disconcerting look at the 'lost' postwar generation in Paris was the first play published in the series Colecci≤n Teatro (Theatre Collection) of El Salvador.
The English title of Funeral Home (1958) reflects its setting in the United States, where an anguished young widow faces an existential choice between happiness and adherence to a meaningless standard of values.
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"Benelli, Sem",3940,0,0,0
DT 1877-1949
EN Italian playwright and poet. His best work was done in the decade or so before the World War I: costume drama in the manner of D'Annunzio, e.g. La cena delle beffe (The Jest, 1909), an exotic blank-verse tragedy of Renaissance court revenge. La maschera di Bruto (The Mask of Brutus, 1908) anticipates later experimental drama, and his comedy Tignola (1908) retains a certain charm.
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"Benelux",3941,0,0,0
EN A customs union between \JBelgium\j, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg which came into existence in 1947 as the result of a convention concluded in London in 1944. Despite the difficulties of achieving economic \Jintegration\j and the exclusion of agriculture from the union, mutual trade between the three countries expanded. A treaty established a more ambitious economic union between the three in 1958.
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"Benesh, Rudolph (1916-75) and Benesh, Joan (1920- )",3942,0,0,0
PN [\Bbe\bnesh]
HS , \InΘe\i \BRothwell\b
EN Dance notators, husband and wife, born in London, England and Liverpool, \JMerseyside\j, north-west England, UK, respectively. Rudolph was a painter and Joan a former member of the Sadler's Wells Ballet. Together they copyrighted (1955) a dance notation system, called Choreology, that has been included in the syllabus of London's Royal Academy of Dancing and is used to document all important Royal Ballet productions. They opened their own institute in 1962, and have been a major influence on many notators and educators.
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"Benesr, Edvard",3943,0,0,0
PN [\Bben\besh]
DT1 1884
DT2 1948
EN Czech statesman and president (1935-8, 1941-5 in exile, 1945-8), born in Kozlany, Czech Republic. He studied law and became professor of sociology at \JPrague\j. As a refugee during World War 1 he worked in Paris with TomΘs Masaryk for Czechoslovak \Jnationalism\j, and was foreign minister of the new state (1918-35) and also premier (1921-2).
He succeeded Masaryk as president in 1935, but resigned in 1938 and left the country, resuming office in 1941 on the setting up of a government in exile in England. He returned to his country in 1945, and was re-elected president, but resigned after the Communist coup of 1948.
MEX Masaryk, TomΘs
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"BenΘt, Stephen (Vincent)",3944,0,0,0
DT (1898-1943)
EN poet, writer; born in \JBethlehem\j, Pa. He graduated from Yale (B.A. 1919; M.A. 1920), traveled to \JFrance\j (1926), wrote screen plays in \JHollywood\j, Calif., (1929), and settled in New York City, where he tried to balance his serious writing with necessary hackwork. During World War II he wrote for the Office of War Information. He is known for his poetry, such as the long narrative, \IJohn Brown's Body\i (1938), and a short story, "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1937).
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"BenΘt, William (Rose)",3945,0,0,0
PN [bi\Bnay\b]
DT1 1886
DT2 1950
EN Poet, editor, novelist, and playwright, born in Fort Hamilton, NY, the brother of Stephen BenΘt. His main claim to fame is as a poet, his collections including \IMerchants from Cathay\i (1913), \IMoons of Grandeur\i (1920), and \IThe Stairway of Surprise\i (1947).
MEX BenΘt, Stephen; Wylie, Elinor
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"Benfey, Theodor",3946,0,0,0
PN [\Bben\bfiy]
DT1 1809
DT2 81
EN Philologist, born near G÷ttingen, \JGermany\j. His early work was in the fields of classical and \JHebrew\j philology, the \ILexicon of Greek Roots\i (1839-42). Having learned Sanskrit in a few weeks to win a bet, he later turned his attention to Sanskrit philology. He was professor at G÷ttingen from 1848. His best-known work is the \ISanskrit-English Dictionary\i (1866).
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"Bengal, Bay of",3947,0,0,0
EN area 2┐172┐000┐km\U2\u / 839┐000┐mi\U2\u. Arm of the Indian Ocean, on S coast of Asia; bounded by India and \JSri Lanka\j (west), \JBangladesh\j (north), and \JMyanmar\j, Andaman Is, and Nicobar Is (east); c.2000┐km / 1300┐mi long, 1600┐km / 1000┐mi wide, depth 2390┐m / 7850┐ft (north) to 4150┐m / 13┐600┐ft (south); receives many large rivers, such as the Krishna, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy); main ports include Madras, \JCalcutta\j, \JChittagong\j; subject to heavy monsoon rains and cyclones.
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"Bengali",3948,0,0,0
EN See Indo-\JAryan\j languages
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"Benghazi or Banghazi",3949,0,0,0
PN [ben\Bgah\bzee]
EN 32░07N 20░05E, pop (1995e) 545 000. Seaport in Benghazi province, N \JLibya\j; on the Gulf of Sirte, 645 km/400 mi E of Tripoli; first settled by Greeks; modern town partly situated on Hellenistic and Roman towns of Berenice; controlled by Turks, 16th-c--1911; Italian rule, 1911--42; military and naval supply base during World War 2; second largest city in \JLibya\j; airport; university (1955); oil, \Jengineering\j.
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"Benham disc",3950,0,0,0
This was a discovery of Charles E. Benham. It is a black and white patterned circle, which appears to be coloured when it is spun around. Benham described his illusion in an article which was published in Nature back in 1894. In those days, if you wanted to see the disc, you would look for the design on a children's top, known unsurprisingly as "Benham's top".
An "Artificial Spectrum Top", devised by Mr. C. E. Benham, and sold by Messrs Newton and Co., furnishes an interesting phenomenon to students of physiological \Joptics\j. The top consists of a disc, one half of which is black, while the other half has twelve concentric circles drawn upon it. Each arc subtends an angle of forty-five degrees. In the first quadrant there are three such concentric arcs, in the next three more, and so on; the only difference being that the arcs are parts of circles of which the radii increase in arithmetic progression. Each quadrant thus contains a group of arcs differing in length from those of the other quadrants. The curious point is that when this disc is revolved, the impression of different colours is produced upon the \Jretina\j.
- \INature,\i November 29, 1894.
The first account was a brief and anonymous one, noting that the "disc" on the top was a black semi-circle, with the white half of the circle divided in four, and with black arcs painted in. As the disc is rotated, people see different colours from the different black arcs. And, as the reporter noted, if "..the direction of rotation is reversed, the order of these tints is also reversed. The cause of these appearances does not appear to have been exactly worked out."
There followed an animated correspondence, during which Benham stepped in. Illuminate the top with a bright sodium flame, he said, and you will see a very clear blue, and a very clear red. And now the controversy heats up: immediately underneath, Professor Liveing retorts that he has seen no such colours: the phenomenon is obviously a subjective one. Clearly there is room for more research here.
The "official" explanation now runs something like this: we have three kinds of light receptor in our eyes, in the same way there are three kinds of \Jphosphor\j in a colour TV. Speaking crudely, these \Jreceptors\j, the cone cells, are all sensitive to just one of red, green and blue. According to the theory, you need all three kinds of cone in the \Jretina\j of your eye to see colours normally. Somehow, the cones which pick up one of the colours (red, for example) must react differently to flashing lights of a particular frequency.
So with different size black bits on the disc, we get different frequency effects, and so our eyes are stimulated to "see" different colours. Well, that's what the theory says, but nothing seems to explain the alleged effects of sodium light. A deuteranope (a person who is red-green colour blind) also sees the illusion of colour when the disc is turned.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Benidorm",3951,0,0,0
PN [\Bben\bidaw(r)m]
EN 38░33N 0░09W, pop (1995e) 42 400. Resort town in Alicante province, E \JSpain\j, on the Mediterranean Costa Blanca; two beaches on either side of a rocky promontory; a leading centre of low-cost package holidays.
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"Benin (former kingdom)",3952,0,0,0
PN [be\Bneen\b]
EN A powerful kingdom in the S Nigerian \Jrainforest\j, founded in the 13th-c AD, which survived until the 19th-c. The Portuguese turned to Benin as a source of cloth, beads, and slaves in the 15th-16th-c, and it was later involved in the \Jslave trade\j. The culture is renowned for the life-size brass heads and human / animal plaques cast for its ruler, the Oba, from the 15th-c onwards. Benin was conquered by the British in 1897, and many of its treasures were taken to London. In 1975, the name was adopted by the former French colony of Dahomey.
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"Benin (republic)",3953,0,0,0
PN [be\Bneen\b]
EN pop (1995e) 5 420 000; area 112 622 sq km/43 484 sq mi. Republic in W Africa, divided into six provinces; capital, Porto Novo (nominal); political and economic capital, \JCotonou\j; other chief towns, Ouidah, \JAbomey\j, Kandi, Parakou, Natitingou; timezone GMT +1; many ethnic groups, especially the Fon, Adja, \JYoruba\j, Bariba; small European community; official language, French, with several local languages spoken; religion, 70% local beliefs, remainder Christian and Muslim; unit of currency, CFA franc.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
Rises from a 100 km/62 mi-long sandy coast with lagoons to low-lying plains, then to a savannah plateau at c.400 m/1300 ft; Atakora Mts rise to over 500 m/1600 ft in the NW; Alibori R valley in the NE, joining the R \JNiger\j valley; several rivers flow S to the Gulf of Guinea; tropical climate, divided into three zones: in the S, rain throughout the year, especially during the "Guinea Monsoon' (May--Oct); in C area, two rainy seasons (peaks in May--June, Oct); in the N, one rainy season (Jul--Sep); N dry season (Oct--Apr) hot, low \Jhumidity\j, subject to the dry \Iharmattan\iwind from the NE; average annual rainfall at \JCotonou\j c.1300 mm/50 in.
\IHistory and government\i
In pre-colonial times, a collection of small, warring principalities, especially the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey (founded in the 17th-c); Portuguese colonial activities centred on \Jslave trade\j; subjugated by French, 1892, becoming the French Protectorate of Dahomey; territory within French West Africa, 1904; independence, 1960; name changed, 1975; Marxist-Leninist regime replaced in 1989; new constitution, 1990; governed by an elected president, who serves a 5-year term, and a single-chamber National Assembly of 64 members, serving up to 4 years.
\IEconomy\i
Agriculture important, especially \Jpalm oil\j products, cashew nuts, \Jmaize\j, \Jcassava\j, rice, cotton, \Jcoffee\j; important service sector; fishing, food processing, textiles, beverages, cement; no known natural resources in commercial quantity but for a small offshore oilfield.
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"Benioff, (Victor) Hugo",3954,0,0,0
DT (1899-1968)
EN seismologist, inventor; born in Los Angeles, Calif. He was a physicist at the Carnegie Institution (1924-37) before joining the \JCalifornia\j Institute of Technology (1937-64). He devised and developed many seismic detection instruments, including a \Jseismograph\j for measuring travel-time curves of \Jearthquake\j waves that became the basis for the Geneva Conference nuclear detection system. He was the first to describe the plane of \Jearthquake\j foci extending from \JPacific Ocean\j trenches to the earth's shallower mantle, now known as the Benioff Zone.
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"Benjamin of Tudela",3955,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2 1173
EN Rabbi, born in Navarre, \JSpain\j. From 1159 to 1173 he made a journey from \JSaragossa\j through \JItaly\j and \JGreece\j to Palestine, \JPersia\j, and the borders of China, returning by way of \JEgypt\j and \JSicily\j. He was the first European traveller to describe the Far East.
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"Benjamin, Asher",3956,0,0,0
DT (1773-1845)
EN author and architect; born in Hartland, Conn. A \JBoston\j businessman and architect, his seven pattern books (1797-1843) spread Georgian, Federal, and Greek Revival styles throughout America. He designed the Charles Street Meetinghouse, \JBoston\j, Mass. (1807).
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"Benjamin, Judah P(hilip)",3957,0,0,0
DT (1811-84)
EN lawyer, Confederate cabinet member; born in St. Croix, Danish West Indies. Son of European Jews, he was brought to South Carolina as a child. After attending Yale (1825-27) he settled in \JNew Orleans\j; he became a widely respected lawyer and served Louisiana in the U.S. Senate (Whig, 1853-59; Dem., 1859-61). Favoring secession, he served the Confederacy as attorney general (1861) and then as secretary of war (1861-62); he was blamed for the Confederate army's lack of equipment, but Jefferson Davis promoted him to \Jsecretary of state\j (1862-65). He favored using slaves as soldiers.
With the collapse of the Confederacy he fled to the West Indies and then to England (1866), where he made a brilliant new career as a British \Jbarrister\j, especially in appeal cases. He wrote the \ITreatise on the Law of Sale of Personal Property\i (1868), which at once became the standard in the field.
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"Benjamin, tribe of",3958,0,0,0
EN One of the 12 tribes of ancient Israel, said to be descended from Jacob's youngest son by Rachel \I(Gen\i 35.16-18, 24). Its ancient territories included the land between the hill country of Ephraim and the hills of Judah. Saul, first King of Israel, and the \Jprophet\j Jeremiah were of this tribe.
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"Benn, Anthony (Neil) Wedgwood",3959,0,0,0
DT1 1925
EN British statesman, born in London, England, UK, the son of Viscount Stansgate. He studied at Oxford, and became a Labour MP (1950--60). He was debarred from the \JHouse of Commons\j on succeeding to his father's title, but was able to renounce it in 1963, and was re-elected to parliament the same year. He was postmaster-general (1964--6), minister of technology (1966--70), and assumed responsibility for the ministry of \Javiation\j (1967) and ministry of power (1969).
He was Opposition spokesman on trade and industry (1970--4), and on Labour's return to government became \Jsecretary of state\j for industry, minister for posts and telecommunications, and \Jsecretary of state\j for \Jenergy\j. Representing the left wing of Labour opinion, he unsuccessfully stood for the deputy leadership of the party in 1981. He lost his seat in the general election of 1983, but returned to represent Chesterfield from 1984. He unsuccessfully challenged Neil Kinnock for the party leadership in 1988. Among his many publications on politics is \IThe Benn Diaries 1940--90\i (1995).
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"Benn, Gottfried",3960,0,0,0
DT1 1886
DT2 1956
EN Poet and physician, born in Mansfeld, \JGermany\j. He embraced the philosophy of \JNihilism\j as a young man, and later became one of the few intellectuals to favour Nazi doctrines. Trained in medicine as a venereologist, he began writing Expressionist verse dealing with the uglier aspects of his profession, such as \IMorgue\i (1912). After 1945 his poetry became more versatile though still pessimistic, and he became recognized as a leading poet of the century.
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"Bennet, Henry",3961,0,0,0
EN See Arlington, Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of
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"Bennett, (Enoch) Arnold",3962,0,0,0
DT1 1867
DT2 1931
EN Novelist, born near Hanley, Staffordshire, C England, UK. He studied locally and at London University, and was a solicitor's clerk in London, but quickly transferred to journalism, and in 1893 became assistant editor (editor in 1896) of the journal \IWoman.\i He published his first novel, \IThe Man from the North,\i in 1898. In 1902 he moved to Paris for 10 years and from then on was engaged exclusively in writing.
His claims to recognition as a novelist rest mainly on the early \IAnna of the Five Towns\i (1902), the more celebrated \IThe Old Wives' Tale\i (1908), and the \IClayhanger\i series - \IClayhanger\i (1910), \IHilda Lessways\i (1911), \IThese Twain\i (1916), subsequently issued (1925) as \IThe Clayhanger Family\i - all of which feature the 'Five Towns', centres of the pottery industry. He was an influential critic, and as \BJacob Tonson\b on \IThe New Age\i he was a discerning reviewer. His \IJournals\i were published posthumously.
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"Bennett, Alan",3963,0,0,0
DT1 1934
EN Playwright, actor, and director, born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. He came to prominence as a writer and performer in \IBeyond the Fringe\i, a revue performed at the Edinburgh Festival in 1960, and wrote a \Jtelevision\j series, \IOn the Margin\i (1966), before his first stage play, \IForty Years On\i (1968). Despite his own self-effacing qualities, he has remained in the public eye. A great deal of his writing is political comedy, a number of plays displaying a preoccupation with British institutions.
There is an ambitious treatment of monarchy in \IThe Madness of George III\i (1991). Other plays include \IEnjoy\i (1980), \IKafka's Dick\i (1986), \ISingle Spies\i (1988), and \IGetting On\i (1995). He has also written much for \Jtelevision\j, including \IAn Englishman Abroad\i (1983), \IThe Insurance Man\i (1986), \ITalking Heads\i (1987), a series of six monologues related to his northern, working-class roots, and the documentary \IPortrait or Bust\i (1994). The autobiographical \IWriting Home\i appeared in 1994.
\BMajor Works\b
\IPlays\i
1969 Forty Years On
1972 Getting On
1973 Habeas Corpus
1978 The Old Country
1980 Enjoy
1981 Office Suite
1982 Objects of Affection
1984 A Private Function
1985 The Writer in Disguise
1986 Kafka's Dick
1987 Single Spies (A Question of Attribution
\IAn Englishman Abroad)\i
1990 The Lady in the Van
1990 Poetry in Motion
1991 The Wind in the Willows (adaptation)
1992 Talking Heads
1992 The Madness of George III
1992 Poetry in Motion 2
\IScreenplays\i
1987 Prick Up Your Ears
1995 The Madness of King George
\ITelevision films\i
1972 A Day Out
1975 Sunset Across the Bay
Televison plays
1977 A Little Outing
1977 A Visit from Miss Prothero
1978 Doris and Doreen
1978 The Old Crowd
1978 Me! I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf
1979 All Day on the Sands
1979 Afternoon Off
1979 One Fine Day
1983 Intensive Care
1983 Say Something Happened
1983 Our Winnie
1983 Marks
1983 An Englishman Abroad
1983 A Woman of No Importance
1983 Rolling Home
1986 The Insurance Man
1988 Talking Heads (series)
1990 Poetry in Motion
1991 102 Boulevard Haussmann
1991 A Question of Attribution
1992 Poetry in Motion 2
\ITelevision documentaries\i
1988 Dinner at Noon
1994 Portrait or Bust
1995 The Abbey
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"Bennett, Floyd",3964,0,0,0
DT (1890-1928)
EN aviator; born near Warrensburg, N.Y. He quit school at age 17 and ran an \Jautomobile\j garage before enlisting in the U.S. Navy (1917), where he learned to fly. In 1925 he flew with Richard Byrd on an expedition to \JGreenland\j, and on May 9, 1926, he was at the controls as the two men made the first flight to the \JNorth Pole\j.
He received the Congressional Medal of Honor for this feat and became a national hero, but on the early stage of a long-distance flight he died prematurely of \Jpneumonia\j.
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"Bennett, Hugh Hammond",3965,0,0,0
DT (1881-1960)
EN soil conservationist; born in Wadesboro, N.C. Raised on a 1,200 acre farm whose depleted soil made farming difficult, in 1903 he joined the Bureau of Soils at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and was soon working on problems of soil erosion. As supervisor of soil surveys (1909-28), he assessed agricultural possibilities in the \JPanama Canal\j Zone, inspected the land proposed for a territorial railroad in \JAlaska\j, and conducted soil surveys in \JCuba\j.
In 1928 he coauthored the USDA report "Soil Erosion, a National Menace," and persuaded Congress to fund an erosion control program (1933). He directed the Soil Erosion Service in the Department of the Interior, and, while a dust storm swept over the capital, he appealed to Congress for more action on soil conservation (1935). Congress enacted the Soil Conservation Act and Bennett became the first chief of the Soil Conservation Service.
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"Bennett, James Gordon (1795-1872)",3966,0,0,0
DT (1795-1872)
EN journalist, newspaper publisher; born in Banffshire, Scotland. Emigrating to \JNova Scotia\j in 1819, he taught school there and in \JBoston\j, Mass., before taking up newspaper work in South Carolina, on the \ICharleston Courier.\i He later became Washington correspondent for the \INew York Enquirer,\i a party paper, and then associate editor of a paper created by its merger with the \IMorning Courier; \i but in 1832 he was fired for his views.
In 1835, with $500 in capital, Bennett launched the \INew York Herald,\i a one-penny daily paper aimed at a mass audience, and embarked on the course that made him famous. Its editorials, unlike those of other papers, were not tied to the views of a particular party, and its coverage extended to sports and fashion, as well as to business and finance.
Bennett also featured sensational stories focused on sex and crime, made heavy use of illustrations, dispatched correspondents to far-flung regions, and stressed getting the news fast. By the 1860s the \IHerald\i was the city's most popular paper, though it did not win great prestige. He retired in 1867, to be succeeded by his son.
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"Bennett, James Gordon (1841-1918)",3967,0,0,0
DT (1841-1918)
EN newspaper editor; born in New York City. Taking over the \INew York Herald\i from his father in 1867, he continued a tradition of aggressive news gathering and financed several famous international expeditions, including Henry Morton Stanley's successful search in central Africa for David Livingstone (1869-71).
He moved to Paris in 1877, conducting his business from there via cables, correspondence, and the summoning of editors. In 1883, with John Mackay, he founded a company to lay transatlantic cables, breaking Jay Gould's monopoly. Four years later he established the renowned Paris edition of the \IHerald.\i An avid sportsman, he established international trophies in yachting, \Jautomobile\j, and aeronautical racing.
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"Bennett, Michael",3968,0,0,0
DT (1943-87)
EN dancer, choreographer, stage director/producer; born in Buffalo, N.Y. By age three he was dancing at a dance school in Buffalo; by age 12 he had mastered all forms of dance; at 16 he dropped out of school to join the chorus of a touring company of \IWest Side Story\i and toured Europe for a year. Back in New York City, he danced in choruses until emerging as a choreographer, his first show being \IA Joyful Noise\i (1966); his first real hit (with eight Tony Awards) was \IPromises, Promises\i (1968), and he went on to choreograph \ICompany\i (1970) and \IFollies\i (1971).
By this time his reputation was such that he was often called in as a "show doctor" to save struggling productions. Working with a group of so-called "gypsies," chorus dancers, he conceived of a show that would be based on their lives and careers; this became \IChorus Line,\i which opened in 1975 and went on to become Broadway's longest running musical. He was hailed as having "reinvented" the American musical, and although some would claim he had tendency to take credit as well as control, he was undeniably an influential choreographer.
With some of his profits from the many productions of \IChorus Line\i around the world, he bought (1977) an 8-story building on lower Broadway where he established offices and rehearsal spaces that he rented to other dance companies. (He sold the building in 1986.) He had another hit with \IDreamgirls\i (1981) but in 1985 he suddenly abandoned a new musical, \IScandal,\i and two years later he died of AIDS.
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"Bennett, Richard",3969,0,0,0
DT 1873-1944
EN American stage and film actor. Among his successful roles were He in He Who Gets Slapped, Judge Gaunt in Winterset, Tony in They Knew What They Wanted and Robert Mayo in Beyond the Horizon. Bennett excited considerable controversy by berating audiences and critics, even stopping shows to lecture the audience.
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"Bennett, Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount",3970,0,0,0
DT1 1870
DT2 1947
EN Canadian statesman and prime minister (1930-5), born in New \JBrunswick\j, Canada. A lawyer by training, he was elected to parliament in 1911, and became Conservative leader from 1927. As prime minister, he convened the Empire Economic Conference in \JOttawa\j in 1932, out of which came a system of empire trade preference known as the \JOttawa\j Agreements. He retired to Britain in 1939.
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"Bennett, Richard Rodney",3971,0,0,0
DT1 1936
EN Composer, born in Broadstairs, Kent, SE England, UK. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and in Paris under Pierre Boulez. Well known for his music for films, he has also composed operas, orchestral works, chamber music, and experimental works for one and two pianos.
Some of his music uses the 12-tone scale, and his interest in jazz has prompted such works as \IJazz Calendar\i (1963) and \IJazz Pastoral\i (1969). His more recent work shows a growing emphasis on internal rhythmic structure.
Among his other works are the two operas commissioned by Sadler's Wells, \IThe Mines of Sulphur\i (1965) and \IA Penny for a Song\i (1968), the opera commissioned by Covent Garden, \IVictory\i (1970), and the choral work, \ISpells\i (1975). He was appointed Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music in 1995. He was knighted in 1998.
\BMajor Works\b
\IOrchestral music\i
1 Symphony
\IAubade\i for orchestra
1963 \IJazz Calender\i
1969 \IJazz Pastoral\i
\IStage music\i
\IOperas\i
\IThe Mines of Sulphur\i
\IA Penny for a Song\i
\IVictory\i
\IChamber music\i
4 String Quartets
\IChoral music\i
1975 \ISpells\i
\IFilm music\i
\IPiano music\i
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"Bennett, Sir William Sterndale",3972,0,0,0
DT1 1816
DT2 75
EN Pianist and composer, born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, N England, UK. He studied at the Royal Academy, London, and at \JLeipzig\j, became professor of music at Cambridge (1856), and in 1868 was appointed principal of the Royal Academy of Music. His compositions include \Jpiano\j pieces, songs, and the cantatas \IThe May Queen\i (1858) and \IThe Women of Samaria\i (1867).
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"Bennett, Wendell C. (Clark)",3973,0,0,0
DT (1905-53)
EN anthropologist; born in Marion, Ind. He was educated at the University of \JChicago\j. As a staff specialist in Andean archaeology at the American Museum of Natural History in the 1930s, Bennett led many expeditions, publishing, among other important reports of his excavations, \IThe Tarahumara\i (1935). After 1940 he taught at Yale.
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"Bennett, Willard Harrison",3974,0,0,0
DT (1903-87)
EN physicist, inventor; born in Findlay, Ohio. He received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of \JMichigan\j in 1928 and joined the Ohio State University faculty two years later. In the 1950s, he invented a device that produced a model of the Van Allen radiation belt. His radio frequency \Jmass spectrometer\j, a device that measured the mass of atoms, first went into space in 1957 aboard the Russian \Jsatellite\j \JSputnik\j.
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"Bennett, William J(ohn)",3975,0,0,0
DT1 1943
EN US Federal official, born in Brooklyn, NY. Outspoken and controversial, as chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (1981-5) he reversed Liberal policies. He became secretary of education (1985-8) promoting a conservative agenda, cutting federal student aid, and urging schools to become a force for moral education. As President Bush's 'drug tzar' (1989-91) he co-ordinated the campaign against drugs, but resigned in frustration.
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"Benny, Jack",3976,0,0,0
DT (1894-1974)
EN comedian; born in \JChicago\j, Ill. He dropped out of high school to play violin for \Jvaudeville\j companies, and discovered his own talent for comedy while appearing in U.S. Navy shows in 1918. Combining his violin with his comic routines, in the 1920s he toured in \Jvaudeville\j and made a few movies.
In 1927 he married Sadye Marks, a clerk in a retail store; she adopted the name Mary Livingstone and became a foil for his comic routines. He went on to become an American institution on radio, first with the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1932-48), then with CBS (1948-55), where his own character - a mildly neurotic, self-important tightwad - and a regular supporting cast managed to milk laughs from endless variations on a few themes.
He made occasional appearances on \Jtelevision\j in the early 1950s before settling into the \IJack Benny Show\i (1955-65), where to his famous radio shticks - the pregnant pause and the perfectly timed, "Well!" - he added the slow take and the piqued stare. Over his career he had made a score of movies, the most notable being \ITo Be or Not to Be\i (1942).
After giving up his regular \Jtelevision\j show, he continued to appear on \Jtelevision\j specials, and he made a new career playing his violin in benefit concerts with the nation's symphony orchestras. In real life he was said to have the very opposite of his comic persona - generous, modest, and considerate.
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"Benois, Alexandre",3977,0,0,0
DT 1870-1960
EN Russian painter and designer. He emigrated to Paris in 1926. Benois designed both sets and costumes, mostly for opera and ballet. Together with Serge Diaghilev in 1898 he founded the journal Mir Isskustva (The World of Art), which became a focal point for the emerging modern artists of \JRussia\j.
Benois served as artistic director for the early years of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, where his crowning achievement was Petrushka (1911), and together with LΘon Bakst he exerted a profound influence on the development of European design and ballet. Benois's designs, which were often of 18th- and 19th- century scenes, exhibit deep, rich colours and evoke a romantic \Jatmosphere\j. After the mid-1920s he designed throughout Europe, especially at La Scala in Milan.
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"Benoεt de Sainte-Maure",3978,0,0,0
PN [benwah]
DT1 12
DT1b th-c
EN Poet, born in either Sainte-Maure near Poitiers, or Sainte-More near Tours, \JFrance\j. His vast romance \ILe Roman de Troie\i (The Romance of Troy) was a source book to many later writers, notably Boccaccio, who in turn inspired Chaucer and Shakespeare to use Benoεt's episode of Troilus and Cressida.
MEX Boccaccio
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"Benozzo di Lese",3979,0,0,0
EN See Gozzoli, Benozzo
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#
"Benson, Ezra Taft",3980,0,0,0
DT (1899-94)
EN government official, religious leader; born in Whitney, Ida. He was President Eisenhower's secretary of agriculture (1953-1961). He became president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (\JMormons\j) in 1985.
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"Benson, Frank (Weston)",3981,0,0,0
DT (1862-1951)
EN painter, etcher; born in Salem, Mass. He studied at the \JBoston\j Museum of Fine Arts (1877-80), and in Paris (1883), settled in \JBoston\j to teach at the Museum of Fine Arts (1889-1912), and summered in North Haven Island, Maine. A member of The Ten (1898), he was an impressionist, as in \ISummer\i (1890), and produced popular wildlife etchings.
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"Benson, Sir Frank (Robert)",3982,0,0,0
DT 1858-1939
EN English actor-manager. While he was still an Oxford undergraduate he produced the \JAgamemnon\j in Greek. By the age of 25 he was manager of the F. R. Benson Company, touring Shakespeare. Engaged by Charles Flower to initiate an annual Shakespeare Festival at Stratford, Benson retained his association with the Festival from 1886 to 1919.
He toured the \JBritish Isles\j, providing for many provincial audiences their only experience of professional Shakespearian performance. He played an uncut Hamlet (1899) and all but two of Shakespeare's plays, and many actors did their apprenticeship in his busy company. Benson was knighted in 1916.
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"Benson, William Shepherd",3983,0,0,0
DT (1855-1932)
EN naval officer; born in Bibb County, Ga. During a long naval career (1877-1929) he served as chief of staff of the Pacific Fleet (1909-10), and as the first chief of naval operations (1915-19). He published \IThe Merchant Marine\i (1923) and was the first president of the National Council of Catholic Men.
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"Bent, Charles",3984,0,0,0
DT (1799-1847)
EN trader; born in Charleston, Va. (now W.Va.). He entered the fur trade early, and with his brother, William Bent, and Ceran St. Vrain, built Bent's Fort (1828-32) in present-\Jday\j La Junta, Colo. He became the civil governor of New Mexico in 1846 but was killed in an uprising of Mexicans and \JPueblo\j Indians.
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"Bentham, George",3985,0,0,0
DT (1800-84)
EN British plant taxonomist.
Son of a wealthy naval architect, Bentham became interested in botany at 17. He was trained in law and worked as secretary to his uncle, the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, from 1826-32. Thereafter, his studies in botany took up all his time; in 1854 he gave his herbarium and library to \JKew Gardens\j and worked there for the rest of his life. His Plant Genera (3 vols, 1862-83) written with Hooker has continued to be a standard work for British botanists; but he also wrote other floras, eg the seven-volume Australian Flora.
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"Bentham, Jeremy",3986,0,0,0
DT1 1748
DT2 1832
EN Philosopher, jurist, and social reformer, born in London, England, UK. He entered Oxford at the age of 12, and was admitted to Lincoln's Inn at 19. He is best known as a proponent of \Jutilitarianism\j in his pioneering works \IA Fragment on Government\i (1776) and \IIntroduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation\i (1789), which argued that the proper objective of all conduct and legislation is 'the greatest happiness of the greatest number', and developed a 'hedonic \Jcalculus\j' to estimate the effects of different actions.
He was made an honorary citizen of the French Republic in 1792, and published copiously on penal and social reform, economics, and politics. He also founded University College, London, where his clothed skeleton is preserved on public view.
MEX HelvΘtius; Bentham, Samuel
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"Bentham, Sir Samuel",3987,0,0,0
DT1 1757
DT2 1831
EN Inventor and naval architect, born in London, England, UK, the brother of Jeremy Bentham and father of George Bentham. For nearly 20 years he devoted his energies to building up Britain's naval strength during the critical period of the Napoleonic Wars. His campaign against corruption and maladministration in the Admiralty dockyards aroused such bitterness that in 1812 he was forced to resign, though not before many of his reforms had been put into effect.
MEX Bentham, George; Bentham. Jeremy
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"benthic or benthonic environments",3988,0,0,0
EN The marine life zone at the sea floor; distinguished from the \Bpelagic environments,\b in the \Jwater\j itself. There are two major divisions. \BShallow benthic environments\b are those towards the shore from the edge of the continental shelf. They comprise three sub-divisions. The \Isupralittoral\i zone lies just above the mean high tide line, sometimes called the 'splash zone', because the organisms are exposed to sea \Jwater\j mainly from the wave splashes, periodic storm waves, and spring tides. The \Ilittoral\i zone lies between the mean high and low tide lines, also called the 'intertidal' zone.
The \Isublittoral\i zone extends from below the mean low tide line to the edge of the continental shelf, and has been called the 'shelf' zone. \BDeep benthic environments\b are those of the continental margin and deep ocean seaward of this boundary. They have been subdivided into the \Ibathyl benthic\i (shelf edge to 4000┐m / 13┐000┐ft), the \Iabyssal benthic\i (4-6000┐m / 13-20┐000┐ft), and the \Ihadal benthic\i (6-11┐000+┐m / 20-36┐000+┐ft).
At the sea floor itself, the various benthic habitats can be divided into those where the organisms live primarily on the surface of the bottom \B(benthic epifauna)\b and those where they actually inhabit the sediment \B(benthic infauna).\b
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"Bentinck, Lord (William) George (Frederick Cavendish)",3989,0,0,0
DT1 1802
DT2 48
EN British politician, born at Welbeck Abbey, \JNottinghamshire\j, C England, UK. He entered parliament in 1828, supported Catholic Emancipation and the Reform Bill, but left the \JWhigs\j in 1834 to form a separate Conservative parliamentary group with Lord Stanley. On Peel's third betrayal of his party in introducing \Jfree trade\j measures, Bentinck led the Tory Opposition to Peel. A great lover of racing and field sports, he stamped out many dishonest turf practices.
MEX Peel; Derby, 14th Earl
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"Bentinck, Lord William (Henry Cavendish)",3990,0,0,0
DT1 1774
DT2 1839
EN British statesman and Governor-General of India (1828-35), born in Bulstrode, Buckinghamshire. He became Governor of Madras (1803-7), but was recalled when his prohibition of sepoy beards and turbans caused the massacre at Vellore (1806). He served in the \JPeninsular War\j (1808-14), in 1827 became Governor-General of Bengal, and in 1828 first Governor-General of India.
His administration resulted in better internal communications, brought about many educational reforms with the help of Thomas Macaulay, and prohibited \Isuttee.\i
MEX Macaulay
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"Bentinck, William Henry Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Portland",3991,0,0,0
DT1 1738
DT2 1809
EN British statesman and prime minister (1783, 1807-9), born in Bulstrode, Buckinghamshire, SC England, UK. He entered Lord Rockingham's cabinet in 1765, and succeeded him as leader of the Whig Party. He was twice prime mininster, but his best work was done as home secretary under Pitt, when he was given charge of Irish affairs (1794-1801).
MEX Rockingham; Pitt (the Younger)
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"Bentinck, William, 1st Earl of Portland",3992,0,0,0
DT1 1649
DT2 1709
EN English soldier and courtier, born in Holland. A friend from boyhood of William III, he was entrusted with the secrets of his foreign policy, and after the revolution was created an English peer, and given large estates.
MEX William III
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"Bentine, Michael",3993,0,0,0
PN [\Bben\bteen]
DT1 1921
DT2 96
EN Comedy performer, born in Watford, \JHertfordshire\j, south-east England, UK. He made his stage debut in 1941 and, after wartime service in the RAF, worked at the Windmill Theatre (1946) and in the show \IStarlight Roof\i (1947). One of the early members of \IThe Goons\i (1950-2), he left the popular radio series to pursue a solo career, and appeared on \Jtelevision\j in \IAfter Hours\i (1959-60) and \IIt's a Square World\i (1960-4), which allowed him to indulge his eccentric penchant for zany, surreal humour.
Later \Jtelevision\j series, often for children, included \IThe Golden Silents\i (1965), \IPotty Time\i (1973-80), and \IMad About It\i (1981). He wrote novels and autobiographies, including \IThe Long Banana Skin\i (1975) and \IA Shy Person's Guide to Life\i (1984).
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"Bentley, Arthur Fisher",3994,0,0,0
DT (1870-1957)
EN political scientist; born in Freeport, Ill. While employed as a journalist in \JChicago\j, he wrote \IThe Process of Government\i (1908), describing how "pressure groups" influence all governments. Although he wrote several important books including, \IRelativity in Man and Society\i (1926), \IKnowing and the Known\i (with John Dewey) (1949), and \IMakers, Users, and Masters\i (posthumously, 1969), his controversial, often critical views of American government prevented his acceptance by mainstream academia.
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"Bentley, E(dmund) C(lerihew)",3995,0,0,0
DT1 1875
DT2 1956
EN Journalist and novelist, born in London, England, UK. He is chiefly remembered as the author of \ITrent's Last Case\i (1913), which is regarded as a milestone in the development of the detective novel. A close friend of G K Chesterton, he originated and gave his name to the type of humorous verse-form known as the \Iclerihew.\i
MEX Chesterton
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"Bentley, Eric (Russell)",3996,0,0,0
DT 1916-
EN British-born American drama critic, translator, editor, playwright and director. Bentley gained recognition in the late 1940s for his translations of Brecht's plays. He has directed in both the US and the European theatre, and was drama critic of the New Republic from 1952 to 1956. Besides Brecht, he has translated Pirandello and Schnitzler, and written ten original plays and numerous critical books.
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"Bentley, Richard",3997,0,0,0
DT1 1662
DT2 1742
EN Classical scholar, born in Oulton, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, and became \Jarchdeacon\j of Ely and keeper of the Royal Libraries (1694). He established an international reputation with his dispute with Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery (1697-9), in which he proved that the so-called \IEpistles of Phalaris\i were spurious.
He was appointed Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1700, where he was involved in an unbroken series of quarrels and litigations. He published critical texts of many Classical works, including the Greek \JNew Testament\j.
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#
"Bentley, Thomas",3998,0,0,0
EN See Wedgwood, Josiah
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#
"Bentley, William",3999,0,0,0
DT (1759-1819)
EN Protestant clergyman, author; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. He graduated from Harvard in 1777 and taught school for three years before returning to Harvard as a Latin and Greek tutor. Ordained pastor of East Church, Salem, Mass., in 1783 (where he remained for the rest of his life), he developed an appealing theological and political liberalism and is considered a pioneer of the Unitarian movement.
He was a regular contributor to the Salem \IRegister,\i a Freemason, and a correspondent with Thomas Jefferson. His four-volume diary (published 1905-14) provides an illuminating picture of his times.
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"Bentley, Wilson (Alwyn)",4000,0,0,0
DT (1865-1931)
EN meteorologist; born in Jericho, Vt. He spent his life on a farm in \JVermont\j, collecting data from storms and photographing samples of precipitation. His exhaustive studies show that no two snowflakes are alike because the variables surrounding their formation are infinite. Some 2,000 of his 5,000 snowflake photographs, taken using a \Jmicroscope\j and camera, were published by the American Meteorological Society as \ISnow Crystals\i (1931), with William J. Humphreys as coauthor.
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"Benton, Thomas Hart",4001,0,0,0
DT (1889-1975)
EN painter; born in Neosho, Mo. (grand-nephew of Senator Thomas Hart Benton). Between 1906-12 he studied at the Art Institute of \JChicago\j and in Paris, but he rejected the European approach to art. Drawing on his extensive travels through much of the midwestern, southern, and western U.S.A., he tried to capture his vision of dynamic democracy with an idiom that was dramatic, rhythmic, and populist, often using bright colors and \Jcartoon\j-like figures.
Other hallmarks include his evocation of American legends and his several murals in public buildings. His work is regarded as creating what was known as the Regionalist style or school, seen in such paintings as \ICotton Loading\i (1928) and \ICountry Dance\i (1928).
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"Benton, Thomas Hart, known as Old Bullion",4002,0,0,0
DT (1782-1858)
EN U.S. senator; born in Hillsboro, N.C. A true son of the frontier, he grew up in \JTennessee\j, where after becoming a lawyer, he served a term in the state senate (1809-11). After serving in the \JWar of 1812\j - during which he got involved in a brawl with his commander Andrew Jackson - he moved to St. Louis, Mo., where he practiced law and edited the \IMissouri Enquirer\i (1818-20).
His editorials got him elected to the U.S. Senate where he served 30 years (Dem., Mo.; 1821-51). He opposed the national bank and championed "hard money" - for which he earned the nickname "Old Bullion" - and was a supporter of expansion and the small farmer.
A moderate on the \Jslavery\j issue, he lost popularity with his constituents; denied re-election in 1850, he served in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (1853-55), but lost again because of his opposition to \Jslavery\j. He was such a loyal Democrat that he opposed his own son-in-law, John C. FrΘmont, when he ran as a Republican for the presidency in 1886.
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"Bentsen, Lloyd Millard, Jr",4003,0,0,0
DT1 1921
EN US statesman, born in Mission, \JTexas\j, USA. He studied law at \JTexas\j University, Austin, and served as a combat pilot during World War 2. He was a member of the US \JHouse of Representatives\j (1948--54), then built up a substantial fortune as president of the Lincoln Consolidated insurance company in Houston.
He returned to Congress as a senator for \JTexas\j in 1971, and was vice-presidential running-mate to Michael Dukakis in the Democrats' 1988 presidential challenge. In Bill Clinton's administration he served as secretary to the treasury (1993--4).
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#
"Bentzon, Niels Viggo",4004,0,0,0
DT1 1919
EN Danish composer and pianist. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, and has been a reader there since 1960. His compositions include opera, symphonies, ballets, \Jpiano\j concertos, and chamber music.
\BMajor Works\b
\IOrchestral music\i
Symphonies
1943 Symphony No 1, op.22
1945 Symphony No 2, op.36
1947 Symphony No 3, op.46
\IConcertos\i
1947--8 Piano \Jconcerto\j, op.49
\IChamber music\i
1941 String Quartet No 1, op.6
1946 String Quartet No 2 op.39
1942 Quintet for flute, oboe, \Jclarinet\j, \Jbassoon\j and \Jpiano\j, op.12
\IInstrumental music\i
Sonatas
1940 Violin Sonata No 1, op.2
1943 Violin Sonata No 2, op.24
1944 Violin Sonata No 3, op.30
1946 Cello Sonata, op.42
1947 Horn Sonata, op.47
1942 Variations for flute, op.17
1945 2 Pieces for oboe, op.41
\IPiano music\i
Sonatas
1946 Sonata No 1, op.40
1946 Sonata No 2, op.42
1947 Sonata No 3, op.44
1941 Toccata op.10
1944 Passacaglia, op.31
1945 Partita op.38
1946 Dance Pieces, op.45
1947 3 Concert Studies, op.47
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#
"Benue, River",4005,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\bnway]
HS , Fr \BBebouΘ\b
EN Major tributary of the River \JNiger\j in \JNigeria\j; rises in \JCameroon\j, and flows generally W across E and SC \JNigeria\j; navigable below Garoua; joins the River \JNiger\j at Lokoja; length 1295┐km / 805┐mi.
BK b
#
"Benue-Congo languages",4006,0,0,0
PN [\Bbayn\bway \Bkong\bgoh]
EN See \JNiger\j-\JCongo\j languages
BK b
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#
"Benvenuto Tisi",4007,0,0,0
EN See Garofalo, Benvenuto do
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#
"Benz, Karl (Friedrich)",4008,0,0,0
DT1 1844
DT2 1929
EN Engineer and car manufacturer, born in \JKarlsruhe\j, \JGermany\j. He developed a two-stroke engine (1877-9) and founded a factory for its manufacture, leaving in 1883 when his backers refused to finance a mobile engine. He then founded a second company, Benz & Co, Rheinisch Gasmotorenfabrik, at \JMannheim\j.
His first car - one of the earliest petrol-driven vehicles - was completed in 1885 and sold to a French manufacturer. In 1926 the firm was merged with the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft to form Daimler-Benz & Co.
SX m
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#
"benzaldehyde",4009,0,0,0
PN [ben\Bzal\bdihiyd]
EN C\D6\dH\D5\dCHO, IUPAC \Bphenylmethanal,\b boiling point 179░C. A colourless liquid, with the odour of almonds, used as a flavouring. It is readily oxidized to benzoic acid.
BK b
#
"Benzedrine",4010,0,0,0
EN See \Jamphetamine\j
BK b
XCY y
#
"benzene",4011,0,0,0
PN [\Bben\bzeen]
EN C\D6\dH\D6\d, melting point 5░C, boiling point 80░C. An aromatic liquid obtained from \Jcoal\j tar, which may be synthesized by dehydrogenation of \Jpetroleum\j \Jhydrocarbons\j. It is the simplest of the large series of aromatic compounds. Although the bonds in the benzene ring are often represented as alternating single and double, they are in fact all equivalent, this fact usually being described by the misleading name '\Jresonance\j'.
Benzene does not easily undergo addition reactions, but has a large number of substitution reactions, giving a wide range of aromatic compounds. It is used in dyestuffs, plastics, insecticides, detergents, and several other products.
BK b
#
"Benzer, Seymour",4012,0,0,0
DT1 1921
EN Geneticist, born in New York City, USA. He studied physics at Purdue University, and taught \Jbiophysics\j there until 1965, when he moved to the \JCalifornia\j Institute of Technology. He first showed that genes can be split and then recombined, and he did much to relate genes as chemical entities to their observed behaviour in biological systems.
BK Biog99
#
"benzodiazepines",4013,0,0,0
PN [benzohdiy\Bay\bzepeenz]
EN A group of drugs each of which exerts, to varying degrees, anti-anxiety, anti-\Jepilepsy\j, hypnotic (sleep-inducing), muscle-relaxant, and sedative properties. The two tranquillizers \Ichlordiazepoxide\i (Librium) and \Idiazepam\i (Valium) were the first to be introduced, in 1960 and 1962 respectively. \INitrazepam\i (Mogadon) and \Itemazepam\i (Normison) are commonly used as \Jhypnotics\j.
They are very safe drugs, with fatal overdose being very uncommon, and therefore they took over from the more dangerous \Jbarbiturates\j. Some concern is now being expressed at their very wide use, which has been criticized as inappropriate. Evidence of addiction following long-term use is accumulating, and the UK Committee on the Safety of Medicines now recommends that treatment should be restricted to severe anxiety and \Jinsomnia\j for a maximum of four weeks.
BK b
#
"benzoic acid",4014,0,0,0
PN [ben\Bzoh\bik]
EN C\D6\dH\D5\dCOOH, melting point 122░C. A white crystalline compound obtained by the \Joxidation\j of \Jtoluene\j. It is the simplest aromatic acid, a weak acid. Its sodium salt, \Isodium benzoate,\i is used as a preservative.
BK b
#
"benzoin",4015,0,0,0
PN [\Bben\bzohin]
EN C\D6\dH\D5\d.CHOH.CO.C\D6\dH\D5\d, melting point 137░C. A fragrant solid, a condensation product of benzaldehyde. It also occurs naturally in the \Jresin\j known as \Jbalsam\j, from trees of the \Jgenus\j \IStyrax.\i
BK b
#
"benzyl",4016,0,0,0
PN [\Bben\bziyl, \Bben\bzil]
EN C\D6\dH\D5\dCH\D2\d-, IUPAC \Bphenylmethyl.\b A functional group containing a \Jphenyl\j ring, whose addition to a name usually indicates its substitution for \Jhydrogen\j in a compound.
BK b
#
"Beqaa, al-",4017,0,0,0
PN [be\Bkah\b]
HS , Eng \Bthe Bekka\b
EN Governorate of E \JLebanon\j, bounded north-east and E by \JSyria\j; capital, Zahle; poultry, sheep, wheat, vineyards; al-Beqaa valley of strategic importance to both Israel and \JSyria\j, and a centre of Muslim Shiite activity.
BK b
#
"BΘrain, Jean (the Elder)",4018,0,0,0
PN [bayrφ]
DT1a c.
DT1 1637
DT2 1711
EN Artist, born in Lorraine, \JFrance\j. He was the leading designer of stage scenery, costumes, fΩtes, and displays at the court of \JLouis XIV\j. His arabesques, grotesques, and \Isingeries\i (monkey designs), often combined with Chinese motifs, herald the lighter \JRococo\j style of the early 18th-c.
SX m
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#
"BΘranger, Pierre Jean de",4019,0,0,0
PN [bayrπzhay]
DT1 1780
DT2 1857
EN Poet, born in Paris. After a scanty education he left regular employment as a clerk at the University of Paris for an impecunious literary life in 1798. His lyrics, coloured by his politics - a curious compound of republicanism and Bonapartism - led to spells of imprisonment in 1821 and 1828, but their vivacity, satire, and wit endeared him to the masses.
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#
"BΘrard, Christian",4020,0,0,0
DT 1902-49
EN French designer and painter. He combined a career as a painter and fashion designer with designs for ballet and drama. At 22 he designed the ballet Les Elves (1924) for Michel Fokine. He subsequently worked for other famous choreographers such as George Balanchine, Roland Petit and LΘonide Massine.
He designed highly stylized productions such as Jean Cocteau's The Infernal Machine (1934), the film Beauty and the Beast, and Louis Jouvet's production of Jean Giraudoux's Madwoman of Chaillot (1945).
BK Thea
#
"Berber",4021,0,0,0
EN Afro-Asiatic-speaking peoples of \JEgypt\j, \JAlgeria\j, \JLibya\j, \JTunisia\j, and Morocco. They were originally settled in one area, but the \JBedouin\j \JArabs\j who invaded N Africa in the 12th-c turned many of them into nomads. Most \JBerber\j tribes ultimately accepted \JIslam\j, and in the 11th-c formed themselves into a military federation known as the Almoravids, who conquered the mediaeval states of \JGhana\j, Morocco, \JAlgeria\j, and S \JSpain\j.
In the 12th-c their power began to wane, and the Almohads, a new group influenced by Sufism, by 1169 came to command the entire \JMaghreb\j to Tripoli, as well as Muslim \JSpain\j. The Almohad Empire declined in the 13th-c. Today, some Berbers are sedentary farmers, while others are nomadic or transhumant pastoralists. Many work as migrant labourers in S Europe. The best-known groups include the Kabyle, Shluh, and Tuareg. They comprise 40% of the population of Morocco (10 million) and 30% of that of \JAlgeria\j (7 million).
BK b
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"Berberian, Cathy",4022,0,0,0
EN See Berio, Luciano
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#
"berberis",4023,0,0,0
EN See barberry
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XCY y
#
"Berceo, Gonzalo de",4024,0,0,0
PN [ber\Bthay\boh]
DT1a c.
DT1 1180
DT2a c.
DT2 1246
EN The earliest known Castilian poet, born in Berceo, \JSpain\j. He became a \Jdeacon\j and wrote more than 13┐000 verses on devotional subjects, of which the best is a Life of St Oria. His poems were not discovered and published until the late 18th-c.
SX m
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#
"Berchem, Claes Pietersz(oon)",4025,0,0,0
PN [\Bber\bkhem]
HS , also called \BNicolaes Pieterszoon Berghem\b
DT1 1620
DT2 83
EN Dutch landscape painter, born in \JHaarlem\j, The Netherlands. Also known for his pastoral scenes, his work is represented in most European collections.
SX m
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#
"Berchet, Giovanni",4026,0,0,0
PN [ber\Bket\b]
DT1 1783
DT2 1851
EN Poet, born in Milan, \JItaly\j. In 1816 he published a pamphlet, \ILettera semiseria di Grisostomo,\i which became a manifesto of the Romantic movement in \JItaly\j. He left \JItaly\j to avoid arrest (1821), and lived in exile, mainly in England, until the abortive Revolution of 1848. His best-known works are \II Profughi di Parga\i (1821), \IIl romito del Cenisio,\i and \IIl trovatore.\i
SX m
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#
"Berdyayev, Nikolai Alexandrovich",4027,0,0,0
PN [ber\Bdya\byef]
DT1 1874
DT2 1948
EN Religious philosopher, born in \JKiev\j, \JUkraine\j. An aristocrat by birth, he developed strong revolutionary sympathies as a student, and supported the 1917 Revolution. He secured a professorship at Moscow, but his unorthodox spiritual and libertarian ideals led to his dismissal (1922).
He moved to Berlin to found an Academy of the Philosophy of Religion, which he later transferred to Clamart, near Paris. He described himself as a 'believing freethinker', and his fierce commitment to freedom and \Jindividualism\j brought him into conflict with both ecclesiastical and political powers.
SX m
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#
"Berengar of Tours",4028,0,0,0
PN [berπgah(r), toor]
DT1a c.
DT1 999
DT2 1088
EN Scholastic theologian, born probably in Tours, \JFrance\j. In 1031 he was appointed preceptor of the cathedral school in Tours, and about 1040 \Jarchdeacon\j of Angers. An opponent of the doctrine of \Jtransubstantiation\j, he was excommunicated by Pope Leo IX in 1050. He spent his last years in a cell on an island in the Loire.
SX m
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#
"Berenice",4029,0,0,0
PN [bere\Bnees\b]
DT1 1
DT1b st-c
EN The daughter of Herod \JAgrippa\j I. Four times married, she then became the mistress of Flavius Titus, son of Emperor \JVespasian\j, during the Jewish rebellion (AD 70), and followed him to \JRome\j. She is the heroine of Racine's tragedy. She is known as the 'Jewish Berenice', to distinguish her from several other women of that name from the house of Ptolemy.
MEX Herod \JAgrippa\j I; \JVespasian\j
SX f
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#
"Berenson, Bernard or Bernhard",4030,0,0,0
DT (1865-1959)
EN art historian, connoisseur, collector; born in Biturmansk, \JLithuania\j. He studied at the local \Jsynagogue\j before his family emigrated to \JBoston\j (1875), where he studied at \JBoston\j University (1883) and Harvard (B.A. 1887). Subsidized by Isabella Stewart Gardner, he studied in Paris, London, Oxford, Berlin, and \JItaly\j (1887-88). He settled in an 18th-century Villa I Tatti near Florence and devoted himself to the study and identification of medieval and Renaissance works, specializing in Italian art.
An honored scholar and authenticator, he acquired prints and paintings for museums and private collectors, such as Isabella Gardner, and for international dealers, thereby making himself wealthy, and attracting criticism from some quarters for placing his connoisseurship at the service of profit-makers.
In addition to the many distinguished critical essays and scholarly works, notably \IThe Study and Criticism of Italian Art\i (1902) and \IDrawings of the Florentine Painters\i (1903), he published a three-volume \Jautobiography\j (1949-52). He became famous for his ability to attribute paintings to artists based on specific characteristics of style and technique - even to the point of identifying hitherto unknown painters. At his death, the Villa I Tatti was left to \JHarvard University\j as a center for Italian Renaissance studies.
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"Beresford, Bruce",4031,0,0,0
DT1 1940
EN Film director, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. He studied in Sydney and worked at the British Film Institute (1966--71) before directing his first feature, \IThe Adventures of Barry McKenzie\i (1972). He was a key figure in the revival of the Australian film industry, and won the Australian Film Institute's Best Director award for \IDon's Party\i (1976) and \IBreaker Morant\i (1979).
He has since received international recognition for \ITender Mercies\i (1982), \IDriving Miss Daisy\i (1989, Oscar), and \IBlack Robe\i (1991), an Australian--Canadian co-production. Later films include \ISilent Fall\i (1994), \ILast Dance\i (1995), and \IParadise Road\i (1997). In 1991 he directed \IElektra\i for the South Australian State Opera.
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1972 The Adventures of Barry McKenzie
1976 Don's Party
1979 Breaker Morant
1982 Tender Mercies
1989 Driving Miss Daisy
1991 Black Robe
1994 Silent Fall
1995 Last Dance
1997 Paradise Road
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"Beresford, Charles William de la Poer Beresford, Baron",4032,0,0,0
DT1 1846
DT2 1919
EN Naval commander, born in Philipstown, Co Offally, Ireland. He entered the British navy in 1859, and was promoted captain in 1882 for his services at the bombardment of Alexandria. He was a Lord of the Admiralty (1886-8), sat in parliament as a Conservative, and commanded the Mediterranean Fleet (1905-7) and Channel Fleet (1907-9).
SX m
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"Beresford, Jack",4033,0,0,0
DT1 1899
DT2 1977
EN British oarsman. He competed for \JGreat Britain\j at five Olympics (1920-36) as sculler and oarsman, winning three gold and two silver medals, and received the Olympic Diploma of Merit in 1949. He won the Diamond Sculls at Henley four times, and was elected president of the Thames Rowing Club in 1971.
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"Beresford, William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount",4034,0,0,0
DT1 1768
DT2 1854
EN British soldier, the illegitimate son of the first Marquess of Waterford. He entered the army in 1785, took the command (1809) of the Portuguese army in the \JPeninsular War\j (1808-14), and defeated Soult at Albuera (1811). He was present at the capture of \JBadajoz\j (1812), and at Salamanca was severely wounded. In the Wellington administration (1828-30), he was Master-General of the Ordnance.
MEX Soult
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"Berg, Alban",4035,0,0,0
DT1 1885
DT2 1935
EN Composer, born in Vienna. He studied under Schoenberg (1904-10), and after World War 1 taught privately in Vienna. With the last of his Four Songs (1909-10) he displays a free harmonic language tempered wih Romantic tonal elements which remained his characteristic style. He is best known for his opera \IWozzeck\i (1925), his violin \Jconcerto\j, and the \ILyric Suite\i for string quartet. His unfinished opera, \ILulu,\i was posthumously produced.
MEX Schoenberg
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"Berg, Patty",4036,0,0,0
DT1 1918
EN Golfer, born in \JMinneapolis\j, \JMinnesota\j, USA. She won 57 tournaments during her career, including 15 majors. On three occasions she won two majors in a single year (1948, 1955, 1957).
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#
"Berg, Paul",4037,0,0,0
DT1 1926
EN Molecular biologist, born in New York City, USA. He studied at \JPennsylvania\j State and Western Reserve universities, and became professor of biochemistry at Washington University, St Louis, and from 1959 at Stanford University.
He devised a method for introducing 'foreign' genes into \Jbacteria\j, so causing the \Jbacteria\j to produce proteins determined by the new gene; this method of genetic \Jengineering\j proved of great value in giving biochemical syntheses of \Jinsulin\j and interferon. He shared the 1980 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
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"Bergama",4038,0,0,0
PN [ber\Bgah\bma]
EN 39░08N 27░10E, pop (1995e) 51 200. Town in \JIzmir\j province, W Turkey, N of \JIzmir\j; former capital of the ancient Kingdom of \JPergamum\j, and of the Roman province of Asia; parchment is supposed to have been invented here; carpet making, tourism; Acropolis, Temples of Trajan and Dionysos, Sanctuary of Athena, Altar of Zeus.
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"Bergamo",4039,0,0,0
PN [\Bbair\bgamoh]
EN 45░42N 9░40E, pop (1995e) 123 000. Capital town of Bergamo province, Lombardy, N \JItaly\j; between the Brembo and Serio Rivers, NE of Milan; first seat of the Republican fascist government set up in N \JItaly\j by Mussolini after his fall from power, 1943; airport; railway; textiles, cement, printing, electrical switches, bottling plant; Romanesque \Jbasilica\j (1137--1355), 15th-c cathedral; annual trade fair (Nov).
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"bergamot",4040,0,0,0
PN [\Bberg\bamot]
EN An aromatic perennial, native to \JNorth America\j and Mexico; stem square; leaves oval, toothed, in opposite pairs; flowers 2-lipped, hooded, purple or red, in crowded whorls around stem; visited by bees and hummingbirds. The leaves provide medicinal Oswega (or Oswego) tea. \B(Genus:\b \IMonarda,\i 12 species. \BFamily:\b Labiatae.)
BK b
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"bergamot oil",4041,0,0,0
EN See orange
BK o
XCY y
#
"Berganza, Teresa",4042,0,0,0
PN [ber\Bgan\bza]
DT1 1935
EN Mezzo-soprano, born in Madrid, \JSpain\j. She made her debut in 1955, and became specially noted for Mozart and Rossini roles. She first sang in England at Glyndebourne (1958), then at Covent Garden (1959), and subsequently in concert and opera all over the world. In 1994 she became the first woman elected to the Spanish Royal Academy of Arts.
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#
"Bergen (Belgium)",4043,0,0,0
PN [\Bber\bkhen]
EN See Mons
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#
"Bergen (Norway)",4044,0,0,0
PN [\Bber\bgn]
EN 60░23N 5░20E, pop (1995e) 219 000. Seaport and administrative capital of Hordaland county, SW \JNorway\j; on a promontory at the head of a deep bay; old shipping and trading town; second largest city in \JNorway\j; founded, 1070; capital, 12th--13th-c; occupied by Germans in World War 2; bishopric; airport; railway; university (1948); shipyards, \Jengineering\j, paper, fishing, fish products, pottery, offshore oil services; tourist and cultural centre; birthplace of Grieg; restored 13th-c cathedral, Hanseatic museum, Hσkonshall (13th-c palace), Mariakirke (12th-c), art gallery, museums.
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#
"Bergen, Candice",4045,0,0,0
EN See Malle, Louis
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XCY y
#
"Berger Picard",4046,0,0,0
EN The \JBerger Picard\j is a shaggy-haired, robust sheep dog that still retains an element of style and athleticism.
\BHistory:\b
It is believed that the \JBerger Picard\j is a descendant of the ancient breeds of shaggy-haired sheep dogs seen in French paintings dating back to the \JMiddle Ages\j. The exact history of this breed is unclear, but there are records of it being shown as a breed in 1863. Most likely selective breeding continued after this date, concentrating the breed characteristics. The First World War saw the virtual disappearance of the breed, which was revitalized during the late 1920s.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
This large dog has the alert expression so typical of sheep dog breeds and presents as a rugged, confident dog with an endearing facial expression. \IHeight:\i 23.5 - 25.5 in (55 - 60 cm) for the dog and 21.5 - 23.5 in (55 - 60 cm) for the bitch. \IWeight:\i usually around 50 - 70 lb (23 - 32 kg). The well-set, dark-to-hazel-colored round eyes combine with the high-set erect ears to provide an alert and charming expression. The body has a straight back, with a \Jstomach\j that curves slightly inwards. The shaggy hanging tail has a slight curve. The coat is double-layered, with a fine and dense undercoat and a rough outer coat. The coat colors may be gray, gray-black, gray with black highlights, gray-blue, gray-brown, tawny, or a combination of these colors.
\BBehavior:\b
This large and very confident dog is impressive both as a watch-dog and as a guard dog. The \JBerger Picard\j is generally slow to anger and rather tolerant. However if it is pushed, it will act bravely and hold its ground in a determined manner. This dog usually gets on very well with other dogs but benefits from socialization as a puppy. Although this dog started off as a working sheep dog, it makes an excellent companion animal. Once established, the \JBerger Picard\j will be very loyal and defensive of its family. As is the case with many other dogs, the \JBerger Picard\j thrives on the attention of its owners. It is desirable to give this dog plenty of exercise and if it is given adequate stimulation, it will be content to remain a family dog.
The \JBerger Picard\j is prone to \Jeczema\j and care should be taken not to wash this dog too frequently; washing should only be done with very mild soaps. Regular brushing will maintain a good coat but always wait until it has properly dried. In later years the dog may suffer from osteo-\Jarthritis\j.
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"Berger, Hans",4047,0,0,0
DT (1873-1941)
EN German psychiatrist: pioneer of electroencephalography (\JEEG\j).
Berger studied physics for a year at Jena, but then changed to medicine and later specialized in \Jpsychiatry\j. He worked on the physical aspects of brain function (eg its blood circulation, and its \Jtemperature\j) to try and relate these to mental states; and in 1924 he recorded the electric currents he detected on the exposed brain of a dog. Then he found he could detect currents through the intact skull from his family as well as from patients with brain disorders, and from 1929 he published on this.
He described the alpha rhythm (10 cycles per second, from certain areas of the brain at rest) and he recognized that the method could be useful in the diagnosis of diseases of the brain; since then this \JEEG\j method has become routinely used in neurological and psychiatric cases, especially since Adrian's work from 1934 onwards.
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"Berger, John (Peter)",4048,0,0,0
DT1 1926
EN Novelist, playwright, and art critic, born in London, England, UK. After studying at the Central and Chelsea Schools of Art he began to work as a painter and a drawing teacher, but soon turned to writing. His \JMarxism\j and artistic background are ever present in his novels, which include \IA Painter of Our Time\i (1958), \IThe Foot of Clive \i (1962), and \ICorker's Freedom\i (1964). \IG\i (1972), a story of migrant workers in Europe, won the Booker Prize.
In later years he has been living in a peasant farming community in the French Jura, where he worked on a projected trilogy, \IInto Their Labours\i, about modern peasant life, completed in 1991. Later novels include \IPhotocopies\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1958 A Painter of Our Time
1962 The Foot of Clive
1964 Corker's Freedom
1972 G
1979 Pig Earth
1989 Once In Europa
1991 Lilac and Flag
1995 To The Wedding
1996 Photocopies
\IOther\i
1960 Permanent Red
1967 A Fortunate Man
1972 Ways of Seeing
1982 Another Way of Telling
1985 The White Bird
1991 Keeping a Rendezvous
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#
"Berger, Meyer",4049,0,0,0
DT (1898-1959)
EN journalist; born in New York City. As a \INew York Times\i reporter for over 30 years from 1928, he probed into varied aspects of city life with indefatigable curiosity, winning a 1950 Pulitzer Prize.
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"Berger, Samuel R",4050,0,0,0
DT1 1945
EN US public official and lawyer. Educated at Cornell and Harvard, he practised law with a Washington firm (1973--7, 1981--92), and also served as the State Department's deputy director of policy and planning (1977--80). Formerly the Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (1993--6), he was appointed Assistant in Clinton's second administration. He is the author of \IDollar Harvest\i (1971) on American rural politics.
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"Berger, Victor Louis",4051,0,0,0
DT (1860-1929)
EN socialist, journalist, U.S. representative; born in Nieder-Rehbach, \JAustria\j. After emigrating to America (1878), he settled in \JMilwaukee\j, Wis., where he became a public school teacher (1882-92). From 1892 on he dedicated himself to writing about and promoting socialist politics, labor unions, and numerous reform movements. A co-founder of the Social Democrat Party (1898) and executive board member of the new Socialist Party of America (1901), he spread a moderate socialist message through several newspapers he founded.
The most important was the \IMilwaukee Leader,\i which he edited from 1901 (when it was the \ISocial Democratic Herald),\i until his death. From 1911-13, he served in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j, the first Socialist to do so. Harassed for his pacifist views during World War I, he was reelected to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (1918) but was not allowed to take his seat because he was indicted and found guilty under the Espionage Act. (His conviction was reversed by the Supreme Court in 1921 so he did not go to prison.)
Following the war, he served three terms in the \JHouse of Representatives\j as a Socialist (1923-29), and was a highly respected advocate of progressive legislation. He died from injuries when struck by a streetcar in \JMilwaukee\j.
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"Bergerac, Savinien Cyrano de",4052,0,0,0
EN See Cyrano de Bergerac, Savinien
BK bg b
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#
"Bergeron, Tor Harold Percival",4053,0,0,0
DT (1891-1977)
EN Swedish meteorologist: explained mechanism of precipitation from clouds.
After studying at Stockholm and \JLeipzig\j, Bergeron worked at the Bergen Geophysical Institute with Bjerknes. In 1947 he was appointed professor of \Jmeteorology\j at the University of \JUppsala\j. His principal contribution to the subject was to suggest, in 1935, a mechanism for the precipitation of rain from clouds.
He proposed that ice crystals present in the \Jcloud\j grew by condensation of \Jwater\j vapour on to their surfaces and that at a certain size they fell, melted and produced rain. His ideas were soon borne out by the experimental studies and observations of W Findeisen and are now known as the Bergeron-Findeisen theory.
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#
"Berggrav, Eivind",4054,0,0,0
DT1 1884
DT2 1959
EN Lutheran bishop, born in \JStavanger\j, \JNorway\j. After some years as a teacher, pastor, and prison chaplain, he became Bishop of Troms° and then Bishop of Oslo and Primate of the Norwegian Church (1937-50). He led the Church's opposition to the Quisling government, and was imprisoned (1941-5). He was a strong supporter of the ecumenical movement, becoming a president of the World Council of Churches (1950-4).
SX m
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#
"Bergh, Henry",4055,0,0,0
DT (1811-88)
EN animal protection pioneer; born in New York City. Manager of his father's shipyard (1837-43), he traveled overseas after his father's death and spent one year in St. Petersburg, \JRussia\j (1863-64), as secretary of the United States legation. Resigning because of his wife's ill health, and becoming increasingly concerned with the inhumane treatment of animals, he founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) after his return (1866).
He later assisted in the formation of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (1875). Although he wrote several plays, poetry, and some literary sketches, he is best known for turning the ASPCA into an international movement.
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#
"Berghem, Nicolaes Pieterszoon",4056,0,0,0
EN See Berchem, Claes Pietersz(oon)
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#
"Bergius, Friedrich",4057,0,0,0
PN [bairgeeus]
DT (1884-1949)
EN German industrial chemist: devised conversion process from \Jcoal\j to oil.
Son of a chemical manufacturer, Bergius studied under Nernst and Haber. After 5 years in teaching he worked in the chemical industry from the start of the First World War to the end of the Second World War. His interest in high-pressure reactions of gases developed under Haber.
Realizing that \Jpetroleum\j (crude mineral oil) differs from \Jcoal\j in the higher \Jhydrogen\j content and lower relative molecular mass of the oil, Bergius developed a method (the Bergius process) for the conversion, by heating a mixture of \Jcoal\j dust and oil with \Jhydrogen\j under pressure, with a catalyst.
Hydrogen is taken up, and the product is distilled to give petrol (\Jgasoline\j). The process was much used in \JGermany\j in the Second World War. He also developed industrial syntheses for \Jphenol\j and \Jethane\j-1,2-diol. He shared a Nobel Prize in 1931.
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"Bergman, (Ernst) Ingmar",4058,0,0,0
DT1 1918
EN Film and stage director, born in \JUppsala\j, Sweden. A trainee director in the Stockholm theatre, he began his film career in 1943, making his film debut with \IKris\i (1945, Crisis). His explorations of personal torment won many international prizes for such films as \IDet Sjunde Inseglet\i (1957, The Seventh Seal), \ISmultronstallet\i (1957, trans Wild Strawberries), \IJungfrukallan\i (1960, The Virgin Spring, Oscar), and \ISasom i en Spegel\i (1961, Through a Glass Darkly, Oscar), which are outstanding for their photographic artistry, haunting imagery, and subtle exploration of facial characteristics.
Preoccupied with guilt, anguish, emotional repression, and death, he created a succession of bleak masterpieces including \IVis Kingar och Rop\i (1972, Cries and Whispers) and \IHostsonaten\i (1978, Autumn Sonata). His later film, \IFanny och Alexander\i (1982, Fanny and Alexander, Oscar), was an unexpectedly life-affirming evocation of autobiographical elements from his own Dickensian childhood.
He then largely retired from the film-making scene, but later work includes the script for \IPrivate Confessions\i (1996). Publications include his \Jautobiography\j \ILaterna Magica\i (1987, The Magic Lantern) and \IImages: My Life in Film\i (1994).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1945 Kris (Crisis)
1952 Sommaren med Monika (Summer with Monika)
1953 Gycklarnas Afton (Sawdust and Tinsel)
1955 Sommarnattens Leende (Smiles of a Summer Night)
1957 Det Sjunde Inseglet (The Seventh Seal)
1957 Smultronstallet (Wild Strawberries)
1960 Jungfrukallan (The Virgin Spring)
1961 Sasom i en Spegel (Through A Glass Darkly)
1966 Persona
1972 Vis Kingar och Rop (Cries and Whispers)
1974 Trollflojten (The Magic Flute)
1978 Hostsonaten (Autumn Sonata)
1982 Fanny och Alexander (Fanny and Alexander)
1984 After the Rehearsal
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#
"Bergman, Hjalmar (Fredrik ElgΘrus)",4059,0,0,0
DT 1883-1931
EN Swedish novelist and playwright. His collection of one-act Marionette Plays (1917) is a blend of the realistic and symbolic reminiscent of Maeterlinck. An Experiment (1919) is a social comedy echoing Shaw's \JPygmalion\j, but with The Gambling House (1916-23) and The Legend (c.1920) he attempted ambitious symbolist fantasies (see \Jsymbolism\j) on moral issues. Popular success came with his final plays: Swedenhielms (1923), The Rabble (1928), The Markurells of Wadk÷ping (1929) and The Baron's Will (1930), the last two being dramatizations of earlier novels.
BK Thea
#
"Bergman, Ingrid",4060,0,0,0
DT1 1915
DT2 82
EN Film and stage actress, born in Stockholm. After studying at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, she made her film debut in \IMunkbrogreven\i (1934). Unaffected and vivacious, she became an immensely popular romantic star in such films as \ICasablanca\i (1942), \ISpellbound\i (1945), and \INotorious\i (1946). In 1950 she gave birth to the illegitimate child of director Roberto Rossellini.
The ensuing scandal led to her ostracization from the US film industry. She continued her career in Europe, and was welcomed back by \JHollywood\j on her return in 1956. Nominated seven times for an \JAcademy Award\j, she won Oscars for \IGaslight\i (1944), \IAnastasia\i (1956), and \IMurder on the Orient Express\i (1974).
MEX Rossellini
SX f
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#
"Bergson, Henri (Louis)",4061,0,0,0
PN [bergs⌡]
DT1 1859
DT2 1941
EN Philosopher, born in Paris. He became professor at the CollΦge de \JFrance\j (1900-21), a highly original thinker who became something of a \Jcult\j figure. He contrasted the fundamental reality of the dynamic flux of consciousness with the inert physical world of discrete objects, which was a convenient fiction for the mechanistic descriptions of science. The \IΘlan vital,\i or 'creative impulse', not a deterministic natural selection, is at the heart of \Jevolution\j; and intuition, not analysis, reveals the real world of process and change.
His own writings are literary, suggestive, and analogical rather than philosophical in the modern sense. His most important works are \IEssai sur les donnΘes immΘdiates de la conscience\i (1889, trans Time and Free Will), \IMatiΦre et mΘmoire\i (1896, Matter and Memory), and \IL'Evolution crΘatrice\i (1907, Creative Evolution). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1927.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bergstr÷m, Sune Karl",4062,0,0,0
PN [bairgstroem]
DT (1916- )
EN Swedish biochemist.
Educated at the Royal Caroline Institute in Stockholm, Bergstr÷m returned there as professor of biochemistry in 1958. His interest focused on the prostaglandins, a group of related compounds whose biological effects were first noted in the 1930s. Their effects are complex, but a common feature is their ability to induce contraction of smooth muscle, and their high potency (10\U-9\u g can be effective); originally found in human semen, they have since been found in many cells (one rich source is the Caribbean sea whip \Jcoral\j).
Bergstr÷m first isolated two prostaglandins in pure form, in the 1950s. In 1962 they were shown to have a general structure pattern of a five-carbon ring with chains on adjacent carbon atoms, and much medicinal chemistry has been devoted to them since.
BK Scie
#
"beri beri",4063,0,0,0
EN A nutritional disease due primarily to an inadequate dietary intake of vitamin B\D1\d, as occurs in \Jalcoholism\j and starvation. The disorder affects peripheral nerves \I(polyneuritis),\i and also causes heart failure and oedema.
BK b
#
"Beria, Lavrenti Pavlovich",4064,0,0,0
PN [\Bbe\bria]
DT1 1899
DT2 1953
EN Soviet secret police chief, born in Mercheuli, Georgia. He served as a member of the OGPU (the forerunner of the \JKGB\j) in the Caucasus (1921-31), before becoming first secretary of the Georgian Communist Party. He was appointed minister for internal affairs (1938) by his patron, Stalin, and served as vice-president of the State Committee for Defence during World War 2, being accorded the title of marshal in 1945.
On Stalin's death in March 1953, he attempted to seize power, but was foiled by fearful military and party leaders. Following his arrest he was tried for \Jtreason\j, and was executed in December 1953. He was a plotter of ruthless ambition, and a notoriously skilled organizer of forced labour, terror, and espionage.
MEX Stalin; Yezhov
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"Berigan, Bunny",4065,0,0,0
DT (1908-42)
EN jazz musician; born in Calumet, Wis. He was a trumpet soloist in Benny Goodman's 1935 band and the leader of his own orchestra from 1937 until his death from \Jpneumonia\j.
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"Bering Sea",4066,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\bring]
EN area 2┐304┐000┐km\U2\u / 890┐000┐mi\U2\u. Part of the \JPacific Ocean\j between \JSiberia\j (west) and \JAlaska\j (east), bounded S by the Aleutian Is and Trench; connected to the \JArctic\j by the Bering Strait (90┐km / 56┐mi wide at narrowest point); often ice-bound (Nov-May); contains boundary between \JRussia\j and USA; depths reach 4000┐m / 13┐000┐ft (south-west), but 25-75┐m / 90-240┐ft over continental shelf in NE; explored first in 17th-c; seal herd threatened with \Jextinction\j because of over-exploitation, but herds built up after 1911 agreement by UK, USA, \JRussia\j, and \JJapan\j.
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"Bering, Vitus (Jonassen)",4067,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\bring]
HS , also spelled \BBehring\b
DT1 1681
DT2 1741
EN Navigator, born in Horsens, Denmark. He led an expedition in the Sea of Kamchatka (1728) to determine whether the continents of Asia and America were joined. In 1733 he was given command of the 600-strong Great Northern Expedition to explore the Siberian coast and Kuril Is, and in 1741 sailed from Ohkotsk towards the American continent. He was wrecked on the island of Avatcha (now \IBering I),\i where he died. \IBering Sea\i and \IBering Strait\i are named after him.
MEX Steller
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"Berio, Luciano",4068,0,0,0
PN [\Bbe\brioh]
DT1 1925
EN Composer and teacher of music, born in Oneglia, \JItaly\j. He studied at the Music Academy in Milan, and founded an electronic studio. He moved to the USA in 1962, taught composition at the Juilliard School, New York City, and returned to \JItaly\j in 1972. In 1950 he married the US soprano \BCathy Berberian\b (1925--83), for whom he wrote several works; the marriage was dissolved in 1966.
He is particularly interested in the combining of live and pre-recorded sound, and the use of tapes and electronic music, as in his compositions \IMutazioni\i (1955, Mutations) and \IOmaggio a James Joyce\i (1958, Homage to James Joyce). His \ISequenza\i series for solo instruments (1958 onwards) are striking virtuoso pieces. Other works include \IPassaggio\i (1963), \ILaborintus II\i (1965), \IOpera\i (1969--70), and \IContinuo\i (1991).
\BMajor Works\b
\IOrchestral music\i
\ISinfonia\i (Written for the \INew York Philharmonic\i and the \ISwingle Sisters\i)
Concerto for 2 Pianos
\INones\i for orchestra
1971 \IBewegung\i (Written for the \IScottish National Orchestra\i)
Stage music
Opera \IAllez Hop!\i
\IAmores\i
\IChamber music\i
Sequenzas
\ITempi Concertati\i, for flute and chamber ensemble
\IAllelujah\i (a series of pieces for different ensembles)
\IVocal music\i
\ICircles\i, for women's voice, harp and percussion (text by E.E. Cummings)
Electronic works
\IMutations\i
\IPerspectives\i
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"Berkeley, Busby",4069,0,0,0
DT (1895-1976)
EN choreographer, film director; born in Los Angeles. He went on the Broadway stage at age five, and by the 1920s was one of the top Broadway choreographers. In 1930 he went to \JHollywood\j to choreograph Eddie Cantor films and Mary Pickford's musical, \IKiki\i (1930). A long string of musicals followed that featured his innovative \Jchoreography\j and camera techniques. He later directed complete films, but without much success.
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"Berkeley, George",4070,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah(r)k\blee]
DT1 1685
DT2 1753
EN Anglican bishop and philosopher, born at Dysert Castle, Kilkenny, Ireland. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, where he remained, as fellow and tutor, until 1713. His most important books were published in these early years: \IEssay towards a New Theory of Vision\i (1709), \IA Treatise concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge\i (1710), and \IThree Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous\i (1713).
In these works he developed his celebrated claim that 'to be is to be perceived' - that the contents of the material world are 'ideas' that only exist when they are perceived by a mind. He became dean of \JLondonderry\j (1724), but became obsessed with a romantic scheme to found a college in the Bermudas to promote 'the propagation of the Gospel among the American savages'.
After years of intensive lobbying in London for support he sailed for America with his newly married wife (1728) and made a temporary home in \JRhode Island\j. He waited there nearly three years: the grants did not materialize, and the college was never founded. He returned first to London and then in 1734 became Bishop of Cloyne. His remaining literary work was divided between questions of social reform and of religious reflection.
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"Berkeley, Michael (Fitzhardinge)",4071,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah(r)k\blee]
DT1 1948
EN British composer, the son of Lennox Berkeley. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and with Richard Rodney Bennett. He has composed concertos, orchestral, chamber, and choral works, including a powerful plea for peace in a nuclear age, the \Joratorio\j \IOr Shall We Die?\i (1983, text by Ian McEwan). He is well known for his introductions to music on radio and \Jtelevision\j.
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"Berkeley, Sir Lennox (Randall Francis)",4072,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah(r)k\blee]
DT1 1903
DT2 89
EN Composer, born in Boars Hill, Oxfordshire, SC England, UK. A pupil of Nadia Boulanger, his early compositions, the largest of which is the \Joratorio\j \IJonah\i (1935), show the influence of his French training. Later works, notably the 'Stabat Mater' (1947), the operas \INelson\i (1953) and \IRuth\i (1956), and the orchestral \IWindsor Variations\i (1969) and \IVoices of the Night\i (1973), have won him wide recognition for their combination of technical refinement with lyrically emotional appeal. He was knighted in 1974.
MEX Berkeley, Michael; Boulanger, Nadia
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"Berkeley, Sir William",4073,0,0,0
DT (1606-77)
EN colonial governor; born in Somerset, England. He became governor of Virginia in 1642, led militia against the colony's remaining Indian tribes, organized a defense that prevented a Dutch landing on the Virginia coast in 1665, and ruthlessly put down a settlers' rebellion in 1676.
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"Berkman, Alexander",4074,0,0,0
DT (1870-1936)
EN anarchist, author; born in Vilna, \JRussia\j. After being influenced by Russian nihilists, he emigrated to America (1887). He became involved with radical Jewish labor groups in New York City and in 1879 began his personal and professional liaison with Emma Goldman that would last to the end of his life.
He gained international attention with his attempted assassination of Henry C. Frick (1892); for this he served 14 years in prison (1892-1906). He founded and edited \IMother Earth\i with Goldman after his release. The two were arrested and found guilty of opposing conscription during World War I.
He went to prison again (1917-19) and then, along with Goldman, was deported to \JRussia\j (1919) as a political undesirable. Originally he supported the Communist Revolution in \JRussia\j but he changed his views and wrote \IThe Bolshevik Myth\i (1925). He spent his final years in Sweden, \JGermany\j, and \JFrance\j before committing suicide in Nice, \JFrance\j.
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"Berkoff, Steven",4075,0,0,0
PN [\Bber\bkof]
DT1 1937
EN Playwright, actor, and director, born in London, England, UK. After studying at the Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris, he founded the London Theatre Group, for whom he directed his own adaptations from the classics, including Kafka's \IMetamorphosis\i (1969). His own plays include \IGreek\i (1979, a variant of the Oedipal myth transferred to contemporary London), \IWest\i (1983, an adaptation of the Beowulf legend), \IKvetch\i (1987), and \IAcapulco\i (1992).
Other plays and adaptations include \IAgamemnon\i (1963), \IThe Trial\i (1970), and \IThe Fall of the House of Usher\i (1974). An \Jautobiography\j, \IFree Association\i, appeared in 1996.
\BMajor Works\b
\IPlays published\i
1977 East
1982 Decadence
1982 Greek
1985 West
1985 Lunch
1985 Harry's Xmas
1987 Kvetch
1987 Acapulco
1987 Sink the Belgrano
1987 Massage
1988 America
1989 I Am Hamlet
1989 A Prisoner in Rio
1992 Coriolanus in Deutschland
\IShort stories\i
1979 Gross Intrustion
\IAutobiography\i
1996 Free Association
\IOther\i
1992 The Theatre of Steven Berkoff (photographic)
\IPlay adaptations\i
1977 The Fall of the House of Usher
1977 Agamemnon
1981 The Trial
1981 Metamorphosis
1988 In the Penal Colony
\IFilms as actor\i
1975 Barry Lyndon
1980 McVicar
1984 Beverley Hills Cop
1985 Rambo
1985 Underworld
1985 Revolution
1986 Absolute Beginners
1988 Prisoner of Rio
1990 The Krays
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"Berkowitz, David",4076,0,0,0
PN [\Bber\bkohvits]
DT1a c.
DT1 1953
EN Convicted US murderer, who dubbed himself 'Son of Sam' in a note to the New York Police Department. He terrorized the city for a year (1976-7), preying on courting couples and lone women. He was finally caught because of a parking ticket: he watched as it was stuck on his car, and then went and tore it to pieces.
A woman witnessed this, noticed a strange smile on his face, and reported him to the police. Berkowitz's car was traced and he was arrested. In pursuit of a plea of insanity he claimed at his trial that Satanic voices told him to kill. Deemed sane, he received a prison sentence of 365 years in 1977.
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"Berkowitz, Henry",4077,0,0,0
DT (1857-1924)
EN rabbi; born in \JPittsburgh\j, Pa. A graduate of the University of \JCincinnati\j and \JHebrew\j Union College in \JCincinnati\j, he was one of the first four rabbis ordained in the U.S.A. (1883). Rabbi of Rodeph Scholem \JSynagogue\j in Philadelphia (1892-1922) and founder of the Jewish Chautauqua Society (1893), he also wrote popular religious literature.
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"Berkshire",4078,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah(r)k\bsheer]
EN pop (1995e) 774 000; area 1259 sq km/486 sq mi. County of S England, UK; drained by the Kennet and Thames Rivers; county town, Reading; Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, and Bracknell Forest unitary authorities from 1998; \Jengineering\j, high technology, pharmaceuticals, plastics; Atomic Research Establishment at Aldermaston; Windsor Castle.
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"Berlage, Hendrick Petrus",4079,0,0,0
PN [\Bber\blaguh]
DT1 1856
DT2 1934
EN Architect and town planner, born in \JAmsterdam\j. He designed the \JAmsterdam\j Bourse (1903) in a neo-Romanesque style, but was later influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, and was largely responsible for the spread of his theories in The Netherlands. His other buildings include Holland House, London (1914), and the Gemeente Museum in The Hague (1934).
MEX Wright, Frank Lloyd
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"Berle, A(dolf) A(ugustus)",4080,0,0,0
DT (1895-1971)
EN lawyer, economist, public official; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. Educated at Harvard, he practiced law in \JBoston\j and New York City before becoming a professor of corporate law at Columbia University in 1927. He joined Franklin D. Roosevelt's "brain trust" for the 1932 presidential campaign and served as an assistant \Jsecretary of state\j (1938-44) and ambassador to \JBrazil\j (1945-46).
He published several important works on business organization and on \JLatin America\j. He retired from Columbia in 1963, but continued teaching as a professor emeritus until his death.
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"Berle, Milton",4081,0,0,0
PN [berl]
HS , originally \BMilton Berlinger\b, nickname \BMr Television\b
DT1 1908
EN Entertainer, born in New York City, USA. From childhood he appeared in \Jvaudeville\j and silent films, but his later attempts to gain a radio audience (in the 1940s) were unsuccessful. His comic style was better suited to the screen, and he was nationally popular on US \Jtelevision\j (1940--66).
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"Berlichingen, G÷tz von",4082,0,0,0
EN See G÷tz von Berlichingen
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"Berlin",4083,0,0,0
PN [ber\Blin\b]
EN 52░32N 13░25E, pop (1995e) 3 530 000; area 883 sq km/341 sq mi. Capital of \JGermany\j, partitioned in 1945 into East Berlin and West Berlin; founded in the 13th-c; former residence of the \JHohenzollerns\j and capital of Brandenburg; later capital of \JPrussia\j, becoming an industrial and commercial centre in the 18th-c; in 1949 West Berlin became a province of the Federal Republic of \JGermany\j (pop (1991) 2 146 300; area 480 sq km/185 sq mi) and East Berlin a county of the German Democratic Republic (pop (1991) 1 272 600, area 403 sq km/156 sq mi); the two halves of the city separated by the Berlin Wall (1961); contact between East and West was restored in 1989, following government changes in East \JGermany\j; capital-designate of unified \JGermany\j, 1990; railway; two airports; Humboldt University (1809), Free University (1948), Technical University (1946); \Jengineering\j, motor vehicles, office equipment, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, brewing, soft drinks, food processing, toys, \Jelectronics\j, electrical cables, clothing, steel construction, publishing; Kaiser Wilhelm Church (preserved ruins), Tiergarten, Charlottenburg Palace; Brandenburg Gate, Unter den Linden, \JPergamum\j museum, national gallery, Rotes Rathaus (red town hall); festival of dramatic art and music, film festival (Feb).
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"Berlin Airlift",4084,0,0,0
DT1 1948
DT2 9
EN A massive airlift of essential supplies flown in to postwar Berlin by British and US \Jaircraft\j in round-the-clock missions. It was carried out in response to the action of the Soviet military authorities in Berlin, who had attempted to isolate the city from the West by severing all overland communication routes (Jun 1948). Stalin lifted the blockade in May 1949.
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"Berlin Royal Theatre",4085,0,0,0
EN German theatre. In 1786 D÷bbelin took over the Kom÷dienhaus on the Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin, where he received a royal patent to perform plays. In 1796 August Iffland was appointed director of this court theatre. Under him it achieved the status of a national theatre.
After Iffland's death in 1812, the direction was taken over by Count Karl von Brⁿhl (1772-1837), who cultivated the Weimar style. After Brⁿhl's retirement and Ludwig Devrient's death, the pre-eminence of the National Theatre began to decline, and its influence over the development of the German theatre fell off rapidly.
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"Berlin Wall",4086,0,0,0
EN A concrete wall built by the East German government in 1961 to seal off East Berlin from the part of the city occupied by the three main Western powers. Built largely to prevent mass illegal emigration to the West, which was threatening the East German economy, the wall was the scene of the shooting of many East Germans who tried to escape from the Eastern sector.
The wall, seen by many as a major symbol of the denial of human rights in E Europe, was unexpectedly opened in November 1989, following increased pressure for political reform in East \JGermany\j. It has now been taken down.
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"Berlin, Congress of",4087,0,0,0
EN (1878) An international congress following the Russian defeat of Turkey (1877-8). The chief results were: \JSerbia\j, \JRomania\j, and \JBulgaria\j achieved independence from Turkey; \JAustria\j-\JHungary\j occupied Bosnia-Herzegovina; \JRussia\j retained gains in S Bessarabia and the Caucasus, but conceded a reduction in the size of her \Jsatellite\j, \JBulgaria\j; and Britain occupied Cyprus.
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"Berlin, Irving",4088,0,0,0
DT 1888-1989
EN Russian-born American composer. His most memorable contributions to the musical stage were individual songs rather than complete scores. In 1911 his 'Alexander's \JRagtime\j Band' became an international sensation, launching a vogue for popular \Jragtime\j songs. Berlin wrote his first complete Broadway score for Watch Your Step (1914). In 1921-4 he and producer Sam H. Harris offered a series of Music Box Revues which introduced many of Berlin's standards, such as QWhat'll I Do?' and 'All Alone'.
His other shows of the 1920s were The Cocoanuts (1925) and The Ziegfeld Follies (1927). In the 1930s Berlin created the score for Face the Music (1932), a satire on police corruption. His score for the revue As Thousands Cheer (1933) included 'Supper Time', a lament about the lynching of a southern black.
He returned from \JHollywood\j to Broadway with the scores for Louisiana Purchase (1940), This Is the Army (1942), Annie Get Your Gun (1946), Call Me Madam (1950) and his final score, Mr President (1962). Berlin was never interested in experimentation or innovation; his strength was his ability to adapt to changing musical styles and to reflect in his music the thoughts and aspirations of average people.
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"Berlin, Sir Isaiah",4089,0,0,0
DT1 1909
DT2 1997
EN Philosopher and historian of ideas, born in Riga, \JLatvia\j. Most of his academic career has been at Oxford, where he became a fellow of All Souls (1932), professor of social and political theory (1957), and Master of Wolfson College (1966). His philosophical works include \IKarl Marx\i (1939), \IHistorical Inevitability\i (1954), \ITwo Concepts of Liberty\i (1959), and \IVico and Herder\i (1976). Later works include \IThe Crooked Timber of Humanity\i (1990) and \IThe Magus of the North\i (1993).
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"Berliner Ensemble",4090,0,0,0
EN German theatre company. It was founded by Helene Weigel in 1949 and dedicated to promoting the epic theatre of Brecht. In 1954 it gained a permanent base at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, and since then has been the most influential force in German theatre.
Apart from productions of all his major plays, which form about half of the repertoire, Brecht used the stage to explore his concepts of acting and directing, and to encourage work by other playwrights. The company's extensive touring gave its methods international exposure.
Its visit to London in 1956 profoundly influenced the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court. From its opening the Ensemble attracted major actors, and a number of directors were trained there, including Benno Besson, Peter Palitzsch and Manfred Wekwerth, under whom the BE became a Brecht museum. Divorced from Brecht and his heirs after 1989 and German reunification, its future is uncertain. Since 1992 new directors have included Palitzsch, Heiner Mⁿller and Peter Zadek.
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"Berliner, Emile",4091,0,0,0
DT (1851-1929)
EN inventor; born in \JHanover\j, \JGermany\j. An apprentice printer before he emigrated to the United States in 1870, he became chief inspector of the Bell \JTelephone\j Company, and from 1876 on, patented a series of improvements to Alexander Graham Bell's \Jtelephone\j. In 1888 Berliner introduced the first flat disc recording, a marked improvement over Thomas Edison's recording cylinders. He developed the first acoustic tiles in 1915.
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"Berlinguer, Enrico",4092,0,0,0
PN [\Bbair\blinggair]
DT1 1922
DT2 84
EN Italian politician, born in Sussari, \JSardinia\j. From his early 20s he devoted himself to making the Italian Communist Party a major force in Italian politics, and became secretary-general (1972). In 1976, under his leadership, it won more than a third of the Chamber of Deputies' seats, prompting him to propose the 'historic compromise': an alliance of the Catholics with the Communists. His proposal was rejected, but his vision of 'Eurocommunism' had a lasting impact.
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"Berlioz, (Louis-)Hector",4093,0,0,0
PN [\Bber\bliohz]
DT1 1803
DT2 69
EN Composer, born in La C⌠te-Saint-AndrΘ, \JFrance\j. He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1826, where he fell in love with the actress \BHarriet Smithson,\b whom he subsequently married (1833, d.1854); the \ISymphonie Fantastique\i expresses his devotion to her. Gaining the Prix de \JRome\j in 1830, he spent two years in \JItaly\j. After 1842 he won a brilliant reputation in \JGermany\j, \JRussia\j, and England, but on his return to \JFrance\j he failed to gain a hearing for his major works.
The deaths of his second wife \B(Maria Recio,\b 1862) and his son, ill health, and his fruitless struggle to win a regular place in French music, clouded his later years. His compositions include the \IGrande messe des morts\i (1837), the dramatic symphony \IRomΘo et Juliette\i (1839), the \Joverture\j \ILe \JCarnival\j romain\i (1843), the cantata \ILa Damnation de Faust\i (1846), and his comic opera \IBΘatrice et BΘnΘdict\i (1860-2). One of the founders of 19th-c programme music, he also produced seven books, including a treatise on orchestration and an \Jautobiography\j.
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"Berlitz, Charles (Frambach)",4094,0,0,0
DT1 1914
EN Languages educationist, the vice-president of Berlitz Schools of Languages and of Berlitz Publications, born in New York City, USA. He is the grandson of \BMaximilian Delphinus Berlitz\b, who founded the Berlitz School in 1878 as a German emigrΘ to the USA.
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"Berman, Eugene",4095,0,0,0
DT (1899-1972)
EN painter, scenic designer; born in St. Petersburg, \JRussia\j. He emigrated to America (1935) and was a scenic designer for ballet and opera. His paintings, such as \IMuse of the Western World\i (1942), often resemble stage sets.
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"Berman, Sabina",4096,0,0,0
DT 1953-
EN Mexican postmodernist playwright. Her plays are complex and provocative. Yankee (originally named Bill, 1980) involves a Vietnam veteran with a Mexican novelist and his wife; Rompecabezas (Puzzle, 1982) interprets Trotsky's death in Mexico; Aguila o sol (Eagle or Sun, 1985) deals with the conquest; Muerte s·bita (Sudden Death, 1988) examines value systems in a young relationship; and Entre Villa y una mujer desnuda (Between Villa and a Naked Woman, 1990) uses the figure of Pancho Villa to dramatize politics and machismo in Mexico.
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"Bermuda",4097,0,0,0
EN 32░N 65░W, pop (1995e) 62 000; area 53 sq km/20 sq mi. A British self-governing dependency, divided into nine parishes; in the W Atlantic c.900 km/560 mi E of Cape Hatteras, N Carolina; c.150 low-lying \Jcoral\j islands and islets, 20 inhabited, seven linked by causeways and bridges; largest island (Great) \JBermuda\j; St George's and St David's Is to the E; highest point, Gibb's Hill (78 m/256 ft); capital, Hamilton; deepwater ports at Hamilton, St George (St George's I), and Freeport (Ireland I); timezone GMT -4; two-thirds black population, remainder of British or Portuguese stock; official language, English; main religions, Anglican (37%), Roman Catholic (14%); main airport at Kindley Field (US Naval Air Station and civil airport); motor cars allowed since 1947; unit of currency, \JBermuda\j dollar of 100 cents; sub-tropical climate, generally humid, rain throughout year, summers warm to hot, winters mild; discovered by Spanish mariner, Juan Bermudez, in early 16th-c; colonized by English settlers, 1612; important naval station, and (to 1862) penal settlement; internal self-government, 1968; movement for independence caused tension in the 1970s, including assassination of the governor, 1973; British monarch represented by a governor; governed by a Senate (11 members), a House of Assembly (40 members, elected for 5 years), and a cabinet headed by a premier; economy mainly year-round tourism; increasingly an international company business centre; also, \Jpetroleum\j products, pharmaceuticals, \Jaircraft\j supplies, ship repair; vegetables.
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"Bermuda Triangle",4098,0,0,0
EN An area of the North \JAtlantic Ocean\j, roughly delimited by \JBermuda\j, the Greater \JAntilles\j, and the US coast, which has become part of maritime \Jmythology\j. Reports of vessels which have been abandoned or disappeared, vanishing \Jaircraft\j, and other inexplicable events have been known for over a century, and have attracted diverse explanations involving extraterrestrial beings, force fields, crippling sea vegetation, sea monsters, and other such factors. Although objective evidence, such as wreckage, is conspicuous by its absence, the Triangle continues to attract a great deal of imaginative writing.
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"Bern",4099,0,0,0
EN 46░57N 7░28E, pop (1995e) 139 000. Federal capital of \JSwitzerland\j and of \JBern\j canton, W \JSwitzerland\j; on R Aare 94 km/58 mi SW of Zⁿrich; founded, 1191; joined the Swiss Confederation, 1353; capital, 1848; airport (Belpmoos); railway junction; university (1834); textiles, machinery, chocolate, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, graphic trades, electrical equipment, \Jengineering\j, tourism; Gothic cathedral (1421--1573), mediaeval town hall, clock tower, many museums; old city is a world heritage site; "ZibelemΣrit' old market (Nov); headquarters of several international organizations.
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"Bernadette of Lourdes, St",4100,0,0,0
HS , originally \BMarie Bernarde Soubirous\b
DT1 1844
DT2 79
EN Visionary, born in \JLourdes\j, \JFrance\j, the daughter of Francois Soubirous, a miller. She claimed in 1858 to have received 18 apparitions of the Blessed Virgin at the Massabielle Rock in 1858, which has since become a notable place of pilgrimage. She became a nun with the Sisters of Charity at Nevers, and was canonized in 1933. Feast \Jday\j 18 February or 16 April.
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"Bernadotte, Folke, Greve (Count)",4101,0,0,0
PN [berna\Bdot\b]
DT1 1895
DT2 1948
EN Humanitarian and diplomat, born in Stockholm. The nephew of King Gustav V of Sweden, he acted as mediator during both world wars. Appointed by the UN to mediate in Palestine, he produced a partition plan, but was assassinated by Jewish terrorists in \JJerusalem\j.
MEX Gustav V
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"Bernadotte, Jean",4102,0,0,0
EN See Charles XIV
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"Bernal, John Desmond",4103,0,0,0
PN [\Bber\bnal]
DT1 1901
DT2 71
EN Crystallographer, born in Nenagh, Co \JTipperary\j, Ireland. He studied at Cambridge, and became professor of physics and then of \Jcrystallography\j at Birkbeck College, London (1937-68). He developed modern \Jcrystallography\j and was a founder of molecular \Jbiology\j, pioneering work on the structure of \Jwater\j. A Communist from his student days, he was active in international peace activity during the \JCold War\j.
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"Bernanos, Georges",4104,0,0,0
PN [bairnanos]
DT1 1888
DT2 1948
EN Writer, born in Paris. He did not begin to write seriously until he was 37 and had taken degrees in law and letters. A Catholic polemicist, he attacked indifference and was preoccupied with problems of sin and grace. His most memorable novels are \ISous le soleil de Satan\i (1926, trans The Star of Satan) and \ILe Journal d'un curΘ de campagne\i (1936, The Diary of a Country Priest).
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"Bernard of Clairvaux, St",4105,0,0,0
PN [klairvoh]
HS , known as \Bthe Mellifluous Doctor\b
DT1 1090
DT2 1153
EN Theologian and reformer, born in Fontaines, \JFrance\j. He entered the Cistercian monastery of Cεteaux (1113), and became the first abbot of the newly-founded monastery of \JClairvaux\j, in Champagne (1115). His studious, ascetic life and stirring eloquence made him the oracle of Christendom; he founded more than 70 monasteries; and he is regarded by the \JCatholic Church\j as the last of the Fathers.
His writings comprise more than 400 epistles, 340 sermons, a Life of St Malachy, and distinct theological treatises. He was canonized in 1174. The monks of his reformed branch of the \JCistercians\j are often called \IBernardines.\i Feast \Jday\j 20 August.
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"Bernard of Menthon, St",4106,0,0,0
PN [mπt⌡]
HS , known as \Bthe \JApostle\j of the Alps\b
DT1 923
DT2 1008
EN Clergyman, born in Savoy, \JItaly\j. As \Jarchdeacon\j of \JAosta\j he founded the hospices in the two \JAlpine\j passes that bear his name. \ISt Bernard dogs\i are named after him. He was canonized in 1115; feast \Jday\j 28 May or 15 June.
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"Bernard of Morval or Morlaix",4107,0,0,0
DT1 12
DT1b th-c
EN Benedictine monk of Cluny in Burgundy, \JFrance\j, said to have been born of English parents in Morval. He is the author of the Latin poem, \IDe contemptu mundi,\i in 3000 long hexameters, some of which were translated by John Mason Neale into hymns, among them '\JJerusalem\j the Golden' and 'The World is Very Evil'.
MEX Neale
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"Bernard, Claude",4108,0,0,0
PN [bairnahr]
DT (1813-78)
EN French physiologist: pioneer of experimental medicine and physiological chemistry.
Bernard was the son of vineyard workers and he remained fond of country life; later he spent his time in either a Paris laboratory or, during the harvest, in the Beaujolais vineyards. His schooling was provided by his church, and at 19 he was apprenticed to an \Japothecary\j. His first talent was in writing for the theatre, but he was urged to qualify in a profession and chose medicine.
He qualified for entry with some difficulty and emerged from his training in Paris as an average student. Then as assistant to Magendie he found his talent in experimental medicine. He never practised as a physician, and an early problem for him was how to make a living. He solved this by marrying a successful Paris physician's daughter and living on the dowry until he succeeded to Magendie's job in 1852. His marriage was unhappy.
Bernard's discoveries were wide-ranging; many depended on his skill in vivisection, using mainly dogs and rabbits. In digestion he showed the presence of an \Jenzyme\j in gastric juice; the nervous control of gastric secretion and its localization; the change of all carbohydrates into simple sugars before absorption; and the role of \Jbile\j and pancreatic juice in the digestion of fats. He noted that the urine of herbivores is alkaline and that of carnivores acid, and he pursued the comparisons that these observations suggested.
This led him to find that \Jnutrition\j is complex and involves intermediate stages and synthesis as well as transport. He discovered \Jglycogen\j, and sugar production by the liver. He studied the \Jnervous system\j and discovered the vasomotor and vasoconstrictor nerves. Beginning with an attempt to prove Lavoisier's simple ideas on animal combustion, Barnard showed that in fact the \Joxidation\j producing animal heat is indirect, and occurs in all tissues and not simply in the lungs. He studied the action of curare and other paralysing poisons and showed their use in experimental medicine.
His approach to research was essentially modern; he combined experimental skill with theory and had a valuable talent for noting experimental results that were not in accord with existing ideas, which led to fruitful new concepts. Perhaps his greatest contribution to \Jphysiology\j was the idea that life is dependent on a constant internal environment (homeostasis); cells function best within a narrow range of osmotic pressure and \Jtemperature\j and bathed in a fairly constant concentration of chemical constituents such as sugars and metallic ions.
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"Bernard, Emile",4109,0,0,0
PN [bairnah(r)]
DT1 1868
DT2 1941
EN Painter and writer, born in Lille, \JFrance\j. A fellow student with Van Gogh and \JToulouse\j-Lautrec at the AcadΘmie of Fernand Cormon, he later worked with Gauguin. In Paris he joined the Group SynthΘtiste (1889), and launched a magazine, \ILa RΘnovation esthΘtique\i (1890). He is credited with founding the so-called Cloisonnist style.
MEX Gauguin
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"Bernardines",4110,0,0,0
EN See Bernard of \JClairvaux\j, St
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"Bernardino",4111,0,0,0
EN See Pinturicchio
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"Bernardino of Siena, St",4112,0,0,0
PN [bernah(r)\Bdee\bnoh, \Bsyay\bna]
DT1 1380
DT2 1444
EN Franciscan monk, born in Massa di Carrara, \JItaly\j. He entered the order in 1404, was appointed its vicar-general for \JItaly\j (1438), and made himself famous by his rigid restoration of the rule. He was canonized in 1450; feast \Jday\j 20 May.
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"Bernays, Edward L",4113,0,0,0
PN [ber\Bnayz\b]
DT1 1891
DT2 1995
EN Public relations executive, born in Vienna, the nephew of Sigmund Freud. He was brought to the USA in 1892. After creating US World War 1 propaganda, he founded the country's first public relations firm (1919), for which he and his future wife, \BDoris E Fleischman,\b coined the term 'counsel on public relations'.
He was still counselling industrial and government clients after his 100th birthday. Known as the father of public relations, he pioneered public relations based on social science and market research. He wrote numerous books and articles, including the first book on public relations, \ICrystallizing Public Opinion\i (1923).
MEX Freud, Sigmund
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"Bernbach, William",4114,0,0,0
DT (1911-82)
EN advertising executive; born in New York City. He was variously president, chairman, and chief executive officer of his own New York advertising agency, Doyle Dane Bernbach (1949-82). A copywriter credited with introducing a low-keyed, often humorous soft sell to advertising (Avis's "We Try Harder"), he heralded the rise of creative New York agencies in the 1960s and 1970s.
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"Berne, Eric (Lennard)",4115,0,0,0
DT (1910-70)
EN psychiatrist, author; born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He studied medicine at McGill University and attended the Yale Psychiatric Clinic (1936-38). He was affiliated with the \JSan Francisco\j Psychoanalytic Institute (1947-56) and conducted a private practice in \Jpsychiatry\j for more than 30 years. His theory of "transactional analysis" became well known through his book \IGames People Play: The \JPsychology\j of Human Relationships\i (1964).
EN Composer, born in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, WC England, UK. His early works appeared under the name of Gerald Tyrwhitt. His total output was small, but includes an orchestral \Jfugue\j and several ballets, of which the best known are \IThe Triumph of Neptune\i and \IWedding Bouquet.\i
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"Berners, John Bourchier, 2nd Baron",4117,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1467
DT2 1533
EN Writer and soldier, born probably in Oxford, Oxfordshire, SC England, UK. A notable figure in the reigns of \JHenry VII\j and \JHenry VIII\j, he became captain deputy of \JCalais\j in 1520, where he translated the works of Froissart and others.
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"Bernese Alps",4118,0,0,0
HS , Ger \BBerner Alpen,\b Fr \BAlpes Bernoises\b
EN Mountain range in \JSwitzerland\j, a N division of the Central Alps, extending from Lake Geneva to the Grimsel Pass; highest peak, the Finsteraarhorn (4274┐m / 14┐022┐ft); also includes the Aletschhorn and \JJungfrau\j; numerous tourist resorts, including Interlaken and Grindelwald.
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"Bernese mountain dog",4119,0,0,0
EN \B(Swiss Mountain Dog, Berner Sennenhund, Bouvier Bernois)\b
Of the four varieties of the Swiss Mountain Dog, the Bernese Mountain Dog is the only long-haired one. The \JGreater Swiss Mountain Dog\j is, as its name suggests, the largest variety; the Appenzell is curly-tailed and the \JEntlebuch\j is the smallest variety. The Bernese Mountain Dog may often be seen pulling small wagons in \JSwitzerland\j.
\BHistory:\b
All the four varieties of the Swiss Mountain Dog most probably descended from the \JMastiff\j. The Mastiffs came from Asia and were later imported into the European region by the Phoenicians and Greeks. When the Roman Legions invaded Gaul, the Mastiffs were brought with them to guard the flocks of sheep. The Swiss Mountain Dog was then selectively bred to suit the local conditions.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The Bernese Mountain Dog is very solidly built and moves with a powerful gait. \IHeight:\i 24.5 - 27.5 in (62 - 70 cm) for the dog and 22.75 - 26 in (58 - 66 cm) for the bitch under Canadian standards; elsewhere 25 - 27 in (64 - 70 cm) for the dog and 23 - 26 in (58 - 66 cm) for the bitch. \IWeight:\i 88 lb (40 kg) under FCI standards, elsewhere proportionate to height. The dark brown almond-shaped eyes are well-set in a broad flat head with a slight furrow.
The medium-size triangular-shaped ears hang flat at rest and are lifted slightly when alert. The neck is of medium length, whereas the body is compact and broad-chested. The tail is bushy with a slight curve. The coat is colored black with brownish-red markings above the eyes, on the cheeks, at the side of the chest, and on the legs. There should be white markings on the face, chest, and the tips of the paws.
\BBehavior:\b
The Bernese Mountain Dog is a large, usually placid and confident animal. This dog's alert nature makes it a good watch-dog. Its large size provides a wonderful deterrent to would-be intruders and so the Bernese Mountain Dog is excellent in its role as a guard dog. When it has been given the opportunity to socialize with others as a puppy, the Bernese Mountain Dog will get along very well with other dogs as an adult.
Although the Bernese Mountain Dog has a rather cute appearance, owners should be aware that this animal used to be a working dog. This dog can sometimes become extremely dominant with members of its human family. It is wise to start off with assertive dominance training and regularly remind the Bernese Mountain Dog of its junior position in the family. Children should not be left unsupervised with this dog, and tug-o-war and chasing games should not be played. If well-controlled and regularly exercised, this truly magnificent dog can become a wonderful companion.
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"Bernhard Leopold",4120,0,0,0
PN [\Bbern\bhah(r)t]
DT1 1911
EN Prince of The Netherlands, born in Jena, \JGermany\j, the son of Prince Bernhard Casimir of Lippe. In 1937 he married Juliana, the only daughter of Wilhelmina, Queen of The Netherlands; they have four daughters. During World War 2, he commanded the Netherlands Forces of the Interior (1944--5).
In 1976 he was involved in a bribery scandal, in which he was found to have received money for promoting the Dutch purchase of \Jaircraft\j from the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation.
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"Bernhard, Duke of Weimar",4121,0,0,0
PN [\Bbern\bhah(r)t]
DT1 1604
DT2 39
EN Protestant general, born in Weimar, \JGermany\j. In the \JThirty Years' War\j he distinguished himself at the Battle of Wimpfen (1622). He supported Gustav II Adolf of Sweden (1631), commanded the left wing at Lⁿtzen (1632), and after Gustav's death had the chief command. He lost at N÷rdlingen (1634), and was abandoned by the Swedes, but in alliance with Richelieu won victories at Rheinfelden and Breisach (1638).
MEX Gustav II
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"Bernhard, Thomas",4122,0,0,0
DT 1931-89
EN Austrian playwright and novelist. Bernhard classified his plays, which are skilfully orchestrated cascades of words, set as verse without punctuation, as 'musical theatre'. Ein Fest fⁿr Boris (A Party for Boris, 1970), in which the legless Kind Lady dragoons 13 other cripples into a party for her husband - who dies unnoticed during the proceedings - is typical of his grotesque comic bleakness. In Der Ignorant und der Wahnsinnige (The Ignoramus and the Lunatic, 1972) an international soprano laments that she has become a coloratura-machine.
Artistic perfectionism, with its destructive effects, is also the theme of Die Macht der Gewohnheit (The Force of Habit, 1974) and of Der Theatermacher (The Showman, 1985, Almeida Theatre, 1993). Bernhard reflects cynically on German history in Vor dem Ruhestand (Before Retirement, 1979), in which an ex-SS officer, now an MP, celebrates Himmler's birthday, and in Heldenplatz (1988), on \JAustria\j's continuing antisemitism .
Sickness and stupidity, desperation and death, are his constant themes. The plays often take the form of interrupted monologues by one dominant character; they were written for Bernhard's favourite actors - Minetti (1976) for Bernhard Minetti and Ritter, Dene, Voss (1986) for Gert Voss and two actresses in Peymann's company, which premiered most of his plays.
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"Bernhardt, Sarah",4123,0,0,0
DT 1844-1923
EN French actress, incontestably the greatest star of the 19th- century French theatre. The 'divine' Sarah's reputation depended not only upon her great talent as an actress (notably the purity of her diction), but also upon her personal charisma and her extravagant lifestyle and productions. Her numerous tours abroad - to the United States, \JRussia\j and \JAustralia\j - ensured her international reputation.
After an unremarkable debut at the ComΘdie-Francaise in 1862 as Iphigenia, she made her name in 1869 at the OdΘon in the breeches part of Zanetto in Francois CoppΘe's The Passer-by. In 1872 she was back at the ComΘdie-Francaise making a triumphant appearance as the Queen in the revival of Hugo's Ruy Blas, and by 1875 had risen to being a sociΘtaire of the company. PhΦdre (1877) became one of her greatest parts, as did Andromaque and Hernani. She was at home in both classical and modern drama, notably in the plays of Dumas fils.
After her departure from the ComΘdie, she developed a pattern of long foreign tours. In 1882 she found one of her two major authors in Victorien Sardou, whose FΘdora was written for her. From now on she was her own manager, and many of the plays chosen became vehicles for her talent and delight in sumptuous mise-en-scΦne. In 1884 she gave a memorable performance in The Lady of the Camelias, with her husband Jacques Damala as Armand; later that year Sardou's ThΘodora provided another lavish spectacle.
In 1893 she took on the direction of the Renaissance, where she created the title roles in Sardou's Gismonda (1894) and La Princesse Lointaine (The Distant Princess) by Rostand (her other major author); and staged the first production of Musset's Lorenzaccio, in which she played Lorenzo. In 1899 she moved to the former ThΘΓtre des Nations which now became the ThΘΓtre Sarah-Bernhardt (a title it would retain until the Occupation).
The most significant production of this period was Rostand's L'Aiglon (another breeches part for Bernhardt, as Napoleon's son). She continued playing to the bitter end, even after the amputation of one of her legs, which often required her to be propped up on stage.
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"Berni or Bernia, Francesco",4124,0,0,0
PN [bair\Bnee\b]
DT1a c.
DT1 1497
DT2 1535
EN Poet, born in Lamporecchio, Tuscany. His recast or \Irifacimento\i of Boiardo's \IOrlando innamorato\i (1542) is still read in \JItaly\j in preference to the original. He played a large part in establishing Italian as a literary language.
MEX Boiardo
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"Bernini, Gian Lorenzo",4125,0,0,0
DT 1598-1680
EN Italian architect, sculptor, stage designer, playwright, actor and stage manager. Perhaps the greatest artist of the Italian baroque, throughout his life he was fascinated by, and involved in, theatrical activity. No visual material has survived to illustrate his scenographic work in \JRome\j.
He stage-managed baroque spectacles such as De'due teatri (The Two Theatres, 1637) and L'inondazione del Tevere (The Tiber in Flood, 1638). He also wrote plays, including La fontana di Trevi (The Trevi Fountain, 1966), a scripted treatment of subject matter in the commedia dell'arte tradition.
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"Bernoulli disk",4126,0,0,0
PN [ber\Bnoo\blee]
EN A form of computer magnetic disk storage where, unlike the Winchester disk, the disk can be removed and replaced. It is named after the mathematician, Daniel Bernoulli, who developed the theory of fluid mechanics.
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"Bernoulli family",4127,0,0,0
The Bernoullis were originally Flemish. They were driven from the Netherlands in the late sixteenth century because they were Protestants, and they then settled in \JSwitzerland\j. The family were, for several generations, successful pharmacists, but then they threw up two amazing mathematicians, the brothers Jakob (also called Jacques, 1654 - 1705) and Johann (also called Jean, 1667 - 1748), and another in their nephew Nicholas Bernoulli, and yet another in Johann's son, Daniel Bernoulli (1700 - 1782). Several other members of the family were also notable in the area of \Jmathematics\j and science.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Bernoulli trial",4128,0,0,0
The name given in the \Jmathematics\j of probability to an experiment where there are just two possible choices, and where the result of any given trial is independent of the trials that went before-what the mathematicians call a dichotomous outcome. In practice, this comes down to alternatives such as heads or tails, black or white, true or false, male or female, alive or dead.
The problem was first considered in detail by Jakob Bernoulli, who asked (and solved) in his book \IArs Conjecturandi,\i the question: "when there are \Bn + m\b trials of some event which has a probability \Bp\b of succeeding (and hence a probability of \B1 - p\b of \Inot\i succeeding), what is the probability of \Iexactly\i \Bn\b successes, and \Bm\b failures?"
Bernoulli's solution was that there is a probability of (n + m)! / (n! x m!) x p\Un\u x (1 - p)\Un\u that this result will be achieved. In this notation, (n + m)! is a factorial number, which makes the calculation of a probability for any large value of n and m rather challenging.
This equation only applies when the different samples are all independent: if the ace of spades is the first card dealt during a poker game, this reduces the probability that the next card will be an ace from 4/52 to 3/51, and it reduces the probability that the card will be the ace of spades from 1/52 to zero. On the other hand, if the single card is replaced in the pack, and then the pack is shuffled thoroughly, the probability of dealing the ace of spades remains at 1/52.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Bernoulli's principle",4129,0,0,0
PN [ber\Bnoo\blee]
EN In physics, the principle that as the speed of a moving fluid increases, its pressure decreases; stated by Daniel Bernoulli in 1738. For example, when \Jwater\j flows down a pipe of varying cross-section, the \Jwater\j velocity is greatest at the narrowest point; the force required to accelerate the \Jwater\j to this greatest velocity is provided by the higher pressure in the slower-moving portion upstream. Bernoulli's principle explains the curved flight of a spinning cricket ball, and the lift on \Jaircraft\j wings.
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"Bernoulli, Daniel",4130,0,0,0
PN [bernooyee]
DT (1700-82)
EN Swiss mathematician: pioneer of \Jhydrodynamics\j and kinetic theory of gases.
This extraordinary family, in the century before and the century after this Daniel's birth, produced 11 substantial mathematicians in four generations. Most of them worked mainly in applied \Jmathematics\j and analysis, had talents in some other areas, from \Jastronomy\j to \Jzoology\j, and quarrelled vigorously with their relatives.
Daniel studied medicine in \JSwitzerland\j and \JGermany\j and qualified in 1724, and published some major work in \Jmathematics\j in the same year. In 1725 he was appointed professor of \Jmathematics\j in St Petersburg, but found conditions in \JRussia\j primitive and returned to Basle in 1733 as professor of anatomy and botany and, later, of physics. He worked on \Jtrigonometry\j, \Jcalculus\j and probability. His work on \Jhydrodynamics\j used Newton's ideas on force applied to fluids, and advanced both theory and a range of applications.
One of his results (Bernoulli's principle) deals with fluid flow through pipes of changing diameter and shows that pressure in a narrow section is lower than in the wider part, contrary to expectation. A closely related effect leads to the uplift of an \Jaircraft\j wing; since the distance from leading edge to rear edge is greater over the top of the wing than below it, the air velocity over the top must be higher and therefore its pressure is lower; the result is uplift.
Again, when a golf ball is driven off, the loft of the club causes the ball to spin, and the resulting airflow gives it lift so that it has an asymmetric flight, rising in nearly a \Jstraight line\j. As the spin decreases, the lift diminishes and the ball moves into a path like that of a thrown ball.
Bernoulli also proposed a mental model for gases, showing that if gases consist of small atoms in ceaseless rapid motion colliding elastically with each other and the walls of their container, Boyle's experimental law should result. This was both a very early application of the idea of atoms and the origin of the kinetic theory of gases.
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"Bernoulli, Jakob or Jacques",4131,0,0,0
PN [ber\Bnoo\blee]
DT1 1655
DT2 1705
EN Mathematician, born in \JBasel\j, \JSwitzerland\j, the brother of Johann Bernoulli. He became professor of \Jmathematics\j at \JBasel\j in 1687. He investigated infinite series, the \Jcycloid\j, transcendental curves, the logarithmic spiral, and the catenary. In 1690 he applied Gottfried Leibniz's newly discovered differential \Jcalculus\j to a problem in \Jgeometry\j, first using the term \Iintegral.\i His \IArs conjectandi\i (1713) was an important contribution to probability theory.
MEX Bernoulli, Johann; Leibniz
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"Bernoulli, Johann or Jean",4132,0,0,0
PN [ber\Bnoo\blee]
DT1 1667
DT2 1748
EN Mathematician, born in \JBasel\j, \JSwitzerland\j, the brother of Jakob Bernoulli. He did mathematical and chemical research, and became professor at \JGroningen\j (1695) and \JBasel\j (1705). He wrote on differential equations, finding the length and area of curves, isochronous curves, and curves of quickest descent. He founded a dynasty of mathematicians which continued for two generations.
MEX Bernoulli, Daniel; Bernoulli, Jakob
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"Bernstein, Aline",4133,0,0,0
DT 1880-1955
EN American set and costume designer. A founding member of the Neighborhood Playhouse (1915), she later worked at the Theatre Guild and on Broadway. In 1926 actress Eva Le Gallienne asked her to design for a newly founded Civic Repertory Theatre. She worked with producer Herman Shumlin on Grand Hotel and, through the 1930s, on the plays of Lillian Hellman including The Little Foxes.
Bernstein's early designs utilized adaptable unit sets, while some of her later work employed mechanical devices for a cinematic change of scenes. She founded the Costume Museum, later absorbed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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"Bernstein, Carl",4134,0,0,0
PN [\Bbern\bstiyn]
DT1 1944
EN Journalist and writer, born in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. With Bob Woodward (1943-- ) he was responsible for unmasking the \JWatergate\j cover-up, which resulted in a constitutional crisis and the resignation of President Richard Nixon. For their coverage of the acknowledged investigative story of the century, Bernstein and Woodward won for the \IWashington Post\i the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for public service. Together they wrote the best seller, \IAll the President's Men\i (1974), which became a successful film, and \IThe Final Days\i (1976), an almost hour-by-hour account of President Nixon's last months in office.
\BMajor Works\b
\IPublications\i
1974 All The President's Men
1976 The Final Days
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"Bernstein, Eduard",4135,0,0,0
PN [\Bbern\bshtiyn]
DT1 1850
DT2 1932
EN Socialist leader, born in Berlin. He lived in England from 1888 to 1901. An associate of Engels, he was an advocate of revisionism, an evolutionary parliamentary form of \JMarxism\j, and was periodically a member of the Reichstag from 1902 to 1928.
MEX Engels
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"Bernstein, Leonard",4136,0,0,0
DT (1918-90)
EN conductor, composer; born in Lawrence, Mass. He played \Jpiano\j from childhood and studied at Harvard and the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia. After becoming a protΘgΘ of Koussevitsky as a Tanglewood conducting student in 1940-41, he was named assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic and in 1943 made a sensation stepping in at the last minute for the indisposed Bruno Walter. There followed an active career as a guest conductor - and occasional pianist - during the 1940s.
In that decade he also composed works including the \IJeremiah\i and \IAge of Anxiety\i symphonies and the Broadway musical \IFancy Free.\i In 1952 he premiered his one-act opera \ITrouble in Tahiti\i and 1957 saw the debut of his classical musical \IWest Side Story.\i The next year he began an 11-year tenure as conductor of the New York Philharmonic and a series of televised Young Peoples' Concerts which, combined with his engaging personality and extravagant conducting style, made him the most popular conductor in the country.
In later years he guest-conducted worldwide; having spent his early career championing conservative American composers such as Copland, in the 1970s he became the spearhead of the Mahler revival.
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"Berosus or Berossus",4137,0,0,0
PN [be\Broh\bsus]
DT1a fl.c.
DT1 260
DT1b BC
EN A priest of \JBabylon\j, who wrote in Greek three books of Babylonian-Chaldean history, in which he made use of the \Jarchives\j in the temple of Bel at \JBabylon\j. Only a few fragments have been preserved by Josephus, Eusebius, and Syncellus.
SX m
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"Berra, Yogi",4138,0,0,0
DT1 1925
EN Baseball player and coach, born in St Louis, Missouri, USA. He played with the New York Yankees (1946--63), including 14 World Series (a record). He also set the record for most home runs by a catcher in the American League (313). He went on to manage and coach the Yankees, then did the same for their arch rivals, the New York Mets. In 1986 he went on to coach the Houston Astros. His most famous quotation was "It ain't over 'til it's over'.
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#
"Berri, Nabih",4139,0,0,0
DT1 1939
EN Lebanese soldier and statesman, born in \JFreetown\j, Sierra Leone. He studied law at \JBeirut\j University, and in 1978 became leader of Amal ("Hope'), a branch of the Shiite nationalist movement founded by Iman Musa Sadr. Backed by \JSyria\j, it became the main Shiite military force in West \JBeirut\j and Southern \JLebanon\j during the country's civil wars, until its defeat in 1988. He joined the Lebanese government in 1984 as minister of justice.
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"Berrigan, Daniel J(oseph)",4140,0,0,0
DT1 1921
EN Catholic radical, born in Virginia, \JMinnesota\j, USA, the brother of Philip Berrigan. Ordained a Jesuit in 1952, he then studied in \JFrance\j, where he was influenced by the worker-priest movement. As a high-school teacher and \Jtheology\j professor at Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY (1957--63) he encouraged students in social work and political activism; he also won recognition as a poet. Later, while holding other posts, he was increasingly involved in anti-war protest. In 1968 he was convicted, with eight others, of destroying draft records in Catonsville, MD, for which he served 18 months in prison. His protest activities and experiences inspired many of his writings.
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#
"Berrigan, Philip F(rancis)",4141,0,0,0
DT1 1923
EN Catholic priest and activist, born in Two Harbors, \JMinnesota\j, USA, the brother of Daniel Berrigan. He served in three European campaigns in the US Army (1943--6), was ordained in 1955, and held a series of pastoral and teaching posts. From 1962 he made the peace movement the focus of his life's work, coming to national attention along with his brother in 1968 for destroying draft registration files in Catonsville, MD.
He was sentenced to six years in prison, but went underground, and was subsequently captured by federal authorities in a Manhattan church (1970). He married \BElizabeth McAlister\b in 1969, but did not formally leave the priesthood. In 1973, he and his wife founded Jonah House - a community committed to a nonviolent approach to fighting the arms race. His community staged at least 120 actions at weapons factories and nuclear facilities in the USA, Europe, and \JAustralia\j, and he was indicted some 100 times, serving over six years in prison between 1970 and 1992. He has also written several books.
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#
"Berrios Martφnez, RubΘn",4142,0,0,0
DT (1930-93)
EN politician, public official; born in Aibonito, Puerto Rico. He was educated abroad, first in the United States at the University of \JGeorgetown\j (B.A.) and Harvard (M.A.), and then at Oxford (Ph.D.). An accomplished orator, he was the head of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (1970-93) and a member of the Puerto Rican Senate (1972-73). In 1971 he was jailed for three months for a sit-in on the island of Culebra protesting the U.S. military presence there.
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"Berruguete, Alonso",4143,0,0,0
PN [beroo\Bget\b]
DT1a c.
DT1 1489
DT2 1561
EN Painter and sculptor, born near \JValladolid\j, \JSpain\j, the son of Pedro Berruguete. He became the major Spanish sculptor of the 16th-c, and an important figure in the introduction of the Italian Mannerist style into \JSpain\j. He was appointed court painter to Charles V, and later ennobled. He is best known for the wood and \Jalabaster\j carvings for the choir of Toledo Cathedral.
MEX Berruguete, Pedro
SX m
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"Berruguete, Pedro",4144,0,0,0
PN [beroo\Bget\b]
DT1a c.
DT1 1450
DT2 1504
EN Painter, born near \JValladolid\j, \JSpain\j, the father of Alonso Berruguete. He became court painter to Ferdinand and Isabella, and visited \JItaly\j (c.1447), where he helped to decorate the palace library at Urbino. The new, Venetian-inspired feeling for light and colour, and the interest in perspective which he acquired in \JItaly\j, made him the first truly Renaissance painter in \JSpain\j. His later work can be seen in the cathedrals of Toledo and Avila.
MEX Berruguete, Alonso
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#
"Berry's phase",4145,0,0,0
EN An extra factor needed in the quantum description of systems undergoing certain changes, dependent on the system's \Jgeometry\j; identified in 1983 by UK physicist Michael Berry (1941-) . The effect is observed in the rotation of the polarization plane of light passing along a helical optical fibre. It provides an interpretation of the Aharonov-Bohm effect.
BK b
#
"Berry, (Leon) 'Chu'",4146,0,0,0
DT (1910-41)
EN jazz musician; born in Wheeling, W.Va. He was an outstanding tenor saxophonist who was featured in the bands of Fletcher Henderson and Cab Calloway until his death in an \Jautomobile\j accident.
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"Berry, Charles Ferdinand, duc de (Duke of)",4147,0,0,0
DT1 1778
DT2 1820
EN Aristocrat, born in Versailles, \JFrance\j, the second son of Charles X. During the Revolution and empire (1789-1815) he lived in exile, but in 1814 returned to \JFrance\j. In 1815 he was appointed commander of the troops in and around Paris, and in 1816 married \BCaroline Ferdinande Louise\b (1798-1870), the eldest daughter of Francis, afterwards King of the Two Sicilies. He was assassinated by the Bonapartist fanatic Pierre Louis Louvel in front of the OpΘra.
MEX Charles X
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"Berry, Chuck",4148,0,0,0
DT1 1926
EN Rock singer, born in St Louis, Missouri, USA. The biggest influence on pre-Beatles rock, he learnt to play the \Jguitar\j at high school. He served three years in a reform school for armed robbery (1944--7), then worked in a factory and trained as a hairdresser before moving to \JChicago\j in 1955 and launching his professional career. His successes include 'Maybellene' (1955), "Rock And Roll Music' (1957), and "Johnny B Goode' (1958).
In 1959 he was charged with transporting a minor over state lines for immoral purposes and was jailed for two years in 1962. After his release his creativity never fully recovered, although "My Ding A Ling' (1972) was one of the most successful singles of his career.
\BMajor Works\b
\IAlbums\i
1958 After School Session
1958 One Dozen Berrys
1959 Chuck Berry Is On Top
1960 Rockin' At The Hops
1961 New Juke Box Hits
1962 Chuck Berry Twist
1963 More Chuck Berry
1963 Chuck Berry On Stage
1964 The Latest and Greatest
1964 Two Great Guitars (with Bo Diddley)
1964 St Louis To Liverpool
1965 Chuck Berry in London
1965 Fresh Berrys
1967 Golden Hits
1967 Chuck Berry In Memphis
1967 Live at the Fillmore Auditorium
1968 From St Louis to Frisco
1969 Concerto in B. Goode
1970 Back Home
1971 \JSan Francisco\j Dues
1972 The London Chuck Berry Sessions
1973 Bio
1975 Chuck Berry
1978 Live in Concert
1979 Rockit
1980 Rock! Rock! Rock 'N' Roll
1993 On The Blues Side
\ICompilations\i
1964 Chuck Berry's Greatest Hits
1967 Chuck Berry's Golden Decade
1973 Golden Decade, Volume 2
1974 Golden Decade, Volume 3
1977 Motorvatin'
1980 Spotlight on Chuck Berry
1983 Chess Masters
1984 Reelin' and Rockin' (Live)
1986 Rock 'N' Roll Rarities
1986 More Rock 'N' Roll Rarities
1988 \JChicago\j Golden Years
1988 Decade '55 to '65
1989 Chuck Berry Box Set
1990 The Great Twenty-Eight
1990 Chess Box
1994 Oh Yeah!
1995 Poet of Rock 'N' Roll
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"Berry, Edward Wilber",4149,0,0,0
DT (1875-1954)
EN paleobotanist; born in Newark, N.J. When he was fifteen, his formal education ended and he pursued a career as a journalist. He also expanded his childhood interest in botany and \Jgeology\j by reading and making detailed observations. He published scientific articles on the systematic paleobotany of \JNew Jersey\j fossils, and won a Walker Prize for his book on the diversity and ancestry of the tulip \Jpoplar\j (1901) while working as president, treasurer, and manager of the Passaic, N.J., \IDaily News\i (1897-1905).
He spent the rest of his career at Johns Hopkins (1907-42), serving as dean (1929-42) and provost (1935-42); during most of those years he also worked as a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and the state of Maryland. His specialties included taxonomic paleobotany and the paleobotany of \JSouth America\j.
His success despite his lack of an advanced education made him antagonistic toward what he perceived as irrelevance in college curricula; he felt that learning should be a lifetime pursuit, and should not end with the obtaining of a degree.
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"Berry, James Gomer",4150,0,0,0
EN See Kemsley, James Gomer Berry, 1st Viscount
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#
"Berry, Martha McChesney",4151,0,0,0
DT (1866-1942)
EN educator; born near \JRome\j, Ga. Daughter of a wealthy planter, in the early 1900s she created nondenominational religious schools for Blue Ridge Mountain children with work-study programs that taught students skills useful in their own communities. Supported by benefactors such as Henry Ford, her schools became models for public schools in Georgia and other states. She founded Berry College in 1926.
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"Berryman, John",4152,0,0,0
DT (1914-72)
EN poet, writer, teacher; born in McAlester, Okla. He studied at Columbia University (B.A. 1936), at Cambridge, England (B.A. 1938), and taught at various institutions, mainly the University of \JMinnesota\j (1954-72). He is known for his almost agonizing self-revealing poetry, as in \IDream Songs\i (collected; 1969). He committed suicide in \JMinneapolis\j, Minn., and his novel, \IRecovery\i (1973), appeared posthumously.
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"Berrypeckers",4153,0,0,0
EN See Melanocharitidae
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"berserker",4154,0,0,0
PN [\Bber\bserker]
EN In Norse \Jmythology\j, a warrior in a 'bear-shirt' who fought in such a frenzy that he was impervious to wounds. The name is the origin of the phrase 'to go berserk'.
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"Bert, Paul",4155,0,0,0
PN [bair]
DT1 1833
DT2 86
EN Physiologist and French republican statesman, born in Auxerre, \JFrance\j. A professor at the \JSorbonne\j (1869), he did pioneering work in studying blood gases, the toxic effects of oxygen at high pressure, and anaesthetics.
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"Berthelot, (Pierre EugΦne) Marcellin",4156,0,0,0
PN [bairtuhloh]
DT (1827-1907)
EN French chemist: pioneer in organic synthesis and in \Jthermochemistry\j.
As the son of a Paris physician, Berthelot saw the city life of the poor and the sick and was often unwell himself. His life was successful from school prizes to world-wide honours in old age, but his early impressions remained, and at 71 he wrote 'I have never trusted life completely'.
Originally a medical student, he turned to chemistry early. Previously, \Jorganic chemistry\j had been concerned with compounds derived from living nature and little synthesis had been attempted. From 1854 Berthelot used synthetic methods in a systematic way and built up large molecules from simple starting compounds. Thus he made methanol from \Jmethane\j, methanoic acid from carbon monoxide, \Jethanol\j from \Jethene\j, and fats (glycerides) from \Jpropane\j-1,2,3-triol and organic acids.
He made \Jethyne\j from \Jhydrogen\j passed through a carbon arc and benzene from \Jethyne\j. The former idea of a 'vital force' was banished; \Jorganic chemistry\j became simply the chemistry of carbon compounds and organic chemists had a new basis for their thinking and an emphasis on synthesis, increasingly making compounds (as Berthelot did) that do not occur in nature.
In the 1860s he studied the velocity of reactions and, later, the heat they evolved (\Jthermochemistry\j). He concluded that reactions are 'driven' in the direction which evolves heat. (In fact, the matter is not as simple as this, as Gibbs showed). He also worked on physiological chemistry and on explosives (he discovered the 'detonation wave').
He was scientific adviser during the siege of Paris by the Prussians in 1870 and later was a Senator, and Foreign Minister in 1895. He died a few hours after his wife, and the two had the unique state honour of a joint burial in the PanthΘon.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Berthelot's doctoral thesis was on the synthesis of fats, which he did by combining \Jglycerol\j with fatty acids, extending the work of Friedrich W÷hler who had synthesised \Jurea\j by modifying ammonium isocyanate: Berthelot was actually combining atoms. He even created new fats by using fatty acids which do not occur in natural fats.
Once you have "organic" molecules that are found in no known organism, the term "\Jorganic chemistry\j" loses much of its meaning, and "carbon chemistry" becomes the more appropriate term. There was no longer any room in chemical theory for the idea that some "vital force" was needed to create these molecules.
In \Jthermochemistry\j, Berthelot's contribution was to invent a calorimeter which could be used to measure the heat produced or absorbed during chemical reactions, and it was this work that led him to coin the terms exothermic reaction and endothermic reaction for these types of chemical change.
Berthelot was wrong in one respect: he considered that the \Jenergy\j released during a reaction drove it in some way, but this would have made it impossible for there to be reversible chemical reactions.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Berthelot, Sabin",4157,0,0,0
PN [bairtuhloh]
DT1 1794
DT2 1880
EN Naturalist, born in Marseilles, \JFrance\j. In 1820 he went to the Canaries, where he became an expert botanist, and was later appointed French consul there (1847). \IBerthelot's pipit\i was named in his honour.
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"Berthier, Louis Alexandre",4158,0,0,0
PN [bairtyay]
DT1 1753
DT2 1815
EN French general, the first marshal of the French empire, born in Versailles, \JFrance\j. In the \JFrench Revolution\j he rose to be chief-of-staff in the Army of \JItaly\j (1795), and in 1798 proclaimed the republic in \JRome\j. He became chief-of-staff to Napoleon, who made him Prince of NeuchΓftel and Wagram. After Napoleon's fall he had to surrender the principality of NeuchΓftel, but was allowed to keep his rank as peer and marshal.
MEX Napoleon I; Pius VI
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"Berthollet, Claude Louis, comte (Count)",4159,0,0,0
PN [bairtolay]
DT (1748-1822)
EN French chemist: worked on a range of inorganic problems.
Originally a physician, Berthollet moved to chemistry and was an early staff member of the ╔cole Polytechnique, but was not an effective teacher. He was a friend of Napoleon, and joined him in the attack on \JEgypt\j in 1798. In 1814 he helped depose Napoleon 'for the good of \JFrance\j', and was made a peer by Louis XVIII. In chemistry, he was an early supporter of Lavoisier's ideas; his research examined the nature of ammonia, the sulphides of \Jhydrogen\j, \Jhydrogen\j \Jcyanide\j and cyanogen chloride, and the reactions of \Jchlorine\j.
He deduced that some acids did not contain oxygen (unlike Lavoisier's view). He discovered KClO\D3\d, but his use of it in \Jgunpowder\j destroyed a powder mill in 1788. His work on bleaching fabrics with \Jchlorine\j, and on dyes and steelmaking, was more successful.
He believed that chemical affinity resembled gravitation in being proportional to the masses of the reactants; he was wrong, but his work foreshadowed that of Guldberg. Similarly, he had a courteous conflict with Proust, attacking the latter's law of constant composition.
For long, Proust's views seemed to have prevailed entirely, but since 1935 'berthollide' compounds of slightly variable composition have been proved to exist. Berthollet's chemical instincts were usually good and even when they were not the debate led to a valuable outcome.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Berthollet was in \JEgypt\j on a business trip in 1798 when he met Napoleon, and the two became quite close, with Berthollet teaching Napoleon chemistry.
His main contribution to the advance of chemistry came from his observation that concentrations of reactants are important in determining which way a reaction will go when several possibilities exist. Before this, the assumption was that chemicals had "affinities for each other, and that these affinities drove the reaction to a predetermined end. In this, he anticipated the law of mass action by three quarters of a century.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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#
"Bertillon, Alphonse",4160,0,0,0
PN [berteey⌡]
DT1 1853
DT2 1914
EN Police officer, born in Paris. As chief of the identification bureau in Paris, in 1882 he devised a system of identifying criminals by anthropometric measurements (later superseded by fingerprints).
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#
"Bertinazzi (Bertinassi), Carlo Antonio (Carlino; Carlin)",4161,0,0,0
DT 1710-83
EN Italian actor. He was the last great Arlecchino in \JFrance\j (see \JHarlequin\j). Already famous in \JItaly\j, he first appeared at the ThΘΓtre Italien, Paris, in Luigi Riccoboni's Arlecchino Constrained to Be Mute. His elegant, precise movements, the wittiness of his mime and his rapport with the audience won him the admiration of David Garrick and of Goldoni, in whose Arlecchino's Son Lost and Found and Paternal Love he played. But his best vehicles were written by Jean-Pierre de Florian.
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#
"Bertoia, Harry",4162,0,0,0
DT (1915-78)
EN sculptor, designer; born in San Lorenzo, \JItaly\j. He emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1930 and studied (1937-39) and then taught painting and metal crafts at the Cranbrook Academy of Art (in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) (1939-43). He worked for the Evans Products Company, \JVenice\j, Calif., (1943-46), then established his own workshop in Bally, Pa.
Although he regarded himself as primarily a sculptor, he was known for his early cubist-influenced silver \Jcoffee\j and tea services, and for his furniture, especially the "Bertoia chair" (1952), with its slender metal legs and frame and mesh-like seat.
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#
"Bertolucci, Bernardo",4163,0,0,0
PN [bertoh\Bloo\bchee]
DT1 1940
EN Film director, born in Parma, \JItaly\j. He became an assistant to Pier Paolo Pasolini on \IAccatone\i (1961). His collection of poetry, \IIn cerca del mistero\i (1962, In Search of Mystery), won the Premio Viareggio Prize, and he made his directorial debut the same year with \ILa commare seca\i (The Grim Reaper).
The success of \IIl conformista\i (1970, The Conformist) and \IUltimo tango a Parigi\i (1972, Last Tango in Paris) allowed him to make the Marxist epic \INovecento\i (1976, 1900). After a number of unrealized projects during the 1980s, \IThe Last Emperor\i (1987) won nine Oscars. Later films include \IStealing Beauty\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1962 La commare seca (The Grim Reaper)
1969 La strategia del ragno (Spider's Stratagem)
1970 Il conformista (The Conformist)
1972 Ultimo tango a Parigi (Last Tango in Paris)
1976 Novocento (1900)
1979 La Luna
1981 La tragedia di un uomo ridicolo (Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man)
1987 The Last Emperor
1990 The Sheltering Sky
1996 Stealing Beauty
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#
"Bertrand, Henri Gratien, comte (Count)",4164,0,0,0
PN [bairtrπ]
DT1 1773
DT2 1844
EN French soldier and military engineer, one of Napoleon's generals, born in ChΓteauroux, \JFrance\j. Aide-de-camp to the emperor from 1804, he shared the emperor's banishment to both \JElba\j and St Helena. After Napoleon's death he returned to \JFrance\j, where he was appointed commandant of the \JPolytechnic\j School (1830).
MEX Napoleon
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#
"BΘrulle, Pierre de",4165,0,0,0
PN [bayrⁿl]
DT1 1575
DT2 1629
EN Clergyman and French statesman, born near Troyes, \JFrance\j. A leader of the Catholic reaction against Calvinism, he founded the French Congregation of the Oratory (1611) and introduced the Carmelite Order into \JFrance\j. He was minister of state until dismissed by Richelieu, and was made a cardinal in 1627.
MEX Richelieu
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#
"Berwald, Franz (Adolf)",4166,0,0,0
PN [\Bbair\bvalt]
DT1 1796
DT2 1868
EN Composer, born in Stockholm. His reputation rests largely on the four symphonies he composed during the 1840s, the \ISΘrieuse\i and \ICapricieuse\i (1842) and the \ISinguliΦre\i and \IEb\i in 1845. Other works include the opera \IEstrella de Soria\i (1841), and many \Joperetta\j and chamber music pieces. He was the outstanding Swedish composer of the 19th-c.
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"Berwick, James Fitzjames, 1st Duke of",4167,0,0,0
DT1 1670
DT2 1734
EN Marshal of \JFrance\j, born in Moulins, \JFrance\j, the illegitimate son of James VII (of Scotland) and II (of England) (by Arabella Churchill). Educated in \JFrance\j as a Catholic, he was created Duke of Berwick (1687). At the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688 he fled from England, but supported his father's attempts to regain the throne. He was created a marshal of \JFrance\j (1706), and in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14) established the throne of \JPhilip V\j by the decisive victory over the English at Almansa (1707).
MEX Churchill, Arabella; \JPhilip V\j; James II (of England)
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"Berwick-upon-Tweed",4168,0,0,0
PN [\Bbe\brik]
EN 55░46N 2░00W, pop (1995e) 13 400. Town in Berwick-upon-Tweed district, \JNorthumberland\j, NE England, UK; on the North Sea at the mouth of the R Tweed, on the Scottish--English border; disputed by England and Scotland, changed ownership 14 times, but part of England since 1482; railway; foodstuffs, salmon fishing, \Jengineering\j; 16th-c ramparts; Church of the Holy Trinity (1652); 16 km/10 mi SW is Flodden Field (1513); 12 km/7 mi SW is 15th-c Norham Castle.
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#
"beryl",4169,0,0,0
EN A \Jberyllium\j, \Jaluminium\j silicate mineral (Be\D3\dAl\D2\dSi\D6\dO\D1\d\D8\d), occurring in granite pegmatites as greenish hexagonal prisms. Gemstone varieties are aquamarine and emerald. It is the commercial ore of \Jberyllium\j.
BK b
#
"beryllium",4170,0,0,0
PN [be\Bril\bium]
EN Be, element 4, melting point 1278░C. An element chemically similar to \Jaluminium\j, but showing an \Joxidation\j state of 2 in most of its compounds. The metal forms an unreactive coat of BeO in air, making it inert to further \Joxidation\j. Its low density (1.85┐g / cm\U3\u) makes it a valuable component of alloys, but the poisonous nature of its compounds limits its use. It is mainly found in nature in the mineral beryl.
BK b
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"Berzelius, J÷ns Jakob, Baron",4171,0,0,0
PN [berzayleeus]
DT (1779-1848)
EN Swedish chemist; dominated chemical theory for much of his lifetime.
Orphaned, Berzelius was brought up by relatives. He was interested in natural history and medicine was his chosen career from his schooldays. After studying medicine he graduated at \JUppsala\j in 1802. He had read and experimented in chemistry under J Afzelius and his interest focused upon the subject.
The wars against \JFrance\j (1805-9 and 1812-14) gave him financial freedom, because the need for military surgeons led to an increase in pay for the medical faculty in Stockholm where Berzelius held the chair of medicine and pharmacy from 1807 (renamed chemistry and pharmacy in 1810). In 1808 he became a member of the Swedish Academy of Sciences. Berzelius married late in life; he was 56 and his bride 24; as a wedding gift the king of Sweden made him a baron.
Berzelius provided the first major systemization of 19th- c chemistry, including the first accurate table of relative atomic masses (for 28 elements in his list of 1828); the reintroduction and use of modern 'initial letter' symbols for elements; concepts including isomerism and catalysis, and the division of the subject into organic and inorganic branches; and, importantly, his theory of \Jdualism\j, based on his work in \Jelectrochemistry\j.
This theory proved first a spur and later an inhibitor to further development but can now be seen as a precursor to the later division of elements into the electropositive and electronegative classes. He was the discoverer of three new elements (\Jselenium\j, cerium and thorium).
For many years Berzelius was a uniquely dominant figure in chemistry, with great influence through his research, his year- book on advances in chemistry and his many pupils.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
It was Berzelius who provided the basic data to support the idea of the Law of Constant Proportions by carrying out literally thousands of analyses, making the way ready for people to accept the atomic hypothesis of John Dalton. Berzelius was also one of the first to accept and champion Dalton's proposal.
As a practising chemist, Berzelius found it annoying to be always writing the names of the chemicals out in full, and so he proposed that standard chemical notation that we use today, rather than the picture symbols that Dalton had proposed. This annoyed Dalton, but Berzelius' notation has stood up well to the test of time.
Together with Wilhelm Hisinger (1766 - 1852), Berzelius isolated cerium, but they were beaten to publication by Martin Klaproth (1743 - 1817). Still, Berzelius later went on to discover \Jselenium\j in 1818, silicon in 1824 (though Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac and Louis Jacques ThΘnard may have done so earlier), and thorium in 1829.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Bes",4172,0,0,0
EN In Egyptian \Jmythology\j, a dwarf god, bandy-legged and horrific in appearance, but congenial in temperament. He was the protector in child-birth, and guardian of the family.
BK b
#
"Besancon",4173,0,0,0
PN [bezπs⌡]
EN 47░15N 6░00E, pop (1995e) 117 000. Industrial town and capital of Doubs department, NE \JFrance\j, on R Doubs; former capital of Franche-ComtΘ; railway; university (1485); archbishopric; strategic site between Vosges and Jura Mts since Gallo-Roman times; watches, clocks, artificial silk, cars; cathedral (11th--13th-c), citadel on high rock overlooking river, Roman remains, museums; birthplace of Victor Hugo.
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#
"Besant, Annie",4174,0,0,0
PN [\Bbe\bznt]
HS , \InΘe\i \BWood\b
DT1 1847
DT2 1933
EN Theosophist, born in London, England, UK, the sister-in-law of Sir Walter Besant. After her separation in 1873 from her husband, the Rev Frank Besant, she became vice-president of the National Secular Society (1874). A close associate of Charles Bradlaugh, she was an ardent proponent of \Jbirth control\j and \JSocialism\j. In 1889, after meeting Madame Blavatsky, she developed an interest in \Jtheosophy\j, and went out to India, where she became involved in the independence movement.
MEX Blavatsky; Bradlaugh; Krishnamurti; Stopes; Besant, Walter
SX f
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#
"Besant, Sir Walter",4175,0,0,0
PN [\Bbe\bznt]
DT1 1836
DT2 1901
EN Novelist and social reformer, born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, S England, UK, the brother-in-law of Annie Besant. He studied at King's College, London, and at Cambridge. After a few years as a professor in \JMauritius\j, he devoted himself to literature.
In 1871 he entered into a literary partnership with James Rice (1843-82), writing several novels. His \IAll Sorts and Conditions of Men\i (1882) and \IChildren of Gideon\i (1886), describing conditions in the slums of the east end of London, and other novels advocating social reform, resulted in the establishment of the People's Palace (1887) for popular recreation. He was knighted in 1895.
MEX Besant, Annie
SX m
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#
"Besht",4176,0,0,0
EN See \JBaal\j-\JShem\j-Tov
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XCY y
#
"Besicovitch, Abram Samoilovitch",4177,0,0,0
DT (1891-1970)
EN Russian-British mathematician: contributed to mathematical analysis and periodic functions.
Besicovitch was educated in St Petersburg, studying under Markov, and became professor when 26 at Perm (renamed the Molotov University) and \JLeningrad\j. In 1924 he worked in \JCopenhagen\j, and then Hardy secured him a lectureship at Liverpool. After a year he obtained a similar post in Cambridge and in 1950 was elected to the Rouse Ball professorship.
The research in \JCopenhagen\j was done with Harald Bohr (1887-1951; younger brother of Niels Bohr), and imbued Besicovitch with an interest in analysis and almost-periodic functions. He published a book on this area (1932) as well as work on real and complex analysis, and geometric measure theory.
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#
"Beskids or Beskydy",4178,0,0,0
EN Mountain group in the Carpathian range on the Polish-Czech frontier; rises to 1725┐m / 5659┐ft at Babia G≤ra.
BK b
#
"Bessarion or Basilius, John",4179,0,0,0
PN [be\Bsa\brion]
DT1 1403
DT2 72
EN Byzantine theologian, born in Trebizond, Turkey. He was one of the earliest scholars to transplant Greek literature and philosophy into the West. As \JArchbishop\j of Nicaea, he accompanied the Greek emperor, John Palaeologus, to \JItaly\j in 1438 to effect a union between the Greek and the Roman churches. Soon afterwards he joined the Roman Church, and was made cardinal by Pope Eugenius IV.
SX m
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#
"Bessel function",4180,0,0,0
A Bessel function is a mathematical relationship which can be used to solve certain types of differential equation. Introduced by the astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (1784 - 1846), Bessel functions are used in solving problems of heat \Jconduction\j and diffusion in cylinders, electrical flow through a cylinder, the \Joscillation\j of a sphere in a viscous medium or the \Joscillation\j of a circular membrane, and a variety of other complex situations.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"Bessel, Friedrich Wilhelm",4181,0,0,0
DT (1784-1846)
EN German astronomer and mathematician: made first measurement of a star's distance by \Jparallax\j; detected that \JSirius\j had a companion; introduced Bessel functions.
As a young trainee accountant in Bremen, Bessel prepared for travel by studying navigation and then \Jastronomy\j. This in turn took him, aged 26, to be director of the new K÷nigsberg Observatory.
Much of Bessel's work deals with the analysis of perturbations in planetary and stellar motions. For this purpose he developed the mathematical functions that now bear his name, publishing his results in 1824 in a paper on planetary perturbations. Bessel functions have subsequently proved to have wide application in other areas of physics.
In 1838 he was the first to announce the measurement of a star's distance by measurement of its \Jparallax\j. Stellar \Jparallax\j is the displacement the nearer stars should show (relative to distant ones) over time, because they are viewed at varying angles as the Earth moves across its \Jorbit\j. Such \Jparallax\j had not been observed previously; Copernicus suggested that this was because all stars are so distant that the \Jparallax\j is immeasurably small.
Bessel was able to measure the \Jparallax\j of the binary star 61 Cygni as 0.3" of arc and thus found its distance to be 10.3 light years (within 10% of the present value). Around the same time he observed a small wave- like motion of \JSirius\j and suggested that it was the result of the gravitational influence of an unseen orbiting companion; the faint companion \JSirius\j B was subsequently detected by Alvan Clark (1832-97), a \Jtelescope\j \Jlens\j maker, in 1862.
Bessel also succeeded in computing the mass of the \Jplanet\j Jupiter by analysing the orbits of its major satellites and showed its overall density to be only 1.35. He suggested that irregularities in the orbit of Uranus were caused by the presence of an unknown \Jplanet\j, but died a few months before the discovery of Neptune.
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"Bessemer process",4182,0,0,0
PN [\Bbes\bemer]
EN A process for converting pig iron (high carbon iron from the blast furnace) into steel (low carbon iron alloy). Air is blown through the molten iron; the oxygen of the air converts the carbon in the iron into carbon dioxide, which escapes. This reaction produces heat which keeps the iron molten. The principle was known to Chinese and Japanese ironmasters by the 17th-c, and to US ironmaster William Kelly (1811-88) as early as 1846, but the process is named after Henry Bessemer, who introduced it successfully into Britain in 1856.
It was an invention of the greatest importance, because it led to many industrial processes being greatly changed or inaugurated by the easy availability of steel. It did not work well with some ores, for which the open-hearth process was devised.
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"Bessemer, Sir Henry",4183,0,0,0
PN [besemer]
DT (1813-98)
EN British engineer and inventor: developed a process for the manufacture of cheap steel.
Bessemer's father was an English mechanical engineer at the Paris Mint who returned to England during the \JFrench Revolution\j. Bessemer first gained some knowledge of \Jmetallurgy\j at his father's type foundry. It was a time of rapid progress in industrial manufacture and Bessemer was interested in all new developments. Largely self-taught, he became a prolific inventor.
When he was 20 he produced a scheme for the prevention of forgeries of impressed stamps used on documents; these forgeries were then costing the Government some ú100 000 per year. The Stamp Office adopted his suggestion, but did not reward him. It was an experience he did not forget.
Horrified at the price of hand-made German 'gold powder' purchased for his sister's painting, he devised a method of manufacturing the powder from brass. Unable to patent the process, for secrecy he designed a largely automatic plant, workable by himself and his three brothers-in-law. From this he made enough money to cover the expenses of his future inventions, which included improvements in sugar cane presses and a method for the manufacture of continuous sheet glass.
The \JCrimean War\j directed Bessemer's interest to the need for a new metal for guns. Cast iron (pig iron), which contains carbon and other impurities, is brittle, and the relatively pure wrought iron was then made from pig iron by a laborious and time- consuming method. Steel (iron with a small amount of carbon) was made in small quantities with heavy consumption of fuel and so was costly.
He developed the Bessemer process for making cheap steel without the use of fuel, reducing to minutes a process which had taken days. Bessemer steel was suitable for structural use and was cheap enough to use for this, which greatly helped the industrial development then in progress; as well as being of value for railway systems and the machine-tool industry. The Bessemer process consisted of blowing air through molten crude iron, oxidizing carbon to blow-off gas and silicon and \Jmanganese\j to solid \Joxides\j. For this purpose he designed the Bessemer converter, a tiltable container for the molten metal, with holes for blowing air through its base.
Some early users of his process were unable to reproduce his results, which led to legal disputes over royalty payments to him. The failures were due to ores containing \Jphosphorus\j; Bessemer had by chance used iron ore free from \Jphosphorus\j. This problem of \Jphosphorus\j impurities in some ores was solved in 1878 by S G Thomas (1850-85) and P C Gilchrist (1851-1935). River F Mushet (1811-91) also improved the process, by the addition of an alloy of iron, \Jmanganese\j and carbon.
Bessemer set up his own steel works in Sheffield, using \Jphosphorus\j-free ore. During his lifetime the Bessemer process was appreciated more abroad. Andrew Carnegie made his fortune by it in the USA, but the British steel manufacturers were loth to acknowledge its success. Bessemer was knighted in 1879.
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"Besser, Joe",4184,0,0,0
EN See Stooges, The Three
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"Bessey, Charles Edwin",4185,0,0,0
DT (1845-1915)
EN botanist; born in Milton Township, Ohio. After growing up on a farm, he founded curricula in botany and \Jhorticulture\j at the \JIowa\j Agricultural College (1870-84), then joined the University of \JNebraska\j (1884-1915), where he became a respected educator and administrator, holding deanships and serving as an officer in many professional botanical and agricultural associations.
He was a pioneer in the \Jtaxonomy\j and \Jevolution\j of angiosperms (flowering plants having enclosed seeds). A dedicated and popular educator, he wrote a series of high school and college textbooks, and introduced the laboratory method (including microscopy) to augment his lectures.
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"Bessmertnova, Natalia",4186,0,0,0
PN [be\Bsmairt\bnova]
DT1 1941
EN Ballerina, born in Moscow, \JRussia\j. She trained at the Bolshoi Ballet School (1952--61), joining the company upon graduation. She has figured significantly in ballets devised by her husband Yuri Grigorovich, particularly \IIvan the Terrible\i (1975).
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"Besson, Benno",4187,0,0,0
DT 1922-
EN Swiss director. Until 1982 he was best known for his collaboration with Brecht and his work in East \JGermany\j. In 1949 Brecht invited him to East Berlin. His first mise- en-scΦne was MoliΦre's Don Juan, in Besson's own adaptation (Berliner Ensemble, \JRostock\j, 1952). He remained in East Berlin until 1977: with the Berliner Ensemble, 1949-58; as director of the Deutsches Theater, 1960-9; and of the Volksbⁿhne, 1969-77.
In 1982 he became artistic director of the ComΘdie de GenΦve. In 1985 he received the Reinhart-Ring, highest Swiss award for exceptional achievements in the theatre. Besson has directed over 50 plays, renowned for their visual inventiveness. He has modernized the classics and staged the work of young playwrights. His main productions are Brecht's The Days of the Commune, The Good Person of Setzuan, Man Is Man, Saint Joan of the Stockyards, The Caucasian \JChalk\j Circle; and Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona, As You Like It and Hamlet.
He premiered Peter Hacks's Moritz Tassow (1965), Gerhard Winterlich's Horizons (1969), Flaubert's Le Sexe Faible (The Weaker Sex, 1984) and ╔lie Bourquin's Lapin Lapin (Rabbit \JRabbit\j, 1986). Besson left Geneva in 1989 to resume his international work as a freelance director in opera as well as theatre.
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"Besson, Jacques",4188,0,0,0
PN [bes⌡]
DT1a c.
DT1 1535
DT2a c.
DT2 1575
EN Mathematician, engineer and inventor, born in \JGrenoble\j, \JFrance\j. He is remembered for his \IThΘΓtre des Instruments MathΘmatiques et MΘchaniques\i (1578), which included designs for a wide range of instruments and machines.
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"Besson, Luc",4189,0,0,0
PN [bes⌡]
DT1 1959
EN Film director, born in Paris, \JFrance\j. He worked his way up in film, \Jtelevision\j, and promotional video before making his first feature film, \ILe Dernier combat\i (1983), filmed in monochrome, and virtually dispensing with dialogue. He followed this with \ISubway\i (1985), a thriller set largely in the labyrinthine tunnels of the Paris MΘtro. Later films include \IThe Big Blue\i (1988) and \INikita\i (1990).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1983 Le Dernier Combat (The Last Battle)
1985 Subway
1988 The Big Blue
1990 Nikita
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"best boy",4190,0,0,0
EN See \Jgaffer\j
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"Best, Charles H(erbert)",4191,0,0,0
DT1 1899
DT2 1978
EN Physiologist, born in West Pembroke, ME. As a research student at Toronto University he helped Sir Frederick Banting to isolate the hormone \Jinsulin\j (1922), used in the control of diabetes. He was head of the department of \Jphysiology\j at Toronto from 1929 and director of medical research from 1941. He discovered \Jcholine\j (a vitamin that prevents liver damage) and histaminase (the \Jenzyme\j that breaks down \Jhistamine\j), and introduced the use of the anti-coagulant, \Jheparin\j.
MEX Banting
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"Best, George",4192,0,0,0
DT1 1946
EN Footballer, born in \JBelfast\j, NE Northern Ireland, UK. He was the leading scorer for Manchester United in the Football League First Division (1967--8), and won a European Cup Medal and the title of European Footballer of the Year (1968). Becoming increasingly unable to cope with the pressure of top-class football, his career was virtually finished by the time he was 25 years old. Attempted come-backs with smaller clubs in England, the USA, and Scotland were unsuccessful.
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"Best, Roy",4193,0,0,0
DT (1900-54)
EN prison warden; birthplace unknown. He was for 20 years the so-called "iron boss" of the \JColorado\j state penitentiary in Canon City (1932-52). There he won a national reputation by instituting an innovative dietary and work regimen that included the liberal use of physical punishment. Acquitted in 1951 and 1952 on charges of \Jembezzlement\j and flogging prisoners, he died shortly before the end of a 2-year suspension for mismanagement.
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"bestiary",4194,0,0,0
EN A literary form popular in classical and mediaeval times which presents human characteristics in the guise of animal behaviour: the Greek \IPhysiologus\i is the model. Many animals such as the lion, the eagle, and the fox owe their symbolic associations to these works, of which the 13th-c Middle English \JBestiary\j is a late example.
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"Bestor, Arthur Eugene",4195,0,0,0
DT (1879-1944)
EN educator; born in Dixon, Ill. After graduating from the University of \JChicago\j (1901), he taught history and political science at Franklin College (\JIndiana\j) and the University of \JChicago\j. Long interested in adult education, from 1905 on he was active in the Chatauqua movement, becoming director of the Chatauqua Institution (1907-15) and then its president (1915-44).
He developed its popular home reading courses, gained degree credits for some of its courses, and after World War I he focused on the teacher training programs and cultural events with which Chatauqua would become most closely identified.
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"beta decay",4196,0,0,0
EN A naturally occuring radioactive decay process in which a neutron in an atomic nucleus spontaneously breaks up into a proton, which remains in the nucleus, and an \Jelectron\j (beta particle), which is emitted. The process is always accompanied by the emission of an antineutrino, and is governed by the \Jweak nuclear force\j. \JStrontium\j-90, for example, is a beta emitter with a half-life of 28..1 years.
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"beta particle",4197,0,0,0
EN A particle emitted in beta decay. It is usually a high-\Jenergy\j \Jelectron\j, but positrons are also sometimes called beta particles. These particles are emitted with a wide range of energies from any particular source; the typical particle range in air is several metres.
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"beta-blockers",4198,0,0,0
EN A group of drugs, introduced in the early 1960s, which lower heart rate and blood pressure. \IPropranolol,\i the first clinically useful beta-blocker, and \Iatenolol\i are also widely used in acute stress and panic, where they prevent symptoms such as racing of the heart, sweating, and tremor. They are therefore prescribed for situations such as public performances and driving tests. There is current controversy over their use in some sports (eg snooker), where they may improve performance.
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"Betacam",4199,0,0,0
EN The trade name of a videotape cassette recorder and camera system of TV broadcast standard, introduced by Sony in 1981, initially for electronic news-gathering but widely adopted internationally for all forms of video production. It uses component recording with separate \Jluminance\j and \Jchrominance\j tracks on 1/2┐in (12.7┐mm) tape at a speed of 10.15┐cm / s in compact cassettes, 156┐╫┐96┐╫┐25┐mm. \BBetacam SP\b is an improved version using metal-particle tape for higher bandwidth and better picture quality.
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"Betamax",4200,0,0,0
EN The trade name for a videotape cassette recorder system developed by Sony in 1975 for the domestic market, using 1/2┐in (12..7┐mm) tape at a speed of 1.87┐cm / s in a compact Beta cassette with a playing time up to 3 hours. Although economical, it never achieved the popularity of the competitive VHS system.
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"betatron",4201,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\btuhtron]
EN A particle accelerator in which electrons are held in a circular \Jorbit\j by a magnetic field, and accelerated by a varying electric field superimposed. Very high particle energies have been attained. It is used for research on high-\Jenergy\j \Jelectron\j behaviour or to produce high-\Jenergy\j X-rays.
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"betel-nut",4202,0,0,0
EN A slender tree \I(Areca catechu)\i reaching 30┐m / 100┐ft, native to south-east Asia; leaves 8┐m / 26┐ft, feathery; seeds 4-5┐cm / 11/2-2┐in, red or orange; also called the \Btareca palm.\b The nuts are boiled with lime, then dried, and wrapped in betel leaf from the climbing species of pepper, \IPiper betle.\i The 'plug' is habitually chewed in the Indian subcontinent and south-east Asia for its intoxicating effects, which are similar to alcohol. The juice stains teeth and \Jsaliva\j bright red. \B(Family:\b Palmae.)
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"Betelgeuse",4203,0,0,0
PN [\Bbee\btlzherz, \Bbe\btljooz]
EN A red \Jsupergiant\j star, prominent in Orion, somewhat variable in luminosity, 800 times the diameter of the Sun. Distance: 180 parsec.
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"Bethe, Hans (Albrecht)",4204,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\btuh]
DT1 1906
EN Physicist, born in \JStrasbourg\j, NE \JFrance\j (formerly \JGermany\j). He studied at the universities of Frankfurt and Munich, and taught in \JGermany\j until 1933. He moved first to England, then to the USA, where he held the chair of physics at Cornell University until his retirement (1937--75).
During World War 2 he was director of theoretical physics for the atomic bomb project based at Los Alamos. In 1939 he proposed the first detailed theory for the generation of \Jenergy\j by stars through a series of nuclear reactions. He also contributed with Ralph Alpher and George Gamow to the "alpha, beta, gamma' theory of the origin of the chemical elements during the early development of the universe. He was awarded the 1967 Nobel Prize for Physics.
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"Bethlehem",4205,0,0,0
EN 31░42N 35░12E, pop (1995e) 22 300. Biblical town in \JJerusalem\j governorate, Israeli-occupied West Bank, W Jordan; 8 km/5 mi SW of \JJerusalem\j; birthplace of Jesus and the home of David; trade centre for surrounding agricultural area; university (1973); Church of the Nativity, built by Constantine, 330; Monastery of Elijah (6th-c, restored).
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"Bethlen, Gßbor",4206,0,0,0
HS , Ger \BGabriel Bethlen\b
DT1 1580
DT2 1629
EN King of \JHungary\j (1620-1). Born into a Hungarian Protestant family, he was elected Prince of \JTransylvania\j in 1613. In 1619 he invaded \JHungary\j and had himself elected king in 1620. Although he had to come to terms with the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II (ruled 1619-37) the following year, relinquishing his claims to the Hungarian throne, Ferdinand was obliged to grant religious freedom to Hungarian Protestants.
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"Bethmann-Hollweg, Theobald (Theodor Friedrich Alfred) von",4207,0,0,0
PN [\Bbayt\bman \Bhol\bvayk]
DT1 1856
DT2 1921
EN German statesman, born in Hohenfinow, \JGermany\j. He studied law, and rose in the service of Brandenburg, \JPrussia\j, and the empire, till he became imperial chancellor (1909). He described the Belgian \Jneutrality\j treaty as 'a scrap of paper', and played an important role before and after the outbreak of war in 1914. He was dismissed in 1917.
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"Bethune, David",4208,0,0,0
EN See Beaton or Bethune, David
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"Bethune, Louise Blanchard",4209,0,0,0
DT (1856-1913)
EN architect; born in Waterloo, N.Y. Showing an early aptitude for designing structures, after graduating high school and two years of teaching, travel, and study, she became an apprentice in a Buffalo, N.Y., architectural firm. There she met a Canadian architect, Robert A. Bethune; they opened their own firm, then were married in the fall of 1881.
As the first professional woman architect in America, she designed a variety of buildings - domestic, commercial, and some 18 schools - mostly in the Romanesque Revival style, all in western New York. When a third partner joined the firm in 1890, she went into semi-retirement to have more time for her child and her genealogical research.
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"Bethune, Mary McLeod",4210,0,0,0
DT (1875-1955)
EN educator, civil/women's rights activist; born in Mayesville, S.C. A child of former slaves, she began her life picking cotton, but a scholarship to Scotia Seminary in \JNorth Carolina\j in 1888 launched her long and distinguished career as educator and activist. Believing that education provided the key to racial advancement, she founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute (Fla.) (1904), which through her persistent direction as president (1904-42) became Bethune-Cookman College in 1929.
An activist, she mobilized thousands of black women as leader and founder of the National Association of Colored Women and the National Council of Negro Women. A national figure, she served in the Roosevelt administration as adviser to the president on minority affairs and director of the Division of Negro Affairs within the National Youth Administration (1936-44).
Through her efforts to promote full citizenship rights for all African-Americans and her feminist perspective, she came to symbolize the dual role black women played as activists for the rights of blacks and women.
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"Bethune, Norman",4211,0,0,0
DT1 1899
DT2 1939
EN Surgeon, born in Gravenhurst, \JOntario\j, Canada. He studied at Toronto University, and became a specialist in chest surgery, especially the treatment of tuberculosis. He worked as a surgeon in the Spanish \JCivil War\j (1936-7), and was in China during the Japanese war (1938-9), where he became a national hero.
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"Betjeman, Sir John",4212,0,0,0
PN [\Bbech\buhman]
DT1 1906
DT2 84
EN Poet, broadcaster, and writer on \Jarchitecture\j, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, but left university without a degree. He began to write for the \IArchitectural Review\i and became general editor of the \IShell Guides\i (1934). His first collection of verse was \IMount Zion; or In Touch with the Infinite\i (1933).
Other collections include \INew Bats in Old Belfries\i (1945), \IA Few Late Chrysanthemums\i (1954), and \ICollected Poems\i (1958). Nostalgic and wary of change, he preferred the countryside to the city, and was impassioned in his abhorrence of modern \Jarchitecture\j. He was knighted (1969), and succeeded Cecil Day-Lewis as Poet Laureate in 1972.
MEX Day-Lewis
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"betony",4213,0,0,0
PN [\Bbet\bonee]
EN A perennial related to woundworts \I(Betonica officinalis),\i native to Europe; stems square; long-stalked basal leaves in a rosette, upper in opposite pairs; flowers 2-lipped with long tube, bright reddish-purple, in whorls. It is an old medicinal and magical herb. \B(Family:\b Labiatae.)
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"Betsuyaku Minoru",4214,0,0,0
DT 1937-
EN Japanese playwright. His minimalist plays, profoundly influenced by the work of Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco, have been a staple of the Japanese theatrical scene for three decades. The Little Match Girl (1966; translated 1992), one of the earliest of Betsuyaku's many works, treated the deprivation of the immediate postwar period. He subsequently rejected the style as too 'literary' and moved towards more abstract, absurdist works (see theatre of the absurd) like The Move (1973; translated 1979).
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"Bettelheim, Bruno",4215,0,0,0
DT (1903-90)
EN psychotherapist, author; born in Vienna, \JAustria\j. He studied with Freud, whom he revered, and graduated from the University of Vienna (1938). During the Nazi regime, he was imprisoned at Dachau and Buchenwald (1938-39); his 1943 article on his experiences and insights would gain him wide recognition. Upon his release, he moved to the United States and worked at the University of \JChicago\j (1939-42, 1944-73).
As head of the university's Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, a treatment center for severely disturbed children (1944-73), he developed a deinstitutionalized environment of total support. He became particularly admired for his work with autistic children - although some of his methods were controversial - and in later years he published advice in the popular media on raising normal children.
He published two books on the Nazi death camps, \IThe Informed Heart: Autonomy in a Mass Age\i (1960) and \ISurviving and Other Essays\i (1979; reprinted in 1986 as \ISurviving the \JHolocaust\j).\i He wrote more than 20 books on \Jpsychotherapy\j, including \ILove Is Not Enough: The Treatment of Emotionally Disturbed Children\i (1950), \IThe Children of the Dream\i (1969), and \IFreud and Man's Soul\i (1982).
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"Better Business Bureau",4216,0,0,0
EN One of many local organizations, mainly in the USA and Canada, formed to protect communities against unfair or misleading advertising and selling practices. Established in the early years of this century by advertising men, they nowadays set standards for business practice, and investigate complaints.
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"Betterton, Thomas",4217,0,0,0
DT 1635-1710
EN English actor, manager and playwright. Betterton was the greatest actor in England between Richard Burbage and Garrick. By 1661 he had joined Davenant's company as their leading actor. He starred in virtually every play the company put on: playing, for instance, Bosola in Webster's The Duchess of Malfi, Sir Toby Belch, Macbeth and \JHenry VIII\j. On Davenant's death he became co-manager, and continued after the formation of the United Company in 1682.
He visited \JFrance\j, pursuing his interest in spectacular stage effects, and brought over Louis Grabu, a composer who collaborated with him on a series of operas of great expense and technical brilliance. By 1695, after leading the senior actors in revolt against the management, he had established a company in the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. But it soon failed and in 1704 he retired as manager, though continuing to act.
Not long after a famous benefit performance of Congreve's Love for Love for him in 1709, he retired as an actor as well. He had played over 120 roles. Betterton was known for his careful preparation of parts, always consulting the playwright, always ready to respond to criticism. His acting style in tragedy was majestic and restrained, with an unusual self-discipline. He also wrote comedies, and adapted earlier ones for the Restoration stage.
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"Betti, Ugo",4218,0,0,0
DT 1892-1953
EN Italian playwright, poet and critic. After Pirandello Betti is the major Italian playwright of the 20th century. He achieved his first big success with Frana allo scalo nord (Landslide, 1936), cast in the form of a judicial inquiry following an accident, and concerned with guilt, weakness and spiritual need. His standpoint is liberal and Christian, but he avoids simplicities and dogmatic judgements.
The austere tone of his work was for long little appreciated in \JItaly\j until he achieved international success with plays like Corruzione al Palazzo di Giustizia (Corruption in the Palace of Justice, 1944), Delitto all'Isola delle Capre (Crime on \JGoat\j Island, 1946) and La regina e gli insorti (The Queen and the Rebels, 1949).
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"Betty, William Henry West",4219,0,0,0
DT 1791-1874
EN Anglo-Irish actor. A child prodigy, billed as the 'Young Roscius' in 1804-6 he outshone John Philip \JKemble\j at Covent Garden, threatening that theatre with \Jbankruptcy\j when he was tempted over to Drury Lane. During those heady years Betty played Hamlet, Romeo, Rolla in Sheridan's Pizarro and Young Norval in John Home's Douglas - to the utter delight of indulgent audiences, until the craze dwindled.
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"Beust, Friedrich Ferdinand, Graf von (Count of)",4220,0,0,0
PN [boyst]
DT1 1809
DT2 86
EN Austrian statesman, born in Dresden, \JGermany\j. He was imperial chancellor (1867-71), and ambassador to London (1871-8) and Paris (1878-82). His chief achievement was the reconciliation of \JHungary\j to \JAustria\j.
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"Beuys, Joseph",4221,0,0,0
PN [boys]
DT1 1921
DT2 86
EN Avant-garde artist, born in Krefeld, \JGermany\j. He studied art at Dⁿsseldorf Academy, where he later became professor of sculpture (1961-71). His sculpture consisted mainly of 'assemblages' of bits and pieces of rubbish; for one typical exhibit he smeared frankfurters with brown shoe polish. He also staged multimedia 'happenings'. He was much admired and imitated by the younger avant-garde from the 1960s onwards. A prominent political activist, he was one of the founders of the Green Party in \JGermany\j.
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"Bevan, Aneurin",4222,0,0,0
HS , known as \BNye Bevan\b
DT1 1897
DT2 1960
EN British statesman, born in Tredegar, Blaenau \JGwent\j, south-east Wales, UK. One of 13 children of a miner, he began work in the pits at 13. Active in trade unionism in the South Wales coalfield, he led the Welsh miners in the 1926 General Strike. He joined the Labour Party (1931), establishing a reputation as an irreverent and often tempestuous orator. In 1934 he married \BJennie Lee.\b Appointed minister of health in the 1945 Labour government, he introduced the revolutionary National Health Service (1948).
He became minister of labour in 1951, but resigned the same year over the National Health charges proposed in the Budget. From this period dated \IBevanism,\i the left-wing movement to make the Labour Party more socialist and less 'reformist', which made him the centre of prolonged disputes with his party leaders. He ceased to be a \IBevanite\i at the 1957 Brighton party conference, when he opposed a one-sided renunciation of the \Jhydrogen\j bomb by Britain.
MEX Lee, Jennie
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"Bevan, Arthur Dean",4223,0,0,0
DT (1851-1943)
EN surgeon; born in \JChicago\j. Affiliated most of his career with Rush Medical College in \JChicago\j (M.D. 1883; faculty, 1887-1934), he specialized in \Jstomach\j surgery. As head of the American Medical Association's committees on medical education (1902-16, 1920-28), he made his most important contributions to medical training.
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"Bevan, Brian",4224,0,0,0
HS , nickname \Bthe Galloping Ghost\b
DT1 1924
DT2 91
EN Rugby league player, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. A wing-threequarter, he scored a record 796 tries in 18 seasons (1945-64). He played for \JBlackpool\j Borough and \JWarrington\j, and was one of the inaugural members of the Rugby League Hall of Fame in 1988.
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"Bevan, Edward (John)",4225,0,0,0
DT1 1856
DT2 1921
EN Industrial chemist, born in Birkenhead, \JMerseyside\j, north-west England, UK. After a private education he studied chemistry at Owens College, Manchester, and became a consulting chemist. In 1892, with Charles Cross, he patented the \Jviscose\j process of rayon manufacture.
MEX Cross, Charles
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"bevatron",4226,0,0,0
PN [\Bbev\batron]
EN A thousand million \Jelectron\j volt proton accelerator, designed and built at Berkeley Radiation Laboratory, University of \JCalifornia\j, USA.
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#
"Beveridge, Albert J. (Jeremiah)",4227,0,0,0
DT (1862-1927)
EN U.S. senator, historian; born in Lorain, Ohio. A lawyer by profession, he served in the U.S. Senate (Rep., Ind.; 1899-1911) where he was one of the original "insurgent" Republicans, supporting anti-trust and anti-child-labor legislation as well as naval expansion and imperialist policies. After being defeated for re-election as a Republican, he supported Theodore Roosevelt in the 1912 Progressive Party campaign. He was also known for his historical writings, particularly \IThe Life of John Marshall\i (1916, 1919).
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"Beveridge, William Henry Beveridge, Baron",4228,0,0,0
DT1 1879
DT2 1963
EN Economist, born in Rangpur, India. He studied at Oxford, and became a leading authority on unemployment insurance. He entered the Board of Trade (1908) and became director of labour exchanges (1909-16). He was director of the London School of Economics (1919-37) and Master of University College, Oxford (1937-45).
He chaired the inter-departmental committee which produced the \IBeveridge Report\i on social insurance (1942), and which formed the basis of much social legislation. He was elected to parliament as a Liberal (1944), but was defeated in 1945, and became a peer in 1946.
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"Beverley",4229,0,0,0
EN 53░51N 0░26W, pop (1995e) 20 900. Administrative centre of East Riding unitary authority, NE England, UK; 12 km/7 mi NW of Hull; former administrative centre of \JHumberside\j; railway; market town, \Jengineering\j; Beverley Minster (13th-c).
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#
"Beverly Hills",4230,0,0,0
EN 34░04N 118░25W, pop (1995e) 35 000. Residential city in Los Angeles Co, SW \JCalifornia\j, USA; surrounded by Los Angeles; the home of many \Jtelevision\j and film celebrities.
BK Geog99
#
"Bevier, Isabel",4231,0,0,0
DT (1860-1942)
EN home economist; born near Plymouth, Ohio. She conducted nutritional research and on the faculty of the University of Illinois (1900-21) helped develop the new field of home economics along scientific rather than utilitarian lines. She became nationally known through such works as \IHome Economics in Education\i (1924).
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"Bevin, Ernest",4232,0,0,0
DT1 1881
DT2 1951
EN British statesman, born in Winsford, Somerset, south-west England, UK. Orphaned at seven, and self-taught, he early came under the influence of trade unionism and the \JBaptists\j, and was for a time a lay preacher. A paid official of the dockers' union, he gained a national reputation in 1920 when he won most of his union's claims against an eminent \Jbarrister\j, earning the title of 'the dockers' KC'.
He built up the National Transport and General Workers' Union, and became its general secretary (1921-40). In 1940 he became a Labour MP, minister of labour and \Jnational service\j in Churchill's coalition government, and in the Labour government was foreign secretary (1945-51).
MEX Churchill, Sir Winston
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#
"Bewick, Thomas",4233,0,0,0
PN [\Bbyoo\bik]
DT1 1753
DT2 1828
EN Wood engraver, born in Ovingham, \JNorthumberland\j, north-east England, UK. Among his best works are the woodcuts for \IThe Chillingham Bull\i (1789) and for the \IHistory of British Birds\i (1797-1804). \IBewick's swan\i was named in his honour shortly after his death.
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"Beyle, Marie-Henri",4234,0,0,0
EN See Stendhal
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#
"Beza, Theodore",4235,0,0,0
PN [bayza]
HS , Fr \BBΦze, ThΘodore de\b
DT1 1519
DT2 1605
EN Religious reformer, born in VΘzelay, \JFrance\j. He studied Greek and law at OrlΘans. He became known as a writer of witty (but indecent) verses in \IJuvenilia\i (1548), but after an illness he took a serious view of life, and went to Geneva to join Calvin. He was Greek professor at \JLausanne\j (1549-54), and with Calvin founded the academy at Geneva (1559), and became professor of \Jtheology\j and first \Jrector\j there. On Calvin's death (1564), he became leader of the Genevese Church.
MEX Calvin, John
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"bΘzique",4236,0,0,0
PN [buh\Bzeek\b]
EN A card game believed to have originated in \JSpain\j, and brought to England in 1861. The rules were drawn up by the Portland Club in 1887. Played with at least two players, each has a pack of cards but with the twos, threes, fours, fives, and sixes taken out. The object is to win tricks, and score points on the basis of the cards won. A variation is \Brubicon bΘzique.\b
BK b
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"bezoar",4237,0,0,0
EN See \Jgoat\j
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"Bhadgaon",4238,0,0,0
PN [\Bbad\bgown], also \BBhaktapur\b
EN 27░41N 85░26E, pop (1995e) 163 000. City and religious centre in C \JNepal\j, 14 km/9 mi E of Kathmandu, in the Kathmandu Valley; altitude 1400 m/4600 ft; probably founded inAD889; shaped like a \Jconch\j-shell, urban area occupying c.10 sq km/4 sq mi; processing of grain and vegetables, pottery, weaving; Lion Gate, Golden Gate, Palace of 55 Windows, Bell of Barking Dogs, Batsala Temple, replica of Pashupatinath Temple.
BK Geog99
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"Bhagavadgita or Bhagavad Gita",4239,0,0,0
PN [bahgavad\Bgee\bta]
HS (Sanskrit 'The Song of the Lord')
EN A poem forming part of the Hindu epic, the \JMahabharata\j, consisting of an eve of battle dialogue between the warrior prince Arjuna and Lord Krishna (in the person of his charioteer). Most Hindus regard the poem, with its teaching that there are many valid ways to salvation, but that not all are universally appropriate, as the supreme expression of their religion.
BK b
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"bhagavata mela",4240,0,0,0
EN Indian theatre form. The Bhagavata Puranas are collections of epic stories about Lord \JVishnu\j's incarnations. Those who perform these stories are known as bhagavatars or bhagavatulus. Mela refers to a troupe of dancers or singers. The origin of bhagavata mela, as found in the village of Melattur in the state of Tamil Nadu, is traced to the state of Andhra Pradesh, where it appears to have been born of the kuchipudi dance drama around 1502.
Today, the only village to retain bhagavata mela intact as an annual performance is Melattur, where, during the second half of April or early May, two troupes of devotees celebrate \JVishnu\j's terrifying man-lion \Jincarnation\j which destroyed a demon king. All the actors who participate in the production are men, the younger ones playing the female roles.
The entrance songs introduce each character, and the scenes that follow depict the episodes of the drama in dialogue, song and dance. Actors combine naturalistic movement and stylized gesture to convey the meaning of the texts. The dramatic crisis usually occurs in the early hours of the morning.
One particular drama is noteworthy for its dramatic impact and ritual significance - that of The Story of Prahlada (Prahlada Charitram), which demonstrates the faith of Prahlada, a youthful prince who worships Lord \JVishnu\j. When Prahlada has forsaken his father's love for that of his god, his faith is tested in various ways. With each successive test his wicked father becomes more and more furious. Eventually, the father is tricked - and dies when Lord \JVishnu\j, in the form of a man-lion, rips open his guts and kills the tyrant king.
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"bhakti",4241,0,0,0
PN [bahk\Btee\b]
EN Loving devotion to God, recommended as the most effective path to God in most of the religious texts of popular \JHinduism\j. Devotees are drawn into a close personal relationship to God and, in surrender to God, receive grace however lowly their station.
BK b
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"Bharata Natyam",4242,0,0,0
EN The oldest form of classical Indian temple dance found in south-east India. It has many different types, but is primarily a dramatic interpretation of philosophical teachings combining acting with dancing. Its technical brilliance is found in intricate patterns of footwork set against the graceful design of arm movements. It retains strict codes of performance.
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"Bharatiya Janata Paksh (BJP)",4243,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah\bratya \Bjan\bata \Bpaksh\b]
EN Hindu political party, formed in April 1980, with the aim of transforming a secular and multicultural India into an organic Hindu nation. Taking advantage of the decline of the Indian National Congress, the fragmentation of opposition parties, and the increasing communalization of Indian politics during the 1980s, the BJP has promoted its vision of \IHindutva\i with increasing success.
From its base in the \JHindi\j-speaking states of N India, it climbed to national prominence in the elections of 1989, capturing 12% of the popular vote. In 1991 it took power in the state of Uttar Pradesh and a share of power in other states. With the fundamentalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Party made a disputed shrine at Ayodhya a major focus for agitation. The destruction of the shrine in December 1992 precipitated communal violence in many parts of India.
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"Bharatpur",4244,0,0,0
PN [barat\Bpoor\b]
EN See Keoladeo
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"Bhartrihari",4245,0,0,0
PN [bah(r)tri\Bhah\bree]
DT1 7
DT1b th-c
EN Hindu poet and philosopher. He was the author of three \Isatakas\i ('centuries') of stanzas on practical conduct, love, and renunciation of the world, and an influential Sanskrit grammar.
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"Bhasa",4246,0,0,0
EN Indian playwright. A major figure in ancient Sanskrit drama, Bhasa probably worked between the 4th and 5th centuries ad in the city of Ujjain in north central India. He composed plays based on dramatic incidents from the \JRamayana\j, the \JMahabharata\j and the Purana, as well as semi-historical tales. He also created original stories. Bhasa seems to have been a man of the theatre, as well as a capable poet.
The texts of 13 plays attributed to him were discovered in 1912. The most important is The Vision of Vasavadatta, a play about love and political intrigue. Among Bhasa's short plays are The Broken Thighs and Karna's Task, dramatizations of episodes in the great battle which concludes the \JMahabharata\j. Many modern Indian directors have been drawn to Bhasa's plays and have given them new, and often lively, modern interpretations.
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"bhavai",4247,0,0,0
EN Indian theatre form. Raucous, obscene, satiric, poignant - all these terms describe bhavai, a form of rural theatre once popular in western India. Local legend has it that bhavai's origins may be attributed to Asaita Thakar, an outcast Brahmin who lived during the mid-14th century in what is now \JGujarat\j state.
The story goes that Asaita Thakar, excommunicated from his caste for helping a lower-caste girl, turned to singing and dancing, historically considered an appropriate profession for many of India's outcasts. With the help of his sons and other outcast \JBrahmins\j he formed the first company of strolling players in \JGujarat\j, the bhavaiyas - 'those who arouse sentiment' in the spectators through their performance. It is this community which still preserves the hereditary right to perform bhavai in \JGujarat\j.
Although no longer a popular art form, bhavai may still be found today not only in North \JGujarat\j and Saurashtra, but also in Malawa in the state of Madhya Pradesh and in Marwad and elsewhere in \JRajasthan\j state. Bhavai is traditionally performed in connection with religious festivals in praise of mother goddesses, such as Ambaji and Bahucharaji, the latter being regarded as the patroness of the bhavai actors.
Despite the highly charged religious \Jatmosphere\j of both place and occasion, the satiric content of most of the performances centres on the vices and virtues of members of various village communities. The predominance of humour makes bhavai unique in the catalogue of traditional Indian theatre.
The bhavai stories are known as vesa - literally, 'costume' - and they bear the names of the chief characters around which they are composed. For example, Ganapati-no-vesa is the ritual introduction and dance of the elephant-headed god Ganapati; Juthana-no-vesa is the story about the trials of a Muslim crown prince. The musical accompaniment involves special instruments, including bhungals, four-foot long copper pipes.
Although the rural interest in bhavai has waned, urban theatre people have been attracted to it in order to preserve valuable and endangered folk traditions; they have imitated the bhavai forms, adapting the content to suit urban purposes.
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"Bhave, Vinoba",4248,0,0,0
PN [\Bbah\bvay]
DT1 1895
DT2 1982
EN Land reformer, born in Gagode, \JGujarat\j, India. Mahatma Gandhi took him under his care as a young scholar, an event which changed his life. Distressed in 1951 by the land hunger riots in Telengana, Hyderabad, he began a walking mission throughout India to persuade landlords to give land to the peasants. He was claimed to be the most notable spiritual figure in India after the death of Gandhi.
MEX Gandhi
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"Bhil",4249,0,0,0
PN [beel]
EN An ethnic group in W India stretching from \JRajasthan\j to \JMaharashtra\j; mostly agriculturalists. They have adopted kinship patterns and features of \JHinduism\j from their Hindu neighbours, but some are Muslim.
BK b
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"Bhindranwale, Sant Jarnail Singh",4250,0,0,0
PN [\Bbin\bdranwahlay]
DT1 1947
DT2 84
EN Indian politician and former Sikh extremist leader. He trained at the orthodox Damdani Taksal Sikh missionary school, becoming its head priest in 1971. His campaign broadened into a demand for a separate state of 'Khalistan' during the early 1980s, precipitating a bloody Hindu-Sikh conflict in Punjab. After taking refuge in the Golden Temple complex at \JAmritsar\j with about 500 devoted followers, he was killed by the Indian Security Forces.
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"Bhopal",4251,0,0,0
PN [boh\Bpahl\b]
EN 23░20N 77░53E, pop (1995e) 1 151 000. Capital of Madhya Pradesh, C India, 170 km/106 mi NE of Indore; founded, 1723; scene of a major industrial disaster in December 1984, when poisonous isocyanate gas escaped from the Union Carbide factory, killing c.2500 people and leaving 100 000 homeless; airfield; railway; university (1970); cotton, electrical goods, jewellery; Taj-il Masajid mosque (unfinished).
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"Bhumibol Adulyadej",4252,0,0,0
PN [poomee\Bpol\b adool\Byah\bday]
DT1 1927
EN King of \JThailand\j, born in Cambridge, \JMassachusetts\j, USA. He studied in \JBangkok\j and \JSwitzerland\j and became monarch as King Rama VI in 1946 after the assassination of his elder brother. He married \BQueen Sirikit\b in 1950 and has one son, \BCrown Prince Vajiralongkorn\b (1952-- ), and three daughters. The longest reigning monarch in \JThailand\j's history, he is a highly respected figure, viewed in some quarters as semi-divine.
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"Bhutan",4253,0,0,0
PN [boo\Btahn\b]
EN pop (1995e) 1 622 000; area 46 600 sq km/18 000 sq mi. Small state in the E \JHimalayas\j, divided into four regions; capital, Thimphu; timezone GMT +51/2; 305 km/189 mi from E to W; ethnic groups include Bhote (60%), Nepalese (25%), and indigenous or migrant tribes (15%); main religions, Lamaistic \JBuddhism\j (75%) and Buddhist-influenced \JHinduism\j (25%); official language, Dzongkha; Nepalese and English also spoken; unit of currency, the ngultrum of 100 chetrums; Indian currency also legal tender.
\IPhysical description and climate\i: High peaks of E \JHimalayas\j in the N, over 7000 m/23 000 ft; forested mountain ridges with fertile valleys descend to low foothills in the S; many rivers flow to meet the R Brahmaputra; permanent snowfields and glaciers in the mountains; subtropical forest in the S; torrential rain common, average 1000 mm/40 in (C valleys) and 5000 mm/200 in (S).
\IHistory and government\i
British involvement since treaty of 1774 with the East India Company; S part of the country annexed, 1865; Britain agreed not to interfere in internal affairs, 1910; similar treaty with India, 1949; governed by a Maharajah, from 1907, now addressed as King of \JBhutan\j; absolute monarchy replaced by a form of democratic monarchy, 1969; king is head of government, advised by 9-member Royal Advisory Council and 6-member Council of Ministers; 150-member unicameral legislative National Assembly (\ITsongdu\i) meets twice a year, comprising village elders, monastic representatives, and administrative officials, elected every 3 years; most Bhutanese live close to a castle-monastery (\Idzong\i) around which a village has developed.
\IEconomy\i
Over 90% of labour force engaged in agriculture, mainly rice, wheat, \Jmaize\j, mountain \Jbarley\j, potatoes, vegetables, fruit (especially oranges); large area of plantation forest; hydroelectric power developing; textiles, handicrafts, food processing, cement processing, plywood, talcum powder, and other minerals; postage stamps, tourism.
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"Bhutia",4254,0,0,0
PN [\Bboo\btia]
EN A Buddhist mountain people in the \JHimalayas\j, followers of the Dalai Lama. They speak a Tibetan \Jdialect\j, and probably came from \JTibet\j in the 9th-c. They practise terrace farming on mountains, and some breed \Jcattle\j and yaks. The largest population group is in \JBhutan\j (500┐000); others live in \JSikkim\j, \JNepal\j, and elsewhere in India.
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"Bhutto, Benazir",4255,0,0,0
PN [\Bboo\btoh]
DT1 1953
EN Pakistani stateswoman and prime minister (1988--91, 1993--6), born in \JKarachi\j, the daughter of the former prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. She studied at Oxford, returned to Pakistan, and was placed under house arrest (1977--84) after the military coup led by General Zia ul-Haq.
She moved to England (1984--6), becoming the joint leader in exile of the Opposition \JPakistan\j People's Party, then returned to \JPakistan\j to launch a nationwide campaign for "open elections'. She married a wealthy landowner, \BAsif Ali Zardari\b, in 1987 and was elected prime minister barely three months after giving birth to her first child.
She was defeated in the 1991 election, and found herself in court defending herself against several charges of misconduct while in office. She continued to be a prominent focus of Opposition discontent, and won a further election in 1993, but was replaced in 1996.
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"Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali",4256,0,0,0
PN [\Bboot\boh]
DT1 1928
DT2 79
EN Pakistani statesman, president (1971-3), and prime minister (1973-7), born in Larkana, \JSind\j, India. He graduated from the universities of \JCalifornia\j and Oxford, and lectured in law at \JSouthampton\j (1952-3) and in \JPakistan\j. He became minister of commerce (1958), and foreign minister (1963), then founded the \JPakistan\j People's Party (1967), which won the army-supervised elections in West \JPakistan\j (1971).
As president and prime minister he did much to rebuild national morale, introducing constitutional, social, and economic reforms. Opposition to his government strengthened among right-wing Islamic parties, and he was ousted by the army (1977). The military leader, General Zia ul-Haq, instituted proceedings against corruption, under which Bhutto was convicted of conspiring to murder and was sentenced to death in 1978. In spite of worldwide protest and appeals for clemency, the sentence was carried out.
MEX Bhutto, Benazir; Zia ul-Haq
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"Biafra",4257,0,0,0
PN [bi\Baf\bra]
EN The south-east province of \JNigeria\j, inhabited by the Igbo people. Under the leadership of Colonel Ojukwu, it attempted to break away from the federation, thus precipitating the \Jcivil war\j of 1967-70. After the war \JNigeria\j was reorganized into a new provincial structure in an attempt to avert continuing instability.
BK b
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"Bialystok",4258,0,0,0
PN [byawi\Bstok\b]
EN 53░09N 23░10E, pop (1995e) 267 000. Industrial capital of Bialystok voivodship, E \JPoland\j, on the Polasie plain; largest city in NE \JPoland\j; developed as a textile centre, 19th-c; city devastated in World War 2; railway; medical academy; cotton, wool, tools, food processing, power; Revolutionary Movement Museum, residence of the Branicki family, Church of St Roch (1924), town hall; national festival of music and poetry (Apr).
EN Italian actors. Isabella Franchini (died c.1650), the daughter of the famous Pantalone Francesco Franchini and a famous Colombina in her own right, married Francesco Biancolelli (died c.1640). Their son Giuseppe Domenico (c.1636-88) played with Locatelli's company in Paris from 1659, and from 1680 acted at the newly founded H⌠tel de Bourgogne in the ComΘdie- Italienne, under the stage name Dominique.
Short, svelte and supremely agile, he naturalized the Arlecchino (see \JHarlequin\j) type to the French stage with a mixture of dance, wisecracks and acrobatics. His children included three actors: Francesca Maria Apolline, called Isabella (1664-1747), a witty, brilliant amorosa, who made her debut in 1683; Caterina, called Colombina (1665-1716), who surpassed her grandmother in that role, and Pier Francesco, called Dominique fils (1680-1734), who had an extraordinary success as Arlecchino in \JVenice\j and \JGenoa\j.
On his return to Paris, he took over the management of the foundering OpΘra Comique. When Luigi Riccoboni reopened the newly organized ComΘdie-Italienne in 1716 he soon became one of its favourite players. Contemporaries unanimously hailed him as the best Arlequin of his time; he wrote a number of scenarios for the improvised comedy.
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"Biandrata, Giorgio",4261,0,0,0
EN See Blandrata or Biandrata, Giorgio
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#
"Biarritz",4262,0,0,0
PN [\Bbee\barits]
EN 43░29N 1░33W, pop (1995e) 29 800. Fashionable resort town in PyrΘnΘes-Atlantiques department, SW \JFrance\j, on Bay of Biscay; noted for its mild climate and beaches.
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"Bias",4263,0,0,0
PN [\Bbiy\bas]
DT1 6
DT1b th-c BC
EN Native of Priene in Ionia, famous for his pithy sayings. He was one of the 'Seven Wise Men' of \JGreece\j.
SX m
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#
"biathlon",4264,0,0,0
EN A combined test of cross-country \Jskiing\j and rifle shooting. It is used as a form of military training and is based on the old military patrol race. Men's individual competitions are over 10┐km and 20┐km (6.2┐mi and 12.4┐mi), while women's are over 5┐km and 10┐km (3.1┐mi and 6.2┐mi). At designated points on the course, competitors have to fire either standing or prone at a fixed target. The \Jbiathlon\j was introduced into the Winter Olympic programme in 1960.
BK b
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"Bibb, William (Wyatt)",4265,0,0,0
DT (1781-1820)
EN U.S. representative/ senator, governor; born in Amelia County, Ga. Trained at the University of \JPennsylvania\j, he was a doctor in Georgia (1801-13) and a Democratic Party state politician before going to Congress (1805-13). He left to become a senator (1813-16) but resigned because of public opposition to annual salaries for federal representatives. Appointed governor of the Territory of \JAlabama\j (1817-20), he helped frame its state constitution before his premature death.
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"Bibiena (Galli da) family",4266,0,0,0
EN Italian theatre architects and scenic designers. Ferdinando (1657-1743) was chief court architect under the patronage of the Farnese at Parma and later under Emperor Charles VI in Vienna. His major contribution to scenic design, the scenes set at an acute angle (scena per angolo), revolutionized baroque staging. These were first used at \JPiacenza\j in 1687 and are described in his L'architettura civile preparata nella geometria (Civic \JArchitecture\j on Geometrical Principles, 1711).
His brother Francesco (1659-1739) built the splendid theatre at Nancy in \JFrance\j (1707-9) and the Teatro Filarmonico at Verona. Ferdinando's eldest son Giuseppe (1696-1757) was noted for the quality of his opera sets in Vienna, Dresden, \JPrague\j and \JVenice\j. In 1740 he published a rich collection of his stage designs. He was the first to use transparent scenery lit from behind.
His younger brother Antonio (1700-74) designed a number of theatres including the Teatro Comunale in \JBologna\j (from 1755) and the Teatro dei Quattro Cavalieri in \JPavia\j (1773). Giuseppe's son Carlo (1728-87) worked with his father - e.g. on the Opera House of the Palgrave at Bayreuth, then at Vienna and Dresden.
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"Bible",4267,0,0,0
EN Either the Christian Scripture or the Jewish Scripture, those works recognized as sacred and authoritative writings by the respective faiths. The Christian Scriptures are divided between two \Itestaments\i : the \JOld Testament\j (which corresponds roughly to the canon of Jewish Scriptures), and the \JNew Testament\j. The \JOld Testament\j, or \BHebrew \JBible\j,\b is a collection of writings originally composed in \JHebrew\j, except for parts of Daniel and Ezra that are in \JAramaic\j.
These writings depict Israelite religion from its beginnings to about the 2nd-c BC. The \JNew Testament\j is so-called in Christian circles because it is believed to constitute a new 'testament' or 'covenant' in the history of God's dealings with his people, centring on the ministry of Jesus and the early development of the apostolic churches. The \JNew Testament\j writings were in Greek.
The process of determining precisely which writings were to be accepted in the Jewish or Christian Scriptures is known as the formation of the \Icanon\i of Scripture. The earliest step towards establishing the canon of Jewish Scriptures was probably the fixing of the \ILaw,\i viz the \JPentateuch\j (the Books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), in about the 4th-3rd-c BC. In addition, a group of writings known as the \IProphets\i appear to have been recognized by the grandson of Ben Sira (c.117 BC).
The remaining books of the \JHebrew\j \JBible\j are called the \IWritings\i (eg the Books of Psalms, Proverbs, Job) and were seemingly the last to be settled. It was only AD c.100 that the final selection of authorized Jewish Scriptures was complete, following a decision taken by the council at \JJabneh\j. The Greek translations of the \JHebrew\j \JBible\j (the \JSeptuagint\j) contained some other writings which were not accepted at \JJabneh\j.
The early Christians largely accepted the Jewish Scriptures, but frequently had access to the larger collection of writings in the \JSeptuagint\j and some other translations of the \JHebrew\j \JBible\j. Debates about the precise limits of the '\JOld Testament\j' continued into the Reformation period, with a difference emerging in the Protestant and Roman Catholic Churches.
At the Council of Trent (1546), the Catholics accepted as \Ideuterocanonical\i several works which Protestants labelled as \IApocrypha\i and considered outside the canon. Protestant Churches in general have accepted only the writings of the \JHebrew\j canon in their versions of the \JOld Testament\j.
Early Christians, however, also began to collect specifically 'Christian' writings. In the 2nd-c, Irenaeus testifies to a growing recognition of exactly four Gospels, the Acts, and 13 Pauline letters as authoritative for the Church. Soon this was the basis for a '\JNew Testament\j', although a number of other disputed works were also considered.
The first evidence for a canonical list which completely matches that widely accepted for the \JNew Testament\j today was the 39th Easter letter of Athanasius (367), which designates 27 books of the \JNew Testament\j alongside the canon of the \JOld Testament\j, although debate continued for some years in the East about the Book of Revelation, and in the West over the Letter to the Hebrews.
While the limits of the canon were effectively set in these early centuries, the status of Scripture has been a topic of scholarly discussion in the later church. Increasingly, the Biblical works have been subjected to literary and historical criticism in efforts to interpret the texts independent of Church and dogmatic influences.
Different views of the authority and inspiration of the \JBible\j also continue to be expressed in liberal and fundamentalist churches today. What cannot be denied, however, is the enormous influence which the stories, poetry, and reflections found in the Biblical writings have had, not only on the doctrines and practices of two major faiths, but also on Western culture, its literature, art, and music.
BK b
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"Bible Bill",4268,0,0,0
EN See Aberhart, William
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#
"Bible Society",4269,0,0,0
EN An agency for the translation and dissemination of the \JBible\j. The first was the Van Canstein \JBible\j Society, formed in \JGermany\j in 1710, but the modern movement really began with the British and Foreign \JBible\j Society, formed in London in 1904. The United \JBible\j Society now provides a world-wide network of autonomous societies, protestant and evangelical in the main, responsible for the translation of the \JBible\j in well over 1500 languages, and distributing copies at subsidized prices.
BK b
#
"bibliography (list)",4270,0,0,0
EN A book, or a list in a book, containing systematic details of an author's writings, or of publications on a given subject or period \B(descriptive\b or \Benumerative bibliography).\b Each entry normally consists of an author's name, the title of the work, its publisher, and its place and date of publication. Details of format, binding, number of illustrations, and other characteristics may also be included.
BK b
#
"bibliography (study of history)",4271,0,0,0
EN The study of the history, identification, and description of books, seen as physical objects, including the materials used and the methods of production \B(critical\b or \Banalytical bibliography).\b
BK b
#
"BibliothΦque Nationale",4272,0,0,0
PN [bibliohtek nashuhnahl]
EN The national library of \JFrance\j, located in Paris. It evolved from the libraries of the French monarchs, and was designated a national depository in 1537. Its holdings include over 7 million volumes and 155┐000 manuscripts. There is also a BibliothΦque Nationale in Quebec.
BK b
#
"bicameral system",4273,0,0,0
EN A parliament of two chambers, which usually have different methods of election or selection. In some countries (such as the USA) the two chambers enjoy equal powers, which necessitates a means of reconciling differences; but commonly one chamber enjoys supremacy over the legislative process, with the other enjoying powers of revision and delay (as in the UK).
BK b
#
"bicarbonate",4274,0,0,0
EN HCO\D3\d\U-\u, IUPAC \Bhydrogen carbonate.\b The anion corresponding to half-neutralized carbonic acid. \BSodium bicarbonate\b NaHCO\D3\d, or baking soda, is used with weak acids as a source of carbon dioxide. Aqueous solutions of soluble bicarbonates are mildly alkaline, with \JpH\j values of 8-9.
BK b
#
"Bichat, (Marie-Francois) Xavier",4275,0,0,0
PN [beesha]
DT (1771-1802)
EN French pathologist: founder of animal \Jhistology\j.
Bichat followed his father in studying medicine. His studies were interrupted by a period in the army, and he returned to Paris at the height of the Terror in 1793. From 1797 he taught medicine and in 1801 worked in Paris's great \Jhospital\j, the H⌠tel- Dieu. He was struck by the fact that various organs consist of several components or 'tissues' and described 21 of them (such as connective, muscle and nerve tissue).
He saw that when an organ is diseased, usually it was not the whole organ but only certain tissues which were affected. He distrusted microscopes and did not use one for most of his work; and cell theory was yet to come. Bichat's work, done with great intensity during the last years of his short life, had much influence in medical science. It formed a bridge between the 'organ \Jpathology\j' of Morgagni and the later 'cell \Jpathology\j' of Virchow; and the study of tissues (\Jhistology\j) has been important ever since.
BK Scie
#
"bichon frise",4276,0,0,0
EN \IBichon\i is French for lap dog, and the Bichon Frise has been a popular breed for several centuries.
\BHistory:\b
The Bichon Frise is a cross between a Maltese and a \JPoodle\j, developed in the Canary Islands prior to the fourteenth century. It was brought to Europe around that time and first became a favorite of the Italian nobility in the fourteenth century, and later in the sixteenth century was much loved by French royalty.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
A small powder-puff, very playful and lively. \IHeight:\i 9 - 12 in (22.8 - 30.5 cm) for the dog and 9.5 - 10.5 in (24 - 26.6 cm) for the bitch, under Canadian standards; elsewhere 9 - 11 in (22.8 - 28 cm). \IWeight:\i not specified. The head has a shorter muzzle than the head length.
The nose is black and rounded. The lips are thin, black and fairly tight. The eyes are round and dark with black rims. The ears are narrow and small, hang close to the head and are covered with finely curled, long hair. The body has a well-developed chest, sloping shoulders and well-muscled loin. The tail is short, raised and curved, but not curled.
The coat of the Bichon Frise is a double one with fine, silky hair, loosely curled and 3 - 4 in (7.6 - 10 cm) long. The color is pure white.
\BBehavior:\b
The Bichon Frise is a delightful little dog with a very strong character. As this dog looks particularly cute, it is essential that owners are assertive from the beginning. If there is no intention of breeding, it is advisable to sterilize the males before they become too bossy.
With proper attention, the Bichon Frise will develop into a wonderful companion animal. To avoid any later problems it is a good idea to allow this dog to socialize with a range of other dogs and humans when it is a puppy. The Bichon Frise is an alert dog and has a strong sense of territory which makes it a great watch-dog. If this dog is kept in a hot climate it should be regularly clipped.
With proper attention, the Bichon Frise will develop into a wonderful companion animal.
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#
"Bickerdyke, Mary Ann",4277,0,0,0
DT (1817-1901)
EN nurse, humanitarian; born in Knox County, Ohio. A farmer's daughter with little formal education, at age 42 she was left a widow with three children. She supported herself by practicing "botanic" medicine, and when the \JCivil War\j broke out she volunteered to work in the hospitals at the great Union army base in \JCairo\j, Ill. From then until the surrender at Appomattox, she worked tirelessly as a nurse and caregiver both in battle and behind the lines, taking time out only to give speeches and gain support for the Sanitary Commission.
Outspoken in her impatience with military regulations and officials, she became known as "Mother" Bickerdyke and gained the support of men such as Grant and Sherman. After the war, she worked for various social service causes - a \JChicago\j home for indigent women, a project to settle veterans in Kansas, the Salvation Army in \JSan Francisco\j, and always on behalf of veterans. Receiving a special pension from Congress in 1886, she retired to Kansas in 1887.
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#
"Bickerstaffe, Isaac",4278,0,0,0
DT 1733-?1808
EN Irish playwright. In 1760 his 'dramatic pastoral' or '\Jballad\j \Jfarce\j' Thomas and Sally was performed in London. Love in a Village (1762) is probably the first English comic opera. Its success led Bickerstaffe to write many more, including The Maid in the Mill (1765). His collaborations with Dibdin - e.g. Love in the City, later abbreviated as The Romp - influenced the whole development of \Jmusical comedy\j. He adapted Wycherley's The Plain Dealer for Garrick in 1765. His short \Jfarce\j The Padlock (1768) starred Dibdin as Mungo, the first black face comic role seen in London.
BK Thea
#
"Bickford, William",4279,0,0,0
DT1 1774
DT2 1834
EN Inventor, born near Camborne, Cornwall, south-west England, UK. A leatherseller by trade, he was distressed by the frequent accidents caused by premature detonation of explosive charges in mines. After several attempts he was successful in combining \Jgunpowder\j and \Jflax\j yarn into a reliable slow-burning fuse, which he patented in 1831.
SX m
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#
"bicycle",4280,0,0,0
EN A light-framed vehicle possessing two wheels fitted with pneumatic tyres, the rear wheel being propelled by the rider through a crank, chain, and gear mechanism. The major uses to which bicycles are put are personal transport, particularly in underdeveloped countries, and sport. It is generally held that the modern pedal \Jbicycle\j was invented by Kirkpatrick Macmillan of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and first ridden by him in 1840. The pneumatic tyre was first successfully applied to the \Jbicycle\j in 1888.
BK b
#
"Bidault, Georges (Augustin)",4281,0,0,0
PN [beedoh]
DT1 1899
DT2 1983
EN French statesman and prime minister (1946, 1949-50, 1958), born in Paris. He became a professor of history and edited the Catholic newspaper \IL'Aube.\i He was leader of the MRP (Movement RΘpublicaine Populaire), and in addition to becoming prime minister, also served as deputy prime minister (1950, 1951) and foreign minister (1944, 1947, 1953-54). He opposed de Gaulle over the Algerian War, and was charged with plotting against the security of the state. He went into exile in 1962, returning in 1968.
MEX de Gaulle
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#
"Bidder, George Parker",4282,0,0,0
HS , nickname \BThe Calculating Boy\b
DT1 1806
DT2 78
EN Engineer and precocious mathematician, born in Moretonhampstead, Devon, south-west England, UK. He studied at Camberwell and Edinburgh, and became a civil engineer, inventing the railway swing bridge and designing the Royal Victoria Docks, which were opened in 1856.
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#
"Biddle, Francis (Beverley)",4283,0,0,0
DT (1886-1968)
EN lawyer; U.S. attorney general; born in Paris, \JFrance\j. He was secretary to Supreme Court Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes (1911-12), then practiced as a lawyer in Philadelphia. He was first chairman of the National Labor Relations Board (1934) and a strong defender of the \JTennessee\j Valley Authority and other New Deal programs. Solicitor general (1940-41) and attorney general (1941-45) of the U.S.A., he was chief U.S. representative at the Nuremberg war crimes trials. In addition to several books on the law and his \Jautobiography\j, he wrote one novel, \ILlanfear Pattern\i (1927).
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"Biddle, James",4284,0,0,0
DT (1783-1848)
EN naval officer; born in Philadelphia. He joined the navy in 1800 and served in the Tripolitan War and the \JWar of 1812\j. By leaving a lead plate at the mouth of the Columbia River (1818) he claimed the Oregon Territory for the U.S.A. He helped to negotiate the first treaty between the U.S.A. and China (1846).
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"Biddle, John",4285,0,0,0
DT1 1615
DT2 62
EN Preacher, the founder of English Unitarianism, born in Wotton-under-Edge, \JGloucestershire\j, SWC England, UK. He entered Magdalen Hall, Oxford (1634), and was elected master of the \JGloucester\j Free School (1641). In 1645 he was imprisoned for rejecting in his preaching the deity of the \JHoly Ghost\j, and during the Commonwealth was banished to the Scilly Is (1655-8). In 1662 he was again apprehended and fined ú100. He could not pay it, so was sent to jail, where he died.
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#
"Biddle, Nicholas (1750-78) (naval officer)",4286,0,0,0
DT (1750-78)
EN naval officer; born in Philadelphia. One of the first five captains commissioned by Congress (1775), he participated in the capture of New Providence Island, \JBahamas\j (1776) and captured several British ships before his death in the explosion of his ship, the USS \IRandolph.\i
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#
"Biddle, Nicholas (1786-1844) (writer)",4287,0,0,0
DT (1786-1844)
EN writer, banker, statesman; born in Philadelphia. A brilliant student and writer, he entered the University of \JPennsylvania\j at age 10; by age 18, he was serving as secretary to the U.S. Minister to \JFrance\j. He returned to the U.S.A. in 1807 and became a lawyer. He wrote part of the \IHistory of the Expedition of Captains Lewis and Clark\i (1810-12) but gave the project away when he was elected to the state legislature.
Always interested in literature, he became editor of \IPort Folio\i (1812), the leading literary journal at that time. Drawn to banking by his friend, James Monroe, and to the nation's need during the \JWar of 1812\j, he eventually became president of the Bank of the United States (1822-36). His attempt to re-charter the Bank failed in the face of vigorous opposition from President Andrew Jackson. In retirement, he made his country home on the \JDelaware\j River, "\JAndalusia\j," into a center of refined intellectual life.
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"Bidwell, John",4288,0,0,0
DT (1819-1900)
EN pioneer, public official; born in Chatauqua County, N.Y. He moved to Missouri (1839) and then to \JCalifornia\j (1841). He worked at John Sutter's fort and was active in the short-lived Bear Flag Republic (1846). He found gold on the Feather River and became \JCalifornia\j's leading rancher. He was in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Unionist, Calif.; 1865-67) and was the Prohibition Party candidate for the presidency in 1892.
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#
"Biedermeierstil",4289,0,0,0
PN [\Bbee\bdermiyershteel]
EN A satirical name for the simple, plain ('bourgeois philistine') style of furniture and decoration popular in \JAustria\j and \JGermany\j 1815-48. The term is sometimes extended to \Jarchitecture\j. Biedermeier painting tends to a mild sentimentalism and homely \Jnaturalism\j.
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#
"Biela, Wilhelm von",4290,0,0,0
PN [\Bbay\bla]
DT1 1782
DT2 1856
EN Austrian army officer and astronomer. In 1826 he observed the periodic \Jcomet\j named after him, although it had already been seen in 1772.
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#
"Biennale",4291,0,0,0
PN [bee-e\Bnah\blay]
EN An international art exhibition held in \JVenice\j regularly since 1895, and imitated at Paris, \JTokyo\j, and elsewhere. It was originally conservative, but since 1948 has been a major showcase for the avant garde.
BK b
#
"biennial",4292,0,0,0
EN A plant which flowers, sets seed, and dies in its second year. In the first year it produces only vegetative growth, usually a rosette of leaves which build up food reserves for the onset of flowering.
BK b
#
"Bienville, Jean Baptiste le Moyne, sieur de (Lord of)",4293,0,0,0
DT (1680-1768)
EN explorer, governor; born in Montreal, French Canada. He entered the French navy at age 12 and spent most of his life in the king's service as an explorer and colonial administrator. He founded Mobile, Ala., (1710) and \JNew Orleans\j (1718) and was the governor of French Louisiana (1701-13, 1717-24, 1733-43). Worn out from Indian wars, he resigned and went to Paris.
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"Bierce, Ambrose (Gwinett)",4294,0,0,0
PN [beers]
DT1 1842
DT2 ?
DT2 1914
EN Journalist and writer, born in Meigs Co, OH. He fought in the \JCivil War\j, then became a journalist, working in both the USA and England. He was the author of such collections of sardonically humorous tales as \IThe Fiend's Delight\i (1872), \IIn the Midst of Life\i (1898), and \IThe Devil's Dictionary\i (1906). A misanthrope, he disappeared in Mexico.
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#
"Bierstadt, Albert",4295,0,0,0
DT (1830-1902)
EN painter; born in \JSolingen\j, \JGermany\j. His parents emigrated to New Bedford, Mass., (1832). After study in Dⁿsseldorf and \JRome\j (1853-57), he returned to America and took part in a survey expedition to the American West; the results were panoramic landscapes such as \IThe Rocky Mountains\i (1863), and \ILooking Down \JYosemite\j Valley\i (1865).
Working mainly in his New York City studio, he was highly regarded in America and Europe until his approach was eclipsed by newer styles. His reputation, however, has recently enjoyed a revival.
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"Biffen, (William) John",4296,0,0,0
DT1 1930
EN British politician. He studied at Cambridge (1953), and went into industry, later moving to the Economist Intelligence Unit. He entered the \JHouse of Commons\j in 1971, and following the 1979 general election was made chief secretary to the Treasury. A monetarist in economic policy, he favoured a more pragmatic approach in social matters than the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, and, although he became a successful Leader of the Commons, was removed from the cabinet after the 1987 general election.
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#
"Biffen, Sir Rowland Harry",4297,0,0,0
DT (1874-1949)
EN British geneticist and plant breeder.
Biffen graduated at Cambridge in 1896 and, after an expedition to South and \JCentral America\j studying \Jrubber\j production, he returned to Cambridge to teach agricultural botany. He was to dominate the subject there for a generation. In 1899 he began cereal trials intended to select improved types, then a chance process. A year later Mendel's neglected work of the 1860s on plant \Jgenetics\j at last became known.
Biffen quickly saw that plant-breeding could be rationalized and he guessed that physiological traits might be inherited, as well as the morphological traits studied by Mendel. In 1905 he showed this was the case for resistance by wheat to yellow rust, a fungal disease; it is inherited as a simple Mendelian recessive. Since then, improvement of crop plants by hybridization has been widespread. Biffen's own wheat variety 'Little Joss' was unsurpassed for 40 years.
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#
"big bang",4298,0,0,0
EN A hypothetical model of the universe which postulates that all matter and \Jenergy\j were once concentrated into an unimaginably dense state, or primaeval atom, from which it has been expanding since a creation event some 13-10 thousand million years ago. The main evidence favouring this model comes from cosmic background radiation and the redshifts of galaxies. Evidence for an expanding universe was announced by Edwin Hubble in 1929, and is now generally accepted.
BK b
#
"Big Ben",4299,0,0,0
EN Originally the nickname of the bell in the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament, London, England, UK, and now by association the clock and its tower. The bell, 2.7┐m / 9┐ft in diameter and weighing 13 tonnes, was cast in 1858.
BK b
#
"Big Dipper",4300,0,0,0
EN See Plough, the
BK b
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#
"Big Foot (b. Si Tanka) (also known as Spotted Elk)",4301,0,0,0
DT (?1825-90)
EN Minneconjou Teton Sioux chief; born in northern Great Plains. One of the first Sioux to raise a corn crop on the Cheyenne River, he traveled to Washington, D.C., as a tribal delegate and worked to establish schools throughout the Sioux territory. He was among those massacred at Wounded Knee in December 1890.
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"bigamy",4302,0,0,0
EN A criminal offence committed when someone who is already lawfully married enters into 'marriage' with another person. The offence is not committed where the first marriage has been ended by divorce or death, or where it has been declared void. In some jurisdictions, there is also a good defence if the accused has, for a period of time (7 years, in England and Wales, and in most US states, 5 years in other states), not known that his or her first marriage partner was alive. The onus of proving that the defendant knew the partner was alive during that time lies on the prosecution.
BK b
#
"Bigelow, Erastus (Brigham)",4303,0,0,0
DT (1814-79)
EN inventor, engineer; born in West Boylston, Mass. He worked in a cotton mill as a boy and invented a hand loom for weaving webbing. He founded several companies to produce quilts and other items. In the 1840s he developed looms for weaving carpets, the basis for the company long synonymous with American quality carpeting.
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#
"Bigelow, Henry B. (Bryant)",4304,0,0,0
DT (1879-1967)
EN oceanographer; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. He served Harvard as a professor of \Jzoology\j and curator of its Museum of Comparative \JZoology\j (1905-50). His committee on the importance of marine research led to the creation of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Cape Cod (1930). An advocate of keeping \Joceanography\j viable by the constant influx of new ideas, Bigelow gained international fame for his research on \Jjellyfish\j, sharks, and rays.
BK AmBg
#
"Bigelow, Jacob",4305,0,0,0
DT (1786-1879)
EN physician, botanist; born in \JMassachusetts\j. He took a medical degree at the University of \JPennsylvania\j, then practiced in \JBoston\j where he became a professor of \Imateria medica\i at Harvard Medical School (1815-55). Interested in the medical uses of plants, he was the first American botanist to systematize knowledge of New England flora in his \IFlorula Bostoniensis\i (1814).
He helped prepare the first \IAmerican Pharmacopoeia\i (1820) and his \IDiscourse on Self-Limited Diseases\i (1835) was one of the most influential medical books of his era. A progressive influence, he opposed bloodletting and indiscriminate drug dosing. In 1831 he founded Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge as a public health measure.
He was also interested in what he was among the first to popularize as "technology"; he invented a process for reproducing colored plates for his book, \IAmerican Medical Botany\i (1817-20), and was appointed Rumford Professor of the application of science to useful arts at Harvard College (1816-27).
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"Bigfoot or Sasquatch",4306,0,0,0
EN In the \Jmountaineering\j \Jfolklore\j of \JNorth America\j, a creature the equivalent of the abominable snowman or \Jyeti\j, said to be 2-3┐m / 7-10┐ft tall; its footprints are reported to be 43┐cm / 17┐in long.
BK b
#
"Biggers, Earl (Derr)",4307,0,0,0
DT (1884-1933)
EN writer; born in Warren, Ohio. He was a Harvard-educated \JBoston\j journalist who achieved widespread popularity with his mystery novel, \ISeven Keys to Baldpate\i (1913) (adapted for a successful play). His enduring fame, however, rests on his creation of the Hawaiian detective Charlie Chan, the patient, aphoristic hero of six novels beginning with \IThe House Without a Key\i (1925). Chan was popularized through countless comics, radio programs, and films.
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"Biggs, Hermann M.",4308,0,0,0
DT (1859-1923)
EN physician; born in Trumansburg, N.Y. He was a professor at New York City's Bellevue Medical College and served both city and state as a public health official. He organized the department of \Jpathology\j and bacteriology at the New York City Health Department (1892) and introduced new bacteriological methods. He introduced \Jdiphtheria\j antitoxin to the United States (1894) and formulated policies aimed at preventing the spread of tuberculosis.
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#
"Biggs, Ronald",4309,0,0,0
DT1 1929
EN Convicted thief and member of the gang who perpetrated the Great Train Robbery (1963). He was among the first five to be arrested for the theft, having been traced by fingerprints left at the gang's farm hideout. Convicted and sentenced to 25 years for conspiracy and 30 years (to run concurrently) for armed robbery, he escaped from Wandsworth Prison in 1965 and fled to \JAustralia\j.
Pursued by the police, he eventually settled in \JBrazil\j. There, he was saved from \Jextradition\j because his girlfriend was pregnant (under Brazilian law, fathers of Brazilian children cannot be extradited). He still lives in Brazil, with an income generated largely by press interviews. The question of his \Jextradition\j arose again in 1997, after his son came of age, but he was allowed to stay.
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#
"bighorn",4310,0,0,0
EN A wild sheep, inhabiting mountains, especially cliffs; males with large \Jcurling\j horns; two species: \BAmerican bighorn sheep\b \I(Rocky Mountain sheep\i or \Imountain sheep)\i from \JNorth America\j \I(Ovis canadensis),\i and \BSiberian bighorn\b or \Bsnow sheep\b from north-east \JSiberia\j \I(Ovis nivicola).\i
BK b
#
"Bigi, Francesco di Cristofano",4311,0,0,0
EN See Franciabigio
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#
"Bihar or Behar",4312,0,0,0
PN [bee\Bhah(r)\b]
EN pop (1995e) 93 456 000; area 173 876 sq km/67 116 sq mi. State in E India, bounded N by \JNepal\j; crossed by the R Ganges; Rajmahal Hills in the S; capital, \JPatna\j; governed by a 325-member Legislative Assembly; major mineral deposits, including \Jcoal\j, copper, mica; rice, jute, sugar cane, oilseed, wheat, \Jmaize\j; iron and steel, machine tools, fertilizers, electrical \Jengineering\j, paper milling, cement.
BK Geog99
#
"Bihzad, Ustad Kamal al-Din",4313,0,0,0
PN [\Bbee\bzad]
DT1a c.
DT1 1440
DT2 ?
EN Painter and calligrapher, born in Herat, \JAfghanistan\j. The most famous Persian painter of the end of the 15th-c, he was called 'the Marvel of the Age'. Only a few of his works remain.
SX m
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#
"Bikila, Abebe",4314,0,0,0
PN [bi\Bkee\bla]
DT1 1932
DT2 73
EN Ethiopian marathon runner. Virtually unknown, and running in bare feet, he won the marathon at the 1960 Olympics in \JRome\j, setting a new world record and becoming the first black African to win a gold medal.
SX m
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#
"Bikini",4315,0,0,0
PN [bi\Bkee\bnee]
EN \JAtoll\j in the Marshall Is, W Pacific, 3200┐km / 2000┐mi south-west of Hawaii; site of 23 US nuclear tests, 1946-58; first \JH-bomb\j tested here; inhabitants evacuated in 1946; many returned in 1972, but were evacuated again when it was discovered that they had ingested the largest dose of \Jplutonium\j ever monitored in any population.
BK b
#
"Biko, Stephen (Bantu)",4316,0,0,0
PN [\Bbee\bkoh]
HS , known as \BSteve Biko\b
DT1 1946
DT2 77
EN South African political activist, founder and leader of the Black Consciousness Movement, born in King William's Town, Cape Province. He became involved in politics while studying medicine at Natal University, and was one of the founders (and first president) of the all-black South African Students Organization (1969). In 1972 he became honorary president of the Black People's Convention, a coalition of over 70 black organizations.
The following year he was served with a banning order severely restricting his movements and freedom of speech and association, and in 1975 the restrictions were increased. He was detained four times in the last few years of his life, and died in police custody, allegedly as a result of beatings received. He was the subject of a film made by Richard Attenborough \I(Cry Freedom,\i 1987).
MEX Kentridge
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#
"bilateralism",4317,0,0,0
EN See \Jmultilateralism\j
BK b
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#
"Bilbao",4318,0,0,0
PN [bil\Bbow\b]
EN 43░16N 2░56W, pop (1995e) 372 000. Major seaport and industrial capital of Vizcaya province, N \JSpain\j; on R Nervi≤n, 395 km/245 mi N of Madrid; founded, 1300; bishopric; airport; railway; university (1886); commercial centre of the Basque Provinces; iron, steel, chemicals, shipbuilding, fishing, wine trade; cathedral (14th-c), art museum, Churches of St Anton and St Nicholas de Bari; machine tool fair (Mar), Semana Grande (Aug).
BK Geog99
#
"bilberry",4319,0,0,0
EN A small deciduous shrub \I(Vaccinium myrtillus),\i native to acid soils in Europe and N Asia, especially on high ground where it may form \Jbilberry\j moors; leaves 1-3┐cm / 0..4-1..2┐in, oval, toothed; 1-2 flowers in leaf axils, drooping, 4-6┐mm / 1/8- 1/4┐in, globose, greenish-white; berry c.8┐mm / 1/2┐in, black with bluish-white bloom, sweet, edible. Alternative names are \Bblaeberry,\b \Bwhortleberry,\b and (in the USA) \Bhuckleberry.\b \B(Family:\b Ericaceae).
BK b
#
"Bilbo, Theodore Gilmore",4320,0,0,0
DT (1877-1947)
EN U.S. senator; born in \JJuniper\j Grove, Miss. He served as the Democratic governor of Mississippi (1916-20, 1928-32). Popular among the state's poor rural whites, he was a supporter of economic populism and white supremacy. He served in the U.S. Senate (1935-47), where he was a staunch supporter of the New Deal as well as an outspoken racist; he became notorious for his filibustering against legislation aiding African-Americans, instead calling for their deportation to Africa.
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#
"bilby",4321,0,0,0
EN See bandicoot
BK b
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#
"Bildungsroman",4322,0,0,0
PN [\Bbil\bdungksrohman]
HS (Ger 'education novel')
EN A novel which deals principally with the formative stages of its hero(ine)'s life - childhood, education, \Jadolescence\j. Examples are Rousseau's \IEmile\i (1762), Dickens's \IDavid Copperfield\i (1850), Musil's \IYoung Torless\i (1906), and Joyce's \IA Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man\i (1914).
BK b
#
"bile",4323,0,0,0
EN A golden-yellow fluid produced by the liver, and stored and concentrated in the gall bladder, until released into the \Jduodenum\j in response to certain dietary substances (eg fats) in the duodenal cavity.
In humans it contains sodium and \Jpotassium\j salts of certain organic acids (which facilitate the digestion and absorption of fats, and the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins), excretory products (\Jbile\j \Jpigments\j, \Jcholesterol\j), and other alkaline dissolvable substances.
BK b
#
"bilharziasis",4324,0,0,0
PN [bilhah(r)\Btsiy\basis]
EN See schistosomiasis
BK b
XCY y
#
"biliary system",4325,0,0,0
PN [\Bbil\byaree]
EN A physiological system for the production, storage, and transport of \Jbile\j, comprising the liver, gall bladder and various ducts. \JBile\j produced in the liver drains into the hepatic ducts and usually into the gall bladder (for storage and concentration) via the cystic duct.
Ingestion of fatty food leads to the release of \Jbile\j from the gall bladder into the \Jduodenum\j via the cystic and common \Jbile\j ducts, when it joins with digestive enzymes from the \Jpancreas\j. Gallstones are occasionally formed in the gall bladder or \Jbile\j ducts, affecting the flow of \Jbile\j through the duct system, resulting in pain and discomfort \I(biliary \Jcolic\j).\i
BK b
#
"bilingualism",4326,0,0,0
EN The ability to speak two languages. Research studies in linguistics have focused on the diversity of bilingual situations which exist, and on the varying degrees of ability which bilinguals can have in their two languages (eg what level of proficiency does a person need, to be regarded as a speaker of a language?).
There may also be important differences between those who are bilingual from an early age and those who become so through education or as adults. And an interesting question is whether bilinguals have separate conceptual systems in their two languages, or whether they have the same 'world view' when using either.
Contrary to popular belief, it is more common throughout the world as a whole to be bilingual than monolingual. People with more than two languages are said to be \Bmultilingual.\b
BK b
#
"Bilk, Acker",4327,0,0,0
DT1 1929
EN Jazz musician, composer, and band leader, born in Somerset, SW England, UK. He took up the \Jclarinet\j while doing National Service, later joining Ken Colyer's Band as clarinettist, and forming the \JBristol\j Paramount Jazz Band in 1951. Hit singles include 'Somerset' (1960), "Stranger on the Shore' (1961, first number one simultaneously in UK and USA), and 'Aria' (1976). Still performing and recording into the 1990s, his later albums include \IThat's My Home\i (1994) and \IThree in the Morning\i (1995).
\BMajor Works\b
\IAlbums\i
1958 Mr Acker Requests
1958 Mr Acker Marches On
1959 Mr Acker Bilk Sings
1959 Mr Acker Bilk Requests (Part One)
1959 Mr Acker Bilk Requests (Part Two)
1959 The Noble Art Of Mr Acker Bilk
1960 Seven Ages Of Acker
1960 Mr Acker Bilk's Omnibus
1960 Acker
1961 A Golden Treasury Of Bilk
1961 Mr Acker Bilk's Lansdowne Folio
1961 Stranger On The Shore
1962 Above The Stars And Other Romantic Fancies
1963 A Taste Of Honey
1965 Great Themes From Great European Movies
1966 Acker In Paris
1968 Blue Acker
1973 Some Of My Favourite Things
1974 That's My Desire
1975 Serenade
1976 The One For Me
1977 Invitation
1977 Meanwhile
1977 Sheer Magic
1978 Extremely Live In Studio 1
1978 Free
1978 When The Lights Are Low
1980 Twogether (with Max Bygraves)
1980 Unissued Acker
1980 Made In Hungary
1980 The Moment I'm With You
1980 Mama Told Me So
1981 Relaxin'
1982 Wereldsuccessen
1982 I Think The Best Thing About This Record Is The Music
1985 Acker Bilk In Holland
1985 Nature Boy
1985 Acker's Choice
1987 Love Songs My Way
1988 Acker Bilk Plays Lennon And McCartney
1988 On Stage
1988 It Looks (with Ken Colyer)
1988 That's My Home
1989 The Love Album
1990 Trad Days 1959/60 (with Chris Barber, Kenny Ball)
1991 Imagine
1990 Blaze Away
1991 The Ultimate!
1991 Heartbeats
1992 At Sundown (with Humphrey Lyttelton)
1995 Three In The Morning (with Lyttelton)
1995 Oscar Winners
\ICompilations\i
1962 The Best Of Ball, Barber And Bilk
1974 Golden Hour Of Acker Bilk
1978 Very Best Of Acker Bilk
1978 Evergreen
1979 The Acker Bilk Saga
1979 Sheer Magic
1979 The Best Of Acker Bilk, Volume Two
1980 Mellow Music
1980 Spotlight On Acker Bilk
1982 100 Minutes Of Bilk
1982 Spotlight On Acker Bilk Vol. 2
1983 I'm In The Mood For Love
1986 Finest Moments
1986 Magic Clarinet Of Acker Bilk
1988 16 Golden Memories
1988 Best Of Acker Bilk, His Clarinet And Strings
1988 Hits Blues And Classics
1989 The Collection
1989 Images
1990 After Midnight
1992 In A Mellow Mood
1993 Reflections
1993 Acker Bilk Songbook
1995 Bridge Over Troubled Water
BK Biog99n
#
"bill of exchange or commercial bill",4328,0,0,0
EN A document ordering someone to pay a certain sum of money to another on a specific date, or when certain conditions have been fulfilled. Bills of exchange are used mainly in foreign trade; their legal status in the UK is laid down by the Bills of Exchange Act (1882).
BK b
#
"bill of rights",4329,0,0,0
EN A list of citizens' rights set out in constitutional documents. Usually accompanying the document is an elaboration of the institutional means and powers by which such rights may be enforced. The best-known example is the first ten amendments to the US Constitution, adopted in 1791.
This protects the liberties of private citizens in relation to the federal and state governments in such matters as freedom of speech, religion, the press and assembly, and legal procedure. It was adopted because of popular pressure during the campaign to ratify the Constitution (1787-8), and its meaning has been expounded in many cases decided by the Supreme Court.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
\BThe Bill of Rights\b
The following is a transcription of the first 10 amendments to the
United States Constitution.
Called the \BBill of Rights,\b these amendments were ratified on December 15, 1791.
\BAmendment I.\b
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
\BAmendment II\b
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
\BAmendment III\b
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
\BAmendment IV\b
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
\BAmendment V\b
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or \Jindictment\j of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
\BAmendment VI\b
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed; which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
\BAmendment VII\b
In suits at \Jcommon law\j, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the \Jcommon law\j.
\BAmendment VIII\b
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
\BAmendment IX\b
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
\BAmendment X\b
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
BK b
#
"Bill W.",4330,0,0,0
EN See Wilson, (William Griffith) 'Bill W'
BK AmBg
#
"Bill, Max",4331,0,0,0
DT1 1908
DT2 94
EN Swiss politician, artist and teacher, born in \JWinterthur\j, \JSwitzerland\j. He trained at the Zⁿrich School of Arts and Crafts (1924-7) and at the Bauhaus in Dessau (1927-9), later becoming director of the Institute for Design, Ulm (1951-6) and professor of enivonmental design at the Institute for Fine Arts, \JHamburg\j (1967-74). Working as an architect as well as a painter, sculptor, and product designer, he developed the essential Bauhaus principles of co-operative design along purely functionalist lines. He was a delegate to the Swiss parliament (1967-71).
SX m
BK bg b
#
"bill, parliamentary",4332,0,0,0
EN A draft of a proposed new law that is to be considered by a legislature. A bill may be amended before it is finally enacted in law. The procedures for a legislature to consider a bill vary considerably from country to country.
BK b
#
"Bill-Belotserkovsky, Vladimir (Naumovich)",4333,0,0,0
DT 1884-1970
EN Soviet playwright. His propaganda tales of heroic \Jcommunism\j and decadent \Jcapitalism\j introduced many of the theatrical themes which were consolidated under socialist realism (1934-53). His sojourn as an unskilled worker in the USA accounts for his nickname 'Bill'. As a member of the Proletkult and later of the Central Committee for the Control of Repertory, he helped to develop and to police the new Soviet drama.
Naive and diagrammatic, his first four plays - Beefsteak, Rare (1920), Stages (1921), Echo (1922) and Steer to the Left! (1926) - traverse the path to World Revolution through Europe and America, underscoring the inevitability of the climactic struggle. Storm (1924) is the author's classic \JCivil War\j play, a tale of an heroic Party chairman battling to bring about a new order out of chaos.
His second most influential work, Life Is Calling (1953), uses romantic subplots, pairings of ideological types and a climactic conversion speech within a realistic framework. His other plays include Calm (1926), Moon on the Left (1927) and The Voice of the Depths (1927), none of which was successful.
BK Thea
#
"billfish",4334,0,0,0
EN Any of a group of large and very agile surface-living fishes \B(Family:\b Istiophoridae) in which the snout is prolonged to form a slender pointed bill used for stunning prey; all are adapted for fast swimming, with elongate streamlined bodies and short wide tail fin; includes \Jsailfish\j and marlins. Most are exploited commercially, and are amongst the most highly prized of all sport fishes.
BK b
#
"billiards",4335,0,0,0
EN An indoor table game played in many different forms. The most popular is that played on a standard English billiard table measuring c.12┐ft┐╫┐6┐ft (3.66┐m┐╫┐1.83┐m). Originally an outdoor game, its exact origins are uncertain; an early reference is 1429, when Louis XI of \JFrance\j owned a billiard table. It is played with three balls; one red and two white.
Scoring is achieved by \Ipotting\i balls, \Igoing in-off\i another ball, and \Imaking cannons\i (hitting your white ball so that it successively strikes the two others). \BCarom\b is another form, popular in Europe; it is played on a pocketless table with the object of making cannons. In the USA, the name \Ibilliards\i can also refer to pool and snooker.
BK b
#
"Billinger, Richard",4336,0,0,0
DT1 1893
DT2 1965
EN Poet, born in St Marienkirchen, \JAustria\j. He was the author of collections of lyrics, as well as novels coloured by peasant life in Upper \JAustria\j.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Billings, Frederick",4337,0,0,0
DT (1823-90)
EN lawyer, railroad executive; born in Royalton, Vt. A University of \JVermont\j graduate, he went to \JCalifornia\j in the gold rush of 1849, and, opening a law office instead of prospecting, became a prominent and powerful \JSan Francisco\j attorney.
An early shareholder in the Northern Pacific Railroad, he raised the capital necessary to complete the road during a term as president (1879-81). He used some of his substantial fortune to build churches in Woodstock, Vt., and the eponymous Billings, Mont.
BK AmBg
#
"Billings, John Shaw",4338,0,0,0
DT (1838-1913)
EN surgeon, librarian; born in \JSwitzerland\j County, Ind. After taking his M.D. from the Medical College of Ohio in 1860, he served as a medical officer with the Union army (1862-64). He then went to the surgeon general's department in Washington, D.C., where he stayed for 30 years (1864-94). While doing research, he was struck by how inadequate the surgeon general's library was; he enlarged it from 600 books in 1865 to more than 50,000 by 1873, and, with Dr. Robert Fletcher, published a 16-volume \IIndex Catalogue\i (1880-95) of the library.
In 1873 he was appointed medical adviser for Johns Hopkins \JHospital\j (Baltimore), which he helped found. He was also interested in \Jpreventive medicine\j and was an original member of the American Public Health Association (1872). Because of the work he had done with the surgeon general's library, he was invited to New York City to help consolidate the privately established Astor, Lenox and Tilden Libraries that form the nucleus of the New York Public Library, and he spent his final years at this task (1896-1913).
BK AmBg
#
"Billings, Josh",4339,0,0,0
HS , originally \BHenry Wheeler Shaw\b
DT1 1818
DT2 85
EN Humorous writer, born in Lanesboro, MA. A land agent in Poughkeepsie, NY, he began writing in his 40s, publishing facetious almanacs and collections of witticisms. He relied heavily on deliberate misspelling, as in the 'Essa on the Muel' (Essay on the Mule), which launched his writing career.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Billings, William",4340,0,0,0
DT (1746-1800)
EN composer; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. Originally a tanner, he studied music on his own and became one of the earliest professional musicians in the Colonies. After publishing his first collection of church music, the \INew England Psalm Singer\i of 1770 (engraved by Paul Revere), he pursued in \JBoston\j a career of composing, reforming church music, and starting musical ensembles, all endeavors that considerably improved New England musical life.
His anthems were primitive in technique but vigorous and individual in sound. He founded the continent's first singing class in Stoughton, Mass., (1774) and the first church choir as well. His "Chester," with its text "Let tyrants shake their iron rod . . . New England's God forever reigns," became a favorite of Revolutionary troops and remains his best-known work. Despite his prominence, he was never able to make an adequate living and he died in abject poverty.
BK AmBg
#
"Billingsgate Market",4341,0,0,0
EN A fish-market in C London, England, UK, dating from the 9th-c. Its name derived from a river-gate in the nearby city wall. The market was closed in 1982, and relocated further E, on the Isle of Dogs.
BK b
#
"billion",4342,0,0,0
EN In earlier British usage, a million million (10\U12\u); in US (and increasingly in technical international) usage, a thousand million (10\U9\u). Because both senses are still encountered, however, many specialists avoid the term (and also \Itrillion\i and other derivatives), preferring to state the numbers involved using superscripts, or in such a form as 'thousand million'. The latter usage is standard in this book.
BK b
#
"Billroth, (Christian Albert) Theodor",4343,0,0,0
PN [\Bbil\broht]
DT1 1829
DT2 94
EN Surgeon, born in Bergen, \JAustria\j. He became professor of surgery at Zⁿrich (1860-7) and Vienna (1867-94). A pioneer of modern abdominal surgery, he performed the first successful excision of the \Jlarynx\j (1874) and the first resection of the \Jintestine\j (1881). A brilliant musician, he was a friend of Brahms.
MEX Brahms
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Billy the Kid",4344,0,0,0
EN See Bonney, William H, Jr
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Biloxi",4345,0,0,0
PN [bi\Blok\bsee]
EN 30░24N 88░53W, pop (1995e) 48 200. Town in Harrison Co, SE Mississippi, USA; on the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the Biloxi R; named after an Indian tribe; settled, 1699; the first permanent white settlement in the Mississippi valley; railway; tourism, boatbuilding, shrimp and oyster fisheries; Keesler Air Force Base.
BK Geog99
#
"bimetallic strip",4346,0,0,0
EN Two strips of different metals welded or riveted together face to face, which expand to different extents on heating because of their different coefficients of thermal expansion. One can become longer than the other only if the whole takes up a curved shape, with the metal which expands the more on the outer face. This phenomenon can be used to actuate indicators or electric switches in response to changes in \Jtemperature\j.
BK b
#
"bimodal distribution",4347,0,0,0
A statistical distribution which has two peaks. A camel has a harelip and a back that is bimodal, and it has a nasty temper, because it cannot yodel. It hates to be confused with the one-hump dromedary whose Australian distribution is from Broome to Bomaderry. (Note: while this is a handy mnemonic, it is not the usual meaning of the term "bimodal distribution".)
The usual pattern for a statistical distribution is for there to be a single modal value, due to the simple laws of probability, acting on a series of largely uncorrelated variables such as the answers to a series of examination questions, added together to give a final mark. (It may be galling to the students, but as a general rule, examination questions test a variety of skills, and that variety, coupled with the usual subjectivity of examiners will usually guarantee that the marks on individual questions do not correlate particularly well with each other.)
In general, the emergence of a bimodal pattern in any distribution indicates that there are two separate "populations" or groups with different characteristics in the same sample. In an examination, a strongly bimodal distribution suggests that the questions fall into two highly correlated groups, and that there has been some artificial barrier placed in the way of some students earning marks in accordance with their capabilities. Any test producing a significant "dip" in the centre of the distribution should be regarded as suspect in the first instance.
Against this, in a sample of less than a thousand, or where the frequencies near the mode are less than about 40, minor fluctuations are bound to happen, and these should not be worried over: as a general rule, the significant (and worrying) bimodal distribution is the one which resembles a camel's back, explaining the mnemonic which starts this entry.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"binary code",4348,0,0,0
EN A code derived from the binary number system, using only two digits (0 and 1), in comparison with the \Jdecimal system\j, which has ten digits (0 to 9). The advantage of the binary system for use in digital computers is that only two electronic states, off and on, are required to represent all the possible binary digits. All digital computers operate using various binary codes to represent numbers, characters, etc.
BK b
#
"binary coded decimal (BCD)",4349,0,0,0
EN A computer coding system where each decimal numeral (0-9) is represented by a set of four binary digits, or bits.
BK b
#
"binary number",4350,0,0,0
EN A number written in base two, using the two symbols 0,1, in which every number is expressed as the sum of powers of 2; thus 'seven' (in base ten) is 4┐+┐2┐+┐1┐=┐1┐╫┐2\U2\u┐+┐1┐╫┐2\U1\u┐+┐1; thus 7\Dten\d┐=┐111\Dtwo\d.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Binary numbers can also be written with what we might call a binary point, the equivalent of a decimal point in numbers written to the base 10. In binary, the square root of 2 is 1.011010100000100111100 . . ., while \Fp\n is 11.001001000011111101101 . . .
Binary arithmetic is commonly used in computers, with the result then being converted back to a decimal number. This can occasionally lead to problems when high levels of accuracy are wrongly assumed. For almost twenty years, the various forms of BASIC created by Microsoft (and presumably other forms of BASIC as well) have been prone to a "bug" which can be seen when you type a command such as this:
FOR I = 1 TO 8 STEP 0.1: PRINT I,: NEXT I
The fact that this well-documented "bug" continues to appear in successive versions of BASIC suggests that it is just "one of those things", and that it cannot be fixed.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK b
#
"binary star",4351,0,0,0
EN Two stars revolving around their common centre of mass. Perhaps half of all stars in our Galaxy are members of binaries. Astronomers study orbital motions in binaries because this gives the only direct way of finding out what the mass of a star is. In some rare and exotic cases, one star in a binary can be a black hole or a neutron star, and mass transfer takes place from the other, normal star with intense X-ray emission.
BK b
#
"binary weapon",4352,0,0,0
EN An expression describing how a munition used in chemical warfare can be configured. Two individually harmless chemicals are packed separately into, for example, an artillery shell; these are combined on detonation to form a deadly toxic agent.
BK b
#
"Binchy, Maeve",4353,0,0,0
PN [\Bbin\bshee, mayv]
DT1 1940
EN Writer, born in Dublin, Ireland. She studied history at University College Dublin, then became a teacher, travel writer, and columnist, joining the \IIrish Times\i in 1969. She has written plays for \Jtelevision\j and the stage, but is most widely known as a romantic novelist. Her books include \ILight a Penny Candle\i (1982), \ICircle of Friends\i (1990), and \IThe Glass Lake\i (1994), and she has also written several volumes of short stories.
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1982 Light a Penny Candle
1985 Echoes
1987 \JFirefly\j Summer
1990 Circle of Friends
1992 Copper Beech
1994 The Glass Lake
1996 Evening Class
\IShort Stories\i
1978 Central Line
1980 Victoria Line
1982 Dublin 4
1984 The Lilac Bus
1986 Silver Wedding
\IPlays\i
End of Term
Half Promised Land
\ITelevision\i
Deeply Regretted By
BK Biog99
#
"binding sites",4354,0,0,0
EN See \Jreceptors\j
BK b
XCY y
#
"Bindoff, Stanley Thomas",4355,0,0,0
HS , known as \BTom Bindoff\b
DT1 1908
DT2 80
EN Historian, born in Brighton, West Sussex, S England, UK. He studied at London University, where he taught throughout his life, and was professor at Queen Mary College (1951-75). He wrote several important works on British and W European diplomatic history, particularly \ITudor England\i (1950), which (under the '\JPelican\j' imprint) launched the first academic paperback history series.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"bindweed",4356,0,0,0
EN Any of several related climbers with fleshy, rope-like roots, fast-growing twining stems, and large funnel-shaped flowers, all native to temperate regions; often pernicious weeds. \IConvolvulus arvensis\i is a coastal plant; leaves arrowhead-shaped; flowers 3┐cm / 1 1/4┐in diameter, pink, striped white above, maroon beneath.
\BSea bindweed\b \I(Calystegia soldanella)\i has kidney-shaped leaves; flowers 5┐cm / 2┐in diameter, pink with white stripes; calyx hidden by two bracts. \BHedge bindweed\b \I(Calystegia sepium)\i has arrowhead- or heart-shaped leaves; flowers 3..5┐cm / 11/2┐in diameter, white; calyx hidden by two bracts. \BLarge bindweed\b \I(Calystegia sylvatica)\i is similar, but its flowers are 7..5┐cm / 3┐in diameter. \B(Family:\b Convolvulaceae.)
BK b
#
"Binet, Alfred",4357,0,0,0
PN [beenay]
DT1 1857
DT2 1911
EN Psychologist, the founder of intelligence tests, born in Nice, \JFrance\j. Director of physiological \Jpsychology\j at the \JSorbonne\j from 1892, his first tests were used on his children; later, with ThΘodore Simon, he expanded the tests (1905) to encompass the measurement of relative intelligence amongst deprived children (the \IBinet-Simon\i tests).
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Binford, Lewis (Roberts)",4358,0,0,0
DT1 1930
EN US archaeologist, pioneer of the anthropologically-oriented "processual' school of archaeology ("New Archaeology'). He studied at \JMichigan\j University and taught at Ann Arbor, \JChicago\j, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles before becoming professor of \Janthropology\j at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. His original manifesto \INew Perspectives in Archaeology\i (1968, with Sally R Binford) has subsequently been elaborated in such works as \IBones\i (1981) and \IIn Pursuit of the Past\i (1983).
BK Biog99
#
"Bing, Sir Rudolf",4359,0,0,0
DT 1902-1997
EN Opera administrator, born in Vienna. He worked in Berlin and Darmstadt (1928-33) before managing the opera at Glyndebourne (1935-49). He was co-founder and director (1947-9) of the Edinburgh Festival, and general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, New York City (1950-72). He took British nationality in 1946, and was knighted in 1971.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bingham, George Caleb",4360,0,0,0
DT (1811-79)
EN painter; born in Augusta County, Va. His family moved to Missouri (1819), and he painted scenes from the frontier life surrounding him. Representative examples of his work include \IThe Fur Traders Descending the Missouri\i (1845), and \IThe Trappers Return\i (1851). He was often involved in politics, and his painting, \IThe County Election\i (1851-52) is one of many works reflecting this interest. After studying at Dⁿsseldorf (1856-59), he became an art professor at the University of Missouri (1877). From then on the quality of his work declined.
BK AmBg
#
"Bingham, Hiram (1789-1869)",4361,0,0,0
DT (1789-1869)
EN missionary; born in Bennington, Vt. He was a missionary to the people of the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) from 1819-40. He learned the Hawaiian language, devised a 12-letter alphabet and, with others, translated the \JBible\j into Hawaiian.
BK AmBg
#
"Bingham, Hiram (1875-1956)",4362,0,0,0
DT (1875-1956)
EN explorer, U.S. senator; born in \JHonolulu\j, Hawaii (son of an American missionary). Having taken a Ph.D. in South American history, he concentrated on exploring Latin and South America through the early 1920s while teaching at Yale (1907-24). He is noted for discovering the Inca ruins of \JMachu Picchu\j (1911) and for writing the first book on Bolivar's march across the northern coast of South America (1909).
Earning his pilots wings (1917), he was chief of the Air Personnel Division of the Air Service in Washington during World War I, serving in the same position for the Allied Expeditionary Forces in \JFrance\j. As a senator from Connecticut (Rep., 1924-32) he served on the President's \JAircraft\j Board (1925) and drafted the Air Commerce Act (1926), the first attempt at federal regulation of civil \Javiation\j.
He later became a director of banks and corporations and president of the National Aeronautic Association (1928-34). Becoming ever more conservative over the years, he headed the Loyalty Review Board of the Civil Service Commission (1951-53) and forced the dismissal of many government employees.
BK AmBg
#
"Bingham, Millicent",4363,0,0,0
DT (1880-1968)
EN geographer, litterateur; born in Washington, D.C. Even before taking her Ph.D. at Harvard (1923), she had traveled widely (her father, David Peck Todd, was a prominent astronomer whose work took him abroad), published \IPeru, Land of Contrasts\i (1914), and translated Blanchard's \IGeography of France\i (1919). Her interest in urban \Jgeography\j later led to her translation of Vidal de la Blanche's \IPrinciples of Human Geography\i (1926).
After her marriage to the noted psychologist, Walter Van Dyke Bingham (1920), she spent summers on a family-owned island in Maine where, in 1936, they allowed the Audubon Society to establish the first camp for adult conservation leaders. Meanwhile, her mother, Mabel Loomis Todd, had long since taken the lead in publishing the poetry and letters of Emily Dickinson (with whose brother, William Austin, she had carried on a secret affair); in the 1930s, Millicent Bingham shifted her interest to the life and work of Dickinson, and became an authority on her, publishing \IAncestors' Brocades: The Literary Debut of Emily Dickinson\i in 1945.
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"Bingham, William",4364,0,0,0
DT (1752-1804)
EN banker, U.S. senator; born in Philadelphia. He made a fortune in trade and \Jprivateering\j. He founded (1781) and directed the Bank of \JNorth America\j. He founded Binghamton, N.Y., and was president of the Philadelphia and Lancaster \JTurnpike\j Corporation. He was a U.S. senator (1795-1801). His wife, Anne Willing Bingham, a leader in Philadelphia society, frequently entertained George Washington.
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"bingo",4365,0,0,0
EN A game played by any number of people, using cards normally containing 15 squares numbered between 1 and 90. The caller picks numbers at random, and if players have the corresponding number on their card they eliminate it, usually by crossing it through. The first person(s) to eliminate all numbers is the winner, and is usually identified by calling out 'bingo'. Known as \Blotto\b or \Bhousey-housey\b for many years, it became popularized as bingo in the 1960s.
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"Binney, Horace",4366,0,0,0
DT (1780-1875)
EN lawyer; born in Philadelphia. For nearly 30 years he was leader of the \JPennsylvania\j bar, and he held several offices, including a term in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Whig, Pa.; 1833-35). His two great cases were \ILyle\i v. \IRichards\i (1823) on real property, and \IVidal\i v. \IPhiladelphia\i (1844) on the Girard trust, argued against Daniel Webster. He later wrote legal and historical works.
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"Binns, Charles Fergus",4367,0,0,0
DT (1857-1934)
EN ceramist; born in Worcester, England. After founding a \Jceramics\j laboratory at the Royal Worcester \Jporcelain\j works, he emigrated to Trenton, N.J. (1897), to head a technical school. In 1900 he became first director of what later became the New York State College of \JCeramics\j at Alfred University. Known for his exquisitely glazed stonewares, he was influential as an educator of leading \Jceramics\j teachers.
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"binoculars",4368,0,0,0
EN A magnifying optical instrument for use by both eyes simultaneously; also known as \Bfield-glasses.\b Two optical systems are mounted together, each consisting of two convex lenses (an eyepiece and an object lens) plus prisms to produce an upright image. Focusing is achieved by varying the distance between eyepiece and object lens. Some instruments, such as opera glasses, use a concave eyepiece to produce an upright image without prisms.
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"binomial nomenclature",4369,0,0,0
EN The modern system of naming and classifying organisms, established by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-78) in the mid-18th-c. Every species has a unique scientific name \I(binomen)\i consisting of two words: a generic name and a specific name. For example, the scientific name of a lion is \IPanthera leo\i and that of the tiger \IPanthera tigris.\i They belong to the same \Jgenus\j, but are different species.
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"Bintley, David (Julian)",4370,0,0,0
DT1 1957
EN British choreographer and dancer. He studied at the Royal Ballet School, then joined Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet (1976--86), becoming resident choreographer and principal dancer (1983--6). From 1986--93 he was resident choreographer and principal dancer with the Royal Ballet before joining the Birmingham Royal Ballet as artistic director (1995-- ).
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"binturong",4371,0,0,0
PN [bin\Btoor\bong]
EN A carnivorous \Jmammal\j \I(Arctictis binturong),\i native to south-east Asia; dense black fur, thickest on its grasping tail; tips of ears with prominent tufts; inhabits dense forests; eats birds, carrion, vegetation; catches fish by swimming; easily tamed. \B(Family:\b Viverridae.)
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"Binyon, (Robert) Laurence",4372,0,0,0
DT1 1869
DT2 1943
EN Poet and art critic, born in Lancaster, Lancashire, north-west England, UK. On leaving Oxford, he joined the British Museum, and became keeper of Oriental prints and paintings (1913-33). His poetic works include \ILyric Poems\i (1894), \IOdes\i (1901), and \ICollected Poems\i (1931). He also wrote plays, and translated Dante into terza rima. He was professor of poetry at Harvard (1933-4). Extracts from his poem 'For the Fallen' (set to music by Elgar) adorn war memorials throughout the \JBritish Commonwealth\j.
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"bioassay",4373,0,0,0
PN [biyoha\Bsay\b]
EN The measurement of amounts or activities of substances using the responses of living organisms or cells; an abbreviation of \Bbiological assay.\b For example, the concentration of pollutants can be estimated by determining the growth rate of particular organisms exposed to them under a range of controlled conditions.
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"biochemistry",4374,0,0,0
EN The branch of \Jbiology\j dealing with the chemistry of living organisms, especially with the structure and function of their chemical components.
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"bioclimatology",4375,0,0,0
EN The study of climate as it affects humans, for example calculation of wind chill and degree days. A \Idegree day\i is the difference in actual mean \Jtemperature\j for a day and a pre-determined threshold \Jtemperature\j; if actual temperatures are consistently below the chosen threshold, then the provision of heating might be necessary.
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"biodegradable substance",4376,0,0,0
EN Any substance that can be decomposed by natural processes, particularly microbial decay, so that its constituents are rendered available for use within the \Jecosystem\j. Many modern materials are non-biodegradable, accumulating in the \Jecosystem\j.
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"biodiversity",4377,0,0,0
EN A term used to cover the total variety of genetic strains, species, and ecosystems in the world, which change with \Jevolution\j. Human activity is accelerating the process of change, leading to the depletion and \Jextinction\j of species. A treaty to preserve \Jbiodiversity\j, including the sustainable development of biological resources, was signed at the Earth Summit in 1992.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The important point to remember is that \Jbiodiversity\j is a principle that is used to describe life at all levels, from species to ecosystems, and it represents the power of a biological entity to survive evolutionary pressures. An \Jecosystem\j needs a variety of plants and animals to keep the complex systems going, and a species needs a range of genes to help it survive the variations that happen in any environment. These changes can involve the \Jweather\j, the climate, the food and shelter available, or the diseases and predators that must be survived.
So what is the value of \Jbiodiversity\j? According to Edward O. Wilson, we can see three kinds of value: commodity value, or how much you can sell something for, amenity value, or the dollar value of the pleasure and benefit you get from its existence, and morality value, which has no dollar value at all, but relates to our responsibility to those species less able than us to protect themselves.
In that sense, \Jbiodiversity\j has no real commodity value, and not a great deal of amenity value although that can sometimes be changed by introducing ecotourism to an endangered area. That leaves us with the possibility of a moral value that we can place upon \Jbiodiversity\j, but at the same time, that leaves out the greatest concern for all human beings: their own long-term survival. If we do not maintain the \Jbiodiversity\j of life on \Jearth\j, humans will eventually be doomed.
Every \Jecosystem\j relies on a certain number of species, all interacting with each other, some of them eating each other, some of them able to move into a gap and fill it, some of them replaceable, and some of them irreplaceable. The problem is that we do not usually know which species are the most important ones. We do not know which species to care about.
Equally, we do not know which species might just happen to have evolved a chemical which is biologically active against a disease such as cancer, and we do not always know how important it is to have a proper age structure in a population.
African elephants live in a complex society. If you transport some surplus young elephants to a new area, you will end up with juvenile delinquents who become adult rogues, simply because their society lacks age diversity. Old trees in a forest provide the homes to many of the animals which are essential to maintaining a complex balance. Chop down the oldest trees, and you will need to provide a huge range of artificial homes for bats, possums, birds and many more animals, just to keep the balance, and stop pest species from boiling over.
Biodiversity is also important within a species, but when it occurs there, we refer to it as genetic diversity, even though it fills the same role. Evolution relies on there being varieties within each species which have the ability to survive at least one of a whole range of conditions. The survival of the whole species depends on this, so that the \Jmutation\j which now seems to be damaging, or at best neutral in survival terms, may turn out to be extremely useful under conditions that we cannot even begin to anticipate.
To take just one human example, about 1 in 100 Western European humans seems to be fairly immune to sexually transmitted \JHIV\j, because they have a mutated form of a protein in their cell membranes, a protein called CKR-5. The normal CKR-5 acts as a 'handle' that \JHIV\j can lock onto, but the mutated form appears not to provide this service. The mutated form appears to cause no problems for those carrying a copy of the gene. Even the 1% of western Europeans carrying two copies of the gene, the ones who seem to be HIV-resistant, seem to have no problems from it.
At the same time, the mutant CKR-5 does nothing to protect against \JHIV\j when it is passed on by shared needles or blood transfusions, but it is a start, a promise that if the worst ever happened with \JHIV\j, some part of humanity would survive. Of course, if somebody had ever managed to 'breed out' all of the undesirable genes in a European population, the mutant CKR-5 gene is exactly the sort of thing that could easily have disappeared from the range of evolutionary weapons available to humans.
One of the most serious losses of \Jbiodiversity\j is in our crop plants. According to the United Nations (UN), there are something like one million varieties of crop plants that are currently threatened with \Jextinction\j because the gene banks in which they are stored are badly funded. We simply are not doing enough to conserve the genes that we may need in the future, says the UN.
But \Jbiodiversity\j in crops has an even more serious problem lurking. When you look at a pasture or a forest, the individual species are scattered here and there, so that diseases and predators have to play a game of hide-and-seek. Under the worst possible conditions, a few individual food plants can be expected to survive, either by luck in being hidden from view, or by luck in having a few different genes. With the new engineered crops, we have taken out the genetic diversity, and with intensive farming, we have taken away the protective cover of other species. There is precious little \Jbiodiversity\j in a wheat field.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"biofeedback",4378,0,0,0
EN A technique by which an individual can learn to control autonomic responses (ie those not usually under conscious control) by using monitoring devices to give information about the results of current and past performance. Training in this way using a \Jsphygmomanometer\j allows reduction in blood pressure, and using an electroencephalogram can encourage the production of alpha brain waves which are associated with well-being and relaxation. Various machines are marketed as 'relaxation meters', and are said to facilitate relaxation and to be useful in treating stress-induced disorders. The effects are usually small and transitory.
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"biogas",4379,0,0,0
EN A gas produced by the fermentation of organic waste. \JDecomposition\j of animal \Jmanure\j, crop residues, and food processing wastes in an airtight container produces a \Jmethane\j-rich gas which can be used as a source of \Jenergy\j. Small \Jbiogas\j plants are used in developing countries, and some farms in Europe and the USA produce \Jbiogas\j for farm use.
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"biogenesis",4380,0,0,0
EN The principle that a living organism can arise only from another living organism. It contrasts with notions such as the spontaneous generation of living organisms from non-living matter by natural processes.
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"biogenetic law",4381,0,0,0
EN The generalization that early stages of development in animal species resemble one another, and that differences between species become increasingly apparent as development proceeds.
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"biogeography",4382,0,0,0
EN The geographical study of the distribution of animals and plants at global, regional, and local scales. In particular it examines the factors responsible for their changing distribution in both time and space.
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"biography",4383,0,0,0
EN The narrative of a person's life: as we know it, a form proper to the modern centuries (post-17th-c). In classical and mediaeval times, such biographical writing as existed tended to be summary and exemplary lives of kings, heroes, and saints, with little concern for the personal subject.
But the Protestant and democratic spirit conferred greater value on the individual; and the subject of Boswell's great \Jbiography\j (published in 1791), Dr Johnson, maintained that the narrative of any person's life would be worth reading. Most well-known figures in the last 200 years have found a biographer: latterly, even while still alive. In the 20th-c, biographical treatments are also to be found on audiotape, radio, film, and \Jtelevision\j.
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"Bioko",4384,0,0,0
PN [bee\Bok\boh]
EN pop (1995e) 82 700; area 2017 sq km/779 sq mi. Island in the Bight of \JBiafra\j, off coast of \JCameroon\j, W Africa; province of Equatorial Guinea; volcanic origin, rising to 3007 m/9865 ft at Pico de BasilΘ; chief town, and capital of Equatorial Guinea, \JMalabo\j; other towns include Luba and Riaba; visited by Portuguese, 1471; originally named after Portuguese navigator; occupied at various times by British, Portuguese, and Spanish; \Jcoffee\j, \Jcocoa\j, copra.
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"biolinguistics",4385,0,0,0
EN The study of the ways in which human \Jbiology\j is predisposed to the development of language and use. It is particularly concerned with the genetic transmission of language and with neurophysiological studies of the way spoken language is produced and understood.
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"biological assay",4386,0,0,0
EN See bioassay
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"biological control",4387,0,0,0
EN The control of populations of plant or animal species by natural enemies such as predators or parasites. In particular, biological control refers to the introduction or encouragement of natural enemies for use in the regulation of numbers of a pest species. Recently developed techniques for biological control include methods of disrupting reproductive behaviour of the pest, such as the release of sterilized males, the strategic dispersal of pheromones important in pest mating behaviour, and the use of attractants to bait traps.
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"biological psychiatry",4388,0,0,0
EN That area of \Jpsychiatry\j which sees mental illness as resulting from disorders of the physiological system. It emphasizes biochemical, pharmacological, and neurological aspects of mental illness and psychiatric treatments.
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"biological rhythm or biorhythm",4389,0,0,0
EN The rhythmical change in a biological function of a plant or animal. The frequency of rhythms varies from short (eg less than a second) to long (eg more than a year). Many rhythms arise from within organisms \I(endogenous rhythms); \i others \I(exogenous rhythms)\i are entirely dependent upon external environmental factors (such as the alternation of light and dark). Endogenous rhythms are usually synchronized to follow periodic changes in the environment.
Examples of biological rhythms in humans are breathing, sleep, and waking, and the daily rise and fall of \Jcortisol\j production; these are controlled by the brain (eg the pineal \Jgland\j and parts of the \Jhypothalamus\j). Important biological rhythms in higher plants are \Jphotosynthesis\j and the daily opening and closing of flowers.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
In 1878, Jules Verne reflected the marvellous speed with which people could now travel, when he wrote \IAround the World in Eighty Days.\i By 1931, Wiley Post wrote \IAround the World in Eighty Hours,\i reflecting the way travel had grown faster. Within thirty years, humans were whizzing around the \Jearth\j in 88 minutes, orbiting in low-level orbits.
For more ordinary humans it took a few more years, but we can all fly half-way around the world in less than 24 hours, or around the world in 48 hours. This is why we now hear of jet-lag. Fifty years ago, nobody had even heard of it, and now it is a commonplace. Fifty years ago, most people travelled by steamship, but now jet travel is the normal method. Steamships travelled too slowly for anybody to notice the change of time zones, but planes rush across the time zones faster than we can adjust to the difference.
A flight from Perth to Auckland, or back again, or on a holiday from New York to \JCalifornia\j, is quite enough to cause jet-lag, but what causes jet-lag? Our biological clocks are the cause, and all animals have one. Some animals are active during the night, the animals we call nocturnal, and others, the diurnal animals like us, are active during the day, and sleep at night. And built into the brains of all these animals is a biological clock which tells them roughly what the time is.
Drive past a dairy farm just before milking time, and you will see all of the cows gathered in one corner of the paddock. Their biological clocks have told them milking time is close. Watch a family dog in the afternoon, as the time comes round for the children to get home from school. The dog's biological clock has told it the time.
Before dawn, birds start chirping and singing, some of them even before the sky starts to get light. Their biological clocks have told them the time. Depending on where you live, the twilight air near your home may be hideously noisy as hordes of squawking birds fly in, as regular as clockwork, just on dusk, to settle down and sleep, once again obeying the inbuilt commands of their biological clocks.
Where nesting birds share the work of "sitting" on the eggs, the change of shift is typically at the same time every \Jday\j. Pigeons have been observed in a regular routine, where the male "sits" every \Jday\j from 11 am to 4.30 pm. Corals get ready to reproduce as the full moon approaches: their biological clocks have told them the time, perhaps as a reaction to brighter and brighter nights, although the full moon is still only about one-millionth as bright as full sunlight. Plants get ready to flower as spring approaches: their biological clocks have told them the time is right.
All living things seem to have some way of knowing the time and perhaps the season. But does their clock keep absolute time, like our mechanical clocks, or is it relative time, like the farm workers who always rise at dawn, whatever time this may be? The evidence suggests that time is relative, so the next problem for researchers studying subjective time will be to work out whether the biological clocks are adjusted by \Jtemperature\j (\Jday\j is warmer than night), by light variations, or perhaps by something less obvious, like noisy \Jday\j and quiet night, or the \Jhumidity\j, the amount of moisture in the air.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"biological sciences",4390,0,0,0
EN Specialized study areas which have developed to study living organisms and systems. All biological sciences are based on \Btaxonomy,\b the description, naming, and classification of living organisms as a means of creating order out of the diversity of the natural world. The study of the distribution of organisms throughout the world is known as \Bbiogeography.\b How organisms work is the subject of a number of biological sciences.
The chemical processes that occur within living systems are studied as a whole \B(biochemistry)\b or at the level of interactions between large organic molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids \B(molecular \Jbiology\j).\b Functional aspects of living systems are the subject of disciplines such as \Bphysiology\b and \Bbiophysics,\b and these are frequently subdivided further into topics such as \Bendocrinology\b (the study of the production and actions of \Jhormones\j) and \Bneurophysiology\b (the study of the function of the \Jnervous system\j).
The study of the comparative behaviour of animals is known as \Bethology.\b \BGenetics\b encompasses \Jheredity\j and variation. The study of the relationship between organisms and their environment is \Becology.\b Finally, each major group of organisms is the basis of its own special study area, including \Jbacteria\j \B(bacteriology),\b plants \B(botany),\b viruses \B(virology),\b animals \B(\Jzoology\j),\b fungi \B(mycology),\b parasitic worms \B(helminthology),\b parasites \B(parasitology),\b shells \B(malacology),\b birds \B(ornithology),\b insects \B(\Jentomology\j),\b fishes \B(ichthyology),\b crustaceans \B(carcinology),\b organisms living in the sea \B(marine \Jbiology\j),\b fossils \B(palaeontology),\b amphibians and reptiles \B(herpetology),\b \Jpollen\j \B(palynology),\b and seaweeds \B(phycology).\b
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The Arabic physician, Avicenna, reported that bears give birth to young which are no more than shapeless balls of flesh, and that the mother bears have to lick them into shape, to form them into cubs. This simple explanation was widely accepted during the \Jmiddle ages\j and beyond: it even gave rise to a common saying, but while it appears to provide a quick answer, it is less than reliable.
One of the main problems in studying the development of embryos is to work out how a single cell can turn itself into a whole organism. Part of the answer comes from a careful look at the fertilized \Jovum\j, which is not a simple homogeneous bag. But the problem that applies in studying how embryos develop applies just as much to the study of growth, \Jmetamorphosis\j and regeneration.
In each case, the same theme applies: how do small cells 'know' which genes to switch on or switch off, so that individuals do not grow a foot on their face, and a nose where their toes should be. A related question that we need to ask is why cancers grow as they do, since a cancer is basically a development which is out of control.
Humans have at least two hundred different types of cell or tissue, and the count would probably go higher if some of these 'types' were carefully examined. Every multi-celled organism contains cells which are specialized in some way, and this specialization is controlled by the switching-on, or turning-off, of particular genes.
Typically, an animal has an outer covering (skin, or its equivalent), a layer which absorbs \Jnutrients\j, cells which secrete substances (glands), nervous tissue, and muscles. Almost all contain cells which assist in moving oxygen around (blood cells), and specialized cells which are used to sense the environment.
A plant will typically contain vascular tissue epidermal cells of various sorts, and parenchyma, generalized cells found in other parts of the plant. \JAlgae\j lack any vascular tissue, but even they still have a variety of tissue and cell types. Fungi have the ability to survive for long periods as generalized feeding threads called hyphae, but they also are capable of forming a variety of tissues in fruiting bodies such as mushrooms and puff-balls.
In the standard model, each gene which operates in a cell eventually codes for the formation of a protein, and it is the presence, or absence, of a particular protein in a cell or group of cells which determines how they will develop. So the question of how an embryo develops is largely a question of how the first few cells 'know' which genes to turn on and off.
\BEmbryology\b
The simple view of the embryo's development has a single cell dividing into two identical cells, then four, eight, sixteen, and so on, all of the cells going into forming the new individual. The true situation is more complex. The cells are not all identical after the first division, because they contain different parts of the original cell. The first two cells of a developing human embryo are sufficiently alike that if they split, they can both develop to produce an identical twin, but at some stage soon after that, cells begin to have a predetermined future.
Strictly, by the time an \Jovum\j (commonly but wrongly called the 'egg') is fertilized by a sperm cell, it is not just a single cell, but sixteen cells, an oocyte (an egg in the stage that precedes maturation) and fifteen nurse cells. When the oocyte is fertilized and becomes a \Jzygote\j (a cell formed by the fusion of two reproductive cells), it is in the middle of an interacting group of cells.
As the oocyte divides, it produces daughter cells with different contents, allowing even more interactions. The important question, then, is: how do the cells interact with each other? What messengers are used, and how do they work?
The fertilized \Jzygote\j divides into a hollow ball of cells, called a \Jblastula\j. Later, this folds in on itself, producing three layers of cells in a more complex formations called a gastrula. In vertebrates, the cells of the developing embryo twist and twine around each other, and fold in to produce future nervous tissue. At this stage, the homeotic genes probably take over.
Some aspects of a \Jzygote\j's development remain common, right across the full range of the animal kingdom, others vary between one group and another. For example, a bird egg has to contain all of the food that will be needed to produce a functioning chick, while a placental mammalian \Jovum\j (such as a human ovum) simply has to carry enough food to support the embryo until it is implanted in the wall of the uterus.
After gastrulation, various parts of the developing embryo are committed to becoming a particular part of the body. At the very least, there will be a division into head (anterior), middle and tail (posterior), and often there will also be a division into front (ventral), middle and back (dorsal), all of this being irreversible from an early stage of development.
Much of what we know about the development of embryos comes from frog eggs, which are readily available, and develop in \Jwater\j, without a shell, so that they are a convenient source. There are visible differences in the two halves of the egg. The cells in the yolk-filled lower half (the 'vegetal pole') divide more slowly, and so are quite a lot larger than the upper cells of the 'animal pole', and it was this which first alerted researchers that this was how the parts of the \Jzygote\j were driven to differentiate, to develop in different ways.
Cells from the lower half of the \Jblastula\j are pushed inside and so are committed to becoming mesodermal (internal) tissue, the bones, muscle and some of the organs of the inner body, lying between the skin and the gut, while the upper cells spread around the outside to become ectodermal (outside) tissue. Some of the lower cells are pushed inside as they are covered by the advance of the cells from the upper half of the egg, and these inner cells become the endoderm that develops into the animal's gut, \Jpancreas\j, lungs and liver.
There are other influences as well: some cells migrate through the \Jblastula\j or the gastrula, and some cells are set aside at an early stage, and take no further part in development, becoming the germ line, the source of future sex cells that will give rise to the next generation.
In short, cells divide to enclose different amounts of yolk in their interiors, they migrate around and through the developing embryo, and they interact with each other by surface protein effects which are not yet fully understood. But this is only the start of a development in an embryo which is still to develop internal organs, limbs, nervous tissue, breathing, digestive and reproductive systems, and more.
While we know in detail what happens, we are still not able to explain it all quite so easily, though we are getting closer. In a frog embryo, germ cells do not begin in what becomes the animal's sex organs. Instead, they migrate there from other parts of the body. These cells appear to 'know' where they are in the \Jzygote\j, and if cells from different parts of the embryo are mixed, they can sort themselves out.
This ability seems to depend on proteins called integrins, 'sticky' molecules which help the cells to interact in a specific manner. The next step will be to block the integin genes, to find out which ones are involved in controlling the movement of cells in the embryo.
As the future spinal cord develops, and the \Jblastula\j becomes a neurula, the cells 'know' what is to be formed in an area, and a small set of mesodermal cells, sliced out and planted in another embryo, will produce whatever they would have produced in the original neurula. More amazingly, if all of the mesodermal cells in the area are removed, the remaining cells in the area are able to direct the formation of the piece that should be missing.
Most of the embryology carried out this century has involved transplantion studies, and the slow teasing-out of the morphogenetic fields, the areas with the power to induce and direct the formation of different organs. This era lost most of its momentum after the discovery that certain genes seemed to be able to direct massive changes in the development of an organism, the homeotic genes
\BGrowth\b
In plants, growth happens only at a few special places, called meristems. In animals, growth is spread more widely around the organism, but still tends to be confined to certain areas. Offspring are almost always born 'normal'-close to the standard pattern, because the stages of growth and development in the embryo are under remarkably uniform control, so that the amazing events in the growth of even the simplest embryo are repeated, over and over again, in exactly the same way.
The tiniest mite in the leaf litter of your garden comes fully equipped with a standard set of organs for feeding, breeding, sensing, moving and breathing, with all of the organs and their owner coming out at something very close to a standard size.
Growth after hatching or birth is slightly more open to chance, depending as it does on diet, rather than on the exploitation of a fairly standard ration of goods and services from the mother. Animals at birth will often have certain features better developed-many animals have more fully developed brains than humans, whose brains are large, but continue to grow even more for most of the first year.
Baby kangaroos are born tiny, hardly more than a mouth with a pair of limbs to haul the young joey through its mother's fur to her pouch. Tadpoles hatch from the egg as a digestive system with a tail, while the young of herbivores on the African plains are born ready to run from danger almost as soon as they are dropped.
The difference in each case is that growth and development have been finely honed to follow the line most likely to produce survivors who will live to breed themselves.
Flowering plants, on the other hand, depend on producing a seed which will survive, and fetch up in a place where there is enough soil and \Jwater\j for the seed to be able to germinate and create a few leaves, and a few tiny roots, so as to gather the food and \Jwater\j the plant will need to grow to full size.
The first thing a seed has to do is sense which way is up, and which way is down. This can be challenging for a seed from an orchid, maybe 0.1 mm across, but it is still a major achievement for a coconut which is 100 mm across, or much larger than the size of the orchid seed. In some plants, there is a second need: to sense when the time is ripe to begin to shoot. Tropical plants can normally begin growth at any time, but away from the equator, seeds will often lie dormant for a while.
Some seeds can last as much as a thousand years without damage, and there have been claims for dormancy periods as long as 3,000 years in a \Jwater\j plant, \Inelumbo.\i A number of plants are known to have dormancy periods of around 50 years, possibly as a defence against predators, which can hardly specialize in eating a plant which is only occasionally there. But eventually it must shoot, and when it does, the developing seedling has several cues about direction: light mostly comes from above, moisture gradients and gravity, with a sense of gravity apparently being the main indicator of up and down for plants.
The \Jmeristem\j of a plant can be in one of two places. The stem tips of \Jdicotyledons\j and the leaf bases of \Jmonocotyledons\j account for growth above the ground, but below the surface, the active growth area must necessarily be at the very tips of the roots.
The different locations of the meristems in \Jmonocotyledons\j and \Jdicotyledons\j explains why grasses are able to survive being grazed, either by herbivores or by suburban lawnmowers. It also explains why the dicotyledonous weeds that survive in lawns are usually flat rosette plants which escape the blades of the lawnmower.
A single cell from a mature plant can be cultured into a full plant, while this is only possible with animal cells taken from very early in development. Plants also differ from animals in having a number of equivalent parts, so that the loss of half of the living mass, or even more, presents no real threat to the life of a plant, while animals need to take drastic measures to cope with such an emergency, if they can do so at all.
\BRegeneration\b
Some animals are able to regrow missing parts, especially the 'lower' animals which show less specialization. A \Jflatworm\j, for example, can be cut in half, and given favourable circumstances, the head end will grow a tail while the tail end grows a head, while a head can be split, and each half will grow a new half to produce a two-headed worm. \JStarfish\j can regenerate a whole animal from a single arm, provided that part of the central disc is attached to it, and some marine \Jannelid\j worms even reproduce in this way, breaking into several parts which then each regenerate to make a whole worm.
As a rule, regeneration happens only in a localized region, where a limb, or part of a limb may be regrown, or where the discarded tail of a skink is slowly replaced. So the general plan for the area is available, but the specific genes for the different parts of the limb need to be switched back on.
Most arthropods can regenerate limbs to some extent. Crustaceans can replace limbs at any stage, but insects can only do so in the larval stages, and the regenerated limb is often smaller than the original would have been. The arthropods form a plug of \Jchitin\j (the material of their outer bodies) at the end of the lost limb, and a regeneration bud is formed below. The limb, however, does not appear until the next time the animal moults, and it generally takes several moults to reach full size.
Developing tadpoles can regenerate damaged limbs or tails, but the adult frog or \Jtoad\j generally cannot replace a lost limb, although newts can regenerate limbs, tails, external gills, both jaws, and even part of the eye.
Mammals are simply able to heal over wounds and lesions, although muscles, bones, tendons and the liver are better at replacing missing parts than most of the rest of the body. But while frogs and fish can heal their nervous systems quite remarkably, mammals lack some of this ability. So if a microsurgeon rejoins a human nerve that has been cut, some of the nerve cells may grow back, but there is no guarantee that they will make the right connections. In experiments, a frog's optic nerve has recovered from a complete cut, to the extent that the frog was able to catch flies once more.
Part of the problem seems to be environment, and providing cells with the right conditions in which to develop. For example, adults with advanced gum disease can regenerate their gums when they are treated with ameolgenin, a structural protein usually found only in the budding teeth of young children. The absence of certain chemicals may also help regeneration: smokers' bones grow back more slowly than the bones of non-smokers.
\BHomeotic genes\b
The homeotic genes are common across a very wide range of life forms, providing yet more evidence to support the idea that all life on \Jearth\j evolved from a common ancestor. These genes code for proteins called transcription factors which bind to parts of the DNA molecule. When they bind on, they cause the genes to be either repressed or pushed into action. All animals have a very similar set of homeotic genes which are used to control the head to tail pattern.
Typically, development of the embryo involves several rounds of progressively finer operation by the homeotic genes, which are a comparatively recent structure. The original research on these genes was done by Edward Lewis, who started studying the fruitfly \IDrosophila melanogaster,\i in 1946. In 1995, Lewis shared the Nobel Prize with Christiane Nⁿsslein-Volhard and Eric Wieschaus for their discoveries about the effects of homeotic genes.
It all began with mutations called homeotic transformations, which cause one body part in an adult fly to substitute for another. In one example, the bithorax transformation, a thorax (mid-body) segment of the fly which usually carries a pair of tiny modified wings, balancing organs called halteres, is replaced by another segment that bears a second pair of fully-developed wings.
Once it was possible, using the techniques of genetic \Jengineering\j, to isolate and identify single genes, this whole area became very exciting. Lewis had published his results in 1978, indicating that homeotic transformations were grouped into a single cluster on one \Jchromosome\j. Within this small cluster, the genes were neatly ordered, head to tail. Genes affecting the fly's head are at one end, and those involved with its \Jabdomen\j are at the other end.
Following further research, we now know that similar gene clusters control the body plans of other species, and each contains a homeobox, a sequence about 180 nucleotides long, which have been found in sea urchins, mice, chickens, worms and humans. The homeobox sequence codes for a chain of sixty amino acids in a protein which will allow the protein to lock into certain DNA sequences, influencing the way that sequence of DNA operates.
The three terms 'homeotic gene', referring to the genes in fruitfly, 'homeobox gene', meaning any gene which contains the homeobox sequence, and 'Hox gene', meaning a homeobox gene in a vertebrate, are all used fairly interchangeably, but to be precise, should be used as described here.
So far, scientists have identified 38 Hox genes in the mouse, some of which are remarkably similar to the equivalent genes in fruitfly. When mouse Hox genes are inserted into a fruitfly embryo, they direct or misdirect development, just as the fruitfly gene would do! In general, mutations in homeobox genes cause major variations: one fruitfly mutant homeobox genes causes a leg to grow on the fly's head, rather than an antenna, and a mouse homeobox \Jmutation\j causes mice to grow extra ribs, and vertebrae that would have been right at home in a distant ancestor of the mouse.
Then there is the way in which mice with a mutated Hox gene suddenly developed an ear structure that has not been around since the time of the therapsids, primitive \Jmammal\j-like reptiles which flourished about 200 million years ago. There seems to be a clear implication that the modern mice developed by repressing genes for more primitive formations, but that the primitive genes are still there.
One interesting aspect of the homeotic gene idea is that it may explain why many forms of life suddenly appeared in the 'Cambrian explosion'. Simple marine invertebrates, even today, go through a form of development called indirect development. The \Jovum\j divides to produce a mass of a few thousand cells, all of them restricted to about twelve divisions. This collection of cells takes no further part in development, which later comes instead from certain cells called 'set-aside'.
The set-aside cells are uninvolved in larval development, but become the adult animal, which usually looks quite different from the larval form. The suggestion is that the original pre-Cambrian animals were formed like the larvae we know today, and limited in size. These animals would have been soft-bodied, and so would not have fossilized well. Then at the start of the Cambrian, a \Jmutation\j produced the set-aside cells in some animal, and modern forms were able to develop.
On this theory, some animal types left the larval form out entirely, and went straight into developing the animal from the set-aside cells, but in each case, the development was under the control of a set of genes. Specifically, it was controlled by the homeotic genes that controlled the migration and development of the embryonic cells.
For the moment, this is no more than a plausible theory. It makes sense in terms of what people know, and it has the powerful attraction of linking two powerful events: the Cambrian explosion, and the start of the homeotic genes which must have come at about this time.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK b
#
"biological shield",4391,0,0,0
EN A protective enclosure around the radioactive core of a nuclear reactor, to prevent the escape of radiation capable of damaging biological tissue. It usually consists mainly of massive concrete walls.
BK b
#
"biological value",4392,0,0,0
EN The nutritional value of a protein, which depends upon the balance of amino acids it contains. A protein with a low concentration of one or more essential amino acids relative to requirements will be of little biological value. Biological value can be quantified as the proportion of truly absorbed nitrogenous material (amino acids) truly retained. Animal proteins such as egg have a high value, while vegetable proteins such as \Jgluten\j have a low value.
BK b
#
"biological warfare",4393,0,0,0
EN An expression that embraces \Ibacteriological warfare,\i which uses naturally-occurring micro-organisms as a weapon of war, and \Itoxins,\i which are poisonous chemicals derived from natural sources. The manufacture and stockpiling of such agents is forbidden by a UN Convention of 1972, although research is allowed to continue.
BK b
#
"biology",4394,0,0,0
EN The study of living organisms and systems. The beginnings of \Jbiology\j as a science are the natural history observations made by curious amateurs, travellers, farmers, and all those in contact with the natural world. Its rapid development during the 20th-c led to the increasing subdivision of \Jbiology\j into a variety of specialized disciplines, although the most recent trend is towards more integrated interdisciplinary studies.
\BAdditional information provided by Cambridge Dictionary of Scientists\b
The Entry of Women into the Biological Sciences
The biological sciences were relatively more welcoming to women than the other sciences, and fewer obstacles were placed in their path. Unlike medicine, botany was regarded as an acceptable occupation for women, combining fresh air and exercise with the accomplishments of drawing and painting. Painting led a number of women towards botany and \Jzoology\j.
Maria Sibylle Merian (1647-1717), one of the earliest female entomologists, had a business in \JAmsterdam\j selling silk, hand-painted with flower designs. She initially studied caterpillars in order to find other varieties than silkworms which could be used to provide fine thread. She spent two years in Surinam collecting and painting insects and plants; her \IMetamorphosis Insectorum Sunnamensium\i was published in 1705.
Many women took up botanical illustration, as accurate illustrations were needed to distinguish the different species and varieties. Madeleine Frances Basseport (1701-80) was an illustrator for the French Royal Gardens 1735-80, and there are over 700 drawings of fungi by Anna Worsley Russell (1807-76) in the British Museum.
Botany began to be popular among women as a hobby with the publication of a number of books written by women for women. Priscilla Bell Wakefield (1751-1832) wrote an \IIntroduction to Botany\i as letters from one sister to another, explaining the Linnaean system of classification; it ran into 11 editions by 1840. When the Botanical Society of London was formed in 1836, about 10% of the members were women.
One member, ANNA ATKINS, led the use of photography in place of drawing to illustrate scientific books. She used J F W HERSCHEL'S 'cyanotype' process (1842) to make contact prints of her collection of \Jalgae\j and produced \IPhotographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions\i (3 vols, 1843-53). Elsewhere in Europe women were taking an interest in botany. Amalie Konkordie Dietrich's (1821-91) special interest was in the \Jalpine\j flora of Europe and she was later to be appointed curator of the \JHamburg\j Botanical Museum.
Unlike \Jastronomy\j, women in the biological sciences could provide for themselves, if self-financing, the laboratory equipment needed. ELEANOR ORMEROD gained experience in the use of the \Jmicroscope\j through her brother's interests and became an expert on insect infestations. Although largely self-taught, she became recognized as an authority on agricultural \Jentomology\j by Edinburgh University with an honorary LID in 1900.
During the later part of the 19th-c university education became available to women. In the USA women such as the twin sisters Agnes and Edith Claypole (1870-1954/15) gained science degrees and moved into teaching in higher education. Edith died of typhoid fever contracted during her research on the typhoid bacillus. Mary Brandegee (1844-1920) gained an MD degree in 1878 at the University of \JCalifornia\j and became interested in medicinal plants; with her husband she founded a journal of botanical observations.
Clara Cummings (1853-1906) studied at Wellesley College and joined the staff; she specialized in cryptogamic (\Jspore\j-producing) flora. NETTIE STEVENS was a student at Stanford University and gained her PhD in 1903 under T H MORGAN at Bryn Mawr. She found the chromosomal basis of sex-determination, but died before the importance of her work and her reputation were fully established.
In Britain, ETHEL SARGANT went to Girton College, Cambridge and took the natural science tripos examination in 1885. She carried out research in \Jcytology\j and in anatomical morphology, working from a laboratory at home. Her best-known work concerned the anatomy of seedlings; she suggested a new interpretation of the relationship between mono- and \Jdicotyledons\j.
Cambridge occupied a key position in the education and training of the first generation of British women scientists. Those at Girton and Newnham were only accepted by their colleges if they were candidates for the tripos (honours) examination, and so formed a body of especially able students.
Although at this stage the women were not granted degrees, only certificates of proficiency, they were attracted to the high quality of teaching as the women were permitted to attend the university lectures if they had the consent of the lecturers. They were not officially part of the university and so were barred from university prizes and scholarships and restricted in their use of the library. Such opposition seemed to create a challenge to which the women rose, often gaining higher marks than the male prizewinners.
The presence at Cambridge of Emily Davies (1830-1921), Girton's founder and a prominent figure in the reform of female education, put Cambridge in a prime position to provide first-class women science teachers for the best of the newly opened girls' schools, which in turn brought a steady supply of well-taught, able women students to the Cambridge tripos courses.
Opportunities for research in biochemistry and \Jphysiology\j at Cambridge were the result of such good training. F G HOPKINS, regarded as 'the father of biochemistry', at a time when the opportunities for research biochemists in British universities was minimal and when there were few women research workers in other university departments, provided research places for women in his department despite the criticism this caused.
The 20th-c has seen the emergence of women among the highest achievers in the biological sciences. In 1945 MARIORY STEPHENSON, who researched under Hopkins at Cambridge, became the first woman to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in the biological sciences; she worked on bacterial \Jmetabolism\j. The following year AGNES ARBER was honoured; her researches in Cambridge were concerned with the anatomy and morphology of monocotyledonous plants. In 1947 Muriel Robertson (1883-1973) was elected an FRS; she worked on \Jprotozoa\j, especially the trypanosomes that cause sleeping sickness, and on bacteriology and \Jimmunology\j. The only sisters to both achieve an FRS were SIDNIE MILANA MANTON, elected in 1948, who was the world's expert on the higher level classification of arthropods, and IR╚NE MANTON in 1961, who set up the first laboratory in the world for the ultrastructural study of plants using the \Jelectron\j \Jmicroscope\j.
By now the pathway to honours was well trodden by women in the biological sciences. Honor Bridget Fell (1900-86) became an FRS in 1952, and studied the cellular interactions of cartilage and bone. Helen Kemp Porter (1899-1987), elected in 1956, was interested in starch \Jmetabolism\j and became one of the first investigators to apply \Jchromatography\j and radioactive tracers to prepare radioactive biochemicals and use them to study the intermediate \Jmetabolism\j of plants. Sheina Macalister Marshall(1896-1977), a marine biologist, was elected in 1963. JEAN HANSON, the codeviser of the sliding-filament theory of muscle contraction, was elected an FRS in 1967. Mary Winifred Parke (1908-89), elected in 1972, was an all-round expert on \Jalgae\j. In 1991 ANNE MCLAREN, an embryologist elected an FRS in 1975, became the first woman to hold office in the Royal Society's 330 year history, by taking the post of Foreign Secretary.
During the later half of the 20th-c women began to win \JNobel Prizes\j in \Jphysiology\j or medicine, despite their difficulty in obtaining senior academic posts. GERTY THERESA CORI, \InΘe\i RADNITZ, shared a Nobel Prize with her husband in 1947 for their discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of \Jglycogen\j in animal cells. In 1977 ROSALYN YALOW received hers for the development of radioimmuneassays of \Jpeptide\j \Jhormones\j, now routinely used in clinical diagnosis. In 1983 BARBARA MCCLINTOCK received the prize, unshared, for her discovery of mobile genetic elements ( 'jumping genes' ). RITA LEVI-MONTALCINI was awarded hers jointly with Stanley Cohen for their discoveries of nerve growth factors in 1986. GERTRUDE BELLE ELION was awarded the 1988 Nobel Prize for \Jphysiology\j or medicine jointly with GEORGE HITCHINGS for 'introducing a more rational approach based on the understanding of basic biochemical and physiological processes' to the synthesis of novel drugs.
MM
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"bioluminescence",4395,0,0,0
EN The light produced by living organisms through a \Jchemical reaction\j, and the process of emitting such biologically produced light. The phenomenon can be found in some \Jbacteria\j, fungi, \Jalgae\j, and animals, including many marine organisms such as deep-sea fishes, \Jsquid\j, and crustaceans, and some terrestrial organisms such as fireflies. Bioluminescence serves a variety of functions, such as signalling during courtship rituals, deterring predators, or locating prey in the dark.
BK b
#
"biomass",4396,0,0,0
EN The total mass of living organisms (including producers such as plants, as well as consumers and decomposers) in an \Jecosystem\j, population, or other designated unit, at a given time; equivalent to the term \Bstanding crop.\b It is usually expressed as dry weight per unit area.
BK b
#
"biome",4397,0,0,0
PN [\Bbiy\bohm]
EN A major regional subdivision of the Earth's surface, broadly corresponding to the dominant ecological communities of the main climatic regions, as characterized by their principal plant species and distinctive life forms. Biomes are the largest recognized living communities classified on a geographical basis, such as \Jtundra\j \Jbiome\j, desert \Jbiome\j, and tropical \Jrainforest\j \Jbiome\j.
BK b
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"biomechanics",4398,0,0,0
EN A system of exercises devised by the Russian theatre director, Vsevolod Meyerhold, to extend the physical resources of the actor. It is based on rhythm, the elimination of superfluous movements, and awareness of the body's centre of gravity both in stillness and in motion.
BK b
#
"biomorphic art",4399,0,0,0
EN A type of abstract art based on shapes which vaguely resemble plants and animals. The most celebrated exponent was Hans Arp.
BK b
#
"Biondi, Matt(hew)",4400,0,0,0
PN [by\Bon\bdee]
DT1 1965
EN Swimmer, born in Morego, \JCalifornia\j, USA. At the 1986 world championships he won a record seven medals, including three golds, and at the 1988 Olympics won seven medals, including five golds. He set the 100┐m freestyle world record of 48.24┐s in Austin, TX, in 1988.
BK Biog99
#
"bionics",4401,0,0,0
EN The construction of artificial mechanisms, models, circuits, or programs imitating the responses or behaviour of living systems. Its purpose is to adapt observed living functions to practical purposes in useful machines. It contrasts with \Bcybernetics,\b which is concerned with the study of communication within the living system, and \Bautomation,\b which is concerned with the mere outward imitation of the appearance of living things.
BK b
#
"bionomics",4402,0,0,0
EN The study of organisms in relation to their environment. The term is used particularly with reference to ecological studies of single species.
