Britannica Concise 2005

1

Light air

1-3 (1-5)

Direction of wind shown by smoke but not by wind vanes

2

Light breeze

4-7 (6-11)

Wind felt on face; leaves rustle; wind vane moves

3

Gentle breeze

8-12 (12-19)

Leaves and small twigs in constant motion; wind extends light flag

4

Moderate

breeze

13-18 (20-28)

Wind raises dust and loose paper; small branches move

5

Fresh breeze

19-24 (29-38)

Small-leaved trees begin to sway; crested wavelets form on inland waters

6

Strong breeze

25-31 (39-49)

Large branches move; overhead wires whistle; umbrellas difficult to control

7

Moderate gale or near gale

32-38 (50-61)

Whole trees

sway; walking against wind is difficult

8

Fresh gale or gale

39-46 (62-74)

Twigs break off trees; moving cars veer

9

Strong gale

47-54(75-88)

Slight structural damage occurs; shingles may blow away

10

Whole gale

55-63 (89-102)

Trees uprooted; or storm considerable structural damage occurs

11

Storm or violent storm

64-72 (103-117)

Widespread damage occurs

12

Hurricane

72 (>117)

Widespread damage occurs

Wind Cave National Park National park, southwestern South Dakota, U.S. Established in 1903 to preserve limestone caverns and unspoiled prairie grassland in the Black Hills, it covers an area of 28,292 ac (11,449 ha). Its caves contain 83 mi (134 km) of explored passages and have beautiful rock formations called boxwork, formed by calcite deposition in unique patterns. The park is also a wildlife refuge.

wind chill Still-air temperature that would have the same cooling effect on exposed skin as a given combination of temperature and wind speed. As the wind speed increases, the wind chill equivalent temperature decreases; e.g., an air temperature of 30 °F (—1.1 °C) with a wind speed of 20 mph (32.2 kph) produces a wind chill of 17 °F (-8 °C). Wind chill is often included in weather reports to describe how cold it feels. See illustration on following page.

wind power Use of the energy in winds to produce power. Though wind is irregular and spread out, it contains tremendous amounts of energy. Sophisticated wind turbines have been developed to convert this energy to electric power. The use of wind-energy systems grew consid¬ erably in the 1980s and ’90s. Germany today produces more wind energy than any other country. Some 15,000 wind turbines are now in operation in California. See also windmill.

Wind River Range Mountain range, central Rocky Mountains, west- central Wyoming, U.S. The range extends for 100 mi (160 km) northwest- southeast to the Sweetwater River and is part of the Continental Divide. It contains many peaks above 12,000 ft (3,658 m); the highest is Gannett Peak at 13,804 ft (4,207 m). The Oregon Trail ran through the historic South Pass (7,743 ft, or 2,360 m). Parts of Bridger and Shoshone national forests and Wind River Indian Reservation are in the range. The Wind River flows from the eastern side into the Bighorn River; the Green River rises on its western slopes.

wind shear Rate of change of wind velocity with distance perpendicu¬ lar to the wind direction. A very narrow zone of abrupt velocity change is known as a shear line. Wind shear is observed near the ground and in jet streams, where it may be associated with clear-air turbulence. Vertical wind shear is closely associated with the vertical flux of momentum, heat, and water vapour.

wind tunnel Device for producing a controlled stream of air to study the effects on objects such as aircraft moving through air or the effects of moving air on models of stationary objects such as buildings. Applica¬ tions of wind-tunnel research range from testing of airframes (the struc¬ tures of aircraft and spacecraft) to research on the boundary layer, turbulence, drag, and lift. Measurements of air pressure and other charac¬ teristics at many points on the model yield information about how the total wind load is distributed. In addition to testing the effects of wind on aircraft and spacecraft, studies in wind tunnels have been used to solve design problems in automobiles, boats, trains, bridges, and buildings. See also AERODYNAMICS.

Windermere Lake, northwestern England. Located in the southeastern Lake District, it is the country’s largest lake, 10.5 mi (17 km) long and 1 mi (1.6 km) wide; its area is 6 sq mi (16 sq km). It has a maximum depth of 219 ft (67 m). Part of the Lake District National Park, it is a popular tourist centre.

Windhoek \'vint-,huk\ Town (pop., 1997 est.: 169,000), capital of Namibia. It is located in the central part of the country, in an area origi¬ nally settled by African peoples. In 1890 the site of the present town was claimed for the German government. In 1915 South African forces occu¬ pied it and initiated their claim to the country, then known as South West Africa. When Namibia became independent in 1990, Windhoek became its capital. It is the country’s main commercial and transportation centre.

Windischgratz \,vin-dish-'grets\, Alfred, prince zu (b. May 11,

1787, Brussels, Austrian Netherlands—d. March 21, 1862, Vienna, Aus¬ tria) Austrian field marshal. He entered the Habsburg imperial army as an officer (1804) and rose through the ranks to become military commander for Bohemia (1840). In the Revolutions of 1848, he suppressed the Czech rebels in Prague and crushed the insurrection in Vienna, where he was noted for his harsh military rule. Appointed field marshal (1848), he occu¬ pied Budapest in 1849 and drove the Hungarian rebels beyond the Tisza River. Although he was given supreme command of all imperial troops outside Italy, his gifts as a commander were mediocre, and differences with his brother-in-law, the Habsburg prime minister, prince zu Schwarzenberg, resulted in his recall (1849). Thereafter Windischgratz retired to Bohemia.

windmill Machine for harnessing the energy of the wind using sails mounted on a rotating shaft. The sails are mounted at an angle or are given a slight twist, so that the force of wind against them has two components, one of which, in the plane of the sails, causes rotation. Like waterwheels, windmills were among the original prime movers that replaced human beings as a source of power. Their most important traditional use was for grinding grain, though in certain areas their use in land drainage and water pumping was equally important. Windmill use became increasingly wide¬ spread in Europe (particularly the Netherlands) from the 12th century to the early 19th century, but thereafter slowly declined. Interest in wind¬ mills for generating electric power revived in the 1970s. See also wind POWER.

window Opening in the wall of a building for light and air, and some¬ times for framing a view. Since early times, the openings have been filled with stone, wooden, or iron grilles, with panes of glass or other translu¬ cent material such as mica or, in East Asia, paper. A window in a verti¬ cally sliding frame is called a sash window: a single-hung sash has only one half that moves; in a double-hung sash, both parts slide. A casement window swings open on hinges attached to the upright side of the frame. Awning windows swing outward on hinges attached to the top of the frame; hopper windows swing inward on hinges attached to the bottom of the frame. Large, fixed (nonoperating) areas of glass are commonly called picture windows. A bay window (see oriel) is an exterior projec¬ tion of a bay of a building that also forms an interior recess, providing better light and view than would a window flush with the building line. See also Diocletian window; rose window; shoji.

Windows Family of software products developed by Microsoft Corp., mainly for personal computers and workstations, that began as a graphical

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

2066 I windpipe ► Windward Islands

wind chill (°C) = 13.12 + 0.62157"- 11.37(V' 016 ) + 0.39657(l/ 016 ) 7 = air temperature (°C) V - wind speed (kph)

Fahrenheit

calm 40

35

30

25

20

15

5

36

31

25

19

13

7

10

34

27

21

15

9

3

E 15

32

25

19

13

6

0

'mp

IV)

o

30

24

17

11

4

-2

s 25

29

23

16

9

3

-4

S. 30

28

22

15

8

1

-5

in

nd

CD

cn

28

21

14

7

0

-7

S 40

27

20

13

6

-1

-8

45

26

19

12

5

-2

-9

50

26

19

12

4

-3

-10

55

25

18

11

4

-3

-11

60

25

17

10

3

-4

-11

temperature (°F)

10

1

-4

-7

-9

-11

-12

-14

5

-5

-10

-13

-15

-17

0

-11

-16

-5 -10 -15 -20 -25 -30 -35 -40

22 -28 -34 -40 -46 -52 -57

28 -35 -41 -47 -53 -59 -66

19 -26 -32 -39 -45 -51 -58 -64 -71

22 -29 -35 -42 -48 -55 -61 -68 -74

21

-27

-34

-41

-48

-55

-62

-69

-76

-82

22

-29

-36

-43

-50

-57

-64

-71

-78

-84

23

-30

-37

-44

-51

-58

-65

-72

-79

-86

24

-31

-38

-45

-52

-60

-67

-74

-81

-88

25

r32

-39

-46

-54

-61

-68

-75

-82

-89

26

-33

-40

-48

-55

-62

-69

-76

-84

-91

wind chill (°F) = 35.74 + 0.62157- 35.75(I/ 0 ' 6 ) + 0.42757( V ° 16 )

7 = air temperature (°F) V = wind speed (mph)

frostbite times 30 minutes H 10 minutes | 5 minutes

Source: U.S. National Weather Service; Meteorological Services of Canada

Matching a specific air temperature (columns) with a wind speed (rows) will show the wind chill equivalent and the approxi¬ mate time to frostbite.

ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, INC.

user interface and developed into an operating system. Version 1.0 (1985) provided a graphical user interface, multitasking, and virtual memory man¬ agement; it ran on top of MS-DOS and was supported on Intel-based per¬ sonal computers. Version 3.1 (1992) sold over 3 million copies in its first two months and helped establish Microsoft’s dominance of the operating- system market for microcomputers. Windows 95 and Windows 98 (named for the years of their release) continued its success. Windows NT (1993), which can run on RISC-based computers as well as traditional Intel-based systems, is a high-end version of Windows intended for more powerful personal computers, workstations, and servers. Windows CE (1996) is an embedded operating system for palm PCs and other handheld devices. Microsoft continues to release new versions of its operating system: Win¬ dows 2000 for corporate-oriented computers, Windows Me (2000) for consumer-oriented computers, and in 2001 a version for both environ¬ ments, Windows XP. Today Windows runs on more than 90% of all per¬ sonal computers.

windpipe See trachea

Windsor City (pop., 2001: 208,402), southern Ontario, Canada. Located on the southern bank of the Detroit River, opposite Detroit, Mich., U.S., it was settled by French farmers shortly after 1701, when a fort was estab¬ lished at Detroit. It was known first as “the Ferry” and later as Richmond

before it was renamed in 1836. With its strategic location opposite Detroit, it became an industrial cen¬ tre, an important railway terminus, and a busy port in Great Lakes ship¬ ping. Its manufactures include motor vehicles and parts, foods and bever¬ ages, and medicines. It is Canada’s leading port of entry from the U.S.

