Britannica Concise 2005

Trincomalee

:# Mutur

SOMAWATHIYA CHAITIYA NATIONAL PARK

.Batticaloa

Gulf of

Mannar J ^g;

WILPATTU NATIONAL PARK

Puttalam „ ,

io Lagoon “

Puttalam* wASGOMUWA'

\i| NATIONAL, / Eravur.

PARK *

f.rr^rT^ ' «

LACCADIVE MqM. .^andy A

Negombo # Kegalle • Pidurulalagala SEA 5 Gampola GALOYA

Colombo^ Kotte M W. adu „ a NATIONAL PARK Dehiwala-* NuWara ElV- -Badulla Mount Lavinia Moratuwa^ A Mount Kirigalpotta

Kalutara. Ratnapura 7 ^ 56 fl YALA NATIONAL PARK

Beruwala* SINHARAJA - Waturgedara^ WILDERNESS AREA > * v .

Ambalangoda**

Galls- 1'° l 7™^"™

Head

© 2002 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

INDIAN

OCEAN

Sinhalese groups has beset the country since the early 1980s, the Tamils demand¬ ing a separate autonomous state in northern Sri Lanka. In 2004 Sri Lanka was struck by a tsunami that badly damaged much of the coastline and killed tens of thousands of people.

Srinagar \sre-'n3-g9r\ City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 894,940), summer capi¬ tal of Jammu and Kashmir state, northwestern India. It lies on the banks of the Jhelum River in the Vale of Kashmir. Situated amid clear lakes and lofty mountains, it has long had a considerable tourist economy. Seven wooden bridges span the river, and the gondolas of Kashmir ply the adjacent canals and waterways. The floating gardens of Dal Lake are a famous attraction.

Srivijaya \ l sre-wi- , jo-y3\ empire (fl. 7th—13th centuries) Maritime and commercial kingdom in the Malay Archipelago. It originated on the island of Sumatra and soon came to control the Strait of Malacca. Its power was based on its control of international sea trade; it had relations with other island states and with China and India. It was also a centre for Mahayana Buddhism and a stopping place for Chinese pilgrims traveling to India. It was overcome by forces of the Cola dynasty in 1025 and lost power gradually thereafter.

SS German in full Schutzstaffel ("Protective Echelon") Para¬ military corps of the Nazi Party. Founded in 1925 by Adolf Hitler as a personal bodyguard, it was directed from 1929 by Heinrich Himmler, who enlarged its membership from fewer than 300 to more than 250,000. Wearing black uniforms and special insignia (lightning-like runic S’s, death’s-head badges, and silver daggers), the SS considered itself supe¬ rior to the SA, whom they purged on Hitler’s orders in 1934. The corps was divided into the General SS (Allgemeine-SS), which dealt with police matters and included the Gestapo, and the Armed SS (Waffen-SS), which included the concentration-camp guards and the 39 regiments in World War II that served as elite combat troops. SS men were schooled in racial hatred and absolute obedience to Hitler. They carried out massive execu¬ tions of political opponents, Roma (Gypsies), Jews, communists, parti¬ sans, and Russian prisoners. In 1946 the SS was declared a criminal organization at the NOrnberg trials.

St. Denis V.sant-'den-osN, Ruth orig. Ruth Dennis (b. Jan. 20, 1877, Newark, N.J., U.S.—d. July 21, 1968, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. modern- dance innovator and teacher. She was a vaudeville performer before devel¬ oping her dramatic dance act based on Asian dance forms. From 1906 to 1909 she toured in Europe to wide acclaim. In 1915 she and her husband, Ted Shawn, established the Denishawn dance company and school to present a new choreographic style of abstract “music visualization.” The company frequently toured until it disbanded in 1931 when St. Denis and

Shawn separated. Her interest in the use of dance in religion led her to found the Society of Spiritual Arts. She continued to perform, teach, and lecture into the 1960s.

stability In mathematics, a condition in which a slight disturbance in a system does not produce a significant disrupting effect on that system. A solution to a differential equation is said to be stable if a slightly different solution that is close to it when x = 0 remains close for nearby values of x. Stability of solutions is important in physical applications because deviations in mathematical models inevitably result from errors in mea¬ surement. A stable solution will be usable despite such deviations.

stabilizer, economic See economic stabilizer

stadium Enclosure that provides a broad space for sports events and tiers of seats for a large number of spectators. The name derives from a Greek unit of measurement, the stade (about 607 ft, or 185 m), the length of the footrace in the ancient Olympics. Shapes of stadiums have varied depending on use: Some are rectangular with curved corners; others are elliptical or U-shaped. As a type of long-span structure, the stadium played a significant role in 20th-century construction technology. The building of large stadiums has been greatly facilitated by the use of reinforced concrete, steel, and membrane structures, which have made possible daring new designs. The Houston Astrodome was the first major fully roofed sta¬ dium. Cables contributed significantly to speed of construction, lightness of roof, and economy in covered stadiums. The enormous Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis (opened 1982) was built using a cable system.

Stael Vstal\, Germaine de orig. Anne-Louise-Germaine Necker, Baroness de Stael- Holstein known as Madame de Stael (b. April 22, 1766, Paris,

France—d. July 14, 1817, Paris)

French-Swiss writer, political propa¬ gandist, and salon hostess. She early gained a reputation as a lively wit.

She first became known for Letters on the Works and the Character of J.-J. Rousseau (1788). The most bril¬ liant period of her career began in 1794, when she returned to Paris after the Reign of Terror; her salon, known for its literary and intellectual figures, flourished, and she published political and literary essays, notably A Treatise on the Influence of the Passions upon the Happiness of Individuals and of Nations (1796), an important document of European Romanticism. In 1803 Napoleon, who resented her opposition, had her ban¬ ished from Paris, and she made the family residence in Coppet, Switz., her headquarters. Probably her most important work is Germany (1810), a serious study of German manners, literature and art, philosophy and morals, and religion. Her other writings include novels, plays, moral essays, history, and memoirs.

Stafford Town and borough (pop., 2001: 120,653), county seat of Staffordshire, west-central England. Founded by the daughter of Alfred the Great, the town had its own mint from the reign of Aethelstan to that of Henry II. After being chartered in 1206, it grew as a market town. Par¬ liamentarians demolished its 11th-century walls and castle in 1643 dur¬ ing the English Civil Wars. It is situated on the London-Birmingham- Manchester road and rail routes; its industries include electrical and mechanical engineering. It was the birthplace of Izaak Walton, and its Swan Hotel was associated with Charles Dickens. The borough of Stafford includes a large rural agricultural area and the towns of Stone and Stafford.

Staffordshire Vsta-ford-.shirX Administrative (pop., 2001: 806,737), geographic, and historic county, west-central England. Staffordshire’s northern moorlands form the southern tip of the Pennines, and it encom¬ passes the coalfield region known as The Potteries. Traces of Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age settlements remain. The Romans built roads through the area; it was the centre of the kingdom of Mercia in the 7th- 9th centuries. The Danes ravaged it at the end of the 9th century. Stafford-

Germaine de Stael, portrait by Jean- Baptiste Isabey, 1810; in the Louvre, Paris

GIRAUDON/ART RESOURCE, NEW VORK

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Staffordshire figure ► stalactite work I 1809

shire has mined coal and iron since the 13th century. Its pottery industry became famous in the 18th century with the innovations of Josiah Wedg¬ wood. The seat of the administrative county of Staffordshire is Stafford.

Staffordshire figure Type of pottery figurine made in Staffordshire, Eng., beginning c. 1740. The figu¬ rines were made first in salt-glazed stoneware, later in lead-glazed earth¬ enware. Subjects included musicians, animals, shepherds, classical deities, allegorical figures, portraits, theatri¬ cal and political personages, and even criminals. Staffordshire artists included the Wood family of potters.

Staffordshire terrier See pit bull

stage design Aesthetic composi¬ tion of a dramatic production as cre¬ ated by lighting, scenery, costumes, and sound. While elements such as painted screens and wheeled plat¬ forms were used in the Greek theatre of the 4th century bc, most innova¬ tions in stage design were developed in the Italian Renaissance theatre, where painted backdrops, perspec¬ tive architectural settings, and numerous changes of scenery were common. Italian staging was intro¬ duced in England in 1605 by Inigo Jones for court masques. In the late 19th century staging was influenced by the new naturalism, which called for historically accurate sets. In the

Staffordshire lead-glazed earthenware figure, c. 1780; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

20th century simplified stage design

focused attention on the actor. Stage design has been greatly affected by advances in lighting, from the use of candles in the Renaissance to oil lamps in the 18th century and gas and electric lights in the 19th century. Modern stage lighting, which employs computerized control boards to achieve complex effects, can unify all the visual elements of a stage pro¬ duction. See also stage machinery.

stage machinery Devices designed for the production of theatrical effects, including rapid scene changes, lighting, sound effects, and illu¬ sions. Such devices have been in use since the 5th century bc, when the Greeks developed a crane to lower to the stage an actor playing a god (see deus ex machina), as well as movable scenery mounted on wheels. Medi¬ eval mystery plays used trapdoors to allow the emergence of devils and used flying machines for angels. In the Italian Renaissance, elaborate machinery was used for spectacles produced in the churches on holy days. In the 17th century the Italian Giacomo Torelli (1608-78) invented a sys¬ tem for moving the stage wings that made it possible to change scenery quickly. In the 19th century magical illusions were created with mirror devices and refined trapdoors. By the late 20th century spectacle had fallen out of fashion except in musical theatre, but hydraulic stage machin¬ ery allowed for swift and soundless scene changes. See also stage design.

stagecoach Public coach pulled by horses regularly traveling a fixed route between stations or stages. Stagecoaches appeared in London by 1640 and in Paris by 1660. In the 19th century they were most widely used in the U.S. and in England, where in 1828 stagecoaches ran 12 times a day from Leicester to London. In the U.S. they were the only means of travel for long distances overland, carrying passengers and mail to loca¬ tions especially in the West. As railroad travel became more common, stagecoach travel diminished except to remote locations.

staged rocket Launch vehicle driven by several rocket systems mounted in vertical sequence. The lowest, or first, stage ignites and lifts the vehicle (sometimes assisted by attached booster rockets) at increasing speed until its propellants have been used up. The first stage then drops off, which makes the vehicle lighter, and the second stage ignites and accelerates the vehicle further. The use of additional stages generally follows the same pattern until the payload—the spacecraft —has reached the velocity needed to achieve orbit or leave the vicinity of Earth. The number of stages required depends on the details of the mission, the launch vehicle’s

characteristics, and other factors. Some early vehicles needed five stages to reach orbit; most current launch vehicles need only two.

Stagg, Amos Alonzo (b. Aug. 16, 1862, West Orange, N.J., U.S.—d. March 17, 1965, Stockton, Calif.) U.S. college gridiron football coach. Stagg played end for Yale University and was chosen for the first All- America team in 1889. During his 41-year tenure at the University of Chicago (1892-1932), he devised the end-around play, the man in motion, the huddle (also credited to another), the shift play, and the tackling dummy. He later coached at three other colleges, not retiring until 1960. His 71 years of coaching represent the longest coaching career in the his¬ tory of the sport. He died at age 102.

Stahl, Franklin W(illiam) (b. Oct. 8,1929, Boston, Mass., U.S.) U.S. geneticist. Educated at Harvard University and the University of Roch¬ ester, he worked primarily at the University of Oregon. With Matthew Stanley Meselson he discovered and described (1958) the mode of repli¬ cation of DNA. They found that the double-stranded helix breaks apart to form two strands, each of which directs the construction of a new sis¬ ter strand.

stained glass Coloured glass used to make decorative windows and other objects through which light passes. Stained glass is often made in large, richly detailed panels that are set together in a framework of lead. Like all coloured glass, it acquires its colour by the addition of metallic oxides to molten glass. A purely Western phenomenon, stained glass origi¬ nated as a fine art of the Christian church, beginning in the 12th—13th century, when it was combined with Gothic architecture to create brilliant, moving effects. A decline set in after the 13th century, when stained-glass artists began to seek the realistic effects sought by Renaissance painters, effects to which the technique was less suited and which diverted artists from exploiting the all-important light-refracting quality of glass. More recently, stained-glass artists have again achieved high quality: during the 19th-century Gothic revival, in the Art Nouveau designs of Louis Comfort Tiffany, and in the work of such 20th-century artists as Marc Chagall.

stainless steel Any of a family of alloy steels usually containing 10-30% chromium. The presence of chromium, together with low carbon content, gives remarkable resistance to corrosion and heat. Other ele¬ ments, such as nickel, molybdenum, titanium, aluminum, niobium, cop¬ per, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and selenium, may be added to increase corrosion resistance to specific environments, enhance resistance to oxi¬ dation (see oxidation-reduction), and impart special characteristics.

stairway or staircase Series or flight of steps that provides a means of moving from one level to another. The earliest stairways seem to have been built with walls on both sides, as in Egyptian pylons dating from the 2nd millennium bc. The Romans were noted for their monumental stairs. The modem use of steel and reinforced concrete has made possible the curves and sweeps of contemporary design. Staircases have traditionally been built of wood, marble or stone, and iron or steel. A step’s horizon¬ tal surface is called its tread, the vertical front its riser. Traditional wooden staircases are constructed with stringers, beams inclined to the angle of the staircase. Stringers are supported by newel posts, which also support the handrail, forming a balustrade.

Staked Plain See Liano Estacado

stalactite and stalagmite \st3-Tak- 1 tIt...st3-Tag- 1 m!t\ Elongated forms of various minerals deposited from solution by slowly dripping water. A stalactite hangs like an icicle from the ceiling or side of a cav¬ ern. A stalagmite rises from the floor of a cavern. The two are not nec¬ essarily paired; when they are, continual elongation of one or both may eventually join them into a column. The dominant mineral in such depos¬ its is calcite (calcium carbonate), and the largest displays are formed in caves of limestone and dolomite.

stalactite work or muqarnas \mu-'kar-nas\ Honeycomb-like Islamic architectural ornamentation formed by the intricate corbeling (see corbel) of squinches (see Byzantine architecture), brackets, and inverted pyramids in overlapping tiers. It appeared in the early 12th century throughout the Islamic world; a frequent use was to overlay the transi¬ tional zone between domes and their supports. It reached its highest devel¬ opment in the 14th— 15th century, when it became the usual decoration for door heads, niches, and the bracketing under cornices and minaret galler¬ ies. Rich examples are found in the Alhambra and other Moorish works in Spain.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

1810 I Stalin ► standard of living

Stalin, Joseph orig. Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (b.

Dec. 21, 1879, Gori, Georgia, Russian Empire—d. March 5, 1953, Mos¬ cow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet politician and dictator. The son of a cob¬ bler, he studied at a seminary but was expelled for revolutionary activity in 1899. He joined an underground revolutionary group and sided with the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party in 1903. A disciple of Vladimir Lenin, he served in minor party posts and was appointed to the first Bolshevik Central Committee (1912). He remained active behind the scenes and in exile (1913-17) until the Russian Revolu¬ tion of 1917 brought the Bolsheviks to power. Having adopted the name Stalin (from Russian stal, “steel”), he served as commissar for nationali¬ ties and for state control in the Bolshevik government (1917-23). From 1922 he became secretary-general of the party’s Central Committee, a post that later provided the power base for his dictatorship, and was also a member of the Politburo. After Lenin’s death (1924), Stalin overcame his rivals, including Leon Trotsky, Grigory Zinovyev, Lev Kamenev, Nikolay Bukharin, and Aleksey Rykov, and took control of Soviet politics. In 1928 he inaugurated the Five-Year Plans that radically altered Soviet economic and social structures and resulted in the deaths of many millions. In the 1930s he contrived to eliminate threats to his power through the purge tri¬ als and through widespread secret executions and persecution. In World War II he signed the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (1939), attacked Finland (see Russo- Finnish War), and annexed parts of eastern Europe to strengthen his western frontiers. When Germany invaded Russia (1941), Stalin took control of military operations. He allied Russia with Britain and the U.S.; at the Tehran, Yalta, and Potsdam conferences, he demon¬ strated his negotiating skill. After the war he consolidated Soviet power in eastern Europe and built up the Soviet Union as a world military power. He continued his repressive political measures to control internal dissent; increasingly paranoid, he was preparing to mount another purge after the so-called Doctors' Plot when he died. Noted for bringing the Soviet Union into world prominence, at terrible cost to his own people, he left a legacy of repression and fear as well as industrial and military power. In 1956 Stalin and his personality cult were denounced by Nikita Khrushchev.

Stalin Peak See Imeni Ismail Samani Peak Stalina bad See Dushanbe Stalingrad See Volgograd

Stalingrad, Battle of (1942-43) Unsuccessful German assault on the Soviet city in World War II. German forces invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 and had advanced to the suburbs of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) by the summer of 1942. Met by a determined Red Army defense commanded by Vasily Chuikov, they reached the city’s centre after fierce street fight¬ ing. In November the Soviets counterattacked and encircled the German army led by Friedrich Paulus, who surrendered in February 1943 with 91,000 troops. The Axis forces (Germans, Romanians, Italians, and Hun¬ garians) suffered 800,000 deaths; in excess of 1,000,000 Soviet soldiers died. The battle marked the farthest extent of the German advance into the Soviet Union.

Stalinism Method of rule, or policies, of Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union and his imitators elsewhere in the Soviet bloc. On taking power, Stalin brooked no dissent from party policies, of which he assumed the role of sole infallible interpreter. He postponed the struggle for world pro¬ letarian revolution, focusing instead on “socialism in one country.” He decreed the wholesale collectivization of Russian agriculture and a pro¬ gram of rapid industrialization, which, though broadly effective, resulted in the deaths of many millions. Purges in the 1930s (see Purge Trials) resulted in the deaths of millions more, as opponents were branded trai¬ tors and executed or sent to the Gulag. After Stalin’s death Nikita Khrush¬ chev repudiated Stalinism (1956) as an aberration. See also Leninism, Trotskyism.

Stalino See Donetsk

Stamboliyski \,stam-bo-Te-ske\, Aleksandur (b. March 1, 1879, Slavovitsa, Bulg.—d. June 14, 1923, near Slavovitsa) Bulgarian politician and premier (1919-23). Editor of the Agrarian League’s newspaper, he entered the National Assembly in 1908 as head of the Agrarian Union (Peasant Party). He opposed the pro-German king Ferdinand and supported the Allies in World War I, for which he was imprisoned (1915-18). He led the 1918 insurrection that forced Ferdinand’s abdication, and he was cho¬ sen premier of the new Bulgarian republic in 1919. Favouring a pro¬ agrarian policy, he redistributed land to the peasants and reformed the

judicial system. Stamboliyski’s pacifist leanings and advocacy of a militia alienated the army, and he was overthrown in a military coup and executed.

stamen Male reproductive part of a flower. Stamens produce pollen in terminal saclike structures called anthers. The number of stamens is usu¬ ally the same as the number of petals. Stamens usually consist of a long slender stalk, the filament, with the anthers at the tip. Some stamens are similar to leaves, with the anthers at or near the margins. Small secretory structures called nectaries are often found at the base of the stamens and provide food rewards for insect and bird pollinators (see pollination). See also PISTIL.

Stamford City (pop., 2000: 117,083), southwestern Connecticut, U.S. Stamford lies at the mouth of the Rippowam River on Long Island Sound. Founded in 1641, it was a farming community until the railroad reached it in the 1840s. It was essentially a residential suburb of New York City until the early 1970s, when several major corporations moved their head¬ quarters there, revitalizing the city’s economic life. Its decaying down¬ town was razed and rebuilt with modern skyscrapers; today Stamford has one of the largest concentrations of corporate headquarters in the U.S.