BK b
#
"biophysics",4403,0,0,0
EN The application of physics to the study of living organisms and systems. It includes the study of the mechanical properties of biological tissues such as bone and \Jchitin\j, and the interpretation of their functional significance.
BK b
#
"biopsy",4404,0,0,0
PN [\Bbiy\bopsee]
EN The removal by surgical operation or a needle of a small piece of tissue (eg from the skin, breast, or kidney) in order to determine the nature of any suspected disease process.
BK b
#
"biorhythms",4405,0,0,0
HS (alternative medicine)
EN Three biological cycles thought to govern human life and behaviour. The \Iphysical cycle\i is 23 days, and is concerned with strength, vitality, endurance, and sex drive. The \Iemotional cycle\i is 28 days, and governs mood, sensitivity, creative ability, and nervous reactions. The \Iintellectual cycle\i spans 33 days, and governs memory, learning ability, and decision making.
The biorhythms can be calculated by extrapolating these various cycles from the date of birth, and can be used to predict 'critical days' when exceptionally good or exceptionally poor performance might be expected, and also to understand behaviour patterns which are the result of the interaction of these cyclical influences.
BK b
#
"biosphere",4406,0,0,0
EN That part of the Earth's surface and \Jatmosphere\j in which living organisms are found, and with which they interact to form the global \Jecosystem\j.
BK b
#
"Biot, Jean Baptiste",4407,0,0,0
PN [beeoh]
DT (1774-1862)
EN French physicist: pioneer of polarimetry.
A child during the \JFrench Revolution\j, Biot joined the artillery at 18 but soon left to study \Jmathematics\j, and at 26 was teaching physics at the CollΦge de \JFrance\j. His research showed variety. With Gay-Lussac he made an early \Jballoon\j ascent (1804) and made meteorological and magnetic observations up to 5 km; his nerve failed for a second attempt. He made a number of geodetic and astronomical expeditions, visiting \JSpain\j and Orkney.
His famous work is on optical activity. He showed, for the first time, that some crystals of \Jquartz\j rotated the plane of polarized light while other crystals rotated it to the same extent but in the opposite direction. In 1815 he showed that some liquids (eg turpentine) will also rotate plane polarized light, and later he observed the same effect with some solids when dissolved in \Jwater\j (eg sugar, and tartaric acid).
He realized that this ability of some substances in solution must mean that the effect is a molecular property ('optical activity'). He showed (Biot's Law) that the amount of rotation of the plane of polarization of light passing through an optically active medium is proportional to the length of its path, and to the concentration, if the medium is a solution of an active solute in an inactive solvent, and that the rotation is roughly inversely proportional to the square of the wavelength of the light.
Polarimetry (measurement of optical activity) was pioneered by Biot and after 1870 proved of great value in gaining information on molecular configuration (shape). Later still, the variation in optical rotation with the wavelength of the polarized light was also found to be useful in locating molecular shape.
Biot was a man of great talent, as was seen by his older friend Laplace; and in his old age Biot saw and appreciated the talent of his young friend Pasteur.
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#
"Biot-Savart law",4408,0,0,0
PN [beeoh savah(r)]
EN In physics, a law which expresses the magnetic field resulting from an electric current; stated in 1820 by French physicists Jean Biot (1774-1862) and FΘlix Savart (1791-1841). The magnetic flux density \IB\i is proportional to the current, divided by the distance from the current. The Biot-Savart result is less general than AmpΦre's law, from which it can be deduced, but is easier to use.
BK b
#
"biotechnology",4409,0,0,0
EN The application of biological and biochemical science to large-scale production. Isolated examples have existed since early times, notably brewing, but the first modern example was the large-scale production of \Jpenicillin\j in the 1940s. Other pharmaceutical developments followed. Research in genetic \Jengineering\j is prominent in current studies.
BK b
#
"biotin",4410,0,0,0
EN One of the B vitamins, found in yeast and in the \Jbacteria\j which inhabit the human gut. It acts as a co-factor in the synthesis of fatty acids and the conversion of amino acids to \Jglucose\j. It is made unavailable for absorption if it combines with the protein, \Javidin\j, found in raw egg white. Biotin deficiency has been produced in human volunteers by feeding them large amounts of raw egg white, resulting in such symptoms as \Jdermatitis\j, nausea, muscle pain, \Jcholesterol\j increase, and depression.
BK b
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"biotite",4411,0,0,0
EN See \Jmicas\j
BK b
XCY y
#
"bipolar disorder",4412,0,0,0
EN See manic depressive psychosis
BK b
XCY y
#
"bipolarity",4413,0,0,0
HS (politics)
EN See multipolarity
BK b
XCY y
#
"birch",4414,0,0,0
EN A slender deciduous tree, occasionally a dwarf shrub, native to the Northern hemisphere, often colonizing poor soils and reaching the tree line in the \Jarctic\j; branches often pendulous, leaves ovoid, toothed; catkins pendulous, males long, females shorter, becoming cone-like in fruit; nutlets tiny with papery wings. \B(Genus:\b \IBetula,\i 60 species. \BFamily:\b Betulaceae.)
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#
"Birch, (Louis) Charles",4415,0,0,0
DT1 1918
EN Biologist, eco-philosopher, and radical theologian, born in Melbourne, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. He studied at the universities of Melbourne and Adelaide, then taught at Sydney, where he became professor of \Jbiology\j (1960--84, then emeritus).
A member of the Club of \JRome\j since 1974, in 1990 he won the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. His books include \IGenetics and the Quality of Life\i (1975), \IThe Liberation of Life\i (1981), \IOn Purpose\i (1990), and \IRegaining Compassion\i (1993). Much of his work shows his concern for the philosophical and theological implications of science.
BK Biog99
#
"Birch, A(rthur) J(ohn)",4416,0,0,0
DT1 1915
EN Chemist, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. He studied at the universities of Sydney and Oxford. At Oxford, in collaboration with Sir Robert Robinson, he was instrumental in the development of the oral contraceptive pill. In 1948 he made the first synthetic male sex hormone, which led to the production of norethisterone, an analogue of \Jprogesterone\j.
He was Smithson Fellow of the Royal Society, Cambridge (1949--52), professor of \Jorganic chemistry\j at the University of Sydney (1952--5) and the University of Manchester (1955--67), then joined the Australian National University as dean of the research school of chemistry (1967--70) and foundation professor of \Jorganic chemistry\j (1967--80, emeritus 1982). He has also worked as a consultant to \JUNESCO\j and to industry.
BK Biog99
#
"Birch, William Russell",4417,0,0,0
DT (1775-1834)
EN engraver; born in Warwickshire, England. He emigrated to Philadelphia (1794), painted miniatures, and became famous for his line engravings as in his series, \IViews of Philadelphia\i (1798-1800). Later he created etchings of the county seats of the United States (1808).
BK AmBg
#
"Birch-Pfeiffer, Charlotte",4418,0,0,0
DT 1800-68
EN German actress and playwright. Among the several plays she adapted from novels, The Orphan of Lowood (1856), based on Jane Eyre, was the most widely performed.
BK Thea
#
"Birchall, Frederick Thomas",4419,0,0,0
DT (1868-1955)
EN journalist; born in \JWarrington\j, England. He rose in the ranks to acting managing editor of the \INew York Times\i (1926-31); later, as director of the \ITimes\i European news service (1931-41), he perceptively covered Hitler's rise, earning a 1934 Pulitzer Prize.
BK AmBg
#
"bird",4420,0,0,0
EN A vertebrate animal assignable to the class Aves; any animal in which the adult bears feathers (only birds have feathers, and all adult birds have feathers). The fore-limbs of birds are modified as wings; teeth are absent; and the projecting jaws are covered by horny sheaths to produce a bill or 'beak'. The female lays eggs with hard chalky shells. Other characters shared by most living birds are the pronounced vertical blade, or 'keel', on the \Jbreastbone\j, and the joining of the collar bones to form a 'wishbone'.
The keel acts as an attachment for the large muscles moving the wings (the breast muscles), and the wishbone acts as a strut to support the wings in flight. Flight has dominated the \Jevolution\j of the birds, and their bodies are adapted accordingly. The bones of most birds are hollow, reducing weight; much of the wing and all of the tail is composed entirely of long feathers, these being strong but very light. The body is streamlined with a smooth covering of short overlapping feathers. Flight has also controlled size. Most birds are small. No bird capable of horizontal flight in still air weighs more than 13┐kg / 30┐lb. Even flying birds close to this weight, such as the condor or the \Jalbatross\j, spend much time gliding in air currents. This weight level is very light compared to large mammals or reptiles.
That flight is the factor limiting size is indicated by the largest known birds, living or extinct: these are flightless forms, such as the modern \Jostrich\j (up to 150┐kg / 330 lb) or the extinct elephant bird (457┐kg / 1000┐lb). Such flightless running birds, or \Iratites,\i evolved from flying ancestors, but with the loss of flight the keel has disappeared from the \Jbreastbone\j, and the wishbone has become two separate bones again.
The wings of ratites may be very reduced (as in the kiwi), and the feathers may become fluffy, rather than streamlined, and may even be absent from large areas of the body (as in the \Jostrich\j). The power of flight has also been lost by the penguins, whose wing feathers have become small and scale-like. However, penguins have kept the keel on the \Jbreastbone\j and now use their wings for 'flying' under \Jwater\j. Whether capable of flight or flightless, birds have spread to cover almost the entire globe. They are absent today only from the true polar wastes (in common with most other animals) and the deep-sea. They have adapted to fill virtually every habitat and life-style, and their shapes, sizes, colours, and behaviours reflect this diversity.
There are approximately 8600 living species of birds, and specialists indicate their relationships by grouping them into 29 orders and 181 families. Birds evolved from reptiles approximately 150 million years ago, and the birds' closest living relatives are the crocodiles. The exact \Jreptile\j ancestor of the birds is not known, but it has been suggested that they evolved from a group of small dinosaurs. If that is true, then not all dinosaurs became extinct: some merely changed their shape, and are flying around our gardens today.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
A vertebrate animal of the class Aves, characterized by a covering of feathers over most of the body. Modern birds lack teeth, although these were present in very early birds such as \IArchaeopteryx,\i which lived about 150 million years ago. The jaws are covered by an upper and lower horny beak, or bill. In most birds, the forelimbs are in the form of wings but these are reduced or absent in many flightless species.
The hind limbs are legs with never more than four toes: the legs and toes are covered, to a varying degree, with reptilian-like scales. The tail is very short: what appears to be the tail are long feathers. The heart is four-chambered (like that of mammals, but separately evolved) and a constant elevated body \Jtemperature\j is maintained (as in mammals) by a high rate of \Jmetabolism\j.
The lungs are large and extend into a number of air-sacs in the body cavity and even into the interior of the long bones of some larger birds. Birds are unique in having an almost "one-way" movement of air through the lungs: air enters through one set of bronchioles and is expelled through another set.
Extension of the lung capacity into bones serves to reduce body weight and to cool the nearby muscles. At the base of a bird's \Jtrachea\j, just before it branches into the \Jbronchi\j, is the syrinx, which functions like the \Jlarynx\j of mammals to produce sounds. It is particularly well developed in singing birds.
Although, in the course of \Jevolution\j, many birds have lost the ability to fly, virtually all the peculiar aspects of bird anatomy are adaptations to flight. Feathers may have originated as devices for thermal \Jinsulation\j but they are essential to flight, comprising most of the effective area of the wings and tail: body feather provide a smooth surface that reduces friction with the air (or \Jwater\j).
More than in any other vertebrates, the skeleton forms a rigid box, to which the limbs are hinged. At the front of the body, the shoulder girdle is very well developed, supported from below by the clavicles ("wishbone") and above by the long coracoid bones. A large \Jscapula\j ("shoulder blade") lies over the ribs, contributing to the strength and solidity of the chest.
These three bones, on each side, form a strong fulcrum for the humerus, which is the main bone of the wing. The ribs are flat and each has a backwardly directed process overlapping the one behind: they are attached to a broad \Jsternum\j ("breast bone") that supports most of the lower part of the body and, except in flightless birds, has a vertical blade or "keel" which serves as an attachment for the large wing-muscles.
The vertebrae of most of the trunk are so firmly articulated as to allow very little movement: the hindmost are fused with the sacral vertebrae which are, in turn, fused with the pelvic girdle, providing a firm support on each side for the \Jfemur\j, the main bone of the legs. Mobility of the head is made possible by the very flexible articulation of the cervical (neck) vertebrae, of which there may be as many as 25.
In order to fly, birds must be light. Most are also small. No bird capable of sustained horizontal flight in still air weighs more than 13 kg (30 lb). Even birds close to this limit, such as condors and albatrosses, spend much time gliding on air currents. Some flightless birds are quite large, such as the \Jostrich\j (up to 150 kg, 330 lb): the extinct elephant-bird weighed about 460 kg (1,000 lb). Flightlessness has evolved independently in many different groups of birds, often in association with island environments.
Where the process has been geologically recent, flightless birds do not differ greatly from their nearest flying relatives. Where flightlessness is ancient, as in ostriches, cassowaries, and emus, the wings may be reduced to small stubs, the feathers may be soft and flexible and the legs developed to very powerful limbs with a reduced number of toes. Penguins are flightless but could be said to "fly" through the \Jwater\j: the wings remain powerful and the \Jsternum\j has a large keel. Most other aquatic birds swim with the aid of webbed feet but many, such as kingfishers, use their wings.
Inability to use their forelimbs in the manipulation of food compels birds to use their beaks, tongues and, to some extent, their feet to obtain food. Thus, apart from intense variation in shape, distribution and colour of their feathers, the various groups of birds differ mainly in their heads (particularly their beaks) and hind limbs. The bodies of all birds are remarkably similar.
Birds lay relatively large, well-yolked eggs with a hard, calcareous shell. The eggs must be incubated by an adult and, typically, the newly-hatched young must be brooded and fed by one or more adults until they become able to care for themselves. Birds that hatch in a naked condition require intensive brooding until they are able to fly. Others that hatch with a covering of feathers, such as chickens, ducks and emus, are able to feed themselves but are still dependent upon a parent for warmth at night.
Mound-building birds of the Australian region lay their eggs in a pile of fermenting vegetation and tend these mounds to maintain an appropriate incubation \Jtemperature\j. When the young hatch, they burrow out of the mound and embark immediately upon an independent existence. Most birds build nests in which they incubate and brood their young: some of these, such as the nests of weaver-birds are the most complex structures made by any non-human animals.
The eyes of birds are very well developed. In the region of the \Jretina\j that is responsible for acute vision, birds have about five times more sensory cells per unit area than in the corresponding area of the human \Jretina\j. Their visual acuity is therefore about five times as great. Most birds have eyes at the sides of the head, providing a field of vision that surrounds the head except for a small sector behind. Birds of prey have forwardly-directed eyes and binocular vision that contributes to judging distance. Hearing is acute but the sense of smell is poorly developed, except in kiwis and vultures.
Although the basic anatomy of all birds is very similar, they have evolved into a wide variety of forms, adapted to different foods and different ways of life. They are found in every part of the world except the northern polar region. The living are classified into 28 orders and about 170 families.
\IWritten by Ronald Strahan\i
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"bird cherry",4421,0,0,0
EN See gean
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"bird of paradise",4422,0,0,0
EN A stout-billed, strong-footed bird native to south-east Asian forests. The males use spectacular plumage to attract females, and may take several mates during the breeding season. \B(Family:\b \JParadisaeidae\j, 43 species.)
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"bird of paradise flower",4423,0,0,0
EN An evergreen perennial \I(Strelitzia reginae)\i growing to c.1┐m / 3┐ft, forming clumps of long-stalked oblong leaves, native to Cape Province, South Africa, and cultivated elsewhere for its striking flowers. Each 'flower' represents a complete \Jinflorescence\j of several flowers, enclosed in a sheathing \Jbract\j. Adapted to \Jpollination\j by sunbirds, the flowers have orange sepals and blue petals, emerging from the \Jbract\j at weekly intervals. \B(Family:\b Strelitziaceae.)
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"bird of prey",4424,0,0,0
EN Any bird that hunts large animals (especially mammals and birds) for food; also known as a \Braptor.\b They have a strong, curved bill and sharp claws. The category includes members of the orders Accipitriformes (hawks, eagles, Old World vultures, and the secretary bird), Falconiformes (falcons), and Cathartiformes (New World vultures, including condors); some authorities include the order Strigiformes (owls).
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
These are birds that feed mainly on other vertebrate animals, especially mammals. They are also known as raptors. The term is usually restricted to members of the order Falconiformes, comprising the hawks, harriers, condors, eagles, falcons, osprey, sparrowhawks, buzzards, vultures and secretary-bird. Some authorities also include the order Strigiformes (owls) but these are not considered here. Although birds of prey are primarily predatory, many include carrion in the diet and some (notably the Old World vultures) feed only on dead animals.
Features common to the groups are a powerful hooked beak which, in some species, bears projections on the upper bill that act like teeth to help hold or cut flesh. The legs are short and powerful, with three toes directed forward and one to the rear. All toes have large, sharply pointed and curved claws that are employed in catching prey and holding it down while being torn apart by the beak. The neck is short, except in Old World vultures, in which it is long and almost naked, allowing the head to penetrate deep into the body of a dead animal. Binocular vision is particularly acute and the sense of smell appears to be better developed in the carrion-eaters than in other birds (except kiwis).
Birds of prey are monogamous and a pair may mate for life. The clutch of eggs is small and if it consists of more than one, the eggs are laid at intervals of several days. The young are dependent upon their parents for several months and if insufficient food is brought to the nest, the older chick is likely to eat its younger sibling(s).
The order Falconiformes comprises five families. The \JCathartidae\j, or New World vultures includes the Andean condor, with a wingspan of 90 cm (3 ft). The turkey vulture of \JNorth America\j is a scavenger of such utility that it is protected by law in the USA The \JAccipitridae\j is a large family that includes the kites, lammergeier, true hawks and eagles, harriers and Old World vultures. Most are large and many spend much time soaring on updrafts while searching for prey or carrion. Their wings are rather rectangular in shape, with squared tips: the tail is short and fan-like.
Members of the family \JFalconidae\j (falcons) have long, pointed wings and a long, slender tail. Most are predators on small mammals or other birds, but the sea eagle catches fishes. The family Pandionidae has only one member, the Osprey, which is a fish-eater. The family Sagitariidae has only one member, the secretary-bird of Africa, distinguished from other birds of prey by its long legs and tail and its habit of hunting - particularly for snakes - on the ground.
\IWritten by Ronald Strahan\i
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"bird's-foot trefoil",4425,0,0,0
EN A perennial growing to 40┐cm / 15┐in \I(Lotus corniculatus),\i native to Europe, Asia, and Africa; leaves with five oval leaflets up to 1┐cm / 1/2┐in long; pea-flowers in stalked, rather flat-topped clusters of 2-8, yellow often tinged with red; pods up to 3┐cm / 1 1/4┐in long, many-seeded; also called \Beggs and bacon.\b \B(Family:\b Leguminosae.)
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"bird's-nest fern",4426,0,0,0
EN A species of spleenwort \I(Asplenium nidus); \i an \Jepiphyte\j native to Old World tropical forests, in which the bright green, undivided fronds form a basket or nest-like rosette which accumulates \Jhumus\j. The roots then grow into the \Jhumus\j, obtaining \Jnutrients\j and \Jwater\j. \B(Family:\b Polypodiaceae.)
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"Bird, Dickie",4427,0,0,0
DT1 1933
EN Cricket umpire, born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, N England, UK. He played county cricket for Yorkshire (1956--9) and Leicestershire (1960--4) before establishing himself as a popular and respected umpire. During his career he umpired many major events, including 68 test matches, 92 one -\Jday\j internationals (a world record), 159 international matches (a world record), and a record three World Cup Finals (1975, 1979, 1983), retiring as a test umpire in 1996. His books include \IFrom The Pavilion End\i (1988).
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"Bird, Junius (Bouton)",4428,0,0,0
DT (1907-82)
EN archaeologist; born in Rye, N.Y. He rose from field assistant to curator of South American archaeology at the American Museum of Natural History (1931-73), becoming an authority on early cultures of the Western Hemisphere, especially pre-Columbian textiles. His important discoveries include paleo-Indian and \Jmammal\j remains in southern \JChile\j (1934-37) and textile fragments at Huaca Prieta, \JPeru\j (1946-47).
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"Bird, Robert Montgomery",4429,0,0,0
DT 1806-54
EN American playwright and novelist. His major plays were prizewinners in Edwin Forrest's playwriting contests and were performed by him: The Gladiator (1831), Oralloosa (1832) and The Broker of Bogota (1834). Gladiator and Broker made huge profits for Forrest and only $2,000 for Bird. Pelopidas (1830) was never produced. Discouraged by his bitter financial quarrels with Forest, Bird turned to novels. Hawks of Hawk Hollow (1836) and Nick of the Woods (1837) are the best known.
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"Bird, Vere Cornwall",4430,0,0,0
DT1 1910
DT2 1999
EN Antiguan statesman and prime minister (1981-94). In the pre-independence period he was elected to the Legislative Council and became chief minister (1960-7) and premier (1967-71, 1976-81). When full independence, as Antigua and Barbuda, was achieved in 1981 he became prime minister, and he and his party were re-elected in 1984 and 1989.
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"Birdseye, Clarence",4431,0,0,0
DT (1886-1956)
EN inventor, food processor; born in Brooklyn, N.Y. He was interested in taxidermy as a child, and he took a cooking course in high school. After briefly attending Amherst College, he worked as a field naturalist for the Biological Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (1910-12) before going to \JLabrador\j where he engaged in the fur trade (1912-17).
Observing how well the natives preserved fish and other foods by freezing them, he experimented with the quick-freezing of foods in the harsh winters there. Back in \JGloucester\j, Mass., he perfected his quick-freezing and packaging process in the 1920s, but it would be the 1940s before the name Birds Eye became a household word through the frozen food firm that he established (in 1927), the General Foods Company.
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"birdwing butterfly",4432,0,0,0
EN A large to very large butterfly, found in the Indo-Australian region; long wings; in male, wings black with iridescent colours; in female, wings dull. \B(Order:\b \JLepidoptera\j. \BFamily:\b Papilionidae.)
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"Birdwood, William Riddell",4433,0,0,0
DT1 1865
DT2 1951
EN Australian military leader, born in Kirkee, India, where his father was an official of the government of \JBombay\j. He trained at Sandhurst, and in 1914 was put in command of the Australian and \JNew Zealand\j contingents then arriving in \JEgypt\j for the Dardanelles offensive. He planned the landing at \JGallipoli\j and, upon evacuation from the Peninsula, took his troops to the Western Front. After the war he returned to India to command the Northern Army, becoming commander-in-chief in 1925.
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"birefringence",4434,0,0,0
EN A property exhibited by certain crystals, in which the speed of light is different in different directions because of the crystal structure; also called \Bdouble \Jrefraction\j.\b Birefringent crystals such as calcite and \Jquartz\j are characterized by two refractive indices, and can form double images.
BK b
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"bireme",4435,0,0,0
PN [\Bbiy\breem]
EN A galley, usually Greek or Roman, propelled by two banks of oars, rowed by slaves or criminals. It was also equipped with a square sail for use with a favourable wind.
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"Birendra, Bir Bikram Shah Dev",4436,0,0,0
PN [bi\Bren\bdra]
DT1 1945
EN King of \JNepal\j from 1972, the son of King Mahendra, born in Kathmandu. He studied at St Joseph's College, Darjeeling, \JEton\j, and \JTokyo\j and Harvard universities. He married \BQueen Aishwarya Rajya Laxmi Devi Rana\b in 1970, and has two sons and one daughter.
During his reign, there has been gradual progress towards political reform, but \JNepal\j remained essentially an absolute monarchy until 1990, when Birendra was forced to concede much of his power.
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"Birgitta, St",4437,0,0,0
EN See Bridget, Brigit, or Birgitta (of Sweden), St
EN Metallurgical engineer, born in Siena, \JItaly\j. His \IDe la pirotechnia\i (1540) was the earliest printed work covering the whole of mining and \Jmetallurgy\j as well as other important industrial processes.
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"Birkbeck, George",4439,0,0,0
DT1 1776
DT2 1841
EN Physician and educationist, born in Settle, North Yorkshire, N England, UK. As professor of natural philosophy at Anderson's College, Glasgow, he delivered his first free lectures to the working classes (1799). In 1804 he became a physician in London. He was the founder and first president of the London Mechanics' or Birkbeck Institute (1824), the first in the UK, which developed into Birkbeck College, a constituent college of London University.
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"Birkeland, Kristian",4440,0,0,0
PN [beerkuhlahnt]
DT (1867-1917)
EN Norwegian physicist: devised process for \Jnitrogen\j fixation.
Birkeland studied physics in Paris, Geneva and \JBonn\j before returning to his native Oslo to teach at the Christiania University. He studied the aurora borealis and in 1896 suggested (correctly) that it resulted from some charged solar radiation becoming trapped in the Earth's magnetic field near the \JNorth Pole\j. His theory was partly based on an experiment with a magnetized model of the Earth, which he placed in a beam of electrons in a \Jcathode\j ray tube; he found luminous effects near the \Jpoles\j which resembled aurorae.
However, he is best known as co- discoverer of the Birkeland-Eyde process. This was designed to meet the shortage of \Jnitrate\j \Jfertilizer\j, and used Cavendish's observation of 1784 that atmospheric \Jnitrogen\j and oxygen combined in an electric spark to give \Jnitrogen\j monoxide, NO. The process used an electric arc spread by a magnetic field and the NO was mixed with air and \Jwater\j to give nitric acid; it was used (with the benefit of cheap Norwegian hydro-electricity) from 1903-28.
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"Birkenhead, Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of",4441,0,0,0
DT1 1872
DT2 1930
EN Lawyer and statesman, born in Birkenhead, \JMerseyside\j, north-west England, UK. He studied at Oxford (becoming a fellow of Merton in 1896), and was called to the bar in 1899. He entered parliament in 1906 and established himself as a brilliant orator and wit. He was attorney general in 1915, and Lord Chancellor in 1919. He played a major part in the Irish settlement of 1921 and was created earl. He was also \Jsecretary of state\j for India (1924-8). His greatest achievement as a lawyer was the preparation of the series of Acts reforming land law.
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"Birkett (of Ulverston), (William) Norman Birkett, Baron",4442,0,0,0
DT1 1883
DT2 1962
EN Lawyer and politician, born in Ulverston, Cumbria, north-west England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, was called to the bar (1913), and earned a brilliant reputation as counsel in notable murder trials. He was a Liberal MP (1923-4, 1929-31). A judge of the King's Bench Division (1941-50), he figured prominently in the summing up of the Nuremberg Trials (1945-6). A lord justice of appeal (1950-7), he was raised to the \Jpeerage\j in 1958.
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"Birkhoff, George (David)",4443,0,0,0
DT (1884-1944)
EN US mathematician: proved the ergodic \Jtheorem\j of probability theory.
After taking his first degree at Harvard and a doctorate on boundary problems at \JChicago\j, Birkhoff taught at \JMichigan\j and Princeton. He became an assistant professor at Harvard in 1912 and a full professor there at 35 in 1919, retiring in 1939.
An early interest in differential and difference equations allowed Birkhoff to apply matrix methods generally for the first time. He studied dynamics and PoincarΘ's celestial mechanics, and in 1913 obtained a now famous proof of PoincarΘ's 'last geometrical \Jtheorem\j' on the three-body problem.
Collaboration with Von Neumann gave rise to the 'weak form' of the ergodic \Jtheorem\j, which was shortly followed by Von Neumann's discovery of the 'strong form'. Ergodicity refers to whether a dynamical system will develop over time so as to return exactly to a previous configuration. In 1938 Birkhoff published several papers on \Jelectromagnetism\j and also argued that better alternatives to Einstein's general theory of relativity were possible.
Overall Birkhoff is acknowledged as the greatest American mathematician of the early 20th-c; he excelled as a teacher and in developing celestial mechanics and the analysis of dynamical systems.
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"Birley, Eric",4444,0,0,0
DT1 1906
EN Historian and archaeologist, born in Manchester, Greater Manchester, NW England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and became a lecturer at Durham University in 1931. He was later appointed professor of Romano--British history and archaeology at Durham (1956--71).
BK Biog99
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"Birmingham (UK)",4445,0,0,0
PN [\Bber\bmingm]
EN 52░30N 1░50W, pop (1995e) 1 018 000. City and chief town in West Midlands, C England, UK; part of West Midlands urban area and Britain's second largest city; 175 km/109 mi NW of London; noted centre for metalwork since the 16th-c; developed rapidly in the Industrial Revolution in an area with a large supply of iron ore and \Jcoal\j; heavily bombed in World War 2; railway; airport; motorway complex to the N at "Spaghetti Junction'; three universities (Birmingham, 1900; Aston, 1966; Central England, formerly Birmingham \JPolytechnic\j, 1992); Aston Science Park; regional media centre for \Jtelevision\j and radio; \Jengineering\j, vehicles, plastics, chemicals, electrical goods, machine tools, glass; 18th-c Church of St Philip, Cathedral of St Chad (1839), Aston Hall (1618--35), art gallery, symphony orchestra, theatre, museums, Bull Ring shopping complex, National Exhibition Centre; football league teams, Aston Villa (Villa), Birmingham City (Blues), nearby West Bromwich Albion (Baggies), Walsall (Saddlers); international show-jumping championships (Apr).
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"Birmingham (USA)",4446,0,0,0
PN [\Bber\bmingham]
EN 33░31N 86░48W, pop (1995e) 282 000. Seat of Jefferson Co, NC \JAlabama\j, USA; settled, 1813; largest city in the state; airfield; railway; university (1842); canal connection to Gulf of Mexico; leading iron and steel centre in the S; iron, \Jcoal\j and \Jlimestone\j mined; metal products, transportation equipment, chemicals, food products; centre for commerce, banking and insurance; \Jcivil rights\j protests in the 1960s; \JAlabama\j Symphony, Sloss Furnaces, iron statue of Vulcan; Festival of the Arts (Apr).
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"Birmingham Repertory Theatre",4447,0,0,0
EN (England) The first purpose-built repertory theatre in Britain was opened in February 1913. Seating 464, it was designed to be intimate. Under Barry Jackson, the theatre's owner and artistic director, with John Drinkwater as its general manager, the resident company gave consistent, high- quality and often adventurous productions, including Eden Phillpotts's The Farmer's Wife (1916), Drinkwater's Abraham Lincoln (1918), modern-dress productions of Shakespeare (1923 onwards) and Shaw's Back to \JMethuselah\j (1923).
In 1971 a new and spacious theatre replaced the old. Jackson's policy of a mixed repertoire continues; but without a resident company and with serious cutbacks in the level of subsidy, the theatre's home- produced shows are fewer in number. Actors whose careers were launched at Birmingham include Ralph Richardson, Laurence Olivier, Cedric Hardwicke, Paul Scofield and Albert Finney.
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"Birmingham Six",4448,0,0,0
EN Six men convicted and sentenced to \Jlife imprisonment\j in 1975 for the bombing of two public houses in Birmingham, England, in which 21 people died. After a lengthy campaign by their supporters, they were freed by the Court of Appeal for England and Wales in 1991 and had their convictions quashed. The release of the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four led to the British Government setting up a Royal Commission on Criminal Justice, which made various recommendations in 1993.
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"Birney, (Alfred) Earle",4449,0,0,0
DT1 1904
DT2 95
EN Poet, playwright, novelist, and teacher, born in \JCalgary\j, Alberta, Canada. He was best known as a poet, having produced over 20 books of verse. His first collection, \IDavid and Other Poems\i (1942) and \INow is Time\i (1945) both won the Governor-General's Award. His novel \ITurvey\i (1949) won the Stephen Leacock Medal, and, in 1953 he received the Lorne Pierce Medal for Literature. He also founded the first creative writing department in the country, at the University of British Columbia.
SX m
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"Birney, James (Gillespie)",4450,0,0,0
DT (1792-1857)
EN abolitionist, lawyer, author; born in Danville, Ky. Son of rich slaveholders, he started out as a lawyer and state legislator in Kentucky and then \JAlabama\j. Opposition to \Jslavery\j led him to sell his plantation and most of its slaves; by 1832 he was an agent in the American Colonization Society, but he soon moved from advocating resettlement of slaves to abolitionism. After freeing his last slaves he helped found the Kentucky Anti-Slavery Society (1835) and he attacked \Jslavery\j as coeditor (with Gamaliel Bailey), of the \ICincinnati Philanthropist\i (1836-37).
Often harassed for his views, he was indicted for harboring a fugitive slave (1837) but was acquitted. He moved to New York City in 1837 to serve as executive secretary of the Anti-Slavery Society. Birney ran twice for president as a candidate of antislavery parties (1840, 1844). In 1842 he moved to \JMichigan\j, attracted by the cheap land; after being severely injured in a riding accident (1845), he settled in an abolitionists' compound in \JNew Jersey\j.
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"Bir≤, Ladislao JosΘ",4451,0,0,0
PN [bi\Bro\b]
DT1 1899
DT2 1985
EN Hungarian inventor. Working with a magazine, he realized the advantage of quick-drying ink, and in 1940 went to Argentina with his ideas for developing a ballpoint pen, which eventually became a great success (the \Ibiro).\i He was responsible for several other inventions, including a lock, a heat-proof tile, and a device for recording blood pressure.
SX m
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#
"Biron, Ernst Johann",4452,0,0,0
EN See Anna Ivanovna
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"Birrell, Augustine",4453,0,0,0
DT1 1850
DT2 1933
EN British statesman and writer, born near Liverpool, \JMerseyside\j, north-west England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, was called to the bar in 1875, and was Liberal MP for West Fife (1889-1900) and \JBristol\j North (1906-18). He became president of the board of education (1905-7), and chief secretary for Ireland (1907-16), resigning after the Easter Rising of 1916. He was the author of \IObiter Dicta\i (1884-87), volumes of essays whose charm inspired the verb \Ito birrell\i meaning to comment on life gently and allusively, spicing good nature with irony.
SX m
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"Birt, John",4454,0,0,0
DT1 1944
EN Broadcasting executive, born in Liverpool, \JMerseyside\j, NW England, UK. He studied \Jengineering\j at Oxford, joined \JGranada\j Television (1968), and worked on the public affairs programme \IWorld in Action\i before moving to London Weekend Television (1971) as producer of \IThe Frost Programme\i.
Directly responsible for the political programme \IWeekend World\i, he became noted for his rigorous professionalism. British \Jtelevision\j was undergoing a critical period of change when the BBC's director general, Michael Checkland, appointed him deputy director (1987). He became director-general in 1993, and initiated a radical and controversial programme of reforms. He received an Emmy in 1995.
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"birth control",4455,0,0,0
EN See contraception
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#
"birthmark",4456,0,0,0
EN A skin blemish present at birth; also known as a \Bnaevus\b / \Bnevus.\b There are two main causes: an accumulation of melanocytes (skin pigment cells) known as \Imoles,\i which vary in colour from light brown to black; and a benign enlargement of blood and \Jlymph\j vessels, the most common of which are 'strawberry marks' and 'port-wine stains'.
BK b
#
"Birtwistle, Sir Harrison",4457,0,0,0
DT1 1934
EN Composer, born in Accrington, Lancashire, NW England, UK. He studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music in London. While in Manchester he formed with other young musicians the New Manchester Group for the performance of modern music. In 1967 he formed the \JPierrot\j Players with Peter Maxwell Davies; much of his work being written for them and for the English Opera Group.
In 1975 he was appointed musical director of the National Theatre, and in 1993 became composer in residence to the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the South Bank Centre. Two works of 1965, the instrumental \ITragoedia\i and vocal/instrumental \IRing a Dumb Carillon\i, established him as a leading composer. Among his later works are the operas \IPunch and Judy\i (1966--7), \IThe Masque of Orpheus\i (1973--84), \IGawain\i (1990), and \IThe Second Mrs Kong\i (1994). Other works include \IThe Fields of Sorrow\i (1971), \IPulse Sampler\i (1981), \IPanic\i (1995), and \ISlow Frieze\i (1996). He was knighted in 1988.
\BMajor Works\b
\IInstrumental music\i
1965 \ITragoedia\i
\IInstrumental/Vocal music\i
1965 \IRing a Dumb Carillon\i
\IRefrains and choruses\i, for wind quintet
\IMonody for Corpus Christi\i, for soprano, flute, violin and horn
\IOperas\i
1966--7 \IPunch and Judy\i
1971 \IThe Fields of Sorrow\i
1981 \IPulse Sampler\i
1994 \IThe Second Mrs Kong\i
\IOrchestral Works\i
1997 Exody
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"Biscay, Bay of",4458,0,0,0
HS , Span \BGolfe de Vizcaya,\b Fr \BGolfe de Gascogne\b
EN area 220┐000┐km\U2\u / 85┐000┐mi\U2\u. Arm of the \JAtlantic Ocean\j, bounded E by \JFrance\j and S by \JSpain\j; irregular coasts with many harbours; known for strong currents and sudden storms; major fishing region; resorts such as Biarritz on straight, sandy shores of south-east French coast; major ports include St Nazaire, La Rochelle, San Sebastian, Santander.
BK b
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"Bischoff, Elmer",4459,0,0,0
DT (1916-91)
EN painter, teacher; born in Berkeley, Calif. He taught painting at the \JSan Francisco\j Art Institute (1946-52; 1956-63), and at the University of \JCalifornia\j: Berkeley (1965-85). A typical example of his work is \IWoman With Dark Blue Sky\i (1959).
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"Biscoe, John",4460,0,0,0
EN See Enderby, Samuel
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#
"Biscop, Benedict",4461,0,0,0
EN See Benedict Biscop, St
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#
"biscuit",4462,0,0,0
EN A term derived from Old French \Ibescuit\i 'twice cooked', a process which produced small flat cakes that were truly crispy. Today, biscuits are many and varied, ranging from sweet to plain. In the USA, the term is often used for what in the UK would be called a \Iscone; \i the nearest equivalent to UK \Ibiscuit\i is \Icookie.\i
BK b
#
"Bishkek",4463,0,0,0
EN 42░54N 74░46E, pop (1995e) 657 000. Capital city of \JKyrgyzstan\j; in the Chu valley, at the foot of the Kirgizskiy Khrebet; altitude, 750--900 m/2500--3000 ft; founded, 1864; airport; railway; university (1951); major transportation, industrial, and cultural centre; agricultural machinery, textiles, foodstuffs, \Jtobacco\j products.
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#
"bishop",4464,0,0,0
EN An ecclesiastical office, probably equivalent to pastor or presbyter in the \JNew Testament\j, and thereafter generally an ordained priest consecrated as the spiritual ruler of a diocese in Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Episcopal Churches. In some other Churches (eg certain Methodist Churches), the term is equivalent to 'overseer', or supervising minister. The office was abolished by many Protestant Churches at the 16th-c Reformation, but in many churches which retain it, it is considered to be essential for the identity of the Church and the transmission of the faith.
The issue of whether women as well as men may be consecrated bishop aroused great controversy at the end of the 1980s, especially following the first such appointment (Rev Barbara Harris, as Bishop of \JMassachusetts\j) by the Episcopal Church of the United States in 1989.
BK b
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"Bishop, Elizabeth",4465,0,0,0
DT (1911-79)
EN poet, writer; born in Worcester, Mass. She graduated from Vassar College (B.A. 1934), traveled widely, was the Consultant in Poetry, Library of Congress (1949-50), spent many years in \JBrazil\j (1951-c. 1972), and taught at Harvard (1970-79). She is known for her meditative and personal poetry, as seen in the collection, \INorth and South - A Cold Spring\i (1955).
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"Bishop, Errett",4466,0,0,0
DT (1928-83)
EN mathematician; born in Newton, Kans. He taught at Berkeley (1954-65) and at the University of \JCalifornia\j (1965-83). He specialized in the theory of functions of several complex variables, the theory of uniform algebras, and functional analysis.
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"Bishop, Isabel (m. Wolff)",4467,0,0,0
DT (1902-88)
EN painter; born in \JCincinnati\j, Ohio. She studied at the Arts Students League (1920) with Max Weber. Considered a humanist, she portrayed the people and life of the streets of New York City where she lived. Many of her works have an ethereal, mysterious quality such as, \IMen and Girls Walking\i (1970), and \IVariations on the Theme of Walking\i (1979).
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"Bishop, J(ohn) Michael",4468,0,0,0
DT1 1936
EN Virologist, born in York, \JPennsylvania\j, USA. After working at \JMassachusetts\j General Hospital, \JBoston\j (1962--4), he performed virology research at the National Institutes of Health (1964--8). He joined the University of \JCalifornia\j, \JSan Francisco\j, in 1968, and became director of the G W Hooper Research Foundation in 1981.
He and colleague \BHarold E Varmus\b (1939-- ) received the 1989 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their work which demonstrated that external agents, such as viruses or mutagens, may transform a cell's normal genes into cancer-generating oncogenes.
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"Bishop, John Peale",4469,0,0,0
DT (1892-1944)
EN poet, writer; born in Charles Town, W.Va. He studied at Princeton (1913-17) and published his first book of poetry, \IGreen Fruit\i (1917), before serving in the army (1917-19). After working as managing editor for \IVanity Fair\i (1920-22), he traveled in Europe (1922-24), settled in \JFrance\j, and became friends with English and American expatriate writers.
He returned to America (1933) and settled in South Chatham, Mass. (1937). He wrote novels, short stories, and literary criticism, but is best known for his lyric poetry as in \IThe Collected Poems of John Peale Bishop\i (1948).
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"Bishop, Sir Henry Rowley",4470,0,0,0
DT1 1786
DT2 1855
EN Composer, born in London, England, UK. He exercised considerable influence in his lifetime with his glees and 88 operas, few of which have survived, though some songs from them have remained popular, including 'Home, Sweet Home'. He was musical director at Covent Garden (1810-24), and received the first knighthood conferred upon a musician (1842). He held professorships at Edinburgh and Oxford.
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"Bishop, William (Howard)",4471,0,0,0
DT (1885-1952)
EN religious leader; born in Washington, D.C. Ordained in the Baltimore archdiocese (1915), he founded the first Catholic diocesan Rural Life Conference (1925), headed the national Rural Life Conference (1928-33), and won approval to found the Glenmary Home Missioners, for pastoral work in sparsely Catholic rural areas (1937).
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"Bishop, William Avery",4472,0,0,0
DT1 1894
DT2 1956
EN Airman, born in Owen Sound, \JOntario\j, Canada. A member of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (1914), he joined the Royal Flying Corps (1915), and became the most successful Allied 'ace' of World War 1, officially credited with the destruction of 72 enemy \Jaircraft\j. In 1917 he was awarded the VC for single-handedly downing seven German planes. He was appointed the first Canadian air marshal in 1939, and was director of the Royal Canadian Air Force throughout World War 2.
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"Bishops' Wars",4473,0,0,0
DT1 1639
DT2 40
EN Two wars between Charles I of England and the Scottish Covenanters, caused by his unpopular policies towards the Scottish Kirk. They resulted in English defeats, and \Jbankruptcy\j for Charles, who was then forced to call the Short and Long Parliaments in 1640, bringing to an end his 'personal rule' (1629-40).
BK b
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"Bismarck",4474,0,0,0
EN 46░48N 100░47W, pop (1995e) 49 300. Capital of state in Burleigh Co, C North Dakota, USA, on the Missouri R; established, 1873 (named after the German statesman); territorial capital, 1883; state capital, 1889; airfield; railway; trade and distribution centre for agricultural region; oil refining, food products, machinery; Camp Hancock Museum, Heritage Centre; 18-story state capitol, completed in 1934; Folkfest (Sep).
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"Bismarck Archipelago",4475,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 424 000; area 49 709 sq km/19 188 sq mi. Island group, part of Papua New Guinea, NE of New Guinea, SW Pacific; main islands, New Britain, New Ireland, Admiralty Is, and Lavongai; mountainous, with several active volcanoes; annexed by \JGermany\j, 1884; mandated territory of \JAustralia\j, 1920; occupied by \JJapan\j in World War 2; part of UN Trust Territory of New Guinea until 1975; chief town, Rabaul, on New Britain; copra, \Jcocoa\j, oil palm.
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"Bismarck Sea",4476,0,0,0
EN south-west arm of the \JPacific Ocean\j, north-east of New Guinea; c.800┐km / 500┐mi E-W; contains many islands; Battle of the \JBismarck\j Sea (1943) saw destruction of Japanese naval force by USA.
BK b
#
"Bismarck, Otto Eduard Leopold, Fⁿrst von (Prince of)",4477,0,0,0
DT1 1815
DT2 98
EN The first chancellor of the German Empire (1871-90), born in Sch÷nhausen, \JGermany\j. He studied law and agriculture at G÷ttingen, Berlin, and Greifswald. In the new Prussian parliament (1847) he became known as an ultraroyalist, resenting \JAustria\j's predominance and demanding equal rights for \JPrussia\j. He was ambassador to \JRussia\j (1859-62), and was appointed prime minister in 1862.
During the \JSchleswig\j-Holstein question and the 'seven weeks' war' between \JPrussia\j and \JAustria\j, he was a guiding figure, becoming a national hero. Uniting German feeling, he deliberately provoked the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1) and acted as \JGermany\j's spokesman. He was made a count in 1866, and created a prince and chancellor of the new German Empire. After the Peace of Frankfurt (1871), his policies aimed at consolidating and protecting the young Empire.
His domestic policy included universal suffrage, reformed coinage, and the codification of the law. He engaged in a lengthy conflict with the Vatican (known as the \IKulturkampf),\i which proved to be a failure. In 1879, to counteract \JRussia\j and \JFrance\j, he formed the Austro-German Treaty of Alliance, which was later joined by \JItaly\j.
Called the 'Iron Chancellor', he clashed with Emperor William II over social policy, and tendered his resignation from the chancellorship, which was accepted with relief (1890). In the same year he was made Duke of Lauenburg, and he was finally reconciled to his sovereign in 1894.
MEX \JNapoleon III\j; William I (Emperor); William II (Emperor)
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"bismuth",4478,0,0,0
PN [\Bbiz\bmuhth]
EN Bi, element 83. The heaviest element with stable \Jisotopes\j, a metalloid which melts at 271░C, but forms alloys with much lower melting points. It is in the \Jnitrogen\j family, and commonly shows \Joxidation\j states of +3 and +5. The main natural source is the sulphide, Bi\D2\dS\D3\d.
BK b
#
"bison",4479,0,0,0
EN A large \Jmammal\j which inhabits forest and grassland; stocky; large hairy hump on shoulders; short upcurved horns; chin with beard; two species: the \BAmerican bison\b - technically also called \Bboss,\b and popularly \Bbuffalo\b - with two subspecies, \Bplains bison\b and \Bwood\b (or \Bmountain)\b \Bbison\b from \JNorth America\j \I(\JBison\j bison); \i and the \BEuropean bison\b or \Bwisent\b \I(\JBison\j bonasus).\i
The American \Jbison\j has been crossbred with \Jcattle\j to produce the hybrid \Icattalo; \i male hybrids are sterile. Regarded as 'the staff of life' by Plains Indians, the prairie \Jbison\j was hunted by natives and settlers to virtual \Jextinction\j in the 19th-c. \B(Family:\b \JBovidae\j.)
BK b
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"Bissau",4480,0,0,0
PN [bee\Bsow\b]
EN 11░52N 15░39W, pop (1995e) 144 000. Seaport capital of Guinea-\JBissau\j, W Africa; on \JBissau\j I in the R Geba estuary; established as a fortified slave-trading centre, 1687; free port, 1869; capital moved here from Bolama, 1941; airport; national museum, cathedral.
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#
"Bissell, George Henry",4481,0,0,0
DT (1821-84)
EN oilman; born in \JHanover\j, N.H. After graduating from Dartmouth, he settled in \JNew Orleans\j (1864), working as a journalist and school administrator while studying law at Jefferson College. Ill health forced a return north and he was admitted to the New York bar in 1853. In 1854, after seeing samples of \Jpetroleum\j from Oil Creek, Pa., he and his law partner, J. G. Eveleth, formed the first oil company in the U.S.A., the \JPennsylvania\j Rock Oil Co.
A pioneer in boring for oil with the technique used for artesian wells - with "Colonel" Edward Drake supervising the work on site - he became wealthy from his investments in oil-rich lands and spent his later years promoting the use of \Jpetroleum\j.
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"Bissell, Melville (Reuben)",4482,0,0,0
DT1 1843
DT2 89
EN Inventor, born in Hartwick, NY. After first working in his father's grocery store, he opened a crockery business at Grand Rapids. He amassed a fortune through industry and real estate, and went on to develop and successfully market the carpet sweeper (1876) on a worldwide scale.
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"Bissell, Richard",4483,0,0,0
EN See Abbott, George
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#
"bistort",4484,0,0,0
PN [\Bbis\btaw(r)t]
EN The name for several species of the \Jgenus\j \IPolygonum,\i related to \Jknotgrass\j and mostly N temperate; some aquatic; stems erect, nodes enclosed in papery sheaths; leaves lance-shaped to oblong; small flowers white, pink, or red, in terminal spikes. \B(Genus:\b \IPolygonum.\i \BFamily:\b Polygonaceae.)
BK b
#
"bisynchronous transmission",4485,0,0,0
EN A shortened form of \Bbinary synchronous transmission,\b a form of data communication in a network of computers in which one or more remote devices communicate with a mainframe. The terminology is used particularly by \JIBM\j.
BK b
#
"bit",4486,0,0,0
EN An abbreviation of \BBinary digIT.\b A bit may take only one of the two possible values in the binary number system, 0 or 1. All operations in digital computers take place using the binary number system.
BK b
#
"Bithynia",4487,0,0,0
PN [bi\Bthin\bia]
EN The name in antiquity for the area to the south-west of the \JBlack Sea\j. Inhabited mainly by warlike Thracians, it eluded Achaemenid and Seleucid control, becoming an independent kingdom under a Hellenizing dynasty of Thracian stock c.300 BC.
In 75-74 BC, under the will of its last king, Nicomedes IV, it passed to \JRome\j. Initially a rather unimportant province, Bithynia's strategic status rose during the imperial period. In the late 3rd-c AD, its leading city, Nicomedia, even became for a while the capital of the entire E half of the Empire.
BK b
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"biting midge",4488,0,0,0
EN A minute, biting fly that feeds on the blood of vertebrates; also known as \Bpunkie\b and \Bnoseeum.\b There are c.1200 species, some of which have medical and veterinary importance as carriers of disease. \B(Order:\b \JDiptera\j. \BFamily:\b Ceratopogonidae.)
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"BITNET",4489,0,0,0
PN [\Bbit\bnet]
EN A data communications network linking computers in academic institutions, particularly outside Europe. The extension of BITNET in Europe is called EARN (European Academic Research Network).
BK b
#
"Bitola or Bitolj",4490,0,0,0
PN [\Bbee\btola]
EN 41░01N 21░21E, pop (1995e) 159 000. Town in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 112 km/70 mi S of Skopje; under Turkish rule until 1912; second largest town in the republic; railway; carpets, textiles, tourism; nearby national park in the Palister range, 120 sq km/46 sq mi, established in 1949; Ajdar Kadi mosque; festival of folk music (Jul--Aug).
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"bitonality",4491,0,0,0
EN The property of music written in two keys simultaneously. The piquant dissonances that usually result were cherished particularly by \ILes Six\i in \JFrance\j during the first half of the 20th-c.
BK b
#
"Bitter, Francis",4492,0,0,0
DT (1902-67)
EN physicist; born in Weehawken, N.J. He taught at the \JMassachusetts\j Institute of Technology (1934-60), and was concurrently a commander in the U.S. Naval Reserves (1943-51). He made significant contributions to the fields of \Jferromagnetism\j, nuclear structure, and \Joptics\j. During the 1930s he invented the Bitter electromagnet, a \Jwater\j-cooled \Jsolenoid\j that produced the first sustained powerful magnetic field.
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"Bitter, Karl (Theodore Francis)",4493,0,0,0
DT (1867-1915)
EN sculptor; born in Vienna, \JAustria\j. He emigrated to New York City (1889), worked with the architect, Richard Morris, and became known for the bronze doors of Trinity Church, New York City (1891-94). He established a studio in Weehawkin, N.J., (1896), and was sculpture director for several American expositions.
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"bittern",4494,0,0,0
EN A marsh-dwelling bird, widespread; heron-like but stouter, with shorter legs and neck; mottled brown plumage; usually solitary; eats diverse animal prey. When threatened, it stands immobile with its bill raised. \B(Family:\b \JArdeidae\j, 12 species.)
BK b
#
"bittersweet",4495,0,0,0
EN See woody nightshade
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#
"bitumen (art)",4496,0,0,0
EN A transparent, brown pigment made from tar, popular with painters in the 18th-c for the rich 'Rembrandtesque' transparent tones which it gives when first applied. Unfortunately, it never dries, but turns black and develops wide traction-cracks which are difficult to repair.
BK b
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"bitumen (petroleum derivative)",4497,0,0,0
EN A mixture of tar-like \Jhydrocarbons\j derived from \Jpetroleum\j either naturally or by distillation. It is black or brown and varies from viscous to solid, when it is also known as \Basphalt.\b It is used in road-making.
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"Bitzer, (Johann Gottlob Wilhelm)",4498,0,0,0
DT (1872-1944)
EN Billy cinematographer; born in Roxbury, Mass. A former silversmith, he joined and became cameraman of the company that was to become Biograph in 1894. In 1908, he began his association with D. W. Griffith, photographing most of his films until 1920. Some of the best movies photographed by this master innovator were \IThe New York Hat\i (1912), \IThe Birth of a Nation\i (1915), \IIntolerance\i (1916), and \IBroken Blossoms\i (1919).
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"bivalve",4499,0,0,0
EN An aquatic \Jmollusc\j with a body compressed sideways, and enclosed within a shell consisting of two valves joined by a flexible ligament along a hinge line; the valves are closed by one or two adductor muscles, and opened by an elastic ligament; head not defined; typically feeds on small particles collected by large gills covered with tiny hairs \I(cilia); \i class contains over 20┐000 species with varied life-styles including burrowing, boring, free-swimming, and base-attached \I(sessile); \i life-cycle often includes a planktonic larval stage (the \Iveliger); \i many species of great economic importance, such as oysters, clams, and mussels; also known as \Blamellibranchs\b and \Bpelecypods.\b \B(Class:\b \JPelecypoda\j.)
BK b
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"Biwa, Lake",4500,0,0,0
PN [\Bbee\bwa]
HS , Jap \BBiwa-ko,\b also \BLake Omi\b
EN area 670┐km\U2\u / 261┐mi\U2\u. Largest lake in \JJapan\j; in Kinki region, C \JHonshu\j, 8┐km / 5┐mi north-east of \JKyoto\j; 64┐km / 40┐mi long; 3-19┐km / 13/4-12┐mi wide; 103┐m / 315┐ft deep; connected by canal to \JKyoto\j.
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"Biya, Paul",4501,0,0,0
PN [\Bbee\bya]
DT1 1933
EN Cameroonian president (1982-- ) and prime minister (1975--82), born in Muomeka'a, Cameroon. He completed his studies at Paris University and from 1962 held a number of ministerial posts under President Adhidjo before being appointed prime minister. He was nominated as president-designate and there was a smooth transfer of power in 1982. Despite an attempt to overthrow him, he was re-elected in 1988 with more than 98% of the popular vote.
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"Bizerte or Bizerta",4502,0,0,0
PN [bi\Bzer\btuh]
EN 37░18N 9░52E, pop (1995e) 159 000. Capital of Bizerte governorate, N \JTunisia\j, 60 km/37 mi NW of Tunis; strategically important on the Mediterranean coastline; occupied by Romans, Vandals, \JArabs\j, Moors, Spanish, and French (1881); German base in World War 2, heavily bombed; French naval base until 1963; railway; kasbah in old city; Bizerte Festival (Jul--Aug).
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"Bizet, Georges",4503,0,0,0
PN [\Bbee\bzay]
HS , originally \BAlexandre CΘsar LΘopold Bizet\b
DT1 1838
DT2 75
EN Composer, born in Paris. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire under HalΘvy, whose daughter he married in 1869, and in \JItaly\j. Although he won the Prix de \JRome\j in 1857 with \ILe Docteur miracle,\i his efforts to achieve a reputation as an operatic composer were largely unsuccessful.
His incidental music to Daudet's play \IL'ArlΘsienne\i (1872) was remarkably popular and survives in the form of two orchestral suites. His masterpiece was the four-act opera \ICarmen,\i completed just before his untimely death from \Jheart disease\j. A symphony in C was first performed in 1935.
MEX Daudet, Alphonse; HalΘvy, Fromental
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"Bjelke-Petersen, Sir Joh(annes)",4504,0,0,0
PN [byelk]
DT1 1911
EN Australian statesman, born in Dannevirk, \JNew Zealand\j, of Danish parents. He entered state politics in 1947 as a Country Party (now National Party) member of the Legislative Assembly, becoming a minister in 1963. In 1968, he was made police minister, then deputy leader and, following the sudden death of Jack Pizzey, premier of \JQueensland\j.
A vocal supporter of states' rights as against federal intervention, he controlled a strongly right-wing government opposed to Aboriginal land rights and trade unions. He was knighted in 1982, but forced to resign the premiership in 1987 after a badly-judged attempt to enter federal politics.
He and many of his colleagues faced corruption charges, and he himself was tried on a \Jperjury\j charge which was later dropped. His wife, \BFlo(rence) Bjelke-Petersen\b (1920-- ) was elected to the federal Senate in 1981, became deputy leader of the National Party in the Senate in 1985, and retired in 1993.
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"Bjerknes, Jakob (Aall Bonnevie)",4505,0,0,0
DT (1897-1975)
EN meteorologist; born in Stockholm, Sweden. Son of the famous Norwegian meteorologist Vilhelm Bjerknes, Jacob was instrumental in the development of \Jweather\j prediction in the United States. With his father, he established \Jweather\j observation stations in \JNorway\j during World War I and developed the famous Bergen Institute in \JNorway\j. He was visiting the University of \JCalifornia\j: Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1940 when Hitler invaded \JNorway\j, preventing his return home.
He joined the faculty of UCLA and became a naturalized citizen in 1946. Bjerknes was instrumental in introducing the concept of \Jweather\j fronts to United States' forecasters. With phenomenal insight, Bjerknes was able to describe cyclones and the development and dissipation of warm and cold fronts, thus laying the foundation necessary for accurate \Jweather\j prediction. In the 1950s, his research turned to the ocean.
He described the "Ni±o" effect from the \JPacific Ocean\j and persuaded scientists of the importance of studying the ocean and \Jatmosphere\j as a single, highly interactive system.
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"Bjerknes, Vilhelm F(riman) K(oren)",4506,0,0,0
PN [byerknes]
DT (1862-1951)
EN Norwegian meteorologist: pioneer of dynamical \Jmeteorology\j.
Bjerknes's father was professor of \Jmathematics\j at the Christiania University (now Oslo), and Bjerknes himself held professorships at Stockholm and \JLeipzig\j before founding the Bergen Geophysical Institute in 1917. Through his hydrodynamic models of the \Jatmosphere\j and the oceans Bjerknes made important contributions to \Jmeteorology\j, and in 1904 showed how \Jweather\j prediction could be achieved numerically using mathematical models.
During the First World War Bjerknes established a network of \Jweather\j stations throughout \JNorway\j, the results allowing him and his collaborators (who included his son, Jacob (1897-1975), and Bergeron) to develop their theory of polar fronts. They demonstrated that the \Jatmosphere\j is composed of distinct air masses with different characteristics, the boundaries between such air masses being called 'fronts'. Their Bergen frontal theory, as it became known, explains how cyclones are generated over the Atlantic where warm and cold air masses meet.
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"Bj÷rling, Jussi",4507,0,0,0
PN [\Bbyer\bling]
HS , originally \BJohan Jonaton Bj÷rling\b
DT1 1911
DT2 60
EN Tenor, born in Stora \JTuna\j, Sweden. From 1928 he studied at the Stockholm \JConservatory\j, making his debut as principal with the Royal Swedish Opera in 1930. Although his repertoire was mainly Italian he sang rarely in \JItaly\j, but became a favourite in the USA, especially at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, and made numerous recordings.
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"Bj°rnson, Bj°rn",4508,0,0,0
DT 1859-1942
EN Norwegian director and actor. Son of Bj°rnstjerne Bj°rnson and a crucial figure in the modernization of Norwegian theatre, he first acted with the Saxe-Meiningen company. Joining Christiania Theatre in 1884, he introduced naturalistic acting and staging (see \Jnaturalism\j), and in the next nine years acted in or directed some 130 productions, including several operas. He then campaigned for the new Nationaltheatret, which opened in 1899 with Bj°rnson at its head. He resigned in 1907.
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"Bj°rnson, Bj°rnstjerne (Martinius)",4509,0,0,0
DT 1832-1910
EN Norwegian playwright, novelist and journalist. He succeeded Ibsen as stage director of the Norwegian Theatre, Bergen (1857-9), and later successfully directed Christiania Theatre. His playwriting began in the 1850s with romantic history plays in the manner of Oehlen-schlΣger and Schiller; the most enduring is \JSigurd\j the Bad (1862).
From the mid- 1860s his plays were more realistic, dealing with contemporary social problems: marital, as in The Newlyweds (1865), Leonarda (1879) and A Gauntlet (1883); business-related, as in the successful A \JBankruptcy\j (1874); and political, as in The King (1877) and Paul Lang and Tora Parsberg (1898), but they were frequently marred by contrived plots and sentimental solutions. Beginning with Beyond Our Power, I (1883), his plays occasionally explore more spiritual issues. In 1903 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
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"Bjornson, Maria",4510,0,0,0
PN [\Bbyaw(r)n\bsn]
DT1 1949
EN Stage designer, born in Paris, \JFrance\j. She has designed sets and costumes for straight drama and opera in many British theatres, with several productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, including \IA Midsummer Night's Dream\i (1981), \IThe Tempest\i (1982), and \IHamlet\i (1984). In 1986 she designed Hal Prince's production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's \IThe Phantom of the Opera\i and in 1989 Trevor Nunn's production of Lloyd Webber's \IAspects of Love\i.
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"Bj°rnsson, Sveinn",4511,0,0,0
PN [\Bbyern\bsn]
DT1 1881
DT2 1952
EN Icelandic diplomat and statesman, the first president of the Republic of \JIceland\j (1944-52), born in \JCopenhagen\j. He studied law at \JCopenhagen\j, became a member of parliament (1914-16, 1920), and ambassador to Denmark (1920-4, 1926-41). During the German occupation of Denmark he was elected Regent of \JIceland\j, and when the republic was declared in 1944 he became president.
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"Blache, Paul Vidal de la",4512,0,0,0
EN See Vidal de la Blache, Paul
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"Black and Tans",4513,0,0,0
EN Additional members of the Royal Irish Constabulary, recruited by the British government to cope with Irish national unrest in 1920. The shortage of regulation uniforms led to the recruits being issued with khaki tunics and trousers and very dark green caps, hence their name. Terrorist activities provoked severe reprisals by the Black and Tans, which caused an outcry in Britain and the USA.
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"black bear",4514,0,0,0
EN Either of two species of bear, usually black but sometimes brown in colour; the \BAmerican black bear\b from \JNorth America\j \I(Ursus americanus),\i and the \BAsiatic black bear,\b \BHimalayan bear,\b or \Bmoon bear\b from S and E Asia, with a white chin and white 'V' on chest \I(Selenarctos thibetanus).\i
BK b
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"black beetle",4515,0,0,0
EN A beetle found in cellars and outhouses; larvae cylindrical; adults move clumsily; feeds on plant material. \B(Order:\b Coleoptera. \BFamily:\b Tenebrionidae.)
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"black box",4516,0,0,0
EN A complete unit in an \Jelectronics\j or computer system whose circuitry need not be fully understood by the user. The name is commonly used for the flight data recorder in an \Jaircraft\j: this collects information about the \Jaircraft\j's performance during a flight, which can be used to help determine the cause of a crash.
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"black bryony",4517,0,0,0
EN A perennial climber \I(Tamus communis)\i with a large, black tuber, related to the yam, native to Europe, W Asia, and N Africa; stems grow to 4┐m / 13┐ft, twining; leaves heart-shaped, dark, glossy green with prominent curving veins; flowers tiny, 6-lobed, yellowish-green, males and females on separate plants; berry 12┐mm / 1/2┐in diameter, red. \B(Family:\b Dioscoriaceae.)
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"black comedy",4518,0,0,0
EN A kind of comedy (whether in narrative or dramatic form) which derives its often bitter humour from exposing and facing up to the grotesque accidents and meaningless misfortunes to which human life is liable. Examples include Evelyn Waugh's \IBlack Mischief\i (1932), Nathanael West's \IThe Day of the Locust\i (1939), and Joe Orton's \ILoot\i (1965).
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"black consciousness",4519,0,0,0
EN An attitude, particularly in the USA, which asserts that African-Americans, by virtue of their \Jethnicity\j and history, possess a cultural tradition distinct from the wider population. It rejects the notion that they have been totally absorbed into white society, only distinguishable by colour. Proponents of black consciousness aim to raise the awareness of blacks by espousing and publicizing these cultural traditions and values.
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#
"Black Consciousness Movement",4520,0,0,0
HS (South Africa)
EN A movement formed by Steve Biko in 1969, when he led African students out of the multi-racial National Union of South African Students and founded the South African Students Organization. From this emerged the Black Peoples' Convention, which sought to create co-operation in social and cultural fields among all non-white peoples. Most of its leaders were imprisoned in 1977, and Biko died in police custody. The film \ICry Freedom\i (1988) was based on these events.
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"Black Country",4521,0,0,0
EN The industrial area of the English Midlands during and after the Industrial Revolution. It lies to the north-west of Birmingham, in south-west Staffordshire and N Worcestershire, England, UK.
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"black dance",4522,0,0,0
EN A term used in the mid-1980s to describe British forms of dance that owe some allegiance to African or Caribbean influences; there are black consciousness overtones emphasizing non-white, non-Western forms of dance. The Black Dance Development Trust was briefly active from 1985, offering summer schools and short courses to examine ways in which cultural traditions of Africa and the Caribbean relate to black people's dance in Britain.
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"Black Death",4523,0,0,0
EN The name given to the virulent bubonic and pneumonic plague which swept through W and C Europe from Asia (1347-51). Approximately 25 million people, about a third of the population, perished; some 13 million Chinese also died. This catastrophe was not solely responsible for causing or accelerating important socio-economic changes; probably more decisive was the subsequent pandemic recurrence of the plague (eg in 1361-3, 1369-71, 1374-5, 1390, and 1400). Even then, the consequences varied from region to region, and the economies of S England, the Netherlands, and S \JGermany\j continued to prosper.
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"Black Dolphin",4524,0,0,0
EN \BFamily:\b \IDelphinidae\i \I(dolphins, small toothed whales)\i
\BScientific Name:\b \ICephalorhynchus eutropia\i\b (other common name: Chilean dolphin)\b
\BIdentification:\b
Length at birth probably less than 3 ft (1 m), adult length and weight up to 6 ft (1.7 m) and 139 lbs (63 kg), respectively.
Body robust, beak not clearly defined, and very short. Dorsal fin rounded, flippers rounded at their tips. Coloration mostly dark gray, with a darker gray band from above the eye to the blowhole, and from around the eye to the cranial insertion of the flipper. The sides of the face are often darker gray as well.
Large white patches on the ventral surface, including a broad patch on the throat and lower jaw to the snout, one from behind the level of the flippers to the urogenital area, and a small white patch in the axilla on either side. There are variable thin gray patches around the urogenital area.
Group sizes of 2 to 15 are most common, although aggregations of up to 400 recorded. Surface active, but usually avoid ships. Have been known to ride the bow waves however.
Food includes fish, cephalopods and crustaceans.
\BDistribution:\b
Confined to the coast of \JChile\j, from 30░S to the southern tip of \JSouth America\j. Occurs in shallow coastal waters, enters estuaries and rivers.
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"black economy",4525,0,0,0
EN In the UK, a term used for economic activities not reported to tax and other public authorities; also referred to as the \Bunderground economy\b or (in the USA) as 'off the books' activities. This allows one or both parties to avoid paying tax and / or social security contributions, and may conceal breaches of laws concerning such matters as job security, employer's liability, health and safety, and work permits for aliens.
Lack of records of such activities makes economical statistics on output and employment less reliable than they might otherwise be.
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"Black Elk (b. Ekhaka Sapa)",4526,0,0,0
DT (1863-1950)
EN Oglala Sioux mystic/medicine man; born near the Little Powder River in present-\Jday\j Montana or Wyoming. Returning with Sitting Bull from Canadian exile, he traveled with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. In 1932 he dictated his \Jautobiography\j, which provided great insight into Sioux religious beliefs.
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"black fly",4527,0,0,0
EN A small biting fly found near running \Jwater\j; larvae aquatic, feeding by filtering plankton and detritus; also known as \Bbuffalo \Jgnat\j.\b The females of some species are blood-suckers, and serious \Jcattle\j pests. One species is the carrier of filarial river \Jblindness\j. \B(Order:\b \JDiptera\j. \BFamily:\b Simuliidae.)
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"Black Forest",4528,0,0,0
HS , Ger \BSchwarzwald\b
EN Mountain range in \JGermany\j; extends 160┐km / 100┐mi from Pforzheim (north) to Waldshut on the Upper Rhine (south); highest peak, the Feldberg (1493┐m / 4898┐ft); divided by River Kinzig into Lower (north) and Upper (south) Schwarzwald; source of Danube and Neckar Rivers; crafts, tourism; many medicinal baths and spas.
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"Black Friars",4529,0,0,0
EN See Dominicans
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"Black Friday",4530,0,0,0
EN (24 Sep 1869) A US financial crisis: the date of a severe fall in the price of gold as a result of an attempted \Jfraud\j by financiers Jay Gould (1836-92) and James Fisk (1834-72). Many speculators lost their fortunes in the ensuing panic.
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"black grouse",4531,0,0,0
EN A \Jgrouse\j native to upland areas of N Europe and N Asia \I(Tetrao tetrix); \i the male \B(blackcock)\b black with a red comb above each eye; the female \B(greyhen)\b brown. The males display to females at a traditional site (known as a \Ilek); \i successful males take several mates. \B(Family:\b \JPhasianidae\j.)
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"black gum",4532,0,0,0
EN See \Jtupelo\j
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"Black Hand",4533,0,0,0
EN A secret organization formed in \JSerbia\j in 1911, led by army officers, whose objective was the achievement of Serbian independence from \JAustria\j and Turkey. It is best known for planning the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of \JAustria\j in \JSarajevo\j in June 1914, an event which led directly to the outbreak of World War 1.
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"Black Hawk",4534,0,0,0
DT (1767-1838)
EN Sauk and Fox war chief; born in present-\Jday\j Illinois. A fierce opponent of the spread of white settlers, he attempted to form a pan-Indian alliance to repossess ancestral lands but was defeated in what was called the "Black Hawk War" (1832). Released from prison in 1833, he toured several eastern cities and dictated his \Jautobiography\j.
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"Black Hawk War",4535,0,0,0
HS (1832)
EN A military conflict between the USA and Sauk and Fox Indians, which led to the completion of the policy of removing Indians from 'the Old Northwest' to beyond the Mississippi R.
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"black hole",4536,0,0,0
EN A region of spacetime from which matter and \Jenergy\j cannot escape; in origin, a star or galactic nucleus that has collapsed in on itself to the point where its escape velocity exceeds the speed of light. Its boundary is known as the \Ievent horizon\i : light generated inside the event horizon can never escape. Black holes are believed to exist on all mass scales. Some binary stars which strongly emit X-rays may have black hole companions.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The idea of a black hole is more than two centuries old. John Michell combined the particle (corpuscular) view of light with the gravitational laws of Sir Isaac Newton, and realised that there would be an escape velocity needed by light particles as they leave a massive star.
By this time, observations on the moons of Jupiter, combined with estimates of the size of the \Jsolar system\j, had allowed scientists to identify the velocity of light as something close to 300 000 kilometres per second, and Michell realised that with a sufficiently massive star, no light particle would be able to travel fast enough to escape.
Michell reported this to the Royal Society in London on November 27, 1783, and raised a certain amount of interest, but when Pierre Simon Laplace offered the same prediction in his \ILe SystΦme du Monde\i in 1796, he did so without making reference to Michell. He retrained the same prediction in his second edition in 1799, but by the third edition in 1808, Thomas Young had demonstrated interference in light, making the particle theory of light hard to uphold, and this may have been the reason why Laplace allowed the idea to disappear quietly.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Black Hole of Calcutta",4537,0,0,0
EN A small, badly-ventilated room in which surviving British defenders were imprisoned overnight in an incident following \JCalcutta\j's capture (June 1756) by Siraj ud Daula, Nawab of Bengal. It was claimed that only 23 out of 146 prisoners survived. The incident became famous in the history of British \Jimperialism\j, but its status is controversial, as the total number involved was probably much smaller.
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"Black Kettle (b. Moketavato)",4538,0,0,0
DT (?1803-68)
EN Southern Cheyenne peace chief; born near the Black Hills in present-\Jday\j South Dakota. Despite his attempts at accommodation, his band was massacred at Sand Creek, Colo., in 1864. He continued to seek peace but was killed with his tribe in the Washita Valley, Okla., in 1868.
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"black letter writing",4539,0,0,0
EN A style of writing, common in the mediaeval period, which formed the basis of early models of printers' type in \JGermany\j; sometimes called \BGothic.\b It had relatively straight strokes in its letters.
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"black light",4540,0,0,0
"Black light" is ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 3600 ┼. We cannot see this light, but it is safe enough to use, \Iprovided you are careful.\i A "black light" source will produce a strong \Jfluorescence\j from a variety of laboratory chemicals, as well as some samples of "brighter than bright" washing powders. \JCalcium\j tungstate, scapolite, some opals, willemite and wernerite are all good prospects. Uranium minerals generally, calcite and scheelite are also worth trying, and there are quite a few liquids, including some oils, and solutions of dyes, which will fluoresce quite strongly.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"black market",4541,0,0,0
EN An illegal trade in goods or currencies. The practice is well known in countries where there is rationing or restriction on the availability of food, petrol, clothing, and other essential commodities. These may be difficult or impossible to obtain using legal channels, but may be available (at a much higher price) 'on the black market'. In countries where strict currency exchange controls exist, there is invariably a black market economy which can make foreign currency available above the official rate.
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"black Mass",4542,0,0,0
EN A blasphemous \Jcaricature\j of the Roman Catholic Mass, in which terms and symbols are distorted, and Satan is worshipped instead of God.
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"Black Mountain poetry",4543,0,0,0
EN A school of poetry started in the 1950s by Charles Olson (1910-70), one-time \Jrector\j of Black Mountain College in \JNorth Carolina\j, USA, and including such names as Robert Creeley (1926-) and Robert Duncan (1919-88). The aim was greater physicality and immediacy, as exemplified in the \IBlack Mountain Review\i (1954-7).
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"Black Muslims",4544,0,0,0
EN A black separatist movement in the USA, founded in 1930 by W D Fard, Elijah Muhammad (1925-75); also known at different times as the \BNation of \JIslam\j,\b the \BAmerican Muslim Mission,\b and the \BWorld Community of \JIslam\j in the West.\b The movement holds that black Americans are descended from an ancient Muslim tribe. Members of the movement adopted Muslim names, avoided contact with whites, and demanded a separate state for blacks, and reparation for injustices.
Malcolm X \I(nΘ\i Little) was one of their foremost preachers, while Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) is undoubtedly the most famous member of the movement. They now repudiate their early separatism, and have adopted orthodox Muslim beliefs.
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"Black Pagoda",4545,0,0,0
EN See Sun Temple
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"Black Panthers",4546,0,0,0
EN A militant, revolutionary African-American organization in the USA, founded in the late 1960s after the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. The organization preached violence and acted as a protector of blacks, although much of what it advocated was simply \Jrhetoric\j. It went into rapid decline with the killing, arrest, and exile of many of its leaders, and also because of internal divisions. A particular target of the \JFBI\j, the organization had ceased to exist by 1974.
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"black power",4547,0,0,0
EN The term used by African-American activists in the USA from the late 1950s to reflect the aspiration of increased black political power. It formed part of the more radical wing of the \Jcivil rights\j movement, was against integrationist policies, and used force to advance the black cause. Some political results were achieved in terms of registering black voters.
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"Black Prince",4548,0,0,0
EN See Edward the Black Prince
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"black quarter",4549,0,0,0
EN See blackleg
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"Black Rod",4550,0,0,0
EN In the UK, since 1552, an official of the \JHouse of Lords\j. One of his chief ceremonial functions is to act as the official messenger from the Lords to the \JHouse of Commons\j. In a tradition dating from 1643, the door of the Commons is shut on his arrival to summon the MPs to hear the Monarch's speech. To gain entrance to the Commons he must knock three times with his ebony staff of office (the black rod). This tradition represents the independence of the Commons.
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"black rust",4551,0,0,0
EN See barberry
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"Black Sea",4552,0,0,0
HS , ancient \BPontius Euxinus\b (Euxine Sea), Bulgarian \BCherno More,\b Romanian \BMarea Neagra,\b Russian \BChernoye More,\b Turkish \BKaradeniz\b
EN area 508┐900┐km\U2\u / 196┐000┐mi\U2\u. Inland sea between Europe and Asia, connected to the Mediterranean (south-west) by the Bosporus, Sea of \JMarmara\j, and Dardanelles; 1210┐km / 752┐mi long by 120-560┐km / 75-350┐mi wide, maximum depth 2246┐m / 7369┐ft; bounded N and E by republics of the former USSR, S by Turkey, and W by \JBulgaria\j and \JRomania\j; largest arm, Sea of Azov; steep, rocky coasts in S and NE, sandy shores N and NW; fishing important, especially N; main ports include Burgas, \JVarna\j, Odessa, \JSebastopol\j, Trabzon; navigated since ancient times; opened by Treaty of Paris (1856) to commerce of all nations, and closed to ships of war; now increasingly polluted; states bordering \JBlack Sea\j met in \JIstanbul\j, 1992, to establish a new trading zone (\JBlack Sea\j Economic Co-operation Project).
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"black snake",4553,0,0,0
EN A venomous Australian snake of \Jgenus\j \IPseudechis\i \B(Family:\b Elapidae, 4 species). The name is also used for several species of North American \Bracers\b \B(Genus:\b \IColuber; \i \BFamily:\b Colubridae) and for the Jamaican \Jwater\j-snake \I(Natrix atra).\i
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"black swan",4554,0,0,0
EN A swan native to \JAustralia\j and \JTasmania\j \I(\JCygnus\j atratus); \i now introduced in \JNew Zealand\j; nests in reed beds. Its name reflects its unusual colour. \B(Family:\b \JAnatidae\j.)
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"Black Thursday",4555,0,0,0
EN (24 Oct 1929) The date of the crash of the New York stock market that marked the onset of the \JGreat Depression\j.
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"Black Watch",4556,0,0,0
EN The name of a famous Highland regiment of the British Army; first raised in 1704, it derives from their distinctive, very dark tartan. The two battalions known as the 42nd and 73rd Foot were amalgamated in 1881, and given the traditional title.
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"black widow",4557,0,0,0
EN A medium-sized, dark-coloured \Jspider\j, found in warm regions world-wide. Its bite is venomous, containing a neurotoxin causing a set of symptoms known as \Ilactrodectism,\i including severe pain, nausea, and breathing difficulties. It is occasionally fatal. \B(Order:\b \JAraneae\j. \BFamily:\b Theridiidae.)
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"Black Zionism",4558,0,0,0
EN The term applied to quasi-nationalist, messianic movements founded among African-Americans and West Indians who look to Africa as a land from which their ancestors came as slaves. To them Africa is held in reverence, black history is held in pride, and there is a desire to return to the land of their forefathers.
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"Black, Conrad Moffat",4559,0,0,0
DT1 1944
EN London-based financier, born in Montreal, Canada. He studied at Carleton, Laval, and McGill universities, and became a businessman. He achieved control of Argus Corporation, a holding company controlling a large number of Canadian corporations, becoming chairman in 1979 and chief executive in 1985.
He repositioned himself in the newspaper business, buying London's \IDaily Telegraph\i (1985), Quebec's \ILe Soleil\i, \JOttawa\j's \ILe Droit\i, and over 40 small newspapers in the USA. He has also earned some attention as a commentator on economic and political affairs.
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"Black, Eugene Robert",4560,0,0,0
DT1 1898
DT2 1992
EN Banker, and president of the World Bank (1949-62), born in \JAtlanta\j, GA. He studied at the University of Georgia and became a banker on Wall Street. He joined the World Bank in 1947 as executive director, becoming president in 1949. He was instrumental in altering the emphasis of the Bank from post-World War 2 reconstruction to providing loans for economic development, particularly to the Third World.
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"Black, George",4561,0,0,0
DT 1891-1945
EN British impresario. He originated the Royal Variety Performances and injected the sumptuousness of revue into music-hall. As managing director of the General Theatre Corporation (1928) and Moss Empires Ltd (1933) he controlled 40 halls, including the London \JPalladium\j, where, by conflating three teams of comedians, he created the Crazy Gang (U-Kay for sound, 1936-7). His lavish revues at the Hippodrome included The Fleet's Lit Up (1938), Black Velvet (1939) and Black Varieties (1941).
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"Black, Harold Stephen",4562,0,0,0
DT (1898-1983)
EN electrical engineer, inventor; born in Leominster, Mass. After graduating from Worcester \JPolytechnic\j Institute in 1921 he went to work for Western Electric, where after six years of persistent research he solved the problem of distortion in \Jtelephone\j communications with the invention of a negative \Jfeedback\j amplifier. His later research centered on developing a negative \Jfeedback\j system for the blind and deaf.
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"Black, Hugo (La Fayette)",4563,0,0,0
DT (1886-1971)
EN Supreme Court justice; born in Harlan, Ala. As a senator from \JAlabama\j (Dem.; 1927-37) he supported the policies of President Franklin Roosevelt, who appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court. Soon after he took his seat, it was revealed that he had once belonged to the Ku Klux Klan; he explained it as a youthful indiscretion and went on to serve one of the longest terms (1937-71). He was noted for holding "absolutely" to the Constitution, especially to the rights set forth in the First Amendment.
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"Black, Jeremiah (Sullivan)",4564,0,0,0
DT (1810-83)
EN judge, cabinet officer; born in Stony Creek, Pa. Apprenticed to a lawyer in 1827, he was admitted to the \JPennsylvania\j bar in 1830. After 15 years as a judge on the \JPennsylvania\j courts - including the \JPennsylvania\j Supreme Court - he served President James Buchanan as U.S. attorney general (1857-60), defending federal laws and the Democratic Party. In the secession crisis that followed Lincoln's election as president in November 1860, Buchanan appointed Black \Jsecretary of state\j (December 17, 1860-March 4, 1861) and he struggled in vain to maintain the union.
He antagonized so many in Congress that the Senate refused to confirm his appointment to the Supreme Court. Always rather temperamental and eccentric, he became despondent as the \JCivil War\j spread, but back in \JPennsylvania\j after 1861 he regained fame and fortune in \JCalifornia\j land cases. Opposed to Lincoln's disregard of \Jcivil rights\j during the war, he was one of President Andrew Johnson's legal advisers during his \Jimpeachment\j. He spent his last years engaging in various public controversies and in trying to regulate the railroads and corporations in his home state of \JPennsylvania\j.
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"Black, Joseph",4565,0,0,0
DT (1728-99)
EN British physician, chemist and physicist: pioneer of modern chemical logic; discoverer of latent heat and specific heat.
Black was born in \JBordeaux\j, where his Scots-Irish father was a wine merchant. Joseph was educated in \JBelfast\j, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Finally, he studied medicine. His work for his MD degree, expanded in a paper of 1756, is his major contribution to chemistry; it is a model of experiment and logic.
In particular, he saw the importance of recording changes of weight and he recognized the importance of gases. He studied the cycle of changes we would now express in formulae as follows: (note that Black knew his compounds by the names given in brackets; formulae and atomic theory came much later, but he understood the key relationships between the compounds):
CaCO\D3\d (\Jlimestone\j) + heat
\F(r)\n CaO (\Jquicklime\j) + CO\D2\d (fixed air)
CaO + H\D2\dO (\Jwater\j) \F(r)\n Ca(OH)\D2\d (slaked lime)
Ca(OH)\D2\d + CO\D2\d \F(r)\n CaCO\D3\d + H\D2\dO
Black showed that fixed air (CO\D2\d) is produced by \Jrespiration\j and fermentation, and by burning charcoal; that it behaves as an acid (eg in neutralizing an \Jalkali\j); and he deduced its presence in small quantities in the \Jatmosphere\j. He was a very popular lecturer at Glasgow and later in Edinburgh; one of his pupils was Benjamin Rush (1745-1813), who became the first professor of chemistry in America.
He taught Lavoisier's new views on chemistry when they appeared, but his own research moved to physics. About 1763 he showed that heat is necessary to produce a change of state from solid to liquid, or liquid to vapour, without a rise in \Jtemperature\j; e.g., ice at 0║ requires heat to form \Jwater\j at 0║.
He called this 'latent heat'. On this basis, he went on to distinguish clearly between heat and \Jtemperature\j; and he examined the different heat capacity of substances. Thus in physics, as in chemistry, he provided basic ideas essential for the subject to advance.
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"Black, Shirley Temple",4566,0,0,0
EN See Temple, Shirley
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"Black, Sir James",4567,0,0,0
DT1 1924
EN Pharmacologist, born in Uddingston, South Lanarkshire, WC Scotland, UK. He studied medicine at St Andrews, Scotland, then taught at various universities, in 1984 becoming professor of analytical \Jpharmacology\j at King's College, London.
His reasoning on how the heart's workload could be reduced led to the discovery of beta-blockers in 1964, and his deductions in 1972 on acid secretion in the \Jstomach\j resulted in the introduction of cimetidine in the treatment of \Jstomach\j ulcers. He shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1988.
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#
"Black, Sir Misha",4568,0,0,0
DT1 1910
DT2 77
EN British designer and writer on design, born in \JBaku\j, \JRussia\j. Trained as an architect, his early work was mainly in commercial exhibition design. He designed the famous pre-World War 2 cafes for Kardomah, becoming a consultant for the firm (1936-50). His outstanding post-war design work was for British Rail, London Transport, and P & O. He later became professor of industrial design at the Royal College of Art, London (1959-75).
MEX Gray, Milner Connorton
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#
"black-eyed Susan",4569,0,0,0
EN A slender annual climber \I(Thunbergia alata)\i native to S Africa; stems twining to 2┐m / 61/2┐ft; leaves opposite, heart-shaped; flowers tubular with five spreading bright-yellow lobes, and a dark purplish or black central eye. \B(Family:\b Acanthaceae.)
In \JNorth America\j, a member of the \Jgenus\j \IRudbeckia.\i
BK b
#
"Black-footed Cat",4570,0,0,0
EN \BLatin Name:\b \IFelis nigripes\i\b
\BSize:\b head and body 35-40 cm; tail 15-17 cm\b
\BWeight:\b 1-2 kg\b
\BDistribution:\b South Africa, \JNamibia\j and Botswana\b
This is the smallest cat in the world.
It lives in deserts and dry sandy plains where there are grass tussocks and scrubby bush to hide in. Its fur color provides good camouflage for this type of area - reddish-yellow with darker spots and lines of tawny and black blend well with the red desert soil and the contrasting colors of plants and rocks. The Black-footed Cat's feet are not completely black - only the soles.
A secretive animal it spends its days sleeping in old termite mounds (in some areas it is called the ant-hill tiger) or in the abandoned burrows of springhares and aardvarks. It comes out to hunt a couple of hours after sunset when it searches for mice, gerbils, spiders, lizards and beetles. Even though it is a good climber, it spends most of the time on the ground and will often dig to find food.
The Black-footed Cat has a very loud call - almost like a high-pitched roar - a possible aid in communicating for solitary desert dwellers.
Females are pregnant for almost 67 days when two or three young are born. If danger threatens, mother sounds an alarm call and the young ones will scatter or freeze until her "all-clear signal".
BK wan
#
"black-necked stork",4571,0,0,0
EN See jabiru
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#
"blackberry",4572,0,0,0
EN A \Jscrambling\j prickly shrub \I(Rubus fruticosus)\i with arching, biennial stems rooting at the tips; also known as \Bbramble.\b It is native to Europe, Mediterranean region, but has been introduced elsewhere, often forming extensive thickets. The leaves are divided into 3-5 toothed leaflets, flowers numerous, in terminal inflorescences, 5 petals, white or pale pink.
The 'berry' is an aggregate of 1-seeded carpels, not separating from the core-like receptacle when ripe. The plants are highly variable; many reproduce without cross-\Jfertilization\j, and form clonal populations regarded as microspecies, of which c.400 have been identified in Britain alone. \B(Family:\b Rosaceae.)
BK b
#
"blackbird",4573,0,0,0
EN A thrush native to Europe, N Africa, and S and W Asia, and introduced in \JNew Zealand\j \I(Turdus merula); \i inhabits woodland, scrub, and habitation; eats fruit, insects, and worms; male black with yellow bill; female brown. The name is also used for some American orioles.
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#
"blackbirding",4574,0,0,0
EN The recruiting of Pacific islanders ('Kanakas'), mostly for work on plantations in \JQueensland\j and \JFiji\j, from the 1860s to 1910. About 61┐000 islanders were taken to \JQueensland\j between 1863 and 1904. Despite criticisms, the trade was not a form of \Jslavery\j. Most came voluntarily, and under contract; about a quarter were tricked or forced.
BK b
#
"blackbody",4575,0,0,0
EN A perfect emitter of heat and light radiation. A \Jblackbody\j is a perfect absorber of radiation, and so appears black, since no light is reflected; but once in equilibrium it must emit as much radiant \Jenergy\j as it absorbs, so it is both a perfect absorber and emitter.
A good approximation to a \Jblackbody\j is formed by a small hole in a box, where the hole is the \Jblackbody\j, since light incident on the hole is lost inside the box. When the box is heated, \Jblackbody\j radiation in the form of light is emitted from the hole. At room \Jtemperature\j, \Jenergy\j emitted as \Jblackbody\j radiation is invisible infrared, so the hole appears black.
BK b
#
"blackbody radiation",4576,0,0,0
EN Light and heat radiation emitted by a \Jblackbody\j having a frequency distribution that depends only on the \Jtemperature\j of the \Jblackbody\j. At higher temperatures, higher frequency light predominates. According to the law independently formulated by Josef Stefan in 1879 and Ludwig Boltzmann in 1889, total \Jenergy\j emitted, \IE\i┐=┐\fs\n\IT\i\U4\u, where \fs\n is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant. The study of \Jblackbody\j radiation led Max Planck to suggest the quantization of light (1900). \JBlackbody\j radiation is the basis of optical pyrometry.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
(Notes: \Fn\n is the Greek letter "nu", pronounced "new". The word \Jblackbody\j is normally written as one word when it is used in this context. All temperatures are taken as absolute or Kelvin temperatures. A "blackbody" means an object which behaves like an ideal black body, as defined below.)
At the end of the 19th century, physics was faced with a problem. Gustav Kirchhoff had first raised the question of the radiation from a black body, one which absorbed all wavelengths and so must emit them when heated. But if it emits all frequencies, and if there are more high frequencies (just as there are more numbers between a thousand and a million than there are between one and a thousand), then virtually all of the radiation would come out in the high frequency range.
This was called the "ultraviolet catastrophe" (sometimes referred to as the "violet catastrophe"), because it should have led to catastrophic outpourings of \Jenergy\j at high frequencies. But the catastrophic picture was clearly wrong, because this effect was not observed in reality. Something had to be done, and two people made valiant attempts.
Wilhelm Wien (1864 - 1928) proposed in 1896 what we now call the Wien displacement law, which says that for a \Jblackbody\j, the product of the wavelength corresponding to the maximum radiancy and the thermodynamic \Jtemperature\j is a constant, the Wien displacement law constant.
That is,
\Fl\n\Dp\d T = b
where b is the Wien's displacement law constant, b which has a value of 2.897756 x 10\U-3\u m K, where the unit is metre Kelvin, arising because we are multiplying a wavelength by a \Jtemperature\j on the left hand side of the equation.
As a result, as the \Jtemperature\j rises, the maximum of the radiant \Jenergy\j shifts toward the shorter wavelength (higher frequency and \Jenergy\j) end of the spectrum. This is the "displacement" of the displacement law.
Wien's law worked well for high frequency (short wave length) radiation, but it was less successful with low frequency radiation. This was only to be expected, because Wien was attempting to come up with a practical equation to relate a set of experimental results, and he was actually barking up the wrong tree.
According to a law formulated in 1900 by Lord Rayleigh (1842 - 1919), and later modified by Sir James Jeans, for a black body at a \Jtemperature\j T, the radiancy R over a range of frequencies between \Fn\n and d\Fn\n is given by
R = 2 \Fp\n \Fn\n\U2\u k T/c\U2\u
where k is the Stefann-Boltzmann constant and c is the speed of light, a variable which, when squared, most people seem to think was invented (or at least first introduced into physics!) some years later by Albert Einstein. The Rayleigh-Jeans law (also called the Rayleigh-Jeans theory) went well with the Wien displacement law, because it covered the low frequencies, but neither completely filled the bill.
This is the point at which Max Planck came on the scene, with a fairly complex looking, though mathematically simple, empirical formula, now called the Planck radiation law, which covered the whole range. Two months later, Planck showed that this could be accounted for theoretically by making a simple assumption. It seemed radical at the time, but now it is a commonplace, and the basis for quantum theory: the \Jenergy\j distributed among the molecular oscillators is not continuous, as people had assumed, but instead is made up of a finite number of very small discrete amounts, each related to the frequency of the \Joscillation\j by the equation
e = h\Fn\n
where e is the \Jenergy\j, h is Planck's constant, and is the frequency of the radiation
The Planck constant is sometimes modified to the Dirac constant, which is simply Planck's constant divided by 2\Fp\n. The expression "hbar" is represented by the italic letter h with a cross-bar through the ascender. The hbar character is used in the Serbian language.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK b
#
"blackboy",4577,0,0,0
EN See grass tree
BK b
XCY y
#
"blackbuck",4578,0,0,0
EN A \Jgazelle\j native to India and \JPakistan\j \I(Antilope cervicapra); \i inhabits plains and scrubland; adult males blackish brown with white chin, white disc around eye, and white underparts; horns long, spiralling, ringed with ridges; females pale brown, hornless.
BK b
#
"Blackburn, Helen",4579,0,0,0
DT1 1842
DT2 1903
EN Social reformer, born in Knightstown, Co Kerry, Ireland. She moved with her family to London (1859), where she became secretary of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (1874-95). Her many publications include \IWomen's Suffrage: a Record of the Movement in the British Isles\i (1902).
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#
"Blackburn, Joseph (Clay Styles)",4580,0,0,0
DT (1838-1918)
EN U.S. representative/senator; born in Woodford County, Ky. A Confederate war veteran, he served in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Dem., Ky.; 1875-85) and the U.S. Senate (1885-97). He also served as governor of the \JPanama Canal\j Zone (1907-09).
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#
"Blackburn, Robert",4581,0,0,0
DT1 1885
DT2 1955
EN \JAircraft\j designer, born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. He designed his first plane in 1910, and founded the Blackburn \JAircraft\j Company in 1914 under contract to build military biplanes.
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#
"blackcap",4582,0,0,0
EN A warbler found in mature deciduous woodland from Europe to C and S \JSiberia\j \I(Silvia atricapilla); \i eats insects, fruit, and nectar. Many European birds migrate to African forests for the winter. \B(Family:\b Silviidae.)
BK b
#
"blackcock",4583,0,0,0
EN See black \Jgrouse\j
BK b
XCY y
#
"blackcurrant",4584,0,0,0
EN An aromatic species of currant \I(Ribes nigrum)\i native to Europe and temperate Asia. It is widely cultivated, producing edible black berries on new wood. \B(Family:\b Grossulariaceae).
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#
"Blacket, Edmund Thomas",4585,0,0,0
DT1 1817
DT2 83
EN Architect, born in London, England, UK. He arrived in Sydney in 1842, and was appointed chief architect for the diocese. He became government architect for \JNew South Wales\j (1849), returning to private practice in 1854 to design the new University of \JNew South Wales\j. His academic and ecclesiastical work, including cathedrals in Sydney and Perth, was Victorian Gothic in style, but in commercial designs he adopted classical forms.
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#
"Blackett, Patrick M(aynard) S(tuart) Blackett, Baron",4586,0,0,0
DT (1897-1974)
EN British physicist: used an improved Wilson \Jcloud\j chamber to make discoveries using cosmic rays.
Blackett, the son of a stockbroker, was educated at Osborne and Dartmouth Naval Colleges and saw action at sea in the battles of the Falkland Islands (1914) and Jutland (1916). He then studied physics at Cambridge and, continuing in research, made the first \Jcloud\j chamber photographs (1924) of the transmutation of \Jnitrogen\j into oxygen-17 by bombardment with alpha particles (\Jhelium\j nuclei). He was appointed to professorships in London (1933), Manchester (1937) and finally Imperial College, London (1953).
During the Second World War Blackett pioneered the use of operational research to produce economies in military resources, including work on submarine warfare, and also invented a new bomb- sight for \Jaircraft\j. After the war he was active in public affairs, opposing the growing role of nuclear weapons. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1948 .
The prize winning work was the construction, with Occhialini, of a \Jcloud\j chamber that underwent vapour expansion and took a photograph when two aligned Geiger counters were triggered. Blackett used the apparatus to identify the first \Jpositron\j to be seen following their prediction by Dirac; however while he sought further experimental confirmation C D Anderson's discovery of the \Jpositron\j was published first. He was made a life peer in 1969.
BK Scie
#
"blackface minstrelsy",4587,0,0,0
EN see minstrel show
BK Thea
#
"blackfish",4588,0,0,0
EN See pilot whale
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#
"blackfly",4589,0,0,0
EN A black-bodied \Japhid\j which feeds by sucking plant sap. \B(Order:\b \JHomoptera\j. \BFamily:\b Aphididae.)
BK b
#
"Blackfoot",4590,0,0,0
EN Three Algonkin-speaking Indian Groups (\JBlackfoot\j, Blood, Piegan) originally from the E who settled in Montana, USA and Alberta, Canada. Famous hunters and trappers, many died of starvation after the \Jbison\j were exterminated; others turned to farming and \Jcattle\j rearing. Population now c.32┐000 (1990 \Jcensus\j), chiefly on reservations.
BK b
#
"Blackfriars Theatre",4591,0,0,0
EN (London) Of the two theatres built in rooms formerly part of the Blackfriars monastery, the earlier dates from 1576 and was the first private London theatre. Richard Farrant, Deputy Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal, converted the old refectory into an intimate theatre seating about 100. Farrant's boys were effective rivals to the Boys of St Paul's. After Farrant's death in 1580, the two boys' companies were briefly united under John Lyly, but in 1584 the Blackfriars landlord recovered possession of his property.
In 1597 James Burbage bought several rooms in the Blackfriars, including the Parliament Chamber (66ft x 46ft), but his plan of conversion failed and he died leaving the unusable Blackfriars to his son, the actor Richard Burbage, who in 1600 leased it to Henry Evans, operating on behalf of the Children of the Chapel Royal. The artificial lighting and scenic refinements of the indoor stage, together with a faddish interest in boy performers, made the Blackfriars a formidable rival to the outdoor houses of the adult companies.
The repertoire included many of the finest plays of the period, but Evans's management ended in disorder in 1608. It was then that Richard Burbage brought the King's Men into occupation of the prized indoor theatre, although their first performances there may have been delayed until 1610. The playhouse remained in the company's possession until the closure of the theatres in 1642, after which it fell into disrepair.
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"blackjack",4592,0,0,0
EN A popular casino card game, derived from 15th-c European games. The object is to accumulate a score of 21 with at least two cards. Picture cards count as 10, the ace as either 1 or 11, and other cards according to their face value. A score of 21 with a picture card and an ace is called a \Jblackjack\j.
Multiple packs of cards are shuffled together and dealt face up from a mechanical 'shoe'. The original bets are placed before the first card is dealt. Some cards are dealt face down in the casino game. There are several variations.
BK b
#
"blackleg",4593,0,0,0
EN A debilitating disease of \Jcattle\j and sheep, characterized by swollen legs; can be fatal; also known as \Bblack legs\b or \Bblack quarter.\b
BK b
#
"blackmail",4594,0,0,0
EN The making of an unwarranted demand with menaces. The demand must be made with a view either to ensure gain for the person demanding or someone else or to ensure loss to another person. The demand is unwarranted unless the accused believes that he or she has reasonable grounds for the demand, and that the menaces are appropriate to reinforce the demand. In England and Wales, \Jblackmail\j is an offence under the Theft Act of 1968. In many US states, and also in Scotland, the crime of obtaining money or any other advantage by threats is termed \Iextortion.\i
BK b
#
"Blackman, Frederick Frost",4595,0,0,0
DT (1866-1947)
EN British plant physiologist: demonstrated that gas exchange occurs through leaf stomata.
Blackman was the eldest son in a family of 11 and followed his father in studying medicine. However, he never practised; he had been a keen botanist since his schooldays and in 1887 he moved to Cambridge as a science student, stayed to teach and never left.
In 1895 he showed experimentally that gas exchange between plant leaves and the air occurs through the stomata; it had been believed since 1832, but not proved, that these pores are the entry points for the exchange. In 1905 he put forward the principle of limiting factors: where a plant process depends on several independent factors, the overall rate is limited by the rate of the slowest factor.
This idea was offered by Liebig in the 1840s, but Blackman demonstrated it clearly by work on the effect of \Jtemperature\j, light and carbon dioxide availability on \Jphotosynthesis\j in the aquatic willow moss.
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#
"Blackmore, R(ichard) D(oddridge)",4596,0,0,0
DT1 1825
DT2 1900
EN Novelist, born in Longworth, Berkshire, S England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and was called to the bar in 1852, but poor health made him take to market gardening and literature in Teddington. \IClara Vaughan\i (1864) was the first of 15 novels, mostly with a Devonshire background, of which \ILorna Doone\i (1869) is his masterpiece and an accepted classic of the West Country.
SX m
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#
"Blackmun, Harry (Andrew)",4597,0,0,0
DT1 1908
EN Jurist, born in Nashville, Illinois, USA. He studied \Jmathematics\j and law at Harvard, and was called to the \JMinnesota\j bar in 1932. He was judge of the eighth circuit of the US Court of Appeals (1959--70), and in 1970 was nominated to the Supreme Court, where he was an effective influence in moderating the views of his more conservative colleagues. He retired in 1994.
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#
"Blackmur, R. P. (Richard Palmer)",4598,0,0,0
DT (1904-65)
EN literary critic, poet; born in Springfield, Mass. Self-educated, he became a prominent 1920s-1930s New Critic of modern literature, later writing involuted and difficult essays on critical theory. He also published three volumes of poems.
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#
"Blackpool",4599,0,0,0
EN 53░50N 3░03W, pop (1995e) 156 000. Town in NW Lancashire, NW England, UK; on the Irish Sea coast, 25 km/15 mi W of Preston; unitary authority from 1998; the largest holiday resort in N England, with an estimated 8.5 million visitors annually; railway; tourism, \Jelectronics\j, \Jengineering\j, transport equipment; conference centre; Tower (1894, based on Eiffel Tower), Grundy Art Gallery; ballroom dancing championships (summer); musical festival (summer); agricultural show (summer); football league team, \JBlackpool\j (Tangerines); illuminations (autumn).
BK Geog99
#
"blackshirts",4600,0,0,0
EN The colloquial name for members of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF), formed in October 1932. It derived from the colour of the uniforms worn at mass rallies and demonstrations organized by the BUF on the model of European Fascist parties. After clashes and disturbances in Jewish areas of London in 1936, the Public Order Act prohibited the wearing of uniforms by political groups.
BK b
#
"Blackstone, Harry",4601,0,0,0
DT (1885-1965)
EN magician; born in \JChicago\j. In a career that began in \Jvaudeville\j in 1904 and continued on to \Jtelevision\j in the 1960s, he enjoyed his greatest success touring with a full evening magic show (1920-50). Although he featured elaborate "effects" magic - a floating lightball, a vanishing birdcage - he was also adept at sleight-of-hand and card tricks, all abetted by his distinguished looks and bearing.
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#
"Blackstone, Sir William",4602,0,0,0
DT1 1723
DT2 80
EN Jurist, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and in 1746 was called to the bar. He became the first holder of the Vinerian chair of English law at Oxford (1758). MP for Hindon, Wiltshire (1761-70), and Principal of New Inn Hall, Oxford, he was made solicitor general to the queen (1763) and a judge of the court of common pleas (1770-80). From 1765 to 1769 he published his celebrated \ICommentaries on the Laws of England,\i which became the most influential exposition of English law.
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#
"blackthorn",4603,0,0,0
EN A deciduous spiny shrub \I(Prunus spinosa)\i growing to 6┐m / 20┐ft; flowers white, appearing before ovoid, toothed leaves; fruits \B(sloes)\b globular, blue-black with waxy bloom, edible but very tart, used for jams and wines. Native to Europe, it is probably one of the parents of plum. \B(Family:\b Rosaceae.)
BK b
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"blackwater fever",4604,0,0,0
EN An illness that has almost disappeared, but is still found among whites in the tropics; it occurs in cases of untreated or inadequately treated \Jmalaria\j due to \IPlasmodium falciparum.\i The name arises from the breakdown of red blood cells in the circulation, allowing the passage of the pigment haemoglobin into the urine, resulting in its dark colour.
BK b
#
"Blackwell, Antoinette Louisa Brown",4605,0,0,0
DT (1825-1921)
EN Congregational minister, author, feminist; born in Henrietta, N.Y. Inspired by evangelical revivals, she enrolled at Oberlin College, eventually studying \Jtheology\j, but as a woman was barred from a \Jtheology\j degree. After lecturing on women's rights and occasionally preaching at progressive churches, she was allowed ordination by the First Congregational Church (1853), becoming the first woman minister in an established Protestant denomination, but she soon resigned to become a Unitarian.
Married in 1854, she raised a large family but also taught and wrote, especially on behalf of women's rights. From 1908 to 1915 she was pastor of a Unitarian church in \JNew Jersey\j.
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#
"Blackwell, Betty Talbot",4606,0,0,0
DT (?1905-85)
EN editor; born in New York City. As longtime editor-in-chief of \IMademoiselle\i magazine (1937-71), she helped bring the world of high fashion to a mass audience.
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#
"Blackwell, Elizabeth",4607,0,0,0
DT (1821-1910)
EN British-US physician: the first woman to graduate in medicine in the USA and the first woman on the British Medical Register.
Elizabeth Blackwell was born in \JBristol\j and was taught by a tutor at home. When she was 11, the family emigrated to the USA and she went to school in New York. After the death of her father 6 years later, she became a teacher, but was not attracted to the work. She decided on a medical career, more as a challenge than as a vocation.
After many fruitless applications she was accepted by Geneva College in New York. This happened because the application was thought to be a student joke by a rival college and was accepted in like spirit. Honourably, they kept to their commitment and she graduated in 1849. After further studies in Paris and London she returned to New York in 1851, but found she was prevented from practising.
She gave lectures on hygiene, which brought useful social and professional contacts, and in 1853 opened a dispensary in a poor district of New York; from this the New York Infirmary for Women and Children emerged. With onset of the \JCivil War\j, plans for a medical school were shelved and Elizabeth Blackwell went to Europe to lecture on 'Medicine as a Profession for Ladies'. In 1859 she placed her name on the new British Medical Register, becoming the first women to do so.
She returned to the USA where her medical institute was opened in 1868. In 1869 she returned to Britain to practise medicine and later retired to Scotland. Elizabeth Blackwell influenced many women, by her example and lectures, to battle for acceptance into medical schools in their own country.
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#
"Blackwell, Emily",4608,0,0,0
DT (1826-1910)
EN physician; born in \JBristol\j, England. Emigrating with her family to America (1832), she was the product of a progressive education for the time and very much influenced by older sister Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in modern times to receive a medical degree. Although extremely shy, she followed Elizabeth into medicine. She was turned down by 11 medical schools, including Elizabeth's alma mater in Geneva, N.Y., and was forced to leave Rush Medical College in \JChicago\j (1852) after the state medical society censured the school for admitting a woman.
She eventually graduated from Western Reserve University in Cleveland (1854). She is best known for assisting Elizabeth with the development of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children. Noted for her pragmatism and administrative skills, Emily is credited with transforming a clinic into a working \Jhospital\j. She was left in charge of the institution (1858) when her sister pursued opportunities overseas; later she headed the \Jhospital\j's medical school (1869), serving as dean and professor of gynecology (1869-99).
A believer in coeducation, she disbanded the Women's Medical College when Cornell University Medical College admitted women (1898). Like her sister she was active in the social purity movement and never married.
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#
"Blackwell, Sir Basil (Henry)",4609,0,0,0
DT1 1889
DT2 1984
EN Publisher and bookseller, born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, SC England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and joined the family bookselling business in 1913, but also published independently, founding the Shakespeare Head Press (1921). He succeeded to the chairmanship in 1924, and from that time joined the family bookselling interest with that of publishing.
SX m
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#
"Blackwood, Algernon Henry",4610,0,0,0
DT1 1869
DT2 1951
EN Writer, born in Shooters Hill, south-east England, UK, Kent. He studied at Edinburgh University before working his way through Canada and the USA, as related in his \IEpisodes before Thirty\i (1923). His best-known novels are \IThe Centaur\i and \IJulius Le Vallon.\i His works reflect his taste for the \Jsupernatural\j and the occult, seen especially in his books of short stories, such as \IJohn Silence\i (1908), \ITongues of Fire\i (1924), and \ITales of the Uncanny and Supernatural\i (1949).
SX m
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#
"Blackwood, William",4611,0,0,0
DT1 1776
DT2 1834
EN Publisher, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. He established himself as a bookseller in Edinburgh in 1804, and in 1817 started \IBlackwood's Magazine.\i His sons \BAlexander Blackwood\b (1806-45) and \BRobert Blackwood\b (1808-52) took over the firm between 1834 and 1852, followed by \BJohn Blackwood\b (1818-79), who published all but one of George Eliot's novels.
SX m
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#
"bladder",4612,0,0,0
EN A rounded muscular organ situated in the pelvic cavity behind the front of the pelvic bone (the \Ipubis),\i but in children extending upwards into the main abdominal cavity. The bladder receives urine from the \Jkidneys\j via the ureters for temporary storage and eventual expulsion via the urethra (its capacity is c.600┐ml / 1.05 UK┐pt / 1.3 US┐pt). In males it is anatomically related to the prostate \Jgland\j, seminal vesicles, and \Ivas deferens; \i in females it is related to the vagina and uterus.
BK b
#
"bladder campion",4613,0,0,0
EN A species of campion \I(Silene vulgaris)\i native to Europe, Asia, and N Africa, in which the calyx-tube is inflated and bladder-like. \B(Family:\b Caryophyllaceae.)
BK b
#
"bladderwort",4614,0,0,0
EN A mostly aquatic carnivorous plant with finely divided leaves, the segments bearing tiny bladders; flowers 2-lipped, spurred, borne on a slender spike projecting above the \Jwater\j surface. The prey are insects or crustacea such as \IDaphnia,\i trapped in the tiny bladders; each bladder has a trap-door triggered when sensitive hairs are touched and springing inwards, sucking in the prey before the door closes again.
The traps reset themselves after the plant has absorbed any \Jnutrients\j from the breakdown of the prey. The species native to temperate regions are all free-floating aquatics, but those native to the tropics may be land plants or epiphytes. \B(Genus:\b \IUtricularia,\i 120 species. \BFamily:\b Utriculariaceae.)
BK b
#
"Bladud",4615,0,0,0
PN [\Bblay\bduhd]
EN A legendary king of Britain, who discovered the hot spring at Bath and founded the city. One story is that he was a leper who found that the mud cured him.
BK b
#
"blaeberry",4616,0,0,0
EN See \Jbilberry\j
BK b
XCY y
#
"Blaenau Gwent",4617,0,0,0
PN [\Bbliy\bniy \Bgwent\b]
EN pop (1995e) 73 300; area 109 sq km / 42 sq mi. County (unitary authority from 1996) in SE Wales, UK; administrative centre, Ebbw Vale; other chief towns, Tredegar, Abertillery; former \Jcoal\j mining area.
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#
"Blagg, Mary Adela",4618,0,0,0
DT (1858-1944)
EN British amateur astronomer; prepared the definitive uniform lunar nomenclature.
Mary Blagg was born in Cheadle, North Staffordshire, the eldest daughter of a solicitor, and lived there all her life. After education at home and boarding school in London she remained at home, occupying herself with voluntary social work. She had a natural aptitude for \Jmathematics\j and taught herself using her brothers' school books; later she had no difficulty in manipulating harmonic analysis. When in middle age she attended a course of University Extension lectures given in Cheadle, she became seriously interested in \Jastronomy\j.
She wished to do original work and her tutor pointed out the great need for a uniform lunar nomenclature. At that time there were many discrepancies between the maps of the principal selenographers, the same name attached to different formations and different names given to the same formation. In 1905 a committee was appointed by the International Association of Academies to attack the problem.
Mary Blagg was appointed by S A Saunder, a member of that committee, to collate the names given to all the lunar formations on existing maps of the moon and her resulting Collated List was published in 1913. In 1920 the International Astronomical Union was formed and Mary Blagg was appointed to its Lunar Commission.
She continued to work on lunar nomenclature and was appointed with Dr Mⁿller of Vienna to prepare a definitive list of names. Named Lunar Formations became the standard authority on lunar nomenclature (1935). The International Lunar Committee gave her name to a small lunar crater.
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"Blaik, Earl (Henry) 'Red'",4619,0,0,0
DT (1897-1989)
EN football coach; born in \JDetroit\j, Mich. After coaching seven successful seasons at Dartmouth (1934-40), where he introduced tougher discipline than was customary for Ivy League teams, he went on to West Point. As Army coach (1941-58) he produced two national champions (1944-45) and 13 of his teams were ranked in the top 20 by wire service polls.
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"Blaikie, William",4620,0,0,0
DT (1843-1904)
EN physical trainer; born in New York City. One of America's pioneer physical educators, he wrote the best-selling \IHow to Get Strong and How to Stay So\i (1879).
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"Blaine, James G(illespie)",4621,0,0,0
DT (1830-93)
EN U.S. representative/senator, \Jsecretary of state\j; born in West Brownsville, Pa. The son of a Scotch-Irish businessman, he taught at the \JPennsylvania\j Institute for the Blind (1852-54), earning his law degree at night. Moving to Maine, where his wife was from, he became an editor of the \IKennebec Journal\i and then the \IPortland Advertiser.\i He championed the new Republican Party in 1854 and became one of its founding members.
He served in the state legislature (1858-62), and went to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (1863-76); he supported black suffrage but opposed the Radical Republicans' harsh reconstruction measures. As Speaker of the House (1869-75) he allied with Western "Half-Breed" Republicans like James Garfield, alienating the powerful New Yorker Roscoe Conkling. Dubbed "The Plumed Knight" because of his image as a crusading liberal, in 1876 he was the leading candidate for the Republican nomination, but he lost out when the Democrats charged him with railroad grafting and Conkling supported Rutherford Hayes.
Moving up to the U.S. Senate (1876-81), he lost the 1880 presidential nomination to Garfield, whom he served as \Jsecretary of state\j in 1881. Blaine stayed in Washington to write \ITwenty Years of Congress.\i The Republican presidential candidate in 1884, he lost to Grover Cleveland. Choosing not to run in 1888, he became President Benjamin Harrison's \Jsecretary of state\j (1889-92) championing Pan Americanism and the annexation of Hawaii.
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"Blainey, Geoffrey Norman",4622,0,0,0
DT1 1930
EN Social historian, born in Melbourne, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. He studied at Melbourne University, where he became professor of economic history (emeritus since 1988). In 1966 \IThe Tyranny of Distance\i showed how geographical isolation had shaped the history and the people of \JAustralia\j. \ITriumph of the Nomads\i (1975) and \IA Land Half Won\i (1980) completed his trilogy, \IA Vision of Australian History\i.
He reached a wide popular audience through his books, as well as a \Jtelevision\j programme \IThe Blainey View\i, and became well known in the 1980s for his controversial views on \Jimmigration\j to \JAustralia\j.
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"Blainville's Beaked Whale",4623,0,0,0
EN \B\BFamily:\b Ziphiidae\b \I(beaked whales)\i\b
\BScientific Name: \IMesoplodon densirostris\i\b
\BIdentification:\b
Length at birth not known, estimated 8 ft (2.4 m) or less. Adults about 15 ft (4.5 m), maximum length for males 19 ft (5.8 m), females 15.5 ft (4.71 m), and weights of up to 2,271 lbs (1,030 kg) have been recorded.
Males apparently uniformly dark gray, juveniles and adult females medium gray dorsally and white ventrally. The body is robust, the head and tail regions narrow. The melon is very low, the beak thick and moderately long. The lower jaw rises high on either side where it flanks the upper jaw.
A massive tooth with a prominent denticle is present on the highest part of the lower jaw on each side in males, rising above the upper jaw. Teeth are present but do not erupt in females. The prominent, backward-curved dorsal fin is situated 60-70 per cent of the distance from the rostrum to the tail.
Believed to occur in small groups, although seldom seen at sea as they seem to be wary of vessels. Groups of 3-7 have been reported off Hawaii.
Food includes \Jsquid\j, and some fish.
\BDistribution\b
Tropical and warm temperate waters of all oceans. Thought to live further offshore than other members of the \Jgenus\j.
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"Blair, Emily Jane Newell",4624,0,0,0
DT (1877-1951)
EN political activist, writer; born in Japon, Mont. She attended college, married, and published fiction before beginning her political career as a suffragist (1914). After rising to national vice-chairman of the Democratic Party (1922-28), she worked to elect women to public office. A prolific writer, she was also appointed to several high-level governmental posts in the 1930s and 1940s.
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"Blair, Eric Arthur",4625,0,0,0
EN See Orwell, George
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"Blair, Francis Preston",4626,0,0,0
DT (1791-1876)
EN journalist; born in Abingdon, Va. A founding editor of the Washington, D.C. \IGlobe,\i a Democratic party paper, in 1830, he was a member of President Andrew Jackson's "kitchen cabinet" of advisers. For a time he also published the \ICongressional Globe,\i a predecessor of the \ICongressional Record.\i Opposed to the extension of \Jslavery\j, he helped organize the Republican Party and became a close adviser to Abraham Lincoln.
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"Blair, Harold",4627,0,0,0
DT1 1924
DT2 76
EN Tenor, born near \JCherbourg\j, \JQueensland\j, \JAustralia\j, of an Aboriginal mother and an Italian father. After winning a talent competition on radio, he was accepted by the Melbourne \JConservatory\j. He became the first Aborigine to gain a Diploma in Music (1949), and left to tour the USA. Returning to \JAustralia\j in 1951, he joined the ABC Jubilee Tour to all capital cities. His latent interest in politics led to his standing, unsuccessfully, for the Victorian State parliament (1963), after which he worked for the South Australian Department of Aboriginal Affairs before returning to Victoria to teach music.
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"Blair, John",4628,0,0,0
DT (1732-1800)
EN Supreme Court justice; born in Williamsburg, Va. He attended the Constitutional Convention (1787) and signed the U.S. Constitution. Known for his support of a strong national government, President Washington appointed him to the first U.S. Supreme Court (1789-96).
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"Blair, Robert",4629,0,0,0
DT1 1699
DT2 1746
EN Poet and preacher, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. He studied at Edinburgh University, and in 1731 was ordained minister of Athelstaneford, East Lothian. He is best known as the author of \IThe Grave\i (1743), a blank-verse poem which heralded the 'churchyard school' of poetry.
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"Blair, Tony",4630,0,0,0
DT1 1953
EN British politician and prime minister (1997-- ), born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. Educated in Edinburgh, he studied law at Oxford, and was called to the bar in 1976. He was elected Labour MP for Sedgefield in 1983, becoming his party's spokesperson on Treasury affairs (1985--7) and trade and industry (1987--8).
He joined the shadow cabinet in 1988, becoming responsible for \Jenergy\j (1988), employment (1989), and home affairs (1992). He was elected leader of the Labour Party in 1994 and led it to power in a landslide victory in 1997. His wife, \BCherie Blair\b, is also a \Jbarrister\j.
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"Blaise or Blasius, St",4631,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2a c.
DT2 316
EN Armenian clergyman and martyr, born in Sebastia, \JCappadocia\j. Made Bishop of Sebastia, he is said to have suffered martyrdom during a period of persecution. Woolcombers claim him as their patron, and he is invoked in case of throat trouble and \Jcattle\j disease. Feast \Jday\j 3 February.
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"Blake, (James Hubert) Eubie",4632,0,0,0
DT (1883-1983)
EN composer, pianist; born in Baltimore, Md. He studied \Jpiano\j as a child and sang outside saloons in a vocal quartet at age 12. While a teenager he began playing \Jpiano\j at bordellos, traveling in minstrel shows, and playing in fine hotels in Baltimore and \JAtlantic City\j. He published his first song in 1914; in 1915 he met Noble Sissle, who soon became his lyricist; in 1916 they began their long collaboration, producing many classic \Jragtime\j hits and performing as the "The Dixie Duo." They also wrote their first Broadway show, the famous all-black musical, \IShuffle Along\i (1921) (including "I'm Just Wild About Harry").
For the next decades, Blake continued his career, writing songs and musicals, sometimes with Sissle, sometimes with other lyricists; Andy Razaf was the lyricist of Blake's signature song "Memories of You" (1930). He led orchestras, toured during World War II, and helped found the Negro Actors Guild; he and Sissle brought an updated \IShuffle Along \Iof 1952\i to Broadway, but it flopped.
By now Blake had slipped into retirement and was largely forgotten until his music was discovered in the late 1960s and he found himself honored as an American original. The musical \IEubie\i (1978) was an anthology of his songs. He performed in public almost until his death.
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"Blake, Eugene (Carson)",4633,0,0,0
DT (1906-85)
EN Protestant clergyman; born in St. Louis, Mo. Educated at Princeton, he held pastorates in New York and \JCalifornia\j before becoming a senior administrator of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. From 1967-72 he was general secretary of the World Council of Churches, in which role he advanced his dream of a "truly reformed, truly catholic, and truly evangelical" church.
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"Blake, Nicholas",4634,0,0,0
EN See Day-Lewis, C(ecil)
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"Blake, Peter",4635,0,0,0
DT1 1932
EN Artist, born in Dartford, Kent, SE England, UK. From the mid-1950s, while still a student at the Royal College of Art, he became a pioneer of the Pop Art movement in Britain, using media imagery from sources such as comics, advertisements, and popular magazines. His most widely known work is the cover design for the Beatles' LP \ISergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band\i (1967).
\BMajor Works\b
1967 Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
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"Blake, Quentin (Saxby)",4636,0,0,0
DT1 1932
EN Children's writer and illustrator, born in London, England, UK. He read English at Cambridge, and became a freelance illustrator, producing cartoons for \IPunch\i and other periodicals. Acclaimed for his illustrations in the books of Russell Hoban, Roald Dahl, and other children's authors, he also produced books of his own, such as \IMister Magnolia\i (Kate Greenaway Medal), and \IThe Quentin Blake Book of Nonsense Verse\i and \I... Nonsense Stories\i (both 1996). He was head of the Department of Illustration at the Royal College of Art (1978--86), and became a visiting professor there in 1989.
\BMajor Works\b
\IWriter and illustrator\i
1968 Patrick
1969 Jack and Nancy
1970 Angelo
1973 Snuff
1977 The Adventures of Lester
1980 Mr Magnolia
1983 Quentin Blake's Nursery Rhyme Book
1984 The Story of the Dancing Frog
1987 Mrs Armitage on Wheels
1989 Quentin Blake's ABC
1990 All Join In
1991 Cockatoos
1993 Simpkin
1995 Clown
1996 The Quentin Blake Book of Nonsense Stories
\IWriter, non-fiction\i
1995 La Vie de la Page
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"Blake, Robert",4637,0,0,0
DT1 1599
DT2 1657
EN English naval commander, born in Bridgwater, Somerset, south-west England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and led the life of a quiet country gentleman until he was 40. Returned for Bridgwater in 1640 to the Short Parliament, he cast in his lot with the parliamentarians. In the \JCivil War\j his defence of \JTaunton\j (1644-5) against overwhelming odds proved a turning point in the war.
Appointed admiral in 1649, he destroyed Prince Rupert's fleet and captured the Scilly Is and Jersey. In the first Dutch War (1652-4) he defeated Tromp at the Battle of Portland (1653) and shattered Dutch supremacy at sea. He destroyed the Barbary Coast pirate fleet off \JTunis\j (1655), and destroyed a Spanish treasure fleet at Santa Cruz off \JTenerife\j (1657).
MEX Rupert; Tromp, Maarten; Sandwich, 1st Earl of
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"Blake, William",4638,0,0,0
DT1 1757
DT2 1827
EN Poet, painter, engraver, and mystic, born in London England, UK. After studying at the Royal Academy School he began to produce watercolour figure subjects and to engrave illustrations for magazines. His first book of poems, \IPoetical Sketches\i (1783), was followed by \ISongs of Innocence\i (1789) and \ISongs of Experience\i (1794), which contain some of his best-known lines (such as 'Tyger! Tyger! burning bright') and express his ardent belief in the freedom of the imagination and his hatred of rationalism and \Jmaterialism\j.
His mystical and prophetical works include the \IBook of Thel\i (1789), \IThe Marriage of Heaven and Hell\i (1791), and \IThe Song of Los\i (1795), which mostly have imaginative designs interwoven with their text, printed from copper treated by a peculiar process, and coloured by his own hand or that of his wife, \BCatherine Boucher.\b Among his designs of poetic and imaginative figure subjects are a series of 537 coloured illustrations to Edward Young's \INight Thoughts\i (1797). His finest artistic work is to be found in the 21 \IIllustrations to the Book of Job\i (1826), completed when he was almost 70.
MEX Varley
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#
"Blakelock, Ralph (Albert)",4639,0,0,0
DT (1847-1919)
EN painter; born in New York City. He studied medicine but became a landscape painter during the 1860s. He was committed to an insane asylum in 1899. After his release (1916), he never painted again. His moody and evocative pictures, such as \IIndian Encampment\i (c. 1870), and \IMoonlight\i (1886) have ensured his reputation.
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"Blakely, Colin (George Edward)",4640,0,0,0
DT 1930-87
EN British actor. He joined the National Theatre company under Laurence Olivier in 1963, where he achieved immediate success as the rugged adventurer, Pizarro, in Peter Shaffer's The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964). Equally successful as Titus Andronicus in a Royal Shakespeare Company production as in a play by Harold Pinter (Old Times, 1972), he starred in the West End, with the national companies, in films, TV and in fringe theatre. Dramatically untheatrical, Blakely brought a special authenticity to his various roles. The audience was drawn into what seemed an intimate eavesdropping on human life.
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"Blakemore, Colin (Brian)",4641,0,0,0
DT1 1944
EN British physiologist. He studied at Cambridge, \JCalifornia\j, and Oxford universities, then worked at Cambridge (1968--79), and has been professor of \Jphysiology\j at Oxford since 1979. He also holds posts in Oxford as director of the Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience (1989) and associate director of the Centre in Brain and Behaviour (1991).
He gave the BBC Reith lectures in 1976, and was the presenter of the BBC TV series \IThe Mind Machine\i in 1988. He received the Royal Society's Michael \JFaraday\j Award in 1989.
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"Blakemore, Michael (Howell)",4642,0,0,0
DT 1928-
EN Australian-born actor and director. He studied in London and, after a period as an actor, in 1966 he was appointed co-director of the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre, where his sensitive productions of Peter Nichols's A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1967) and Brecht's Arturo Ui attracted attention. His association with the work of Peter Nichols continued with successful productions of Forget-me-not Lane (1971), The National Health (1969) at the National Theatre and Privates on Parade with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Laurence Olivier invited him to become an associate artistic director of the National Theatre in 1971, where he directed Long Day's Journey into Night (with Olivier as Tyrone), The Front Page, The Cherry Orchard and Plunder. He returned to being a freelance director in Britain and \JAustralia\j, directing Michael Frayn's hit \Jfarce\j, Noises Off (1982). In 1987 he directed the West End premiere of Peter Shaffer's Lettice and Lovage and a revival of Arthur Miller's After the Fall at the NT (1990).
After staging the premiere of Miller's The Ride down Mount Morgan (1991) in London, he directed his first major musical, Larry Gelbart's City of Angels in the USA, which triumphantly transferred to London in 1993.
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"Blakeslee, Albert (Francis)",4643,0,0,0
DT (1874-1954)
EN botanist; born in Geneseo, N.Y. After teaching in several American institutions and serving on collecting expeditions in Venezuela (1903) and Europe (1904-06), he became a professor at the Connecticut Agricultural College (1907-15). He then joined the Carnegie Station for Experimental Evolution, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (1912-41, director 1936-41). He moved to Columbia University (1940-52), then Smith College (1942-54).
Blakeslee used the chemical colchicine to induce polyploidy (multiplication of the number of chromosomes) to produce extra-large flowers, thus enabling commercial production of seeds for giant blooms. He also investigated sexuality in the common bread mold and mutations in Jimson weed, and he studied the inheritance of taste and smell.
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"Blakeslee, George H. (Hubbard)",4644,0,0,0
DT (1871-1954)
EN professor, diplomat; born in Geneseo, N.Y. He taught history at Clark University (1903-44). His diplomatic career (1921-46) included participation in the Lytton Commission (1932), which recommended economic sanctions against \JJapan\j, and membership in the American delegation to the Far Eastern Advisory Commission (1945-46). He assisted in formulating U.S. policy in \JJapan\j after World War II.
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"Blakeslee, Howard (Walter)",4645,0,0,0
DT (1880-1952)
EN journalist, science writer; born in New Dungeness, Washington Territory. Expelled from the University of \JMichigan\j for his student reporting - he later received an honorary degree (1935) - he eventually became a reporter and science writer for the Associated Press (1928-52).
He and four colleagues received the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting. His long career in journalism (1901-52) was highlighted by his pioneering reporting of the growth of science in American life. He reported on the atomic bomb tests at Bikini (1946) and wrote \IAtomic Progress, The \JHydrogen\j Race\i (1951).
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"Blakey, Art",4646,0,0,0
DT (1919-90)
EN jazz musician; born in \JPittsburgh\j, Pa. An influential drummer, he performed with Billy Eckstine's big band between 1944-47 and freelanced on numerous recordings. From 1954 until his death, he led the Jazz Messengers, a combo he consistently renewed with outstanding young players. He was a proselytizer for jazz and a leading exponent of "hard bop," an explosive style characterized by a strong backbeat and bluesy lyricism.
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"Blalock, Alfred",4647,0,0,0
DT (1899-1964)
EN surgeon, educator; born in Culloden, Ga. From 1925 to 1941 he was head of the surgery department at Vanderbilt University's school of medicine. He conducted experiments to establish that "shock" was the result of drastic loss of blood from the vascular system (1928-30). This led to the practice of treating wounded soldiers with blood substitutes and plasma.
He became chairman of the Department of Surgery at Johns Hopkins (1941); there he and his colleagues performed the first total removal of the \Jthymus\j \Jgland\j; and in 1944, following through on the idea of Helen Taussig, he performed the first successful heart surgery on a "blue baby."
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"Blamey, Sir Thomas Albert",4648,0,0,0
PN [\Bblay\bmee]
DT1 1884
DT2 1951
EN Australian field marshal, born in Wagga Wagga, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. He joined the regular army in 1906, attended Staff College at \JQuetta\j, and became chief-of-staff of the Australian Corps in 1918. At the outbreak of World War 2 he was given command of the Australian Imperial Forces in the \JMiddle East\j. On the establishment of the south-west Pacific Command he led Allied land forces in \JAustralia\j (1942), and received the Japanese surrender in 1945.
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"Blampied, Edmund",4649,0,0,0
DT1 1886
DT2 1966
EN Artist, born in Jersey, Channel Is. He is best known for his etchings which depict everyday farming life, in particular horses and peasants. During the German occupation he designed the Jersey occupation stamps, and later the Channel Islands 'victory' issue.
SX m
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#
"Blanc, (Jean Joseph Charles) Louis",4650,0,0,0
PN [blπ]
DT1 1811
DT2 82
EN French statesman and historian, born in Madrid. His chief work on \Jsocialism\j, the \IOrganisation du travail\i (1840, The Organisation of Labour), denounces the principle of competitive industry and proposes the establishment of co-operative workshops, subsidized by the state.
After the revolution of 1848, he was appointed a member of the provisional government, but was forced to flee to England. On the fall of the empire, he returned to \JFrance\j, and was elected in 1871 to the National Assembly, and in 1876 to the Chamber of Deputies.
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#
"Blanc, Mont",4651,0,0,0
EN See Mont Blanc
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#
"Blanchard, Jean Pierre Francois",4652,0,0,0
PN [blπshah(r)]
DT1 1753
DT2 1809
EN Balloonist, and inventor of the parachute, born in Les Andelys, \JFrance\j. With John Jeffries he was the first to cross the English Channel by \Jballoon\j, from Dover to \JCalais\j, in 1785. He was killed during practice parachute jumps from a \Jballoon\j.
MEX Jeffries, John
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#
"Blanchard, Thomas",4653,0,0,0
DT (1788-1864)
EN inventor; born in Sutton, Mass. A clever tinkerer from early age, he devised an automatic tack-making machine and a \Jlathe\j for turning gun barrels. Working at the U.S. Arsenal in Springfield, Mass., in 1818 he built a \Jlathe\j that could automatically produce precision interchangeable parts - an essential step in the direction of mass production. He later designed a steam \Jautomobile\j (1825) and several types of steamboats.
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"Blanchflower, Danny",4654,0,0,0
HS , popular name of \BRobert Dennio Blanchflower\b
DT1 1926
DT2 93
EN Footballer, born in \JBelfast\j. Studious, cultured and articulate when off-field, he was a powerful influence in the Northern Ireland side which reached the World Cup quarter finals in 1958. Transferring from Aston Villa to Tottenham Hotspur, he masterminded the London club's double success in the League and the FA Cup (1960-1).
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#
"Blanda, (George) Frederick",4655,0,0,0
DT1 1927
EN Player of \JAmerican football\j, born in Youngwood, \JPennsylvania\j, USA. He studied at the University of Kentucky before joining the National Football League \JChicago\j Bears (1949). He moved to the American Football League Houston Oilers (1960), and was traded to the Oakland Raiders (1967) before retiring (1976). During his career he established records in all areas of the game, and was elected to the Football Hall of Fame (1981).
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#
"Blandrata or Biandrata, Giorgio",4656,0,0,0
PN [bland\Brah\bta]
DT1a c.
DT1 1515
DT2 88
EN Physician and theologian, born in Saluzzo, \JItaly\j, the founder of Unitarianism in \JPoland\j and \JTransylvania\j. The freedom of his religious opinions compelled him to flee to Geneva in 1556, where he became a member of a Calvinist congregation, but in 1558 Calvin's displeasure at his anti-Trinitarianism drove him to \JPoland\j. In 1563 he became physician to John Sigismund, Unitarian Prince of \JTransylvania\j.
MEX Calvin, John
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#
"blank verse",4657,0,0,0
EN Regular but unrhymed verse, in any metre but most usually the iambic \Jpentameter\j of Shakespeare's plays, Milton's \IParadise Lost,\i and Wordsworth's \IPrelude.\i
BK b
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"Blankers-Koen, Fanny",4658,0,0,0
PN [kern]
HS , popular name of \BFrancina Blankers-Koen\b
DT1 1918
EN Athlete, born in \JAmsterdam\j, The Netherlands. She dominated women's events in the London Olympics of 1948, winning four gold medals: the 100┐m and 200┐m, the 80┐m hurdles, and the 4x100┐m relay.
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#
"Blanqui, (Louis) Auguste",4659,0,0,0
PN [blπkee]
DT1 1805
DT2 81
EN Revolutionary, born in Puget-ThΘniers, \JFrance\j. An extremist, he worked from 1830 at building up a network of secret societies committed to violent revolution. He spent 33 years in prison, and was in prison in 1871 when he was elected president of the revolutionary Commune of Paris. In 1881 his followers, known as \IBlanquists,\i joined the Marxists.
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"Blantyre",4660,0,0,0
PN [blan\Btiyr\b]
EN 14░46N 35░00E, pop (1995e) 445 000. Town in Southern region, S Malawi; altitude 1040 m/3412 ft; Church of Scotland mission founded here, 1876; named after David Livingstone's birthplace in Scotland; airport; railway; Malawi's main commercial and industrial centre; trade in tea, \Jcoffee\j, \Jrubber\j; brewing, distilling, hides and skins, crafts; museum, two cathedrals, Kapachira Falls nearby.
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"Blarney",4661,0,0,0
EN 51░56N 8░34W, pop (1995e) 2030. Small village in Cork county, Munster, S Ireland; 8 km/5 mi NW of Cork; visitors to Blarney Castle are supposed to gain the power of eloquent speech as they hang upside down to kiss the Blarney Stone; legend dates from the 16th-c, when Lord Blarney, by pure loquaciousness, avoided acknowledging to Queen Elizabeth's deputy that the lands of Blarney were held as a grant from the Queen and not as a chiefship.
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#
"Blasco Ibß±ez, Vicente",4662,0,0,0
PN [\Bbla\bskoh ee\Bvah\bnyeth]
DT1 1867
DT2 1928
EN Novelist, born in Valencia, \JSpain\j. He dealt in realistic fashion with provincial life and social revolution. Notable works are \ISangre y arena\i (1909, Blood and Sand), and \ILos cuatro jinetes del Apocalipsis\i (1916, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse), which vividly portrays World War 1 and earned him world fame.
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#
"Blashfield, Edwin (Howland)",4663,0,0,0
DT (1848-1936)
EN painter; born in New York City. He studied in Paris (1867), and returned to America to paint large murals, such as the one commissioned for the \JChicago\j World's Fair of 1893.
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"Blashford-Snell, Colonel John",4664,0,0,0
DT1 1936
EN Explorer and youth leader, born in Hereford, Hereford and Worcester, WC England, UK. He trained at Sandhurst, and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers (1957). He participated in over 40 expeditions, and led the Blue Nile (1968), British Trans-Americas (1972), and Zaire River (1975/84) expeditions under the aegis of the Scientific Exploration Society.
He then went on to lead two major youth projects: Operation Drake (1978--80) and Operation Raleigh, which involved over 4000 young people in adventurous scientific and community projects in over 73 countries (1984--8).
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"Blasis, Carlo",4665,0,0,0
PN [\Bbla\bsees]
DT1 1797
DT2 1878
EN Dancer, choreographer, and teacher, born in Naples, \JItaly\j. He danced in \JFrance\j, \JItaly\j, London, and \JRussia\j, and became director of the Dance Academy in Milan in 1837. He was the author of noted treatises on the codification of ballet technique (1820, 1840, 1857), and is regarded as the most important ballet teacher of the 19th-c.
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#
"Blasius, St",4666,0,0,0
EN See Blaise or Blasius, St
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#
"blasphemy",4667,0,0,0
EN Any word, sign, or action which intentionally insults the goodness of or is offensive to God. Until the Enlightenment, it was punishable by death. Blasphemy was classed as heretical if it openly asserted something contrary to faith, and as non-heretical if it involved careless or insulting speech about God.
In many Christian countries, it is technically a crime, and is extended to include the denial or ridicule of God, Christ, or the \JBible\j; but the law is seldom if ever invoked. It is also a crime in certain non-Christian (eg Islamic) countries. The contemporary relevance and range of application of the law of blasphemy became a particular issue in the UK in 1989, following the publication of Salman Rushdie's book, \IThe Satanic Verses.\i
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#
"Blass, Bill",4668,0,0,0
DT1 1922
EN Fashion designer, born in Fort Wayne, \JIndiana\j, USA. He began his New York fashion career in 1946, joining Maurice Rentner Ltd in 1959 (it became Bill Blass Ltd after 1970). The winner of eight Coty Awards, he created high-priced, beautifully cut and tailored women's wear notable for its inventive combinations of patterns and textures.
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#
"blast furnace",4669,0,0,0
EN A furnace used for the primary reduction of iron ore to iron. Ore, coke, and \Jlimestone\j (which acts as a flux to remove \Jsilica\j) are loaded into the top of a tall furnace lined with mineral heat-resisting substances (such as fire-clay), in which the combustion of the coke is intensified by a pre-heated blast of air. At the \Jtemperature\j produced by the several chemical reactions taking place, the iron ore is reduced to iron, which runs to the bottom of the furnace, where it is either tapped off and solidified as \Jpig-iron\j, or conveyed while still molten to other plant for steel-making.
This iron contains a high proportion of carbon, and is the starting material for other steel-making and iron-founding processes. The complete blast furnace layout includes other structures for heating the blast and utilizing combustible furnace gases. The world's first recorded blast furnace was built in China, 28 BC.
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"blastula",4670,0,0,0
PN [\Bblas\btyula]
EN An early embryonic stage in the development of multicellular animals. It typically consists of a hollow sphere of cells.
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"Blatch, Harriet (Eaton Stanton)",4671,0,0,0
DT (1856-1940)
EN women's rights activist; born in Seneca Falls, N.Y. (daughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton). A graduate of Vassar College (1878), she began to help her mother and Susan B. Anthony compile their \IHistory of Woman Suffrage\i (eventually 6 vols. 1881-1922). Upon marrying an Englishman, she lived in England (1882-92) where she became involved in women's suffrage and other progressive causes and came to know many of the leading British socialists.
When she and her husband moved to the U.S.A., she launched her own suffrage organization, the Equality League of Self-Supporting Women (1907); in 1908 it was renamed the Women's Political Union in America and in 1916 it merged with the Congressional Union. During World War I she directed her efforts to organizing women in support of America's role in the war; after the war she wrote \IA Woman's Point of View\i (1920), in which she called on women to work to prevent any future wars.
She continued to support liberal causes including an Equal Rights Amendment for women and the \JLeague of Nations\j, and in the 1920s she ran unsuccessfully as a political candidate for the Socialist Party. Her bluntness, militancy, and insistence on her own goals often left her on the fringe of the mainstream movements.
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"Blatchford, Samuel",4672,0,0,0
DT (1820-93)
EN Supreme Court justice; born in New York City. Appointed by President Grant to a federal district court (1867), he rose to circuit judge in 1872. President Arthur appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court (1882-93) where he was known for his expertise in patent law.
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"Blattaria",4673,0,0,0
EN See cockroach
BK b
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#
"Blaue Reiter, der",4674,0,0,0
PN [\Bblow\ber \Briy\bter]
HS (Ger 'blue rider')
EN See Campendonck, Heinrich; Kandinsky, Wasily; Klee, Paul; Macke, August
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#
"Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna",4675,0,0,0
PN [bla\Bvat\bskee]
HS , \InΘe\i \BHahn,\b known as \BMadame Blavatsky\b
DT1 1831
DT2 91
EN Theosophist, born in Yekaterinoslav, \JUkraine\j. She had a brief marriage in her teens to a Russian general, but left him and travelled widely in the East. She went to the USA in 1873, and in 1875, with Henry Steel Olcott, founded the Theosophical Society in New York City, later carrying on her work in India. Her psychic powers were widely acclaimed, but did not survive investigation by the Society for Psychical Research. However, this did not deter her large following, which included Annie Besant.
MEX Besant, Annie; Olcott
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#
"blazar",4676,0,0,0
PN [\Bblay\bzah(r)]
EN A type of extremely luminous extragalactic object, similar to a \Jquasar\j except that the optical spectrum is almost featureless.
BK b
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"blazonry",4677,0,0,0
EN The science of describing the pictorial devices used in \Jheraldry\j. The basic colour \I(tincture)\i or background of the shield is known as the \Ifield,\i and this is overlaid with heraldic signs \I(charges).\i At their simplest, charges are broad bands, such as the vertical \Ipale,\i or narrower stripes, such as the horizontal \Ifess.\i
The basic charges are called \Iordinaries; \i more fanciful ones depict a vast range of subjects, from real and mythological creatures to scientific instruments. The \Ihelm\i or helmet appears above the shield, and denotes the rank of the bearer.
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"bleaching",4678,0,0,0
EN The removal of the colour of textiles or other materials, such as paper. It was traditionally carried out on textiles by exposure to sunlight (until the late 18th-c.) After the discovery of \Jchlorine\j by Scheele (1774), and its bleaching power by Berthollet (1785), most bleaching was done by chemical means.
\BBleaching powder\b was used in immense quantities until its eventual replacement in the 1920s by cheap pure \Jchlorine\j and sodium hypochlorite. So-called \Boptical bleaches\b do not remove colour, but add a fluorescent emission to the basic colour of the textile.
BK b
#
"bleaching powder",4679,0,0,0
EN A crude mixture of \Jcalcium\j hypochlorite (Ca(ClO)\D2\d) and \Jcalcium\j chloride (CaCl\D2\d), made by reacting \Jchlorine\j with \Jcalcium\j \Jhydroxide\j: 2Ca(OH)\D2\d┐+┐2Cl\D2\d┐\f(r)\n┐Ca(ClO)\D2\d┐+┐CaCl\D2\d┐+┐2H\D2\dO. It is used as a bleach and as a \Jdisinfectant\j.
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"bleak",4680,0,0,0
EN Small freshwater fish \I(Alburnus alburnus)\i with a slender compressed body, common in lowland rivers of Europe; length up to c.15┐cm / 6┐in; lives in shoals feeding at the surface on crustaceans and insects. The silvery crystals from their scales were once used in the manufacture of artificial pearls. \B(Family:\b Cyprinidae.)
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"Bleasdale, Alan",4681,0,0,0
PN [\Bbleez\bdayl]
DT1 1946
EN Playwright, born in Liverpool, \JMerseyside\j, NW England, UK. He was a schoolteacher before he turned to writing. He became known through the popular TV series, \IThe Boys from the Blackstuff\i (1982), about a group of unemployed Liverpudlians, which won several awards.
\IThe Monocled Mutineer\i, a \Jtelevision\j series set during World War 1, followed in 1986, another series, \IGBH\i, in 1991, and \IMelissa\i in 1997. He has written several stage plays, including \IAre You Lonesome Tonight?\i (1985), a respectful musical about Elvis Presley.
\BMajor Works\b
\IPlays\i
1977 No More Sitting on the Old School Bench
1982 Boys from the Blackstuff
1985 Are You Lonesome Tonight? (musical)
1986 Having a Ball
1986 It's a Madhouse
1986 The Monocled Mutineer
1993 On the Ledge
\ISeries for television\i
1982 The Boys from the Blackstuff
1984 Scully
1986 The Monocled Mutineer (also producer)
1991 GBH (also producer)
1995 Jake's Progress (also producer)
1997 Melissa
\IFilm script\i
1985 No Surrender
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"bleeding heart",4682,0,0,0
EN An erect, brittle-stemmed perennial \I(Dicentra spectabilis),\i native to China, named from its pendulous, heart-shaped flowers, two outer petals pink, two inner white, in long, drooping spikes; also called \BDutchman's breeches,\b similarly inspired. It is cultivated for ornament. \B(Family:\b Fumariaceae.)
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"Blegen, Carl (William)",4683,0,0,0
DT (1887-1971)
EN archaeologist; born in \JMinneapolis\j, Minn. He was educated at the University of \JMinnesota\j (B.A. 1907) and Yale (Ph.D. 1920). He taught at the University of \JCincinnati\j (1927-57), where he was an emeritus (1957-71). He was director of the American School of Classical Studies during the difficult years of 1948-49.
His major excavations included Troy and Acrocorinth, but he is best known for his discovery of the Palace of Nestor at \JPylos\j, with its many Linear B tablets, in the \JPeloponnese\j (1939). His \ITroy and the Trojans\i (1963), although dated, remains a good introduction to the subject. He is buried in \JAthens\j.
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"Blenheim Palace",4684,0,0,0
PN [\Bblen\bim]
EN A Baroque palace designed by Vanbrugh, and built (1705-24) at Woodstock, near Oxford, Oxfordshire; a world heritage site. The palace, with its estate of 809┐ha / 2000 acres, was a gift from the nation to the 1st Duke of Marlborough after his victories at the Battle of Blenheim.
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"Blenheim, Battle of",4685,0,0,0
PN [\Bblen\bim]
DT1 1704
EN The greatest military triumph of Marlborough and Prince Eugene in the War of the Spanish Succession. Fought on the Danube to prevent a combined Franco-Bavarian thrust on Vienna, it marked the first significant defeat of \JLouis XIV\j's armies, and the first major English victory on the European mainland since Agincourt.
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#
"blenny",4686,0,0,0
EN Any of the large family Blennidae (11 genera), of mostly small bottom-dwelling fishes of coastal waters; found worldwide in tropical to temperate seas, rarely in freshwater lakes; many live intertidally in pools and under rocks; body stout, devoid of scales; jaws bearing many small teeth.
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"BlΘriot, Louis",4687,0,0,0
PN [\Bblay\bryoh]
DT1 1872
DT2 1936
EN Airman, born in Cambrai, \JFrance\j. He made the first flight across the English Channel from Baraques to Dover on 25 July 1909 in a small 24-hp monoplane.
EN Writer and socialite, born near Clonmel, Co \JTipperary\j, Ireland. After her husband's death (1829), she held a salon at her Kensington mansion, Gore House, where she wrote many sketches of London life, and formed a relationship with the Comte d'Orsay (1801-57). Her best-known work was \IConversations with Lord Byron\i (1834). Her lavish tastes left her deep in debt, and with d'Orsay she fled to Paris (1849), where she died two months later.
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"Bleuler, Eugen",4692,0,0,0
PN [\Bbloy\bler]
DT1 1857
DT2 1939
EN Psychiatrist, born in Zollikon, \JSwitzerland\j. Professor at Zⁿrich (1898-1927, he carried out research on \Jepilepsy\j, then turned to \Jpsychiatry\j, and in 1911 published a study on what he called \Ischizophrenia\i or 'splitting of the mind'. Jung was one of his pupils.
MEX Jung
SX m
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#
"Blicher, Steen Steensen",4693,0,0,0
PN [\Bblee\bker]
DT1 1782
DT2 1848
EN Poet and novelist, born near \JViborg\j, Denmark. His home province of Jutland forms the background of much of his work. He became a teacher and clergyman, and took a great interest in the social and spiritual problems of his \Jday\j. His major works include a collection of poetry, \ITraekfuglene\i (1838, The Migratory Birds), and his books of short stories, often in \Jdialect\j, such as \IE Bindstouw.\i
SX m
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"Bligh, William",4694,0,0,0
PN [bliy]
DT1a c.
DT1 1754
DT2a c.
DT2 1817
EN British Naval officer, born in Plymouth, Devon, south-west England, UK. He went to sea at the age of 15, and in 1787 was chosen by Sir Joseph Banks to command HMS \IBounty\i on a voyage to Tahiti to collect plants of the bread-fruit tree. During a six-month stay on the island the men became demoralized, and on 28 April 1789 the first mate, Fletcher Christian, led a mutiny; Bligh and 18 of his men were cast adrift in an open boat with a small stock of provisions and no chart.
They reached \JTimor\j, in the East Indies, on 14 June, having travelled nearly 4000┐mi. In 1805 he was appointed Governor of \JNew South Wales\j, and was imprisoned by mutinous soldiers during the so-called '\JRum Rebellion\j' (1808-10). Exonerated of all blame, he was promoted admiral on his retirement in 1811.
MEX Christian, Fletcher; Macarthur, John
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"blight",4695,0,0,0
EN A general term applied to any of a variety of plant diseases, especially those caused by fungal infection.
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#
"blimp",4696,0,0,0
EN See \Jairship\j
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#
"Blin, Roger",4697,0,0,0
DT 1907-84
EN French actor, director and designer. Blin acted with Artaud, Dullin, Barrault and the October Group in the 1930s, also studying mime. After the war he began directing in avant-garde theatres, producing two of Adamov's plays as well as Beckett's En attendant Godot, with which he made his name in 1953.
He became the friend and trusted director of Beckett (Fin de partie, 1957; La DerniΦre Bande, 1960; Oh les beaux jours,1963) and also of Genet (Les NΦgres, 1959; Les Paravents, 1966). For Blin, the functions of director and designer were inseparable.
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"blindness",4698,0,0,0
EN A serious or total loss of vision in both eyes. In developed countries it arises from degeneration of the \Jretina\j of the eye \I(macular degeneration),\i \Jcataract\j, \Jglaucoma\j, or diabetes. In developing countries many of the causes are infectious and preventable, including \Jtrachoma\j, gonorrhoea, and onchocerciasis.
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#
"blindworm",4699,0,0,0
EN See slow-worm
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#
"Bliss, Daniel",4700,0,0,0
DT (1823-1916)
EN Protestant missionary, educator; born in Georgia, Vt. He grew up on farms in \JVermont\j and Ohio, graduated from Amherst in 1852, attended Andover Theological Seminary, and in 1855, went to \JSyria\j as a missionary. He founded the Syrian Protestant College (now American University), \JBeirut\j, \JLebanon\j, in 1866. President and treasurer of the college until 1902, he continued to teach classes and deliver an occasional sermon after his retirement.
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"Bliss, Howard Sweetser",4701,0,0,0
DT (1860-1920)
EN missionary, educator; born in Suq al Gharb, \JSyria\j. His father, Daniel Bliss (1823-1916) was the founder and the president (1866-1902) of Syrian Protestant College (later renamed the American University of \JBeirut\j). Howard Bliss graduated from Union Theological Seminary (1887) and was a Congregational minister in Montclair, N.J. (1894-1902).
He succeeded his father as president of Syrian Protestant College (1903-20). During his tenure he increased the size of the non-Christian student body. Through frankness and diplomacy he kept the college intact during World War I. He died in New Hampshire and was buried near Mount Monadnock.
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"Bliss, Lizzie Plummer",4702,0,0,0
DT (1864-1931)
EN art collector; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. Her wealthy family moved to New York City (1866), and she was educated privately. She began her collection of modern American and French art in 1907. A patron of the Armory Show (1913), she was one of the founders of the Museum of Modern Art (1929), and bequeathed much of her collection to that institution.
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"Bliss, Sir Arthur (Edward Drummond)",4703,0,0,0
DT1 1891
DT2 1975
EN Composer, born in London, England, UK. He studied at the Royal College of Music, and in 1921 became professor of composition there, but resigned his post after a year to devote himself to composing. He was music director of the BBC (1942-4), and on the death of Bax in 1953 became Master of the Queen's Musick. His compositions include the ballets \ICheckmate\i (1937) and \IMiracle in the Gorbals\i (1944), the opera \IThe Olympians\i (1949), chamber music, and \Jpiano\j and violin works.
MEX Bax
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"Bliss, Tasker (Howard)",4704,0,0,0
DT (1853-1930)
EN soldier; born in Lewisburg, Pa. He served as military attachΘ to \JSpain\j, took part in the Puerto Rico campaign (1898), was army chief of staff during the great buildup for World War I (1917-19), and was a delegate to the Versailles Peace Conference (1919).
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"Blissymbolics",4705,0,0,0
EN A communication system designed for children unable to use normal spoken or written language; devised by a Canadian chemical engineer Charles Bliss (1897-1985) in the 1970s. The system uses a set of simple symbols expressing important everyday concepts, printed on a board along with their written equivalents. It has been used with several clinical populations, such as cerebral palsied, mentally handicapped, and autistic children.
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#
"blister beetle",4706,0,0,0
EN A brightly coloured beetle, usually from warm, dry regions; larvae minute, clawed, feeding as parasites, or on insect nests and food provisions. The adults produce a chemical \I(cantharidin)\i that causes skin blisters. \B(Order:\b Coleoptera. \BFamily:\b Meloidae, c.3000 species.)
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#
"blister blight",4707,0,0,0
EN A serious airborne disease of tea \I(Exobasidium vexans),\i endemic in south-east Asia. It reached \JSri Lanka\j in 1946, but has not yet been reported from Africa because of stringent quarantine regulations. The disease attacks young leaves, spreading very rapidly and rendering them economically useless. It can be controlled only by the application of expensive fungicidal sprays. \B(Order:\b Basidiomycetes.)
BK b
#
"blitzkrieg",4708,0,0,0
PN [\Bblitz\bkreek]
HS (Ger '\Jlightning\j war')
EN A term coined (Sep 1939) to describe the German armed forces' use of fast-moving tanks and deep-ranging \Jaircraft\j in techniques which involved by-passing resistance and aiming the focus of effort at the enemy's rear areas rather than making frontal attacks. \JBlitzkrieg\j tactics were used with great success by the Germans 1939-41, and by the Israelis in 1982 during the invasion of Southern \JLebanon\j.
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"BlitzstΘin, Marc",4709,0,0,0
PN [\Bblit\bstiyn]
DT1 1905
DT2 64
EN Composer, born in Philadelphia, PA. A pianist and composer as a youth, he enrolled in 1924 in the newly established Curtis Institute to study composition. He went on to study with Boulanger in Paris and Schoenberg in Berlin, where he encountered the socially conscious works of Brecht and Weill.
In the 1930s he began to write pieces with explicit social themes for the musical theatre, notably \IThe Cradle Will Rock\i (1937), and he became a member of the Communist Party (1938-49). After serving in the US Air Force in World War 2, which inspired his \IAirborne Symphony\i (1946), he returned to writing works for the musical stage; the most ambitious of these was \IRegina\i (1949), but none of them achieved the success of his adaptation of the Brecht / Weill \IThreepenny Opera\i (1954).
EN Writer and story teller, born in Rungsted, Denmark. She studied in Denmark, England, \JSwitzerland\j, \JItaly\j, and \JFrance\j, and in 1914 married her cousin, \BBaron Bror Blixen Finecke,\b and went with him to \JKenya\j. They were divorced in 1921, and in 1931 she returned to Denmark. She wrote \ISeven Gothic Tales\i (1934), which she later translated into Danish. Other works include \IOut of Africa\i (1937) and \ILast Tales\i (1957).
SX f
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"Bloc QuΘbecois",4711,0,0,0
PN [kaybekwah]
EN A separatist political organization in Quebec, Canada, formed in 1990 when Lucien Bouchard and other Conservative MPs from Quebec deserted the Mulroney government. In the October 1993 federal election the \IBloc\i won the second largest number of seats (all in Quebec) and became the official Opposition in \JOttawa\j.
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#
"Bloch, Ernest",4712,0,0,0
DT (1880-1959)
EN composer; born in Geneva, \JSwitzerland\j. He studied around Europe before his opera \IMacbeth\i appeared, to critical grousing over its \Jmodernism\j, in Paris (1910). After teaching in Geneva he emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1917, where he held several teaching posts (his remarkable roster of students included Antheil and Sessions) and gained an international reputation as a composer. He spent most of the 1930s in \JSwitzerland\j.
His works, in a rich late-Romantic vein with touches of \Jmodernism\j and often reflecting his Jewish heritage, include five string quartets and \ISchelomo\i for cello and orchestra (1915).
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"Bloch, Felix",4713,0,0,0
PN [blokh]
DT (1905-83)
EN Swiss-US physicist: invented nuclear magnetic \Jresonance\j spectrometry.
Bloch was educated at Zⁿrich and \JLeipzig\j, but following a short period of teaching in \JGermany\j moved to the USA in 1933. He spent the rest of his career at Stanford.
The theory of solid-state physics and of how electrons behave in solids was advanced by Bloch's research. The Bloch \Jwavefunction\j describes an \Jelectron\j which is moving freely in a solid and the term Bloch wall describes the boundary between two magnetic domains in a ferromagnetic material.
In 1946 Bloch introduced the nuclear magnetic \Jresonance\j (NMR) technique, also developed independently by Purcell. Many types of atomic nucleus possess a \Jmagnetic moment\j and quantum mechanics indicated that the moment could only adopt one of a number of possible orientations with respect to an applied magnetic field. Each orientation requires a different \Jenergy\j and so transitions from one state to another can be accomplished if a \Jphoton\j of electromagnetic radiation (of radio frequencies) is absorbed.
The magnetic moments of the proton and neutron were measured by this method and since then many complex molecules have been studied. The \Jenergy\j state of the nucleus gives information about its atomic neighbours in the molecule because of the effect of the surrounding electrons. Bloch shared the 1952 Nobel Prize for physics with Purcell, and the NMR method has since become a powerful analytical technique in chemistry.
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#
"Bloch, Konrad (Emil)",4714,0,0,0
PN [blokh]
DT1 1912
EN Biochemist, born in Neisse, \JGermany\j. He studied at the Technische Hochschule, Munich, and Columbia University, and emigrated to the USA in 1936. In 1954 he was appointed the first professor of biochemistry at \JHarvard University\j. He shared the 1964 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for work on the mechanism of \Jcholesterol\j and fatty acid \Jmetabolism\j.
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#
"Bloch, Marc",4715,0,0,0
PN [blokh]
DT1 1886
DT2 1944
EN Historian, born in Lyon, \JFrance\j. He studied in Paris, \JLeipzig\j, and Berlin, became professor of mediaeval history at \JStrasbourg\j from 1919, and professor of economic history at the \JSorbonne\j (1936). He rejoined the army in 1939, joined the Resistance in 1943, and was captured and shot by the Germans. His work has been extensively translated since his death.
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#
"Bloch, Martin",4716,0,0,0
PN [blokh]
DT1 1883
DT2 1954
EN Expressionist painter, born in Neisse, \JGermany\j. After studying in Berlin and Munich, he was forced to leave \JGermany\j in 1934, went to Denmark, and later to England, where he opened a school of painting with Roy de Maistre. He became a British citizen in 1947.
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"Bloch, William",4717,0,0,0
DT 1845-1926
EN Danish director. He pioneered the introduction of naturalistic staging (see \Jnaturalism\j), particularly of Ibsen and the new drama at the Kongelige Teater in the 1880s. He resigned for a period, returning (1899-1909) to revolutionize the theatre's approach to Holberg.
Anticipating \JStanislavsky\j, Bloch increased rehearsal time, planned and researched productions and strove for acting that depended on individuality, inner truth and ensemble, coordinating a mass of carefully planned details to create the \Jatmosphere\j of a play's specific time and place, as in his productions of An Enemy of the People (1883) and The Wild Duck (1885).
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"Block, Alexander",4718,0,0,0
EN See Blok, Alexander Alexandrovich
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#
"Block, Martin",4719,0,0,0
DT (1903-67)
EN radio disk jockey; born in Los Angeles. A traveling salesman while still a teenager, he first worked in radio in Tijuana, Mexico (1931). Hired by WNEW in New York City (1934-54), he was standing by to announce the latest news about the Hauptmann trial, when he played music to divert listeners, explaining it came from "the Make Believe Ballroom."
An immediate success, he helped popularize many vocalists including Frank Sinatra and Dinah Shore. With his mellifluous voice, he was a master salesman for sponsors and record companies who vied for him to introduce their products and records. He later broadcast from New York City's WABC (1954-60), leaving for New York City's WOR radio where he produced the \IMartin Block Hall of Fame\i show.
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"Bloembergen, Nicolas",4720,0,0,0
PN [\Bbloom\bbergen]
DT1 1920
EN Physicist, born in Dordrecht, The Netherlands. He studied at the universities of \JUtrecht\j and Leyden, and in 1946 moved to the USA where he joined the staff of Harvard. He introduced a modification to Charles Townes's early design of the \Jmaser\j, enabling it to work continuously rather than intermittently. He shared the 1981 Nobel Prize for Physics.
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#
"Bloemfontein",4721,0,0,0
PN [bloomfon\Btayn\b]
EN 29░07S 26░14E, pop (1995e) 329 000. Capital of Free State province, EC South Africa; 370 km/230 mi SW of \JJohannesburg\j; judicial capital of South Africa; founded as a fort, 1846; seat of government of Orange River Sovereignty and of Orange Free State Republic, 1849--57; taken by Lord Roberts in Boer War, 1900; airfield; railway; university (1855); trade centre for Free State province and \JLesotho\j; railway \Jengineering\j, food processing, glassware, furniture, plastics, fruit canning; Anglican cathedral, national museum (1877), war museum (1931).
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#
"Blok, Alexander Alexandrovich",4722,0,0,0
DT 1880-1921
EN Russian poet and playwright; considered 'the last romantic' and 'the greatest symbolist'. The latter half of his career is an ironic commentary on his earlier naive romance with \Jsymbolism\j and the mystical philosophy of Vladimir Solovyov. When the latter's 'ideal humanity' failed to materialize with the defeat of the 1905 Revolution, Blok underwent a spiritual crisis. He rejected symbolist \Jmysticism\j; and the Lyrical Dramas (1908) which resulted - The Little Showbooth, The King on the Square and The Unknown Woman (all 1906) - along with his later plays, offer a mixture of \Jautobiography\j, satire and elegy for what was lost.
His tragi-\Jfarce\j The Puppet Show unites the Gogolian tradition with modern absurdism (see theatre of the absurd), and created an exceptional furore when staged by Meyerhold (at Vera Komissarzhevskaya's Theatre, 1906), who appeared as \JPierrot\j. In 1908 the allegorical The Song of Fate was rejected by \JStanislavsky\j for production. Blok's verse drama The Rose and the Cross (1913), which brings together joy (the rose) and suffering (the cross) and concludes that the former is transient while the latter may bring lasting happiness, was not produced.
BK Thea
#
"Blomdahl, Karl-Birger",4723,0,0,0
DT1 1916
DT2 68
EN Composer, born in Stockholm. He was professor of composition in Stockholm (1960-64) and head of music of Radio Sweden from 1965. Much inspired by Hindemith, he composed symphonies, concertos, operas, chamber and electronic music.
MEX Hindemith
SX m
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#
"Blondel or Blondel de Nesle",4724,0,0,0
PN [bl⌡del]
DT1 12
DT1b th-c
EN French minstrel. According to legend he accompanied Richard I to Palestine on the \JCrusades\j, and located him when imprisoned in the Austrian castle of Dⁿrrenstein (1193) by means of the song they had jointly composed.
MEX Richard I
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#
"Blondin, Charles",4725,0,0,0
PN [bl⌡dφ\ti]
HS , originally \BJean Francois Gravelet\b
DT1 1824
DT2 97
EN Acrobat and tightrope-walker, born in Hesdin, \JFrance\j. In 1859 he crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope, and later did the same with variations (eg blindfolded, with a wheelbarrow, with a man on his back, on stilts). He was still performing in his early 70s.
SX m
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#
"blood",4726,0,0,0
EN An animal tissue composed of cells, cell-like bodies, and fluid plasma that circulates around the body within vascular channels or spaces by the mechanical action of the channels or their specialized parts (primarily the heart). Present in many major classes of animals, it usually contains respiratory pigment, and transports oxygen, \Jnutrients\j, waste-products, and many other substances around the body.
In humans, the cells (red, \Ierythrocytes,\i and white, \Ileucocytes),\i cell-like bodies \I(\Jplatelets\j),\i and plasma constitute about 8% of total body weight; in an average-sized adult male, blood volume is c.5.5┐l / 9.7 UK┐pt / 11.6 US┐pt; in an equivalent female, it is c.4.5┐l / 7.9 UK┐pt / 9.5 US┐pt. The haemoglobin-containing \Jerythrocytes\j (which bind and carry oxygen) are produced in bone marrow and released into the circulation, where they remain for about 120 days before being destroyed in the liver.
Platelets (which have important roles in blood clotting) are also produced in bone marrow, but are destroyed after about seven days. Various types of leucocyte circulate within the vascular system, and are produced in bone marrow and lymphoid tissue. These are important in protecting the body against disease and infection.
BK b
#
"blood bank",4727,0,0,0
EN A depository for refrigerated whole blood. The 1939-45 war revealed the need for blood transfusion following serious injury. This led to the development of ways of storing blood withdrawn from donors for later use.
BK b
#
"blood coagulation (clotting)",4728,0,0,0
EN See haemostasis / hemostasis
BK b
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#
"blood fluke",4729,0,0,0
EN A parasitic \Jflatworm\j, found as an adult in the blood of some mammals, including humans; causes bilharzia, a common disease in tropical areas; complex life-cycle involves a fresh-\Jwater\j snail as intermediate host, within which asexual reproduction occurs; larvae \I(cercaria)\i released from the snail into fresh \Jwater\j, infecting the final host by skin penetration. \B(Phylum:\b Platyhelminthes. \BClass:\b Trematoda. \BGenus:\b \ISchistosoma.)\i
BK b
#
"blood group systems",4730,0,0,0
EN A series of genetically determined systems of substances on the plasma membranes of red blood cells, which act as \Iagglutininogens\i and which, when in contact with the complementary \Iagglutinin\i in plasma cause the red cells to stick together. In humans, the most prominent system is the ABO. Everybody belongs to four main subdivisions of this system (A, B, AB, or O) determined by the presence or the absence of A and / or B substances on the red cell membrane.
The absence of A or B \Jantigen\j is usually associated with the presence of corresponding natural anti-A or anti-B \Jantibodies\j in the plasma. Before a blood transfusion, the recipient's and donor's blood are cross-matched, otherwise \Jantibodies\j of the recipient may combine with antigens of the donor, causing clumping of foreign \Jerythrocytes\j and possible fatal consequences. Other well-known systems are the Rh (Rhesus) and MNSs.
BK b
#
"blood poisoning",4731,0,0,0
EN See septicaemia / septicemia
BK b
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#
"blood pressure",4732,0,0,0
EN The hydrostatic pressure of the blood within the blood vessels. It usually refers to the pressure within the arteries, the pressure within capillaries and veins being much lower. Arterial blood pressure depends on the volume of blood ejected into the \Jaorta\j at each beat of the heart \I(\Jsystole\j),\i upon the distensibility of the arterial blood vessels that accommodate the extra blood, and upon the rate at which blood within the arteries and arterioles passes into the capillaries and veins, ie of the \Iperipheral resistance\i to the flow of blood.
It is measured, using a \Jsphygmomanometer\j, as the height in millimetres of a column of mercury (mmHg). In health the arterial blood pressure reaches a peak of about 120-130┐mmHg with \Jsystole\j, and falls to about 70┐mmHg during \Jdiastole\j.
BK b
#
"blood products",4733,0,0,0
EN The constituent elements of the blood, in relatively pure and concentrated form. The primary separation of blood cells using a \Jcentrifuge\j allows red blood cells, blood \Jplatelets\j (needed for the clotting of blood), and granulocytes (white cells concerned with the control of infection) to be separated from each other.
Fractionation of plasma yields albumin (for use in shock) and other proteins, such as concentrated Factor VIII and fibrinogen for use in disorders of bleeding. These may be preserved in dried powder form over many years.
BK b
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"Blood River, Battle of",4734,0,0,0
EN See Great Trek
BK b
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#
"blood sports",4735,0,0,0
EN The killing of animals for sport, such as foxhunting, hare-coursing, or \Jbullfighting\j. \JCockfighting\j, once popular in Britain, and still practised illegally in certain parts of the country, is a popular sport in many continental countries and in Asia. Blood sports, often referred to as \Bfield sports,\b have come under increasing attack in recent years from those concerned with animal welfare.
BK b
#
"blood test",4736,0,0,0
EN The analysis of a sample of blood withdrawn from a living person to determine its characteristics or detect abnormalities in its composition. Blood tests are often carried out for diagnostic purposes, such as to find the levels in the blood of chemical substances, drugs, and poisons, or to detect \Jantibodies\j which have developed in response to disease. They are also used in a number of legal contexts.
For example, following a positive breath test which indicates an alcohol level in excess of that permitted for driving a vehicle, a blood (or urine) test may be required to determine the precise blood alcohol level. In addition, blood tests have been used in disputed paternity cases (to exclude the possibility of a particular person having fathered the child), and in the detection and identification of criminals.
BK b
#
"blood transfusion",4737,0,0,0
EN The transfer of blood from one person to another. It was first carried out early in the 19th-c, but usually resulted in serious reactions. Clinically useful and safe blood transfusions were possible only after the discovery of blood groups: the blood of one group taken from one individual can be given only to another person of the same group.
BK b
#
"blood vessels",4738,0,0,0
EN A closed system of tubes whereby blood permeates through all the tissues of the body, comprising the arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules, and veins. In general, arteries and arterioles carry oxygenated blood from the heart, and venules and veins return deoxygenated blood back to it.
However, the pulmonary arteries convey deoxygenated blood to the lungs from the heart, while the pulmonary veins return oxygenated blood to it from the lungs. Gaseous exchange (oxygen and carbon dioxide) and nutritional requirements pass between the blood and body tissues in the capillaries.
BK b
#
"Blood, Council of",4739,0,0,0
EN A council established 1567-76 by the Duke of Alva, the Spanish Habsburg military commander in the Low Countries, on Philip II's orders, to suppress heresy and opposition during the Revolt of the Netherlands. Also known as the \BCouncil of Troubles,\b it comprised seven members (three of them Spaniards).
The Council's proceedings 1567-73 included some 12┐200 trials, 9000 convictions, and 1000 executions, which caused widespread fear and alienation among the population.
BK b
#
"Blood, Thomas",4740,0,0,0
HS , known as \BCaptain Blood\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1618
DT2 80
EN Irish adventurer. A parliamentarian during the English \JCivil War\j, he was deprived of his estate at the Restoration. He put himself (1663) at the head of a plot to seize Dublin Castle, but the plot was discovered and his chief accomplices executed.
In 1671, with three accomplices he entered the Tower and stole the crown, while one of his associates took the orb. They were pursued and captured; but Blood was pardoned by King Charles, who took him to court and restored his estate.
MEX Charles II (of England)
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"blood-bark",4741,0,0,0
EN See gum tree
BK b
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#
"blood-brain barrier",4742,0,0,0
EN A selective barrier to the exchange of substances between the blood and brain cells, dependent on the differential permeability of brain capillaries. Water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide cross the barrier rapidly, whereas salts, protein, and \Jdopamine\j cross it slowly. Its function is possibly to protect the brain against blood-borne toxins.
BK b
#
"blood-testis barrier",4743,0,0,0
EN A physical barrier which creates the optimum environment for the maturation of germ cells into spermatozoa; it comprises the Sertoli cells of the seminiferous tubules of the testis, and the impermeable junctions between them. It also prevents antigenic material formed after immune competence is attained from 'leaking' back into the circulation and reacting with the body's immune system (which recognizes it as 'not-self') to produce testis-damaging \Jantibodies\j.
If the barrier is damaged (eg by \Jmumps\j in adults), such leakage and antibody formation may occur, and a consequent immune \Jinflammation\j of the testis \I(orchitis)\i may result in destruction of germ cells and consequent sterility.
BK b
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"bloodhound",4744,0,0,0
EN A breed which has been around for numerous centuries as a prized pack dog and an outstanding tracker.
\BHistory:\b
Originating in \JBelgium\j, the \JBloodhound\j was bred in the early \JMiddle Ages\j and was called the Saint Hubert Hound. It was bred as a pack hound and used to track game - this it would do relentlessly for days on end if required. In the eleventh century, the Saint Hubert reached Britain with William the Conqueror, and was then selectively bred and refined.
The name "\JBloodhound\j" is thought to have one of two meanings: that it would follow a blood trail whilst tracking, or that "blood" indicates a pure breed, as in "blood horse."
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
A large, solid dog which moves with grace and dignity. \IHeight:\i 25 - 27 in (64 - 69 cm) for the dog and 23 - 25 in (58 - 64 cm) for the bitch. \IWeight:\i 90 - 110 lb (40 - 50 kg) for the dog and 80 - 100 lb (36 - 45 kg) for the bitch. The head is long and large with a well-developed occiput, and loose skin folds which form wrinkles on its brow and drooping jowls. The nose is black with large, open nostrils.
The jaws are long and have a scissor bite. The eyes are deep hazel or brown, are medium-sized and well set in. They have a drooping look with a solemn expression. The ears are set low and fall in long soft folds which curl inwards at the ends. The shoulders slope into a broad and muscular back.
The tail is set high, and is long and carried low. The forequarters are straight with a rounded bone structure. The hindquarters are strong and sturdy.
The coat of the \JBloodhound\j is short, dense and smooth with good \Jweather\j resistance. The coat colour is black and tan, liver and tan, red or tawny. The black extends from the head and neck over the back to the loin. There can also be white on the chest, legs and the top of the tail.
\BBehavior:\b
The \JBloodhound\j is a most amazing dog. As far as scenting ability is concerned, the \JBloodhound\j is the ultimate dog. This high degree of specialization can be wonderful. Nevertheless, owning a \JBloodhound\j is rather like owning a Formula 1 racing car. Not because it is so fast but, like a racing car, this dog is highly tuned, very specialized, and just as wonderful to watch when it is working well. However, as it is very hard to drive a Formula 1 racing car when it is away from the racing track, it can also be very hard to get a \JBloodhound\j to carry out basic maneuvers in dog training.
With perseverance and training, the \JBloodhound\j can make a good companion animal, but its preoccupation with scent should be considered before adopting one. Bloodhounds can make good watch-dogs if they are encouraged when they are young. They have a fantastic baying howl which will unnerve all but the most determined burglar. The Bloodhound is very sociable and craves the company of other dogs. It readily substitutes people for its pack and expects a lot of attention. The ears should be regularly cleaned, as it is hard for air to circulate around them and they may become infected.
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"Bloodless Revolution",4745,0,0,0
EN See Glorious Revolution
BK b
XCY y
#
"bloodstone",4746,0,0,0
EN A type of chalcedony, a fine-grained variety of the mineral \Jquartz\j. It is dark-green with red flecks.
BK b
#
"bloodworm",4747,0,0,0
EN The aquatic \Jlarva\j of a midge; body worm-shaped, up to 20┐mm / 0..8┐in long, with 12 segments; coloured red with haemoglobin as an adaptation to life in poorly oxygenated \Jwater\j. \B(Order:\b \JDiptera\j. \BFamily:\b Chironomidae.)
BK b
#
"Bloody Assizes",4748,0,0,0
EN The name given to the western circuit assizes in England in the summer of 1685, presided over by Lord \JChief Justice\j George Jeffreys after the defeat of the Duke of Monmouth at the Battle of Sedgemoor. About 150 of Monmouth's followers, mostly poorer farmers and clothworkers, were executed, and 800 transported to the West Indies.
BK b
#
"Bloody Mary",4749,0,0,0
EN See Mary I, Tudor
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#
"Bloom, Allan David",4750,0,0,0
DT (1936-92)
EN political scientist, author; born in \JIndianapolis\j, Ind. Educated at the University of \JChicago\j, he joined the \JChicago\j liberal arts faculty in 1955, moved on to Cornell and the University of Toronto (1963-79), and returned to \JChicago\j in 1979 to teach political philosophy.
He remained an obscure translator of \JPlato\j until the publication of his \IClosing of the American Mind\i (1987), a neoconservative polemic against what he perceived as the politicization of academia and the decline of liberal education in the Western tradition.
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"Bloom, Claire",4751,0,0,0
DT1 1931
EN Actress, born in London, England, UK. She was educated in \JBristol\j and made her debut at the Oxford Repertory Theatre (1946). A distinguished Shakespearean actress on stage and \Jtelevision\j, she has acted major roles in other classic and modern plays, including \IA Street Car Named Desire\i (1974) and \IThe Cherry Orchard\i (1981).
Her numerous films include \ILimelight\i (1952), \ILook Back in Anger\i (1959), \IThe Spy Who Came in From the Cold\i (1966), \ISammy and Rosie Get Laid\i (1987), and \ICrimes and Misdemeanours\i (1990). She has had many roles in \Jtelevision\j drama, including \IBrideshead Revisited\i (1981), \IShadowlands\i (1985, BAFTA), \IShadow on the Sun\i (1988), and \IFamily Money\i (1997).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1952 Limelight
1953 The Man Between
1955 Richard III
1956 Alexander The Great
1958 The Brothers Karamazov
1958 The Buccaneer
1959 Look Back in Anger
1962 The Chapman Report
1963 The Haunting
1963 Eighty Thousand Suspects
1964 The Outrage
1966 The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
1968 Charly
1969 Three Into Two Won't Go
1970 A Severed Head
1970 Red Sky at Morning
1977 Islands in the Stream
1981 The Clash of the Titans
1987 Sammy and Rosie Get Laid
1990 Crimes and Misdemeanors
\ITelevision\i
1975 A Legacy
1981 Brideshead Revisited
1983 The Ghost Writer
1985 Shadowlands
1985 Time and the Conways
1986 Oedipus the King
1986 The Belle of Amherst
1987 Intimate Contact
1988 Shadow on the Sun
1992 The Camomile Lawn
1992 The Mirror Crack'd
1993 Remember
1994 A Village Affair
1997 Family Money
\IBBC Television Shakespeare\i
1979 Henry VIII
1980 Hamlet
1983 Cymbeline
1983 King John
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"Bloom, Harold",4752,0,0,0
DT1 1930
EN Literary critic, born in New York City, USA. He studied at Cornell and Yale, then taught English at Yale (1955--77), becoming professor of humanities there.
His books include \IThe Anxiety of Influence\i (1973), \IThe Book of J\i (1990), and \IThe Western Canon\i (1994) - a controversial recommended short-list of 26 great authors whom everyone should have read (plus 850 others considered worthwhile). \IOmens of Millennium: The Gnosis of Angels, Dreams, and Resurrection\i appeared in 1996.
\BMajor Works\b
\ICritical works\i
1973 The Anxiety of Influence
1990 The Book of J
1994 The Western Canon
1996 Omens of Millennium
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#
"Bloom, Sol",4753,0,0,0
DT (1870-1949)
EN U.S. representative; born in Pekin, Ill. A self-made man, he learned accounting in a brush factory and supervised construction of the Midway Plaisance at the \JChicago\j World Exposition in 1893. He set up music departments in stores (1849-1910) before going into construction in New York City and becoming a Democratic congressman at age 53 (1923-49). As chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee (1939-49), he sponsored the Lend Lease Act and the Marshall Plan.
BK AmBg
#
"Bloom, Ursula",4754,0,0,0
HS , pseudonym of \BMrs Gower Robinson\b
DT1 1892
DT2 1984
EN Novelist and playwright, born in Chelmsford, Essex, south-east England, UK. Her novels, which include \IPavilion\i (1951) and \IThe First Elizabeth\i (1953), are mainly historical romances. Most of her plays were written for radio production.
SX f
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#
"Bloomer, Amelia",4755,0,0,0
DT (1818-94)
EN reformer; born in Homer, N.Y. She wrote on current affairs for her husband's newspaper before founding and editing \ILily\i (1849-55), a temperance journal that, under the influence of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, also championed women's rights. In \ILily,\i her public defense of women's adopting a daring outfit of full trousers under a short skirt became a national cause cΘlΦbre, and the costume was nicknamed "bloomers." After she moved to \JIowa\j (1855), her local activism was partly responsible for that state's 1873 equal rights legislation.
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"Bloomfield, Leonard",4756,0,0,0
DT (1887-1949)
EN linguist; born in \JChicago\j, Ill. After teaching at several universities, he became professor of linguistics at Yale (1940-46), already one of the most influential linguists of the century. He was one of the first to advance linguistics as an empirical discipline, set out first in \IAn Introduction to the Study of Language\i (1914).
He developed a method of team-teaching languages and his work on Tagalog and Algonquian languages led to his independent discovery of the phonemic principle that organizes the sound system of a language. He promoted linguistics as a key approach to understanding human behavior and his most important work in this regard, \ILanguage\i (1933), is still widely used and studied.
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#
"Bloomfield, Robert",4757,0,0,0
DT1 1766
DT2 1823
EN Poet, born in Honington, Suffolk, E England, UK. A shoemaker's apprentice, he wrote \IThe Farmer's Boy\i in a garret. Published in 1800, it proved very popular. He subsequently published \IRural Tales\i (1802) and \IWild Flowers\i (1806).
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#
"Bloomingdale, Alfred S.",4758,0,0,0
DT (1916-82)
EN corporate executive; born in New York City (grandson of Lyman G. Bloomingdale). He produced plays and movies before founding (1950) a credit card firm which soon merged with Diners' Club. As Diners' Club president (1955-70) and chairman (1964-70), he helped to promote the rapid postwar growth of the credit card industry. He developed \JFlorida\j and \JCalifornia\j real estate in his later years.
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"Bloomsbury Group",4759,0,0,0
EN A group of writers and artists taking their name from the Bloomsbury area of London, England, UK who were active around the time of World War 1: among them Leonard and Virginia Woolf, Clive and Vanessa Bell, Maynard Keynes, Lytton Strachey, Roger Fry, Duncan Grant, and E M Forster.
In reaction against Victorian values, they subscribed to the spirit of George Moore's \IPrincipia Ethica\i (1903), with its privileging of art and intuition, and had a significant influence on the Modernist movement in England.
BK b
#
"Bloor, Ella",4760,0,0,0
DT (1862-1951)
EN radical, labor organizer, feminist; born in \JStaten Island\j, N.Y. Married in 1881, she raised a large family while becoming a women's rights activist. After a divorce (1896), she studied at the University of \JPennsylvania\j, remarried, and became increasingly devoted to labor and left-wing causes, joining the Socialist Party in 1902. She adopted the pen name Mrs. Richard Bloor (1906) while doing investigative reporting for Upton Sinclair.
After the Russian Revolution she helped found the American Communist Party and later became a longtime member of its Central Committee (1932-48). While electioneering for party candidates in the Dakotas she married her third husband (1932); afterward she traveled in the Midwest organizing farmers and leading farmers' strikes. She lectured widely and wrote several books, including \IWomen in the Soviet Union\i (1938), and a 1940 \Jautobiography\j, \IWe Are Many.\i In 1938 she ran unsuccessfully for governor of \JPennsylvania\j.
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"Blough, Roger M. (Miles)",4761,0,0,0
DT (1904-85)
EN lawyer, corporate executive; born in Riverside, Pa. He left a Wall Street law firm to join U.S. Steel (1942-69). As chairman and CEO (1955-69) he directed the world's largest steel manufacturer and the U.S.A.'s third-largest corporation. In 1962 his proposal to increase steel prices after a wage-increase settlement led to a famous confrontation with President John Kennedy. He returned to law practice in later years.
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"Blount, Charles, 8th Lord Mountjoy, Earl of Devonshire",4762,0,0,0
PN [bluhnt]
DT1 1563
DT2 1606
EN English soldier, and conqueror of Ireland. In 1600 he accepted the Irish command against the rebellion of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, winning a decisive victory at Kinsale (1601). He became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, then returned to England where he was given an earldom by James I.
MEX O'Neill, Hugh
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#
"Blount, William",4763,0,0,0
DT (1749-1800)
EN governor, U.S. senator; born in Bertie County, N.C. After fighting in the \JAmerican Revolution\j, he served in the \JNorth Carolina\j legislature and then represented \JNorth Carolina\j in the \JContinental Congress\j (1782-87). Appointed governor of \JTennessee\j territory in 1790, he became one of the new state of \JTennessee\j's first U.S. senators (1796-97). He was expelled from office when he became implicated in a conspiracy with the British to attack Louisiana and \JFlorida\j, which then belonged to \JSpain\j. After his \Jimpeachment\j was dismissed, he was elected to the \JTennessee\j senate.
BK AmBg
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"Blow, John",4764,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1649
DT2 1708
EN Composer, born in Newark, \JNottinghamshire\j, C England, UK. He became organist at Westminster Abbey (1668), Master of the Children at the Chapel Royal (1674), and Master of the Children at St Paul's (1687). He is known for his vast output of anthems and church services, and also for his \Jmasque\j, \IVenus and Adonis\i (1687), which was performed before Charles II.
SX m
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#
"Blow, Susan Elizabeth",4765,0,0,0
DT1 1843
DT2 1916
EN Educationist, born in St Louis, MO. Religious from childhood, she became intensely interested in the philosophy of the German Idealists. After studying the works of Freidrich Froebel, she opened the first US public \Jkindergarten\j in St Louis (1873) and a training school for \Jkindergarten\j teachers (1874). The movement grew rapidly, leading to the formation of the New York \JKindergarten\j Association and an International Union.
MEX Froebel
SX f
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#
"blowfly",4766,0,0,0
EN An alternative common name for the bluebottle. It refers to the habit of laying eggs on exposed meat, which is then termed 'blown', and unfit for human consumption.
BK b
#
"Blⁿcher, Gebhard Leberecht von, Fⁿrst von (Prince of) Wahlstadt",4767,0,0,0
PN [\Bbloo\bcher, \Bbloo\bker]
HS , nickname \BMarshal Forward\b
DT1 1742
DT2 1819
EN Prussian field marshal, born in \JRostock\j, \JGermany\j. He fought against the French in 1793 and 1806, and in 1813 took chief command in \JSilesia\j, defeating Napoleon at \JLeipzig\j, and entering Paris (1814). In 1815 he assumed the general command, suffered a severe defeat at Ligny, but completed Wellington's victory at Waterloo by his timely appearance on the field.
MEX Napoleon; Wellington
SX m
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#
"Bludhorn, Charles G.",4768,0,0,0
DT (1926-83)
EN corporate executive; born in Vienna, \JAustria\j. Educated in England, he emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1942 and started a New York import-export business (1949). In 1957 he bought the first of a number of companies that later merged into Gulf & Western Industries (1958). As chairman of the board and CEO (1960-83) he forged Gulf & Western into a multibillion-dollar conglomerate through diversified acquisitions ranging from \JNew Jersey\j Zinc to Paramount Pictures.
BK AmBg
#
"blue",4769,0,0,0
EN In the UK, a sporting honour awarded at Oxford and Cambridge universities to students who represent their university against the other in the annual matches of certain sports. Ribbons of dark blue (Oxford) or light blue (Cambridge) were first awarded to competitors after the second Boat Race in 1836, but now holders may wear ties, blazers, and sweaters in the appropriate colour.
BK b
#
"Blue Blouses",4770,0,0,0
EN Soviet Russian workers' groups. The name refers to factory workers' loose blue smocks. Dating from 1923, the groups toured widely, presenting a living newspaper montage of current events skewed to a proletarian \Jideology\j in a music-hall format of songs and sketches. In their heyday there were over 5,000 of these groups. After 1927 the Blue Blouses were forcibly merged with the more orthodox TRAM movement.
BK Thea
#
"blue book",4771,0,0,0
EN A UK government publication of official documents, presented to parliament, bound in a blue cover. Unlike other command papers, which put forward government proposals, blue books are more concerned with the provision of information.
BK b
#
"blue fish",4772,0,0,0
EN Predatory fish widespread in tropical and warm-temperate seas; length up to 1.2┐m / 4┐ft; body blue above, sides silvery; lives in large shoals feeding voraciously on anchovies, sardines, and other small shoaling fish; valuable food fish, and prized as sport fish.
BK b
#
"blue fox",4773,0,0,0
EN See \JArctic\j fox
BK b
XCY y
#
"blue grass",4774,0,0,0
EN The name applied to several different grasses of a bluish-green colour. The Kentucky \Jblue grass\j of the USA is a bluish form of meadow grass. \B(Family:\b Gramineae).
BK b
#
"blue jay",4775,0,0,0
EN See jay
BK b
XCY y
#
"blue moon (lunar occurrence)",4776,0,0,0
EN The second full moon in a calendar month in which two full moons occur. There are about 12.36 lunar months in the year, so there can be only one blue moon every 2.7 years on average.
BK b
#
"blue moon (visual effect)",4777,0,0,0
EN A rare visual effect in which the Moon's disc actually appears blue. If the \Jatmosphere\j has particles 0.8-1.8 microns in diameter, for example from volcanoes or forest fires, red light gets scattered out of the line of sight, but the blue is allowed through. The result is a blue moon, or even a blue \Jsun\j.
BK b
#
"Blue Mountain",4778,0,0,0
EN Mountain peak in \JJamaica\j; height 2256┐m / 7401┐ft; highest point on the island.
BK b
#
"Blue Mountains",4779,0,0,0
EN Mountain range in E \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j; part of the Great Dividing Range; rises to 1180┐m / 3871┐ft at Bird Rock; contains a national park, area 2159┐km\U2\u / 833┐mi\U2\u; tourist area; becoming a popular dormitory area for Sydney.
BK b
#
"Blue Nile",4780,0,0,0
HS , \JEthiopia\j \BAbay Wenz,\b \JSudan\j \BBahr El Azraq\b
EN Upper reach of River Nile, north-east Africa; length 1450┐km / 901┐mi; issues from south-east corner of Lake Tana, in Gojam region of \JEthiopia\j; flows SE, then S and W, crossing into \JSudan\j at Bumbadi; joins White Nile at \JKhartoum\j, forming the River Nile proper; during period of high flood, provides almost 70% of River Nile's flow; during low \Jwater\j, less than 20%.
BK b
#
"Blue Riband",4781,0,0,0
EN A notional honour awarded to the fastest passenger ship on the North Atlantic run. A trophy was designed for it, but was never accepted by Cunard Line, whose ships held the record for longer than any others. The final holder (1952) was the SS \IUnited States\i in a time of 3 days 11 hours and 20 minutes at an average speed of 35.39 knots for the distance of 4745┐km / 2949┐mi.
The trophy returned to Britain after \IHoverspeed Great Britain\i crossed the Atlantic at an average speed of 36.966 knots on 23 June 1990. The award was controversial, since this vessel was not a conventional North Atlantic passenger liner.
BK b
#
"Blue Rider",4782,0,0,0
EN See Blaue Reiter, der\I
BK b
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#
"Blue Ridge Mountains",4783,0,0,0
EN Mountain range, south-east USA; E part of the Appalachian Mts; extends NE-SW for c.1050┐km / 650┐mi from S \JPennsylvania\j, through Maryland, Virginia, and \JNorth Carolina\j to Georgia; includes the Black Mts and Great Smoky Mts; highest point Mount Mitchell (2037┐m / 6683┐ft); other high points Brasstown Bald (1458┐m / 4783┐ft), Mount Rogers (1746┐m / 5728┐ft) and \JSassafras\j Mount (1083┐m / 3553┐ft); Great Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah national parks; famous for its wooded scenery; timber.
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"blue shark",4784,0,0,0
EN Powerful, slender-bodied shark \I(Prionace glauca)\i found worldwide in open tropical to temperate seas, and common around W coasts of the \JBritish Isles\j; length up to 3.8┐m / 121/2┐ft; pectoral fins elongate; deep blue dorsally, white underneath; large numbers taken by sea anglers. \B(Family:\b Carcharhinidae.)
BK b
#
"blue whale",4785,0,0,0
EN \BFamily:\b \IBalaenopteridae\i \I(rorquals)\i
\BScientific Name:\b \IBalaenoptera musculus\i\b
\BIdentification:\b
20 to 23 ft (6 to 7 m) long at birth, adult males 82 ft (25 m), females 88.5 ft (27 m). Maximum length and weight recorded, 110 ft (33.6 m) and 130 tons.
A subspecies, known as the pygmy \Jblue whale\j, is recognized. It is smaller, maximum length recorded is 80 ft (24.4 m). Like all members of this family, pygmy blue whales have throat leats that extend from the lower jaw to beyond the umbilicus. \JBaleen\j plates are black. Dark slate blue over the head and back, with paler patches on the sides and underside. The latter often bears a film of yellow diatoms, giving the whale a "sulfur-bottom" (yellow) appearance. The dorsal fin is triangular and very low, placed well back on the body. Tall, relatively narrow blow rises to 33 ft (10 m). When cruising slowly at the surface, much of the dorsal surface is sometimes visible at the same time - head, blowhole, back and dorsal fin.
Usually solitary, or in small groups of 2-3. However, scattered gatherings of 12 or more may develop in areas of dense prey aggregations.
\BDistribution\b
Oceanic, world wide. Breeds in warm \Jwater\j at low latitudes in winter, migrates to high latitudes where it prefers cold waters in summer. It often feeds close to the ice edge. Prefers open seas, does not concentrate in coastal areas, but in some areas it comes close to shore to feed, and possibly to breed in winter.
Pygmy blue whales do not range so far south, being known mainly from the subantarctic waters of the Indian Ocean and south-east Atlantic.
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"Blue, Lionel",4786,0,0,0
DT1 1930
EN British rabbi and broadcaster. He studied at Oxford and London universities, was ordained a rabbi in 1960, and joined Leo Baeck College in London in 1967. He was convener of the ecclesiastical court of the Reform Synagogues of \JGreat Britain\j (1971--88).
He is well known for his humorous and off-beat comments on life, both on radio (notably his weekly contribution to the \IToday\i programme on BBC Radio 4) and in such books as \IA Taste of Heaven\i (1977), \IBolts from the Blue\i (1986), \IBlue Horizons\i (1989), and \ITales of Body and Soul\i (1994).
BK Biog99
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"blue-backing shot",4787,0,0,0
EN A method of combining images in \Jcinematography\j and \Jtelevision\j in which one or more components of the foreground action is shot against a uniform bright blue backing, and superimposed on a background scene recorded by another camera. In motion pictures this involves subsequent complex printing at the laboratory, but in \Jtelevision\j it can be done continuously at the time of shooting by colour keying ('chromakey'), each area of blue being replaced by the corresponding portion of the background scene.
The technique enables an extremely wide range of effects to be achieved, typically studio actors appearing in exotic locations, children playing within a story-book illustration, or the fantastic flights of Superman.
BK b
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"blue-green algae",4788,0,0,0
EN See blue-green bacteria
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#
"blue-green bacteria",4789,0,0,0
EN Single-celled, colonial or filamentous organisms with an alga-like body and a bacterium-like \I(prokaryotic)\i cellular structure; nucleus not delimited by a nuclear membrane; photosynthetic pigment \Jchlorophyll\j \Ia\i found on a special membrane \I(thylakoid)\i not enclosed within chloroplasts as in true \Jalgae\j; very ancient organism, believed to have been responsible for enriching the Earth's \Jatmosphere\j with oxygen as a by-product of its \Jphotosynthesis\j; over 1000 living species known, found mostly in aquatic habitats, also in soil and on rock surfaces; formerly known as \Bblue-green algae.\b (Division: Cyanophycota.)
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"Bluebeard",4790,0,0,0
EN A character in a European folk or fairy tale, who gives his new wife charge of the keys of his castle, forbidding her to enter one room; she unlocks it out of curiosity, to discover the bodies of six previous wives. Her brothers arrive just in time to save her from becoming \JBluebeard\j's seventh victim, and kill him. The story inspired Bart≤k's opera \IDuke \JBluebeard\j's Castle\i (1911).
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"bluebell",4791,0,0,0
EN A small herb with an annually renewed bulb \I(Hyacinthoides non-scriptus),\i native to W Europe; leaves strap-shaped; \Jinflorescence\j 1-sided, flowers 1..5-2┐cm / 1/2-3/4┐in, bell-shaped, drooping, blue, sometimes pinkish or white. It often forms large colonies in woods or on cliff tops. \B(Family:\b Liliaceae.)
BK b
#
"blueberry",4792,0,0,0
EN A deciduous shrub, native to \JNorth America\j (c.20 species), and cultivated for fruit; flowers bell-shaped; berries c.8┐mm / 1/4┐in, blue-black, edible. The low bush \Jblueberry\j \I(Vaccinium angustifolium)\i grows to 30┐cm / 12┐in; lance-shaped leaves; narrow white flowers with red markings. The high bush \Jblueberry\j \I(Vaccinium corymbosum)\i grows to 3┐m / 10┐ft; elliptic leaves; broader, pinkish flowers. \B(Family:\b Ericaceae.)
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"bluebird",4793,0,0,0
EN A thrush native to North and \JCentral America\j; male with bright blue plumage on back; inhabits open country, forest clearings, and cultivation; eats fruit and insects; nests in holes in trees. \B(Genus:\b \ISialia,\i 3 species.)
BK b
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"bluebottle (botany)",4794,0,0,0
EN A large fly with a metallic blue \Jabdomen\j; lays eggs on decaying animal matter; legless larvae feed by liquefying food; adults feed by exuding digestive juices onto food and imbibing dissolved material. \B(Order:\b \JDiptera\j. \BFamily:\b Calliphoridae.)
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#
"bluebottle (entomology)",4795,0,0,0
EN See cornflower
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#
"bluebuck / blue bull",4796,0,0,0
EN See nilgai
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#
"Bluemner, Oscar",4797,0,0,0
DT (1867-1938)
EN painter, architect; born in \JHanover\j, \JGermany\j. He emigrated to America in 1892. A practicing architect (1894-1912), he later devoted his life to painting. His highly individual coloration and his cubist landscapes, using geometric forms, became his trademarks, as may be seen in \IOld Canal Port\i (1914), and \IComposition\i (1931).
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"blues",4798,0,0,0
EN A form of US African-American music, originating in the 19th-c. Blues songs may have a number of verses, but the standard pattern for each is one of three lines of 4 bars each, the second being a repetition of the first. The '12-bar blues', as it is known, has a standard chord progression, too, which never varies in its essentials but allows every opportunity for spontaneous vocal and instrumental variations.
The origins and early period of the blues are associated particularly with the Mississippi region, and many of the most influential early singers, such as Bessie Smith, 'the Empress of Blues', and Leadbelly were from the S States. In the 1930s, \JChicago\j emerged as the centre for a more aggressive type of urban blues, typified in the singing and \Jguitar\j playing of the Mississippi-born Big Bill Broonzy (1893-1958).
After World War 2, the authentic tradition was represented by Muddy Waters (1915-83) and others, while new departures were seen in the 'rhythm and blues' of the 1950s, and a great deal of rock 'n roll. Blues music is also now found in a wide range of instrumental manifestations, especially using the \Jguitar\j.
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"blueshift",4799,0,0,0
EN An astronomical effect observed when an object emitting electromagnetic radiation is moving towards an observer, increasing the observed frequency of its radiation. This is called a \Jblueshift\j because, in the case of visible light, spectral lines move to the blue end of the spectrum. Blueshifts are unusual, because almost all galaxies are moving away from us, and hence have redshifts.
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"bluestockings",4800,0,0,0
EN A nickname, usually with derogatory connotations, for educated women. The term was widely used when opportunities expanded for the education of middle-class women in the late 19th-c, but it originated in the Blue Stocking Club at Montagu House, London, c.1750.
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"bluetick coonhound",4801,0,0,0
EN This racy-looking hound is renowned for its ability to follow a cold trail.
\BHistory:\b
The development of the Bluetick Coonhound began in the early 1900s in America. It is descended from French Hounds such as the Grand Bleu de Gascogne, or \JGascony\j Hounds, that were brought to the Louisiana region in America in the early days of settlement.
This already relatively light-boned breed (for a large hound) was crossed with dogs such as the \JFoxhound\j (American) and local curs to give it the speed and agility to hunt raccoon and fox. It is also thought that crosses with the \JBloodhound\j were made. This may be the source of the breed's cold-scenting ability, as well as helping to maintain the size necessary to hunt cougars, another of the Bluetick Coonhound's common quarry.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The distinctive blue color of this breed, and the source of its name, is caused by small black spots or "ticks" on the white portion of the coat. Strictly speaking, the Bluetick is a tricolor, with tan on the muzzle, feet, legs and chest, and a white and black body. Bluetick Coonhounds have a streak of white between the eyes that has been described as Indian war-paint, and is said to be an indication of the fearless nature of the breed. \IHeight:\i 20 - 27 in (51 - 69 cm) \IWeight:\i 45 - 80 lb (20 - 36 kg). They are rather ungainly in appearance, with their legs seemingly too long for their height. Like all Hounds, Bluetick Coonhounds have long pendulous ears and a moderate amount of loose skin on the neck; however, they do not have loose skin around the eyes.
\BBehavior:\b
The Bluetick Coonhound is a very confident dog. It has been especially bred for tracking and it performs this task very well indeed. With its keen sense of territory, this dog makes a great watch-dog. The Bluetick Coonhound can be a high-spirited animal but quickly settles down when given a job to do. Although not originally bred to be a companion, it is possible for this Coonhound to get along very well with people. Wise owners will ensure that their Bluetick Coonhound will be well socialized with both other dogs and people while it is still young. This dog should be given plenty of exercise if it is to stay contented.
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"bluetit",4802,0,0,0
EN A small typical tit common in gardens \I(Parus caeruleus); \i native to Europe, N Africa, and south-west Asia; eats insects, seeds, and fruit; may hang upside down to feed; nests in hole in tree or wall; also known as \Btomtit\b (a name additionally used for the great tit). \B(Family:\b \JParidae\j.)
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"Blum, LΘon",4803,0,0,0
PN [blum]
DT1 1872
DT2 1950
EN French statesman and prime minister (1936-7, 1938, 1946-7), born in Paris. A lawyer, he was elected to the chamber in 1919, becoming one of the leaders of the Socialist Party. During World War 2 he was interned in \JGermany\j. He remained the leader of the Socialists on his return, and in 1946 was elected prime minister of the six-week caretaker government.
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"Blum, RenΘ",4804,0,0,0
PN [blum]
DT1 1878
DT2 1942
EN Impresario and critic, born in Paris. He took over the administration of the Ballet Russes after Diaghilev's death in 1929, renaming it the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo. He was arrested in \JFrance\j while the company was on tour in the USA, and died in \JAuschwitz\j.
MEX Diaghilev
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"Blum, Robert (Frederick)",4805,0,0,0
DT (1875-1903)
EN painter; born in \JCincinnati\j, Ohio. He lived in New York City but traveled frequently. He was commissioned to illustrate Sir Edwin Arnold's \IJaponica\i (1890-91), and the influence of \JJapan\j on his work is seen in his major painting, \IThe Ameya\i (1892).
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"Blumberg, Baruch S(amuel)",4806,0,0,0
DT1 1925
EN Biochemist, born in New York City, USA. He studied at Columbia and Oxford, and became professor of biochemistry at the University of \JPennsylvania\j in 1964. He discovered the "\JAustralia\j \Jantigen\j' that led to the development of a vaccine against hepatitis B, and shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1976.
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"Blume, Judy",4807,0,0,0
PN [bloom]
DT1 1938
EN Writer of teenage fiction, born in \JNew Jersey\j, USA. A controversial writer, her third book, \IAre You There, God? It's Me, Margaret\i (1970), brought her acclaim for her candid approach to the onset of puberty and for her natural style, but attempts were made to restrict its circulation. Later books include \IDeenie\i (1973), \IBlubber\i (1974), \IForever\i (1975), and \ISubterfudge\i (1980).
\BMajor Works\b
\IChildren's Stories\i
1970 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret
1971 Then Again, Maybe I Won't
1972 It's Not the End of the World
1972 Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
1973 Deenie
1974 Blubber
1975 Forever
1980 Subterfudge
\INovels\i
1978 Wifey
\IOther\i
1986 Letters to Judy: What kids Wish They Could Tell You
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#
"Blume, Peter",4808,0,0,0
PN [bloom]
DT1 1906
EN Painter, born in Smorgon, \JBelarus\j. He emigrated in 1911 and, after various occupations, became an artist who used bizarre imagery in a Surrealistic manner. He worked in \JItaly\j as an intermittent artist in residence at the American Academy of \JRome\j (1956--73). Based in Sherman, Connecticut, since then, his most famous work is "The Eternal City' (1934--7), a denunciation of \JFascism\j in \JItaly\j.
\BMajor Works\b
1929 The Boat (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1930 Parade (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1934--7 The Eternal City (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1939 Landscape With Poppies (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1940 Key West Beach (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
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"Blumenbach, Johann Friedrich",4809,0,0,0
PN [\Bbloo\bmenbahkh]
DT1 1752
DT2 1840
EN Anthropologist, born in Gotha, \JGermany\j. He studied at Jena and G÷ttingen, where he became professor of medicine in 1776. By his study of comparative skull measurements, he established a quantitative basis for racial classification.
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"Blumenthal, Joseph",4810,0,0,0
DT (1897-1990)
EN printer, book designer, publisher; born in New York City. As head of the Spiral Press, which he founded in 1926, he printed fine editions for the Morgan Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Grolier Club, and others; he was known especially for his special editions of the poems of Robert Frost. He designed the Spiral typeface, re-named Emerson when it became available commercially. After closing the Spiral Press in 1971, he organized a famous exhibit at the Morgan Library, "The Art of the Printed Book" (1973), and wrote several books on this subject.
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"Blumer, Herbert",4811,0,0,0
DT (1900-87)
EN sociologist; born in St. Louis, Mo. He earned a Ph.D. at the University of \JChicago\j, where he taught (1925-52) before joining the faculty of the University of \JCalifornia\j: Berkeley (1952-75). He edited the \IAmerican Journal of Sociology\i (1940-52). His areas of interest are indicated by his books such as \IMovies and Conduct\i (1933), \IMovies, Delinquency, and Crime\i (1933), and \IIndustrialization as an Agent of Social Change\i (1990).
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"Blunden, Edmund (Charles)",4812,0,0,0
DT1 1896
DT2 1974
EN Poet and critic, born in Yalding, Kent, south-east England, UK. He studied at Oxford, was professor of English literature at \JTokyo\j (1924-7), and fellow of Merton College, Oxford (from 1931). He joined the staff of \IThe Times Literary Supplement\i (1943), and from 1953 lectured at the University of Hong Kong. He later became professor of poetry at Oxford (1966-8). A lover of the English countryside, he is essentially a nature poet, as is evident in \IPastorals\i (1916) and \IThe Waggoner and Other Poems\i (1920), but his prose work \IUndertones of War\i (1928) is widely considered his best.
MEX Owen, Wilfred
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#
"blunderbuss",4813,0,0,0
EN A type of firearm, dating from the late 18th-c, with a large bore and a trumpet mouth. It is able to discharge 10 or 12 balls in one shot designed for very short-range use.
BK b
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"Blunkett, David",4814,0,0,0
DT1 1947
EN British statesman. He studied at Sheffield University, and lectured in industrial relations and politics at Barnsley College of Technology (1973--81). A member of Sheffield City Council (1970--88), he became an MP in 1987.
He was opposition spokesman for the environment (1988--92), joined the shadow cabinet (1992), and was spokesman on health (1992--4), education (1994--5), education and employment (1995--7), and chairman of the Labour Party (1993--4). He became secretary-of-state for education in the 1997 Labour government.
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"Blunt, (Sir) Anthony (Frederick)",4815,0,0,0
DT1 1907
DT2 83
EN Art historian and Soviet spy, born in \JBournemouth\j, \JDorset\j, S England, UK. In 1926 he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, and became a fellow there in 1932. Influenced by Guy Burgess, he acted as a 'talent-spotter', supplying to him the names of likely recruits to the Communist cause, and during his war service in British Intelligence was in a position to pass on information to the Soviet government.
In 1964, after the defection of Philby, a confession was obtained from Blunt in return for immunity from prosecution, and he continued as surveyor of the Queen's pictures, a post he held from 1945 to 1972. His full involvement in espionage was made public only in 1979. A distinguished art historian, he had been director of the Courtauld Institute of Art (1947-74). His knighthood (1956) was annulled in 1979.
MEX Burgess, Guy; Philby
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"Blunt, Katharine",4816,0,0,0
DT (1876-1954)
EN nutritionist, educator; born in Philadelphia. A University of \JChicago\j Ph.D., she developed a home economics curriculum while on the faculty there (1913-29) and conducted important research on the role of ultraviolet light and vitamin D in \Jnutrition\j. As president of Connecticut College for Women (1929-43), she strengthened the college academically and extended the curriculum to politics, economics, and business.
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"Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen",4817,0,0,0
DT1 1840
DT2 1922
EN Poet and traveller, born in Petworth, West Sussex, S England, UK. He studied at Stonyhurst and Oscott, and served in the diplomatic service (1859-70). He travelled in the Near and \JMiddle East\j, espoused the cause of Arabi Pasha and Egyptian \Jnationalism\j (1882), stood for parliament and was imprisoned in 1888 for activity in the Irish Land League. He wrote political verse and love poems, and bred Arab horses.
SX m
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#
"Bly, Nellie",4818,0,0,0
HS , pseudonym of \BElizabeth Seaman,\b \InΘe\i \BCochrane\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1865
DT2 1922
EN Journalist, born in Cochrane Mills, PA. As a reporter for the \INew York World\i she won renown for such stories as her exposΘ of conditions in an insane asylum on New York City's Blackwell's Island, where she posed as an inmate. In 1889-90 she made a round-the-world trip in 72 days, bettering the 80-day record of Jules Verne's fictional Phineas Fogg. A pioneering woman journalist, she took her pseudonym from a Stephen Foster song about a social reformer.
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"Bly, Robert",4819,0,0,0
DT1 1926
EN Poet, critic, translator, and editor, born in Madison, \JMinnesota\j, USA. His first collection was \ISilence in the Snowy Fields\i (1962), followed by \IThe Shadow-Mothers\i (1970), \ISleepers Joining Hands\i (1972), and \ITalking All Morning\i (1980).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPoetry\i
1962 Silence in the Snowy Fields
1970 The Shadow-Mothers
1972 Sleepers Joining Hands
1980 Talking All Morning
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"Blyth, Chay",4820,0,0,0
DT1 1940
EN British yachtsman, the first to sail single-handed "the hard way' round the world (1970--1). Educated at Hawick, he joined the Parachute Regiment of the Royal Army (1958--67). He rowed the Atlantic from W to E with John Ridgeway (1966), before making his epic voyage westward around the globe.
With a crew of paratroopers he won the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race (1973--4), travelling eastwards. He has set further ocean-sailing records, and was a key figure in the organization of the British Steel Challenge, Round World Yacht Race (1992--3), retracing his original westward voyage.
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"Blyth, Edward",4821,0,0,0
DT1 1810
DT2 73
EN Naturalist and zoologist, born in London, England, UK. A druggist in London, he spent so much time on ornithology that his business failed. He was curator of the museum of the Asiatic Society in Bengal (1841-62). Several birds are named after him, including \IBlyth's kingfisher,\i \IBlyth's pipit,\i and \IBlyth's warbler.\i
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"Blythe, David (Gilmour)",4822,0,0,0
DT (1815-65)
EN painter; born in East Liverpool, Ohio. Based in \JPittsburgh\j, Pa., he is known for his genre paintings that satirize everyday life on city streets, as seen in \IThe Post Office\i (c. 1863).
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"Blythe, Ethel / John / Lionel",4823,0,0,0
EN See Barrymore, Ethel; 02983 Barrymore, John; 02984 Barrymore, Lionel
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#
"Blyton, Enid (Mary)",4824,0,0,0
DT1 1897
DT2 1968
EN Children's writer, born in London, England, UK. She trained as a Froebel \Jkindergarten\j teacher, then became a journalist. In 1922 she published her first book, \IChild Whispers,\i a collection of verse, but it was in the late 1930s that she began writing her many children's stories featuring such characters as Noddy, the Famous Five, and the Secret Seven.
She identified closely with children, and always considered her stories highly educational and moral in tone, but in the 1980s her work was criticized in some quarters for \Jracism\j, \Jsexism\j, and snobbishness. She published over 600 books, and is one of the most translated British authors.
SX f
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#
"BMD",4825,0,0,0
EN A software package for computers for undertaking statistical analysis. It was developed originally for medical applications.
BK b
#
"Bo Juyi",4826,0,0,0
PN [boe jooyee]
HS , also spelled \BPo Chⁿ-i\b
DT1 772
DT2 846
EN Poet, government official, and governor of Hangzhou, born in Hsingcheng, Shensi Province, China. He was known in his lifetime even in \JJapan\j and Korea, and was probably the first poet to be printed (c.810). His 3840 pieces of vernacular poetry and prose afford valuable insight into the daily life of Tang period scholar-gentry. \ISong of Unending Sorrow,\i on the \JXuanzong\j and Yang Guifei love-tragedy, is one of the world's finest tragic poems.
MEX \JXuanzong\j
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#
"bo-tree",4827,0,0,0
EN See peepul
BK b
XCY y
#
"boa",4828,0,0,0
EN A snake native to the New World, N Africa, south-west Asia, and Australasian islands; a constrictor; minute remnants of hind limbs; females give birth to live young (up to 80 at one time); includes the \Janaconda\j. \B(Family:\b Boidae, 39 species.)
BK b
#
"Boaden, James",4829,0,0,0
DT 1762-1839
EN English dramatist and biographer. In 1794 his adaptation of Ann Radcliffe's Romance of the Forest was performed as Fountainville Forest, one of the first transformations of a Gothic novel into Gothic drama. Boaden led the attack on the Shakespeare forgeries of William Henry Ireland in 1796. The following year he adapted Mrs Radcliffe's The Italian as The Italian Monk. He wrote important biographies of \JKemble\j, Mrs Siddons, Dorothy Jordan, Elizabeth Inchbald and Garrick.
BK Thea
#
"Boadicea",4830,0,0,0
EN See Boudicca
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Boal, Augusto",4831,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bal]
DT1 1931
EN Brazilian theatre director, playwright, and theorist. His revolutionary models of political theatre-making have gained an international reputation, especially through his book \ITeatro do Oprimido\i (1975, Theatre of the Oppressed).
Major Works
Publications
1975 Teatro do Oprimido (trans Theatre of the Oppressed)
BK Biog99
#
"boar",4832,0,0,0
EN See pig
BK b
XCY y
#
"Boar's Head Tavern",4833,0,0,0
EN (London) Situated in Whitechapel, just outside Aldgate, the Boar's Head was the first of London's inns to undergo radical transformation for the purpose of accommodating plays (1598-9). The conversion resulted in a stage, galleries and a tiring house, and was intended to combine three companies - Worcester's, Derby's and Oxford's - to rival the dominance of the Lord Chamberlain's Men at the Globe and the Admiral's Men at the Rose.
The combined company, renamed Queen Anne's Men under James I, soon moved to the Red Bull; by 1621 the Boar's Head was no longer a theatre.
BK Thea
#
"board games",4834,0,0,0
EN See \Jbackgammon\j; 06773 chess; 10081 draughts; 13573 go; 20144 mah-jong
BK b
XCY y
#
"Boas, Franz",4835,0,0,0
DT (1858-1942)
EN cultural anthropologist; born in Minden, \JGermany\j. A merchant's son, raised in a liberal environment, he became interested in natural history as a boy and studied \Jgeography\j at the universities of Heidelberg, \JBonn\j, and Kiel. On his first field trip, to the Canadian \JArctic\j (1883-84), he studied Eskimo tribes; from then on his intellectual interests turned to ethnology and \Janthropology\j.
He emigrated to the United States in 1886, studied the Indian tribes of the Pacific Northwest, and worked in \JMassachusetts\j and Illinois before obtaining a post as a lecturer at Columbia University in New York City. Promoted to full professor in 1899, he trained several generations of anthropologists.
As a scholar, his emphasis was to draw on ethnology, physical \Janthropology\j, archaeology, and linguistics, and to collect data about cultures, especially those passing from the scene. He and his students established new and more complex concepts of culture and race, as outlined in his collection of papers, \IRace, Language and Culture\i (1940).
With the rise of Hitler in \JGermany\j he began to speak out against \Jracism\j and intolerance, and he wrote and lectured widely in opposition to the Nazis. His other works include \IThe Mind of Primitive Man\i (1911) and \IAnthropology and Modern Life\i (1928).
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#
"Boat People",4836,0,0,0
EN Vietnamese who fled Vietnam by boat after the communist victory in 1975, travelling to \JAustralia\j, Hong Kong, \JJapan\j, and several other parts of south-east Asia (c.110┐000 by the end of 1990). Many died on the long voyages, or were killed by pirates. Voluntary repatriation schemes gained momentum in 1989, and the first involuntary repatriation operation was carried out by the Hong Kong authorities that December.
Over 31┐000 were resettled in 1990, and over 8000 repatriated. The UK suspended forced repatriation in 1990, but this began again in 1991. The term has since been applied to other groups who try to flee from a country using small craft.
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"Boat Race",4837,0,0,0
EN The annual rowing race between the crews of Oxford and Cambridge Universities. First held 10 June 1829 from Hambledon Lock to Henley Bridge, it is now raced over 6┐km 780┐m / 4┐mi 374┐yd from Putney to Mortlake.
BK b
#
"boatbill",4838,0,0,0
EN A heron found from Mexico to \JPeru\j and \JBrazil\j \I(Cochlearius cochlearius); \i also known as the \Bboat-billed heron; \b short, scoop-like bill, unlike other herons; inhabits wetlands; nocturnal; hides in mangroves during \Jday\j. \B(Family:\b \JArdeidae\j, but some authorities place it in a separate family, Cochleariidae.)
BK b
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"bobcat",4839,0,0,0
EN \BLatin Name:\b \IFelis rufus\i\b
\Bsize:\b head and body 65-105 cm; tail 11-19 cm\b
\BWeight:\b 7-15 kg\b
\BDistribution:\b southern Canada to Mexico\b
Also known as the Red Lynx, this North American cat has variably colored upperparts, with black bars or spots on a reddish-brown background. Like the Lynx, it has a short tail and black tufts of hair on the tips of its large, pointed ears. Also like the Lynx, it has a ruff of long hair around its jowls. In adaptation to a much warmer habitat, its fur is shorter than that of the Lynx and its paws are bare underneath.
Habitats of the Bobcat range from dense forest to scrubland. Solitary and strongly territorial, it sleeps during the \Jday\j in a hollow tree or a den among rocks or in dense vegetation. At night it hunts, on the ground, for rabbits, rodents such as rats and squirrels, and even deer. Prey is usually taken after patient stalking and a final pounce.
Females usually mate once a year, producing a litter of about three young after a gestation of 9-10 weeks. Weaned juveniles may accompany their mother until shortly before her next mating.
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#
"bobolink",4840,0,0,0
EN An \Joriole\j native to \JNorth America\j \I(Dolichonyx oryzivorus); \i spends winter in \JSouth America\j; has the longest migration (8000┐km / 5000┐mi) of any bird in its family; eats insects and grain; in breeding season, male mates with many females.
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#
"Bobrowski, Johannes",4841,0,0,0
PN [bob\Brof\bskee]
DT1 1917
DT2 65
EN Poet, born in Tilsit, \JGermany\j. His early poems appeared in \IDas Innere \JReich\j,\i the Nazi journal. He served on the E front in World War 2, and was taken prisoner. He returned to East \JGermany\j in 1949, when his poems began to appear in the communist magazine \ISinn und Form.\i He published only two volumes: \ISarmatische Zeit\i (1961, Sarmatian Times) and \ISchattenland Strome\i (1962, Shadowland Rivers), but his generous historical vision has ensured a growing reputation.
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"bobsledding",4842,0,0,0
EN The art of propelling oneself along snow or ice on a sled (or sledge). The earliest known sled was used in \JFinland\j c.6500 BC. As a sport it became popular amongst Britons in \JSwitzerland\j in the late 19th-c; a special luge run was created at Davos, \JSwitzerland\j in 1879. The two most popular forms of competitive \Jbobsledding\j are \Bluge tobogganing\b on a small sled, and \Bbobsleighing\b in a sophisticated streamlined sled.
BK b
#
"bobwhite",4843,0,0,0
EN A quail native to North and \JCentral America\j, and introduced in the West Indies \I(Colinus virginianus); \i inhabits farmland, open woodland, and brush; eats seeds, grains, and insects; usually lives in groups of 30 or more. \B(Family:\b \JPhasianidae\j.)
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#
"Bocage",4844,0,0,0
DT 1797-1863
EN French romantic actor and director. He reached the peak of his career in 1831-2 with the title role in Dumas pΦre's Antony, as Didier in Marion Delorme and as Buridan in La Tour de Nesle. Antony allowed him to display a sombre, melancholy and wildly passionate nature, which established him as the romantic actor par excellence.
In 1843 he enjoyed a huge success as Brute in Ponsard's LucrΦce. A great actor, a good director, but a mediocre theatre manager, during his brief and disastrous period as director of the OdΘon he staged George Sand's Francois le Champi. His final triumph was with Paul Meurice and George Sand's play Les Beaux Messieurs de Bois DorΘ (Ambigu Theatre, 1862).
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#
"Bocage, Manoel Barbosa du",4845,0,0,0
PN [boo\Bkah\bzhuh]
DT1 1765
DT2 1805
EN Lyric poet, born in Set·bal, \JPortugal\j. He sailed in 1786 to India and China, returning to \JLisbon\j in 1790, where, recognized as a poet, he joined the literary coterie \INova Arcadia.\i He was essentially a Romantic, but his sonnets are Classical in form.
SX m
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#
"Boccaccio, Giovanni",4846,0,0,0
PN [bo\Bkah\bchioh]
DT1 1313
DT2 75
EN Poet and scholar, born in Tuscany or Paris. He abandoned a career in commerce, and at Naples (1328) turned to story-writing in verse and prose. He mingled in courtly society, and fell in love with the noble lady whom he made famous under the name of Fiammetta. Until 1350 he lived alternately in Florence and Naples, producing prose tales, pastorals, and poems. The \ITeseide\i was partly translated by Chaucer in the \IKnight's Tale.\i The \IFilostrato,\i dealing with the loves of Troilus and Cressida, was also in great part translated by Chaucer.
After 1350 he became a diplomat entrusted with important public affairs, and a scholar devoted to the cause of the new learning. In 1358 he completed his great collection of tales, the \IDecameron,\i begun some 10 years before. During his last years he lived principally in retirement at Certaldo, and would have entered into \Jholy orders\j, moved by repentance for the follies of his youth, had he not been dissuaded by \JPetrarch\j.
MEX \JPetrarch\j
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#
"Boccherini, Luigi (Rodolfo)",4847,0,0,0
PN [boke\Bree\bnee]
DT1 1743
DT2 1805
EN Composer, born in Lucca, \JItaly\j. He was a cellist and prolific composer at the courts of the Infante Don Luis in Madrid and Frederick II of \JPrussia\j. He is best known for his chamber music, and for his cello concertos and sonatas.
SX m
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#
"Boccioni, Umberto",4848,0,0,0
PN [bo\Bchoh\bnee]
DT1 1882
DT2 1916
EN Artist and sculptor, born in Reggio di Calabria, \JItaly\j. He was the most original artist of the Futurist school, and its principal theorist. An important bronze sculpture, 'Unique Forms of Continuity in Space' (1913), is in the Museum of Modern Art, New York City.
MEX Marinetti; Severini
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#
"Bocher, Maxime",4849,0,0,0
DT (1867-1918)
EN mathematician; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. A \JHarvard University\j professor (1904-18), this National Academy of Science member concentrated most on differential equations. He served on the editorial staff of \IAnnals of Mathematics\i (1896-1900, 1901-07). As president of the American Mathematical Society (1909-10), he also edited the society's \ITransactions\i (1908-9, 1911-13).
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#
"Bochner, Salomon",4850,0,0,0
DT (1899-1982)
EN mathematician; born in \JCracow\j, \JAustria\j-\JHungary\j. Fleeing from Nazism, he settled at Princeton University (1933). A pioneer in abstract harmonic analysis, his research preceded the theory of distributions. A noted teacher, he chaired the Rice University \JMathematics\j Department (1969-76) and founded an interdisciplinary institute for the history of ideas.
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"Bochum",4851,0,0,0
PN [\Bbokh\bum]
EN 51░28N 7░12E, pop (1995e) 410 000. Industrial and commercial city in the Ruhr valley, Dⁿsseldorf district, \JGermany\j; 59 km/37 mi SSW of Mⁿnster; originally developed around the \Jcoal\j and steel industries; railway; university (1965); vehicles, textiles, radio and \Jtelevision\j sets; home of the German Shakespeare Society.
BK Geog99
#
"Bock, Fedor von",4852,0,0,0
DT1 1880
DT2 1945
EN German soldier, born in Kostrzyn, \JPoland\j. He studied at \JPotsdam\j Military School, served as a staff officer in World War 1, and commanded the German armies which invaded \JAustria\j (1938), \JPoland\j (1939), and the Lower Somme, \JFrance\j (1940). Promoted to field marshal in 1940, he participated in the invasion of \JRussia\j with remarkable success (1941), but was dismissed by Hitler for failing to capture Moscow (1942). He was killed in an air-raid.
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"Bock, Jerry 1925- and Sheldon Harnick",4853,0,0,0
DT 1924-
EN American composer and lyricist. Their collaborations have included the musicals The Body Beautiful (1958), Fiorello (1959), She Loves Me (1963), Fiddler on the Roof (1964), The Apple Tree (1966) and The Rothschilds (1970).
BK Thea
#
"B÷cklin, Arnold",4854,0,0,0
PN [boeklφ]
DT1 1827
DT2 1901
EN Painter, born in \JBasel\j, \JSwitzerland\j. His work, mainly of mythological subjects, combined Classical themes of nymphs and satyrs with dark Romantic landscapes, rocks, and castles, characteristic of 19th-c German painting.
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#
"Bode's law or Titius-Bode law",4855,0,0,0
EN A numerical relationship linking the distances of planets from the Sun, discovered in 1766 by German astronomer Johann Daniel Titius (1729-96), and published in 1772 by Johann Elert Bode (1747-1826), but now considered to be an interesting coincidence.
The basis of this relationship is the series 0,3,6,12,...,384, in which successive numbers are obtained by doubling the previous one. If 4 is then added to create the new series 4,7,10,16,...,388, the resulting numbers correspond reasonably with the planetary distances on a scale, with the Earth's distance equal to ten units.
BK b
#
"Bode, Johann Elert",4856,0,0,0
PN [bohduh]
DT (1747-1826)
EN German astronomer: publicized numerological relationship between planetary distances.
Although Bode was director of the Berlin Observatory for almost 40 years and constructed a notable star atlas, his fame rests, strangely enough, on his popularization of a relationship discovered by someone else. In 1772 J D Titius (1729-96) pointed out that the members of the simple series 0,3,6,12,24,48,96, when added to 4 and divided by 10, give the mean radii of the planetary orbits in astronomical units, surprisingly accurately (even though only six planets were known at the time). (An astronomical unit (AU) is the mean distance of Earth from the Sun.)
Through Bode's publicizing of the relationship it became named after him. It played a part in the discovery of Uranus, the asteroid belt (the fifth '\Jplanet\j'), and Neptune (although its results are hopelessly inaccurate for Neptune and Pluto). It has never been proved whether Bode's Law has any real meaning, or is merely coincidental; if the latter, it is a remarkable coincidence. Bode was also responsible for the naming of the \Jplanet\j Uranus.
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"bodΘgon",4857,0,0,0
PN [bot\buh\buay\Bgon\b] (Span 'tavern')
EN A type of genre painting featuring still life, especially food in a kitchen setting. Velazquez's 'Old Woman Cooking Eggs' (1618, Edinburgh) is a well-known example.
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#
"Bodenheim, Maxwell",4858,0,0,0
DT (1893-1954)
EN poet, writer; born in Hermanville, Miss. He lived in \JChicago\j from 1902; after being expelled from high school (1908), he mixed with the literary figures of \JChicago\j before moving to New York City (1915). He published \IMinna and Myself\i (1918), the first of his 11 volumes of poetry; he also published novels, including \IReplenishing Jessica\i (1925), which were considered cynical and indecent. As the editor of \IOthers,\i a poetry magazine, he is credited with discovering Hart Crane. Having lived most of his life as a bohemian and alcoholic, he and his third wife were murdered in Greenwich Village.
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"Bodensee",4859,0,0,0
EN See Constance, Lake
BK b
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#
"Bodenstein, Andreas Rudolf",4860,0,0,0
EN See Carlstadt or Karlstadt
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#
"Bodh Gaya",4861,0,0,0
EN See Buddh Gaya or Bodh Gaya
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#
"Bodhidharma",4862,0,0,0
PN [bodhi\Bdah(r)\bma]
DT1 6
DT1b th-c
EN Monk and founder of the Ch'an (or Zen) sect of \JBuddhism\j, born near Madras, India. He travelled to China in 520, where he had a famous audience with the Emperor. He argued that merit applying to salvation could not be accumulated through good deeds, and taught \Jmeditation\j as the means of return to \JBuddha\j's spiritual precepts.
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#
"bodhisattva",4863,0,0,0
PN [bodhi\Bsat\bwa]
HS (Sanskrit, 'enlightened existence')
EN In \JMahayana\j \JBuddhism\j, one who has attained the enlightenment of a \JBuddha\j but chooses not to pass into Nirvana; voluntarily remaining in the world to help lesser beings attain enlightenment. This example of compassion led to the emphasis in \JMahayana\j on charity and comfort towards others.
BK b
#
"Bodichon, Barbara",4864,0,0,0
HS , \InΘe\i \BLeigh Smith\b
DT1 1827
DT2 90
EN Advocate of women's rights, born in London, England, UK. She studied at Bedford College, London, and in 1852 opened a primary school in London. She wrote \IWomen at Work\i (1857) and was a founder of the feminist magazine \IThe Englishwoman's Journal\i (1858). She was one of the founders of the college for women that became Girton College, Cambridge.
SX f
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#
"bodily harm",4865,0,0,0
EN A criminal offence against the person, being an aggravation of a simple assault. \BGrievous bodily harm\b involves serious physical injury, such as wounding with a knife, although the injury need not be permanent. \BActual bodily harm\b involves a less serious attack, involving any hurt or injury which causes ill health or discomfort. These terms are not used in all jurisdictions.
BK b
#
"Bodin, Jean",4866,0,0,0
PN [bohdφ]
DT1 1530
DT2 96
EN Political philosopher, born in Angers, \JFrance\j. He had a successful legal career and was also active politically. His major work was \ISix livres de la RΘpublique\i (1576, The Six Bookes of a Commonweale, 1606), on the definition and limits of sovereignty, which argued for a limited form of monarchy.
SX m
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#
"Bodleian Library",4867,0,0,0
PN [\Bbod\blian]
EN The university library and national depository at Oxford. It was founded in 1595 by Sir Thomas Bodley (1545-1613), who restored the disused 14th-c library and laid the foundations of its now extensive holdings.
BK b
#
"Bodley, Sir Thomas",4868,0,0,0
DT1 1545
DT2 1613
EN Scholar and diplomat, born in Exeter, Devon, south-west England, UK. He studied languages and divinity at Geneva, where his Protestant family had been forced to take refuge during the persecutions of Mary I, but in 1558 went to Magdalen College, Oxford, and was appointed Greek lecturer at Merton College (1564).
In the service of Queen \JElizabeth I\j he was ambassador to Denmark, \JFrance\j, and Holland. In 1587 he married a wealthy widow, then spent huge sums on the extension of the university library, which was renamed the Bodleian and opened in 1602. He was knighted in 1604.
MEX Savile
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#
"Bodmer, Johann Georg",4869,0,0,0
DT1 1786
DT2 1864
EN Inventor, born in Zⁿrich, \JSwitzerland\j. He was a mechanical \Jengineering\j genius whose many inventions reflected the wide range of his interests in textile machinery, machine tools, screw propellers, armaments, steam engines, furnaces, boilers, and locomotives.
SX m
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#
"Bodoni, Giambattista",4870,0,0,0
PN [bo\Bdoh\bnee]
DT1 1740
DT2 1813
EN Printer, born in Saluzzo, \JItaly\j. He designed (1790) a modern typeface still widely used today. His press in Parma published editions of the classics widely admired for their elegance.
SX m
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#
"Body art",4871,0,0,0
EN A type of \Jmodern art\j which exploits the artist's - or someone else's - physical presence as a work of art in its own right. Artists may stand in the gallery like a living statue, perhaps singing; photograph themselves performing some banal action, such as smiling; or may deliberately injure themselves. A typical fad of the 1960s, it has emerged again in the 1990s, with people using paint, tattoo, rings, and a variety of attachments.
BK b
#
"body colour",4872,0,0,0
EN See \Jgouache\j
BK b
XCY y
#
"body language",4873,0,0,0
EN See non-verbal communication (NVC)
BK b
XCY y
#
"body mass index",4874,0,0,0
EN See weight for height
BK b
XCY y
#
"body popping",4875,0,0,0
EN See street dance
BK b
XCY y
#
"Boδ, Franz de la",4876,0,0,0
EN See Sylvius, Franciscus
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Boece or Boethius, Hector",4877,0,0,0
PN [boys]
HS , also spelled \BBoyis\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1465
DT2a c.
DT2 1536
EN Historian, born in Dundee, E Scotland, UK. He studied at Montaigu College, Paris, where he was a regent or professor of philosophy (c.1492-98), and then became principal of the newly founded university of \JAberdeen\j. He is best known for his \IScotorum historiae a prima gentis origine\i (1526, trans The History and Chronicles of Scotland), which, though largely based on legendary sources, was very well received at the time.
SX m
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#
"Boehm or B÷hm, Theobald",4878,0,0,0
PN [boem]
DT1 1794
DT2 1881
EN Flautist and inventor, born in Munich, \JGermany\j. In 1828 he opened a flute factory in Munich, and determined to make a flute which would be acoustically perfect. As this involved making holes in places where they could not be fingered, he devised a key mechanism to overcome the problem, and in 1847 produced the model on which the modern flute is based. Certain features of his system have also been applied to the \Jclarinet\j.
SX m
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#
"Boehme, Jakob",4879,0,0,0
EN See B÷hme or B÷ehme, Jakob
BK bg b
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#
"Boeing, William E(dward)",4880,0,0,0
DT (1881-1956)
EN \Jaircraft\j manufacturer; born in \JDetroit\j, Mich. A lumberman, in 1916 he formed the Pacific Aero Products Company. In 1927 he organized what would become United \JAircraft\j and Transport. In 1934 the federal government divided United \JAircraft\j and Transport into Boeing \JAircraft\j (a major manufacturer of military and civilian aircraft), United \JAircraft\j, and United Airlines, and he retired from business.
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#
"Boeotia",4881,0,0,0
PN [bee\Boh\bsha]
EN In antiquity, the area in C \JGreece\j bordering on Attica. Its chief city-state was Thebes. Its inhabitants were largely of Aeolian stock, and proverbial for their stupidity.
BK b
#
"Boer Wars",4882,0,0,0
EN Two wars fought by the British and the \JBoers\j for the mastery of S Africa. The British had made several attempts to re-incorporate the \JBoers\j, who had left the Cape Colony in the Great Trek, within a South African confederation. The first Boer War (1880-1) ended with the defeat of the British at Majuba Hill, and the signing of the \JPretoria\j and London Conventions of 1881 and 1884. In 1896 the Jameson Raid was a clumsy private effort to achieve the same objective.
The second Boer War (1899-1902) can be divided into three phases: (1) (Oct 1899-Jan 1900) a series of Boer successes, including the sieges of Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking, as well as victories at Stormberg, Modder River, Magersfontein, Colenso, and Moderspruit; (2) (Feb-Aug 1900) counter-offensives by Lord Roberts, including the raising of the sieges, the victory at Paardeberg, and the capture of \JPretoria\j; (3) (Sep 1900-May 1902) a period of guerrilla warfare when Kitchener attempted to prevent Boer commandos raiding isolated British units and lines of communication.
The \JBoers\j effectively won the peace. They maintained control of 'native affairs', won back representative government in 1907, and federated South Africa on their terms in 1910. On the other hand, British interests in South Africa were protected and, despite internal strains, the Union of South Africa entered both World Wars 1 and 2 on the British side.
BK b
#
"Boerhaave, Hermann",4883,0,0,0
PN [boor\Bhah\bvuh]
DT1 1668
DT2 1738
EN Physician and botanist, born in Voorhout, The Netherlands. He studied at Leyden, where he became professor of medicine and botany (1709). The two works on which his fame chiefly rests, \IInstitutiones medicae\i (1708, Medical Principles) and \IAphorismi de cognoscendis et curandis morbis\i (1709, Aphorisms on the Recognition and Treatment of Diseases), were translated into various European languages. In 1724 he also became professor of chemistry, and his \IElementa chemiae\i (1724, Elements of Chemistry) is a classic.
SX m
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#
"Boers",4884,0,0,0
EN See \JAfrikaners\j
BK b
XCY y
#
"Boesak, Allan (Aubrey)",4885,0,0,0
PN [\Bbu\bsak]
DT1 1945
EN Clergyman, born in Kakamas, South Africa. Lecturer and student chaplain at Western Cape University, president of the alliance of Black Reformed Christians in South Africa (1981), and president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (1982-- ), he sees the Christian Gospel in terms of liberation of the oppressed. An outspoken opponent of \Japartheid\j, he is leader of the coloured (mixed-race) community in South Africa.
BK Biog99
#
"Boesky, Ivan",4886,0,0,0
PN [\Bbes\bkee]
DT1 1937
EN Financier, born in \JDetroit\j, \JMichigan\j, USA. The son of a Russian immigrant, he studied law and worked as a tax accountant before moving into securities analysis, forming his own firm in 1975.
Credited with (or blamed for) pioneering the junk-bond market, later a symbol of the excesses of the 1980s, he had become one of Wall Street's most successful arbitragers when he admitted to insider trading charges in 1986. Fined $100 million, he served time in prison before being given parole for good behaviour in 1990.
BK Biog99
#
"Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus",4887,0,0,0
PN [boh\Bee\bthius]
DT1a c.AD
DT1 480
DT2 524
EN Roman philosopher and statesman, born of a patrician Roman family. He studied at \JAthens\j, and there gained the knowledge which later enabled him to produce the translations of Aristotle and \JPorphyry\j that became the standard textbooks on logic in mediaeval Europe. He became consul in 510 during the Gothic occupation of \JRome\j, and later chief minister to the ruler Theodoric; but in 523 he was accused of \Jtreason\j and after a year in prison at \JPavia\j was executed.
It was during his imprisonment that he wrote the famous \IDe consolatione philosophiae\i (Consolation of Philosophy), in which the personification of Philosophy solaces the author by explaining the mutability of all earthly fortune. The \IConsolation\i was for the next millennium probably the most widely read book after the \JBible\j.
SX m
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#
"Boethius, Hector",4888,0,0,0
EN See Boece or Boethius, Hector
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Boδx, Joseph and SΘraphin",4889,0,0,0
EN See Rosny
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Boff, Leonardo",4890,0,0,0
DT1 1938
EN Franciscan liberation theologian, born in Concordia, \JBrazil\j. He was ordained in \JBrazil\j in 1964, studied at Wⁿrzburg, \JLouvain\j, Oxford, and Munich, and became professor of systematic \Jtheology\j in Petr≤\Jpolis\j, Rio.
His best-known work, \IJesus-Christ Liberator\i (1972), offers hope and justice for the oppressed rather than religious support of the \Istatus quo\i in Church and society. He has written several books on reforming Church structures from grass-roots "basic communities', including \IChurch: Charism and Power\i (1984), which provoked official ecclesiastical censure.
BK Biog99
#
"bog asphodel",4891,0,0,0
EN A rhizomatous perennial \I(Narthecium ossifragum),\i growing to 40┐cm / 15┐in, native to boggy regions of north-west Europe; leaves rigid, curved, V-shaped in cross-section; flowers with six \Jperianth\j-segments, yellow, turning deep orange after \Jfertilization\j, stamens woolly. \B(Family:\b Liliaceae.)
BK b
#
"bog burials",4892,0,0,0
EN Ancient human bodies recovered from N European \Jpeat\j bogs, their soft tissues and hair remarkably preserved by waterlogged, anaerobic conditions (known finds: Denmark 166, \JGermany\j 215, Netherlands 48, Britain and Ireland 120). Notable \JIron Age\j examples are \ITollund Man\i (c.200 BC), \IGrauballe Man\i (c.50 BC), both in Denmark, and the 25-30-year-old, 1.7┐m / 5┐ft┐7┐in tall \ILindow Man,\i buried naked c.300 BC in Lindow Moss, Cheshire, UK, and discovered in 1984. All three were murdered, presumably sacrificial victims or criminals.
BK b
#
"bog myrtle",4893,0,0,0
EN A reddish deciduous shrub \I(Myrica gale),\i native throughout cooler N temperate regions; foliage aromatic, dotted with yellowish oil-glands; flowers tiny, in spike-like catkins; also called \Bsweet gale.\b Males and females are usually on separate plants, but plants may change sex from year to year. \B(Family:\b Myricaceae.)
BK b
#
"Bogan, Louise",4894,0,0,0
DT (1897-1970)
EN poet, writer; born in Livermore Falls, Maine. She studied at \JBoston\j University (1915-16), moved to New York City, and served as poetry editor of the \INew Yorker\i (1931-69). She was an influential critic, as in \IAchievement in American Poetry 1900-1950\i (1951), and a noted lyrical poet, as in \IThe Blue Estuaries\i (1968).
BK AmBg
#
"Bogarde, Sir Dirk",4895,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bgah(r)d]
HS , originally \BDerek Niven van den Bogaerde\b
DT1 1921
DT2 1999
EN Actor and novelist, born in London, England, UK. He began acting in repertory theatre and made his film debut as an extra in \ICome On George\i (1940). After war service, he was signed to a long-term contract with Rank Films, spending many years playing small-time crooks, military heroes, and breezy comic leads (notably in the 'Doctor in the House' series) until he was voted Britain's top box-office star (1955, 1957).
His major films include \IA Tale of Two Cities\i (1958), \IVictim\i (1961), \IThe Servant\i (1963), \IDeath in Venice\i (1971), and \IProvidence\i (1977). He has published several volumes of \Jautobiography\j, and his novels include \IA Gentle Occupation\i (1980) and \IA Period of Adjustment\i (1994). He was knighted in 1992.
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1947 Dancing With Crime
1948 Quartet (appeared in The Alien Corn)
1949 The Blue Lamp
1950 So Long at the Fair
1952 Appointment in London
1952 Hunted
1953 They Who Dare
1953 Doctor in the House
1954 The Sleeping Tiger
1955 Doctor at Sea
1955 Cast a Dark Shadow
1955 Simba
1956 The Spanish Gardener
1956 Ill Met By Moonlight
1957 Doctor at Large
1958 A Tale of Two Cities
1958 The Wind Cannot Read
1959 The Doctor's Dilemma
1959 Libel
1960 Song Without End
1960 The Angel Wore Red
1960 The Singer Not The Song
1961 Victim
1962 HMS Defiant
1962 The Password is Courage
1963 The Servant
1963 The Mind Benders
1963 Doctor in Distress
1963 Hot Enough For June
1964 King and Country
1965 Darling
1965 The High Bright Sun
1966 Modesty Blaise
1967 Accident
1967 Our Mother's House
1968 The Fixer
1969 Oh What A Lovely War
1969 Justine
1969 The Damned
1971 Death in Venice
1973 The Night Porter
1975 Permission To Kill
1977 Providence
1977 A Bridge Too Far
1978 Despair
1990 Daddy Nostalgie (aka These Foolish Things)
\INovels\i
1980 A Gentle Occupation
1981 Voices in the Garden
1984 West of Sunset
1992 Jericho
1994 A Period of Adjustement
\IAutobiography\i
1977 A Postillion Struck by Lightning
1978 Snakes and Ladders
1983 An Orderly Man
1986 Backcloth
1989 A Particular Friendship
1992 The Great Meadow
1993 A Short Walk From Harrods
1995 Cleared for Take Off
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#
"Bogardus, James",4896,0,0,0
DT (1800-74)
EN inventor; born in Catskill, N.Y. After serving an apprenticeship in watchmaking, he patented the ring-flyer for cotton-spinning machinery (1830), made \Jengraving\j machines in England (1836-39), and invented the first dry gas meter (patented, 1834). He erected the world's first cast-iron building - a five-story factory at the corner of Center and Duane Streets in New York City (1848) - and later erected many other iron buildings.
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"Bogart, Humphrey (DeForest)",4897,0,0,0
DT (1899-1957)
EN film actor; born in New York (husband of Lauren Bacall). After serving with the Navy during World War I, he became a stage manager and walk-on actor before making his film debut in 1930. He played the lone wolf - cynical but heroic - for many years, finally winning an \JAcademy Award\j for \IThe African Queen\i (1952); but his archetypal role was in \ICasablanca\i (1942). He died of cancer.
BK AmBg
#
"Bogdanov, Michael",4898,0,0,0
PN [bog\Bdah\bnov]
DT1 1938
EN Stage director, born in London, England, UK. He studied at the universities of Dublin, Munich, and the \JSorbonne\j, and went on to direct several major productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. In 1986 he became co-founder and artistic director of the touring English Shakespeare Company.
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#
"Bogdanovich, Peter",4899,0,0,0
PN [bog\Bdan\bovich]
DT1 1939
EN Film director, born in Kingston, New York, USA. His particular interest was in reviving the film genre of the 1930s and 1940s. His second film, \IThe Last Picture Show\i (1971), depicting social change in a 1950s \JTexas\j town, received critical acclaim, though the sequel, \ITexasville\i (1990), was less successful. Later films include \INoises Off\i (1992) and \IThe Thing Called Love\i (1993).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1967 Targets
1971 The Last Picture Show
1972 What's Up Doc?
1973 Paper Moon
1979 Saint Jack
1981 They All Laughed
1988 Illegally Yours
1985 Mask
1990 Texasville
1992 Noises Off
1993 The thing Called Love
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#
"Boggs, Thomas Hale, Sr.",4900,0,0,0
DT (1914-73)
EN U.S. representative; born in Long Beach, Miss. A graduate of Tulane, he practiced law before going to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Dem., La.; 1941-43) and served in the Potomac River Naval Command during World War II. He returned to Congress (1947-73) and chaired the Special Committee on Campaign Expenditures in 1951. He became majority whip (1961-71) and was majority leader of the Democrats when his plane disappeared over \JAlaska\j.
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"Bognor Regis",4901,0,0,0
PN [\Bbog\bner \Bree\bjis]
EN 50░47N 0░41W, pop (1995e) 59 900. Coastal resort town in West Sussex, S England, UK; on the English Channel, 20 km/12 mi W of \JWorthing\j; the title 'Regis' dates from 1929, when King \JGeorge V\j came here to recuperate; railway; tourism, electrical \Jengineering\j.
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#
"Bogoliubov, Nikolai Nikolaevich",4902,0,0,0
DT (1909- )
EN Soviet mathematical physicist: contributed to quantum theory and the theory of \Jsuperconductivity\j.
Bogoliubov worked at the Academy of Sciences in the \JUkraine\j and at the Soviet Academy of Sciences. He contributed new mathematical techniques to physics, and the Bogoliubov transformation, by which variables are changed in quantum field theory, is named after him. A distribution function describing non- equilibrium processes is due to him, as are many developments in parallel to the BCS theory of \Jsuperconductivity\j.
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#
"Bogomils",4903,0,0,0
PN [\Bbog\bohmilz]
EN See Albigenses; 06217 Cathars
BK b
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#
"Bogorad, Lawrence",4904,0,0,0
PN [\Bbo\bgorad]
DT1 1921
EN Plant physiologist, born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Brought to the USA in 1923, he taught at the University of \JChicago\j, moving to Harvard in 1967. A pioneer in the study of chloroplasts, his early studies of \Jchlorophyll\j synthesis in green \Jalgae\j contributed to research into the biosynthesis of compounds with similar structure, such as haemoglobin and the cytochromes. In the 1960s he worked on accessory plant \Jpigments\j and the \Jgenetics\j of chloroplast formation.
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"Bogotß",4905,0,0,0
PN [bohgoh\Bta\b]
EN 4░38N 74░05W, pop (1995e) 4 380 000. Federal capital of \JColombia\j, and capital of the Department of Cundinamarca; on a plateau at 2650 m/8694 ft in C \JColombia\j; former centre of Chibcha culture; founded by Spanish, 1538; former capital of Greater \JColombia\j and of New \JGranada\j; airport (El Dorado); railway; several universities and colleges; cathedral, Museum of Colonial Art, Palace of San Carlos, Municipal Palace, National Capitol, Churches of San Ignacio, Santa Clara, and San Agustφn; Quinta de Bolivar (museum, once Bolivar's home), Gold Museum; linked to Monserrate National Park by funicular railway and cable car.
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"Bogusnawski, Wojciech",4906,0,0,0
DT 1757-1829
EN Polish actor, director, manager and playwright. He was the father of the Polish National Theatre in Warsaw, which he directed from 1783 to 1814. There he staged the first opera sung in Polish, Salieri's Axur, playing the title role in 1793. In 1798 in Lw≤w he presented the first Polish Hamlet.
In 1811 he founded the first theatre school, where he taught and wrote a textbook on acting. Among over 80 original plays and adaptations, best known are his musical Cracovians and Mountaineers (1794) and the historical drama Henry IV at the Hunt (1792).
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#
"Bohemia",4907,0,0,0
PN [boh\Bhee\bmia]
HS , Czech \BChaechy,\b Ger \BB÷hmen\b
EN Historic province of W Czech Republic, bounded E by Moravia, W and S by \JGermany\j and \JAustria\j, and N by \JGermany\j and \JPoland\j; a plateau enclosed by mountains; natural boundaries include the Erzgebirge (north), Bohemian Forest (south-west), and Sudetes Mts (north-east); chief rivers include the Elbe (Labe), Vltava (Moldau), Ohre (Eger), Jihlava, and Jizera; major towns include \JPrague\j, CeskΘ Budsjovice, Plzen, ┌stφ nad Labem; highly industrialized area; \Jcoal\j, iron ore, uranium; mineral springs; part of Moravian Empire, 9th-c; at its peak in early \JMiddle Ages\j, especially in 14th-c under Charles I; Hussite religious dissension; Habsburg rule from early 16th-c; became a province of \JCzechoslovakia\j, 1918; part of Czech Socialist Republic of W \JCzechoslovakia\j, 1968; part of Czech Republic, 1993.
BK b
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"Bohemian Forest",4908,0,0,0
HS , Ger \BB÷hmerwald,\b Czech \BCesk² Les\b
EN Forested mountain range along the boundary between \JGermany\j and \JBohemia\j, Czech Republic; highest German peak, Grosser Arber (1457┐m / 4780┐ft); source of Bayern, Vltava, Regen, and Ilz Rivers.
BK b
#
"Bohemond I",4909,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bimond]
DT1a c.
DT1 1056
DT2 1111
EN Prince of Antioch, the eldest son of Robert Guiscard. He led his father's army against Alexius I Comnenus in Thessaly in 1083 but was defeated. He joined the First Crusade (1096), and took a prominent part in the capture of Antioch (1098). While the other crusaders advanced to storm \JJerusalem\j, Bohemond established himself as prince in Antioch.
He was taken prisoner by the Turks (1100-3), then returned to Europe to marry Constance, the daughter of Philip I of \JFrance\j (1106). He then collected troops to wage war against Alexius, who agreed to hand over lands to Bohemond in return for peace in 1107.
MEX Guiscard; Alexius
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#
"Bohlen, Charles E. (Eustis)",4910,0,0,0
DT (1904-74)
EN diplomat; born in Clayton, N.Y. He was the premier Sovietologist in the State Department from 1931. He was liaison officer between the State Department and the \JWhite House\j (1944-46), ambassador to the \JSoviet Union\j (1953-57), the \JPhilippines\j (1957-59), and \JFrance\j (1962-68). He played an important role in several international conferences, including Yalta in 1945.
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"B÷hm, Karl",4911,0,0,0
PN [boem]
DT1 1894
DT2 1981
EN Conductor, born in \JGraz\j, \JAustria\j. He studied in Vienna and held permanent posts as an opera conductor in Dresden (1934-43), Vienna (1943-5, 1954-6), and elsewhere, and also appeared frequently in London, New York City, and Bayreuth. Remembered chiefly for his Mozart performances, he also conducted premieres of operas by Richard Strauss, a personal friend.
MEX Strauss, Richard
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#
"B÷hm, Theobald",4912,0,0,0
EN See Boehm or B÷hm, Theobald
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Bohm-Aharonov effect",4913,0,0,0
EN See Aharonov-Bohm effect
BK b
XCY y
#
"B÷hme or B÷ehme, Jakob",4914,0,0,0
PN [\Bboe\bmuh]
DT1 1575
DT2 1624
EN Theosophist and mystic, born in Altseidenberg, \JGermany\j. He became a shoemaker, but in 1600 had a mystical experience which led him towards \Jmeditation\j on divine things. \IAurora\i (1612) contains revelations upon God, humanity, and nature, and shows considerable knowledge of Scripture and of the writings of alchemists. It was condemned by the ecclesiastical authorities of Gⁿrlitz, and he was cruelly persecuted, but in 1623 he published \IThe Great Mystery\i and \IOn the Election of Grace,\i and his influence spread beyond \JGermany\j to Holland and England.
SX m
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#
"Bohr magnetron",4915,0,0,0
EN The \Jmagnetic moment\j of the \Jelectron\j, as given by relativistic quantum mechanics, treating the \Jelectron\j as a point particle; named after Niels Bohr; symbol \fm\n\DB\d; \fm\n\DB\d┐=┐\Ieh\i / (4\fp\n\Imc),\i where \Ie\i and \Im\i are \Jelectron\j charge and mass, \Ih\i is Planck's constant, and \Ic\i is the velocity of light; value \fm\n\DB\d┐=┐9.274┐╫┐10\U-24\uJ / T (joules per tesla); measured value of \Jmagnetic moment\j slightly different, suggesting the need for corrections to quantum mechanics. The nuclear \Jmagnetron\j \fm\n\DN\d is the corresponding expression for the proton, with proton mass replacing \Jelectron\j mass: \fm\n\DN\d┐=┐5.051┐╫┐10\U-27\u┐J / T.
BK b
#
"Bohr, Aage (Niels)",4916,0,0,0
PN [baw(r)]
DT1 1922
EN Physicist, born in \JCopenhagen\j, Denmark, the son of Niels Bohr. He studied at the universities of \JCopenhagen\j and London, and worked in his father's Institute of Theoretical Physics in \JCopenhagen\j from 1946, becoming professor of physics at \JCopenhagen\j (1956). He was director of the Institute (1963--70), and from 1975 to 1981 director of Nordita (Nordic Institute for Theoretical Atomic Physics).
With Ben Mottelson, he secured experimental evidence for the support of Leo James Rainwater's collective model of the atomic nucleus, and shared the Nobel Prize for Physics with them in 1975.
BK Biog99
#
"Bohr, Niels (Henrik David)",4917,0,0,0
PN [baw(r)]
DT (1885-1962)
EN Danish theoretical physicist: put forward the quantum theory of the electronic structure of atoms.
Bohr's family was distinguished, his father was professor of \Jphysiology\j at \JCopenhagen\j and his younger brother Harald a gifted mathematician. Niels and Harald were both footballers to a professional standard and Niels and his son Aage (born in 1922) both won the Nobel Prize for physics, in 1922 and 1975 respectively.
After Bohr had finished his doctorate at \JCopenhagen\j (1911) he spent 8 months in Cambridge with J J Thomson, who was not attracted by Bohr's ideas on atomic structure, and so he moved to join Rutherford at Manchester and spent 4 years there. Rutherford's model of the atom (1911) envisaged electrons as spread around the central positive nucleus, but according to classical physics this system would be unstable.
Bohr countered this difficulty by suggesting that the \Jelectron\j's orbital angular momentum about the nucleus can only adopt multiples of a certain fixed value, ie it is quantized. Radiation is then only emitted or absorbed when an \Jelectron\j hops from one allowed orbit to another. On this basis Bohr calculated in 1913 what the emission and absorption spectra of atomic \Jhydrogen\j should be, and found excellent agreement with the observed spectrum as described by Rydberg and Balmer.
In 1916 Bohr returned to \JCopenhagen\j and 2 years later became the first director of its Institute of Theoretical Physics. This became the focal centre for theoretical physics for a generation, in which physicists throughout the world co-operated in developing quantum theory.
In that first year Bohr established the 'correspondence principle': that a quantum description of microscopic physics must tend to the classical description for larger dimensions.
His 'complementarity principle' appeared in 1927: there is no sharp separation between atomic objects and their interaction with the instruments measuring their behaviour. This is in keeping with Broglie's belief in the equivalence of wave and particle descriptions of matter; Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and Born's use of probability waves to describe matter also fit naturally with this principle.
Rutherford's work had developed nuclear physics to the point by the 1930s where Bohr could apply quantum theory to the nucleus also. This was held to be of neutrons and protons coupled strongly together like molecules in a liquid drop (1936). The very variable response of nuclei to collisions with neutrons of different energies could then be explained in terms of the possible excited states of this 'liquid drop'.
By 1939 Bohr and J A Wheeler (1911-95) had a good theory of nuclear fission and were able to predict that uranium-235 would be a more appropriate isotope for fission (and, as Einstein pointed out, an atomic bomb) than uranium-238.
By the autumn of 1943 Bohr was in danger in occupied Denmark (his mother was Jewish) and he chose to escape to Sweden in a fishing boat. He was then flown to England in the bomb-bay of a Mosquito \Jaircraft\j. Before he left Denmark he dissolved the heavy gold medal of his Nobel Prize in acid; the inconspicuous solution escaped detection in occupied Denmark and was later reduced to metal and the medal was recast from it.
After his escape, he joined the atomic bomb programme. In 1944 he lobbied Roosevelt and Churchill on the danger inherent in atomic weapons and the need for agreements between the West and the USSR. This led to his organizing the first Atoms for Peace Conference in Geneva in 1955.
At his death in 1962 Bohr was widely acknowledged as the foremost theoretician of this century after Einstein. The Bohr model of the atom gave a good 'fit' with the observed spectra only for the simplest atoms (\Jhydrogen\j and \Jhelium\j) and it was much modified later, but the concept was a milestone for physics and for chemistry. Similarly, the liquid drop model of the nucleus was to be much developed by others, and notably by Aage Bohr.
Unlike many physicists who have shaped their ideas alone, Bohr refined his ideas in discussions, which often became monologues. He was very popular with his fellow physicists, who produced a 5-yearly Journal of Jocular Physics in his honour to celebrate his birthdays.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Bohr also offered us a rather interesting principle for looking at new theories in physics: the correspondence principle. This principle basically states that when a new and more general theory (such as quantum mechanics) is put forward, it must reduce to the more specialised (and generally simpler) theory (such as classical mechanics) under normal circumstances.
There are also correspondence principles for \Jgeneral relativity\j to \Jspecial relativity\j and again from \Jspecial relativity\j to Newtonian mechanics, but the mechanics example is the most common correspondence intended when the term is used. Taken together with the beauty criterion of P. A. M. Dirac, this offers us an unusual way of judging the worth of a new theory.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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#
"Bohrod, Aaron",4918,0,0,0
DT (1907-92)
EN painter; born in \JChicago\j. A student of John Sloan in New York, he taught at the University of \JWisconsin\j: Madison (1948-73), where he settled, and was influenced by the 1930s Depression, as in \ILandscape Near Chicago\i (1934).
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#
"Boiardo, Matteo Maria, conte di (Count of) Scandiano",4919,0,0,0
PN [boy\Bah(r)\bdoh]
DT1a c.
DT1 1441
DT2 94
EN Poet, born in Scandiano, \JItaly\j. He studied at \JFerrara\j, and in 1462 married the daughter of the Count of Norellara. He lived at the court of \JFerrara\j where he was employed on diplomatic missions, and was appointed governor in 1481 of Modena, and in 1487 of Reggio. His fame rests on the unfinished \IOrlando Innamorato\i (1486), a long narrative poem in which the Charlemagne romances are recast into \Iottava rima.\i
MEX Roland
SX m
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#
"Boieldieu, Francois Adrien",4920,0,0,0
PN [bwaeldyoe]
DT1 1775
DT2 1834
EN Composer, born in \JRouen\j, \JFrance\j. His opera \ILe Calife de Bagdad\i (1800, The Caliph of \JBaghdad\j), which was performed in Paris, brought him acclaim. He conducted at St Petersburg (1803-10) and on his return produced his two masterpieces, \IJean de Paris\i (1812) and \ILa Dame blanche\i (1825, The White Lady).
SX m
BK bg b
#
"boil",4921,0,0,0
EN An \Jabscess\j in a sweat follicle, which results in a raised, reddened, and often painful swelling in the skin. It usually results from infection with \IStaphylococcus aureus.\i
BK b
#
"Boileau(-DesprΘaux), Nicolas",4922,0,0,0
PN [bwahloh]
DT1 1636
DT2 1711
EN Poet and critic, born in Paris. He studied law and \Jtheology\j at Beauvais, but, as a man of means, devoted himself to literature. In 1677 the king appointed him, with Racine, official royal historian. \IL'Art poΘtique\i (Poetic Art), imitated by Pope in the \IEssay on Criticism,\i was published in 1674, along with the first part of the serio-comic \ILutrin.\i His influence as a critic has been profound. He set up good sense, sobriety, elegance, and dignity of style as the cardinal literary virtues.
MEX Racine
SX m
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#
"boiling point",4923,0,0,0
EN The state achieved when a liquid is heated until the heat \Jenergy\j is no longer used to increase \Jtemperature\j but instead to form gas from the liquid. Formally, the boiling point \Jtemperature\j is reached when a liquid's vapour pressure equals external pressure. Boiling points thus decrease with altitude. Water may be boiled at room \Jtemperature\j by decreasing the pressure around it.
BK b
#
"boiling water reactor",4924,0,0,0
EN See nuclear reactor
BK b
XCY y
#
"Bois de Boulogne",4925,0,0,0
PN [bwah duh boo\Bloyn\b]
EN A park of 962┐ha / 2380┐acres situated on the W outskirts of Paris. Originally a royal hunting forest, it became a popular recreation area for Parisians in the 17th-c, and in 1852 was relandscaped along the lines of London's Hyde Park. The Longchamp racecourse was opened there in 1857.
BK b
#
"Bois W.E B Du",4926,0,0,0
EN Du Bois, W(illiam) E(dward) B(urghardt)
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#
"Bois, Guy PΘne du",4927,0,0,0
EN See du Bois, Guy PΘne
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#
"Bois-Reymond, Emil du",4928,0,0,0
DT (1818-96)
EN German physiologist: pioneer electrophysiologist.
Du Bois-Reymond's father was a Swiss teacher who moved to Berlin; he was an expert on linguistics and authoritarian enough to 'arouse his son's spirit of resistance'. The family spoke French and felt part of the French community in Berlin. Emil studied a range of subjects at Berlin for 2 years before he was fully attracted to medicine, which he studied under J P Mⁿller.
He graduated in 1843 and was then already working on animal electricity (discovered by Galvani) and especially on electric fishes. He introduced refined physical methods for measuring these effects and by 1849 had a sensitive multiplier for measuring nerve currents; he found an electric current in injured, intact and contracting muscles. He traced it correctly to individual fibres and found that their interior is negative with respect to the surface.
He showed the existence of a resting current in nerve and suggested, correctly, that nerve impulses might be transmitted chemically. He was modest, but also confident, and his ideas aroused vigorous debate; his experimental methods dominated electrophysiology for a century.
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"Boisbaudran, Paul Emile Lecoq de",4929,0,0,0
PN [bwahbohdrπ]
DT1 1838
DT2 1912
EN Physical chemist, born in Cognac, \JFrance\j. A founder of \Jspectroscopy\j, he discovered \Jgallium\j, samarium, and dysprosium.
SX m
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#
"Boise",4930,0,0,0
PN [\Bboy\bzee]
EN 43░37N 116░13W, pop (1995e) 145 000. State capital in Ada Co, SW \JIdaho\j, USA, on the Boise R; founded after the 1862 gold rush; airfield; railway; largest city in the state; contains several thousand people of Basque origin (largest Basque group in USA); trade and transportation centre; food processing and light manufacturing; Old \JIdaho\j Penitentiary, \JIdaho\j State museum.
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#
"Boito, Arrigo",4931,0,0,0
PN [boeeto]
DT1 1842
DT2 1918
EN Composer and poet, born in Padua, \JItaly\j. He studied at the Milan \JConservatory\j. His first important work was the opera \IMefistofele\i (1868), which survived its initial failure and later grew in popularity. He wrote his own and other libretti, including those for Verdi's \IOtello\i and \IFalstaff.\i
SX m
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#
"Bok, Bart",4932,0,0,0
DT (1906-83)
EN astronomer; born in Hoorn, Holland. He came to Harvard College on a fellowship in 1929 and stayed until he became director of the Mt. Stromio Observatory in \JAustralia\j (1957-66). At the University of \JArizona\j, he directed the Steward Observatory (1966-70). His classic \IThe Milky Way\i coauthored with his wife, Priscilla Bok, went through many editions.
BK AmBg
#
"Bok, Edward (William)",4933,0,0,0
DT (1863-1930)
EN editor, author; born in den Helder, the Netherlands. Emigrating to Brooklyn, N.Y., with his struggling family in 1870, he quit school at age 13 to help out, doing office work, writing reviews for the \IBrooklyn Eagle,\i and eventually editing a church magazine. In 1884, with a partner, he started a syndicate that sold women's features to newspapers; he also wrote and distributed literary pieces of his own.
In 1889 he was hired by Cyrus H. K. Curtis (whose daughter he later married) as editor of the \ILadies' Home Journal.\i During his 30-year tenure he acquired top authors, from Rudyard Kipling to Theodore Roosevelt, and developed innovative features and services to readers, displaying an intuitive sense for his audience's interests.
By 1900 the \ILadies' Home Journal\i had the highest circulation of any U.S. magazine. Having accumulated a personal fortune, Bok retired in 1919, devoting himself to writing and philanthropy. His \Jautobiography\j, \IThe Americanization of Edward Bok\i (1920), was a best-seller and won a Pulitzer Prize.
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#
"Bokassa, Eddine Ahmed",4934,0,0,0
PN [boh\Bka\bsa]
HS , originally \BJean BΘdel Bokassa\b
DT1 1921
DT2 96
EN Central African Republic soldier, president (1966-79), and emperor (1977-9), born in Bobangui, Central African Republic. He joined the French army in 1939 and in 1963, after independence, was made army commander-in-chief. He led a coup which overthrew President David Dacko (1965), made himself life-president, and in 1977 was crowned emperor as Bokassa I.
He became increasingly dictatorial and was held responsible for the deaths of numerous people. In 1979 he was himself ousted and went into exile, but in 1988 was returned for trial and found guilty of murder and other crimes. His death sentence was eventually commuted.
SX m
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#
"Boker, George Henry",4935,0,0,0
DT (1823-90)
EN playwright, poet, diplomat; born in Philadelphia. His romantic tragedies were among the few such plays to be successful. Most popular was his \IFrancesca da Rimini\i (1855). He also served as envoy to Turkey and \JRussia\j.
BK AmBg
#
"Boksenberg, Alexander",4936,0,0,0
DT (1936- )
EN British astrophysicist: inventor of an image \Jphoton\j counting system (IPCS) of great value in optical \Jastronomy\j.
Boksenberg studied physics in London, and from the 1960s worked on image-detecting systems for use in space vehicles and ground-based telescopes. For a century, photographic plates or films have been used to accumulate light in faint telescopic images, but the method has disadvantages and electronic detectors (eg CCDs, charge-coupled devices) have been much used.
Boksenberg's method uses a TV camera and image intensifier, whose amplified signals are processed by computer, to give a pixel picture of dots (each due to a \Jphoton\j) which can be both viewed and stored.
In this way, very distant and/or faint objects can be studied in the optical, UV and X-ray range with enhanced sensitivity and accuracy. Boksenberg and others have looked particularly at quasars, aiding understanding of stellar \Jevolution\j. He became director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory in 1981; the use of CCDs, and especially his IPCS, has revitalized optical \Jastronomy\j.
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"Bol, Ferdinand",4937,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1616
DT2 1680
EN Dutch painter who studied under Rembrandt in the 1630s and was one of his most talented followers. Working in \JAmsterdam\j, for many years he painted in a style so close to his master's that some of his portraits have been mistaken for Rembrandt's.
MEX Rembrandt
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"Boland, Patrick Joseph",4938,0,0,0
DT (1880-1942)
EN U.S. representative; born in Scranton, Pa. A carpenter and general contractor with Boland Brothers in Scranton, he served in local offices (1905-19) before going to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Dem., Pa.; 1931-42), where he became majority whip.
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"Bolden, Buddy",4939,0,0,0
DT (1877-1931)
EN jazz musician; born in \JNew Orleans\j, La. Subject of myth and \Jfable\j as the legendary originator of jazz and the "first jazz trumpeter," all that is certain of Bolden's musical career is that he was immensely popular in turn-of-the-20th-century \JNew Orleans\j, played the \Jcornet\j, and led bands. He may have contributed toward standardizing the \JNew Orleans\j jazz ensemble and repertoire; no recordings remain of his work. He was institutionalized in the Jackson Mental Institute from 1907 until the end of his life.
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"Boldrewood, Rolf",4940,0,0,0
HS , pseudonym of \BThomas Alexander Browne\b
DT1 1826
DT2 1915
EN Novelist, born in London, England, UK. His family emigrated to \JAustralia\j in 1830. He was educated in Sydney, then became a squatter in Victoria and later an inspector of goldfields. His novels depict life at the \Jcattle\j stations and diggings, and include \IRobbery under Arms\i (1888) and \IBabes in the Bush\i (1900).
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"Bolet, Jorge",4941,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\blay]
DT1 1914
DT2 90
EN Pianist, born in \JHavana\j. He studied at the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, from the age of 12, where he became head of \Jpiano\j studies. He is renowned for his interpretation of Liszt, and of the German, Spanish, and Russian Romantics. He became a US citizen in 1944.
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"bolete",4942,0,0,0
PN [boh\Bleet\b]
EN A \Jfungus\j with a typically mushroom-shaped fruiting body; fertile \Jspore\j-producing layer present as a lining of tubes on underside of cap; commonly found on ground under trees; some species edible, others poisonous. (Subdivision: Basidiomycetes. \BOrder:\b Agaricales.)
BK b
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"Boleyn, Anne",4943,0,0,0
PN [bo\Blin\b]
HS , also spelled \BBullen\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1507
DT2 36
EN English queen, the second wife of \BHenry VIII\b from 1533-6. Daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn by Elizabeth Howard, she secretly married Henry (Jan 1533), and was soon declared his legal wife (May); but within three months his passion for her had cooled. It was not revived by the birth (Sep 1533) of a princess (later \JElizabeth I\j), still less by that of a stillborn son (Jan 1536). She was arrested and brought to the Tower, charged with \Jtreason\j, and beheaded (19 May). Henry married Jane Seymour 11 days later.
MEX \JElizabeth I\j; \JHenry VIII\j; Seymour, Jane
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"Bolger, (Raymond Wallace) Ray",4944,0,0,0
DT (1904-87)
EN actor, dancer; born in \JBoston\j. A \Jrubber\j-legged dancer who appeared on stage and \Jtelevision\j, he was the wobbly scarecrow in \IThe Wizard of Oz\i (1939) and received numerous theatre awards including a Tony in 1949.
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"Bolger, James Brendan",4945,0,0,0
PN [\Bbol\bjer]
DT1 1935
EN \JNew Zealand\j prime minister (1990-- ), born in Opunake, \JNew Zealand\j. A farmer, he entered parliament in 1972 for the National Party as the member for King Country, and became Leader of the Opposition in 1986, and then prime minister. During his period in office, \JNew Zealand\j changed its electoral system to one of proportional representation (1996).
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"bolide",4946,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bleed]
EN An exceptionally brilliant \Jmeteor\j, or fireball, which explodes in our \Jatmosphere\j. It makes a very loud bang, and scatters stony debris over a wide area.
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"Bolingbroke",4947,0,0,0
EN See Henry IV (of England), originally Henry Bolingbroke
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#
"Bolingbroke, Henry St John, 1st Viscount",4948,0,0,0
DT1 1678
DT2 1751
EN English statesman and writer, born in London, England, UK. He studied at \JEton\j, and may have gone to Oxford. After travelling in Europe, he entered parliament (1701), becoming secretary for war (1704), foreign secretary (1710), and joint leader of the Tory Party. He was made a peer in 1712.
On the death of Queen Anne (1714), his Jacobite sympathies forced him to flee to \JFrance\j, where he wrote \IReflections on Exile.\i He returned for a while to England (1725-35), but unable to attain political office he went back to \JFrance\j (1735-42). His last years were spent in London, where his works included the influential \IIdea of a Patriot King\i (1749).
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"Bolinger, Dwight (Le Merton)",4949,0,0,0
DT (1907-92)
EN linguist; born in Topeka, Kans. A professor of English and Spanish languages and literature at the Universities of Southern \JCalifornia\j (1944-60) and \JColorado\j (1960-73) and emeritus professor at Harvard (1973), he advanced numerous linguistic theories, including several on the interconnectedness of intonation and gesture in speech. Among his more popular writings on English is \ILanguage - The Loaded Weapon\i (1980).
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"Bolφvar, Pico",4950,0,0,0
EN Andean peak in MΘrida state, W Venezuela; height, 5007┐m / 16┐427┐ft; highest peak of the Cordillera de MΘrida and of Venezuela; crowned with a bust of Bolφvar.
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"Bolφvar, Sim≤n",4951,0,0,0
PN [bo\Blee\bvah(r), \Bbo\blivah(r)]
HS , known as \Bthe Liberator\b
DT1 1783
DT2 1830
EN The national hero of Venezuela, \JColombia\j, \JEcuador\j, \JPeru\j, and \JBolivia\j, born in \JCaracas\j. Having travelled in Europe, he played the most prominent part in the wars of independence in N \JSouth America\j. In 1819, he proclaimed and became president of the vast Republic of \JColombia\j (modern \JColombia\j, Venezuela, and Ecuador), which was finally liberated in 1822.
He then took charge of the last campaigns of independence in \JPeru\j (1824). In 1826 he returned N to face growing political dissension. He resigned office (1830), and died on his way into exile.
MEX San Martin
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"Bolivia",4952,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 8 120 000; area 1 098 580 sq km/424 052 sq mi. Republic of WC \JSouth America\j, divided into nine departments; government capital, La Paz; legal and judicial capital, Sucre; timezone GMT -4; population Mestizo (31%), \JQuechua\j (25%), Aymarß (17%), white (14%); official languages, \JQuechua\j, Aymarß, Spanish; religion, Roman Catholic (92.5%); unit of currency, the boliviano of 100 centavos.
\IPhysical description\i
Land-locked country, bounded W by the Cordillera Occidental of the \JAndes\j, rising to 6542 m/21 463 ft at Sajama; separated from the Cordillera Real to the E by the flat, 400 km/250 mi-long \JAltiplano\j plateau, 3600 m/11 800 ft; major lakes, Titicaca and Poop≤; several rivers flow towards the Brazilian frontier; climate varies with altitude; warm (26░C) and damp (rainfall 1800 mm/71 in) in NE rainforests; \Jdrought\j in S; sub-polar over 500 m/16 000 ft.
\IHistory and government\i
Part of Inca Empire, and evidence of earlier civilization; conquered by Spanish in 16th-c; independence after war of liberation, 1825; much territory lost after wars with neighbouring countries; several changes of government and military coups in recent decades; a bicameral Congress, with a 27-member Senate and a 130-member Chamber of Deputies elected for four years; an elected president appoints a cabinet of 18 ministers.
\IEconomy\i
Largely dependent on minerals for foreign exchange; silver, zinc, tin, wolfram, \Jbismuth\j, \Jtungsten\j, \Jantimony\j, lead, gold; oil and \Jnatural gas\j, pipelines to Argentina and \JChile\j; sugar cane, rice, cotton, soya, potatoes, \Jcereals\j, livestock; illegally-produced \Jcocaine\j, and legally grown coca.
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"Bolkiah, Hassanal",4953,0,0,0
PN [\Bbol\bkia]
DT1 1946
EN Sultan of \JBrunei\j, the son of Sultan Sir Omar Ali Saifuddin. He was educated in \JMalaysia\j, and at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy. Appointed crown prince in 1961, he became sultan in 1967 on his father's \Jabdication\j. On independence (1984) he also became prime minister and defence minister.
As head of an oil- and gas-rich microstate, he is reputed to be the richest individual in the world, with an estimated wealth of $25 billion. A moderate Muslim, he has two wives, \BPrincess Saleha\b (m.1965), and \BMariam Bell\b (m.1981), a former air stewardess.
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"boll weevil",4954,0,0,0
EN A small weevil that prevents the normal development of cotton flowers by its feeding activities. It is an economically important pest of cotton. \B(Order:\b Coleoptera. \BFamily:\b Curculionidae.)
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"B÷ll, Heinrich (Theodor)",4955,0,0,0
PN [boel]
DT1 1917
DT2 85
EN Writer, born in Cologne, \JGermany\j. A trilogy, \IUnd sagte kein einziges Worte\i (1953, trans Acquainted with the Night), \IHaus ohne Hⁿter\i (1954, The Unguarded House), and \IDas Brot der frⁿhen Jahre\i (1955, The Bread of our Early Years), depicting life in \JGermany\j during and after the Nazi regime, gained him a worldwide reputation.
His later novels, characteristically satirizing modern German society, included \IDie vorlorene Ehre der Katherina Blum\i (1974, The Lost Honour of Katherina Blum). He was awarded the 1972 Nobel Prize for Literature.
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"Bolm, Adolph",4956,0,0,0
DT1 1884
DT2 1951
EN Dancer, choreographer, and teacher, born in St Petersburg, \JRussia\j. He danced in Anna Pavlova's first tours (1908-9), also joining Sergey Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. From 1911 he travelled the world with the company, remaining in the USA after the 1916 tour. He was closely associated with the \JChicago\j Civic Opera and the companies now known as American Ballet Theatre and \JSan Francisco\j Ballet.
MEX Diaghilev; Pavlova
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"Bologna",4957,0,0,0
PN [bo\Blohn\bya]
EN 44░30N 11░20E, pop (1995e) 413 000. Capital city of \JBologna\j province, Emilia-Romagna, N \JItaly\j; 83 km/52 mi N of Florence, at the foot of the \JApennines\j; ancient Etruscan city, enclosed by remains of 13th--14th-c walls; archbishopric; airport; rail junction; university (11th-c); \Jpasta\j, chocolate, sausages, shoes, chemicals, \Jengineering\j, precision instruments, publishing, furniture; birthplace of Marconi, Pasolini; Church of San Petronio (14th-c), Church of San Domenico (13th-c), Pinacoteca Nazionale; two leaning towers (12th-c), the Asinelli and the Garisenda; music festival (summer).
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"Bologna, Giovanni da",4958,0,0,0
PN [bo\Blon\bya]
HS , also called \BGiambologna\b
DT1 1529
DT2 1608
EN Sculptor and architect, born in Douai, \JFrance\j. He went to \JItaly\j in 1551 and executed much sculptural work in Florence for the Medici, including the 'Flying Mercury' (1564) and various fountains in the Boboli gardens, the 'Rape of the Sabines' (1580), and 'Hercules and the \JCentaur\j' (1599). His bronzes can be seen in the Wallace Collection and elsewhere.
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"Bolsheviks",4959,0,0,0
HS (Russ 'majority-ites')
EN Members of the hard-line faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, formed by Lenin at the party's second congress in 1903; the forerunner of the Communist Party of the \JSoviet Union\j (abolished in 1991). In October 1917 the \JBolsheviks\j led the revolution in Petrograd which established the first Soviet government.
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"Bolshoi Ballet",4960,0,0,0
PN [\Bbol\bshoy]
EN A Moscow-based ballet company tracing its origins to 1776 and its repertoire to the Russian classics. 1980s performances in W Europe brought praise for the athleticism of the dancers. The main directors / choreographers are Lavrovsky and Grigorovich, who specialize in modern versions of Russian themes, such as \ISpartacus\i and \IIvan the Terrible.\i
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"Bolt, Robert",4961,0,0,0
DT 1924-95
EN British playwright. His first performed plays, The Critic and the Heart (1957), the notably successful Flowering Cherry (1957) and The Tiger and the Horse (1960), kept closely to the requirements of the serious, well made plays of the 1950s. Bolt's training as a historian encouraged him to break away from the somewhat constricting formulae of his early work: in A Man for All Seasons (1960) about the life and death of Sir Thomas More, he linked together short scenes by employing a narrator, the Common Man, in a so-called Brechtian style.
Subsequent historical plays included Vivat! Vivat Regina! (1970) and State of Revolution (1977). Bolt also wrote the screenplays for such films as Lawrence of \JArabia\j (1962), Dr Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970) and The Mission (1986).
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"Bolton, Guy",4962,0,0,0
DT 1883-1979
EN American librettist and playwright. In 1915 he joined composer Jerome Kern for the first of the Princess Theatre (New York) musicals, Nobody Home. The success of this modest \Jmusical comedy\j was repeated with Very Good Eddie (1915), Have a Heart (1917), Oh, Boy! (1917) and others. He wrote librettos for Sally (1920), Lady, Be Good (1924), Oh Kay (1926) and Anything Goes (1934).
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"Bolton, Henry Carrington",4963,0,0,0
DT (1843-1903)
EN chemist, educator, bibliographer; born in New York City. He taught chemistry at Trinity College (1877-87), then retired to pursue his numerous interests, which included the action of organic acids on minerals. He was a founder of the American \JFolklore\j Society and he published papers on that subject as well as on \Jalchemy\j and the history of chemistry.
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"Bolton, Herbert (Eugene)",4964,0,0,0
DT (1870-1953)
EN historian; born in Wilton, Wis. This leading historian of Spanish America taught at the University of \JCalifornia\j: Berkeley (1911-40). A prolific author, he is best known for his explorations in the southwestern U.S.A., his extensive archival research and a massive published guide to Mexican \Jarchives\j (1913), and the "Bolton theory," a controversial hemispheric view of American history.
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"Boltwood, Bertram (Borden)",4965,0,0,0
DT (1870-1927)
EN US radiochemist: developed understanding of uranium decay series.
Growing up fatherless, but in an academic family, Boltwood studied chemistry at Yale and then in Munich and \JLeipzig\j. From 1900 he operated a laboratory as a consultant on analytical and related problems. From 1904 he worked on radiochemistry, from 1906 at Yale, and became America's leading researcher on this.
He did much to bring about understanding of the uranium decay series, to improve techniques in radiochemistry and to introduce Pb:U ratios as a method for dating rocks. A good friend of Rutherford, he was a victim of depression and eventually killed himself.
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"Boltzmann constant",4966,0,0,0
PN [\Bbolts\bman]
EN Symbol \Ik,\i units J / K (joules per kelvin), value 1.381╫10\U-23\u┐J / K, defined as \IR\i / \IN\i\DA\d, where \IR\i is the molar gas constant and \IN\i\DA\d is Avogadro's constant; appears throughout the study of the statistical properties of gases; named after Ludwig Boltzmann.
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"Boltzmann, Ludwig (Eduard)",4967,0,0,0
PN [boltsmahn]
DT (1844-1906)
EN Austrian physicist: established classical statistical physics; and related kinetic theory to \Jthermodynamics\j.
Boltzmann grew up in Wels and Linz, where his father was a tax officer. He obtained his doctorate at Vienna in 1866 and held professorships during his career at \JGraz\j, Vienna, Munich and \JLeipzig\j.
Theoretical physics in the 1860s was undergoing great changes following the establishment by Clausius and Kelvin of the Second Law of \JThermodynamics\j, the kinetic theory of gases by Clausius and Maxwell and the theory of \Jelectromagnetism\j by Maxwell. Boltzmann extended the kinetic theory, developing the law of equipartition of particle \Jenergy\j between degrees of freedom and also calculating how many particles have a given \Jenergy\j, the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution.
Furthermore, Boltzmann used the mechanics and statistics of large numbers of particles to give definitions of heat and entropy (a measure of the disorder of a system). He showed that the entropy S of a system is related to the probability W (the number of 'microstates' or ways in which the system can be constructed) by S = \Ik\i log W (Boltzmann's equation), where \Ik\i is Boltzmann's constant \I(k\i = 1.38 x 10\U-23\u J K\U-1\u). Other contributions were a new derivation of Stefan's law of black-body radiation; and his work on \Jelectromagnetism\j.
Throughout his life Boltzmann was prone to depression and this was intensified by attacks from the logical positivist philosophers in Vienna, who opposed atomistic theories of phenomena. However, he attracted students who became distinguished and had both many friends and honours. Depressed by lack of acceptance of his work, Boltzmann killed himself while on holiday on the Adriatic coast.
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"Bolyai, Jßnos",4968,0,0,0
DT1 1802
DT2 60
EN Mathematician, born in Cluj, \JRomania\j. After attempting to prove \JEuclid\j's parallel postulate, he realized that it was possible to have a consistent system of \Jgeometry\j in which this postulate did not hold, and so became one of the founders of non-Euclidean \Jgeometry\j.
MEX \JEuclid\j; Lobachevsky
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"Bolzano",4969,0,0,0
PN [bol\Btsah\bnoh]
EN 46░30N 11░20E, pop (1995e) 107 000. Capital town of \JBolzano\j province, Trentino-Alto Adige, N \JItaly\j; on R Isarco, SW of the Brenner Pass; chief commercial, industrial, and tourist centre of the region; mainly German-speaking; steel production, textiles, distilling, wine, canning, pianos; winter sports.
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"Bolzano, Bernhard",4970,0,0,0
PN [bol\Bzah\bnoh]
DT1 1781
DT2 1848
EN Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mathematician, born in \JPrague\j. He became a priest in 1804 and professor of the philosophy of religion in 1805, but was deprived of his chair in 1819 for nonconformity. He was a pioneer in giving a rigorous foundation to the theory of functions of a real variable, and investigating the mathematical concept of the infinite.
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"bomb",4971,0,0,0
EN A device used to cause an explosion, usually consisting of a container, an explosive substance (eg TNT, RDX), and a fuse. Generally bombs are distinguished from other explosive devices by means of delivery, in that they are not propelled towards their target. They normally use gravity (when dropped from \Jaircraft\j) or are placed in position (as in the case of car bombs). Common types include blast, fragmentation, general purpose, anti-armour, and incendiary bombs.
They can vary in size from the World War 2 'grand slam' bombs (10┐000┐kg of explosive) to car bombs (as little as 1┐kg of explosive). Gravity and release speed determine an ordinary \Jaircraft\j bomb's flightpath, although so-called \Bsmart bombs\b have a target-seeking guidance package in the nose which can pick up signals from targets on the ground ('illuminated' by \Jlaser\j \Jenergy\j, for example), and generate steering commands to guide the bomb onto a target.
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"Bombard, Alain Louis",4972,0,0,0
PN [bombah(r)]
DT1 1924
EN Physician and marine biologist, born in Paris, \JFrance\j. In 1952, after preliminary trials in the Mediterranean, he set out across the Atlantic alone in his \Jrubber\j dinghy \IL'HΘrΘtique\i without food or \Jwater\j to prove his claim that shipwreck castaways could sustain life on nothing more than fish, plankton, rain \Jwater\j and controlled drinking of small amounts of sea \Jwater\j. He landed at \JBarbados\j 62 days later. He started a marine laboratory at Saint-Malo for the study of the physiopathology of the sea.
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"bombardier beetle",4973,0,0,0
EN A small beetle of \Jgenus\j \IBrachinus.\i As a protective mechanism, adults fire clouds of caustic vapour, expelled by an explosion caused by mixing chemicals in glands at the rear end of the body. It can fire repeatedly at short intervals. \B(Order:\b Coleoptera. \BFamily:\b Carabidae.)
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"Bombay",4974,0,0,0
EN 18░55N 72░50E, pop (1995e) 13 606 000. Port capital of \JMaharashtra\j, W India; India's largest city, and the only natural deep-\Jwater\j harbour on the W coast; built on a group of islands linked by causeways; ceded to \JPortugal\j, 1534; ceded to Britain, 1661; headquarters of the East India Company, 1685--1708; airport; railway; two universities (1916, 1957); textiles, carpets, machinery, chemicals, oil refining; nuclear reactor at Trombay; Afghan church (1847), Gateway of India (archway commemorating visit to India of King \JGeorge V\j and Queen Mary, 1911), Mani Bhavan (Gandhi memorial), Raudat Tahera mosque and \Jmausoleum\j, \JVictoria and Albert Museum\j.
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"Bombay duck",4975,0,0,0
EN Slender-bodied fish \I(Harpadon nehereus)\i with large jaws and barb-like teeth; common in the tropical Indian Ocean, especially the Bay of Bengal; length up to 40┐cm / 16┐in; flesh soft and translucent; important food fish, caught in fixed nets in brackish waters, and \Jsun\j-dried. \B(Family:\b Harpadontidae.)
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"Bomberg, David",4976,0,0,0
DT1 1890
DT2 1957
EN Painter, born in Birmingham, West Midlands, C England, UK. He trained as a lithographer before studying painting in London, and was a founder member of the London Group (1913). In Paris he met avant-garde artists including Modigliani, Derain, and Picasso, and their influence is clear in such large compositions as 'The Mud Bath' and 'In the Hold' (1913-14), which combine abstract and Vorticist influences.
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"Bombois, Camille",4977,0,0,0
PN [b⌡bwah]
DT1 1883
DT2 1970
EN Primitive painter, born in Venarey-les-Laumes, \JFrance\j. He worked in a travelling circus, and as a labourer, painting as a hobby. By 1923 he had been discovered by collectors and was able to devote all his time to painting his very personal landscapes, and pictures of wrestlers and acrobats.
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"Bombycillidae",4978,0,0,0
EN \BWaxwings, silky-flycatchers and others\b
Four clusters of genera of songbirds linked by plumage of unusually silky texture and several other characteristics have had a checkered taxonomic history, but are here grouped together in the family \JBombycillidae\j (order Passeriformes, suborder Oscines). Their close relationship seems confirmed by DNA studies, but suitable samples have so far been unavailable from one of the four clusters \I(Hypocolius),\i and its relationships remain enigmatic.
Best known of the four clusters are the waxwings, a \Jgenus\j \I(Bombycilla)\i of three very similar species of medium-sized, elegant songbirds inhabiting boreal forests across the Northern Hemisphere.
The English name refers to a small but unique feature of the secondary flight feathers: each shaft bears at its tip a solid, bright red droplet that looks very like the wax once used to seal letters. The feature bears no \Jcorrelation\j with sex, age, or season and its function is unknown.
The three waxwing species (the \JCedar\j Waxwing \IBombycilla\i \Icedrorum,\i Bohemian Waxwing \IBombycilla\i \Igarrulus,\i and Japanese Waxwing \IBombycilla\i \Ijaponica)\i all have warm purplish brown plumage, with black tails tipped bright yellow (the first two species) or bright red (the last), a black mask, long pointed wings, short legs, and a pointed upright crest. Females resemble males, and all are around 18 cm in total body length.
The second cluster has only a single member, the Palmchat \IDulus\i \Idominicus,\i which inhabits the West Indies. Strongly gregarious, it resembles a waxwing in size and general appearance, but its plumage lacks the silky quality and subtle blending of hues, being olive above and white below, its underparts boldly streaked with dark brown.
The four species of silky-flycatchers inhabit the highlands of \JCentral America\j, and all broadly resemble waxwings in size and shape, sharing such characteristics as short legs, crests, and distinctively silky plumage, but males are largely glossy black in color and females dull gray or olive. They hawk from prominent perches to capture flying insects in summer, but eat quantities of fruit in winter.
The best-known member of the group is the Phainopepla \IPhainopepla\i \Initens\i of Mexico and desert regions of the south-western United States.
The fourth cluster consists of the single species, the Hypocolius \IHypocolius\i \Iampelinus,\i a \Jsongbird\j of baffling relationships largely confined to deserts of the Tigris-Euphrates Valley of \JIraq\j. About 23 cm in length, the Hypocolius is mainly pale gray in color, with black tail and wing-tips. Males have a black mask, but females do not.
Like others of the family, the Hypocolius is a notably short-legged bird, slender in build, gregarious in disposition, and markedly nomadic in habits.
All members of the family are at least partly nomadic outside the breeding season, and the Bohemian Waxwing in particular is strongly irruptive. They move southward from their boreal nesting grounds in massive influxes at erratic intervals that sometimes find vagrant birds as far afield as Mexico, \JGreat Britain\j, and central China, when they often occur wherever suitable fruit is available, including city parks and gardens.
The Bohemian Waxwings's close relatives the \JCedar\j Waxwing (confined to \JNorth America\j) and the Japanese Waxwing (of north-eastern Asia) are much more regular in their migrations. Most of the silky-flycatchers seldom move far from their nesting grounds in high-altitudes pine-oak woodlands in \JCentral America\j, but the Phainopepla is strongly nomadic in winter.
Similarly, the Hypocolius may wander as far afield as \JArabia\j and north-western India outside the breeding season. Only the Palmchat is relatively sedentary in woodlands of \JHispaniola\j and nearby Gonave Island.
All members form simple pair-bonds. Some species have song-flights, nuptial-feeding is prominent, and waxwing courtship involves a 'gift-passing' display, in which the partners ceremoniously pass and re-pass a berry or similar small item from bill to bill and back again a dozen times or more. The cup-shaped nests are built of twigs, lichens, and moss and are lined with soft plant fibers.
The usual clutch consists of 4-5 pale blue-gray eggs, finely dotted black. Both sexes build, incubate, and rear the chicks. Incubation is about 15-18 days, and fledging occurs at about 19-22 days. Most of the silky-flycatchers also use moss in their nests, and both partners contribute nearly equally at all stages. The Hypercolius also builds wax-wing-like nests and lays 4-5 eggs that are incubated by both parents.
Only the Palmchat is markedly different, breeding in flocks that build 'condominium' nests with an egg-chamber for each pair. The usual clutch is four eggs.
BK wan
#
"Bonaire",4979,0,0,0
PN [bon\Bair\b]
EN pop (1995e) 11 200; area 288 sq km/111 sq mi. Island of the S Netherlands \JAntilles\j, E Caribbean, 60 km/37 mi N of Venezuela; composed of coralline \Jlimestone\j; rises to 241 m/791 ft in the hilly NW; low-lying coastal plain in the S; length 35 km/22 mi; capital, Kralendijk; airport; tourism, salt, textiles; Washington-Slagbaai National Park, area 59 sq km/23 sq mi, established in 1969; underwater park, area 60 sq km/23 sq mi.
EN Queen of Naples (1808-15), born in Ajaccio, \JCorsica\j, the youngest sister of Napoleon I. She married \BJoachim Murat\b in 1800, and brought a brilliant court life to the Neapolitan palaces of Caserta and Portici. After her husband's execution she lived in \JAustria\j (1815-24) and Trieste (1824-31) before settling in Florence.
MEX Murat; Napoleon I
SX f
BK bg b
#
"Bonaparte, (Marie-) Pauline",4982,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bnapah(r)t]
DT1 1780
DT2 1825
EN Princess Borghese, born in Ajaccio, \JCorsica\j, the favourite sister of Napoleon I. She married \BGeneral Leclerc\b in 1797 and accompanied him on the expedition to \JHaiti\j (1802), during which he died. In 1803 she married \BPrince Camillo Borghese,\b her private life soon shocking the patrician family into which she married. She loyally supported Napoleon in his exile on \JElba\j.
MEX Napoleon I
SX f
BK bg b
#
"Bonaparte, (Marie-Anne) Elisa",4983,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bnapah(r)t]
DT1 1777
DT2 1820
EN Grand Duchess of Tuscany, born in Ajaccio, \JCorsica\j, the eldest surviving sister of Napoleon. She married \BFΘlix Baciochi\b in 1797. As Duchess of Lucca from 1805, she managed the economy of her small state so profitably that in 1809 Napoleon assigned her to Tuscany, where she revived the court glories of the Pitti Palace.
MEX Napoleon I
SX f
BK bg b
#
"Bonaparte, Charles Joseph",4984,0,0,0
DT (1851-1921)
EN lawyer, reformer; born in Baltimore, Md. (great-nephew of the Emperor Napoleon I). He was born into wealth but imbued with a sense of high-minded social responsibility by his New England-born mother. He practiced law in Baltimore, where he fought rampant corruption in both the city and state government, and founded the Civil Service Reform Association of Maryland and the National Civil Service Reform League (both in 1881; he served as the latter's chairman, 1901-05).
His reform activities led to a friendship with Theodore Roosevelt who, as president, appointed him secretary of the navy (1905) and then attorney general (1906-09). Although he led Roosevelt's anti-trust campaign, he was himself essentially a conservative who had no great faith in the masses. After leaving the Department of Justice, he returned to practice law in Baltimore, and was founder and president of the National Municipal League.
BK AmBg
#
"Bonaparte, Charles Louis Napoleon",4985,0,0,0
EN See Napoleon III
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XCY y
#
"Bonaparte, Francois Charles Joseph",4986,0,0,0
EN See Napoleon II
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Bonaparte, JΘr⌠me",4987,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bnapah(r)t]
DT1 1784
DT2 1860
EN King of \JWestphalia\j (1807-13), born in Ajaccio, \JCorsica\j, the youngest brother of Napoleon. He served in the navy (1800-2) and lived in New York (1803-5), marrying \BElizabeth Patterson\b (1785-1879) in Baltimore in 1803, a marriage which Napoleon declared null and void. JΘr⌠me was given a high military command by Napoleon in the Prussian campaign of 1806, led an army corps at Wagram in 1809, incurred his brother's displeasure during the invasion of \JRussia\j in 1812, but fought with tenacity at Waterloo. After accepting exile in \JRome\j, Florence, and \JSwitzerland\j, he returned to Paris in 1847. His nephew \JNapoleon III\j appointed him governor of the Invalides, and created him a marshal of \JFrance\j.
MEX Napoleon I; Napoleon III
SX m
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#
"Bonaparte, Joseph",4988,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bnapah(r)t]
DT1 1768
DT2 1844
EN King of Naples and \JSicily\j (1806-8) and of \JSpain\j (1808-13), born in Corte, \JCorsica\j, the eldest surviving brother of Napoleon I. He served Napoleon on diplomatic missions and was a humane sovereign in S \JItaly\j, but faced continuous rebellion as a nominated ruler in \JSpain\j, where his army was decisively defeated by Wellington at Vitoria (1813). He spent much of his life in exile in \JNew Jersey\j, but settled in Florence for the last years of his life.
MEX Napoleon I
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bonaparte, Louis",4989,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bnapah(r)t]
DT1 1778
DT2 1846
EN King of Holland (1806-10), born in Ajaccio, \JCorsica\j, the third surviving brother of Napoleon I. He was a soldier, who married Napoleon's step-daughter, \BHortense Beauharnais,\b in 1802. He ruled Holland as King Lodewijk I, but abdicated because Napoleon complained that he was too attached to the interests of the Dutch. He became Count of Saint-Leu, and settled in \JAustria\j and \JSwitzerland\j, later living in Florence. He was the father of \JNapoleon III\j.
MEX Beauharnais, Hortense; Napoleon III
SX m
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#
"Bonaparte, Lucien",4990,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bnapah(r)t]
DT1 1775
DT2 1840
EN Prince of Canino, born in Ajaccio, \JCorsica\j, the second surviving brother of Napoleon I. In 1798 he was made a member of the Council of Five Hundred, and just before the 18th Brumaire was elected its president. He was successful as minister of the interior, and as ambassador to Madrid (1800) undermined British influence.
He had never wholly shaken off his early strong republicanism, and having denounced the arrogant policy of his brother towards the court of \JRome\j, he was 'advised' to leave Roman territory. In 1810, on his way to America, he was captured by the English and kept a prisoner until 1814, after which he returned to \JItaly\j.