Windsor, house of formerly (1901-17) House of Saxe- Coburg-Gotha Royal house of Britain, which succeeded the house of Hanover on the death of its last monarch. Queen Victoria. The dynas¬ tic name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was that of Victoria’s German-born hus¬ band, Prince Albert. The dynasty has included Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI, and Elizabeth II. In view of the anti-German atmo¬ sphere of World War I, George V pro¬ claimed in 1917 that all British male descendants of Queen Victoria would adopt the surname of Windsor.

Windsor, Wallis Warfield, duchess of (b. June 19,1896, Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., U.S.—d. April 24, 1986, Paiis, France) U.S. social¬ ite who became the wife of Prince Edward, duke of Windsor (Edward VIII), after the latter had abdicated the British throne in order to marry her. She had earlier married Earl Spencer in 1916. After their divorce (1927), she married Ernest Simpson (1928) and moved with him to Lon¬ don. As a member of fashionable British society, she met Edward, prince of Wales, and the two gradu¬ ally fell in love. She filed for divorce in 1936 with the intention of marry¬ ing Edward (by then King Edward), but as a woman twice divorced, she was unacceptable as a prospective British queen. Edward renounced the throne, and after she received her divorce they were married in 1937. The two thereafter lived a well- publicized international social life, residing mainly in France.

Windsor Castle Principal British royal residence, on the River Thames in Windsor, Berkshire, southern England. It comprises two quadrilateral building courts, or upper and lower wards, separated by the Round Tower (erected by Henry II), a massive structure built on a mound and visible for many miles. The present-day complex has been reworked repeatedly since William the Conqueror first constructed a stockade on the site. The lower ward includes the Albert Memorial Chapel and St. George’s Chapel, the burial place of 10 sovereigns. The upper ward, part of which was dam¬ aged by fire in 1992, includes the monarch’s private apartments, visitors’ apartments, and the royal library.

windsurfing Sport of riding a sailboard, a modified surfboard with a movable mast. Steered from a standing position, sailboards are capable of moderately high speeds and are usually used on lakes, or close to shore—sometimes within the surf zone—on the ocean. The sport origi¬ nated in the U.S. in the late 1960s and quickly grew in popularity. It was introduced at the Olympic Games in 1984.

Windward Islands Island group, Lesser Antilles, West Indies. Located at the eastern end of the Caribbean Sea, they include Dominica (sometimes classified as part of the Leeward Islands), Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada, and the chain of small islands known as the Grena-

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

wine ► Winsor i 2067

dines. Though near the general area, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados are usually not considered part of the group.

wine Alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of grapes. Wine may also be made from various fruits and plant parts. Though known by the ancients, wine was not drunk in its matured form until the develop¬ ment of the bottle and cork in the late 17th century. In wine manufacture, grapes are crushed and strained, and the juice (called must) is sealed in vats along with yeast ( Saccharomyees ellipsoideus ) and often sulfur diox¬ ide, which suppresses wild yeasts and organisms. Fermentation continues for several weeks, and then the wine is drawn off (“racked”) into wooden barrels or other containers for a second fermentation (“aging”). It is clari¬ fied and bottled before undergoing final maturation. Wines may be clas¬ sified according to colour as red, rose (pink), or white; colour depends on whether the skins of red grapes are allowed to ferment with the juice. Wine taste is described as sweet or dry, sweet wines being high in sugar content and dry wines containing little or no sugar. Sparkling wines, such as champagne, contain suspended carbon dioxide, the result of bottling the wine before fermentation is complete. Fortified wines, such as port and sherry, contain added brandy. The leading wine-producing countries are France, Italy, Spain, the U.S., Argentina, Germany, Australia, South Africa, Portugal, and Romania.

Winfrey, Oprah (b. Jan. 29, 1954, Kosciusko, Miss., U.S.) U.S. tele¬ vision talk-show host and actress. After enduring an impoverished and troubled childhood, she became a news anchor for a local CBS television station in Tennessee at age 19. After graduating from Tennessee State University, she worked as a television reporter and anchor in Baltimore, Md., where she cohosted her first talk show (1977-83), and moved to Chicago to host AM. Chicago (1984), which became that city’s highest- rated morning show. The renamed Oprah Winfrey Show was syndicated in 1986, making her the first African American woman to host a success¬ ful national daytime talk show. Initially sensationalist, the enormously popular show gradually took on an uplifting and therapeutic tone. In 1986 she also formed her own television production company, Harpo Produc¬ tions. In 1996 she introduced “Oprah’s Book Club” to foster reading by endorsing certain books. She appeared in the movies The Color Purple (1985) and Beloved (1998).

wing In zoology, one of the paired structures certain animals use for flying. Bat and bird wings are modifications of the vertebrate forelimb. In birds, the fingers are reduced and the forearm is lengthened. The primary flight feathers propel the bird forward, and the secondaries (on the upper wing) provide lift. Bat wings consist of a membrane stretched over slen¬ der, elongated arm and hand bones. Insect wings are folds of integument (“skin”). Most insects have two pairs of wings; dipterans (flies) have only one developed pair, and beetles have two but use only one for flying. The two wings on a side usually move together, but dragonfly wings work independently.

Winnebago \,wi-n3-'ba-go\ North American Indian people who live in the Midwestern U.S., notably Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. Their lan¬ guage belongs to the Siouan language family, and their name is derived from a Fox name meaning “People of the Stinking Water.” They call themselves Hochungra, meaning “People of the Big Speech [or Parent Speech].” Before the 17th century, the Winnebago lived in what is now eastern Wisconsin. By the early 19th century, as a result of their partici¬ pation in the fur trade, they had expanded into southwestern Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois. They lived in villages of dome-shaped wig¬ wams; there they cultivated com, squash, beans, and tobacco and hunted bison. Their major ceremony was the medicine dance, in which both men and women participated. Membership in the 12 clans was determined by the father, and the clans were important units in social life. The Win¬ nebago were involved in the Black Hawk War of 1832, after which most of the tribe was removed to other Midwestern states. At the turn of the 21st century they numbered some 12,000.

Winnemucca, Sarah Hopkins See Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins

Winnipeg City (pop., 2001: metro, area, 671,274), capital of Manitoba, Canada. Located at the confluence of the Red River of the North and the Assiniboine River, Winnipeg was settled as a French fur-trading post in 1738. In the early 19th century Thomas Douglas founded a Scottish settle¬ ment there. Development ensued with the arrival of Canada’s first trans¬ continental railroad in 1885. Following disastrous floods in 1950, much of the city was rebuilt. It is a cultural, financial, commercial, industrial, and government centre.

Winnipeg, Lake Lake, south-central Manitoba, Canada. Fed by many rivers, including the Saskatchewan, Red River of the North, and Winnipeg, it is drained to the northeast by the Nelson River. It is 264 mi (425 km) long, up to 68 mi (109 km) wide, and has an area of 9,416 sq mi (24,387 sq km). The Canadian explorer Pierre La Verendrye visited the lake in 1733. With an average depth of 50 ft (15 m), it is important for shipping, com¬ mercial fishing, and recreation.

Winnipeg River River, southeastern Manitoba and southwestern Ontario, Canada. It issues from the Lake of the Woods and flows north¬ west for about 200 mi (320 km) before entering the southeastern part of Lake Winnipeg. It served as a route for early European explorers and fur traders. There are numerous hydroelectric power plants along its course.

Winnipegosis X.wi-na-ps-'go-sasV, Lake Lake, western Manitoba, Canada. Located west of Lake Winnipeg, it is a remnant of glacial Lake Agassiz. Numerous streams feed the 2,075-sq-mi (5,374-sq-km) lake, which drains southeastward into Lake Manitoba. It is more than 150 mi (240 km) long, up to 32 mi (51 km) wide, and has a maximum depth of 833 ft (254 m). It was explored in 1739 by Pierre La Verendrye and later served as part of a fur-trading route. It now is important for commercial fishing.

Winnipesaukee V.wi-ns-po-'so-keV Lake Lake, east-central New Hampshire, U.S. New Hampshire’s largest lake, it covers an area of 71 sq mi (184 sq km) and is 20 mi (32 km) long by 12 mi (19 km) wide. It is dotted with 274 islands. Its outlet, the Winnipesaukee River, flows about 20 mi (32 km) southwest to enter the Merrimack River. It is a popular sum¬ mer recreation area.

Winogradsky \vyin-9-'grat-ske\, Sergey (Nikolayevich) (b.

Sept. 1, 1856, Kiev, Russian Empire—d. Feb. 25, 1953, Brie-Comte- Robert, France) Russian microbiologist. In studying the physiology of sulfur bacteria, he showed that the colourless ones oxidize hydrogen sul¬ fide to sulfur and then to sulfuric acid in the absence of light (1887). He discovered two groups of microbes (1889-90), each involved in one step of nitrification (oxidation of ammonia to nitrites and nitrites to nitrates), and established a new genus for each. He also proposed new ways to study soil microorganisms, particularly those symbiotic with legumes.