Stamitz Vshta-mits\, Johann (Wenzel Anton) (b. June 19, 1717, Deutschbrod, Bohemia—d. March 27, 1757, Mannheim, Palatinate) Bohemian-bom German composer and violinist. He joined the elector’s court in Mannheim c. 1741, and he soon became director of its orches¬ tra, which he built into the finest in Europe. He wrote some 75 sympho¬ nies, in which he helped establish the four-movement form as the standard and introduced the orchestral crescendo to Germany from Italian music. He and his students (including his sons) made up what is called the “Mann¬ heim School.” His son Carl (1745-1801), also a composer and violinist, played in Mannheim, toured widely as a soloist, and wrote more than 50 symphonies.

stammering See stuttering

Stamp Act (1765) British parliamentary measure to tax the American colonies. To pay for costs resulting from the French and Indian War, the British sought to raise revenue through a stamp tax on printed mat¬ ter. A common revenue device in England, the tax was vigorously opposed by the colonists, whose rep¬ resentatives had not been consulted.

Colonists refused to use the stamps, and mobs intimidated stamp agents.

The Stamp Act Congress, with repre¬ sentatives from nine colonies, met to petition Parliament to repeal the act.

Faced with additional protests from British merchants whose exports had been reduced by colonial boycotts.

Parliament repealed the act (1766), then passed the Declaratory Act.

stamp collecting See philately

Standard Generalized

Markup Language See SGML

standard model In physics, the combination of two theories of par¬ ticle physics into a single framework to describe all interactions of sub¬ atomic particles except those due to gravity (see gravitation). The two theories, the electroweak theory and the theory of quantum chromodynam¬ ics, describe the interactions between particles in terms of the exchange of intermediary particles. The model has proved highly accurate in pre¬ dicting certain interactions, but it does not explain all aspects of subatomic particles. For example, it cannot say how many particles there should be or what their masses are. The search goes on for a more complete theory, and in particular a unified field theory describing the strong, weak, and elec¬ tromagnetic forces.

standard of living Level of material comfort that an individual or group aspires to or may achieve. This includes not only privately pur¬ chased goods and services but collectively consumed goods and services such as those provided by public utilities and governments. A standard of

"An Emblem of the Effects of the STAMP," a warning against the Stamp Act published in the Pennsylvania Jour¬ nal, October 1765; in the New York Public Library.

RARE BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS DIVISION, THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Standard Oil Company and Trust ► Stanisiaw I 1811

living determined for a group such as a country must be examined criti¬ cally in terms of its constituent values. If the mean value increases over time, but at the same time the rich become richer and the poor poorer, the group may not be collectively better off. Various quantitative indicators can be used as measuring rods, including life expectancy, access to nutri¬ tious food and a safe water supply, and availability of medical care.

Standard Oil Company and Trust U.S. company and corporate trust that held a near monopoly over the U.S. oil industry from 1870 to 1911. The company originated in 1863, when John D. Rockefeller started a Cleveland, Ohio, refining firm, which, with other facilities, was incor¬ porated as the Standard Oil Company in 1870. By 1880, through elimi¬ nation of competitors, mergers, and use of favourable railroad rebates, it controlled the refining of 90-95% of all oil produced in the U.S. In 1882 Standard Oil and affiliated oil companies were combined in the Standard Oil Trust, which eventually included some 40 corporations. In 1892 the Ohio Supreme Court ordered the trust dissolved, but it continued to oper¬ ate from headquarters in New York and later New Jersey. Its monopolis¬ tic practices were exposed in Ida Tarbell’s History of the Standard Oil Company (1904), and after a lengthy antitrust suit by the U.S. govern¬ ment (see antitrust law), the Standard Oil empire was broken up in 1911. Although eight companies retained “Standard Oil” in their names after 1911, by the late 20th century the name had all but disappeared, even though former Standard Oil divisions continued to dominate the U.S. petroleum business. In 1931 Standard Oil Company of New York merged with Vacuum Oil Company (another trust company) to form Socony- Vacuum, which in 1966 became Mobil Oil Corp. Standard Oil (Indiana) absorbed Standard Oil of Nebraska in 1939 and Standard Oil of Kansas in 1948 and was renamed Amoco Corp. in 1985. Standard Oil of Cali¬ fornia acquired Standard Oil of Kentucky in 1961 and was renamed Chev¬ ron Corp. in 1984. Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) changed its name to Exxon Corp. in 1972. In 1987 British Petroleum Company PLC (BP) completed the purchase of Standard Oil Company (Ohio). Further con¬ solidation occurred in 1998, when BP merged with Amoco, and in 2002, when Exxon merged with Mobil.

standard time Official local time of a region or country. Local mean solar time depends on longitude; it advances by four minutes per degree eastward. The Earth can thus be divided into 24 standard time zones, each approximately 15° in longitude. The actual boundaries of each time zone are determined by local authorities and in many places deviate consider¬ ably from 15°. The times in different zones usually differ by an integral number of hours; minutes and seconds are the same. See also Greenwich Mean Time.

Standardbred Breed of light horse developed in the U.S., primarily for harness racing. The foundation sire was an English Thoroughbred imported in 1788; his progeny were bred with other breeds, especially the Morgan, to produce speedy trotters and pacers. The Standardbred’s height is 15-16 hands (60-64 in. [152-163 cm]); its weight is 900-1,000 lb (410-450 kg). Colour varies, but the most common is bay. “Standard” refers to a requirement imposed in 1871 that, to be registered, a horse must meet certain standards of speed (e.g., trotting a mile in 2.5 minutes).

standardization In industry, the development and application of stan¬ dards that make it possible to manufacture a large volume of interchange¬ able parts. Standardization may focus on engineering standards, such as properties of materials, fits and tolerances, and drafting practices; or on product standards, which detail the attributes of manufactured items and are embodied in formulas, descriptions, drawings, or models. Adoption of standards makes it easier for firms to communicate with their suppliers. Standards are also used within industries to prevent conflict and duplica¬ tion of effort. Governmental departments, trade associations, and techni¬ cal associations help to set standards within industries; these are coordinated and promoted by organizations such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Organization for Stan¬ dardization (ISO).

Standards and Technology, National Institute of See Bureau of Standards

standing In law, the status of being qualified to bring a legal matter before a court because one has a sufficient and protectable interest in its outcome. The courts have ruled that a plaintiff who has suffered or is threatened with actual injury (physical, economic, or other) clearly has standing. A plaintiff who cannot demonstrate such injury will lack stand¬ ing and therefore be unable to bring a case.

Standish, Myles (b. c. 1584, Lancashire, Eng.—d. Oct. 3, 1656, Dux- bury. Mass.) British-American colonist. He fought in the Netherlands, where he met the Pilgrims, with whom he later sailed to North America on the Mayflower (1620). As the Plymouth colony’s military leader, he led several expeditions against hostile Indian tribes. He served as the colo¬ ny’s assistant governor and treasurer (1644-49). There is no historical evidence for the story that he asked John Alden to propose marriage for him to Priscilla Mullins, as mythologized in Henry W. Longfellow’s poem The Courtship of Miles Standish (1858).

Stanford, (Amasa) Leland (b. March 9, 1824, Watervliet, N.Y., U.S.—d. June 21, 1893, Palo Alto, Calif.) U.S. entrepreneur, a builder of the first transcontinental railroad. He practiced law in Wisconsin before settling in Sacramento, Calif., where he built a successful retail business in mining supplies and became active in local politics. He served as gov¬ ernor of California (1861-63). He invested heavily in the plan to build a transcontinental railroad, and when the Central Pacific Railroad was orga¬ nized in 1861 he became its president (1863-93). During his tenure its track was built eastward to join that of the Union Pacific at Promontory, Utah (1869), and he played a major role in further railroad development in California and the Southwest. From 1885 to 1893 he served in the U.S. Senate. He and his wife, Jane, founded Stanford University in 1885.

Stanhope, Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl (b. Aug. 3, 1753, Lon¬ don, Eng.—d. Dec. 15, 1816, Chevening, Kent) English politician and inventor. A member of the House of Commons (1780-86), where he was known as Lord Mahon until inheriting his father’s title, he became chair¬ man of the Revolution Society and favoured parliamentary reform. He sympathized with the French republicans and opposed Britain’s war with Revolutionary France. He was also an experimental scientist and invented calculating machines, a printing press and a microscope lens named for him, a stereotyping machine, and a steam carriage.

Stanhope, James Stanhope, 1 st Earl (b. 1673, Paris, France—d. Feb. 5, 1721, London, Eng.) English soldier and statesman. He began a military career in 1691 and rose rapidly to become commander in chief of the English army in Spain in 1708 in the War of the Spanish Succes¬ sion. He was defeated and captured by the French (1710), then returned to England (1712) and regained his seat in the House of Commons (1701— 21). He served in the Whig government as secretary of state and nego¬ tiated the Quadruple Alliance against Spain (1718). Stanhope served as first lord of the treasury (1717-18), but his ministry was discredited by the South Sea Bubble scandal.

Stanislavsky \,sta-ni-'slaf-ske\, Konstantin (Sergeyevich) orig. Konstantin Sergeyevich Alekseyev (b. Jan. 17, 1863, Moscow, Russia—d. Aug. 7, 1938, Moscow) Russian director and actor. From age 14 he acted with his family’s amateur dramatic group, and in 1888 he cofounded a permanent dramatic company. He won praise in 1891 for his first independent production, The Fruits of Enlightenment. In 1898 he and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko (1858-1943) founded the Moscow Art Theatre; that year it restaged Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull to great acclaim. Stanislavsky continued to direct and act in many Russian plays, including Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya (1899) and The Cherry Orchard (1904). He trained his actors to achieve greater realism by identifying deeply with their characters, a technique that became known as the Stanislavsky method. His company toured Europe and the U.S. (1922-24), where his method influenced the later development of the Group Theatre and the Actors Studio.

Stanislavsky method or method acting Influential system of dramatic training developed by the Russian actor, producer, and theore¬ tician Konstantin Stanislavsky. The method was developed over years of trial and error, beginning c. 1898. It requires that an actor use his emo¬ tion memory (i.e., his recall of past experiences and emotions) to iden¬ tify with the character’s inner motivation. The technique was developed in reaction to the histrionic acting styles of the 19th century. Noted Ameri¬ can practitioners began using the method in the 1920s; they have included Lee Strasberg, Marlon Brando, Dustin Hoffman, and Eli Wallach.

Stanisiaw \sta-'ne-slaf\ I orig. Stanisiaw Leszczynski (b. Oct. 20, 1677, Lwow, Pol.—d. Feb. 23, 1766, Luneville, France) King of Poland (1704-09, 1733). The son of a Polish noble, he became king when Charles XII of Sweden invaded Poland (1702), deposed King Augustus II, and placed Stanisiaw on the throne (1704). When Sweden was defeated by the Russians in 1709, Augustus regained the throne, and Stanisiaw settled in France, where his daughter Marie married Louis XV. After Augustus’s

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1812 I Stanislaw II August Poniatowski ► star

death (1733), Stanislaw was elected king of Poland, but Russia invaded to prevent an alliance with France, causing the War of the Polish Succes¬ sion. Deposed again, Stanislaw was granted the provinces of Lorraine and Bar, where he promoted economic development and made his court at Luneville a cultural centre.

Stanistaw II August Poniatowski Vp6n-ya-'t6f-ske\ orig. Stanislaw Poniatowski (b. Jan. 17, 1732, Wolczyn, Pol.—d. Feb. 12, 1798, St. Petersburg, Russia) King of Poland (1764-95). Son of a Pol¬ ish noble, he was sent in 1757 to Russia to win support for Polish inter¬ ests and became the lover of the future Empress Catherine II. In 1764 Catherine used Russian troops and influence to ensure Stanislaw’s elec¬ tion as king. He tried to introduce administrative reforms, but opposition from Polish nobles and from Catherine forced him to continue his rule as a pawn of Russia. He attempted to pass a new constitution but could not stop the partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795), after which he abdicated.

Stanley, Francis Edgar; and Stanley, Freelan O. (respectively b. June 1, 1849, Kingfield, Maine, U.S.—d. July 31,1918, Ipswich, Mass.; b. June 1, 1849, Kingfield, Maine, U.S.—d. Oct. 2, 1940, Boston, Mass.) U.S. inventors of the steam-driven automobile. In 1883 the twin brothers invented a dry-plate photographic process and conducted experiments with steam engines. In 1897 they built a steam-powered car, and in 1902 they established a company to manufacture their “Stanley Steamers.” In 1906 they set a world record for the fastest mile, in 28.2 seconds. They retired in 1917; their company continued to manufacture cars until 1924, declining as gasoline-powered cars became easier to start and operate and steam cars became less popular.

Stanley, Sir Henry Morton orig. John Rowlands (b. Jan. 28, 1841, Denbigh, Denbighshire,

Wales—d. May 10, 1904, London,

Eng.) British-U.S. explorer of central Africa. An illegitimate child, Stanley grew up partly in a British work- house; he sailed to the U.S. as a cabin boy in 1859. After becoming a jour¬ nalist for the New York Herald in 1867, he embarked (1871) on a jour¬ ney to locate David Livingstone, of whom little had been heard since his departure for Africa in 1866. On finding him at Ujiji on Lake Tanga¬ nyika, Stanley uttered the famous words “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”

He further explored central Africa for extended periods between 1874 and 1884, often in the service of Leopold II of Belgium, for whom he paved the way for the creation of the Congo Free State. Stanley’s last expedition (1888) was for the relief of Mehmed Emin Pasha, who had been cut off by the Mahdist revolt in the Sudan; he escorted Emin and 1,500 others to the eastern coast. His highly popular books include Through the Dark Continent (1878) and In Dark¬ est Africa (1890).

Stanley, Wendell Meredith (b. Aug. 16, 1904, Ridgeville, Ind., U.S.—d. June 15, 1971, Salamanca, Spain) U.S. biochemist. He taught at the University of California at Berkeley from 1948 until his death. He is known for his work in the purification and crystallization of viRUSes to demonstrate their molecular structure. He crystallized the tobacco mosaic virus and did important work on the influenza virus, for which he devel¬ oped a vaccine. He shared a Nobel Prize in 1946 with John Howard Northrop and James Sumner.

Stanley brothers U.S. bluegrass duo. The duo consisted of Ralph (Edmund) Stanley (b. Feb. 25, 1927, Stratton, Va., U.S.) on banjo and Carter (Glen) Stanley (b. Aug. 27, 1925, McClure, Va.—d. Dec. 1, 1966, Bristol, Va.) on lead guitar. The brothers rose to fame performing tradi¬ tional religious songs in a traditional Appalachian bluegrass style marked by tight, high-pitched harmonies and strongly influenced by Bill Monroe. With their band, the Clinch Mountain Boys, they had several hit record¬ ings. After Carter’s death, Ralph reorganized the band. He has recorded more than 150 albums.

Stanley Cup Trophy awarded annually to the winning team of the National Hockey League championship. Named for its donor, the Canadian governor-general Frederick Arthur Stanley, Lord Stanley of Preston (1841-1908), the Stanley Cup was first awarded in the 1893-94 season. It is the oldest trophy that can be won by professional athletes in North America.

Stanleyville See Kisangani

Stanovoy \,sta-n3-'v6i\ Mountains Mountain range, eastern Russia, in Asia. It is part of the watershed between the Pacific and Arctic oceans. The mountains are generally not high, although they reach about 8,000 ft (2,400 m) in the east. They contain deposits of gold, coal, and mica.

Stanton, Edwin M(cMasters) (b. Dec. 19, 1814, Steubenville, Ohio, U.S.—d. Dec. 24, 1869, Washington, D.C.) U.S. secretary of war (1862— 68). A lawyer and abolitionist, he was appointed U.S. attorney general in 1861 and secretary of war in 1862. He ably administered the Union mili¬ tary effort in the American Civil War, and he later helped lead the inves¬ tigation of Pres. Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Conflict with Pres. Andrew Johnson over Reconstruction policy and his alliance with the Radical Republicans led to Stanton’s dismissal by Johnson, in deliberate violation of the Tenure of Office Act. Stanton refused to leave office, but he resigned after Johnson was acquitted in the impeachment trial.

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady orig. Elizabeth Cady (b. Nov. 12,1815, Johnstown, N.Y., U.S.—d. Oct. 26, 1902, New York, N.Y.) U.S. social reformer and women’s suffrage leader. She graduated from Troy Female Seminary (1832), and in 1840 she married the abolitionist Henry B. Stan¬ ton and began working to secure passage of a New York law giving prop¬ erty rights to married women. She and Lucretia Mott organized the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention. She joined forces in 1850 with Susan B. Anthony in the woman suffrage movement, and later she coedited the women’s- rights newspaper The Revolution (1868-70). In 1869 she became the founding president of the National Woman Suffrage Association.

Stanwyck, Barbara orig. Ruby Stevens (b. July 16, 1907, Brook¬ lyn, N.Y., U.S.—d. Jan. 20, 1990, Santa Monica, Calif.) U.S. film actress. She made her screen debut in 1927 and went on to appear in over 80 films, often portraying strong-willed, independent women. Her movies include Stella Dallas (1937), Union Pacific (1939), Ball of Fire (1942), Double Indemnity (1944), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), and Executive Suite (1954). She later starred in the television series The Big Valley (1965-69), and she appealed in the popular miniseries The Thorn Birds (1983). She received several Academy Award nominations, but she failed to win an award until she was granted an honorary award in 1981.

staphylococcus X.sta-fo-lo-'ka-kosX Any of the spherical bacteria that make up the genus Staphylococcus. The best-known species are present in great numbers on the mucous membranes and skin of all humans and other warm-blooded animals. The cells characteristically group together in grapelike clusters. Staphylococci are gram-positive (see gram stain) and stationary and do not require oxygen. Of significance to humans is the species S. aureus, an important agent of wound infections, boils, and other human skin infections, and one of the most common causes of food poi¬ soning. It also causes udder inflammation in domestic animals and breast infections in women. The largest cause of hospital infections (accounting for almost 15%), “staph” is often difficult to treat because of its increas¬ ing resistance to antibiotics.

star Any massive celestial body of gas that shines by radiant energy generated inside it. The Milky Way Galaxy contains hundreds of billions of stars; only a very small fraction are visible to the unaided eye. The closest star is about 4.2 light-years from the Sun; the most distant are in galaxies billions of light-years away. Single stars such as the Sun are the minority; most stars occur in pairs, multiple systems, or clusters (see BINARY STAR; GLOBULAR CLUSTER; OPEN CLUSTER). CONSTELLATIONS Consist not of such groupings but of stars in the same direction as seen from Earth. Stars vary greatly in brightness (magnitude), colour, temperature, mass, size, chemical composition, and age. In nearly all, hydrogen is the most abun¬ dant element. Stars are classified by their spectra (see spectrum), from blue-white to red, as O, B, A, F, G, K, or M; the Sun is a spectral type G star. Generalizations on the nature and evolution of stars can be made from correlations between certain properties and from statistical results (see Hertzsprung-Russell diagram). A star forms when a portion of a dense inter¬ stellar cloud of hydrogen and dust grains collapses from its own gravity. As the cloud condenses, its density and internal temperature increase until

Sir Henry Morton Stanley, detail of a portrait by Sir Hubert von Herkomer; in the City Museum & Art Gallery, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England.

COURTESY OF THE CITY MUSEUM & ART GALLERY, BRISTOL, ENGLAND

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Star Chamber ► Starr I 1813

it is hot enough to trigger nuclear fusion in its core (if not, it becomes a brown dwarf). After hydrogen is exhausted in the core from nuclear burn¬ ing, the core shrinks and heats up while the star’s outer layers expand significantly and cool, and the star becomes a red giant. The final stages of a star’s evolution, when it no longer produces enough energy to coun¬ teract its own gravity, depend largely on its mass and whether it is a com¬ ponent of a close binary system (see black hole; neutron star; nova; pulsar; supernova; white dwarf star). Some stars other than the Sun are known to have one or more planets (see planets of other stars). See also Cepheid vari¬ able; DWARF star; ECLIPSING VARIABLE STAR; FLARE STAR; GIANT STAR; POPULATIONS I AND II; SUPERGIANT STAR; T TAURI STAR; VARIABLE STAR.

Star Chamber British prerogative court that exercised wide civil and criminal jurisdiction and was marked by secrecy, the absence of juries, and an inquisitorial rather than accusatorial system of justice. It met in a room in the palace of Westminster whose ceiling was decorated with stars. It was employed extensively under Henry VIII because of its ability to enforce the law when other courts were unable to do so because of cor¬ ruption and influence. When Charles I used it to enforce unpopular politi¬ cal and ecclesiastical policies, it became a symbol of oppression to his and Archbishop William Laud’s parliamentary and Puritan opponents (though it never imposed the death penalty), and it was abolished by the Long Parliament in 1641.

