Britannica Concise 2005 - читать бесплатно онлайн полную версию книги автора Encyclopedia Britannica (Начало книги) #1

FROM THE EDITORS OF THE ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA

Revised and Expanded Edition

Britannica

CONCISE

ENCYCLOPEDIA

Britannica

Britanrrica

CONCISE

ENCYCLOPEDIA

Front cover: (clockwise from top row, left) Vincenzo Pinto—AFP/Getty Images; Toni Angermayer; Hans Hinz, Basel; Sean Gallup/Getty Images; courtesy of the Schmuckmuseum, Pforzheim, Germany, John F. Shrawder/Shostal. Back cover: NASA/JPL;Goodshoot/Jupiterimages;Pramod Chandra; Anthony Mercieca from The National Audubon Society Collection/Photo Researchers; J.C. Allen and Son; Stephen Collins—Photo Researchers.

Britannica

CONCISE

ENCYCLOPEDIA

ENCYCLOPAEDIA

Britannica

Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Chicago • London • New Delhi • Paris • Seoul • Sydney • Taipei • Tokyo

Britannica

CONCISE

ENCYCLOPEDIA

Encyclopaedia Britannica

First published in 1768, the Encyclopaedia Britannica has long been the standard by which all other reference works are judged. It represents a tradition of excellence that was built, over the centuries, on meticulous scholarship and unmatched attention to detail. Today, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., produces a range of fine products for reference, education, and learning in different media and in many different languages. Wherever you see the Britannica name—in print, on the Internet, CD-ROM, or DVD—it is your guarantee of quality, accuracy, and authority.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2006921235 International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-59339-492-9

The original edition of this book, created in conjunction with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, was published in 2000 as Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Encyclopedia.

No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Encyclopsedia Britannica and other fine products are available on the Internet at http://www.britannica.com.

(Trademark Reg. LI.S. Pat. Off.) Printed in Peru.

Contents

Foreword vi

Explanatory Notes vii

Abbreviations ix

Pronunciation Symbols x

Guide to Plates and Map Legend xi

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia 1

Encyclopaedia Britannica Corporate Page 2115

Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff 2116

ENCYCLOPEDIA

Britannica

Foreword

T he need for information and the craving for knowledge are timeless and univer¬ sal. The Britannica Concise Encyclopedia satisfies the essence of both these needs. This volume represents the distillation of essential information into a compact and eminently useful single volume.

This latest version of Britannica Concise Encyclopedia answers today's need for a portable, convenient ref¬ erence work covering history, geography, the sci¬ ences, religion, sports, entertainment, technology, and the arts. We hope it will become a favourite source for helping students with their homework, for background to news events, for writers and crossword-puzzle enthusiasts, for solving disputes, and for random browsing.

This printing of Britannica Concise Encyclopedia has been broadly revised. Among the 2.8 million words that make up the nearly 28,000 entries are many new titles and many that have been updated. In the 16-page colour plates section, you will find the

newest versions of national flags as well as a world map, maps of world religions and popula¬ tion characteristics, a selection of World Heritage sites, and a useful world map depicting interna¬ tional time zones. More than 30 tables catalog everything from Nobel Prize winners to chemical elements to popes to the International System of Units of measurement and their U.S. equivalents. Many of the more than 190 maps have been revised, and all of the more than 150 illustrations have been redrawn. The more than 2,000 photo¬ graphs enhance both the appearance and content of Britannica Concise.

The editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica are proud to present the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. We hope that you will consult it often and that it will both satisfy your immediate need for information and lead you to the in-depth information of the 40 million words of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Creating the highest level of reference works has been our goal for 238 years, and we are pleased to welcome you to the Britannica family.

Anita Wolff Editor

VII

Explanatory Notes

Alphabetization. The articles are alphabetized word by word, with further alphabetizing letter by letter within a word. A "word" is here defined as a unit of one or more characters set off from other words by spaces, dashes, hyphens, or other symbols. Entry titles consisting of more than one word are arranged in alphabetical order of the succeeding words. Titles with identical spellings are arranged in the order (1) persons, (2) places, and (3) things. The following list illustrates the word-by-word principle:

horn

Horn, Cape Horn of Africa hornbill Horne, Lena horned toad Hornsby, Rogers

Further alphabetization rules include the follow¬ ing: (1) Diacritics, apostrophes, dashes, periods, and ampersands are ignored in alphabetization. (2) Names of monarchs and popes that are identical except for the Roman numeral following the name are ordered numerically. (3) Names beginning with Mac- and Me- are ordered literally, all names begin¬ ning with Mac- preceding (by a number of pages) all names beginning with Me-. (4) Entry headwords beginning with numbers are alphabetized as if they were spelled out.

Entry headword style. Variant spellings or ver¬ sions of the encyclopedia's entry headwords are printed in boldface type when they are in common use; more obscure variants are printed in ordinary roman type. No effort has been made to be exhaus¬ tive in listing variants.

Several italicized terms are used to discriminate among the variants. The label or simply indicates a common alternative name or spelling. The label orig. precedes the birth name of a person who is entered under a name that was adopted or acquired subsequently. When a person's original surname is different from the name in the principal headword, the entire birth name is given, not enclosed in parentheses. The label known as precedes a common way of referring to a person that may never have had formal status. The label formerly indicates an

older and generally discarded name for an entity, usually a geographical locale. The label officially indicates a formal or legal version of a name. The label in full precedes a fully spelled-out version of a name that is usually encountered in its shorter form. A label consisting of a language name pre¬ cedes a native version or spelling of a name or term.

Biographical entry headwords in particular may employ parentheses in several ways. Parentheses may enclose portions of a person's name that are rarely used, a person's original given name or names, a later addition such as a title, or transla¬ tions of titles or epithets.

drum or croaker Odin or Wotan

Bacall, Lauren orig. Betty Joan Perske O'Connell, Daniel known as the Liberator Iqaluit formerly Frobisher Bay Latvia officially Republic of Latvia OCR infill optical character recognition fax infill facsimile

Magellan, Strait of Spanish Estrecho de Magallanes

Odysseus Roman Ulysses Connelly, Marc(us Cook)

Doctorow, E(dgar) L(aurence)

Hughes, (James Mercer) Langston Basil II known as Basil Bulgaroctonus ("Slayer of the Bulgars")

Pronunciations. Entries for terms and names whose pronunciation the encyclopedia's likely users might hesitate over are supplied with pro¬ nunciations. Foreign names or terms that are pro¬ nounced in a markedly different way by native speakers and English-speakers are frequently pro¬ vided with two pronunciations, one of them pre¬ ceded by a language label (e.g., English, French, Spanish). Thus, for Hassan II we provide the pro¬ nunciations Vha-san, English ha-'sanV The sym¬ bols employed and the sounds they represent are listed on page x.

Romanization of foreign languages. Words from languages that do not use the Western (Roman) alphabet generally reflect the spellings most com¬ monly seen in English-language contexts.

VIII

Chinese names are almost always transcribed according to the Pinyin system. Where a Chinese name or term appears as a headword, the older Wade-Giles spelling is given as an or variant. Place- names and biographical names on Taiwan, howev¬ er, are generally listed in their Wade-Giles spelling, with the Pinyin spelling as a variant. A few Chinese names widely used in English (e.g., Confucius) retain their traditional English spelling.

Japanese names and terms are generally transcribed according to the Hepburn system but without macrons to indicate vowel length.

Russian names and terms generally observe tradi¬ tional Western spellings and follow the diacritic- free system employed by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

Arabic names and terms generally follow the best- established Western usage. Except in a few well- established Western transliterations, the l in the arti¬ cle nl- or el- ("the") is not assimilated to a following consonant (thus, we employ the spelling Harun nl- Rnshid, not Harun ar-Rashld), even though such assimilation reflects Arabic pronunciation and is sometimes encountered in English sources.

Cross-references. Cross-references to other articles are indicated by small capitals in sans-serif type for the alphabetized element of the term or name. Thus, "J. von Neumann" sends the reader to the V's, "J. W. von Goethe" to the G's; "Cape Breton Island" sends the reader to the C's, "Cape of Good Hope" to the G's; and so on. In the case of personal names in which

there is no ambiguity as to alphabetical placement, the entire name appears in small capitals.

A term is cross-referenced only when it is likely that the reader of the article within which the cross-ref¬ erence appears would want to be notified about the additional article. Hence many terms for which there are corresponding entries are not highlighted as references. For instance, in the article on Tim Berners-Lee, we have cross-referenced "World Wide Web" (whose invention was his principal achieve¬ ment) but not "Internet," which is naturally cross- referenced within the "World Wide Web" article. Because cross-referencing of this kind is discre¬ tionary, readers should not assume that a noun lacks its own entry simply because it is not refer¬ enced within the article being read.