Winslow, Edward (b. Oct. 18, 1595, Droitwich, Worcestershire, Eng.—d. May 8, 1655, at sea, near Jamaica, British West Indies) British- American colonist. In 1620 he sailed on the Mayflower to New England, where he was a founder of the Plymouth colony. He served on the gov¬ ernor’s council (1624—47) and was governor of the colony (1633-34, 1636-37, 1644-45). He traded with the Wampanoag Indians and won the friendship of their chief, Massasoit. As a commissioner of the United Colonies of New England, he often went to England to represent the interests of the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies. In 1646 he returned to England and held minor offices under Oliver Cromwell. He died aboard a ship on an expedition to the West Indies.

Winslow, Josiah (b. c. 1629, Plymouth colony—d. Dec. 18, 1680, Marshfield, Plymouth colony) American colonist. The son of Edward Win¬ slow, he succeeded Myles Standish as commander of Plymouth colony’s military forces in 1656. He was appointed assistant governor of the colony (1657-73) and served as a member of the directorate of the New Eng and Confederation. He was the first native-born colonial governor of Plymouth colony (1673-80) and established its first public school. In King Philip's War he was commander in chief of the confederation’s mili¬ tary forces (1675-76).

Winsor Vwin-zorV, Justin (b. Jan.

2, 1831, Boston, Mass., U.S.—d.

Oct. 22, 1897, Cambridge, Mass.)

U.S. librarian and historian. A freelance writer in his native Boston,

Winsor was appointed a trustee of the Boston Public Library and served as its superintendent (1868-77). He was a founder of the American Library Association (1876) and its first president. From 1877 he was

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

2068 I Winston-Salem ► Wister

librarian of Harvard University. He edited the Narrative and Critical His¬ tory of America (1884-89) and wrote several books.

Winston-Salem City (pop., 2000: 185,776), north-central North Caro¬ lina, U.S. With High Point and Greensboro it forms a tri-city industrial area. Salem was laid out by Moravian colonists in 1766. R.J. Reynolds founded his tobacco company there in 1875 (see R.J. Reynolds Tobacco). Winston was founded in 1849 and named for an American Revolution¬ ary War soldier. The two towns were consolidated as Winston-Salem in 1913. Tobacco dominates its diversified industries, which include the manufacture of cigarettes, textiles, beer, rubber, leather, and petroleum.

Winter War See Russo- Finnish War

wintergreen Any of several evergreen plants in the heath order (Eri- cales). They grow as woodland wild- flowers and are cultivated as garden ground cover. They are also grown as a source of oil of wintergreen, a vola¬ tile, pungent oil used to flavour can¬ dies and chewing gum and to soothe muscular aches. Wintergreen is an alternative common name for several woodland herbs: those of the genus Pyrola (shinleaf), comprising about 12 species of creeping perennials, and Gaultheria procumbens (also called teaberry and checkerberry; see also snowberry), with white flowers and spicy red berries.

Winthrop, John (b. Jan. 22, 1588, Edwardstone, Suffolk, Eng.—d. April 5, 1649, Boston, Massachu¬ setts Bay Colony) American colonial political leader, first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1629 he joined the Massachusetts Bay Co., and he was elected governor of the colony that was to be established by the company in New England. An ardent Puritan, he envisioned a colony based on his religious beliefs.

He guided the colonists on his arrival in North America in 1630 and was elected governor 12 times during the period from 1631 to 1648. Though widely respected, he was criticized for opposing the formation of a rep¬ resentative assembly (1634), and the colony’s limitations on religious freedom were decried by Roger Wil¬ liams and Anne Hutchinson. His son,

John Winthrop (1606-76), was an influential governor of Connecticut

(1659-76).

wire drawing Making of wire, generally from a rod or bar. The wire¬ drawing process consists of pointing the rod, threading the pointed end through a die, and attaching the end to a drawing block. The block, made to revolve by an electric motor, pulls the lubricated rod through the die, reducing it in diameter and increasing its length. Fine wire is made by a multiple-block machine, because the reduction cannot be performed in a single draft.

wire service See news agency

wireless communications System using radio-frequency, infrared, microwave, or other types of electromagnetic or acoustic waves in place of wires, cables, or fibre optics to transmit signals or data. Wireless devices include cell phones, two-way radios, remote garage-door openers, television remote controls, and GPS receivers (see Global Positioning Sys¬ tem). Wireless modems, microwave transmitters, and satellites make it possible to access the Internet from anywhere in the world. A Wireless Markup Language (WML) based on XML is intended for use in such naiTOw-band devices as cellular phones and pagers for the transfer and display of text.

Wisconsin State (pop., 2000: 5,363,675), northern Midwest, U.S. It cov¬ ers an area of 56,153 sq mi (145,436 sq km), including part of Lake Michi-

John Winthrop, detail of an oil paint¬ ing, school of Sir Anthony Van Dyck, c. 1625-49; in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass.

COURTESY OF THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, WORCESTER, MASS.

Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens )

ROGER AND JOY SPURR-BRUCE COLEMAN INC./EB INC.

GAN; its capital is Madison. Wisconsin is bordered by the western portion of Lake Superior and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the north; Lake Michigan to the east; Illinois to the south; and Minnesota and Iowa to the west and southwest, with the upper Mississippi River acting as border between these states and Wisconsin. With many unique landforms, including the Door Peninsula between Lake Michigan and Green Bay, its northern area has one of the greatest concentrations of lakes in the world. The Wisconsin River crosses the state. Forests cover about 45% of it. Originally inhabited by the Adena, or Mound Builders, the region was home to several different Indian tribes, including the Ojibwa, Menominee, and Winnebago, when Europeans arrived. The French explorer Jean Nicolet visited Wisconsin in 1634; the first permanent European settlement was established in 1717. The area remained under French control until 1763, when France ceded it to Great Britain after the French and Indian War. After the American Revo¬ lution the region was ceded to the U.S. The American settlers dispossessed the Indians of their land (see Black Hawk) and settled the region. It became the Wisconsin Territory in 1836. It was admitted to the Union as the 30th state in 1848. The Progressive movement (see Progressive Party) began in Wisconsin c. 1900, resulting in the passage of legislation that made the state a leader in social reform. It is a major milk, butter, and cheese pro¬ ducer in the U.S. Tourism and recreation also are economically important. Wisconsin ports handle much of the Great Lakes domestic freight shipping.

Wisconsin River River, central and southwestern Wisconsin, U.S. It rises near the Wisconsin-Michigan border and flows south through cen¬ tral Wisconsin, then turns west and enters the Mississippi River after a course of 430 mi (690 km). It is navigable for small craft for about 200 mi (320 km) from its mouth. Lake Wisconsin is formed by a hydroelectric dam on the river near Prairie du Sac.

Wise, Isaac Mayer (b. March 29, 1819, Steingrub, Bohemia, Aus¬ trian Empire—d. March 26, 1900, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.) Rabbi and organizer of Reform Judaism in the U.S. After emigrating from Bohemia, in 1854 he accepted a pulpit in Cincinnati, a post he held the rest of his life. He propagandized tirelessly for centralized Reform institutions and was instrumental in the formation of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, both of which he presided over. In 1857 he compiled a standard Reform prayer book, Minhag America. Though he failed to unite American Jews of all persuasions, he did bring about unanimity among Reform Jews.

Wise, Stephen Samuel (b. March 17, 1874, Budapest, Hung., Austria-Hungary—d. April 19, 1949, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Hungarian- born U.S. Reform rabbi, political activist, and Zionist leader. His family immigrated to the U.S. when he was an infant. He earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1901 and was trained as a rabbi. In 1907, after declining a post at an influential congregation because of inadequate assurances of free speech in the pulpit, he founded the Free Synagogue. In 1898 he attended the Second Zionist Congress and helped found the Zionist Organization of America. A prominent member of the Democratic Party, he helped win U.S. government approval of the Balfour Declara¬ tion. In 1922 he founded the Jewish Institute of Religion, a seminary for liberal rabbis, which merged with Hebrew Union College in 1950.

Wister, Owen (b. July 14, 1860, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—d. July 21,

1938, North Kingstown, R.I.) U.S. novelist. A well-to-do Easterner who graduated from Harvard, he spent his summers in the West from 1885. After practicing law for two years, he devoted himself to a literary career. His novel The Virginian (1902), the story of a cattle-ranch foreman who depends for his life on a harsh code of ethics, was a great popular success and helped establish the cowboy as an American folk hero and stock fictional character; the novel became the basis of a play, numerous films, and even a televi¬ sion series. His other major work was Roosevelt: The Story of a Friendship, 1880-1919 ' (1930), detailing his long acquaintance with his Harvard classmate Theodore Roosevelt.

Wister

COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

wisteria ► Wittgenstein I 2069

wisteria or wistaria \wis-'tir-e-o\ Any of the twining, usually woody vines that make up the genus Wisteria, of the pea family (see legume), native mostly to Asia and North America. The leaves are pinnately com¬ pound (feathery). They are widely cultivated for their attractive spread¬ ing growth and beautiful, profuse flowers (blue, purple, rose, or white), which grow in large, drooping clusters. American wisteria (W. frutescens) and Kentucky wisteria (VL macrostachya ) are native to the U.S.

witan \'wi-tan\ or witenagemot Vwi-t 3 n-9-g9- l mot\ Council of the Anglo-Saxon kings in medieval England. Usually attended by high- ranking nobles and bishops, the witan was expected to advise the king on all matters on which he chose to ask its opinion. It attested his grants of land to churches or laymen, consented to his issue of new laws, and helped him deal with rebels and disaffected subjects. Its composition and time of meeting were determined at the king’s pleasure.

witch hazel family Family Hamamelidaceae, comprising 23 genera of shrubs and trees, native to tropical and warm temperate regions. The six species of the genus Hamamelis include such ornamentals as witch hazel, winter hazel, and Fothergilla, which are outstanding for their early flowering and fall leaf colour. Members of the family are characterized by simple leaves and by flowers with four or five petals and sepals each. American, or common, witch hazel ( H. virginiana ) flowers in fall and retains yellow, cuplike calyxes (collections of sepals) through the winter. The common name refers to the forked twigs that were sometimes used for water-witching, or dowsing to locate underground water. The fragrant liniment witch hazel is made from the dried leaves and sometimes from twigs and bark. Brilliant autumn leaf colour is an outstanding trait of ironwood ( Parrotia persica). Another genus, Altingia, has seven species, all Asian and all valued for their timber. A. excelsa is one of the largest trees of the Asian tropics, sometimes reaching a height of 82 ft (25 m).