Star of David See Star of David Star Wars See Strategic Defense Initiative

starch Any of several white, granular organic compounds produced by all green plants. They are polysaccharides with the general chemical for¬ mula (C 6 H 10 O 5 ) n , where n may range from 100 to several thousand; the constituent monosaccharides are glucose units made in photosynthesis. The glucose chains are unbranched in amylose and branched in amylopectin, which occur mixed in starches. Starch consumed by animals is broken down into glucose by enzymes during digestion. Commercial starch is made mainly from corn, though wheat, tapioca, rice, and potato starch are also used. Starch has many uses in foods and the food industry, as well as in the paper, textile, and personal-care products industries and in adhesives, explosives, and oil-well drilling fluids and as a mold-release agent. Ani¬ mal starch is another name for glycogen. See also carbohydrate.

stare decisis \,ster-e-di-'sl-s3s\ Latin "let the decision stand" In

common aw, the doctrine under which courts adhere to precedent on questions of law in order to ensure certainty, consistency, and stability in the administration of justice. Since no court decision can have universal application, the courts, in practice, must often decide that a previous deci¬ sion does not apply to a particular case even though the facts and issues appear to be closely similar. A strict application of stare decisis may lead to rigidity and to legal hairsplitting, whereas too much flexibility may result in uncertainty.

starfish or sea star Any of 1,800 echinoderm species (class Asteroi- dea) that have regenerable arms surrounding an indistinct disk and that inhabit all oceans. Species range from 0.4 to 25 in. (1-65 cm) across, but most are 8-12 in. (20-30 cm) across. Their arms, usually five, are hol¬ low and, like the disk, covered with short spines and pincerlike organs; on the lower side are tube feet, sometimes sucker-tipped, used for creep¬ ing or clinging to steep surfaces. Some species sweep organic particles into the mouth on the underside of the disk. Others either evert the stom¬ ach upon their prey for external digestion or swallow the prey whole. See illustration above.

Starhemberg Vshtar-om-.berkV Ernst Rudiger, prince von (b.

May 10, 1899, Eferding, Austria—d. March 15, 1956, Schruns) Austrian politician. In 1930 he became leader of the fascist Austrian Heimwehr, a paramilitary defense force, and in 1932 he helped Engelbert Dollfuss form the right-wing coalition called the Fatherland Front. Appointed vice chan¬ cellor in 1934, he sought to maintain a fascist Austrian state that was independent of Nazi Germany. Differences with Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg resulted in Starhemberg’s expulsion from the government (May 1936). He fled Austria after the Anschluss (1938). Following a brief period of service early in World War II in the British and Free French air forces, he lived in Argentina (1942-55) before returning to Austria.

Stark, John (b. Aug. 28, 1728, Londonderry, N.H.—d. May 8, 1822, Manchester, N.H., U.S.) American Revolutionary officer. He served in the French and Indian War with Robert Rogers’s Rangers (1754-59). In the American Revolution he fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill and in New Jer¬

Principal features of a starfish. Water for the water vascular system enters through the madreporite and passes into a ring canal and on to radial and lateral canals, from which it enters the tube feet, which are connected to saclike ampullae on top. Contraction of the tube feet forces water into the ampullae, creating suction that allows suckers at the ends of the feet to hold to a surface. When the ampullae con¬ tract, water is forced into the feet, extending them and releasing the suction. These coordinated actions permit movement, attachment, and capture of prey. In many starfish, the cardiac stomach is everted through the mouth on the body's undersur¬ face to envelop prey, and digestion may begin outside the body before the stomach is drawn back in.

© MERRIAM-WEBSTER INC.

sey. He commanded the militia that defeated the British at the Battle of Bennington, Vt. Promoted to brigadier general of the Continental Army, he helped force the British surrender at the Battle of Saratoga and then served in Rhode Island. In 1780 he was a member of the court-martial that condemned Maj. John Andre, who had spied for the British. In 1783 he was made a major general.

starling Any of about 168 species (family Sturnidae) of songbirds of temperate Eurasia, Africa, and Aus¬ tralia. The best-known is Sturnus vulgaris, an 8-in. (20-cm), chunky, iridescent black bird with a long sharp bill. It has been introduced from Eurasia to most parts of the world, except South America. The millions in North America are descendants of 100 birds released in New York City in 1890. Starlings search the ground for a wide range of plant and animal foods and fly in a tight flock. They are vocal year- round, mimicking other birds’ notes and uttering wheezy sounds of their own.

Starling, Ernest Henry (b. April 17, 1866, London, Eng.—d. May 2, 1927, Kingston Harbour, Jam.) British physiologist. His studies of lymph secretion clarified the roles of different pressures in fluid exchanges between vessels and tissues. Starling and William Bayliss showed how nerve impulses control peristalsis and coined the term hormone. Starling also found that water and necessary chemicals filtered out by the kidneys are reabsorbed at the lower end of the nephron. His Principles of Human Physiology (1912), continually revised, was a standard international text.

Starr, Belle orig. Myra Belle Shirley (b. Feb. 5, 1848, Washington county. Mo., U.S.—d. Feb. 3, 1889, near Briartown, Okla.) U.S. outlaw. She grew up in Missouri and later moved to a farm at Scyene, near Dal¬ las, Texas. She bore a child by the outlaw Cole Younger (1844-1916) and another by Jim Reed, with whom she rustled cattle and horses in Texas in 1869. She fashioned herself the “bandit queen,” dressing in velvet and feathers or buckskin and moccasins. In 1880 she became the common-

Common starling (Sturnus vulgaris).

GEORGE W. ROBINSON-ROOT RESOURCES/EB INC.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

1814 I Stars and Stripes ► stave church

law wife of Sam Starr, and their Oklahoma ranch became an outlaws’ hideout. Sam was killed in a gunfight in 1886, and Belle herself was later shot down near her ranch.

Stars and Stripes, The Newspaper for U.S. military personnel. It first appeared in single editions during the American Civil War and was revived as a weekly for troops in Europe at the end of World War I. Rees¬ tablished in 1942, first as a weekly and then a daily, it has been published since then in a European edition and since 1945 in a Pacific edition. It has carried the work of many outstanding writers, editors, cartoonists, and photographers. An authorized, unofficial publication of the Department of Defense, it is relatively free of military censorship and control.

START See Strategic Arms Reduction Talks

Stasi \'shta-ze\ officially Staatssicherheit ("State Security")

Secret police of East Germany (1950-90), established with Soviet help by German communists in Soviet-occupied Germany after World War II. It was responsible for both domestic political surveillance and espionage. At its peak, it employed 85,000 officers full-time. Using hundreds of thousands of informers, it monitored one-third of the population. Most of its foreign operations were focused on West Germany—whose governing circles and military and intelligence services it successfully penetrated— and West Germany’s NATO allies. The Stasi was disbanded after German reunification. In 1991 the newly reunified German government passed the Stasi Records Law, under which East German citizens and foreigners were granted the right to view their Stasi files. By the early 21st century, more than 1.5 million individuals had done so.

state Political organization of society, or the body politic, or, more nar¬ rowly, the institutions of government. The state is distinguished from other social groups by its purpose (establishment of order and security), meth¬ ods (its laws and their enforcement), territory (its area of jurisdiction), and sovereignty. In some countries (e.g., the U.S.), the term also refers to nonsovereign political units subject to the authority of the larger state, or federal union.

state, equation of Any of a class of equations that relate the pressure P, volume V, and temperature T of a given substance in thermodynamic equilibrium. For example, the equation PV = nRT, where n is the number of moles of gas and R is the universal gas constant, relates the pressure, vol¬ ume, and temperature of a perfect gas. Real gases, solids, and liquids have more complicated equations of state. See also thermodynamics.

Staten Island Island in New York Harbor, a borough (pop., 2000: 443,728) of New York, New York, U.S. It has an area of almost 60 sq mi (155 sq km) and is connected to Brooklyn by the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and to New Jersey by several bridges; it is accessible to Manhat¬ tan by the Staten Island Ferry. The Dutch attempted to colonize the island in 1630 but were thwarted by the Delaware Indian inhabitants until 1661, when the Dutch West India Co. granted the island to the French and settlements were established. Following the acquisition of New Nether- land in 1664 by Great Britain, English and Welsh farmers established homes and farms on the island. As Richmond, it became a borough of New York City in 1898; Staten Island was made the official name in 1975. Mostly residential, the island has some industry, including shipbuilding yards, printing plants, and oil-storage tanks and refineries. It is the seat of Wagner College (1883, moved from Rochester in 1918).

States General See Estates General

states' rights Rights or powers retained by the regional governments of a federal union under the provisions of a federal constitution. In the U.S., Switzerland, and Australia, the powers of the regional governments are those that remain after the powers of the central government have been enumerated in the constitution. The powers of both the state or regional and national levels of government are defined clearly by specific provi¬ sions of the constitutions of Canada and Germany. The concept of states’ rights is closely related to that of the 18th-century European concept of state rights, which was invoked to legitimate the powers vested in sov¬ ereign national governments. In the U.S. before the mid-19th century, some Southern states claimed the right to annul an act of the federal gov¬ ernment within their boundaries (see nullification), as well as the right to secede from the Union. The constitutional question was resolved against the South by the North’s victory in the American Civil War. In the civil rights era, states’ rights were invoked by opponents of federal efforts to enforce racial integration in public schools. The federal government can influence state policy even in areas that are constitutionally the purview

of the states (e.g., education, local road construction) through withhold¬ ing funds from states that fail to comply with its wishes. In the late 20th century the term came to be applied more broadly to a variety of efforts aimed at reducing the powers of national governments.

statistical mechanics Branch of physics that combines the principles and procedures of statistics with the laws of both classical mechanics and quantum mechanics. It considers the average behaviour of a large number of particles rather than the behaviour of any individual particle, drawing heavily on the laws of probability, and aims to predict and explain the measurable properties of macroscopic (bulk) systems on the basis of the properties and behaviour of their microscopic constituents.

statistics Branch of mathematics dealing with gathering, analyzing, and making inferences from data. Originally associated with government data (e.g., census data), the subject now has applications in all the sciences. Statistical tools not only summarize past data through such indicators as the mean (see mean, median, and mode) and the standard deviation but can predict future events using frequency distribution functions. Statistics pro¬ vides ways to design efficient experiments that eliminate time-consuming trial and error. Double-blind tests for polls, intelligence and aptitude tests, and medical, biological, and industrial experiments all benefit from sta¬ tistical methods and theories. The results of all of them serve as predic¬ tors of future performance, though reliability varies. See also estimation, hypothesis testing, least squares method, probability theory, regression.

Statue of Liberty National Monument Historic site in New York Harbor, New York and New Jersey, U.S. Covering 58 ac (23 ha), it includes the Statue of Liberty (on Liberty Island [formerly Bedloe’s Island]) and nearby Ellis Island. The colossal statue, Liberty Enlightening the World , was sculpted by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi and dedicated in 1886. This 305-ft (93-m) statue of a woman holding a tablet and upraised torch was given to the U.S. by France and commemorates the friendship of the two countries; a plaque at the pedestal’s entrance is inscribed with the sonnet “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus. The Statue of Liberty was declared a national monument in 1924 and a UNESCO World Heri¬ tage site in 1984; Ellis Island, containing the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, was added to the monument in 1965.

Statute of Provisors See Statute of Provisors

Staubach Vst6-,bak\, Roger (Thomas) (b. Feb. 5, 1942, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.) U.S. football player. He compiled a notable record at the U.S. Naval Academy (1962-65), where he made All-American and won the Heisman Trophy (1963). His professional career was spent as quarterback with the Dallas Cowboys (1969-79), which he helped make into a domi¬ nant team, leading them to the play-offs in every year but one (1974) and to four Super Bowls (won 1972, 1978; lost 1976, 1979).

Staupers, Mabel (Keaton) orig. Mabel Doyle (b. Feb. 27, 1890, Barbados, West Indies—d. Nov. 29, 1989, Washington, D.C., U.S) Caribbean-born U.S. nurse and executive. She joined two physicians to establish the first hospital in Harlem to treat U.S. blacks with tuberculo¬ sis (1920). As executive secretary of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN), she campaigned to integrate the Armed Forces Nurse Corps; overwhelming public support led to full integration in 1945, and in 1948 NACGN succeeded in integrating the American Nurses Association.

staurolite Vstor-o-.lfiA Silicate mineral produced by regional metamorphism in rocks such as mica schists, slates, and gneisses, where it is generally associated with other minerals. Staurolite is a brittle, hard mineral that has a dull lustre. Its crystals are usually dark brown and are often twinned in cruciform patterns (known as fairy crosses) that can be made into orna¬ ments. Staurolite occurs especially in Canada, Brazil, France, Switzer¬ land, and the U.S. (North Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia).

stave church Type of medieval Norwegian wooden church. The stone foundation supports four horizontal wooden members, from which rise four corner posts, or staves, which are joined together by four upper crossbeams. From this boxlike frame, timbers extend outward, support¬ ing a series of uprights, or masts. There may be four or more ranks of masts, with an equal number of triangular frames of diminishing size ris¬ ing above them. The church at Borgund (c. 1150) is one of about 24 sur¬ viving examples. Its six tiers of double-sloped roofs, shell-like exterior shingles, and elaborate carvings of dragons and other motifs give it its remarkably picturesque and vigorous appearance.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Stavisky affair ► steel I 1815

Stavisky affair (1934) French financial and political scandal. When bonds sold to working-class citizens by a credit organization run by the Russian-born swindler Serge A. Stavisky (1886-1934) were found to be worthless, Stavisky fled to Chamonix and allegedly committed suicide. Members of the right believed he had been murdered to cover up com¬ plicity with corrupt government officials. Demonstrations against the gov¬ ernment by antirepublican groups, including the Action Francaise and the Croix de Feu, culminated in a riot on Feb. 6, 1934, which killed 15 people. Two successive prime ministers were forced to resign; a centrist coalition was eventually formed to restore confidence.

STD See sexually transmitted disease

Stead, Christina (Ellen) (b. July 17, 1902, Rockdale, Sydney, Austl.—d. March 31, 1983, Sydney) Australian novelist. She traveled widely and at various times lived in London, Paris, and the U.S., where in the early 1940s she worked as a screenwriter for MGM. She returned to Australia in 1974. Her first published work was a collection of short stories, The Salzburg Tales (1934). She is best remembered for her novel The Man Who Loved Children (1940), the story of a disintegrating family.

steady-state theory Concept of an expanding universe whose average density remains constant, matter being continuously created throughout it to form new stars and galaxies at the same rate that old ones recede from sight. A steady-state universe has no beginning or end, and its average density and arrangement of galaxies are the same as seen from every point. Galaxies of all ages are intermingled. The theory was first put forward by William Macmillan (1861-1948) in the 1920s and modified by Fred Hoyle to deal with problems that had arisen in connection with the big-bang model. Much evidence obtained since the 1950s contradicts the steady- state theory and supports the big-bang model.

stealth Any military technology intended to make vehicles or missiles nearly invisible to enemy radar or other electronic detection. Research in antidetection technology began soon after radar was invented. In World War II the Germans coated their U-boat snorkels with radar-absorbent material. By the end of the 20th century the U.S. had developed models of stealth technology, including the F-117 Nighthawk fighter-bomber and the B-2 Spirit strategic bomber. The aircraft featured surface materials and coatings that absorbed radar transmissions, faceted or rounded sur¬ faces that reduced radar reflections, and shielded engine exhausts that reduced infrared radiation. Stealth technology has also been incorporated into the design of naval submarines and surface vessels.

steam Invisible gas consisting of vaporized water. When mixed with minute droplets of water, it has a white, cloudy appearance. In nature, steam is produced by the heating of underground water by volcanic pro¬ cesses and is emitted from hot springs, geysers, fumaroles, and some vol¬ canoes. Steam also can be generated on a large scale by technological systems, such as those using fossil-fuel-burning boilers and nuclear reac¬ tors. Modern industrial society relies on steam power; water is heated to steam in power plants, and the pressurized steam drives turbines that pro¬ duce electric current: thermal energy is converted to mechanical energy, which is converted into electricity.

steam engine Machine that uses steam power to perform mechanical work through the agency of heat (hence a prime mover). In a steam engine, hot steam, usually supplied by a boiler, expands under pressure, and part of the heat energy is converted into work. The rest of the heat may be allowed to escape, or, for maximum engine efficiency, the steam may be condensed in a separate apparatus, a condenser, at comparatively low temperature and pressure. For high efficiency, the steam must decrease substantially in temperature as it expands within the engine. The most efficient performance (i.e., the greatest output of work in relation to the heat supplied) is obtained by using a low condenser temperature and a high boiler pressure. See also Thomas Newcomen, James Watt.

steamboat or steamship Watercraft propelled by steam; more nar¬ rowly, a shallow-draft paddle-wheel steamboat widely used on rivers in the 19th century, particularly the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Though U.S. experiments with steam-powered boats began in 1787, the first regular steamboat service, operating on the Mississippi, was not established until 1812. Until c. 1870 the steamboat dominated the economy, agriculture, and commerce of the middle of the U.S. Because the paddle wheel created turbulence that eroded the banks of narrow channels, river steamboats worked best on broad rivers. The first ocean voyage of a steamboat occurred along the eastern coast of the U.S. in

1809, and Europeans soon developed steamboats capable of crossing Europe’s stormy, narrow seas. The first transatlantic steamboat journey was made by the Savannah in 1819, and the first commercial shipping line, the Cunard Line (see Samuel Cunard), was established in 1840. The screw propeller replaced the paddle wheel in oceanic steamers in the later 19th century. See also ocean liner.

Steamers Robert E. Lee and the Natchez in the race from New Orleans to St. Louis, lithograph by Currier and Ives

BBC HULTON PICTURE LIBRARY

Stebbins, G(eorge) Ledyard (b. Jan. 6, 1906, Lawrence, N.Y., U.S.—d. Jan. 19, 2000, Davis, Calif.) U.S. botanist. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and later taught in the University of California system. In Variation and Evolution in Plants (1950) he became the first biologist to apply the modern synthetic theory of evolution—a theory that distinguishes the basic processes of gene mutation and recombination, natural selection, changes in structure and number of chromosomes, and reproductive isolation—to higher organisms. Working with polyploid plants (new species that originated by a spontaneous doubling of the chromosomes of an existing species), he employed a technique for dou¬ bling a plant’s chromosomal number artificially to produce successful artificial polyploids from wild-grass species, becoming the first person to artificially hybridize a plant species that could thrive under natural con¬ ditions.

Stedinger Crusade (1229-34) Crusade against the Stedinger, a body of peasants labeled as heretics by the archbishop of Bremen, who secured papal support for a crusade. In fact, the charge of heresy was unsubstan¬ tiated, and the “crusade” was an attack led by the archbishop’s brother and other nobles of the region. In 1234 Pope Gregory IX was persuaded to summon a crusade with full privileges.

steel Alloy of iron and about 2% or less carbon. Pure iron is soft, but carbon greatly hardens it. Several iron-carbon constituents with different compositions and/or crystal structures exist: austenite, ferrite, pearlite, cementite, and martensite can coexist in complex mixtures and combina¬ tions, depending on temperature and carbon content. Each microstructure differs in hardness, strength, toughness, corrosion resistance, and electri¬ cal resistivity, so adjusting the carbon content changes the properties. Heat treating, mechanical working at cold or hot temperatures, or addition of alloying elements may also give superior properties. The three major classes are carbon steels, low-alloy steels, and high-alloy steels. Low-alloy steels (with up to 8% alloying elements) are exceptionally strong and are used for machine parts, aircraft landing gear, shafts, hand tools, and gears, and in buildings and bridges. High-alloy steels, with more than 8% alloy¬ ing elements (e.g., stainless steels) offer unusual properties. Making steel involves melting, purifying (refining), and alloying, carried out at about 2,900°F (1,600°C). Steel is obtained by refining iron (from a blast fur¬ nace) or scrap steel by the basic oxygen process, the open-hearth process, or in an electric furnace, then by removing excess carbon and impurities and adding alloying elements. Molten steel can be poured into molds and solidified into ingots; these are reheated and rolled into semifinished shapes which are worked into finished products. Some steps in ingot pouring can be saved by continuous casting. Forming semifinished steel into finished shapes may be done by two major methods: hot-working consists primarily of hammering and pressing (together called forging), extrusion, and rolling the steel under high heat; cold-working, which includes rolling, extrusion, and drawing (see wire drawing), is generally

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1816 I steel drum ► Stein

used to make bars, wire, tubes, sheets, and strips. Molten steel can also be cast directly into products. Certain products, particularly of sheet steel, are protected from corrosion by electroplating, galvanizing, or tinplating.

steel drum Tuned gong made from the end, and part of the wall, of an oil barrel. The barrel’s end surface is hammered into a concave shape, and several areas are outlined by chiseled grooves. It is heated and tem¬ pered, and bosses or domes are hammered into the outlined areas; the depth, curvature, and size of each boss determines its pitch. Melodies, complex accompaniments, and counterpoint can be played with rubber- tipped mallets on a single drum. The steel drum originated in Trinidad in the 1940s. It is usually played in ensembles, called steel bands, of widely varying sizes.