For the sake of saving space, many people who receive their own entries have their given names abbreviated and their surnames in small capitals when they are mentioned in an article, regardless of how likely the reader of the article is to want to be alerted to the biographical entry. The names of countries, U.S. states, and Canadian provinces, by contrast, are virtually never referenced, regardless of their centrality to a given article, on the pre¬ sumption that readers will correctly assume that the encyclopedia contains articles on all such entities.

Some 3,000 cross-references are provided at their own alphabetical place, to direct the reader who has looked up a variant version of the name or has expected an entry to be alphabetized according to an element other than the one actually used.

Abbreviations

Mass.

Md.

Massachusetts

Maryland

anno Domini

Me.

Maine

Adm.

Admiral

mile(s)

Ala.

Alabama

Mich.

Michigan

Amer.

American

Minn.

Minnesota

Ariz.

Arizona

Miss.

Mississippi

Ark.

Arkansas

millilitre(s)

before Christ

millimetre(s)

Celsius

Mo.

Missouri

circa

Mont.

Montana

Cal.

California

mph

miles per hour

Capt.

captain

North

cubic centimetre(s)

N.C.

North Carolina

cent.

century, centuries

N.D.

North Dakota

centimetre(s)

northeastern

Co.

Company, County

Neb.

Nebraska

Col.

Colorado, Colonel

Nev.

Nevada

Conn.

Connecticut

N.H.

New Hampshire

Corp.

Corporation

N.J.

New Jersey

cubic

N.M.

New Mexico

D.C.

District of Columbia

northwestern

Del.

Delaware

N.Y.

New York

Dr.

Doctor

Okla.

Oklahoma

East

Ore.

Oregon

e-g-

exempli gratia (for example)

ounce(s)

est.

estimate, estimated

Pa.

Pennsylvania

Eth.

Ethiopia

Ph.D.

Doctor of Philosophy

Fahrenheit

Pres.

President

fl.

flourished

Queen.

Queensland

Fla.

Florida

reigned, ruled

foot, feet

Rev.

Reverend

gram(s)

R.I.

Rhode Island

Ga.

Georgia

South

Gen.

General

s.c.

South Carolina

Gov.

Governor

S.D.

South Dakota

i.e.

id est (that is)

southeastern

Ill.

Illinois

Sen.

Senator

in.

inch(es)

square

Ind.

Indiana

St.

Saint

Jr-

Junior

southwestern

Kelvin

Tenn.

Tennessee

Kan.

Kansas

United Nations

k g

kilogram(s)

u.s.

United States

kilometre(s)

Va.

Virginia

kph

kilometres per hour

vs.

versus

Ky.

Kentucky

Vt.

Vermont

La.

Louisiana

West

lb, lbs

pound, pounds

w.v.

West Virginia

metre(s)

Wash.

Washington

M.A.

Master of Arts

Wise.

Wisconsin

Maj.

Major

Wy.

Wyoming

Pronunciation Symbols

banana, collide, abut, humdrum

saw, all, caught

preceding \1\, \n\, \m\, \q\, as

French boeuf, German Holle

in battle, mitten, eaten, lock and key - 3 rj-\; following \1\, \m\, \r.

French feu, German Flohle

as in French table, prisme, titre

coin, destroy

further, merger, bird

pepper, lip

mat, gag

red, car, rarity

day, fade, aorta

source, less

bother, cot, father, cart

shy, mission, machine, special

father as pronounced by speakers

tie, attack, late, latter

who do not rhyme it with bother,

French patte

thin, ether

then, either, this

now, loud, out

rule, youth, union X'yiin-yonX,

baby, rib

few X'fyiiX

chin, nature X'na-chorX

pull, wood, book

did, adder

German fiillen, hiibsch

bet, bed, peck

French rue, German fiihlen

beat, easy

vivid, give

fifty, cuff

we, away

go, big

yard, cue X'kyiiX, union

hat, ahead

X'yiin-yanX

tip, banish

indicates that during the articula-

site, buy

tion of the sound represented by

gem, judge

the preceding character the front

kin, cook, ache

of the tongue has substantially the position it has when pronouncing

German ich, Buch

y, as in French digne XdenA

lily, pool

zone, raise

murmur, dim

vision, azure X'a-zhorX

no, own

precedes a syllable with primary

indicates that a preceding vowel or diphthong is pronounced with

(strongest) stress: X'pen-man- ,ship\

the nasal passages open, as in

precedes a syllable with secondary

French un bon vin blnnc

(medium) stress: X'pen-mon-

\oe n -bo n -va n -bla n \

.shipX

singX'siqX, singerX'siq-arX,

marks syllable division

fingerX'fiq-garX, inkX'iqkX

()

indicate that what is enclosed is

bone, know, beau

pronounced by some but not by others -.factory \'fak-t(a-)re\

Guide to Plates

Flags of the World

Plates

1-9

World Political Map

Plates

10-11

World Religions Map

Plate

World Population Density Map

Plate

World Indigenous Skin Color Map

Plate

World Heritage sites

Plates

14-15

International Time Zones

Plate

Map Legend

Cities and towns

Sao Paulo #

MeXiCoCit V® National capital

Albuquerque^

Lausanne B

Second level political capital

Other administrative centre

Boundaries

Other Features

— International

SERENGETI

■ ■ ■ Canal

Disputed

national park Natio nal park

Mount Everest

——— Aqueduct

Line of control

29,035 ft. A Mountain peak

Dam

Second level political

~ River

Falls

Third level political

Intermittent river

Rapids

This page intentionally left blank

A Coruna ► Abbado I 1

A Coruna \,a-k6-'ru-nya\ Spanish La Coruna City (pop., 2003 est.: 243,902), northwestern Spain. A seaport on the Atlantic Ocean, it is believed to antedate Roman times. A point of departure for the Spanish Armada in 1588, it was sacked by Sir Francis Drake in 1589. In the Pen¬ insular War, it was the site of a notable victory by the English over the French. It is now a large fishing centre and one of northern Spain’s most important shipping ports.

A&P See Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.

a posteriori See a priori

a priori \,a-pre-'or-e, .a-pri-'or-lX In epistemology, knowledge that is inde¬ pendent of all particular experiences, as opposed to a posteriori (or empirical) knowledge, which derives from experience. The terms have their origins in the medieval Scholastic debate over Aristotelian con¬ cepts (see Scholasticism). Immanuel Kant initiated their current usage, pairing the analytic-synthetic distinction with the a priori-a posteriori distinction to define his theory of knowledge.

Aachen Va-kon\ French Aix-la-Chapelle \,eks-la-sha-'pel\

City (pop., 1995 est.: 247,000), western Germany, southwest of Cologne. It was inhabited by Romans in the 1st century ad. A center of Carolingian culture, and the second city of Charle¬ magne’s empire, it was the site of his great palace. The cathe¬ dral built by Charlemagne c. 800 saw the coronation of most German kings of the 10th-16th century; his chapel, with his tomb, remains as part of the larger Gothic cathedral today. Aachen was part of France 1801-15. It is famous for its many spas.

Aaiun, El See Laayoune

Aalto \'al-to\, (Hugo) Alvar (Henrik) (b. Feb.

3, 1898, Kuortane, Fin., Russian Empire—d. May 11, 1976, Helsinki) Finnish architect and designer. He graduated from the Technical Institute of Helsinki and in 1925 married Aino Marsio, who served as his collabo¬ rator. His reputation rests on a distinctive style that blends classic Mod¬ ernism, indigenous materials (especially timber), and personal expression. His unique blending of Modernism and informal regional character was perhaps best expressed in his civic centre in Saynatsalo (1950-52), with its simple forms in red brick, wood, and copper. He remains one of the Modern movement’s most popular architects; reproductions of his bent laminated wood furniture appear in households worldwide.

aardvark or African ant bear Heavily built mammal ( Orycteropus afer) of sub-Saharan forests and plains. Its stout, piglike body (“aard¬ vark” is Afrikaans for “earth pig”) may be as long as 6 ft (1.8 m), including a 2-ft (60-cm) tail. It has a long snout, rabbitlike ears, short legs, and long toes with large, flat¬ tened claws. It feeds at night by rip¬ ping open ant and termite nests and lapping up the insects with a long (1-ft, or 30-cm), sticky tongue.