MEX Napoleon I
SX m
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#
"Bonaparte, Napoleon Joseph Charles Paul",4991,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bnapah(r)t]
DT1 1822
DT2 91
EN French politican, born in Trieste, \JItaly\j, the son of JΘr⌠me Bonaparte and nephew of Napoleon I. He entered military service in Wⁿrttemberg in 1837, and was expelled from \JFrance\j in 1845 for republicanism. In 1848, having taken the name \IJΘr⌠me\i on his elder brother's death, he was elected to the National Assembly.
In 1851 he was named as the successor to \JNapoleon III\j. In 1859 he married the \BPrincess Clotilda,\b daughter of Victor Emmanuel II of \JSardinia\j. After the fall of the empire he took up residence in England, but returned to \JFrance\j in 1872 and sat in the Chamber of Deputies. In 1886, as pretender to the throne, he was exiled from \JFrance\j.
MEX Bonaparte, JΘr⌠me
SX m
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#
"Bonaventure or Bonaventura, St",4992,0,0,0
PN [\Bbon\bavencher]
HS , known as \BDoctor Seraphicus\b ('Seraphic Doctor'), originally \BGiovanni di Fidanza\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1221
DT2 74
EN Theologian, born near Orvieto, \JItaly\j. He became a Franciscan (1243), a professor of \Jtheology\j at Paris (1253), general of his order (1257), and Cardinal Bishop of Albano (1273). He was canonized by Sixtus IV (1482), and in 1587 was declared by Pope Sixtus V the sixth of the great Doctors of the Church. Feast \Jday\j 15 July.
SX m
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"bond",4993,0,0,0
EN A loan to a company or a government. The loan carries interest payments and is repaid after several years. It can be bought and sold on the stock market, and is a relatively secure investment often held by insurance companies and pension funds.
BK b
#
"Bond, (Thomas) Michael",4994,0,0,0
DT1 1926
EN Writer of children's stories, born in Berkshire, S England, UK. Educated in Reading, he was a \Jtelevision\j cameraman (1947--66) before becoming a full-time writer. He created the much-loved character Paddington Bear in \IA Bear Called Paddington\i (1958), who has since featured in many books, as well as in a long-running \Jtelevision\j short \Jcartoon\j.
In 1983 he began a series of novels for adults relating the adventures of Monsieur Pamplemousse, such as \IMonsieur Pamplemousse takes the Train\i (1993).
\BMajor Works\b
\IChildren's books\i
1958 A Bear Called Paddington
1959 More About Paddington
1960 Paddington Helps Out
1961 Paddington Abroad
1962 Paddintgon at Large
1964 Paddington Marches On
1966 Paddington at Work
1966 Here Comes Thursday
1968 Thursday Rides Again
1968 Paddington Goes to Town
1969 Thursday Ahoy
1969 Parsley's Tail
1969 Parsley's Good Deed
1970 Parsley's Problem Present
1970 Parsley's Last Stand
1970 Paddington Takes the Air
1970 Thursday in Paris
1971, 1992 Michael Bond's Book of Bears
1972 Michael Bond's Book of Mice
1972 The Day the Animals Went on Strike
1972 Paddington Bear
1972 Paddington's Garden
1972 Parsley the Lion
1972 Parsley Parade
1972 The Tales of Olga da Polga
1973 Olga Meets Her Match
1973 Paddington's Blue Peter Story Book
1973 Paddington at the Circus
1973 Paddington Goes Shopping
1974 Paddington at the Sea-side
1974 Paddington at the Tower
1974 Paddington on Top
1975 Windmill
1975 How to Make Flying Things
1975 Eight Olga Readers
1976 Paddington's Loose End Book
1976 Paddington's Party Book
1976 Olga Carries On
1977 Paddington's Pop-up Book
1979 Paddington Takes the Test
1979 Paddington's Cartoon Book
1980 J D Polson and the Liberty-Head Dime
1981 J D Polson and the Dillogate Affair
1981 Paddington on Screen
1982 Olga Takes Charge
1983 The Caravan Puppets
1984 Paddington at the Zoo
1984 Paddington and the Knickerbocker Rainbow
1985 Paddington's Painting Exhibition
1985 Paddington at the Fair
1985 Oliver the Greedy Elephant
1986 Paddington at the Palace
1986 Paddington Minds the House
1986 Paddington Posts a Letter (with Karen Bond)
1986 Paddington at the Airport (with Karen Bond)
1986 Paddington's London
1987 Paddington's Busy Day
1987 Paddington and the Marmalade Maze
1988 Paddington's Magical Christmas
\IAdult novels\i
1983 Monsieur Pamplemousse
1984 Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Secret Mission
1986 Monsieur Pamplemousse on the Spot
1987 Monsieur Pamplemousse Takes the Cure
1987 The Pleasures of Paris
1989 Monsieur Pamplemousse Aloft
1990 Monsieur Pamplemousse Investigates
1991 Monsieur Pamplemousse Rests His Case
1991 Monsieur Pamplemousse takes the Train
\IAutiobiography\i
1996 Bears and Forebears: a life so far
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#
"Bond, Alan",4995,0,0,0
DT1 1938
EN Businessman, born in London, England, UK. He emigrated to Fremantle, Western \JAustralia\j, in 1951, and formed a company dealing in insurance, property, and resources. The Bond Corporation developed extensive interests in Australian newspapers and \Jtelevision\j, brewing, oil and gas, and gold mining. In 1983 his syndicate's yacht \IAustralia II\i was the first since 1870 to challenge the USA successfully for the \JAmerica's Cup\j.
With the ending of the economic boom in 1987, his empire began to fall: receivers were appointed to Bond Brewing in 1989, and in 1992 he was declared bankrupt and convicted on a charge of dishonesty in business dealings with a merchant bank. He was acquitted after spending six months in jail, but in 1996 he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for failing to declare assets, and in 1997 received an additional 4-year sentence on charges of \Jfraud\j.
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#
"Bond, Edward",4996,0,0,0
DT1 1934
EN Playwright and director, born in London, England, UK. His first play, \IThe Pope's Wedding\i, was given a Sunday night reading at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 1962 and aroused great controversy. \ISaved\i (1965) achieved notoriety through a scene in which a baby in a pram is stoned to death.
Later plays such as \INarrow Road to the Deep North\i (1968) use historical themes to look at broad contemporary issues. Other plays include a reworking of Shakespeare's play \ILear\i (1971), a trilogy \IThe War Plays\i (1985), and \IAt the Inland Sea\i (1996), sub-titled "a play for young people'.
\BMajor Works\b
\IPlays\i
1962 The Pope's Wedding
1965 Saved
1968 Early Morning
1968 Narrow Road to the Deep North
1971 Passion
1971 Black Mass
1971 Lear
1973 The Sea
1973 Bingo
1975 The Fool
1976 A-A-merica!
1976 Stone
1978 The Bundle
1978 The Woman
1980 The Worlds and the Activist Papers
1981 Restoration
1982 Summer: a play for Europe
1983 Derek
1984 Human Cannon
1985 War Plays
1985 Jackets
1990 The Company of Men
1990 September
1995 Coffee: a tragedy
1996 At the Inland Sea: a play for young people
\ITelevision Plays\i
1991 Olly's Prison
1993 Tuesday
\IPoetry\i
1987 Collected Poems 1978--1985
\IOther\i
1976 We Come to the River
1983 The English Cat
1990 Notes on Post-Modernism
1994--5 Selected Letters (4 vols)
BK Biog99
#
"Bond, William Cranch",4997,0,0,0
DT (1789-1859)
EN instrument-maker, astronomer; born in Portland, Maine. The first director of the Harvard College Observatory (1839-59), he equipped it from his Dorchester-parlor observatory. A donation provided for a 15-inch \Jtelescope\j, for which he designed the dome and chair. A pioneer in celestial photography, he discovered the seventh \Jsatellite\j of Saturn with son George Bond.
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"Bondfield, Margaret Grace",4998,0,0,0
DT1 1873
DT2 1953
EN Trade unionist and British stateswoman, born in \JChard\j, Somerset, south-west England, UK. She became chairman of the \JTUC\j in 1923 and as Labour minister of labour (1929-31) was the first woman to be a British cabinet minister.
SX f
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#
"Bondi",4999,0,0,0
PN [\Bbon\bdiy]
EN A well-known resort beach in the Sydney suburb of Waverley, \JNew South Wales\j, south-east \JAustralia\j.
BK b
#
"Bondi, Sir Hermann",5000,0,0,0
DT1 1919
EN Mathematical physicist and astronomer, born in Vienna, \JAustria\j. He studied at Cambridge, where he held academic posts (1945--54) after working for the British Admiralty during World War 2. He was appointed professor of \Jmathematics\j at King's College, London (1954), director-general of the European Space Research Organisation (1967--71), chief scientific adviser, Ministry of Defence (1971--7), chief scientist, Department of Energy (1977--80), chairman of the Natural Environment Research Council (1980--4), and Master of Churchill College, Cambridge (1983--90). He is best known as one of the originators of the \Jsteady-state theory\j of the universe.
BK Biog99
#
"bone",5001,0,0,0
EN The hard tissue component of the vertebrate skeleton. It is composed of two functionally important principal components physically blended together: an organic element (mainly collagen), 25% of the weight of the fully formed bone, and a mineral matrix (\Jcalcium\j, phosphate, and variable amounts of \Jmagnesium\j, sodium, carbonate, citrate, and \Jfluoride\j), having a crystalline structure. It basically consists of many cylindrical units \I(osteons),\i each with a central canal, containing bone-forming cells \I(osteoblasts),\i blood vessels, and nerve filaments, surrounded by bony tissue.
Long bones consist of a shaft (a hollow tube surrounded by compact bone) and the ends (a network of spongy bone). Growth in length occurs in the region between shaft and ends (the \Iepiphyseal growth plate).\i Growth in width occurs by deposition of bone from the surface membrane \I(periosteum).\i When the growth plate disappears (between puberty and 25 years) growth in length ceases, as the shaft has fused with the ends.
As bones grow, they increase in size and also change shape. Bone shape and dimensions are genetically determined, but are also influenced by hormonal, nutritional, mechanical, and neural factors. \JCalcium\j, \Jphosphorus\j, and vitamins A, C, and D are all required for normal bone growth and development. Abnormal pressures on bone (from a \Jtumour\j or \Janeurysm\j) may cause bone erosion. Bone deprived of a nerve supply and muscular paralysis result in poor bone development and atrophy.
BK b
#
"bone marrow",5002,0,0,0
EN An accumulation of cells and supporting tissues found within the central cavity of all bones. \IYellow marrow\i consists of fat cells, blood vessels, and a minimal framework of reticular cells and fibres. \IRed marrow\i consists of numerous blood cells of all kinds, as well as the substances from which these cells are formed.
At birth all bones contain highly cellular red marrow; with increasing age the marrow becomes fattier, until in adults red marrow is present only in the vertebrae, \Jsternum\j, ribs, flat bones of the skull and pelvis, and upper ends of the \Jfemur\j and humerus. The functions of red marrow are (1) the formation of red blood cells \I(\Jerythrocytes\j),\i blood \Jplatelets\j, granulocytes, and to a lesser extent monocytes and lymphocytes, and (2) the destruction of old (c.120 days), worn-out \Jerythrocytes\j.
BK b
#
"Bone, Henry",5003,0,0,0
DT1 1755
DT2 1834
EN Enamel painter, born in Truro, Cornwall, south-west England, UK. In London he enamelled watches and fans, and made enamel portraits, brooches, and other ornaments. In 1801 he became enamel painter to \JGeorge III\j.
SX m
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#
"Bone, Sir Muirhead",5004,0,0,0
DT1 1876
DT2 1953
EN Artist, born in Glasgow, W Scotland, UK. Although he studied \Jarchitecture\j, he was self-taught as an artist. His work, which has been likened technically to that of Piranesi, combines meticulous realism with a strong sense of composition, and his subject matters range from the architectural to portraiture and landscape. During his long career he made over 500 etchings, drypoints, and lithographs, besides many thousands of drawings and watercolours.
MEX Piranesi
SX m
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#
"bone-black",5005,0,0,0
EN Animal charcoal obtained by heating bones in closed retorts. It contains \Jcalcium\j and \Jmagnesium\j \Jphosphates\j as well as carbon, and is used as an adsorbent to remove colouring matter from food liquids such as raw sugar syrup.
BK b
#
"Boner, Ulrich",5006,0,0,0
PN [\Bbo\bner]
DT1a c.
DT1 1300
DT2 49
EN Swiss writer of fables. A Dominican \Jfriar\j in \JBern\j from 1324, his \IEdelstein,\i a collection of fables and jokes, was one of the first German books printed, in 1461.
SX m
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#
"Bonfire Night",5007,0,0,0
EN See Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night
BK b
XCY y
#
"Bong, Richard (Ira)",5008,0,0,0
DT (1920-45)
EN aviator; born in Superior, Wis. The greatest American fighter ace of World War II, he shot down 40 Japanese \Jaircraft\j in three combat tours in the Southwest Pacific (1942-44). He was killed in the crash of an experimental P-80 jet near Los Angeles on August 6, 1945.
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#
"bongo",5009,0,0,0
EN A spiral-horned \Jantelope\j \I(Tragelaphus euryceros)\i native to equatorial Africa; brown with thin vertical white stripes; stiff erect hairs along spine; each cheek with two white spots; white line joining eyes; usually inhabits dense forest.
BK b
#
"Bongo, Omar",5010,0,0,0
DT1 1935
EN Gabonese president (1967-- ), born in Lewai, Gabon. In 1960 he joined the civil service, then moved into the political arena and succeeded President M'ba in 1967. The following year he created a one-party state based on the Gabonese Democratic Party, and in 1973 announced his conversion to \JIslam\j, adopting the name Omar. In 1986 he was re-elected for the third time.
BK Biog99
#
"bongos",5011,0,0,0
EN A pair of wooden conical or cylindrical drums with single heads of skin or plastic, played with the hands. The shells are usually joined together, and in some varieties the heads may be tuned to different pitches. Originating in \JCuba\j c.1900, they are used throughout \JLatin America\j, and frequently elsewhere.
BK b
#
"Bonham-Carter (of Yarnbury), Mark Raymond Bonham-Carter, Baron",5012,0,0,0
PN [\Bbo\bnam]
DT1 1922
DT2 94
EN Administrator, the son of Lady Violet Bonham-Carter. He studied at Oxford and \JChicago\j universities, contested several seats as a Liberal candidate, and represented Torrington as MP (1958-9). He was director of the Royal Opera House (1958-82), a governor and vice-chairman of the BBC (1975-81), a governor of the Royal Ballet (1960-85), then chairman of the governors.
He was the first chairman of the Race Relations Board (1966-70) and chairman of the Community Relations Commission (1971-7). He was created a life peer in 1986.
MEX Bonham-Carter, Lady Violet
SX m
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#
"Bonham-Carter, Helena",5013,0,0,0
PN [\Bbon\bam]
DT1 1966
EN Actress, born in London, England, UK. Noted for playing quintessential English heroines, she made her cinematic debut as Lady Jane Grey in \ILady Jane\i (1985). Later film credits include \IHamlet\i (1990), \IHoward's End\i (1992), \IMary Shelley's Frankenstein\i (1994), \IMighty Aphrodite\i (1995), \ITwelfth Night\i (1996), and \IPortraits Chinois\i (1997).
Major Works
Films
1985 Lady Jane
1986 A Room With a View
1988 A Hazard of Hearts
1988 The Mask
1989 St Francis of Assisi
1989 Getting it Right
1990 Hamlet
1990 Where Angels Fear to Tread
1992 Howard's End
1994 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
1995 Mighty Aphrodite
1996 Twelfth Night
1997 Portraits Chinois
1997 Keep The Aspidistra Flying
1997 The Wings of the Dove (Best Actress Oscar nomination)
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#
"Bonham-Carter, Lady Violet, Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury",5014,0,0,0
PN [\Bbo\bnam]
DT1 1887
DT2 1969
EN English Liberal politician and publicist, the daughter of H H Asquith by his first marriage. In 1915 she married \BSir Maurice Bonham-Carter\b (d.1960), a scientist and civil servant. She was created a life peeress in 1964. Jo Grimond was her son-in-law.
MEX Asquith; Grimond; Bonham-Carter, Mark
SX f
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#
"Bonhoeffer, Dietrich",5015,0,0,0
PN [\Bbon\bhoefer]
DT1 1906
DT2 45
EN Lutheran pastor and theologian, and opponent of Nazism, born in \JWroclaw\j, \JPoland\j (formerly Breslau, \JGermany\j. He studied at Tⁿbingen and Berlin, and left \JGermany\j in 1933 in protest against the Nazi enforcement of anti-Jewish legislation. He worked in London until 1935, then returned to \JGermany\j to combat anti-Semitism, becoming head of a pastoral seminary of the German Confessing Church until its closure by the Nazis in 1937.
He became deeply involved in the German resistance movement and in 1943 was imprisoned until 1945, when he was hanged at Flossenbⁿrg. His writings include \IWiderstand und Ergebung\i (1951, trans Letters and Papers from Prison) on the place of Christian belief in the modern world.
SX m
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#
"Boniface VIII",5016,0,0,0
PN [\Bbo\bnifas]
HS , originally \BBenedetto Caetani\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1235
DT2 1303
EN Pope (1294-1303), born in Anagni, \JItaly\j. He was made cardinal priest in 1291. As pope he tried to reassert papal superiority over temporal powers, particularly Edward I of England and Philip IV of \JFrance\j. In 1303 he was briefly kidnapped by the French at Anagni, and died in \JRome\j shortly after being released. His brief captivity led to the papacy taking up residence at Avignon.
MEX Edward I (of England)
SX m
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#
"Boniface, St, also known as St. Bruno",5017,0,0,0
EN See Bruno, St, also known as Boniface
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Boniface, St, originally Wynfrith, known as the Apostle of Germany",5018,0,0,0
PN [\Bbon\bifas]
HS , originally \BWynfrith,\b known as \Bthe \JApostle\j of Germany\b
DT1a c.
DT1 680
DT2a c.
DT2 754
EN \JAnglo-Saxon\j missionary, born in \JWessex\j, England. A Benedictine monk, he taught in the monastery of Nursling near Romsey. He set out in 718 to preach the Gospel to all the tribes of \JGermany\j, assisting Willibrord (719-22), and was consecrated Bishop (723), \JArchbishop\j, and Primate of \JGermany\j (732). He was killed at Dokkum by heathens. Feast \Jday\j 5 June.
MEX Walburga; Willibald; Willibrord
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bonin Islands",5019,0,0,0
HS , Jap \BOgasawara-shoto\b
EN area 104┐km\U2\u / 40┐mi\U2\u. Group of 27 volcanic islands in the W \JPacific Ocean\j, c.965┐km / 600┐mi S of \JTokyo\j, \JJapan\j; largest island, Chichijima; first colonized by Europeans and Hawaiians, 1830; annexed by Japanese, 1876; taken by USA, 1953; returned to \JJapan\j, 1968; sugar cane, bananas, \Jcocoa\j.
BK b
#
"Bonington, Richard Parkes",5020,0,0,0
DT1 1802
DT2 28
EN Painter, born near \JNottingham\j, \JNottinghamshire\j, C England, UK. About 1817 his family moved to \JCalais\j, and there and at Paris he studied art, and became a friend of Delacroix. His first works were exhibited in the Salon in 1822, mostly sketches of Le Havre and Lillebonne. He excelled in light effects achieved by the use of a large expanse of sky, broad areas of pure colour, and the silhouetting of dark and light masses, as well as his rich colouring of heavy draperies and brocades.
MEX Delacroix
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bonington, Sir Chris(tian John Storey)",5021,0,0,0
DT1 1934
EN Mountaineer and photo-journalist, born in London, England, UK. He trained at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. His first \Jmountaineering\j ascents include Annapurna II (1960), Nuptse (1961), and the first British ascents of the North Wall of the Eiger (1962) and Mt Vinson in \JAntarctica\j (1983). He led or co-led many successful expeditions, including Annapurna South Face (1970) and Everest (1972, 1975 SW face), and reached the summit of Everest himself in 1985. He was knighted in 1996.
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#
"Bonino, Emma",5022,0,0,0
PN [bo\Bnee\bnoh]
DT1 1949
EN Politician, born near Turin, \JItaly\j. Born into a poor farming family, at the age of 28 she became pregnant and chose to have an \Jabortion\j, then illegal in \JItaly\j. To draw attention to the squalid conditions of underground abortions, she made hers public, was sent to jail, went on hunger strike, and helped to change the law.
She then joined the small Radical Party and campaigned successfully for the introduction of a divorce law. In 1995 she was chosen European Commissioner for fisheries, consumer affairs, and humanitarian aid, with responsibility for the controversial Common Fisheries Policy.
BK Biog99n
#
"bonito",5023,0,0,0
PN [bo\Bnee\btoh]
EN Medium-sized \Jtuna\j widely distributed in open ocean surface waters, living in compact schools; length up to 90┐cm / 3┐ft; body steel blue to olive dorsally, with oblique black stripes, sides silver to yellow; important commercially and prized as sport fish. \B(Genus:\b \ISarda.\i \BFamily:\b Scombridae.)
BK b
#
"Bonn",5024,0,0,0
EN 50░43N 7░06E, pop (1995e) 300 000. Capital city of former West \JGermany\j, in Cologne district; on R Rhine, 25 km/15 mi SSE of Cologne; early Roman fort on the Rhine; seat of Electors of Cologne (13th--16th-c); part of \JPrussia\j, 1815; badly bombed in World War 2; capital status since 1949; airport at Cologne; railway; university (1818); service industries, plastics, packaging materials, \Jaluminium\j; birthplace of Beethoven; spa resort at Bad Godesberg; 11th--13th-c minster, Beethovenhalle; International Beethoven Festival every three years (Sep).
BK Geog99
#
"Bonnard, Abel",5025,0,0,0
PN [bonah(r)]
DT1 1883
DT2 1968
EN Poet, novelist, and essayist, born in Poitiers, \JFrance\j. He won the national poetry prize with his first collection of poems, \ILes Familiers\i (1906), and took up the psychological novel with \ILa Vie et l'amour\i (1913, Life and Love). He was minister of education in the \JVichy\j government (1942-4), fled to \JSpain\j and was sentenced to death in his absence (1945). He returned to \JFrance\j (1958) and was banished (1960).
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bonnard, Pierre",5026,0,0,0
PN [bonah(r)]
DT1 1867
DT2 1947
EN Painter and lithographer, born in Paris. He trained at the AcadΘmie Julien, then joined the group called \ILes Nabis,\i which included Denis and Vuillard, with whom he formed the Intimist group. Ignoring the movement towards abstraction, he continued to paint interiors and landscapes, in which everything is subordinated to the subtlest rendering of light and colour effects.
MEX Vuillard
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bonner, Edmund",5027,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1500
DT2 69
EN English clergyman and bishop. The reputation he gained at Oxford recommended him to Wolsey, who made him his chaplain. His zeal in King \JHenry VIII\j's service after Wolsey's fall earned him due promotion, and in 1540 he was made Bishop of London, but was imprisoned (1549-53) for refusing to recognize royal supremacy during the minority of Edward VI. He was restored to office under Mary I. Following \JElizabeth I\j's accession (1558), he refused the oath of supremacy, and died in prison.
MEX \JElizabeth I\j; \JHenry VIII\j; Wolsey
SX m
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#
"Bonner, James (Frederick)",5028,0,0,0
DT1 1910
EN Molecular biologist, born in Ansley, \JNebraska\j, USA. He was a National Research Council fellow in \JSwitzerland\j (1934--5), then joined the \JCalifornia\j Institute of Technology (1936--81). His early research on ribosomes led to his major contributions to studies of messenger RNA. Using dormant \Jpotato\j buds, he demonstrated that repressed genes can be 'derepressed' by removing their chromosomes' histone protein covering.
BK Biog99
#
"Bonner, John",5029,0,0,0
DT (1643-1726)
EN mariner, mapmaker; possibly born in London. He came to \JBoston\j around 1670. He entered the merchant trade and came to own a number of ships. Three of his vessels were used in the Puritan attack on Quebec (1690) and one was used to carry a flag of truce to Quebec (1706) and then to bring back the "redeemed captive," Reverend John Williams (1707). Bonner was the chief pilot on Admiral Walker's expedition against Canada (1711). Bonner made numerous maps of \JBoston\j harbor and the coast of \JNorth America\j. He married four times.
BK AmBg
#
"Bonner, Neville Thomas",5030,0,0,0
DT1 1922
DT2 1999
EN Australian politician, born in Tweed Heads, \JNew South Wales\j, Australia. He had little formal education, but was president of the One People of Australia League (1967--73). He filled a casual Senate vacancy in 1971, becoming the first Aboriginal member of the Australian parliament. The following year, standing for the Liberal Party, he was elected as a representative for \JQueensland\j. He stood unsuccessfully as an independent member in 1983.
BK Biog99
#
"Bonner, Robert",5031,0,0,0
DT (1824-99)
EN newspaper editor; born in \JLondonderry\j, Ireland. Emigrating in 1839, he bought the \INew York Ledger\i in 1851 and made it prosper, attracting articles from literary giants of the \Jday\j. He was also a well-known race horse owner.
BK AmBg
#
"Bonner, Yelena",5032,0,0,0
DT1 1923
EN Civil rights campaigner, born in Moscow, \JRussia\j. After the arrest of her parents in Stalin's "great purge' of 1937, she was brought up in \JLeningrad\j by her grandmother. She joined the Soviet Communist Party in 1965, but became disillusioned after the invasion of \JCzechoslovakia\j (1968) and drifted into dissident activities. She married \BAndrei Sakharov\b in 1971 and resigned from the party a year later. During the next 14 years she and her husband led the Soviet dissident movement.
Following a \JKGB\j crackdown, Sakharov was banished to internal exile in \JGorky\j in 1980, and Bonner suffered a similar fate in 1984. The couple were finally released in 1986 by the Gorbachev administration, and remained prominent campaigners for greater democratization.
BK Biog99
#
"Bonnet, Charles (Etienne)",5033,0,0,0
PN [bonay]
DT1 1720
DT2 93
EN Naturalist and philosopher, born in Geneva, \JSwitzerland\j. He is known for his discovery of \Jparthenogenesis\j, and he also developed the 'catastrophic' theory of \Jevolution\j.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bonneville, Benjamin Louis Eulalie de",5034,0,0,0
DT (1796-1878)
EN soldier; born in or near Paris, \JFrance\j. He came to the U.S.A. in 1803 and graduated from West Point in 1815. His record of his expedition to the Green River in Wyoming (1832-35) was edited by Washington Irving and published as \IThe Adventures of Captain Bonneville, U.S.A., in the Rocky Mountains and the Far West.
BK AmBg
#
"Bonney, William H, Jr",5035,0,0,0
DT (1859-81)
EN outlaw, murderer; born in New York City. Moving with his family to Coffeyville, Kans. (1862), \JColorado\j, and Silver City, N.M. (1868), Bonney allegedly killed his first man at age twelve. After killing three Indians in \JArizona\j (1876) and rampaging throughout the Southwest and Mexico, he led a faction in New Mexico's notorious "Lincoln County [cattle] War" (1878), and killed Sheriff Jim Brady.
He continued killing and committing \Jcattle\j theft with his followers until he was captured and sentenced to hang for Brady's death (1880). He escaped under heavy guard, killing two deputies, and remained at large until fatally shot by Sheriff Pat F. Garrett in Fort Sumner, N.M. (1881).
BK AmBg
#
"Bonnie and Clyde",5036,0,0,0
EN Notorious robbery partners: \BClyde Barrow\b (1909-34), born in Telico, TX, and \BBonnie Parker\b (1911-34), born in Rowena, TX. Despite the popular romantic image of the duo, they and their gang were also responsible for a number of murders. The pair met in 1932.
When Barrow first visited Parker's house, he was arrested on seven accounts of burglary and car theft, convicted, and sentenced to two years in jail. Parker smuggled a gun to him and he escaped. With their gang, which included Barrow's brother and wife, they continued to rob and murder until they were shot dead at a police road-block in Louisiana.
BK bg b
#
"Bonnie Prince Charlie",5037,0,0,0
EN See Stuart or Stewart, Prince Charles Edward (Louis Philip Casimir)
EN Yankton Sioux writer; born at Pine Ridge in present-\Jday\j South Dakota. She taught with the Indian Service and published her first book, \IOld Indian Legends,\i in 1901. In 1916, she moved to Washington, D.C., to lobby for her people, and founded the National Council of \JAmerican Indians\j in 1926. She was also an accomplished violinist.
BK AmBg
#
"Bono, Edward de",5039,0,0,0
EN See de Bono, Edward (Francis Charles Publius)
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Bono, Emilio de",5040,0,0,0
EN See de Bono, Emilio
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"bonobo",5041,0,0,0
EN See chimpanzee
BK b
XCY y
#
"Bononcini or Buononcini, Giovanni (Maria)",5042,0,0,0
PN [bonon\Bchee\bnee]
DT1 1642
DT2 78
EN Composer, born near Modena, \JItaly\j. In 1671 he became a violinist in the court orchestra, and subsequently chapel master of the cathedral. Between 1666 and his death he published a great quantity of chamber and vocal music, together with a treatise, the \IMusico prattico,\i which was influential in its \Jday\j.
His sons \BGiovanni Battista Bononcini\b (1670-1755) and \BMarc Antonio Bononcini\b (1675-1726) were notable composers, the former especially remembered for his rivalry with Handel.
MEX Handel
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bonpland, AimΘ",5043,0,0,0
EN See Humboldt, (Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich) Alexander, Freiherr (Baron) von
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"bonsai",5044,0,0,0
EN The technique or practice of growing dwarfed plants in which all parts - stems, leaves, flowers - are in proportion. The effect is achieved by growing the plants in small pots, and by careful pruning of the roots to restrict growth. It is a Japanese speciality.
BK b
#
"bontebok",5045,0,0,0
PN [\Bbon\btebok]
EN An ox-\Jantelope\j \I(Damaliscus dorcas)\i native to S Africa; long face; lyre-shaped horns ringed with ridges; dark brown with white face and underparts; two subspecies: \Bbontebok\b (with white rump) and \Bblesbok\b (with brown rump).
BK b
#
"Bontemps, Arna (Wendell)",5046,0,0,0
DT (1902-73)
EN writer, anthologist, librarian; born in Alexandria, La. Raised in \JCalifornia\j, he took his B.A. at Pacific Union College there. He first published his poetry in 1923 in \ICrisis,\i the magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, edited by W. E. B. Du Bois. His \IGolgatha Is a Mountain\i (1925) won the Alexander Pushkin Award. He spent most of his career as the librarian and public relations director at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn. He also was a guest lecturer at various universities.
He wrote several novels, including \IGod Sends Sunday\i (1931) and \IBlack Thunder\i (1936); the former was dramatized by Countee Cullen as \ISt. Louis Woman\i (1946) and then set to music as \IBlues Opera.\i He edited \IAmerican Negro Poetry\i and published several anthologies with Langston Hughes. (Their extensive correspondence was published in 1980.) His \IStory of the Negro\i (1948) won the Jane Addams Children's Book Award in 1956. He also wrote several children's books with Jack Conroy, including \ISam Patch\i (1951).
BK AmBg
#
"bonxie",5047,0,0,0
EN See skua
BK b
XCY y
#
"bony fish",5048,0,0,0
EN Any of the very large group Osteichthyes, comprising all true bony fishes (18┐000 species; 450 families); includes both the ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) and the fleshy-finned fishes (Sarcopterygii), the latter containing the lungfishes (Dipnoi) and tassel-finned fishes (Crossopterygii); endoskeleton made of bone; with air bladder or lungs.
BK b
#
"Bony, Jean",5049,0,0,0
PN [bonee]
DT1 1908
EN Architectural historian, born in Le Mans, NW \JFrance\j. A scholar of French and English Gothic \Jarchitecture\j, he joined the faculty of the University of \JCalifornia\j, Berkeley, in 1962. His publications include \IThe English Decorated Style\i (1979) and \IFrench Gothic Architecture of the 12th and 13th Centuries\i (1983).
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#
"Bonynge, Richard",5050,0,0,0
EN See Sutherland, Dame Joan
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"booby",5051,0,0,0
EN A bird related to gannets, native to tropical and subtropical seas; streamlined, with a colourful pointed bill. It catches fish by diving vertically into the \Jwater\j; air sacs beneath the skin of its face absorb the shock of impact. \B(Genus:\b \ISula,\i 6 species. \BFamily:\b \JSulidae\j.)
BK b
#
"book",5052,0,0,0
EN A handwritten or printed document, comprising at least 25 leaves of paper, \Jvellum\j, or parchment bound together along one edge, generally affixed within a protective cover, and usually intended for non-periodical publication. The earliest books can be traced back to China in the 3rd-c BC, in the form of wood or \Jbamboo\j leaves bound with cords.
In the West the \Jpapyrus\j roll used by the Egyptians and Greeks was superseded in \JGreece\j and \JRome\j by the codex (bound, handwritten leaves of \Jvellum\j or parchment). Superbly written and illuminated manuscript books were made in the monasteries of W Europe from the '\JDark Ages\j' until well after the development of European printing in c.1450.
The earliest known printed book is Chinese (868). All the world's printed books before the 15th-c were Chinese, Korean, or Japanese; and between 1450 and 1750 Chinese printed books exceeded those of the rest of the world. In Europe, printing, along with the introduction of paper in the 14th-c, led to a very large increase in book production. Books from this period, known as \Iincunabula,\i number some 35┐000.
The earliest printed books, such as Gutenberg's '42-line' \JBible\j of 1456, were set in black-letter type and closely modelled on the design of mediaeval manuscript books. New features, such as title-pages and page numbers, began to appear towards the end of the 15th-c. Aldus Manutius, working in \JVenice\j, introduced a revolution in book production in 1501: pocket-size editions of Latin classics set in compact italic types in print-runs as long as 1000 copies.
Following the Reformation, \Jcensorship\j became increasingly repressive: the mid-16th-c saw the publication of the \IIndex\i of prohibited books, and in England a royal charter giving the Stationers' Company a virtual monopoly over who might print what. The first book printed in America was the \IWhole Booke of Psalmes\i ('Bay Psalm Book') in 1640.
The 19th-c brought many technical innovations, such as mechanical typesetting and cheaper paper, and several changes in retailing and use, following the mushroom growth of railway bookstalls and the development of public libraries. With the 20th-c came the heyday of the private press movement, the steady development of book clubs, new techniques in printing, and a notable growth in the numbers of new titles published, particularly in paperback.
BK b
#
"book fairs",5053,0,0,0
EN International collaborative occasions for the buying and selling of books and the right to publish translations of books. The principal fairs include those held at Frankfurt, \JBologna\j (children's books), London, Moscow, and \JJerusalem\j, and that of the American Booksellers' Association, which is held at various locations in the USA.
BK b
#
"Book of Changes",5054,0,0,0
HS , Chin \BYijing\b or \BI-ching\b
EN One of Chinese literature's oldest and most treasured works, possibly dating in part from the 11th-c BC, with additions in the 7th-c and 1st-c BC. It comprises 64 hexagrams, each formed by combining two out of eight trigrams of three broken \I(yin)\i or unbroken \I(yang)\i lines. Each hexagram has a commentary, and there are appendices (incorrectly attributed to \JConfucius\j). The trigrams were by tradition devised by the mythological dragon-emperor Fuxi.
The \IYijing\i could yield guidance on problems and imminent decisions, since each hexagram supposedly corresponded to typical human issues and life-change patterns, and the underpinning assumption was a unification of nature and humanity in the cosmos. It has been studied throughout Chinese history.
BK b
#
"Book of Common Prayer",5055,0,0,0
EN The official directory of worship or service-book of the \JChurch of England\j, widely honoured and followed in churches of the Anglican Communion. Largely composed by \JArchbishop\j Cranmer, it was first introduced in 1549, and revised in 1552, 1604 and finally 1662. Until 1975, revisions in England required the approval of Parliament. It is generally considered a landmark of English prose.
BK b
#
"book of hours",5056,0,0,0
EN A prayer book, popular in the \JMiddle Ages\j, and known in England as a \Bprimer.\b It typically contained the Little Office of Our Lady, psalms of penitence, and the Office of the Dead (usually in Latin).
BK b
#
"Book of Songs",5057,0,0,0
HS , Chin \BShijing\b
EN A collection of 311 Chinese odes, some antedating 600 BC. Used freely in teaching by \JConfucius\j, it later became a classic memorized by all scholars as a primer of socio-political morality. It gives rich evidence on early China and the Chinese view of life, yielding more detail on the lives of ordinary people than any other ancient world text. Its poems preceded Europe by a millennium in using rhyme, and influenced the style and subject-matter of Chinese poetry for 2000 years.
BK b
#
"Book of the Dead",5058,0,0,0
EN An ancient Egyptian collection of magical and religious texts. Copies were often buried with the dead as a protection and comfort in the after-life.
BK b
#
"book-holder",5059,0,0,0
EN Elizabethan term: a person combining the functions of prompter and stagehand.
BK Thea
#
"book-keeper",5060,0,0,0
EN Elizabethan term. The company member responsible for the preparation and safe-keeping of copies of the plays owned by the company, he would commission a fair copy of the author's manuscript and supervise the preparation of the rolls on which individual parts, with short cues, were written out.
BK Thea
#
"bookbinding",5061,0,0,0
EN Techniques for the joining of leaves along one edge and casing them in a cover to form a codex or book. All bookbinding was done by hand until the 19th-c, and the craft tradition lives on for the production of single copies and \Ieditions de luxe.\i Single leaves and folded sections of two or more leaves are stitched together with thread around cords attached to the cover boards; the spine and boards are covered with leather or cloth, and titling is stamped on the spine.
Modern mechanical bookbinding automates these processes, though eliminating the cords. Various techniques such as adhesive or 'perfect' (cut-off, glued backs) and 'burst' (glue forced through the backs of folded sections) binding have replaced the thread. In paperback binding, light boards are glued around adhesive-bound books.
BK b
#
"booklouse",5062,0,0,0
EN A small flattened insect which typically feeds on old books or dried organic material. It can cause extensive damage in libraries.
BK b
#
"bookworm",5063,0,0,0
EN The common name of various larval and adult insects that damage books by feeding on the paper and binding, and by burrowing activity. It is used particularly of the booklouse and \Jsilverfish\j.
BK b
#
"Boole, George",5064,0,0,0
DT (1815-64)
EN British mathematician: developed mathematical treatment of logic.
Largely self-taught, Boole was a schoolteacher for a number of years before being appointed professor of \Jmathematics\j at Queen's College, Cork in 1849. His early work concerned the theory of algebraic forms, but it is for his pioneering of the subject of mathematical logic that he is best known.
In 1847 he developed a form of \Jalgebra\j (Boolean algebra) that could be used to manipulate abstract logical functions and which for the first time bridged the hitherto separate disciplines of \Jmathematics\j and formal logic. Boolean \Jalgebra\j was essential to the development of digital computers from the principles established by Babbage, and has important applications in other fields such as probability and statistics.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Boole was born the son of a self-employed carpenter, and as such, had little hope of gaining any real education. He trained as a teacher, learned some \Jmathematics\j from his father, and Latin from a friend, developing his skills in Latin and Greek, and teaching himself French, German and Italian while still at school, in order to be able to read mathematical works from those countries.
By his mid-twenties, he was studying further, in order to write better \Jmathematics\j texts, and he was also beginning to write original \Jmathematics\j, and in 1844, was awarded the Royal Society's medal for his work. His appointment to the chair in Cork was made in spite of his having had no university training in \Jmathematics\j.
Boole's work in the logic or \Jalgebra\j which now bears his name was based on an unpublished notion of Charles Babbage, but Boole's lasting fame was assured when Claude Shannon first saw, in 1937, the connection between electrical circuitry and the Boolean \Jalgebra\j. This realisation ensured that Babbage's dream of a working analytical engine would be met in reality.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Scie
#
"Boolean algebra",5065,0,0,0
EN An \Jalgebra\j on sets, devised by Boole, developed as an \Jalgebra\j of symbolic logic. The differences from arithmetic \Jalgebra\j can be illustrated by the absorption laws on sets \IA,\i \IB\i and \IC\i : \IA\i┐+┐\IA\i┐=┐\IA\i and \I(A\i┐+┐\IB)\i\I(A\i┐+┐\IC)\i┐=┐\IA\i┐+┐\IBC.\i The similarities between the \Jalgebra\j of sets and that of logic can be seen by comparing \IA\i┐\f╟\n┐\IA\i┐=┐\IA\i and p┐\f┘\n┐p┐=┐p, the latter being read 'p and p implies p', where p is a statement.
The laws of Boolean \Jalgebra\j derive from those relating to the union and intersection of sets. There is a similar \Jalgebra\j governing the use of 'and' and (inclusive) 'or' with propositions; indeed if \Ip\i and \Iq\i are propositions and \IP\i┐=┐{\Ix:\i\Ipx\i} (the set of \Ix\i such that \Ip\i is true when applied to \Ix)\i and \IQ\i┐=┐{\Ix:\i\Iqx\i}, then '\Ip\i and \Iq\i' is true of the \Ix\i in the intersection of \IP\i and \IQ\i and '\Ip\i or \Iq\i' is true of the set of \Ix\i which are in the union of \IP\i and \IQ.\i
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Boole's aim was to place the rules of reasoning and logic in a rigorous framework. In this way, he changed logic from a question of philosophy to a question of \Jmathematics\j. His rules have subsequently become known as Boolean \Jalgebra\j or Boolean logic and the design of digital computers depends on this system. The logical operations of Boolean \Jalgebra\j, normally implemented as electronic logic gates, are all that are needed to perform all of the standard functions in a computer.
In Boolean \Jalgebra\j, a two-valued (or binary) \Jalgebra\j, a proposition can have the value yes or no, true or false, 1 or 0, on or off, high or low, and there are no intermediate values. The statement "This gun is loaded" can have two possible values: true, or false, but you cannot have a gun that is slightly loaded (if we accept that even one cartridge fulfils the definition of "loaded").
Propositions can be combined by using operators, just as numbers can be combined using operators. In arithmetic, we write 2 + 2 = 4, but in logic, we write statements such as TRUE + TRUE = TRUE. And just as arithmetic has laws like the associative law and the commutative law, there are laws and theorems that control the working of Boolean \Jalgebra\j.
Before we look at those laws, we need to consider some notation. The letter A, B, C etc refer to propositions ("this gun is loaded", "this canary is yellow" or "this canary is loaded"), while A' means "not A" ("this gun is not loaded" etc.). The symbol + now has the special meaning "OR", so A + B means "this gun is loaded OR this canary is yellow". The "." (dot) symbol means AND, although it can sometimes be left out, just as we often leave out the "x" in multiplication in ordinary \Jalgebra\j. So A.B (or AB) means something like "this gun is loaded and this canary is yellow". We can also have double negatives, represented by A'', which means NOT (NOT A).
This brings us to a set of statements called elementary propositions: (Refer to Table)
Then there are the associative laws of Boolean \Jalgebra\j: (Refer to Table)
Then there are the commutative laws of Boolean \Jalgebra\j: (Refer to Table)
Then there are the distributive laws of Boolean \Jalgebra\j:
A(B + C) = A.B + A.C
A + BC = (A + B)(A + C)
Then we have de Morgan's \Jtheorem\j: (Refer to Table)
Lastly, we have the Absorption \Jtheorem\j: (Refer to Table)
The truth table for AND, OR and NOT look like this: (Refer to respective Tables)
Other functions such as XOR (exclusive OR), NAND (NOT AND), NOR (NOT OR) or functions with more than two inputs can be constructed using combinations of AND, OR and NOT.
In their turn, AND and OR can be constructed from each other using De Morgan's \JTheorem\j:
A OR B = NOT ((NOT A) AND (NOT B))
A AND B = NOT ((NOT A) OR (NOT B))
In fact any Boolean function can be constructed using just NOR or just NAND using the identities:
NOT A = A NOR A
A OR B = NOT (A NOR B)
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK b
#
"boomer",5066,0,0,0
EN See mountain beaver
BK b
XCY y
#
"boomerang",5067,0,0,0
EN A throwing stick, so shaped as to fly great distances and strike a severe blow; mainly Australian, but known elsewhere (eg among certain American Indian groups). Some are made to take a curved path and return, and are used mainly for play or training.
BK b
#
"boomslang",5068,0,0,0
EN A venomous African snake \I(Dispholidus typus); \i long thin green or dark brown body; length, up to 2┐m / 61/2┐ft; three fangs; lives in trees adjoining grassland; eats lizards, birds, frogs. \B(Family:\b Colubridae.)
BK b
#
"Boone, Daniel",5069,0,0,0
DT (1734-1820)
EN frontiersman; born near Reading, Pa. His parents were Quakers. He learned to hunt and trap by the age of 12. He moved with his family to \JNorth Carolina\j (1750-51) and in 1755 he took part in General Braddock's diasastrous campaign, where he met John Finley, a hunter who told him stories of the Kentucky wilderness. He explored in Kentucky (1767-68, 1769-71) and led the first settlers there in 1775.
He founded Boonesborough, a fortified settlement. He was captured by Shawnee Indians (1778) but escaped in time to defend Boonesborough against an Indian attack. Later, his claims to large tracts of Kentucky lands were not validated and he moved to West Virginia (1788), and then to present-\Jday\j Missouri (1799) where he remained until his death. He has retained his place as the archetypal American frontiersman.
BK AmBg
#
"Boorman, John",5070,0,0,0
DT1 1933
EN Film director, born in Shepperton, Surrey, SE England, UK. He worked for Southern Television, and became head of the BBC documentary unit (1962). He made his first feature film \ICatch Us if You Can\i (1965), and followed this with the stylish American thriller \IPoint Blank\i (1967). Later films include \IDeliverance\i (1972), \IExcalibur\i (1981), \IHope and Glory\i (1987), \IWhere the Heart Is\i (1990), and \IBeyond Rangoon\i (1995).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1965 Catch Us If You Can
1967 Point Blank
1968 Hell in the Pacific
1969 Leo the Last
1972 Deliverance
1973 Zardoz
1977 Exorcist II: The Heretic
1981 Excalibur
1985 The Emerald Forest
1987 Hope and Glory
1990 Where the Heart Is
1995 Beyond Rangoon
1995 Two Nudes Bathing
BK Biog99
#
"Boorstin, Daniel J(oseph)",5071,0,0,0
DT1 1914
EN Writer, academic, and librarian, born in \JAtlanta\j, Georgia, USA. He studied at Harvard, won a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford, and was admitted to the English bar (1937). He became professor of American history at the University of \JChicago\j (1944--69) and director of the National Museum of History and Technology (1969--73). His major works include \IThe Americans\i trilogy (1958, 1965, 1973) and \IThe Discoverers\i (1983).
BK Biog99
#
"Boot, Harry",5072,0,0,0
EN See Randall, John
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Boot, Sir Jesse, Baron Trent",5073,0,0,0
DT1 1850
DT2 1931
EN Drug manufacturer, born in \JNottingham\j, \JNottinghamshire\j, C England, UK. At 13 he inherited his father's herbalist shop, and in 1877 opened his first chemist's shop in \JNottingham\j. He began large-scale drug manufacture (1892), and soon after the turn of the century was controlling the largest pharmaceutical retail trade in the world, with over a thousand branches by 1931.
SX m
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#
"Bo÷tes",5074,0,0,0
PN [boh\Boh\bteez]
HS (Lat 'herdsman')
EN A large Northern hemisphere \Jconstellation\j. It contains \JArcturus\j, a \Jred giant\j, the brightest star in the N sky, radius 28 times the Sun. Distance: 11 parsec. Doubtless one of the first stars to be named, it is mentioned in literature from the earliest times.
BK b
#
"Booth Theatre",5075,0,0,0
EN (New York City) Built by the Shubert brothers in partnership with producer Winthrop Ames, the Booth opened in 1913 with its sister house, the Sam S. Shubert. A small house, seating about 800, Ames envisioned it for his productions of intimate dramas and comedies, which have been its staple ever since. The theatre reverted to the Shuberts after Ames's retirement, and remains in their possession.
BK Thea
#
"Booth's Theatre",5076,0,0,0
EN (New York City) Built for Edwin Booth at the corner of 6th Avenue and 23rd Street, it opened on 3 February 1869 with a production of Romeo and Juliet. Booth's Theatre was built of granite in an ornate Second Empire style, complete with shopping precinct, artists' studios and Booth's private flat. Among the mechanical innovations were a forced-air heating and cooling system, a set of hydraulic ramps for changing scenery and a sprinkling system for fire protection.
Some of the finest Shakespearian productions of the era were mounted at the theatre during Booth's four-year tenure. After he lost control of it in 1873 - the result of poor financial management - Booth's Theatre was leased and managed by various actor-managers. In the 1960s the building, then a department store, burned down.
BK Thea
#
"Booth, (Albert James, Jr.) 'Albie'",5077,0,0,0
DT (1908-59)
EN football player; born in \JNew Haven\j, Conn. A tricky runner, adequate passer, and clever punter, "Little Boy Blue" was a legendary, 144-pound tailback for strong Yale teams (1929-31).
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#
"Booth, (Evangeline Cory) Eva",5078,0,0,0
DT (1865-1950)
EN Salvation Army general, social worker; born in London, England. She was one of eight children of the founders of the Salvation Army. She became a sergeant at age 15 and field commander of the Army in Canada (1896) where she worked among the Alaskan Indians. She was commander-in-chief of the Salvation Army in the U.S.A. (1904-34) and became a U.S. citizen in 1923.
Her social relief efforts captured the public imagination and gained wide support for the Army. After returning to England to serve as general of the entire Salvation Army (1934-39), she retired to Hartsdale, N.Y.
BK AmBg
#
"Booth, Barton",5079,0,0,0
DT ?1679-1733
EN English actor and manager. He joined Betterton's company in 1700 and played secondary roles until he joined Aaron Hill's company at Drury Lane in 1710, taking over some of Betterton's old roles. Often arguing with Hill, he rioted against him with the other actors.
He scored a great triumph as Cato in Addison's play (1713) and became a partner in the management of the company. At his best in majestic roles in tragedy (e. g. the Ghost in Hamlet), he thought it 'depreciated the dignity of tragedy to raise a smile in any part of it' (Cibber).
BK Thea
#
"Booth, Charles",5080,0,0,0
DT1 1840
DT2 1916
EN Shipowner, statistician, and social reformer, born in Liverpool, \JMerseyside\j, north-west England, UK. He joined his brother Alfred in founding the Booth Steamship Co. An ardent radical in his youth, he settled in London in 1875 and devoted 18 years to the preparation of his great \ILife and Labour of the People in London\i (17 vols, 1902), the prototype of the modern social survey.
SX m
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#
"Booth, Edwin (Thomas)",5081,0,0,0
DT (1833-93)
EN actor; born in Belair, Md. He was part of a notable theatrical family: his father, Junius Brutus Booth Sr. and his brothers Junius Brutus Booth Jr. and John Wilkes Booth were all actors, although John Wilkes Booth is best known as the assassin of Abraham Lincoln. Edwin Booth was famous for his classic roles, and became the first American actor to gain an international reputation.
In 1864 he played the role of Hamlet in 100 consecutive New York City performances, a record for the time. After New York's Winter Garden was destroyed by fire, he built a new theater, where he opened in 1869 in \IRomeo and Juliet\i opposite Mary McVicker, who became his second wife. The theater failed and Booth went bankrupt. His own dark temperament was accentuated by family madness and tragedy. In 1918 a statue of him was put up in Gramercy Park, opposite the Players Club, Booth's former house.
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"Booth, George G.",5082,0,0,0
DT (1864-1949)
EN newspaperman, philanthropist; born in Toronto, Canada. The wealthy publisher of the \IDetroit News,\i in the mid-1920s he established the Cranbrook Academy of Art (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), an experimental art educational community, in collaboration with Eliel Saarinen.
BK AmBg
#
"Booth, Hubert Cecil",5083,0,0,0
DT1 1871
DT2 1955
EN British engineer. In 1900 he demonstrated the principle of extracting dust from carpets by suction, and in 1901 patented an electrically powered machine which he called a 'vacuum cleaner'. The machine was mounted on a horse-drawn wagon, and was equipped with a long tube for access into buildings. His Vacuum Cleaning Co provided the first mechanical cleaning service.
MEX Hoover, William
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#
"Booth, John Wilkes",5084,0,0,0
DT (1838-65)
EN actor, assassin; born near Bel Air, Md. A member of the well-known Booth family of Shakespearean actors, he was a somewhat erratic, if popular actor. He had come to support \Jslavery\j and the South, and as a member of a Virginia militia company, had participated in the arrest and execution of John Brown (1859). In the fall of 1864, he hatched a plot to kidnap Lincoln but the scheme failed.
He then concocted the plot to assassinate Lincoln, Vice-President Andrew Johnson, and \JSecretary of State\j William Seward. Booth's co-conspirators failed with the last two, but he himself shot Lincoln in Ford's Theater (April 14, 1865) before jumping to the stage and evidently crying out, "\ISic semper tyrannis!\i The South is avenged!" He was located and killed twelve days later, although it is not certain whether he was killed by his captors or died by his own hand. Rumors inevitably persisted for years that he had escaped.
BK AmBg
#
"Booth, Junius Brutus",5085,0,0,0
DT (1796-1852)
EN actor; born in London, England. A success in London, he came to the U.S.A. in 1821. A handsome, eccentric man known for his tragic roles, he fathered three theatrical sons: Junius Brutus Jr., Edwin, and John Wilkes Booth.
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#
"Booth, Junius Brutus, Jr",5086,0,0,0
DT 1821-83
EN American actor and theatre manager, son of Junius Brutus and brother to Edwin. He migrated to \JCalifornia\j in 1851, where he acted and managed several theatres in \JSan Francisco\j until he returned east in 1864. At various times he managed for his brother Edwin the \JBoston\j Theatre, the Walnut Street Theatre, the Winter Garden and, for one season, Booth's Theatre.
He was a competent manager but generally an undistinguished actor, although he was well regarded for his King John and Cassius. Four of Junius's children pursued stage careers.
BK Thea
#
"Booth, William",5087,0,0,0
DT1 1829
DT2 1912
EN Religous leader, founder and general of the Salvation Army, born in \JNottingham\j, \JNottinghamshire\j, C England, UK. In 1844 he was converted and became a Methodist New Connexion minister on Tyneside. He began 'The Christian Mission' in London's East End (1865), which in 1878 developed into the Salvation Army. The Army spread throughout the world, with a whole new network of social and regenerative agencies.
His book, \IIn Darkest England and the Way Out\i (1890), tells of his philosophy and motivation. His eldest son, \BWilliam Branwell Booth\b (1856-1929), was chief-of-staff from 1880 and succeeded his father as general (1912). His second son, \BBallington Booth\b (1857-1940), was commander of the army in \JAustralia\j (1883-5) and the USA (1887-96), but resigned after disagreement with his father, and founded a similar organization, Volunteers of America.
One of his daughters, \BEvangeline Cora Booth\b (1865-1950), became a US citizen and was elected general in 1934. A grand-daughter, \BCatherine Branwell Booth\b (1884-1987), was a commissioner in the Army.
MEX Smith, Rodney
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"Boothby (of Buchan and Rattray Head), Sir Robert (John Graham) Boothby, Baron",5088,0,0,0
DT1 1900
DT2 86
EN Politician, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. He studied at Oxford, and in 1924 was elected Conservative MP for East Aberdeenshire, the seat he held until 1958. He was parliamentary private secretary to Winston Churchill (1926-9), and parliamentary secretary to the ministry of food (1940-1).
He became an original member of the Council of United Europe (1948) and was a British delegate to its consultative assembly (1949-54). Well-known as a commentator on public affairs on radio and TV, he was raised to the \Jpeerage\j in 1958.
SX m
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#
"Boothe, Clare",5089,0,0,0
EN See Luce, Clare Boothe
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#
"Booths, Feast of",5090,0,0,0
EN See Sukkoth or Succoth
BK b
XCY y
#
"bootlegging",5091,0,0,0
EN The illegal manufacture or distribution of alcoholic drink or other highly taxed goods, such as cigarettes. The term is mainly used with reference to the smuggling of alcohol in the USA during the Prohibition era (1920-33). This became a major illegal industry, which led to the development of organized crime on a large scale. \JBootlegging\j still exists in those parts of the USA where the sale of alcoholic drinks is prohibited.
BK b
#
"bop",5092,0,0,0
EN See \Jbebop\j
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XCY y
#
"Bophuthatswana",5093,0,0,0
PN [bopootats\Bwah\bna]
EN pop (1995e) 3 668 000; area 44 000 sq km/16 984 sq mi. Former independent black homeland in South Africa; comprises seven separate units of land in Cape, Free State, and \JTransvaal\j provinces; self-government, 1971; second homeland to receive independence from South Africa (not recognized internationally), 1977; incorporated into North-West province in the South African constitution of 1993; main languages, English, \JAfrikaans\j, Setswana; over 368 000 people are commuters or migrant workers in South Africa; tourism (including Sun City complex); capital, Mmabatho; brewing, tanning, furniture, \Jmaize\j, beef; \Jplatinum\j (a third of world production of \Jplatinum\j group metals), copper, nickel, gold, \Jchromium\j, \Jvanadium\j, \Jasbestos\j, iron ore, diamonds, \Jlimestone\j, \Jmanganese\j, \Jfluorspar\j.
BK Geog99
#
"Bopp, Franz",5094,0,0,0
DT1 1791
DT2 1867
EN Philologist, born in Mainz, \JGermany\j. After four years' study in Paris, he produced a major study of Indo-European grammar (1816). In 1821 he was appointed to the chair of Sanskrit and comparative grammar in Berlin. His greatest work (written originally in German) is \IA Comparative Grammar of Sanskrit, Zend, Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, Old Slavonic, Gothic and German\i (6 vols, 1833-52).
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#
"B≤r, General",5095,0,0,0
EN See Komorowski, Tadeusz
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#
"Bora, Katherine von",5096,0,0,0
DT1 1499
DT2 1552
EN German nun. Having adopted Lutheran doctrines, she ran away from the Cistercian convent of Nimptschen, near Grimma, in 1523, and married \BMartin Luther\b in 1525.
MEX Luther
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#
"boracic acid",5097,0,0,0
EN See boric acid
BK b
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#
"borage",5098,0,0,0
EN A robust annual \I(Borago officinalis),\i growing to 60┐cm / 24┐in, covered in stiff, white bristles, native to C Europe and the Mediterranean region; leaves oval, rough; flowers 2┐cm / 3/4┐in diameter, bright blue, drooping, with five spreading petals and black anthers. Cultivated as a herb, its bruised leaves smell of cucumber. \B(Family:\b Boraginaceae.)
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#
"Borah, William E(dgar)",5099,0,0,0
DT (1865-1940)
EN U.S. senator; born in Fairfield, Ill. Following a celebrated legal career in Boise, Ida., he was elected to the U.S. Senate (Rep., Ida.; 1907-40). Although a supporter of many progressive causes, as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (1924-33) he opposed U.S. entry into the \JLeague of Nations\j after World War I. He remained an outspoken isolationist until his death, but he was also a supporter of disarmament, of cooperation with Latin American countries, and of many of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal measures.
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#
"boranes",5100,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\braynz]
EN Compounds of \Jboron\j and \Jhydrogen\j, the simplest being diborane (B\D2\dH\D6\d). They are high-\Jenergy\j compounds, and have been used as rocket fuels. They are oxidized to boric acid. The reaction is B\D2\dH\D6\d┐+┐11/2O\D2\d\f(r)\n2H\D3\dBO\D3\d. Compounds with CH\U+\u replacing BH are called \Icarboranes\i or \Icarbaboranes.\i
BK b
#
"borate",5101,0,0,0
EN See boric acid
BK b
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#
"borax",5102,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\braks]
EN Na\D2\dB\D4\dO\D7\d.10H\D2\dO; a hydrated salt of boric acid. It forms insoluble salts with Ca\U2+\u and Mg\U2+\u ions, and thus is useful as a \Jwater\j softener and cleanser. \JBorax\j in a less hydrated form (4H\D2\dO) is the most important source of \Jboron\j. It is an important ingredient in borosilicate (Pyrex(r)) glasses.
BK b
#
"Borchard, Edwin Montefiore",5103,0,0,0
DT (1884-1951)
EN professor of international law; born in New York City. He served as adviser to the U.S. delegation to the international court at the Hague and was law librarian of the U.S. Congress before becoming a professor of international law at Yale University (1917-50). His specialty was the title of his classic text, \IDiplomatic Protection of Citizens Abroad\i (1915). Between the world wars, he argued for U.S. \Jneutrality\j on the grounds that international law could settle disputes.
He opposed U.S. diplomatic activities in World War II and was suspicious of the \JPotsdam\j agreement and the Nuremburg trials. A member of the American Civil Liberties Union, he was a strong advocate for providing \Jrestitution\j to individuals wrongly convicted of crimes.
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"Borchers, David",5104,0,0,0
DT 1744-96
EN German actor. Borchers was a celebrated intuitive actor who began in the Ackermann troupe, then played with Friedrich Schr÷der in the \JHamburg\j Town Theatre. He was noted for the elemental power of his stage presence and for his wild good humour. He never learned his roles and often improvised. From 1782 to 1785 he was the director of the Linz Town Theatre. He was notorious for his irregular private life: he once gambled with his wife as the stake, and lost.
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"Borchert, Wolfgang",5105,0,0,0
DT 1921-47
EN German playwright and poet. His reputation derives as much from the circumstances of his life as from his single play, Draussen vor der Tⁿr (The Man Outside, 1947). As a conscientious objector, he was imprisoned for public opposition to the Nazis. His semi-autobiographical passion play carried particular conviction in its denunciation of a corrupted society. First staged the \Jday\j after Borchert's death, with 32 productions in 1948 alone, it was performed over 130 times in the next 20 years.
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"Bordeaux",5106,0,0,0
PN [baw(r)\Bdoh\b]
EN 44░50N 0░36W, pop (1995e) 217 000. Inland port and capital of Gironde department, SW \JFrance\j, on R Garonne; major port, and cultural and commercial centre for SW; 480 km/298 mi SW of Paris and 100 km/60 mi from the Atlantic; held by the English, 1154--1453; centre during the wars of the Fronde; temporary seat of government in 1870, 1914, and 1940; centre of wine-growing region, MΘdoc (N), Graves and Sauternes (S), and Entre-deux-Mers (between Garonne and Dordogne Rivers); airport; railway; archbishopric; university (1441); cathedral; shipbuilding, chemicals, wine trade (claret), oil refining, fishing; Church of St Seurin (12th--15th-c), Grand Theatre (1773--80), Pont de Pierre (1813--21).
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#
"Bordeaux, Henri",5107,0,0,0
PN [baw(r)doh]
DT1 1870
DT2 1963
EN Writer, born in Thonon, \JFrance\j. He studied law before he took to writing novels concerned with the defence of family life, often with a Savoy background, such as \ILa Peur de vivre\i (1902), \ILes Roquevillard\i (1906), and \ILa Maison\i (1913).
SX m
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#
"Borden, (Neil Hopper) Pete",5108,0,0,0
DT (1895-1980)
EN advertising/marketing educator; born in Boulder, Colo. He earned an M.B.A. at Harvard, where he joined the business school faculty and taught advertising and marketing (1922-62). His eight books on advertising, including \IThe Economic Effects of Advertising\i (1942), were influential in developing the fields of marketing and advertising management.
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#
"Borden, Gail",5109,0,0,0
DT (1801-74)
EN surveyor, inventor; born in Norwich, N.Y. In 1822 he surveyed land in Mississippi, then joined his family at Stephen Austin's colony in \JTexas\j where he worked as the official surveyor. During the \JTexas\j war for independence from Mexico, he and his brother published the area's only newspaper; he also drew up the first topographical map of the republic and laid out the city of Galveston. Motivated by the problems of obtaining food on the frontier, in 1851 he invented a meat \Jbiscuit\j (pemmican), the first of his food experiments.
In 1853 he traveled to New \JLebanon\j, N.Y., to use the Shaker colony laboratory for experiments to condense milk. His patent for "a process of evaporating milk in a vacuum" was granted in 1856. In 1861 a "condensing" factory in Wassaic, N.Y., began production and the milk was used by Union soldiers. He returned to \JTexas\j to continue his experiments and was awarded a patent for concentrating juices in 1862.
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"Borden, Lizzie (Andrew)",5110,0,0,0
DT (1860-1927)
EN alleged murderess; born in Fall River, Mass. She was arrested and tried for the axe-murders of her father and stepmother in 1892. Acquitted in 1893, she was socially ostracized but remained in Fall River until her death.
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#
"Borden, Sir Robert (Laird)",5111,0,0,0
DT1 1854
DT2 1937
EN Canadian statesman and prime minister (1911-20), born in Grand PrΘ, \JNova Scotia\j, Canada. He practised as a \Jbarrister\j, became leader of the Conservative Party (1901), overthrew Laurier's Liberal government over the issue of reciprocity with the USA (1911), and became prime minister. He organized Canada for war, and was influential in arranging a separate Canadian membership in the \JLeague of Nations\j.
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#
"border collie",5112,0,0,0
EN The Border Collie is world renowned for its intelligence and hard work. It is still used as a working sheep dog in many countries.
\BHistory:\b
The Border Collie originated in the border region at the base of the Cheviot Hills between England and Scotland.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The Border Collie is a medium-sized dog. \IHeight:\i 20 - 21 in (52 cm) for the dog and 19 - 20 in (50 cm) for the bitch. \IWeight:\i 50 lb (23 kg). The head is well-rounded on the dome with a medium-length muzzle and scissor bite. Its back is level with a well-sprung rib cage. The tail is low or level with the back.
The Border Collie's coat is double with a moderately long, dense, firm topcoat and a short, soft, dense undercoat to provide almost complete \Jweather\j proofing. The coat color can be black and white, or black with white and tan markings. There is also a reddish-brown with white version of the Border Collie.
\BBehavior:\b
As this dog is very attractive to look at and is medium-sized, it is often chosen by people to become a family dog. In most cases the Border Collie makes an excellent family companion because it is intelligent, energetic, and capable of being very active. However, this dog was especially bred to be a tough working dog. It is brave enough to face down the biggest herd of sheep and boldly move them on with its powerful character. This same strength of character must be properly harnessed by assertively training the dog when it is young.
A Border Collie that becomes too bossy and bored is definitely not a good family pet. This dog loves to be given tasks by its owner, and positively basks in the glory when you praise it. It is a wonderful sight to see these dogs both at work and play. Physically these dogs are very hardy, but their feet should be checked after they have been running over rough country; brambles and debris should be removed from their coat.
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#
"border terrier",5113,0,0,0
EN This is a small dog, primarily a working dog, and now a valued companion dog. The Border Terrier has unlimited endurance and patience as a hunter. He is renowned as a fox-hunting dog and will also chase \Jbadger\j, marten and \Jotter\j.
\BHistory:\b
The Border Terrier, as the name suggests, originated in the hills between Scotland and England. As with all Terrier breeds, there is a mixed heritage in Lakeland, Bedlington, Dandie Dinmont and Redesdale (a white Terrier now extinct) which is responsible for the white markings sometimes found in pups. The name of the Border Terrier was fixed in 1880, first registered by the British Kennel Club in 1913, and recognized as a breed in 1920. The Border Terrier is not very well-known outside of Britain, but is popular in Sweden.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
\IHeight:\i not specified, but around 12 in (32 cm). \IWeight:\i 13 - 15.5 lb (6 - 9 kg) for the dog and 11.5 - 14 lb (5.2 - 6.4 kg) for the bitch. The head shape resembles an \Jotter\j's - broad skull, short, strong muzzle; black nose and a scissor bite. The eyes are dark hazel, not prominent, and have a keen expression. The ears are small, v-shaped, of medium thickness, and fall forward close to the cheek. The body is fairly long and the ribs are well back, the tail is short, but thick at the base. The topcoat of the Border Terrier is wiry and dense and has a thick undercoat. The skin is also thick. The coat colors are red, wheaten, grizzle and tan, or blue and tan.
\BBehavior:\b
The Border Terrier may be small in stature, but it has a huge spirit. The Border Terrier exhibits classic Terrier behavior: it is rugged and fearless. This is one very determined dog. It was bred to keep on with the chase and to bravely pursue its quarry through difficult terrain. The Border Terrier makes an excellent watch-dog, as it has a keen sense of its owner's territory. This dog is most happy to alert you to the presence of potential intruders. However, it must be properly trained to behave exactly as you want. In most cases the Border Terrier gets along well with other dogs. If two females are kept together, one should be allowed to be the boss in order to avoid quarrels.
The Border Terrier can make a good companion dog as long as it is given a lot of tasks to carry out. These dogs thrive on their owner's attention.
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"Border, Allan (Robert)",5114,0,0,0
DT1 1955
EN Cricketer, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. Educated in Sydney, he became a professional cricketer in 1977, made his Test debut against England in 1978--9, and became captain in 1984--5. The Australian team was most successful under his leadership, regaining the Ashes in 1989 and retaining them in 1990--1 and 1993.
A left-hander, he was \JAustralia\j's most prolific batsman, and on his retirement in 1994 held Test records for the most catches (156), the most Test appearances (156), and having captained \JAustralia\j in more Tests than any other captain (93). His most outstanding achievement is as the highest run-scorer in the history of Test cricket: in 1993 he beat Sunil Gavaskar's record with 10┐123 runs, and he increased this record to a final 11┐174 runs. He was Australian of the Year in 1990.
Bordet graduated in medicine in Brussels in 1892 and taught there from 1901. While working at the Pasteur Institute in Paris in 1898 he found that if blood serum is heated to 55░C its \Jantibodies\j are not destroyed but its ability to destroy \Jbacteria\j is lost. He deduced that some heat-sensitive component of serum is necessary, which Ehrlich called complement. In 1901 Bordet showed that this is used up when an antibody reacts with an \Jantigen\j, a process called complement fixation and of importance in \Jimmunology\j.
Ehrlich thought that each \Jantigen\j had its own complement; Bordet thought there was only one. We now know that the immune system contains nine varieties of complement, each an \Jenzyme\j system which is responsible for the destruction of a range of pathogens. For this and his other work on immunity, Bordet was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1919.
BK Scie
#
"Bordone, Paris",5116,0,0,0
PN [baw(r)\Bdoh\bnay]
DT1 1500
DT2 71
EN Painter of the Venetian school, born in Treviso, \JItaly\j. He worked there and in \JVicenza\j, \JVenice\j, and Paris. He was strongly influenced by his greater contemporary, Titian, his most celebrated work being 'Fisherman presenting the Ring of St Mark to the Doge', (1540, \JVenice\j Academia).
MEX Titian
SX m
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#
"bore",5117,0,0,0
EN A nearly vertical wall of \Jwater\j that may be produced as a result of a tide, \Jtsunami\j, or seiche. Bores usually occur in funnel-shaped estuaries with sloping bottoms. Bottom friction slows the advancing wave front, and \Jwater\j piles up behind to produce a nearly vertical bore face. The rapidly moving wall of \Jwater\j is followed by a less steep rise in sea level accompanied by swift upstream currents.
BK b
#
"boreal forests",5118,0,0,0
EN The dense, coniferous forests of \JNorth America\j, Europe, and Asia. Characteristic tree species include fir, hemlock, spruce, and pine in more open areas. It is sometimes regarded as synonymous with \Itaiga,\i though the vegetation canopy in the boreal forest is less open, with relatively little light reaching the forest floor.
BK b
#
"borecole",5119,0,0,0
PN [\Bbaw(r)\bkohl]
EN See \Jkale\j
BK b
XCY y
#
"Borel, (FΘlix Edouard Justin) Emile",5120,0,0,0
PN [borel]
DT1 1871
DT2 1956
EN Mathematician and French statesman, born in Saint Affrique, \JFrance\j. He studied then taught at the Ecole Normale SupΘrieure, and became professor at the \JSorbonne\j in 1909. In addition to his mathematical work, he was active in politics, scientific popularization, and journalism; he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies (1924-36) and minister for the navy (1925-40). His mathematical work was mainly in analysis, measure theory, and probability.
MEX Lebesgue
SX m
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#
"Boreman, Arthur I(ngram)",5121,0,0,0
DT (1823-96)
EN governor, U.S. senator; born in Waynesburg, Pa. A Virginia lawyer opposed to secession, he led the Wheeling Convention (1861) to establish a pro-union government in West Virginia, becoming the first governor (Rep., 1863-69) of the new state. In the U.S. Senate (1869-75), he chaired the committee on the territories, returning to the law afterward.
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#
"Borg, Bj÷rn (Rune)",5122,0,0,0
DT1 1956
EN Tennis player, born in S÷dertΣlje, Sweden. He left school at 14 to concentrate on tennis, and at 15 was selected for the Swedish \JDavis Cup\j team. He was Wimbledon Junior Champion at 16. In 1976 he won the first of his record five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles (1976--80). He also won the Italian championship twice and the French Open six times between 1974 and 1981.
His Wimbledon reign ended in 1981 when he lost in the final to John McEnroe. He retired in 1983, having written his \Jautobiography\j, \IMy Life and Games\i (1980).
BK Biog99
#
"Borga",5123,0,0,0
EN See Porvoo
BK b
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#
"Borge, Victor",5124,0,0,0
PN [\Bbaw(r)\bguh]
DT1 1909
EN Entertainer and pianist, born in Denmark. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, \JCopenhagen\j, and in Vienna and Berlin. He made his debut as a pianist in 1926, and as a revue actor in 1933. Since 1940 he has worked in the USA for radio, \Jtelevision\j, and theatre, and has performed with leading symphony orchestras on worldwide tours since 1956. He is best known for his comedy sketches combining music and narrative.
BK Biog99
#
"Borges, Jorge Luis",5125,0,0,0
PN [\Bbaw(r)\bkhes]
DT1 1899
DT2 1986
EN Writer, born in Buenos Aires. He studied there and at Geneva and Cambridge. From 1918 he was in \JSpain\j, where he was a member of the avant-garde Ultraist literary group, returning to Argentina in 1921. His first book of poems, \IFervor de Buenos Aires,\i was published in 1923, and in 1941 appeared the first collection of the intricate and fantasy-woven short stories for which he is famous. Later collections include \IFicci≤nes\i (1944, 1946, Fictions), \IEl Aleph\i (1949), and \IEl Hacedor\i (1960, trans Dreamtigers).
SX m
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"Borghese",5126,0,0,0
PN [baw(r)\Bgay\bzay]
EN A great 13th-c family of ambassadors and jurists of Siena, afterwards (16th-c) at \JRome\j. Their members include \BCamillo Borghese\b (1552-1621), who ascended the papal throne in 1605 as Paul V, and \BPrince Camillo Filippo Ludovico Borghese\b (1775-1832), who joined the French army, married Napoleon's sister Marie Pauline (1803), and became Governor-General of \JPiedmont\j. The Borghese Palace still contains one of the finest collections of paintings in \JRome\j.
BK b
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"Borgia",5127,0,0,0
PN [\Bbaw(r)\bja]
EN Italian form of \BBorja,\b an ancient family in the Spanish province of Valencia. Their members include \BAlfonso Borja\b (1378-1458), who accompanied Alfonso of Aragon to \JRome\j, and was elected pope as Calixtus III. \BRodrigo Borgia\b (1431-1503), his nephew, became pope as Alexander VI (1492). Two of Rodrigo's children became especially notorious. \BCesare Borgia\b (1476-1507) was a brilliant general and administrator, succeeding his brother (whom he may have murdered) as Captain-General of the Church.
In two campaigns he became master of Romagna, \JPerugia\j, Siena, Piombino, and Urbino, and planned a Kingdom of Central \JItaly\j. After the death of Alexander (1502), his enemies rallied. He surrendered at Naples, was imprisoned, escaped (1506), but soon after died while fighting for the King of Navarre. \BLucrezia Borgia\b (1480-1519) was married three times by her father, for political reasons, finally becoming the wife of Alfonso d'Este, Duke of \JFerrara\j. She has been represented as a person of wantonness, vices, and crimes; but she died enjoying the respect of her subjects, a patroness of learning and of art.
BK b
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"Borgia, Cesare",5128,0,0,0
PN [\Bbaw(r)\bja]
DT1a c.
DT1 1476
DT2 1507
EN Italian soldier, born probably in \JRome\j, the illegitimate son of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (later Pope Alexander VI), and brother of Lucrezia Borgia. He was appointed \JArchbishop\j of Valencia (1492) and a cardinal (1493) after his father's election to the papacy. In 1499 he succeeded his elder brother \BJuan\b (whom he was suspected of murdering) as captain-general of the papal army.
In two campaigns, he made himself master of Romagna, \JPerugia\j, Siena, Piombini, and Urbino, and planned a kingdom of central \JItaly\j. After the death of Alexander (1502), his enemies rallied. He surrendered at Naples in 1504, was imprisoned, escaped in 1506, but soon after died while fighting for the King of Navarre. Though he remains a monster in the public perception, he was praised by Machiavelli as a model prince. He also encouraged art, and was the protector of \JLeonardo da Vinci\j.
MEX Alexander VI; Borgia, Lucrezia; \JLeonardo da Vinci\j; Machiavelli
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"Borgia, Lucrezia",5129,0,0,0
PN [\Bbaw(r)\bja]
DT1 1480
DT2 1519
EN Noblewoman, born in \JRome\j, the illegitimate daughter of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (later Pope Alexander VI), and the sister of Cesare Borgia. She was three times married to further her father's political ambitions. The third of these was in 1501, to \BAlfonso\b (1486-1534), son of the Duke of Este, who inherited the Duchy of \JFerrara\j, where she established a brilliant court of artists and men of letters, and devoted herself to the patronage of art and education. Her reputation for wantonness and crime is more legend than fact.
MEX Alexander VI; Borgia, Cesare
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"Borglum, (John) Gutzon (de la Mothe)",5130,0,0,0
DT (1867-1941)
EN sculptor; born near Bear Lake, \JIdaho\j Territory. Child of Danish immigrants, he was raised throughout the West; after college he moved to \JCalifornia\j (1884) where he studied art and took up painting portraits. He met Jesse Benton Fremont, who sponsored his studies in Paris and \JSpain\j (1890-92). After working in \JCalifornia\j and London (England), he settled in New York City (1901). By then he had switched to sculpture; his \IMares of Diomedes\i won a gold medal at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904 and was the first American sculpture acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
He was soon winning commissions, including \IThe Twelve Apostles\i for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. Asked by the Daughters of the Confederacy to sculpt the head of Robert E. Lee on Stone Mountain, Georgia, he designed an ambitious ensemble portraying Confederate leaders and hundreds of soldiers; a disagreement led to his quitting in 1924 with only a few figures finished. (The project was revived in 1960.)
He had already been asked by South Dakota to carve a "shrine of democracy" there and he chose Mt. Rushmore. He began in 1927 and had finished the 60-foot head of George Washington by 1930, by which time the U.S. Congress had authorized funds. An opinionated man, he feuded with the National Parks Service over money and procedures, but no one questioned his patriotism or \Jenergy\j. He had practically finished the other three heads by his death (and his son, Lincoln Borglum, completed some details shortly thereafter).
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"boric acid",5131,0,0,0
EN H\D3\dBO\D3\d; a weak acid, with \Jantiseptic\j properties. Dilute solutions have a \JpH\j of about 6, while partially neutralized solutions have a \JpH\j of about 9. Salts of boric acid are called \Bborates.\b Hydrated \Jboron\j(III) oxide (B\D2\dO\D3\d) is also called \Bboracic acid.\b
BK b
#
"Borie, Adolph Edward",5132,0,0,0
DT (1809-80)
EN merchant, financier; born in Philadelphia. His family firm carried on an extensive trade with Mexico, the Caribbean, and the Far East. His friendship with Ulysses Grant led to his brief period as secretary of the navy (1869).
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"Bork, Robert H(eron)",5133,0,0,0
DT1 1927
EN Legal scholar and judge, born in \JPittsburgh\j, \JPennsylvania\j, USA. After briefly practising law (1954--62), he joined the faculty of Yale Law School (1962--81), where he became known for his expertise in constitutional and anti-trust law. He was US solicitor general (1971--7) and acting attorney general (1973--4), and was appointed to the federal court of appeals for the District of Columbia (1982--8).
President Reagan nominated him to the Supreme Court in 1987, but his conservative views led to his being rejected by a controversial US Senate vote. He stepped down from the bench in 1988 to write and lecture on judicial and public policy for the American Enterprise Institute.
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#
"Borlaug, Norman (Ernest)",5134,0,0,0
PN [\Bbaw(r)\blog]
DT1 1914
EN Agricultural scientist, born in Cresco, \JIowa\j, USA. He studied at the University of \JMinnesota\j, and was research scientist at the Rockefeller Foundation's Co-operative Agriculture Program in Mexico (1944--60). During this period he developed strains of grain that greatly increased crop production, notably the tripling of Mexico's wheat yields.
Dedicated to the alleviation of world hunger, he was director of both the Inter-America Food Crop Program (1960--3) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (1964--79). He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970.
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"Borman, Frank",5135,0,0,0
DT1 1928
EN Astronaut, born in Gary, \JIndiana\j, USA. He trained at West Point, and became an air force pilot (1951--6). He studied aeronautical \Jengineering\j at the \JCalifornia\j Institute of Technology, then taught at West Point and the Aerospace Research Pilots School. In 1962 NASA selected him for \Jastronaut\j training.
He was crew member of two historic missions: the Gemini 7 space endurance flight (1965) and the first manned flight around the Moon in Apollo 8 (1968). He worked for NASA until 1970, when he joined Eastern Airlines, becoming chairman of the board of directors in 1976.
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"Bormann, Martin",5136,0,0,0
DT1 1900
DT2 ?
DT2 45
EN Nazi politician, born in Halberstadt, \JGermany\j. He participated in the abortive Munich putsch of 1923 and became one of Hitler's closest advisers. He was made \IReichsminister\i (party chancellor) in 1941, and was with Hitler to the last. His own fate is uncertain, but he was possibly killed by Russian snipers in the mass breakout by Hitler's staff from the Chancellery (1945). A skeleton accidentally uncovered by an excavator in Berlin in 1972 has been officially recognized as his by forensic experts.
MEX Hitler
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"Born, Max",5137,0,0,0
DT (1882-1970)
EN German physicist: invented matrix mechanics and put forward the statistical interpretation of the \Jwavefunction\j.
Max Born was the son of a professor of anatomy at the University of Breslau and, following the death of his mother when he was 4, he was brought up by his maternal grandmother. He studied at Breslau, Heidelberg, Zⁿrich and Cambridge, gaining his PhD at G÷ttingen (1907). He remained there as a teacher, becoming professor of physics in 1921 and establishing a centre of theoretical physics second only to the Niels Bohr Institute in \JCopenhagen\j.
As a Jew he left \JGermany\j for Cambridge in 1933, becoming a professor in Edinburgh and finally returning in retirement to G÷ttingen in 1953. In 1954 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics for his fundamental contributions to quantum mechanics, together with Bothe.
Initially Born's research interests were lattice dynamics and how atoms in solids hold together and vibrate. The Born-Haber cycle of reactions allows calculation of the lattice \Jenergy\j of ionic crystals. However, in 1923 the old quantum theory established by Planck, Einstein, Bohr and Sommerfeld remained inconsistent and unable to account for many observations. Broglie then made the startlingly apt suggestion that particles possess wave-like properties (1924) and Born, E P Jordan, Heisenberg and Pauli in collaboration rapidly developed a sequence of important ideas.
With Jordan, Born constructed (1925) a method of handling quantum mechanics using matrices (matrix mechanics) and this was the first consistent version of the new quantum mechanics. Dirac subsequently took this, and the equivalent wave mechanics due to Schr÷dinger, and blended them into a single theory (1926).
Born also put forward the probability interpretation of the \Jwavefunction\j. In Schr÷dinger's wave mechanics a particle is represented by a wave packet, which unfortunately disperses in time. Born's solution was to state that the wave guides the particle in the sense that the square of the \Jamplitude\j of the \Jwavefunction\j is the probability of finding a particle at that point. Einstein opposed a move from deterministic to statistical physical laws and Born and Einstein discussed the issue from time to time over many years.
Born is buried in G÷ttingen, where his gravestone displays his fundamental equation of matrix mechanics:
pq - qp = h/2\Fp\ni where p is the momentum operator, q the position operator and h Planck's constant.
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"Born-Haber cycle",5138,0,0,0
PN [baw(r)n \Bhah\bber]
EN A thermochemical cycle relating the lattice \Jenergy\j of an ionic solid to its heat of formation, in terms of properties of the single atoms. Since the total consumption of \Jenergy\j for any process is independent of the path taken, any single unknown quantity in the cycle may be estimated if the others are known.
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"Borneo",5139,0,0,0
PN [\Bbaw(r)\bneeoh]
EN area 484┐330┐km\U2\u / 186┐951┐mi\U2\u. Island in south-east Asia, E of \JSumatra\j, N of Java, W of Sulawesi; comprises the Malaysian states of \JSarawak\j and \JSabah\j and the former British protectorate of \JBrunei\j (north); remainder comprises the four provinces of \JKalimantan\j, part of \JIndonesia\j; formerly divided between the British and the Dutch; mountainous (north), rising to 4094┐m / 13┐432┐ft at Mount Kinabalu in \JSabah\j; interior densely forested; rice, pepper, copra, \Jtobacco\j, oil, \Jbauxite\j, iron.
BK b
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"Bornholm",5140,0,0,0
PN [baw(r)n\Bholm\b]
EN pop (1995e) 45 800; area 588 sq km/227 sq mi. Danish island in the Baltic Sea, 40 km/25 mi S of Sweden, 168 km/104 mi SE of \JCopenhagen\j; length 37 km/23 mi; rises to 162 m/531 ft; taken by Sweden, 1645; returned to Denmark, 1660; administrative capital and chief port, R°nne; fishing, fish-processing, farming, pottery, tourism.
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"Borobudur",5141,0,0,0
PN [\Bbo\brohbooder]
EN A Buddhist sanctuary built between 750 and 850 in Java, \JIndonesia\j. The monument comprises eight stepped terraces cut into the sides of a natural mound and culminating in a central shrine \I(stupa).\i It is renowned for the abundance and intricacy of its relief sculptures.
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"Borodin, Alexander Porfiryevich",5142,0,0,0
PN [borawdeen]
DT (1833-87)
EN Russian chemist and musician.
Trained as a chemist in St Petersburg, Borodin later travelled in Europe and from 1864 held a professorship in the Russian Academy. His work was mainly in \Jorganic chemistry\j, where he devised methods for fluorinating organic compounds in the 1860s, and he worked on reactions of aldehydes.
He showed that both \Jpolymerization\j and condensation of aldehydes occurs, and in this way made aldol and, from it, crotonaldehyde. His method for analysing \Jurea\j was long used by biochemists. He is well known as a composer, notably of the heroic opera Prince Igor and many songs.
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#
"borohydride",5143,0,0,0
PN [boroh\Bhiy\bdriyd]
EN An anion containing \Jboron\j and \Jhydrogen\j, especially BH\D4\d\U-\u. \BSodium borohydride\b (NaBH\D4\d) is an important reducing agent.
BK b
#
"boron",5144,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bron]
EN B, element 5; melting point 2300░C. A hard, non-metallic solid, which as a pure element does not occur free in nature. It forms many compounds in which it is bound to oxygen, and shows an \Joxidation\j state of +3. Although a relatively rare element, it is found in large concentrations, especially as boric acid and \Jborax\j.
BK b
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"Borotra, Jean",5145,0,0,0
HS , nickname \Bthe Bounding Basque\b
DT1 1898
DT2 1994
EN Tennis player, born in Arbonne, near Biarritz, \JFrance\j. He won the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1924, and his extraordinary fitness enabled him to compete in veterans' events at that same venue when he was almost 80. He also won the French and Australian championships, as well as several \JDavis Cup\j medals between 1927 and 1932.
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"borough",5146,0,0,0
EN In general terms, the second tier of local government in England and Wales, based on charters granted at different times by the monarchy. \BBorough councils\b were first elected in 1835, when their main function was law and order. The name has survived all subsequent reforms of local government, but now is largely indistinguishable from the equivalent unit of \Idistrict.\i The Scottish equivalent is \Bburgh,\b but this term is no longer used in official designations, \Idistrict\i being preferred. In the USA, it has a special use identifying the five counties comprising New York City.
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"Borovansky, Edouard",5147,0,0,0
PN [boro\Bvan\bskee]
DT1 1902
DT2 59
EN Dancer, choreographer, and ballet director, born in Prerov, Czech Republic. He studied at \JPrague\j's National Theatre and School, prior to dancing with Anna Pavlova's company. A soloist in the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo (1932-9), he stayed on in Melbourne during an Australian tour, opening a ballet school with his wife \BXenia Nikolaeva\b in 1940. Out of this grew the Borovansky Ballet (1942), which proved to be a major influence on the Australian Ballet when it was formed 20 years later.
MEX Pavlova
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"Borovsky, David",5148,0,0,0
DT 1934-
EN Soviet stage designer. He is best known for his work with director Yury Lyubimov at the Taganka Theatre in Moscow. Some of his more important productions include Hamlet (1972), Comrade Believe, \JGorky\j's Mother (1978) and Valentin and Valentina (1978). His design is characterized by three- dimensional, interactive playing environments using real objects which can be transformed by the actors. A good example is the use of a wooden army truck in The Dawns Are Quiet (1972), which was transformed into trees, living quarters and coffins.
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"Borromeo, St Charles",5149,0,0,0
PN [boro\Bmay\boh]
DT1 1538
DT2 84
EN Cardinal and \Jarchbishop\j, born in Arona, \JItaly\j. In 1560, at the age of 22, he was appointed Cardinal of Milan by his uncle, Pope Pius IV. He did much to bring the Council of Trent (1545-63) to a successful conclusion, and had the principal part in drawing up the famous \ICatechismus romanus\i (1566).
He was renowned for his determined efforts to maintain ecclesiastical discipline and for his poor relief during the \Jfamine\j of 1570 and the plague of 1576. In 1578 he founded the community later known as the Oblates of St Ambrose. He was canonized in 1610; feast \Jday\j 4 November.
MEX Pius IV
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"Borromini, Francesco",5150,0,0,0
PN [boro\Bmee\bnee]
HS , originally \BFrancesco Castello\b
DT1 1599
DT2 1667
EN Baroque architect and sculptor, born in Bissone, \JItaly\j. He spent all his working life in \JRome\j, where he was associated with his great rival Bernini in the Palazzo Berberini (1620-31) and the baldacchino in St Peter's (1631-3). His own chief buildings include the S Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1641) and the \Joratorio\j of S Philippo Neri (1650).
Although now considered one of the great Baroque architects, his influence was felt only after his death, and then more in N \JItaly\j and C Europe than in \JRome\j.
MEX Bernini
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"Borrow, George (Henry)",5151,0,0,0
DT1 1803
DT2 81
EN Writer and traveller, born in East Dereham, Norfolk, E England, UK. He was educated at Norwich, began to train as a solicitor, then worked for a publisher in London. From 1825 to 1832 he wandered in England, sometimes in gypsy company, as described in \ILavengro\i (1851) and \IThe \JRomany\j Rye\i (1857).
As agent of the \JBible\j Society he visited St Petersburg (1833-5), \JPortugal\j, \JSpain\j, and Morocco (1835-9), and later visited south-east Europe (1844) and Wales (1854).
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"borstal",5152,0,0,0
EN See youth custody centre
BK b
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#
"Boru",5153,0,0,0
EN See Brian
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#
"borzoi - Russian wolfhound",5154,0,0,0
EN A tall, elegant and dignified-looking dog that has a history of popularity with royal houses from \JRussia\j, throughout Europe and \JGreat Britain\j.
\BHistory:\b
The Borzoi is most probably descended from the Greyhounds of ancient \JEgypt\j and cross-bred with the long-haired Russian sheep dog. The breed was fixed in \JRussia\j by the sixteenth century. The Borzoi was bred as a sight hound to hunt wolves in packs. The sight hound depends on seeing the prey rather than following a scent.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The Borzoi is tall, slender, and has an imposing stature. \IHeight:\i 29 - 32 in (73.7 - 81.3 cm) for the dog and 27 - 30 in (68.6 - 76.2 cm) for the bitch. Under Canadian standards, 28 - 32 in (71 - 81.3 cm) for the dog and 27 - 30 in (68.6 - 76.2 cm) for the bitch. \IWeight:\i is not standardized but approximately 70 - 80 lb (30 - 35 kg). The Borzoi's head is long and lean, with a slightly domed skull. The jaws are long, deep and powerful, with a scissor bite. The nose is fairly large and black. The eyes are almond-shaped, dark, obliquely set and well back.
The ears are small, fine, narrow and pointed, and are set high and back. The body has a gracefully rising arch from near the shoulders, with well-sprung ribs and a muscular \Jcroup\j. The legs are long and straight with well-muscled hindquarters. The tail is long, set low and well-feathered. The coat is short and smooth on the head, ears and front legs, with the neck having profuse curls. Long, silky, and profuse feathering on the body, hindquarters, and tail. The coat colors vary, with white, black, and red markings being the most common.
\BBehavior:\b
This large, very elegant dog, is capable of quite gentle behavior. The Borzoi makes an excellent watch-dog, as it quickly becomes very protective of members of its family and their possessions. This dog gets along readily with members of its own kind. However, because it is so big, it is wise to introduce it slowly to smaller dogs so they are not afraid. This dog is readily trainable; although instructions should always be consistent to avoid any frustrations.
During training it is advisable to remove other dogs and any other thing capable of sudden fast movement. Owners of small dogs can become very distressed if your Borzoi takes off after their dogs in hot pursuit.
The Borzoi can make a good family companion as it is normally very tolerant of children. However, this large and powerful dog should not be left alone with small children. It requires a great deal of exercise to keep it fit and content. The feet and lower legs should be regularly checked after high-speed running.
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"Borzov, Valeri",5155,0,0,0
PN [\Bbaw(r)\bzof]
DT1 1949
EN Athlete, born in Sambor, \JUkraine\j. At the 1972 \JOlympic Games\j in Munich he won both the 100┐m and 200┐m sprints, beating the Americans in what had become their monopoly events.
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#
"Bosch, Carl",5156,0,0,0
PN [bosh]
DT1 1874
DT2 1940
EN Chemist, born in Cologne, \JGermany\j, the brother-in-law of Fritz Haber. He became president of I G Farbenindustrie in 1925. He shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1931 for his part in the invention and development of chemical high-pressure methods, notably the \IHaber-Bosch process,\i by which \Jhydrogen\j is obtained from \Jwater\j gas and superheated steam.
MEX Haber
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#
"Bosch, Hieronymus",5157,0,0,0
HS , originally \BJerome van Aken\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1450
DT2 1516
EN Painter, named after the town in which he was born, 's Hertogenbosch in N Brabant, and in which he seems to have spent the whole of his life. He is noted for his allegorical pictures displaying macabre devils, freaks, and monsters. Among his best-known works are 'The Garden of Earthly Delights' (\JPrado\j) and 'The Temptation of St Anthony' (\JLisbon\j). He had considerable influence on the Surrealists.
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#
"Bose, Satyendra Nath",5158,0,0,0
PN [bohs]
DT (1894-1974)
EN Indian physicist: discovered the quantum statistics of particles of integral spin.
An education at Presidency College in \JCalcutta\j led Bose to a lectureship at the \JCalcutta\j University College of Science, and another at the University of \JDacca\j when it was formed in 1921. During his research career he made significant advances in statistical mechanics and quantum statistics, the description of all forces by a single field theory, X-ray \Jdiffraction\j and the interaction of electromagnetic waves with the \Jionosphere\j.
In 1924 Bose derived Planck's black-body radiation law without the use of classical \Jelectrodynamics\j, which Planck had needed to use. Bose was able to obtain 2 years leave for research and travel, and in Europe he met Broglie, Born and Einstein. Einstein took up Bose's work and formed a general statistics of quantum systems from it (the Bose-Einstein statistics) which describes particles of integral spin, which may multiply occupy the same quantum state.
Such particles are now known as bosons. An equivalent statistics for spin-As particles which are limited to one particle per quantum state is called the Fermi-Dirac statistics, and the particles are called \Jfermions\j.
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"Bose, Sir Jagadis Chandra",5159,0,0,0
PN [bohs]
DT1 1858
DT2 1937
EN Physicist and botanist, born in Mymensingh, India. He became professor of physical science at \JCalcutta\j (1885-1915), then founded the Bose Research Institute there (1917-37). He was known for his study of electric waves, their polarization and reflection, and for his experiments demonstrating the sensitivity and growth of plants.
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#
"Bose, Subhas Chandra",5160,0,0,0
PN [bohs]
HS , known as \BNetaji\b ('Respected Leader')
DT1a c.
DT1 1897
DT2 ?
DT2 1945
EN Indian Nationalist leader, who called for complete Indian independence, born in Cuttack, Orissa, India. Frequently imprisoned, he became president of the All-India Congress (1938-9). He supported the Axis in the war and became commander-in-chief of the Japanese-sponsored Indian National Army. He was reported killed in Formosa.
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#
"Bose-Einstein statistics",5161,0,0,0
PN [bohs]
EN In quantum statistical mechanics, the description of collections of many non-interacting bosons. The Bose-Einstein distribution expresses the partition of \Jenergy\j amongst bosons, and is important in, for example, the description of photons in \Jlaser\j action and of \Jsuperfluidity\j in liquid \Jhelium\j. It is named after Indian physicist \BSatyendra Nath Bose\b (1894-1974), who collaborated with Einstein.
BK b
#
"Bosman, Herman Charles",5162,0,0,0
DT1 1905
DT2 51
EN Short-story writer, essayist, and novelist, born in Kuils River, near Cape Town, South Africa. His literary reputation has been largely posthumous. He taught in a remote country district near Groot Marico, in the \JTransvaal\j. This provided the setting for his short stories about rural \JAfrikaners\j - affectionate, sardonic, wry, and moving tales. He also wrote a memorable prison memoir, \ICold Stone Jug\i (1949), and two novels.
SX m
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#
"Bosnia and Herzegovina",5163,0,0,0
PN [\Bboz\bnia, hertze\Bgo\bvina]
EN pop (1996e) 4 130 000 (Muslim-Croat Federation 2 520 000; Serbian Republic 1 610 000); area 51 129 sq km/19 736 sq mi. Republic in the Balkan peninsula of SE Europe; capital, \JSarajevo\j; other chief towns, Banja Luka, Zenica, Tuzla, Mostar; timezone GMT +2; major ethnic groups, Bosnians (48%), Serbian (39%), Croatian (12%); languages, Serbo-Croatian (Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian); religions, Sunni Muslim, Serbian Orthodox, Roman Catholic; currency, the dinar of 100 paras.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
Mountainous region, including part of the Dinaric Alps, noted for its \Jlimestone\j gorges, lakes, rivers, and mineral springs; reaches heights of 1800 m/6000 ft; dry \Jlimestone\j plateau in the SW (\Ikarst\i); principal rivers, the Bosna, Una, Drina, Neretva, Sava; climate ranges from Mediterranean to mildly continental; sirocco wind brings rain from SW; strong NE wind (\Ibora\i) affects coastal area in winter.
\IHistory and government\i
Austrian protectorate, 1878; annexed by Austria, 1908; Serbian opposition to the annexation led to the murder of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and World War 1; ceded to Yugoslavia, 1918; declaration of sovereignty, 1991; Bosnian Serbs proclaimed three autonomous regions (Bosanska \JKrajina\j, Romanija, and Northern Bosnia), 1991; \Jdeclaration of independence\j, 1992, followed by \Jcivil war\j between formerly integrated communities of Bosnians, Croats, and Serbs; UN peace-keeping forces deployed, and air-exclusion ("no-fly') zone imposed, 1992; various political proposals rejected, 1993--4; ceasefire agreed, 1995; peace talks in Dayton, OH, created two political entities: a Bosnian Muslim-Croat Federation (c.51% of the territory, including \JSarajevo\j) and a Bosnian-Serb republic; \JNATO\j-supervised implementation-force (I-FOR), 1995-6, followed by a stabilization-force (S-FOR), 1996-8; governed by a president and a 240-seat bicameral Assembly, with each entity having its own prime minister.
\IEconomy\i
Highly industrialized, particularly iron and steel; large \Jcellulose\j factory at Banja Luka; \Jforestry\j in Bosnia; agricultural trade; \Jcivil war\j has disrupted all economic activity.
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"boson",5164,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bson]
EN A subatomic particle having integer spin; named after Indian physicist \BSatyendra Nath Bose\b (1894-1974). Unlike \Jfermions\j, bosons have no exclusion principle limiting the number occupying some state. Force-carrying particles, such as photons, gluons, and gravitons, are all bosons.
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"Bosporus Bridge",5165,0,0,0
PN [\Bbos\bporus]
EN A major steel suspension bridge across the Golden Horn at \JIstanbul\j, Turkey; completed in 1973; length of main span 1074┐m / 3524┐ft.
BK b
#
"Bosporus or Bosphorus",5166,0,0,0
PN [\Bbos\bpuhruhs]
HS , Turkish \BKaradeniz Bogazi\b
EN Narrow strait separating European from Asiatic Turkey, and connecting the \JBlack Sea\j and the Sea of \JMarmara\j; length 32┐km / 20┐mi; minimum width 640┐m / 2100┐ft; at its narrowest point are two famous castles, Anadolu Hisar (1390) on the Asian side, and Rumeli Hisar (1452) on the European side; an area of great strategic importance.
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"Bosques Petrificados",5167,0,0,0
PN [\Bbos\bkays petreefee\Bka\bt\buh\buohs]
HS , Eng \BPetrified Forests\b
EN Natural monument in E Santa Cruz province, \JPatagonia\j, Argentina; \BArea:\b 100┐km\U2\u / 39┐mi\U2\u; established in 1954; contains 70┐000-year-old \Jaraucaria\j trees, averaging 3┐m / 10┐ft in \Jcircumference\j and 15-20┐m / 50-65┐ft in length; Monumento Natural closed indefinitely in 1989, though other areas still open.
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"Bosra",5168,0,0,0
EN An ancient Syrian city 117┐km / 73┐mi S of Damascus; a world heritage site. Originally an Arab fortress, Bosra was conquered by the Nabataeans, and became almost as important as Petra. It was annexed by the Romans in AD 105, and subsequently flourished as capital of the province of \JArabia\j.
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"boss",5169,0,0,0
HS (\Jzoology\j)
EN See \Jbison\j
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"Bossuet, Jacques BΘnigne",5170,0,0,0
PN [bosway]
DT1 1627
DT2 1704
EN Catholic churchman, and pulpit orator, born in Dijon, \JFrance\j. He studied at Dijon and Paris, received a canonry at Metz (1652), and in 1661 preached before \JLouis XIV\j. His reputation as an orator spread over \JFrance\j, and he became tutor to the Dauphin. As Bishop of Meaux (1681) he took a leading part in the Gallican controversy, asserting the king's independence from the Roman \JCatholic Church\j in secular matters.
SX m
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"Boston",5171,0,0,0
EN 42░22N 71░04W, pop (1995e) 579 000. Capital of \JMassachusetts\j state, USA; in Suffolk Co, on \JMassachusetts\j Bay, at the mouth of the Charles R; largest city in New England; settled, 1630; capital of the \JMassachusetts\j Bay Colony, 1632; city status, 1822; a centre of opposition to British trade restrictions and scene of the \JBoston\j Tea Party (1773); centre of the Unitarian Church movement; airport; railway; noted for its colleges and universities (1869, 1898, 1906); large immigrant population; commerce, finance, \Jelectronics\j, printing and publishing; professional teams, Red Sox (\Jbaseball\j), Celtics (\Jbasketball\j), Bruins (ice \Jhockey\j); \JBoston\j Tea Party ship and museum, Christ Church (1723), Paul Revere's house, Faneuil Hall (1742); Conservatory of Music; Museum of Fine Arts; \JBoston\j Marathon run on Patriot's Day (Apr).
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"Boston Ideal Opera Company (the Bostonians)",5172,0,0,0
EN American company. Founded by Miss E. H. Ober in 1879 in order to present an 'ideal' production of HMS Pinafore, the company, which toured extensively, was noted for its high standards in comic opera. Reorganized as the Bostonians in 1887, it launched the careers of Reginald De Koven with \JRobin Hood\j (1891) and Victor Herbert with Prince Ananias (1894). Its last season was 1904-5.
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"Boston Massacre",5173,0,0,0
EN (5 Mar 1770) The first bloodshed of the \JAmerican Revolution\j, as British guards at the \JBoston\j Customs House opened fire on a crowd, killing five. Among the issues involved were the general presence of troops, competition between soldiers and civilians for jobs, and the shooting of a \JBoston\j boy by a customs official.
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"Boston Museum",5174,0,0,0
EN American theatre. Originally part of Moses Kimball's \JBoston\j Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts, the 'concert saloon' was transformed in 1843 into a standard theatre with a stock company. In 1844, after the phenomenal success of William H. Smith's The Drunkard, which played 100 performances, it provided a steady diet of moral plays - which earned it the name of '\Jdeacon\j's theatre'. In 1846 it moved into its new building, and during the 1860s and 1870s housed the finest dramatic corps in America. In 1894 the company was disbanded, and in 1903 the theatre was razed.
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"Boston Strangler",5175,0,0,0
EN See Desalvo, Albert
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"Boston Tea Party",5176,0,0,0
DT1 1773
EN During the \JAmerican Revolution\j, the climax of resistance to British attempts at direct taxation, resulting in the destruction of 342 chests of dutied tea by working men disguised as Mohawks. Other ports had refused to let the tea ships enter.
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"Boston terrier",5177,0,0,0
EN Originally bred for dog fighting, the \JBoston\j Terrier is now more even-tempered and is a playful and intelligent pet.
\BHistory:\b
The \JBoston\j Terrier, although originally from Britain, was bred in \JBoston\j by crossing Bulldogs with Terriers to develop a dog for fighting in the rings. The \JBoston\j Terrier Club of America was founded in 1891 and was recognized in 1893 by the American Kennel Club.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
A well-built, small dog with a confident and graceful gait. \IHeight:\i is not specified, but usually ranges from 11 - 15 in (28 - 38 cm). \IWeight:\i less than 25 lb (11.3 kg). The head has a flat, square-shaped skull with a well-defined stop. The muzzle is short, broad and square. The chin is square and the bite is level or slightly undershot. The nose is broad and black with a distinct groove between the nostrils. The eyes are large, round and wide apart, with an intelligent and alert expression. The ears are small, fine and erect.
The body has a broad chest with deep, prominent ribs, and the shoulders slope down into a short back. The tail is set low, and is short and either straight or skewed. The coat of the \JBoston\j Terrier is short, fine, and has a shiny, smooth texture. The color of the coat is ideally white markings on the muzzle and an even white blaze on the forehead, collar, breast, forelegs, and on the hindlegs below the hocks. Then either black or brindle markings cover the remaining areas.
\BBehavior:\b
By crossing bulldogs with Terriers, the resultant breed might have been very aggressive. However, by excluding any dogs of uneven temperament, the \JBoston\j Terrier has become a well-balanced and reliable dog. They make great watch-dogs and are even brave enough to double as a guard dog in some cases. The \JBoston\j Terrier is really quite sociable and gets along well with most other dogs. In the majority of cases the \JBoston\j Terrier makes an excellent family dog. They do, however, greatly benefit from early socialization with people. This dog is readily trainable and benefits from an early start to obedience work. It is advisable to occasionally check the nose for any blockages, and during summer their ears should be protected from biting flies in affected areas.
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"Boston, Ralph",5178,0,0,0
DT1 1939
EN Athlete, born in Laurel, Mississippi, USA. A leading long-jumper of the 1960s, he established an unusual treble by winning the gold medal at the 1960 \JRome\j Olympics, a silver at \JTokyo\j in 1964, and a bronze at \JMexico City\j in 1968. He was the first man to jump over 27┐ft/8.2┐m.
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"Boswell, James",5179,0,0,0
DT1 1740
DT2 95
EN Man of letters and biographer of Dr Johnson, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. He studied at Edinburgh High School and University, then studied civil law at Glasgow, but his ambition was literary fame. At 18 he began his often scandalous journal (only published in the 20th-c), and in 1760 ran away to London, where he led a debauched life. He first met Johnson in 1763, and took him on the memorable journey to the \JHebrides\j.
His \IJournal of a Tour to the Hebrides\i (1785) appeared after Johnson's death. Its success led him to plan his masterpiece, the \ILife of Samuel Johnson\i (1791).
MEX Johnson, Samuel
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"Bosworth Field, Battle of",5180,0,0,0
EN (22 Aug 1485) The battle which put Henry Tudor on the English throne after victory over Richard III, who died in the conflict. Henry Tudor's forces were possibly inferior in number, but proved more loyal; they received crucial support from the Stanley family, who had a foot in both camps.
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"Bosworth, Joseph",5181,0,0,0
DT1 1789
DT2 1876
EN Philologist, born in \JDerbyshire\j, C England, UK. Professor of \JAnglo-Saxon\j at Oxford from 1858, he compiled \IAn \JAnglo-Saxon\j Dictionary\i (1838), and in 1867 gave ú10┐000 to endow a chair of \JAnglo-Saxon\j at Cambridge.
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#
"bot fly",5182,0,0,0
EN A robust, hairy fly, whose larvae are parasites beneath the skin of mammals, feeding on fluids exuding from tissues. The mature larvae bore out through the skin and pupate on the ground. The sheep bot fly deposits its eggs in the nostrils of sheep. \B(Order:\b \JDiptera\j. \BFamily:\b Oestridae.)
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"botanical garden",5183,0,0,0
EN A collection of living plants usually arranged by geographic or taxonomic principles, and maintained for the purposes of scientific research, education and, with increased urbanization, recreation. In China, gardens of medicinal and economically valuable plants were cultivated and used for the introduction and acclimatization of foreign flora 3000 years ago; the \JAztecs\j and Incas also established extensive gardens of useful plants.
The first European botanical gardens were collections of medicinal plants used for study in monasteries, and later in the medical schools of the early universities. The first such garden in the USA was established at St Louis, MO, in 1860.
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"botany",5184,0,0,0
EN The study of all aspects of plants, principally their structure, \Jphysiology\j, relationships, and \Jbiogeography\j, but embracing many aspects of other disciplines. Important areas in modern botanical research include \Jgenetics\j and plant breeding; vegetative reproduction and tissue culture, especially the use of microtechniques in which plants are propagated from small amounts of excised tissue such as meristems rather than from seeds; \Jecology\j and conservation, especially of endangered habitats such as tropical rain forests and wetlands; and, increasingly, the use of plants as indicators of \Jpollution\j.
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"Botany Bay",5185,0,0,0
EN A shallow inlet 8┐km / 5┐mi S of Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j; now a residential part of Sydney; Captain Cook made his first landing here in 1770, naming the bay after the number of new plants discovered there; chosen as a penal settlement in 1787, but found to be unsuitable, and a location at Sydney Cove used instead; the name \JBotany Bay\j, however, was for many years synonymous with Australian convict settlements.
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"Both, Andries",5186,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1612
DT2 41
EN Painter, born in \JUtrecht\j, The Netherlands, the brother of Jan Both. Traditionally he was thought to have collaborated with his brother by painting the figures in Jan's landscapes, but is now recognized as the author of paintings and drawings of genre scenes more akin to the work of Brouwer.
MEX Both, Jan; Brouwer
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"Both, Jan",5187,0,0,0
PN [bot]
DT1a c.
DT1 1618
DT2 52
EN Painter, born in \JUtrecht\j, The Netherlands, the brother of Andries Both, and a leading exponent of 'Italianate' landscape. He lived in \JItaly\j (1638-41) and there perfected his style of painting views of the Roman countryside bathed in a golden light and populated by picturesque peasants.
MEX Both, Andries
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"Botha, Louis",5188,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bta]
DT1 1862
DT2 1919
EN South African soldier, statesman, and prime minister (1910-19), born in Greytown, Natal, South Africa. He succeeded Joubert (1900) as commander-in-chief of the Boer forces during the war, and in 1907 became prime minister of the \JTransvaal\j colony under the new constitution. In 1907 and 1911 he attended imperial conferences in London, and in 1910 became the first premier of the Union of South Africa.
MEX Joubert
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"Botha, P(ieter) W(illem)",5189,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bta]
DT1 1916
EN South African statesman, prime minister (1978--84), and first state president (1984--9), born in Paul Roux, Orange Free State, South Africa. The longest-serving member of the South African Assembly (which he first entered in 1948), in his 14 years as minister of defence (1966--80) he presided over the controversial military intervention in \JAngola\j.
He attempted to introduce constitutional reforms, but his plans led to wide international condemnation. In 1989 he suffered a stroke which compelled him to cede the state presidency to his party successor, F W de Klerk.
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"Botha, Roelof Frederik",5190,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bta]
HS , known as \BPik Botha\b
DT1 1932
EN South African politician. After a career in the diplomatic service (1953--70), he entered politics and was elected to parliament. He became South Africa's permanent representative at the UN, then ambassador to the USA. He returned to domestic politics in 1977, becoming foreign minister in the government of P W Botha and that of F W de Klerk. In 1994--6 he served as minister for minerals and \Jenergy\j in Nelson Mandela's first cabinet.
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"Botham, Ian (Terence)",5191,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\btham]
DT1 1955
EN Cricketer, born in Heswall, Cheshire, NW England, UK. An all-rounder, he appeared in 102 Test matches for England, 65 of them consecutively, and including 12 as captain (1980--1). He held the record number of Test wickets (383 wickets at an average of 28.40 runs) until overtaken by Richard Hadlee, and has four times taken 10 wickets in a match.
He scored 5200 runs in Tests (average 33.54), including 14 centuries. Off-the-field brushes with authority alternated with successful charity fund-raising campaigns such as his walk from John o' Groats to Land's End and his re-enactment of Hannibal's crossing of the Alps. He first played for Somerset in 1974, joined Worcester in 1987, and moved to Durham in 1992. He retired from first-class cricket in 1993.
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"Bothe, Walther (Wilhelm Georg)",5192,0,0,0
PN [bohtuh]
DT (1891-1957)
EN German physicist.
A student of Planck at Berlin and a prisoner of war in the First World War, Bothe taught at three German universities before, in 1925, working with Geiger to study the Compton effect, by using a pair of Geiger counters to examine, in an ingenious way, single photons and electrons from individual collisions. This work confirmed that radiation can, as predicted, behave like a stream of particles.
He used similar methods in 1929 to show that cosmic rays do not consist only of gamma rays, as believed previously, but also contain heavy particles. After becoming professor of physics at Giessen in 1930, he noted a new uncharged emission from \Jberyllium\j bombarded with alpha particles; in 1932 Chadwick showed this strange, penetrating emission to consist of neutrons.
Bothe led some work in \JGermany\j on nuclear \Jenergy\j during the Second World War and shared a Nobel Prize for physics in 1954.
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"Bothnia, Gulf of",5193,0,0,0
PN [\Bboth\bneea]
EN N arm of Baltic, between Sweden and \JFinland\j; length c.650┐km / 400┐mi; width 80-240┐km / 50-150┐mi; maximum depth c.100┐m / 330┐ft; islets and sandbars impede navigation; generally freezes over in winter.
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"Bothwell, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of",5194,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1535
DT2 78
EN Third husband of \BMary, Queen of Scots.\b One of the greatest nobles in Scotland, he was held responsible for the abduction and murder of Mary's second husband, Lord Darnley (1567). He was made Duke of Orkney, then married Mary, but faced opposition from the nobles. He fled to Denmark after Mary's surrender to rebel forces at Carberry Hill, and was imprisoned in Dragsholm, where he died insane.
MEX Darnley; Mary, Queen of Scots
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"Botkin, B. A. (Benjamin Albert)",5195,0,0,0
DT (1901-75)
EN folklorist; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. He taught at the University of Oklahoma (1921-40), was \Jfolklore\j editor of the Federal Writers' Project (1938-39), and headed the Library of Congress folk song archive (1942-45) before becoming a freelance writer. A collector of \Jfolklore\j, stories, and ballads from throughout the U.S.A., he published many anthologies, including \ITreasury of American Folklore\i (1944) and \ILay My Burden Down\i (1945), a landmark folk history of \Jslavery\j.
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"Boto",5196,0,0,0
EN \B\BFamily:\b Iniidae\b \I(Amazon River dolphin)\i\b
\BScientific Name: \IInia geoffrensis\i\b (other common name: Amazon River dolphin)\b
\BIdentification:\b
Length at birth about 2.5 ft (0.8 m), adult males up to 9 ft (2.8 m), females 7.5 ft (2.3 m), and body weights up to 352.5 lbs (160 kg).
The body is somewhat chunky, there is a long, narrow beak from the base of which the bulbous forehead rises steeply. The melon is changeable in shape. There is a wide-based dorsal ridge about mid-length or a little further caudally, and large triangular flippers. The eyes are small, but less so than those of the Ganges and Indus River dolphins. Body coloration is gray or pink dorsally, lighter ventrally.
Some individuals are totally pink, and the pink coloration is very distinctive. Young animals are mostly dark gray, and become more pinkish with age. Mostly occurs singly or in very small groups, although groups of up to 15 have been observed. Move slowly as a rule, and show the top of the head and the dorsal ridge when they surface. Food includes a wide variety of fish, as well as \Jsquid\j, \Joctopus\j and shrimps. They forage mostly near the bottom, and have been seen to hunt co-operatively, sometimes with \Jtucuxi\j.
\BDistribution:\b
Amazon and Orinoco river basins of \JSouth America\j. Their range extends from the lower reaches of these rivers in Venezuela and \JBrazil\j, to their upper reaches and tributaries in \JBolivia\j, \JPeru\j, \JEcuador\j, \JColombia\j and \JGuyana\j where they extend into smaller tributaries and lakes.
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"Botolph, St",5197,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2a c.
DT2 680
EN Saxon abbot. He founded a monastery in 654 in Icanhoe (Ox Island), usually identified as \JBoston\j ('Botolph's Stone') in Lincolnshire, EC England. Feast \Jday\j 17 June.
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"Botrange",5198,0,0,0
PN [boh\dtrπzh]
EN 50░30N 6░05E. Mountain in the Hohe Venn, E LiΦge province, \JBelgium\j; 8┐km / 5┐mi NNE of MalmΘdy; the highest mountain in \JBelgium\j; 694┐m / 2277┐ft.
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"Botswana",5199,0,0,0
PN [bots\Bwah\bna]
EN pop (1995e) 1 540 000; area 581 730 sq km/224 711 sq mi. S African republic, divided into nine districts; capital, \JGaborone\j; chief towns, Mahalapye, Serowe, Tutome, \JFrancistown\j, Lobatse, Selebi-Phikwe; timezone GMT +2; population mainly Tswana; religion, mainly local beliefs, 20% Christian; languages, English, Setswana; unit of currency, the pula of 100 thebes.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
Land-locked, undulating, sand-filled plateau, mean elevation c.1000 m/3300 ft; most live in fertile E, bordered by R Limpopo; to the W, dry scrubland and savannah, and the sand-covered \JKalahari\j Desert; varied fauna and flora in the rich Okavango R delta in NW; deciduous forest in extreme N and NW; largely sub-tropical climate, increasingly arid in S and W; rainfall in N and E almost totally in summer (Oct--Apr); \JFrancistown\j annual average rainfall 450 mm/17.7 in, maximum daily temperatures 23--32░C; rainfall erratic in \JKalahari\j Desert, decreasing S and W to below 200 mm/7.9 in.
\IHistory and government\i
Visited by missionaries in 19th-c; under British protection, 1885; S part became a Crown Colony, then part of Cape Colony, 1895; N part became the Bechuanaland Protectorate; self-government, 1964; independence and change of name, 1966; governed by a legislative National Assembly of 34 elected, and six other members; president appoints cabinet of c.15 members; there is also a House of Chiefs (15 members).
\IEconomy\i
Mainly subsistence farming, especially livestock; continual problems of \Jdrought\j and disease; some crops, especially \Jsorghum\j, as well as \Jmaize\j, \Jmillet\j, beans; cotton, groundnuts, \Jsunflower\j seeds; main minerals, nickel (second largest African producer), diamonds, \Jcobalt\j; also \Jcoal\j, brine, \Jasbestos\j, talc, \Jmanganese\j, \Jgypsum\j, gold, \Jchromium\j, silver, \Jplatinum\j; livestock processing and products; tourism, especially wildlife observation.
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"Botta, Anne Charlotte (b. Lynch)",5200,0,0,0
DT (1815-91)
EN writer, salon hostess; born in Bennington, Vt. A writing teacher in the 1840s, she established a New York City salon in her home where writers (including Edgar Allan Poe), editors, actors, politicians, and other prominent people would gather. She continued this salon after her 1855 marriage to the Italian scholar, Vincenzo Botta, and then after his death (when even Andrew Carnegie would show up on an evening). With her own reputation as a minor poet, she wrote \IA Handbook of Universal Literature\i (1860).
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"bottega",5201,0,0,0
PN [bo\Btay\bga]
HS (Ital 'shop')
EN An artist's workshop or studio in which assistants trained, and helped the master to produce works bearing his signature. Ghirlandaio and Verrocchio ran important \Ibotteghe\i in Renaissance Florence.
BK b
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"Bottesini, Giovanni",5202,0,0,0
PN [bote\Bsee\bnee]
DT1 1821
DT2 89
EN Musician, a master of the double bass, born in Crema, \JItaly\j. He was also successful as a conductor and composer, and his works include symphonies, overtures, and several operas, including \ICristoforo Colombo\i (1847) and \IAli Babα\i (1871).
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"Botticelli, Sandro",5203,0,0,0
PN [boti\Bche\blee]
HS , originally \BAlessandro Filipepi\b
DT1 1445
DT2 1510
EN Painter, born in Florence, \JItaly\j. He trained, probably, under Filippo Lippi. By 1480 he had his own workshop, and was responsible for frescoes which form part of the 1482 scheme of decoration of the Sistine Chapel. He produced mostly religious works, but is best known for his treatments of mythological subjects, notably 'Primavera' (c.1477, Spring) and the 'Birth of Venus' (c.1485), both in the Uffizi. His work also includes portraits, and the illustrations for Dante's \IDivina commedia,\i which he executed in pen and ink and silverpoint.
MEX Lippi, Fra Filippo
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"Bottineau, Pierre",5204,0,0,0
DT (c. 1817-95)
EN scout; born in \JMinnesota\j. Of part Chippewa descent, he guided many expeditions during 1850-70, including a Pacific Railroad expedition (1853) and a campaign against the Sioux (1863). He was often called the "Kit Carson of the Northwest." He retired to \JMinnesota\j in 1870.
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"bottle gourd",5205,0,0,0
EN See calabash
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"bottlebrush",5206,0,0,0
EN An evergreen shrub native to \JAustralia\j; leaves narrow; flowers small, crowded in dense cylindrical spikes, stamens red or yellow, far exceeding length of petals, and giving \Jinflorescence\j a brush-like appearance. \I(Callistemon,\i 25 species. \BFamily:\b Myrtaceae.)
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"Bottlenose Dolphin",5207,0,0,0
EN \BFamily:\b \IDelphinidae\i \I(dolphins, small toothed whales)\i
\BScientific Name:\b \ITursiops truncatus\i\b
\BIdentification:\b
Length at birth 3 to 4 ft (1 to 1.3 m), adults range from 6 to 12.5 ft (1.9 to 3.8 m) long, males slightly longer than females. The large range of adult size is due to large geographical variation in body size. The largest animals reach 1,433 lbs (650 kg), but most are quite a deal lighter than that.
Color is dark or light gray on the back, grading to white on the belly. There are two forms, inshore and offshore, in many parts of their range, for example South Africa, \JAustralia\j, the northwest Atlantic, \JPeru\j and the eastern North Pacific. Inshore form \ITursiops truncatus aduncus\i has many dark flecks ("freckles") on the ventral surface.
Most animals have a gray band from the base of the beak to the eye on each side, and a median band from the base of the beak, over the melon to the blowhole. Dorsal fin is falcate, and situated about mid-length.
Group size very variable, from two or three to more than 1,000. In general, inshore groups are smaller (2 to 15), the very large groups are seen well offshore. Commonly associated with other cetacean species, and hybrids between bottlenose dolphins and other species have been observed in the wild. In some areas they have limited home ranges, while in others they are migratory. Sometimes very active, swimming rapidly, porpoising, breaching, wave riding and riding the bows of ships. Catholic feeders, they take whatever preferred prey is available in the area they occupy at any one time.
\BDistribution:\b
Occurs in tropical and temperate waters worldwide, from the equator to about latitude 45░ in both hemispheres, although they reach higher latitudes around \JGreat Britain\j and northern Europe. Primarily found in coastal and inshore regions, but also occur in pelagic waters. The terms "inshore" and "offshore" are rather loose. \IT. t. aduncus\i is seen usually in water of less than 33 feet (10 m) depth, but can range to 6 miles (10 km) offshore. In southern \JAustralia\j, \IT. t. truncatus\i can occur within several hundred feet of the coastline, although in all areas it is often sighted in waters beyond the continental shelf.
BK wan
#
"bottom or beauty",5208,0,0,0
EN In \Jparticle physics\j, an internal additive quantum number conserved in strong and electromagnetic interactions, but not in weak interactions; symbol \IB.\i Bottom quarks are those with \IB\i┐=┐-1; bottom particles contain at least one bottom quark. The notion was postulated in 1977 to explain the properties of upsilon mesons, discovered that year.
BK b
#
"bottom-up / top-down processing",5209,0,0,0
EN In cognitive \Jpsychology\j, a distinction drawn between two forms of information processing. The contrast is made between the passive processing of environmental information, in which current expectations and past knowledge play no role \I(bottom-up),\i and its active processing, which makes use of such higher-level information \I(top-down).\i
BK b
#
"Bottomley, Gordon",5210,0,0,0
DT 1874-1948
EN British poet and playwright. He wrote specifically for groups such as the Community Theatre and the Scottish National Theatre, though his early work also had some success on the London stage. His poetic dramas, influenced by Synge's realism, dealt with subjects from Norse history (The Riding to Lithend, 1907; first performed 1928), or from Shakespeare (King Lear's Wife, 1915; Gruach, 1923). Discarding these as 'plays for the Theatre Outworn', he turned to experimental choral work - which he called pieces 'for a Theatre Unborn' - based on Celtic legend. He followed n⌡ drama in reducing scenery to a portable folding screen, .
BK Thea
#
"botulism",5211,0,0,0
PN [\Bbot\byoolizm]
EN A serious and often fatal illness resulting from the ingestion of a poisonous substance from \IClostridium botulinum.\i It is one of the most severe forms of food poisoning, which affects the \Jnervous system\j, and gives rise to rapidly developing paralysis and respiratory failure. The toxin is found in inadequately cooked non-acid fruit or meat without any apparent spoilage, and is destroyed by cooking for 10 minutes at 80░C.
BK b
#
"Botvinnik, Mikhail Moiseyevich",5212,0,0,0
PN [\Bbot\bveenik]
DT1 1911
DT2 95
EN Chess player, world champion (1948-57, 1958-60, 1961-3), born in St Petersburg, \JRussia\j. An electrical engineer by training, he won the 1948 tournament following the death of Alexander Alekhine. After regaining his title twice, from Vasily Smyslov and Mikhail Tal, he lost in 1963 to Tigran Petrosian, and devoted most of his remaining career to training Soviet players and to the development of chess computers.
MEX Petrosian; Smyslov; Tal
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#
"Bouchard, Michel Marc",5213,0,0,0
DT 1958-
EN Quebec playwright and actor. He first attracted attention in 1983 with Le Contre-nature de Chrysippe Tanguay, Θcologiste (The Counter Nature of Chryippos Tanguay, Ecologist), in which a male homosexual couple seeking to adopt a child discover the limits of social tolerance. Les Feluettes, ou La RΘpΘtition d'un drame romantique (1987), which also deals with \Jhomosexuality\j, is one of the major works of modern Canadian dramaturgy, both in French and in its English translation, Lilies, or The Revival of a Romantic Drama (1988).
BK Thea
#
"Bouchardy, Joseph",5214,0,0,0
DT 1810-70
EN French playwright. Beginning to write for the theatre in the mid-1830s, Bouchardy was considered the direct descendant of PixΘrΘcourt, his name a byword for naive, old-fashioned \Jmelodrama\j. He wrote a score of dramas - of which the most popular were Gaspardo le pΩcheur (Gaspardo the Fisherman, 1837), Le Sonneur de Saint-Paul (The Bell-ringer of Saint Paul's, 1838) and Lazare le pΓtre (Lazarus the Shepherd, 1840) - mostly for staging at the Ambigu or the GaεtΘ (see boulevard) and featuring complicated plots and powerful villains who meet their deserts. His last play, The Armourer of Santiago, was performed at the ChΓtelet in 1868.
BK Thea
#
"Boucher (de CrΦvecoeur) de Perthes, Jacques",5215,0,0,0
PN [booshay duh pairt]
DT1 1788
DT2 1868
EN Archaeologist, born in Rethel, \JFrance\j. From 1837 at Moulin-Quignon in the Somme valley he discovered flint hand axes in association with the bones of extinct animals, from which he drew conclusions about the great antiquity of the human race. His views were at first greeted with incredulity, but came to be upheld 20 years later.
SX m
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"Boucher, Francois",5216,0,0,0
PN [booshay]
DT1 1703
DT2 70
EN Painter, born in Paris. He worked on a range of material from stage design to tapestry, and from 1755 was director of the Gobelins factory. He is recognized as a leading \JRococo\j painter at the court of \JLouis XV\j, where he produced several portraits of Madame de Pompadour. His work is usually considered, along with that of his pupil, Fragonard, as being wholly representative of the frivolous spirit of his age.
MEX Fragonard
SX m
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#
"Boucicault, Dion",5217,0,0,0
DT (1820-90)
EN playwright, actor, theater manager; born in Dublin, Ireland. A versatile theatrical personality, he wrote or adapted some 130 plays, including \ILondon Assurance\i (1841) and \IThe Poor of New York\i (1857), becoming one of the most popular playwrights of his era. Most of his plays are now forgotten, but \IThe Octoroon\i (1860) is notable for its condemnation of \Jslavery\j. He came to America in 1853, where, along with George Henry Boker and others, he worked to pass the first American Copyright Law of 1856. He was based in London from 1862-72, then returned to the U.S.A.
BK AmBg
#
"Boudicca",5218,0,0,0
PN [\Bboo\bdika, boo\Bdi\bka]
HS , also known as \BBoadicea\b
DT1 1
DT1b st-c AD
EN British warrior-queen, wife of \BPrasutagus,\b king of the \JIceni\j, a tribe inhabiting what is now Norfolk and Suffolk, E England. On her husband's death (60), the Romans seized her territory and treated the inhabitants brutally. She gathered a large army, destroyed the Roman colony of \JCamulodunum\j, took Londinium and \JVerulamium\j, and put to death as many as 70┐000 Romans. Defeated in battle by Suetonius Paulinus, she took poison.
SX f
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#
"Boudin, (Louis) EugΦne",5219,0,0,0
PN [boodφ\ti]
DT1 1824
DT2 98
EN Painter, born in Honfleur, \JFrance\j. A precursor of Impressionism, he is noted for his seascapes, which include 'On the Beach of Deauville' (1869, Louvre).
SX m
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#
"Boudin, Leonard B. (Boudinov)",5220,0,0,0
DT (1912-89)
EN lawyer, \Jcivil rights\j activist; born in New York City (brother-in-law of I. F. Stone). After taking his law degree from St. John's Law School (1936), he joined the law firm of his uncle, Louis (Boudinov) Boudin (1874-1952), a noted Socialist and constitutional lawyer. Specializing at first in labor law, Leonard formed a law firm of his own in the late 1940s, and then became increasingly involved in \Jcivil rights\j cases.
He founded (1952) and was general counsel (1952-89) for the National Emergency Civil Liberties Commission. He argued more civil liberties cases before the U.S. Supreme Court than any other constitutional lawyer and won the landmark passport case, \IKent v. Dulles\i (1958), establishing the right of all U.S. citizens to have a passport. Among his more celebrated clients were Daniel Ellsberg (the Pentagon Papers case), Julian Bond (denied a seat in the Georgia legislature), Dr. Spock (charged with conspiracy during the Vietnam War), and Jimmy Hoffa (banned from union activities). He also represented \JCuba\j's interest in the U.S.A. during the Castro years, and the Central Bank of \JIran\j during the \JIran\j hostage crisis. He was a visiting lecturer at several major law schools.
His son, Michael Boudin, became a U.S. Federal district judge, while his daughter, Kathy (Katherine) Boudin, was a member of the radical Weather Underground and was implicated in the 1970 explosion in a Greenwich Village, New York City, town house that killed three; she vanished but was captured after participating in a 1981 robbery of an armored car in which two police officers were killed; she pleaded guilty and served almost 20 years in prison.
BK AmBg
#
"Boudinot, Elias (b. Galegina)",5221,0,0,0
DT (?1803-39)
EN \JCherokee\j writer, leader; born near \JRome\j, Ga. The first editor of the \ICherokee Phoenix\i (1828-34), he was murdered by other \JCherokee\j for his support of \JCherokee\j land cessions. He also wrote a novel and translated part of the \JBible\j into \JCherokee\j.
BK AmBg
#
"BouffΘ",5222,0,0,0
DT 1800-88
EN French actor. BouffΘ was known particularly for his attention to nuance and accurately observed detail and for a tendency to underplay in the genre in which he excelled, the \Jvaudeville\j. After playing at various Parisian theatres, from 1827 to 1831 he appeared in 52 plays at the NouveautΘs, moving to the ThΘΓtre du Gymnase, where he was said to be the best comic actor in Paris.
His great triumph there was in Le Gamin de Paris (The Urchin of Paris), which he played 315 times between 1836 and 1844. His appointment to the VariΘtΘs (see boulevard) in 1843 changed the deficit of that theatre into a handsome profit, and DΘjazet was appointed to complement him. One of his greatest roles was in La Fille de l'avare (The Miser's Daughter) at the Porte-Saint- Martin.
BK Thea
#
"Bougainville",5223,0,0,0
PN [\Bboo\bguhnvil]
EN 6░12S 155░15E; pop (1995e) 143 000; area c.10 000 sq km/4000 sq mi. Mountainous volcanic island in Papua New Guinea, SW Pacific; length, 190 km/118 mi; width, 50 km/31 mi; rises to 2743 m/9000 ft at Mt Balbi; chief port, Kieta; independence movement and guerrilla fighting since 1988, badly affecting economy; copper mining, copra, \Jcocoa\j, timber.
BK Geog99
#
"Bougainville, Louis Antoine, comte de (Count of)",5224,0,0,0
PN [booganveel]
DT1 1729
DT2 1811
EN Navigator, mathematician, and French soldier, born in Paris. He studied law and then \Jmathematics\j, publishing an important treatise on integral \Jcalculus\j. Entering the French navy in 1763, he was responsible for colonizing the Falkland Is for \JFrance\j, and for their transfer to \JSpain\j. In command of the ships \ILa Boudeuse\i and \IL'Etoile,\i he accomplished the first French circumnavigation of the world (1766-9), which he described in his \IVoyage autour du monde\i (1771, A Voyage round the World).
The largest of the Solomon Is is named after him, as is the plant \Ibougainvillaea.\i After the outbreak of the Revolution he devoted himself solely to scientific pursuits. Napoleon I made him a senator, count of the empire, and member of the LΘgion d'Honneur.
SX m
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#
"bougainvillea",5225,0,0,0
PN [booguhn\Bvil\bia]
EN A shrub, tree, or woody climber, native to \JSouth America\j; leaves oval; flowers tubular, in threes, surrounded by three lilac, purple, magenta, red, orange, pink, or white petal-like bracts; grown as ornamentals in warm areas everywhere. \B(Genus:\b \IBougainvillea,\i 18 species. \BFamily:\b Nyctaginaceae.)
BK b
#
"Boughton, Rutland",5226,0,0,0
DT1 1878
DT2 1960
EN Composer, born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, SC England, UK. Strongly influenced by Wagner's principles of music drama, and also by Socialist ideas, his aim was to develop an English style, with a strong choral element, his subjects based on British legend, and he founded the Glastonbury Festival (1914-26). His works include the opera \IThe Immortal Hour\i (1913), a choral drama \IBethlehem\i (1915), \IThe Queen of Cornwall\i (1924), five music dramas (1908-45) intended to form an Arthurian cycle (never performed complete), and other stage, choral, and instrumental works.
SX m
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#
"Bouguer, Pierre",5227,0,0,0
PN [boogair]
DT (1698-1758)
EN French physicist and mathematician: pioneer of photo-metry.
A child prodigy, being appointed teacher of hydrography at Havre at the age of 15, Bouguer is chiefly remembered for laying the foundations of \Jphotometry\j. He invented the heliometer and later a photometer with which he compared the luminosities of the Sun and the Moon.
He discovered that the intensity of a collimated beam of light in a medium of uniform transparency decreases exponentially with the length of its path through the medium, a result now known as Bouguer's Law but often incorrectly attributed to J H Lambert (1728-77).
In \Jgeophysics\j the correction required to adjust gravity measurements to sea level (approximately 0.1 mgal per metre of rock) is known as the Bouguer correction, following his work on gravity in the \JAndes\j in 1740.
BK Scie
#
"Bouillon, Godfrey of",5228,0,0,0
EN See Godfrey of Bouillon
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#
"Boulanger, Georges (Ernest Jean Marie)",5229,0,0,0
PN [boolπzhay]
DT1 1837
DT2 91
EN French soldier and statesman, born in Rennes, \JFrance\j. In 1886, as the protΘgΘ of Clemenceau, he was appointed minister of war. He introduced many reforms in soldiers' pay and living conditions and became a popular national figure. When he lost office in 1887, 'Boulanger fever' increased. Deprived of his command in 1888, he was elected deputy for Dordogne and Nord, and demanded a revision of the constitution. Fearing a coup, the government prosecuted Boulanger, who lost courage and fled the country.
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#
"Boulanger, Nadia",5230,0,0,0
PN [\Bboo\blπzhay]
DT1 1887
DT2 1979
EN Composer, born in Paris. She studied at the Conservatoire (1897-1904), where she won several prizes, and went on to write many vocal and instrumental works, winning second prize at the Grand Prix de \JRome\j in 1908 for her cantata, \ILa SirΦne\i (The Siren).
After 1918 she devoted herself to teaching, first at home, and later at the Conservatoire and the Ecole Normale de Musique, where she had international influence. She was also a noted organist and conductor. Her sister, (Marie-Juliette Olga) Lili Boulanger (1893-1918), was also a composer.
SX f
BK bg b
#
"boulder clay",5231,0,0,0
EN See till or boulder clay
BK b
XCY y
#
"Boulder Dam",5232,0,0,0
EN See Hoover Dam
BK b
XCY y
#
"Boulding, Kenneth (Ewart)",5233,0,0,0
DT (1910-93)
EN economist; born in Liverpool, England. Arriving in the U.S.A. in 1937, he taught at several colleges including the University of \JMichigan\j (1949-77) and the University of \JColorado\j (1977). A prolific writer, his major contributions include promoting a social science approach to economics, synthesizing \JKeynesian\j and neoclassical economic theory, and work on evolutionary economics and grant economics.
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#
"Boule, (Pierre) Marcellin",5234,0,0,0
PN [bool]
DT1 1861
DT2 1942
EN Palaeontologist, born in Montsalvy, \JFrance\j. Professor at the MusΘe National d'Histoire Naturelle, he worked on the \Jgeology\j of the mountains of C \JFrance\j, and on human fossils. He made the first complete reconstruction of a Neanderthal skeleton.
SX m
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#
"boules",5235,0,0,0
PN [bool]
EN A French ball game similar to bowls, played between two players or teams, also known as \BpΘtanque.\b The object is to place the ball nearer to a target ball, or jack, than the opposing player or team. It is thought to have first been played in 1910.
BK b
#
"boulevard",5236,0,0,0
EN There are two slightly different meanings of this French term. From the late 19th century it applied to the Parisian commercial, non-subsidized theatre, offering entertainment to the affluent \Jbourgeoisie\j. Between 1750 and 1830 the term had referred more precisely to the Boulevard du Temple and was associated with the popular theatres, particularly those dealing in \Jmelodrama\j, whose rise was accelerated by the abolition of the monopoly of the ComΘdie-Francaise in 1791.
Following Napoleon's decree of 1807, which limited the number of theatres in Paris to eight, the 'secondary', non-subsidized, or boulevard theatres were the GaεtΘ (the theatre associated with PixΘrΘcourt), the Ambigu, the VariΘtΘs and the \JVaudeville\j. The largest of the boulevard theatres was the Porte-Saint-Martin, important in the early 1800s for its ballet-pantomimes, forerunners of the romantic story-ballet.
In 1862 the Boulevard du Temple made way for the present Place de la RΘpublique. After the first Empire the number of theatres gradually increased until 1864, when \JNapoleon III\j granted freedom to build and run a theatre to anyone wishing to do so. As a result the latter part of the century saw a vast boom in theatre building, and the disappearance of theatres limited to a specific repertoire or genre.
In the 20th century these theatres changed their staple from \Jmelodrama\j to light comedy, though some managers have attempted to include more literary plays. The boulevard's most flourishing period was the belle Θpoque (1890-1914), when Georges Feydeau, Tristan Bernard and Georges Courteline continued the tradition of the well made sex comedy, designed to entertain an affluent after-dinner audience. The obligatory wearing of evening dress and the traditional late start, not favourable conditions for serious drama, maintained the essential nature of boulevard theatre as an upper-middle-class club.
After World War II boulevard theatre again flourished and plays by more literary dramatists, especially Salacrou, Sartre and Anouilh, were also performed. But since the 1960s, with escalating costs and the inexorable rise of the subsidized sector, the number of commercial theatres has diminished. Some have imported successes from Britain and the USA; others have developed a particular brand of whimsical, semi-cynical, semi-poetic humour through authors such as Francois Billetdoux, Romain Weingarten and RenΘ de Obaldia. Today the distinctive snob value of these theatres has largely disappeared and some are even able to claim government subsidy.
BK Thea
#
"Boulez, Pierre",5237,0,0,0
PN [\Bboo\blez]
DT1 1925
EN Conductor and composer, born in Montbrison, SC \JFrance\j. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire (1943--5), and became musical director of Barrault's ThΘatre Marigny (1948), where he established his reputation as an interpreter of contemporary music.
During the 1970s he devoted himself mainly to his work as conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1971--5) and of the New York Philharmonic (1971--7), before becoming director of the Institut de Recherche et de Co-ordination Acoustique Musique at the Pompidou Centre in Paris (1976--91).
His early work as a composer rebelled against what he saw as the \Jconservatism\j of such composers as Stravinsky and Schoenberg. Of his later works, \ILe Marteau sans maεtre\i (1955, The Hammer Without a Master) gained him a worldwide reputation, confirmed by \IPli selon pli\i (Fold according to Fold) and his third \Jpiano\j \Jsonata\j.
\BMajor Works\b
\IOrchestral music\i
1958 Doubles
1962 Pli selon pli (Layer Upon Layer)
1968-- Livre pour cordes
1972--4 explosante-fixe
1975 MΘmoriales
1981 RΘpons
\IVocal music (with instruments)\i
1955 Le marteau sans maεtre (The Hammer Without Master)
1957--9 Improvisations sur MallarmΘ I-III
\IInstrumental music\i
1949 Livre pour quatuor
1965 Eclat
1968 Domaines
\IPiano music\i
\ISonatas\i
1946 No.1
1948 No.2
1957 No.3
\I2 Pianos\i
1952--61 Structures I--II
\IElectronic music\i
1952 Etudes
1955 Symphonie MΘcanique
BK Biog99
#
"boulle",5238,0,0,0
EN See buhl or boulle
BK b
XCY y
#
"Boulle, AndrΘ Charles",5239,0,0,0
EN See Buhl or Boulle, AndrΘ Charles
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"BoullΘe, Etienne-Louis",5240,0,0,0
PN [boolay]
DT1 1728
DT2 99
EN Architect, born in Paris. He was elected to the AcadΘmie in 1762, and became architect to the King of \JPrussia\j. He was an important figure in the development of Neoclassicism in \JFrance\j, notable also for his visionary designs for ambitious projects of an austerely formal and geometric nature, such as the design (1784) for a colossal spherical monument to Isaac Newton.
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#
"Boulogne",5241,0,0,0
EN <PRON>Eng [boo\Bloyn\b], Fr [boolon] or \BBoulogne-sur-Mer\b
50░43N 1░37E, pop (1995e) 45 600. Seaport in Pas-de-\JCalais\j department, NW \JFrance\j; on coast of English Channel, S of \JCalais\j; principal commercial harbour and fishing port of \JFrance\j; boatbuilding, textiles, \Jengineering\j; ferry and \Jhovercraft\j links with Dover and Folkestone.
BK Geog99
#
"Boult, Sir Adrian (Cedric)",5242,0,0,0
PN [bohlt]
DT1 1889
DT2 1983
EN Conductor, born in Chester, Cheshire, north-west England, UK. After studying at Oxford and \JLeipzig\j, he conducted the City of Birmingham Orchestra (1924-30), and was then appointed musical director of the BBC and conductor of the newly formed BBC Symphony Orchestra. After his retirement from broadcasting in 1950, he was conductor-in-chief of the London Philharmonic Orchestra until 1957, and continued to conduct regularly until 1981. He was knighted in 1937.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Boulton, Matthew",5243,0,0,0
PN [\Bbohl\btn]
DT1 1728
DT2 1809
EN Engineer, born in Birmingham, West Midlands, C England, UK. He entered into partnership with James Watt, and in 1774 they established a firm manufacturing steam engines, which proved remunerative only after 18 years. They also improved coining machinery.
MEX Watt, James
SX m
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Boulton always maintained that he ought to be an engineer, for no better reason than that he was born in 1728, a year whose number is the cube of 12, and thus the number of cubic inches in a cubic foot. He never did become an engineer as such, but his entrepreneurial skills made the Watt steam engines a howling success, and Boulton was certainly enough of a technologist for his presence to be acceptable to the Birmingham Lunar Society.
Once upon a time, they say, there was a wonderful Golden Age of scientific communication, an age when the most prominent scientists and admiring lay-people were in frequent contact, either with each other, or with each other's works. To exist at all this age probably had to await the development of the railway, the telegraph, and machine type-setting.
Perhaps this Golden Age came at the absolute height of public scientific interest and endeavour, a time when scientific creativity was pouring out all over the place, and discoveries sparked off other discoveries, almost at the speed of light, a time when you could turn scientific knowledge into instant money. All that was required was the transmission of an original idea.
Calculating what destroyed the Golden Age is harder: it might be sufficient to blame \Jtelevision\j, but the era probably died earlier than that. Maybe there never was any Golden Age of science communication at all. One thing is certain, though: there was a definite \JDark Ages\j for scientific communication, and those \Jdark ages\j died out around 1800, when scientific journals were first published.
If you were a scientist in provincial England some two hundred years ago, or worse yet, in colonial \JAustralia\j or \JNew Zealand\j, or the western United States, tidings of new discoveries were an unconscionably long time coming, and much of the news came only in the form of private mail. This helps to explain why so many scientists banded together to share their news, but what is harder to explain is why a few of these groups were so hugely successful. There must have been a special social chemistry operating between the members.
Matthew Boulton and James Watt were both members of the Lunar Society, who got their name because they waited for good moonlight before travelling the dangerously rutted roads around Birmingham to get to their meetings. Apart from their membership of that strangely-named society, Boulton and Watt were partners in a firm which built robust steam engines, some of which are still running in museums around the world, more than 200 years later. Yet in some ways, all of this achievement by Boulton and Watt, and all it signifies, is eclipsed by their membership of the Lunar Society.
The real problem with Birmingham was that it might have been a good place for building a factory, but it was the most dreadful starting place for a trip to London. And it wasn't much better for getting to Edinburgh from either, the city where so many of the members had learned their science. They might as well have been in the colonies! For any sort of intellectual stimulation, they and their friends had to rely on what came to hand in their home town, or near to it.
What a group they were, though, what a tightly interlinked and brilliant little group! The Royal Society in London had nothing on them: the Royal Society's members were a bunch of dullards and dilettantes by comparison. Upper Class dilettantes, Tories, that sort of thing, nothing like the Birmingham mob at all, where practical problems and even more practical solutions were the order of the \Jday\j.
Which brings us to one of the problems with the Birmingham Lunatics: they were seen by others as a mob of radicals, people who felt American and French Revolutions were "good things" and said so, which wasn't a good idea, for the spirit of a former-\Jday\j Senator Joseph McCarthy was alive and well in eighteenth century England. At one point, the furious loyalist mob even burned down Priestley's house to show what they thought of him. If "Congreves" (matches) had been invented back then, they might have got Priestley as well: as it was, they had to send off for "some fire", and Priestley made his escape.
Yet while the members called themselves "Lunatics", it was a real lunatic, Farmer George, King of England, who tried to get the Royal Society to reverse its stand on \Jlightning\j rods, simply to contradict the American rebel, Benjamin Franklin. To its credit, the Royal Society refused the King's demand, but Farmer George would never have tried the same stunt on the Lunar Society of Birmingham. After all, one of their corresponding members was that same villainous Ben Franklin, and one of their founders, William Small, had been the teacher of Thomas Jefferson.
The other founders included a country doctor, Erasmus Darwin, who is fairly well-known as Charles Darwin's grandpa, but Erasmus was quite an intellectual giant in his own right. (See Charles Darwin for evidence that he was a bit of an ordinary giant as well!) Long before Charles got into the \Jevolution\j business, Erasmus had proposed a Lamarckian sort of \Jevolution\j, beating Lamarck to the idea by a number of years. Charles' other grandfather, Josiah Wedgwood was a member as well. So was William Withering, who discovered that the \Jfoxglove\j plant contained a substance which we now call \Jdigitalis\j, and could be used to treat \Jheart disease\j.
It didn't take long for other members to come rolling up, and the effectiveness of such a society soon became obvious. This was a time of breakthroughs and new ideas, a time for rapid development. It was also a time of simple apparatus to measure the extents of simple principles, so almost any participant could experiment further. They were mostly trained at that cradle of scientific education, the University of Edinburgh, and many of them were involved in manufacturing, so new problems arose quite frequently, nice knotty problems for the others to tackle.
There was no aristocratic disdain for making money among this lot. They knew exactly what they were about: as early as 1776, Boulton told a visitor, "I sell here, sir, what all the world desires-power". So maybe this was one aspect of the society's success: the profit motive. Another was that there were so many things out there waiting to be discovered.
Boulton was not a true scientist or engineer, in spite of his claim, based on his date of birth. Sadly for his theory, the other scientifically famous people born in the same year were Joseph Black, a chemist, and James Cook, the navigator, neither of whom showed any real signs of \Jengineering\j prowess. But at least the Lunar Society counted as a major scientific milestone, and Boulton, as co-founder, deserves a place in any history of science.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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#
"BoumΘdienne, Houari",5244,0,0,0
PN [boomaydyen]
HS , originally \BMohammed Boukharrouba\b
DT1 1927
DT2 78
EN Algerian soldier, statesman, and president (1965-78), born in Guelma, \JAlgeria\j. He studied at El Azhar University in \JCairo\j, and became a teacher. In 1954 he joined the FLN (Algerian National Liberation Front) for whom he conducted guerrilla operations against the French, serving as chief-of-staff (1960-2) with the rank of colonel.
When \JAlgeria\j gained independence in 1962, he became minister of national defence. In 1965 he led a military coup against President Ben Bella and established an Islamic Socialist government. Shortly before his death, he was seeking to establish a North African Socialist federation.
MEX Ben Bella
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#
"boundary condition",5245,0,0,0
In computing, any situation where a condition is switching from one class to another. For example, if a computer system is to issue different tickets to those under 16 and to those 16 and over, then a boundary condition is seen at the point at which a person reaches the age of sixteen. On crossing that boundary, the system must respond by producing a different output.
Most computer systems which fail do so because of inadequate testing before they are implemented, and one of the greatest problems is the lack of test data which completely and adequately test the boundary conditions which will be met during the system's operations.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"Bounty Mutiny",5246,0,0,0
EN The most famous of mutinies (28 Apr 1789). After enjoying five months in Tahiti, where HMS \IBounty\i had been sent to gather breadfruit plants for the West Indies, Fletcher Christian and several of the 44 crew were reluctant to return to England. Near \JTonga\j, they seized control of the ship, and forced the commander, William Bligh, and his 18 'loyalists' into a small boat.
The 25 mutineers eventually landed in Tahiti, 9 of whom (including Christian) travelled on to escape capture, finally settling in Pitcairn I. HMS \IEndeavour\i brought 14 surviving mutineers from Tahiti to England for trial, 3 of whom were eventually executed.
BK b
#
"Bourbaki, Nicholas",5247,0,0,0
PN [boorbakee]
DT (c.1930- )
EN French group of mathematicians.
This name was used as a pseudonym by an anonymous but eminent club of mainly French mathematicians. The membership of about 20 was not constant, but undoubtably included several men of great creative ability; retirement at age 50 was required. 'Bourbaki' published 33 parts of an encyclopedic survey of modern \Jmathematics\j during 1939-67.
The treatment was formalized and abstract, required expert mathematical knowledge and was most influential in its earlier years. The attempt made by the group to persuade their readers that Bourbaki was a person failed; and the austerity of their work eventually reduced its popularity among French mathematicians, despite its elegant sophistication.
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#
"bourbon",5248,0,0,0
PN [\Bber\bbn]
EN A dark-coloured American whiskey, a distillate of at least 51% corn, which originated in Bourbon Co, KY. It is aged in barrels of white oak, charred on the inside, from two to eight years. \IStraight bourbon\i is the product of a single distillery in a given year, ie an unblended bourbon.
BK b
#
"Bourbon, Charles de",5249,0,0,0
PN [boorb⌡]
HS , known as \BConstable de Bourbon\b
DT1 1490
DT2 1527
EN French soldier, born in Montpensier, \JFrance\j. As son of the Count of Montpensier and of the only daughter of the Duke of Bourbon, he united the estates of both these branches of the Bourbon family. For his bravery at the Battle of Marignano (1515) he was made Constable of \JFrance\j; but losing the favour of Francis I he concluded a private alliance with the Emperor Charles V and \JHenry VIII\j of England. He invaded \JFrance\j in 1524, and was chief imperial commander at \JPavia\j, in which Francis I was taken prisoner. He was made Duke of Milan, and commanded in N \JItaly\j, but was killed while attacking \JRome\j in 1527.
MEX Francis I
SX m
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#
"Bourbons",5250,0,0,0
PN [\Bboor\bb⌡]
EN A French royal house descended from the Capetian St Louis IX (1215-70), associated with absolutist traditions at home and the extension of French influence abroad. Succeeding the last \JValois\j, Henry IV (r.1589-1610) firmly established the dynasty. Under his son (\JLouis XIII\j) and grandson (\JLouis XIV\j), the long-standing rivalry between \JFrance\j and the Spanish \JHabsburgs\j came to a climax; it was concluded when a descendant, Philip of \JAnjou\j, ascended the Spanish throne (\JPhilip V\j, r.1700-46), thereby founding the Spanish House of Bourbon. Under \JLouis XV\j (1715-74) and \JLouis XVI\j (1774-93), the prestige of the French \JBourbons\j gradually declined; with the latter's execution (1793) the line was interrupted, to be briefly restored (1814-30).
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"Bourchier, Thomas",5251,0,0,0
PN [boorshyay]
DT1a c.
DT1 1404
DT2 1486
EN English statesman and clergyman, an important figure during the Wars of the Roses. He became Bishop of Worcester (1434), of Ely (1444), \JArchbishop\j of Canterbury (1454), and a cardinal (1473). He was Lord Chancellor (1455-6), and crowned Edward IV (1461), Richard III (1483), and \JHenry VII\j (1485).
SX m
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#
"Bourdelle, (Emile) Antoine",5252,0,0,0
PN [boordel]
DT1 1861
DT2 1929
EN Sculptor, painter, and teacher, born in Montauban, \JFrance\j. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, and under Rodin. He found inspiration in Greek art, relating its style to his own time. He illustrated a number of books, and his teaching had considerable influence.
MEX Rodin
SX m
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#
"Bourdon, EugΦne",5253,0,0,0
PN [boord⌡]
DT1 1808
DT2 84
EN Inventor and industrialist, born in Paris. In 1835 he founded a machine shop in Paris to manufacture model steam-engines for educational and demonstration purposes. In 1849 he patented a simple but ingenious device which is still in widespread use today for measuring the pressure of steam and many other fluids, the \IBourdon gauge.\i
SX m
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#
"Bourgeois, Jeanne",5254,0,0,0
EN See Mistinguett [Jeanne-Marie Bourgeois]
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#
"bourgeoisie",5255,0,0,0
PN [boorzhwah\Bzee\b]
EN In mediaeval times, a member of a free city or \Ibourg\i who was neither a peasant nor a landlord - essentially, a member of the 'middle class'. Later it referred to an employer or merchant. In the 19th-c the \Jbourgeoisie\j was associated with leading revolutionary change, the demise of the aristocracy, the beginnings of liberal democracy, and the development of industrial \Jcapitalism\j.
Alongside this went a view, which still persists, that the \Jbourgeoisie\j are culturally reactionary and small-minded, being primarily concerned with commercial matters. In recent times the term \Bbourgeois\b has been applied to those with rather narrow views about cultural and moral issues. In Marxist theory, the \Ibourgeoisie\i are defined as a class by their ownership and control of capital.
BK b
#
"Bourges",5256,0,0,0
PN [boorzh]
EN 47░09N 2░25E, pop (1995e) 81 200. Ancient ducal town and capital of Cher department, C \JFrance\j; at confluence of rivers Auron and YΦvre; capital of Berry, 12th-c; railway; bishopric; hardware, linoleum, textiles, armaments, agricultural equipment; cathedral (13th-c), Palais Jacques Coeur (1443), many fine Renaissance houses.
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#
"Bourget or Lac du Bourget",5257,0,0,0
PN [lak dⁿ boorzhay]
EN Lake in Savoie department, E \JFrance\j; \BArea:\b 45┐km\U2\u / 17┐mi\U2\u; length 18┐km / 11┐mi, width 2-3┐km / 11/4-13/4┐mi; depth 60-100┐m / 200-325┐ft; largest lake in \JFrance\j; overlooked by Aix-les-Bains (east); major tourist area; Benedictine abbey.
BK b
#
"Bourget, Paul (Charles Joseph)",5258,0,0,0
PN [boorzhay]
DT1 1852
DT2 1935
EN Writer, born in \JAmiens\j, \JFrance\j. He began as a poet and essayist, writing his first novel, \IL'IrrΘparable\i in 1884. Later works include \ILe Disciple\i (1889), \IL'Etape\i (1902), and \IUn Divorce\i (1904). In later years he became better known for his critical works.
SX m
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#
"Bourguiba, Habib (ibn Ali)",5259,0,0,0
PN [boor\Bgee\bba]
DT1 1903
DT2 2000
EN Tunisian politician, prime minister (1956--7), and president (1957--87), born in Monastir, Tunisia. He studied law in Paris and became a radical Tunisian nationalist in 1934. Over the next 20 years he served three prison sentences imposed by the French authorities.
In 1956, however, his moderation led to his being accepted as \JTunisia\j's first prime minister, becoming president in 1957. His authority was threatened by riots instigated by Islamic fundamentalists in 1983 and 1984, and subsequently he exercised little influence on policy. In 1987 he was deposed by his prime minister, General Ben Ali.
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#
"Bourignon, Antoinette",5260,0,0,0
PN [booreeny⌡]
DT1 1616
DT2 80
EN Religious mystic, born in Lille, \JFrance\j. Believing herself called to restore the pure spirit of the Gospel, she fled from home and entered a convent. In \JAmsterdam\j (1667) she gathered followers and printed enthusiastic works, but was driven out. \IBourignonism\i so prevailed in Scotland in c.1720 that until 1889 a solemn renunciation was demanded from every entrant into the ministry.
SX f
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#
"Bourke-White, Margaret",5261,0,0,0
PN [berk]
HS , originally \BMargaret White\b
DT1 1906
DT2 71
EN Photo-journalist, born in New York City. She studied at Columbia University, and started as an industrial and architectural photographer. She became a staff photographer and associate editor on \ILife\i magazine when it started publication in 1936. She covered World War 2 for \ILife,\i and was the first woman photographer to be attached to the US armed forces, producing reports of the siege of Moscow (1941) and the opening of the concentration camps in 1944. She was also an official UN war correspondent during the Korean War.
SX f
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#
"Bourne, Francis Alphonsus",5262,0,0,0
PN [baw(r)n]
DT1 1861
DT2 1935
EN \JArchbishop\j and cardinal, born in London, England, UK. He studied at St Sulpice, Paris, and \JLouvain\j University, and was ordained a priest (1884). He became Bishop of Southwark (1897), succeeded Vaughan as \JArchbishop\j of Westminster (1903), and was created a cardinal in 1911. He is remembered for his zeal for education, and his organization of the International Eucharistic Congress in 1908.
MEX Vaughan, Herbert
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#
"Bourne, Hugh",5263,0,0,0
PN [baw(r)n]
DT1 1772
DT2 1852
EN Founder of the Primitive Methodists, born in Fordhays, Staffordshire, C England, UK. His zeal as a Wesleyan preacher for large open-air meetings received no approval from the leaders of the denomination, and in 1808 he was cut off from the Wesleyan connection. He gathered round him many devoted followers, and formed a new group, adopting the title of Primitive Methodists in 1810; colloquially, they were sometimes also called Ranters.
MEX Clowes, William (1780-1851)
SX m
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#
"Bourne, Randolph (Silliman)",5264,0,0,0
DT (1886-1918)
EN essayist, literary critic; born in Bloomfield, N.J. He was congenitally deformed (\Jdwarfism\j) and did not begin college until age 23, but his intellectual range and brilliance were so developed that the same year he graduated from Columbia University (1913), he published his first collection of essays, \IYouth and Life.\i
He traveled in Europe for a year (1913-14) where his optimism was tested by the breakout of World War I; on returning to the U.S.A. he contributed articles about general \Jliteracy\j and cultural issues to the \INew Republic,\i but his commitment to \Jpacifism\j led him to publish in the more radical \IMasses.\i Just as his career as a writer was beginning to expand, he died during the postwar influenza epidemic.
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#
"Bournemouth",5265,0,0,0
PN [\Bbaw(r)n\bmuhth]
EN 50░43N 1░54W, pop (1995e) 162 000. Unitary authority (from 1997) and resort town in S England, UK; on Poole Bay, 40 km/25 mi SW of \JSouthampton\j; railway; \JBournemouth\j University (1992, formerly \JBournemouth\j \JPolytechnic\j); conference centre; tourism, printing, \Jengineering\j; symphony orchestra; football league team, \JBournemouth\j (Cherries).
BK Geog99
#
"Bournonville, August",5266,0,0,0
PN [boorn⌡veel]
DT1 1805
DT2 79
EN Dancer and choreographer, born in \JCopenhagen\j. After training with the Royal Danish Ballet, he moved to Paris (1926) to study at the Paris Opera. He spent the rest of his career (from 1828) with the Royal Danish Ballet, first as a dancer and (from 1830) as director.
MEX Vestris, Auguste
SX m
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#
"bourse",5267,0,0,0
PN [boors]
EN A market for stocks, shares, and government bonds. In many countries, it refers to the place where these activities take place, as in the Paris Bourse.
BK b
#
"Boussingault, Jean-Baptiste (Joseph)",5268,0,0,0
PN [boos░ªgoh]
DT (1802-87)
EN French chemist: pioneer of experimental agricultural chemistry.
After a school career lacking distinction, Boussingault entered the ╔cole des Mines at Saint-╔tienne and soon after graduation was employed to direct a mine in Venezuela. During his 10 years there he travelled and reported on the \Jgeology\j and \Jgeography\j of the area to the Institut de \JFrance\j, and on his return was appointed professor of chemistry at Lyon. His main work afterwards was in agricultural chemistry.
He showed that legumes (peas, beans, etc) can secure \Jnitrogen\j from the air (actually via root \Jbacteria\j), whereas most plants, and all animals, cannot secure \Jnitrogen\j from the air and must obtain it from their food. His work on the nutritional value of foods opened an area of study which later led to major discoveries on \Jmetabolism\j and on the vitamins. He found \Jiodine\j in salt deposits claimed by South American natives to be curative for goitre, which led him to suggest the use of \Jiodine\j in treatment, but this was not taken up for many years.
BK Scie
#
"boustrophedon",5269,0,0,0
PN [boostro\Bfee\bdn]
EN An ancient method of writing, particularly in early Greek, in which the lines go alternately from left to right and right to left. The name comes from the Greek words for 'ox' and 'turn' - hence, following the path taken by a plough.
BK b
#
"Boutros Ghali, Boutros",5270,0,0,0
PN [\Bgal\bee]
DT1 1922
EN Egyptian diplomat, who took office as the sixth secretary-general of the United Nations (1992--7). The former deputy prime minister of Egypt, he was the first to hold the post from the Continent of Africa. He became head of La Francophonie in 1997.
BK Biog99
#
"Bouts, Dierick",5271,0,0,0
PN [bowts]
HS , also spelled \BDirk,\b or \BThierry\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1415
DT2 75
EN Painter, born in \JHaarlem\j, The Netherlands. He is usually placed with the Flemish school. He worked at \JLouvain\j and Brussels, coming under the influence of Rogier van der Weyden, and produced austere religious paintings, with rich and gem-like colour.
MEX Weyden
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#
"bouvier des flandres",5272,0,0,0
EN A gentle giant of a dog whose messy coat, powerful size, and bushy, eyebrowed appearance belie its calm, even temperament.
\BHistory:\b
The origins are thought to have been either a cross between a \JBeauceron\j and a Griffon breed, or a cross between the \JBerger Picard\j and \JDeerhound\j. Although this breed has had many names in its past, its current one most accurately describes it: \IBouvier\i means cowherd or ox drover; \Ides Flandres\i refers to the regions of the east and west provinces of Flanders covering parts of the Netherlands, \JFrance\j, and present Belgian provinces.
The breed is one of the finest of the European \Jcattle\j dogs of the last and present centuries. The Bouvier des Flandres has exceptional scenting abilities and is brave and strong, and as a result were used during the First and Second World Wars to help army medical units locate wounded soldiers. This practice nearly wiped out the breed until Flemish breeders worked on regenerating the breed from the few surviving dogs.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
A powerful, stocky, and strong dog. \IHeight:\i 24.5 - 26.5 in (62 - 68 cm) for the dog and 23.5 - 25.5 in (59 - 65 cm) for the bitch. \IWeight:\i 77 - 88 lb (35 - 40 kg) for the dog and 59.5 - 77 lb (27 - 35 kg) for the bitch. The head is well-sculptured and has a solid appearance, emphasized by the beard and moustache. The stop is shallow and the muzzle is broad, tapering towards the nose, which is black with open nostrils. The jaws are well-developed and the bite is scissor.
The eyes are dark, slightly oval, and have an open, alert expression. The ears are set high and are very flexible. The neck and body are strong and muscular, with curved ribs. The loin is short, the shoulders are long, and both are muscular. The coat of the Bouvier des Flandres is abundant (2 in) (5 cm) long, rough, and untidy. It is shorter on the head, and rough down the neck and body. The undercoat is fine and dense. The coat color can be fawn through to black, sometimes brindled or shaded.
\BBehavior:\b
The Bouvier des Flandres is a marvelous working dog originally bred for herding \Jcattle\j. This dog needed to be both brave and very determined in order to move sometimes obstinate \Jcattle\j. Although it is now mainly used as a companion animal, the Bouvier des Flandres still retains many of its original breed characteristics. This dog enjoys the company of other dogs but if it is allowed to go unchecked, it can become bossy with people as it matures. The Bouvier des Flandres makes an excellent watch-dog.
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"bouzouki",5273,0,0,0
PN [buh\Bzoo\bkee]
EN A plucked string instrument of \JGreece\j, used in folk music and more recently in urban contexts. It has a very long neck, a fretted fingerboard, and three or four courses of metal strings played with a \Jplectrum\j.
BK b
#
"Bovard, Oliver Kirby",5274,0,0,0
DT (1872-1945)
EN editor; born in or near Jacksonville, Ill. Named managing editor of the \ISt. Louis Post Dispatch\i in 1910, he assembled a top-notch staff and produced outstanding news coverage. He resigned in 1938 after owner Joseph Pulitzer objected to his emerging socialist views.
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#
"Boveri, Theodor Heinrich",5275,0,0,0
PN [boveri]
DT (1862-1915)
EN German cytologist: did basic work on relation of chromosomes to \Jheredity\j.
Boveri began his university life as a student of history and philosophy at Munich, but soon changed to science and later taught \Jzoology\j and anatomy at Munich and Wⁿrzburg. By 1884 it was known (largely from Beneden's work) that in sexual reproduction the nuclei of spermatozoon and \Jovum\j provide equal numbers of chromosomes in the fusion which is the central feature of \Jfertilization\j; that the \Jchromosome\j number is constant for a given species; and that \Jheredity\j is dependent on the nucleus.
Boveri confirmed and extended Beneden's work on cell division using the roundworm Ascaris, and went on to study sea-urchin eggs. He was able to show that embryos that are deficient in chromosomes develop abnormally into the new individual and that normal development requires not only an appropriate number of chromosomes for the species but a particular selection of chromosomes. This implied that each \Jchromosome\j carried in some way certain specific determiners for growth and development, and by 1910 it was fairly widely accepted that the chromosomes are the vehicles of \Jheredity\j.
BK Scie
#
"Bovet, Daniel",5276,0,0,0
PN [bohvay]
DT (1907-92)
EN Swiss-French-Italian pharmacologist: introduced \Jantihistamines\j, and curare-type muscle relaxants for surgery.
After qualifying in Geneva, Bovet went to the Pasteur Institute in Paris, later moving to \JRome\j. In Paris he was a member of a group that showed that the antibacterial drug Prontosil owed its effect to its conversion in the body to sulphanilamide, which is the parent of the sulphonamide group of drugs. Sulphanilamide was cheap and unpatented, and its derivatives have been widely used against streptococcal infections.
Later Bovet found compounds that antagonize the action of \Jhistamine\j; this opened the way to widespread use of such \Jantihistamines\j for the relief of allergic symptoms and related conditions (such as the common cold). A visit to \JBrazil\j began his interest in the nerve poison curare; later he made simpler synthetic compounds which have a usefully short-acting curare-type activity. These have been much used as muscle relaxants in surgical operations since 1950. Bovet received a Nobel Prize in 1957.
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#
"Bovidae",5277,0,0,0
PN [\Bboh\bvidee]
EN A family of \Jruminant\j \Jartiodactyl\j mammals (128 species), including \Jcattle\j and antelopes; feed by grasping vegetation with their tongue, and cutting it with the lower incisor teeth; adult male (and usually female) with horns; horns have a bone centre and a sheath of horny material.
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#
"bovine mastitis",5278,0,0,0
EN The \Jinflammation\j of mammary tissue in \Jcattle\j, which results in serious loss of milk production. Acute cases are usually obvious and may affect the whole or just part of the mammary \Jgland\j. A wide variety of micro-organisms is involved, and can usually be detected from milk samples. Subclinical cases are diagnosed from cell counts in milk samples. Prevention requires a very high standard of dairy hygiene and husbandry practice.
BK b
#
"bovine milk fever",5279,0,0,0
EN A metabolic disturbance due to a lack of circulating \Jcalcium\j following calving; the term \Ifever\i is a misnomer, as there is not usually a rise in body \Jtemperature\j. There are muscle tremors and a general weakness leading to collapse and partial paralysis \I(downer cow syndrome)\i and the danger of heart changes. Most cases respond to prompt administration of \Jcalcium\j solutions. Veterinary attention is needed to establish a definite diagnosis and to prevent complications.
EN A progressive, fatal disease of the central \Jnervous system\j of \Jcattle\j \I(encephalopathy\i : disease affecting the structure of the brain); usually referred to by its abbreviation, but also widely called \Bmad cow disease.\b BSE appeared in the UK in 1985; clinical cases peaked in late 1992-early 1993 and have declined steadily since, following control measures. Affected \Jcattle\j may show behavioural changes and lack of co-ordination. There is no known treatment or cure.
BSE is probably caused by a type of protein organism (a \Iprion)\i resistant to high temperatures and disinfectants. The BSE agent is unique amongst the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in that it may have crossed the species barrier: it is believed that \Jcattle\j may have become infected by eating feed containing tissue from scrapie-infected sheep. Fear that BSE may be transmitted to humans by eating the nervous tissue of affected \Jcattle\j, possibly causing the comparable spongiform encephalopathy, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), has led to control measures being enforced.
These have included the banning of certain meat and bone meals of \Jruminant\j origin, the destruction of specified bovine offals, and the selective slaughter of \Jcattle\j. The indications are that the policies adopted will see the elimination of BSE before the end of the century.
BK b
#
"bow (music)",5281,0,0,0
HS (music)
EN An implement for playing musical instruments such as the violin, consisting essentially of a wooden stick to each end of which lengths of horsehair are attached. Early bows had convex sticks, bent away from the hair, which was gripped by the player's fingers to keep it taut. Gradually sticks were made straighter to increase the tension, and from c.1700 this could be adjusted by means of a movable nut \I(frog)\i at the lower end. The modern bow, with its strongly sprung concave stick, its ample width of hair, and its easily adjustable frog, was perfected and standardized c.1785 by French bowmaker Francois Tourte (1747-1838).
BK b
#
"bow (weaponry)",5282,0,0,0
HS (weaponry)
EN See \Jcrossbow\j; 19444 longbow
BK b
XCY y
#
"Bow porcelain",5283,0,0,0
PN [boh]
EN A London \Jporcelain\j factory founded by Irish painter Thomas Frye (1710-62) and a glass merchant Edward Heylyn (1695-1765), which flourished from c.1747 until 1776. Their most notable productions were figures, often derived from Meissen models, but also from contemporary theatrical life (eg Kitty Clive). They also made expensive tableware.
BK b
#
"bow wave",5284,0,0,0
PN [bow]
EN In fluid mechanics, the wave disturbance emanating from the leading edge of an object moving through fluid, especially the V-shaped surface wave associated with boats moving through \Jwater\j. It is caused by displacement of the fluid by the moving object.
BK b
#
"Bow, Clara",5285,0,0,0
DT (1905-65)
EN movie actress; born in New York City. At age 16 she won a fan magazine beauty contest and by 1922 she was making her first movie. \IMantrap\i (1926) was her first major hit and she was suddenly the epitome of the Roaring Twenties, the "It Girl" (referring to her sex appeal), and her kewpie-doll appearance was imitated by thousands of young women; a 1928 poll named her America's most popular female movie star.
But by 1930 she was at the center of scandals involving adultery, gambling, drink, and drugs and her career burned out as fast as it began. She married cowboy star Rex Bell in 1931, who later became lieutenant governor of Nevada, but by then she was suffering recurrent breakdowns.
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#
"Bowditch, Charles P. (Pickering)",5286,0,0,0
DT (1842-1921)
EN businessman, archaeologist; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. A Harvard graduate, he was president of Pepperell Manufacturing Company and \JMassachusetts\j \JHospital\j Life Insurance Company while pursuing a career as an amateur archaeologist. After 1891 he planned and financed annual Peabody Museum expeditions to \JCentral America\j. He wrote a groundbreaking study of Maya \Jhieroglyphics\j (1910).
BK AmBg
#
"Bowditch, Henry (Pickering)",5287,0,0,0
DT (1840-1911)
EN physiologist; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. (grandson of Nathaniel Bowditch). After serving in the \JCivil War\j, he studied medicine at Harvard, and in Paris and \JLeipzig\j. While studying in \JGermany\j in 1871, he discovered the heart's "all or nothing" contractile property and the affect of delphinine on cardiac contractions. He returned to join the faculty of the Harvard Medical School (1871-1906). In 1885, he proved that nerve fiber cannot be tired out and he conducted experiments using curare that led to nerve-blocking during surgery.
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"Bowditch, Nathaniel",5288,0,0,0
DT (1773-1838)
EN astronomer, mathematician; born in Salem, Mass. Self-taught after age ten, he worked for his father, a barrelmaker, and then in a ship's chandlery, and by age 15 had compiled an astronomical almanac. Between 1795-1803, he went to sea, serving as ship master on his last voyage. He began by correcting errors in the writings of others, especially John Hamilton Moore's \IPractical Navigator; \i his contributions were so extensive that by 1802 the book became the \INew American Practical Navigator\i and was credited to him; it has remained to this \Jday\j the "seaman's \Jbible\j."
Although offered positions in universities, he chose to pursue research on his own and worked all of his adult life as an insurance actuary in Salem or \JBoston\j. He published papers on such topics as comets and meteors and translated four volumes of Laplace's \IMΘcanique cΘleste,\i published (1829-39) with his commentary and updating as \ICelestial Mechanics.\i He was president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1829-38).
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"Bowdler, Thomas",5289,0,0,0
PN [\Bbowd\bler]
DT1 1754
DT2 1825
EN Doctor and man of letters, born in Ashley, Somerset, south-west England, UK. He retired from medical practice and settled in the \JIsle of Wight\j to devote himself to literary pursuits. He is immortalized as the editor of \IThe Family Shakespeare\i (10 vols, 1818), in which 'those words and expressions are omitted which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family'. \IBowdlerizing\i has since become a \Jsynonym\j for prudish expurgation.
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"Bowdoin, James",5290,0,0,0
DT (1726-90)
EN Revolutionary statesman, merchant, governor; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. A wealthy merchant and property owner, he served in the \JMassachusetts\j General Court and Council and although hardly a revolutionary, he did endorse the colonists' economic quarrels with the British. He served as president of the convention that drew up the new constitution for \JMassachusetts\j (1779), and then became governor (1785-87).
As governor during the period of Shays's Rebellion (1786-87), he responded promptly and vigorously by sending troops to confront and disperse Daniel Shays's followers. He was applauded for this in other states, but his popularity declined in \JMassachusetts\j. He was interested in science and literature; Bowdoin College was named for him and was chartered in 1794.
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"Bowen, Elizabeth (Dorothea Cole)",5291,0,0,0
DT1 1899
DT2 1973
EN Novelist and short-story writer, born in Dublin. She moved to England when she was seven, and later lived in London and \JItaly\j. In 1923 she published her first collection of short stories, \IEncounters.\i Her best-known novels are \IThe Death of the Heart\i (1938) and \IThe Heat of the Day\i (1949).
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"Bowen, Ira Sprague",5292,0,0,0
DT (1898-1973)
EN US astronomer: explained spectral lines seen in nebulae.
In the 1860s Huggins had observed spectral lines in nebulae that did not correspond to any known element. In 1928 Bowen was able to explain these as being due to doubly and triply ionized oxygen and \Jnitrogen\j atoms, and not to a previously unknown element as had been thought. It is the transition from such highly excited atomic states to more stable forms that gives the characteristic red and green emission colours of nebulae.
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"Bowen, Louise deKoven",5293,0,0,0
DT (1859-1953)
EN philanthropist, social reformer; born in \JChicago\j. As a youth she enjoyed the privileges of wealth; as an adult she wielded her inheritance to ameliorate social conditions. As Woman's Club director, treasurer, and later president (1893-1944) of Hull House, she created a vital link between \JChicago\j's wealthy and the city's social welfare network.
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"Bowen, Norman L(evi)",5294,0,0,0
DT (1887-1956)
EN Canadian geologist: used experimental \Jpetrology\j to reveal stages in formation of igneous rocks.
The son of English immigrants, Bowen entered Queen's University in Kingston as a student in 1903, and later worked there, at the Geophysical Laboratory at Washington, DC, and at \JChicago\j. His main work was in experimental \Jpetrology\j. From 1915 he studied the crystallization of natural and synthetic minerals under controlled conditions of \Jtemperature\j and pressure; and he linked these results with field observations of igneous rocks.
He was able to deduce a crystallization series in which differentiation occurs through the separation of crystals in stages from fused \Jmagma\j. The \Jgeochemistry\j of rock-forming silicates is complex, but Bowen's work allowed the pattern of their behaviour to be understood in general terms and was summarized in his book The Evolution of Igneous Rocks (1928).
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"bowerbird",5295,0,0,0
EN A bird native to New Guinea and \JAustralia\j; related to birds of paradise. Males usually attract females by building ornate structures \I(bowers)\i on the ground, decorated with colourful objects. \B(Family:\b \JPtilonorhynchidae\j, 18 species.)
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"Bowery Theatre",5296,0,0,0
EN (New York City) When wealthy and fashionable New York families began to settle near the Bowery, they decided to erect a playhouse more conveniently located for them than the Park Theatre. From 1830, during Thomas S. Hamblin's 20-year tenure, the greatest names of the American theatre (Junius Brutus Booth, Edwin Forrest, the Wallacks, Mrs John Drew (see Drew-Barrymore family), and Frank Chanfrau) appeared on its stage.
The area became the haven for the immigrant groups who poured into New York at mid-century, and the theatre reflected the new populations: after 1879, German acting troupes performed in German, and renamed it the Thalia; in 1891 came \JYiddish\j performers; next, Italian vaudevillians; and in 1929 it was playing Chinese \Jvaudeville\j. The Bowery, renamed several times, had become the temple of entertainment for New York's Lower East Side. The theatre burned six times in its history, finally in 1929.
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"Bowes, Edward",5297,0,0,0
DT (1874-1946)
EN entrepreneur, radio impresario; born in \JSan Francisco\j. He left school at age 13 and worked as an office boy. He built a flourishing real estate business that was temporarily ruined by the \Jearthquake\j and fire of 1906. He married Margaret Illington, an actress, and they moved east to run theaters in \JBoston\j and New York City. He built the Capitol Theater in New York City, an early movie "palace," and in 1925 became the host of a popular radio program that had originated from there since 1922.
In 1934, as manager of New York City's radio station WHN, he began "Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour," which offered potential stardom and a $10 stipend to contestants during the \JGreat Depression\j. While he hosted this popular network radio program until 1945, his manner and expressions became known nationwide. He left most of his $4.5 million estate to charity.
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"Bowes-Lyon, Elizabeth",5298,0,0,0
EN See Elizabeth \B(Queen Mother)\b
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"bowfin",5299,0,0,0
EN Primitive freshwater fish \I(Amia calva)\i found in weedy backwaters of E \JNorth America\j; swim bladder serves as a lung to use atmospheric oxygen; length up to 90┐cm / 3┐ft, dorsal fin long, tail fin rounded; sole representative of family Amiidae; also called \Bmudfish.\b
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"bowhead",5300,0,0,0
EN See right whale
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"Bowhead Whale",5301,0,0,0
EN \BFamily:\b \IBalaenidae\i
\BScientific Name:\b \IBalaena mysticetus\i\b
\BIdentification:\b
Length of newborn 13 to 15 ft (4 to 4.5 m); adults are approximately 52.5 ft (16 m) long and weigh 90 tons. Males 59 ft (18 m) long and females 65.5 ft (20 m) long have been recorded. Weights of large adults have been estimated to be 80 to 100 tons. The body is extremely rotund, with often a slight constriction in the neck region. The very large head is approximately one-third of the length of the body. Upper jaw narrow when viewed from above and strongly bowed, hence the common name of "bowhead," and the lips of the lower jaw are correspondingly arched.
The \Jbaleen\j plates are the longest of any whale, measuring more than 16 ft (5 m) in some animals, and are employed in skim feeding at the surface and filter feeding in the \Jwater\j column. The diet includes \Jkrill\j and copepods. The very broad back bears no dorsal fin or ridge. In the region of the blowhole there is a prominent muscular bulge, known as "the stack." The blow is bushy, and V-shaped when seen from in front or behind. Body color is predominantly black, with a white patch at the front of the lower jaw.
Often there are several dark gray to black spots in this white area, where hairs are found. In many individuals there is also a light gray to white band around the tail stock just cranial to the flukes, and in some, other white or light gray areas on the body. Spotted grayish animals are seen occasionally. Group size is usually 3 or fewer, but larger groups occur during the southern autumn migration and in feeding areas. Bowheads engage in breaching and other surface activity quite commonly, and raise the flukes prior to a deep dive.
\BDistribution:\b
Bowheads inhabit \Jarctic\j and subarctic waters between latitudes 55░ and 80░N. Several stocks (currently four) are recognized, in the North \JAtlantic Ocean\j and the Bering, Beaufort, Chukchi and Okhotsk Seas. They live much of there lives in pack ice-covered seas, migrating to northerly feeding areas in the high \Jarctic\j in spring and summer, and returning to southern parts of their range in late autumn.
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"Bowie, David",5302,0,0,0
PN [\Bbow\bee]
HS , originally \BDavid Robert Jones\b
DT1 1947
EN Rock singer, born in London, England, UK. He changed his name in 1966 ('Bowie', a Western knife) to avoid confusion with another pop singer (David Jones of the Monkees). His early career was undistinguished and he came close to becoming a Buddhist monk before the success of "Space Oddity' (1969) - a song based on the Kubrick film \I2001: a Space Odyssey\i.
His career blossomed throughout the 1970s as he adopted a range of extreme stage images to suit a variety of musical styles. His albums have included \IHunky Dory\i (1971), \IThe Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars\i (1972), and \IHeroes\i (1977). He has also acted in films, including \IThe Man Who Fell to Earth\i (1976), \IMerry Christmas, Mr Lawrence\i (1983), had a leading role in the animated film \ILabyrinth\i (1986), and starred in a long Broadway run of \IThe Elephant Man\i. Later films include \IBasquiat\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\IAlbums\i
1971 Space Oddity, The Man Who Sold The World
1972 Hunky Dory
1972 The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
1973 Aladdin Sane
1973 Pin Ups
1974 Diamond Dogs
1974 David Live
1975 Young Americans
1976 Station To Station
1977 Low
1977 Heroes
1978 Stage
1979 Lodger
1980 Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)
1983 Rare
1983 Let's Dance
1984 Tonight
1987 Never Let Me Down
1989 Tim Machine II (with Tin Machine)
1992 Oy Vey Baby (with Tin Machine)
1993 Black Tie White Noise
1995 Outside
1996 Earthling
\ICompilations\i
1973 Images 1966-67
1976 Changesonebowie
1981 Best of David Bowie
1981 Changestwobowie
1983 Golden Years
1984 Fame and Fashion (All Time Greatest Hits)
1984 Love You Til Tuesday
1990 Changesbowie
1993 The Gospel According To...
1993 The Singles Collection
\IFilms\i
1976 The Man Who Fell to Earth
1978 Just A Gigolo
1983 The Hunger
1983 Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence
1983 Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
1986 Absolute Beginners
1986 Labyrinth
1988 Into the Night
1988 The Last Temptation of Christ
1996 Basquiat
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"Bowie, Jim",5303,0,0,0
PN [\Bboo\bee, \Bboh\bee]
HS , popular name of \BJames Bowie\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1796
DT2 1836
EN US pioneer, born in Logan Co, KY. After settling in \JTexas\j, he became a naturalized Mexican citizen. As a colonel in the Texan army, he was killed at the Battle of the \JAlamo\j. He may have been the inventor of the curved dagger or sheath-knife, that was later named after him.
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"Bowie, William",5304,0,0,0
DT (1872-1940)
EN geodesist; born in \JAnnapolis\j Junction, Md. As a member of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (1895-1936), he performed triangulation, leveling, and \Jpendulum\j measurements in the continental U.S.A., \JAlaska\j, the \JPhilippines\j, and Puerto Rico. His research on the influence of gravity on \Jearth\j \Jtopography\j led to his seminal book, \IIsostasy,\i which advanced the concept that the \Jearth\j's crust is in gravitational balance upon the \Jearth\j's mantle.
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"Bowker, Richard Rogers",5305,0,0,0
DT (1848-1933)
EN editor, author; born in Salem, Mass. A founder of the American Library Association and cofounder and editor of \IThe Library Journal,\i he was also publisher and editor of \IPublishers' Weekly\i and wrote books on public affairs.
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"Bowlby, (Edward) John (Mostyn)",5306,0,0,0
PN [\Bbohl\bbee]
DT1 1907
DT2 90
EN British psychiatrist, the son of an eminent surgeon. He studied at Cambridge, and became staff psychologist at the London Child Guidance Clinic (1937-40). After World War 2 he moved to the Tavistock Clinic (1946-72), to become chairman of the department for children and parents (1946-68). His early research concerned crime and juvenile delinquency, but he is best known for his work on the effects of maternal deprivation upon the mental health and emotional development of children.
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"Bowles, Erskine",5307,0,0,0
PN [bowlz]
DT1 1945
EN US public official. Educated at the University of \JNorth Carolina\j and Columbia University, he became an investment banker (1975--93) and administrator of the US Small Business Administration (1993--4). He joined the \JWhite House\j as deputy chief-of-staff (1994--5), and after returning to his business career (1995--6) became chief-of-staff in Clinton's second administration.
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"Bowles, Jane (b. Jane Sydney Auer)",5308,0,0,0
DT (1917-73)
EN writer; born in New York City. After her marriage to the writer Paul Bowles in 1938, she lived mostly abroad. Her literary reputation rests on a slender output from the 1940s-50s (a novel - \ITwo Serious Ladies\i (1943) - a play, and a volume of stories) notable for its feminism and an oblique experimentalism influenced by Gertrude Stein. A stroke left her unable to read or write for her last 15 years and she died in a \Jhospital\j in Malaga, \JSpain\j, where she spent those years.
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"Bowles, Paul (Frederick)",5309,0,0,0
PN [bohlz]
DT1 1910
DT2 99
EN Novelist, composer, poet, travel writer, and translator, born in New York City, USA. After studying at the University of Virginia, he studied music in Paris, and became a composer and music critic. His first novel, \IThe Sheltering Sky\i, appeared in 1949 and was acclaimed as being among the best post-war books. He became a resident of Tangier in 1952, and wrote three other novels, \ILet It Come Down\i (1952), \IThe Spider's House\i (1955), and \IUp Above the World\i (1966). \IWithout Stopping\i (1972) is an \Jautobiography\j, and \ITwo Years beside the Strait\i (1990) a journal of the years 1987--9.
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1949 The Sheltering Sky
1952 Let It Come Down
1955 The Spider's House
1966 Up Above the World
\IAutobiography\i
1972 Without Stopping
\IOther\i
1990 Two Years beside the Strait
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"Bowles, Samuel, III",5310,0,0,0
DT (1826-78)
EN editor; born in Springfield, Mass. He was the indefatigable longtime editor of the \ISpringfield Republican,\i which he built into one of the finest papers of the time. His editorials were highly influential; he also published three volumes of correspondence written during travels in the West.
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"Bowles, William Lisle",5311,0,0,0
PN [bohlz]
DT1 1762
DT2 1850
EN Clergyman and poet, born in King's Sutton, \JNorthamptonshire\j, C England, UK. He studied at Oxford, became vicar of Bremhill in Yorkshire, and later was chaplain to the prince regent (1818). In his poetry he was a forerunner of the Romantic movement in English poetry. His \IFourteen Sonnets, Written Chiefly on Picturesque Spots During a Journey\i (1789), published anonymously, was widely admired.
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"bowling",5312,0,0,0
EN The act of delivering a ball at pins (as opposed to a target, as in bowls); a popular indoor sport and pastime, with an ancient history. It was popularized by German churchgoers in the 3rd-4th-c, who would roll a ball at a \Ikegel,\i a club used for protection, and if hit they would be absolved from sin. The game of \Bninepins\b was taken to the USA by Dutch and German immigrants in the latter part of the 19th-c.
When the sport was outlawed, a tenth pin was added as a way around the legislation. Mechanical devices for replacing the pins on their spots were developed in the 1950s, which helped the game's growth, and \Bten-pin bowling\b is now the most popular form. Its international organization is the Federation International des Quilleurs.
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"bowls",5313,0,0,0
EN An indoor and outdoor game played as singles, pairs, triples, or fours. A similar game was believed to have been played by the Egyptians as early as 5200 BC. Glasgow solicitor William Mitchell (1803-84) drew up the rules for modern bowls in 1848. There are two main variations: \Blawn bowls\b (also known as \Bflat green bowls)\b is played on a flat, level rink, whereas \Bcrown green bowls\b is played on an uneven green raised at the centre.
Triples and fours are rarely played in the crown green game. In both varieties the object is to deliver your ball nearer to the \Ijack\i (a smaller target ball) than your opponent(s). Bowls have a bias which causes them to curve, imparted by flattening one side of the bowl. The Waterloo Handicap crown green championship, first held in 1907, takes place annually at the Waterloo Hotel, \JBlackpool\j (the \JWaterloo Cup\j). In the USA, the main organization is the American Lawn Bowling Association.
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"Bowman's capsule",5314,0,0,0
More correctly called the glomerular capsule, but still found under its old name in many reference works, this is a part of the kidney.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Bowman, Isaiah",5315,0,0,0
DT (1878-1950)
EN geographer; born in Berlin (renamed Kitchener), \JOntario\j, Canada. He studied at Ferris Institute, Big Rapids, Mich., and then at Ypsilanti's Normal College under the tutelage of Mark Jefferson. The latter sent him to Harvard to study for a doctorate with W. M. Davis. Bowman assumed an academic post at Yale University in 1905; in 1915 he accepted the Directorate of the American Geographical Society; and in 1935 he assumed the presidency of Johns Hopkins University.
In 1918-19 he had directed the "Inquiry" and then was chief of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace at the Paris Peace Conference; during World War II he was influential with the State Department. His most significant works include \IForest Physiography\i (1911), \IThe \JAndes\j of Southern Peru\i (1916), \IThe New World\i (1921), and \IGeography in Relation to the Social Sciences\i (1934).
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"Bowman, Sir William",5316,0,0,0
DT1 1816
DT2 92
EN Physician and ophthalmic surgeon, born in Nantwich, Cheshire, NWC England, UK. With \BRichard B Todd\b (1809-60) he published \IPhysiological Anatomy and \JPhysiology\j of Man\i (1845-56). He gained a high reputation for his work on the mechanism of kidney function, and also for his \ILectures on Operations on the Eye\i (1849), describing the ciliary muscle.
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"Bowne, Borden Parker",5317,0,0,0
DT (1847-1910)
EN philosopher, theologian; born in Leonardsville, N.J. After studying idealist philosophy in \JGermany\j, he joined the faculty at \JBoston\j University (1876), where he ultimately became head of the philosophy department and dean of graduate studies. He developed a personalistic, religiously oriented idealism through stimulating lectures and in books such as \IPersonalism\i (1908).
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"Bowyer, William",5318,0,0,0
DT1 1699
DT2 1777
EN Printer and Classical scholar. He studied at Cambridge, and in 1722 went into partnership with his father, \BWilliam Bowyer\b (1663-1737). In 1767 he was nominated printer to the Houses of Parliament. His chief production was a Greek \JNew Testament\j.
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"box",5319,0,0,0
EN An evergreen shrub or small tree \I(Buxus sempervirens)\i growing to 10┐m / 30┐ft, often less, native to Europe and N Africa; leaves small, leathery, paired; flowers green, lacking petals, clusters of several males around one female; fruit a woody capsule. It is a popular bush for formal clipped hedges and for topiary. \B(Family:\b Buxaceae.)
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"box camera",5320,0,0,0
EN The simplest form of camera for amateur photography: a rectangular box containing holders for paper-backed roll film advanced by an external winder, a fixed-focus \Jlens\j, and a shutter for instantaneous exposure. Early examples are the original Kodak camera of 1880 and the Box Brownie of 1900 which popularized snapshot photography.
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"box elder",5321,0,0,0
EN A species of maple \I(Acer negundo)\i with leaves pinnately divided into 3-5 separate leaflets; male and female flowers on separate trees, the males with conspicuous red anthers; native to E \JNorth America\j. Forms with yellow and green variegated leaves are common street trees. \B(Family:\b Aceraceae.)
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"box set",5322,0,0,0
EN Scenic arrangement. The primary development associated with the realistic depiction of middle- or upper-class life on stage was the box set, a semblance of a room with three walls and a ceiling, the fourth wall supposedly removed so that the audience could see in. The introduction of the box set is frequently attributed to Mme Vestris, who worked with PlanchΘ at the Olympic Theatre in London from 1831 to 1838.
However, something like a box set may have been achieved as early as 1642 in \JVenice\j by Torelli, with the production of Il Bellerofonte. By the early 18th century, the free placement of flats and the enclosure of space downstage practised by the Bibienas created at least the illusion, if not the actuality, of such an arrangement. By the late 18th century box sets were not unusual, at least on the Continent. By the mid- 19th century the box set had become increasingly realistic, as actual furniture, rugs, bookshelves, wall sconces, knick-knacks and the like were added to create the aura of the real world. (See also theatre design.)
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"box turtle",5323,0,0,0
EN A North American \Jterrapin\j; spends little time in \Jwater\j; eats invertebrates and fruit. The lower surface of its shell has hinged ends which close against the upper shell when the head and legs have been withdrawn (forming a closed box). \ICuora amboiensis\i of the same family is called the \BMalayan box turtle.\b \B(Genus:\b \ITerrapene,\i several species.)
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"boxer",5324,0,0,0
EN Originally from \JTibet\j and more recently from \JGermany\j, the \JBoxer\j has developed into a popular pet.
\BHistory:\b
The \JBoxer\j comes from two German ancestors: the Bullenbeiszer and the Barenbeiszer, which were used to hunt wild boar and bear, and were then used as \Jcattle\j dogs. The \JBoxer\j breed was established in the mid-1800s, but was not known outside of \JGermany\j until after the Second World War when many American and British returning soldiers took them home.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The \JBoxer\j is a medium-sized dog with a muscular body. \IHeight:\i 22.5 - 25 in (57 - 63.5 cm) for the dog; 21 - 23 in (53.3 - 58.4 cm) for the bitch. Under Canadian standards: 21 - 23.5 in (55.3 - 59.7 cm) for the bitch. \IWeight:\i 66 - 70 lb (30 - 31.7 kg) for the adult dog and 55 - 60 lb (25 - 27.5 kg) for the bitch. Under Canadian standards, not specified.
The \JBoxer\j's head is well-proportioned and square-shaped. Its muzzle is well-developed, with a dark mask. The skull is slightly rounded with a well-defined stop. The jaws are strong and broad with an undershot bite. The nose is broad and black. The eyes are dark brown with a frank, intelligent gaze. The ears, when not cropped, are a moderate size, set high, and hang close to the cheek when in repose. The body is square, below a well-proportioned, long neck. The thorax extends to the elbow, the ribs are curved, but not cylindrical.
The back is short, straight and broad, with good muscle cover. The flanks are short, tight and tucked up, and the belly forms a gentle curve to the rear of the dog. The tail is usually docked, set high, and carried erect. The forequarters are parallel and straight, the hindquarters are parallel also, and are well angulated with broad, round thighs.
The coat of the \JBoxer\j is short and shiny, with hard hair very flat on the body. The coat colors are fawn and brindle, with different shades of fawn ranging from yellow through to red. There are white markings on the muzzle, neck, chest, and legs or feet.
\BBehavior:\b
The \JBoxer\j deserves its popularity as it is an excellent all-round dog. This highly intelligent animal really enjoys its training, and rewards its owner time and again with its playful antics and dedicated loyalty. Although Boxers get along well with people, they may often be shy on first encounter. However they more than compensate for their initial hesitation once they get to know you.
When they are young, Boxers positively bound with enthusiasm and \Jenergy\j. As they mature, these dogs make brave watch-dogs and are quite big enough to double as guard dogs. An alert Boxer makes a great deterrent to would-be intruders. The coat is easy to care for and an occasional brushing will keep its appearance in top form. This dog appreciates a lot of exercise and thrives on the attention it receives from its owner during play time.
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"Boxer Rising",5325,0,0,0
EN An anti-foreign movement in China (1898-1900). Its name derives from the secret society to which the rebels belonged, the 'Righteous and Harmonious Fists', whose members adopted boxing and other rituals, convinced by their mixture of magical beliefs that foreign weapons could not harm them. It originated in N China, as a reaction to economic distress and Western territorial seizures.
Christian missionaries, churches and Chinese converts were attacked, 200 foreigners were killed, and foreign legations in Tianjin and \JBeijing\j were besieged. With Tianjin's relief by a force of the combined Treaty powers, the siege of \JBeijing\j's foreign quarter intensified, aided by a Chinese army following the dowager empress Cixi's declaration of war. The siege was raised by an American force, and the Boxers were suppressed in a welter of executions without trial. The Boxer Protocol (1901) imposed massive indemnities on China, which continued into the 1940s.
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"boxing",5326,0,0,0
EN Fighting with fists, a sport recorded from the earliest times. The Greeks and Romans used to entertain themselves by staging fist fights between their \Jgladiators\j. The first known boxing match in Britain was in 1681, when the Duke of Albemarle organized a match between his butler and his butcher at his home in New Hall, Essex. The sport began to develop in the early part of the 18th-c, when James Figg, a renowned swordsman and cudgel fighter, opened his school of arms in Oxford Road, London.
Figg came to be regarded as the first champion of boxing. The first rules were drawn up by John Broughton in 1743. Boxing was with bare knuckles, and each round lasted until one fighter was knocked down. The \IQueensberry Rules,\i as drawn up in 1867 by John Sholto Douglas, the 8th Marquess of Queensberry, changed boxing completely. It legislated for fighting with gloves, stipulated the length of each round at three minutes, and laid the foundation of the modern sport.
Officially recognized world championship contests started in 1884, early world champions including John Lake Sullivan (heavyweight) and Jack 'Nonpareil' Dempsey (middleweight - to be distinguished from heavyweight fighter Jack Dempsey). Over the years the different boxing authorities have had difficulty in agreeing upon recognition of some fighters as champions, and today four primary bodies recognize world champions; the \IWorld Boxing Council (WBC),\i founded in 1963; the \IWorld Boxing Association (WBA),\i founded in 1927 as the National Boxing Association; the \IInternational Boxing Federation (IBF),\i founded in 1983; and the \IWorld Boxing Organization,\i founded in 1988.
In the USA, each state has a governing commission. Different weight divisions exist, and fighters can compete only within the appropriate category, although they can move up, or down, depending upon weight change. In 1993 there were 17 different weight divisions, ranging from straw-weight for fighters under 105┐lb (48┐kg), to heavyweight, which is any weight, but normally over 190┐lb (88┐kg). Professional championship bouts constitute twelve 3-minute rounds.
Amateur contests are over three rounds, and all fighters must wear a vest and, in the Olympics, a headguard. All fights last until one fighter is knocked out or retires, the referee halts the fight, a fighter is disqualified, or the designated number of rounds is reached. If the fight goes the distance, judges then mark the fighters according to winning punches, etc. It is possible to have a draw.
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"Boxing Day",5327,0,0,0
EN In the UK and the Commonwealth, the \Jday\j after Christmas Day, so called because traditionally on that \Jday\j gifts from boxes placed in church were distributed to the poor, and apprentices took a box round their masters' customers in the hope of getting presents of money from them. Christmas 'boxes' or gifts of money are still sometimes given to tradespeople, postal workers, etc.
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"Boy Scouts",5328,0,0,0
EN See scouting
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"Boyana Church",5329,0,0,0
EN A world heritage monument comprising three churches situated in the former village of Boyana, a present-\Jday\j suburb of Sofia, \JBulgaria\j. The buildings date from the 10th-c, 13th-c and 19th-c, but despite their differing styles, combine to form a notable architectural unit.
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"boyars",5330,0,0,0
EN Members of the highest stratum of the Russian feudal aristocracy from the 10th-c to the early 18th-c. The \IBoyarskaya Duma\i ('Boyars' Council') was a major legislative and deliberative assembly under the mediaeval tsars. During the reign of Ivan IV, the boyars' authority was ruthlessly curtailed; the \IBoyarskaya Duma\i was finally abolished by Peter I in 1711, and replaced by an appointed Senate.
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"Boyce, William",5331,0,0,0
DT1 1710
DT2 79
EN Composer, born in London, England, UK. In 1736 he was appointed composer to the Chapel Royal and, in 1758, organist. He held a high rank as a composer of choral and orchestral music, and his works include the song 'Hearts of Oak', the serenata of \ISolomon\i (1743), and a valuable collection of \ICathedral Music\i (1760).
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"boycott",5332,0,0,0
EN A general refusal to have dealings - usually in relation to trade - with a person, company, or country. A trade union may boycott talks with a company as a negotiating ploy. Individuals may refuse to buy a country's goods as a gesture of political protest - for example, during the late 1980s, goods from South Africa in protest against \Japartheid\j. Boycotts have also been used in international sporting events, such as by the USA and UK at the 1980 Moscow \JOlympic Games\j. They are often effective only if legally enforced - for example, the ban on the import of Cuban cigars into the USA.
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"Boycott, Charles Cunningham",5333,0,0,0
DT1 1832
DT2 97
EN British army captain and estate manager, born in Burgh St Peter, Norfolk, E England, UK. He was the agent for Lord Erne in Co Mayo, Ireland, when bad harvests in 1879 made \Jfamine\j likely, and the Land League under Parnell
requested lower rents to ease the tenants' burden. When Boycott tried to evict tenants in 1880, Parnell suggested they avoid any form of contact or communication with Boycott. His name thus became the source of the verb \Ito boycott.\i
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"Boycott, Geoffrey",5334,0,0,0
DT1 1940
EN Cricketer and broadcaster, born in Fitzwilliam, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. He gained his county cap for Yorkshire in 1963, and was capped for England the following year. He played 108 times for England (1964--82), scoring 8114 runs (average 47.72), in 1981 overtaking Gary Sobers' world record of 8032 Test runs. Total runs in his career were 48┐426 (average 56.83).
Captain of Yorkshire (1971--8), he was a controversial batsman, and the county was divided about the value of his contribution to the club. Since retiring from first-class cricket in 1986, he has become known as a cricket commentator. Among his books is \IBoycott on Cricket\i (1990).
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"Boyd Orr (of Brechin Mearns), John Boyd Orr, Baron",5335,0,0,0
DT1 1880
DT2 1971
EN Biologist, born in Kilmaurs, East Ayrshire, south-west Scotland, UK. He studied at Glasgow University, became director of the Rowett Research Institute and professor of agriculture at \JAberdeen\j (1942-5), and was the first director of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (1945-8). His pessimistic reports on the world food situation got him a reputation as an \Japostle\j of gloom, but his great services in improving that situation brought him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1949, in which year he was made a peer.
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"Boyd, (William) Merric",5336,0,0,0
DT1 1888
DT2 1959
EN Ceramic artist, born in St Kilda, Victoria, \JAustralia\j, the elder son of Arthur Merric Boyd. He studied at the pioneering \Jporcelain\j works at Yarraville, Victoria, and then served with the Royal Flying Corps in World War 1 at Wedgwood, \JStoke-on-Trent\j. He returned to \JAustralia\j in the early 1920s, founding a famous studio at Murrumbeena, outside Melbourne, and experimenting with new ceramic techniques.
MEX Boyd, Arthur Merric; Boyd, Arthur Merric Bloomfield; Boyd, Guy
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"Boyd, Anne",5337,0,0,0
DT1 1946
EN Composer and flautist, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. She studied composition there and at York University, UK. After some years teaching in England and \JAustralia\j, she became founding head of the department of music at Hong Kong University (1981).
Her interest in ethno-musicology, in Australian aboriginal music, and the ethnic music of \JJapan\j and Java, is reflected in such compositions as \IAs I Crossed the Bridge of Dreams\i and her children's opera, \IThe Little Mermaid\i.
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"Boyd, Arthur Merric",5338,0,0,0
DT1 1862
DT2 1940
EN Painter, born in Opoho, \JNew Zealand\j. He arrived in \JAustralia\j in 1886, and became particularly known for his watercolours.
MEX Boyd, Martin; Boyd, Merric
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"Boyd, Arthur Merric Bloomfield",5339,0,0,0
DT1 1920
DT2 1999
EN Painter, sculptor, and potter, born in Murrumbeena, Victoria, \JAustralia\j, the younger son of Merric Boyd. He studied at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School and at Rosebud, Victoria.
After the war he exhibited with the Contemporary Arts Society in Melbourne, then returned to Murrumbeena and the pottery established by his father, where he worked with his brother-in-law John Perceval.
He moved to London in 1959, and took up a fellowship in creative arts at the Australian National University, \JCanberra\j, in 1972. In 1993 he gave his 1000 ha property 'Bundanon' as a gift to Australia.
\BMajor Works\b
c.1960 Love, Marriage and Death of a Half-Caste
1964 Persecuted Lovers (Art Gallery of South \JAustralia\j)
1984--5 Bathers and Pulpit Rock (Collection Fischer Fine Art Ltd, London)
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"Boyd, Belle",5340,0,0,0
DT (1843-1900)
EN Confederate spy; born in Martinsburg, Va. She brought information about Federal troops to Confederate commands, especially to General "Stonewall" Jackson. She was arrested twice (1862, 1863) and was captured on her way to England carrying letters from Jefferson Davis. Capitalizing on her notoriety, she appeared on the London stage (1866) and the New York stage (1868), then took to the lecture circuit after 1886.
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"Boyd, Benjamin",5341,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1796
DT2 1851
EN Australian colonist, born at Merton Hall, near Newton Stewart, Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland, UK. He arrived in Hobson's Bay in 1842, and became one of the largest and most powerful squatters in south-east \JNew South Wales\j. He spent a fortune trying to found 'Boyd Town' as a commercial port. When the enterprise failed, he sailed off in 1849 to join the Gold Rush in \JCalifornia\j.
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"Boyd, Guy Martin (α Beckett)",5342,0,0,0
DT1 1923
EN Sculptor, born in Murrumbeena, Victoria, \JAustralia\j, the elder son of Merric Boyd. Starting as a potter, he moved on to sculpture in 1964. His commissions include mural reliefs for Tullamarine (Melbourne) and Kingsford Smith (Sydney) airports.
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"Boyd, John",5343,0,0,0
DT 1912-
EN Irish playwright; honorary director of the Lyric Theatre, \JBelfast\j, from 1972. Boyd's major theme is the North of Ireland's divided heritage, mainly in an urban setting and expressed in the local idiom paradoxically common to the antagonistic faiths. The Assassin (Gaiety, Dublin, 1969) explores the \Jpsychology\j of a clerical demagogue; The Flats (Lyric, 1971; also produced in New York and \JGermany\j) places domestic tragedy in the collective violence of \JBelfast\j. These naturalistic plays (see \Jnaturalism\j) - along with The Farm (1972), The Street (1977), Summer School (1987) and Round the Big Clock (1992), a \JBelfast\j chronicle play - are acutely discerning of the brutalities behind factional slogans.
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"Boyd, Martin (α Beckett)",5344,0,0,0
HS , pseudonyms \BMartin Mills\b and \BWalter Beckett\b
DT1 1893
DT2 1972
EN Writer and poet, born in \JLucerne\j, \JSwitzerland\j, the younger son of Arthur Merric Boyd. Brought up in Melbourne, he lived for much of his life in Britain. His first novels, such as \IThe Montforts\i (1928), appeared under pseudonyms. His best work is now referred to as the Langton tetralogy: \IThe Cardboard Crown\i (1952), \IA Difficult Young Man\i (1955), \IOutbreak of Love\i (1957), and \IWhen Blackbirds Sing\i (1962).
MEX Boyd, Arthur Merric; Boyd, Merric
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"Boyd, Robin Gerard Penleigh",5345,0,0,0
DT1 1919
DT2 71
EN Architect, critic, and writer, born in Melbourne, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. He reached a wide audience with his books \IAustralia's Home\i (1952), \IThe Australian Ugliness\i (1960), and \IThe Great Australian Dream\i (1972). His critical work shaped the direction of Australian \Jarchitecture\j and was acknowledged with several awards.
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"Boyd, William",5346,0,0,0
DT1 1952
EN Novelist, born in Accra, \JGhana\j. His early years were spent in \JGhana\j and \JNigeria\j, and he then attended Gordonstoun school, Scotland. He taught English at Oxford until 1982. His novels, which often have an African setting, include \IA Good Man in Africa\i (1981, filmed 1994), \IBrazzaville Beach\i (1990, James Tait Black), \IThe Blue Afternoon\i (1993), and \IThe Destiny of Nathalie "X'\i (1995). His writing also includes short stories and the screenplays \IGood and Bad at Games\i (1985), \IScoop\i (1987), and \IChaplin\i (1992).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1981 A Good Man in Africa
1981 On the Yankee Station
1983 An Ice-Cream War
1984 Stars and Bars
1985 School Ties
1987 The New Confessions
1990 \JBrazzaville\j Beach
1993 The Blue Afternoon
1995 The Destiny of Nathalie "X'
\IScreenplays\i
1983 Good and Bad at Games
1985 Dutch Girls
1987 Scoop
1990 Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter
1990 Mr Johnson
1992 Chaplin
1994 A Good Man in Africa
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"Boyd, William (Bill)",5347,0,0,0
DT (1898-1972)
EN movie actor, producer; born in Cambridge, Ohio. He worked at odd jobs until landing his first film role as an extra in \IWhy Change Your Wife?\i (1920). A favorite of Cecil B. DeMille, he revived his faltering career when he played Hopalong Cassidy in a series of popular Westerns. He bought the rights to the character and revived him on \Jtelevision\j in the 1950s.
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"Boyd, William (Clouser)",5348,0,0,0
DT1 1903
EN Biochemist, born in Dearborn, Mississippi, USA. He studied at Harvard, and from 1948 taught at the \JBoston\j medical school as professor of immunochemistry. He examined racial groups by systematically classifying blood samples on a worldwide basis. By 1950, in his book \IGenetics and the Races of Man\i, he was able to present evidence for the existence of 13 human races, distinguishable by blood type.
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"Boyden, Uriah (Atherton)",5349,0,0,0
DT (1804-79)
EN engineer, inventor; born in Foxboro, Mass. He helped survey early railroad routes in New England and participated in the construction of several textile mills in Lowell, Mass. In 1844 he designed an improved \Jturbine\j waterwheel to power industrial machinery. In his late years he occupied himself with problems in pure physics, particularly heat and the velocity of light.
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"Boye, Karin (Maria)",5350,0,0,0
DT1 1900
DT2 41
EN Poet and novelist, born in G÷teborg, Sweden. She studied at \JUppsala\j and Stockholm, and became a leader of the Socialist \IClartΘ\i movement. She was the founder editor of the poetry magazine \ISpektrum\i (1931), to which she contributed much of her own poetry and translations. Her poetry collections include \IMoln\i (1922, \JCloud\j), and \IDe Sju D÷dsynderna\i (1941, The Seven Deadly Sins), and she wrote several novels, including \IKris\i (1934, Crisis) and \IKallocain\i (1940).
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"Boyer, Charles",5351,0,0,0
PN [boyay]
DT1 1899
DT2 1978
EN Actor, born in Figeac, \JFrance\j. He studied at the \JSorbonne\j and the Paris Conservatoire. Having become established as a star of the French stage and cinema, he settled in \JHollywood\j in 1934, and was known as the screen's 'great lover' from such romantic roles as \IMayerling\i (1936), \IThe Garden of Allah\i (1936), and \IAlgiers\i (1938). His later appearances included \IBarefoot in the Park\i (1967) and \IStavisky\i (1974). In 1943 he received a special \JAcademy Award\j for his work in promoting Franco-American cultural relations.
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"Boyer, Herbert (Wayne)",5352,0,0,0
PN [\Bboy\ber]
DT1 1936
EN Biochemist, born in \JPittsburgh\j, \JPennsylvania\j, USA. He studied at \JPittsburgh\j, and from 1966 worked at the University of \JCalifornia\j, \JSan Francisco\j. In collaboration with \BStanley Cohen\b (1935-- ) of Stanford University, he successfully spliced a gene from a plasmid of one organism into the plasmid of another (1973). The technique they developed became the foundation of genetic \Jengineering\j.
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"Boyer, Jean Pierre",5353,0,0,0
PN [boyay]
DT1 1776
DT2 1850
EN Haitian politician, mulatto-born in \JPort-au-Prince\j. Sent early to \JFrance\j, in 1792 he entered the army. He distinguished himself against the British during their invasion of \JHaiti\j, and established an independent republic in the W part of the island.
After the death of Christophe, he united the negro district with the mulatto in 1820. He governed \JHaiti\j well for 15 years, but his partiality towards the mulattos made the pure negroes rise in 1843. He fled, and died in Paris.
MEX Christophe
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"Boyer, Sir Richard (James Fildes)",5354,0,0,0
PN [\Bboy\ber]
DT1 1891
DT2 1961
EN Broadcasting administrator, born in Taree, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. He was a member of the Australian delegation to the \JLeague of Nations\j in 1939, and was appointed to the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1940. After Prime Minister Curtin affirmed the independence of the Australian Broadcasting Company, Boyer accepted the chairmanship in 1945. The ABC Lectures were renamed the \IBoyer Lectures\i in his honour after his death.
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"Boyesen, H. H. (Hjalmar Hjorth)",5355,0,0,0
DT (1849-95)
EN writer; born in FrederiksvΣrn, \JNorway\j. He spent much of his childhood with his maternal grandfather in Systrand, \JNorway\j, and studied at the University of \JLeipzig\j, \JGermany\j (Ph.D. 1868). He traveled to America (1869) and worked in \JChicago\j as an editor of the Norwegian weekly, \IFremad,\i before becoming a Greek and Latin tutor at Urbana University, Ohio. He wrote \IGunnar\i (1874), a popular novel of Norwegian life, that was first serialized in the \IAtlantic Monthly.\i
In 1874 he began teaching in the German department at Cornell, but he moved to New York City where he wrote and taught at Columbia University (1881-95). In his \Jday\j he was known for such scholarly works as \IGoethe and Schiller\i (1879) and \IEssays on Scandinavian Literature\i (1895). In addition to several realistic novels, he wrote children's stories and poetry.
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"Boyington, (Gregory) 'Pappy'",5356,0,0,0
DT (1912-88)
EN marine aviator; born in Coeur d'Alene, \JIdaho\j. He led the famous Black Sheep Squadron, which consisted of pilots dismissed from other squadrons for disciplinary and other problems, in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
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"Boyis, Hector",5357,0,0,0
EN See Boece or Boethius, Hector
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"Boyle (of Handsworth), Sir Edward (Charles Gurney) Boyle, Baron",5358,0,0,0
DT1 1923
DT2 81
EN British statesman and educational administrator. He studied at Oxford, and was Conservative MP for the Handsworth Division of Birmingham (1950-70), parliamentary secretary at the Ministry of Education (1957-59) and minister of education (1962-4). He was also Vice-Chancellor of Leeds University (1970-81).
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"Boyle's Law",5359,0,0,0
In simple terms, provided the \Jtemperature\j does not change, the volume of a given amount of gas depends on the pressure acting on it. Double the pressure, and you will halve the volume, and so on. In mathematical short-hand, we say the pressure and the volume are inversely proportional.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Boyle, Jimmy",5360,0,0,0
DT1 1944
EN Convicted murderer, born in the Gorbals, Glasgow, W Scotland, UK. A member of a powerful gang in Glasgow, he was twice charged with murder and cleared, and was eventually imprisoned for serious assault. His reputation as "Scotland's Most Violent Man' appeared to be confirmed when he was convicted for the murder of Babs Rooney and given a life sentence. In 1973 he was one of the first offenders to participate in Barlinnie Prison Special Unit's rehabilitation programme. He went on to produce many sculptures, and to write his \Jautobiography\j, \IA Sense of Freedom\i (1977). After his release, he worked with young offenders and has become Scotland's most celebrated reformed criminal.
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#
"Boyle, Kay",5361,0,0,0
DT (1902-92)
EN writer; born in St. Paul, Minn. She joined the American expatriate community in Europe (1923-41), returning after the war as the \INew Yorker\i 's European correspondent (1946-53). A number of her 50 books drew on her European experience. She won two O. Henry Awards for short stories, collections of which include \IThirty Stories\i (1946) and \IThe Smoking Mountain\i (1951). A lifelong radical, she taught at \JSan Francisco\j State University (1963-79) and was outspoken in opposing the Vietnam War.
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"Boyle, Robert",5362,0,0,0
DT (1627-91)
EN Irish chemist: established the study of chemistry as a separate science and gave a definition of an element.
The youngest of the 14 children of the first Earl of Cork, Boyle was educated by a tutor at home (Lismore Castle) and at \JEton\j. He showed an ability in languages before the age of 8, and in his interest in \Jalgebra\j he found a useful distraction during convalescence (he was to suffer ill-health throughout his life).
His education was continued with a Grand Tour of \JFrance\j and \JItaly\j (1638-44), accompanied by his brother Francis and a tutor. In \JItaly\j he studied the work of the recently deceased \JGalileo\j. On the death of his father, Boyle retired to live simply on his estate at Stalbridge in \JDorset\j, where he took no part in the English \JCivil War\j then raging.
Boyle moved to Oxford in 1654. He worked on an improved air-\Jpump\j (which Hooke made for him), showing for the first time that \JGalileo\j was correct in his assertion that all objects fall at the same velocity in a vacuum. His most famous experiment was with trapped air compressed in the end of a closed shorter end of a U- shaped tube, by the addition of mercury to the open longer end of the tube, which showed that the volume of air halved if the pressure was doubled.
The work was published (1660) and became known as Boyle's Law (in Britain and the USA; credited to Mariotte in \JFrance\j): it states that for a fixed mass of gas at constant \Jtemperature\j, the pressure and volume are inversely proportional, ie \IpV\i = constant.
With the publication of \IThe Sceptical Chymist\i (1661), Boyle prepared the way for a more modern view of chemistry, which put aside alchemical ideas and the Aristotelian doctrine of the four elements. He proposed the notion of elements as 'primitive and simple, or perfectly unmingled bodies' and that elements could be combined to make compounds and that compounds could be divided into their elements.
Later Lavoisier used this approach experimentally; but it was Boyle who changed chemical attitudes and prepared the way for Priestley and Lavoisier to create the Chemical Revolution. He also believed in the atomic theory and the importance of the shape of the atoms; his views here were taken from older writers. Boyle was a founder member of the Royal Society.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
You cannot study the effects of air pressure without some kind of air \Jpump\j. If you owned the first air \Jpump\j, maybe the person who made the \Jpump\j deserves equal credit for your work. This was certainly not the case when it came to handing out the credit for Boyle's Law. We only hear one name associated with the law, the name of Robert Boyle.
Boyle was a younger son of the seventh Earl of Cork, and the first member of his family to give his name to something scientific. His great-nephew, the Earl of Orrery, was later to lend his name to those clockwork contrivances that show the operation of the \Jsolar system\j. George Graham actually invented the orrery, but named it in honour of Charles Boyle.
My reason for doubting Boyle's part in the discovery of Boyle's Law is the name of his assistant, who was Robert Hooke. It was Hooke who actually designed Boyle's air \Jpump\j, and I find it significant that Boyle refers to the "spring of the air". Hooke, you will learn, investigated metallic springs, and I cannot help seeing his influence here.
On the other hand, Hooke was usually fairly quick to lay claim to what he considered to be his work, and he never complained about Boyle. Still, Hooke owed a fair amount to Boyle, so maybe he got his payment another way. Of course, around that time, most scientists seem to have accused others of plagiarism, and almost everybody was accused at some time, so that may mean that Boyle really did invent his own "law" after all, seeing nobody ever accused him of doing so.
Boyle certainly does not deserve to be debunked. Look at it how you may, he was a competent investigator, and he was usually an enthusiastic communicator of his methods, unlike many of his contemporaries both on the Continent and in England. Note that I said usually: I will come back to this in a moment.
There is no doubt that Boyle's reputation could not have survived simply on the work of assistants, for he had too many visitors in his laboratory, who would have seen what was going on. But Hooke may still have played his part in finding Boyle's Law, though Boyle made a number of valuable discoveries that are forgotten today. How many users of litmus paper realise the litmus test is based on Boyle's observations? He was the first to describe how some vegetable dyes change colour in acids and alkalis, although the effects were common knowledge to dyers-the first recorded use of the word "litmus" in English dates back as far as 1502.
The important point is that Boyle realised that the effects applied not to some acids, or some alkalis, but to \Iall\i acids and \Iall\i alkalis. Better still, he mentioned the existence of neutral substances which were neither acidic nor alkaline. That was good work for the seventeenth century. In one sense, at least, Boyle may have been the father of photography: he seems to have been the first to record the way silver chloride changed from white to black when exposed to light.
In 1677, Daniel Kraft arrived in London, demonstrating the marvellous \Jphosphorus\j which Hennig Brand had recently discovered. Kraft had paid Brand two hundred thalers-probably two or three thousand dollars in today's terms-for the secret of making \Jphosphorus\j, so Kraft wasn't giving the secret away for free, not even to that famous chemist, Boyle. After all, Boyle was known to have purchased other "secrets" from other people.
Kraft did, however, give out a curious hint. \JPhosphorus\j, he said, derived from "somewhat that belonged to the body of man". What Brand (and Kraft) had used was a large amount of human urine. When this is evaporated, \Jurea\j in the urine reacts with a phosphate salt to produce \Jphosphorus\j vapour. This vapour can then be condensed under \Jwater\j to form white \Jphosphorus\j.
Boyle and his assistant, Ambrose Godfrey, deduced that urine was the starting point, though we are not told how. It must have been disappointing to them when their efforts met with no success. Godfrey then went and asked the right questions in \JGermany\j. There, he learned that very strong heat is required, and after that, Boyle and Godfrey were able to make what Boyle referred to as \Inoctiluca,\i or night light. So did Boyle publish their recipe? No, he did not!
He wrote it down, of course, and sealed it in an envelope, to be opened only on his death. In the meantime, Godfrey was doing very nicely, selling \Jphosphorus\j in Covent Garden for two pounds ten shillings an ounce, using animal dung and urine as his raw material. So while Godfrey made a profit, Boyle took the credit, and they were both happy.
But what about Boyle's Law? Well Boyle did not call it a Law, of course. He merely called it a simple hypothesis. In those days, people were only just starting to talk about laws, and as I mentioned, it was Jakob Bernoulli who first called Boyle's Law by that name.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Boyle, Roger, Earl of Orrery",5363,0,0,0
DT 1621-79
EN Irish playwright. A favourite of Charles II and one of the Lord Justices of Ireland, he wrote a tragedy in heroic couplets, The General (performed privately in Ireland in 1662 and in London in 1664), \JHenry V\j (1664), Mustapha (1665) and The Black Prince (1667). He created a new mode of heroic drama, placing the hero between love and honour. His work was much admired by Dryden, though his later comedies, written when heroic drama had ceased to be fashionable, were unsuccessful.
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"Boyle, William",5364,0,0,0
DT 1853-1923
EN Irish playwright. The Abbey made uproarious comedies of Boyle's plays, which, except for The Eloquent Dempsey (1906), a \Jfarce\j about dishonest politics, are desolate enough. The Building Fund (1905) is a black study in avaricious competition for an inheritance; The Mineral Workers (1906) is about the conflict between industrial development and rural values, their representatives equally unsavoury. Boyle broke with the Abbey in the row over Synge's Playboy, but gave it his last two plays, Family Failing (1912) and Nic (1916).
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"Boylston, Zabdiel",5365,0,0,0
DT (1679-1766)
EN physician; born in Brookline, Mass. He received medical instruction from his father, but never obtained a medical degree. He was the first colonial doctor to inoculate people against smallpox (1721). He inoculated over 200 people in \JBoston\j; only six of those persons died. He and Cotton Mather (who had encouraged the use of \Jinoculation\j) were both persecuted by angry crowds for their actions. Boylston published his results in London (1726) and then returned to \JBoston\j.
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"Boyne, Battle of the",5366,0,0,0
DT1 1690
EN A battle fought near Drogheda, Co Louth, Ireland, between Protestant forces under William III and smaller Catholic forces led by James II. William's decisive victory enabled him to capture Dublin, and marked a critical stage in the English reconquest of Ireland. It ended James's campaign to regain the English throne.
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"Boyne, River",5367,0,0,0
EN River in E Ireland, rising in the Bog of Allen, \JKildare\j county, \JLeinster\j; flows 110┐km / 68┐mi north-east to the Irish Sea near Drogheda.
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"Boys of St Paul's",5368,0,0,0
EN English theatre company. The choristers of \JSt Paul's Cathedral\j in London may have acted in plays as early as the 14th century. Certainly under the Mastership of Sebastian Westcott (1553-82), ten choristers were employed as actors. There are records of over 30 court appearances by the Paul's Boys under Westcott's direction, and evidence of a playhouse within the precinct of St Paul's.
From1582-5 the Paul's Boys combined with the Children of the Chapel Royal to present John Lyly's courtly plays. Lyly enlisted the boy actors in the Marprelate Controversy, after which they lost their right to perform. After a ten-year silence they re-emerged as an acting company to perform in plays by Marston, Dekker, Chapman, Middleton, Webster and Beaumont. Around 1605 the fashion changed, and from 1606 to 1608 they were reduced to sporadic performance. (See also boys' companies.)
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"boys' companies",5369,0,0,0
EN English children's companies. The Boys of St Paul's and the Children of the Chapel Royal were the two main companies of boy players in the 16th and early 17th centuries. The Paul's Boys were probably the first English company, adult or child, to have their own theatre (c.1575), quickly followed by the Chapel Children at the Blackfriars (1576). Their musical skills as choristers were exploited; many playwrights wrote plays for them, particularly John Lyly, George Chapman and John Marston.
Only Shakespeare among the major dramatists of his \Jday\j remained aloof. After the decline of the Paul's Boys and the Chapel Children, the Children of the King's Revels (1608-9) and of the Queen's Revels (1609-13) continued to perform at the less attractive Whitefriars. The last of the major children's companies performed at the Cockpit from 1637 to 1642, where they were familiarly known as Beeston's Boys after their manager, Christopher Beeston.
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"Boys, Sir Charles Vernon",5370,0,0,0
DT (1855-1944)
EN British experimental physicist: ingenious inventor of sensitive instruments.
Educated at Cambridge and a Fellow of the Royal Society, Boys distinguished himself as a clever and original experimenter. In 1895 he designed a torsion balance, which was an improvement on previous models, and with this he determined the value of Newton's constant of gravitation, thus arriving at a value of 5.5270 for the mean density of the Earth. He invented the micro-radiometer, a combination of a thermocouple and a delicate suspended-coil \Jgalvanometer\j, and with it he was able to measure the heat radiation from the Moon and planets.
He proved that the surface \Jtemperature\j of Jupiter is low. He used \Jquartz\j fibres instead of silk for delicate suspension instruments and obtained them by shooting from a bow an arrow with the molten \Jquartz\j attached. He also designed a calorimeter to measure the thermal power of \Jcoal\j gas, and a camera with a moving \Jlens\j with which he obtained some remarkable photographs of \Jlightning\j flashes.
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"Bozeman, John M.",5371,0,0,0
DT (1835-67)
EN explorer; born in Georgia. He pioneered the Bozeman Trail (1863-65), the best route for gold seekers on their way from southeastern Wyoming to Virginia City, Mont. He was killed by Blackfeet Indians at the crossing of the \JYellowstone\j River.
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"Brabazon (of Tara), John Theodore Cuthbert Moore-Brabazon, Baron",5372,0,0,0
DT1 1884
DT2 1964
EN British statesman and aviator, the first holder of a flying licence. He studied at Cambridge, and during World War 1 served with the Royal Flying Corps. He was responsible for several innovations in aerial photography. In 1918 he entered parliament and became private parliamentary secretary to Churchill at the War Office. Between 1923 and 1927 he served two periods of office as parliamentary secretary to the ministry of transport. He became minister of transport (1940) and of \Jaircraft\j production (1941), but resigned because of public displeasure at his outspoken criticism of Britain's ally, the USSR.
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"Brabham, Jack",5373,0,0,0
PN [\Bbra\bbuhm]
HS , popular name of \BSir John Arthur Brabham\b
DT1 1926
EN Motor-racing driver, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. He served with the Royal Australian Air Force, and started his racing career in 1947. After winning the Australian Grand Prix in 1955, he went to the UK, where he joined the successful Cooper team.
He won his first Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship at Sebring, FL, in 1959 by pushing his car over the finishing-line, and won the title again the following year. In 1966 he won his third world title, and also the Constructor's Championship, with a car of his own design, the Repco-Brabham. He retired from the circuits in 1970, and was knighted in 1979.
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"Bracco, Roberto",5374,0,0,0
DT 1862-1943
EN Italian playwright and critic. His prolific output spans a range of dramatic kinds: light, sophisticated comedies, naturalistic pieces, and explorations of social and domestic problems in the manner of Ibsen. It was for the last, with plays like Tragedie dell'anima (Tragedies of the Soul, 1899) and Maternitα (Maternity, 1903), that he was particularly admired in his own \Jday\j, although the play for which he is now best remembered, Il \Jpiccolo\j santo (The Little Saint, 1909), was more innovative in its Freudian-like treatment of the workings of the \Jsubconscious\j. In the 1920s his liberal views ran foul of Fascist opposition, which put an end to his career in the theatre.
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"Brace, Charles Loring",5375,0,0,0
DT (1826-90)
EN philanthropist; born in Litchfield, Conn. A relation of the Beechers, he was trained in \Jtheology\j but drawn to assisting the urban poor, particularly children. A pioneer in modern philanthropic methods, he promoted self-help, and during his tenure as founder and secretary of the New York City Children's Aid Society (1853-90), he assisted more than 100,000 immigrant children in finding homes and jobs. Resourceful and tolerant, he gained an international reputation and counted as friends many well-known thinkers and social activists of his time.
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"Bracegirdle, Anne",5376,0,0,0
DT 1671-1748
EN English actress. From the beginning (1688) she chose to play the pathetic heroine in tragedy and the witty, sophisticated woman in comedy, particularly in breeches parts. She also possessed a good singing voice. She worked for the United Company until 1695, when she joined Betterton's group of seceding actors. Congreve wrote for her such roles as Angelica in Love for Love (1695) and Millamant in The Way of the World (1700). She successfully guarded her reputation for virtue and virginity and retired in 1707, making way for Anne Oldfield.
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"brachiation",5377,0,0,0
The method of locomotion used by some of the great apes such as the gibbons. It involves swinging by the arms, alternating left arm and right arm. This mode of travel may well have been used by the ancestors of humans, since only primitive mammals and brachiators have a collar bone.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Brachiopoda",5378,0,0,0
PN [braki\Bop\boda]
EN See lamp shell
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#
"Brachypteraciidae",5379,0,0,0
EN \BGround-rollers\b
The rollers of Africa (family \JCoraciidae\j) have relatives on the island of Madagascar in the form of five species (grouped in three genera) of birds that differ from typical rollers in at least one especially striking respect: all dwell on the ground instead of high in trees. These are the ground-rollers (family \JBrachypteraciidae\j, order Coraciiformes), which occur only on Madagascar. They are related to the cuckoo-roller or courol (family \JLeptosomatidae\j), and the most-favored current hypothesis is that the two groups arose from very early invasions of roller stock from Africa, the one that gave rise to the courol very much earlier than the subsequent one from which the ground-rollers arose. The ground-rollers may not even yet have reached family status, and some researchers prefer to regard them as a subfamily of the \JCoraciidae\j.
All five cuckoo-rollers are stocky, big-headed, long-tailed birds, ranging from about 24-45 cm in body length (the Long-tailed Ground-roller \IUratelornis chimaera\i is the largest), with large, robust bills, large eyes, small wings, and long, sturdy legs.
Plumage colors are usually rich but muted, and arranged in intricate patterns: the Short-legged Ground-roller \IBrachypteracias leptosomus,\i for example, has a chestnut crown, buff throat (streaked with brown), tawny underparts (closely barred brown), deep blue nape, olive-green back, blue-green rump, and reddish tail with markings of black and white. The sexes are similar in appearance.
As their name indicates, ground-rollers are essentially terrestrial, though not entirely so. They are mainly solitary, but the Long-tailed Ground-roller sometimes gathers in parties of four or five birds. When disturbed, most remain still, or run rather than fly away, but the Short-legged Ground-roller often flies up into a bush or low tree.
The Pitta-like Ground-roller \IAtelornis pittoides\i is relatively widespread in the eastern half of Madagascar, but the Short-legged Ground-roller, Scaled Ground-roller \IBrachypteracias squamigera,\i and Crossley's Ground-roller \IAtelornis crossleyi\i are all known only from small areas in the east and north.
The Long-tailed Ground-roller is confined to desert scrub in the arid southwestern part of Madagascar (from about Tulea to the Mangoky River), but the other four species inhabit \Jrainforest\j. So far as is known, all are strictly sedentary, and all are probably seriously threatened.
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"bracken",5380,0,0,0
EN A perennial fern \I(Pteridium aquilinum)\i with far-creeping rhizomes; fronds solitary, up to 2-4┐m / 61/2-13┐ft; tri-\Jpinnate\j, with sori continuous around edges of leaf-segments. It is common on acid soils, especially in woods and heaths where it may cover extensive areas by means of the rhizomes. It is poisonous, and not grazed by animals such as sheep and rabbits. Fire does not seriously damage it, the deeply buried rhizomes remaining unharmed. \JBracken\j can be an aggressive invader of grassland. \B(Family:\b Polypodiaceae.)
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"Bracken, Thomas",5381,0,0,0
DT1 1843
DT2 98
EN Poet and journalist, born in Co \JMonaghan\j, Ireland. He settled in Dunedin, \JNew Zealand\j, in 1869, and came to be regarded as the local equivalent of Tennyson and Longfellow. His reputation declined in the 1930s, but he is remembered as the author of the national anthem, 'God Defend \JNew Zealand\j!'.
MEX Longfellow; Tennyson
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"Brackenridge, Henry Marie",5382,0,0,0
DT (1786-1871)
EN lawyer, author; born in \JPittsburgh\j, Pa. (son of Hugh Henry Brackenridge). He was raised by his unusual father, who nurtured his frontier roots with his own legal and literary interests; by age seven he had made a voyage down the Ohio River to a village where he learned French, and by age 20 he was admitted to the bar in \JPittsburgh\j. His knowledge of natural history informed the books that were spawned by his travels; his \IViews of Louisiana\i drew on his years of practicing law there (1810-14); his \IVoyage to South America\i (1819) grew out of his 1818 trip as a member of a government commission - he had previously urged the policy that became the Monroe Doctrine.
He served in the Maryland legislature and held administrative and judicial offices in \JFlorida\j (1821-32); removed from the bench by President Andrew Jackson, he attacked Jackson in a pamphlet. He served briefly in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Dem.-Rep., Pa.; 1840-41) but devoted the final decades of his life to writing memoirs, histories, and political and legal texts.
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"Brackenridge, Hugh H(enry)",5383,0,0,0
DT 1748-1815
EN American novelist, poet and playwright. He wrote two plays to inspire his students at Maryland Academy: The Battle of Bunker's Hill and The Death of General Montgomery in Storming the City of Quebec (1777). As teacher, legislator and chaplain in Washington's army, Brackenridge exhibited a sense of mission. Both plays, amateur attempts in blank verse, emphasized themes of patriotic virtue to encourage the colonists. Brackenridge's best-known novel is a satire entitled Modern Chivalry.
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"Brackett, Charles",5384,0,0,0
DT (1892-1969)
EN movie producer, screenwriter; born in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. He graduated from Williams (1915) and Harvard Law School (1920), his schooling interrupted by his service in World War I. He practiced law and published magazine stories and several novels before becoming drama critic for the \INew Yorker\i (1925-29). Some of his stories were purchased by \JHollywood\j, which led to his being hired as a writer by Paramount in 1932.
In 1938 he began collaborating with Billy Wilder, first as cowriter and then (1943) also as producer, and the two enjoyed a string of popular and critical successes, including \IThe Lost Weekend\i (1945) and \ISunset Boulevard\i (1950), winning Oscars for both. They split in 1950, and Brackett continued to produce other movies, winning another Oscar as coauthor of \ITitanic\i (1953).
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"bract",5385,0,0,0
EN A modified leaf immediately below a flower or \Jinflorescence\j. It is usually green, but may be brightly coloured and petal-like, as in \IPoinsettia.\i
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"Bracton, Henry de",5386,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2 1268
EN English jurist, a 'justice itinerant', who in 1264 became \Jarchdeacon\j of Barnstaple and chancellor of Exeter Cathedral. His \IDe legibus et consuetudinibus Angliae\i (On the Laws and Customs of England) is the earliest attempt at a systematic treatment of the body of English law.
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"Bradbury, Malcolm",5387,0,0,0
DT1 1932
EN Writer and critic, born in Sheffield, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. He studied at Leicester, and taught there at the university, before becoming professor of American studies at the University of East Anglia in 1970. The travels and travails of an academic have provided material for several of his novels, such as \IEating People is Wrong\i (1959), \IStepping Westward\i (1965), \IThe History Man\i (1975, also a \Jtelevision\j series), and \IRates of Exchange\i (1982).
His work for \Jtelevision\j inspired the \Jnovella\j \ICuts\i (1987); these worlds collide in \IDr Criminale\i (1992). In his critical writing, he has sponsored Modernist and post-Modernist ideas, and his books include monographs on Evelyn Waugh (1962) and Saul Bellow (1982), and \IThe Modern American Novel\i (1983). Later works include the comic fiction anthology \IPresent Laughter\i (1994) and \IThe Atlas of Literature\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1959 Eating People is Wrong
1965 Stepping Westward
1975 The History Man
1982 Rates Of Exchange
1987 Cuts (\Jnovella\j)
1992 Dr Ciminale
\IShort stories\i
1976 Who Do You think You Are?
\IHumorous works\i
1982 All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go
1986 Why come to Slaka?
1987 Mensonge
1988 Unsent Letters
\IEssays\i
1973 Possibilities: essays on the state of the novel
1987 No, Not Bloomsbury
\IOther\i
1962 Evelyn Waugh
1969 What is a Novel?
1970 A Passage to India: a casebook
1972 The Social Context of Modern English Literature
1976 Modernism (with J W McFarlane)
1982 Saul Bellow
1983 The Modern American Novel
1987 The Modern World: ten great writers
1991 From \JPuritanism\j to Postmodernism: a history of American literature
1993 The Modern British Novel
1994 Present Laughter: an anthology of modern comic fiction
1995 Dangerous Pilgrimages: transatlantic mythologies and the novel
1995 Class Work (anthology of UEA fiction)
1996 An Atlas of Literature
\ITelevision serials\i
1989 Anything More Would Be Greedy
1990 The Gravy Train
1991 The Gravy Train Goes East
\IEditor\i
1965 E M Forster: a collection of critical essays
1971 Penguin Companion to Literature, Vol 3: American (with E Mottram)
1977 The Novel Today
1981 An Introduction to American Studies (with H Temperley)
1987 Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories
1992 New Writing (with Judy Cooke)
1993 New Writing 2 (with Andrew Motion)
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"Bradbury, Ray(mond Douglas)",5388,0,0,0
DT1 1920
EN Writer of \Jscience fiction\j, born in Waukegan, Illinois, USA. An avid reader of sensational fiction and comics, he began early to contribute to magazines and short-story anthologies. While he has written notable novels - \IFahrenheit 451\i (1953), \IDandelion Wine\i (1957), and \IDeath is a Lonely Business\i (1985) - he is primarily a short-story writer, and has created some of the finest examples in the genre.
Well-known stories include \IThe Day It Rained Forever\i, \IR is for Rocket\i, and those collected as \IThe Martian Chronicles\i (1950, filmed 1966). Later novels include \IA Graveyard for Lunatics\i (1990), \IWhite Whale\i (1992), and \IQuicker than the Eye\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1947 Dark Carnival
1953 Fahrenheit 451
1957 Dandelion Wine
1962 Something Wicked This Way Comes
1973 The Small Assassin
1973 Mars and the Minds of Man
1978 The Mummies of Guanajuato
1981 The \JGhosts\j of Forever
1985 Death is a Lonely Business
1986 Death is a Lonely Business
1989 The Toynbee Convector
1990 A Graveyard for Lunatics
1992 White Whale
1996 Quicker than the Eye
\INovels for children\i
1955 Switch on the Night
\IShort stories\i
1950 The Martian Chronicles (UK The Silver Locusts)
1951 The Illustrated Man
1953 The Golden Apples of the Sun
1955 The October Country
1959 A Medicine for Melancholy (UK The Day It Rained Forever)
1964 The Machineries of Joy
1965 The Autumn People
1965 The Vintage Bradbury
1966 Tomorrow Midnight
1966 Twice Twenty-Two
1969 I Sing the Body Electric!
1976 Long After Midnight
\IShort stories for children\i
1962 R is for Rocket
1962 S is for Space
\IPoetry\i
1973 When Elephants Last in the Dooryard Bloomed
1977 Where Robot Mice and Robot Men Run Round in Robot Towns
1980 This Attic where the Meadow Greens
1981 The Haunted Computer and the Android Pope
1982 The Complete Poems of Ray Bradbury
\IPlays\i
1947 The Meadow
1963 The Anthem Sprinters
1964 The World of Ray Bradbury
1965 The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit and other Plays
1968 Any Friend of Nicholas Nickleby's is a Friend of Mine
1975 Pillar of Fire
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"Braddock, Edward",5389,0,0,0
DT1 1695
DT2 1755
EN British general, born in Perth and Kinross, E Scotland, UK. After service in \JFrance\j and The Netherlands, he was appointed commander of all British troops in \JNorth America\j (1754). He was sent in 1755 to expel the French from Fort Duquesne (now \JPittsburgh\j), but was defeated by the French and their Indian allies, and was mortally wounded in the battle. The remnants of his force were led away by George Washington.
MEX Dinwiddie; Washington, George
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"Braddock, James J(oseph)",5390,0,0,0
DT (1905-74)
EN \Jboxer\j; born in New York City. He won one of boxing's greatest upsets when he decisioned world heavyweight champion Max Baer in 1935. In his first defense of the crown, he lost by a knockout to Joe Louis in 1937.
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"Braddon, Russell Reading",5391,0,0,0
DT1 1921
EN Writer, playwright, and film and \Jtelevision\j script-writer, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. He studied at Sydney University, and during World War 2 was a prisoner of the Japanese for four years, and worked on the \JBurma\j Railway.
His experiences were published as \IThe Naked Island\i (1952) and \IEnd of a Hate\i (1958). A string of popular novels followed, but he is perhaps best known for his biographies, such as \ICheshire VC\i (1954), \INancy Wake\i (1956), and \IJoan Sutherland\i (1962).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1952 The Naked Island
1958 The End of Hate
\IBiography\i
1954 Cheshire VC
1956 Nancy Wake
1962 Joan Sutherland
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"Braden, Bernard",5392,0,0,0
DT1 1916
DT2 93
EN Radio and \Jtelevision\j presenter, born in Canada. Educated in Vancouver, he became an engineer, announcer, and radio actor in local radio (1937-43), and also for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (1940-9). In England from 1949, he acted in various plays, including \IA Street Car Named Desire.\i Joining the BBC, he presented radio shows such as \IBreakfast with Braden,\i often co-presenting with his wife, \BBarbara Kelly\b (married 1942), and became a popular host of several TV series, such as \IThe Brains Trust,\i \IOn the Braden Beat,\i and \IAll Our Yesterdays.\i
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"Braden, Spruille",5393,0,0,0
DT (1894-1978)
EN diplomat, consultant; born in Elkhorn, Mont. He studied mining \Jengineering\j at Yale and directed projects in \JLatin America\j. He entered the diplomatic service in 1933 and became known as a crusader for democracy, especially while he was ambassador to Argentina (1945) and assistant \Jsecretary of state\j for Latin American affairs (1946-47). He became a consultant to U.S. companies dealing with Latin American countries.
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"Bradfield, John Job Crew",5394,0,0,0
DT1 1867
DT2 1943
EN Civil engineer and designer, born in Sandgate, \JQueensland\j, \JAustralia\j. He studied at Sydney University, and designed the bridge across Sydney Harbour, eventually opened in 1932. He also planned an underground electric railway system for Sydney, and designed many other bridges, dams, and highways.
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"Bradford",5395,0,0,0
EN 53░48N 1░45W, urban area pop (1998e) 483 000. Town in West Yorkshire, N England, UK; part of West Yorkshire urban area; 15 km/9 mi W of Leeds and 310 km/193 mi NW of London; 19th-c development was based on the wool textile industry; railway; university (1966); textiles, textile machinery, \Jcoal\j, \Jengineering\j, micro-\Jelectronics\j; scene of major disaster (1985) when wooden stand of Bradford City Football Club caught fire, killing 56; City Hall (1873), Wool Exchange (1867), art gallery (1904), 15th-c cathedral; football league team, Bradford City (Bantams).
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"Bradford, Barbara Taylor",5396,0,0,0
DT1 1933
EN Journalist and novelist, born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. She joined the \IYorkshire Evening Post\i as reporter (1949--51) and women's editor (1951--3), became fashion editor of \IWoman's Own\i (1953--4), a columnist on \IThe London Evening News\i (1955--7), and executive editor of \IThe London American\i (1959--62).
Moving to the USA, she worked as a columnist for leading newspapers, including the \JChicago\j Tribune/New York Daily News Syndicate (1970--5) and the Los Angeles Times Syndicate (1975--81). She gained success with her first novel, \IWoman of Substance\i (1980), and later books include \IHold the Dream\i (1985), \IThe Women in his Life\i (1990), and \IHer Own Rules\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1980 Woman of Substance
1985 Hold the Dream
1990 The Women in his Life
1995 Dangerous to Know
1996 Her Own Rules
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#
"Bradford, David",5397,0,0,0
DT (fl. 1794)
EN political agitator; birthplace unknown. He was a popular prosecuting attorney in Washington County, Pa. He was the most prominent leader of the movement known as the Whiskey Rebellion (1794). He avoided capture by federal soldiers and fled to present-\Jday\j Louisiana.
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"Bradford, William (1590-1657)",5398,0,0,0
DT (1590-1657)
EN Pilgrim leader; born in Yorkshire, England. He came from a yeoman family. Although he was not formally educated, he began to read the \JBible\j at age 12, and he joined a separatist congregation (which met at William Brewster's house). He emigrated to Holland (1609-20) before coming to America on the \IMayflower.\i He signed the Mayflower Compact, helped to select the location of the Plymouth colony, and was the first elected governor in 1621.
He was re-elected thirty times in the next thirty-five years. It was largely because of his honesty, diligence, and administrative ability that the colony survived its difficult early years. He wrote the \IHistory of Plimoth Plantation, 1620-1647,\i which gave ample evidence of the moral steadfastness and resolve of the early Pilgrims and ensured their place in American history and \Jfolklore\j.
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"Bradford, William (1663-1752)",5399,0,0,0
DT (1663-1752)
EN printer; born in Leicester, England. Emigrating to \JPennsylvania\j in 1685, he set up the first colonial printing press outside New England and the first colonial paper mill; moving to New York, he founded that colony's first paper, the \INew-York Gazette,\i in 1725.
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"Bradlaugh, Charles",5400,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrad\blaw]
DT1 1833
DT2 91
EN Social reformer and free-thinker, born in London, England, UK. He became a busy secularist lecturer and pamphleteer under the name of 'Iconoclast'. In 1880 he was elected MP for Northampton but, as an unbeliever, he refused to take the oath, and was expelled and re-elected regularly until 1886, when he took the oath and his seat. In 1886 he was prosecuted, with Annie Besant, for republishing a pamphlet advocating \Jbirth control\j \I(The Fruits of Philosophy); \i the conviction was subsequently quashed on appeal.
MEX Besant, Annie; Stopes
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"Bradlee, Benjamin (Crowninshield)",5401,0,0,0
DT1 1921
EN Journalist and writer, born in \JBoston\j, \JMassachusetts\j, USA. A founder of the \INew Hampshire Sunday News\i, he subsequently joined the \IWashington Post\i and worked for \INewsweek\i. His book \IConversations with Kennedy\i appeared in 1975. In 1965 he became managing editor of the \IWashington Post\i, and encouraged the investigative journalism which reached its high point in the \JWatergate\j scandal.
Major Works
Publications
1975 Conversations with Kennedy
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"Bradley, A(ndrew) C(ecil)",5402,0,0,0
DT1 1851
DT2 1935
EN Critic, born in \JCheltenham\j, \JGloucestershire\j, SWC England, UK, the brother of Francis Herbert Bradley. He studied at Balliol College, Oxford, where he became a fellow in 1874. He was professor of literature and history at Liverpool (1882), of English language and literature at Glasgow (1890), and of poetry at Oxford (1901-6). He made his name with his magisterial \IShakespearean Tragedy\i (1904).
MEX Bradley, F H
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"Bradley, F(rancis) H(erbert)",5403,0,0,0
DT1 1846
DT2 1924
EN Philosopher, born in Clapham, Surrey, south-east England, UK, the brother of Andrew Cecil Bradley. He became a fellow of Merton College, Oxford (1870), but a kidney disease caused him to live as a semi-invalid most of his life. He was probably the most important figure in the British idealist movement of this period, and was much influenced by Kant and Hegel. His most important works are \IEthical Studies\i (1876), \IPrinciples of Logic\i (1883), and the highly original and influential \IAppearance and Reality\i (1893).
MEX Bradley, A C
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#
"Bradley, Henry",5404,0,0,0
DT1 1845
DT2 1923
EN British philologist and lexicographer. In 1886 he became joint editor of the \IOxford English Dictionary\i with Sir James Murray, and senior editor in 1915. He wrote \IThe Making of English\i (1904) and \IEnglish Place-Names\i (1910).
MEX Murray, James
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#
"Bradley, James",5405,0,0,0
DT (1693-1762)
EN English astronomer: discovered stellar aberration; obtained first accurate measurement of the speed of light and direct proof of Earth's motion.
Bradley was Halley's successor as Astronomer Royal. While attempting to observe \Jparallax\j in the position of g Draconis (caused by the Earth's movement across the diameter of its \Jorbit\j), Bradley found that the star did indeed appear to move, but that the greatest contrast was between September and March, not between December and June, as would be expected from \Jparallax\j. He deduced that the movement (aberration) he saw was related to the ratio of the velocity of light to the velocity of the Earth about the Sun (the latter is about 30 km s\U-1\u, and the ratio about 10 000:1).
This discovery allowed him to estimate the speed of light to be 3.083 x 10\U8\u m s\U-1\u, which is more accurate than R÷mer's value. It also gave the first direct evidence for the Earth's motion about the Sun. Bradley also discovered nutation, the wobble of the Earth's axis caused by the changing gravitational attraction of the Moon due to its slightly inclined \Jorbit\j. It was not until Bessel's work, a century later, that stellar \Jparallax\j was observed.
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"Bradley, Joseph P.",5406,0,0,0
DT (1813-92)
EN Supreme Court justice; born in Berne, N.Y. Appointed by President Grant to the U.S. Supreme Court (1870-92), he was active in the legal problems concerning the Reconstruction and cast the deciding electoral vote in the Hayes-Tilden presidential election (1877).
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"Bradley, Milton",5407,0,0,0
DT (1836-1911)
EN manufacturer; born in Vienna, Maine. After various positions as a draftsman, he became interested in \Jlithography\j and introduced the first lithograph press to Springfield, Mass. (1860). He printed and personally sold a new parlor game, "The Checkered Game of Life," and it was so profitable that he formed Milton Bradley and Company in 1864 to print games and game manuals. In 1869 he published the first book on kindergartens in the United States, \IParadise of Childhood,\i by the German \Jkindergarten\j pioneer, Friedrich Froebel.
Bradley followed up with a series of \Jkindergarten\j materials, newsletters, and children's books. Interested in teaching colors, he wrote and published four books including \IColor in the Kindergarten\i (1893). In 1893 his company began publishing the \IKindergarten Review,\i which became the journal of the International \JKindergarten\j Union. His partners retired in 1878 and he reorganized as Milton Bradley Company, which long retained its position as a leading American manufacturer of games and toys.
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"Bradley, Omar N(elson)",5408,0,0,0
DT (1893-1981)
EN soldier; born in Clark, Mo. The son of a schoolteacher, he graduated from West Point in 1915 and rose slowly through the grades in the peacetime army. A protΘgΘ of the army chief of staff, George C. Marshall, Bradley succeeded George C. Patton in command of the II Corps in 1943 and led it in the \JTunisia\j and \JSicily\j campaigns. He commanded the U.S. 1st Army in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944. On August 1 he assumed command of the 12th Army Group in \JFrance\j; with 1.4 million combat troops, it became the largest field command in U.S. history, which he commanded until the surrender of \JGermany\j in May 1945.
A hard-working, unassuming officer, known as the "GI general" for his concern for the welfare of ordinary soldiers, he earned a high reputation for his handling of large forces in battle. He later served as head of the Veterans Administration (1945-47) and as army chief of staff (1948-49). In 1949 he became the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He retired in 1953, and held a series of public and private posts during his late years.
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"Bradley, Will H.",5409,0,0,0
DT (1868-1962)
EN designer; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. He was a special student at Harvard, then worked as a poster and book designer in \JChicago\j (1893-94). He moved to Springfield, Mass. (1895), and later settled in Short Hills, N.J. He founded the Wayside Press and designed typefaces, furniture, and homes, developing his own style that seemed a cross between the Arts and Craft Movement with Art Nouveau, and bridged the transition from the individual hand craftsman to machine-produced work.
Although he did not see many of his designs get built, his illustrations in magazines such as the \ILadies Home Journal\i early in the 1900s did influence others. He served as an art director for \ICentury\i magazine and \ICollier's\i and wrote several children's books.
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"Bradman, Sir Don(ald George)",5410,0,0,0
DT1 1908
EN Cricketer, born in Cootamundra, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. One of the greatest batsmen in the history of the game, he played for \JAustralia\j from 1928 to 1948 (captain, 1936--48). He made the highest aggregate and largest number of centuries in Tests against England, and holds the record for the highest Australian Test score against England (334 at Leeds in 1930).
His batting average in Test matches was 99.94 runs per innings. The first Australian cricketer to be knighted (1949), he was chairman of the Australian Cricket Board (1960--3, 1969--72).
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"Bradshaw, George",5411,0,0,0
DT1 1801
DT2 53
EN Printer and Quaker, born in \JSalford\j, Greater Manchester, north-west England, UK. He became a Manchester mapmaker, but is best known for the series of railway guides \I(Bradshaws)\i which he originated in 1839.
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"Bradshaw, John",5412,0,0,0
DT1 1602
DT2 59
EN Judge, born near Stockport, Greater Manchester, north-west England, UK. Called to the bar in 1627, he held various appointments before being made president in 1649 at the trial of Charles I. He was made permanent president of the Council of State and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. However, his 'stiff republicanism' estranged him from Cromwell.
MEX Cromwell, Oliver
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"Bradshaw, Thornton F. (Frederick)",5413,0,0,0
DT (1917-88)
EN corporate executive; born in Washington, D.C. He taught at Harvard Business School (1942-52) after earning a Ph.D. there. As an executive and finally president of Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO) (1956-81), he developed a national reputation as a long-range strategic corporate planner. He was the last president of RCA (Radio Corporation of America) (1981-85), restoring its profitability before superintending its sale to General Electric.
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"Bradstreet, Anne",5414,0,0,0
DT (c. 1612-72)
EN poet; born in (?)Northampton, England. Educated privately, she married Simon Bradstreet; they were among the first to settle the \JMassachusetts\j Bay Colony (1630), of which he would twice serve as governor. She lived in \JIpswich\j (1635-45), then settled in North Andover (1645-72), all the while raising eight children under difficult conditions.
She is known as the first English poet in America; her work, \IThe Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America\i (1650), was published in England without her knowledge. Her early poetry was in a derivative literary style but her later poems (published posthumously in 1678) have a more direct, human tone.
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"Bradwell, Myra (b. Colby)",5415,0,0,0
DT (1831-94)
EN lawyer, editor; born in Manchester, Vt. After marrying a lawyer, James B. Bradwell, she studied the law, originally to help her husband; when she passed the bar exam in 1869, she was denied admission. Meanwhile, in 1868, she established the pioneer weekly \IChicago Legal News.\i
She got Illinois to grant everyone, irrespective of sex, access to professions (1882) and was finally admitted to the bar (1892). She promoted woman suffrage and women's rights in general and helped secure the World's Fair for \JChicago\j in 1893.
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"Brady, Ian",5416,0,0,0
DT1 1938
EN Convicted murderer, born in Glasgow, W Scotland, UK. He was found guilty of the murder of two children, John Kilbride (12) and Lesley Ann Downey (10), and a 17-year-old boy, Edward Evans, in 1966. In a case which horrified the public, it was revealed that Brady, with his lover \BMyra Hindley\b (1942-- ), from Gorton, lured young children into their home in Manchester and subjected them to torture before killing them. The lovers were described as the "Moors Murderers' because they buried most of their victims on Saddleworth Moor in the Pennines. Hindley confessed to two other murders in 1986.
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"Brady, James Buchanan",5417,0,0,0
DT (1856-1917)
EN financier; born in New York City. He worked for the New York Central Railroad, became a salesman of railroad equipment (1879) and then the only agent in the U.S.A. for the Fox Pressed Steel Car Truck Company of England (1888). Extremely rich and known for living in high style as one of the great Broadway "sports," he wore diamond jewelry estimated at $2 million in value. But he remained a serious businessman, active in several enterprises, and accumulated a large fortune, much of which he gave for urological studies at Johns Hopkins \JHospital\j and New York \JHospital\j. He never married.
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"Brady, Matthew, bushranger",5418,0,0,0
DT1 1799
DT2 1826
EN Bushranger, born in Manchester, Greater Manchester, north-west England, UK. In 1820, for stealing a basket of groceries, he was transported for seven years to \JNew South Wales\j. From there he was sent in 1823 to the penal colony of Macquarie Harbour in \JVan Diemen's Land\j (now \JTasmania\j), a penal station for desperate criminals. He escaped with a small group in the following year, and with his gang terrorized the island. He was eventually captured, and hanged in Hobart.
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"Brady, Matthew, photographer",5419,0,0,0
DT (1823-96)
EN photographer; born in Lake George, New York. Studying daguerreotype photography as a teenager, he got an early start, opening his own New York City studio in 1844 where he did portraits of famous Americans. In 1847 he opened a second studio in Washington, D.C.; he published \IThe Gallery of Illustrious Americans\i in 1850. Esteemed by Lincoln, he was the first photographer permitted to film at the Battle of Bull Run in 1861 where he was wounded. Assisted by Alexander Gardner and Tim O'Sullivan, he spent $100,000 to deploy teams of photographers who documented, with bulky silver \Jnitrate\j plate cameras, the major engagements in the \JCivil War\j (1861-65).
His images of individuals, groups, and battle scenes were widely reproduced, although Brady did not take many of the pictures attributed to him. Plagued by poor vision, he was forced to sell his war negatives to settle his debts in 1865; he died in poverty.
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"Brady, Nicholas",5420,0,0,0
EN See Tate, Nahum
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"Brady, William A. (Aloysius)",5421,0,0,0
DT (1863-1950)
EN actor, manager; born in \JSan Francisco\j. He is best known for the many plays he mounted at various theaters he managed in New York, including the Playhouse, which he built in 1911.
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"Braemar",5422,0,0,0
PN [bray\Bmah(r)\b]
EN 57░01N 3░24W. Village in Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland, UK, 10┐km / 6┐mi W of \JBalmoral Castle\j; tourism; Highland games (Aug).
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"Braga",5423,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrah\bga]
EN 41░32N 8░26W, pop (1995e) 90 200. Industrial capital of Braga district, 361 km/224 mi N of \JLisbon\j; former capital of the old region of Entre Minho and Douro; seat of the Primate of \JPortugal\j; university; electrical appliances, leather, cutlery, textiles; cathedral (11th-c); midsummer celebrations, Sπo Miguel fair and agricultural show (Sep).
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"Bragaglia, Anton Giulio",5424,0,0,0
DT 1890-1960
EN Italian theatre director and critic. Founder and director of the Teatro degli Indipendenti - an experimental avant-garde company working in \JRome\j between 1923 and 1930 and conceived to radically reform the conservative and conventional Italian stage of his \Jday\j - he pioneered new staging techniques and introduced the work of innovative young playwrights, including Brecht.
Connected early on with the futurist movement, he looked to technology to revolutionize a moribund theatre by emphasizing spectacle. He was a theorist as well as a practitioner: many of his early ideas found expression in his controversial Del teatro teatrale, ossia del teatro (About the Theatrical Theatre - that is, the Theatre, 1927).
His own experimentation was handicapped by the technical backwardness of the Italian stage. During the Fascist period he directed the Teatro delle Arti in \JRome\j, seeking where possible to advance new work and encourage young directing talent. His last years were devoted to theatre criticism and to studies of popular theatre.
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"Braganza",5425,0,0,0
PN [bra\Bgan\bza]
EN 41░47N 6░46W, pop (1995e) 16 500. Capital of Braganza district, NE \JPortugal\j, 15 km/9 mi from the Spanish border; original seat of the House of Braganza, rulers of \JPortugal\j, 1640--1910; bishopric; agricultural centre, silk weaving, olive oil; castle (1187), cathedral, town hall (12th-c), Bacal Abbey; Cantarinhas fair (May), Sπo Mateus fair (Sep).
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"Bragg, Braxton",5426,0,0,0
DT (1817-76)
EN soldier; born in Warrenton, N.C. He graduated from West Point in 1837 and served in the \JSeminole\j, Frontier, and Mexican wars. He left the army in 1856 to run a plantation in Louisiana; when war broke out Bragg commanded his state's militia. He led the Army of \JTennessee\j into Kentucky in the summer of 1862 but withdrew after the inconclusive battle of Perryville in October. He won a smashing victory over Union forces at Chickamauga in September 1863; but his defeat at Chattanooga two months later cost him his command.
Dour, irritable, and unpopular with his fellow soldiers, he later became a military adviser to President Davis. After the war, he served successively as public works commissioner in \JAlabama\j and as chief engineer of the Gulf, \JColorado\j and Santa Fe Railroad.
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"Bragg, Mabel Caroline",5427,0,0,0
DT (1870-1945)
EN writer, educator; born in Milford, Mass. She taught at the \JRhode Island\j State Normal School (1889-1909), worked in publishing, and embarked on a career in education in Newton, Mass., (1916-30) and \JBoston\j University (1930-40). She is also known for her children's books, notably \IThe Little Engine That Could\i (1945).
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"Bragg, Melvyn",5428,0,0,0
DT1 1939
EN Novelist and broadcaster, born in Wigton, Cumbria, NW England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and joined the BBC as a producer in 1961, publishing his first novel, \IFor Want of a Nail\i, in 1965. Later novels include \IThe Hired Man\i (1969), \IThe Silken Net\i (1974), \ILove and Glory\i (1983), \IA Time to Dance\i (1990), \ICrystal Rooms\i (1992), and \ICredo\i (1996).
His other writing includes screenplays and musicals. He has been presenter and editor of ITV's \IThe South Bank Show\i since 1978, and presenter of BBC Radio 4's \IStart the Week\i since 1988. He was head of arts (later, controller) at London Weekend Television (1982--90), and became chairman of Border Television in 1990.
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1965 For Want of a Nail
1966 The Second Inheritance
1968 Without a City Wall
1969 The Hired Man
1970 A Place in England
1971 The Nerve
1972 Josh Lawton
1974 The Silken Net
1976 A Christmas Child
1978 Autumn Manoeuvres
1980 Kingdom Come
1983 Love and Glory
1987 The Maid of Buttermere
1990 A Time to Dance
1992 Crystal Rooms
1996 Credo
\IOther\i
1976 Speak for England
1983 Land of the Lakes
1984 Laurence Olivier
1988 Rich: the life of Richard Burton
1993 The Seventh Seal: a study on Ingmar Bergman
\IScreenplays\i
1968 Isadora
1973 Jesus Christ Superstar
Clouds of Glory (with Ken Russell)
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"Bragg, Sir (William) Lawrence",5429,0,0,0
DT (1890-1971)
EN British physicist: founder with W H Bragg of X-ray \Jcrystallography\j.
Born in Adelaide, W Lake Bragg studied \Jmathematics\j there and at Cambridge, and in 1910 moved his interest to physics. Like his father, he was attracted by von Laue's observation that X-rays could be diffracted by crystals. Bragg showed that the condition for \Jdiffraction\j by a crystal with lattice planes (layers of atoms) \Id\i apart, for X-rays of wavelength \Fl\n and angle of incidence \Fq\n, is that \In\i \Fl\n = 2\Id\i sin\Fq\n (Bragg's Law) where \In\i is an integer.
The atomic layers of a crystal acted as mirrors, reflecting X-rays, with interference resulting from reflections at different layers when the angle of incidence met the above condition. Using an X-ray goniometer made by the father (who had taken instruction in instrument-making in Adelaide) the pair were able to measure X-ray wavelengths and then to measure \Id,\i the interatomic distance, in crystals of diamond, copper, sulphur and salts such as KCl (which they found contained only ions and no molecules). Previously, \Jcrystallography\j had been concerned with the angles at the exterior of crystals; now X-ray \Jcrystallography\j could study their atomic interior.
At 25, Lawrence Bragg was the youngest Nobel prizewinner, sharing the prize in 1915 with his father. In 1919 he became professor at Manchester and in 1938 at Cambridge. He developed methods whereby X-ray \Jdiffraction\j by crystals (giving on a photographic plate or film a pattern of spots whose position and intensity could be measured) can be used to determine \Jelectron\j density within the crystal and therefore the position of the atoms.
Modern \Jmetallurgy\j, \Jcrystallography\j and molecular \Jbiophysics\j owe much to his methods and to those of his co-workers in Cambridge. Like his father he became director of the Royal Institution (in 1954), did much to popularize science and was knighted.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Bragg also gave us Bragg's Law for x-ray \Jdiffraction\j. This tells us that when a beam of x-rays strikes a crystal surface in which the layers of atoms or ions are in a regular array, with regular gaps between them, the maximum intensity of the reflected ray occurs when the complement of the angle of incidence,\Fq\n , the wavelength of the x-rays, \Fl\n, and the distances between layers of atoms or ions, d, are related by the equation
2 d sin \Fq\n = n \Fl\n, where n is an integer.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Bragg, Sir William (Henry)",5430,0,0,0
DT (1862-1942)
EN British physicist: discovered characteristic X-ray spectra; and developed (with his son) X-ray \Jdiffraction\j methods for determining crystal structures.
Bragg is unusual among noteworthy researchers in that his first significant research was done when he was over 40. However, he had as co-worker after 1912 his son Lawrence (see entry above) and their success brought a Nobel Prize in 1915; they are the only father-son pair to share one. William studied at Cambridge and did so well in \Jmathematics\j that he was appointed professor in Adelaide in 1886.
In 1904 he gave a major lecture on the new subject of \Jradioactivity\j and was spurred by this to research on the subject. In 1909 he took up his duties as professor at Leeds and there began work on X-rays, inspired by von Laue's recent work.
In 1913 Bragg found that, when X-rays are generated by the impact of high-\Jenergy\j electrons on a \Jplatinum\j target, the resulting continuous spectrum of X-rays contains some lines whose position is characteristic of the metal target. Moseley was shortly to use these X-ray spectra in a valuable way. Bragg, with his son Lawrence, went on to examine the wavelengths of X-rays by using crystals (see entry above); their method founded X-ray \Jcrystallography\j.
W H Bragg moved to University College Lon-don in 1915, worked on submarine detection in the First World War, and became director of the Royal Institution in 1923.
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"Brahe, Tycho",5431,0,0,0
PN [brah-hoe]
DT (1546-1601)
EN Danish astronomer: produced important star catalogue; the greatest pre- telescopic observer.
Brahe, son of a nobleman, was brought up by a childless uncle who effectively kidnapped him, gave him a good education and planned a political career for him. However, young Tycho at 14 saw the partial solar \Jeclipse\j of 1560 and devoted his life to \Jastronomy\j thereafter.
Brahe was without doubt the greatest astronomical observer of the pre-telescopic era. In 1572 he observed a \Jnova\j (exploding star) in Cassiopeia, the first to be visible to the naked eye since 134 bc, and demonstrated that it was a 'fixed' star and outside the \Jsolar system\j. (It was brighter than Venus for more than a year.) This was cosmologically very important, as it had been believed since Aristotle's time that the stars were eternal and immovable. His observations made his reputation.
In 1577 the patronage of the king of Denmark, Frederick II, made possible his second great achievement. Frederick gave him the island of Hven as a gift for life, with funds to build the observatory of Uraniborg; Brahe furnished it with the best and largest instruments available, many of them designed by himself.
He devoted the next 20 years to measuring the positions of 777 stars with unprecedented accuracy, thus providing an invaluable body of information for later astronomers, particularly Kepler. He was probably the first to realize that multiple observations (such as he made) are much superior to single measurements in scientific work..
In 1596 Frederick's successor, Christian IV, forced Brahe to leave Hven. After 3 years of travelling he settled in \JPrague\j, sponsored by the mad emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Rudolph II. He was given a castle near \JPrague\j as an observatory, and acquired the young Kepler as his assistant; the association was very fruitful, although stormy. Brahe died 2 years later, leaving Kepler to publish their star catalogue, the Rudolphine Tables, in 1627.
Talented, energetic, eccentric and quarrelsome, Brahe lost most of his nose in a duel when at 19 he fought over a mathematical dispute; his false nose, made by himself from silver, can be seen in contemporary portraits. The \Jnova\j of 1572 is known as 'Tycho's star' and the best-known of lunar craters is also named after him. The magnificent Uraniborg observatory was destroyed by fire in the Thirty Years War.
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"Brahm, Otto",5432,0,0,0
DT 1856-1912
EN German director and critic. Brahm began his career as drama critic of conservative tastes on the Berlin newspapers Vossische Zeitung and Die Nation. However, enthused by the European naturalist movement (see \Jnaturalism\j) and the plays of Ibsen, in 1889 he founded the Freie Bⁿhne (Free Theatre), an organization devoted to the production of naturalistic drama in established theatres and using well known Berlin actors.
Brahm brought the plays of Gerhart Hauptmann to public attention. In 1894 Brahm was appointed director of the Deutsches Theater. Limited by his unremittingly naturalistic approach to production, he was unable to adapt to changing trends in theatre. In 1904, the more versatile Max Reinhardt took over the Deutsches Theater and Brahm's final years were spent as the director of the less prominent Lessingtheater.
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"Brahma",5433,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrah\bma]
EN The personified creator god of \JHinduism\j. The deities \JVishnu\j, \JShiva\j, and \JBrahma\j form the \ITrimurti\i of classical Indian thought. As \JVishnu\j and \JShiva\j represent opposite forces, \JBrahma\j represents the balance between them. \JBrahma\j is the all-inclusive deity behind all the gods of popular \JHinduism\j.
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"Brahman",5434,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrah\bman]
EN In \JHinduism\j, the eternal, impersonal Absolute Principle. It is the neuter form of \JBrahma\j, and is equated with cosmic unity.
BK b
#
"Brahman cattle",5435,0,0,0
EN See zebu
BK b
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#
"Brahmanas",5436,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrah\bmanas]
EN Priestly Indian texts appended over time to each of the Vedas. They describe, set out the grounds for, and enunciate the principles of the \JBrahmins\j' system of sacrifice.
BK b
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"Brahmanism",5437,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrah\bmanizm]
EN An early religion of India (though not the earliest), to which, historically, Indians have looked as the source of their religious traditions. It came to dominance during the Vedic Period (c.1200-500 BC) and was a religion of ritual and sacrifice. It gave supremacy to the Brahmin class, which exercised priestly authority over all aspects of life through their responsibility for the transmission of the sacred traditions and the performance of sacrifical rituals.
BK b
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"Brahmaputra, River",5438,0,0,0
PN [brama\Bpoo\btra]
HS , Chin \BYalu Zangbu,\b Bangla \BJamuna\b
EN River in south-west China and India, rising in the Tibetan \JHimalayas\j as the Maquan He R; flows E then S into Assam, becoming the Brahmaputra near Sadiya; then flows S into \JBangladesh\j, joining the River Ganges before entering the Bay of Bengal through a vast delta; length c.2900┐km / 1800┐mi.
BK b
#
"Brahmins",5439,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrah\bminz]
EN The highest of the four Hindu social classes. A priestly class, the \JBrahmins\j dominated Indian society for many centuries. Owing to modern economic and social changes, many of their descendants took up secular occupations. Recently they have come under critical attack by some lower-caste movements.
BK b
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"Brahmo Samaj",5440,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrah\bmoh sam\Bahj\b]
EN (\JHindi\j, 'divine Society') A theistic movement founded by Ram Mohan Roy in 1828 which argued that reason should form the true basis of \JHinduism\j. Influenced by \JIslam\j, \JChristianity\j, and modern science, it sought a return to the purity of Hindu worship through an emphasis on \Jmonotheism\j, the rejection of idol-worship, and the reform of Hindu social practices.
BK b
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"Brahms, Johannes",5441,0,0,0
DT1 1833
DT2 97
EN Composer, born in \JHamburg\j, \JGermany\j. The son of a poor orchestral musician, he earned his living as a pianist until 1853, when he was able to concentrate on composition. He toured with the Hungarian violinist RemΘnyi, meeting Joachim and Liszt, and then Schumann, who helped Brahms publish his \Jpiano\j sonatas. He settled in Vienna, making occasional public appearances in \JAustria\j and \JGermany\j. Firmly based on classical foundations, his works contain hardly any programme music.
His great orchestral works are comparatively late, the first, \IVariations on a Theme of Haydn,\i appearing when he was 40. His main works include four symphonies, two \Jpiano\j concertos, a violin \Jconcerto\j, a large amount of chamber and \Jpiano\j music, and many songs. His greatest choral work is the \IGerman Requiem\i (first performed complete in 1869).
MEX Schumann, Clara; Schumann, Robert
SX m
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"Braid, James, golfer",5442,0,0,0
DT1 1870
DT2 1950
EN Golfer, born in Earlsferry, Fife, E Scotland, UK. He trained as a joiner, and went to work in St Andrews, the home of golf, where he became an outstanding player. He won the Open championship five times (1901-10), four \INews of the World\i matchplay championships (1903-11), and the French Championship (1910). With Harry Vardon and John Henry Taylor he formed what was known as the 'Great \JTriumvirate\j' of British golf in the Edwardian era.
MEX Taylor, John Henry; Vardon
SX m
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#
"Braid, James, surgeon",5443,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT1 1795
DT2 1860
EN Surgeon and hypnotist, born in Rylawhouse, Fife, E Scotland, UK. He studied at Edinburgh University, and spent most of his life practising surgery in Manchester. In 1841 he attended a popular demonstration of 'Mesmerism' and devoted much of the rest of his working life to investigating the phenomena associated with what he himself first called \Ineurohypnotism,\i later shortened to \Ihypnotism.\i
SX m
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#
"braille",5444,0,0,0
PN [brayl]
EN A communication system designed to enable blind people to have access to written language; devised by Louis \JBraille\j. It consists of a sequence of cells, each of which contains a 3┐╫┐2 matrix of embossed dots, whose patterns can be sensed through the fingers. In the basic system, the patterns represent letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and several short words. Computer-assisted systems are now available which can turn written text into \Jbraille\j.
BK b
#
"Braille, Louis",5445,0,0,0
PN [brayl]
DT1 1809
DT2 52
EN Educationist, born in Coupvray, \JFrance\j. Blind from the age of three, at 10 he entered the Institution des Jeunes Aveugles in Paris. He studied organ playing, and became professor of the Institute in 1826. In 1829 he devised a system of raised-point writing which the blind could both read and write.
MEX Moon
SX m
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#
"Brailsford, Henry Noel",5446,0,0,0
DT1 1873
DT2 1958
EN Socialist writer and political journalist, born in Yorkshire, N England, UK. He studied at Glasgow University, and became assistant professor of logic there, leaving to join the Greek Foreign Legion in the war with Turkey (1897). His \JSocialism\j was pre-eminently international in outlook and was the key to everything he did (see \IThe War of Steel and Gold,\i 1914). He joined the Independent Labour Party in 1907 and edited its weekly publication, \IThe New Leader\i (1922-6).
SX m
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#
"brain",5447,0,0,0
EN The part of the central \Jnervous system\j of bilaterally symmetrical animals which co-ordinates and controls many bodily activities to an extent that depends upon the species. In humans, in addition to the control of movement, sensory input, and a wide range of physiological processes, it acts as the organ of thought, with several areas being specialized for specific intellectual functions (eg language, calculation).
It occupies the cranial cavity, and can be divided into the \Bforebrain\b (the \Icerebral hemispheres\i and \Idiencephalon),\i \Bmidbrain,\b and \Bhindbrain\b (the \Icerebellum,\i \Ipons,\i and \Imedulla oblongata).\i It is continuous with the spinal cord at the medulla oblongata (part of the \Bbrain stem).\b The cerebral hemispheres and brain stem contain cavities (the \Iventricles)\i which are continuous with the central canal of the spinal cord, and within which cerebrospinal fluid is produced. The brain also gives rise to the 12 pairs of cranial nerves.
BK b
#
"brain death",5448,0,0,0
EN The cessation of brain activity, including in particular the death of the neurological centres in the brain stem concerned with \Jrespiration\j and other vital functions. It must be certified by two doctors who can demonstrate the absence of electrical impulses from the brain surface (a flat \JEEG\j), and the failure of the pupils to react to light and the eyes to oscillate \I(nystagmus)\i in response to the introduction of warm and cold \Jwater\j into the external ear canal. The diagnosis is usually made on an individual in a coma whose \Jrespiration\j is being artificially sustained and whose heart has not ceased to beat.
BK b
#
"brain stem",5449,0,0,0
EN That part of the \Jnervous system\j between the spinal cord and the forebrain, consisting of (from above) the \Imidbrain,\i \Ipons,\i and \Imedulla oblongata.\i Through it the cerebral hemispheres communicate with the rest of the central \Jnervous system\j. The cardiac, respiratory, vasomotor, and other 'vital' physiological centres are located in the medulla. On the rear surface of the midbrain are four rounded projections \I(colliculi)\i arranged in pairs; these receive and transmit impulses for the reflex rotatory movements of the eyes, head, body, and limbs away from or towards light and sound stimuli.
BK b
#
"Brain, Dennis",5450,0,0,0
DT1 1921
DT2 57
EN Horn player, born in London, England, UK. He studied under his father \BAubrey Brain\b (1893-1955) at the Royal Academy of Music, also becoming an organist, then worked with the Royal Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestras as chief horn player. Amongst the composers who wrote works especially for him were Britten, Hindemith, and Malcolm Arnold.
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#
"Brainard, Daniel",5451,0,0,0
DT (1812-66)
EN surgeon, educator; born in \JOneida\j County, N.Y. He helped found Rush Medical College in \JChicago\j (1843), with which he was affiliated until his death; he taught anatomy and surgery and wrote various medical works including a classic one on fractures (1854). He also helped found the first general \Jhospital\j in \JChicago\j (1847).
BK AmBg
#
"Braine, John (Gerard)",5452,0,0,0
DT1 1922
DT2 86
EN Writer, born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. The success of his first book, \IRoom at the Top\i (1957), enabled him to become a full-time novelist. The theme of aggressive ambition and determination to break through social barriers identified him with the 'Angry Young Men' of the 1950s. His novels deal mostly with the north of England and northerners, and include \IThe Vodi\i (1959), \ILife at the Top\i (1962), and \IOne and Last Love\i (1981). Many of his writings have been adapted for \Jtelevision\j.
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"Brainerd, David",5453,0,0,0
DT (1718-47)
EN Protestant missionary; born in Haddam, Conn. An emotional, sickly child, he achieved a religious conversion after much anguish in 1739. He was expelled from Yale in 1742 for making derogatory remarks about a tutor, but he obtained a license to preach and ministered to Indian tribes in \JMassachusetts\j, \JPennsylvania\j, and \JNew Jersey\j. Poor health forced him from the field in early 1747, and he died shortly thereafter. Jonathan Edwards published an account of his life in 1749.
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"Braithwaite, Edward Kamau",5454,0,0,0
DT1 1930
EN Poet and academic historian, born in \JBridgetown\j, \JBarbados\j. His major achievement is contained in \IThe Arrivants: a New World Trilogy\i (1973), which comprises his first three volumes: \IRights of Passage\i (1967), \IMasks\i (1968), and \IIslands\i (1969). Later works include \IMother Poem\i (1972) and \ISun Poem\i (1982). His historical writing includes \IThe Folk Culture of the Slaves of Jamaica\i (1970).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPoetry\i
1967 Rights of Passage
1968 Masks
1969 Islands
1972 Mother Poem
1975 Other Exiles
1975 Days and Nights
1976 Black and Blues
1982 Sun Poem
1983 Third World Poems
\IOther\i
1970 The Folk Culture of the Slaves of Jamaica
1984 History of the Voice: The Development of Nation Language in Anglophone Caribbean Poetry
BK Biog99
#
"Braithwaite, R(ichard) B(evin)",5455,0,0,0
DT1 1900
DT2 90
EN Philosopher, born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, SC England, UK. He studied physics and \Jmathematics\j at Cambridge, but switched to philosophy. He became a fellow at Cambridge (1924), lecturer in moral science (1928-53), and professor of moral philosophy (1953-67).
He is best known for his theories in the philosophy of science, and the study of moral and religious philosophy, particularly the application of mathematical game theory. Notable works include \IScientific Explanation\i (1953) and \ITheory of Games as a Tool for the Moral Philosopher\i (1955).
SX m
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#
"Braithwaite, William Stanley (Beaumont)",5456,0,0,0
DT (1878-1962)
EN writer, editor; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. (of West Indian parents). Not formally educated after high school, he helped promote American poetry as literary critic of the \IBoston Daily Evening Transcript\i (1905-29) and editor of the influential annual \IAnthology of Magazine Verse\i (1913-29).
He encouraged many young African-American writers who would contribute to the Harlem Renaissance, and he himself wrote poetry, criticism, and essays; his \ISelected Poems\i was published in 1948. He won the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's prestigious Spingarn Medal (1918). He joined the faculty of the first African-American graduate school at \JAtlanta\j University (1935-45).
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#
"brake",5457,0,0,0
EN A device used to apply a force to an object to retard its motion. The most common method is to bring the moving surface into contact with a fixed surface, thereby generating friction which opposes the direction of movement. The two types of brake most commonly used on motor cars are \Bdrum brakes\b and \Bdisc brakes.\b
BK b
#
"brake horsepower (bhp)",5458,0,0,0
EN The power delivered by an engine to its output shaft, immediately prior to its transmission to other devices for useful work. For example, the brake \Jhorsepower\j of a medium-sized family car engine would be c.60-80┐bhp, while a very large tanker's marine diesel engine would produce c.40┐000┐bhp.
BK b
#
"Bramah, Joseph",5459,0,0,0
PN [\Bbra\bma]
DT1 1748
DT2 1814
EN Inventor, born in Stainborough, South Yorkshire, N England, UK. He made numerous inventions, including a beer machine used at the bar of public-houses, a safety lock, a hydraulic press (1795), and a machine for printing bank-notes (1806). He was one of the first to propose the application of the screw-propeller.
SX m
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#
"Bramante, Donato",5460,0,0,0
PN [bra\Bman\btay]
HS , originally \BDonato di Pascuccio d'Antonio\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1444
DT2 1514
EN High Renaissance architect, born near Urbino, \JItaly\j. He started as a painter, and worked in Milan (1477-99), where he executed his first building projects, such as Sta Maria delle Grazie. He was employed in \JRome\j from 1499 by Popes Alexander VI and Julius II. He designed the new \JBasilica\j of St Peter's (begun in 1506), as well as the Belvedere courtyard, the Tempietto di Sta Pietro in Montorio (1502), the Palazzo dei Tribunale (1508), and the Palazzo Caprini (1514).
SX m
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#
"bramble",5461,0,0,0
EN See \Jblackberry\j
BK b
XCY y
#
"brambling",5462,0,0,0
EN A finch native to the N Old World \I(Fringilla montifringilla); \i inhabits forests; eats seeds and insects; migrates to the Mediterranean and N Africa for winter. \B(Family:\b \JFringillidae\j.)
BK b
#
"bran",5463,0,0,0
EN The protective coat surrounding a cereal seed which, because of its high fibre content, is becoming increasingly common as a component of human foods. It comprises about 12% of the seed.
BK b
#
"Branagh, Kenneth (Charles)",5464,0,0,0
PN [\Bbran\ba]
DT1 1960
EN Actor and director, born in \JBelfast\j, NE Northern Ireland, UK. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1984. In 1987 he co-founded and became co-director of the Renaissance Theatre Company, starring in successful tours in 1988 and 1989.
He has appeared in \Jtelevision\j drama and in several films, including the remake of \IHenry V\i (1989), which he also directed, \IMuch Ado About Nothing\i (1993) and \IIn the Bleak Midwinter\i (1995). He directed and starred in a 4-hour film production of \IHamlet\i in 1997. He married actress Emma Thompson in 1989 (separated, 1995), and was European Actor of the Year in 1990.
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1987 A Month in the Country
1987 High Season
1989 \JHenry V\j (also director)
1991 Dead Again (also director)
1992 Peter's Friends (also director)
1993 Swing Kids
1993 Much Ado About Nothing (also director)
1994 Mary Shelley's \JFrankenstein\j (also director)
1996 Othello
1997 Hamlet (also director)
\IWriter/director\i
1995 In the Bleak Midwinter
BK Biog99
#
"Branchiopoda",5465,0,0,0
PN [brangki\Bop\boda]
EN A diverse class of aquatic crustaceans found mostly in inland waters, from fresh to hypersaline, and occasionally in the sea; characterized by leaf-like trunk limbs that act as food-gathering apparatus and as gills; contains c.820 living species, including \Jtadpole\j shrimps, fairy shrimps, clam shrimps, and water fleas.
BK b
#
"Brancusi, Constantin",5466,0,0,0
PN [bran\Bkoo\bzee]
DT1 1876
DT2 1957
EN Sculptor, born in Pestisani, \JRomania\j. He won a scholarship to the \JBucharest\j Academy and arrived in Paris in 1904. 'The Kiss' (1908) was his most abstract sculpture of the period, representing two block-like figures. His 'Sleeping Muse' (1910) shows Rodin's influence, but is the first of his many characteristic, highly polished egg-shaped carvings. Other works include several versions of 'Mademoiselle Pogany' (1913-31), 'Bird in Space' (1925), and 'The Sea Lions' (1943).
MEX Rodin
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#
"Brand, Max",5467,0,0,0
EN See Faust, Frederick Shiller (Max Brand, pen name)
BK AmBg
#
"Brand, Stewart",5468,0,0,0
DT1 1938
EN Editor and writer, born in Rockford, Illinois, USA. He studied at Stanford, and became associated with the Merry Pranksters, a west-coast group of bohemian writers and intellectuals. He then became the founding editor of the counterculture \IThe Whole Earth Catalogue\i series (1968--71), and later editor-in-chief of \IThe Whole Earth Software Catalogue\i (1983--5).
He became a research scientist at the Media Lab of the \JMassachusetts\j Institute of Technology in 1986, and published an account of its work the following year.
BK Biog99
#
"Brandπo, Ra·l",5469,0,0,0
DT 1867-1930
EN Portuguese playwright. Before the vogue for literary \Jexistentialism\j caught on anywhere, Brandπo wrote plays about the existential position of man, with the emotional accent on the pain, deprivations, frustrations and brevity of life. Two apprentice plays of the turn of the century were followed by O Gebo e a Sombra (Hunchback and Shadow, 1927), the only play performed professionally in his lifetime; two longish one-acters; two dramatic monologues; and a tragicomedy, Jesus Cristo em Lisboa (1927). Brandπo's burning compassion and his dramatic power have ensured the growth of his reputation and influence in latter years.
BK Thea
#
"Brandauer, Klaus Maria von",5470,0,0,0
PN [\Bbran\bdower]
DT1 1944
EN Actor, born in Alt Aussee, \JAustria\j. He worked for many years in theatre in \JGermany\j and in Vienna, where he has long been associated with the Burgtheater. He made his film debut in 1972, and became internationally known after his role in \IMephisto\i (1980), which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. He received an Oscar nomination for his role as Baron Blixen in \IOut of Africa\i (1985). Later films include \IHanussen\i (1988) and \IThe \JRussia\j House\i (1990).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1972 The \JSalzburg\j Connection
1980 Mephisto
1983 Never Say Never Again
1985 Out Of Africa
1985 Colonel Redl
1988 Hanussen
1990 The \JRussia\j House
\IDirector\i
1989 Seven Minutes
BK Biog99n
#
"Brandeis, Louis (Dembitz)",5471,0,0,0
DT (1856-1941)
EN Supreme Court justice; born in \JLouisville\j, Ky. During his private practice in St. Louis and \JBoston\j (1879-1916), he became known as "the people's attorney" for taking on cases - often for no fee - that fought against the "excesses of capital" in the insurance industry, public utilities, and railroads. His most notable case came in 1908 when he was the first to present to the U.S. Supreme Court what became known as a "Brandeis brief" - an argument (supporting minimum wage legislation) based on sociological, economic, and even physiological data, as opposed to traditional legal arguments.
As an outspoken opponent of monopolies and an advocate of reform, he had a direct influence on the economic platform that Woodrow Wilson adopted in his presidential campaign in 1912. In 1914 he published \IOther People's Money: and How Bankers Use It,\i and when Wilson nominated him to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1916, he was regarded as so radical by many Americans that his nomination was debated for four months by the Senate Judiciary Committee before he was confirmed.
He also became the first Jew appointed to the Supreme Court and he would take an active role in the Zionist movement. On the court (1916-39), he criticized the strict, absolutist approach to the Constitution, preferring decisions that took into account social and economic conditions; he even acknowledged that "prevailing public opinion concerning evil and the remedy is among the important facts deserving consideration"; and he was an early proponent of conservation.
Such positions often left him with the dissenting minority, especially when President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal legislation came up for review. Brandeis University (Waltham, Mass.), founded in 1948, was named after him.
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#
"Brandenburg Gate",5472,0,0,0
EN An arch designed by Carl Langhans (1733-1808) and erected in Berlin in 1788-91. The monument, which was badly damaged during World War 2, was restored in 1958.
BK b
#
"Brandenburg or Brandenburg an der Havel",5473,0,0,0
PN [\Bbran\bdnberg]
EN 52░25N 12░34E, pop (1995e) 99 200. Industrial city in Brandenburg district, \JPotsdam\j, EC \JGermany\j; on R Havel, W of Berlin; former centre of the Prussian province of Brandenburg, part of which is now in \JPoland\j; much rebuilding after severe damage in World War 2; railway; steel, textiles, machinery.
BK Geog99
#
"Brandes, Georg",5474,0,0,0
DT 1842-1927
EN Danish critic and theorist. He was the major instigator in 1870s Scandinavia of the 'modern breakthrough' of rational, progressive thinking and naturalistic literature (see \Jnaturalism\j). The controversy caused by his own questioning of accepted social views led to his spending the years 1877-83 in exile in \JGermany\j, where he had frequent contact with Ibsen, who was stirred to write his realistic plays by Brandes's campaign.
Through his prolific writings, Brandes became a major promoter of Ibsen, Kierkegaard, Strindberg, Bj°rnson, J. P. Jacobsen and other Scandinavian writers, both at home and abroad. Equally importantly, he promoted within Scandinavia such diverse figures as John Stuart Mill, Taine, Dostoevsky and, above all, Nietzsche.
BK Thea
#
"Brandes, Johann Christian",5475,0,0,0
DT 1735-99
EN German actor and playwright. An actor of little distinction, Brandes made his mark by his facile pen. His plays, thoroughly forgotten now, were successful in their \Jday\j. He is best known now for his \Jautobiography\j (1800), which is one of the chief sources for the theatre history of the late 18th century. Brandes was briefly, and unsuccessfully, manager of the \JHamburg\j Town Theatre while Friedrich Schr÷der was away in Vienna.
BK Thea
#
"Brando, Marlon",5476,0,0,0
DT1 1924
EN Film and stage actor, born in Omaha, \JNebraska\j, USA. A product of the New York Actors' Studio, he made his debut in 1943, and appeared in several plays before achieving fame in \IA Streetcar Named Desire\i (1947). His many films include \IThe Wild One\i (1953), \IJulius Caesar\i (1953), \IOne-Eyed Jacks\i (which he also directed, 1961), \IMutiny on the Bounty\i (1962), and \ILast Tango in Paris\i (1972).
An Oscar winner for \IOn the Waterfront\i (1954) and \IThe Godfather\i (1972), he refused the latter honour in protest at the film industry's treatment of \JAmerican Indians\j, and has been a prominent campaigner for the Civil Rights movement. He ended a period of absence from the screen with the anti-\Japartheid\j drama \IA Dry White Season\i (1988), the comedy \IThe Freshman\i (1990), and \IDon Juan de Marco\i (1995).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1950 The Men
1951 A Streetcar Named Desire
1952 Viva Zapata
1953 The Wild One
1953 Julius Caesar
1954 DesirΘe
1954 On the Waterfront
1955 Guys and Dolls
1956 The Teahouse of the August Moon
1957 Sayonara
1958 The Young Lions
1961 One-Eyed Jacks (also director)
1962 Mutiny on the Bounty
1966 The Chase
1966 Appaloosa
1967 Reflections in a Golden Eye
1967 A Countess from Hong Kong
1968 Candy
1972 Last Tango in Paris
1972 The Godfather
1976 The Missouri Breaks
1978 Superman
1979 Apocalypse Now
1979 Roots: The Next Generation (TV)
1988 A Dry White Season
1990 The Freshman
1995 Don Juan de Marco
\ITheatre\i
1947 A Streetcar Named Desire
BK Biog99
#
"Brandreth, Gyles (Daubeney)",5477,0,0,0
DT1 1948
EN British writer, broadcaster, and politician. He studied at Oxford, where he became president of the Oxford Union, and editor of \IIsis\i. He worked as a freelance journalist from 1968, and as a columnist for several magazines, including the \ITV Times\i.
He founded the National Scrabble Championships in 1971, and has on three occasions held the world record for length of after-dinner speech. Long interested in word games, and the quirks and eccentricities of language, his books include \II Scream for Ice Cream\i (1974), \IThe Book of Mistaikes\i (1982), and many more on puzzles and entertainment.
Other writing includes novels, such as \IWho is Nick Saint?\i (1996), and many books for children. He is best known for his \Jtelevision\j series, such as \IChatterbox\i (1977--8) and \ICatchword\i (1986), and he presented for TV-AM (1983--90). He became an MP in 1992.
\BMajor Works\b
\IPublications\i
1972 Created in Captivity
1972 Brandreth's Party Games
1973 Discovering Pantomime
1973 Brandreth's Bedroom
1974 I Scream for Ice Cream
1976 A Royal Scrapbook
1976 Yarooh!
1977 The Funniest Man on Earth
1978 The Magic of Houdini
1978 The Complete Husband
1979 Pears Book of Words
1979 The Last Word
1980 The Joy of Lex
1982 More Joy of Lex
1982 Great Theatrical Disasters
1982 The Book of Mistaikes
1983 The Complete Public Speaker
1984 John Gielgud: a celebration
1984 Great Sexual Disasters
1985 Wit Knits (with George Hostler)
1986 Cats' Tales
1987 Knitability (with Linda O'Brien)
1987 Even Greater Sexual Disasters
\INovels\i
1996 Who is Nick Saint?
\IEditor\i
1990 Everyman's Modern Phrase and Fable
\IAutobiography\i
1993 Under the Jumper
BK Biog99
#
"Brandt, Bill",5478,0,0,0
PN [brant]
HS , popular name of \BWilliam Brandt\b
DT1 1904
DT2 83
EN Photographer, born in London, England, UK. He studied with Man Ray in Paris in 1929 and returned to London in 1931. Later in the 1930s he made a series of striking social records, contrasting the lives of the rich and the poor, and during World War 2 he worked for the ministry of information recording conditions in London in the Blitz. His greatest creative work was his treatment of the nude, in which his essays in pure form, as published in \IPerspective of Nudes\i (1961) and \IShadows of Light\i (1966), approached the surreal.
MEX Ray, Man
SX m
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#
"Brandt, Willy",5479,0,0,0
PN [brant]
HS , originally \BKarl Herbert Frahm\b
DT1 1913
DT2 92
EN West German statesman and chancellor (1969-74), born in Lⁿbeck, \JGermany\j. He joined the Social Democrats at 17 and, as a fervent anti-Nazi, fled to \JNorway\j (1933), where he changed his name. In 1940 he went to Sweden, working as a journalist in support of the German and Norwegian resistance movements. In 1945 he returned to \JGermany\j, and was a member of the Bundestag (1949-57). A pro-Western, anti-Communist leader, he became mayor of West Berlin (1957-66), achieving international renown during the Berlin Wall crisis (1961).
In 1966 he led his party into a coalition government with the Christian Democrats under Kiesinger's chancellorship and, as foreign minister, instituted a policy of reconciliation between East and West Europe \I(Ostpolitik).\i He was elected chancellor in 1969, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1971, but was forced to resign the chancellorship following the discovery that a close aide had been an East German spy. He headed an influential international commission (the \IBrandt Commission)\i on economic development (1977-83).
MEX Kiesinger
SX m
BK bg b
#
"brandy",5480,0,0,0
EN A spirit distilled from fermented fruit, usually grapes, but also from stone fruits such as cherries. Cognac is produced in the Charente basin, \JFrance\j, from white grapes aged for a minimum of 2 years in barrels of Limousin oak. Armagnac is produced to the S of this area, and matured in 'black' oak. Calvados is made from \Jcider\j in Normandy. Brandies are produced in most countries that grow grapes.
BK b
#
"Brandywine, Battle of the",5481,0,0,0
EN (11 Sep 1777) A battle fought during the US War of Independence, taking its name from the Brandywine Creek near Philadelphia, PA. British forces under Howe defeated Washington's troops, who were attempting to defend \JPennsylvania\j.
BK b
#
"Brangwyn, Sir Frank",5482,0,0,0
DT1 1867
DT2 1956
EN Artist, born in Bruges, \JBelgium\j. He was apprenticed to William Morris for four years, and then went to sea and travelled widely. Although he excelled in many media, particularly in etching, he was most famous for his vigorously coloured murals, such as his '\JBritish Empire\j Panels' (1925, Swansea Guildhall). In 1936 a Brangwyn Museum was opened in Bruges.
MEX Morris, William
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Brannan, Samuel",5483,0,0,0
DT (1819-89)
EN \JCalifornia\j pioneer; born in Saco, Maine. A journeyman printer, he became a Mormon (1842) and led a Mormon group to \JCalifornia\j by sea (1846). He published \JSan Francisco\j's first newspaper, the \ICalifornia Star,\i served on the first city council, and helped to organize the Society of \JCalifornia\j Pioneers.