Steele, Sir Richard (b. 1672, Dublin, Ire.—d. Sept. 1, 1729, Car¬ marthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales) English journalist, dramatist, essayist, and politician. He began his long friendship with Joseph Addison at school and attempted an army career before turning to writing. He launched and was the principal author (under the name Isaac Bicker staff) of the essay periodical The Tatler (April 1709-January 1711), in which he created the mixture of entertainment and instruction in manners and morals that he and Addison would perfect in The Spectator. His attractive, often casual writing style was a perfect foil for Addison’s more measured, erudite prose. He made many later ventures into journalism, some politically par¬ tisan, and held several government posts. In 1714 he became governor of Drury Lane Theatre, where he produced The Conscious Lovers (1723), one of the century’s most popular plays and perhaps the best example of English sentimental comedy.

Steen Vstan\, Jan (Havickszoon) (b. c. 1626, Leiden, Neth.—d. Feb. 3, 1679, Leiden) Dutch painter. A brewer’s son, he was enrolled at the University of Leiden in 1646 and in 1648 became a founding member of the Leiden painters’ guild. One of the greatest Dutch genre painters, he is known for his humour and ability to capture subtle facial expressions, especially of children. His figures, which became larger and more indi¬ vidually characterized in his later works, were often shown playing cards or skittles, or carousing in inns and taverns. His paintings show great technical skill, particularly with colour. His late paintings, which antici¬ pated the Rococo style, became increasingly elegant and somewhat less energetic.

steeplechase Either of two distinct sporting events: (1) a horse race over a closed course with obstacles, including hedges and walls; or (2) a footrace of 3,000 m over hurdles and a water jump. The name derives from impromptu races by fox hunters in 18th-century Ireland over natu¬ ral country in which church steeples served as course landmarks. Eques¬ trian steeplechase is popular in England, France, and Ireland, and to a lesser extent in the U.S. The most famous equestrian steeplechase is the Grand National. Track-and-field steeplechase dates back to a cross¬ country race at the University of Oxford in 1850. The course and distance were standardized at the 1920 Olympic Games.

Stefan Decansky \'ste-van-de-'kan-ske\ or Stefan Uros III (b.

1280—d. 1331) King of Serbia (1322-31). After rebelling against his father, Stefan Uros II (r. 1282-1321), he was blinded, so that he would be unfit to rule, and exiled (1314-20). He then showed he was not blind, claiming a miraculous cure, and was made king. He allied with the los¬ ing Andronicus II Palaeologus in the civil war with Andronicus III Palae- ologus (1327-28) and was deposed by his son, Stefan Dusan.

Stefan Dusan \'dii-shan\ or Stefan Uros IV (b. 1308—d. Dec. 20, 1355) King of Serbia (1331-46) and emperor of the Serbs and Greeks (1346-55). He deposed his father, Stefan Decansky, in 1331. The greatest ruler of medieval Serbia, he began a war of conquest against Byzantium in 1334, gaining control of Albania and Macedonia by 1346 and Epirus and Thessaly by 1348. Dusan reformed the Serbian administration on the Byzantine model and introduced a law code. His rule over former Byz¬ antine lands was threatened by John VI Cantacuzenus, and his empire broke apart soon after his death.

Stefan Nemanja or Stephen Nemanja \'ne-man-ya\ (d. 1200) Founder of the Serbian state. He was grand zupan (clan leader) under Byzantine rule in 1169. He allied himself with Venice and was defeated by the avenging Byzantines, though he was later pardoned. After expand¬ ing Serbian territory, he abdicated in 1196 and entered a monastery.

Steffens, (Joseph) Lincoln (b. April 6, 1866, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.—d. Aug. 9, 1936, Carmel, Calif.) U.S. journalist and reformer. He

worked for New York City newspapers (1892-1901) and was managing editor of McClure’s Magazine (1901-06), where he began his famous muckraking articles—later published as The Shame of the Cities (1904)— exposing corruption in politics and big business. He lectured widely and aroused public interest in seeking solutions and taking action. He later supported revolutionary activities in Mexico and Russia and lived in Europe (1917-27). The success of his Autobiography (1931) returned him to the lecture circuit.

Stegner, Wallace (Earle) (b. Feb. 18, 1909, Lake Mills, Iowa, U.S.—d. April 13, 1993, Santa Fe, N.M.) U.S. writer. Stegner studied at the University of Iowa and later taught at several universities, notably Stanford. The Big Rock Candy Mountain (1943), a novel about a family traveling around the West seeking their fortune, was his first critical and popular success. His later novels include A Shooting Star (1961), Angle of Repose (1971, Pulitzer Prize), and The Spectator Bird (1976, National Book Award). His nonfiction includes two histories of the settlement of Utah, Mormon Country (1942) and The Gathering of Zion (1964), and Beyond the Hundredth Meridian (1954), a biography of John Wesley Pow¬ ell.

stegosaur Any of the plated dinosaur species, including Stegosaurus, of the Late Jurassic Epoch (159-144 million years ago). Stegosaurs were four-legged herbivores that reached a maximum length of about 30 ft (9 m). The skull and brain were very small. The forelimbs were much shorter than the hind limbs, the back was arched, and the feet were short and broad. Stegosaurs had double rows of large, triangular, bony plates along their backs and tail that may have been a temperature-regulating system. Pairs of long, pointed, bony spikes on the end of the tail were probably defensive weapons.

Steichen VstI-kon\, Edward (Jean) orig. Edouard Jean Stei- chen (b. March 27, 1879,

Luxembourg—d. March 25, 1973,

West Redding, Conn., U.S.)

Luxembourg-born U.S. photogra¬ pher. His family immigrated to the U.S. in 1881. His early photographs were influenced by his training as a painter. He frequently used chemi¬ cals to achieve prints that resembled soft, fuzzy mezzotints or wash draw¬ ings. In 1902 he joined Alfred Stieg- utz in forming the Photo-Secession, a group dedicated to promoting pho¬ tography as a fine art. His style evolved from painterly Impressionism to sharp realism after World War I.

His portraits of artists and celebrities from the 1920s and ’30s are remark¬ able evocations of character. At the outbreak of World War II, Steichen was commissioned by the U.S. Navy to organize a department to photograph the war at sea. In 1955 he orga¬ nized the Family of Man exhibition of 503 photographs (selected from over two million), which was seen by more than nine million people worldwide.

Steiermark Vshtl-or-.markX English Styria \'stir-e-9\ State (pop., 2001: 1,183,303), southeastern Austria. Inhabited since the Stone Age, the region came under Roman rule as part of the Celtic kingdom of Noricum. It was ruled by the Bavarians in the 8th century, belonged to the duchy of Carinthia after 976, and was made a frontier territory of the Frankish empire in the 11th century. The area became a duchy in 1180 and a Habs- burg crown land in 1282. After World War I, 2,329 sq mi (6,032 sq km) of southern Steiermark were ceded to Yugoslavia. Steiermark has been a state of Austria since that time, except for the years 1938—45, when most of it formed a Reichsgau (party district) under the Anschluss (incorpora¬ tion into Germany). Steiermark has an area of 6,327 sq mi (16,387 sq km), and its capital is Graz.

Stein, Gertrude (b. Feb. 3, 1874, Allegheny City, Pa., U.S.—d. July 27, 1946, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) U.S. avant-garde writer. Born to a wealthy family, Stein studied at Radcliffe College before moving to Paris, where from 1909 she lived with her companion Alice B. Toklas (1877— 1967). Their home was a salon for leading artists and writers, including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Sherwood Anderson, and

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Stein ► Steinmetz I 1817

Ernest Hemingway. An early sup¬ porter of Cubism, she tried to parallel its theories in her work, including the poetry volume Tender Buttons (1914). Her prose was characterized by a unique style employing repeti¬ tion, fragmentation, and use of the continuous present, especially in the immense novel The Making of Americans (written 1906-11, pub¬ lished 1928). Her only book to reach a wide public was The Autobiogra¬ phy of Alice B. Toklas (1933), actu¬ ally Stein’s own autobiography. Her other works include Four Saints in Three Acts (1934) and The Mother of Us All (1947), opera librettos scored by Virgil Thomson.

Stein \'shtln\, (Heinrich Friedrich) Karl, imperial baron vom und zum (b. Oct.

26, 1757, Nassau an der Lahn,

Nassau—d. June 29, 1831, Schloss Cappenberg, Westphalia) Prussian statesman. Bom into the imperial nobility, he entered the civil service in 1780. As minister of economic affairs (1804-07) and chief minister (1807-08) to Frederick William III. he introduced wide-ranging reforms in administration, taxation, and the civil service that modernized the Prus¬ sian government. He abolished serfdom, reformed the laws on land own¬ ership, and helped reorganize the military. Anticipating war with France, he was forced to resign under pressure from Napoleon (1808) and fled to Austria. As an adviser to Tsar Alexander I (1812-15), he negotiated the Russo-Prussian Treaty of Kalisz (1813) that formed the last European coalition against Napoleon.

Stein-Leventhal syndrome See

Steinbeck, John (Ernst) (b. Feb.

Dec. 20, 1968, New York, N.Y.) U.S. novelist. Steinbeck intermittently attended Stanford University and worked as a manual labourer before his books attained success. He spent much of his life in Monterey county,

Calif. His reputation rests mostly on the naturalistic novels on proletarian themes that he wrote in the 1930s.

Among them are Tortilla Flat (1935), In Dubious Battle (1936), Of Mice and Men (1937), and the acclaimed The Grapes of Wrath (1939, Pulitzer Prize), which aroused widespread sympathy for the plight of migratory farm workers. In World War II he served as a war correspon¬ dent. His later novels include Can¬ nery Row (1945), The Pearl (1947),

The Wayward Bus (1947), and East of Eden (1952). He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962.

Steinberg, Saul orig. Saul Jacobson (b. June 15, 1914, Ramnicu Sarat, Rom.—d. May 12, 1999, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Romanian-born U.S. cartoonist and illustrator. He studied architecture in Milan, mean¬ while publishing cartoons in Italian magazines. Settling in New York City in 1942, he worked as a freelance artist, illustrator, and cartoonist, mainly for The New Yorker. His extraordinarily original and instantly recogniz¬ able works are often surrealistic or whimsically nightmarish visions of contemporary America and frequently employ odd versions of pop-culture icons. His subject matter ranges from the whimsical (e.g., a wicker chair overtaken by its curlicues) to the satirical (sinister, overgrown gadgets) to the philosophical (a tiny figure perched on a giant question mark balanced at the edge of an abyss). See photograph above.

Steinem, Gloria (b. March 25, 1934, Toledo, Ohio, U.S.) U.S. politi¬ cal activist, feminist, and editor. She began her career as a writer and journalist in New York and became deeply involved in the women's lib-

Saul Steinberg, photograph by Arnold Newman, 1951.

©ARNOLD NEWMAN

Eration movement in the late 1960s. In 1971 she was a founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus, and in 1972 she founded Ms., a trendsetting magazine that she subsequently edited, to treat contemporary issues from a feminist perspective. In the 1970s and ’80s she founded or cofounded other women’s organizations, including the National Organi¬ zation for Women. Her books include Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions (1983), Marilyn (1986), and Revolution from Within (1992).

Steiner, (Francis) George (b. April 23, 1929, Paris, France) French- bom U.S.-Swiss critic. Steiner became a U.S. citizen in 1944 but spent much of his time in Europe, teaching principally at Cambridge Univer¬ sity and the University of Geneva. He studied the relationship between literature and society, particularly in light of modern history, and his writ¬ ings on language and the Holocaust reached a wide nonacademic audi¬ ence. Among his works are The Death of Tragedy (1960), Language and Silence (1967), essays on the dehumanizing effects of World War II on literature, After Babel (1975), on the intersection of culture and linguis¬ tics, In Bluebeard’s Castle (1971), and several works of fiction.

Steiner, Maximilian Raoul Walter) (b. May 10, 1888, Vienna, Austria—-d. Dec. 28, 1971, Hollywood, Calif., U.S.) Austrian-born U.S. composer and conductor. A prodigy, he wrote an operetta at age 14 that ran in Vienna for a year. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1914 and worked in New York City as a theatre conductor and arranger, and then he moved to Hollywood in 1929. He became one of the first and finest (if not sub¬ tlest) movie composers, establishing many techniques that became stan¬ dard, with his scores for King Kong (1933), The Informer (1935, Academy Award), Gone with the Wind (1939), Now, Voyager (1942, Academy Award), Since You Went Away (1944, Academy Award), The Big Sleep (1946), The Fountainhead (1949), and many others.

Steiner Yshfi-nar\, Rudolf (b. Feb. 27, 1861, Kraljevic, Austria—d. March 30, 1925, Dornach, Switz.) Austrian-Swiss social and spiritual philosopher, founder of anthroposophy. He edited the scientific works of Johann W. von Goethe and contributed to the standard edition of Goet¬ he’s complete works. During this period he wrote The Philosophy of Freedom (1894). Coming gradually to believe in spiritual perception inde¬ pendent of the senses, he called the result of his research “anthroposo¬ phy,” centring on “knowledge produced by the higher self in man.” In 1912 he founded the Anthroposophical Society. In 1913 he built his first Goetheanum, a “school of spiritual science,” in Dornach, Switz. In 1919 he founded a progressive school for workers at the Waldorf Astoria fac¬ tory, which led to the international Waldorf School movement. Steiner’s other writings include The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity (1894), Occult Science (1913), and Story of My Life (1924).

Steinmetz Vshtln- 1 mets,\ English \'stln- l mets\, Charles Proteus orig. Karl August Rudolf Steinmetz (b. April 9, 1865, Breslau, Prussia—d. Oct. 26, 1923, Schenectady, N.Y., U.S.) German-born U.S. electrical engineer. Forced to leave Germany because of his socialist activities, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1889 and began working for Gen¬ eral Electric Co. in 1893. He taught at Union College from 1902. His experiments led to the law of hysteresis, which deals with power loss in electrical machinery when magnetic action is converted to unusable heat; the constant he calculated (by age 27) has remained a part of electrical engineering vocabulary. In 1893 he developed a simplified symbolic

POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME

27, 1902, Salinas, Calif., U.S.—d.

John Steinbeck.

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© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

1818 I Steinway ► Steno

method of calculating alternating- current phenomena. He also studied electrical transients (changes of very short duration in electrical circuits; e.g., lightning); his theory of travel¬ ing waves led to development of devices to protect high-power trans¬ mission lines from lightning bolts and to the design of a powerful gen¬ erator. He patented over 200 inven¬ tions.

Stein way German-U.S. piano manufacturing firm. Henry E. Stein¬ way, born Heinrich Engelhard Stein- weg (1797-1871), was trained as an organ builder in his native Germany and began building pianos in 1836.

He and most of his family followed one of his sons to the U.S. in 1850.

After working for other piano firms for several years to learn the Ameri¬ can business, in 1853 father and sons founded their own company in New York City, which came to dominate the market. In 1865 he brought to the U.S. the sons who had kept the German business going. He himself became involved in research and development, and his improvements set the standard for the modern grand piano.

stele Vste-le, *stel\ or stela Vste-l9\ Standing stone tablet used in the ancient world primarily as a grave marker but also for dedication, com¬ memoration, and demarcation. Though the stele’s origin is unknown, a stone slab was commonly used as a tombstone in Egypt, Greece, Asia, and the Mayan empire. In Babylon, the Code of Hammurabi was engraved on a tall stele. The largest number of stelae were produced in Attica, chiefly as grave markers. The dead were represented on the stelae as they were in life: men as warriors or athletes, women surrounded by their chil¬ dren, and children with their pets or toys.

Stella, Frank (Philip) (b. May 12, 1936, Malden, Mass., U.S.) U.S. painter. He moved to New York City after studying history at Princeton University and there began his innovative “black paintings” (1958-60), incorporating symmetrical series of thin white stripes that replicated the canvas shape when seen against their black backgrounds. As a leading figure of Minimalism, in the mid 1960s he began using polychromy in an influential series marked by intersecting geometric curvilinear shapes and plays of vivid and harmonious colours. In the 1970s he began producing sensuously coloured, mixed-media reliefs featuring more organic shapes. He was given retrospective exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in 1970 and 1987.

Steller's sea cow See sea cow

stem Plant axis that emerges from the roots, supports the branches, bears buds and shoots with leaves, and contains the vascular (conducting) tis¬ sues (xylem and phloem) that transport water, minerals, and food to other parts of the plant. The pith (a central core of spongy tissue) is surrounded by strands (in dicots; see cotyledon) or bundles (in monocots) of conduct¬ ing xylem and phloem, then by the cortex and outermost epidermis, or bark. The cambium (an area of actively dividing cells) lies just below the bark. Lateral buds and leaves grow out of the stem at intervals called nodes; the intervals on the stem between the nodes are called intemodes. In flowering plants, various stem modifications (rhizome, corm, tuber, bulb, stolon) let the plant survive dormantly for years, store food, or sprout asexually. All green stems perform photosynthesis, as do leaves; in plants such as the cacti (see cactus) and asparagus, the stem is the chief site of photosynthesis.

stem cell In living organisms, an undifferentiated cell that can produce other cells that eventually make up specialized tissues and organs. There are two major types of stem cells, embryonic and adult. Embryonic stem cells are located in the inner mass of a blastocyst (an embryo at a very early stage of development), and they eventually give rise to every cell type of the adult organism. Adult stem cells are found in some tissues in the adult body, such as the epidermis of the skin, the lining of the small intestine, and the bone marrow, where they serve in the regeneration of old or worn tissue. In cancer treatment, blood-forming adult stem cells are routinely harvested from bone marrow, stored, and then reinfused into patients to replace blood cells destroyed by chemotherapy or radiation therapy. This potential for

replacing damaged tissues has aroused great interest in using embryonic stem cells to treat a number of other conditions, such as Parkinson disease, severe burns, and damage to the spinal cord. Mouse embryonic stem cells are widely used to create genetically modified mice that serve as models for investigating human disease. However, the use of human embryonic stem cells, which requires destroying the blastocysts from which they are obtained, has raised objections by those who feel blastocyst-stage embryos are human beings. The first human stem cell line was created in 1998, using cells harvested from embryos produced through in vitro fertilization. The use of human embryonic stem cells is allowed in some countries and pro¬ hibited or restricted in others.

Stendhal \sta n -‘dal,\£>ig/w/i \sten-'dal\ orig. Marie-Henri Beyle (b. Jan. 23, 1783, Grenoble, France—d.

March 23, 1842, Paris) French nov¬ elist. He left for Paris in 1799 partly to escape his father’s rule. By 1802 he was keeping a diary (posthu¬ mously published as his Journal) and writing other texts dealing with his intimate thoughts. From 1806 he served in Napoleon’s army; after the French empire fell in 1814, he settled in Italy. As a result of political and romantic disappointments, he returned to Paris. During 1821-30, while leading an active social and intellectual life, he wrote works including the masterpiece The Red and the Black (1830), a powerful character study of an ambitious young man that is also an acute pic¬ ture of Restoration France. His other major work, The Charterhouse of Parma (1839), is remarkable for its sophisticated rendering of human psychology and its subtly drawn portraits. His unfinished autobiographi¬ cal works. Memoirs of an Egotist (1892) and The Life of Henry Brulard (1890), are among his most original achievements.

