Britannica Concise 2005

him to travel. Five years of work and study in Europe eventually took him to Rome. Returning to Holland in 1524, he introduced such Italian Renaissance elements as nudes, Classical draperies and architecture, and spacious imaginary landscapes. His greatest works are his portraits, which show his gift for characterization. He successfully combined the idealism of Renaissance Italy with the naturalism of northern European art in his paintings, and he bequeathed the style to successive generations of Dutch artists.

Scoresby Sound \'skorz-be\ Deep inlet, Norwegian Sea, eastern cen¬ tral coast of Greenland. It runs inland for 70 mi (110 km) and has numer¬ ous fjords (the longest is 280 mi, or 451 km) and two large islands. It was charted by William Scoresby in 1822.

scoria Vskor-e-oV Heavy, dark, glassy igneous rock that contains many bubblelike cavities. Foamlike scoria, in which the bubbles are very thin shells of solidified basaltic magma, occurs as a product of explosive erup¬ tions (as on Hawaii) and as frothy crusts on some lavas. Other scoria, sometimes called volcanic cinder, resembles clinkers, or cinders from a coal furnace.

Scorpio or Scorpius Latin "Scorpion'' In astronomy, the constel¬ lation lying between Libra and Sagittarius; in astrology, the eighth sign of the zodiac, governing approximately the period October 24-November 21. Its symbol, a scorpion, refers to the Greek myth of the scorpion that stung Orion. The story explains why the constellation of Orion sets as Scorpius rises in the sky. Another Greek myth says that a scorpion caused the horses of the sun to bolt when they were being driven by the inex¬ perienced Phaethon.

scorpion Any of some 1,300 nocturnal arachnid species (order Scorpi- onida, subphylum Chelicerata) having a slender body, a segmented tail tipped with a venomous stinger, and six pairs of appendages. The small first pair tear apart insect and spider prey. Strong, clawlike pincers on the large second pair, held horizontally in front, are used as feelers and for grasping prey while sucking the tissue fluids. The last four pairs, each with a pincer, are walking legs. The venom is either a hemotoxin that, in humans, causes swelling, redness, and pain or a neurotoxin that may cause convulsions, paralysis, cardiac irregularities, and death. Most scorpions will sting a human only if provoked. Nocturnal hunters, most species are tropical or subtropical.

scorpion fish Any of the numerous species of carnivorous marine fish of the family Scorpaenidae, espe¬ cially those in the genus Scorpaena, widely distributed in temperate and tropical waters. They have large, spiny heads and strong, sometimes venomous, fin spines. Many species blend with their surroundings by vir¬ tue of their dull colour, but some are brightly coloured, often red. The largest species grow to about 40 in.

(1 m) long. Scorpion fish lie quietly on the bottom, often among rocks.

See also lionfish; redfish; rockfish;

ZEBRA FISH.

Scorsese \sk6r-'sa-ze\, Martin (b. Nov. 17, 1942, Flushing, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. film director. Scorsese earned a graduate degree in filmmaking at New York University. After directing several short films, he won critical attention for his feature film Mean Streets (1973) and was widely praised for Taxi Driver (1976); both films starred his frequent lead actor, Robert De Niro. Noted for his real¬ istic, violent portrayals of New York street life, innovative camera work, classic film knowledge, and a spirited cynicism, he rose to the top rank of American directors with such films as Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1983), GoodFellas (1990), The Age of Innocence (1993), and Gangs of New York (2002).

scotch See whiskey

scoter or sea coot Any of three species (genus Melanitta) of diving duck that are mainly marine except during the breeding season. The males are shiny black. The surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata) breeds in the forests and tundra of Canada and Alaska and winters on seacoasts as far south as Florida and southern California. The white-winged, or velvet.

species of carnivorous marine fish

California scorpion fish (Scorpaena guttata)

BUD MEESE FROM ROOT RESOURCES-EB INC.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

1706 I Scotland ► Scott

scoter (M. deglandi, ox fused) and the black, or common, scoter (M. nigra ) occur north of the equator nearly worldwide. All three feed mainly on marine animals such as clams.

Scotland Northernmost country of the United Kingdom. Area: 30,421 sq mi (78,789 sq km). Population (2001): 5,062,011. Capital: Edinburgh. The population is a blend of Celtic, Angle, and Norman ancestry. Languages: English (official), Scottish Gaelic, and Scots. Religion: Church of Scotland (Presbyterian; official). Currency: pound sterling. Scotland has three major geographic regions. The Highlands, in the north, are occupied by a series of lakes and the Grampian Mountains. The Lowlands, which include some of Scotland’s best farmland, comprise the other two major regions: the Mid¬ land Valley (Central Lowlands) and the Southern Uplands; the Southern Uplands feature narrow, flat valleys separating table mountains. Scotland has a temperate oceanic climate. Important industries are coal and oil pro¬ duction, electronics, forestry, and marine fishing. Picts inhabited the region when it was invaded by the Romans c. ad 80. In the 5th century it split into four kingdoms under the Picts, Scots, Britons, and Angles. Scottish unifi¬ cation began in the 9th century. It came under a heavy Anglicizing influ¬ ence from the 11th century, and its ruler was forced to pay homage to the English crown in 1174, leading to numerous future disputes. The Scottish and English kingdoms were united in 1603 when James VI, son of Mary, Queen of Scots, ascended the English throne as James I. Scotland became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, when the parliaments of both governments passed the Act of Union. The English prevailed in two Scottish rebellions in the 18th century, and after 1745 the history of Scot¬ land became part of the history of Great Britain. Scotland has no sovereign executive but retains vestiges of ancient sovereignty in its own legal and educational systems. In 1997 the Scots passed a referendum that allowed them to establish their own parliament in Edinburgh to vote on wide- ranging political issues while remaining part of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Parliament first convened in 1999.

Scotland Yard officially New Scotland Yard Headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police, and, by extension, the force itself. The Lon¬ don police force was created in 1829 by Sir Robert Peel and housed at 4 Whitehall Place, which had an entrance in Great Scotland Yard. In 1890 it moved to a new building; that location became New Scotland Yard, a name that was kept when it moved again in 1967. In addition to duties common to all metropolitan police forces (including crime detection and prevention and traffic management), it is entrusted with civil defense in times of emergency, and it maintains a special branch for guarding vis¬ iting dignitaries, royalty, and political dignitaries. It keeps records on all known criminals in Britain, and other British police forces often seek its assistance. It also helps train the police of Commonwealth nations.

Scott, George C(ampbell) (b. Oct. 18, 1927, Wise, Va., U.S.—d. Sept. 22, 1999, Westlake Village, Calif.) U.S. actor. He served in the U.S. Marines before studying drama and journalism at the University of Mis¬ souri. He took numerous roles in television and repertory theatre produc¬ tions before winning praise for his early film roles in Anatomy of a Murder (1959), The Hustler (1961), and Petulia (1968). He was noted for his strong screen presence and barking voice. He won an Academy Award for Patton (1970) but refused to accept it, calling the competition a “meat parade.” Among his later films were The Hospital (1972), Hardcore (1979), Taps (1981), and Malice (1993). His television work included The Price (1970, Emmy Award, also refused) and the role of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (1984).

Scott, Paul (Mark) (b. March 25, 1920, Palmers Green, Eng.—d. March 1, 1978, London) British novelist. Scott entered military service in India in the 1940s and later was a director of a London literary agency; he resigned in 1960 to write full-time. He is known for works chronicling the decline of the British occupation of India, notably The Raj Quartet — consisting of The Jewel in the Crown (1966), The Day of the Scorpion (1968), The Towers of Silence (1971), and A Division of the Spoils (1975)—and Staying On (1977, Booker Prize). All his works, including those set outside India, employ Indian themes or characters.

Scott, Sir Peter Markham (b. Sept. 14, 1909, London, Eng.—d. Aug. 29, 1989, Bristol) British conservationist and artist. Son of Robert Falcon Scott, he graduated from Cambridge University and soon gained renown as a wildlife painter. In 1946 he founded the Severn Wildfowl Trust (later renamed the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust). Through a cap¬ tive breeding program at his sanctuary, he saved the nene from extinction in the 1950s. In 1961 he founded the World Wildlife Fund (World Wide

Fund for Nature). As a member of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (1962-81), he created the Red Data Book (see endangered species). He was knighted in 1973.

Scott, Ridley (b. Nov. 30, 1937, South Shields, Durham, Eng.) British film director. He studied art and worked as a set designer and director in British television, then formed his own production company in 1967 to make television commercials. His first feature film was The Duellists (1977). It was followed by the science-fiction thrillers Alien (1979) and Blade Runner (1982), a box-office hit that became a cult classic for its vividly dark images. His later films include Someone to Watch over Me (1987), Thelma & Louise (1991), and Gladiator (2000), which won the Academy Award for best picture.

Scott, Robert Falcon (b. June 6, 1868, Devonport, Devon, Eng.—d. c. March 29, 1912, Antarctica) British explorer. He joined the Royal Navy in 1880, proved his competence leading an Antarctic expedition (1901— 04), and was promoted to captain. In 1910 he embarked on a second expedition, and in October 1911 he and 11 others started overland for the South Pole. After their motor sledges broke down and seven men returned to base camp, Scott and four others trekked for 81 days to reach the pole in January 1912, only to find that Roald Amundsen had preceded them by about a month. Exhausted and beset by bad weather and insufficient sup¬ plies, the men died on the return trip, Scott and the last two survivors only 11 miles from their base camp. In England Scott was celebrated as a national hero for his courage, though his judgment has been questioned.

Scott, Sir Walter, 1st Baronet (b. Aug. 15, 1771, Edinburgh, Scot.—d. Sept. 21, 1832, Abbots¬ ford, Roxburgh) Scottish writer, often considered both the inventor and the greatest practitioner of the historical novel. From childhood Scott was familiar with stories of the Border region of Scotland. Appren¬ ticed to his father, a lawyer, in 1786, he later became sheriff depute of Sel¬ kirk and clerk to the Court of Session in Edinburgh. His interest in border ballads led to the collection Min¬ strelsy of the Scottish Border (1802- 03). His first original poetic romance,

The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), established his reputation; The Lady of the Lake (1810) was his most suc¬ cessful contribution to the genre. He produced editions of the works of John Dryden, 18 vol. (1808), and Jonathan Swift, 19 vol. (1814).

Troubled with debt, from 1813 he wrote in part to make money. He tired of narrative poetry and turned to prose romances. The extremely popular series now known as the Waverley novels consists of more than two dozen works dealing with Scot¬ tish history, including the masterpieces Old Mortality (1816), Rob Roy (1817), and The Heart of Midlothian (1818). He drew on English history and other themes for Ivanhoe (1819), Kenilworth (1821), and Quentin Dur- ward (1823). All his novels were published anonymously until 1827.

Scott, Winfield (b. June 13, 1786, Petersburg, Va., U.S.—d. May 29, 1866, West Point, N.Y.) U.S. army officer. He fought in the War of 1812 at the battles of Chippewa and Lundy’s Lane (1814). Promoted to major general, he traveled to Europe to study military tactics. He advocated a well-trained and disciplined army, earning the nickname “Old Fuss and Feathers” for his emphasis on military formalities. In 1841 he became commanding general of the U.S. Army. He directed operations during the Mexican War and led the U.S. invasion at Veracruz and the victory at the Battle of Cerro Gordo. He was the Whig Party’s nominee in the 1852 presidential election but lost to Franklin Pierce. In 1855 he was promoted to lieutenant general, becoming the first man since George Washington to hold that rank. Scott was still commander in chief of the U.S. Army when the American Civil War broke out in April 1861, but his proposed strat¬ egy of splitting the Confederacy—the plan eventually adopted—was ridi¬ culed. Age forced his retirement the following November.

Sir Walter Scott, detail of an oil paint¬ ing by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer,

1824; in the National Portrait Gallery, London

COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Scott v. Stanford ► Scriabin I 1707

Scott v. Stanford See Dred Scott decision

Scottish fold cat Breed of domestic cat with ears that fold forward and down. A Scottish shepherd discovered the foundation cat—Susie, a white barn cat—in 1961. Scottish folds may be longhaired or shorthaired and of various colours and patterns. Susie’s fold was caused by a genetic mutation that does not appear in every kitten. The folded ear and a pedi¬ gree that leads back to Susie are required for show. Scottish folds are gentle and quiet.

Scottish Gaelic language Celtic language of northern Scotland, a descendant of the Irish speech introduced into northern Britain by invad¬ ers in the 4th-5th centuries. Gaelic gradually supplanted Pictish (see Picts) as well as the British Celtic Lowlands dialects, and by the Middle Ages it was the language of all of the Scottish Highlands and part of the Low¬ lands. Until the 17th century, Classical Modem Irish (see Irish language) was the literary medium of Gaeldom, and only after its collapse did writ¬ ers regularly begin to use features that distinguish Scottish Gaelic dialects from Irish dialects. Increasing Anglicization, suppression of traditional culture after the Battle of Culloden, and the 19th-century land clearances precipitated a marked decline; today it is probably a true community lan¬ guage for fewer than 80,000 people, most of whom live on the north¬ western coast and the Hebrides.

Scottish law Legal practices and institutions of Scotland. When the English and Scottish parliaments were joined in 1707, the legal systems of the two countries were very dissimilar. Scotland had supplemented its customary law with civil-law principles adapted from the systems of France and Holland. Its assimilation of English law following the union was significant, particularly in the area of mercantile law. The supreme Scottish civil court is the Court of Sessions, composed of 18 judges and divided into Outer and Inner houses. The supreme criminal court is the High Court of Justiciary. Below these two bodies are six sheriffdoms, each with its own sheriff court, an institution of great antiquity. Lesser cases are heard by district courts.

Scottish terrier or Scottie Short-legged terrier breed, perhaps the oldest of the Highland terriers. A strong and plucky dog, the Scottie is squat and bewhiskered, with alert-looking eyes and a distinctive rolling gait. It stands about 10 in. (25.5 cm) tall and weighs 18-22 lb (8-10 kg). Its hard, wiry coat may be of various colours.

Scotts Bluff National Monument National monument, western Nebraska, U.S. Established in 1919, it has an area of 5 sq mi (13 sq km). Its focus is a large bluff that rises 800 ft (244 m) above the North Platte River and was a prominent landmark on the Oregon Trail. A museum at the base of the bluff highlights the history of the pioneer travelers.