Though not aggressive, it uses claws to fight off attackers. Its classifica¬ tion with regard to other mammals is uncertain.

Aare River \'ar-o\ or Aar River River, central and northern Switzer¬ land. The longest river entirely within Switzerland, it flows northwest from the Bernese Alps and passes through the Gorge of the Aare and by the city of Bern before flowing northeast to enter the Rhine at Koblenz, after a course of 183 mi (294 km).

Aarhus See Arhus

Aaron (fl. 14th century bc) Brother of Moses and traditional founder and head of the priesthood of ancient Israel. According to the Bible, he was the spokesman for Moses and played a central role in forcing the pharaoh to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt. God charged Aaron and Moses with commemorating the event at Passover, and Aaron and his sons were given priestly authority by Moses. Though Aaron is a pivotal figure in Exodus, he nearly fades from view thereafter. He is mentioned as the one respon¬ sible for the Israelites’ idolatrous worship of the golden calf while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Law from God. His death at age 123 is noted in Numbers.

Aaron, Hank byname of Henry Louis Aaron (b. Feb. 5, 1934, Mobile, Ala., U.S.) U.S. baseball player, one of the greatest in profes¬ sional baseball. After playing briefly in the Negro leagues and then in the minor leagues, Aaron was moved up to the majors as an outfielder with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. By the time the Braves moved to Atlanta, Ga., in 1965, Aaron had hit 398 home runs; in 1974 he hit his 715th, breaking Babe Ruth’s record.

He played his final two seasons (1975-76) with the Milwaukee Brewers. Aaron’s records for career home runs (755), extra¬ base hits (1,477), and runs bat¬ ted in (2,297) remain unbroken, and only Ty Cobb and Pete Rose exceed him in career hits (3,771). Aaron is renowned as one of the greatest hitters of all time.

AARP formerly American Association of Retired Persons Nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that addresses the needs and interests of Americans aged 50 and older. It was founded in 1958 by a retired teacher, Ethel Andrus, and merged in 1982 with the National Retired Teachers Association, also founded by Andrus (1947). Its bimonthly maga¬ zine, Modern Maturity , has the largest circulation of any U.S. periodical. Its membership exceeds 35 million. Its members’ reliably high turnout at the polls has made it one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the country.

abacus Calculating instrument that uses beads that slide along a series of wires or rods set in a frame to represent the decimal places. Probably of Babylonian origin, it is the ancestor of the modern digital calculator. Used by merchants in the Middle Ages throughout Europe and the Ara¬ bic world, it was gradually replaced by arithmetic based on Hindu-Arabic numerals. Though rarely used in Europe past the 18th century, it is still used in the Middle East, China, and Japan.

Aba ha i See Hongtaiji

Abakanowicz V.a-ba-'kan-o-.witsV Magdalena (b. June 20, 1930, Falenty, Pol.) Polish sculptor. A descendant of nobility, she graduated from Warsaw’s Academy of Fine Arts in 1955. She became the pioneer and leading exponent of sculpture made of woven fabrics, calling her three- dimensional weavings “Abakans” (from her surname). She produced series of fabric forms called Heads (1975), Backs (1976-80), Embryol¬ ogy (1980), and Catharsis (1986). She has also exhibited paintings, draw¬ ings, and sculptures in other media internationally and has been widely imitated in Europe and the U.S.

abalone X.a-bo-'lo-neV Any of several marine snail species (genus Hali- otis, family Haliotidae), found in warm seas worldwide. The outer sur¬ face of the single shell has a row of small holes, most of which fill in as the animal grows; some remain open as outlets for waste products. Abalo- nes range from 4 to 10 in. (10-25 cm) across and up to 3 in. (8 cm) deep. The largest is the 12 in. (30 cm) abalone ( H. rufescens). The shell’s lustrous, iridescent interior is used in ornaments, and the large muscular foot is eaten as a delicacy.

Commercial abalone fisheries exist in California, Mexico, Japan, and South Africa.

Abate, Niccolo dell' See Niccolo dell'Abbate

Abbado \a-'ba-do\, Claudio (b. June 26, 1933, Milan, Italy) Italian conductor. Abbado studied piano, composition, and conducting at the

Abalone (Haliotis)

JACQUES SIX

2 I ‘Abbas I ► Abbey

Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory before beginning to conduct in Vienna. He was long associated with Milan’s La Scala (1968-86), as principal con¬ ductor and ultimately as artistic director, as well as with the Vienna Phil¬ harmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra. In 1989 he succeeded Herbert von Karajan as permanent conductor and artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic. He is known for his commitment to adventurous programming, including much modem music.

'Abbas I known as 'Abbas the Great (b. Jan. 27, 1571—d. Jan. 19, 1629) Shah of Persia (1587-1629).

Succeeding his father, Muhammad Shah, he strengthened the Safavid dynasty by expelling Ottoman and Uzbek troops and creating a standing army. 'Abbas made Esfahan Persia’s capital, and under him it became one of the world’s most beautiful cities.

Persian artistic achievement reached a high point during his reign; illumi¬ nated manuscripts, ceramics, and painting all flourished, and the Por¬ tuguese, Dutch, and English com¬ peted for trade relations with Persia.

Tolerant in public life (he granted privileges to Christian groups) and concerned for his people’s welfare, his fear for his personal security led him to act ruthlessly against his immediate family.

'Abbas \ab-'bas\ I (b. 1813—d.

July 13, 1854, Banha, Egypt) Vice¬ roy of Egypt (1848-54) under the Ottoman Empire. His rule was one of consolidation, when many of the Western-style reforms begun by his grandfather, Muhammad c Au, were either discontinued or neglected. Though generally distrusting of foreigners, he allowed the British to con¬ struct a railroad between Alexandria and Cairo in 1851. The British, in turn, assisted him in disputes with his Ottoman overlords, whom he none¬ theless aided by sending troops to fight in the Crimean War (1853). A recluse, he was murdered by two servants at his palace in Banha.

Abbas, Ferhat (b. Aug. 24, 1899, Taher, Alg.—d. Dec. 24, 1985, Alg¬ iers) Algerian political leader who served as first president of the provi¬ sional government of the Algerian Republic (1958). Originally a Francophile, he became disillusioned with France, and during World War II (1939—45) he issued a condemnation of French rule, demanding a con¬ stitution that would grant equality to all Algerians. He joined the National Liberation Front (FLN), which helped achieve independence from France (1958-62). He was elected president of the Algerian Constituent Assem¬ bly in 1962 but resigned in 1963 following a dispute within the FLN. See also Young Algerians.

Abbas, Mahmoud also called Abu Mazen (b. 1935, Zefat, Pales¬ tine [now in Israel]) Palestinian leader. Abbas earned a law degree from the University of Damascus and a doctorate in history from Moscow State University. In the late 1950s he was one of the founders of Fatah, which spearheaded the Palestinian armed struggle and dominated the Palestine Liberation Organization. In the 1990s Abbas shaped Palestinian negotiat¬ ing strategy in peace talks that led in 1993 to the Oslo Accords, in which Israel and the Palestinians extended to each other mutual recognition and which called for Israel to cede some authority over the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the Palestinians. He briefly served as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority in 2003 and was elected its president in 2005.

'Abbasid \3-'ba-sod\ dynasty (750-1258) The second of the two great Sunnite dynasties of the Islamic Caliphate. The 'Abbasids took their name from an uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, al-'Abbas, whose descendants formed one of several groups agitating for change under the Umayyad dynasty. The Umayyad enforcement of a brand of Arab chauvinism, wherein non-Arab Muslims were relegated to a lower status, led to a revolution in which the 'Abbasids claimed the Caliphate and enforced a more universal community of believers. This was symbolized by their movement of the caliphal capital from Damascus to Baghdad, an area closer to the geographic centre of the empire and nearer the Persian hin¬ terland. Under their rule, Islamic culture flourished, new heights in phi¬ losophy and science were attained, and the period was widely seen as the

“golden age” of the Islamic world. During that time, however, the Caliph¬ ate’s authority slowly began to erode as regional power centres devel¬ oped throughout the empire. Although central authority was intermittently reasserted by strong-willed caliphs, by the 13th century 'Abbasid author¬ ity was largely spiritual. The last 'Abbasid caliph was executed by Mon¬ gol invaders, but a shadow Caliphate (of dubious authenticity) continued into the early 20th century. See also AbG Muslim.

Abbate \ab-'ba-ta\, Niccolo dell' or Niccolo dell'Abate (b. c.