Stengel, Casey orig. Charles Dillon Stengel (b. July 30, 1891, Kansas City, Mo., U.S.—d. Sept. 29, 1975, Glendale, Calif.) U.S. baseball player and manager. Stengel played outfield with the Brooklyn Dodgers (1912-17), Pittsburgh Pirates (1918-19), Philadelphia Phillies (1920-21), New York Giants (1921-23), and Boston Braves (1924-25). He became a coach and manager of the Dodgers and Braves but achieved his greatest success with the New York Yankees (1949-61), leading the team to 10 pen¬ nants (5 in consecutive years) and 7 World Series championships (5 in con¬ secutive years) in 12 years. He later served as vice president and manager of the newly formed New York Mets (1962-65), a team that became noted for its dismal performance during these early years. Throughout his career Stengel was known for his showmanship and his idiosyncratic use and mis¬ use of English, called “Stengelese” (for example, “I’ve always heard it couldn’t be done, but sometimes it don’t always work”).

Stenmark, Ingemar (b. March 18, 1956, Josesjo, Lapland, Swed.) Swedish Alpine skier. Stenmark trained with Sweden’s junior national team from age 13 and won his first World Cup race in 1974. In 1976, 1977, and 1978 he was the overall victor in the World Cup (slalom, giant slalom, and downhill). In the 1980 Olympic Games he won gold medals in slalom and giant slalom. He turned professional later that year, and he retired in 1989. His lifetime total of 86 World Cup victories still stands as a record, and he is perhaps the greatest slalom and giant slalom skier of all time.

Steno \'sta-no\, Nicolaus Danish Niels Steensen or Niels Stensen (b. Jan. 10, 1638, Copenhagen, Den.—d. Nov. 26, 1686, Schw¬ erin, Prussia) Danish geologist and anatomist. An eminent physician, in 1660 he discovered the parotid salivary duct (Stensen’s duct). In his geo¬ logic observations, he was the first to realize that the Earth’s crust con¬ tains a chronological history of geologic events that might be deciphered by careful study of rock strata and fossils, which he identified as the remains of ancient living organisms. In 1669 he made the fundamental crystallographic discovery that all quartz crystals have the same angles between corresponding faces. He later abandoned science for religion and became a priest in 1675.

Stendhal, oil painting by Pierre-Joseph Dedreux-Dorcy; in the Bibliotheque Municipale de Grenoble, France.

COURTESY OF THE BIBLIOTHEQUE MUNICIPALE DE GRENOBLE, FR; PHOTOGRAPH, STUDIO PICCARDY

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

stenography ► Stephenson I 1819

stenography See shorthand

stenotypy \'ste-n3-,tl-pe\ System of machine shorthand in which let¬ ters or groups of letters phonetically represent syllables, words, phrases, and punctuation marks. The machine, usually the commercial Stenotype or Stenograph, is often used in court reporting. Virtually noiseless, it can be operated at more than 250 words per minute. Several keys may be struck simultaneously to print a complete word with one stroke.

Stephen or Stephen of Blois \'blwa\ (b. c. 1097 —d. Oct. 25, 1154) King of England (1135-54). The nephew of Henry I, he pledged to sup¬ port Matilda but claimed the throne himself. In the civil strife that fol¬ lowed, he was unable to win the loyalty of all the barons. Matilda invaded (1139), and, in a display of chivalry, Stephen had her escorted to Bristol. She gained control of most of western England and captured Stephen in battle (1141), but her arrogance provoked a rebellion, and she was forced to leave England (1148). An agreement was reached whereby Matilda’s son Henry of Anjou (later Henry II), who invaded England in 1153, was named as Stephen’s successor.

Stephen known as Stephen the Great (b. 1435—d. July 2, 1504) Prince of Moldavia (1457-1504). With the help of the Walachian prince Vlad III fepeg, Stephen secured the throne of Moldavia. He repelled a Hungarian invasion (1467) and later attacked Walachia (1471), by then under Turkish vassalage. He defeated invading Turks (1475, 1476) and contended with Polish and Hungarian designs on Moldavia. In 1503 Stephen signed a treaty preserving Moldavian independence at the cost of an annual tribute to the Turks.

Stephen, Sir James Fitzjames, 1st Baronet (b. March 3, 1829, London, Eng.—d. March 11, 1894, Ipswich, Suffolk) British legal histo¬ rian and judge. His General View of the Criminal Law of England (1863) was the first attempt to explain the principles of English law since the work of William Blackstone. As a member of the British viceroy’s council in India (1869-72), he helped codify and reform Indian law. He later taught at the Inns of Court (1875-79) and served as a judge of the High Court of Justice (1879-91). His Indictable Offenses Bill, though never enacted, greatly influenced the reformation of criminal law in English- speaking countries.

Stephen, Sir Leslie (b. Nov. 28, 1832, London, Eng.—d. Feb. 22, 1904, London) English critic and man of letters. After attending Eton College and Cambridge University, he gained entry to literary circles and in 1871 began an 11-year tenure as editor of The Cornhill Magazine, for which he wrote literary criticism. His greatest learned work was his His¬ tory of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century (1876), but his most enduring legacy is the Dictionary of National Biography, which he edited from 1882 to 1891, personally writing many hundreds of its meticulous articles. He was the father of Virginia Woolf and the painter Vanessa Bell

(1879-1961).

Stephen, Saint (d. c. ad 36, Jerusalem) First Christian martyr. As told in the Acts of the Apostles, he was a foreign-born Jew who lived in Jerus¬ alem and joined the church at an early date. He was one of seven dea¬ cons appointed by the Apostles to care for elderly women, widows, and orphans. As a Hellenized Jew, he was strongly opposed to the Temple cult of Judaism. For expressing his opposition, he was brought before the Sanhedrin. His defense of Christianity so outraged his hearers that he was condemned to be stoned to death. One of those who assented to the execution was Saul of Tarsus (St. Paul).

Stephen I or Saint Stephen orig. Vajk (b. 970/975, Esztergom, Hung.—d. Aug. 15, 1038, Esztergom; canonized 1083; feast day August 16) First king of Hungary (1000-38) and founder of the Hungarian state. The son of a Magyar chieftain, he was bom a pagan but was later baptized as a Christian. After defeating his cousin to claim the throne, Stephen was crowned; his royal crown was a gift of Pope Sylvester II. His rule was peace¬ ful except for an invasion by Conrad II (1030) and minor disputes with Poland and Bulgaria, and he organized Hungarian government and church administration on German models. He is the patron saint of Hungary.

Stephen II (b. Rome—d. April 26,757, Rome) Pope (752-757). He freed the papacy from Byzantium and allied it with the Franks against the Lom¬ bards, who were threatening Rome. In Gaul he anointed Pippin III, Charle¬ magne, and Carloman as kings of the Romans, and in return Pippin led his army against the Lombardic king Aistulf (754,756). The victorious Franks granted the pope territory in Ravenna, Rome, Venetia, and Istria, thus establishing the Papal States under Stephen’s rule. (See Donation of Pippin)

Stephen Bathory \'ba-tor-e\ Hungarian Istvan Bathory Polish Stefan Batory (b. Sept. 27, 1533, Szilagysomlyo, Transylvania —d. Dec. 12, 1586, near Grodno, grand duchy of Lith.) Prince of Transylva¬ nia (1571-76) and king of Poland (1575-86). In 1571 he was elected prince of Transylvania by the Hungarians, and in 1575, as son-in-law of the late Sigismund I, he was elected king of Poland by the Polish nobility. A forceful and ambitious monarch, he successfully defended Poland’s eastern Baltic provinces against Russian incursion and forced the cession of Livonia to Poland in 1582. He planned to unite Poland, Muscovy, and Transylvania and was preparing to renew the war against Russia when he died.

Stephen Decansky See Stefan Decansky Stephen Dusan See Stefan Dusan Stephen Nemanja See Stefan Nemanja

Stephens, Alexander H(amilton) (b. Feb. 11, 1812, Wilkes county, Ga., U.S.—d. March 4, 1883, Atlanta, Ga.) U.S. politician. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1843-59), where he defended slavery but opposed dissolution of the Union. When Georgia seceded, he was elected vice president of the Confederacy. He supported constitutional government, opposed attempts by Jefferson Davis to infringe on individuals’ rights, and advocated a program of prisoner exchanges. He led the delegation to the Hampton Roads Conference (1865). After the war he was held in Boston for five months. He served again in the House (1873-82) and as governor of Georgia (1882-83).

Stephens, John Lloyd (b. Nov. 28, 1805, Shrewsbury, N.J., U.S.—d. Oct. 12, 1852, New York, N.Y.) U.S. traveler and archaeologist. Stephens’s travels in the Middle East resulted in two books. With his illustrator friend Frederick Catherwood he embarked for Honduras in 1839 to explore ancient Maya ruins rumoured to exist. At Copan, Uxmal, Palenque, and elsewhere, they identified major new sites. They described their findings in Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan (1841) and recounted a second trip in Incidents of Travel in Yucatan (1843). Their books created a storm of popular and scholarly interest in the region.

Stephens, Uriah Smith (b. Aug. 3, 1821, Cape May, N.J., U.S.—d. Feb. 13, 1882, Philadelphia, Pa.) U.S. labour leader. Apprenticed as a tai¬ lor, he became involved in reform movements such as abolitionism and utopian socialism, and in 1862 he helped organize the Garment Cutters’ Association of Philadelphia. In 1869 he cofounded the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor, the first national labour union in the U.S., and became its first leader (or grand master workman). The high calling of the union and the hostility of union-busters led Stephens to favour secrecy and ritual in its meetings, which became increasingly controversial, as did Stephens’s opposition to strikes. In 1878 he resigned his post.

Stephenson, George (b. June 9, 1781, Wylam, Northumberland, Eng.—d. Aug. 12, 1848, Chester¬ field, Derbyshire) English engineer, principal inventor of the locomotive.

Son of a coal-mine mechanic, he himself became chief mechanic at a coal mine, where his interest in steam engines led to experiments on a machine to pull coal-filled cars out of the mines. In 1815 he devised a powerful “steam blast” system that made the locomotive practical. In 1825 he built a steam locomotive for the first passenger railway, from Stockton to Darlington, which could carry 450 people at 15 mph (24 km/hr). In 1829, assisted by his son Robert Stephenson, he built his improved locomotive, the Rocket, which won a speed competition at 36 mph (58 km/hr) and became the model for later locomotives. His company built all eight locomotives for the new Liverpool-Manchester railway (1830).

Stephenson, Robert (b. Oct. 16, 1803, Willington Quay, Northum¬ berland, Eng.—d. Oct. 12, 1859, London) British civil engineer and

George Stephenson, detail of a mez¬ zotint by Charles Turner after Henry Perronet Briggs, 1838.

COURTESY OF THE SCIENCE MUSEUM, LONDON

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

1820 I Steptoe ► Steuben

builder of long-span railroad bridges. The son of George Stephenson, he assisted his father in constructing the Rocket and several railways. Build¬ ing a railway from Newcastle to Berwick, he spanned the River Tyne with a six-arch iron bridge. Called on to build a secure railroad bridge over the Menai Strait to the Welsh mainland, Stephenson conceived a unique tubu¬ lar design, the success of which led to his building other tubular bridges in England and elsewhere.

Steptoe, Patrick (Christopher); and Edwards, Robert (Geoffrey) (respectively b. June 9, 1913, Witney, Oxfordshire, Eng.—d. March 21, 1988, Canterbury, Kent; b. Sept. 27, 1925, Yorkshire) British medical researchers. They perfected human in vitro fertilization, leading to the birth of the first “test-tube baby” in 1978. Steptoe had conducted research on sterilization and infertility and published Laparoscopy in Gynaecology (1967). Edwards succeeded in 1968 in fertilizing human ova outside the uterus. Their partnership, begun in 1968, resulted in the birth of more than 1,000 babies.

stereochemistry Term originated c. 1878 by Viktor Meyer (1848-97) for the study of stereoisomers (see isomer). Louis Pasteur had shown in 1848 that tartaric acid has optical activity and that this depends on molecular asymmetry, and Jacobus H. van't Hoff and Joseph-Achille Le Bel (1847- 1930) had independently explained in 1874 how a molecule with a car¬ bon atom bonded to four different groups has two mirror-image forms. Stereochemistry deals with stereoisomers and with asymmetric synthesis. John Cornforth (b. 1917) and Vladimir Prelog (1906-98) shared a 1975 Nobel Prize for work on stereochemistry and stereoisomerism of alka¬ loids, enzymes, antibiotics, and other natural compounds.

sterilization Any surgical procedure intended to end fertility perma¬ nently (see contraception). Such operations remove or interrupt the ana¬ tomical pathways through which the cells involved in fertilization travel (see reproductive system). They are relatively simple and more than 99% effective. The operations used in humans are vasectomy in men and tubal ligation (tying off and blocking or cutting of the fallopian tubes) in women. Though these operations are considered permanent, the develop¬ ment of microsurgery has improved the chances of reversal. Animals are sterilized by castration in males and spaying (removal of the ovaries) in females.

Sterkfontein Vsterk-fon-.tanX One of three neighbouring South African sites (the others being Kromdraai and Swartkrans) at which the remains of fossil hominids have been found. The fossils found include those of Australopithecus africanus, A. robustus (see Australopithecus), and Homo erectus. In 1996 researchers uncovered the most complete australopithe- cine fossil skeleton since Lucy, that of an A. africanus individual with a humanlike pelvis but with limb proportions similar to those of a modem chimpanzee. At Makapansgat, 150 mi (240 km) to the north, the remains of about 40 individuals of A. africanus have been found.

Sterling, Bruce (b. April 14, 1954, Brownsville, Texas, U.S.) U.S. science-fiction writer. He graduated from the University of Texas in 1976, the year his first story, “Man-Made Self,” was published. A principal pro¬ ponent of cyberpunk, science fiction dealing with harsh future urban soci¬ eties dominated by computer technology, he edited Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology (1986) and published novels such as Schismatrix (1985), Islands in the Net (1988), The Difference Engine (1990; with Wil¬ liam Gibson), and Distraction (1999).

Stern Vshtem\ German weekly newsmagazine. Founded in 1948, it quickly became known for its outstanding photography and its blend of light and serious material. The magazine’s lively treatment of many top¬ ics helped it achieve wide popularity in the 20th century. With a weekly circulation of roughly one million. Stern features pictorial essays, celeb¬ rity profiles, interviews, and other material and combines provocative photographs of violence and sexual imagery with conventional pictures of current events. In the early 21st century. Stern took an influential stand against neo-Nazi activities by launching a campaign to prevent right-wing violence.

Stern, Isaac (b. July 21, 1920, Kremenets, Ukraine, Russian Empire—d. Sept. 22, 2001, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Ukrainian-born U.S. violinist. His family came to the U.S. when he was an infant. He first performed with the San Francisco Symphony in 1936, and he made his New York City debut at age 17. After World War II, he began to tour extensively (including the Soviet Union in 1956). In 1960 he formed a famous trio with pianist Eugene Istomin (b. 1925) and cellist Leonard

Rose (1918-84). He was instrumental in saving Carnegie Hall from demo¬ lition, helped establish the National Endowment for the Arts, and was a key presence in the musical life of Israel.

Sternberg, Josef von orig. Jonas Stern (b. May 29, 1894, Vienna, Austria—d. Dec. 22, 1969, Holly¬ wood, Calif., U.S.) Austrian-bom U.S. film director. He immigrated with his Orthodox Jewish family to New York as a boy. By 1923 he was a scriptwriter and cameraman in Hollywood. In 1927 he made the first serious gangster movie. Underworld.

His films became noted for their striking visual effects and atmo¬ spheric use of light and dark. In Ger¬ many he directed The Blue Angel (1930), which made actress Marlene Dietrich an international star. She returned with Sternberg to Holly¬ wood, where he directed her in Morocco (1930), Shanghai Express (1932), Blonde Venus (1932), The Scarlet Empress (1934), and The Devil Is a Woman (1935). His career thereafter declined, though his late films Macao (1952) and The Saga of Anatahan (1953) were admired.

Sterne, Laurence (b. Nov. 24, 1713, Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ire.—d. March 18, 1768, London,

Eng.) English novelist and humorist.

Sterne was a clergyman in York for many years before his talents became apparent when he wrote a Swiftian satire in support of his dean in a church squabble. Turning his parishes over to a curate, he began to write Tristram Shandy (1759-67), an experimental novel issued in nine parts in which the story is subordi¬ nate to its narrator’s free associations and digressions. It is considered one of the most important ancestors of psychological and stream of con¬ sciousness fiction. Long afflicted with tuberculosis, Sterne fled the damp air of England and undertook the trav¬ els that inspired his unfinished Sen¬ timental Journey Through France and Italy (1768), a comic novel that defies conventional expectations of a travel book.

steroid Any of a class of natural or synthetic organic compounds with a molecular core, or nucleus, of 17 carbon atoms in a characteristic three- dimensional arrangement of four rings. The configuration of the nucleus, the nature of the groups attached to it, and their positions distinguish dif¬ ferent steroids. Hundreds have been found in plants and animals and thousands more synthesized or made by modifying natural steroids. Ste¬ roids are important in biology, chemistry, and medicine. Examples include many hormones (including the sex hormones), bile acids, sterols (includ¬ ing cholesterol), and oral contraceptives (see contraception). Digitalis was the first steroid widely used in Western medicine. Corticosteroids (see cortisone) and their synthetic analogs are used to treat rheumatism and other inflammatory ailments. See also anabolic steroid.

Stettin See Szczecin

Stettinius \ste-'ti-ne-9s\, Edward Reilly, Jr. (b. Oct. 22, 1900, Chi¬ cago, Ill., U.S.—d. Oct. 31,1949, Greenwich, Conn.) U.S. industrialist and statesman. He worked for General Motors Corp., becoming a vice presi¬ dent in 1931. Joining U.S. Steel Corp. in 1934, he became chairman of the board in 1938. He was appointed chairman of the War Resources Board (1939-40) and administrator of lend-lease (1941-43). As U.S. secretary of state (1944-45), he advised Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Yalta Con¬ ference. He led the U.S. delegation to the UN organizing conference in San Francisco and was the first U.S. delegate to the UN (1945—46).

Steuben Vstu-banX, Frederick William (Augustus), Baron,

von (b. Sept. 17, 1730, Magdeburg, Prussia—d. Nov. 28, 1794, near

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Stevens ► Stewart I 1821

Remsen, N.Y., U.S.) German-bom American Revolutionary officer. He joined the Prussian army at 16 and was a captain in the Seven Years’ War. After the war he retired from the army and became court chamberlain for the prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen; at some unknown date he appar¬ ently was created a baron. Recommended to George Washington, he arrived in America in 1777. Appointed to train the Continental forces at Valley Forge, Pa., he produced a disciplined fighting force that became the model for the entire Continental Army. He was appointed inspector general of the army and was promoted to major general (1778), and he helped command the Siege of Yorktown.

Stevens, George (b. Dec. 18, 1904, Oakland, Calif., U.S.—d. March 8, 1975, Lancaster, Calif.) U.S. film director. Both of his parents were actors, and Stevens was the stage manager of his father’s company until 1921, when he went to Hollywood to become a cameraman. He photo¬ graphed many of Laurel and Hardy’s (see Laurel, Stan; and Hardy, Oliver) comedies before turning to directing in 1933. Noted for his brilliant cam¬ era techniques, careful craftsmanship, and a romanticized view of life, he achieved fame with Alice Adams (1935) and Swing Time (1936). His later films include Woman of the Year (1942), I Remember Mama (1948), A Place in the Sun (1951, Academy Award), the classic western Shane (1953), and Giant (1956, Academy Award).