BK AmBg
#
"Branner, H(ans) C(hristian)",5484,0,0,0
DT 1903-66
EN Danish novelist and playwright. He began writing radio plays in the early 1930s, followed in the 1950s by three stage plays: The Riding Master, adapted from his 1949 novel (1950), The Siblings, known in English as The Judge (1952), and Thermopylae (1958).
While his radio work is technically innovative, his stage plays are conventionally realistic, with occasional symbolic \Jresonances\j. Their power stems from his passionate concern with such themes as the crisis of \Jhumanism\j in an alienated postwar world and the redemptive power of love, an idea that permeates his radio play A Play of Love and Death (1961).
BK Thea
#
"Branner, Robert (J.)",5485,0,0,0
DT (1927-73)
EN architectural historian; born in New York City. His many publications on French Gothic \Jarchitecture\j include \IBurgundian Gothic Architecture\i (1960). He taught art history and archaeology at Columbia University (1957-73).
BK AmBg
#
"Branson, Richard (Charles Nicholas)",5486,0,0,0
DT1 1950
EN Businessman, born in Sharnley Green, Surrey, SE England, UK. He launched a mail-order business in discount records in 1969, opening his first shop in London in 1971, under the name Virgin.
This was followed by a series of highly successful business enterprises, including a recording company, various retailing operations, the travel company Voyager Group (1980), the airline Virgin Atlantic (1984), Virgin Radio (1993), Virgin Direct (1995), and V2 Music (1996).
He is also known for his sporting achievements, notably the record-breaking Atlantic crossing in \IVirgin Atlantic Challenger II\i in 1986, and the first crossing by hot-air \Jballoon\j of the Atlantic (1987) and Pacific (1991).
BK Biog99
#
"brant",5487,0,0,0
EN See brent goose
BK b
XCY y
#
"Brant, Gerald Clark",5488,0,0,0
DT (1880-1958)
EN aviator; born in Chariton, \JIowa\j. A 1904 West Point graduate, he served on the Mexican border and in the \JPhilippines\j before transferring to the air service in 1917. During World War II, he held a senior air force training command in \JFlorida\j.
BK AmBg
#
"Brant, Joseph",5489,0,0,0
DT (1742-1807)
EN Mohawk chief; born along the Ohio River in present-\Jday\j Ohio. As a young man, he sided with the British in their war against the French and was befriended by Sir William Johnson, who sent him to a school in Connecticut. Brant converted to \JChristianity\j, and returned to his people as a missionary; he translated the Episcopal Prayer Book and part of the \JNew Testament\j into Mohawk. During the \JAmerican Revolution\j, now fighting with the British against the colonists, he participated in various raids in New York State's Mohawk Valley - including the infamous Cherry Valley Massacre (1778).
He ended the war with the British rank of colonel and had to move with his people into Canada. In 1785 he went to England to obtain compensation for the Indians' losses in the war. He built one of the first Episcopalian churches in Canada and although he became an advocate for peace in the 1790s he was not afraid to stand up against those who tried to take away the Mohawks' land.
BK AmBg
#
"Brant, Sebastian",5490,0,0,0
DT1 1458
DT2 1521
EN Poet and humanist, born in Strassburg, \JGermany\j. He studied and lectured at \JBasel\j. He is best known for his \Jallegory\j \IDas Narrenschiff\i (1494), a satire on the follies and vices of his times, the most famous German literary work of his century. It was translated into English as \IThe Shyp of Folys\i by Alexander Barclay and Henry Watson in 1509.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Branting, Karl Hjalmar",5491,0,0,0
DT1 1860
DT2 1925
EN Swedish statesman and prime minister (1920, 1921-3, 1924-5), born in Stockholm. He was co-founder of the Social Democratic Party in 1889, becoming leader of the party from 1907. In 1921 he shared the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in international diplomacy.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Brant⌠me, Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de (Lord of)",5492,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1530
DT2 1614
EN French soldier and writer, born in PΘrigord, \JFrance\j. He studied at Paris and at Poitiers. In 1561 he accompanied Mary, Queen of Scots, to Scotland, and joined the expedition sent to Malta to assist the Knights of St John against the sultan (1565); he also served in \JItaly\j, Africa, and \JHungary\j. He was made chamberlain to Charles IX and Henry III (of France), and fought against the \JHuguenots\j. From c.1594 he began to write his memoirs, and lived in retirement.
MEX Charles IX; Mary, Queen of Scots; Henry III (of \JFrance\j)
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"Braque, Georges",5493,0,0,0
PN [brak]
DT1 1882
DT2 1963
EN Painter, born in Argenteuil, \JFrance\j. He was one of the founders of classical \JCubism\j, and worked with Picasso (1908-14). After World War 1 he developed a personal nongeometric, semi-abstract style. His paintings are mainly of still-life, the subject being transformed into a two-dimensional pattern, and they are among the outstanding decorative achievements of our time, with a pervasive influence on other painters. Two of his paintings are 'The Port of La Ciotat' (1907, John Hay Whitney Collection, New York) and 'The Black Birds' (1957, AimΘ Maeght Collection).
MEX Picasso
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"Brashear, John Alfred",5494,0,0,0
DT (1840-1920)
EN astronomical instrument-maker; born in Brownsville, Pa. A \JPittsburgh\j steel mill mechanic by \Jday\j, by night he was an amateur \Jtelescope\j maker. Because \Jastronomy\j was beginning to attract large donations from philanthropists, in 1881 he was able to start the John A. Brashear Company, builders of astrophysical research instruments. He built George Ellery Hale's first spectroheliograph. The company was bought in 1926 by J. W. Fecker of Cleveland.
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"Brasher, Chris(topher William)",5495,0,0,0
PN [\Bbray\bsher]
DT1 1928
EN British writer, broadcaster, and athlete. He studied at Cambridge, where he was president of both the \Jmountaineering\j and \Jathletics\j clubs. He represented Britain in the Olympics of 1952, and won the gold medal for the 3000┐m steeplechase in the 1956 Games. He became a reporter for the BBC \ITonight\i programme (1961--5), and head of BBC general features (1969--72). He was the race director for the London Marathon (1980--91), an event he founded after running in the New York City Marathon in 1979.
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"Brasφlia",5496,0,0,0
PN [bra\Bzil\bia]
EN 15░45S 47░57W, pop (1995e) 1 962 000. Capital of \JBrazil\j in Centro-Oeste region, WC \JBrazil\j; construction began in 1956; capital moved from \JRio de Janeiro\j in 1960; principal architect Oscar Niemeyer (1907-- ); laid out in the shape of a bent bow and arrow; residential areas lie along the curve of the bow; at right angles to these is the arrow (8 km/5 mi), with the Congress buildings, the president's office, and the Supreme Court at the tip; to the W lie the cathedral and the Ministry buildings; the cultural and recreational zones and the commercial and financial areas lie on either side of the intersection of the bow and arrow; airport; university (1961); light industry; famous for its modern sculpture; designated a world heritage site.
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"Brasov",5497,0,0,0
PN [bra\Bshov\b]
EN 45░39N 25░35E, pop (1995e) 322 000. Industrial capital of \JBrasov\j county, C \JRomania\j; founded, 13th-c; important mediaeval trade centre; ceded by \JHungary\j after World War 1; railway junction; university (1971); textiles, lorries, tractors, \Jmetallurgy\j, ball bearings, chemicals, machinery; summer resort and winter sports centre.
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"brass",5498,0,0,0
EN An alloy composed of copper and zinc; yellowish, malleable, and ductile. Its properties and applications may be altered by varying the proportions of copper and zinc. It is the most widely-used non-ferrous alloy.
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"brass instrument",5499,0,0,0
EN A musical instrument made of brass or other metal, in which air is made to vibrate by means of the player's lips and breath, usually through a narrow mouthpiece. In simple instruments, such as the \Jbugle\j, the notes available are restricted to the lower end of a single harmonic series; in others, valves or slides enable the fundamental note to be altered, and consequently a greater number of pitches to be obtained. The main orchestral brass instruments are the horn, trumpet, \Jtrombone\j, and tuba.
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"Brassa∩",5500,0,0,0
PN [brasa\Bee\b]
HS , professional name of \BGyula Halasz\b
DT1 1899
DT2 1984
EN Painter and photographer, born in Brasso, \JHungary\j. Coming to Paris in 1923, he worked as a journalist, and from 1930 used photography to record the underworld and night-life of 1930s Paris. His first collection, \IParis de nuit\i (1933, Paris by Night), caused a sensation. He became a French citizen in 1948.
MEX KertΘsz
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"Brassens, Georges",5501,0,0,0
DT 1921-81
EN French poet and singer. The son of a mason, he moved to Paris in 1939, worked in a factory and after the war joined the anarchist movement. Although he already had an underground reputation for performing his unconventional compositions in clubs, he was 'discovered' in 1952 by Jacques Grello and his recordings soon became best-sellers.
Accompanying himself on the \Jguitar\j, Brassens would sing of friendship, \Jatheism\j, self-sacrifice, losers and nostalgia in a gruff and ursine manner, that smacked a bit of the blues. The AcadΘmie-Francaise awarded him its poetry prize in 1967; he made his last public appearances at the Bobino in 1972 and 1976.
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"brasses",5502,0,0,0
EN Ornamental objects made from brass, an alloy of zinc and copper. Monumental brasses were a less expensive substitute for carved stone tomb slabs. Particularly popular in England in the Gothic period, they could be very elaborate, with engraved portraits and \Jheraldry\j in architectural framing, or simply inscriptions.
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"Brassey, Thomas",5503,0,0,0
DT1 1805
DT2 70
EN Engineer, born in Buerton, Cheshire, NWC England, UK. He was articled to a land surveyor, and in 1836 settled in London as a railway contractor. His operations soon extended to all parts of the world; for his contract of the Great Northern Railway (1847-51) he employed between 5000 and 6000 men.
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"brassica",5504,0,0,0
EN A member of a \Jgenus\j of plants containing numerous economically important vegetables, including \Jturnip\j and mustard, but often in a gardening sense referring more specifically to cabbages, \Jcauliflower\j, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts, all derived from the wild cabbage, \IBrassica oleracea.\i \B(Genus:\b \IBrassica,\i 30 species. \BFamily:\b Cruciferae.)
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"Bratby, John",5505,0,0,0
DT1 1928
DT2 92
EN Artist and writer, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Kingston Art School and the Royal College of Art. A leading protagonist of English 'New Realism', in the mid-1950s he was associated with the 'kitchen sink' school because of his preoccupation with working-class domestic interiors, as in 'Baby in Pram' (Liverpool). He represented Britain at the 1956 Vienna Biennale, but after that his reputation declined. He also wrote several novels, including \IBreakdown\i (1960), with his own illustrations.
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"Bratislava",5506,0,0,0
PN [bratis\Blah\bva]
EN 48░10N 17░08E, pop (1995e) 450 000. River port and capital of Slovak Republic; on R Danube; stronghold of Great Moravian Empire, 9th-c; capital of \JHungary\j, 1541--1784; Hungarian monarchs crowned here until 1830; centre of emergent Slovak national revival; incorporated into \JCzechoslovakia\j in 1918; airport (Vajnory); railway; university (1919); technical university (1938); food processing, \Jpetrochemicals\j, agrochemicals, oil refining, textiles, paper, electrical equipment, mechanical \Jengineering\j, agricultural trade; 13th-c cathedral, castle, Mirbach Palace, Lenin's museum, pharmaceutical museum; Slovak National Theatre, Slovak National Gallery and Museum, musical festivals.
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"Bratsk Dam",5507,0,0,0
EN A major gravity \Jearth\j-fill dam on the Angara R, \JRussia\j; completed in 1967; height 125┐m / 410┐ft. It has the capacity to generate 4500 megawatts of hydroelectricity.
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"Brattain, Walter H(ouser)",5508,0,0,0
DT (1902-87)
EN US physicist: co-inventor of the transistor.
Born in China, Brattain grew up in the state of Washington on a \Jcattle\j ranch, and gained his PhD in physics at \JMinnesota\j in 1929. In the same year he joined the talented team at Bell \JTelephone\j Laboratories, and soon began work on the surface properties of semiconductors; at first he used copper(I) oxide, but during the Second World War silicon became available, and this and \Jgermanium\j offered better prospects.
Working with Bardeen and Shockley, and using a mix of theory and experiment, the point- contact transistor was developed by 1947; it used a thin \Jgermanium\j crystal and both rectified and amplified current. For many purposes, the days of the vacuum tube or thermionic valve were numbered and the silicon micro-chip, smaller, cheaper and requiring less power, moved towards the dominant place it has held in \Jelectronics\j ever since.
Brattain was very much a practical physicist, with a special interest in surfaces. When he left Bell in 1967, he went on to study the lipid surfaces of biological membranes at Whitman College, where he had once been a student. He shared a Nobel Prize with Bardeen and Shockley in 1956.
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"Braudel, Fernand",5509,0,0,0
PN [brohdel]
DT1 1902
DT2 85
EN Historian, born in Lorraine, \JFrance\j. He studied at the \JSorbonne\j, and taught in Algerian schools (1923-32), in Paris (1932-5), and at Sa⌡ Paulo University (1935-8). He wrote, from memory, his great work \ILa MediterranΘe et le monde mediterranΘen α l'Θpoque de Philippe II\i (The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World at the Time of Philip II) in a German prison camp in Lⁿbeck throughout World War 2, after which it was published (1949). He then became professor at the CollΦge de \JFrance\j (1949-72).
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"Brauer, Adrian",5510,0,0,0
EN See Brouwer or Brauer, Adriaen
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"Brauer, Richard D. (Dagobert)",5511,0,0,0
DT (1901-77)
EN mathematician; born in Berlin, \JGermany\j. Instrumental in the development of modern \Jalgebra\j, he emigrated to America for professional reasons (1933). A National Academy of Sciences member, he chaired the Harvard \JMathematics\j Department (1959-63), was president of the American Mathematical Society, and was awarded the National Medal of Science (1971).
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"Braun, (Karl) Ferdinand",5512,0,0,0
PN [brown]
DT (1850-1918)
EN German experimental physicist: introduced crystal diodes and the \Jcathode\j-ray oscilloscope.
Braun studied at \JMarburg\j and Berlin and taught at Tⁿbingen and \JStrasbourg\j. In 1874 he found that some crystalline semiconductors (eg PbS) could be used as rectifiers to convert AC to DC. He used this from 1900 in his crystal diodes, which made possible the crystal radio receiver.
He also modified a \Jcathode\j- ray tube so that its \Jelectron\j beam was deflected by a changing voltage; the resulting \Jcathode\j-ray oscilloscope has been much used in scientific work and is also the basic component of a TV receiver. He shared a Nobel Prize with Marconi in 1909.
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"Braun, E. (Emma) Lucy",5513,0,0,0
DT (1889-1971)
EN botanist; born in \JCincinnati\j, Ohio. She obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of \JCincinnati\j, and remained there as an educator and researcher (1917-48). With her sister, entomologist Annette Braun, she made extensive field studies of the Ohio area. Emma's knowledge of \Jgeology\j facilitated her analysis of flora of the Appalachians. Her 25 years of exploring the vegetation of Ohio and Kentucky led to her classic ecological study of hardwood forests, \IDeciduous Forests of Eastern North America\i (1950).
She was one of the first American botanists to compare the changes in a particular flora over a historical time period. She fought for saving natural habitats and was elected the first woman president of the Ohio Academy of Science (1933-34) and the Ecological Society of America (1950).
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"Braun, Eva",5514,0,0,0
PN [brown]
DT1 1910
DT2 45
EN Mistress of Adolf Hitler, born in Munich, \JGermany\j. She was secretary to Hitler's staff photographer, became Hitler's mistress in the 1930s, and is said to have married him before they committed suicide together in the air-raid shelter (the bunker) of the Chancellery during the fall of Berlin.
MEX Hitler
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"Braun, Volker",5515,0,0,0
DT 1939-
EN German playwright and poet. He trained in the Berliner Ensemble, where his celebratory \Jparable\j of communist utopia (The Great Peace, 1979) was staged. His most significant plays are critical analyses of contemporary political issues, and were consistently censored in the GDR. His biting picture of factory conditions in Tippers was banned in 1966, as was Lenin's Death in 1970, and in 1975 Guevara or the Sun State.
The latter encapsulated Braun's own predicament - how to justify utopian \Jcommunism\j while embroiled in the real thing. Temporary Society (1989) transposed Chekhov's Three Sisters to East Berlin and was popular because of the criticism of existing \Jsocialism\j clearly visible between the lines.
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"Braun, Wernher von",5516,0,0,0
PN [brown]
DT (1912-77)
EN German-US rocket engineer: a pioneer of rockets and space travel.
The son of a baron and a former Government minister, von Braun was educated at the Zⁿrich and Berlin Institutes of Technology. In 1932 he started working on rocket design for the German military, developing his first successful liquid-fuel rocket 2 years later. By 1938 he was technical head of the rocket research establishment at Peenemⁿnde, where he was responsible for the \JV-2\j \Jsupersonic\j \Jballistic missile\j used in the Second World War.
At the end of the war he took his entire development team to surrender to the American army. He subsequently became a major figure in the American space programme, designing the Jupiter rocket that put America's first \Jsatellite\j, Explorer I, into \Jorbit\j in 1958 and being influential in the Saturn rocket that put the first man on the Moon in 1969. Von Braun resigned from NASA in 1972, feeling that the American government was no longer strongly committed to space exploration.
It is probable that in 1945 he would have been charged as a war criminal but for his valuable expertise. There is evidence that he was active in the brutal treatment of slave labourers at the \JV-2\j launch sites.
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"Brautigan, Richard",5517,0,0,0
DT (?1935-84)
EN writer; born in \JTacoma\j, Wash. He became a \Jcult\j figure in the 1960s as one of the \JSan Francisco\j poets and embodiment of the 1960s counterculture. He wrote surrealistically random novels and poems about alienation. His books include the novel, \ITrout Fishing in America\i (1967), and the collection of poems, \IThe Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster\i (1968). Disheartened by public indifference to his later works, he committed suicide in 1984.
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"Brayne, John",5518,0,0,0
DT c.1540-86
EN English entrepreneur. Brother-in-law of the more famous James Burbage, Brayne was a prosperous grocer who ventured his wealth in at least three London theatrical projects - firstly at the Red Lion in Stepney in 1567, secondly at the Theatre in 1576, and thirdly at the George Inn in Whitechapel in 1579. It has been too readily assumed that Burbage was the main instigator of Elizabethan theatre-building. The true (and unsung) pioneer may equally well have been Brayne.
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"Brazil",5519,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 159 233 000; area 8 511 965 sq km/3 285 618 sq mi. A republic in E and C \JSouth America\j, divided into five geographical regions, which are subdivided into 26 states, and one federal district (Brasφlia); coastline 7408 km/4603 mi; four timezones, GMT -2 in the Atlantic islands, -3 in the E, -4 in the mid-W, and -5 in the extreme W; capital Brasφlia; other principal cities \JSπo Paulo\j, \JRio de Janeiro\j, Belo Horizonte, \JRecife\j, Salvador; ethnic groups include Portuguese, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, African, and Amerindian; white (53%), mixed (34%), and black (6%); official language, Portuguese; religion, Roman Catholic (70%), remainder mainly Protestant or Spiritualist; currency unit, the real of 100 centavos.
\IPhysical description\i
Low-lying Amazon basin in the N, once an inland sea, now drained by rivers that carry a fifth of the Earth's running \Jwater\j; where forest canopy cleared, soils susceptible to erosion; Brazilian plateau in the C and S, average height 600--900 m/2000--3000 ft; vegetation changes from thorny scrub forest (N) to wooded savannah (\Icampo cerrado\i) in the interior; Brazilian Highlands (N) rise to 2898 m/9508 ft at Pico da Bandeira; Guiana Highlands (S) contain Brazil's highest peak, Pico da Neblina (3014 m/9888 ft); eight river systems, notably the Amazon (N), the Sπo Francisco (C), and the \JParaguay\j, Paranß, and Uruguay (S); thin coastal strip on the Atlantic, c.100 km/325 mi wide, containing 30% of the population.
\IClimate\i
Almost entirely tropical, Equator passing through the N region, and Tropic of Capricorn through the SE; Amazon basin, annual rainfall 1500--2000 mm/60--80 in, no dry season, average midday temperatures 27--32░C; more distinct wet and dry seasons on Brazilian plateau; dry region in the NE, susceptible to long droughts, eg Iguat·, daily temperatures 21--36░C, monthly rainfall (Aug) 3 mm/0.12 in, rising to 185 mm/71/4 in (Mar); hot, tropical climate on narrow coastal strip, with rainfall varying greatly N--S; \JRio de Janeiro\j daily temperature 17--29░C, with 137 mm/5.4 in of rain (Dec) and 41 mm/1..6 in (Aug); S states lie outside the tropics, with a seasonal, temperate climate.
\IHistory and government\i
Discovered for the Portuguese by Cabral in 1500, first settlement at Salvador da \JBahia\j; 13 feudal principalities, replaced in 1572 by a Viceroyalty, and division of country into N and S, with capitals at Salvador and \JRio de Janeiro\j; Rio became sole capital, 1763; Portuguese court transferred to \JBrazil\j in Napoleonic Wars; independence declared 1822, and monarchy established; \Jslavery\j abolished, 1888; republic followed 1889 coup; large numbers of European immigrants in early 20th-c; revolution headed by Vargas established dictatorship, 1930--45; liberal republic restored, 1946; another coup in 1964 led to a military-backed presidential regime; military junta, 1969; new partial elections, 1985; since 1979 a process of liberalization (\Iabertura\i) has allowed return of political exiles to stand for state and federal offices; new constitution of 1988; governed by a president, elected for a 4-year term, and a bicameral National Congress of 81 senators (three from each state) elected for eight years, and 513 deputies elected for four years by proportional representation; state governors elected every four years.
\IEconomy\i
One of the world's largest farming countries, agriculture employing about a quarter of the population; world's largest exporter of \Jcoffee\j, second largest exporter of \Jcocoa\j and soya beans; also beef, sugar cane, cotton, \Jmaize\j, oranges; iron ore (reserves possibly world's largest), \Jmanganese\j, \Jbauxite\j, nickel, uranium, gold, \Jgemstones\j; tin, steel, chemicals, \Jpetrochemicals\j, machinery, motor vehicles, textiles, consumer goods, cement, lumber, pulp and paper, shipping, fishing, tourism; offshore oil production increased since the 1960s; large investments in hydroelectricity, \Jcoal\j, and nuclear power; important hydroelectric scheme at the Itaipu dam on the R Paranß; world leader in development of alcohol fuel; nuclear plant at Angra dos Reis, and others planned; timber reserves the third largest in the world, but continuing destruction of the Amazon \Jrainforest\j is causing much concern; road network being extended through the Amazon \Jrainforest\j - Rodovia Transamazonica and the Rodovia Perimetral Norte (Perimetral North Highway), linked by the Rodovia Panamericana; Carnival celebrations (weekend before Lent).
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"Brazil nut",5520,0,0,0
EN An evergreen tree \I(Bertholletia excelsa)\i growing to 30┐m / 100┐ft, native to the jungles of \JBrazil\j; leaves oblong; flowers white, in large panicles; fruit a woody or rounded capsule to 15┐cm / 6┐in across, containing 12-15 tight-packed, woody, 3-sided seeds familiarly called by the same name. Not cultivated, the nuts sold in shops are gathered from wild trees. \B(Family:\b Lecythidaceae.)
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"Brazil, Angela",5521,0,0,0
DT1 1868
DT2 1947
EN Writer of girls' school stories, born in Preston, Lancashire, north-west England, UK. She was a governess for some years before beginning to write tales notable for their healthy realism. Her first success was \IThe Fortunes of Philippa\i (1906), and this was followed by over 50 school novels. Her last book was \IThe School of the Loch\i (1946).
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"brazing",5522,0,0,0
EN The joining of two pieces of metal (the same or different) by heating, then filling in the junction with a metal of lower melting point than those being joined. A flux is generally necessary. Brazing differs from soldering, in that a soldered joint is not expected to stand any mechanical strain (as in electrical unions), whereas a brazed joint can be very strong.
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"Brazos River",5523,0,0,0
EN River in S USA, formed in W \JTexas\j by the Double Mountain Fork and Salt Fork Rivers; enters the Gulf of Mexico at Freeport; length 1947┐km / 1210┐mi; major tributaries the Clear Fork, Little, Navasota; used for irrigation, hydroelectricity, and flood-control.
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"Brazza, Pierre Savorgnan de",5524,0,0,0
DT1 1852
DT2 1905
EN Explorer, born in \JRio de Janeiro\j, \JBrazil\j. He became a French citizen in 1874, and entered the French navy, serving in \JGabon\j, where he explored the Ogowe (1876-8). In 1878 he explored the country N of the \JCongo\j, where he secured vast grants of land for \JFrance\j, and founded stations, including that of \JBrazzaville\j.
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"Brazzaville",5525,0,0,0
PN [\Bbraz\bavil]
EN 4░14S 15░14E, pop (1995e) 989 000. River-port capital of the \JCongo\j, W Africa, on right bank of R Zaire (opposite \JKinshasa\j, Zaire); founded, 1880; capital of French Equatorial Africa, 1910; headquarters of Free French forces in World War 2; capital of \JCongo\j, 1960; airport; railway terminus from coast; university (1972); banking, chemicals, \Jmetallurgy\j, food processing, textiles, timber; cathedral.
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"bread",5526,0,0,0
EN A widely used staple food made by baking a mixture of flour and \Jwater\j; the flour used is most commonly wheat, which may be mixed with flour from oatmeal, rye, or \Jbarley\j. The mix results in a dough which may be kneaded, a process that stretches and aligns the protein molecules of the wheat.
The product is then either immediately baked to give \Bunleavened bread,\b or allowed to rise, through the production of carbon dioxide, to give \Bleavened bread.\b The carbon dioxide can be produced either chemically or by using yeast. Much of today's bread is made using a short fermentation process called the Chorleywood Bread Process.
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"Bread and Puppet Theatre",5527,0,0,0
EN American theatre company. Founded in 1961 by Peter Schumann, Bread and Puppet was a loose association of performers under Schumann's firm direction, supplemented by amateurs. It offered its services free, whenever possible, on the principle that 'theatre is like bread, more like a necessity' - literally enacted in each performance by the giving of bread to the audience.
Reacting against the over-intellectualization of Western culture, members worked with larger-than-life puppets to create a non-narrative theatre which addressed contemporary issues - notably the Vietnam War - through disturbing visual images rather than words.
Performances such as 'The Cry of the People for Meat' and 'The Domestic \JResurrection\j Circus' (the latter mounted in 1970 and most years since 1974) combined religious \Jiconography\j and political message. In 1974 the company nominally disbanded. In practice it has continued to regroup for summer festivals in \JVermont\j and for specific commissions. Schumann and his associates have scripted plays such as Bⁿchner's Woyzeck (New York, 1981), and toured Europe and \JRussia\j in 1990 with Uprising of the Beast.
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"bread mould",5528,0,0,0
EN Any mould found growing on bread; more specifically used for the \Jfungus\j \IMucor\i \B(Class:\b Zygomycetes), which forms a colourless hair-like covering over bread surface; produces dark spores \I(zygospores)\i at the tips of its upright branches; and \INeurospora,\i which is reddish in colour and causes bread spoilage in bakeries.
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"breadfruit",5529,0,0,0
EN An evergreen tree \I(Artocarpus altilis)\i growing to 12-18┐m / 40-60┐ft, probably native to \JMalaysia\j; glossy leaves oval, deeply lobed towards tips; male flowers in short catkins, females in prickly heads, achenes, and spongy receptacle, enlarging to form a rounded, multiple fruit, 10-20┐cm / 4-8┐in diameter, and green to brownish when ripe, filled with a white, fibrous pulp. It was introduced in prehistoric times to the S Pacific, where it is a staple food; and was carried via the HMS \IBounty\i to the West. \B(Family:\b Moraceae.)
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"break dancing",5530,0,0,0
EN See street dance
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"breaking radiation",5531,0,0,0
EN See bremsstrahlung
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"breaking stress",5532,0,0,0
EN See tensile strength
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"Breakspear, Nicholas",5533,0,0,0
EN See Adrian IV
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"breakwater",5534,0,0,0
EN An artificial barrier to wave activity. Breakwaters are constructed to intercept incoming waves and provide a sheltered area, usually for marine recreation or port facilities. Most are built offshore and parallel to the shoreline. Because breakwaters reduce wave \Jenergy\j and modify the direction of wave propagation in their lee, they alter the natural near-shore circulation of sand and other sediments, and frequently produce silting in the very harbours and channels they are designed to protect.
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"BrΘal, Michel",5535,0,0,0
PN [brayal]
DT1 1832
DT2 1915
EN Comparative philologist and mythologist, born in Rhenish \JBavaria\j. In 1858 he settled in Paris, and in 1866 became professor of comparative grammar at the CollΦge de \JFrance\j. He founded the science of semantics with his \IEssai de sΘmantique\i (1897).
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"bream",5536,0,0,0
EN Deep-bodied freshwater fish \I(Abramis brama)\i found in quiet lowland rivers and lakes of N Europe; length up to c.60┐cm / 2┐ft. The name is also used for various similarly deep-bodied fishes in other families, both freshwater and marine. \B(Family:\b Cyprinidae.)
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"Bream, Julian (Alexander)",5537,0,0,0
PN [breem]
DT1 1933
EN Guitarist and lutenist, born in London, England, UK. A protΘgΘ of AndrΘs \JSegovia\j, he made his debut in London in 1950. He has edited much music for \Jguitar\j and lute, and among the composers who have written for him are Britten, Henze, Tippett, and Walton. He formed the Julian Bream Consort in 1961, specializing in early ensemble music. In 1990 he performed at his 40th anniversary concert at the Wigmore Hall, London.
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"Breasley, Scobie",5538,0,0,0
DT1 1914
EN Jockey and trainer, born in Wagga Wagga, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. A successful rider for over 20 years before coming to Britain in 1950, he was retained to ride for the stable of Sir Gordon Richards in 1956. He was champion jockey in 1957, 1961, 1962, and 1963. He retired in 1968, and became a trainer.
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"breast",5539,0,0,0
EN The milk-producing organ of the female reproductive system; also known as the \Bmammary \Jgland\j.\b It is composed of glandular tissue enclosed in thick masses of fat, supported by fibrous tissue and covered by skin. The two breasts in humans are found on the front of the chest: they are small in children, but at puberty the female breasts increase rapidly in size, whereas in males they remain rudimentary.
Size and appearance is variable both within an individual as well as between individuals and different races. During \Jpregnancy\j the breasts enlarge, being largest during milk secretion \I(\Jlactation\j).\i At the apex of the breast is the \Inipple,\i surrounded by the darker \Iareola.\i
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"breast cancer",5540,0,0,0
EN The commonest malignant \Jtumour\j in women, spreading within the breast tissue and to the skin, which may ulcerate. Blood-borne spread also occurs to bones, lungs, liver, and other organs. Treatment depends on many factors, but includes surgical removal of the \Jtumour\j or breast \I(mastectomy)\i and a combination of hormonal and anti-cancer drugs.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The most common form of cancer among women. One in 11 women will develop it over a lifetime in western countries. Most common over age 50, with one third of cases developing between 30-40.
\ICauses:\i A diet high in animal fat appears to be a cause. Hormonal connections exist in some women and those who have a family history of the disease therefore may not be candidates for hormone replacement therapy.
\IPrevention:\i Monthly self-examination with the flat of the hand is a vital habit for all women to develop. Annual medical examination and mammography is strongly recommended for the over 40s.
\ITreatment:\i Early detection and removal of small lumps is very successful, but later intervention has a reduced rate of success. Treatment may involve surgical removal of lump and surrounding tissue or radio-therapy or \Jchemotherapy\j.
\IWritten by Jane King\i
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"breast feeding",5541,0,0,0
EN The suckling of an infant by its mother for a time after birth. The secretion of breast milk \I(\Jlactation\j)\i takes two to three days to become established. The early transfer of maternal \Jantibodies\j to the baby is one advantage of this form of feeding. The number of mothers who breastfeed in the developed countries has increased steadily since the 1960s, when bottle feeding was the norm.
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"breast milk",5542,0,0,0
EN The product of the female milk-producing \I(mammary)\i \Jgland\j of humans and other mammals. Its composition is variable, both during a feed and throughout \Jlactation\j. Human breast milk is rich in the \Jantibodies\j of the secretory class (\Jimmunoglobulin\j A) and in other antimicrobial factors.
Its iron content is in a highly absorbable form. Its quality remains more or less constant, despite quite marked variation in the mother's diet, and is widely held to be the preferred sole food for infants during the first three to four months of life.
BK b
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"breastbone",5543,0,0,0
EN See \Jsternum\j
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"Breasted, James Henry",5544,0,0,0
DT (1865-1935)
EN Egyptologist; born in Rockford, Ill. The first teacher of Egyptology in America, he was assistant in Egyptology (1895), assistant director of the Haskell Oriental Museum (1895), instructor in Egyptology (1896), and professor of Egyptology and Oriental history, all at the University of \JChicago\j (1905-35), where he founded the Oriental Institute (1919). He is best known for his monumental \IAncient Records of Egypt\i (1906-07), previously unpublished inscriptions with translations, and his translation and editing of the \IEdwin Smith Surgical Papyrus\i (1930), often referred to as the earliest known scientific document.
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"breathalyzer / breathalyser",5545,0,0,0
EN A device used with a driver suspected of having drunk an excessive amount of alcohol or having committed a moving traffic offence. The driver blows into a tube; crystals in the device change colour if there is alcohol present; and the extent of the change may indicate that the driver has exceeded the alcohol limit, which in the UK is 80┐mg per 100┐ml of blood, and varies by \Jjurisdiction\j in the USA.
The initial test is given by a uniformed police officer; if positive, the driver may be arrested, and given a further blood or urine test at a police station with a doctor present. Many US jurisdictions do not use the field breathalyzer, but the driver is taken directly to the police station, where a choice of blood, urine, or breath sample (on an 'intoxilyzer' or other breath test machine) is given.
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"breathing",5546,0,0,0
EN See \Jrespiration\j
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"breccia",5547,0,0,0
PN [\Bbre\bchia]
EN Coarse sedimentary rock made up of a mixture of angular rock cemented by a finer-grained matrix. It usually results from local processes such as landslides and geological faulting, in which rock fracturing occurs.
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"Brecht, (Eugene) Bertolt (Friedrich)",5548,0,0,0
DT 1898-1956
EN German playwright, director and poet. Brecht's work dominated 20th- century German theatre and is perhaps the most influential force in Western theatre since World War II. His first work to be staged (dates of first performance rather than composition are given), the iconoclastic Drums in the Night (1922), rejected political involvement, while \JBaal\j (1923) and In the Jungle of Cities (1923) are examples of nihilistic \Jexpressionism\j.
These plays brought him notoriety, with riots at their premieres and instant recognition with the Kleist Prize in 1922. In his Munich staging of Edward II (adapted from Marlowe, 1924) and his anti-militaristic Man Is Man (1926) he began to develop the anti-illusionistic staging methods and \Jparable\j structures that later became the basis for his theory of epic theatre.
Moving to Berlin, he worked as a dramaturge under Reinhardt and collaborated with Piscator. His first popular success came with The Threepenny Opera in 1928, a modernization of The Beggar's Opera by Gay with music by Kurt Weill, who also provided the scores for Happy End (1929, produced under Brecht's name, though the text was by Elisabeth Hauptmann) and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1930).
With musicians on stage, the use of placards to give spectators an objective perspective on the action, the separation of dialogue from song and a harshly cynical presentation of the material in order to prevent emotional empathy, these operas were designed as the antithesis to Wagner.
They were the first consciously developed examples of the 'distancing' of Verfremd- ungseffekt, forming the basis of a new style of acting in which the performers demonstrate the actions of a character instead of identifying with their roles. These ideas were developed in Brecht's Small Organum for the Theatre (1948).
Brecht's 'teaching plays', or Lehrstⁿcke, derived in some ways from agit-prop theatre, show his approach to his dramatic material at its clearest, abstracting political issues such as whether individuals should be sacrificed for the revolution (He Who Says Yes and He Who Says No, 1930, and The Measures Taken, 1931), and presenting them in historically or geographically distant contexts where their essential nature could be displayed.
Forced to flee \JGermany\j by Hitler's rise to power in 1933, Brecht collaborated with Weill, Lotte Lenya and the scene designer, Caspar Neher, in a 'ballet-cantata' - The Seven Deadly Sins (Paris, 1933). In exile in Denmark, Sweden, \JFinland\j, he began to write \Jparable\j plays on historical or exotic subjects where the political message is oblique and the Communist premises buried deep in the structure.
These are his epic masterpieces - Mother Courage and her Children (1941), The Good Person of Setzuan (1943), The Life of \JGalileo\j (1943) and The Caucasian \JChalk\j Circle (written 1941-44, German premiere 1954). In \JFinland\j he wrote Puntila and His Man Matti (1948) and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (1958), which parodies the rise of Hitler.
He went via the \JSoviet Union\j to \JCalifornia\j, where he found employment in \JHollywood\j. In 1947 he directed \JGalileo\j, which he had revised for Charles Laughton to reflect the moral issues posed by \JHiroshima\j. The Visions of Simone Machard (1957) and Schweyk in the Second World War (1957) were written in the USA.
Although some of his major plays had been produced at the Zⁿrich Schauspielhaus during his exile, it was only after his return to East Berlin in 1948 and with the establishment of the Berliner Ensemble under his wife and leading actress, Helene Weigel, that they achieved wide recognition. His dramatic output during the last eight years of his life consisted of collaborations and adaptations.
However, his directorial work with these and his definitive productions of his own plays affirmed the viability of his earlier theatrical theory. The work of the Ensemble established his influential position in the contemporary theatre, and his domination of the German stage continues. With the collapse of \JCommunism\j, Brecht is ripe for reinterpretation.
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"Breckenridge, Sophonisba Preston",5549,0,0,0
DT1 1866
DT2 1948
EN Social worker and educator, born in \JLexington\j, KY. Reared in a prominent Southern family, she graduated from Wellesley College (1888), became the first woman lawyer in Kentucky (1895), and earned a doctorate from the University of \JChicago\j (1901). In 1907 she went to live at \JChicago\j's Hull House. Soon known for her studies exposing slum conditions, she was also instrumental in professionalizing social work as an administrator and teacher at the University of \JChicago\j (1920-42), and as a founder (1927) of the \ISocial Service Review,\i which she edited until her death.
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"Breckinridge, John C(abell)",5550,0,0,0
DT (1821-75)
EN vice-president, Confederate; born in \JLexington\j, Ky. He served as James Buchanan's vice-president during 1857-61. In 1861, he joined the Confederate cause, and was indicted for \Jtreason\j by the federal government. He became major-general and was Confederate secretary of war in 1865. Following the war, he lived in Europe and Canada until an amnesty was declared in 1868. He returned to \JLexington\j, Ky., and resumed his law practice.
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"Breckinridge, Mary",5551,0,0,0
DT (1881-1965)
EN nurse/midwife, organization founder; born in Memphis, Tenn. Founder and director of the Frontier Nursing Service in Kentucky and pioneer in American \Jmidwifery\j, she fought successfully to lower infant mortality rates in the South. An effective fundraiser and crusader for women and children, she combined administrative and practical skills with deep spirituality.
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"Breckland, The",5552,0,0,0
EN A sandy region of heathland on the border of Norfolk and Suffolk, E England, UK. It was an important area of \JNeolithic\j flint mining. Today large areas are covered in \Jconifer\j plantations.
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"Brecon Beacons",5553,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrek\bn]
EN National park in S Wales, UK; \BArea:\b 1434┐km\U2\u / 553┐mi\U2\u; established in 1957; three main peaks of 'the Beacons', Pen-y-Fan, Corn Du, and Cribyn, rise to c.900┐m / 2950┐ft; includes Brecon cathedral, Llanthony Priory, Llangorse Lake.
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"Breda",5554,0,0,0
PN [\Bbray\bda]
EN 51░35N 4░45E, pop (1995e) 129 000. Industrial city in North Brabant province, S Netherlands, at confluence of Mark and Aa Rivers; bishopric; important cultural centre, headquarters of many educational institutes; charter, 13th-c; known for the \BCompromise of Breda\b, a protest against Spanish tyranny (1566), and Charles II's \BDeclaration of Breda\bbefore his restoration (1660); railway; \Jengineering\j, synthetic fibres, foodstuffs, matches, brewing, power tools, tourism; Breda castle (1350, now a military academy), town hall (18th-c), Gothic cathedral (1510).
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"Bredero, Gerbrand Adriaansz",5555,0,0,0
DT 1585-1618
EN Dutch poet and playwright, famous primarily for his comedies and farces. The impact of his plays lies in the apt portrayal of the middle classes, the farmers and citizens, seen in e.g. The \JFarce\j of the Cow (1612), and The Miller's \JFarce\j (1613). In his Moortje (1616), based on Terence's Eunuchus, and in The Spanish Brabanter (1617) his use of \Jdialect\j and his depiction of ordinary \JAmsterdam\j life is striking. Today, his plays are still regularly performed. The Spanish Brabanter has been translated and staged in England. Bredero's tragedies remain relatively unknown.
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"Breeches Bible",5556,0,0,0
EN A name sometimes applied to the \BGeneva \JBible\j,\b because of the rendering of \IGen\i 3.7, which refers to \JAdam and Eve\j having sewn fig leaves together 'and made themselves breeches'. This translation, though, is not unique to the Geneva \JBible\j.
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"breeches part",5557,0,0,0
EN Male role played by an actress. Peg Woffington's portrayal of Sir Harry Wildair in Farquhar's The Constant Couple (1699) established a tradition that extends, in the English theatre, through to the principal boy in \Jpantomime\j. In the 19th century the breeches role often accommodated a roguish young man, of good if mischievous nature, as for instance in the part of Sam Willoughby in Tom Taylor's The Ticket of Leave Man. (See also male impersonation.)
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"breeder reactor",5558,0,0,0
EN See nuclear reactor
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"Breen, Patrick",5559,0,0,0
DT (?-1868)
EN pioneer, diarist; born in Ireland. He came to the U.S.A. in 1828. With his wife and seven children, he joined the ill-fated Donner Party. During the winter of 1846-47, he kept a diary of the stark events of deaths, quarrels, and eventual rescue of the surviving members. All members of the Breen family survived the winter and they settled in San Benito County, Calif.
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"brehon laws",5560,0,0,0
PN [\Bbree\bhuhn]
EN The corpus of ancient Irish customary law written down by the 8th-c; the name derives from Irish \Ibreitheamh\i 'judge'. Following the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in the late 12th-c, Irish law gave much ground to English \Jcommon law\j. It was finally abolished by statute in the early 17th-c.
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"Breit, Gregory",5561,0,0,0
PN [briyt]
DT (1899-1981)
EN Russian-US physicist: made contributions in quantum mechanics and nuclear physics.
Breit moved to America at the age of 16 and finished his doctorate at Johns Hopkins University at 22. After several years of travelling, with posts at \JLeiden\j, Harvard and \JMinnesota\j, he gained a position at the Carnegie Institute, Washington, DC. His later years were spent at New York, \JWisconsin\j and Yale. With Tuve he measured in 1924 the height and density of the \Jionosphere\j by reflecting short bursts of radio waves from it, which was essentially the first use of radar imaging.
However, Breit's major research was in quantum mechanics, nuclear physics and the interaction of electrons and photons (quantum \Jelectrodynamics\j), often in collaboration with Wigner. The formula giving the absorption cross-section of a nucleus as a function of \Jenergy\j of incoming particles is known as the Breit-Wigner formula.
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"Breitmann, Hans",5562,0,0,0
EN See Leland, Charles Godfrey (Hans Breitmann, pen name)
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"Brel, Jacques",5563,0,0,0
DT 1929-78
EN Belgian song-writer and performer. He renounced his middle-class inheritance to sing in Paris. Originally, his songs were idealistic and tinged with Catholic pieties, but gradually grew more trenchant, misogynistic and obsessed with death. His performance technique used illustrative gesture to \Jcaricature\j his own lyrics, which he almost spat out at the adoring audience. Brel's fame spread to the English-speaking world with the musical Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris by Mort Shuman and Eric Blau (1968). He retired from the stage in 1972.
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"Bremen",5564,0,0,0
PN [\Bbray\bmen]
EN 53░05N 8░48E, pop (1995e) 569 000. Commercial city, seaport, and capital of Bremen province, \JGermany\j; on both banks of the lower R Weser, 94 km/58 mi SW of \JHamburg\j; railway; university (1970); trade in grain, cotton, \Jtobacco\j; shipbuilding and repairing, machinery, oil refining, chemicals, electrical equipment, \Jelectronics\j, aerospace, vehicles, textiles; 11th-c cathedral, Gothic town hall (1405--10).
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"Bremer, Edith Terry",5565,0,0,0
DT (1885-1964)
EN social reformer; born in Hamilton, N.Y. Educated at the University of \JChicago\j (1907), she pioneered immigrant social service work. She gained prominence as founder (1910) and leader of the International Institute movement, which worked to improve the lives of female immigrants. She directed the YWCA Department of \JImmigration\j and Foreign Communities (c. 1920-32) and founded the National Institute of Immigrant Welfare (1933-54).
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"Bremerhaven",5566,0,0,0
PN [\Bbray\bmerhahvn]
EN 53░34N 8░35E, pop (1995e) 134 000. Seaport in Bremen province, \JGermany\j; on E bank of Weser estuary, 56 km/35 mi N of Bremen; city status, 1851; united with Wesermunde, 1938; railway; Europe's largest fishing port for many years, declining in 1990s; trawling, fish processing, shipbuilding and repairing, machinery.
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"Bremner, Rory (Keith Ogilvy)",5567,0,0,0
DT1 1961
EN British satirical impressionist, writer, and performer. He studied at King's College, London, and began performing in tours and one-man shows in 1985. He made several series for BBC \Jtelevision\j (1986--92) and \IRory Bremner - Who Else?\i for Channel 4 (1992-- ), as well as a number of videos. Awards include the Top Male Comedy Performer BAFTA (1994, 1995, 1996) and the Royal Television Society's Award (1995).
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"bremsstrahlung",5568,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrem\bshtrahlung]
HS (Ger 'braking radiation')
EN Electromagnetic radiation emitted by decelerating charged particles passing through matter. For example, electrons fired into lead produce bremsstrahlung in the form of X-rays. It is the principal means of \Jenergy\j loss for high \Jenergy\j particles.
BK b
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"Bren gun",5569,0,0,0
EN A light \Jmachine-gun\j, the standard section weapon of the British Army during World War 2. The name derives from Brno, Czech Republic, where the gun was first designed, and Enfield in Britain, where it was manufactured in large quantities.
BK b
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"Brenan, Gerald",5570,0,0,0
DT1 1894
DT2 1987
EN Travel writer and novelist, born in Malta. He went to \JSpain\j and settled in Yegen, an isolated village which became the focus of his classic \ISouth from Granada\i (1957). This was preceded by his best-known book, \IThe Spanish Labyrinth\i (1943), still regarded as one of the most perceptive studies of modern \JSpain\j.
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"Brendan, St",5571,0,0,0
HS , known as \Bthe Navigator\b
DT1 484
DT2 577
EN Abbot and traveller, traditionally the founder of the monastery of Clonfert in Co \JGalway\j (561), and other monasteries in Ireland and Scotland. The Latin \INavigation of St Brendan\i (c.1050) recounts his legendary voyage to a land of saints far to the W and N, possibly the \JHebrides\j and the Northern Isles, or even \JIceland\j. Feast \Jday\j 16 May.
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"Brendel, Alfred",5572,0,0,0
DT1 1931
EN Pianist, born in Wiesenberg, Czech Republic. He made his debut in \JGraz\j (1948), and has since performed widely throughout \JAustria\j, where he lives. He is known for his interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt, and Schoenberg. He tours internationally, and has written many essays on music.
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"Brennan, Christopher (John)",5573,0,0,0
DT1 1870
DT2 1932
EN Poet and critic, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. He studied Classics and philosophy at Sydney University. While reading philosophy at Berlin University (1892), he became interested in French Symbolist poetry, which influenced his future writing. He published only a select number of volumes of verse, the best of which (such as \IXXI Poems: Towards the Source,\i 1897) were written before 1900.
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"Brennan, Walter",5574,0,0,0
DT (1894-1974)
EN movie actor; born in Swampscott, Mass. He worked at various jobs while appearing in \Jvaudeville\j and stock theater, and after serving in World War I, entered \JHollywood\j films as an extra and stuntman in 1923. Over the next 50 years, he appeared in over 100 films as an outstanding character actor, becoming the first actor to win three Oscars - for best supporting actor in \ICome and Get It\i (1936), \IKentucky\i (1938), and \IThe Westerner\i (1940).
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"Brennan, William J(oseph), Jr",5575,0,0,0
DT1 1906-97
EN Judge, born in Newark, NJ. He studied at Harvard, joined a Newark law firm, and specialized in labour law. He was appointed to the \JNew Jersey\j Superior Court (1949) and the state Supreme Court (1952), and President Eisenhower appointed him to the US Supreme Court in 1956. During a distinguished career he is remembered for judgments which reflect his concern to balance individual rights with the interests of the community as a whole. He retired in 1990.
SX m
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#
"Brenner Pass",5576,0,0,0
PN [\Bbren\buh]
HS , Ger \BBrenner Sattel,\b Ital \BPasso del Brennero\b
EN 47░02N 11░32E. Mountain pass in the C Tirol Alps on the border between \JItaly\j and \JAustria\j; altitude 1371┐m / 4498┐ft; on the main route between \JBolzano\j and Innsbrⁿck; the lowest pass over the main chain of the Alps; open at all seasons of the year.
BK b
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"Brenner, Sydney",5577,0,0,0
DT1 1927
EN Molecular biologist, born in Germiston, South Africa. He studied at \JWitwatersrand\j University and Oxford, and joined the MRC Molecular Biology Laboratory in Cambridge (1957), becoming its director in 1980. He did notable work on the information code of DNA, and in the 1970s moved to basic studies designed to relate, in detail, an animal's \Jnervous system\j to its genetic make-up.
BK Biog99
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"brent goose",5578,0,0,0
EN A goose native to the Northern hemisphere, also known as \Bbrant\b \I(Branta bernicla); \i breeds in the high \JArctic\j; migrates to temperate N coasts in winter; eats primarily the marine grass \IZostera; \i unusually for geese, rarely nests in captivity if caught. \B(Family:\b \JAnatidae\j.)
BK b
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"Brent, Margaret",5579,0,0,0
DT (1600-71)
EN colonial landowner; born in \JGloucester\j, England. Daughter of an aristocrat, she came to Maryland in 1638 and through connections and business acumen enlarged her original land grant as Maryland's first female landowner. She actively supported military defense of the colony.
Upon the death of her brother-in-law, Leonard Calvert, she became executor of his estate; after the Maryland assembly denied her appeal for two votes in the proceedings, one as landowner and one as attorney to the Baltimore family, she moved to Virginia (c. 1651), where she developed another large property. Sometimes cited today as a pioneering protofeminist lawyer, she seems to have acted basically as a strong-willed property owner, making no claims as a woman, nor in any way practicing law.
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"Brent-Dyer, Elinor Mary",5580,0,0,0
DT1 1894
DT2 1969
EN Writer of the 'Chalet School' girls' stories, born in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, north-east England UK. She studied at Leeds University, and became a teacher, and was later head of the Margaret Roper Girls' School in Hereford. Her first schoolgirl novel, \IGerry Goes to School,\i appeared in 1922, inaugurating her 98 titles. Her fourth book, \IThe School at the Chalet\i (1925), established her famous series, whose final book, \IPrefects of the Chalet School,\i was published posthumously in 1970.
SX f
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"Brentano, Clemens von",5581,0,0,0
PN [bren\Btah\bnoh]
DT1 1778
DT2 1842
EN Poet, born in Ehrenbreitstein, \JGermany\j, the uncle of Franz and Lujo Brentano. He became a Roman Catholic in 1818 and withdrew to the monastery of Dⁿlmen, near Mⁿnster (1818-24), where he recorded the revelations of the nun Anna Katharina Emmerich.
One of the founders of the Heidelberg Romantic school, he was mostly successful in his novellas, particularly in the \IGeschichte vom braven Kasperl und dem sch÷nen Annerl\i (1817, The Story of Just Caspar and Fair Annie), and with his brother-in-law Ludwig Achim von Arnim he edited \IDes Knaben Wunderhorn\i (1805-8), a collection of folk songs.
EN Psychologist and philosopher, born in Marienberg, \JGermany\j, the brother of Lujo Brentano. He became a Catholic priest (1864), and taught philosophy at Wⁿrzburg until 1873. He then abandoned the priesthood, and moved to teach at Vienna until his retirement (1895). In his most important work, \IPsychologie vom empirischen Standpunkt\i (1874, \JPsychology\j from an Empirical Standpoint), he developed the doctrine of 'intentionality', characterizing mental events as involving the 'direction of the mind to an object'.
MEX Brentano, Lujo
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"Brentano, Heinrich von",5583,0,0,0
PN [bren\Btah\bnoh]
DT1 1904
DT2 64
EN German statesman, born in Offenbach, \JGermany\j. A successful lawyer, he was one of the founders of the Christian Democratic Party. He went into politics in Hesse (1945), and was elected to the Federal Diet at \JBonn\j (1949), where he played a prominent part in drafting the Constitution. He became foreign minister in 1955, but resigned in 1961.
SX m
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"Brentano, Lujo",5584,0,0,0
PN [bren\Btah\bnoh]
HS , popular name of \BLudwig Josef Brentano\b
DT1 1844
DT2 1931
EN Political economist, born in Aschaffenburg, \JGermany\j, the brother of Franz Brentano. In 1868 he went to England to study the condition of the working-classes, and especially trades associations and unions. He became professor of political theory at several universities in Europe (1871-1931). A prominent pacifist, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1927.
MEX Brentano, Franz
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"Brenton, Howard",5585,0,0,0
DT1 1942
EN Playwright, born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, S England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, wrote for fringe theatre companies during the late 1960s, and was resident playwright at the Royal Court Theatre, London (1972--3).
His plays include \IWeapons of Happiness\i (1976), \IThe Romans in Britain\i (1980), \IThe Genius\i (1983), \IMoscow Gold\i (1990, with Tariq Ali), and \IBerlin Bertie\i (1992). He has also collaborated with David Hare on a number of projects, notably \IPravda\i (1985), and has written a political thriller, \IDiving for Pearls\i (1989).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPlays\i
1969 Revenge
1972 Hitler Dances
1973 Magnificence
1974 The Churchill Play
1975 Government Property
1976 Weapons of Happiness
1977 Epsom Downs
1979 Sore Throats
1980 The Romans in Britain
1981 Thirteenth Night
1983 The Genius
1984 Bloody Poetry
1988 Greenland
1989 H.I.D. (Hess is Dead)
1992 Berlin Bertie
\IOne-Act Plays\i
1969 Gum and Goo
1969 Heads
1969 The Education of Skinny Spew
1969 Christie in Love
1970 Wesley
1971 Scott of the Antarctic
1971 A Sky-blue Life
1972 How Beautiful with Badges
1973 Mug
1982 The thing (for children)
\ICollaborations\i
1970 Lay-By
1971 England's Ireland
1973 Brassneck
1978 Deeds
1980 A Short Sharp Shock
1983 Sleeping Policemen
1985 Pravda
1989 Iranian Nights
1990 Moscow Gold
1994 Playing Away (opera)
1995 Once Once
\IPlays for Television\i
1971 Lushly
1974 Brassneck
1975 The Saliva Milkshake
1976 The Paradise Run
1984 Desert of Lies
1986 Dead Heat (series)
1995 Parental Guidance
\INovels\i
1989 Diving for Pearls
\IOther\i
1995 Hot Irons
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"Brenz, Johann",5586,0,0,0
PN [brents]
DT1 1499
DT2 1570
EN Lutheran reformer, born in Weil, \JGermany\j. He was co-author of the Wⁿrttemberg Confession of Faith, and his \JCatechism\j (1551) stands next to Luther's in Protestant \JGermany\j.
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"Brereton, Lewis (Hyde)",5587,0,0,0
DT (1890-1967)
EN aviator; born in \JPittsburgh\j, Pa. A 1911 Naval Academy graduate, he transferred to the army, learned to fly, and saw extensive aerial combat in \JFrance\j during World War I. Japanese bombers virtually destroyed his Far East Air Force on the ground in the opening days of World War II. He commanded the 1st Allied Airborne Army in the unsuccessful Netherlands operation in September 1944.
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"Brescia",5588,0,0,0
PN [\Bbray\bsha]
EN 45░33N 10░13E, pop (1995e) 210 000. Industrial town and capital of Brescia province, Lombardy, N \JItaly\j; rail junction; textiles, clothing, shoes, iron and steel, metal products, transport equipment, marble quarrying, precision \Jengineering\j, \Jfirearms\j; market centre for local agricultural produce; Tempio Capitolino (AD73), and other Roman remains; cathedrals (11th-c, 17th-c), Renaissance town hall (1492--1508).
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"Bresson, Robert",5589,0,0,0
PN [bres⌡]
DT1 1907
DT2 99
EN Film director, born in Bromont-Lamothe, C \JFrance\j. At first a painter and photographer, he started serious work in the cinema with \ILes Anges du pΘchΘ\i (1943, The Angels of Sin), but it was his next production \ILa Journal d'un curΘ de campagne\i (1951, Diary of a Country Priest) which brought international acclaim, subsequently repeated with \IUn CondamnΘ α mort s'est echappΘ\i (1956, trans A Man Escaped) and \ILe ProcΦs de Jeanne d'Arc\i (1962, The Trial of Joan of Arc). Later productions are \ILancelot du lac\i (1974), \ILe Diable, probablement\i (1977, The Devil, Probably), and \IL'Argent\i (1983, Money).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1943 Les Anges du pΘchΘ
1946 Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne
1950 Journal d'un CurΘ de campagne (Diary of a Country Priest)
1956 Un CondamnΘ α mort s'est echappΘ (A Man Escaped)
1959 Pickpocket
1962 Le ProcΦs de Jeanne d'Arc (The Trial of Joan of Arc)
1966 Au Hasard Balthazar (Balthazar)
1967 Mouchette
1969 Une Femme Douce (A Gentle Creature)
1971 Quatre Nuits d'un reveur (Four Nights of a Dreamer)
1974 Lancelot du lac (Lancelot of the Lake)
1977 Le Diable, probablement (The Devil, Probably)
1983 L'Argent (Money)
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"Brest (belarus)",5590,0,0,0
EN 52░08N 23░40E, pop (1995e) 281 000. River-port capital city of Brestskaya oblast, \JBelarus\j; on the R Mukhavets at its junction with the R Bug, on the Polish border; founded by \JSlavs\j, 1017; railway; major transportation centre; foodstuffs, electrical \Jengineering\j, \Jelectronics\j.
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"Brest (France)",5591,0,0,0
EN 48░23N 4░30W, pop (1995e) 152 000. Fortified port and naval station in FinistΦre department, NW \JFrance\j; on the Atlantic coast; natural harbour on the Penfeld estuary; used as a German submarine base in World War 2; rebuilt after heavy bombing; railway; extensive dockyards, naval stores, arsenals; fishing, textiles, chemicals, \Jmetallurgy\j.
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"Brest-Litovsk, Treaty of",5592,0,0,0
DT1 1918
EN A bilateral treaty signed at Brest between Soviet \JRussia\j and the Central Powers. Under its terms, \JRussia\j withdrew from World War 1, hostilities ceased on \JGermany\j's E front, and the new Soviet government ceded vast areas of territory and economic resources to \JGermany\j. Lenin said that \JRussia\j must 'sacrifice space in order to gain time'.
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"Brethren (in Christ)",5593,0,0,0
EN A Church founded in the late 18th-c in \JPennsylvania\j, USA, deriving from Mennonite tradition; also known as \BRiver Brethren.\b Pietistic, evangelical, and missionary, it soon spread to Canada, and in the 20th-c, although numerically small, supports missionary churches in Asia, Africa, and \JCentral America\j.
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"Breton",5594,0,0,0
EN The Celtic language of Brittany, introduced by migration from Cornish-speaking S England in the 5th-c AD. It is thought the two languages were mutually intelligible until the 15th-c, but Breton is marked by increasing influence from French, especially in pronunciation and vocabulary. Breton was not recognized as a school subject until the 1950s, nor was it legal to christen a child with a Breton name. There are no official figures for Breton speakers, but it is thought there are about half a million. There is a substantial body of literature from the mediaeval period onwards.
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"Breton, AndrΘ",5595,0,0,0
PN [bruht⌡]
DT1 1896
DT2 1966
EN Poet, essayist, and critic, born in Tinchebray, \JFrance\j. In 1916 he joined the Dadaist group, and in 1922 turned to \JSurrealism\j. He published his first Surrealist manifesto in 1924, and became editor of \ILa RΘvolution surrΘaliste.\i His major novel, \INadja,\i was published in 1928, and his collected poems in 1948.
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"Breton, Nicholas",5596,0,0,0
PN [\Bbre\btn]
DT1a c.
DT1 1545
DT2a c.
DT2 1626
EN Poet, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford and became a prolific writer of all kinds of verse, prose, and pamphlets. His best-known poem is 'The Passionate Shepheard' (1604). His prose \IWits Trenchmour\i (1597) is a fishing idyll on which Izaak Walton drew for \IThe Compleat Angler.\i
MEX Walton, Izaak
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"Bretton Woods Conference",5597,0,0,0
EN An international conference held at Bretton Woods, NH, USA, in 1944, which led to the establishment of the International Monetary System, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The agreement, signed by the USA, UK, and 43 other nations, aimed to control exchange rates, which were fixed for members in terms of gold and the dollar. The system was used until 1973, when floating exchange rates were introduced.
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"Breuer, Lee",5598,0,0,0
DT 1937-
EN American actor and director. A founding member of the avant-garde theatre company Mabou Mines, Breuer studied in the 60s with the Berliner Ensemble and the Polish Theatre Lab. For Mabou Mines he serves as director, author and performer. His staging and adaptation of Beckett's work has earned him three major awards; his trilogy Animations was published in 1979, and Sister Suzie Cinema in 1986.
In the 1980s, while teaching at the Yale School of Drama, he focused on creating a new theatre that merges Asian and African arts with American performance techniques. In 1988 he wrote and directed a gender- reversed adaptation of King Lear with Ruth Maleczech as Lear. Outside Mabou Mines his most notable effort has been The Gospel at Colonus (1983), which was conceived, adapted and directed for the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival, as was The Warrior Ant (1988).
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"Breuer, Marcel (Lajos)",5599,0,0,0
DT (1902-81)
EN architect and designer; born in PΘcs, \JHungary\j. He directed the furniture workshop at the Bauhaus (1924-28); his early furniture designs, such as the Wassily (1925) and Cesca chairs (1928), became modern classics. He joined Walter Gropius at Harvard and in partnership in 1937. His architectural designs, mostly for houses and public buildings, date mainly from his independent practice (established 1947) and include the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1963-66).
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"Breughel",5600,0,0,0
EN See Brueghel, Pieter
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"Breuil, Henri (Edouard Prosper)",5601,0,0,0
PN [broey]
DT1 1877
DT2 1961
EN Archaeologist, born in Mortain, \JFrance\j. He trained as a priest, became interested in cave art in 1900, and was responsible for the discovery of the decorated caves at Combarelles and Font-de-Gaume in the Dordogne the following year. Professor at the CollΦge de \JFrance\j (1929-47), his work marked the beginning of the study of palaeolithic art.
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"breviary",5602,0,0,0
EN A book of liturgical material (psalms, hymns, lessons, prayers) used in the Daily Office, and required to be recited by all priests and clerics in major orders of the Roman \JCatholic Church\j. It was revised by Pope Paul VI in 1971, to incorporate the recommendations of Second Vatican Council.
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"Brewer, David J. (Josiah)",5603,0,0,0
DT (1837-1910)
EN Supreme Court justice; born in \JSmyrna\j (now \JIzmir\j), Turkey. His American missionary parents brought him to the U.S.A. at age one. President Benjamin Harrison named him to the U.S. Supreme Court (1890-1910) where he strictly adhered to the limits of federal power as outlined in the U.S. Constitution.
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"Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham",5604,0,0,0
DT1 1810
DT2 97
EN Clergyman and writer, born in London, England, UK. He studied law at Trinity Hall, Cambridge (1835), one year after receiving orders. He then became a London schoolmaster. His most enduring work is his \IDictionary of Phrase and Fable\i (1870).
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"brewing",5605,0,0,0
EN The art and technique of producing an alcoholic beverage (most often a variety of beer) from \Jcereals\j. Grain is steeped in \Jwater\j, and allowed to germinate. The germination is halted by heating \I(malting),\i and after \Imilling\i to crush the grain and expose the contents, the malt is \Imashed\i (leached with hot \Jwater\j to give a solution of fermentable carbohydrates (the \Iwort).\i Sugar may be added.
The wort is boiled in a \Icopper\i with hops (to give aroma and flavour). When cool, a brewer's yeast is added. Traditional British beers are fermented at the top of the vessel. Bottom fermentation with a different kind of yeast yields the lager type of beer.
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"Brewster, Sir David",5606,0,0,0
DT (1781-1868)
EN British physicist: discovered polarization by reflection.
Trained for the church, Brewster after graduation turned to physics. He produced much factual, non-speculative work on the reflection, absorption and polarization of light. When light is reflected from a non-metallic surface, partial polarization occurs. As the angle of incidence is increased towards a glancing angle the polarization increases, passes through a maximum (the Brewster, or polarization, angle) and then decreases.
Brewster's law states that the \Jtangent\j of the Brewster angle is equal to the \Jrefractive index\j of the reflecting substance (1815). The Brewster angle and the angle of \Jrefraction\j sum to a right angle.
Brewster improved the \Joptics\j of lighthouses, invented the kaleidoscope and helped to found the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
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"Brewster, William",5607,0,0,0
DT (1567-1644)
EN Pilgrim leader; born in \JNottinghamshire\j, England. Exposed to separatist religious ideas at Cambridge University, he became the leader of the Pilgrims and directed their escape to Holland in 1608. He sailed on the \IMayflower\i and then served as a church elder and as adviser to Governor William Bradford.
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"Breytenbach, Breyten",5608,0,0,0
PN [\Bbray\btinbokh]
DT1 1939
EN Painter, poet, and essayist, born in Bonnievale, South Africa. He left South Africa in 1960, and settled in Paris, where he exhibited as a painter. The first of over a dozen volumes of poetry was \IYsterkoei Moet Sweet\i (1964, The Iron Cow Must Sweat).
In 1975 he returned to South Africa in disguise, was arrested, and sentenced to nine years imprisonment for "\Jterrorism\j'. He wrote of his prison years in \ITrue Confessions of an Albino Terrorist\i (1984). Since the early 1980s, he has written mainly in English. Much of his poetry, prose, and memoirs defy conventional categories.
Major Works
Poetry
1964 The Iron Cow Must Sweat
1984 True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist
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"Brezhnev Doctrine",5609,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrezh\bnef]
EN The term applied to the policies of Leonid Brezhnev, general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party (1964-82), which combined strict political control internally with peaceful co-existence and dΘtente abroad. It also justified intervention (including military) in the internal affairs of other socialist states, as in \JCzechoslovakia\j (1968). The Brezhnev period was later referred to in the USSR as the 'years of stagnation'.
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"Brezhnev, Leonid Ilich",5610,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrezh\bnyef]
DT1 1906
DT2 82
EN Russian statesman, general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party (1964-82), and president of the Supreme Soviet (1977-82), born in Kamenskoye, \JUkraine\j. He trained as a metallurgist, and became a political commissar in the Red Army in World War 2. After the war, he was a party official in the \JUkraine\j and Moldavia, becoming a member (1952-7) and then chairman (1960-4) of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. He was general secretary of the Party Central Committee after Khrushchev, and gradually emerged as the most powerful figure in the \JSoviet Union\j, the first to hold simultaneously the position of general secretary and president.
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"Brian",5611,0,0,0
PN [\Bbree\ban]
HS , known as \BBrian Boroimhe\b or \BBoru\b ('Brian of the Tribute')
DT1a c.
DT1 926
DT2 1014
EN King of Ireland (1002-14). In 976 he became chief of Dßl Cais, and after much fighting made himself King of \JLeinster\j (984). After further campaigns in all parts of the country, his rule was acknowledged over the whole of Ireland. He was killed after defeating the \JVikings\j at Clontarf.
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"Brian, (William) Havergal",5612,0,0,0
DT1 1876
DT2 1972
EN Composer, and writer on music, born in Dresden, Staffordshire, C England, UK. Championed by such figures as Beecham and Wood, his success seemed secure, but he suffered a long period of neglect after World War 1. A revival of interest in his music occurred in the last decade or so of his life. He wrote 32 symphonies, a huge setting of Shelley's \IPrometheus Unbound,\i a violin \Jconcerto\j, and five operas, including \IThe Tigers\i (1916-19) and \IFaust\i (1955-6).
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"Briand, Aristide",5613,0,0,0
PN [breeπ]
DT1 1862
DT2 1932
EN French statesman and prime minister (1909-11, 1913, 1915-17, 1921-2, 1925-6, 1929), born in \JNantes\j, \JFrance\j. He was founder (with Jean JaurΘs) of \IL'HumanitΘ,\i and framer of the law for the separation of Church and state (1905). A socialist, he was 11 times elected French premier, and also served as foreign minister (1925-32), helping to conclude the \IKellogg-Briand Pact\i (1928), outlawing war as a means of solving disputes. He shared the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1926, and advocated a United States of Europe.
MEX Kellogg, Frank B; JaurΦs
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"briar",5614,0,0,0
EN The woody root of two species of heath, \IErica scoparia\i and \IErica arborescens,\i used to make \Jtobacco\j pipes. \B(Family:\b Ericaceae.)
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"briard",5615,0,0,0
EN A handsome and rugged working dog, the \JBriard\j is intelligent and reliable, and makes a delightful pet.
\BHistory:\b
The \JBriard\j is an ancient breed of dog whose origin is difficult to pinpoint. It has been around for as long as nomadic herdsmen moved with the climate and followed the animals they hunted for food. Once nations were established and became more stable, the breeds of \JBriard\j were developed to suit the local conditions. There are variations in \JRussia\j, \JHungary\j, and \JGermany\j. The \JBriard\j, to give it its full title, is called Chien Berger de Brie and takes its name from the province of Brie in \JFrance\j.
The \JBriard\j is a superior sheep dog and courageous guard dog. It can run all \Jday\j and control a large herd of sheep with authority, without the need for nips at the sheeps' hocks. The \JBriard\j was known mainly only in \JFrance\j until the First World War, during which it served to carry ammunition, locate wounded soldiers, and patrol the front lines. At this time the \JBriard\j became noticed by the American and British troops, who then enabled the breed to flourish in their countries.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
A well-proportioned, supple and muscular dog, the \JBriard\j is lively and intelligent. \IHeight:\i 23 - 27 in (58.4 - 68.6 cm) for the adult dog, 21 - 25 in (53.3 - 63.5) for the bitch. Canadian standards for the bitch: 22 - 25.5 in (56 - 64.8 cm). \IWeight:\i not specified.
The \JBriard\j's head is large and fairly long, with a visible stop. The muzzle is long and square with a clearly defined stop and a scissor bite. Lips and nose are black. The eyes are large and dark with a gentle expression, although the eyebrows do cover the eyes slightly. The ears are set high and are covered with long hair falling gently down the side of the face. The body is well-proportioned, with a broad chest and a level back. The tail is long and carried low with ample feathering, and curls up at the tip. The forequarters are well-muscled with strong bone structure. The hindquarters are well-muscled also and have double dew claws. The coat of the \JBriard\j is slightly wavy, around 3 in (7.6 cm) long and is stiff, dry, strong, and goatlike. The color is solid and ranges from fawn to dark.
\BBehavior:\b
The \JBriard\j has a very aristocratic air about it. Indeed, this dog does have a very noble spirit. Yet it is far from being aloof. The \JBriard\j is a very sociable dog and loves the company of both other dogs and people. If allowed to go unchecked, it will sometimes rush up to other dogs and can give them quite a fright. The \JBriard\j soon develops a strong sense of territory and will happily guard its owner's property against all intruders.
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"Brice, Fanny (b. Fannie Borach)",5616,0,0,0
DT (1891-1951)
EN comedienne; born in New York City. Born on Manhattan's Lower East Side to successful immigrant saloon-keepers, at age fourteen she assumed the name Brice and built a comedic act based on \Jparody\j, \Jdialect\j, and physical humor. A perennial \IZiegfeld Follies\i attraction after 1910, she attained international stardom in the 1921 \IFollies\i with her signature torch-song \Jparody\j, "My Man."
Appearing in \Jvaudeville\j, musicals, drama, movies, and radio throughout her career with such luminaries as W. C. Fields, Eddie Cantor, and Will Rogers, she excelled at lampooning the fake and preposterous. Eschewing jokes about home life, Brice demonstrated that women could succeed in entertainment without exploiting their sexuality or making buffoons of themselves or other women.
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"Bricker, John W.",5617,0,0,0
DT (1893-1986)
EN U.S. senator; born near Mount Sterling, Ohio. Governor of Ohio (Rep., 1939-45) and U.S. Senator (Rep., Ohio; 1947-49), he was also Republican vice-presidential candidate in 1944.
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"Brickhill, Paul (Chester Jerome)",5618,0,0,0
DT1 1916
DT2 91
EN Writer, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. He studied at Sydney University, and worked in journalism before serving with the Royal Australian Air Force during World War 2. Shot down in North Africa, he was for two years a prisoner-of-war in Stalag Luft III, \JGermany\j; he described his escape from the camp in \IThe Great Escape\i (1951). He became the most successful non-fiction writer of the post-war period, with \IThe Dam Busters\i (1951), \IEscape or Die\i (1952), and \IReach for the Sky\i (1954).
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"bricks",5619,0,0,0
EN Blocks, usually of clay or a clay mixture, baked by the Sun or by fire. Bricks have been made for thousands of years, and are still one of the most widely used building materials. Most are now made by machine, and fired in kilns. The fixing of bricks in place to provide a strong wall is called \Bbricklaying.\b Bricks are laid in mortar, a mixture of cement or lime with sand and \Jwater\j. The patterns are formed by laying the bricks end-on \I(headers)\i or lengthwise \I(stretchers).\i The bonds are selected for both their degree of strength and aesthetic value.
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"Bride, St",5620,0,0,0
EN See Bridget, Brigid, or Bride, St
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"bridewealth",5621,0,0,0
EN Wealth given by a husband or his kin to the bride's family, in compensation for the loss of the bride, who goes to join the husband's household. \JBridewealth\j is distinct from a \Bdowry,\b which is wealth provided by the bride's family, and taken with her at her marriage.
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"bridge (engineering)",5622,0,0,0
EN A structure carrying a road, path, or railway over an obstacle. The principal types are \Barch bridges,\b \Bgirder bridges,\b and \Bsuspension bridges.\b The simplest consist of slabs of stone or branches laid across a stream. Bridges may be built of timber, stone, iron, steel, brick, or concrete, different materials being suited to different forms of construction. The greatest spans are achieved by suspension bridges, the longest at present being the Humber Bridge, E England (1410┐m / 4626┐ft). The greatest single span arch bridge is the New River Gorge, W Virginia, USA (518┐m / 1700┐ft). China had iron-chain suspension and segmental arch bridges by the early 7th-c.
\BMore information provided by AND Reference Data\b
To begin with, an arched stone bridge was just another building, and was designed by a builder, or later by an architect, using the same construction methods as, say, a church. Each arch of the bridge was self-supporting as a matter of course. Renaissance and 17th-c bridges are connected with the names of several well-known architects, especially Andrea Palladio, under whose influence many 17th-c and 18th-c bridges were built in England by Inigo Jones, John Vanbrugh, Christopher Wren, Nicholas Hawksmoor, and Robert Adam, amongst others.
During the 18th-c, however, bridge-building began to be thought of as a science, like the building of roads, rather than a branch of \Jarchitecture\j. In \JFrance\j especially, the formation of the Corps des Ponts et ChaussΘes in 1716 led to the employment of the first professional bridge-builders. Jacques Gabriel, whose father had been responsible for the Pont Royal, the first Renaissance bridge in Paris, designed the bridge over the Loire R at Blois in 1724. Jean Rodolphe Perronet, the first great bridge engineer, realized that it was not necessary for each arch of a bridge to be self-supporting; as most of the thrust was horizontal, each arch could help to hold the others up, and the piers only needed to be heavy enough to support the dead load of the bridge. As a result of this, the piers of Perronet's Pont de la \JConcorde\j in Paris took up only one-tenth of the width of the river, whereas those of the mediaeval Old \JLondon Bridge\j occupied five-sixths.
Perronet's methods spread rapidly, and enabled rivers to be bridged without obstructing their flow significantly. Notable British builders of stone bridges were Robert Mylne (1734--1811), John Rennie, whose New \JLondon Bridge\j has been re-erected in \JArizona\j, and John Smeaton, builder of the Coldstream Bridge over the R Tweed between Scotland and England. Thomas Telford, the greatest civil engineer of his generation, built many stone bridges, particularly in Shropshire, as well as the Dean Bridge in Edinburgh, but his greatest bridges were made of the early 19th-c's exciting new building material -- iron.
The world's first iron bridge, cast in the foundry of Abraham Darby III at Coalbrookdale, was erected over the R Severn in Shropshire in 1781. The use of iron made it possible to build bridges of a far greater height and span than those built of stone, thus enabling engineers to contemplate crossing shipping channels. Telford's Menai Straits Bridge (1826) carried the main road from London to the Irish ferry at \JHolyhead\j across from the Welsh mainland to the island of \JAnglesey\j. By making it a suspension bridge, he managed successfully to avoid causing any obstruction to shipping, even while building. Other innovative iron bridges, especially railway bridges, were built by Robert Stephenson. The most famous of these was the box-girder Britannia Bridge, also over the Menai Straits. Some of Stephenson's bridges were made of stone, however, such as the Royal Border Bridge which carries the main east-coast railway line across the R Tweed at Berwick. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, in particular, was noted for his originality. This is evident in many of his surviving bridges, of which the most famous are the Clifton Suspension Bridge (1836--59), Chepstow Bridge over the R Wye (1852), and especially the Royal Albert Bridge over the R Tamar at Saltash (1859).
In the 1870s and 1880s, advances in methods of making steel led to a drop in steel prices, and bridges made of that metal began to appear. Steel was stronger and less brittle than iron, although most susceptible to rust. One of the first important steel bridges was built in 1874 by James B Eads at St Louis, M0. However, the supremacy of steel was not yet established, and the 135m-high Garabit Viaduct built by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel over the R TruyΦre in the French Massif Central in 1879 was made conventionally of iron. Both Eads and Eiffel, however, used the \Jcantilever\j principle to construct their bridges. By this method, arches were built by starting from the piers and working out towards the centre, supporting the construction on cables hung from temporary towers at each pier. This avoided the necessity for scaffolding, or "falsework', underneath, which had always previously been a major drawback of arched bridges. The use of steel also made it possible to build complete bridges on the \Jcantilever\j principle, of which the first and the most famous is Benjamin Baker and John Fowler's Forth Railway Bridge of 1890. Influenced by the recent failure of the Tay Bridge of Sir Thomas Bouch (1822--80), which had collapsed under a passenger train during a tremendous gale in 1879 with the loss of 70 lives, the Forth Bridge was made tremendously strong, and is still in use today. Various kinds of steel arch have been used over the last century, particularly the graceful through-arch bridge. The first important example was Gustav Lindenthal's Hell Gate Bridge in New York (1916). The most famous example, however, mainly because of its setting, is Sir Ralph Freeman's Sydney Harbour Bridge of 1932.
Most of the world's bridges over the last 80 years have carried roads rather than railways. Since road bridges are not required to be as massive or rigid, this has led to the development of ever longer and more elegant suspension bridges. Charles Ellet built the first long suspension bridge in the world over the Ohio R at Wheeling, WV, in 1852. It blew down in 1854 because it was not stiff enough, and was replaced incorporating improvements suggested by Ellet's great rival John Augustus Roebling. Roebling was something of a specialist in suspension bridges. He was responsible for the Niagara Falls Bridge of 1855, which was unusual in carrying a railway rather than a road, and which had to be replaced in 1897 when loads became too heavy for it. He also built the \JCincinnati\j--Covington Bridge (1866) and New York's Brooklyn Bridge (1883). On completion, this last great bridge was simultaneously the world's longest single span (488┐m/1600┐ft), the first bridge ever built over the East R, and the first suspension bridge to use steel cables. Unfortunately, Roebling died just before work started; and his son Washington, who completed the project, did so while crippled by an attack of the bends, suffered during the sinking of the foundations.
Until the 1930s, advances in the world's longest spans had been relatively modest, progressing only from 488┐m to 564┐m between 1883 and 1929. In the early 1930s, however, things suddenly changed. Othmar Hermann Ammann's George Washington Bridge over the Hudson R in New York (1931) doubled the previous record to 1070┐m/3500┐ft. This was soon followed by \JSan Francisco\j's spectacular Golden Gate Bridge of 1937, designed by Joseph B Strauss (1870--1938) and a team of consulting engineers, including Ammann, which became the world's longest at 1280┐m/4200┐ft. The Golden Gate Bridge retained the title until the opening of Ammann's Verrazano Narrows Bridge (1300┐m/4260┐ft) in 1964. The longest single span in the world is the Humber Bridge, England, opened in 1981 and 1410┐m/4626┐ft long.
On the continent of Europe, in places where the raw materials for steel bridges were in short supply, concrete bridges have long been popular. The most celebrated designers of reinforced concrete bridges were Robert Maillart, who built many economic and graceful concrete bridges in \JSwitzerland\j, and Marie EugΦne LΘon Freyssinet. Freyssinet's St Pierre de Vouvray Bridge over the R Seine (1922) was demolished during World War 2, but his Plougastel Bridge over the R Elorn (1930) still stands, as do the bridges he designed between 1946 and 1950 to replace destroyed bridges over the R Marne. These were cheap, and quick to construct, using batch-processing methods, and they remain fine examples of bridge-building elegance.
Sukie Hunter
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"bridge (recreation)",5623,0,0,0
EN A popular card game developed from whist, using the full set of 52 \Jplaying cards\j, and played by two pairs of players. It may have originated in Turkey, \JRussia\j, or India, but the first published reference to the game was found in a 1529 sermon by an Englishman, Bishop Latimer. \BAuction bridge\b was brought to England by a British officer serving in India (c.1894) and became popular at the Portland Club.
Trumps are decided by a preliminary bid or auction that is intended to be low, because the declarer is given credit for all tricks, whether contracted or not. In the more aggressive \Bcontract bridge,\b the side winning the contract, and so naming trumps, scores towards game only the number of tricks contracted for in the bidding. Auction bridge was displaced by contract bridge in the 1920s, and is now rarely played. The game's scoring system was devised by US businessman and yachtsman Harold Stirling Vanderbilt (1884-1970) in 1925. Important innovators in the USA were Ely Culbertson (1891-1955) and Charles H(enry) Goren (1901-) .
BK b
#
"Bridge of Sighs",5624,0,0,0
EN An enclosed 16th-17th-c bridge in \JVenice\j, through which condemned prisoners would pass from the Doge's Palace to the Prigioni prison.
BK b
#
"Bridgeman, Frederick (Arthur)",5625,0,0,0
DT (1847-1927)
EN painter; born in Tuskegee, Ala. He studied with GΘr⌠me in Paris (1866-71), where he lived and produced most of his work. He specialized in archaeological subjects, as in \IFuneral of a Mummy\i (c. 1877).
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#
"Bridgend",5626,0,0,0
PN [brij\Bend\b]
EN pop (1995e) 130 900; area 246 sq km / 95 sq mi. County (unitary authority from 1996) in S Wales, UK; administrative centre, Bridgend; castle (12th-c), resort at Porthcawl.
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#
"Bridger, James",5627,0,0,0
DT (1804-81)
EN fur trader, scout, "mountain man"; born in Richmond, Va. Working with fur companies in the northeast (1822-42), he was the first white man to see the Great Salt Lake (1824). He established Fort Bridger in Wyoming (1843) and discovered Bridger's Pass (1849). After being driven out by \JMormons\j (1853) he guided a federal force in its campaign against the \JMormons\j (1857-58). After serving as a guide to several major expeditions in the West (1859-66), he retired to his farm near Kansas City, Mo.
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"Bridges, (Henry) Styles",5628,0,0,0
DT (1898-1961)
EN governor, U.S. senator; born in West Pembroke, Maine. A magazine editor and investment broker, he served on the New Hampshire Public Service Commission (1930-34). As the conservative Republican governor of New Hampshire (1935-37) he spent state money carefully, but he funded relief aid for mothers and dependent children and he appointed the first woman state judge. In the U.S. Senate (1937-61), he opposed the New Deal. After World War II, as chair of the Appropriations Committee (1947, 1953) and Senate minority leader (1952-53), he promoted his ultra-conservative views, supporting the anticommunist campaign of his fellow Republican senator, Joseph McCarthy.
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#
"Bridges, Calvin B. (Blackman)",5629,0,0,0
DT (1889-1938)
EN geneticist; born in Schuyler Falls, N.Y. He did postgraduate research at the Carnegie Institution (1915-19), became a faculty member there (1919-28), then moved to the \JCalifornia\j Institute of Technology with a group of Carnegie geneticists (1928-38). With mentor and colleague Thomas H. Morgan, he proved the chromosomal theory of \Jheredity\j and determined the mechanism of sex-\Jlinkage\j in the fruit fly \IDrosophila.
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"Bridges, Harry (Alfred Renton)",5630,0,0,0
DT (1901-90)
EN labor leader; born in Kensington, \JAustralia\j. He went to sea at age 16 and entered the U.S.A. after jumping ship in 1920. He knocked about the Mexican oil fields, returned to the sea, then settled down as a longshoreman and waterfront labor organizer in \JSan Francisco\j. He founded the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union in 1933 and led a major dock strike the following year.
During the 1940s the federal government repeatedly and unsuccessfully tried to deport him as a Communist sympathizer. Although expelled from the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1950, his union remained a powerful force on the West Coast docks through the 1950s.
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"Bridges, Jeff",5631,0,0,0
DT1 1949
EN Film actor, born in Los Angeles, \JCalifornia\j, USA, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges. He appeared in the \Jtelevision\j series \ISea Hunt\i as a child, and after military academy and the coastguards he became a professional actor, receiving Oscar nominations for \IThe Last Picture Show\i (1971), \IStarman\i (1984), and \ITucker\i (1988). Later films include \IThe Fisher King\i (1991), \IFearless\i (1993), \IWild Bill\i (1995), and \IThe Mirror Has Two Faces\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1971 The Last Picture Show
1972 Fat City
1972 Bad Company
1973 The Last American Hero
1973 The Iceman Cometh
1974 Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
1975 Rancho Deluxe
1976 Stay Hungry
1978 Somebody Killed Her Husband
1979 The American Success Company
1980 Heaven's Gate
1981 Cutter's Way
1982 Kiss Me Goodbye
1984 Against All Odds
1984 Starman
1985 Jagged Edge
1986 The Morning After
1988 Tucker
1989 The Fabulous Baker Boys
1990 Texasville
1991 The Fisher King
1992 The Vanishing
1993 Fearless
1994 Blown Away
1995 Wild Bill
1996 White Squall
1996 The Mirror Has Two Faces
1997 The Big Lebowski
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"Bridges, Robert",5632,0,0,0
DT (died 1656)
EN iron manufacturer, magistrate; born in England. He came to \JMassachusetts\j in 1641 and was the only magistrate in Lynn for many years. He took specimens of bog ore from the Saugus River to London (1642) and in 1643 formed "The Company of Undertakers for the Iron Works," the first iron works established in America.
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"Bridges, Robert (Seymour)",5633,0,0,0
DT1 1844
DT2 1930
EN Poet, born in Walmer, Kent, south-east England, UK. He studied at Oxford, qualified in medicine, and practised in London. He published three volumes of graceful lyrics (1873, 1879, 1880), wrote several plays, the narrative poem \IEros and Psyche\i (1885), and other works, including a great deal of literary criticism.
He was also an advocate of spelling reform. From 1907 he lived in seclusion at Oxford, publishing comparatively little; then in 1929, on his 85th birthday, he issued his most ambitious poem, \IThe Testament of Beauty.\i He became \Jpoet laureate\j in 1913.
MEX Hopkins, Gerard Manley
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"Bridges-Adams, William",5634,0,0,0
DT 1889-1965
EN British director. He stage- managed for William Poel before taking over the \JBristol\j repertory theatre, where between 1914 and 1915 he introduced a programme of Shaw, Masefield and Stanley Houghton. From 1919 to 1934 he directed the Festival at Stratford-upon-Avon, where he founded the New Shakespearian Company, then toured Canada and America with them after the old theatre burned down in 1926. His last production was Oedipus Rex at Covent Garden in 1936.
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#
"Bridget, Brigid, or Bride, St",5635,0,0,0
DT1 453
DT2 523
EN Abbess, said to be the daughter of an Ulster prince. She entered a convent at Meath in her 14th year, and founded four monasteries for women, the chief at \JKildare\j, where she was buried. She was regarded as one of the three great saints of Ireland, the others being St Patrick and St \JColumba\j, and was held in great reverence in Scotland (as St Bride). Feast \Jday\j 1 February.
SX f
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#
"Bridget, Brigit, or Birgitta (of Sweden), St",5636,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1302
DT2 73
EN Visionary, born in Finsta, Sweden. At the age of 13 she was married to a young nobleman, \BUlf Gudmarsson,\b by whom she had eight children. After his death in 1344, she founded the monastery of Vadstena, which became the cradle of the new order of \IBridgettines\i as a branch of the Augustinian order. In 1349 she travelled to \JRome\j where she founded a Swedish \Jhospice\j. She made a pilgrimage to Palestine and Cyprus in 1372 and died in \JRome\j on her return. She was canonized in 1391; feast \Jday\j 23 July or 8 October. Her daughter, \BSt Katarina of Sweden\b (1335-81), was canonized in 1489; feast \Jday\j 22 March.
MEX Birgitta, St
SX f
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#
"Bridgetown",5637,0,0,0
EN 13░06N 59░36W, pop (1995e) 6100. Seaport and capital city of \JBarbados\j, West Indies, on \JCarlisle\j Bay in the SW of the island; a new deep-\Jwater\j harbour built to the NW; resort of Paradise Beach to the N; University of the West Indies (1963); tourism, sugar manufacturing; cathedral; one of the earliest monuments commemorating Lord Nelson.
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#
"Bridgewater Canal",5638,0,0,0
EN An inland waterway in England commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater (1736-1893), and constructed (1762-72) by James Brindley. The canal links Worsley to Manchester, crossing the Irwell valley by viaduct, and continues to Liverpool. It is 64┐km / 40┐mi long.
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#
"Bridgman, Laura (Dewey)",5639,0,0,0
DT (1829-89)
EN first blind deaf-mute to be successfully educated; born in \JHanover\j, N.H. Scarlet fever left her blind and deaf at age two. She was rescued from total isolation by a dimwitted but gentle handyman, Asa Tenney, who communicated with her by his own system of touch signs. Starting in 1837, Samuel Gridley Howe taught her to read and write at the Perkins Institution (where she remained until her death) using an alphabetic method that prefigured Anne Sullivan's work with Helen Keller, and she became world famous as an object of public interest and scientific and pedagogical study.
Unlike Helen Keller, however, she never learned how to talk, she did not develop her intellectual abilities beyond basic \Jliteracy\j, and she could not function in the world outside the institution.
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"Bridgman, P(ercy) W(illiams)",5640,0,0,0
DT (1882-1961)
EN US experimental physicist: studied effects of very high pressure on materials.
A Harvard graduate, Bridgman stayed there in a variety of positions until retirement. Most of his research was concerned with very high pressures, for which he designed special equipment. He showed that most liquids become more viscous under high pressure and that some solid compounds (eg ice) and solid elements (eg \Jphosphorus\j) then exist in novel forms. He achieved pressures of 10\U10\u N m\U-2\u.
The Bridgman effect is the absorption or \Jevolution\j of heat when an electric current passes through an anisotropic crystal. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1946.
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"Bridie, James",5641,0,0,0
DT 1888-1951
EN Scottish playwright. Bridie, a doctor, did much to keep Scottish theatre healthy, not only through his playwriting (which included Tobias and the Angel (1930), Jonah and the Whale (1932), Mr Bolfry (1943), Daphne Laureola (1949) and The Queen's Comedy (1950)), but also through his association, as a founder, with the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre and with the establishment of drama training in the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. His playwriting, though often on serious themes, was distinguished by a very personal wit and charm, and he created roles relished by such performers as Alastair Sim and Edith Evans.
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"Bridport, Lord",5642,0,0,0
EN See Hood, Alexander, 1st Viscount Bridport
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#
"Brierley, Sir Ronald (Alfred)",5643,0,0,0
PN [\Bbriy\berlee]
DT1 1937
EN Businessman, born in Wellington, \JNew Zealand\j. Educated in Wellington, in 1961 he founded Brierley Investments Ltd, becoming its chairman (1961--89) and president (1989-- ). This was an entrepreneurial enterprise designed to acquire control of already substantial companies and to improve their commercial performance.
Following a programme of often audacious but generally well-planned takeovers and mergers, and rejecting the pejorative label of "corporate raider', he built his firm into a multi-billion-dollar operation. By the time he resigned as chairman, BIL had extensive interests in \JAustralia\j, Britain, and the USA as well as \JNew Zealand\j. He became chairman of Tozer Kemsley & Millbourn (Holdings) in 1986, and was knighted in 1988.
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"Briers, Richard (David)",5644,0,0,0
DT1 1934
EN Actor, born in Croydon, S Greater London, England, UK. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, and made his London debut in \IGuilt and Gingerbread\i (1959). He has since played many major parts, but is probably better known for his \Jtelevision\j series \IBrothers-in-Law\i, \IMarriage Lines\i, \IThe Good Life\i, and \IEver Decreasing Circles\i. Among his books is \IA Taste of the Good Life\i (1995).
\BMajor Works\b
\ITheatre\i
1965 Arsenic and Old Lace
1966 Relatively Speaking
1968 The Real Inspector Hound
1969 Cat Among the Pigeons
1970 The Two of Us
1972 Butley
1973 Absurd Person Singular
1975 Absent Friends
1979 Middle Age Spread
1980 The Wild Duck
1981 Arms and the Man
1983 Run for Your Wife
1985 Why Me?
1986 The Relapse
1987 Twelfth Night
1990 A Midsummer's Night Dream
1990 King Lear
1991 Wind in the Willows
1991 Uncle Vanya
1992 Coriolanus
1994 Home
\ITelevision\i
Brothers-in-Law
Marriage Lines
The Good Life
OneUpManShip
The Other One
The Norman Conquests
Ever-Decreasing Circles
All in Good Faith
\IFilms\i
1993 Much Ado About Nothing
1994 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
1995 In the Bleak Midwinter
1996 Hamlet
\IPublications\i
1981 Natter Natter
1987 Coward and Company
1993 A Little Light Weeding
1995 A Taste of the Good Life
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#
"Brieux, EugΦne",5645,0,0,0
DT 1858-1932
EN French playwright. His naturalistic dramas (see \Jnaturalism\j) on social themes dealt frankly with matters ranging from \Jsyphilis\j to \Jbirth control\j. George Bernard Shaw wrote a famous introduction to the English translation of three of the plays, Les AvariΘs (Damaged Goods, 1902), The Three Daughters of M. Dupont (1897) and Maternity (1903), in which he compared Brieux to Ibsen. In terms of Brieux as a campaigner, the comparison is valid.
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#
"brig",5646,0,0,0
EN Any two-masted, square-rigged sailing vessel. Brigs became common in the mid-18th-c as colliers supplying London from the northern \Jcoal\j fields. They are still fairly common as sail-training vessels.
BK b
#
"brigantine",5647,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrig\banteen]
EN A two-masted sailing vessel, square-rigged on the foremast and fore- and aft-rigged on the aftermast. Used mainly in the late 19th-c, a few are still in commission.
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"Briggs, Barry",5648,0,0,0
DT1 1934
EN Speedway rider, born in \JChristchurch\j, \JNew Zealand\j. He appeared in a record 17 consecutive world championship finals (1954--70), during which he scored a record 201 points and took part in 87 races, winning the title in 1957--8, 1964, and 1966.
He won the British League Riders' championship six times (1965--70). His career started with Wimbledon (1952), and he also rode for New Cross, \JSouthampton\j, \JSwindon\j, and Hull. After retiring (1976), he ran a \Jmotorcycle\j business in \JSouthampton\j, and was a co-promoter of the 1982 world championships in Los Angeles.
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#
"Briggs, Charles Augustus",5649,0,0,0
DT (1841-1913)
EN Protestant clergyman, educator; born in New York City. The son of a prosperous businessman, he served briefly with a New York infantry regiment on the outbreak of the \JCivil War\j, then entered Union Theological Seminary. In 1874 he became professor of \JHebrew\j there. Conservative Presbyterians objected to his scholarly work in \JOld Testament\j criticism; found guilty in a heresy trial in 1890, he was suspended from the ministry. He later took orders in the Episcopal Church and was restored to his professorship at Union.
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"Briggs, Henry",5650,0,0,0
DT (1561-1630)
EN English mathematician: introduced 'common logarithms' (ie to base 10).
Educated at Cambridge, Briggs became professor of \Jmathematics\j at Oxford in 1620. Noted for his work on logarithms, which did more than anything to popularize their use, he suggested the decimal base instead of the Napierian or natural base, and undertook the tedious work of calculating and preparing the tables, which extended to the 14th place of decimals. He also introduced the method of long division which is in common use. His Logarithmical Arithmetic was published in 1624.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Henry Briggs probably came from humble origins-little is known of his family conditions, but they were probably comparatively poor. Nonetheless, he completed his schooling, and went on to complete his M. A. at Cambridge. About a hundred years after Briggs' death, Thomas Smith suggested that Briggs must have had financial assistance from his college, St Johns, where he was made a Fellow in 1588. In 1596, he became professor of \Jgeometry\j at Gresham College, and in 1619, was appointed the first Savilian professor of \Jgeometry\j at Oxford, on Henry Saville's invitation.
As this career outline shows, Briggs was a mathematician for the most part, but he was also interested in the intertwined disciplines of \Jastronomy\j, navigation, and \Jgeography\j. As a mathematician, Briggs is mainly recalled today for his publication of tables of logarithms to the base 10 in 1617. He had come upon the logarithms of John Napier, and struck with admiration, he rushed off to see him, making visits in 1616 and again in 1617.
Why not, he asked Napier, complete logarithms to the base 10? Briggs felt that logarithms based on 10 would be much easier for people to understand, and it was he who worked out the "logs" we use today, to fourteen places, for all of the numbers from one to twenty thousand. Then for good measure, he did ninety thousand to one hundred thousand.
Briggs' first publication was \BConcerning the Construction, Description and Use of Two Instruments Invented by Mr. Gilbert,\i was devoted to the concept of determining latitude from magnetic \Jdeclination\j. The work included tables for this purpose. The Mr Gilbert in question was William Gilbert.
He also published \ITables for the Improvement of Navigation,\i in 1610, and \INorth-west Passage to the South Sea,\i in 1622. Briggs was consulted by the Virginia Company about the northwest passage, and from information about tides and currents he deduced the existence of such a passage. From the flow of rivers in Virginia and in the Hudson Bay area, he also deduced the existence of the mid-continental range of mountains in \JNorth America\j.
Two letters survive of an apparently larger correspondence between James Ussher and Briggs, on the subject of \Jastronomy\j and chronology.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Briggs, Lyman (James)",5651,0,0,0
DT (1874-1963)
EN physicist; born in \JAssyria\j, Mich. He worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (1896-1920), became chief of the Mechanics and Sound Division of the Bureau of Standards, then served as director of the Bureau (1932-45). Effectively the founder of soil physics, in 1939 he headed the committee that investigated the military potential of atomic \Jenergy\j.
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#
"Briggs, Raymond (Redvers)",5652,0,0,0
DT1 1934
EN Children's illustrator and writer, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Wimbledon School of Art and the Slade School of Art, London. He became a freelance illustrator in 1957. In 1966 his \IMother Goose Treasury\i appeared with over 900 pictures, winning him the Kate Greenaway Medal.
\IFather Christmas\i (1973), using the comic-strip format, won a second Greenaway Medal. \IThe Snowman\i (1978, animated film, 1982) enchanted adults and children alike. His anxiety for the future well-being of the \Jplanet\j is expressed in \IWhen the Wind Blows\i (1982), which has also appeared as a play (1983) and an animated film (1987). Later books include \IUnlucky Wally\i (1987) and \IThe Bear\i (1994).
\BMajor Works\b
\IChildren's Books\i
1961 The Strange House
1961 Midnight Adventure
1962 Ring-A-Ring O' Roses
1963 Sledges to the Rescue
1963 The White Land
1964 Fee Fi Fo Fum
1966 The Mother Goose Teasury
1970 Jim and the Beanstalk
1972 The Fairy Tale Treasury
1973 Father Christmas
1975 Father Christmas Goes on Holiday
1977 Fungus the Bogeyman
1978 The Snowman
1980 Gentleman Jim
1982 Fungus the Bogeyman Plop-Up Book
1986 The Snowman Pop-Up
1987 Unlucky Wally
1989 Unlucky Wally Twenty Years On
1992 The Man
1994 The Bear
\IStories\i
1982 When the Wind Blows
1984 The Tin Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman
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#
"Briggs, Robert William",5653,0,0,0
DT (1911-83)
EN developmental biologist; born in Watertown, Mass. He taught at McGill University, Montreal (1938-42), moved to the Institute for Cancer Research, Philadelphia (1942-56), then joined the University of \JIndiana\j (1956-74), continuing his scientific writing after his retirement. He made major contributions to studies of nuclear transplantion and nucleocytoplasmic interaction in \Jamphibian\j eggs and embryos.
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"Brigham Young",5654,0,0,0
EN See Young, Brigham
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#
"Brigham, Albert (Perry)",5655,0,0,0
DT (1855-1932)
EN geographer; born in Perry, N.Y. He spent a decade in the ministry and some 40 years associated with Colgate University. He was well versed in all branches of the field and published extensively. His role as secretary of the Association of American Geographers in the formative years of that institution is regarded as essential to its success.
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#
"Brighouse, Harold",5656,0,0,0
DT 1882-1958
EN British playwright. He wrote prolifically, mainly about the people and affairs of his home county of Lancashire. The Gaiety Theatre in Manchester was the venue for much of his work, including his best-known play Hobson's Choice (1915). This play and Zack (1916) have established a firm place in the national repertory. His one-act plays, which are particularly well crafted, form an important part of his work. (See also Stanley Houghton.)
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#
"Bright, John",5657,0,0,0
DT1 1811
DT2 89
EN Radical British statesman and orator, born in \JRochdale\j, Greater Manchester, north-west England, UK. When the Anti Corn-Law League was formed in 1839 he was a leading member, and engaged in \Jfree trade\j agitation throughout the country. In 1843 he became MP for Durham, and strongly opposed the corn laws until they were repealed.
Elected in 1857 for Birmingham, his name was closely associated with the Reform Act of 1867. He accepted office as President of the Board of Trade (1868), but retired through illness in 1870, returning in 1881 as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He was regarded as one of the most eloquent speakers of his time.
SX m
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#
"Bright, Richard",5658,0,0,0
DT (1789-1858)
EN British physician: pioneer user of clinical biochemistry.
Bright studied and wrote on botany, \Jzoology\j, \Jgeology\j and medicine, and travelled widely in Europe, from \JIceland\j to \JHungary\j. Working thereafter as a physician in London, he showed that disease can in some cases be linked with body chemistry and with post-mortem findings.
He is best known for his recognition that kidney disease (nephritis) is linked with dropsy (accumulation of fluid in the body) and with the presence of albumin in the urine. The term Bright's disease was formerly used to cover the non- suppurative inflammatory renal (ie kidney) diseases that show these symptoms. Bright was also a skilful artist and travel writer.
BK Scie
#
"Brightman, Edgar Sheffield",5659,0,0,0
DT (1884-1953)
EN philosopher; born in Holbrook, Mass. After studying at \JBoston\j University, where he was influenced by Borden Parker Bowne, and in \JGermany\j, he returned to teach at \JBoston\j University from 1919. His philosophy, systematically presented in the posthumous \IPerson and Reality\i (1958), was an empirically oriented development of Bowne's personalistic \Jtheism\j. He is credited with having inspired many students, including Martin Luther King Jr.
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#
"brightness",5660,0,0,0
EN See luminous intensity
BK b
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#
"Brighton",5661,0,0,0
EN 50░50N 0░10W, pop (1995e) 143 000. Resort town in Brighton and Hove unitary authority, SE England, UK; on the English Channel, 77 km/48 mi S of London; in 1782 the Prince of Wales (later \JGeorge IV\j) took up residence here; railway; University of Sussex (1961), 5 km/3 mi NE; University of Brighton (1992, formerly Brighton \JPolytechnic\j); food processing, furniture; conference centre; marina; Royal Pavilion (1811), designed by John Nash; Brighton Festival (May); football league team, Brighton and Hove Albion (Seagulls); London--Brighton veteran car run (Nov).
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#
"Brigid, St",5662,0,0,0
EN See Bridget, Brigid, or Bride, St
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#
"Brigit or Brighid",5663,0,0,0
EN An Irish goddess of fire and the hearth; also of poetry and handicrafts. In the Christian era a number of her attributes were taken over by St Brigid. The name means 'the exalted one'.
BK b
#
"Brigit, St",5664,0,0,0
EN See Bridget, Brigit, or Birgitta (of Sweden), St
BK bg b
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#
"Brihadisvara Temple",5665,0,0,0
PN [brihadis\Bvah\bra]
EN A Hindu temple at Thanjavur (formerly Tanjore), Tamil Nadu, India; a world heritage monument. The temple was founded by the Chola king Rajaraja I (985-1014) in the late 10th-c. It is renowned for its frescoes and for its 60┐m / 200┐ft tower, encrusted with shrines and relief sculptures.
BK b
#
"brill",5666,0,0,0
EN Large \Jflatfish\j \I(Scophthalmus rhombus)\i found mainly on sandy bottoms in shallow waters (10-75┐m / 30-250┐ft) of north-east Atlantic and Mediterranean; body length up to c.60┐cm / 2┐ft; both eyes on left side, mouth large and curved; sandy brown with dark and light flecks; good food fish. \B(Family:\b Scophthalmidae.)
BK b
#
"Brill, Abraham A. (Arden)",5667,0,0,0
DT (1874-1948)
EN psychoanalyst, translator; born in Kanezuga, \JGalicia\j. He emigrated to the United States at age 15 and took his medical degree at Columbia University in 1903. In 1908 he became the first Freudian psychoanalyst in the United States. He is best known as the translator of Sigmund Freud's works into English, including the compendium \IThe Basic Writings of Sigmund Freud\i (1938).
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#
"Brillat-Savarin, (Jean) Anthelme",5668,0,0,0
PN [breeyah savarφ\ti]
DT1 1755
DT2 1826
EN French politician, gastronome, and writer, born in Belley, \JFrance\j. He was a deputy in 1789, and Mayor of Belley in 1793. During the \JFrench Revolution\j he took refuge in \JSwitzerland\j, and afterwards in America. His \IPhysiologie du go√t\i (1825, The \JPhysiology\j of Taste), an elegant and witty compendium of the art of dining, has been repeatedly republished and translated; an English form is \IA Handbook of Gastronomy,\i with 52 etchings by Lalauze (1884).
SX m
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#
"Brillouin, Leon N. (Nicholas)",5669,0,0,0
DT (1889-1969)
EN physicist; born in Sevres, \JFrance\j. He taught in \JFrance\j before coming to the U.S.A. in 1941. After doing defense research at Columbia University (1943-45), he moved to Harvard (1946-49). A solid-state physicist who specialized in wave theory, he determined that at high frequencies, sound waves approximate thermal waves. He became director of \Jelectronics\j education at International Business Machines in 1949.
BK AmBg
#
"brimstone (chemistry)",5670,0,0,0
EN See sulphur / sulfur
BK b
XCY y
#
"brimstone (entomology)",5671,0,0,0
EN A wide-winged butterfly; wings lemon-yellow in male, greenish-white in female, each with an orange spot; caterpillars blue-green, with fine hairs; found on \Jbuckthorn\j; adult remains dormant under leaves during winter. \B(Order:\b \JLepidoptera\j. \BFamily:\b Pieridae.)
BK b
#
"Brindisi",5672,0,0,0
PN [\Bbreen\bdisee], ancient \BBrundisium\b
EN 40░37N 17░57E, pop (1995e) 90 900. Seaport and capital of Brindisi province, Puglia, S \JItaly\j; 100 km/62 mi SE of Bari, on the Adriatic; inner and outer harbour; centre of trade with E Mediterranean from ancient times; used by Crusaders as a naval base; archbishopric; airport; railway; Virgil died here; cathedral (11th-c, rebuilt 18th-c), Castello Svevo (1227).
BK Geog99
#
"Brindley, James",5673,0,0,0
DT1 1716
DT2 72
EN Engineer and canal builder, born in Thornsett, \JDerbyshire\j, C England, UK. Apprenticed to a millwright, he became an engineer, and contrived a \Jwater\j engine for draining a coalmine (1752). Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, employed him to build the canal between Worsley and Manchester (1759), a difficult enterprise completed in 1772.
He also commenced the Grand Trunk Canal, and completed the Birmingham, Chesterfield, and other canals. He was illiterate, solving most of his problems without writings or drawings.
MEX Egerton
SX m
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#
"brine shrimp",5674,0,0,0
EN A fairy shrimp found in inland salty or hypersaline waters; swims upside down, beating its leaf-like legs; eggs resistant to desiccation, sold as fish food and hatched in salt water when required. \B(Class:\b Branchiopoda. \BOrder:\b Anostraca.)
BK b
#
"Brinell hardness test",5675,0,0,0
PN [bri\Bnel\b]
EN A test for the hardness of metal, named after Swedish engineer, Johann August Brinell (1849-1925). A hard steel ball is pressed into the test piece with a known and reproducible force, producing a depression. The dimensions of the depression provide a measure of hardness.
BK b
#
"Brinell, Johan August",5676,0,0,0
PN [bri\Bnel\b]
DT1 1849
DT2 1925
EN Engineer and metallurgist, born in Bringetofta, Sweden. He invented the \IBrinell machine\i for measuring the hardness of alloys and metals.
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#
"Brink, AndrΘ",5677,0,0,0
DT1 1935
EN Novelist, short-story writer, playwright, critic, and translator, born in Vrede, South Africa. An Afrikaner dissident, he emerged as a writer in the 1950s, but it was not until his seventh novel - which he later translated into English as \ILooking on Darkness\i (1974) - was banned by the South African authorities that he began to attract international attention.
Later books include \IRumours of Rain\i (1978), \IChain of Voices\i (1982), \IStates of Emergency\i (1988), and \IImaginings of Sand\i (1996). He received the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize and the French Prix Medicis Etranger in 1980, and has twice been runner-up for the Booker Prize.
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1962 The Price of Living
1967 File on Diplomat
1974 Looking on Darkness
1978 Rumours of Rain
1979 A Dry White Season
1982 A Chain of Voices
1984 The Wall of the Plague
1988 States of Emergency
1996 Imaginings of Sand
\IEssays\i
1983 Mapmakers: Writing in a State of Siege
BK Biog99
#
"Brinton, (Clarence) Crane",5678,0,0,0
DT (1898-1968)
EN historian, teacher; born in Winsted, Conn. Educated at Harvard and Oxford Universities, he became known as a brilliant, cosmopolitan scholar and author as well as a popular teacher at Harvard (1923-68). He worked for the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) in London (1942-45) during World War II. An authority on revolutions and a proponent of "intellectual history," his 15 books include \IThe Anatomy of Revolution\i (1938), \IA History of Western Morals\i (1959), and \IThe Americans and the French\i (1968).
BK AmBg
#
"Brinton, Daniel Garrison",5679,0,0,0
DT (1837-99)
EN physician, cultural anthropologist; born in Thornbury, Pa. He graduated from Yale in 1858, took a medical degree in 1861, and studied abroad for a year before returning to serve as a Union army surgeon (1862-65). He retired from medical practice in 1887 to pursue anthropological research full time. His \IAmerican Race\i (1891) was the first systematic classification of the aboriginal languages of the Americas and his studies of the Mayans were landmarks in American archaeology.
BK AmBg
#
"briquette",5680,0,0,0
EN A fuel made into uniformly shaped lumps, formed by compressing small \Jcoal\j, previously carbonized to render it smokeless, and consolidated by a combustible binder. The term is also used for the uniform lumps of brown \Jcoal\j formed by extrusion or compression.
BK b
#
"Brisbane",5681,0,0,0
PN [\Bbriz\bbn]
EN 27░30S 153░00E, pop (1995e) 1 441 000. State capital of \JQueensland\j, \JAustralia\j, on the Brisbane R; founded as a penal colony, 1824; state capital, 1859; third largest city in \JAustralia\j; the only Australian city with one central metropolitan government; airport; railway; two universities (1909, 1975); commerce, oil refining, chemicals, \Jengineering\j, shipbuilding, food processing, textiles; City Hall (1930); Lone Pine \JKoala\j Sanctuary; botanical gardens; Government House; maritime museum; Brisbane Royal Show (Aug); scene of World Expo (1988), since redeveloped as entertainment and cultural venue.
BK Geog99
#
"Brisbane, Albert",5682,0,0,0
DT (1809-90)
EN social reformer; born in Batavia, N.Y. Son of a wealthy landowner, he had little formal schooling but in 1828 went off to Europe "to solve the mystery of man's destiny." For six years he studied at various universities and met or studied with several great thinkers - Goethe, Hegel, Jules Michelet, and Charles Fourier.
It was Fourier's social philosophy, essentially a \Jsocialism\j that called for establishing small cooperative communities, that Brisbane adopted, and after his return to the U.S.A. (1834) he embarked on a phase of writing about and promoting "Fourierism" (which he tended to rename "associationism") through books, articles, and journals that he edited (such as \IThe Phalanx,\i 1843-45). When it came to operating actual utopian communities based on Fourierism, however, Brisbane took little action, and by 1851 - after two other trips to Europe - he had effectively withdrawn from social activism.
He concentrated on managing his family's business and on publishing his various ideas on everything from \Jpsychology\j to Fourier's theories (including his major work, the \IGeneral Introduction to Social Theory,\i 1876); he even suggested new systems for transportation and burials and became an advocate of drinking wine. Although admired in his \Jday\j, he was generally described as a propagandist, not as an effective leader.
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#
"Brisbane, Sir Thomas Makdougall",5683,0,0,0
DT1 1773
DT2 1860
EN British soldier and astronomer, born in Largs, North Ayrshire, W Scotland, UK. At 16 he entered the army, and served with distinction in Flanders, the West Indies, \JSpain\j, and \JNorth America\j, being promoted major-general in 1813. He was Governor of \JNew South Wales\j (1821-5). He catalogued 7385 stars, and received the Copley Medal from the Royal Society. Brisbane, the capital of \JQueensland\j, was named after him.
SX m
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#
"brisling",5684,0,0,0
EN Small Norwegian fish, \ISprattus sprattus,\i usually canned in oil.
BK b
#
"Brissot (de Warville), Jacques Pierre",5685,0,0,0
PN [breesoh]
DT1 1754
DT2 93
EN French revolutionary politician, born near Chartres, \JFrance\j. After completing his studies in Paris he abandoned the legal profession for that of journalism. He was imprisoned for four months in the Bastille on the false charge of having written a brochure against the queen. In 1789 he was present at the storming of the Bastille, and was elected representative for Paris in the National Assembly.
He exercised a predominant influence over all the early movements of the revolution, and was recognized as the head of the \JGirondins\j or Brissotins. In the Convention his moderation made him suspect, and with 20 other \JGirondins\j he was guillotined.
SX m
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#
"bristletail",5686,0,0,0
EN A primitive wingless insect with long tail filaments; the group includes the \Jsilverfish\j. \BTwo-pronged bristletails\b \B(Order:\b Diplura, 660 species) are blind, mostly minute, and found in the soil, feeding on decaying organic matter. \BThree-pronged bristletails\b \B(Order:\b Thysanura, 600 species) are minute, mostly found in the soil and forest leaf litter.
BK b
#
"bristleworm",5687,0,0,0
EN An aquatic \Jannelid\j worm; body segmented, segments typically with paired lateral lobes \I(parapodia)\i bearing various bristles and scales; body length from 1┐mm-3┐m / 0.04┐in-10┐ft; c.8000 species, including sedentary, tube-living, free-swimming, and parasitic forms. \B(Class:\b Polychaeta.)
BK b
#
"Bristol",5688,0,0,0
EN 51░27N 2░5W, pop (1995e) 401 000. Unitary authority in SW England; former (to 1996) administrative centre of Avon county; county status 1373; major port in 17th--18th-c, much involved in the \Jslave trade\j; 187 km/116 mi W of London; an important shipping centre, ports at Avonmouth, Royal Portbury, Portishead; 2 airports; railway; university (1909); University of the West of England (1992, formerly \JBristol\j \JPolytechnic\j); shipbuilding, \Jaircraft\j construction, \Jengineering\j, \Jtobacco\j processing; trade in food, \Jpetroleum\j products, metals; 12th-c cathedral, Roman Catholic cathedral (1973), 14th-c St Mary Redcliffe, Theatre Royal (1766), Clifton suspension bridge (1864); Brunel's SS \IGreat Britain\irests restored where she was launched in 1843; football league teams, \JBristol\j City (Robins), \JBristol\j Rovers (Pirates).
BK Geog99
#
"Bristol Channel",5689,0,0,0
EN An inlet of the \JAtlantic Ocean\j and an extension of the River Severn estuary, between Wales and England, UK; extends 128┐km / 79┐mi E-W, with a varying width of 5-80┐km / 3-50┐mi at its mouth; the greatest tidal range in England; chief towns on the Welsh (north) coast include \JCardiff\j and Swansea, and on the English (south) coast Ilfracombe and Weston-super-Mare.
BK b
#
"Bristol Old Vic Company",5690,0,0,0
EN Shortly after the end of World War II, the Arts Council of \JGreat Britain\j, in association with the Old Vic in London, set up a permanent repertory company in \JBristol\j, based at the recently reopened Theatre Royal (itself dating from 1766). Beginning in 1946, under the direction of Hugh Hunt, it soon became established as one of the country's leading theatre companies.
Since 1972, when alterations to the Theatre Royal were completed, the company has also been able to present small-scale new and experimental work in a theatre studio, the New Vic. The \JBristol\j Old Vic Theatre Trust also runs the highly regarded \JBristol\j Old Vic Theatre School.
BK Thea
#
"Bristow, Benjamin Helm",5691,0,0,0
DT (1832-96)
EN lawyer, public official; born in Elkton, Ky. A lawyer's son, he worked for a time for his father, then commanded Kentucky Union troops during the \JCivil War\j. As a postwar U.S. attorney for Kentucky, he helped suppress moonshiners and Ku Klux Klan activity.
As President Ulysses S. Grant's treasury secretary in 1874, he smashed the notorious Whiskey Ring; but some of the distillers were Grant cronies, and they turned the president against Bristow. Forced from office in 1876, he returned to private practice and became president of the American Bar Association in 1879.
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#
"Bristow, Eric",5692,0,0,0
DT1 1957
EN Darts player, born in London, England, UK. World professional champion a record five times (1980--81, 1984--6), he was also the beaten finalist twice. His other major championships include the World Masters (1977, 1979, 1981, 1983--4), the World Cup individual (1983, 1985), and the \INews of the World\i Championship (1983--4).
BK Biog99
#
"Bristow, Joseph (Little)",5693,0,0,0
DT (1861-1944)
EN U.S. senator; born near Hazel Green, Ky. Settling in Kansas (1879), he acquired several newspapers there and rose in the Republican Party, becoming assistant postmaster general (1897-1905); his investigation of corruption in the postal system exposed several Republican legislators and forced his resignation.
Aligning himself increasingly with the more progressive wing of the Republicans, he served a term in the U.S. Senate (Rep., Kans.; 1909-15) where his most notable achievement was to help write what became the 17th Amendment, providing for the direct election of senators.
BK AmBg
#
"Britain",5694,0,0,0
EN See United Kingdom (UK)
BK b
XCY y
#
"Britain, Battle of",5695,0,0,0
EN The name given to the air war campaign of late summer 1940 in which the German \JLuftwaffe\j attempted to destroy the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a prelude to the invasion of \JGreat Britain\j. The aerial offensive began in August, the German bomber \Jaircraft\j and fighter escorts concentrating on wiping out the RAF both by combat in the air and by bombing their vital airfields in the S of the country.
British resistance proved stubborn, with the Spitfires and Hurricanes of RAF Fighter Command being directed by radar onto the incoming bomber streams. Badly mauled, the \JLuftwaffe\j switched their offensive from attacks on airfields to attacks on British cities (the 'Blitz'), losing their opportunity to gain true air superiority. Between 1 July and 31 October the \JLuftwaffe\j lost 2848 \Jaircraft\j to the RAF's 1446.
BK b
#
"Britain, Roman",5696,0,0,0
EN Known to the Graeco-Roman world from the late 4th-c BC, Britain escaped invasion until the time of Julius Caesar (55-54 BC) and conquest until the time of Emperor Claudius (AD 43); Roman military occupation then followed, the main garrison towns being Lincoln, York, Caerleon on the Usk, and Chester.
Conquest of the whole island was initially intended, but the fierce resistance of the tribes in the N (Caledonia) ruled this out. Instead, defensive barriers were erected in N England and S Scotland (\JHadrian\j's Wall and the Antonine Wall). To the S, control was exerted through the army and the policy of Romanizing the natives. Military occupation lasted until c.400, when troubles elsewhere in the Empire forced the withdrawal of the garrison troops.
BK b
#
"Britannia metal",5697,0,0,0
EN A tin alloy used for tableware, containing 90% tin, 7% \Jantimony\j, and 2% copper; lustrous, hard, and malleable. It was initially used as a substitute for \Jpewter\j, but has now been largely displaced by \Inickel-silver,\i an alloy of nickel, copper, and zinc.
BK b
#
"Britannicus",5698,0,0,0
HS , in full \BClaudius Tiberius Britannicus Caesar\b
DT1 41
DT2 55
DT2b AD
EN The son of the emperor Claudius and Messalina, surnamed in honour of his father's triumph in Britain (43). Claudius's fourth wife, Agrippina the Younger, caused her husband to adopt her son Nero, and treat Britannicus as an imbecile; and Nero, after his accession, had his step-brother poisoned.
MEX Claudius; Messalina; Nero; Agrippina (the Younger)
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#
"British",5699,0,0,0
EN See Celtic languages
BK b
XCY y
#
"British Antarctic Survey",5700,0,0,0
EN A division of the Natural Environment Research Council which has responsibility for research in atmospheric, \Jearth\j, and life sciences in the Antarctic and surrounding oceans. It supports a number of research stations on the continent, including permanent stations at Signy (60░43S 45░36W), \JFaraday\j (65░15S 64░16W), Rothera (67░34S 68░08W), and Haley (75░36S 26░41W).
Research includes the continued investigation of changes in atmospheric ozone concentrations, analyses of ice cores for climatic information, the modelling of ice sheet-ice shelf-flow behaviour, and the dynamics of the terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.
BK b
#
"British Antarctic Territory",5701,0,0,0
EN British colonial territory 20-80░W and S of 60░S; includes South Orkney Is, South Shetland Is, Antarctic Graham Land Peninsula, and the land mass extending to the South Pole; \BArea:\b 5.7 million┐km\U2\u / 2.2 million┐mi\U2\u; land area (660┐000┐km\U2\u / 170┐000┐mi\U2\u) covered by ice and fringed by floating ice shelves; population solely of scientists of the British Antarctic Survey; territory administered by a High Commissioner in the Falkland Is.
BK b
#
"British Association for the Advancement of Science",5702,0,0,0
EN An organization whose aims are to promote interest and progress in science. At its annual conference the social, political, and economic implications of scientific advances are considered. It was founded in 1831 by a group of scientists disillusioned with the elitist and conservative attitude of the Royal Society.
BK b
#
"British Athletic Federation (BAF)",5703,0,0,0
EN The governing body for \Jathletics\j in England and Wales. It was formed in 1991 as a result of a merger between the Amateur Athletic Association, founded in 1880, and the Women's Amateur Athletic Association, founded in 1922.
BK b
#
"British Broadcasting Corporation",5704,0,0,0
EN See BBC
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#
"British Columbia",5705,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 3 483 000; area 947 800 sq km/365 945 sq mi. Mountainous province in SW Canada, bordered S by USA, E by Alberta, N by \JYukon\j, and W by the Pacific; several mountain chains, including Rocky Mts, Monaghee Range, Coast Mts; largest islands, Queen Charlotte, Vancouver; ranges cut by fertile valleys of Fraser, Thompson, and Columbia Rivers; many lakes, largest Williston, Okanagan, Kootenay, Shuswap and Arrow; capital, Victoria; major cities, Vancouver, \JKamloops\j, Kelowna, Prince George; timber products, hydroelectric power, mining (\Jcoal\j, copper, silver, gold, molybdenum), tourism, oil and \Jnatural gas\j, fishing, dairy products, \Jcattle\j; Captain Cook landed at Vancouver I, 1778; sea \Jotter\j fur trade flourished; border with USA settled by Oregon Treaty, 1846; gold rush to Fraser R, 1858; entered federation of Canada, 1871; Canadian Pacific Railway completed, 1885; opening of \JPanama Canal\j (1915) increased trade with Europe; governed by a lieutenant-governor and an elected 57-member Legislative Assembly.
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#
"British Commonwealth",5706,0,0,0
EN See Commonwealth (British)
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#
"British Council",5707,0,0,0
EN An organization founded in 1934 to spread the influence of British culture, ideas, and education. Its headquarters is in London, and in 1997 it had offices based in 109 countries throughout the world.
BK b
#
"British Empire",5708,0,0,0
EN There were in fact several British Empires: the empire of commerce and settlement in the Caribbean and \JNorth America\j, founded in the 17th-c and partly lost when the 13 colonies declared their independence in 1776; the empire in the East, founded in the 17th-c but developed through the extensive conquest of India (1757-1857) and the acquisition of islands, trading posts, and strategic positions from Aden to Hong Kong; the empire of white settlement in Canada, \JAustralia\j, \JNew Zealand\j and the Cape in South Africa, each of which had been federated as 'dominions' by 1910; and the 'dependent territories' in Africa and elsewhere acquired during the 'New \JImperialism\j' of the last few decades of the 19th-c.
To this must be added the British 'informal empire' - territories which she did not rule directly, but which fell under her influence because of her industrial and commercial power. These included parts of S America, the \JMiddle East\j, the Persian Gulf, and China. In 1919 the Empire reached its fullest extent through the acquisition of mandates over German and Ottoman territories in Africa and the \JMiddle East\j.
It was this diversity which gave rise to such famous phrases as 'the empire on which the \Jsun\j never sets'. By the late 19th-c the Empire was bonded together not only by industrial strength but by a vast merchant marine and powerful navy. After World War 1 it was apparent that Britain could not control such an extensive empire: the dominions secured effective independence in 1931; the Middle Eastern mandates were virtually lost by World War 2; India gained her independence in 1947, and the other Asian colonies soon followed; while most of the rest of the Empire was decolonized in the 1960s. Many of the countries of the Empire remained in the \JBritish Commonwealth\j of Nations.
BK b
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"British Empire, Most Excellent Order of the",5709,0,0,0
EN In the UK, an order of chivalry, the first to be granted to both sexes equally, instituted in 1917 by \JGeorge V\j. It has five classes: Knights and Dames Grand Cross (GBE), Knights and Dames Commander (KBE / DBE), Commanders (\JCBE\j), Officers (OBE), and Members (MBE). Appointments are made on the recommendations of government ministers, but recipients may come from any walk of life. The ribbon is pink edged with grey (civil division), with a central narrow stripe (military division).
BK b
#
"British Expeditionary Force (BEF)",5710,0,0,0
EN An army, first established in 1906, sent to \JFrance\j (Aug 1914 and Sep 1939) to support the left wing of the French armies against German attack. In World War 2 its total strength was 394┐000, of whom 224┐000 were safely evacuated, mainly from \JDunkirk\j, in May-June 1940.
BK b
#
"British Indian Ocean Territory",5711,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 2900 (no permanent inhabitants); land area 60 sq km/23 sq mi. British territory in the Indian Ocean, 1900 km/1180 mi NE of \JMauritius\j, comprising the Chagos Archipelago; the islands cover c.54 400 sq km/21 000 sq mi of ocean, in six main island groups; largest island, Diego Garcia; acquired by \JFrance\j, 18th-c; annexed by Britain, 1814; dependency of \JMauritius\j until 1965; established to meet UK and US defence requirements in the Indian Ocean; UK--US naval support facility on Diego Garcia; copra plantations.
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"British Isles",5712,0,0,0
EN Group of islands off the north-west coast of Europe. It consists of two main islands (\JGreat Britain\j and Ireland), and many smaller islands, notably the \JIsle of Man\j, \JIsle of Wight\j, Channel Is, Western Is, Orkney, and Shetland.
BK b
#
"British Legion",5713,0,0,0
EN See Royal British Legion
BK b
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#
"British Library",5714,0,0,0
EN The national depository created by the British Library Act of 1972 through the amalgamation of the British Museum Library, the National Central Library, and the National Lending Library for Science and Technology. Its reference division is based in London; its lending division in West Yorkshire. A new site for the Library in Euston Rd, London, was due for completion, after many delays, in 1997.
BK b
#
"British Medical Association (BMA)",5715,0,0,0
EN An association founded in 1832 in Worcester to promote medical and allied sciences, and to maintain the honour of the profession, and now very much concerned with such matters as education and conditions of service. It is now listed as a trade union, but is not affiliated to the Trades Union Congress.
BK b
#
"British Museum",5716,0,0,0
EN The national museum of archaeology and ethnography in Bloomsbury, London, England, UK. It dates from 1753, when the collection of Sir Hans Sloane was acquired for the nation. To the Sloane collection were added the Harleian and Cotton manuscript collections, forming the nucleus of the British Library, which is still partly housed in the British Museum. Since 1881 the natural history collection has been housed separately. The Library began its move to a new site on Euston Road, London, in 1992.
BK b
#
"British North America Act",5717,0,0,0
EN An act passed by the British Parliament in 1867 which brought about the Confederation of \JNova Scotia\j, New \JBrunswick\j, Quebec, and \JOntario\j, thus giving rise to Canada. In 1981 it was renamed the Constitution Act (1867).
BK b
#
"British South Africa Company",5718,0,0,0
EN A company, formed by Cecil Rhodes, which used a series of concessions from C African chiefs to secure a Royal Charter from the British government in 1889. In 1923-4, its territories were divided into Northern Rhodesia (\JZambia\j after 1964) and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe after 1980).
BK b
#
"British Sports Association for the Disabled",5719,0,0,0
EN An organization, founded in 1961, which aims to provide sports and recreation opportunities for people with disabilities throughout the UK. Its membership of c.50┐000 is represented in over 500 clubs, schools, and associations, participating in over 20 different sports.
BK b
#
"British Standards Institution",5720,0,0,0
EN The recognized UK body for the preparation of nationally accepted standards for \Jengineering\j and industrial materials, and codes of practice. It provides for the marking and certification of products made with standard materials and under standard procedures. It is supported by (but is independent of) the UK government, as well as by industrial firms and professional institutes. There are similar bodies in several other countries.
BK b
#
"British Summer Time",5721,0,0,0
EN See Daylight Saving Time
BK b
XCY y
#
"British Theatre Association",5722,0,0,0
EN Founded by Geoffrey Whitworth in 1919 as the British Drama League, its early causes included the establishment of a National Theatre, the introduction of drama into the school curriculum and the winning of public support for the arts. Of special importance has been its library and information/research service. The BTA was dissolved for financial reasons in 1990. Its collections of play scripts (presented by Annie Horniman and including the William Archer collection) are now held by the Theatre Museum in London.
BK Thea
#
"British thermal unit",5723,0,0,0
EN In \Jthermodynamics\j, an old unit of heat; symbol \IBtu; \i 1┐Btu┐=┐1055┐J (joule, SI unit); defined as the heat needed to raise the \Jtemperature\j of a pound of \Jwater\j from 63░F to 64░F; a \Itherm\i is 10\U5\u Btu.
BK b
#
"British Veterinary Association",5724,0,0,0
EN See veterinary science
BK b
XCY y
#
"British Virgin Islands",5725,0,0,0
EN See Virgin Islands, British
BK b
XCY y
#
"Brittain, Vera (Mary)",5726,0,0,0
PN [\Bbri\btn]
DT1 1893
DT2 1970
EN Writer, born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, C England, UK. After studying at Oxford she served as a nurse in World War 1, recording her experiences with war-found idealism in \ITestament of Youth\i (1933). She later wrote \ITestament of Friendship\i (1940) and \ITestament of Experience\i (1957). In 1925 she married \BGeorge Catlin\b (1896-1979), professor of politics at Cornell. Her daughter is the politician, Shirley Williams.
MEX Williams, Shirley
SX f
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#
"Brittan, Sir Leon",5727,0,0,0
DT1 1939
EN British statesman, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Cambridge and Harvard, and qualified as a \Jbarrister\j. He became a Conservative MP in 1974, and from 1979 held ministerial posts under Margaret Thatcher, including Treasury chief secretary (1981--3), home secretary (1983--5), and trade and industry secretary (1985--6). He resigned from the cabinet in 1986 because of his involvement in a political dispute over the sale of the Westland Helicopter Co. In 1989 he was nominated as a vice-president of the European Commission with special responsibility for competition policy.
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"Brittany",5728,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 2 880 000; area 27 208 sq km/10 502 sq mi. Region and former province of NW \JFrance\j, comprising departments of C⌠tes-du-Nord, FinistΦre, Ille-et-Vilaine, and Morbihan; prominent NW peninsula, bounded N by the English Channel, S by the Bay of Biscay; rugged and striking coastline; large tracts of heathland rising to 391 m/1283 ft at Monts d'ArrΘe and 326 m/1069 ft at Montagne Noire; part of Roman Empire, following Julius Caesar's invasion, 56BC;arrival of \JCelts\j from Britain 5th--6th-cAD,from which came a distinctive culture and language (Breton); chief towns, \JNantes\j, Rennes, Lorient, \JQuimper\j, Brest; high concentration of megaliths; area noted for its seafood, onions, artichokes, strawberries, Breton Muscadet wine; major tourist area.
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"Brittany spaniel",5729,0,0,0
EN An alert and intelligent hunter, especially popular as a bird retriever, this dog has a long history and remains popular in many countries.
\BHistory:\b
The Brittany's most likely ancestor is the Chien d'Oysel (Bird Dog), which is the basis for many Spaniel and Setter breeds throughout \JFrance\j, and has been known since the sixteenth century. A similar tailless dog was painted many times by Rembrandt in the seventeenth century. There has been cross-breeding with English Setters and \JPointers\j to arrive at the Brittany Spaniel's present-\Jday\j dimensions. The first official standard was established in 1907. In America the breed was popular and a club was formed which almost declined until after the Second World War. In 1942 the American Brittany Club was re-formed.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
A small, energetic and elegant dog. \IHeight:\i 17 - 20 in (43.2 - 50.8 cm). Under Canadian standards: 17.5 - 20.5 in (44.5 - 52 cm). \IWeight:\i 33 lb (15 kg) for the dog and 28.5 lb (13 kg) for the bitch. Under Canadian standards: 31 - 39 lb (14 - 17.7 kg). The head is rounded, the stop well-defined, and not too deep. The muzzle is short and straight. The nose is fawn, tan, brown or dark pink (depending on the coat color), with open nostrils. The lips are thin, tight, and slightly raised, with the upper lip extending slightly beyond the lower lip.
The bite is scissor. The eye color also depends on the coat color and may be dark amber to dark hazel. The eyes are deep-set and have an alert expression. The ears are set high and drop, slightly rounded, to the sides of the face. The body has a medium neck, deep chest, and well-sprung ribs. The shoulders are well-muscled and slope down to a short back. The loin is short, broad and strong. Hindquarters are broad, strong and muscular, with powerful thighs. The forequarters are straight, thin and muscular. The tail is usually shorter than 4 inches or is docked.
The Brittany's coat is fine and dense, rather flat or slightly wavy. The coat color is white with either orange, brown, black, liver, tricolor or roan.
\BBehavior:\b
The Brittany Spaniel started off as a working dog for flushing game, and still retains some of its attributes, such as the determination to seek out its quarry. Nowadays the Brittany Spaniel is usually kept as a companion or show dog, where its good looks and gentleness are highly desirable. This is an intelligent dog that can be trained to a high level. However, owners must be consistent in their approach to ensure that maximum learning takes place.
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"Britten (of Aldeburgh), (Edward) Benjamin Britten, Baron",5730,0,0,0
DT1 1913
DT2 76
EN Composer, born in Lowestoft, Suffolk, E England, UK. During the 1930s he wrote incidental music for plays and documentary films. He then went to the USA (1939-42), where he wrote his violin \Jconcerto\j and the \ISinfonia da Requiem.\i Back in the UK, his works were largely vocal and choral - exceptions include the famous \IVariations and \JFugue\j on a Theme of Purcell\i (also known as \IThe Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra).\i
He then wrote three operas: \IPeter Grimes\i (1945), \IBilly Budd\i (1951), and \IGloriana\i (1953), as well as several chamber operas and children's operas. His later operas include \IA Midsummer Night's Dream\i (1960) and \IDeath in Venice\i (1973). He was also an accomplished pianist, often accompanying Peter Pears. He helped to found the annual Aldeburgh Festival in 1948, and became a life peer in 1976.
MEX Pears; Forster, E M
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"brittle bone syndrome",5731,0,0,0
EN A generalized genetically determined disease of the skeleton, characterized by the deficient formation of bone and connective tissue, resulting in excessive fragility of the skeleton. Seriously afflicted babies suffer multiple fractures and die in infancy. Less severely affected children may survive into adult life and develop only an occasional fracture, often in the lower limbs. Dwarfing and a blue colour to the sclerae of the eye are common features.
BK b
#
"brittle material",5732,0,0,0
EN See plastic deformation
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XCY y
#
"brittle star",5733,0,0,0
EN A \Jstarfish\j-like marine \Jinvertebrate\j (\Jechinoderm\j) which typically has five slender arms sharply demarcated from the central disc; arms sometimes branched; c.2000 species, found from the intertidal zone to deep sea; most feed as scavengers. \B(Class:\b Ophiuroidea.)
BK b
#
"Britton, Nathaniel L. (Lord)",5734,0,0,0
DT (1859-1934)
EN botanist; born in New Dorp, \JStaten Island\j, N.Y. Originally a geologist, he was an assistant in \Jgeology\j at Columbia University (1879-86), then taught \Jgeology\j, botany, and \Jecology\j there (1886-90). He became a professor of botany at Columbia (1891-96), then resigned to found and direct the New York Botanical Garden (1896-1929), with his wife Elizabeth Gertrude Knight Britton, as its curator of mosses.
A rigid taxonomist, he collected and classified plants of the U.S.A. and the West Indies, and wrote and illustrated volumes on flowers, trees, and cacti. He is honored in the names of many plant genera and species; Mount Britton in Luquillo National Park, Puerto Rico, was also named for him.
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"Brittonic",5735,0,0,0
EN See Celtic languages
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#
"Briusov, Valery (Yakovlevich)",5736,0,0,0
DT 1873-1924
EN Russian poet, novelist and critic. He was the chief theorist of the symbolist movement (see \Jsymbolism\j); his call for a conventional theatre of essence greatly influenced Meyerhold and other anti-realistic directors (see realism) of the early 20th century. His symbolist activities included the anthology Russian \JSymbolists\j (1894), which launched the movement; the editing of its journal, The Scales (1904); numerous volumes of poetry and short fiction; theoretical and critical articles; the novel The Fiery Angel (1907-8); over 20 produced plays, and sketches of many more.
In his essays he argued his preference for a conventional (uslovny) theatre which would give the actor the centrality he enjoyed in the ancient Greek and Elizabethan theatres. Briusov attacked Meyerhold's \Jmechanization\j of the actor but supported Gordon Craig's bid to stylize the acting in his Hamlet collaboration with \JStanislavsky\j at the Moscow Art Theatre (1912). His own dramas, which have been labelled 'cosmic' offer spectacular scenic and lighting effects, philosophical themes and heightened language, symbols and imagery.
Earth (1904) is the only published one of four \Jscience fiction\j plays, the others being Piroent (Pyroesis), The Dictator (1921) and The World of Seven Generations (1923). The Wayfarer (1910) is a one-act 'psychodrama'. Protesilaus Deceased (1911-12) is a version of the myth dramatized by \JEuripides\j. Briusov later broke with the symbolist movement, and in 1917 embraced the October Revolution.
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"Brno",5737,0,0,0
PN [\Bber\bnoh]
EN 49░11N 16░39E, pop (1995e) 390 000. Industrial capital of Jihomoravsk² region, Czech Republic; at junction of Svratka and Svitava Rivers; third largest city in \JCzechoslovakia\j; founded in 10th-c; part of \JBohemia\j, 1229; free city, 1243; formerly capital of Austrian crownland of Moravia; airport; railway; university (1919); technical university (1899); university of agriculture (1919); music \Jconservatory\j; machinery, textiles, armaments, chemicals, trade in vegetables; Bren gun was developed here; spilberk fortress, 15th-c cathedral.
BK Geog99
#
"broad bean",5738,0,0,0
EN An annual growing to 80┐cm / 30┐in \I(Vicia faba); \i stems square in cross-section, erect; leaves with 2-6 oval bluish-green leaflets; pea-flowers in small clusters, white with purplish-black wings; pods up to 20┐cm / 83┐n long, hairy, black; containing few large seeds each 2-3┐cm / 3/4-1 1/4┐in across; also called \Bhorse bean.\b Of unknown origin, it has been cultivated since prehistoric times for its edible seeds and for animal fodder. \B(Family:\b Leguminosae.)
BK b
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"Broad, Charlie Dunbar",5739,0,0,0
DT1 1887
DT2 1971
EN Philosopher, born in London, England, UK. He became professor of moral philosophy in Cambridge (1933-53), but also had a strong interest in \Jparapsychology\j, and was president of the Society for Psychical Research.
SX m
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"broadband ISDN",5740,0,0,0
EN A data communications service being developed by telecommunications agencies throughout the world to allow data to be transferred digitally at very high speed. \JBaud\j rates of up to 500 Mbaud are being contemplated for the 1990s, with much higher rates to follow. Such speeds would allow computers to send video sequences, synchronized in such a way that very sophisticated videoconferencing could be supported, at the same time as all the usual forms of data.
BK b
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"Broadbent, Donald (Eric)",5741,0,0,0
DT1 1926
DT2 93
EN British psychologist. He joined the scientific staff of the Medical Research Council's Applied \JPsychology\j Research Unit in Cambridge after World War 2 (director, 1949-58). A major figure in postwar experimental \Jpsychology\j, he was the most influential British psychologist in the movement to import ideas from communication theory and \Jcybernetics\j into cognitive \Jpsychology\j. In 1974 he became a member of the external staff of the Medical Research Council, based in Oxford.
SX m
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#
"broadbill",5742,0,0,0
EN A bird native to Africa and S Asia; small with bright plumage, wide bill and short legs; inhabits woodland; pear-shaped nests often suspended from branches over \Jwater\j; eats insects, fruit, and seeds. \B(Family:\b \JEurylaimidae\j, 14 species.)
BK b
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"broadcasting",5743,0,0,0
EN The provision of \Jtelevision\j and radio programmes and commercials for the general public; also, the technical transmission of \Jtelevision\j and radio signals. Starting in the 1920s, broadcasting, whether of the commercial or 'public-service' variety, quickly established itself at regional, national, and international levels as a popular source of entertainment and information. The medium has always been subject to controls, the severity of which has varied according to the political character of the country concerned.
In recent years \Bnarrowcasting\b has been introduced for services geared to special interest groups. The USA has been a particularly important area for the development of broadcasting, both in terms of the number of radio and \Jtelevision\j stations, and the number of sets used (over 520 million radio and over 215 million TV receivers in use in the early 1990s).
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"Broadmoor",5744,0,0,0
EN A special \Jhospital\j for mental patients who have committed crimes and who require treatment under conditions of security (formerly known as the \Icriminally insane).\i Established in 1863 near Camberley, Berkshire, S England, UK, it is the prototype special \Jhospital\j, and has lent its name to the generic description \BBroadmoor institutions.\b
BK b
#
"Broads, The",5745,0,0,0
HS , also known as \BThe Norfolk Broads\b
EN An area (c.2000┐ha / 5000┐acres) of low-lying and shallow lakes in Norfolk, E England, UK. The lakes are flooded \Jpeat\j pits, excavated during the 11th-c and 12th-c. Flooding occurred during a period of climatic deterioration from the 13th-c. It is a popular holiday area, especially for sailing.
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"Broadway",5746,0,0,0
EN New York commercial theatre. Broadway is to New York as the West End is to London - the district that is thought of as the traditional theatrical heart of the city. Since the 1890s, centred on and around the street of that name in New York City have been the major theatres that have represented the professional and commercial theatrical core of the nation, extending, from the 1950s, into Off-Broadway locations (to accommodate generally smaller and somewhat more innovative theatres) as economic pressures restricted work in the big old theatres.
Off-Off Broadway is distinguished from Broadway and Off- Broadway not only by a further diminution in scale and eclectic experimentation, but also by the radically different contractual relationship with actors based on non-profit-making companies. (See New York City theatres; resident theatre.)
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#
"Broadway Theatre",5747,0,0,0
EN A succession of individual New York City theatres have adopted this name:
356-8 Broadway. The original Broadway was modelled on London's Haymarket and, with 4,500 seats, was the largest theatre built before 1847. It never achieved the prominence of the Park Theatre, which it was intended to replace, and was torn down in 1859.
Broadway and 41st Street. Built in 1888, it was dedicated to \Jmusical comedy\j, \Joperetta\j and spectacle. Both Edwin Booth and Sir Henry Irving made final appearances in New York at the Broadway. Later it was used for motion pictures, and was destroyed in 1929.
1681 Broadway. Opened as B. S. Moss's Colony Theatre in 1924, renamed the Broadway in 1930, it is an 1,800-seat house, well suited for musicals, e.g. Evita (1979). Since 1943 it has been a Shubert theatre.
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"Broadway, Off- and Off-Off",5748,0,0,0
EN see Off-Broadway; Off-Off Broadway
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#
"Broadwood, John",5749,0,0,0
DT1 1732
DT2 1812
EN \JPiano\j manufacturer, born in Cockburnspath, Scottish Borders, south-east Scotland, UK. He walked to London to become a cabinet maker, married the daughter of the Swiss-born \Jharpsichord\j-maker, Burkhardt Tschudi (1702-73), and founded with him the great London pianoforte house (1770). His grandson, \BHenry Fowler Broadwood\b (1811-93), was also a great improver of the \Jpiano\j.
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#
"Broca, Paul (Pierre)",5750,0,0,0
PN [\Bbroh\bka]
DT1 1824
DT2 80
EN Surgeon and anthropologist, born in Sainte-Foy-le-Grande, \JFrance\j. He was the first to locate the motor speech centre in the brain, and was also a major influence on the development of physical \Janthropology\j in \JFrance\j.
SX m
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#
"broccoli",5751,0,0,0
EN A type of cultivated cabbage \I(Brassica oleracea)\i grown for the immature flowers, which are edible. \BWinter broccoli\b has large, white heads similar to \Jcauliflower\j; \Bsprouting broccoli\b \B(calabrese)\b produces numerous small, purplish, green, or white spears. \B(Family:\b Crucifereae.)
BK b
#
"Broch, Hermann",5752,0,0,0
PN [brokh]
DT1 1886
DT2 1951
EN Novelist and essayist, born in Vienna. He spent his early adult life working in his father's textile business, and was over 40 when he began to study philosophy and \Jmathematics\j at Vienna University. When the Nazis invaded \JAustria\j in 1938 he was imprisoned, but influential friends obtained his release and facilitated his emigration to America in 1940. Major works include \IDer Tod des Virgil\i (1945, The Death of Virgil) and \IDie Schlafwandler\i (3 vols, 1931-2, The Sleepwalkers).
SX m
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#
"Brockhaus, Friedrich Arnold",5753,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrok\bhows]
DT1 1772
DT2 1823
EN Publisher, born in \JDortmund\j, \JGermany\j. He founded the firm of Brockhaus in \JLeipzig\j and published the famous dictionary, \IKonversations-Lexikon,\i begun by River G L÷mbel in 1796 and completed in 1811. The business was carried on by his descendants.
SX m
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#
"Brockhouse, Bertram N",5754,0,0,0
DT1 1915
EN Physicist, born in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. He studied at the University of Toronto, joined Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories, moving to McMaster University in 1962. He shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1994 for his work in developing the field of neutron \Jspectroscopy\j.
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#
"Brockhurst, Gerald Leslie",5755,0,0,0
DT1 1891
DT2 1979
EN Artist and etcher, born in Birmingham, West Midlands, C England, UK. He studied at the Birmingham School of Art, and at the age of 22 won the Royal Academy's Gold Medal and Scholarship which took him to \JFrance\j and \JItaly\j. His etchings and lithographs are almost entirely concerned with the themes of young womanhood and portraiture. Influenced by the early Italian Renaissance painters, his acknowledged masterpiece, 'Adolescence', was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1933.
SX m
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#
"Brockmann, Johann",5756,0,0,0
DT 1745-1812
EN Austrian actor. Brockmann achieved prominence when, in 1776, he acted the title role in Friedrich Schr÷der's famous production of Hamlet in \JHamburg\j. The grace and naturalness of his expression were highly admired. After successful guest appearances in Berlin, Brockmann was called to the Burgtheater where he remained for the rest of his life. Here he helped form the characteristic style of the company.
BK Thea
#
"Brockway, (Archibald) Fenner, Baron",5757,0,0,0
DT1 1888
DT2 1988
EN British politician and pacifist, a founder of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, born in \JCalcutta\j into a missionary family. He went into journalism, joined the Independent Labour Party, became a militant pacifist, and was imprisoned during World War 1. Elected to parliament for the first time in 1929-31, and again in 1950-64, he was made a life peer in 1964.
SX m
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#
"Brockway, Zebulon Reed",5758,0,0,0
DT (1827-1920)
EN penologist; born in Lyme, Conn. An acclaimed prison reformer, he introduced courses and manual training at many of the institutions he served. As superintendent at the reformatory at Elmira, N.Y. (1876-1890), he turned the institution into a mecca for criminologists and reformers; he worked for passage of legislation that lightened prison sentences. He wrote \IFifty Years of Prison Service\i (1912).
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"Brod, Max",5759,0,0,0
DT1 1884
DT2 1968
EN Writer, born in \JPrague\j. He became a Zionist and emigrated to Palestine in 1939. Although he is known in the English-speaking world as the long-time friend, editor, and biographer of Franz Kafka, he was a versatile and prolific writer in his own right. His works include the historical novel \ITycho Brahes Weg zu Gott\i (1916, trans The \JRedemption\j of Tycho Brahe) and a novel about Jesus Christ, \IDer Meister\i (1951, The Master).
MEX Kafka
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"Broderick, Matthew",5760,0,0,0
DT1 1963
EN Actor, born in New York City, USA. He starred as the computer hacker who nearly starts World War 3 in \IWar Games\i (1983), and gained commercial success in \IFerris Bueller's Day Off\i (1986). He earned a Tony award for the Broadway production of the Neil Simon comedy hit \IBrighton Beach Memoirs\i (1982 --3), and another for the musical \IHow to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying\i (1995). He made his directorial debut with \IInfinity\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1983 War Games
1984 Ladyhawke 1918
1984 Master Harold and the Boys
1986 Ferris Bueller's Day Off
1987 Project X
1988 Biloxi Blues
1988 Torch Song Trilogy
1989 Family Business
1990 The Freshman
1992 Out On A Limb
1993 The Night We Never Met
1994 The Road to Wellville
1995 Bullets Over Broadway
1996 The Cable Guy
1996 Infinity (also director)
1997 Addicted to Love
\ITheatre\i
1980 On Valentine's Day
1981--82 Torch Song Trilogy
1982 Widows and Children First!
1982--83 Brighton Beach Memoirs
1984--85 Biloxi Blues
1986--87 The Widow Clare
1990 Love Letters
1995 How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
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#
"Brodie, Fawn M. (McKay)",5761,0,0,0
DT (1915-81)
EN historian, biographer; born in Ogden, \JUtah\j. Raised in one of the preeminent families of the Mormon Church, her first subject following graduation from the University of \JChicago\j (M.A. 1936) was a \Jbiography\j of Joseph Smith, the founder and first \Jprophet\j of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. After the otherwise well-received \INo Man Knows My History: the Life of Joseph Smith\i was published (1945), she was excommunicated from the Church on charges of heresy.
She joined the faculty at the University of \JCalifornia\j: Los Angeles (1968-77) following biographies of Thaddeus Stevens (1959) and Sir Richard Burton (1967). Her famous \Jbiography\j of Thomas Jefferson (1974) was a featured selection of the Book of the Month Club. In 1967 she was named Fellow of the Year by the \JUtah\j Historical Society and in 1975 Woman of the Year by the \ILos Angeles Times.\i Her \Jbiography\j of Richard Nixon was published posthumously in 1981.
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"Brodovitch, Alexey",5762,0,0,0
DT (1898-1971)
EN art director, teacher; born in Ogolitchi, \JRussia\j. After emigrating from Paris in 1930, he became art director of \IHarper's Bazaar\i (1934-58) and ran design labs (1934-58), training fashion photographers like Avedon to produce striking pictures.
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"Brodsky, Joseph",5763,0,0,0
DT1 1940
DT2 96
EN Poet, born in St Petersburg, \JRussia\j, of Jewish parents. Convicted as a 'social parasite', he was exiled, went to the USA, and was naturalized in 1977. He wrote in both Russian and English. Collections include \IOstanovka v pustynie\i (1970, A Halt in the Wilderness), \IChast rechi\i (1977, A Part of Speech), and \IUraniia\i (1984, To Urania). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1987, and later published essays and a prose \Jmeditation\j on \JVenice\j, \IWatermark\i (1992).
SX m
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#
"Broensted, Johannes Nicolaus",5764,0,0,0
DT (1879-1947)
EN Danish physical chemist.
Broensted qualified in chemical \Jengineering\j in 1897 and then in chemistry in 1902 in \JCopenhagen\j. He taught there from 1905. He worked mainly in \Jelectrochemistry\j and reaction kinetics, applying \Jthermodynamics\j to chemical problems. He is best known for a definition of acids and bases, due to him (and independently and concurrently in 1923 to T M Lowry (1874-1936) of Cambridge). This, the Broensted-Lowry definition, defines an acid as a substance with a tendency to lose a proton, and a base as a substance that tends to gain a proton.
BK Scie
#
"Brogan, Sir Denis (William)",5765,0,0,0
DT1 1900
DT2 74
EN Historian, born in Rutherglen, Glasgow, W Scotland, UK. He studied at Glasgow, Oxford, and Harvard, and became a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford (1934), and professor of political science at Cambridge (1939). He is chiefly known for his work on historical and modern America.
SX m
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#
"Broglie, (Louis CΘsar Victor) Maurice, 6 duc de (6th Duke of)",5766,0,0,0
PN [broy, broglee]
DT1 1875
DT2 1960
EN Physicist, born in Paris. He founded a laboratory at Paris, where he made many contributions to the study of X-ray spectra, and was professor at the CollΦge de \JFrance\j (1942-6).
SX m
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#
"Broglie, Louis (Victor Pierre Raymond), 7 duc de (7th Duke of)",5767,0,0,0
PN [broglee]
DT (1892-1987)
EN French physicist: discoverer of the wave nature of particles.
Louis de Broglie was a member of a Piedmontese family; in 1740 \JLouis XIV\j had conferred on the head of the family the hereditary title of duc, which Broglie inherited in 1960 on the death of his brother Maurice (who was also a physicist). The German title Prinz dated in the family from service to the Austrians during the Seven Years War (1756-63).
Broglie studied history at the \JSorbonne\j and acquired an interest in science by service at the Eiffel Tower radio station during the First World War. He then took a doctorate at the \JSorbonne\j (1924) and taught there as the professor of theoretical physics at the newly founded Henri PoincarΘ Institute (1928-62).
Our ideas concerning quanta stem from Planck (1900), and modern ideas on the interaction of matter and \Jenergy\j had begun with Einstein in 1905. Broglie's work began with a derivation of Wien's electromagnetic radiation law, based on light quanta with frequency n, mass h\Fn\n/c\U2\u and momentum h\Fn\n/c (1922).
It then occurred to him to go beyond the idea of waves acting as particles and to suggest that particles can behave as waves. A particle such as an \Jelectron\j should move at the group velocity of a number of matter waves, which have wavelength \Fl\n = h/m \Fn\n. This revolutionary idea appeared in Broglie's doctoral thesis of 1924, which was published as a paper of over 100 pages in \IAnnales de Physique\i in 1925. The waves were detected and agreement with \Fl\n found through the wave interference, using the atoms of a crystal lattice as a \Jdiffraction\j grating.
This was done by Davisson and Germer using slow electrons (59 eV) and by G P Thomson using fast electrons in 1927. The wave-particle duality was used by Schr÷dinger in his formulation of quantum mechanics, and it also began the great debate as to whether there is determinacy in quantum mechanics. Broglie received the Nobel Prize for physics in 1929.
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#
"Broken Hill",5768,0,0,0
EN 31░57S 141░30E, pop (1995e) 25 100. Mining town in \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j; centre of silver, lead, and zinc mining; a centre of the trade union movement, and now administered by the Barrier Industrial Council; School of the Air founded here (1956); Royal Flying Doctor Service based here (1938); 19th-c Afghan Mosque.
BK Geog99
#
"Brome, Richard",5769,0,0,0
DT c.1590-1652
EN English playwright. He provided the Caroline theatre with plays until the closing of the theatres in 1642. Little is known about him, but the influence of Ben Jonson is detectable in his surviving plays, of which the best are The Damoiselle (1637), The Antipodes (1638), The Court Beggar (1640) and A Jovial Crew (1641). The earliest known playwright's contract was drawn up in Brome's name on 20 July 1635, providing a job description of his attachment to the company at the Salisbury Court playhouse.
BK Thea
#
"bromeliad",5770,0,0,0
EN Any member of the \Jpineapple\j family; typically fleshy, spiny-leaved epiphytes, especially common in the canopy of tropical forests, and notable for the reservoir of \Jwater\j which collects in the cup-shaped centre of the leaf rosette. This can be very large, holding up to five gallons of \Jwater\j which is absorbed by the plant via hairs on the leaves.
It also provides a habitat for a host of other life forms, often in areas where there is little or no other standing \Jwater\j, including insects, amphibians, and aquatic plants, some of which live and breed only in these reservoirs. \B(Family:\b Bromeliaceae.)
BK b
#
"Bromfield, Louis",5771,0,0,0
DT (1896-1956)
EN writer; born in Mansfield, Ohio. The son of a farmer, Bromfield left the family farm in 1914 when he entered Cornell University to study agriculture. His interest in writing led him to transfer to Columbia University's school of journalism (1915). In 1916 he went to \JFrance\j where he served with distinction with the American Ambulance Corps.
After the war, he was awarded an honorary B.A. by Columbia and had a series of jobs in journalism before publishing his first novel, \IThe Green Bay Tree\i (1924). The rest of the tetralogy followed swiftly: \IPossession\i (1925), \IEarly Autumn\i (Pultizer Prize, 1926), \IA Good Woman\i (1927). Success allowed Bromfield to return to Ohio, where his farm, Malabar, was a showcase of modern, scientific agricultural methods. He published short stories and novels throughout the 1930s and 1940s, but none received the acclaim of his early works.
BK AmBg
#
"bromine",5772,0,0,0
PN [\Bbroh\bmeen]
EN Br, element 35, freezing point -7░C, boiling point 58.8░C. A corrosive brown liquid containing diatomic molecules (Br\D2\d) with an unpleasant and irritating odour. In nature, it does not occur as the free element, and is mainly extracted from brines containing its salts. In its compounds, it shows \Joxidation\j states ▒, +3, +5, and +7. Its main uses are in 1,2-dibromoethane, a petrol \Jadduct\j, and silver bromide, used in photographic emulsions.
BK b
#
"bromoil process",5773,0,0,0
EN A method of making photographic prints in which the silver image formed by original development is bleached out, and an oil-pigment ink manually applied with a brush to the corresponding gelatine areas. The linked image may be in any colour, and can be transferred by pressure to another support sheet.
BK b
#
"Bron, Eleanor",5774,0,0,0
DT1 1938
EN Actress and writer, born in Stanmore, N Greater London, England, UK. She studied at Cambridge, and from the early 1960s has made regular stage appearances, including a one-woman show, \IDesdemona - If You Had Only Spoken\i (1991).
On \Jtelevision\j she became known in \INot So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life\i (1964) and her films include \IAlfie\i (1966), \IBlack Beauty\i (1994), and \IA Little Princess\i (1995). She has written several series for \Jtelevision\j (with John Fortune), and her books include \IThe Pillow Book of Eleanor Bron\i (1985) and a novel, \IDouble Take\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1965 Help!
1966 Alfie
1966 Two For the Road
1967 Bedazzled
1969 A Touch of Love
1973 The National Health
1985 Turtle Diary
1987 Little Dorrit
1994 Deadly Advice
1994 Black Beauty
1995 A Little Princess
\IPublications\i
1972 Is Your Marriage Really Necessary (with John Fortune)
1978 Life and Other Punctures
1985 The Pillow Book of Eleanor Bron
1996 Double Take
\IContributor\i
1976 My Cambridge
1977 More Words
BK Biog99n
#
"bronchi",5775,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrong\bkee]
EN A series of branching tubes which gradually decrease in size, conveying air from the \Jtrachea\j to the lungs. The larger \Jbronchi\j contain cartilage rings or plates to keep the tubes open. The smaller tubes, known as \Irespiratory bronchioles,\i have sac-like dilatations \I(atria,\i \Ialveolar sacs,\i \Ialveoli)\i where gaseous exchange occurs.
BK b
#
"bronchiectasis",5776,0,0,0
PN [brongkee-\Bek\btasis]
EN A chronic disease associated with dilatation of the \Jbronchi\j, which become obstructed and recurrently infected. A cough producing purulent sputum is common.
BK b
#
"bronchitis",5777,0,0,0
PN [brong\Bkiy\btis]
EN A disease marked by \Jinflammation\j of the bronchial tubes. Acute \Jbronchitis\j is a serious disease in infants, resulting from a virus which produces intense \Jinflammation\j of the respiratory tract that may lead to asphyxia. \BChronic bronchitis\b affects adults who smoke cigarettes. Excessive bronchial mucous secretion follows, inducing a chronic cough productive of sputum.
BK b
#
"bronchodilators",5778,0,0,0
EN Agents which produce dilation of the \Jbronchi\j in the lungs, and which can therefore be helpful in the treatment of \Jasthma\j, eg adrenaline, isoprenaline, salbutamol. Not all bronchodilators are sufficiently safe for use in \Jasthma\j; salbutamol (usually in \Jaerosol\j form) is used clinically.
Use of bronchodilators alone, ie without steroids, is controversial. Some studies have shown that, because bronchodilators suppress symptoms but do not stop the disease progressing, they may be partly responsible for the increasing death rate from \Jasthma\j seen in Western countries.
BK b
#
"bronchopneumonia",5779,0,0,0
EN See \Jpneumonia\j
BK b
XCY y
#
"bronchoscopy",5780,0,0,0
PN [brong\Bkos\bkopee]
EN The direct inspection of the \Jtrachea\j and \Jbronchi\j by a flexible glass fibrescope introduced under local or general anaesthetic into the respiratory passages. It permits tissue biopsies to be taken.
BK b
#
"Broneer, Oscar (Theodore)",5781,0,0,0
DT (1894-1992)
EN archaeologist; born in Backebo, Sweden. In 1913, he emigrated to the United States where he earned his Ph.D. in 1931. Fittingly, his dissertation was a study of the Roman Odeum at \JCorinth\j. A professor of archaeology at the American School of Classical Studies in \JAthens\j (1940-52), and at the University of \JChicago\j (1949-60), he spent much of his career at \JCorinth\j and his study of Corinthian terracotta lamps produced the first systematic typology of ancient terracotta lamps.
He is best known for his work at the important Panhellenic Sanctuary of Isthmia, where he found the temple of Poseidon on the first \Jday\j of excavation (1952), and was field director (1952-67); he remained closely connected with the site and its museum until his death in his 98th year.
BK AmBg
#
"Brongniart, Alexandre",5782,0,0,0
PN [br⌡nyahr]
DT (1770-1847)
EN French geologist and palaeontologist: pioneer of stratigraphic \Jgeology\j.
Brongniart spent some time as an army engineer before being appointed, in 1800, director of the famous \Jporcelain\j factory at SΦvres, a post he was to hold all his life with considerable success. At the beginning of the 19th-c, working with Cuvier, he pioneered stratigraphic \Jgeology\j, being the first to use the fossils contained within a geological stratum to identify and date that layer.
In 1811 they published a classic study of the \Jgeology\j of the Paris Basin, setting out the Tertiary rocks in order and classifying them according to the fossils they contained. Brongniart was also amongst the first to recognize strata containing alternately freshwater and seawater molluscs, and to interpret this as indicating periodic changes in sea level, an important discovery.
BK Scie
#
"Bronhill, June",5783,0,0,0
DT1 1927
EN Soprano, born in Broken Hill, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j, from which she adapted her stage name. After winning the Sydney \ISun\i aria competition in 1950, she went to London for further study. She made an immediate success at Sadler's Wells in musicals and \Joperetta\j (1954), and later took the lead in \ILucia di Lammermoor\i at Covent Garden (1959). She has continued to sing, mainly in \JAustralia\j, in operas, operettas, and musical comedies, and also works as a stage actress.
BK Biog99
#
"Bronnen, Arnolt",5784,0,0,0
DT 1895-1959
EN Austrian playwright and novelist. He made his reputation on the German stage with violently emotional examples of \Jexpressionism\j (Parricide, 1922; The Birth of Youth, 1925), before turning to comedy. His plays, although frequently taken as supporting the Nazi movement, were banned in 1943, and in 1955 he moved to East Berlin as a theatre critic.
BK Thea
#
"Bronson, Charles",5785,0,0,0
DT1 1920
EN Film actor, born in Ehrenfield, \JPennsylvania\j, USA. He made his name with roles in \IThe Magnificent Seven\i (1960) and \IThe Great Escape\i (1963), becoming known for his 'tough-guy' characters in such violent thrillers as \IThe Mechanic\i (1972), and \IDeath Wish\i (1974). Other films include \IThe Dirty Dozen\i (1967), \ITen to Midnight\i (1983), and \IThe President's Assassin\i (1987).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1960 The Magnificent Seven
1963 The Great Escape
1966 This Property is Condemned
1967 The Dirty Dozen
1969 Once Upon a Time in the West
1972 The Mechanic
1974 Death Wish
1981 Death Hunt
1983 Ten to Midnight
1987 The President's Assassin
BK Biog99n
#
"Br°nsted, Johannes Nicolaus",5786,0,0,0
PN [\Bbreon\bsted]
DT1 1879
DT2 1947
EN Physical chemist, born in Varde, Denmark. He studied \Jengineering\j and chemistry at the \JPolytechnic\j Institute, \JCopenhagen\j, and became professor of chemistry there (1908). He is known for a novel definition of acids and bases, the \IBr°nsted-Lowry definition\i (independently introduced in 1923 by British chemist \BThomas Martin Lowry),\b which defines an acid as a substance with a tendency to lose a proton, and a base as a substance that tends to gain a proton.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bronstein, Lev Davidovich",5787,0,0,0
EN See Trotsky, Leon
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Brontδ",5788,0,0,0
PN [\Bbron\btee]
HS , originally \BBrunty\b or \BPrunty\b
EN Three literary sisters, \BAnne\b (1820-49), \BCharlotte\b (1816-55), and \BEmily\b (1818-48), born in Thornton, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. They were the daughters of \BPatrick Brontδ\b (1777-1861), a clergyman of Irish descent, and his Cornish wife, \BMaria Branwell\b (1783-1821), and sisters of \BMaria Brontδ\b and \BElizabeth Brontδ,\b who both died in childhood, and \BBranwell Brontδ\b (1817-48), a brother who squandered his many talents and drank to excess.
The family moved to Haworth, now part of Keighley, when their father became \Jrector\j there (1820). Their childhood was spent in the sole companionship of one another on the wild Yorkshire moors. They constructed two fantasy worlds of their own, \IGondal\i and \IAngria,\i described by the children in verse and prose in rival collections of notebooks.
They also collaborated in a joint publication, under a pseudonym, of a collection of \IPoems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell\i (1846). Branwell's debts caused them to leave home and find employment, but they always returned to Haworth. Emily, Branwell, and Anne all died of tuberculosis within a year of each other.
EN She went as governess to the Inghams at Blake Hall in 1839 and to the Robinsons at Thorpe Green (1841-5), a post she had to leave because of her brother's Branwell's unfortunate love for Mrs Robinson. Her two novels, \IAgnes Grey\i (1845) and \IThe Tenant of Wildfell Hall\i (1848), were unsuccessful at the time.
MEX Brontδ
SX f
BK bg b
#
"Brontδ, Charlotte",5790,0,0,0
PN [\Bbron\btee]
HS , pseudonym \BCurrer Bell\b
DT1 1816
DT2 55
EN She returned in 1835 as a teacher to her old school, Roe Head, but gave up this post and two others, both as governess. Back at Haworth, the three sisters planned to start a school of their own and, to augment their qualifications, Charlotte and Emily attended the Pensionnat HΘger in Brussels (1842). Their plans foundered, however, and Charlotte returned to Brussels as an English teacher (1843-4).
Her first novel \IThe Professor,\i did not achieve publication until after her death. Her masterpiece, \IJane Eyre\i (1847), was followed by \IShirley\i (1849), and \IVillette\i (1853). She married her father's \Jcurate\j, Arthur Bell Nicholls, in 1854, and died during \Jpregnancy\j in the following year, leaving the fragment of another novel, \IEmma.\i Two stories, \IThe Secret\i and \ILily Hart,\i were published for the first time in 1978.
MEX Brontδ
SX f
BK bg b
#
"Brontδ, Emily (Jane)",5791,0,0,0
PN [\Bbron\btee]
HS , pseudonym \BEllis Bell\b
DT1 1818
DT2 48
EN In 1837 she became a governess in \JHalifax\j, then attended the Pensionnat HΘger in Brussels with Charlotte, and in 1845 embarked upon a joint publication of poems after the discovery by the latter of her Gondal verse. She is known for her single novel, \IWuthering Heights\i (1847).
MEX Brontδ
SX f
BK bg b
#
"Brontosaurus",5792,0,0,0
EN See \IApatosaurus\i
BK b
XCY y
#
"Brontotherium",5793,0,0,0
PN [bronto\Btheer\bium]
EN An extinct, browsing, hoofed \Jmammal\j, known from the Oligocene epoch of \JNorth America\j; very large, \Jrhinoceros\j-like body standing up to 2.5┐m / 8┐ft at the shoulder; head with pair of bony nasal horns; probably ate soft vegetation. \B(Class:\b Mammalia. \BOrder:\b Perissodactyla.)
BK b
#
"Bronx or the Bronx",5794,0,0,0
EN 40░50N 73░52W, pop (1995e) 1 226 000, area 109 sq km/42 sq mi. A mainland borough of N New York City and County of New York State, USA; Fordham University (1841); named after Jonas Bronck, an early Dutch settler; Yankee Stadium; New York Zoological Park.
BK Geog99
#
"bronze",5795,0,0,0
EN One of the earliest known alloys; two parts copper and one part tin. Hard and resistant to \Jcorrosion\j, it is traditionally used in bell casting, and is the most widely used material for metal sculpture. The sculptor first prepares a clay model which is cast by means of a plaster mould. Ornamented bronzes of high quality were made in China by the 16th-c BC.
BK b
#
"Bronze Age",5796,0,0,0
EN See Three Age System
BK b
XCY y
#
"Bronze Age in China",5797,0,0,0
The birth of the \JBronze Age\j in China took place approximately 4,000 years ago during the Hsia Dynasty, occurring later than that of Westem Asia. However, China produced the most exquisite bronzes in the world. They crafted a great variety of vessels, decorated with designs and inscriptions of the finest quality.
The inscriptions are writing cast or carved onto the vessel bodies during the Shang and Chou Dynasties. They might include information concerning the name of the artisan, or to whom the piece was dedicated. Longer inscriptions sometimes recorded: ritual ceremonies; honors, favors, titles, or gifts bestowed by emperors; wars and victories; treaties and contracts; or rulers' exhortations to their officials.
The famous San-p'an from the Western Chou Dynasty bears 357 characters, recording the border conflict between the states of San and Tze, the war between them, and the eventual peace treaty delineating new boundaries ceded to the victor.
The State of San won the war and the governing royal house of Chou mediated successfully. Then the lord of the State of San ordered the agreement to be cast in bronze in the form of a p'an vessel as state treasure. This is the earliest peace treaty in the world and also a model for Chinese \Jcalligraphy\j.
#
"Bronze Tingli",5798,0,0,0
In ancient China, the Ting was not merely a beautiful utilitarian cooking utensil, but also a symbol of power and sovereignty. According to tradition, Yu the Great, emperor of the Hsia Dynasty, had nine bronze ting cast to symbolize the nine states which he had united under his rule. Later they became the crown treasures which legitimized a claimant's right to the throne.
Generally speaking, the "ting" is a round bodied vessel with three legs and two handles. However, there also exist square ting which have square bodies and stand on four legs. The long legs provide space under the vessel to light a fire, while a stick can be passed through the two looped handles to lift and carry the vessel. The prototype for the bronze ting was the pottery ting in existence in the \JNeolithic\j period, 7,000 years ago. The \Jevolution\j of the bronze ting's form is a reflection of the diverse period styles.
The Hsia, Shang, and Chou Dynasties cast totems and a multitude of different patterns onto the vessel. Among the animal patterns, the most distinctive were the animal masks, which were very popular during the Shang and early Western Chou periods. These masks provide us with a frontal view of the head of a realistic animal whose features have been exaggerated, or the head of an imaginary beast. They serve as symbols of different tribes and describe their distinctive characteristics as well as their regional customs and traditions.
#
"Bronzino, Il",5799,0,0,0
PN [bron\Bzee\bnoh]
HS , originally \BAgnolo di Cosimo di Mariano\b
DT1 1503
DT2 72
EN Mannerist painter, born in Monticelli, \JItaly\j. He was a pupil of Rafaello del Garbo and of Pontormo, who adopted him. He decorated the chapel of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, and painted the 'Christ in Limbo' in the Uffizi (1552). His 'Venus, Folly, \JCupid\j and Time' is in the National Gallery, and his portraits include most of the Medici family, as well as Dante, Boccaccio, and \JPetrarch\j. His nephew, Alessandro Allori, and his nephew's son, both Florentine painters, adopted his name.
MEX Pontormo
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Brook, Peter (Stephen Paul)",5800,0,0,0
DT1 1925
EN Theatre and film director, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and his involvement in the theatre began while at university. He directed many classical plays at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, went to Stratford in 1947, and was also director of productions at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (1947--50).
During the 1950s he worked on many productions in Britain, Europe, and the USA, and in 1962 returned to Stratford to join the newly established Royal Shakespeare Company for which he directed, among other productions, \IKing Lear\i (1962), \IMarat/Sade\i (1964), \IUS\i (1966), and \IA Midsummer Night's Dream\i (1970).
Most of his work in the 1970s was done with the Paris-based Centre for Theatre Research, with which he travelled widely in Africa and Asia. Among his films are \IThe Beggar's Opera\i (1952), \ILord of the Flies\i (1962), and \IKing Lear\i (1969). Later Paris productions include an adaptation of \IThe Mahabharata\i (televised in 1989) and \IThe Tempest\i (1990).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1952 The Beggar's Opera
1962 Lord of the Flies
1966 The Marat/Sade
1969 King Lear
BK Biog99
#
"Brooke, (Bernard) Jocelyn",5801,0,0,0
DT1 1908
DT2 66
EN Writer, poet, and amateur botanist, born in Kent, south-east England, UK. He tried various occupations before joining the family wine firm. During World War 2 he enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps, and re-enlisted after the war; but following the critical success of \IThe Military Orchid\i (1948) he bought himself out and thereafter devoted himself to writing. He followed this with the second and third parts of the autobiographical trilogy (known subsequently as \IThe Orchid Trilogy),\i \IA Mine of Serpents\i (1949) and \IThe Goose Cathedral\i (1950).
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Brooke, John Mercer",5802,0,0,0
DT (1826-1906)
EN naval officer, inventor; born in Tampa Bay, Fla. He served in the U.S. Navy (1841-61) and invented the deep-sea sounding apparatus (1851-53). He joined the Confederate States Navy in 1861 and was largely responsible for the fitting-out of the CSS ironclad \IVirginia.\i He was chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography (1863-65) where he invented the "Brooke" cast-iron rifle.
BK AmBg
#
"Brooke, Lord",5803,0,0,0
EN See Greville, Sir Fulke, 1st Baron Brooke
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Brooke, Rupert (Chawner)",5804,0,0,0
DT1 1887
DT2 1915
EN Poet, born in Rugby, Warwickshire, C England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, travelled in \JGermany\j, and visited the USA and Tahiti. He died a commissioned officer on Skyros on his way to the Dardanelles, and was buried there. His \IPoems\i appeared in 1911, and \I1914 and Other Poems\i in 1915, after his death. His handsome appearance and untimely death made him a favourite poet among young people in the interwar period.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Brooke, Sir Basil Stanlake",5805,0,0,0
EN See Brookeborough, Basil Stanlake Brooke, 1st Viscount
EN Northern Ireland statesman and prime minister (1943-63), born in Fermanagh. Elected to the Northern Ireland parliament in 1929, he became minister of agriculture (1933), of commerce (1941), and prime minister of the province, resigning in 1963. He was a staunch supporter of Unionist policy, determined to preserve the ties between Northern Ireland and the UK.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Brookes, Sir Norman (Everard)",5807,0,0,0
DT1 1877
DT2 1968
EN Tennis player, born in Melbourne, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. He went to Wimbledon in 1905, winning the all-comers' singles title, and returned the following year to win the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles. He won again at Wimbledon in 1914, and played \JDavis Cup\j tennis until 1921, captaining six winning teams. He was knighted in 1939.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Brookings, Robert Somers",5808,0,0,0
DT (1850-1932)
EN business executive, philanthropist; born in Cecil County, Md. He had little formal education, but became a successful businessman in St. Louis, first in manufacturing, then real estate, lumber, and transportation. A patron of the arts in St. Louis, he retired from business in 1896 to help found and raise funds for Washington University (St. Louis). He helped found the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C., for the study of public affairs, becoming its first chairman in 1916. He wrote \IIndustrial Ownership\i (1924) and \IEconomic Democracy\i (1929).
BK AmBg
#
"Brooklyn",5809,0,0,0
EN 40░40N 73░58W, pop (1995e) 2 342 000. Borough of New York City, co-extensive with Kings Co, New York State, USA; area 182 sq km/70 sq mi; incorporated into New York City, 1898; a major port, at the SW corner of Long Island; linked to Staten I by the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and to Manhattan by the Brooklyn Bridge; Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences (1823); New York Naval Shipyard (1801), now in civilian use; Long Island University (1926).
BK Geog99
#
"Brooklyn Bridge",5810,0,0,0
EN A suspension bridge built (1869-83) across East River from Brooklyn to Manhattan I, New York City; first in the world to use steel cables; length of main span 486┐m / 1595┐ft.
BK b
#
"Brookner, Anita",5811,0,0,0
DT1 1928
EN Writer and art historian, born in London, England, UK. An authority on 18th-c painting, she was the first woman Slade professor at Cambridge University (1967--8), and has been a reader at the Courtauld Institute of Art since 1977. As a novelist she was a late starter, but in eight years (1981--8) she published as many novels, winning the Booker Prize with \IH⌠tel du Lac\i (1984). Other titles include \IFamily and Friends\i (1985), \IA Friend from England\i (1987), \IIncidents in the Rue Laugier\i (1995), and \IVisitors\i (1997).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1981 A Start in Life
1982 Providence
1983 Look at Me
1984 H⌠tel du Lac
1985 Family and Other Friends
1986 A Misalliance
1987 A Friend from England
1988 Latecomers
1989 Lewis Percy
1990 Brief Lives
1991 A Closed Eye
1992 Fraud
1993 A Family Romance
1994 A Private View
1995 Incidents in the Rue Laugier
1996 Altered States
1997 Visitors
BK Biog99
#
"Brooks, Alfred (Hulse)",5812,0,0,0
DT (1871-1924)
EN geographer; born in Ann Arbor, Mich. In 1903 he was made chief of the \JAlaska\j section of the Geological Survey; he became the authority of this land and published widely on it. \IThe \JGeography\j and \JGeology\j of Alaska\i (1906) was a comprehensive treatment of the subject. A mountain range in \JAlaska\j bears his name.
BK AmBg
#
"Brooks, Gwendolyn (Elizabeth)",5813,0,0,0
DT1 1917
EN Poet, born in Topeka, Kansas, USA. Based in \JChicago\j, she graduated from Wilson Junior College there (1936) and was publicity director for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in \JChicago\j (1930s). She taught at many institutions, and succeeded Carl Sandburg as \Jpoet laureate\j of Illinois (1968).
Her verse narrative, \IAnnie Allen\i (1949), won the first Pulitzer Prize awarded to an African-American woman (1950). Later volumes include \IRiot\i (1970), \ITo Disembark\i (1981), and \IBlacks\i (1991).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPoetry\i
1945 A Street in Bronzeville
1949 Annie Allen
1956 Bronxville Girls and Boys
1960 The Bean Eaters
1968 For Illinois 1968: A Sesquicentennial Poen
1970 Riot
1970 Family Pictures
1971 Aloneness
1972 Aurora
1975 Beckonings
1981 To Disembark
1982 Selected Poems
1991 Blacks
\INovels\i
1953 Maud Martha
\IAutobiography\i
1972 Report From Part One: An Autobiography
BK Biog99
#
"Brooks, Harriet",5814,0,0,0
DT (1876-1933)
EN Canadian nuclear physicist.
Harriet Brooks went to McGill University in Montreal and gained a first class honours degree in 1898. She was invited to join Rutherford's well-equipped physics research group at McGill, as his first graduate student, and gained a master's degree in 1901; the highest award at that time and the first awarded to a woman at McGill.
Radioactivity was then a very novel research area, the first radioactive effects having been observed by Becquerel in 1896. Brooks studied the 'radioactive substance' given off by thorium and, using a diffusion method, she identified the emanation as a radioactive gas of relative \Jatomic weight\j in the 40-100 range.
The method gave a low value for the gas, which is an isotope of \Jradon\j, but it was shown that the gas had a significantly lower molecular weight than thorium and so could not be simply a gaseous form of thorium. This led Rutherford and Soddy to the realization that a transmutation of one element to another had occurred; this entirely novel idea was central to the whole development of nuclear physics and chemistry.
Later Brooks worked on a comparison of the beta- radiations from the elements thorium, uranium, \Jradium\j and polonium, and showed it to consist of fast negative particles. She spent 1902-03 working with J J Thomson at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge and in a letter to Rutherford in 1903 refers to \Jradioactivity\j decreasing to one-half of its value in about a minute, the first measurement of the half-life of the thorium emanation (\Jradon\j-220).
Back at McGill Brooks observed the recoil of the radioactive polonium atom, although she attributed this phenomenon to volatility of the decay product from the polonium; Rutherford recounted Brooks's findings in his Bakerian Lecture in 1904. Later, this important recoil effect was rediscovered by Hahn and others.
In 1904 Harriet Brooks moved to Barnard College, New York City as tutor in physics, and 2 years later became engaged to be married to a physicist from Columbia. The dean of the college insisted that Brooks must resign, saying 'the good of the College and the dignity of the woman's place in the home demand that your marriage shall be a resignation.'
This was common practice at the time and Brooks debated the decision, but the result of the dispute led to her resignation and a broken engagement. She went to the \JCurie\j Institute (1906-07) and worked with AndrΘ Debierne (1874-1949) on the recoil of radioactive atoms using the \Jradium\j decay series. In 1907 she chose to marry and abandoned her career.
Rutherford said of her that 'next to Mme \JCurie\j she is the most pre-eminent woman physicist in the department of \Jradioactivity\j'. If she had been allowed to combine research work and marriage her work might have been better appreciated. She died at the age of 56 of a 'blood disorder' and it is hard to avoid the suspicion that exposure to radiation was involved; in the 'golden age' of physics its hazards were not appreciated.
BK Scie
#
"Brooks, Louise",5815,0,0,0
DT (1906-85)
EN movie actress; born in Cherryvale, Kans. She began as a professional dancer with the Ruth St. Denis company in 1921. After working on Broadway, she went to \JHollywood\j; her striking good looks created her image as a lightweight but she emerged as a talented actress in such films as \IA Girl in Every Port\i (1928). Still dissatisfied with the roles she was offered, she went to \JGermany\j where she made her finest films, such as \IPandora's Box\i (1929), under the direction of G. W. Pabst.
Returning to \JHollywood\j in the mid-1930s, she again became disillusioned with the movie world and by the 1940s she had vanished into total obscurity. She was rediscovered living in Rochester, N.Y., by movie buffs in the 1950s and began to write about motion pictures.
BK AmBg
#
"Brooks, Mel",5816,0,0,0
DT1 1926
EN Film actor and director, born in New York City, USA. After some years as a gag-writer and comic, he turned to film-making with \IThe Producers\i (1967), following this with a number of zany comedies satirizing established movie styles, among them \IBlazing Saddles\i (1974) and \ISilent Movie\i (1976).
He usually writes the script, and acts in his productions, as well as directing them. Other films include \IHigh Anxiety\i (1977) and \IHistory of the World Part One\i (1980), and he co-produced \IThe Fly\i (1986) and \I84 Charing Cross Road\i (1986). Later films include \ISpaceballs\i (1987), \IRobin Hood: Men in Tights\i (1993), and \IDracula: Dead and Loving It\i (1995). He married actress \BAnne Bancroft\b (1931-- ) in 1964.
\BMajor Works\b
\IActor/Director\i
1967 The Producers
1974 Blazing Saddles
1974 Young Frankenstein
1976 Silent Movie
1977 High Anxiety
1980 History of the World Part One
1987 Spaceballs
1993 \JRobin Hood\j: Men in Tights
1995 Dracula: Dead and Loving It
BK Biog99
#
"Brooks, Noah",5817,0,0,0
DT (1830-1903)
EN journalist; born in Castine, Maine. Journeying west as a young man, he cofounded a \JCalifornia\j paper, \IThe Daily Appeal\i (1860); later, as Washington correspondent of the \ISacramento Union,\i he was a close adviser to President Abraham Lincoln. Subsequently he was editor of the \INew York Tribune\i and \INew York Times\i (1871-84). Brooks is also known as the author of two of the earliest boys' novels about \Jbaseball\j, \IThe Fairport Nine\i (1880), and \IOur Base Ball Club\i (1884).
BK AmBg
#
"Brooks, Phillips",5818,0,0,0
DT (1835-93)
EN Protestant religious leader; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. He graduated from Harvard in 1855, taught briefly, and was ordained an Episcopal minister in 1859. His famous hymn "O Little Town of \JBethlehem\j" was first sung in 1868. From 1869-91 he served as pastor of Trinity Church and he was university preacher at Harvard. His \ILectures on Preaching\i were published in 1877. He died not long after he was consecrated Episcopal bishop of \JMassachusetts\j in 1893.
BK AmBg
#
"Brooks, Preston (Smith)",5819,0,0,0
DT (1819-1857)
EN U.S. representative; born in Edgefield, S.C. A gentleman farmer, lawyer, and veteran of the Mexican War (1846-48), he served in Congress (Dem., S.C.; 1853-57). When Senator Charles Sumner (Mass.) vilified his uncle, A. P. Butler, in heated debate over the Kansas-\JNebraska\j Bill, Brooks retaliated by smashing Sumner's head with his cane. The 1856 incident became the focus of partisan antagonism between the North and South, and although Congress failed to expel Brooks, he died a year later.
EN painter; born in \JRome\j, \JItaly\j. Child of wealthy and erratic Americans, her mother was in \JRome\j because her husband had deserted her and she was seeking medical help for a mentally disturbed son. Brought to New York City, Romaine was virtually abandoned by her mother at age seven and only rejoined her in London after attending a school in \JNew Jersey\j (1882-86).
After being placed in different European boarding schools, at age 21 she was able to go off to \JRome\j to study painting (with a small allowance forced from her mother). After settling on the island of Capri, she returned to \JFrance\j at her brother's death (1901); with her mother's death in 1902, Romaine became independently wealthy. She then went to England where she was influenced by the work and \Jpalette\j of James McNeill Whistler (and had a brief marriage with an Englishman, John Ellingham Brooks).
In 1908 she settled in Paris where (ca. 1915) she met the American expatriate Natalie Clifford Barney; they formed a passionate relationship that lasted over 50 years. She achieved some success with her paintings, particularly her portraits, and came to know many of the artists and writers who came to Paris - she was particularly close to Gabriele D'Annunzio. Her drawings to illustrate her memoirs of her nightmare youth with her mother and brother are considered her strongest work. In 1969 she broke with Barney, who wanted to live with another woman, and although a recluse, she painted almost until her death.
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"Brooks, Van Wyck",5821,0,0,0
DT (1886-1963)
EN literary critic, biographer; born in Plainfield, N.J. Harvard educated, he emerged as America's most influential cultural and literary critic of the 1930s and 1940s after establishing his reputation with \IAmerica's Coming of Age\i (1915) and biographies of Mark Twain, Henry James and Emerson. Brooks interpreted the American literary tradition for a wide audience in his prizewinning and influential 5-volume \IMakers and Finders: A History of the Writer in America\i (1936-52).
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"broom",5822,0,0,0
EN The name applied to several different shrubs in the pea family, \ILeguminosae,\i but particularly to the common broom \I(Cytisus scoparius),\i native to Europe, a shrub growing to 2.5┐m / 8┐ft; branches numerous, green, straight, and stiff; leaves mostly trifoliate, soon falling; pea-flowers golden yellow, up to 2┐cm / 3/4┐in long, in loose, leafy clusters at the ends of the branches; pods up to 4┐cm / 11/2┐in long, black. \B(Family:\b Leguminosae.)
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"Broom, Robert",5823,0,0,0
DT (1866-1951)
EN British-South African physician and palaeontologist: confirmed significance of \JAustralopithecus\j as a \Jhominid\j and proved his bipedality.
After graduating in medicine from Glasgow in 1889, Broom practised general medicine in \JAustralia\j for some years before moving to South Africa in 1897. In 1934 he gave up medicine and was appointed palaeontologist at the \JTransvaal\j Museum, \JPretoria\j.
Something of an eccentric (he buried dead \JBushmen\j in his garden, exhuming them when decomposed), Broom did much to clarify the classification of the \Jfossil\j reptiles of Africa. In 1936, at the age of 69, he turned his attention to \Jhominid\j fossils and was almost immediately successful in finding at Sterkfontein a skull of \JAustralopithecus\j africanus, a \Jhominid\j first identified by Dart in 1924.
Two years later a small boy brought him the jaw of another early \Jhominid\j, \JAustralopithecus\j robustus, now believed to have lived about 1-2 million years ago. These two finds convinced a hitherto sceptical scientific community of the significance of Dart's earlier claim of \JAustralopithecus\j africanus as an ancestor of man. In 1947, when over 80, Broom found a partial skeleton of \JAustralopithecus\j that included the pelvis, giving the first conclusive evidence that he had walked upright.
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"Broome, David",5824,0,0,0
DT1 1940
EN Show jumper, born in \JCardiff\j, S Wales, UK. He won the World Championship on \IBeethoven\i in 1970, was three times European champion, on \ISunsalve\i (1961) and \IMister Softee\i (1967, 1969), and was the individual bronze medallist at the 1960 and 1968 Olympics. He returned to the British Olympic team in 1988 after a 20-year absence.
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"broomrape",5825,0,0,0
EN An annual or perennial, parasitic and lacking \Jchlorophyll\j; only densely-flowered spikes appear above ground; leaves reduced to scales; flowers 2-lipped, in subdued colours, mainly browns; mainly native to Old World warm temperate regions. All food is obtained via haustoria attached to the roots of the host. Despite the name, broom is not the only host: others include ivy and members of the daisy family; however most broomrapes are specific to a single, or to very few, host species. \B(Genus:\b \IOrobanche,\i 140 species. \BFamily:\b Orobanchaceae.)
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"Broonzy, Big Bill",5826,0,0,0
DT (1893-1958)
EN musician; born in Scott, Miss. He was a versatile guitarist who began his prolific recording career in 1926, was the top-selling male blues singer of the 1930s, and performed at "Spirituals to Swing" at Carnegie Hall in 1938. He conducted several European tours in the 1950s. His \Jautobiography\j, \IBig Bill Blues,\i was published in 1957.
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"Brophy, Brigid (Antonia)",5827,0,0,0
DT1 1929
DT2 95
EN Writer and critic, born in London, England, UK. She studied at Oxford, and married \BSir Michael Levey\b in 1954. Her novels included \IHackenfeller's Ape\i (1953), \IFlesh\i (1962), \IIn Transit\i (1970), and \IPalace Without Chairs\i (1978). Among her non-fiction titles are \IBlack Ship to Hell\i (1962) and \IBlack and White: a Portrait of Aubrey Beardsley\i (1968), and she co-wrote the controversial \IFifty Works of English and American Literature We Could Do Without\i (1967, with Michael Levey and Charles Osborne). She had been vice-president of the Anti-Vivisection League of \JGreat Britain\j, and active in the Public Lending Right campaign in the UK.
SX f
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"Brophy, Thomas D'Arcy",5828,0,0,0
DT (1893-1967)
EN advertising executive; born in Butte, Mont. After a youthful career in marketing he joined the New York advertising agency, Kenyon and Eckhardt (1931), where he was president (1937-49) and chairman (1949-57). In the late 1930s he pioneered professionally written radio advertising and celebrity ad announcers. He founded the American Heritage Foundation (1947), a conservative "think-tank," and was president and chairman until his death.
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"Brosnan, Pierce",5829,0,0,0
PN [\Bbroz\bnan]
DT1 1952
EN Actor, born in Co Meath, E Ireland. After an unsettled childhood, he moved to London, where he joined an experimental theatre group and studied at the Drama Centre. After several stage roles in London, he moved to Los Angeles, where he was offered the lead in the detective series \IRemington Steele\i (1982--7).
Although early singled out as a possible James Bond, it was not until 1995 that he finally played the role, in \IGoldeneye\i. His other film credits begin with \IThe Long Good Friday\i (1980), and include \IMrs Doubtfire\i (1993), \IMars Attacks!\i (1996), and \IDante's Peak\i (1997).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1980 The Long Good Friday
1980 The Mirror Crack'd
1985 Nomads
1987 The Fourth Protocol
1988 Taffin
1988 The Deceivers
1991 Mister Johnson
1992 The Lawnmower Man
1993 Entangled
1993 Mrs Doubtfire
1994 Love Affair
1995 Goldeneye
1996 Mars Attacks!
1996 The Mirror Has Two Faces
1997 Dante's Peak
1997 Tomorrow Never Dies
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"Brosse, Salomon de",5830,0,0,0
DT1 1565
DT2 1626
EN Architect to Marie de MΘdicis, born in Verneuil, \JFrance\j. He designed the Luxembourg Palace in Paris (1615-20), and \JLouis XIII\j's hunting lodge (1624-6), the nucleus of Versailles.
MEX Marie de MΘdicis
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"Brothers, Richard",5831,0,0,0
DT1 1757
DT2 1824
EN British religious fanatic and ex-naval officer, born in Newfoundland, Canada. He announced himself in 1793 as the 'nephew of the Almighty', \Japostle\j of a new religion, the Anglo-Israelites. In 1795, for prophesying the destruction of the monarchy, he was sent to \JNewgate\j and subsequently to an asylum.
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"Brougham, Henry Peter, Baron Brougham and Vaux",5832,0,0,0
PN [broom]
DT1 1778
DT2 1868
EN Jurist and politician, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. He studied at Edinburgh University, helped to found the \IEdinburgh Review\i (1802), was called to the English bar in 1808, and entered parliament in 1810. His eloquence and boldness made him a popular hero for some time (1820-30). He accepted a \Jpeerage\j and the chancellorship (1830), assisted materially in carrying the Reform Bill, and introduced several law reforms. He designed the \Ibrougham\i (carriage), which is named after him.
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"Brougham, John",5833,0,0,0
DT (1810-80)
EN actor, playwright, manager; born in Dublin, Ireland. He began his acting career in London and came to the U.S.A. in 1842. A popular comedian, specializing in stage Irishmen, he wrote over 100 plays, including spoofs such as \IMuch Ado about the Merchant of Venice\i (1869). His adaptation of \IDombey and Son\i in 1848 was a considerable success, but his efforts to manage theaters, among them Brougham's Broadway \JLyceum\j, were failures.
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"Broughton, William Grant",5834,0,0,0
PN [\Bbraw\btn]
DT1 1788
DT2 1853
EN First Anglican bishop of Sydney, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, and was ordained in 1818, ministering in Hampshire before accepting an invitation from the Duke of Wellington to become the second \Jarchdeacon\j of \JNew South Wales\j. He arrived in Sydney in 1829, and became Bishop of \JAustralia\j in 1836. With the division into more manageable dioceses (1847), he was restyled Bishop of Sydney and Metropolitan of \JAustralia\j.
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"Broun, Heywood (Campbell)",5835,0,0,0
DT (1888-1939)
EN journalist; born in Brooklyn, N.Y. Amiable in person and beset with phobias, he was fiery and fearless in print; ousted as a \INew York World\i columnist in a storm over his criticism of the Sacco-Vanzetti verdict (1928), he showed his concern for social issues as a columnist for the \ITelegram\i (1928-39). Broun was a cofounder and first president of the American Newspaper Guild.
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"Brouwer or Brauer, Adriaen",5836,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrow\ber]
DT1a c.
DT1 1605
DT2 38
EN Painter, born in Oudenarde, \JBelgium\j. He studied at \JHaarlem\j under Frans Hals, and settled at Antwerp (c.1630). His favourite subjects were scenes from tavern life, country merrymakings, card players, smoking and drinking groups, and roisterers generally.
MEX Hals
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"Brouwer, Luitzen Egbertus Jan",5837,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrow\ber]
DT1 1881
DT2 1966
EN Mathematician, born in Overschie, The Netherlands. He studied at \JAmsterdam\j University at the age of 16, where he was professor (1912-51). He founded the intuitionist or constructivist school of mathematical logic, which does not accept the law of the excluded middle, and in which the existence of a mathematical object can only be proved by giving an explicit method for its construction. He also made fundamental advances in \Jtopology\j, proving the invariance of dimension, and the fixed point \Jtheorem\j named after him.
SX m
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"Browder, Earl (Russell)",5838,0,0,0
DT1 1891
DT2 1973
EN Writer and communist leader, born in \JWichita\j, KA. After an elementary schooling he entered trade-union and socialist politics. He was general-secretary of the US Communist Party (1930-44) but was expelled in 1946 for his views supporting the peaceful coexistence of \Jsocialism\j and \Jcapitalism\j. He served several prison sentences for his beliefs and activities.
SX m
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#
"Brower, David (Ross)",5839,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrow\ber]
DT1 1912
EN Conservationist, born in Berkeley, \JCalifornia\j, USA. He worked for the National Park Service in \JYosemite\j National Park before joining the University of \JCalifornia\j Press as an editor in 1941. In 1952 he became executive director of the Sierra Club, and soon developed a reputation as a militant environmentalist.
Under his leadership, the Sierra Club blocked billions of dollars worth of construction projects in wilderness areas. Sierra Club conservatives forced him from the post in 1969, and he then formed the John Muir Institute and Friends of the Earth, which initiated the first Earth Day (22 Apr 1969).
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"brown bear",5840,0,0,0
EN \B\I(Ursus arctos)\b\i\b
The brown bear, along with its close relative the \Jpolar bear\j, is the largest bear in the world. Brown bears live throughout most of the northern hemisphere including \JNorth America\j, Europe and Asia. In fact, brown bears are found in more countries in the world than any other bear. The official scientific name for the brown bear is \IUrsus arctos.\i \IUrsus\i is the Latin word meaning "bear" while \Iarctos\i is the Greek word meaning "bear."
Today, most people refer to brown bears using only a few common names. In \JNorth America\j, bears which live in the inland parts of the continent are called grizzlies. The name "grizzly" comes from the silver tipped grizzled hairs that these brown bears develop as they get older.
Along the northwest coasts of \JNorth America\j, brown bears who live close to the \JPacific Ocean\j are called coastal brown bears and when they live on Kodiak Island, Afognak Island and Shuyak Island which are just off the mainland of \JAlaska\j, they are called Kodiak brown bears. Coastal brown bears get much larger than grizzlies because they are able to feed for part of the year on salmon, a fish which they are able to catch as they swim in the rivers of this area.
The large brown bears which live on the Kamchatka Peninsula of western \JRussia\j are often called Kamchatka bears. These bears live in an area very similar to the coastal brown bears of \JNorth America\j. They grow very large feeding on the rich salmon which spawn in the streams of the Peninsula.
The preferred habitat of brown bears includes mountain forests, open meadows and large river valleys. Before the large increase in the world's human population during the past several hundred years, brown bears had expanded from their original development in what we now call Europe, to most suitable forested areas of the northern hemisphere.
The range of the brown bear originally went from the northern \Jarctic\j seacoasts, southward over the \Jtundra\j-covered mountains and throughout the boreal forests of the northern hemisphere. On the North American continent, brown bears roamed as far south as Mexico. In Europe, the bears lived in abundance as far south as \JSpain\j and \JItaly\j while in Asia, brown bears extended their range as far south as \JIran\j. There was also a large resident brown bear population on the Japanese island of \JHokkaido\j. The southern limits of the range of brown bears coincided with the end of travel corridors of preferred mountain forest habitat.
It is estimated that there are currently somewhere between 125,000 and 200,000 brown bears throughout the world. In all but the more isolated and undeveloped regions of the northern hemisphere, brown bears have been eliminated from much of their former range.
The coniferous forests of northern Asia (primarily located in \JRussia\j) are still believed to be the stronghold of the brown bear. It is estimated that approximately 100,000 brown bears still live in these areas. Several countries of Europe and Asia have what can only be referred to as remnant brown bear populations.
In \JNorth America\j, the brown bear population has declined drastically. Estimates from the early 1800s indicate that approximately 100,000 brown bears roamed the central and western regions of the continent. Today, it is estimated that there are only between 40,000 and 60,000 brown bears on the continent.
Brown bears have been virtually eliminated from the lower forty-eight states of the United States with less than 1,000 bears occupying less than 1% of their original range.
The remaining bears in \JNorth America\j are distributed between the western and northern regions of Canada (particularly the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, and the territories of the \JYukon\j and the North West Territories) and \JAlaska\j.
\BAnatomy and Characteristics\b
The brown bear is a large \Jmammal\j whose size and weight are extremely variable depending on the ready availability of food and the existing climatic conditions.
The height of an adult male brown bear measured from the ground to the highest point of the shoulder averages approximately 100 centimeters (3.5 feet) with some bears having been measured up to 152 centimeters (5 feet).
Measured from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail, adult male brown bears average just over 200 centimeters (6.5 to 7 feet) with some bears having a length of up to 305 centimeters (10 feet).
The weight of brown bears varies a great deal. Coastal brown bears, because of the nutritious vegetation and access to salmon, often weigh twice as much as inland grizzlies and brown bears. Also, adult males normally weigh 35 to 50 per cent more than adult females within the same geographic region.
Adult male brown bears weigh anywhere from 150 to 375 kilograms (330 to 825 pounds). Adult male brown bears that have access to rich coastal areas often weigh 500 kilograms (1100 pounds) with some animals weighing in excess of 680 kilograms (1500 pounds). This is twice as heavy as large American male black bears and more than ten times heavier than \Jsun\j bears.
All brown bears have a heavy stout body with strong muscular legs. They have a large broad head with a dished-in or concave face and a high brow. The ears of the brown bear are small, rounded and located forward on the head. The eyes are quite small in proportion to the size of the head. The tail is short and stubby.
Brown bears have a large hump of muscle and fat located over their shoulder area. This allows these powerful bears to be excellent diggers and to have tremendous striking power in their forelegs.
Brown bears move in a manner similar to most other bears. They amble or pace with both legs on one side of their body moving together. The front feet of the brown bear are turned-in (pigeon-toed). When galloping, brown bears have been clocked at 35 to 40 miles per hour over a short distance.
Brown bears are strong and skillful swimmers. While cubs are capable of climbing trees, adult bears are capable of climbing only by using low branches as steps.
Brown bears have relatively flat feet with five toes. The hind paws are larger than the forepaws. The claws of brown bears are very large, slightly curved and non-retractable. The length of the front claws are often 9 centimeters (3 inches) long with claws measuring over 12 centimeters (4.75 inches) not uncommon. The claws are highly adapted to digging for food (e.g., tubers, rodents, etc.). The most common colors of the claws are brown or black.
While belonging to the order Carnivora, brown bears have evolved primarily into vegetarians with accompanying changes in their dental structure. Along with all other bear species, except sloth bears, brown bears have forty-two teeth.
Brown bears are covered with a heavy shaggy fur with a moderately long mane at the back of the neck. The fur consists of two types of hair strands, the guard hairs and the underfur. Brown bears shed their fur annually.
The color of brown bears is quite variable between regions, between bears in a region and even for a particular bear during the different seasons of the year. There are many color phases including black, dark brown, rust, ash, \Jcinnamon\j, red, blond or a mixture of these colors. The color of a brown bear cannot be reliably used for purposes of identification.
Regarding their sensory equipment, brown bears have excellent eyesight. Their eyes are set relatively close together and face forward. This provides them with excellent depth perception and the ability to track moving prey. Researchers have observed that bears are capable of detecting very small movements from several hundred yards away. Bears also demonstrate excellent hearing.
Brown bears have a sense of smell which is legendary and is often said to be comparable to that of a \Jbloodhound\j. Because it is so good, bears will often rise to a standing position or move to a higher elevation, to better "sniff the air."
The lifespan of brown bears in the wild can be 25 years or more. The most vulnerable period for a bear is during its first year with upwards of 40 per cent of brown bear cubs dying due to starvation, disease, accidents and predation by other animals including male bears.
\BBehavior\b
Bears are known to be extremely intelligent, very curious, independent, cautious and suspicious. They are also known to be highly individualistic and unpredictable. In addition, brown bears are also described as dignified, deliberate, generally peaceful, fearless and terrifyingly ferocious when provoked.
Brown bears are also very communicative animals. Because of their limited ability to vary their facial expressions, bears have developed many expressive signals such as \Jbody language\j and posturing; marking and scenting their environment; and a variety of vocalizations to communicate and express their mood to other bears and animals.
For many years, our beliefs about how bears live were based on a view that all bears were extremely solitary creatures. With modern field research, this has now given way to new understandings of the importance of the family unit as a basic construct of understanding bears and their behavior.
Young brown bears usually spend the first two to three years of life at the side of their mother and in the company of one or more siblings. With females coming into estrus, mating, conceiving and giving birth and then raising cubs in a repeating cycle, females live the majority of their lives within a family unit.
We have also come to learn that even after being weaned and separated from their mother, siblings may live, feed and travel together for a number of years before separating.
Adult bears, usually as a mating pair, may live together for two to three weeks during the breeding season. Also, abundant food sources such as large carcasses and fish-spawning streams may result in bears living and feeding in close proximity for periods of time.
A dominance hierarchy is a survival mechanism which bears have developed to prevent violent encounters that could lead to serious injury of one or both bears of the same species. With bears, the bigger the bear usually means the more dominant the bear. Males are dominant over females, except females with cubs. With cubs at her side, a female will, if necessary, fight to the death with a normally dominant male. Juvenile bears are even more subordinate.
Female brown bears normally become sexually mature in their fifth year with some waiting even later for their first mating. Copulation normally takes place in a manner similar to members of the canine (dog) family.
Mating in brown bears normally occurs between late May and early July. Females will normally mate with a number of males over the approximate three weeks of the breeding season. Females will not come into estrus when they are nursing cubs.
Through a remarkable process referred to as delayed implantation, the fertilized \Jovum\j divides a few times and then floats free within the uterus for about six months with its development arrested. Sometime around the denning period, the embryo will attach itself to the uterine wall and after a period of eight weeks (in January or February), the cubs will be born while the mother is still in \Jhibernation\j.
Delayed implantation clearly serves an important survival need for the mother. Should she not have enough fat reserves to carry her through the winter, the embryo will not implant and it is simply reabsorbed by her body.
The number of cubs born normally ranges from one to four with two to three cubs being average. As a rule, the number of cubs a female will have increases as she gets older. Again, climate and food supply are important determinants of the size of the litter.
At birth, the cubs are blind, toothless, hairless and very tiny. They weigh 600 to 700 grams (21 to 25 ounces). This is roughly the size of a chipmunk or \Jsquirrel\j. Virtually helpless, they are still able to move sufficiently to suckle on their mother who remains asleep. Her milk is calorically very rich containing over 20 per cent fat. In contrast, human milk only contains about 4 per cent fat.
Over the next several weeks, the cubs will develop rapidly on this rich diet such that they are able to travel with their mother when she leaves the den.
The survival of bear cubs is extremely tenuous. Up to 40 per cent of brown bears cubs will die during their first year of life. Starvation and disease will claim a number of cubs. Wolves, bobcats, eagles and mountain lions are also known to kill young cubs who become separated from their mother's side.
Infanticide is also a factor. Predation of cubs by adult male brown bears is quite common. Three reasons have been postulated to account for \Jinfanticide\j: to provide food; to create a breeding opportunity for a male bear; and to reduce competition for common territory.
The cubs will normally stay with the mother for the first two and a half years. Occasionally, they will remain for an extra year. The cubs are generally weaned between July and September of their first year and stay with the mother through their first full two winters.
The survival of brown bear cubs is totally dependent on the skill of the mother in both protecting them and teaching them the basics of what to eat, where and how to get it, where to den, and how to cope with danger. As adolescents, the young bears are still in extreme danger. Normally they are driven off by their mother as she prepares to breed once more. They must now become rapidly self-sufficient if they are to stay alive and find sufficient food to build up their fat reserves to last over the long winter. Occasionally, young bears will spend a period of time together after they have been driven off by their mothers.
\BDiet and Habitat\b
Brown bears have developed over many thousands of years from a \Jcarnivore\j (an exclusive meat eater) into the largest omnivore on the \Jplanet\j. They will consume many varieties of plants and animals. As a general rule, brown bears, as with all animals, seek food sources which will return the highest nutritional value for the least expenditure of \Jenergy\j.
Brown bears must constantly be on the move to find food. Having learned the basics of finding food from their mothers, adult bears develop their own particular habits and routines. Because of their high level of intelligence, they quickly learn what to eat, where and when a particular food is available and where to find it. Brown bears have learned to survive on a boom and bust food cycle. When food is available, they gorge themselves and when food is not readily available or poor in quality, they will scrounge in order to survive.
Brown bears appear to have preferences as to what foods they will eat and during which season of the year they prefer to eat them. Researchers have determined that more than 75 per cent of a brown bear's diet consists of vegetable matter including berries, flowers, grasses and sedges, herbs, tubers, corms and roots, and nuts of all kinds.
For the remaining portion of their diet, animal matter such as decaying animal carcasses, fish, small marine animals, ants and other insects, honey, elk and moose calves and a variety of other small mammals (e.g., ground squirrels, marmots, etc.) are eaten.
Because of their large size, brown bears require a very high \Jcaloric\j intake of food. In order to achieve this, brown bears will eat 36 to 41 kilograms (80 to 90 pounds) of food per \Jday\j during the summer to early fall peak feeding period if it is available to them. During this eating binge, brown bears are able to gain 1.25 to 2 .75 kilograms (3 to 6 pounds) of fat each \Jday\j.
The home range is the area an animal travels in its normal activities of gathering food, mating and caring for its young. The size of the home range of an individual brown bear will vary with the concentration of high \Jenergy\j food sources. Thus, the more concentrated the food sources, the smaller the range necessary to maintain the animal. The size of the home range is extremely dynamic and varies from one geographic region to another and also from one year to another.
Researchers have shown that adult male brown bears living in the relatively poor habitat such as found in the Brooks Range in \JAlaska\j have an average home range of approximately 1350 square kilometers (521 square miles). On the other hand, brown bears living in salmon-rich ocean coastal areas require only about 27 square kilometers (1.5 square miles). The difference is access to adequate food resources.
In general, males have a home range which is four to six times larger than females. The home range of a mature male bear will normally overlap the home range of at least two or three females and possibly many more. Characteristically, a home range does not constitute one large area but rather is composed of many food source areas connected by travel lanes. The home range must also include rest areas and more remote areas for shelter, protection and denning.
Brown bears do not normally defend their home ranges from other bears and thus it is normal for the home ranges of individual bears to overlap each other.
\BHibernation\b
During late summer and early fall, all bears that must hibernate to survive try to gain as much weight as possible. Through the harvesting of all available food, brown bears make very large weight gains. Such gains may be as much as 18 kilograms (40 pounds) per week. At such times, foraging may occur around the clock with only short rest periods.
As the cold \Jweather\j and/or snow arrives, bears undergo a remarkable metabolic transformation. \JHibernation\j is an \Jenergy\j-saving process bears have developed to allow them to survive long periods when there is insufficient food available to maintain their body mass. It is a different type of \Jhibernation\j than that experienced by bats, marmots and a number of other small rodents. As they stop eating and become increasingly lethargic, the bear will enter a rock cave; dig out a den; hole up in a dense brush pile, hollow log or tree cavity.
While hibernating, a bear's heart rate drops and its \Jmetabolism\j slows down by half. During the entire period of \Jhibernation\j, the brown bear will neither pass \Jurea\j or solid fecal waste. While \Jurea\j poisoning causing death would occur in all other animals within a week, bears have developed a unique process of recycling the \Jurea\j into usable proteins.
Most brown bears leave their winter dens over a one to two month period during April or May. Both the climatic conditions (snow cover and \Jtemperature\j) and physiological factors such as the bear's age, the status of its health, and its remaining fat reserves, affect the exact timing of emergence from its den. Normally, adult males emerge first. Females with newborn cubs are usually the last to leave their dens.
During the \Jhibernation\j period, brown bears may lose between 15 per cent and 40 per cent of their weight. The brown bear is very slow moving after leaving the den. It then resumes its normal foraging pattern as it completes the cycle of life.
BK wan
#
"brown dwarf",5841,0,0,0
EN A hypothetical very large \Jplanet\j, which is just below the \Jcritical mass\j needed to ignite a stellar nuclear reaction in its own interior. There is evidence for brown dwarfs as companions to a handful of stars.
BK b
#
"Brown judgment",5842,0,0,0
EN See civil rights
BK b
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#
"Brown University",5843,0,0,0
EN See Ivy League
BK b
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#
"Brown, (James) Gordon",5844,0,0,0
DT1 1951
EN Scottish politician, born in Glasgow, W Scotland, UK. He studied history at Edinburgh University, and while still a student there was elected \Jrector\j (1972--5). He lectured at Glasgow College of Technology, and entered the \JHouse of Commons\j in 1983 as Labour member for Dunfermline East.
Despite losing the sight of one eye in a sporting accident, he rose swiftly within the Labour Party, becoming Opposition chief secretary to the Treasury (1987--9), Opposition trade and industry secretary (1989--92), Shadow Chancellor (1992--7) under the leadership of John Smith, then Tony Blair, and Chancellor of the Exchequer (1997-- ) in the Labour government .
BK Biog99
#
"Brown, Alexander",5845,0,0,0
DT (1764-1834)
EN merchant, banker, early American millionaire; born in County Antrim, Ireland. He came to Baltimore in 1800 and was followed in 1802 by his sons, George, James, and John A. Brown. He began as an importer of Irish linen, then expanded into \Jtobacco\j, cotton, and other commodities; eventually his international shipping and trading activities turned his firm into a merchant banking house. A model of business acumen, he helped found the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and he supported Baltimore's civic development.
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"Brown, Capability",5846,0,0,0
EN See Brown, Lancelot
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"Brown, Charles Brockden",5847,0,0,0
DT (1771-1810)
EN writer; born in Philadelphia. A Quaker and Philadelphia lawyer who moved to New York City to write (1796), he is regarded as the country's first professional author. His first publication, \IAlcuin: A Dialogue\i (1798), was on the rights of women. He wrote four groundbreaking American Gothic romances, including \IWieland\i (1798) and \IArthur Mervyn\i (2 vols. 1799-1800). As these did not earn him much money, he returned to Philadelphia (1801) and worked as a merchant, editor, and translator. He died of tuberculosis.
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"Brown, Clifford",5848,0,0,0
DT (1930-56)
EN jazz musician; born in \JWilmington\j, Del. He was rapidly establishing himself as one of the greatest trumpeters in jazz history when he was killed in an \Jautomobile\j accident. He played with Lionel Hampton, Tadd Dameron, and Art Blakey in 1953-54. He then co-led a quintet with Max Roach that gained immediate recognition as one of the leading groups in modern jazz.
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"Brown, Edmund G(erald)",5849,0,0,0
HS , known as \BPat Brown\b
DT1 1905
DT2 96
EN US state governor, born in \JSan Francisco\j, CA. He studied law, then opened a practice in \JSan Francisco\j (1927-43), serving as district attorney there (1943-50) and as \JCalifornia\j's Democratic attorney general (1950-8). Becoming governor (1959-67), he expanded the state university system and initiated a statewide \Jwater\j project. His most public moment came in 1960, when he decided that \JCalifornia\j law did not allow him to commute the execution of Caryl Chessman. He retired to his law practice in \JSan Francisco\j.
MEX Chessman
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"Brown, Ford Madox",5850,0,0,0
DT1 1821
DT2 93
EN British historical painter, born in \JCalais\j, \JFrance\j. He studied art at Bruges, \JGhent\j, and Antwerp. In Paris he produced his 'Manfred on the \JJungfrau\j' (1841), a work intensely dramatic in feeling, but sombre in colouring. A visit to \JItaly\j (1845) led him to seek a greater richness of colouring, as in 'Chaucer Reciting his Poetry' (1851). He was a close associate of William Morris, and in 1861 was a founder member of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co, for which he produced designs for furniture and \Jstained glass\j. He completed 12 frescoes for Manchester Town Hall just before his death.
MEX Morris, William
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"Brown, George",5851,0,0,0
DT (1787-1859)
EN railroad promoter; born in County Antrim, Ireland (son of Alexander Brown). He joined his father in Baltimore, Md. (1802). He was influential in the construction of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and was the company's treasurer (1827-34). He was a cautious director of the family firm, Alexander Brown & Sons (1834-59). He gave generously to the House of Refuge and the Peabody Institute of Baltimore.
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"Brown, George (Alfred)",5852,0,0,0
EN See George-Brown, Baron
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"Brown, George (Scratchley)",5853,0,0,0
DT (1918-78)
EN aviator; born in Montclair, N.J. A 1941 West Point graduate, he flew heavy bombers during World War II, most notably on the raids against the Ploesti oilfields in August 1943. Brown held a series of staff and line appointments during the 1950s and 1960s. As commander of the 7th Air Force in \JSaigon\j (1968-70), he was accused of falsifying reports about air strikes in \JCambodia\j in 1969-70. President Richard Nixon appointed him chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1974, a tenure punctuated by impolitic comments about Jewish influence in business, journalism, and the Congress.
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"Brown, George Douglas",5854,0,0,0
HS , pseudonym \BGeorge Douglas\b
DT1 1869
DT2 1902
EN Writer, born in Ochiltree, East Ayrshire, south-west Scotland, UK. He studied at Glasgow and Oxford universities, then settled in London as a journalist. He is best known for \IThe House with the Green Shutters\i (1901), written under his pseudonym.
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"Brown, Hallie Quinn",5855,0,0,0
DT (c. 1845-1949)
EN educator, social reformer; born in \JPittsburgh\j, Pa. Born to former slaves, she graduated from Wilberforce University in 1873 and began a teaching career which ranged from plantation schoolhouses to her alma mater. She was also a public speaker on behalf of African-American culture and a campaigner for temperance. A founder of the National Association of Colored Women, she became its president (1920-24) and remained honorary president until her death.
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"Brown, Henry Billings",5856,0,0,0
DT (1836-1913)
EN Supreme Court justice; born in South Lee, Mass. He practiced law privately and served as a federal judge in \JMichigan\j (1875-90) before President Benjamin Harrison named him to the U.S. Supreme Court (1890-1906). He was known for his knowledge of maritime law.
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"Brown, Henry Kirke",5857,0,0,0
DT (1814-86)
EN sculptor; born in Leyden, Mass. He worked in \JBoston\j (1832-36), moved to \JCincinnati\j, Ohio (1836), studied in \JItaly\j (1842-46), lived in New York City (1846), then settled in Newburgh, N.Y. (1861). He is known for his bronze works, such as \IAboriginal Hunter\i (1846).
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"Brown, Herbert (Charles)",5858,0,0,0
DT1 1912
EN Chemist, born in London, England, UK. His Ukrainian family moved to \JChicago\j when he was two. He studied at \JChicago\j University, and later became professor at Purdue. He shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1979 for his work in introducing \Jboron\j compounds as important reagents in synthesis.
BK Biog99
#
"Brown, J. G. (John George)",5859,0,0,0
DT (1831-1931)
EN painter; born in Durham, England. He began work in a glassworks, moved to London, emigrated to Brooklyn, New York (1853), and opened a studio in New York City (1860). His genre paintings of street urchins, as in \IThe Card Trick\i (c. 1880), made him a wealthy and popular artist.
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"Brown, Jacob (Jennings)",5860,0,0,0
DT (1775-1828)
EN soldier; born in Bucks County, Pa. Schoolteacher, surveyor, lawyer, and militia general, he commanded U.S. forces on the New York frontier in the \JWar of 1812\j, defeating the British at Ogdensburg, Sackett's Harbor, Fort Erie, Chippewa, and Lundy's Lane. From 1821-28 he served as commander of the U.S. Army.
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"Brown, James, banker",5861,0,0,0
DT (1791-1877)
EN banker; born in Ireland (son of Alexander Brown). He arrived in Baltimore, Md. in 1802 and in 1825 established the New York City branch of his father's firm, Brown Brothers & Company. He guided the banking house through financial crises (1837, 1857) and the \JCivil War\j. He gave generously to local institutions and was one of the founders of Presbyterian \JHospital\j. The mayor of New York City ordered all flags on public buildings to fly at half-mast at his death.
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"Brown, James, pop singer",5862,0,0,0
DT1 1928
EN Pop singer, songwriter, and producer, born in Barnwell, South Carolina, USA. He began his professional career backed by a former Gospel group, The Famous Flames, with whom he recorded his first 'cry' ballads, "Please, Please, Please' and "Try Me' (1958).
Mixing Gospel and blues roots with his own aggressive \Jenergy\j, he put together a band and roadshow which by 1962 had made him America's leading rhythm and blues star, and earned him the nickname "Soul Brother Number One'. "Out Of Sight' (1964) brought him his first international success.
Later recordings in the 1960s include "America Is My Home' and "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud'. In 1988 he was jailed for six years on charges that included aggravated assault. His sentence was commuted (1990) to a prison-based work programme until 1991.
\BMajor Works\b
\IAlbums\i
1959 Please Please Please
1959 Try Me
1960 Think
1961 The Amazing James Brown
1961 James Brown Presents His Band/Night Train
1962 Shout And Shimmy
1962 James Brown and His Famous Flames Tour the USA
1963 Live At The Apollo
1963 Prisoner of Love
1964 Pure Dynamite: Live at the Royal
1964 Showtime
1964 The Unbeatable James Brown
1964 Grits and Soul
1964 Out Of Sight
1965 Papa's Got A Brand New Bag
1966 I Got You (I Feel Good)
1966 James Brown Plays James Brown Today and Yesterday
1966 Mighty Instrumentals
1966 James Brown Plays New Breed (The Boo-Ga-Loo)
1966 Soul Brother No. 1: It's A Man's Man's Man's World
1966 James Brown Sings Christmas Songs
1966 Handful of Soul
1967 The James Brown Show
1967 Sings Raw Soul
1967 James Brown Plays The Real Thing
1967 Live At The Garden
1967 Cold Sweat
1968 James Brown Presents His Show of Tomorrow
1968 I Can't Stand Myself
1968 I Got The Feelin'
1968 Live At The Apollo, Volume 2
1968 Jams Brown Sings Out Of Sight
1968 Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things
1968 A Soulful Christmas
1969 Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud
1969 Gettin' Down To It
1969 The Popcorn
1969 It's A Mother
1970 Ain't It Funky
1970 Soul On Top
1970 It's A New Day - Let A Man Come In
1970 Sex Machine
1970 Hey America
1971 Super Bad
1971 Sho' Is Funky Down Here
1971 Hot Pants
1971 Revolution of the Mind/Live At The Apollo, Volume 3
1972 There It Is
1972 Get On the Good Foot
1973 Black Caesar
1973 Slaughter's Big Rip-Off
1974 The Payback
1974 Hell
1975 Reality
1975 Sex Machine Today
1975 Everybody's Doin' The Hustle and Dead on the Double Bump
1976 Hot
1976 Get Up Offa That Thing
1976 Bodyheat
1977 Mutha's Nature
1978 Jam 1980's
1979 Take A Look At Those Cakes
1979 The Original Disco Man
1980 People
1980 Hot On The One
1980 Soul Syndrome
1981 Nonstop!
1981 Live In New York
1983 Bring It On
1986 Gravity
1988 James Brown And Friends
1988 I'm Real
1991 Love Over-Due
1993 Universal James
1993 Funky President
1995 Live At The Apollo
\ICompilations\i
1972 Soul Classics
1973 Soul Classics, Volume 2
1977 Solid Gold
1977 The Fabulous James Brown
1981 Can Your Heart Stand It?
1981 The Best of James Brown
1984 The Federal Years, Part 1
1984 The Federal Years, Part 2
1984 Roots of A Revolution
1984 Ain't That A Groove - The James Brown Story 1966-1969
1984 Doing It To Death - The James Brown Story 1970-1973
1985 Dead On The Heavy Funk 1974-1976
1985 The \JCD\j of JB: Sex Machine and Other Soul Classics
1986 The LP of JB
1986 In The Jungle Groove
1988 Motherlode
1991 Messin' With The Blues
1991 Star Time
1993 Chronicles - Soul Pride
1996 JB40: 40th Anniversary Collection
1997 On Stage
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"Brown, Jim",5863,0,0,0
DT1 1936
EN Player of \JAmerican football\j, born in St Simon Island, Georgia, USA. An All-American halfback at Syracuse University (1956), he had nine outstanding years with the Cleveland Browns in the National League (1957--66), during which he led the league eight times in rushing. Later he had a successful film career in \JHollywood\j.
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#
"Brown, John A.",5864,0,0,0
DT (1788-1872)
EN banker; born in Ireland (son of Alexander Brown). He came to Baltimore in 1802 and ran the Philadelphia branch of his father's firm (1818-37). He gave generously to Presbyterian churches in Philadelphia.
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"Brown, John Carter",5865,0,0,0
DT (1797-1874)
EN book collector; born in Providence, R.I. Son of philanthropist-industrialist Nicholas Brown, he assembled a unique library of pre-1800 Americana, eventually housed at Brown University.
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"Brown, John Mason",5866,0,0,0
DT 1900-69
EN American drama critic. Associate editor and drama critic for Theatre Arts Monthly (1924-8), in 1929 Brown moved to the New York Evening Post and established his column 'Two on the Aisle', which remained popular throughout the 1930s. In 1944 he became associate editor and drama critic of Saturday Review, where his column 'Seeing Things' remained a standard for ten years. He also wrote books about theatre, in an easy informal style.
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"Brown, John, abolitionist",5867,0,0,0
DT (1800-59)
EN abolitionist; born in Torrington, Conn. Son of an itinerant tradesman, he grew up in Hudson, Ohio, and received little formal schooling. His mother died insane when he was eight years old; several of her nearest relations were also seriously disturbed. He became a tanner, one of his father's trades, then successively a land surveyor, shepherd, and farmer. He married in 1820 and again in 1831 after the death of his first wife, fathering 20 children altogether.
He migrated from place to place in the 1830s and 1840s, failing in several businesses and engaging in unprofitable land speculations. He had been an abolitionist from his youth, but he was in his fifties before he began to plot emancipation by main force. By 1855 he and six of his sons and a son-in-law had moved to Osawatomie, Kansas, to participate in the struggle to keep it a non-slave state.
After proslavery forces attacked and burned the town of Lawrence, Kansas, Brown led a small force, including four of his sons, to nearby Pottawatomie Creek where on the night of May 24, 1856, they killed five proslavery men; he took full responsibility for the killings. Returning to the East, now dangerously obsessed with abolition through violence, he gained the patronage of northern activists such as Gerrit Smith, who supplied him with money, arms, and moral support.
Dreaming of setting up a free state for liberated slaves in the Virginia mountains, he planned a raid on the Harpers Ferry, Va., armory. He and his men seized the armory on October 16, 1859, but were captured when a detachment of U.S. Marines under Col. Robert E. Lee stormed the building. Tried for \Jtreason\j and hanged on December 2, he became the stuff of legend, a martyr to Northern supporters such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, and a dangerous fanatic to most Southerners.
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"Brown, John, physician",5868,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1735
DT2 88
EN Physician, founder of the Brunonian system of medicine, born in Bunkle parish, Scottish Borders, south-east Scotland, UK. He taught at Duns and Edinburgh, and after studying medicine became assistant to Professor William Cullen. His system of medicine divided all diseases into the sthenic, depending on an excess of excitement, and the asthenic; the former to be removed by debilitating medicines, and the latter by stimulants.
MEX Cullen, William
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#
"Brown, Joseph (Rogers)",5869,0,0,0
DT (1810-76)
EN inventor, engineer, manufacturer; born in Warren, R.I. He became a machinist in 1827 and set up a shop in 1831 to manufacture tools. In 1858 he began manufacture of sewing machines, forming a company in 1866. Brown invented milling and grinding machines, cutters, and he simplified the Vernier caliper (1852).
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"Brown, Lancelot",5870,0,0,0
HS , known as \BCapability Brown\b
DT1 1715
DT2 83
EN Landscape gardener, born in Kirkharle, \JNorthumberland\j, north-east England, UK. He established a purely English style of garden lay-out, using simple artifices to produce natural effects, as in the laid-out gardens at Blenheim, Kew, Stowe, Warwick Castle, and others. He acquired his nickname from telling clients that their gardens had excellent 'capabilities'.
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"Brown, Margaret Wise",5871,0,0,0
DT (1910-52)
EN author; born in New York City. She studied in \JSwitzerland\j (1923-25) and Hollins College, Virginia (1928-32), worked for the Bureau of Educational Experiments (later Bank Street School) as a publisher, edited children's books for William R. Scott (1938-41), and divided her time between New York City and Vinal Haven, Maine. A gifted writer of many innovative books of verse and stories for children, notably \IGoodnight Moon\i (1947), she died suddenly in \JFrance\j after an operation for appendicitis.
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"Brown, Mather",5872,0,0,0
DT (1761-1832)
EN painter; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. An itinerant portrait painter and miniaturist, he studied with Gilbert Stuart (1773), then left for England and studied under Benjamin West (1781). He stayed in England, painting austere portraits, including those of King \JGeorge III\j, the Duke of York, and Charles Bulfinch (1786).
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"Brown, Michael (Stuart)",5873,0,0,0
DT1 1941
EN Molecular geneticist, born in New York City, USA. He studied medicine at \JPennsylvania\j, and became professor at the Southwestern Medical School at \JTexas\j University in 1971. He conducted research into \Jcholesterol\j \Jmetabolism\j with Joseph Goldstein at \JTexas\j, leading to the discovery of low-density or LDL \Jreceptors\j, for which they were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1985.
BK Biog99
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"Brown, Moses",5874,0,0,0
DT (1738-1836)
EN manufacturer, philanthropist; born in Providence, R.I. He was a member of one of colonial America's most successful merchant families. In 1774 he became a Quaker, freed his slaves, and helped to start the \JRhode Island\j Abolition Society. He was among the first cotton manufacturers in America and he induced Samuel Slater to set up Arkwright spinning machines in \JRhode Island\j.
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"Brown, Olympia",5875,0,0,0
DT (1835-1926)
EN suffragist, Universalist minister; born in Prairie Ronde, Mich. Encouraged by her feminist mother, she was educated at Antioch College and the Universalist divinity school at St. Lawrence University. After ordination (1863), she served for 24 years in churches in \JMassachusetts\j, Connecticut, and \JWisconsin\j, combining pastoral duties with a militant suffrage activism, and was president of the \JWisconsin\j Woman Suffrage Association (1884-1912) and the Federal Suffrage Association (1903-20). She was publisher of the \IRacine Times\i (1893-1900), following the death of her husband.
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"Brown, Paul (E.)",5876,0,0,0
DT (1908-91)
EN football coach; born in Norwalk, Ohio. He achieved success at all coaching levels. His Massillon High School teams (1932-40) won state championships, his 1942 Ohio State University team was voted the national crown, and his professional Cleveland Browns (1946-62) won seven league titles. In 1968, he founded the \JCincinnati\j Bengals. Extremely innovative, he brought classroom techniques to coaching, including detailed playbooks, film study, and intelligence tests.
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"Brown, Ralph (Hall)",5877,0,0,0
DT (1898-1948)
EN geographer; born in Ayer, Mass. He became a specialist in historical \Jgeography\j; his best known works include \IMirror for Americans\i (1943) and \IHistorical \JGeography\j of the United States\i (1948). He is regarded as one of the founders of historical \Jgeography\j in \JNorth America\j.
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"Brown, Robert",5878,0,0,0
DT (1773-1858)
EN British botanist: named cell nucleus, and advanced plant \Jtaxonomy\j.
While on service as an army medical officer, Brown met Banks and as a result joined the Flinders expedition to \JAustralia\j in 1801. This lasted 5 years; Brown as naturalist collected 4000 plant species and spent 5 years classifying them. In doing so he established the main differences between \Jgymnosperms\j and angiosperms, and he also observed an essential part of living cells which he named the nucleus (1831).
In 1827 he noticed that a suspension of \Jpollen\j grains in \Jwater\j showed, under the \Jmicroscope\j, continuous erratic movement. He found this also with other small particles (for example, of dyes). He had no explanation for this Brownian movement, but much later it was recognized to be due to the molecular motion of the liquid; this was the first evidence for the existence of molecules based on direct observation rather than on deduction.
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"Brown, Sir Arthur Whitten",5879,0,0,0
DT1 1886
DT2 1948
EN Aviator, born in Glasgow, W Scotland, UK. As navigator with Sir John William Alcock he made the first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in a Vickers-Vimy biplane on 14 June 1919, and shared a ú10┐000 prize given by the London \IDaily Mail.\i Both men were knighted after the flight.
MEX Alcock
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"Brown, Sterling (Allen)",5880,0,0,0
DT (1901-89)
EN poet, teacher, writer; born in Washington, D.C. He graduated from Williams College (B.A. 1925), then Harvard (M.A. 1930), and was based in Washington, D.C. He taught primarily at Howard University (1929-69), and is known as a poet and a founder of black literary criticism, as in \INegro Poetry and Drama\i (1937); but above all he was an influential teacher and encourager of African-American writers in the decades before they were being widely recognized.
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"Brown, Trisha",5881,0,0,0
DT1 1936
EN Choreographer, born in \JAberdeen\j, Washington, USA. In New York City she helped to found the experimental Judson Dance Company in 1962. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s she created a series of original "equipment pieces', where dancers were rigged in block and tackle harness to allow them to walk on walls or down the trunks of trees. She also ran an improvisational group, Grand Union (1970--6), and in the late 1970s began to work in traditional theatres, adding design and music to her pieces for the first time.
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"Brown, Walter Folger",5882,0,0,0
DT (1869-1961)
EN lawyer, politician, postmaster general; born in Massillon, Ohio. Active in Republican politics, he campaigned for Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, served the administration of Warren G. Harding as chairman of the Joint Congressional Reorganization Committee (1921-24), and was postmaster general under Herbert Hoover (1929-33). He expanded airmail service and tried unsuccessfully to expand passenger air service using airmail contracts as bait.
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"Brown, William Adams",5883,0,0,0
DT (1865-1943)
EN Protestant clergyman, theologian; born in New York City. The son of a Wall Street banker, he grew up in easy circumstances, graduated from Yale (1886) and Union Theological Seminary (1890) and studied in \JGermany\j. Ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1893, he taught at Union from 1898-1936, where he became involved in social causes and the ecumenical movement. He helped found the American Theological Society. He published 15 books, including \IBeliefs That Matter\i (1928).
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"Brown, William Henry",5884,0,0,0
DT (fl. 1820s)
EN theater producer, playwright; born in the West Indies. Little is known of his origins except that he arrived in the United States as a seaman and by 1821 was establishing the African Theatre to allow all-black casts to perform mainly plays from the white repertoire, including condensed versions of Shakespeare.
But he also staged a sketch that dealt with \Jslavery\j and in 1823 he produced his own play, \IThe Drama of King Shotaway\i (1823), evidently drawing on his own personal experience of the 1795 black Caribs' insurrection on the island of St. Vincent. His theater produced the first two notable African-American actors, James Hewlett and Ira Aldridge. Brown may also have founded a theater in Albany, N.Y., but otherwise he passed into oblivion.
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"Brown, William Wells (b. 'William')",5885,0,0,0
DT (c. 1816-84)
EN reformer, writer; born in \JLexington\j, Ky. After adopting the name of the Wells Brown who assisted his escape from \Jslavery\j (1834), he became a leading abolitionist, lecturing and writing widely on that and other reform causes. His pioneering works of black fiction and history include his \Jautobiography\j \INarrative of William W. Brown, A Fugitive Slave\i (1847) and \IThe Negro in the American Rebellion\i (1867).
In 1853 he published in London what was long thought to be the first novel by an African-American, \IClotel, or The President's Daughter; \i it was based on the rumor that Thomas Jefferson had fathered a child with a slave woman; when published in the U.S.A. in 1864 it was delicately retitled, \IClotelle: A Tale of the Southern States.
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"Browne, Charles Farrar",5886,0,0,0
DT (1834-67)
EN writer, humorist; born in Waterford, Maine. In a series of \ICleveland Plain Dealer\i letters (1857-59) purportedly written by Artemus Ward, this newspaperman created the blustery character through whom he satirized contemporary society. These letters, followed by an endless series he concocted to describe everything he saw or thought, were part of the ongoing American tradition of "unlettered" colloquial writing that culminated in Mark Twain's work.
Browne joined \IVanity Fair'\i s staff (1859) and after 1861 toured the U.S.A. and England impersonating Ward (and incidentally inventing the comic lecture). He died of tuberculosis while on a lecture tour in England.
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"Browne, E(lliot) Martin",5887,0,0,0
DT 1900-80
EN British director. Browne was instrumental in reviving poetic religious drama. Appointed director of religious drama for the diocese of Chichester in 1930, he founded the Religious Drama Society and encouraged T. S. Eliot to write for the theatre, directing all his plays from Murder in the Cathedral, in which he also acted the Fourth Tempter (1935), to The Elder Statesman (1958).
After directing the Pilgrim Players, who toured with works by Eliot and Bridie, he took over the Mercury Theatre in 1945, making it a centre for new poetic plays that included Christopher Fry's first success, A Phoenix Too Frequent (1946). In 1948 he succeeded Geoffrey Whitworth as director of the British Drama League (see British Theatre Association), and in 1951 produced the first revival of the York cycle of mystery plays since 1572.
BK Thea
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"Browne, Hablot Knight",5888,0,0,0
HS , pseudonym \BPhiz\b
DT1 1815
DT2 82
EN Illustrator, born in London, England, UK. He was apprenticed to a line engraver, but soon took to etching and watercolour painting, and gained a medal from the Society of Arts for an etching of 'John Gilpin' (1833). In 1836 he became illustrator of \IThe Pickwick Papers,\i and maintained his reputation by his designs for other works by Dickens.
MEX Dickens
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"Browne, Robert",5889,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1550
DT2 1633
EN Clergyman, founder of the \IBrownists,\i born in Tolethorpe, Leicestershire, C England, UK. After graduating from Cambridge (1572), he became a schoolmaster in London, and an open-air preacher. In 1580 he began to attack the established Church, and soon after formed a distinct Church on congregational principles at Norwich. Reconciling himself to the Anglican Church, he became master of Stamford \Jgrammar school\j (1586), and \Jrector\j of Achurch, \JNorthamptonshire\j (1591). Of a very violent temper, he was sent to Northampton jail at the age of 80 for an assault on a constable, and died there.
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"Browne, Sir Thomas",5890,0,0,0
DT1 1605
DT2 82
EN Writer and physician, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford, then travelled in Ireland, \JFrance\j, and \JItaly\j, and settled in Norwich (1637). His greatest work is his earliest, the \IReligio medici,\i written about 1635 - a confession of faith, revealing a deep insight into the mysteries of the spiritual life. His other works include \IPseudodoxia epidemica\i (1646), \IHydriotaphia; \i \IUrn Burial\i (1658), and the \IGarden of Cyrus\i (1658). He was knighted in 1671.
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"Browne, Thomas Alexander",5891,0,0,0
EN See Boldrewood, Rolf
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"Browne, Tom",5892,0,0,0
DT1 1870
DT2 1910
EN Strip cartoonist, illustrator, and painter, born in \JNottingham\j, \JNottinghamshire\j, C England, UK. With his creation of \IWeary Willie and Tired Tim,\i he became known as 'the father of British comic style'. Moving to London, he quickly became a popular cartoonist for magazines, posters, and picture postcards. When \IComic Cuts\i was launched (1890), his bold linear style proved perfect for cheap reproduction, and he was soon drawing front pages for several comics a week.
SX m
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"Brownian movement or motion",5893,0,0,0
EN The ceaseless erratic motion of fine particles in suspension, first observed by Robert Brown in 1827, using \Jpollen\j grains in \Jwater\j. The effect was explained by Einstein in 1905 as the result of the irregular bombardment of the suspended matter by invisible, thermally-agitated molecules of solution. It provided support for the atomic view of matter.
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"browning",5894,0,0,0
EN A brown colour produced in some foods under certain chemical circumstances. \INon-enzymatic browning\i occurs when foods containing protein and \Jcarbohydrate\j are heated, the result of the amino acid lysine reacting with free sugars. \IEnzymatic browning\i occurs with some fruits, such as apples, when exposed to oxygen.
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"Browning automatic rifle",5895,0,0,0
EN A gas-operated light \Jmachine-gun\j designed by US gunsmith John Moses Browning (1855-1926) in 1917, and produced in various countries until 1950. The weapon had a 20-round magazine and an effective range of 600┐m / 2000┐ft.
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"Browning, Elizabeth Barrett",5896,0,0,0
HS , \InΘe\i \BBarrett\b
DT1 1806
DT2 61
EN Poet, born in Durham, Co Durham, north-east England, UK, the wife of Robert Browning. She seriously injured her spine in a riding accident (c.1821), and was long an invalid. Her first poems were published at 19, and other volumes appeared in 1838 and 1844. In 1845 she met \BRobert Browning,\b with whom she eloped in 1846. Her best-known work is \ISonnets from the Portuguese\i (1850), 'Portuguese' being Browning's pet name for her. In her later years she developed an interest in spiritualism, and also in Italian politics.
MEX Browning, Robert
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"Browning, John Moses",5897,0,0,0
DT (1855-1926)
EN gunsmith, inventor; born in Ogden, \JUtah\j. The son of Mormon parents, he produced his first gun from scrap iron at age 13. He formed Browning Brothers Company and marketed his products through the Colt Company. He patented a breech-loading single-shot rifle (1879) and the Browning automatic \Jpistol\j (1911).
He produced the Browning machine gun (1917) and the Browning automatic rifle (1918) for use in World War I. (It was a Browning \Jpistol\j that was used to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand in 1914 and so begin World War I.) He expanded his business overseas and died in \JBelgium\j.
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"Browning, Robert",5898,0,0,0
DT1 1812
DT2 89
EN Poet, born in London, England, UK, the husband of \BElizabeth Barrett.\b The son of a clerk, he received scant formal education. His early work attracted little attention until the publication of \IParacelsus\i (1835). \IBells and Pomegranates\i (1841-6) included several of his best-known dramatic lyrics, such as 'How they Brought the Good News from \JGhent\j to Aix'.
In 1846 he married Elizabeth Barrett, and with her settled in Florence, where he wrote \IMen and Women\i (1855) and began \IDramatis Personae\i (1864). Their son, \BRobert Barrett Browning\b (1849-1912), the sculptor, was born there. After the death of his wife (1861) he settled in London, where he wrote his masterpiece, \IThe Ring and the Book\i (1869).
MEX Browning, Elizabeth
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"Brownlee, John",5899,0,0,0
DT1 1900
DT2 69
EN Operatic baritone, born in Geelong, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. He studied at Melbourne and Paris, where he made his debut in 1926. Nellie Melba then engaged him to sing opposite her in \ILa BohΦme\i at Covent Garden, thus beginning his distinguished international career. He was a regular soloist with the Paris OpΘra until 1936, and a founding soloist with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. He made his first appearance with the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, in 1937, and appeared there regularly until 1958. He then became director of the Manhattan School of Music.
MEX Melba
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"Brownshirts",5900,0,0,0
EN German Nazi storm-troopers; officially the \ISturmabteilungen,\i or \ISA.\i Formed in 1920, they had expanded to 500┐000 by late 1932. Under the leadership of Ernst R÷hm, they developed a radical, pseudo-socialist outlook, and, after the Nazi accession to power (1933), challenged the autonomy of the German army. They were crushed in the 'Night of the Long Knives' (30 Jun 1934), and were thereafter overtaken in importance by the SS.
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"Brownson, Orestes (Augustus)",5901,0,0,0
DT (1803-76)
EN writer, religious thinker; born in Stockbridge, Vt. Largely self-educated and zealously devoted to social and religious reform, he was, successively, a Presbyterian, a Universalist minister, and a Unitarian pastor, before founding his own sect (1836); he was also associated with the transcendentalist movement. In 1838 he founded and became editor of the \IBoston\i (later \IBrownson's)\i \IQuarterly Review.\i
In 1844, with his wife and seven children, he became a Catholic; as an apologist for Catholicism (and for American democracy) thereafter, he was, as always, militant and uncompromising; his works, which attracted controversy from both inside and outside Catholicism, were widely read in his \Jday\j.
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"Broz, Josip",5902,0,0,0
EN See Tito
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"Bruant, Aristide",5903,0,0,0
DT 1851-1925
EN French cabaret performer. The first outstanding author-composer-performer of the French cabaret, he sang in cafΘs chantants before opening his own cabaret Le Mirliton in 1885, where middle-class audiences flocked to be insulted by him (one refrain ran 'All customers are swine!') and hear his 'realistic songs'.
These ballads, couched in the authentic slang of the Parisian slums, hymn the desperate plight of the outcast and outlawed with sardonic impassivity. Bruant, a striking combination of apache and lion-tamer in his black sombrero, boots and red scarf, recorded by \JToulouse\j-Lautrec, made a fortune and in 1900 retired to the bourgeois private life he had earlier attacked.
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"Brubeck, Dave",5904,0,0,0
DT1 1920
EN Pianist, composer, and bandleader, born in Concord, \JCalifornia\j, USA. He studied music at the College of the Pacific, CA, leading a 12-piece jazz band and at the same time studying composition under Darius Milhaud. Towards the end of World War 2 he was stationed in Europe, leading a service band, but in 1946 he began to make his reputation as an experimental musician with his Jazz Workshop Ensemble.
He reached a wider public with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, formed in 1951. He has also composed larger works such as ballets, a Mass, and pieces for jazz group and orchestra, and continued to tour and record with small groups through the 1980s.
\BMajor Works\b
\IAlbums\i
1954 Jazz Goes To College
1955 Dave Brubeck At Storyville
1955 Brubeck Time
1955 Red Hot And Cool
1957 Jazz Goes To Junior College
1960 Time Out
1961 Time Further Out
1963 At Carnegie Hall
1964 Jazz Impressions of Japan
1964 Time Changes
1965 Jazz Impressions of New York
1965 Plays Cole Porter
1966 Time In
1968 Blues Roots
1971 Last Set At Newport
1974 Two Generations Of Brubeck
1975 The Duets
1976 25th Anniversary Reunion
1976 All The Things We Are
1979 Back Home
1980 Tritonis
1981 Paper Moon
1982 Concord On A Summer Night
1985 For Iola
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"Bruce (of Melbourne), Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount",5905,0,0,0
DT1 1883
DT2 1967
EN Australian statesman and prime minister (1923-9), born in Melbourne, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. He entered parliament in 1918, and represented \JAustralia\j in the \JLeague of Nations\j Assembly. After serving as prime minister, he was high commissioner in London (1933-45), and represented \JAustralia\j at meetings of Churchill's war Cabinet. He settled in England for the last 20 years of his life.
MEX Churchill, Sir Winston
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"Bruce, Christopher",5906,0,0,0
DT1 1945
EN Dancer and choreographer, born in Leicester, Leicestershire, C England, UK. He studied tap, acrobatics, and ballet, and on graduating from the Ballet Rambert School (1963) immediately joined the company. In 1967 he established his reputation in Glen Tetley's \IPierrot lunaire\i.
His work is a fusion of classical and modern dance idioms, with a strong undercurrent of social consciousness. He became associate choreographer of English National Ballet (formerly London Festival Ballet) (1986--91), resident choreographer at Houston Ballet (1989-- ), and artistic director at Rambert Dance Company (1994-- ).
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#
"Bruce, David K(irkpatrick) E(ste)",5907,0,0,0
DT (1898-1977)
EN statesman, diplomat; born in Baltimore, Md. He served in the field artillery in World War I and was admitted to the Maryland bar in 1921. He was with the Foreign Service (1925-27) and then turned his attention to business and farming (1928-40). He helped to organize the Office of Strategic Services (1941).
As director of the Economic Cooperation mission (1948-49) he administered the Marshall Plan in \JFrance\j. He was ambassador to \JFrance\j (1949-52), to West \JGermany\j (1957-59), and to \JGreat Britain\j (1961-69). He was a representative to the Vietnam Peace Talks in Paris (1970-71) and liaison officer to Communist China (1973-74). His career culminated with the post of ambassador to \JNATO\j (1974-76).
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"Bruce, James",5908,0,0,0
HS , nickname \Bthe Abyssinian\b
DT1 1730
DT2 94
EN Explorer, born in Larbert, Falkirk, C Scotland, UK. He became consul-general in \JAlgiers\j (1763-5), and in 1768 journeyed to \JAbyssinia\j by the Nile, \JAswan\j, the \JRed Sea\j, and Massowah. In 1770 he reached the source of the Abbai, or headstream of the Blue Nile. His \ITravels to Discover the Sources of the Nile\i was published in 1790.
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"Bruce, Lenny (Alfred Schneider)",5909,0,0,0
DT c.1924-66
EN American comedian. A stand-up comic, he became a martyr to his \Jcult\j image. After World War II he studied acting and began as a night club comedian. Working out of small clubs in Greenwich Village, he first gained notoriety for his liberal use of four-letter words; gradually, he became noted for his savage attacks on establishment hypocrisy. As his act developed into intimate, improvisational harangues of the audience, he shocked the conventional with his freewheeling satire on \Jnarcotics\j legislation, organized religion, sexual taboos and race relations.
Frequently arrested for drug abuse and blasphemy (the Home Office refused to let him perform in England), he sank into paranoia and died of an overdose of \Jnarcotics\j. After his death, he became a \Jtotem\j - in Kenneth Tynan's words, 'the man who went down on America's conscience', and a play, Lenny, was devoted to him.
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"Bruce, Robert",5910,0,0,0
DT1 1274
DT2 1329
EN King of Scots (1306-29) as Robert I, and hero of the Scottish War of Independence. As Earl of Carrick, in 1296 he swore fealty to Edward I of England, but soon joined the Scottish revolt under Wallace. In 1306 he quarrelled with John Comyn, his political rival, stabbing him to death; then assembled his vassals and was crowned king at Scone. He was forced to flee to Ireland, but returned in 1307 and defeated the English at Loudoun Hill.
After Edward's death (1307), the English were forced from the country, and all the great castles were recovered except Berwick and Stirling. This led to the Battle of Bannockburn (1314), when the English were routed. Sporadic war with England continued until the Treaty of Northampton (1328), which recognized the independence of Scotland, and Bruce's right to the throne. He was succeeded by David II, the son of his second wife.
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"Bruce, Robert, 4th Lord of Annandale",5911,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2 1245
EN Scottish nobleman. He married Isabel, the second daughter of David, Earl of \JHuntingdon\j and Chester, brother of King William the Lion, and thus founded the royal house of Bruce.
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"Bruce, Sir David",5912,0,0,0
DT (1855-1931)
EN British microbiologist: investigated undulant fever and sleeping sickness.
Bruce belongs to a tradition of military medical men who worked on tropical diseases in an age of colonial concern. He studied medicine at Edinburgh and joined the Army Medical Service in 1883. The next year he was posted to Malta. There he studied undulant fever (now called brucellosis) and in 1886 he isolated the causal bacterium.
Later he and his assistants showed that unpasteurized \Jgoat\j's milk carried the infection to the garrison there, and control followed. Later still it was found that the same organism caused contagious \Jabortion\j in \Jcattle\j and that it can be transmitted by a variety of animals.
In 1894 Bruce went to South Africa to study nagana, another disease of \Jcattle\j, and soon showed it to be carried by the tsetse fly and to be due to a trypanosome, a protozoal parasite now named as Trypanosoma brucei. Soon Bruce and others showed that the human disease known as African sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis) is due to the same organism, transmitted in the same way by the bite of the tsetse fly.
In 1912 Bruce was promoted to Surgeon-General and in the First World War was commandant of the Royal Army Medical College. His research was always carried out with his wife, Mary Elizabeth, a skilled microscopist. She shared all his work, including 2 years in a primitive hut in the Zululand bush studying nagana and a period as theatre nurse during the siege of Ladysmith, with Bruce as the surgeon.
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#
"brucellosis",5913,0,0,0
PN [broose\Bloh\bsis]
EN A disease of animals, especially \Jcattle\j, caused by micro-organisms of \Jgenus\j \IBrucella,\i named after British bacteriologist Sir David Bruce (1855-1931); also known as \Bcontagious \Jabortion\j.\b It can be caught by humans, commonly after eating infected cheese or drinking infected cow's or \Jgoat\j's milk, in which case it is called \Bundulent fever\b or \BMalta fever.\b
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"Bruch, Max",5914,0,0,0
PN [brukh]
DT1 1838
DT2 1920
EN Composer, born in Cologne, \JGermany\j. He became musical director at Coblenz in 1865, and conducted the Liverpool Philharmonic Society (1880-3), introducing many of his choral works. He is best known for his violin \Jconcerto\j in G minor, the \IKol Nidrei\i variations in which he employs the idioms of \JHebrew\j and Celtic traditional melodies, and the \IKonzertstⁿck.\i
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#
"Brⁿcke, die",5915,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrⁿ\bker]
HS (Ger 'bridge')
EN See Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig; Nolde, Emil; Pechstein, Max; Schmidt-Rottluff, Karl
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"Bruckner, Anton",5916,0,0,0
PN [\Bbruk\bner]
DT1 1824
DT2 96
EN Composer and organist, born in Ansfelden, \JAustria\j. He held several posts as organist, and became professor of composition at the Vienna \JConservatory\j (1868-91). His fame chiefly rests on his nine symphonies (the last unfinished), but he also wrote four impressive Masses, several smaller sacred works and many choral works. His music, which shows the influence of Wagner and Schubert, was given a mixed reception during his lifetime.
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"Bruckner, Ferdinand (Theodor Tagger)",5917,0,0,0
DT 1891-1958
EN Austrian playwright. After his early experiments with \Jexpressionism\j, his plays ranged from brutally realistic studies of suicide (Malady of Youth, 1926) or the persecution of Jewish students (Races, 1933) to historical dramas such as his best-known work Elizabeth of England (1930). In 1936 he emigrated to America, where he worked with Piscator, returning in 1951 to become dramaturg at the Schiller Theater in Berlin. Though technically innovative, his post war attempts to revive verse tragedy in \JPyrrhus\j and Andromache (1952) or The Fight with the Angel (1956) were unsuccessful.
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"Brudenell, James Thomas",5918,0,0,0
EN See Cardigan, James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of
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#
"Brueghel, Pieter",5919,0,0,0
PN [\Bbroy\bgl]
HS also spelled \BBruegel\b or \BBreughel,\b known as \Bthe Elder\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1520
DT2 69
EN The most original of all 16th-c Flemish painters, probably born in the village of Brueghel, near Breda. He studied under Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502-50), and was much influenced by Bosch. In about 1551 he began to travel through \JFrance\j and \JItaly\j, later settling in Brussels, where he painted his major works.
His genre pictures of peasant life reach their finest expression in 'The Blind Leading the Blind', (1568, Naples), the 'Peasant Wedding', and the 'Peasant Dance' (c.1568, Vienna). His eldest son, \BPieter Brueghel the Younger\b (c.1564-1637), is known as 'Hell' Brueghel, because of his paintings of devils, hags, and robbers. His younger son, \BJan Brueghel\b (1568-1625), known as 'Velvet' Brueghel, painted still-life, flowers, landscapes, and religious subjects on a small scale.
MEX Bosch
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#
"Bruges",5920,0,0,0
PN [broozh]
EN 51░13N 3░14E, pop (1995e) 119 000. Port and capital town of Brugge district, West Flanders province, NW \JBelgium\j; 12 km/7 mi S of Zeebrugge; known as "the \JVenice\j of the north'; chief market town of the Hanseatic League and a major centre of the woollen and cloth trade; connected by canals to several cities and the North Sea; railway; port handles crude oil, \Jcoal\j, iron ore, general cargo, fish; traditional centre for lace; steel, cotton, furniture, brewing, paints, light \Jengineering\j; one of the best-preserved mediaeval European cities; Gothic town hall (1376--1420), Chapel of the Holy Blood, Church of Our Lady (12th--13th-c), 13th--14th-c market hall, with a 13th--15th-c belfry; Procession of the Holy Blood (every \JAscension\j Day), Pageant of the Golden Tree (every 5th year).
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"Brugge",5921,0,0,0
PN [\Bbroo\bguh]
EN See Bruges
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#
"Brugmann, Karl",5922,0,0,0
DT1 1849
DT2 1919
EN Philologist, born in \JWiesbaden\j, \JGermany\j. Professor of Sanskrit at Freiburg (1884) and \JLeipzig\j (1887), he wrote a \IComparative Grammar of the Indo-Germanic Languages\i (1886-3, trans title). He was a leading exponent of the Neogrammarian school, stressing the fixity of sound laws.
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"Brugsch, Heinrich Karl",5923,0,0,0
DT1 1827
DT2 94
EN Egyptologist, born in Berlin. He was director of the School of Egyptology in \JCairo\j (1870-90), helped to decipher demotic script, and published a hieroglyphic-demotic dictionary (1867-82).
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"Bruhn, Erik",5924,0,0,0
PN [broon]
HS , originally \BBelton Evers\b
DT1 1928
DT2 86
EN Dancer and ballet director, born in \JCopenhagen\j. He trained at the Royal Danish Ballet School, joining the company in 1947. An unrivalled exponent of the Bournonville style, he toured the world as guest performer with many companies. He was the director of the Royal Swedish Ballet (1967-72) and artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada (1983-6).
SX m
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"bruise",5925,0,0,0
EN Damage to the skin and subcutaneous tissues, but without breaking the skin, usually caused by a blow from a blunt instrument or object. There is damage to the underlying local blood vessels, which is responsible for the swelling and for the red, blue, and yellow discolouration over the affected area.
BK b
#
"bruitisme",5926,0,0,0
PN [brwee\Bteezm\b]
EN French futuristic music of the 1920s which used percussion and \Jelectronics\j to suggest machinery. Antheil's \IBallet mΘcanique\i (1926, Mechanical Ballet) was performed by eight pianos, player \Jpiano\j, four xylophones, two electric bells, two aeroplane propellors, tam-tam, four bass drums, and siren.
BK b
#
"Brumby, Colin James",5927,0,0,0
DT1 1933
EN Composer and teacher, born in Melbourne, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. He studied at the Conservatory in Melbourne, then in Europe, returning to become senior lecturer at the University of \JQueensland\j, Brisbane. His output includes two operas, nine operettas for younger audiences, a symphony (1982), nine concertos, choral works, film scores, and chamber music.
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#
"Brumel, Valeri Nikolayevich",5928,0,0,0
DT1 1942
EN Athlete, born in Razvedki, \JRussia\j. He won the Olympic gold medal in the high jump at \JTokyo\j in 1964, and between 1960 and 1963 raised the world record to 2.28┐m.
BK Biog99
#
"Brumidi, Constantino",5929,0,0,0
DT (1805-80)
EN painter; born in \JRome\j, \JItaly\j. He emigrated to New York City in 1852, escaping from political troubles in \JRome\j. Said to be the first painter of frescoes in America, he decorated many government buildings in Washington, D.C., including \ICincinnatus at the Plow\i (1855) in the Agricultural Committee room, and the \Jfrieze\j in the Rotunda of the Capitol (?1875-80).
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#
"Brummell, George Bryan",5930,0,0,0
HS , known as \BBeau Brummell\b
DT1 1778
DT2 1840
EN Dandy, born in London, England, UK. At \JEton\j, and during a brief sojourn at Oxford, he was less distinguished for studiousness than for the exquisiteness of his dress and manners; and after four years in the army, having come into a fortune, he entered on his true vocation as arbiter of elegancies. A close friend and protΘgΘ of the prince regent (the future \JGeorge IV\j), they quarrelled in 1813, and gambling debts forced Brummell to flee to \JFrance\j (1816). He died in the lunatic asylum in Caen.
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#
"Brun, Charles Le",5931,0,0,0
EN See Le Brun, Charles
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#
"Brun, Johannes",5932,0,0,0
DT 1832-90
EN Norwegian actor. He was the leading actor with the Bergen Norwegian Theatre (1850) and accompanied Ibsen on his 1852 study tour to \JCopenhagen\j. Brun joined Christiania Theatre in 1857 and stayed for 32 years, playing almost 400 roles, including several Ibsen premieres: Daniel Hejre in The League of Youth, the Dovre King in Peer Gynt and Old Ekdal in The Wild Duck.
His strength was in comedy, to which he brought simplicity, naturalness and a fundamental gravity. He was the leading Norwegian interpreter of Holberg's Jeppe in his generation and, until illness restricted his range, a superb Falstaff. From the late 1870s he also directed, including the world premiere of An Enemy of the People (1883).
BK Thea
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"Bruna, Dick",5933,0,0,0
PN [\Bbroo\bna]
DT1 1927
EN Dutch artist and writer. The creator of a highly successful series of picture books for young children, he started in the book-trade but gave this up to concentrate on graphic art. His first book was \IThe Apple\i, published in England in 1966, 13 years after it appeared in Holland. His books include such characters as Miffy the \Jrabbit\j, and the small dog Snuffy.
\BMajor Works\b
\IChildren's books\i
1966 The Apple
1966 Miffy
1967 Pussy Nell
1968 I Can Count
1968 I Can Read
1968 Tilly and Tessa
1970 Snuffy
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#
"Brundage, Avery",5934,0,0,0
DT (1887-1975)
EN businessman, athletic administrator, art collector; born in \JDetroit\j, Mich. He competed in the 1912 Olympics, and after making a fortune as a building contractor, he gained the presidency of the U.S. Olympic Committee (1929-53) and then the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (1952-72).
His tenure was often marked by controversy over his strong opposition to commercialism in amateur \Jathletics\j and also over his autocratic behavior. His private passion was collecting Asian art, on which he became a respected authority; he left his superb collection to \JSan Francisco\j's museums.
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"Brundtland, Gro Harlem",5935,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrunt\bland]
DT1 1939
EN Norwegian stateswoman and first woman prime minister of \JNorway\j (1981, 1986--9, 1990--6), born in Oslo, \JNorway\j. She studied medicine at Oslo and Harvard, qualifying as a physician. In 1960 she married a leader of the Opposition Conservative Party, \BArne Olav\b, and they have four children. She joined the Labour Party and entered politics (1969), after working in public medicine services in Oslo.
She was appointed environment minister (1974--9) and, as leader of the Labour Party group, became prime minister for the first time. In 1987 she chaired the World Commission on Environment and Development which produced the report \IOur Common Future\i. In 1988 she was awarded the Third World Foundation Prize for leadership in environmental issues.
BK Biog99
#
"Brunei",5936,0,0,0
PN [\Bbroo\bniy]
EN pop (1995e) 293 000; area 5765 sq km/2225 sq mi. State on the NW coast of \JBorneo\j, SE Asia, divided into four districts; divided into two sections by the Limbang R valley of \JSarawak\j; capital, Bandar Seri Begawan (formerly \JBrunei\j Town); other chief towns, Kuala Belait, Seria, Tutong; timezone GMT +8; ethnic groups include Malay (65%) and Chinese (15%); official language, Malay, but English widely spoken; official religion, \JIslam\j; unit of currency, the \JBrunei\j dollar of 100 sen; swampy coastal plain, rising through foothills to a mountainous region on \JSarawak\j border; equatorial \Jrainforest\j covers 75% of land area; tropical climate, with high temperatures and \Jhumidity\j, and no marked seasons; average daily temperature 24--30░C; annual average rainfall 2540 mm/100 in on coast, doubling in the interior; formerly a powerful Muslim sultanate, its name (as \JBorneo\j) being given by Europeans to the whole island; under British protection, 1888; internal self-government, 1971; independent, 1983; a constitutional monarchy with the Sultan as head of state, advised by a Privy Council, a 21-member Legislative Council, a Religious Council and a Council of Succession; largely dependent on oil (discovered 1929) and gas resources; main crops, rice, bananas, peppers; some \Jrubber\j and timber.
BK Geog99
#
"Brunel, Isambard Kingdom",5937,0,0,0
PN [broonel]
DT (1806-59)
EN British civil engineer; pioneer designer of large steamships.
Brunel revealed a talent for drawing and grasp of \Jgeometry\j by the age of 6. His father, Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (1769-1849), having fled his native \JFrance\j and the Revolution for America before settling in Britain, educated his son in England, Normandy and Paris. Brunel joined his father in his \Jengineering\j projects and in 1825 helped him to construct the first tunnel under the Thames (designed for foot passengers but later used by the London Underground).
Isambard Brunel (Kingdom was his mother's surname) was a short man with a commanding presence, an ability to lead and a capacity for hard work which contributed to his early death. He confessed to self-conceit.
In 1830 Brunel won the competition for a design for the Clifton Suspension Bridge, his first independent work. He was appointed engineer of the Great Western Railway in 1833. He surveyed the route, designed tunnels, bridges and the termini at Paddington and Temple Meads, \JBristol\j. Then Brunel turned to the design of steamships to cross the Atlantic, the problem being carriage of sufficient fuel for the distance.
Brunel realized that capacity for fuel increased with the cube of the ship's size; its power requirement increased with the square of the size, so a big enough vessel could succeed. He built the Great Western in oak in traditional manner, to make an extension to the Great Western Railway; it made the crossing to New York in 15 days in 1838. He designed and built the \JGreat Britain\j, an iron-hulled, screw-driven vessel which was then the largest vessel afloat.
He went on to design the Great Eastern to carry 4000 passengers around the world without refuelling. Immense, double-skinned with 10 boilers, the ship was beset with financial and other problems from the start; it was eventually used to lay the Atlantic cable of 1865.
The great liners which dominated intercontinental travel for a century stemmed from Brunel's confident approach to large- scale ship construction based on steel.
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"Brunel, Sir Marc Isambard",5938,0,0,0
PN [broo\Bnel\b]
DT1 1769
DT2 1849
EN Engineer and inventor, born in Hacqueville, \JFrance\j. He fled from the \JFrench Revolution\j in 1793, going first to the USA, where he was architect and chief engineer in New York. He settled in England in 1799, constructed many public works, and solved many of the problems of underwater tunnelling. His main achievement was the 460┐m / 503┐yd Thames Tunnel from Rotherhithe to Wapping (1825-43). He was knighted in 1841.
MEX Brunel, Isambard Kingdom
SX m
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#
"Brunelleschi, Filippo",5939,0,0,0
PN [broone\Bles\bkee]
DT1 1377
DT2 1446
EN Architect, goldsmith, and sculptor, born in Florence, \JItaly\j. One of the figures responsible for the development of the Renaissance style in Florence, his chief work is the dome of the cathedral there. Erected between 1420 and 1461, it is (measured diametrically) the largest in the world, and served as the model for \JMichelangelo\j's design for St Peter's in \JRome\j. Other well-known buildings by him in Florence are the Church of San Lorenzo (1418-29) and the Ospedale degli Innocenti (1419-44). He is also noted for his innovations in the use of perspective.
SX m
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#
"Bruner, Jerome (Seymour)",5940,0,0,0
PN [\Bbroo\bner]
DT1 1915
EN Psychologist, born in New York City, USA. He studied at Duke University and Harvard, and was professor of \Jpsychology\j at Harvard (1952--72), Oxford (1972--80), and the New School for Social Research, New York City. In a number of works published in the 1960s he stressed the centrality of teaching for underlying cognitive structure, and the usefulness of the "spiral curriculum'.
His humanities programme "Man: a Course of Study', described in \IToward a Theory of Instruction\i (1966), has been held to be a landmark in curriculum development. He has pioneered techniques for investigating infant perception, and is a leading advocate of the value of the phenomenological tradition in \Jpsychology\j.
BK Biog99
#
"Brunhild, Brunhilde, or Brynhild",5941,0,0,0
PN [\Bbroon\bhild(uh)]
EN In Norse \Jmythology\j, a Valkyrie who has assumed human form. Odin places her behind a wall of flame where she lies in an enchanted sleep; she is woken by \JSigurd\j, who is able to leap the barrier on his horse Grani. Tricked into marrying Gunnar, she finally kills herself on \JSigurd\j's funeral pyre. In the similar Nibelungen legend, she is the wife of Gunther.
BK b
#
"Brⁿning, Heinrich",5942,0,0,0
DT1 1885
DT2 1970
EN German statesman, born in Mⁿnster, \JGermany\j. He studied at \JBonn\j and the London School of Economics, and was leader of the Catholic Centre Party from 1929, and chancellor (1930-2), when he was forced to resign by the Nazis. He left \JGermany\j in 1934, and became professor of government at Harvard (1939-52), and professor of political science at Cologne (1951-5).
SX m
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#
"Brunne, Robert of",5943,0,0,0
EN See Mannyng, Robert
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Brunner, (Heinrich) Emil",5944,0,0,0
DT1 1889
DT2 1966
EN Reformed theologian, born in \JWinterthur\j, \JSwitzerland\j. Following service as a pastor (1916-24), he became professor of systematic and practical \Jtheology\j at Zⁿrich (1924-55). The author of nearly 400 books and articles, his reputation outside the European mainland was established by the translations of \IThe Mediator\i (1927) and \IThe Divine Imperative\i (1932).
SX m
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#
"Bruno of Cologne, St",5945,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1030
DT2 1101
EN Clergyman, the founder of the Carthusian order, born in Cologne, \JGermany\j. He became \Jrector\j of the cathedral school at Reims, but withdrew in 1084 to the wild mountains of Chartreuse, near \JGrenoble\j. Here with six friends he founded the austere Carthusian order on the site of the present Grande Chartreuse. In 1091, at the invitation of Pope Urban II, he established a second Carthusian monastery at Della Torre in Calabria. Feast \Jday\j 6 October.
SX m
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#
"Bruno, Giordano",5946,0,0,0
DT (1548-1600)
EN Italian philosopher: supporter of the Copernican (heliocentric) system.
Bruno entered but later left the Dominican Order, and spoke and wrote supporting radical views on religion, the infinity of space, the motion of the Earth and the Copernican system. He travelled widely in Europe, was arrested by the Inquisition (1592) and after a lengthy trial refused to recant. Details of the trial have been destroyed, but Bruno was burned at the stake in 1600. It is usually believed that this event influenced \JGalileo\j in favour of recanting when he was similarly charged with heresy and supporting the \Jheliocentric system\j in 1633.
In 1991 it was suggested that Bruno had an important position as a spy. In the early 1580s he was accredited as a chaplain in the French embassy in London, at a time when England saw itself in grave danger from Catholic conspiracy. Bruno secured information on Spanish and French schemes and reported, under the name 'Henry Fagot' to \JElizabeth I\j's spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, and his espionage overturned the Throckmorton plot. The truth may never be shown with certainty, but it seems likely that Bruno has as significant a place in the political scene as in science.
BK Scie
#
"Bruno, St",5947,0,0,0
DT1 925
DT2 65
EN Clergyman, born in Cologne, \JGermany\j. The brother of Otto I, the Great, he was imperial chancellor in 940, and in 953 crushed a rebellion against Otto. He became \JArchbishop\j of Cologne in 953, and Duke of Lorraine in 954. He was distinguished both for piety and learning. Feast \Jday\j 11 October.
MEX Otto I
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Bruno, St, also known as Boniface",5948,0,0,0
HS , also known as \BBoniface\b
DT1 970
DT2 1009
EN Missionary, born in Querfurt, \JGermany\j. Educated at \JMagdeburg\j Cathedral School, he entered the monastery in \JRavenna\j in 997, and worked as a missionary bishop in \JPoland\j, \JHungary\j, and the \JUkraine\j. He reached \JPrussia\j but met fierce opposition, and was put to death with his companions. Feast \Jday\j 19 June.
SX m
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#
"Brunoff, Jean de (1899-1937) and Laurent de Brunoff (1925- )",5949,0,0,0
PN [\Bbroon\bof]
EN Illustrators, father and son, creators of Babar the Elephant, hero of a series of picture books. Drawn originally by Jean, he first appeared in 1931 in \IL'Histoire de Babar, le petit ΘlΘphant\i (The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant).
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Brunswick",5950,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrown\bshviyk]
EN 52░17N 10░28E, pop (1995e) 268 000. Manufacturing and commercial city in \JGermany\j; capital of former duchy of Braunschweig; railway; technical university (1745); cathedral (12th-c), castle (12th-c).
BK Geog99
#
"Bruscambille (Jean Deslauriers or Du Laurier)",5951,0,0,0
DT 17th-century
EN French actor. He may have trained at fairgrounds and in \JItaly\j, where he claimed to have learned la charlatannerie. He was seen at \JToulouse\j c.1598 and joined the company of the H⌠tel de Bourgogne, Paris, in 1606; he was playing there still in 1632, but no trace of him survives after 1634.
His prime function was as a master of ceremonies, delivering vivacious satirical prologues. Several collections of jokes attributed to him were published between 1610 and 1619, including the famous sally that his was 'une vie sans souci, et quelquefois sans six sous'.
BK Thea
#
"brush turkey",5952,0,0,0
EN A bird native to \JJapan\j and \JAustralasia\j; solitary; seldom flies; plumage black; tail folded vertically; head and neck naked except for some hair-like feathers; eats fruit and insects. \B(Family:\b \JMegapodiidae\j, 6 species.)
BK b
#
"Brush, Charles (Francis)",5953,0,0,0
DT (1849-1929)
EN engineer, inventor; born in \JEuclid\j Township, Ohio. A farmer's son, he took a mining \Jengineering\j degree from the University of \JMichigan\j (1869) and worked as a chemist and an iron merchant before leaving business to devote full time to his electrical inventions. In 1879 the city of Cleveland adopted his Brush arc light. It soon went into use worldwide. The arc light made his fortune, and he devoted his late years to theoretical research and philanthropy.
BK AmBg
#
"Brush, George (de Forest)",5954,0,0,0
DT (1855-1941)
EN painter; born in Shelbyville, Tenn. He studied with GΘr⌠me in Paris until 1880, then settled in Dublin, N.H. He is remembered for his American Indian works and tender family paintings, such as \IIn the Garden\i (1906), and \IA Family Group\i (1907).
BK AmBg
#
"Brusilov, Alexey",5955,0,0,0
PN [\Bbru\bsilof]
DT1 1856
DT2 1926
EN Soldier, born in Tbilisi, Georgia. In World War 1 he led the invasion of \JGalicia\j (1914) and in the Carpathians. From 1916 he distinguished himself on the Eastern Front, notably in the successful \IBrusilov Offensive\i against the Austrians in 1916. He became chief-of-staff in 1917. After the revolution he commanded forces in the war against \JPoland\j (1920).
SX m
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#
"Brussels",5956,0,0,0
EN 50░50N 4░21E, pop (1995e) 1 064 000 (including suburbs). Commercial and cultural city in Brabant province, \JBelgium\j; capital of \JBelgium\j, lying at the geographical mid-point of the country; divided into the Lower Town, intersected by several branches of the R Senne, and the Upper Town, set on the crest of the hills to the E; inner city surrounded by 18 suburbs with independent administrations; major mediaeval wool centre; capital of Spanish and Austrian Netherlands; headquarters of many international organizations, such as the European Union and \JNATO\j; linked to the North Sea by the Willebroek Canal; linguistic frontier between Flemings and Walloons runs just S of the city; officially Brussels is bilingual, but French predominates in the centre, Flemish in the suburbs; archbishopric; Brussels National Airport (Zaventem); railway; underground system; Free University of Brussels (1834); St Louis and St Aloysius private universities; industry largely outside the city, leaving the centre to the service sector; textiles, lace, carpets, \Jporcelain\j, glass, metals, cement, chemicals, \Jengineering\j, \Jelectronics\j and electrical goods, vehicles, publishing, brewing, \Jtobacco\j, foodstuffs; Royal Military School; several royal academies of fine arts and royal conservatories; town hall (15th--18th-c), royal palace (1827--9, rebuilt 1905); Palais de la Nation (1779--83); cathedral (13th--15th-c), Church of Notre-Dame de la Chapelle (begun 1210); Ommegang (processions, Jul).
BK Geog99
#
"Brussels griffon",5957,0,0,0
EN Originally used to catch rats in stables where hansom cabs were kept, this sturdy dog makes a great companion.
\BHistory:\b
The Brussels Griffon (or Griffon Bruxellois) was developed in the 1800s by the artisans and cab drivers of Brussels who crossed the Griffon with English Toy Terriers. They are mostly popular in their native \JBelgium\j, only coming to the attention of Americans and Canadians before the First World War. They are not profuse in numbers as they are difficult to breed successfully, often having only one pup in a litter and a high mortality rate in their first few weeks.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
A rather fierce-looking little dog with features that are described as almost human by some, or more monkey-like by its detractors. \IHeight:\i not specified, but usually around 10 - 12 in (25 -30 cm). \IWeight:\i 5 - 11 lb (2.3 to 5 kg). Under Canadian standards: 7 lb (3 kg) for the small-sized dog and bitch; 11 lb (5 kg) for the larger dog and 12 lb (5.4 kg) for the larger bitch.
The head of the Brussels Griffon is large, rounded, and broad between the ears. The muzzle is wide and the nose is short, black, and has large open nostrils. The eyes are large and round, dark, and set wide apart. The ears are small and set high in a semi-erect pose. The body is short with well-sprung ribs and a short, strong loin. The tail is carried high and is docked. The forequarters are straight and solid. The hindquarters are muscular in the thighs.
There are two coat types in the Brussels Griffon: a rough and wiry coat and a short, smooth coat. The two coat types can appear in the same litter due to the number of Terrier types combined in this breed and the unstable genes: The coat color can be black, rust, black and tan, black and rust, tan, or red. In the red dogs, darker shading on the face and ears is a feature.
\BBehavior:\b
The Brussels Griffon is a most delightful little dog. This dog can develop a highly individual character and really charm its owner. As this dog has such a cute appearance people sometimes inadvertently allow it to become very bossy. It is wise to be assertive with this little dog as it matures, or else it will please itself, rather than its owner. This dog should be given lots of simple tasks to carry out and rewarded with showers of praise from its owner. The Brussels Griffon will make a very good watch-dog if it is clearly shown what it should respond to. A wonderful companion animal.
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#
"Brussels sprout",5958,0,0,0
EN A type of cultivated cabbage \I(Brassica oleracea),\i thought to have been first grown in \JBelgium\j; also spelled \Bbrussel sprout; \b produces shoots or sprouts in all the axils of the leaves on the main stem; sprouts resemble miniature cabbages, and can be harvested over a long period, especially in winter. \B(Family:\b Crucifereae).
BK b
#
"Brussels, Treaty of (1948)",5959,0,0,0
EN A treaty of economic, social, and cultural collaboration and collective self-defence signed by \JBelgium\j, \JFrance\j, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the UK. It set up the so-called \BBrussels Treaty Organization,\b with the principal aim of joint action to resist aggression. It was superseded by the Treaty of Paris and the Western European Union.
BK b
#
"Brussels, Treaty of (1973)",5960,0,0,0
EN A treaty which enabled Britain, Denmark, and Ireland to join the European Economic Community. These three countries and \JNorway\j had applied to join in 1961, but further negotiations had been vetoed by President de Gaulle in 1963. After his resignation, it was agreed to hold fresh negotiations. Following signature of the treaty, \JNorway\j failed to ratify after a referendum.
BK b
#
"Brustein, Robert",5961,0,0,0
PN [\Bbroo\bstiyn]
DT1 1927
EN Drama critic, teacher, and director, born in New York City, USA. In 1966, as dean of the School of Drama at Yale, he founded the Yale Repertory Theater. He is also director of the American Repertory Theater, which took up residence at Harvard in 1980.
BK Biog99
#
"Brutalism or New Brutalism",5962,0,0,0
EN An architectural concept of the 1950s, in which the buildings often have large distinct blocks of exposed concrete. It is typified by the work of Le Corbusier at Chandigarh, India, and at \JMarseille\j, \JFrance\j, and by his British followers James Stirling, William Gowan, and Alison and Peter Smithson.
BK b
#
"Brutus, Lucius Junius",5963,0,0,0
PN [\Bbroo\btus]
DT1a fl.
DT1 500
DT1b BC
EN Legendary Roman hero who established Republican government at \JRome\j. He was the son of a rich Roman, on whose death Lucius Tarquinius Superbus seized the property and killed an elder brother. He escaped by feigning idiocy, from which he got his name \I(brutus\i means 'stupid'). When popular indignation was roused at the rape of Lucretia by Sextus, he drove the royal family from \JRome\j. He was elected one of the first two consuls (509 BC).
MEX Lucretia
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#
"Brutus, Marcus Junius",5964,0,0,0
PN [\Bbroo\btus]
DT1a c.
DT1 85
DT2 42
DT2b BC
EN Roman politician. He sided with Pompey when the \Jcivil war\j broke out, but submitted to Caesar, and was appointed Governor of Cisalpine Gaul. He divorced his wife to marry \BPortia,\b the daughter of his master, Cato. Cassius persuaded him to join the conspiracy against Caesar (44 BC); but, defeated by Mark Antony and Octavian at Philippi, he killed himself.
MEX Caesar; Cassius
SX m
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#
"Bruxelles",5965,0,0,0
PN [brⁿksel]
EN See Brussels
BK b
XCY y
#
"BruyΦre, Jean de la",5966,0,0,0
EN See La BruyΦre, Jean de
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"Bryan, William (Jennings)",5967,0,0,0
DT (1860-1925)
EN political leader, orator; born in Salem, Ill. After practicing law, he was elected to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Dem., 1891-95) and began to develop his reputation as "the Great Commoner," using his oratorical skills on behalf of the causes of the common folk. He opposed high tariffs and he called for an income tax, direct popular election of senators, a Department of Labor, prohibition, and women's suffrage.
Out of office, he turned to journalism and lecturing and when he showed up at the Democratic national convention of 1896 and delivered his famous "Cross of Gold" speech on behalf of free silver, the agrarian West prevailed over the urban East and he ended up with the presidential nomination. He lost, as he would when he ran again in 1900 and 1908. After helping Woodrow Wilson gain the Democratic nomination in 1912, he became Wilson's \Jsecretary of state\j (1913); devoted to establishing \Jarbitration\j as the solution to international disputes, he resigned in 1915 rather than go along with Wilson's belligerent warnings to \JGermany\j; when America entered World War I, however, he supported Wilson.
In 1920 he moved to \JFlorida\j where, participating in the real-estate boom, he made a fortune; he continued his career as a lecturer, known especially for his support of prohibition and of a literal interpretation of the \JBible\j. It was in this last capacity that he made his final public appearance, speaking for the prosecution at the Scopes anti-\Jevolution\j "monkey trial" in 1925.
BK AmBg
#
"Bryant, Bear",5968,0,0,0
DT (1913-83)
EN football coach; born in Moro Bottoms, Ark. At his retirement after the 1982 season, he was college football's winningest coach, with a 323-85-17 record for 38 years. He produced highly ranked teams at Maryland, Kentucky and \JTexas\j A&M before returning to his alma mater, the University of \JAlabama\j, in 1958. His \JAlabama\j teams won six national championships and won or shared Southeastern Conference titles thirteen times.
BK AmBg
#
"Bryant, Gridley J. F. (James Fox)",5969,0,0,0
DT (1816-99)
EN architect; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. (son of railroad pioneer Gridley Bryant). His \JBoston\j practice prefigured the large architectural firm and designed primarily commercial and public buildings; he rebuilt 110 of his 152 buildings destroyed in the 1872 \JBoston\j fire.
BK AmBg
#
"Bryant, William Cullen",5970,0,0,0
DT (1794-1878)
EN poet, editor; born in Cummington, Mass. He attended Williams College (1810-11), studied law (1811-15), and practiced in Great Barrington, Mass., (1816-25), before settling in New York City and Long Island (1843). An editor of the \IEvening Post\i (1829-78), he was an opponent of \Jslavery\j and helped to establish the new Republican Party. During his long years as both a lawyer and editor he continued to write poetry such as "Thanatopsis" (written in 1811, revised in 1821) and "To a Waterfowl" (1821) that gained him the reputation as America's first major poet. He also translated new editions of the \IIlliad\i (1870) and the \IOdyssey\i (1871-72).
BK AmBg
#
"Bryde's Whale",5971,0,0,0
EN \B\BFamily:\b Balaenopteridae\b \I(rorquals)\i\b
\BScientific Name: \IBalaenoptera edeni\i\b \I(common name pronounced "brooda's")\i\b
\BIdentification:\b
Length at birth 11 ft (3.4 m), at adulthood 42.5 ft (13 m), with maximum length recorded 51 ft (15.5 m). Maximum weight is approximately 20 to 25 tons.
Color is bluish-gray dorsally and yellowish-white underneath. Dorsal fin is small and pointed, with a deeply concave, often ragged caudal margin. A median ridge from the blowhole forward to the snout is flanked by one ridge on either side of it: these three ridges are characteristic of Bryde's whale. Similar in appearance to the sei whale, but smaller, more slender and bearing the three ridges on the head, in contrast to the single median ridge of the sei whale.
Blow rather small and often indistinct. They blow four or five times at about one minute intervals, then dive for up to 20 minutes. Bryde's whales feed on small shoaling fish, often rolling on their side or churning the \Jwater\j at the surface as they do so. They occasionally approach ships.
\BDistribution:\b
Restricted to tropical and temperate waters warmer than 57░F (14░C), between latitudes 15░ and 40░S. Often occur singly or in pairs, but may be seen in small groups. There appears to be an inshore form and a somewhat larger offshore form in many areas. Individuals seen very close to the coast are largely sedentary, although the offshore form shows some seasonal movements.
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"Bryden, Bill",5972,0,0,0
DT1 1942
EN Stage director and playwright, born in Greenock, Inverclyde, WC Scotland, UK. He became assistant director at the \JBelgrade\j Theatre, Coventry (1965--7), and associate director of the Royal \JLyceum\j Theatre, Edinburgh (1971--4), where his productions included two of his own plays, \IWillie Rough\i (1972) and \IBenny Lynch\i (1974). He was an associate of the National Theatre (1975--85), where he was director of the Cottesloe Theatre (1978--80), and later became head of drama for BBC Television Scotland (1984--93).
Major Works
Published plays
1972 Willie Rough
1974 Benny Lynch
1977 Old Movies
Screenplay
1980 The Long Riders
Films
1982 Ill Fares the Land (writer/director)
1985 The Holy City (TV)
1987 Aria
BK Biog99
#
"Bryggen",5973,0,0,0
PN [\Bbrⁿg\bgen]
EN A world heritage site in Bergen, south-west \JNorway\j. Probably founded in the 11th-c, it retains a large number of wooden gabled buildings, and is the best surviving example of the traditional wooden towns of N Europe.
BK b
#
"bryophyte",5974,0,0,0
EN A \Jspore\j-bearing, non-vascular plant belonging to the division Bryophyta, which includes some 25┐000 species of moss, \Jliverwort\j, and \Jhornwort\j. Bryophytes have conducting cells but lack true vascular tissue; they have rhizoids, thread-like outgrowths which anchor the plant and conduct \Jwater\j, but no true roots. Leaves, if present, are simple structures, usually one cell thick, with a slightly thicker central strand.
The dominant generation is the \Jgametophyte\j, consisting of either a \Jthallus\j or a small, leafy plant. The gametes are produced in \Iantheridia\i (male) and \Iarchegonia\i (female), borne either directly on the surface of the plant or on erect, fleshy-stalked, and often complex structures called \Igametangiophores.\i The \Jsporophyte\j generation consists simply of a long-stalked \Jspore\j capsule growing directly from a fertilized archegonium.
It is very short-lived, and is so dependent on the \Jgametophyte\j that it is termed parasitic. Asexual reproduction can also occur by means of \Igemmae\i - multicellular dics or filaments produced in special cups, either on leaf tips or on stalks \I(pseudopodia),\i and able to grow into new plants in the same way that small bulbs of flowering plants do.
Bryophytes are mainly terrestrial plants, often epiphytic, but very vulnerable to desiccation, and require \Jwater\j for the transfer of gametes from antheridium to archegonium; they are mostly restricted to damp or humid habitats. They are increasingly regarded as important indicator plants (eg in \Jpollution\j studies). (Division: Bryophyta.)
BK b
#
"Bryozoa",5975,0,0,0
PN [briyo\Bzoh\ba]
EN A \Jphylum\j of small, aquatic animals that typically form colonies comprising a few to a million individuals \I(zooids); \i each zooid typically has a tentacle-like feeding apparatus around its mouth; colony forms a calcareous, chitinous, or gelatinous skeleton; c.4000 living species, mostly marine, and attached to hard substrates or seaweeds, rarely to soft sediments; some found in fresh \Jwater\j; abundant as fossils; also known as \Bmoss animals.\b
BK b
#
"Bryson, Bill",5976,0,0,0
DT1 1951
EN Writer, born in Des Moines, \JIowa\j, USA. In 1977 he moved to England and settled in North Yorkshire. His travel books include the best-sellers \IThe Lost Continent\i and \INeither Here Nor There\i (1991), and among his books on the English language are \IMother Tongue\i (1990) and \IMade in America\i (1994). \INotes From A Small Island\i (1995) recounts his final trip around Britain before returning to America. Other books include \IA Walk in the Woods\i (1997).
\BMajor Works\b
\IPublications\i
1990 Mother Tongue
1991 The Lost Continent
1991 Neither Here Nor There
1994 Made in America
1995 Notes From a Small Island
1997 A Walk In The Woods
BK Biog99n
#
"Brythonic",5977,0,0,0
EN See Celtic languages
BK b
XCY y
#
"Bryussov, Valery Yakovlevich",5978,0,0,0
PN [\Bbryu\bsof]
DT1 1873
DT2 1924
EN Poet, critic, and translator, born in Moscow. He was one of the leaders of the Russian Symbolist movement which looked to \JFrance\j for its inspiration, and he translated many of the major Modernist writers in Europe. He became an enthusiastic Bolshevik in 1917.
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Brzezinski, Zbigniew",5979,0,0,0
PN [bzhe\Bzin\bskee]
DT1 1928
EN Academic and politician, born in \JPoland\j. He settled in the USA and became a US citizen in 1958. He taught at Harvard's Russian Research Center during the 1950s and then, as professor of public law and government, at Columbia University.
A member of the state department's policy planning council during the Johnson administration, he became national security adviser to President Carter (1977--80) and was the chief architect of a tough human rights policy, directed against the \JSoviet Union\j. From 1981 he resumed his position at Columbia, and also taught at \JGeorgetown\j University.
BK Biog99
#
"BSE",5980,0,0,0
EN See bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)
BK b
XCY y
#
"BTU",5981,0,0,0
EN See British thermal unit
BK b
XCY y
#
"Buarque de Holanda, Chico",5982,0,0,0
DT 1944-
EN Brazilian composer and playwright. He brought his talent to the theatre in such plays as Gota d'Aqua (Drop of Water, 1977), the tragic theme of Medea set in the Brazilian favela, and Opera do Malandro (The Rogue's Opera, 1980), an adaptation of The Threepenny Opera, with its critique of commercial relationships between Third World countries and the United States.
BK Thea
#
"Buatier de Kolta (Joseph Buatier)",5983,0,0,0
DT 1847-1903
EN French illusionist. He gave up studying for the priesthood to become assistant to the Hungarian prestidigitator De Kolta. Buatier claimed to have invented all the illusions in his act: scarves passing through bottles, a seated woman disappearing from her chair, the apparition of a giant black glove, and many others. His last great invention was 'the Growing Die', which expanded at the conjuror's command until it was the size of a trunk, at which point a woman stepped out of it. (See also magic.)
BK Thea
#
"bubble",5984,0,0,0
A bubble is a small sample of air or other gas, enclosed by an elastic skin of liquid, and taking up a shape which depends on the forces acting on it. The gas inside a bubble is always under pressure, as the elastic skin will always push inwards until it is balanced by an increase in pressure.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"bubble chamber",5985,0,0,0
EN A device for detecting the paths of nuclear particles, devised in 1952 by Donald Glaser. The chamber contains liquid \Jhydrogen\j kept just above its boiling point by pressure. The pressure is briefly released. Before general boiling can take place, the passage of a particle produces a local instability which initiates \Jevaporation\j, forming visible bubbles of gas along its path. The phenomenon is very brief and is operated cyclically. The track patterns are photographed for later analysis.
BK b
#
"bubble jet printer",5986,0,0,0
EN A form of printer for a computer, usually a personal computer, in which small bubbles of ink are deposited on the paper. This type of printer can offer quite high quality at very little cost.
BK b
#
"bubble memory",5987,0,0,0
EN A type of computer memory first produced as a storage medium in the mid-1970s. These devices operate as read / write memories by circulating very small polarized magnetic bubbles which represent single bits. They have the advantage of being extremely sturdy, both mechanically and in terms of their ability to operate over large \Jtemperature\j ranges, but they are relatively slow and expensive. They find some applications in harsh environments.
BK b
#
"Buber, Martin",5988,0,0,0
PN [\Bboo\bber]
DT1 1878
DT2 1965
EN Jewish theologian and philosopher, born in Vienna. He studied philosophy at Vienna, Berlin, and Zⁿrich, then became attracted to Hasidism, founding and editing a monthly journal \IDer Jude\i (1916-24). He taught comparative religion at Frankfurt (1923-33), and directed a Jewish adult education programme until 1938, when he fled to Palestine to escape the Nazis.
He became professor of social philosophy at \JJerusalem\j, where he wrote on social and ethical problems. He is best known for his religious philosophy, expounded most famously in \IIch und Du\i (1923, I and Thou), contrasting personal relationships of mutuality and reciprocity with utilitarian or objective relationships.
SX m
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#
"bubonic plague",5989,0,0,0
EN See plague
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XCY y
#
"Bucaramanga",5990,0,0,0
PN [bookara\Bmang\bga]
EN 7░08N 73░10W, pop (1995e) 367 000. Capital of Santander department, NC \JColombia\j; NE of Bogotß, in the Cordillera Oriental at 1018 m/3340 ft; "the garden city of \JColombia\j'; founded, 1622; university (1947); \Jcoffee\j, cacao, \Jtobacco\j, cotton; Parque Santander, Parque Garcφa Roviro, El Paragⁿitas gardens (Jardin Botanico) in Floridablanca suburb; international \Jpiano\j festival (Sep).
BK Geog99
#
"buccaneers",5991,0,0,0
EN Pirates and adventurers who preyed upon Spanish shipping in the West Indies and along the Spanish Main in the 17th-c; mainly Dutch, English, and French. The name derived from \Iboucan\i (native American for 'barbecue'), because they roasted meat on board ship.
Referred to by the Spanish as \Icorsarios\i ('\Jcorsairs\j'), by the Dutch as \Ivrijbuiter\i ('freebooters'), and by the English as \Iprivateers,\i they flourished between 1630 and 1689. \JPrivateering\j was accepted as illegal by most European powers in 1856 (Declaration of Paris), and universally outlawed by the Hague Convention of 1907.
BK b
#
"Bucconidae",5992,0,0,0
EN \BPuffbirds\b
Puffbirds are stocky, stout-billed, big-headed, short-necked, and short-tailed birds with loose, dense, dull-colored plumage-a combination of features that gives them the distinctive 'puffy' appearance reflected in their name. Many are common forest birds, ranging from about 14-29 cm in body length.
There are about 33 species grouped in ten genera, making up the family \JBucconidae\j (order Piciformes, suborder Galbulae). Their closest relatives are the jacamars (family \JGalbulidae\j), with which they are sometimes now isolated in their own order, Galbuliformes.
They have been traditionally associated with the woodpeckers and other piciform birds, but several anatomical features set them apart. For example, they have two carotid arteries while woodpeckers have only one, and they have a well developed caecum, which woodpeckers lack.
Analysis of their DNA suggests that they are only very distantly related. Although now confined to tropical America, a number of \Jfossil\j forms known from the Eocene of \JNorth America\j demonstrate that the group was once much more widely distributed.
The widespread White-necked Puffbird \INotharchus macrorhynchus\i is typical of many species in the genera \INotharchus, Bucco, Nystalus\i and \IMalacoptila.\i In this bird the crown and upperparts are black, the rest of the head and underparts white except for a broad black band across the lower breast.
Many other puffbirds resemble it in being boldly patterned in either black and white or brown and white, often with bars or freckles. The sexes are roughly similar. Most of this group are largely solitary, sometimes occurring in pairs or small family parties but never flocks.
Puffbirds of the genera \IMonasa, Nonnula, Micromonarcha,\i and \IHapaloptila\i are called nunbirds or nunlets because of their subdued colors and simple plumage patterns. These are usually restricted to blackish or dull brown above and gray, olive, or tawny below, although many have brightly colored bills. The Black-fronted Nunbird \IMonasa nigrifrons\i of Amazonia, for example, is blackish above and dark gray below, but it has a bright orange bill. Nunbirds also differ strikingly from other puffbirds in their behavior: they usually travel in flocks, and some even breed cooperatively.
A conspicuous bird along forested riverbanks in Amazonia is the Swallow-wing \IChelidoptera tenebrosa,\i an aberrant puffbird often seen on dead trees and similar exposed perches, periodically sallying out to snatch insects with striking aerobatics. Its unusual proportions make it unmistakable: when the bird is perched its short tail is all but concealed by the long rakish wings.
Puffbird distribution closely parallels that of the jacamars, extending from Mexico to northern Argentina, mainly in lowlands. Amazonia is the center of their range, and puffbirds decline in numbers and species both northwards and southwards. All are confined to forests of various kinds, and all are sedentary.
BK wan
#
"Bucer or Butzer, Martin",5993,0,0,0
PN [\Bbut\bser]
DT1 1491
DT2 1551
EN Protestant reformer, born in Schlettstadt, \JGermany\j. He entered the Dominican order, and studied \Jtheology\j at Heidelberg. In 1521 he left the order, married a former nun, and settled in \JStrasbourg\j (1523). In the disputes between Luther and Zwingli he adopted a middle course. At the Diet of Augsburg he declined to subscribe to the proposed Confession of Faith, and afterwards drew up the \IConfessio tetrapolitana\i (1530). He became professor of \Jtheology\j at Cambridge in 1549. His chief work was a translation and exposition of the Psalms (1529).
MEX Luther; Zwingli
SX m
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#
"Bucerotidae",5994,0,0,0
EN \BHornbills\b
Hornbills (family \JBucerotidae\j, order Coraciiformes) are unmistakable, their enormous casqued bills instantly betraying their identity. Largely confined to the Old World tropics, there are about 45 species arranged in 14 genera.
Hornbills are large birds. Even the smallest (several in the \Jgenus\j \ITockus)\i are about 40 cm in length, and many of the largest are well over one meter. Their most distinctive feature is a large casque mounted along the upper mandible of the bill: in most species it is variously notched, incised, wrinkled, wreathed, or otherwise ornamented. Despite its size, it is usually mainly hollow, but in the Helmeted Hornbill \IRhinoplax vigil\i it is largely solid, with the result that the weight of the bird's skull makes up about one-tenth of its total body mass.
Many species have patches of brightly colored naked skin of the face; the color comes from oil secreted by the oil \Jgland\j, and in some species (notably \IBuceros)\i the oil is applied using modified feathers that surround the \Jgland\j. Hornbill plumage is seldom brightly colored and patterns seldom intricate: most species are basically either black or black and white.
The two species of ground-hornbills \I(Bucorvus)\i differ from all other hornbills in many respects, and may warrant full family status. They are terrestrial (all other hornbills live in trees); they have 15 cervical vertebrae (instead of 14); long legs (not short); and short tails (usually long in others). They nest communally, often excavate their own nest-hollows (all other hornbills never do this), and they do not keep their nest-chambers clean (all others do).