1512, Modena, Duchy of Modena—d. 1571, Fontainebleau, Fr.) Italian painter. He was trained in Modena and developed his mature style under the influence of his contemporaries Correggio and Parmigianino in Bolo¬ gna (1544-52). There he painted portraits and decorated palaces with frescoes of landscapes and figure compositions in the Mannerist style. In 1552 he was invited by Henry II of France to work under Primaticcio at the Palace of Fontainebleau, where he executed immense murals (most now lost). He remained in France the rest of his life. His mythological landscapes were a principal source of the French Classical landscape tra¬ dition, and he was a precursor of Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin.

Abbe Vab-e\, Cleveland (b. Dec. 3, 1838, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Oct. 28, 1916, Chevy Chase, Md.) U.S. meteorologist. He was trained as an astronomer and appointed director of the Cincinnati Observatory in 1868. His interest turned to meteorology, and he inaugurated a public weather service that served as a model for the national weather service, which was organized shortly thereafter as a branch of the (U.S. Army) Signal Service. In 1871 he was appointed chief meteorologist of the branch, which in 1891 was reorganized under civilian control as the U.S. Weather Bureau (later the National Weather Service), and he served in that capacity more than 45 years.

abbey Complex of buildings housing a monastery or convent under the direction of an abbot or abbess, serving the needs of a self-contained reli¬ gious community. The first abbey was Monte Cassino in Italy, founded in 529 by St. Benedict of Nursia. The cloister linked the most important ele¬ ments of an abbey together. The dormitory was often built over the din¬ ing hall on the eastern side of the cloister and linked to the central church. The western side of the cloister provided for public dealings, with the gatehouse controlling the only opening to the outer, public courtyard. On the southern side of the cloister were a central kitchen, brewery, and workshops. The novitiate and infirmary were housed in a building with its own chapel, bathhouse, dining hall, kitchen, and garden. In the 12th— 13th century, many abbeys were built throughout Europe, especially in France.

The ruins of Fountains Abbey, a Cistercian monastery founded in the 12th century, near Ripon, North Yorkshire, England

ANDYWILUAMS

Abbey, Edward (b. Jan. 29, 1927, Home, Pa., U.S.—d. March 14, 1989, Oracle, Ariz.) U.S. writer and environmentalist. Abbey worked as a park ranger and fire lookout for the National Park Service. He wrote a number of volumes on consumer culture’s encroachment on the Ameri¬ can wilderness. Desert Solitaire (1968), one of his best-known, is set in southeastern Utah. His 1975 novel The Monkey Wrench Gang , describ¬ ing the exploits of a band of guerrilla environmentalists, inspired numer¬ ous real-life activists.

‘Abbas I, detail of a painting by the Mughal school of Jahangir, c. 1620; in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

COURTESY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, FREER GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, D.C.

Abbey Theatre ► 'Abd al-Samad I 3

Abbey Theatre Dublin theatre. It developed from the Irish Literary Theatre, founded in 1899 by William Butler Yeats and Lady Augusta Gre¬ gory to foster Irish drama. After moving the troupe to a renovated the¬ atre on Abbey Street in 1904, they codirected its productions with John Millington Synge, staged their own plays, and commissioned works by Sean O'Casey and others. Important premieres included Synge’s The Play¬ boy of the Western World (1907) and O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars (1926). The Abbey became the first state-subsidized theatre in the English- speaking world in 1924. A fire destroyed the original playhouse in 1951, and a new theatre was built in 1966.

Abbott, Berenice (b. July 17, 1898, Springfield, Ohio, U.S.—d. Dec. 9, 1991, Monson, Maine) U.S. photographer. She left the American Mid¬ west in 1918 to study in New York City, Paris, and Berlin. In Paris she became an assistant to Man Ray and Eugene Atget. In 1925 she set up her own studio and made portraits of Parisian expatriates, artists, writers, and collectors. She retrieved and catalogued Atget’s prints and negatives after his death. In the 1930s she photographed New York’s neighbourhoods for the WPA Federal Art Project, documenting its changing architecture; many of the photographs were published in Changing New York (1939).

Abbott, Bud; and Costello, Lou orig. William Alexander Abbott and Louis Francis Cristillo (respectively b. Oct. 2, 1899, Asbury Park, N.J., U.S.—d. April 24, 1974, Woodland Hills, Calif.; b. March 6, 1906, Paterson, N.J.—d. March 3, 1959, East Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. comedy team, prominent in vaudeville from 1931 and on radio from 1938. Their first successful film, Buck Privates (1941), was followed by more than 30 other slapstick comedies, with Abbott playing a bullying straight man to Costello’s childlike buffoon. Their famous routine “Who’s on First?” was first performed in the film The Naughty Nineties (1945). The collaboration ended in 1957.

Abbott, George (Francis) (b. June 25, 1887, Forestville, N.Y., U.S.—d. Jan. 31, 1995, Miami Beach, Fla.) U.S. theatre director, pro¬ ducer, and playwright. In 1913 he began acting on Broadway, and he soon turned to writing and directing plays, achieving his first of many hits with The Fall Guy (1925). He also wrote, directed, or produced many popular musicals, including The Boys from Syracuse (1938), Pal Joey (1940), Where’s Charley (1948), Wonderful Town (1953), and Damn Yankees (1955). He was active in the theatre into the 1980s, directing a revival of On Your Toes at age 95.

Abbott, Grace (b. Nov. 17, 1878, Grand Island, Neb., U.S.—d. June 19, 1939, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. social worker, public administrator, educa¬ tor, and reformer. She graduated from Grand Island College and did gradu¬ ate work at the University of Nebraska and the University of Chicago, receiving a Ph.D. in political science in 1909. In 1908 she began work¬ ing at Jane Addams’s Hull House in Chicago, where she cofounded the Immigrants’ Protective League. As director of the U.S. Children’s Bureau (1921-34), she fought to end child labour through legislation and restric¬ tions on federal contracts. She worked to win public approval of a con¬ stitutional amendment prohibiting child labour; though submitted to the states in 1924, the amendment was never ratified. Her best-known book is The Child and the State (2 vol., 1938).

Abbott, Lyman (b. Dec. 18, 1835, Roxbury, Mass., U.S.—d. Oct. 22, 1922, New York, N.Y.) U.S. minis¬ ter. Son of the writer Jacob Abbott (1803-79), he left law practice to study theology and was ordained in 1860. He became editor of the Illus¬ trated Christian Weekly in 1870 and editor in chief of Henry Ward Beech¬ er’s Christian Union in 1881. In 1888 he succeeded to Beecher’s pul¬ pit in Brooklyn. A leading exponent of the Social Gospel movement, he sought to apply Christianity to social and industrial problems, rejecting both socialism and laissez-faire eco¬ nomics. On other problems Abbott presented the viewpoint of liberal evangelical Protestantism.

Abbott, Sir John (Joseph Caldwell) (b. March 12, 1821, St.

Andrews, Lower Canada—d. Oct. 30, 1893, Montreal, Que., Can.) Cana¬

dian prime minister (1891-92). Educated at McGill University in Mon¬ treal, he became a lawyer in 1847 and was made queen’s counsel in 1862. He was dean of McGill University law school from 1855 to 1880. After serving in the legislative assembly (1857-74, 1880-87), he was appointed to the Senate and became government leader. Upon the death of John Macdonald, he became the compromise choice for prime minister. Ill health forced his resignation in 1892.

abbreviation Shortened form of a written word or phrase used in place of the whole. Abbreviations began to proliferate in the 19th century and have been prevalent since; they are employed to reduce the time required for writing or speaking, especially when referring to the myriad new organizations, bureaucratic entities, and technological products typical of industrial societies. An abbreviation can now easily become a word, either as an initialism in which the letters are pronounced individually (e.g., TV or FBI) or as an acronym in which the letters are combined into syllables (e.g., scuba, laser, or NAFTA).

ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. To avoid a communi¬ cations monopoly, NBC was forced to sell the Blue network in 1941. Its buyer, Edward J. Noble, maker of Life-Savers candies, gave the company its present name. After merging with United Paramount Theaters in 1953, ABC expanded into the emerging television industry and soon became one of the three top networks. It specialized in sports broadcasting and developed the instant replay in 1961. It was bought by Capital Cities Communications in 1985 and by the Walt Disney Co. in 1995.