Scottsboro case U.S. civil-rights controversy. In April 1931, in Scotts- boro, Ala., nine African American youths were charged with the rape of two white women. Despite testimony by doctors that no rape had occurred, the all-white jury convicted them and sentenced all but the youngest to death. In 1932, following public outcry, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the convictions on the grounds that the defendants had not received adequate legal counsel. Alabama retried and convicted one of the youths; this conviction too was overturned by the Supreme Court on the grounds that African Americans had been systematically excluded from the state’s juries. Alabama retried and reconvicted the defendants individually, but the state yielded to public pressure and freed or paroled all but one, who later escaped.

Scotus, John Duns See John Duns Scotus

scouting Activities of various national and worldwide organizations for youth aimed at developing character, citizenship, and individual skills. Scouting began when Robert S. Baden-Powell published Scouting for Boys (1908), in which he described the games and contests he used to train cavalry troops in scouting, envisioning small groups of boys who would learn tracking, reconnaissance, mapping, and other outdoor skills under a peer leader. The Boy Scouts, as established by Baden-Powell, was for boys 11-15 years old. The concept became so popular that separate orga¬ nizations for girls (Girl Guides, or Girl Scouts, 1910) and for younger boys (Wolf Cubs, or Cub Scouts, 1916) and older boys (Explorers) were also formed.

Scrabble Game in which two to four players compete in forming words with lettered wooden tiles on a 225-square board. Words spelled out by letters on the tiles interlock like words in a crossword puzzle. Words are

scored by adding up the point values of their letters. The game (originally called Lexico) was developed by Alfred Butts, an unemployed architect, in 1931. It was redesigned and renamed Scrabble by Butts and James Brunot in 1948. Tens of millions of sets have been sold in many languages worldwide.

scrap metal Used metals that are an important source of industrial met¬ als and alloys, particularly in the production of steel, copper, lead, alumi¬ num, and zinc. Smaller amounts of tin, nickel, magnesium, and precious metals are also recovered from scrap. Impurities consisting of such organic materials as wood, plastic, paint, and fabric can be burned off. Scrap is usually blended and remelted to produce alloys similar to or more complex than those from which the scrap was derived. See also recycling.

screech owl Any of numerous owls of the genus Otus (family Strigidae). Both New World species and Old World species (called scops owls) have a facial disk and ear tufts. In spite of their name, they do not in fact screech. Their colouring resembles tree bark, and they are 8-12 in. (20-30 cm) long. They eat mostly small mammals, birds, and insects. Notable species are the common screech owl ( O. asio) of North America, the flammulated owl ( O. flammeolus) of western North America, and the common scops owl ( O . scops) of southern Europe, Asia, and Africa.

screenplay Written text that provides the basis for a film production. Screenplays usually include not only the dialogue spoken by the characters but also a shot-by-shot outline of the film’s action. Screenplays may be adapted from novels or stage plays or developed from original ideas sug¬ gested by the screenwriters or their collaborators. They generally pass through multiple revisions, and screenwriters are called on to incorporate suggestions from directors, producers, and others involved in the filmmak¬ ing process. Early drafts often include only brief suggestions for planned shots, but by the date of production a screenplay may evolve into a detailed shooting script, in which action and gestures are explicitly stated.

screw In machine construction, a usually circular cylindrical member with a continuous spiral rib or thread, used either as a fastener or as a force and motion modifier. Various types of screws are used to clamp machine parts together. Wood screws are made in a wide variety of diam¬ eters and lengths; when using wood screws, small starting holes called pilot holes are often drilled first to avoid splitting the wood. Screws that modify force and motion are known as power screws. The screw is con¬ sidered one of the five simple machines. See also wedge.

screwworm Any of several North and South American blowfly species named for the screwlike appearance of the larva’s body, which is ringed with small spines. Screwworms attack livestock and other animals, includ¬ ing humans. The true screwworm ( Cochliomyia hominivorax ) and the secondary screwworm ( Callitroga macellaria) develop in decaying flesh; they may also attack healthy tissue. Each female deposits 200-400 eggs near an open wound. The larvae burrow into the tissue and, when mature, drop to the ground to pupate. Severe infestations (myiasis) may kill the affected animal.

Scriabin Vskrya-binV Aleksandr (Nikolayevich) (b. Jan. 6, 1872, Moscow, Russia—d. April 27, 1915,

Moscow) Russian composer and pia¬ nist. He studied piano and composi¬ tion at the Moscow Conservatory and then launched a successful con¬ cert career. His early music was mostly for piano (including etudes, preludes, and sonatas) but also included two symphonies and a piano concerto. After 1900 he was much preoccupied with mystical phi¬ losophy and began using unusual harmonies, producing a third sym¬ phony and the Divine Poem (1904).

He became involved in theosophy, which provided the basis for the orchestral Poem of Ecstasy (1908) and Prometheus (1910); the latter called for the projection of colours onto a screen during the perfor¬ mance. No longer thinking in terms of music alone, he made sketches for a huge operatic ritual, Mysterium, which was never composed.

Aleksandr Scriabin.

NOVOSTI PRESS AGENCY

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

1708 I Scribe ► Scythian

Scribe Vskreb\, (Augustin) Eugene (b. Dec. 24, 1791, Paris, France—d. Feb. 20, 1861, Paris) French playwright and librettist. He wrote some 350 dramas, most of which proved extremely successful, and he became the most popular opera librettist of his time. His librettos include Gioacchino Rossini’s Count Ory (1828), Vincenzo Bellini’s The Sleepwalker (1831), Gaetano Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love (1832), Gia¬ como Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots (1836), and Giuseppe Verdi’s The Sicilian Vespers (1855).

Scribner, Charles orig. Charles Scrivener (b. Feb. 21, 1821, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Aug. 26, 1871, Lucerne, Switz.) U.S. publisher. In 1846, in partnership with Isaac D. Baker (d. 1850), Scribner established the publishing firm of Baker & Scribner in his native New York City. In 1878 the firm was renamed Charles Scribner’s Sons. Its list initially consisted of philosophical and theological (mainly Presbyterian) books, but it later included reprints and translations of British and continental European lit¬ erature. Among the firm’s periodicals was Scribner’s Monthly (1870-81). After his death other members of the Scribner family continued the business.

Scribner family Family of U.S. publishers whose firm, named Charles Scribner’s Sons from 1878, issued books and periodicals. After the death of its founder, Charles Scribner, the company was headed successively by his sons John Blair (1850-1879), Charles (1854-1930), and Arthur Haw¬ ley (1859-1932). During the long presidency (1879-1928) of the second Charles Scribner, the firm published such authors as Henry James, Theodore Roosevelt, Edith Wharton, Ernest Hemingway, George Meredith, and Rud- yard Kipling. Later presidents were Charles Scribner (1890-1952), son of the second Charles; and his son Charles, Jr. (1921-1995), who also served as president of Princeton University Press, founded in 1905 by his grand¬ father. Charles Scribner’s Sons was purchased in 1984 by Macmillan Inc.

scrimshaw Decoration of bone or ivory objects, such as whale’s teeth and walrus tusks, with fanciful designs, traditionally carved by Anglo- American and Native American whale fishermen with a jackknife or sail needle and emphasized with black pigments (e.g., lampblack). Among the traditional subjects are whaling scenes, ships, naval battles, flower bou¬ quets, Masonic emblems, coats of arms, and the Irish harp. The earliest surviving examples date from the late 17th century, but the craft reached its peak in 1830-50. It is still practiced by whalers in Siberia and Alaska.

Scripps, Edward Willis (b. June 18, 1854, near Rushville, Ill., U.S.—<1. March 12, 1926, at sea off Monrovia, Liberia) U.S. newspaper publisher. He was first employed by his half brother, James Edmund Scripps (1835-1906), on newspapers in Detroit. He began publishing his own papers in 1878 and eventually owned 34 in 15 states. He was a part¬ ner in forming the first major U.S. newspaper chain, the Scripps-McRae League of Newspapers (1894). In 1907 he consolidated regional Scripps news services as United Press (after 1958, United Press International). In 1922 he transferred his interests to his son, Robert Paine Scripps (1895— 1938), who with Roy W. Howard formed the Scripps-Howard chain. The E.W. Scripps Co. now operates the latter chain and includes varied media holdings in addition to newspapers.

scripture Sacred writings of religions, comprising a large portion of the literature of the world. Scriptures vary in form, volume, age, and degree of sacredness. Nearly all scriptures were originally oral and were passed down as memorized texts through several generations before being put in writing. In some religions, notably Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, there is still strong emphasis on the value of reciting or chanting the scriptures aloud. The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) is the scripture of Judaism; the Bible (Old and New Testaments together) is the scripture of Christianity; and the Qu’ran is the scripture of Islam. Scriptures of Hinduism include the Vedas and Upanishads. See also Adi Granth; Avesta; Book of Mormon; sutra; Tripitaka.

sc rod Young fish (as a cod or haddock), especially one split and boned for cooking. The origin of the term is not known for certain, but it is thought to come from an Old Dutch word meaning “to shred.” It seems to have first been used around 1841.

scroll painting Art form practiced primarily in the Far East. The two dominant types are the Chinese landscape scroll and the Japanese narra¬ tive scroll. China’s greatest contribution to the history of painting, the landscape hand scroll, reached its greatest period in the 10th-11th cen¬ tury with such masters as Xu Daoning and Fan Kuan. The Japanese scroll paintings of the 12th-13th century developed the storytelling potential of painting to its greatest extent. In the earliest, Murasaki Shikibu’s literary

masterpiece The Tale of Genji, the narrative is told in pictures alternating with text. Eventually the illustration stood nearly alone. Typical subjects were the stories and biographies popular during Japan’s Middle Ages.

SCSI \'sko-ze\ in full Small Computer System Interface Once common standard for connecting peripheral devices (disks, modems, printers, etc.) to small and medium-sized computers. SCSI has given way to faster standards, such as Firewire and USB.

scuba diving Swimming done underwater with a self-contained underwater-breathing apparatus (scuba), as opposed to skin diving, which requires only a snorkel, goggles, and flippers. Scuba gear was invented by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan in 1943. Diving clubs formed quickly as the technology became widely available. Scuba diving is used in oceanography, in underwater exploration and salvage work, in the study of water pollution, and for recreation.

sculpin or bullhead or sea scorpion Any of about 300 species (family Cottidae) of inactive, bottom-dwelling fishes found principally in northern regions. Sculpins are slender and tapered and have one or more spines on the gill covers, large fanlike pectoral fins, and smooth or spiny skin. The head is usually wide and heavy. Most species live in shallow seawaters, some live in deeper waters, and others inhabit fresh water. The largest species grow to 2 ft (60 cm) long; the miller’s-thumb ( Cottus gobio), common in European lakes and rivers, is only about 4 in. (10 cm) long. Other species of Cottus are found in Asia and North America.

sculpture Three-dimensional art produced especially by forming hard or plastic materials into three-dimensional objects, usually by carving or modeling. The designs may be produced in freestanding objects (i.e., in the round), in relief, or in environments, and a variety of media may be used, including clay, wax, stone, metal, fabric, wood, plaster, rubber, and found objects. Materials may be carved, modeled, molded, cast, wrought, welded, sewn, or assembled and combined. Various forms of sculpture have been found in virtually every culture throughout history. Until the 20th century, sculpture was considered a representational art, but, begin¬ ning in the early 1900, nonrepresentational works were increasingly pro¬ duced. The scope of the term became much wider in the second half of the 20th century. Present-day sculptors use any materials and methods of manufacture that will serve their purposes, and so the art of sculpture can no longer be identified with any special materials or techniques. See also environmental sculpture; kinetic sculpture.

scurvy or vitamin C deficiency Nutritional disorder caused by defi¬ ciency of vitamin C. Deficiency interferes with tissue synthesis, causing swollen, bleeding gums; loose teeth; sore, stiff joints and legs; bleeding under the skin and in deep tissues; slow wound healing; and anemia. The scourge of sailors on long sea voyages, scurvy was recognized as diet- related in 1753, when James Lind showed that drinking citrus juice could cure and prevent it, leading to the concept of deficiency diseases. Full¬ blown scurvy is now rare, and adequate vitamin C usually cures even severe cases in days.

Scutari Vskti-ta-reV Lake Largest lake in the Balkan Peninsula. Located on the frontier between Montenegro (see Serbia and Montenegro) and Alba¬ nia, it has an area of 150 sq mi (390 sq km). It was formerly an arm of the Adriatic Sea. Steep mountains, plains, and marshland border the lake, as do many small villages that are noted for their old monasteries and fortresses.

Scylla and Charybdis \ , si-b...ko- , rib-dis\ In Greek mythology, two monsters that guarded the narrow passage through which Odysseus had to sail in his wanderings. These waters are now identified with the Strait of Messina. On one shore was Scylla, a monster with six snaky heads, who reached out of her cave to seize and devour six of Odysseus’ companions. On the opposite shore was Charybdis, the personification of a whirlpool, who drank down and belched forth the waters three times a day. The ship¬ wrecked Odysseus saved himself by clinging to a tree on the shore until his raft floated to the surface.

Scythian \'si-the-on\ Any member of a nomadic people of Iranian stock who migrated from Central Asia to southern Russia in the 8th-7th cen¬ tury bc. Fierce warriors, they were among the first expert horsemen, which enabled them to establish an empire from western Persia through Syria and Judaea to Egypt and to expel the Cimmerians from their territory in the Caucasus and north of the Black Sea. Although driven out of Anatolia by the Medes (see Media), they held territory from the Persian border into southern Russia; they repelled an invasion by the Persian Darius I c. 513 bc. Their civilization produced wealthy aristocrats (“Royal Scyths”),

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Scythian art ► sea level I 1709

whose graves held richly worked articles of gold and other precious mate¬ rials. The army consisted of freemen; on presentation of an enemy’s head, a soldier could share in the booty. They fought with double-curved bows, trefoil-shaped arrows, and Persian swords. Burial called for the sacrifice of the dead man’s wife and servants. In the 5th century bc the royal fam¬ ily intermarried with Greeks. The community fell to the Sarmatians in the 2nd century bc. See also Scythian art.