witchcraft and sorcery Use of alleged supernatural powers, usually to control people or events. Sorcery is sometimes distinguished from witchcraft in that sorcery may be practiced by anyone with the appropri¬ ate knowledge, using charms, spells, or potions, whereas witchcraft is considered to result from inherent mystical power and to be practiced by invisible means. Modern witches, however, claim that their craft is learned, and therefore another distinction between witchcraft and sorcery is that sorcery is always used with evil intent. Controversies over witch¬ craft and sorcery have been especially prevalent in close-knit communi¬ ties experiencing decline or misfortune and embroiled in petty social conflict and scapegoating. In ancient Greece, witchcraft was mentioned as early as Homer (see Circe). The best-known sorceress in Classical times was the legendary Medea. The Roman Horace describes two witches in his Satires. The Bible contains several references to witches, notably the Witch of Endor consulted by Saul (1 Samuel 28). The early Church Fathers held that witchcraft was a delusion and denounced its practice. In the Middle Ages, witchcraft was believed to involve demonic possession. It was also associated with heresy and so came within the scope of the Inquisition. In the witch-hunts of the 1 6th— 17 th centuries, European courts frequently regarded witches and sorcerers alike as candidates for burning. Although estimates of the number killed vary widely, it is likely that between 40,000 and 60,000 people were executed and many more were tortured and imprisoned during the witch-hunts. In the 20th century the modern witchcraft movement, Wicca, was established and promoted respect for nature and a pantheistic worldview. Belief in witchcraft is apparent in traditional societies throughout the world. The Navajo protect themselves against witches with sand or pollen paintings, and in African societies people seek aid from medical doctors and witch doctors, the former for treatment of the “external” causes of the illness and the latter for the “internal”. See also magic; Salem witch trials.

Witherspoon, John (b. Feb. 15,1723, Gifford, East Lothian, Scot.—d. Nov. 15, 1794, Tusculum, N.J., U.S.) Scottish-American clergyman. Ordained a Presbyterian minister (1745), he served in Scottish parishes until 1768, when he was sent to North America to become president of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University). As president, he expanded the curriculum and increased enrollment. A supporter of colo¬ nists’ rights, he was a member of the local Committee of Correspondence (1775-76) and the Continental Congress (1776-79, 1780-82); he was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. He helped organize the American Presbyterian Church as a national body (1785-89).

Witt Vvit, 'wit\, Katarina (b. Dec. 3, 1965, Karl-Marx-Stadt, E.Ger.) German figure skater. She won the first of six European championships

in 1983 and went on to win two Olympic gold medals (1984, 1988) and four World Championships (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988). She was popular with audiences, who prized her grace and elegance as much as her tech¬ nical abilities. She turned professional in 1988.

Witte \'vi-to\, Sergey (Yulyevich), Count (b. June 29, 1849, Tif- lis, Georgia, Russian Empire—d. March 13, 1915, Petrograd, Russia) Russian statesman and premier (1905-06). He entered the imperial admin¬ istrative service in 1871 and served as minister of finance (1892-1903). He improved communications, promoted construction of the Trans- Siberian Railway, and planned to modernize the Russian Empire. He rep¬ resented Russia in the negotiations that ended the Russo-Japanese War. Although opposed to constitutionalism, he persuaded Tsar Nicholas II to issue the October Manifesto in 1905 and was appointed the first consti¬ tutional premier. He organized the repression of all the forces of disrup¬ tion in 1905-06—e.g., the St. Petersburg Soviet, or workers’ council, the troop mutinies in the Far East, strikes in South Russia, and peasant upris¬ ings in the Baltic provinces—and he concluded arrangements with Euro¬ pean bankers for a series of loans that restored Russian finances. In 1906 the tsar, favouring a more conservative regime, replaced him with Pyotr Stolypin. He never returned to office, and in 1914-15 he vainly opposed Russian entry into World War I and was sympathetic to peace feelers put out by the German government through Witte’s own German banker.

Wittelsbach Vvi-tols-.bakX, house of German noble family that ruled in Bavaria from the 12th to the 20th century. In 1124 Otto V, count of Scheyem (d. 1155), moved the family residence to the castle of Wittels¬ bach and took its name. In 1180 his son Otto VI became Otto I, duke of Bavaria. In 1214 Otto II obtained the Palatinate of the Rhine. A descen¬ dant, Louis IV, as Holy Roman emperor, divided the lands and granted the Palatinate to his nephew, Rupert, who obtained the title of elector (r. 1353-90). Several divisions of ducal Bavaria were reunited under Albert IV (d. 1508). The Bavarian dukes became electors from 1623, and the last direct line died out in 1777. The Palatine branch united with Bavaria in 1799 under Duke Maximilian IV Joseph, who became king of Bavaria (1806) as Maximilian I. His descendants (including Louis I and Louis II) were kings until the abdication of Louis III in 1918.

Wittgenstein Vvit-gon-.shtlnN, Ludwig (Josef Johann) (b. April 26, 1889, Vienna—d. April 29, 1951, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, Eng.) Austrian-born English philosopher, regarded by many as the greatest phi¬ losopher of the 20th century. He was bom into an immensely wealthy and cultivated family. In 1908 he went to Manchester, Eng., to study aero¬ nautics. He soon developed an obsessive interest in the philosophy of logic and mathematics, and in 1911 he went to Cambridge to study logic with Bertrand Russell. Within a year he had learned all Russell had to teach; he then went to Norway, where he worked on logic in isolation in a wooden hut he built by the side of a fjord. There he developed in embryo what became known as the “picture theory” of meaning, a central tenet of which is that a proposition can express a fact by virtue of sharing with it a common structure, or “logical form.” When World War I broke out he joined the Austrian army, winning several decorations for bravery while serving on the Russian front. During the war he worked on a manu¬ script that was later published as Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922). Believing that he had solved all the major problems of philosophy, he abandoned the subject after the war and spent the next 10 years as a schoolteacher and doing other odd jobs in a remote Austrian village. Meanwhile, the Tractatus had attracted the attention of philosophers in Cambridge and Vienna, including those of the Vienna Circle of logical positivists (see logical positivism), some of whose meetings Wittgenstein was persuaded to join. He returned to Cambridge in 1929. During the early 1930s his ideas changed rapidly, and he gradually abandoned the doc¬ trines of the Tractatus', indeed, he began to conceive of philosophy in radically different terms, as not the construction of theories designed to answer philosophical questions but as the activity of clearing up concep¬ tual confusions arising from inattention to or misunderstandings of ordi¬ nary uses of language. What became known as the works of the “later Wittgenstein”—including Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics (1956), Philosophical Grammar (1974), Philosophical Remarks (1975), and especially Philosophical Investigations (1953)—can be considered attempts to refine and definitively express this new approach. Though he worked with fierce energy and wrote prodigiously, he would allow none of his work from this period to be published in his lifetime. In 1939 he was appointed to the chair in philosophy at Cambridge previously held by G.E. Moore. Disliking professional philosophy, he resigned the post

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2070 I Witz ► Wolfe

in 1947 to live in seclusion in Ireland and then with various friends. Diag¬ nosed with terminal cancer in 1949, he continued working intensively until two days before his death. See also analytic philosophy.

Witz \'vits\, Konrad (b. c. 1400, Rottweil, Baden-Wiirttemberg—d. c. 1445, Basel or Geneva, Swiss Con¬ federation) German-born Swiss painter. In 1434 he entered the paint¬ ers’ guild in Basel, where he worked most of his life. Little else is known of his life. His masterpiece, The Miraculous Draft of Fishes (1444), from an altarpiece for the cathedral of Geneva, exemplifies such precise realism that the light reflected off the water’s surface is carefully distin¬ guished from the light reflected off the stones beneath the shallow water.

He was one of the first German painters to show the influence of early Netherlandish art and one of the first European artists to incorpo¬ rate realistic landscapes into reli¬ gious paintings.

Wtadystaw II Jagietto Wla-'dis-laL.-yag-'yel-loN (b. c. 1351—d. May 31/June 1, 1434, Grodek, near Lwow, Galicia, Pol.) Grand duke of Lithuania (1377-1401) and king of Poland (1386-1434), founder of the Jagiellon dynasty. He had to defeat rivals, including his cousin Vytautas, in order to secure his rule in Lithuania. He married the Polish queen Jad- wiga (1386) after agreeing to Christianize Lithuania and unite it with Poland. He regained Ruthenia from Hungary (1387) and made the prince of Moldavia his vassal. He signed a treaty (1401) recognizing Vytautas as duke on the condition that Poland and Lithuania pursued a common foreign policy, and together they broke the power of the Teutonic Order.

Wobblies See Industrial Workers of the World

Wodehouse \'wud-,haus\ / Sir P(elham) G(renville) (b. Oct. 15, 1881, Guildford, Surrey, Eng.—d. Feb. 14, 1975, Southampton, N.Y., U.S.) English-born U.S. novelist, short-story writer, lyricist, and play¬ wright. He lived for long periods in the U.S. and France after 1909, and he settled in the U.S. after World War II. He is best known as the creator of the character of the young bachelor Bertie Wooster and his effortlessly superior manservant, Jeeves, who appeared in comic stories and novels from “Extricating Young Gussie” (1915) to Much Obliged, Jeeves (1971). Wodehouse wrote more than 90 books and 20 film scripts and collabo¬ rated on many plays and musical comedies, writing lyrics for Jerome Kern {Leave It to Jane, 1917; Show Boat , 1927), George Gershwin {Oh, Kay!, 1926), and others.