‘Abd al-‘Az7z ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Faysal Al Sa ud See

Ibn Sa‘0d

‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan N.ab-dol-'mal-ik-.ib-on-mar-'wanV (b. 646/647, Medina, Arabia—d. Oct. 705, Damascus) Fifth caliph (685-705) of the Umayyad dynasty. c Abd al-Malik was forced to flee his hometown of Medina during an uprising against Umayyad rule in 683. Two years later he succeeded to the caliphate and—with the help of his infamous lieutenant al-Hajjaj ibn YOsuf —began a seven-year campaign to defeat all rebellions against the Umayyads and reunify the Muslim world. He resumed the conquest of North Africa, winning the Berbers to his side and capturing Carthage (697) from the Byzantine Empire. His good rela¬ tions with the clergy of Medina led many to abandon their opposition to the Umayyads. He made Arabic the language of government throughout his domains, struck Islamic gold coins to replace Byzantine ones, and built the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

‘Abd al-Mu’min ibn ‘All \ 1 ab-d3l- , mu-min- l ib-on-a- , le\ (b. 1094, Tagra, kingdom of the Hammadids—d. 1163, Rabat, Almohad empire) Berber caliph (1130-63) of the Almohad dynasty. Around 1117 he fell under the sway of Ibn Tumart, founder of the Almohad religious movement, and joined him in opposing to the ruling Almoravid dynasty. He succeeded Ibn Tumart on the latter’s death in 1130 and for the next 17 years carried on the struggle against the Almoravids. After defeating them at Marrakech in 1147, he massacred many of the city’s inhabitants, made Marrakech his home base, and conquered all of North Africa west of Egypt.

‘Abd al-Nasir, Jamal See Gamal Abdel Nasser

‘Abd al-Rahman X.ab-dol-rak-'manX III (b. January 891—d. Oct. 15, 961, Cordoba, Andalusian Spain) First caliph and greatest ruler of the Umayyad Arab Muslim dynasty of Spain. He succeeded his grandfather c Abd Allah as emir of Cordoba in 912. He set out immediately to subdue Muslim rebels in their mountain fortresses, which became an annual task until the Umayyad’s took Toledo in 933. Addressing the Christian threat to the north, he led the campaigns of Muez (920) and Navarra (924). In 928 he declared himself caliph. By 958 he had Christian kings paying him homage. During his rule, Cordoba was exemplary for its social, politi¬ cal, and cultural development; Christian and Jewish communities flour¬ ished, and the city’s fame rivaled that of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople.

‘Abd al-Samad (fl. 16th century) Persian miniature painter. Born in Iran, he traveled to India and became one of the first members of the imperial atelier there. Through their teachings in India, he and fellow countryman Mir Sayyid ‘AlI played a strong role in the foundation of the school of Mughal painting. 'Abd al-Samad supervised the majority of illus¬ trations in the Mughal manuscript Dastan-e Amir Hamzeh, or Hamzan-

Lyman Abbott, 1901.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C.

4 I ‘Abd Allah ► Abelard

ama, which included about 1,400 paintings. Favoured at court, in 1576 he was appointed master of the mint, and in 1584 he was made dlwan (revenue commissioner) of Multan.

‘Abd Allah X.ab-dul-'laN (ibn Muhammad al-TaTishl) or 'Abdullahi \3b-,dul-a-'he\ (b. 1846, Sudan—d. Nov. 24, 1899, Kord- ofan) Political and religious leader who succeeded Muhammad Ahmad (al-Mahdl) as head of the Mahdist movement in the Sudan in 1885. He launched attacks against the Ethiopians and invaded Egypt, securing his position by 1891. In 1896 Anglo-Egyptian forces began to reconquer the Sudan. ‘Abd Allah resisted until 1898, when he was forced to flee Omdur- man. He died in battle one year later.

Abd el-Krim V.ab-dol-'kreirA in full Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Kar7m al-Khattabi (b. 1882, Ajdir, Mor.—d. Feb. 6, 1963, Cairo, Egypt) Berber resistance leader against Spanish and French rule in north¬ ern Morocco. He was chief Muslim judge for Morocco’s Melilla district. He became disillusioned with Spanish policies and eventually led a resis¬ tance movement with his brother. He set up the Republic of the Rif in 1921 and became its president. In 1926 he was forced to surrender when faced by a combined French and Spanish army. Exiled to the island of Reunion, in 1947 he received permission to live in France but took asy¬ lum in Egypt while en route. When Morocco became independent (1956), Muhammad V invited him to return, but he refused because of the contin¬ ued presence of French troops in North Africa.

Abdelkader \,ab-d9l-'kad-9r\ in full 'Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhyi al-DTn ibn Mustafa al-HasanT al-Jaza’iri (b. Sept. 6, 1808, near Mascara, Alg.—d. May 26, 1883, Damascus, Syria) Founder of modem Algeria and leader of its struggle against the French. His father had led a harassment campaign against the French, who invaded Algeria in 1830. Abdelkader succeeded his father as emir in 1832; by 1837, through battles and treaties, he had established his rule over most of Algeria’s interior, leaving the French in control of some port cities. He organized a true state, imposing equal taxes and suppressing the privileges of the warlike tribes. He fortified the interior towns, opened arsenals and workshops, and expanded education. The French overpowered his forces and arrested him by 1846. Upon his parole in 1853, he chose a life of exile, eventually settling in Damascus. Revered for his exemplary life and ideals, in 1860 he showed himself to be a model of decency and probity when, at great risk to his own safety, he sheltered thousands of Christians during a Druze uprising. He died respected by both French and Algerians (and by many others throughout the world), and he remains the Algerian national hero.

Abdera \ab-'dir-3\ City of ancient Thrace on the Aegean Sea nearly opposite Thasos. First settled in the 7th century bc, it was colonized a sec¬ ond time c. 540 bc. A prosperous member of the Delian League, it was crippled in the 4th century bc by Thracian invasions. It was the home of Democritus and Protagoras.

abdominal cavity Largest hollow space of the body, between the dia¬ phragm and the top of the pelvic cavity and surrounded by the spine and the abdominal muscles and others. It contains most of the alimentary canal, the liver and pancreas, the spleen, the kidneys, and the adrenal glands. It is lined by the peritoneum, a membrane covering the cavity’s inside wall (parietal peritoneum) and each organ or structure in it (visceral perito¬ neum). Disorders include ascites (fluid in the peritoneal cavity) and peri¬ tonitis.

abdominal muscle Any of the muscles of the front and side walls of the abdominal cavity. Three flat layers—the external oblique, internal oblique, and transverse abdominis muscles—extend from each side of the spine between the lower ribs and the hipbone. The abdominal muscles attach to aponeuroses, connective tissue sheaths that merge toward the midline, sheathing the rectus abdominis muscle on each side of the mid¬ line. The abdominal muscles support and protect the internal organs and take part in exhaling, coughing, urinating, defecating, childbirth, and motion of the trunk, groin, and lower limbs.

'Abduh Vab-dtL, Muhammad Egyptian religious scholar, jurist, and liberal reformer. As a student in Cairo, he came under the influence of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani. He was exiled for political radicalism (1882-88); he began his judicial career when he returned to Egypt. He rose from judge to mufti (legal counselor) in 1899. In his Treatise on the Oneness of God, he argued that Islam was superior to Christianity because it was more receptive to science and civilization. He liberalized Islamic law and

administration, promoting considerations of equity, welfare, and common sense, even when this meant disregarding the literal texts of the Qur’an.

Abdul Kalam, A(vul) P(akir) J(ainulabdeen) (b. Oct. 15, 1931, Rameswaram, India) Indian president (from 2002). After graduating from the Madras Institute of Technology, Kalam played a leading role in the development of India’s missile and nuclear weapons programs. He planned a program that produced a number of successful missiles, help¬ ing earn him the nickname “Missile Man.” Beginning in the early 1990s, he also served as scientific adviser to the government, and his prominent role in India’s 1998 nuclear weapons tests established Kalam as a national hero. In 2002 the pro-Hindu National Democratic Alliance nominated Kalam, a Muslim, to succeed outgoing President K.R. Narayanan. Kalam easily won the elections in 2002, and in the largely ceremonial post he sought to use science and technology to transform India into a developed country.

Abdul-Jabbar X.ab-dol-jo-'barX,

Lew(is) Alcindor (b. April 16,

1947, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. basketball player. During his college career at UCLA, the team lost only two games, and he led it to three national championships (1966-68).

He then joined the Milwaukee Bucks; in 1975 he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Standing 7 ft l 3 /8 in. (2 m 17 cm), he was the domi¬ nant centre of his time and helped his teams to six NBA titles. By the time he retired in 1989, he had scored a record 38,387 points. He also set the record for most field goals (15,837) and most minutes played (57,446).

He was voted Most Valuable Player a record six times.