Stevens, John (b. 1749, New York, N.Y.—d. March 6, 1838, Hobo¬ ken, N.J., U.S.) U.S. lawyer, engineer, and inventor. He served as a colo¬ nel in the American Revolution. To protect his boiler and engine designs, he submitted his outline for a patent law; the resulting Patent Law of 1790 formed the basis of the U.S. patent system. In 1802 he became the first person to employ a powered screw to propel a ship. In 1809 his steam¬ ship Phoenix became the world’s first seagoing steamboat. In Philadel¬ phia in 1811 he inaugurated the world’s first steam-ferry service. In 1825 he built the first American steam locomotive. He developed his New Jer¬ sey estate into the city of Hoboken. He was the father of Robert L. Stevens. Another son, Edwin Augustus Stevens (1795-1868), was the inventor of the Stevens plow and a pioneer builder of ironclad warships and estab¬ lished the Stevens Institute of Technology by a bequest. A third son, John Cox Stevens (1785-1857), headed the group that sent the yacht America to Britain, where it won the race that established the America's Cup.

Stevens, John Paul (b. April 20, 1920, Chicago, Ill., U.S.) U.S. jurist. He studied law at Northwestern University and clerked at the Supreme Court of the United States before joining a Chicago law firm, where he specialized in antitrust law while also teaching and serving on various public commissions. He was appointed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (1970) by Pres. Richard Nixon and to the Supreme Court by Pres. Gerald Ford (1975). Though initially perceived as a conservative, he proved to be a moderate liberal; indeed, as the court became more con¬ servative in the 1980s and early ’90s, after appointments by Pres. Ronald Reagan and Pres. George Bush, Stevens became perhaps the court’s most liberal member.

Stevens, Robert Livingston (b. Oct. 18, 1787, Hoboken, N.J., U.S.—d. April 20, 1856, Hoboken) U.S. engineer and ship designer. The son of John Stevens, he tested the first steamboat to use screw propellers. He designed the railway T-rail in 1830, and later the railroad spike. He found that rails laid on wooden ties, with crushed stone or gravel beneath, provided a roadbed superior to any known before; his construction remains in universal use.

Stevens, Thaddeus (b. April 4, 1792, Danville, Vt., U.S.—d. Aug. 11, 1868, Washington, D.C.) U.S. politician. He practiced law in Penn¬ sylvania, defending fugitive slaves without fee. In the U.S. House of Rep¬ resentatives (1849-53,1859-68), he opposed the extension of slavery into the western territories. After the American Civil War, as a leader of the Radical Republicans, he demanded strict conditions for readmission of the seceded states. He helped establish the Freedmen's Bureau and secured pas¬ sage of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. He opposed the mod¬ erate Reconstruction policies of Pres. Andrew Johnson and introduced the resolution for his impeachment.

Stevens, Wallace (b. Oct. 2, 1879, Reading, Pa., U.S.—d. Aug. 2, 1955, Hartford, Conn.) U.S. poet. Stevens practiced law in New York City before joining an insurance firm in Hartford in 1916; he rose to vice president, a position he held until his death. His poems began appearing in literary magazines in 1914. In Harmonium (1923), his first and most verbally brilliant book, he introduced the theme that occupied his creative lifetime and unified his thought: the relationship between imagination and

reality. His later poetry, in collec¬ tions such as Ideas of Order (1936),

The Man with the Blue Guitar (1937), and The Auroras of Autumn (1950), continued to explore this theme with greater depth and rigour.

Not until his late years was he widely read or recognized as a major poet by more than a few; he received a Pulitzer Prize only with his Col¬ lected Poems in 1955. He is now often considered one of America’s greatest 20th-century poets.

Stevenson, Adlai E(wing) (b.

Feb. 5, 1900, Los Angeles, Calif.,

U.S.—d. July 14, 1965, London,

Eng.) U.S. politician and diplomat.

The grandson of a vice president of the U.S., he practiced law in Chicago from 1926. During World War II he was assistant to the secretary of the navy (1941-44) and to the secretary of state (1945). He served as a U.S. delegate to the UN (1946-47). As governor of Illinois (1949-53), he introduced liberal reforms. Noted for his eloquence and wit, he was twice the Democratic candidate for president (1952, 1956) but lost both times to Dwight D. Eisenhower. He later served as chief U.S. representative to the UN (1961-65).

Stevenson, Robert Louis (Balfour) (b. Nov. 13, 1850, Edinburgh, Scot.—d. Dec. 3, 1894, Vailima, Samoa) Scottish essayist, novelist, and poet. He prepared for a law career but never practiced. He traveled fre¬ quently, partly in search of better climates for his tuberculosis, which would eventually cause his death at age 44. He became known for accounts such as Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes (1879) and essays in periodicals, first collected in Virginibus Puerisque (1881). His immensely popular novels Treasure Island (1883), Kidnapped { 1886), and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), and The Master of Ballantrae (1889) were written over the course of a few years. A Child’s Garden of Verses (1885) is one of the most influential children’s works of the 19th century. In his last years he lived in Samoa and produced works moving toward a new maturity, including the story “The Beach of Falesa” (1892) and the novel Weir of Hermiston (1896), his unfinished masterpiece.

Stevin Vsta-vin\, Simon (b. 1548, Bruges, Flanders—d. 1620, The Hague, Holland) Flemish mathematician. In 1585 Stevin published a small pamphlet, La Thiende (“The Tenth”), in which he presented an account of decimal fractions and their daily use. Though he did not invent decimal fractions and his notation was clumsy, he established the use of decimals in day-to-day mathematics.

Stewart See House of Stuart

Stewart, Ellen (b. c. 1920, Alexandria, La., U.S.) U.S. theatre director. In the 1950s she moved to New York City to become a fashion designer. In 1961 she founded Cafe La Mama, an experimental theatre specializing in total integration of music, dance, and drama. There she gave a start to many young actors and playwrights, including Bette Midler and Sam Shepard. Stewart became known as the mother of Off-Off-Broadway theatre. A European tour in 1965 made La Mama a mecca for European avant-garde directors. Its frequently distinguished productions have made La Mama a venerated institution and have won more than 50 Obie Awards.

Stewart, Henry See Lord Darnley

Stewart, J(ohn) l(nnes) M(ackintosh) (b. Sept. 30, 1906, Edin¬ burgh, Scot.—d. Nov. 12, 1994, Coulsdon, Surrey, Eng.) Scottish-born English novelist, literary critic, and educator. Stewart began writing while working as a college professor. In his mystery novels, he created the char¬ acter of Inspector John Appleby, a British detective known for his suave humour and literary finesse. Among the best of these mysteries, all pub¬ lished under the pseudonym of Michael Innes, are Lament for a Maker (1938), The Journeying Boy (1949), and An Awkward Lie (1971). Stew¬ art wrote other works of fiction under his own name, as well as several works of literary criticism. His autobiography. Myself and Michael Innes, was published in 1987.

Stewart, James (Maitland) (b. May 20, 1908, Indiana, Pa., U.S.—d. July 2, 1997, Beverly Hills, Calif.) U.S. film actor. He made his

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

1822 I Stewart ► Stigler

film debut in 1935, but at first, Stew¬ art’s slow, halting line delivery (per¬ haps his most readily identifiable trademark) and angular features made him difficult to cast. His engag¬ ing manner, however, led to quick acceptance by the movie-going pub¬ lic, and he played endearingly simple and idealistic characters in Frank Capra’s You Can’t Take It with You (1938) and Mr. Smith Goes to Wash¬ ington (1939). He won an Academy Award for best actor for his perfor¬ mance in The Philadelphia Story (1940). After serving as a bomber pilot in World War II, he starred in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), which became a Christmas classic. He was known for his portrayals of diffident but morally resolute characters. His many movies include Destry Rides Again (1939), The Glenn Miller Story (1954), The Man from Laramie (1955), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), and Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1955), and Vertigo

(1958).

Stewart, Potter (b. Jan. 23, 1915, Jackson, Mich., U.S.—d. Dec. 7, 1985, Hanover, N.H.) U.S. jurist. He studied law at Yale University and was admitted to the bar in New York and Ohio in 1941. After settling in Cincinnati, Ohio, he served on the city council and as vice mayor before his appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1954. In 1958 Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed him to the Supreme Court of the United States, where he served until 1981. A moderate, he wrote the majority opinion in the Shelton v. Tucker case, which held unconstitutional the requirement that teachers list all the associations to which they belong, and also wrote a memorable dissent in Miranda v. Arizona, in which he argued that the court’s decision provided too much protection to defen¬ dants and undermined the ability of the police to enforce the law. He is perhaps best remembered for summarizing the difficulty in defining obscenity, writing in a concurring opinion that “I know it when I see it.”

Stibitz, George Robert (b. April 20, 1904, York, Pa., U.S.—d. Jan. 31, 1995, Hanover, N.H.) U.S. mathematician and inventor. He received a Ph.D. from Cornell University. In 1940 he and Samuel Williams, a col¬ league at Bell Labs, built the Complex Number Calculator, considered a forerunner of the digital computer. He accomplished the first remote com¬ puter operation by inputting problems via Teletype, and he pioneered com¬ puter applications in biomedical areas, such as the movement of oxygen in the lungs, brain cell structure, diffusion of nutrients and drugs in the body, and capillary transport. The holder of 38 patents, he was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame in 1983.

stibnite Antimony sulfide (Sb 2 S 3 ), the principal ore of antimony. This sulfide mineral has a brilliant metallic lustre, is lead or steel gray in colour, and fuses (melts) readily. Stibnite occurs in low-temperature hydrother¬ mal veins (see hydrothermal ore deposits) and in replacement deposits. Sig¬ nificant deposits have been found in China, Japan, and the U.S. (Idaho, California, and Nevada). Stibnite is used in making matches, fireworks, and percussion caps and was used by the ancients as a cosmetic (called kohl) to increase the apparent size of the eye.

Stick style Style of residential design popular in the U.S. in the 1860s and ’70s, a precursor to the Shingle style. The Stick style favoured an imi¬ tation half-timbered effect, with boards attached to the exterior walls in grids suggestive of the underlying frame construction. Other characteris¬ tic features included attached open stickwork verandas, projecting square bays, steeply pitched roofs, and overhanging eaves. Angular and vertical elements were emphasized. Though associated with Carpenter Gothic, the Stick style made less use of gingerbread. The style also marked the begin¬ ning of greater openness of the floor plan. Charles S. and Henry M. Greene succeeded admirably in reinterpreting the style in the early 20th century.

stickleback Any of about 12 species (family Gasterosteidae) of slen¬ der, scaleless fishes inhabiting temperate fresh and salt waters of the Northern Hemisphere. Sticklebacks grow to 6 in. (15 cm) long. They have a row of spines on the back, in front of a soft-rayed dorsal fin, and a sharp

James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life

(1946).

CULVER PICTURES

spine in each of the pelvic fins. They also have a slender tail base, a squared tail, and hard armour plates on their sides. The male builds a nest of plant materials and coaxes one or more females into it to lay eggs, fertilizes the eggs in the nest, and aggressively defends eggs and young.

Stickley, Gustav (b. March 9, 1858, Osceola, Wis., U.S.—d. April 21, 1942, Syracuse, N.Y.) U.S. furniture designer and maker. He learned to make furniture at a chair factory owned by an uncle. After taking over the factory, he moved it to New York state, first to Binghamton and then to Syracuse. Influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement and by visits to old missions in the American Southwest, he introduced c. 1900 a highly origi¬ nal line of sturdy oak furniture. To spread his ideas and designs, he pub¬ lished the influential magazine The Craftsman (1901-16). In 1916 two younger brothers established a firm to produce furniture from his designs and gave the style the name Mission, by which name it is still popular today.

Stiegel Vste-g9l,\ German Vshte-goL, Henry William orig. Hein¬ rich Wilhelm Stiegel (b. May 13, 1729, near Cologne—d. Jan. 10, 1785, Charming Forge, Pa., U.S.) German-born U.S. ironmaster and glassmaker. After arriving in Philadelphia in 1750, he quickly became a prosperous ironmaster. In 1762 he bought a huge tract of land in Lan¬ caster County and built the town of Manheim, where he established American Flint Glassworks; there he imported Venetian, German, and English glassworkers to make utilitarian vessels and high-quality blue, purple, green, and clear tableware. He owned three mansions, where his comings and goings were announced by a cannon salute and band music, but his lavish style and adverse economic conditions eventually bank¬ rupted him.

Stieglitz \'steg-lits\, Alfred (b. Jan. 1, 1864, Hoboken, N.J., U.S.—d.

July 13, 1946, New York, N.Y.) U.S. photographer and exhibitor of mod¬ em art. He was taken to Europe by his wealthy family to further his edu¬ cation in 1881. In 1883 he aban¬ doned engineering studies in Berlin for a photographic career. Returning to the U.S. in 1890, he made the first successful photographs in snow, in rain, and at night. In 1902 he founded the Photo-Secession group to establish photography as an art. His own best photographs are per¬ haps two series (1917-27), one of portraits of his wife, Georgia O'Keeffe, and the other of cloud shapes corresponding to emotional experiences. His photographs were the first to be exhibited in major U.S. museums. He also was the first to exhibit, at his “291” gallery in New York City, works of modem Euro¬ pean and U.S. painters, five years before the Armory Show.

V j £

► J \

&

Alfred Stieglitz at his gallery "291" in

1934; behind him is a painting by his wife, Georgia O'Keeffe.

IMOGEN CUNNINGHAM

Stiernhielm Vshem-.yelnA, Georg orig. Joran Olofsson or Georgius Olai or Goran Lilia (b. Aug. 7, 1598, Vika, Swed.—d. April 22, 1672, Stockholm) Swedish poet and scholar, often called “the father of Swedish poetry.” Beginning about 1640 he was poet in atten¬ dance at the court of Queen Christina. His most important work is the allegorical, didactic epic Hercules (1658), a sermon on virtue and honour and a fine example of late-Renaissance Classicism; it greatly influenced the development of Swedish poetry. His poems were collected in Swed¬ ish Muses (1668).

Stigand Vsti-gond\ (d. Feb. 22, 1072) Archbishop of Canterbury (1052- 70). He mediated the peace between Edward the Confessor and Earl Godwine (1052) and was made archbishop of Canterbury when the Nor¬ man archbishop fled. He was not accepted until 1058, and then only by the antipope Benedict X, after whose deposition Stigand was excommu¬ nicated by Pope Nicholas II. Stigand’s continuance in office was one of the reasons for papal support of the Norman Conquest (see William I) in

Stigler, George J(oseph) (b. Jan. 17, 1911, Renton, Wash., U.S.—d. Dec. 1, 1991, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. economist. He received his Ph.D. from

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Stiglitz ► stimulant I 1823

the University of Chicago. He taught at various institutions and in 1977 founded the Center for the Study of the Economy and the State at the University of Chicago. Stigler studied the economics of information, elaborating on the traditional understanding of how efficient markets oper¬ ate. He also studied public regulation, concluding that it is usually det¬ rimental to consumer interests. He won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1982.

Stiglitz, Joseph E. (b. Feb. 9, 1943, Gary, Ind., U.S.) U.S. economist. He received a Ph.D. (1967) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technol¬ ogy and taught at several universities, including Yale, Harvard, Stanford, and Columbia. From 1997 to 2000 he was the World Bank’s chief econo¬ mist but often disagreed with the organization’s policies. Stiglitz helped found modern development economics, and he changed how economists think about the way markets work. His studies on asymmetric informa¬ tion in the marketplace showed that the poorly informed can obtain infor¬ mation from the better informed through a screening process, for example, when insurance companies determine the risk factors of their clients. He shared the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences with George A. Aker- lof and A. Michael Spence.

stigmata \stig-'ma-t9\ In Christian mysticism, bodily marks, scars, or pains suffered in places corresponding to those of the crucified Jesus —on the hands and feet, near the heart, and sometimes on the head (from the crown of thorns) or shoulders and back (from carrying the cross and being whipped). They are often presumed to accompany religious ecstasy and are taken as signs of holiness. The first to experience stigmata was St. Francis of Assisi (1224). Of the more than 330 persons identified with stig¬ mata since the 14th century, more than 60 were canonized or beatified by the Roman Cathouc church (see canonization).

Stijl Vstll, 'stal\, De Dutch The Style Group of Dutch artists founded in 1917, including Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian. The group advo¬ cated a utopian style: “the universal harmony of life.” Its ideal of purity and order in life and society as well as art reflects the Calvinist back¬ ground of its members. Through its journal, De Stijl (1917-31), it influ¬ enced painting, the decorative arts (including furniture design), typog¬ raphy, and especially architecture, where its aesthetic found expression at the Bauhaus and in the Interna¬ tional Style.

Stikine \sti-'ken\ River River, northwestern British Columbia,

Canada, and southeastern Alaska,

U.S. The river rises in the Stikine Ranges of British Columbia and flows in a wide arc west and south¬ west before emptying into the Pacific Ocean after a course of 335 mi (540 km). It served as a major access route during the Klondike gold rush of 1896. Navigable for 168 mi (270 km), it is a chief route to the Cassiar Mountains mining region.

Still, Clyfford (b. Nov. 30, 1904, Grandin, N.D., U.S.—d. June 23, 1980, Baltimore, Md.) U.S. painter. He studied at Spokane University and Washington State College. After experimenting with several styles, he became involved in Abstract Expressionism and was a pioneer of very large, monochromatic painting. His work is often characterized within the “colour-field” subset of Abstract Expressionism. He used thickly applied, opaque paint (impasto) in expressively modulated, jagged forms to por¬ tray raw, aggressive power.

Still, William Grant (b. May 11, 1895, Woodville, Miss., U.S.—d. Dec. 3, 1978, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. composer. He initially intended to be a doctor but instead studied music at Oberlin College, learning clarinet, oboe, and violin. He studied composition with George Chadwick (1854-1931) and Edgard Varese. In the 1920s he worked as an arranger for the dance-band leader Paul Whiteman and for the blues composer W.C. Handy. Still’s early style was avant-garde {From the Black Belt, 1926), but from c. 1930 he sought to develop a distinctive African American art music in five symphonies (including his Afro-American Symphony, 1931), ballets, operas, and choral and solo vocal works.

still-life painting Depiction of inanimate objects for the sake of their qualities of form, colour, texture, composition, and sometimes allegori¬ cal or symbolical significance. Still lifes were painted in ancient Greece and Rome. In the Middle Ages they occur in the borders of illuminated manuscripts. The modern still life emerged as an independent genre in the Renaissance. Netherlandish still lifes often depicted skulls, candles, and hourglasses as allegories of mortality, or flowers and fruits to symbolize nature’s cycle. Several factors contributed to the rise of still life in the 16th—17th century: an interest in realistic representation, the rise of a wealthy middle class that wanted artworks to decorate its homes, and increased demand for paintings of secular subjects other than portraits in the wake of the Reformation. Dutch and Flemish painters were the mas¬ ters of still life in the 17th century. From the 18th century until the rise of nonobjective painting after World War II, France was the centre of still-life painting.

Stillman, James (b. June 9, 1850, Brownsville, Texas, U.S.—d. March 15, 1918, New York, N.Y.) U.S. financier and banker. He began his career in a New York mercantile house. He became president of the National City Bank (see Citigroup) in 1891, shortly after the Rockefeller family obtained a controlling interest in the bank. Under his leadership the bank prospered during the panic of 1893, more than doubling its deposits and becoming the leading U.S. bank. In 1897 it was the only bank capable of financing the reorganization of the Union Pacific Railroad. At his death he left a huge personal fortune.

stilt Any of certain species of shorebirds (family Recurvirostridae) that have long thin legs and a long slen¬ der bill and inhabit warm regions worldwide. Stilts, 14-18 in. (35-45 cm) long, live around ponds, probing in mud and weedy shallows for crus¬ taceans and other small aquatic ani¬ mals. The common stilt ( Himantopus himantopus) is variably black-and- white with pink legs and red eyes.

Stilwell, Joseph W(arren) (b.