Hornbills are widespread in tropical and warm temperate parts of Africa and Asia. One species (Blyth's Hornbill \IAceros plicatus)\i extends as far east as New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, but all other hornbills inhabit the African and Oriental regions. The genera \ITropicranus, Bycanistes, Ceratogymna,\i and \IBucorvus\i are confined to Africa, and all the rest are Asian with the exception of \ITockus,\i which is shared.
Some hornbills are widespread (the Rufous-necked Hornbill \IAceros nipalensis,\i for example, occurs from India to Vietnam and southern China), but a few have extremely restricted ranges (the \JPalawan\j Hornbill \IAnthracoceros marchei,\i for example, is endemic on the island of \JPalawan\j in the \JPhilippines\j). Most hornbills are forest birds, but many show wide habitat tolerance and some extend to savannas and even semi-desert (for example, Monteiro's Hornbill \ITockus monteiri.)\i
Both ground-hornbill species inhabit open savanna woodland and grassland. Many hornbills are sedentary and permanently territorial, but some open country species form wandering flocks outside the nesting season, and most forest fruit-eating species are locally nomadic at all seasons.
Most hornbills have permanent pair-bonds, and their courtship displays are simple and highly ritualized. With the exception of the ground-hornbills \IBucorvus,\i hornbills nest in cavities in trees or sometimes in cliffs, and use mud to seal the entrance to form a narrow vertical slit through which the female can barely squeeze; the male then passes nesting material to her while she prepares the cavity inside. In many species she begins her molt as she lays her eggs, shedding all flight feathers simultaneously so that she is flightless for a time. Her feathers are replaced while she incubates and rears her chicks.
Some of the larger species lay only one or two plain white eggs, but the smaller species, such as \ITockus,\i may lay up to seven, and several large species habitually lay two eggs but rear only one chick, the smaller one usually dying of starvation. Incubation takes about 25 days in smaller species \I(Tockus)\i but up to 40 days in the ground-hornbills, and fledging similarly varies from about 45 days \I(Tockus)\i to 86 days \ (Bucorvus).\i
In some species the female leaves the nest before the chicks are grown, but in others all occupants leave together after an incarceration of several months. In the ground-hornbills the female is fed by other group members while she incubates, but leaves several times a \Jday\j for short periods, mainly to defecate. Blind and naked at hatching, the chicks are fed by regurgitation.
Unlike many hole-nesting birds, hornbills keep their nest chamber clean: all food debris is tossed outside, and the chicks soon learn to mimic their parent in lifting their anus to the entrance to squirt their droppings outside.
BK wan
#
"Buchan, Alexander",5995,0,0,0
PN [\Bbuh\bkn]
DT1 1829
DT2 1907
EN Meteorologist, born in Kinnesswood, Perth and Kinross, E Scotland, UK. He postulated the \IBuchan spells\i theory, based on earlier statistics, that the British climate is subject to successive warm and cold spells falling approximately between certain dates each year.
SX m
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#
"Buchan, Elspeth",5996,0,0,0
PN [\Bbuh\bkn]
HS , \InΘe\i \BSimpson\b
DT1 1738
DT2 91
EN Scottish religious, the wife of a potter. In 1784 she founded a fanatical sect in Irvine, the \IBuchanites,\i announcing herself to her 46 followers as the Woman of Revelations xii.
SX f
BK bg b
#
"Buchan, John, Baron Tweedsmuir",5997,0,0,0
PN [\Bbuh\bkn]
DT1 1875
DT2 1940
EN Writer and statesman, born in Perth, Perth and Kinross, E Scotland, UK. He studied at Glasgow and Oxford, and in 1901 was called to the bar. During World War 1 he served on HQ staff (1916-17), when he became director of information. He was MP for the Scottish Universities (1927-35), was made a baron, and became Governor-General of Canada until 1940.
In 1937 he was made a privy councillor and Chancellor of Edinburgh University. Despite his busy public life, he wrote over 50 books, especially fast-moving adventure stories, such as \IPrester John\i (1910) and \IThe Thirty-nine Steps\i (1915). His biographical works include \IMontrose\i (1928) and \ISir Walter Scott\i (1932).
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Buchanan, Franklin",5998,0,0,0
DT (1800-74)
EN naval officer; born in Baltimore, Md. He became the first superintendent of the Naval School at \JAnnapolis\j (1845-47). He was captain of Commodore Matthew Perry's flagship during Perry's mission to \JJapan\j (1852-53). He joined the Confederate States Navy (1861) and commanded the Chesapeake Bay squadron, became a Confederate admiral (1862), was wounded and captured at Mobile Bay (1864), and was released in a prisoner exchange (1865).
BK AmBg
#
"Buchanan, George",5999,0,0,0
PN [byoo\Bkan\ban]
DT1a c.
DT1 1506
DT2 82
EN Scholar and humanist, born near Killearn, Stirling, C Scotland, UK. He studied at the universities of Paris and St Andrews, then taught at the College of Sainte Barbe in Paris (1528-37). Charged with heresy at St Andrews after writing a satirical poem about friars, \IFranciscanus,\i he fled to \JFrance\j, where he taught at \JBordeaux\j (1539-42). In 1547 he went to teach in Coimbra, \JPortugal\j, where he was confined by the Inquisition as a suspected heretic (1547-53).
He returned to Scotland in 1561 and was appointed Classical tutor to Mary, Queen of Scots, but abandoned the queen's cause after the murder of Lord Darnley (1567). He later became tutor to the four-year-old King James VI of Scotland (1570-8). His main works were \IDe juri regni apud Scotos\i (1579, an attack on the divine right of monarchs and a justification for the deposition of Mary), and a monumental but unreliable history of Scotland, \IRerum scoticarum historia\i (20 vols).
MEX James I (of England)
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Buchanan, James",6000,0,0,0
DT (1791-1868)
EN fifteenth U.S. president; born near Mercersburg, Pa. Building on a successful law career, he entered politics and served as a Federalist in the \JPennsylvania\j legislature (1815-17) and the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (1821-31), where he went over to the Democratic Party. In 1832-33 he served as ambassador to \JRussia\j and returned to serve \JPennsylvania\j in the U.S. Senate (1834-45) until becoming a most effective \Jsecretary of state\j under President Polk (1845-49).
After a period of retirement and as ambassador to \JGreat Britain\j (1854-56), he showed a willingness to accommodate \Jslavery\j that gained him the presidency in 1856 with the solid backing of the South. During his term (1857-61) he supported laws protecting \Jslavery\j in the attempt to establish Kansas as a slave state; when pressed by antislavery Americans, he fell back on narrow legal defenses such as the Compromise of 1850 and the Dred Scott decision (1857).
All this split the Democratic Party, allowing Lincoln to win the election of 1860. As a "lame duck" president, Buchanan professed the government's helplessness to prevent secession and turned the problem over to his successor. He returned to his \JPennsylvania\j estate but he did support Lincoln throughout the war.
BK AmBg
#
"Buchanan, James M(cGill)",6001,0,0,0
PN [byoo\Bkan\ban]
DT1 1919
EN Economist, born in Murfreesboro, \JTennessee\j, USA. He studied at universities in \JTennessee\j and in \JChicago\j, and taught at the University of Virginia from 1956. He became director of the Center for Public Choice in 1969, and joined George Mason University in 1983. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1986 for his work on the theories of public choice.
BK Biog99
#
"Buchanan, James, Inaugural Address",6002,0,0,0
\BInaugural Address
Wednesday, March 4, 1857
Fellow-Citizens:\b
I appear before you this \Jday\j to take the solemn oath "that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the \JConstitution of the United States\j."
In entering upon this great office I must humbly invoke the God of our fathers for wisdom and firmness to execute its high and responsible duties in such a manner as to restore harmony and ancient friendship among the people of the several States and to preserve our free institutions throughout many generations. Convinced that I owe my election to the inherent love for the Constitution and the Union which still animates the hearts of the American people, let me earnestly ask their powerful support in sustaining all just measures calculated to perpetuate these, the richest political blessings which Heaven has ever bestowed upon any nation.
Having determined not to become a candidate for reelection, I shall have no motive to influence my conduct in administering the Government except the desire ably and faithfully to serve my country and to live in grateful memory of my countrymen.
We have recently passed through a Presidential contest in which the passions of our fellow-citizens were excited to the highest degree by questions of deep and vital importance; but when the people proclaimed their will the tempest at once subsided and all was calm.
The voice of the majority, speaking in the manner prescribed by the Constitution, was heard, and instant submission followed. Our own country could alone have exhibited so grand and striking a spectacle of the capacity of man for self-government.
What a happy conception, then, was it for Congress to apply this simple rule, that the will of the majority shall govern, to the settlement of the question of domestic \Jslavery\j in the Territories. Congress is neither "to legislate \Jslavery\j into any Territory or State nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the \JConstitution of the United States\j."
As a natural consequence, Congress has also prescribed that when the Territory of Kansas shall be admitted as a State it "shall be received into the Union with or without \Jslavery\j, as their constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission."
A difference of opinion has arisen in regard to the point of time when the people of a Territory shall decide this question for themselves.
This is, happily, a matter of but little practical importance. Besides, it is a judicial question, which legitimately belongs to the Supreme Court of the United States, before whom it is now pending, and will, it is understood, be speedily and finally settled. To their decision, in common with all good citizens, I shall cheerfully submit, whatever this may be, though it has ever been my individual opinion that under the \JNebraska\j-Kansas act the appropriate period will be when the number of actual residents in the Territory shall justify the formation of a constitution with a view to its admission as a State into the Union.
But be this as it may, it is the imperative and indispensable duty of the Government of the United States to secure to every resident inhabitant the free and independent expression of his opinion by his vote. This sacred right of each individual must be preserved. That being accomplished, nothing can be fairer than to leave the people of a Territory free from all foreign interference to decide their own destiny for themselves, subject only to the \JConstitution of the United States\j.
The whole Territorial question being thus settled upon the principle of popular sovereignty-a principle as ancient as free government itself-everything of a practical nature has been decided. No other question remains for adjustment, because all agree that under the Constitution \Jslavery\j in the States is beyond the reach of any human power except that of the respective States themselves wherein it exists. May we not, then, hope that the long agitation on this subject is approaching its end, and that the geographical parties to which it has given birth, so much dreaded by the Father of his Country, will speedily become extinct?
Most happy will it be for the country when the public mind shall be diverted from this question to others of more pressing and practical importance. Throughout the whole progress of this agitation, which has scarcely known any intermission for more than twenty years, whilst it has been productive of no positive good to any human being it has been the prolific source of great evils to the master, to the slave, and to the whole country. It has alienated and estranged the people of the sister States from each other, and has even seriously endangered the very existence of the Union. Nor has the danger yet entirely ceased.
Under our system there is a remedy for all mere political evils in the sound sense and sober judgment of the people. Time is a great corrective. Political subjects which but a few years ago excited and exasperated the public mind have passed away and are now nearly forgotten. But this question of domestic \Jslavery\j is of far graver importance than any mere political question, because should the agitation continue it may eventually endanger the personal safety of a large portion of our countrymen where the institution exists. In that event no form of government, however admirable in itself and however productive of material benefits, can compensate for the loss of peace and domestic security around the family altar. Let every Union-loving man, therefore, exert his best influence to suppress this agitation, which since the recent legislation of Congress is without any legitimate object.
It is an evil omen of the times that men have undertaken to calculate the mere material value of the Union. Reasoned estimates have been presented of the pecuniary profits and local advantages which would result to different States and sections from its dissolution and of the comparative injuries which such an event would inflict on other States and sections. Even descending to this low and narrow view of the mighty question, all such calculations are at fault. The bare reference to a single consideration will be conclusive on this point. We at present enjoy a \Jfree trade\j throughout our extensive and expanding country such as the world has never witnessed.
This trade is conducted on railroads and canals, on noble rivers and arms of the sea, which bind together the North and the South, the East and the West, of our Confederacy. Annihilate this trade, arrest its free progress by the geographical lines of jealous and hostile States, and you destroy the prosperity and onward march of the whole and every part and involve all in one common ruin. But such considerations, important as they are in themselves, sink into insignificance when we reflect on the terrific evils which would result from disunion to every portion of the Confederacy-to the North, not more than to the South, to the East not more than to the West.
These I shall not attempt to portray, because I feel an humble confidence that the kind Providence which inspired our fathers with wisdom to frame the most perfect form of government and union ever devised by man will not suffer it to perish until it shall have been peacefully instrumental by its example in the extension of civil and religious liberty throughout the world.
Next in importance to the maintenance of the Constitution and the Union is the duty of preserving the Government free from the taint or even the suspicion of corruption. Public virtue is the vital spirit of republics, and history proves that when this has decayed and the love of money has usurped its place, although the forms of free government may remain for a season, the substance has departed forever.
Our present financial condition is without a parallel in history. No nation has ever before been embarrassed from too large a surplus in its treasury. This almost necessarily gives birth to extravagant legislation. It produces wild schemes of expenditure and begets a race of speculators and jobbers, whose ingenuity is exerted in contriving and promoting expedients to obtain public money. The purity of official agents, whether rightfully or wrongfully, is suspected, and the character of the government suffers in the estimation of the people. This is in itself a very great evil.
The natural mode of relief from this embarrassment is to appropriate the surplus in the Treasury to great national objects for which a clear warrant can be found in the Constitution. Among these I might mention the extinguishment of the public debt, a reasonable increase of the Navy, which is at present inadequate to the protection of our vast tonnage afloat, now greater than that of any other nation, as well as to the defense of our extended seacoast.
It is beyond all question the true principle that no more revenue ought to be collected from the people than the amount necessary to defray the expenses of a wise, economical, and efficient administration of the Government. To reach this point it was necessary to resort to a modification of the tariff, and this has, I trust, been accomplished in such a manner as to do as little injury as may have been practicable to our domestic manufactures, especially those necessary for the defense of the country. Any discrimination against a particular branch for the purpose of benefiting favored corporations, individuals, or interests would have been unjust to the rest of the community and inconsistent with that spirit of fairness and equality which ought to govern in the adjustment of a revenue tariff.
But the squandering of the public money sinks into comparative insignificance as a temptation to corruption when compared with the squandering of the public lands.
No nation in the tide of time has ever been blessed with so rich and noble an inheritance as we enjoy in the public lands. In administering this important trust, whilst it may be wise to grant portions of them for the improvement of the remainder, yet we should never forget that it is our cardinal policy to reserve these lands, as much as may be, for actual settlers, and this at moderate prices.
We shall thus not only best promote the prosperity of the new States and Territories, by furnishing them a hardy and independent race of honest and industrious citizens, but shall secure homes for our children and our children's children, as well as for those exiles from foreign shores who may seek in this country to improve their condition and to enjoy the blessings of civil and religious liberty. Such emigrants have done much to promote the growth and prosperity of the country. They have proved faithful both in peace and in war. After becoming citizens they are entitled, under the Constitution and laws, to be placed on a perfect equality with native-born citizens, and in this character they should ever be kindly recognized.
The Federal Constitution is a grant from the States to Congress of certain specific powers, and the question whether this grant should be liberally or strictly construed has more or less divided political parties from the beginning. Without entering into the argument, I desire to state at the commencement of my Administration that long experience and observation have convinced me that a strict construction of the powers of the Government is the only true, as well as the only safe, theory of the Constitution.
Whenever in our past history doubtful powers have been exercised by Congress, these have never failed to produce injurious and unhappy consequences. Many such instances might be adduced if this were the proper occasion. Neither is it necessary for the public service to strain the language of the Constitution, because all the great and useful powers required for a successful administration of the Government, both in peace and in war, have been granted, either in express terms or by the plainest implication.
Whilst deeply convinced of these truths, I yet consider it clear that under the war-making power Congress may appropriate money toward the construction of a military road when this is absolutely necessary for the defense of any State or Territory of the Union against foreign invasion. Under the Constitution Congress has power "to declare war," "to raise and support armies," "to provide and maintain a navy," and to call forth the militia to "repel invasions." Thus endowed, in an ample manner, with the war-making power, the corresponding duty is required that "the United States shall protect each of them [the States] against invasion."
Now, how is it possible to afford this protection to \JCalifornia\j and our Pacific possessions except by means of a military road through the Territories of the United States, over which men and munitions of war may be speedily transported from the Atlantic States to meet and to repel the invader? In the event of a war with a naval power much stronger than our own we should then have no other available access to the Pacific Coast, because such a power would instantly close the route across the isthmus of \JCentral America\j.
It is impossible to conceive that whilst the Constitution has expressly required Congress to defend all the States it should yet deny to them, by any fair construction, the only possible means by which one of these States can be defended. Besides, the Government, ever since its origin, has been in the constant practice of constructing military roads. It might also be wise to consider whether the love for the Union which now animates our fellow-citizens on the Pacific Coast may not be impaired by our neglect or refusal to provide for them, in their remote and isolated condition, the only means by which the power of the States on this side of the Rocky Mountains can reach them in sufficient time to "protect" them "against invasion."
I forbear for the present from expressing an opinion as to the wisest and most economical mode in which the Government can lend its aid in accomplishing this great and necessary work. I believe that many of the difficulties in the way, which now appear formidable, will in a great degree vanish as soon as the nearest and best route shall have been satisfactorily ascertained.
It may be proper that on this occasion I should make some brief remarks in regard to our rights and duties as a member of the great family of nations. In our intercourse with them there are some plain principles, approved by our own experience, from which we should never depart. We ought to cultivate peace, commerce, and friendship with all nations, and this not merely as the best means of promoting our own material interests, but in a spirit of Christian benevolence toward our fellow-men, wherever their lot may be cast.
Our diplomacy should be direct and frank, neither seeking to obtain more nor accepting less than is our due. We ought to cherish a sacred regard for the independence of all nations, and never attempt to interfere in the domestic concerns of any unless this shall be imperatively required by the great law of self-preservation. To avoid entangling alliances has been a maxim of our policy ever since the days of Washington, and its wisdoms no one will attempt to dispute. In short, we ought to do justice in a kindly spirit to all nations and require justice from them in return.
It is our glory that whilst other nations have extended their dominions by the sword we have never acquired any territory except by fair purchase or, as in the case of \JTexas\j, by the voluntary determination of a brave, kindred, and independent people to blend their destinies with our own. Even our acquisitions from Mexico form no exception. Unwilling to take advantage of the fortune of war against a sister republic, we purchased these possessions under the treaty of peace for a sum which was considered at the time a fair equivalent.
Our past history forbids that we shall in the future acquire territory unless this be sanctioned by the laws of justice and honor. Acting on this principle, no nation will have a right to interfere or to complain if in the progress of events we shall still further extend our possessions. Hitherto in all our acquisitions the people, under the protection of the American flag, have enjoyed civil and religious liberty, as well as equal and just laws, and have been contented, prosperous, and happy. Their trade with the rest of the world has rapidly increased, and thus every commercial nation has shared largely in their successful progress.
I shall now proceed to take the oath prescribed by the Constitution, whilst humbly invoking the blessing of Divine Providence on this great people.
BK Webster
#
"Buchanan, Ken(neth)",6003,0,0,0
PN [byoo\Bkan\ban]
DT1 1945
EN \JBoxer\j, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. For almost 10 years he was one of the world's leading lightweight boxers, being British champion (1968--71, 1973--4), European champion (1974--5), and World Boxing Association lightweight champion (1970--2). On retiring from the ring he entered the hotel business in Edinburgh, and later was associated with a boxing school for young fighters.
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#
"Bucharest",6004,0,0,0
PN [buka\Brest\b]
EN 44░25N 26░07E, pop (1995e) 2 087 000. Capital and largest city of \JRomania\j, on the R Dambovit; founded, 14th-c; important commercial centre on the trade route to Constantinople; capital of Wallachia, 1698; capital of \JRomania\j, 1861; badly damaged by German bombing in World War 2; airport (Baneasa); railway; university (1864); technical university (1819); oil pipeline link with Ploesti; \Jengineering\j, \Jmetallurgy\j, machinery, oil refining, textiles, chemicals, food processing, vehicles; Domnita Baleasa Church (18th-c), St George Church (17th-c), Palace of the Republic, Palace of St Synod, Athenaeum arts and music centre.
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#
"Bucher, Walter H. (Herman)",6005,0,0,0
DT (1888-1965)
EN geologist; born in Akron, Ohio. He taught at the University of \JCincinnati\j (1913-40), joined Columbia University (1940-65), then became a consultant for Humble Oil (1956-65). His theory that mountains are built from contractions of the \Jearth\j due to cooling and the \Jearth\j's gravitational field was first proposed in his most famous book, \IThe Deformation of the Earth's Crust\i (1933, revised 1964).
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"Buchman, Frank (Nathan Daniel)",6006,0,0,0
DT (1878-1961)
EN Protestant \Jevangelist\j; born in Pennsburg, Pa. The son of devout Lutherans, he graduated from Muhlenberg College in 1899, went on to Lutheran seminary and was ordained in 1902. He was for several years a pastor and social worker in Philadelphia. In the 1920s, in Oxford, England, he founded what would become Moral Rearmament, an ecumenical, conservative, and ultimately anticommunist movement that for a while had a wide international following. An account of his mature views, \IAmerica Needs an Ideology,\i appeared in 1957.
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"Bⁿchner, Eduard",6007,0,0,0
PN [bukhner]
DT (1860-1917)
EN German organic chemist: showed that fermentation does not require living cells.
Buchner's elder brother Hans, first interested and guided him in science, succeeding so well that Eduard studied botany under Naegeli and chemistry under Baeyer and became the latter's assistant. From 1893 he was professor at Kiel and, after several moves, at Wⁿrzburg from 1911 until he was killed in action in the First World War.
Until Buchner's work in 1897, it had been believed that fermentation required intact living yeast cells. Buchner tested this view by grinding yeast cells with sand and pressing from the mixture a cell-free extract. This extract when added to sugar solution, caused fermentation to \Jethanol\j and CO\D2\d much as would yeast cells. The vitalist view was defeated.
Buchner named the active principle 'zymase'. We now call such biological catalysts 'enzymes' and recognize that they are proteins, highly specific in action and involved in nearly all biochemical changes. Buchner won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1907. His brother Hans Buchner (1850-1902) worked in bacteriology and showed that protein in blood serum was important in immunity.
BK Scie
#
"Bⁿchner, Georg",6008,0,0,0
DT 1813-37
EN German playwright. During his brief life, Bⁿchner achieved notoriety as the leader of an abortive conspiracy to revolution in Hesse, and distinction as a lecturer in comparative anatomy at the University of Zⁿrich, a post to which he was appointed in 1836. His first play, Danton's Death (1835), reflects his disillusionment with revolutionary politics; Danton's humanity is the sole positive element in this nihilistic view of the \JFrench Revolution\j as being nothing but the power struggle of ambitious individuals and interests.
Leonce and Lena (1836) is a lively satirical comedy, while Woyzeck (1837), a possibly incomplete drama, expresses Bⁿchner's sympathy for the socially downtrodden. Because of his unorthodox dramaturgy, his plays were not performed for several decades after his death. Leonce and Lena was first produced in 1895, Danton's Death in 1903, and Woyzeck in 1913.
It is possible that Bⁿchner left another play in manuscript when he died, Pietro Aretino; this may have been destroyed by his fiancΘe, who objected to the obscenity in the play.
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#
"Bⁿchner, Hans",6009,0,0,0
PN [\Bbⁿkh\bner]
DT1 1850
DT2 1902
EN Bacteriologist, born in Munich, \JGermany\j, the brother of Eduard Bⁿchner. Professor at Munich (1880-1902) and director of the Hygienisches Institut from 1894, he discovered that blood serum contains protective substances against infection.
MEX Bⁿchner, Eduard
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"Buck, Beryl (Elizabeth) H. (Hamilton)",6010,0,0,0
DT (1896-1975)
EN philanthropist; born in \JMinnesota\j; and Leonard W. (1891-1953) pathologist; born in Vacaville, Calif. Beryl met Leonard at Roosevelt \JHospital\j in Oakland where she was training to be a nurse and he a doctor. They married a year later (1914). Leonard's father died in 1916, and his mother in 1920, leaving the Buck's millionaires with a fortune from oil. They built an estate in Ross (Marin County) (1931), and Leonard, a pathologist, taught at the University of \JCalifornia\j: \JSan Francisco\j (1928-51). Leonard died suddenly, leaving all his estate to Beryl.
She, in turn, formed the Leonard and Beryl Buck Foundation Trust which, after she died, became part of the \JSan Francisco\j Foundation, with the stipulation that the money be reserved for Marin County's needy and various nonprofit, educational, religious, and charitable organizations. What was a $15 million bequest became a $253-million trust when the Buck's Beldridge Oil stock was bought by Shell Oil.
Attempts by the \JSan Francisco\j Foundation to spend money outside the already prosperous Marin County resulted in litigation and a court settlement (1986) establishing the Marin Community Foundation (1987), which administers the trust now valued at more than $500 million for Marin County residents.
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"Buck, Dudley",6011,0,0,0
DT (1839-1909)
EN organist, composer; born in \JHartford\j, Conn. After studies in the U.S.A. and Europe he held a series of distinguished church-organist positions, meanwhile teaching and composing with equal success.
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"Buck, Frank",6012,0,0,0
DT (1884-1950)
EN animal collector, showman; born in Gainesville, \JTexas\j. Interested in collecting animals as a boy, he knocked about in his youth and married light-opera star Lillie West (known as Amy Leslie) in 1901; they divorced in 1916. Starting in 1911, he traveled extensively to \JSouth America\j and Asia to buy animals, which he then sold to zoos and circuses in the U.S.A.
He soon extended his operations to all continents, began to lead his own expeditions to capture exotic animals, and through his exhibits and lectures became both rich and famous. During the \JGreat Depression\j he turned to writing adventure books, including \IBring 'Em Back Alive\i (1930), which became a movie, starring Buck himself. He published several more books and appeared in several more movies. Popular with adults as well as children, he reportedly received thousands of fan letters.
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"Buck, Leonard W",6013,0,0,0
EN See Buck, Beryl (Elizabeth) H. (Hamilton)
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"Buck, Pearl S(ydenstricker)",6014,0,0,0
DT (1892-1973)
EN author; born in Hillsboro, W.Va., pseudonym John Sedges. She was raised among Chinese children by American missionary parents in Chinkiang, China, and apart from attending Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Virginia, lived in China until she was 40. In 1922 she began writing on Chinese life for American magazines. Her second novel, \IThe Good Earth\i (1931), won the Pulitzer Prize; still her best known book, it sold two million copies, established Buck as the foremost Western interpreter of China, and gained her the Nobel literature prize (1938).
The literary establishment disdained Buck's prolificacy, sentimentality, and didacticism, and many of Buck's 80 volumes of novels, translations, and memoirs quickly faded; her Chinese fiction in particular lost its immediacy after her move to the U.S.A. (1935); nevertheless, she engendered widespread sympathetic public awareness of China. She established the Pearl S. Buck Foundation (1964) and sponsored humanitarian work on behalf of Asian-American and retarded children.
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"Buck, Sir Peter (Henry)",6015,0,0,0
HS , originally \BTe Rangi Hiroa\b
DT1 1879
DT2 1951
EN \JMaori\j scholar and writer, born in Urenui, \JNew Zealand\j. He practised medicine, was an MP (1909-14), served in World War 1, then became an anthropologist. In 1927 he joined the Bishop Museum in \JHonolulu\j, Hawaii, and was director there from 1936 until his death. He was knighted in 1946.
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"buckhound",6016,0,0,0
EN See \Jdeerhound\j
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#
"Buckingham Palace",6017,0,0,0
EN The 600-room residence of the British sovereign in London, England, UK, built for \JGeorge IV\j on the site of his parents' home, Buckingham House. The architect, John Nash, was dismissed on the king's death in 1830, and the palace remained unused until Queen Victoria's accession in 1837. The famous east facade was added by Sir Aston Webb in 1913. Some rooms were opened to the public for the first time in summer 1993.
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"Buckingham, George Villiers, 1st Duke of",6018,0,0,0
PN [\Bbuhk\bingam]
DT1 1592
DT2 1628
EN English statesman and court favourite, born in Brooksby, Leicestershire, C England, UK. He was knighted by James I, and raised to the \Jpeerage\j as Viscount Villiers (1616), Earl of Buckingham (1617), Marquess (1618), and Duke (1623). In 1623 he failed to negotiate the marriage of Prince Charles to the daughter of the Spanish king, but later arranged the marriage to Henrietta Maria of \JFrance\j.
The abortive expedition against Cadiz (1625) exposed him to \Jimpeachment\j by the Commons, and only a dissolution rescued him. An expedition against \JFrance\j failed (1627), and while planning a second attack he was assassinated at Portsmouth by John Felton, a discontented subaltern.
MEX Eliot, John; Charles I (of England)
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"Buckingham, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of",6019,0,0,0
DT 1628-87
EN English playwright. From 1668 he was Charles II's chief minister of state. His adaptation of Fletcher's The Chances (1668) was very successful, with Nell Gwyn in a minor role. In 1669 he collaborated with Sir Robert Howard on The Country Gentleman. His best play, The Rehearsal, a collaborative satire on Davenant and Sir Robert Howard, was first performed in 1671, by which time it had become a satire on Dryden who was portrayed as Bayes, a pompous writer of heroic plays.
A brilliant \Jburlesque\j of the fashionable heroic drama, the play parodies plays and playwrights unmercifully. The form, a writer outlining his ideas to his friends during a rehearsal of one of his plays, became the model for \Jburlesque\j drama, evidenced particularly in Sheridan's The Critic. Buckingham retired from politics after the accession of James II.
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"Buckinghamshire",6020,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 665 000; area 1883 sq km/727 sq mi. County in SC England, UK; drained by the Ouse and Thames Rivers; crossed in the S by the Chiltern Hills; extensive woodland; county town, Aylesbury; chief towns include Bletchley, High Wycombe, Buckingham; Milton Keynes a unitary authority from 1997; mainly agriculture, also furniture, bricks, printing, high technology.
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"Buckle, George Earle",6021,0,0,0
DT1 1854
DT2 1935
EN Journalist, born in Bath, south-west England, UK. He was editor of \IThe Times\i from 1884 to 1912. He completed Monypenny's \ILife of Disraeli\i (1914-20), and edited six volumes of Queen Victoria's \ILetters\i (1926-32).
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"buckler fern",6022,0,0,0
EN A perennial fern, found almost everywhere; rhizomatous; fronds form a tuft or crown; bi- or tri-\Jpinnate\j, scaly; sori with kidney-shaped indusia, borne near the midrib. \B(Genus:\b \IDryopteris,\i 150 species. \BFamily:\b Polypodiaceae.)
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"Buckley, William",6023,0,0,0
HS , nickname \Bthe Wild White Man\b
DT1 1780
DT2 1856
EN Convict, born near Macclesfield, Cheshire, NWC England, UK. He was a bricklayer, then joined the army, but was transported to \JAustralia\j in 1802 for stealing. He escaped the following year from a new convict settlement at Port Phillip, near Melbourne, was adopted by a native tribe, and lived with them for 32 years before being found by an expedition. He became a bodyguard to the colonel in command of the new colony, then moved to \JVan Diemen's Land\j (\JTasmania\j), where he died.
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"Buckley, William F(rank), Jr",6024,0,0,0
DT1 1925
EN Writer, born in New York City, USA. After briefly attending the University of Mexico, he served in the US army during World War 2. He entered journalism, and founded the conservative journal \INational Review\i (1955), a platform for his influential political views. He worked for the Information Agency Advisory 1 Commission (1969--72), and was delegate to the UN General Assembly (1973). His books dealt with contemporary politics, and in the 1970s he turned to writing spy novels.
Major Works
Novels
1976 Saving the Queen
1978 Stained Glass
1982 \JMarco Polo\j If You Can
Other
1951 God and Man at Yale
1959 Up From Liberalism
1954 McCarthy and His Enemies (co-author)
1963 Rumbles Left and Right
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"Buckminster Fuller, Richard",6025,0,0,0
EN See Fuller, (Richard) Buckminster
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"buckminsterfullerene",6026,0,0,0
PN [buhkminster\Bful\bereen]
EN C\D60\d. An almost spherical molecule, thought to be an ingredient of soots; also called \Bsoccerene.\b
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"Buckner, Emory (Roy)",6027,0,0,0
DT (1877-1941)
EN lawyer; born in Pottawattamie County, \JIowa\j. After Harvard Law School, he helped reform the New York U.S. attorney's office (1904-10) and New York City's Police Department (1910-13). He then joined with Silas Howland, Elihu Root Jr., and Grenville Clark to establish what became the model for a large New York law firm.
In 1925-27, answering the call for a totally independent law officer in New York City, he served as U.S. attorney and prosecuted a series of cases involving prohibition violations and corruption in the government. Zestful and kind, he was an extraordinary mentor to young lawyers who went on to successful careers.
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"Buckner, Simon B(olivar), Jr",6028,0,0,0
DT (1886-1945)
EN soldier; born in Munfordville, Ky. Son of the \JCivil War\j general, he commanded the U.S. 10th Army in the invasion of \JOkinawa\j in April 1945, and was killed in action on June 18 while inspecting frontline positions there.
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"Buckner, Simon Bolivar",6029,0,0,0
DT (1823-1914)
EN Confederate soldier; born near Munfordville, Ky. He graduated from West Point in 1844 and saw extensive action during the Mexican War. Buckner entered Confederate service as a brigadier general in September 1861. In February 1862, after his two senior officers escaped to safety, he surrendered Fort Donelson, Ky., to General Grant after receiving Grant's famous "unconditional surrender" message; exchanged later in 1862, Buckner commanded a wing of Bragg's army at Chickamauga. After the war, he edited a \JLouisville\j newspaper and served as Democratic governor of Kentucky from 1887 to 1892.
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"Buckstone, J(ohn) B(aldwin)",6030,0,0,0
DT 1802-79
EN English actor, playwright and theatre manager. Of the 160 or so dramatic pieces Buckstone wrote between 1825 and 1850, most were short farces, operettas or burlettas, but Luke the Labourer (1826) helped set the fashion for domestic \Jmelodrama\j. The Wreck Ashore (1830) is a hyperactive adventure story with low-life comic characters.
Here, as in the lively comedy of The Irish Lion (1838) and Single Life (1839) and in the tear-jerking of The Green Bushes (1845), Buckstone upholds manly fortitude, decency and self-sacrifice. Having early on established himself as a 'low comedian', he continued to play comic roles. He managed the Haymarket from 1853 to 1876, making it the home of comedy: Tom Taylor, Westland Marston and, after 1870, W. S. Gilbert were his preferred playwrights.
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"buckthorn",6031,0,0,0
EN A thorny, spreading, deciduous shrub or small tree \I(Rhamnus catharticus)\i 4-10┐m / 13-30┐ft, native to Europe and the Mediterranean region; leaves oval, toothed, in opposite pairs; flowers tiny, green, parts in fours; berries 5-10┐mm / 0..2-0..3┐in, black, mildly poisonous, and \Jpurgative\j. \B(Family:\b Rhamnaceae.)
BK b
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"buckwheat",6032,0,0,0
EN An erect annual \I(Fagopyrum esculentum)\i with spear-shaped leaves and a terminal cluster of tiny pink or white flowers; fruit a triangular nut c.6┐mm / 1/4┐in long; native to C Asia and cultivated as a substitute for \Jcereals\j. \B(Family:\b Polygonaceae.)
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"Budaeus, Guglielmus",6033,0,0,0
PN [bu\Bday\bus]
HS , Latin name of \BGuillaume BudΘ\b
DT1 1467
DT2 1540
EN Scholar, born in Paris. He studied in Paris and OrlΘans, and held several diplomatic posts under Louis XII and Francis I. At his suggestion Francis founded the CollΦge de \JFrance\j. As royal librarian he founded the collection which later became the BibliothΦque Nationale. Of his works on philology, philosophy, and \Jjurisprudence\j, the two best known are on ancient coins (1514) and the \ICommentarii linguae Graecae\i (1519, Commentaries on the Greek Language).
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"Budapest",6034,0,0,0
PN [booda\Bpest\b]
EN 47░29N 19░05E, pop (1995e) 1 986 000. Capital and largest city of \JHungary\j, on R Danube where it enters the Great Plain; old-world Buda on W bank hills, modern Pest on E bank, unified in 1873; Buda on site of Roman colony of Aquincum; major cultural and trading centre in the 15th-c; scene of popular uprising, crushed by Soviet troops, 1956; E÷tv÷s Lorßnd University (1635); universities of medicine (1769), economic science (1948), \Jhorticulture\j (1853); Hungarian Academy of Sciences; airport (Ferihegy); railway; underground; iron, steel, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles; St Matthias Church (13th-c), Royal Palace, Parliament Building, museum of fine arts, national theatre, opera house, thermal baths; Buda castle and banks of the Danube are a world heritage site; location for World Fair (Expo) in 1996.
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"Budd, Edward G. (Gowen)",6035,0,0,0
DT (1870-1946)
EN industrialist; born in \JSmyrna\j, Del. He apprenticed as a machinist and by 1902 he was general manager at the Hale and Killern Company (Philadelphia), a manufacturer of car seats and other parts for railroads; he introduced pressed steel with oxyacetylene-welded joints. In 1912 he formed the Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company to put into production his idea for all-steel auto bodies as opposed to some sections of wood used then; his all-steel bodies soon became the standard.
In World War I his factory produced military equipment. In 1925 he opened the Budd Wheel Company in \JDetroit\j to make steel disk wheels for autos. He continued to experiment with stainless steel, building the first stainless steel airplane in 1931. He also built stainless steel railroad cars called "Buddliners," selling 500 by 1941. During World War II he again retooled for military equipment and in 1946 consolidated his companies into the Budd Company. In 1944 he won the medal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
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"Budd, Zola",6036,0,0,0
DT1 1966
EN Athlete, born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Dogged by controversy, she set a world record time of 15┐min 1.83┐sec for the 5000┐m while still a South African citizen. In 1984 she was accorded British citizenship on the strength of her parental background, and became eligible to participate in the 1984 \JOlympic Games\j.
Her presence was not universally welcomed, and her disappointing performance was best remembered for the incident in which she accidentally tripped the American Mary Decker during the 3000┐m. She set further world records for the 5000┐m (1984, 1985), then dropped out of international running until South Africa was re-admitted to international sports in 1992.
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#
"Buddh Gaya or Bodh Gaya",6037,0,0,0
PN [bud \Bgah\bya]
EN A sacred Buddhist site in Bihar, India. Since the 3rd-c BC, shrines have marked the spot where Gautama \JBuddha\j attained enlightenment.
BK b
#
"Buddha",6038,0,0,0
HS ('the enlightened one')
DT1a c.
DT1 563
DT2a c.
DT2 483
DT2b BC
EN The title of Prince \BGautama Siddhartha,\b the founder of \JBuddhism\j, born the son of the rajah of the Sakya tribe ruling in Kapilavastu, \JNepal\j. When about 30 years old he left the luxuries of the court, his beautiful wife, and all earthly ambitions for the life of an ascetic; after six years of austerity and mortification he saw in the contemplative life the perfect way to self-enlightenment.
According to tradition, he achieved enlightenment when sitting beneath a \Jbanyan\j tree near Buddh Gaya, Bihar. For the next 40 years he taught, gaining many disciples and followers, and died at the age of about 80 in Kusinagara, Oudh. His teaching is summarized in the \IFour Noble Truths,\i the last of which affirms the existence of a path leading to deliverance from the universal human experience of suffering. The goal is \INirvana,\i which means 'the blowing out' of the fires of all desires, and the absorption of the self into the infinite.
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"Buddhaghosa",6039,0,0,0
PN [buda\Bgoh\bsa]
DT1 5
DT1b th-c
EN Buddhist scholar, born near Buddh Gaya, or Ghosa, India. He studied the Buddhist texts in Ceylon, and is best known for the \IVisuddhimagga\i (The Path of Purity), a compendium of Buddhist doctrines.
MEX \JBuddha\j
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"Buddhism",6040,0,0,0
EN A tradition of thought and practice originating in India c.2500 years ago, and now a world religion, deriving from the teaching of \JBuddha\j (Siddhartha Gautama), who is regarded as one of a continuing series of enlightened beings. The teaching of \JBuddha\j is summarized in the \IFour Noble Truths,\i the last of which affirms the existence of a path leading to deliverance from the universal human experience of suffering.
A central tenet is the law of \Ikarma,\i by which good and evil deeds result in appropriate reward or punishment in this life or in a succession of rebirths. Through a proper understanding of this condition, and by obedience to the right path, human beings can break the chain of karma. The \JBuddha\j's path to deliverance is through morality \I(sila),\i \Jmeditation\j \I(samadhi),\i and wisdom \I(panna),\i as set out in the \IEightfold Path.\i The goal is \INirvana,\i which means 'the blowing out' of the fires of all desires, and the absorption of the self into the infinite. All Buddhas are greatly revered, and a place of special importance is accorded to Gautama.
There are two main traditions within \JBuddhism\j, dating from its earliest history. \BTheravada Buddhism\b adheres to the strict and narrow teachings of the early Buddhist writings: salvation is possible for only the few who accept the severe discipline and effort necessary to achieve it. \BMahayana Buddhism\b is more liberal, and makes concessions to popular piety: it teaches that salvation is possible for everyone, and introduced the doctrine of the \Ibodhisattva\i (or personal saviour).
As \JBuddhism\j spread, other schools grew up, among which are Ch'an or Zen, \JLamaism\j, Tendai, Nichiren, and Soka Gakkai. Recently \JBuddhism\j has attracted growing interest in the West. The only complete canon of Buddhist scripture is called the Pali canon, after the language in which it is written. It forms the basic teaching for traditional Theravada \JBuddhism\j, but other schools have essentially the same canon written in Sanskrit. \JMahayana\j Buddhists acknowledge many more texts as authoritative.
Underlying the diversity of Buddhist belief and practice is a controlling purpose. The aim is to create the conditions favourable to spiritual development, leading to liberation or deliverance from bondage to suffering. This is generally seen as involving \Jmeditation\j, personal discipline, and spiritual exercises of various sorts.
This common purpose has made organization, ceremony, and pattern of belief to different social and cultural situations. Reliable figures are unobtainable, but there were over 320 million Buddhists estimated in 1997, and over 1000 million people live in lands where \JBuddhism\j is a significant religious influence.
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"budding",6041,0,0,0
EN The formation of buds by cell division within a localized area of a shoot. Budding is also a method of sexual reproduction in which a new individual develops as a direct growth off the body of the parent, and may subsequently become detached and lead a separate existence.
BK b
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"buddleia or buddleja",6042,0,0,0
PN [\Bbuhd\blia]
EN A deciduous shrub or small tree, native to warm regions, and widely cultivated and naturalized in many areas; flowers small, various colours, often scented, crowded in dense spikes or globular clusters. It is very attractive to insects, especially butterflies, hence the name \Bbutterfly bush\b given to \IBuddleia davidii,\i the most commonly cultivated species. \B(Genus:\b \IBuddleia,\i 100 species. \BFamily:\b Loganiaceae.)
BK b
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"BudΘ, Guillaume",6043,0,0,0
EN See Budaeus, Guglielmus
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"Budenny, Simeon Mikhailovich",6044,0,0,0
PN [boo\Bde\bnee]
DT1 1883
DT2 1973
EN Russian soldier, born in Kozyurin, \JRussia\j. He fought as a Cossack private in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5). After the revolution he became a Bolshevik, raised a Cossack unit to fight the White forces on the Don, and defeated the Whites in the Battles of Tsaritsyn (1918-19). He served in the war against \JPoland\j (1920), and was made a marshal in 1935. In 1941 he commanded the south-west sector against the German invasion, but was relieved by Timoshenko after a disaster at \JKiev\j.
MEX Timoshenko
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"Budge, (John) Don(ald)",6045,0,0,0
DT1 1915
DT2 2000
EN Tennis player, born in Oakland, \JCalifornia\j, USA. In 1938 he became the first player to win all four Grand Slam events in the same year. He was at his peak in 1937--8: in both years he won the Wimbledon singles, the men's doubles (with his compatriot Gene Mako) and, with fellow-American Alice Marble (1913--90), the mixed doubles. He then turned professional.
BK Biog99
#
"budgerigar",6046,0,0,0
EN A small parrot native to C \JAustralia\j, and introduced in \JFlorida\j \I(Melopsittacus undulatus); \i common; lives in nomadic flocks; eats grass seeds; nests in tree stumps or logs. It is a popular cage-bird, with many colour variations, but is usually green in the wild. \B(Family:\b \JPsittacidae\j.)
BK b
#
"budget",6047,0,0,0
EN A monetary plan for a specified period of future time. A government budget is a statement of forecast expenditure in the following financial year, and of how the funds needed will be raised (eg by taxation or borrowing). Most commercial organizations of any size prepare budgets to forecast sales revenue, operating costs, capital expenditure, and cash flow. They may also be prepared several years in advance, and amended annually.
BK b
#
"Buell, Don Carlos",6048,0,0,0
DT (1818-98)
EN soldier; born near Marietta, Ohio. An 1841 West Point graduate, he saw combat in the Mexican War, in which he was severely wounded. In mid-1861 he helped organize the Army of the Potomac; he took command of the newly formed Department of the Ohio later in the year. His unopposed entry into Nashville in 1862 followed in the wake of Grant's victories at Forts Henry and Donelson.
Buell's forces arrived at Shiloh in April, barely in time to reinforce Grant and assure his victory. After fighting Bragg's Confederate army to a draw at Perryville, Ky., on October 8, 1862, Buell was relieved of command for failing to pursue the retreating enemy. Regarded as overly cautious, he was never again assigned a field command, so he resigned from the army in 1864. He settled in Kentucky after the war, where he worked with an iron company and as a pension agent.
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"Buell, Raymond Leslie",6049,0,0,0
DT (1896-1946)
EN editor, writer; born in \JChicago\j. He taught history and government at several colleges during the 1920s. He was the research director (1927-33) and then president (1933-39) of the Foreign Policy Association. An early anti-isolationist, he championed a global policy for the U.S.A.
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"Buenaventura",6050,0,0,0
PN [bwenaven\Btoo\bra]
EN 3░51N 77░06W, pop (1995e) 173 000. Pacific seaport in Cauca department, SW \JColombia\j; on Island of Cascajal in the \JBahia\j de Buenaventura; \JColombia\j's most important Pacific trading port; founded, 1540 (on different site); shrimp fishing, fish canning; trade in \Jcoffee\j, hides, gold, \Jplatinum\j, sugar.
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"Buenaventura, Enrique",6051,0,0,0
DT 1928-
EN Colombian playwright, director and theorist. He studied \Jarchitecture\j, painting and sculpture, which gave to his work a plastic vision of dramatic art. In 1955 he helped establish the TEC (Theatre School of \JCali\j, renamed the Experimental Theatre of \JCali\j in 1970), one of the most respected and enduring theatre groups in \JLatin America\j. His style and dedication to principles of Third World theatre (the so-called 'new theatre') have brought him international recognition.
The early A la diestra de Dios Padre (On the Right Hand of God the Father, 1958) is modelled on folkloric versions of the devil and St Peter, as told by Colombian novelist Tomßs Carrasquilla. His later plays have stronger messages of social and political protest. The vitriolic one-act segments of Los papeles del infierno (Documents from Hell, 1968) and Historia de una bala de plata (Story of a Silver Bullet, 1980) are representative of this change in his theatre.
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"Bueno, Maria (Ester Audion)",6052,0,0,0
PN [\Bbway\bnoh]
DT1 1939
EN Tennis player, born in \JSπo Paulo\j, \JBrazil\j. She won Wimbledon in 1959, 1960, and 1964, and was US champion on four occasions. With the American Darlene Hard (1936-- ), she won the Wimbledon doubles title five times and the US doubles four times. Ill health brought her retirement from top-class tennis at the relatively early age of 29.
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"Buenos Aires",6053,0,0,0
PN [\Bbway\bnos \Biy\brees]
EN 34░40S 58░30W, pop (1995e) 3 130 000. Federal capital of Argentina in Gran Buenos Aires federal district, E Argentina; on S bank of R Plate; founded in 1535 as the city of the "Puerto de Santa Maria del Buen Aire'; destroyed by Indians, and refounded 1580; formerly capital of the Spanish viceroyalty of La Plata; suburbs include Avellaneda (industrial), Olivos (residential), San Isidro (sporting and leisure resort), Quilmes (industrial), Tigre, and the old port district of La Boca; nine universities; international (Ezeiza) and domestic airports; two airfields; railway; metro; trade in beef and wool; brewing, textiles, ironware, glass; national gallery, Teatro Col≤n; Plaza de Mayo, town hall (Cabildo), presidential palace (Casa Rosada), cathedral; \Jhorse racing\j course.
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#
"Buero-Vallejo, Antonio",6054,0,0,0
DT 1916-
EN Spanish playwright. He was one of the few important figures in the 1950s and 1960s. Having served six years in prison for his Republican sympathies, in 1949 his name was made with Historia de una escalera (Story of a Staircase), portraying the lives of the inhabitants of a poor tenement over 30 years. This was followed by En la ardiente oscuridad (In the Burning Darkness, 1950), a tragedy set in a home for the blind, and La tejedora de sue±os (The Weaver of Dreams, 1952), a reinterpretation of Ulysses' return home.
These plays established the themes of man's frustrated search for happiness and the human frailty which prevents him achieving it. There followed a number of less successful plays, including Hoy es fiesta (Today's a Holiday, 1956), before the more socially oriented Las cartas boca abajo (Cards Face Downwards, 1957).
A trio of historical plays followed: Un so±ador para el \Jpueblo\j (A Dreamer for the People, 1958) deals with Carlos III's idealist minister Esquilache, while Las meninas (The Ladies-in-Waiting, 1959) presents Velßzquez as the conscience of his time.
Later plays include Aventura en la gris (Adventure in the Grey, 1963), El concierto de San Ovidio (Concert at St Ovide Fair, 1964), El tragaluz (The Skylight, 1967), a symbolic tragedy, and La double historia del Dr Valmy (The Double Story of Dr Valmy, 1964), first performed in England in 1968. In El sue±o de la raz≤n (The Sleep of Reason, 1970), Goya's solitude is underscored by his \Jdeafness\j, which the audience is made to share by having other characters mouth words silently while he is present.
Buero uses such 'immersion effects' to reveal his characters' inner nature and promote audience identification. La fundacφon (The Foundation, 1974) exploits this technique: the audience is immersed in the illusory world of a political prisoner, rather than his sordid prison cell. Jueces en la noche (Judges in the Night, 1979) deals with the right-wing manipulation of left-wing terror groups. His Dißlogo secreto (Secret Dialogue, 1984) shows, since the relaxation of \Jcensorship\j, a tendency to preach rather than suggest. Other recent plays include Lßzaro en el laberinto (Lazarus in the Labyrinth, 1986) and M·sica cercana (The Music Window, 1989).
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"buffalo (mammal)",6055,0,0,0
EN See African buffalo; 08390 \Jbison\j; 33939 \Jwater\j buffalo
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#
"Buffalo (USA)",6056,0,0,0
EN 42░53N 78░53W, pop (1995e) 334 000. Seat of Erie Co, W New York, USA; port on the Niagara R at the NE end of L Erie; second largest city in the state; railway; two universities (1846, 1867); motor vehicles and vehicle parts, machinery, steel; professional teams, Bills (football), Sabres (ice \Jhockey\j); Albright-Knox art gallery, \Jscience museum\j.
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"Buffalo Bill",6057,0,0,0
EN See Cody, (William Frederick) 'Buffalo
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#
"buffalo gnat",6058,0,0,0
EN See black fly
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#
"buffalo-weaver",6059,0,0,0
EN See \Jweaverbird\j
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#
"buffer",6060,0,0,0
EN A temporary storage area in memory for data. Buffers are often used when transmitting data between two devices with different working speeds, such as between a keyboard and the central processor, or the central processor and a printer.
BK b
#
"buffer (chemistry)",6061,0,0,0
EN A system which resists change. In chemistry, usually a solution whose \JpH\j is not greatly affected by small additions of strong acids or bases. This is most effective when an acid and its conjugate base are present in approximately equal amounts. Some important buffer systems and the approximate \JpH\j at which they operate are: acetate (CH\D3\dCOOH and CH\D3\dCOO-), 4-5; carbonate (H\D2\dCO\D3\d and HCO\D3\d-), 6-8; and ammonia (NH\D4\d\U+\u and NH\D3\d), 9-10. Biological systems are particularly dependent upon buffers to maintain constant \JpH\j values.
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"buffer state",6062,0,0,0
EN A small state lying between two or more larger and potentially belligerent states, as a means of reducing border friction between them; often specially created for the purpose, though seldom successful. For example, after World War 1, attempts were made to create a buffer state between \JGermany\j and \JFrance\j involving \JBelgium\j, the Saar, the Rhine area, and \JAlsace\j-Lorraine.
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"Buffet, Bernard",6063,0,0,0
PN [bufay]
DT1 1928
DT2 99
EN Painter, born in Paris, \JFrance\j. He made his name in the early 1950s with murky still-lifes, and interiors with skinny, miserable figures painted in a sharp linear style and a neutral, almost monochromatic \Jpalette\j which seemed to catch the mood ("existential alienation') of postwar Paris. He has exhibited regularly in Paris and occasionally in London. In 1973 a Buffet Museum was established in \JJapan\j.
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#
"Buffon's needle",6064,0,0,0
PN [bⁿf⌡]
EN A problem first set and solved by French scientist Georges Buffon in 1777. If a straight thin needle length \Il\i is thrown at random onto a plane ruled with parallel lines a distance \Ia\i >\Il\i apart, what is the probability that the needle will cross one of the lines? Buffon showed that this probability was 2\Il/\fp\na..\i
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#
"Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de (Count of)",6065,0,0,0
PN [buf⌡]
DT1 1707
DT2 88
EN French naturalist and polymath: surveyed much of \Jbiology\j and had early ideas on \Jevolution\j of species.
Buffon's mother was wealthy and, despite his father's desire that Buffon should study law, it is likely that he studied medicine and \Jmathematics\j. A duel made him leave \JFrance\j in 1730 for 2 years, but on his return he became active in scientific and financial circles; he was highly energetic and both increased his fortune and contributed to most of the sciences of the time. His range was vast; he translated Hales and Newton into French, introduced \Jcalculus\j into probability theory, and worked on microscopy, tensile strength, \Jcosmology\j and \Jgeology\j, and the origin of life.
His ideas were non-theological, rational and ahead of their time, if not always correct. From 1739 he was in charge of the Jardin du Roi, the natural history museum and botanical garden of Paris, which he much improved and enlarged. His vast and beautifully illustrated Natural History (44 vols by 1804) attempted to provide a survey of the natural world and was much esteemed.
In it he noted that animal species are not fixed but show variation, and he recognized vestigial features such as the pig's toes, a contribution to later theories of \Jevolution\j, together with his view of 'common ancestors' for similar species. He devised some eccentric experiments: for example to check the legend that \JArchimedes\j fired the Roman fleet with mirrors and the Sun's rays when 'distant by a bowshot' he used 168 mirrors, and ignited timber at 50 m range.
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"bufo",6066,0,0,0
EN Popular theatre form. This Caribbean, especially Cuban, equivalent of the sainete (see gΘnero chico) incorporates the types, characters and language typical of the lower social classes. Bufo also implies a criticism of some aspect of life, and is normally presented with the intention of destroying false illusions. After a period of relative disuse, the form has been reincorporated into \JCuba\j's new social theatre.
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"Buford, John",6067,0,0,0
DT (1826-63)
EN Union soldier; born in Woodford County, Ky. An 1848 West Point graduate, he commanded a cavalry division during the Gettysburg campaign. On July 1, 1863, with a single brigade of dismounted troopers, Buford parried a heavy Confederate attack long enough to allow Union infantry to reach the battlefield. He died of illness later in the year.
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"bug (computing)",6068,0,0,0
EN An error in a computer program or a fault in computer hardware. The process of detecting and correcting errors is known as \Bdebugging.\b
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#
"bug (entomology)",6069,0,0,0
EN An insect with forewings leathery at base, membranous near the tip, and folded over membranous hindwings at rest; diverse in form and feeding habits; mouthparts modified into a snout for piercing and sucking; includes many crop pests and disease carriers. \B(Order:\b \JHeteroptera\j.)
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"Bugaev, Boris N.",6070,0,0,0
EN see Bely, Andrey
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"bugaku",6071,0,0,0
EN Japanese court dance. Dating from the 7th century, bugaku originated in China. A rarefied art, it is performed and taught primarily at the music department of the Imperial household agency and at large temples and shrines. Also, several times a year public performances are given at the National Theatre in \JTokyo\j. Bugaku is performed on a square, raised dance floor.
Unroofed, its space is demarked visually by a red-lacquered railing on four sides and by a green silk cloth that covers its surface. The stage is often set outdoors, in a garden or over a pond, to enhance the beauty of performance. Masks are worn for some roles. Costumes are court dress of the 7th century: elegant silk robes, black hats. No scenery is used.
Musicians playing flute, mouth organ, gong and drums accompany the dance. There are no singers. The repertory of about 50 dances can be classified into old or modern, military or civil pieces, a classification well known in China.
Associated with the Imperial court from its beginnings, the decorous, four-square movements and ethereal music of bugaku evoke the refined elegance of the Japanese court of 1,000 years ago (the dances from which bugaku grew have long since died out in China). Bugaku performance was traditionally structured into an opening, a breaking apart and a fast conclusion. This fundamental aesthetic construct was later adopted in n⌡ and other forms of Japanese theatre.
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"Bugatti, Ettore (Arco Isidoro)",6072,0,0,0
PN [boo\Bga\btee]
DT1 1881
DT2 1947
EN Car manufacturer, born in Milan, \JItaly\j. He began designing cars in 1899, and set up his works in \JStrasbourg\j (1907). In World War 1 he moved to \JItaly\j and later to \JFrance\j, where his racing cars won international fame in the 1930s.
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"Buginese or Bugi",6073,0,0,0
EN A major ethnic group of \JCelebes\j (Sulawesi), \JIndonesia\j, who live as rice cultivators, traders, and seafarers. They came from Makasar, in south-west \JCelebes\j, but migrated into the Malay Archipelago after the Dutch East India Company took the city (1667). They established settlements and a state at Selanger (1710), were defeated by the Dutch in the 18th-c, were further weakened by conflict with the Malay states, and lost supremacy in the 19th-c.
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#
"bugle",6074,0,0,0
EN A musical instrument made of brass or copper, curved elliptically and ending in a large bell. It normally has no valves and can therefore produce only those notes forming the first half-dozen harmonics above the fundamental (usually B\Db\d). It has been used above all for sounding military calls.
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"bugle (botany)",6075,0,0,0
EN A perennial with creeping, rooting stolons, native to Europe, the Mediterranean, and south-west Asia \I(Ajuga reptans); \i flowering stems square, erect; leaves in opposite pairs; flowers blue, 2-lipped, upper lip very short, lower 3-lobed, in whorls forming loose spikes; the whole plant often bronze-tinged. \B(Family:\b Labiatae.)
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"bugloss",6076,0,0,0
PN [\Bbyoo\bglos]
EN A bristly annual or biennial \I(Anchusa arvensis)\i growing to 50┐cm / 20┐in, native to Europe and Asia; leaves narrowly oblong with wavy margins; infloresence coiled; flowers 5┐mm / 1/4┐in diameter with curved white tube, spreading bright-blue lobes, and white eye. \B(Family:\b Boraginaceae.)
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"buhl or boulle",6077,0,0,0
PN [bool]
EN A technique of furniture decoration involving very elaborate inlays of brass, tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, and coloured wood, introduced into \JFrance\j in the 16th-c from \JItaly\j, but perfected by AndrΘ Charles Boulle (1642-1732) and his sons. The spelling \IBuhl\i is a 19th-c distortion.
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"Buhl or Boulle, AndrΘ Charles",6078,0,0,0
PN [bool]
DT1 1642
DT2 1732
EN Cabinetmaker, born in Paris. In the service of \JLouis XIV\j he introduced \Iboullework,\i a style of decorating furniture by inlaying metals, shells, and pearls on ebony - a technique which was carried on by his sons, \BJean,\b \BPierre,\b \BAndrΘ,\b and \BCharles Buhl.\b The spelling \IBuhl\i is a 19th-c distortion.
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"Bⁿhler, Charlotte (Bertha) (b. Malachowski)",6079,0,0,0
DT (1893-1974)
EN psychologist; born in Berlin, \JGermany\j. She studied at Munich under Karl Bⁿhler, whom she married in 1916. In 1922 they established the Vienna Institute of \JPsychology\j, a child study center; her research there resulted in the innovative World Test and major books including \IFrom Birth to Maturity\i (1935) and \IFrom Childhood to Old Age\i (1938).
The Bⁿhlers emigrated to the United States in 1940 because of the Nazi threat, and she worked in the Midwest before settling in Los Angeles in 1945. During the 1960s, her positive view of the course of human development was embodied in humanistic \Jpsychology\j, which emphasized self-determination over biological or environmental \Jdeterminism\j.
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"Buick, David Dunbar",6080,0,0,0
DT (1854-1929)
EN inventor, manufacturer; born in Arbroth, Scotland. His family arrived in \JDetroit\j in 1856. He formed Buick and Sherwood (1884), manufacturers of plumbing equipment. He began making \Jgasoline\j engines and formed the Buick Manufacturing Company (1902); its automobiles were the first to have windshields and a valve-in-head engine.
The company failed and in 1903 merged with another to form the Buick Motor Car Company, which built only 53 cars in two years at no profit. Buick left in 1906, pursued oil and gold mining interests, and died an impoverished clerk at a \JDetroit\j trade school. The Buick Motor Car Company became part of the General Motors Company that William Durant organized in 1908.
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"building biology",6081,0,0,0
EN The study of the interaction between a building and its environment, especially with respect to the effects upon the health of the occupants. It deals with the location and \Jgeometry\j of the building, its colour scheme, lighting, and furnishings, and the selection of non-toxic and ecologically 'friendly' building materials.
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"building society",6082,0,0,0
EN An institution which lends money to enable people to buy property (ie a mortgage loan). Their funds are derived from investors who obtain interest on the sum deposited. Interest paid to the society by the borrower is higher than the rate paid out. In the UK there are some 150 societies with over 40 million depositors (who are also shareholders). Following the Building Societies Act (1987) societies are permitted to provide other services. The US equivalent is the \Bsavings and loan association.\b
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"Bujones, Fernando",6083,0,0,0
PN [boo\Bhoh\bnes]
DT1 1955
EN Dancer, born in Miami, \JFlorida\j, USA. He studied with Alicia Alonso in \JHavana\j and at the School of American Ballet in New York City. In 1972 he joined American Ballet Theater, rising to the status of principal in 1974, the same year that he won the gold medal in \JVarna\j, Yugoslavia.
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"Bujumbura",6084,0,0,0
PN [bujum\Bboo\bra]
EN 3░22S 29░21E, pop (1995e) 340 000. Port and capital of \JBurundi\j, C Africa, at NE end of L Tanganyika; altitude 805 m/2641 ft; founded in 1899 by German colonists; airport; university (1960); \Jcoffee\j and cotton processing, brewing, cement, textiles, soap, shoes, metal working; Museum of African Civilization.
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"Bukharin, Nikolay Ivanovich",6085,0,0,0
PN [boo\Bkha\brin]
DT1 1888
DT2 1938
EN Russian Marxist revolutionary and political theorist, born in Moscow. Called by Lenin 'the darling of the Party', he was active in the Bolshevik underground (1905-17), and after the Febuary Revolution returned to \JRussia\j, playing a leading role in the organization of the October Revolution in Moscow. As a member of the \JPolitburo\j (1924-9) he was a firm supporter of Lenin's New Economic Policy, and opposed Stalin's collectivization campaign. In 1937 he was arrested in Stalin's Great Purge, expelled from the Party, tried on trumped-up charges, and shot. In 1987 he was officially rehabilitated by a board of judical inquiry, and posthumously readmitted to the Party in 1988.
MEX Lenin; Stalin
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"Bukkyo",6086,0,0,0
PN [\Bbuk\byoh]
EN The Japanese conception of \JBuddhism\j, which came to \JJapan\j from China via Korea in the 6th-c. Today, the 'Pure Land' sects are the most popular; Zen is respected but not widespread. For many Japanese, \JBuddhism\j primarily means funeral ceremonies and remembering ancestors. Several of the 'new religions' claim to be Buddhist.
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"Bukowski, Charles",6087,0,0,0
PN [boo\Bkof\bskee]
DT1 1920
DT2 94
EN Poet, short-story writer, and novelist, born in Andernach, \JGermany\j. He moved with his parents to the USA in 1922. An underground writer, his works include four novels, several collections of short stories, and many volumes of verse. A \Jcult\j figure who did not achieve popular success, he had a sardonic sense of humour which is reflected in some of his titles, such as \IPlay the \JPiano\j Drunk Like a Percussion Instrument until the Fingers Begin to Bleed a Bit\i (1979).
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"Bulawayo",6088,0,0,0
PN [boola\Bway\boh]
EN 20░10S 28░43E, pop (1995e) 583 000. Capital of \JMatabeleland\j North province, Zimbabwe, 370 km/230 mi SW of \JHarare\j; second largest city in Zimbabwe; founded, 1893; airport; railway junction; commercial, industrial, and tourist centre; \Jasphalt\j, agricultural equipment, confectionery, electrical equipment, tyres, cement; national parks nearby.
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"bulb",6089,0,0,0
EN A highly modified shoot forming an underground storage organ. It is composed of overlapping leaves or leaf bases, swollen with food reserves which nourish early growth. The bulbs usually persist from year to year, the reserves being replenished before the plant dies back.
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"bulbil",6090,0,0,0
EN A small organ resembling a bulb, but produced above ground, either in a leaf axil or in the \Jinflorescence\j in place of some flowers. It produces a new plant after falling from the parent.
BK b
#
"bulbul",6091,0,0,0
EN A bird native to tropical Africa, Madagascar, and S Asia; short wings, long tail; stiff bristles at base of pointed bill; noisy and gregarious; inhabits woodland or cultivation; eats fruit and insects. \B(Family:\b \JPycnonotidae\j, 120 species.)
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"Bulfinch, Charles",6092,0,0,0
DT (1763-1844)
EN architect; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. America's first native-born architect, he graduated from Harvard and was inspired by new neoclassical buildings while on a European tour (1785-87). As a member of the board of selectmen (1791-1817) and superintendent of police, he sought to make \JBoston\j an American model of classical elegance through town planning and the development of the Federal style, designing numerous row houses, mansions, and commercial and public buildings, including the \JMassachusetts\j State House (1795-97), India Wharf (1803-07) and \JMassachusetts\j General \JHospital\j (1818-23).
Bulfinch became the leading New England architect, his Federal-style public buildings and Adam-like domestic interiors the standard for early republic \Jarchitecture\j. Succeeding Latrobe as architect of the U.S. Capitol (1817-30), he completed the western \Jportico\j, original dome, and landscaping before retiring to \JBoston\j. His domed capitol buildings influenced the design of state capitols across the country throughout the 19th century.
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"Bulfinch, Thomas",6093,0,0,0
DT (1796-1867)
EN banker, author; born in Newton, Mass. Son of the influential architect Charles Bulfinch, he tried his hand at various businesses, then ended up working in a bank (1837-67). This job left him a lot of spare time, which he spent studying natural history and literature. Eventually he began to write books drawing on his extensive reading - \IHebrew Lyrical History\i (1853), \IThe Age of Chivalry\i (1858), \IShakespeare Adapted for Reading Classes\i (1865). One title in particular, \IThe Age of Fable\i (1855), gained wide fame; known as "Bulfinch's Mythology," it introduced Greek and Roman \Jmythology\j to generations of Americans who did not read Greek or Latin.
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"Bulgakov, Mikhail Afanasievich",6094,0,0,0
DT 1891-1940
EN Russian novelist and playwright. The medically trained son of a \JKiev\j theologian, he soon embarked on careers in journalism and literature, the latter including such major narrative works as the story collection Diaboliad, the novelette Heart of a Dog and the epic \JCivil War\j novel White Guard (all 1925).
His adaptation of this novel, The Days of the Turbins (1925), commissioned by the Moscow Art Theatre (1926), realistically depicts the events leading to the destruction and exile of a White officer's family in the author's native \JKiev\j. Its sympathetic portrayal of the White enemy resulted in Bulgakov's being labelled an 'internal ΘmigrΘ'.
His first major comedy, Zoika's Apartment (1926), is a 'satiric \Jmelodrama\j' similar to those by Erdman and Faiko. It was eventually banned with Bulgakov's other plays in 1929. The Crimson Island (1927) is a comedy-\Jallegory\j which parodies \Jcensorship\j and officially sanctioned drama. Flight (1927), his most ambitious play and the first to be banned before it premiered (at MAT), is a hallucinatory epilogue to The Days of the Turbins. The play received its Soviet premiere in 1957.
He also wrote The Cabal of Hypocrites (MoliΦre, written 1929, banned 1930), a cinematically structured account of the difficulties experienced by Tartuffe's author in getting his play produced. Bulgakov satirized his uneasy tenure at MAT as playwright and as an assistant director (1930-6) in his theatrical novel (Black Snow, 1936).
Among the remaining 30- odd plays are Last Days (1935); \JAdam and Eve\j (1931); two fantasy- satires on time-travel, Bliss (1934) and Ivan Vasilievich (1935); adaptations of Dead Souls (1932) and Don Quixote (1938); and Batum (1938), about the young Stalin. Bulgakov's brilliant novel The Master and Margarita was finally brought to the stage by Yury Lyubimov at Moscow's Taganka Theatre in 1977.
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"Bulgakov, Sergey Nikolayevich",6095,0,0,0
PN [bul\Bga\bkof]
DT1 1871
DT2 1944
EN Philosopher, economist, and Orthodox theologian, born in Livny, \JRussia\j. A professor of political economy at \JKiev\j (1901-6) and then Moscow (1906-18), he became disillusioned with \JSocialism\j after 1906, and became a priest in 1918. Expelled from \JRussia\j (1923), he was appointed dean and professor of the Orthodox Theological Academy in Paris (1925-44), where he expounded Sophiology, the view that \Isophia\i (the Divine Wisdom) mediates between God and the world.
SX m
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"Bulganin, Nikolay Alexandrovich",6096,0,0,0
PN [bul\Bgah\bnin]
DT1 1895
DT2 1975
EN Soviet statesman and prime minister (1955-8), born in Nizhni \JNovgorod\j (formerly, \JGorky\j), \JRussia\j. An early member of the Communist Party, he was Mayor of Moscow (1933-7), a member of the Military Council in World War 2, and minister of defence in 1946. After Stalin's death he became vice-premier in Malenkov's government, and was made premier after Malenkov resigned (1955), with Khrushchev wielding real power. 'B and K' travelled extensively abroad, conducting propaganda through lengthy letters to Western statesmen. He was dismissed in 1958, and retired into obscurity.
MEX Khrushchev; Malenkov
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"Bulgaria",6097,0,0,0
PN [buhl\Bgair\beea]
EN pop (1995e) 8 670 000; area 110 912 sq km/42 812 sq mi. Republic in the E of the Balkan Peninsula, SE Europe, divided into 28 provinces (\Ioblasti\i); capital, Sofia; other chief towns, \JPlovdiv\j, \JVarna\j, Ruse, Bourgas, Stara Zagora, Pleven; timezone GMT +2; major ethnic groups, Bulgarian (85%), Turkish (9%), with Gypsy, Armenian, Jewish, and other minorities; language, Bulgarian (official), Turkish; religions, Christian Orthodox (85%), Muslim (13%); unit of currency, the lev of 100 stotinki.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
Traversed W--E by the Balkan Mts, rising to heights of over 2000 m/6500 ft; Rila-Rhodopes Mountain Massif in the SW rises to nearly 3000 m/9600 ft; Bulgarian lowlands stretch S from the R Danube with an average width of 100 km/60 mi; rivers flow N to the Danube, S to the Aegean, or E to the \JBlack Sea\j; largely continental climate, with hot summers and cold winters, but to the S the climate is increasingly Mediterranean; winters slightly warmer on \JBlack Sea\j coast.
\IHistory and government\i
Bulgars crossed the Danube, 7th-c; Bulgarian state founded, 681; Boris I christianized his people, 865; Cyril and Methodius created the Slavonic alphabet, 9th-c; during mediaeval period, continually at war with the Byzantines; conquered by Ottomans, 14th-c, remaining under their rule until 1878 (after Russo--Turkish War); divided into Princedom of Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia (1879--85), then unified; full independence, 1908; kingdom, 1908--46; aligned with \JGermany\j in both World Wars; occupied by USSR, 1944; Socialist People's Republic, 1946; governed by the Presidium of the National Assembly and its chairman, 1946--71; State Council and its chairman, 1971--91; power during this period exercised by the Politbureau of the Bulgarian Communist Party and its first secretary; new democratic constitution, 1991; new 240-member National Assembly, elected for four years, elects a Council of Ministers; president elected by the people.
\IEconomy\i
Agrarian--industrial country; grain, fruit, vegetables, rice, \Jtobacco\j, sheep, hogs, poultry, cheese, \Jsunflower\j seeds, unginned cotton, \Jattar\j of roses; food processing, machine building, chemicals, metal products, \Jelectronics\j, textiles; wine; \Jcoal\j, iron ore; offshore oil (\JBlack Sea\j) and \Jnatural gas\j; tourism; formerly, 75% of farmland held by agro-industrial complexes, now being returned to former owners or privatized.
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"Bulgarian",6098,0,0,0
EN See Slavic or Slavonic languages
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#
"Bulge, Battle of the",6099,0,0,0
DT1 1944
EN The last desperate German armoured counter-offensive through the Ardennes in World War 2 (beginning 16 Dec), to prevent the Allied invasion of \JGermany\j. It achieved early success, but ground to a halt, and by the end of January 1945 the Germans were forced to retreat by the Allies.
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"bulimia nervosa",6100,0,0,0
PN [byoo\Blim\bia ner\Bvoh\bsa]
EN A condition typified by repeated episodes of binge eating and frequent vomiting and purging, associated with a preoccupation with control of body weight and a feeling of lack of control over eating behaviour. The vast majority of patients are female, and patients report a high incidence of relatives who are obese and / or who have had a depressive illness. It is the reverse of anorexia nervosa, with which curiously it is occasionally associated in cycles. In rare cases it results from disturbance of the \Jhypothalamus\j.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
An eating disorder occurring most commonly among women caused by obsessive preoccupation with body image. It involves binge eating interspersed with extreme types of dieting, when vomiting may be self-inflicted and purgatives taken.
A pattern of starvation, bingeing, vomiting and purging leads to serious mineral and vitamin loss. As with anorexia nervosa, this serious condition can take many years to overcome. Specialist \Jpsychotherapy\j and group therapy, or self help groups with fellow sufferers, have a record of success.
\IWritten by Jane King\i
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#
"bulk modulus",6101,0,0,0
EN The negative ratio of \I(a)\i change in pressure applied to a block of some material to \I(b)\i the fractional change in volume of the block; symbol \IK,\i unit Pa (pascal); also called the \Bmodulus of compression.\b It is constant for a given material, eg for glass, \IK\i┐=┐0.37┐╫┐10\U11\uPa. The higher the value of \IK,\i the more difficult is the material to compress. Compressibility is 1 / \IK.\i
BK b
#
"bulk store",6102,0,0,0
EN See backing store
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#
"bulked yarn",6103,0,0,0
EN A yarn made of fibres, usually synthetic, whose properties have been modified to induce a high volume to the yarn by crimping the fibres during processing.
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#
"bulker",6104,0,0,0
EN A vessel designed to carry cargoes in bulk; grain, \Jcoal\j, iron ore, and \Jbauxite\j are the commonest. The type has grown steadily since World War 2. The world total in 1991 was 116.3 million gross tonnes, or 206.7 million gross tonnes deadweight.
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#
"bull (religion)",6105,0,0,0
EN An important, formal communication or edict from a pope, originally sealed with his signet-ring (Lat \Ibulla,\i 'seal') and identified by the opening Latin words. It is often used to promulgate major doctrines (eg infallibility, Immaculate Conception).
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#
"bull (zoology)",6106,0,0,0
EN A male \Jmammal\j belonging to one of several species; female usually called \Icow; \i young called \Icalf; \i used especially for uncastrated male \Jcattle\j (male castrated when young called a \Ibullock,\i \Iox,\i or \Isteer; \i if castrated when fully grown, called a \Istag).\i The name is also used with several other species, including large whales, \Jwalrus\j, elephant seal, elephant, and moose.
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#
"bull market",6107,0,0,0
EN A stock market term which signifies that the prices of stocks and shares are on a rising trend, due to buying demand. A 'bull' buys shares hoping that the price will rise, so that they can be sold later at a profit.
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"Bull Run, Battles of",6108,0,0,0
EN Major victories by Confederate forces in the \JAmerican Civil War\j; also known as the \BBattles of Manassas.\b The first battle pitted untrained Northern troops attempting to capture Richmond, VA (the Southern capital), against well-commanded Southerners. It turned into a Northern rout. In the second battle, a large Northern force under John Pope was trapped by combined Confederate forces under 'Stonewall' Jackson (1824-63) and James Longstreet (1821-1904).
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"bull terrier",6109,0,0,0
EN The "tyke" owned by Dickens' evil character Bill Sykes was a \JBull Terrier\j, and was a coarser-looking dog than the modern one. The \JBull Terrier\j was known as the "Gladiator of the canine race" due to his ferocity and toughness. He lived up to his title well.
\BHistory:\b
The \JBull Terrier\j was bred from a crossing of the British Bulldog with other Terrier breeds, including the Old English Terrier and the English Toy Terrier. It was bred to fight and was first used for bull-baiting. When this sport died out the \JBull Terrier\j was used to fight his own breed. Dog fighting was also banned and the breed was then used for ratting. Its ferociousness has now been bred out and the \JBull Terrier\j is usually a pleasant-natured and even-tempered companion dog.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
A small, strongly built and muscular dog. \IHeight:\i Under FCI standards, 12 - 18 in (30 - 45 cm). \IWeight:\i not specified. The head is oval, long, and deep to the end of the muzzle, with a flat forehead. The skull is flat on top and the profile slopes from the top of the skull to the tip of the black nose. The jaws are strong and deep, with the upper incisor teeth fitting exactly in front of the lower and having a scissor bite. The ears are set high and are small, thin, and set close together. The eyes are black and set deep with a piercing glint. They are wide-set and almond-shaped and slant back towards the ears. The neck is very strong and muscular, arching from the head and tapering out to the shoulders.
The body is short in the back, well-muscled, and with a slight arching at the loin. The shoulders are flat and muscular and the ribs are well-sprung, round and deep. The chest is broad. The tail is short, set low, and carried horizontally with a taper to the point. The forequarters are average-length, straight, and parallel. The hindquarters are straight and parallel with well-muscled thighs.
The coat of the \JBull Terrier\j is shiny, harsh to the touch and short. The skin is taut. The color is white, with a colored marking over the eye or ears of blue or liver. There can be pigmentation on the head.
\BBehavior:\b
The \JBull Terrier\j is a truly remarkable dog. It was bred specifically to be a dog fighter and it carries out its purpose very well indeed. If the \JBull Terrier\j is properly socialized as a puppy it can get along well with other dogs. The females can be very sociable with males and can be readily controlled by assertive people. However, it is not advisable to keep two females together. All other dogs should be protected from the chance of an aggressive encounter with your \JBull Terrier\j. It is possible to train the \JBull Terrier\j to be a watch-dog but it makes a poor guard dog, as it generally gets along too well with people.
The \JBull Terrier\j can make an excellent family dog and many fit this role perfectly, yet most people would not be prepared to leave their child alone with a \JBull Terrier\j because of their fearsome reputation. Care should be taken that the dog does not get eye infections, and sunblock should be used to protect the nose during the summer. This is an intelligent dog that requires a very assertive owner.
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"Bull, John",6110,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1562
DT2 1628
EN Musician, born in Somerset, south-west England, UK. He was appointed organist in the Queen's Chapel (1586), first music lecturer at Gresham College (1597), and organist to James I (1607). A Catholic, he fled abroad to escape persecution in 1613, and in 1617 became organist of Antwerp Cathedral. A virtuoso player, he was one of the founders of contrapuntal keyboard music. He has been credited with composing the air 'God Save the King'.
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"bull-mastiff",6111,0,0,0
EN A breed of dog, developed in Britain by crossing bulldogs and mastiffs; thick-set body; brown short-haired coat; soft ears and powerful muzzle; aggressive but controllable; used by gamekeepers in the 19th-c to deter poachers.
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"bullace",6112,0,0,0
PN [\Bboo\blis]
EN A type of small, wild plum \I(Prunus domestica),\i usually a thorny shrub with spherical black fruit with waxy bloom; native to Europe. (subspecies \Iinstitia.\i \BFamily:\b Rosaceae.)
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"Bullard, Robert Lee (b. William)",6113,0,0,0
DT (1861-1947)
EN soldier; born in Lee County, Ala. The shy, sickly son of a planter, he changed his first name to honor the Confederate commander. An 1885 West Point graduate, he saw combat on the western frontier and in the \JPhilippines\j (1900-01). In 1918, his 1st Division became the first U.S. division to occupy a section of the front line in \JFrance\j. He retired in 1925 and devoted his remaining years to writing and speech-making, often for conservative and isolationist causes. The last of his three books, \IFighting Generals,\i appeared in 1944.
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"Bullard, Sir Edward (Crisp)",6114,0,0,0
DT (1907-80)
EN British geophysicist: made first measurement of geothermal heat flow through the oceanic crust, and proposed dynamo theory for the Earth's magnetic field.
Bullard served in naval research during the Second World War, afterwards working in Cambridge and \JNorth America\j before becoming director of the National Physical Laboratory, England. In 1964 he was appointed director of the Department of Geodesy and \JGeophysics\j at Cambridge. Bullard made the first successful measurements of geothermal heat flow through the oceanic crust, establishing that it is similar in \Jmagnitude\j to that of continental crust, and not lower as had been thought.
After the start of the Second World War in 1939 he devised a protection for ships against magnetic mines by 'degaussing' ships with an applied external current.
In the late 1940s and 1950s, independently of Elsasser, he proposed the dynamo theory for the origin of the Earth's magnetic field, in which the field is generated by the motion of the Earth's liquid iron core undergoing convection. Providing that there is a small magnetic field to start with, the movement of the molten iron will set up electric currents which will in turn generate the observed magnetic field.
In 1965 Bullard was also the first to use computer modelling techniques to study continental drift, finding an excellent fit between Africa and \JSouth America\j at the 500-fathom (close to 1000 m) contour: a valuable contribution to what became the theory of \Jplate tectonics\j.
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"bulldog, English",6115,0,0,0
EN The early Bulldog was a fighter that was pitted against bears, badgers, bulls and other dogs. Now that the sports of bull-baiting and dog fighting have been abolished, the Bulldog has been bred for his sweeter temper.
\BHistory:\b
The Bulldog was possibly descended from the Molossus, a \JMastiff\j which the Phoenicians brought to Britain in the sixth century BC. Selective breeding in the 1800s produced a dog with the physical characteristics required for fighting and baiting bulls. The weight was concentrated to the front of the dog and the nose was required to be set high to allow for breathing while the massively powered jaw was latched onto the bull's nose. The eyes were developed with deep furrows of skin below to allow blood to run off. The Bulldog was officially recognized as a breed by the British Kennel Club in 1873.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
Thickset, broad and powerful-looking, the Bulldog's head and chest appear much larger than the rear end. \IHeight:\i 12 - 16 in (30 - 40 cm) under FCI standards. \IWeight:\i 50 lb (23 kg) for the dog and 40 lb (18 kg) for the bitch, under Canadian standards. Elsewhere: 55 lb (25 kg) for the dog and 50 lb (23 kg) for the bitch.
The head is short and covered with loose skin which forms heavy wrinkles. The skull is broad and the \Jcircumference\j of the head equals the height of the dog to its shoulder. The stop is well-defined, the muzzle is short, broad and turned-up. The nose is set deeply between the eyes, is black and broad. The jowls are thick and hang over the teeth. The jaw is square and broad with the lower jaw well extended over the upper, and curved upwards.
The eyes are dark, average-sized, wide apart and set low. The neck is thickset, strong, and arched at the back. The body is medium-sized, low, pear-shaped, and deeply powerful.
The shoulders are broad and muscular above a short, strong back. The tail is set low, either straight or screw, and carried downwards. The chest is broad and the ribs are well-rounded. The forequarters are straight and strong, and set wide apart. The hindquarters are longer than the forelegs, strong and muscular.
The coat of the Bulldog is short, fine, and smooth. The color can be red brindle, other brindles, pure white, red, beige or pied. They can sometimes have a black mask or muzzle.
\BBehavior:\b
The Bulldog is loved by many because of its very rugged-looking face. Originally this animal was very formidable and its mere presence would terrify the bravest person. Nowadays the Bulldog is a very different dog. It still looks as ferocious but it is actually quite gentle in nature. Even some of the males become shy and retiring. Intending owners of this dog should realize that they may have to make frequent trips to the vet. This dog's health may be very delicate. The Bulldog can have many respiratory problems due to the formation of the nose. It should be kept in a draft-free environment preferably on a raised bed, and must be dried after bathing. Care must be taken not to overfeed or overexercise this dog, as it may exacerbate a heart problem.
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"Bullen, Anne",6116,0,0,0
EN See Boleyn, Anne
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#
"Buller, Sir Redvers (Henry)",6117,0,0,0
DT1 1839
DT2 1908
EN British soldier, born in Crediton, Devon, south-west England, UK. He saw active service in the war with China (1860), the Red River expedition (1870), the Ashanti War (1874), the Kaffir War (1878), and the Zulu War (1879), where his rescue of fellow-soldiers in action at Inhlobane won him the VC. He was chief-of-staff in the 1st Boer War (1881), and was commander-in-chief in the 2nd Boer War (1899-1900), when he raised the siege of Ladysmith (1900).
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#
"bulletin board",6118,0,0,0
EN A form of electronic notice board which occurs frequently in data communications networks, particularly those linking academic institutions. The bulletin board hosts notices of meetings, technical papers, or even computer programs. The special feature of bulletin boards is that, since the networks are worldwide, the readership is worldwide.
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"bullfighting",6119,0,0,0
EN The national sport in \JSpain\j, also popular in some regions of S \JFrance\j, and in Latin American countries. Known as the \Icorrida de toros\i (Span 'running of the bulls') it is regarded as an art in \JSpain\j. Leading bullfighters \I(matadors)\i are treated as national heroes. Picadors are sent into the bull-ring to weaken the bull before the matador enters the arena to make the final killing. It is perhaps misnamed as a 'fight' because of its one-sidedness.
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"bullfinch",6120,0,0,0
EN A bird native to Europe, Scandinavia, and Asia E to \JJapan\j and the \JPhilippines\j; inhabits woodlands and gardens; eats buds, seeds, and fruit; causes serious damage in orchards. \B(Genus:\b \IPyrrhula,\i 6 species. \BFamily:\b \JFringillidae\j.) The name is also used for several species of \Jgenus\j \ILoxigilla\i in the family \JEmberizidae\j, and for the \Bbullfinch cardinal\b in the family \JCardinalidae\j.
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"bullfrog",6121,0,0,0
EN Any large frog; name used especially for North American \IRana catesbeiana\i \B(bullfrog\b or \BAmerican bullfrog); \b also for \IRana tigrina\i \B(Asian bullfrog)\b and \IPyxicephalus adspersus\i \B(South African bullfrog),\b all of the family Ranidae. \ILeptodactylus pentadactylus\i of the family Leptodactylidae is called the \BSouth American bullfrog.\b
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"bullhead",6122,0,0,0
EN Small, bottom-dwelling fish found in clear streams and lakes of N Europe; body stout, length up to 10┐cm / 4┐in, with broad flattened head; eggs laid under stones and guarded by the male; feeds on invertebrates, especially crustaceans; also called \Bsculpin\b or \Bmiller's thumb.\b The name is also used for others of this \Jgenus\j, the similar-looking marine Icelidae, and some North American catfishes of family Ictaluridae. \B(Genus:\b \ICottus.\i \BFamily:\b Cottidae.)
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"Bullinger, Heinrich",6123,0,0,0
PN [\Bbu\blingger]
DT1 1504
DT2 75
EN Religious reformer, born in Bremgarten, \JSwitzerland\j. In 1529 he married a former nun, and became a disciple of Zwingli, whom he succeeded in 1531 as leader of the reformed party in \JSwitzerland\j. He drew up the Helvetic Confessions of 1536 and 1566.
MEX Zwingli
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#
"Bullins, Ed",6124,0,0,0
DT 1935-
EN African-American playwright. He began writing fiction but, seeing Baraka's plays on stage, felt drama was more effective in reaching black audiences. Since 1965 Bullins has written several dozen plays and is produced internationally. In 1967 he joined the New Lafayette Theatre as resident playwright, became its associate director, and edited its periodical Black Theatre. In 1982 he moved to \JSan Francisco\j.
Among his best-known plays are Goin' a Buffalo (1966), In the Wine Time (1968), The Duplex (1970), In New England Winter (1971), The Fabulous Miss Marie (1971), The Taking of Miss Janie (1975), Marvin X and In the Name of Love (1988). His experiments in form combine rhythmic, racy dialogue, black ritual, jazz and blues music as integral elements of his dramaturgy.
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"Bullitt, William C. (Christian)",6125,0,0,0
DT (1891-1967)
EN diplomat; born in Philadelphia. From an affluent family, he worked in Europe as a newspaper correspondent, then joined the State Department (1917). A member of the American delegation to the Paris Peace Conference (1919), he was sent on a secret mission to \JRussia\j and returned to advocate recognition of the new Communist government; when this was rejected, he resigned from the State Department and gave testimony before the Senate committee (1919) that influenced the rejection of the Versailles treaty.
He left the State Department and lived mainly in Europe; he turned to Freud for therapy and ended up collaborating with him on a highly negative psychological \Jbiography\j of Woodrow Wilson (not published until 1967). In 1932 President Franklin Roosevelt appointed him as a special assistant to the \Jsecretary of state\j and then as the first ambassador to the U.S.S.R. (1933-36); he soon turned against \JCommunism\j, a position he increasingly promoted in the years ahead.
As ambassador to \JFrance\j (1936-40) and a series of other special diplomatic assignments, he was one of President Roosevelt's most trusted advisors; but after the two had a falling out in 1943, Bullitt joined the Free French army (1944-45). Although regarded as a nonconformist, he spent his last years dabbling in international affairs as a respected elder statesman.
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"bullmastiff",6126,0,0,0
With the power of the \JMastiff\j and the courage of the Bulldog, this dog is a very special breed.
\BHistory:\b
The \JBullmastiff\j was bred in Britain in the late 1800s as a guard dog for large game estates when poaching became rampant and gamekeepers were under constant threat of injury or death. The breed has been recognized in the British Kennel Club since 1924 on condition that the dog has three generations of pure breeding in exact proportions of 60% \JMastiff\j and 40% Bulldog. The breed then contains a combination of the speed, strength, and sense of smell of the Mastiff, with the courage and ferocity of the Bulldog.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The \JBullmastiff\j is a powerful and strong dog of sturdy, symmetrical build. \IHeight:\i 25 - 27 in (63.5 - 68.6 cm) for the dog and 24 - 26 in (61 - 66 cm) for the bitch. \IWeight:\i 110 - 130 lb (50 - 59 kg) for the dog and 100 - 120 lb (45.4 - 54.4 kg) for the bitch. The head of the \JBullmastiff\j is large and square with a wrinkled brow when the dog is attentive, and smooth when at rest. The muzzle is short, the lower jaw is broad. The mask and nose are black with broad, open nostrils. The upper and lower jaws are of equal length. The eyes are dark or hazel, set apart the same width as the muzzle, with a furrow between them.
The ears are v-shaped, set high and folded back, giving a squarish shape to the skull. The ears are darker than the body, with the tips level with the eyes when the dog is alert. The neck is well-muscled and arched, going down to well laid-back shoulders. The body is short in the back with a broad loin. The tail is set high, is long and either straight out or curled up, with a darker tip than the body color. The forequarters are straight and powerful and set wide apart. The hindquarters are strong and muscular, with slightly curved hocks.
The coat of the \JBullmastiff\j is short and dense, and the colours may be any of a uniform red, fawn or brindle. The muzzle area and around the eyes are black with the muzzle color fading towards the eyes.
\BBehavior:\b
This huge dog has developed a fearsome reputation. However, this dog is generally very gentle and unassuming. The \JBullmastiff\j is very confident and is scared of only a very few things. It makes an excellent guard dog, as it has the size and courage to act as a deterrent, and the very real power to back up its threats to intruders. Only a foolhardy person would enter the property of a \JBullmastiff\j uninvited.
Despite its size, the \JBullmastiff\j is not overly anxious to exercise and is content to stay within the confines of a normal yard. It takes a lot of persistence to train a \JBullmastiff\j, because although it is very intelligent, it is not easily motivated into activity.
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"Bullock, Alan (Louis Charles) Bullock, Baron",6127,0,0,0
DT1 1914
EN British historian. He studied at Oxford, was appointed censor of St Catherine's Society, Oxford (1952--62), and became Vice-Chancellor of \JOxford University\j (1969--73), and Master of St Catherine's College, Oxford (1960--80).
He was chairman of the Schools Council (1966--9), and also of the Committee on Reading and Other Uses of the English Language (1972--4), the "Bullock Report' being published as \IA Language for Life\i in 1975. He is also the author of numerous works on 20th-c Europe, including studies of Hitler, Bevin, and Stalin, and co-edited (with Oliver Stallybrass) the Fontana \IDictionary of Modern Thought\i (1977). He was made a peer in 1976.
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#
"bullroarer",6128,0,0,0
EN A primitive musical instrument made from a wooden blade, often with serrated edges and sometimes elaborately carved, attached to a length of string and whirled around in the open air. It was known to the ancient Greeks and is still found in many countries.
BK b
#
"Buloff, Joseph",6129,0,0,0
DT 1899-1985
EN \JYiddish\j actor and director. He worked first with the Vilna Troupe where he distinguished himself in the title role of Ossip Dimov's Yoshke Musikant, then in America where he acted with Maurice Schwartz's \JYiddish\j Art Theatre and directed for the Folksbⁿhne, forming the New York Art Theatre in 1934/5. He eventually moved to English-speaking roles on Broadway, and was active in Israel during the 50s and 60s. (See also \JYiddish\j theatre.)
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"Bⁿlow, Bernhard (Heinrich Martin Karl), Fⁿrst von (Prince of)",6130,0,0,0
PN [\Bbⁿ\bloh]
DT1 1849
DT2 1929
EN German statesman and chancellor (1900-9), born in Flottbeck, \JGermany\j. He was foreign secretary (1897) before becoming chancellor, and was made a count (1899) and a prince (1905). He was identified with an aggressive foreign policy in the years before World War 1.
SX m
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#
"Bⁿlow, Hans (Guido), Freiherr von (Baron)",6131,0,0,0
PN [\Bbⁿ\bloh]
DT1 1830
DT2 94
EN Pianist and conductor, born in Dresden, \JGermany\j. He studied law, but under the influence of Wagner made himself the musico-political spokesman of the new German School. In 1851 he took pianoforte lessons from Liszt, married Liszt's daughter, \BCosima\b (1857), and became an outstanding conductor. In 1864 he became court pianist and director of the music school at Munich, but resigned when his wife deserted him for Wagner in 1869, and thereafter became an opponent of Wagner and his School.
MEX Liszt; Wagner, Richard
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#
"bulrush",6132,0,0,0
EN An aquatic, rush-like perennial \I(Scirpus lacustris),\i found almost everywhere; stems to 3┐m / 10┐ft; leaves in tufts; flowers tiny, \Jperianth\j reduced to six rough bristles, in oval, brown spikelets. The name is sometimes misapplied to \Jreedmace\j. \B(Family:\b Cyperaceae.)
BK b
#
"bulrush millet",6133,0,0,0
EN See \Jmillet\j
BK b
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#
"Bultmann, Rudolf (Karl)",6134,0,0,0
DT1 1884
DT2 1976
EN Lutheran theologian, Hellenist, and \JNew Testament\j scholar, born in Wiefelstede, \JGermany\j. He studied at Tⁿbingen, taught at \JMarburg\j, \JWroclaw\j, (formerly Breslau, Germany), and Giessen, then became professor of \JNew Testament\j at \JMarburg\j (1921). An early exponent of form criticism \I(History of the Synoptic Tradition,\i 1921) he is best known for his highly influential programme (1941) to 'demythologize' the \JNew Testament\j and interpret it existentially, employing the categories of the earlier work of Heidegger.
MEX Heidegger; Moltmann
SX m
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#
"Bulwer-Lytton, Robert",6135,0,0,0
EN See Lytton, (Edward) Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of
BK bg b
XCY y
#
"bumblebee",6136,0,0,0
EN A large bee found mainly in the temperate Northern hemisphere. The adults transport \Jpollen\j on the modified outer surface of the hindleg. They are organized into primitive societies, in which only the queen overwinters to produce the next generation of workers. \B(Family:\b Apidae. \BGenus:\b \IBombus.)\i
BK b
#
"Bunau-Varilla, Philippe Jean",6137,0,0,0
PN [\Bbⁿ\bnoh va\Bree\bya]
DT1 1859
DT2 1940
EN Engineer, born in Paris. The chief organizer of the \JPanama Canal\j project, he was instrumental in getting the waterway routed through Panama instead of \JNicaragua\j. He was made Panamanian minister to the USA and negotiated the \IHay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty\i (1903), giving the USA control of the Canal Zone.
SX m
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#
"Bunche, Ralph (Johnson)",6138,0,0,0
DT (1904-71)
EN diplomat, statesman; born in \JDetroit\j, Mich. He worked his way through college and traveled, wrote \I(A World View of Race,\i 1937), and taught at Howard University (1928-41). He served in the Office of Strategic Services (1941-44) and then the State Department (1944-47). At the start of his long career with the United Nations (1947-71), he was the acting mediator for the U.N. Palestine Commission (1948, 1949), and won the Nobel Peace prize for this work (1950).
He subsequently became under secretary (1955-67) and under secretary general (1967-71) for the United Nations. Most noted for his expertise on colonial affairs and race relations, he directed UN peacekeeping efforts in the Suez (1956), the \JCongo\j (1964), and Cyprus (1964). Although he was not an overt activist or spokesman during his public career he was arguably the most prominent role model for his fellow African-Americans until the emergence of Martin Luther King Jr.
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"Buncho, Tani",6139,0,0,0
DT1 1773
DT2 1840
EN Painter, born in Edo (modern \JTokyo\j). The son of a poet, he was familiar with the styles of various schools and Chinese works, and attempted a synthesis of these with European techniques. An illustrator of books and a prolific painter of a variety of subjects, he excelled in landscapes. He also introduced the Nanga style of painting to Edo.
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"Bundestag",6140,0,0,0
PN [\Bbun\bdestag]
EN The parliament of the German Federal Republic, elections for which are held every four years in the autumn. It is possible for the Bundestag to be dissolved and elections held before the end of the fixed term, and this has happened twice (in 1972 and 1983). In addition to legislating, the Bundestag selects the Chancellor and supports his government. Following the reunification of East and West \JGermany\j in 1990, the Bundestag was enlarged to 656 members.
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"Bundy, McGeorge",6141,0,0,0
DT1 1919
DT2 96
EN US government administrator, born in \JBoston\j, MA. He studied at Yale, and became a junior fellow at Harvard (1941). After working in intelligence during World War 2, he joined Harvard as dean of arts and sciences (1953). He is remembered for his major role in foreign policy decisions during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, notably in the Vietnam War. After resigning (1966), he became president of the Ford Foundation, and was later appointed history professor at New York University.
MEX Johnson, Lyndon B; Kennedy, John F
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"Bundy, Ted",6142,0,0,0
DT1 1954
DT2 89
EN US convicted murderer. He was a law student who is believed to have killed at least 36 females, both adults and children, over a number of years. Convicted in 1979 on several charges, including the murder of a 12-year-old girl, he was sentenced to death. He was executed in \JFlorida\j in 1989 after a string of unsuccessful appeals.
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"Bunin, Ivan Alexeyevich",6143,0,0,0
PN [\Bboo\bnin]
DT1 1870
DT2 1953
EN Writer, born in \JVoronezh\j, \JRussia\j. He worked as a journalist and clerk, writing lyrics and novels of the decay of the Russian nobility and of peasant life. His best-known work is \IGospodin iz San-Francisco\i (1922, The Gentleman from \JSan Francisco\j). He was the first Russian to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature (1933). After the Revolution, he lived in Paris.
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"bunion",6144,0,0,0
EN A painful, inflamed hardening and thickening of the skin over the head of the metatarsal of (especially) the great toe. It is often induced by ill-fitting footwear.
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"bunjee jumping",6145,0,0,0
EN The activity of jumping from a high point to which the jumper is attached by a strong \Jrubber\j cable fastened to the ankles. The length and tension of the cable is calculated to ensure that the jumper bounces up before reaching the ground. The activity became popular in the early 1990s, and is now practised as a sport in several countries.
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"Bunker Hill, Battle of",6146,0,0,0
DT1 1775
EN The first pitched battle of the US War of Independence, fought during the siege of \JBoston\j. It was technically an American defeat, as New England troops were dislodged from the position overlooking occupied \JBoston\j; but very high British casualties demonstrated American fighting capacity, and forbade attempts on other American emplacements. The eventual result was the British evacuation of \JBoston\j. It was actually fought on Breed's Hill, above Charlestown, not on nearby Bunker Hill.
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"Bunker, Ellsworth",6147,0,0,0
DT (1894-1984)
EN diplomat, executive; born in Yonkers, N.Y. He was an executive in the sugar industry (1927-66) and became a diplomat in 1951. He was ambassador to Argentina, \JItaly\j, India, and \JNepal\j (1951-61). He was ambassador to South Vietnam during the crucial stages of the Vietnam War (1967-73) and the chief negotiator of the \JPanama Canal\j treaties (1973-78), which became controversial during the 1976 presidential campaign.
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"Bunn, Alfred",6148,0,0,0
DT 1798-1860
EN English theatre manager. His scuffle with Macready made him notorious. Bunn, who had little respect for the patent theatres, followed Elliston's lead during his simultaneous management of both Drury Lane and Covent Garden (1833-5). His tactlessness aroused such opposition that he was never able to pursue a consistent policy, and by 1840 he was bankrupt. The Stage: Both Before and Behind the Curtain (1840) is his argumentative self-justification. 'Poet' Bunn, so called for his published verse, wrote several librettos, including one for Balfe's popular The Bohemian Girl (1843).
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"Bunny, Rupert (Charles Wulsten)",6149,0,0,0
DT1 1864
DT2 1947
EN Artist, born in St Kilda, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. He studied in Melbourne and then in London, later moving to Paris. His work was not influenced by the prevailing Impressionist school, but more by Classical \Jmythology\j. He later turned to large decorative and exotic scenes.
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"bunraku",6150,0,0,0
EN Japanese puppet form. This is the ancient commercial doll-puppet theatre of Osaka, \JJapan\j, the name bunraku being relatively recent and deriving from the 19th-century theatre manager, Uemura Bunrakuen, whose troupe was the only group of professionals to continue into the Meiji period (1868-1912) - hence the association of the name with the genre.
In bunraku chanting is the dominant performance element. Numerous styles of chanting were in competition in the early 17th century. Until 1629 there were female chanters of considerable popularity; they were banned from public stages in that year by the same prohibition that banned kabuki actresses. Since the mid- 17th century Osaka and neighbouring Awaji Island have been the undisputed centres of puppet theatre in \JJapan\j.
Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725), the most important playwright of kabuki and bunraku of his time, wrote both history and domestic plays. A history play, which was the major work on a programme, was written in five acts - e.g. Chikamatsu's The Battles of Coxinga (1715). The half-Japanese Coxinga invades China in order to dethrone a usurping emperor, which he does with the help of a tiger mount, miracles, and advice from Taoist immortals.
In the concluding scene of Act 3 Coxinga's mother and sister sacrifice their lives to maintain his honour. The other four acts conclude in pitched battles. A domestic play, like Chikamatsu's Love Suicides at Sonezaki (1703), in one act and three scenes, was a short afterpiece. Chikamatsu wrote narrative passages of great beauty and created puppet characters of flesh and blood who wrestled with the conflict between feudal duty and human love.
The realistic puppets created up to around 1750 were capable of a wide range of visual expression. In performance a different chanter comes before the audience, to speak and sing each succeeding scene (a programme lasts nine to twelve hours). In certain scenes, such as the Ichiriki brothel scene in The Treasury of Loyal Retainers (1748), multiple chanters take the voices of specific characters, as if they were actors.
Chanters memorize the text, which is written out in the form of a novel rather than a play. Using a highly developed vocal repertory, the chanters distinguish between the spoken prose dialogue of the puppet characters and poetic descriptions in which the voice moves back and forth between melodic song and chant, which occupies a middle ground between speech and song. The chanter shows the full gamut of human emotions vocally: wailing in suffering, rhythmic laughing in joy, raging in anger, emitting gentle tones in love. In bunraku, chanting is a tour de force. (See also puppets.)
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"Bunsen burner",6151,0,0,0
EN A gas burner, used mainly in chemistry laboratories. Gas enters through a jet at the lower end of a tube, and is drawn through a side tube whose aperture can be controlled. The controllable gas-air mixture makes possible a flame of quality, ranging from luminous to hot non-luminous. The idea is attributed to German scientist Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, but its first practical construction should be credited mainly to his technical assistant, C Desaga.
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"Bunsen, Robert Wilhelm",6152,0,0,0
DT (1811-99)
EN German chemist: wide-ranging experimenter, and pioneer of chemical \Jspectroscopy\j.
Bunsen's father was librarian and professor of linguistics in G÷ttingen, and Robert studied chemistry there before travelling and studying also in Paris, Berlin and Vienna. He became professor at Heidelberg in 1852 and remained there until retirement, 10 years before his death.
Bunsen was pre-eminently an experimentalist with little interest in theory. His first major research did much to support the radical theory, due largely to Dumas and Liebig, which held that organic groups ('compound radicals') correspond, in part, to the simple atoms of inorganic compounds. He prepared a series of compounds all containing the cacodyl group (CH\D3\d)\D2\dAs-; and did so despite their remarkably offensive character.
They combine a repulsive and persistent odour with toxicity and flammability. The presence in all of them of the same cacodyl group effectively established the theory. During this work Bunsen lost the sight of an eye and nearly died of \Jarsenic\j poisoning; he excluded \Jorganic chemistry\j from his laboratory thereafter.
With his fellow-professor Kirchhoff he discovered the use of \Jspectroscopy\j in chemical analysis (1859) and within 2 years they had discovered the new elements caesium and rubidium with its aid. He devised the Bunsen cell, a zinc-carbon primary cell which he used to obtain metals (Cr and Mb) by electrodeposition from solution, and others (Mg, Al, Na, Ba, Ca, Li) by \Jelectrolysis\j of the fused chlorides.
To find the relative atomic mass of these metals he measured their specific heat capacity (to apply Dulong's Law) and for this he designed an ice calorimeter. He was a master of gas analysis, and used it in many ways, eg his study of Icelandic volcanoes and the improvement of English blast-furnaces. He was a pioneer, working with Roscoe, in photochemistry, and for this devised a photometer and an actinometer.
His great interest in analysis led him to invent many laboratory devices, including the filter \Jpump\j. The Bunsen gas burner was probably devised and sold by his technician, Peter Desdega, and based on one due to \JFaraday\j.
Bunsen was a great teacher and his lecture courses were famous; his researches continued until he was 80. Like Dalton he admitted that he never found time to marry (although this may have been because he worked with odorous compounds). Emil Fischer's wife said of him, 'First, I would like to wash Bunsen and then I would like to kiss him because he is such a charming man.'
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Until the early nineteenth century, when electric arcs were used, there were no daylight-bright lights. Even in 1846, when the Paris Opera was lit by arc lamps, the power came from Bunsen cells which quickly lost their power, but these cells are little remembered today. The grease spot photometer was probably the simplest scientific instrument ever invented, a piece of brown paper with a spot of grease on it, used to compare the strengths of two light sources.
When you look at a piece of grease-spotted paper with a light behind it, the spot appears lighter than the paper. If you look at the same spot with the light on the same side as you, the spot appears dark. Bunsen knew that the strength of a light source varies with the inverse square of the distance: that is, if you double the distance, the apparent power of the light is reduced to one quarter of what it was before.
As soon as you place two light sources, one on each side of the light source, so that the spot appears neither lighter nor darker than the paper, you know that the two light sources have the same apparent brightness at the surface of the paper. If one of these lights is a "standard" light that you use for reference, a simple measure of the distances to the two lights will allow you to calculate the relative brightness of an unknown light source.
In addition, Robert Bunsen made an important contribution to future science when he made a set of observations which gave rise to the science we now call \Jgeochemistry\j.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Bunshaft, Gordon",6153,0,0,0
DT (1909-90)
EN architect; born in Buffalo, N.Y. He studied \Jarchitecture\j at the \JMassachusetts\j Institute of Technology and joined Skidmore and Owings in 1937. His public and corporate buildings are characterized by inventive design; especially influential were his \Jskyscraper\j towers set back in plazas (Lever House (1952), New York City); suburban offices in landscaped parks (Connecticut General Life Insurance Building (1957), Bloomfield, Conn.); and sloping facades (9 West 57th Street Building (1974), New York).
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"bunting",6154,0,0,0
EN A small seed-eating bird, usually dull in colour with a short stout bill. It belongs to a widespread family, thought to have evolved in the Americas, spread across the Bering Straits to Asia, then colonized Europe and Africa. \B(Family:\b \JEmberizidae\j, c.290 species.)
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"Bunting, Basil",6155,0,0,0
DT1 1900
DT2 85
EN Poet, born in Scotswood, \JNorthumberland\j, north-east England, UK. He worked as a journalist in Paris, was much influenced by Pound and the American Modernists, and published his early poetry abroad. After some years in Paris, where he worked on translation, he returned to Britain and established his reputation with \IBriggflatts\i (1966), a semi-autobiographical poem deeply rooted in the North East.
MEX Pound, Ezra
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"Buntline, Ned",6156,0,0,0
EN See Judson, Edward Zane Carroll (Ned Buntline, pen name)
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"Bu±uel, Luis",6157,0,0,0
PN [buhn\Bwel\b]
DT1 1900
DT2 83
EN Film director, born in Calanda, \JSpain\j. He studied at Madrid University, and his first films (made with Salvador Dali) were a sensation with their Surrealistic, macabre approach: \IUn Chien andalou\i (1928, An Andalusian Dog) and \IL'Age d'or\i (1930, The Golden Age).
His career then went into \Jeclipse\j until he settled in Mexico (1947), where he directed such major films as \ILos olvidados\i (1950, trans The Young and the Damned), \IViridiana\i (1961), \IThe Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie\i (1972), and \IThat Obscure Object of Desire\i (1977). His work is characterized by a poetic, often erotic, use of imagery, a black humour, and a hatred of Catholicism, often expressed in blasphemy.
MEX Dali
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"Bunyan, John",6158,0,0,0
DT1 1628
DT2 88
EN Writer, born in Elstow, \JBedfordshire\j, SC England, UK. He worked as a tinker, and fought in the parliamentary army during the English \JCivil War\j (1644-5). In 1653 he joined a Christian fellowship, preaching around Bedford. In 1660 he was arrested and spent 12 years in Bedford county gaol, where he wrote prolifically, including \IGrace Abounding\i (1666).
Briefly released after the Declaration of Indulgence (1672), he was reimprisoned for six months in the town gaol, and there wrote the first part of the \IThe Pilgrim's Progress,\i a vision of life told allegorically as if it were a journey. Returning to his career, he acted as pastor in Bedford for 16 years, where he wrote the second part of \IThe Pilgrim's Progress\i (1684).
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"Bunyan, Paul",6159,0,0,0
EN In American \Jfolklore\j, a lumberjack of superhuman size and strength, stories of whose prowess began to circulate early in the 20th-c. Not only could he break up log-jams with spectacular ease; he could also refashion \Jgeography\j, creating lakes, rivers, and even the Grand \JCanyon\j.
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"bunyip",6160,0,0,0
EN In the \Jmythology\j of the Australian \Jaborigines\j, the source of evil. He is not to be thought of as a spirit or as a human. The Rainbow Serpent, the mother of life, confined \Jbunyip\j to a waterhole: he haunts dark and gloomy places.
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"bunyip aristocracy",6161,0,0,0
EN An unsuccessful local attempt in \JAustralia\j to create an upper house elected from an order of hereditary baronets for the government of \JNew South Wales\j in 1853. The proposal was associated with W C Wentworth, and was designed to counter the 'spirit of democracy' unleashed by the gold rushes, and to stabilize society with the granting of self-government. The name was first used with witty cynicism in a political speech in 1853.
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"Buonaparte",6162,0,0,0
EN See Bonaparte
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#
"Buonarroti",6163,0,0,0
EN See \JMichelangelo\j
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#
"Buoninsegna, Duccio di",6164,0,0,0
EN See Duccio di Buoninsegna
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#
"Buononcini, Giovanni",6165,0,0,0
EN See Bononcini or Buononcini, Giovanni (Maria)
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"Buontalenti, Bernardo",6166,0,0,0
DT 1536-1608
EN Italian architect and scene designer. Assistant to Giorgio Vasari from 1547, he designed palaces, villas and fortresses and organized firework displays for festivals. By 1574 he had succeeded Vasari as architect and supervisor of Florentine court entertainments. In honour of the marriage between Virginia de' Medici and Cesare d'Este (1585) he designed the Teatro degli Uffizi, with a system of revolving periaktoi and elaborate stage machinery. His decors were used for Giovanni Bardi's L'amico fido (The Faithful Friend) and the accompanying six intermezzi written for the occasion.
He directed the month-long festivities honouring the marriage of Ferdinand I of Tuscany to Catherine de' Medici (1589), including the production of Girolami Bargagli's La pellegrina and its six intermezzi. Characteristic of his style, these elaborate and sumptuous productions were noted for the ingenious \Jcloud\j machines, glories, traps, revolving periaktoi and moving side wings which facilitated the almost magical scene changes taking place in full view of the spectators.
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"buoyancy",6167,0,0,0
EN The upward thrust on an object immersed in liquid or gas, equal to the weight of the displaced fluid. The human body is more buoyant in salt \Jwater\j than in fresh \Jwater\j, as the former is 3% denser.
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"Burakumin",6168,0,0,0
PN [bura\Bkoo\bmin]
EN An outcaste group in Japanese society, concentrated in about 6000 ghetto communities and numbering 1-3 million; the target of extreme discrimination with regard to employment, marriage, and residential segregation. Their origins go back to the Edo feudal period of the 17th-c, when impoverished Japanese in lowly occupations were segregated. The class was officially abolished in 1871, but to no great effect: some militancy within the group since the 1920s has also had little impact.
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"Burbage, James",6169,0,0,0
DT c.1530-97
EN English actor, and builder of England's first purpose-built theatre. Trained as a joiner, he was a leading member of Leicester's Men by 1572, then financed the erection of the Theatre (1576) and devoted himself to theatre management. He planned the conversion of the old Blackfriars monastery in 1596, but died with the situation unresolved, leaving the Theatre to his elder son, Cuthbert, and the Blackfriars to his younger son, Richard.
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"Burbage, Richard",6170,0,0,0
DT c.1568-1619
EN English actor, son of James Burbage. He created many of Shakespeare's greatest roles. Previously a member of Strange's Men, he was a founder and leading member of the new Lord Chamberlain's Men (later the King's Men) from 1594 until his death. Over the next two decades he is known to have played Hamlet, Othello, Lear and Richard III, Ferdinand in Webster's The Duchess of Malfi, Malevole in Marston's The Malcontent and 'Jeronimo', in a lost play possibly emulating Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy. Contemporaries, comparing him perhaps with Edward Alleyn, considered his acting true to life, though he was certainly faithful to rhetorical conventions. With his brother Cuthbert he owned half the shares in the Globe and, later, the Blackfriars.
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"Burbank, Luther",6171,0,0,0
DT (1849-1926)
EN plant breeder, horticulturist; born in Lancaster, Mass. The 13th child of a farmer, he grew up interested in nature, and although he had little formal science education, he was influenced by the ideas of Charles Darwin. Turning to farming to support his widowed mother, by 1870 he was experimenting with improving the varieties of vegetables; his first success was a \Jpotato\j that grew in the stony \JMassachusetts\j soil; he sold the rights to it for $150 (to a seed dealer who named it the Burbank).
In 1875 he went off to Santa Rosa, Calif., where he began what proved to be a prosperous nursery business; he sold it in 1893 to concentrate on his own experimental farm at nearby \JSebastopol\j. Over the years - by selecting the most desirable specimens or by hybridizing and grafting two or more plants - he developed hundreds of new varieties of vegetables, fruit, and ornamental plants, including the Shasta daisy.
He published many catalogues of his plants as well as the multivolume \ILuther Burbank, His Methods and Discoveries\i (1914-15) and \IHow Plants Are Trained to Work for Man\i (1921). Although he was not truly a scientist and most of his new varieties no longer have commercial value, he remains something of an American legend as a self-taught "tinkerer with nature."
EN British astronomer: leading optical astronomer.
Burbidge studied physics in London and afterwards researched in \Jastronomy\j at \JChicago\j, the \JCalifornia\j Institute of Technology, and Cambridge, before becoming professor of \Jastronomy\j at the University of \JCalifornia\j, \JSan Diego\j, in 1964. In 1972, on leave, she became director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, then at Herstmonceaux Castle in Sussex. But her high hopes for optical \Jastronomy\j using the 2.5 m Isaac Newton \Jtelescope\j there were frustrated by administrative work as well as by poor seeing conditions, and she resigned after a year and returned to \JCalifornia\j.
From 1948 she worked with her astrophysicist husband Geoffrey Burbidge (1925- ) , and in 1957 with Hoyle and W A Fowler (1911-95) they published on the formation of atomic nuclei in stars. She had also worked on quasars and gave the first accurate values for the masses of galaxies, based on her own observations of their rotation.
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"burbot",6173,0,0,0
EN Elongate, slender-bodied fish \I(Lota lota)\i widespread in rivers and lakes of N Eurasia and \JNorth America\j; the only freshwater species in the cod family \JGadidae\j; length up to 1┐m / 3 1/4┐ft; single \Jbarbel\j beneath mouth; fished commercially in \JRussia\j; also called \Beelpout.\b
BK b
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"Burchfield, Charles (Ephraim)",6174,0,0,0
DT (1893-1967)
EN painter; born in Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio. Although he attended Cleveland School of Art and briefly lived in New York City (1916), he spent most of his life in small towns in Ohio and upstate New York, and it was not until about 1929 that he could escape the factory jobs to devote himself to art.
Known primarily for his watercolors, his works drawn from nature, such as \IFebruary Thaw\i (1920), often conveyed an almost sinister mood, while his vision of urban America, as in \IBlack Iron\i (1935), seem imbued with a sense of melancholy. His paintings of railroads and mines, commissioned by \IFortune\i magazine in the late 1930s, brought his work to a wider public.
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"Burchfield, Robert (William)",6175,0,0,0
DT1 1923
EN Scholar and lexicographer, born in Wanganui, \JNew Zealand\j. He studied at Victoria University College, Wellington, and at Oxford, where he became a lecturer in English language (1952--63), then a tutorial fellow (1963--79) and senior research fellow at St Peter's College (1979--90, now emeritus fellow).
In 1957 he was appointed editor of a new \ISupplement to the Oxford English Dictionary\i which appeared in four volumes between 1972 and 1986. He has also written several books on the English language, and was co-author of a report (1979) on the quality of spoken English on BBC radio.
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#
"Burchleigh, Baron",6176,0,0,0
EN See Cecil, William, 1st Baron Burghley or Burghleigh
BK bg b
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#
"Burckhardt, Jacob (Christopher)",6177,0,0,0
PN [\Bberk\bhah(r)t]
DT1 1818
DT2 97
EN Historian, born in \JBasel\j, \JSwitzerland\j. He studied \Jtheology\j and later art history in Berlin and \JBonn\j, became editor of the \IBasler Zeitung\i (1844-5), and was professor of history at \JBasel\j University (1858-93). He is known for his works on the Italian Renaissance and on Greek civilization.
SX m
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"burden of proof",6178,0,0,0
EN The question of which party must raise a disputed fact (the \Bevidentiary burden)\b and establish it to the required standard (the \Blegal burden).\b In criminal cases, the required standard of proof is 'beyond a reasonable doubt'. In most civil cases, the required standard is on the balance of probabilities, called 'preponderance of the evidence' in the USA.
BK b
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"Burdett, Allen Mitchell, Jr.",6179,0,0,0
DT (1921-80)
EN aviator; born in Washington, D.C. A 1943 West Point graduate, he helped test newly developed air mobility tactics as commander of the \Javiation\j group of the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam (1965-66). He subsequently directed the Army \JAviation\j School and commanded the 5th Army before retiring in 1978.
EN Philanthropist, born in London, England, UK, the daughter of \BSir Francis Burdett\b (1770-1844) and grand-daughter of Thomas Coutts. She inherited her grandfather's fortune in 1837, and used it to mitigate suffering. She established a shelter for fallen women, built model homes, and endowed churches and colonial bishoprics. In 1871 she received a \Jpeerage\j, and in 1872 she became the first woman to be given the freedom of the City of London.
MEX Coutts, Thomas
SX f
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#
"Bureau of Indian Affairs",6181,0,0,0
EN A US government agency, established in 1836, which was notorious in the late 19th-c for its extreme corruption, both in the provision of supplies for client Indians and in the redistribution of Indian lands. It was responsible for implementing the long-term policy of removing Indians from areas of possible white occupation, and destroying indigenous Indian culture. It operated under the Department of War until 1849, when it was transferred to the Department of the Interior. It now operates as the Indian Service.
BK b
#
"Buren, Martin Van",6182,0,0,0
EN See Van Buren, Martin
BK bg b
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#
"burette",6183,0,0,0
A piece of chemical apparatus consisting of a long glass tube with a tap (technically called a cock) near the bottom. This is a tapered cylinder of glass with a whole bored through it, which may be turned to allow liquid to pass, or to slow or even completely stop the flow.
The burette usually holds 50 millilitres of liquid, and the main tube is graduated with markings which show the amount of liquid which has flowed from the tube. A burette is mainly used in the process of titration.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Bⁿrger, Gottfried August",6184,0,0,0
DT1 1747
DT2 94
EN Lyric poet and writer of ballads, born in Molmerswende, \JGermany\j. In 1764 he began to study \Jtheology\j, but migrated to G÷ttingen (1768) and entered on a course of \Jjurisprudence\j. In G÷ttingen he was associated with a group of poets (the \IG÷ttinger Hain)\i who worked with folk songs and ballads. He wrote many ballads, including \ILenore\i (1773), which was translated by Sir Walter Scott, and which had a major effect on the development of \JRomanticism\j in Europe.
SX m
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#
"Burger, Warren E(arl)",6185,0,0,0
DT1 1907
DT2 95
EN Judge, born in St Paul, MN. He studied at the University of \JMinnesota\j, then taught and practised law in St Paul from 1931 before becoming assistant attorney general of the USA (1953), and in 1955 judge of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. He was appointed \Jchief justice\j of the US Supreme Court in 1969.
SX m
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#
"bⁿrgerliches Trauerspiel",6186,0,0,0
EN ('bourgeois tragedy') German genre. It arose in the German theatre during the latter half of the 18th century, partially as a result of the introduction of English plays into the repertoire, partially due to the rise in economic power of the \Jbourgeoisie\j. It is a tragedy set neither in princely or noble courts nor in a heroic period of history, but in the home of the \Jbourgeoisie\j, who are regarded as serious subject-matter for drama.
The first significant examples of the genre are Lessing's Miss Sara Sampson (1755), written under the influence of the English writers George Lillo and Samuel Richardson, and Emilia Galotti (1772). Schiller described his Love and Intrigue (1783) as a bⁿrgerliches Trauerspiel. The genre is universally recognized as foreshadowing the work of Henrik Ibsen, Gerhart Hauptmann and other late-19th-century naturalist dramatists (see \Jnaturalism\j).
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#
"Burges, William",6187,0,0,0
PN [\Bber\bjiz]
DT1 1827
DT2 81
EN Architect and designer, born in London, England, UK. Much influenced by Pugin and Viollet-le-Duc, he employed a strong mediaeval element in both his \Jarchitecture\j and his furniture. Castell Coch (1876-81), near \JCardiff\j, a reconstruction on 13th-c foundations, was designed as a hunting lodge for the 3rd Marquess of Bute. His other project for the marquess, \JCardiff\j Castle (1868-81), is a more eclectic mixture of mediaeval and exotic styles again applied to the remains of a fortress.
MEX Pugin; Viollett-le-Duc
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"Burgess Shale",6188,0,0,0
This is a formation of Middle Cambrian shales from British Columbia in Canada. The shales were laid down in Cambrian times and are remarkably fine, so that the animals preserved in the shales are remarkably detailed. Adolf Seilacher has nominated this formation, among others, for inclusion in the Fossil LagerstΣtte, a set of stores of remarkable \Jfossil\j information. (The others include the Eocene Messel Oil Shales and the Upper Jurassic Solnhofen \JLimestone\j, both in West \JGermany\j, as well as the Upper Carboniferous Mazon Creek ironstones of Illinois, the Middle Carboniferous Bear Gulch \JLimestone\j of Montana, and the Burgess Shale.)
The Burgess Shale was celebrated by Stephen Jay Gould in his book \IA Wonderful Life,\i in which Gould points out the huge range of phyla present in the shale, and suggests that, had things been slightly different, \Jevolution\j could have favoured another group of animals in that shale, rather than supporting the descendants of a rather insignificant little beast called \IPikaia gracilens,\i the earliest known chordate, which is either the ancestor of all of the vertebrate groups that we see alive today-or the close cousin of that ancestor.
The rocks were laid down at a time in the history of life that is often called the "Cambrian explosion", a time when all sorts of new animal types were appearing on the scene. This apparent record of sudden increases may only be due to changes in ocean chemistry, or the numbers of predators in the seas, or some of the animals developing hard exoskeletons, remains that were easy to fossilise, or it may reflect a genuine increase in diversity, possibly brought about by the \Jevolution\j of vision, sexual reproduction, or some other key variation in animal life styles.
The existence of many varieties of animal in earlier deposits such as the Pre-Cambrian Ediacara formation makes many scientists suspect that the "explosion" is just an apparent effect with no basis in historical fact, but clearly there was a lot going on when the Burgess shale was laid down.
Curiously, the Ediacaran faunas seem to have disappeared by the time the Cambrian rocks begin to give us evidence of the "explosion". Maybe the Ediacaran animals were still around, but were scavenged by the new animals, maybe they had all become extinct because of a catastrophe, maybe they were just out-competed by the new animals.
The most extreme viewpoint, taken by Adolf Seilacher, is that the Ediacaran faunas, even though found in many parts of the world, are just artefacts of some sort, that they are not true fossils at all, and he points to the rocks involved, coarse-grained sediments formed in shallow turbulent waters, asking if this is the sort of place where we would expect fossils to form.
Most of the Burgess Shale material was collected in a few years, starting in 1909, when Charles Walcott first stumbled on the site, now known as Fossil Ridge, and stretching between Wapta Mountain and Mount Field in British Columbia. The quarry site was reopened in 1966 and 1967 by Harry Whittington, who shortly after, moved from Harvard to England, where he took up the Woodwardian Chair of \JGeology\j at Cambridge.
In the early 1970s, Whittington let two research students, Simon Conway Morris and Derek Briggs loose on his material, and they later moved to Washington D. C., to work through Walcott's material at the Smithsonian Institution. The result was a sudden realisation that the standard view of the development of species in the Cambrian would need to be revised. Most of the present phyla were already there, along with many others which have been lost today, and there were soft-bodied animals in the fauna as well.
Similar deposits are known from other parts of the world, with about 30 recognised sites, mainly in \JGreenland\j, south China and north America, but none compares with the Burgess shale.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Burgess, (Frank) Gelett",6189,0,0,0
DT (1866-1951)
EN writer, humorist; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. He attended \JMassachusetts\j Institute of Technology (B.S. 1887), and moved to \JSan Francisco\j (1888), where he worked as a draftsman for the Southern Pacific Railroad (1888-91). He moved to New York City (1897), where he worked as an editor, and, after his marriage to an actress, lived in \JFrance\j to sample bohemian life (1914-18).
He is known for publishing \IThe Lark\i (1895-97), a humorous magazine, which carried his famous quatrain, "The Purple Cow." He continued to write, but with little success, and retired to \JCalifornia\j (1949).
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"Burgess, Anthony",6190,0,0,0
HS , pseudonym of \BJohn Anthony Burgess Wilson\b
DT1 1917
DT2 93
EN Writer and critic, born in Manchester, Greater Manchester, north-west England, UK. He studied at Xaverian College and Manchester University, lectured at Birmingham University (1946-50), worked for the Ministry of Education, and taught at Banbury \JGrammar School\j (1950-4). He then became an education officer in Malaya and \JBrunei\j (1954-9), where his experiences inspired his \IMalayan Trilogy\i (1965).
His many novels include \IA Clockwork Orange\i (1962), \I1985\i (1978), \IEarthly Powers\i (1980), and \IAny Old Iron\i (1989). He wrote several critical studies and film scripts, including \IJesus of Nazareth\i (1977). His musical compositions include symphonies, a ballet, and an opera. He also wrote under the name of \BJoseph Kell\b as well as under his original name. In his later years he lived in Monaco.
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"Burgess, Guy (Francis de Moncy)",6191,0,0,0
DT1 1910
DT2 63
EN British traitor, born in Devonport, Devon, south-west England, UK. He studied at \JEton\j, Dartmouth, and Cambridge, where he became a communist. Recruited as a Soviet agent in the 1930s, he worked with the BBC (1936--9), wrote war propaganda (1939-41), and again joined the BBC (1941-4) while working for MI5.
Thereafter, he was a member of the Foreign Office, and second secretary under Philby in Washington in 1950. Recalled in 1951 for 'serious misconduct', he and Maclean disappeared, re-emerging in the \JSoviet Union\j in 1956. He died in Moscow.
MEX Maclean, Donald; Philby
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"Burgess, John William",6192,0,0,0
DT (1844-1931)
EN political scientist, educator; born in Giles County, Tenn. He almost singlehandedly advanced the field of political science to the academic arena. He chaired the first department of history and political science at Amherst College (1873-76) before moving to Columbia University in 1876. He helped establish Columbia's university status and served as dean (1909-12).
A prolific writer and esteemed teacher, he wrote several works that focused on 19th- and early 20th-century U.S. history. He warned against centralized power and stressed the obligation of states to protect individual rights. His lectures are compiled in \IPolitical Science and Comparative Constitutional Law\i (1890).
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"Burgess, Thornton W. (Waldo)",6193,0,0,0
DT (1874-1965)
EN writer; born in Sandwich, Mass. He was a magazine writer and editor (1895-1911) and a syndicated newspaper columnist (1912-60). Drawing on the bedtime stories he told to his son, he published \IOld Mother West Wind\i (1910) and \IMother West Wind's Children\i (1911), the first of his 54 books of stories for children, many featuring a cast of animals that have human names and talk and act like people. (He borrowed the name "Peter Rabbit" from the British author, Beatrix Potter.) He promoted conservationist ideas through his books and his Radio Nature League (founded 1925).
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"burgh",6194,0,0,0
EN borough
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"Burgh, Hubert de",6195,0,0,0
PN [ber]
DT1 ?
DT2 1243
EN English statesman. He was the patriotic \Jjusticiar\j of England (1215-32), and virtual ruler for the last four years of this period, but now is chiefly remembered as the jailer of Prince Arthur. He was created Earl of Kent in 1227.
MEX Arthur, Prince
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"Burghley or Burghleigh, Lord",6196,0,0,0
EN See Cecil, William, 1st Baron Burghley or Burghleigh
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#
"burglary",6197,0,0,0
EN In some legal systems, a crime which involves entering a building as a trespasser either with the intent to commit theft, grievous \Jbodily harm\j, or rape; or, having entered, stealing or attempting to steal anything, or committing or attempting to commit grievous \Jbodily harm\j. In the USA, the entry must be with the intent to commit theft or a \Jfelony\j; the crime occurs at the moment of entry.
A 'building' is a roofed structure with some measure of permanence: caravans and houseboats are included. In the USA the definition of structure has been extended in some jurisdictions as far as including automated teller machines. The term \Iburglary\i is not used in Scottish law, which has its own forms of aggravated theft (eg theft by housebreaking).
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"Burgos",6198,0,0,0
PN [\Bboor\bgos]
EN 42░21N 3░41W, pop (1995e) 162 000. Capital of Burgos province, N \JSpain\j; on R Arlanz≤n, 243 km/151 mi N of Madrid; former capital of Old Castile; archbishopric; railway; a world heritage site; home and burial site of El Cid; textiles, motor accessories, silk, chemicals, nails, clothes; Santa Maria de Gerona nuclear power station (1971); cathedral (13th--16th-c), castle; fair and fiestas of St Peter (Jun).
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"Burgoyne, John",6199,0,0,0
HS , nickname \BGentleman Johnnie\b
DT1 1722
DT2 92
EN British general and playwright, born in Sutton, \JBedfordshire\j, SC England, UK. He entered the army in 1740, and gave distinguished service in the Seven Years' War (1756-63). He then sat in parliament as a Tory, and in 1777 was sent to America, where he led an expedition from Canada into New York State, taking Ticonderoga, but being forced to surrender at Saratoga. He later joined the \JWhigs\j, and commanded in Ireland (1782-3). His best-known work was his comedy, \IThe Heiress\i (1786).
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"Burgtheater",6200,0,0,0
EN (Vienna) Founded in 1741 as the court theatre of the \JHabsburgs\j. In 1776 the Emperor Josef II, influenced partially by the ideas of Josef von Sonnenfels on the educative potential of the theatre, declared it to be a national theatre. Under the aegis of actors such as Brockmann and Friedrich Schr÷der, the Burgtheater developed a style of acting noted for its moderation and evenness of expression among the whole ensemble.
In the 19th century, under the directorship first of Josef Schreyvogel, then of Heinrich Laube, this style became widely admired and imitated. Among the greatest actors who perfected the Burgtheater style were Heinrich Anschⁿtz (1785-1865), famous for his moving Lear; Bernhard Baumeister (1828-1917), a magnificently robust actor; Josef Lewinsky (1835-1907), a masterly player of villains; Sophie Schr÷der; Charlotte Wolter (1834-97), a great tragedienne; and Adolf von Sonnenthal (1834-1909).
In 1888, the company moved from their intimate theatre in the Hofburg to a palatial construction on the Franzen-Ring. This threatened their traditional style of ensemble, but through careful direction and the acting of Mitterwurzer and Kainz, the standard was maintained. The Burgtheater is still the pre-eminent theatre of the German- speaking world and continues to practise, in modified form, the ideals of acting developed during the 18th and 19th centuries.
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"Burgundy",6201,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 1 658 000; area 31 582 sq km/12 191 sq mi. Region and former province of EC \JFrance\j, comprising departments of C⌠te-d'Or, NiΦvre, Sa⌠ne-et-Loire, and Yonne; former kingdom of Burgundia (5th--10th-c); famous wine-producing area (eg Beaujolais, Beaune, Chablis); wooded Monts du Morvan (902 m/2959 ft) in C; chief town, Dijon; industry centred on Le Creusot; caves at Arcy-sur-Cure; Parc de Morvan regional nature park; several spas.
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"Burhinidae",6202,0,0,0
EN \BThick-knees\b
In the family \JBurhinidae\j, a number of essentially very similar birds go under a variety of English names: in Africa, several species are called dikkops, in America they are called thick-knees, and in Britain they are usually called stone-curlews. The name thick-knee alludes to a distinctive thickening of the 'knee' joint (actually the tibiotarsal joint) present in all species. There are eight or nine species arranged in two genera, although one of these, \IEsacus,\i is often included in the other, \IBurhinus.\i
The total number of species is uncertain because consensus has not been reached on whether \IEsacus\i should be regarded as containing two species or only one. The family belongs in the order Charadriiformes, and is usually assigned to the suborder Charadrii; their closest relatives are the avocets (family \JRecurvirostridae\j) and oystercatchers (\JHaematopodidae\j).
Most \IBurhinus\i species are around 35 cm in total length, a conspicuous exception being the Double-striped Thick-knee \IBurhinus bistriatus,\i which is about 51 cm long. \IEsacus,\i at about 52 cm, is a little bigger.
Thick-knees are big-headed birds with very large, staring, pale yellow eyes. The wings may be long and pointed or short and blunt. The long legs, with their obvious thickening at the 'knee', are reticulated all round and are usually dull yellowish green. The bill is stout, straight, and moderately long (but massive in \IEsacus.)\i There is no hind toe. The plumage is mainly grayish brown above, dingy white below, but often heavily streaked or spotted, and always intricately marked and highly cryptic.
Some species have boldly black and white wings, obvious in flight but hidden at rest. Females resemble males, young birds resemble adults, and there is no seasonal variation. Downy chicks are mottled and highly cryptic.
Thick-knees usually carry themselves hunch-backed and with an oddly furtive air that is strongly characteristic. They are mainly active at night, spending most of the \Jday\j hiding in scrub or under a shady bush. They prefer secluded country, but not necessarily away from human habitation: the Spotted Thick-knee \IBurhinus capensis,\i for instance, is often common in large city parks in South Africa; the \JSenegal\j Thick-knee \IBurhinus senegalensis\i sometimes nests on the roofs of buildings, and in \JAustralia\j the Bush Thick-knee \IBurhinus grallarius\i may inhabit cemeteries and similar urban environments.
Thick-knees fly strongly, but prefer to evade danger by hiding if they can: they freeze under or behind a bush, or they may flatten on the ground with neck outstretched (a highly distinctive thick-knee trait). If hard-pressed they trot stealthily away in a characteristically hunched posture, with head held low.
Except when nesting, most thick-knees are gregarious, usually forming groups of a dozen or two, but occasionally, in certain species under some circumstances, congregating in flocks of hundreds. Even when nesting, off-duty thick-knees often join foraging groups between shifts at the nest.
Two species (Double-striped Thick-knee and Peruvian Thick-knee \IBurhinus superciliaris)\i inhabit the Neotropical region, from Mexico to southern \JBrazil\j and \JPeru\j, but all other \IBurhinus\i species inhabit the Old World. Africa has four species (three of them resident), while the Northern Stone-\Jcurlew\j \IBurhinus oedicnemus\i has a wide breeding distribution from southern Europe across Asia to \JBurma\j, and the Bush Thick-knee is widespread in southern New Guinea and across most of mainland \JAustralia\j.
The various populations of \IEsacus\i are exclusively coastal birds with an extensive distribution from India and the Andaman Islands to the Solomon Islands and northern \JAustralia\j. Most thick-knees are strongly sedentary or only locally nomadic, but northern populations of the Stone-\Jcurlew\j migrate, largely to \JSpain\j, \JPortugal\j, and North Africa.
Thick-knees inhabit most kinds of grasslands with scrub or scattered trees, from semi-desert to open woodland. Two species (\JSenegal\j Thick-knee, and Water Dikkop \IBurhinus vermiculatus)\i are strongly associated with wetlands and riverine woodland along rivers and streams, and all forms of \IEsacus\i live on secluded beaches and mudflats.
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"burials",6203,0,0,0
EN See bog burials; 15531 Hochdorf; 17995 \JKofun\j; 20054 Maes Howe; 22103 Mount Li; 22825 New Grange; 24439 Pazyryk; 29025 shaft graves; 29185 Ship of Cheops; 30776 Sutton Hoo ship burial
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"Burian, E(mil) F(rantisek)",6204,0,0,0
DT 1904-59
EN Czech director and designer. He began his career in the 1920s as composer, musician and actor, and in 1933 established his own theatre collective, D34 (the number changed annually to indicate the current season). There, his early work contained elements of Piscator-like agit- prop, but his most successful productions combined his musical talents more artistically with his intense political concerns.
Burian often created his own poetic scenarios, most strikingly in War (1935), a moving anti-military work of village life. An auteur of the stage, he tended to regard every text as a libretto, for which he would be editor, composer, orchestrator and conductor. Although he produced in very small spaces, he achieved sophisticated technical effects: e.g. theatergraph, in 1935, a system that blended cinema projections with live action in poetic ways and thus anticipated the Czech Laterna Magika of the 1950s.
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"Buridan, Jean",6205,0,0,0
PN [booreedπ]
DT1a c.
DT1 1300
DT2a c.
DT2 1358
EN Scholastic philosopher, probably born in BΘthune, \JFrance\j. He studied under William of Ockham and taught in Paris, publishing works on mechanics, \Joptics\j, and logic. He gave his name to the famous problem of decision-making called \IBuridan's ass,\i where an ass faced with two equidistant and equally desirable bales of hay starves to death because there are no grounds for preferring to go to one bale rather than the other.
MEX William of Ockham
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"burin",6206,0,0,0
PN [\Bbyoo\brin]
EN A tool used in \Jengraving\j; also called a \Bgraver.\b It has a rounded wooden handle to fit into the palm of the hand, and a pointed metal blade for cutting into the woodblock or metal plate.
BK b
#
"Burk, Martha Jane (Canary) (Calamity Jane)",6207,0,0,0
DT (?1852-1903)
EN legendary frontier figure; born in Princeton, Mo. Raised in Virginia City, Mont. (1864), she became an expert markswoman and rider - dressed as a man - and held her own in rough, mining-town society. Allegedly a pony-express rider and then a scout for Gen. George Custer in Wyoming (1870s), she was companion to "Wild Bill" Hickok and heroine during the smallpox epidemic (1878) in the gold rush town of Deadwood, S.D.
In 1891 she wed Clinton Burk(e) in El Paso, \JTexas\j, but he soon left her and she died in poverty. She is the heroine of \IDeadwood Dick on Deck, or Calamity Jane the Heroine of Whoop Up,\i an Edward L. Wheeler dime novel (1884), and is buried beside Hickok in Deadwood.
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"Burke's Peerage",6208,0,0,0
EN A reference guide to the aristocratic and titled families of \JGreat Britain\j, first published by John Burke (1787-1848) in 1826 under the title \IGenealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the \JPeerage\j and Baronetage of the United Kingdom.\i
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#
"Burke, Charles Henry",6209,0,0,0
DT (1861-1944)
EN U.S. representative; born in Batavia, N.Y. A homesteader, lawyer, and realtor, he served in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Rep., S.D.; 1899-1907, 1909-15). He became Commissioner of Indian Affairs (1921-29), and returned to dealing in real estate afterward.
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"Burke, Edmund",6210,0,0,0
DT1 1729
DT2 97
EN British statesman and political philosopher, born in Dublin. Educated at a Quaker boarding-school and at Trinity College, Dublin, he began studying law (1750), but then took up literary work. His early writing includes his \IPhilosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful\i (1756). He became secretary for Ireland, and entered parliament in 1765. His main speeches and writings belong to the period when his party was opposed to Lord North's American policy (1770-82). His \IReflections on the French Revolution\i (1790) was read all over Europe.
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"Burke, John Governor",6211,0,0,0
DT (1859-1937)
EN governor, federal official, judge; born in Keokuk County, \JIowa\j. He moved to the Dakota Territory (1888) and served in the North Dakota state senate (1893-95). He was the Democratic governor of North Dakota (1907-12) and treasurer of the United States (1913-21). He served on the North Dakota Supreme Court (1925-37). North Dakota placed his statue in the U.S. Capitol.
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"Burke, John J. (Joseph)",6212,0,0,0
DT (1875-1936)
EN religious leader; born in New York City. A Paulist priest who was editor of the \ICatholic World\i (1904-22), he helped during World War I to organize the bishops' group known as the National Catholic War Council. As general secretary (from 1919) of its successor, the National Catholic Welfare Council (later, Conference), he was a respected voice for Catholic interests and social reform. In 1936 he became a monsignor.
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"Burke, John, genealogist",6213,0,0,0
DT1 1787
DT2 1848
EN Genealogist, born in Co \JTipperary\j, Ireland. He was the compiler of \IBurke's Peerage\i - the first dictionary of baronets and peers in alphabetical order, published in 1826.
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"Burke, Kenneth",6214,0,0,0
DT (1897-1993)
EN literary critic, poet; born in \JPittsburgh\j, Pa. After dropping out of Columbia University, he began his writing career in New York City, serving as music critic at \IDial\i magazine (1927-29). He wrote fiction, poetry, and literary criticism and theory, winning a Guggenheim Fellowship (1935). He taught at various colleges, mainly Bennington (Vt.) (1943-61). A complex writer, he is best known for his philosophy of language articulated in \IThe Grammar of Motive\i (1945) and \ILanguage as Symbolic Action\i (1966).
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"Burke, Martha Jane",6215,0,0,0
EN See Calamity Jane
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#
"Burke, Robert O'Hara",6216,0,0,0
DT1 1820
DT2 61
EN Traveller and explorer of \JAustralia\j, born in St Clerans, Co \JGalway\j, Ireland. He studied in \JBelgium\j, served in the Austrian army (1840), joined the Irish constabulary (1848), and emigrated to \JAustralia\j in 1853. As leader of the Burke and Wills expedition (1860), he was one of the first white men to cross the Australian continent from S to N. Both Burke and Wills died of starvation on the return journey.
MEX King, John; Leichhardt; Wills, William John
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#
"Burke, Thomas",6217,0,0,0
DT1 1886
DT2 1945
EN Writer, born in London, England, UK. He is best known for his \ILimehouse Nights\i (1916), but he was the author of about 30 books, including \INights in Town\i (1915), \IThe Streets of London\i (1941), and \IThe English Inn\i (1930).
SX m
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#
"Burke, Thomas Henry",6218,0,0,0
DT1 1829
DT2 82
EN British politician. Permanent Irish under-secretary from 1868, he was murdered with Lord Frederick Cavendish in Phoenix Park, Dublin.
MEX Cavendish, Spencer Compton
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#
"Burke, William",6219,0,0,0
DT1 1792
DT2 1829
EN Murderer, born in Orrery, Ireland. With his partner, \BWilliam Hare\b (c.1790-c.1860), born in \JLondonderry\j, he carried out a series of infamous murders in Edinburgh in the 1820s, with the aim of supplying dissection subjects to Dr Robert Knox, the anatomist. Hare, the more villainous of the two, turned king's evidence, and died a beggar in London in the 1860s; Burke was hanged, to the general satisfaction of the crowd.
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"Burkina Faso",6220,0,0,0
PN [ber\Bkee\bna \Bfa\bsoh]
EN pop (1995e) 10 328 000; area 274 200 sq km/105 870 sq mi. Land-locked republic in W Africa, divided into 30 provinces; capital, Ouagadougou; other chief towns, Bobo Dioulasso, Koudougou, Ouahigouya, Tenkodogo; timezone GMT; over 50 tribes, notably the \JMossi\j (48%); official language, French, but many local languages; religion, mainly local beliefs, with some Muslim (c.25%) and Christian (10%); unit of currency, the CFA franc.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
Low-lying plateau, falling away to the S; many rivers (tributaries of the Volta or \JNiger\j) unnavigable in dry season; wooded savannahs in S; semi-desert in N; tropical climate, mean \Jtemperature\j 27░C in dry season (Dec--May); rainy season (Jun--Oct), with violent storms (Aug); \Iharmattan\iwind blows from the NE (Dec--Mar); rainfall decreases from S to N; average annual rainfall at Ouagadougou 894 mm/35 in.
\IHistory and government\i
One of the oldest indigenous kingdoms of W Africa, dating back to 11th-c; penetrated by \JIslam\j, 14th--16th-c; \JMossi\j empire in 18th--19th-c; Upper Volta created by French, 1919; abolished, 1932, with most land joined to Ivory Coast; original borders reconstituted, 1947; autonomy within French community, 1958; independence, 1960, since when there have been several military coups; constitution of 1977 allowing 57-member elected National Assembly suspended in 1980; renamed Burkina Faso, 1984; governed by a president and an appointed Council of Ministers; new constitution, 1991, which promulgated an Assembly of People's Deputies with 107 members.
\IEconomy\i
An agricultural country, largely at subsistence level and subject to \Jdrought\j conditions (especially 1973--4); mainly \Jsorghum\j, \Jmillet\j, \Jmaize\j, rice, cotton, groundnuts, sesame, sugar cane, livestock; reserves of \Jtitanium\j, \Jlimestone\j, iron ore, \Jvanadium\j, \Jmanganese\j, zinc, nickel copper, phosphate, gold; processed foods, cigarettes, shoes, bicycles.
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#
"Burkitt, Denis (Parsons)",6221,0,0,0
DT (1911-93)
EN British epidemiologist: discovered Burkitt's lymphoma, a cancer caused by a virus.
Born and educated in Ulster, Burkitt entered Trinity College, Dublin to study \Jengineering\j but changed to medicine and specialized in surgery. Working in \JUganda\j in the 1950s, he discovered the type of cancer now known as Burkitt's lymphoma. This presents as swellings of the jaw, usually in children of 6-8 years.
Burkitt toured Africa to examine its incidence and found it mainly in areas where \Jmalaria\j is endemic, but no microorganism linked with it could be detected initially, so a virus was clearly a possibility. However, attempts made in London to establish tissue cultures of the cancer cells were unsuccessful until 1964. Then the cells were grown in culture and \Jelectron\j microscopy showed them to be infected with the Epstein-Barr virus. It seems likely that the lymphoma is caused by a conjunction of factors, including the virus (which is very common, worldwide) and exposure to \Jmalaria\j.
Burkitt was a proponent of high-fibre diets, partly because some bowel diseases common in developed countries are rare in Africa, where such diets are usual.
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#
"Burleigh, Henry Thacker",6222,0,0,0
DT (1866-1949)
EN baritone, composer, arranger; born in Erie, Pa. He learned African-American songs from his maternal grandfather, born a slave, and his voice gained him entry to the National \JConservatory\j of Music in New York (1892-96). Its director was then Anton Dvorßk, who both encouraged Burleigh and learned about the folk music he would use in his own works.
He was soloist at St. George's Church in New York City (1894-1946) and sang occasionally at the city's Temple Emanu-El; he also concertized in America and Europe. From 1911 to 1949, he was a music editor at G. Ricordi & Company. He composed many songs and ballads but made his greatest mark through his arrangements of black spirituals such as "Deep River" (1916).
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"Burleigh, Lord",6223,0,0,0
EN See Cecil, William, 1st Baron Burghley or Burghleigh
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"burlesque",6224,0,0,0
EN \JBurlesque\j, \Jparody\j, and satire are often treated as synonyms for ridicule through distortion, but distinctions can be made between them. None of the three words refers exclusively to drama; yet all have been applied to drama. \JBurlesque\j as derisive imitation enters the English language in the 17th century, after such signal achievements as the Pyramus and Thisbe scene in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream and the mockery of romance in Beaumont and Fletcher's Knight of the Burning Pestle.
In general, \Jburlesque\j tends to be broader than \Jparody\j, mocking a style, class or genre. Seventeenth-century \JFrance\j and 18th-century England showed a marked taste for \Jburlesque\j, and plays of that genre were standard fare in the 19th-century theatres of most European countries. Twentieth-century \Jburlesque\j survives in skits and revues, but Tom Stoppard's Travesties is a rare example of a full-length \Jburlesque\j.
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"burlesque show, American",6225,0,0,0
EN Popular theatre form. A raucous and bawdy style of variety performance, it was partly inspired by Lydia Thompson and her British Blondes, partly by blackface minstrelsy (see minstrel show) and 'leg shows' like The Black Crook. Early personalities in the genre were Mme Rentz's Female Minstrels and May Howard, who ran her own company in the 1880s.
The \Jburlesque\j show, a preponderantly female production, rapidly developed a tripartite structure: in the first third, dance and song rendered by a female company was intermingled with low comedy from male comedians; part two was an olio of specialities in which the women did not appear; and part three comprised a grand finale. Sam T. Jack, who opened the first exclusively \Jburlesque\j theatre in \JChicago\j, pioneered 'dirty' \Jburlesque\j or 'turkey show', which was especially popular in the Western 'honky-tonks'.
The Empire and Mutual Circuits or Wheels revelled in such maculose entertainment, while the Columbia Circuit booked only clean shows, until 1925 when it too was forced by dwindling receipts to go dirty.
Leading entrepreneurs were the Minsky brothers: Abe, who brought belly dancers (known as 'cootchers') and the illuminated runway from Paris; the publicists Billy and Morton; and Herbert, who introduced opera. From the early 1900s to 1935 they moulded the image of American \Jburlesque\j, at the Republic Theatre and the National Winter Garden, New York. By present-\Jday\j standards the offerings were tame, for the girls never disrobed completely. But the blatant doubles entendres in the dialogue between straight man and 'talking woman', and runway interplay between strippers and audience, enraged moralists.
The strip-tease (see nudity), which achieved extraordinary invention and daring, entered \Jburlesque\j in 1921 with 'Curls' Mason, and Carrie Finnell performed the first tassel dance, twirling the fringe from her nipples; the most memorable personalities among the strippers were Millie De Leon, the urbane Gypsy Rose Lee (a protΘgΘe of the gangster Waxy Gordon) and the indestructible Anne Corio. There were many comedians nurtured by the form, including Willie Howard.
Changing times brought classic \Jburlesque\j to an end. New York courts banned the runway in 1934 and all \Jburlesque\j in 1942, and the \JBurlesque\j Artists Association had its charter revoked in 1957.
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"Burlingame, Anson",6226,0,0,0
DT (1820-70)
EN U.S. representative, diplomat; born in New Berlin, N.Y. He was a member of the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Free-Soil, Mass.; 1855-59, Repub., Mass.; 1859-61). He was ambassador to China (1861-67) where he deeply impressed the Chinese with his integrity and helpfulness. In 1867, China appointed him the head of their first diplomatic mission to Europe. He died in St. Petersburg, \JRussia\j.
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"Burlington, Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of",6227,0,0,0
DT1 1694
DT2 1753
EN Architect and patron of the arts, born in London, England, UK. A great admirer of Palladio, he was himself an enthusiastic architect. He refashioned the Burlington House in Piccadilly of his great-grandfather, the 1st earl, and by his influence over a group of young architects was responsible for fostering the Palladian precept which was to govern English building for half a century.
MEX Palladio
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"Burma",6228,0,0,0
EN See \JMyanmar\j
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"Burma Road",6229,0,0,0
EN A road linking the Burmese railhead at Lashio with Kunming, 1150┐km / 700┐mi distant in Yunnan province, China. Completed by the Chinese in 1938, it was of great strategic importance to the Allies during World War 2 until the Japanese conquest of \JBurma\j (1942).
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"Burmeister's Porpoise",6230,0,0,0
EN \B\BFamily:\b Phocoenidae\b \I(porpoises)\i\b
\BScientific Name: \IPhocoena spinipinnis\i\b
\BIdentification:\b
Length at birth 2.5 to 3 ft (0.8 to 0.9 m), most adults up to 6 ft (1.85 m) but some off Uruguay up to 6.5 ft (2 m). Maximum body weight recorded, 187.5 lbs (85 kg).
Small, chunky body with a blunt head and no beak. Flippers rather broad, with rounded tips. The dorsal fin is characteristic: situated just caudal to the middle of the back, its cranial margin rises at an acute angle and slopes backwards, forms a blunt peak, and the caudal margin is straight or slightly convex. Tubercles are present on the cranial margin.
The body is charcoal or dark gray, with paler gray streaks on the belly and lower jaw. On close inspection, darker markings can be seen around the eyes and mouth, and a stripe from the chin to the cranial insertion of the flipper. The stripe is narrower and extends further forward on the right side.
Most groups are less than 6 individuals, but aggregations of up to 70 are seen occasionally. Little surface activity, not easy to spot at sea. Food includes fish such as anchovies and hake, and \Jsquid\j.
\BDistribution:\b
Temperate waters of the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of \JSouth America\j, from northern \JPeru\j, south to the southern tip of \JChile\j and Tierra del Fuego, and north to southern \JBrazil\j.
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"Burmese cat",6231,0,0,0
EN A breed of domestic cat, of the \Iforeign short-haired\i type; many breeds (not all recognized in USA): brown (or zibelines), blue, blue-cream, cream, chocolate (or champagne), tortoiseshell (or tortie), chocolate tortie, lilac (or \Jplatinum\j), lilac tortie (or lilac cream), and red.
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"burn",6232,0,0,0
EN A wound in which tissues are damaged or destroyed by heat; a contrast is often drawn with a \Bscald,\b which is a burn caused by moist heat. Burns are classified into either \Ipartial thickness\i (when some of the surface structures such as the hairs and the sweat glands are preserved) or \Ifull thickness\i (in which deeper structures are destroyed). The management of burns may now involve specialist teams composed of several medical and surgical disciplines, often housed in specialist units.
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"Burne-Jones, Sir Edward Coley",6233,0,0,0
DT1 1833
DT2 98
EN Painter and designer, born in Birmingham, West Midlands, C England, UK. He studied at Oxford, where he met William Morris, and through the encouragement of Rossetti, relinquished the Church for art. His later oils, inspired by the early Italian Renaissance, are characterized by a Romantic and contrived \JMannerism\j. His subjects, drawn from the Arthurian romances and Greek myths, include 'The Days of Creation', 'The Beguiling of Merlin', and 'The Mirror of Venus', exhibited in 1877. He also designed \Jstained glass\j and tapestries, and illustrated several books for William Morris, notably Chaucer. He was made a \Jbaronet\j in 1894.
MEX Morris, William; Rossetti, Dante Gabriel
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"burnet",6234,0,0,0
EN An erect, tuft-forming perennial, native to Europe, W Asia, and North Africa; leaves mostly basal, slightly bluish, \Jpinnate\j with oval, toothed leaflets; flowers in a globular head, four sepals, petals absent. The \Bsalad burnet\b \I(Sanguisorba minor)\i grows to 40┐cm / 15┐in, flowers green or purple-tinged; crushed foliage smelling of cucumber. The \Bgreat burnet\b \I(sanguisorba officinalis)\i is a larger plant growing to 60┐cm / 2┐ft; flowers dull red. \B(Family:\b Rosaceae.)
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"Burnet, Alastair",6235,0,0,0
PN [ber\Bnet\b]
HS , popular name of \BSir James William Alexander Burnet\b
DT1 1928
EN British journalist and \Jtelevision\j news presenter. He studied at Worcester College, Oxford, then became editor of \IThe Economist\i (1965--74) and \IThe Daily Express\i (1974--6). He became a nationally known personality when he joined ITN as a news presenter (1976--91), and he later became associate editor for \INews at Ten\i (1982--91). He was knighted in 1984.
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"Burnet, Sir (Frank) Macfarlane",6236,0,0,0
DT (1899-1985)
EN Australian medical scientist: made studies of virus and the immune system.
A graduate in medicine from Melbourne, Burnet spent two year-long visits studying bacteriology in London, and the rest of his career in Melbourne. In the 1930s he worked on viruses, where his successes included studies on bacteriophages (viruses which attack \Jbacteria\j) and a method for culturing some viruses in living chick embryos. This last work led him to the view that an animal's ability to produce antibody in response to an \Jantigen\j is not inborn, but is developed during fetal life. (Evidence that this is correct was later found by Medawar.)
Burnet also worked on the mode of action and the \Jepidemiology\j of the influenza virus, the \Jcholera\j \Jvibrio\j, polio and Q fever. His clonal selection theory (1951) offered a general scheme explaining how an immune system develops the ability to distinguish between 'self' and 'non-self' and initiated both controversy and further work by others. He shared a Nobel Prize with Medawar in 1960.
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"Burnett, Frances (Eliza)",6237,0,0,0
DT (1849-1924)
EN author; born in Manchester, England. Brought up in Manchester, she and her parents emigrated to Knoxville, Tenn. (1865). She wrote for periodicals, traveled to Europe (1875-77), married, and moved to Washington, D.C. After the failure of her marriage, she divided her time between Long Island and England, and wrote her enduring classics for young readers, \ILittle Ford Fauntleroy\i (1886), and \IThe Secret Garden\i (1911). She continued to publish many other books, but her nostalgic approach became unpopular and it is her earlier work that is remembered.
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"Burnett, Ivy Compton",6238,0,0,0
EN See Compton-Burnett, Dame Ivy
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"Burnett, James",6239,0,0,0
EN See Monboddo, James Burnett, Lord
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"Burnett, Leo",6240,0,0,0
DT (1891-1971)
EN advertising executive; born in St. Johns, Mich. After working on the creative side of midwestern advertising agencies, he founded and chaired his own \JChicago\j agency, Leo Burnett Company, Inc. (1935-67), which became the fifth largest in the world. His books include \ICommunications of an Advertising Man\i (1961).
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"Burnett, Peter (Hardeman)",6241,0,0,0
DT (1807-95)
EN public official; born in Nashville, Tenn. He went to Oregon in 1843 and led a group of goldseekers to \JCalifornia\j in 1848 where he briefly served as John A. Sutter's attorney. He was the first governor of \JCalifornia\j (1849-51) and president of the Pacific Bank in \JSan Francisco\j.
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"Burney, Charles",6242,0,0,0
DT1 1726
DT2 1814
EN Musicologist, born in \JShrewsbury\j, Shropshire, WC England, UK, the father of \BFanny Burney.\b After composing three pieces, \IAlfred,\i \IRobin Hood,\i and \IQueen Mab,\i for Drury Lane (1745-50), he went as organist to King's Lynn, Norfolk (1751-60). He travelled in \JFrance\j, \JItaly\j, \JGermany\j, and \JAustria\j (1770-2) to collect material for his \IGeneral History of Music\i (1776-89), long considered a standard work. In 1783 he became organist to Chelsea \JHospital\j.
MEX Burney, Fanny
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"Burney, Fanny",6243,0,0,0
HS , popular name of \BFrances Burney,\b married name \BMadame d'Arblay\b
DT1 1752
DT2 1840
EN Writer and diarist, born in King's Lynn, Norfolk, E England, UK. She educated herself by reading English and French literature and observing the distinguished people who visited her father. Her first and best novel, \IEvelina,\i was published anonymously in 1778, and influenced Jane Austen.
She was given a court appointment in 1786, but her health declined; she retired on a pension and married a French emigrΘ, \BGeneral d'Arblay,\b in 1793. Her \ILetters and Diaries\i (1846) show her skill in reporting events of her time.
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"Burnham, (Linden) Forbes (Sampson)",6244,0,0,0
PN [\Bber\bnuhm]
DT1 1923
DT2 85
EN Guyanese statesman and prime minister (1964-80), born in Kitty, \JGuyana\j. He studied law in London, and was co-founder of the Marxist-Leninist People's Progressive Party in 1949. In 1955 he broke away, and was co-founder in 1957 of the more moderate, Socialist People's National Congress. As prime minister he led his country to independence in 1966. In 1980 a new constitution was adopted, and he became executive president until his death in office.
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"Burnham, Daniel H(udson)",6245,0,0,0
DT (1846-1912)
EN architect and city planner; born in Henderson, N.Y. He trained with William Le Baron Jenney. In partnership with John Wellborn Root (1873-91) and later independently, Burnham helped establish the \JChicago\j School with his seminal \Jskyscraper\j designs beginning with the Montauk Block, \JChicago\j (1881-82).
His pioneering city planning (as in Washington, D.C. (1901-2) and \JChicago\j (1909)) launched the "City Beautiful" movement. He was first chairman of the National Commission of Fine Arts (1910-12); he helped found the American Academy in \JRome\j.
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"Burnham, Frederick Russell",6246,0,0,0
DT (1861-1947)
EN explorer, scout; born in Tivoli, Minn. He moved west with his family and became a horseback messenger with Western Union Telegraph Company at age 13. After two decades of ranging in the Southwest and Mexico, he went to Africa (with his wife and three children); he worked closely with British imperialist Cecil Rhodes who granted him 100 square miles of land in present-\Jday\j Zimbabwe.
He was chief of scouts in the field for the British army during the Boer War and won the admiration of Sir Robert \JBaden\j Powell (founder of the Boy Scouts). In 1904 he returned to the U.S.A. and led archaeological and mineral-prospecting expeditions in Mexico before he retired to a \Jcattle\j ranch near Sequoia National Park (Calif.).
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"Burnham, Harry Webster Lawson, 1st Viscount",6247,0,0,0
PN [\Bber\bnuhm]
DT1 1862
DT2 1933
EN British politician, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford, became a Liberal and later Unionist MP, and succeeded his father as director of \IThe Daily Telegraph\i in 1903. He is chiefly known as chairman of the committees which inquired into the salaries of teachers and which recommended the \IBurnham Scales.\i
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"Burnham, Sherburne Wesley",6248,0,0,0
DT (1838-1921)
EN astronomer; born in Thetford, Vt. Trained to be a shorthand reporter, he was an amateur astronomer until he joined the staff of Yerkes Observatory (1897-1914). He reopened the subject of double stars when he counted an additional 1,290 double stars in the northern hemisphere and published his findings in 1900. \IHis General Catalogue of Double Stars\i (1906) listed all 13,665 double stars in the northern hemisphere.
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"burning bush",6249,0,0,0
EN See dittany; 30647 summer cypress
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"Burns Night",6250,0,0,0
EN The evening of 25 January, anniversary of the birth (in 1759) of the Scottish poet Robert Burns, celebrated in Scotland and many other parts of the world with a special meal \B(Burns Supper)\b featuring \Jhaggis\j, potatoes, and swedes, followed by a set formula of toasts and performances of Burns's works.
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"Burns, Anthony",6251,0,0,0
DT (1834-62)
EN fugitive slave; born in Stafford County, Va. He converted to the Baptist faith and became a "slave preacher." He escaped from Richmond on a ship and reached \JBoston\j (1854). He was soon arrested and identified, under the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Law (1850). Bostonians fought to keep him free; it took $100,000 and hundreds of soldiers to put down the demonstrations before he was returned to his master in Virginia. Northerners raised $1,200 to purchase his freedom and he studied at Oberlin College (1857-62) and became a Baptist preacher.
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"Burns, Arthur F(rank)",6252,0,0,0
DT (1904-87)
EN economist; born in Stanislau, \JAustria\j. He came to the U.S.A. at the age of ten and went on to receive his university degrees from Columbia University, later teaching there (1933-62). He was a leading expert on business cycles and coauthored \IMeasuring Business Cycles\i (1946) with W. C. Mitchell. He served as an economic adviser to Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon before holding the influential position of chairman of the Federal Reserve (1970-78). He also served as the U.S. ambassador to the Federal Republic of \JGermany\j (1981-85).
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"Burns, George",6253,0,0,0
DT 1896-1996
EN and Gracie Allen [Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen] 1895-1964 American double act. Burns and Allen was the paradigm of an American male-female duo, his wry underplaying setting in relief her staccato dizziness. Burns had been a trick roller-skater, dance teacher and song-and-dance man in \Jvaudeville\j; Allen entered show business as a child in an Irish sisters act.
They teamed up in 1923 and married in 1926, Burns playing the quizzical straight man to her Dumb Dora. 'Lamb Chops', one version of their cross-talk act, was signed to a six-year contract in the Keith theatres (1926-32). They had their own radio show (1932-49) and moved successfully to \Jtelevision\j. After Allen's retirement in 1958, Burns, wielding his omnipresent cigar, continued to perform, a high point being his Carnegie Hall recital in 1976.
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"Burns, John Anthony",6254,0,0,0
DT (1909-75)
EN governor; born in Fort Assineboine, Mont. Having moved to Hawaii, he became a \JHonolulu\j policeman (1934-45) and served as vice squad captain and espionage bureau chief during World War II. He was Hawaii's last non-voting delegate to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j, lobbying for statehood in 1956. As Democratic governor of Hawaii (1963-75), he improved services for ordinary citizens and approved a progressive \Jabortion\j bill.
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"Burns, Robert",6255,0,0,0
DT1 1759
DT2 96
EN Scotland's national poet, born in Alloway, South Ayrshire, south-west Scotland, UK. The son of a poor farmer, his education was thoroughly literary, and he studied the technique of writing, influenced also by the popular tales and songs of Betty Davidson, an old woman who lived with his family. On his father's death (1784) he was left in charge of the farm. At the same time his entanglement with \BJean Armour\b (1767-1834) began, and as the farm went to ruin, his poverty, passion, and despair produced in 1785 an extraordinary output of poetry, including 'The Jolly Beggars'.
Looking for money to emigrate to \JJamaica\j, he published the famous Kilmarnock edition of his poems (1786), which brought such acclaim that he was persuaded to stay in Scotland. Going to Edinburgh, where he was feted, he began the epistolary flirtations with 'Clarinda' (Agnes Maclehose).
In 1788 he married Jean Armour and leased a farm near Dumfries, in 1789 being made an excise officer. By 1790, when he wrote 'Tam o' Shanter', the farm was failing. He left for Dumfries, briefly adopting Radical views, but turning patriot again in 1795.
MEX Maclehose
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"Burns, Tex",6256,0,0,0
EN See L'Amour, Louis (Dearborn)
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"Burns, William J. (John)",6257,0,0,0
DT (1861-1932)
EN detective; born in Baltimore, Md. As affable as he was determined, he joined the Secret Service (1889-1903) where he gained national attention handling investigations like the Monroehead silver $100 certificate case, which became part of American lore. Working for the Interior Department, he uncovered the Oregon, Washington, and \JCalifornia\j land \Jfraud\j cases (1903). After establishing the William J. Burns Detective Agency in New York City (1909), he secured world-wide recognition with the apprehension of the labor union dynamiters (1911).
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"Burnside, Ambrose Everett",6258,0,0,0
DT (1824-81)
EN soldier; born in Liberty, Ind. Recognized more for his famous sidewhiskers than his generalship, he graduated from West Point (1847), served on the frontier, then resigned from the army to manufacture a breechloading rifle of his own design. He returned to service in 1861, became the second commander of the Army of the Potomac (November 1862), and precipitated the Union disaster at Fredericksburg (December 1862), the most one-sided of the major battles of the \JCivil War\j.
Relieved in January 1863, Burnside led the small army that took Knoxville, Tenn. (1863), before returning east to command a corps in Meade's army. He left on leave after the failure of his assault in the Battle of the Crater (1864) and was not recalled. Burnside was a postwar governor of \JRhode Island\j and a U.S. senator from that state (1875-81).
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"Burnside, William",6259,0,0,0
DT1 1852
DT2 1927
EN Mathematician, born in London, England, UK. He entered St John's College, Cambridge, in 1871, became a fellow of Pembroke until 1886, and was professor of \Jmathematics\j at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich (1885-1919). He worked in mathematical physics, complex function theory, differential \Jgeometry\j, and probability theory, but his lasting work was in group theory. His \ITheory of Groups\i (1897) was the first English textbook on the subject.
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"Burr, Aaron",6260,0,0,0
DT (1756-1836)
EN vice-president, politician, adventurer; born in Newark, N.J. After serving with distinction in the \JAmerican Revolution\j, he became a lawyer, engaged himself in some dubious land speculation, and was chosen a U.S. senator (Dem.-Rep., N.Y.; 1791-97). He was nominated in 1800 by the Democratic-Republican Party for vice-president, but because of the process then dictated by the Constitution, he ended up tied with Thomas Jefferson for the presidency. Refusing to concede the election, he forced the \JHouse of Representatives\j to 36 ballots before Jefferson won; Burr received little attention from Jefferson during his vice-presidency (1801-05).
Climaxing a 15-year public and private feud with Alexander Hamilton, Burr challenged, dueled with, and killed Hamilton in 1804; after first fleeing south to avoid indictments, he returned to Washington to finish his term as vice-president. He then became involved with James Wilkinson in a still little-understood conspiracy, the goal of which seemed to be to create a new country in the southwest, with \JNew Orleans\j as its capital.
After escaping indictments three times in Kentucky and Mississippi Territory, he was arrested and tried in Virginia for \Jtreason\j, \JChief Justice\j John Marshall presiding. He was acquitted of \Jtreason\j and all other charges. Setting off for Europe in 1808, he continued to try to engage first Britain and then \JFrance\j in his schemes for "liberating" the Spanish colonies in Mexico and America; when this failed, he returned to New York in 1812 and took up the practice of law. Always needing more money, at age 77 he married a wealthy widow, but she divorced him a year later. The last years of this problematic man were spent in relative obscurity.
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"Burr, Raymond",6261,0,0,0
DT (1917-93)
EN TV actor; born in Westminster, Canada. Coming from Canada to study at Stanford University, he began as a stage actor, appearing in regional theater; he then moved into \Jtelevision\j dramas and movies. He starred as the burly detective in \IPerry Mason\i (1957-66) and \IIronside\i (1967-75), winning two Emmies. He went on to appear in several TV miniseries and in two-hour versions of \IPerry Mason.
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"Burra, Edward",6262,0,0,0
DT1 1905
DT2 76
EN Artist, born in London, England, UK. He studied at the Chelsea School of Art and the Royal College of Art, and travelled widely in Europe and the USA. Well known as a colourist, his Surrealist paintings of figures against exotic (often Spanish) backgrounds are invariably in watercolour, as in 'Soldiers' (1942, Tate, London). He also designed for the ballet.
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"burrakatha",6263,0,0,0
EN Indian theatre form. Burrakatha is a popular form of entertainment, especially in the rural areas of Andhra Pradesh. The form is thought to have been derived from bands of roving minstrels (jangams), who sang the praises of the god \JShiva\j as they travelled the rural parts of this state in ancient times. As social and religious affiliations shifted among the population, the minstrels responded by absorbing secular materials into their shows.
The term burra refers to the tambura, a stringed instrument worn across the right shoulder of the performer (kathakudu). The term katha means a story. The kathakudu plays the tambura with his right hand as he dances rhythmically forward and back on the stage reciting a story.
His co-performers are two drummers who play the earthen drums with two heads (dakki), which produce a distinctly metallic sound to accentuate the songs. One drummer is known as the rajkiya, who makes political and social comments on contemporary issues (even if the story concerns historical or mythological events). The other is the hasyam, who cracks jokes and generally provides comic relief.
The burrakatha stories fall into three categories: mythological, historical and sociopolitical. Although the form was originally improvised, today many of the most popular stories have been written down and committed to memory by the performers. In the 1940s the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA), which was closely associated with the Communist Party of India, made use of rural forms of theatre in many parts of India as a vehicle for conveying its political and social message.
In the state of Andhra, the Praja Natak Mandali (IPTA) revised burrakatha in order to reach vast numbers of voters. Other political parties soon followed suit. Today, as a medium of traditional communication to attract audiences, burrakatha parties are used by a wide range of political organizations, as well as by the state and central government.
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"Burrell, Sir William",6264,0,0,0
DT1 1861
DT2 1958
EN Ship-owner and art collector, born in Glasgow, W Scotland, UK. He entered his father's business at the age of 15, and gradually accumulated a collection of 8000 works of art from all over the world, which he gave in 1944 to the city of Glasgow, with provision for a gallery. The \IBurrell Collection\i was finally opened to the public in 1983.
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"Burritt, Elihu",6265,0,0,0
DT (1810-79)
EN blacksmith, reformer; born in New Britain, Conn. After working as a blacksmith in New Britain, Conn., and Worcester, Mass. (1827-37), and mastering several languages in his spare time, he toured as a \Jlyceum\j lecturer, becoming known as the "learned blacksmith." In 1844 he founded a newspaper in Worcester, the \IChristian Citizen,\i especially to propagate his views on Christian \Jpacifism\j, and he traveled to England (1846) as an "\Japostle\j of peace."
In 1858 he founded a journal devoted to the cause of buying and emancipating slaves. Despite Burritt's opposition to the \JCivil War\j, President Lincoln appointed him consular agent at Birmingham, England, in 1863; he served until 1870.
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"Burroughs, Bryson",6266,0,0,0
DT (1869-1934)
EN painter, curator; born in Hyde Park, Mass. He is remembered as a curator of painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1909-34), where he discovered and acquired important works, such as \IHarvesters\i (1565) by Pieter Brueghel.
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"Burroughs, Edgar Rice",6267,0,0,0
DT (1875-1950)
EN writer; born in \JChicago\j, Ill. Son of a wealthy businessman, he attended the \JMichigan\j Military Academy, then served briefly in the U.S. cavalry until he was dropped for being underage. For the next 15 years (1896-1911) he worked at a variety of jobs including as a cowboy and miner, finally deciding to try his hand at writing. He published his first story, "Under the Moons of Mars" (using the pen name "Normal Bean") in the pulp magazine \IAll-Story\i in 1912; it would become the beginning of a serialized novel (published in 1914 as \IPrincess of Mars).\i
In the years that followed he wrote several more science-fiction series but he would remain best known for a series of novels he began in 1914 with \ITarzan of the Apes,\i a story about an English boy raised by apes in Africa; it was so successful that he went on to write another 27 titles in the Tarzan series. He moved to \JHollywood\j in 1919 to supervise the filming of the first of what would eventually become an extremely popular series of Tarzan movies. The Tarzan story also inspired a comic strip, radio and \Jtelevision\j programs, and countless other spinoffs, all of which made Burroughs very rich.
Although he lost money in early investments, he eventually made enough to buy a large ranch near Tarzana, a suburb of Los Angeles named after his creation. During World War II he served as a war correspondent. Churning out two or three novels a year, he wrote in a rather crude style, but the sheer narrative thrust of the Tarzan story engaged millions throughout the world.
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"Burroughs, John",6268,0,0,0
DT (1837-1921)
EN naturalist, author; born near Roxbury, N.Y. Raised on a farm in the lower Catskills, intermittently educated, he taught school in Illinois and \JNew Jersey\j and published his first nature essay in 1860. He took a job as a treasury department clerk in Washington in 1863 and met Walt Whitman there; Whitman provided the title for his first book, \IWake-Robin\i (1871). On assignment in England for the Treasury Department in 1871, he gathered material later used in essays published as \IWinter Sunshine\i (1875); reviewing the book, Henry James called him "a sort of reduced . . . Thoreau."
He returned to the Catskills in 1873, built a house on the west bank of the Hudson near Esopus, N.Y., and turned out a book on the average of one every two years for the rest of his life. Long-bearded and rustic, he became something of a sage, his woodland cabin "Slabsides" the goal of naturalist pilgrims. He traveled widely in later years and formed friendships with Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas A. Edison and Henry Ford. He is credited, more than any other American writer, with establishing the nature essay as an important literary form.
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"Burroughs, William (Seward)",6269,0,0,0
DT (1857-98)
EN inventor; born in Rochester, N.Y. His work as a bank clerk led him to develop the first practical adding and listing machine. Exhausting his small capital of $300, he perfected such a machine and received a patent for it in 1888. He developed improved calculators during the 1890s. His Burroughs Adding Machine Company was the forerunner of the Burroughs Corporation, a computer manufacturer.
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"Burroughs, William S(eward)",6270,0,0,0
PN [\Bbuh\brohz]
DT 1914-1997
EN Writer, born in St Louis, MO. He studied at Harvard, and became a heroin addict while doing odd jobs in New York City. In 1953 he published \IJunkie,\i an account of his experiences, and his novels \INaked Lunch\i (1959) and \IThe Soft Machine\i (1961) established him as a spokesman of the Beat movement of the late 1950s. His later work, much concerned with innovations in the novel form, includes \INova Express\i (1964), \IThe Wild Boys\i (1971), \ICities of the Red Night\i (1981), and \IThe Western Lands\i (1987).
MEX Ginsberg; Kerouac
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"burrowing owl",6271,0,0,0
EN A small owl native to the Americas \I(Speotyto cunicularia)\i (SW Canada to Tierra del Fuego); lives in semi-desert areas; occupies burrows vacated by prairie dogs or other mammals; eats large insects and small vertebrates. \B(Family:\b \JStrigidae\j.)
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"Burrows, Abe (Abram S.)",6272,0,0,0
DT 1910-85
EN American playwright, librettist and director. Following a successful career in radio, he first scored as a playwright in 1950 by co-authoring Guys and Dolls with Jo Swerling and Frank Loesser. Several assignments as lyricist or librettist for musicals followed, including Three Wishes for Jamie (1952), Can-Can (1953), Silk Stockings (1955), Say, Darling (1958), First Impressions (1959) and How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying (1961). He made his debut as a director with Can-Can, and soon became invaluable as an unbilled 'play doctor' when called on to infuse stage comedies with wit and gentle humour.
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"Burrows, Julius Caesar",6273,0,0,0
DT (1837-1915)
EN U.S. representative/senator; born in Erie County, Pa. A Union war veteran, he served in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Rep., Mich.; 1873-75, 1879-83, 1885-94) and in the U.S. Senate (1894-1911).
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"Burrows, William (Ward)",6274,0,0,0
DT (1758-1805)
EN marine officer; born in Charleston, S.C. A Revolutionary War veteran, he practiced law in Philadelphia during the 1790s and returned to service in July 1798 when President Adams named him first commandant of the newly formed Marine Corps. After overseeing the early development of the service, Burrows retired in 1804.
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"Bursa",6275,0,0,0
PN [boor\Bsah\b]
EN 40░12N 29░04E, pop (1995e) 931 000. Capital city of \JBursa\j province, NW Turkey; fifth largest city in Turkey; founded, 3rd-cBC;airfield; railway; commercial and industrial centre; university (1975); noted for its silk textiles; car assembly, soft drinks; Green Mosque (1421).
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"bursitis",6276,0,0,0
PN [ber\Bsiy\btis]
EN Damage from trauma or infection to and within a \Bbursa\b (a fibrous pouch containing a small amount of fluid, found around joints and tendons to aid movement and reduce friction). Pain and swelling is usually aggravated by the movement of the adjacent joint to which the \Jbursa\j is related.
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"Burstyn, Ellen (nΘe Edna Rae Gillooly)",6277,0,0,0
DT 1932-
EN American actress. Burstyn, once a showgirl on \Jtelevision\j, is now a champion of women's status in American film and theatre. Former artistic director of the Actors Studio, she has striven to play roles that intrigued her irrespective of their size, and has played significant parts in plays as disparate as Same Time, Next Year (1975), 84 Charing Cross Road (1982), Driving Miss Daisy (1988), Shirley Valentine (1989) and Shimada (1992). She won an \JAcademy Award\j for her sensitive portrayal in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974).
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"Burt, Sir Cyril (Lodowic)",6278,0,0,0
DT1 1883
DT2 1971
EN Psychologist, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford and Wⁿrzburg, becoming professor of education (1924-31) and \Jpsychology\j (1931-50) at University College, London. He was largely responsible for the theory and practice of intelligence and aptitude tests, ranging from the \Jpsychology\j of education to the problems of juvenile delinquency. He was knighted in 1946. In the 1980s, the validity of some of his findings was called into question.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Since the 1980s, Burt has been widely thought to have manufactured some of his experimental data. Burt had a bee in his bonnet about the inheritance of intelligence, as measured by \JIQ\j tests. He apparently invented a horde of twins who had been separated at birth, going to homes of different social class, and for whom he (and only he) had \JIQ\j scores. Burt published the correlations for these in a number of scientific papers, even adding other (and untraceable, presumably non-existent) co-authors to some of the papers.
In the end, people noticed that Burt's \Jcorrelation\j coefficients never wavered from their original three-decimal-place value, even when more data were added. Now everybody knows that calculated correlations should vary a bit when you add fresh data, show a few small random fluctuations, here and there. So people looked more closely at his data, and the whole of Burt's work on \JIQ\j and inheritance was eventually discredited.
Burt also wrote other legitimate papers in the names of his "co-workers". This, he must have thought, would establish the credentials of his phantom collaborators. It was one such paper, an excellent piece of work, supposedly by a "Miss Conway", which formed the theoretical basis for the iterative scaling of examination marks which still goes on today in various parts of the world, when the marks need to be added together in a meaningful way.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Burton, Decimus",6279,0,0,0
DT1 1800
DT2 81
EN Architect, born in London, England, UK. At the age of 23 he planned the Regent's Park colosseum, an exhibition hall with a dome larger than that of St Paul's, and in 1825 designed the new layout of Hyde Park and the triumphal arch at Hyde Park Corner. He designed the Palm House at \JKew Gardens\j (1844-8) with engineer Richard Turner.
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"Burton, Harold (Hitz)",6280,0,0,0
DT (1888-1964)
EN mayor, U.S. senator, Supreme Court justice; born in \JJamaica\j Plain, Mass. Active in Republican politics, he served three terms as mayor of Cleveland, Ohio (1935-40) before he was elected to the U.S. Senate (Rep., Ohio; 1940) and then named by President Truman to the U.S. Supreme Court (1945-58).
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"Burton, Michael Arthur, Lord",6281,0,0,0
EN See Bass, Michael Thomas
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"Burton, Phillip",6282,0,0,0
DT (1926-83)
EN U.S. representative; born in \JCincinnati\j, Ohio. An air force veteran, he was a lawyer in \JSan Francisco\j (1956-64) before going to Congress (1965-83) where he led the Democratic reform group to remove old-time committee chairmen.
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"Burton, Richard",6283,0,0,0
HS , originally \BRichard Walter Jenkins\b
DT1 1925
DT2 84
EN Stage and film actor, born in Pontrhydfen, Neath and Port Talbot, SC Wales, UK. The 12th child of a coalminer, Richard Jenkins, he was brought up in his sister's house after his mother's death. He was befriended by his English teacher, Philip H Burton, who encouraged his acting and study of English, and eventually adopted him. He went to Oxford, and in 1943 changed his name to Burton. He acted in Liverpool and Oxford, served in the RAF, and returned to the stage in 1948, when he made his film debut.
He made his stage reputation in Fry's \IThe Lady's Not for Burning\i (1949), and had a triumphant season at Stratford (1951). His early \JHollywood\j films include \IMy Cousin Rachel\i (1952) and \IThe Robe\i (1953) for which he received one of his six Oscar nominations. In 1954 he was the narrator in the famous radio production of Dylan Thomas's \IUnder Milk Wood.\i His romance with Elizabeth Taylor during the making of \ICleopatra\i (1962) and their eventual marriage (1964-74) projected them both into the 'superstar' category.
Among his later films were \IBeckett\i (1964), \IEquus\i (1977), and \I1984\i (released after his death). In his later years, interest in his social life grew, especially after his second marriage to Elizabeth Taylor (1975-6).
MEX Taylor, Elizabeth (Rosemond)
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"Burton, Robert",6284,0,0,0
DT1 1577
DT2 1640
EN Writer, born in Lindley, Leicestershire, C England, UK. He studied at Oxford, then taught there, taking orders in 1614. His great work was the \IAnatomy of Melancholy\i (1621), a learned miscellany on the ideas of his time, which influenced many subsequent authors.
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"Burton, Scott",6285,0,0,0
DT (1939-90)
EN sculptor, furniture designer; born in Greensboro, Ala. He and his mother moved to Washington, D.C., where he attended high school and studied with Leon Berkowitz. He studied painting at Hans Hofmann's school in Provincetown, Mass., and attended Columbia University (B.A. 1962) and New York University (M.A. 1963). He was a free-lance art critic for \IArt News\i and participated in performance art during the 1970s. He is best known for his sculptural furniture constructions.
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"Burton, Sir Richard (Francis)",6286,0,0,0
DT1 1821
DT2 90
EN Explorer, born in \JTorquay\j, Devon, south-west England, UK. He studied in Europe and Oxford, where he was expelled in 1842. In 1856 he set out with Speke on the journey which led to the discovery of Lake Tanganyika (1858), and afterwards travelled in \JNorth America\j, holding consular posts in Fernando P≤, Santos, Damascus, and Trieste. He wrote many books on his travels, and translated several Eastern works. He was knighted in 1886. \BLady Burton,\b \InΘe\i \BIsabel Arundell\b (1831-96), who shared in much of his travelling and writing, burned her husband's journals after his death.
MEX Speke
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"Burton, Theodore (Elijah)",6287,0,0,0
DT (1851-1929)
EN U.S. representative/senator; born in Jefferson, Ohio. A lawyer, he served in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Rep., Ohio; 1889-91, 1895-1909), and the Senate (1909-15). He returned to the House (1921-28), then left to fill a Senate vacancy (1928-29). He also served on waterways and armament commissions.
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"Burton, William E(vans)",6288,0,0,0
DT 1804-60
EN British-born American actor and manager. He ran one of the best stock companies (see stock company) in the United States, and was also the 'funniest man who ever lived'. In 1832 he appeared opposite Edmund Kean at the Haymarket Theatre.
In 1834 he made his American debut, and from 1841 to 1858 managed theatres in New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, employing a good company, largely without visiting stars. Audiences came primarily to see Burton perform such roles as Bob Acres, Tony Lumpkin, Bottom, Falstaff, and especially Timothy Toodles in his own The Toodles. But his own plays have not survived.
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"Burton, William Merriam",6289,0,0,0
DT (1865-1954)
EN inventor; born in Cleveland, Ohio. Trained as a chemist, he went to work for Standard Oil and eventually became a refinery superintendent. He devised the first successful "cracking" process for yielding \Jgasoline\j from crude oil, an essential step in the development of the \Jautomobile\j industry.
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"Burundi",6290,0,0,0
PN [bu\Brun\bdee]
EN pop (1995e) 6 131 000; area 27 834 sq km/10 747 sq mi. Republic in C Africa, divided into 15 provinces; capital, Bujumbura; chief towns, Bubanza, Ngozi, Muyinga, Muramvya, Gitega, Bururi, Rutana; timezone GMT +2; population mainly Hutu (85%), with Tutsi (14%), and other tribal minorities; chief religions, Roman Catholic (62%), local beliefs (32%); official languages, Kirundi, French; unit of currency, \JBurundi\j franc.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
Lies across the Nile--\JCongo\j watershed; bounded W by narrow plain of R Ruzizi (NW) and L Tanganyika (W); R Malagarasi forms S border with \JTanzania\j; R Akanyaru forms N border with \JRwanda\j; average height of interior plateau c.1500 m/5000 ft, sloping E towards \JTanzania\j; highest point, Mt Karonje (2685 m/8809 ft); equatorial climate, varying with altitude and season; moderately wet, apart from dry season (Jun--Sep); average annual rainfall at Bujumbura, 850 mm/33.5 in.
\IHistory and government\i
Since 16th-c ruled by the Tutsi kingdom; German occupation in 1890, and included in German East Africa (1890); \JLeague of Nations\j mandated territory, administered by Belgians, 1919; joined with \JRwanda\j to become the UN Trust Territory of Ruanda--Urundi, 1946; independence, 1962; full republic, 1966; \Jcivil war\j, 1972; military coup, 1976; new constitution in 1981 provided for a National Assembly (65 members), an executive president, a Council of Ministers, and military governors for the provinces; Assembly dissolved and constitution suspended after 1987 coup; 1992 referendum agreed a new constitution with legalized political parties, a presidential election, and an 81-member National Assembly; political instability following assassination of president, 1993; inter-ethnic (Hutu/Tutsi) conflict, 1993- transitional government agreed, 1994--8.
\IEconomy\i
Agriculture, main subsistence crops including manioc, yams, corn, haricot beans; cash crops include \Jcoffee\j, cotton, tea; light consumer goods (eg shoes, soap, beverages, blankets); reserves of rare-\Jearth\j metals, \Jpeat\j, nickel, \Jtungsten\j, columbium, tantalum, phosphate.
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"Bury, Charles",6291,0,0,0
PN [beree]
DT (1890-1968)
EN British physical chemist: little-known theorist on electronic structure of atoms.
Bohr is usually credited with the feat of giving the first clear account of the arrangement of electrons in atoms and its relation to chemical behaviour. In fact the first rough suggestion of \Jelectron\j 'shells' is due to J J Thomson (1904), and Langmuir (1919) gave a more detailed shell model (partly incorrect), which he linked with chemical behaviour.
In 1921 Bohr gave a better version, but it was very brief and was only a limited account (he gives electronic structures only for the \Jnoble gases\j). Within a month, a concise, clear and complete account was given by Bury (in the Journal of the American Chemical Society), who had written his paper before he saw Bohr's. All later accounts use the Bury scheme.
Bury was an Oxford graduate in chemistry who served 5 years in the First World War. His classic paper, written when he was 31, was his first, but he went on to study the relation of colour to structure in dyes and the properties of micelles. Again, his work on dyes appears to have preceded better-known work by others: Bury was a modest man.
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"Bury, J(ohn) B(agnell)",6292,0,0,0
PN [\Bbe\bree]
DT1 1861
DT2 1927
EN Historian and Classical scholar, born in Co \JMonaghan\j, Ireland. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, became professor of modern history (1893-1902) and Greek (1899-1902) at Dublin, and thereafter professor of modern history at Cambridge. He wrote a monumental \IHistory of the Later Roman Empire\i (1889) at the age of 28, and other major histories of \JGreece\j and \JRome\j.
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"Bury, John",6293,0,0,0
DT 1925-
EN British stage designer. For more than ten years after World War II he worked with Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop. From 1963 to 1973 he was chief designer at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and from 1973 to 1985 head of design at the National Theatre, in addition to freelancing at other theatres in England and abroad. With no formal training in art or design, Bury developed a mode of abstract realism, eschewing the consciously decorative and theatrical in favour of stark, large-scale images, and relying on authentic materials.
The Wars of the Roses (1963) employed steel for most surfaces and shifted scenes by means of twin, mobile periaktoi towers. In later years a conscious sense of form and style has become more apparent in his designs: Tristan and Isolde (1971), Amadeus (1979), Yonadab (1985), SalomΘ, (1988) and Elektra (1991). Throughout his career Bury has designed his own lighting in order to increase the expressiveness of his sets.
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"burying beetle",6294,0,0,0
EN A medium to large beetle; adults bury corpses of small animals by excavating soil beneath them; eggs laid in tunnels off burial chamber; larvae typically feed on carrion. \B(Order:\b Coleoptera. \BFamily:\b Silphidae.)
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"bus",6295,0,0,0
EN A form of wiring within or between computers in which any electronic message to be transferred is sent down the wire and is taken off the wire only by the particular device to which the message is being sent. Inside a computer there are usually an \Baddress bus,\b a \Bdata bus,\b and an \Binput-output bus.\b
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
In computing, a term used to describe a set of conductors either inside or outside the CPU, connecting different components and functional units. A bus is usually defined by its "width", the number of bits which may be carried in parallel, so this value also indicates the number of parallel conductors in the bus. The performance of a computer depends largely on this width, and on the number of data items which can be transmitted on the bus in each second.
Most current microprocessors have 32 bit busses, both internally and externally, but others have internal busses which are wider (usually twice the width) than their external busses since the width of the internal bus affects the speed of all operations, and increasing its size costs less than a similar increase in the external bus. The term probably derives from the "bus bar" of the electrical engineer, which was a heavy duty conductor.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Busan",6296,0,0,0
EN See Pusan or Busan
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"Busby, Sir Matt(hew)",6297,0,0,0
DT1 1909
DT2 94
EN Footballer and football manager, born in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, C Scotland, UK. After a comparatively undistinguished playing career with Manchester City and Liverpool, he became manager of Manchester United in 1945. Almost immediately the club won the FA Cup in 1948 and the League shortly afterwards. Rebuilding the team, he seemed likely to bring the European Cup to Britain for the first time in 1958, but his young side was largely wiped out in an air crash at Munich airport. He himself was severely injured, but patiently reconstructed the team until European Cup success eventually came in 1968.
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"Busch, Adolf",6298,0,0,0
DT1 1891
DT2 1952
EN Violinist, born in Siegan, \JGermany\j. In 1919 he formed the Busch Quartet and Busch Trio, with his brother \BHermann\b (1897-1975) as cellist and his son-in-law Rudolf Serkin as pianist. He emigrated to America in 1939. Another brother, \BFritz\b (1890-1951), was an eminent conductor and noted Mozartian.
MEX Serkin
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"Busch, Adolphus",6299,0,0,0
DT (1839-1913)
EN brewer; born in Mainz, \JGermany\j. In 1857 he moved to St. Louis, Mo., and opened a brewing supply store with his brother. In 1861, the brothers married the daughters of customer Eberhard Anheuser; soon thereafter Adolphus became a partner in his father-in-law's brewery (and in 1867 a naturalized citizen). When Anheuser died (1879) Busch renamed the brewery the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association.
He is credited with having developed a new lighter and drier beer that he named "Budweiser." He pasteurized his beer and helped develop mechanical refrigeration so he could ship farther; he built a glass factory to make his bottles; and he founded the St. Louis Manufacturers' Railway to transport \Jcoal\j from his Illinois mines. In 1898 he brought the Diesel engine to the United States from \JSwitzerland\j. He was a generous donor to a variety of institutions and causes.
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"Busch, August A. (Anheuser), Jr. ('Gussie')",6300,0,0,0
DT (1899-1989)
EN brewer; born in St. Louis, Mo. He joined the family business, Anheuser-Busch, as a young man; as president (1946-75) he built this small company into the world's largest brewer through massive national advertising. Among his showiest promotional ploys were his introduction of the Budweiser \JClydesdale\j horse team and his acquisition of the St. Louis Cardinals \Jbaseball\j team (1953).
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"Busch, Wilhelm",6301,0,0,0
DT1 1832
DT2 1908
EN Cartoonist and writer, born near \JHanover\j, \JGermany\j. He worked as an illustrator for the \IFliegende BlΣtter\i (1859-71), and wrote satirical verse-stories with his own illustrations, such as \IMax und Moritz\i (1865, the prototypes for Rudolph Dirks' \IKatzenjammer Kids)\i and \IHerr und Frau Knopp\i (1876).
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"bush cat",6302,0,0,0
EN See genet or genette
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"bush cricket",6303,0,0,0
EN A true cricket, with a well-developed sound-producing mechanism for auditory communication; box-like forewings bent down at sides of body; egg-laying tube cylindrical; c.2000 species, including some important pests. \B(Order:\b \JOrthoptera\j. \BFamily:\b Gryllidae.)
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"bush dog",6304,0,0,0
EN A member of the dog family native to Central and \JSouth America\j \I(Speothos venaticus); \i dark brown with pale brown head; short ears, legs, and tail; inhabits woodland and grassland near \Jwater\j; eats mainly rodents.
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"bush fire regeneration",6305,0,0,0
The Australian continent has been subjected, over long periods of time, to regular burns. Before there were humans in \JAustralia\j, fires were probably less common, operating as full-force fires every twenty to fifty years or so. After the first humans arrived, the nature of the land and the available life forms ruled out normal agriculture, but supported "fire-stick farming", where the land was regularly burned on a mosaic pattern, ensuring that the surviving species were those that could handle regular burning.
Some plants like the she-oak \I(Casuarina and Allocasuarina),\i the needlebush \I(hakea)\i and the Banksia species, have large woody fruits which remain firmly closed over the seeds, preserving and holding them until a few hours after a fire. Other plants, including some of the types of \Ibanksia,\i are able to reproduce from underground stems. Many of the gum trees \I(Eucalyptus)\i have a thick bark which protects buds beneath the bark, where they will shoot after the fire has passed by. Others again, like the wattles \I(Acacia)\i have seeds with a hard case, which needs strong heat before the seed can germinate.
With the arrival of the European settlers and their domesticated crops and animals after 1788, agriculture became more common, and bush fires were more tightly controlled. (Note that in this context, "bush" indicates everything from heathland scrub to closed-canopy forests.)
This has led to the partial loss of many species, and the \Jextinction\j of others, as plants, dependent on regular fire for their reproduction, have not been exposed to the demands of fire. The plants which bear seeds in woody fruits rot before they drop their seeds, and other plants may be shaded out, or their dormant seeds may all be cleaned up by scavengers before any of them are triggered to sprout and replace their parents.
Bush fire regeneration in \JAustralia\j has been very carefully studied, in part because so many post-graduate students have had their study sites for other projects burnt out, and varied their interests accordingly.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Bush Theatre",6306,0,0,0
EN (London) A leading fringe theatre, the Bush has a remarkable record in the promotion of new plays and unknown dramatists. It was founded in 1970 by the actor Brian McDermott in the 'social functions' room of a public house. Originally self- financing, it quickly became the venue for many lively touring companies, including the People Show and Lindsay Kemp's company, whose hit show, Flowers, received its premiere at the Bush.
In the mid-1970s the Bush Theatre received its first substantial Arts Council grants and evolved into a 'new plays' theatre. Among the many dramatists whose early plays were promoted through the Bush are Stephen Poliakoff (Hitting Town, City Sugar) and Tom Kempinski (Duet for One). With Dominic Dromgoole as its artistic director, the Bush has produced Billy Roche's Wexford Trilogy (A Handful of Stars, 1988; Poor Beast in the Rain, 1989; and Belfry, 1991).
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"Bush, Alan (Dudley)",6307,0,0,0
DT1 1900
EN Composer and pianist, born in London, England, UK. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music (1918--22), where he was a notable composition teacher (1925--78), and also at Berlin University (1929--31). In 1924 he became active in the British working-class movement and founded the Workers' Music Association (1936), becoming its president in 1941. His works include four operas, four symphonies, concertos for violin and \Jpiano\j, choral works, chamber works, and songs.
\BMajor Works\b
\IOrchestral music\i
2 Symphonies
Piano Concerto (with male voice)
Violin Concerto
Stage music
Operas
\IThe Press gang\i
\IWat Tyler\i
\IThe Spell\i
\IMen of Blackmoor\i
Incidental music
Chamber music
Vocal music
Choral work \IThe Winter Journey\i
Songs
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"Bush, Douglas (John Nash)",6308,0,0,0
DT (1896-1983)
EN scholar, literary historian, educator; born in Morrisburg, \JOntario\j, Canada. As an English professor at Harvard (1936-66), he trained generations of literary scholars and published widely on the classical tradition in Renaissance and Romantic literature.
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"Bush, George (Herbert Walker)",6309,0,0,0
DT1 1924
EN US statesman and 41st president (1989--93), born in Milton, \JMassachusetts\j, USA. He joined the US navy in 1942, as its youngest pilot. After the war he studied economics at Yale and went into business in the \JTexas\j oilfields. In 1966 he devoted himself to politics, and was elected to the US \JHouse of Representatives\j.
Unsuccessful for the US Senate in 1970, he became US permanent representative to the UN. During the \JWatergate\j scandal he was chairman of the Republican National Committee. Under President Ford he headed the US Mission to \JBeijing\j, then became director of the \JCIA\j. In 1980 he campaigned for the Republican nomination, but lost to Reagan, later becoming his vice-president. In 1988 he won the Republican nomination for the presidency, and defeated Governor Michael Dukakis of \JMassachusetts\j in the general election. He lost to Bill Clinton in the 1992 election.
BK Biog99
#
"Bush, George (Herbert Walker) Inaugural Address",6310,0,0,0
\BInaugural Address
Friday, January 20, 1989\b
Mr. \JChief Justice\j, Mr. President, Vice President Quayle, Senator Mitchell, Speaker Wright, Senator Dole, Congressman Michel, and fellow citizens, neighbors, and friends:
There is a man here who has earned a lasting place in our hearts and in our history. President Reagan, on behalf of our Nation, I thank you for the wonderful things that you have done for America.
I have just repeated word for word the oath taken by George Washington 200 years ago, and the \JBible\j on which I placed my hand is the \JBible\j on which he placed his. It is right that the memory of Washington be with us today, not only because this is our Bicentennial Inauguration, but because Washington remains the Father of our Country. And he would, I think, be gladdened by this day; for today is the concrete expression of a stunning fact: our continuity these 200 years since our government began.
We meet on democracy's front porch, a good place to talk as neighbors and as friends. For this is a \Jday\j when our nation is made whole, when our differences, for a moment, are suspended.
And my first act as President is a prayer. I ask you to bow your heads:
Heavenly Father, we bow our heads and thank You for Your love. Accept our thanks for the peace that yields this \Jday\j and the shared faith that makes its continuance likely. Make us strong to do Your work, willing to heed and hear Your will, and write on our hearts these words: "Use power to help people." For we are given power not to advance our own purposes, nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power, and it is to serve people. Help us to remember it, Lord. Amen.
I come before you and assume the Presidency at a moment rich with promise. We live in a peaceful, prosperous time, but we can make it better. For a new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn; for in man's heart, if not in fact, the \Jday\j of the dictator is over. The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown away like leaves from an ancient, lifeless tree. A new breeze is blowing, and a nation refreshed by freedom stands ready to push on. There is new ground to be broken, and new action to be taken. There are times when the future seems thick as a \Jfog\j; you sit and wait, hoping the mists will lift and reveal the right path. But this is a time when the future seems a door you can walk right through into a room called tomorrow.
Great nations of the world are moving toward democracy through the door to freedom. Men and women of the world move toward free markets through the door to prosperity. The people of the world agitate for free expression and free thought through the door to the moral and intellectual satisfactions that only liberty allows.
We know what works: Freedom works. We know what's right: Freedom is right. We know how to secure a more just and prosperous life for man on Earth: through free markets, free speech, free elections, and the exercise of \Jfree will\j unhampered by the state.
For the first time in this century, for the first time in perhaps all history, man does not have to invent a system by which to live. We don't have to talk late into the night about which form of government is better. We don't have to wrest justice from the kings. We only have to summon it from within ourselves. We must act on what we know. I take as my guide the hope of a saint: In crucial things, unity; in important things, diversity; in all things, generosity.
America today is a proud, free nation, decent and civil, a place we cannot help but love. We know in our hearts, not loudly and proudly, but as a simple fact, that this country has meaning beyond what we see, and that our strength is a force for good. But have we changed as a nation even in our time? Are we enthralled with material things, less appreciative of the nobility of work and sacrifice?
My friends, we are not the sum of our possessions. They are not the measure of our lives. In our hearts we know what matters. We cannot hope only to leave our children a bigger car, a bigger bank account. We must hope to give them a sense of what it means to be a loyal friend, a loving parent, a citizen who leaves his home, his neighborhood and town better than he found it. What do we want the men and women who work with us to say when we are no longer there? That we were more driven to succeed than anyone around us? Or that we stopped to ask if a sick child had gotten better, and stayed a moment there to trade a word of friendship?
No President, no government, can teach us to remember what is best in what we are. But if the man you have chosen to lead this government can help make a difference; if he can celebrate the quieter, deeper successes that are made not of gold and silk, but of better hearts and finer souls; if he can do these things, then he must.
America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle. We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the Nation and gentler the face of the world. My friends, we have work to do. There are the homeless, lost and roaming.
There are the children who have nothing, no love, no normalcy. There are those who cannot free themselves of enslavement to whatever addiction-drugs, welfare, the demoralization that rules the slums. There is crime to be conquered, the rough crime of the streets. There are young women to be helped who are about to become mothers of children they can't care for and might not love. They need our care, our guidance, and our education, though we bless them for choosing life.
The old solution, the old way, was to think that public money alone could end these problems. But we have learned that is not so. And in any case, our funds are low. We have a deficit to bring down. We have more will than wallet; but will is what we need. We will make the hard choices, looking at what we have and perhaps allocating it differently, making our decisions based on honest need and prudent safety. And then we will do the wisest thing of all: We will turn to the only resource we have that in times of need always grows-the goodness and the courage of the American people.
I am speaking of a new engagement in the lives of others, a new activism, hands-on and involved, that gets the job done. We must bring in the generations, harnessing the unused talent of the elderly and the unfocused \Jenergy\j of the young. For not only leadership is passed from generation to generation, but so is stewardship. And the generation born after the Second World War has come of age.
I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good. We will work hand in hand, encouraging, sometimes leading, sometimes being led, rewarding. We will work on this in the \JWhite House\j, in the Cabinet agencies. I will go to the people and the programs that are the brighter points of light, and I will ask every member of my government to become involved. The old ideas are new again because they are not old, they are timeless: duty, sacrifice, commitment, and a patriotism that finds its expression in taking part and pitching in.
We need a new engagement, too, between the Executive and the Congress. The challenges before us will be thrashed out with the House and the Senate. We must bring the Federal budget into balance. And we must ensure that America stands before the world united, strong, at peace, and fiscally sound. But, of course, things may be difficult. We need compromise; we have had dissension. We need harmony; we have had a chorus of discordant voices.
For Congress, too, has changed in our time. There has grown a certain divisiveness. We have seen the hard looks and heard the statements in which not each other's ideas are challenged, but each other's motives. And our great parties have too often been far apart and untrusting of each other. It has been this way since Vietnam. That war cleaves us still. But, friends, that war began in earnest a quarter of a century ago; and surely the statute of limitations has been reached. This is a fact: The final lesson of Vietnam is that no great nation can long afford to be sundered by a memory. A new breeze is blowing, and the old bipartisanship must be made new again.
To my friends-and yes, I do mean friends-in the loyal opposition-and yes, I mean loyal: I put out my hand. I am putting out my hand to you, Mr. Speaker. I am putting out my hand to you, Mr. Majority Leader. For this is the thing: This is the age of the offered hand. We can't turn back clocks, and I don't want to. But when our fathers were young, Mr. Speaker, our differences ended at the \Jwater\j's edge. And we don't wish to turn back time, but when our mothers were young, Mr. Majority Leader, the Congress and the Executive were capable of working together to produce a budget on which this nation could live. Let us negotiate soon and hard. But in the end, let us produce. The American people await action. They didn't send us here to bicker. They ask us to rise above the merely partisan. "In crucial things, unity"-and this, my friends, is crucial.
To the world, too, we offer new engagement and a renewed vow: We will stay strong to protect the peace. The "offered hand" is a reluctant fist; but once made, strong, and can be used with great effect. There are today Americans who are held against their will in foreign lands, and Americans who are unaccounted for. Assistance can be shown here, and will be long remembered. Good will begets good will. Good faith can be a spiral that endlessly moves on.
Great nations like great men must keep their word. When America says something, America means it, whether a treaty or an agreement or a vow made on marble steps. We will always try to speak clearly, for candor is a compliment, but subtlety, too, is good and has its place. While keeping our alliances and friendships around the world strong, ever strong, we will continue the new closeness with the \JSoviet Union\j, consistent both with our security and with progress. One might say that our new relationship in part reflects the triumph of hope and strength over experience. But hope is good, and so are strength and vigilance.
Here today are tens of thousands of our citizens who feel the understandable satisfaction of those who have taken part in democracy and seen their hopes fulfilled. But my thoughts have been turning the past few days to those who would be watching at home, to an older fellow who will throw a salute by himself when the flag goes by, and the women who will tell her sons the words of the battle hymns. I don't mean this to be sentimental. I mean that on days like this, we remember that we are all part of a continuum, inescapably connected by the ties that bind.
Our children are watching in schools throughout our great land. And to them I say, thank you for watching democracy's big \Jday\j. For democracy belongs to us all, and freedom is like a beautiful kite that can go higher and higher with the breeze. And to all I say: No matter what your circumstances or where you are, you are part of this \Jday\j, you are part of the life of our great nation.
A President is neither prince nor pope, and I don't seek a window on men's souls. In fact, I yearn for a greater tolerance, an easy-goingness about each other's attitudes and way of life.
There are few clear areas in which we as a society must rise up united and express our intolerance. The most obvious now is drugs. And when that first \Jcocaine\j was smuggled in on a ship, it may as well have been a deadly \Jbacteria\j, so much has it hurt the body, the soul of our country. And there is much to be done and to be said, but take my word for it: This scourge will stop.
And so, there is much to do; and tomorrow the work begins. I do not mistrust the future; I do not fear what is ahead. For our problems are large, but our heart is larger. Our challenges are great, but our will is greater. And if our flaws are endless, God's love is truly boundless.
Some see leadership as high drama, and the sound of trumpets calling, and sometimes it is that. But I see history as a book with many pages, and each \Jday\j we fill a page with acts of hopefulness and meaning. The new breeze blows, a page turns, the story unfolds. And so today a chapter begins, a small and stately story of unity, diversity, and generosity-shared, and written, together.
Thank you. God bless you and God bless the United States of America.
BK Webster
#
"Bush, Vannevar",6311,0,0,0
DT (1890-1974)
EN engineer, government official; born in Everett, Mass. With a varied background in academic studies, private industry (General Electric), and government research (including antisubmarine work for the U.S. Navy in World War I), he became an \Jengineering\j professor, later dean, at the \JMassachusetts\j Institute of Technology (1919-38). During these years he also kept his hand in the private sector as a consulting engineer, among other things founding the company that became the Raytheon Corporation. He also conducted research that led to several inventions including a differential analyzer (1928), a direct ancestor of the modern computer.
As early as 1940 he was becoming active in organizing the U.S. scientists and engineers for the imminent war; this was formalized when he was appointed director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development. After the war, he continued to serve as an adviser to various governmental boards and agencies on scientific policies. Through many years (1938-55) he also served as president of the Carnegie Institution. In his later years he published numerous articles and books for a broader public, including \IModern Arms and Free Men\i (1949), which called for closer ties between responsible science and public policies.
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"bushbaby",6312,0,0,0
EN A primitive primate \I(\Jprosimian\j),\i whose cry sounds like a human baby; large eyes and ears; thick coat, very long tail; long hind legs; agile; leaps through trees; on ground may hop upright using only hind legs; also known as \Bgalago.\b (Family; Lorisidae, 7 species.)
BK b
#
"bushbuck",6313,0,0,0
EN A spiral-horned \Jantelope\j \I(Tragelaphus scriptus)\i native to Africa S of the Sahara; reddish-brown with white spots or thin white lines; females without horns; inhabits thick undergrowth near \Jwater\j; lives in pairs; nocturnal.
BK b
#
"bushido",6314,0,0,0
PN [busheedoh]
EN The Japanese notion of 'way of the warrior'. The \Jsamurai\j code until 1868, which taught personal loyalty to a master, death rather than capture / surrender, and stoic indifference to material goods - a product of Confucian ethics. Like European knights, \Jsamurai\j rode into battle in armour. The \Jbushido\j tradition is still seen in modern times, eg Japanese officers carried swords in World War 2. Its more positive influence is seen in the ethics of \JJapan\j's popular martial arts.
BK b
#
"bushmaster",6315,0,0,0
EN A rare pit viper \I(Lachesis muta),\i native to Central and \JSouth America\j; largest venomous snake in the New World; length, up to 3.5┐m / 111/2┐ft; the only New World viper to lay eggs; inhabits forests; nocturnal; eats mammals (including small deer); shakes its tail when alarmed, causing loud rustling in undergrowth.
BK b
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"Bushmen",6316,0,0,0
EN See Khoisan
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"Bushnell, David",6317,0,0,0
DT (?1742-1824)
EN inventor, physician; born in Saybrook, Conn. After graduating from Yale (1775) he built the first American submarine, \IBushnell's Turtle,\i which was tried unsuccessfully against British ships. He was a Continental army engineer (1779-83), spent several years in \JFrance\j, and returned to the U.S.A. (1795) to teach and practice medicine in Georgia.
BK AmBg
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"Bushnell, Horace",6318,0,0,0
DT (1802-76)
EN Congregational minister, theologian; born in Bantam, Conn. After graduating from Yale (1827), he was teaching and reading for the bar when in 1831 he felt called to the ministry. He entered Yale's Divinity School; the rationalistic "new divinity" of Calvinism then in vogue offended his more intuitive spirit but he accepted ordination in 1833, and although not truly a popular preacher, gained a reputation for his fine sermons.
Owing to poor health, he went off to Europe in 1845-46 and returned to publish one of his most influential works, \IChristian Nurture\i (1847). In 1849 he experienced a mystical vision of God and the Gospel; when he revealed this, he was attacked by the more traditional Congregationalists but he continued to preach and write. His weak lungs led him to move to \JCalifornia\j in 1856; he helped to establish the first University of \JCalifornia\j at Berkeley, but declining the presidency he returned to Connecticut in 1858.
His poor health forced him to resign from a pastorate in 1861, but he continued to publish his sermons and religious speculations. By the time of his death he had carved out a place as one of the most influential of American Protestant theologians with his emphasis on bringing religion into harmony with human experience and nature.
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"Bushnell, Nolan",6319,0,0,0
DT1 1943
EN Inventor of the video game, born in Clearfield, \JUtah\j, USA. An \Jengineering\j student with a part-time job in an amusement arcade, he determined to make available an arcade version of a computer game then only available on the college mainframe computer. When the first \Jmicroprocessor\j chip became available (1971), he set up his own company, Atari, devised and built a simple tennis game, 'Pong' (1973), which could be linked to a TV set, and started the video game explosion.
BK Biog99
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"bushrangers",6320,0,0,0
EN Australian rural outlaws who operated from 1790 to 1900. Concentrated in \JNew South Wales\j, Victoria, and Van Dieman's Land, the first \Jbushrangers\j were ex-convicts, but the opportunities of the gold-rushes led to a revival in the 1860s and 1870s. They were a product of frontier society. Some attained folk hero status, such as Ben Hall (killed 1865), and Ned Kelly (hanged 1880). Never numerous, they attracted great attention from governments and from those who sought to glorify them in romantic myth.
BK b
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"Busoni, Ferruccio (Benvenuto)",6321,0,0,0
PN [bu\Bsoh\bnee]
DT1 1866
DT2 1924
EN Pianist and composer, born in Empoli, \JItaly\j. An infant prodigy, in 1889 he became professor of the pianoforte at \JHelsinki\j, and later taught and played in Moscow, \JBoston\j, and Berlin. The influence of Liszt is apparent in his great \Jpiano\j \Jconcerto\j. Of his four operas \IDoktor Faust,\i completed posthumously by a pupil in 1925, is his greatest work.
SX m
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"Buss, Frances Mary",6322,0,0,0
DT1 1827
DT2 94
EN British pioneer in women's education. At the age of 23 she founded the North London Collegiate School for Ladies, and became its head (1850-94) - the first woman to call herself a headmistress. She was immortalized in verse with Dorothea Beale of \JCheltenham\j Ladies' College ('Miss Buss and Miss Beale, \JCupid\j's darts do not feel').
MEX Beale, Dorothea
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"Bussell, Darcey (Andrea)",6323,0,0,0
DT1 1969
EN Ballerina, born in London, England, UK. She studied at the Arts Educational School and the Royal Ballet School, joining Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet (now Birmingham Royal Ballet) in 1987. The following year she moved to the Royal Ballet as soloist, becoming first soloist (1989), then principal (1989), and is currently the company's youngest principal dancer.
She has made guest appearances internationally for various companies, and danced leading roles in works by MacMillan and Ashton. In 1990 she was voted Most Promising Artiste by the Variety Club of \JGreat Britain\j.
BK Biog99n
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"bussing",6324,0,0,0
EN A government policy adopted in the 1960s (particularly in the USA) to promote social \Jintegration\j among school children in ethnically divided urban communities. Children (especially black and Asian) were taken by bus from disadvantaged urban contexts to schools elsewhere. In the USA, bussing became controversial when the Supreme Court determined to force the \Jintegration\j against widespread opposition from whites, and to a lesser extent from blacks as well: the policy was abandoned in 1972.
BK b
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"Bustamente, Sir (William) Alexander",6325,0,0,0
PN [busta\Bmen\btay]
HS , originally \BWilliam Alexander Clarke\b
DT1 1884
DT2 1977
EN Jamaican politician and prime minister (1962-7), born near Kingston. He was adopted at the age of 15 by a Spanish seaman, and spent an adventurous youth abroad before returning to become a trade union leader (1932). In 1943 he founded the \JJamaica\j Labour Party (JLP) as the political wing of his union, and in 1962, when \JJamaica\j achieved independence, became its first prime minister. He was knighted in 1955.
SX m
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#
"bustard",6326,0,0,0
EN A large, long-legged, ground-living bird native to Africa, S Europe, Asia, and \JAustralia\j; prefers open country; walks rather than flies (but flies well); eats large insects (especially locusts and grasshoppers), lizards, and small birds. \B(Family:\b \JOtididae\j, 24 species.)
BK b
#
"bustard quail",6327,0,0,0
EN See button quail; 26336 quail
BK b
XCY y
#
"busy Lizzie",6328,0,0,0
EN See \Jimpatiens\j
BK b
XCY y
#
"butadiene",6329,0,0,0
PN [byoota\Bdiy\been]
EN CH\D2\d=CH-CH=CH\D2\d, \Bbuta-1,3-diene,\b boiling point -4░C. A gas, an important \Jmonomer\j of synthetic rubbers; also important as the simplest example of a conjugated double-bond system.
BK b
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"butane",6330,0,0,0
PN [\Bbyoo\btayn]
EN CH\D3\dCH\D2\dCH\D2\dCH\D3\d, boiling point 0░C. An easily liquefied alkane gas, obtained as a \Jpetroleum\j fraction. It is supplied as a liquid under pressure for use as a fuel, as in Calor(r) gas. It has one structural isomer, (CH\D3\d)\D2\dCH-CH\D3\d, isobutane or methylpropane.
BK b
#
"butanedioic acid",6331,0,0,0
EN See succinic acid
BK b
XCY y
#
"butcher's broom",6332,0,0,0
EN A stiff, leathery, dark-green shrub \I(Ruscus aculeatus)\i native to Europe and the Mediterranean; true leaves reduced to scales; white flowers and red berries borne in the centre of apparent leaves, which are really flattened, leaf-like branches. \B(Family:\b Liliaceae.)
BK b
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"Butcher, Rosemary",6333,0,0,0
DT1 1947
EN Choreographer, born in \JBristol\j, south-west England, UK. The first dance graduate of Dartington College in Devon, she went to New York City, and began choreographing her own work in 1976. Her work is minimal and often made in conjunction with other artists. An example is the fast-moving \IFlying Lines\i (1985), which incorporates music by Michael Nyman (1944-) and an installation by Peter Noble.
SX f
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#
"butcherbird",6334,0,0,0
EN See \Jshrike\j
BK b
XCY y
#
"Bute, John Stuart, 3rd Earl of",6335,0,0,0
DT1 1713
DT2 92
EN British statesman and prime minister (1762-3), born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland. UK. After early court appointments, he became a favourite of \JGeorge III\j, who made him one of the principal secretaries of state (1761). As prime minister, his government was highly unpopular. Its principal objective was the supremacy of the royal prerogative, and he was soon forced to resign. From 1768 his life was chiefly spent in the country, where he engaged in scientific study.
MEX George III
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#
"Butenandt, Adolf Friedrich Johann",6336,0,0,0
PN [bootuhnant]
DT (1903-95)
EN German organic chemist: developed chemistry of sex \Jhormones\j.
A student at \JMarburg\j and G÷ttingen, Butenandt later held posts in \JDanzig\j, Berlin and Tⁿbingen. His work was mainly in the field of sex \Jhormones\j. In 1929 he isolated the first pure sex hormone, oestrone, from human \Jpregnancy\j urine. He also isolated the male hormone androsterone from normal human male urine in 1931. These potent \Jhormones\j are present in natural sources only in small amounts: eg 15 mg of androsterone was isolated from 15 000 litres of urine donated by Viennese policemen.
Butenandt was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1939, but the German government forbade him to accept it. He secured \Jprogesterone\j, the mammalian \Jpregnancy\j hormone (20 mg from the ovaries of 50 000 sows), in 1934; and later worked on an insect hormone (ecdysone) and other insect pheromones. He showed the relation between the above compounds, which are all members of the steroid group, and did much to establish the chemistry of this interesting and valuable group.
BK Scie
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"Buthelezi, Mangosuthu Gatsha",6337,0,0,0
PN [bootuh\Blay\bzee]
HS , known as \BChief Buthelezi\b
DT1 1928
EN South African Zulu leader and politician, born in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Installed as chief of the Buthelezi tribe in 1953, he was assistant to the Zulu king Cyprian (1953--68) before being elected leader of Zululand in 1970. He became chief minister of KwaZulu, the black South African homeland, in 1976.
He is founder-president of Inkatha, a politico-cultural body which has the aim of achieving a non-racist democratic political system, and which in the 1980s developed paramilitary tendencies. In 1994 he was appointed minister for home affairs in Nelson Mandela's first cabinet.
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"Butler, Alban",6338,0,0,0
DT1 1710
DT2 73
EN Hagiographer and Roman Catholic priest, born in Appletree, \JNorthamptonshire\j, C England, UK. He studied at Douai in \JFrance\j, became professor there, and was for some time chaplain to the Duke of Norfolk. He later became head of the English College at St Omer. His great work, the \ILives of the Saints\i (1756-59), makes no distinction between fact and fiction.
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"Butler, Benjamin F(ranklin)",6339,0,0,0
DT (1818-93)
EN soldier, politician; born in Deerfield, N.H. He supported Jefferson Davis for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1860, but still managed to obtain a senior command in the Union army. Butler led federal land forces against \JNew Orleans\j in 1862 and became the draconian and allegedly corrupt governor of the occupied city. A postwar member of Congress (Rep., 1866-75; Ind., 1878-82), he was elected governor of \JMassachusetts\j in 1882.
BK AmBg
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"Butler, David C.",6340,0,0,0
DT (1829-91)
EN governor; born near Bloomington, Ind. A \JNebraska\j \Jcattle\j trader, he served in the territorial legislature in the 1860's. As \JNebraska\j's first governor (Rep., 1867-71), he developed the railroads and built state office buildings in Lincoln, the new capital. Impeached for appropriating state money for his own use, he returned to stock raising in Pawnee City.
BK AmBg
#
"Butler, Howard Crosby",6341,0,0,0
DT (1872-1922)
EN archaeologist; born in Croton Falls, N.Y. He taught art and architectural history at Princeton (1901-22) and led three expeditions to \JSyria\j from 1899 to 1909. His supervision of the excavations at Sardis, Turkey, (1910-22), generated his most important published work, including \ISardis\i (1922).
BK AmBg
#
"Butler, Joseph",6342,0,0,0
DT1 1692
DT2 1752
EN Moral philosopher and divine, born in Wantage, Berkshire, S England, UK. He studied at Oxford, took orders, and was appointed preacher at the Rolls Chapel, London (1718). While holding various church appointments, he wrote his major work, \IThe Analogy of Religion\i (1736), in which he argued that objections against revealed religion may also be levelled against the whole constitution of nature. He was made Bishop of \JBristol\j (1738), Dean of St Paul's (1740), and Bishop of Durham (1750).
SX m
BK bg b
#
"Butler, Josephine Elizabeth",6343,0,0,0
HS , \InΘe\i \BGray\b
DT1 1828
DT2 1906
EN Social reformer, born in Milfield, \JNorthumberland\j, north-east England, UK. She promoted women's education and successfully crusaded against licensed brothels and the white-slave traffic. She wrote \IPersonal Reminiscences of a Great Crusade\i (1896).
SX f
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#
"Butler, Lady Eleanor",6344,0,0,0
DT1 1745
DT2 1829
EN Recluse, born in Dublin. In 1779 she and her friend Sarah Ponsonby (1755-1831) resolved to live in seclusion, and settled in a cottage in Plasnewydd, in the vale of Llangollen, accompanied by a maidservant. They became famous thoughout Europe as the 'Maids of Llangollen' or 'Ladies of the Vale'.
SX f
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#
"Butler, Nicholas (Murray)",6345,0,0,0
DT (1862-1947)
EN educator; born in Elizabeth, N.J. He graduated from Columbia University and then returned to teach there in 1885. He became a professor of philosophy and education (1895) and then president of the university (1902-45). During his long tenure, he abolished intercollegiate football at Columbia, was active in Republican politics (he advised both Theodore Roosevelt and Howard Taft and sought the 1920 presidential nomination), and made Columbia preeminent in graduate education.
He was president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1925-45). He was influential in the creation of the Kellogg-Briand Pact for which he shared the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize (with Jane Addams). Because of his many accomplishments he came to be known as "Nicholas Miraculous."
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"Butler, Pierce",6346,0,0,0
DT (1866-1939)
EN Supreme Court justice; born near Northfield, Minn. In his private law practice (1897-1922), he gained prominence as an expert in railroad law. He was appointed by President Harding to the U.S. Supreme Court (1923-39) and often voted against government interference in business.
EN British statesman, born in Attock Serai, India. He studied at Cambridge, and became Conservative MP for Saffron Walden in 1929. After a series of junior ministerial appointments, he became minister of education (1941-5), introducing the forward-looking Education Act of 1944, and then minister of labour (1945). He became Chancellor of the Exchequer (1951), Lord Privy Seal (1955), Leader of the \JHouse of Commons\j (1955), home secretary (1957), first \Jsecretary of state\j and deputy prime minister (1962). He narrowly lost the premiership to Douglas-Home in 1963, and acted as foreign secretary (1963-4) in his administration. He then became Master of Trinity College, Cambridge (1965-78), and was made a life peer.
MEX Home
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"Butler, Reg(inald Cotterell)",6348,0,0,0
DT1 1913
DT2 81
EN Sculptor, born in Buntingford, \JHertfordshire\j, south-east England, UK. He studed \Jarchitecture\j, taught at the Architectural Association School in London (1937-9), then practised as an engineer (1939-50). He turned to sculpture in 1951, and soon became recognized as one of the leading exponents of 'linear' constructions in wrought iron, but in his later years turned to a more realistic style.
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"Butler, Samuel (1612-80)",6349,0,0,0
DT1 1612
DT2 80
EN Satirist, baptized at Strensham, Hereford and Worcester, WC England, UK. He was educated at Worcester \Jgrammar school\j, and perhaps Oxford or Cambridge. He held several secretarial posts before becoming steward of \JLudlow\j Castle (1661) and in later years was secretary to the Duke of Buckingham. His great poetic work, \IHudibras,\i appeared in three parts (1663, 1664, 1678). A \Jburlesque\j satire on \JPuritanism\j, it secured immediate popularity, and was a special favourite of Charles II.
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"Butler, Samuel (1835-1902)",6350,0,0,0
DT1 1835
DT2 1902
EN Writer, painter, and musician, born at Langar Rectory, \JNottinghamshire\j, C England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, and became a sheep farmer in \JNew Zealand\j (1859-64). On returning to England, he worked on his Utopian satire, \IErewhon\i (1872) - the word is an inversion of 'nowhere' - in which many conventional practices and customs are reversed.
Its supplement, \IErewhon Revisited\i (1901), dealt with the origin of religious belief. His musical compositions include two oratorios, gavottes, minuets, fugues, and a cantata. He is best known for his autobiographical novel \IThe Way of All Flesh,\i published posthumously in 1903.
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"Butler, Smedley D. (Darlington)",6351,0,0,0
DT (1881-1940)
EN marine officer; born in West Chester, Pa. A member of a distinguished Quaker family, he fought insurrectionaries in the Far East, \JCentral America\j, and the Caribbean for more than 20 years, but missed combat in World War I. He caused a diplomatic incident in 1931 when he claimed the Italian dictator Mussolini had killed a child in a hit-and-run \Jautomobile\j accident. Passed over for commandant, he retired in October 1931 and became a prominent isolationist spokesman later in the decade. He was known in the Corps as "Old Gimlet Eye."
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"Butlerov, Alexander Mikhailovich",6352,0,0,0
PN [but\Blay\brof]
DT1 1828
DT2 86
EN Organic chemist, born in Chistopol, \JRussia\j. He studied at the University of Kazan, and became professor of chemistry there in 1849. In 1864 he correctly predicted the existence of tertiary alcohols, based on his grasp of structure theory, and was the first to introduce the idea of isomeric molecules existing in chemical equilibrium (tautomerism).
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"Butlin, Billy",6353,0,0,0
HS , popular name of \BSir William (Edmund) Butlin\b
DT1 1899
DT2 1980
EN Holiday camp promoter, born in South Africa. He moved with his parents to Canada, and after serving in World War 1, worked his passage to England with only ú5 capital. After a short period in a fun fair he went into business on his own. In 1936 he opened his first camp at Skegness, followed by others at Clacton and Filey. During World War 2 he served as director-general of hostels to the ministry of supply. After the War more camps and hotels were opened, both at home and abroad. He was knighted in 1964.
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"Butor, Michel (Marie Francois)",6354,0,0,0
PN [bⁿtaw(r)]
DT1 1926
EN Writer and critic, born in Lille, N \JFrance\j. He studied at the \JSorbonne\j, and taught at Manchester (1951--3), Thessaloniki (1954--5), and Geneva (1956--7). One of the popular writers of the \Iroman nouveau\i ("new novel'), his works include \IL'Emploi du temps\i (1959, Passing Time), \IDegrΘs\i (1960, Degrees), and the non-fiction \IMobile\i (1962). He has also written several volumes of poetry, his collection \IA la frontiΦre\i appearing in 1996.
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1954 Passage From Milan
1959 Passing Time
1957 Second Thoughts
1960 Degrees
\IOther\i
1963 Mobile
\IPoetry\i
1996 A la frontiΦre
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"Butskellism",6355,0,0,0
EN A compound of the names of UK Conservative politician River A Butler and the Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell, used in the 1950s and early 1960s to imply a high degree of similarity between the policies of the two main parties. 'Mr Butskell' was first referred to in \IThe Economist\i (Feb 1954).
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"Butt, Dame Clara",6356,0,0,0
DT1 1872
DT2 1936
EN Contralto singer, born in Southwick, West Sussex, S England, UK. She made her debut in 1892, and became known for her performances in oratorios. She was made a dame in 1920. Elgar's \ISea Pictures\i were especially composed for her.
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"butte",6357,0,0,0
PN [byoot]
EN Isolated, flat-topped, steep-sided residual hills formed by erosion of a mesa, when a remnant of hard rock protects the softer rock underneath.
BK b
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"butter",6358,0,0,0
EN A pale yellow foodstuff derived from the churning of cream, typically used in baking, cooking, or for spreading on bread. Milk fat exists as globules of fat each surrounded by an outer core of protein. This creates the \Jemulsion\j of oil in \Jwater\j seen in milk. If milk is churned or beaten, collision of the fat globules allows them to gradually increase in size; they lose their protective protein coat and consequently their \Jsolubility\j in \Jwater\j. The result is butter, which comprises c.82% fat and c.16% \Jwater\j.
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"butter-nut",6359,0,0,0
EN A deciduous conical tree \I(Juglans cinerea)\i growing to 30┐m / 100┐ft, native to \JNorth America\j; leaves with 11-19 oval leaflets; male flowers in catkins; fruit 4-6.5┐cm / 11/2-21/2┐in, ovoid, hairy, containing ridged, nut-like seed. \B(Family:\b Juglandaceae.)
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"buttercup",6360,0,0,0
EN A member of a large and diverse \Jgenus\j of annuals or perennials, some aquatic, common throughout most of the world, but especially in the Northern hemisphere; leaves narrow and entire, or broad and divided; flowers cup-shaped, 5-petalled, glossy yellow, sometimes white or red; bitter-tasting and poisonous to animals, which avoid them, hence the abundance of buttercups in pastures. \B(Genus:\b \IRanunculus,\i 400 species. \BFamily:\b Ranunculaceae.)
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"Butterfield, Paul",6361,0,0,0
DT (1942-87)
EN musician; born in \JChicago\j. A white singer-\Jharmonica\j player, he began as a teenager to master the blues style of his hometown through performances with Muddy Waters and Little Walter. He attended the Universeity of \JChicago\j in 1959-61, then formed the racially integrated Butterfield Blues Band, which pioneered blues-rock, introduced the electric guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop, and backed Bob Dylan's controversial non-acoustic appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. Butterfield recorded and toured extensively as a bandleader between 1965-75, appearing at the Monterey Pop (1967) and Woodstock (1969) Festivals. He was featured with Muddy Waters at The Band's farewell concert in 1976, which was filmed as "The Last Waltz," and performed sporadically thereafter until his death at age 44.
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"Butterfield, Sir Herbert",6362,0,0,0
DT1 1900
DT2 79
EN Historian, born in Yorkshire, N England, UK. He studied at Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he later became fellow (1923-55) and master (1955-68), as well as lecturer (1930-44), professor of modern history (1944-63), and Regius professor (1963-8). He won initial recognition as a diplomatic historian with \IThe Peace-Tactics of Napoleon 1806-8\i (1929). His \IThe Origins of Modern Science\i (1949) inaugurated the worldwide development of the history of science.
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"Butterfield, William",6363,0,0,0
DT1 1814
DT2 1900
EN Architect, born in London, England, UK. Associated with the Oxford Movement, he was a leading exponent of the Gothic Revival. His designs include Keble College, Oxford; St Augustine's College, Canterbury; the chapel and quadrangle of Rugby School; All Saints', Margaret Street, London; and St Albans, Holborn.
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"butterfish",6364,0,0,0
EN See gunnel
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#
"butterfly",6365,0,0,0
EN An insect belonging to the order \JLepidoptera\j, which comprises the butterflies and moths. Butterflies are usually distinguished from moths by being active during the daytime, by folding their wings upright over their bodies when at rest, and by having small knobs at the tips of their antennae; but there are exceptions.
BK b
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"butterfly bush",6366,0,0,0
EN See buddleia or buddleja
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#
"butterfly diagram or Maunder diagram",6367,0,0,0
EN A diagram which plots the location of sunspots on the Sun as a function of date, and is useful for tracking the 11-year solar cycle of activity. It is named after British astronomer E W Maunder of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, who started solar observations in 1873, and published the original version of this chart in 1904.
BK b
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"butterflyfish",6368,0,0,0
EN See \Jangelfish\j
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"Butterick, Ebenezer",6369,0,0,0
DT (1826-1903)
EN inventor, fashion business executive; born in Sterling, Mass. With his wife, Ellen Augusta Pollard Butterick (d. 1871), this tailor invented paper clothing patterns for home sewers; they began selling patterns in 1863. He formed E. Butterick & Company, New York (1867-81), established European branches, and founded fashion magazines. He was later secretary of the reorganized Butterick Publishing Company (1881-94).
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"Butterley, Nigel Henry",6370,0,0,0
DT1 1935
EN Composer and pianist, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. He studied at the \JNew South Wales\j Conservatory, and later in London. He worked as a producer and planner for the music department of the Australian Broadcasting Commission from 1955, and in 1966 won the prestigious Italia Prize with \IIn the Head the Fire\i, a musical work for radio commissioned by the ABC.
Other compositions include a violin \Jconcerto\j, \IExplorations for Piano and Orchestra\i, and a two-act opera, \ILawrence Hargrave Flying Alone\i (1987). \IFrom Sorrowing Earth\i, his first major orchestral work in more than a decade, was considered the best work from an Australian composer by the Australian Music Centre in 1992.
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"butterwort",6371,0,0,0
EN A small carnivorous perennial native to the Northern hemisphere and the mountains of \JSouth America\j. They have a rosette of oval, slightly inrolled leaves; flowers solitary on leafless stems, 2-lipped, spurred; white, lilac, or violet. Insects are trapped by a sticky coating on the leaves, then washed by rain towards the leaf-margins which inroll over them, secrete digestive enzymes, absorb the products, and finally unroll. \B(Genus:\b \IPinguicula,\i 46 species. \BFamily:\b Lentibulariaceae.)
BK b
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"button quail",6372,0,0,0
EN A small, plump, ground-living bird of \Jgenus\j \ITurnix,\i also \IOrtyxelos meiffrenii\i (the \Blark quail\b or \Bquail plover),\b native to the warm grasslands of the Old World; unusually for birds, the female actively courts males and takes several mates; the less colourful males incubate the eggs; also known as the \Bbustard quail\b or \Bhemipode.\b \B(Family:\b \JTurnicidae\j, 14 species.)
BK b
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"Button, Dick",6373,0,0,0
DT1 1929
EN Ice skater, born in Englewood, \JNew Jersey\j, USA. He was five times world champion (1948--52), and gold medal winner in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics. As an innovative competitor and as a commentator for ABC \Jtelevision\j he was instrumental in popularizing the sport in the USA.
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"Buttonquail",6374,0,0,0
EN See Turnicidae
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#
"buttress",6375,0,0,0
EN A mass of masonry built against a wall, usually on the outside of a building to oppose the lateral thrust of an arch, roof, or vault. Varied in form, the most notable type is the \Bflying \Jbuttress\j,\b which consists of a segment of an arch, stretching from a higher wall (sometimes, from a detached pier) to an external \Jbuttress\j.
BK b
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"Buttrose, Ita (Clare)",6376,0,0,0
DT1 1942
EN Journalist, publisher, and broadcaster, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. She was educated in Sydney, and joined Australian Consolidated Press at age 15 as a copy girl, going on to become editor of the \IAustralian Women's Weekly\i, Australia's leading women's magazine.
In 1981 she moved to News Limited as editor-in-chief of the \ISunday Telegraph\i, becoming the first woman in \JAustralia\j to edit either a daily or a Sunday paper. In 1988 she became editor of that paper's opposition, \IThe Sun Herald\i, and by 1989 had started her own magazine, called \IIta\i. She is chairman of the National Advisory Committee on AIDS, and one of the best-known women in \JAustralia\j.
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"butyl",6377,0,0,0
PN [\Bbyoo\btiyl, \Bbyoo\btil]
EN CH\D3\dCH\D2\dCH\D2\dCH\D2\d-. A four-carbon aliphatic group. In addition to the form given, there are three other \Jisomers\j: isobutyl (CH\D3\d)\D2\dCH-CH\D2\d-; secondary \Jbutyl\j (CH\D3\d)(C\D2\dH\D5\d)CH-; and tertiary \Jbutyl\j (CH\D3\d)\D3\dC-.
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"Butzer, Martin",6378,0,0,0
EN See Bucer or Butzer, Martin
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#
"Buxtehude, Diderik or Dietrich",6379,0,0,0
PN [\Bbuks\btehooduh]
DT1 1637
DT2 1707
EN Organist and composer, born in Oldesloe or \JHelsingborg\j, Sweden (formerly in Denmark). In 1668 he was appointed organist at the Marienkirche, Lⁿbeck, where he began the famous \IAbendmusiken\i - Advent evening concerts of his own sacred music and organ works. In 1705 Bach walked c.200 mi across \JGermany\j, and Handel travelled from \JHamburg\j, to attend his concerts.
MEX Handel; Bach, J S
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"Buys Ballot, Christoph H(endrick) D(iederick)",6380,0,0,0
PN [boyzbalot]
DT (1817-90)
EN Dutch meteorologist: described the direction of rotation of cyclones.
Buys Ballot was appointed professor of \Jmathematics\j at the University of \JUtrecht\j in 1847, and in 1854 founded the Netherlands Meteorological Institute. In 1857 he showed that, in the northern hemisphere, winds circulate counterclockwise around low-pressure areas and clockwise around high pressure ones, a fact now known as Buys Ballot's Law; the situation is reversed in the southern hemisphere.
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#
"Buzo, Alex(ander John)",6381,0,0,0
DT 1944-
EN Australian playwright. His first success was Norm and Ahmed (1968), a dialogue between an old Australian and a Pakistani student. His subsequent plays tend to focus on misfit idealists in contemporary suburbia or historical settings; his style, sometimes misconstrued as realism, is a brittle comic-ironic surface with complex subtext and evocative images.
His plays include The Front Room Boys (1969), Macquarie, written while he was resident playwright with Melbourne Theatre Company in 1972-3, Coralie Lansdowne Says No (1974), Martello Towers (1976), \JMakassar\j Reef (1978) and The Marginal Farm (1984).
BK Thea
#
"buzz-bomb",6382,0,0,0
EN See \JV-1\j
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#
"buzzard",6383,0,0,0
EN A large hawk found worldwide (except \JAustralasia\j and \JMalaysia\j); brown, grey, and white; soaring flight, but spends much time perching; kills prey on ground; inhabits woodlands or open country; territorial. \B(Genus:\b \IButeo,\i 25 species.)
BK b
#
"BV",6384,0,0,0
EN See Thomson, James \B(1834-82)\b
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"Byars, Betsy (Cromer)",6385,0,0,0
PN [\Bbiy\berz]
DT1 1928
EN Children's novelist, born in Charlotte, \JNorth Carolina\j, USA. She began to write in the 1960s, but had no great impact until \IThe Summer of the Swans\i (1970) was awarded the Newbery Medal. Specializing in kitchen sink drama - contemporary realism - she produced a number of popular novels, including \IThe Eighteenth Emergency\i (1973) and \IGoodbye, Chicken Little\i (1979).
\BMajor Works\b
\IChildren's novels\i
1970 Summer of the Swans
1973 The Eighteenth Emergency
1979 Goodbye, Chicken Little
1980 The Night Swimmers
1982 The Animal, the Vegetable and John D Jones
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"Byatt, A(ntonia) S(usan)",6386,0,0,0
DT1 1936
EN Writer and critic, the sister of Margaret Drabble. She studied at Cambridge, and became a lecturer in English at University College, London. Her novels include \IVirgin in the Garden\i (1978) and \IStill-Life\i (1985), the first two parts of a projected sequence tracing English life from the mid-1950s to the present \Jday\j, and \IPossession\i (1990, Booker).
Later works include \IAngels and Insects\i (1992), \IThe Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye\i (1994), and \IBabel Tower\i (1996). She has also written short stories, and several critical works, including a monograph on Iris Murdoch.
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1964 Shadow of The Sun
1965 Degrees of Freedom
1967 The Game
1978 The Virgin in the Garden
1985 Still-Life
1990 Possession
1992 Angels and Insects (novellae)
1995 Imagining Characters (jointly)
1996 Babel Tower
\IStories\i
1987 Sugar and Other Stories
1994 The Matisse Stories
1995 The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye: five fairy stories
\IEssays\i
1991 Passions of the Mind
\IOther\i
1970 Wordsworth and Coleridge in their Time
1976 Iris Murdoch
\IEditor\i
1979 George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss
1990 George Eliot: Selected Essays
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"Byblos",6387,0,0,0
PN [\Bbib\blos]
EN 34░07N 35░39E. An ancient trading city on the Lebanese coast N of \JBeirut\j; a world heritage site. It was the chief supplier of \Jpapyrus\j to the Greeks, which they accordingly nicknamed 'byblos' - hence the word '\Jbible\j' (literally, 'the \Jpapyrus\j book').
BK b
#
"Byelarus; Byelorussia",6388,0,0,0
EN See \JBelarus\j
BK b
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#
"Byerly, Perry (Edward)",6389,0,0,0
DT (1897-1978)
EN seismologist; born in Clarinda, \JIowa\j. His career at the University of \JCalifornia\j: Berkeley (1925-64) included the directorship of its seismographic station (1950-62). From examining travel-time curves of western North American \Jearthquake\j waves, he postulated that the earth's mantle is discretely layered and penetrated by the base structures of mountains.
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"Bygraves, Max (Walter)",6390,0,0,0
DT1 1922
EN Entertainer, born in Rotherhithe, SE Greater London, England, UK. Educated there, he worked for an advertising agency before joining the RAF (1940--5), where he became involved in entertainment for the troops. A professional entertainer since 1946, he has performed all over the world, and is among the best-selling recording artists. His catchphrase, "I wanna tell you a story', is also the title of his \Jautobiography\j (1976).
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"Byng (of Vimy), Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount",6391,0,0,0
DT1 1862
DT2 1935
EN British general, born in Wrotham Park, \JHertfordshire\j, south-east England, UK. He commanded the 9th Army Corps in \JGallipoli\j (1915), the Canadian Army Corps (1916-17), and the 3rd Army (1917-18). After World War 1 he became Governor-General of Canada (1921-6) and Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police (1928-31), and was made a viscount in 1928 and a field marshal in 1932.
EN English sailor, born in Wrotham, Kent, south-east England, UK. He joined the navy at 15, and gained rapid promotion as a supporter of William of Orange. Made rear-admiral in 1703, he captured \JGibraltar\j, and was knighted for his gallant conduct at Mßlaga. In 1708 he defeated the French fleet of James Stuart, the Pretender, and in 1718 destroyed the Spanish fleet off Messina. He was created viscount in 1721.
MEX Stuart, Prince James
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"Byoir, Carl (Robert)",6393,0,0,0
DT (1888-1957)
EN public relations executive; born in Des Moines, \JIowa\j. Among diverse business ventures, including the introduction of Montessori teaching to the U.S.A., he was best known as a public relations specialist. He founded his own public relations agency (1930) that occasionally achieved notoriety: he was charged with Nazi collusion for representing the German Tourist Information Office in the 1930s, and in 1946 he was convicted of violating antitrust laws with another client, A&P.
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"Byrd, Harry (Flood)",6394,0,0,0
DT (1887-1966)
EN U.S. senator; born at Martinsburg, W.Va. As governor of Virginia (1926-30), he established a relatively progressive record, passing the first antilynching law in the South in 1928. He promoted rural electrification while eliminating Virginia's budget deficit.
He went on to serve in the U.S. Senate (Dem., Va.; 1933-65). Although initially a Roosevelt supporter, he opposed many New Deal measures in the name of reduced government spending and emerged as a leading southern conservative, often siding with Republicans. After World War II he opposed foreign aid measures abroad and \Jcivil rights\j at home.
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"Byrd, Richard E(velyn)",6395,0,0,0
DT (1888-1957)
EN aviator, explorer; born in Winchester, Va. (brother of Harry Flood Byrd). Son of the lawyer who founded the Byrd political dynasty in Virginia, he joined the navy's \Javiation\j service in 1917, five years after graduating from \JAnnapolis\j. On May 9, 1926, he and his co-pilot Floyd Bennett made the first flight over the \JNorth Pole\j, flying round trip from Spitsbergen Island. Both men received the Congressional Medal of Honor for the feat.
As part of his Antarctic expedition of 1928-30, during which he established the Little America base, Byrd (with Bernt Balchen) made the first flight over the South Pole (November 28-29, 1929). He made four more expeditions to \JAntarctica\j for exploration and mapping (1933-35, 1939-41, 1946-47, 1955-56); he directed the U.S. Antarctic program for the International Geophysical Year (1957-58) and was planning future explorations of \JAntarctica\j at his death. He published several accounts of his experiences, including \ILittle America\i (1930) and \IAlone\i (1938).
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"Byrd, William, composer",6396,0,0,0
DT1 1543
DT2 1623
EN Composer, probably born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, EC England, UK. His early life is obscure, but it is likely that he was one of the Children of the Chapel Royal, under Tallis. He was organist of Lincoln Cathedral until 1572, when he was made joint organist with Tallis of the Chapel Royal. In 1575 Byrd and Tallis were given an exclusive licence for the printing and sale of music.
A firm Catholic, Byrd was several times prosecuted as a recusant, but he wrote music of great power and beauty for both the Catholic and the Anglican services, as well as madrigals, songs, keyboard pieces, and music for strings.
MEX Tallis
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"Byrd, William, Statesman",6397,0,0,0
DT (1674-1744)
EN statesman, author; born in Westover, Va. After being educated in England (1684-92), he became a member of the House of Burgesses and then the Council of State in 1709. He resisted Governor Alexander Spotswood's effort to take away the Council's position as the supreme court in Virginia. From 1704 on, he managed the vast properties and immense fortune inherited from his father. His manuscripts, letters, and diaries provide an intimate look at the life of the gentry in 18th-century Virginia.
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"Byrne, Donn",6398,0,0,0
HS , pseudonym of \BBrian Oswald Donn-Byrne\b
DT1 1889
DT2 1928
EN Novelist and short-story writer, born in New York City. He studied at Dublin, the \JSorbonne\j, and \JLeipzig\j universities. A cowpuncher in \JSouth America\j and garage-hand in New York City, his works include \IMesser Marco Polo\i (1921) and \IHangman's House\i (1926).
SX m
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"Byrne, John",6399,0,0,0
DT1 1940
EN Playwright and stage designer, born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, W Scotland, UK. His first play, \IWriter's Cramp\i, was produced at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (1977). \IThe Slab Boys\i (1978), concerning the lives of employees at a carpet factory, grew into a trilogy with \ICuttin' A Rug\i (1980), and \IStill Life\i (1983). He also wrote the highly acclaimed \ITutti Frutti\i (1987), a BBC Scotland \Jtelevision\j series about an ageing rock group.
\BMajor Works\b
\IPlays\i
1977 Writer's Cramp
1978 The Slab Boys
1980 Cuttin' A Rug
1983 Still Life
1987 Tutti Frutti
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#
"Byrnes, James F(rancis)",6400,0,0,0
DT (1879-1972)
EN \Jsecretary of state\j, public official, Supreme Court justice; born in Charleston, S.C. He served the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Dem., S.C.; 1910-25) and the Senate (Dem., S.C.; 1930-41) where he promoted the passage of landmark legislation such as the \JNeutrality\j Act (1935) and the Lend-Lease Act (1941). Appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1941, he stepped down after one year to head up the Office of Economic Stabilization (1942) and then the Office of War Mobilization (1943).
The title of "assistant president" was bestowed on him by President Roosevelt and he was considered as a running mate both in 1940 and 1944. He accompanied Roosevelt to Yalta (1945) and served as \Jsecretary of state\j under President Truman (1945-47). As governor of South Carolina (1950-55), despite his belief in segregation, he worked to suppress Ku Klux Klan activities and to improve the education of African-Americans.
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"Byrns, Joseph (Wellington)",6401,0,0,0
DT (1869-1936)
EN U.S. representative; born in \JCedar\j Hill, Tenn. His family moved to Nashville from their farm to provide him, the eldest of six children, with an education. A lawyer in Nashville in 1891, he served in the \JTennessee\j house and senate before going to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Dem., 1909-36). As a member of the Committee on Appropriations he championed governmental economy and tariff reductions, although he secured the massive wartime appropriations requested by President Wilson.
Faced with a Republican majority in the House, he attacked their economic policies, claiming that their high tariffs had contributed to a world-wide depression. In 1933 he became majority leader, successfully shepherding New Deal legislation through the House, setting aside his fiscal \Jconservatism\j to support his party. Elected Speaker of the House (1935-36), he managed the Democratic majority through persuasion, using a team of deputy whips to poll congressmen before critical votes.
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"Byron (of Rochdale), George (Gordon) Byron, 6th Baron",6402,0,0,0
HS , known as \BLord Byron\b
DT1 1788
DT2 1824
EN Poet, born in London, England, UK. His first 10 years were spent in poor surroundings in \JAberdeen\j, but then he inherited the title of his great-uncle, and went on to Dulwich, Harrow, and Cambridge, where he led a dissipated life. An early collection of poems, \IHours of Idleness\i (1807) was badly reviewed, and after replying in satirical vein, he set out on his grand tour, visiting \JSpain\j, Malta, \JAlbania\j, \JGreece\j, and the Aegean.
He then published the popular \IChilde Harold's Pilgrimage\i (1812), and several other works, becoming the darling of London society, and giving to Europe the concept of the 'Byronic hero'. He married \BAnne Isabella (Annabella) Milbanke\b (1792-1860) in 1815, but was suspected of a more than brotherly love for his half-sister, \BAugusta Leigh\b and was ostracized.
He left for Europe, where he met Shelley, and spent two years in \JVenice\j. Some of his best works belong to this period, including \IDon Juan\i (1819-24). He gave active help to the Italian revolutionaries, and in 1823 joined the Greek insurgents who had risen against the Turks. He died of \Jmalaria\j at Missolonghi.
MEX Lovelace, Augusta Ada; Shelley, Percy
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"Byron, H(enry) J(ames)",6403,0,0,0
DT 1834-84
EN English playwright, actor, theatre manager and journalist. His prodigious punning and irreverent treatment of familiar stories made a distinctive contribution to the development of the British \Jpantomime\j. (To his \Jburlesque\j versions of Cinderella (1860) and Aladdin (1861) we owe the invention of Buttons and Widow Twankey.)
In 1865, together with the star of many of his burlesques Marie Wilton, Byron took on the management of the Prince of Wales's Theatre and of three Liverpool theatres. It was for Liverpool that he wrote The Lancashire Lass (1867), a \Jmelodrama\j full of the effects he delighted to \Jburlesque\j. The popular Our Boys (1875) ran for four years at the \JVaudeville\j Theatre. He returned to \Jburlesque\j at the Gaiety and wrote The Gaiety Gulliver.
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"Byron, Robert",6404,0,0,0
DT1 1905
DT2 41
EN Writer on travel and \Jarchitecture\j, Byzantinist, and aesthete, born in Wiltshire, S England, UK. He studied at Oxford, where he collected Victoriana. He is best remembered for his travelogues, which include \IFirst \JRussia\j, Then Tibet\i (1933) and \IThe Road to Oxiana\i (1937), which won the \ISunday Times\i Literary Award. He died during World War 2 when his ship was torpedoed.
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"byte",6405,0,0,0
EN A fixed number of bits (binary digits), usually defined as a set of 8 bits. An 8-bit \Jbyte\j can therefore take 256 different values corresponding to the binary numbers 00000000, 00000001, 00000010, through to 11111111. A \Bkilobyte\b is one thousand bytes (actually 1024); a \Bmegabyte\b is one million bytes (actually 1024╫1024); a \Bgigabyte\b is one thousand million bytes (actually 1024╫1024╫1024). (1024┐=┐2\U10\u.)
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"Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory",6406,0,0,0
PN [byoora\Bkan\b]
EN An optical astronomical observatory in Armenia; 40┐km / 25┐mi N of Yerevan. It is known for the discovery of Markarian galaxies, which emit strongly in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum.
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"Byzantine art",6407,0,0,0
PN [bi\Bzan\btiyn]
EN The art which flourished from AD 330, when Constantinople (modern \JIstanbul\j) became the capital of the Roman Empire, to 1453 when that city fell to the Turks. It was conservative in form, stylized and overwhelmingly theological in content. The church of St Sophia at \JIstanbul\j (6th-c), the greatest work of early Byzantine \Jarchitecture\j, combines the axial Roman basilican plan with a huge dome; later churches adopted the Greek-cross plan, with four equal arms and a small dome carried on a high drum. Churches were adorned with richly-coloured marble inlay, \Jstained glass\j windows, and with mosaics and wall-paintings of subjects chosen from the \JBible\j and apocryphal literature.
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"Byzantine Empire",6408,0,0,0
PN [bi\Bzan\btiyn]
EN The E half of the Roman Empire, centred upon Constantinople, formerly Byzantium. Founded in AD 324 by Constantine the Great as the New \JRome\j, and formally inaugurated in AD 330, Constantinople, with its Senate and traditionally named magistracies (eg consuls, praetors), its 14 regions, and its state corn dole, was directly modelled on old imperial \JRome\j. But in two respects it was always different: it was a Christian, not a pagan, city, and its culture was predominantly Greek, not Latin.
Though initially subordinate to the Old \JRome\j, in due course it outstripped it in importance, becoming both the capital of an independent state and a major centre of learning, law, and culture. The two most comprehensive codifications of Roman Law - \JJustinian\j's Code and the Theodosian Code - were carried out here, the former under Byzantium's greatest ruler, \JJustinian\j (527-65). A bastion against the barbarian hordes, Byzantium for centuries fought off marauding \JGoths\j, \JHuns\j, and others. In 1453 she finally succumbed to the Ottoman Turks, having survived old imperial \JRome\j by nearly a thousand years.
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"C",6409,0,0,0
EN A computer programming language, developed by AT&T in the USA to be used with the \JUnix\j operating system. It has since been adopted much more widely, and is now available on personal computers. It is seen as a major contribution to achieving open systems interconnection.
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"C N Tower or Canadian National Tower",6410,0,0,0
EN The world's tallest self-supporting tower, erected in Toronto, \JOntario\j, Canada (1973-5); 555.3┐m / 1822┐ft high.
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"C++",6411,0,0,0
PN [see pluhs pluhs]
EN A computer programming language, developed from C, to enable the programmer to carry out object-oriented programming.
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"ca(a)'ing whale",6412,0,0,0
EN See pilot whale
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"Cabal",6413,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bbal\b]
EN An \Jacronym\j taken from the initials of the five leading advisers of Charles II of England between 1667 and 1673: Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley Cooper (Shaftesbury), and Lauderdale. The name is misleading, since these five were by no means Charles's only advisers; nor did they agree on a common policy. Arlington and Buckingham were bitter rivals. The overtones of conspiracy and intrigue found in the general use of the word \Icabal\i made the \Jacronym\j attractive.
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"CaballΘ, Montserrat",6414,0,0,0
PN [kaba\Byay\b]
DT1 1933
EN Soprano, born in \JBarcelona\j, \JSpain\j, where she studied at the Liceo. She made her operatic debut in \JBasel\j (1956), and soon earned an international reputation, especially in operas by Donizetti and Verdi. In 1964 she married the tenor \BBernabΘ Marti.\b
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"cabaret",6415,0,0,0
EN Popular entertainment. The name derives from the Spanish caba retta or 'merry bowl', then the French cabaret or tavern. It denotes a small-scale performance, occasionally improvised, of songs, sketches, satires and speeches, usually commenting on social, political or artistic conditions. Strictly an urban form, it originated as an avant-garde amusement for a select audience but later became commercialized for a broader public.
The Parisian Chat Noir club gave the generic term cabaret artistique to programmes put on in cafΘs and pubs. It was founded on 18 November 1881 by the painter Rudolphe Salis, who called it a cabaret because the songs and sketches were set forth like courses on a menu. His Montmartre premises housed not only Friday night poetry readings but also elaborate shadow plays, scripted, designed and musically accompanied by leading artists.
When the Chat Noir moved to elegant new premises in 1885, the old building was taken over by Aristide Bruant's Le Mirliton, one of the numerous Montmartre cabarets it inspired. The intimate milieu allowed performers like Yvette Guilbert to develop a subtle new manner of delivery and to treat 'naturalistic' subjects.
In \JGermany\j, the first true cabaret was the Bunte Bⁿhne (Motley Stage), created by Baron Ernst von Wolzogen and Otto Julius Bierbaum in 1901 to offer a superior form of variety show. The same year saw the founding of Berlin's Schall und Rauch (Noise and Smoke) by the young Max Reinhardt and actors of the Deutsches Theater; and of Munich's Elf Scharfrichter (Eleven Executioners), where Frank Wedekind sang his own macabre ditties to \Jguitar\j accompaniment.
These artistic cabarets mixed ballads, art songs, one-act plays, dance, puppet drama and instrumental music in a programme held together by a master of ceremonies. The primary aim was to amuse and to air new fashions in literature.
In \JRussia\j the gatherings were more theatrical. Letuchaya Mysh (the Bat) was developed by Nikita Baliev from the hilarious 'cabbage parties' held by the Moscow Art Theatre, and rapidly turned into a miniature theatre presenting plays and tableaux based on classic Russian literature and folk art. As the Chauve- Souris it became world-famous after the Revolution. Krivoe Zerkalo (the Crooked Mirror), founded in St Petersburg in 1908, was, under the directorship of Nikolai Evreinov, a house excelling in \Jparody\j and experimental forms such as monodrama.
After World War I, German cabarets grew more political, breeding-grounds for dissent, particularly in Berlin. Kurt Tucholsky coined the term Kabarett to describe the newly engaged cabaret, with an ensemble company and a programme founded on a given theme (in German, Cabaret suggests a less structured series of solo numbers). They included the anti-Fascist Katakombe (Catacombs, 1929) of Werner Finck. Although these cabarets did not always pack the political punch they promised, by 1935 the Nazis had banned cabaret. Some performers, like Finck, were sent to concentration camps.
In the English-speaking world, cabaret was equated with nightclubs until the 1960s, when \JChicago\j's Second City emphasized improvisation and devised sketches before the audience's eyes. It spawned a shoal of imitations, such as \JSan Francisco\j's the Premise and \JBoston\j's the Proposition, manned by university graduates. Following the highly successful run of the revue Beyond the Fringe, the Establishment (1961), an after-hours club in London, tried to maintain the \Jatmosphere\j of irreverence.
Recent developments include comedy clubs where untried performers air their material before uncritical audiences at little cost to the management. The haphazard nature of the enterprise is a far cry from the programmatic intentions of the artistic cabaret. More in line with the avant-garde tradition has been the short-lived New Wave \JVaudeville\j, a lunatic musical assemblage deriving from punk rock.
Cabaret, a musical by Kander and Ebb (1966), popularized a somewhat distorted picture of the form in Weimar \JGermany\j. Jeremy Lawrence's revue Cabaret Verboten (1991) used actual material of the period, and played at the Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, and the CSC Rep, New York City.
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"cabbage",6416,0,0,0
EN A vegetable \I(Brassica oleracea)\i grown for its dense leafy head, which is harvested before the flowers develop and the head elongates. There are numerous cultivars, all derived from wild cabbage, a biennial or perennial with woody, leafy stems and yellow cross-shaped flowers, native to W Europe and the Mediterranean. \B(Family:\b Cruciferae.)
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"cabbage white butterfly",6417,0,0,0
EN A large butterfly, found in Europe, N Africa, and \JNorth America\j; wings mainly white with black markings, and yellow on undersides of hindwings, also known as \Blarge white.\b The caterpillars are pests of cabbage family crops. \B(Order:\b \JLepidoptera\j. \BFamily:\b Pieridae.)
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"Cabbala",6418,0,0,0
EN See Kabbalah
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"Cabell, James (Branch)",6419,0,0,0
DT (1879-1958)
EN writer; born in Richmond, Va. After graduating from the College of William and Mary, he worked as a journalist and as a \Jcoal\j miner. With his first novel, \IThe Eagle's Shadow\i (1904), this Virginia-based author launched a prolific literary career producing works ranging from historical short stories to Virginia \Jgenealogy\j.
He was known chiefly for his polished romances set in a mythical French province, Poictesme (18 vols. 1913-29), intended as allegories of the modern world. The best known of the series, \IJurgen\i (1919), was originally suppressed as being immoral. Highly admired by literary types in his \Jday\j, Cabell's work failed to speak to later generations.
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"caber tossing",6420,0,0,0
EN The art of tossing a tree trunk \B(caber),\b practised in Scotland, UK. The competitor has the caber, about 3-4┐m / 12-18┐ft in length, placed vertically into the palms of his hands. He then runs with it and tosses it; the caber should revolve longitudinally, its base landing away from him. The tradition is popular at Highland Games gatherings.
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"Cabet, Etienne",6421,0,0,0
DT (1788-1856)
EN Utopian, social reformer, author; born in Dijon, \JFrance\j. Trained as a lawyer, he was a radical member of the French Chamber of Deputies (1831) and founded \ILe Populaire\i (1833), a publication that promoted the workingmen's cause. In 1834 the government prosecuted him for certain articles and he went into exile in England. Back in \JFrance\j he published a Utopian romance, \IVoyage en Icarie\i (1839), which outlined what he called the Icarian doctrine, a detailed blueprint for a new society.
This and his other writings attracted a large audience and followers for establishing a Utopian community in America; Cabet joined them in 1849 and they established it at the abandoned Mormon town of Nauvoo, Ill. But his autocratic rule turned many in the community against him and in 1856 he left for St. Louis, Mo., where he soon died. His death did not stop the creation of Icarian colonies in: \JCheltenham\j, Mo.; Corning, \JIowa\j; and Cloverdale, Calif.; but all were dissolved by 1895.
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"Cabinda",6422,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bbeen\bda]
EN area 7270┐km\U2\u / 2800┐mi\U2\u. Province of \JAngola\j on the south-west coast of Africa, N of the River \JCongo\j; bounded W by the Atlantic and surrounded by the \JCongo\j, it is separated from the rest of \JAngola\j; attached to \JAngola\j in 1886 by agreement with \JBelgium\j; seaport and chief town Cabinda, 5░35S 12░12E, 55┐km / 34┐mi N of the River \JCongo\j estuary; offshore oil fields; oil refining.
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"cabinet",6423,0,0,0
EN In a parliamentary system, a group of senior ministers usually drawn from the majority party. In Britain (where cabinet government originated), the cabinet has no constitutional status other than the conventions by which it operates. It forms the link between the executive and legislative branches of government, as its members must be drawn from the legislature. Cabinet members are bound by the doctrine of collective responsibility: ministers must publicly support decisions taken by the cabinet, or its committees, or else resign.
The importance of the cabinet varies across political systems, some (eg Britain) attaching greater importance than others (eg \JGermany\j) to co-ordination in decision-making. A cabinet may also be found in a non-parliamentary system, such as that of the USA, where it provides the president with an additional consultative body.
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"cabinet picture",6424,0,0,0
EN A small easel painting, carefully executed, intended for close viewing, and suitable for display in a small private room. The Dutch masters of the 17th-c specialized in this type of picture.
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"cable",6425,0,0,0
EN An insulated conductor used to carry power or signals. The simplest type has a core of conducting metal, such as copper, surrounded by an insulating sheath of plastic or \Jrubber\j. \BCoaxial cables\b have another sheath of wire braid under the outer \Jinsulation\j. \JTelephone\j connections use multicore cables.
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"cable television",6426,0,0,0
EN The distribution of video programmes to subscribers by coaxial cable or fibre-optic links, rather than by broadcast transmission, providing a wide range of choice to individual homes within a specific area. Programmes may originate from \Jsatellite\j transmission to a master antenna installed at the cable centre, as well as from recorded sources.
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"Cable, George W(ashington)",6427,0,0,0
DT (1844-1925)
EN writer; born in \JNew Orleans\j. When the Union forces occupied \JNew Orleans\j in the \JCivil War\j, he joined a Mississippi cavalry regiment and fought in a number of engagements. After the war he held several jobs, contributed to a \JNew Orleans\j newspaper, and in 1873, began to publish stories in \IScribner's Monthly.\i The publication in 1879 of \IOld \JCreole\j Days,\i a collection of his stories drawing on the lore of old \JNew Orleans\j, gained him quick national success and helped to popularize the "local color" movement then emerging in American fiction.
Subsequent fictional works with \JNew Orleans\j settings advanced his standing, but he had in the meantime become interested in the problems of former slaves. The reaction among some Southerners to his \ISilent South\i (1885), a collection of his essays and lectures calling for reform, led him to move to Northampton, Mass.
He continued to publish novels, several dealing with the contrast between Northern and Southern manners and morals, and on reading tours with Mark Twain, who had expressed admiration for his work, he continued to agitate for equal rights for African-Americans, for prison improvements, and for other reforms.
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"Cable, Ransom R.",6428,0,0,0
DT (1834-1909)
EN railroad developer; born in \JAthens\j County, Ohio. A \Jcoal\j miner for many years in Rock Island, Ill., he became interested in railroads and by 1870 had become president of the Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis railroad. In 1877 he was elected director of the \JChicago\j, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company, with which he stayed, rising through the presidency (1883) to become chairman of the board (1898-1902).
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"Cabot, George",6429,0,0,0
DT (1752-1823)
EN merchant, U.S. senator; born in Salem, Mass. After youthful years at sea (1768-77), he made a substantial fortune as a shipper and merchant; he also worked with his family's cotton mills. As a staunch Federalist, he became a close associate of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, championing ratification of the Constitution in 1788. He was one of the most prominent members of the Essex Junto, wealthy Federalists from Essex County, Mass.
Representing \JMassachusetts\j in the U.S. Senate (1791-96), he favored cooperation with \JGreat Britain\j; he returned to his business afterward. During the \JWar of 1812\j, he presided over the \JHartford\j Convention (1814), convened to rally Federalist opposition to the war, but he served only as a moderating influence.
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"Cabot, Godfrey Lowell",6430,0,0,0
DT (1861-1962)
EN industrialist, philanthropist; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. He studied chemistry and experimented with carbon black; starting with his first carbon works in West Virginia in 1899, he built up the Cabot Corporation to become the leading producer of that product within the U.S.A., and he prospered through its interests in minerals, \Jenergy\j sources, and industrial research.
He traveled widely and was himself a pilot. He directed \JBoston\j's puritanical Watch and Ward Society (1920s and 1930s), which blocked certain books, plays, and motion pictures from the public. Among his many philanthropies were large gifts to Harvard and to the \JMassachusetts\j Institute of Technology.
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"Cabot, Hugh",6431,0,0,0
DT (1872-1945)
EN surgeon, educator; born at Beverly Farms, Mass. (brother of Richard C. Cabot). Having taken his medical degree at Harvard, he taught there (1910-19), with some time out to serve as a surgeon with the U.S. forces in \JFrance\j. He introduced innovations in medical education, first at the University of \JMichigan\j Medical School (1920-30) and then at the Mayo Clinic and University of \JMinnesota\j Graduate School of Medicine (1930-39). He then returned to \JBoston\j and private practice. He was an advocate of prepaid group practice and government underwriting of medical care to ensure equitable distribution.
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"Cabot, John",6432,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bbot\b]
HS , Ital \BGiovanni Caboto\b
DT1 1425
DT2a c.
DT2 1500
EN Navigator, born possibly in \JGenoa\j, who discovered the mainland of \JNorth America\j. Little is known about his life. About 1490 he settled in \JBristol\j, and set sail in 1497 with two ships, accompanied by his three sons, sighting Cape Breton I and \JNova Scotia\j on 24 June. He set out on another voyage in 1498, and died at sea.
MEX Cabot, Sebastian
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"Cabot, John M(oors)",6433,0,0,0
DT (1901-81)
EN diplomat; born in Cambridge, Mass. He studied at Oxford and entered the diplomatic service in 1927. He specialized in Eastern Europe and \JLatin America\j and was assistant \Jsecretary of state\j for Inter-American Affairs (1953-54). He wrote \IThe Racial Conflict in Transylvania\i (1926) and \ITowards Our Common American Destiny\i (1955).
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"Cabot, Richard Clarke",6434,0,0,0
DT (1868-1939)
EN physician, medical reformer; born in Brookline, Mass. (brother of Hugh Cabot). He was affiliated with Harvard Medical School (1899-1932) and \JMassachusetts\j General \JHospital\j (1898-1921). He introduced the practice of medical social service so that a physician could treate the whole person. As early as 1913, he advocated prepaid medical group practice. From 1920-34, he taught social ethics at Harvard and he published on a variety of social issues as well as on medical topics.
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"Cabot, Sebastian",6435,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bbot\b]
DT1 1474
DT2 1557
EN Explorer and navigator, the son of John Cabot, born in \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j, or \JBristol\j. He accompanied his father to the American coast, then entered the service of Ferdinand V of \JSpain\j as a cartographer (1512). In 1526 he explored the coast of \JSouth America\j for Emperor Charles V, but failed to colonize the area, and was imprisoned and banished to Africa. He returned to \JSpain\j in 1533, and later to England, where he was made inspector of the navy by Edward VI.
MEX Cabot, John
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"Cabral or Cabrera, Pedro Alvarez",6436,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bbral\b]
DT1a c.
DT1 1467
DT2a c.
DT2 1520
EN Explorer, born in Belmonte, \JPortugal\j. In 1500 he sailed from \JLisbon\j bound for the East Indies, but was carried to the unknown coast of \JBrazil\j, which he claimed on behalf of \JPortugal\j. He then made for India, but was forced to land at \JMozambique\j and provided the first description of that country. He made the first commercial treaty between \JPortugal\j and India, and returned to \JLisbon\j in 1501. He was given no further missions, and remained for the rest of his life at SantarΘm.
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"Cabrera",6437,0,0,0
PN [kab\Bray\bra]
EN 39░15N 2░58E. Small Spanish island in the Balearic Is, \JMediterranean Sea\j; 15┐km / 9┐mi S of \JMajorca\j; tourism.
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"Cabrera Infante, Guillermo",6438,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bbrair\ba in\Bfan\btay]
DT1 1929
EN Writer, born in Gibara, \JCuba\j. He studied at \JHavana\j University, and emigrated to England, UK in 1966. Film critic, journalist, and translator of Joyce's \IDubliners\i (1972), he is known chiefly for his fiction, particularly \ITres tristes tigres\i (1967, Three Sad Tigers) and \ILa Habana para un infante defunto\i (1979, trans Infante's Inferno).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1967 Three Sad Tigers
1979 Infante's Inferno
\IStories\i
1960 In Peace as in War
1974 View of Dawn in the Tropics
\IOther\i
1975 O
1978 Arcadia Every Night
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"Cabrera, Pedro Alarez",6439,0,0,0
EN See Cabral or Cabrera, Pedro Alvarez
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"Cabrini, St Francesca Xavier",6440,0,0,0
DT (1850-1917)
EN Catholic missionary nun, saint; born in Lombardy, \JItaly\j. A devout child who took a vow of chastity at the age of 12, she was trained as a teacher and became director of an orphanage. In 1880 she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, hoping to spread the faith in China; instead, she was sent by the pope to America (1889); there, battling money problems, she founded schools and charitable institutions to serve poor immigrants in New York and other cities. She also dispatched missionaries to other countries. Naturalized in 1909, she became the first American citizen to be canonized (1946).
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"Cabrujas, JosΘ Ignacio",6441,0,0,0
DT 1937-
EN Venezuelan playwright and director. One-third of the Venezuelan 'Holy Trinity' (with Chalbaud and Chocr≤n), Cabrujas was a founding member of the Teatro Arte de \JCaracas\j (Art Theatre of Caracas) in 1961 and joined the Nuevo Grupo (New Group) in 1967. A committed writer, he has composed for the New Group such plays as Profundo (Deep, 1970), Acto cultural (Cultural Act, 1976) and El dφa que me quieras (The Day You Love Me, 1979), the latter an enormously popular play that intermixes Argentine tangos with the Marxist movement of the 1930s.
He also acts and directs, and since the early 60s has written and adapted for film as well. Other plays include Los insurgentes (The Insurgents, 1961), El extra±o viaje de Sim≤n el malo (The Strange Voyage of Simon the Evil, 1962) and FiΘsole (1967).
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"cacao",6442,0,0,0
EN An evergreen tree native to \JCentral America\j \I(Theobroma cacao),\i widely cultivated elsewhere and of great economic importance; leaves oblong; flowers pink, borne in clusters directly on trunks and older branches; fruit an ovoid yellow pod, leathery and grooved, enclosing up to 100 beans embedded in soft pulp. The beans are dried, roasted, and ground to produce \Jcocoa\j powder, used in drinks and chocolate. Pressed beans yield \Jcocoa\j butter. \B(Family:\b Sterculiaceae.)
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"Cacatuidae",6443,0,0,0
EN \BCockatoos\b
The cockatoos (family \JCacatuidae\j, order Psittaciformes) differ from other parrots in several conspicuous features, but especially in their mainly black, white, or gray plumage and their conspicuous, moveable crests-in several species it is a volatile indicator of mood and expression. Even by comparison with other parrots, cockatoos are unusually large, noisy, conspicuous, and gregarious.
The cockatoos share with parrots and lorikeets the unique psittaciform bill-large, strong, and curved, with both mandibles articulated with the skull (in most birds only the lower mandible is moveable). The largest species is the spectacular Palm Cockatoo \IProbosciger aterrimus,\i about 56 cm long, but several other species are only slightly smaller, and the smallest species-the Cockatiel \INymphicus hollandicus\i (32 cm long)-- is tiny compared with most.
Several cockatoos have patches of naked skin on the face, usually in the form of bluish patches around the eye, but in the Palm Cockatoo most of the face is naked and bright red.
There are two major groups of cockatoos: the 'white' cockatoos (\Jgenus\j \ICacatua)\i are mainly white or pale pink in plumage, most have short tails, feed much on the ground, and the sexes are nearly identical; the 'black' cockatoos \I(Calyptorhynchus)\i are much larger, have long tails, are mainly black in plumage (but with red, yellow, or white patches on the head and in the tail), feed largely in trees, and the sexes often differ substantially in appearance. The Cockatiel \INymphicus hollandicus\i is unique in its small size, slim build, and long, tapering tail.
Cockatoos are strongly gregarious; most species live in small parties, and several-notably the corellas and the Cockatiel-often congregate in very large flocks. Though they may scatter to feed during the \Jday\j, they commute at night to communal roosts. Cockatoos spend the first few years of their lives in nomadic flocks, before finding mates and establishing more or less permanent territories.
Cockatoos are essentially Australasian in distribution, although several species occur in parts of \JIndonesia\j, and one species extends to the \JPhilippines\j. The center of diversity is in \JAustralia\j, where 14 species occur, all but three of which are endemic. Some species are wide-ranging: the Galah \ICacatua roseicapilla,\i for example, occurs almost everywhere in \JAustralia\j. A few species, on the other hand, have very restricted distributions: Goffin's Cockatoo \ICacatua goffini,\i for example, is confined to the tiny Tanimbar Islands in \JIndonesia\j.
The black-cockatoos \I(Calyptorhynchus)\i are woodland and forest birds, but several of the white cockatoos \I(Cacatua)\i -especially the corellas-inhabit open semi-desert country with scattered trees, and the Palm Cockatoo is largely confined to \Jrainforest\j. Cockatoos are mainly sedentary or only locally nomadic, but the Cockatiel is both nomadic and strongly migratory. The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo \ICacatua galerita,\i native to \JAustralia\j and New Guinea, has been introduced to Palau (\JMicronesia\j) and \JNew Zealand\j.
Cockatoos form monogamous pairs that may last for life. Courtship displays are unspectacular, but the Palm Cockatoo is unusual among birds in using tools to enhance its courtship display. The male uses a large seed, a chunk of dead wood, or some similar item, to batter at its high treetop perch as it pirouettes and cavorts, producing a resonant drumming sound that carries a considerable distance. Cockatoos use large tree cavities in which to nest.
Several of the larger species lay only a single egg, but Galahs and corellas lay two or three eggs, sometimes four, and the typical Cockatiel clutch consists of five eggs. Eggs are laid on alternate days and incubation begins with the second, so hatching is asynchronous.
Incubation ranges from about 19 days in Cockatiels to about 35 days in the Palm Cockatoo, and chicks are clad in sparse yellowish down at hatching. Nestling Cockatiels fledge at about 30 days, but several larger cockatoo species spend as much as 90 days in the nest. In some species the female alone incubates (though the male visits to feed her), but in all cockatoos the male helps feed the chicks.
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"Caccini, Giulio",6444,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bchee\bnee]
DT1a c.
DT1 1550
DT2 1618
EN Composer and singer, born in \JRome\j. With Jacopo \JPeri\j he paved the way for opera by setting to music the drama \IEuridice\i (1602). Particularly significant was his \INuove musiche\i (1602), a collection of canzonets and madrigals.
MEX \JPeri\j
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"Cßceres",6445,0,0,0
PN [\Bkath\beres]
EN 39░26N 6░23W, pop (1995e) 72 000. Walled town and capital of Cßceres province, W \JSpain\j; on R Cßceres, 297 km/185 mi SW of Madrid; railway; pharmaceuticals, chemicals, textiles, leather; a world heritage site; Roman settlement, 1st-cBC;Plaza Santa Maria, Lower Golfines Palace, Church of San Mateo, Maltravieso cave paintings.
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"cachalot",6446,0,0,0
PN [\Bkash\balot]
EN See sperm whale
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"cache memory",6447,0,0,0
PN [kash]
EN A very high-speed buffer memory which operates between a computer processor and main memory in high performance computer systems.
BK c
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"cacomistle",6448,0,0,0
PN [\Bkak\bomisl]
EN A \Jmammal\j native to S USA and \JCentral America\j; pale brown with lighter underparts; long bushy tail with black bands; inhabits rocky areas or forest; also known as \Bcacomixl\b or \Bringtail.\b \B(Genus:\b \IBassariscus,\i 2 species. \BFamily:\b Procyonidae.)
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"cactus",6449,0,0,0
EN A member of a large family of plants typical of arid zones but found in a number of habitats: some occur as epiphytes in the canopy of tropical rainforests where \Jwater\j can also be in short supply; others in high mountains; but almost all are confined to the New World. In the Old World they are paralleled by various members of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), remarkably similar in appearance, and sometimes mistaken for cacti. Cacti exhibit a wide variety of size, form, and adaptations to dry conditions, some very sophisticated.
All species are succulents and store \Jwater\j, sometimes in the roots but usually in swollen, often barrel-like, stems which may be of huge capacity and capable of sustaining the plant over several years without rain; the stem often has pleat-like ribs which allow it to expand or contract as the \Jwater\j content changes. Water loss is reduced in various ways. The plants are leathery with a thick waxy cuticle.
In some species the surface area is reduced by assuming a globose shape, and the vulnerable leaves are absent or reduced to spines, \Jphotosynthesis\j being carried out by the green stem.
The spines can be very intricate, ranging from simple prongs to parasols and long, soft hairs; they shade or insulate the \Jcactus\j, protect it from animals, reflect light, and collect and absorb droplets of dew - an important source of \Jwater\j. Cacti show a wide range of flowers, often large and conspicuous, pollinated by bees, hawk-moths, hummingbirds, and bats. Bird-pollinated \Jday\j flowers are predominantly reds and yellows and scentless; moth- and bat-pollinated night flowers are predominantly white, often strongly perfumed, sometimes unpleasantly so. The fruits are usually fleshy and sometimes edible. \B(Family:\b Cactaceae, c.2000 species.)
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"cactus hybrid",6450,0,0,0
EN A type of \Jcactus\j \I(Schlumbergera┐╫┐buckleyi); \i an \Jepiphyte\j, with spineless, arching stems made up of flattened, jointed segments and magenta flowers, appearing in winter. \B(Family:\b Cactaceae.)
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"cactus moth",6451,0,0,0
EN A small, dull moth with narrow forewings and broad hindwings \I(Cactoblastis cactorum); \i introduced successfully into \JAustralia\j in 1925 as a measure to control the spread of \Jprickly pear\j \Jcactus\j. The caterpillars destroy \Jcactus\j plants by burrowing into stems. \B(Order:\b \JLepidoptera\j. \BFamily:\b Pyralidae.)
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"CAD",6452,0,0,0
EN See computer-aided design (CAD)
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"Cadbury, George",6453,0,0,0
DT1 1839
DT2 1922
EN Businessman, born in Birmingham, West Midlands, C England, UK, the son of \BJohn Cadbury.\b In partnership with his brother \BRichard Cadbury\b (1835-99), he expanded his father's \Jcocoa\j and chocolate business, and established for the workers the model village of Bournville (1879), a prototype for modern methods of housing and town planning. He also became proprietor of the \IDaily News\i (1902), and was an ardent Quaker.
SX m
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"Cadbury, Henry (Joel)",6454,0,0,0
DT1 1883
DT2 1974
EN Quaker scholar, born in Philadelphia, PA. He studied at Haverford College and at Harvard, then taught biblical studies at Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Harvard, where he subsequently held a chair in divinity (1934-54). He was active in the work of the American Friends Service Committee.
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"Cadbury, John",6455,0,0,0
DT1 1801
DT2 89
EN Quaker businessman, the son of \BRichard Tapper Cadbury,\b who had settled in Birmingham, West Midlands, C England, UK in 1794. He founded the \Jcocoa\j and chocolate business of Cadburys.
MEX Cadbury, George
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"caddis fly",6456,0,0,0
EN A dull-coloured, moth-like insect; aquatic larvae build silken protective cases incorporating sand, twigs, and leaves; feed on \Jalgae\j, fungi, or plant material; adults live near \Jwater\j; forewings hairy, held at oblique vertical angle at rest. \B(Order:\b Trichoptera.)
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"Cade, Jack",6457,0,0,0
PN [kayd]
DT1 ?
DT2 1450
EN Irish leader of the insurrection of 1450 against \JHenry VI\j. After an unsettled early career he lived in Sussex, possibly as a physician. Assuming the name of Mortimer, and the title of Captain of Kent, he marched on London with a great number of followers, and entered the city. A promise of pardon sowed dissension among the insurgents; they dispersed, and a price was set upon Cade's head. He attempted to reach the coast, but was killed near Heathfield, East Sussex.
MEX \JHenry VI\j; William of Waynflete
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"Cadell, Francis (Campbell Boileau)",6458,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\bdl]
DT1 1883
DT2 1937
EN Painter, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. He studied in Paris (1899-1903), visited Munich in 1907, and returned to Edinburgh in 1909. In 1912 he founded the Society of Eight. One of the 'Scottish Colourists', he painted landscapes, interiors, and still-life, in broad patches of brilliant, high-keyed colour.
SX m
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"cadence",6459,0,0,0
EN A melodic or (more commonly) harmonic formula marking the end of a phrase or longer section of music. The 'perfect' \Jcadence\j, formed by dominant-tonic chords, is the one that most often ends a piece. The word (from Lat \Icadere\i 'to fall') originates from the tendency for a \Jplainchant\j (or, in early \Jpolyphony\j, a tenor line) to fall to its final note from the one above.
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"cadenza",6460,0,0,0
EN An improvised (or improvisatory) passage, usually of a virtuoso and rhythmically free character, which the soloist in a \Jconcerto\j plays as a kind of adjunct to the main body of the piece. In the concertos of Mozart and Beethoven, the main \Jcadenza\j is heard towards the end of the first movement; later composers, such as Liszt, introduced them at various unpredictable points. During the \Jcadenza\j the orchestra is usually silent, but some composers (eg Strauss, Elgar, Walton) have written accompanied cadenzas.
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"Cader Idris",6461,0,0,0
PN [\Bkad\ber \Bid\bris] (Welsh 'chair of Idris')
EN 52░42N 3░54W. Mountain ridge in north-west Wales, UK; in Snowdonia National Park, south-west of Dolgellau; rises to 892┐m / 2928┐ft at Pen-y-Gader.
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"Cadillac, Antoine Laumet de la Mothe, sieur de (Lord of)",6462,0,0,0
PN [\Bkad\blak], Fr [kadayak]
DT1 1658
DT2 1730
EN French soldier and colonialist, born in \JGascony\j, \JFrance\j. He went to America with the French army in 1683, and founded the settlement of Fort-Pontehartrain du DΘtroit (1701), which became the city of \JDetroit\j. In 1711 he was appointed Governor of Louisiana, but returned to \JFrance\j in 1716.
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"Cßdiz",6463,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bdiz\b]
EN 36░30N 6░20W, pop (1995e) 155 000. Seaport and capital of Cßdiz province, \JAndalusia\j, SW \JSpain\j; in the Bay of Cßdiz, 663 km/412 mi SW of Madrid; base for Spanish treasure ships from the Americas, 16th--18th-c; Francis Drake burned the ships of Philip II at anchor here, 1587; bishopric; airport; railway; car ferries to \JCasablanca\j and Canary Is; university; naval harbour of La Carraca; shipbuilding, trade in sherry, fish, salt, olives; cathedral (18th-c), Chapel of Santa Catalina; Fiestas Tipicas Gaditanas (May), Festival of \JSpain\j (Aug), Trofeo Internacional Ramon (football competition, Aug).
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"Cadman, Charles Wakefield",6464,0,0,0
DT (1881-1946)
EN composer, organist; born in Johnston, Pa. Beginning as a church organist, he became interested in Native American music after reading such ethnologists as Alice Fletcher and Francis La Flesche. He proceeded to incorporate Indian themes in many of his own compositions, such as his opera \IShanewis,\i staged at the Metropolitan in 1918. He is best known for such songs as "Land of the Sky-blue Water" (1908).
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"cadmium",6465,0,0,0
EN \JCd\j, element 48, density 8.7┐g / cm\U3\u, melting point 321░C, colour bluish-white. A metal, normally occurring with other metals, especially copper and zinc, as the sulphide, CdS. The metal is recovered for use in low-melting alloys and as an absorber for neutrons in atomic reactors. Cadmium compounds are used as phosphors in colour \Jtelevision\j tubes. Its commonest \Joxidation\j state is +2; its compounds are very toxic.
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"Cadmus",6466,0,0,0
PN [\Bkad\bmus]
EN According to Greek legend the son of Agenor, King of Tyre; he set off in pursuit of his sister Europa, arrived in \JGreece\j, and founded the city of Thebes, teaching the natives to write. He sowed dragon's teeth, from which sprang up armed men.
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"Cadmus, Paul",6467,0,0,0
PN [\Bkad\bmuhs]
DT1 1904
EN Painter, born in New York City, USA. Based in Weston, Connecticut, he is a provocative artist who combines wit and social protest. His most famous (and notorious) paintings are "The Fleet's In' (1934), and "Fantasia on a Theme by Dr S' (1946).
Major Works
1934 The Fleet's In
1946 Fantasia on a Theme by Dr S
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"caduceus",6468,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bdyoo\bsius]
EN In classical \Jmythology\j, the name of the wand carried by Mercury. It is usually depicted as a central staff with two serpents entwined around it which cross at seven points, representing the seven chakras. In \Jmythology\j the staff was said to have power over sleep, dreams, happiness, and health, and it has been adopted by the medical profession as their emblem.
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"Cadwaladr",6469,0,0,0
PN [kad\Bwo\blader]
DT1 ?
DT2 1172
EN Prince of \JGwynedd\j, north-west Wales. He conquered large parts of Wales with his older brother \BOwain\b until he was expelled by him (1143). He went to Ireland to seek help, where he was blinded by pirates. Reconciled to Owain, he eventually fled to England, where Henry II restored him to his lands after the conquest of Wales (1158).
MEX Henry II (of England)
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"Cadwallon",6470,0,0,0
PN [kad\Bwa\blon]
DT1 ?
DT2 634
EN Pagan king of \JGwynedd\j, north-west Wales, (from c.625). With \JPenda\j, the Mercian king, he invaded the Christian kingdom of \JNorthumbria\j in 633 and slew King Edwin at the Battle of Heathfield (\JHatfield\j Chase), near Doncaster. He ravaged the kingdom, according to the Venerable Bede, but was himself defeated and killed by King Oswald at the Battle of Heavenfield near Hexham.
MEX Bede; Edwin; Oswald, St
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"caecilian",6471,0,0,0
PN [see\Bsil\bian]
EN An \Jamphibian\j of worldwide tropical order Gymnophiona (163 species); length, up to 1.5┐m / 5┐ft; body worm-like with encircling rings and no legs; some species with fish-like scales; burrows on forest floors or in riverbeds; eats invertebrates.
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"Caedmon",6472,0,0,0
PN [\Bkad\bmon]
DT1 ?
DT2a c.
DT2 680
EN The first English poet of known name. Bede reports that, unlearned till mature in years, Caedmon became aware in a semi-miraculous way that he was called to exercise the gift of religious poetry. He became a monk at Whitby, and spent the rest of his life composing poems on the \JBible\j histories and on religious subjects.
MEX Bede
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"Caelum",6473,0,0,0
PN [\Bkiy\bluhm]
HS (Lat 'chisel')
EN An inconspicuous Southern hemisphere \Jconstellation\j.
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"Caen",6474,0,0,0
PN [kπ]
EN 49░10N 0░22W, pop (1995e) 116 000. Port and capital of Calvados department, NW \JFrance\j; on R Orne, 15 km/9 mi S of R Seine; airport; railway; university (1432, refounded 1809); principal seat of William the Conqueror; badly damaged during Normandy campaign in World War 2; tourism, commerce, steel, horse breeding, silk, leather; abbey church of St-Etienne, with tomb of William the Conqueror; Church of St-Pierre, with famous clock tower.
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"Caernarfon",6475,0,0,0
PN [kiyr\Bnar\bvon]
EN 53░08N 4░16W, pop (1995e) 9700. County town of \JGwynedd\j, NW Wales, UK; on Menai Straits; yachting centre; agricultural trade, plastics, metal products; tourism; castle (1284), birthplace of Edward II; investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales, 1969.
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"Caernarfonshire",6476,0,0,0
EN See \JGwynedd\j
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"Caerphilly",6477,0,0,0
PN [kiy(r)\Bfi\blee]
EN pop (1995e) 171 000; area 279 sq km / 108 sq mi. County (unitary authority from 1996) in S Wales, UK; administrative centre, Hengoed; original home of Caerphilly cheese; Caerphilly Castle (13th-c), the largest in Wales.
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"Caesalpinus",6478,0,0,0
EN See Cesalpino, Andrea
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"Caesar",6479,0,0,0
HS , in full \BGaius Julius Caesar\b
DT1a c.
DT1 101
DT2 44
DT2b BC
EN Roman politician of patrician origins but slender means, whose military genius, as displayed in the Gallic Wars (58-50 BC), enabled \JRome\j to extend her empire permanently to the Atlantic seaboard, but whose ruthless ambition led to the breakdown of the Republican system of government at home.
Never one to allow himself to be blocked by constitutional niceties, in 60 BC he joined with Pompey and Crassus (the so-called First Triumvirate) to protect his interests in the state, and in 49 BC, to avoid being humbled by his enemies at \JRome\j, he led his army across the River Rubicon into \JItaly\j and plunged the state into \Jcivil war\j.
Victory over the Pompeian forces at Pharsalus (48 BC), Zela (47 BC), Thapsus (46 BC), and Munda (45 BC) left him in sole control at \JRome\j. He did not disguise his absolute power, taking the title 'Dictator for Life' in 44 BC, and allowing himself to be paid extravagant honours which suggested he was aiming at regal and even divine status.
This was too much for many Republican-minded Romans, and under the leadership of Brutus and Cassius they conspired to murder him. His brief period of power left him with little time to carry through the many reforms, social, economic, and administrative, that he had intended. It was left to his great-nephew and heir, Octavian (the future Emperor Augustus) to reap where he had sown, and also to learn from his mistakes.
MEX Augustus; Brutus, Marcus Junius; Cassius; Cinna; Cleopatra; Crassus, Marcus Licinius; Marius, Gaius; Great; Sulla; Pompey the Great
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"caesarian / cesarian section",6480,0,0,0
PN [see\Bzair\bian]
EN The surgical removal of the fetus from the uterus. It is undertaken when continuing with labour and vaginal delivery causes or is likely to cause significant maternal or fetal distress. Maternal distress may result from such factors as excessive pain or uncontrolled \Jhypertension\j. Fetal distress implies the life of the fetus is threatened, such as by impaired placental blood flow or a threatened miscarriage.
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"cafΘ chantant, cafΘ concert",6481,0,0,0
EN French variety entertainment. This leading 19th-century divertissement began with the musical taverns - known as musicos, from the Dutch - that sprang up along the Parisian boulevards in the 1770s; their growth was fostered during the Revolution by a licensing decree of the National Assembly, and they became highly popular.
When theatrical freedom was suppressed under the First Empire, these cafΘs were supplanted by open-air summer theatres along the Champs-╔lysΘes; they spread rapidly and by 1850 there were some 200 in Paris alone. However, by law, their actors had the status of fairground performers, were not allowed to perform in stage costume (until 1867), and had to pass the hat personally once or twice a night.
The cafΘs chantants multiplied under the Second Empire, but when the Boulevard du Temple and its cheap theatres were torn down, they were replaced by cafΘs concerts, long rooms with a high stage, where popular performances combined with smoking and drinking were accessible to small budgets. The caf' conc', as it was known, specialized in romantic ballads, erotic innuendo and scies (catchy, nonsensical choruses).
Between 1870 and 1914 there were as many caf' conc's in Paris as there are now cinemas. The most important were the Eldorado and the \JAlcazar\j, which showcased the talents of ThΘrΘsa, Judic, Paulus, Polin, Dranem and Mayol, among others. The types of performers included the 'comic trooper', the 'dude' or gommeux, the 'naturalistic' singer of urban low life, and the sentimental balladeer.
A decree of 1864 allowed some of these houses to become cafΘs spectacles, blending songs with farces and operettas, and by the turn of the century the largest had taken on the English name of 'music-halls'. The first was Joseph Oller's Olympia (1893), which launched Mistinguett and introduced American jazz.
The music-hall, which dominated the scene by the end of World War I, banned smoking and drinking from the auditorium; it still offered a central role to song, but this became increasingly a recital by a single performer - e.g. Georgius, FrΘhel and, later, Piaf.
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"Caffe Cino",6482,0,0,0
EN (New York City) American theatre. Caffe Cino is the prototype theatre of the Off-Off Broadway movement. Joseph Cino, a former dancer, opened his coffeehouse at 31 Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village in December 1958. Poetry recitals and songs were followed by plays, the first being a condensed version of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.
A new generation of dramatists whose sensibilities were at odds with the commercial mainstream soon made the Cino's 8ft square stage their home, paying the expenses of their brief runs by passing the hat. Robert Patrick, Paul Foster, Tom Eyen, Lanford Wilson, Robert Heide, Maria Irene FornΘs, William M. Hoffman, Megan Terry, Leonard Melfi, Jeff Weiss, John Guare and Jean-Claude van Itallie were among the regulars whose plays Joe Cino introduced.
While Cino imposed no artistic criteria, the quintessential Caffe Cino playwright was H. M. Koutoukas, whose plays had a tacky, high-camp glamour suited to an \Jatmosphere\j described as a cross between '\JLourdes\j and Sodom'. The Cino burned down on Ash Wednesday, 1965, and was to reopen only briefly.
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"caffeine",6483,0,0,0
EN C\D8\dH\D10\dN\D4\dO\D2\d. An alkaloid, also called \Btheine,\b a weak stimulant of the central \Jnervous system\j. It is found in both \Jcoffee\j and tea, from which it may be removed by extraction with organic solvents, acidic aqueous solutions, or liquified carbon dioxide.
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"Cage, John",6484,0,0,0
DT (1912-92)
EN composer; born in Los Angeles. Cage studied with a number of teachers including Henry Cowell and Arnold Schoenberg, who helped provoke his avant-garde proclivities. He began writing all-percussion pieces in the 1930s and proclaimed the use of noise as the next musical horizon; in 1938 he introduced the "prepared \Jpiano\j," an instrument whose sound is radically modified by various objects placed on the strings. While writing much for prepared \Jpiano\j in the 1940s, notably the Sonatas and Interludes, he also produced some pioneering electronic music.
Among the most widely influential elements of his thought was the idea of \Iindeterminacy,\i music that is not strictly controlled, as seen in his 1951 \ILandscape No. 4\i for twelve radios - the sound of which depends on what happens to be on the air. Later works, especially the notorious \I4'33"\i (1954), involve complete silence. He continued to develop such concepts and he also produced several quirky, engaging books beginning with the 1961 \ISilence.\i In his later years he was widely acclaimed as one of the more original of American artists.
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"Cage, Nicholas",6485,0,0,0
DT1 1964
EN Film actor, born in Long Beach, \JCalifornia\j, USA. He made his film debut in a small role in \IFast Times at Ridgemont High\i (1982), and became well known after his appearances in \IThe Cotton Club\i (1984) and \IPeggy Sue Got Married\i (1986). He won critical acclaim for his performance as a suicidal alcoholic in \ILeaving Las Vegas\i (1995, Oscar). Later films include \IThe Rock\i (1996), \ICon Air\i (1997), and \IFace/Off\i (1997).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1983 Rumblefish
1984 The Cotton Club
1985 Birdy
1986 Peggy Sue Got Married
1987 Raising Arizona
1987 Moonstruck
1989 Vampire's Kiss
1990 Wild At Heart
1993 Deadfall
1993 Amos and Andrew
1994 Trapped in Paradise
1994 It Could Happen To You
1994 Guarding Tess
1995 Leaving Las Vegas
1995 Kiss of Death
1996 The Rock
1997 Con Air
1997 Face/Off
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"Cagliari",6486,0,0,0
PN [kal\Byah\bree], ancient \BCarales\b
EN 39░13N 9░08E, pop (1995e) 237 000. Seaport and capital of Cagliari province, S \JSardinia\j, \JItaly\j; on the S coast, in the Gulf of Cagliari; archbishopric; airport; railway; ferries to mainland \JItaly\j; university (1956); oil terminal, \Jpetrochemicals\j, milling, fishing, trade in minerals; cathedral (1312), Roman amphitheatre, museum of archaeology; Sagra di Sant' Efisio costume festival (May).