Abdul Rahman Putra Alhaj

Vab-dul-ra-'man-'put-ro-al-'hajV Prince (b. Feb. 8, 1903, Alor Star,

Kedah, Malaya—d. Dec. 6, 1990,

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) First prime minister of independent Malaya (1957-63) and then of Malaysia (1963-70). He was educated in England and served in the Malayan Federal Legal Department (1949-51) before pursuing a career in politics. As president of the United Malays National Organization, Abdul Rahman brought Chinese and Indian politi¬ cal groups into the Alliance Party, which won an overwhelming majority in the 1955 election. He negotiated for Malayan independence from Brit¬ ain (achieved in 1957); the federation of Malaysia was formed in 1963.

Abdulhamid V.ab-dol-ha-'medV II (b. Sept. 21, 1842, Constanti¬ nople—d. Feb. 10, 1918, Constantinople) Sultan (1876-1909) of the Ottoman Empire under whose rule the Tanzimat reform movement reached its climax. After initially promoting the first Ottoman constitution (pri¬ marily to ward off foreign intervention), he suspended it 14 months later and ruled thereafter as a despot. He used Pan-Islamism to rally Muslim opinion outside his empire; the Hejaz Railway was built with foreign contributions. Discontent with his absolutist rule and resentment over European intervention in the Balkans resulted in his overthrow by the Young Turks in 1908. See also Mustafa Kemal Ataturk; Enver Pasha; Midhat Pasha.

Abdullahi See Abd Allah Abel See Cain and Abel

Abelard, Peter (b. 1079, Le Pallet, near Nantes, Brittany—d. April 21, 1142, Priory of Saint-Marcel, near Chalon-sur-Saone, Burgundy) French theologian and philosopher. The son of a knight, he abandoned his inheritance to study philosophy. He became private tutor to Heloise, niece of a canon in Paris, c. 1114. They fell in love; Heloi'se became pregnant, and they married secretly. Her uncle had Abelard castrated, after which he became a monk and Heloise became a nun. Abelard’s Theologia was condemned as heretical in 1121. He accepted election as abbot of a mon¬ astery in Brittany in 1125, but his relations with the community deterio¬ rated and he had to flee for his life. From c. 1135 Abelard taught at Mont-

Kareem orig. (Ferdinand)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1987.

STEPHEN DUNN/GETTY IMAGES

Abenaki ► Abilene I 5

Sainte-Genevieve, where he wrote Ethica, in which he analyzed the notion of sin. In 1140 he was again condemned for heresy, and he withdrew to the monastery at Cluny. His influential Sic et non , a collection of appar¬ ently contradictory writings by church fathers on various topics, was intended to bring readers to the truth by wrestling with divergent opin¬ ions. He also wrote an autobiography, Historia calamitatum, and his best- known work is the series of letters he exchanged with Heloi'se after they retired to monasteries.

Abenaki \,a-b3-'na-ke\ or Abnaki Confederacy of Algonquian- speaking North American Indian peoples living mostly in Quebec, Can., and Maine, U.S. The contemporary Abenaki consider their home territory to be southern Quebec and the U.S. states of Vermont and New Hamp¬ shire, as well as parts of Maine and New York. Their name means “people of the dawn” or “easterners.” The name is applied to a number of groups— including Androscoggin, Kennebec, Maliseet, Ouarastegouiak, Passama- quoddy, Patsuiket, Penobscot, Pigwacket, Micmac, Pennacook, Rocameca, Sokoni, and Wewenoc—who formed the Abenaki confedera¬ tion in order to resist the Iroquois Confederacy, especially the Mohawk. In the 17th century the Abenaki sided with the French against the English, but, after severe defeats, they withdrew to Canada, many eventually set¬ tling at Saint-Frangois-du-Lac and Becancour, near Trois-Rivieres, in Quebec. There are also reservations in Maine and in New Brunswick, Can. The total population of Abenaki is about 12,000.

Abeokuta ya-'ba-o-.kii-taX City (pop., 2002 est.: 529,700), southwest¬ ern Nigeria. Located about 50 mi (80 km) north of Lagos, Abeokuta was established c. 1830 as a refuge from intertribal wars. It was the chief town of the Egba, who long maintained a working relationship with the Brit¬ ish; not until 1914 was it incorporated into British Nigeria. The modem town is an agricultural and exporting centre.

Aberdeen City, council area (pop., 2001: 212,125), and commercial port on the North Sea, eastern Scotland. It constitutes the council area of Aberdeen, an enclave within the surrounding council area of Aberdeen¬ shire, which was also the name of the historic county of which Aberdeen was the seat. Situated at the mouths of the Rivers Dee and Don, it is the chief port of northern Scotland. It was a royal burgh from the 12th cen¬ tury and a Scottish royal residence in the 12th-14th centuries. It supported Robert the Bruce in wars for Scottish independence, and for a time it was the headquarters of Edward I. From the 1970s Aberdeen developed rap¬ idly as the principal British centre of the North Sea oil industry and its associated service and supply industries.

Aberdeen, George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th earl of (b. Jan. 28, 1784, Edinburgh, Scot.—d. Dec. 14, 1860, London, Eng.) British foreign secretary and prime minister (1852-55). As special ambassador to Aus¬ tria in 1813, he helped form the coalition that defeated Napoleon. As for¬ eign secretary (1828-30, 1841-46), he settled boundary disputes between Canada and the U.S. with the Webster-Ashburton Treaty and the Oregon Treaty (see Oregon Question). As prime minister, he formed a coalition government, but his indecision hampered peacekeeping efforts and led to Britain’s involvement in the Crimean War. Constitutionally responsible for the mistakes of British generals in the war, he resigned in 1855.

Aberhart Va-bor-.hartA, William (b. Dec. 30, 1878, Kippen, Ont., Can.—d. May 23, 1943, Vancouver, B.C.) Canadian politician and the country’s first Social Credit Party premier (Alberta, 1935-43). Aberhart was a high school principal in Calgary, Alta. (1915-35). An active lay preacher, he founded the Calgary Prophetic Bible Institute (1918). In 1932 he used his evangelical rhetoric to promote monetary-reform theories to solve the economic problems created in Alberta by the Great Depression, proposing to issue dividends (social credit) to each person, based on the real wealth of the province. When his party won a majority in the 1935 provincial election, he became premier and minister of education, but his social-credit proposals were disallowed by the federal government.

Abernathy Vab-or-.nath-eN, Ralph David (b. March 11, 1926, Lin¬ den, Ala., U.S.—d. April 17, 1990, Atlanta, Ga.) U.S. pastor and civil rights leader. He was educated at Alabama State University and Atlanta University. Ordained a Baptist minister in 1948, he became pastor of the First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala., in 1951. He met Martin Luther King, Jr., a few years later when the latter became pastor of another Bap¬ tist church in Montgomery. In 1955-56 the two men organized a nonvio¬ lent boycott of the city bus system, marking the beginning of the U.S. CIVIL rights movement. In 1957 they founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Abernathy became its president on King’s assassination in

1968; in 1977 he resigned to resume work as a pastor in Atlanta. His autobiography, And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, appeared in 1989.

aberration Deviation of light rays by LENSes or curved mirrors which causes the images to be blurred. Spherical aberration occurs because cur¬ vature in a lens or mirror causes rays falling on the outer edges to be brought to a focus at a different point than those falling on the middle. This makes the images formed appeal - blurred. Chromatic aberration, which occurs in lenses but not mirrors, is the failure of a lens to focus all colours (wavelengths) of light in the same plane; the image appears blurred and shows rainbow-coloured fringes around the edges. See also astigmatism.

aberration of starlight Apparent displacement of a star or other celestial body resulting from Earth’s orbital motion around the Sun. The maximum displacement is about 20.49 seconds of arc. It depends on the ratio of Earth’s orbital speed to the speed of light and Earth’s direction of motion and thus provides confirmation that Earth orbits the Sun rather than the reverse.

Aberystwyth X.a-bo-'ris-.twithX Town (pop., 1991: 11,154) on Cardi¬ gan Bay, western Wales. The medieval walled town was built around a 13th-century fortress. It later became the exporter for the once-flourishing local lead mines. A principal stronghold of Welsh culture, it has grown as a seaside resort.