Wolcott, Oliver (b. Nov. 20, 1726, Windsor, Conn.—d. Dec. 1, 1797, Litchfield, Conn., U.S.) American public official. He was a member of the Connecticut council (1771-86), a delegate to the Continental Congress (1775-76,1778,1780-84), and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He raised a local militia to fight in the American Revolution and led troops in the defense of Connecticut (1779). As a commissioner of northern Indian affairs, he negotiated the Treaty of Fort Stanwix. He served as lieu¬ tenant governor (1787-96) and later governor (1796-97) of Connecticut.

wolf Any of three extant species of canine. The gray, or timber, wolf {Canis lupus ) is the ancestor of all domestic dogs. It once had the largest distribution of any mammal except human beings, but it is now found primarily in Canada, Alaska, the Balkans, and Russia. Wolves are intel¬ ligent and social. Their primary prey are deer, moose, and caribou, though they feed on many smaller animals as well. Because wolves have killed livestock, they have been persecuted by farmers and ranchers. A male gray wolf may be 7 ft (2 m) long and weigh up to 175 lb (80 kg); it is the largest living wild canid. Gray wolves live in hierarchical packs whose territories cover at least 38 sq mi (100 sq km) and hunt mostly at night. The much smaller red wolf (C. rufus), once widespread in the south- central U.S., has been bred in captivity and reintroduced. The Abyssinian wolf (C. simensis) of Ethiopia was formerly considered a jackal. See also DIRE WOLF.

Wolf \'volf,\ English Vwulf\, Christa orig. Christa Ihlenfeld (b.

March 18, 1929, Landsberg an der Warthe, Ger.) German novelist, essay¬

ist, and screenwriter. She was reared in a middle-class, pro-Nazi family; after Germany’s defeat in 1945, she moved with her family to East Ger¬ many. Her work reflects her experiences during World War II and her postwar life in a communist state. Her novels include Divided Heaven (1963), which brought her political favour; The Quest for Christa T. (1968), severely attacked in East Germany; A Model Childhood (1976); Cassandra (1983), her most widely read book, linking nuclear and patri¬ archal power; and What Remains (1990), on government surveillance and her own links to the East German secret police.

Wolf W61f\, Hugo (Filipp Jakob) (b. March 13, 1860, Windis- chgraz, Austria—d. Feb. 22, 1903, Vienna) Austrian composer. He entered the Vienna Conservatory at age 15, but, as a rabid Wagnerian, he lost patience with his teachers’ conservatism and soon left. By age 18 he probably had contracted the syphilis that would make him mentally unstable and eventually kill him. His volatile personality made it difficult for him to keep private students. As a critic (1884-87), he attracted atten¬ tion for his vituperative comments. His productivity came in bursts; in 1888-89 he produced the remarkable songs of the Morike Lieder, the Eichendorff Lieder, the Goethe Lieder, and much of the Spanish Songbook —more than half his total output. After beginning the Italian Songbook in 1891, he wrote nothing for three years, then quickly com¬ posed the opera Der Corregidor (1896) and finished the Italian Songbook (1896). In 1897 he suffered a complete breakdown, and he thereafter lived largely in an asylum.

wolf spider Name that originally referred to a species of southern European spider {Lycosa tarentula ) but now refers to more than 175 spi¬ der species (family Lycosidae) found in North America, Europe, and north of the Arctic Circle. The body of L. tarentula, the largest species, is about 1 in. (2.5 cm) long. Most species have a long, broad, hairy brown body; stout, long legs; and strong, prominent jaws. Wolf spiders chase and pounce upon their prey, hunting mostly at night. Most species build a silk-lined, tubular nest in the ground, which they dig with their heavy front legs. A few species spin webs. The bite of L. tarentula produces no ill effects in humans.

Wolfe, Elsie de See Elsie de Wolfe

Wolfe Vwulf\, James (b. Jan. 2,

Sept. 13, 1759, Quebec) British army commander. After a distinguished military career in Europe, in 1758 he helped lead Gen. Jeffery Amherst’s successful expedition against the French on Cape Breton Island. In 1759 he was appointed commander of the British army on its mission to capture Quebec from the French. In the ensuing Battle of Quebec, he defeated the French in a battle last¬ ing less than an hour. Wounded twice early in the battle, he died of a third wound, but not before he knew Que¬ bec had fallen to his troops.

Wolfe Vwulf\, Thomas (Clay¬ ton) (b. Oct. 3, 1900, Asheville,

N.C., U.S.—d. Sept. 15, 1938, Balti¬ more, Md.) U.S. writer. Wolfe stud¬ ied at the University of North Carolina and in 1923 moved to New York City, where he taught at New York University while writing plays.

Look Homeward, Angel (1929), his first and best-known novel, and Of Time and the River (1935) are thinly veiled autobiographies. In The Story of a Novel (1936) he describes his close working relationship with the editor Maxwell Perkins, who helped him shape the chaotic manuscripts for his first two books into publishable form. His short stories were collected in From Death to Morning (1935). After his death at age 37 from tuberculosis, the novels The Web and the Rock (1939) and You Can’t Go Home Again { 1940) were among the works extracted from the manuscripts he left.

Wolfe, Tom orig. Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr. (b. March 2, 1930, Richmond, Va., U.S.) U.S. journalist and novelist. He earned a doc¬ torate from Yale University and then wrote for newspapers and worked as a magazine editor, becoming known as a proponent of New Joumal-

"The Miraculous Draft of Fishes," tem¬ pera on panel by Konrad Witz, 1444; in the Museum of Art and History, Geneva

©MUSEE D'ART ET D'HISTOIRE, GENEVA; PHOTOGRAPH, WES SIZA

1727, Westerham, Kent, Eng.—d.

James Wolfe, painting attributed to J.S.C. Schaak; in the National Portrait Gallery, London

COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Wolff ► Woman's Christian Temperance Union I 2071

ism, the application of fiction-writing techniques to journalism. The Elec¬ tric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968) chronicles the life of a traveling group of hippies. The Right Stuff (1919', film, 1983) examines the first U.S. astro¬ naut program. Other controversial nonfiction books attacked fashionable 1960s leftism, modern abstract art, and international architectural styles. His novel The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987; film, 1990), a novel of urban greed and corruption, was a best-seller. Wolfe’s second novel, A Man in Full, was published in 1998.

Wolff VvolfX, Christian, Freiherr (baron) von (b. Jan. 24, 1679, Breslau, Silesia—d. April 9, 1754, Halle, Prussia) German philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. He was educated at the universities of Bre¬ slau, Jena, and Leipzig and was a pupil of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. He wrote numerous works in theology, psychology, botany, and physics but is best known as a leading spokesman of German rationalism. His series of essays, all beginning under the title Rational Ideas, covered many sub¬ jects and expounded Leibniz’s theories in popular form.

Wolfflin Vvoelf-lin\, Heinrich (b. June 21, 1864, Basel, Switz.—d. July 19, 1945, Basel) Swiss art historian. He was educated at the univer¬ sities of Basel, Berlin, and Munich, and his doctoral thesis already showed the approach he was later to develop: an analysis of form based on a psy¬ chological interpretation of the creative process. His chief work, Prin¬ ciples of Art History (1915), synthesized his ideas into a complete aesthetic system that was to become of great importance in art criticism. He eschewed the popular anecdotal approach and emphasized the formal stylistic analysis of drawing, composition, light, colour, subject matter, and other pictorial elements as they were handled similarly by the paint¬ ers of a particular period or national school.

wolfram See tungsten

Wolfram von Eschenbach Vvolf-ram-fon-'esh-on-.bakV (b. c. 1170—d. c. 1220) German poet. An impoverished Bavarian knight, Wol¬ fram apparently served a succession of lords. The epic “Parzival,” one of his eight surviving lyric poems, is one of the masterpieces of the Middle Ages; likely based on a romance by Chretien de Troyes, it introduced the theme of the Holy Grail into German literature. Richard Wagner used it as the basis for his last opera, Parsifal (1882). Wolfram’s influence on later poets was profound, and, with Hartmann von Aue and Gottfried von Strassburg, he is one of the three great Middle High German epic poets.

Wollaston Vwa-los-tonV Lake Lake, northeastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is 70 mi (113 km) long and 25 mi (40 km) wide, with an area of 1,035 sq mi (2,681 sq km). It drains through two outlets—one north¬ westward through the Fond du Lac River to Lake Athabasca and the Mackenzie River system, the other northeastward via the Cochrane River to Reindeer Lake and the Churchill River system. The lake was used as a link between the two river systems after its discovery by Peter Fidler in about 1800. It is noted for its fishing.

Wollstonecraft Ywol-ston- ,kraft\, Mary (b. April 27, 1759,

London, Eng.— -d. Sept. 10, 1797,

London) English writer. She taught school and worked as a governess and as a translator for a London pub¬ lisher. Her early Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787) fore¬ shadowed her mature work on the place of women in society, A Vindi¬ cation of the Rights of Woman (1792), whose core is a plea for equality in the education of men and women. The Vindication is widely regarded as the founding document of modem feminism. In 1797 she mar¬ ried the philosopher William Godwin; she died days after the birth of their daughter, Mary (see Mary Shelley), that same year.

Wolof \'wo-lof\ Muslim people of Senegal, The Gambia, and Maureta¬ nia. They speak a language of the Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo family. In the 14th-16th century the

Wolof maintained a powerful empire. Traditional Wolof society was highly stratified, consisting of royalty, an aristocracy, a warrior class, commoners, slaves, and members of despised artisan castes. Today most Wolof (numbering some 5 million) are farmers, but many live and work in Dakar, Senegal, and Banjul, The Gambia. Wolof women are renowned for their elaborate hair styles, abundant gold ornaments, and voluminous dresses. Nearly half the people of Senegal are Wolof.