March 19, 1883, Palatka, Fla.,

U.S.—d. Oct. 12, 1946, San Fran¬ cisco, Calif.) U.S. army officer. He graduated from West Point and served in World War I. He studied Chinese and served in Tianjin (1926-29) and as a military attache in Beijing (1935-39). At the outbreak of World War II, he became chief of staff to Gen. Chiang Kai-shek and commanded Chinese armies in Burma (1939-42). He became commander of U.S. forces in China, Burma, and India and oversaw construction of the Ledo, or Stilwell, Road, a strategic military link with the Burma Road. Promoted to general (1944), he com¬ manded the U.S. 10th Army in the Pacific (1945-46).

Stilwell Road formerly Ledo Road Former military highway, Asia. It was 478 mi (769 km) long and linked northeastern India with the Burma Road. In World War II, U.S. Army engineers and Chinese troops con¬ structed it to link the railheads of Ledo, India, and Mogaung, Burma. Named for Gen. Joseph Stilwell, it crossed into Burma (Myanmar) through the difficult Pangsau Pass of the Patkai Range.

Stimson, Henry L(ewis) (b. Sept. 21, 1867, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Oct. 20, 1950, Huntington, N.Y.) U.S. statesman. A lawyer, he served as U.S. secretary of war (1911-13), governor of the Philippines (1927-29), and U.S. secretary of state (1929-33). After the Japanese occu¬ pation of Manchuria (1931), he sent to Japan a diplomatic note, the con¬ tents of which became known as the Stimson Doctrine, refusing to recognize territorial changes and reaffirming U.S. treaty rights. As secre¬ tary of war (1940^15), he oversaw the expansion and training of U.S. forces in World War II. He was the chief adviser on atomic policy to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman and recommended use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Stimulant Any drug that excites any bodily function; usually one that stimulates the central nervous system, inducing alertness, elevated mood, wakefulness, increased speech and motor activity, and decreased appetite. Their mood-elevating effects make some stimulants (e.g., amphetamines, caffeine and its relatives, cocaine, nicotine) potent drugs of abuse (see drug addiction). Ritalin, prescribed for attention deficit disorder in children, is a mild stimulant.

"Card Players," oil painting by De Stijl artist Theo van Doesburg, 191 7; in the collection of the Haags Gemeentemu- seum, The Hague

COURTESY OF THE HAAGS GEMEENTEMUSEUM, THE HAGUE

Black-necked stilt (Himantopus himan¬ topus mexicanus)

G.W. ROBINSON-ROOT RESOURCES

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

1824 I stingray ► Stockhausen

stingray or whip-tailed ray Any of various species (family Dasyatidae) of rays noted for their slender, whiplike tail with barbed, usu¬ ally venomous spines. Most species inhabit warm seas; a few live in the rivers of South America. Species range in width from 10 in. (25 cm) to 7 ft (2 m). Stingrays eat worms, mollusks, and other invertebrates. These bottom-dwellers often lie partially buried in the shallows, lashing their tail when disturbed. Large stingrays can drive their tail spines into a wooden boat. The spines cause serious, extremely painful wounds that, if abdominal, may be fatal.

Stirling Town and council area (pop., 2001: 86,212), south-central Scot¬ land. Located on the River Forth, Stirling has evidence of early settle¬ ment by the British Picts. Made a royal burgh c. 1130 and a royal residence in 1226, it was the birthplace of James II of Scotland and site of the coro¬ nations of Mary, Queen of Scots, and James VI of Scotland (later James I of England). Two battles were fought nearby: the Battle of Stirling Bridge (1297), where Scottish troops routed the English, and the Battle of Ban¬ nockburn (1314). The town flourished until the mid-16th century and shared with Edinburgh the privileges of a capital city. After the union of the Scottish and English crowns in 1603, it ceased to play an important national role. The town is now a commercial centre for an agricultural region. The council area is a centre for electronics manufacture, and there are also papermaking, malting, brewing, and distilling industries. Stirling is the council area’s administrative centre and largest town.

Stirling, Sir James (Frazer) (b. April 22, 1926, Glasgow, Scot.—d. June 25, 1992, London, Eng.) Scottish architect. He began working (1956-63) in the New Brutalist style with his partner James Gowan (see Brutalism). His engineering building at Leicester University (1963), with its precise crystalline forms, brought him early fame. From 1971 he worked with Michael Wilford. In the 1970s Stirling developed his own brand of postmodernism that made use of complex geometric abstraction, bold colours, and Classical elements. The Neue Staatsgalerie (1977-84) in Stuttgart, Ger., is among his finest statements. In 1981 Stirling received the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Stirling, William Alexander, 1st earl of (b. c. 1576, Menstrie, Clackmannan, Scot.—d. Feb. 12, 1640, London, Eng.) Scottish poet and colonizer of Canada. He was a member of the court of James I, where he wrote his sonnet sequence Aurora (1604). In 1621 he obtained a grant for territory in North America that he named New Scotland (Nova Scotia), despite French claims to part of the land. He offered baronetcies to Scots¬ men who would sponsor settlers, but the region was not colonized until his son established a settlement at Port Royal (Annapolis Royal). Alex¬ ander was compelled to surrender the territory under the Treaty of Susa (1629), which ended an Anglo-French conflict. Scottish settlers were ordered to withdraw by 1631.

stoa Vsto-oV In Greek architecture, a freestanding colonnade or covered walkway; also, a long open building with its roof supported by one or more rows of columns parallel to its rear wall. Stoas lined marketplaces and sanctuaries and formed places of business and public promenades. Rooms might back onto the colonnade, and a second story was some¬ times added. The Stoa of Attalus in Athens (2nd century bc), a large, elaborate, two-story building with a row of shops at the rear, was a prime example.

stochastic process \sto-'kas-tik\ In probability theory, a family of ran¬ dom variables indexed to some other set and having the property that for each finite subset of the index set, the collection of random variables indexed to it has a joint probability distribution. It is one of the most widely studied subjects in probability. Examples include Markov pro¬ cesses (in which the present value of the variable depends only upon the immediate past and not upon the whole sequence of past events), such as stock-market fluctuations, and time series (in which temperature or rain¬ fall measurements, for example, are taken at the same time each day over several days).

stock In finance, the subscribed capital of a corporation or limited- liability company, usually divided into shares and represented by trans¬ ferable certificates. Many companies have only one class of stock, called common stock. Common stock, as a share of ownership in the company, entitles the holder to an interest in the company’s earnings and assets. It carries voting rights that enable the holder to participate in the running of the company (unless such rights are specifically withheld, as in spe¬ cial classes of non voting shares). Dividends paid on common stock are often unstable because they vary with earnings; they are also usually less

than earnings, the difference being used by the management to expand the firm. To appeal to investors who want to be sure of receiving dividends regularly, some companies issue preferred stock, which has a prior claim to dividends paid by the company and, in most cases, to the company’s assets in case of its dissolution. Preferred-stock dividends are usually set at a fixed annual rate that must be paid before dividends are distributed to common stockholders. See also security, stock exchange.

stock-car racing Form of automobile racing. Popular in the U.S., it features cars that conform externally to standard U.S. commercial mod¬ els and are raced usually on oval, paved tracks. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), founded in 1947 in Daytona Beach, Fla., gave the sport its first formal organization. The Daytona 500 is the sport’s premier race.

stock exchange or stock market or (in continental Europe) Bourse Organized market for the sale and purchase of securities (see security) such as stocks and bonds. Trading is done in various ways: it may occur on a continuous auction basis, it may involve brokers buying from and selling to dealers in certain types of stock, or it may be conducted through specialists in a particular stock. Some stock exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), sell seats (the right to trade) to a limited number of members who must meet eligibility requirements. Stocks must likewise meet and maintain certain requirements or risk being delisted. Stock exchanges differ from country to country in eligibility requirements and in the degree to which the government participates in their management. The London Stock Exchange, for example, is an inde¬ pendent institution, free from government regulation. In Europe, mem¬ bers of the exchanges are often appointed by government officials and have semigovemmental status. In the U.S., stock exchanges are not directly run by the government but are regulated by law. Technological developments have greatly influenced the nature of trading. In a tradi¬ tional full-service brokerage, a customer placed an order with a broker or member of a stock exchange, who in turn passed it on to a specialist on the floor of the exchange, who then concluded the transaction. By the 21st century, increased access to the Internet and the proliferation of electronic communications networks (ECNs) altered the investment world. Through e-trading, the customer enters an order directly on-line, and software auto¬ matically matches orders to achieve the best price available without the intervention of specialists or market makers. In effect, the ECN is a stock exchange for off-the-floor trading.

Stock Market Crash of 1929 Economic event in the U.S. that pre¬ cipitated the Great Depression. The U.S. stock market expanded rapidly in the late 1920s and reached a peak in August 1929, when prices began to decline while speculation increased. On October 18 the stock market began to fall precipitously. On the first day of real panic, October 24, known as “Black Thursday,” a record 12,894,650 shares were traded. Banks and investment companies bought large blocks of stock to stem the panic, but on October 29, “Black Tuesday,” 16 million shares were traded and prices collapsed. The crash began a 10-year economic slump that affected all the Western industrialized countries.

stock option Contractual agreement entitling the holder to buy or sell a share of stock at a designated price for a specified period of time, regardless of changes in its market price during that period. The various kinds of stock options include put and call options, which may be pur¬ chased in anticipation of changes in stock prices, as a means of specu¬ lation or hedging. A put gives its holder an option to sell, or put, shares to another party at a fixed price even if the market price declines. A call gives the holder an option to buy, or call for, shares at a fixed price even if the market price rises. U.S. corporations often issue stock options to executives as a form of compensation in addition to salary, on the theory that an option is an incentive to improve the company’s business and thus raise the value of its stock; at times such options have been far more valu¬ able than the salary itself.

Stockhausen \ , shtok- I hau-z3n\ / Karlheinz (b. Aug. 22, 1928, Modrath, near Cologne, Ger.) German composer. Orphaned during World War II, he supported himself with odd jobs (including jazz pianist) before entering Cologne’s State Academy for Music in 1947. After hearing Oliv¬ ier Messiaen’s music at Darmstadt in 1951, he began studying with the composer and experimenting with SERIAUSM. His early works include Kon- trapunkte and Klavierstiicke I-IV (1952-53). He also became involved with musique concrete , a technique using recorded sounds as raw mate¬ rial; his remarkable Song of the Youths (1956) used a highly processed

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Stockholm ► stomach I 1825

recording of a boy soprano mixed with electronic sounds. His extensions of serialism continued in pieces such as Zeitmasse (1956) and Gruppen (1957), and he became a leading avant-garde spokesman. His Momente (1964) influentially applied serialism to groups of sounds rather than single pitches, and he began incorporating aleatory (chance) elements as well. From the late 1960s he conceived ever grander schemes, some incor¬ porating literature, dance, and ritual, as in the Light series (from 1977).

Stockholm City (pop., 2000 est.: city, 750,348; urban agglom.: 1,660,700), capital of Sweden. Built on numerous islands and peninsulas connected by old bridges and modem overpasses, Stockholm is regarded as one of the most beautiful capitals in the world. According to tradition, Swedish ruler Birger Jarl founded Stockholm c. 1250. In the Middle Ages it became Sweden’s chief trade port, and in 1436 the capital. After years of conflict between the Swedes and Danes, Gustav I Vasa liberated the city from Danish rule in 1523. It developed rapidly in the mid-17th cen¬ tury as Sweden became a great power, and it was Sweden’s cultural cen¬ tre by the 18th century. It was extensively redeveloped in the 19th century. The second largest port in Sweden (Goteborg being the first), it is the country’s leading cultural, commercial, financial, and educational centre.

stocking frame Knitting machine invented in 1589 that produced a stocking stitch. Knitted fabrics are constructed by the interlocking of a series of loops made from one or more yarns, with each row of loops caught into the previous row; the stocking frame allowed production of a complete row of loops at one time. The modern knitting industry, with its highly sophisticated machinery, has grown from this simple device.

Stockport City and metropolitan borough (pop., 2001: 284,544), north¬ western England. First chartered in 1220, the original settlement was built in a gorge where the Rivers Tame and Goyt meet to form the River Mer¬ sey; the modern town has spread over higher ground. Cotton spinning was important in the 19th century; in the 20th century diversification brought electronics and heavy engineering industries. Part of the metropolitan area of Greater Manchester, the metropolitan borough includes, in addition to Stockport proper, the urban area of Cheadle, the towns of Bramhall, Rom- iley, and Marple, and areas of open countryside.

Stockton City (pop., 2000: 243,771), central California, U.S. Located on the San Joaquin River, Stockton is connected to San Francisco Bay by the San Joaquin’s 78-mi (126-km) deepwater channel; it is one of the state’s two inland ports. Stockton was founded in 1847 and grew rapidly as a miners’ supply point during the 1849 gold rush. With the introduc¬ tion of irrigation and the arrival of the railroad, it grew as a market for farm produce and wines. The completion of the channel in 1933 made it a major port as well as a supply depot for U.S. Pacific military operations.

Stockton, Robert F(ield) (b. Aug. 20, 1795, Princeton, N.J., U.S.—d. Oct. 7,1866, Princeton) U.S. naval officer. He joined the U.S. navy and rose to the rank of commander (1838). When the Mexican War broke out, he took command of U.S. land and naval forces in present-day California and proceeded to capture Los Angeles, a Mexican stronghold, on Aug. 13, 1846. Four days later, he set up a civil government and formally annexed California to the U.S., naming himself governor. Along with Col. Stephen Kearny and his troops he defeated an uprising by native Mexicans and ceded the entire province to the U.S. In 1850 he resigned from the navy and was elected to the U.S. Senate. Stockton, Calif., is named in his honour.

stoichiometry \,st6i-ke-'a-m9-tre\ Determination of the proportions (by weight or number of molecules) in which elements or compounds react with one another. The rules for determining stoichiometric relationships are based on the laws of conservation (see conservation law) of mass and energy and the law of combining weights (see equivalent weight) or vol¬ umes. The tools used are chemical formulas, chemical equations, atomic weights, and molecular weights or formula weights.

Stoicism Vsto-s-.si-zonA School of philosophy in Greco-Roman antiq¬ uity. Inspired by the teaching of Socrates and Diogenes of Sinope, Stoicism was founded at Athens by Zeno of Citium c. 300 bc and was influential throughout the Greco-Roman world until at least ad 200. It stressed duty and held that, through reason, mankind can come to regard the universe as governed by fate and, despite appearances, as fundamentally rational, and that, in regulating one’s life, one can emulate the grandeur of the calm and order of the universe by learning to accept events with a stem and tranquil mind and to achieve a lofty moral worth. Its teachings have been transmitted to later generations largely through the surviving books of Cicero and the Roman Stoics Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius.

Stoker, Bram orig. Abraham Stoker (b. Nov. 8, 1847, Dublin, Ire.—d. April 20, 1912, London, Eng.) Irish writer. Though bedridden until he was seven years old, Stoker later became an outstanding athlete. He was in the civil service for 10 years and the manager of actor Henry Irving for 27 years, writing letters for his employer and accompanying him on tours. During this period he began writing fiction; his masterpiece was the immensely successful gothic novel Dracula (1897). Derived from vampire legends, the tale became the basis for a whole genre of literature and film. None of his other works, including The Lair of the White Worm (1911), approached its popularity or quality.

Stokes, William (b. Oct. 1, 1804, Dublin, Ire.—d. Jan. 10, 1878, Howth, near Dublin) Irish physician. He received his M.D. from the Uni¬ versity of Edinburgh and returned to Dublin, where he encouraged stu¬ dents to work, under faculty supervision, in hospital wards and to acquire a general as well as a medical education. He succeeded his father as Regius Professor of Physic at the University of Dublin. His publications included A Treatise on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Diseases of the Chest (1837), The Diseases of the Heart and Aorta (1854), and one of the first English works on the stethoscope.

Stokowski, Leopold (Anthony) orig. Antoni Stanislaw Bole- slawawicz Stokowski (b. April 18, 1882, London, Eng.—d. Sept. 13, 1977, Nether Wallop, Hampshire) British-bom U.S. conductor and organist. He studied at the Royal College of Music and the University of Oxford. After holding organist positions and conducting a handful of con¬ certs, he became conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony (1909-12), with great success. From there he moved to the Philadelphia Orchestra, and in the years 1912-38 he made it a world-class ensemble, creating the lush “Philadelphia sound.” He programmed much contemporary music, and he grasped very early the importance of recording. He made three films with the Philadelphia Orchestra, including Walt Disney’s Fantasia (1940), and he used his fame to help foster fledgling music organizations, including the American Symphony Orchestra, which he formed in 1962. His strong advocacy of new music did much to broaden American musical taste.

Stoller, Mike See Jerry Leiber

stolon Vsto-lonV or runner Slender stem that grows horizontally along the ground, giving rise to roots and aerial (vertical) branches at special¬ ized points called nodes. Many annual and perennial grasses have creep¬ ing stolons (e.g., bent grass).

Stolypin \sto-'le-pyin\, Pyotr (Arkadyevich) (b. April 14, 1862, Dresden, Saxony—d. Sept. 18, 1911, Kiev, Ukraine, Russian Empire) Russian politician. Appointed governor of the provinces of Grodno (1902) and Saratov (1903), he improved the welfare of the peasants while also subduing their rebellions. He gained the favour of Tsar Nicholas II and was appointed minister of the interior and prime minister in 1906. He ini¬ tiated agrarian reforms that gave the peasants greater freedom to choose representatives to the zemstvo councils and to acquire land, which he believed would create a loyal and conservative class of farmers. His repressive measures against rebels and terrorists earned him the enmity of liberals. He dissolved the Duma when it opposed his reforms, but he later won support from moderates. He was assassinated by a revolution¬ ary in 1911.

stoma or stomate Any of the microscopic openings or pores in the epidermis of leaves and young stems. They are generally more numerous on the undersides of leaves. They provide for the exchange of gases between the outside air and the interconnecting air canals within the leaf. A stoma opens and closes in response to turgor pressure within its two surrounding guard cells. Because the inner wall of each of these sausage- or bean-shaped cells is thicker than the outer wall, when they fill with water and become turgid they balloon outward, enlarging the stoma. A drop in carbon-dioxide levels to lower than normal also causes the guard cells to become turgid. Guard cells control excessive water loss from the plant, closing on hot, dry, or windy days and opening when conditions are more favorable.

stomach Digestive sac in the left upper abdominal cavity, which expands or contracts with the amount of food in it. It has four regions: the cardia leads down from the esophagus; the fundus curves above it; the body is the largest part; and the antrum narrows to join the duodenum at the pyloric valve. Iron and very fat-soluble substances (e.g., alcohol, some drugs) are absorbed in the stomach. Peristalsis mixes food with enzymes and hydro¬ chloric acid from glands in its lining and moves the resulting chyme toward

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

1826 I stomach cancer ► Stonehenge

the small intestine. The vagus nerve and sympathetic nervous system con¬ trol the stomach’s secretions and movements. Emotional stress affects its function. Common disorders include gastritis, peptic ulcer, hiatal hernia, and cancer. See also digestion, gastrectomy.

stomach cancer Malignant tumour of the stomach. The main risk fac¬ tors include a diet high in salted, smoked, or pickled foods; Helicobacter pylori infection; tobacco and alcohol use; age (over age 60); and a family history of stomach cancer. Males develop stomach cancer at approximately twice the rate of females. Symptoms may be abdominal pain or swelling, unexplained weight loss, vomiting, and poor digestion. Surgery is the only method for treating stomach cancer, although radiation therapy or chemo¬ therapy may be used in conjunction with surgery or to relieve symptoms.

stone In building construction, rock cut into blocks and slabs or broken into pieces. It comes as hard as granite and as soft as limestone or sand¬ stone. Where available, stone has generally been the preferred material for monumental structures. Its advantages are durability, adaptability to sculpting, and the fact that it can be used in its natural state. But it is dif¬ ficult to quarry, transport, and cut, and its weakness in tension limits its use. The simplest stonework is rubble, roughly broken stones bound in mortar. Ashlar work consists of regularly cut blocks with squared edges. Building stone is quarried by sawing if it is soft, and split apart with wedges or by blasting if hard. Many devices are used to shape and dress stone, from handheld tools to circular saws, surfacing machines, and lathes. Some stones are strong enough to act as monolithic (one-piece) supports and beams; and in some styles (e.g., ancient Egyptian temples) stone slabs are employed even for roofing, supported by many closely spaced columns. Before the arch, builders were handicapped by the ten¬ dency of stone to break under its own weight. But stone in compression has great strength, and the Romans built huge stone bridges and aque¬ ducts. Though stone has generally been abandoned for structural use in the 20th century, it is widely used as a thin, nonbearing surface cladding. See also masonry.