Abhayagiri \ab-'ya-go-re\ Theravada Buddhist monastic center built at Anuradhapura, then capital of Ceylon, by King Vattagamani Abhaya (r. 29-17 bc). Originally associated with the nearby Mahavihara (“Great Mon¬ astery”), it soon seceded in a dispute over the relations between monks and the lay community and the use of Sanskrit works to augment Pali texts as scripture. It gained wealth and power under the patronage of Gajabahu I (ad 113-35) and flourished until Anuradhapura was abandoned in the 13th cen¬ tury. Two of its main colleges operated into the 16th century.

Abhidhamma Pitaka V.a-bi-'da-mo-'pe-ta-koX Third and latest collec¬ tion of texts comprising the Pali canon (see Tripitaka) of Theravada Bud¬ dhism. The first two collections, Sutta Pitaka and Vinaya Pitaka, are attributed to the Buddha. Abhidhamma Pitaka texts are ascribed to later dis¬ ciples and scholars; they deal with ethics, psychology, and epistemology.

Abhidharmakosa V.a-bi-.dar-mo-'ko-soX Buddhist scholarly work that provides an introduction to the seven Abhidharma treatises in the Sarvastivada canon and a digest of their contents. It was composed by the Buddhist monk Vasubandhu (fl. 4th or 5th century), who lived in north¬ western India. It systematizes Sarvastivada doctrine and shows the influ¬ ence of Mahayana, to which Vasubandhu later converted. It provides much information on doctrinal differences among the ancient Buddhist schools.

abhijna \3-'bij-n9\ In Buddhist philosophy, the miraculous powers obtained through meditation and wisdom. They include the ability to travel any distance or take any form at will, to see everything, to hear everything, to read minds, and to recall former existences. A sixth miracu¬ lous power, available only to Buddhas and arhats (saints), is freedom by undefiled wisdom (Enlightenment). The powers are signs of spiritual progress but their indulgence is a distraction from the path toward Enlight¬ enment.

Abidjan \,a-be-'jan\ Largest city (pop., 1999 est.: 3,199,000) and chief port of Cote d’Ivoire. Abidjan was a rail terminus from 1904; after its lagoon was opened to the sea to create a port (1950), the city became the financial centre of French West Africa. Though it was once the country’s capital and remains its seat of government, the official capital was moved to Yamoussoukro in 1983. Abidjan has a museum of traditional Ivorian art, a national library, and several research institutes.

Abilene Town (pop., 2000: 6,543), Kansas, U.S. It lies on the Smoky Hill River east of Salina. Settled in 1858, it gained importance when it became the railway terminus for overland Texas cattle drives. With the prosperity of the cattlemen came an era of lawlessness; Wild Bill Hickok was its marshal in 1871. Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower spent his boyhood there and is buried at the Eisenhower Center, which includes his family home and library.

Abilene City (pop., 2000: 115,930), west-central Texas, U.S. Founded in 1881 as the new railhead for the overland Texas cattle drives, it took the business of the previous railhead, Abilene, Kan. It is the site of sev¬ eral educational institutions, the West Texas Fair, and the reconstructed Old Abilene Town.

6 I Abnaki ► Absaroka

Abnaki See Abenaki

abnormal psychology or psychopathology Branch of psychol¬ ogy. It is concerned with mental and emotional disorders (e.g., neurosis, psychosis, mental deficiency) and with certain incompletely understood normal phenomena (such as dreams and hypnosis). The chief tool used in classifying psychological disorders is the American Psychiatric Assn.’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition {DSM- IV).

ABO blood-group system Classification of human blood according to whether red blood cells (erythrocytes) have or lack the inherited anti¬ gens called A (including A1 and A2) and B on their surface. Blood can be type O (lacking both), type A (having only A), type B (having only B), or type AB (having both). The ABO antigens make certain blood types incompatible for transfusion. They are developed well before birth and remain through life. The frequencies of blood groups vary among differ¬ ent racial groups and in different geographic areas. Certain diseases are rarer in persons with particular blood groups.

abolitionism (c. 1783-1888) Movement to end the slave trade and emancipate slaves in western Europe and the Americas. The slave system aroused little protest until the 18th century, when rationalist thinkers of the Enlightenment criticized it for violating the rights of man, and Quaker and other evangelical religious groups condemned it as un-Christian. Though antislavery sentiments were widespread by the late 18th century, they had little immediate effect on the centres of slavery themselves—the West Indies, South America, and the southern U.S. In 1807 the importa¬ tion of African slaves was banned in the U.S. and the British colonies. Slavery was abolished in the British West Indies by 1838 and in the French possessions 10 years later. In the 11 Southern states of the U.S., however, slavery was a social and economic institution. American abolitionism laboured under the handicap that it threatened the harmony of North and South in the Union, and it also ran counter to the U.S. Constitution, which left the question of slavery to the individual states. The abolitionist move¬ ment in the North was led by agitators such as William Lloyd Garrison, founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society, writers such as John Green- leaf Whittier, former slaves such as Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. The election of Abraham Lincoln, who opposed the spread of sla¬ very to the West, marked a turning point in the movement. Convinced that their way of life was threatened, the Southern states seceded from the Union (see secession), which led to the American Civil War. In 1863 Lin¬ coln (who had never been an abolitionist) issued the Emancipation Proc¬ lamation, which freed slaves held in the Confederate states; the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1865) prohibited slavery through¬ out the country. Slavery was abolished in Latin America by 1888. In some parts of Africa and in much of the Islamic world, it persisted as a legal institution well into the 20th century.

Abominable Snowman Tibetan Yeti Mythical monster believed to inhabit the Himalayas near the snow line. The Yeti is thought to resemble an oversized man covered with shaggy fur. Reported sightings are rare; evidence of its existence consists largely of unusual footprints left in the snow, probably the tracks of bears. At certain gaits, bears place the hind- foot partly over the imprint of the forefoot, thus creating tracks that resemble the footprints of a very large primate heading in the opposite direction.

Aborigine See Australian Aboriginal

abortion Expulsion of a fetus from the uterus before it can survive on its own. Spontaneous abortion at earlier stages of pregnancy is called mis¬ carriage. Induced abortions often occur through intentional medical inter¬ vention and are performed to preserve the woman’s life or health, to prevent the completion of a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, to prevent the birth of a child with serious medical problems, or because the woman does not believe she is in a position to rear a child properly. The drug RU-486, if taken within a few weeks of conception, will trigger a miscarriage. Up to about 19 weeks of pregnancy, injections of saline solutions or hormones may be used to stimulate uterine contractions that will expel the fetus. Surgical removal of the contents of the uterus may be performed in the second trimester or later. Intact dilation and extrac¬ tion procedures may occur in the third trimester; sometimes critically referred to as “partial-birth abortions,” they have been very controversial. Other abortion procedures include manual vacuum aspiration (extraction by manual syringe) and dilation and suction curettage (extraction by machine-operated suction), both of which can be performed in early preg¬

nancy. The social acceptability of abortion as a means of population con¬ trol has varied from time to time and place to place throughout history. It was apparently a common method of family limitation in the Greco- Roman world, but Christian theologians early and vehemently condemned it. It became widely accepted in Europe in the Middle Ages. Severe crimi¬ nal sanctions to deter abortion became common in the 19th century, but in the 20th century those sanctions were gradually modified in many countries. In the U.S. the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision had the effect of legalizing abortion during the first three months of pregnancy; states were able to implement restrictions on access to abortion after the first trimes¬ ter, though within constraints set by the courts. Since that decision, there has been a fierce debate between supporters and opponents of a liberal¬ ized abortion policy.

Abraham (fl. early 2nd millennium bc) First of the Hebrew patriarchs, revered by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Genesis tells how Abraham, at 75, left Ur with his barren wife, Sarai (later Sarah), and others to found a new nation in Canaan. There God made a covenant with him, prom¬ ising that his descendants would inherit the land and become a great nation. Abraham fathered Ishmael by Sarah’s maidservant Hagar; Sarah herself bore Isaac, who inherited the covenant. Abraham’s faith was tested when God ordered him to sacrifice Isaac; he was prepared to obey but God relented. In Judaism he is a model of virtue, in Christianity he is the father of all believers, and in Islam he is an ancestor of Muhammad and a model (in Sufism) of generosity.

Abraham, Karl (b. May 3, 1877, Bremen, Ger.—d. Dec. 25, 1925, Berlin) German psychoanalyst. He helped establish the first branch of the International Psychoanalytic Institute in 1910 and pioneered the psycho¬ analytic treatment of manic-depressive psychosis (bipolar disorder). He suggested that the sexual drive develops in six stages and that if devel¬ opment is arrested at any of the earlier stages, mental disorders will likely result from fixation at that level. His most important work was A Short Study of the Development of the Libido (1924).