Scythian art Vsi-the-onV Decorative objects, mainly jewelry and trap¬ pings for horses, tents, and wagons, produced by nomadic Scythian tribes that roamed Central Asia and eastern Europe between the 7th century bc and the 2nd century ad. Also known as Steppes art, it largely features rep¬ resentations of real or mythical beasts worked in a wide variety of materials, including wood, leather, bone, applique felt, bronze, iron, sil¬ ver, gold, and electrum. Outstanding are gold stags about 12 in. (30 cm) long, their legs tucked under them, probably used as central ornaments on round shields.

SDI See Strategic Defense Initiative SDS See Students for a Democratic Society

Sea, Law of the International law codified in a treaty signed in 1982 covering the status and use of territorial waters, sea lanes, and ocean resources. Originally signed by 117 countries, the treaty had some 140 state parties by the early 21st century. The treaty defines territorial waters as those extending 12 nautical mi (22 km) beyond a country’s coast and gives to each country exclusive fishing and mining rights in waters extend¬ ing to 200 nautical mi (370 km) from its coast. See also high seas.

sea anemone \3-,ne-m9-,ne\ Any of more than 1,000 cnidarian spe¬ cies in the order Actiniaria, found from the tidal zone of all oceans to depths of more than 30,000 ft (10,000 m) and occasionally in brackish water. Species vary from less than 1 in. (3 cm) to about 5 ft (1.5 m) in diameter. The mouth, at the upper end of the cylindrical body, is surrounded by petal-like, usually colourful tentacles that bear stinging nematocysts for paralyzing prey such as fishes. Some species eat only microorganisms. Most species remain permanently attached to a hard surface such as a rock or the back of a crab.

sea bass Any of about 400 species (family Serranidae) of carnivorous fishes, most of which inhabit shallow regions of warm and tropical seas. Sea bass have a slender body, small scales, large mouth, and straight- edged or rounded tail. The spiny frontal section and the soft-rayed rear section of the dorsal fin are usually joined but may be separated by a notch. Species range from about 1 in. (3 cm) to 6 ft (1.8 m) long and may weigh 500 lbs (225 kg). About 12 species in the family Moronidae (some¬ times considered a subfamily of Serranidae) inhabit temperate waters. See also BASS.

sea coot See scoter

sea cow or Steller's sea cow Extinct aquatic mammal ( Hydroda- malis gigas) that lived around islands in the Bering Sea. It was discov¬ ered in 1741 and described by a member of Vitus Bering’s expedition. At least 24 ft (7.5 m) long, it had no teeth, a small head, and a broad, hori¬ zontal, forked tail fluke; its dark brown skin was sometimes streaked or spotted with white. It browsed on seaweed. Russian sealers hunted it for food and fur; by 1768 the entire population, estimated at about 5,000, had been exterminated. The term also refers to dugongs and manatees.

sea cucumber Any of 1,100 species of echinoderms constituting the class Holothurioidea, found in all oceans, mostly in shallow water. The soft, cylindrical body is 0.75 in. (2 cm) to 6.5 ft (2 m) long and 0.4-8 in.

(1-20 cm) thick. It is usually dull, dark, and often warty. The internal skeleton consists merely of numerous tiny bits in the skin. Most species have five rows of tube feet extending from mouth to anus. The 10 or more retractile tentacles surrounding the mouth are used for taking food (mud containing nutrients or small aquatic animals) or burrowing. Locomotion is sluglike. See also shellfish.

sea eagle Any of various large fish-eating eagles (especially in the genus Haliaeetus ), of which the best known is the bald eagle. Sea eagles live along rivers, big lakes, and tidewater worldwide except in South America. Some reach over 3 ft (1 m) long. All have an exceptionally large, high-arched beak and bare lower legs. The toes’ undersurfaces are rough¬ ened for grasping slippery prey. They eat mostly carrion but sometimes kill, snatching fish from the water surface and often robbing their chief competitor, the osprey. Asian species include the gray-headed, or greater, fishing eagle and the lesser fishing eagle.

sea fan Any of about 500 coral species (genus Gorgonia) especially abundant in shallow waters along the Atlantic coasts of Florida, Bermuda, and the West Indies. Polyps grow colonially in a flat, fanlike pattern.

Each polyp has some multiple of six tentacles, which it spreads out to form a plankton-catching net. An internal skeleton supports all branches of the colony. The living tissues (often red, yellow, or orange) entirely cover the skeleton. The fan¬ shaped colonies usually grow across the current, increasing their ability to ensnare prey. All species grow to about 2 ft (60 cm) high.

sea horse Any of about 24 species (family Syngnathidae) of fishes that usually live along warm seashores, clinging to plants with their forward- curled, prehensile tail. Species range from 1.5 to 12 in. (4-30 cm) long.

Sea horses have bony rings instead of scales, and their eyes can move independently. They swim upright, propelling themselves horizontally with their fins and vertically with their swim bladder. They catch small organisms by sucking them quickly into their small mouths. The female deposits her eggs into a brood pouch beneath the male’s tail, and the male expels the newly hatched young.

sea ice Ice formed from frozen sea¬ water in polar regions. Most sea ice occurs as pack ice, which drifts across the ocean surface; other types of sea ice include fast ice, which is attached to coasts and sometimes the seafloor or between grounded ice¬ bergs, and marine ice, which forms at the bottom of ice shelves in Ant¬ arctica. The sea ice of the Northern Hemisphere covers about 3 million sq mi (8 million sq km) in September and about 6 million sq mi (15 mil¬ lion sq km) in March. Sea ice in the Southern Hemisphere ranges from about 1.5 million sq mi (4 million sq km) in February to about 8 million sq mi (20 million sq km) in September.

sea lavender Any of about 300 species of chiefly perennial herbaceous plants that make up the genus Limonium of the family Plumbaginaceae, especially L. vulgare. Bearing small flowers in dense spikes, L. vulgare grows in large tracts that sometimes turn acres lilac-coloured in late sum¬ mer. The flower spikes of this and other sea lavenders are often used in dry-flower arrangements for their lasting qualities and permanent colours.

sea leopard See leopard seal

sea level Position of the air-sea boundary, to which all terrestrial eleva¬ tions and submarine depths are referred. The sea level at any location changes constantly with changes in tides, atmospheric pressure, and wind

Scythian gold belt buckle with turquoise inlay, from Siberia; in the Hermitage,

St. Petersburg

NOVOSTI PRESS AGENCY

Sea anemone, Tealia

M. WOODBRIDGE WILLIAMS

Sea fan

DOUGLAS FAULKNER

Sea horse (Hippocampus erectus).

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1710 I sea lion ► seal

conditions. Longer-term changes are influenced by changes in the Earth’s climates. Consequently, the level is better defined as mean sea level, the height of the sea surface averaged over all stages of the tide over a long period of time.

sea lion Any of five species (family Otariidae) of eared seals found along coasts on both sides of the Pacific, from Alaska to Australia. Sea lions have short, coarse hair that lacks a distinct undercoat. The males of all but the California sea lion have a mane. Sea lions feed principally on fish, squid, and octopus. They breed in large herds; males establish a harem of 3-20 females. The California sea lion ( Zalophus califomianus ) is the trained seal of circuses and zoos. Males of the various species range from 8 to 11 ft (2.5-3.3 m) long and weigh 600-2,200 lbs (270-1,000 kg).

sea otter or great sea otter Rare, completely marine otter ( Enhy- dm lutris) of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floating on its back, it opens mollusks by smashing them on a stone balanced on its chest. The large hind feet are broad and flipperlike. It is 40-65 in. (100- 160 cm) long and weighs 35-90 lbs (16-40 kg). The thick lustrous coat is reddish to dark brown. By 1910 it had been hunted almost to extinc¬ tion for its fur; now fully protected, it is gradually increasing in numbers.

sea parrot See puffin

Sea People Any of the groups of aggressive seafarers who invaded eastern Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus, and Egypt toward the end of the Bronze Age. They were especially active in the 13th century bc. Though the extent and origin of the upheavals remain uncertain, Sea Peoples are believed responsible for the destruction of old powers such as the Hittite empire. The Egyptians waged two wars against them (1236-23 bc and c. 1198-66). The only major tribe to settle permanently in Palestine were the Peleset (i.e., Philistines).

sea power Means by which a nation extends its military power onto the seas. Measured in terms of a nation’s capacity to use the seas in defi¬ ance of rivals, it consists of combat vessels and weapons, auxiliary craft, commercial shipping, bases, and trained personnel. It includes aircraft based on carriers or used in support of shipping. Its main purpose is to protect friendly shipping from enemy attack and to destroy or hinder the enemy’s shipping. It may also be used to enforce a blockade. Finally, naval forces have been used to bombard land targets from the sea. The aircraft carrier added a new dimension to this capability, as did the missile-firing nuclear submarine. The classic exposition of the role of sea power as the basis of national greatness is Alfred Thayer Mahan’s The Influence of Sea Power upon History (1890).

sea scorpion See sculpin sea slug See nudibranch

sea snake Any of some 50 species (family Hydrophiidae) of venom¬ ous, marine snakes with an oarlike tail and flattened body. Most are found along coasts and in estuaries of Australia and Asia, sometimes basking on the surface in a large group, though the yellow-bellied, or pelagic, sea snake ranges throughout the Pacific. The nostrils, usually on top of the snout, have valvelike closings. The body of several species is much thicker than the head and neck. Most species are 3-4 ft (1—1.2 m) long; Laticauda semifasciata, a Japanese delicacy, may be twice as long. Though generally slow to strike, their venom may be lethal.

sea squirt Any tunicate in the class Ascidiacea; found in seas world¬ wide. Resembling potatoes more than animals, they are permanently fixed to a surface. A forceful contraction of the adult’s vaselike body shoots a jet of seawater when it is disturbed. They filter-feed near the shore on debris from dead plants and animals and, in deeper water, on plankton. Adults, from less than 1 in. to 1 ft (2-30 cm) long, have functional male and female reproductive organs. The free-swimming, tadpolelike larvae hatch from eggs shed by one individual and fertilized by another. Some species live individually, others in colonies.

sea star See starfish sea trout See weakfish

sea urchin Any of about 700 species (class Echinoidea) of echinoderms found worldwide. Sea urchins have a globular body covered with mov¬ able, sometimes poisonous, spines up to 12 in. (30 cm) long. Pores along the internal skeleton accommodate slender, extensible, often sucker- tipped tube feet. Sea urchins live on the seafloor and use their tube feet or spines to move about. The mouth is on the body’s underside; teeth are

extruded to scrape algae and other food from rocks. Some species exca¬ vate hiding places in coral, rock, or even steel. Roe of some species is eaten in certain countries.

Seaborg Yse-.borgV, Glenn (Theodore) (b. April 19,1912, Ish- peming, Mich., U.S.—d. Feb. 25,

1999, Lafayette, Calif.) U.S. nuclear chemist. Seaborg pursued graduate study at the University of California at Berkeley. Working with John Liv- ingood, Emilio Segre, and others, he discovered some 100 isotopes, including many that would prove to be of major importance, such as iodine-131 and technetium-99. How¬ ever, his best-known work involved the isolation and identification of tran¬ suranium elements. In 1941 he and his colleagues discovered plutonium. He went on to discover and isolate the elements americum, curium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, fermium, mendelevium, and nobelium (atomic numbers 95-102). He joined the Manhattan Project in 1942 and was instru¬ mental in the development of the atomic bomb, although he pleaded, unsuc¬ cessfully, with Pres. Truman not to use the bomb on civilian targets. He shared a 1951 Nobel Prize with Edwin Mattison McMillan (1907-91). Pre¬ diction of new elements’ chemical properties and placement in the periodic table was helped greatly by an important organizing principle enunciated by Seaborg, the actinide concept. He served as head of the Atomic Energy Commission (1961-71). A strong advocate of nuclear disarmament, he led the negotiations that eventuated in the Limited Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (1963) and later played a leading role in the passage of the Nuclear Non¬ proliferation Treaty. In 1997 his name was given to the new element seaborgium, the first time a living person had been so honoured.

seafloor spreading Theory that oceanic crust forms along subma¬ rine mountain zones, known collectively as the oceanic ridge system, and spreads out laterally away from them. This idea, proposed by U.S. geo¬ physicist Harry H. Hess (1906-1969) in 1960, was pivotal in the devel¬ opment of the theory of plate tectonics.

seafood Edible aquatic animals excluding mammals, but including both freshwater and ocean creatures. Seafood includes bony and cartilaginous FISHeS, CRUSTACEANS, MOLLUSKS, edible JELLYFISH, Sea TURTLES, FROGS, SEA URCHINS, and sea cucumbers. The roe, or eggs, of some species are eaten as caviar. After cereals, seafood may be mankind’s most important food, furnish¬ ing about 15% of the world’s protein intake. Lean fish is equivalent to beef or poultry in its protein yield (18-25% by weight), but it is much lower in calories. Much seafood is eaten uncooked, either raw, dried, smoked, salted, pickled, or fermented. Otherwise it is cooked whole or cut into steaks, filets, or chunks. It is often used in stews or soups.

Seagram Building High-rise office building in New York City (1958). Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson, this sleek Park Avenue skyscraper is a pure example of a rectilinear prism sheathed in glass and bronze; it took the International Style to its zenith. Despite its austere and forthright use of the most modem materials, it demonstrates Mies’s exceptional sense of proportion and concern for detail.

Seagram Company Ltd. Formerly the world’s largest producer and marketer of distilled spirits. The company began when Distillers Corp., Ltd., a Montreal distillery owned by Samuel Bronfman, acquired Joseph E. Seagram & Sons in 1928. The new company, Distillers Corp.-Seagrams Ltd., grew rapidly. Originally a maker of blended whiskies, the firm diver¬ sified in the 1950s and ’60s into scotch, bourbon, rum, vodka, gin, and wines, which were sold around the world. In the 1990s it entered the field of music and entertainment, purchasing Universal Studios, media firm MCA, and the Dutch music giant Polygram NV. The company was acquired by French media conglomerate Vivendi in 2000 to form Vivendi Universal. The beverage businesses were later sold to Diageo and Pernod Ricard. See also Seagram Building.

seal Aquatic carnivore with webbed flippers and a streamlined body. Ear¬ less (true, or hair) seals (of the family Phocidae, with 18 species) lack exter¬ nal ears. In water, they propel themselves by side-to-side strokes of the hind limbs and maneuver with their forelimbs. On land, they wriggle on their belly or pull themselves with their forelimbs. Earless species include the

Slate -pencil urchin (Heterocentrotus mammillatus)

DOUGLAS FAULKNER

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Sealyham terrier ► season I 1711

elephant seal, harbour seal, harp seal, and leopard seal. The eared seals (family Otariidae, with five species of sea lion and nine of fur seal) have external ears and longer flippers. In water, they propel themselves by a rowing motion of their forelimbs; on land, they use all four limbs to move about.