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"Cagliostro, Alessandro, conte di (Count of)",6487,0,0,0
PN [kal\Byoh\bstroh]
HS , originally \BGiuseppe Balsamo\b
DT1 1743
DT2 95
EN Adventurer and charlatan, born in \JPalermo\j, \JItaly\j. He learned some chemistry and medicine at a monastery, married the beautiful \BLorenza Feliciani,\b and from 1771 they visited many centres in Europe as Count and Countess Cagliostro. Successful as physician, philosopher, alchemist, and necromancer, he carried on a lively business in his 'elixir of immortal youth', and founded lodges of 'Egyptian freemasons'. In 1789 he was imprisoned for life in San Leo, near Urbino.
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"Cagney, James",6488,0,0,0
DT (1899-1986)
EN film actor; born in New York City. Graduating from \Jvaudeville\j to the Broadway stage, he made his film debut in \ISinner's Holiday\i (1930). A leading role in \IThe Public Enemy\i (1931) established him as the quintessential screen gangster, and he played thugs through most of the 1930s. His performance in \IYankee Doodle Dandy\i (1942), as George M. Cohan, earned him an Oscar. After that movie, he appeared in a variety of roles.
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#
"Cagniard de la Tour, Charles",6489,0,0,0
PN [kanyah(r)]
DT (1777-1859)
EN French physicist: discovered critical state of liquids.
Cagniard studied at the ╔cole Polytechnique, Paris. He is primarily remembered for his discovery in 1822 of the critical state of liquids. For certain liquids, when heated in a sealed tube, the meniscus disappears and liquid and vapour become indistinguishable at a critical \Jtemperature\j. Cagniard was also an inventor; his best-known device being the disk siren (in which a note is produced by blowing air through holes cut in a spinning disk).
BK Scie
#
"Cahan, Abraham",6490,0,0,0
DT (1860-1951)
EN editor, writer; born in Podberezya, \JRussia\j. He continued his youthful revolutionary political activism after emigrating to the U.S.A. (1882), where he taught English to immigrants. He founded (1897) and for 50 years edited the influential \JYiddish\j-language \IJewish Daily Forward.\i He also wrote realistic novels of Jewish immigrant life, written variously in English and \JYiddish\j; the best known of his works in English are \IYekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto\i (1896) and \IThe Rise of David Levinsky\i (1917).
EN art authority, author; born in Snaefellsnessysla, \JIceland\j. A childhood emigrant to Canada, he moved to New York City in his teens, determined to become a writer. He studied at New York University, Columbia University, and the New School for Social Research. At the Newark Art Museum (1922-31) he became an authority on American art and wrote the seminal \IAmerican Folk Art\i (1932).
His outstanding leadership of the Federal Art Project (1935-43) - including compiling the Index of American Design - helped nurture a generation of American artists. He wrote fiction in his later years.
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"Cahn, Sammy (b. Samuel Cohen)",6492,0,0,0
DT (1913-93)
EN lyricist; born in New York City. While a boy he played violin in a \JDixieland\j band and decided to write songs. With pianist Saul Chaplin he wrote many hits of the 1930s. Throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s he wrote many popular songs for \JHollywood\j, Broadway, and \Jtelevision\j with composers Jule Styne and James Van Heusen. A prolific lyricist and writer, he published \IThe Songwriter's Rhyming Dictionary\i in 1984.
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"Cahokia",6493,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bhoh\bkia]
EN A prehistoric city of Middle Mississippi Indians in E St Louis, IL, USA, founded c.600 and, at 13┐km\U2\u / 5┐mi\U2\u, the largest such settlement in \JNorth America\j; a world heritage site. At its height (c.1050-1250), the population reached c.10┐000. The central plaza has 17 platform mounds, notably Monks Mound (c.1200), a 6000┐cu┐m / 7850┐cu┐yd earthen pyramid, 316┐m / 1030┐ft by 241┐m / 790┐ft at the base, still standing 30┐m / 100┐ft high.
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#
"CAI",6494,0,0,0
EN See computer-aided instruction (CAI)
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#
"Caiaphas",6495,0,0,0
PN [\Bkiy\bafas]
DT1 1
DT1b st-c
EN Son-in-law of \JAnnas\j, eventually appointed by the Romans to be his successor as high priest of Israel (c.18-36). In the \JNew Testament\j he interrogated Jesus after his arrest \I(Matt\i 26; \IJohn\i 18) and Peter after his detention in \JJerusalem\j \I(Acts\i 4).
MEX \JAnnas\j; Jesus Christ
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#
"Caicos Islands",6496,0,0,0
PN [\Bkay\bkos]
EN Island group in the W Atlantic, south-east of the \JBahamas\j, forming a British dependent territory with the Turks Is; settled by Loyalist planters from the S States of America after the War of Independence; after the abolition of \Jslavery\j (1838), the planters left the islands to their former slaves.
BK c
#
"Caiger-Smith, Alan",6497,0,0,0
PN [\Bkay\bger]
DT1 1930
EN British potter. He studied at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts and at Cambridge, prior to training in pottery at the Central School of Art and Design in 1954. He established the Aldermaston Pottery (1955), producing tin-glazed earthenware with free hand brushwork and, occasionally, rich lustres.
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#
"Caigniez, L. C.",6498,0,0,0
DT 1762-1842
EN French playwright. He excelled in \Jmelodrama\j. His first play, La ForΩt enchantΘe (The Enchanted Forest), a fairy extravaganza, was performed at the GaεtΘ in 1799. In 1802 his Le Jugement de Salomon (The Judgement of Solomon) ran for over 300 performances at the Ambigu (see boulevard).
He followed it with Le Triomphe de David (The Triumph of King David, 1805) and La ForΩt d'Hermanstadt, ou La Fausse ╔pouse (The Forest of Hermanstadt, or The False Wife), set in a brigand-ridden \JBulgaria\j. L'Illustre Aveugle (The Illustrious Blind Man, 1806), exploiting the dramatic device of switched identity, showed him at the height of his powers. He is best known for La Pie voleuse, ou La Servante de Palaiseau (The Thieving \JMagpie\j, or The Servant of Palaiseau, Porte-Saint-Martin, 1815), which provided the plot of Rossini's opera.
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#
"Caillaux, Joseph (Marie Auguste)",6499,0,0,0
PN [kiyoh]
DT1 1863
DT2 1944
EN French statesman, financier, and prime minister of \JFrance\j (1911-12), born in Le Mans, \JFrance\j. He trained as a lawyer, was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1898, and became finance minister in several governments. His brief term as prime minister ended when he was overthrown for showing too conciliatory an attitude towards \JGermany\j.
In 1914, his second wife shot Gaston Calmette, editor of \IFigaro,\i who had launched a campaign against him and published a number of their private letters; after a famous trial, she was acquitted. He stayed in politics until \JFrance\j fell in 1940, when he retired.
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"Cailletet, Louis Paul",6500,0,0,0
PN [kiytay]
DT (1832-1913)
EN French physicist: pioneer of liquefaction of gases.
Cailletet studied in Paris and then returned to Chatillon-sur-Seine to manage his father's ironworks. His first interest was \Jmetallurgy\j, which led him to study blast furnace gas and to interest himself in gas properties. At that time, attempts to liquefy some gases (for example H\D2\d, N\D2\d and O\D2\d) had all failed and they were classed as 'permanent gases'.
Cailletet learned of T Andrews's work on critical \Jtemperature\j, which suggested to him that more cooling was needed, as well as pressure, for success. He used the Joule-Thomson effect (the cooling which occurs when a gas expands through a nozzle), followed by pressure, and by 1878 had liquefied these 'permanent' gases. He was interested in flying (even in advance of the development of the aeroplane) and the sundry devices he invented included a high-altitude breathing apparatus and an \Jaircraft\j \Jaltimeter\j.
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#
"caiman or cayman",6501,0,0,0
PN [\Bkay\bman]
EN A member of the \Jalligator\j family (5 species), native to Central and \JSouth America\j; length, up to 2┐m / 61/2┐ft; inhabits rivers and swamps; eats fish and other \Jwater\j-dwelling vertebrates.
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#
"Cain",6502,0,0,0
PN [kayn]
EN Biblical character, the eldest son of \JAdam and Eve\j, brother of Abel and Seth. He is portrayed \I(Gen\i 4) as a farmer whose offering to God was rejected, in contrast to that of his herdsman brother Abel. This led to his murder of Abel, and Cain's punishment of being banished to a nomadic life.
MEX Abel; Adam and Eve
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"Cain, James M(allahan)",6503,0,0,0
DT (1892-1977)
EN writer, screenwriter; born in \JAnnapolis\j, Md. He trained as a singer and worked as a teacher and journalist before achieving fame in the 1930s and 1940s as a \JHollywood\j screenwriter and novelist. His novels, many adapted into popular films, treated criminals, sex, and money with a lean, tough realism; they included \IThe Postman Always Rings Twice\i (1934), \IDouble Indemnity\i (1936), \IMildred Pierce\i (1941), and \IThe Institute\i (1976).
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"Caine, Michael",6504,0,0,0
PN [kayn]
HS , originally \BMaurice Micklewhite\b
DT1 1933
EN Film actor, born in London, England, UK. He spent many years as a struggling small-part actor in a variety of media, before winning attention for his performance as an aristocratic officer in \IZulu\i (1963). His stardom was consolidated with roles such as down-at-heel spy Harry Palmer in \IThe Ipcress File\i (1965) and its two sequels, and as the Cockney Romeo in \IAlfie\i (1966).
Later films include \ISleuth\i (1972), \ICalifornia Suite\i (1978), and \IEducating Rita\i (1983). Nominated four times for the \JAcademy Award\j, he won an Oscar for \IHannah and Her Sisters\i (1986). Later films include \IDirty Rotten Scoundrels\i (1988), \INoises Off\i (1992), and \IBlood and Wine\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1956 A Hill in Korea
1957 How To Murder a Rich Uncle
1963 Zulu
1965 The Ipcress File
1966 Alfie
1966 Gambit
1966 The Wrong Box
1967 Hurry Sundown
1967 Woman Times Seven
1968 Deadfall
1968 The Magus
1969 Battle of Britain
1969 Play Dirty
1969 The Italian Job
1969 Too Late The Hero
1971 Zee & Co
1971 The Last Valley
1971 Get Carter
1971 Kidnapped
1972 Sleuth
1972 Pulp
1974 The Black Windmill
1974 Marseilles Contract
1975 The Wilby Conspiracy
1975 The Romantic Englishwoman
1975 The Man Who Would Be King
1976 Harry and Walter Go To New York
1976 The Eagle Has Landed
1977 A Bridge Too Far
1977 Silver Bears
1978 The Swarm
1978 \JCalifornia\j Suite
1979 Ashanti
1979 Beyond The Poseidon Adventure
1980 The Island
1980 Dressed To Kill
1981 Victory
1982 Death Trap
1983 Educating Rita
1983 The Honorary Consul
1983 Blame it on Rio
1985 Water
1985 The Holcroft Covenant
1985 Sweet Liberty
1985 Jigsaw Man
1986 Half Moon Street
1986 Hannah and Her Sisters
1986 Mona Lisa
1987 The Fourth Protocol
1987 Surrender
1987 Jaws: The Revenge
1988 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
1988 Without A Clue
1990 A Shock to the System
1990 Mr Destiny
1990 Bullseye
1992 The Muppet Christmas Carol
1992 Noises Off
1992 Blue Ice
1994 On Deadly Ground
1996 Blood and Wine
\IFilms for Television\i
1988 Jack The Ripper
1989 Jekyll and Hyde
1993 Then There Were Giants
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"Cainozoic era",6505,0,0,0
EN See Cenozoic era
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"cairn terrier",6506,0,0,0
EN A breed of dog, developed in N Scotland for driving foxes out of their burrows; small with short legs; thick shaggy brown coat; ears erect and expression alert.
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#
"Cairngorms or Cairngorm Mountains",6507,0,0,0
EN Mountain range in NEC Scotland, UK, part of Grampian Mts; granite mountain mass in south-east Highland and south-west Grampian regions; rises to 1309┐m / 4295┐ft in Ben Macdhui; between the rivers Dee (south) and Spey (north); winter sports region, centre at Aviemore.
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"Cairns",6508,0,0,0
PN [\Bkairnz\b]
EN 16░51S 145░43E, pop (1995e) 52 200. Resort and seaport on the NE coast of \JQueensland\j, \JAustralia\j; especially popular with Japanese tourists; starting point for tours to the \JGreat Barrier Reef\j and the Cape York Peninsula; offshore are Green I, Fitzroy I, and Arlington Reef; railway; international airfield; agricultural trade, timber, mining, sugar, deep-sea fishing.
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#
"Cairns, Sir Hugh William Bell",6509,0,0,0
DT1 1896
DT2 1952
EN Surgeon, born in Port Pirie, South \JAustralia\j. He studied at Adelaide University, Oxford, and London, and was made Nuffield professor of surgery at Oxford (1937). During World War 2 he became adviser on head injuries to the Ministry of Health, and neurosurgeon to the army.
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"Cairo",6510,0,0,0
PN [\Bkiy\broh]
EN 30░03N 31░15E, pop (1995e) 7 000 000. Capital of \JEgypt\j and \JCairo\j governorate; at head of R Nile delta, 180 km/112 mi SE of Alexandria; largest African city; originally founded as El Fustat inAD642; occupied by British, 1882--1946; airport; railway; four universities (1908, 1919, 1950, and Muslim university in Mosque of El Azhar, 1972); tourism, cement, chemicals, leather, textiles, brewing, food processing; Islamic \JCairo\j a world heritage site; mosques of Amur (7th-c), Kait Bey (15th-c), Ibn Touloun (878), Sultan Hassan (14th-c); major archaeological sites nearby, including Heliopolis, pyramids at El \JGiza\j, ruins of Memphis; Egyptian museum of antiquities, Coptic museum, museum of Islamic art, royal library.
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#
"Cairoli, Charlie",6511,0,0,0
PN [kiy\Broh\blee]
DT1 1910
DT2 80
EN Circus clown, born in \JFrance\j. The son of a juggler, he made his debut as a circus performer at the age of five. He came to Britain in 1938, and was for 39 years a star attraction of the \JBlackpool\j Tower Circus, until ill health forced his retirement a year before his death.
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#
"caisson",6512,0,0,0
PN [\Bkay\bsn]
EN A permanent structure for keeping \Jwater\j or soft ground from flowing into the site when building foundations. There are several types: \Bopen caissons,\b open at the top and bottom; \Bbox caissons,\b open at the top and closed at the bottom; and \Bpneumatic caissons,\b containing a working chamber in which compressed air excludes the \Jwater\j.
BK c
#
"caisson disease",6513,0,0,0
PN [\Bkay\bsn]
EN See decompression sickness
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#
"Caitanya",6514,0,0,0
PN [kiy\Btahn\bya]
DT1a c.
DT1 1486
DT2 1533
EN Hindu mystic, born in Nadia, Bengal. A Sanskrit teacher before becoming an itinerant holy man, following conversion in 1510, he spent the latter part of his life in Puri, inspiring disciples in both Bengal and Orissa with his emphasis on joy and love of Krishna, and the place of singing and dancing in worship.
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#
"Caius, John",6515,0,0,0
PN [keez]
DT1 1510
DT2 73
EN Physician and scholar, born in Norwich, Norfolk, E England, UK. He became a student at Gonville Hall, Cambridge (1529), and a fellow in 1533. He studied medicine at Padua, then lectured on anatomy in London (1544-64). President of the College of Physicians nine times, he was physician to Edward VI, Mary I, and Queen \JElizabeth I\j. In 1559 he became the first Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
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#
"Cajetan",6516,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\bjetan]
HS , Ital \BGaetano,\b originally \BThomas de Vio\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1469
DT2 1534
EN Clergyman and theologian, born in Gaeta, \JItaly\j. He became General of the Dominicans (1508), cardinal (1517), Bishop of Gaeta (1519), and legate to \JHungary\j (1523). In 1518 he sought to induce Luther to recant at Augsburg.
MEX Luther
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"Cajori, Florian",6517,0,0,0
DT (1859-1930)
EN mathematical historian; born in St. Aignan, \JSwitzerland\j. Emigrating to America as a student (1875), he is known best as a mathematical historian. A history of \Jmathematics\j professor at the University of \JCalifornia\j (1918-30), this American Academy of Arts and Sciences member wrote a number of texts on the history of math and physics.
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"CAL",6518,0,0,0
EN See computer-aided instruction (CAI)
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#
"calabash",6519,0,0,0
EN A trailing or climbing vine \I(Lagenaria siceraria),\i native to warm Old World regions, with white flowers and woody, bottle-shaped fruits; also called \Bbottle \Jgourd\j.\b It was the source of the earliest containers, and is still used in this way today. \B(Family:\b Cucurbitaceae.)
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#
"calabash tree",6520,0,0,0
EN An evergreen tree \I(Crescentia cujete)\i growing to 12┐m / 40┐ft, native to tropical America; clusters of lance-shaped leaves; flowers bell-shaped, borne directly on trunk and branches; fruit a woody berry up to 30┐cm / 12┐in long or more, flask-shaped and used as a container. \B(Family:\b Bignoniaceae.)
BK c
#
"calabrese",6521,0,0,0
PN [kala\Bbray\bzee]
EN See broccoli
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#
"Calabria",6522,0,0,0
PN [ka\Blay\bbria], Ital [ka\Blab\bria]
EN pop (1995e) 2 018 000; area 15 079 sq km/5820 sq mi. Region of S \JItaly\j, occupying the 'toe' of the country, between the Ionian and Tyrrhenian Seas; capital, Catanzaro; chief towns, Cosenza, Crotone, Reggio di Calabria, Locri; underdeveloped area with mixed Mediterranean agriculture; wheat, olives, figs, wine, \Jcitrus\j fruit; subject to earthquakes, floods, and erosion; Calabria national park, area 170 sq km/66 sq mi, established in 1968.
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#
"Calais",6523,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\blay]
EN 50░57N 1░52E, pop (1995e) 78 100. Seaport in Pas-de-\JCalais\j department, NW \JFrance\j; on the Straits of Dover, at the shortest crossing to England; 34 km/21 mi SE of Dover and 238 km/148 mi N of Paris; captured by England, 1346 (commemorated in Rodin sculpture); retaken by \JFrance\j, 1558; British base in World War 1; centre of heavy fighting in World War 2; airport; railway; ferry services to Dover and Folkestone; tulle and machine-made lace, shipping services.
BK Geog99
#
"calamine",6524,0,0,0
PN [\Bkal\bamiyn]
EN A mixture of zinc carbonate and ferric oxide, used as an ointment for many skin conditions. It was formerly a common name for the mineral \Ismithsonite\i (zinc carbonate).
BK c
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"Calamity Jane",6525,0,0,0
HS , popular name of \BMartha Jane Burke,\b \InΘe\i \BCannary\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1852
DT2 1903
EN Frontierswoman, born in Princeton, MO. She became a living legend for her skill at riding and shooting, particularly in the Gold Rush days in the Black Hills of Dakota. She teamed up with the renowned US marshal, \BWild Bill Hickock\b (1847-76), at Deadwood, SD, before he was murdered. She is said to have threatened 'calamity' for any man who tried to court her, but in 1885 she married.
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"Calas, Jean",6526,0,0,0
PN [kalahs]
DT1 1698
DT2 1762
EN Huguenot merchant, born in LacabarΦde, \JFrance\j. In 1761 he was accused, on the flimsiest evidence, of murdering his eldest son (a suicide) in order to prevent him becoming a Roman Catholic. He was found guilty, and executed by being broken on the wheel. \JVoltaire\j led a campaign which resulted in a revision of the trial, and the parliament at Paris in 1765 declared Calas and all his family innocent.
MEX \JVoltaire\j
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#
"calceolaria",6527,0,0,0
PN [kalsioh\Blair\bia]
EN A member of a large \Jgenus\j of annuals, perennials, or shrubs native to Central and \JSouth America\j; wrinkled leaves in opposite pairs; characteristic 2-lipped flowers with lower lip inflated and pouch-like. Commonly grown ornamentals are mainly hybrids with yellow, orange, or red spotted flowers up to 5┐cm / 2┐in diameter. \B(Genus:\b \ICalceolaria,\i 300-400 species. \BFamily:\b Scrophulariaceae.)
BK c
#
"Calchas",6528,0,0,0
PN [\Bkal\bkas]
EN A seer on the Greek side during the Trojan War. He advised that Iphigeneia should be sacrificed at Aulis; at Troy he told \JAgamemnon\j to return Chryseis, the daughter of the priest of Apollo, to stop the plague. He died in a combat of 'seeing' with Mopsos.
BK c
#
"calcite",6529,0,0,0
PN [\Bkal\bsiyt]
EN A mineral form of \Jcalcium\j carbonate (CaCO\D3\d), and the main constituent of \Jlimestone\j and marble. It can occur by precipitation from carbonate-rich solutions to form stalactites and stalagmites, and forms the structure of \Jcoral\j reefs. Good crystals formed in vein deposits are transparent, and termed \IIceland spar.\i It is used in the manufacture of Portland cement.
BK c
#
"calcitonin",6530,0,0,0
PN [kalsi\Btoh\bnin]
EN A hormone (a \Jpolypeptide\j) synthesized and secreted by 'C' cells in the thyroid \Jgland\j in mammals, and in the ultimobranchial bodies in other vertebrates; sometimes called \Bthyrocalcitonin.\b It is released in response to elevated blood \Jcalcium\j levels, and lowers extracellular \Jcalcium\j levels.
BK c
#
"calcium",6531,0,0,0
EN Ca, element 20, melting point 839░C. A very reactive, silvery metal only found combined in nature; the metal is obtained by \Jelectrolysis\j. It is the fifth most common element in the Earth's crust, occurring mainly in fluorite (CaF\D2\d), \Jgypsum\j (CaSO\D4\d.2H\D2\dO), and \Jlimestone\j (CaCO\D3\d). It shows an \Joxidation\j state of +2 in almost all of its compounds, which are mainly ionic. Ca\U2+\u ions are largely responsible for hardness in \Jwater\j.
Calcium is an essential element in \Jbiology\j, being used in the structural tissue of both plants and animals; its compounds are common components of agricultural fertilizers, and are ingredients of both glass and cement. The oxide (CaO, or \Iquicklime)\i is widely used as a strong base. Other important compounds include the hypochlorite (Ca(OCl)\D2\d) and the carbide (CaC\D2\d).
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"calculator",6532,0,0,0
EN A machine designed to perform a range of mathematical operations automatically. Early calculators include devices by Pascal (1642) and Leibniz, and the mechanical and electrically driven adding machines of the early 20th-c. Since the early 1960s, the electronic revolution has seen the development of high-speed calculators of diminishing size and increasing functions for pocket or desk-top use.
They all handle the arithmetical functions of add, subtract, multiply, and divide, and most provide additional functions, such as squares, roots, percentages, and other statistical or trigonometric functions, typically showing the results as a one-line liquid-crystal display. Several now have the capabilities of a small computer, including a memory in which intermediate results can be stored, a set of programming options, the insertion of software modules, and the ability to make results available through a printout or screen.
BK c
#
"calculi",6533,0,0,0
PN [\Bkal\bkyooliy]
EN In medicine, stone-like concretions which form within certain organs and ducts. They are formed mainly by \Jcalcium\j salts, but other constituents include uric acid, \Jcholesterol\j, and xanthine. The most common sites include the salivary glands, bladder, \Jkidneys\j and ureter, and the \Jbile\j ducts.
BK c
#
"calculus",6534,0,0,0
EN See differential \Jcalculus\j; 16507 integral \Jcalculus\j
BK c
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#
"calculus, fundamental theorem of",6535,0,0,0
EN If a function \If\i \I(t)\i meets certain conditions. This \Jtheorem\j unites differential \Jcalculus\j and integral \Jcalculus\j. It is usually credited to Isaac Newton, and independently to Gottfried Leibniz.
BK c
#
"Calcutta",6536,0,0,0
PN [kal\Bkuh\bta]
EN 22░36N 88░24E, pop (1995e) 11 755 000. Port capital of \JWest Bengal\j, E India; on the R Hugli in the R Ganges delta, 128 km/79 mi from the Bay of Bengal; third largest city in India; chief port of E India; founded by the British East India Company, 1690; capital of British India, 1773--1912; airport (Dum Dum); railway; three universities; textiles, chemicals, paper, metal, jute, crafts; Ochterlony Monument, Raj Bhavan, St John's Cathedral (1787), Nakhoda Mosque (1926), Marble Palace (1835), Jain temples (1867), Hindu \JBengali\j Temple of Kali (1809).
BK Geog99
#
"Caldara, Antonio",6537,0,0,0
PN [kal\Bdah\bra]
DT1 1670
DT2 1736
EN Composer, born in \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j. He became deputy \IKapellmeister\i in Vienna, and amongst his choral works are some outstanding examples of the polyphonic style. He also wrote many operas and oratorios, and some trio-sonatas in the style of Corelli.
MEX Corelli, Arcangelo
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#
"Caldecott, Randolph",6538,0,0,0
PN [\Bkawl\bdikot]
DT1 1846
DT2 86
EN Artist and illustrator, born in Chester, Cheshire, NWC England, UK. He began as a bank-clerk in Whitstable and Manchester, and moved to London to follow an artistic career. He illustrated Washington Irving's \IOld Christmas\i (1876) and numerous children's books, such as \IThe House that Jack Built\i (1878) and Aesop's Fables (1883). The \ICaldecott Medal\i has been awarded annually since 1938 to the best US artist-illustrator of children's books.
SX m
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#
"Calder, (Peter) Ritchie, Baron Ritchie-Calder of Balmashannar",6539,0,0,0
PN [\Bkawl\bder]
DT1 1906
DT2 82
EN Journalist and educationist, born in Forfar, Angus, E Scotland, UK. Specializing in the spread of scientific knowledge to lay readers, he wrote numerous books including \IMen Against the Desert\i (1951), \IMen Against the Jungle\i (1954), \ILiving with the Atom\i (1962), and \IThe Evolution of the Machine\i (1968). He was made a life peer in 1966.
SX m
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#
"Calder, A. (Alexander)",6540,0,0,0
DT (1870-1945)
EN Stirling sculptor; born in Philadelphia (father of Alexander "Sandy" Calder). He studied at the \JPennsylvania\j Academy of the Fine Arts (1886-90), in Paris (1890), and was based in Pittsfield, Mass., and New York City. He is known for public works, such as the \ISwann Memorial,\i Philadelphia (1924), and for sculptural portraits.
BK AmBg
#
"Calder, Alexander (Sandy)",6541,0,0,0
DT (1898-1976)
EN sculptor, painter; born in Lawnton, Pa. (son of Alexander Stirling Calder). He studied at Stevens Institute of Technology (1915-19), the Art Students League, New York City (1923-26), and in Paris where he began his famous circus menagerie, \ILe Cirque Calder\i (1926-61), and the first of his wire sculptures, \IJosephine Baker\i (1926).
By 1927 he was based in New York City, and Roxbury, Conn. (1933), and from 1953 he maintained a home in \JFrance\j. He was an abstract painter, but became most famous for his moving sculptures, named "mobiles" by Marcel Duchamp, as seen in \IBig Red\i (1959). His stationary sculptures, named "stabiles" by Jean Arp, are often large public works, as in \IEl Sol Rojo\i (1968).
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"Calder, Alexander (Stirling)",6542,0,0,0
PN [\Bkawl\bder]
DT1 1870
DT2 1945
EN Artist and pioneer of kinetic art, born in Philadelphia, PA. He trained as an engineer (1915-19) before studying art at the School of the Art Students' League in New York City (1923). He specialized in abstract hanging wire constructions, some of which were connected to motors (Marcel Duchamp christened them 'mobiles' in 1932). His best-known works, however, were unpowered, relying upon air currents to set them rotating and casting intricate shadows.
MEX 10169 Duchamp
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"caldera",6506,0,0,0
PN [kal\Bdair\ba]
EN A large volcanic crater formed when the remains of a \Jvolcano\j subside down into a \Jmagma\j chamber, emptied after a violent eruption. The caldera may subsequently fill with \Jwater\j, and become a crater lake - a notable example being Crater Lake in Oregon, USA.
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"Calder≤n de la Barca, Pedro",6543,0,0,0
DT 1600-81
EN Spanish playwright. He ranks with Lope de Vega as the greatest of \JSpain\j's Golden Age dramatists. Born in Madrid and educated in a Jesuit school, he rejected the priesthood to become a gentleman poet and playwright. His first successful play dates from 1623, and after a period of military service in Flanders he devoted himself to the theatre.
By 1629 his reputation was made with the martyr-play El prφncipe constante (The Constant Prince) and two cloak-and-sword plays (where love usually triumphs over quarrels and secrecy), La dama duende (The Phantom Lady) and Casa con dos puertas (The House with Two Doors). The period 1629-40 showed him at the height of his creative powers, writing comedies, tragedies of the classical and honour-play type, historical plays and autos sacramentales, first for the corrales and later for the court. He eventually became a priest in 1651, but continued playwriting until his death.
Calder≤n's output was prolific, with more than 110 comedias, 70 autos sacramentales and other works. The serious and religious side of his work and character have been emphasized, though half his plays are basically comic. He owed more to Seneca than to Aristotle and rarely observed the classical \Junities\j. He combined a three-act form with a high-flown rhetorical style.
The essence of his drama is a mental and spiritual struggle between conflicting demands, especially those of love, honour, and religion. There are three controversial 'honour- tragedies' - El mΘdico de su honra (Physician to his Own Honour, 1635), A secreto agravio secreta venganza (Secret Vengeance for Secret Insult, 1636) and El pintor de su deshonra (Painter of his Own Dishonour, 1648?).
In each play a husband murders his wife because he suspects her of adultery (though in two of them she is patently innocent), and yet in each case the husband is vindicated by the king. Possibly Calder≤n was more interested in the tragic situation of the eternal triangle than in judging the characters involved.
The more realistic play El alcalde de Zalamea (The Mayor of Zalamea, 1642?) develops the themes of Lope de Vega's peasant honour-plays, while other serious and religious plays deal with the conflict between a harsh father and a rebellious son. Amongst these is Calder≤n's most famous drama, La vida es sue±o (Life Is a Dream, 1635), a profound play on the themes of horoscopes, \Jpredestination\j and \Jfree will\j. Among the works on religious subjects, El prφncipe constante tells of the heroic martyrdom of a Portuguese prince who refused to surrender \JCeuta\j to the Moors in exchange for his own life, while El mßgico prodigioso (The Wonder- Working Magician, 1637) tells the Faust-like legend of St Cyprian.
The autos sacramentales became increasingly elaborate in structure and staging; the earlier El gran teatro del mundo (The Great Theatre of the World, 1645-50) and La cena del rey Baltasar (Belshazzar's Feast, 1632) are more appreciated by modern critics.
Calder≤n's plays were much translated and adapted during his lifetime by French and English playwrights, but were largely forgotten outside \JSpain\j in the 18th century. The plays had a great influence on German romantics, from Goethe to Wagner. In the 20th century performances of Calder≤n's works are rare outside \JSpain\j.
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"Calder≤n, Fernando",6544,0,0,0
DT 1809-45
EN Mexican playwright. His romantic dramas portrayed a desire to escape temporal and spatial boundaries in search of chivalrous themes of the European \JMiddle Ages\j. His only play with a Mexican setting is A ninguna de las tres (None of the Three, 1839), a satiric comedy written as a reply to Bret≤n de los Herreros's Marcela, o a cußl de las tres? (Marcela, or Which of the Three?, 1831).
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"Caldwell, (Charles William, Jr.)",6545,0,0,0
DT (1901-57)
EN Charlie football coach; born in \JBristol\j, Va. One of the last successful single-wing coaches, his undefeated 1950-51 Princeton teams, featuring tailback Dick Kazmaier, were ranked sixth in the Associated Press polls.
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"Caldwell, Erskine",6546,0,0,0
DT (1903-87)
EN writer; born in Moreland, Ga. In his early years he was a \JHollywood\j screenwriter and foreign correspondent. His first novels, \ITobacco Road\i (1932) and \IGod's Little Acre\i (1933), were widely banned for obscenity, but they created an enduring portrait of "white trash" and stimulated others to write frankly about the South they knew. He produced 50 volumes of fiction, travel writing, and memoirs, but his literary reputation declined with later works. He collaborated on several books with his wife, photographer Margaret Bourke-White.
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"Caldwell, James H.",6547,0,0,0
DT 1793-1863
EN British-born American actor- manager. Caldwell pioneered the theatre in the Mississippi valley, having moved from Manchester to the United States in 1816. In 1824 he opened the Camp Street Theatre, the first English-language house in \JNew Orleans\j and the first US theatre illuminated by gas.
Caldwell built theatres for his companies in the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys. His success was such that in 1835 he opened the St Charles Theatre, but in 1837 a financial panic ruined him, in 1842 the St Charles Theatre burned down and in 1843 he retired from the stage.
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"Caldwell, Sarah",6548,0,0,0
PN [\Bkawld\bwel]
DT1 1924
EN Opera director and conductor, born in Maryville, Missouri, USA. She studied violin, and while affiliated to \JBoston\j University formed her own opera company in \JBoston\j (1958). Overseeing every detail of the productions, staging, and music, she was notorious for just meeting last-minute deadlines and averting financial crises, but she made her opera company one of the most distinguished and innovative in the USA, especially noted for its productions of modern works such as Schoenberg's \IMoses and Aaron\i. In the 1970s she began to appear as a guest conductor of major orchestras.
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"Caldwell, Zoδ (Ada)",6549,0,0,0
DT 1934-
EN Australian-born actress and director. She has played in England, making her London debut at the Royal Court in 1960, and in Canada, \JAustralia\j and the USA. While remaining active in regional theatre, she is best remembered for the award-winning title roles in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1968) and Medea (1982).
Her directing credits include An Almost Perfect Person (1977), The Taming of the Shrew and Hamlet (1985), Park Your Car in Harvard Yard (1991) and Vita and Virginia (1994). A superb technician with great power on stage, she has avoided being typecast, while leaning toward work in the classics.
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"Caledonian Canal",6550,0,0,0
EN A line of inland navigation following the Great Glen (Glen More) in Highland, Scotland, UK; extends from \JInverness\j (north-east) to Loch Eil near Fort William (south-west), thus linking North Sea and Irish Sea; passes through Lochs Ness, Oich, and Lochy and 35┐km / 22┐mi of man-made channels (1803-47); 29 locks; total length 96┐km / 60┐mi; built by Telford.
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"calendar",6551,0,0,0
The Babylonians took the length of the year as 360 days (which is part of the reason why a circle has 360 degrees ) They knew this was just a rough approximation, because the seasons kept getting out of place in the calendar, and the stars failed to be in the proper place on the day set down for them. This was no problem, for they just made regular adjustments, in much the same way that we will keep resetting an antique clock which loses a few minutes each day.
Over the centuries, better and better calendars have been produced, but the changeover from old to new has always been a problem. Consider the birth and death dates of Sir Isaac Newton. He was born on Christmas Day in 1642 by the old \JJulian calendar\j, but when the \JGregorian calendar\j was introduced in 1752, his birthday became January 4, 1643 (or January 5, depending on how you calculate it!). But in those days, New Year was celebrated on March 25, so he was still absolutely definitely almost certainly probably born in 1642.
But Newton died on March 20 in what we would call 1727, just before the old-style \JNew Year's Day\j, so he is often listed as dying in 1726. Of course, on the new style calendar which was introduced a quarter of a century later, he died on March 31, which was after \JNew Year's Day\j, and so definitely was 1727, after all! Is this clear?
Many countries of the world have issued stamps featuring Newton, so if you happen to collect stamps, don't be surprised if you find some variations in the dates on Newton stamps: they aren't forgeries, after all.
\BThe missing days\b
When the \JGregorian calendar\j was first developed, and adopted in Catholic countries, an adjustment of ten days was needed. In England, the new calendar was introduced in 1752, by which time the \JJulian calendar\j was eleven days "out". So 1751 was a short year, going from March 25 to December 31, and 1752 missed out on the days September 3-13, much to the alarm of the simpler citizens, who felt they had somehow lost some of their allotted life spans.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
See French Republican; 14101 Gregorian; 17322 Julian
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"calendar customs",6552,0,0,0
EN Traditional celebrations which mark turning-points in the seasons and the agricultural and religious years, usually forming a cycle. The celebrations involve eating special food, gift exchange, and merrymaking. Examples include \JNew Year's Day\j, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
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"Caletti-Bruni, Francesco",6553,0,0,0
EN See Cavalli, (Pier) Francesco
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"calf scour",6554,0,0,0
EN Acute diarrhoea in calves, especially neonates. There is usually profuse, watery, foul-smelling faeces, which characteristically become caked around the rear quarters, and the calf becomes severely dehydrated. Collapse soon follows, and the condition rapidly becomes life-threatening once the calf stops eating.
Although a number of micro-organisms \I(Escherichia coli,\i \ISalmonella)\i may be associated with calf scour, the condition is usually a result of poor husbandry and housing. Urgent treatment is required to control the diarrhoea and rehydrate the animal.
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"Calgacus",6555,0,0,0
PN [\Bkal\bgakus]
DT1 1
DT1b st-c
EN Caledonian chieftain in N Britain, leader of the tribes defeated by Agricola at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Agricola's biographer, Tacitus, attributes to him a heroic speech on the eve of the battle, with a ringing denunciation of Roman \Jimperialism\j.
MEX Agricola
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"Calgary",6556,0,0,0
EN 51░05N 114░05W, pop (1995e) 754 000. Town in S Alberta, Canada, on the Bow R, near foothills of Rocky Mts; centre of rich grain and livestock area; rapid growth following arrival of Canadian Pacific Railway, 1883; oil found to the S, 1914; airport; communications and transport centre; university (1945); meat packing, oil refining; ice \Jhockey\j team, \JCalgary\j Flames; football team, \JCalgary\j Stampeders; Glenbow Alberta art gallery and museum, Heritage Park open-air museum, Dinosaur Park, \JCalgary\j Zoo; \JCalgary\j Tower (1967, 190 m/623 ft), Centennial \JPlanetarium\j; \JCalgary\j Stampede \Jrodeo\j (Jul).
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"Calgary Prophetic Bible Institute",6557,0,0,0
EN See Aberhart, William
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"Calhoun, John C(aldwell)",6558,0,0,0
DT (1782-1850)
EN vice-president, orator; born in Abbeville District, S.C. During a long political career, he was the secretary of war (1817-25) and the \Jsecretary of state\j (1844) and he served as vice-president under two presidents. During the \JWar of 1812\j, he was a "War Hawk" in Congress. He sought the presidency in 1824, but received the office of vice-president under John Quincy Adams (1825-29). He feuded with Adams and then supported Andrew Jackson in the 1828 elections.
He became Jackson's vice-president in 1829-32. He had originally been a nationalist, but by the late 1820s he had become a firm advocate of states' rights - particularly the right of the state to nullify the effects of a federal law within that state's borders. In 1832, the \JNullification\j Crisis in South Carolina led Calhoun to resign the vice-presidency and to accept a vacant Senate seat from South Carolina; he had been frustrated by the rules that prevented a vice-president from speaking out on the issue of \Jnullification\j.
He remained in the Senate until his death, with the exception of a brief period as President Tyler's \Jsecretary of state\j (1844). Although his views on states' rights and \Jslavery\j have long since been repudiated, no one has ever doubted his sincerity and eloquence.
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"Cali",6559,0,0,0
PN [\Bkal\bee]
EN 3░24N 76░30W, pop (1995e) 1 426 000. Capital of Valle department, W \JColombia\j; on Rio \JCali\j; at centre of rich sugar-producing region; founded, 1536; airport; two universities (1945, 1958); \Jcoffee\j, sugar, cotton; colonial ranch-house of Ca±as Gordas; church and 18th-c monastery of \JSan Francisco\j; church and convent of La Merced; cathedral, national palace, \Jmodern art\j museum; national art festival (Jun); fair, with bullfights, masquerades, and sports (Dec).
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"Caliari, Paolo",6560,0,0,0
EN See Veronese, Paolo
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"calibration",6561,0,0,0
EN The verification or rectification of a measure or mark by comparison with a known standard or by experiment. For example, the scale on a thermometer may be checked by subjecting it to standard conditions, such as the freezing point and boiling point of \Jwater\j. The term also applies to determining points on a blank scale.
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"calico bush",6562,0,0,0
EN See mountain laurel
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#
"calico cat",6563,0,0,0
EN See tortoiseshell cat
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#
"Calicut",6564,0,0,0
EN See \JKozhikode\j
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"California",6565,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 32 601 000; area 411 033 sq km/158 706 sq mi. State in SW USA, divided into 58 counties; the "Golden State'; originally populated by several Indian tribes; discovered by the Spanish, 1542; colonized mid-18th-c; developed after gold discovered in the Mother Lode, 1848; ceded to the USA by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848; joined the Union as the 31st state, 1850; major US growth area in the 20th-c; now the most populous US state; capital, Sacramento; other chief cities, \JSan Francisco\j, Los Angeles, Oakland, \JSan Diego\j; bounded S by Mexico and W by the \JPacific Ocean\j; mountainous in the N, W and E, with dry, arid depressions in the S (Mojave and \JColorado\j Deserts) and SE (Death Valley); Klamath Mts in the N; Coast Ranges in the W run parallel to the Pacific; Sierra Nevada in the E, rising to 4418 m/14 495 ft at Mt Whitney (state's highest point); foothills of the Sierra Nevada contain the Mother Lode, a belt of gold-bearing \Jquartz\j; the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges are separated by the Central Valley, drained by the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers, a major fruit-producing area; climate gives a wet and a dry season, with most rainfall November--March; vegetables, grain, livestock; a zone of faults (the San Andreas Fault) extends S from N \JCalifornia\j along the coast; \Jearth\j tremors commonplace; major \Jearthquake\j in \JSan Francisco\j 1906, 1989, and in Los Angeles, 1993; centre of the US \Jmicroelectronics\j industry in Silicon Valley; oil, \Jnatural gas\j, and a wide range of minerals; food processing, machinery, defence industries, transportation equipment, fabricated metals, cotton, wine (vineyards in over 40 Californian counties); increasing Hispanic and Asian populations; a major tourist state, with several national monuments and parks (\JYosemite\j, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Redwood), the film industry, Disneyland.
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"California Joe",6566,0,0,0
EN See Milner, (Moses Embree) '\JCalifornia\j Joe'
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"California redwood",6567,0,0,0
EN See mammoth tree
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#
"California sorrel",6568,0,0,0
EN See palomino
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"California, Gulf of",6569,0,0,0
EN Arm of the \JPacific Ocean\j between Mexican mainland (east) and Baja \JCalifornia\j (west); \JColorado\j River delta (north); broadens and deepens towards the S; maximum depth 2595┐m / 8514┐ft; 1130┐km / 700┐mi long by 80-130┐km / 50-80┐mi wide; tourism, fishing, harvesting of sponge, pearl, oyster.
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"Californian Indians",6570,0,0,0
EN Once a very large concentration of many distinct American Indian groups, including the Yurok, Maidu, Cahuilla, Miwok, Pomo, Mojave, \JHupa\j, and Chumash. The first groups migrated there at least 7000 years ago, and before the Spanish conquest in the 18th-c there were an estimated 105 tribes, speaking many different dialects, and mostly hunter-gatherers. Later, influenced by Indians in neighbouring territories, they developed pottery and basketry, elaborate ceremonials, and a maritime culture. With the Spanish conquest, their population was reduced from an estimated 350┐000 to 100┐000, and during the 19th-c many groups became extinct.
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"Californian lilac",6571,0,0,0
EN An evergreen shrub, rarely deciduous, native to \JNorth America\j; leaves lance-shaped to oval; flowers in dense clusters, 5 sepals incurved, 5 petals longer and spreading, blue, lilac, or white. \B(Genus:\b \ICeanothus,\i 55 species. \BFamily:\b Rhamnaceae.)
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"Californian poppy",6572,0,0,0
EN A grey-green annual or perennial \I(Eschscholzia californica),\i 20-45┐cm / 8-18┐in, native to \JCalifornia\j and Oregon, USA; leaves finely divided; flowers bright yellow-orange, also creamy and scarlet in cultivars; the 4 petals roll up longitudinally in dull \Jweather\j; grown in gardens, and often escaping into the surrounding area. \B(Family:\b Papaveraceae.)
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"Caligula",6573,0,0,0
PN [ka\Blig\byula]
HS , nickname of \BGaius Julius Caesar Germanicus\b
DT1 12
DT2 41
EN Roman emperor (37-41), the youngest son of Germanicus and Agrippina, born in Antium. Brought up in an army camp, he was nicknamed \JCaligula\j from his little soldier's boots \I(caligae).\i His official name, once emperor, was Gaius. Extravagant, autocratic, vicious, and mentally unstable, he wreaked havoc with the finances of the state, and terrorized those around him, until he was assassinated. Under him, Hellenistic court practices, such as ritual obeisance, made their first (though not last) appearance in \JRome\j.
MEX Germanicus; Agrippina (the Elder)
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"calimanco cat",6574,0,0,0
EN See tortoiseshell cat
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"caliph",6575,0,0,0
HS , also spelled \Bcalif\b (Arabic 'successor')
EN A former ruler of the Muslim community, regarded as the successor of the \Jprophet\j Mohammed. The first caliph was Abu Bakr, who succeeded Mohammed as the Muslim civil and religious leader. The first four caliphs, Abu-Bakr, Omar, Uthman, and Ali, along with Mohammed, are regarded by Sunni Muslims as the 'rightly guided' caliphs. The title then became hereditary, and was used by the Umayyads at Damascus and later at C≤rdoba, by the \JAbbasids\j at \JBaghdad\j, by the Fatimids and Mamluks in \JEgypt\j, and by other Muslim chieftains.
The title was taken over by the Ottoman sultans in the 16th-c, following their conquest of the last caliph in \JCairo\j in 1517, and abolished when the Republic of Turkey was established in 1924. It was also used in India. Disagreement over the status and legitimate line of caliphs lies at the root of the division between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. The caliphate has throughout history been an important symbolic focus of unity for Muslims, and since its abolition there have been occasional attempts to revive it.
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"Calisher, Hortense",6576,0,0,0
DT1 1911
EN Novelist and short-story writer, born in New York City, USA. Her milieu is New York, and her characters are usually drawn from the upper middle-class. Her novels include \IThe New Yorkers\i (1969), \IQueenie\i (1971), and \IThe Bobby-Soxer\i (1986).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1962 False Entry
1963 Textures of Life
1965 Journal from Ellipsia
1966 The Railway Police and the Last Trolley Ride
1969 The New Yorkers
1971 Queenie
1972 Herself
1972 Standard Dreaming
1973 Eagle Eye
1977 On Keeping Women
1983 Mysteries of Motion
1985 Saratoga Hot
1986 The Bobby-Soxer
1987 Age
\IStories\i
1952 In the Absence of Angels: Stories
1963 Tale for the Mirror: A Novella and Other Stories
1964 Extreme Magic: A Novella and Other Stories
1975 The Collected Stories of Hortense Calisher
\IOther\i
1988 Kissing Cousins
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"calisthenics",6577,0,0,0
EN The art and practice of bodily exercises designed to produce beauty and grace rather than muscular development. They are often performed with the aid of hand-held apparatus, such as rings and clubs. Similar exercises were first seen in \JGermany\j in the 19th-c.
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"Calixtus",6578,0,0,0
PN [ka\Blik\bstus]
HS , originally \BCallisen Georg\b
DT1 1586
DT2 1656
EN Lutheran theologian, born in Medelbye, \JGermany\j. From 1603 he studied at Helmstedt, where he became professor of \Jtheology\j. Although acknowledged by learned Romanists to be one of their ablest opponents, he was declared guilty of heresy for statements which seemed favourable to Catholic dogmas, and for others which approached too near to the Calvinistic standpoint. He nonetheless retained his chair till his death.
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"Calkins, (Earnest) Elmo",6579,0,0,0
DT (1868-1964)
EN advertising executive, author; born in Geneseo, Ill. A talented copywriter, first in Illinois and then in New York City, he was founding president of Calkins and Holden, New York City (1902-31), regarded as the prototypal modern agency for producing integrated advertising campaigns incorporating high-quality copy and art. He coauthored (with Ralph Holden) the first advertising textbook, \IModern Advertising\i (1905). In his later years he was an essayist and author; severely hearing-impaired since his youth, he often wrote on the problems of the deaf.
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"Calkins, Mary Whiton",6580,0,0,0
DT (1863-1930)
EN psychologist; born in \JHartford\j, Conn. She studied at Harvard and taught at Wellesley College (1887-1929). During the 1890s, she conducted research on memorization-by-association at Harvard and was influenced by William James. Often called "the first lady of \Jpsychology\j," she was a personality theorist who described the self as an integral unit that could be studied in its many variables.
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"calla lily",6581,0,0,0
EN See arum lily
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"Callaeidae",6582,0,0,0
EN \BNew Zealand wattlebirds\b
Three species (one of them extinct and the other two seriously endangered) make up the family \JCallaeidae\j, sometimes given as 'Callaeatidae' order Passeriformes, suborder Oscines). The group is confined to \JNew Zealand\j, and their relationships remain enigmatic. Traditionally they are often placed near the starlings (family \JSturnidae\j), but in life they rather suggest an Apostlebird (family Crocoracidae) or even a bowerbird (family \JPtilonorhynchidae\j).
All three are generically distinct, but all probably derived from a single colonizer to \JNew Zealand\j long ago. The three species are the Kokako \ICallaeas\i \Icinerea,\i the Saddleback \IPhilesturnus\i \Icarunculatus,\i and the extinct \JHuia\j \IHeteralocha\i \Iacutirostris\i (which was last recorded around 1910).
Their most conspicuous external feature is the fleshy paired wattles (red, orange, or bright blue according to species) at the gape of the bill, of unknown function. Body length ranges from about 25 cm (Saddleback) to 48 cm (the extinct Huia) and Kokakos are about 38 cm long. They have rounded wings, rather long tails, and powerful feet. They are reluctant to fly, preferring to bound from branch to branch. They roost in tree cavities.
A striking anatomical feature is an unusual conformation of the jaw musculature that enables wattlebirds to apply exceptional force in \Iopening\i the bill (rather than in closing it as in most birds). The group is also notable because one of its members, the extinct \JHuia\j, showed conspicuous gender differences in bill shape, a feature virtually unique in birds. The female had a long, sharply pointed, markedly down-curved bill but the male had a sharp-pointed bill, straight and rather short.
Plumage colors are subdued (mainly various combinations of gray, black, and chestnut) and patterns are simple or lacking. Males resemble females, and there is little age or seasonal variation.
Even before \Jextinction\j, the \JHuia\j was known only from the southern half of the North Island of \JNew Zealand\j, but the other two species were originally widespread on all of the main islands. Now much reduced, Kokakos persist only in original deep forests in the North Island.
Even more seriously endangered, Saddlebacks are now reduced to a more or less artificial distribution on about six offshore islands, free of exotic predators such as cats and stoats, to which they were transferred by \JNew Zealand\j wildlife authorities to save the species from \Jextinction\j. All three species are strongly sedentary and confined to dense undisturbed forests.
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"Callaghan (of Cardiff), (Leonard) James Callaghan, Baron",6583,0,0,0
PN [\Bkal\bahan]
HS , known as \BJim Callaghan\b
DT1 1912
EN British statesman and prime minister (1976--9), born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, S England, UK. He joined the Civil Service (1929), and in 1945 was elected Labour MP for South \JCardiff\j. As Chancellor of the Exchequer under Harold Wilson (1964--7), he introduced the controversial corporation and selective employment taxes.
He was home secretary (1967--70) and foreign secretary (1974--6), and became prime minister on Wilson's resignation. He resigned as Leader of the Opposition in 1980, and became a life peer in 1987. His \Jautobiography\j, \ITime and Chance\i, was published in 1987.
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"Callaghan, Daniel (Judson)",6584,0,0,0
DT (1890-1942)
EN naval officer; born in \JSan Francisco\j. He was the naval aide to President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1938-41). As rear admiral, he led a brilliant naval battle against Japanese forces off \JGuadalcanal\j. He was killed in the action. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
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"Callaghan, Morley (Edward)",6585,0,0,0
PN [\Bkal\bahan]
DT1 1903
EN Novelist, short-story writer, and memoirist, born in Toronto, \JOntario\j, Canada. He studied at Toronto University, and was befriended by Hemingway. He was called to the bar in 1928, but while in Paris Hemingway encouraged him to give up law for literature, and helped him get some of his stories published in expatriate literary magazines.
His first novel was \IStrange Fugitive\i (1928) and his first collection of stories \IA Native Argosy\i (1930). He returned to Toronto in 1929. Later novels include \IThe Loved and the Lost\i (1951), \IThe Many Colored Coat\i (1960), and \IA Time for Judas\i (1983).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1928 Strange Fugitive
1935 They Shall Inherit the Earth
1937 More Joy in Heaven
1951 The Loved and the Lost
1960 The Many-Colored Coat
1975 Close to the Sun Again
1983 A Time for Judas
1988 A Wild Old Man on the Road
\IStories\i
1929 A Native Argosy
1931 No Man's Meat
1936 Now That April's Here
1959 Morley Callaghan's Stories
BK Biog99
#
"Callao",6586,0,0,0
PN [kal\Byah\boh]
EN 12░05S 77░08W, pop (1995e) 628 000. Port province contiguous with Lima, W \JPeru\j; handles 75% of \JPeru\j's imports and c.25% of its exports; occupied by \JChile\j (1879--84); linked by rail and road to Lima (one of the first railways in \JSouth America\j, 1851); Real Felipe fortress (1774).
BK Geog99
#
"Callao Painter",6587,0,0,0
EN See El Ni±o
BK c
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#
"Callas, Maria (b. Maria Anna Sofia Cecilia Kalogeropoulos)",6588,0,0,0
DT (1923-77)
EN Soprano; born in New York City. Callas studied voice in \JAthens\j and made her operatic debut there in 1938. Her European career blossomed in the late 1940s; from then until her retirement from the stage in 1965, she was celebrated less for a glorious voice than for her electrifying dramatic gifts - as seen in roles such as Medea and Norma - and her equally dramatic temperament and romantic life, including a long liaison with Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.
BK AmBg
#
"Callendar, Hugh Longbourne",6589,0,0,0
DT1 1863
DT2 1930
EN Physicist, born in Hatherop, \JGloucestershire\j, SWC England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, and was professor of physics at McGill University, Montreal (1893), University College London (1898), and the Imperial College of Science (1902). He devised a constant-pressure air thermometer which could measure up to 450░C, and also an accurate \Jplatinum\j resistance thermometer.
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Calles, Plutarco Elias",6590,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\byes]
DT1 1877
DT2 1945
EN Mexican political leader and president of Mexico (1924-8), born in Guaymas, Mexico. A former schoolmaster and tradesman, he took part in the revolt against Porfirio Diaz (1910), and became secretary of the interior (1920-4), then president. In 1929 he founded the National Revolutionary Party. He was defeated by Lßzaro Cßrdenas, and from 1936 to 1941 was exiled to the USA.
MEX Cßrdenas; Diaz, Porfirio
SX m
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#
"Callicrates",6591,0,0,0
EN See Ictinos or Ictinus
BK bg c
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#
"calligraphy",6592,0,0,0
EN The art of penmanship, or writing at its most formal. Chinese emperors were expected to practise \Jcalligraphy\j. It is a major art form in many countries of E Asia and in Arabic-speaking countries, and there has been a revival of interest in Europe and America since the 19th-c. In painting or drawing, 'calligraphic' means linear, freely-handled, and rhythmic, resembling a fine piece of formal handwriting.
EN priest, author; born in Madytos, Dardanelles, Turkey. A Greek Orthodox priest, he was a voluntary chaplain during the Balkan War (1912-13). He came to the U.S.A. (1914) and while serving as a priest in a Greek Orthodox church in Brooklyn, he also edited the Greek \INational Herald\i (1915-18, 1922-44). He encouraged Greek-Americans to maintain their Greek heritage in the United States. He opposed the restoration of the Greek monarchy (1935) and denounced the Greek Left at the end of World War II.
BK AmBg
#
"Callimachus (299-210 BC)",6594,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bli\bmakus]
DT1 299
DT2 210
DT2b BC
EN Greek poet, grammarian, and critic, born in Cyrene, \JLibya\j. He became head of the Alexandrian Library, and prepared a catalogue of it, in 120 volumes. He wrote numerous prose works which have not survived, a number of \IHymns\i and \IEpigrams,\i and a long elegiac poem, \IAitia,\i among others.
SX m
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#
"Callimachus (5th-c BC)",6595,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bli\bmakus]
DT1 5
DT1b th-c BC
EN Greek sculptor, working in \JAthens\j in the late 5th-c BC. Vitruvius says he invented the architectural Corinthian capital. Several statues have been identified as his, including the 'Draped Venus' in the \JBoston\j Museum of Fine Arts.
MEX Vitruvius
SX m
BK bg c
#
"calliope (music)",6596,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bliy\bopee]
EN A steam organ patented by J C Stoddard of Worcester, MA, in 1855. Most calliopes had about 15-30 whistles, operated by a keyboard, but some had many more. They were fitted to the top decks of river showboats, and could be heard for miles around playing popular tunes. They are also heard as part of some merry-go-rounds in amusement parks.
BK c
#
"Calliope (mythology)",6597,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bliy\bopee]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the Muse of epic poetry. She is sometimes said to be the mother of Orpheus.
BK c
#
"Callisto (astronomy)",6598,0,0,0
PN [ka\Blis\btoh]
EN The fourth natural \Jsatellite\j of Jupiter, discovered in 1610 by \JGalileo\j; distance from the \Jplanet\j 1┐883┐000┐km / 1┐170┐00┐mi; diameter 4800┐km / 3000┐mi; orbital period 16.689 days. Its dark surface is a mixture of ice and rocky material, and is heavily cratered.
BK c
#
"Callisto (mythology)",6599,0,0,0
PN [ka\Blis\btoh]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, an Arcadian nymph attendant upon \JArtemis\j. Loved by Zeus, she became pregnant, and was sent away from the virgin band. Hera changed her into a she-bear; and after 15 years had passed, her son tried to spear her. Zeus took pity on them, and changed her into the \Jconstellation\j Ursa Major and her son into Arctophylax.
BK c
#
"Callistratus",6600,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bli\bstratus]
DT1 4
DT1b th-c BC
EN Athenian orator and statesman, whose eloquence is said to have fired the imagination of the youthful Demosthenes. In 366 BC he allowed the Thebans to occupy Oropus, and was prosecuted, but defended himself successfully in a brilliant speech. He was prosecuted again in 361 for his Spartan sympathies and was condemned to death, but went into exile before sentence was pronounced. He returned from exile in Macedonia, hoping to win public support, but was executed.
MEX Demosthenes
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#
"Callot, Jacques",6601,0,0,0
PN [kayoh]
DT1a c.
DT1 1592
DT2 1635
EN Etcher and engraver, born in Nancy, \JFrance\j. In 1612 he went to \JRome\j to study, then moved to Florence where he earned a reputation for his spirited etchings. For \JLouis XIII\j, who invited him to Paris, he executed etchings of the siege of La Rochelle, but refused to commemorate the capture of his native town. His 1600 realistic engravings cast vivid light on the events and manners of the 17th-c.
SX m
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#
"Callow, Simon",6602,0,0,0
DT1 1949
EN Actor, director, and writer, born in London, England, UK. He made his London debut in \IThe Plumber's Progress\i (1975), and joined Joint Stock in 1977, later playing major roles at the \JBristol\j Old Vic and the National Theatre.
He has also appeared in several films, notably \IA Room With a View\i (1986), \IPostcards from the Edge\i (1990), \IFour Weddings and a Funeral\i (1994), and \IJefferson in Paris\i (1995). He has directed several new plays in fringe theatres, and the film \IThe Ballad of the Sad CafΘ\i (1990). He published an \Jautobiography\j, \IBeing An Actor\i (1984).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms - Actor\i
1984 Amadeus
1986 A Room with a View
1987 Maurice
1988 Manifesto
1990 Mr and Mrs Bridge
1990 Postcards from the Edge
1992 Soft Top, Hard Shoulder
1994 Four Weddings and a Funeral
1995 Jefferson in Paris
1995 Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
\IDirector\i
1990 The Ballad of the Sad CafΘ
\ITheatre\i
1997 HRH
\ITelevision\i
1983, 1985--6 Chance in a Million
1986 David Copperfield
1987 Cariani and the Courtesans
1989 Old Flames
1989 Revolutionary Witness
1993 Femme Fatale
1997 The Woman in White
\IPublications\i
1984 Being an Actor
1987 A Difficult Actor: Charles Laughton
1990 Shooting the Actor
1995 Orson Welles: the road to Xanadu
BK Biog99
#
"Calloway, Cab(ell)",6603,0,0,0
DT (1907-94)
EN jazz musician; born in Rochester, N.Y. A versatile song and dance man, he led a succession of outstanding big bands between 1928-53. He was featured in the 1979 movie \IThe Blues Brothers.
BK AmBg
#
"callus",6604,0,0,0
EN The tissue formed during the repair of a fracture. Fibrocartilage and hyaline cartilage are formed to seal and unite the ends of the bone (a \Iprovisional\i \Jcallus\j), being gradually replaced by mature bone (a \Ipermanent\i \Jcallus\j).
Also an acquired area of localized thickening of the epidermal layer of skin, due to continued physical trauma.
BK c
#
"Calman, Mel",6605,0,0,0
DT1 1931
DT2 94
EN British cartoonist and writer. He studied at Goldsmith's College, London, then worked as a regular and freelance cartoonist for several British national newspapers from 1957, joining \IThe Times\i in 1979. His many publications include \IBed-Sit\i (1963), \IThis Pestered Isle\i (1973), \IHow About A Little Quarrel Before Bed?\i (1981), and \ICalman at the Royal Opera House\i (1990).
SX m
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#
"Calmar",6606,0,0,0
EN See Kalmar or Calmar
BK c
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#
"Calmette, (LΘon Charles) Albert",6607,0,0,0
PN [kalmet]
DT1 1863
DT2 1933
EN Bacteriologist, born in Nice, \JFrance\j. A pupil of Pasteur and founder of the Pasteur Institute at \JSaigon\j, he was the discoverer of an anti-snakebite serum there. In 1895 he founded the Pasteur Institute at Lille (director, 1895-1919). He is best known for the vaccine BCG \I(Bacille Calmette-GuΘrin),\i for \Jinoculation\j against tuberculosis, which he jointly developed with \BDr Camille GuΘrin\b (1872-1961). He was the brother of newspaper editor Gaston Calmette.
MEX Caillaux; Pasteur
SX m
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#
"Calmo, Andrea",6608,0,0,0
DT 1509/10-71
EN Venetian actor and playwright. He is considered to be the leading literary influence on the commedia dell'arte. The son of a gondolier, he made his reputation playing fussy, amorous old men of the Pantalone type. His six comedies spice the intrigues of the commedia erudita with regional dialects, horseplay and comic invention. He is said to have retired in 1560 because pastoral and tragedy were dominating the stage.
BK Thea
#
"calmodulin",6609,0,0,0
PN [kal\Bmod\byulin]
EN One of a group of intracellular proteins widely distributed in plants and animals. It binds with \Jcalcium\j to form the calmodulin-calcium complex, which activates enzymes involved in basic cellular processes (eg \Jmitosis\j, motility, and \Jneurotransmitter\j release).
BK c
#
"caloric",6610,0,0,0
EN See \Jthermodynamics\j
BK c
XCY y
#
"calorie",6611,0,0,0
EN In \Jthermodynamics\j, an old unit of heat, symbol \Ical; \i 1 cal┐=┐4.184┐J (joule, SI unit); defined as the quantity of heat required to raise the \Jtemperature\j of a gram of \Jwater\j from 14.5░C to 15.5░C. The \Jcalorie\j is an extremely small unit of \Jenergy\j, the average person requiring 2.5 million calories per \Jday\j.
To overcome the obvious problem in counting such small units, the preferred term in scientific literature is the \Bkilocalorie,\b symbol \Ikcal\i or \ICal,\i where 1┐Cal┐=┐1000┐cal, and this is the term commonly used in describing the \Jenergy\j content of foodstuffs. However, the public have continued to use the familiar word; so, in popular usage, 1 kilocalorie is often thought of as 1 \JCalorie\j.
BK c
#
"calorimetry",6612,0,0,0
EN The measurement of \Jenergy\j transferred in some physical or chemical process, such as the \Jenergy\j absorbed from its surroundings by a solid melting to a liquid, or the \Jenergy\j evolved by burning some substance. In \Jnutrition\j, \Bcalorimeters\b are used to measure the number of calories in a given substance, or to measure the heat output of humans, equivalent to \Jcaloric\j expenditure.
Some of these are sufficiently large for people to live in for several days, while fulfilling reasonably normal lives, thus enabling the \Jenergy\j needs of daily living to be recorded.
BK c
#
"Calotype",6613,0,0,0
EN A very early method of photography patented by Fox Talbot in 1841, using paper sensitized with silver iodide to produce a negative image.
BK c
#
"calus",6614,0,0,0
EN Romanian dance. A Whitsuntide ritual dance of great semiotic complexity, it is performed by men who during the performance period abstain from sex and keep normal social contact to a minimum. It has a strong magical element, involving trance and the healing of people possessed by spirits. In one form the dances alternate with short comic plays, led by a paradoxical phallic clown, the 'mute' (he is not silent), on subjects such as money, sex and fighting.
EN The site where Jesus was crucified, presumed to be a place of execution just outside \JJerusalem\j. The term appears in the Authorized Version of the \JBible\j \I(Luke\i 23.33).
BK c
#
"Calvert, Frederick Crace",6616,0,0,0
DT1 1819
DT2 73
EN Chemist, born in London, England, UK. A consulting chemist in Manchester, he was largely instrumental in introducing carbolic acid as a \Jdisinfectant\j.
SX m
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#
"Calvert, George",6617,0,0,0
EN See Baltimore, George Calvert, Baron
BK bg c
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#
"Calvert, Leonard",6618,0,0,0
DT (1606-47)
EN colonial governor; born in England. The son of George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, he arrived in Maryland with the first colonists in 1634 and served as the first governor of Maryland during 1637-47.
BK AmBg
#
"Calvi, Robert",6619,0,0,0
PN [\Bkal\bvee]
HS , originally \BGian Roberto Calvini\b
DT1 1920
DT2 82
EN Banker and financier, born in Milan, \JItaly\j. Working his way up through Banco Ambrosiano, he became its chairman in 1975, and continued to build a vast financial empire. In 1978, a report by the Bank of \JItaly\j on Ambrosiano concluded that several billion lire had been illegally exported. In May 1981, he was arrested, found guilty, and sentenced to four years' imprisonment, but released pending an appeal.
By 1982, his bank, on the verge of financial collapse, was temporarily saved by patronage letters from the Vatican's bank which, under the leadership of Paul Marcinckus, had jointly perpetrated with Ambrosiano several dubious business deals. Calvi's body was found hanging from scaffolding under Blackfriars Bridge in London. A verdict of suicide was recorded, which was overturned in 1983, when an inquest delivered an open verdict on the death. The ramifications of the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano, and of the involvement of the Vatican and possibly the Mafia continued well after his death.
SX m
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#
"Calvin, John",6620,0,0,0
DT1 1509
DT2 64
EN Protestant reformer, born in Noyon, \JFrance\j. He studied Latin at Paris, then law at OrlΘans, where he developed his interest in \Jtheology\j. In Bourges and other centres he began to preach the reformed doctrines, but was forced to flee from \JFrance\j to escape persecution. At \JBasel\j he issued his influential \IChristianae religionis institutio\i (1536, Institutes of the Christian Religion), and at Geneva was persuaded by Guillaume Farel to help with the reformation.
The reformers proclaimed a Protestant Confession of Faith, under which moral severity took the place of licence. When a rebellious party, the Libertines, rose against this, Calvin and Farel were expelled from the city (1538). Calvin withdrew to \JStrasbourg\j, where he worked on \JNew Testament\j criticism, and married \BIdelette de Bure\b (1540). In 1541 the Genevans recalled him, and he founded a theocracy which controlled almost all the city's affairs.
By 1555 his authority was confirmed into an absolute supremacy. The father-figure of Reformed \Jtheology\j, he left a double legacy to \JProtestantism\j by systematizing its doctrine and organizing its ecclesiastical discipline. His commentaries, which embrace most of the Old and New Testaments, were collected and published in 1617.
MEX Farel
SX m
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#
"Calvin, Melvin",6621,0,0,0
DT (1911-97)
EN US biochemist: elucidated biosynthetic paths in \Jphotosynthesis\j.
Calvin studied at \JMichigan\j, \JMinnesota\j and Manchester and then began teaching at the University of \JCalifornia\j at Berkeley in 1937. Except for war work on the atomic bomb, he remained there for the rest of his career. His interest in \Jphotosynthesis\j began in Manchester and developed from 1946, when new and sensitive analytical methods (notably the use of \Jradioisotope\j labelling and \Jchromatography\j) became available.
Photosynthesis is the process whereby green plants absorb carbon dioxide from the air and convert it by complex stages into starch and into oxygen (which is discharged into the air, at the rate of about 10\U12\u kg per year). This can be claimed as the most important of all biochemical processes, since animal life also depends on plant foods and on the oxygen-rich \Jatmosphere\j which, over geological time, \Jphotosynthesis\j has provided.
Calvin allowed the single-celled green \Jalgae\j \IChlorella\i to absorb radioactive CO\D2\d for seconds only, and then detected the early products of reaction. He identified a cycle of reactions (the reductive pentose phosphate or Calvin cycle) which form an important part of \Jphotosynthesis\j. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1961.
Most recently his work involved the attempt to produce entirely synthetic sensitizers and catalysts which would permit the construction of a device to photochemically produce oxygen from \Jwater\j and reduce carbon dioxide to a useful chemical.
BK Scie
#
"Calvinism",6622,0,0,0
PN [\Bkal\bvinizm]
EN A term with at least three applications. \B1\b The \Jtheology\j of the 16th-c Protestant reformer, John Calvin. \B2\b The principal doctrines of 17th-c Calvinist scholars, including the 'five points of Calvinism' affirmed by the Synod of Dort (1618-19). \B3\b More broadly, the beliefs of those Churches in the Reformed tradition which arose under the influence of Calvin, and the impact they had on the societies and cultures in which they took root.
Historically, Calvinism has emphasized the sovereignty of God, the \JBible\j as the sole rule of faith, the doctrine of \Jpredestination\j, and justification by faith alone. The movement greatly influenced the Pilgrims of New England. There has been a Neo-Calvinist renewal in the 20th-c under the influence of the theologian Karl Barth.
BK c
#
"Calvino, Italo",6623,0,0,0
PN [kal\Bvee\bnoh]
DT1 1923
DT2 85
EN Writer, essayist, and journalist, born in Santiago de las Vegas, \JCuba\j, of Italian parents. He spent his early years in San Remo, and studied at Turin, where he worked as a publisher. His first novel, \IIl sentiero dei nidi di ragno\i (1947, The Path to the Nest of Spiders), described resistance against \JFascism\j in a highly naturalistic manner.
In later works, such as \II nostri antenati\i (1960, Our Ancestors), he adopted a more condensed style of story-telling, hovering between \Jallegory\j and pure fantasy, while \ISe una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore\i (1979, If On a Winter's Night a Traveller) tests the limits of experiment in fiction.
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Calypso",6624,0,0,0
HS (astromony)
EN The 14th natural \Jsatellite\j of Saturn, discovered in 1980, moving along the same \Jorbit\j as Tethys; distance from the \Jplanet\j 295┐000┐km / 183┐000┐mi; diameter 30┐km / 19┐mi.
BK c
#
"calyx",6625,0,0,0
EN See flower; 28879 sepal
BK c
XCY y
#
"CAM",6626,0,0,0
EN See computer-aided manufacture (CAM)
BK c
XCY y
#
"Cam or Cπo",6627,0,0,0
DT1 15
DT1b th-c
EN Portuguese explorer. In 1482 he discovered the mouth of the \JCongo\j, near whose bank an inscribed stone erected by him as a memorial was found in 1887. His voyages southwards along the West African coast later enabled Bartholomew Diaz to find the sea route to the Indian Ocean around the Cape.
MEX Diaz, Bartholomew
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Camara, Helder (Pessoa)",6628,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\bmara]
DT1 1909
DT2 99
EN Roman Catholic theologian and clergyman, born in \JFortaleza\j, \JBrazil\j. Archbishop of Olinda and \JRecife\j (1964--84), he has been a champion of the poor and of non-violent social change in \JBrazil\j, and also in the \JCatholic Church\j at large through his influence at Vatican Council II. He received international recognition with the award of the Martin Luther King, Jr, Peace Prize (1970) and the People's Prize (1973).
BK Biog99
#
"Camargo, Joracy",6629,0,0,0
DT 1898-1973
EN Brazilian playwright; a precursor of the reformation of the Brazilian theatre. His career began with the revue, later shifting to the serious play. A major contribution was Deus Lhe Pague (May God Pay You, 1932), a play generally considered to mark the beginning of the social theatre in \JBrazil\j, with its examination of bourgeois values under the \Jmicroscope\j of Marx and leftist \Jideology\j during the heady years of the 1930s.
BK Thea
#
"Camargo, Maria Anna de",6630,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bmah(r)\bgoh]
DT1 1710
DT2 70
EN Dancer, born in Brussels. She won European fame for her performances at the Paris Opera, where she made her debut in 1726, and is said to have been responsible for the shortening of the traditional ballet skirt which allowed more complicated steps to be seen. She was also one of the first celebrities to lend her name to merchandizing shoes and wigs.
SX f
BK bg c
#
"Camargue",6631,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bmah(r)g\b]
EN area 750┐km\U2\u / 290┐mi\U2\u. District in River Rh⌠ne delta, south-east \JFrance\j; alluvial island, mainly saltmarsh and lagoon; Etang de Vaccares nature reserve for migratory birds; information centre at GinΦs; rice and vines on reclaimed land (north); centre for breeding bulls and horses; chief locality, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer; tourism, with boating and riding.
BK c
#
"CambacΘrΦs, Jean Jacques RΘgis de",6632,0,0,0
PN [kπbasayres]
DT1 1753
DT2 1824
EN Lawyer, born in Montpellier, \JFrance\j. He became arch-chancellor of the French Empire (1804) and Duke of Parma (1808). As Napoleon's chief legal adviser, his civil code formed the basis of the \ICode NapolΘon.\i
MEX Napoleon
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Camberwell beauty",6633,0,0,0
EN A colourful butterfly; wings velvet brown with yellow margin and line of blue spots; caterpillar mainly black, with black spike; found on willow, birch, and other trees; \Jpupa\j hangs by tail. \B(Order:\b \JLepidoptera\j. \BFamily:\b Nymphalidae.)
BK c
#
"Cambio, Arnolfo di",6634,0,0,0
EN See Arnolfo di Cambio
BK bg c
XCY y
#
"cambium",6635,0,0,0
EN A layer of actively dividing cells, producing an increase in the girth of woody plants by additional growth of vascular tissue and cork, after these tissues have been formed by the \Jmeristem\j.
BK c
#
"Cambodia",6636,0,0,0
PN [kam\Bboh\bdia]
EN pop (1995e) 9 692 000; area 181 035 sq km/69 879 sq mi. Kingdom in SE Asia, divided into 18 provinces; capital, Phnom Penh; timezone GMT +7; population mainly Khmer (93%); chief religion (to 1975), Theravada \JBuddhism\j; official language, Khmer, with French widely spoken; unit of currency, the riel of 100 sen.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
Occupies an area surrounding the TonlΘ Sap (lake), a freshwater depression on the Cambodian Plain; crossed by the floodplain of the Mekong R (E); highest land in the SW, where the Cardamom Mts run for 160 km/100 mi across the \JThailand\j border, rising to 1813 m/5948 ft at Phnom Aural; tropical monsoon climate, with a wet season (May--Sep); heavy rainfall in SW mountains; high temperatures in lowland region throughout the year; average monthly rainfall at Phnom Penh, 257 mm/10 in (Oct), 7 mm/0.3 in (Jan).
\IHistory and government\i
Originally part of the Kingdom of Funan, taken over by the Khmers, 6th-c, and centre of Khmer empire until 15th-c; in dispute with the Vietnamese and the Thais from the 15th-c; French Protectorate, 1863; formed French Indo-Chinese Union with Laos and Vietnam, 1887; independence, 1953, with Prince Sihanouk as prime minister; Sihanouk deposed in 1970, and Khmer Republic formed; fighting throughout the country involved troops from N and S Vietnam and the USA; surrender of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge, 1975, when the country became known as \JKampuchea\j; attempt to reform economy on co-operative lines by Pol Pot (1975--8) caused the deaths of an estimated three million people; further fighting, 1977--8; Phnom Penh captured by the Vietnamese, 1979, causing Khmer Rouge to flee; 1981 constitution established a 7-member Council of State and a 16-member Council of Ministers; Paris conference (1988--91) between the Phnom Penh regime, the opposition coalition led by Prince Sihanouk, and the Khmer Rouge; name of \JCambodia\j restored, 1989; Vietnamese troops completed withdrawal from \JCambodia\j, 1989; UN peace plan agreed, 1991; ceasefire and return of Sihanouk, 1991; further conflict following Khmer Rouge refusal to take part in 1993 elections; new constitution proclaims new Kingdom of \JCambodia\j, 1993; a constitutional monarchy, with a prime minister and 120-member National Assembly.
\IEconomy\i
Most of the population employed in subsistence agriculture, especially rice and \Jmaize\j; sugar cane, \Jcassava\j, bananas; \Jrubber\j, \Jforestry\j, rice milling, fish processing; \Jphosphates\j, \Jgemstones\j; vehicles, tyres, cigarettes; industrial development disrupted by the \Jcivil war\j.
BK Geog99
#
"Cambodian",6637,0,0,0
EN See Austro-Asiatic languages; 17749 Khmer
BK c
XCY y
#
"Cambon, Joseph",6638,0,0,0
PN [kπb⌡]
DT1 1756
DT2 1820
EN Financier and revolutionary, born in Montpellier, \JFrance\j. During the Revolution he was a member of the Legislative Assembly and the Convention (1792), and although a moderate, he voted for the king's death. As head of the committee on finance (1793-95), he produced the 'Great Book of the Public Debt' in an attempt to stabilize the finances. He was banished as a regicide in 1815.
MEX Louis XVI
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Cambrensis, Giraldus",6639,0,0,0
EN See Giraldus Cambrensis
BK bg c
XCY y
#
"Cambrian period",6640,0,0,0
EN The earliest geological period of the Palaeozoic era, lasting from c.590 to 505 million years ago. Characterized by widespread seas, its rocks contain a large variety of marine \Jinvertebrate\j fossils, including trilobites and brachiopods. Present exposures include N Wales, Scotland, \JNorway\j, \JSpain\j, and the Appalachians.
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"Cambridge (UK)",6641,0,0,0
EN 52░12N 0░07E, pop (1995e) 120 000. County town of Cambridgeshire, EC England, UK; on the R Cam (Granta); 82 km/51 mi N of London; Roman settlementAD70; airfield; railway; radio, \Jelectronics\j, printing, publishing, scientific instruments, tourism; one of the world's great universities, established 13th-c (Peterhouse, 1284); Churches of St Benedict and the Holy Sepulchre, King's College Chapel, university colleges; football team, Cambridge United ("U's).
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"Cambridge (USA)",6642,0,0,0
EN 42░22N 71░06W, pop (1995e) 96 500. Seat of Middlesex Co, E \JMassachusetts\j, USA; on one side of the Charles R, with \JBoston\j on the other; founded, 1630; city status, 1846; the first printing press in the USA set up here in 1640; \JHarvard University\j (1636) is the oldest US college; \JMassachusetts\j Institute of Technology (1859) moved from \JBoston\j in 1915; railway; \Jelectronics\j, glass, scientific instruments, photographic equipment, printing and publishing.
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#
"Cambridge Platonists",6643,0,0,0
EN A group of 17th-c philosophers and theologians centred on Cambridge University. Their most prominent members were Benjamin Whichcote, Henry More, Nathanael Culverwel, Richard Cumberland, and Ralph Cudworth. The movement looked in a general way to the Platonic and Neoplatonic traditions of thought, and tried to establish a strictly rational basis for ethics and religion.
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"Cambridge ring",6644,0,0,0
EN One of the early types of computer local area network which was pioneered at Cambridge University, UK, by River M Needham (1925-) ; also called a \Bslotted ring.\b
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"Cambridge University",6645,0,0,0
EN The second oldest university in England, after Oxford. Informal groups of scholars and masters were probably present in Cambridge at the end of the 12th-c. The first college, Peterhouse, was founded in 1284 and further colleges were founded after the Pope formally recognized Cambridge as a \Iuniversitas\i (1318). Prestigious university institutions include the Fitzwilliam Museum, the Cavendish Laboratory of experimental physics, the Cambridge University Press (founded 1534), and the University Library, a national depository.
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"Cambridge, Ada",6646,0,0,0
DT1 1844
DT2 1926
EN Writer and poet, born in St Germans, Norfolk, E England, UK. By the time she married \BGeorge Cross\b at the age of 26, she had published short stories, poems, and a book of hymns. They left almost immediately for \JAustralia\j, where her husband was to be a missionary priest, and settled eventually in Melbourne.
A woman with a strong sense of class, her writing called attention to women's social position and encouraged them to think for themselves. She wrote 18 novels, including \IA Marked Man\i (1890), \IFidelis\i (1895), and \IMaterfamilias\i (1898).
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"Cambridgeshire",6647,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 704 000; area 3409 sq km/1316 sq mi. County of EC England, UK; drained by the Nene, Ouse, and Cam Rivers; flat fenland to the N; county town, Cambridge; chief towns include Peterborough (unitary authority, 1998), Ely, \JHuntingdon\j; grain, vegetables, food processing, \Jelectronics\j, \Jengineering\j.
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#
"Cambyses II",6648,0,0,0
PN [kam\Bbiy\bseez]
HS , Persian \BKambujiya\b
DT1 ?
DT2 522
DT2b BC
EN King of the Medes and Persians, who succeeded his father, Cyrus II, in 529 BC. He put his brother Smerdis to death, and in 527 or 525 BC invaded and conquered \JEgypt\j. When news came, in 522 BC, that Gaumßta, a Magian, had assumed Smerdis's character, and usurped the Persian throne, Cambyses marched against him from \JEgypt\j, but died in \JSyria\j.
MEX Cyrus II
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"camcorder",6649,0,0,0
EN A small, portable video camera with an integral narrow-gauge videotape recorder, also known as the \Bcamera cassette recorder\b (CCR). It offers immediate play-back through a domestic \Jtelevision\j receiver.
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"Camden (UK)",6650,0,0,0
EN 51░33N 0░09W, pop (1995e) 178 000. Borough of N Greater London, England, UK; includes suburbs of Hampstead, St Pancras, and Holborn; named after an 18th-c Lord Chancellor; university (1826); railway stations at Euston (1849), King's Cross (1852), St Pancras (1874); British Museum, John Keats House, Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Post Office Tower (1964).
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#
"Camden (USA)",6651,0,0,0
EN 39░56N 75░07W, pop (1995e) 89 200. Seat of Camden Co, W \JNew Jersey\j, USA; a port on the E bank of the \JDelaware\j R, opposite Philadelphia; city status, 1828; railway; university (1934); oil refining, textiles, food processing, radio and \Jtelevision\j equipment; formerly a major shipbuilding port (yards closed in 1967); home of Walt Whitman (1873--92).
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"Camden Town Group",6652,0,0,0
EN A group of artists who flourished 1905-13 in London, England, UK. Sickert was the leading member, but the group also included Harold Gilman (1878-1919) and Spencer Gore (1878-1914). They shared an enthusiasm for recent French painting.
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"Camden, Battle of",6653,0,0,0
DT1 1780
EN A battle of the US War of Independence, fought in South Carolina. After the British capture of Charleston, Camden was the first major battle of the Southern campaign. Americans under Horatio Gates were defeated by British troops under Lord Cornwallis.
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"Camden, William",6654,0,0,0
DT1 1551
DT2 1623
EN Antiquarian and historian, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and became second master of Westminster School (1575), then headmaster (1593). A dedicated scholar, he compiled a pioneering topographical survey of the \JBritish Isles\j in Latin, \IBritannia\i (1586, English trans, 1610). The \ICamden Society\i (founded 1838), which promoted historical publications, was named after him.
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"camel",6655,0,0,0
EN A \Jmammal\j of the family Camelidae (2 species): the \BBactrian\b (or \Btwo-humped)\b \Bcamel\b \I(Camelus bactrianus)\i from cold deserts in C Asia, and domesticated elsewhere, and the \Bdromedary\b \I(Camelus dromedarius); \i eats any vegetation; drinks salt \Jwater\j if necessary; closes slit-like nostrils to exclude sand; humps are stores of \Jenergy\j-rich fats. The two species may interbreed: the offspring has one hump; males are usually sterile, while females are fertile.
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"camel(e)opard",6656,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bmel\buhpah(r)d]
EN See giraffe
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"Camelidae",6657,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bmel\bidee]
EN The camel family of mammals (6 species), found from N Africa to \JMongolia\j \I(camels),\i or in the \JAndes\j \I(\Jllama\j,\i \Ialpaca,\i \Iguanaco,\i \Ivicun\tia); \i artiodactyls; unusual walk (move both right legs, then both left); mate lying down; upper lip cleft; the only mammals with oval (not round) red blood cells.
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"camellia",6658,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bmeel\bia]
EN An evergreen shrub or tree, native to China, \JJapan\j, and south-east Asia; leaves alternate, leathery, glossy green; flowers usually large and showy, often scented, 4-7 petals, but often numerous in cultivars, white, pink, or crimson; popular ornamentals. The \Jgenus\j includes the tea plant. \B(Genus:\b \ICamellia,\i 82 species. \BFamily:\b Theaceae.)
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"Camelopardalis",6659,0,0,0
PN [kamelo\Bpah(r)\bdalis]
HS (Lat 'giraffe')
EN A large \Jconstellation\j in the Northern hemisphere, also known as \BCamelopardus.\b It lacks any bright stars, so is hard to pick out except on a very clear night.
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"Camelot",6660,0,0,0
PN [\Bkam\belot]
EN The legendary capital of King Arthur's Britain. It is variously located at Cadbury in the West Country, Colchester (\JCamulodunum\j), and Winchester.
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"cameo",6661,0,0,0
EN A method of carving a relief image into a shell or semi-precious stone with different coloured layers. It was popular in the Roman Empire, and has been used ever since in W European art, often copied in glass and ceramic.
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"camera",6662,0,0,0
EN An apparatus which produces an image of an external scene. In the early \Bcamera obscura\b (literally 'darkened room'), first developed in 11th-c China, light passing through a small hole or \Jlens\j formed a picture on the opposite wall. Portable versions in boxes served as artist's guides in landscape drawing, and early 19th-c attempts to record the image led to the first photographic camera: a light-tight box containing a glass or metal plate with a light-sensitive surface on which the image was formed by a \Jlens\j. The long exposure time was controlled simply by removing and replacing a cap on the \Jlens\j.
During the 1850s more sensitive plates greatly reduced exposure time, and mechanical shutters became essential, with adjustable \Jlens\j aperture and the body formed by folding leather bellows. In the 1890s photographic film in continuous strips revolutionized camera design, first with the Kodak box-camera and later with pocket cameras having collapsible bellows folding into a metal body when not in use.
The first miniature camera to use perforated film 35┐mm wide was the Leica in 1925, and this compact cassette-loaded form was widely adopted for other sizes. Camera operation has become increasingly simplified with automatic focus setting and exposure; built-in synchronized electronic flash and motor drive for film advance and repeated operation are also now available, as is within-camera film processing (\JPolaroid\j(r)).
Of many early cameras for \Jcinematography\j, the \IKinetograph\i developed by Dickson, working for Edison in 1891, had the most lasting influence, establishing the use of film 35┐mm wide in long rolls moved intermittently by holes perforated along both edges. Early cameras were hand-cranked, relying on the operator's skill to maintain a steady 16 pictures per second; but clockwork and electric motors were used later, with rolls of film being fed into the camera and taken up after exposure in detachable magazines.
With the introduction of sound-films in 1927, the picture rate was increased to 24 per second, and precisely controlled speed became essential for synchronization with the sound recording. In a \Bvideo camera\b the \Jlens\j image is formed on the photo-\Jcathode\j surface of an electronic tube, where it is scanned to produce the signal for transmission. Early TV cameras had large pick-up tubes, with an image diagonal of 55┐mm, but from the 1960s much smaller camera tubes were developed, 25┐mm or 17┐mm in diameter.
In the 1980s the very compact charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor was introduced in place of the photo-conductive tube, and camcorders with self-contained videotape recording became available. The use of a single zoom \Jlens\j has become standard, focused and set under the operator's control with automatic exposure and colour balance.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Aristotle (384-322 BC) describes, in his \IProblemata,\i a simple \Jcamera obscura\j that had a small pinhole. \JLeonardo da Vinci\j (1452 - 1519) mentions the device in his \ICodice Atlantico\i and Giovanni B. della Porta also mentions one in his \IMagiae Naturalis\i of 1553. In 1568, Daniel Barbaro showed that substituting a \Jlens\j for the pin hole could give a brighter image, and the \Jcamera obscura\j was a reality.
The \Jcamera obscura\j soon became more than an artist's tool, and they grew common as curiosities, like the world-famous \Jcamera obscura\j in Edinburgh, which uses a controllable \Jlens\j system to view in all directions, throwing an image onto a concave white table, designed to keep all of the image in sharp focus. The \Jcamera obscura\j has also become a popular children's toy, in the guise of a pinhole camera, either with film, or with a translucent screen to allow viewing.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"camera obscura",6663,0,0,0
EN See camera
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"camera operator",6664,0,0,0
EN The member of a film production crew, formerly termed \Blighting cameraman\b or \Bcinematographer,\b responsible under the director for the artistic and technical quality of the picture. Camera operators choose the camera viewpoint and \Jlens\j angle, and direct the character and distribution of lighting for both set and artists to create the dramatic mood required. During rehearsal and shooting they decide the composition of the action and any camera movement needed, and approve the resulting prints of each \Jday\j's work.
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"Camerarius, Joachim",6665,0,0,0
PN [kame\Brair\bius]
DT1 1500
DT2 74
EN Classical scholar and Lutheran theologian, born in Bamberg, \JGermany\j. A friend of Melanchthon, he embraced the Reformation at \JWittenberg\j in 1521, and helped to formulate the Augsburg Confession of 1530. He was professor of Greek and Latin at Tⁿbingen (1535) and \JLeipzig\j (from 1541).
MEX Melanchthon
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#
"Camerarius, Rudolf Jakob",6666,0,0,0
PN [kamerayreeus]
DT (1665-1721)
EN German botanist: demonstrated sexual reproduction in plants.
Camerarius followed his father as professor of medicine at Tⁿbingen, and he was also director of the botanic garden there. Ray and others had suggested that plants can reproduce sexually, but it was Camerarius who first showed by experiment that this is so.
In 1694 he separated some dioecious plants (ie plants in which the male and female flowers are borne on separate plants) and showed that although the pistillate plants gave fruit, they did not produce seed in the absence of staminate flowers. He identified the stamens as the male plant organs and the carpels (consisting of the style, \Jovary\j and stigma) as the female apparatus of a flowering plant. He also described \Jpollination\j.
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#
"Cameron, James (Mark)",6667,0,0,0
DT1 1911
DT2 85
EN Journalist, born in London, England, UK. His career began as an office boy for the \IWeekly News\i (1935), and progressed to Fleet Street in 1940, working for \IThe Daily Express,\i \IPicture Post,\i and the \INew Chronicle\i (1952-60). He became known as a roving reporter on war, poverty, and injustice, renowned for his integrity, dry wit, and concise summaries. He was also a writer and presenter of many \Jtelevision\j programmes, including \IMen of Our Time\i (1963), the intermittent \ICameron Country,\i and the autobiographical \IOnce Upon a Time\i (1984).
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"Cameron, Julia Margaret",6668,0,0,0
HS , \InΘe\i \BPattle\b
DT1 1815
DT2 79
EN British photographer, born in \JCalcutta\j, India. In 1838 she married an Indian jurist, \BCharles Hay Cameron\b (1795-1880), and moved to England in 1848. At the age of 48 she was given a camera, and went on to become an outstanding amateur photographer in the 1860s. Her close-up portraits of such Victorian celebrities as Tennyson, Darwin, Carlyle, and Newman received permanent acclaim.
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"Cameron, Simon",6669,0,0,0
DT (1799-1889)
EN businessman, politician; born in Lancaster County, Pa. Orphaned at age nine and largely self-educated, he began as a manager of newspapers, then bought the \JHarrisburg\j, Pa., \IRepublican\i (1824); this gained him influence in politics, which in turn gained him lucrative contracts as the state printer; he then branched out into other businesses including railroads and banking. He served \JPennsylvania\j in the U.S. Senate, first as a coalition Democrat (1845-49), then as a Republican (1857-61).
He threw his support to Lincoln at the Republican convention in 1860 and was rewarded with the post of secretary of war, but he proved to be so corrupt and inefficient that in January 1862 Lincoln appointed him ambassador to \JRussia\j. He returned to run for the Senate in 1863 and lost, but, regaining control of the Republican party, he held the seat for 10 years (1867-77), resigning to let his son, James Donald Cameron, succeed him.
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"Cameron, Verney Lovett",6670,0,0,0
DT1 1844
DT2 94
EN Explorer, born in Radipole, \JDorset\j, S England, UK. He entered the navy in 1857, and in 1872 was appointed to command an African E coast expedition to relieve David Livingstone. Starting from Bagamoyo in 1873, he met Livingstone's followers bearing his remains to the coast. He made a survey of Lake Tanganyika, then continued to Benguela, the first European to cross Africa from coast to coast. In 1878 he travelled overland to India, to satisfy himself of the feasibility of a Constantinople-\JBaghdad\j railway.
MEX Livingstone
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"Cameroon",6671,0,0,0
PN [kame\Broon\b]
EN pop (1995e) 13 986 000; area 475 442 sq km/183 569 sq mi. W African republic, divided into 10 provinces; capital, YaoundΘ; chief towns include Douala; timezone GMT +1; ethnic groups include Highlanders (31%), Equatorial Bantu (19%), Kirdi (11%), \JFulani\j (10%); religion, Roman Catholic (35%), local beliefs (25%), Muslim (22%); official languages, French and English, with many local languages spoken; unit of currency, the CFA franc.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
Equatorial forest on low coastal plain rising to a C plateau of over 1300 m/4200 ft; W region forested and mountainous, rising to 4070 m/13 353 ft at Mt \JCameroon\j, active \Jvolcano\j, highest peak in W Africa; NC land rises towards the Massif d'Adamaoua; low savannah and semi-desert towards L Chad, with several national parks; rivers flow from C plateau to Gulf of Guinea, including R Sanaga; N wet season (Apr--Sep), annual rainfall 1000--1750 mm/40--70 in; N plains semi-arid; rain all year in equatorial S, with two wet seasons and two dry seasons; YaoundΘ, average annual rainfall 4030 mm/159 in, maximum daily \Jtemperature\j 27--30░C; small part of Mt \JCameroon\j receives over 10 000 mm/400 in of rain per annum.
\IHistory and government\i
First explored by Portuguese navigator Fernando Po, later by traders from \JSpain\j, Netherlands and Britain; German protectorate of Kamerun, 1884; divided into French and British \JCameroon\j, 1919; confirmed by \JLeague of Nations\j mandate, 1922; UN trusteeships, 1946; French \JCameroon\j independent as Republic of \JCameroon\j, 1960; N sector of British \JCameroon\j voted to become part of \JNigeria\j, S sector part of \JCameroon\j; Federal Republic of \JCameroon\j, with separate parliaments, 1961; federal system abolished, 1972, and name changed to United Republic of \JCameroon\j; change to present name, 1984; multiparty legislative and presidential elections, 1992; governed by an executive president, cabinet, and 180-member National Assembly elected for five years.
\IEconomy\i
Agriculture employs c.80% of workforce; world's fifth largest \Jcocoa\j producer; \Jcoffee\j, cotton, \Jrubber\j, \Jcassava\j, bananas, timber; light manufacturing, assembly, domestic processing, \Jaluminium\j, crude oil, fertilizers, cement, gold, \Jbauxite\j, \Jnatural gas\j, tin; tourism, especially to national parks and reserves.
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"Cameroon, Mount",6672,0,0,0
HS or \BMongo-Ma-Loba\b
EN 4░14N 9░10E. Volcanic massif in S \JCameroon\j, W Africa; runs inland for 37┐km / 23┐mi from Gulf of Guinea; main peak, 4070┐m / 13┐353┐ft; highest mountain group in W Africa; last eruption, 1959.
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"Camillus, Marcus Furius",6673,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bmi\blus]
DT1 447
DT2 365
DT2b BC
EN Roman patrician who first appears as censor in 403 BC. He was five times made dictator, and carried out several military victories. In 390 BC, according to legend, he is said to have driven the Gauls from \JRome\j. He routed the Aequi, Volsci, and Etrusci, and in 367 BC defeated the Gauls near Alba.
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"Camisards",6674,0,0,0
EN The last major Protestant rebellion in early modern Europe, centred on the CΘvennes Mts in N Languedoc (1700-4). It was provoked by the Revocation of the Edict of \JNantes\j (1685), which had guaranteed limited toleration, and the failure of the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) to safeguard French Protestants. The uprising was put down with difficulty by royal troops under Marshal Villars.
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"Camm, Sir Sydney",6675,0,0,0
DT1 1893
DT2 1966
EN \JAircraft\j designer, born in Windsor, Berkshire, S England, UK. He joined Hawker \JEngineering\j Company (later Hawker Siddeley Aviation) in 1923, and became their chief designer. He had a unique design record of highly successful single-engined military \Jaircraft\j, notably the Fury, Hart, and Demon biplanes, and his first monoplane, the Hurricane. He also designed the piston-engined \JTornado\j, Typhoon, and Tempest; the jet-engined Sea Hawk and Hunter; and the jump-jet Harrier.
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"Camoens or Cam⌡es, Luφs de",6676,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bmoh\benz]
DT1 1524
DT2 80
EN The greatest Portuguese poet, born in \JLisbon\j. He studied for the Church at Coimbra, but declined to take orders. He became a soldier, and during service at \JCeuta\j lost his right eye. He went to India (1553) and \JMacao\j (1556), and was shipwrecked while returning to \JGoa\j (1558), losing everything except his major poem, \IOs Luciados\i (The Lusiads, or Lusitanians). After returning to \JPortugal\j in 1570, he lived in poverty and obscurity. \IThe Lusiads\i was published in 1572, and was an immediate success, but did little for his fortunes, and he died in a public \Jhospital\j. The work has since come to be regarded as the Portuguese national epic.
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#
"camomile",6677,0,0,0
EN See chamomile or camomile
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#
"Camorra",6678,0,0,0
PN [ca\Bmo\bra]
EN In Naples and S \JItaly\j, a generic term applied to practices based in corporate institutions and practices of the poor, which developed during the 19th-c into a complex network of patronage, clientelism, protection, and ultimately crime. As with the Sicilian Mafia, which it resembles, no single Camorra organization has ever existed.
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"Camp David",6679,0,0,0
EN The US presidential retreat established in 1942 by President Roosevelt in Catoctin Mountain Park, MD. Originally known as 'Shangri La', it was renamed in 1953. The retreat covers 81┐ha / 200 acres and includes a main residence (Aspen Lodge), conference hall, and office. It has been used for a number of historic meetings between heads of state.
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"Camp David Accords",6680,0,0,0
EN The framework for 'a just, comprehensive, and durable settlement of the \JMiddle East\j conflict', reached by Egyptian President Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Begin, and US President Jimmy Carter at Camp David, MD, in September 1978. Based on the principle of exchanging land for peace embodied in UN Security Council Resolution 242, the accords laid the foundation for the March 1979 peace treaty between \JEgypt\j and Israel. Other elements of the accord, including a settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli dispute, were a continuing focus of negotiation in 1993.
BK c
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"Camp, Walter (Chauncy)",6681,0,0,0
DT (1859-1925)
EN football pioneer and coach; born in New Britain, Conn. He was called "The Father of American Football" because, more than any other person, he was responsible for transforming the U.S. game into a unique contest, different from its \Jsoccer\j and rugby roots. He starred as a rugby runner and kicker at Yale (1876-81) and represented Yale at the intercollegiate football conventions (1877-1925).
The following are among the rule changes he championed: reduction of players per side from 15 to 11 (1879); creation of the scrimmage in which one team holds undisputed possession of the ball (1880); the system in which a team must gain a specified number of yards within a specified number of downs to retain possession (1882); and the point system of scoring (1883). Through his writings, his position as Yale's advisory coach, and his annual All-America selections, he remained \JAmerican football\j's premier authority until his death.
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#
"Campagnola, Domenico",6682,0,0,0
PN [kampan\Byoh\bla]
DT1a c.
DT1 1490
DT2a c.
DT2 1564
EN Painter, born in Padua, \JItaly\j. A pupil of Giulio Campagnola and assistant of Titian, he is known for his religious frescoes in Padua, as well as for his masterly engravings and line drawings in the manner of Titian.
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"Campagnola, Giulio",6683,0,0,0
PN [kampan\Byoh\bla]
DT1 1482
DT2a c.
DT2 1515
EN Engraver, born in Padua, \JItaly\j. He designed type for Aldus Manutius, and produced fine engravings after Mantegna, Bellini, and \JGiorgione\j.
MEX Aldus Manutius
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#
"Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament",6684,0,0,0
EN See CND
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#
"Campanella, Tommaso",6685,0,0,0
PN [kampa\Bne\bla]
DT1 1568
DT2 1639
EN Philosopher, born in Stilo, \JItaly\j. Entering the Dominican order in 1583, he taught at \JRome\j and Naples. He evolved an empirical, anti-Scholastic philosophy, for which he was imprisoned by the Inquisition. He was arrested again in 1599 for heresy and conspiracy against Spanish rule, and was not finally released until 1626. From prison he wrote his famous utopian work, \ILa Cittα del Sole\i (c.1602, City of the Sun). He eventually fled to Paris in 1634, as a protΘgΘ of Richelieu.
MEX Richelieu
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#
"campanile",6686,0,0,0
PN [campa\Bnee\blay]
EN The Italian name for a bell tower, usually tall and detached from the main building. The earliest known \Jcampanile\j was square, and attached to St Peter's, \JRome\j, in the mid-8th-c AD. The most famous example is the circular Leaning Tower of Pisa, with eight arcaded storeys.
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"campanology",6687,0,0,0
EN See bell-ringing
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#
"campanula",6688,0,0,0
EN See bell-flower; 05802 Canterbury bell
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#
"Campbell, (Ignatius) Roy (Dunnachie)",6689,0,0,0
DT1 1901
DT2 57
EN Poet and journalist, born in Durban, South Africa. He became an ardent admirer of all things Spanish, and fought with Franco's armies during the \JCivil War\j. His books of poetry include \IThe Flaming Terrapin\i (1924), \IThe Wayzgoose\i (1928), and \IFlowering Rifle\i (1939). A collected edition of his poems appeared in 1949.
MEX Plomer
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"Campbell, Alexander",6690,0,0,0
DT (1788-1866)
EN Protestant religious leader; born near Ballymena, Northern Ireland. He emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1809 to join his father, succeeding the elder Campbell as pastor of an independent Protestant church at Brush Run, Pa., in 1813. An exponent of a primitive \JChristianity\j based wholly on the Scriptures, he allied his church in 1832 with other disaffected sects to form the Disciples of Christ. He published a translation of the \JNew Testament\j in 1826 and in 1840 founded Bethany College in West Virginia, serving as its president until his death.
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"Campbell, Bartley",6691,0,0,0
DT 1843-88
EN American playwright. The first of his 35 plays was Through Fire (1871). From 1876 until his mental breakdown in 1885 he was America's most popular melodramatist. His greatest success was the mining camp \Jmelodrama\j, My Partner (1879). Campbell's other outstanding plays were The Galley Slave (1879) and The White Slave (1881).
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"Campbell, Donald (Malcolm)",6692,0,0,0
DT1 1921
DT2 67
EN Land and \Jwater\j speed-record contestant, born in Horley, Surrey, south-east England, UK, the son of Sir Malcolm Campbell. An engineer by training, he sought to emulate his father's achievements. He set new world speed records several times on both land and \Jwater\j, culminating in 1964 with a \Jwater\j-speed record of 276.33┐mph on Lake Dumbleyung in \JAustralia\j, and a land-speed record of 403.1┐mph at Lake Eyre salt flats in \JAustralia\j. In an attempt to become the first man to break 300┐mph on \Jwater\j, he was killed when his \IBluebird\i turbo-jet hydroplane crashed on Coniston Water in England.
MEX Campbell, Malcolm
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"Campbell, George (Washington)",6693,0,0,0
DT (1817-98)
EN horticulturalist, inventor; born in Cherry Valley, N.Y. He moved to Ohio as a child and trained for newspaper work, but from the mid-1850s he turned his full energies to fruit-growing. His wide-ranging experiments with seedlings and crosses fostered the development of American grape-culture. He considered his Campbell Early, which bore its first fruit in 1892, to come the closest to his professed ambition to create the perfect grape.
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"Campbell, Helen Stuart (b. Helen Campbell Stuart)",6694,0,0,0
DT (1839-1918)
EN author, reformer; born in Lockport, N.Y. In the 1860s she published fiction, some under the name of Helen Stuart Campbell, which she eventually adopted. She later created widespread public awareness of poverty with \IThe Problem of the Poor\i (1882), \IPrisoners of Poverty\i (1887), and \IWomen Wage-Earners\i (1893).
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"Campbell, John Archibald",6695,0,0,0
DT (1811-89)
EN Supreme Court justice; born near Washington, Ga. An experienced lawyer, he was appointed by President Millard Fillmore to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1853. Known for his independence and strict interpretation of the Constitution, he was attacked by abolitionists for supporting the Dred Scott decision. He opposed secession but when Georgia seceded he resigned from the court (1861) and served as assistant secretary of war for the Confederacy (1862-65). After the war he took up private practice in \JNew Orleans\j.
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"Campbell, John W(ood), Jr",6696,0,0,0
HS , pseudonym \BDon A Stuart\b
DT1 1910
DT2 71
EN Science-fiction writer, born in Newark, NJ. His first published novel, \IWhen the Atoms Failed\i (1930), was one of the earliest to make reference to computers. He developed in his stories the new idea that machines could dominate humans, notably in \ITwilight\i (1934). His works were highly influential, and he has come to be regarded as the father of modern science-fiction.
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"Campbell, Joseph",6697,0,0,0
DT (1904-87)
EN mythologist, educator; born in New York City. A professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College (1934-72), he entranced students with his analysis of comparative \Jmythology\j, writing \IThe Hero with a Thousand Faces\i (1949) and the four-volume \IMasks of God\i (1959-68). Although his scholarship has been criticized, he attained the status of a virtual guru through a series of \Jtelevision\j interviews by Bill Moyers in 1985-86.
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"Campbell, Ken",6698,0,0,0
DT 1941-
EN British actor, director, clown and playwright. As the leader of the anarchic fringe touring group, Ken Campbell's Roadshow, which featured such unlikely acts as the World 'Ferret down Trousers' Competition, Campbell became a popular entertainer around the fringe circuit during the 1960s. As a writer and director he has a particular fascination for strange and wonderful tales, including \Jscience fiction\j.
The Great Caper (1974) speculated about time warps, while in 1976 he adapted with Chris Langham the \Jscience fiction\j novel, Illuminatus, for the stage, which ran for seven hours and transferred from Liverpool to open the Cottesloe auditorium at the National Theatre in 1977. Its sequel, Neil Oram's The Warp, transferred to the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London in 1979.
In 1980 Campbell became the artistic director of the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, for which he adapted and directed Karel Capek's novel, The War with the Newts. His partly improvised monologues, Recollections of a Furtive Nudist (1988), have been performed successfully at fringe theatres.
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"Campbell, Kim (Avril Phaedra Douglas)",6699,0,0,0
DT1 1947
EN Canadian stateswoman, and Canada's first woman prime minister (1993), born in British Columbia, Canada. Her first public office was as school trustee with the Vancouver School Board (1980). She later ran unsuccessfully as a Social Credit candidate in the British Columbia provincial election, then was elected for the province in 1988 as a federal conservative.
She served as minister of justice and defence in Brian Mulroney's cabinet, before becoming leader of the party and prime minister in spring 1993, but disastrously lost the general election some months later.
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"Campbell, Mrs Patrick",6700,0,0,0
DT 1865-1940
EN British actress. She created the title role in Pinero's The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1893) at London's St James's, as the superficially urbane but secretly passionate demi-mondaine, a character which others tried to re-create for her. She aspired higher: with Johnston Forbes-Robertson, who loved and encouraged her, she played Juliet (1896), Lady Teazle (1896), Ophelia (1897) and Lady Macbeth (1897).
She staged the first English production of Maeterlinck's PellΘas and MΘlisande in 1897, playing MΘlisande against John Martin-Harvey's and later Sarah Bernhardt's PellΘas (1904). She acted in Ibsen (Rita in Little Eyolf (1896) and the title role in Hedda Gabler (1907)), but less successfully. Shaw recognized her comic potential: nearing 50, she created Eliza Doolittle in \JPygmalion\j (1914), the last and greatest scandal of her London career.
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"Campbell, Reginald John",6701,0,0,0
DT1 1867
DT2 1956
EN Clergyman, born in London, England, UK. He entered the Congregational ministry in 1895, and was pastor of the City Temple, London (1903-15). In 1907 he startled the evangelical world by his exposition of an 'advanced' \INew Theology.\i He became an Anglican in 1916.
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"Campbell, Robert",6702,0,0,0
DT (1804-79)
EN trapper, capitalist,born in Aughlane, Ireland. He arrived in St. Louis, Mo. by 1825 and, with William Sublette, formed the company Sublette and Campbell. He became a hotel owner and bank president and served as an Indian commissioner in 1851 and 1869.
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"Campbell, Sir Colin, Baron Clyde",6703,0,0,0
DT1 1792
DT2 1863
EN British field marshal, born in Glasgow, W Scotland, UK. He fought in the \JPeninsular War\j against Napoleon, where he was twice badly wounded, and after 30 years of duty in various garrisons fought in China (1842) and in the second Sikh war (1848-9). In the \JCrimean War\j he commanded the Highland Brigade in a campaign which included the renowned repulse of the Russians by the 'thin red line' at Balaclava. During the Indian Mutiny he commanded the forces in India, and effected the final relief of Lucknow. He was created baron in 1858.
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"Campbell, Sir Malcolm",6704,0,0,0
DT1 1885
DT2 1948
EN Land and \Jwater\j speed-record contestant, born in Chislehurst, Kent, south-east England, UK. He held both speed records from 1927 onwards. In 1935 he became the first man to break 300┐mph on land with 301.1292┐mph at Bonneville Salt Flats, UT. In 1939 he achieved his fastest speed on \Jwater\j with 141.74┐mph. He called all his cars and boats \IBluebird,\i after the symbol of unattainability in the play of that name by Maurice Maeterlinck.
MEX Campbell, Donald
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"Campbell, William Wallace",6705,0,0,0
DT (1862-1938)
EN astronomer; born in Hancock County, Ohio. Author of \IThe Elements of Practical Astronomy\i (1899), he deduced that the Martian \Jatmosphere\j could not support life (1894). He worked at \JCalifornia\j's Lick Observatory (1890-1923), becoming its director in 1901.
Working with the Mills spectrograph he measured stellar radial velocities and published them (with Joseph Moore) in a catalogue (1928). He presided over the University of \JCalifornia\j: Mt. Hamilton (1923-30) and the National Academy of Sciences (1931-35).
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"Campbell-Bannerman, Sir Henry",6706,0,0,0
DT1 1836
DT2 1908
EN British statesman and prime minister (1905-8), born in Glasgow, W Scotland, UK. He studied at Glasgow and Cambridge, became a Liberal MP (1868), was chief secretary for Ireland (1884), war secretary (1886, 1892-5), Liberal leader (1899), and prime minister. A 'pro-Boer', he granted the ex-republics responsible government, and his popularity united the Liberal Party. He supported the Lib-Lab pact of 1903, which played a part in the Liberal landslide of 1906.
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"Campen, Jacob van",6707,0,0,0
PN [\Bkam\bpen]
DT1 1595
DT2 1657
EN Architect and painter, born in \JHaarlem\j, The Netherlands. Greatly influenced by Italian style, he built the first completely Classical building in Holland. His masterpiece was the Mauritshuis, The Hague (1633), for Prince Johan Maurits von Nassau; the interior was destroyed in 1704. Other works include \JAmsterdam\j Theatre (1637) and Town Hall (1647-55, now the royal palace).
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"Campendonck, Heinrich",6708,0,0,0
PN [\Bkam\bpendongk]
DT1 1889
DT2 1957
EN Expressionist painter, born in Krefeld, \JGermany\j. He was a member of the \IBlaue Reiter\i group founded by Marc and Kandinsky.
MEX Kandinsky; Marc
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"Campephagidae",6709,0,0,0
EN \BCuckooshrikes, trillers, and minivets\b
Cuckooshrikes (nothing to do with either cuckoos or shrikes) might better have been named 'shufflewings' because of their distinctive habit of fidgeting and fussing their wings into place after landing on a perch. They make up a family (\JCampephagidae\j, order Passeriformes, suborder Oscines) of songbirds common over much of Africa, southern Asia, and \JAustralasia\j, especially in the tropics.
The family includes 70 species, divided for convenience into three groups: the cuckooshrikes (genera \ICampephaga,\i \ICoracina,\i and several others); trillers \I(Lalage)\i and minivets \I(Pericrocotus).\i Cuckooshrikes are rather slender, long-winged, and moderately long-tailed birds with smooth gray (or sometimes black) plumage, very often with a black mask obscuring the eye.
Trillers are more conventionally proportioned, and often black and white in plumage. Minivets are slim with long, graduated tails and brilliantly red or yellow underparts. Though formerly considered to be close to bulbuls (\JPycnonotidae\j), DNA-DNA hybridization analysis places the family as very closely related to the orioles (\JOriolidae\j).
Cuckooshrikes vary widely in size, from about 14-40 cm. An unusual feature (but of unknown function) is that many species have elongated, erectile feathers on the rump, their shafts equipped with stiff, sharp points. Most species live in trees, but trillers often forage on the ground, and the Ground Cuckooshrike \ICoracina\i \Imaxima,\i which inhabits \JAustralia\j's arid interior, spends much of its time on the ground.
Most species are gregarious except when nesting. The sexes are generally similar or nearly so among the cuckooshrikes, but very different in minivets and trillers. In a typical minivet, such as the Scarlet Minivet \IPericrocotus\i \Iflammeus\i of India, the male is smartly black and scarlet, with red patches in his wings and tail, while the female shares the same pattern but in gray and yellow.
In most there is no seasonal variation, but the White-winged Triller \ILalage\i \Isueurii\i of \JAustralia\j has two moltings a year; in winter the sexes are similarly rather dingy brown, gray, and white, but in the breeding season the male is black and white.
Cuckooshrikes occur in forests and woodlands from Africa across southern Asia, to \JAustralasia\j. Most species inhabit the tropics, but several extend to temperate regions in southern Africa and \JAustralia\j, and minivets reach eastern \JSiberia\j and \JJapan\j (though they do not occur in either Africa or Australasia).
The \Jgenus\j \ICampephaga\i is confined to Africa, but the typical cuckooshrikes \I(Coracina)\i are widespread in Africa, southern Asia, and \JAustralasia\j, and the trillers \I(Lalage)\i extend out to islands of the south-western Pacific, including \JFiji\j and \JSamoa\j. In the eastern tropics there are several monotypic genera: the Black-breasted Triller \IChlamydochaera\i \Ijefferyi\i is confined to the highland forests of \JBorneo\j, and the Golden Cuckooshrike \ICampochaera\i \Isloetii\i inhabits lowland rainforests in New Guinea.
Most tropical species are sedentary, but the White-winged Triller is a conspicuous migrant in southern \JAustralia\j, and several species of minivets (especially the Ashy Minivet \IPericrocotus\i \Idivaricatus)\i migrate from their breeding grounds in China, \JSiberia\j, and \JJapan\j to winter in South-East Asia.
Most species form simple monogamous pair bonds, but the Ground Cuckooshrike of \JAustralia\j nests communally. In cuckooshrikes, courtship includes a display in which the male flies on fluttering wings in circles above the canopy. Involvement of the sexes in nest-construction, incubation, and feeding the young seems highly variable. In the abundant Black-faced Cuckooshrike \ICoracina\i \Inovaehollandiae\i of \JAustralia\j, for example, both partners build and incubate, but in the Black Cuckooshrike \ICampephaga\i \Iflava\i of Africa, the male constantly attends his mate but does not build or incubate. Very small for the size of the birds, the nest is placed in a fork or on a horizontal branch high in a tree; it is built of small twigs, lichens, rootlets, and fine grass stems.
Nests built by minivets are similar but proportionately much larger. The clutch usually consists of 2-5 eggs (though the Cicadabird \ICoracina\i \Itenuirostris\i lays only one), and in cuckooshrikes incubation takes about 20-22 days (though data is available for only a few species) and fledging about 20-24 days. In trillers \I(Lalage)\i the periods seem very much shorter (for example, in the White-winged Triller about 14 days and 12-14 days respectively).
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"Campese, David (Ian)",6710,0,0,0
PN [kam\Bpee\bzee]
HS , nickname \BCampo\b
DT1 1962
EN Rugby union player, born near Queanbeyan, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. One of the fastest wingers in international rugby, his powerful sprinting meant that by the end of 1990 he had 46 tries to his credit, a record for international rugby. A flamboyant player, he was the star of \JAustralia\j's 1991 World Cup victory. He spends the winter playing in Sydney's club competition and the off season playing in \JItaly\j.
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"camphor",6711,0,0,0
EN C\D10\dH\D16\dO, melting point 179░C. A colourless, waxy material (a \Jterpene\j), occurring especially in the tree \ICinnamonium camphora,\i and also synthesized from \fa\n\d-pinene. It is used in many lotions, mainly for its characteristic odour. \BCamphorated oil\b is a 20% solution of \Jcamphor\j in olive oil.
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"camphor tree",6712,0,0,0
EN A name applied to several different trees, principally \ICinnamonium camphora,\i a small evergreen growing to 6┐m / 20┐ft with greenish-white flowers, native to \JJapan\j. \JCamphor\j is obtained by distillation of the bark. \B(Family:\b Lauraceae.)
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"Campi, Bernardino",6713,0,0,0
PN [\Bkam\bpee]
DT1 1522
DT2a c.
DT2 1592
EN Italian artist, the son of a goldsmith, and possibly a kinsman of the painter and architect \BAntonio Campi\b (1536-c.1591). He imitated Titian with such success that it has been difficult to distinguish the copies from the originals. His works may be seen in \JMantua\j and Cremona.
MEX Titian
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"Campi, Giulio",6714,0,0,0
PN [\Bkam\bpee]
DT1a c.
DT1 1502
DT2 72
EN Architect and painter, born in Cremona, \JItaly\j. He was influenced by Giulio Romano, and founded the Cremonese school of painting, to which his brothers \BVincenzo Campi\b (1539-91) and \BAntonio Campi\b (1536-c.1591) also belonged. His work includes a fine \Jaltarpiece\j at Cremona.
MEX Giulio Romano
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"Campin, Robert",6715,0,0,0
PN [kπmpφ\tin]
DT1a c.
DT1 1378
DT2 1444
EN Artist, born in Tournai, \JFrance\j. He was called \Bthe Master of FlΘmalle\b from his paintings of FlΘmelle Abbey near LiΦge. About 1400 he settled in Tournai, where Rogier van der Weyden was one of his pupils.
MEX Leyden
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"Campinas",6716,0,0,0
PN [kam\Bpee\bnas]
EN 22░54S 47░60W, pop (1995e) 1 045 000. Town in \JSπo Paulo\j state, Sudeste region, SE \JBrazil\j; NW of \JSπo Paulo\j; agricultural institute; international and national airports; railway; two universities (1941, 1962); cotton, \Jmaize\j, sugar cane, \Jcoffee\j; cathedral, old market, colonial buildings.
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"campion",6717,0,0,0
EN An annual or perennial herb with opposite leaves and usually cymose inflorescences, of the same \Jgenus\j as catchflys, and native to the temperate Northern hemisphere; calyx tubular, 5 petals, notched or bifid, red or white depending on species. \B(Genus:\b \ISilene.\i \BFamily:\b Caryophyllaceae.)
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"Campion, Edmund, St",6718,0,0,0
DT1 1540
DT2 81
EN The first of the English Jesuit martyrs, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and although made a \Jdeacon\j in the \JChurch of England\j (1569) he leaned towards \JRoman Catholicism\j. Fearing arrest, he escaped to Douai, and in 1573 joined the \JJesuits\j in \JBohemia\j. In 1580 he was recalled from \JPrague\j, where he was professor of \Jrhetoric\j, for a Jesuit mission to England.
He circulated his \IDecem rationes\i (Ten Reasons) against Anglicanism in 1581, and was arrested, tortured, tried on a charge of conspiracy, and hanged in London. He was beatified in 1886, and canonized in 1970; feast \Jday\j 1 December.
MEX Parsons, Robert
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"Campion, Jane",6719,0,0,0
DT1 1954
EN Film director, born in Waikanae, \JNew Zealand\j. She studied at art school in Wellington and at the Australian Film, Television, and Radio School in Sydney, the city where she is now based. Her films include \IPeel\i (1984), which won the 1986 \JCannes\j Palme d'Or for best short film, her highly original first feature \ISweetie\i (1989), and \IAn Angel at My Table\i (1990), based on Janet Frame's autobiographies.
\IThe Piano\i (1993), a love story set in colonial \JNew Zealand\j, which she wrote as well as directed, shared the Palme d'Or at the 1993 \JCannes\j Film Festival, the first such award for an Australian production and the first for a woman director. Later films include \IThe Portrait of a Lady\i (1996).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1989 Sweetie
1990 An Angel at My Table
1993 The Piano
1996 The Portrait of a Lady
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"Campion, Thomas",6720,0,0,0
DT1 1567
DT2 1620
EN Physician, poet, and composer, born in Witham, Essex, south-east England, UK. He studied at Cambridge and abroad, and set his own lyrics to music. As well as poetry in Latin and English he left several books of 'ayres' for voice and lute.
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"Campoli, Alfredo",6721,0,0,0
PN [\Bkam\bpohlee]
DT1 1906
DT2 91
EN Violinist, born in \JRome\j. He went to London in 1911, and quickly won a reputation as a soloist. During the lean years of the 1930s he became better known for his salon orchestra. This was disbanded at the outbreak of World War 2, after which he emerged as one of the outstanding violinists of his time.
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"camshaft",6722,0,0,0
EN A rotating shaft upon which \Bcams\b are fixed. A cam is a flat plate cut to a defined shape which rotates about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the plate. The shape of the cams and their relative orientation actuate and time the lifting of valves as part of an engine's operating cycle.
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"Camulodunum",6723,0,0,0
PN [kamulo\Bdoo\bnum]
EN The name for ancient Colchester, the capital first of the Belgic kingdom of Cunobelinus and then of the Roman province of Britain. Destroyed in the revolt of Boadicea in AD 60, it later recovered, but yielded its capital status to Londinium (London).
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"Camus, Albert",6724,0,0,0
DT 1913-60
EN French novelist, essayist, playwright and director. Camus's plays, which were a significant part of the vigorous revival of French theatre following World War II, no longer seem as innovative as they did in the 1940s and 1950s. His reputation rested largely on Le Malentendu (Cross-Purpose, 1944) and \JCaligula\j (1945), in which GΘrard Philipe played the title role. But Les Justes (The Just, 1949) confirmed Camus's tendency to write extended debates rather than true dramatic actions.
He successfully directed his own adaptations of works by Faulkner and Dostoevsky in Paris in the 1950s. He once said that the only places he felt really happy were the football field and the theatre.
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"Canaan",6725,0,0,0
PN [\Bkay\bnan, ka\Bnay\ban]
EN The land of the ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, living in the coastal areas of modern Israel and \JSyria\j, but perhaps also extending inland to the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. It was divided into various city-states during the early 2nd millennium BC, but mostly fell under the control of Israelites and other powers from the late 13th-c BC. The name can be traced to one of the sons of Ham \I(Gen\i 9-10).
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"Canaan dog",6726,0,0,0
EN An ancient breed, the Canaan Dog originally started as a pariah, and was only domesticated starting in the early 1930s.
\BHistory:\b
In the early 1930s the \JHaganah\j, or Israel Defense Force, had a need for service dogs. They contacted a noted authority on dogs, Dr. Rudolphina Menzel, to develop a dog for guarding settlements as well as for fighting in the war. She found that the dogs traditionally used for these tasks could not function in the harsh climate of Israel.
There were, however, wild or pariah dogs in the area that had traditionally been used as flock guardians by the tribespeople since abut 2000 BC. Dr. Menzel decided to see if these dogs were suitable to be trained for the armed forces. The breed was given the name Canaan, after the land of Canaan. Dr. Menzel started off by luring adults with food, and also captured litters of puppies, which she raised. With this basic stock she developed her own breeding program.
The Canaan was used throughout the Second World War as a general purpose war dog, and the first dog to be successfully trained to detect mines was a Canaan. They have since been used as seeing-eye dogs and also as therapy dogs. Interestingly, there are still pure Canaan Dogs that live in a wild state in Israel today, but numbers are dwindling.
The Canaan Dog first arrived in America when Dr. Menzel sent four dogs to \JCalifornia\j. These dogs were the foundation for the 700 dogs that have since been born in the USA and Canada. The breed has now spread to England, South Africa, and Europe as well.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
Despite its workaday uses, the Canaan Dog is a medium-sized, almost delicate dog of the Spitz type. It can, however, still handle the harshest of conditions. \IHeight:\i 19 - 24 in (48 - 61 cm). \IWeight:\i 35 - 55 lb (16 - 25 kg). The medium-short harsh coat can be sandy-colored to red-brown, as well as white or black. The Canaan has pricked ears over a blunt wedge-shaped head, and almond-shaped dark brown eyes. Its body is muscular and of medium length, and is adorned by a bushy tail that is carried curled high over the back.
\BBehavior:\b
Although the Canaan Dog has only recently been domesticated, it has more in common with other domestic breeds than it does with wild dogs. Having a strong sense of hierarchy (who is the boss), the Canaan Dog is quite happy to take its instructions from assertive but not threatening owners. With the right amount of attention this dog will develop into a trustworthy and loyal companion. Its ability to work as a mine detector dog as well as a guardian of sheep herds is testament to this dog's innate intelligence and ability.
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"Canada",6727,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 28 972 000; area 9 971 500 sq km/3 848 900 sq mi. Independent country in \JNorth America\j, divided into 10 provinces and two territories; capital, \JOttawa\j; other chief cities include \JCalgary\j, \JEdmonton\j, \JHalifax\j, Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, St John's, Vancouver, Victoria, \JWinnipeg\j; several timezones (GMT W \JYukon\j -9, \JYukon\j and Pacific -8, Mountain -7, Central -6, Eastern -5, Atlantic -4, Newfoundland -31/2); ethnic groups, 23% French origin, 20% British origin, 1.7% indigenous peoples; official languages, English, French; religion, 49% Roman Catholic, 18% United Church of Canada, 12% Anglican; currency unit, Canadian dollar of 100 cents.
\IPhysical description\i
Dominated in the NE by the pre-Cambrian Canadian Shield; mountains of \JNova Scotia\j and New \JBrunswick\j in the E; fertile St Lawrence lowlands in S Quebec and \JOntario\j; flat prairie country S and W of the Shield, stretching to the Western Cordillera, which includes the Rocky, Cassiar, and Mackenzie Mts; Coast Mts flank a rugged, heavily indented coastline, rising to 5950 m/19 521 ft at Mt Logan, highest peak in Canada; major rivers include Fraser and Stikine (W), \JYukon\j and Mackenzie (NW), N Saskatchewan, S Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan, and Athabasca (C), \JOttawa\j and St Lawrence (E); Great Lakes in the SE.
\IClimate\i
N coast permanently ice-bound or obstructed by ice floes, but for Hudson Bay (frozen c.9 months each year); cold air from \JArctic\j sweeps S and E in winter and spring; mild winters and warm summers on W coast and some inland valleys of British Columbia; winter temperatures on Atlantic shores warmer than those of the interior, but summer temperatures lower; much of S interior has warm summers and long, cold winters.
\IHistory and government\i
Evidence of Viking settlement c.1000; visited by Cabot, 1497; St Lawrence explored for \JFrance\j by Cartier, 1534; Newfoundland claimed for England, 1583; Champlain founded Quebec, 1608; Hudson's Bay Company founded, 1670; conflict between British and French in 17th-c and 18th-c; Britain gained large areas from Treaty of \JUtrecht\j, 1713; after Seven Years' War, during which Wolfe captured Quebec (1759), Treaty of Paris gave Britain almost all \JFrance\j's possessions in \JNorth America\j; province of Quebec created, 1774; migration of loyalists from USA (1783) after War of Independence led to division of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada; reunited as Canada, 1841; Dominion of Canada created 1867 by confederation of Quebec, \JOntario\j, \JNova Scotia\j, and New \JBrunswick\j; Rupert's Land bought from Hudson's Bay Company, 1869--70; new province of \JManitoba\j created (1870), British Columbia joined in 1871, after promise of transcontinental railroad, Prince Edward I (1873), Alberta and Saskatchewan (1905), and Newfoundland (1949); recurring political tension in recent decades arising from French-Canadian separatist movement in Quebec; separatist referendum rejected in 1980, and again in 1995, but only by a 1% margin; Canada Act (1982) gave Canada full responsibility for constitution; bicameral federal parliament includes a Senate of 104 appointed members and a \JHouse of Commons\j of 295 elected members; provinces administer and legislate on education, property laws, health, education, and local affairs; British monarch is head of state, represented by a governor-general nationally and lieutenant-governors provincially.
\IEconomy\i
Traditionally based on natural resources and agriculture; world's second largest exporter of wheat; forest covers 44% of land area; widespread minerals (world's largest producer of \Jasbestos\j, zinc, silver, nickel; second largest producer of \Jpotash\j, \Jgypsum\j, molybdenum, sulphur; also, uranium, \Jtitanium\j, \Jaluminium\j, \Jcobalt\j, gold, lead, copper, iron, \Jplatinum\j); hydroelectricity, oil, \Jnatural gas\j; major industrial development in recent decades; food processing, vehicles and parts, chemicals, machinery, fishing, tourism (especially from USA); \Jpetroleum\j, metal, and metal products; important trading relationship with the USA, especially following 1993 free-trade-area agreement.
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"Canada Company",6728,0,0,0
EN A colonization company established in Upper Canada (\JOntario\j) in 1824. It sold more than a million acres of land to settlers in the area around Lake Huron, and laid foundations for the towns of \JGuelph\j, Galt, and Goderich.
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"Canada Day",6729,0,0,0
EN A public holiday in Canada (observed 1 Jul), the anniversary of the union of the provinces in 1867; formerly known as \BDominion Day.\b
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"Canada First Movement",6730,0,0,0
EN A political movement in Canada, founded in \JOntario\j in 1868. Its objectives were to ensure that the newly-confederated Dominion of Canada would not collapse over regional disputes. It increasingly promoted a policy of Canadian self-determination and autonomy in international relations. Its view of Canadian nationality was aggressively anglophone and Protestant.
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"Canada goose",6731,0,0,0
EN A goose native to \JNorth America\j, and introduced in Europe and \JNew Zealand\j \I(Branta canadensis); \i head and neck black with white chin; eats grass and \Jwater\j plants; migrates; females often return to own birthplace to breed, producing many local races and variations. \B(Family:\b \JAnatidae\j.)
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"Canada, Order of",6732,0,0,0
EN A decoration established in Canada in 1967, with three categories: Companion, Medal of Courage, and Medal of Service. The Medal of Courage was converted to three decorations in 1972: the Cross of Valour, the Star of Courage, and the Medal of Bravery. Three levels of membership were created: Companions, Officers, and Members, with the Governor-General of Canada as the Chancellor and principal Companion of the Order.
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"Canadian art",6733,0,0,0
EN The art associated with Canada which, since the 17th-c, has mixed European - especially French - and local folk elements. Late 18th-c churches reflect the styles of Georgian Britain and the American colonies. The Parliament building in \JOttawa\j, by Thomas Fuller (c.1859), is Gothic Revival.
The late 19th-c saw the foundation of the Royal Canadian Academy and the National Gallery of Canada (both 1880), and the first major private collections. By the early 20th-c, Canadians who had studied in Paris began painting Canadian scenery in an Impressionist style, but European avant-garde movements made little impact before the 1940s.
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"Canadian football",6734,0,0,0
EN A Canadian variant of rugby football. It developed from the 1880s, adapting aspects of 'American' football (which itself had roots in Montreal), and evolving its character independently. It is different from rugby in that (like \JAmerican football\j) the ball can be thrown forward, and it involves a 'stop-play' rather than a continuous play format.
The field is 110┐╫┐55┐yds (100┐m┐╫┐50┐m), with 10-yd (9-m) deep end-zones. The Canadian Football League appeared in 1958 at the end of a long conflict between amateur and professional associations. It presently consists of eight teams, the best of which is annually awarded the Grey Cup.
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"Canadian literature",6735,0,0,0
EN Canadian literature is written in both English and French. The two traditions are overlapping but distinct, not least because the French is older and more embattled within an idealized past. This may be why it is more noted for its poetry, much of it in late Symbolist style, following Saint-Denis-Garneau. Writers in English have generally preferred prose.
Humorists such as Stephen Leacock, novelists such as the popular Mazo de la Roche (eg \IJalna,\i 1927) and the realist Frederick Grove (1879-1948), Morley Callaghan, and Mordechai Richler, and cultural critics Northrop Frye (1912-) and Marshall McLuhan have established a world-wide readership. Another important author, Margaret Atwood, provides a guide in her \ISurvival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature\i (1972).
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"Canadian National Railway",6736,0,0,0
EN See Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR)
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"Canadian National Tower",6737,0,0,0
EN See C N Tower or Canadian National Tower
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"Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR)",6738,0,0,0
EN A transcontinental railway, constructed 1881-5, linking the Dominion of Canada with British Columbia. Carried out with large government cash subsidies and enormous land grants to the railway company, the project represented an act of political will and an \Jengineering\j triumph. It produced a chain of western railway towns terminating in Vancouver on the Pacific coast.
In 1922 a second transcontinental system was introduced, the \BCanadian National Railway (CNR),\b running from \JHalifax\j, Novia Scotia, to Vancouver. There followed a period of intense competition, which was ended only by government intervention in 1933. Canadian National's passenger services were taken over by VIA Rail Canada in 1978. The company has since diversified into a wide range of communication and service industries.
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"Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks",6739,0,0,0
EN A group of five national parks (Banff, Jasper, Waterton Lakes, Kootenay, Yoho) in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. Together with the Burgess Shale site - an important geological \Jfossil\j region in the Selkirk Mts of British Columbia - these constitute a world heritage site.
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"Canadian Shield or Laurentian Shield",6740,0,0,0
EN Vast area of ancient pre-Cambrian rocks, forming a low plateau covering over half of Canada; S boundary runs from the \JLabrador\j coast around Hudson Bay, through Quebec and \JOntario\j to the \JArctic\j near the Mackenzie River mouth; extends into parts of N USA; many lakes and swamps, remnants of Pleistocene \Jglaciation\j; generally infertile, but a rich source of minerals, forest products, and hydroelectricity.
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"Canadian waterweed",6741,0,0,0
EN A submerged aquatic plant native to \JNorth America\j \I(Elodea canadensis); \i stems growing to 3┐m / 10┐ft, brittle, with whorls of narrow, dark-green leaves; flowers 5┐mm / 1/4┐in, floating, three greenish-purple sepals, three translucent white petals. Introduced to Europe, where male plants are quite rare, they spread by vegetative reproduction, for a while becoming a nuisance, blocking waterways. \B(Family:\b Hydrocharitaceae.)
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"canal",6742,0,0,0
EN An artificial watercourse for inland navigation or for connecting seas. The first modern canal in the UK was the Sankey Brook from the Mersey to St Helens, built by Henry Berry between 1755 and 1772. Rather more famous was the canal from Worsley to Manchester built by James Brindley for the Duke of Bridgewater, opened in 1761. Thousands of miles of canal were built, and they were the major method of transporting goods until the mid-19th-c, when the railways superseded them.
After a long period of decline, more recently many canals have been restored, and nowadays are principally used for leisure activities. Many larger canals are in use throughout Europe, \JNorth America\j, and Asia, such as the 1000-mi \JGrand Canal\j in China (the world's longest artificial inland waterway), built in AD 610. The Romans also built canals. The chief sea-connecting canals are those of Suez and Panama.
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"Canaletto",6743,0,0,0
PN [kana\Blet\boh]
HS , originally \BGiovanni Antonio Canal\b
DT1 1697
DT2 1768
EN Painter, born in \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j. He studied at \JRome\j, then painted a renowned series of views in \JVenice\j, many as souvenirs for foreign visitors. He spent most of the years 1746-56 in England, where his views of London and elsewhere proved extremely popular. He later returned to \JVenice\j and was elected to the \JVenice\j Academy in 1763.
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"Canaris, Wilhelm",6744,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bnah\bris]
DT1 1887
DT2 1945
EN Naval commander, born in Aplerbeck, \JGermany\j. He entered the imperial German Navy in 1905, and served in World War 1. Though disapproving of aspects of the Nazi regime, he rose under Hitler to become admiral of the German navy and chief of the \IAbwehr,\i the military intelligence service of the high command of the armed forces. Associated with the 1944 bomb plot against Hitler, he was arrested, imprisoned, and hanged.
MEX Hitler
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"canary",6745,0,0,0
EN A small finch, native to the Old World; prized as a \Jsongbird\j; also known as \Bserin.\b All domestic varieties of the cage canary were developed from one species, \ISerinus canaria,\i from the Canary Is. \B(Genus:\b \ISerinus,\i 32 species. \BFamily:\b \JFringillidae\j.)
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"Canary Islands",6746,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 1 468 000 area 7273 sq km/2807 sq mi. Island archipelago in the \JAtlantic Ocean\j, 100 km/60 mi off the NW coast of Africa, W of Morocco and S of Madeira; comprises \JTenerife\j, Gomera, La Palma, Hierro, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria (Grand Canary), and several uninhabited islands; chief town, Las Palmas; volcanic and mountainous, the Pico de Teide rises to 3718 m/12 198 ft at the centre of a national park on \JTenerife\j; under the control of \JSpain\j, 15th-c; fruit and vegetables grown under irrigation; major tourist area; agriculture, fishing, canning, textiles, leatherwork, footwear, cork, timber, chemical and metal products; the name is explained by the elder Pliny as referring to the many dogs found on Gran Canaria (Lat \Icanis\i, "dog'), and has nothing to do with canaries (which were later named after the islands).
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"Canary whitewood",6747,0,0,0
EN See tulip tree
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"Ca±as, Alberto",6748,0,0,0
DT 1920-
EN Costa Rican playwright, director and Minister of Culture. Under his direction, the Costa Rican government launched a major new effort in the 1970s to promote theatre. Ca±as is himself author of at least ten plays, including such titles as El luto robado (Stolen Mourning, 1962); En agosto hizo dos a±os (Two Years Ago in August, 1966), about an individual returned from the dead; La segua (1971), an untranslatable mythical creature in a play that used the Pirandellian techniques found in his earlier plays; and Ni mi casa es ya mi casa (My House Is No Longer My Home, 1982), in which he dealt with the socio- economic crises produced by world inflationary and recessionary spirals.
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"canasta",6749,0,0,0
EN A card game similar to \Jrummy\j. It derives from the Spanish word \Icanasta\i ('basket'), probably referring to the tray into which cards were discarded. The game originated in Uruguay in the 1940s. Its most popular form is played with two standard packs of \Jplaying cards\j and four jokers. The object is to collect as many cards of the same denomination as possible. All cards have points value, but jokers and deuces (twos) are 'wild' (ie can take any value). Cards are picked up and discarded.
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"Canaveral, Cape",6750,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bnav\beral]
HS , formerly \BCape Kennedy\b
EN (1963-73) 28░28N 80░28W. Cape in Brevard Co, E \JFlorida\j, USA, on the E coast of the Canaveral peninsula; US crewed space flights launched from here since 1961.
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"Canberra",6751,0,0,0
PN [\Bkan\bbera]
EN 35░18S 149░08E, pop (1995e) 295 000. National and regional capital in \JAustralian Capital Territory\j, SE Australia, on the Molonglo R; planned by US architect Walter Burley Griffin (after a competition, 1911); building started in 1913; Commonwealth Parliament moved from Melbourne, 1927; airport; railway; two universities (1946, 1989); Australian War Memorial, National Library, National Museum, National Gallery, High Court, Parliament House (1927, new building opened in 1988 by the Queen).
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"Canby, Edward Richard Sprigg",6752,0,0,0
DT (1817-73)
EN soldier; born in Kentucky. A West Point graduate (1839), he fought in the \JSeminole\j War and the Mexican War. He commanded the Union's Department of New Mexico and defeated a Confederate attempt to take \JCalifornia\j. He went to Washington, D.C., as the Assistant Adjutant General, and then commanded troops in New York City. As commander of the Military Division of Western Mississippi, he captured Mobile, Ala.; as commander of the Department of the Gulf, he accepted the surrender of the last two Confederate field armies in May 1865. Modoc Indians murdered Canby, who had been sent to negotiate peace with the tribe, in northern \JCalifornia\j.
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"Canby, Henry Seidel",6753,0,0,0
DT (1878-1961)
EN editor, author; born in \JWilmington\j, Del. A teacher of English at Yale University for over 20 years, he helped found the \ISaturday Review of Literature\i and as its first editor (1924-36) made it into a top literary magazine; he also wrote literary biographies and criticism, and a three-volume \Jautobiography\j.
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"cancan",6754,0,0,0
EN A high kicking and risquΘ dance popularized in Paris c.1830. It is normally danced with four women in 4 / 4 time. Although danced to many tunes, it is associated with Offenbach's \IOrpheus in the Underworld.\i
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"Cancer (astronomy)",6755,0,0,0
HS (Lat 'crab')
EN An inconspicuous N \Jconstellation\j of the zodiac, lying between Gemini and Leo. It contains an open star cluster, \JPraesepe\j, just visible by eye.
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"cancer (medical)",6756,0,0,0
EN A general term to denote all forms of malignant \Jtumour\j. Tumours occur when the cells of a tissue or organ multiply in an uncontrolled fashion unrelated to the biological requirements of the body and not to meet the needs of repair or of normal replacement. In contrast to \Ibenign\i tumours, which enlarge in a specific place, and cause damage by pressure on adjacent tissues, \Imalignant\i tumours invade, destroy, and spread to other tissues.
The cells of a malignant \Jtumour\j may also be carried in the blood stream and lymphatics, and lodge in distant organs where they continue to spread and enlarge \I(metastases).\i Cancer kills by destroying vital tissues, by interfering with the performance of their functions through ulceration, bleeding, and infection, and by affecting bodily \Jnutrition\j.
Microscopic examination of the cells of malignant tumours often reveals the special characteristics of the cells of its tissue of origin. Sometimes the cells lose these characteristics and are totally undifferentiated \I(anaplastic).\i Tumours of this cell type tend to be rapidly growing and highly malignant. Identification of the tissue of origin is important, as it may give a clue to the possible origin of the \Jtumour\j, its natural course, the outlook for the patient, and the most appropriate treatment.
Each cell or tissue type of malignancy has its own profile of age and sex occurrence. Thus one specific cancer of the back of the eye occurs equally in both sexes and occurs only in infancy, while cancer of the \Jstomach\j is twice as common in men as in women and its frequency rises with age from \Jadolescence\j. The cause of cancer is unknown, but appears to depend upon an interplay between factors in the environment and the genetic component of body cells. Only a small number of cancers are determined solely by inherited factors.
The great majority are related to exposure to one or more environmental factors which predisposes to the cancer. These factors are known as \Icarcinogenic agents,\i with \Jcigarette\j smoking being the most important known. Both \Jchemotherapy\j and \Jradiotherapy\j treatments for cancer are available.
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"candela",6757,0,0,0
PN [kan\Bday\bla]
EN Base SI unit of luminous intensity; symbol \Icd; \i defined as the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic radiation of frequency 540┐╫┐10\U12\u┐Hz, and has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1 / 683 watt per steradian; obsolete name \Bcandle.\b
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"Candela, (Outerin\tio) Felix",6758,0,0,0
PN [kan\Bde\bla]
DT1 1910
EN Architect and engineer, born in Madrid, \JSpain\j. He fled to Mexico in 1939 as a republican refugee from the Spanish \Jcivil war\j. He worked as a construction foreman, builder, architect, and structural engineer to become one of the world's foremost designers of slender reinforced concrete hyperbolic paraboloid shell roofs. His creations have included the Sports Palace for the \JOlympic Games\j in \JMexico City\j (1968). He emigrated to the USA in 1971.
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"Candida",6759,0,0,0
PN [\Bkan\bdida]
EN A \Jgenus\j of fungi known from its yeast-like vegetative state; parasitic in animals; includes \ICandida albicans,\i the causative agent of thrush in humans. \B(Family:\b Cryptococcaceae.)
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"candidiasis",6760,0,0,0
PN [kandi\Bdiy\basis]
EN A disease caused by \ICandida albicans,\i a yeast which normally inhabits the gut and the vagina; also known as \Bthrush.\b In debilitating conditions and when the immune system is depressed, the organism may colonize the skin and gastro-intestinal tract, including the mouth, where white patches can be seen with the naked eye. In rare cases it can invade the blood stream and prove fatal.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Candida is the family name for a yeast-like \Jfungus\j which causes some of the most common infections in western society. \ICandida albicans\i is a common example which frequently presents as an itchy vaginal infection in women. It can occur in the mouths of babies and children and the frail elderly.
It is infectious and can pass from one part of the body to another (e.g. from vagina to toes as tinea), and also from one member of the family to another through spores on towels, bath mats or carpets, or through direct sexual contact.
Careful personal hygiene can reduce the incidence, and this is particularly important if a course of \Jantibiotics\j or corticosteroid drugs including oral contraceptives is being prescribed.
\IWritten by Jane King\i
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"candle",6761,0,0,0
EN A light source typically consisting of a wax cylinder (stearic acid, \Jparaffin\j wax, etc) with a central fibrous wick, known from ancient times (at least 3000 BC). Light is generated by burning liquid wax melted by the flame and drawn up the wick by \Jcapillary\j action. The \BInternational Standard Candle\b was a measure of light-source intensity, now replaced by the \Icandela.\i
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"Candlemas",6762,0,0,0
EN A Christian festival (2 Feb) commemorating the purification of the Virgin Mary after the birth of Jesus, and the presentation of Jesus in the \JJerusalem\j Temple \I(Luke\i 2). The name is derived from the lighted candles carried in procession on that \Jday\j. It is also a Scottish quarter-\Jday\j.
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"Candler, Asa (Griggs)",6763,0,0,0
DT (1851-1929)
EN manufacturer; born in Carroll County, Ga. He left the family farm to become a doctor in \JAtlanta\j, but switched to pharmacy in 1873. In 1887 he bought sole rights to John S. Pemberton's original formula for Coca-Cola and formed the Coca-Cola Company (1890). Marketing and manufacturing the soft drink until 1919, he sold the company after a long federal suit over Coca-Cola's healthfulness.
He had meanwhile invested heavily in real estate, and as a public-spirited citizen he now served as Mayor of \JAtlanta\j. He also became a major donor to many causes and institutions; his gifts to \JAtlanta\j's Emory University included funding of a teaching \Jhospital\j for its medical school.
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"Candolle, Augustin Pyrame de",6764,0,0,0
PN [kπdol]
DT (1778-1841)
EN Swiss botanist.
Candolle studied in Geneva and Paris, and from 1806-12 made a botanical survey of \JFrance\j as a government commission. His ideas on \Jtaxonomy\j, set out in his Elementary Theory of Botany (1813), developed from and replaced the schemes due to Cuvier and Linnaeus and were used for 50 years. He believed that morphology, rather than \Jphysiology\j, should be the basis of \Jtaxonomy\j and that relationships between plants could be best seen by studying the symmetry of their sexual parts.
From this he was led to the idea of homology. He also studied plant \Jgeography\j and the influence of soil type in his travels to \JBrazil\j and the Far East. He taught at Montpelier and, from 1816, at Geneva.
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"candytuft",6765,0,0,0
EN An annual, biennial, or evergreen perennial, native to Europe and Asia; leaves narrow; flowers white or mauve, in flattened heads, cross-shaped with outer two petals of outermost flowers enlarged.Several large-flowered species and cultivars are ornamentals. \B(Genus:\b \IIberis,\i 30 species. \BFamily:\b Cruciferae.)
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#
"cane",6766,0,0,0
EN See \Jbamboo\j; 30607 sugar cane
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#
"cane rat",6767,0,0,0
EN An African \Jcavy\j-like rodent; large (length, up to 75┐cm / 30┐in; weight, 9┐kg / 20┐lb); short tail and broad blunt snout; lives near \Jwater\j; may damage sugar-cane plantations. \B(Family:\b Thryonomyidae.)
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"cane sugar",6768,0,0,0
EN See sugar cane
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#
"Canea",6769,0,0,0
EN See Chania
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"Canes Venatici",6770,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\bneez ve\Bnat\bisiy]
HS (Lat 'hunting dogs')
EN An inconspicuous \Jconstellation\j in the Northern hemisphere which includes the famous Whirlpool Galaxy.
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"Canetti, Elias",6771,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bne\btee]
DT1 1905
DT2 94
EN Writer, born in Rustschuck, \JBulgaria\j. He was educated at schools in England, \JAustria\j, \JSwitzerland\j, and \JGermany\j, and lived in England from 1938, though continued to write in German. His interest in crowd \Jpsychology\j produced two important works: the novel \IDie Blendung\i (1936, trans as both Auto da FΘ and The Tower of Babel) and the study \IMasse und Macht\i (1960, Crowds and Power). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1981.
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"Canfield, Cass",6772,0,0,0
DT (1897-1986)
EN editor, publisher; born in New York City. Associated with Harper & Brothers from 1924 until his death, he was an active editor who attracted such notable authors as John Gunther, Thornton Wilder, and John F. Kennedy; he became the company's president in 1931 and was chairman of the board from 1945 to 1955.
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#
"Cange, seigneur du",6773,0,0,0
EN See du Cange, Charles du Fresne, seigneur (Lord)
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"Canidae",6774,0,0,0
PN [\Bkan\bidee]
EN The dog family of carnivores (36 species), usually with slender legs, lean muzzles, large erect ears, and bushy tails; four toes on hind feet, usually five on front; blunt claws not retractable; colour usually without stripes or spots; small canids may hunt alone by stalking then pouncing; larger may hunt in packs and run prey to exhaustion.
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"Caniff, Milt(on Arthur)",6775,0,0,0
DT (1907-88)
EN cartoonist; born in Hillsboro, Ohio. He was the creator of the action-adventure newspaper comic strips \IDickie Dare\i (1933-34) and \ITerry and the Pirates\i (1934-46), and his \ISteve Canyon,\i featuring the adventures of an ex-pilot, made its first appearance in 1947. His work was greatly admired for its realistic detail in the drawings and storyline.
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"canine hip dysplasia (HD)",6776,0,0,0
EN A disorder in the development of the hip joint in dogs. The head of the \Jfemur\j becomes flattened, and its seating remains shallow, so that the joint fails to engage properly. Complications include boney outgrowths around the joint, and \Jarthritis\j. The normal 'ball and socket' arrangement thus becomes ineffective and fails to articulate effectively, leading to lameness. There is a characteristic rolling gait and some hip pain, especially on rising.
Treatment may be medical and palliative for mild cases, with surgical procedures for more severe cases. There is a high degree of inheritance in a number of dog breeds, especially the larger gundogs and German shepherd dogs, but it is virtually unknown in greyhounds. Several control schemes are run by kennel clubs and veterinary associations around the world.
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"canine parvovirus",6777,0,0,0
EN A serious viral infection of dogs and other canids, which emerged in the late 1970s. Its highly infectious nature was evidenced by its appearance in most countries around the world within a very short time. The most characteristic feature of the disease is very severe persistent diarrhoea with blood, and there may be vomiting and a high fever. Puppies may die of shock and \Jdehydration\j very soon after signs appear. Other cases may have serious heart changes. The disease is now well controlled by effective vaccines.
EN An inherited disease of the \Jretina\j affecting a wide variety of dog breeds, especially certain working and \Jgundog\j varieties. The condition also occurs in cats, with the Abyssinian breed apparently the most affected. Clinical signs vary with the location of the degeneration on the \Jretina\j. Central PRA is seen in older dogs, and mainly affects \Jday\j vision. Night \Jblindness\j is associated with a more peripheral atrophy of the \Jretina\j. Control schemes are operated by veterinary associations working with kennel clubs and breed societies.
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"Canis Major",6779,0,0,0
PN [\Bkan\bis]
HS (Lat 'great dog')
EN A \Jconstellation\j in the Southern hemisphere, partly in the \JMilky Way\j. It is easy to see because it includes \JSirius\j, the brightest star in our sky.
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"Canis Minor",6780,0,0,0
PN [\Bkan\bis]
HS (Lat 'little dog')
EN A small Northern hemisphere \Jconstellation\j. Its brightest star is Procyon, just 3.5 parsec away, and the eighth brightest star in the sky. It has a faint white dwarf companion.
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"canker (botany)",6781,0,0,0
EN A general term for a localized disease of woody plants, in which bark formation is prevented; typically caused by \Jbacteria\j or fungi.
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"canker (zoology)",6782,0,0,0
EN A disease of animals, characterized by open sores or ulcers; name used for several conditions, such as \Jinflammation\j of a horse's foot involving a fluid discharge, \Jeczema\j on a dog's ear, an \Jabscess\j on a bird, or an infestation of mites in the ear of a cat \I(ear canker,\i or \Iotodectic mange).\i
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"Canmore, Malcolm",6783,0,0,0
EN See Malcolm III
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"canna",6784,0,0,0
EN A tuberous perennial, native to Central and tropical \JNorth America\j; leaves broadly lance-shaped, stalks sheathing stem; flowers in a spike, three sepals, three petals, 4-6 stamens, petal-like and brightly coloured; fruit a warty capsule; often grown for the showy flowers. \ICanna edulis\i provides the starch \JQueensland\j \Jarrowroot\j. The hard, round seeds of \ICanna indica\i have been used as shot. \B(Genus:\b \ICanna,\i 55 species. \BFamily:\b Cannaceae.)
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#
"cannabis",6785,0,0,0
EN A preparation of the plant \ICannabis sativa,\i widely used as a recreational drug for its euphoric, relaxing properties: its extracts are found as \Bhashish\b and \Bmarijuana.\b The plant, also called \Bganja\b or \Bhemp,\b is an annual growing to 2.5┐m / 8┐ft; its leaves have 5-7 narrow, toothed, spreading, finger-like lobes; there are tiny green flowers in terminal clusters, with males and females on separate plants.
It is native to Asia, but widely cultivated elsewhere. It is a source of rope fibre and birdseed, but is best known as a narcotic \Jresin\j. Its active principle, the cannabinoid \Itetrahydrocannabinol,\i was first synthesized in 1967. Historically, cannabis has been extensively used in medicine, but since the 1930s its therapeutic use has been mostly abandoned because of its abuse potential. However, cannabinoids are used successfully to suppress the severe vomiting that occurs during cancer \Jchemotherapy\j.
Use of cannabis is illegal in all Western countries, but in some, particularly Holland, it has been decriminalized and its sale is tolerated. In 1991 a receptor for cannabis was discovered in the human brain, and in 1992 a molecule was identified in the brain which binds to the receptor. This is believed to be the brain's own 'cannabis', which may act as a \Jneurotransmitter\j and modify mood. \B(Family:\b Cannabidaceae.)
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"Cannes",6786,0,0,0
PN [kan]
EN 43░33N 7░00E, pop (1995e) 71 500. Fashionable resort town on the French Riviera in Alpes-Maritimes department, SE \JFrance\j, on the Golfe de la Napoule; airport; railway; fruit, flowers, textiles; major tourist centre, with many beaches and yachting harbours; mild winter and temperate summer climate; casinos; International Film Festival (Apr--May), International Fireworks Festival (Aug).
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#
"canning",6787,0,0,0
EN A food preservation process relying on the sterilization of foods by heating in a container sealed before or immediately after the heat treatment. The idea was first applied in 1810 by Nicolas Appert (c.1750-1841) to foods sealed in bottles and heated, but since 1839 in cans made of tinned thin steel sheet. \JAluminium\j or plastic sometimes now replaces steel. Internal coatings are chosen to resist the chemical properties of different contents. The processes are now highly automated, and food growing is usually closely associated with a canning plant.
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"Canning, George",6788,0,0,0
DT1 1770
DT2 1827
EN British statesman, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford and Lincoln's Inn, and entered parliament for Newport, \JIsle of Wight\j (1794) as a supporter of Pitt. He became under-\Jsecretary of state\j (1796), treasurer of the navy (1804-6), and minister for foreign affairs (1807). His disapproval of the Walcheren expedition led to a misunderstanding with Castlereagh, which resulted in a duel. He became MP for Liverpool (1812), ambassador to \JLisbon\j (1814), President of the Board of Control (1816), and MP for \JHarwich\j (1822).
Nominated Governor-General of India (1822), he was on the eve of departure when Castlereagh's suicide saw him installed as foreign secretary. In this post he gave a new impetus to commerce by advocating tariff reductions. He was the first to recognize the free states of Spanish America; promoted the union of Britain, \JFrance\j, and \JRussia\j in the cause of \JGreece\j (1827); protected \JPortugal\j from Spanish invasion; contended earnestly for Catholic Emancipation; and prepared the way for a repeal of the Corn Laws. In 1827 he formed an administration with the aid of the \JWhigs\j, but died the same year.
MEX Stratford; Pitt, William (the Younger)
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"Cannizzaro, Stanislao",6789,0,0,0
PN [kaneedzahroh]
DT (1826-1910)
EN Italian chemist: resolved confusions on atomic and molecular mass.
Cannizzaro began his university life as a medical student, but attended a variety of courses and became attracted to chemistry, partly because he saw it as the basis of \Jphysiology\j. In 1847 he joined the rebel artillery in one of the frequent rebellions in his native \JSicily\j, where his magistrate father was at the time chief of police.
The rebellion failed, and Cannizzaro wisely continued his chemistry in Paris, with Chevreul. He returned to \JItaly\j 2 years later, teaching chemistry in three universities, all poorly equipped. In 1853 he discovered the Cannizzaro reaction, in which an aldehyde (aromatic, or having no alpha-\Jhydrogen\j) is treated with a strong base to give an acid and an alcohol:
2 RCHO + NaOH \F(r)\n RCO\D2\dNa + RCH\D2\dOH
However, his main work was done in 1858, when he cleared the way to a single system of relative atomic and molecular mass. He did this by seeing the value of the theory due to Avogadro (then dead) and using it to deduce that common gaseous elements existed as molecules (H\D2\d, N\D2\d, O\D2\d) rather than as single atoms.
With this in mind, Avogadro's Law enables relative atomic and molecular mass to be deduced from the densities of gases and vapours. (Initially, as \Jhydrogen\j gas was the lightest known, the \Jhydrogen\j atom was assigned atomic mass = 1; we now use as a basis the common isotope of carbon = 12, which gives a very similar scale.)
Cannizzaro's fervour as a speaker at a chemical conference in 1860, and a pamphlet he distributed there, convinced most chemists and removed basic ambiguities in chemical ideas during the 1860s. The half-century of confusion on atomic mass which had followed Dalton's atomic theory had ended.
He became a Senator in 1871 and afterwards worked mainly on public health.
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#
"Cannon, Annie Jump",6790,0,0,0
DT (1863-1941)
EN US astronomer: compiled Henry Draper catalogue of variable stars.
Originally interested in \Jastronomy\j by her mother, Annie Cannon graduated from Wellesley College in 1884. For the next 10 years she lived at home but after the death of her mother she returned to study physics at Wellesley, and specialized in \Jastronomy\j at Radcliffe College.
In 1896 she was appointed by E C Pickering (1846-1919) to the staff at Harvard College Observatory where she began the study of variable stars and stellar spectra. These spectra were studied by Pickering's objective \Jprism\j method, which made spectra visible even from faint (9th or 10th \Jmagnitude\j) stars. Colour film was not available and classification by eye was a skilled task.
Her first major publication (1901) was a catalogue of 1122 southern stars which built upon the early classification used by Williamina Fleming (1857-1911). Annie Cannon's system represented a sequence of continuous change from the very hot white and blue stars of types O and B, which showed many \Jhelium\j lines, through the less hot stars of types A, F, G and K to the very red stars of type M, which were cool enough that compounds of chemical elements, such as \Jtitanium\j and carbon \Joxides\j, could exist in their atmospheres.
However, it was not then known that it was a \Jtemperature\j sequence. In 1910 Annie Cannon's scheme was adopted as the official classification system at all observatories.
Her most important work was the Henry Draper Catalogue of Stellar Spectra, published by the Harvard Observatory between 1918 and 1924, which lists the spectral types and magnitudes of 225 300 stars, all those brighter than ninth magnitude, giving their positions and visual and photographic magnitude.
In 1922 the classification system used by her in the catalogue was adopted by the International Astronomical Union as the official system for the classification for stellar spectra. She then began on an extension to fainter stars, in selected regions of the sky, down to about the 11th \Jmagnitude\j, and was occupied with this task until her death. She discovered 277 variable stars and five novae.
Annie Cannon received many academic honours; she received honorary degrees from four universities, including Oxford, where she was the first woman to be honoured with a doctor's degree (1925).
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"Cannon, Clarence Andrew",6791,0,0,0
DT (1879-1964)
EN U.S. representative, historian; born in Elsberry, Mo. A professor of history and a lawyer, he clerked for the U.S. Speaker of the House (1915-20). He served in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Dem., Mo.; 1923-64) and wrote \ICannon's Procedure\i (1928).
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"Cannon, Joseph G. (Gurney)",6792,0,0,0
DT (1836-1926)
EN U.S. representative; born in New Garden, N.C. A country lawyer with only six months of law school, as state's attorney in Danville, Ill. (1861-68) he dismissed a charge of theft against Lincoln's stepmother. A conservative Republican congressman (Ill., 1873-91), his racy language and uncouth manners earned him the nickname "Uncle Joe."
He voted against appropriations for the Civil Service Act in 1882 and was a minority member of the Committee on Rules. Defeated in 1890, he returned to the House (1893-1913) and chaired the Committee on Appropriations; he offended fellow committee members by putting through a $50,000 national defense bill in 1898 for President McKinley without consulting them.
Elected Speaker of the House (1903-11), he began "cannonising" procedures to benefit Republicans. When congressmen protested, he kept them off desirable committees. In 1910, Democrats and Republicans led by Champ Clark were finally able to break his arbitrary control of the Rules Committee, but he remained in the House until 1913, then returned in his eighties (1917-23).
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"Cannon, W(alter) B(radford)",6793,0,0,0
DT (1871-1945)
EN US physiologist: introduced first radio-opaque agent.
Cannon was very much a Harvard man; he was an arts student there, then a medical student, and professor of \Jphysiology\j from 1906-42. R÷ntgen discovered X-rays in 1896 and the next year Cannon, still a student, tried feeding a cat a meal containing a \Jbismuth\j compound to give an X-ray 'shadow' of its alimentary tract. The method worked, and made the mechanics of digestion visible; and, with a \Jbarium\j compound in place of \Jbismuth\j, it has been used in diagnostic radiography ever since.
Cannon went on to work on the effect of shock and emotion on the \Jnervous system\j and the transmission of nerve impulses. He developed Bernard's concept of the importance of a constant internal physiological environment (ie a narrow range of salt, sugar, oxygen and \Jtemperature\j in the living body) which he named homeostasis, and he studied the mechanism which achieves this essential equilibrium. Later he applied similar ideas to political and social organizations, but without the same success.
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#
"Cano, Alonso",6794,0,0,0
PN [\Bkah\bnoh]
DT1 1601
DT2 67
EN Painter, sculptor, and architect, born in \JGranada\j, \JSpain\j. He studied in Seville, and in 1639 was appointed court painter and architect. He designed the facade of Coranada Cathedral (c.1664).
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"Cano, Joel",6795,0,0,0
DT 1966-
EN Cuban playwright. His plays include Fßbula de insomnio (Insomniac Fable) and Beatlemania, but his stunning play is Timeball (1992), combining music, time, poetry, history and imagery in a postmodern experiment.
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"Cano, Juan Sebastian del",6796,0,0,0
PN [\Bkah\bnoh]
DT1 ?
DT2 1526
EN The first man to circumnavigate the globe, born in Guetaria on the Bay of Biscay. In 1519 he sailed with Magellan in command of the \IConcepci≤n.\i After Magellan's death in the \JPhilippines\j, he safely navigated the \IVictoria\i home to \JSpain\j, arriving in 1522.
MEX Magellan
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#
"canoe",6797,0,0,0
EN A small, double-ended open craft propelled with paddles. There are two main types: a vessel carrying three or four people, made from a light wooden framework, traditionally covered with birch bark or hides, but latterly using thin wooden planks; and the Pacific dugout canoe, often fitted with an outrigger, which could be made capable of ocean voyages. \JMaori\j war canoes were up to 20┐m / 70┐ft long, fashioned from a single pine tree, fitted with one inverted-triangle-shaped sail, and propelled by c.60 paddlers. Many modern canoes are made from \Jaluminium\j or plastics.
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"canoeing",6798,0,0,0
EN A \Jwater\j sport practised in canoes, developed by British \Jbarrister\j John Macgregor (1825-92) in 1865. The Canoe Club was formed the following year. Two types of canoe are used in competition: the \Ikayak,\i which has a keel, with the canoeist sitting in the boat, and the \ICanadian canoe,\i which has no keel, with the canoeist kneeling. The number of persons per craft varies between one and four.
BK c
#
"canon (liturgical)",6799,0,0,0
HS (liturgical)
EN The eucharistic prayer or prayer of consecration in the Roman Catholic Mass, so called from the rule that established its unchanging form.
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#
"canon (music)",6800,0,0,0
EN In music, a strictly ordered texture in which \Jpolyphony\j is derived from a single line by imitation of itself at fixed intervals of time and pitch. In other words, all the canonic parts are the same, but they overlap each other. The term \Icanon\i originally referred to the verbal, symbolic, or cryptic 'rule' by which the imitations are formed.
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#
"canon (religion)",6801,0,0,0
HS (textual)
EN In \JChristianity\j, a list of the inspired writings regarded as comprising Holy Scripture. The precise limits of the Old and \JNew Testament\j canons were debated in the early Christian centuries, and Protestants and Roman Catholics still differ regarding the inclusion of some works. The term is also sometimes used to comprise the rules regarding \Jliturgy\j, the life and discipline of the Church, and other decisions of the Councils.
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#
"canon (title)",6802,0,0,0
HS (title)
EN The ecclesiastical title of \Jclergy\j attached to cathedrals or certain endowed churches; either \Bsecular\b or, if living under semi-monastic rule, \Bregular\b (eg Augustinian). In the \JChurch of England\j, \Bresidentiary\b canons are the salaried staff of a cathedral, responsible for the upkeep of the building; \Bnon-residentiary\b canons are unsalaried, but have certain privileges, including rights with regard to the election of bishops.
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"canon law",6803,0,0,0
EN In the Roman \JCatholic Church\j, a body of rules or laws to be observed in matters of faith, morals, and discipline. It developed out of the decisions of the Councils of the Church, and the decrees of popes and influential bishops. A notable compilation was made by Gratian in his \IDecretum\i (1140), which, with later additions, formed the \ICorpus juris canonici\i (completely revised in 1917 and 1983). Pre-Reformation \Jcanon law\j is observed in the \JChurch of England\j, subject to revisions such as the Book of Canons (1604-6) and Code (1964-9).
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"canonization",6804,0,0,0
EN The culmination of a lengthy process in the Roman \JCatholic Church\j whereby, after a long process of enquiry, a deceased individual is declared a saint, or entitled to public veneration. It confers various honours, such as a festival \Jday\j, and the dedication of churches to his / her memory. In the Orthodox Church, there is a similar but less formal procedure.
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"Canopus",6805,0,0,0
PN [kuh\Bnoh\bpuhs]
EN See Carina
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#
"Canova, Antonio",6806,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bnoh\bva]
DT1 1757
DT2 1822
EN Sculptor, born in Possagno, \JItaly\j. He studied at \JVenice\j and \JRome\j, and came to be regarded as the founder of a new Neoclassicist school. His best-known works are the tombs of popes Clement XIII (1787-92) and XIV (1783-7), several statues of Napoleon, and one of his sister Princess Borghese reclining as Venus Victrix (1805-7). In 1802 he was appointed by Pius VII curator of works of art.
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"Cantabria",6807,0,0,0
PN [kan\Btab\bria]
EN pop (1995e) 528 000; area 5289 sq km/2041 sq mi. Autonomous region of N \JSpain\j, co-extensive with the modern province of Santander; stretches across the Cordillera Cantabrica (1382 m/4534 ft) to the headwaters of the R Ebro; capital, Santander.
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#
"Cantabrian Mountains",6808,0,0,0
HS , Span \BCordillera Cantabrica\b
EN Mountain range in N \JSpain\j, extending 500┐km / 310┐mi W-E from \JGalicia\j along the Bay of Biscay to the \JPyrenees\j, and forming a barrier between the sea and the C plateau (Meseta) of \JSpain\j; highest point, the Picos de Europa massif (2648┐m / 8688┐ft); rich in minerals, and a source of hydroelectric power.
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"cantata",6809,0,0,0
EN Music which is 'sung'. The Italian solo cantata of the 17th-18th-c was a setting of secular (usually amatory) verses, alternating \Jrecitative\j and aria. Lutheran cantatas (eg those of Bach) were church compositions for soloists, choir, and instruments. More recent cantatas, whether sacred or secular, are usually choral and orchestral pieces, with or without soloists; many are festival or commemorative pieces.
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#
"Cantelupe, St Thomas de or St Thomas of Hereford",6810,0,0,0
PN [\Bkan\bteloop]
DT1a c.
DT1 1218
DT2 1282
EN Clergyman, born in Hambleden, Buckinghamshire, SC England, UK. He studied at Oxford, Paris, and OrlΘans, and was made Chancellor of \JOxford University\j (1262). He supported the barons against Henry III, and was appointed Chancellor of England (1264-5) by Simon de Montfort. In 1275 he became Bishop of Hereford. Excommunicated by his \Jarchbishop\j over a dispute about \Jjurisdiction\j (1282), he took his case to \JRome\j, but died on the way there. His relics were brought to Hereford, where his shrine became almost as revered as that of Becket at Canterbury. He was canonized in 1320; feast \Jday\j 3 October.
MEX Montfort, Simon de (c.1208-65)
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"Canterbury",6811,0,0,0
EN 51░17N 1░05E, pop (1995e) 42 600. Market town in Kent, SE England, UK; St Augustine began the conversion of England to \JChristianity\j here, 597; Archbishopric founded 602; Thomas Becket murdered (1170) in Canterbury Cathedral; seat of the Primate of the Anglican Church; important literary associations with Chaucer, Marlowe, Defoe, Dickens, and Maugham; railway; University of Kent (1965); tourism, \Jengineering\j, glass; cathedral (11th--15th-c); Churches of St Dunstan, St George, St Martin, St Mildred, and St Peter; St Augustine's College; the Weavers, half-timbered Tudor houses; city walls; cricket festival (Aug).
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"Canterbury bell",6812,0,0,0
EN A robust hairy biennial \I(Campanula medium),\i native to \JItaly\j, introduced elsewhere; flowers 4-5┐cm / 11/2-2┐in, bell-shaped, dark blue, in long spikes; popular ornamental; garden forms in many colours. \B(Family:\b Campanulaceae.)
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"Canterbury Tales",6813,0,0,0
EN A series of linked narrative poems (and prose pieces) by Geoffrey Chaucer, composed during the last two decades of the 14th-c: the most important English work of literature from mediaeval times. Modelled on Boccaccio's \IDecameron,\i the tales are told by a group of pilgrims on the road to Canterbury. The Prologue, introducing the 29 pilgrims, is a gallery of contrasting characters, including the Knight, the Squire, the prim Prioress, the bawdy Miller, and the much-married Wife of Bath. Their 24 tales (the plan is incomplete) are told in a remarkable variety of poetic styles, from the romance to the fabliau.
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"Canth, Minna",6814,0,0,0
HS , \InΘe\i \BUlrika Vilhelmina Johnsson\b
DT1 1844
DT2 97
EN Playwright and feminist, born in Tampere, \JFinland\j. A powerful exponent of the Realist school, her best-known plays are \ITy÷miehen Vaimo\i (1885, A Working-class Wife) and \IKovan Onnen Lapsia\i (1888, Children of Misfortune). Later she turned to Tolstoyan psychological dramas about women, as in \IAnna Liisa\i (1895).
MEX Tolstoy
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#
"Canticles",6815,0,0,0
EN See Song of Solomon, Song of Songs, or Canticles
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#
"cantilever",6816,0,0,0
EN A horizontal building element where the part hidden within the building bears a downward force, and the other part projects outside without external bracing, and so appears to be self-supporting. It is often used to dramatic effect in 20th-c \Jarchitecture\j.
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"canton",6817,0,0,0
EN 40░48N 81░23W, pop (1995e) 87 500. Seat of Stark Co, E Ohio, USA; railway; iron and steel industry; home and burial place of President McKinley, 25th US president; National Professional Football Hall of Fame.
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#
"Canton (China)",6818,0,0,0
EN See \JGuangzhou\j
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#
"Canton (USA)",6819,0,0,0
EN 40░48N 81░23W, \BPopulation:\b (1995e) 87┐500. Seat of Stark Co, E Ohio, USA; railway; iron and steel industry; home and burial place of President McKinley, 25th US president; National Professional Football Hall of Fame.
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"Canton, John",6820,0,0,0
DT1 1718
DT2 72
EN Physicist, born in Stroud, \JGloucestershire\j, SWC England, UK. A schoolmaster in London, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1749. He invented an electroscope and an electrometer, originated experiments in induction, was the first to make powerful artificial magnets, and in 1762 demonstrated the compressibility of \Jwater\j.
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"Cantona, Eric",6821,0,0,0
PN [\Bkan\btona]
DT1 1966
EN Footballer, born in Paris, \JFrance\j. Brought up in \JMarseille\j, he made his professional debut for Auxerre in 1983, and won his first French International cap in 1987. He moved to Leeds United in 1991 and to Manchester United in 1993, becoming the first foreigner to win the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the year award in 1994.
An aggressive and tempestuous player, his career was interrupted by a series of suspensions, and his temperament became a focus of public debate when he was sentenced to 120 hours community service after kicking out at a \JCrystal Palace\j fan who had been insulting him. A football idol for a generation of fans, he announced his retirement in 1997.
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"Cantonese",6822,0,0,0
EN See Chinese
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#
"Cantor, Eddie",6823,0,0,0
DT (1892-1964)
EN singer; born in New York City. A rolling-eyed actor with a high-pitched singing voice, who often performed in black-face, Cantor appeared in \IKid Cabaret\i (1912) with George Jessel. He worked for Florenz Ziegfeld (1916-28) where he sang his best known songs, including "Making Whoopee." A radio host and movie actor in the 1930s, he helped to found actors' unions and to promote the March of Dimes.
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"Cantor, Georg (Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp)",6824,0,0,0
DT1 1845
DT2 1918
EN Mathematician, born in St Petersburg, \JRussia\j. He studied at Berlin and G÷ttingen, and in 1877 became professor of \Jmathematics\j at Halle. He worked out a highly original arithmetic of the infinite which resulted in a theory of infinite sets of different sizes, adding a new and important branch to \Jmathematics\j. He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1884, and died in an asylum.
MEX Zermelo
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"Cantwell, Robert (Emmett)",6825,0,0,0
DT (1908-78)
EN editor, writer; born in Little Falls (now Vader), Wash. His long career in magazine publishing included editorships at \INew Outlook, Newsweek,\i and \ISports Illustrated\i (1956-73). Best known for such proletarian novels of the 1930s as \IThe Land of Plenty\i (1934), he also wrote biographies, (including lives of Nathaniel Hawthorne (1934) and the ornithologist Alexander Wilson (1961), and the historical study, \IThe Hidden Northwest\i (1972).
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"Canute or Cnut",6826,0,0,0
HS , sometimes known as \Bthe Great\b
DT1a c.
DT1 995
DT2 1035
EN King of England (from 1016), Denmark (from 1019), and \JNorway\j (from 1028), the younger son of Sweyn Forkbeard. He first campaigned in England in 1013, and after his father's death (1014) successively challenged Ethelred the Unready and Edmund Ironside for the English throne. He defeated Edmund in 1016 at the Battle of Assandun (possibly Ashdon, Essex), secured Mercia and \JNorthumbria\j, and became King of all England after Edmund's death.
In 1017 he married \BEmma of Normandy,\b the widow of Ethelred. He ruled England according to the accepted traditions of English kingship, and maintained the peace throughout his reign. The story of his failure to make the tide recede was invented by the 12th-c historian, Henry of \JHuntingdon\j, to demonstrate the frailty of earthly power compared to the might of God.
MEX Edmund II; Ethelred II; Sweyn
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"canyon",6827,0,0,0
EN A deep valley with almost vertical sides which have been cut by a river, often in arid or semi-arid regions. Submarine canyons form on continental slopes, and are thought to have been eroded by turbidity currents.
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"Canyon de Chelly",6828,0,0,0
PN [shay]
EN National monument in north-east \JArizona\j, USA; established in 1931 to protect notable Indian cliff dwellings, dating from AD c.350; \BArea:\b 339┐km\U2\u / 131┐mi\U2\u.
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"Cao Xuequin",6829,0,0,0
PN [chow shwechin]
HS , also spelled \BTs'ao Hsⁿeh-ch'in\b
DT1 1715
DT2 63
EN Writer, born into a family who had grown rich as directors of the \JNanjing\j Imperial Textile Works. The family wealth was later squandered, and he was reduced to straightened circumstances as a teacher and poet in \JBeijing\j. His memories are re-enacted in his great book, \IDream of the Red Chamber,\i or \IA Dream of Splendour\i (also translated as \IStory of the Stone),\i the most famous of all Chinese traditional novels.
He probably wrote over 80 chapters in 1760, then left the work unfinished; 40 chapters were added by Gao Ngo and the book was published in 1791. It is important for its realistic detail of upper-class family life in the early 18th-c, and is now recognized as the finest literary achievement of the early Qing period. It has been serialized on Chinese \Jtelevision\j in recent years.
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"Cao Yu",6830,0,0,0
PN [chow yoo]
HS , pseudonym of \BWan Jiabao\b
DT1 1910
DT2 96
EN Playwright, born in Tianjin, China. The most significant 20th-c playwright in China, he studied Western literature at Qinghua University (1930--4). His best-known work, \IThunderstorm\i, was staged in 1935; other major plays included \IMetamorphosis\i (1940) and \IFamily\i (1941). After the foundation of the People's Republic in 1949 he was appointed to numerous official posts. In 1979 he wrote the play \IThe Consort of Peace\i.
\BMajor Works\b
\IPlays\i
1934 Thunderstorm
1940 Metamorphosis
1941 Family
1956 Bright Skies
1961 The Gall and the Sword
1979 The Consort of Peace
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#
"Cap Vert",6831,0,0,0
PN [kap \Bvair\b]
HS or \BCape Verde\b[\Bvair\bdee]
EN The most westerly point of the African continent, in \JDakar\j region, W \JSenegal\j; 2980┐km / 1850┐mi ENE of Natal (\JBrazil\j).
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#
"capa y espada, comedia de",6832,0,0,0
EN see comedia
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#
"Capa, Robert",6833,0,0,0
HS , originally \BAndrei Friedmann\b
DT1 1913
DT2 54
EN Photojournalist, born in Budapest. He recorded the Spanish \JCivil War\j (1935-7), covered China under the Japanese attacks of 1938, and reported World War 2 in Europe from the Normandy invasion onwards. He was killed by a landmine in the Indo-China fighting which preceded the war in Vietnam.
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#
"Capablanca, JosΘ Ra·l",6834,0,0,0
PN [kapa\Bblang\bka]
DT1 1888
DT2 1942
EN Chess player, born in \JHavana\j. At the age of four he learned chess by watching his father's games, and within nine years had defeated the Cuban champion, Corzo. He studied \Jengineering\j at Columbia University, playing chess at the Manhattan Club, New York City, where he achieved a sensational win in a match against US champion Marshall (1909).
In 1921 he won the world championship, defeating Lasker without losing a game. His defeat by Alekhine in 1927 was a major surprise, and despite further tournament successes he never regained his title.
MEX Alekhine; Lasker, Emanuel
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"capacitance",6835,0,0,0
EN The measure of a system's ability to store electric charge; symbol \IC,\i units F \I(\Jfarad\j); \i for a capacitor comprising two separate parallel conductors, equal to the charge on one conductor divided by the potential difference between the two. For an electrical circuit, elements are usually quoted as ╡F \I(microfarad,\i 10\U-6\u┐F) or pF \I(picofarad,\i 10\U-12\u┐F).
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The actual capacitance of a capacitor depends on two main things: the \Jgeometry\j of the capacitor's structure, and the dielectric which lies between the two "plates" which make it up. The capacitance remains constant, even when the charge (and thus the potential) are reduced to zero, so the standard textbook formula C = |Q/V| is a handy calculating device, but it is not a definition in its own right.
The maximum charge which may be stored in a capacitor depends on the potential at which dielectric breakdown occurs, allowing the charge to leak away. The former name for this device ("condenser") is no longer regarded as correct, although it will still be encountered.
The dielectric constants of some common materials at 20C include those shown on the Table.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Cape Breton Island",6836,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 190 000; area 10 295 sq km/3974 sq mi. Island in \JNova Scotia\j, Canada; separated from mainland by the Strait of Canso; almost bisected by Bras d'Or Lake (arm of the sea); chief towns, Sydney, Glace Bay, Louisburg; Cape Breton Highlands National Park in NW (1936); many people of Scottish descent, with \JGaelic\j still spoken; dairy farming, fishing, timber, \Jcoal\j mining, \Jgypsum\j, tourism; originally French (Ile Royale), taken by British, 1758; joined to \JNova Scotia\j, 1820.
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"Cape buffalo",6837,0,0,0
EN See African buffalo
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"Cape Cod",6838,0,0,0
EN A sandy peninsula of south-east \JMassachusetts\j, USA; length 105┐km / 65┐mi; width up to 32┐km / 20┐mi; bounded E by the Atlantic and W by Cape Cod Bay; crossed by the 13┐km / 8┐mi Cape Cod Canal; on 15 May 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold recorded, 'Near this cape...we took great store of codfish...and called it Cape Cod'; pilgrims from the \IMayflower\i landed near Provincetown in November 1620; airfield at Provincetown; a popular resort area.
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"Cape Coloured",6839,0,0,0
HS \Bor\b Coloured
EN A term used in South Africa to refer to a group of people of mixed descent, arising from the unions of Europeans with slaves (from Madagascar, \JMozambique\j, or the East) or Khoikoi (Hottentots). They number about 2.5 million people (c.9% of the total population), mainly living in the towns and rural areas of the W Cape province. Culturally akin to White South Africans, most Coloureds speak \JAfrikaans\j and are Christian, with a small Muslim minority (Cape Malays).
In South Africa's former racial hierarchy, they were ranked between Europeans and Black Africans living in separate areas on city outskirts, with their own schools and other facilities, and with limited rights within the country's political system. They are mostly farm labourers, factory workers, and artisans, with a small middle class.
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"Cape gooseberry",6840,0,0,0
EN A perennial native to \JSouth America\j \I(Physalis peruviana),\i related and very similar to Chinese lantern; yellow flowers; calyx bladder-like, enclosing an edible yellow berry. \B(Family:\b Solanaceae.)
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"Cape hunting dog",6841,0,0,0
EN See African hunting dog
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"Cape jasmin",6842,0,0,0
EN A species of \Jgardenia\j \I(\JGardenia\j jasminoides)\i with large flowers up to 10┐cm / 4┐in diameter. A double-flowered form is a popular pot plant and corsage. \B(Family:\b Rubiaceae.)
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"Cape provinces",6843,0,0,0
EN Former province in South Africa; since the 1994 constitution, divided into three provinces: Northern, Western, and Eastern; NW frontier with \JNamibia\j formed by the Orange R; several mountain ranges along the Great Escarpment; Cape of Good Hope lies S of Cape Town; Cape Agulhas, most S point of the African continent; founded, 1652; formally ceded to Britain (Cape Colony), 1814; separate parliament, 1850; joined Union of South Africa, 1910; grapes, wine, grain, fruit, livestock, diamonds, copper, vehicles, pottery, timber, \Jengineering\j, distilling, textiles, furniture; noted for its variety of flora, best observed at Cape Floral Kingdom reserve on Table Mt; \BEastern Cape\b, pop (1993) 6 665 000; area 170 616 sq km/65 858 sq mi; capital, Bisho (Eastern); chief languages, Xhosa (85%), \JAfrikaans\j, English; \BNorthern Cape\b, pop (1993) 763 900; area 363 389 sq km/140 268 sq mi; capital, Kimberley; chief languages, \JAfrikaans\j (65%), Setswana (22%), Xhosa; \BWestern Cape\b, pop (1993) 3 620 000; area 129 386 sq km/49 943 sq mi; capital, Cape Town; chief languages, \JAfrikaans\j (63%), English (20%), Xhosa.
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"Cape Town",6844,0,0,0
EN 33░56S 18░28E, pop (1995e) Greater Cape Town 1 207 000. Seaport capital of Western Cape province, South Africa; on Table Bay at the foot of Table Mt; legislative capital of South Africa; founded as a victualling station for the Dutch East India Company, 1652; occupied by the British, 1795; airport; railway; university (1829); cathedral; commerce, vehicles, chemicals, textiles; trade in wool, \Jmohair\j, grain, fruit, wine, oil; Castle of Good Hope (1666), oldest colonial building in South Africa; Koopmans de Wet House (1777), Groote Kerk, Union Houses of Parliament, national gallery.
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"Cape Verde",6845,0,0,0
PN [kayp \Bverd\b]
EN pop (1995e) 394 000; area 4033 sq km/1557 sq mi. Island group in the \JAtlantic Ocean\j off W coast of Africa, c.500 km/310 mi W of \JDakar\j, \JSenegal\j; two main groups, defined with reference to the prevailing NE wind; Barlavento (windward) group in N; Sotavento (leeward) group in S; capital, \JPraia\j (on Sπo Tiago I); other main port, \JMindelo\j; timezone GMT -1; c.50% of population live on Sπo Tiago I; c.70% of mixed black African and European descent; main religion, Roman Catholic; official language, Portuguese, but \Jcreole\j (Crioulu) widely spoken; unit of currency, escudo Caboverdianos; international airport on Sal I; islands of volcanic origin, mostly mountainous; highest peak, Cano (2829 m/9281 ft), active \Jvolcano\j on Fogo I; coastal plains semi-desert; savannah or thin forest on the mountains; fine sandy beaches on most islands; located at N limit of tropical rain belt; low and unreliable rainfall (mainly Aug--Sep); cooler and damper in uplands; severe \Jdrought\j can occur; small range of \Jtemperature\j throughout year; colonized by Portuguese in 15th-c, also used as a penal colony; administered with Portuguese Guinea until 1879; overseas province of \JPortugal\j, 1951; independence, 1975; multi-party elections for a new National Assembly, 1991; governed by a president, Council of Ministers, and unicameral People's National Assembly of 79 members, elected for five years; formerly an important victualling point for transatlantic shipping; economy suffered in recent years because of \Jdrought\j; substantial emigration in early 1970s, with 80% unemployment by 1976; c.70% of workforce are farmers occupying irrigated inland valleys; livestock, \Jmaize\j, beans, potatoes, cane sugar, bananas, yams, \Jcoffee\j; increase in fishing since 1975; mining of salt, \Jlimestone\j, volcanic \Jsilica\j ash (\Ipozzolana\i).
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"Capek, Josef",6846,0,0,0
PN [\Bcha\bpek]
DT1 1887
DT2 1945
EN Writer and painter, born in Schwadonitz, Czech Republic, the elder brother of Karel Capek. His early literary works, written in collaboration with his brother, include the allegorical \IZe Zivota hmyzu\i (1921, The Insect Play). From such anxious visions of the future he progressed to a philosophy of sceptical \Jhumanism\j which found expression in his one novel, \IStin Kapradiny\i (1930), and in his essays.
MEX Capek, Karel
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"Capek, Karel",6847,0,0,0
PN [\Bcha\bpek]
DT1 1890
DT2 1938
EN Writer, born in Schwadonitz, Czech Republic, the brother of Josef Capek. He is remembered above all for his play \IR.U.R.\i (Rossum's Universal Robots), produced in 1921, showing \Jmechanization\j rampant. With his brother he wrote the comic fantasy \IZe Zivota hmyzu\i (1921, The Insect Play), one of several pieces foreshadowing totalitarianism, as well as short stories on crime and mystery, prophetic science-fiction, and travel-books.
MEX Capek, Josef
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"Capell, Edward",6848,0,0,0
DT1 1713
DT2 81
EN Scholar, born near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, E England, UK. He published an edition of Shakespeare (10 vols, 1768) based on the Folio and Quarto texts, and a full commentary, \INotes and Various Readings to Shakespeare\i (3 vols, 1783).
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"Capella",6849,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bpel\ba]
EN See Auriga
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"Capella, Martianus Mineus Felix",6850,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bpe\bla]
DT1a fl.
DT1 480
EN North African scholar and writer. His \ISatiricon,\i a kind of encyclopaedia, highly esteemed during the \JMiddle Ages\j, is a medley of prose and verse, full of curious learning.
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"Capen, Samuel (Paul)",6851,0,0,0
DT (1878-1956)
EN educator; born in Somerville, Mass. He was the first director of the American Council on Education (1919-22) before becoming president of the University of Buffalo (1922-50), where he introduced undergraduate tutorials and further strengthened professional programs. He championed high academic standards and was an authority on university planning and administration.
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"caper",6852,0,0,0
EN A sprawling, deciduous, spiny shrub \I(Capparis spinosa),\i native to S Europe; leaves alternate, oval, slightly fleshy; flowers 5-7┐cm / 2-23/4┐in in diameter, 4-petalled, white with numerous long purple stamens. The young flower buds are pickled as \Bcapers.\b \B(Family:\b Capparidaceae.)
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"capercaillie",6853,0,0,0
PN [kaper\Bkay\blee]
EN A large \Jgrouse\j native to Europe and N Asia, also known as \Bcapercailzie; \b usually solitary; forest-dwelling; males have special mating calls, and display by leaping into the air, flapping their wings. \B(Genus:\b \ITetrao,\i 2 species. \BFamily:\b Tetraonidae.)
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"Capet, Hugo or Hugh",6854,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\bpet]
DT1a c.
DT1 938
DT2 96
EN King of \JFrance\j, founder of the third Frankish royal dynasty (the Capetians), which ruled \JFrance\j until 1328. Son of Hugh the Great, whom he succeeded as Duke of the Franks in 956, he was elected king and crowned at Noyon (987). His 40 years in power were marked by constant political intrigue and struggle, both among the feudal aristocracy and with his Carolingian rivals, but his position was invariably saved by the disunity of his enemies.
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"Capetians",6855,0,0,0
EN A French ruling dynasty for over 300 years (987-1328), founded by Hugh Capet in succession to the Carolingians. Two dynamic royal descendants were Philip II Augustus (r.1180-1223) and Louis IX or St Louis (r.1226-70). By increasing territorial control, enforcing the right to inherit of an eldest son, and devoting themselves to administration and justice, the Capetians laid the foundations of the French nation-state.
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"Capgrave, John",6856,0,0,0
DT1 1393
DT2 1464
EN Chronicler, theologian, and provincial of the Augustine Friars in England, born in Lynn, Norfolk, E England, UK. He was ordained priest c.1418, having already entered his order in Lynn. His works include \JBible\j commentaries, sermons, a life of St Catherine in verse, and \IA Chronicle of England from the Creation to 1417.\i
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"capillarity",6857,0,0,0
EN A surface tension effect in which liquids rise up narrow tubes or spread through porous solids; caused by the difference in attraction between liquid and air molecules for the material of the solid; also called \Bcapillary action.\b Examples include the movement of blood through the smallest blood vessels \I(capillaries),\i and ink soaking into blotting paper.
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"capillary",6858,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bpil\baree]
EN A minute, thin-walled blood vessel situated between arterioles and venules. It is the site of the exchange of materials (oxygen, \Jnutrients\j, carbon dioxide, and other waste products) between \Jcapillary\j blood and surrounding tissues, which occurs by diffusion across the \Jcapillary\j wall. The term is also used to denote a small lymphatic channel.
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"capital (accountancy)",6859,0,0,0
EN Business sources of finance to buy assets, such as buildings, machinery, stocks, or investment in other firms. \BEquity capital\b is supplied by shareholders, either by buying shares or by ploughing back profits into the business. \BLoan capital\b or \Bdebt\b is borrowed from a financial institution or individual, and interest is paid. \BCapital gearing\b or (US) \Bleverage\b is the ratio of capital raised by debt to equity; a high gearing means a heavy reliance on debt.
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"capital (architecture)",6860,0,0,0
EN The top part of a column, \Jpilaster\j, or pier, identifiable in classical \Jarchitecture\j as one of the five main orders: Doric, Tuscan, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite. Romanesque and Gothic types include basket, bell, crocket, cushion, protomai (with animal figures), scalloped, and \Jwater\j-leaf.
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"capital (economics)",6861,0,0,0
EN Productive assets. These include \Bfixed capital\b (ie buildings, machinery, and equipment) and \Bcirculating capital\b (ie stocks of inputs and finished products, and work in progress). It also includes \Bintellectual capital,\b such as patents and copyright. In discussing the whole economy, land would not be included, and net credit is zero. In discussing a particular firm, land would be included with fixed capital, and net credit extended with circulating capital.
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"capital gains tax (CGT)",6862,0,0,0
EN A tax on the increase in the value of assets. This is usually payable only when an asset is realized by sale or bequest. CGT is levied in various countries - in the UK since 1965. It is usually payable only on gains in any year in excess of some minimum amount, and in the UK only on gains on excess of the rise in the retail price index since the asset was acquired. In the USA it is a federal income tax, with lower rates for long-term holdings, and is politically controversial.
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"capital punishment",6863,0,0,0
EN Sentence of death passed by a judicial body following trial. Capital punishment for murder has been abolished in the UK since 1969, although proposals for its reinstatement are regularly debated by parliament, and it theoretically remains the penalty for \Jtreason\j and certain other statutory offences.
It is still available in several states of the USA, and in many other countries. When the sentence is available, it is not invariably carried out; a head of state or other authority can recommend a reprieve. Countries employ a variety of procedures in carrying out executions, including lethal injection, \Jelectrocution\j, hanging, gassing, and shooting.
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"capital transfer tax (CTT)",6864,0,0,0
EN A former UK tax arising when individuals gave assets to others (excluding small gifts), including the transfer of ownership on death (originally called \Bestate\b or \Bdeath duties).\b The tax was not payable on small estates. It was replaced in 1986 by the \Jinheritance tax\j.
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"capitalism",6865,0,0,0
EN A set of economic arrangements which developed in the 19th-c in Western societies following the Industrial Revolution, though with antecedents in other societies, notably 11th-c China. The concept derives from the writings of Marx, and rests upon the private ownership of the means of production by the capitalist class, or \Ibourgeoisie.\i The workers, or \Iproletariat,\i own nothing but their labour, and although free to sell their labour in the market, they are dependent upon the capitalist class which exploits them by appropriating the surplus value created by their labour.
Non-Marxist economists define \Jcapitalism\j as an economic system in which most property is privately owned and goods are sold freely in a competitive market, but without reference to exploitation, except where monopoly situations occur. \JCapitalism\j may be an ideological stance: Marx saw it as one stage in a historical process, finally being replaced by \Jsocialism\j. It has been the most productive economic system to date, although it has brought with it massive environmental (eg \Jpollution\j) and social (eg unemployment) problems.
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"Capito or K÷pfel, Wolfgang Fabricius",6866,0,0,0
PN [kapeetoh]
DT1 1478
DT2 1541
EN Religious reformer, born in Hagenau, \JAlsace\j. He entered the Benedictine order, and in 1515 became professor of \Jtheology\j at \JBasel\j. He approved of Luther's action, but in 1519 entered the service of Archishop Albert of Mainz. He did not declare for the Reformation until later, when he became a Protestant leader in \JStrasbourg\j.
MEX Luther
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"Capitol",6867,0,0,0
EN The building on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, in which the US Congress meets. It was designed in 1792 by William Thornton (1759-1828), but a succession of architects supervised its construction. In 1814 the British set fire to the unfinished structure, and it was not until 1827 that it was finally completed by Benjamin Latrobe and Charles Bulfinch. The dome was added by Thomas Walter (1804-87).
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"Capitoline Hill",6868,0,0,0
EN The highest of the seven hills upon which \JRome\j was built. Once the political and religious centre of Ancient \JRome\j, it is now the site of the Piazza del Campidoglio, designed by \JMichelangelo\j, and of the city's administrative offices.
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"Capitonidae",6869,0,0,0
EN \BBarbets\b
Barbets (family \JCapitonidae\j, order Piciformes, suborder Galbulae) are gaudy, plump little birds that inhabit woodlands and forest in tropical parts of America, Africa, and Asia. Many have copious bristles and feather tufts around the base of the bill, giving a bearded look that prompted their name. There are about 76 species in 13 genera, though most species (about 42) occur in Africa.
Though all have traditionally been grouped in a single family (as here), there are significant differences in behavior and structure between the barbets of each of continent, and recent genetic studies indicate that they should perhaps be split into three families. Their closest relatives are the toucans (family \JRamphastidae\j).
Despite the gap between the three populations, there are several striking examples of convergence: the Black-backed Barbet \ILybius minor\i of Africa, for example, looks very similar to the White-mantled Barbet \ICapito hypoleucus\i of \JSouth America\j.
Some barbets-especially members of the Asian \Jgenus\j Megalaima-are big, burly, lethargic birds, but others (especially the African tinkerbirds \IPogoniulus)\i are small, agile, and very active. They range in size from about 9 cm (tinkerbirds) to nearly 34 cm in some Asian \IMegalaima.\i The legs are stout and rather short, and the feet have two toes pointing forwards, two back. The bill is strong, conical, pointed, and often notched, as in the Double-toothed Barbet \ILybius bidentatus.\i The tail is moderately short, and the wings are relatively small and rounded.
Many barbets are extremely colorful: greens predominate in Asian and American species (often with multicolored markings on the head), but African species are mainly red, yellow, and black, and often spotted or barred with white. With one or two exceptions (such as the Gaudy Barbet \IMegalaima mystacophanes),\i the sexes are similar in many Asian and African species, but often differ markedly in American species.
Many are fruit-eaters but several eat mainly insects. Most live in rainforests, but some-notably the tinkerbirds-inhabit arid scrubs, and several (such as the Crested Barbet \ITrachyphonus vaillantii)\i are common in suburban parks and gardens.
Most seldom leave the treetops, but some spend much of their time on the ground. Barbets often sit quietly in the canopy, calling monotonously, and flicking their tails and jerking their heads back at each note. Most barbets are mainly solitary, but some often occur in parties or small flocks.
Barbets have three centers of distribution, each with its cluster of endemic genera: tropical America (the genera \ICapito, Eubucco,\i and \ISemnornis),\i Africa \I(Lybius, Trachyphonus, Pogoniulus,\i and several others), and from India to \JIndonesia\j \I(Megalaima, Calorhamphus,\i and \IPsilopogon).\i Most inhabit forest or woodland of various kinds, but African barbets are exceptionally diverse in habitat, and several species occur in savanna woodland or arid scrub. Most species are sedentary or only locally nomadic.
Barbets form pairs to nest, but in some species the nests may be close together, forming a loose colony. Displays are simple and inconspicuous. At least four species (including the Red-and-yellow Barbet) are known to nest communally, and others are suspected of doing so. Barbets nest in holes, either in trees, termite mounds, or in burrows in the ground: D'Arnaud's Barbet \ITrachyphonus darnaudii,\i for example, drills downward in level ground, then burrows horizontally to form a nest-chamber.
The normal clutch of 2-5 plain white eggs is deposited on the floor of the chamber, with no attempt at a nest. In some species, incubation, by both parents, takes about 12-15 days, and the chicks fledge about 17 days after hatching, though incubation and fledging periods are unknown for most species.
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"capitulum",6870,0,0,0
EN An \Jinflorescence\j typical of the daisy family, Compositae, consisting of many stalkless florets packed onto a flattened receptacle cupped by bracts. The florets are often of two kinds: small disc florets in the centre; petal-like ray florets around the edge. The whole \Jinflorescence\j gives the impression of being a single flower.
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"Capodimonte porcelain",6871,0,0,0
PN [kapohdi\Bmon\btay]
EN The \Jporcelain\j factory of the royal house of Naples, started in 1743 and removed to Buen Retiro in \JSpain\j in 1759. It was notable for its very fine figures, particularly of the \Icommedia dell'arte\i and peasants, which were much copied by later factories in \JItaly\j and elsewhere.
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"Capon, William",6872,0,0,0
DT 1757-1827
EN English scene designer and architect. Working for John Philip \JKemble\j at Drury Lane (1794-1809), he impressed the critics with his design of a Gothic-style chapel for Handel's \JOratorio\j, performed for the opening of the reconstructed theatre (1794), and his six Gothic chamber wings designed for Macbeth that same year.
During his tenure at Drury Lane his most impressive designs were for \JKemble\j's melodramas: the Gothic library and ancient baronial hall for The Iron Chest (1796), a chapel with side aisles and choir for De Montfort (1800), and a Gothic castle for Adelmorn, the Outlaw (1801). He moved with \JKemble\j to Covent Garden in 1809, where his designs included an Anglo-Norman hall for Hamlet (1812). An antiquarian, he insisted upon accurate representations of the external construction materials and architectural features of the existing historical buildings upon which he modelled his designs.
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"Capone, Al",6873,0,0,0
DT (1899-1947)
EN gangster; born in Brooklyn, N.Y. He became the leader in \JChicago\j \Jbootlegging\j, gambling, and prostitution during the Prohibition Era. His involvement in gang and liquor wars left hundreds of people dead in \JChicago\j and its suburbs. Increasingly implicated in the corruption of political, law enforcement, and labor officials, he was convicted of income-tax evasion (1931) and sentenced to 11 years. He was released in 1939 because, infected with \Jsyphilis\j, his mental condition was deteriorating.
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"Capote, Truman",6874,0,0,0
DT (1924-84)
EN writer; born in \JNew Orleans\j. He took his stepfather's surname in childhood. A high school dropout, he came to New York City in 1942 and worked for awhile as an office boy at \IThe New Yorker.\i His first novel, \IOther Voices, Other Rooms\i (1948), launched a literary career that peaked with his innovative "nonfiction novel" \IIn Cold Blood\i (1966). Resident in New York and \JSwitzerland\j, he cultivated celebrity and was famous in later years for his jetsetting lifestyle as well as his writing.
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"Capp, Al",6875,0,0,0
HS , originally \BAlfred Gerald Caplin\b
DT1 1909
DT2 79
EN Strip cartoonist, born in \JNew Haven\j, CT. He studied at Designers Art School, \JBoston\j (1929), and entered strips as assistant to Bud Fisher on \IMutt and Jeff\i (1930). Joining Associated Press, he took on a daily joke, \IMr Gilfeather\i (1932), then became assistant to Ham Fisher on \IJoe Palooka\i (1933), introducing hill-billy characters, and developed \IL'il Abner\i (1934). Capp's chunky artwork coupled with hilarious hill-billy dialogue soon made the strip a success, inspiring two films, a stage musical, and an animated series.
MEX Fisher, Bud
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"Cappadocia",6876,0,0,0
PN [kapa\Bdoh\bshia]
HS , Turkish \BKapadokya\b
EN Ancient name for the mountainous region of C Turkey, between the \JBlack Sea\j and the \JTaurus\j Mts; a poor area without good natural defences, it tended to be ruled by whatever power was dominant in \JAsia Minor\j; a province of the Roman Empire from AD 17; noted for its eroded landscape features and cave dwellings in the G÷reme valley; carpet making; largest town, Nevsehir.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The cave dwellings in the \JGoreme\j valley of \JCappadocia\j have been home to the locals for many centuries. The volcanic ash has created mounds of rocks (fairy chimneys) which the inhabitants have hollowed out to form whole houses complete with different rooms, stairs and multiple levels. The Byzantines built underground cities seven stories below the \Jearth\j, which bore spectacular frescoes and in-door plumbing.
This area of Turkey was once a major bastion of \JChristianity\j and converted to \JIslam\j early in the second millennium. It is now a popular tourist attraction.
The pictures contained here provide some ideas of the different types of homes that the inhabitants have created out of the different rock formations.
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"Capper, Arthur",6877,0,0,0
DT (1865-1951)
EN publisher, U.S. senator; born in Garnett, Kans. A newspaper and magazine publisher, he was elected governor of Kansas (Rep., 1915-19) and U.S. senator (1919-49). A New Deal supporter in domestic politics and an isolationist in foreign policy, he was not an especially outspoken leader in the Senate.
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"Capra, Frank",6878,0,0,0
DT (1897-1991)
EN film director; born in \JPalermo\j, \JSicily\j. His family moved to \JCalifornia\j when he was six, and he began to earn money by selling newspapers, playing the \Jbanjo\j, and working other odd jobs. After receiving a degree in chemical \Jengineering\j at the \JCalifornia\j Institute of Technology in 1918, he joined the army as a private. Discharged as a lieutenant, he had other odd jobs until he talked his way into directing a one-reeler, \IFultah Fisher's Boarding House\i (1922), in \JSan Francisco\j.
He spent time learning the film business, and then became a gag writer for \IOur Gang\i comedies and for the comedian Harry Langdon. He directed some Langdon films and some two-reel comedies. His most renowned work as a director celebrated the decency and integrity of the common man as he combats corruption in high places, and he earned Oscars for \IIt Happened One Night\i (1934), \IMr. Deeds Goes to Town\i (1936), and \IYou Can't Take It With You\i (1938). The film that would eventually become his most popular, \IIt's A Wonderful Life\i (1947), did not receive any special attention at its initial release.
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"Capri",6879,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bpree\b]
HS , Ital [\Bkap\bree], ancient \BCapreae\b
EN area 10.5┐km\U2\u / 4┐mi\U2\u. Island in Napoli province, Campania, \JItaly\j, in the Tyrrhenian Sea; length 6┐km / 4┐mi; maximum width 2.5┐km / 1.5┐mi; rugged \Jlimestone\j crags rise to 589┐m / 1932┐ft; capital, Capri; Blue Grotto on N coast; major tourist centre; home of Emperor Tiberius.
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"capriccio",6880,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bprich\bioh]
HS (music)
EN A short musical composition, usually of a light or fanciful kind and often (though not necessarily) for \Jpiano\j. There are several famous examples in the work of Brahms.
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"capriccio (art)",6881,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bpri\bchioh] (Ital 'caprice')
EN In art, an imaginative picture or print. In the 18th-c, the term refers specifically to landscapes by such artists as \JCanaletto\j or Giovanni Pannini (1691-1765), combining buildings from different places. Goya and Tiepolo produced outstanding sets of etched fantasies, with bizarre or grotesque subjects.
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"Capricornus",6882,0,0,0
HS (Lat '\Jgoat\j')
EN A S \Jconstellation\j of the zodiac, lying between \JSagittarius\j and \JAquarius\j.
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"Caprimulgidae",6883,0,0,0
EN \BNightjars\b
There are about 70 species of nightjars (family \JCaprimulgidae\j, order Caprimulgiformes) distributed around the world, and all distinctive in their nocturnal habits, their extraordinarily effective plumage camouflage, and their diet of night-flying insects such as moths. During the \Jday\j, most species sleep either lengthwise on a low branch, or on the ground, relying on their cryptic color patterns to escape detection. They are usually divided into two subfamilies: the Chordeilinae (nighthawks) and the Caprimulginae (goatsuckers). The former is exclusively American but the latter group is distributed on all continents except \JAntarctica\j.
A number of species have conspicuous ear tufts (though otherwise they look rather similar) and have often been separated in the \Jgenus\j \IEurostopodus,\i but recent genetic studies suggest that these are only distantly related to typical nightjars, and they may belong in a distinct family. Ignoring the very long tail streamers of a few species, most nightjars fall into the range of 16-40 cm in body length.
Nightjars are rather lightly built, with flattened heads, short necks, long pointed wings and a long tail. The eyes are large, the legs short, and the bill very short but extremely wide. In many species the gape is surrounded with long, stiff rictal bristles. The plumage is unusually soft, and the color pattern is usually a very intricate mosaic of shades of gray, buff, rufous, brown, and dark slate gray, although most species have white markings on the throat, the wings, or in the tail in various combinations, depending on species. The result looks extraordinarily like the forest leaf litter and ground cover on which the birds usually sleep.
The sexes are often similar or nearly so, but several species have gray and rufous morphs (color varieties that are not linked to age, sex or season).
The nighthawks differ from nightjars in several respects, including the absence of rictal bristles. A typical member of the group is the ubiquitous Common Nighthawk \IChordeiles minor\i of \JNorth America\j, which often nests on the flat roofs of buildings in towns and cities and usually hunts high in the sky at dusk, or even occasionally in broad daylight. The Common Nighthawk's distribution extends well into southern Canada, but the group has a number of members in Central and \JSouth America\j.
About half of all nightjars are included in the \Jgenus\j Caprimulgus. Common and widespread species include the European \JNightjar\j \ICaprimulgus europaeus,\i which breeds from the \JBritish Isles\j westward to central Asia, and migrates to spend the winter in Africa; the Jungle \JNightjar\j \ICaprimulgus indicus\i of south-east Asia; the Large-tailed \JNightjar\j \ICaprimulgus macrurus,\i which is largely resident from India to tropical northern \JAustralia\j; and the Whip-poor-will \ICaprimulgus vociferus\i of \JNorth America\j.
One species, the Common Poorwill \IPhalaenoptilus nuttallii,\i is notable as the only bird species known to hibernate-it spends the winter in deep rock crevices (to which it returns each year) in a dormant state in which its body \Jtemperature\j falls from an active norm of about 40║-41║C (104║-106║F) to about 18║-19║C (64║-66║F). Several other species are notable for lavish display plumes, especially in the form of enormously elongated wing or tail feathers.
The Standard-winged \JNightjar\j \IMacrodipteryx longipennis\i of Africa, for example, has one of the innermost primaries of each wing to the point where it extends well beyond the tail tip at rest. Each has an extended vane at the tip that is vibrated above the bird's body in a special display flight.
The Long-tailed \JNightjar\j \IScotornis climacurus,\i has similarly extended central tail feathers. These examples are African, but in \JSouth America\j the genera \IUrapsalis\i and \IMacropsalis\i also have very long outermost tail feathers, and \IHydropsalis\i has both central and outermost feathers greatly elongated.
Nightjars are virtually cosmopolitan, but they are absent from most oceanic islands, and the coldest high latitude parts of both North and \JSouth America\j and Eurasia; \JNew Zealand\j also has no nightjars. Many tropical species are resident, but those breeding at high latitudes are strongly migratory. Nightjars occupy virtually all tropical and warm temperate environments, ranging from stony or sandy desert to \Jrainforest\j, although most species, considered individually, are very often rigidly confined to one particular habitat.
Nightjars form simple monogamous pairs, which participate equally in incubation and rearing the young. No nest is built; instead, nightjars lay their eggs directly onto bare ground. The clutch numbers one or two (rarely three) buff or pinkish eggs, which are dotted, blotched, or marbled with various shades of lavender, brown, or black. Incubation takes 16-20 days, and the chicks are hatched in fawn, buff, or gray down.
They fledge at around 16-25 days. Nightjars are among the very few birds that move their eggs or young if at risk of discovery, and birds have been reported carrying their chicks in flight, safely tucked between their thighs.
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"Caprivi, Georg Leo, Graf von (Count of)",6884,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bpree\bvee]
DT1 1831
DT2 99
EN German soldier and political leader, chancellor of \JPrussia\j (1890-4), born in Berlin. Entering the Prussian army in 1849, he fought in the Franco-Prussian war (1870-1), and as head of the Admiralty (1883-8) reorganized the navy. On \JBismarck\j's fall in 1890, he became imperial chancellor and Prussian prime minister. His principal measures were the army bills of 1892-3 and the commercial treaty with \JRussia\j in 1894.
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"capsid",6885,0,0,0
EN A small to medium-sized bug that typically feeds on plants; occasionally predatory; c.10┐000 species, distributed worldwide. \B(Order:\b \JHeteroptera\j. \BFamily:\b Miridae.)
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"capsule",6886,0,0,0
EN A stalked structure containing spores in ferns, mosses, and liverworts, rupturing when ripe to release the contents.
Also a dry, many-seeded fruit derived from more than one \Jcarpel\j. When ripe it opens by means of valves, pores, or a lid, or by irregular fracturing.
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"Capuana, Luigi",6887,0,0,0
DT 1839-1915
EN Italian novelist and playwright. A prolific writer, he began as a poet, and throughout his life produced a substantial body of journalistic writings and literary and theatrical criticism. The influence of \Jsymbolism\j is apparent and he is above all identified with the development of Italian verismo. Of his many plays the most enduring are his drama of peasant life, Malia (The Spell, 1895), and his study of the Sicilian petty \Jbourgeoisie\j, Lu Cavalieri Pidagna (1909).
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"capuchin",6888,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bpyoo\bchin]
EN A \JNew World monkey\j, the most numerous captive monkey in the USA and Europe; tail partly adapted for grasping \I(prehensile),\i often carried curled at the tip; acrobatic and intelligent; once a popular pet for street musicians; also known as \Bring-tailed monkey\b or \Borgan-grinder's monkey.\b \B(Genus:\b \ICebus,\i 4 species.)
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"Capuchins",6889,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bpyoo\bchinz]
HS (Ital \Icapuche,\i a kind of cowl)
EN A monastic order stemming from the \JFranciscans\j; in full, the \BOrder of Friars Minor of St Francis Capuccinorum; \b abbreviated as \BOM Cap\b or \BOSFC.\b It was formed in 1529 by Matteo di Bassi (c.1495-1552), and observes a very strict rule, stressing poverty and austerity.
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"capybara",6890,0,0,0
PN [kapi\Bbah\bra]
EN A \Jcavy\j-like rodent \I(Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris),\i native to Central and \JSouth America\j; largest living rodent (length, over 1┐m / 3 1/4┐ft); dog-like with deep square snout; no tail; lives in or near \Jwater\j; part-webbed toes; eats vegetation. \B(Family:\b Hydrochoeridae.)
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"car",6891,0,0,0
HS , also \Bmotor car\b (UK), \Bautomobile\b (USA)
EN The general name used in the UK for a passenger-carrying, self-propelled vehicle designed for normal domestic use on roads. The vehicle itself is made up of a number of systems, all of which may be discussed and constructed in isolation, but whose combined functioning produces the final vehicle. Thus the motive power system includes the engine (of whatever type), and its fuel supply, and the lubrication, exhaust, and cooling systems.
The power developed by the engine is transmitted to the wheels by the transmission system, which includes gears, clutches, shafts, axles, and brakes. The engine and transmission are housed in the carriage unit, which also provides the compartment for the driver and passengers to sit, and in which the steering, engine controls, suspension, and electrical components can be mounted.
Although there had been much experimenting with steam vehicles during the late 18th-c and early 19th-c, the basic feature that allowed the motor car to become a reality was the invention in 1884 of the medium-speed \Jinternal combustion engine\j by Daimler in \JGermany\j. However, it was not until the early 1900s, and the application in the USA of mass production techniques to the motor car by Henry Ford, that mass motoring started to become a reality.
Over the years, the size of the domestic market ensured US dominance in the field of mass production, although the European manufacturers (particularly in the 1930s) also produced cheap 'people's' cars, such as the Volkswagen and the Citroen 2CV. The emergence of small Japanese cars in the 1970s challenged the US and European manufacturers in their own countries.
This led in the early 1980s to a series of amalgamations of companies into ever larger multinationals, including the Japanese, which began to co-operate with each other. This process is likely to continue, in an attempt to offset the massive costs of design and mass production by exploiting economies of scale and global marketing.
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"carabao",6892,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\brabow]
EN See \Jwater\j buffalo
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"caracal",6893,0,0,0
EN \BLatin Name:\b \IFelis caracal\i\b
\BSize:\b head and body 55-92 cm, tail 22-31 cm\b
\BWeight:\b 13-25 kg\b
\BDistribution:\b Africa, southwestern Asia to northwestern India\b
The fur of the \JCaracal\j is short, dense and reddish-brown, without stripes or spots. The head is relatively long for a cat and the immense pointed ears bear a tuft of black hairs, as in the Lynx. In bright light, the pupil of the eye contracts to a small circle, not a vertical slit. The body, tail and legs are long and slender.
Adapted to fast running in open country, it is found mainly in woodland and savanna, where it is solitary and terrestrial. It hunts, mainly at night but also around dusk and down, for small to middle-sized mammals, which may be caught by ambush or by rapid pursuit (reminiscent of a Cheetah).
Breeding occurs at any time of the year. After a gestation of 10-11 weeks, two or three young are usually born.
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"Caracalla or Caracallus",6894,0,0,0
PN [\Bkara\bkala]
HS , popular name of \BMarcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Augustus,\b originally \BSeptimius Bassianus\b
DT1 188
DT2 217
EN Roman emperor, born in Lugdunum (Lyon, modern \JFrance\j), the son of the emperor Septimius Severus. He ascended the throne in 211 as joint emperor with his brother \BPublius Septimius Antoninius Geta,\b whom he soon murdered. His open reliance on the army alienated the senatorial class and earned him an unfavourable reputation in the historical tradition. He campaigned extensively abroad, in \JGermany\j, on the Danube, and in the East, and was assassinated while preparing for war against the \JParthians\j. His chief title to fame was the edict of 212, which granted Roman citizenship to all free members of the empire.
MEX Severus
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"caracara",6895,0,0,0
PN [kahra\Bkah\bra]
EN A large, broad-winged falcon; native to S USA and \JSouth America\j; inhabits open country to considerable altitudes; eats many types of animal or carrion; will rob other birds of prey. \B(Family:\b \JFalconidae\j, 10 species.)
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"Caracas",6896,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bra\bkas]
EN 10░30N 66░55W, pop (1995e) 2 035 000. Federal capital of Venezuela; altitude, 960 m/3150 ft; founded in 1567; often damaged by earthquakes; major growth since the 1940s, greater than any other Latin American capital; airport; airfield; railway; metro; three universities (1725, 1953, 1970); mountain pass gives access to port (La Guaira) and airport; commercial, cultural, and industrial centre; birthplace of Bolφvar; many museums, Plaza Bolφvar, Pante≤n Nacional (with Bolφvar's tomb), Casa Natal del Libertador, Capitolio Nacional, cathedral (1674).
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"Caractacus",6897,0,0,0
PN [ka\Brak\btakus]
HS , *Caratacus*, or *Caradoc\B\b
DT1 1
DT1b st-c AD
EN A chief of the Catuvellauni, the son of Cunobelinus. He mounted a gallant but unsuccessful guerrilla operation in Wales against the Romans in the years following the Claudian conquest (43). Betrayed by the Brigantian queen, Cartimandua, he was taken to \JRome\j (51), where he was exhibited in triumph, and pardoned by Claudius.
MEX Cartimandua; Claudius; Cymbeline
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"caracul",6898,0,0,0
EN See \Jkarakul\j
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"Caradoc",6899,0,0,0
EN See Caractacus
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"Caragiale, Ion Luca",6900,0,0,0
DT 1852-1912
EN Romanian playwright. His comedies are masterpieces of meticulous craftsmanship. Associated with the conservative literary circle Junimea, he lashed out violently at the Romanian society of his time. His sarcastic wit found its most celebrated expression in A Lost Letter (1884), the zenith of Romanian playwriting, dealing with a corrupt provincial electoral campaign won unexpectedly by a blackmailer, the basest and most empty-headed of all the candidates.
His other comedy, A Stormy Night (1879), portrays the moral hypocrisy of the middle class, while the \Jfarce\j \JCarnival\j Scenes (1885), whose action takes place in a barber's shop, draws a ludicrous picture of the lower strata of urban society. Caragiale's scant dramatic output also includes the one-act \Jfarce\j Mr Leonida Facing Reaction (1880), in which a senile blockhead takes street revellers for revolutionaries; and the less successful psychological drama, The Bane (1890).
His colourful and often nonsensical language loses much in translation. Romanian productions still invariably present these plays as period pieces, narrowing the universality of the playwright's vision. Caragiale also wrote humorous short stories, many later performed as dramatic sketches.
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"Caran d'Ache",6901,0,0,0
PN [karπ dash]
HS , pseudonym of \BEmmanuel PoirΘ\b
DT1 1858
DT2 1909
EN Caricaturist, born in Moscow. He studied in Moscow, then moved to Paris, where he became a contributor to many periodicals. He was a pioneer in the development of the \Ibande dessinΘe\i (French comic strip), and a major influence on H M Bateman. His pseudonym came from the Russian word for 'pencil'.
MEX Bateman
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#
"carat or (US) karat, gold",6902,0,0,0
HS (gold)
EN A measure of the purity of gold in some alloy. A gold carat is a 24th part of the whole, and the purity of a gold alloy is stated by the number of such parts it contains. Pure gold would be 24-carat gold. A 12-carat ring would be one in which half the metal is gold.
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"carat or (US) karat, precious stones",6903,0,0,0
EN A unit of weight for precious stones, equal to 200┐mg.
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"Caratacus",6904,0,0,0
EN See Caractacus
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"Carausius, Marcus Aurelius",6905,0,0,0
PN [ka\Brow\bsius]
DT1a c.
DT1 245
DT2 293
EN Army officer, born in Menapia (modern \JBelgium\j). He set himself up in Britain as emperor (c.287), and ruled there until his murder by one of his officers, Allectus. Originally a Batavian pilot, he was put in command of the Roman fleet in the Channel to ward off pirates.
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"Caravaggio",6906,0,0,0
PN [kara\Bva\bjioh]
HS , originally \BMichelangelo Merisi\b
DT1 1573
DT2 1610
EN Baroque painter, born in \JCaravaggio\j, \JItaly\j, whence his nickname. He studied in Milan and \JVenice\j, and went to \JRome\j, where Cardinal del Monte became his chief patron. His works include several altarpieces and religious paintings, using dramatic contrasts of light and shade, notably several paintings of St Matthew (1599-1603) and 'Christ at Emmaus' (c.1602-3, National Gallery, London). In 1606, his temper led him to kill a man, and he fled to Naples and Malta.
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"Caravaggio, Polidoro Caldara da",6907,0,0,0
PN [kara\Bva\bjioh]
DT1a c.
DT1 1492
DT2 1543
EN Painter, born in \JCaravaggio\j, \JItaly\j. He aided Raphael in his Vatican frescoes. His 'Christ Bearing the Cross' is in Naples.
MEX Raphael
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"caravel",6908,0,0,0
PN [kara\Bvel\b]
EN A sailing vessel with up to four masts developed by the Portuguese in the 15th-c.
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"caraway",6909,0,0,0
EN A much-branched annual \I(Carum carvi),\i growing to 1┐m / 3 1/4┐ft, native to Europe; leaves finely divided into narrow lance-shaped lobes; flowers small, borne in umbels 2-4┐cm / 3/4-11/2┐in across, petals whitish, deeply notched; fruit (the 'seeds') 3-6┐mm / 1/8- 1/4┐in, ribbed, strong-smelling when crushed. The fruits are widely used as a spice and for flavouring bread, cakes, and cheese; they are also an essential ingredient of Kⁿmmel liqueur. \B(Family:\b Umbelliferae.)
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"Carballido, Emilio",6910,0,0,0
DT 1925-
EN Mexican playwright and director. He has fomented theatre in Mexico since 1948. Founder of the theatre journal Tramoya (1975), he has taught and promoted an entire generation of young playwrights in Mexico, where he is the premier playwright, both in quantity and quality.
Drawing on both the realistic and the fantastic, he has written more than 75 plays, several novels and cinema scripts. Rosalba y los Llaveros (Rosalba and the Llavero Family, 1950), is a psychological play that contrasts the moral codes of metropolis and province; La hebra de oro (The Golden Thread, 1955) integrates the fantastic into a provincial setting with existential intentions. Yo tambiΘn hablo de la rosa (I Too Speak of the Rose, 1965) dramatizes the complexities of human experience and the process of creativity through a metaphorical rose.
Later titles include Fotografia en la playa (Photo on the Beach, 1977), Mimφ y Fifφ en el Rφo Orinoco (Mimφ and Fifφ on the Orinoco River, 1982), Tiempo de ladrones: La historia de Chucho el Roto (Time of Thieves: The Story of Chucho el Roto, 1984) and Una rosa de dos aromas ( A Rose with Two Scents, 1986). The distinctive notes in his theatre are the authentic language and an irrepressible humour.
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"carbamide",6911,0,0,0
EN See \Jurea\j
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"carbide",6912,0,0,0
EN Any compound of carbon, especially those in which carbon is ionic. It is often used specifically for \Bcalcium carbide,\b CaC\D2\d, a salt of \Jacetylene\j, which may be regenerated by the addition of \Jwater\j: CaC\D2\d┐+┐2H\D2\dO\f(r)\nCa(OH)\D2\d┐+┐C\D2\dH\D2\d.
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"carbohydrate",6913,0,0,0
EN A non-\Jnitrogen\j-containing compound based on carbon, \Jhydrogen\j, and oxygen, generally with two \Jhydrogen\j atoms per atom of oxygen. The molecules may be small (\Jglucose\j) or large (\Jcellulose\j, starch). Most carbohydrates comprise one or more 6-carbon units, of which \Jglucose\j is by far the most abundant.
Starch is a polymer of \Jglucose\j which is digestible by humans. \JCellulose\j, another \Jglucose\j polymer, is not digestible by higher animals, but is fermented by \Jbacteria\j in the gut. Carbohydrates are not nutritionally essential, but prolonged intake of \Jcarbohydrate\j-free diets can cause a type of abnormal body \Jmetabolism\j \I(ketosis).\i
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"carbolic acid",6914,0,0,0
EN See \Jphenol\j
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"carbon",6915,0,0,0
EN C, element 6. It has two main forms: \Bgraphite\b (the stable form, very soft and black with a density of c.2┐g / cm\U3\u) and \Bdiamond\b (the hardest substance known, density 3.5┐g / cm\U3\u) . Various molecular forms called \Bfullerenes\b have recently been discovered. Both \Jgraphite\j and diamond melt above 3500░C. Coal is mainly \Jgraphite\j, but also contains amorphous (non-crystalline) carbon, occurring as well as 'carbon black' (soot).
Graphite can be grown into \Bcarbon fibres,\b used for strengthening plastics. Carbon also occurs naturally in compounds, particularly as \Bcarbonates,\b and in the \Jatmosphere\j as carbon dioxide. In virtually all its compounds, it is covalently bonded, and shows a valency of 4. Carbon compounds are the basis of all living matter, and form the subject matter of \Jorganic chemistry\j.
There are two simple \Joxides\j, \Bcarbon monoxide\b (CO), a very poisonous gas, boiling point -191░C, formed from the incomplete combustion of carbon and \Jhydrocarbons\j, and \Bcarbon dioxide\b O=C=O, the product of complete combustion. Carbon dioxide is in turn the raw material for \Jphotosynthesis\j, regenerating combustibles. Solid carbon dioxide, or \Idry ice,\i sublimes at -78░C without passing through a liquid phase. It accounts for less than 0.03% of the gases of the \Jatmosphere\j.
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"carbon cycle",6916,0,0,0
EN The cycle through which carbon is transferred between the biological \I(biotic)\i and nonbiological \I(abiotic)\i parts of the global \Jecosystem\j. It involves the fixation of gaseous carbon dioxide during \Jphotosynthesis\j to form complex organic molecules, as well as the subsequent processes through which it ultimately returns to the \Jatmosphere\j by \Jrespiration\j and \Jdecomposition\j.
BK c
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"carbon dating",6917,0,0,0
EN See radiocarbon dating
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#
"carbon dioxide",6918,0,0,0
EN See carbon
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"carbon fibre",6919,0,0,0
EN A high-strength material made by the controlled heat treatment of acrylic fibre. Woven as a fabric, it has the property of absorbing poisonous gas, and is used for protective underwear for military personnel, and for firehoods. The fibres are several times stronger than steel, and are extensively used where laminates of great strength and low weight are needed, as in components for rockets and aeroplanes. As carbon fibre reinforced plastic (or \Jgraphite\j epoxy), it is widely used for sports equipment such as fishing rods, rackets, and skis.
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"Carbonari",6920,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)bo\Bnah\bree]
HS (Ital 'charcoal burners')
EN Neapolitan secret societies, linked with freemasonry and probably founded under Napoleonic occupation. Liberal and loosely nationalist in outlook, they played a major role in the Neapolitan revolution of 1820 (by which time membership may have numbered 300┐000-500┐000) and in the early stages of the \JRisorgimento\j.
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"carbonates",6921,0,0,0
EN Salts of carbonic acid, containing the ion CO\D3\d\U2-\u. Important natural \Jcarbonates\j include the almost insoluble \Bcalcium carbonate\b (CaCO\D3\d), or \Jlimestone\j; \Bmagnesium carbonate\b (MgCO\D3\d); and \Bdolomite\b (CaMg(CO\D3\d)\D2\d). \BSodium carbonate,\b known as 'washing soda' in its hydrated form (Na\D2\dCO\D3\d.10H\D2\dO), is a cleansing agent because of its basicity, and a \Jwater\j softener because it precipitates \Jcalcium\j and \Jmagnesium\j \Jcarbonates\j.
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"carbonic acid",6922,0,0,0
EN H\D2\dCO\D3\d; the hydrated form of carbon dioxide (CO\D2\d). It is a weak acid, dissociating in two stages to give \Jhydrogen\j carbonate (HCO\D3\d-) and carbonate (CO\D3\d\U2\u-) ions. Natural waters are generally saturated with carbon dioxide from the \Jatmosphere\j, and their \JpH\j is generally determined by the amount of \Jbicarbonate\j and carbonate ions present. Rain water containing pure carbonic acid has a \JpH\j of about 5.
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"Carboniferous period",6923,0,0,0
EN A geological period of the Palaeozoic era, extending from 360 to 286 million years ago, and characterized by extensive swampy forests with conifers and ferns which now form most of the present-\Jday\j \Jcoal\j deposits. It was also marked by widespread \Jcoral\j reefs and \Jlimestone\j deposits, and the first appearance of reptiles and seed-bearing plants. In the USA, the period is termed the \BMississippian\b (earlier) and the \BPennsylvanian\b (later).
BK c
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"carbonyl",6924,0,0,0
PN [\Bkah(r)\bboniyl]
EN The group CO, (1) in organic compounds, found in aldehydes, \Jketones\j, carboxylic acids, esters, and \Jamides\j; (2) in inorganic compounds, found as co-ordinated carbon monoxide.
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#
"carborundum",6925,0,0,0
EN The trade name for silicon carbide (SiC), a highly refractory material formed by fusing together sand and coke. It is almost as hard as diamond, and is used in grinding wheels and cutting tools.
BK c
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"carboxylic acids",6926,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)bok\Bsil\bik]
EN Organic compounds containing the group -COOH; formed by the \Joxidation\j of alcohols or aldehydes; IUPAC \Balkanoic acids.\b Weaker than mineral acids, partially neutralized solutions have \JpH\j values of about 5. Many are found in nature, particularly as part of fats \I(fatty acids).\i
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"carbro process",6927,0,0,0
EN A photographic printing procedure in which a pigmented gelatine tissue is differentially hardened by contact with a developed print on bromide paper to produce an image which can be transferred to another support. Black-and-white prints using carbon as a pigment have great permanence, and colour prints can be made by superimposition of three layers in yellow, cyan and magenta.
BK c
#
"carbuncle",6928,0,0,0
EN A focus of infection in sweat glands and under the skin. It forms multiple confluent abscesses that discharge pus on to its surface through two or more tracts.
BK c
#
"carburettor / carburetor",6929,0,0,0
EN A device fitted to a spark ignition engine that mixes its fuel of air and petrol in suitable proportions for combustion. As the engine draws in its air / petrol mixture, the carburettor ensures that small droplets of petrol are carried along with the airstream. These droplets then vaporize on their way to the engine to form the highly inflammable mixture used in the engine's power stroke. A number of different types of carburettor exist, but most of them work upon a floating valve system that detects when the air is to be drawn into the engine.
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"Carcassonne",6930,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)ka\Bson\b]
EN 43░13N 2░20E, pop (1995e) 46 400. Ancient city and capital of Aude department, S \JFrance\j, on R Aude and Canal du Midi, in foothills of \JPyrenees\j; railway; bishopric; hosiery, tanning, wine; the CitΘ (altitude 200 m/650 ft) is the best preserved example of a French mediaeval fortified town, with a double circuit of walls and towers; \Jbasilica\j of St Nazaire (5th-c, rebuilt 11th--13th-c), cathedral (late 13th-c, restored 1840), Gothic Church of St Vincent (late 13th-c).
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#
"Carchemish",6931,0,0,0
PN [\Bkah(r)\bkemish]
EN An ancient trading city in N \JSyria\j controlling one of the main crossing points of the Euphrates. It was ruled by the \JHittites\j in the second millennium BC, survived the destruction of the Hittite empire (c.1200 BC), and remained an important centre of Hittite culture until its conquest by \JAssyria\j in 716 BC.
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"carcinogen",6932,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)\Bsin\bojn]
EN An agent which is capable of inducing cancer in tissues exposed to it. Several carcinogens have been identified by studies of the frequency of specific tumours in relation to different occupations, lifestyles, exposure to injurious chemical agents, drugs, ionizing radiations, ultraviolet light, and certain tumour-inducing \I(oncogenic)\i viruses.
Exposure to such agents does not cause cancer immediately, but only after a period which may be months or years. The dose or duration of exposure to the agent is also critical: an example is cancer of the lung and \Jcigarette\j smoking, where both the duration of smoking and the number of cigarettes smoked increase the probability of developing lung cancer some time in the future.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Chemicals form the largest group of known carcinogens. Polycyclic aromatic \Jhydrocarbons\j (PAHs) which are associated with \Jtobacco\j smoke, soot, tar fumes, etc., are significant among these. Also aromatic amines, which are used in processing \Jrubber\j, can eventually cause bladder cancer. \JAsbestos\j fibers have long been associated with lung cancer.
The following is a list of chemical additives which are suspected as being potential carcinogenic agents:
\IColors\i
E 123 \JAmaranth\j
E 127 Erithrosene
128 Red 2G
133 Brilliant Blue FCF
E 150 Caramel
154 Brown FK
\IPreservatives\i
E 230 Diphenyl
E 249 - E 252 Nitrates and Nitrites
\IAnti-Oxidants\i
E 320 - 321 BHA and BHT
\IEmulsifiers and Stabilizers\i
E 407 Carrageenan
430 & 435 Polyoxethylene compounds
E 466 Sodium carboxymethyl \Jcellulose\j
\IProcessing Aids\i
553 Silicates
907 Mineral oils and waxes
\ISweeteners\i
Saccharin
\ISolvents\i
Isopropyl alcohol
Ethyl acetate
Biological carcinogens include a poison aflatoxin which can be produced by a \Jfungus\j on stored peanuts and grain. This is thought to cause liver cancer. It is possible to test potential carcinogens before they are used in manufacturing process by exposing them to \Jbacteria\j. If \Jmutation\j takes place in \Jbacteria\j the active agent may next be tested on animals.
\IWritten by Jane King\i
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"carcinoma",6933,0,0,0
EN See sarcoma
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#
"card games",6934,0,0,0
EN See playing cards
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#
"cardamom",6935,0,0,0
PN [\Bkah(r)\bdamom]
EN A perennial native to India \I(Elettaria cardamomum),\i also cultivated in \JSri Lanka\j; rhizomatous; stem to 3.░5┐m / 111/2┐ft; leaves in two rows, stalks sheathing; flowers small, white with blue and yellow markings, in clusters 60┐cm / 2┐ft long on leafless stems near the ground; fruit a capsule 2┐cm / 3/4┐in long. The dried ripe fruits are used as spice, especially in curries. \B(Family:\b Zingiberaceae.)
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"Cardan, Jerome",6936,0,0,0
DT (1501-76)
EN Italian mathematician and physician: gave general algebraic method for solving cubic equations.
Cardan was the illegitimate son of a Milanese lawyer, a situation which caused difficulty for him both practically and emotionally. He was taught \Jmathematics\j by his father when young and educated at \JPavia\j and Padua where he studied medicine. He was unable to enter the college of physicians because of his birth, but eventually gained recognition through his work and became professor of medicine at \JPavia\j in 1544 and at \JBologna\j in 1562.
His work in medicine is now eclipsed by his distinction as one of the greatest algebraists of his century. He recognized negative and complex roots for equations, found the relations between the roots of an equation and the coefficients of its terms, and gave a general algebraic method for solving cubic equations (Cardan's solution). He has been accused of pilfering parts of this method from Tartaglia, but the accusation has been contested.
His contribution to chemical thought is more substantial than is often recognized. He wrote an encyclopedia of the sciences which discusses the major chemical theories of the time. He was credulous in many ways, but critical of alchemical claims. He recognized only three Aristotelian elements (\Jearth\j, \Jwater\j and air), arguing ahead of his time that fire is not a substance but a form of motion; and he distinguished between electrical and magnetic attraction. His writing includes a variety of chemical recipes and his chemical and clinical interests are brought together in a text on \Jtoxicology\j.
Cardan's life was not easy: his childhood was marred by ill-health and harsh treatment while his talents emerged and were acknowledged late in life. His eldest son was convicted and beheaded for wife-murder and his second son was exiled at Cardan's instigation as 'a youth of evil habits'. Cardan describes himself in his \Jautobiography\j as 'timid of spirit, I am cold of heart, warm of brain and given to never-ending \Jmeditation\j. I ponder over ideas ...'. He was a man who made more enemies than friends.
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#
"Cardano, Girolamo",6937,0,0,0
EN See Cardan, Jerome
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"Carden, Joan Maralyn",6938,0,0,0
DT1 1937
EN Operatic and concert soprano, born in Melbourne, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. A principal artist with the Australian Opera since 1971, she made her debut at Covent Garden, London, in 1974. One of her most celebrated performances is of the four heroines in \IThe Tales of Hoffmann\i, and she is renowned for her performances of Mozart. She won the Dame Joan Hammond Award for Outstanding Service to Opera in Australia in 1987.
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#
"Cßrdenas, Lßzaro",6939,0,0,0
PN [\Bkah(r)\bt\buh\buenas]
DT1 1895
DT2 1970
EN Mexican soldier and political leader, president of the Mexican Republic (1934-40), born in Jiquilpan, Mexico. He joined the revolutionary army in 1913, was a general by 1923, and Governor of Michoacßn (1928-32). He rose from relative obscurity through the patronage of former president Plutarco Calles. Cßrdenas wrested control of the government from Calles and instituted a broad programme of social and economic reforms. Often wrongly accused of being a Communist, he carried out the long overdue promises of the 1910 revolution, ensuring Mexico's stability.
MEX Calles
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#
"Carder, Frederick",6940,0,0,0
DT (1863-1963)
EN glassmaker; born in Staffordshire, England. In 1903 he came to the U.S.A. to manage Steuben Glass Works. With a grounding in chemistry and \Jmetallurgy\j, he perfected numerous glassmaking techniques including enameling, etching, intarsia and \Icire perdue\i ("lost wax"). He created over 8,000 designs, many of them in art nouveau style comparable in quality to Tiffany's works. He is considered a founder of the modern glass movement.
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"Cardew, Michael",6941,0,0,0
DT1 1901
DT2 82
EN British potter. After studying under Bernard Leach at St Ives (1923-6), he set up his own studio at Winchcombe in the Cotswolds, moving in 1939 to Wenford Bridge in Cornwall. In 1942 he took over the Achimota College on the Gold Coast (now \JGhana\j), and started his own \Jstoneware\j pottery at VumΘ on the Volta.
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#
"cardiac resuscitation",6942,0,0,0
EN Emergency treatment following cardiac arrest (the sudden complete cessation of heart function); also known as \Bexternal cardiac massage.\b This must be given within three minutes if the brain is not to suffer irreversible damage. First-aid treatment is usually combined with mouth-to-mouth ventilation. Initially a smart blow with the closed fist should be given to the front of the chest, just to the left of the midline, and both legs elevated to 90░. If the heart does not start, forceful regular compression of the chest at about 70 times per minute should be carried out.
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"Cardiff",6943,0,0,0
EN 51░30N 3░13W, pop (1995e) 309 000. Capital of Wales, in \JCardiff\j county, S Wales, UK; also administrative centre of Rhondda Cynon Taff county council; at the mouth of the Taff, Rhymney, and Ely Rivers, on the \JBristol\j Channel; Roman fort, 1st-cAD;Norman castle, c.1090; city charter, 1147; expansion in 19th-c as trade in \Jcoal\j grew; decline with the loss of \Jcoal\j and steel industries in recent decades; Tiger Bay quayside area now redeveloping as a suburb; capital of Wales, 1955; airport (Rhoose); railway; university college (1893); registry for University of Wales; general services, steel, car components, cigars, tourism; Welsh National Opera; Cathays Park public buildings, Llandaff Cathedral, Welsh National Folk Museum (St Fagans), \JCardiff\j Castle, \JCardiff\j Arms Park (rugby); football league team, \JCardiff\j City (Bluebirds).
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#
"Cardigan, James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of",6944,0,0,0
DT1 1797
DT2 1868
EN British general, born in Hambleden, Buckinghamshire, SC England, UK. He studied at Oxford, entered the army in 1824, and purchased his promotion, commanding the 15th \JHussars\j (until 1833), then the 11th \JHussars\j (1836-47). He commanded a cavalry brigade in the \JCrimea\j, and led the fatal charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava (25 Oct 1854). He then became inspector-general of cavalry (1855-60). The woollen jacket known as a \Icardigan\i is named after him.
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"Cardiganshire",6945,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 69 700; area 1797 sq km / 694 sq mi. County (unitary authority from 1996) in W Wales, UK; administrative centre, \JAberystwyth\j; other chief town, Cardigan; tourism, crafts, agriculture; \JAberystwyth\j university and National Library of Wales; Devil's Bridge (12th-c).
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#
"Cardin, Pierre",6946,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)d\ti]
DT1 1922
EN French fashion designer, born in \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j. After working during World War 2 for a tailor in \JVichy\j, he went to Paris in 1944. He worked in fashion houses and on costume design, notably for Cocteau's film \IBeauty and the Beast \i(1947). He opened his own house in 1953, and has since been prominent in fashion for both women and men.
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#
"cardinal (ornithology)",6947,0,0,0
EN Either of two species of bird of \Jgenus\j \ICardinalis,\i native to the Americas: the \Bred\b or \Bnorthern cardinal\b \I(Cardinalis cardinalis),\i and the \Bvermilion cardinal\b \I(Cardinalis phoeniceus); \i males bright red. The name is sometimes used for other (unrelated) red birds. \B(Family:\b \JEmberizidae\j.)
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"cardinal (religion)",6948,0,0,0
EN A name originally given to one of the parish priests, bishops, or district deacons of \JRome\j, then applied to a senior dignitary of the Roman \JCatholic Church\j, being a priest or bishop nominated by a pope to act as counsellor. His duties are largely administrative, as head of a diocese, a curial office, an ecclesiastical commission, or a Roman congregation. The office carries special insignia, such as the distinctive red cap \I(biretta).\i
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"cardinal vowels",6949,0,0,0
EN A set of reference points devised by Daniel Jones for identifying the vowel sounds of a language, based on the movements of the tongue and jaws, and separated by roughly regular acoustic intervals from each other. Eighteen main tongue positions are recognized on a grid representing vertical and horizontal tongue movement.
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"Cardinal-grosbeaks",6950,0,0,0
EN See Cardinalidae
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"Cardinalidae",6951,0,0,0
EN \BCardinal-grosbeaks\b
The cardinal-grosbeaks constitute a group (family \JCardinalidae\j, order Passeriformes) of mainly seed-eating, often colorful birds confined to North and \JSouth America\j. They include the Darwin's finches, a group of about 14-15 species confined to the Galapagos Islands, often regarded as a distinct subfamily (Geospizinae), and which are known to all students of \Jbiology\j for their pivotal role in the development of Charles Darwin's theory of \Jevolution\j.
The group is tentative, its boundaries uncertainly drawn, and it merges almost imperceptibly with the tanagers (family \JThraupidae\j) on one hand and the troupials (\JIcteridae\j) on the other.
One of the largest species, the Northern Cardinal, is about 20 cm long and weighs 35-50 grams, but many members of the family are considerably smaller. The essential difference between cardinals and buntings is that cardinals crunch seeds and buntings peel them. There are numerous small differences in the structure of the bill, jaw, tongue, palate, and associated musculature between the two groups due to these different eating functions. Otherwise they differ little in general appearance, although some cardinals are substantially larger than buntings, and often much more brightly colored (though there are numerous exceptions to both generalities).
Male Northern Cardinals are almost entirely vivid red, and males of the bunting group \IPasserina\i (such as, in \JNorth America\j, the Painted Bunting \IPasserina\i \Iciris\i and Indigo Bunting \IPasserina\i \Icyanea)\i are especially brightly colored, in vivid shades of green, deep blue, and red. Females are nondescript brown. Among Darwin's finches, most species are dull gray, olive, or blackish brown.
Common members of the cardinal group in \JNorth America\j include the Northern Cardinal \ICardinalis\i \Icardinalis,\i Dickcissel \ISpiza\i \Iamericana,\i and Rose-breasted Grosbeak \IPheucticus\i \Iludovicianus,\i but \JSouth America\j supports a bewildering range of birds of the same general appearance and life style; these include the saltators \ISaltator,\i seedeaters \ISporophila,\i seed-finches \IOryzoborus,\i yellow-finches \ISicalis,\i duica-finches \IDuica,\i warbling-finches \IPoospiza,\i sierra-finches \IPhrygilus,\i and grassquits \ITiaris,\i some with a dozen species or more. Little is known of most of these, and consensus has yet to be reached on whether some of these groups are cardinals, buntings, or tanagers, and their placement is extremely tentative.
The family is restricted to the New World, although several species have been introduced by human agency to various places elsewhere in the world, notably to Hawaii, where some have become agricultural pests. Many species occur in \JNorth America\j, but the group is most diverse in \JSouth America\j.
Most cardinals and their close relatives live in woodlands, especially second growth, shrubbery, and forest edges, but Darwin's finches inhabit arid \Jcactus\j scrubs on the Galapagos Islands, and members of the family in \JSouth America\j occupy almost all terrestrial environments at all altitudes up to permanent snow line in the \JAndes\j. Several species in \JNorth America\j migrate southward in winter, but most tropical species are sedentary.
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"Cardinals, College of",6952,0,0,0
EN An institution consisting of all the cardinals of the Roman \JCatholic Church\j, technically of threefold structure: bishops, priests, and deacons. It originates from the reforms of Pope Urban II (r.1088-99). In 1586 its number was restricted to 70, but this limit was removed by Pope John XXIII in 1958. It is responsible for the government of the Church during a vacancy in the papacy, and since 1179 has been responsible for the election of a pope.
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"carding",6953,0,0,0
EN The blending and disentanglement of fibres prior to subsequent spinning processes. The fibres are passed between a series of rollers covered in projecting steel wires and rotating at different speeds.
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"cardioid",6954,0,0,0
EN The path of a point on a circle rolling around another circle of the same radius. The equation of a \Jcardioid\j is best expressed in polar co-ordinates: \Ir\i┐=┐\Ia\i (1┐+┐cos┐ \fq\n\d).
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"Cardozo, Benjamin (Nathan)",6955,0,0,0
DT (1870-1938)
EN Supreme Court justice; born in New York City. After attending Columbia Law School (although he never bothered taking a law degree), he began to practice in 1891 and was highly regarded among the legal community when he was elected to the New York Supreme Court (1913). Only six weeks later he was named to the New York Court of Appeals, becoming its chief judge in 1926.
His genius at combining a mastery of the law with a philosophic bent was apparent not only in his legal opinions but also in a series of books such as \IThe Nature of the Judicial Process\i (1921) and \ILaw and Literature\i (1931). By the time President Hoover appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court (1932-38) he was one of the most admired legal minds in the nation.
Broad in his approach to the law, generous in his interpretation of the Constitution, and sensitive to social contexts, he was often in dissent as the Court resisted the sweeping agenda of President Franklin Roosevelt's administration. Seemingly shy, even humble in his manner, he would go down in history as one of the truly great individuals to have served on the Supreme Court.
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"care order",6956,0,0,0
EN In England and Wales, an order made by a family proceedings court, a county court, or the High Court requiring a child to be placed in the care of a local authority within one of its residential establishments. Such orders cannot now be made in respect of child offenders. \BInterim care orders\b may be granted by a court while the appropriateness and necessity for a \Bfull care order\b is being assessed.
A full care order will last until a child is 18 unless previously terminated by a court. Jurisdictions vary in the way 'care' is exercised. For example, in Scotland, the equivalent order is termed a \Bresidential supervision requirement,\b granted by a \Ichildren's hearing,\i which applies both to child offenders and to those in need of care and protection. The order may be reviewed at the request of the child, the parents or guardian, or the local authority.
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"care proceedings",6957,0,0,0
EN The procedure adopted by a court or tribunal in relation to children, taken with a view to ensuring their protection and, if necessary, their reception into care. Care proceedings encompass children who are or may be the victims of abuse or neglect, those who are beyond the control of their parents, and those who are failing to receive a proper education. Many jurisdictions also include children and young persons who are committing offences in this category, though there has been an increasing tendency in certain countries (eg England and Wales) to separate child offenders from other children in need of care, protection, or control.
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"caretaker speech",6958,0,0,0
EN See motherese
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#
"Carew, Thomas",6959,0,0,0
PN [ka\Broo\b]
DT1 1595
DT2 1639
EN Poet, born in West Wickham, Kent, south-east England, UK. He studied at Oxford and the Middle Temple, and became a diplomat. A friend of Jonson and Donne, he wrote polished lyrics in the Cavalier tradition, and a \Jmasque\j \ICoelum britannicum\i (1634) which was performed at court.
MEX Donne; Jonson
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"Carey, George Leonard",6960,0,0,0
PN [\Bkair\bee]
DT1 1935
EN Anglican clergyman, born in London, England, UK. After service in the RAF, he studied divinity at King's College, London. He held Church posts in London and Durham, then became Principal of Trinity Theological College, \JBristol\j (1982--7). He was appointed Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1987 and Archbishop of Canterbury in 1991.
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#
"Carey, Henry (Benjamin Bounce)",6961,0,0,0
DT 1687-1743
EN English playwright. He wrote songs for Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1727) and Colley Cibber's The Provoked Husband (1728), librettos for operas like Amelia (1731) and a farcical afterpiece, The Contrivances (1715). In 1734 his brilliant \Jparody\j of the bombast of contemporary tragedy, Chrononhotonthologos, was performed under the pseudonym Benjamin Bounce. In the wake of The Beggar's Opera, Carey attacked the excesses of Italian opera in England with his popular opera The Dragonfly of Wantley (1737) at Covent Garden. Its sequel, The Dragoness (1738), was less successful. Carey committed suicide five years later.
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#
"Carey, Henry C(harles)",6962,0,0,0
DT (1793-1879)
EN economist, publisher; born in Philadelphia. Skipping college, he began working in business and by age 24 was a partner in his father's Baltimore publishing business, learning by reading manuscripts submitted for publication. At age 42, he sold the company to write about economics, publishing his \IEssay on the Rate of Wages\i (1935).
He espoused \Jlaissez-faire\j economics in the 3-volume \IPrinciples of Political Economy\i (1837, 1838, 1840) and protectionism in \IHarmony of Interests: Manufacturing and Commercial\i (1851). He continued to write and publish regularly into the 1870s.
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#
"Carey, James (Barron)",6963,0,0,0
DT (1911-73)
EN labor leader; born in Philadelphia. He helped organize and was first president of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) (1935-41). At odds with the UE's Communist leaders, he was elected president of the rival International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (IUE) (1949-65).
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"Carey, Joseph Maull",6964,0,0,0
DT (1845-1924)
EN U.S. senator; born in Milton, Del. A prosperous rancher and a judge on the Supreme Court of Wyoming (1872-76), he was elected territorial representative to Congress (Rep., Wyo.; 1885-90). Having introduced the bill for admitting Wyoming as a state, he then became its first U.S. senator (1890-95) and finally its governor (Dem., 1911-15).
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"Carey, Mathew",6965,0,0,0
DT (1760-1839)
EN publisher, bookseller; born in Dublin, Ireland. Fleeing to the U.S.A. in 1784 to escape prosecution for anti-British publications, he settled in Philadelphia, where he became an important publisher and wrote widely on economics and other subjects. In 1785 he founded the \IPennsylvania Herald,\i noted for its detailed coverage of the legislature. He also founded the Hibernian Society and the nation's first Sunday school.
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"Carey, Peter",6966,0,0,0
PN [\Bkair\bee]
DT1 1943
EN Writer, born in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. He attended Geelong \JGrammar School\j before beginning a career as an advertising copywriter. His first book, \IThe Fat Man in History\i (1974), was a collection of short stories, and he was quickly regarded as an innovative force in Australian writing.
Later books include \IBliss\i (1981), \IIllywhacker\i (1985), \IOscar and Lucinda\i (1988, Booker), \IThe Tax Inspector\i (1991), \IThe Unusual Life of Tristan Smith\i (1994), and \IJack Maggs\i (1997). He co-wrote the screenplays for \IBliss\i (1985) and \IUntil the End of the World\i (1990).
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1981 Bliss
1985 Illywhacker
1988 Oscar and Lucinda
1991 The Tax Inspector
1994 The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith
1995 The Big Bazoohley
1997 Jack Maggs
\IStories\i
1974 The Fat Man in History
1979 War Crimes
1980 Exotic Pleasures
1995 Collected Stories
\IOther\i
1985 Bliss
1990 Until the End of the World
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#
"Carey, William",6967,0,0,0
PN [\Bkair\bee]
DT1 1761
DT2 1834
EN Missionary and orientalist, born in Paulerspury, \JNorthamptonshire\j, C England, UK. He joined the \JBaptists\j in 1783, and three years later became a minister. In 1793 he and John Thomas were chosen as the first Baptist missionaries to India, where he founded the Serampur mission (1799). From 1801 to 1830 he was Oriental professor at Fort William College, \JCalcutta\j.
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"cargo cult",6968,0,0,0
EN The Melanesian variety of a widely occurring type of social movement (\Jmillenarianism\j) in which people look to some \Jsupernatural\j event to bring them prosperity. It is so-called because in \JMelanesia\j, in numerous instances, people performed rituals in an effort to obtain European material goods (referred to as 'cargo'). The movement first appeared in the late 19th-c, and was popular in the 1930s.
BK c
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"cariama",6969,0,0,0
EN See seriema
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"Cariamidae",6970,0,0,0
EN \BSeriemas\b
The two species of seriemas (family \JCariamidae\j, order Gruiformes, suborder Cariamae) are confined to \JSouth America\j. In their general appearance and behavior they somewhat resemble cranes or the Secretary-bird of Africa (family \JSagittariidae\j), with which they play an ecologically similar role, but analysis of their DNA suggests that their closest relative may be the Kagu of New Caledonia (family \JRhynochetidae\j). Numerous \Jfossil\j species are known from the Tertiary period in Argentina, and several close relatives are known from the Oligocene period on the prairies of \JNorth America\j.
In the past, seriemas were often known as cariamas, a Latinized version of a Tupi Indian name reported by the Spanish Conquistadors in the middle 1600s, whereas seriema comes from a modern Brazilian native word for the birds, and is gradually supplanting the older name.
The legs are very long and slender, the toes short. The neck is long and the head bears a small shaggy crest. The wings are broad and blunt, and the tail is long. The larger species (Crested Seriema \ICariama cristata)\i is about 80 cm in total body length, the smaller species (Burmeister's Seriema \IChunga burmeisteri)\i is about 70 cm long. The plumage is lax, and colored in shades of gray, finely vermiculated darker gray; the wings and tail are boldly banded black and white, gray or buff (depending on species).
In the Crested Seriema the bill and legs are red, in Burmeister's Seriema they are black. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are barred with black and spotted with white.
The Crested Seriema \ICariama cristata\i has a wide range extending from central \JBrazil\j to Uruguay and northern Argentina, but Burmeister's Seriema \IChunga burmeisteri\i is restricted to the Chaco region of \JParaguay\j and parts of Argentina. Both are sedentary or locally nomadic, and inhabit mainly dry grassland, savanna, arid scrublands, and open thorny woodland.
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"Carib",6971,0,0,0
EN American Indian groups of the Lesser \JAntilles\j and neighbouring \JSouth America\j (the Guianas and Venezuela); also the name of the largest family of South American Indian languages. The island Caribs were maritime people and warriors, who drove the Arawak from the area. Most were slaughtered by Spaniards in the 15th-c, and the survivors mixed with Spanish conquerors and later Negro slaves. The mainland Caribs led a more peaceful existence in small autonomous settlements in the tropical forests. Population c.5000.
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"Caribbean Community (CARICOM)",6972,0,0,0
EN An association chiefly of former British colonies in the \JCaribbean Sea\j, some of which (\JBarbados\j, \JJamaica\j, and the Leeward Is except for the Virgin and Windward Is) existed as the Caribbean Federation, with the aim of full self-government, until the establishment of the West Indies Federation (1958-63).
When \JJamaica\j became independent in 1962, the Federation was dissolved. In 1969 certain of the remaining islands in the Windward and Leeward Is were offered associated status within the Commonwealth, and in 1969 the West Indies Associated States was formed. In 1968 many of the islands agreed to the establishment of the \BCaribbean Free Trade Area (CARIFTA).\b Suriname joined CARICOM in 1995, making its membership 14.
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"Caribbean dance",6973,0,0,0
EN A mixture of dance styles basically of African origin but influenced by the Spanish conquest of the West Indies and later by French and English dance styles of the colonial era. It shows the merging of African body movements with formal European set dances. Its vivid rhythmic form profoundly influenced jazz dance in the USA.
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"Caribbean literature",6974,0,0,0
EN Caribbean literature begins with the rejection of colonial status by the West Indian islands. Influenced by the Harlem Renaissance, Claude McKay asserted the black viewpoint in \IBanana Bottom\i (1933); C Lake River James's \IMinty Alley\i (1936) led to a new realism. The postwar years brought a number of important novelists, among them Roger Mais (1905-55), eg \IBrother Man\i (1954); George Lamming (1932-) , eg \IIn the Cell of my Skin\i (1953); V S Naipaul (1932-) , eg \IA House for Mr Biswas\i (1961); and Wilson Harris (1921-) , eg \IGuyana Quartet\i (1960-3).
Several of these writers came to England in the 1950s, where they were encouraged by the BBC's 'Caribbean Voices' programme. Meanwhile Derek Walcott (1930-) published several volumes of poetry and created the Trinidad Theatre Workshop: poet / historian Edward Brathwaite (1930-) set new voices to old rhythms in his trilogy \IThe Arrivants\i (1967-9), which has been influential on the performance poetry of Bongo Jerry and Linton Kwesi Johnson (1952-) . Emerging talents today are the poets James Berry (1924-) and Fred d'Aguiar (1960-) , and the novelist / dramatist Caryl Phillips (1958-) .
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"Caribbean Sea",6975,0,0,0
EN area 2┐515┐900┐km\U2\u / 971┐000┐mi\U2\u. Arm of the \JAtlantic Ocean\j between the West Indies and Central and \JSouth America\j; linked to the Pacific by the \JPanama Canal\j; depth 6┐m / 20┐ft on continental shelf off \JNicaragua\j to 5058┐m / 16┐594┐ft on floor of Venezuelan Basin; deepest point, \JCayman\j Trench, 6950┐m / 22┐802┐ft; visited by Columbus, 1493; main island groups, Greater and Lesser \JAntilles\j; major trade route and tourist area.
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"caribou",6976,0,0,0
EN See \Jreindeer\j
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#
"caricature",6977,0,0,0
EN A mock portraiture, usually graphic rather than painted, in which features are exaggerated for humorous or satirical effect. Early practitioners included the Carracci in late 16th-c \JBologna\j. Bernini was a brilliant caricaturist. Modern political \Jcaricature\j was invented in mid-18th-c England (Gillray, Rowlandson), and has flourished ever since. Modern US practitioners include David Levine and Al Hirschfeld.
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"CARICOM",6978,0,0,0
EN See Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
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#
"caries",6979,0,0,0
PN [\Bkair\beez]
HS (dental)
EN A non-specific bacterial disease in which infecting organisms penetrate the enamel coating of a tooth. They may proceed to the centre or pulp of the tooth, which may be destroyed, and if unchecked reach the root of the tooth to produce an apical tooth \Jabscess\j. A high consumption of sugar predisposes to the development of \Jcaries\j, while an adequate amount of \Jfluoride\j in drinking \Jwater\j (one part in a million) increases the resistance of the enamel to bacteria.
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"CARIFTA",6980,0,0,0
EN See Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
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#
"carillon",6981,0,0,0
EN A set of bells, usually with a compass of two octaves or more, installed in a tower or other high construction, and operated mechanically or by hand to play melodies or more complex polyphonic music. Many carillons are incorporated into elaborate public clocks, especially on the European mainland.
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"Carina",6982,0,0,0
PN [ka\Briy\bna]
HS (Lat 'keel')
EN A Southern hemisphere \Jconstellation\j, formerly part of the huge ancient \Jconstellation\j of Argo Navis. It contains Canopus, the second brightest star in our sky, a \Jsupergiant\j. Distance: 30 parsec.
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"carinatae",6983,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\brinatiy]
HS (Lat 'with a keel', referring to the keel on a bird's \Jbreastbone\j)
EN A generally obsolete term used for birds which fly. The group \JCarinatae\j was distinct from the group \JRatitae\j.
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"Carissimi, Giacomo",6984,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bree\bsimee]
DT1 1605
DT2 74
EN Composer, born in Marino, \JItaly\j. Organist in Tivoli, Assisi, and from 1628 in \JRome\j, he did much to develop the sacred cantata. His works include the \Joratorio\j \IJephte\i (1650, Jephthah).
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"Carl XVI Gustaf",6985,0,0,0
DT1 1946
EN King of Sweden since 1973, born in Stockholm, Sweden, the grandson of King Gustav VI. His father died in an air accident (1947), and he became crown prince from his grandfather's accession (1950). A new constitution restricting monarchical powers was approved by the Swedish parliament just before his accession.
In 1976 he married \BSilvia Sommerlath\b, the daughter of a West German businessman. They have three children: \BVictoria\b (1977-- ), \BCarl Philip\b (1979-- ), and \BMadeleine\b (1982-- ). He is a keen all-round sportsman, proficient in yachting, \Jskiing\j, and shooting.
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"Carle, Eric",6986,0,0,0
DT1 1929
EN Picture book artist, born in \JGermany\j. Using a distinctive \Jcollage\j technique he has written and illustrated several children's books. He is best-known for \IThe Very Hungry Caterpillar\i (1970), in which the voracious creature burrows through the pages of the book in search of delicacies.
\BMajor Works\b
1970 The Very Hungry Caterpillar
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#
"Carle, Richard",6987,0,0,0
DT 1871-1941
EN American comedian, librettist and lyricist. Carle became a popular comedian and singer in such shows as A Mad Bargain (1893), Excelsior, Jr (1895) and Yankee Doodle Dandy (1898). His comic persona was that of a shrewd, worldly prankster rather than a butt or simpleton. He wrote the scripts and lyrics for many of his own shows. His last appearance was in The New Yorkers (1930).
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#
"Carleton, Guy, Baron Dorchester",6988,0,0,0
DT1 1724
DT2 1808
EN British soldier, born in Strabane, Northern Ireland. Governor of Quebec (1775-7), he successfully defended the city against the Americans under Benedict Arnold, whom he subsequently defeated again on Lake Champlain in 1776. He was British commander-in-chief in America (1782-3). As Governor of Quebec (1786-9, 1793-6), and Governor of Lower Canada (1791-6), he did much to save Canada for Britain.
MEX Arnold, Benedict
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"Carlile, Richard",6989,0,0,0
DT1 1790
DT2 1843
EN Journalist and radical reformer, born in Ashburton, Devon, south-west England, UK. A disciple of Thomas Paine, he sold the prohibited radical weekly \IBlack Dwarf\i throughout London in 1817. He was imprisoned several times for his publications, which included his \IPolitical Litany,\i Paine's works, and a journal, \IThe Republican\i (1819-26).
MEX Paine
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"Carlile, Wilson",6990,0,0,0
DT1 1847
DT2 1942
EN Anglican clergyman, born in London, England, UK. In 1882 he founded the Church Army, and was made a prebendary of St Paul's in 1906.
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"Carling, Will",6991,0,0,0
DT1 1965
EN Player of rugby union football, born in Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, S England, UK. He studied at Durham University, where he played for the university, and later for Harlequins, then joined the army, but resigned his commission to devote more time to rugby. In 1988 at the age of 22 he made his England debut against \JFrance\j, was appointed captain (1988--96), and played a major role in the Grand Slam victories of 1991, 1992, and 1995.
He is the most capped English rugby captain of all time (58), and holds the world record for victories as captain (43 matches). He received national publicity in 1995 when the media focused on rumours of a possible relationship with Princess Diana.
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"Carlisle",6992,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)\Bliyl\b]
EN 54░54N 2░55W, pop (1995e) 73 300. County town in Cumbria, NW England, UK; at the W end of \JHadrian\j's Wall, at the confluence of the Eden and Caldew Rivers; important fortress in Scots--English border wars; airfield (Crosby); railway junction; foodstuffs, metal goods, textiles, \Jengineering\j; cathedral (11th--12th-c), castle (11th-c), Church of St Cuthbert (18th-c); Great Fair (last Saturday in Aug); football league team, \JCarlisle\j United.
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"Carlisle, Anthony",6993,0,0,0
EN See Nicholson, William
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"Carlisle, John Griffin",6994,0,0,0
DT (1835-1910)
EN U.S. representative/senator, cabinet officer; born in Kenton County, Ky. A self-educated lawyer, he was elected to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Dem., Ky.; 1877-90). He served as Speaker of the House (1883-90) before being appointed to the U.S. Senate (1890-93). He served as secretary of the treasury (1893-97) under President Grover Cleveland. A renowned orator, he was so outspoken in support for \Jfree trade\j and "sound money" that he antagonized his fellow Kentuckians, so he spent his last years practicing law in New York City.
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"Carlism",6995,0,0,0
EN A Spanish dynastic cause and political movement, officially born in 1833, but with origins in the 1820s. Against the claim to the Spanish throne of Isabella II, daughter of Ferdinand VII, Carlists supported the claim of the latter's brother, Don Carlos (1788-1855). In the 19th-c, Carlism attracted widespread popular support chiefly in conservative, Catholic districts of rural N \JSpain\j. In 1833-40, 1846-9, and 1872-6, Carlists fought unsuccessful civil wars against Spanish liberalism.
After 1876 Carlism became a political party espousing ultra-rightist, 'traditionalist' principles. It took the Nationalist side in the Spanish \JCivil War\j (1936-9), providing c.100┐000 volunteers. Since 1939, under the Franco regime and after, the cause has suffered division and serious decline, though small Carlist groups persist.
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"Carlos, Don",6996,0,0,0
DT1 1788
DT2 1855
EN Spanish pretender to the throne, the second son of Charles (Carlos) IV of \JSpain\j, born in Madrid. On the accession of his niece \BIsabella II\b (1830-1904) in 1833, he asserted his claim to the throne - a claim reasserted by his son, \BDon Carlos, Count de Montemolin\b (1818-61), and by the latter's nephew, \BDon Carlos\b (1848-1909). \ICarlist\i risings, whose strength lay in the Basque provinces, occurred in 1834-9 and 1872-6.
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"Carlow (county)",6997,0,0,0
PN [\Bkah(r)\bloh]
EN pop (1995e) 40 600; area 896 sq km/346 sq mi. County in \JLeinster\j province, SE Ireland; between the Slieve Ardagh Hills (W) and the Wicklow Mts (E) where the Barrow and Slaney Rivers \Jwater\j rich farm land; Blackstairs Mts rise in the S; capital, Carlow; wheat, \Jbarley\j, sugar beet.
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"Carlow (town)",6998,0,0,0
PN [\Bkah(r)\bloh]
EN 52░50N 6░55W, pop (1995e) 14 100. Capital of Carlow county, \JLeinster\j, SE Ireland; railway; technical college; \Jbarley\j malting, sugar beet, footwear; Carlow Castle (12th-c), cathedral (19th-c), Browne's Hill tumuli.
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"Carlson, Carolyn",6999,0,0,0
DT1 1943
EN Dancer and choreographer, born in \JCalifornia\j, USA. She studied at \JSan Francisco\j Ballet School and with Alwin Nikolais, and was invited to create a piece for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1973. Her solo was so well-received that a special post, \IDanseuse Θtoile choreographique\i, was invented for her. From 1980 she directed her own troupe at \JVenice\j's Teatro Fenice, but later returned to Paris.
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"Carlson, Chester (Floyd)",7000,0,0,0
DT (1906-68)
EN US physicist: inventor of xerography.
Carlson worked for a printer before studying physics at the \JCalifornia\j Institute of Technology; he then worked for the Bell \JTelephone\j Company before taking a law degree and moving to the patent department of an \Jelectronics\j firm. During the Depression he decided that invention was a way to prosperity and in his spare time he searched for a cheap, dry method of copying documents.
After three years he focused on a scheme using electrostatic attraction to cause powder to adhere to plain paper, and got his first copies in 1938. It took another 12 years and a team of co-workers to develop a commercial xerographic copier; he died a very wealthy man.
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#
"Carlson, Evans F. (Fordyce)",7001,0,0,0
DT (1896-1947)
EN marine officer; born in Sidney, N.Y. Service in China in the 1930s left him with a great admiration for the Communists there; he patterned his Carlson's Raiders, a famous World War II marines unit, after the Red Chinese Army. After the war, he argued forcefully for peaceful coexistence with the \JSoviet Union\j, and after his death was attacked by red-baiting Senator Joseph R. McCarthy.
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"Carlsson, Ingvar (Costa)",7002,0,0,0
DT1 1934
EN Swedish statesman and prime minister (1986--91). He studied at Lund and North Western (USA) universities, and was secretary in the prime minister's office (1958--60) before entering active party politics. He became president of the youth league of the Social Democratic Labour Party in 1961, and in 1964 was elected to the Riksdag (parliament). He became deputy to Olof Palme (1982), and succeeded him as prime minister after Palme's assassination in 1986.
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"Carlstadt or Karlstadt",7003,0,0,0
PN [\Bkah(r)l\bshtat]
HS , originally \BAndreas Rudolf Bodenstein\b
DT1 ?
DT2 1541
EN German reformer, born prior to 1483 in Carlstadt, \JBavaria\j. In 1517 he joined Luther, who in 1521 rebuked his iconoclastic zeal, and whom he afterwards opposed on the question of the \JEucharist\j. Accused of participation in the Peasants' War, he fled to \JSwitzerland\j, and became professor of \Jtheology\j at \JBasel\j.
MEX Luther
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"Carlucci, Frank (Charles)",7004,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)\Bloo\bchee]
DT1 1930
EN US statesman, born in Scranton, \JPennsylvania\j, USA. He studied at Princeton and Harvard, worked in the Nixon administration (1969--74), then served under presidents Ford (1974--6) and Carter (1977--81) as US ambassador to \JPortugal\j, and later as deputy director of the \JCIA\j.
He found himself out of step with the 'hawks' in the Reagan administration (1981--9), and left to work at Sears World Trade after barely a year as deputy secretary of defence. In 1986 he became National Security Adviser, and served as defence secretary from 1987, supporting Soviet--US arms reduction initiatives.
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"Carluccio, Antonio (Mario Gaetano)",7005,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)\Bloo\bchioh]
DT1 1937
EN Restaurateur, born in Vietri Sul Mare, \JItaly\j. He studied at the Roland Matura Schule, Vienna, and became a wine merchant in England (1975--81). He joined the Neal Street Restaurant in London as restaurateur (1981-- ), became proprietor (1989-- ), and joint proprietor (with his wife) of Carluccio's food retailers (1992-- ).
His numerous \Jtelevision\j appearances include BBC's \IFood and Drink\i (1986 -- ), \IHot Chefs\i (1991), and the series \IAntonio Carluccio's Italian Feasts\i (1996) with accompanying book. Among other books are \IAn Invitation to Italian Cooking\i (1986) and \IA Passion for Pasta\i (1993).
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"Carlyle, Jane Baillie",7006,0,0,0
HS , \InΘe\i \BWelsh\b
DT1 1801
DT2 66
EN Diarist, born in Haddington, East Lothian, E Scotland, UK, the wife of Thomas Carlyle. She was tutored by the revivalist minister Edward Irving, and he introduced her in 1821 to his friend Carlyle, whom she married in 1826. Forthright and quick-witted, she declined to become a writer, despite Carlyle's promptings.
She supported Carlyle loyally through his depressions and chronic ill health, and after her death he retired from public life, writing an anguished memoir of her in his \IReminiscences\i (1881). He also edited her letters and diaries, which are full of vivid insights and quality writing, and show her to have been one of the most accomplished women of her time.
MEX Carlyle, Thomas; Irving, Edward
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"Carlyle, Thomas",7007,0,0,0
DT1 1795
DT2 1881
EN Man of letters, born in Ecclefechan, Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland, UK. He studied at Edinburgh University, and taught for several years before beginning to write articles for the \IEdinburgh Encyclopaedia,\i and becoming absorbed in German literature, notably Goethe.
In 1826 he married \BJane Baillie Welsh.\b His best-known work is \ISartor Resartus\i (1833-4). He then moved to London, where he wrote his other major works on the \JFrench Revolution\j (3 vols, 1837) and Frederick the Great (1858-65). After his wife's death, he retired from public life, and wrote little.
MEX Carlyle, Jane Baillie
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"Carmack, George",7008,0,0,0
DT (1860-1922)
EN Washington prospector; born near \JSan Francisco\j. He went to \JAlaska\j in 1884 and married a Tagish Indian woman. He is credited with being the first to discover \JAlaska\j's gold in 1896. He returned to \JCalifornia\j and invested his money in mines and real estate. He abandoned his Indian wife and married a white woman around 1900.
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"Carmarthen",7009,0,0,0
PN [ka(r)\Bmah\b<BU>th</BU>en]
EN 51░52N 4░19W, pop (1995e) 15 600. County town of Carmarthenshire, SW Wales, UK; on R Towy, 13 km/8 mi N of the \JBristol\j Channel; chartered, 1227; railway; dairy products, pharmaceuticals, flour milling, agricultural trade.
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"Carmarthenshire",7010,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 169 000; area 2398 sq km / 926 sq mi. County (unitary authority from 1996) in SW Wales, UK; drained by R Teifi and R Tywi ; administrative centre, Carmarthen; other chief towns, Llanelli, Ammanford; tourism, crafts, agriculture; Laugharne (home of Dylan Thomas); Carreg Cennen and Kidwelly castles; early motor speed trials on Pendine sands.
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"Carme",7011,0,0,0
PN [\Bkah(r)\bmee]
EN The 11th natural \Jsatellite\j of Jupiter, discovered in 1938; distance from the \Jplanet\j 22┐600┐000┐km / 14┐044┐000┐mi; diameter 40┐km / 25┐mi.
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"Carmelites",7012,0,0,0
EN A Roman Catholic monastic order originating in the 12th-c from the Hermits of Mount Carmel (Israel), seeking the way of life of the \Jprophet\j Elijah; properly known as the \BOrder of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel,\b or \BWhite Friars; \b abbreviated \BOCarm.\b They flourished as mendicant friars in Europe.
Carmelite nuns were officially recognized in 1452, reformed by Teresa of ┴vila in \JSpain\j (1562) as strictly cloistered \BDiscalced Carmelites\b \B(ODC).\b (The term 'discalced' derives from the practice of wearing sandals instead of shoes and stockings.) The male order was similarly reformed by St John of the Cross, and in 1593 was recognized as a separate order. The older order specialized in teaching and preaching; the Discalced mainly in parochial and foreign mission work.
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"Carmen Sylva",7013,0,0,0
HS , pseudonym of \BElizabeth, Queen of Romania\b
DT1 1843
DT2 1916
EN The daughter of Prince Hermann of Wied Neuwied, who married \BKing\b (then Prince) \BCarol I\b of \JRomania\j in 1869. Her only child, a daughter, died in 1874, and out of her sorrow arose her literary activity. Two poems, printed privately at \JLeipzig\j in 1880 under the name 'Carmen Sylva', were followed by \IStⁿrme\i (1881), \ILeidens Erdengang\i (1882, trans Pilgrim Sorrow), and several other works.
MEX Carol I
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"Carmichael, Hoagy",7014,0,0,0
DT (1899-1981)
EN Hoagy composer, performer; born in Bloomington, Ind. Tutored in \Jragtime\j \Jpiano\j, he played in small bands while in college, where he studied law. After briefly practicing law, he quit to work as a bandleader and arranger. In 1927 he composed the melody that became "Star Dust" when lyrics were later added; it became one of the most widely performed and recorded popular songs of all time.
In 1930 he made a series of recordings for RCA Victor with the Dorsey brothers, Jack Teagarden, Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman, Joe Venuti and Bix Beiderbecke. During the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s he wrote songs and composed film scores; he also occasionally acted in movies, appearing either as himself or a character like himself, playing the \Jpiano\j with a \Jcigarette\j dangling from his mouth.
During the 1940s and 1950s he briefly hosted two radio shows and a \Jtelevision\j variety show, \ISaturday Night Revue.\i In the early 1960s he acted in a weekly \Jtelevision\j western and was a frequent guest on other \Jtelevision\j shows. He was elected to the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 1971.
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"Carmichael, Stokely",7015,0,0,0
DT1 1941
EN Radical activist, born in Trinidad. He emigrated to the USA in 1952, and was shocked by the \Jracism\j he encountered. Involved in Civil Rights while attending Howard University (1960--4), he was elected leader of the Student Nonviolent Co-ordinating Committee, and changed the group's focus from \Jintegration\j to black liberation.
He popularized the phrase "black power', and as a Black \JPanther\j came to symbolize black violence to many whites. He later favoured forging alliances with radical whites, which led to his resignation from the Panthers in 1968. He and his wife, \BMiriam Makeba\b, moved to Guinea in 1969, where he supported Pan-Africanism. He eventually returned to the USA, but did not continue with Civil Rights activities.
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"Carnac",7016,0,0,0
EN A peninsula on the S coast of Brittany, N \JFrance\j, renowned for its megalithic alignments, stone circles, and chambered tombs of \JNeolithic\j date. The alignments, unsurpassed elsewhere, run E-W with 7-13 parallel rows each: the best preserved, at Kermario, has seven principal lines up to c.1100┐m / 3700┐ft long with 1029 stones. In all, c.3000 stones survive, extending over some 5┐km / 3┐mi.
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"Carnap, Rudolf",7017,0,0,0
DT (1891-1970)
EN philosopher; born in Rondsdorf, \JGermany\j. After earning a doctorate from the University of Jena, he taught at the University of Vienna (1926-31) and became a leader of the Vienna Circle of logical positivists. Emigrating to the U.S.A. in 1935 to escape Nazism, he held posts at the University of \JChicago\j (1936-52), the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton (1952-54), and the University of \JCalifornia\j (from 1955).
A pioneer in the rigorous analytic tradition, he wrote such works as \IThe Logical \JSyntax\j of Language\i (translated 1937), \IMeaning and Necessity\i (1947), and \ILogical Foundations of Probability\i (1950).
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"Carnarvon, George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of",7018,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)\Bnah(r)\bvon]
DT1 1866
DT2 1923
EN Amateur Egyptologist, born at Highclere Castle, Berkshire, S England, UK. From 1907 he sponsored Howard Carter's excavations of royal tombs at Thebes. He died shortly after the spectacular discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922.
MEX Carter, Howard; Tutankhamen
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"carnation",7019,0,0,0
EN A perennial species of pink \I(Dianthus caryophyllaceus),\i native to the Mediterranean; leaves tufted; flowers with spreading, slightly frilly petals. Wild carnations have pink, strongly-scented flowers. Ornamental hybrids and garden cultivars are various colours, and may have multiple petals. \B(Family:\b Caryophyllaceae.)
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"CarnΘ, Marcel",7020,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)nay]
DT1 1909
DT2 96
EN Film director, born in Paris. He trained as a film technician, later working as an assistant to RenΘ Clair. From 1931 his collaboration as director with the poet and scriptwriter Jacques PrΘvert resulted in a series of outstanding productions, including \IQuai des brumes\i (1938, trans Port of Shadows), \ILe Jour se lΦve\i (1939, Daybreak) and \ILes Enfants du paradis\i (1944, Children of Paradise). After the break-up of the partnership in 1949, his late work was irregular and less distinguished.
MEX Clair; PrΘvert
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"Carneades",7021,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)\Bnee\badeez]
DT1a c.
DT1 214
DT2 129
DT2b BC
EN Greek philosopher, born in Cyrene. He became head of the Academy, which under his very different, sceptical direction became known as the 'New Academy'. He had the reputation of a virtuoso dialectician, who could argue equally persuasively for quite opposing points of view.
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"Carnegie, Andrew",7022,0,0,0
DT (1835-1919)
EN iron/steel manufacturer, philanthropist; born in Dunfermline, Scotland. Although he had only a primary-school education, he grew up in a family that valued ideas and books as well as progressive social and economic reforms. His father was a \Jhandloom\j weaver and he brought his family to the U.S.A. in 1848 where they joined relatives in Allegheny (now \JPittsburgh\j), Pa.
Young Andrew quickly moved from bobbin boy in a factory to a telegraph operator (and was one of the first to learn to read messages "by ear"); he then became an assistant to Thomas Scott of the \JPennsylvania\j Railroad (1853-65); during the \JCivil War\j he was not in military service but he helped improve the Federal army's telegraph communications. He left the \JPennsylvania\j Railroad in 1865 to concentrate on his own businesses, first the Keystone Bridge Company, then making iron and steel.
Everything he took up made him wealthier, and the secrets of his success seemed to be that he surrounded himself with intelligent men, invested heavily in new equipment, and managed to keep majority ownership in his companies so that he did not have to answer to stockholders.
As he prospered, he broadened his interests, traveling abroad and deliberately seeking to exchange views with leading individuals in \JGreat Britain\j as well as America; he would count Matthew Arnold and Mark Twain, William Gladstone and Theodore Roosevelt among his friends; he wrote several books, including \ITriumphant Democracy\i (1886), setting forth his optimistic views about the role of \Jcapitalism\j and democracy; he built a great estate in Scotland where he often entertained prominent people.
Although progressive in some respects, he was essentially a benevolent dictator; he had little patience with the burgeoning labor movement, and the blackest mark on his career was the Homestead strike of 1892, when he allowed his assistant, Henry Clay Frick, to take steps that led to violence. (Carnegie himself was in Scotland during the strike.) By 1889 his Carnegie Steel Company had become one of the world's largest; when he sold his business to J. P. Morgan in 1901 for some $260 million profit for himself, he was one of the richest men in the world and could devote himself to his philanthropies.
He had started donating money as a young entrepreneur; in 1889 he published an article, "Wealth," in which he argued that the wealthy were obligated to distribute their fortunes to improve the world. He had begun by helping communities build libraries and helping churches buy organs; he established pension funds for teachers, eventually setting up the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (1905) to support this as well as other programs; he helped support various scientific undertakings, eventually establishing the Carnegie Institution of Washington (1902) to support such; he set up the Carnegie Hero Funds (1904) to recognize individuals who had performed heroic acts; he donated to many institutions of higher learning in Scotland as well as in America and set up the Carnegie Institute of Technology in \JPittsburgh\j (and its sister school, Margaret Morrison); he set up the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 1910 and helped build the international court of justice at the Hague.
It is estimated that he eventually gave away $350 million, but his money failed to buy what he most wanted, world peace, and he died before the U.S.A. rejected the \JLeague of Nations\j he had long dreamed of establishing.
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"Carnegie, Dale",7023,0,0,0
DT (1888-1955)
EN author, public speaker; born in Maryville, Mo. Devoted to public speaking from his teen years, he was unsuccessful as a salesman. Moving to New York City, he gave classes in public speaking at the Young Men's Christian Association (1912). Soon he was developing courses on his own, and writing pamphlets he would eventually publish as books. After serving in the army in World War I he managed Lowell Thomas's lecture tour, then turned to his own tour to promote his ideas about success through public speaking.
In the early 1930s he was known for his books and a radio program, when he published \IHow to Win Friends and Influence People\i (1930), which enjoyed immediate success and would remain one of the best-sellers of all time. This led to demand for him as a lecturer and writer: he began a syndicated newspaper column and he organized the Dale Carnegie Institute for Effective Speaking and Human Relations, with branches all over the world; he lived to see the \Jday\j when his name became virtually synonymous with the very kind of self-help-to-success that he promoted.
EN fashion designer; born in Vienna, \JAustria\j. A childhood immigrant to New York City, she appropriated Andrew Carnegie's surname for her first hat shop (1909). Creating a major fashion house, Carnegie reinterpreted French \Ihaute couture\i for Americans; she popularized the "little Carnegie suit" and the simple black cocktail dress. She married John Zanft in 1927 but did not use his name in her public or professional life.
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"Carnic Alps",7025,0,0,0
HS , Ger \BKarnische Alpen,\b Ital \BAlpi Carniche\b
EN S \JAlpine\j mountain range on the border between \JItaly\j and \JAustria\j; highest peak is Hohe Warte (2780┐m / 9121┐ft); crossed by the Pl÷cken Pass.
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"carnitine",7026,0,0,0
EN A chemical substance (an \Iamine)\i derived from the essential amino acid, lysine. The \Joxidation\j of fatty acids by mammalian cells requires carnitine as an intermediary in the intracellular transport of fatty acids. Although it was once considered a vitamin, carnitine is probably not an essential component of the diet. Most infant formulae based on cow's milk are supplemented with carnitine to the level normally found in breast milk.
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"Carnival",7027,0,0,0
EN (See also Trinidad \Jcarnival\j.) Pre-Lenten festival. The features of this Christian, and especially Roman Catholic, festival vary according to both culture and climate, and can be found in May Games, the Feast of St Bartholomew (25 August), the Jamaican Christmas masquerade of Jonkonnu, the Feast of Fools (28 December, Holy Innocents) and, outside \JChristianity\j, the Jewish \JPurim\j play. The word is known from the 11th century. Its Latin root signifies the 'removal' of flesh; Italian popular \Jetymology\j gives us the metaphorically more graphic 'farewell' to flesh - the meat about to be forsworn for the Lenten fast.
The wild indulgence of \Jcarnival\j, though set immediately in opposition to the austerity of Lent, forms the mediating term in a shift from the alegrφa of Christmas to the tristeza of Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, so that a secular celebration of carnality stands between the year's two key spiritual occasions, looking back to one and forward to the other.
In its activities, its visual imagery and its verbal expressions, \Jcarnival\j is a bewildering set of variations on the theme of oppositions and their inversion or dissolution, which together create a Cockaigne-like universe. Living pictures are processed through the street, illustrating versions of the world turned upside down: the judge sentenced by the accused, the horseman riding backwards, the husband spinning while his wife ploughs.
Distinctions between rich and poor, high status and low, are dissolved in the promiscuous mingling of the crowd in the public square, or disguised behind masks and costumes. Men and women cross-dress, and the normal rules of sexual deference are relaxed or abandoned. Informal abuse and obscenity are the order of the \Jday\j, together with the bawdy or satirical song. Competitive games may be organized, but even then they are virtually rule-free and extremely robust (like the Shrove Tuesday football at Ashbourne, \JDerbyshire\j, England), or tend to deny their own rules, by ensuring that the fattest and slowest man wins the foot race.
Informal associations of young men process, they mount shows, or simply roam the streets - the SchembartlΣufer of Nuremberg, the Compagnie de la MΦre Folle at Dijon, the Venetian Compagnia della Calza. Such loosely constituted associations at once express the egalitarian ideal of \Jcarnival\j, and \Jparody\j the \Jguilds\j, societies and orders of the everyday, hierarchically organized world. Above all, people eat and drink as if there is no tomorrow.
A \Jcarnival\j is not primarily a spectator sport, and has no need of the sequential patterning which audiences require. Nevertheless, its activities cover a spectrum from wholly informal socializing and milling about, through the relatively formal processions of floats and perambulations of societies, to the wholly formal protodramatic or dramatic performance.
Some of these derive directly from the parodic thesis of \Jcarnival\j - mock marriages, trials, burials (such as the burial of the sardine in Madrid depicted by Goya), jousts between \JCarnival\j and Lent (Brueghel). Others extrapolate the ambiance of \Jcarnival\j into fully developed little farces, such as the Fastnachtspiele of southern \JGermany\j. From plays such as these derive stock comic characters such as the German Hanswurst, and possibly the English Pickleherring.
In a sense \Jcarnival\j is a ritual of revolt, and sometimes this has specific political connotations. But to equate its dialectic between official and popular culture with class struggle in a general sense is too simple, for \Jpatricians\j as well as \Jplebeians\j are involved as both organizers and participants, and share its symbolic vocabulary. For the most part, masters and servants alike seem willing to accept the collective hangover that follows the collective binge.
Carnivals have led to riot and repression; they have never led directly to social revolution. Their indirect influence in posing questions of the relationship between the spiritual and the carnal, authority and equality, order and licence, and in offering an image of what the world might be like if it were turned upside down, remains a matter of speculation.
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"carnivore",7028,0,0,0
PN [\Bkah(r)\bnivaw(r)]
EN A primarily meat-eating \Jmammal\j, preying on other vertebrates; lower jaw moves only up and down; canine teeth long; some cheek teeth \I(carnassials)\i specialized for cutting flesh; 4-5 clawed toes on each foot. \B(Order:\b Carnivora, 7 families, 238 species.)
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"carnivorous plant",7029,0,0,0
EN A plant which traps animals, usually insects and small invertebrates, and secretes digestive enzymes which break down the prey, allowing the resulting products to be absorbed; also known as an \Binsectivorous plant.\b Carnivorous plants grow in nutrient-poor habitats, and food obtained from prey, especially organic \Jnitrogen\j, augments that produced by \Jphotosynthesis\j. The carnivorous habit has arisen independently in several unrelated groups, principally in the families Droseraceae (sundews), Nepenthaceae and Sarraceniaceae (pitcher plants), and Lentibulariaceae (butterworts and bladderworts).
The traps are invariably formed from modified leaves, sometimes with very sophisticated features. The simplest, found in butterworts, are merely covered with a viscous substance to which insects stick; in sundews, long, mobile sticky hairs and even the leaf itself move in response to the struggles of the prey and enfold it. The leaves of pitcher plants form tubular or jug-shaped traps filled with fluid, in which the victims drown before being digested.
The largest are said to be capable of trapping small rodents. The pitchers are often brightly and attractively coloured, and bear honey glands on the inner surface to entice animals towards a smooth, glossy 'slip zone'; further down, the surface is covered with downward projecting hairs to prevent escape. Equally sophisticated are the underwater traps of bladderworts which suck in the prey, but the most spectacular is the Venus's fly-trap, in which a trigger mechanism causes the jaw-like traps to snap closed around the prey.
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"Carnot cycle",7030,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)noh]
EN The fundamental thermodynamic cycle proposed by French engineer Sadi Carnot in 1824, in an attempt to explain the working of the \Jsteam engine\j. It comprises four stages: isothermal then adiabatic expansions, followed by isothermal and adiabatic compressions. A \BCarnot engine\b is the most efficient heat engine possible \B(Carnot's law).\b
For intake \Jtemperature\j \IT\i\Di\d and exhaust \Jtemperature\j \IT\i\Do\d, thermal efficiency \Ie\i is \Ie\i┐=┐\I(T\i\Di\d┐-┐\IT\i\Do\d) / \IT\i\Di\d. Because of physical and metallurgical problems, the Carnot cycle is not practical, and other cycles have been developed that meet the needs of real engines. Such cycles reflect more closely the way heat is actually added to and taken from the gases of a real engine.
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"Carnot's law",7031,0,0,0
EN See Carnot cycle
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"Carnot, (Nicolas LΘonard) Sadi",7032,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)noh]
DT (1796-1832)
EN French theoretical physicist: a founder of \Jthermodynamics\j through his theoretical study of an idealized heat engine.
Carnot's family was unusual. His father, Lasare Carnot (1753-1823), was the 'Organizer of Victory' for the Revolutionary Army in 1794 and became Napoleon's minister of war; unusually, he left politics for science in 1807 and did good work in pure and applied \Jmathematics\j and in \Jengineering\j. Sadi had one brother, Hippolyte, also a politician, whose son became president of \JFrance\j. Sadi was educated by his father and at the ╔cole Polytechnique, and served in the army as an engineer, leaving it as a captain in 1828. He was a \Jcholera\j victim in the Paris epidemic of 1832.
His scientific work was highly original, and the single paper he published before his early death did much to create the new science of \Jthermodynamics\j. His paper was \IReflections on the Motive Power of Fire\i (1824) and it originated in Carnot's interest in steam engines, which had been developed by British engineers and, as the nationalistic Carnot realized, were generating an industrial revolution in the UK.
However, their theory was non- existent and their efficiency very low. Carnot set out to deduce if the efficiency could be improved and whether steam was the best 'working substance'. His paper is a brilliant success, despite the fact that he used the \Jcaloric\j theory of heat, which presumed it to be a 'subtle fluid'. (This did not affect the main answers and, incidentally, Carnot's notes show that long before his death he was converted to modern heat theory.) He also used the correct idea that perpetual motion is impossible, a fact of experience.
In his paper, Carnot considers an idealized \Jsteam engine\j, frictionless, with its working substance passing from heat source to heat sink through a series of equilibrium states, so that it is truly reversible. The pressure-volume changes in it constitute a Carnot cycle. He was able to show that the efficiency of such an engine depends only on the \Jtemperature\j (T\D1\d) of the heat source and the \Jtemperature\j (T\D2\d) of the heat sink; that the maximum fraction of the heat \Jenergy\j convertible into work is (T\D1\d - T\D2\d) /T\D2\d; and that it does not depend at all on the working substance (Carnot's \Jtheorem\j).
These ideas, which were eventually to mean so much for both engineers and theoreticians, were too abstract to attract much interest in 1824. In 1849 when W Thomson saw the paper he realized its importance, and he and Clausius made it widely known. The paper contains ideas linked with the laws of conservation of \Jenergy\j and the First Law of \JThermodynamics\j, and led Thomson and Clausius towards the Second Law. Later still, Gibbs and others were to use thermodynamic ideas to forecast whether chemical reactions will occur.
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"Carnot, Lazare (Nicolas Marguerite)",7033,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)noh]
DT1 1753
DT2 1823
EN French statesman, known as 'the organizer of victory' during the Revolutionary Wars, born in Nolay, \JFrance\j. He entered the army as an engineer, and became a member of the Legislative Assembly (1791). He survived the Terror, and became one of the Directors (1795), but in 1797, suspected of Royalist sympathies, he escaped to \JGermany\j. Back in Paris, he became minister of war (1800), and helped to organize the Italian and Rhenish campaigns. He commanded at Antwerp in 1814, and during the Hundred Days was minister of the interior.
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"Carnovsky, Leon",7034,0,0,0
DT (1903-75)
EN librarian, educator; born in St. Louis, Mo. He received an A.B. from the University of Missouri (1927) and a Ph.D. from the Graduate Library School of the University of \JChicago\j (1932), where he remained as a professor until his retirement in 1971. From 1941 to 1963 he was managing editor of the \ILibrary Quarterly.\i He became known as a surveyor of libraries and library problems and he conducted surveys of libraries throughout the U.S.A.
For the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization he produced reports of library education in Israel (1957) and \JGreece\j (1962). Particularly important among his many journal articles is "The Obligations and Responsibilities of the Librarian Concerning Censorship" (1950), which has been frequently reprinted and which arose from his position as chairman of the American Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee.
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"Carnovsky, Morris",7035,0,0,0
DT (1897-1992)
EN stage and film actor; born in St. Louis, Mo. Primarily a stage performer, he was a founding member of The Group Theater. After 1956 he was mainly seen in Shakespearean roles.
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"Caro, Sir Anthony",7036,0,0,0
PN [\Bkah\broh]
DT1 1924
EN Sculptor, born in London, England, UK. He studied \Jengineering\j at Cambridge but turned to sculpture after World War 2, attending the Regent Street \JPolytechnic\j (1946) and the Royal Academy Schools (1947--52). His work is abstract, typically large pieces of metal welded together and painted in primary colours.
\BMajor Works\b
Early One Morning (Tate, London)
Slow Movement (Arts Council College)
Away (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
Wending Back (Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio)
1960 Midday (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1965 Frognal (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1971--4 Sailing Tonight
1978 Ledge Piece (National Gallery of Art, Washington DC)
1997 Chair IV (After Van Gogh)
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"carob",7037,0,0,0
EN An evergreen tree or shrub \I(Ceratonia siliqua),\i growing to 10┐m / 30┐ft, native to the Mediterranean region; leaves with 2-5 pairs of leathery oval leaflets; flowers lacking petals, borne in short catkin-like inflorescences; pods to 20┐cm / 8┐in long, pendent, violet-brown when ripe; also called \Blocust tree.\b It is cultivated for fodder, the pods containing a nutritious pulp rich in protein. The seeds are said to be the original carat weights used by goldsmiths. \B(Family:\b Leguminosae.)
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"Carol I",7038,0,0,0
DT1 1839
DT2 1914
EN The first king of \JRomania\j, born in Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. He was elected Prince of \JRomania\j in 1866 and became king in 1881. He promoted economic development and military expansion, and brutally crushed a peasant rebellion in 1907. He married \BPrincess Elizabeth of Wied\b (1869), a prolific writer under the pseudonym Carmen Sylva. At the outset of World War 1, he declared Romanian \Jneutrality\j, but his successor (his nephew King Ferdinand I) declared for the Allies in 1916.
MEX Carmen Sylva
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"Carol II",7039,0,0,0
DT1 1893
DT2 1953
EN King of \JRomania\j (1930-40), born in Sinaia, \JRomania\j. He renounced his right of succession (1925) as a result of a love affair (he divorced his second wife, \BPrincess Helen of Greece\b (1928), mother of his son \BMichael,\b to live with \BMagda Lypescu)\b and went into exile in Paris. He returned through a coup in 1930, proclaiming a dictatorship in 1938. He was forced to abdicate in 1940 in favour of his son, and left \JRomania\j.
MEX Michael
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"Carolina dog",7040,0,0,0
EN This lightly constructed pariah-type dog can be trained for hunting small game, but wild Carolina Dogs still exist, so this breed is not considered to be completely domesticated.
\BHistory:\b
The Carolina Dog originated in the American Deep South and is thought to be around 3000 years old. This breed was favored by the \JAmerican Indians\j and was used for various tasks, including herding. It is similar to the earliest types of dog seen in \JNorth America\j, but is now only known in the southern states of America. Like all pariah-type dogs, it is descended from dogs that made their living by scavenging. Similar dogs include the Australian \JDingo\j and the Canaan Dog.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The Carolina Dog is a light-weight dog with a head that appears to be slightly too small for its body. \IHeight:\i around 22 in (56 cm). \IWeight:\i 30 - 40 lb (13 - 18 kg). Carolina Dogs have pointed ears, like German Shepherds, with a wedge-shaped head that sits on a thick neck. The body can best be described as well-muscled, without bulkiness or coarseness. The coat is short and dense and is a lovely yellowish-gold color.
\BBehavior:\b
The Carolina Dog has many of the characteristics of a wild dog. It still has a natural tendency to be shy of the unknown and in some ways may seem rather aloof. However, this dog has an inbuilt curiosity and is quite trainable. Given the right amount of attention, the Carolina Dog will develop into a trusty companion. Generally it gets along well with people and other dogs.
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"Caroline of Ansbach, Wilhelmina",7041,0,0,0
DT1 1683
DT2 1737
EN Queen of \JGeorge II\j of \JGreat Britain\j, born in Ansbach, \JGermany\j, the daughter of a German prince. She exercised a strong influence over her husband, and was a leading supporter of his chief minister, Robert Walpole.
MEX Walpole, Robert
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"Caroline of Brunswick, Amelia Elizabeth",7042,0,0,0
DT1 1768
DT2 1821
EN Wife of \JGeorge IV\j of the \JGreat Britain\j, born in \JBrunswick\j, \JGermany\j, the daughter of \JGeorge III\j's sister, Augusta. She married the Prince of Wales in 1795, but the marriage was disagreeable to him, and although she bore him a daughter, \BPrincess Charlotte,\b they lived apart. When George became king (1820), she was offered an annuity to renounce the title of queen and live abroad; when she refused, the king persuaded the government to introduce a Divorce Bill. Although this failed, she was not allowed into Westminster Abbey at the coronation (1821).
MEX \JGeorge IV\j; Charlotte, Princess
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"Caroline, Radio",7043,0,0,0
EN The best-known UK pirate radio station of the 1960s. Operating illegally from a ship off the Essex coast, and financed by advertising, Radio Caroline broke the BBC's monopoly of domestic radio broadcasting and 'created' a youth audience through non-stop pop music, thus prompting the creation of Radio 1.
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"Carolingian art",7044,0,0,0
EN A style of art named after Charlemagne, which flourished in what is now \JFrance\j and W \JGermany\j from the mid-8th to the early 10th-c. Graeco-Roman and Byzantine stylistic elements were fostered as part of a deliberate classical revival.