Abraham, Plains of Plateau located west of the old walled city of Quebec, Canada. On Sept. 13, 1759, it was the scene of the decisive battle of the French and Indian War, in which the British under James Wolfe defeated the French under the marquis de Montcalm. U.S. forces held the plateau (1775-76) in their siege of Quebec during the American Revolu¬ tion. It is now a park within Quebec city limits.

abrasion platform See wave-cut platform

abrasives Sharp, hard materials used to wear away the surface of softer, less resistant materials. Abrasives are indispensable to the manufacture of the highly precise components and ultrasmooth surfaces required in the manufacture of automobiles, airplanes and space vehicles, mechanical and electrical appliances, and machine tools. Abrasives may be natural (e.g., diamond, corundum, emery) or synthetic (e.g., silicon carbide or Carborun¬ dum, synthetic diamond, alumina—a synthetic form of corundum). They range from the relatively soft particles used in household cleansers and jeweler’s polish to diamonds.

Abruzzo \a-'briit-so\ or Abruzzi \a-'brut-se\ Region (pop., 2004 est.: 1 ,285,896), central Italy. Its capital is L'Aquila. Most of the region is moun¬ tainous or hilly, traversed by the Apennines. The ancient Italic tribes of the region long resisted conquest by the Romans. The Normans established themselves in the 12th century, and the region later sided with the Hohen- staufens against the papacy. As Abruzzi e Molise, the area became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1860-61; in 1965 it was divided into the separate regions of Abruzzo and Mouse. The economy is primarily agricultural.

Absalom (fl. c. 1020 bc, Palestine) In ancient Israel, the third and most beloved son of David. His story is told in 2 Samuel 13-19. An attractive but lawless man, he killed his half brother Amnon as revenge for the lat¬ ter’s rape of Tamar, Absalom’s sister, and was banished from the king¬ dom for a time. He later raised a rebellion against his father, capturing Jerusalem but meeting defeat in the forest of Ephraim, where he was killed by his cousin Joab, who found him caught by the hair in an oak tree. Despite Absalom’s treachery, David greatly lamented his son’s death.

Absaroka \ab-'sar-3-k9\ Range Range of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. It extends from southern Montana into northwestern Wyoming, crossing portions of Gallatin, Shoshone, and Custer national forests, as well as the northeastern portion of Yellowstone National Park. The range is about 175 mi (280 km) long; its highest point is Franks Peak, at 13,140 ft (4,005 m).

abscess ► Abu Muslim I 7

abscess \'ab-,ses\ Localized collection of pus in a cavity in the deeper layers of the skin or within the body, formed from tissues broken down by white blood cells (leukocytes) in response to inflammation caused by bacteria. A wall develops, separating the thick yellowish pus from the extracellular fluid of nearby healthy tissues. Rupture of the abscess allows the pus to escape and relieves swelling and pain. Treatment consists of cutting into the wall to drain the pus and giving antibiotics. If infective contents enter the bloodstream, they may be carried to remote tissues, seeding new abscesses.

absentee ownership Ownership of land by those who do not live on it but who enjoy income from it. Criticized for centuries as an eco¬ nomic injustice, absentee ownership was a feature of pre-Revolutionary France and English rule of Ireland. Ending the practice continues to be a goal of LAND reform programs in many developing countries.

absolute value Measure of the magnitude of a real number, complex number, or vector. Geometrically, the absolute value represents (absolute) displacement from the origin (or zero) and is therefore always nonnega¬ tive. If a real number a is positive or zero, its absolute value is itself; if a is negative, its absolute value is -a. A complex number z is typically represented by an ordered pair {a, b ) in the complex plane. Thus, the absolute value (or modulus) of z is defined as the real number v< 2 2 + b 2 , which corresponds to z’ s distance from the origin of the complex plane. Vectors, like arrows, have both magnitude and direction, and their alge¬ braic representation follows from placing their “tail” at the origin of a multidimensional space and extracting the corresponding coordinates, or components, of their “point.” The absolute value (magnitude) of a vector is then given by the square root of the sum of the squares of its compo¬ nents. For example, a three-dimensional vector v, given by (a , b, c), has absolute value Va 2 + b 2 + c 2 . Absolute value is symbolized by vertical bars, as in \x\, \z\, or |v|, and obeys certain fundamental properties, such as \a ■ b\ = \a\ • \b\ and \a + b\ < \a\ + \b.

absolute zero Temperature at which a thermodynamic system (see thermodynamics) has the lowest energy, 0 kelvin (K). It corresponds to -459.67°F (-273.15°C) and is the lowest possible temperature theoreti¬ cally achievable by a system. A gas at constant pressure contracts as the temperature is decreased. A perfect gas would reach zero volume at abso¬ lute zero. However, a real gas condenses to a liquid or a solid at a tem¬ perature higher than absolute zero. At absolute zero, the system’s molecular energy is minimal and none is available for transfer to other systems. The Kelvin temperature scale has absolute zero as its zero point, and its fundamental unit is the kelvin.

absolution In Christianity, a pronouncement of forgiveness of sins made to a person who has repented. This rite is based on the forgiveness that Jesus extended to sinners during his ministry. In the early church, the priest absolved repentant sinners after they had confessed and performed their penance in public. During the Middle Ages, it became the custom for priests to hear confession and grant absolution privately. In Roman Catholicism penance is a sacrament, and the priest has the power to absolve a contrite sinner who promises to make satisfaction to God. In Protestant churches, the confession of sin is usually made in a formal prayer by the whole congregation, after which the minister announces their absolution.

absolutism Political doctrine and practice of unlimited, centralized authority and absolute sovereignty, especially as vested in a monarch. Its essence is that the ruling power is not subject to regular challenge or check by any judicial, legislative, religious, economic, or electoral agency. Though it has been used throughout history, the form that developed in early modern Europe (16th-18th century) became the prototype; Louis XIV is seen as the epitome of European absolutism. Religious authority was assumed by the monarch, who became the head of the church as well as the state, on the basis that the right to rule came from God (see divine kingship). See also AUTHORITARIANISM, dictatorship, totalitarianism.

absorption Transfer of energy from a wave to the medium through which it passes. The energy of the wave can be reflected, transmitted, or absorbed. If the medium absorbs only a fraction of the energy, it is said to be transparent to that energy. When all energy is absorbed, the medium is opaque. All substances absorb energy to some extent. For instance, the ocean appears transparent to sunlight near the surface, but becomes opaque with depth. Substances absorb specific types of radiation. Rubber is transparent to infrared radiation and X rays, but opaque to visible light.

Green glass is transparent to green light but absorbs red and blue light. Absorption of sound is fundamental to acoustics; a soft material absorbs sound energy as the waves strike it.

abstract art or nonobjective art or nonrepresentational art

Art, including painting, sculpture, and graphic art, that does not represent recognizable objects. In the late 19th century the traditional European conception of art as the imitation of nature was abandoned in favour of the imagination and the unconscious. Abstraction developed in the early 20th century with such movements as Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, and Futurism. Vasily Kandinsky is credited as the first modem artist to paint purely abstract pictures, c. 1910. Piet Mondrian’s De Stijl group in The Netherlands widened the spectrum c. 1915-20. Abstraction continued to flourish between the two world wars, and after the 1930s it was the most characteristic feature of Western art. After World War II, Abstract Expres¬ sionism emerged in the U.S. and had a great influence on European and American painting and sculpture. By the turn of the 21st century, artistic output was varied, with abstract art prominent alongside figurative and conceptual work.

Abstract Expressionism Movement in U.S. painting that began in the late 1940s. Its development was influenced by the radical work of Arshile Gorky and Hans Hofmann and by the immigration in the late 1930s and early ’40s of many European avant-garde artists to New York. The Abstract Expressionist movement itself is generally regarded as having begun with the paintings done by Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning in the late 1940s and early ’50s. Other artists who came to be associated with the style include Franz Kune, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, Philip Gus- ton, Helen Frankenthaler, Barnett Newman, Adolph Gottlieb, Robert Moth¬ erwell, Lee Krasner, and Ad Reinhardt. The movement comprised many styles but shared several characteristics. The works were usually abstract (i.e., they depicted forms not found in the natural world); they empha¬ sized freedom of emotional expression, technique, and execution; they displayed a single unified, undifferentiated field, network, or other image in unstructured space; and the canvases were large, to enhance the visual effect and project monumentality and power. The movement had a great impact on U.S. and European art in the 1950s; it marked the shift of the creative centre of modem painting from Paris to New York. See also ABSTRACT ART; ACTION PAINTING.