Wolsey Vwul-zeV Thomas, Cardinal (b. c. 1475, Ipswich, Suffolk, Eng.—d. Nov. 29, 1530, Leicester, Leicestershire) English prelate and statesman. He served as chaplain to Henry VII and later Henry VIII, for whom he organized the successful campaign against the French (1513). On Henry’s recommendation, the pope made Wolsey successively bishop of Lincoln (1514), archbishop of York (1514), cardinal (1515), and papal legate (1518). In 1515 Henry appointed him lord chancellor of England, which added to his power and wealth. Wolsey sought to bring peace to Europe, but in 1521 he allied with Emperor Charles V against France. Although he introduced judicial and monastic reforms, he became unpopular for raising taxes. In 1529 he failed to persuade the pope to grant Henry an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, for which he soon lost favour and was stripped of his offices except the archbish¬ opric of York. In 1530 he was arrested for treason for corresponding with the French court, and he died on his way to face the king.

wolverine or skunk bear Solitary, voracious, nocturnal carnivore (Gulo gulo) that inhabits northern timberlands worldwide. Wolverines are 26-36 in. (65-90 cm) long and 14-18 in. (36-45 cm) high, and weigh 20-65 lbs (9-30 kg); the bushy tail is 5-10-in. (13-26-cm) long. They have short bowed legs, hairy soles, and long, sharp claws.

Their long, coarse hair, used to trim parkas, is blackish brown, with a light horizontal strip. The anal glands secrete an unpleasant¬ smelling fluid. A cunning, fearless predator, the wolverine will attack almost any animal, including sheep, deer, and small bears.

woman suffrage Right of women by law to vote in national and local elections. Women’s voting rights became an issue in the 19th century, especially in Britain and the U.S. In the U.S. the woman suffrage move¬ ment arose from the antislavery movement (see abolitionism) and from the advocacy of figures such as Lucretia Mon and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who believed that equality should extend to both women and African Ameri¬ cans. They organized the Seneca Falls Convention (1848), which issued a declaration calling for woman suffrage and for the right of women to edu¬ cational and employment opportunities. In 1850 Lucy Stone held the move¬ ment’s first national convention. Stanton and Susan B. Anthony formed the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869 to secure an amend¬ ment to the Constitution granting women the right to vote, while Stone founded the American Woman Suffrage Association to seek similar amendments to state constitutions; in 1890 the two organizations merged as the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Following Wyo¬ ming’s lead in 1890, states began adopting such amendments; by 1918 women had won suffrage in 15 states. After a woman suffrage amend¬ ment was passed by Congress, a vigorous campaign brought ratification, and in August 1919 the 19th Amendment became part of the Constitution. In Britain the first woman suffrage committee was formed in Manchester in 1865. In the 1870s suffragists submitted petitions bearing nearly three million signatures. Despite growing support, suffrage bills were continu¬ ally defeated; in frustration, some suffragists became militant activists under the leadership of Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst. Parliament finally passed the Representation of the People Act in 1918, by which time women had already won voting rights in New Zealand (1893), Australia (1902), Finland (1906), Norway (1913), the Soviet Union (1917), Poland (1918), Sweden (1919), Germany (1919), and Ireland (1922). After World War II woman-suffrage laws were adopted in many countries, including France, Italy, India, and Japan.

Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) U.S. temperance-movement organization. Founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1874, it used educational, social, and political means to promote legislation. Its president (1879-98) was Frances Willard (1839-1898), an effective

Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin), detail, oil on canvas by John Opie, c. 1797; in the National Portrait Gallery, Lon¬ don.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON

Wolverine (Gulo gulo)

ALAN G. NELSON/ROOT RESOURCES

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

2072 I womb ► Wood

speaker and lobbyist who also led the World’s Woman’s Christian Tem¬ perance Union from its founding in 1883. The WCTU was instrumental in promoting nationwide temperance and in the eventual adoption of Pro¬ hibition.

womb See uterus

wombat Either of two species (family Vombatidae) of nocturnal Aus¬ tralian marsupials that are heavily built, 28-47 in. (70-120 cm) long, and tailless. The single newborn develops in the mother’s pouch for about five months. Wombats eat grasses, tree bark, and shrub roots.

They make a grassy nest at the end of a long burrow. The common wombat ( Vombatus ursinus) of southeastern Australia and Tasmania, considered a pest, has coarse dark hair and short ears. The rare Queen¬ sland hairy-nosed wombat ( Lasiorhi - nus barnardi ) has fine fur and longer ears; protected by law, the population lives principally in a national park.

Women's Army Corps (WAC) U.S. Army unit. It was established (as the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps) by Congress to enlist women for aux¬ iliary noncombat duty in World War II. Its first head was Oveta C. Hobby. By 1945 nearly 150,000 women had served. Women relieved thousands of men of their clerical assignments, and many performed nontraditional jobs such as radio operator, electrician, and air-traffic controller. After the war the government requested former servicewomen to reenlist to meet the staffing needs of army hospitals and administrative centres. The WAC became part of the regular army with the passage of the 1948 Women’s Armed Services Integration Act. The WAC remained a separate unit of the U.S. Army until 1978, when male and female forces were integrated.

women's movement Diverse social movement, largely based in the U.S., seeking equal rights and opportunities for women in their economic activities, personal lives, and politics. It is recognized as the “second wave” of the larger feminist movement. While first-wave feminism of the 19th and early 20th centuries focused on women’s legal rights, such as the right to vote, the second-wave feminism of the “women’s movement” peaked in the 1960s and ’70s and touched on every area of women’s experience—including family, sexuality, and work. A variety of U.S. women’s groups, including the National Organization for Women, sought to overturn laws that enforced discrimination in matters such as contract and property rights and employment and pay. The movement also sought to broaden women’s self-awareness and challenge traditional stereotypes of women as passive, dependent, or irrational. An effort in the 1970s to pass the Equal Rights Amendment failed, but its aims had been largely achieved by other means by the end of the 20th century.

Wonder, Stevie orig. Steveland Judkins later Steveland Morris (b. May 13, 1950, Saginaw, Mich., U.S.) U.S. soul-music singer, songwriter, and musician. Blind virtually from birth, he was a skillful per¬ former on the piano and other instruments by age eight. The family moved to Detroit, and at 10 he signed with the fledgling Motown label. His first hit, “Fingertips, Part 2” (1963), was followed by many top-selling singles, including “Up-Tight” and “I Was Made to Love Her.” After studying composition at USC, he continued to enjoy enormous success in the 1970s and ’80s with such albums as Talking Book (1972) and Songs in the Key of Life (1976) and such hits as “Superstition,” “Ebony and Ivory,” and “I Just Called to Say I Love You.” He has spoken out against nuclear war, worked to end apartheid in South Africa, and raised funds for his eye- disease facility, Wonderland.

Wonders of the World, Seven See Seven Wonders of the World

Wonhyd Daisa Vwon-'hyo-'da-.saV (b. 617, Korea—d. 686, Korea) Korean Buddhist priest. He was the first to systematize Korean Buddhism, bringing the various Buddhist doctrines into a unity that served both phi¬ losophers and laypeople. He advocated maintaining harmony between the real and the ideal in life in order to pursue spiritual goals. His works, mainly in the form of commentaries on Mahayana sutras, had profound influence on Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Buddhists. He is considered the greatest of the ancient Korean religious teachers and one of the 10 sages of the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla.

wood Hard, fibrous material formed by the accumulation of secondary xylem produced by the vascular cambium. It is the principal strengthening tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and shrubs. Wood forms around a central core (pith) in a series of concentric layers called growth rings. A cross section of wood shows the distinction between heartwood and sapwood. Heartwood, the central portion, is darker and composed of xylem cells that are no longer active in the life processes of the tree. Sap- wood, the lighter area surrounding the heartwood, contains actively con¬ ducting xylem cells. Wood is one of the most abundant and versatile natural materials on earth, and unlike coal, ores, and petroleum, is renew¬ able with proper care. The most widely used woods come from two groups of trees: the conifers, or softwoods (e.g., pine, spruce, fir), and the broad- leaves, or hardwoods (e.g., oak, walnut, maple). Trees classified as hard¬ woods are not necessarily harder than softwoods (e.g., balsa, a hardwood, is one of the softest woods). Density and moisture content affect the strength of wood; in addition to load-bearing strength, other variable fac¬ tors often tested include elasticity and toughness. Wood is insulating to heat and electricity and has desirable acoustical properties. Some identi¬ fying physical characteristics of wood include colour, odour, texture, and grain (the direction of the wood fibres). Some 10,000 different wood products are commercially available, ranging from lumber and plywood to paper, from fine furniture to toothpicks. Chemically derived products from wood and wood residues include cellophane, charcoal, dyestuffs, explosives, lacquers, and turpentine. Wood is also used for fuel in many parts of the world.

Cross section of a tree trunk. Wood is secondary xylem produced by growth of the vascular cambium tissue. Sapwood is xylem that conveys water and dissolved min¬ erals from the roots to the rest of the tree. The darker heartwood is older xylem that has been infiltrated by gums and resins and has lost its ability to conduct water. Each growth layer is distinguished by earlywood (springwood), composed of large thin-walled cells produced during the spring when water is usually abundant, and the denser latewood (summerwood), composed of small cells with thick walls. Growth rings vary in width as a result of differing climatic conditions; in temperate climates, a ring is equivalent to one year's growth. Certain conducting cells form rays that carry water and dissolved substances radially across the xylem. Bark com¬ prises the tissues outside the vascular cambium, including secondary phloem (which transports food made in the leaves to the rest of the tree), cork-producing cells (cork cambium), and cork cells. The outer bark, composed of dead tissue, protects the inner region from injury, disease, and desiccation.

© MERRIAM-WEBSTER INC.