Sealyham terrier Breed of terrier developed in the late 19th century by Capt. John Edwardes for hunting foxes, otters, and badgers on his Welsh estate, Sealyham. A small, short-legged, sturdy dog, it was bred for courage, stamina, and hunting ability. It has a double coat, soft under¬ neath and wiry on top, and may be solid white or white with darker mark¬ ings on its head and drooping ears. It stands about 10 in. (25.5 cm) and weighs about 20 lbs (9 kg).

Seami See Zeami

seamount Large submarine volcanic mountain rising at least 3,000 ft (1,000 m) above the surrounding seafloor; smaller submarine volcanoes are called sea knolls, and flat-topped seamounts are called guyots. Sea¬ mounts are abundant and occur in all major ocean basins. By the late 1970s more than 10,000 seamounts had been reported in the Pacific Ocean basin alone. Virtually every oceanographic expedition discovers new sea¬ mounts, and it is estimated that about 20,000 exist worldwide.

seaplane Aircraft that can land, float, and take off on water. The first practical seaplanes were built and flown in 1911-12 by Glenn H. Curtiss, who developed both the float seaplane, essentially a land plane with pon¬ toons instead of landing wheels, and the flying boat, a boatlike plane that combined a main float and fuselage in a single body. A retractable land¬ ing wheel was later added to create an amphibian aircraft. By the late 1920s seaplanes held the speed and range records for aircraft. During the 1940s their utility diminished with the building of long-range land-based airplanes, new airports, and aircraft carriers.

search and seizure In law enforcement, an exploratory investigation of a premises or a person and the taking into custody of property or an individual in the interest of gaining evidence of unlawful activity or guilt. The latitude allowed police in carrying out searches and seizures varies greatly from country to country. In the U.S., the 4th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and requires that a warrant be issued following a finding of probable cause. The war¬ rant must specify the place to be searched and the persons and things to be seized.

search engine Tool for finding information, especially on the Internet or World Wide Web. Search engines are essentially massive databases that cover wide swaths of the Internet. Most consist of three parts: at least one program, called a spider, crawler, or bot, which “crawls” through the Internet gathering information; a database, which stores the gathered information; and a search tool, with which users search through the data¬ base by typing in keywords describing the information desired (usually at a Web site dedicated to the search engine). Increasingly, metasearch engines, which search a subset (usually 10 or so) of the huge number of search engines and then compile and index the results, are being used.

Sears, Isaac (b. July 1?, 1730, West Brewster, Mass.—d. Oct. 28,1786, Canton, China) American patriot. A merchant in New York City, he sup¬ ported the patriots’ cause in the Stamp Act riots. As a member of the radi¬ cal Sons of Liberty, he headed a boycott of British goods to protest the Townshend Acts. He led the ouster of loyalist officials from New York City and seized control of the municipal government until George Wash¬ ington’s troops arrived (1775). From Boston he organized privateers to prey on British ships. He died while on a trading venture in China.

Sears, Roebuck and Company U.S. merchandising company, his¬ torically one of the world’s largest retailers. It was founded in 1893 by Richard W. Sears (1863-1914) and Alvah C. Roebuck (1864-1948). The company grew rapidly, selling mail-order merchandise at low prices to rural dwellers who lacked access to competitive retail outlets. Under Rob¬ ert E. Wood (president 1928-54), Sears built stores across the U.S., and by 1931 its retail sales had topped its mail-order sales. It diversified into finan¬ cial services in the 1980s and introduced the Discover credit card in 1985, but in 1992 it began shedding its financial-services subsidiaries. It discon¬ tinued its famous catalog in 1993 and spun off insurance subsidiary Allstate (founded by Sears in 1931) in 1995. A merger with Kmart in 2005 brought the two retail chains under the leadership of Sears Holdings Corporation.

Sears Tower Skyscraper office building in Chicago. With 110 floors and a height of 1,450 ft (442 m), it became the world’s tallest building at

its completion in 1974. Its architect, Fazlur Khan (1928-1982), designed it as a bundled-tube (see skyscraper) structure to resist lateral forces. It is modular in plan, with nine 75-ft- (23-m-) square, column-free units. The exterior is sheathed in black aluminum and bronze-tinted glass. Louvers clad the four floors devoted to the building’s mechanical operations. It was the world’s tallest building until 1996, when it was surpassed by the Petronas Towers (1,483 ft [452 m]) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

season Any of four divisions of the year according to consistent annual changes in the weather. In the Northern Hemisphere, winter formally

The primary cause of Earth's seasons is the change in the amount of sunlight reach¬ ing the surface at various latitudes over the course of a year. Because Earth is tilted on its axis with respect to the plane of its orbit around the Sun, different parts of its surface are in direct (overhead) sunlight at different times of the year.

© MERRIAM-WEBSTER INC.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

1712 I seasonal affective disorder ► Second Empire

begins on the winter solstice, December 21 or 22; spring on the vernal equinox, March 20 or 21; summer on the summer solstice, June 21 or 22; and fall (autumn) on the autumnal equinox, September 22 or 23. In the Southern Hemisphere, the dates of onset of summer and winter are reversed, as are those of spring and fall.

seasonal affective disorder (SAD) Cyclical depression occurring in winter, apparently caused by insufficient sunlight. It is most common in places at high latitudes and therefore with long winters and very short daylight hours. Symptoms can include all those of major depression, and there is a risk of suicide. The cause may be related to regulation of the body’s temperature and hormones and may involve the pineal gland and melatonin. Exposure to intense full-spectrum light from a set of fluores¬ cent bulbs in a light box with a diffusing screen has proved effective as treatment. Dawn simulation (exposure to low light levels in the final sleep period) and negative-ion therapy can also help.

Seastrom, Victor See Victor Sjostrom SEATO See Southeast Asia Treaty Organization

Seattle City (pop., 2000: 563,374) and seaport, Washington, U.S. It is the largest city in the state and the commercial, industrial, and financial centre of the Pacific Northwest. Situated between Elliott Bay (Puget Sound) and Lake Washington, it is flanked by the Olympic Mountains and the Cascade Range. Laid out in 1853, it withstood an Indian attack (1856), anti-Chinese riots (1880s), and a disastrous fire (1889) to emerge as the gateway to the Orient and Alaska. It was the main supply depot for the Yukon and Alaskan gold rushes (see gold rush) in the 1890s. World War II brought a great boom to the city, with shipyards and the aircraft indus¬ try playing important roles. Seattle Center, site of the 1962 World’s Fair, contains the 607-ft (185-m) Space Needle. Seattle’s educational institu¬ tions include the University of Washington (1861).

Seattle Slew (foaled 1974) U.S. Thoroughbred racehorse. He was the first unbeaten racer ever to win the Triple Crown (1977). In his racing career of 17 races, he won 14, was second twice, and fourth once. He was retired to stud in 1978.

seawater Water that makes up the oceans and seas. Seawater is a com¬ plex mixture of 96.5% water, 2.5% salts, and small amounts of other sub¬ stances. Much of the world’s magnesium is recovered from seawater, as are large quantities of bromine. In certain parts of the world, sodium chloride (table salt) is obtained by evaporating seawater. In addition, desalted seawater can theoretically furnish a limitless supply of drinking water, but the high processing costs are prohibitive. Large desalination plants have been built in dry areas along seacoasts in the Middle East and elsewhere to relieve shortages of fresh water.

seaweed Any of certain species of red, green, and brown marine algae that generally are anchored to the sea bottom or to a solid structure by rootlike holdfasts that perform the sole function of attachment and do not extract nutrients as do the roots of higher plants. The most obvious sea¬ weeds are brown algae; mosslike carpets of red algae are seen at low tides. Seaweeds are often dense in shallow water. Brown algae commonly found as seaweeds include kelp, which include the largest algae, and sargassum. Some seaweeds have hollow, gas-filled floats that keep their fronds at the surface of the water. Ulva species, commonly called sea lettuce, are among the relatively few green algae that are seaweeds. Seaweeds are used as food, and brown algae are used in fertilizers. The red alga Gelid- ium is used to make the gelatin-like product called agar.

sebaceous gland \si-'ba-sh3s\ Small oiL-producing gland in the skin, usually connected to a hair follicle by a duct into which it releases sebum, a component of the slightly greasy film on the skin that helps keep it flex¬ ible and prevents too much water loss or absorption. The glands are dis¬ tributed over the entire body except the palms and soles, most abundantly on the scalp and face. Large and well developed at birth, they shrink dur¬ ing childhood but enlarge again and increase their sebum output at puberty (apparently in response to male hormones), often leading to acne.

Sebastian, Saint (d. c. 288, Rome; feast day January 20) Christian martyr who died during the persecutions of Diocletian. According to leg¬ end, he was born in Gaul and went to Rome to serve in the army. When officials learned that he was a Christian seeking converts, they ordered his execution by archers. Left for dead, he was nursed back to health by a Christian widow. He presented himself before the emperor, who con¬ demned him to death by beating. His body was thrown into a sewer but

was afterward found and buried. In Renaissance art he was often depicted as a handsome youth pierced by arrows.

Sebastiano del Piombo \se-bas-'tya-no-del-'py6m-bo\ orig. Sebastiano Luciani (b. c. 1485, Venice, Republic of Venice—d. July 21, 1547, Rome, Papal States) Italian painter. While in Venice, he was highly influenced by his teacher, Giorgione. In 1511 he moved to Rome and became a member of Michelangelo’s circle of Renaissance artists. Michelangelo thought so highly of him that he provided sketches for him to execute. In Sebastiano’s Pieta (1513), Flagellation (1516-24), and Raising of Lazarus (1516-18), all based on Michelangelo’s sketches, he combined the warm colouring of the Venetian school with Michelange¬ lo’s anatomical clarity and firm sculptural drawing. After Raphael’s death, Sebastiano’s reputation as a portraitist was unparalleled. In 1531 Pope Clement VII, the subject of one of his finest portraits (1526), appointed him keeper of the papal seal; his nickname derives from the fact that the seal was of lead (Italian, piombo). The lucrative post gave him financial security, and his output declined.

Sebastopol See Sevastopol

Sebek Vse-,bek\ In ancient Egyptian sanctuary in Fayyum province included a sacred crocodile, which was believed to be an incarnation of the god. Sebek may have been asso¬ ciated with fertility or death and burial before becoming a major deity and patron of kings in the Middle Kingdom (c. 1938-c. 1600? bc). He was merged with Re, the sun god, to constitute a crocodile form of that deity known as Sebek-Re. The wor¬ ship of Sebek continued in Ptolemaic and Roman times.

Sebou \s3-'bii\ River River, north¬ ern Morocco. From its source as the Wadi Guigou, it flows north to Fes and then east to the Atlantic Ocean at Mehdiya, a distance of 280 mi (450 km). Its basin is a major region for cultivating olives, rice, wheat, sugar beets, and grapes. Kenitra (pop.,

1994: 292,627), 10 mi (16 km) from its mouth, is a busy port at the head of navigation for oceangoing vessels.

secession (1860-61) Withdrawal of 11 Southern states from the U.S.

The precipitating event was the elec¬ tion of Abraham Lincoln as president (1860). Since the Republican Party strongly opposed slavery and its extension into the new territories, most slaveholding states had vowed to secede if the Republican candidate won. Secession had been proclaimed by states’-rights advocates as a cor¬ ollary to the compact that united the states, permitting them to withdraw as easily as they had joined. Earlier threats of secession were made at the Hartford Convention (1814), in the nullification crisis (1832), and in the 1850s before the Missouri Compro¬ mise. Secession was first approved by South Carolina (1860); six other states followed in the period before Lincoln was inaugurated in March 1861. After Lincoln resisted the South’s attack on Fort Sumter, four other slaveholding states voted to secede, joining the newly formed Confeder¬ ate States of America.

Second Empire (1852-70) Period in France under the rule of Emperor Napoleon III (the original empire having been that of Napoleon). In its early years (1852-59), the empire was authoritarian but enjoyed economic growth and pursued a favourable foreign policy. Liberal reforms were gradually introduced after 1859, but measures such as a low-tariff treaty with Britain alienated French businessmen, and political liberalization led

religion, a crocodile god. His chiel

Sebek, wearing horns, solar disk with uraeus, and plumes, bronze figurine, c. 600-300 bc; in the British Museum.

COURTESY OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Second Empire style ► Seder I 1713

to increased opposition to the government. In 1870 a new constitution establishing a quasi-parliamentary regime was widely approved, but France’s defeat at the Battle of Sedan in the Franco-Prussian War was followed by an uprising in Paris on Sept. 4, 1870. This resulted in the overthrow of the government, the abdication of Napoleon III, and the end of the Second Empire.

Second Empire style See Beaux-Arts style

Second International or Socialist International (1889-1914) Federation of socialist political parties and trade unions that greatly influ¬ enced the European labour movement while supporting parliamentary democracy and opposing anarchism. Unlike the centralized First Interna¬ tional, it was a loose federation that met in a number of cities at various intervals. By 1912 it represented the socialist parties of all European coun¬ tries, the U.S., Canada, and Japan, with a membership of about nine mil¬ lion. It reaffirmed Marxist doctrine, but its main concern became the prevention of a general European war. When that failed, the International ended in 1914.