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"Carolingian or Carlovingian architecture",7045,0,0,0
PN [karoh\Blin\bjian, kah(r)loh\Bvin\bjian]
EN A form of \Jarchitecture\j prevalent from the 8th-c to the 10th-c AD, named after Emperor Charlemagne, and common to \JFrance\j, \JGermany\j, and the Netherlands. It was composite in character, made up of late Roman forms mixed with heavier, indigenous elements such as prominent towers.
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"Carolingians",7046,0,0,0
EN A Frankish ruling dynasty which rose to power as mayors of the palace, and ultimately replaced the Merovingians when Pepin II became King of the Franks in 751. The Carolingian Empire created by Charlemagne embraced most of the former territory of the Roman Empire in the West. In 843 it was divided into E Francia, W Francia, and the 'Middle Kingdom' stretching from the North Sea to \JItaly\j, and these soon dissolved into smaller states.
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"carom",7047,0,0,0
EN See \Jbilliards\j
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"Carossa, Hans",7048,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bro\bsa]
DT1 1878
DT2 1956
EN Writer and physician, born in T÷lz, \JGermany\j. A doctor in \JBavaria\j, he became prominent with his autobiographical \IEine Kindheit\i (1922, A Childhood). Other writings include a diary of his observations during World War 1, and numerous novels.
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"carotene",7049,0,0,0
EN A class of plant \Jpigments\j which provide the natural colours of carrots, green vegetables, \Jalgae\j, shrimps, and tomatoes. The \Jcarotene\j of carrots and green vegetables is rich in beta-carotene, of which about 16% is converted to vitamin A in the digestive tract.
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"carotenoid",7050,0,0,0
PN [karo\Btee\bnoyd]
EN A non-\Jwater\j-soluble pigment, usually red to yellow in colour, found in many higher plants, \Jalgae\j, and \Jbacteria\j. It functions as an accessory photosynthetic pigment.
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"Carothers, Wallace (Hume)",7051,0,0,0
PN [karutherz]
DT (1896-1937)
EN US industrial chemist: discovered fibre-forming polyamides (nylons).
The son of a teacher, Carothers graduated from a small college and later both studied and taught chemistry at three universities before moving in 1928 to the research department of the Du Pont Company at \JWilmington\j, DE. His object was 'to synthesize compounds of high molecular mass and known constitution'; an early success was Neoprene, the first successful synthetic \Jrubber\j, marketed from 1932.
He then studied the linear polymers made by condensing a dibasic acid with a diamine. By heating adipic acid with hexamethylenediamine at 270║ he obtained Nylon 6.6, which can be melt-spun into fibres whose strength is improved by cold-drawing:
This polyamide has a relative molecular mass of 10-15 x 10\U3\u, with useful properties as a textile fibre, and has had much commercial success. Carothers established useful principles in research on polymers. Despite his successes he suffered from depression, and soon after his marriage killed himself at the age of 41.
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"carp",7052,0,0,0
EN Deep-bodied freshwater fish \I(Cyprinus carpio)\i native to \JBlack Sea\j coasts but now introduced worldwide; thrives in warm pools, lakes, and rivers with rich vegetation; length up to 1┐m / 3 1/4┐ft; two pairs of barbels on upper jaw; important food fish, used extensively in \Jaquaculture\j and very popular with anglers; broadly, any member of the large family Cyprinidae.
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"Carpaccio, Vittore",7053,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)\Bpa\bchioh]
DT1a c.
DT1 1460
DT2a c.
DT2 1525
EN Painter, born in \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j. His most characteristic work is seen in the nine subjects from the life of St Ursula (1490-5). In 1510 he executed for San Giobbe his masterpiece, 'The Presentation in the Temple', now in the Accademia.
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"Carpathian Mountains",7054,0,0,0
EN Mountain system of EC Europe, forming the E wing of the great \JAlpine\j uplift; extends 1400┐km / 870┐mi in a semi-circle from the Czech Republic to \JRomania\j, forming in the middle a boundary with \JPoland\j; main divisions (W-E) are the Little Carpathians, White Carpathians, Beskids, Low Tatra, High Tatra, E or Romanian Carpathians, and the Transylvanian Alps; highest point, Mount Gerlach (2655┐m / 8711┐ft); rich in minerals and \Jcoal\j deposits; generally forested to 1200┐m / 4000┐ft.
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"carpel",7055,0,0,0
EN Part of the innermost whorl of a flower, collectively forming the \Igynecium\i : it typically consists of an \Jovary\j, style, and stigma, which together are sometimes called the \Bpistil.\b More primitive flowers generally have many carpels; more advanced flowers tend to have fewer, and often fused, carpels.
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"Carpentaria, Gulf of",7056,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)pen\Btay\bria]
EN Major inlet on N coast of \JAustralia\j between Cape \JArnhem\j and Cape York; bounded N by the Arafura Sea; 595┐km / 370┐mi long by 491┐km / 305┐mi wide; shallow depths of 25-55┐m / 80-180┐ft; contains several islands; named by Tasman in honour of the Governor-General of Dutch East Indies, 1642; \Jbauxite\j, \Jmanganese\j.
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"carpenter bee",7057,0,0,0
EN A tropical bee that bores into solid wood or plant pith to make a nest; most species are solitary; a few show a primitive degree of sociality. \B(Order:\b \JHymenoptera\j. \BFamily:\b Anthophoridae.)
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"Carpenter, John Alden",7058,0,0,0
DT (1876-1951)
EN composer; born in Park Ridge, Ill. A student of John Knowles Paine at Harvard and Edward Elgar in England, he pursued a business career while composing actively. He was noted for basing his music on urban subjects, with reference to jazz and popular culture, as in his ballets \IKrazy Kat\i (1922) and \ISkyscraper\i (1926).
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#
"Carpenter, Mary",7059,0,0,0
DT1 1807
DT2 77
EN Educationist and reformer, born in Exeter, Devon, south-west England, UK, the sister of William Carpenter. Trained as a teacher, she opened a girls' school in \JBristol\j in 1829, and took an active part in the movement for the reformation of neglected children. In 1846 she founded a ragged school in \JBristol\j, and several reformatories for girls.
MEX Carpenter, William
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#
"Carpenter, Matthew Hale (b. Decatur Merritt Hammond Carpenter)",7060,0,0,0
DT (1824-81)
EN lawyer, U.S. senator; born in Moretown, Vt. Having moved to \JWisconsin\j where he practiced law, he was elected to the U.S. Senate (Rep., Wis.; 1869-75, 1879-81). An abolitionist sympathizer, he supported the Union and emancipation for the slaves during the \JCivil War\j. He was so highly regarded as a lawyer that he was employed by William Belknap (1876) after he was charged with corruption as secretary of the treasury and by Samuel Tilden in his unsuccessful appeal before the Electoral Commission (1876).
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"Carpenter, William Benjamin",7061,0,0,0
DT1 1813
DT2 85
EN Biologist, born in Exeter, Devon, south-west England, UK, the brother of Mary Carpenter. He studied medicine at \JBristol\j, London, and Edinburgh, and in 1844 was appointed professor of \Jphysiology\j at the Royal Institution, London, and professor of forensic medicine at University College (1849). He took part in a deep sea exploration expedition (1868-71), and did valuable research on the Foraminifera (a type of unicellular animal).
MEX Carpenter, Mary
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"Carpentier, Alejo",7062,0,0,0
DT1 1904
DT2 80
EN Writer, born in \JHavana\j. For many years he lived in \JFrance\j and Venezuela, but returned to \JCuba\j after the revolution and served in several official government posts. One of the major Latin American writers of this century, his numerous books include \IEl siglo de las luces\i (1962, trans Explosion in the Cathedral), \IEl reino de este mundo\i (1949, The Kingdom of this World), and \ILos pasos perdidos\i (1953, The Lost Steps).
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#
"carpet",7063,0,0,0
EN A floor covering made from wool, silk, jute, \Jmohair\j, or other fibres, traditionally woven but currently produced by other methods such as bonding or machine-stitching the pile to a base. The technique is thought to have originated in \JPersia\j in ancient times, and spread to C Asia, the Caucasus, and Anatolia, where characteristic forms developed as folk art and in court workshops. In the 18th-c, carpet-making became a widely distributed craft in Britain, \JFrance\j, and other West European countries, and the former led the way in \Jmechanization\j.
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"carpet beetle",7064,0,0,0
EN A small, rounded, black beetle with zigzag markings around margins; larvae known as \Bwoolly bears,\b covered with long hairs, feeding on woollen carpets, furs, and animal skins; adults common on fruit trees, feeding on \Jpollen\j. \B(Order:\b Coleoptera. \BFamily:\b Dermestidae.)
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"Carpetbaggers",7065,0,0,0
EN A derogatory term for US Northerners who went to the defeated South after the \JCivil War\j to aid freed blacks and take part in rebuilding. Supposedly they carried all their belongings in bags made of carpet. Collectively they have had a bad press, but are now recognized as well-intentioned.
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"Carpini, John of Plano",7066,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)\Bpee\bnee]
HS , Ital \BGiovanni da Pian del Carpini\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1182
DT2a c.
DT2 1253
EN Franciscan monk and traveller, born in Umbria, \JItaly\j. A disciple of Francis of Assisi, he was head of the mission sent by Pope Innocent IV to the Emperor of the \JMongols\j. He started from Lyon in April 1245, crossed the Volga in April 1246, and in July reached the Karakoram Mts.
The latter part of the journey across C Asia was a ride of nearly 3000┐mi in 100 days, a feat of endurance for a man over 60 years of age. He returned in 1247, and wrote an account of his travels and a profile of the Mongol peoples \IHistoria Mongalorum.\i He was later appointed \JArchbishop\j of Autivari.
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"Carpocrates of Alexandria",7067,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)\Bpo\bkrateez]
DT1 2
DT1b nd-c
EN Greek religious leader. He founded the gnostic sect of \ICarpocratians,\i who sought through contemplation the union, or return, of the individual soul to God.
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#
"Carr, (Archibald Fairly, Jr.)",7068,0,0,0
DT (1909-87)
EN Archie herpetologist; born in Mobile, Ala. He spent his career at the University of \JFlorida\j: Gainsville (1933-87), with concurrent affiliations at the Escuela Panamericana \JHonduras\j (1945-49) and the American Museum of Natural History (1951-87). He made major contributions to the \Jecology\j of fishes, amphibians, and reptiles of \JFlorida\j. His classic conservationist book, \IThe Windward Road\i (1956), which won the O.
Henry Award for best nonfiction short story that year, became the beginning of his worldwide campaign to protect sea turtles from human predators, ocean \Jpollution\j, and \Jextinction\j. This book inspired the creation of the Caribbean Conservation Corporation (1959), where he served from 1961 to 1987.
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"Carr, Benjamin",7069,0,0,0
DT (1768-1831)
EN organist, singer, composer, publisher; born in London, England. He came to Philadelphia in 1793 and established important early American music stores and publishing houses there and in New York and Baltimore.
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"Carr, Emily",7070,0,0,0
DT1 1871
DT2 1945
EN Painter and writer, raised in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. She studied art at the \JCalifornia\j School of Design in \JSan Francisco\j, and by 1913 had produced a large body of work on native themes. Her mature and original work began at age 57, when she travelled E to meet members of the Group of Seven.
Nature themes replaced native themes after 1932, and her work became less designed and more freely expressive of natural rhythms. Her book \IKlee Wyck\i won the Governor-General's Award in 1941, and her other works include \IThe Book of Small\i (1942).
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"Carr, Emma Perry",7071,0,0,0
DT (1880-1972)
EN chemist, educator; born in Holmesville, Ohio. She was assistant professor and then professor of chemistry at Mount Holyoke College (1913-46), where she was not only an inspiring teacher but also an innovator in research programs. Over several decades she herself made significant contributions to both empirical and theoretical problems of analyzing organic molecules with ultraviolet absorption \Jspectroscopy\j. Her research laboratory produced not only many theses and scientific papers but also inspired numerous young women to take up careers in science.
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"Carr-Boyd, Ann Kirsten",7072,0,0,0
DT1 1938
EN Composer, teacher, and music historian, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. She studied at Sydney University, and became a leading authority on Aboriginal and early Australian music. Her many orchestral, chamber, and instrumental compositions include \ISymphony in Three Movements\i (1964), \IAustralian Baroque\i (1984), and \ISuite Veronese\i (1985).
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"Carrα, Carlo",7073,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bra\b]
DT1 1881
DT2 1966
EN Painter, born in Quargnento, \JItaly\j. Largely self-taught, he adopted a Futurist style, then in 1917 met Giorgio di Chirico and for some years was influenced by his 'metaphysical painting' movement. His best-known work is 'Le canal' (Zⁿrich).
MEX Chirico; Severini
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"Carracci",7074,0,0,0
PN [ka\Brah\bchee]
EN A family of painters, born in \JBologna\j, \JItaly\j. The most famous was \BAnnibale Carracci\b (1560-1609), whose style was much influenced by Correggio and Raphael. With his brother, \BAgostino Carracci\b (1557-1602), he painted the gallery of the Farnese Palace, \JRome\j. Together with their cousin, \BLudovico Carracci\b (1555-1619), they founded an influential academy of painting in \JBologna\j (1582).
MEX Correggio; Raphael
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"carrack",7075,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\brak]
EN A 15th-c development of the Portuguese \Jcaravel\j, distinguished by having square sails in addition to lateen sails.
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"Carrantuohill",7076,0,0,0
PN [karan\Btoo\buhl]
EN Mountain in south-west Ireland in the Macgillycuddy's Reeks range, rising to 1041┐m / 3415┐ft; highest peak in Ireland.
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"Carranza, Venustiano",7077,0,0,0
EN See Villa, Pancho
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"CarrΘ, John Le",7078,0,0,0
EN See Le CarrΘ, John
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"Carrel, Alexis",7079,0,0,0
DT (1873-1944)
EN French-US surgeon: pioneer of vascular surgery and perfusion methods.
Carrel qualified in medicine at Lyons in 1900. He was a skilful surgeon, but lacked interest in routine surgery and in 1904 visited Canada, intending to become a \Jcattle\j rancher. However, later in 1904 he moved to \JChicago\j and in 1906 joined the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York. He remained there until retirement in 1939, except for an interlude as a French Army surgeon in the First World War (when he shared the introduction of the Carrel-Dakin solution (mainly NaOCl) for the \Jantiseptic\j treatment of deep wounds).
Even before the First World War he began to attack the problem of organ transplantion. One difficulty in this is the need to ensure a blood supply to the transplanted organ without failure due to \Jthrombosis\j or stenosis. Carrel developed methods for suturing blood vessels with minimum damage and risk of infection or \Jthrombosis\j. These techniques greatly advanced vascular surgery. He even suggested, in 1910, the coronary bypass procedure and carried it out on a cadaver. The method was not usable on living patients until half a century later. He won an unshared Nobel Prize in 1912.
He went on to study methods of keeping organs alive by perfusion (ie passage of blood or a blood substitute through the organ's blood vessels). With C Lindbergh (1902-74), the aviator, he produced a perfusion \Jpump\j ('artificial heart') in 1935. Major advances (eg in dealing with rejection of donor tissues) were needed before transplants of organs such as the kidney could be achieved by others after the Second World War, but Carrel's methods were essential for that later success.
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"Carre±o de Miranda, Juan",7080,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bren\byoh \Jday\j mi\Bran\bda]
DT1 1614
DT2 85
EN Painter, born in AvilΘs, \JSpain\j. Assistant and successor of Velasquez at the Spanish court, he painted religious pictures and frescoes, as well as portraits.
MEX Velasquez
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"Carreras, JosΘ Maria",7081,0,0,0
PN [ka\Brair\bas]
DT1 1946
EN Lyric tenor, born in \JBarcelona\j, \JSpain\j. He made his debut at Covent Garden and at the Metropolitan Opera (1974), La Scala (1975), and \JSalzburg\j (1976). After severe illness in the mid-1980s, he returned to the stage.
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"CarrΘre, John Merven",7082,0,0,0
EN See Hastings, Thomas
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"Carrier, Jean Baptiste",7083,0,0,0
PN [karyay]
DT1 1756
DT2 94
EN French revolutionary, born in Yolet, \JFrance\j. In the National Convention he helped to form the Revolutionary Tribunal, voted for the death of the king, and assisted in the overthrow of the Girondists. At \JNantes\j in 1793 he massacred in four months 16┐000 VendΘan and other prisoners, chiefly by drowning them in the River Loire (the \Inoyades,\i 'drownings'). After the fall of Robespierre he was tried and guillotined.
MEX Robespierre
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"Carrier, Willis (Haviland)",7084,0,0,0
DT (1876-1950)
EN engineer, inventor; born near \JAngola\j, N.Y. Raised on a farm, he attended local schools, won a scholarship to Cornell University, and graduated from there with an \Jengineering\j degree in 1901. The following year, working for the Buffalo Forge Company, he designed a \Jhumidity\j-control machine for a New York printing plant. He went on to become the pioneer of modern air-conditioning systems, with over 80 patents; he also long dominated the manufacturing of air conditioners with the company he headed, Carrier Corporation (1915-48). By 1930 Carrier air conditioners were cooling more than 300 theaters, and in 1939 he invented a practical air-conditioning system for skyscrapers.
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"Carriera, Rosalba",7085,0,0,0
PN [kar\Byair\ba]
DT1 1675
DT2 1757
EN Painter, born in \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j. She was famed for her flattering portraits and miniatures, some of them in pastel, especially on ivory. She moved to Paris (1720), where she received many famous commissions, including one of \JLouis XV\j as a child.
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"CarriΦre, EugΦne",7086,0,0,0
PN [karyair]
DT1 1849
DT2 1906
EN Artist, born in Gournay-sur-Marne, \JFrance\j. He lived and worked in Paris, specializing in domestic groups and portraits. His soft tonalities inspired Edmond de Goncourt to call him 'the modern Madonna painter'.
MEX Goncourt
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"Carrillo, Hugo",7087,0,0,0
DT 1928-94
EN Guatemalan playwright and director. He directed the National Theatre Company until 1968; after 1972 he was artistic director of the independent Theatre Club. His major works include El coraz≤n del espantapßjaros (The Scarecrow's Heart, 1962), La herencia de la Tula (Tula's Inheritance, 1964) and Mortaja, sue±o y autopsia para un telΘfono (Shroud, Dream and Autopsy for a Telephone), three one-act plays (1972); and El se±or Presidente (Mr President, 1974), from the novel by Miguel ┴ngel Asturias. His plays are widely translated.
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"Carrington, Peter (Alexander Rupert) Carrington, 6th Baron",7088,0,0,0
DT1 1919
EN British statesman, born in London, England, UK. He trained at Sandhurst, winning the Military Cross in World War 2, and held several junior posts in government (1951--6), before becoming high commissioner to \JAustralia\j (1956--9). He then served as First Lord of the Admiralty (1959--63) and Leader of the \JHouse of Lords\j (1963--4).
He was \Jsecretary of state\j for defence (1970--4) and briefly for \Jenergy\j (1974), and also chairman of the Conservative Party (1972--4). Upon the Conservative return to office he was foreign secretary (1979--82), until he and his ministerial team resigned over the Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Is. He later became secretary-general of \JNATO\j (1984--8) and Chancellor of the University of Reading.
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"Carrington, Richard Christopher",7089,0,0,0
DT (1826-75)
EN British astronomer: discovered differential rotation of Sun with latitude.
A wealthy amateur, Carrington made over 5000 observations of sunspots between 1853 and 1861, and showed that the Sun does not rotate as a solid body but that its rotational period varies from 25 days at the equator to 27.5 days at latitude 45░. He also discovered solar flares in 1859.
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"carrion crow",7090,0,0,0
EN A crow native to Europe and Asia \I(Corvus corone); \i inhabits open forest, grassland, and cultivation; eats virtually anything; usually black. Grey carrion crows are called \Bhooded crows.\b \B(Family:\b \JCorvidae\j.)
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"carrion flower",7091,0,0,0
EN A flower which attracts pollinating insects, usually flies, by giving off an odour of rotting meat. The flowers or associated parts are usually livid reddish-brown in colour to complete the disguise. Such plants occur in several unrelated families.
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"Carroll, Anna Ella",7092,0,0,0
DT (1815-93)
EN political writer; born near Pocomoke County, Md. Descended from old Maryland families, she seems to have been taught primarily by her father, Thomas Carroll, who served as governor (1830-31); the family fell on hard times by 1837 and for some 15 years her activities are vague. But in 1854 she emerged as a supporter of the Know-Nothing Party, publishing books and articles attacking the Catholics.
During the \JCivil War\j, she enlisted her pen in the Union cause with such pamphlets as \IWar Powers of the Central Government\i (1861), but her claims for large payments were denied. After the war she claimed she had suggested Grant's successful \JTennessee\j River strategy of 1862, and she spent her remaining years and \Jenergy\j trying to get compensation from the government. Her cause was taken up by some but most students have decided that the "Carroll Plan" did not influence Grant.
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"Carroll, Charles",7093,0,0,0
DT (1737-1832)
EN Revolutionary leader, U.S. senator; born in \JAnnapolis\j, Md. (cousin of John Cardinal Carroll). Son of a wealthy, land-owning Catholic family, he was educated at Jesuit schools in \JFrance\j and read law in London, then returned to Maryland in 1765 and took over the family estate, Carrollton. He devoted himself to developing the property until he got drawn into politics in 1773 and ended up as spokesman for the patriot cause.
In 1776 he accompanied Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Chase, and his cousin, John, on a failed mission to persuade Canada to join the revolting colonies. As a member of the \JContinental Congress\j (1776-78) he signed the \JDeclaration of Independence\j; later he was a member of the U.S. Senate (Fed., Md.; 1789-92). Active in trade, land development, and with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, at his death he was said to be the wealthiest man in America as well as the last surviving signer of the \JDeclaration of Independence\j.
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"Carroll, James",7094,0,0,0
DT (1854-1907)
EN bacteriologist; born in Woolwich, England. Having first emigrated to Canada, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1874. After nine years in the infantry and 15 years as a \Jhospital\j steward (1883-98), he studied medicine and bacteriology; in 1895 he became an assistant to Walter Reed at the Army Medical School.
In 1900, he was appointed to the Yellow Fever Commission to study the disease in \JCuba\j. To test the theory of mosquito transmission, he let himself be bitten and contracted the disease; although he recovered, complications of yellow fever would cause his early death. He succeeded Walter Reed as a professor at the Army Medical School and at Columbian University (Washington, D.C.).
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"Carroll, John",7095,0,0,0
DT (1735-1815)
EN bishop; born in Upper Marlboro, Md. Born to a family of prosperous Catholic Maryland planters, he studied in Europe, where he entered the Jesuit order (1753) and was ordained. In 1774, a year after the \JJesuits\j' suppression, he returned to Maryland to do pastoral work as a secular priest. A supporter of the patriot cause, he joined in an unsuccessful mission to obtain a promise of Canadian \Jneutrality\j in the \JAmerican Revolution\j (1776).
Named head of the U.S. Catholic \Jclergy\j (1784), Carroll was consecrated as the first American Catholic bishop (of Baltimore) in 1790; he was named an \Jarchbishop\j in 1808. As the church's leader during a crucial early period, he brought in European missionaries, cofounded a college that became \JGeorgetown\j University (1789), started three seminaries, and labored to establish internal order and counter anti-Catholic discrimination, in part by stressing Catholic commitment to democratic ideals.
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"Carroll, Lewis",7096,0,0,0
HS , pseudonym of \BCharles Lutwidge Dodgson\b
DT1 1832
DT2 98
EN Writer, born in Daresbury, Cheshire, NWC England, UK. He studied at Oxford, took orders in 1861, and became a lecturer in \Jmathematics\j (1855-81). His nursery tale, \IAlice's Adventures in Wonderland\i (1865), and its sequel, \IThrough the Looking-Glass\i (1872), quickly became classics. 'Alice', to whom the story was originally related during boating excursions, was the second daughter (who died in 1934) of Henry George Liddell, the head of his Oxford college.
He wrote a great deal of humorous verse, such as 'The Hunting of the Snark' (1876), as well as several mathematical works. He lived much of his life in the N of England. 'The \JWalrus\j and the Carpenter' was written on Whitburn Sands, \JSunderland\j, and most of 'Jabberwocky' was also composed in Whitburn, where there is a statue in his memory.
MEX Liddell, Henry George
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"Carroll, Paul Vincent",7097,0,0,0
DT 1900-68
EN Irish playwright. The co-founder of Glasgow's Citizens' Theatre, Carroll emigrated from Ireland aged 21 and taught in Glasgow until 1937, when his plays gave him financial independence. His early works satirize the clerical \Jauthoritarianism\j of his youthful experience.
In 1932 the Abbey presented Things That Are Caesar's, in which a woman escapes from an odious marriage engineered with the approval of the local priest. Shadow and Substance (1937), acclaimed in Dublin and New York, is a study of Canon Skerritt, whose cold erudition disables his care of souls. In The White Steed (1939), Father Shaughnessy is a ruthless puritan vigilante, credibly sinister in the Europe of 1939. Apart from two lightly satiric comedies, The Devil Came from Dublin and The Wayward Saint (1955), Carroll's later work is heavily didactic.
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"carrot",7098,0,0,0
EN A biennial herb \I(Daucus carota)\i growing to 1┐m / 3.3┐ft, native to Europe, temperate Asia, and N Africa; leaves divided, leaflets with toothed oval segments; flowers white or pink, borne in dense, rather flat-topped umbels, the central flower usually dark purple; fruits spiny. Wild carrots have tough roots, but the cultivated \Jcarrot\j (subspecies \Isativus),\i with a large fleshy orange or whitish tap root, has been grown since ancient times as a root vegetable and fodder for animals, and is also an important human dietary food. \B(Family:\b Umbelliferae.)
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"carroway thyme",7099,0,0,0
EN See thyme
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"Carruthers, Jimmy",7100,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bruh\bt\buh\buerz]
DT1 1929
DT2 90
EN \JBoxer\j, born in Paddington, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. In the course of a very short professional boxing career - only 19 bouts, all of which were won - he established himself as the greatest of Australian boxers. He became world bantamweight champion by knocking out Vic Toweel in the first round in 1952. He retired while not yet 25 to become a boxing referee and pub owner.
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"Carson City",7101,0,0,0
EN 39░10N 119░46W, pop (1995e) 51 800. State capital and independent city, W Nevada, USA, near L Tahoe; founded, 1858; named after the frontiersman Kit Carson; trade centre for a mining and agricultural area; tourism; a gambling centre; Nevada State Museum; Nevada Day (Oct).
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"Carson, Johnny",7102,0,0,0
DT1 1925
EN Television personality and businessman, born in Corning, \JIowa\j, USA. He studied journalism at \JNebraska\j University, then worked in local radio and \Jtelevision\j from 1950. He hosted \ICarson's Cellar\i (1951) and wrote and performed on \IThe Red Skelton Show\i (1954).
Following \IThe Johnny Carson Show\i (1955--6) and a stage appearance in \ITunnel of Love\i (1958), he was engaged as an occasional host of \IThe Tonight Show\i, a position that was made permanent in 1962. Consistently top of the ratings, his breezy, relaxed manner, comic monologue, and selection of guests made him an American institution. He retired from the show in 1992.
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"Carson, Kit",7103,0,0,0
DT (1809-68)
EN guide, trapper, soldier, Indian agent; born in Madison County, Ky. His father died when he was nine and he received no schooling. He was apprenticed to a saddlemaker (1825) but ran away to join an expedition to Sante Fe, N.M. He became an experienced trapper and Indian fighter and around 1836 married an Arapaho woman he called Alice. After her death, he met John C. FrΘmont and served as the guide for FrΘmont's first expedition (1842).
He married again (1843) and served as a guide on FrΘmont's second expedition (1843-44). After FrΘmont's third expedition and the conquest of \JCalifornia\j (1846-47), he was selected to carry the reports back to Washington. When the Senate refused to confirm a commission in the regular army, he served as an agent for the Ute Indians (1853-61) and dictated the narrative of his life and adventures.
During the \JCivil War\j he led the 1st New Mexican Volunteer Infantry, mostly in battles against Native American peoples; his most famous episode involved leading captured Navahos on a 300-mile "long walk." Breveted to rank of brigadier general, he remained in the army and was assigned to command Ft. Garland in \JColorado\j (1866-67) but his health soon failed.
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"Carson, Rachel (Louise)",7104,0,0,0
DT (1907-64)
EN US naturalist and science writer: warned of the dangers of modern synthetic pesticides.
Rachel Carson was born in Springdale, PA, and studied \Jbiology\j at Johns Hopkins University. After teaching at Maryland (1931-36) she worked as a marine biologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service (1936-49). In The Sea Around Us (1951) she warned of the increasing danger of large-scale marine \Jpollution\j. With The Silent Spring (1962), however, she created an awareness world-wide of the dangers of environmental \Jpollution\j and roused public concern for the problems caused by modern synthetic pesticides and their effects on food chains.
Her work was the starting point for the increasing ecological and conservationist attitudes emerging in the 1970s and 1980s. Although generally desirable these new 'green' attitudes can be unfortunate: eg in \JSri Lanka\j there were 2.8 million cases of \Jmalaria\j in 1948 but by 1963 this had been cut to 17 cases by DDT spraying.
As a direct result of Carson's The Silent Spring spraying was stopped in 1964 and by 1969 there were 2.5 million cases. Much study of DDT, introduced by P H Mⁿller, has shown it to be non-toxic to humans, although it can damage food chains for some birds and fishes.
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"Carson, Willie",7105,0,0,0
DT1 1942
EN Jockey, born in Stirling, C Scotland, UK. In 1972 he became the first Scotsman to be champion jockey, and recorded his first Classic success, on \IHigh Top\i, in the 2000 Guineas. He had to wait until 1979 for his first Derby winner, \ITroy\i, but immediately won again on \IHenbit\i in 1980; he was champion jockey five times, in 1972, 1973, 1978, 1980 and 1983. He rode 3828 winners in his career, including 18 Classics, before retiring in 1997.
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"Carstairs, John Paddy",7106,0,0,0
HS , originally \BJohn Keys\b
DT1 1914
DT2 70
EN Novelist, film director, filmscript writer, and artist. He studied art at the Slade School of Art, London, painting light-hearted landscapes in various media. His best-known novel is \ILove and Ella Rafferty\i (1947), and he also wrote the autobiographical \IHonest Injun\i (1943).
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"Carstens, Asmus Jakob",7107,0,0,0
DT1 1754
DT2 98
EN Painter, born near \JSchleswig\j, Denmark. He studied art at \JCopenhagen\j, and from 1783-8 barely supported himself by portrait painting in Lⁿbeck and Berlin before his 'Fall of the Angels' gained him a professorship in the Academy of Art in Berlin (1790). He lived in \JRome\j from 1792, working on Classical themes.
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"Cartagena",7108,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)ta\Bjee\bna], Span [karta\Bkhay\bna]
EN 37░38N 0░59W, pop (1995e) 168 000. Fortified seaport and naval base in \JMurcia\j province, SE \JSpain\j, 48 km/30 mi S of \JMurcia\j; \JSpain\j's leading commercial port and naval base; formerly the largest naval arsenal in Europe; founded by the Carthaginians, 221BC;two airports; railway; food processing, clothes, \Jmetallurgy\j, glass, oil refining; watersports; Castle of la Concepci≤n, Church of Santa Maria la Vieja (13th-c); Virgen del Monte Carmel patronal festival (Jul).
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"Cartagena (de los Indes)",7109,0,0,0
PN [karta\Bkhay\bna]
EN 10░24N 75░33W, pop (1995e) 539 000. Port capital of Bolφvar department, NW \JColombia\j; on Caribbean coast SW of Barranquilla; founded, 1533; sacked by Francis Drake, 1586; airfield; university (1824); oil-refining, chemicals, plastics; the old colonial quarter is a world heritage site; several forts; Festival of the Virgin of La Candelaria (Jan--Feb); Independence of Cartagena (Nov), Caribbean Music Festival (Mar), Film Festival (Apr).
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"Cartan, Elie (Joseph)",7110,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)tπ]
DT1 1869
DT2 1951
EN Mathematician, born in Dolomieu, \JFrance\j. He held posts at Montpellier, Lyon, and (1912-40) the \JSorbonne\j, becoming one of the most original mathematicians of his time. He worked on Lie groups and differential \Jgeometry\j, and founded the subject of analysis on differentiable manifolds, which is essential to modern fundamental physical theories.
Among his discoveries are the theory of spinors, the method of moving frames and the exterior differential \Jcalculus\j. His son, \BHenri-(Paul) Cartan\b (1904-) also became a mathematician, known for his work in the theory of analytic functions.
MEX Lie, Sophus
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"Carte, Richard D'Oyly",7111,0,0,0
EN See D'Oyly Carte, Richard
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#
"cartel",7112,0,0,0
EN French theatre association. It was formed in \JFrance\j in 1927 by Dullin, Jouvet, Georges Pitoδff and Baty, originally to give mutual support in the face of hostile or frivolous drama critics. Each director was to publicize the productions of the other three and encourage the audiences to see theatre as an art rather than as mere entertainment.
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"Carter Family, The",7113,0,0,0
EN consisting of Carter, A. P. (Alvin Pleasant) (1891-1960) born in Scott County, Va.; Sara Dougherty (1898-1979),born in Wise County, Va.; Maybelle Addington Nicklesville, (1909-79),born in Va.; country music singers, songwriters. After A. P. Carter married Sara Dougherty in 1915, they often sang for friends and relatives; when Maybelle Addington married A. P.'s brother Ezra in 1926, she joined in and proved to be especially good on the \Jguitar\j, \Jbanjo\j, and autoharp.
They made their first records for Victor Company in 1927 (at the same session where Jimmie Rodgers debuted) and soon they were becoming known to a broader audience with their recordings, live radio broadcasts, and personal appearances. With a repertoire of both traditional folksongs, gospel music, and their own compositions ("Wildwood Flowers," "Will the Circle Be Unbroken"), they embodied the authentic mood and style of southern folk music.
The original trio broke up in 1943 (A. P. and Sara had separated in 1933) and Maybelle began to perform with her daughters Helen, June, and Anita as Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters; they were a popular fixture on Grand Ole Opry (1950-67). When June married Johnny Cash in 1968, the group toured with his show until 1973. A. P. and Sara had pretty much retired in 1943 but they joined their children, Joe and Janette, to make recordings in 1952 and 1956.
Maybelle and Sara made an album, \IAn Historic Reunion,\i in 1967. The abiding influence of the original Carter Family trio on several generations is now recognized by all who perform and enjoy American country and folk music.
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"Carter, A.P. (Alvin Pleasant)",7114,0,0,0
EN See Carter Family, The
EN Family.
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"Carter, Angela",7115,0,0,0
DT1 1940
DT2 92
EN Writer, born in Eastbourne, East Sussex, south-east England, UK. She studied at \JBristol\j University, and her first novel, \IShadow Dance,\i was published in 1966. She then wrote novels and short stories characterized by feminist themes and fantasy narratives, including \IThe Magic Toyshop\i (1967, screenplay 1986), \IThe Infernal Desire Machines of Dr Hoffman\i (1972), \INights at the Circus\i (1984), and \IWise Children\i (1991).
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"Carter, Benny",7116,0,0,0
DT1 1907
EN Alto saxophonist, born in New York City, USA. Although also a trumpeter and clarinetist, it was the warm tone of the alto \Jsaxophone\j that set the swing era style. He was among the outstanding early writers of big band arrangements, composing for the Fletcher Henderson and Benny Goodman orchestras, among others.
He led big bands of his own, though none gained particular recognition. A spell in London in 1936 as musical director of the Henry Hall Orchestra had significant influence on the development of British jazz. He was composer-in-residence to the first Glasgow Jazz Festival in 1987.
\BMajor Works\b
\IAlbums\i
1933 Benny Carter 1933
1945 Somebody Loves Me
1946 The Deluxe Recordings
1952 New Jazz Sounds
1952 The Formidable Benny Carter
1952 Cosmopolite
1955 Session At Midnight
1957 Jazz Giant
1958 Swinging The Twenties
1958/9 Aspects
1961 Further Definitions
1962 B.B.B. & Co
1976 The King
1976 Benny Carter & Dizzy Gillespie
1977 Benny Carter 4
1977 Live And Well In Japan
1980 Summer Serenade
1980 Gentlemen Of Swing
1982 Skyline Drive
1987 Benny Carter's All Stars
1987 American Jazz Orchestra
1988 Meets Oscar Peterson
\ISingles\i
1937 Crazy Rhythm (with Coleman and Reinhardt)
I Surrender Dear
All I Ever Do Is Worry
1940 When Lights Are Low
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"Carter, Elliott Cook, Jr",7117,0,0,0
DT1 1908
EN Composer, born in New York City, USA. He studied at \JHarvard University\j, and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Prizes and fellowships enabled him to alternate further periods of study with teaching at St John's College, \JAnnapolis\j (1940--2), Peabody Conservatory (1946--8), Columbia University (1948--50), Queens College, New York City (1955--6), and Yale (1960--2). His second string quartet won a Pulitzer Prize in 1960. His other works, often of great complexity, include two symphonies, four concertos, and several sonatas.
\BMajor Works\b
\IBallets\i
1939 Pocahontas
1947 The Minotaur
\IOrchestral music\i
1942 Symphony No.1
1944 Holiday Overture
1955 Variations
1969 Concerto for Orchestra
1977 A Symphony of Three Orchestras
1961 Double Concerto for \Jharpsichord\j and piano
1965 Piano Concerto
\IChamber music\i
String quartets
1951 No.1
1959 No.2
1971 No.3
1943 Elegy for viola or cello and \Jpiano\j (later orchestrated)
1948 Wind Quintet
1974 Brass Quintet
1948 Cello Sonata
\IPiano music\i
1946 Sonata
\IVocal music (with ensemble)\i
1975 A Mirror on which to Dwell
1978 Syringa
Songs
Choral music
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"Carter, Gwendolyn Margaret",7118,0,0,0
DT (1906-91)
EN political scientist; born in Hamilton, \JOntario\j, Canada. A Harvard Ph.D., she was naturalized in the early 1940s and taught at Smith College (1943-64), Northwestern University (1964-74), and \JIndiana\j University (1974-84). After 1948 she focused on Africa, particularly on \Japartheid\j; her books include \IThe Politics of Inequality\i (1958, later revised) and \IWhich Way is South Africa Going?\i (1980).
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"Carter, Howard",7119,0,0,0
DT1 1874
DT2 1939
EN Archaeologist, born in Swaffham, Norfolk, E England, UK. He joined Flinders Petrie's archaeological survey of \JEgypt\j as an artist in 1891, from 1907 conducting his own research under the patronage of George Herbert. His discoveries included the tombs of \JHatshepsut\j (1907), Thutmose IV and, most notably, Tutankhamen (1922), a find on which he worked for the remainder of his life.
EN lawyer; born in Lancaster, Mass. Throughout 52 years with Davies & Scudder in New York, he defended the \Jevolution\j of \Jcommon law\j, and in 1871, helped prosecute "Boss" Tweed. A founder - and for nine years president - of the National Municipal League and a president of the American Bar Association, he was U.S. chief counsel in the Bering Sea controversy (1893).
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"Carter, Jimmy",7121,0,0,0
DT1 1924
EN US statesman and 39th president (1977--81), born in Plains, Georgia, USA. He trained at the US Naval Academy, and served in the US navy until 1953, when he took over the family peanut business and other enterprises. As Governor of Georgia (1970--4) he expressed an enlightened policy towards the rights of African-Americans and women. In 1976 he won the Democratic presidential nomination, and went on to win a narrow victory over Gerald Ford.
He arranged the peace treaty between \JEgypt\j and Israel (1979), and was much concerned with human rights at home and abroad. His administration ended in difficulties over the taking of US hostages in \JIran\j and the Soviet invasion of \JAfghanistan\j, and he was defeated by Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election. He has been much involved in international diplomacy in several parts of the world, notably in relation to the crisis in \JHaiti\j in 1994.
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"Carter, Jimmy, Inaugural Address",7122,0,0,0
\BInaugural Address
Thursday, January 20, 1977\b
For myself and for our Nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land.
In this outward and physical ceremony we attest once again to the inner and spiritual strength of our Nation. As my high school teacher, Miss Julia Coleman, used to say: "We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles."
Here before me is the \JBible\j used in the inauguration of our first President, in 1789, and I have just taken the oath of office on the \JBible\j my mother gave me a few years ago, opened to a timeless admonition from the ancient \Jprophet\j Micah:
"He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." (Micah 6:8)
This inauguration ceremony marks a new beginning, a new dedication within our Government, and a new spirit among us all. A President may sense and proclaim that new spirit, but only a people can provide it.
Two centuries ago our Nation's birth was a milestone in the long quest for freedom, but the bold and brilliant dream which excited the founders of this Nation still awaits its consummation. I have no new dream to set forth today, but rather urge a fresh faith in the old dream.
Ours was the first society openly to define itself in terms of both spirituality and of human liberty. It is that unique self-definition which has given us an exceptional appeal, but it also imposes on us a special obligation, to take on those moral duties which, when assumed, seem invariably to be in our own best interests.
You have given me a great responsibility-to stay close to you, to be worthy of you, and to exemplify what you are. Let us create together a new national spirit of unity and trust. Your strength can compensate for my weakness, and your wisdom can help to minimize my mistakes.
Let us learn together and laugh together and work together and pray together, confident that in the end we will triumph together in the right.
The American dream endures. We must once again have full faith in our country-and in one another. I believe America can be better. We can be even stronger than before.
Let our recent mistakes bring a resurgent commitment to the basic principles of our Nation, for we know that if we despise our own government we have no future. We recall in special times when we have stood briefly, but magnificently, united. In those times no prize was beyond our grasp.
But we cannot dwell upon remembered glory. We cannot afford to drift. We reject the prospect of failure or mediocrity or an inferior quality of life for any person. Our Government must at the same time be both competent and compassionate.
We have already found a high degree of personal liberty, and we are now struggling to enhance equality of opportunity. Our commitment to human rights must be absolute, our laws fair, our natural beauty preserved; the powerful must not persecute the weak, and human dignity must be enhanced.
We have learned that "more" is not necessarily "better," that even our great Nation has its recognized limits, and that we can neither answer all questions nor solve all problems. We cannot afford to do everything, nor can we afford to lack boldness as we meet the future. So, together, in a spirit of individual sacrifice for the common good, we must simply do our best.
Our Nation can be strong abroad only if it is strong at home. And we know that the best way to enhance freedom in other lands is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation.
To be true to ourselves, we must be true to others. We will not behave in foreign places so as to violate our rules and standards here at home, for we know that the trust which our Nation earns is essential to our strength.
The world itself is now dominated by a new spirit. Peoples more numerous and more politically aware are craving and now demanding their place in the \Jsun\j-not just for the benefit of their own physical condition, but for basic human rights.
The passion for freedom is on the rise. Tapping this new spirit, there can be no nobler nor more ambitious task for America to undertake on this \Jday\j of a new beginning than to help shape a just and peaceful world that is truly humane.
We are a strong nation, and we will maintain strength so sufficient that it need not be proven in combat-a quiet strength based not merely on the size of an arsenal, but on the nobility of ideas.
We will be ever vigilant and never vulnerable, and we will fight our wars against poverty, ignorance, and injustice-for those are the enemies against which our forces can be honorably marshaled.
We are a purely idealistic Nation, but let no one confuse our idealism with weakness.
Because we are free we can never be indifferent to the fate of freedom elsewhere. Our moral sense dictates a clearcut preference for these societies which share with us an abiding respect for individual human rights. We do not seek to intimidate, but it is clear that a world which others can dominate with impunity would be inhospitable to decency and a threat to the well-being of all people.
The world is still engaged in a massive armaments race designed to ensure continuing equivalent strength among potential adversaries. We pledge perseverance and wisdom in our efforts to limit the world's armaments to those necessary for each nation's own domestic safety. And we will move this year a step toward ultimate goal-the elimination of all nuclear weapons from this Earth. We urge all other people to join us, for success can mean life instead of death.
Within us, the people of the United States, there is evident a serious and purposeful rekindling of confidence. And I join in the hope that when my time as your President has ended, people might say this about our Nation:
-that we had remembered the words of Micah and renewed our search for humility, mercy, and justice;
-that we had torn down the barriers that separated those of different race and region and religion, and where there had been mistrust, built unity, with a respect for diversity;
-that we had found productive work for those able to perform it;
-that we had strengthened the American family, which is the basis of our society;
-that we had ensured respect for the law, and equal treatment under the law, for the weak and the powerful, for the rich and the poor;
-and that we had enabled our people to be proud of their own Government once again.
I would hope that the nations of the world might say that we had built a lasting peace, built not on weapons of war but on international policies which reflect our own most precious values.
These are not just my goals, and they will not be my accomplishments, but the affirmation of our Nation's continuing moral strength and our belief in an undiminished, ever-expanding American dream.
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"Carter, Mrs Leslie",7123,0,0,0
DT 1862-1937
EN American actress. Under David Belasco, her tutor and director, she became a star performer in lurid dramas. After a three-year run in The Heart of Maryland (1895) in which she swung on the clapper of a bell to keep it from ringing, she appeared in Zaza (1899), DuBarry (1901) and Adrea (1905). According to one critic, Mrs Carter would 'weep, vociferate, shriek, rant, become hoarse with passion, and finally flop and beat the floor'.
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"Carter, Nick",7124,0,0,0
EN See Stratemeyer, Edward L
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"Carter, Robert 'King'",7125,0,0,0
DT (1663-1732)
EN colonial official, landowner; born in Lancaster County, Va. He served in the Virginia Assembly (1691-92, 1695-99) and the Council (1699-1732). A large landowner himself, he became the agent for the wealthy Fairfax family in 1702 and used his position to become one of the wealthiest men in the colonies. His political and economic position earned him the title of "King Carter" or "King Robin."
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"Carteret, John, 1st Earl Granville",7126,0,0,0
PN [\Bkah(r)\btuhret]
DT1 1690
DT2 1763
EN British statesman and chief minister (1742-4), born in London, England, UK. He entered the \JHouse of Lords\j in 1711, and became ambassador to Sweden (1719), \Jsecretary of state\j (1721), and \JLord-Lieutenant\j of Ireland (1724-9). As Earl Granville, he was driven from power by the Pelhams (1744) because of his pro-Hanoverian policies, though from 1751 was president of the Council under Henry Pelham, and twice refused the premiership.
MEX Pelham, Henry
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"Carteret, Philip Governor",7127,0,0,0
DT (1639-82)
EN first governor of \JNew Jersey\j; born in Isle of Jersey, England. After arriving at Elizabethport (1665) he instituted a government and summoned the first \JNew Jersey\j legislature (1668). Following a challenge to his government by Sir Edmund Andros (1680) he was re-instated as governor, but he relinquished his office and died soon afterward.
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"Carteret, Philip, English navigator",7128,0,0,0
PN [\Bkah(r)\btuhret]
DT1 ?
DT2 1796
EN English navigator, who sailed as lieutenant in John Byron's voyage round the world (1764-6), and commanded the \ISwallow\i in Samuel Wallis's expedition round the world (1766). Separated from Wallis while clearing the Strait of Magellan, he discovered Pitcairn I and other small islands (one of the Solomons bears his name) and returned round the Cape of Good Hope to England in 1769.
MEX Wallis, Samuel
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"Cartesian co-ordinates",7129,0,0,0
EN A method developed by Descartes of determining the position of a point by its distances from two fixed (and usually) perpendicular straight lines, called the \Iaxes of co-ordinates.\i The development of analytic \Jgeometry\j by Descartes and others enabled great advances to be made in the study of \Jgeometry\j, and was most convenient for the application of the \Jcalculus\j.
BK c
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"Cartesian geometry",7130,0,0,0
EN See analytic / analytical \Jgeometry\j
BK c
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#
"Cartesian product",7131,0,0,0
EN In \Jmathematics\j, the set of all possible ordered pairs from two sets, \IA\i and \IB,\i formed by taking one element of \IA\i and one of \IB.\i If \IA\i┐=┐{1,2} and \IB\i┐=┐{\Ia,\i\Ib\i}, the Cartesian product \IA\i┐╫┐\IB\i is the set {(1,\Ia),\i(2,\Ia),\i(1,\Ib),\i(2,\Ib)\i}.
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"Carthage",7132,0,0,0
EN 36░54N 10░16E. Ancient town in \JTunisia\j, N Africa, now a suburb of \JTunis\j; a world heritage site; reputedly founded by the Phoenicians in 814 BC; destroyed by \JRome\j following the Punic Wars, 146 BC; refounded by Caesar and Octavian (29 BC); restored as capital by the Vandals, AD 439-533, but destroyed again by the \JArabs\j, 698; the few remains include the Roman baths of Antonius, the old harbour, and an \Jaqueduct\j of \JHadrian\j; cathedral (1866); International Festival of \JCarthage\j (Jul-Aug).
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"Carthusian horse",7133,0,0,0
EN See Andalusian horse
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#
"Carthusians",7134,0,0,0
EN A Roman Catholic monastic order founded in 1084 by Bruno of Cologne in Chartreuse, near \JGrenoble\j, \JFrance\j; properly known as the \BOrder of \JCarthusians\j; \b abbreviated \BOCart.\b The monks practise strict abstinence and live as solitaries; lay brothers live in a community. Membership is small, but the order maintains houses in many parts of Europe. At the mother-house, 'La Grande Chartreuse', a famous liqueur is distilled, the profits being distributed to local charities.
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"Cartier, Jacques",7135,0,0,0
PN [ka(r)tyay]
DT1 1491
DT2 1557
EN Navigator, born in \JSt-Malo\j, \JFrance\j. He made three voyages of exploration to \JNorth America\j (1534-42), surveying the coast of Canada and the St Lawrence R, and providing the basis for later French claims in the area.
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"Cartier, Sir Georges Etienne",7136,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)tyay]
DT1 1814
DT2 73
EN Canadian statesman and prime minister (1858-62), born in Antoine, Quebec, Canada. A lawyer by profession, he became attorney general for Lower Canada in 1856, and was joint prime minister with Sir John A Macdonald. He worked for Canadian confederation and expansion in the West.
MEX Macdonald, John A
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"Cartier-Bresson, Henri",7137,0,0,0
PN [ka(r)tyay bres⌡]
DT1 1908
EN Photographer, born in Paris, \JFrance\j. He studied painting and literature before taking up photography after a trip to Africa (1930). His first pictures were published in 1933. In the later 1930s he worked as assistant to the film director Jean Renoir, and after the war was a co-founder of the independent photographic agency, Magnum Photos.
He works only in black-and-white, concerned exclusively with the capturing of visual moments illustrating contemporary life. His books include \IThe World of Henri Cartier-Bresson\i (1968). In the mid-1970s he gave up photography, and returned to his earlier interests of painting and drawing.
\BMajor Works\b
1998 Book - \ITΘte α TΘte: Portraits\i
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"cartilage",7138,0,0,0
EN Tissue supplementary to bone in the skeleton, which may be temporary (as in the process of endochondrial ossification) or permanent (as in the nose, ear, and \Jlarynx\j); sometimes called \Bgristle.\b It is composed of living cells surrounded by an intercellular substance containing collagen and / or elastin fibres.
It is not hard or strong (so can be easily cut or damaged by high pressure), and is relatively nonvascular, being nourished by tissue fluids (particularly at joint surfaces). There are three main types. \BHyaline cartilage\b forms the temporary cartilage model of bone, epiphyseal growth plates, the costal cartilages of the ribs, and is also found in the respiratory system (\Jlarynx\j, \Jtrachea\j, \Jbronchi\j) and nasal septum.
\BWhite fibrocartilage\b contains bundles of white fibrous tissue (giving it great tensile strength), present in intervertebral discs, the pelvis, the joint surfaces of the \Jclavicle\j and the lower jaw, and the knee. \BYellow fibrocartilage\b contains bundles of elastic fibres with little or no white fibrous tissue, present in the external ear, auditory tube, and epiglottis.
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"cartilaginous fish",7139,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)ti\Bla\bjinuhs]
EN Any fish of the Class Chondrichthyes (800 species), having a cartilaginous endoskeleton that may be calcified but not ossified (true bone), and lacking air bladder or lungs; comprises the sharks and rays (Elasmobranchii) and ratfishes (Holocephalii).
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"Cartimandua",7140,0,0,0
PN [kah(r)ti\Bman\bdyooa]
DT1 1
DT1b st-c AD
EN Pro-Roman queen of the Yorkshire Brigantes. She protected the N borders of the Roman province of Britain after the conquest (43), until her overthrow by her ex-husband, the anti-Roman Venutius, in 68-9.
MEX Caractacus
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"Cartland, (Mary) Barbara (Hamilton)",7141,0,0,0
DT1 1901
DT2 2000
EN Popular romantic novelist, born in Edgbaston, West Midlands, C England, UK. She published her first novel, \IJigsaw\i, in 1923, and has since produced over 600 books, mostly novels of chaste romantic love designed for women readers, but also including biographies, books on food, health, and beauty, and several volumes of \Jautobiography\j.
She earned a place in the \IGuinness Book of Records\i for writing 26 books in 1983. She married first, in 1927, \BAlexander George McCorquodale\b (d.1964), whom she divorced in 1933; then in 1936 his cousin, \BHugh McCorquodale\b (d.1963). By her first marriage she is the mother of \BRaine, Dowager Countess Spencer\b, step-mother of the Princess of Wales. She is an ardent advocate of health foods, and fitness for the elderly.
\BMajor Works\b
Novels (over 600)
1923 Jigsaw
1930 For What?
1935 Passionate Attainment
1940 Stolen Halo
1945 Escape from Passion
1950 The Knave of Hearts
1955 The Enchanted Waltz
1960 The Price is Love
1965 Love on the Run
1970 The Secret Fear
1975 Love is Innocent
1980 From Hell to Heaven
1985 The Devil Defeated
1990 Beyond the Stars
1991 The Spirit of Love
1992 Fascination in France
1993 A Challenge of Hearts
1994 Search for Love
1995 Love Solves the Problem
\IPlays\i
1925 Blood Money
1943 French Dressing
\IAutobiography\i
1943 The Isthmus Years
1947 The Years of Opportunity
1967 I Searched for Rainbows
1971 We Danced All Night 1919--1929
1978 I Seek the Miraculous
1994 I Reach for the Stars
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"cartography",7142,0,0,0
EN The method of construction of maps and charts. Through the use of symbols, lettering, and shading techniques, data concerning an area (eg its relief, land use, and population density) are portrayed on a map in such a way that it can be interpreted by the user to find out information about a place. Data for mapping come from many sources, such as fieldwork, surveying, and remote sensing. Increasingly, computer-assisted \Jcartography\j is being used in map production.
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"cartoon",7143,0,0,0
EN Originally, a full-size outline drawing which would be transferred to the wall or panel ready for painting; used in this way by painters since the \JMiddle Ages\j, the word comes from the Italian \Icartone\i 'thick paper'. Raphael's famous cartoons, in the \JVictoria and Albert Museum\j, are in full colour, being designed for tapestries.
When in 19th-c London a competition was held for frescoes in the Houses of Parliament, the cartoons submitted by candidates were parodied in \IPunch,\i and since then the word has had its popular meaning of a humorous drawing. A wide range of sub-genres have since developed, such as the \Jcaricature\j, political \Jcartoon\j, and \Jcartoon\j strip, and there has been a highly successful adaptation into the medium of film.
BK c
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"cartridge tape drive",7144,0,0,0
EN See magnetic tape (medium storage)
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"Cartwright, Alexander (Joy), Jr.",7145,0,0,0
DT (1820-92)
EN \Jbaseball\j pioneer; born in New York City. A bank teller, onetime bookstore-stationery owner, and volunteer fireman, in the early 1840s he joined other young men in New York City in playing an early form of \Jbaseball\j. In the 20th century, he would be credited with "inventing" \Jbaseball\j, including such regulations as 9 players to a team and bases 90 feet apart; what is certain is that in September 1845 his Knickerbocker Base Ball Club drew up the first rules for what would eventually evolve into the modern game of \Jbaseball\j.
In 1849, at the news of the gold finds in \JCalifornia\j, he traveled overland to \JSan Francisco\j, but almost immediately sailed to Hawaii, where he spent the rest of his life, prospering as a businessman and introducing \Jbaseball\j to the inhabitants. He was elected to the \JBaseball\j Hall of Fame in 1938.
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"Cartwright, Edmund",7146,0,0,0
DT1 1743
DT2 1823
EN Inventor of the power loom, born in Marnham, \JNottinghamshire\j, C England, UK. He studied at Oxford, became a clergyman (1779), and after visiting Arkwright's cotton-spinning mills devised his power loom (1785-90), and also a wool-combing machine (1790). Attempts to use the loom at Doncaster and Manchester met with fierce opposition, and it was not until the 19th-c that it came into practical use. In 1809 the government awarded him a grant of ú10┐000 for his achievements.
MEX Arkwright; Cartwright, John
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"Cartwright, Jim",7147,0,0,0
DT 1958-
EN British playwright. His first play, Road (Royal Court, 1986), was a study of the unemployed in Lancashire in a sequence of short scenes with a lyrical commentary. The set for Bed (1989) consists of a giant bed in which seven elderly people are sleeping, their thoughts and dreams providing the action. To (1990) is a collection of sketches of working-class life. Cartwright's comedy, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (1992), was staged at the National Theatre.
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"Cartwright, John",7148,0,0,0
DT1 1740
DT2 1824
EN Political reformer, born in Marnham, \JNottinghamshire\j, C England, UK, the elder brother of Edmund Cartwright. He served in the navy (1758-70), and in 1775 became major to the \JNottinghamshire\j militia. He then began to write on politics, advocating annual parliaments, the ballot, and manhood suffrage, afterwards taking up reform in farming, abolition of \Jslavery\j, the national defences, and the liberties of \JSpain\j and \JGreece\j.
MEX Cartwright, Edmund
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"Cartwright, Peter",7149,0,0,0
DT (1785-1872)
EN Protestant religious leader; born in Amherst County, Va. He moved with his family to frontier Logan County, Ky., in 1790 and converted to \JMethodism\j at age 16. As a traveling preacher from 1803-24, he denounced drinking, gambling, and rival sects on the circuit in Kentucky, \JTennessee\j, Ohio, and \JIndiana\j. A committed opponent of \Jslavery\j, he was twice elected to the Illinois legislature; in 1846 he lost the election to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j to Abraham Lincoln. \IThe Backwoods Preacher,\i his account of frontier religious life, appeared in 1869.
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#
"Carty, John (Joseph)",7150,0,0,0
DT (1861-1932)
EN electrical engineer; born in Cambridge, Mass. He worked for Bell \JTelephone\j in \JBoston\j in 1879 and was in charge of the cable and switchboard departments at Western Electric from 1887-89. He joined American \JTelephone\j and Telegraph Co. in 1907, becoming vice-president in 1919, and retiring in 1930. He contributed to the development of \Jtelephone\j wires and technology.
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"Carus, Paul",7151,0,0,0
DT (1852-1919)
EN philosopher; born in Ilsenburg, \JGermany\j. Emigrating to the U.S.A. in the early 1880s because of his liberal views, he preached reverence for science and espoused a monistic philosophy with pantheistic overtones in such works as \IPhilosophy as a Science\i (1909). A prolific writer, he also helped found two important journals, \IThe Open Court\i (1887) and the \IMonist\i (1890), and was director of the Open Court publishing company in \JChicago\j.
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"Caruso, Enrico",7152,0,0,0
PN [ka\Broo\bzoh]
DT1 1873
DT2 1921
EN Operatic tenor, born in Naples, \JItaly\j. He made his debut in Naples in 1894, later making his first appearance in London (1902) and in New York City (1903). The extraordinary power of his voice, combined with his acting ability, won him worldwide recognition.
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"Carver, George Washington",7153,0,0,0
DT (c. 1864-1943)
EN agricultural chemist, educator, botanist; born near Diamond Grove, Mo. Born to slave parents, he began his education at age 14 and earned a B.S. and M.S. in agriculture (1894, 1896) from \JIowa\j State College. He directed the agricultural research department at Tuskegee Institute, \JAlabama\j (1896-1943), teaching and pioneering an extension program of "movable schools" to train black farmers in agriculture and home economics.
Aiming to revitalize and conserve depleted soil, Carver influenced the southern shift from single-crop to diversified agriculture by developing hundreds of products made from peanuts, sweet potatoes, and other crops, many of them commercially viable. He developed a hybrid cotton and was a noted collector of fungi.
Working with severely limited resources outside the white scientific establishment, Carver published little more than his 44 Tuskegee Experiment Station bulletins (1898-1942) and, wishing his work to be widely available, obtained only three patents; nevertheless he became a researcher of international stature. He chose not to challenge the system of segregation that existed during his lifetime, but he became one of the chief models of what African-Americans could accomplish.
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"Carver, John",7154,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1575
DT2 1621
EN Colonist in America, born in \JNottinghamshire\j or \JDerbyshire\j, C England, UK. After emigrating to Holland in 1609, he joined the Pilgrim Fathers and became their agent for the expedition to the New World. He chartered the \IMayflower,\i sailing in June 1620, and was elected first governor of the colony at New Plymouth, MA. He died within five months of their landing.
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"Carver, Raymond (Clevie), Jr.",7155,0,0,0
DT (1939-88)
EN writer, poet; born in Clatskanie, Ore. He studied at Humboldt State University (now \JCalifornia\j State University: Humboldt) (B.A. 1963), University of \JIowa\j (1963-64), and worked at various low-paying jobs. Later he taught at many institutions and was based in Port Angeles, Wash. He is known as a writer of spare and realistic poetry and short fiction, as in \IWill You Please Be Quiet, Please?\i (1976).
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"Carver, Richard Michael Power Carver, Baron",7156,0,0,0
DT1 1915
EN British soldier, born in Surrey, SE England, UK. He studied at Winchester College, and was commissioned into the Royal Tank Corps in 1935. In World War 2 he served with distinction in North Africa (1941--3), in \JItaly\j (1943) and Normandy (1944), and commanded the 4th Independent Armoured Brigade in North West Europe (1944--5). He later became chief of the general staff (1971--3) and of the defence staff (1973--6).
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"Carver, Robert",7157,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1490
DT2a c.
DT2 1567
EN Composer, canon of Scone, who was attached to the Chapel Royal of Scotland. Five of his Masses have survived, each displaying a florid style with free use of \Jcounterpoint\j; one is the only early 16th-c British example based on the \Icantus firmus,\i 'L'Homme armΘ'.
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"Cary, (Arthur) Joyce (Lunel)",7158,0,0,0
PN [\Bkair\bee]
DT1 1888
DT2 1957
EN Writer, born in \JLondonderry\j, Co \JLondonderry\j. He studied art in Edinburgh and Paris, then law at Oxford, and fought in West Africa in World War 1. Injuries and ill health dictated his early retirement to Oxford, where he took up writing. Out of his African experience came several novels, such as \IMister Johnson\i (1939). His best-known work is his trilogy, \IHerself Surprised\i (1940), \ITo be a Pilgrim\i (1942), and \IThe Horse's Mouth\i (1944).
MEX Cary, Tristram
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"Cary, Elisabeth Luther",7159,0,0,0
DT (1867-1936)
EN writer; born in Brooklyn, N.Y. She was educated privately, studied art for many years, and was the owner and editor of \IThe Script,\i an art magazine (1905-08). She then became the first full-time art critic for the \INew York Times\i (1908-27). She also wrote many translations from the French, and critical studies of such writers as Emerson and Rossetti.
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"Cary, John",7160,0,0,0
PN [\Bkair\bee]
DT1a c.
DT1 1754
DT2 1835
EN English cartographer. He began as an engraver in London, England, UK, and became a publisher and land surveyor (c.1783). His \INew and Correct English Atlas\i appeared in 1787, followed by county atlases, and the \INew Universal Atlas\i of 1808. In 1794 he undertook a road survey of England and Wales, published as \ICary's New Itinerary\i (1798).
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"Cary, Tristram",7161,0,0,0
PN [\Bkair\bee]
DT1 1925
EN Composer and teacher, born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, SC England, UK, the son of Joyce Cary. He studied at Trinity College of Music, and pioneered the development of electronic music, establishing his own studio in 1952.
He became a director of the celebrated Electronic Music Studios in London, and was professor of electronic music at the Royal College of Music, London (1967--74). In 1979 he joined Adelaide University, South \JAustralia\j. He has written much music for films, theatre, radio, and \Jtelevision\j.
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"caryatid",7162,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bree\batid, \Bka\briatid]
EN A sculptured female figure, used as a column or support for an \Jentablature\j or other building element. The name derives from the ancient Greek women of Caryae sold into \Jslavery\j. It is also used in a general sense for any column or support carved in human form.
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"Casablanca",7163,0,0,0
PN [kasa\Bblang\bka]
EN 33░20N 71░25W, pop (1995e) 2 882 000. Seaport in Centre province, W Morocco; on the Atlantic coast 290 km/180 mi SW of Tangiers; founded by the Portuguese as Casa Branca, 1515; seriously damaged by an \Jearthquake\j in 1755 and rebuilt; French occupation, 1907; meeting place of Churchill and Roosevelt, 1943; airport; railway; university; tourism, banking, fishing, textiles, food processing, glass, soap, \Jphosphates\j, \Jmanganese\j; handles over 75% of Morocco's trade; world's second largest mosque (King Hassan II Mosque) opened, 1993.
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"Casablanca Conference",7164,0,0,0
EN A meeting in N Africa between Roosevelt and Churchill during World War 2 (Jan 1943), at which it was decided to insist on the eventual unconditional surrender of \JGermany\j and \JJapan\j. Attempts to overcome friction between Roosevelt and the Free French under de Gaulle had only limited success. The combined chiefs of staff settled strategic differences over the projected invasion of \JSicily\j and \JItaly\j.
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"Casals, Pablo",7165,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bsals\b]
HS , \JCatalan\j \BPau\b
DT1 1876
DT2 1973
EN Cellist, conductor, and composer, born in Vendrell, \JSpain\j. He studied at the Royal \JConservatory\j, Madrid, became professor of cello at \JBarcelona\j, and in 1899 began to appear as a soloist. In 1919 he founded the \JBarcelona\j Orchestra, which he conducted until he left \JSpain\j at the outbreak of the \JCivil War\j (1936). In 1950 he founded an annual festival of classical chamber music in Prades, \JFrance\j. His own compositions consist of choral and chamber works. During his later years, he conducted master classes.
MEX Cortot; Thibaud
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"Casanova (de Seingalt), Giacomo Girolomo",7166,0,0,0
PN [kasa\Bnoh\bva]
DT1 1725
DT2 98
EN Adventurer, born in \JVenice\j, \JItaly\j. By 1750 he had worked as a clergyman, secretary, soldier, and violinist in various countries, and in 1755 was imprisoned for being a magician. He escaped in 1756, and for nearly 20 years wandered through Europe, visiting most of its capitals, and meeting the greatest men and women of the \Jday\j.
Alchemist, cabalist, and spy, he was everywhere introduced to the best society, and had always to 'vanish' after a brief period of felicity. In 1785 he established himself as librarian with the Count of Waldstein, in \JBohemia\j, where he died. His main work is his \Jautobiography\j, first published in complete form in 1960. His seductions are the first things many think of in connection with his name.
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"CasarΦs, Maria",7167,0,0,0
DT 1922-
EN French actress. Of Spanish origin, she performed in Cross-Purpose and The Just by Camus and in Cocteau's film OrphΘe, and was a permanent member of the ThΘΓtre National Populaire company during 1954-9. She has established a reputation as the outstanding French tragic actress, despite her violent style. Major performances include the Mother in The Screens (1966 and 1983), Medea in Lavelli's 1967 production and Shakespeare's Cleopatra in 1975.
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"Casas, Las BartolomΘ de",7168,0,0,0
EN See Las Casas, BartolomΘ de
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#
"Cascade Range",7169,0,0,0
EN Mountain range in W \JNorth America\j; extends over 1120┐km / 700┐mi from N \JCalifornia\j, through Oregon and Washington to British Columbia; named after the cascades of the Columbia River where it passes through the range in a \Jcanyon\j c.1200┐m / 4000┐ft deep; highest point, Mount Rainier (4392┐m / 14┐409┐ft), Washington; other high peaks, Mts Adams (3742┐m / 12┐277┐ft), Baker (3285┐m / 10┐777┐ft), Hood (3424┐m / 11┐233┐ft), Jefferson (3200┐m / 10┐498┐ft) and Shasta (4317┐m / 14┐163┐ft); many are snow-covered volcanic cones; Mount St Helens (2549┐m / 8363┐ft) erupted 1980; many glacial lakes (largest Lake Chelan); glaciers on the higher peaks, notably Mount Rainier; Crater Lake National Park in the S; Klamath and Columbia Rivers cut through the range from E to W; a 13┐km / 8┐mi-long railway tunnel goes through the range E of Seattle; heavily forested; hydroelectricity.
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"case",7170,0,0,0
EN A grammatical category, associated primarily with nouns and pronouns, which registers the syntactic relations between words in a sentence. In inflectional languages, nouns have a range of variant forms, with affixes marking the various cases, as in Latin \Imensa\i ('table', nominative), \Imensam\i (accusative), and \Imensae\i (genitive). The cases have important grammatical functions: the nominative typically identifies a word that is the subject of a sentence; the accusative marks the object; while the genitive marks the possessor of something. Some languages have many case forms: Finnish, for example, has 15.
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"case hardening",7171,0,0,0
EN A method of hardening tool steels or components subject to hard wear, such as gears. The object is heated in an \Jatmosphere\j, or in contact with some substance (eg in a hydrocarbon oil), which alters its surface composition to that of a harder alloy. \JAluminium\j steels are heated in an \Jatmosphere\j of ammonia, which introduces \Jnitrogen\j into the surface layer.
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"Case, Francis Higbee",7172,0,0,0
DT (1896-1962)
EN U.S. representative/senator; born in Everly, \JIowa\j. He settled in South Dakota in 1922 to work as a newspaper editor and then owner. He was elected to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Rep., S.D.; 1937-51) and to the U.S. Senate (1951-62). Primarily interested in domestic issues, such as \Jwater\j conservation and farm surplus programs, he initiated the Renegotiation Act of 1942 which was intended to recover excessive defense contract profits.
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"Case, Jerome (Increase)",7173,0,0,0
DT (1818-91)
EN manufacturer; born in Williamstown, N.Y. He got his start in the threshing business, running his father's horse-drawn machine. In 1842 he bought six threshers and moved to Racine, Wis., where he sold five and operated the sixth. In 1844 he combined a thresher and a chaff separator and by 1880 had incorporated as the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company. A founder of two banks, he also served as mayor of Racine and helped found the \JWisconsin\j Academy of Science, Art, and Letters.
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"casein",7174,0,0,0
PN [\Bkay\bseen]
EN The main protein in milk and cheese, rich in associated \Jcalcium\j and \Jphosphorus\j. Casein is heat-stable, but is precipitated at a \JpH\j of about 4.2 (mildly acid). This is exploited in cheese-making, where the initial step is the precipitation of the curd (casein and fat) from the whey. Casein can also be precipitated by \Jrennet\j, the digestive \Jenzyme\j of the calf.
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"Casella, Alfredo",7175,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bse\bla]
DT1 1883
DT2 1947
EN Composer and musician, born in Turin, \JItaly\j. He studied \Jpiano\j at the Paris Conservatoire and first came to notice as a composer in 1908. His work was varied but mainly Neoclassical in character, and includes three operas, two symphonies, and concertos for cello, violin, and organ, as well as chamber music, many \Jpiano\j pieces, and songs. He also produced some noteworthy editions of classical composers.
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"Casement, (Sir) Roger (David)",7176,0,0,0
PN [\Bkays\bment]
DT1 1864
DT2 1916
EN British consular official, born in Dun Laoghaire (formerly \JKingstown\j), Co Dublin, Ireland. He acted as consul in various parts of Africa (1895-1904) and \JBrazil\j (1906-11), where he denounced the \JCongo\j and Putumayo \Jrubber\j atrocities. Knighted in 1911, ill health caused him to retire to Ireland in 1912.
An ardent Irish nationalist, he tried to obtain German help for the cause. In 1916 he was arrested on landing in Ireland from a German submarine to head the Sinn FΘin rebellion, and hanged for high \Jtreason\j in London. His controversial 'Black Diaries', revealing, among other things, homosexual practices, were long suppressed by the government, but ultimately published in 1959.
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"Casey, James E.",7177,0,0,0
DT (1888-1983)
EN corporate executive; born in Candelaria, Nev. At age 19 he cofounded a Seattle messenger service; renamed United Parcel Service (1919), it grew into an international industry leader known for innovations in operations and corporate practices such as profit sharing. He was variously president, CEO, and chairman.
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"Casey, Richard Gardiner Casey, Baron",7178,0,0,0
DT1 1890
DT2 1976
EN Australian statesman, born in Melbourne, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. He was elected to the \JHouse of Representatives\j in 1931. He became first Australian minister to the USA in 1940, minister of state in the \JMiddle East\j (a war cabinet rank) in 1942, and minister for external affairs in 1951. A life \Jpeerage\j was conferred on him in 1960.
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"Casey, William J(oseph)",7179,0,0,0
DT (1913-87)
EN lawyer, government official; born in Elmhurst, Queens, N.Y. A lawyer, he supervised spy missions for the Office of Strategic Services in Europe (1941-46). Returning to corporate law, he focused on his stock investments, then served as a tough chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (1971-73). As President Reagan's director of the Central Intelligence Agency (1981-87), he was known for extremely aggressive and sometimes questionable policies when it came to pursuing communists; he allegedly supported illegal aid to the Nicaraguan Contras, but died before giving formal testimony.
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"Cash, Johnny",7180,0,0,0
DT1 1932
EN Country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist, born in Kingsland, \JArkansas\j, USA. He worked in a car factory and spent four years in the US air force, before moving to Memphis and signing for Sun Records in 1955. Early songs included "Cry, Cry, Cry' and "I Walk The Line'. An interest in expressing counterculture ideas in the language of country music was reflected in his association with Bob Dylan in the late 1960s. His nickname came from a 1971 hit of that name.
\BMajor Works\b
\IAlbums\i
1957 Johnny Cash With His Hot And Blue Guitar
1958 Johnny Cash Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous
1958 The Fabulous Johnny Cash
1959 Hymns By Johnny Cash
1959 Songs Of Our Soil
1960 Now There Was A Song
1960 Johnny Cash Sings Hank Williams and Other Favorite Tunes
1960 Ride This Train
1961 Now Here's Johnny Cash
1961 The Lure of the Grand Canyon
1962 Hymns From The Heart
1962 The Sound of Johnny Cash
1963 All Aboard the Blue Train
1963 Blood, Sweat and Tears
1963 The Christmas Spirit
1964 Keep On The Sunny Side (with the Carter family)
1964 I Walk The Line
1964 Bitter Tears
1965 Orange Blossom Special
1965 Ballads of the True West
1965 Mean As Hell
1966 Ballads of the True West, Volume 2
1966 Everybody Loves A Nut
1966 Happiness Is You
1967 Carryin' On (with June Carter)
1968 Old Golden Throat
1968 From Sea to Shining Sea
1968 Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison
1969 More Of Old Golden Throat
1969 The Holy Land
1969 Johnny Cash at San Quentin
1970 Hello I'm Johnny Cash
1970 The Johnny Cash Show
1970 The Rough Cut King of Country
1970 I Walk The Line
1971 Man In Black
1972 A Thing Called Love
1972 Christmas and the Cash Family
1972 America
1973 The Gospel Road
1973 Any Old Wind That Blows
1973 Johnny Cash and His woman (with June Carter)
1974 Inside A Swedish Prison
1974 The Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me
1974 Ragged Old Flag
1975 John R Cash
1975 Look At Them Beans
1975 The Johnny Cash Children's Album
1976 Destination Victoria Station
1976 Strawberry Cake
1976 One Piece At A Time
1977 The Last Gunfighter Ballad
1977 The Rambler
1978 Gone Girl
1978 The Unissued Johnny Cash
1978 I Would Like To See You Again
1979 Silver
1979 A Believer Sings The Truth
1980 Johnny And June
1980 Rockabilly Blues
1980 Tall Man
1981 The Baron
1982 The Survivors (with Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins)
EN Bushranger, born in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, Ireland. He was transported to \JAustralia\j for theft and attempted murder (1827), escaped from a prison at Port Arthur (1837), and took up a career of bushranging throughout \JTasmania\j. After shooting a constable he was sentenced to death (1843), later commuted to \Jlife imprisonment\j on the penal settlement of Norfolk I, where he became a model prisoner. He married a fellow-prisoner, received a pardon in 1853, returned to Hobart where he was appointed a constable, and was for some years caretaker of the Botanic Gardens there.
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"cashew",7182,0,0,0
EN A small evergreen tree \I(Anacardium occidentale),\i native to \JSouth America\j; leaves oval, alternate; flowers in terminal clusters, petals red, narrow, and reflexed; the receptacle thick, fleshy, pear-shaped in fruit, and bearing the curved nut. It is cultivated in Africa and Asia for cashew nuts and cashew apples (the receptacles). \B(Family:\b Anacardiaceae.)
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"cashmere",7183,0,0,0
EN The highly-prized fine warm undercoat fibres from the Kashmir \Jgoat\j; principally produced in China and \JIran\j. One of the most luxuriant and expensive fibres, it is used mainly in knitwear.
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"Casilear, John William",7184,0,0,0
DT (1811-93)
EN painter; born in New York City. He studied with Asher B. Durand (1831), became a banknote engraver, traveled in Europe (1840-43 and 1857-58), and worked in New York (1854). He specialized in \JHudson River\j School scenes, as in \ILake George\i (1857).
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"Casimir, Hendrik",7185,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\bzimeer]
DT1 1909
EN Physicist, born in The Hague, The Netherlands. He studied physics at Leyden, \JCopenhagen\j, and Zⁿrich, and was director of the Philips Research Laboratories from 1946. In 1934 he helped to devise a general theory of \Jsuperconductivity\j which explained many of the phenomena; the later theory by Bardeen and others both includes and extends Casimir's earlier idea.
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"casino",7186,0,0,0
EN An establishment where gambling takes place, the best-known casino games being \Jroulette\j, \Jblackjack\j, and craps. The first legal casino opened in \JBaden\j-\JBaden\j in 1765, and rules governing their operation are very strict in most countries. Among the world's most famous casino locations are the US cities of Las Vegas, NV, and \JAtlantic City\j, NJ.
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"Casino Theatre",7187,0,0,0
EN (New York City) Designed in a Moorish style complete with turret, from 1882 to 1930 it presented musical shows of all varieties. In 1890 Rudolf Aronson opened New York's first roof garden theatre above the Casino, where light musical fare was served up with light after-theatre refreshments. The house is best remembered for Florodora (1900), one of the most popular musical comedies of its \Jday\j. It was torn down in 1930.
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"Cßslavskß, Vera",7188,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bslav\bska]
DT1 1942
EN Gymnast, born in \JPrague\j. She switched from \Jice skating\j to \Jgymnastics\j as a 15 year-old, and went on to win 22 Olympic, world, and European titles. She won three Olympic gold medals in 1964, and four in 1968. She donated her medals one each to the four Czech leaders (Dubcek, Svoboda, Cernik, Smrkorsky) deposed following the Russian invasion. She married Josef Odlozil, the Olympic 1500┐m silver medalist in the \JMexico City\j Olympics (1968).
SX f
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"Caslon, William",7189,0,0,0
PN [\Bkaz\blon]
DT1 1692
DT2 1766
EN Type-founder, born in Cradley, Hereford and Worcester, WC England, UK. He set up in business as a gun engraver and toolmaker in London in 1716, but soon began cutting type for printers. His 'old face' \ICaslon types\i were extensively used in Europe and the USA until the end of the 18th-c, and were later revived.
EN Spanish poet and playwright. He was director of the Teatro del \JPueblo\j (People's Theatre), sponsored by the Republican government, in 1931-6, and in 1934 his comedy La sirena varada (The Siren Castaway) brought success and the Lope de Vega Prize. In 1937 he went into exile, and Nuestra Natacha (1936), on the need for educational reform, caused the Franco regime to ban his works.
In exile he wrote Prohibido suicidarse en primavera (No Suicide in Spring, 1937), La dama del alba (The Lady of the Dawn, 1944) and Los ßrboles mueren de pie (Trees Die Standing, 1949). His plays, strongly poetic, contrast the escape into fantasy with the need to face up to unpleasant realities.
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"Casorati, Felice",7191,0,0,0
PN [kazo\Brah\btee]
DT1 1886
DT2 1963
EN Painter, born in Novara, \JItaly\j. He was one of the exponents of Italian Neoclassicism, and is noted for his series of portraits of women.
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"Casper",7192,0,0,0
EN 42░51N 106░19W, pop (1995e) 49 900. Seat of Natrona Co, EC Wyoming, USA, on the North Platte R; largest city in the state; town expanded rapidly after oil discovered in the 1890s; airfield; railway; distributing, processing and trade centre in a farming, sheep/\Jcattle\j ranching and mineral-rich area; oil refineries, oil-related industries; \Jcoal\j and open-pit uranium mining nearby; tourist centre; Old Fort Casper Museum.
BK Geog99
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"Caspian Sea",7193,0,0,0
PN [\Bkas\bpian]
HS , ancient \BMare Caspium\bor \BMare Hyrcanium\b
EN area 371┐000┐km\U2\u / 143┐200┐mi\U2\u. Largest inland body of \Jwater\j on Earth, surrounded on three sides by republics of the former USSR, and in the S by \JIran\j; c.28┐m / 90┐ft below sea-level, but much variation in level; maximum depth, 980┐m / 3215┐ft in S; shallow N area, average depth 5..2┐m / 17┐ft; low \Jsalinity\j; frozen in N for several months in severe winters; no outlet and no tides; \Jpollution\j an increasing problem; chief ports, \JAstrakhan\j, \JBaku\j; freight trade, especially oil from \JBaku\j; \JBeluga\j \Jcaviar\j.
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"Cass, Lewis",7194,0,0,0
DT (1782-1866)
EN soldier, U.S. senator, public official; born in Exeter, N.H. He practiced law in Ohio and served with distinction in the \JWar of 1812\j, rising to brigadier general. He was the military and civil governor of the \JMichigan\j Territory (1813-31) and President Andrew Jackson's secretary of war (1831-36); in both offices he spent much of his time dealing with Native Americans. He was ambassador to \JFrance\j (1836-42) and a U.S. Senator (Dem., Mich.; 1845-48, 1849-57).
A strong nationalist, he favored the Mexican War and was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for U.S. president in 1848. As \Jsecretary of state\j (1857-60) he secured from \JGreat Britain\j an end to all search and seizure rights at sea. He resigned when President James Buchanan refused to respond decisively to South Carolina's secession and, having earlier supported compromise over \Jslavery\j, called for support of the Union. His last years were spent writing accounts of his experiences.
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"Cassander",7195,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bsan\bder]
DT1a c.
DT1 358
DT2 297
DT2b BC
EN Ruler of Macedon after the death of his father Antipater in 319 BC, and its king from 305 BC. An active figure in the power struggle after Alexander's death (323 BC), he murdered Alexander's mother, widow, and son, and contributed to the defeat of Antigonus I Monophthalmos at Ipsus in 301 BC.
MEX Antigonus I; Olympias; Antipater (of Macedon)
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"Cassandra",7196,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bsan\bdra]
EN In Greek legend, the daughter of \JPriam\j, King of Troy. She was favoured by Apollo, who gave her the gift of prophecy. Because she did not return his love, he decreed that while she would always tell the truth, she would never be believed. After the fall of Troy she was allotted to \JAgamemnon\j, and murdered on her arrival in \JArgos\j.
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"Cassatt, Mary (Stevenson)",7197,0,0,0
DT (1844-1926)
EN painter; born in Allegheny City, Pa. Born into a well-to-do family, she studied at the \JPennsylvania\j Academy of Fine Arts (1861-65) but found it old fashioned; between 1866-74 she studied and painted in Paris, \JItaly\j, \JSpain\j, and Holland, finally settling in Paris, her home for the rest of her life. Befriended by Degas, she was soon characterized an impressionist painter in both style and subject matter; in fact by 1883 she was emphasizing more the linear aspect.
Another influence on her style was an 1890 exhibition of Japanese prints in Paris. She never married, but her own family gravitated to her in Paris; from 1910 on, her increasingly poor eyesight virtually put an end to her serious painting. She is best known for her luminous portraits of women and children such as \IThe Morning Toilet\i (1886) and \IMother Feeding a Child\i (1898). A less recognized legacy was her influence in getting many Americans to acquire Impressionist and other contemporary French paintings now in U.S. museums.
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"cassava",7198,0,0,0
EN A food plant \I(Manihot esculenta),\i also called \Bmanioc,\b probably first cultivated by the Maya of Mexico, and now an important crop throughout the tropics. It ranges from low herbs to shrubs or slender trees, with fleshy, tuberous roots and fan-shaped, 5-9-lobed leaves. The raw roots are poisonous, containing a \Jcyanide\j-producing sugar which must be destroyed by a complex process of grating, pressing, and heating. It can then be made into a wide range of products, including \Jcassava\j flour, bread, \Jtapioca\j, laundry starch, and an alcoholic drink. \B(Family:\b Euphorbiaceae.)
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"Cassavetes, John",7199,0,0,0
DT (1929-89)
EN actor, director, screenwriter; born in New York (husband of Gena Rowlands). After graduating from Colgate University, he studied acting and then went into stock. He made his film debut in \ITaxi\i (1953) and became a fine, intense actor in movies and on TV. He used his earnings from a \Jtelevision\j detective series to finance his first directorial effort, \IShadows\i (1961), which broke new ground with its improvised scenes and free-moving \Jcinematography\j. He continued to make semi-improvised movies until he wrote and directed \IA Woman Under the Influence\i (1974).
BK AmBg
#
"Cassegrain telescope",7200,0,0,0
PN [\Bkas\buhgran]
EN A \Jtelescope\j designed by French scientist N Cassegrain in 1672, and now the commonest optical system for a \Jtelescope\j. It has a paraboloid primary mirror with a central hole, a hyperboloid secondary mounted inside the focus of the primary, and the eyepiece behind the primary. Most of the world's largest optical telescopes currently use this arrangement. A variant of it, the Schmidt-Cassegrain, has a thin correcting \Jlens\j as well, and is popular for amateur \Jastronomy\j.
BK c
#
"Cassel",7201,0,0,0
EN See Kassel or Cassel
BK c
XCY y
#
"Cassel, (Karl) Gustav",7202,0,0,0
DT1 1866
DT2 1945
EN Economist, born in Stockholm. Professor at Stockholm from 1904, he became known as a world authority on monetary problems.
SX m
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#
"Cassell, John",7203,0,0,0
DT1 1817
DT2 65
EN British publisher. After apprenticeship as a carpenter, he came to London as a temperance advocate (1836). In 1847 he started as a tea and \Jcoffee\j merchant, and in 1850 turned to writing and publishing educational books and magazines for the working classes \I(Cassell's Magazine,\i 1852).
SX m
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#
"Cassian, St John",7204,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT1 360
DT2a c.
DT2 435
EN Monk and theologian, born in Dobruja, \JRomania\j. He spent some years as an ascetic in the Egyptian deserts, before being ordained in 403. He instituted several monasteries in the S of \JFrance\j, including the Abbey of St Victor at Massilia (Marseilles), which served as a model for many in Gaul and \JSpain\j. He was the author of \ICollationes\i (on the Desert Fathers) and a book on monasticism. Feast \Jday\j 23 July.
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Cassidy, Butch",7205,0,0,0
HS , originally \BRobert LeRoy Parker\b
DT1 1866
DT2 ?
DT2 1909
EN Outlaw, born in Beaver, UT. As a youth he learned \Jcattle\j rustling and gunfighting. After serving time in Wyoming State Prison (1894-6) he joined the infamous Wild Bunch and was partner with the Sundance Kid. Together they roamed America, robbing banks, trains, and mine stations with the law in constant pursuit. From 1901 they lived mainly in \JSouth America\j, where (according to one theory) they were trapped and killed.
MEX Sundance Kid
SX m
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#
"Cassidy, Claudia",7206,0,0,0
DT 1905-
EN American drama critic. Cassidy began her career writing on drama and music for the \JChicago\j Journal of Commerce in 1925, quickly gaining a reputation for being tough but fair. She was later hired by the Tribune, where, until her retirement in 1965, she wrote a daily column, 'On the Aisle', and toured Europe in the summers reporting on 'Europe on the Aisle'. Considered the most powerful \JChicago\j critic, Cassidy was credited with stopping New York producers from putting weak companies on the road. Her major credo was that the 'only way to judge a play is to wait and see if the theatre brings it to life'.
BK Thea
#
"Cassin, RenΘ",7207,0,0,0
PN [kasφ\ti]
DT1 1887
DT2 1976
EN Jurist and French statesman, born in Bayonne, \JFrance\j. He studied at Aix and Paris universities, and was professor of international law at Lille (1920-9) and at Paris (1929-60). During World War 2 he joined Charles de Gaulle in London. He was principal legal adviser in negotiations with the British government, and held important posts in the French government in exile in London and \JAlgiers\j, and subsequently in the Council of State (of which he was president, 1944-60) in liberated \JFrance\j.
After the war he was increasingly concerned with the safeguarding of human rights, and played a leading part in the establishment of \JUNESCO\j. In 1968 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
MEX de Gaulle
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#
"Cassini, Giovanni Domenico",7208,0,0,0
PN [kaseenee]
DT (1625-1712)
EN Italian-French astronomer: greatly enhanced knowledge of the planets.
Born in \JItaly\j, Cassini became director of the Paris Observatory in 1669 and never returned to \JItaly\j. He added greatly to our knowledge of the planets of the \Jsolar system\j. It was he who worked out the rotational periods of Jupiter, Mars and Venus and tabulated the movement of the Jovian satellites discovered by \JGalileo\j (R÷mer subsequently used his results to calculate the speed of light). Between 1671 and 1674 he discovered four new satellites of Saturn (Iapetus, \JRhea\j, Dione and Tethys) and in 1675 observed the gap in Saturn's ring system first noted 10 years before by William Balle and now known as the Cassini division.
Most importantly, he was able to calculate the first reasonably accurate figure (only 7% low) for the Earth's distance from the Sun (the astronomical unit). To do this he observed Mars from Paris at the same time as Jean Richer (1630-96) observed it from Cayenne in French Guiana, 10 000 km away. (Jupiter's satellites provide a universal clock; when they are seen in the same positions at both sites, the time is the same.)
The \Jparallax\j gave the distance of Mars, and Kepler's Third Law then gave the distances of the other planets. In later life he attempted to measure the shape of the Earth but concluded incorrectly that it was a prolate spheroid. Three generations of his descendants succeeded him as director of the Paris Observatory; all were highly conservative astronomers, resisting major new theories.
BK Scie
#
"Cassini, Oleg",7209,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bsee\bnee]
DT1 1913
EN Fashion designer, born in Paris, \JFrance\j. The son of an emigrΘ Russian countess, he moved to the USA in 1936. He began by designing costumes for \JHollywood\j movies before establishing his own New York City firm in 1950.
His trademarks included provocative sheaths, cocktail dresses, and, in the early 1960s, his widely copied "Jackie Kennedy' look. His dashing good looks, urbane manner, and associations with glamorous women made him as much a fixture of the society and gossip columns as in the fashion section of the media.
BK Biog99
#
"Cassiodorus (Flavius Magnus Aurelius)",7210,0,0,0
PN [kasioh\Bdaw\brus]
DT1a c.
DT1 490
DT2a c.
DT2 580
EN Roman writer and monk, born in Scylaceum (Squillace), Calabria. He was secretary to the Ostrogothic king, Theodoric, quaestor and praetorian prefect, sole consul in 514, and after Theodoric's death (526) chief minister to Queen Amalasontha. His \IInstitutiones\i is an encyclopedic course of study for the monks of the Vivarium, which he founded and to which he retired.
MEX Theodoric
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#
"Cassiopeia",7211,0,0,0
PN [kasioh\Bpee\ba]
EN A large N \Jconstellation\j that includes rich star fields in the \JMilky Way\j. A \Jsupernova\j of 1572 appeared in this \Jconstellation\j. It contains \BCassiopeia A,\b the strongest radio source in the sky after the Sun. About 3 \Jkiloparsec\j away, it is the remnant of a \Jsupernova\j estimated to have exploded c.1667, but which went unseen.
BK c
#
"Cassirer, Ernst",7212,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bsee\brer]
DT1 1874
DT2 1945
EN Philosopher, born in \JWroclaw\j, \JPoland\j. He studied at Berlin, \JLeipzig\j, Heidelberg, and \JMarburg\j, where he was attracted to neo-Kantianism. He worked as a tutor and civil servant, then became professor of philosophy at \JHamburg\j (1919), and \Jrector\j (1930), but he resigned when Hitler came to power, and taught at Oxford (1933-5), G÷teborg (1935-41), Yale (1941-4) and Columbia (from 1944 until his death). His best-known work, \IDie Philosophie der symbolischen Formen\i (1923-9, The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms), analyses the symbolic functions underlying all human thought, language, and culture.
SX m
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#
"cassiterite",7213,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bsi\bteriyt]
EN The mineral form of tin oxide (SnO\D2\d), a black, hard, dense material originally formed in hydrothermal veins associated with igneous rocks, though many deposits are alluvial. It is the main ore of tin.
BK c
#
"Cassius",7214,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\bsius]
HS , in full \BGaius Cassius Longinus\b
DT1 ?
DT2 42
DT2b BC
EN Roman soldier and politician. An opponent of Caesar during the \Jcivil war\j with Pompey, he was pardoned by him after Pharsalus (48 BC). Despite gaining polical advancement through Caesar and the promise of the post of Governor of \JSyria\j, he later turned against him again, and played a leading part in the conspiracy to murder him (44 BC). He raised an army in \JSyria\j, defeated Dolabella, and marched against the Triumverate, but was defeated by Caesar's avengers at Philippi (42 BC), and committed suicide.
MEX Antonius; Caesar; Dolabella
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#
"Cassius, Dio(n)",7215,0,0,0
EN See Dio Cassius
BK bg c
XCY y
#
"Cassivellaunus",7216,0,0,0
PN [kasive\Blaw\bnus]
DT1 1
DT1b st-c BC
EN British chief of the Catavellauni, a British tribe living in the area of modern \JHertfordshire\j, south-east England, UK. He led the British resistance to Julius Caesar on his second invasion, 54 BC.
MEX Caesar
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#
"Casson, Sir Hugh (Maxwell)",7217,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\bsn]
DT1 1910
DT2 99
EN British architect. He studied at Cambridge, and was professor of interior design at the Royal College of Art (1953--75). He directed the \Jarchitecture\j of the Festival of Britain (1951), and was president of the Royal Academy (1976--84). He was knighted in 1952.
BK Biog99
#
"Casson, Sir Lewis",7218,0,0,0
DT 1875-1969
EN British actor and director. From 1904 to 1907 he was a regular player at the Royal Court Theatre during the historic Vedrenne-Barker seasons, and Granville Barker's influence - on his directing and commitment to the repertory movement - was life-long. In 1908 he joined Annie Horniman's company in Manchester and was its director from 1911 to 1914.
After the war he continued to mix acting with directing, and with his wife Sybil Thorndike frequently toured abroad. During World War II he became a leading force in CEMA, directing and playing in Macbeth for the first tour of the Welsh coalfields in 1940. Knighted in 1945, he is remembered for his clear and subtly expressive stage speech, his catholicity of taste and his concern to extend the reach of the theatre.
BK Thea
#
"cassowary",7219,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\bsohwairee]
EN A large flightless bird native to S \JAustralasia\j; eats seeds and fruit; inhabits forests; naked head has a bony outgrowth \I(casque),\i used as a shovel to uncover food; feet with long claws; its kick may be fatal. \B(Genus:\b \ICasuarius,\i 3 species. \BFamily:\b \JCasuariidae\j.)
BK c
#
"cast iron",7220,0,0,0
EN The primary product of the blast furnace: iron with about 4% carbon \B(pig iron).\b It has a low melting point and solidifies well into the shape of the mould. It is therefore valuable for casting, but has to be purified or modified before being used for manufacture. It machines well, but its defects are brittleness and lack of tensile strength. Cast iron can be treated to modify the form of the carbon inclusions \B(spheroidal cast iron)\b so as to improve its properties.
BK c
#
"Castagno, Andrea del",7221,0,0,0
PN [kas\Btan\byoh]
HS , originally \BAndrea di Bartolo de Simone\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1421
DT2 57
EN Painter, born in Castagno, \JItaly\j. After early privations he attracted the attention of Bernardetto de' Medici, who sent him to study in Florence. In c.1440 he painted some effigies of men hanged by their heels, which established his reputation as a painter of violent scenes. His celebrated 'Last Supper', painted for S Apollonia, is now in the Castagno Museum, as are his series of 'Famous Men and Women', painted for a villa at Legnaia. In his own time he was praised as a draughtsman.
SX m
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#
"Castaneda, Carlos E. (Eduardo)",7222,0,0,0
DT (1896-1958)
EN historian; born in Camarga, Mexico. Emigrating to the U.S.A. at age ten, he studied at the University of \JTexas\j, where (from 1927) he was Latin American librarian, then history professor. He wrote widely on Latin American history and translated the first known play written in the Americas (1935), by a Spanish priest and friend of the explorer Hernando Cortez.
BK AmBg
#
"castanets",7223,0,0,0
EN Pairs of wooden (usually chestnut) discs, slightly concave, worn on the thumbs and clicked together rhythmically to accompany dancing, especially in \JSpain\j. Orchestral \Jcastanets\j are normally mounted on a wooden stick.
BK c
#
"caste",7224,0,0,0
EN A system of inequality, most prevalent in Hindu Indian society, in which status is determined by the membership of a particular lineage and associated occupational group into which a person is born. The groups are ordered according to a notion of religious purity or spirituality; thus, the Brahmin or priest caste, as the most spiritual of occupations, claims highest status. Contact between castes is held to be polluting, and must be avoided.
BK c
#
"Castellanos, Rosario",7225,0,0,0
DT 1925-74
EN Mexican novelist, poet and playwright. He wrote one play, Eterno femenino (Eternal Feminine, 1975), increasingly recognized for its statement of feminist values.
BK Thea
#
"Castelnau, Noel Marie Joseph Edouard, vicomte de (Viscount of) CuriΦres de",7226,0,0,0
PN [kastelnoh]
DT1 1851
DT2 1944
EN French soldier, born in Aveyron, \JFrance\j. He studied at St Cyr, and served in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1). He was a member of the Conseil de Guerre in 1913 and took command of the Army of Lorraine in 1914. As commander of all French armies in \JFrance\j, he directed the Champagne offensive (1915), and became Joffre's chief-of-staff.
MEX Joffre
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#
"Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Mario",7227,0,0,0
PN [kastel\Bnwoh\bvoh te\Bdes\bkoh]
DT1 1895
DT2 1968
EN Composer, born in Florence, \JItaly\j. He studied under Pizzetti, began composing as a boy, and in 1926 brought out his opera \ILa Mandragola,\i based on Machiavelli's book. In addition to two other operas, he produced orchestral and instrumental works, but is probably best known for his songs, especially his complete series of the lyrics from Shakespeare's plays.
MEX Pizzetti
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#
"Castelo Branco, Camilo, visconde de (Viscount of) Correia Botelho",7228,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bste\bloo \Bbrang\bkoo]
DT1 1825
DT2 90
EN Writer, born in \JLisbon\j. He studied medicine, then began training for the priesthood, but took to writing. His works include such Gothic romances as \IMysterios de Lisboa\i (1854, The Mysteries of Lisbon), \IVinganca\i (1858, Revenge), and his best-known book, \IAmor de Perdicπo\i (1862, Fatal Love). In 1885 he was created viscount for his services to literature.
SX m
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#
"Castelvetro, Lodovico",7229,0,0,0
DT 1505-71
EN Italian playwright and theorist; perhaps the most influential of the many Renaissance translators and interpreters of Aristotle. Castelvetro's liberal understanding of the dramatic \Junities\j, decorum and characterization as expounded in his La poetica di Aristotele vulgarizata et sposta (Aristotle's Poetics Translated into the Vernacular and Explicated, Vienna, 1950) generated intense critical debate on the degree of freedom that might reasonably be enjoyed by modern writers in adapting classical rules to contemporary needs and practice.
BK Thea
#
"Castigliano, (Carlo) Alberto",7230,0,0,0
PN [kasteel\Byah\bnoh]
DT1 1847
DT2 84
EN Civil engineer, born in Asti, \JItaly\j. He studied at the \JPolytechnic\j in Turin and worked as a railway engineer in N \JItaly\j. He is noted for the introduction of strain \Jenergy\j methods of structural analysis in his two theorems of 1873 and 1875, the second of which also states the principle of least work. These theorems represented a great advance on the methods of classical theory of structures, especially in their application to statically indeterminate systems.
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Castiglione, Baldassare, conte di (Count of) Novilara",7231,0,0,0
PN [kasteel\Byoh\bnay]
DT1 1478
DT2 1529
EN Writer and diplomat, born near \JMantua\j, \JItaly\j. He studied at Milan, began a career at court, and in 1505 was sent by the Duke of Urbino as envoy to \JHenry VII\j of England, who made him a knight. His chief work, \IIl cortegiano\i (1528, The Courtier), is a manual for courtiers. He also wrote Italian and Latin poems, and many letters illustrating political and literary history.
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Castile or Castille",7232,0,0,0
PN [kas\Bteel\b]
HS (Span \BCastilla)\b
EN Central region and a component kingdom of \JSpain\j. The United County of Castile was formed in 970, and during the 11th-c and most of the 12th-c was subject to the suzerainty of LΘon or Navarre. Hegemony over LΘon was established in 1188, and the union of Castilian and Leonese crowns took place in 1230. The union of crowns with the Kingdom of Aragon (1469-79), the conquest of \JGranada\j (1492), and the annexation of Navarre (1512) created the basis of the modern Spanish state.
BK c
#
"Castilho, Antonio Feliciano, Viscount",7233,0,0,0
PN [kas\Bteel\byoh]
DT1 1800
DT2 75
EN Poet, blind from childhood, born in \JLisbon\j. His volumes, \ICartas de Echo e Narciso\i (1821, Letters from Echo and \JNarcissus\j) and \IAmor e melancholia\i (1828, Love and Melancholy), inaugurated the Portuguese Romantic movement. He also translated Virgil, \JOvid\j, Shakespeare, and Goethe.
SX m
BK bg c
#
"casting",7234,0,0,0
EN The pouring of molten metal into a mould, where it solidifies into an ingot of manageable size for further processing, or into a desired final shape. Some metals can be \Bcontinuously cast,\b solidified metal being removed at one end of a continuous length as more molten metal is added at the beginning. Some alloys (often containing zinc) can be \Bdie-cast,\b ie cast under pressure into a complex re-usable mould to give intricate shapes. Some of these processes can be applied to certain plastics.
BK c
#
"castle",7235,0,0,0
EN Castles were the products of feudal society as it spread across Europe and into the Crusader kingdoms. Found in \JFrance\j from the mid-10th-c, they reached England as a result of the \JNorman Conquest\j, where they were built in large numbers by the new Norman elite. The earliest English castles were normally earthen mounds surrounded by ditches and topped by wooden towers. In 12th-c England, castle-builders increasingly used stone for towers and walls, and in the 13th-c Edward I built a fine series of castles in Wales (eg Caernarfon, Conwy, Harlech).
Castles served as residences, seats of justice, administrative centres, and symbolic manifestations of lordly authority. Despite their defensive features, the main value of castles in war was their offensive role in mastering the surrounding countryside. They were often ineffective in frontier defence, and from c.1200 advances in siege warfare further reduced their defensive capacity. Later in the \JMiddle Ages\j, especially in England, increasing emphasis was placed on their non-military roles, with greater concessions to domestic comfort and ornamental display.
BK c
#
"Castle, Barbara (Anne)",7236,0,0,0
DT1 1911
EN British stateswoman, born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. She studied at Oxford, in 1944 married a journalist, \BEdward Cyril Castle\b, later Baron Castle (1907--79), and became Labour MP for Blackburn in 1945. She was chairman of the Labour Party (1958--9), minister of overseas development (1964--5), and a controversial minister of transport (1965--8), introducing a 70┐mph speed limit, and the 'breathalyser' test for drunken drivers.
She became \Jsecretary of state\j for employment and productivity (1968--70) and for social services (1974--6). She then returned to the back benches, but was later elected to the European Parliament, where she became vice-chair of the Socialist group (1979--86). She became a life peer in 1990. Her writing includes \IThe Castle Diaries\i (1980, 1984), \ISylvia and Christabel Pankhurst\i (1987), and a volume of \Jautobiography\j, \IFighting All the Way\i (1993).
BK Biog99
#
"Castle, Roy",7237,0,0,0
DT1 1932
DT2 1994
EN Entertainer, born in Scholes, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. A talented musician, dancer, and actor, he starred in cabaret, theatre, film, and \Jtelevision\j, becoming known for such programmes as BBC \Jtelevision\j's \IRecord Breakers\i. Following his death from lung cancer, the Roy Castle Cause for Hope Foundation, a research centre into the disease, was launched in Liverpool in 1994, with a scheduled completion in 1997.
BK Biog99n
#
"Castle, Vernon (1887-1918) and Irene Castle (1893-1969)",7238,0,0,0
EN English champion ballroom dancers, husband and wife. He was originally \BVernon Blythe,\b born in Norwich, Norfolk, E England, UK. She was \BIrene Foote,\b from New Rochelle, New York, USA. They married in 1911 and became the leading exhibition ballroom dancers and teachers of the period. He devised such famous dances as the One-step, the Maxixe, the Turkey-trot, the Castle Walk, and the Hesitation Waltz. She retired from dancing after his death as an airman in the Royal Flying Corps.
SX g
BK bg c
#
"Castle, William (Ernest)",7239,0,0,0
DT1 1867
DT2 1962
EN Biologist, born in Ohio. He studied at Harvard, became professor of \Jgeology\j there (1897) and later of \Jgenetics\j (1908-36). His research was in the field of \Jheredity\j and natural selection.
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Castlebar",7240,0,0,0
PN [kasl\Bbah(r)\b]
EN 53░52N 9░17W, pop (1995e) 7600. Capital of Mayo county, Connacht, W Ireland, on R \JCastlebar\j; residential and agricultural market town; Irish Land League founded here in 1879; airfield; railway; linen, hats, bacon; international song contest (Oct).
BK Geog99
#
"Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, Viscount",7241,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\bslray]
DT1 1769
DT2 1822
EN British statesman, born in Dublin, Ireland. He studied at Cambridge, and became Whig MP for Co Down (1790), turning Tory in 1795. He was created Viscount Castlereagh in 1796, and became Irish secretary (1797), President of the Board of Control (1802), and minister of war (1805-6, 1807-9).
His major achievements date from 1812, when, as foreign secretary under Lord Liverpool, he was at the heart of the coalition against Napoleon (1813-14). He represented England at Chaumont and Vienna (1814-15), Paris (1815), and Aix-la-Chapelle (1818). He advocated 'Congress diplomacy' among the great powers, to avoid further warfare. Believing that he was being blackmailed for \Jhomosexuality\j, he committed suicide at Foots Cray, his Kentish seat.
MEX Thistlewood; Liverpool, Earl of
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Castner, Hamilton (Young)",7242,0,0,0
DT (1859-99)
EN chemical engineer; born in Brooklyn, N.Y. In 1890, he developed a method for producing sodium by \Jelectrolysis\j of molten caustic soda, which was used in making aluminum, a method rendered obsolete by another's invention. Later he developed a cell for making high-purity caustic soda, which proved important in aluminum production.
BK AmBg
#
"Castner-Kellner process",7243,0,0,0
EN A process for the manufacture of sodium \Jhydroxide\j and \Jchlorine\j by the \Jelectrolysis\j of brine in a tank with barriers separating compartments. The brine lies over a mercury bath, which acts as a \Jcathode\j, and can be made to flow from one compartment to another. \JChlorine\j is liberated at iron anodes. Sodium liberated at the mercury \Jcathode\j forms an amalgam, which flows to another compartment where it reacts with \Jwater\j to form sodium \Jhydroxide\j free of sodium chloride.
BK c
#
"Castor",7244,0,0,0
EN See Gemini
BK c
XCY y
#
"Castor and Pollux",7245,0,0,0
HS , Gr \BKastor\b and \BPolydeuces\b
EN Two heroes of classical \Jmythology\j, known as the \BDioscuri,\b usually pictured as twin brothers on horseback. They were children of Leda, at least one being fathered by Zeus. After death they became divine beings, and were turned into the \Jconstellation\j Gemini. They appear in the form of St Elmo's Fire to help mariners, and were an important early \Jcult\j at \JRome\j.
BK c
#
"castor-oil plant",7246,0,0,0
EN An evergreen plant \I(Ricinus communis),\i in its native tropics forming a tall shrub or tree, in temperate regions only a stout herb; leaves each with 5-12 deep lobes, often bronze-green; flowers tiny, green, in dense male and female clusters; oil-rich seeds poisonous, but when processed yield castor oil. \B(Family:\b Euphorbiaceae.)
BK c
#
"castration",7247,0,0,0
EN The surgical removal of the sex glands (testes or ovaries). When carried out in children, the secondary sexual characteristics do not develop. In adults, physical changes are less marked, but the individuals are sterile. In contrast with surgical \Jcastration\j, medical \Jcastration\j consists of giving a male a female sex hormone, or vice versa, and is usually undertaken for cancer.
BK c
#
"castrato",7248,0,0,0
EN A male singer who underwent \Jcastration\j before puberty in order to preserve his treble voice. The practice probably originated at the Vatican in the 16th-c to compensate for the absence of women's voices from the choirs. Castrati took many of the leading roles in Italian opera during the 17th-c and 18th-c, the most famous being Carlo Broschi, known as Farinelli (1705-82). They ceased to be used in opera after c.1825, but were employed at the Sistine Chapel until the end of the 19th-c. The last castrato there, Alessandro Moreschi, died in 1922.
BK c
#
"Castries",7249,0,0,0
PN [\Bkas\btrees]
EN 14░01N 60░59W, pop (1995e) 53 600. Port and capital town of St Lucia, Windward Is, E Caribbean, on NW coast; founded, 1650; rebuilt after a fire in 1948; airport; foodstuffs, beverages, \Jtobacco\j, textiles, wood, \Jrubber\j and metal products, printing, chemicals, tourism.
BK Geog99
#
"Castriota, George",7250,0,0,0
EN See Skanderbeg
BK bg c
XCY y
#
"Castro (Ruz), Fidel",7251,0,0,0
DT1 1927
EN Cuban revolutionary, prime minister (1959-- ), and president (1976-- ), born near Birßn, Cuba. He studied law in \JHavana\j. In 1953 he was imprisoned after an unsuccessful rising against Batista, but released under an amnesty. He fled to the USA and Mexico, then in 1956 landed in Cuba with a small band of insurgents. In 1958 he mounted a full-scale attack and Batista was forced to flee.
As prime minister he proclaimed a "Marxist--Leninist programme', and set about far-reaching reforms. His overthrow of US economic dominance, and the routing of the US-connived emigrΘ invasion at the Bay of Pigs (1961), was balanced by his dependence on Russian aid.
BK Biog99
#
"Castro y Bellvφs, GuillΘm de",7252,0,0,0
DT 1569-1631
EN Spanish playwright. The most important exponent of the Valencian school, he later wrote from Madrid. His novelesque plays set in Central Europe are probably his earliest, and he later borrowed plots from Cervantes (including Don Quijote) and from Spanish ballads, as well as writing comic plays of his own invention.
He published two volumes of plays, in 1621 and 1625. His most famous work is the two-part Las mocedades del Cid (The Young El Cid), based on \Jballad\j versions of the hero's life. The first part was adapted by Corneille as Le Cid. His comedies include El Narciso en su opini≤n (\JNarcissus\j in His Own Eyes) and the unbridled comedy of adultery Los mal casados de Valencia (Unhappy Marriages in Valencia).
BK Thea
#
"Casuariidae",7253,0,0,0
EN \BEmus and cassowaries\b
Cassowaries and emus have traditionally been placed in two separate families (\JCasuariidae\j and Dromaiidae), but recent work on their DNA confirms that they are very closely related, and the two families are now usually merged under the name \JCasuariidae\j.
There are three species of cassowaries, and only one emu, although at least two species confined to \JTasmania\j and nearby islands were exterminated almost immediately following European discovery. At least one \Jfossil\j \Jcassowary\j is known from the Pliocene of \JAustralia\j, and several \Jfossil\j emus from the Pleistocene.
Both are large, flightless ratites allied to the \JOstrich\j of Africa and the South American rheas. They are the largest birds in \JAustralasia\j-emus are larger but cassowaries are heavier: emus stand up to 1.9 meters tall and weigh up to 45 kg, while cassowaries weigh up to about 58 kg. They have long necks and powerful legs.
The innermost toe of the \Jcassowary\j bears a long, sharp claw, forming a formidable weapon. Aggressive cassowaries leap feet-first at their adversary in a devastating attack that can severely injure even a human: a number of fatalities have been recorded in New Guinea, and at least one in \JAustralia\j. There are no rectrices, and the wings are vestigial. Quills are lacking in emus, and have been reduced to five or six hollow quills in cassowaries. The head and neck are naked or sparsely feathered; both emus and cassowaries possess an inflatable neck-sac, used in courtship. Crop and oil glands are lacking.
A prominent and distinctive feature of the \Jcassowary\j is a large horny casque or helmet on the top of the head. The feature is spongy in texture but its function is uncertain: captive individuals have been seen using it as a sort of shovel to sweep aside soil or leaf litter.
The naked skin on the neck of the \Jcassowary\j is brightly colored pink and blue, and there are conspicuous, dangling, turkey-like wattles on the throat (also brightly colored). The feathers are double-shafted, and the plumage is loose and shaggy-dull brown in emus and glossy blue-black in adult cassowaries (immatures are brown). Sexual or seasonal variation is negligible. Females are larger than males. Downy chicks are striped black, white, or tan.
Cassowaries are largely solitary and territorial, but Emus are gregarious. Both are largely diurnal. Cassowaries are creatures of habit, using regular tracks through the forest and taking an afternoon siesta in the same sunny spot \Jday\j after \Jday\j. Both emus and cassowaries drink and bathe regularly, and cassowaries swim easily.
The Emu is endemic to mainland \JAustralia\j, where it is widespread. Cassowaries inhabit New Guinea and the rainforests of far northeastern \JAustralia\j; they also occur on several nearby islands, notably the Aru Islands, Jobi, Ceram, and New Britain, where they may have been introduced by native peoples long ago.
The three \Jcassowary\j species may replace each other altitudinally: \ICasuaris unappendiculatus\i in lowland \Jrainforest\j, \ICasuarius casuarius\i at moderate altitudes and \ICasuarius bennetti\i (the smallest species) in highland forests. Emus occur in almost all open habitats except the most arid of deserts and the densest of forest; cassowaries are restricted to rainforests. Cassowaries are strictly sedentary, but Emus are often nomadic and may travel several hundred kilometers in a year, in response to local rainfall.
They need ready access to \Jwater\j, and widespread installation of stock dams for watering \Jcattle\j has probably had a profound effect on their distribution and movements, enabling them to remain resident in many areas too arid for them to occupy before European settlement. A feature of outback \JAustralia\j (especially in the west) is the construction of Emu-proof fence-lines to protect croplands from winter movements of birds.
BK wan
#
"casuarina",7254,0,0,0
EN See she-oak
BK c
XCY y
#
"cat",7255,0,0,0
EN A carnivorous \Jmammal\j of the family \JFelidae\j; name popularly used for the domestic cat, \IFelis catus,\i other species having individual names (lion, tiger, etc); domestic cats known in \JEgypt\j 4000 years ago and may have evolved there from the \Bwild cat\b (or \Bcaffre cat); \b numerous modern breeds, classed as \Bhairless,\b \Blong-haired,\b \BBritish short-haired\b (stocky breeds, descended from European ancestors - called 'British' because the first cat show was held in Britain), \BAmerican\b (or \Bdomestic)\b \Bshort-haired\b (descended from the British), and \Bforeign short-haired\b (smaller, more slender breeds, with ancestors from the Middle-East and elsewhere); male called a \Itom,\i female a \Iqueen,\i young are \Ikittens.\i
BK c
#
"cat bear",7256,0,0,0
EN See panda
BK c
XCY y
#
"cat flu",7257,0,0,0
EN A disease of the upper respiratory tract of cats. Of the organisms involved, \Ifeline viral rhinotracheitis\i (FVR) and \Ifeline calici virus\i (FVC) are the commonest, causing varying degrees of \Jinflammation\j with oculo-nasal discharge. Ulceration of the tongue and palate as well as obstruction of the nasal passages leads to lack of appetite and further debility. Other infections may supervene, and \Jpneumonia\j may result.
A great deal of supportive nursing is needed to aid treatment. The disease is highly infectious. Recovered cats can remain as carriers, and may start to shed the virus when stressed. Cats may be protected by the use of vaccines, and most cat-boarding establishments require evidence of up-to-date \Jvaccination\j before accepting an animal. A different condition, \Bfeline infectious enteritis\b is occasionally called by the same name.
BK c
#
"CAT scanning",7258,0,0,0
EN See computerized \Jtomography\j (CT)
BK c
XCY y
#
"cat's eyes",7259,0,0,0
EN In the UK, \Jrubber\j road studs fitted with a pair of light reflectors, designed to mark road lanes at night by reflecting a vehicle's headlights; devised by UK inventor Percy Shaw in 1934. The device can be compressed by the vehicle's wheels without doing damage to itself or the wheel. It also cleans itself when it is compressed.
BK c
#
"cat's tail",7260,0,0,0
EN See \Jreedmace\j
BK c
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#
"catabolism",7261,0,0,0
EN See \Jmetabolism\j
BK c
XCY y
#
"catacombs",7262,0,0,0
EN Subterranean Jewish or early Christian cemeteries found in certain parts of the Roman world - notably \JRome\j itself - where soft rocks made the tunnelling of passages and carving of burial niches easy. The practice is believed to have been derived from ancient Jewish cave burials.
BK c
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"Catahoula leopard dog",7263,0,0,0
EN The Catahoula Leopard Dog is reputed to be the only true Native American breed.
\BHistory:\b
The Catahoula Leopard Dog, or Catahoula Hog Dog, or Leopard Stock Dog as it is also known, takes its official name from the Parish of Catahoula in Louisiana in America. Records show that the Spanish traveled through Louisiana before it was so named, and traded hogs and corn to the Native Indians. They also had with them dogs of the same breed as the modern \JGreat Dane\j, which at the time were renowned hunters of boar. These dogs were left with the Indians and developed by natural selection into the breed that we know today.
By 1570, the Indians were using these dogs to find wild hogs so that they could mark them. The dogs would find the hogs and then bay to alert the Indians of the find. There were few pure-bred Catahoulas left by the 1950s and so three interested men set up a registry, and worked to promote and preserve the breed. Some people took advantage of this to register dogs that were the right color, or mixed breeds, and the Catahoula developed a bad reputation from these irresponsible dealings. Despite this bad publicity, the Catahoula Leopard Dog was adopted as the state dog of Louisiana in 1979.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
Unlike most herding breeds, the Catahoula closely resembles a hound. \IHeight:\i 20 - 28 in (51 - 71 cm). \IWeight:\i 40 - 100 lb (18 - 45 kg). It is not a large-bodied breed, but is more lithe and agile, although still muscular and strong. Its short coat is very dense to withstand the rough bush through which it must pursue the stock. It can come in any color imaginable, but the best known coat color is the blue and gray base with black spots, white toes and chest, and tan markings on the legs and face. It can also have blue, brown or particolored eyes, or a combination of these.
\BBehavior:\b
The Catahoula Leopard Dog is a dog that takes its confidence from its large athletic build. Over many generations, this noble-spirited animal has developed into a good working dog.. Although its original purpose was for use as a herding dog, it was discovered to also be a reliable watch-dog.
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"Catal Hⁿyⁿk",7264,0,0,0
PN [cha\Btahl hoo\byuk]
EN A prehistoric riverside settlement of c.6500-5500 BC in S Turkey, c.50┐km / 30┐mi south-east of \JKonya\j, the largest \JNeolithic\j site known in the Near East. The \Itell\i (mound) is 20┐m / 65┐ft high, and covers 13┐ha / 32┐acres, its 12 successive levels being packed with rectangular mudbrick houses, courtyards, and shrines; its estimated population was c.5000. Spectacular \Jcult\j fittings include wall paintings, plastered reliefs, and numerous bull's head effigies.
BK c
#
"Catalan",7265,0,0,0
EN See Romance languages
BK c
XCY y
#
"Catalaunian Plains, Battle of the",7266,0,0,0
PN [kata\Blaw\bnian]
DT1 451
EN The decisive defeat in E \JFrance\j suffered by \JAttila\j the Hun at the hands of the Romans and \JVisigoths\j. Deflected from \JFrance\j, he turned S to \JItaly\j, which he ravaged the following year.
BK c
#
"catalepsy",7267,0,0,0
EN The adoption of a body posture which would normally be unsustainable; also referred to as \Bwaxy flexibility.\b It occurs in serious psychotic illness or as a hysterical reaction.
BK c
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"Catalonia",7268,0,0,0
PN [kata\Bloh\bnia]
EN pop (1995e) 6 008 000; area 31 932 sq km/12 320 sq mi. Autonomous region of NE \JSpain\j, comprising the provinces of \JBarcelona\j, Gerona, LΘrida, and Tarragona, and formerly including Roussillon and Cerdana; area with a distinctive culture and Romance language; united with Aragon, 1137; created a mediaeval trading empire, 13th--14th-c; part of \JSpain\j following union of Castilian and Aragonese crowns, 1469--79; strong separatist movement since the 17th-c; \JCatalan\j republic established in 1932, abolished by Franco during the \JCivil War\j, 1936--9; new government established, 1979; \Jcereals\j, olives, almonds, hazelnuts, grapes; industry centred on \JBarcelona\j; hydroelectric power from R Ebro; major tourist resorts on the Costa Brava.
BK Geog99
#
"catalpa",7269,0,0,0
EN See Indian bean tree
BK c
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"catalysis",7270,0,0,0
PN [ka\Btal\bisis]
EN The acceleration or slowing of a \Jchemical reaction\j by the action of a material \B(catalyst)\b which is recovered unchanged at the end of the reaction. It is of immense importance in chemistry and \Jbiology\j, accelerating reactions that otherwise proceed very slowly, although they are energetically favourable. Catalysts include iron in the Haber process for ammonia, and \Jchlorophyll\j in \Jphotosynthesis\j. Catalysis within a single phase (eg a solution) is called \Ihomogeneous,\i that in more than one phase \Iheterogeneous.\i
BK c
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"catalyst",7271,0,0,0
Hydrogen burns in air at room \Jtemperature\j, provided there is a fine piece of \Jplatinum\j wire to act as a catalyst. This seems to have been first described in 1824, in \IThe Gentleman's Magazine.\i The principle was going to be used in a "cigar lighter", made of fine \Jplatinum\j wire, together with a glass bottle of sulfuric acid, and some zinc. When a tap was opened, acid came into contact with the zinc, generating \Jhydrogen\j. The \Jhydrogen\j leaked out, and burst into flame when it contacted the \Jplatinum\j wire.
This invention seems to have been a dismal flop. Still, the basic principle can be used to detect small amounts of \Jhydrogen\j in the air, since these small amounts of \Jhydrogen\j will cause the \Jplatinum\j to get hot, or at least to get warm, without causing a flame. The warmer \Jplatinum\j has a higher resistance than \Jplatinum\j which is at room \Jtemperature\j, and so the gas can be detected.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"catalytic converter",7272,0,0,0
EN An antipollution device fitted to a car exhaust system, now standard in \JJapan\j and the USA, and becoming quite common in Europe. It contains a \Jplatinum\j catalyst for chemically converting unburned \Jhydrocarbons\j and \Jnitrogen\j \Joxides\j to compounds harmless to the environment.
BK c
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"catalytic cracking",7273,0,0,0
EN The breaking down \I(cracking)\i of the hydrocarbon molecules of \Jpetroleum\j, which in their initial state are too large to be useful. When the \Jpetroleum\j is distilled, the way the large molecules are made to break down can be induced to follow desired paths by several means, one being the use of \Icatalysts\i - substances which intervene in the chemical process without being consumed by the product.
BK c
#
"catamaran",7274,0,0,0
PN [\Bkat\bamaran, katama\Bran\b]
EN A twin-hulled vessel of Tamil origin, offering advantages in speed and stability. Propelled nowadays either by sail or power, it has become very popular as a yacht design in the past 25 years, and the advantages of the design have also proved attractive to firms introducing a new generation of car / passenger ferries.
BK c
#
"catamount",7275,0,0,0
EN See cougar
BK c
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#
"Catania",7276,0,0,0
PN [ka\Btah\bnia]
EN 37░31N 15░06E, pop (1995e) 366 000. Port and capital of \JCatania\j province, \JSicily\j, S \JItaly\j; 160 km/100 mi SE of \JPalermo\j, at foot of Mt Etna, on E coast; archbishopric; airport; railway; university (1444); agricultural trade, shipbuilding, textiles, paper, footwear, sulphur processing, tourism.
BK Geog99
#
"cataplexy",7277,0,0,0
EN The sudden loss of all muscle tone. It is usually associated with \Jnarcolepsy\j.
BK c
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"cataract",7278,0,0,0
EN Developing opacities in the \Jlens\j of the eye which cause slowly progressive loss of vision. Senile \Jcataract\j is the most common type, but cataracts may also follow excessive exposure to ultraviolet light, or injury to the eye, as well as being a complication of diabetes and other conditions associated with rapid changes in the solute concentration of body fluids. Congenital cataracts occur as a rare genetic disease, and also following maternal rubella. When severe, the \Jlens\j can be removed and the vision corrected with the aid of spectacles and a \Jlens\j implantation.
BK c
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"catastrophe theory",7279,0,0,0
EN The mathematical study of sudden change, such as the bursting of a bubble, in contrast to continuous change. For example, in Necker's cube, the dot ò appears first either in the centre of one face or in a corner of another face, then suddenly changes. It is not possible to say in which face any one viewer will first see it, but it always changes suddenly. Catastrophe theory was created in the late 1950s and early 1960s by French mathematician RenΘ Thom (1923-) and developed in particular by Stephen Smale, Vladimir Arnold, Christopher Zeeman, and others. There are many applications to economics and behavioural sciences as well as to the natural sciences.
BK c
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"catastrophism",7280,0,0,0
HS (\Jgeology\j)
EN See uniformitarianism
BK c
XCY y
#
"catatonia",7281,0,0,0
EN A psychiatric state in which there is stupor associated with \Jcatalepsy\j, or overactivity associated with stereotyped behaviour. This condition was first described by the German physician Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum (1828-99) in 1874, and is seen particularly in manic-depressive illnesses and \Jschizophrenia\j. There may be repetitive movements, the repetition of sounds or phrases the patient has heard (echolalia), automatic obedience, and negativism.
BK c
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"Catch-22",7282,0,0,0
EN The title of a novel by Joseph Heller, published in 1961. US airmen seeking to be excused bombing missions in World War 2 on grounds of mental derangement are judged ineligible to apply, since such a request proves their sanity. Hence 'Catch-22' signifies any logical trap or double bind.
BK c
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"catchfly",7283,0,0,0
EN An annual or perennial herb, part of the same \Jgenus\j as campions, but with hairy, sticky stem; native to the temperate Northern hemisphere; leaves opposite; calyx tubular, five petals, notched or bifid, white, pink, or yellow. \B(Genus:\b \ISilene.\i \BFamily:\b Caryophyllaceae.)
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"Catchpole, Margaret",7284,0,0,0
DT1 1762
DT2 1819
EN Australian pioneer, born near \JIpswich\j, Suffolk, E England, UK. She was servant to the Cobbold family of brewers in \JIpswich\j. Twice sentenced to death, for stealing a horse and for escaping from \JIpswich\j jail, she was transported to \JNew South Wales\j in 1801. She later managed a farm, ran a store, acted as midwife, and led a useful life in the community. Her letters home, and to the Cobbold family, formed the basis of Richard Cobbold's book about her (1845), and provide a valuable account of early 19th-c life in the new colony.
MEX Cobbold
SX f
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"catechism",7285,0,0,0
EN A manual of Christian doctrine, in question-and-answer form. It derived from the early Church period of instruction for new converts, and was later applied to the instruction of adults baptized in infancy. Such manuals became popular after the Reformation, eg the Heidelberg \JCatechism\j (1563). These were intended for instruction, preparation for confirmation, and confessional purposes. Some have avoided the question-and-answer format, such as the Roman Catholic 'New \JCatechism\j' of 1966 and the 'Universal \JCatechism\j' of 1992.
BK c
#
"catechol",7286,0,0,0
PN [\Bkat\bekohl]
EN C\D6\dH\D4\d(OH)\D2\d, 1,2-dihydroxybenzene, melting point 105░C. A colourless solid which can form strong complexes with metals by chelation. Important derivatives include adrenaline and dopa.
BK c
#
"catecholamine",7287,0,0,0
PN [kate\Bkohl\bameen]
EN The chemical classification of a group of biologically important components widely distributed among animals and plants. Those occurring in mammalian tissues are \Jdopamine\j, noradrenaline, and adrenaline, all of which have important roles in the functioning of the sympathetic and central nervous systems. They are crucial in the control of blood pressure, and in the 'flight or fight' response.
BK c
#
"Categorical Imperative",7288,0,0,0
EN A principle introduced into ethics by Kant to distinguish the overriding, objective force of moral injunctions (eg 'do not lie') from the \Bhypothetical imperatives\b of other prescriptions (eg 'if you want to avoid cancer, stop smoking'). He formulated the principle as 'act so that you can will the principle of your action to become a universal law' or 'act so that you treat humanity as an end, never merely a means'.
BK c
#
"catenary",7289,0,0,0
HS (Lat \Icatena,\i 'chain')
EN In \Jmathematics\j, the plane curve in which an 'ideal' chain hangs under its own weight.
BK c
#
"catenation",7290,0,0,0
EN In chemistry, chain formation by bonding between atoms of the same element. It is seen most strikingly in carbon compounds, but is also found with other elements, especially sulphur.
BK c
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"caterpillar",7291,0,0,0
EN The larval stage of butterflies and moths \B(Order:\b \JLepidoptera\j), usually feeding on plants; occasionally also used for the larvae of sawflies \B(Order:\b \JHymenoptera\j).
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The ugly little grubs which eat our plants become beautiful butterflies, and should make us ask: what is beauty? Why are butterflies so ugly when you look at them closely under the \Jmicroscope\j or handlens? In their own way, considered as tiny functioning individuals, caterpillars are beautiful as well.
A caterpillar increases its weight by two or three thousand times from when it hatches to when it forms a \Jpupa\j. This makes special problems for the caterpillar, which has to change its way of life as it grows, as well as changing its skin.
Caterpillars also need to moult, if they are to grow. A very small caterpillar can actually get inside a leaf, and eat out the very rich plant cells which lie between the two layers of the leaf's skin. These leaf miners, as they are called, have to move into the plant's stem, or out of the leaf and onto its surface, as they grow larger.
Bigger caterpillars are more exposed to attack from predators such as birds, ants, wasps and spiders. To protect themselves, the caterpillars have many different weapons. Some of them are covered in stinging hairs, others squirt poisonous juices, and some eat poisonous plants, storing the poisons (which do not affect them) so they become poisonous themselves.
When a caterpillar has eaten and grown enough, some clock inside it says the time has come to form a \Jpupa\j. This means weaving a \Jcocoon\j, and settling down inside while the body changes and grows into the adult form. When it is ready, a moth or butterfly comes out of the \Jcocoon\j, unfolds its wings, flattens them out, and then waits for the new wings to dry. Finally, it flies away to start a new generation of caterpillars.
\BGood grub to eat\b
Witchetty grubs are wood-boring caterpillars of the grey cossid moth, \Ixyleutes,\i which live in the roots of wattles \I(Acacia)\i and gums \I(Eucalyptus).\i The grubs are rich in iron, and contain about 35% fat. The "cutworms" which can be found in suburban gardens and compost heaps are really the grubs of scarab beetles, and do not taste anywhere near as good as the real thing.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK c
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"caterpillar bird",7292,0,0,0
EN See cuckoo \Jshrike\j
BK c
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"Catesby, Mark",7293,0,0,0
DT (c. 1679-1749)
EN naturalist; born in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. He studied natural history in London and first came to America in 1712. He lived in Virginia for seven years and diligently sent collections of plants and seeds to England, whence he returned in 1719. In 1722 he returned to America, traveling in the Carolinas, Georgia, and \JFlorida\j to observe the region's natural life. Returning to England in 1726, he wrote and illustrated \IThe Natural History of Carolina, \JFlorida\j and the Bahama Islands,\i published at intervals from 1731-48.
BK AmBg
#
"Catesby, Robert",7294,0,0,0
PN [\Bkayts\bbee]
DT1 1573
DT2 1605
EN Chief conspirator involved in the \JGunpowder\j Plot, born in Lapworth, Warwickshire, C England, UK. A Catholic of wealth and lineage, he had suffered much as a recusant both by fines and imprisonment. He was named as an \Jaccomplice\j in the Rye Plot (1603) against James I, and was shot dead while resisting arrest after the failure of the \JGunpowder\j Plot (1605).
MEX Fawkes; James I (of England)
SX m
BK bg c
#
"catfish",7295,0,0,0
EN Any of about 28 families of typically elongate bottom-living fishes; flattened head, smooth skin, long barbels around mouth; habits often sluggish, nocturnal; several important as food fish and in the aquarium trade; includes freshwater families Siluridae, Bagridae, Clariidae, Ictaluridae, and marine Ariidae, Plotosidae.
BK c
#
"catgut",7296,0,0,0
EN A tough cord prepared from the intestines of sheep (sometimes horse or ass, but never a cat). The \Jintestine\j is cleaned, steeped in \Jalkali\j, and sterilized by sulphur fumes. It has been used for musical instrument strings and surgical sutures (now replaced for the most part by synthetic fibres). \ICat\i seems to be derived from \Ikit\i 'fiddle'.
BK c
#
"Cathars",7297,0,0,0
PN [\Bkath\bah(r)z]
HS (Gr \Ikathari\i 'pure ones')
EN Originally, 3rd-c separatists from the Church, puritan and ascetic, following the teaching of the 3rd-c Roman bishop, Novatian. In the \JMiddle Ages\j, as a sect, they were known in \JBulgaria\j as \BBogomils\b and in \JFrance\j as \BAlbigenses.\b Celibate, they rejected sacraments and held 'good' and 'evil' to be separate spheres ('\Jdualism\j'). They survived until the 14th-c, when they were finally exterminated by the Inquisition.
BK c
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"cathartid vulture",7298,0,0,0
EN See vulture
BK c
XCY y
#
"Cathartidae",7299,0,0,0
EN \BNew World vultures\b
The New World vultures are so-called to distinguish them from the Old World vultures, which appear superficially similar but are not even distantly related. Their closest relatives are the storks (family \JCiconiidae\j). There are seven species; the two largest are called condors, and two of the others are widely known as 'buzzards' in rural America.
The name \JCathartidae\j is based on the Ancient Greek word \Ikathartes,\i cleanser, and by extension a scavenger (the English word 'cathartic' has the same source), and all rely on carrion as virtually their sole diet. Their copious \Jfossil\j history extends back at least to the Paleocene some 65 million years ago, and suggests an almost world-wide distribution sometime in the past, though they are now confined entirely to the New World. Because their distribution once included the Old World, they are perhaps better called cathartid vultures.
The wealth of anatomical features that set the New World vultures apart from the Old World vultures include the following: the hind toe is small, elevated, and non-functional; the toes are slightly webbed; there is no syrinx; the feathers lack aftershafts; and there is no septum between the nostrils. Cathartid vultures also have a gall bladder and a well-developed crop.
The head and neck of all species largely naked, the bare skin being mostly black, red, orange, or yellow, according to species. The plumage of all is largely dusty black or blackish, except for the King Vulture \ISarcorhamphus papa\i which is mainly white with black wings, rump, and tail.
The condors have a dense ruff of feathers at the base of the neck. The sexes are alike, and there is negligible age or seasonal variation. The largest species is the Andean Condor \IVultur gryphus,\i its immense wings spanning more than three meters, but the nearly extinct \JCalifornia\j Condor \IGymnogyps californianus\i is almost as large. Smallest is the Black Vulture \ICoragyps atratus,\i with a wingspan about half that of a condor.
Both Old World and New World vultures are very similar in their life-style. They are perhaps the ultimate exponents of static soaring among all animals, their behavior geared to riding high thermals all \Jday\j with almost no expenditure of \Jenergy\j-using the same techniques that sailplanes and gliders use.
They use their high perches to minutely scan the ground below for carrion, and usually hunt cooperatively in the inadvertent sense that they also watch their neighbors carefully. Any descent is taken as a signal that food has been found, and others follow the first one down to investigate and claim a share.
Cathartid vultures have a well developed sense of smell, and a debate has long endured as to whether they locate carrion primarily by sight or by smell. It has been reasonably well shown that at least the Turkey Vulture \ICathartes aura\i relies heavily on smell, especially over woodlands where the ground is screened from above by foliage. Cathartid vultures are clumsy on the ground, and the larger species have great difficulty getting airborne under their own power. They roost communally.
The Turkey Vulture is by far the most widespread species, with an immense range extending from \JAlaska\j to Tierra del Fuego. The Black Vulture is nearly as widespread, and the Andean Condor extends the length of the \JAndes\j. At the other extreme, the \JCalifornia\j Condor is now reduced to a population of about 50 individuals in the mountains of \JCalifornia\j. The others occur in Central and northern \JSouth America\j.
There is a degree of ecological partitioning: the two condors inhabit high mountains, the Greater Yellow-headed Vulture \ICathartes melambrotus\i and King Vulture are forest birds, and the Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture \ICathartes burrovianus\i is strongly associated with marshes and grasslands.
Most populations of most species are sedentary, the conspicuous exceptions are those Turkey Vultures that breed in Canada and the northern United States, which migrate to \JCentral America\j in winter.
BK wan
#
"cathedral",7300,0,0,0
HS (Lat \Icathedra,\i 'chair')
EN The chief church of a bishop of a diocese; originally, the church which contained the throne of the bishop, then the mother church of the diocese. The most famous are the W European Gothic cathedrals built in the \JMiddle Ages\j, such as those at Reims and Chartres, \JFrance\j (both 13th-c). In many towns, they were the centre around which social and cultural as well as religious life developed. The largest cathedral in the world is thought to be New York City's Episcopalian Cathedral of St John the Divine, which has been under intermittent construction since 1892.
EN writer; born in Back Creek Valley (later Gore), Va. Raised on the \JNebraska\j prairie and educated at the University of \JNebraska\j, she went to \JPittsburgh\j, Pa., where she worked as a journalist and teacher while beginning her writing career. In 1906 she moved to New York City to work on \IMcClure's\i magazine (1906-12) before turning to full-time writing. (She published her early works as "Willa Sibert Cather.")
Her spare, imagistic novels of pioneer life, several involving independent heroines in \JNebraska\j or in Southwestern settings, include \IO Pioneers!\i (1913), \IMy Antonia\i (1918), and \IDeath Comes for the Archbishop\i (1927). She won a Pulitzer Prize for \IOne of Ours\i (1922). She continued to produce a respected body of work, including such novels as \IThe Professor's House\i (1925), \IShadows on the Rock\i (1931), and \ISapphira and the Slave\i (1940), and several decades after her death she would be revived by feminists who saw anticipatory themes in both her life and work.
BK AmBg
#
"Catherine de' Medici",7302,0,0,0
PN [\Bmay\bdeechee]
DT1 1519
DT2 89
EN Queen of \JFrance\j, the wife of Henry II, and regent (1560-74), born in Florence, \JItaly\j, the daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino. Married at 14, she was slighted at the French court, but during the minority of her sons, Francis II (1559-60) and Charles IX (1560-3), she assumed political influence which she retained as queen mother until 1588. She tried to pursue moderation and toleration, to give unity to a state increasingly torn by religious division and aristocratic faction, but she nursed dynastic ambitions, and was drawn into political and religious intrigues, conniving in the infamous Massacre of St Bartholomew (1572).
SX f
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#
"Catherine I",7303,0,0,0
DT1 1684
DT2 1727
EN Tsarina of \JRussia\j (1725-7), who succeeded her husband Peter I, the Great. She was of lowly birth, and was baptized a Roman Catholic with the name of Martha. In 1705 she became mistress to Peter, changing her name to Catherine, and converting to Orthodoxy in 1708. The tsar married her in 1712, and in 1722 passed a law allowing him to nominate a successor. He chose Catherine, having her crowned empress (tsaritsa) in 1724, and after his death, Prince Menshikov (c.1660-1729) ensured her succession to the throne. She was succeeded by Peter's grandson, Peter II.
MEX Peter I (of \JRussia\j)
SX f
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#
"Catherine II",7304,0,0,0
HS , known as \BCatherine the Great,\b originally \BPrincess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst\b
DT1 1729
DT2 96
EN Empress of \JRussia\j (1762-96), born in Szczecin (Stettin), \JPoland\j. In 1745 she was married to the heir to the Russian throne (later Peter III, r.1761-2). Their marriage was an unhappy one, and Catherine (now baptized into the \JRussian Orthodox Church\j under that name) spent much of her time in political intriguing, reading, and extramarital affairs. In 1762 a palace coup overthrew her unpopular husband, and she was proclaimed empress.
She carried out an energetic foreign policy and extended the Russian Empire S to the \JBlack Sea\j as a result of the Russo-Turkish Wars (1774, 1792) while in the W she brought about the three partitions of \JPoland\j. Despite pretensions to enlightened ideas, her domestic policies achieved little for the mass of the Russian people, though great cultural advances were made among the nobility. In 1774 she suppressed the popular rebellion led by Pugachev, and later actively persecuted members of the progressive-minded nobility. Her private life was dominated by a long series of lovers, most notably Potemkin.
MEX Paul; Potemkin; Pugachev; Frederick II (of \JPrussia\j)
SX f
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#
"Catherine of Aragon",7305,0,0,0
PN [\Ba\bragon]
DT1 1485
DT2 1536
EN Queen of England, the first wife of \JHenry VIII\j (1509-33), born in Alcalß de Henares, \JSpain\j, the fourth daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of \JSpain\j. She was first married in 1501 to Arthur (1486-1502), the son of Henry VII, and following his early death was betrothed to her brother-in-law Henry, then a boy of 11. She married him in 1509, and bore him five children, but only the Princess Mary survived. In 1527 Henry began a procedure for divorce, which he obtained in 1533, thereby breaking with the pope, and starting the English Reformation. Catherine then retired to lead an austere religious life until her death.
MEX Henry VIII
SX f
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#
"Catherine of Braganza",7306,0,0,0
PN [bra\Bgan\bza]
DT1 1638
DT2 1705
EN Wife of Charles II of England, born in Vila Vicosa, \JPortugal\j, the daughter of King John IV of \JPortugal\j. She was married to Charles in 1662 as part of an alliance between England and \JPortugal\j, but failed to produce an heir. She helped to convert him to Catholicism just before his death, after which she returned to \JPortugal\j (1692).
MEX Charles II (of England)
SX f
BK bg c
#
"Catherine of Siena, St",7307,0,0,0
PN [\Bsyay\bna]
HS , originally \BCaterina Benincasa\b
DT1 1347
DT2 80
EN Nun and mystic, born in Siena, \JItaly\j. She became a Dominican, and gained a great reputation for holiness, writing many devotional pieces, letters, and poems. She prevailed on Pope Gregory XI to return the papacy from Avignon to \JRome\j. Christ's \Jstigmata\j were said to have been imprinted on her body. She was canonized in 1461, and is the patron saint of \JItaly\j. Feast \Jday\j 29 April.
SX f
BK bg c
#
"Catherine of Valois",7308,0,0,0
PN [valwah]
DT1 1401
DT2 37
EN Queen of England, the wife of \JHenry V\j, and the youngest daughter of Charles VI ('the Foolish') of \JFrance\j. After a stormy courtship, when England and \JFrance\j went to war over Henry's dowry demands, she married Henry at Troyes in 1420. In 1421 she gave birth to a son, the future \JHenry VI\j. After Henry's death in \JFrance\j in 1422, she secretly married \BOwen Tudor,\b a Welsh squire, despite parliamentary opposition; their eldest son, Edmund, Earl of Richmond, was the father of \JHenry VII\j.
MEX Henry V
SX f
BK bg c
#
"Catherine, Mount",7309,0,0,0
HS , Arabic \BKatherina, Gebel\b
EN 28░30N 33░57E. Mountain in S \JSinai\j governorate, north-east \JEgypt\j; height 2637┐m / 8651┐ft; highest point in \JEgypt\j; St Catherine's monastery (6th-c), altitude 1500┐m / 4921┐ft.
BK c
#
"Catherine, St",7310,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2 307
EN Traditionally, a virgin of royal descent in Alexandria. She publicly confessed the Gospel at a sacrificial feast appointed by Emperor Maximinus, and was beheaded, after being tortured on a spiked wheel (later known as a \Icatherine wheel).\i Her remains were miraculously spirited to Mount \JSinai\j, where her shrine is on display in St Catherine's monastery. Feast \Jday\j 25 November.
SX f
BK bg c
#
"Catherwood, Frederick",7311,0,0,0
EN See Stephens, John Lloyd
BK bg c
XCY y
#
"catheter",7312,0,0,0
PN [\Bkath\beter]
EN A fine tube made of \Jrubber\j or synthetic material for insertion into a number of body cavities, such as the bladder, blood vessels, the chambers of the heart, and the respiratory passages. It is used either to introduce or to withdraw fluid or blood for analysis, or to measure pressure or rates of flow.
BK c
#
"cathode",7313,0,0,0
EN In \Jelectrolysis\j and gas discharge tubes, the negative electrode by which electrons enter the cell or tube. In a battery, the \Jcathode\j is the positive terminal by which electrons enter the battery. For a circuit connected to a battery, conventional current flows from the positive \Jcathode\j of the battery through the circuit to the negative \Janode\j. A cation is a positive ion that moves towards the negative \Jcathode\j in \Jelectrolysis\j; metals are removed from the \Janode\j and deposited at the \Jcathode\j in \Jelectrolysis\j.
BK c
#
"cathode rays",7314,0,0,0
EN See \Jelectron\j
BK c
XCY y
#
"cathode-ray tube (CRT)",7315,0,0,0
EN An electronic device in which an image is formed on a \Jphosphor\j screen in a vacuum tube by a beam of electrons deflected in electric or magnetic fields. It is used in oscilloscopes, display screens, and \Jtelevision\j receivers.
BK c
#
"Catholic Church",7316,0,0,0
HS (Gr \Ikatholikos,\i 'general', 'universal')
EN As in the \JApostles' Creed\j, the universal Church which confesses Jesus Christ as Lord. Christian Churches with episcopal order and confessing ancient creeds. Specifically, the Roman \JCatholic Church\j and other Churches recognizing the primacy of the Pope, as distinct from Protestant and Orthodox Churches.
BK c
#
"Catholic Emancipation",7317,0,0,0
EN A reluctant religious concession granted by the British Tory government of the Duke of Wellington in 1829, following mounting agitation led by Daniel O'Connell and the Catholic Association. Roman Catholics were permitted to become MPs; and all offices of state in Ireland, except Viceroy and Chancellor, were also opened to Catholics.
BK c
#
"Catiline",7318,0,0,0
PN [\Bkat\biliyn]
HS , in full \BLucius Sergius Catilina\b
DT1a c.
DT1 108
DT2 62
DT2b BC
EN An impoverished Roman politician of patrician extraction who tried to exploit the economic unrest of \JRome\j and \JItaly\j in the 60s BC for his own political ends. His conspiracy against the state was foiled by Cicero late in 63 BC, and he fell in battle early in 62 BC.
MEX Cicero
SX m
BK bg c
#
"cation",7319,0,0,0
PN [\Bkat\biyon]
EN An ion bearing a positive charge, so called because it will migrate towards the \Jcathode\j in an electrochemical cell.
BK c
#
"Catlin, George",7320,0,0,0
DT (1796-1872)
EN painter; born in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Beginning as a portrait miniaturist in Philadelphia (1820-25), he lived with \JAmerican Indians\j (1832-39), and became a visual historian, as in \IOld Bear\i (1832), and \IBull Dance\i (c. 1832-36). He traveled in Europe and \JSouth America\j (1839-70) with his paintings and a group of Indians, and returned to Jersey City, N.J., when his funds ran out.
BK AmBg
#
"catmint",7321,0,0,0
EN A square-stemmed perennial \I(Nepeta cataria\i ) , growing to 1┐m / 3 1/4┐ft, native to Europe and Asia, often on chalky soils; oval, toothed leaves in opposite pairs; flowers 2-lipped, white spotted with purple, in whorls forming spikes; also called \Bcatnip.\b A relative of true mints, its strong scent is attractive to cats. \B(Family:\b Labiatae.)
BK c
#
"catnip",7322,0,0,0
EN See catmint
BK c
XCY y
#
"Cato Street conspiracy",7323,0,0,0
PN [\Bkay\btoh]
EN A plot in February 1820, formulated by Arthur Thistlewood (1770-1820) and fellow radical conspirators, to blow up the British Tory Cabinet as it attended a dinner at the house of the Earl of Harrowby. The plot was infiltrated by a government agent, and the leaders were arrested and hanged.
BK c
#
"Cato, Marcus Porcius, known as Cato the Elder or Cato the Censor",7324,0,0,0
PN [\Bkay\btoh]
HS , known as \BCato the Elder\b or \BCato the Censor\b
DT1 234
DT2 149
DT2b BC
EN Roman statesman, orator, and man of letters, born in Tusculum, Latium. Deeply conservative, and strongly opposed to the contemporary fashion of all things Greek, when made censor (184 BC) he conducted such a vigorous campaign that he was thereafter known by this name. Sent on a mission to \JCarthage\j (175 BC), he was so impressed by the power of the Carthaginians that afterwards he ended every speech in the Senate with the words: 'Carthage must be destroyed'. His treatise on agriculture is the oldest extant literary prose work in Latin.
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Cato, Marcus Porcius, known as Cato the Younger or Cato Uticensis",7325,0,0,0
PN [\Bkay\btoh]
HS , known as \BCato the Younger\b or \BCato Uticensis\b
DT1 95
DT2 46
DT2b BC
EN Roman statesman, the great-grandson of Cato the Censor. A man of uncompromising principles and deep \Jconservatism\j, his career was marked by an unswerving opposition to Caesar. A supporter of Pompey in the \JCivil War\j, after Pharsalus (48 BC) he escaped to Africa. On hearing of Caesar's overwhelming victory at Thapsus (46 BC), he killed himself.
MEX Pompey; Cato (the Elder)
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Catron, John",7326,0,0,0
DT (c. 1786-1865)
EN Supreme Court justice; probably born in Wythe County, Va. Elected to an early \JTennessee\j court (1824-34), he was named to the U.S. Supreme Court (1837-65) by President Jackson when the Court was enlarged from seven judges to nine. Known as a "Jacksonian jurist," he argued vehemently for states rights.
BK AmBg
#
"Catroux, Georges",7327,0,0,0
PN [katroo]
DT1 1877
DT2 1969
EN French general and diplomat, born in Limoges, \JFrance\j. He served in World War 1, was Governor-General of Indo-China (1939-40), commanded the Free French forces in \JSyria\j and the Near East (1940-1), and became Governor-General of \JAlgeria\j in 1943. He was also ambassador to the \JSoviet Union\j (1945-8).
SX m
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#
"Catskill Mountains",7328,0,0,0
EN Mountain group in south-east New York State, USA; part of the Appalachian system; rises to 1282┐m / 4206┐ft at Slide Mt; New York recreational area.
BK c
#
"Catt, Carrie Chapman",7329,0,0,0
DT (1859-1947)
EN woman suffrage leader; born near \JRipon\j, Wis. Raised on a farm in the frontier tradition of independence, she taught school for a year before attending \JIowa\j State College (B.A. 1880). She became a principal of an \JIowa\j high school in 1881 and by 1883 was superintendent of schools in Mason City, \JIowa\j. She married a newspaper editor, Les Chapman, and after he died (1886), she worked for a year on a \JSan Francisco\j newspaper, then returned to \JIowa\j and became involved in the Woman Suffrage Association.
By 1890 she was a delegate to the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) convention. That same year she married George Catt, a civil engineer and constructor; they lived in Seattle until 1892, then moved to New York City. He supported her goals and activities, and when he died in 1905, the money he left her allowed her to devote herself to promoting women's right to vote.
She had emerged in the 1890s as one of the most capable and convincing of the woman suffragists, and with the retirement of Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Catt became president of NAWSA (1900-04); she returned to the presidency (1915-47) and by promoting the so-called "Mrs. Catt's Winning Plan " - which combined efforts at both the state level and the federal amendment - she is credited with a major role in getting the 19th Amendment adopted in 1920.
She was also active in promoting woman suffrage on the international level, serving as president of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (1902-23). She was one of the founders of the League of Women Voters (1919) and she campaigned to promote peace and disarmament.
BK AmBg
#
"cattalo",7330,0,0,0
EN See \Jbison\j
BK c
XCY y
#
"Cattell, Raymond B(ernard)",7331,0,0,0
PN [ka\Btel\b]
DT1 1905
EN Psychologist, born in Staffordshire, C England, UK. He studied at London University, taught at Harvard, Clarke, and Duke universities before World War 2, and after the war became director of the Laboratory of Personality Assessment at Illinois University. He later moved to the University of Hawaii. He is best known for his application of the statistical techniques of factor analysis to the study of personality differences.
BK Biog99
#
"Cattermole, George",7332,0,0,0
DT1 1800
DT2 68
EN Watercolour painter and book illustrator, born in Dickleborough, Norfolk, E England, UK. He was known for his antiquarian and architectural paintings, and for his illustrations of Sir Walter Scott's 'Waverley Novels'.
SX m
BK bg c
#
"cattle",7333,0,0,0
EN Domesticated mammals, developed from wild \Jaurochs\j \I(Bos \Jtaurus\j); \i now worldwide with numerous breeds; kept for milk and / or meat or for hauling loads; also known as \Boxen.\b The world's \Jcattle\j population doubled, 1960-80. The name \Icattle\i is sometimes used to include other species (eg banteng, \Jgaur\j, yak, \Jbison\j, buffalo, anoa). \B(Family:\b \JBovidae\j.)
BK c
#
"cattle plague",7334,0,0,0
EN See rinderpest
BK c
XCY y
#
"cattleya",7335,0,0,0
PN [\Bkat\blia]
EN An orchid (mainly an \Jepiphyte\j) native to the forests of Central and \JSouth America\j. Most kinds have swollen, bulb-like stems \I(pseudobulbs)\i bearing 1-3 leaves, and spikes of up to 47 large, showy flowers. Widely cultivated with numerous hybrids, they are one of the most widely used orchids of floristry. \B(Genus:\b \ICattleya,\i 30 species. \BFamily:\b Orchidaceae.)
BK c
#
"Catton, Bruce",7336,0,0,0
DT (1899-1978)
EN historian; born in Petoskey, Mich. Before becoming America's most popular historian of the \JCivil War\j, he worked as a newspaperman in \JBoston\j, Cleveland, and Washington, and held posts with the U.S. Department of Commerce (1945-46; 1948). His best-selling \IA Stillness at Appomattox\i (1953) earned him a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award in 1954. Editor and senior editor of \IAmerican Heritage Magazine\i from 1954 until his death, he produced ten more books on the \JCivil War\j, ending with \IGrant Takes Command\i (1968).
BK AmBg
#
"Catullus, Gaius Valerius",7337,0,0,0
PN [ka\Btuh\blus]
DT1a c.
DT1 84
DT2a c.
DT2 54
DT2b BC
EN Lyric poet, born in Verona, \JItaly\j. He settled in \JRome\j (c.62 BC), where he met 'Lesbia' whom he addressed in his verses. He entered as an aristocrat into the contest of parties, and several of his poems attack Caesar and other political enemies. His extant works comprise 116 pieces, many of them extremely brief, while the longest contains only some 400 lines.
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Caucasus Mountains",7338,0,0,0
PN [\Bkaw\bkasus], Russ \BKavkaz\b
EN Major mountain system between the \JBlack Sea\j and the \JCaspian Sea\j; bounded S by Turkey and \JIran\j; comprises the \BGreater Caucasus\b and the \BLesser Caucasus; \b generally accepted as the physical boundary between Europe (north) and Asia (south); extends c.1120┐km / 700┐mi SE; in the W is Mount Elbrus (5642┐m / 18┐510┐ft), highest point in the Kavkaz range; in the E the range widens to over 160┐km / 100┐mi.
BK c
#
"Cauchy, Augustin Louis, Baron",7339,0,0,0
PN [kohshee]
DT (1789-1857)
EN French mathematician: founded complex analysis.
The Terror of 1793-4 drove the Cauchy family to their country retreat at Arcueil, and there Augustin was educated by his father. He also became badly malnourished, which affected his health for the rest of his life. In 1805 he entered the ╔cole Polytechnique, and after moving to the ╔cole des Ponts et ChaussΘes served as an engineer in Napoleon's army. In 1813 ill health caused his return to Paris; 3 years later he became a professor at the ╔cole Polytechnique.
With the restoration of the \JBourbons\j and departure of republicans such as Monge and others, Cauchy was elected to the AcadΘmie des Sciences, which, in the same year (1816), awarded him its Grand Prix for his paper on wave \Jmodulation\j. His recognition and status increased (including a chair at the CollΦge de \JFrance\j), but all was lost with Charles X's \Jabdication\j in 1830, following the July Revolution. Cauchy was extremely pious and, although sincere, was 'a bigoted Catholic' even according to Abel. He refused to take a new oath of allegiance and went into exile.
A professorship at Turin followed, together with a tedious period as tutor to Charles X's son in \JPrague\j. Although Cauchy stuck to his principles, the Government fortunately turned a blind eye and in 1838 he returned to a professorship at the ╔cole Polytechnique, and at the \JSorbonne\j in 1848. He died of a fever at the age of 68, after a highly creative lifetime in \Jmathematics\j, and mathematical physics, which included seven books and over 700 papers. His tally of 16 named concepts and theorems compare with those of any other mathematician.
Cauchy played a large part in founding modern \Jmathematics\j by his introduction of rigour into \Jcalculus\j and mathematical analysis. He published on convergence, limits and continuity and defined the integral as the limit of a sum. Together with Gauss, Cauchy created the theory of real and complex functions, including complex analysis and contour \Jintegration\j. He recognized the theory of determinants and initiated group theory by studying substitution groups.
BK Scie
#
"caucus",7340,0,0,0
EN A meeting, public or private, restricted to persons sharing a common characteristic, usually membership of a political party, held to formulate decisions or nominate candidates in forthcoming elections. It is most often applied to the USA, where the \Jcaucus\j-convention system is significant in selecting presidential and vice-presidential candidates, and where caucuses are the authoritative voice of the parties in Congress.
BK c
#
"cauliflower",7341,0,0,0
EN A type of cultivated cabbage \I(Brassica oleracea)\i grown for the immature \Jinflorescence\j which forms the edible white head. If left to mature, the head eventually elongates greatly, producing numerous yellow cross-shaped flowers. \B(Family:\b Cruciferae.)
BK c
#
"causality principle",7342,0,0,0
This is a way of saying that time only goes in one direction. It states that a cause must always precede an effect. If an event ("the cause") somehow influences another event ("the effect") which occurs later in time, then the "effect" cannot in turn have an influence on the "cause". That is, event B must occur at a later time than event A. All frames must agree upon this ordering.
In simple terms, if we were to travel forward in time, see a murder, and then go back to the past and kill the killer, the future murder would be prevented. In other words, it has influenced its own cause, even though the event does not exist. This represents a causality violation, and it is the problem of dealing with such violations which leads most physicists to think that time travel and faster-than-light travel are impossible, at least in the general sense in which these terms are used in \Jscience fiction\j.
Against this, it may be remotely possible to build a Tipler machine, though it might take you a while to do so. The Tipler machine is an infinitely long cylinder, made of material as dense or denser than the matter in a neutron star. If this cylinder is rotated very rapidly, it will form closed timelike curves in the immediate area, which might allow time travel and possible subsequent violations of causality.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Webster
#
"causation",7343,0,0,0
EN The relationship between two things whereby the first is necessary or sufficient to bring about the second. Philosophers have debated whether all events must have causes (quantum theory suggests not) and whether a causal connection is more than just an experienced regularity in nature.
BK c
#
"Causley, Charles",7344,0,0,0
PN [\Bkawz\blee]
DT1 1917
EN Poet, born in Launceston, Cornwall, SW England, UK. He left school at 15, joined the Navy, and trained as a teacher after World War 2. He wrote his first poetry while in the Navy, publishing his first collection, \IHands to Dance\i, in 1951. He became known as a poet of the sea, and also as a children's poet. Later volumes include \IUnion Street\i (1957), \IFiggie Hobbin\i (1970), and \IEarly in the Morning\i (1988), and his \ICollected Poems 1951--1997\i were published in 1997.
\BMajor Works\b
\IPoetry\i
1951 Farewell, Aggie Weston
1953 Survivor's Leave
1957 Union Street
1961 Johnny Alleluia
1962 Penguin Modern Poets 3 (with George Barker & Martin Bell)
1968 Underneath the Water
1969 Figure of 8
1971 Figgie Hobbin
1973 The Tale of the Trinosaur
1975 Collected Poems 1951-1975
1976 The Hill of the Fairy Calf
1978 The Animals' Carol
1984 Secret Destinations
1986 21 Poems
1986 Early in the Morning
1987 Jack the Treacle Eater
1988 A Field of Vision
1991 The Young Man of Cury
1992 Bring in the Holly
1992 Collected Poems
1994 All Day Saturday
1994 Going to the Fair
1996 Collected Poems for Children
1996 Penguin Modern Poets (jointly)
\IShort stories\i
1951 Hands to Dance
\IChildren's stories\i
1978 Three Heads made of Gold
1978 The Last King of Cornwall
\IVerse plays\i
1978 The Gift of a Lamb
1981 The Ballad of Aucassin and Nicolette
\ILibretti\i
1990 Jonah (music by William Mathias)
1991 St Martha and the Dragon (music by Phyllis Tate)
\IEditor\i
1957 Peninsula
1962 Dawn and Dusk
1964 Rising Early
1966 Modern Folk Ballads
1974 The Puffin Book of Magic Verse
1978 The Puffin Book of Salt-Sea Verse
1979 Batsford Book of Stories in Verse for Children
1982 The Sun, Dancing
\ITranslations\i
1980 25 Poems by Hamdija Demirovφc
1986 Kings' Children
BK Biog99n
#
"caustic",7345,0,0,0
EN In chemistry, descriptive of substances (normally strongly alkaline) which are destructive, particularly to biological tissue. \BCaustic soda\b is sodium \Jhydroxide\j; \Bcaustic potash\b is \Jpotassium\j \Jhydroxide\j.
BK c
#
"caution",7346,0,0,0
EN See right to silence
BK c
XCY y
#
"Cavaco Silva, Anibal",7347,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bva\bsoh \Bseel\bva]
DT1 1939
EN Portuguese politician and prime minister (1985--95), born in LoulΘ, \JPortugal\j. He studied economics in Britain and the USA, became a university teacher, and then a research director in the Bank of \JPortugal\j. With the re-establishment of constitutional government after 1976, he entered politics and became minister of finance (1980--1), and in 1985 leader of the Social Democratic Party and prime minister. Under his leadership \JPortugal\j joined the European Community in 1985 and the Western European Union in 1988.
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#
"Cavafy, Constantine",7348,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bva\bfee]
HS , pseudonym of \BKonstantine Petrou Kavafis\b
DT1 1863
DT2 1933
EN Poet, born in Alexandria, \JEgypt\j, of a Greek family. After his father's death in 1872 he was taken to England for five years, and apart from three years in \JIstanbul\j (1882-5) he spent the rest of his life in Alexandria, where he worked as a civil servant, making it the setting of much of his poetry. His first book was privately published when he was 41, and reissued five years later with an additional seven poems. He published no further work during his lifetime, but in recent years he has come to be regarded as a major modern Greek poet.
SX m
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#
"Cavalcanti, Alberto",7349,0,0,0
PN [kaval\Bkan\btee]
HS , originally \BAlberto de Almeida-Cavalcanti\b
DT1 1897
DT2 1982
EN Film director and producer, born in \JRio de Janeiro\j, \JBrazil\j. He began his career in Britain during the 1930s, making documentaries for the General Post Office, and later produced some notable films for Ealing Studios, including \IChampagne Charlie\i (1944), and \INicholas Nickleby\i (1947). In the early 1950s he returned to \JBrazil\j, and became a leading figure in the revival of Brazilian cinema. After 1954 he worked in Europe, eventually settling in \JFrance\j.
SX m
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#
"Cavalcanti, Guido",7350,0,0,0
PN [kaval\Bkan\btee]
DT1a c.
DT1 1230
DT2 1300
EN Poet, born in Florence, \JItaly\j. He was a friend of Dante, and wrote about 50 poems in the 'new style' of the period. A member of the Papal Party (the \JGuelphs\j), he married the daughter of Farinata degli Uberti, the leader of the rival, Imperial Party (the \JGhibellines\j), and was banished.
SX m
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#
"cavalier king charles spaniel",7351,0,0,0
EN This is a small-sized Spaniel which is affectionate and intelligent and a popular choice with families with young children, but equally popular as a companion for the elderly.
\BHistory:\b
Cavalier King Charles Spaniels were bred from King Charles Spaniels crossed with Cocker Spaniels to recreate the Spaniels depicted in paintings of the 1600s by Gainsborough, Rubens, and Rembrandt. The breed was developed in 1920 and was recognized in \JGreat Britain\j by 1945, and then other kennel clubs. King Charles Spaniels are thought to have originated in China or \JJapan\j, and then became a popular favorite with European royalty. They first appeared in \JGreat Britain\j in the 1500s.
Although popular as a sporting dog, they were often used by the ladies of the court as comforters and warmers, said to have kept them warm under their enormous skirts. They were most popular by the reign of Charles II (1660-85), and his passion for this breed gave rise to the present name. The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was bred from two exhibitors, and went from strength to strength until 1973, when one became Supreme Champion at Crufts.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is stocky, compact, and has a well-proportioned body. It is taller than the King Charles Spaniel. \IHeight:\i 14 in (36 cm). \IWeight:\i is 12 - 18 lb (5 - 8 kg). The eyes are large and round but not prominent or bulging. The head is flat on top with no dome, and the muzzle is long, with the mouth having a correct scissor bite and a slight stop. The ears are set high. If required, the tail could be docked by the breeder. The feet are round and firm with plenty of padding.
Four distinct color ranges are seen in the Cavalier King Charles Spaniels: black with tan markings on the chest, legs and underside of the tail, above the eyes and inside the ears; tri-color: black and white broken with tan as above; Blenheim: rich chestnut markings on a white background; Ruby: a rich chestnut red wholly covering the dog.
The coat is long and silky and may have a slight wave, but is not curly. There is plenty of feathering on the legs, ears and tail.
\BBehavior:\b
Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are generally noble-spirited animals that can have highly individual characters. Their personalities range from quietly confident to highly exuberant. Some owners say their Cavalier King Charles Spaniels can be very excitable. This is because some display a very enthusiastic greeting when their owner returns, particularly after a long absence. These dogs are most anxious to please and if given lots of attention, will truly delight their owners. Cavalier King Charles Spaniels can make excellent watch-dogs and enjoy warning their owners of the slightest disturbance. However, it is wise to harness this enthusiasm, by training the young dog to respond to sounds of concern to you.
Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are normally very sociable dogs, and owners should resist the temptation to always pick them up. When young, they should be given the chance to mix with both large and small, friendly dogs, thereby avoiding an aggressive fear response in later life. In most cases, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel makes a perfect companion and is marvelous with children. As these dogs are incredibly cute to look at, they can be cuddled and kissed and treated as a toy. Caring owners will provide their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with plenty of activities and prevent them from becoming bored. During play, do not encourage your dog to spin around and chase its delightfully feathered tail; this can develop into problems later.
The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel's magnificent coat will benefit from regular brushing.
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"Cavalier poets",7352,0,0,0
EN Poets of the mid-17th-c who supported Charles I in the \JCivil War\j. The best known are Carew, Lovelace, Herrick, and Waller. Indebted to Ben Jonson, their (mostly love) poems are characterized by urbanity, elegance, and wit.
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#
"Cavalieri, (Francesco) Bonaventura",7353,0,0,0
PN [kaval\Byay\bree]
DT1 1598
DT2 1647
EN Mathematician, born in Milan, \JItaly\j. Professor at \JBologna\j University, his 'method of indivisibles' began a new era in \Jgeometry\j and paved the way for the introduction of integral \Jcalculus\j.
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#
"Cavalieri, Emilio de'",7354,0,0,0
PN [kaval\Byay\bree]
DT1a c.
DT1 1550
DT2 1602
EN Composer, born in \JRome\j. He lived mainly at the Florentine court of the Medici, where he was inspector general of arts. His dramatic works were forerunners of opera and \Joratorio\j.
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#
"Cavaliers",7355,0,0,0
EN Those who fought for Charles I in the English \JCivil War\j. The name was used derogatorily in 1642 by supporters of Parliament to describe swaggering courtiers with long hair and swords, who reportedly welcomed the prospect of war. Similarly, the Parliamentarians were labelled '\JRoundheads\j' by \JCavaliers\j, dating from the riotous assemblies in Westminster during Strafford's trial in 1641, when short-haired apprentices mobbed Charles I's supporters outside the \JHouse of Lords\j.
BK c
#
"Cavalli, (Pier) Francesco",7356,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bva\blee]
HS , originally \BFrancesco Caletti-Bruni\b
DT1 1602
DT2 76
EN Composer, who assumed the name of his patron, born in Crema, \JItaly\j. A pupil of Monteverdi, he was organist and \Imaestro di capella\i of St Mark's in \JVenice\j. As an opera and church composer he prepared the way for Alessandro Scarlatti.
MEX Monteverdi; Scarlatti, Alessandro
SX m
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#
"Cavallini, Pietro",7357,0,0,0
PN [kava\Blee\bnee]
DT1a c.
DT1 1250
DT2a c.
DT2 1330
EN Painter and artist in mosaic, born in \JRome\j. A contemporary of Giotto, whom he influenced, his best-known work is the series of mosaics in the Church of Santa Maria at Trastevere, \JRome\j.
MEX Giotto
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"Cavan (county)",7358,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\bvn]
EN pop (1995e) 52 400; area 1891 sq km/730 sq mi. County in Ulster province, NC Ireland; bounded N by N Ireland; drained by Analee, Boyne, and Erne Rivers; capital, Cavan; oats, potatoes, dairy farming.
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#
"Cavan (town)",7359,0,0,0
EN 54░00N 7░21W, pop (1995e) 5200. Agricultural market town and capital of Cavan county, Ulster, NC Ireland; NW of Dublin; bishopric; crystal; international song contest (Apr).
BK Geog99
#
"cave",7360,0,0,0
EN A natural cavity in the Earth's surface, generally hollowed out by the action of \Jwater\j, and most spectacularly developed in limestones (soluble in mildly acid rainwater), in which huge vaults and interconnected river systems may form. Caves are also made by the action of sea water against cliffs, as in Fingal's Cave in the Scottish \JHebrides\j. Ice caves may form in glaciers by streams of meltwater.
BK c
#
"cave art",7361,0,0,0
EN See Palaeolithic / Paleolithic art
BK c
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#
"cavefish",7362,0,0,0
EN Small, blind North American fish confined to \Jlimestone\j caves of south-east states; body lacking pigment (Genera: \IAmblyopsis,\i \ITyphlichthys,\i 4 species); also two species \B(Genus:\b \IChologaster)\i with small eyes and pigmented skin from coastal swamps. \B(Family:\b Amblyopsidae.)
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"Cavell, Edith",7363,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bvel\b]
DT1 1865
DT2 1915
EN Nurse, born in Swardeston, Norfolk, E England, UK. She became a nurse in 1895, and matron of the Berkendael Medical Institute, Brussels, in 1907. She tended friend and foe alike in 1914-15, yet was executed by the Germans for helping Belgian and Allied fugitives to escape capture.
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"Cavendish",7364,0,0,0
EN See Jones, Henry
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#
"Cavendish, Henry",7365,0,0,0
DT (1731-1810)
EN British chemist and physicist: studied chemistry of gases and of air, \Jwater\j, and nitric acid; made discoveries in heat and electricity and measured the density of the Earth.
As eldest son of Lord Charles Cavendish, Fellow of the Royal Society, and grandson of the 2nd Duke of Devonshire, Henry was wealthy and well-educated. His mother died when he was 2. He spent 4 years at Cambridge, took no degree and studied in Paris for a year before making his homes in London (for living, Gower Street; workshop and laboratory, Clapham; library, Dean Street, Soho). Thereafter he devoted his time and money to personal research in chemistry and physics.
He had a most peculiar personality: although he enjoyed scientific friends and discussion, he otherwise avoided conversation to an extreme degree, especially with women. He was generous with money, but not to himself. He published only a part of his scientific work, although he was unperturbed by either jealousy or criticism.
When he was 40 he inherited a large fortune, but he was not interested in it, although he did use part of it to form a library and apparatus collection. This was used by the public and by himself on the same terms, and characteristically was located well away from his house. He was described as 'the richest of the learned and the most learned of the rich' and as having 'uttered fewer words in the course of his life than any man who lived to fourscore years'.
In 1766 he described methods for handling and weighing gases. He studied 'fixed air' (CO\D2\d), showing that it was produced by fermentation or from acid and marble, and he re-studied 'inflammable air' (H\D2\d, which had been studied by Boyle). He exploded mixtures of \Jhydrogen\j and air with an electric spark, and found that no weight was lost and that the product 'seemed pure \Jwater\j' (1784).
The volume ratio he found to be 2:1; and the synthesis of \Jwater\j in this way cast out the long-held idea that \Jwater\j was an element. These experiments also convinced Cavendish that heat was weightless. He examined air from different places, heights and climates, and showed it to be of nearly constant composition. He showed that nitric acid is formed by passing sparks through air (when N\D2\d and O\D2\d combine and the NO reacts with \Jwater\j).
Cavendish, like Priestley, interpreted his results on the phlogiston theory and Cavendish thought \Jhydrogen\j was phlogiston. Cavendish, unlike Priestley, realized that Lavoisier's theory would also explain his results. He noticed that a small residue (1%) of air remained after long sparking; this was later found by Ramsay and Rayleigh to be \Jargon\j, a noble gas and a new element.
In physics, Cavendish used a method devised by Michell to determine the \Jgravitational constant\j (G) in 1798. Bouguer had earlier attempted to find the density of the Earth; Cavendish's value for G (from which the Earth's mass and density is easily calculated) gave a mean density of nearly 5.5 times that of \Jwater\j. (Boys obtained a slightly more accurate value, by the same method, a century later.)
Since most rock has a density in the range 3-4, a metal core for the Earth could be deduced. Most of Cavendish's work on heat and electricity was not published by him, but was revealed from his notes after 1879 by Maxwell. He showed that Cavendish had distinguished between quantity and intensity of electricity and that he had measured the electrical \Jconductivity\j of salt solutions. He had proved that the inverse square law (\JCoulomb\j's law) holds (within 2%) by showing that no charge exists inside a charged hollow spherical conductor, a result which is consistent only with that law.
He worked on specific and latent heat (possibly knowing of Joseph Black's work) and believed heat to stem from 'internal motion of the particles of bodies'. After 60 years of research, he chose (characteristically) to die alone. In his long lifetime this eccentric recluse achieved most in chemistry: notably in showing that gases could be weighed, that air is a mixture and that \Jwater\j is a compound - all fundamental matters if chemistry was to advance.
His work in physics was equally remarkable but was largely without influence because much was unpublished. The famous Cambridge physics laboratory named after him was funded by a talented mathematical kinsman, the 7th Duke of Devonshire, in 1871.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Cavendish made many discoveries, but published few of them, being content, apparently, to carry out the experiments and make discoveries for their own sake. It was left to James Clerk Maxwell to identify the discoveries that Cavendish had made, including a number of effects which were later discovered independently by Michael \JFaraday\j. Cavendish also recognised that electrical charge is located on the outside of a body, and that \JCoulomb\j's Law may be deduced from this.
Science would undoubtedly have progressed rather faster on certain lines if Cavendish had not been so eccentric, but he did at least publish his work on \Jhydrogen\j and his most famous work, the "Cavendish experiment", although it is rather ironic that this experiment, which he did report upon, was not his own idea.
The Reverend John Michell had designed a torsion balance, based on the principles of a torsion \Jpendulum\j, with a dumb-bell shaped arrangement of a stick with two small lead balls hanging from a wire. A mirror mounted on the wire could be used to reflect a beam of light onto a distant wall, so that even a small movement in the alignment of the balance would show up as a moving light spot on the wall.
Michell had described his plans to Cavendish, but died before he could carry them out, and so Cavendish took on the task in 1798. His apparatus was a wooden truss, six feet (2 metres) long, with lead balls two inches (5 cm) in diameter at the ends. This was suspended from a slender wire forty inches (1 metre) long. The large balls were eight inches (20 cm) in diameter, and the whole apparatus was placed inside a wooden case to "defend it from the wind".
Moving the two large lead balls close to the smaller balls on the balance, the tiny gravitational attraction between the two masses could be calculated, just as soon as the balance had been allowed to swing, so the restoring force could be measured accurately. (The period of any sort of \Jpendulum\j can be shown to be mathematically related to the restoring force acting on it.)
Cavendish knew how far apart the centres of the masses were, and he knew the masses: this meant that he now knew the value of the \Jgravitational constant\j, and this meant that he was able to calculate the mass of the \Jearth\j, and also its density.
Twenty years before Lavoisier gave \Jhydrogen\j its name, Cavendish had investigated the gas, and described how light it was. In fact, given its lightness and inflammability, he even suspected that this was the substance that lay at the centre of the phlogiston theory-phlogiston itself! This discovery, unlike so many of his others, was revealed to the world.
Cavendish's other important lost discovery came when he noted the presence of inert gases in the \Jatmosphere\j, something which would not be officially "discovered" by Sir William Ramsay for almost another century.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Cavendish, Sir Thomas",7366,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1555
DT2a c.
DT2 1592
EN Navigator, and circumnavigator of the globe, born near \JIpswich\j, Suffolk, E England, UK. He shared in Sir Richard Grenville's expedition to Virginia (1585). In 1586 he sailed with three ships for the Pacific, returning by the Cape of Good Hope to England in 1588, and was knighted. A second expedition (1591) ended in disaster, and he died off \JAscension\j.
MEX Grenville, Richard
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#
"Cavendish, Spencer Compton, 8th Duke of Devonshire",7367,0,0,0
HS , known as the \BMarquess of Hartington\b (1858-91)
DT1 1833
DT2 1908
EN British statesman, born in Lower Holker, Lancashire, north-west England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, entered parliament (1857), and between 1863 and 1874 was a Lord of the Admiralty, under-secretary for war, war secretary, postmaster-general, and chief secretary for Ireland. In 1875 he became Leader of the Liberal Opposition during Gladstone's temporary \Jabdication\j, later serving under him as \Jsecretary of state\j for India (1880-2) and as war secretary (1882-5).
He disapproved of Irish Home Rule, and having led the breakaway from the Liberal Party became head of the Liberal Unionists from 1886, serving in the Unionist government as Lord President of the Council (1895-1903). His younger brother, \BLord Frederick Cavendish\b (1836-82), also a Liberal MP from 1865, was appointed chief secretary for Ireland, but immediately after his arrival in Dublin was murdered by 'Irish Invincibles' in Phoenix Park.
MEX Gladstone, W E
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#
"Cavendish, William, Duke of Newcastle",7368,0,0,0
DT1 1592
DT2 1676
EN English soldier and patron of the arts. He studied at Cambridge, was created Knight of the Bath (1610), Viscount Mansfield in 1620, and Earl (1628), Marquess (1643), and Duke (1665) of Newcastle. He gave strong support to Charles I in the \JCivil War\j, and was general of all forces north of the Trent. After Marston Moor (1644) he lived on the European mainland, at times in great poverty, until the Restoration. A noted patron of poets and playwrights, he was himself the author of several plays, and of two works on horsemanship.
MEX Charles I (of England)
SX m
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"Caventou, Joseph (BienaimΘ)",7369,0,0,0
PN [kavπtoo]
DT1 1795
DT2 1877
EN Chemist, born in St Omer, \JFrance\j. He became professor at the Ecole de Pharmacie, Paris. In 1817, in collaboration with Pierre Joseph Pelletier, he introduced the term \Ichlorophyll.\i They also discovered \Jquinine\j (1820), \Jstrychnine\j, brucine, and cinchonine.
MEX Pelletier
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#
"caviar",7370,0,0,0
EN The prepared roe (eggs) of the female \Jsturgeon\j, \Jbeluga\j, sevruga, and sterlet. These fish are caught in the winter months in the rivers flowing into the Baltic Sea and the Danube. \JSturgeon\j roe is black, and is considered superior.
BK c
#
"cavitation",7371,0,0,0
EN A form of localized boiling in a liquid, caused by sudden dramatic reductions in pressure, giving rise to pockets of gas. Cavitation can occur at the trailing edge of ship propellers, and in liquids subject to powerful sound waves.
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"cavittu natakam",7372,0,0,0
EN Indian theatre form. In the mid-16th century, a type of theatre emerged in south India to satisfy the cravings of the Christian communities for an entertainment centred on Christian subject-matter. This was the cavittu natakam of \JKerala\j state, inspired by the zeal of Roman Catholic priests who proselytized in the area under the Portuguese establishment, which had recently consolidated its power along the eastern seaboard of the Indian subcontinent.
Quasi-historical and mythological characters of Christian history and epic romance filled the stage - figures like Charlemagne, St George and St Sebastian, who are the equivalent of the great archetypal heroes of the Hindu myths and legends such as Rama, Krishna and Arjuna. The Play of Charlemagne is the most famous and frequently performed: it is a rambling work requiring 15 nights to complete, and includes a cast of nearly 80 characters.
The play is based on Ariosto's Orlando Furioso and deals with the heroic adventures of the 8th-century French emperor and his 12 valiant peers. Replete with battles and court scenes, it is the quintessential cavittu natakam. Other works present Old and \JNew Testament\j figures, lives of the saints, and contemporary plays with social and historical significance. The dominant sentiments of this form of theatre are heroism (vira) and love (srngara).
Cavittu means 'step' or 'stomping' and natakam refers to a play or drama. The performances require a great deal of masculine dance movement in which the actors, who are all male, stamp their feet vigorously on the stage. The battle scenes loosely incorporate the martial art techniques of the region (kalarippayatt), adapted to suit the dramatic demands. The style of movement contrasts markedly with that of the Hindu forms of theatre popular in the region, such as \Jkathakali\j, krishnattam and kutiyattam.
The stage is unique. Located in open ground, it may be 30 feet wide and 100 feet long. Flanking each end are tall wooden platforms that must be scaled from the stage by ladders. The kings hold court on the high platforms, while the action scenes and battles take place centre stage.
Cavittu natakam is still performed in the Cochin and Quilon districts of central \JKerala\j where the Latin Christians have made their home. The season lasts from December until the end of March, coinciding with the major church festivals.
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"Cavour, Camillo Benso, conte di (Count of)",7373,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bvoor\b]
DT1 1810
DT2 61
EN Piedmontese statesman and premier (1852-9), who brought about the unification of \JItaly\j (1861), born in Turin, \JItaly\j. As premier, he greatly improved economic conditions, and brought the Italian question before the Congress of Paris. He resigned over the Peace of Villafranca (which left Venetia Austrian), but returned in 1860, and secretly encouraged the expedition of Garibaldi, which gained \JSicily\j and S \JItaly\j.
MEX Victor Emmanuel II
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#
"cavy",7374,0,0,0
EN A rodent native to \JSouth America\j; includes \Bguinea pigs\b \B(Genus:\b \ICavia),\i and a wide range of \Jcavy\j-like rodents. The \Bdomestic guinea pig\b \I(Cavia porcellus)\i was bred as food by the Incas, and is still eaten in \JSouth America\j. \B(Family:\b Caviidae, 15 species.)
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#
"Cawley, Yvonne (Fay)",7375,0,0,0
DT1 1951
EN Tennis player, born in Barellan, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j, of Aboriginal descent. A popular and relaxed player, she won the Wimbledon singles championship in 1971, and made a comeback to win it again in 1981. She won the Australian Open four times, and many other championships during her career, including the Italian Open and the South African Open.
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#
"Cawthorn, Joseph",7376,0,0,0
DT 1868-1949
EN American comedian. As a child, Cawthorn performed in minstrel shows and in English music-halls. Returning to America, he appeared in comic operas as a 'Dutch comic', speaking fractured English with a German accent. After early successes in such musicals as Excelsior, Jr (1895) and Miss Philadelphia (1897), he played leading roles in The Fortune Teller (1898), Mother Goose (1903), The Free Lance (1906), Little Nemo (1908), The Slim Princess (1911) and many others.
BK Thea
#
"Caxton, William",7377,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1422
DT2a c.
DT2 1491
EN The first English printer, born possibly in Tenterden, in the Weald of Kent, south-east England, UK. He was trained in London as a cloth merchant, and lived in Bruges (1441-70). In Cologne he probably learned the art of printing (1471-2), and soon after printed the first book in English, \IThe Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye\i (1473-4). About the end of 1476 he set up his wooden press at Westminster, and produced the \IDictes or Sayengis of the Philosophres\i (1477), the first book printed in England. Of about 100 books printed by him, including the \ICanterbury Tales,\i over a third survive only in unique copies or fragments.
MEX Worde
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#
"Cayce, Edgar",7378,0,0,0
DT (1877-1945)
EN psychic medium; born near Hopkinsville, Ky. He had little education and went into photography. He had a nervous collapse at age 19 and began to experience visions and "receive" messages prescribing ways to heal other people. Over a period of 40 years, he performed "life readings" for and diagnosed over 30,000 people; essential to his therapy was his belief that everyone has had previous existences, some going back thousands of years to Atlantis. Many of his reports were transcribed and preserved by the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Va.; these and Cayce were largely forgotten until publicized by best-selling books in the 1960s.
BK AmBg
#
"Cayenne",7379,0,0,0
PN [ka\Byen\b]
EN 4░55N 52░18W, pop (1995e) 51 300. Federal and district capital of French Guiana, NE \JSouth America\j; major port on Cayenne I at mouth of R Cayenne, on the Atlantic coast; founded, 1643; used as penal settlement, 1854--1938; airport; source of Cayenne pepper; timber, sugar cane, rum, pineapples; Jesuit-built residence (1890) of the prefect.
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#
"cayenne (spice)",7380,0,0,0
EN See pepper
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"Cayley, Arthur",7381,0,0,0
DT (1821-95)
EN British mathematician: developed n- dimensional \Jgeometry\j, and the theory of matrices and algebraic invariants.
Cayley, the son of an English merchant, spent his first 8 years in \JRussia\j, where his father was then working. He was educated at King's College School, London and Trinity College, Cambridge. Reluctant to be ordained, which was a necessary condition to remain a Fellow of Trinity College, he became a \Jbarrister\j. For 14 years he practised law, and only accepted the Sadlerian Chair of Pure \JMathematics\j in Cambridge in 1863 when the requirement concerning religious orders was dropped.
He managed to publish over 300 papers while a \Jbarrister\j and by his death he had published over 900, covering all areas of pure \Jmathematics\j, theoretical dynamics and \Jastronomy\j. While they were both lawyers Cayley and his friend Sylvester established the theory of algebraic invariants.
Cayley also developed a theory of metrical \Jgeometry\j, linking together projective \Jgeometry\j and non-Euclidean \Jgeometry\j. Together with Klein he classified geometries as elliptic or hyperbolic depending on the curvature of space upon which the \Jgeometry\j was drawn (that is, whether a surface is saddle-like or dome-like).
The theory of matrices was an invention of Cayley's and allowed compact manipulation of the many components of a geometrical system. The movement of a vector (directed line) when the space in which it is embedded is distorted can be described by this theory.
Cayley was a prolific mathematician with a strong and dependable character, much in demand both as a lawyer and administrator.
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#
"Cayley, Sir George",7382,0,0,0
DT (1773-1857)
EN British engineer: the founder of aerodynamics.
Cayley belongs to the group of gentleman amateurs, able to use their wealth and the peace of country life to advance a scholarly enthusiasm. His school at York, and a clergyman tutor who trained him as a mechanic and in \Jmathematics\j, gave him some skills needed for his later work, and his teenage enthusiasm for models became a life-long interest in flying.
He knew of the first \Jballoon\j flights, made in \JFrance\j by the Montgolfier brothers when he was 10 years old. Cayley improved a \Jhelicopter\j-type toy (then known as a 'Chinese top') and later made one which rose to 30 m, and he devised model gliders powered by twisted \Jrubber\j. By 1799 he realized, ahead of all others, the basic problems of heavier-than- air flight and the relation of the forces of lift, drag and thrust.
By 1804 he had made a whirling-arm device for testing purposes, and he saw the advantages of a fixed-wing \Jaircraft\j design; other experimenters, for the rest of the century, focused on flapping-wing designs which, despite the example of birds, were to prove a dead end. His experiments with gliders were extensive and led him to a man-carrying design able to fly short distances. However, although he foresaw, correctly, that propulsion using a light engine driving a screw propeller was the way to success, no such light engine was then available.
His publications, which form the basis of aerodynamics, appeared from 1809 to the 1840s. He also found time to serve as an MP, enjoy his 10 children and invent the caterpillar tractor, automatic signals for railways, the self-righting lifeboat and the tension wheel, which he designed for \Jaircraft\j undercarriages and which is now most familiar in bicycles.
It was not until 1903 that the \JWright brothers\j, using Cayley's ideas and adding their own talents, were able to achieve effective powered heavier-than-air flight; by then, a satisfactory light power unit, driven by petrol, could be made. As Wilbur Wright wrote in 1909, 'about 100 years ago an Englishman, Sir George Cayley, carried the science of flying to a point which it never reached before and which it scarcely reached again during the last century'.
BK Scie
#
"cayman",7383,0,0,0
EN See caiman or \Jcayman\j
BK c
XCY y
#
"Cayman Islands",7384,0,0,0
PN [\Bkay\bman]
EN pop (1995e) 33 000; area 260 sq km/100 sq mi. British dependency in the W Caribbean, comprising the islands of Grand \JCayman\j, \JCayman\j Brac, and Little \JCayman\j, c.240 km/150 mi S of \JCuba\j; capital, George Town; other main town, West Bay; timezone GMT -5; population mainly of mixed descent (c.60%); official language, English; chief religion, \JChristianity\j; unit of currency, the \JCayman\j Is dollar of 100 cents; low-lying, rising to 42 m/138 ft on \JCayman\j Brac plateau; ringed by \Jcoral\j reefs; tropical climate, average annual rainfall 1420 mm/56 in; hurricane season (Jul--Nov); average temperatures, 24--32░C (May--Oct), 16--24░C (Nov--Apr); visited by Columbus, 1503; ceded to Britain, 1670; colonized by British settlers from \JJamaica\j; British Crown Colony, 1962; a governor represents the British sovereign, and presides over a 15-member Legislative Assembly; economic activities mainly tourism, international finance, property development; marked increase in cruise ship traffic; over 450 banks and trust companies established on the islands; oil transshipment, crafts, jewellery, \Jcattle\j, poultry, vegetables, tropical fish, turtle products.
BK Geog99
#
"Cayton, Horace Roscoe",7385,0,0,0
DT (1903-70)
EN sociologist, cultural anthropologist; born in Seattle, Wash. The son of a newspaper editor, he was a sailor for four years before entering the University of Washington (B.A. 1932). He taught at Fisk University and later headed a Works Progress Administration research project in \JChicago\j that formed the basis of the landmark study \IBlack Metropolis\i (1946), which he coauthored with St. Clair Drake. He became a professor at the University of \JCalifornia\j: Berkeley in 1959.
BK AmBg
#
"Cazaly, Roy",7386,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bzay\blee]
DT1 1893
DT2 1963
EN Legendary Australian Rules footballer, born in Melbourne, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. Leaping master of the high mark (jumping high in the air above other players to catch the ball), the call 'Up there Cazaly' was chanted by South Melbourne crowds and became a rallying cry for Australian troops in World War 2. A star player for St Kilda (1913-20), he was named Champion of the State in 1920, and transferred to South Melbourne in 1921 before moving to \JTasmania\j.
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Cazneau, Jane Maria Eliza (b. McManus)",7387,0,0,0
DT (1807-78)
EN Storms adventurer, journalist, publicist; born near Troy, N.Y. The daughter of a lawyer (and U.S. representative, 1825-27), she assisted her father in a failed scheme to establish a colony of German settlers in \JTexas\j (1833-35). (Afterward, Aaron Burr's second wife accused him of committing adultery with her. Jane had meanwhile ended her brief marriage (1825-31) to Allen B. (or William F.) Storms.)
Settling in New York City, she became a journalist, writing mainly for the New York \ISun; \i in 1846 (because she spoke Spanish) she accompanied its editor, Moses Beach, on a secret peace mission to Mexico during the war and is said to have provided crucial information to Gen. Winfield Scott. She went on to Washington, D.C., and New York City where she lobbied for annexing all of Mexico, advocated the expansionist views summed up by "manifest destiny," and promoted the liberation of \JCuba\j from \JSpain\j.
By 1850 she was married to William L. Cazneau, a \JTexas\j politician and fellow adventurer, and they would devote much of the next 20 years trying to get the U.S.A. to annex the Caribbean island of \JSanto Domingo\j; they also encouraged William Walker's filibustering in \JNicaragua\j.
Apparently as indefatigable as she was irrepressible, she wrote several books (all using the pen name Cora Montgomery) promoting her views about U.S. expansion in the Caribbean, including \IThe Queen of Islands and the King of Rivers\i (1870) and \IOur Winter Eden; Pen Pictures of the Tropics\i (1878). When their plan to annex \JSanto Domingo\j was finally rejected by the U.S. Senate (1870), she and her husband retired to \JJamaica\j. She was lost at sea off Cape Hatteras on a return trip to \JJamaica\j.
BK AmBg
#
"CBE",7388,0,0,0
EN See \JBritish Empire\j, Most Excellent Order of the
BK c
XCY y
#
"CBI",7389,0,0,0
EN See Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
BK c
XCY y
#
"CD",7390,0,0,0
EN See compact disc (\JCD\j)
BK c
XCY y
#
"CD-ROM",7391,0,0,0
PN [seedee\Brom\b]
EN An \Jacronym\j for \BCompact Disc Read Only Memory,\b a computer storage medium based on the use of the standard 5┐in (25┐mm) compact disc, licensed by Sony and Philips, and usually used for digital audio. One \JCD\j-ROM disc can store more than 600 megabytes of computer information, which is considerably more than a comparable size of hard magnetic disk.
It is however a read-only device, and data is installed during manufacture; unlike the hard disk, the data on a \JCD\j-ROM cannot be altered. The main applications have been in providing access to large volumes of information such as encyclopedias and databases.
BK c
#
"Ceadda, St",7392,0,0,0
EN See Chad, St
BK bg c
XCY y
#
"Ceanannus M≤r",7393,0,0,0
EN 53░44N 6░53W, pop (1995e) 3510. Urban district in Meath county, \JLeinster\j, E Ireland; on R Boyne NW of Dublin; noted for its monastery (founded by St \JColumba\j) and the remains of five Celtic crosses; \BBook of Kells\b(now in Trinity College, Dublin) produced there c.800.
BK Geog99
#
"ceanothus",7394,0,0,0
EN See Californian lilac
BK c
XCY y
#
"Ceausescu, Nicolae",7395,0,0,0
PN [chow\Bshes\bkoo]
DT1 1918
DT2 1989
EN Romanian statesman and president (1967-89), born in Scornicesti, \JRomania\j. He studied at \JBucharest\j, joined the Communist Party at 15, and held several junior political posts before becoming President of the State Council (1967) and general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party (1969).
Under his leadership, \JRomania\j became increasingly independent of the USSR, and for many years was the only Warsaw Pact country to have cordial relations with China. He became the first president of the Republic in 1974, and established a strong personality \Jcult\j. His policy of replacing traditional villages by collectives of concrete apartments caused much controversy in the late 1980s. In 1989 he was deposed when the army joined a popular revolt against his repressive government. Following a trial by military tribunal, he and his wife, \BElena,\b were shot.
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Cebu or Cebu City",7396,0,0,0
PN [\Bsay\bboo]
EN 10░17N 123░56E, pop (1995e) 681 000. Seaport in Cebu province, E coast of Cebu I, \JPhilippines\j; founded, 1565 (first Spanish settlement in the \JPhilippines\j); airfield; four universities (1595, 1919, 1946, 1949); commerce, \Jtobacco\j, copra, food processing, textiles; Spanish fort, Santo Ni±o Church; Santo Ni±o de Cebu festival (Jan).
BK Geog99
#
"Cecchetti, Enrico",7397,0,0,0
PN [che\Bke\btee]
DT1 1850
DT2 1928
EN Dancer, teacher, and choreographer, born in Milan, \JItaly\j. After performing in \JItaly\j, London, and the USA, he settled in \JRussia\j (1887), first as dancer with the Imperial Ballet in St Petersburg (\JLeningrad\j), then as teacher. He was ballet master of Diaghilev's Ballet Russes for 15 years. Though he choreographed several works, he is remembered for the influential ballet technique he developed, which is still highly regarded today.
MEX Diaghilev
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Cech, Thomas R",7398,0,0,0
PN [chek]
DT1 1947
EN Biochemist, born in \JChicago\j, Illinois, USA. At the University of \JColorado\j (1977-- ) he showed that RNA could have an independent catalytic function aiding a \Jchemical reaction\j without being consumed or changed. This had major implications for genetic \Jengineering\j, as well as for understanding how life arose. He and Sidney Altman shared the 1989 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
BK Biog99
#
"Cecil (of Chelwood), Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount",7399,0,0,0
PN [\Bse\bsil]
DT1 1864
DT2 1958
EN Conservative statesman, born in London, England, UK, the son of Robert Cecil (3rd Marquess of Salisbury). He studied at Oxford, was called to the bar (1887), and entered parliament in 1903. He was minister of blockade (1916-18), and president of the \JLeague of Nations\j Union (1923-45). He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1937.
MEX Cecil, Robert, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Cecil, Lord (Edward Christian) David (Gascoyne)",7400,0,0,0
PN [\Bse\bsil]
DT1 1902
DT2 86
EN Literary critic, born in London, England, UK. He was professor of English literature at Oxford (1948-70), and is known chiefly as a literary biographer, in such works as \ISir Walter Scott\i (1933), \IJane Austen\i (1935), and \IThomas Hardy\i (1943).
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Cecil, Robert (Arthur James Gascoyne), 5th Marquess of Salisbury",7401,0,0,0
PN [\Bse\bsil]
DT1 1893
DT2 1972
EN British statesman, born in \JHatfield\j, \JHertfordshire\j, south-east England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and became Conservative MP for South \JDorset\j in 1929, and in 1935 foreign under-secretary. In the Churchill government of 1940 he was paymaster general, and dominions secretary until 1941, when he was called to the Lords.
He was colonial secretary and Lord Privy Seal, and in the Churchill government of 1951 became \Jsecretary of state\j for commonwealth relations and Lord President of the Council. From 1951 to 1957 he was Leader of the \JHouse of Lords\j. In 1957 he resigned the lord presidency in protest against the government's action in releasing \JArchbishop\j Makarios of Cyprus from his exile.
MEX Churchill, Sir Winston; Makarios III
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Cecil, Robert (Arthur Talbot Gascoyne), 3rd Marquess of Salisbury",7402,0,0,0
PN [\Bse\bsil]
DT1 1830
DT2 1903
EN British statesman and prime minister (1885-6, 1886-92, 1895-1902), born in \JHatfield\j, \JHertfordshire\j, south-east England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and became a Conservative MP in 1853. In 1865 he was made Viscount Cranborne, and in 1868 Marquess of Salisbury. He was twice Indian secretary (1866, 1874), became foreign secretary (1878), and on Disraeli's death (1881) was Leader of the Opposition.
He was prime minister on three occasions, much of the time serving as his own foreign secretary. He resigned as foreign secretary in 1900, but remained as head of government during the Boer War (1899-1902). He retired in 1902.
MEX Disraeli; Cecil, Robert, 1st Viscount
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Cecil, William, 1st Baron Burghley or Burghleigh",7403,0,0,0
PN [\Bse\bsil]
DT1 1520
DT2 98
EN English statesmen, born in Bourn, Lincolnshire, EC England, UK. He studied at Cambridge and Gray's Inn, London, served under Somerset and \JNorthumberland\j, became \Jsecretary of state\j (1550), and was knighted (1551). During Mary I's reign he conformed to Catholicism.
In 1558 Elizabeth appointed him chief \Jsecretary of state\j, and for the next 40 years he was the chief architect of Elizabethan greatness, influencing her pro-Protestant foreign policy, securing the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, and preparing for the \JSpanish Armada\j. He used an army of spies to ensure security at home. In 1571 he was created Baron Burghley, and in 1572 became Lord High Treasurer - an office he held until his death.
MEX \JElizabeth I\j; Mary, Queen of Scots
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Cecilia, St",7404,0,0,0
DT1 2
DT1b nd-c or 3rd-c
EN Christian martyr, and patron saint of music. According to tradition, she was a Roman maiden of patrician birth compelled to marry a young pagan, \JValerian\j, despite a vow of celibacy. She succeeded in persuading him to respect her vow, and converted him to \JChristianity\j. They were both put to death for their faith. Later tradition made her a singer, hence her association with music-making. Feast \Jday\j 22 November.
SX f
BK bg c
#
"Cecrops or Kekrops",7405,0,0,0
PN [\Bkek\brops]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the ancestor and first king of the Athenians. He was born from the \Jearth\j, and formed with snakelike appendages instead of legs. During his reign Athena and Poseidon fought for the possession of \JAthens\j. He was buried in the Erechtheum.
BK c
#
"cedar",7406,0,0,0
EN An evergreen \Jconifer\j with a massive trunk and flat, wide-spreading crown, native to the mountains of N Africa, the \JHimalayas\j, and the E Mediterranean; needles sometimes bluish, in tufts; timber fragrant and oily. It should not be confused with the '\Jcedar\j' of commerce, which is obtained from other conifers. \B(Genus:\b \ICedrus,\i 4 species. \BFamily:\b Pinaceae.)
BK c
#
"Ceefax",7407,0,0,0
PN [\Bsee\bfaks]
EN A UK \Jteletext\j system operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation since 1974. The name derives from 'see facts'.
BK c
#
"Cela, Camilo JosΘ",7408,0,0,0
PN [\Bthe\bla]
DT1 1916
EN Writer, born in La Coru±a, \JSpain\j. He studied at Madrid University, and served in Franco's forces during the \JCivil War\j. His first novel, \ILa familia de Pascual Duarte\i (1942, The Family of Pascual Duarte), was banned for its seemingly gratuitous violence. The range of his work is vast and varied, but he is best known for \ILa Colmena\i (1951, The Hive), which recreates daily life in Madrid in the aftermath of the Spanish \JCivil War\j. In 1989 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
\BMajor Works\b
\INovels\i
1942 The Family of Pascual Duarte
1951 The Hive
1969 San Camilo 1936
\IStories\i
1945 Those Clouds Passing By
1953 Mrs Caldwell Speaks to Her Son
1956 The Windmill
\IOther\i
1948 Journey to the Alcarria, 1964
1952 From the Mi±o to the Bidasoa
1956 Jews, Moors, and Christians
BK Biog99
#
"celandine",7409,0,0,0
EN See lesser celandine
BK c
XCY y
#
"Celebes",7410,0,0,0
EN See Sulawesi
BK c
XCY y
#
"Celebes Sea",7411,0,0,0
PN [\Bse\blebeez]
HS , Indonesian \BLaut Sulawesi\b
EN area 280┐000┐km\U2\u / 110┐000┐mi\U2\u. Sea of south-east Asia, bounded by islands of \JIndonesia\j (W and S), \JMalaysia\j (north-west), and the \JPhilippines\j (north-east); maximum depth 5090┐m / 16┐700┐ft; fishing, local trade.
BK c
#
"celeriac",7412,0,0,0
EN A variety of \Jcelery\j \I(Apium graveolens,\i variety \Irapaceum),\i also called \Bturnip-rooted celery,\b with a tuberous base to the stems, cooked as a vegetable or used in salads. \B(Family:\b Umbelliferae.)
BK c
#
"celery",7413,0,0,0
EN A strong-smelling biennial herb \I(Apium graveolens),\i growing to 1┐m / 3 1/4┐ft, native to Europe, south-west Asia, and N Africa; stems deeply grooved; leaves shiny, divided into triangular or diamond-shaped segments; flowers minute, greenish-white, borne in umbels 3-5cm / 11/4-2┐in across. Forms with swollen leaf stalks (variety \Idulce)\i are widely cultivated as a vegetable. \B(Family:\b Umbelliferae.)
BK c
#
"celesta",7414,0,0,0
EN A musical instrument resembling a small upright \Jpiano\j, but with metal plates instead of strings and a shorter (five-octave) compass. It was invented in 1886 by French instrument maker Auguste Mustel (1842-1919) and used a few years later by Tchaikovsky in his ballet \IThe Nutcracker\i ('Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy').
EN French dancer. Most of her career belongs to the English theatre, where she made her debut in 1830, though she was to make lucrative and popular American tours. She solicited pieces that would allow her to remain speechless or would accommodate her French accent. The first was PlanchΘ's The Child of the Wreck (1837) at Drury Lane.
In 1838 she moved to the Haymarket. In 1844, with Benjamin Webster, she became lessee of the Adelphi: the part of the noble American Indian, Miami, in Buckstone's The Green Bushes (1845) remained a favourite role. Later she became lessee of the \JLyceum\j (1860-1), opening as Madame Defarge in Tom Taylor's version of A Tale of Two Cities.
BK Thea
#
"celestial equator",7416,0,0,0
EN The great circle in which the plane of the Earth's equator cuts the celestial sphere. This is the primary circle for the co-ordinates' right \Jascension\j and \Jdeclination\j.
BK c
#
"celestial mechanics",7417,0,0,0
EN The study of the motions of celestial objects in gravitational fields. Founded by Isaac Newton, it deals with \Jsatellite\j and planetary motion within the \JSolar System\j, using Newtonian gravitational theory.
BK c
#
"celestial sphere",7418,0,0,0
EN An imaginary sphere surrounding the Earth, used as a reference frame to specify the positions of celestial objects on the sky. Its N and S \Jpoles\j lie over those of Earth, and its equator is the projection of the terrestrial Equator.
BK c
#
"Celestine V, St",7419,0,0,0
HS , originally \BPietro di Morrone\b
DT1a c.
DT1 1215
DT2 96
EN Pope, born in S \JItaly\j. After a long life of ascetic severities, he reluctantly accepted election as pope in 1294. He resigned his office after five months - the first pope to abdicate - for which Dante places him at the entrance of hell, and was imprisoned by his successor, Boniface VIII. He founded the \ICelestines,\i and was canonized in 1313; feast \Jday\j 19 May.
MEX Boniface VIII
SX m
BK bg c
#
"CΘline, Louis-Ferdinand",7420,0,0,0
PN [sayleen]
HS , pseudonym of \BLouis-Ferdinand Destouches\b
DT1 1894
DT2 1961
EN Writer, born in Paris. He was invalided out of the army early in World War 1, travelled widely during the war years, then practised medicine. His reputation is based on the two autobiographical novels he wrote during the 1930s: \IVoyage au bout de la nuit\i (1932, Journey to the End of the Night) and \IMort α crΘdit\i (1936, trans Death by Instalments). During World War 2 he collaborated with the \JVichy\j government and, a declared anti-semite, fled to \JGermany\j and Denmark in 1944. He later returned to Paris.
SX m
BK bg c
#
"cell (biology)",7421,0,0,0
EN The basic unit of plant and animal bodies; it comprises, at least, a nucleus or nuclear material and \Jcytoplasm\j enclosed within a cell membrane. Some cells, such as the mature red blood corpuscles of mammals, lack a nucleus, but possessed one at an earlier stage of development. Many cells are more complex, and contain other specialized structures \I(organelles),\i such as mitochondria, chloroplasts, Golgi bodies, and flagella.
Many simple organisms comprise a single cell, and may lack a membrane separating nuclear material from \Jcytoplasm\j. Advanced organisms consist of a variety of co-operating cells, often specialized to perform particular functions and organized into tissues and organs. Plant cells are typically surrounded by an outer cell wall containing \Jcellulose\j.
Cell division may occur by splitting into two parts \I(fission),\i by \Jmitosis\j, and (in the case of reproductive cells) by meiosis. All nucleated cells contain within their nuclei the entire inherited genetic information of that individual, but in specialized cells, such as a liver or brain cell, only a minute fraction of their genetic \Jdatabase\j is operational.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Most cells are too small to be seen with the naked eye, so the discovery of cells had to wait until the \Jmicroscope\j had been invented. Even then, it really needed the idea of thin sections for people to see that all living things were made of cells.
The word came from English physicist Robert Hooke, who used a pen-knife to cut a very thin slice of cork to look at under the \Jmicroscope\j. To Hooke, it seemed as though he was looking at a collection of very small rooms, rooms that reminded him of the cells of a monastery. He used those exact words to describe what he saw, and they stuck.
It is one thing to see cells in cork, but it is far more difficult to see the cells that make up large animals like humans. Plant cells have thick cell walls that show up very clearly, especially in the bark of the cork oak, but it is much harder to see the almost-transparent cells that make up the larger animals.
When you look at a whole animal it does not look very transparent, but when you have just a single thickness of cells on a slide, there is very little to see, and you are able to look right through it. That probably explains why nobody before Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann realized that all living things are made of cells. A fact that the two German scientists proclaimed in 1838 (Schleiden, plants) and 1839 (Schwann, animals).
The next step was to realize that cells have things inside them. But before you could do that, you needed a good quality \Jlens\j. You also needed stains that could attach to some of the chemicals that make up the cell, making them show up when you shone a bright light through a cell. Until there was a dye industry, working on and using the new dyes invented by the people who studied \Jorganic chemistry\j, there could be no stains. The second half of the nineteenth century saw both the better lenses and the organic dyes that would attach to different parts of the cell.
The Scottish botanist Robert Brown had already noticed back in 1831 a lump that seemed to be found in every cell, a lump that he called the nucleus. He had published his suspicion that every cell had one of these things, although he had no idea what it was or how important it would be. Soon, there would be many other organelles as well.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK c
#
"cell (electrical)",7422,0,0,0
EN See accumulator; 03106 battery \B(electricity)\b
BK c
XCY y
#
"Celler, Emanuel",7423,0,0,0
DT (1888-1981)
EN U.S. representative; born in Brooklyn, N.Y. After graduating from Columbia University Law School in 1912, he practiced law in New York City, serving as an appeal agent on the draft board during World War I. A Democrat in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (1923-73), he was chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary. After his defeat by reform Democrats, he joined a commission to revise the federal appellate courts (1973-75) and resumed his law practice.
BK AmBg
#
"Cellini, Benvenuto",7424,0,0,0
PN [che\Blee\bnee]
DT1 1500
DT2 71
EN Goldsmith, sculptor, engraver, and writer, born in Florence, \JItaly\j. He is particularly known for his \Jautobiography\j (1558-62). By his own account, it seems he had no scruples about murdering or maiming his rivals, and at the siege of \JRome\j (1527) he killed the Constable de Bourbon. He was several times imprisoned. His best work includes the gold saltcellar made for Francis I of \JFrance\j, and his bronze 'Perseus'. He lived at times in \JRome\j, \JMantua\j, Naples, and Florence.
MEX Bourbon; Leoni
SX m
BK bg c
#
"cello or violoncello",7425,0,0,0
PN [\Bchel\boh]
EN The bass instrument of the violin family, with four strings tuned one octave below the viola's. Until the 19th-c it was usually gripped between the player's knees; the modern instrument is fitted with an adjustable endpin which rests on the floor.
BK c
#
"cellophane",7426,0,0,0
EN See \Jcellulose\j
BK c
XCY y
#
"cellular radio",7427,0,0,0
EN See mobile communications
BK c
XCY y
#
"cellulite",7428,0,0,0
EN According to certain beauty experts, the dimpled fat around the thighs and buttocks, which is said to resist dieting. However, available scientific evidence shows that when an individual diets, fat is lost from all fat deposits in the body.
BK c
#
"cellulitis",7429,0,0,0
PN [selyoo\Bliy\btis]
EN The bacterial infection of connective tissue, spreading between layers of tissue and adjacent organs. It may arise following wounds and after surgical operations. It is potentially dangerous, as the infection may enter the bloodstream, and is best treated by an appropriate antibiotic.
BK c
#
"celluloid",7430,0,0,0
EN The earliest commercial plastic (c.1865-9), consisting of \Jcellulose\j \Jnitrate\j plasticized with \Jcamphor\j. It had the great virtue of dimensional stability, which kept it in vogue for photographic film in spite of its dangerous inflammability, long after other plastics had been contrived. It was eventually superseded as a film base by dimensionally stable forms of \Jcellulose\j acetate.
BK c
#
"cellulose",7431,0,0,0
EN (C\D6\dH\D10\dO\D5\d)\U-\u\In.\i A structural polysaccharide found mainly in the cell walls of woody and fibrous plant material, such as cotton. It is a condensation polymer with \Jglucose\j, and isomeric with starch. It is the main raw material for paper. Many important derivatives are formed by esterifying some of the hydroxyl groups; these include rayon \B(\Jcellulose\j acetate)\b and guncotton \B(\Jcellulose\j nitrate\b or \Bnitrocellulose).\b \BCellophane\b (a trade mark in some countries) is a form of \Jcellulose\j which has been stretched into thin transparent sheets; it is used in the packaging of food and other perishable products.
BK c
#
"celostat",7432,0,0,0
EN See coelostat / celostat
BK c
XCY y
#
"Celsius",7433,0,0,0
HS (\Jtemperature\j)
EN A scale that takes the triple point of \Jwater\j to be 0.01░C, which corresponds roughly to taking the freezing point of \Jwater\j as 0░C and the boiling point as 100░C; named after Anders \JCelsius\j; a change in \Jtemperature\j of one degree \JCelsius\j is equal to a change in \Jtemperature\j of one Kelvin; a \Jtemperature\j in degrees \JCelsius\j is still often called by the old name \Idegrees Centigrade.\i
BK c
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"Celsius, Anders",7434,0,0,0
PN [selseeus]
DT (1701-44)
EN Swedish astronomer: devised \JCelsius\j scale of \Jtemperature\j.
Celsius devised a thermometric scale in 1742, taking the boiling point of \Jwater\j as 0║ and the melting point as 100║. Five years later, colleagues at \JUppsala\j observatory inverted the scale, to its present ('\Jcentigrade\j') form.
In \Jthermodynamics\j, temperatures are measured on the absolute or Kelvin scale. However, the \JCelsius\j scale is often used for other purposes, and is now defined by the relation (temperature in ║C) = (temperature in K) - 273.15
BK Scie
#
"Celsus, Aulus Cornelius",7435,0,0,0
PN [\Bsel\bsus]
DT1 1
DT1b st-c
EN Roman writer. He compiled an encyclopedia on medicine, \Jrhetoric\j, history, philosophy, war, and agriculture. The only extant portion of the work is the \IDe Medicina,\i one of the first medical works to be printed (1478).
SX m
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#
"Celtiberia",7436,0,0,0
PN [kelti\Bbeer\bia]
EN The territory in NC \JSpain\j inhabited by the Celtiberians, a warlike people of mixed Celtic and Iberian ancestry. Staunch opponents of the Romans, they were pacified in 133 BC after decades of intermittent but fierce resistance.
BK c
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"Celtic art",7437,0,0,0
PN [\Bkel\btic]
EN The art which emerged in 5th-c BC in S \JGermany\j and E \JFrance\j, spread throughout Europe for 500 years, and affected much subsequent mediaeval art, especially decorative gold and bronze-work. Greek motifs such as rosettes and lyre-shapes were combined with arabesques and strongly stylized human and animal forms traceable to the art of nomadic tribes on the E Steppes. Ceremonial metal vessels took their shapes from Etruscan and S Italian models.
BK c
#
"Celtic languages",7438,0,0,0
PN [\Bkel\btik]
EN The languages of the \JCelts\j, the first Indo-European peoples to spread throughout Europe. The dialects spoken on the continent are known as \BContinental Celtic; \b traces remain in several inscriptions and place-names in \IGaulish\i (from the tribal name \IGalli\i or \IGaul),\i and in \ICeltiberian\i (from \ICeltiberi,\i the name given to the Celtic tribes of \JSpain\j). \BInsular Celtic\b is the name given to the Celtic languages of the British Is and Brittany.
There are two branches: \IGoidelic\i comprises the \JGaelic\j spoken in Ireland, which spread to the \JIsle of Man\j (Manx) and Scotland; \IBrythonic\i (also called \IBrittonic\i or \IBritish)\i comprises Welsh, Cornish, and Breton. The two branches of Insular Celtic are labelled \BQ-Celtic\b (Goidelic) and \BP-Celtic\b (Brythonic), because of a distinctive divergence in the development of the Indo-European sound system: the consonant sequence \Ikw\i became \Iq\i or \Ic\i in Goidelic, and \Ip\i in \JBrythonic\j, as is evidenced in the final consonant of the surnames \IMac\i (Gaelic) and \IAp\i (Welsh).
BK c
#
"Celtic literature",7439,0,0,0
PN [\Bkel\btik]
EN The indigenous literatures of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, as well as some Cornish texts from the 15th-c (including the three biblical plays comprising the \IOrdinalia).\i There is also an extensive literature in the Breton language, consisting of saints' lives, plays, comic pieces, folk tales, and ballads. This comes mainly from the Middle Breton (12th-17th-c) and Modern Breton periods, the latter dating from 1659 with the regularization of Breton spelling by Julien Maunoir. Despite official neglect and even opposition, in the 20th-c there has been a revival of interest in the Celtic languages and literatures.
BK c
#
"Celtic Sea",7440,0,0,0
PN [\Bkel\btik]
EN Part of the \JAtlantic Ocean\j S of Ireland; separated from the Irish Sea by St George's Channel; main inlet, \JBristol\j Channel; average depths of 100-200┐m / 330-650┐ft.
BK c
#
"Celts",7441,0,0,0
EN Different groups of peoples who all spoke Celtic languages and lived in most parts of Europe from the Balkan regions to Ireland. Most powerful during the 4th-c BC, they probably originated in present-\Jday\j \JFrance\j, S \JGermany\j, and adjacent territories during the \JBronze Age\j. Celtic-speaking societies developed in the later first millennium BC, expanding through armed raids into the Iberian Peninsula, British Is, C Europe, \JItaly\j, \JGreece\j, Anatolia, \JEgypt\j, \JBulgaria\j, \JRomania\j, Thrace, and Macedonia.
They were finally repulsed by the Romans and Germanic tribes, and in Europe withdrew into Gaul in the 1st-c BC. Celtic tradition survived most and for longest in Ireland and Britain. They were famous for their burial sites and hill forts, and their bronze and iron art and jewellery. Their modern descendents are found chiefly in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
BK c
#
"CEMA",7442,0,0,0
EN (Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts) British arts organization. Formed in 1940 to provide entertainment for wartime factory and evacuation areas, CEMA was responsible for transferring the bombed-out Old Vic Company to Burnley (1941) and sponsoring tours by the Pilgrim Players and Ashley Dukes's Mercury Players. It took over the \JBristol\j Theatre Royal in 1943, and through James Bridie founded the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre. In 1946 it was transformed into the Arts Council of \JGreat Britain\j.
BK Thea
#
"cement",7443,0,0,0
EN In general, any substance used to adhere to each of two materials which cannot themselves adhere, and therefore to effect a join. More usually, it refers to \BPortland cement,\b an artificial mineral substance used in building and \Jengineering\j construction. This is made by heating clay and \Jlimestone\j in retorts to form a clinker which is then finely ground.
The addition of \Jwater\j produces a soft manageable substance which sets hard, through the formation of hydrated silicates. It is commonly mixed with other mineral substances (sand, stone) to form various grades of concrete, or used as a mortar for joining brickwork.
BK c
#
"cementation",7444,0,0,0
EN The modification of the surface layer of a metal by heating it in a packing of some substance which will diffuse into it. This was the oldest method of making steel: heating iron packed in charcoal.
BK c
#
"Cenci, Beatrice",7445,0,0,0
PN [\Bchen\bchee]
DT1 1577
DT2 99
EN Noblewoman, born in \JRome\j. Her story became the subject of many literary works, including a tragedy by Shelley (1819, \IThe Cenci).\i She was the youngest daughter of a wealthy Roman nobleman, Count Francesco Cenci, who conceived an incestuous passion for her. With her stepmother and her brother, Giacomo, she plotted his murder in 1598. The Cenci family were arrested and tortured, and all three were beheaded, by order of Pope Clement VIII.
SX f
BK bg c
#
"Cendrars, Blaise",7446,0,0,0
PN [sπdrah(r)]
HS , pseudonym of \BFrΘdΘric Louis Sauser\b
DT1 1887
DT2 1961
EN Writer, poet, and traveller, born in Chaux-de-Fonds, \JSwitzerland\j. When he was 15 he ran away from home to work for a jewel merchant with whom he travelled through \JRussia\j, \JPersia\j, and China. He wrote his first long poem in America, \IPΓques α New York\i (1912, Easter in New York). His novels include \ILa Confession de Dan Yack\i (1927-29, trans Antarctic Fugue), and \IL'Or\i (1925, trans Sutter's Gold).
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Cenni di Peppi",7447,0,0,0
EN See Cimabue
BK bg c
XCY y
#
"Cenozoic era",7448,0,0,0
PN [seeno\Bzoh\bik]
HS , or \BCainozoic\b [kayno\Bzoh\bik]
EN The most recent of the four eras of geological time, beginning c.65 million years ago and extending to the present \Jday\j; subdivided into the \ITertiary\i and \IQuaternary\i periods. It was characterized by widespread changes in the fauna, with the dominance of mammals and flowering plants, and the development of present-\Jday\j geographical features.
BK c
#
"censors",7449,0,0,0
EN In Republican \JRome\j (5th-c-1st-c BC), two officials (usually ex-consuls) elected every five years to compile a register of citizens and their property for military, legislative, electoral, and fiscal purposes. Though prestigious, the office was not part of the \Icursus honorum.\i
BK c
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"censorship",7450,0,0,0
EN Endemic to most present-\Jday\j hard-line regimes of both the right and the left, \Jcensorship\j of the theatre currently extends over much of Central and \JSouth America\j, large areas of Africa, the \JMiddle East\j and parts of Asia, but since 1989-90 it has retreated from Eastern Europe. While pre-publication \Jcensorship\j of literature in Western Europe has been in most cases long abandoned (e.g. in Britain since 1695), \Jcensorship\j in the theatre survived even in several major Western democracies into the 20th century. Historically, it has been equally useful to Church and state.
Fundamentally a political act, it seeks to sedate or suppress those elements in the drama which in the view of the authority that exercises it are contrary to its interests or values. A tame theatre is an ally of the state machine, an unruly one potentially its bitterest enemy and critic.
Where formal \Jcensorship\j no longer exists (e.g. Britain) or has never properly existed (e.g. \JNorth America\j), recourse to the law, though exceptional, is still open to individuals or groups who object to a play on grounds of profanity or offence to general morality. Although \Jcensorship\j does not have to be institutionalized to be effective, this discussion is principally concerned with pre-production \Jcensorship\j, which consciously aims to control the intellectual and artistic freedom of the playwright.
Europe c.1400-1900
The roots of modern European \Jcensorship\j lie within the medieval theatre. In England the \JCatholic Church\j exercised considerable control over the content of the mystery cycles - e.g. removing plays devoted to the life of the Virgin Mary from the York and Chester cycles. In \JFrance\j as early as 1402 Charles VI tried to assert the authority of the court over the presentation of religious drama by granting the ConfrΘrie de la Passion the right to stage mystΦres on condition that his own officials kept a critical eye on the performances.
Religious drama, disinherited by the Church and vexatious to the state, came under growing threat during the 16th century, especially in England and \JFrance\j. The French Parlement withdrew the privilege of the ConfrΘrie de la Passion in 1548 and thereby banned the performance of all mystery plays. In England, government regulation of the drama, beginning on a restricted scale in 1543, was a vital instrument of Tudor statecraft. By 1581 Elizabeth had managed to achieve a complete prohibition of the mystery cycles, followed by a ban (lasting for over 300 years) on any kind of scriptural or biblical drama.
The key to effective \Jcensorship\j was already centralized control. In many parts of Western Europe (e.g. \JGermany\j and \JItaly\j) the fragmented political situation made that impossible, whereas by 1581 in Elizabethan England the Master of the Revels had a royal patent 'to order and reform, authorise and put down' any play considered prejudicial to the state. By the time Shakespeare came to London, an effective system of \Jcensorship\j was operating.
The Master of the Revels was principal arbiter of the drama until well into the 17th century, interrupted only by the Puritans' closure of the theatres from 1642 to 1660. Plays were subjected to close official scrutiny before licensing. The text of Sir Thomas More (c.1594) - of which Shakespeare was probable part-author - bears the instruction: 'leave out ye insurrection and the cause'; and there is evidence of political \Jcensorship\j in a number of other plays of the period. Some playwrights even went to prison for performing seditious matter, e.g. Ben Jonson, Chapman and Marston, whose Eastward Ho (1605) aroused James I's wrath for its irreverent treatment of his Scottish courtiers.
The relative strength of the system of \Jcensorship\j in 17th-century England contrasts with its relative weakness elsewhere, even in \JFrance\j, where in 1641 \JLouis XIII\j abolished \Jcensorship\j altogether. Actors could still be punished for indecency, however, and, as MoliΦre discovered in the 1660s, the playwright was still not wholly free.
Tartuffe (1664) aroused such a storm of abuse from both Parlement and the \JArchbishop\j of Paris that \JLouis XIV\j, though privately sympathetic to MoliΦre, was obliged to ban it until 1669. In March 1701 formal \Jcensorship\j was reintroduced with an order that all new plays be officially scrutinized before performance. During the 18th century dramatic \Jcensorship\j became firmly established, with Beaumarchais its most illustrious victim.
Britain's system of \Jcensorship\j underwent comprehensive revision in the early 18th century. Sir Robert Walpole's 1737 Stage Licensing Act, hurriedly passed as a result of damaging lampoons on the government by Henry Fielding and others, granted the authorities sweeping new powers.
The new law centred on the Lord Chamberlain, who was empowered to forbid any dramatic piece acted 'for hire, gain, or reward' anywhere in \JGreat Britain\j. Modified only in details by the Theatre Regulation Act which replaced it in 1843, Walpole's Act established control of the theatre over the next 231 years (see theatrical monopoly).
Inimical to the spirit of the \JFrench Revolution\j, \Jcensorship\j was abolished by order of the Legislative Assembly, 13-19 January 1791; but by 1794 it was reinstated in an attempt to 'republicanize' the theatre. Theatres were ordered to delete all references to duc, baron, marquis, comte and monsieur: no playwright was immune, not even MoliΦre and Racine. The fear of contamination by \JFrance\j's revolutionary spirit induced other countries to exercise sterner vigilance in political \Jcensorship\j than ever before. In the Habsburg Empire the Vienna Order (1794) banned all dangerous political works, and by 1819 Metternich, supported by a spy system, sought to impose a rigid \Jcensorship\j through all the states of the Austrian Empire.
In the 1830s and 40s Franz Grillparzer and Johann Nestroy were often at odds with the censor in Vienna. Political \Jcensorship\j was important as a weapon against the increasing use of the drama as a vehicle for the expression of national libertarian sentiment, particularly in \JFrance\j and in the Habsburg empire.
No formal system of \Jcensorship\j existed in \JRussia\j until 1804, but the tsars had brought drama into close alliance with the court, making it virtually a department of the state. Over the next 50 years the regulations were tightened. Notable victims of tsarist \Jcensorship\j were Pushkin (Boris Godunov, 1825, performed 1870), Turgenev (A Month in the Country, 1850, performed 1872), Sukhovo-Kobylin (The Case, 1861, performed 1882, and Tarelkin's Death, 1869, performed 1900) and Lev Tolstoi (The Power of Darkness, 1886, performed 1895).
But the balance was slowly changing in Europe after about 1850 towards a more persistent concern with moral issues - especially in \JFrance\j, with the supposed immoralities of the plays of, among others, Alexandre Dumas fils, Victorien Sardou and ╔mile Augier, and in Britain, where many French imports proved too risquΘ in language and situation. Most notorious was the younger Dumas's La Dame aux camΘlias, first banned in England in 1853 and several times thereafter in a variety of adaptations.
The 'advanced drama', heralded by Ibsen, accelerated the new anti- \Jcensorship\j campaign led by William Archer and Bernard Shaw. This movement was fuelled in the period 1880-1910 by the suppression in Britain on moral grounds of several European works: Ibsen's \JGhosts\j, Tolstoi's The Power of Darkness, Maeterlinck's Monna Vanna, and some plays by EugΦne Brieux.
Shaw's Mrs Warren's Profession, Harley Granville Barker's Waste and Edward Garnett's The Breaking Point were also censored, denying playwrights the opportunity to argue moral and sexual issues on the stage. In \JGermany\j \Jcensorship\j was strengthened after 1889: Frank Wedekind's Spring Awakening (1891) and Earth Spirit (1893) were both banned from public performance until 1906 and 1902 respectively.
One solution was a theatre dedicated to private (i.e. club) performances only, which would escape the attentions of the censor and be freed from strictly commercial concerns. AndrΘ Antoine's ThΘΓtre Libre, founded in Paris in 1887, was the model for similar enterprises in \JGermany\j (Freie Bⁿhne, Berlin, 1889) and Britain (Independent Theatre Society, London, 1891). But only in \JFrance\j was the anti-\Jcensorship\j lobby victorious, with the abolition of pre-production \Jcensorship\j for all practical purposes in 1905, though formal abolition was delayed until after World War II. Municipalities nevertheless retained the power of local veto.
20th-century Europe
In Britain, \Jcensorship\j slowly fell into line with the public's willingness to accept what before had been considered outrageous, indecent or \Jtaboo\j. The rule on the ineligibility of scriptural drama on the stage was relaxed about 1912, but even as late as 1958 Beckett's Endgame was censored for its references to the non-existence of God (whereas the original 1957 French version had emerged unscathed).
Political \Jcensorship\j prohibited Shaw's Press Cuttings and The Shewing Up of Blanco Posnet in 1909. In the 1930s all references to Hitler and Mussolini were excised from play scripts, though the music-halls, immune from the Lord Chamberlain's \Jjurisdiction\j, delighted in exploiting just the kind of material which the censors insisted on deleting.
Moral concerns, the main ingredient of British \Jcensorship\j in this century, resulted in temporary prohibitions on some foreign plays (including Strindberg's Miss Julie, Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms, and Wedekind's Spring Awakening and Earth Spirit). Anti-censorship campaigners remained strong, and private club performances avoided official interference.
Institutions like the Stage Society, London's Gate Theatre, the Arts Theatre Club, Cambridge Festival Theatre, Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop and the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre all contributed to the eventual abolition of \Jcensorship\j.
After 1956 the Lord Chamberlain was clearly on the defensive, but still had substantial power. \JCensorship\j touched dramatists such as John Arden, Arnold Wesker and particularly John Osborne (whose A Patriot for Me was restricted to private performance in 1964). In the late 1960s Edward Bond was often in trouble with the censor: the Royal Court was prosecuted for not fulfilling the necessary conditions for a private performance of Saved in 1965; Early Morning was banned in 1967, and A Narrow Road to the Deep North suffered cuts only months before the abolition of \Jcensorship\j.
With the ending of \Jcensorship\j under the 1968 Theatres Act, British theatre has exploited its new-found freedom in such productions as Hair (1968) and Oh, \JCalcutta\j! (1969), which both featured full-frontal nudity; but the deluge of immorality predicted by supporters of \Jcensorship\j never really arrived. The only notable private prosecution was in 1982, against Michael Bogdanov's National Theatre production of Howard Brenton's The Romans in Britain (1980), which showed a simulated male rape. The case was unsuccessful and ended in confusion.
Outside Britain the pattern of European \Jcensorship\j was mainly political. In \JGermany\j during the 1930s and 40s (and in \JAustria\j post 1938) it was exceptionally severe. The Nazis prohibited the entire works of authors of whom they disapproved, and manipulated theatrical production and repertoire. The Nazi proscription lists included Georg Kaiser and Arthur Schnitzler (banned posthumously).
Bertolt Brecht fled abroad in 1933 at the rise of Hitler, but returned to East \JGermany\j, under Marxist \Jcensorship\j, in 1949. Similar proscriptions operated in Nazi- occupied countries and in Fascist \JItaly\j. Official \Jcensorship\j ceased in West \JGermany\j at the end of World War II. Equally repressive and longer-lasting was \Jcensorship\j in Franco's \JSpain\j, where pre-existent Catholic \Jcensorship\j was overlaid with an extreme right-wing political element.
After Garcφa Lorca's murder by the Falangists at the start of the \JCivil War\j there was a mass exodus of intellectuals and artists, including Fernando Arrabal (who became a French citizen and henceforward wrote in French). Those who stayed included Alfonso Sastre and Antonio Buero Vallejo, both of whom endured terms of imprisonment under Franco. Most other Spanish drama of any significance was produced abroad until the demise of Franco in 1975, when \Jcensorship\j was relaxed.
Until 1989, East European \Jcensorship\j was naturally dominated by the model of the \JSoviet Union\j. Although there was a period of relative freedom for the theatre immediately after the Bolshevik Revolution, from the 1920s the USSR perfected a system of complete state control of literature and the theatre. Soviet drama is a history of slow critical and intellectual emasculation in the name of socialist realism. Glavlit, the state \Jcensorship\j office, was established in 1922. By 1934 it was virtually a branch of the security police and was empowered to read all plays at least ten days beforehand and have representatives at performances. Glavrepertkom determined all theatre repertoires.
Stalinist \Jcensorship\j was uncompromising and vindictive (e.g. in 1936-7 over half the plays earmarked for production at the main theatres were banned). Among the prominent dramatists to suffer in the late 20s and 30s were Vladimir Mayakovsky (e.g. The Bedbug, 1929, The Bathhouse, 1930), Mikhail Bulgakov (e.g. The Crimson Island, 1928, The Cabal of Hypocrites, 1936), and Leonid Leonov (The Snowstorm, 1939). Some dramatists managed to emigrate (e.g. Evgeny Zamyatin in 1932).
Nearly all the suppressed plays and their authors were subsequently rehabilitated during the periodic post-Stalin cultural thaws. Some of Bulgakov's work was restricted as late as 1965. In the 1960s several new dissident dramatists emerged - e.g. Andrei Amalrik and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, whose play The Love Girl and the Innocent (based on first-hand experience in a Stalinist labour camp) was banned after the dress rehearsal in 1962.
After the reformist Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, glasnost in the arts led to official approval in 1986 of Sarcophagus (a play based on personal observation of the aftermath of the \JChernobyl\j nuclear disaster by Vladimir Gubarev, a senior journalist with Pravda). \JCensorship\j was officially abolished in \JRussia\j in August 1990.
All Soviet satellites operated systems of state \Jcensorship\j based on the parent model, with varying degrees of repressiveness. Until 1956 \JHungary\j was relatively relaxed, as was \JCzechoslovakia\j until the Soviet invasion in 1968, after which plays of leading dramatists like Milan Kundera and Pavel Kohout were banned, as was the entire work of Vßclav Havel. He spent over four years in prison following his arrest for subversion in 1979.
In \JPoland\j, where theatre has always had a distinctive political dimension, restrictions were relaxed when Solidarity's power was strong. But after the imposition of military rule under General Jaruselski in late 1981, constraints were rapidly reimposed. Kazimierz Braun's Dzuma (1984), based on Camus's The Plague, was permitted a few heavily censored performances, but the author was dismissed from his post as theatre director. However, by 1990, after the collapse of Soviet domination, \Jcensorship\j ceased throughout Eastern Europe, including \JCzechoslovakia\j, where Vßclav Havel was state president from 1989 to 1992.
Outside Europe
Dramatic \Jcensorship\j has never existed on a formalized basis in the USA, where free speech is guaranteed under the Constitution; but occasional local action, usually by the police, may close down productions which allegedly endanger public morals or insult the state. The absence of institutionalized \Jcensorship\j allowed the world premiere of \JGhosts\j to take place in \JChicago\j in 1882, but in Arnold Daly's New York production of Mrs Warren's Profession in 1905 the actors were prosecuted and Mae West's debut as a waterfront whore in Sex (1926) earned her an eight-\Jday\j prison sentence for indecency.
Recent \Jcensorship\j in the USA tends to be through the purse-strings, by refusing public funding to productions or theatre groups deemed unsuitable.
Censorship began in \JAustralia\j soon after colonization. In 1828, after the first permanent theatre was set up in Sydney, the Legislative Council regulated all places of public entertainment, drawing heavily on Walpole's 1737 Stage Licensing Act. As in Britain, it survived into the late 1960s. By the 19th century the British authorities in India began to take an interest in native theatre, especially in Bengal, where the drama was used for anti-British propaganda. Formal \Jcensorship\j throughout the dominion was imposed from 1879. \JCensorship\j also operated in colonial Africa, where it continues under present-\Jday\j dictatorships.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Turkish drama began to suffer \Jcensorship\j: the satirical shadow puppet theatre (Karag÷z) was deeply affected, as were the more westernized forms of theatre beginning to emerge. There were periods of severe restriction until after the 1960 Revolution. Muslim \Jfundamentalism\j is not sympathetic to the stage, and Middle Eastern countries under such regimes operate rigorous \Jcensorship\j - e.g. \JIran\j, where during the early 1980s \Jcensorship\j was even more repressive than under the Shah.
Theatre directors had to obtain approval of both text and the manner of performance before rehearsals were allowed to begin. In present-\Jday\j \JIran\j no play may be performed unless the text is published beforehand, which is a guarantee of its acceptability.
Japanese \Jcensorship\j dates back to the mid-17th century, when the irreverent kabuki theatre was restricted. From 1629 women were prohibited from acting on the stage; and they have reappeared only in the present century. Japanese \Jcensorship\j was mainly political, occasionally disguised as moral. After World War I social criticism was severely restricted and by the late 1930s political drama was outlawed completely, with the government's disbanding of left-wing theatre groups.
China has laboured under strict \Jcensorship\j since the People's Republic was established in 1949. In the mid-60s, during the Cultural Revolution, some of China's most distinguished playwrights (e.g. T'ien Han) fell from grace in a hysterical purge of modern drama. After about 1977 there was a movement away from politically educative drama back to entertainment; but the theatre remains in a fluid state and is still a victim of conflicting reactionary and liberalizing forces.
In the restless and unstable political climate of Central and \JSouth America\j the predominance of \Jcensorship\j, usually military-inspired, has restricted growth, e.g. in \JBrazil\j between 1930 and 1960 (when the Conservat≤rio Dramßtico Brasiliero assumed absolute control over the theatre), and also between 1968 and 1984; in \JChile\j under Pinochet between 1973 and 1984; and in Argentina during the Peronist regime and the rule of the Generals. Recent political changes have partly lightened the \Jatmosphere\j.
Until the 1980s, South Africa's \Jcensorship\j laws exercised a rigour unmatched outside the former Soviet bloc. The Entertainments (Censorship) Act (1931) and the Publications and Entertainments Act (1963) gave real force to earlier, more haphazard arrangements. Several leading black playwrights were forced into exile (e.g. Alfred Hutchinson, Lewis Nkosi); others (e.g. Athol Fugard, a white writer hostile to the regime) continued to produce under increasingly daunting conditions.
By 1975 theatre groups promoting black consciousness had been largely silenced. Political changes towards ending \Japartheid\j in the late 1980s and early 1990s brought about more liberal attitudes to the theatre, which assumed a less dangerous aspect in the eyes of the authorities. The arrival of majority rule in 1994 brought formally to an end what was once one of the most repressive of modern censorships.
BK Thea
#
"census",7451,0,0,0
EN A count of the population resident in an area at a given time, together with the collection of social and economic data, made at regular intervals. In many countries \Jcensus\j data form the basis for the planning of service provisions, and a \Jcensus\j is taken every 10 years. The USA conducted its first national \Jcensus\j in 1790, and \JFrance\j and the UK began to collect \Jcensus\j data in 1801. The first Chinese \Jcensus\j was AD 2, when the population was recorded at 59┐594┐978. The United Nations has tried to ensure some comparability between the questions asked in different countries, and has been partially successful.
BK c
#
"centaur",7452,0,0,0
PN [\Bsen\btaw(r)]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, a creature combining the upper half of a man and the rear legs of a horse (as shown on vases); later and more popularly imagined as having the entire body of a horse. Centaurs came from Thessaly, and most were beastly and wild, fighting with the \JLapiths\j and with \JHeracles\j.
BK c
#
"Centaurus",7453,0,0,0
PN [sen\Btaw\brus]
HS (Lat '\Jcentaur\j')
EN A large and rich S \Jconstellation\j. Its brightest star, \BAlpha Centauri,\b is actually three stars, the faintest of which, \BProxima Centauri,\b is the closest star to the Sun, 1.31 parsec away from Earth. Omega Centauri is the largest and brightest globular cluster, 5.2 \Jkiloparsec\j away. \BCentaurus A\b is a huge radio galaxy (600 \Jkiloparsec\j across) and one of the nearest (4 \Jmegaparsec\j away). It is a strong source of X-rays and infrared radiation, and is thought to include a supermassive black hole in its nucleus.
BK c
#
"centaury",7454,0,0,0
EN An annual, sometimes perennial, found almost everywhere; opposite entire leaves; flowers pink, tubular with 4-5 spreading lobes, borne in dense heads. \B(Genus:\b \ICentaurium,\i c.50 species. \BFamily:\b Gentianaceae.)
BK c
#
"centigrade",7455,0,0,0
HS (\Jtemperature\j)
EN See \JCelsius\j
BK c
XCY y
#
"centimetre",7456,0,0,0
EN See metre (UK) / meter (US) (physics)
BK c
XCY y
#
"centipede",7457,0,0,0
EN A carnivorous, terrestrial arthropod, commonly found in soil, leaf litter, and rotting wood; body up to 30┐cm / 12┐in long, divided into head (bearing feelers and mouthparts) and many-segmented trunk; each trunk segment has one pair of legs; c.2500 species, some venomous. \B(Class:\b Chilopoda.)
BK c
#
"Centlivre, Susannah",7458,0,0,0
DT 1669-1723
EN English playwright. She was a strolling player from c.1685. Her first poems and letters were published and her first play produced in 1700. Her sharp attack on gambling, The Gamester (1705), was her first dramatic success and was followed by The Basset-Table, on the same theme.
Of her 20 plays the most popular were The Busy Body (1709) and The Wonder: A Woman Keeps a Secret (1714), both of which lasted well into the 19th century. Her best work, A Bold Stroke for a Wife (1718), provides a virtuoso acting part for the hero in his multiple disguises.
BK Thea
#
"Centlivres, Albert van de Sandt",7459,0,0,0
PN [\Bsent\bleever]
DT1 1887
DT2 1966
EN Judge, born in Cape Town, South Africa. He studied at the South African College, and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. He became a judge of the Cape provincial division of the Supreme Court of South Africa (1935), a judge of appeal (1939), and \Jchief justice\j (1950-7). He played a substantial part in restoring Roman-Dutch law in South Africa.
SX m
BK bg c
#
"CENTO",7460,0,0,0
EN See Central Treaty Organization (CENTO)
BK c
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#
"Central",7461,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 272 000; area 2631 sq km/1016 sq mi. Former (to 1996) region in C Scotland, UK; replaced in 1996 by Stirling, Clackmannanshire, and Falkirk councils; N part in the Highlands, including the Trossachs (W); S part encloses the Forth river valley; drained by the Forth, Carron, and Devon Rivers; contains several lochs, including Katrine, Lubnaig, Venachar (W) and part of Earn (NE); capital, Stirling; other chief towns, Falkirk, Alloa, Grangemouth (all in SE, region's industrial area); brewing and distilling, \Jengineering\j, agriculture; Stirling castle, Loch Lomond, Bannockburn battle site.
BK Geog99
#
"Central African Republic",7462,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 3 422 000; area 622 984 sq km/240 535 sq mi. Republic in C Africa, divided into 15 prefectures; capital, Bangui; other chief towns, BerbΘrati, Bouar, Bossangoa; timezone GMT +1; c.80 ethnic groups, including Baya (24%), Banda (24%); religion, mainly \JChristianity\j (50%), with local and Muslim beliefs; official language, French, with Sango widely spoken; unit of currency, the franc CFA.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
On plateau forming watershed between Chad and \JCongo\j river basins; mean elevation, 600 m/2000 ft; most N rivers drain towards L Chad, S rivers towards R Ubangi; highest ground in the NE (Massif des Bongos) and NW; single rainy season in N (May--Sep), average annual rainfall 875--1000 mm/35--40 in; more equatorial climate in S, rainfall 1500--2000 mm/60--80 in.
\IHistory and government\i
Part of French Equatorial Africa (Ubangi Shari); autonomous republic within the French community, 1958; independence, 1960; 1965 coup led to 1977 monarchy known as Central African Empire, under Bokassa I; Bokassa forced to flee, 1979 (returned in 1986 for trial; found guilty, 1987); military coup established 23-member Committee for National Recovery, 1981--5; National Assembly established, 1987; multiparty legislative and presidential elections, 1993; governed by a president, who serves a 6-year term, prime minister, and 85-member National Assembly, serving for 5 years.
\IEconomy\i
c.85% of working population engaged in subsistence agriculture, growing \Jcassava\j, groundnuts, cotton, \Jmaize\j, \Jcoffee\j, \Jmillet\j, \Jsorghum\j, \Jtobacco\j, rice, sesame seed, plantain, bananas, yams; timber, diamonds, uranium; sawmilling, brewing, diamond splitting, leather and \Jtobacco\j processing.
BK Geog99
#
"Central America",7463,0,0,0
EN area 596┐000┐km\U2\u / 230┐000┐mi\U2\u. A geographical region that encompasses the independent states to the S of Mexico and to the N of \JSouth America\j; includes \JGuatemala\j, El Salvador, \JBelize\j, \JHonduras\j, \JNicaragua\j, Costa Rica, and Panama; the area gained independence from \JSpain\j in 1821.
BK c
#
"Central American Common Market (CACM)",7464,0,0,0
EN An economic association initiated in 1960 between \JGuatemala\j, \JHonduras\j, El Salvador, \JNicaragua\j, and (from 1963) Costa Rica. Its early apparent success was offset by growing political crisis in the late 1970s.
BK c
#
"Central American Federation",7465,0,0,0
EN A federation formed in 1823, following independence from \JSpain\j, by Costa Rica, \JNicaragua\j, \JHonduras\j, El Salvador, and \JGuatemala\j. Despite vigorous leadership by Francisco Morazßn (1792-1842) of \JHonduras\j, internal tensions brought about the collapse of the federation by 1838.
BK c
#
"Central Committee",7466,0,0,0
EN Under Soviet Communist Party rules, the highest decision-making authority in the former USSR, apart from Congress, which elected it. Except in rare circumstances, however, it exercised little influence, partly because of its unwieldy size and partly because of the concentration of power in the \JPolitburo\j.
BK c
#
"Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA)",7467,0,0,0
EN The department of government in the UK which is responsible for advising on all aspects of using computers and telecommunications in government departments. The advice of the CCTA is also usually sought by other public bodies, such as the National Health Service and universities.
BK c
#
"Central Criminal Court",7468,0,0,0
EN See Old Bailey
BK c
XCY y
#
"Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)",7469,0,0,0
EN The official US intelligence analysis organization responsible for external security, established under the National Security Act (1947). Often involved in subversive activities, and suspected of internal subversive activities from time to time, it suffered a loss of credibility following the investigation into the \JWatergate\j affair in the mid-1970s.
BK c
#
"central nervous system (CNS)",7470,0,0,0
EN A collection of nerve cells, connected in an intricate and complex manner, which is involved in the control of movement and the analysis of sensation, and in humans also subserves the higher-order functions of thought, language, and emotion. In vertebrates it consists of the brain and spinal cord, enclosed within the meninges within the skull and vertebral column.
BK c
#
"Central Powers",7471,0,0,0
EN Initially, the members of the Triple Alliance (\JGermany\j, \JAustria\j-\JHungary\j, \JItaly\j) created by \JBismarck\j in 1882. As \JItaly\j remained neutral in 1914, and joined the Allies in 1915, the term was later used to describe \JGermany\j, \JAustria\j-\JHungary\j, their ally Turkey, and later \JBulgaria\j in World War 1.
BK c
#
"central processing unit (CPU)",7472,0,0,0
EN See digital computer
BK c
XCY y
#
"Central Treaty Organization (CENTO)",7473,0,0,0
EN A political-military alliance signed in 1955 between \JIran\j (which withdrew after the fall of the Shah), Turkey, \JPakistan\j, \JIraq\j (which withdrew in 1958), and the UK, as a defence against the \JSoviet Union\j.
BK c
#
"Central Valley or Great Central Valley",7474,0,0,0
EN Valley in \JCalifornia\j, USA, between the Sierra Nevada (east) and the Coast Range (west); the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers feed the Central Valley Project, a series of dams and reservoirs for flood-control, irrigation and hydroelectricity.
BK c
#
"Centre Beaubourg",7475,0,0,0
PN [sπtruh bohboorg]
EN The popular name for the Centre National d'Art et de Culture, or \BPompidou Centre,\b situated on the Plateau Beaubourg in Paris. Designed by Renzo \JPiano\j and Richard Rogers, and opened in 1977, the 6-storey building houses a \Jmodern art\j gallery and a centre for industrial design. Display space has been maximized by placing all services - conduits, elevators, etc - on the outside of the transparent exterior walls.
BK c
#
"centre of gravity",7476,0,0,0
EN In mechanics, the point in some object upon which the action of gravity is equivalent to the sum of the action of gravity on the object's component parts. The centre of gravity of the object is identical to its centre of mass.
BK c
#
"centre of mass",7477,0,0,0
EN In mechanics, a point whose motion represents that of an entire object or group of objects. The product of the velocity of this point with the total mass of the system equals the sum of the momentum contributions of the individual parts. For example, the centre of mass of the fragments of an exploding bomb is the position that the bomb would have had if it had not exploded. Should a force act on the system, the centre of mass undergoes an acceleration as though the force were acting on the entire mass concentrated at the centre of mass.
BK c
#
"centre, the",7478,0,0,0
EN The centre ground in political opinion and action which avoids the extremism and idealism of right and left, and advocates compromise solutions to societal problems. It is often characterized by pragmatic responses - more concerned with 'getting things done' than with 'fruitless' searching for the means of achieving ideal objectives.
BK c
#
"centrifuge",7479,0,0,0
EN A device for separating the components of a mixture (solid-in-liquid or liquid-in-liquid) by applying rapid rotation and consequent centrifugal force. It may be equipped for the technical separation of materials (eg cream) or for scientific observation (eg the \Bultracentrifuge,\b which separates particles of macromolecular size).
BK c
#
"centripetal force",7480,0,0,0
EN An inward-directed radial force required to keep an object on a circular path; gravity, for example, provides a centripetal force, causing the Moon to \Jorbit\j the Earth. Corresponding to a centripetal force is a centripetal acceleration due to that force, and acting in the same direction as it.
For an object moving in a circle at a constant speed, the rate of change of velocity (the direction changes continuously, but \Jmagnitude\j is constant) is the centripetal acceleration and is directed towards the centre of the circle. The term \Bcentrifugal force,\b denoting an outward-acting force, is common in everyday use, but is best avoided. It is a fictitious force; such a force balancing the centripetal force is applicable only to rotating observers, for whom the object appears at rest.
BK c
#
"centrography",7481,0,0,0
EN In \Jgeography\j, the study of descriptive statistics for the determination and mapping of measures of central tendency. For example, the mean centre of population distribution can be mapped to show the main focus of a country's population distribution.
BK c
#
"centromere",7482,0,0,0
EN The point on a \Jchromosome\j, usually a constriction, by which it is attached to the spindle during the division of the cell nucleus. It orchestrates the division of the \Jchromosome\j into its two daughter chromosomes.
BK c
#
"Centropodidae",7483,0,0,0
EN \BCoucals\b
The coucals (family \JCentropodidae\j, order Cuculiformes) are a group of about 30 species of large, long-tailed, clumsy-looking, grassland birds widespread in tropical and warm temperate parts of Africa, Asia, and \JAustralasia\j. All are placed in the single \Jgenus\j \ICentropus.\i Their nearest relatives are the parasitic cuckoos (family \JCuculidae\j) with which they share much of their distribution, but they differ most strikingly in that, unlike parasitic cuckoos, they form pairs, build their own nests, and rear their own young in the conventional manner among birds.
Most coucals are about 35-45 cm in length, but the \JGoliath\j Coucal \ICentropus goliath\i is about 90 cm long. Coucals have long, full tails, short rounded wings, bulky bodies, and short, deep, robust bills. Like other cuckoos, their strong feet bear two toes pointing forwards and two back. Usually the bill is black and the eyes red.
Plumage colors are mainly black or cryptic brown, but several species-such as the \JSenegal\j Coucal \ICentropus senegalensis\i -have a color scheme that is basically chestnut red above and white below, with a black cap and tail. In some species the male is black, the female dull brown but in others the sexes are essentially alike. Coucals often have a distinctive bedraggled, loose-limbed appearance. Most are solitary, skulking birds that seldom leave the shelter of dense cover.
Coucals live in rank grassland, dense waterside vegetation, \Jbamboo\j thickets, and undergrowth at the margins of \Jrainforest\j. The group is widespread in Africa, southern Asia, and \JAustralasia\j, and sometimes several species occur together in the same general area.
Several species-such as the \JSenegal\j Coucal in Africa, the Lesser Coucal \ICentropus bengalensis\i in India and southern Asia, and the Pheasant Coucal \ICentropus phasianinus\i in \JAustralia\j and the New Guinea region-have extensive ranges. However, many small island groups in the Indonesian and New Guinea regions have endemic species, such as the Buff-headed Coucal \ICentropus milo\i in the Solomon Islands and several species in the \JPhilippines\j. Coucals are mostly sedentary in habit.
BK wan
#
"century",7484,0,0,0
EN The smallest unit in a Roman legion, under the command of a \Bcenturion.\b Probably consisting originally of 100, under the Empire there were 80 soldiers in a century.
BK c
#
"century plant",7485,0,0,0
EN A species of \Jagave\j \I(Agave americana),\i so-called from the length of time once thought to pass between germination and flowering - up to 100 years. In Mexico the great flow of sap during the final burst of flowering - up to 1000 litres per plant - is collected, and is one of the sources of the national drink, pulque, as well as a spirit, mescal. \B(Family:\b Agavaceae.)
BK c
#
"ceorl",7486,0,0,0
PN [\Bchay\baw(r)l]
EN An ordinary freeman of \JAnglo-Saxon\j England, who normally held between one and five hides of land. By the 10th-c, wealthy ceorls could become thegns; but after the \JNorman Conquest\j many ceorls lost personal freedom. The Middle English derivative \Ichurl\i has the sense of serf or ill-bred person.
BK c
#
"cephalic index",7487,0,0,0
EN A head's breadth as a percentage of its length. Heads of different relative breadths are termed \Ibrachycephalic\i (broad), \Imesocephalic\i (intermediate), and \Idolichocephalic\i (long). The \Bcranial index\b expresses comparable ratios on the skull, rather than the living head. The notion is especially used in anthropological classification.
BK c
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"Cephalonia",7488,0,0,0
PN [kefa\Bloh\bnia]
EN pop (1995e) 33 100; area 780 sq km/300 sq mi. Largest of the Ionian Is, \JGreece\j, in the Ionian Sea, off the W coast of \JGreece\j; length 48 km/30 mi; hilly island, rising to 1628 m/5341 ft; capital, Argostolion; devastated by earthquakes in 1953; olives, grapes.
BK Geog99
#
"Cephalopoda",7489,0,0,0
PN [sefa\Blop\boda]
EN A class of carnivorous, marine molluscs characterized by the specialization of the head-foot into a ring of tentacles, typically armed with hooks or suckers, and by their method of swimming using jets of \Jwater\j squirted out of a funnel; mouth typically with a powerful beak; eyes usually well developed; includes \Joctopus\j, \Jsquid\j, \Jcuttlefish\j, and \Jnautilus\j, as well as large \Jfossil\j groups such as ammonites and belemnites.
BK c
#
"Cephas",7490,0,0,0
PN [\Bsee\bfas]
EN See Peter, St
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#
"Cepheid variable",7491,0,0,0
PN [see\Bfee\bid]
EN A class of variable star with a period of 1-50 days, characterized by precise regularity. There is a direct \Jcorrelation\j between the period and luminosity (the longer the period, the more luminous the star). The observed brightness of a Cepheid indicates its distance from Earth, and is consequently of great importance in determining the distance scale of the universe.
BK c
#
"Cepheus",7492,0,0,0
PN [\Bsee\bfyoos]
EN A N \Jconstellation\j which includes the famous star \Bdelta Cephei,\b the prototype of regular variables used for calibrating the distance scale of the universe.
BK c
#
"ceramic stratus",7493,0,0,0
EN A method of creating large electronic circuits from chips by sealing them in a ceramic tile. It is akin to the printed circuit board, but much more reliable.
BK c
#
"ceramics",7494,0,0,0
EN The products of the baking of clay, giving hard, strong, non-conducting, brittle, heat-resistant substances. They are useful for technical purposes (eg \Jabrasives\j, cutting tools, refractory linings) and for decoration. The initial value of clay arises from its plasticity, so that \Jceramics\j can be made in an unlimited variety of forms, by moulding, casting, spinning, or pressing.
Clays of many kinds are used, from the coarse clay used for bricks to the fine white clay used for \Jporcelain\j. \JCeramics\j may be made in stages, such as the many ways of producing a \Iglaze,\i a coating of a second clay or glass-like substance, which confers impermeability (as in making pipes) or decorative colours.
BK c
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"Ceratopsia",7495,0,0,0
PN [sera\Btop\bsia]
EN The horned dinosaurs; typified by enormous bony frill extending back over neck from posterior part of skull; usually with median horns in nasal region and paired horns behind eyes; evolved during the Upper Cretaceous period. \B(Order:\b \JOrnithischia\j.)
BK c
#
"Cerberus",7496,0,0,0
PN [\Bser\bberus]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the dog which guards the entrance to the Underworld, originally 50-headed, later with three heads. Any living souls visiting Hell gave 'a sop to Cerberus', ie a honey-cake, to quieten him. \JHeracles\j carried him off as one of his labours.
BK c
#
"Cerdic",7497,0,0,0
PN [\Bchair\bdik]
DT1 ?
DT2 534
EN Saxon leader who invaded Britain, landing in Hampshire with his son \BCynric\b in 495. By 500 he had created the kingdom of \JWessex\j for himself, and founded the West Saxon royal dynasty.
SX m
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#
"cereals",7498,0,0,0
EN Grain-bearing grasses which provide staple foods for most of the world's population. The grains are much larger than those of other grass species, including wild cereal ancestors, and are rich in protein and carbohydrates. There are eight major \Jcereals\j: rice, wheat, oats, \Jbarley\j, rye, sorghums, millets, and \Jmaize\j (corn). A number of minor types grow where conditions will not support major crops, and these assume local importance, especially in the Third World.
All \Jcereals\j derive from wild species, and their domestication in early times (c.8000 BC in the case of wheat and \Jbarley\j) marks a turning-point in human history. The replacement of \Iramassage\i (the gathering of wild grains) by a more dependable crop allowed the development of a more settled lifestyle, and all of the great early civilizations were based on the cultivation of one or more major \Jcereals\j.
With domestication came selection for desirable characteristics, such as larger grains. The development of modern \Jcereals\j is very sophisticated, with strains tailored for specific purposes and conditions, such as rapid ripening for areas with short growing seasons, or high disease-resistance. \B(Family:\b Gramineae.)
BK c
#
"cerebellum",7499,0,0,0
PN [sere\Bbel\bum]
EN A part of the brain which occupies the lower back part of the cranial cavity within the skull, consisting of two hemispheres united in the midline by the \Ivermis.\i It is connected to the brain stem by three pairs of structures called \Ipeduncles,\i and forms part of the wall of the fourth ventricle. Its principal function is the control of posture, repetitive movements, and the geometric accuracy of voluntary movements; it also appears to have an important role in learning. Damage to the \Jcerebellum\j in both animals and humans results in \Icerebellar ataxia\i (inco-ordination of movement).
BK c
#
"cerebral haemorrhage / hemorrhage",7500,0,0,0
EN An episode of acute bleeding within the substance of the brain. It tends to occur when the blood pressure is high, or when the wall of the cerebral blood vessel is weakened by degenerative change (eg atheroma) or is the site of a localized distension \I(\Janeurysm\j).\i The neurological disability that follows depends on the severity of the haemorrhage and the site of the bleeding.
BK c
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"cerebral palsy",7501,0,0,0
EN A non-progressive disorder of the brain occurring in infancy or early childhood which causes weakness, paralysis, and lack of co-ordination of movement; the muscular spasms involved have led to the use of the term \Bspastic\b for these children. A high proportion of infants also suffer from \Jepilepsy\j and are retarded mentally. Several types of brain injury are responsible, including injury to the brain during birth, maternal diseases, and virus infections, but the cause is unknown in many cases.
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"cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)",7502,0,0,0
EN In vertebrates a clear, colourless, protein-free fluid circulating through the ventricles of the brain, the central canal of the spinal cord, and the subarachnoid space. It surrounds the brain and spinal cord, and provides them with mechanical support and \Jnutrients\j.
In humans, CSF is sometimes collected (by \Ilumbar puncture)\i and analysed for diagnostic purposes: an excess of CSF around the brain in the fetus and young child (through overproduction or blockage within the circulating system) leads to \Jhydrocephalus\j, unless it is drained off.
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"cerebrum",7503,0,0,0
PN [\Bse\brebruhm]
EN The largest part of the brain, occupying most of the cranial cavity within the skull. It is separated into right and left halves (the right and left \Bcerebral hemispheres),\b connected by a body of nerve fibres known as the \Icorpus callosum.\i Each hemisphere can be divided into four \Ilobes\i which are named according to the skull bone that they are most closely related to (ie \Ifrontal,\i \Iparietal,\i \Itemporal,\i and \Ioccipital).\i
The surface of each hemisphere is formed by a layer of \Igrey matter\i known as the \Icerebral \Jcortex\j,\i containing the cell bodies of the neurones responsible for the functions of the cerebrum. Within the \Jcortex\j the hemispheres are formed by a large mass of \Iwhite matter\i consisting largely of the axons of the neurones in the cerebral \Jcortex\j.
The surface of the cerebrum is thrown into a series of folds \I(gyri)\i separated by troughs \I(sulci):\i the \Ilateral sulcus\i separates the temporal lobe from the frontal and parietal lobes; the \Icentral sulcus\i separates the frontal and parietal lobes; and the \Iparieto-occipital sulcus\i separates the parietal and occipital lobes. Immediately in front of the central sulcus is the \Imotor \Jcortex\j,\i in which the opposite half of the body is represented upside down: the face lies lowest, then the hand (a very large area), then the arm, trunk, and leg.
Stimulation here results in contraction of the appropriate voluntary muscles on the opposite side of the body. Below the area of the brain representing the face, on the left side, lies the speech area \I(Broca's area).\i Immediately behind the central sulcus is the \Isensory \Jcortex\j,\i which receives sensory information from the opposite side of the body via the brain stem and \Jthalamus\j.
The occipital lobe is involved with vision. The parietal lobe is in general responsible for sensory functions such as the perception of touch, pressure, and body position, as well as three-dimensional perception, the analysis of visual images, language, \Jgeometry\j, and calculations. The frontal lobe subserves motor functions, and also governs the expression of the intellect and personality. The upper part of the temporal lobe is involved in the perception of sound, with the remainder being concerned with memory and various emotional functions.
BK c
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"Cerenkov radiation",7504,0,0,0
PN [che\Bren\bkof]
EN Electromagnetic radiation produced by charged particles passing through some material at a velocity greater than the velocity of light in that material; discovered in 1930 by Pavel Cerenkov. It is a type of electromagnetic shock wave, analogous to a \Jsonic boom\j, and is used to measure particle velocities in \Jparticle physics\j experiments.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Cerenkov's name first came into public prominence during the earliest days of space flight, when it was reported with some excitement that astronauts and cosmonauts had seen flashes of light. These flashes, we were told, came from particles that were slowing down to the speed of light. Educated people would not fall for that one, not for a minute. Reading \Jscience fiction\j, and reading press accounts of Einstein had made it all clear. To travel faster than light was to be trapped by the paradox Boojum. Faster than light, they knew, meant threatening the causality principle.
So everybody agreed: nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, and that was that. But they were wrong. The true statement should be that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum-unless the tachyon really exists, that is. The speed of light in a non-vacuum is always rather less than the speed of light in a vacuum. In glass, the speed of light is about two thirds of the vacuum speed, and in \Jwater\j, it is about three quarters. When a particle travelling at the speed of light in a vacuum plunges into something more dense, it slows down, giving up the spare \Jenergy\j as a blue-ish radiation.
Pavel Cerenkov was by no means the first to see the radiation that now bears his name, but others who saw it simply dismissed it as a case of \Jfluorescence\j. In fact, the standard \JCurie\j \Jbiography\j usually has Pierre and Marie \JCurie\j looking at something that looks suspiciously like Cerenkov radiation, an unearthly glow, usually achieved in the movies with clever lighting effects.
In the 1930s, Cerenkov was given a thesis task. This was the job of studying the absorption by different liquids of the radiation from a \Jradium\j source, and it was then that he first saw the blueish glow. There are many substances that absorb radiation at one wave-length, and emit it at another, visible, wave-length. This is a well-understood phenomenon, and usually referred to either as \Jluminescence\j, or as \Jfluorescence\j. The radiation in these cases is sent out equally in all directions.
Cerenkov noted that this was not the case for the blue light that he was studying. We know now that the angle between the Cerenkov radiation and the speeding particle gives us a direct measure of the speed of the particle.
Sometimes, the best experiment is one where you try to make a mess of things, even more so if you don't succeed. And that was the approach that Cerenkov used. He tried adding chemicals that quench \Jfluorescence\j, snuffing it out, but silver \Jnitrate\j had no effect, and neither did \Jpotassium\j iodide. Whatever this thing was, you couldn't stop it by any ordinary method that stopped ordinary \Jfluorescence\j.
So whatever it was, it was no trivial phenomenon, but something worth exploring. When it turned out that the radiated light was polarized, but in a quite different way from polarized \Jfluorescence\j, this explorability became even more apparent. The final clue came when Cerenkov found that the radiation is only emitted at a certain angle to the gamma radiation that gave rise to it. The gamma radiation was causing high speed electrons to go whizzing around, as a direct result of something called the Compton Effect.
In the end, Cerenkov did not explain the phenomenon. He left that to Frank and Tamm, who shared the Nobel Prize with him in 1958. Then, just a few years later, people up in space were able to report the reality of Cerenkov radiation inside human eyeballs, as high speed cosmic particles whizzed through them, faster than the speed of light.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Cerenkov, Pavel Alekseyevich",7505,0,0,0
PN [che\Bren\bkof]
DT1 1904
DT2 90
EN Physicist, born in Novaya Chigla, \JRussia\j. He studied at \JVoronezh\j, then worked at the Academy of Sciences, Moscow. In 1934 he noted the emission of blue light from \Jwater\j and other transparent media when atomic particles, moving at a speed greater than light in that medium, are passed through it. Subsequent research by Tamm and Frank led to a definite explanation of the \BCerenkov effect,\b for which all three shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1958.
SX m
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#
"Ceres (astronomy)",7506,0,0,0
PN [\Bseer\beez]
EN The first asteroid to be found, discovered on the first night of the 19th-c. Much the largest asteroid, its diameter is 1000┐km / 620┐mi (over one-quarter of the Moon's).
BK c
#
"Ceres (mythology)",7507,0,0,0
PN [\Bseer\beez]
HS (\Jmythology\j)
EN The ancient Italian corn-goddess, an early \Jcult\j at \JRome\j. She was given characteristics and stories associated with \JDemeter\j.
BK c
#
"Cerf, Bennett (Alfred)",7508,0,0,0
DT (1898-1971)
EN publisher, editor, writer; born in New York City. After successfully marketing reprint classics under the Modern Library imprint, he cofounded Random House in 1927, serving as its president for nearly 40 years. An editor of humor and other anthologies, he also wrote a syndicated newspaper column and appeared regularly on \Jtelevision\j.
BK AmBg
#
"Cerinthus",7509,0,0,0
PN [se\Brin\bthus]
DT1a c.
DT1 100
EN Jewish Gnostic heretic, born in Alexandria. He is said to have lived in Ephesus contemporaneously with the aged \Japostle\j John.
MEX John, St
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#
"Cermak, Anton (Joseph)",7510,0,0,0
DT (1873-1933)
EN mayor; born in Kladno, \JBohemia\j. He came to the U.S.A. as an infant. He started his working life as a \Jcoal\j miner, and eventually became a prosperous businessman. A power in \JChicago\j Democratic politics, he served four terms as a state legislator, beginning in 1903, as well as other state and city offices. Elected mayor of \JChicago\j in 1931, he was killed in 1933 by a gunman aiming at President-elect Franklin Roosevelt as they were riding in a car in Miami, Fla.
BK AmBg
#
"CERN",7511,0,0,0
EN See Organisation EuropΘene pour la Recherche NuclΘaire (CERN)
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"Cernan, Eugene (Andrew)",7512,0,0,0
PN [\Bser\bnan]
DT1 1934
EN Astronaut, born in \JChicago\j, Illinois, USA. A US navy officer (1956), he became a test pilot and went on to study aeronautical \Jengineering\j at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey. He undertook \Jastronaut\j training (1963) and was a crew member of several historic missions: Gemini 9 (1966), Apollo 10 (1969), and Apollo 17 (1972). He was involved in the Apollo--Soyuz Test Project (1975), later resigning from the navy to enter private business.
BK Biog99
#
"Cerrito, Fanny",7513,0,0,0
EN See Saint-LΘon, (Charles Victor) Arthur
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#
"Certhiidae",7514,0,0,0
EN \BTreecreepers\b
The treecreepers make up an exceptionally uniform group of small birds that occur virtually everywhere in woodlands across the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. They are small, nondescript, and unobtrusive, and their entire life story is summed up in their name.
Foraging treecreepers creep inconspicuously up the trunks of trees, methodically covering one tree then swooping down to the base of its neighbor to repeat the process. They take all their food from the bark of trees, shelter behind loose slabs of it at night, and hide their nests in its crevices in spring.
All but one of the six or seven species are placed in the \Jgenus\j \ICerthia,\i but there is an anomalous species in Africa and India, the Spotted Treecreeper \ISalpornis\i \Ispilonota,\i that is sometimes included in the family, sometimes excluded. Its life style is similar but there are also striking differences in behavior, anatomy, and nesting, though genetic studies tend to confirm that it is indeed a treecreeper. Perhaps the most conspicuous distinction is that its tail feathers are not stiff and it does not use its tail as a supporting prop against the trunk, which all \ICerthia\i species do.
All \ICerthia\i species are about the same size (12-13 cm, though the Brown-throated Treecreeper \ICerthia\i \Idiscolor\i is a trifle larger at 14-15 cm) and are nearly indistinguishable from each other. All are cryptically colored in sober browns obscurely mottled and streaked with very dark brown to merge against the bark of trees.
Many populations are so similar in appearance that it is still a matter of some debate whether the North American species, the American Treecreeper \ICerthia\i \Iamericana,\i is truly a species distinct from its Eurasian representative the Eurasian Treecreeper \ICerthia\i \Ifamiliaris,\i or merely a subspecies of it. Similarly, full consensus has not been reached on the status of the Eurasian Treecreeper with reference to the Short-toed Treecreeper \ICerthia\i \Ibrachydactyla,\i with which it shares much of its range in Europe.
The same might be said of various populations in the \JHimalayas\j, except that too little is known of them to justify speculation. The Spotted Treecreeper is about the same size, but strikingly different in appearance, being boldly spotted with white above, and mottled brown and buff below. The sexes are almost indistinguishable.
Treecreepers have small, slender, and slightly down-curved bills, strong feet, and broad, blunt wings. Their flight is deeply undulating and rather feeble, and they seldom fly farther than the nearest tree. Treecreepers are mainly solitary, though they often join mixed feeding parties of other woodland birds in winter.
The \Jgenus\j \ICerthia\i does not occur in the Southern Hemisphere, but its members are otherwise widespread in most kinds of forest and woodland, from sea level to at least 4,000 meters altitude in the \JHimalayas\j. The Spotted Treecreeper occurs in central India and across much of Africa south of the Sahara, where it is especially common in miombo \I(Brachystegia)\i woodland.
Where several forms occur together, they tend to segregate by forest type. Thus in southern Europe the Eurasian Treecreeper tends to favor highland coniferous forest, leaving lowland deciduous forest to occupation by the Short-toed Treecreeper. Treecreepers are essentially sedentary: populations at high altitudes and high latitudes are often compelled to move to milder regions in winter, but they seldom travel farther than necessary to reach reliable food resources.
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#
"certificate of deposit",7515,0,0,0
EN A certificate representing a fixed-term, interest-bearing deposit in large denominations, which can be bought and sold. First introduced by Citibank in New York City in 1961, sterling certificates were introduced in 1968.
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"Cerutty, Percy Wells",7516,0,0,0
PN [\Bse\bruhtee]
DT1 1895
DT2 1975
EN \JAthletics\j coach and trainer, born in Prahan, Victoria, \JAustralia\j. A childhood respiratory disease severely restricted his own athletic career, although in his middle 50s he became a noted distance runner. He was in charge of the Australian team at the 1952 \JOlympic Games\j in \JHelsinki\j. He coached John Landy (1930-) , who recorded the second ever sub-four-minute mile (1954), and Herb Elliott, and pioneered such concepts as training over sand dunes and the idea of the 'pain barrier'.
MEX Elliott, Herb
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#
"Cervantes (Saavedra), Miguel de",7517,0,0,0
DT 1547-1616
EN Spanish novelist and playwright. He found success in novels only after consistent failure in the theatre, to which his episodic style and lack of poetic talent were ill-suited. He wrote about 30 plays in the 1580s of which only two survive, each in four acts: El trato de Argel (The Trade of \JAlgiers\j), drawing on his captivity there, and El cerco de Numancia (The Siege of Numantia), his best play in spite of its poor verse.
Later he wrote eight more unperformed plays, eventually published with eight entremeses ( see gΘnero chico) in 1615. These single-scene playlets, six of them in prose, are much superior to his full-length dramas. Cervantes initially supported the classical dramatic precepts, attacking Lope de Vega in Chapter 48 of Don Quixote, though by 1615 his opposition had turned to warm praise and unsuccessful imitation.
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#
"cervical cancer",7518,0,0,0
PN [ser\Bviy\bkl]
EN A malignant \Jtumour\j arising from the lining of the cervical canal. It occurs at all ages, but young women are being increasingly affected, and it is second only to breast cancer as a cause of death from tumours in women. Its occurrence is related to frequent sexual intercourse with several partners, which has led to the view that it is possibly due to a virus, perhaps related to the genital herpes virus. Treatment is effective if diagnosis (by the Papincolaou or 'smear' test) is made early.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
There are two main types of cervical cancer. They can present both before, during or after menopause.
(a) \ISquamous\i type (the most common). This is influenced by the age at which sexual activity commences and the number of sexual partners; i.e., the earlier the commencement age and the greater the number of partners increases the risk of pre-cancerous changes to the \Jcervix\j. Exposure to men with genital warts or with genital herpes increases the likelihood of the squamous cervical cancer.
(b) \IAdenocarcenoma\i of \Jcervix\j. This is rare and affects women whether or not they are sexually active. 'Pap' smears are important and are recommended soon after commencement of sexual activity, then after six and twelve months. Thereafter every three years is suggested to pick up early signs of pre-cancerous changes while they can still be easily treated.
\ITreatment:\i Pre-cancerous cells are best removed in early stages by cone \Jbiopsy\j or \Jlaser\j treatment. If the cancer has invaded the deeper tissue of the \Jcervix\j, then major surgery is indicated: e.g. hysterectomy with or without accompanying \Jradiotherapy\j.
\IWritten by Jane King\i
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"cervix",7519,0,0,0
PN [\Bser\bviks]
EN The lower tapering third of the uterus (womb). Its lower, blunt part projects into the vagina; its upper part communicates with the body of the uterus through a slight constriction (the \Iisthmus).\i The vaginal part is firm in the non-pregnant uterus, and relatively soft in the pregnant uterus. A small opening at the lower end of the \Jcervix\j (the \Iexternal os)\i allows communication between the uterine cavity and the vagina.
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"Cerylidae",7520,0,0,0
EN \BWater kingfishers\b
The three families of kingfishers (Cerylidae, \JAlcedinidae\j, and \JHalcyonidae\j) can be arranged in a progression related to diet. The halcyonid kingfishers are essentially woodland birds that live on small ground-dwelling reptiles; the alcedinid kingfishers are waterside dwellers that feed on fish but also eat tadpoles, crawfish, insects, and other aquatic animals; whereas the cerylid kingfishers rely most heavily on a diet of fish.
With representatives on all continents except \JAntarctica\j, the family contains nine species divided among three genera: \IChloroceryle\i (four species), \IMegaceryle\i (four species), and \ICeryle\i (one species).
The smallest species is the Pygmy Kingfisher \IChloroceryle aenea\i of Central and northern \JSouth America\j, which is about 13 cm long; the largest is the Giant Kingfisher \IMegaceryle maxima\i of Africa, which is about 45 cm long and weighs nearly 300 grams.
The cerylid kingfishers are big-headed birds, with long, broad, rounded wings, rather short tails, small feet, and long, heavy bills; all species have a shaggy, untidy crest. Like other kingfishers they have syndacylous feet and their feathers lack aftershafts. The plumage is slate-blue, dark gray, or oily green above, and mainly white or rufous below; the upperparts are usually speckled or minutely marked with white. A common plumage feature is one or two bands of color across the upper breast, the arrangement often differing between the sexes.
In the Pied Kingfisher \ICeryle rudis,\i for example, the male has two blue-gray bands but the female only one, and in the Belted Kingfisher \IMegaceryle alcyone\i of \JNorth America\j, the male has only one band (blue-gray) but the female has two (one blue-gray, the other chestnut). Juveniles generally resemble adults except in being duller, and there is no seasonal variation.
Most species are generally solitary in habits, but the Pied Kingfisher is mildly gregarious, and uses communal roosts at night.
The four species of \IChloroceryle\i are confined to tropical parts of Central and \JSouth America\j, where all four share a broadly similar range. In contrast, the four species of \IMegaceryle\i are largely allopatric. The Giant Kingfisher is confined to Africa, the Crested Kingfisher \IMegaceryle lugubris\i is widespread in tropical parts of Asia, the Belted Kingfisher in \JNorth America\j, and its close relative the Ringed Kingfisher \IMegaceryle torquata\i is widespread in \JSouth America\j.
The Pied Kingfisher has an extensive distribution across Africa and the warmer parts of Asia to \JThailand\j and southern China. All species rarely occur far from \Jwater\j, but they inhabit a wide range of wetlands, from small streams to lakes and even seashores. All are largely sedentary, except the Belted Kingfisher, which withdraws southward from much of its distribution in Canada and the northern United States in winter.
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"CΘsaire, AimΘ (Fernand)",7521,0,0,0
DT 1913-
EN Martiniquan poet, politician, essayist and playwright. He helped to found (with Senghor) the negritude movement in the 1930s. He is better known as a poet than as a playwright, but he turned to the theatre to reach a broader audience and to deal directly with African politics. His plays shocked the French theatre world.
His three works for the theatre were all written in the 1960s, partly under the influence of Jean- Marie Serreau, who directed them. In La TragΘdie du Roi Christophe (The Tragedy of King Christopher, 1964) he presents the conflicting views of black African liberation current in the 1950s and 1960s. Epic in structure, it draws on the language of Africa and the Caribbean as well as that of \JFrance\j.
Une Saison au \JCongo\j (A Season in the \JCongo\j, 1967), in the style of the African hero play, criticizes the effects of white decolonization. This theme is taken up in Une TempΩte (1969), a brilliant reworking of Shakespeare's The Tempest, in which Prospero represents a white settler and Caliban a black slave, locked in a power struggle which Prospero is doomed to lose.
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"Cesalpino, Andrea",7522,0,0,0
PN [chezal\Bpee\bnoh]
HS , Latin \BCaesalpinus\b
DT1 1519
DT2 1603
EN Botanist, anatomist, physician, and physiologist, born in Arezzo, \JItaly\j. He was professor of medicine and director of the botanic garden in Pisa (1553-92), then became physician to Pope Clement VIII. He propounded a theory of the circulation of the blood that pre-dated the work of Harvey, and initiated scientific plant classification based on methods suggested by Theophrastus. He was the author of \IDe plantis\i (1583), the first textbook establishing botany as a scientific subject.
MEX Harvey, William; Theophrastus
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"Cesari, Giuseppe",7523,0,0,0
PN [\Bchay\bzaree]
HS , known as \BIl Cavaliere d'Arpino\b (the Cavalier of Arpino)
DT1a c.
DT1 1568
DT2a c.
DT2 1640
EN Painter, born in Arpino, \JItaly\j. Honoured by five popes, he is best known for the frescoes in the Capitol at \JRome\j.
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"cesarian section",7524,0,0,0
EN See caesarian / cesarian section
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"cesky terrier",7525,0,0,0
EN \B(Czech Terrier)\b
Although originally bred as a hunter, the Cesky Terrier's good looks and character make this breed an excellent home companion.
\BHistory:\b
The Cesky Terrier, or Bohemian Terrier as it is also known, is a breed that was developed in \JCzechoslovakia\j in the 1940s. Czechoslovakian sportsmen were not satisfied with the abilities of the German Hunt Terrier and set about to create their own ideal breed. They wanted a dog that was able to go to ground, but was also strong enough to deal with either fox or \Jbadger\j.
Overseen by geneticist Frantisek Horal, they crossed Scottish Terriers and Sealyham Terriers to generate the Cesky Terrier. Superficial resemblance to the \JDandie Dinmont Terrier\j suggests that this breed might have been incorporated at some time, although it may just be another example of two breeds with similar purposes. The Cesky Terrier was officially recognized as a breed in 1963, and so is a relatively new breed.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The Cesky Terrier is a striking-looking dog, resembling both the \JScottish Terrier\j and \JSealyham Terrier\j from which it was developed. It is a long-bodied dog. \IHeight:\i (25 - 32 cm). \IWeight:\i (6 - 10 kg). The breed has a long head with moderate forward-folding ears.
The face is generously covered with eyebrows, whiskers and moustache, usually of a lighter color than the rest of the coat. The head, ears and neck have short hair and the coat along the back is usually clipped, further accentuating the facial hair. The coat can be either blue-gray or light \Jcoffee\j, and is profuse on the legs and underbelly. The breed's short sturdy legs ideally suit it to going to ground after its quarry.
\BBehavior:\b
This feisty little Terrier has the spirit of a much larger dog. The Cesky can be very protective of its family and so makes a great watch-dog. The endearing expression and amazing sense of play go together to make a cheeky little dog. Owners are advised to be quite strict with this dog while it is young, as it will further develop into its strong-willed character as it gets older.
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"Cesnola, Luigi Palma di (Count)",7526,0,0,0
DT (1832-1904)
EN archaeologist; born in Rivarolo, \JItaly\j. He was educated at the Royal Military Academy in Turin (1843-48) and fought in the Austrian, Crimean, and - immigrating to the U.S.A. in 1860 - American Civil Wars. After he took American citizenship (1865), he became U.S. consul in Cyprus. There he conducted many archaeological excavations. His outstanding collection of antiquities, the fruits of these excavations, were given to the Metropolitan Museum in New York, where he was director from 1879 to his death.
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"CΘspedes, Pablo de",7527,0,0,0
PN [\Bthays\bpet\buh\buayz]
DT1 1538
DT2 1608
EN Painter, born in C≤rdoba, \JSpain\j. He studied at \JRome\j under \JMichelangelo\j and Raphael. In 1577 he became a canon at C≤rdoba, where he established a school of art, and was also active as an architect and writer. He painted the 'Last Supper' in C≤rdoba cathedral.
MEX \JMichelangelo\j; Raphael
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"Cessna, Clyde (Vernon)",7528,0,0,0
DT (1879-1954)
EN airplane manufacturer; born in Hawthorne, \JIowa\j. He built and flew his first plane in 1911. In 1925 he and others organized the Travel Air Company. In 1928, having built the first \Jcantilever\j plane in the country, he created Cessna \JAircraft\j to produce them. Affected by the Depression, plant operations were suspended in 1931. Although business resumed in 1934, he retired.
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#
"Cestoda",7529,0,0,0
PN [\Bses\btoda]
EN See \Jtapeworm\j
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#
"Cetacea",7530,0,0,0
PN [see\Btay\bshia]
EN See whale
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#
"cetane number",7531,0,0,0
EN An index defining the ignition quality of fuel for diesel internal combustion engines. The number is the cetane percentage in a mixture of cetane and alpha-methyl napthalene, adjusted to match the characteristics of the fuel under test.
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#
"Cetewayo or Cetshwayo",7532,0,0,0
PN [kete\Bway\boh]
DT1a c.
DT1 1826
DT2 84
EN Ruler of Zululand from 1873, born near Eshowe, South Africa. In 1879 he defeated the British at Isandhlwana, but was himself defeated at Ulundi. He presented his case in London, and in 1883 was restored to part of his kingdom, but soon after was driven out by an anti-royalist faction.
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"Cetti, Francesco",7533,0,0,0
PN [\Bche\btee]
DT1 1726
DT2 78
EN Jesuit and naturalist, born in \JMannheim\j, \JGermany\j. He was educated in Lombardy and at the Jesuit College in Monza, and in 1766 was appointed professor of \Jmathematics\j at the university of \JSassari\j. He was a distinguished naturalist as well as a theologian and philosopher. The bird \ICetti's warbler\i \I(Cettia cetti)\i was named after him.
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#
"Cetus",7534,0,0,0
PN [\Bsee\btus]
HS (Lat 'whale')
EN The fourth largest \Jconstellation\j, lying on the celestial Equator, but inconspicuous because it has few bright stars.
BK c
#
"Ceulen, Ludolph van",7535,0,0,0
PN [\Bkoe\blen]
DT1 1540
DT2 1610
EN Mathematician, born in \JHildesheim\j, \JGermany\j. He devoted himself to finding the value of ╥ and finally worked it out to 35 decimal places \I(Ludolph's number).\i It was inscribed on his tombstone at Leyden.
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#
"Ceuta",7536,0,0,0
PN [\Bthay\boota]
EN 35░52N 5░18W, pop (1995e) 68 800. Freeport and military station, at E end of the Strait of \JGibraltar\j, on the N African coast of Morocco; administered by Cßdiz province, \JSpain\j; car ferries to Algeciras; became Spanish in 1580; trade in \Jtobacco\j, oil products; old fortress at Monte Hacho, cathedral (15th-c), Church of Our Lady of Africa (18th-c).
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#
"Ceva, Giovanni",7537,0,0,0
PN [\Bchay\bva]
DT1 ?
DT1 1647
DT2 1734
EN Geometer, born in Milan, \JItaly\j. He gave his name to a \Jtheorem\j on concurrent lines through the vertices of a triangle.
SX m
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#
"CΘvennes",7538,0,0,0
PN [say\Bven\b]
HS , ancient \BCebenna\b
EN Chief mountain range in the S of \JFrance\j, on the south-east edge of the Massif Central; general direction NE-SW; highest peak, Mount MΘzenc (1754┐m / 5754┐ft); varied landscape, including forest, barren grassland, and deep gorges, such as Gorges du Tarn near Les Vignes.
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"CΘzanne, Paul",7539,0,0,0
PN [sayzan]
DT1 1839
DT2 1906
EN Postimpressionist painter, born in Aix-en-\JProvence\j, \JFrance\j. He studied law at Aix, then was persuaded by his friend Emile Zola to go to Paris (1862), where he began to paint. He was influenced by Pissarro, with whom he worked at Auvers and Pontoise (1872-3). He abandoned his early sombre \JExpressionism\j for the study of nature, and began to use his characteristic glowing colours.
In his later period (after 1886), he emphasized the underlying forms of nature - 'the cylinder, the sphere, the cone' - by constructing his pictures from a rhythmic series of coloured planes, thus becoming the forerunner of \JCubism\j. He obtained recognition only in the last years of his life. Among his best-known paintings are 'L'Estaque' (c.1888, MusΘe d'Orsay, Paris), 'The Card Players' (1890-2, MusΘe d'Orsay, Paris), and 'The Gardener' (1906, Tate, London). Picasso called him 'the father of us all'.
MEX Pissarro; Zola
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#
"CFCs",7540,0,0,0
EN An abbreviation of \Bchlorofluorocarbons,\b also called \BFreons; \b derivatives of \Jmethane\j and \Jethane\j containing both \Jchlorine\j and \Jfluorine\j. Important examples are CCl\D2\dF\D2\d and CClF\D2\d-CClF\D2\d. They are inert, volatile compounds, used as refrigerants and \Jaerosol\j sprays. Their \Jdecomposition\j in the \Jatmosphere\j damages the Earth's \Jozone layer\j. International agreements propose replacing them with less harmful substances.
BK c
#
"Ch'i Pai-shih",7541,0,0,0
PN [chee piyshee]
HS , also known as \BCh'i Huang\b
DT1 1863
DT2 1957
EN Artist, born in Hsiang T'an, China. In his youth he was a carpenter and wood-carver, and took up the study of painting only at 27. He also mastered \Jcalligraphy\j, poetry, and seal-carving. Sometimes called 'China's Picasso', his art is deeply rooted in folk tradition. He painted birds, flowers, fruit, landscapes, and many other subjects with a theme from daily life previously considered to be inappropriate subjects for art.
MEX Picasso
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#
"Ch'in dynasty",7542,0,0,0
EN See Qin dynasty or Ch'in dynasty
BK c
XCY y
#
"Ch'in Shih Huang-ti",7543,0,0,0
EN See Qin Shihuangdi
BK c
XCY y
#
"Ch'in-huang-tao",7544,0,0,0
EN See Qingdao, Tsingtao, or Ch'ing-tao
BK c
XCY y
#
"Ch'ing dynasty",7545,0,0,0
EN See Qing dynasty
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XCY y
#
"Chaban-Delmas, Jacques (-Pierre-Michel)",7546,0,0,0
PN [shabπ delmas]
HS , originally \BJacques Delmas\b
DT1 1915
EN French statesman and prime minister (1969--72), born in Paris, \JFrance\j. He studied political science and law, and worked as a journalist before joining the army (1938). An active member of the Resistance, he began work as liaison officer for the Free French government (1943), being promoted to general in 1944. He later added his Resistance code-name \IChaban\i to his surname.
With the establishment of the Gaullist Party (1947) he became a leading left-wing figure, and held a series of Cabinet posts before becoming President of the National Assembly (1958--69). He was appointed premier under President Pompidou, after which he was made inspector-general of finances (1973), and served again as President of the National Assembly (1978--81 and 1986--8).
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#
"Chabaneau, Francois",7547,0,0,0
PN [shabanoh]
DT1 1754
DT2 1842
EN Chemist, born in Nontron, \JFrance\j. Professor of \Jmathematics\j at Passy when only 17, he turned to the study of physics and chemistry. Later he became professor of \Jmineralogy\j, physics, and chemistry at Madrid, where he carried out the research on \Jplatinum\j which resulted in an ingot of malleable \Jplatinum\j (1783).
SX m
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#
"Chabrier, (Alexis) Emmanuel",7548,0,0,0
PN [shabreeyay]
DT1 1841
DT2 94
EN Composer, born in Ambert, \JFrance\j. He studied law in Paris, and devoted himself to music in 1879 after hearing Wagner's \ITristan und Isolde.\i He wrote operas, \Jpiano\j works, and songs, but his best-known pieces were inspired by the folk music of \JSpain\j, notably his orchestral \Jrhapsody\j \IEspa±a\i (1883).
MEX Wagner, Richard
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#
"Chabrol, Claude",7549,0,0,0
PN [shabrol]
DT1 1930
EN Film critic and director, born in Paris, \JFrance\j. He financed his own first production \ILe Beau Serge\i (1958, Handsome Serge), and with \ILes Cousins\i (1959) became identified with the French \INouvelle Vague\i, a style which had become more publicly acceptable when he produced \ILes Biches\i (1968, The Does). His most widely-known films are dramas of abnormality in the provincial \Jbourgeoisie\j, notably \ILe Boucher\i (1970, The Butcher), \ILes Noces rouges\i (1973, Red Wedding), and \IInspector Lavardin\i (1986). Later films include \IL'Enfer\i (1993, Torment).
\BMajor Works\b
\IFilms\i
1958 Le Beau Serge
1959 Les Cousins
1959 A Double Tour (aka Web of Passion)
1962 L'Oeil du malin (The Third Lover)
1968 Les Biches (The Does)
1968 La Femme infidΦle
1969 Le Boucher (The Butcher)
1973 Les Noces rouges (Red Wedding)
1977 Violette Noziere
1984 Poulet au vinaigre
1986 Inspector Lavardin
1988 Une Affaire des femmes
1993 L'Enfer (Torment)
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#
"chacma baboon",7550,0,0,0
EN A \Jbaboon\j native to S Africa \I(Papio ursinus); \i large but slender body; dark brown with dark face; inhabits grassland and rocky regions; troops contain up to 100 individuals.
BK c
#
"Chaco Canyon",7551,0,0,0
EN A remote desert \Jcanyon\j in New Mexico, 160┐km / 100┐mi north-west of Albuquerque, the hub in AD c.950-1300 of the Anasazi Indian culture of the American SW; now a world heritage site. A National Monument since 1907, its 650┐km / 400┐mi road network links c.125 D-shaped pueblos or planned villages. The best known is \JPueblo\j \JBonito\j, a compact five-storey settlement covering 1┐ha / 2.5┐acres, with c.600 rooms housing 1000 people.
BK c
#
"Chaco War",7552,0,0,0
DT1 1932
DT2 5
EN A territorial struggle between \JBolivia\j and \JParaguay\j in the disputed Northern Chaco area. Owing to the brilliant tactics of Col JosΘ FΘlix Estigarribia (1888-1940), \JParaguay\j won most of the area, and a peace treaty was signed in 1938. Around 50┐000 Bolivians and 35┐000 Paraguayans died in the war.
BK c
#
"chaconne",7553,0,0,0
EN A dance of Latin American origin. The harmonies and basses traditionally associated with it were widely used as material for arias and instrumental variations in the 17th-18th-c.
BK c
#
"Chad",7554,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 6 424 000; area 1 284 640 sq km/495 871 sq mi. Republic in NC Africa, divided into 14 prefectures; capital, N'djamena; chief towns include Moundou, Sarh, and AbΘchΘ; timezone GMT +1; c.200 ethnic groups; official languages, French and Arabic, with many local languages also spoken; chief religion, Muslim (over half), with local religions and \JChristianity\j; unit of currency, the franc CFA.
\IPhysical description and climate\i
Landlocked and mostly arid, semi-desert plateau at edge of \JSahara Desert\j; average altitude of 200--500 m/650--1650 ft; Logone and Chari Rivers drain into L Chad (SW); isolated massifs along \JSudan\j frontier rise to 1500 m/4921 ft; Tibesti Mts (N) rise to 3415 m/11 204 ft at Emi Koussi; vegetation generally desert scrub or steppe; most people live in tropical S; moderately wet in S (May--Oct), but dry in rest of year; N'djamena, average annual rainfall 744 mm/29 in; hot and arid N almost rainless; C plain hot and dry, with brief rainy season (Jun--Sep).
\IHistory and government\i
France proclaimed protectorate over Chad, 1900; territory incorporated into French Equatorial Africa, 1908; colonial status, 1920; independence, 1960; rebel forces took capital, forming new government, 1982; fighting continued between Libyan-supported rebels and French-supported government until ceasefire agreed in 1987; continuing \Jcivil war\j, 1990; new constitution adopted, 1991; transitional charter, 1993; governed by a president, prime minister, Council of Ministers, and a 57-member Higher Transitional Council; Aouzou strip returned to Chad by Libya, 1994; cease-fire, 1995; elections scheduled, 1996.
\IEconomy\i
Economy severely damaged in recent years by \Jdrought\j, locusts, and \Jcivil war\j; export of cotton, \Jkaolin\j, animal products; agriculture mainly \Jcassava\j, groundnuts, \Jmillet\j, \Jsorghum\j, rice, yams, sweet potatoes, dates; livestock, fishing; oil exploration, with refining facilities; uranium, gold, \Jbauxite\j in N; salt mined around L Chad.
BK Geog99
#
"Chad, Lake",7555,0,0,0
HS , Fr \BTchad, Lac\b
EN Shallow freshwater lake in NC Africa at meeting point of Chad, \JNigeria\j, \JCameroon\j, and \JNiger\j; remnant of former inland sea; \BArea:\b 10┐000┐km\U2\u / 4000┐mi\U2\u (low water), 26┐700┐km\U2\u / 10┐000┐mi\U2\u (high water); no visible outlets; chain of inhabited islands along E coast; fishing, mineral extraction (natron); first reached by Europeans in 1823; Douguia Wildlife Reserve nearby; oil discovered nearby in \JNiger\j.
BK c
#
"Chad, St",7556,0,0,0
HS , Old English \BCeadda\b
DT1 ?
DT2 672
EN \JAnglo-Saxon\j clergyman, born in \JNorthumberland\j, north-east England, UK. A pupil of St Aidan in Lindisfarne, he spent part of his youth in Ireland, became Abbot of Lastingham (664), and Bishop of York (666). Doubt having been cast on the validity of his consecration, he withdrew in 669, but was immediately made Bishop of Mercia, fixing the see at Lichfield. Feast \Jday\j 2 March.
MEX Aidan
SX m
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#
"Chadic",7557,0,0,0
PN [\Bchad\bik]
EN A group of 100 languages, spoken by over 25 million people in parts of \JGhana\j and the Central African Republic. It is assigned to the Afro-Asiatic family, though its position there is unclear.
BK c
#
"Chadli, Benjedid",7558,0,0,0
PN [\Bchad\blee]
DT1 1929
EN Algerian soldier and president (1978--92), born in Sebaa, Algeria. In 1955 he joined the guerrillas who were fighting for independence as part of the National Liberation Front (FLN). Under Houari BoumΘdienne, defence minister in Ben Bella's government, he was military commander of \JAlgiers\j, and when BoumΘdienne overthrew Ben Bella in 1965 he joined the Revolutionary Council. He succeeded BoumΘdienne as secretary-general of the FLN and president, but was forced to resign by the army in 1992.
BK Biog99
#
"Chadwick, George Whitefield",7559,0,0,0
DT (1854-1931)
EN composer; born in Lowell, Mass. After studies in the U.S. and \JGermany\j he settled in \JBoston\j, Mass., teaching privately and at the New England \JConservatory\j. His music, in a late-Romantic idiom, was part of the era's "Boston classic" school.
BK AmBg
#
"Chadwick, Henry",7560,0,0,0
DT (1824-1908)
EN sportswriter, \Jbaseball\j executive; born in Exeter, England. After immigrating to the U.S.A. at an early age, he became a sportswriter for the \INew York Times\i in 1856 and wrote some of the earliest articles about \Jbaseball\j, which included his modern version of a \Jbaseball\j box score.
For the next fifty years, he wrote prolifically about the game, served on rules committees, compiled official statistics, and published books on \Jbaseball\j. Known as "The Father of Baseball," he was elected to \Jbaseball\j's Hall of Fame in 1938.
BK AmBg
#
"Chadwick, Lynn (Russell)",7561,0,0,0
DT1 1914
EN Sculptor, born in London, England, UK. He studied \Jarchitecture\j, but after war service began making mobiles (c.1946), then rough-finished solid metal sculptures. In 1956 he won the International Sculpture Prize at the \JVenice\j Biennale.
BK Biog99
#
"Chadwick, Roy",7562,0,0,0
DT1 1893
DT2 1947
EN Aeronautical engineer, born in Farnworth, Greater Manchester, north-west England, UK. He studied at the Manchester College of Technology, and joined the AVRO company in 1911, designing and manufacturing aeroplanes. During World War 1 he designed many famous types, including the Avro 504 trainer, and in World War 2 produced the Manchester and Lancaster heavy bombers. Following the war he designed the jetpropelled Tudor and Ashton. He was killed in a test flight of the Tudor II prototype.
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#
"Chadwick, Sir James",7563,0,0,0
DT (1891-1974)
EN British physicist: discoverer of the neutron.
Chadwick graduated in physics in Manchester in 1911 and stayed there to do research under Rutherford. He won an award in 1913 to allow him to work with Geiger in Berlin, and when the First World War began in 1914 he was interned. Although held in poor conditions in a racecourse stable for 4 years, he was able to do some useful research as a result of help from Nernst and others.
In 1919 he rejoined Rutherford, who had moved to Cambridge, and for 16 years was to be his principal researcher. Chadwick's research with him was mainly with alpha particles; from the way these were scattered by heavier nuclei he could work out the positive charge of the scattering nucleus and show it to be the same as the atomic number. They also used alpha particles to bombard light elements and induce artificial disintegration.
Then, in 1932, he was able to reinterpret an experiment reported by the Joliot-Curies, which he saw as evidence for the existence of the neutron (charge 0, mass 1), which Rutherford had foreseen in 1920. Chadwick quickly did his own experiments to confirm his deduction; the neutron allowed a massive advance in knowledge of atomic nuclei and was one of a series of major discoveries in atomic physics made in the 'marvellous year' of 1932, largely in Rutherford's laboratory.