Stone, Edward Durell (b. March 9,1902, Fayetteville, Ark., U.S.—d. Aug. 6, 1978, New York, N.Y.) U.S. architect. He earned architecture degrees and traveled in Europe before joining the New York City firm that designed Radio City Music Hall. In 1936 he organized his own archi¬ tectural firm. A leading exponent of the International Style, he designed El Panama Hotel in Panama City (1946), the U.S. embassy in New Delhi (1954), the U.S. pavilion at the Brussels World’s Fair (1958), the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. (1964), and the Amoco Building in Chicago (1969). He also taught at New York University (1927^-2) and Yale University (1946-52).

Stone, Harlan Fiske (b. Oct. 11, 1872, Chesterfield, N.H., U.S.—d. April 22, 1946, Washington, D.C.)

U.S. jurist. He studied at Columbia Law School and later practiced law while serving as dean (1910-23).

Pres. Calvin Coolidge appointed him U.S. attorney general in 1924; during his tenure he reorganized the Federal Bureau of Investigation after its repu¬ tation had been tarnished by the Tea¬ pot Dome and other scandals. In 1925 Coolidge appointed him to the Supreme Court of the United States, and in 1941 Pres. Franklin D.

Roosevelt promoted him to chief jus¬ tice, a position he retained until his death. He wrote more than 600 opin¬ ions, many on important constitu¬ tional questions. He was often less successful, however, in building a consensus among his associate jus¬ tices, with the result that the court during his chief justiceship was often a bitterly divided body.

Stone, l(sidor) F(einstein) orig. Isidor Feinstein (b. Dec. 24, 1907, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—-d. June 18, 1989, Boston, Mass.) U.S. journalist. He worked on newspapers in his native Philadelphia and in New York and wrote for the leftist newspaper PM before starting his own investigative newsletter. From the outset I. F. Stone’s Weekly (1953-67; I. F. Stone’s Bi-Weekly, 1967-71) had an influence far greater than the

size of its readership, which included some of the nation’s most promi¬ nent politicians, academicians, and journalists. The sole author, Stone created a unique blend of wit, erudition, and pointed political commen¬ tary, and he became known for his espousal of unpopular causes long before they were taken up by the liberal establishment.

Stone, Lucy (b. Aug. 13, 1818, West Brookfield, Mass., U.S.—d. Oct. 18, 1893, Dorchester, Mass.) U.S. pioneer in the woman suffrage move¬ ment. A graduate of Oberlin College (1847), she became a lecturer for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. She soon began speaking for wom¬ en’s rights and helped organize women’s-rights conventions in the 1850s. She retained her own name after her marriage to Henry Blackwell (1825— 1909) as a protest against the unequal laws applicable to married women; other women who later chose to do the same called themselves “Lucy Stoners.” In 1869 she and Blackwell helped establish the American Woman Suffrage Association and founded the influential suffrage maga¬ zine Woman’s Journal, which they edited until their deaths. They were assisted by their daughter Alice Stone Blackwell (1857-1950), who served as chief editor (1893-1917).

Stone, Oliver (b. Sept. 15, 1946, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. film director. He attended Yale University and served in Vietnam before study¬ ing filmmaking at New York University. He made his directorial debut with Seizure (1974) and wrote screenplays for several films marked by their rapid pace and violence, including Midnight Express (1978). He wrote and directed Platoon (1986, Academy Award), drawing on his Viet¬ nam experience; it was followed by movies such as Wall Street (1987), Bom on the Fourth of July (1989, Academy Award), JFK (1991), Natu¬ ral Born Killers (1994), and Nixon (1995), some of them noted for their anti-establishment and often controversial interpretations of history.

Stone, Robert (Anthony) (b. Aug. 21, 1937, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. novelist. He served in the U.S. Navy before attending New York and Stanford universities. Dog Soldiers (1974, National Book Award), his second novel, brought home the corruption of the Vietnam War. His later works include the novels A Flag for Sunrise (1981), Outerbridge Reach (1992), and Damascus Gate (1998) and the short-story collection Bear and His Daughter (1997).

Stone Age First known period of prehistoric human culture, character¬ ized by the use of stone tools. The term is little used by specialists today. See Paleolithic Period; Mesolithic Period; Neouthic Period; stone-tool indus¬ try. See also Bronze Age; Iron Age.

Stone of Scone See Stone of Scone

stone tool industry Any of several assemblages of artifacts that dis¬ play the earliest technology used by humans. These stone tools have sur¬ vived in great quantities and now serve as the major means of determining hominin activities. Archaeologists have classified distinct stone tool indus¬ tries on the basis of style and use and named them after the site of their original identification. The major industries include (in chronological order) the Oldowan, Acheulean, Mousterian, Aurignacian, Solutrean, and Magdalenian industries.

stonefish See rockfish

stonefly Any of some 1,550 insect species (order Plecoptera) with adults, about 0.25-2.5 in. (6-60 mm) long, that are generally gray, black, or brown. They have long antennae; weak, chewing mouthparts; and two pairs of membranous wings that, at rest, fold like a fan. The hind wings are generally broader but shorter than the forewings. Despite their well-developed wings, stoneflies are poor fliers. The female drops a mass of up to 6,000 eggs into a stream. Stonefly (Plecoptera)

Nymphs resemble adults but are WILUAM E - ferguson _

wingless and may have external

gills; they feed on plants, decaying organic matter, and insects. The nymphal stage lasts one to four years; adults live several weeks.

Stonehenge Monumental circular arrangement of standing stones built in prehistoric times and located near Salisbury, Wiltshire, Eng. The stones are believed to have been put in place in three main phases c. 3100-c. 1550 bc. The reasons for the building of Stonehenge are unknown, but it

Harlan Fiske Stone, 1929.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Stonewall riots ► Stout I 1827

is believed to have been a place of worship and ritual. Many theories have been advanced as to its specific purpose (e.g., for the prediction of eclipses), but none has been proved. Stones erected during the second phase of con¬ struction (c. 2100 bc) were aligned with the sunrise at the summer sol¬ stice, suggesting some ritual connection with that event.

Stonewall riots (June 28, 1969) Series of violent confrontations between police and gay rights activists in New York City. In response to the second raid in a week by police on the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village that had been selling liquor without a license, about 1,000 transvestites, gays, and lesbians taunted police and threw debris; police responded with violence. Similar riots occurred on suc¬ ceeding nights and were followed by protest rallies. The event marked the awakening of gay rights organizations throughout the U.S.; it is com¬ memorated annually in Gay and Lesbian Pride Week. In 1999 the U.S. National Park Service placed the Stonewall Inn on the National Register of Historic Places. See also gay rights movement.

stoneware Pottery fired at a high temperature (about 2,200 °F, or 1,200 °C) until vitrified (made glasslike and impervious to liquid). Because stoneware is nonporous, glaze is applied only for decoration. Stone¬ ware originated in China c. 1400 bc and was exported to Europe in the 17 th century. This red to dark-brown stoneware was copied in Germany,

England, and the Netherlands. See also BONE CHINA, PORCELAIN.

Stono rebellion (1739) Largest slave uprising in early America. On the morning of September 9, near the Stono River, 20 mi (30 km) from Charleston, S.C., slaves gathered, raided a firearms shop, and headed south, killing more than 20 whites as they went. Other slaves joined the rebellion until the group was about 60 strong. Whites set out in armed pursuit, and by dusk half the slaves were dead and half had escaped; most were eventually captured and executed. The slaves may have hoped to reach St. Augustine, Fla., where the Spanish were offering freedom and land to any fugitive. White colonists quickly passed a Negro Act that fur¬ ther limited slave privileges.

stools See feces

Stoppard, Sir Tom orig. Tomas Straussler (b. July 3, 1937, Zlm, Czech.) Czech-born British playwright. After living in East Asia with his family during World War II, he moved to England and adopted his step¬ father’s surname. His first play, A Walk on the Water , was televised in 1963, and he won fame with the absurdist Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966; film, 1990). His later plays, marked by verbal brilliance, ingenious plotting, and a playful interest in pivotal historical moments, include Jumpers (1972), Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1977; with music by Andre Previn), The Real Thing (1982), and Arcadia (1993). He has also written radio plays and screenplays for films such as Empire of the Sun (1987) and Shakespeare in Love (1998, Academy Award). Stop¬ pard was knighted in 1997.

stored-program concept Storage of instructions in computer memory to enable it to perform a variety of tasks in sequence or intermit¬ tently. The idea was introduced in the late 1940s by John von Neumann, who proposed that a program be electronically stored in binary-number format in a memory device so that instructions could be modified by the computer as determined by intermediate computational results. Other engineers, notably John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, contributed to this idea, which enabled digital computers to become much more flexible and powerful. Nevertheless, engineers in England built the first stored- program computer, the Manchester Mark I, shortly before the Americans built ED VAC, both operational in 1949.

stork Any of 17 species (family Ciconiidae) of voiceless, long-necked, mainly Old World birds. Storks are 2-5 ft (60-150 cm) tall, often with a totally or partially bald, brightly coloured head and upper neck. They fly

by alternately flapping and soaring, with neck outstretched and legs trail¬ ing. Most species are diurnal, feeding on small animals in shallow water and fields; some eat carrion. Usually found in flocks, storks pair off dur¬ ing the breeding season, and both parents incubate the eggs. Typical storks have a straight or nearly straight bill; the four species of wood stork have a curved bill. The only U.S. stork, the wood ibis (Mycteria americana ), is white, with black wings and tail and a curved bill. See also ibis; marabou.

storm petrel Any of about 20 species (family Hydrobatidae) of petrels that vary from 5 to 10 in. (13-25 cm) long. All are dark gray or brown, sometimes lighter below, often with a white rump. The relatively short wings are rounded at the tips. The toes are webbed, except for the small hind toe; the tail is square, forked, or wedge-shaped. Most species breed¬ ing in southern oceans “walk” over the water with wings spread, picking up minute marine organisms. Most northern species swoop over the water like tiny terns, occasionally alighting on the surface.

Storm Troopers See SA

Stornoway Gaelic Steornabhagh Burgh and largest town and port (pop., 1991: 5,975), Outer Hebrides Islands, Scotland. Located on the island of Lewis and Harris, Stornoway grew from the 18th century as a fishing town; the chief industry now is the manufacture of Harris tweed. It is the headquarters of the Western Isles council area.

Story, Joseph (b. Sept. 18, 1779, Marblehead, Mass., U.S.—d. Sept. 10, 1845, Cambridge, Mass.) U.S. jurist. After graduating from Harvard University, he practiced law in Salem, Mass. (1801-11) and served in the state legislature and U.S. Congress (1805-11). In 1811, though he was only 32 and lacked any judicial experience, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States by Pres. James Madison. There he joined John AAarshall in interpreting the U.S. Constitution in a manner favour¬ ing the expansion of federal power. His opinion in Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee (1816) established the court’s appellate authority over the highest state courts. During his tenure on the court, he taught at Harvard (1829— 45), where he became the first Dane Professor of Law and whose endow¬ ment funded his influential series of commentaries, including Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1833), The Con¬ flict of Laws (1834), and On Equity Jurisprudence (1836). He and James Kent are considered the founders of U.S. equity jurisprudence.

Stoss \'shtos\, Veit (b. 1438/47, Swabia—d. 1533, Niimberg) German sculptor and wood carver. He worked mainly in Poland from 1477 to 1496; among his principal works is the majestic high altar in the Church of the Virgin Mary in Krakow (1477-89). After his return to Germany, he settled in Niimberg and produced important wood and stone sculptures in churches there and in Bamberg. His nervous, angu¬ lar forms, realistic detail, and vir¬ tuoso wood carving synthesized the sculptural styles of Flemish and Danubian art, and he exercised great influence on German late Gothic sculpture.

Stour Vstaur, 'stur. River River, eastern England. It rises in eastern Cambridgeshire and flows eastward through East Anglia, forming most of the boundary between Suffolk and Essex, through country made famous by the paintings of John Constable.

After a course of 47 mi (76 km), it enters the North Sea at Harwich.

Stout, Rex (Todhunter) (b. Dec.

1, 1886, Noblesville, Ind., U.S.—d.

Oct. 27, 1975, Danbury, Conn.) U.S. writer. He worked odd jobs until 1912, when he began to write. From 1927 he earned his living exclusively by writing. He is remembered for 46 genteel mystery novels and novelettes, beginning with Fer-de-Lance (1934), that revolve around Nero Wolfe, a brilliant, obese aesthete who

Salt-glazed stoneware Bartmannkrug with applied relief decoration, Cologne, c. 1540; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

COURTESY OF THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON; PHOTOGRAPH, WILFRID WALTER-EB INC.

The Archangel Raphael, wood sculp¬ ture by Veit Stoss, 1516-18; in the German National Museum, Nurnberg.

COURTESY OF THE GERMANISCHES NATIONALMUSEUM, NURNBERG

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

1828 I Stowe ► Strand

solves crimes without leaving his New York City apartment. Stout endowed his detective with his own passions for haute cuisine and the growing of orchids.

Stowe Vsto\, Harriet Beecher orig. Harriet Elizabeth Beecher

(b. June 14, 1811, Litchfield, Conn., U.S.—d. July 1, 1896, Hartford, Conn.) U.S. writer and philanthropist. Stowe was the daughter of the famous Congregationalist minister Lyman Beecher (1775-1863) and the sister of Henry Ward Beecher and Catharine Esther Beecher. She taught school in Hartford and in Cincinnati, where she came into contact with fugitive slaves and learned about life in the South, and later settled in Maine with her husband, a professor of theology. Her antislavery novel Uncle Tom ’s Cabin (1852) had so great an impact that it was often cited (by Abraham Lincoln, among others) among the causes of the American Civil War. Her other works include the novels Dred (1856), also against slavery, and The Minister’s Wooing (1859).

Strabane \stro-'ban\ Irish An Srath Ban Town, seat, and district (pop., 1995 est.: 36,000), Northern Ireland. Strabane is composed of river valleys, rolling lowlands, and moorlands of the Sperrin Mountains. Origi¬ nally inhabited by the O’Neill clan of Ulster, the district was settled in the 17th century by Scots Protestants. Livestock grazing in the lowlands, salmon fishing in the many rivers, and textile manufacturing contribute to the economy. The market town of Strabane (pop., 1991: 12,000), located on the River Mourne, is the district’s administrative seat.

strabismus \str3-'biz-ni3s\ or squint or heterotropia

X.het-o-rs-'tro-pe-oX Failure of the eyes to align properly to focus on an object. The affected eye may deviate in any direction, including inward (cross-eye) or outward (walleye). Problems with photoreception or the nerves that relay images to the brain cause a constant degree of deviation (comitant); defects in the nerves that control the muscles that move the eyes cause deviation that varies with the direction of gaze (noncomitant). Both types impede development of a child’s ability to focus the eyes and merge images from the two retinas into one (fusional reflex). The brain suppresses the image from the deviant eye, which may become function¬ ally blind. Treatment may involve exercises to strengthen the weak eye or surgery or both.

Strabo \'stra-bo\ (b. c. 64 bc, Amaseia, Pontus, Asia Minor—d. after ad 21) Greek geographer and historian. Born to a well-connected family, he studied under Aristodemus before moving to Rome (44 bc) to study with the Aristotelian school, then became a Stoic. Of his 47-volume Histori¬ cal Sketches, covering the years 145-31 bc (published c. 20 bc), only a few quotations remain. His Geographical Sketches (after c. ad 14) is the only extant work on the range of peoples and countries known to Greeks and Romans during the reign of Caesar Augustus.

Strachey Vstra-che\, (Giles) Lytton (b. March 1, 1880, London, Eng.—d. Jan. 21, 1932, Ham Spray House, near Hungerford, Berkshire) English biographer and critic. After studying at Cambridge, he became a leader in the Bloomsbury group. Though a self-identified homosexual, he was engaged very briefly to Virginia Woolf. Adopting an irreverent atti¬ tude to the past, he opened a new era of biographical writing with his Eminent Victorians (1918), consisting of four sketches of Victorian idols whom he portrayed as multifaceted, flawed human beings. Fascinated by personality and motive, he treated his subjects idiosyncratically and some¬ what cynically. He also published Queen Victoria (1921), Elizabeth and Essex (1928), Portraits in Miniature (1931), and critical writings, espe¬ cially on French literature.

Stradivari N.stra-de-'var-eV Antonio (b. 1644?, Cremona, Duchy of Milan—d. Dec. 18, 1737, Cremona) Italian musical-instrument maker. An apprentice of Nicolo Amati (from c. 1666), he established his own busi¬ ness in Cremona, eventually working with his sons Francesco (1671— 1743) and Omobono (1679-1742). Though he made other instruments (including harps, lutes, mandolins, and guitars), few survive, and after 1680 he concentrated on violins. Moving away from the Amati style, he developed (c. 1690) the “long Strad.” The Stradivari method of violin making created a standard for subsequent times; he devised the modem form of the violin bridge and set the proportions of the modem violin, with its shallower body that yields a more powerful and penetrating tone than earlier violins. The period 1700-20 is considered the peak of his pro¬ ductivity and quality.

Strafford, Thomas Wentworth, 1st earl of (b. April 13, 1593, London, Eng.—d. May 12, 1641, London) English politician and leading

adviser to Charles I. Although an outspoken member of the opposition, he switched his support to the crown when offered a barony in 1628. As lord president of the north (1628-33), he quelled defiance to the crown. As lord deputy of Ireland (1633-39), he consolidated the royal authority, extended English settlement, reformed the administration, and increased revenues for the crown. He was recalled to command Charles’s army against a Scottish revolt, but the costly war was opposed by the Long Par¬ liament; as a target representing the king’s authority, he was impeached by the Parliament in 1640. Strafford was accused of subverting the laws (he had offered to bring over the Irish army to subdue the king’s oppo¬ nents in England); when it looked as though he might be acquitted, John Pym, the leader of the House of Commons, had a bill of attainder passed that condemned Strafford to death. Strafford released the king from his promise of protection, and Charles gave his consent to the bill. Strafford was subsequently beheaded in the presence of an immense and jubilant crowd.

strain In the physical sciences and engineering, a number that describes the relative deformation of elastic, plastic, and fluid materials under applied forces. It arises throughout the material as the particles of the material are displaced from their usual position. Normal strain is caused by forces perpendicular to planes or cross sections of the material, such as in a volume that is under pressure on all sides. Shear strain is caused by forces that are parallel to, and lie in, planes or cross sections, such as in a short metal tube that is twisted about its longitudinal axis. See also DEFORMATION AND FLOW.

strain gauge Device for measuring the changes in distances between points in solid bodies that occur when the body is deformed. Strain gauges are used either to obtain information from which stresses in bodies can be calculated or to act as indicating elements on devices for measuring such quantities as force, pressure, and acceleration.

Straits Question Recurrent controversy in the 19th-20th centuries over the passage of warships through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits between the Black Sea and the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. Both straits were in Turkish territory, but when Russia gained control of the northern shore of the Black Sea, its ships were given free passage. Rus¬ sia sought to control the passage of non-Turkish ships with the Treaty of Hunkar Lkelesi (1833), but it was reversed by the London Straits Conven¬ tion (1841). The Treaty of Lausanne (1923) allowed free passage to all warships, until it was revised by the Montreux Convention (1936) to rees¬ tablish Turkey’s right to restrict access by navies of non-Black Sea states.

Straits Settlements Former British crown colony, on the Strait of Malacca in Southeast Asia. It comprised three trade centres, Penang, Sin¬ gapore, and Malacca, which were established or taken over by the Brit¬ ish East India Company. United in 1826 under Indian control, they were made a crown colony by the British in 1867. Cocos Islands, Christmas Island, and Labuan were added in the early 20th century. Occupied by the Japanese during World War II, the colony was broken up in 1946 when Singapore became a separate colony. The remaining parts were ultimately ceded to Australia and Malaysia.