Second Republic (1848-52) French republic established after the Revolutions of 1848 (following the original republic during the French Revolution). The liberal republicans’ hopes of establishing an enduring democratic regime were soon frustrated. In 1848 Louis-Napoleon (later Napoleon III) was elected president, and a monarchist majority was elected to the legislative assembly, which passed conservative measures restrict¬ ing voting rights and freedom of the press and giving the church increased control over education. Soon realizing that his power and future reelec¬ tion were limited by the assembly’s actions, Louis-Napoleon organized a coup d’etat in 1851. A new constitution reduced the assembly’s power, and a plebiscite to approve the change was accompanied by officially inspired petitions for the empire’s restoration. In 1852 Louis-Napoleon was proclaimed emperor, and the Second Empire was bom.

secondary education Traditional second stage in formal education, typically beginning at ages 11-13 and ending usually at ages 15-18. The distinction between elementary education and secondary education has gradually become less marked, because of the proliferation of middle schools, junior high schools, and other divisions.

secret police Police established by national governments to maintain political and social control. Generally clandestine, secret police have oper¬ ated independently of the civil police. Particularly notorious examples were the Nazi Gestapo, the Russian KGB, and the East German Stasi. Secret-police tactics include arrest, imprisonment, torture, and execution of political enemies and intimidation of potential opposition members.

secret society Any of various oath-bound societies devoted to broth¬ erhood (or sisterhood), moral discipline, and mutual assistance. Such soci¬ eties usually conduct rituals of initiation to instruct new members in the rules of the group (see rite of passage). Greek and Roman mystery religions had their secular counterparts in clandestine social clubs, some of which served as platforms for political dissent. In West Africa secret societies such as Poro (for men) and Sande (for women) serve to translate slight advantages of wealth and prestige into political authority. In parts of New Guinea secret men’s societies serve as repositories of tribal knowledge. Fraternal orders such as the Freemasons (see Freemasonry) may be con¬ sidered secret societies, as may criminal groups such as the Mafia and the Chinese Triads and hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.

Secretariat (foaled 1970) U.S. Thoroughbred racehorse. In 1973 he became the first Triple Crown winner since Citation in 1948. At the Bel¬ mont Stakes he won by an unprecedented 31 lengths. In his two-year career he came in first 16 times, second 3 times, and third once. He is often regarded as the greatest Thoroughbred in history.

secretary bird African raptor (Sagittarius serpentarius, family Sagit- taridae), the only living bird of prey that hunts on foot. It has long scaly legs, a light-gray body that is 4 ft (1.2 m) long, and a 7-ft (2.1-m) wingspread. It weighs about 8 lbs (3.5 kg). Twenty black crest feathers make it appear to be carrying quill pens behind its ears. Secretary birds kill snakes (their main prey) by stamping on them, flailing them against the ground, or dropping them from aloft. They make their large stick-built nests in thorn trees. Both parents feed the offspring by regurgitation. Secretary birds are protected in most African nations. See photograph opposite.

Secular Games Latin Ludi saeculares Celebrations held in ancient Rome at the beginning of a new saeculum, or generation. Similar games

were originally held by the Etruscans as offerings to the underworld gods. The Romans initially worshiped the underworld gods but later introduced Apollo, Diana, and Leto in a festival that lasted three days and nights. More days were added later. The first known Roman games were held in 249 bc, the second in 146, and the third in 17 under Caesar Augustus. Later games, held in ad 47, 88, 147, 204, 248, and 262, included sports, music, theatre, and circuses. The games ceased in the 4th century ad under Con¬ stantine I, who converted to Christianity.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) U.S. regulatory commission established by Congress in 1934. Its purpose was to restore investor confidence by ending the misleading sales practices and stock manipulations that had led to the stock market’s 1929 collapse (see Stock Market Crash of 1929). It also prohibited the purchase of stock shares without adequate funds to pay for them, initiated registration and super¬ vision of securities markets and stockbrokers, established rules regarding proxies, and prohibited unfair use of nonpublic information in stock trad¬ ing (see insider trading). It also required that companies offering securi¬ ties make full public disclosure of all relevant information. The discovery of fraudulent accounting practices among several large U.S. corporations brought demands for greater SEC oversight in the early 21st century.

security In finance, written evidence of ownership conferring the right to receive property not currently in the holder’s possession. The most common securities are stocks and bonds. Governments, companies, and financial institutions use securities to raise money. Stocks are securities issued in the form of equity ownership. Bonds are securities that take the form of debt. They constitute promises to pay a specified amount at a specified date and to pay interest at a specified rate in the interim. Most government securities are bonds that pay a fixed amount of interest per year; unlike commercial securities, their repayment is guaranteed. Both stocks and bonds are traded publicly on organized exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange. External forces such as international troubles, changes in government policies, and trends in foreign stock markets all have an effect on security prices. For individual stocks, the company’s current and pro¬ spective financial performance play an important role, as do overall trends within its business sector. See also investment; saving.

Security Council, United Nations See United Nations Security Council

Sedan \s9-'da n ,\ English \s9-'dan. Battle of (Sept. 1, 1870) Defeat of the French army in the Franco-Prussian War that led to the fall of the Second Empire. At the French border fortress of Sedan on the Meuse River, 120,000 French troops under Maurice, count de Mac-Mahon, were attacked by more than 200,000 German troops under Helmuth von Moltke. After Mac-Mahon was wounded, the confused French command tried unsuccessfully to break through the encircling German lines with massive cavalry charges. Emperor Napoleon III. who had accompanied Mac- Mahon, realized the French position was hopeless and surrendered with 83,000 troops.

Seder \'sa-dor\ Ritual meal served on the first night of Passover, com¬ memorating the flight of the Jews from Egypt. Presided over by the head

i STEPHEN J. KRASEMANN/PETER ARNOLD, INC.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

1714 I sedge family ► Sefer ha-bahir

of the family, the Seder follows a liturgy, the Haggadah, that reminds par¬ ticipants of the story of the Exodus. The ritual includes blessings, the pouring of wine, and ritual questions about the meaning of the event (“Why does this night differ from all other nights?”) asked by the young¬ est child present. The meal includes unleavened bread and bitter herbs, the bread symbolizing the haste with which the Israelites left Egypt and the herbs symbolizing the bitterness of slavery. A cup of wine is poured for Elijah, the precursor of the Messiah.

sedge family Family Cyperaceae, one of the 10 largest families of flowering plants, composed of about 5,000 species of grasslike herbs that inhabit wet regions worldwide. Sedges are monocots (see cotyledon) of extraordinary ecological importance; forming the base of food webs, they provide food and shelter for aquatic and wetland animals. They are also important as ornamentals and weeds, and are used in woven products such as mats, baskets, screens, and sandals. Key identifying characteristics that distinguish sedges from grasses are solid stems that are often triangular in cross section; leaves, when present, that clasp the stem with a sheath; and small spikes of minute flowers that are not enclosed in bracts. They range in height from about 1 in. to 13 ft (2 cm-4 m). The genus Carex represents the true sedges. Papyrus and bulrushes are also included in this family.

Sedgwick, Adam (b. March 22, 1785, Dent, Yorkshire, Eng.—d. Jan. 27, 1873, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire) English geologist. A pioneer in the establishment of geology as a university discipline (Trinity College, Oxford), he named the Cambrian Period and (with Roderick Murchison) the Devonian Period. His grandnephew, the zoologist Adam Sedgwick (1854-1913), first established the evolutionary link between the annelids and the arthropods.

sedimentary facies \'fa-shez\ Different, but contemporaneous and juxtaposed, sedimentary rocks. Terrigenous facies are accumulations of particles eroded from older rocks and transported to the depositional site. Biogenic facies are accumulations of whole or fragmented shells and other hard parts of animals. Chemical facies result from precipitation of inor¬ ganic material from solution. The shapes and characteristics of facies may change as conditions change over time.

sedimentary rock Rock formed at or near the Earth’s surface by the accumulation and lithification of fragments of preexisting rocks or by pre¬ cipitation from solution at normal surface temperatures. Sedimentary rocks can be formed only where sediments are deposited long enough to become compacted and cemented into hard beds or strata. They are the most common rocks exposed on the Earth’s surface but are only a minor constituent of the entire crust. Their defining characteristic is that they are formed in layers. Each layer has features that reflect the conditions dur¬ ing deposition, the nature of the source material (and, often, the organ¬ isms present), and the means of transport. See also sedimentary facies.

sedimentation In geology, the process of deposition of a solid mate¬ rial from a state of suspension or solution in a fluid (usually air or water). Broadly defined it also includes deposits from glacial ice and materials collected under the effect of gravity alone, as in talus deposits, or accu¬ mulations of rock debris at the base of cliffs.

sedimentology Scientific discipline concerned with the physical and chemical properties of sedimentary rocks and the processes involved in their formation, including transportation, deposition, and lithification of sediments. The aim of much sedimentological research is to interpret ancient environmental conditions by studying the constituents, textures, structures, and fossil content of the deposits.

sedition Crime of creating a revolt, disturbance, or violence against lawful civil authority with the intent to cause its overthrow or destruction. Because it is limited to organizing and encouraging opposition to gov¬ ernment rather than directly participating in its overthrow, sedition is regarded as falling one step short of the more serious crime of treason. In the U.S. the display of a certain flag or the advocacy of a particular movement, such as syndicalism, anarchism, or communism, has periodically been declared seditious. More recently, the courts have applied a more stringent test of sedition to ensure that constitutional guarantees regard¬ ing freedom of speech are not abridged. See also Alien and Sedition Acts.

sedum Vse-domX Any of about 600 species of succulent plants that make up the genus Sedum, in the stonecrop, or orpine, family (Crassulaceae), native to temperate zones and to mountains in the tropics. Some species are grown in greenhouses for their unusual foliage and sometimes showy

flowers of white, yellow, pink, or red. Low-growing varieties are popular in rock gardens and rock walls, and as edging in garden borders. Some species form mosslike mats on rocks and walls.

Seeckt \'zakt\, Hans von (b. April 22, 1866, Schleswig, Prussia—d. Dec. 27, 1936, Berlin, Ger.) German general. A career army officer, in World War I he was chief of staff of the 11th Army and then chief of staff of the Turkish army. After the war he became head of the German Reichs- wehr (1919-26) and secretly built a small but efficient army, circumvent¬ ing the Treaty of Versailles prohibition. He supported cooperation with Russia and encouraged the Treaty of Rapallo. He later served as an adviser to the Chinese Nationalist Army (1934-35).

seed Reproductive structure in plants that consists of a plant embryo, usually accompanied by a supply of food (endosperm, which is produced during fertilization) and enclosed in a protective coat. Seed embryos con¬ tain one or more cotyledons. In typical flowering plants, seed production follows pollination and fertilization. As seeds mature, the ovary that enclosed the ovules develops into a fruit containing the seeds. Most seeds are small, weighing less than a gram; the smallest contain no food reserve. At the opposite extreme, the seed of the double coconut palm may weigh up to about 60 lb (27 kg). Seeds are highly adapted to transportation by animals, wind, and water. When circumstances are favorable, water and oxygen penetrate the seed coat, and the new plant begins to grow (see germination). The longevity of seeds varies widely: some remain viable for only about a week; others have been known to germinate after hun¬ dreds or even thousands of years.

seed plant or spermatophyte Vspor-'ma-to-.fflA Any of the flower¬ ing plants (angiosperms) and the conifers and related plants (gymnosperms). Seed plants share many features with ferns, including the presence of vas¬ cular tissue (see xylem and phloem), but unlike ferns, they have stems that branch sideways and vascular tissue that is arranged in strands (bundles) around the core. Seed plants have generally more complex plant bodies and reproduce via seeds. As the main dispersal unit of seed plants, the seed represents a significant improvement over the spore, with its limited capacity for survival. Seed plants also differ from ferns in having game- tophytes that are reduced in size and are embedded in the sporophytes (and thus are less vulnerable to environmental stress). Another land-based adaptation of seed plants is pollen dispersed by wind or animals. The dis¬ persal of pollen, in addition to dispersal of seeds, promotes genetic recom¬ bination and distribution of the species over a wide geographic area.

New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. folk

Seeger, Pete(r) (b. May 3, 1919, singer and songwriter. He was the son of the pioneering ethnomusicol- ogist Charles Seeger (1886-1979) and stepson of the composer Ruth Crawford Seeger. Leaving Harvard after two years in 1938, he hitch¬ hiked and rode freight trains around the country, gathering folk songs and developing a virtuosity on the banjo.

In 1940 he organized the Almanac Singers with Woody Guthrie and per¬ formed widely at union halls and farm meetings. In 1948, with Lee Hays (1926-95), Ronnie Gilbert (b.

1927?), and Fred Hellerman (b.

1927), he formed the Weavers.

Shortly after the group became suc¬ cessful, it was blacklisted because of Seeger’s previous activities in left- wing and labour politics. He fostered

the growth of the hootenanny (a gathering of performers playing and singing for each other, with audience participation), and he wrote folk standards such as “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” and “If I Had a Hammer.” He is also known as a prominent supporter of antiwar, civil rights, and environmental causes.

Pete Seeger, DAVID GAHR

Seeger, Ruth Crawford See Ruth Crawford Seeger

Seeing Eye dog See guide dog

Sefarim, Mendele Moykher See Mendele Moykher Sforim

Sefer ha-bahir \'se-fer- I ha-ba-'hir\ Hebrew "Book of Bright¬ ness" Hebrew commentary on the Old Testament that had a major influ-

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Sefer ha-zohar ► Seine River I 1715

ence on the development of the Kabbala. It also influenced the symbology of Judaism in general by calling attention to the mystical significance of the shapes and sounds of the Hebrew alphabet. The Bahir first appeared in France in the 12th century, though Kabbalists consider it much older. It introduced the concept of the transmigration of souls and the notion of a cosmic or spiritual tree that symbolizes the flow of divine creative power. Though Kabbalists view it as authoritative, mainstream Judaism rejects it as heretical.

Sefer ha-zohar Vse-fer-ha-'z6- I har\ Hebrew "Book of Splen¬ dour" Classical text central to Kabbala that has influenced all mystical movements within Judaism. Many Kabbalists invest it with a sanctity nor¬ mally accorded only to the Torah and the Talmud. Written mostly in Ara¬ maic, it is believed to be mainly the work of Moses de Leon. The main part of the Zohar provides a mystical and symbolic interpretation of bib¬ lical texts, especially the Torah, the book of Ruth, and the Song of Solomon. Other sections deal with the mystery of creation, the problem of evil, and the cosmic significance of prayer and good deeds.

Sefer Torah \'se-fer-to-'ra\ Hebrew "Book of the Law" In Judaism, the Pentateuch (see Torah), when written in Hebrew by a qualified cal¬ ligrapher on vellum or parchment and enshrined in the Ark of the Law in a synagogue. It is used for public readings during services on the Sab¬ bath, Mondays, Thursdays, and religious festivals. Sephardic Jews often enclose it in a wooden or metal case; Ashkenazi Jews cover it with an ornate mantle of cloth decorated with ritual ornaments. Its scrolls are handled according to prescribed ritual that reflects the esteem in which the scrolls are held.