Wood, Grant (b. Feb. 13, 1892, near Anamosa, Iowa, U.S.—d. Feb. 12, 1942, Iowa City, Iowa) U.S. painter. He was trained as a craftsman and designer as well as a painter. On a visit to Germany in 1928, he was strongly influenced by the sharp detail of 15th-century German and Flem¬ ish paintings, and he soon abandoned his Impressionist manner for the detailed, realistic manner for which he is known. His American Gothic caused a sensation when exhibited in 1930. A telling portrait of the sober, hardworking Midwestern farmer, it has become one of the best-known icons of U.S. art, though it is often misinterpreted: the woman is not the man’s wife but rather the unmarried daughter designated to stay on the farm to assist her widowed father.

Common wombat (Vombatus ursinus).

WARREN GARST-TOM STACK AND ASSOCIATES

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Wood ► Woodhull I 2073

Wood, Leonard (b. Oct. 9, 1860, Winchester, N.H., U.S.—d. Aug. 7, 1927, Boston, Mass.) U.S. army officer. He studied medicine and became a contract surgeon with the U.S. Army. In the Spanish-American War he and his friend Theodore Roosevelt recruited and commanded the volunteer Rough Riders. Promoted to brigadier general, Wood served as military governor of Cuba (1899-1902) and organized a modern civil government. After service in the Philippines, he was chief of staff of the U.S. Army (1910-14). Though he had advocated preparedness for war, as a Repub¬ lican he was passed over for a command post in World War I by the Democratic administration. He later served as governor general of the Philippines (1921-27).

Wood, Natalie orig. Natasha Gurdin (b. July 20, 1938, San Fran¬ cisco, Calif.—d. Nov. 29, 1981, off Catalina Island, Calif.) U.S. film actress. She began appearing in movies at age five, and she won acclaim for her role in Miracle on 34th Street when she was only nine. A dark¬ haired beauty of Russian-French extraction, she moved easily into teen¬ age and adult leading roles in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Splendor in the Grass (1961), West Side Story (1961), Love with the Proper Stranger (1963), Inside Daisy Clover (1966), and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). She drowned in a boating accident.

wood alcohol See methanol

Wood Buffalo National Park Park, western Canada. Situated between Athabasca and Great Slave lakes, it was established in 1922; it occupies an area of 17,300 sq mi (44,807 sq km). The world’s largest park, it is a vast region of forests and plains, crossed by the Peace River and dotted with lakes. The habitat of the largest remaining herd of wood buffalo (bison) on the North American continent, as well as of bear, cari¬ bou, moose, and beaver, it also provides nesting grounds for the endan¬ gered WHOOPING CRANE.

wood duck North American duck popular game bird. Wood ducks,

17-21 in. (43-52 cm) long, nest in a tree cavity up to 50 ft (15 m) off the ground; they have long-clawed toes for perching. Both sexes have a head crest in winter. The beautifully coloured male has a purple and green head, red-brown breast flecked with white, and bronze sides; the female has a white eye ring and duller colouring. Ducklings eat aquatic insects and other small organisms; adults prefer acorns or other nuts.

Hunted nearly to extinction for its flesh and feathers, it has been restored to healthy populations by strong conservation efforts.

Wood family English family of Staffordshire potters, a major force in the development of Staffordshire wares from peasant pottery to an organized industry. Its most prominent members were Ralph Wood (1715-72), his brother Aaron (1717—85), and his son Ralph, Jr. (1748-95). Ralph, Jr., was related through his mother to Josiah Wedgwood, and the two names were often linked professionally. The elder Ralph became famous for his extremely well-modeled figures with coloured glazes, and he is credited with introducing the Toby mug. Ralph, Jr., produced a variety of figures, colouring them with enamel rather than glazes, and supplied some of them to Wedgwood. Aaron’s son William (1746-1808) was employed as a modeler by Wedgwood. His brilliant brother Enoch (1759-1840) apprenticed with Wedgwood but by 1783 was established as an independent potter in partnership with his cousin Ralph, Jr. In 1818 he continued his firm as Enoch Wood & Sons. Much of his earthenware was exported to the U.S. The firm closed in 1846. See also Staffordshire figure.

wood louse See pill bug, sow bug wood mouse See field mouse

wood rat or pack rat Any of 22 species (genus Neotoma, family Cricetidae) of rodents that are nocturnal vegetarians of North and Cen¬ tral American deserts, forests, and mountains. Wood rats are buff, gray, or reddish brown, usually with white undersides and feet. They have large ears and are 9-19 in. (23^47 cm) long, including the 3-9-in. (8-24-cm)

furry tail. The nest, up to 3 ft (1 m) across and usually built of twigs or cactus, is placed in a protected spot (e.g., under a rock ledge). Wood rats are sometimes called pack rats because they collect material to deposit in their dens.

wood thrush One of the 11 species of thrushes (in the genus Hylocichla, or Catharus ) called nightingale thrushes because of their rich songs. H. mustelina is common in eastern U.S. broadleaf forests; it is 8 in. (20 cm) long and has drab, spotted plumage and a rusty-colored head.

wood warbler Any of about 120 species of lively North and Central American songbirds in the family Parulidae. Wood warblers superficially resemble the true warblers of the Old World but are usually more brightly coloured (at least in the breeding season) and smaller (about 5 in. [13 cm] long). They commonly inhabit woodlands and sometimes marshes and dry scrub. Their songs are buzzy and monotonous. The usual nest is a tidy cup in a bush or tree. They lay two to five speckled eggs. See also black- poll warbler; chat; redstart.

woodbine Any of many species of vines belonging to various flowering-plant families, especially the Virginia creeper ( Parthenocissus quinquefolia, family Vitaceae) of North America and the Eurasian wood¬ bine honeysuckle ( Lonicera periclymenum, family Caprifoliaceae). The Virginia creeper, also called American ivy, attaches to walls, fences, and large tree trunks by means of disk-tipped tendrils. Its leaves display spec¬ tacular fall colour from yellow to red-purple. Woodbine honeysuckle has grayish green leaves and fragrant, yellowish white flowers.

woodchuck or groundhog Reddish brown or brown species ( Mar- mota monax ) of solitary marmot inhabiting fields and forest edges in Alaska, Canada, and the eastern and central U.S. Woodchucks are 17-20 in. (42-52 cm) long, have a 4-6-in. (10-15-cm) tail, and weigh 4-14 lbs (2-6 kg). They are good diggers, swimmers, and climbers. Their burrows have a main entrance and an escape tunnel. See also Groundhog Day.

woodcock Any of five species (family Scolopacidae) of plump, sharp¬ billed migratory birds of damp, dense woodlands in North America, Europe, and Asia. With eyes set far back on the head, a woodcock has a 360° field of vision. The bufify-brown, mottled plumage provides camou¬ flage. A solitary bird, most active at dusk, it drums its feet to coax earth¬ worms to the surface and then extracts them with its long, forceps-like bill; it may eat twice its weight in worms each day. The female Ameri¬ can woodcock (Scolopax, or Philohela, minor) is about 11 in. (28 cm) long; the male is slightly smaller. The male’s striking courtship display includes a long, repeated spiraling and dropping sequence. Woodcocks have been popular game birds.

woodcut Design printed from a plank of wood incised parallel to the vertical axis of the wood’s grain. One of the oldest methods of making prints, it was used in China to decorate textiles from the 5th century. Printing from wood blocks on textiles was known in Europe from the early 14th century but developed little until paper began to be manufactured in France and Germany at the end of the 14th century. In the early 15th cen¬ tury, religious images and playing cards were first made from wood blocks. Black-line woodcut reached its greatest perfection in the 16th century with Albrecht Durer and his followers. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, artists such as Edvard Munch, Paul Gauguin, and the Ger¬ man Expressionists rediscovered the expressive potential of woodcuts. Woodcuts have played an important role in the history of Japanese art (see ukiyo-e).

Woodhull, Victoria orig. Victoria Claflin (b. Sept. 23, 1838, Homer, Ohio, U.S.—d. June 10, 1927, Norton Park, Bremons, Worces¬ tershire, Eng.) U.S. social reformer. She and her sister Tennessee Claflin (1845-1923) were raised in a family of traveling spiritualists. After Vic¬ toria’s marriage (1853) to Canning Woodhull ended in 1864, the sisters opened a successful brokerage firm in New York. They founded Woodhull and Claflin’s Weekly (1870), which advocated equal rights for women, a single standard of morality for both sexes, and free love. A splinter group of radical suffragists formed a political party in 1872 and nominated Woodhull for president with Frederick Douglass as vice president. In 1872 the sisters published the first English translation of the Communist Mani¬ festo. For printing news of an alleged adulterous affair by Henry Ward Beecher, they were charged with libel but acquitted (1873). They moved to England (1877), where they lectured, worked for charities, and mar¬ ried wealthy Englishmen. Woodhull and her daughter published the eugenics journal Humanitarian (1892-1910).

(Aix sponsa, family Anatidae); a

Drake wood duck (Aix sponsa)

GRANT HEILMAN

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

2074 I Woodland culture ► Woolworth Co.

Woodland culture Any of the prehistoric cultures of eastern North America dating from the 1st millennium bc. The category includes cul¬ tures such as the Adena and Hopewell. Woodland cultures were character¬ ized by the raising of com, beans, and squash, the fashioning of distinctive pottery, the use of the bow and arrow, and the building of burial mounds. Most of these cultures were replaced by the Mississippian culture in the 1st millennium ad.

woodpecker Any of about 180 species (family Picidae) of mostly nonmigratory, solitary birds found nearly worldwide. Woodpeckers spi¬ ral up tree trunks, probing for insects, and chisel nest holes in dead wood by means of rapidly repeating blows of the beak. Though they spend their entire life in trees, only the few ground-feeding species can perch. Some species eat fruits and berries or tree sap. Woodpeckers are usually silent, except in spring, when males call loudly and drum on hollow wood. Spe¬ cies range from 6 to 18 in. (15 to 46 cm) long. All have a straight, chisel¬ like bill, and most are patterned in black, white, or yellow and bright colours. See also fucker; ivory-billed woodpecker; sapsucker.