In 1935 Chadwick won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the neutron, but soon afterwards friction with Rutherford arose because Chadwick wanted to build a cyclotron and Rutherford opposed this. Chadwick went to Liverpool as professor and soon had his cyclotron (the first in the UK) and made the department there a leading centre for atomic physics.
When the Second World War came, he was the natural leader of the UK's effort to secure an atomic bomb before the enemy succeeded in this. Clearly the work had to be done in the USA, as the UK was exposed to German bombing. Chadwick made a masterly job of first propelling the work there into effectiveness, and then ensuring that collaboration proceeded smoothly.
Back in the UK after the war, advising government on nuclear matters and increasingly doubtful of the wisdom of its policies, he had an unsatisfying last phase in his career as Master of his old Cambridge college.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
Chadwick found traces of the neutron when he was studying the alpha-particle bombardment of \Jberyllium\j. This reaction would be expected to produce a \Jnitrogen\j atom. In a letter to \INature\i in February 1932, Chadwick indicated that the \Jnitrogen\j atom which ought to be produced should cause the formation of about 10 000 ions, while the "recoil atoms" sometimes produced more than three times that number of ions.
More importantly, the "recoil atom" ought to travel about 1.3 mm in air at NTP ("Normal Temperature and Pressure"), while \Jcloud\j chamber studies showed that the travel distance was more like 3 mm in some cases.
Chadwick then went on to suggest that this could be explained if the particle in question had no charge, but the same mass as a proton. In this case, the reaction had to be \Jberyllium\j 9 combining with the alpha particle to form carbon 12, associated with the emission of a single neutron. By May in that year, Chadwick had completed a paper which went to the Royal Society for publication, entitled "The Existence of a Neutron".
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK Scie
#
"Chaetognatha",7564,0,0,0
PN [kee\Btog\bnatha]
EN See arrow worm
BK c
XCY y
#
"Chafee, Adna (Romanza)",7565,0,0,0
DT (1842-1914)
EN soldier; born in Orwell, Ohio. Determined and able, he served for more than a quarter-century on the southwest frontier, led a brigade in \JCuba\j during the war with \JSpain\j, and commanded the U.S. contingent in the advance on Peking during the \JBoxer\j Rebellion of 1899-1900.
BK AmBg
#
"chafer",7566,0,0,0
EN A large, nocturnal beetle; adults feed on leaves; larvae fleshy, C-shaped, burrow in soil eating roots, often taking 3-4 years to develop. Chafers are diverse, and some are pests. The family includes the cockchafer. \B(Order:\b Coleoptera. \BFamily:\b Scarabaeidae.)
BK c
#
"Chaffee, Roger B.",7567,0,0,0
DT (1935-67)
EN naval officer, \Jastronaut\j; born in Grand Rapids, Mich. He joined the navy in 1957, was promoted to lieutenant commander, then became an \Jastronaut\j. He died in a fire aboard Apollo I in 1967.
BK AmBg
#
"Chaffee, Zechariah",7568,0,0,0
DT (1885-1957)
EN lawyer, educator; born in Providence, R.I. He graduated from Brown in 1907 and later from Harvard Law School, and joined the law faculty at Harvard in 1916. His book \IFreedom of Speech\i (1920) established him as a leading legal thinker on civil liberties issues. He later served on national and international commissions on freedom of the press.
BK AmBg
#
"chaffinch",7569,0,0,0
EN Either of two species of bird of \Jgenus\j \IFringilla.\i \IFringilla coelebs\i is native to Europe, N Africa, the \JAzores\j, and south-west Asia; inhabits forest and human habitations; colour varies over range; N populations move S for winter. The \Bblue chaffinch\b \I(Fringilla teydea)\i is from the Canary Is. \B(Family:\b \JFringillidae\j.)
BK c
#
"Chagall, Marc",7570,0,0,0
PN [sha\Bgal\b]
DT1 1887
DT2 1985
EN Artist, born in \JVitebsk\j, \JBelarus\j. He studied at St Petersburg and Paris, left \JRussia\j in 1922, and settled near Paris. During World War 2 he moved to the USA, where he began to design ballet sets and costumes. He illustrated several books, but is best known for his paintings of animals, objects, and people from his life, dreams, and Russian \Jfolklore\j. The word \ISurrealist\i is said to have been coined by Apollinaire to describe the work of Chagall.
MEX Apollinaire
SX m
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#
"Chagas, Carlos Ribeiro Justiniano",7571,0,0,0
PN [\Bshah\bgas]
DT1 1879
DT2 1934
EN Physician and microbiologist, born in Oliveira, \JBrazil\j. He studied at the Medical School of \JRio de Janeiro\j, where he was introduced to the concepts and techniques of bacteriology and scientific medicine. He joined the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, working on \Jmalaria\j prevention. During one of his field missions, he first described a disease caused by a trypanosome, since named after him \I(Chagas' disease).\i
SX m
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#
"Chaikin, Joseph",7572,0,0,0
PN [\Bchiy\bkin]
DT1 1935
EN Actor and theatre director, born in New York City, USA. His early work as an actor was with the Living Theater, notably in \IThe Connection\i (1960) and \IMan is Man\i (1962).
In 1963 he founded The Open Theater, which for a decade produced some of the most original work in the US theatre, such as \IAmerica Hurrah\i (1965), \ITerminal\i (1969), and \INightwalk\i (1973). He suffered a stroke in 1984 but went on to co-write \IThe War in Heaven\i (1991) with Sam Shepard.
\BMajor Works\b
\IPlays - actor\i
1960 The Connection
1962 Man is Man
\IDirector\i
1965 America Hurrah
1969 Terminal
1973 Nightwalk
\ICo-writer\i
1991 The War in Heaven
BK Biog99
#
"Chaillot Theatre",7573,0,0,0
EN (Paris) Various theatres have been built on this site, opposite the Eiffel Tower. The first, built for the exhibition of 1878, was allotted to GΘmier when he set up the first ThΘΓtre National Populaire in 1920. Situated at the heart of the most fashionable residential district, it could never be the centre for a popular community theatre.
The present complex of museums and theatres was built for the 1937 exhibition, and its huge main theatre made a perfect debating chamber for the United Nations Organization (1947-51). Vilar managed to make a going concern of this theatre for the revived TNP between 1951 and 1963. Antoine Vitez, who took over the redesigned theatre in 1981, gave bold new productions of both new plays and world classics. Since 1988 the company has been directed by JΘr⌠me Savary.
BK Thea
#
"chain reaction",7574,0,0,0
EN A nuclear reaction in which nuclear fission induced by a neutron releases further neutrons that in turn may cause further fission through some material. For a large enough block of material, enough neutrons will undergo collisions, rather than escaping from the material, to sustain the reaction. Nuclear power and atomic bombs rely on chain reactions in uranium or \Jplutonium\j.
BK c
#
"Chain, Sir Ernst Boris",7575,0,0,0
PN [chayn]
DT (1906-79)
EN German-British biochemist: member of the team which isolated and introduced \Jpenicillin\j for therapeutic use.
Having studied \Jphysiology\j and chemistry in his native Berlin, Chain left \JGermany\j in 1933 and worked in London and Cambridge. He joined Florey's staff in Oxford in 1935 and from 1938 worked with him and Heatley on the production, isolation and testing of the mould product \Jpenicillin\j, which by 1941 was shown to be a dramatically valuable antibacterial. He shared a Nobel Prize in 1945, moved to \JRome\j in 1948 and returned to Imperial College, London in 1961.
His work on \Jpenicillin\j led him to discover penicillinase, an \Jenzyme\j which destroys \Jpenicillin\j; he later worked on variants of \Jpenicillin\j which were resistant to such destruction. Chain was a talented linguist and musician, with forceful but unpopular views on the organization of science.
BK Scie
#
"chakras",7576,0,0,0
EN The seven centres of \Jenergy\j in the yogic system. Roughly equivalent to the autonomic \Jnervous system\j and endocrine glands of Western medicine, they are important for channelling vital \Jenergy\j and consciousness. In ascending order they are the Base Chakra \I(Muladhara),\i Abdominal Chakra \I(Swadhistana),\i Solar Plexus Chakra \I(Manipura),\i Heart Chakra \I(Anahata),\i Throat Chakra \I(Vishuddi),\i Commend Chakra \I(Ajna),\i and Crown Chakra \I(Sahasra).\i They may be visualized as vortices in the body's \Jenergy\j field, and an imbalance of, or interference with, the \Jenergy\j associated with these centres may lead to physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual disharmony.
BK c
#
"Chalbaud, Romßn",7577,0,0,0
DT 1931-
EN Venezuelan playwright and director. One- third of the Venezuelan 'Holy Trinity' (with Cabrujas and Chocr≤n), Chalbaud has written more than a dozen plays. He has also been a leading figure in Venezuelan film since the mid-50s. As a director of the Nuevo Grupo (New Group) since 1967, he has mounted both national and foreign plays, ranging from the classics to the absurd (see theatre of the absurd), in order to promote a national theatre movement.
His plays often depict marginal characters within society and deal with poverty, social maladjustment, sexuality, and political and ontological problems. Caφn adolescente (Adolescent Cain, 1955) dealt with rural adaptation to an urban environment; later plays include La quema de Judas (The Burning of Judas, 1964), Los ßngeles terribles (The Terrible Angels, 1967), El pez que fuma (The Smoking Fish, 1968) and El viejo grupo (The Old Group, 1984).
BK Thea
#
"Chalcedon, Council of",7578,0,0,0
PN [kal\Bsee\bdn]
DT1 451
EN A Council of the Church which agreed that Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man, two natures in one person (the \IChalcedonian definition).\i The definition is generally accepted by the Churches, though from the beginning there was uneasiness about its interpretation, and recently it has come under sustained criticism.
BK c
#
"chalcedony",7579,0,0,0
PN [kal\Bsed\bonee]
EN A group name for the compact varieties of mineral \Jsilica\j (SiO\D2\d) composed of very fine-grained crystals of \Jquartz\j. It occurs in massive form with a wax-like lustre, often filling cavities in volcanic rocks. Banded varieties are \Jagate\j and \Jonyx\j, and coloured varieties include carnelian, jasper, \Jbloodstone\j, and \Jchrysoprase\j.
BK c
#
"Chalcis",7580,0,0,0
PN [\Bkal\bsis]
EN 38░27N 23░42E, pop (1995e) 47 600. Capital of \JEuboea\j, \JGreece\j; railway; local ferries; commerce, tourism; Aristotle died here.
BK Geog99
#
"Chalcolithic",7581,0,0,0
EN See Three Age System
BK c
XCY y
#
"chalcopyrite",7582,0,0,0
PN [kalko\Bpiy\briyt]
EN A copper iron sulphide mineral (CuFeS\D2\d) found in veins associated with igneous rocks; brass-coloured and metallic. It is the main ore of copper.
BK c
#
"Chaldaeans",7583,0,0,0
PN [kal\Bdee\banz]
EN Originally the name of a Semitic people \I(Kaldu)\i from \JArabia\j who settled in the region of Ur in Lower \JMesopotamia\j. By the 7th-c and 6th-c BC, it had become a generic term for Babylonians. In Roman times, it referred to practitioners of the Babylonian science of \Jastrology\j.
BK c
#
"Chaliapin, Fyodor Ivanovich",7584,0,0,0
PN [shal\Bya\bpeen]
EN See Shalyapin, Fyodor (Ivanovich)
BK bg c
XCY y
#
"chalk",7585,0,0,0
EN A fine-grained \Jlimestone\j rock, mainly of calcite, formed from the shells of minute marine organisms. Often pure white in colour, it is characteristically seen in rocks of the Upper Cretaceous period of W Europe, its most famous exposures being on either side of the English Channel. Blackboard \Jchalk\j is \Jcalcium\j sulphate.
BK c
#
"Challender, Stuart",7586,0,0,0
DT1 1947
DT2 91
EN Conductor, born in Hobart, \JTasmania\j, \JAustralia\j. He studied at the Melbourne \JConservatory\j, and became music director of the Victoria Opera in 1968. In 1977 he went to Europe, conducting a wide range of operatic repertoire in \JBasel\j, Nuremberg, and Zⁿrich. In 1980 he returned to \JAustralia\j to become resident conductor of the Australian Opera, and in 1987 became chief conductor and artistic director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
He appeared as guest conductor for various orchestras, including the \JChicago\j Symphony and the English National Opera. In 1991 he publicly announced that he had AIDS, but worked to the end of his life, conducting masterful performances of Strauss's \IDer Rosenkavalier.\i
SX m
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#
"Challenger expedition",7587,0,0,0
EN The first major oceanographic expedition (1872-6), carried out aboard the British steam corvette, HMS \IChallenger.\i The voyage circumnavigated the globe, carrying out studies in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, and covering nearly 69┐000 nautical miles in the process. The expedition laid the groundwork for the modern science of \Joceanography\j, discovered 4417 new species and 715 new genera of marine organisms, and proved the existence of life at all depths in the sea.
BK c
#
"Challoner, Richard",7588,0,0,0
PN [\Bcha\bloner]
DT1 1691
DT2 1781
EN Roman Catholic clergyman and writer, born in Lewes, East Sussex, south-east England, UK. He studied at Douai (1704) and was ordained in 1716, remaining there as a professor until 1730. He then served as a missionary priest in London, becoming Bishop of Debra (1741) and Vicar Apostolic of the London district (1758). His best-known works are the prayer book, \IThe Garden of the Soul\i (1740), and his revision of the Douai version of the \JBible\j (5 vols, 1750).
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Chalmers, James",7589,0,0,0
DT1 1782
DT2 1853
EN Bookseller and inventor, born in Arbroath, Angus, E Scotland, UK. A bookseller and newspaper publisher in Dundee, he advocated faster mail services in 1825, and invented adhesive postage stamps.
SX m
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#
"Chalmers, Judith",7590,0,0,0
DT1 1937
EN British \Jtelevision\j presenter. She studied in Manchester and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, then began broadcasting with BBC Manchester, moving to BBC London in 1960. In 1972 she joined Thames Television, where she presented the long-running holiday programme \IWish You Were Here...?\i (1973-- ). She hosted her own daily programme for Radio 2 (1990), and has been commentator for many royal and state occasions.
BK Biog99n
#
"Chalmers, Thomas",7591,0,0,0
DT1 1780
DT2 1847
EN Theologian and reformer, born in Anstruther, Fife, E Scotland, UK. He studied at St Andrews, was ordained in 1803, and became a minister in Glasgow (1815), where his oratory took the city by storm. He became professor of moral philosophy at St Andrews (1823), and of \Jtheology\j at Edinburgh (1827). In the Disruption of 1843 he led 470 ministers out of the Established Church of Scotland to found the Free Church of Scotland.
SX m
BK bg c
#
"chalone",7592,0,0,0
PN [\Bkal\bohn]
EN A small to medium-sized protein that inhibits \Jmitosis\j in cells when adrenalin is present. When injury occurs, the loss of chalones from damaged cells stimulates and directs wound healing.
BK c
#
"Chamaeleon",7593,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bmeel\bion]
EN A faint S \Jconstellation\j.
BK c
#
"chamber music",7594,0,0,0
EN Music for two or more players intended for performance in a room rather than a concert hall, with only one player to a part. The term is a translation of the Italian 'musica da camera' and, by convention, applies only to instrumental music, and therefore mainly to music since c.1600. Until c.1750 the main type of chamber music was the trio \Jsonata\j (typically for two violins and continuo). Since then the string quartet has been looked upon as the chamber ensemble \Ipar excellence,\i but any wind, string, or keyboard instrument might participate in chamber music.
BK c
#
"chamber of commerce",7595,0,0,0
EN An association of business enterprises in a district, whose aims are to promote the area and its members' businesses. The Chambers of Commerce of the USA (established 1912) represent, through member organizations, some 5 million business firms and individuals. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), based in Paris, was set up in 1920, and has the affiliation of over 40 national institutions.
BK c
#
"chamber opera",7596,0,0,0
EN Opera which employs a small cast and (especially) a small orchestra. Many 18th-c operas and intermezzos fit this description, but the term is applied particularly to 20th-c works such as Britten's \IThe Turn of the Screw.\i
BK c
#
"chambered tomb",7597,0,0,0
EN In European prehistory, megalithic monuments usually constructed of uprights \I(orthostats)\i and capstones beneath a cairn or mound of \Jearth\j, the burial chamber sometimes being provided with a corbelled vault; also known as a \Bdolmen.\b Originating in the \JNeolithic\j period, they were often used for collective burial over generations.
BK c
#
"Chamberlain, (Arthur) Neville",7598,0,0,0
DT1 1869
DT2 1940
EN British statesman and prime minister (1937-40), born in Birmingham, West Midlands, C England, UK, the son of Joseph Chamberlain by his second marriage. He studied at Rugby and Birmingham, was Mayor of Birmingham (1915-16), a Conservative MP from 1918, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1923-4, 1931-7), and three times minister for health (1923, 1924-9, 1931).
He played a leading part in the formation of the National Government (1931). As prime minister, he advocated 'appeasement' of \JItaly\j and \JGermany\j, returning from Munich with his claim to have found 'peace for our time' (1938). Criticism of his war leadership and initial military reverses led to his resignation as prime minister (1940), and his appointment as Lord President of the Council.
MEX Chamberlain, Joseph; Runciman
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Chamberlain, Henry",7599,0,0,0
DT (1859-1911)
EN Richardson journalist; born in Peoria, Ill. Regarded as an expert on the European scene, he achieved distinction as London correspondent for the \INew York Sun\i from 1892 until his death.
BK AmBg
#
"Chamberlain, Joseph",7600,0,0,0
DT1 1836
DT2 1914
EN British statesman, born in London, England, UK. He entered the family business at 16, became Mayor of Birmingham (1873-5), and a Liberal MP (1876). He became President of the Board of Trade (1880), but resigned over Gladstone's Home Rule Bill (1886), which split the Liberal Party.
From 1889 he was leader of the Liberal Unionists, and in the coalition government of 1895 took office as secretary for the Colonies. In 1903 he resigned office to be free to advocate his ideas on tariff reform, and in 1906 withdrew from public life after a stroke.
MEX Chamberlain, Austen; Chamberlain, Neville; Gladstone, W E
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Chamberlain, Joshua (Lawrence)",7601,0,0,0
DT (1828-1914)
EN soldier, educator; born in Brewer, Maine. The defender of Little Round Top at Gettysburg (July 2, 1863), he commanded the force that accepted the formal surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia (April 1865). He served as governor of Maine (1866-71) and was president of Bowdoin College (1871-83).
BK AmBg
#
"Chamberlain, Lindy (Alice Lynne)",7602,0,0,0
DT1 1948
EN Mother of the "\Jdingo\j baby", born in Whakatane, \JNew Zealand\j. The disappearance of her nine-week-old daughter, Azaria, at Uluru (Ayers Rock), in 1980, made her the subject of national obsession in \JAustralia\j. Married at the time to pastor \BMichael Chamberlain\b (who was tried with her, and whom she has since divorced), she claimed the baby was taken by a \Jdingo\j.
She was found guilty of murder, and gaoled, but released in 1986 when a baby's jacket was found at the base of the rock. A judicial inquiry found that forensic evidence used in the 1982 trial was unreliable, and that the \Jdingo\j story was probably correct.
In 1988 the \JNorthern Territory\j Court of Criminal Appeal quashed all convictions against the couple, and they received A$1 million in compensation. The saga is recounted in John Bryson's \IEvil Angels\i (1985), and was later filmed, and her \Jautobiography\j \IThrough My Eyes\i appeared in 1990.
BK Biog99
#
"Chamberlain, Lord",7603,0,0,0
EN In the UK, the chief official of the royal household, overseeing all aspects of its management, and bearing responsibility for matters ranging from the care of works of art to the appointment of royal tradesmen. The office should be distinguished from the \BLord Great Chamberlain,\b whose duties are largely ceremonial; in particular, at coronations, he presents the sovereign to the people.
BK c
#
"Chamberlain, Owen",7604,0,0,0
DT1 1920
EN Physicist, born in \JSan Francisco\j, \JCalifornia\j, USA. He worked on the Manhattan atomic bomb project (1942--6) and at the Argonne National Laboratory, then became a professor at the University of \JCalifornia\j, Berkeley. In 1959 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics jointly with his colleague Emilio SegrΦ for research on the \Jantiproton\j.
BK Biog99
#
"Chamberlain, Sir (Joseph) Austen",7605,0,0,0
DT1 1863
DT2 1937
EN British statesman, born in Birmingham, West Midlands, C England, UK, the eldest son of Joseph Chamberlain. He studied at Cambridge, was elected a Liberal Unionist MP (1892), and sat as a Conservative MP until his death. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1903-6, 1919-21), secretary for India (1915-17), Unionist leader (1921-2), foreign secretary (1924-9), and First Lord of the Admiralty (1931). He shared the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the Locarno Pact.
MEX Chamberlain, Joseph
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#
"Chamberlain, Wilt(on) Norman",7606,0,0,0
DT1 1936
DT2 99
EN \JBasketball\j player, born in Philadelphia, \JPennsylvania\j, USA. He studied at Kansas University. Height 1.85┐m/7┐ft 1┐in, he played for the Philadelphia 76ers against the New York Knickerbockers in 1962, and scored 100 points in one game, a National \JBasketball\j Association (NBA) record.
He scored a record 4029 points that season, and was seven times the NBA leading scorer (1960--6). During his career (1960--73) he scored 31┐419 points at an average of 30.1 per game. He had a brief spell playing for the Harlem Globetrotters.
BK Biog99
#
"Chamberlin, Edward Hastings",7607,0,0,0
DT (1899-1967)
EN Hastings economist; born in La Couner, Wash. His book, \ITheory of Monopolistic Competition\i (1933, eighth and final edition 1962) is regarded as one of the most influential economic books of the 20th century. He spent many years at \JHarvard University\j, first as a doctoral student and then in a teaching capacity until his death in 1967. He served as chair of the department of economics during its "Golden Age" (1939-43) when it included several renowned economists.
\ITheory of Monopolistic Competition\i is a market analysis that incorporates such factors as advertising, product differentiation, style and brand preference, and locational advantages. His interpretation concluded that monopolistic ventures lack long-term advantages to the sellers in the industry and that only normal profits will be realized. His so-called "tangency solution" was the major empirical implication of monopolistic competition theory. A collection of his other papers, \ITowards a More General Theory of Value,\i was published in 1957.
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"Chamberlin, Thomas (Chrowder)",7608,0,0,0
DT (1843-1928)
EN geologist; born in Mattoon, Ill. He taught at Beloit College (1873-82), then served the \JWisconsin\j (1876-82) and U.S. (1882-1904) Geological Surveys. He was president of the University of \JWisconsin\j (1887-91), then became head of the \Jgeology\j department at the University of \JChicago\j (1892-1919). His \JAlpine\j and North American glaciological and climatological studies were basic to his later research on the origin of the \Jearth\j and the \Jsolar system\j.
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"Chambers, Ephraim",7609,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1680
DT2 1740
EN Encyclopedist, born in Kendal, Cumbria, north-west England, UK. While apprenticed to a globemaker in London he conceived the idea of a \ICyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences\i (2 folio vols, 1728). A French translation inspired Diderot's \IEncyclopΘdie.\i
MEX Diderot
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#
"Chambers, John Graham",7610,0,0,0
DT1 1843
DT2 83
EN Sportsman and journalist, born in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, south-west Wales, UK. A champion walker and oarsman, he founded the Amateur Athletic Club in 1866, and drew up the rules for amateur athletic competitions. In 1867 he drew up the rules for boxing, promulgated under the aegis of the 8th Marquess of Queensberry.
MEX Queensberry
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#
"Chambers, R(aymond) W(ilson)",7611,0,0,0
DT1 1874
DT2 1942
EN British scholar and literary critic. He studied at University College, London, where he became professor of English language and literature (1922-41). His works include studies of \IWidsith\i and \IBeowulf,\i and an influential essay on \IThe Continuity of English Prose\i (1932).
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"Chambers, Robert",7612,0,0,0
DT1 1802
DT2 71
EN Publisher and writer, born in Peebles, Scottish Borders, south-east Scotland, UK, the brother of William Chambers. He began as a bookseller in Edinburgh (1818), and gave his leisure to literary composition, writing many books on Scottish history, people, and institutions, and contributing regularly to \IChambers's Edinburgh Journal.\i His son \BRobert Chambers\b (1832-88) became head of the firm in 1883, and conducted the \IJournal\i until his death.
MEX Chambers, William
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"Chambers, Sir E(dmund) K(erchever)",7613,0,0,0
DT1 1866
DT2 1954
EN Scholar and literary critic, born in Berkshire, S England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and was a civil servant with the Board of Education (1892-1926). His books include \IThe Elizabethan Stage\i (1923) and \IWilliam Shakespeare\i (1930).
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"Chambers, Sir William",7614,0,0,0
DT1 1726
DT2 96
EN Architect, born of Scottish ancestry in G÷teborg, Sweden. He studied in \JItaly\j and \JFrance\j and practised in England, becoming a leading architect in the Palladian style. His works include Somerset House (1776) and the \Jpagoda\j in \JKew Gardens\j. He was knighted in 1770.
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#
"Chambers, Whittaker",7615,0,0,0
DT (1910-61)
EN journalist, writer, Soviet agent; born in Philadelphia. He studied at Columbia University, gained a modest reputation as a writer, and later translated several works, notably \IBambi,\i into English. He was an active American Communist (1925-29, 1931-38), writing for the \IDaily Worker\i and editing the \INew Masses.\i Along the way he became an actual agent of Soviet intelligence and passed classified government information to Moscow.
Disillusioned by Stalin's purges, he became a virulent anticommunist and edited \ITime\i Magazine's foreign affairs section. In 1948, he testified that many executive branch officials were Communist sympathizers and said that Alger Hiss had given him classified materials; this brought about a libel suit by Hiss, who was found guilty; the Hiss-Chambers trial remains a symbol of the whole era that extended from the idealism of \JCommunism\j in the 1930s to the disillusionment of the late 1940s. Chambers was also an editor of the \INational Review\i (1957-60).
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"Chambers, William",7616,0,0,0
DT1 1800
DT2 83
EN Publisher and writer, born in Peebles, Scottish Borders, south-east Scotland, UK. He was apprenticed to a bookseller in Edinburgh (1814), and in 1819 went into business for himself. In 1832 he started \IChambers's Edinburgh Journal,\i and soon after united with his brother Robert Chambers in founding the printing and publishing firm of W & River Chambers. As Lord Provost of Edinburgh (1865-9), he promoted a successful scheme for improving the older part of the city. Shortly before his death he received the offer of a baronetcy.
MEX Chambers, Robert
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"Chambord",7617,0,0,0
PN [shπbaw(r)]
EN 47░37N 1░31E, pop (1995e) 220. A village 18 km/11 mi E of Blois, \JFrance\j, noted for its \Jchateau\j and estate; a world heritage site. Once a hunting lodge of the counts of Blois, the \Jchateau\j was reconstructed (1519--33) by Francis I and Henry II as a royal residence.
BK Geog99
#
"chameleon",7618,0,0,0
PN [ka\Bmeel\bion]
EN A lizard native to Africa, the \JMiddle East\j, S \JSpain\j, India, and \JSri Lanka\j; body flattened from side to side; can change colour rapidly (controlled by nerves in skin); tail clasping, cannot be shed; eyes move independently of one another; tongue longer than head and body, with sticky tip that shoots out to hit insect prey; usually lives in trees. \B(Family:\b Chamaeleontidae, 85 species.)
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"Chamfort, SΘbastien Roch Nicolas",7619,0,0,0
PN [shπfaw(r)]
DT1a c.
DT1 1741
DT2 94
EN Writer, born in Clermont, \JFrance\j. He made an entrance into the literary circles of Paris, and lived for years by his wit, writing tales, dramas, and maxims, many of which were widely circulated at the time. He joined the Jacobins at the outbreak of the \JFrench Revolution\j (1789), but his remarks on the Terror brought him into disfavour. Threatened with arrest, he tried to commit suicide, and died after several days' suffering.
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"Chamisso, Adelbert von",7620,0,0,0
PN [shameesoh]
HS , originally \BLouis Charles Adelaide Chamisso de Boncourt\b
DT1 1781
DT2 1838
EN Poet and biologist, born in Champagne, \JFrance\j. The \JFrench Revolution\j drove his parents to \JPrussia\j, and he served in the Prussian army (1798-1807). In Geneva he joined the literary circle of Madame de Staδl and later studied at Berlin. He accompanied a Russian exploring expedition round the world as naturalist (1815-18), and on his return was appointed keeper of the Botanical Garden of Berlin. In 1819 he was the first to discover in certain animals what he called 'alternation of generations'. He is best known for his fairy tale \IPeter Schlemihl\i (1813), the story of the man who lost his shadow.
MEX Staδl
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"chamois",7621,0,0,0
PN [\Bsham\bwah]
EN A \Jgoat\j-\Jantelope\j from S Europe \I(Rupicapra rupicapra)\i (introduced in \JNew Zealand\j); brown with pale patches on face or neck; horns short, vertical, with backward-hooked tips; inhabits rugged mountains; skin formerly used to make 'shammy leather' (this now obtained from goats and sheep).
BK c
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"chamomile or camomile",7622,0,0,0
PN [\Bkam\bomiyl]
EN A perennial growing to 30┐cm / 12┐in \I(Chamaemelum nobile),\i native to W Europe and N Africa; leaves oblong in outline, divided into narrow, fine-pointed segments; flower-heads up to 2.5┐cm / 1┐in across, solitary; outer ray florets spreading, white; inner disc florets yellow. It is widely used to make chamomile tea, and is a popular additive to shampoos, hair washes, etc. Chamomile lawns were formerly very popular, especially in England during Elizabethan times, giving off a pleasant aromatic smell when walked on. \B(Family:\b Compositae.)
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"champagne",7623,0,0,0
EN A sparkling wine produced in the Champagne region of north-east \JFrance\j, using either a mixture of black and white grapes, or white grapes only. The effervescent nature of champagne is due to the fact that some of the fermentation takes place in the bottle. Sweet \I(sec),\i slightly sweet \I(demi-sec),\i and dry \I(brut)\i varieties are made.
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"Champagne-Ardenne",7624,0,0,0
PN [shπpanyah(r)den]
EN pop (1995e) 1 389 000; area 25 606 sq km/9884 sq mi. Region of NE \JFrance\j comprising the departments of Ardennes, Aube, Marne, and Haute-Marne; a long-standing scene of conflict between \JFrance\j and \JGermany\j; noted for the production of champagne wine; 120 km/75 mi-long "Route du Champagne' through the vine-growing areas, starting at Reims.
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"Champaigne, Philippe de",7625,0,0,0
PN [shπpen]
DT1 1602
DT2 74
EN Painter of portraits and religious subjects, born in Brussels. After moving to Paris in 1621 he assisted with decorations for the Luxembourg palace with Nicholas Poussin, and in 1628 was appointed painter to Marie de MΘdicis. His works include many portraits, notably his triple portrait of Cardinal Richelieu. After 1647 he began to associate with the Jansenists, after which his work becomes more austere.
MEX Marie de MΘdicis; Poussin
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"Champion, Gower",7626,0,0,0
DT 1921-80
EN American dancer, choreographer and director. Champion turned from dancing to \Jchoreography\j with Small Wonder (1948). After dancing with his wife Marge in several \JHollywood\j films, he returned to Broadway as the director and choreographer of Bye, Bye, Birdie (1960), \JCarnival\j (1961), Hello, Dolly! (1964), I Do! I Do! (1966), Irene (1973), Mack and Mabel (1974) and others.
He died just as his last show, 42nd Street, was about to open in 1980. \JCarnival\j, in particular, was praised for its imaginative, stylized production. Along with Bob Fosse and Michael Bennett, Champion made the choreographer-director the dominant figure in the musical theatre of the 1970s.
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"Champlain, Samuel de",7627,0,0,0
PN [shπplφ\ti]
DT1 1567
DT2 1635
EN Governor of Canada, born in Brouage, \JFrance\j. In a series of voyages he travelled to Canada (1603), exploring the E coast (1604-7), and founding Quebec (1608). He was appointed Lieutenant of Canada (1612), and established alliances with several Indian nations. When Quebec fell briefly to the British, he was taken prisoner (1629-32). From 1633 he was Governor of Quebec. Lake Champlain is named after him.
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"champlevΘ",7628,0,0,0
PN [\Bshom\bluhvay]
EN A technique of enamelling on metal, which involves \Jengraving\j the image out of the metal surface, and filling it with vitreous pastes of different colours, which are then fired. Popular throughout the \JMiddle Ages\j, it was produced on an almost industrial scale at Limoges in \JFrance\j.
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"ChampmeslΘ, Mlle (Marie Desmares)",7629,0,0,0
DT 1642-98
EN French actress. She appeared at the Marais from 1668, the H⌠tel de Bourgogne from 1670, and after 1679 at the H⌠tel GuΘnΘgaud (later the ComΘdie- Francaise). Although not beautiful she was renowned for her touching voice, which made her a potent attraction even in indifferent plays.
Having deeply impressed Racine as Hermione in Andromaque, she became the playwright's mistress and created all his major heroines from BΘrΘnice to PhΦdre, which he wrote expressly for her.
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"Champney, Benjamin",7630,0,0,0
DT (1817-1907)
EN painter; born in New \JIpswich\j, N.H. He worked as a lithographer in \JBoston\j, Mass., became a portraitist (1841), traveled to Europe (1841 and 1846-48), and exhibited panoramas in \JBoston\j and New York (1848-50). He wintered in \JMassachusetts\j, spent summers in North Conway, N.H., and painted landscapes, such as \IPicnic on Artist's Ledge Overlooking Conway Meadows, N.H.\i (1874).
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"Champollion, Jean Francois",7631,0,0,0
PN [shπpoly⌡]
DT1 1790
DT2 1832
EN Founder of Egyptology, born in Figeac, \JFrance\j. He studied at \JGrenoble\j, and went to Paris (1807), subsequently becoming professor of history at \JGrenoble\j (1809-16). Best known for his use of the Rosetta Stone to decipher Egyptian \Jhieroglyphics\j (1822-4), he was the first to place the study of early Egyptian history and culture on a firm footing. In 1831 a chair of Egyptology was founded for him at the CollΦge de \JFrance\j.
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"Chan Chan",7632,0,0,0
EN An ancient \JChimu\j capital in the Moche Valley, \JPeru\j, occupied from c.1000 to the Inca conquest c.1470; a world heritage site. Its residential area covered 19┐km\U2\u / 7 1/4┐mi\U2\u, with a population of c.30┐000. The monumental centre 6┐km\U2\u / 2 1/4┐mi\U2\u in area is notable for its 10 huge rectangular enclosures, administrative centres of the kingdom during successive reigns.
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"Chan or Ch'an",7633,0,0,0
PN [chan]
EN A general term for \Jmeditation\j in Chinese \JBuddhism\j, referring to a school which dates from perhaps the 6th-c. It combines \JMahayana\j Buddhist teachings with those of Taoism to form an outlook emphasizing meditative experience as opposed to an intellectual approach. It is called \BZen\b in Japanese.
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"Chance, Britton",7634,0,0,0
DT1 1913
EN Biophysicist and biochemist, born in Wilkes-Barre, \JPennsylvania\j, USA. He studied at \JPennsylvania\j University and became professor of \Jbiophysics\j there in 1949. He invented many automatic control systems, precision-timing circuits, and optical instruments used for radar and shipping in World War 2.
His best-known work is his demonstration in 1943 of the existence of the complex formed between an \Jenzyme\j and its substrate. He also did valuable work on problems of \Jenergy\j generation in biological cells.
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#
"chancel",7635,0,0,0
EN The E end of a church, containing the altar, choir, and \Jclergy\j; more generally, the body of the church to the E of the nave. The name is derived from the Latin \Icancellus,\i the screen separating the \Jchancel\j from the rest of the church.
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"Chancellor of the Exchequer",7636,0,0,0
EN The senior minister in charge of the UK Treasury, and a senior minister in the cabinet. The Chancellor takes responsibility for the preparation of the budget, and (in contrast to most other countries) is economic as well as finance minister.
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#
"Chancellor, Lord (High)",7637,0,0,0
EN See Lord Chancellor
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#
"Chancellor, Richard",7638,0,0,0
DT1 ?
DT2 1556
EN English seaman, chosen in 1553 as 'pilot-general' of Sir Hugh Willoughby's expedition in search of a Northeast Passage to India. The ships were parted in a storm, and Chancellor proceeded alone into the White Sea, travelling overland to Moscow, where he concluded a treaty giving freedom of trade to English ships. In 1555 he made a second voyage to Moscow, but was lost at sea on the way home.
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#
"Chancery Division",7639,0,0,0
EN A division of the High Court of England and Wales created by the Judicature Acts (1873-5). Its workload includes trusts and probate matters. Historically, the Court of Chancery was the court of equity presided over by the Lord Chancellor. In the USA, most courts of general \Jjurisdiction\j combine law and equity. In Scotland, the Court of Chancery is part of the Sheriff Court, and deals with the issue of land titles for heirs of deceased persons.
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"chancroid",7640,0,0,0
EN A sexually transmitted disease common in \JEgypt\j and the \JMiddle East\j, resulting from infection with a \IHaemophilus\i organism. It causes ulceration of the genital organs.
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"Chandigarh",7641,0,0,0
PN [\Bchan\bdigah(r)]
EN pop (1995e) 544 000; area 114 sq km/44 sq mi. City and union territory (1966) in NW India; serves as the joint state capital of the Punjab and Haryana; airfield; railway; university (1947); city designed by Le Corbusier, includes an 8 km/5 mi green belt; Asia's largest rose garden.
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"Chandler, Charles Frederick",7642,0,0,0
DT (1836-1925)
EN industrial chemist; born in Lancaster, Mass. Affiliated with Columbia University for most of his career (1864-1910), he was cofounder and dean of its School of Mines and later head of the chemistry department. Known as an inspiring teacher, he was unusually broad even for his time in encompassing chemistry, \Jgeology\j, and minerology as well as sanitation, oil refining, and social causes.
In 1877, he began addressing the issues of food and \Jwater\j supplies for New York City and he became a pioneer in municipal milk control. He also fought abuses by slaughterhouses and gas companies and established a program of compulsory \Jvaccination\j.
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"Chandler, Happy",7643,0,0,0
DT (1898-1991)
EN public official, \Jbaseball\j commissioner; born in Corydon, Ky. He served as governor of Kentucky (1935-39) and U.S. Senator (Dem., 1939-45) before being named as \Jbaseball\j's second commissioner (1945-51). He presided over the game during the breaking of \Jbaseball\j's color line by Jackie Robinson in 1947. He was known as a "players" commissioner because he took an interest in all aspects of the game. He served a second term as governor of Kentucky (1955-59). In 1982 he was elected to \Jbaseball\j's Hall of Fame.
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"Chandler, Raymond (Thornton)",7644,0,0,0
DT (1888-1959)
EN writer; born in \JChicago\j. Taken to England by his mother at age nine, he was educated there and on the Continent. He worked as a journalist for English magazines and served in the Canadian army in World War I. Settling in the U.S.A. in 1919, he worked as a businessman, including ten years with the oil industry (1922-32), but with the publication of his first crime story in \IBlack Mask\i magazine in 1933, he concentrated on writing.
He created his hard-boiled sleuth, Phillip Marlowe, and tawdry underworld settings for his first novel, \IThe Big Sleep\i (1939); Marlowe reappeared in subsequent works, including \IFarewell, My Lovely\i (1940) and \IThe Long Goodbye\i (1954), which helped establish the American conventions of the genre. He moved between \JCalifornia\j and London in his later years.
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"Chandler, Seth Carlo",7645,0,0,0
DT (1846-1913)
EN US geophysicist: discovered variation in location of the geographic \Jpoles\j (Chandler wobble).
By occupation both a scientist and an actuary, Chandler became interested in the possible free nutation (\Joscillation\j) of the Earth's axis of rotation. By re-analysing repeated measurements of the latitudes of different observatories he discovered an annual variation in latitude (due to the motion of air masses) and also another variation with a period of roughly 14 months.
Despite initially hostile reaction from the scientific establishment his conclusions were soon fully borne out. The cause of the secondary variation was subsequently explained and it has since become known as the Chandler wobble - the apparent motion of the Earth's axis of rotation across the Earth's surface (detectable as a variation of latitude with time), with a period of approximately 14 months.
It is caused by the precession (or free nutation) of the Earth's axis of symmetry about its axis of rotation. For a rigid \Jplanet\j the period would be exactly one year; the observed slightly longer period, and its broad spectral peak (428 \F▒\n 17 days), is due to elastic yielding of the Earth's interior.
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"Chandler, William Eaton",7646,0,0,0
DT (1835-1917)
EN lawyer, U.S. senator; born in Concord, N.H. As secretary of the navy (1882-85) he began a program of building steel warships. He served as a senator from New Hampshire (1887-1901).
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"Chandler, Zachariah",7647,0,0,0
DT (1813-79)
EN U.S. senator; born in Bedford, N.H. He moved to \JMichigan\j in 1833 where he prospered in business. A Whig and prominent abolitionist, his home in \JDetroit\j became a stop on the underground railroad and he was a founder of the Republican Party. Elected to the U.S. Senate (Rep., Mich.; 1857-75, 1879) he supported Radical Republican positions during the \JCivil War\j and Reconstruction. He also used his influence in the Senate to exert control over affairs in \JMichigan\j. President Grant appointed him secretary of the interior (1875-77).
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"Chandos, Oliver Lyttelton Chandos, 1st Viscount",7648,0,0,0
PN [\Bchan\bdos]
DT1 1893
DT2 1972
EN British statesman and industrialist. He studied at Cambridge, and by 1928 was managing director of the British Metal Corporation. In 1940 he became MP for Aldershot, and President of the Board of Trade. When the Conservatives were returned to office in 1951 he went to the colonial office until his resignation from politics to return to business in 1954, when he was raised to the \Jpeerage\j. He played a leading part in drawing up plans of constitutional reform for many of the African colonial territories.
SX m
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#
"Chandragupta II",7649,0,0,0
PN [chandra\Bgup\bta]
HS , also known as \BVikramaditya\b (Sanskrit '\Jsun\j of valour')
DT1 4
DT1b th-c
EN Indian emperor (c.380-c.415), the third of the imperial Guptas of N India. He extended control over his neighbours by both military and peaceful means. A devout Hindu, he tolerated \JBuddhism\j and \JJainism\j, and patronized learning. During his reign, art, \Jarchitecture\j, and sculpture flourished, and the cultural development of ancient India reached its climax.
SX m
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#
"Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan",7650,0,0,0
PN [chandrahsayker]
DT (1910-95)
EN Indian-US astrophysicist: developed theory of white dwarf stars.
Chandrasekhar studied in India and then in Cambridge before moving to the USA in 1936. Chandrasekhar's interest has been the final stages of stellar \Jevolution\j. He showed that when a star has exhausted its nuclear fuel, an inward gravitational collapse occurs, which will normally be eventually halted by the outward pressure of the star's highly compressed and ionized gas.
At this stage the star will have shrunk to become an extremely dense white dwarf, which has the peculiar property that the greater its mass, the smaller its radius. This means that massive stars will be unable to evolve into white dwarves; this limiting stellar mass is called the Chandrasekar limit and is about 1.4 solar masses. It has been shown that all known white dwarves conform with this limit. Like his uncle, C V Raman, Chandrasekhar won a Nobel Prize, in 1983.
BK Scie
#
"Chanel, Coco",7651,0,0,0
PN [shanel]
HS , popular name of \BGabrielle Chanel\b
DT1 ?
DT1 1883
DT2 1971
EN Fashion designer, born in Saumur, \JFrance\j. She worked as a milliner until 1912, and after World War 1 opened a couture house in Paris. She revolutionized women's fashions during the 1920s, her designs including the 'chemise' dress and the collarless cardigan jacket. Many of the features she introduced, such as the vogue for costume jewellery and the evening scarf, still retain their popularity. She retired in 1938, but made a surprisingly successful come-back in 1954.
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"Chaney, Lon",7652,0,0,0
DT (1883-1930)
EN movie actor; born in \JColorado\j Springs, Colo. Child of deaf-mute parents, he honed his skills as a silent-film actor by having to communicate with them. He toured as a song-and-dance man before making his first movie (1914). After the success of \IThe Miracle Man\i (1919), he went on to play a series of spine-chilling grotesques such as \IThe Hunchback of Notre Dame\i (1924) and \IThe Phantom of the Opera\i (1925). His skill at makeup and miming gained him the name, "the Man of a Thousand Faces." He died of throat cancer right after completing his first talkie, \IThe Unholy Three\i (1930).
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"Chanfrau, Frank",7653,0,0,0
DT 1824-84
EN American actor. Through his ability to imitate Edwin Forrest he toured America, and in 1848 played Mose the fire b'hoy in A Glance at New York, written for him by Benjamin Baker (1848). Dressed in the red shirt, plug hat and turned-up trousers of the New York fireman, Chanfrau featured in several Mose plays, particularly The Mysteries and Miseries of New York by Henry W. Plunkett. He performed 560 times as Kit the \JArkansas\j Traveller in the play of that name, and played the lead character in Thomas de Walden's Sam 783 times.
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#
"Chang Ch'ien and the Yellow River",7654,0,0,0
The Yellow River is the cradle of Chinese civilization. It is at once both nurturing and treacherous. For thousands of years, the floods of the Yellow River have devoured countless human lives and property, leaving innumerable people homeless.
Thus, her victims had always hoped for a virtuous hero, that would be willing to search for the source of the river and to regulate and control the flow of the \Jwater\j. Thus arose the legend of Chang Ch'ien, who rode upstream in a wooden raft to seek the origins of the Yellow River. It was a folk tale born out of helplessness and desperation that brought a glimmer of hope.
Between the end of the Yuan and the beginning of the Ming Dynasties, an artisan in Chia-hsing, Chekiang Province, named Chu Pi-shan, used Chang Ch'ien's legend as the theme for a silver wine cup in the shape of a raft. Chu Pi-shan was very famous in the region south of the Yangtze River for his skill in making delicate silver ware.
According to records of the Wan-li era, he made some silver shrimp and crabs, which when filled with hot wine would slide in a life-like manner across the table. Since the Yuan Dynasty, Chu Pi-shan's work has been the object of high praise and admiration. This silver raft reflects not only his artistic cultivation, but also the high standard of silverwork in the Yuan Dynasty.
#
"Chang Kuo-t'ao",7655,0,0,0
EN See Zhang Guotao
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#
"Chang, M(in)-C(hueh)",7656,0,0,0
DT (1909-91)
EN reproductive biologist; born in Taiyuan, China. Emigrating to England to study animal husbandry at Cambridge University, he received a degree in animal husbandry from the University of Edinburgh (1939) with a concentration on artificial insemination. After earning a doctorate at Cambridge (1945), he joined the staff of the fledgling Worcester Foundation for Experimental \JBiology\j in Worcester, Mass., where he began work with Dr. Gregory Pincus and Dr. John Rock on creation of an oral contraceptive for women.
The \Jbirth control\j pill was ready for human testing (1956) and was marketed as Enovid (1960). Chang is also credited for the discovery of \Iin vitro\i \Jfertilization\j through work he conducted in the 1950s, as well as a process known as the capacitation of sperm. He was named to the National Academy of Sciences (1990).
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#
"Changchun or Ch'ang-ch'un",7657,0,0,0
PN [chang\Bchun\b]
EN 43░50N 125░20E, pop (1995e) 2 350 000, administrative region 6 421 956. Capital of Jilin province, NE China; on the Yitong R in C of China's NE plain; developed during Japanese military occupation (1933--45) as capital of Manchukuo; airfield; railway; university (1958); electric furnaces, vehicles, light \Jengineering\j, textiles, food processing, chemicals; Changchun film studio.
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#
"change ringing",7658,0,0,0
EN A British form of bell-ringing devised by 17th-c Cambridge printer Fabian Stedman. A set of differently tuned bells, usually those in a church tower, are rung in various permutations so that no sequence (or \Bchange)\b is sounded more than once. A full diatonic scale of eight bells allows 40┐320 changes. A 'peal' of about 5000 changes takes about three hours to ring. Change ringers belong to \JGuilds\j, the oldest being the Ancient Society of College Youths, founded in 1637.
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"Changjiang",7659,0,0,0
EN See Yangtze River
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"Changsha or Ch'ang-sha",7660,0,0,0
PN [chang\Bshah\b]
EN 28░10N 113░00E, pop (1995e) 1 477 000, administrative region 5 492 209. River port and capital of Hunan province, SE China; on the lower Xiang R, in intensively cultivated lowlands; early craft, industrial, and educational centre; foreign trade port, 1904; airfield; railway; university (1959); textiles, food-processing, chemicals, light \Jengineering\j, \Jelectronics\j; Hunan Provincial Museum; Yuelushan Park, containing Lushan Temple (founded, 268); Kaifu Temple (896).
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"Chania",7661,0,0,0
PN [khan\Bya\b]
EN 35░31N 24░01E, pop (1995e) 136 000. Capital town of Chania department, \JCrete\j; on N shore of \JCrete\j I; founded, 13th-c; capital of \JCrete\j until 1971; airport; fruit, olives, leather, crafts, tourism; dance festival to commemorate the battle for \JCrete\j (May).
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#
"Channel Islands",7662,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 147 000; area 194 sq km/75 sq mi. Island group of the \JBritish Isles\j in the English Channel, W of the Cotentin Peninsula of Normandy; chief islands, Jersey, \JGuernsey\j, \JAlderney\j, \JSark\j; other islands include Herm, Jethou, Brechou, the Caskets, the Minquiers, and the Chauseys; languages, English and Norman-French; granted to the Dukes of Normandy, 10th-c; occupied by \JGermany\j in World War 2; a dependent territory of the British Crown, with individual legislative assemblies and legal system; divided into the Bailiwick of \JGuernsey\j and the Bailiwick of Jersey; Bailiff presides over the Royal Court and the Representative Assembly (the States); tourism, fruit, vegetables, flowers, dairy produce, Jersey and \JGuernsey\j \Jcattle\j; used as a tax haven.
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#
"channel swimming",7663,0,0,0
EN Swimming the English Channel, first achieved on 24-25 August 1875 by Captain Matthew Webb (1848-83), who covered the 34┐km / 21┐mi from Dover to \JCalais\j Sands in 21┐h 45┐min. The record is now 7┐h 40┐min. The Channel Swimming Association was founded in 1927.
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"Channel Tunnel",7664,0,0,0
EN A tunnel linking \JFrance\j and Britain, first proposed in 1802. Excavations begun in 1882 were soon abandoned due to fears about defence, and a state-financed venture by the French and British governments was scrapped in the 1970s. In 1985 Eurotunnel, an Anglo-French consortium, was set up to finance the tunnel and operate it once it opened.
The tunnel, built by the Anglo-French Transmanche Link, consists of twin rail tunnels between Cheriton near Folkestone and FrΘthun near \JCalais\j. Completed in 1994, it is 50┐km / 31┐mi long (38┐km / 23┐mi of this under the sea). In November 1996 a fire in a freight train caused serious damage and temporary closure.
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"channelling",7665,0,0,0
EN The process by which a person can act as a vehicle or channel through which an external \Jenergy\j source can be harnessed and directed. The term is usually applied to directing healing energies to sick patients in order to cure their disease. It may also be a way of transmitting ideas or other communications from external sources of intelligence, which some people believe to be of divine or extraterrestrial origin.
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"Channing, Stockard (nΘe Susan Williams Antonio Stockard)",7666,0,0,0
DT 1944-
EN American actress. She made her Broadway debut in 1971, but it was not until her appearance in Joe Egg (1985 Broadway revival) that her extraordinary stage talent began to be recognized. Other notable appearances include Neil Simon's They're Playing Our Song (1980), Guare's The House of Blue Leaves (1986 revival, as Bunny), Ayckbourn's Woman in Mind (1988), Gurney's Love Letters (1989) and especially Guare's Six Degrees of Separation (1990; London, 1992), in which she was critically acclaimed as Ouisa.
She appeared in Peter Hall's production of Guare's Four Baboons Adoring the Sun (1992) at the Vivian Beaumont and in the title role in Stoppard's Hapgood (1994).
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"Channing, William (Ellery)",7667,0,0,0
DT (1780-1842)
EN Unitarian theologian; born in Newport, R.I. He graduated from Harvard in 1798 and was tutor for 18 months to a Richmond, Va., family, where he became an opponent of \Jslavery\j. Ordained in 1803, he accepted the pulpit of the Congregational Federal Street Church in \JBoston\j; he retained this pastorate until his death. Broadly liberal, he took part from 1815 on in the controversy over Calvinist doctrine and became a leader of the newly emerging Unitarians, calling their doctrine "a rational and amiable system"; he, as much as any single man, brought about the founding of the American Unitarian Association in 1825.
Channing Unitarianism, as his beliefs came to be called, influenced the intellectual development of Emerson and many others in the English-speaking world. A pacifist and proponent of public education and labor reforms, he threw his considerable prestige behind the temperance and antislavery causes. Among his published works were an \IEssay on National Literature\i and \INegro \JSlavery\j.
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"chanoyu",7668,0,0,0
PN [\Bchah\bnoh\Byoo\b]
EN The Japanese \Jtea ceremony\j. It first became popular among priests and warriors in the \JMiddle Ages\j as a means of concentration. The tea is made from a strong green powder, and drunk in small quantities. The bowls and utensils are prized as art objects. The detailed etiquette is often learnt by young women before marriage. Teachers must have a recognized licence.
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#
"chansons de geste",7669,0,0,0
PN [shπs⌡ duh \Bzhest\b]
HS (Fr 'poems of action')
EN French poems from the 12th-13th-c, celebrating historical figures and events on an epic scale. Different cycles centre on Charlemagne (including the \IChanson de Roland)\i and the \JCrusades\j. The poems provide interesting insights into feudal society.
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"chant",7670,0,0,0
EN A monotone or a melody, usually restricted in range, mainly stepwise in interval and free in rhythm, to which a text (especially a liturgical one) is declaimed. \BPlainchant,\b originally sung in unison and without accompaniment, was used for the services of the mediaeval Roman \JCatholic Church\j and later incorporated into polyphonic music. The repertory was defined and standardized in the 6th-c, reputedly by Pope Gregory the Great, but the corpus of what came to be known as \BGregorian chant\b was later enriched by new melodies.
\BAnglican chant\b is a type of harmonized melody to which the psalms and canticles are sung in \JChurch of England\j services. Its rigid metrical scheme is made to accommodate an irregular number of syllables by having as many of them as is necessary freely sung (or 'chanted') to a 'reciting chord' at the beginning of each half-verse.
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"chanterelle",7671,0,0,0
PN [shante\Brel\b]
EN The bright yellow, edible fruiting body of the \Jfungus\j \ICantharellus cibarius; \i funnel-shaped, diameter up to 10┐cm / 4┐in; gill-like ridges present on lower surface; common on ground, especially under trees, in Europe and \JNorth America\j. \B(Order:\b Agaricales.)
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"Chanukah",7672,0,0,0
EN See Hanukkah or Chanukah
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"Chanute, Octave",7673,0,0,0
DT (1832-1910)
EN aerial navigator; born in Paris, \JFrance\j. Brought to America when his family emigrated in 1838, he went on to a successful career as a civil engineer, building iron railroad bridges. His favorite pastime, however, was the study of aerial navigation; he conducted the first scientific experiments in America on gliding (1896-97) and then built a biplane glider that the Wright Brothers used as a model for their first glider. In addition to actually flying gliders, he wrote pioneering works about the \Jengineering\j and navigational problems of flight.
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"Chaos (mythology)",7674,0,0,0
PN [\Bkay\bos]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, the primaeval state of emptiness (according to \JHesiod\j), but in later Greek philosophy a universe of muddled forms and elements which separated out into our world. It can be personified, as in Milton's 'reign of Chaos and old Night'.
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"chaos (physics)",7675,0,0,0
PN [\Bkay\bos]
EN A state of disorder and irregularity whose \Jevolution\j in time, though governed by simple exact laws, is highly sensitive to starting conditions: a small variation in these conditions will produce wildly different results. Long-term behaviour of chaotic systems cannot be predicted. Chaos is an intermediate stage between highly ordered motion and fully-random motion. For example, in fluid flow, a slowly moving fluid exhibits perfectly regular flow; as the fluid velocity increases, the flow becomes chaotic; and as the velocity increases still further, the flow becomes fully turbulent (random).
In a chaotic system, the values of some quantity at two points maintain their relationship as time passes, even though the exact value of each cannot be predicted in the future. In truly random motion, there exist no such relationships. Chaos is present in most real systems, such as in \Jweather\j patterns and the motion of planets about the Sun; the stable classical motion widely accepted as the norm in physics is now known to be the exception rather than the rule.
The underlying structure of chaos exhibits universal features, regardless of the system in question. The modern theory of chaos is based on the work of US meteorologist Edward Lorenz (1917-) in 1963, arising from the study of convection in the \Jatmosphere\j. Some degree of non-linearity is necessary for chaotic behaviour. \IFractals\i feature in a comprehensive description of chaos.
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"Chapala, Lake",7676,0,0,0
PN [cha\Bpah\bla]
EN area 3370┐km\U2\u / 1300┐mi\U2\u. Lake in south-west Mexico; 77┐km / 48┐mi long E-W; c.16┐km / 10┐mi wide; largest lake in Mexico, on the C plateau, 48┐km / 30┐mi S of \JGuadalajara\j; resort town of Chapala on the N shore.
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"chaparral",7677,0,0,0
PN [shapa\Bral\b]
HS (Span \Ichaparro\i 'scrub oak')
EN The evergreen scrub vegetation of semi-arid areas with a Mediterranean-type climate in south-west USA and north-west Mexico. It is a plant community adapted to frequent fires. Without fire every few years the chaparral would degrade. Typical vegetation species include evergreen scrub oak, laurel sumac, and \Jceanothus\j.
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"chapati",7678,0,0,0
PN [cha\Bpah\btee]
EN A thin, flat, unleavened bread, made from a mixture of \Jwater\j and wheat flour containing c.95% of the original wheat. It is a traditional accompaniment to many Asian dishes, especially those of India, \JPakistan\j, and \JBangladesh\j.
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"chapel",7679,0,0,0
EN Originally, a place to house sacred relics; now generally a church. In England and Wales, the term is used of Nonconformist places of worship; in N Ireland and Scotland, of Roman Catholic churches. It may also be a place of worship belonging to a college or institution, and may further denote the \Jchancel\j of a church or cathedral, or part of a cathedral containing a separate altar.
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"Chapelain, Jean",7680,0,0,0
DT 1595-1674
EN French scholar, critic and man of letters. A founder member of the AcadΘmie-Francaise in 1634, he was the principal author of the Academy's public censure of Corneille's Le Cid for its irregularities. He upheld neoclassical notions of the drama of credibility (as distinct from truth to the facts), decorum, and the three \Junities\j (of time, place and action; see Aristotle).
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"Chapelle, Dickey (b. Georgette Louis Meyer)",7681,0,0,0
DT (1918-65)
EN pioneer pilot, adventuress, journalist; born in Shorewood, Wis. After attending \JMassachusetts\j Institute of Technology for a year, she acquired expertise as a barnstorming pilot and photojournalist and worked as a war correspondent in World War II.
After a year as an editor of \ISeventeen\i (1946-47), she and her husband, photographer Tony Chapelle, spent six years documenting damage from World War II. In 1956-57, while photographing Hungarian refugees, she was imprisoned for seven weeks in \JHungary\j, but she continued to visit any ongoing war zones - in \JAlgeria\j, \JLebanon\j, Korea - and photographed Fidel Castro's revolution in \JCuba\j. She won a George Polk Award (1962) for her war reporting and was killed by a mine explosion while covering the war in Vietnam.
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"Chapin, Charles Value",7682,0,0,0
DT (1856-1941)
EN epidemiologist, public health official; born in Providence, R.I. Not caring for the private practice of medicine, he served as superintendent of health of Providence (1884-1932) and became a pioneer in public health. He started the first municipal bacteriological lab (1888), tested \Jwater\j filters and disinfectants, and conducted field studies to show the \Jcorrelation\j between unsanitary conditions and disease.
His field studies, \Jhospital\j work, ideas and publications - including \IThe Sources and Modes of Infection\i (1910) and \IReport on State Public Health Work\i (1916) - provided the foundations of the public health movement in the 20th century.
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"Chapin, Henry Dwight",7683,0,0,0
DT (1857-1942)
EN pediatrician, social reformer; born in Steubenville, Ohio. He entered medical practice in 1884 in New York City and began to teach on children's diseases at the New York Post-Graduate School (1885-1920) and at the Women's Medical College of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children (1885-90). His particular work was in the area of proper \Jnutrition\j for infants. Pioneering home care through trained social workers, he founded the Speedwell Society to encourage foster care (1902) and was a charter member and president of the American Pediatric Society (1910-11).
With his wife, Alice Delafield, he actively secured adoptions for 1,700 children over the course of their mutual careers; their work led to what is today known as the Spence-Chapin Adoption Service in New York City. A reader of philosophy, he played the violin, loved travel, and enjoyed vintage wines.
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"Chapin, Roy Dikeman",7684,0,0,0
DT (1880-1936)
EN \Jautomobile\j executive, cabinet officer; born in Lansing, Mich. He left the University of \JMichigan\j in 1901 to join Olds Motor Works and later that year attracted wide publicity by making the first \Jautomobile\j trip from \JDetroit\j to New York. In 1906, in partnership with designer Howard Coffin, he became general manager of E. R. Thomas \JDetroit\j Company, later Chalmers-Detroit Motor Company.
He soon sold the firm and organized Hudson Motor Car Company. As president (1910-23, 1933-36) and chairman (1923-33), he introduced the successful popular-priced "Essex" (1919) and his new, cheaper closed cars (introduced 1922) hastened the demise of the open touring car. In his second term as president he restored the ailing company's financial fortunes.
As chairman of the highway transport committee of the Council of National Defense during World War I, he promoted the use of cars to ease railroad congestion. Briefly U.S. secretary of commerce (1932-33), he spearheaded Herbert Hoover's reemployment strategy for stimulating recovery from the depression.
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"Chaplin, Charlie",7685,0,0,0
DT (1889-1977)
EN movie actor, producer, screenwriter, director, composer; born in London, England. The son of music hall entertainers, his mother had a nervous breakdown and his father died when Charlie was five; he became a street urchin, along with his half-brother, Sydney, dancing for pennies in the street. After a time in an orphanage, he joined a troupe of child dancers and later had small roles on the London stage.
At age 17 he joined a troupe of players that toured the United States, where in 1912 he joined the Keystone company to appear in his first movie, \IMaking a Living\i (1914). Chaplin made 35 films in one year at Keystone, many of which he also wrote and directed, meanwhile honing his character of "The Little Tramp"; despite the appearance of spontaneity and improvisation, he worked out every last detail of his films. He joined Essanay in 1915, making his first masterpiece, \IThe Tramp,\i that year. He became one of the founders of United Artists in 1919.
At First National, he made \IThe Kid\i in 1921, which made him an international star. He went on to make his major works - \ICity Lights\i (1928), \IModern Times\i (1936), \IThe Great Dictator\i (1940), \ILimelight\i (1952) - after which there was a distinct falling off. Over the years he had been criticized for his many romantic affairs, often with younger women; he also had never applied for U.S. citizenship.
In 1952, on a ship to England, he was informed that he might not be permitted back into the States because of his alleged leftist views, so he settled in \JSwitzerland\j with his wife Oona, daughter of Eugene O'Neill, with whom he had eight children. He did not return to the U.S.A. until 1972 when he accepted a Special \JAcademy Award\j. In 1975, by then regarded as one of the few individuals to be a true genius of motion pictures, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
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"Chaplin, Ralph Hosea",7686,0,0,0
DT (1887-1961)
EN editor, poet, commercial artist; born in Ames, Kans. Of New England colonial stock, he studied art while working as a commercial artist in \JChicago\j. He illustrated Jack London's \IThe Dream of the Debs\i (1912), and wrote a number of poetry volumes. A socialist since his teens, he joined the International Workers of the World (IWW) in 1913, wrote the words to "Solidarity Forever" (1915), and edited the IWW newspaper, \ISolidarity.\i
He was jailed (1921-23) for conspiracy to violate the wartime espionage and sedition acts. He joined the Communist Party in 1919, but broke with his Communist friends in 1928 and from then on worked to combat \JCommunism\j in organized labor. His \Jautobiography\j, \IWobbly: The Rough and Tumble Story of an American Radical\i (1948), vividly describes his political and social beliefs.
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"Chapman family",7687,0,0,0
EN see showboats
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"Chapman horse",7688,0,0,0
EN See Cleveland bay
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"Chapman, Frank (Michler)",7689,0,0,0
DT (1864-1945)
EN ornithologist; born in Englewood, N.J. He completed his formal education in 1880, chose not to go to college, and began working in a New York City bank (1880-86). In his spare time, he continued his childhood interest in birds by doing ornithological field studies and surveys. His specimens and notes dealing with birds of \JFlorida\j so impressed the American Museum of Natural History that he began an assistantship there in 1888, became curator in 1908, and remained at the museum until his retirement (1942).
He was the first museum official to build exhibits of bird species in their natural habitats; he was also an accomplished nature photographer who enjoyed educating the public in avian behavior and conservation. Under his leadership, the museum's ornithology department became the finest in the world. He wrote numerous scientific papers and popular books, discovered many new species, and was a pioneer in researching the \Jgeography\j and climatology of different bird groups.
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"Chapman, George",7690,0,0,0
DT c.1559-1634
EN English playwright and poet- translator of Homer. Associated with Henslowe and the Admiral's Men in the 1590s, he wrote The Blind Beggar of Alexandria (1596) and An Humorous Day's Mirth (1597). Several plays have been lost. The survivors from the following decade include May Day (c.1601), The Gentleman Usher (c.1602), All Fools (1604), Monsieur D'Olive (1604) and The Widow's Tears (c.1605), comedies written for the sophisticated audiences of the boys' companies, morally as well as linguistically complex.
His tragedies concern deeply flawed \JTitanic\j heroes of recent \JFrench history\j - Bussy D'Ambois (1604), The Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles, Duke of Byron (1608), The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois (c.1610) and Chabot, Admiral of \JFrance\j (c.1613). His collaboration with Jonson and Marston in Eastward Ho (1605) had the longest theatrical life of all Chapman's plays.
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"Chapman, John (Gadsby)",7691,0,0,0
DT (1808-89)
EN painter; born in Alexandria, Va. A portrait and historical painter who divided his time between New York and Washington, D.C., he painted the famous mural, \IBaptism of Pocahontas\i (1837-42), in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
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"Chapman, John Jay",7692,0,0,0
DT (1862-1933)
EN man of letters; born in New York City. Independently wealthy, he published poems, plays, translations, and essays renowned for critical power and stylistic grace. Edmund Wilson called him "the best writer on literature of his generation."
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"Chapman, John, (real name of 'Johnny Appleseed')",7693,0,0,0
DT (1774-1847)
EN horticulturalist, missionary; born in Leominster, Mass. Little is known of his youth. He appeared in Ohio in 1800 and began to plant nurseries with apples he brought from western \JPennsylvania\j. He traveled throughout Ohio (1800-12) planting and then pruning his orchards. A mystic, he read aloud from the \JBible\j and the works of Emmanuel Swedenborg, and was credited with many extraordinary acts of kindness to both men and animals.
During the \JWar of 1812\j he warned isolated farmers of the danger of Indian raids. He carried his planting and missionary work into \JIndiana\j in 1838 and died of \Jpneumonia\j near Fort Wayne, Ind.
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"Chapman, Mark (David)",7694,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1955
EN US convicted murderer. A security guard from Hawaii, he shot and killed former Beatles member John Lennon outside Lennon's apartment in Manhattan (8 Dec 1980). Much attention was paid at Chapman's trial to his psychiatric state, as his lawyer initially entered a plea of insanity which Chapman later overturned with a plea of guilty. He was found guilty of murder, sentenced to \Jlife imprisonment\j, and ordered to receive psychiatric treatment.
MEX Lennon
SX m
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"Chapman, Sydney",7695,0,0,0
DT (1888-1970)
EN British applied mathematician: developed the kinetic theory of gases and worked on gaseous thermal diffusion, geomagnetism, tidal theory and the \Jatmosphere\j.
Chapman studied \Jengineering\j at Manchester and \Jmathematics\j at Cambridge, graduating in 1910. During his career he held professorships in Manchester, London and Oxford, and from 1954 worked at the High Altitude Observatory, Boulder, CO, and the Geophysical Institute in \JAlaska\j.
Chapman's interests were broad. He made a notable contribution to the kinetic theory of gases, taking the theory beyond the earlier work of Maxwell and Boltzmann, to the Chapman-Enskog theory of gases.
Thermal diffusion refers to heat transfer between two parts of a solid, liquid or gas that are at different temperatures, in the absence of convection. He applied his theory to a variety of problems, notably in the upper \Jatmosphere\j. (Later, \Jisotopes\j for atomic fission were separated by use of gaseous thermal diffusion.) On geomagnetism, his other main interest, he investigated why the Earth's magnetic field varies with periods equal to the lunar \Jday\j (27.3 days) and its submultiples; he showed this was due to a tidal movement in the Earth's \Jatmosphere\j due to the Moon.
The Chapman-Ferraro theory of magnetic storms predated modern plasma theory. He also studied the formation of ozone in the \Jatmosphere\j and the ionizing effect of solar ultraviolet light on the \Jionosphere\j (the Chapman layer being named for him). In his later years he developed, with S I Akasofu (1930- ) , the modern theory of geomagnetic storms, the ring current and the aurora.
BK Scie
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"Chappaquiddick",7696,0,0,0
PN [chapa\Bkwid\bik]
HS (Algonquian 'separated-island-at')
EN Island to the E of Martha's Vineyard I, USA; in the \JNantucket\j Sound, off the south-east coast of \JMassachusetts\j; briefly achieved worldwide fame in 1969, as the site of a car accident involving US senator Edward Kennedy.
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"Chappe, Claude",7697,0,0,0
PN [shap]
DT1 1763
DT2 1805
EN Engineer and inventor, born in Brulon, \JFrance\j. He was studying for a career in the Church, but his plans were altered with the \JFrench Revolution\j, and he decided instead to develop his interest in \Jtelegraphy\j. In 1793 he developed a hand-operated semaphore system, operating in towers built on high ground, equipped with two movable signal-arms, and telescopes. The system was soon copied throughout Europe.
SX m
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"Chappell, Greg(ory Stephen)",7698,0,0,0
DT1 1948
EN Cricketer, born in Unley, South \JAustralia\j, the brother of Ian Chappell. He played 88 times for his country (1970--84), 48 as captain, and scored 24 Test centuries. He also played in England for Somerset for two years.
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"Chappell, Ian (Michael)",7699,0,0,0
DT1 1943
EN Cricketer, born in Unley, South \JAustralia\j, the brother of Greg Chappell. He played 75 times for \JAustralia\j (1976--80), scoring over 5000 runs and 14 Test centuries. His pugnacious, driving style of captaincy made \JAustralia\j a side universally respected in the 1970s. He is now a well-known sports commentator.
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"Chappell, Warren",7700,0,0,0
DT (1904-1991)
EN typographer, book illustrator, graphic artist; born in Richmond, Va. After studying at the Art Students League in New York, he set up a studio there in 1932 and pursued a joint career as graphic artist/book illustrator and typographer/book designer. As the former, he illustrated many classic texts; as the latter, he designed two admired typefaces, Lydian and Trajanus. He wrote several books on \Jtypography\j and ended his career as artist in residence at the University of Richmond, his alma mater.
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"Chappell, William",7701,0,0,0
DT1 1809
DT2 88
EN British antiquary, a member of a great London music publishing house. His \ICollection of National English Airs\i (2 vols, 1838-40) grew into \IPopular Music of the Olden Time\i (2 vols, 1855-9). He took a principal part in the foundation of the Musical Antiquarian Society (1840), the Percy Society, and the \JBallad\j Society (1868).
SX m
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#
"Chappuzeau, Samuel",7702,0,0,0
DT 1625-1701
EN French man of letters. In addition to comedies and farces he wrote Le ThΘΓtre Francais (1674), an apologia for the theatre, particularly actors, which contains a catalogue of dramatists and lives of prominent performers, including a long section on MoliΦre; a valuable source of information.
BK Thea
#
"characin",7703,0,0,0
PN [\Bka\brasin]
EN Any of a large family of colourful \Jcarp\j-like freshwater fishes common in South and \JCentral America\j and Africa; mostly carnivorous; important as a food fish and in the aquarium trade; 40 genera, including piranhas, tigerfish, headstanders, tetras, and penguinfish. (Characidae.)
BK c
#
"character",7704,0,0,0
HS (computing)
EN In a computer system, the representation of a printed character, used for recording information on paper. There are two common ways of coding characters in a computer system: ASCII and EBCDIC.
BK c
#
"character recognition",7705,0,0,0
EN The technology associated with the ability of computer-based systems to recognize specific patterns; sometimes referred to as \Bpattern recognition.\b In particular, the ability to read printed characters from ordinary printed material is known as \Boptical character recognition (OCR).\b Another common type is \Bmagnetic ink character recognition (MICR),\b used worldwide to read automatically such things as account numbers and serial numbers on cheques.
BK c
#
"Charadriidae",7706,0,0,0
EN \BPlovers and lapwings\b
The plovers (family \JCharadriidae\j, order Charadriiformes) are a cosmopolitan group of shorebirds, numbering about 64 species. Their closest relatives are the avocets and sandpipers (\JRecurvirostridae\j and \JScolopacidae\j).
Plovers have compact bodies, large heads, short necks, rather short tails, and long narrow wings. The bill is usually straight and moderately short and robust; the eyes are large; and the legs very variable in length. The sexes are similar or nearly so, but many show pronounced seasonal changes in plumage. Most fall within the range 15-40 cm in total length.
Most plovers can be assigned to one of three major groups. The lapwings \I(Vanellus)\i are generally larger than other plovers, and most have crests, facial wattles, and spurs on the carpal joint of the wing-features lacking in other plovers.
Golden plovers \I(Pluvialis)\i have 'spangled' upperparts, each feather bearing multiple round spots of white or golden yellow. The underparts are mostly black in breeding dress, dingy gray or yellowish at other seasons.
Members of the widespread \Jgenus\j \ICharadrius\i are the smallest of the plovers, and they are mostly brown above, white below, with black-and-white head markings and one, two, or even three narrow black (or chestnut) bands across the breast.
A few species, such as Mitchell's Plover \IPhegornis mitchellii\i of \JSouth America\j, the Australian Dotterel \IPeltohyas australis,\i and the Eurasian Dotterel \IEudromias montinellus,\i do not conform well with this grouping, and the family also includes the extraordinary Wrybill \IAnarhynchus frontalis\i of \JNew Zealand\j, which is unique in that its bill is curved sideways (to the right) at the tip, a modification used to probe for insects under large pebbles in river shingle flats.
The small, gray, and very rare Magellanic Plover \IPluvianellus socialis\i of \JPatagonia\j is even more aberrant, and often isolated in its own family, Pluvianellidae.
All species run swiftly and fly strongly. Lapwings are noisy and excitable, but other plovers are usually quiet and unobtrusive in behavior. Plovers are gregarious, and usually congregate in flocks when not breeding. They tend to scatter when foraging, but in coastal environments come together in communal roosts at high tide, often with sand pipers and other shorebirds.
There are no lapwings in \JNorth America\j (although the widespread Killdeer \ICharadrius vociferus\i occupies a roughly comparable niche), but otherwise all continental regions have \Jlapwing\j representatives. Often there are two or three representatives, in \JAustralia\j, for example, the Banded \JLapwing\j \IVanellus tricolor\i inhabits arid plains whereas the abundant Masked \JLapwing\j \IVanellus miles\i favors lusher pastures nearer the coast.
Especially widespread species elsewhere include the Common \JLapwing\j \IVanellus vanellus\i in Eurasia, the Southern \JLapwing\j \IVanellus chilensis\i in \JSouth America\j, the Blacksmith Plover \IVanellus armatus\i in Africa, and the Yellow-wattled \JLapwing\j \IVanellus malabaricus\i in India.
The golden plovers \IPluvialis\i make up a cluster of four very closely related species with a breeding distribution encircling the \JArctic\j Ocean, a range broadly shared with a fifth species (the Grey Plover \IPluvialis squatarola).\i These birds annually cross the Equator to spend the winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Small plovers of the \Jgenus\j \ICharadrius\i are almost cosmopolitan, and each continent (except \JAntarctica\j) has several resident species.
The Kentish Plover \ICharadrius alexandrinus\i of Eurasia is exceptionally widespread; it occurs also in \JNorth America\j (where it is called the Snowy Plover), and it has very close relatives in Africa and \JAustralia\j (the Red-capped Plover \ICharadrius ruficapillus).\i A few tropical plovers are sedentary or nearly so, but most are migratory.
Some movements are partial or short range: the Double-banded Plover \ICharadrius bicinctus,\i for example, nests in \JNew Zealand\j but many birds then cross the \JTasman Sea\j to winter in southeastern \JAustralia\j, but the family includes some of the most impressive of all long-distance migrant birds.
Lesser Golden Plovers \IPluvialis dominica\i nesting in \JAlaska\j, for example, migrate to Hawaii. This journey must be accomplished in a single non-stop flight, which takes about 36 hours and uses up fuel (in the form of body fat) about equal to the half of the bird's weight at take-off. All plovers inhabit open, sparsely vegetated environments, but lapwings tend to favor grasslands, the smaller plovers sand, shingle or mudflats, not necessarily near \Jwater\j.
Most species breed in simple pairs but some, such as the Mountain Plover \ICharadrius montanus,\i are polygamous, and among dotterels the females are larger than males and take the initiative in courtship. Most plover nests are shallow scrapes in bare ground, occasionally lined with a few wisps of grass.
Northern Hemisphere species usually lay four eggs, but in \JAustralia\j the usual clutch is two or three, in Africa only two. Many species use injury-feigning to distract predators from the nest. According to species, incubation ranges from about 20-28 days, fledging about 21-35 days. In most species, both partners share incubation duties and help rear the young.
BK wan
#
"Charadriiformes",7707,0,0,0
PN [karadriuh\Bfaw(r)\bmeez]
EN An order of essentially \Jwater\j-loving birds (18 families). It includes gulls, terns, skuas, auks, and many waders.
BK c
#
"charcoal",7708,0,0,0
EN An impure form of carbon made by heating animal or vegetable substances (usually wood) in the absence of air to drive off the volatile constituents. It is porous and hence used as an adsorbent and filter. It burns without flame or smoke. Coke is a variety formed from \Jcoal\j. Animal charcoal is known as \Ibone-black.\i
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#
"Charcot, Jean Baptiste (Etienne Auguste)",7709,0,0,0
PN [shah(r)koh]
DT1 1867
DT2 1936
EN Explorer, born in Neuilly, \JFrance\j, the son of Jean Martin Charcot. A doctor, he commanded two Antarctic expeditions in the \IFrancais\i (1903-5) and \IPourquoi Pas?\i (1908-1910), and after World War 1 carried out hydrographic surveys off \JGreenland\j. He later went down with the \IPourquoi Pas?\i off \JIceland\j.
MEX Charcot, Jean
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"Charcot, Jean Martin",7710,0,0,0
PN [sha(r)koh]
DT (1825-93)
EN French neurologist: related many neurological disorders to physical causes.
Charcot was born and studied medicine in Paris, and spent his career at its ancient and famous \Jhospital\j, the SalpΩtriΦre. Appointed there in 1862, he found it full of long- stay patients with diseases of the \Jnervous system\j about which little was known. By careful clinical observation and later autopsy he was able to relate many of their conditions with specific lesions; for example the paralysis of polio with the destruction of motor cells in the spinal cord; the paralysis and lesions of cerebral haemorrhage; and a type of \Jarthritis\j with neurosyphilis.
He was the major figure in the Paris Medical School for many years and his many pupils included Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), who developed Charcot's special interest in \Jhysteria\j. After his death his only son, Jean, gave up medicine and became the leading French polar explorer.
BK Scie
#
"chard",7711,0,0,0
EN A type of cultivated beet \I(Beta vulgaris,\i variety \Icicla)\i lacking a swollen root but with swollen midribs and leaf-stalks; also called \BSwiss \Jchard\j.\b \B(Family:\b Chenopodiaceae.)
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"Chardin, Jean Baptiste SimΘon",7712,0,0,0
PN [shah(r)dφ\ti]
DT1 1699
DT2 1779
EN Painter, born in Paris. He was selected to assist in the restoration of the royal paintings at \JFontainebleau\j, and later attracted attention as a signpainter. He emerged as a genre painter, and produced many pictures of peasant life and domestic scenes, notably 'BΘnΘdicitΘ' (1740, Louvre, The Grace).
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"Chardin, Pierre Teilhard de",7713,0,0,0
EN See Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre
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#
"Chardonne, Jacques",7714,0,0,0
PN [shah(r)don]
HS , pseudonym of \BJacques Boutelleau\b
DT1 1884
DT2 1968
EN Writer, born in Barbezieux, \JFrance\j. He wrote domestic novels mainly set in his native Charente, among them \IClaire\i (1931) and \IRomanesques\i (1937). He also wrote essays and a chronicle of the French collapse in 1940.
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#
"Chardonnet, (Louis Marie) Hilaire Berignaud, comte de (Count of)",7715,0,0,0
PN [shah(r)donay]
DT1 1839
DT2 1924
EN Chemist, born in Besancon, \JFrance\j. He trained as a civil engineer, and by 1878 was working on artificial fibres. He became a pioneer of the artificial-silk (rayon) industry.
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#
"Chargaff, Erwin",7716,0,0,0
PN [\Bchah(r)\bgaf]
DT1 1905
EN Biochemist, born in Czernowitz, Czech Republic. He studied at Vienna, Yale, Berlin, and Paris, and worked at Columbia University, New York City, from 1935. His pioneer work on nucleic acids showed that the DNA of an organism has a composition characteristic of the organism; and his work on the ratio of bases present in DNA (the \IChargaff rules\i) provided a fundamental contribution to the double helix structure for DNA advanced in 1953.
BK Biog99
#
"charge",7717,0,0,0
EN A quantity of electricity \B(electrical charge),\b the source of an electric field; symbol \IQ,\i units C \I(coulombs).\i The elementary unit of charge \Ie\i┐=┐1.602┐╫┐10\U-19\u┐C, equal in size but opposite in sign to the \Jelectron\j's charge, cannot be subdivided and is a fundamental constant. Charge occurs only in multiples of \Ie,\i a simple additive quantity which is always conserved.
Two types of charge are possible: \Bpositive\b and \Bnegative.\b Like-sign charges repel, opposite-sign charges attract; the force between charges is expressed by \JCoulomb\j's law. Moving charges constitute a \Icurrent.\i The study of stationary charges and the forces between them is called \Belectrostatics.\b The \JCoulomb\j force between charged electrons and protons holds atoms together. The charge on an object refers to the excess of one type of charge over the other. The charge of an elementary particle is always the same for a given particle, and is one of its fundamental properties.
BK c
#
"charge card",7718,0,0,0
EN See credit card
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#
"Charge of the Light Brigade",7719,0,0,0
EN An incident during the Battle of Balaclava (25 Oct 1854), when the Light Brigade, under the command of Lord Cardigan, charged the main Russian artillery. The charge involved massive loss of life. It resulted from the misunderstanding of an order given by the commanding officer, Lord Raglan, to stop guns captured by the Russians being carried away during their retreat.
BK c
#
"charge-coupled device",7720,0,0,0
HS (generally abbreviated *CCD*)
EN An image sensor which in a video camera comprises a mosaic of minute photo-conductive diodes corresponding to the pixels and lines of a \Jtelevision\j system. Charges produced in each element by incident light are stored until read off in the required scanning sequence.
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#
"Chari, River",7721,0,0,0
PN [shah\Bree\b]
EN River in south-west Chad, NC Africa; flows 800┐km / 500┐mi north-west to join River Logone at N'djamena, where it forms the border between Chad and \JCameroon\j before entering Lake Chad; length including main headstream (R Bamingui), 1060┐km / 660┐mi.
BK c
#
"Charing Cross",7722,0,0,0
EN An area in C London, England, UK. It takes its name from a cross erected to mark the site of the resting-place of the body of Queen Eleanor, who died in 1290. Traditionally Charing Cross is viewed as the centre of London, when measuring distances to and from the city.
BK c
#
"charismatic movement",7723,0,0,0
PN [kariz\Bma\btik]
EN A movement of spiritual renewal, rooted in \JPentecostalism\j, which takes a variety of forms in Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox Churches. It emphasizes the present reality and work of the \JHoly Spirit\j in the life of the Church and the individual. It is sometimes accompanied by speaking in tongues.
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#
"charivari",7724,0,0,0
EN Medieval processional revels. The chalvaricum, as 14th- and 15th-century church bans refer to it, was originally a 'tumult' directed against a marriage the community disapproved of; remarried widows and unequal matches would be treated to a barrage of catcalls (the German Katzenmusik). The term came to mean a procession of noisy maskers, dancers, drummers and singers who made the streets unsafe by night.
Once the staid citizens realized the fun in singing and saying what one would under the anonymity of devil masks, the charivari became organized as a mass 'happening' for its own sake. Among the buffones or masks were depraved monks with bare behinds and lion's manes, demons rattling pots and pans (as in the modern Fastnachtspiel of Basle), and the wild man Hellequin or Herlequin whose name becomes transformed into \JHarlequin\j.
BK Thea
#
"Charlemagne or Charles the Great",7725,0,0,0
PN [\Bshah(r)l\buhmayn]
DT1 742
DT2 814
EN King of the Franks (771-814), and emperor of the West (800-14), the eldest son of Pepin the Short. He defeated the Saxons (772-804) and the Lombards (773-4), fought the \JArabs\j in \JSpain\j, and took control of most of Christian W Europe. In 800 he was crowned emperor by Pope Leo III.
In his later years he consolidated his vast empire, building palaces and churches, and promoting \JChristianity\j, education, agriculture, the arts, manufacture, and commerce, so much so that the period has become known as the \ICarolingian Renaissance.\i His reign was an attempt to consolidate order and Christian culture among the nations of the West, but his empire did not long survive his death, for his sons lacked both his vision and authority.
MEX Louis I; Pepin III
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#
"Charleroi",7726,0,0,0
PN [shah(r)lrwah]
EN 50░25N 4░27E, pop (1995e) 209 000. Town in Hainaut province, SW \JBelgium\j, on the R Sambre; formerly a fortress; location of World War 1 German attack against the French (Aug 1914); centre of \Jcoal\j-mining area; iron, wire and cables, cutlery.
BK Geog99
#
"Charles (Philip Arthur George), Prince of Wales",7727,0,0,0
DT1 1948
EN Eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and heir apparent to the throne, born at \JBuckingham Palace\j, London, England, UK. Duke of Cornwall as the eldest son of the monarch, he was given the title of Prince of Wales in 1958, and invested at Caernarfon (1969). He studied at Cheam and Gordonstoun, and entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1967. He served in the RAF and Royal Navy, (1971-6), and in 1981 married \BLady Diana Frances,\b younger daughter of the 8th Earl Spencer.
They have two sons: \BPrince William Arthur Philip Louis\b (1982-) and \BPrince Henry Charles Albert David (1984-) .\b The couple separated in 1992, and divorced in 1996. Each has been the focus of continual media interest, attracting unprecedented attention from biographers.
MEX Elizabeth II; Edinburgh; Spencer, Diana
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#
"Charles d'OrlΘans",7728,0,0,0
EN See OrlΘans, Charles, duc d' (Duke of)
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#
"Charles Edward Stuart",7729,0,0,0
EN See Stuart or Stewart, Prince Charles Edward (Louis Philip Casimir)
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#
"Charles I (of Austria-Hungary)",7730,0,0,0
HS , (of \JAustria\j-\JHungary\j)
DT1 1887
DT2 1922
EN Emperor of \JAustria\j (1916-18, as \BKarl I)\b and king of \JHungary\j (1916-19, as \BKαroly IV),\b born at Persenbeug Castle, \JAustria\j. The last of the Habsburg emperors, he succeeded his grand-uncle, Francis Joseph, in 1916, and became heir presumptive on the assassination at \JSarajevo\j (1914) of his uncle, Archduke Francis Ferdinand. In 1919 he was deposed by the Austrian parliament and exiled to \JSwitzerland\j. Two attempts to regain his Hungarian throne in 1921 failed.
SX m
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#
"Charles I (of England)",7731,0,0,0
HS (of England)
DT1 1600
DT2 49
EN King of Britain and Ireland (1625-49), born in Dunfermline, Fife, E Scotland, UK, the second son of \BJames I.\b He failed in his bid to marry the infanta Maria of \JSpain\j (1623), marrying instead the French princess, \BHenrietta Maria,\b and thus disturbing the nation, for the marriage articles permitted her the free exercise of the Catholic religion. Three parliaments were summoned and dissolved in the first four years of his reign; then for 11 years he ruled without one, using instead judges and prerogative courts.
He warred with \JFrance\j (1627-9), and in 1630 made peace with \JSpain\j, but his continuing need for money led to unpopular economic policies. His attempt to anglicize the Scottish Church brought active resistance (1639), and he then called a parliament (1640). In 1642, having alienated much of the realm, he entered into the \JCivil War\j, which saw the annihilation of his cause at Naseby (14 Jun 1645), and his surrender to the Scots at Newark (1646).
After many negotiations, during which his attempts at duplicity exasperated opponents, and a second \JCivil War\j (1646-8), he came to trial at Westminster, where his dignified refusal to plead was interpreted as a confession of guilt. He was beheaded at \JWhitehall\j (30 Jan 1649).
EN King of Britain and Ireland (1660-85), born in London, England, UK, the son of Charles I. As Prince of Wales, he sided with his father in the \JCivil War\j, and was then forced into exile. On his father's execution (1649), he assumed the title of king, and was crowned at Scone, Scotland (1651). Leading poorly organized forces into England, he met disastrous defeat at Worcester (1651). The next nine years were spent in exile until an impoverished England, in dread of a revival of military despotism, summoned him back as king (1660).
In 1662 he married the Portuguese princess, \BCatherine of Braganza.\b It was a childless marriage, though Charles was the father of many illegitimate children. His war with Holland (1665-7) was unpopular, and led to the dismissal of his adviser, Lord Clarendon (1667), who was replaced by a group of ministers (the Cabal).
He negotiated skilfully between conflicting political and religious pressures, including the trumped-up 'Popish Plot', and refused to deny the succession of his brother James. For the last four years of his life, he ruled without parliament.
MEX Catherine of Braganza; Clarendon,; Gwyn; Walter, Lucy; Charles I (of England); Monk, George; Shaftesbury, 1st Earl of
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#
"Charles II (of Spain)",7733,0,0,0
HS (of \JSpain\j)
DT1 1661
DT2 1700
EN King of \JSpain\j (1665-1700), the last ruler of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty, born in Madrid. The congenitally handicapped son of Philip IV (reigned 1621-65), he presided over the final decline of Spanish hegemony. Under him \JSpain\j joined the League of Augsburg (1686) and the ensuing hostilities against \JFrance\j. To prevent the dismemberment of his patrimony, he bequeathed the entire Spanish Habsburg inheritance to \JLouis XIV\j's younger grandson, Philip of \JAnjou\j, in 1700, although his intentions were subsequently thwarted by the War of the Spanish Succession and the territorial settlement of \JUtrecht\j (1713).
MEX Philip V
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#
"Charles III",7734,0,0,0
HS (of \JSpain\j)
DT1 1716
DT2 88
EN King of Naples and \JSicily\j (1734-59) before becoming King of \JSpain\j (1759-88), born in Madrid. Generally regarded as an archetypal enlightened despot, he was driven by the belief that the Spanish monarchy and the colonial empire were in need of political, economic, and cultural reform. He encouraged commercial reforms in the colonies, and encouraged an ambitious building programme at home, undertook agricultural improvements, and brought the Roman \JCatholic Church\j under state control.
In the Seven Years' War (1756-63) he sided with \JFrance\j and against \JGreat Britain\j, receiving Louisiana from his ally while conceding \JFlorida\j to Britain in return for \JHavana\j and Manila (1763). Later, however, by joining the anti-British coalition in support of the Americans, he regained \JFlorida\j by the Treaty of Paris (1783).
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#
"Charles IV",7735,0,0,0
HS (of \JSpain\j)
DT1 1748
DT2 1819
EN King of \JSpain\j (1788-1808), born in Portici, \JItaly\j, the son of Charles III (reigned 1759-88). His government was largely in the hands of his wife, \BMaria Luisa\b (1751-1819) and her favourite, Manuel de Godoy. Nelson destroyed his fleet at Trafalgar, and in 1808 he abdicated under pressure from Napoleon. He spent the rest of his life in exile.
MEX Godoy; Napoleon; Nelson
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#
"Charles IX",7736,0,0,0
HS (of \JFrance\j)
DT1 1550
DT2 74
EN King of \JFrance\j (1560-74), born in St Germain-en-Laye, \JFrance\j. The second son of Henry II and Catherine de' Medici, he succeeded his brother Francis II. His reign coincided with the Wars of Religion. He was completely subject to his mother, whose counsels drove him to authorize the massacre of \JHuguenots\j on St Bartholomew's Day (1572), the memory of which haunted him until his death.
MEX Henry II (of \JFrance\j)
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#
"Charles Martel",7737,0,0,0
PN [mah(r)\Btel\b]
HS (Old French, 'the hammer')
DT1a c.
DT1 688
DT2 741
EN Mayor of the palace for the last Merovingian kings of the Franks, the illegitimate son of Pepin of Herstal, and the undisputed head of the Carolingian family by 723. He conducted many campaigns against the Frisians and Saxons, as well as in \JAquitaine\j, \JBavaria\j, and Burgundy. He halted Muslim expansion in W Europe at the Battle of Poitiers (732). Established as effective ruler of much of Gaul, but never crowned king, he left the kingdom to his sons, Carloman and Pepin, and in 751 Pepin was anointed as the first Carolingian king of the Franks.
MEX Pepin III
SX m
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#
"Charles the Great",7738,0,0,0
EN See Charlemagne or Charles the Great
BK bg c
XCY y
#
"Charles V (Emperor)",7739,0,0,0
HS (Emperor)
DT1 1500
DT2 58
EN Holy Roman Emperor (1519-56), born in \JGhent\j, \JBelgium\j, the son of Philip of Burgundy and Joanna of \JSpain\j. He was made joint ruler of \JSpain\j (as \BCharles I)\b with his mother (1517), and was elected to the Holy Roman Empire (1519). His rivalry with Francis I of \JFrance\j dominated west European affairs, and there was almost constant warfare between them. In 1525 the defeat of Francis led to the formation of the Holy League against Charles by Pope Clement VII, \JHenry VIII\j, Francis, and the Venetians.
In 1527 \JRome\j was sacked and the pope imprisoned, and although Charles disclaimed any part of it, the Peace of Cambrai (1529) left him master of \JItaly\j. At the Diet of Augsburg (1530) he confirmed the 1521 Edict of Worms, which had condemned Luther, and the Protestants formed the League of Schmalkald. After further battles, in 1538 the pope, Francis, and Charles agreed at Nice to a 10 years' truce.
Charles's league with the pope drove the Protestants to rebellion. They were crushed at Mⁿhlberg (1547); but in 1552 Charles was defeated by Maurice of \JSaxony\j, and \JProtestantism\j received legal recognition. In 1555 he divided the empire between his son (Philip II of \JSpain\j) and his brother (Emperor Ferdinand I), retiring to the monastery of Yuste in \JSpain\j.
MEX Clement VII; Francis I; Philip II (of \JSpain\j)
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#
"Charles V (of France), known as Charles the Wise",7740,0,0,0
HS (of \JFrance\j), known as \BCharles the Wise\b
DT1 1338
DT2 80
EN King of \JFrance\j, born in Vincennes, \JFrance\j. He came to the throne in 1364, and in a series of victories regained most of the territory lost to the English in the Hundred Years' War.
SX m
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#
"Charles VI",7741,0,0,0
HS (of \JFrance\j), known as \BCharles the Foolish\b
DT1 1368
DT2 1422
EN King of \JFrance\j, born in Paris, who came to the throne as a young boy in 1380. He was defeated by \JHenry V\j at the Battle of Agincourt (1415). From 1392, he suffered from fits of madness.
MEX Henry V
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#
"Charles VII",7742,0,0,0
HS (of \JFrance\j), known as \BCharles the Victorious\b
DT1 1403
DT2 61
EN King of \JFrance\j (1422-61), born in Paris. At his accession, the N of the country was in English hands, with \JHenry VI\j proclaimed King of \JFrance\j, but after Joan of Arc roused the fervour of both nobles and people, the siege of OrlΘans was raised (1429), and the English gradually lost nearly all they had gained in \JFrance\j. Under his rule \JFrance\j recovered in some measure from her calamities.
MEX \JHenry VI\j; Joan of Arc
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Charles X",7743,0,0,0
HS (of \JFrance\j)
DT1 1757
DT2 1836
EN The last Bourbon king of \JFrance\j (1824-30), born at Versailles, \JFrance\j. The grandson of \JLouis XV\j, he received the title of Comte d'Artois, and in 1773 married Maria Theresa of Savoy. He lived in England during the \JFrench Revolution\j, returning to \JFrance\j in 1814 as lieutenant-general of the kingdom. He succeeded his brother Louis XVIII, but his repressive rule led to revolution, and his eventual \Jabdication\j and exile.
MEX Louis XVIII
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Charles XII",7744,0,0,0
HS (of Sweden)
DT1 1682
DT2 1718
EN King of Sweden (1697-1718), born in Stockholm, the son of Charles XI. Following an alliance against him by Denmark, \JPoland\j, and \JRussia\j, he attacked Denmark (1699), and compelled the Danes to sue for peace. He then defeated the Russians at Narva (1700), and dethroned Augustus II of \JPoland\j (1704).
He invaded \JRussia\j again in 1707, and was at first victorious, but when Cossack help failed to arrive, he was defeated at \JPoltava\j (1709). He escaped to Turkey, where he stayed until 1714. He then formed another army and attacked \JNorway\j, but was killed at the siege of Halden. After his death, Sweden, exhausted by his wars, ceased to be numbered among the great powers.
MEX Augustus II
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"Charles XIV",7745,0,0,0
HS (of Sweden), originally \BJean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte\b
DT1 1763
DT2 1844
EN King of Sweden (1818-44), born a lawyer's son in Pau, \JFrance\j. He joined the French army in 1780, and fought his way up to become marshal (1804). In 1799 he was minister of war, and for his conduct at Austerlitz was named Prince of Pontecorvo (1805). He fought in several Napoleonic campaigns (1805-9), then was elected heir to the throne of Sweden (1810), turning Protestant, and changing his name to Charles John.
He refused to comply with Napoleon's demands, and was soon involved in war with him, taking part in the final struggle at \JLeipzig\j (1813). In 1814 he was rewarded with the Kingdom of \JNorway\j, recreating the union of the two countries. Thereafter he had a peaceful reign, though his conservative rule led to opposition at home in the 1830s.
MEX Napoleon
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#
"Charles's law",7746,0,0,0
EN A law named after Jacques Charles, but first published by Joseph Gay-Lussac, and therefore also called \BGay-Lussac's law:\b at constant pressure, the volume of a given mass of an \Jideal gas\j is directly proportional to a constant plus its \Jtemperature\j measured on any scale. The value of this constant fixes the zero of the absolute scale of \Jtemperature\j.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
In the late sixteen hundreds, another French scientist, Guillaume Amontons, did some useful work on thermometers. So useful, in fact, that he inspired Fahrenheit to do even better, and make the first really practical thermometer. Along the way, Amontons observed that gases all contract and expand by the same amount when they are cooled or heated by the same amount. Amontons noted this, and even came close to the concept of \Jabsolute zero\j, the lowest possible \Jtemperature\j that could ever be.
Sadly for the later fame of Amontons, nobody took any notice of what he had to say. He may have published the information first, but he published before people were ready for him. Gay-Lussac, writing in 1802 credited Charles with discovering this fact. James Clerk Maxwell discovered this, and reported that Gay-Lussac also had made the point that Charles hadn't published his results, and that he, Gay-Lussac came on Charles' findings merely by chance. There is a clear claim for prior publication by Gay-Lussac, it would seem, but if he is to get credit on that basis, what about Amontons?
In any case, Gay-Lussac did publish his results, and made them readily available to a public that was now ready for the news. In the end, though, the law that was discovered by Amontons, and popularised by Gay-Lussac, has become generally known as Charles' Law.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"Charles, (Mary) Eugenia",7747,0,0,0
DT1 1919
EN Dominican politician and prime minister (1980--95), born in Pointe Michel, Dominica. After qualifying as a \Jbarrister\j in London, she returned to the West Indies to practise.
She entered politics in 1968, two years later became co-founder and first leader of the centrist Dominica Freedom Party (DFP), and became an MP in 1975. Two years after independence, the DFP won the 1980 general election and she became the Caribbean's first female prime minister. She was re-elected in 1985.
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"Charles, Ezzard",7748,0,0,0
EN See Louis, Joe
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#
"Charles, Jacques Alexandre CΘsar",7749,0,0,0
PN [shah(r)l]
DT (1746-1823)
EN French physicist: established \Jtemperature\j-volume relationship for gases.
Originally a clerk in the civil service, an interest in \Jballooning\j and the physics of gases together with a flare for public lecturing brought Charles fame, and ultimately a professorship of physics in Paris.
In 1783, together with his brother Robert, Charles made the first manned ascent in a \Jhydrogen\j \Jballoon\j, a feat which brought him considerable public acclaim. On a later flight he was to reach an altitude of 3000 m. His interest in gases subsequently led him to formulate Charles's Law in 1787, that the volume of a given amount of gas at constant pressure increases at a constant rate with rise in \Jtemperature\j.
Further experimental work by Gay- Lussac and Dalton confirmed the relationship, which holds best at low pressures and high temperatures (ie it applies to ideal gases). Incidentally, Amontons had also discovered the relationship almost a century before but, failing to publicize the fact, did not receive the credit for it.
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#
"Charles, Ray",7750,0,0,0
DT1 1930
EN Entertainer, born in Albany, Georgia, USA. Blind from the age of seven, he attended a special school and studied music. Influenced by jazz and blues, he became a versatile performer, developing an original blend of music identified as "soul'. He made many hit records, "What'd I say' (1959) being his first million-seller. He has received eight \JGrammy\j Awards, and co-wrote an \Jautobiography\j \IBrother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story\i (1978).
\BMajor Works\b
\IAlbums\i
1957 Hallelujah, I Love Her So
1957 The Great Ray Charles
1958 Soul Brothers (with Milt Jackson)
1958 Ray Charles At Newport
1959 Yes Indeed
1959 Ray Charles
1959 The Fabulous Ray Charles
1959 What'd I Say
1959 The Genius of Ray Charles
1960 Ray Charles in Person
1960 Genius Hits The Road
1961 The Genius After Hours
1961 The Genius Sings The Blues
1961 Soul Meeting (with Milt Jackson)
1961 Do The Twist With Ray Charles
1961 Dedicated To You
1961 Genius + Soul= Jazz
1961 Ray Charles And Betty Carter
1962 Modern Sounds In Country And Western
1961 Modern Sounds In Country And Western Volume 2
1963 Ingredients In A Recipe For Soul
1964 Sweet And Sour Tears
1964 Have A Smile With Me
1965 Live In Concert
1965 Country And Western Meets Rhythm And Blues
1966 Crying Time
1966 Ray's Moods
1967 Ray Charles Invites You To Listen
1968 A Portrait of Ray
1969 I'm All Yours, Baby!
1969 Doing His Thing
1970 My Kind of Jazz
1970 Love, Country Style
1971 Volcanic Action of My Soul
1972 A Message From The People
1972 Through The Eyes of Love
1972 Jazz Number II
1974 Come Live With Me
1975 Renaissance
1975 My Kind of Jazz III
1975 Live In Japan
1976 \JPorgy\j And Bess (with Cleo Laine)
1977 True To Life
1978 Love And Peace
1979 Ain't It So
1980 Brother Ray Is At It Again
1983 Wish You Were Here Tonight
1984 Do I Ever Cross Your Mind
1985 Friendship
1985 The Spirit of Christmas
1986 From The Pages of My Mind
1988 Just Between Us
1989 Seven Spanish Angels And Other Hits
1990 Would You Believe
1993 My World
1996 Strong Love Affair
1996 Berlin, 1962
\ICompilations\i
1962 The Ray Charles Story
1967 A Man And His Soul
1970 The Best of Ray Charles 1956-58
1971 25th Anniversary in Show Business Salute to Ray Charles
1982 A Life In Music 1956-59
1987 The Right Time
1988 Greatest Hits Vol. 1 1960--67
1989 Anthology
1990 The Collection
1991 Blues Is My Middle Name
1991 The Birth of Soul 1952--59
1992 The Complete Atlantic Rhythm And Blues Recordings
1993 The Living Legend
1994 The Best Of... The Atlantic Years
1995 Classics
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"Charles, Robert",7751,0,0,0
DT1 1936
EN Golfer, born in Carterton, \JNew Zealand\j. In 1963 he became the only left-handed golfer to win the British Open championship, and 30 years later he was still performing creditably in the same competition. In 1963 he also won five US Tour events.
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#
"Charleston",7752,0,0,0
EN 38░21N 81░38W, pop (1995e) 58 800. Capital of state in Kanawha Co, W West Virginia, USA, at the confluence of Elk and Kanawha Rivers; developed around Fort Lee in the 1780s; city status, 1870; capital of West Virginia, 1870--5 and from 1885; largest city in the state; airfield; railway; an important transportation and trading centre; chemicals, glass, primary metals; various other products based on the salt, \Jcoal\j, \Jnatural gas\j, clay, sand, timber, and oil found in the region; Sternwheel Regatta (Aug).
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#
"Charleston (South Carolina)",7753,0,0,0
EN 32░46N 79░56W, \BPopulation:\b (1995e) 87┐300. Seat of Charleston Co, south-east South Carolina, USA; a port on the \JAtlantic Ocean\j, at the mouths of Ashley and Cooper Rivers; the oldest city in the state, founded in 1670; survived attacks by a British fleet in 1776 and 1779; finally captured and held by the British, 1780-2; the Confederate attack on nearby Fort Sumter (12-13 Apr 1861) began the \JCivil War\j; evacuated by Confederate forces in 1865 after a 2-year siege; devastated by an \Jearthquake\j in 1886; badly damaged by hurricane Hugo in 1989; airfield; railway; fertilizers, chemicals, steel, \Jasbestos\j, cigars, paper products, textiles; site of a US naval and air force base; tourist centre; Charleston Museum, Old Slave Mart Museum and Gallery, Gibbes Art Gallery, several old colonial buildings.
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"Charleston (West Virginia)",7754,0,0,0
EN 38░21N 81░38W, \BPopulation:\b (1995e) 58┐800. Capital of state in Kanawha Co, W West Virginia, USA, at the confluence of Elk and Kanawha Rivers; developed around Fort Lee in the 1780s; city status, 1870; capital of West Virginia, 1870-5 and from 1885; largest city in the state; airfield; railway; an important transportation and trading centre; chemicals, glass, primary metals; various other products based on the salt, \Jcoal\j, \Jnatural gas\j, clay, sand, timber, and oil found in the region; Sternwheel Regatta (Aug).
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"Charleston, Battles of",7755,0,0,0
EN (11 Feb-12 May 1780) During the US War of Independence, the victorious British siege of Charleston, SC, which marked the beginning of the Southern phase of British strategy. At a small cost, the troops of Sir Henry Clinton (c.1738-95) captured a 5400-strong American garrison and a squadron of four ships.
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"Charlestown",7756,0,0,0
EN 17░08N 62░37W, pop (1995e) 1680. Capital and port of Nevis I, St Kitts-Nevis, N Leeward Is, E Caribbean; formerly famous for its thermal springs; tourism, garments.
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#
"Charlevoix, Pierre Francois Xavier de",7757,0,0,0
PN [shah(r)lvwah]
DT1 1682
DT2 1761
EN Jesuit explorer of \JNorth America\j, born in St Quentin, \JFrance\j. In 1720 he was sent by the French regent to find a route to W Canada. He travelled by canoe up the St Lawrence River across the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi to \JNew Orleans\j, and was finally shipwrecked in the Gulf of Mexico. He became the only traveller of that time to describe the interior of \JNorth America\j.
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#
"charlock",7758,0,0,0
EN A roughly hairy annual \I(Sinapis arvensis),\i 30-80┐cm / 12-30┐in, found in most temperate regions; leaves toothed and lobed; flowers yellow, cross-shaped, capsule cylindrical, long-beaked. Related to mustard, and once grown as a leaf vegetable, it is nowadays a pernicious weed of arable land. \B(Family:\b Cruciferae.)
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#
"Charlotte",7759,0,0,0
EN 35░13N 80░51W, pop (1995e) 429 000. Seat of Mecklenburg Co, S \JNorth Carolina\j, USA; settled c.1750; incorporated, 1768; the Mecklenburg \JDeclaration of Independence\j was signed here, 1775; largest city in the state; airfield; railway; two universities (1867, 1946); textiles, chemicals, machinery, food, printed materials; birthplace of President Polk; professional team, Hornets (\Jbasketball\j).
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#
"Charlotte (Augusta), Princess",7760,0,0,0
DT1 1796
DT2 1817
EN Princess of \JGreat Britain\j and Ireland, the only daughter of \JGeorge IV\j and Caroline of \JBrunswick\j, who separated immediately after her birth. The heir to the British throne, she was brought up in strict seclusion. In 1816 she married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg (later to be King Leopold I of the Belgians), but died in childbirth the following year.
MEX \JGeorge IV\j; Leopold I (of \JBelgium\j)
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#
"Charlotte Amalie",7761,0,0,0
PN [\Bshah(r)\blot a\Bmal\byuh]
EN 18░22N 64░56W, pop (1995e) 12 600. Port and capital city of the US Virgin Is, Lesser \JAntilles\j, Caribbean, on S coast of St Thomas I; founded by the Danes, 1672; important cruise ship port; tourism.
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#
"Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz",7762,0,0,0
DT1 1744
DT2 1818
EN Queen of \JGreat Britain\j and Ireland, the wife of \JGeorge III\j. She married George shortly after his accession to the throne, in 1761, and bore him 15 children. Their eldest son was the future \JGeorge IV\j, born in 1762.
MEX \JGeorge III\j; George IV
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#
"Charlottenburg Palace",7763,0,0,0
EN A palace in Berlin, built (1695-1796) by Elector Frederick for his wife, Sophie Charlotte. The building houses a museum.
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"Charlottesville",7764,0,0,0
EN 38░02N 78░30W, pop (1995e) 43 500. Independent city and seat of Albemarle Co, C Virginia, USA, on the Rivanna R; settled in the 1730s; named after the wife of King \JGeorge III\j; railway; university (1819); \Jelectronics\j, navigational systems, communications equipment; Ash Lawn (home of James Monroe); Monticello (home of Thomas Jefferson) and University of Virginia are world heritage sites.
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#
"Charlottetown",7765,0,0,0
EN 46░14N 63░09W, pop (1995e) 16 300. Provincial capital of Prince Edward Island, Canada; on \JHillsborough\j Bay; founded by the French in the 1720s; capital since 1765; university (1969); fishing, trades in textiles, potatoes, dairy products, timber, tourism.
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#
"Charlottetown Accord",7766,0,0,0
EN A Canadian constitutional package for a new federal structure, put together by the prime minister (Brian Mulroney), provincial and territorial leaders, and First Nations representatives in August 1992. The essential difference between the 'Consensus Report on the Constitution' and the failed Meech Lake Accord of 1990 was that it recognized aboriginal demands as legitimate, and promised to integrate First Nations' leadership in future constitutional discussions. Nonetheless, the Charlottetown Accord was also rejected, this time in a national referendum in October 1992.
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"Charlottetown Conference",7767,0,0,0
EN A meeting of colonial representatives from New \JBrunswick\j, \JNova Scotia\j, and Prince Edward Island (1864) to discuss Maritime Union. A delegation from the province of Canada (present-\Jday\j \JOntario\j and Quebec) successfully promoted the idea of a larger federation with the rest of mainland British \JNorth America\j. It was followed by the Quebec Conference, and led to Confederation in 1867.
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"Charlton, Bobby",7768,0,0,0
DT1 1937
EN Footballer, born in Ashington, \JNorthumberland\j, NE England, UK, the brother of Jack Charlton. He was with the one club, Manchester United, throughout his career (1954--73), winning five League Championship medals, an FA Cup-winner's medal (1963), and a European Cup-winner's medal (1968).
He won 106 caps for England, scored 49 goals for the national team (an English record), and was a member of the World Cup-winning side of 1966. He is now a director of Manchester United, and was knighted in 1994.
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#
"Charlton, Jack",7769,0,0,0
DT1 1935
EN Footballer, born in Ashington, \JNorthumberland\j, NE England, UK, the brother of Bobby Charlton. He was a part of the great Leeds United side of 1965--75 under Don Revie's management. He was almost 30 before he was capped for England, but then retained his place for five years.
He later became manager of Middlesborough (1973), Sheffield Wednesday (1977), and Newcastle United (1984). He became manager of the Republic of Ireland team (1986--95), taking them to the last stages of the World Cup in 1990 and 1994.
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#
"charm",7770,0,0,0
EN In \Jparticle physics\j, an internal additive quantum number conserved in strong and electromagnetic interactions, but not in weak interactions; symbol \IC.\i Charmed quarks are those having \IC\i┐=┐+1; charmed particles contain at least one charmed quark. It was postulated in 1974 to account for the J / \fY\n particle discovered that year.
BK c
#
"Charminar",7771,0,0,0
PN [chah(r)mi\Bnah(r)\b]
EN A famous city landmark at Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. The imposing archway, surmounted by four minarets 56┐m / 182┐ft high, was built under Mohammed Quli Qutab Shah in 1591.
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#
"Charney, Jule Gregory",7772,0,0,0
DT (1917-81)
EN US meteorologist: pioneer of numerical techniques in dynamic \Jmeteorology\j.
Charney's work was principally concerned with dynamic \Jmeteorology\j. In 1947 he analysed the problem of the formation of mid-latitude depressions, in particular the dynamics of long waves in a baroclinic westerly current. He went on to work on numerical methods of \Jweather\j prediction with Von Neumann, developing a system of quasi-geostrophic prediction equations and the concept of the 'equivalent barotropic level'.
Charney also tackled problems concerned with the flow of the Gulf Stream, the formation of hurricanes and the large-scale vertical propagation of \Jenergy\j in the \Jatmosphere\j.
BK Scie
#
"Charnley, Sir John",7773,0,0,0
DT (1911-82)
EN British orthopaedic surgeon who devised a satisfactory replacement hip joint.
Charnley's parents were a pharmacist and a nurse, so it is unsurprising that he studied medicine. He specialized in orthopaedic surgery, qualified young and operated throughout his life in the Manchester area where he had always lived.
His career was dominated by one problem, the treatment of the painful and disabling condition of osteoarthritis of the hip joint, common in the elderly. Until his success in the 1960s surgical reconstruction of this joint was, in his words, 'no great credit to orthopaedic surgery'.
In the 1950s he set up a workshop in the attic of his home and a biomedical testing laboratory at the Wrightington \JHospital\j. His systematic studies on possible replacement joint materials and their friction and lubrication led him, by 1963, to settle on a replacement joint consisting of a socket made of the then novel plastic HMWP (high molecular weight \Jpolyethylene\j) in which moved a rather small polished steel head which replaced the diseased head of the patient's \Jfemur\j. Both were fixed into the bone with acrylic cement. Charnley's procedure, widely used by him and others, transformed many lives.
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#
"Charon (astronomy)",7774,0,0,0
PN [\Bkair\bon]
EN Pluto's only known \Jsatellite\j, discovered photographically in 1978; distance from the \Jplanet\j 19.1 million┐km / 11.9 million┐mi; diameter 1200┐km / 745┐mi. It is unusually large, relative to its \Jplanet\j, and has a surface of mainly \Jwater\j ice.
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#
"Charon (mythology)",7775,0,0,0
PN [\Bkai\bron]
EN The ferryman of the Underworld, who carried the shades or souls of the dead across the River \JAcheron\j. Sometimes other rivers are substituted in literature, such as \JStyx\j and \JLethe\j. The Greeks placed a small coin in the mouth of a corpse as Charon's fee.
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"Charonton, Enguerrand",7776,0,0,0
EN See Quarton, Enguerrand
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#
"Charpentier, Gustave",7777,0,0,0
PN [shah(r)pπtyay]
DT1 1860
DT2 1956
EN Composer, born in Dieuze, \JFrance\j. He studied at the Lille \JConservatory\j, and the Paris Conservatoire under Massenet. He founded a free school of music for the poor, the Conservatoire Populaire de Mimi Pinson, wrote dramatic and choral works, and composed both the music and libretti for the operas \ILouise\i (1900) and \IJulien\i (1913).
MEX Massenet
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#
"charr",7778,0,0,0
EN Freshwater or anadromous (ascending rivers to breed) fish with circumpolar distribution in lakes and rivers of Northern hemisphere; length up to 1┐m / 3 1/4┐ft; valuable food fish; popular with anglers as sport fish; includes the \BArctic charr\b \I(Salvelinus alpinus)\i and \Bbrook charr\b or brook \Jtrout\j \I(Salvelinus fontinalis).\i \B(Family:\b Salmonidae.)
BK c
#
"Charrenton, Enguerrand",7779,0,0,0
EN See Quarton, Enguerrand
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#
"chartering",7780,0,0,0
EN Hiring a vessel (boat, ship, or aeroplane) and crew for a commercial activity between particular locations (a \Bvoyage charter)\b or over a particular period (a \Btime charter).\b Most business charters are negotiated on the Baltic Exchange in London.
BK c
#
"Charteris, Leslie",7781,0,0,0
PN [\Bchah(r)\bteris]
HS , originally \BLeslie Charles Bowyer Yin\b
DT1 1907
DT2 93
EN Crime-story writer, born in \JSingapore\j. He studied at Cambridge, then worked in a wide variety of jobs, changed his name in 1928, and settled in the USA (1932), working as a \JHollywood\j screenwriter. He became a US citizen in 1941. He is especially known as the creator of Simon Templar, 'the Saint'.
SX m
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#
"Chartier, Alain",7782,0,0,0
PN [shah(r)tyay]
DT1a c.
DT1 1385
DT2a c.
DT2 1435
EN Writer, born in Bayeux, \JFrance\j. His preoccupation with the plight of \JFrance\j in the Hundred Years' War formed the background to his two best works, the \ILivre des quatre dames\i (1415-16, Book of the Four Ladies) and the \IQuadrilogue invectif\i (1422), a four-part debate on the ills of \JFrance\j. He also wrote the allegorical poem, \ILa Belle Dame sans merci\i (1424).
SX m
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#
"Chartism",7783,0,0,0
EN A largely working-class radical movement which achieved substantial but intermittent support in Britain between the late 1830s and the early 1850s. Its objective was democratic rights for all men, and it took its name from 'The People's Charter', first published in 1838.
Its six points were: universal manhood suffrage; the abolition of property qualifications for MPs; parliamentary constituencies of equal size; a secret ballot; payment for MPs; and annual general elections. Chartist petitions were presented to parliament in 1839 and 1842 and on both occasions were rejected by huge majorities. Despite its immediate failure, Chartism had long-term influence on the direction of working-class political and economic organizations later in the 19th-c.
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#
"Chartres",7784,0,0,0
PN [\Bshah(r)\btruh]
EN 48░29N 1░30E, pop (1995e) 43 100. Capital city of Eure-et-Loire department, NC \JFrance\j, on left bank of R Eure, 100 km/62 mi SW of Paris; railway; bishopric; agricultural centre and wheat market; abbey church of St Pierre-en-VallΘe (11th--13th-c); Gothic cathedral (1195--1220), a world heritage site; students' pilgrimage (Apr--May).
BK Geog99
#
"Chartres Cathedral",7785,0,0,0
PN [\Bshah(r)\btruh]
EN The cathedral of Notre Dame, built (1195-1220) at Chartres, \JFrance\j, and widely recognized as a masterpiece of Gothic \Jarchitecture\j. It is now a world heritage site.
BK c
#
"Chartreuse, La Grande",7786,0,0,0
PN [la grπd chah(r)\Btroez\b]
EN The principal monastery of the Carthusian order, founded in 1084 by St Bruno in the Dauphin Alps of south-east \JFrance\j. The monastery has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, and the present structure (which is now a museum) dates from the 17th-c. Chartreuse liqueur was first distilled here in 1607.
BK c
#
"Charybdis",7787,0,0,0
PN [ka\Brib\bdis]
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, a whirlpool which swallowed ships whole, encountered by Odysseus on his wanderings, and sometimes placed in the Straits of Messina - incorrectly, since there is no whirlpool there.
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#
"Chase, Agnes (b. Mary Agnes Meara)",7788,0,0,0
DT (1869-1963)
EN botanist, agrostologist; born in \JIroquois\j County, Ill. Her early formal education was limited. After her one-year marriage ended with her husband's untimely death (1889), she worked at various jobs to pay his debts. She began cataloging her own collection of wildflowers in 1897; she worked at the Field Museum of Natural History (1901-03), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (1903-39), and the Smithsonian Institution (1939-49).
An ardent \Jsuffragette\j, she was twice jailed for her protests (1915, 1918) and forcibly fed. Her long association (1905-36) with Albert S. Hitchcock resulted in their collaborating on several books and eventually led to her updating his work, \IManual of the Grasses of the United States\i (1951). She collected over 12,000 sets of plants, most of them grasses, and published a revised index of grass species (3 vols. 1962).
BK AmBg
#
"Chase, Edna Woolman",7789,0,0,0
DT (1877-1957)
EN editor; born in Asbury Park, N.J. Hired by \IVogue\i in 1895, she was its editor from 1914 to 1956 and helped build it into an elegant top-fashion magazine.
BK AmBg
#
"Chase, Gilbert",7790,0,0,0
DT (1906-92)
EN musicologist; born in \JHavana\j, \JCuba\j. Chase wrote music criticism in the 1930s and in the next decade worked for the Library of Congress and for National Broadcasting Company radio; thereafter he taught and administrated at various schools including the University of Oklahoma, Tulane, and the University of \JTexas\j. He was a noted specialist in the music of the Americas, and his books include the classic history \IAmerica's Music\i (3rd ed. 1987).
BK AmBg
#
"Chase, James Hadley",7791,0,0,0
HS , pseudonym of \BRenΘ Raymond\b
DT1 1906
DT2 85
EN Novelist, born in London, England, UK. He started the vogue for tough realism in gangster stories in the UK with his \INo Orchids for Miss Blandish\i (1939), the first of a number in similar vein.
MEX Chandler, Raymond; Hammett
SX m
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#
"Chase, Lucia",7792,0,0,0
DT (1907-86)
EN ballet dancer, ballet company administrator; born in Waterbury, Conn. After pursuing a career in theater and music, she took ballet lessons with Mikhail Mordkin and performed in his company from 1937-40. A charter member and dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, she became codirector in 1944. Totally involved in the company, especially fundraising, until her retirement in 1980, she helped it become one of the world's greatest dance troupes.
BK AmBg
#
"Chase, Mary Ellen",7793,0,0,0
DT1 1887
DT2 1973
EN Writer, born in Blue Hill, ME. She studied at Maine and \JMinnesota\j universities, becoming a professor at \JMinnesota\j (1922-6) and at Smith College, Northampton, MA (1926-55). Her autobiographies and novels revealed a passion for her native Maine and its seafaring inhabitants, notably \IMary Peters\i (1934) and \ISilas Crockett\i (1935).
SX f
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#
"Chase, Salmon P(ortland)",7794,0,0,0
DT (1808-73)
EN cabinet member, Supreme Court \Jchief justice\j; born in Cornish, N.H. A lawyer in \JCincinnati\j, Ohio, he was an active abolitionist, known as "the attorney general for runaway Negroes." He served as governor of Ohio (1855-60) and was twice elected to the U.S. Senate (Dem./Free-Soil, 1849-53; Rep., 1860-61). He resigned to serve as Lincoln's secretary of the treasury during the \JCivil War\j (1861-64).
A vocal cabinet member who often disagreed with Lincoln over \Jslavery\j issues and military matters, he attempted to resign three times before Lincoln accepted his fourth offer (1864) after a radical faction called for Chase to replace Lincoln as the Republican candidate. Upon his re-election and despite their differences, Lincoln appointed him \Jchief justice\j of the Supreme Court (1864-73). Despite his strong personal antipathy to \Jslavery\j and secession, he made a number of impartial decisions during the Reconstruction and reluctantly but scrupulously presided over the \Jimpeachment\j trial of President Andrew Johnson.
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"Chase, Samuel",7795,0,0,0
DT (1741-1811)
EN Supreme Court justice; born in Somerset County, Md. A member of the \JContinental Congress\j and a signer of the \JDeclaration of Independence\j, President Washington named him to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1796. President Jefferson attempted to impeach Chase because of his independent stance (1804), but Congress rejected the proposition in a move that secured the strength of the judiciary.
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#
"Chase, William Merritt",7796,0,0,0
DT (1849-1916)
EN painter; born in Williamsburg, Ind. Showing a natural talent for painting, he was sent abroad in 1872 to study, funded by a group of St. Louis businessmen. Although he studied at the Munich Royal Academy, when he returned to America he had converted to the French Impressionist style and in 1878 he began teaching at the Art Students League in New York City. Both there and at his own summer school at Shinnecock, Long Island, he produced a large body of sensuously colored, detailed work, such as \ILady with the White Shawl\i (1893), and taught a whole generation of American painters.
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"Chasles, Michel",7797,0,0,0
PN [shahl]
DT1 1793
DT2 1880
EN Mathematician, born in Epernon, \JFrance\j. He entered the Ecole Polytechnique in 1812, and became a military engineer, but resigned to devote himself to \Jmathematics\j, becoming professor of \Jgeometry\j at the \JSorbonne\j in 1846. He greatly developed synthetic projective \Jgeometry\j by means of cross-ratio and homographies without the use of co-ordinates.
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#
"chat",7798,0,0,0
EN The name given to numerous birds: 51 species of thrush (family: \JTurdidae\j), 5 species of New World warblers \B(Family:\b \JParulidae\j), and 5 species of Australian chats \B(Family:\b Ephthianuridae).
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#
"Chataway, Sir Chris(topher John)",7799,0,0,0
DT1 1931
EN Athlete and statesman, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and was one of Britain's finest middle-distance runners in the 1950s. A member of the Olympic team (1952, 1956), he helped Roger Bannister break the four-minute mile in 1954, and achieved a new world record time in the 5000┐m.
In 1959 he entered parliament as a Conservative MP, and was minister of posts and telecommunications (1970--2) and minister for industrial development (1972--4) before taking up a career in the City. He was knighted in 1995.
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#
"chateau",7800,0,0,0
EN Originally, a mediaeval fortified residence in \JFrance\j, acting as the focus of the feudal community in the same way as the contemporaneous English castle. By the 15th-c chateaux had become private seignoral residences, while the 16th-c saw the emergence of the less fortified \Icha\cfteau de plaisance,\i of which Ambois, \JChambord\j, Chenonceaux, and Azay-le-Rideau are the most notable examples.
BK c
#
"ChΓteau Gaillard",7801,0,0,0
PN [giyah(r)]
EN A massive castle at Les Andelys, Normandy, \JFrance\j, sited on a promontory overlooking the River Seine, and controlling the approach to \JRouen\j. Built 1196-8 by Richard I, King of England (1157-99) and Duke of Normandy, it was inspired by the Crusader castles of \JSyria\j and Palestine. Physically impregnable, it was captured by the French king, Philip Augustus, only after a long siege in 1203-4.
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#
"Chateaubriand, Francois Auguste RenΘ, vicomte de (Viscount of)",7802,0,0,0
PN [shatohbreeπ]
DT1 1768
DT2 1848
EN French politician and writer, born in St Malo, \JFrance\j. \IAtala\i (1801) established his literary reputation, and \ILe GΘnie duchristianisme\i (1802, The Genius of \JChristianity\j) made him prominent among men of letters. He held various political and diplomatic posts after the Restoration, but was disappointed in his hope of becoming prime minister. In his later years, he wrote his celebrated \Jautobiography\j, \IMΘmoires d'outre-tombe\i (Memoirs from Beyond the Tomb), not published as a whole until 1902.
MEX RΘcamier
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#
"Chatelet-Lomont, Gabrielle-Emilie, marquise (Marchioness) du, nΘe le Tonnelier de Breteuil",7803,0,0,0
PN [shatuhlay lohm⌡]
DT (1706-49)
EN French writer on physics and \Jmathematics\j.
The youngest child of the chief of protocol at the court of \JLouis XIV\j, Emilie de Breteuil was born into an aristocratic society that expected its women to be beautiful, intelligent and witty. As she was considered too tall (175 cm/5 ft 9 in), her father believed she would remain single and, unusually for the period, provided her with the best tutors. Her marriage (1725) survived a succession of lovers, lawsuits and separations; her husband owned a number of large estates, had a passion for war and was frequently absent.
After the birth of her third child Emilie du Chatelet began serious studies in Newtonian physics with P Lake de Maupertuis (1698-1759) and A-C Clairaut (1713-1765). She became the mistress of \JVoltaire\j and provided him with a safe retreat at the du ChΓtelet estate at Cirey-sur-Blaise, where they established a laboratory. Cirey became the French centre of Newtonian science, with du ChΓtelet providing \JVoltaire\j with the mathematical expertise he lacked.
In Institutions de physique (1740), written as a textbook for her son, she tried to reconcile Newtonian and Leibnizian views. In 1744 she began a translation of Newton's Principia mathematica, which remains a standard version. At the age of 42 she became pregnant again and, fearing that she would not survive the birth of her child, she worked long hours, taking little sleep; she died of \Jpuerperal fever\j.
She had deposited the manuscript with the librarian of the BibliothΦque du Roi in Paris; it was published in 1759. Emilie du ChΓtelet's work, which made Newtonian and Leibnizian ideas available in \JFrance\j, was followed by strong development of celestial mechanics there.
BK Scie
#
"Chatelier, Henri Louis Le",7804,0,0,0
EN See Le Chatelier, Henri Louis
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#
"Chatham Islands",7805,0,0,0
PN [\Bcha\btm]
EN pop (1995e) 787; area 963 sq km/372 sq mi. Islands of \JNew Zealand\j in the SW \JPacific Ocean\j; 850 km/528 mi E of South Island; comprises Chatham I (Wharekauri) and Pitt I (Rangiaotea), and some rocky islets; visited in 1791 by the British brig \IChatham\i; chief settlement, Waitangi; sheep-rearing, sealing, fishing.
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#
"Chatham, 1st Earl of",7806,0,0,0
EN See Pitt, William, 1st Earl of Chatham
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#
"Chatsworth",7807,0,0,0
EN One of the great English country houses, built (1687-1707) for the 1st Duke of Devonshire near Edensor village, \JDerbyshire\j, C England, UK. The original design by William Talman (1650-1719) was altered and extended by successive architects. The gardens, laid out in 1688 by George London (d.1714), were re-landscaped by Capability Brown and Sir Joseph Paxton.
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#
"Chattanooga Campaign",7808,0,0,0
EN (Sep-Nov 1863) A series of battles in \JTennessee\j, during the \JAmerican Civil War\j, leading to Southern victory at Chickamauga, and Northern victories at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. It was of military importance, because it placed Northern troops in a position to bisect the Confederacy on an E-W axis.
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#
"chattels",7809,0,0,0
EN See property
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#
"Chatterjee, Bankim Chandra",7810,0,0,0
DT1 1838
DT2 94
EN Writer, born in Katalpura, Bengal. One of the most influential figures in 19th-c Indian literature, his novels included \IDurges Nandini\i (1864) and \IAnandamath\i (1882), a novel of the Sannyasi rebellion of 1772 from which the Nationalist song \IBande Mataram\i ('Hail to thee, Mother') was taken.
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"Chatterton, Thomas",7811,0,0,0
DT1 1752
DT2 70
EN Poet, born in \JBristol\j, south-west England, UK. In 1768 he hoaxed the whole city with a description, 'from an old manuscript', of the opening of \JBristol\j Bridge in 1248. His poems, purporting to be by Thomas Rowley, a 15th-c monk, were sent to Horace Walpole, but (though Walpole was taken in) were soon denounced as forgeries. He then went to London, where he wrote many successful stories, essays, and other works.
When his patron, Lord Mayor Beckford, died, his publishers ceased to support him. Starving and penniless, he took poison. The debate over the authenticity of the Rowley poems waged for 80 years, and he received posthumous tributes from many poets including Byron, Keats, and Shelley.
MEX Walpole, Horace
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"Chatwin, Bruce",7812,0,0,0
DT1 1940
DT2 89
EN Writer and traveller, born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, N England, UK. He worked at Sotheby's as an expert on \Jmodern art\j for eight years until he temporarily went blind. To recuperate, he went to Africa, where he was converted to a life of nomadic \Jasceticism\j, and began writing books which combine fiction, \Janthropology\j, philosophy, and travel. They include \IIn Patagonia\i (1977, Hawthornden Prize), \IThe Viceroy of Ouidah\i (1980), \IOn The Black Hill\i (1982, Whitbread Literary Award), and \IUtz\i (1988), a \Jnovella\j which was short-listed for the Booker Prize.
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#
"Chau",7813,0,0,0
PN [chow]
EN A traditional theatre of E India with three regional styles: \Imayurbhanj,\i dance-drama without masks, \Iseraikala,\i dance with masks, and \Ipurulia,\i dance-drama with masks.
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#
"Chaucer, Geoffrey",7814,0,0,0
DT1a c.
DT1 1343
DT2 1400
EN Poet, probably born in London, England, UK, the son of a tavern keeper, perhaps the John Chaucer who was deputy to the king's butler. He may have gone to Oxford or Cambridge. In 1357 and 1358 he was a page to the wife of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, and then transferred to the king's household. In 1359 he served in \JFrance\j, and was taken prisoner, but ransomed with the king's help. In 1367 the king granted him a pension.
In 1368 a Philippa Chaucer appears amongst the ladies of the queen's bedchamber, very probably his wife, and she seems to have had two sons and a daughter. In 1369 Chaucer wrote his \IBook of the Duchess,\i on the death of John of Gaunt's wife. Travelling extensively abroad on the king's service, he also held royal posts at home, including that of Comptroller of the Petty Customs (1382). In 1386 he was elected a knight of the shire for Kent.
During this time he wrote \ITroilus and Criseyde,\i and several other major works. His early writings followed French trends, but were greatly influenced by Italian authors, notably Boccaccio. Losing his offices in 1386, he fell upon hard times, though in 1399 he was awarded a pension. He died in London and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
It was during this last period that he wrote his most famous work, the unfinished \ICanterbury Tales,\i which is unique for its variety, humour, grace, and realism. Chaucer was the first great poet of the English nation; and in the \JMiddle Ages\j he stands supreme.
MEX Boccaccio; Dante; John of Gaunt; \JOvid\j; \JPetrarch\j; Richard II
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#
"Chauliac, Guy de",7815,0,0,0
PN [shohliak]
DT1a c.
DT1 1300
DT2 68
EN Surgeon, born in Chauliac, \JFrance\j. The most famous surgeon of the \JMiddle Ages\j, he wrote \IChirurgia magna\i (1363), which was translated into French over a century later and used as a manual by generations of doctors.
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#
"Chauncey, Isaac",7816,0,0,0
DT (1772-1840)
EN naval officer; born in Black Rock, Conn. He commanded the naval forces on Lakes \JOntario\j and Erie during the \JWar of 1812\j. He commanded the Mediterranean squadron (1816-18) and later held important administrative posts within the navy.
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"Chauncy, Charles",7817,0,0,0
DT (1705-87)
EN Protestant religious leader; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. A 1721 Harvard graduate, he became pastor of the First (Congregational) Church of \JBoston\j in 1727 and remained for 60 years. A leader of theological liberalism in New England, he was in constant conflict with his Calvinist contemporary, Jonathan Edwards. A political liberal, too, he was an ardent patriot during the Revolution.
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#
"ChaussΘe, Pierre Claude Nivelle de La",7818,0,0,0
EN See La ChaussΘe, Pierre Claude Nivelle de
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#
"Chautauqua movement",7819,0,0,0
PN [shuh\Btaw\bkwuh]
EN A late 19th-c and early 20th-c US adult education movement, organized under Methodist auspices by Lewis Miller (1829-99) and Bishop John H Vincent (1832-1920), with home reading programmes and summer gatherings. At its peak it attracted up to 60┐000 participants annually to regional centres in the USA and elsewhere. The original centre at Lake Chautauqua, New York, continues its activities.
BK c
#
"Chavannes, Puvis de",7820,0,0,0
EN See Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre (CΘcile)
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#
"Chßvez, Carlos",7821,0,0,0
PN [\Bchah\bvays]
DT1 1899
DT2 1978
EN Composer, born in \JMexico City\j. He formed the Mexican Symphony Orchestra in 1928, becoming director of the National \JConservatory\j. As an official in the Ministry of Fine Arts, his influence on every aspect of Mexican music was enormous. His works, little known outside his own country, are influenced by Mexican folk music, and include ballets, symphonies, and concertos and an unusual \IToccata for Percussion\i (1942).
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"Chavez, Cesar (Estrada)",7822,0,0,0
DT (1927-93)
EN labor leader; born in Yuma, Ariz. A migrant farmworker in his youth - he attended 65 elementary schools and never graduated from high school - he became a community and labor organizer of agricultural workers in the 1950s. In 1962 he started the National Farm Workers Association, based in \JCalifornia\j and the Southwest among the mainly Chicano (Mexican-Americans) and Filipino farmworkers; in 1966 this union would be chartered by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations as the United Farm Workers of America; he remained its president until his death.
He first attracted national attention when in 1965 he struck the table grape growers in \JCalifornia\j by calling for a national boycott; this first such strike and boycott lasted five years and ended with the first major victory for migrant workers in the U.S.A. He continued his struggles, both with the Teamsters Union that tried to take over his workers and with the large growers that refused to improve their wages and working conditions; at the time of his death he was leading yet another national boycott of grapes to protest the use of pesticides harmful to workers.
He went on three hunger strikes - 25 days in 1968, 24 days in 1972, and 36 days in 1988 - and it was believed that these produced physical damage that hastened his death.
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"Chavez, Dennis",7823,0,0,0
DT (1888-1962)
EN U.S. representative/senator; born in Los Chavez, N.M. Although he never finished high school, he worked as a clerk in the U.S. Senate and graduated from \JGeorgetown\j University Law School (1920). He served in the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (Dem., N.M.; 1931-35) and in the U.S. Senate (1935-62). An advocate of integrating minorities, he opposed Navajo Indian autonomy and proposed making English the language of Puerto Rico. He worked tirelessly to create the Fair Employment Practices Commission. New Mexico placed his statue in the U.S. Capitol.
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"Chavφn de Huantar",7824,0,0,0
PN [sha\Bveen,\b hwan\Btah(r)\b]
EN A prehistoric ceremonial centre at 3200┐m / 10┐000┐ft in the Mosna Valley of the E \JAndes\j, the focus c.400-200 BC of an expansive religious \Jcult\j embracing all C and N \JPeru\j; a world heritage site. Its buildings cover 50┐ha / 125┐acres, the 6-ha / 15-acre civic centre being notable for its carved stone deities, the 75-m / 225-ft square, and the 13-m / 42-ft high New Temple, internally a maze of galleries, ramps, and stairways.
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"Chayefsky, Paddy",7825,0,0,0
DT (1923-81)
EN screenwriter, \Jtelevision\j dramatist; born in the Bronx, New York City. As a youth, he was a stand-up comic, then wrote his first play while recovering from injuries received in World War II. After the war, he began writing radio and \Jtelevision\j dramas, usually realistic depictions of the lives of ordinary people. In \JHollywood\j, he won Oscars for his screenplays for \IMarty\i (1955), \IThe Hospital\i (1971), and \INetwork\i (1976). He also wrote several Broadway plays.
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"Che Guevara",7826,0,0,0
EN See Guevara, Che
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#
"Chebyshev, Pafnuty Lvovich",7827,0,0,0
PN [\Bcheb\bishof]
DT1 1821
DT2 94
EN Mathematician, born in Okatovo, \JRussia\j. A graduate of Moscow University, he became an assistant at St Petersburg in 1847 and later professor (1860-82). In number theory he made important contributions to the theory of the distribution of prime numbers, and in probability theory he proved fundamental limit theorems. His theory of approximation to functions by polynomials has become important in modern computing. The mathematical school that he founded at St Petersburg influenced Russian \Jmathematics\j for the rest of the century.
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"Chechnya",7828,0,0,0
PN [chech\Bnya\b]
EN Republic in the C Caucasus, bordered S by the main Caucasus range and Georgia; capital, Grozny; economy based on oil, with major refining centre at Grozny; population largely Chechen (c.60%, Muslim); history of resistance to Russian rule, especially in 19th-c; became an administrative region (\Ioblast\i) within the \JSoviet Union\j; amalgamated with Ingushetiya (\BChecheno-Ingushetiya\b) as an autonomous republic (ASSR) in 1934, dissolved by Stalin in 1944, with its population deported, but re-established in 1957; area 19 300 sq km/7400 sq mi; pop (1992e) 1 300 000; \JChechnya\j declared independence from Russia, 1991; \JChechnya\j and Ingushetiya separated, 1992; \Jcivil war\j between forces loyal to Chechen president Dzhokar Dudayev and former leader of the opposition Ruslan Khasbulatov; invasion of Russian troops with aim of restoring Moscow control, December 1994; continued fighting in 1995; Dudayev killed, peace accord signed between Yeltsin and new Chechen leadership, but hostilities renewed, 1996; Russian troops finally withdrawn by end of 1996, with fresh elections in early 1997.
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#
"check",7829,0,0,0
EN See cheque (UK) or check (US)
BK c
XCY y
#
"checkers",7830,0,0,0
EN See draughts
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#
"Cheddar",7831,0,0,0
EN 5░17N 2░46W, pop (1995e) 4390. Market town in Somerset, SW England, UK; 16 km/10 mi SE of Weston-super-Mare; famous for the \Jlimestone\j features of the Cheddar Gorge and for the Cheddar cheese originally made here.
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"Cheek by Jowl",7832,0,0,0
EN British company. This small group, touring classic plays, was founded by its director Declan Donnellan and its designer Nick Ormerod in 1981. Its policy combined Shakespeare plays (The Tempest, 1988, As You Like It, 1991) with unusual or little-known Continental classics such as Corneille's Le Cid (1986), \JSophocles\j' \JPhiloctetes\j (1988) and Lessing's Miss Sara Sampson (1990).
When he pursues an idea, as with the all-male As You Like It, Donnellan does so consistently, which may be the secret of his successful partnership with Ormerod, who is an economical designer, precise with effects. They were invited to stage Lope de Vega's Fuente Ovejuna (1989) at the National Theatre, where in 1992 they directed a new play by the American playwright Tony Kushner, Angels in America, in which AIDS offers a symbol for the downfall of Western civilization.
BK Thea
#
"cheese",7833,0,0,0
EN A dairy foodstuff made from milk, originally used as a means of preserving food from periods of plenty during leaner times. Milk proteins are soluble in \Jwater\j at a neutral \JpH\j, but when the \JpH\j falls to a critically low level of about 4.6, the proteins no longer remain soluble. They precipitate out to form the curd of sour milk, which is the basis of cheese manufacture. The most basic cheese is known as cottage cheese, where skimmed milk (ie milk with all the fat removed) is allowed to coagulate.
The wide variety of cheeses is achieved by allowing particular strains of \Jbacteria\j to cause the fall in \JpH\j by fermenting lactose. The curd is then processed into cheese by a variety of methods, some of which require quite lengthy maturation in the presence of moulds. Others are matured in a smoky \Jatmosphere\j, and others mixed with cream to form very creamy cheeses. The hardness of a cheese is determined by both its \Jwater\j content and its fat content.
Many regions of Europe have produced cheeses for which they are famous. \JFrance\j alone has more than 400 varieties, including Brie, Camembert, and Roquefort. Other well-known cheeses include Swiss GruyΦre and Emmenthal; English Cheddar, Cheshire, and Stilton; Italian Parmesan and Gorgonzola; and Dutch Gouda and Edam. Versions of these cheeses are now made in many other countries.
BK c
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"cheetah",7834,0,0,0
EN \BLatin Name:\b \IAcinonyx jubatus\i\b
\BSize:\b head and body 115-135 cm; tail 65-85 cm\b
\BWeight:\b 35-70 kg\b
\BDistribution:\b most of northern and eastern Africa, southwestern Asia\b
The Cheetah is the least "cat-like" of the cats: its body is long and slender; its legs are long and the claws on its feet cannot be fully retracted, as in other cats. Its small head bears short ears. The short fur has a golden ground color, uniformly speckled with black spots: a prominent black "tear-stripe" runs from the inner corner of each eye to the corners of the mouth.
Living mainly in savanna and grassland, it is a diurnal hunter of mammals up to the size of young \JWildebeest\j. Prey is stalked, the run down at enormous speed (up to 90 kilometers per hour) in a short pursuit which, if successful, ends with a bite to the throat. The carcass is often taken some distance and hidden. Female Cheetahs are usually solitary but males sometimes cooperate in the pursuit of large prey.
Breeding can occur at any time of the year. After a gestation of 13-14 weeks, a female gives birth to about three young. Juveniles may accompany their mother for up to two years.
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#
"Cheever, John",7835,0,0,0
DT (1912-82)
EN writer; born in Quincy, Mass. He published his first short story at age 17 and never graduated from college. Resident in New York and its suburbs, he wrote Chekhovian satires of upper middle-class suburban life that appeared regularly in the \INew Yorker\i after the 1930s. He became a recognized master of the genre; a final collected edition of his short stories (1978) won the Pulitzer Prize. He also wrote screenplays and five novels, including \IThe Wapshot Chronicle\i (1957, National Book Award).
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#
"Cheka",7836,0,0,0
EN An \Jacronym\j from the Russian letters \Bche\b┐+┐\Bka,\b for the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage, established in 1917. It was in effect a political police force whose duties were to investigate and punish anti-Bolshevik activities. During the \JCivil War\j it was responsible for executing thousands of political opponents in what came to be called the 'Red Terror'.
BK c
#
"Cheke, Sir John",7837,0,0,0
PN [cheek]
DT1 1514
DT2 57
EN Humanist and scholar, born in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, EC England, UK. Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge from 1529, he adopted the doctrines of the Reformation, and was appointed the first Regius professor of Greek at Cambridge (1540). In 1554 he was appointed tutor to the Prince of Wales (later Edward VI), whose accession secured him a seat in parliament (1547) and a knighthood (1552). After the accession of Mary I he was imprisoned (1553-4), then went abroad to teach. In 1556 he was brought back to the Tower, where he was forced to recant his \JProtestantism\j publicly.
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#
"Chekhov, Anton (Pavlovitch)",7838,0,0,0
DT 1860-1904
EN Russian playwright and short-story writer; the most notable and celebrated 20th-century Russian dramatist in the West. His plays helped establish psychological realism, although possessing symbolist, impressionist and even proto-absurdist traits (see \Jsymbolism\j; theatre of the absurd). By fragmenting the well made play, scattering exposition throughout, compressing, internalizing and excising action, Chekhov created the so-called 'theatre of mood', of misdirection, non-eventfulness and partially stated meaning.
A physician by training, he began his career as a writer at medical school in Moscow. In such stories as 'The Steppe' (1888), 'A Dreary Story' (1889), 'The Duel' (1891), 'Ward No. 6' (1892), 'The Lady with the Dog' (1899) and 'In the Ravine' (1900), he learned to strike a balance between 'subjectively painful' and 'objectively comedic' perspectives on life, to link the catastrophic with the trivial.
His earliest plays are farces, vaudevilles and 'comedy- jokes' based upon his stories: On the Highroad (1884), The Harmfulness of \JTobacco\j Smoking (1886), Swan Song and The Bear (1888), The Wedding and The Tragedian in Spite of Himself (1889), The Marriage Proposal (1890) and The Anniversary (1891).
In these succinct pieces Chekhov began to erase the boundary between comedy and drama and to forge the tragi-farcical approach which confounded the audiences and critics (with notable exceptions) of his full-length plays. His uncertainty about his own career as a dramatist was reinforced by the failure of his early plays. Platonov (1878), Ivanov (1887) and The Wood Demon (1889) dealt with provincial Don Juans and Hamlets, 19th-century 'superfluous men' of the intelligentsia.
Chekhov's major plays - The \JSeagull\j (following a dismal 1896 production at the Aleksandrinsky Theatre), Uncle Vanya (a revised Wood Demon, 1899), The Three Sisters (1901) and The Cherry Orchard (1904) - all staged by \JStanislavsky\j at the Moscow Art Theatre (MAT) in sentimental and naturalistic productions (see \Jnaturalism\j), developed his characteristic contrapuntal use of dialogue, structure and theme, of offstage and inner action.
Time moves relentlessly forward in his plays, while seeming, via home- comings and departures, memories and fixations, to cycle endlessly back, and characters manage to waste what little time they have in the present. This describes both universal human folly and the situation of the pre-revolutionary Russian intelligentsia. The grandson of a serf, Chekhov well understood the necessity of change and the burden of legacy. He befriended and supported \JGorky\j, who later became the voice of Soviet \JRussia\j.
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#
"Chekhov, Michael (Mikhail (Aleksandrovich) Chekhov)",7839,0,0,0
DT 1891-1955
EN Russian actor and director. Anton Chekhov's nephew, Michael (his professional name, following emigration in 1928) created and taught an acting system which has become increasingly influential in the West. A member of the Moscow Art Theatre's First Studio from 1912 (later the Second Moscow Art Theatre, of which he became artistic director in 1924), he was taught by \JStanislavsky\j and Vakhtangov.
A self-styled mystical philosopher, Chekhov used the language of acting to reveal inner truth. His system evolved into an alternative to \JStanislavsky\j's, emphasizing more universal, spiritual resources of \Jenergy\j, rather than the historical, emotional and psychological details of the actor's life. His major roles in \JRussia\j include Caleb Plummer in Dickens's The Cricket on the Hearth (1914), Malvolio in Twelfth Night (1917), the title role in Vakhtangov's production of Strindberg's Erik XIV (1921), Khlestakov in The Inspector General (1921), Hamlet (1924) and Senator Ableukov in The Death of a Senator (adapted from Bely's Petersburg, 1925).
His ΘmigrΘ career included acting for Max Reinhardt (1928-30) and in \JHollywood\j, directing the Habimah Theatre (1930) and several companies and studios of his own, through which he disseminated his ideas as actor-director-teacher. He went to New York in 1935, where his lectures on the creative process influenced and divided Group Theatre members. His books include The Path of the Actor (\Jautobiography\j, 1928), On the Actor's Technique (in Russian, 1946), To the Actor (1953) and To the Director and Playwright (1963).
BK Thea
#
"chelate",7840,0,0,0
PN [\Bkee\blayt]
EN A complex of two or more components in which one is joined to another by two or more points of attachment. In co-ordination compounds, a chelating \Jligand\j such as diaminoethane complexes metal ions more completely than do similar ligands such as ammonia with only one point of attachment to the metal.
BK c
#
"chelation therapy",7841,0,0,0
PN [kee\Blay\bshn]
EN A treatment for heavy metal poisoning in which biochemical substances are given to a patient intravenously to bind the poisonous metal so that it is inactivated and can be removed from the body. The substances administered are known as \Bchelating agents\b and vary according to the toxic substance to be inactivated.
There have been attempts to use this form of treatment to remove \Jcalcium\j deposits from the walls of blood vessels for patients suffering with \Jatherosclerosis\j, in the hope that this will improve blood flow. Some claims have been made for this technique as a non-invasive alternative to cardiac surgery for treating patients at risk from coronary \Jthrombosis\j.
BK c
#
"Chelcicky, Petz",7842,0,0,0
PN [chel\Bchit\bskee]
DT1a c.
DT1 1390
DT2 1460
EN Reformer and theologian, probably born in Chelc\brice, \JBohemia\j. A radical follower of the Hussites, he abjured towns and commerce, and founded the sect which became the Moravian Brothers. The Christian doctrine of his \IThe Net of True Faith\i (1450) was later promulgated by Tolstoy.
MEX Tolstoy
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Chelmsford",7843,0,0,0
EN 51░44N 0░28E, pop (1995e) 102 000. County town of Essex, SE England, UK; on the R Chelmer, 48 km/30 mi NE of London; railway; Anglia \JPolytechnic\j University (1992); \Jelectronics\j, furniture; cathedral (15th-c).
BK Geog99
#
"Chelmsford, Frederick John Napier Thesiger, 1st Viscount and 3rd Baron",7844,0,0,0
DT1 1868
DT2 1933
EN Colonial administrator, born in London, England, UK. He was Governor of \JQueensland\j (1905-9) and of \JNew South Wales\j (1909-13), and Viceroy of India (1916-21) where he helped increase the number of Indians taking part in government, but was also noted for his severity against the nationalists. He became First Lord of the Admiralty (1924).
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Chelonia",7845,0,0,0
PN [ke\Bloh\bnia]
EN An order of reptiles (244 species); body encased in a domed shell of bones covered by large horny scales \I(scutes); \i no teeth; jaws form a hard \Ibeak; \i most withdraw head and legs into the shell for protection; head may be pulled backwards into the shell (species of suborder Cryptodira or \Bhidden-necked turtles),\b or bent sideways (suborder: Pleurodira or \Bside-necked turtles).\b In the USA, all species are called \Bturtles\b (with \Btortoise\b used for a terrestrial \Bturtle\b and marine forms called \Bsea turtles); \b in the UK there is no single common name for all species, and only marine forms are called \Bturtles.\b
BK c
#
"Chelsea",7846,0,0,0
EN See Kensington and Chelsea
BK c
XCY y
#
"Chelsea pensioners",7847,0,0,0
EN Occupants of the \Jhospital\j for old and disabled soldiers in Chelsea, London. Founded by Charles II in 1682, the Royal \JHospital\j takes in about 420 men, usually aged over 65. Chelsea pensioners wear distinctive uniforms, navy blue in winter and scarlet in summer.
BK c
#
"Chelsea porcelain",7848,0,0,0
EN A London \Jporcelain\j factory which flourished 1744-84, and was almost certainly the first to make soft-paste \Jporcelain\j in the British Is. It was founded by a silversmith from LiΦge, Nicholas Sprimont (1716-71) and Charles Gouyn (d.1781). It produced both figures and finely-painted tableware. In 1770 the factory was bought by William Duesbury (1725-86) of Derby.
BK c
#
"Cheltenham",7849,0,0,0
PN [\Bchelt\bnm]
EN 51░54N 2░04W, pop (1995e) 103 000. Residential town in \JGloucestershire\j, SWC England, UK; on W edge of Cotswold Hills, 12 km/7 mi NE of Gloucester; famous spa in 18th-c; railway; schools (\JCheltenham\j College, \JCheltenham\j Ladies' College); \JCheltenham\j Gold Cup horse-race (Mar); National Hunt steeplechases in Prestbury Park; festival of contemporary music (Jul).
BK Geog99
#
"Chelyabinsk",7850,0,0,0
PN [chil\Bya\bbinsk]
EN 55░12N 61░25E, pop (1995e) 1 159 000. Industrial capital city of Chelyabinskaya oblast, W Siberian \JRussia\j; on E slopes of the S Ural Mts; founded in 1736 as a frontier outpost; airport; road and rail junction; iron and steel, machines, foodstuffs, chemicals.
BK Geog99
#
"chemical analysis",7851,0,0,0
EN The determination of the composition of a material. It may be qualitative or quantitative, and may refer to the relative amounts of different elements present, or the extent to which particular properties, such as acidity or oxidizing power, are present.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The original aim of analysis was to break every chemical down into its parts, to reduce it to the elements from which it is made. The main aim of chemical analysis today is to find a set of unique reactions which will only be caused by the presence of one chemical, perhaps in very small amounts. Uses vary from identifying the active component in a herbal brew which cures disease, to identifying the metals in an alloy, the poisons left in a murdered body, or the pollutants in a sample of air or \Jwater\j. In all of these cases, the analysis becomes very much easier if the chemist has some idea of what is expected to be present.
The point of every test is that it must react to just one chemical: if there is more than one possible solution, the test must be combined with other tests, until all the 'suspects' except one have been ruled out. Even then, a good chemist will not be satisfied, and will run a 'blank test', a test on plain \Jwater\j, just to make sure that there has been no error, no contamination of the test equipment, or the chemical reagents.
Contamination of samples is also possible, and this is harder to deal with, but it needs to be considered. As several famous courtroom acquittals, like those of Lindy Chamberlain (\JAustralia\j) and O. J. Simpson (America), have involved either contamination, suspected contamination, or allegations of contamination or false positive results.
In the examination of a suspected murder victim, the chemist will concentrate on flesh samples taken from near a needle hole or wound, if there is one present. Other tell-tale signs may include burning or staining of the victim's mouth, or stains found in the intestines, or other symptoms of death. But while nineteenth century poisons could usually be identified with a simple set of tests, there are many more poisons available today, making the analysis much harder.
To balance this, the chemist has many more tests available. \JChromatography\j can be used to separate small samples into their constituents, a \Jmass spectrometer\j can study very small samples, and report back on the molecular weights of the chemicals that are present, and many chemicals can be persuaded to give out typical frequencies.
The earliest crime detection using this method came when one of the inventors of the method, Robert Bunsen, suspected that his landlady was using leftover meat in her stews. Bunsen added a small amount of a \Jlithium\j chloride to his evening meal. The next night, a sample of the evening stew was found to give the brilliant red flame test characteristic of \Jlithium\j. \JLithium\j, as Bunsen pointed out, is not characteristic of stews. Exit left one highly embarrassed landlady, no doubt.
The most important tests now are more or less biological, with the reactions of genes and enzymes to samples often telling us more than the old chemist's laboratory could do. Certainly, when general results are needed, tests like the Ames test will warn us if a sample contains a carcinogen, even if the carcinogen can not be uniquely identified by the test.
Analytical chemists can still, however, use physical tests to see how pure an apparently pure sample really is. Pure heroin melts at 173║C, while samples containing impurities will always melt at a lower \Jtemperature\j, allowing an easy check of the purity of a sample.
But before this can be done, pure heroin has to be prepared and tested. Most of analytical chemistry depends on the availability of chemicals with remarkable purity, and in which the levels of impurity are known remarkably well. The ammonium \Jnitrate\j that farmers put on their fields can carry 5% or 10% impurities, and the only cost will be a slightly higher freight bill to get a certain amount of \Jnitrogen\j on the fields. Analytical reagent quality ammonium \Jnitrate\j with 0.005% of impurities would be quite unacceptable.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"chemical bond",7852,0,0,0
EN The electric forces linking atoms in molecules and non-molecular solid phases. Three types of bond may be identified: (1) \Bionic,\b as in sodium chloride (NaCl), in which electrons are lost and gained so that the structure is held together by the mutual attraction of Na\U+\u and Cl\U-\u ions; (2) \Bcovalent,\b as in \Jchlorine\j (Cl\D2\d), where some electrons are associated with two atomic nuclei; and (3) \Bmetallic,\b as in sodium (Na), where the valence electrons are delocalized and associated with many nuclei, giving rise to electrical \Jconductivity\j.
Covalent bonds involving 2, 4, and 6 electrons are called \Isingle,\i \Idouble,\i and \Itriple,\i and are represented by -, =, and \f║\n, respectively. The \Jenergy\j required to break a chemical bond (eg to convert a \Jchlorine\j molecule to two \Jchlorine\j atoms) is called the \Bbond \Jenergy\j.\b
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The first real breakthrough in beginning a science of chemistry only came when chemists realized that the elements they used came in small units-what we now call atoms-and that these atoms combined in some mysterious standard way. This was best summarized by English chemist John Dalton who observed that (1.) the chemical elements are atoms which do not change, even when they take part in a chemical change; (2.) all of the atoms of a particular element are identical; and (3.) chemical compounds form when atoms combine in simple numerical ratios.
We generally accept Dalton's three propositions, even though we know that an atom of sodium is quite different from an ion of sodium, even though we know that most atoms occur as \Jisotopes\j of different \Jatomic weight\j, and even though we know that some atoms can combine in different proportions. We also know that the first and third differences can be explained by understanding what a chemical bond is.
The nature of a molecule (or an atom, for that matter) depends on a number of things, but mainly on (1.) the shape of the molecule; (2.) the size of the molecule; (3.) the actual charge on the molecule; (4.) the 'preferred' (that is, most stable) charge on the molecule; and (5.) the distribution of the charge on the molecule.
The charge on an atom depends on the balance of electrons around the atom and protons in the nucleus, but the electrons of atoms interfere with each other, making some \Jelectron\j arrangements unstable. As a general rule, a 'shell' of eight electrons is very hard to interfere with, making an atom with such a shell very stable, even if it means having a few electrons too many, or too few.
This is why \Jchlorine\j gas is a poison, and why sodium metal is explosively reactive, yet we can take sodium chloride in with every mouthful of food. Sodium chloride is not made up of sodium atoms and \Jchlorine\j atoms, but of sodium ions and chloride ions. Of course, the standard notation of the chemist, who represents sodium chloride as NaCl, is totally false. There is no such thing as a "molecule" of sodium chloride; instead, we have crystals where sodium ions and chloride ions are packed in so that they are in roughly equal numbers.
This sort of arrangement is known as ionic bonding, where the attraction between the particles is essentially a matter of \Jelectrostatics\j. There are many other chemical compounds, though, where this ionic form of bonding does not occur.
In these \Jcovalent\j bonds, electrons are not transferred to make ions, but shared, or smeared between two or more atoms. Once again, the 'magic number' for stability is usually eight, and atoms get themselves to a stable 'preferred' charge by sharing just enough electrons to reach that number.
Carbon tetrachloride, CCl\D4\d, is a good example. Each \Jchlorine\j atom has seven electrons in the outer shell, while the carbon has four electrons in the outer shell. Each \Jchlorine\j shares one \Jelectron\j with the carbon, with the carbon contributing another \Jelectron\j to make a stable pair which is a single bond to the chemists. The four single bonds mean that the carbon atom is able to have a stable outer shell of eight electrons, at least part of the time.
There is one special case where the 'magic number' for stability is two, rather than eight, and that occurs in \Jhydrogen\j compounds. Water is usually written as 'H\D2\dO', even though, as we will see later, there is no such thing, and in this case, the two hydrogens each share an \Jelectron\j with the oxygen atom, and gain a share in an \Jelectron\j in turn. This carries each \Jhydrogen\j atom from an unstable one to a stable two electrons, and the oxygen from an unstable six to a stable eight. In the same way, \Jhydrogen\j atoms and oxygen atoms on their own will be more stable when they have paired off and formed a bond with another similar atom, producing the H\D2\d and O\D2\d of the chemistry class.
About the time that people learn these two 'chemical formulae', they are also taught about \Jwater\j, but they are hardly ever told that there is really no such thing as 'H\D2\dO'-or not anything of that name that we can handle.
Chemically, \Jwater\j is a contradiction. It should never be a liquid at room \Jtemperature\j, but a gas, and the only reason that it is a liquid is because it clumps due to \Jhydrogen\j bonding to form groups of about four \Jwater\j molecules.
The standard H\D2\dO is a bit like a \Jcartoon\j mouse's head, with the face playing the part of the oxygen, and two \Jhydrogen\j ears popping up on one side. The \Jcovalent\j bond in \Jwater\j sees the electrons more associated with the oxygen than with the hydrogens, so we end up with a polar molecule, positive on one side, and negative on the other. This is what causes the H\D2\dO lumps to clump together in small groups. When you boil \Jwater\j, the gaseous steam is really made up of H\D2\dO, but that is rather different from the stuff we drink.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
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"chemical elements",7853,0,0,0
EN The simplest substances into which matter can be broken without nuclear reactions. Each element is characterized by the number of protons in the nuclei of its atoms, the atomic number of the element, and is identified by a one- or two-letter symbol. There are about 90 elements which have been found in nature. A further 20 have been artificially made. The most common elements in the crust of the Earth are: oxygen (O), 49%; silicon (Si), 26%; \Jaluminium\j (Al), 8%; iron (Fe), 5%.
\BMore information provided by Webster Publishing\b
The first idea about elements was the Greek one. They saw elements as the things that all else was made from in simple terms: air, \Jearth\j, fire, and \Jwater\j. By increasing the amounts of one or another of these elements, you would produce different things.
For example, plants grow in the \Jearth\j, and need \Jwater\j, but they obviously absorb fire from somewhere, since wood and leaves burn to release fire. Minerals come from the \Jearth\j, iron needs to be worked in fire, and so the pattern went.
The idea of atoms, parts of matter which could not be further split, was generally acceptable to everybody, although they never actually used the idea to explain anything. Sir Isaac Newton wrote about atoms in his \IOpticks,\i and showed that atoms could explain chemical observations, but for the rest, chemists mostly just kept on trying to discover things.
Robert Boyle, who among other things, discovered (or rediscovered) how to make \Jphosphorus\j, wrote of elements like this, in his work \IThe Sceptical Chymist,\i that they are \I"..certain Primitive and Simple or perfectly unmingled bodies; which not being made of any other bodies, or of one another, are the Ingredients of which all those call'd perfectly mixt Bodies are immediately compounded, and into which they are ultimately resolved".\i
The next advance on idea of elements was a rather more sophisticated one. Now elements were, in the definition of French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, those parts of chemical compounds which were unable to be broken down into any smaller bits. Slowly, as analytical chemistry got better, and more compounds could be split, the number of 'elements' grew, and many of the additions were made by Lavoisier himself.
In the accompanying table, you can see the elements that Lavoisier thought were used to make up matter. By 1789, when this list was published, quite a few modern elements were there, but in a sense at least, the Greek element of fire is still there, but now it has been divided into light and heat.
When French chemist Joseph Louis Proust had proposed his law of constant proportions, it was more of a question than an answer. Careful measurement showed that the pure chemicals that he decomposed always had the same proportions of the elements that made them up, but Proust could not see why. The answer to that question had to wait for John Dalton, who showed that the whole issue could be explained simply, just so long as there were simple bits of identical matter, atoms, and that these combined to make molecules.
To go beyond Lavoisier's list, the chemists would have needed to come up with a way of separating the unsplittable, and a few years later, too late for Lavoisier, \Jelectrolysis\j was added to the range of tools available to chemists although it would be some years before any new elements were discovered in this way. Still, when they came, they came in a rush.
The next main step came in 1868, when Russian scientist Mendeleyev invented his \Jperiodic table\j, and detected the gaps where missing elements were still to be identified. Later, the transition elements, the rare earths (or \Jlanthanides\j), and the \Jnoble gases\j would be added, and later still, the \Jactinides\j or transuranic elements, the artificial elements produced in nuclear reactions, but after Mendeleyev, the picture of the elements was largely in its modern form.
\IWritten by Peter Macinnis\i
BK c
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"chemical energy",7854,0,0,0
EN Energy potentially or actually liberated by a \Jchemical reaction\j, also called \Bheat of reaction.\b This \Jenergy\j may be converted to or from electrical \Jenergy\j, heat, or light. Normally, \Jenergy\j \Iabsorbed\i in chemical change is considered positive; \Jenergy\j \Ireleased\i is negative. It is generally expressed on the molar scale.
BK c
#
"chemical engineering",7855,0,0,0
EN The theory and practice of designing, setting up, and operating apparatus for the large-scale manufacture of the products of chemical reactions. The earliest chemical manufacture (to the mid-19th-c) was based on personal skills and on tradition. From then on, the application of \Jmathematics\j and physics to chemical problems, and an increased demand for chemical products, led to the study of the ways in which known chemical and physical principles applied to large quantities, the demands for heat supply, and the control of the movement of chemicals in bulk through large systems.
The various problems in manufacturing a wide variety of substances are studied in the light of common principles that apply to unit processes. University departments, professional training, and professional institutions devoted to chemical \Jengineering\j have developed in all industrialized countries since 1900.
BK c
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"chemical equation",7856,0,0,0
EN The quantitative expression of a \Jchemical reaction\j. It must balance, in terms of both the numbers of atoms of all elements involved, and the electric charge. The example given below is the reaction of manganate(VII) (permanganate) ions with iron(II) to give \Jmanganese\j(II) and iron(III). The reaction also consumes acid (H+) and produces \Jwater\j: MnO\D4\d\D┐\d+ 5Fe\U2+\u┐+┐8H\U+\u \f(r)\nMn\U2+\u + 5Fe\U3+\u + 4H\D2\dO.
BK c
#
"chemical finishing",7857,0,0,0
EN A general term used for the treatment of fabrics by chemical processing, such as bleaching, \Jmercerizing\j, \Jresin\j treatment, or waterproofing. It is carried out to 'finish' the fabric after weaving, knitting, etc has taken place.
BK c
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"chemical formula",7858,0,0,0
EN The representation of a substance in terms of the symbols of its elements. Molecular compounds are written as the full molecule; thus benzene is C\D6\dH\D6\d and \Jacetylene\j is C\D2\dH\D2\d. Non-molecular compounds are written as the simplest ratio of elements, also called the \Bempirical formula; \b thus \Jcalcium\j \Jfluoride\j is CaF\D2\d, and diamond is C.
BK c
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"chemical laser",7859,0,0,0
EN A \Jlaser\j in which a \Jchemical reaction\j provides the \Jenergy\j for \Jlaser\j action. For example, in a \Jlaser\j containing carbon dioxide with \Jhydrogen\j and \Jfluorine\j, the \Jlaser\j action would take place in the carbon dioxide, powered by the reaction of \Jhydrogen\j and \Jfluorine\j to give \Jhydrogen\j \Jfluoride\j. Chemical lasers with powers in excess of 10\U6\u┐W are possible.
BK c
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"chemical reaction",7860,0,0,0
EN A process in which one or more compounds are converted into others, by the breaking and forming of chemical bonds (usually with the gain or loss of \Jenergy\j by the system).
BK c
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"chemical warfare",7861,0,0,0
EN The use of deadly or disabling substances in warfare. It was forbidden by a declaration of the Hague Conference in 1899, but one of the signatories, \JGermany\j, was the first to use such weapons, the first attack being made against British troops at Ypres in April 1915. Since 1918 chemical weapons have been used in many conflicts, but not on European battlefields, although the Germans manufactured large quantities of deadly nerve gases during World War 2.
Such weapons are not forbidden by treaty, and large quantities were stockpiled by the USA and the former \JSoviet Union\j. Other agents of chemical warfare include non-lethal harassing and incapacitating agents, hallucinogenic substances, and herbicides.
BK c
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"chemiluminescence",7862,0,0,0
EN See bioluminescence
BK c
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#
"chemin de fer",7863,0,0,0
PN [shuhmφ\ti duh \Bfair\b]
EN A casino card game, often referred to as 'chemmy'. A variant of \Ibaccarat banque,\i it is played by up to 12 players. The object is to obtain a total as near as possible to 9 with two or three cards. If the total is a double figure then the first figure is ignored, eg 16 would count as 6. The ace counts as 1, face cards their value, and picture cards 10.
BK c
#
"chemisorption",7864,0,0,0
EN See \Jadsorption\j
BK c
XCY y
#
"chemistry",7865,0,0,0
EN The study of the composition of substances and the changes that they undergo. Its origins lie partly in ancient technology (eg \Jmetallurgy\j and soap manufacture), partly in mediaeval speculation on methods of obtaining gold \I(\Jalchemy\j),\i and partly in early attempts to improve medicines \I(iatrochemistry).\i Antoine Lavoisier is usually considered the father of modern chemistry, with his distinction between \Ielements\i and \Icompounds\i formed from elements, and his insistence that chemical reactions are quantitative in nature.
With the development of the atomic theory of John Dalton, chemistry evolved rapidly in the 19th-c. \BOrganic chemistry\b originated from the isolation of medicinal compounds from animals and plants, and \Binorganic chemistry\b from the study of minerals. They developed mainly into the synthesis and study of molecular compounds and of ionic compounds respectively, but are now often indistinguishable.
\BPhysical chemistry\b (studying the relationship of physical properties to chemical composition, structure, and reactivity) and \Banalytical chemistry\b (studying the composition of material) also developed in parallel, particularly with 20th-c developments in spectroscopic and electrochemical methods. Modern chemistry has also been advanced by the elucidation of the nature of chemical bonding.
Chemistry today is the basis of a worldwide industry concerned with almost every aspect of life, including food, fuel, clothing, building materials, and medicines. While the growth of this industry has had some undeniably bad ecological effects, chemistry provides the key to the improvement of the environment and world living standards.
\BAdditional information provided by Cambridge Dictionary of Scientists\b
The Entry of Women into Chemistry in Britain
Any amateur's participation in science before 1800 was gained through public lectures, membership of an appropriate society, with its lectures and publications, and the availability of basic instruments and a home laboratory. HUMPHRY DAVY'S lectures at the Royal Institution created a large new audience of potential scientists. Among them was JANE MARCET, who found that she needed help in understanding the lectures and in following the discussions.
With her husband, a physician and Fellow of the Royal Society whose hobby was chemistry, she lived among the scientific circle in London. She decided to share her new knowledge with others struggling to understand the public lectures, and \IConversations on Chemistry\i (1805) was the result. This was an immense success both in Britain and in Europe and the USA, and went into 16 updated editions. Later, MARY SOMERVILLE was to continue the explanation of science to amateurs with her very successful book \IThe Connexion of the Physical Sciences\i (1835).
The great interest in science generated in the early 19th-c did not result in active participation by amateur female chemical scientists. Unlike those women interested in \Jastronomy\j, the biological sciences or \Jgeology\j, who followed their own research and published in the appropriate journals of provincial and national scientific societies, there appear to be no papers submitted by women to the British scientific journals on chemical subjects before the entry of women into universities.
In Britain Elizabeth Fulhame, about whom little is known, appears to be the first female independent researcher in chemistry. Her interest began with a search for a method of depositing thin layers of metal on cloth and paper. She enthused over LAVOISIER'S new theory of combustion and devised her own variation on it.
Her ideas on combustion, although erroneous, show strange pre-echoes of modern Gaia theory: she wrote that her ideas 'may serve to show how nature is always the same, and maintains her equilibrium by preserving the same quantities of air and \Jwater\j on the surface of our globe. Her \IEssay on Combustion\i (1794) was reprinted in the USA in 1810 and she was elected an honorary member of the Philadelphia Chemical Society.
Access to laboratory materials may have been as difficult for the potential female chemists as was access to instruments for the female astronomers. MARIE LAVOISIER was introduced to work in the laboratory as an assistant to her husband in much the same way as CAROLINE HERSCHEL was introduced to the \Jtelescope\j as an assistant to her brother. Apart from her help to her husband in notetaking and translations, Marie Lavoisier rescued her husband's papers from his killers, preventing their suppression or incorporation in others' work, printed them at her own expense and presented them to eminent scientists around Europe.
MARIE CURIE had her own well recorded struggles. Together with PIERRE CURIE and HENRI BECQUEREL she was awarded a Nobel Prize for physics, and later the unshared Nobel Prize for chemistry. The possible applications of \Jradium\j as a treatment for cancer as well as the value of X-rays and the novelty of a woman scientist made her a public figure and a source of encouragement for those women who wished for a scientific career.
The opening of universities to women in the later part of the 19th-c gave them the opportunity to work in a laboratory, but to gain an opening in the male-dominated world of research in physical science often required the assistance of men in the field. The biochemist F G HOPKINS provided research places for women in his biochemical laboratory in Cambridge, despite much criticism. In the 1 920s and 1930s almost half the research places in his laboratory went to women. Not surprisingly, it was to his laboratory that the women trained in chemical science gravitated, as well as the biologists.
Similarly, they went to the Cambridge laboratories of Sir Michael Foster (1836-1907), the physiologist, who provided research places and to the Cavendish (Cambridge physics) laboratories of W H and W L BRAGG, who also enabled women to find places. Another enabler was ERNEST RUTHERFORD. The early women in chemical sciences tended to be in biological, physical and inorganic chemistry rather than organic chemistry. These early enablers may have had an influence in the flow of women into biological sciences In the USA women at first researched mostly in applied analytical chemistry.
Many of the early British women biochemists went into teaching and the administration of the women's colleges; the pressure to do so must have been great. One such was Marion Greenwood (1862-1932), who obtained Class 1 in both parts of the Cambridge Natural Sciences Tripos Examinations of 1882 and 1883 and became demonstrator in \Jphysiology\j at Newnham College, Cambridge. She researched in Foster's \Jphysiology\j laboratory on the role played by acid in protozoan digestion, and became head of the women's laboratory (the Balfour Laboratory) in 1890.
Eleanor Balfour Sidgwick (1845-1936) had an interest in \Jmathematics\j, encouraged by her mother, and studied with her brother-in-law John Strutt (later LORD RAYLEIGH). She was also interested in education for women and in the new women's colleges. She was first secretary to the principal of Newnham and assisted in the teaching there and became treasurer of the college 1876-1919, viceprincipal in 1880 and principal 1892-1911. She never completed her studies at Cambridge, but in 1880 began research work with Rayleigh, who was then professor of experimental physics. She worked in \Jelectrochemistry\j and the result was published jointly in two papers in \IPhilosophical Transactions\i.
Ida Freund (1863-1914)came to Britain from Vienna in 1881, studied at Girton College, Cambridge and gained a Class 1 in her examinations. She became lecturer in chemistry at Newnham College and ran the chemistry laboratory there despite being confined to a wheelchair, having lost a leg in a \Jcycling\j accident in her youth. Her impact, however, was, like Jane Marcet's, in science writing, but unlike Marcet not at a popular level. Her book \IThe Study of Chemical Composition\i (1905) became a definitive classic in its area of chemical history.
Frances Mary Gore Micklethwait (1868-1950) was able to pursue a career in chemistry. At the age of 30 she became a student at the Royal College of Science (now Imperial College, London) and graduated in 1901. She carried out research there for the next 13 years at a time when it was difficult for a woman to do so. She worked mainly with Sir Gilbert Morgan (1870-1940), doing valuable work on diazo reactions and organo-\Jarsenic\j compounds. Her work in the First World War was undisclosed, but was probably on explosives, and led to her MBE in 1919.
Rutherford said of HARRIET BROOKS: 'next to Mme \JCurie\j she is the most pre-eminent woman physicist in the department of \Jradioactivity\j'. She gained a first class honours degree in 1898 at McGill University, Montreal and joined Rutherford's research group there. Her work led Rutherford and SODDY to the realization that a transmutation of one element to another had occurred; this entirely novel idea was central to the whole development of nuclear physics and chemistry.
One of the 'Bragg pupils', KATHLEEN LONSDALE, is strictly a physicist but her contributions to chemistry (by X-ray \Jdiffraction\j methods) led to her becoming the first woman Fellow of the Royal Society, and professor of chemistry at University College London .
May Sybil Leslie (1887-1937) moved into industrial chemistry. She graduated with first class honours from the University of Leeds in 1908 and worked with Marie \JCurie\j in Paris and later with Rutherford in Manchester, where she continued research on thorium and actinium. During the First World War she worked in a war factory in Litherland (and later in North Wales), initially as a research chemist, but later as chemist in charge of the laboratory. This unusual position for a woman no doubt came about through the departure of the men to the war. Her work was on the chemical reactions involved in the formation of nitric acid and the best conditions for making it in large quantities for munitions.
Ida Smedley MacLean (1877-1944) attended the King Edward Vl High School for Girls in Birmingham, which had a high reputation for science and a number of Cambridge trained staff. She was a student at Newnham and took her examinations in 1898. She worked on the chemistry and \Jmetabolism\j of fats at the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine in London and was one of the founders of the British Federation of University Women. She worked for the admission of women to the Chemical Society of London, which, like the Geological Society of London, had been slow in admitting them to its fellowship. She was the first woman to be elected in 1920.
Resistance to employing women in the chemical industry was forceful and prolonged. In the interwar years the number of posts in science-based industry was limited, and was further reduced by a long period of recession. In these circumstances, it is unsurprising that in chemistry (as in other professions and trades) a male workforce protected its job opportunities as best it could. The phrase 'the already overcrowded state of the profession' is recurrent in arguments rejecting the admission of women.
MM
BK c
#
"Chemnitz, Martin",7866,0,0,0
PN [\Bkem\bnits]
DT1 1522
DT2 86
EN Lutheran theologian, born in Treuenbrietzen, \JGermany\j. He studied at \JWittenberg\j under Melanchthon, became librarian at K÷nigsberg in 1549, and continued his theological studies. He entered the Lutheran ministry in 1553 as pastor, and in 1567 became superintendant of Braunschweig. He worked to unite the Lutheran Church (split after Luther's death), and was primarily responsible for the Formula of Concord (1577).
MEX Luther; Melanchthon
SX m
BK bg c
#
"chemoreception",7867,0,0,0
EN The perception of chemical stimuli by living organisms; usually performed by specialized receptor cells or organs. \JChemoreception\j includes both olfaction (the perception of smells) and gustation (the perception of taste).
BK c
#
"chemotaxis",7868,0,0,0
PN [keemoh\Btak\bsis]
EN The process by which cells or organisms move in response to a chemical stimulus towards the most appropriate region of their environment. Examples include the movement of \Jleucocytes\j towards the sites of \Jinflammation\j, infection, or tissue damage; and the movement of \Jbacteria\j towards areas that are nutritionally rich.
BK c
#
"chemotherapy",7869,0,0,0
EN The drug treatment of infectious diseases (using \Jantibiotics\j), parasitic diseases, and cancer. Cancer \Jchemotherapy\j usually involves the administration of a cocktail of cytotoxic drugs (ie which kill or damage cells). Although designed to attack preferentially the rapidly growing cells of a \Jtumour\j, they also attack normal cells (especially bone marrow) causing reduced resistance to infection, loss of hair, and sterility.
Supportive therapy can now help with these problems. They also cause severe nausea and vomiting, which can prevent completion of a course of treatment, so drugs are included in the cocktail to combat this. Examples of cytotoxic drugs include alkylating agents (eg cisplatin), antimetabolites (eg methotrexate), and \IVinca\i \Jalkaloids\j. \JHormones\j are also used to suppress the growth of some tumours.
BK c
#
"Chen Duxiu",7870,0,0,0
PN [chen dooshoo]
HS , also spelled \BCh'en Tu-hsiu\b
DT1 1879
DT2 1942
EN One of the founders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As dean of the Faculty of Letters at \JBeijing\j University, he founded the journal \INew Youth\i (1915), which first published both Hu Shi and Lu Xun, and influenced the young Mao Zedong. He saw \JMarxism\j as a vehicle for modernization, met a \JComintern\j agent in 1920, and established Communist cells in several cities, six of which founded the CCP in 1921.
His repeated criticisms of the policy of entryism into the Guomindang led to expulsion from the CCP in 1930. Imprisoned from 1932-7, he left politics and concentrated on writing. He believed in the rejuvenation of China by destroying Confucian traditions and social patterns, and emulating Western political and scientific thought.
MEX Hu Shi; Li Dazhao; Lu Xun; Mao Zedong
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#
"Chen Ning Yang",7871,0,0,0
EN See Yang, Chen Ning
BK bg c
XCY y
#
"Chen Yi",7872,0,0,0
DT1 1901
DT2 72
EN Chinese Communist leader, born in Lo-chih, Szechwan. He studied in \JFrance\j, and joined the Communist Party on his return. He supported Mao Zedong in the struggle with the Kuomintang and the Japanese (1934). He formed the 4th Route Army in Kiangsi (1940), and commanded the East China Liberation Army (1946), restyled the 3rd (East China) Army (1948). Created Marshal of the People's Republic in 1955, he became foreign minister in 1958. He was dropped from the \JPolitburo\j during the Cultural Revolution in 1969.
MEX Mao Zedong
SX m
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#
"Chen-chiang",7873,0,0,0
EN See Zhenjiang, Chen-chiang, or Chinkiang
BK c
XCY y
#
"Chenab, River",7874,0,0,0
PN [\Bchay\bnab]
EN River in Kashmir and \JPakistan\j; one of the five rivers of the Punjab; rises in the \JHimalayas\j and flows north-west into Kashmir, then S into \JPakistan\j; joined by the River Sutlej E of Bahawalpur to form the River Panjnad, which then joins the River Indus to the north-east of Chachran; length 1087┐km / 675┐mi.
BK c
#
"Cheng Changgeng",7875,0,0,0
DT c.1812-80
EN Chinese actor. He played old male (laosheng) roles in jingxi. Cheng rose to become leader of the Three Celebrations, one of the four most prestigious acting companies in the capital. He was outstanding when portraying great statesmen and warriors, creating a style of acting which set precedents for the future. A man of great personal integrity and dignity, he was well regarded at court.
BK Thea
#
"Cheng Yanqiu",7876,0,0,0
DT 1904-58
EN Chinese actor. He studied both jingxi and kunqu techniques under leading teachers. Specializing in women's roles (dan), he rose to professional recognition as one of the four great performers of his genre - the 'big four', as they were known in theatre circles. Mei Lanfang (1894-1961), Shang Xiaoyun (1900-76) and Xun Huisheng (1900-68) were the others.
Cheng developed a very individual style of vocalization, and was noted for the grace and skill of his acting forms. In 1932 he was sent to Europe to study Western theatre and opera practices. In 1930 he was appointed head of the first coeducational Academy of Dramatic Art in \JBeijing\j. His last years were spent training a new generation of \JBeijing\j actors.
BK Thea
#
"Cheng-hsien",7877,0,0,0
EN See Zhengzhou
BK c
XCY y
#
"Chengchow; Cheng-chou",7878,0,0,0
EN See Zhengzhou
BK c
XCY y
#
"Chengdu or Cheng-tu",7879,0,0,0
PN [cheng\Bdoo\b]
EN 30░37N 104░06E, pop (1995e) 3 168 000, administrative region 9 934 000. Capital of Sichuan province, SWC China; founded 200BCas Zhou dynastic capital; population exceeded 1.3 million by 1st-cAD;regional industrial base since 1949; airfield; railway; university (1931); rice, wheat, sweet potatoes, tea, medicinal herbs, \Jtobacco\j, silk, handicrafts, \Jcoal\j, \Jmetallurgy\j, \Jelectronics\j; home of Sichuan opera; home of Tang poet, Du Fu (712--70); Dujiang Yan irrigation works (250BC),40 km/25 mi NW; Qingyanggong Temple; flower festival (Feb--Mar).
BK Geog99
#
"ChΘnier, AndrΘ (Marie) de",7880,0,0,0
PN [shaynyay]
DT1 1762
DT2 94
EN Poet, born in \JIstanbul\j, the third son of the French consul-general. At three he was sent to \JFrance\j, and at 12 placed at the CollΦge de Navarre, Paris. His poems include the idylls 'Le Mendiant', 'L'Aveugle', and 'HermΦs', the last being an imitation of \JLucretius\j. In 1787 he went to England as secretary to the French ambassador, but returned to Paris (1790) to find himself in the ferment of the Revolution, which at first he supported; but alarmed by its excesses he offended Robespierre by pamphlets, and was guillotined. Little of his work was published until 25 years after his death, when he was acclaimed as a major figure of the Romantic movement.
MEX Robespierre
SX m
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#
"Chenier, Clifton",7881,0,0,0
DT (1925-85)
EN musician; born in Opelousas, La. The "King of Zydeco," he was an accordianist and singer who pioneered zydeco, a fusion of blues and the French Cajun music of Louisiana. He led his own band from the 1950s, playing locally until he gained wide recognition through a series of European tours beginning in the early 1970s.
BK AmBg
#
"Chennai",7882,0,0,0
EN See Madras
BK c
XCY y
#
"Chennault, Claire (Lee)",7883,0,0,0
DT (1890-1958)
EN aviator; born in Commerce, \JTexas\j. A schoolteacher, he obtained an infantry commission in 1917, transferred to the Signal Corps and became a pilot. Forced out of the service in 1937 because of \Jdeafness\j, Chennault went to work for the Chinese Nationalists, recruiting some 50 U.S. pilots and equipping them with P-40 \Jaircraft\j for operations against the Japanese.
In a brief career of seven months in 1941-42, Chennault's "Flying Tigers" became the most publicized flying unit of World War II. Chennault went on to hold senior U.S. commands in China, retiring in 1945. He continued to serve the Nationalists as an air consultant until the year of his death.
BK AmBg
#
"Cheops",7884,0,0,0
PN [\Bkee\bops]
HS , Greek form of \BKhufu\b
DT1 26
DT1b th-c BC
EN King of Memphis in \JEgypt\j, second ruler of the fourth dynasty. He is famous as the builder of the Great Pyramid. The \IShip of Cheops\i is a funeral ship found dismantled at \JGiza\j in 1954 in one of five boat pits around the pyramid.
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Cheops, Ship of",7885,0,0,0
EN See Ship of Cheops
BK c
XCY y
#
"cheque (UK) or check (US)",7886,0,0,0
EN An order in writing to a bank to pay the person or institution named the sum of money specified. Cheques are commonly printed by banks for the use of their customers, but may be written on anything; examples include a tablecloth and (in legal fiction) a cow. If a bank refuses to accept a cheque, it will be marked 'R.D.', signifying 'Refer to Drawer'.
BK c
#
"cheque card",7887,0,0,0
EN In the UK, a flexible plastic card (c.54┐╫┐85┐mm / 21/8┐╫┐3\U3\u / \D8\d┐in) issued by banks to customers who have a cheque book; in the USA usually called a \Bbank card.\b It shows the customer's name and account number, and guarantees that the bank will honour a cheque (up to a specified sum) where the name and number correspond. Some may also be used in bank cash-dispensing machines.
BK c
#
"chequerberry",7888,0,0,0
EN See service tree
BK c
XCY y
#
"Chequers",7889,0,0,0
PN [\Bchek\berz]
EN The official country residence of British prime ministers, donated to the nation by Viscount Lee of Fareham in 1921. The estate is located in the Chiltern Hills, Buckinghamshire, SC England, UK. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book.
BK c
#
"Cherbourg",7890,0,0,0
PN [\Bsher\bboorg]
EN 49░38N 1░37W, pop (1995e) 29 600. Fortified seaport and naval base in Manche department, NW \JFrance\j; at head of the Cotentin peninsula; harbour protected by a long \Jbreakwater\j, 1853; \JFrance\j's third largest naval base; shipbuilding and dockyards; used by transatlantic shipping; ferry services to \JSouthampton\j, Weymouth, Rosslare.
BK Geog99
#
"ChΘreau, Patrice",7891,0,0,0
DT 1944-
EN French director. He made his name with Lenz's The Soldiers in 1967 and joined Planchon as director of the ThΘΓtre National Populaire at Villeurbanne in 1972, moving to the ThΘΓtre des Amandiers at Nanterre in 1982. His productions are distinguished by great scenic brilliance together with an ability to create modern archetypes.
His Ring cycle at Bayreuth in 1976-80 recast the Norse legends in images of the industrial revolution, and his revivals of Marivaux, Ibsen (Peer Gynt, 1981) and Genet (Les Paravents, 1983) have brought international recognition. Between 1983 and 1988 he directed the first performances of the plays of Bernard-Marie KoltΦs.
BK Thea
#
"Cherenkov, Pavel (Alexeyevich)",7892,0,0,0
PN [cherengkof]
DT (1904-90)
EN Russian physicist: discoverer of the Cherenkov effect.
A graduate of \JVoronezh\j State University, Cherenkov worked at the Lebedev Institute of Physics from 1930. In 1934 he first saw the blue light emitted from \Jwater\j exposed to \Jradioactivity\j from \Jradium\j, which had been observed by many earlier workers who had assumed it to be \Jfluorescence\j. Cherenkov soon found that this could not be the explanation because the glow is shown by other liquids; and he found it was caused by fast electrons (beta rays) from the \Jradium\j and that it was polarized.
By 1937, working with I M Frank (1908- ) and I E Tamm (1895-1971), he was able to explain the effect. They showed that in general the effect arises when a charged particle traverses a medium (liquid or solid) when moving at a speed greater than the speed of light in that medium, and they were able to predict its direction and polarization.
The effect is dramatically visible in the blue glow in a uranium reactor core containing heavy \Jwater\j; and it is used in a method for detecting high-\Jenergy\j charged particles. A counter of this type, using a photomultiplier, can detect single particles. The effect has some analogy with the shock wave and \Jsonic boom\j produced when an \Jaircraft\j exceeds the speed of sound in air. Cherenkov, Frank and Tamm shared a Nobel Prize in 1958.
EN Pianist, born in Odessa, \JUkraine\j. He settled in America in 1922 and studied at the Curtis Institute, Philadelphia. He excelled in the Romantic repertoire, and toured and recorded widely.
SX m
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#
"Chermayeff, Serge",7894,0,0,0
PN [cher\Bmiy\bef]
DT1 1900
DT2 96
EN Architect and designer, born in the Caucasus. Educated in England, he took up journalism, then became a director of Waring & Gillow (1928), for which he established a 'Modern Art Studio'. His early design work was for interiors, including studios for Broadcasting House, London (1931). In 1940 he emigrated to the USA where, in addition to his architectural work, he taught design and \Jarchitecture\j. He held professorships at Harvard (1952-62) and Yale (1962-9).
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Chernenko, Konstantin Ustinovich",7895,0,0,0
PN [cher\Bnyeng\bko]
DT1 1911
DT2 85
EN Soviet statesman and president (1984-5), born in Bolshaya Tes, \JRussia\j. He joined the Communist Party in 1931, and held several local posts. An associate of Brezhnev for many years, he became a member of the \JPolitburo\j in 1978, and the Party's chief ideologist after the death of Suslov.
Regarded as a conservative, Chernenko was a rival of Andropov in the Party leadership contest of 1982, and became Party general secretary and head of state after Andropov's death in 1984. He suffered from ill health, and died soon after, to be succeeded by Gorbachev.
MEX Andropov; Brezhnev; Gorbachev; Suslov
SX m
BK bg c
#
"Chernobyl",7896,0,0,0
PN [cher\Bno\bbil]
EN 51░16N 30░15E. City in \JUkraine\j; near the junction of the Pripyat and Ushk Rivers, N of \JKiev\j; scene of the world's largest known nuclear disaster in 1986.
BK c
#
"chernozem",7897,0,0,0
PN [\Bcher\bnozem]
EN A dark, rich and fertile soil found in cool, low-\Jhumidity\j regions. It is typical of the Russian steppes.
BK c
#
"Cherokee",7898,0,0,0
PN [\Bche\brokee]
EN A North American Indian people, originally from the Great Lakes, who migrated to the south-east after their defeat by the \JIroquois\j and \JDelaware\j. Evicted from their land when gold was discovered on it, 15┐000 were force-marched W by 7000 US troops (the 'trail of tears', 1838-9). The survivors were settled in Oklahoma with Creeks and other south-east tribes who were moved there by the US government in the 1830s. They speak an Iroquoian language. They are now the largest Indian group in the USA, numbering c.308┐000 (1990 \Jcensus\j).
BK c
#
"cherry",7899,0,0,0
EN A deciduous, mostly N temperate tree closely related to the plum, peach, and \Jblackthorn\j; often with distinctive shiny reddish-brown banded bark; oval, finely toothed leaves; clusters of white flowers and bright red or purplish fruits which are sour or sweet, depending on the species or variety.
The well-known orchard fruits are mostly the \Bsour\b or \Bmorello cherry\b \I(Prunus cerasus),\i a species of unknown origin, with white flowers and bright red, acid fruit; and the \Bsweet cherry,\b probably a hybrid between gean and sour cherry with sweet, red or purplish fruits. Various other species and hybrids, especially pink-flowered Japanese ones, are popular ornamentals. \B(Genus:\b \IPrunus.\i Subgenus: \ICerasus.\i \BFamily:\b Rosaceae.)
BK c
#
"cherry laurel",7900,0,0,0
EN An evergreen shrub or small tree \I(Prunus laurocerasus),\i native to the Balkans but cultivated since the 16th-c, and widely naturalized; leaves oblong, leathery; flowers white, fragrant, c.30 in a spike; berries red or green, turning black when ripe, poisonous. \B(Family:\b Rosaceae.)
BK c
#
"cherry plum",7901,0,0,0
EN A deciduous, occasionally spiny, shrub or small tree \I(Prunus cerasifera),\i growing to 8┐m / 26┐ft, probably one of the parents of plum; flowers white, appearing with or before ovoid, toothed leaves; fruit globular, 2-3.5┐cm / 0.8-1.5┐in, red or yellow; native to the Balkans, and cultivated elsewhere; also called \Bmyrobalan.\b \B(Family:\b Rosaceae.)
BK c
#
"chert",7902,0,0,0
EN A very fine-grained form of \Jsilica\j (SiO\D2\d), in which the \Jquartz\j crystals are too small to be observed by optical microscopy. It is characteristically formed on the ocean bed by the accumulation and subsequent recrystallization of the \Jsilica\j shells of diatoms and \JRadiolaria\j. It also occurs as concretions in limestones.
BK c
#
"cherubim",7903,0,0,0
PN [\Bcher\buhbim]
HS , singular \Bcherub\b
EN In the \JHebrew\j \JBible\j / \JOld Testament\j, winged celestial creatures or beasts of various descriptions. Their roles include guarding the tree of life in the Garden of Eden \I(Gen\i 3.24), being stationed on the cover of the Ark of the Covenant \I(Ex\i 25.18-22), adorning Solomon's temple (1 \IKings\i 6.23ff), and accompanying the throne chariot of God \I(Ezek\i 1, 10).
BK c
#
"Cherubini, (Maria) Luigi (Carlo Zenobio Salvatore)",7904,0,0,0
PN [keru\Bbee\bnee]
DT1 1760
DT2 1842
EN Composer, born in Florence, \JItaly\j. He studied at \JBologna\j and Milan, and wrote a succession of operas, at first in Neapolitan, later (having moved to Paris) in French style. His best-known opera is \ILes Deux JournΘes\i (1880, The Two Days, or The Water-Carrier). His later work was mainly ecclesiastical. In 1822 he became director of the Paris Conservatoire.
SX m
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#
"chervil",7905,0,0,0
EN A hollow-stemmed annual \I(Anthriscus cerefolium),\i growing to 70┐cm / 27┐in, native to Europe and Asia, and often introduced elsewhere; leaves divided, the lobes dissected into narrow oblong segments; flowers small, white, borne in umbels up to 5┐cm / 2┐in across; fruits oblong, smooth. It is often grown for its aromatic leaves, used as a flavouring. \B(Family:\b Umbelliferae.)
BK c
#
"Cherwell, Frederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount",7906,0,0,0
PN [\Bchah(r)\bwel]
DT1 1886
DT2 1957
EN Scientist, born in \JBaden\j-\JBaden\j, \JGermany\j. He was brought up in England, but went to university at Berlin and the \JSorbonne\j. In 1914 he became director of the Experimental Physics Station at Farnborough, where he evolved the mathematical theory of \Jaircraft\j spin, and tested it in a daring flight.
In 1919 he became professor of experimental philosophy at Oxford, and later director of the Clarendon Laboratory. A close friend of Churchill, he became his scientific adviser in 1940. He was created a baron in 1941, and was paymaster-general on two occasions (1942--5, 1951--3).
BK Biog99
#
"Chesapeake Bay",7907,0,0,0
PN [\Bches\bapeek]
EN 38░40N 76░25W. An inlet of the \JAtlantic Ocean\j in Virginia (south) and Maryland (north) states, USA; over 300┐km / 185┐mi long; at the mouth of the Susquehanna, Patuxent, Potomac, Chester, Choptank, Nanticoke, Rappahannock, and James Rivers; part of the Intracoastal Waterway; an early area of US settlement (explored 1607); wide range of seafood; increasing \Jpollution\j.
BK c
#
"Chesapeake Bay retriever",7908,0,0,0
EN Very much a rugged working animal used for hunting in the most adverse \Jweather\j conditions and immune to pampering, this is a loyal and friendly dog which is very attached to those he knows.
\BHistory:\b
The Chesapeake Bay Retriever is an American breed whose two direct ancestors were recovered from a shipwreck off the coast of Maryland, USA. They were possibly Newfoundlands, noted for their retrieving ability, which were cross-bred with other dogs used as sporting dogs in the area. By 1885 the Standard was established, and a club for the breed was formed in 1918. The breed became renowned for its retrieving ability and hardiness in the freezing waters around the Chesapeake Bay in the duck hunting seasons, and took its name from the area.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The Chesapeake Bay Retriever is a medium, solidly built dog. \IHeight:\i 23 - 26 in (58.5 - 66 cm) for the dog and 21 - 24 in (53 - 61 cm) for the bitch. \IWeight:\i 65 - 75 lb (29.5 - 34 kg) for the dog and 55 - 65 lb (25 - 29.5 kg) for the bitch.
The skull is round and broad with a medium stop and short muzzle. The eyes are medium-sized, clear yellowish brown and set well apart. The ears hang freely, are small and set high. The body is medium-sized and the tail is straight or curved slightly. The Chesapeake has a coarse, oily outer coat with a wave on the neck, shoulders, back, and loin. The undercoat is dense, but fine and wooly.
This combination keeps the freezing \Jwater\j from getting through to the dog's skin, as the oily outer coat will shed the bulk of the \Jwater\j after a good shake. The coat color varies in the Chesapeake from a dark brown to a faded tan or "deadgrass." The coat color has been bred to match the colors of the hunting surroundings, particularly the "deadgrass" color which is the shade of dull straw.
\BBehavior:\b
The Chesapeake Bay Retriever is a large confident dog, with an even-tempered personality. Although this dog is a powerful athlete, it is slow to anger and remains very loyal. Its alert manner and devotion to the family, combine to produce an excellent watch-dog.
This adorable retriever gets along very well with most other dogs, although there are still benefits to be gained from early socialization. The Chesapeake Bay Retriever retains its excellent working dog abilities yet still makes a wonderful companion animal for families. However, care should be taken not to let this powerful dog knock over small children in play. When given lots of attention, this marvelous retriever will reward its owner time and again with its loyalty. Some Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, especially the females, can become snappy if allowed to go unchecked. As it is possible that this behavior is genetic, both parents should be seen before choosing a puppy.
The Chesapeake Bay Retriever benefits from regular exercise and if passively encouraged as a puppy, will love to swim in open \Jwater\j. This dog is normally a voracious eater and can sometimes put on excess weight if not allowed too exercise vigorously.
The Chesapeake Bay Retriever should have its ears regularly checked, particularly in warmer \Jweather\j. The coat should have major tangles removed after exercising. However, it is better not too brush the dog to vigorously until after the coat has dried out.
This dog is a truly magnificent retriever and will reward its owner with boundless affection and loyalty.
BK wan
#
"Cheshire",7909,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 970 000; area 2328 sq km/899 sq mi. County of NWC England, UK, bounded W by Wales; drained by the Mersey, Weaver, Dee, Gowy, and Wheelock Rivers; Delamere Forest between Chester and Northwich; county town, Chester; chief towns include Crewe, \JWarrington\j, Widnes, Runcorn, Macclesfield; \JWarrington\j and Halton new unitary authorities from 1998; dairy farming, \Jpetrochemicals\j, motor vehicles.
BK Geog99
#
"Cheshire (of Woodhall), (Geoffrey) Leonard Cheshire, Baron",7910,0,0,0
DT1 1917
DT2 92
EN British bomber pilot and philanthropist. He studied at Oxford, and was repeatedly decorated (including the VC, 1944) for his leadership and bravery during World War 2. He was one of the official British observers of the destruction caused by the atomic bomb over \JNagasaki\j (1945). This experience, together with his new-found faith, Catholicism, made him determine to establish co-operative communities for ex-servicemen dedicated to living in peace.
His initial venture failed, but he found himself looking after a homeless, cancer-stricken ex-serviceman who urged him to welcome others in a similar situation, and from this grew the Cheshire Homes for the Disabled. In 1959 he married \BSue Ryder,\b and he was created a life peer in 1991.
MEX Ryder, Sue
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"Chesney, Francis Rawdon",7911,0,0,0
PN [\Bchez\bnee]
DT1 1789
DT2 1872
EN Soldier and explorer of the Euphrates, born in Annalong, Co Down. In 1829 he surveyed the Isthmus of Suez, providing data later used in the construction of the Suez Canal. After 1831 he four times explored a route to India by rail and sea via \JSyria\j and the Euphrates. He transported two steamers overland from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates, and one successfully reached the Gulf in 1836, but the British government ignored his results.
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"Chesnius",7912,0,0,0
EN See Duchesne, AndrΘ
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"Chesnut, Mary, Boykin",7913,0,0,0
DT (1823-86)
EN diarist; born near Camden, S.C. Daughter of a former South Carolina governor, she married James Chesnut, a wealthy planter, defender of \Jslavery\j, and staunch secessionist; joining the U.S. Senate (Dem., S.C.) in 1859, he resigned in 1860 to lead in forming the Confederacy. He then served with the Confederate army, leaving his wife to write her journal of life on the southern homefront (especially in Richmond, Va., and South Carolina) from 1861-65. First published in 1905 as \IA Diary from Dixie,\i it is recognized as a lively and compelling contribution to the literature of the \JCivil War\j.
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"Chesnutt, Charles W(addell)",7914,0,0,0
DT (1858-1932)
EN lawyer, writer; born in Cleveland, Ohio. Son of \JNorth Carolina\j-born free blacks, he returned to his parents' native state after the \JCivil War\j to attend a teacher's training college in Fayetteville; he stayed on to teach there and become its principal (1872-83). Lack of opportunity to advance led him to go to New York City where he worked as a journalist while studying law. He moved back to Cleveland in 1887 and eventually established a successful law practice.
He began writing fiction about 1887; in 1889 he published his first collection of short stories, \IThe Conjure Woman,\i and in 1890 his first novel, \IBehind the Cedars.\i Along with his critical essays on other African-American writers, his works of fiction - some of which dealt realistically with the effects of \Jracial discrimination\j on American society - gained him the reputation of being the first serious African-American writer. His later years were marked by ill health.
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"chess",7915,0,0,0
EN A game for two players played on a board containing 64 squares alternately black and white. Each player has 16 pieces, either black or white, consisting of eight \Ipawns,\i two \Irooks\i (also known as \Icastles),\i two \Iknights,\i two \Ibishops,\i a \Iqueen,\i and a \Iking.\i The game is one of strategy, the object being to attack the opponent's king in such fashion that it cannot move safely.
That attacking move is called \Icheckmate.\i All pieces have set moves, and the most versatile is the queen. The game was probably first played in ancient India, where it was known as \Ichaturanga,\i then spread E to China and W to \JPersia\j. The earliest documentary references are in Persian and Chinese texts in c.600. A Chinese bibliography of that date includes books on chess, and a 10th-c Chinese encyclopedia dates it to 568.
The international body which supervises the game is the World Chess Federation \I(FΘdΘration Internationale des Echecs,\i or FIDE). It traditionally organizes the world chess championships and other international competitions, though in 1987 a disagreement between Russian grandmaster Gary Kasparov and FIDE over levels of prize funding and FIDE's alleged autocratic methods led Kasparov to promote a breakaway body (the \IProfessional Chess Association).\i
This body mounted an independent championship match in 1993 between Kasparov and his official challenger, UK grandmaster Nigel Short. Both players were then stripped of their right to contest the World Chess Federation title by FIDE, who invited Russian grandmaster Anatoly Karpov and Dutch grandmaster Jan Timman to play in their place. Kasparov and Karpov won their respective matches, but neither were enthusiastic about the prospect of a unifying match, and at the end of 1993 the international chess world remained split between the two bodies.
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"Chess, Leonard",7916,0,0,0
DT (1917-69)
EN recording executive; born in \JPoland\j. The founder of Chess Records, he was raised in \JChicago\j, where his immigrant family settled in 1928. In 1939 he and his brother Phil Chess opened the Macombo Lounge, a nightclub catering to African-American patrons on \JChicago\j's South Side. In 1946, the brothers formed Aristocrat Records and recorded several local blues artists, notably Muddy Waters.
In 1950, Aristocrat was succeeded by Chess Records, which they operated until its sale in 1968. Throughout its operation, Chess featured the major figures of \JChicago\j blues, including Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Willie Dixon, and this is its chief legacy. But by 1955, it had diversified to include rock 'n' roll pioneers Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, and in the 1960s its most popular artist was the soul singer Etta James.
In 1963 he purchased radio station WVON ("Voice of the Negro") in \JChicago\j, and by the time of his death from a heart attack, his firm, Lake & P Broadcasting, owned additional stations in \JChicago\j and \JMilwaukee\j.
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"Chessman, Caryl (Whittier)",7917,0,0,0
HS , nickname \BThe Red Light Bandit\b
DT1 1921
DT2 60
EN Convict and writer, born in St Joseph, MI. He was sentenced to death in 1948 on 17 charges of kidnapping, robbery, and rape, but was granted eight stays of execution by the Governor of \JCalifornia\j amounting to a record period of 12 years under sentence of death, without a reprieve.
During this period he conducted a brilliant legal battle from prison, learned four languages, and wrote best-selling books against \Jcapital punishment\j, such as \ICell 2455 Death Row\i (1956). His execution provoked worldwide criticism of US judicial methods.
MEX Brown, Edmund G
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"chest",7918,0,0,0
EN See thorax
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"Chester",7919,0,0,0
EN 53░12N 2░54W, pop (1995e) 86 700. County town of Cheshire, NWC England, UK; on the R Dee, 305 km/189 mi NW of London; important Roman port and military centre; railway; airfield (Hawarden), commercial centre, light \Jengineering\j, tourism, car components; 13th--15th-c cathedral, city walls, two-tiered shopping arcades, 11th-c St John's Church; town hall (1869); football league team, Chester City.
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"Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of",7920,0,0,0
DT1 1694
DT2 1773
EN English statesman, orator, and man of letters, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, travelled in Europe, and became an MP (1715). In 1726 he succeeded his father as earl and became ambassador to Holland. He returned to England and parliament as a bitter antagonist of Robert Walpole, joined the Pelham ministry (1744), and became Irish \Jlord-lieutenant\j (1745), and one of the principal secretaries of state (1746-8). Intimate with Swift, Pope, and other contemporary authors, his own best-known work was his guide to manners and success, \ILetters to his Son\i (1774).
MEX Pelham, Thomas; Walpole, Robert
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"Chesterton, G(ilbert) K(eith)",7921,0,0,0
DT1 1874
DT2 1936
EN Critic, novelist, and poet, born in London, England, UK. He studied art at the Slade School of Art, London, then turned to writing. Much of his best work took the form of articles for periodicals, including his own \IG.K.'s Weekly.\i He wrote a great deal of poetry, as well as literary critical studies and works of social criticism. The amiable detective-priest who brought him popularity with a wider public first appeared in \IThe Innocence of Father Brown\i (1911). Chesterton became a Catholic in 1922, and thereafter wrote mainly on religious topics, including lives of Francis of Assisi and Thomas Aquinas.
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"Chestnut Street Theatre",7922,0,0,0
EN (Philadelphia) Intended to replace the deteriorating Southwark, it was completed in 1793 and leased to Thomas Wignell and Alexander Reinagle. By 1805 it was considered the finest playhouse with the best acting company in America. In 1816 gaslighting was introduced for the first time in a theatre, but in 1820 the playhouse burned down. The rebuilt version looked very different. The theatre's most prosperous years occurred under the management of William Warren the elder and William B. Wood, which ended in 1828. In 1855 the theatre was demolished.
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"Chetham, Humphrey",7923,0,0,0
PN [\Bche\btm]
DT1 1580
DT2 1653
EN Merchant and philanthropist, born in Manchester, Greater Manchester, north-west England, UK. He became a cloth manufacturer in Manchester, and was the founder of Chetham \JHospital\j and a public library in the city.
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"Chetniks",7924,0,0,0
HS (Serbo-Croatian \Icetnici)\i
EN Yugoslav, mainly Serbian, guerrillas during World War 2. Under the leadership of Drazha Mihailovic, they fought Tito's communist Partisans rather than the Axis occupiers. Abandoned by the Allies in 1944, they were defeated by the Partisans, and Mihailovic was tried and executed in 1945. Since 1990 the name has been adopted by Serb irregular forces in the former state of Yugoslavia.
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"Chettle, Henry",7925,0,0,0
DT c.1560-c.1607
EN English playwright and pamphleteer. Very few of his plays survive, though he had a hand in about 50, including several for the Admiral's Men. The revenge tragedy, Hoffman (c.1603), was probably his alone. With Anthony Munday he wrote The Downfall and The Death of Robert, Earl of \JHuntingdon\j (1598), with John Day The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (1600), and with Dekker and William Haughton Patient Grissel (1600). He printed Robert Greene's Groatsworth of Wit (1592), and dissociated himself from Greene's attack on Shakespeare in the preface to his own dream-\Jfable\j, Kind Heart's Dream (1593).
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"Chevalier, Albert (Albert OnΘsime Britannicus Gwathveoyd Louis Chevalier)",7926,0,0,0
DT 1862-1923
EN British actor and music-hall singer. He made his professional debut under the Bancrofts in 1877. In 1888 he reluctantly branched out into recitals of comic songs and monologues. He first appeared 'on the halls' at the London Pavilion, 5 February 1891, as a coster comedian and made an immediate hit; he was a favourite with royalty and the upper classes, often performing in drawing-rooms. In 1906 he toured the USA and Canada with Yvette Guilbert.
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"Chevalier, Maurice",7927,0,0,0
DT 1888-1972
EN French singer and actor. He began his career at the age of 11. In music-hall he imitated popular comedians before developing the character of a peasant aspiring to be a dandy. At the Folies-BergΦre by 1908, he was later sponsored by Mistinguett, who became his mistress and his partner, leading to revue, \Joperetta\j and singing tours, with such numbers as 'Valentine' and 'Ma Pomme'.
In the 1920s Chevalier's straw boater, dinner-jacket and casual soft shoe stood for a sporty new generation. A stint in \JHollywood\j (1928-35) earned him international fame, and he cultivated a somewhat artificial French accent, much imitated. Because of his collaboration with the \JVichy\j government during the Occupation he temporarily fell out of favour, but he regained popularity with a series of one-man shows, begun in 1948.
The chat gradually elbowed out the singing, and he bade his final farewell to the stage at the ThΘΓtre des Champs- ╔lysΘes in 1968. Chevalier's rapport with his audiences was a triumph of manner over matter: his trivial material, weak voice and bland personality were compensated for by abundant charm and a knowing use of Sprechgesang.
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"Chevallier, Gabriel",7928,0,0,0
PN [shevalyay]
DT1 1895
DT2 1969
EN Novelist, born in Lyon, \JFrance\j. He won wide acclaim with his \IClochemerle\i (1934), an earthy satire on petty bureaucracy, after a series of less successful psychological novels. Other books include \IClarisse Vernon\i (1933), \ILe Petit GΘnΘral\i (1951, The Little General), and \IClochemerle Babylone\i (1954).
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"Cheves, Langdon",7929,0,0,0
DT (1776-1857)
EN U.S. representative; born in Rocky River, S.C. Home-schooled, he became a lawyer in Charleston, S.C., in 1797. He was the South Carolina attorney general (1808-10) before being appointed to the U.S. \JHouse of Representatives\j (1810-15); he succeeded Henry Clay as Republican Speaker of the House (1812-15). He declined cabinet and supreme court appointments to become president of the Bank of the United States (1819-22), returning to South Carolina to cultivate rice in 1829.
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"chevet",7930,0,0,0
PN [\Bshe\bvay]
EN The circular or polygonal E end of a church. It is surrounded by an aisle, normally called an \Iambulatory.\i There are usually chapels radiating outwards.
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"Cheviot Hills",7931,0,0,0
PN [\Bchee\bviuht]
EN Hill range on the border between Scotland and England, UK; extends 56┐km / 35┐mi south-west along the frontier between Scottish Borders council and \JNorthumberland\j; rises to 816┐m / 2677┐ft at The Cheviot; gives its name to a famous breed of sheep.
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"Chevreul, Michel EugΦne",7932,0,0,0
PN [shevroei]
DT (1786-1889)
EN French organic chemist: investigated fats and natural dyes.
A surgeon's son, Chevreul learned chemistry as assistant to Vauquelin, and by 1824 became director of dyeing at the famed Gobelins tapestry factory. His best-known work is on animal fats, which he showed by 1823 could be separated into pure individual substances that, with acid or \Jalkali\j, break down to give \Jglycerol\j and a fatty acid. (The fatty acids were later shown to be long-chain monocarboxylic acids.) Chevreul showed that soap-making (saponification) of animal fats by \Jalkali\j could be understood and improved chemically, and that soaps are sodium salts of fatty acids.
In 1825 Chevreul with Guy-Lussac patented a method of making candles using 'stearin' (crude stearic acid) in place of tallow, which was odorous, less luminous and unreliable; when developed, the improvement was of substantial importance. Chevreul showed that the urine of diabetic patients contained grape-sugar (ie \Jglucose\j).
He worked on organic analysis and the chemistry of drying oils (used in paints), on waxes and natural dyes; on theories of colour; on the use of divining rods and (after he was 90) on the psychological effects of ageing. As a child of 7, he had watched the \Jguillotine\j in action; after his centenary, he watched the construction of the Eiffel Tower. He never retired.
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"Chevrolet, Louis",7933,0,0,0
DT (1878-1941)
EN race car driver, \Jautomobile\j designer; born in La Chaux de Fonds, \JSwitzerland\j. He emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1900 to race cars, and in his first race defeated Barney Oldfield. In 1905 he drove a record mile in 52.8 seconds. In 1911, with the backing of William Crapo Durant, he founded the Chevrolet Motor Company and designed its first car.
He sold out his interest in 1915 and concentrated on making racing cars; his cars won the \JIndianapolis\j 500 in 1920 (with brother Gaston Chevrolet driving) and 1921. In 1929 he formed (with another brother, Arthur Chevrolet), the Chevrolet Brothers \JAircraft\j Company, but this venture failed and he went back to building racing cars.
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"chevrotain",7934,0,0,0
PN [\Bshev\brotin]
EN A \Jruminant\j \Jartiodactyl\j \Jmammal\j, native to tropical forest in Africa, India, \JSri Lanka\j and south-east Asia; small with stocky bodies and short slender legs; no horns or antlers; male with long protruding canine teeth; also known as \Bmouse deer\b or \Bdeerlet.\b \B(Family:\b Tragulidae, 4 species.)
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"Chewa",7935,0,0,0
PN [\Bchay\bwa]
EN A Bantu-speaking agricultural people of Malawi, \JZambia\j, and Zimbabwe who speak Chinyanja, the lingua franca of \JZambia\j and Malawi. They belong to a cluster of Bantu-speaking peoples known as the Maravi. Like many other groups in the area, descent and succession is matrilineal. Population c.2 million.
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"chewing gum",7936,0,0,0
EN A sugared and flavoured product made from the concentrated juice of \Jlatex\j of the sapodilla tree, especially popular in the USA. It is chewed for its flavour, but not swallowed.
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"Cheyenne (Indians)",7937,0,0,0
PN [shiy\Ban\b]
EN North American Plains Indians, speaking an Algonquian language, divided since the 1830s into N and S groups. Buffalo hunters on horseback, they were pushed W by various groups (such as the Ojibwa and Sioux), and their population was reduced by fighting and disease.
They were involved in conflict with European prospectors and settlers (1857-9), and in the 1870s participated in the uprisings of other Plains tribes against the whites. They live mainly in Montana and Oklahoma, numbering c.12┐000 (1990 \Jcensus\j).
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"Cheyenne (Wyoming)",7938,0,0,0
PN [shiy\Ban\b]
EN 41░08N 104░49W, pop (1995e) 53 400. State capital in Laramie Co, SE Wyoming, USA; founded at a railway junction, 1867; territorial capital, 1869; prospered with gold mining in the Black Hills in the 1870s; railway; livestock market and shipping centre; Frontier Days Museum; Frontier Days (Jul).
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"chi kung",7939,0,0,0
PN [chee kung]
HS (Chin '\Jenergy\j' + 'practice')
EN A system of Taoist physical and breathing exercises, practised as a form of \Jmeditation\j, with the object of increasing vital \Jenergy\j and directing its circulation. The exercises clear blockages in the meridians through which the \Jenergy\j circulates, and regular practice is said to promote health, harmonize physical and spiritual \Jenergy\j, and allow communiction with the cosmic \Jenergy\j which pervades the universe. Many practitioners of the Chinese healing arts practise chi kung in order to improve their own \Jenergy\j, so that this can be used for the benefit of their patients.
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"Chi-lung",7940,0,0,0
EN See Jilong
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"Chi-nan",7941,0,0,0
EN See Ji'nan
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"chi-square test",7942,0,0,0
PN [kiy]
EN A statistical test to measure how well the values 'expected' from a model agree with the 'observed' values. If \Ie\Di\d\i is an 'expected' value and \Io\Di\d\i the corresponding 'observed' value, the statistic \fc\n\U2\u┐=┐\FS\n\I(o\Di\d┐-┐e\Di\d)\i\U2\u / \Ie\Di\d\i is calculated, and its significance deduced by comparing it with values given in tables.
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"Chiang Ch'ing",7943,0,0,0
EN See Jiang Qing
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"Chiang Ching-kuo",7944,0,0,0
EN See Jiang Jingguo
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"Chiang Kai-shek",7945,0,0,0
EN See Jiang Jieshi
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"Chiang Mai",7946,0,0,0
PN [jee-eng miy]
EN 18░48N 98░59E, pop (1995e) 183 000. City in NW \JThailand\j, 700 km/435 mi N of \JBangkok\j; N \JThailand\j's principal city since 1296, when it was founded as the capital of Lan Na Thai kingdom; airfield; railway; university; tea, rice, groundnuts, corn, teak; flower festival (Feb), Songkran \Jwater\j-throwing festival (Thai New Year), Loy Krathong (Nov).
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"Chiarelli, Luigi",7947,0,0,0
DT 1880-1947
EN Italian playwright. In his early years he was primarily a journalist. In 1916 the company of Virgilio Talli produced his three-act La maschera e il volto (The Mask and the Face) in \JRome\j. This ironic comedy, about the conflict between the individual and social conventions, helped to launch the teatro del grottesco. Although he wrote many other plays in the 1920s and 30s, these never enjoyed the same success.
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"Chiari, Pietro",7948,0,0,0
DT 1712-85
EN Italian playwright. A prolific writer of competent but unambitious stock pieces, he worked mainly for the Venetian theatres and is remembered primarily for his literary and theatrical disputes with Goldoni. His work was enormously popular in its \Jday\j, mingling as it did comic, tragic and satiric elements.
Much of it turned on \Jparody\j or ridicule of Goldoni's plays, notably La scuola delle vedove (The School for Widows, 1749), a \Jparody\j of Goldoni's 'reform' play, La vedova scaltra (The Cunning Widow, 1748). A former Jesuit, and known as the abate, Chiari also wrote romances and novelle, and his writing output as a whole is a useful index to the tastes of the Venetian middle classes at the time of that city's theatrical heyday.
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"chiaroscuro",7949,0,0,0
PN [keearos\Bkoo\broh] (Ital 'light-dark')
EN In painting, the use of strong light and shadow to define forms in space. The technique was developed in \JItaly\j by \JLeonardo da Vinci\j and \JCaravaggio\j, and perfected by Rembrandt in 17th-c Holland.
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"Chiba",7950,0,0,0
PN [\Bchee\bba]
EN 35░38N 140░07E, pop (1995e) 831 000. Port capital of \JChiba\j prefecture, Kanto region, E \JHonshu\j, \JJapan\j; commuter town 40 km/25 mi E of \JTokyo\j, on \JTokyo\j Bay; railway; eight universities; steel, textiles, paper; Buddhist temple (8th-c).
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"Chicago",7951,0,0,0
PN [shi\Bkah\bgoh]
EN 41░53N 87░38W, pop (1995e) 2 907 000. Third largest city in the USA; seat of Cook Co, NE Illinois, on L \JMichigan\j; built on the site of Fort Dearborn; settled in the 1830s; city status, 1837; developed as a result of its strategic position linking the Great Lakes with the Mississippi R after the Illinois and \JMichigan\j Canal was completed (1848), and after the railway to the E was opened (1853); much of the city destroyed by fire, 1871; notorious gangster activity in the Prohibition years (1920s), notably by Al Capone; now the major industrial, commercial, financial and cultural centre for the US interior; electrical machinery, metal products, steel (one-quarter of the nation's steel produced in and around the city), textiles, chemicals, food products, printing and publishing; commerce and finance centred upon "The Loop' area; transport centre of the USA, with one of the busiest airports in the world; major rail network and inland port; seven universities; Sears Tower (1974), the world's tallest building (443 m/1454 ft); professional teams, Cubs, White Sox (\Jbaseball\j), Bulls (\Jbasketball\j), Bears (football), Black Hawks (ice \Jhockey\j); Lyric Opera, Art Institute, Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium, \JPlanetarium\j; \JChicago\j Film Festival (Nov).
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"Chicago School (architecture)",7952,0,0,0
EN The name given to a group of \JChicago\j architects and office buildings in the late 19th-c. The buildings are the forerunners of 20th-c skyscrapers, and are characterized by the pioneering use of steel frame construction, clothed in masonry and with large expanses of windows, often to a great height. A prime example is the Stock Exchange (1893-4), architects Sullivan & Adler.
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"Chicago School (economics)",7953,0,0,0
EN A group of economists at \JChicago\j University, led by Milton Friedman from 1948 to 1979. They hold the view that competition and market forces should be allowed to act freely, and with minimal government interference, for the best results.
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"Chicano theatre",7954,0,0,0
EN Spanish-American theatre. The theatre of the Mexican-American population in the United States has been known since 1965 as 'Chicano theatre'. The genre is normally written and performed in the peculiar linguistic mixture typical of the Chicano population. Words and phrases in English and Spanish are constantly interchanged, depending upon the context. Most groups perform in the 'Spanglish' \Jdialect\j; others alternate performances in either language.
Chicano theatre dates from the arrival of the Spanish conquerors in the 16th century. Throughout the period of settlement and growth during the following centuries, the dominant Hispanic culture and language in the American Southwest were attentive to the theatre. During the 19th century, both \JSan Francisco\j and Los Angeles were major centres of Hispanic dramatic activity; as the railway linked major cities throughout the Southwest, especially Laredo, \JSan Antonio\j and El Paso, the ethnic communities with a strong sense of their heritage and traditions hosted travelling road companies en route to and from \JMexico City\j.
By the 1920s Chicano theatre flourished from Los Angeles to \JChicago\j. Productions of musical revues and zarzuelas coincided with serious plays which addressed issues particular to the Chicano communities. The problems of adapting culturally and linguistically to a predominantly Anglo culture were standard themes. Activity subsided during the Depression and World War II years, although it did not disappear entirely.
The more recent Chicano theatre movement coincided with the activist movement in US \Jcivil rights\j in the 1960s. In the summer of 1965, when Luis ValdΘz helped to organize the farm- workers' strike in \JCalifornia\j, using politically orientated improvisational theatre to underscore the migrant workers' cause, he became the acknowledged father of the new direction in Chicano theatre. His actos, as they came to be called, were short agit- prop pieces that dramatized the essence and spirit of the Chicano reality.
The new Chicano theatre was, suddenly, a revolutionary theatre committed to social change. From this initial experience ValdΘz established El Teatro Campesino (Farm Workers' Theatre). This group served as the model for a host of other Chicano theatre groups created throughout the West and Southwest, and extending across the country into Illinois, \JIndiana\j and \JWisconsin\j. At the peak of the movement, 100 groups were functioning throughout the USA.
ValdΘz's Zoot Suit opened in Los Angeles in 1978 and was the first Chicano show to arrive on Broadway. After ValdΘz, another generation of Chicano writers has picked up the cue, including RubΘn Sierra, Carlos Morton and Estela Portillo Trambley.
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"Chichele, Henry",7955,0,0,0
PN [\Bchich\blay]
DT1a c.
DT1 1362
DT2a c.
DT2 1443
EN English clergyman and diplomat. Envoy to the Vatican in 1405 and 1407, in 1408 he became Bishop of St David's, and in 1414 \JArchbishop\j of Canterbury. He was the founder of two colleges at Oxford in 1437: St John's and All Souls.
SX m
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"ChichΘn Itzß",7956,0,0,0
PN [chee\Bchen\b eet\Bza\b]
EN Toltec / Maya capital of the \JYucatan\j peninsula, Mexico, AD c.1000-1200, reputedly established by the Toltec ruler Topφlitzin after his expulsion from Tula c.987. Its monumental centre (area 3┐km / 13/4┐mi by 2┐km / 1 1/4┐mi) contains temple pyramids, the largest known Meso-American ballcourt, and a \Itzompantli\i (skull platform). From the Great Plaza, a 275-m / 900-ft causeway leads N to the Cenote (Well) of Sacrifice, a massive \Jwater\j-filled pit sacred to the Rain God into which votive offerings and human sacrifices were cast.
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"Chichester",7957,0,0,0
PN [\Bchi\bchester]
EN 50░50N 0░48W, pop (1995e) 27 800. County town of West Sussex, S England, UK; 26 km/16 mi E of Portsmouth; founded by the Romans; later taken by the Saxons and named after their leader, Cissa; railway; \Jengineering\j, furniture, agricultural trade, tourism; cathedral (11th--12th-c), bishop's palace (12th-c), St Mary's \Jhospital\j (13th-c), market cross (15th-c), theatre (1962), remains of Roman villa at Fishbourne (3 km/13/4 mi W); Chichester Festival Theatre season (Aug--Sep).
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#
"Chichester Festival Theatre",7958,0,0,0
EN (England) The first large thrust- stage theatre in Britain, seating nearly 1,400 people, it opened in 1962. It was also one of the first theatres to be built in a park, outside a small country city in the south of England. It was built largely by local subscriptions, inspired by the example of the Stratford (\JOntario\j) Festival Theatre in Canada. These two theatres share the ideals for theatre construction first argued for by Tyrone Guthrie and derived from Elizabethan models, stressing close audience-actor contact, all-round visibility and the use of the whole auditorium as the stage set.
Laurence Olivier was the first director (as well as director of the still embryonic National Theatre company at the Old Vic). The productions, including Uncle Vanya (1962), The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964) and Armstrong's Last Goodnight (1965), transferred from Chichester to the Old Vic. In 1965 Olivier was succeeded by John Clements. The tradition of actor-managers at Chichester continued until Peter Dews's appointment in 1978.
The theatre was unusual among postwar civic theatres in that it received little grant income from the state but more from the box-office and supporters' club. It favours English repertoires. Michael Rudman, born in the USA, was replaced as director in 1991 by a former artistic director, Patrick Garland. In 1995 Derek Jacobi became director.
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#
"Chichester, Sir Francis (Charles)",7959,0,0,0
PN [\Bchi\bchester]
DT1 1901
DT2 72
EN Pioneer air navigator, adventurer, and yachtsman, born in Barnstaple, Devon, south-west England, UK. He studied at Marlborough, and emigrated to \JNew Zealand\j in 1919, where he made a fortune as a land agent. He became interested in flying, and made several pioneer flights, but was badly injured by a crash in \JJapan\j (1931) while attempting a solo flying circumnavigation.
He served in Britain as an air-navigation expert during World War 2. In 1953 he took up ocean sailing, winning the first solo transatlantic yacht race (1960) in \IGipsy Moth III,\i sailing from Plymouth to New York City in 40 days; he repeated the success in 1962 in 33 days. He made a successful solo circumnavigation of the world (1966-7) in \IGipsy Moth IV,\i sailing from Plymouth to Sydney in 107 days, and from there back to Plymouth, via Cape Horn, in 119 days. He was knighted in 1967.
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"chick-pea",7960,0,0,0
EN A branching annual \I(Cicer arietinum),\i growing to 50┐cm / 20┐in or more; leaves \Jpinnate\j with 7-17 oval, toothed, glandular-hairy leaflets; pea-flowers white or bluish, solitary on long stalks; pods inflated, usually 2-seeded; also called \Bgarbanzos.\b Probably native to Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times as a fodder plant and for its large, wrinkled, edible seeds. \B(Family:\b Leguminosae.)
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#
"chickadee",7961,0,0,0
EN A name used in the USA for certain small birds of the tit family. \B(Family:\b \JParidae\j, 7 species.)
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#
"chickaree",7962,0,0,0
EN See red \Jsquirrel\j
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#
"chicken",7963,0,0,0
EN See domestic fowl
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#
"chickenpox",7964,0,0,0
EN A highly infectious and usually benign disease of childhood, caused by the same virus that is responsible for shingles. It has a characteristic blister-like (vesicular) eruption in the skin, which may become infected by \Jbacteria\j.
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#
"chickweed",7965,0,0,0
EN A slender, spreading, often pale-green annual \I(Stellaria media); \i a very common weed, often flowering throughout the year; leaves oval, opposite; flowers tiny, white, five petals, shorter than sepals, deeply cleft into two parts. \B(Family:\b Caryophyllaceae.)
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#
"chicle",7966,0,0,0
EN An evergreen tree \I(Achras zapota)\i growing to 18┐m / 60┐ft, native to \JCentral America\j, cultivated elsewhere; leaves elliptical; flowers tiny, greenish-white, 6-petalled; fruit 5-10┐cm / 2-4┐in, greyish to reddish-brown with yellow flesh. The copious white \Jlatex\j, collected as for \Jrubber\j, provides the elastic base for chewing gum; the edible fruit is called \Bsapodilla plum.\b \B(Family:\b Sapotaceae.)
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"chicory",7967,0,0,0
EN A perennial growing to 120┐cm / 4┐ft \I(Cichorium intybus),\i with a long stout tap root, native to Europe, W Asia, and N Africa, and widely introduced elsewhere; leaves spear-shaped, lobed or toothed, the upper clasping the stem; flower-heads nearly stalkless, 2.5-4┐cm / 1-11/2┐in across, bright blue, rarely pink or white. It is locally grown as a vegetable and as a medicinal plant. Dried and ground roots are used as a \Jcoffee\j substitute. \B(Family:\b Compositae.)
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"Chidlaw, Benjamin Wiley",7968,0,0,0
DT (1900-77)
EN aviator; born in Cleves, Ohio. A West Point graduate with training in aeronautical \Jengineering\j, he helped develop engine modifications for high altitude flight and, during World War II, he supervised the design and construction of the first U.S. jet \Jaircraft\j. In 1954, he became the first commander of the Continental Air Defense Command.
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"Chief Justice",7969,0,0,0
EN The presiding justice of the United States Supreme Court, nominated by the US president and confirmed by a majority of the Senate. The \JChief Justice\j serves for life (along with the eight associate justices), presides in both public session and at private court conferences, assigns the task of writing majority opinions, and administers the oath of office to the US president.
The \JChief Justice\j can dynamically shape the direction of the court's opinions, as demonstated by John Marshall (served 1801-35), who established the principle of judicial review and enhanced the prestige and power of the court, and Earl Warren, who presided from 1953-69 over major court decisions from desegregating the nation's schools to giving more protection to criminal defendants. The current \JChief Justice\j is William H Rehnquist (nominated by President Reagan in 1986), a conservative believer in the strict construction of the constitution.
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"chiffchaff",7970,0,0,0
EN A bird belonging to a group of Old World warblers \I(Phylloscopus collybita); \i native to Europe, N Africa, and Asia; inhabits forest edges with thick undergrowth; eats insects; N birds move S in winter. \B(Family:\b Silviidae.)
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"Chifley, Joseph Benedict",7971,0,0,0
DT1 1885
DT2 1951
EN Australian statesman and prime minister (1945-9), born in Bathurst, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. In early life an engine driver, he entered parliament in 1928, and became defence minister in 1929. As Labor prime minister, he expanded social services and reformed the banking system. He continued as leader of the Labor Party until his death.
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#
"chigger",7972,0,0,0
EN See harvest-mite
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#
"Chihuahua",7973,0,0,0
PN [chi\Bwah\bwa]
EN 28░40N 106░06W, pop (1995e) 589 000. Capital of \JChihuahua\j state, N Mexico; altitude 1428 m/4685 ft; centre of Pancho Villa's revolutionary activities; railway; university (1954); mining, \Jcattle\j raising, smelting; cathedral (18th-c); famous for its hairless small dog.
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#
"Chikamatsu Monzaemon",7974,0,0,0
DT 1653-1725
EN Japanese playwright. Chikamatsu was the most important writer of kabuki and bunraku plays in \JKyoto\j- Osaka during his lifetime. His courtly background and education are apparent in the literary quality of his texts. Illustrated scripts of 31 of his kabuki plays are preserved, including The Prostitute and the Whirlpool of Love (1695), The Prostitute of \JBuddha\j Field (1699) and The Prostitute and Prayers to \JBuddha\j (1702).
The juxtaposition of religion and eroticism is typical of early kabuki. Chikamatsu skilfully balanced bravura history with gentle lovers' scenes. During this period he also wrote puppet plays (see puppets). He moved to Osaka in 1705 and over the next 20 years composed nearly 100 puppet plays for the Takemoto Theatre.
The history play The Battles of Coxinga (1715), showing a Japanese hero restoring the Ming dynasty in China, was immensely successful and influential. In a dozen lovers' suicide plays Chikamatsu carried kabuki's erotic themes to tragic conclusions. More than any other playwright he created significant dramatic literature for the puppet theatre.
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"Chikatilo, Andrei",7975,0,0,0
PN [chika\Btee\bloh]
DT1 1938
DT2 94
EN Russian convicted murderer. He was convicted and sentenced to death in \JRussia\j in 1992 for the murders of 52 adults and children committed over a 12-year period. It is believed to be the world's worst serial-killing case. He was executed in 1994.
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#
"chilblains",7976,0,0,0
EN Bluish and slightly swollen areas of the skin of fingers and toes, caused by exposure to excessive cold. The lesions become red and itchy on warming.
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"child abuse",7977,0,0,0
EN The treatment of a child by an adult in a way unacceptable in a given culture at a given time; also referred to technically as \Bnon-accidental injury of childhood\b and popularly as \Bbattered baby / child syndrome.\b Abuse may be physical (soft and bony tissue injury, burns and scalds, poisoning and suffocation), sexual, emotional, or through neglect - though these varieties may overlap. Most abuse is perpetrated by parents, particularly non-related cohabitants.
The precise frequency is unknown, but up to 4% of children under 12 are brought to the notice of professional agencies. There has been an increasing awareness since the 1960s of the scale and nature of this behaviour and of the need to protect children from it. Such activities may result in both criminal proceedings being taken against the adult concerned, and care proceedings in respect of the victim.
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"Child, C. D. (Clement Dexter)",7978,0,0,0
DT (1868-1933)
EN physicist; born in Madison, Ohio. He taught at Cornell (1893-97) and Colgate (1898-1933) Universities. He determined that the electric current between ions is proportional to voltage, and published his findings in his book \IElectric Arcs\i (1913).
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"Child, Charles M(anning)",7979,0,0,0
DT (1869-1954)
EN developmental biologist; born in Ypsilanti, Mich. He taught and performed research at the University of \JChicago\j (1895-1934), spending summers at various institutions for marine \Jbiology\j. After his retirement, he moved to Stanford University (1939-54), where he remained active in both education and scientific publishing.
He made major contributions to studies of the origin and development of the \Jinvertebrate\j \Jnervous system\j. He is best known for his "\Jgradient\j theory" of regeneration (1911), which states that the dominant section of the regenerating part is developed first. He founded the journal \IPhysiological Zoology\i in 1928.
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"Child, Francis James",7980,0,0,0
DT (1825-96)
EN philologist; born in \JBoston\j, Mass. He graduated first in his class at Harvard (1846), where with the exception of two years' study in \JGermany\j he remained on the faculty until his death, teaching \Jrhetoric\j, oratory, and English literature. Child's most important scholarly contributions include his 5-volume edition of Spenser's \IPoetical Works\i (1855), for many years the authoritative text, and seminal papers on the language and versification of Chaucer (1863) and Gower (1873).
Working from variant manuscript sources, he pioneered a comparative approach to \Jfolklore\j in his \Imagnum opus, English and Scottish Popular Ballads\i (10 vols. 1883-98); known as the "Child ballads," this comprehensive collection provided the basis for \Jballad\j studies and remains the most complete work of its kind.
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"Child, Lydia Maria (b. Francis)",7981,0,0,0
DT (1802-80)
EN abolitionist, writer; born in Medford, Mass. After teaching for a time she began writing fiction (1824) and started a children's educational periodical, the \IJuvenile Miscellany; \i then came her popular domestic advice books, notably \IThe Frugal Housewife\i (1829), and biographical essays about women.
Following her marriage to attorney David Lee Child (1828), she wrote a classic antislavery tract (1833) that offended many and depressed sales of her other books; she also joined in abolitionist activities and was editor of the \INational Anti-Slavery Standard\i (1840-44). After a hiatus devoted to other writing, including widely read newspaper columns on arts and society, she returned to her antislavery polemics shortly before the \JCivil War\j; she also turned to such causes as women's rights and civil service reform.
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"childbirth",7982,0,0,0
EN See labour / labor
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"Childe, (Vere) Gordon",7983,0,0,0
PN [chiyld]
DT1 1892
DT2 1957
EN Archaeologist, born in Sydney, \JNew South Wales\j, \JAustralia\j. He studied at Sydney and Oxford universities, and his early books, notably \IThe Dawn of European Civilisation\i (1925), and \IThe Most Ancient Near East\i (1928), established him as the most influential archaeological theorist of his generation. He was professor of archaeology at Edinburgh (1927-46) and director of the University of London Institute of Archaeology (1946-56). He returned to \JAustralia\j on retirement, where he committed suicide.
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"Childers, (Robert) Erskine",7984,0,0,0
PN [\Bchil\bderz]
DT1 1870
DT2 1922
EN Irish nationalist and writer, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, fought in the South African and First World Wars, and wrote a popular spy story, \IThe Riddle of the Sands\i (1903), and several works of nonfiction. After the establishment of the Irish Free State, he joined the Irish Republican Army, and was active in the \JCivil War\j. He was captured and executed. His son \BErskine Hamilton Childers\b (1905-74) was president of Ireland (1973-4).
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#
"childhood, non-accidental injury of",7985,0,0,0
EN See child abuse
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#
"Children of the Chapel Royal",7986,0,0,0
EN The choristers of the Chapels Royal in Windsor and London supplied the young \JHenry VIII\j's demand for dramatic entertainment. Most of the plays would have been in the morality tradition. In 1576 Richard Farrant, Deputy Master of the Chapel Children, established an indoor theatre in the disused Blackfriars monastery. Farrant's choristers became serious rivals to the Boys of St Paul's, whom they joined briefly under John Lyly before being disgraced and silenced after the Marprelate Controversy of 1589-90.
From 1600 to 1608 there was intense activity, including the 'war of the theatres', which lined Jonson and the Children of the Chapel against Marston and the Boys of St Paul's. The talented Chapel Royal boys, including Nathan Field, gave the first performances of major plays by Jonson, Chapman, Middleton, Beaumont and even Marston. Some of the material was scurrilous, and by 1608 the company was in crisis. A remnant of the Children of the Chapel Royal survived at the Whitefriars, where they performed Jonson's Epicoene (1609) and other plays before being finally disbanded in 1615 (see boys' companies).
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"Children's Crusade",7987,0,0,0
EN A movement in 1212 of thousands of children (some as young as six) from \JGermany\j and \JFrance\j, aiming to reach the Holy Land and recapture \JJerusalem\j from the Turks. Some reached \JGenoa\j, \JItaly\j, but did not embark; some reached \JMarseille\j, \JFrance\j, whence they were shipped to N Africa and sold into \Jslavery\j.
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"children's hearing",7988,0,0,0
EN See care order; 17369 juvenile court
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"Childress, Alice",7989,0,0,0
DT 1920-94
EN African-American playwright. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, and raised in Harlem, Childress opened the New York stage to black women writers when her play Gold through the Trees (1952) was professionally produced Off-Broadway. She had been for 12 years an actress with the American Negro Theatre and her most important play, Trouble in Mind (1955), voiced the protest of a veteran black actress against playing a stereotypical 'darkie' role in a Broadway-bound production. Other notable plays by Childress that feature strong black women of compassion and dignity are Wedding Band (1966) and Wine in the Wilderness (1969).
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"Childs, George William",7990,0,0,0
DT (1829-94)
EN publisher, philanthropist; born in Baltimore, Md. He opened a bookstore in Philadelphia in 1847, started a publishing business, and built the Philadelphia \IPublic Ledger\i into a popular newspaper.
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"Childs, Lucinda",7991,0,0,0
DT1 1940
EN Dancer and choreographer, born in New York City, USA. She trained with Merce Cunningham, and as a founder member of the experimental Judson Dance Theatre (1962--4) developed a minimalist style of \Jchoreography\j, often incorporating dialogue. In 1976 she performed her own solo material in the Robert Wilson/Philip Glass opera \IEinstein on the Beach\i. Since the late 1970s she has embraced the work of other artists in her \Jchoreography\j.
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"Chile",7992,0,0,0
PN [\Bchi\blee]
EN pop (1995e) 14 263 000; area 756 626 sq km/292 058 sq mi (excluding territory claimed in \JAntarctica\j). Republic of SW \JSouth America\j, divided into 13 regions, subdivided into 51 provinces; capital, Santiago; other chief towns Valparaφso, Talca, Concepci≤n, Talcahuano, Antofagasta, Vi±a del Mar; timezone GMT -4; official language, Spanish; mainly mixed Spanish and Indian descent; chief religions, Roman Catholic (77%), Protestant (13%); unit of currency, the peso of 100 centavos.
\IPhysical description\i
Narrow coastal belt, backed by Andean mountain ridges rising in the N to 6910 m/22 660 ft at Ojos del Salado; mountains lower in the C and S; fertile C Andean valley, 40--60 km/25--40 mi wide at 1200 m/4000 ft; Atacama Desert in far NW.
\IClimate\i
Highly varied (spans 37░ of latitude, with altitudes from Andean peaks to coastal plain); extreme aridity in N Atacama Desert; cold, wet, and windy in far S at Tierra del Fuego; Mediterranean climate in C \JChile\j, with warm, wet winters and dry summers; average \Jtemperature\j at Valparaφso on coast varies from below 12░C (Jul) to nearly 18░C (Jan), with average annual rainfall of 505 mm/20 in; at Santiago (higher altitude), below 375 mm/14.8 in; at Antofagasta (N), just over 12 mm/0.5 in.
\IHistory and government\i
Originally occupied by South \JAmerican Indians\j; arrival of Spanish, 1537; part of Viceroyalty of \JPeru\j; independence from \JSpain\j declared, 1810, resulting in war until Spanish defeat in 1818; first president, General Bernardo O'Higgins; border disputes with \JBolivia\j, \JPeru\j, and Argentina brought Chilean victory in War of the Pacific (1879--83); Mapuche Indians resisted Spanish for 3 centuries, peace made in 1881; economic unrest in late 1920s led to military dictatorship under Iba±ez until 1931; Marxist coalition government of Salvador Allende ousted (1973), and replaced by military junta under Augusto Pinochet, banning all political activity, and resulting in considerable political opposition, both at home and abroad; constitution providing for eventual return to democracy came into effect in 1981; \Jplebiscite\j held in 1988 resulted in a defeat for Pinochet's candidacy as president beyond 1990; followed by limited political reforms, with a schedule for further elections; National Congress restored, 1990, consisting of a 47-member Senate (serving 8 years) and 120-member Chamber of Deputies (serving 4 years); 6-year term for president agreed in 1994.
\IEconomy\i
Based on agriculture and mining; wheat, corn, potatoes, sugar beet, fruit, wine making, livestock; fishing in N, timber in S; copper, iron ore, nitrates, silver, gold, \Jcoal\j, molybdenum; oil and gas discovered in far S (1945); steel, wood pulp, \Jcellulose\j, mineral processing.
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"Chile pine",7993,0,0,0
EN See monkey-puzzle
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#
"chili",7994,0,0,0
EN See pepper
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#
"Chilopoda",7995,0,0,0
PN [kee\Blop\boda]
EN See centipede
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#
"Chiltern Hills",7996,0,0,0
EN Low \Jchalk\j hill range in south-east England; extends 88┐km / 55┐mi north-east from S Oxfordshire, through Buckinghamshire, \JHertfordshire\j, and \JBedfordshire\j; continued south-west as the Berkshire Downs and north-east as the East Anglian Ridge; rises to 260┐m / 853┐ft at Coombe Hill.
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"Chiltern Hundreds",7997,0,0,0
EN In the UK, a legally fictitious office of profit under the Crown: Steward or \JBailiff\j of Her Majesty's Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough, and Burnham. To accept this office disqualifies an MP from the \JHouse of Commons\j. As an MP cannot resign, application to be appointed to the Chiltern Hundreds is the conventional manner of leaving the Commons.
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"Chiluba, Frederick",7998,0,0,0
EN See Kaunda, Kenneth (David)
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#
"Chimaera",7999,0,0,0
EN See \JChimera\j
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"chimaera (botany)",8000,0,0,0
PN [ki\Bmeer\ba]
EN A mosaic organism, usually a plant, composed of tissues of two genetically different types, or a tissue composed of cells of genetically different types. It is formed either by a \Jmutation\j that affects cell type, or by the artificial grafting together of parts of different individuals.
BK c
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"chimaera (zoology)",8001,0,0,0
PN [ki\Bmeer\ba]
HS (\Jzoology\j)
EN Cartilaginous fish \I(Chimaera monstrosa)\i with robust body, large pelvic fins, and long tapering tail; teeth fused into plates; common in deeper waters (100-500┐m / 300-1600┐ft) of N Atlantic and Mediterranean; length up to 1.5┐m / 5┐ft; cream with brown patches and metallic sheen; also called \Bratfish\b or \Brabbitfish.\b \B(Family:\b Chimaeridae.)
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"Chimborazo",8002,0,0,0
PN [cheembo\Bra\bsoh]
EN 1░28S 78░48W. Inactive Andean \Jvolcano\j in C \JEcuador\j; height 6310┐m / 20┐702┐ft; highest peak in Ecuadorean \JAndes\j; cone partly covered by glaciers.
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"Chimbote",8003,0,0,0
PN [cheem\Bboh\btay]
EN 8░59S 78░38W, pop (1995e) 325 000. Port in Ancash department, N \JPeru\j; one of the few natural harbours on the W coast and \JPeru\j's largest fishing port; a new port has been built to serve the national steel industry; exports fishmeal.
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"Chimera",8004,0,0,0
PN [kiy\Bmeer\ba, ki\Bmeer\ba]
HS , also \BChimaera\b
EN In Greek \Jmythology\j, a fabulous monster with the head of a lion, the body of a \Jgoat\j (the name means 'she-goat'), and the tail of a serpent, which breathed fire.
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"chimpanzee",8005,0,0,0
EN An \Jape\j native to equatorial Africa, believed to be the closest living relative to humans; height, 1-1.7┐m / 31/4-51/2┐ft; black coat; hair on head parted or directed backwards; face and ears naked; skin pale or dark; spends most time on the ground; eats fruit and some insects, but may kill small vertebrates; uses twigs, etc as tools to obtain food; two species: \Bchimpanzee\b \I(Pan troglodytes)\i and the smaller, black-faced \Bpygmy chimpanzee\b or \Bbonobo\b \I(Pan paniscus).\i
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"Chimu",8006,0,0,0
PN [chee\Bmoo\b]
EN A South American Indian people of \JPeru\j, the most important political and cultural group before the Incas in the 14th-c, with a highly stratified social system. They built cities with huge buildings, pyramids, and streets, and developed sophisticated irrigation systems. They were conquered by the Incas (1465-70), who absorbed many aspects of their culture.
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"China",8007,0,0,0
EN pop (1995e) 1 215 293 000; area 9 597 000 sq km/3 704 000 sq mi; also claims island of \JTaiwan\j. Socialist state in C and E Asia, comprising 22 provinces, three municipalities (Shanghai, \JBeijing\j, Tianjin) and five autonomous regions (Ningxia, Xinjiang, Guangxi, \JXizang\j, Nei Mongol (Inner \JMongolia\j)); capital, \JBeijing\j; timezone GMT +8; 92% Han Chinese, with over 50 minorities; languages, standard Chinese (Putonghua) or Mandarin, also Yue (\JCantonese\j), Wu, Minbei, Minnan, Xiang, Gan, \JHakka\j, and minority languages; officially atheist, but widespread Confucianism, Taoism, \JBuddhism\j, and ancestor-worship; unit of currency (\Irenminbi\i), the yuan or kuai of 100 fen (10 fen=1 jiao); overseas visitors use foreign exchange certificates.
\IPhysical description\i
Over two-thirds upland hill, mountain, and plateau; highest mountains in the W, where the Tibetan plateau rises to average altitude of 4000 m/13 000 ft ("the roof of the world'); land descends to desert/semi-desert of Xinjiang and Inner \JMongolia\j (NE); broad and fertile plains of Manchuria (NE), separated from N Korea by densely forested Changpai Shan uplands; further E and S, prosperous Sichuan basin, drained by Yangtze R; heavily populated S plains and E coast, with rich, fertile soils.
\IClimate\i
Varied, with seven zones: (1) NE China, cold winters, with strong N winds, warm and humid summers, unreliable rainfall; in Manchuria, rivers frozen 4--6 months each year, and snow lies 100--150 days; \JBeijing\j, in SW, temperatures -10--1░C (Jan), rainfall average minimum 4 mm/0.16 in (Jan), maximum 243 mm/9.6 in (Jul); (2) C China, warm and humid summers, sometimes typhoons or tropical cyclones on coast; Shanghai on E coast, temperatures 1--8░C (Jan--Feb) and 23--32░C (Jul--Aug), rainfall average minimum 36 mm/1.4 in (Dec), 180 mm/7 in (Jun); (3) S China, partly within tropics, wettest area in summer; frequent typhoons (especially during Jul--Oct); Hong Kong, hot and humid summers, temperatures 13--17░C (Feb), 26--31░C (Jul--Aug), coastal rainfall 31 mm/1.2 in (Dec) and 394 mm/15.5 in (Jul); (4) SW China, summer temperatures moderated by altitude, winters mild with little rain; summers wet on mountains; Mengzi, Yunnan, temperature 8--20░C (Dec--Jan) and 19--29░C (Jul), rainfall average 8 mm/0.3 in (Jan), 198 mm/7.8 in (Aug); (5) \JXizang\j autonomous region, high plateau surrounded by mountains, winters severe with frequent light snow and hard frost, summers warm, but cold nights; Lhasa, temperatures -10--7░C (Jan), 9--24░C (Jul), rainfall 0 mm (Dec--Jan), 122 mm/4.8 in (Jul); (6) Xinjiang and W interior, arid desert climate, cold winters, rainfall well distributed throughout year; Kashi, temperatures -11--1░C (Jan), 20--33░C (Jul), rainfall minimum 3 mm/0.1 in (Sep--Oct), maximum 15 mm/0.6 in (Jan); (7) Inner \JMongolia\j, extreme continental-type climate, cold winters, warm summers; winter temperatures similar to (1), strong winds in winter and spring, summer temperatures 14--28░C (Jul); little rainfall, minimum 8 mm/0.3 in (Feb), maximum 43 mm/1.7 in (Oct).
\IHistory and government\i
Site of some of the world's oldest prehistoric remains; earliest Chinese cities c.3500BC;documented Chinese history from 16th-cBC;alternating phases of strong central power and regionalized disorder or minor dynastic control; first recorded dynasty, the Shang (1523--1028BC)in NC and NE China, capital near Anyang; Zhou dynasty (1027--256BC),also mainly NC and NE, first capital near modern \JXian\j, from 771 moving to Luoyang; disunion from 403BC,with central power strengthened under the Qin dynasty (221--207BC);expansion W, N, and SW under the \JHan dynasty\j (206BC--AD220); split into Three Kingdoms (Wei, Shu, Wu, 220--65); period of Six dynasties (221--581); from 4th-c, series of N dynasties set up by invaders, with several dynasties in S; gradually reunited during the Sui (590--618) and Tang (618--906) dynasties; period of partition into Five Dynasties (907--60); post-Tang chaos suppressed under the Song dynasty (960--1126), capital at Kaifeng; N area lost to the Jin empire, and second phase of Song rule S-based from capital at Hangzhou (1127--1279); Song China, Jin empire, \JMongolia\j, and other areas united by Mongol \JYuan dynasty\j, established by Genghis Khan (1279--1368); visits by Europeans, such as \JMarco Polo\j, 13th--14th-c; strong central authority under the Ming dynasty (1368--1644), first from \JNanjing\j, then \JBeijing\j, with increased contacts with West; overthrown by \JManchus\j, whose dynasty ruled until 1912, and who extended control over \JTaiwan\j, Outer \JMongolia\j, \JTibet\j, \JBurma\j, \JNepal\j, and E Turkestan; enforcement of prohibition of opium led to Opium Wars with Britain (1839--42, 1858--60), resulting in treaties which opened certain "treaty ports' to foreign trade; Sino--Japanese War (1895) gave control of \JTaiwan\j and Korea to Japan; Hundred Days of Reform movement, 1898; \JBoxer\j Rising (1900), attempt to oppose foreign influence; Qing dynasty overthrown, 1911; Republic of China, founded by Sun Yatsen, 1912; May Fourth Movement, 1919; unification under Jiang Jieshi, who made \JNanjing\j capital, 1928; conflict between Nationalists and Communists led to the Long March (1934--5), with Communists moving to NW China under Mao Zedong; Nationalist defeat and withdrawal to \JTaiwan\j, 1950; People's Republic of China proclaimed 1949, with capital at \JBeijing\j; first Five-Year Plan (1953--7), period of \Jnationalization\j and collectivization; Great Leap Forward (1958--9) emphasized local authority and establishment of rural communes; Cultural Revolution initiated by Mao Zedong, 1966; many policies reversed after Mao's death (1976), and a drive towards rapid industrialization, some capitalist enterprise, and wider trade relations with the West; governed by a president, an elected National People's Congress of 2978 deputies, and a 47-minister State Council under a prime minister.
\IEconomy\i
Since 1949, largely based on heavy industry, producing iron and steel, \Jcoal\j, machinery, armaments, textiles, \Jpetroleum\j; more recently, light industries (eg household goods, consumables); special economic zones set up to attract foreign investment; rich mineral deposits, especially \Jcoal\j, \Jtungsten\j, iron, tin, phosphate, \Jaluminium\j, copper, lead, zinc, \Jantimony\j, \Jmanganese\j, sulphur, \Jbauxite\j, salt, \Jasbestos\j; largest oil-producing country in Far East; major subsistence crops include rice, grain, beans, potatoes, tea, sugar, cotton, oil-seed; powerful philosophical, literary, artistic, scientific, technological, and medical traditions noticeable throughout all phases of Chinese history; at least 35 technological innovations of fundamental importance to world history originated in China.
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"china clay",8008,0,0,0
EN See \Jkaolin\j
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"chinch bug",8009,0,0,0
EN A small, short-winged bug that feeds by sucking juices from grasses; an important corn and grain pest in America; overwinters as hibernating adult; reproduces rapidly, with two generations each year. \B(Order:\b \JHeteroptera\j. \BFamily:\b Lygaeidae.)
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"chinchilla",8010,0,0,0
EN A South American \Jcavy\j-like rodent; small (length, 35┐cm / 14┐in); thick soft grey coat, bushy tail, large round ears. It is widely farmed for its fur, which is the most expensive in the world. \B(Genus:\b \IChinchilla,\i 2 species. \BFamily:\b Chinchillidae.)
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"chinchilla cat",8011,0,0,0
EN A breed of domestic cat, of the long-haired type; round head with short face; very dense white coat; each hair tipped with black (one colour form, the \Iblue \Jchinchilla\j,\i has the hairs tipped with blue-grey); also known as \Bsilver Persian\b or \Bsilver.\b
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"chinchilla rabbit",8012,0,0,0
EN A breed of domestic \Jrabbit\j with thick soft grey fur resembling that of a \Jchinchilla\j.
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"Chindits",8013,0,0,0
EN Members of the 3rd Indian Division, raised in 1942 by Brigadier Orde Wingate for long-range guerrilla operations, supported by air-supplied bases, in Japanese-occupied \JBurma\j. High casualties were sustained on the two deep penetrations of the Burmese jungle in 1943 and 1944, and their military value has been questioned.
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"Chinese",8014,0,0,0
EN The Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan group of languages, comprising eight major varieties, commonly called 'dialects'. This classification is an artifact of the writing system of Chinese, which is used by all varieties. Although the orthography transfers from one variety to another, the varieties themselves are, in some cases, not mutually intelligible, and on linguistic criteria would be classed as different languages.
The two best-known varieties are \ICantonese,\i spoken in the S, and \IMandarin,\i spoken in the N, C, and W, the \JBeijing\j form being the basis of the modern standard language. Chinese writing originated in Shang period pictographs (16th-c BC), which closely resemble the modern ideographs.
There have been numerous attempts to romanize the Chinese writing system, and in 1958 the \Ipinyin\i 'phonetic spelling' system of 58 symbols was officially adopted, with the further aim of popularizing the grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation of the codified standard Mandarin, now known as \Iputonghua\i ('common language'). Chinese has the largest number of mother-tongue speakers of all the world's languages, at over 1000 million.
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"Chinese archaeology",8015,0,0,0
EN China's oldest anthropoid remains were discovered near \JXian\j in 1964. The world's oldest hominoid remains giving any evidence of the way of life were found near \JBeijing\j in the 1920s. Adjacent \JMesolithic\j remains suggest ancestry to the Chinese (25┐000-8000 BC). \JNeolithic\j finds (6000-4000 BC) in 1921 between \JXian\j and Luoyang led to over 100 similar excavations. The Shang capital near Anyang (16th-11th-c BC) has been excavated since the 1930s. Zhou period chariot burials were excavated in 1955 (11th-5th-c BC).
The 6000 life-size ceramic guards at the \JXian\j tomb of Qin Shihuangdi (3rd-c BC) have been famous since 1974. Tomb archaeology is a major form of information on the \JHan dynasty\j period (3rd-c BC-3rd-c AD) and important 5th-c Buddhist shrines have been excavated. Objects from Byzantium, \JJapan\j and \JPersia\j have been found in 8th-c Tang royal tombs. The products of Chinese archaeology can be matched only by Pharaoic treasures; paradoxically, the greatest activity accompanied the Cultural Revolution.
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"Chinese architecture",8016,0,0,0
EN The \Jarchitecture\j of China, until the 20th-c, consistently based on the column, with walls used as screens rather than as load-bearing structures. Apart from pagodas, buildings were mostly made from wood. The earliest surviving buildings are the Tang dynasty pagodas (AD 618-907), such as the Wild Goose \Jpagoda\j, Ch'ang-an, Shensi (701-5).
Most buildings date from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and later, including the Imperial City and Forbidden City of \JBeijing\j (Peking), with complex symmetrical plans, colourful pavilions, and curved roofs. European styles and multi-storey structures have been increasingly used since the 1911 revolution, particularly the International Style in recent decades.
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"Chinese art",8017,0,0,0
EN The art associated with ancient China, dating from before 4000 BC, which influenced all Far Eastern countries, and reached Europe in the late 17th-c. It is characterized by technical innovation (silk, \Jporcelain\j, paper, printing) and great stylistic refinement. Decorated bronze vessels and jade carvings date from 1000 BC; the interconnected traditions of painting and \Jcalligraphy\j were established during the Han period (206 BC-AD 220).
High-quality \Jporcelain\j was produced under the Tang (618-906) and later dynasties. Landscape painting emerged in the Song period (960-1279), and the Ming period (1368-1644) saw the production of refined cloisonnΘ, lacquer, and \Jporcelain\j. Important schools emerged under the Qing dynasty (1644-1912), including early Impressionistic painting, and the various types of Qing period \Jporcelain\j were in demand worldwide.
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"Chinese astronomy",8018,0,0,0
EN Among the many achievements of early Chinese \Jastronomy\j (which developed independently of that in the West) are: the first lunar \Jeclipse\j recordings (1361 BC, four more by 1279 BC); solar measurement and a 12-monthly calendar (before 1100 BC); algebraic stellar calculations (by 5th-c BC); observation of Halley's \Jcomet\j (possibly 611 BC, definitely 467 BC); the compilation of star catalogues (5th-c BC); the year calculated to 3651/4 days (444 BC); the movements of Jupiter and Saturn noted (350 BC); 1080 stars catalogued in six brightness categories (1st-C BC); sunspots recorded (28 BC); lunar tidal influences discovered (AD 80); lunar eclipses and revolution understood (2nd-c); stellar navigation (2nd-c); direction of \Jcomet\j tails away from the Sun observed (635); \Jsupernova\j observation (1054, never recorded in Europe); and a \Jwater\j-powered astronomical clock, armillary sphere, and celestial globe (1080).
A great observatory (1280 on) anticipated European innovations by 300 years. By 1700, 90 supernovae and 581 \Jcomet\j observations had been documented. The star co-ordinates used worldwide today are Chinese in origin.
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"Chinese block",8019,0,0,0
EN See wood block
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"Chinese Calligraphy",8020,0,0,0
Chinese characters are the most beautiful and elegant writing in the world. The unique characteristic of this block form script is its innate beauty and artistry of form. In the process of practicing \Jcalligraphy\j, the traces of the brush generate a continuous flow of rhythmic vitality and dynamic beauty. Therefore, \Jcalligraphy\j is the art of writing characters and characters are the theme of \Jcalligraphy\j.
Among the different styles of \Jcalligraphy\j, the simplest one is the "grass script." Its main feature is "yi tzuo yang yu", which means to emphasize only the right side and simplify the complicated strokes on the left side of a character. This results in a free, bold, and unrestrained style of writing that seems to be one continuous stroke. Therefore, it is also called lien-mien ts'ao or "unbroken grass script."
A Chinese monk by the religious name of Huai-su, wrote in 777 AD a handscroll in grass cursive script. It was his \Jautobiography\j. This romantic masterpiece marked the beginning of a new epoch in the history of Chinese \Jcalligraphy\j. The handscroll is 28.3 cm in height and 75.5 cm in length, and was made up of fifteen pieces of \Jhemp\j paper pieced together. It is said that Huai-su had a carefree personality and whenever he wished to practice his \Jcalligraphy\j, he would drink wine to the point of inebriation.
Only at this time did inspiration strike, and Huai-su would write on any surface at hand. Writing was the outlet for his wild, expansive and romantic moods. Therefore, people said Huai-su's unrestrained cursive grass script was incomparable, and his brushstrokes were like "a startled snake slithering through the grass, containing the strength and fury of the \Jwhirlwind\j and driving rains."
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"Chinese crested dog",8021,0,0,0
EN This is a friendly and attractive little breed of dog which is full of fun and very attached to its owner.
\BHistory:\b
The Chinese Crested Dog is said to have existed as far back as 1000 BC. It is now extinct in China, but was very popular there up until the mid-1800s. It is now more popular in Britain and America. Some experts suggest the hairless breeds of dog are from a common ancestor, but there is debate that the varieties found in China, Mexico, Turkey, and elsewhere are derived from local breeds.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
The Chinese Crested Dog is a tiny, graceful, and finely-boned dog. The smaller the size, the more it is valued. \IHeight:\i under FCI standards 12 - 19.5 in (30 - 50 cm), under South African standards around 11 in (28 cm) and elsewhere 11 - 13 in (28 - 33 cm) for the adult dog and 9 - 12 in (23 - 30.5 cm) for the bitch. \IWeight:\i up to 12 lb (5.4 kg). The skin is hairless and smooth with a flowing crest of silk hair crowning its fine muzzled head. The skin is soft and warm to the touch. The colors of this breed can be any mix of blue, gray, gold or pink, either as solids or patched with white. The dog's coat will change color with the seasons, becoming darker in summer and lighter in winter.
The skin can easily become irritated when in contact with cloth and can form skin lesions. The dog does feel the cold, but should avoid abrasive fabrics if wearing protective clothing. Wool irritates the skin, so cotton could be used.
As with other breeds of hairless dogs, "powder-puffs," or pups with coats, sometimes occur in Chinese Crested litters. These coats have short, downy-soft undercoats overhung with long, veil-like overcoats. This is possibly nature's way of keeping the pups warm; "powder-puffs" are not bred.
\BBehavior:\b
The Chinese Crested Dog is usually quite gentle in its nature and makes a wonderful companion for its owner. At times, however, this dog can have a very determined spirit, and a firm hand is required to keep it in line. However, once it is established who is in control, the Chinese Crested Dog becomes a loyal and trustworthy companion. Although its size prevents it from ever aspiring to be a guard dog, the Chinese Crested Dog performs very well as a watch-dog to alert its owner.
In most cases the Chinese Crested Dog gets along very well with other dogs. Its rather unusual appearance can sometimes startle other dogs, and care should be taken on first meetings. This dog is very much a people's dog, and has been bred to be a companion animal. Because of its unconventional appearance, strangers may wish to pat and otherwise investigate the dog. Wise owners will not allow strangers to initially pat the dog on the head, as this dominant gesture may make it snap at them. The Chinese Crested Dog can make an excellent family pet, but care should be taken to avoid rough games with small children.
This dog will thrive on its owner's attention, and with patience it can be quite trainable.
Generally, the Chinese Crested Dog is kept inside the house. If kept outside for short periods of time, it must be provided with adequate shelter. The dog needs protection from the \Jsun\j, drafts and the cold.
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"Chinese Desert Car",8022,0,0,0
EN \BLatin Name:\b \IFelis bieti\i\b
\BSize:\b head and body 70-85 cm; tail 30-35 cm\b
\BWeight:\b 5.5 kg\b
\BDistribution:\b Tibetan plateau in north central China to Mongolia\b
The name Desert Cat isn't strictly correct. The animal is also found in steppes and forested mountain areas.
Apart from a few light brown streaks on the legs and three or four rings on the tail, the pale yellowish-gray fur is unmarked.
In summertime, the coat is short and smooth, while in winter a dense under-layer protected by longer hair provides warmth. Hair covering the soles of the feet can provide \Jinsulation\j against hot rocks and sand.
Black tufts of hair about two centimeters long on the tips of the ears provided another distinguishing feature.
Apart from its appearance not much is known about it. Length of \Jpregnancy\j and number of kittens are unknown.
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"Chinese exclusion",8023,0,0,0
DT1 1882
DT2 1943
EN A US \Jimmigration\j policy, growing out of strong anti-Chinese sentiment on the West Coast, following the importation of large numbers of Chinese as labourers.
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"Chinese gooseberry",8024,0,0,0
EN See kiwi fruit
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"Chinese historical writing",8025,0,0,0
EN A Chinese cultural tradition from earliest times, unsurpassed in any civilization. The vast corpus of documentation includes: commentaries on social practices, such as the 5th-c BC \IBook of Etiquette; \i documentary collections starting with the 7th-c BC \IHistory Classic; \i works on geographical issues, starting with the 4th-c BC \IRiver Mountain Classic; \i catalogues of inventions, such as the \IBook of Origins\i (1st-c BC); collections, such as the official Ming encyclopaedia of Chinese culture (1408, 11┐095 vols) or the Qing encyclopaedia (1726, 5000 vols); and 11┐000 closely detailed local gazetteers for 2500 prefectures (AD 347 on).
In historical writing, China stands apart in the volume, detail, and continuous length of the record. The BC era alone shows: court historians from 753 BC; historical writings from the 5th-4th-c BC (eg the \ISpring and Autumn Annals); \i and major Han period histories, such as \JSima\j Qian's unprecedented \IHistorical Records\i (2nd-c BC). For the whole period, there are 26 major official dynastic histories, equivalent to 45 million English words.
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"Chinese Landscape Painting",8026,0,0,0
In the art field, Chinese painting holds a lofty position. It represents the mainstream of oriental painting. The polychromatic \Joil painting\j is representative of the art form in the West, while in the East, this role is played by ink painting. The two mediums reflect the differing attitudes toward life and aesthetic philosophies.
The budding Chinese painting of at least 3,500 years ago, began with figure painting. Apart from the central figures, all mountains, rocks, trees, and plants served only as background to emphasize the main theme. It was only beginning with the Wei and Chin Dynasties that \Jlandscape painting\j came into its own, gradually developing into an independent art form.
The era spanning the Five Dynasties period to the Sung Dynasty constituted the golden age of \Jlandscape painting\j. Many famous artists appeared at this time, and western critics consider it the zenith of oriental art.
Fan K'uan's "Travelers on a Mountain Path" is a detailed and complete portrayal of massive and impressive mountains, threaded by streams. This tenth century AD Chinese \Jlandscape painting\j precedes by 700 years the earliest western landscape painted in the seventeenth century. The mountains and rocks, trees and plants, streams and travelers, all express the fullness and abundance of nature.
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"Chinese lantern",8027,0,0,0
EN A perennial \I(Physalis alkakengi)\i native to south-east Europe and Asia; rhizomatous; flowers white with dark spots in centre; persistent bladdery calyces 5┐cm / 2┐in long, becoming papery and bright red in fruit - the 'lanterns' often seen in dried floral displays - enclosing an edible red berry. \B(Family:\b Solanaceae.)
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"Chinese literature",8028,0,0,0
EN The literature of China goes back 3000 years. The earliest works under the Zhou dynasty (1028-256 BC) were the Nine Classics, an admixture of history, poetry, ethics, and commentary on ritual and \Jdivination\j, used by \JConfucius\j in his teachings. Closely associated are the 20 books of \JConfucius\j's own \IAnalects,\i and the \IMencius\i by a disciple. Late in the Zhou dynasty we have the 'Hundred Schools of Thought', and the poetry of Qu Yuan, whose lyrical and allegorical \ILi Sao\i influenced poets in the \JHan dynasty\j (206 BC-AD 220).
The introduction of \JBuddhism\j into China at this time enhanced the popularity of personal poetry, exemplified by the work of the Cao family; and the political instability of the Six Dynasties that followed (221-581) further encouraged an 'escapist' or idealist literature. The following Tang dynasty (618-907) is known as the Golden Age of Chinese Poetry, providing 2000 poets from all ranks of society, the best known being the Taoist Li Bo (701-62), his friend the Confucian Du Fu (712-70), Li Ho ('the Chinese Keats', 790-816), and the populist Bo Juji (772-846).
At the same time, Han Yu (768-824) replaced the elaborate 'parallel prose' of earlier dynasties with a more flexible medium. The poetry of the Song dynasty (960-1216) was likewise more versatile than Tang; Su Shi and others experimenting with irregular metres. This period also produced a good deal of historical writing. The \JYuan dynasty\j (1279-1368) was celebrated for its musical drama, a form favoured by the Mughal ruling class, with Ma Zhiyuan's \IAutumn in the Han Palace\i typical of their plots from legend and romance.
There were developments in drama in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), with plays of historical and political significance; but this was primarily the age of the Chinese novel. Developing out of the \Ihua-pen\i or short story, the earlier novels often dealt with historical and heroic subjects; famous examples are \IThe Romance of the Three Kingdoms,\i and \IThe Water Margin.\i The personalized novel arrived with the last, Qing dynasty (1644-1912), new ground being broken by Cao Xuequin's partly autobiographical \IThe Dream of the Red Chamber.\i
This was followed by satirical works (often directed at the abuses of bureaucracy) and fine examples of the ever-popular ghost story. After 1911, Western influence completely transformed Chinese literature, which experienced its own force-fed modernist movement before Mao Zedong imposed a new discipline and encouraged folk art. The Cultural Revolution of 1966 was hostile to outside influences, but there are now signs that Chinese literature is in creative dialogue with the rest of the world.
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"Chinese mathematics, science, and technology",8029,0,0,0
EN China played a leading world role in these areas from earliest times until the 17th-c, anticipating European developments often by many centuries. Among its contributions (to the 10th-c) are the following: \IPrehistoric\i : World's earliest evidence of deliberate use of fire in cooking. \IShang\i (16th-c BC): Bronzes by multipart mould casting; chariots with axled 15-spoke wheels; \Jweather\j records kept (1216 BC). \IZhou\i (11th-3rd-c BC): Iron (512 BC); cast-iron agricultural implements (4th-c BC); crossbows with 4-part trigger; mustard gas blown with bellows (possibly 4th-c BC); chariots with 30-spoke wheels (European equivalents, 15th-c); salt production (7th-c BC); dam construction (6th-c BC); irrigation (560 BC); canals (3rd-c BC). \IHan\i (3rd-c BC-3rd-c AD): paper (AD 105) (Europe, 1150); conversion of rotary to rectilinear motion (1st-c AD); simple \Jporcelain\j; furrow plough (3rd-c); artesian wells (1st-c) (Europe, 1126); steam condensation (3rd-c BC); square pallet chain \Jpump\j (for irrigation, 1st-c BC); crank handle (2nd-c AD); wheelbarrow (AD 300); brine extraction by deep drilling; iron smelting in \Jcupola\j furnaces (28 BC) (Europe, 1380); \Jwater\j-powered piston bellows (AD 31) (Europe, 1565); \Jcoal\j in smelting (4th-c); steel manufacture (6th-c, possibly 1st-c BC); stirrup (AD 300); breast strap and collar harness (by 5th-c); 6-man chariots; rudder (1st-c, possibly 1st-c BC) (Europe, c.1200); watertight bulkheads (Europe, 18th-c); multiple-masted ships (Europe, 15th-c); tacking sails (3rd-c) (Europe 16th-c); snowflake symmetry observed (135 BC) (Europe, 15th-c); \Jweather\j forcasting (2nd-c BC); \Jabacus\j (2nd-c AD); \Jseismograph\j (AD 132) (Europe, 1703); proof of 'Pythagoras's \Jtheorem\j' (2nd-c); concept of negative number (2nd-c BC) (Europe, 16th-c); \fp\n calculated (2nd-c). \ISui-Tang\i (6th-10th-c): printing (by 593) (Europe, 1375); first printed book (868); toilet paper (590); fireworks (600); \Jgunpowder\j (900) (Europe, 1327); true \Jporcelain\j; clockwork escapement (724); \Jcrossbow\j with 700┐m range; long stirrups; 30-man military carriages (7th-c); iron-chain suspension bridges (7th-c) (Europe, 1595); segmental arch bridges (7th-c) (Europe, 1340); 5-deck ships; paddlewheel warships (780) (Europe, 15th-c); use of acids described (860) (Europe, 1295); alcohol distillation (8th-c) (Europe, 13th-c); dictionary of chemical synonyms (806) (Europe, 18th-c).
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"Chinese medicine and public health",8030,0,0,0
EN China played a leading world role from the earliest times until the 18th-c, as the following contributions (to the 10th-c) illustrate: \IZhou\i (11th-c-3rd-c BC): Royal physicians and dieticians (6th-c BC), state-employed doctors, public health officials; importance of pure drinking \Jwater\j realized; connection between physical and mental illness known. \IQin / Han\i (3rd-c BC-3rd-c AD): \JBiography\j of a doctor \I(Shi Chi,\i 1st-c BC); first \Jhospital\j (491), state hospitals (by 6th-c); 360 \Jacupuncture\j points known (1st-c BC); dissection (1st-c AD); caesarians (5th-c); connection established between sweet food and diabetes (1st-c) (Europe, 18th-c); value of \Jseaweed\j in goitre (1st-c) (Europe, 1180); medicinal tea-drinking; culinary and insect-borne causes of food-poisoning noted; piped drinking \Jwater\j in Qin palaces (3rd-c BC); piped drinking \Jwater\j from limed wells via pottery conduits to cities (2nd-c AD); public bath-houses; public rat / insect catchers, with use of \Jpyrethrum\j; first Chinese pharmacopoeia (365 drugs) and first medical treatise (1st-c BC). \ISui / Tang\i (6th-10th-c AD): Imperial Medical College founded (620), including specialist courses (dentistry, opthalmics); 10 compulsory final examinations (759); legal requirement of 20 medical students in every large city; state supply of medicines, provincial drug distribution centres, experimental herb-culture, 400 medicinal plants used (7th-c); dictionary of prescriptions (723); 27 \Jseaweed\j treatments for goitre (7th-c); circulatory system studied.
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"Chinese music",8031,0,0,0
EN The music of China is both ancient and varied, with a correspondingly rich instrumentation. The \Iqin,\i a type of \Jzither\j, the \Idizi,\i a \Jbamboo\j flute, and the \Ipipa,\i a pear-shaped lute, are among the oldest and most highly regarded of Chinese instruments. Until the end of the Qing dynasty (1911) most types of Chinese music were transmitted orally, although notation systems had existed for centuries.
Historical writings and contemporary accounts yield much information about music among the people, at the courts, and, above all, in the theatre, where a kind of opera developed before the earliest Western operas were staged in Florence c.1600. The \JBeijing\j opera has been of central importance in Chinese music and culture for two centuries, and since 1949 a vital mouthpiece for socialist propaganda.
The Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s halted performances of traditional opera, as well as the scholarly study of ancient Chinese music that had begun in the Qing dynasty. Since the fall of Mao Zedong's wife in 1976, many traditional features have returned, and performances of Western music have also increased.
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"Chinese Opera -- Education and Training of Players",8032,0,0,0
Opera players represent a story by means of action in space and time. To do this, they need the four fundamental skills of singing, speaking or reciting, acting, and such martial arts as fighting, striking emotional poses, and acrobatics. To start with, players have to be well-endowed vocally and have pliant body movement. Since they have to be trained as early as possible to acquire those skills, their education needs to be both rigorous and systematic.
In 1951, to help promote traditional theatrical arts, the ROC government set up several Chinese opera schools. Today, the major performing groups and training institutes include the Tapeng, Haikuang, and Lukuang troupes, and the National Fu-hsing Dramatic Arts Academy. All four are first-rate professional groups that employ the top Chinese opera talent in \JTaiwan\j. Through an alternating schedule, a public performance of traditional Chinese opera is staged by one of the four groups almost every evening in Taipei.
These troupes have assumed the responsibility of training new generations of theatrical artists. The students, all supported by government scholarships, start out as first graders. After passing qualifying exams, they begin a curriculum that covers the required school courses, but also adds course in traditional Chinese culture and art, and professional courses in Chinese opera.
The latter include vocal training, singing and acting skills, and basic acrobatics and kung-fu. The training lasts eight years, at the end of which the students receive a vocational school diploma, the equivalent of a regular high school diploma. Most of the graduates join professional troupes, but some may qualify through an examination to attend college and study dramaturgy. Yet others go abroad to study drama and theater.
Besides the four troupes mentioned above, amateur Chinese opera clubs are found on all college campuses as well as in many other schools and government and private organizations. There are also two noted avant-garde groups, the Ya-yin Ensemble, led by an opera actress Kuo Hsiao-chuang, and the Contemporary Legend Theater, led by Wu Hsing-kuo.
Both have won wide acclaim from both domestic and international audiences through their writing of new librettos, flexible incorporation of Western theatrical concepts and staging techniques, and experimentation with new approaches to performing. As in centuries past, Chinese opera has matured by drawing on other theatrical forms as well as experimenting with new approaches. For example, an impressive recent experiment combined Western drama with traditional Chinese operatic style.
The Contemporary Legend Theater produced a couple of innovative adaptations of Shakespeare's \IMacbeth\i and \IHamlet\i into modern Peking presentation opera which has not only played to packed houses at home, but also toured abroad. Rather than forsaking tradition, this type of experiment demonstrates the vigorous health and vitality of an art form with roots three millennia old.
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"Chinese Opera -- History",8033,0,0,0
As with Western drama, theater in China can be traced back to religious rituals and ritualistic dances of great antiquity. The Duke of Chou, for example, is credited with formulating music and dances to accompany various rites during the time of his regency (1115-1104 BC), establishing a foundation for later ages to build upon.
Eventually, songs and dances became secular performances, and an early form of drama was born. The Spring and Autumn Period (722-481 BC) saw the advent of court jesters, who cajoled their princes into sense with witty but barbed jokes; they served as prototypes for the clown roles popular in opera.
An office of music \I(Yueh Fu)\i was set up in the reign of emperor Wu (140-88 BC) of the \JHan dynasty\j. The office contributed substantially to the shaping, preservation, and propagation of Chinese music and dance. Popular shows prevalent at the time included acrobatics and a Chinese equivalent of \Jvaudeville\j, adding more strands to the fabric of Chinese theater.
Throughout the centuries, Chinese opera has been a popular entertainment enjoyed by the common people as well as China's royalty and aristocracy. The imperial court and literati, gentry, and performing artists themselves all contributed to the growth of opera by sponsoring or writing plays, librettos, and musical scores. At the same time, the arts of facial painting, singing and acting developed high standards, making Chinese opera an art form both complex and refined.
Chinese opera first achieved great popularity and maturity in the Tang Dynasty during the reign of Hsuan Tsung (712-755) and Chuang Tsung (923-925). These two emperors are considered the honorary fathers of Chinese opera because of their enthusiastic support of the art. Both had exceptional technical knowledge of music.
In addition, Hsuan Tsung, who has been worshipped by generations of opera artists as their patron saint, founded the Pear Garden Academy, a music and dance troupe within the court. In later times, opera singing was referred to as the "Pear Garden Profession" and opera performers as "Pear Garden Brothers".
The Sung Dynasty (960-1279) saw the rise of Northern style opera \I(chachu)\i, which reached its apex in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). A southernstyle opera \I(chuan-chi)\i emerged during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), distinguished from the Northern style by having more scenes in one play. A form of southern style, called \Ikun-chuli survives today. In the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911), many regional forms of Chinese opera rose and fell, but Peking opera \I(\Jpi\j-huang)\i enjoyed the greatest popularity.
Peking opera became the dominant theatrical form under the generous patronage of the long-reigning Ching Dynasty emperor Cheinlung (r. 1736-1795), who had a keen interest in all forms of art. Peking opera has its origin in a number of operatic forms. It drew heavily on the Southern Style, as well as on styles prevailing in northwest China and in the provinces of Kiangsi, Anhui, and Hupeh.
These varied roots gave enduring strength to the trunk of Peking opera. Imperial favor and the appearance of exceptional playwrights and actors brought Peking opera to full maturity during the reigns of emperors Tungchih (1862-1874) and Kuanghsu (1875-1908). By this time, it had surpassed all other local forms of operatic theater.
Like opera in the West, Chinese opera combines literature, music and dance. But there are major differences as well. For example, the actors' makeup carries special meaning, the stories reflect Chinese ethical themes, and the music and staging techniques have little resemblance to what is common in the West.
As illustrated in the following sections, Chinese opera has numerous distinctive features which have evolved since the earliest theatrical activities. These help add drama to the story, indicate the personal traits of the characters, manipulate the plot's time and space, and give visual and auditory pleasure to the audience.
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"Chinese Opera -- Special Features",8034,0,0,0
\B\IStage and Setting\b\i
The Chinese stage has traditionally been a box-like structure raised in the open air, similar to an apron stage. It is open on three sides, with the back part curtained off for a dressing room. The stage is bare except for one table and two chairs set in the middle, close to the curtain. The orchestra is seated at the right side of the stage. Although some attempts have been made to introduce more realistic sets and set changes on indoor stages, most of them remain more impressionistic than realistic.
\B\IProps\b\i
Props, like the stage setting, are abstract and impressionistic. The table and chairs may serve, as occasion demands, as a mountain, a many storied building, or a bridge. No real boats, carriages, or horses ever appear on stage. In their place are an oar or punting pole, two flags with wheels painted on them, and horsewhips handled with appropriate gestures. Things as big as a door or as small as a needle and thread are represented by mime.
It may be said that apart from the weapons needed for martial arts displays, all the props are symbolic. The lack of realistic props simply means that performers have to compensate with gesture and movement. Spatial transitions from one place to another are smooth and economical, following sophisticated formulas of stylized \Jsymbolism\j developed over centuries of performances.
\B\IRoles, Singing, and Acting\b\i
In Western opera, role division is based on the sex and voice of the singer, but in Chinese opera it is made according to the sex and personality of the dramatic character. The various roles are roughly classified into four types: males with unpainted faces \I(sheng)\i, females \I(tan)\i, males with heavily painted faces \I(ching)\i, and clowns \I(chou)\i. For centuries, only men or boys could act in opera, including the female roles. Today, women in most cases play female roles, and they often take men's roles as well.
The four roles are subdivided, based on the characters' age, temperament, and the kind of singing, speech, gesticulation, and martial displays they are called upon to make.
\B\IMales with unpainted faces\b\i\I(sheng)\i:
\ILao-sheng\i-- a male, over thirty years old, who sings and speaks in a low and deep natural voice who has a long beard, black or white according to his age.
\IWu-sheng\i-- a martial young man who sings and speaks in his natural voice who specializes in kung fu and acrobatics.
\IHsiao-sheng\i-- a handsome and suave young man who speaks in a voice compounded of the natural and the artificial. He sings in a high-pitched falsetto.
\B\IFemales\b\i \I(tan)\i:
\IChing-yi\i-- a rather formal female, chaste and respectable, whose role calls for top-quality singing, enunciation, and exquisite gesticulation. She always uses the falsetto.
\IHua-tan\i-- a young, frolicsome, and often roguish girl full of vivacity and innocence. Her acting stresses these qualities, and she sings and speaks in a falsetto.
\IWu-tan\i-- the female counterpart of the wu-sheng, she is both beautiful and well-versed in the martial arts. She also sings and speaks in a falsetto.
\ILao-tan\i- an old woman that speaks and sings in her natural voice, but on a higher pitch than her male counterpart, the lao-sheng.
\B\iMales with heavily painted faces\b\i \I(ching)\i:
These characters sing and speak in a deep-throated natural voice, although somewhat on the nasal side. Their makeup is particularly striking, with varicolored painted faces indicating their character.
\B\IClowns\b\i \I (chou)\i:
Clowns can be male or female \I(tsai-tan)\i. They are sly or stupid, sometimes mean, but invariably ridiculous and laughter-provoking. They sing in a natural voice, but whether they are singing or acting, a hint of exaggeration is always present. The male is marked by a patch of white paint around the eyes and on the nose.
\B\ICostume\b\i
Costumes are based primarily on the dress worn in China about four centuries ago, during the Ming Dynasty, but other fashions from the Tang, Sung, Yuan, and Ching dynasties are also part of the general wardrobe. Exaggerated flowing sleeves, pennants worn on the backs of military officers, and pheasant feathers used on headgear were added to heighten the dramatic effect of the stage \Jchoreography\j.
These extra touches give further emphasis to gestures and highlight the rhythm of movement on the stage. Like facial makeup, costumes tell much about the character wearing them. They make it easy to know whether a character is a civilian or military man, a Chinese or a foreigner, noble or humble, rich or poor, young or old, good or bad.
\B\IMake-up\b\i
Facial painting patterns are specific to particular characters. Make-up replaces the mask, and is believed to have originated in the Northern Dynasty of Chi (550-577). There the Duke of Lanling, whose handsome face belied his manly courage, always wore a ferocious mask to battle. Real masks are still worn for the roles of certain deities in some celebratory or felicitatory plays. But as the mask is a hindrance to singing, speech, and hides facial expressions, facial painting came to supersede it.
Facial patterns \I(lian-pu)\i are composed of designs applied using either oilbased or \Jwater\j soluble colors, each emblematic of the temperament of a given character. Each color is a code expressive of a particular personality. For example, red signifies a sanguinary or hot-blooded character, as well as loyalty and courage. Purple indicates strong will and perseverance.
Black represents a rough-hewn and plain dealing character. Blue and yellow signify a ferocious and ruthless, yet wily character, while green shows that the character is impulsive and violent. Gold and silver are the colors reserved for gods, and white signifies the cruel and perfidious.
\B\IMusic\b\i
Both vocal and instrumental music are indispensable parts of Chinese theater. The music differs from the Western opera in vocalization, the way the voices are organized, the types of melodies, arrangements of accompaniment, and orchestral effects.
\IVocal music\i
Singing is either solo, duet, or in chorus. Chinese opera, however, never developed the refrain or the grand ensemble. This may be a result of the Chinese emphasis on the function of voices in narrating the story line. Thus, instead of the auditory pleasures from harmony, the most sought-after skill has been vocal adroitness. The importance attached to the storytelling function of the singing has also given prominence to the skill and aesthetics of declamation.
In the matter of tunes, the Chinese opera draws from the vocal music used by earlier operatic forms as well as folk songs.
\IInstrumental music\i
Instrumental music is responsible for the overtures, intermezzos, and synchronized accompaniment to singing, dancing, and gesticulation. The musicians and their instruments are divided into string and wind \I(wen-cang)\i and percussion \I(wu-chang)\i sections. The string instruments include the \Ihu-chin\i and \Ier-hu\i, which are played with a bow, and the \Iyueh-chin\i and \ISan-hsien\i both played by strumming. The wind instruments include the Ti, or horizontal flute, and the \Isheng\i, both made of \Jbamboo\j, and the brass \Iso-na\i, or Chinese oboe.
Percussion instruments consists of the \Ipai-pan\i, which are two long wooden slats strung together and beaten like \Jcastanets\j to mark the tempo; the \Itan-\Jpi\j-ku\i, a one-sided drum; the large and small gong; and \Jcymbals\j. In addition, the \Itang-ku\i, the big drum, is used to intensify the effect of battles.
The one-sided drum and the \Ipai-pan\i are played by the same man. He usually has the \Ipai-pan\i in his right hand and a stick for the drum in his left, but he occasionally uses both hands to beat the drum. This man is the virtual conductor of the orchestra. He controls the other players and is responsible for moving the play forward. His seat is so sacrosanct that nobody else is ever allowed to sit in it.
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"Chinese philosophy",8035,0,0,0
EN Intellectual inquiry in China dates back at least to the time of \JConfucius\j in the 6th-c BC, and until the consolidation of empire in the 2nd-c BC a number of different schools engaged in vigorous rivalry. Since argument was primarily directed at competing rulers rather than fellow-citizens, early Chinese thought has a strongly social, non-speculative emphasis, but modern researchers have come to respect the \Jcoherence\j of its culturally and linguistically unfamiliar modes of debate.
Three early schools were particularly influential: \IConfucians\i stressed the importance of the cultural heritage - at best as humanists, at worst as pedants; \ITaoists\i stressed the \Itao\i 'way', underlying and sustaining the natural world, as a surer guide than human institutions; \ILegalists\i stressed the ruler's need to promulgate laws, setting out rewards and punishments to mould his kingdom into an effective power against his rivals. Legalism created the Chinese empire, but Confucianism sustained it, though the decline of empire from the 2nd-c AD onward allowed more mystical philosophies based on the surviving Taoist texts to flourish, paving the way for the acceptance of \JBuddhism\j.
The rejection of \JBuddhism\j in favour of Neo-Confucianism from the 11th-c onward marks a major turning point. \JBuddhism\j was accused of denying the reality of the world of our experience, which for Neo-Confucians was composed of \Ich'i,\i the material element, ordered by \Ili,\i abstract norms patterning this material. Comprehension of these norms was for some, following Chu Hsi (1130-1200), a matter of studying the cultural heritage; for others, following Wang Yang-ming (1472-1529), a matter of looking within the mind.
The ramifications of Neo-Confucian debate provoked a shift from the 17th-c onwards towards the more philological study of the authoritative early texts. The wholesale rejection of traditional thought in the early 20th-c has now yielded to attempts at defining a modern Confucianism in parts of E Asia, even as \JMarxism\j remains the official philosophy of the homeland of \JConfucius\j himself.
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"Chinese Porcelain",8036,0,0,0
The invention of \Jporcelain\j by the Chinese was their greatest contribution to world civilization. For thousands of years, \Jporcelain\j served as a persuasive and representative medium of communication, which brought worldwide recognition to Chinese culture. It has also provided the artistic evidence that Chinese culture merits a special place in world history. Therefore, the West knows China as "the land of \Jporcelain\j," an exclusive title and high honor in which China still, takes pride today.
The long history of Chinese \Jporcelain\j began at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Production improved from inferior to highly skilled, from a few rare pieces to large quantities, and from a few local manufacturers to nation-wide production. Furthermore, the backdrop of different eras and different geographical contexts helped each kiln develop its own individual style.
The inherent nature of Chinese \Jporcelain\j is hard and durable while it outwardly displays beauty and elegance. At first, \Jporcelain\j was created with mere practical concerns in mind, but eventually it was also able to satisfy the aesthetic demands that resulted in a multitude of shapes and forms and a myriad of colors and designs.
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"Chinese Portrait Painting",8037,0,0,0
Before the invention of photography, portrait painting was a popular tool for honoring meritorious and virtuous deeds. Some portraits were painted from life, while others were of legendary figures, where the artist used his imagination. According to Chinese history, legend, writings and material culture which has been transmitted from generation to generation, many famous portraits produced through the centuries were lost.
Chinese portrait painting not only demands the portrayal of the physical appearance, but moreover, must also express the essential spirit of the subject, whether good or evil. It should evoke in the viewer a natural feeling of respect or admonition, and thus fulfill its true purpose as stated by the T'ang Dynasty art critic Chang Yen-yuan: "All painting is used to influence by teaching, and to assist the five human relationships."
In ancient times, Chinese portrait paintings were executed directly on walls, so few could be preserved. Surviving works were usually painted on silk or paper during the middle period. Among them, there are full length and half-length portraits of sages, emperors, and empresses standing or sitting. Not only have they preserved a realistic and historical image but also provide us with rich material for the study of the strict sumptuary laws throughout history.
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"Chinese shar-pei",8038,0,0,0
EN An "ugly-beautiful" dog that is intelligent and affectionate, the Chinese Shar-Pei has only recently been revived from near \Jextinction\j.
\BHistory:\b
The Chinese Shar-Pei can be traced back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220) in Southern China. It was prized for its intelligence and, for centuries, was used to hunt wild boar and to protect livestock and homes. Due to the high government taxes in China in 1947, and the inability of the people to afford pets, dogs were ordered to be destroyed. The Chinese Shar-Pei was saved only by the avid Hong Kong fanciers of the breed, and once the Western world learned of its affectionate temperament and appeal, the breed was built up again. The Chinese Shar-Pei was noted in the \IGuinness Book of World Records\i as the rarest breed in the world a few years ago, and now their popularity is such that the price of good breeding stock is quite high.
\BPhysical characteristics:\b
A medium-sized, though solid dog. \IHeight:\i 18 - 20 in (46 - 51 cm). \IWeight:\i 35 - 55 lb (16 - 25 kg). The physical appearance of the Chinese Shar-Pei is quite striking. Most obvious in the pup is the huge abundance of excess skin with many folds of flesh. The coat fits better as the dog grows.
The coat is short and can either be soft or coarse. The colors of the coat range from cream to light and dark fawn to sable, red, black, and a rare shade of chocolate, and requires little grooming.
\BBehavior:\b
When people first see a Chinese Shar-Pei puppy their heart goes out to it because it look so incredibly cute. However, it is most important not to be overly indulgent with this dog, particularly as a puppy. Even though it looks so very cute it still has all the normal behaviors of a dog. In most cases, the Chinese Shar-Pei has a gentle nature. However, it is still wise to behave in an assertive manner towards this dog until it has reached maturity.
The Chinese Shar-Pei is a very sociable animal, and if allowed, will happily seek out the company of other dogs. Although this dog benefits from early socialization, it does get on exceedingly well with people. When the Chinese Shar-Pei becomes a member of a human family, it is truly happy to receive their attention. This very affectionate dog usually settles in very well.
The Chinese Shar-Pei should be provided with plenty of exercise. Before becoming a companion animal, its former duty was as a hunting dog. Care should be taken with the eyes of the Chinese Shar-Pei, especially the puppies. Sometimes it may be necessary for a veterinarian to hold back the abundantly loose skin above one or both of the eyes until the puppy is older.
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"Chinese Stone Carving",8039,0,0,0
Although Chinese \Jstone carving\j is far inferior in numbers to those in the West, its quality is easily comparable to any \Jstone carving\j tradition found around the world. In 1934, the Academia Sinica conducted excavations at archaeological sites in Anyang, Yin-hsu, Honan Province.
In tomb 1001 at Hsi-pai-kang, they discovered more than ten large-size carved stone animals. This find rewrote the history of Chinese \Jstone carving\j and, at the same time, proved that \Jstone carving\j had already reached a high level of expertise 3,000 years ago during the Shang Dynasty.
The majority of the carvings discovered at Yin-hsu were large and served as architectural ornamentation. Some were three dimensional sculptures, while others consisted of relief carvings. Either type reflected advanced technical skill, expressing firm command of the principles of symmetry and balance. The effect is one of solemnity.
Among the stone carvings, there are some animal sculptures which resemble humans, birds, and animals, such as the marble tiger, the marble hawk, and others. They combine the physical characteristics of several animals, and therefore embody an amalgam of the human, the totemic, and the animal and clearly reflect specific political, religious, and social meanings behind the Shang social concepts.
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"Chinese water deer",8040,0,0,0
EN See \Jwater\j deer
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"Ching-tao",8041,0,0,0
EN See Qingdao, Tsingtao, or Ch'ing-tao
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"Chingis Khan",8042,0,0,0
EN See Genghis Khan
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"Chinkiang",8043,0,0,0
EN See Zhenjiang, Chen-chiang, or Chinkiang
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"chinoiserie",8044,0,0,0
PN [sheen\Bwaz\beree]
EN Silks, \Jporcelain\j, and lacquer from China, which were very much admired in Europe from the time they were first imported in the late \JMiddle Ages\j, and consequently much imitated. From the work of the 17th-c japanners and the productions of the early European \Jporcelain\j makers, which directly copied Oriental art, a separate Western style evolved, using Chinese and Japanese motifs in an original manner in a completely Western decorative context.
It reached its height in the 18th-c (with \JLouis XIV\j's court celebrating the first \Jday\j of the century Chinese-style), and was used throughout the decorative arts, as well as in such fields as book illustration, furniture, \Jarchitecture\j, the theatre, and gardening. Tea-drinking, imported in 1658, became universal within a century. Chinoiserie was the artistic manifestation of \ILe Re\cfve chinois\i ('The Chinese dream'), a broader phenomenon which embraced philosophical, religious, legal, and social issues, attracting many thinkers of the age.
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"chinook",8045,0,0,0
EN This incredibly strong sled dog was the breed chosen by Admiral Byrd for his Antarctic expedition. Records show that each dog in his team pulled an average of 150 lb (68 kg).
\BHistory:\b
The Chinook is a relatively new breed, having been developed in the early 1900s. Arthur Walden desired a dog that was as capable of fast snow travel as the \JArctic\j husky dogs, and that was also as strong as the larger sled-pullers. Walden used a mix of Eskimo Dog, Smooth-Coated \JSt. Bernard\j, German Shepherd, and Belgian Shepherd Dogs to create the Chinook. The breed was named after Chinook, Walden's favorite sled dog, who accompanied him on the Byrd expedition at the age of 12. Unfortunately, Chinook died on that trip, although it is not known how.