Seferis \se-'fer-es\, George orig. Giorgios Stylianou Seferia- des or Yeoryios Stilianou Sepheriades (b. March 13, 1900, Smyrna, Anatolia, Ottoman Empire—d. Sept. 20, 1971, Athens, Greece) Greek poet, essayist, and diplomat. He studied law in Paris and held vari¬ ous diplomatic posts from 1926 to 1962. His poetry appeared in a num¬ ber of collections beginning with I strofi (1931; “The Turning Point”). He is considered the leading Greek poet of “the generation of the ’30s,” which introduced Symbolism to modern Greek literature. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1963.

Segal Yse-golV, George (b. Nov. 26, 1924, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. June 9, 2000, South Brunswick, N.J.) U.S. sculptor. Segal began his artis¬ tic career as an abstract painter. In 1958 he started creating sculptures from chicken wire and plaster and two years later turned to plaster casts, often using family members and friends as models. Though he was associated with members of the burgeoning Pop art movement in the late 1950s, Segal’s sculptures, which were frequently outfitted with the bland com¬ mercial props of the Pop idiom, are distinguished from that characteris¬ tically ironic movement by a mute, ghostly anguish. His casting technique, in which the live model is wrapped in strips of plaster-soaked cheese¬ cloth, imparts a rough texture and a minimum of surface detail to the fig¬ ures, thus heightening the sense of anonymity and isolation.

Segesta \se-'jes-t9\ Ancient city, northwestern Sicily. Located near modern Calatafimi, it was the chief city of the Elymi, a people of sup¬ posedly Trojan origin (see Troy). Culturally, the city was Greek, but it generally took the Carthaginian side against its Greek neighbours, and boundary disputes with Selinus were frequent. Early in the First Punic War, Segesta was allied with Rome. Its ruins include a well-preserved 3rd- century-BC theatre and a 5th-century-BC temple to Artemis.

segoni-kun \se-'go-ne-'kun\ Highly sculptural mask of the Tyiwara society of the western African Bambara tribe. Derived from the antelope’s form and emphasizing its head, neck, and horns, the masks were worn at cultivation ceremonies by dancers imitating the antelope’s graceful move¬ ments. It was believed that the spirit of the tyi-wara (work animal), which held great power over agricultural fertility, was embodied in the masks.

Segovia, Andres (b. Feb. 21, 1893, Linares, Spain—d. June 2, 1987, Madrid) Spanish guitarist. Almost entirely self-taught, he made his debut in Grenada in 1909 and by the 1920s was touring internationally; he con¬ tinued to perform into his 90s. He was by far the most important force in making the guitar a concert instrument. He commissioned works by Man¬ uel de Falla, Albert Roussel, and Heitor Villa-Lobos, and he arranged music ranging from the Renaissance to the 19th century for solo guitar. See pho¬ tograph opposite.

Segre \so-'gra\, Emilio (Gino) (b. Feb. 1, 1905, Tivoli, Italy—d. April 22, 1989, Lafayette, Calif., U.S.) Italian-born U.S. physicist. He worked

under Enrico Fermi before becoming director of the physics laboratory at the University of Palermo in 1936. In 1937 he discovered technetium, the first man-made element not found in nature. While visiting California in 1938, he was dismissed from the university by the fascist government. He continued his research at the University of California at Berkeley, where he and his associates discovered the element astatine and the isotope plutonium-239, which he found to be fissionable. In 1955, using the new Bevatron particle accelerator, Segre and Owen Chamberlain (b. 1920) produced and identified antiprotons, antiparticles having the same mass as protons but opposite electrical charge, setting the stage for the discov¬ ery of many additional antiparticles. The two men shared a 1959 Nobel Prize.

segregation, racial Practice of restricting people to certain circum¬ scribed areas of residence or to separate institutions and facilities on the basis of race or alleged race. Racial segregation provides a means of main¬ taining the economic advantages and higher social status of politically dominant races. Historically, various conquerors—among them Asian Mongols, African Bantu, and American Aztecs—have practiced discrimi¬ nation involving the segregation of subject races. Racial segregation has appeared in all multiracial communities, except where racial amalgamation has occurred on a large scale, as in Hawaii and Brazil. In such places there has been occasional social discrimination but not legal segregation. In the Southern states of the U.S., public facilities were segregated from the late 19th century into the 1950s (see Jim Crow law), and in South Africa a sys¬ tem of apartheid sanctioned discrimination against nonwhites until it was abolished in the 1990s. The U.S. civil rights movement and Civil Rights Act of 1 964 helped end racial segregation in education and public facilities, though other forms of racial discrimination continued.

sei whale \'sa\ or Rudolphi's rorqual Vror-kwoA Swift species (Balaenoptera borealis ) of baleen whale in the rorqual family. It is 40-50 ft (13-15 m) long and is bluish gray or blackish above and paler below. It has small flippers, about 50 short lengthwise grooves on its chest, and dark baleen with pale, silky, inner fringes. It inhabits oceans from the Arctic to the Antarctic, migrating between cold and temperate summer waters and winter breeding grounds in warmer regions.

Seifert Vsa-fert\, Jaroslav (b. Sept. 23, 1901, Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary—d. Jan. 10, 1986, Prague, Czech.) Czech poet. He made a living as a journalist until 1950. Though his early works reflect youth¬ ful expectations for the future of communism in the Soviet Union, he broke with the Communist Party in 1929. More lyrical elements were evi¬ dent in his later poems, and the history and current events of Czechoslo¬ vakia were the most common subjects in his approximately 30 volumes. In the 1980s and ’90s many of his works were translated, including Hon¬ eymoon Ride (1938), Bozena Nemcova’s Fan (1940), and Halley’s Comet (1967). He also contributed to journals and wrote children’s literature and memoirs. In 1984 he became the first Czech to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

seigniorage Ysan-ya-rij\ Charge over and above the expenses of coin¬ age that is deducted from the bullion brought to a mint to be coined. From early times, coinage was the prerogative of kings, who prescribed the amount they were to receive as seigniorage. This was sometimes com¬ pensated for by replacing part of the gold or silver with base metal, result¬ ing in debased coinage. In England all such charges were abolished in 1666. Because coins are now issued only as token money, they no longer need to possess a high intrinsic value, and low-standard silver or base-metal alloys are sufficient. The margin between the cost of produc¬ ing a coin and its currency value is known as seigniorage.

seignorialism See manorialism

Seine Vsen\ River ancient Sequana Second longest river in France. It rises on the Langres pla¬ teau, 18 mi (30 km) northwest of Dijon, and flows through Paris before emptying into the English Channel at Le Havre after a course of 485 mi (780

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

1716 I Seinfeld ► Seleucid dynasty

km). Its tributaries include the Marne and Oise rivers. It drains an area of about 30,400 sq mi (78,700 sq km) in northern France; its network carries most of France’s inland waterway traffic.

Seinfeld, Jerry (b. April 29, 1954, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. come¬ dian and television actor. He initially worked as a stand-up comic in nightclubs and on television. He cocreated and starred in the hit televi¬ sion series Seinfeld (1990-98), which was inspired by his stand-up rou¬ tines about life in New York City. One of the most successful situation comedies, it featured a collection of selfish and neurotic characters obsessed with the fear of commitment and the minutiae of everyday life. He also starred in and was executive producer of Comedian (2002), a documentary about his return to the comedy circuit.

seismic sea wave See tsunami

seismic Vslz-mik\ wave Vibration generated by an earthquake, explo¬ sion, or similar phenomenon and propagated within the Earth or along its surface. Earthquakes generate two principal types of waves: body waves, which travel within the Earth, and surface waves, which travel along the surface. Seismograms (recorded traces of the amplitude and frequency of seismic waves) yield information about the Earth and its subsurface struc¬ ture; artificially generated seismic waves are used in oil and gas pros¬ pecting.

seismology \slz-'ma-l9-je\ Scientific discipline concerned with the study of earthquakes and of the propagation of seismic waves. A branch of geophysics, it has provided much information about the composition and state of the planet’s interior. Recent work has focused on predicting earth¬ quakes in hopes of minimizing the risk to humans. Seismologists have also studied quakes induced by human activities—such as impounding water behind high dams, injecting fluids into deep wells, and detonating underground nuclear explosions—in an effort to find ways of controlling natural earthquakes.

Seistan See Sistan Seiyukai See Rikken Seiyukai

Sejanus \si-'ja-n3s\, Lucius Aelius (d. ad 31) Administrator of the Roman empire for Tiberius. In ad 14 he became prefect of the Praetorian Guard and gained the emperor’s confidence. After the suspicious death of Tiberius’s son Drusus in 23, Sejanus sought to discredit Agrippina the Elder, mother of Tiberius’s probable heirs. Forbidden to marry Drusus’s widow, Sejanus moved the emperor to Capri (27) and had Agrippina and her son Nero exiled (29). The emperor suspected Sejanus of plotting a coup and had him executed, to widespread relief.

Sejong Vse-'j6q\ (b. 1397— d. 1450) Monarch of the Choson dynasty in Korea during whose reign (1419-50) Korean cultural achievements reached a high point. Sejong oversaw the creation of hangul, the Korean alphabet (see Korean language), and banned Buddhist monks from Seoul, thereby reducing the power and wealth of the Buddhist hierarchy.

Seki Takakazu also called Seki Kowa (b. c. 1640, Fujioka, Japan—d. Oct. 24, 1708, Edo) The most important figure of the wasan (“Japanese calculation”) tradition that flourished from the early 17th cen¬ tury until the opening of Japan to the West in the mid-19th century. He was adopted at an early age by Seki Gorozaemon, a samurai official with the Bureau of Supply in Edo, to carry on the Seki family name. He assumed various positions as an examiner of accounts for the lord of Kofu, Tokugawa Tsunashige (until 1678), and then his son, the future shogun Tokugawa Ienobu (see Tokugawa period). Seki’s most productive research was in algebra, a field in which he created powerful new tools and pro¬ vided many definitive solutions. He was instrumental in recovering math¬ ematical knowledge from ancient Chinese sources. He substituted a tabular notational system for the cumbersome Chinese method of count¬ ing rods, thereby simplifying the handling of equations with more than one unknown.

Seku, Ahmadu See Ahmadu Seku Selassie, Haile See Haile Selassie

Seldes Vsel-dosV George (b. Nov. 16, 1890, Alliance, N.J., U.S.—d. July 2, 1995, Hartland Four Comers, Vt.) U.S. journalist. He became a reporter in 1909. From 1918 to 1928 he worked for the Chicago Tribune, then quit to pursue independent journalism. In You Can’t Print That (1928) he criticized censorship and strictures on journalists, a continuing theme in his career. He reported on the rise of fascism in Italy and Spain in the 1930s,

and he and his wife published In Fact, a journal devoted to press criticism, in the years 1940-50. His other targets included the tobacco industry and J. Edgar Hoover. He published his memoirs, Witness to a Century, in 1987. His brother, the critic Gilbert Seldes (1893-1970), was managing editor of The Dial during the 1920s. George Seldes’s best-known book was The Seven Lively Arts (1924). He was a columnist for the New York Evening Journal and the Saturday Evening Post, film critic for The New Republic, first director of television for CBS News, and first dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication.

selection In biology, the preferential survival and reproduction or pref¬ erential elimination of individuals with certain genotypes, by means of natu¬ ral or artificial controlling factors. The theory of evolution by natural selection was proposed by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in 1858. Artificial selection differs from natural selection in that inherited variations in a species are manipulated by humans through controlled breed¬ ing in order to create qualities economically or aesthetically desirable to humans, rather than useful to the organism in its natural environment.

Selene \so-'le-ne\ Latin Luna In Greek and Roman religion, the goddess that personified the Moon. Her parents were the Titans Hyperion and Theia; her siblings were Helios and Eos, the goddess of dawn. Selene fell in love with Endymion, a handsome young shepherd; Zeus cast Endymion into eternal sleep, but Selene visited him in the cave where he slept, and he fathered her 50 daughters (one for each lunar month between Olym¬ piads) and, according to some accounts, Narcissus. In art Selene is often represented as a woman with the crescent moon on her head. As Luna she had temples in Rome on the Aventine and Palatine hills.

Selenga \,si-liq-'ga\ River River, Mongolia and east-central Russia. It is formed by the confluence of the Ider and Delger rivers and receives the Orhon River at Suhbaatar. It continues north into Russia, eventually flowing into Lake Baikal after a course of 920 mi (1,480 km). It is navigable from its mouth to beyond Suhbaatar from May to October, when it is free of ice.

selenium \s9-'le-ne-9m\ Semimetallic chemical element, chemical sym¬ bol Se, atomic number 34. It is widely distributed, usually in small amounts, occasionally uncombined but more often as selenides of iron, lead, silver, or copper. Selenium has several allotropes; the gray metallic crystalline form is the most stable at room temperature. Its electrical con¬ ductivity increases when light strikes it, and it can convert light directly into electricity, so selenium is used in photocells (e.g., in light meters and security alarms), solar cells, and photocopiers. It also has been used in rec¬ tifiers to convert alternating to direct electric current. It serves as a red colorant for glass and glazes. Selenium has valence 2, 4, and 6 in its com¬ pounds, many of which are toxic though the element is not. Selenium dioxide is an important reagent in organic chemistry. Vital to living cells, it works as an antioxidant in the body and is being studied for a variety of possible beneficial health effects; it is used in nutritional supplements and animal feeds.

Seles Vse-losV Monica (b. Dec. 2, 1973, Novi Sad, Yugos.) Yugoslav- U.S. tennis player. She went to the U.S. to train in 1985. She developed quickly and became one of the dominant women stars of the 1990s, achieving multiple wins in all grand-slam tournaments (French Open, 1990-92; Australian Open, 1991-93, 1996; U.S. Open, 1991-92) except Wimbledon, which she lost in 1991 and 1992 to her rival Steffi Graf. In 1993 she stopped competing temporarily after being stabbed by a Graf fan on a court in Hamburg, Ger.

Seleucia \sa-1u-sh3\ on the Tigris Ancient city, on the Tigris River, central Iraq. Founded by Seleucus I Nicator in the late 4th century bc as his eastern capital, it replaced Babylon as Mesopotamia’s leading city. The population, which Pliny the Elder estimated at 600,000, was composed largely of Macedonians and Greeks and also included Jews and Syrians. During the Parthian domination of the Tigris-Euphrates valley that began in the 2nd century bc, it maintained its position and trade despite its Greek sympathies. In ad 165 the Romans burned the city, marking the end of Hellenism in Mesopotamia. See also Seleucid dynasty.

Seleucid dynasty \s3-'lu-s3d\ Macedonian Greek dynasty (312-64 bc) founded by Seleucus I Nicator. Carved from the empire of Alexander the Great, the Seleucid domain stretched from Thrace to the border of India and included Babylonia, Syria, and Anatolia. Seleucus was suc¬ ceeded in 281 by Antiochus I Soter, who reigned until 261. He was fol¬ lowed by Antiochus II (r. 261-246), Seleucus II Calunicus (r. 246-225), Seleucus III (r. 225-223), and Antiochus III (the Great; r. 223-187). Under

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Seleucus I Nicator ► Selkirk I 1717

the last, the empire was at its height. Resistance to the power and spread of Hellenistic culture soon began to manifest itself in the Asian lands. Antiochus Ill’s encounter with the Romans signaled decline, especially after the defeat of 190. The decline accelerated after the death of Antio¬ chus IV (r. 175-164), who lost Judaea to the Maccabees. The efforts of Demetrius I and Antiochus VII could not forestall the dynasty’s inevi¬ table end at the hands of the Roman Pompey the Great in 64 bc.

Seleucus I Nicator \so- , lu-k9s...ni- , ka-t3r\ (b. c. 358, Europus, Macedonia—d. August/September 281 bc, near Lysimachia, Thrace) Macedonian army officer, founder of the Seleucid dynasty. After the death of Alexander the Great, under whom he had served, Seleucus won an empire centred on Syria and Iran. Having been ousted by Antigonus I Monophthalmus and serving Ptolemy, Seleucus reconquered Babylon in 312. He declared himself king in 305. By 303 he had extended his empire to India. In 301 he helped defeat Antigonus at the Battle of Ipsus and received Syria, later taking southern Syria from Ptolemy. A marriage alli¬ ance with Demetrius I Poliorcetes's daughter soured, and in 294, when his son became sick with love for Seleucus’s wife (the son’s stepmother), he gave her to him and made the son coregent. Hoping to reestablish Alex¬ ander’s empire, Seleucus captured Demetrius (285) and defeated Lysima- chus (281), another of Alexander’s former generals who had become a satrap in Asia Minor. Later while attempting to enter Macedonia, he was murdered.

Seleucus II Callinicus X.ka-b-'nI-kosN Latin "Gloriously Victori¬ ous" (b. c. 265—d. 225 bc) Fourth king (r. 246-225) of the Seleucid dynasty. He became ruler when his mother poisoned his father, Antiochus II, and proclaimed him king. Her supporters made away with his Egyp¬ tian stepmother, Bernice, daughter of Ptolemy II, whom Antiochus had briefly married. Ptolemy III, Bernice’s brother, responded by invading Seleucus’s kingdom and taking the eastern provinces. Seleucus managed to regain northern Syria and part of Iran but was defeated by his brother (c. 235), now supported by their mother, and ceded territory beyond the Taurus River. He died in a fall from his horse.

self-defense In criminal law, an affirmative defense (e.g., to a murder charge) alleging that the defendant used serious force necessarily for self¬ protection. The claim of self-defense must normally rely on a reasonable belief that the other party intended to inflict great bodily harm or death and that avoidance by retreating was impossible. See also homicide.

Self-Defense Force Japan’s military after World War II. In Article 9 of Japan’s postwar constitution, the Japanese renounced war and pledged never to maintain land, sea, or air forces. The rearming of Japan in the 1950s was therefore cast in terms of self-defense. In 1950 a small mili¬ tary force called the National Police Reserve was created; this became the National Safety Force in 1952 and the Self-Defense Force in 1954. Osten¬ sibly it was never to be used outside Japan or its waters; consequently, Self-Defense Force participation in UN peacekeeping missions or relief work has sparked vigorous debate in Japan and abroad, especially among nations that were victims of Japanese aggression in World War II.

self-determination Process by which a group of people, usually pos¬ sessing a degree of political consciousness, form their own state and gov¬ ernment. The idea evolved as a byproduct of nationalism. According to the UN charter, a people has the right to form itself into a state or to oth¬ erwise determine the form of its association with another state, and every state has the right to choose its own political, economic, social, and cul¬ tural systems. Moreover, the administering authorities of dependent ter¬ ritories are enjoined to ensure political advancement and the development of self-government in those territories.

self-esteem Sense of personal worth and ability that is fundamental to an individual’s identity. Family relationships during childhood are believed to play a crucial role in its development. Parents may foster self¬ esteem by expressing affection and support for the child as well as by helping the child set realistic goals for achievement instead of imposing unreachably high standards. Karen Horney asserted that low self-esteem leads to the development of a personality that excessively craves approval and affection and exhibits an extreme desire for personal achievement. According to Alfred Adler’s theory of personality, low self-esteem leads people to strive to overcome their perceived inferiorities and to develop strengths or talents in compensation.

self-fertilization Fusion of male and female sex cells (gametes) pro¬ duced by the same individual. This type of fertilization occurs in bisexual

organisms, including most flowering plants, numerous protozoans, and many invertebrates. Many organisms capable of self-fertilization can also reproduce by means of cross-fertilization. As an evolutionary mechanism, self-fertilization allows an isolated individual to create a local population and stabilizes desirable genetic strains, but it fails to provide a significant degree of variability within a population and thereby limits the possibili¬ ties for adaptation to environmental change.

self-heal Perennial weed (Prunella vulgaris) in the MINT family, native to North America and widespread throughout the continent. Growing 6-14 in. (14-36 cm) tall, self-heal is often a low weed in lawns. The often-prostrate branches root readily wherever they touch soil. Tiny, two¬ lipped, lilac-coloured or white flowers are clustered into noticeable dense, spikes. Leaves have sparsely toothed or smooth margins. Regarded in medieval times as a cure-all, the dried leaves and flowers are still brewed for soothing sore throats.

self-incrimination In criminal law, the giving of evidence that might tend to expose the witness to punishment for a crime. The term is gen¬ erally used in relation to the privilege of refusing to give such evidence. In some continental European countries (e.g., Germany), a person fear¬ ing self-incrimination may make his own decision as to whether or not he will testify. In Anglo-American practice, a person other than an accused cannot refuse to testify; he may only cite his privilege against self¬ incrimination, and the judge then decides whether he must testify. If required to testify, he must answer all questions except those he consid¬ ers to be self-incriminating. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitu¬ tion contains a provision that protects a person from being compelled to make self-incriminating statements, one intention being to prevent coer¬ cion of testimony. See also rights of the accused; exclusionary rule.

Selim \se-'lem\ III (b. Dec. 24, 1761, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire—d. July 29, 1808, Constan¬ tinople) Ottoman sultan (r. 1789—

1807). He inherited the throne during a losing war with Austria and Russia (1787-92), with whom he later signed treaties. Napoleon I’s inva¬ sion of Egypt in 1798 drove him into an alliance with Britain and Russia, but, impressed with Napoleon’s suc¬ cesses, he switched sides in 1806. At home he attempted tax and land reform and established a European- style military corps, but, unable to enforce his reforms in the face of mutinies among the Janissaries and other units, he rescinded them. He was promptly overthrown and was strangled on the orders of his succes¬ sor, Mustafa IV.

Selin us \si-'li-n3s\ Ancient Greek city, southern coast of Sicily.

Founded by Greek colonists in the 7th century bc, Selinus achieved great prosperity in the 5th century bc, the time when its Doric temples were being built. In 409 bc it was destroyed by a Carthaginian army aiding the inhabitants of the rival city of Segesta. It never truly recovered, and in 250 bc the Carthaginians finally demolished it. Its extensive ruins include the remains of eight temples.

Seljuq \'sel-jiik\ dynasty or Saljuq \'sal-juk\ dynasty (c. 11th— 13th centuries) Muslim Turkmen dynasty that ruled Persia, Iraq, Syria, and Anatolia. Seljuq was the chief of a nomadic Turkish tribe. His grandsons Chaghri Beg and Toghrjl Beg conquered realms in Iran. Under Alp-Arslan and Malik-Shah, the empire came to include all of Iran, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine; Alp-Arslan’s victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of Manzikert led to several Crusades. Adherents of Sunnite Islam, the Seljuqs adopted Persian culture, and under them the Persian language partly displaced Arabic as a literary language in Iran. By 1200 Seljuq power remained only in their sultanate of Rum in Anatolia, which col¬ lapsed in a war against the Khwarezm-Shah dynasty in 1230 and was over¬ run by Mongols in 1243. See also Nizam al-Mulk.

Selkirk \'sel-,k3rk\ Mountains Mountain range, southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and northern Idaho and Montana, U.S. The Selkirks extend some 200 mi (320 km) and in many places rise abruptly more than

Selim III, detail of a portrait by H. Ber- teaux, early 19th century; in the Top- kapi Palace Museum, Istanbul

SONIA HAI1IDAY

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

1718 I Sellars ► semiconductor

8,000 ft (2,400 m). The highest sum¬ mit is Mount Sir Sanford at 11,555 ft (3,522 m). Crossed by the Canadian Pacific Railway, the range contains parts of Glacier and Mount Revel- stoke national parks.

Sellars, Peter (b. Sept. 27, 1957,

Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.) U.S. stage director. He attended Harvard Uni¬ versity, where he began developing his innovative and often controver¬ sial style of directing. He is best known for staging plays and operas for numerous international theatres in settings far different than those suggested by the text. His controver¬ sial production of Ajax (1986) took the form of a post-Vietnam military trial, and among his many striking opera productions, Wolfgang Ama¬ deus Mozart’s Don Giovanni was staged in an urban ghetto, his Cost fan tutte in a diner, and his Marriage of Figaro in a corporate high-rise.

Sellers, Peter orig. Richard Henry Sellers (b. Sept. 8, 1925, Southsea, Hampshire, Eng.—d. July 24, 1980, London) British film actor. The son of vaudeville performers, he acted from childhood in his parents’ comedy act. In the early 1950s he performed on radio in the popular com¬ edy series The Goon Show. He began appearing in the movies in the mid- 1950s; his performances in The Mouse That Roared (1959), I'm All Right, Jack (1959), Lolita (1962), and Dr. Strangelove (1964), in which he played three characters, were especially well received. He was enor¬ mously popular as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau in the comedy The Pink Panther (1964) and its sequels, and he later won acclaim for his role as a simpleminded gardener in Being There (1979). His large range of characters earned him international stardom at a time when rigid type¬ casting was usual.

Selye Vzel-yoV Hans (Hugo Bruno) (b. Jan. 26, 1907, Vienna, Austria-Hungary—d. Oct. 16, 1982, Montreal, Que., Can.) Austrian-born Canadian endocrinologist. In early work on the effects of stress, he injected ovarian hormones into rats; this stimulated the adrenal glands, causing deterioration of the thymus gland, ulcers, and finally death. He later showed that physical injury, environmental stress, and toxins could have similar effects. Extending his theory to humans, he proved that a stress-induced hormonal system breakdown could lead to so-called “dis¬ eases of adaptation,” including heart disease and hypertension. He was president of the International Institute of Stress and wrote 33 books, including Stress Without Distress (1974).

Selznick, David O(liver) (b. May 10, 1902, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.—d. June 22, 1965, Hollywood, Calif.) U.S. film producer. He trained with his father, a movie executive, before moving to Hollywood in 1926. Work¬ ing for MGM, RKO, and other studios, he produced films such as Din¬ ner at Eight (1933), King Kong (1933), David Copperfield (1935), and A Tale of Two Cities (1935). He formed his own company, Selznick Inter¬ national, in 1936 and produced hits such as A Star Is Born (1937). He was essential to the enormous success of Gone with the Wind (1939), over¬ seeing its entire production with detailed memos about every aspect of the movie. He brought Alfred Hitchcock to the U.S. and produced Rebecca (1940) and Spellbound (1945). He also produced Duel in the Sun (1946), The Third Man (1949), and A Farewell to Arms (1957), which starred his second wife, Jennifer Jones.

semantics Study of meaning, one of the major areas of linguistic study (see linguistics). Linguists have approached it in a variety of ways. Mem¬ bers of the school of interpretive semantics study the structures of lan¬ guage independent of their conditions of use. In contrast, the advocates of generative semantics insist that the meaning of sentences is a function of their use. Still another group maintains that semantics will not advance until theorists take into account the psychological questions of how people form concepts and how these relate to word meanings.

semaphore Vse-mo-.forV Method of visual signaling, usually with flags or lights. Before radio, a semaphore system was widely used to send mes¬ sages between ships. A person would stand with arms extended, moving

two flags to specific angles to indicate letters or numbers. Before the invention of the telegraph, semaphore signaling with lights on high tow¬ ers was used to transmit messages between distant points; messages were read by telescope. Modern semaphores have included movable arms or rows of light simulating arms, displayed from towers and used to signal railroad trains.

Semarang \s3-'mar-,aq\ City (pop., 1995 est.: 1,104,405), Java, Indo¬ nesia. It is located on Java’s northern coast on the banks of the Semarang River, which is canalized for traffic to and from the sea. Despite being one of the largest ports in Java, its harbour is unprotected against mon¬ soons, which can cause suspension of port operations. Semarang is the seat of a university.

Sembene \sem-'ben\, Ousmane (b. Jan. 1, 1923, Ziguinchor- Casamance, Seneg.) Senegalese writer and film director. He fought with the Free French in World War II. After the war he worked as a docker in Marseille and taught himself French. His writings, often on historical- political themes, include The Black Docker (1956), God’s Bits of Wood (1960), and Niiwam and Taaw (1987). About 1960 he became interested in film; after studying in Moscow, he made films reflecting a strong social commitment, including Black Girl (1966), the first feature produced in sub-Saharan Africa. With Mandabi (1968), he began to film in the Wolof language; his later films have included Xala (1974), Ceddo (1977), Camp de Thiaroye (1987), and Guelwaar (1994).

Semele Vse-mo-.leV In Greek mythology, a daughter of Cadmus and Har- monia, and the mother of Dionysus. When Semele became the lover of Zeus, Hera was enraged, and she coaxed Semele into asking to see the god in all his splendour. Having promised to grant Semele’s every wish, Zeus was forced to comply. The thunderbolts emanating from him destroyed Semele, but Zeus rescued the unborn Dionysus from the ashes. Some sto¬ ries hold that Dionysus later descended into Hades and brought Semele back to take her place among the immortals.

semen \'se-mon\ or seminal fluid Whitish viscous fluid emitted from the male reproductive tract that contains sperm and liquids (seminal plasma) that help keep them viable. Sperm cells, produced by the testes in humans, represent 2-5% of semen volume; fluids from tubules, glands, and storage areas of the reproductive system bathe them as they travel down, nourishing them, keeping them motile, or participating in certain chemi¬ cal reactions. During ejaculation, liquids from the prostate gland and semi¬ nal vesicles dilute the sperm and provide a suitable, slightly alkaline environment. An average ejaculation of a human male expels 0.1-0.3 cu inches (2-5 ml), containing 200-300 million sperm.

Semey \,se-ma'\ formerly (until 1991) Semipalatinsk V.se-me-po-'la-tinskV Port city (pop., 1999: 269,600) on the Irtysh (Ertis) River, eastern Kazakhstan. It was founded as a Russian fort in 1718 and was moved to its present site in 1778, at the junction of caravan trails; before 1917 more than 11,000 camels passed through the city annually. In the early 20th century it was connected by rail to Siberia and other parts of Central Asia. It has one of the largest meat-packing plants in Kazakhstan. Its name was changed after Kazakhstan attained indepen¬ dence in 1991.

semi-Pelagianism X.se-me-po-'la-je-o-.ni-zomX Religious movement that flourished ad 429-529 in southern France, considered a heresy by the Roman Catholic church. Unlike their near-contemporaries, the Pelagians (see Pelagianism), the semi-Pelagians believed in the universality of origi¬ nal sin as a corruptive force in mankind and held that it could not be over¬ come without the grace of God. They endorsed baptism, but contrary to Augustine, they taught that the innate corruption of mankind was not so great that it was beyond the will of mankind to subdue through asceti¬ cism. Its principal exponents were Sts. John Cassian (360-435), Vincent of Lerins (died c. 450), and Faustus of Riez (c. 400-c. 490).

semiconductor Class of crystalline solids with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Such materials can be treated chemically to allow transmission and control of an electric current. Semiconductors are used in the manufacture of electronic devices such as diodes, transistors, and integrated circuits. Intrinsic semiconductors have a high degree of chemical purity, but their conductivity is poor. Extrinsic semiconductors contain impurities that produce much greater conductiv¬ ity. Some common intrinsic semiconductors are single crystals of silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenide; such materials can be converted into the technologically more important extrinsic semiconductors by addition of

Mount Sir Donald in the Selkirk Moun¬ tains, British Columbia, Can.

BOB AND IRA SPRING/EB INC.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

seminary ► Senate I 1719

small amounts of impurities, a process called doping (see dopant). Advances in semiconductor technology in recent years have gone hand in hand with increased operational speed in computers.

seminary Educational institution, usually for training in theology. In the U.S. the term was formerly also used to refer to institutions of higher learning for women, often teachers’ colleges. Since at least the 4th cen¬ tury there have been seminaries for the training of clergy. The first known group of seminarians was gathered by St. Basil of Ancyra. The term dropped out of general use in the Middle Ages, when most theological training was in monasteries, and later, in the universities. After the Ref¬ ormation and the emergence of new denominations, seminaries again came into use, especially in the U.S. The 16th-century Council of Trent ordered seminaries to be opened in every diocese.

Seminole Vse-mo-.nolX North American Indian people living mainly in Florida and Oklahoma, U.S. Their language belongs to the Muskogean language stock. The name Seminole is a Creek derivation of the Spanish word cimarron , meaning “wild.” The Seminoles split off from the Creek in the later 18th century and settled in northern Florida, where they were joined by runaway slaves, Indian and black, from Georgia. They lived more by hunting and fishing than by agriculture, constructed shelters of thatched roofs supported by poles, and wore tailored hide clothing deco¬ rated in bright-coloured strips. In an effort to stem white encroachment, they fought a succession of wars (see Seminole Wars). Together the Semi¬ nole number about 15,000.

Seminole Wars (1817-18, 1835-42, 1855-58) Three conflicts between the U.S. and the Seminole Indians of Florida. The first began when U.S. authorities tried to recapture runaway slaves living among Seminole bands. After U.S. forces seized Spanish-held Pensacola and St. Marks, Spain ceded its Florida territory under the Transcontinental Treaty (1819). The second conflict followed the refusal of most Seminoles to relocate under the Indian Removal Act. Led by Osceola, the Seminole warriors hid in the Everglades and used guerrilla tactics to defend their land; about 2,000 U.S. soldiers were killed in the prolonged fighting. After Osceola was captured, resistance declined and most Seminoles agreed to emigrate west. The third conflict arose from efforts to oust the remaining Semi¬ noles from Florida.

semiotics \,se-me-'a-tiks, ,se-me-'a-tiks\ or semiology Study of signs and sign-using behaviour, especially in language. In the late 19th and early 20th century the work of Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders Peirce led to the emergence of semiotics as a method for examining phenomena in different fields, including aesthetics, anthropology, communications, psychology, and semantics. Interest in the structure behind the use of par¬ ticular signs links semiotics with the methods of structuralism. Saussure’ s theories are also fundamental to poststructurausm.

Semipalatinsk See Semey

Semite Person speaking one of a group of related languages, presum¬ ably derived from a common language, Semitic (see Semitic languages). The term came to include Arabs, Akkadians, Canaanites, some Ethiopi¬ ans, and Aramaean tribes including Hebrews. Semitic tribes migrated from the Arabian Peninsula, beginning c. 2500 bc, to the Mediterranean coast, Mesopotamia, and the Nile River delta. In Phoenicia, they became seafar¬ ers. In Mesopotamia, they blended with the civilization of Sumer. The Hebrews settled at last with other Semites in Palestine.

Semitic Xso-'mi-tikX languages Family of Afro-Asiatic languages spo¬ ken in northern Africa and South Asia. No other language family has been attested in writing over a greater time span—from the late 3rd millennium bc to the present. Both traditional and some recent classifications divide the family into an eastern and western group. Until recently the sole known East Semitic language was Akkadian; now some scholars add Eblaite, the language of a cuneiform archive found at the ancient city of Ebla, with docu¬ ments dating from c. 2300-2250 bc. West Semitic contains as one major subgroup Northwest Semitic, which includes Ugaritic, known from alpha¬ betic cuneiform texts of c. 1400-1190 bc; the closely related Canaanite lan¬ guages (including Moabite, Phoenician, and Ancient Hebrew); and Aramaic. Further subgrouping is controversial; traditionally, Arabic was placed in a distinct South Semitic subgroup of West Semitic, though a more recent classification puts it together with Northwest Semitic. The South Semitic languages include Epigraphic South Arabian; Modern South Arabian (or Modern South Arabic), a group of six languages spoken in eastern Yemen, southwestern Oman, and the island of Socotra; and Ethiopic.

Semliki \'sem-le-ke\ River River, east-central Africa. It connects Lake Edward and Lake Albert and is 143 mi (230 km) long. The latter part of its course forms part of the border between Congo (Kinshasa) and Uganda. Wildlife, including elephants, hippopotamuses, crocodiles, and antelope, is abundant. The river’s delta, choked with ambatch (a fast¬ growing thorny tree) and papyrus, is steadily encroaching on Lake Albert.

Semmelweis Vze-mol-.vIsV Ignaz (Philipp) Hungarian Ignac Fulop Semmelweis (b. July 1, 1818, Buda, Hung., Austrian Empire—d. August 13, 1865, Vienna, Austria) Hungarian-born Austrian physician. As an assistant at Vienna’s obstetric clinic at a time when death rates from puerperal fever were as high as 30% in European maternity hospitals, Semmelweis noticed that far fewer women died in the mid¬ wives’ division of the clinic than in the division where students (often coming from the dissecting room) were taught. Concluding that students carried the infection, he had them wash their hands in chlorinated lime before each exam, and mortality dropped from 18% to 1%. Though his ideas were accepted in Hungary, his Etiology, Understanding, and Pre¬ venting of Childbed Fever (1861) was widely rejected abroad, including by Rudolf Virchow.

Semmes \'semz\, Raphael (b. Sept. 27, 1809, Charles county, Md., U.S.—d. Aug. 30, 1877, Mobile, Ala.) U.S. naval officer. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1826, and in the Mexican War he commanded the naval landing at Veracruz. A resident of Alabama, he resigned his commission in 1861 and was appointed a commander in the Confederate navy. He captured 17 Union merchant ships before assuming command of the English-made Alabama in 1862. On numerous raids he captured, sank, or burned 82 Union ships, disrupting Union commerce. In 1864 he was defeated in a battle with the Union ship Kearsarge in the English Chan¬ nel, but he escaped capture. After the war he practiced law. See also Ala¬ bama CLAIMS.

Semon Vse-monX, Waldo Lonsbury (b. Sept. 10, 1898, Demopolis, Ala., U.S.—d. May 26, 1999, Hudson, Ohio) U.S. chemist. He obtained his doctorate from the University of Washington and subsequently worked for the B.F. Goodrich Co. He is known principally for his discovery of plasticized PVC, which, in combinations of up to 50% with plasticizer, is now familiar as floor tile, garden hose, imitation leather, shower curtains, and coatings. He also made pioneering contributions in polymer science, including new rubber antioxidants, and his technical leadership led to dis¬ covery of three major new polymer families: thermoplastic polyurethane, synthetic “natural” rubber, and oil-resistant synthetic rubbers.

Semyonov Xso-'myo-nofX, Nikolay (Nikolayevich) Semyonov

also spelled Semenov (b. April 15, 1896, Saratov, Russia—d. Sept. 25, 1986, Moscow, U.S.S.R.) Russian physical chemist. His specialty was the mechanisms of chain and branched-chain chemical reactions, which he showed were the norm in chemical transformations. He shared a 1956 Nobel Prize with Cyril Hinshelwood (1897-1967).

Sen, Amartya (b. Nov. 3, 1933, Santiniketan, India) Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his work in welfare economics and social choice. Sen is best known for his work on the causes of famine, and his research led to the development of solu¬ tions for limiting the effects of food shortages. After attending Presidency College in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Sen studied at Trinity College, Uni¬ versity of Cambridge (B.A., 1955; M.A. and Ph.D., 1959). He taught eco¬ nomics at the Universities of Jadavpur (1956-58) and Delhi (1963-71), the London School of Economics, the University of London (1971-77), the University of Oxford (1977-88), and Harvard University (1988-98). In 1998 he was appointed master of Trinity College. His Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation (1981) showed that declining wages, unemployment, rising food prices, and inefficient food distribution could lead to starvation. His views encouraged policy mak¬ ers to maintain stable prices for food.

Senate In ancient Rome, the governing and advisory council that was the most permanent element in the Roman constitution. Under the mon¬ archy it served as an advisory council, with undefined powers. During the republic it advised the consuls and supposedly stood second to them in power. Senators were appointed by the consuls, but since they served for life, by the late republic the Senate became independent of the consuls, with extensive powers. About 312 bc the selection of senators was trans¬ ferred from the consuls to the censors. In 81 bc Sulla made selection auto¬ matic, routinely admitting all former quaestors. It became the chief governing body and controlled the republic’s finances. Julius Caesar

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

1720 I Sendak ► Senghor

increased the number of senators to 900. Augustus dropped the number to 300 and reduced the Senate’s power, while giving it new judicial and legislative functions. The number later increased to about 2,000; many were provincials, the most important being the great landowners. The Senate’s power faded until it disappeared from the historical record in the 6th century ad.

Sendak, Maurice (Bernard) (b. June 10, 1928, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. artist and writer. Sendak studied at the Art Students League. He illustrated more than 80 children’s books by other writers before writ¬ ing one himself. His Kenny’s Window (1956) was followed by the inno¬ vative trilogy Where the Wild Things Are (1963), In the Night Kitchen (1970), and Outside over There (1981). He collaborated with Carole King on the musical Really Rosie (1978) and designed stage productions of The Magic Flute (1980) and The Nutcracker (1983).

Sendero Luminoso See Shining Path

Seneca Vse-ni-k3\ North American Indian people living mainly in west¬ ern New York, U.S. Their language belongs to the Iroquoian linguistic group, and their traditional homeland is western New York and eastern Ohio. They were the largest nation of the Iroquois Confederacy and were known as the “Keepers of the Western Door.” They call themselves Onon- dowahgah, meaning “People of the Great Hill.” The Seneca have eight clans, and a person’s clan is the same as his mother’s. Historically, fami¬ lies linked by maternal kinship lived together in longhouses. Each com¬ munity had a council of adult males, which guided the village chief. In the autumn small parties would leave the villages for the annual hunt, returning about midwinter; spring was the fishing season. Seneca women cultivated corn and other vegetables. Warfare with other Indian nations was frequent. In the American Revolution the Seneca were British allies, resulting in the destruction of their villages by Gen. John Sullivan in 1779. In 1797 they secured land for 12 reservations in western New York, four of which still exist. Today the Seneca number about 5,500. See also Corn- planter; Ganioda'yo.

Seneca Vse-ni-koV Lucius Annaeus (b. c. 4 bc, Corduba, Spain—d. ad 65, Rome) Roman philosopher, statesman, and playwright. He was trained as an orator and began a career in politics and law in Rome c. ad 31. While banished to Corsica for adultery (41-49), he wrote the philo¬ sophical treatises Consolationes. He later became tutor to the future emperor Nero and from 54 to 62 was a leading intellectual figure in Rome.

An adherent of Stoicism, he wrote other philosophical works, including Moral Letters , a collection of essays on moral problems. He also left a series of verse tragedies marked by violence and bloodshed, including Thyestes, Hercules, and Medea. His plays influenced the development of Elizabethan drama during the Renaissance, notably William Shakes¬ peare’s Titus Andronicus (1593-94) and John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi (c. 1613).

Seneca Falls Convention (July 19-20, 1848) Assembly held at Sen¬ eca Falls, N.Y., that launched the U.S. woman suffrage movement. Initi¬ ated by Elizabeth Cady Stanton (who lived in Seneca Falls) and Lucretia Mott, the meeting was attended by more than 200 people, including 40 men. The group passed the Declaration of Sentiments, a list of grievances and demands modeled on the Declaration of Independence that called on women to organize and petition for their rights. A controversial demand for the right to vote passed by a narrow margin.