Woods, Lake of the Lake astride the Canadian-U.S. boundary, south¬ western Ontario, southeastern Manitoba, and northern Minnesota. Irregu¬ lar in shape, it is 70 mi (110 km) long and up to 60 mi (95 km) wide. It has an area of 1,727 sq mi (4,472 sq km), of which 642 sq mi (1,663 sq km) are in U.S territory. It has an estimated 25,000 mi (40,000 km) of shoreline and more than 14,000 islands. It receives the Rainy River from the southeast and drains north through the Winnipeg River into Lake Win¬ nipeg. Visited by French explorers in 1688, it became an important fur¬ trading route between the Great Lakes and western Canada. The Northwest Angle, the northernmost point of the coterminous U.S., is separated from the rest of Minnesota by a part of the lake.

Woods, Tiger orig. Eldrick Woods (b. Dec. 30, 1975, Cypress, Calif., U.S.) U.S. golfer. The child of a Thai mother and an African Ameri¬ can father, Woods was a golf prodigy and won the first of three consecu¬ tive U.S. Junior Amateur Championships (1991-93) when he was 15 years old. In 1994 at age 18 he became the youngest winner of the U.S. Ama¬ teur competition, which he also won in 1995 and 1996. In 1997 Woods at age 21 became the youngest player and the first of African or Asian descent ever to win the Masters Tournament, winning by a record margin of 12 strokes. Winner of five other PGA tournaments in 1997, Woods became the youngest player ever ranked first in world golf competition. On July 23, 2000, Woods became the fifth player—after Gene Sarazen, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, and Gary Player—in golf history, and the youngest, to achieve a career grand slam of the four major championships (the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA Championship). In 2005 he completed his second career grand slam.

Woodson, Carter G(odwin) (b. Dec. 19, 1875, New Canton, Va., U.S.—d. April 3,1950, Washington, D.C.) U.S. historian. Born into a poor family, he supported himself as a coal miner and was unable to enroll in high school until he was 20. He went on to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University. In 1915 he founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History to encourage the study of African American history; he also edited the association’s Journal of Negro History. In the early 1920s he founded Associated Publishers to bring out books on African Ameri¬ can life and culture. Among his works was the college text The Negro in Our History (1922).

Woodstock in full Woodstock Music and Art Fair Rock music festival held near Bethel, N.Y., U.S. (its site was to have been the nearby town of Woodstock), on Aug. 15-17, 1969. It attracted about 450,000 young rock fans and featured performers such as the Grateful Dead, Jeffer¬ son Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, the Who, and Janis Joplin. The festival, the par¬ ticipants of which exhibited extraordinary good feeling in the face of rain and organizational chaos, marked the high point of U.S. youth countercul¬ ture in the 1960s. It was documented in the film Woodstock (1970). The festival was revived with mixed success on its 25th and 30th anniversaries.

Woodward, C(omer) Vann (b. Nov. 13, 1908, Vanndale, Ark., U.S.—d. Dec. 17, 1999, Hamden, Conn.) U.S. historian. He graduated from Emory University in 1930 and received his Ph.D. from the Univer¬ sity of North Carolina. His writings on the American South and the Civil War, including The Strange Career of Jim Crow (1955) and The Burden of Southern History (1961), transformed the nation’s understanding of the region. He edited Mary Chesnut’s Civil War (1981, Pulitzer Prize) and The Oxford History of the United States. At his death he was professor emeritus at Yale University.

Woodward, Robert B(urns) (b. April 10, 1917, Boston, Mass., U.S.—d. July 8, 1979, Cambridge, Mass.) U.S. chemist. He attended MIT and taught at Harvard University (1938-79). Recognizing that physical measurement revealed molecular structure better than chemical reaction, in 1940^42 he developed “Woodward’s rules” for determining structure by ultraviolet spectroscopy. In 1945 his methods finally clarified the struc¬ ture of penicillin and of many more complex natural products. He pro¬ posed the correct biosynthetic pathway of steroid hormones. He was the most accomplished synthesist of complex organic compounds, including quinine (1944) and vitamin B 12 (1971, in more than 100 reactions), a task that led to the fundamental concept of conservation of orbital symmetry. He received a 1965 Nobel Prize, and in 1963 the new Woodward Research Institute in Basel, Switz., was named for him.

woodwind instrument Any musical wind instrument that produces sound by either directing a stream of air against the edge of a hole or by making a reed or a double reed vibrate (see reed instrument). In a brass instrument, by contrast, the airstream passes directly from the player’s vibrating lips into the air column. The orchestral woodwinds include the flute, piccolo, clarinet, oboe, English horn, and bassoon. Other woodwinds include the saxophone, recorder, panpipe, shakuhachi, and shawm.

wool Animal fibre that is the protective covering, or fleece, of sheep or such other hairy mammals as goats and camels. Wool is readied by wash¬ ing (lanolin is the by-product), carding, sometimes combing, then spin¬ ning. Coarser than such textile fibres as cotton, linen, silk, and rayon, wool is resilient after limited stretching or compression, so fabrics and garments made from wool tend to retain shape, drape well, and resist wrinkling. Wool is warm and lightweight and takes dyes well. Woolen yarns, usu¬ ally made from shorter fibres, are thick and full and are used for such items as tweed fabrics and blankets. Worsteds usually are made from longer fibres.

Woolf Vwulf\, (Adeline) Virginia orig. Adeline Virginia Stephen (b. Jan. 25, 1882, London, Eng.—d. March 28, 1941, near Rodmell, Sussex) British novelist and critic. Daughter of Leslie Stephen, she and her sister became the early nucleus of the Bloomsbury group. She married Leonard Woolf in 1912; in 1917 they founded the Hogarth Press. Her best novels—including Mrs. Dalloway (1925) and To the Lighthouse (1927)—are experimental; in them she examines the human experience of time, the indefinability of character, and external circumstances as they impinge on consciousness. Orlando (1928) is a historical fantasy about a single character who experiences England from the Elizabethan era to the early 20th century, and The Waves (1931), perhaps her most radically experimental work, uses interior monologue and recurring images to trace the inner lives of six characters. Such works confirmed her place among the major figures of literary modernism. Her best critical studies are col¬ lected in The Common Reader (1925, 1932). Her long essay A Room of One’s Own (1929) addressed the status of women, and women artists in particular. Her other novels include Jacob’s Room (1922), The Years (1937), and Between the Acts (1941). She also wrote a biography of Roger Fry. Her health and mental stability were delicate throughout her life; in a recurrence of mental illness, she drowned herself. Her diaries and cor¬ respondence have been published in several editions.

Woollcott Vwul-k3t\, Alexander (Humphreys) (b. Jan. 19, 1887, Phalanx, N.J., U.S.—d. Jan. 23, 1943, New York, N.Y.) U.S. author, critic, and actor. He joined the New York Times in 1909 and became its drama critic in 1914. Known for his acerbic wit, he became the self-appointed leader of the Algonquin Round Table, the informal luncheon club at New York’s Algonquin Hotel in the 1920s and ’30s that included Groucho Marx, Dorothy Parker, Robert Sherwood, and George S. Kaufman. He later contributed articles to The New Yorker and wrote such books as Two Gentlemen and a Lady (1928) and While Rome Burns (1934). He inspired the play The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939).

woolly bear or wooly bear Caterpillar of a tiger moth. The larva of the Isabella tiger moth (Isia isabella ), known as the banded woolly bear, is brown in the middle and black at both ends. The width of the black bands is purported to predict the severity of the coming winter: the nar¬ rower the bands, the milder the weather will be.

Woolworth Co. Historic U.S. merchandising company. F.W. Wool- worth (1852-1919) founded his first “five- and ten-cent” store in 1879. By 1904 there were 120 stores in 21 states. The company’s New York headquarters, the Woolworth building (completed 1913), was the world’s tallest skyscraper from 1913 to 1930. By 1929 Woolworth had about 2,250

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

wootz ► Workers' Opposition I 2075

outlets. Its stores continued to proliferate in the U.S. and Britain, and it acquired other chains dealing in sportswear, shoes, and children’s wear. From 1992 it began closing hundreds of stores and selling off subsidiar¬ ies; in 1998 it changed its name to Venator Group, Inc., and announced its intention to focus on sporting goods. In 2001 the company name was changed to Foot Locker, Inc.

wootz (steel) Vwiits\ Steel produced by a method known in ancient India. The process involved preparation of porous iron, hammering it while hot to release slag, breaking it up and sealing it with wood chips in a clay container, and heating it until the pieces of iron absorbed car¬ bon from the wood and melted. The steel thus produced had a uniform composition of 1-1.6% carbon and could be heated and forged into bars for later use in fashioning articles, such as the famous medieval Dam¬ ascus swords. See also bloomery process.

Worcester Vwus-tarV City (pop., 2000: 172,648), central Massachusetts, U.S. On the Blackstone River, the original settlement (1673) of Worcester was disbanded during King Philip's War (1675-76) and a later settlement was established in 1713. Textile manufacturing began in 1789; the first corduroy cloth in the U.S. was produced there. Industrial development occurred after the opening (1828) of the Blackstone Canal. An early abo¬ litionist centre, Worcester became an important stop on the Underground Railroad. It is a commercial and industrial centre and the state’s second largest city. Among its institutions of higher education are College of the Holy Cross and Clark University (1887).

Worcester City and administrative district (pop., 2001: 93,358), admin¬ istrative and historic county of Worcestershire, west-central England. Located on the River Severn, it was settled before ad 680. During the Middle Ages it was an important wool town and also became known for its glove making. Oliver Cromwell and his Parliamentarian army routed Charles II and his Scottish army in the Battle of Worcester, effecting an end to the English Civil Wars. In 1751 John Wall founded the porcelain industry for which the town became famous, and in 1838 the condiment known as Worcestershire sauce was introduced there by Lea & Perrins. The town’s noted cathedral (11th-14th century) contains the tombs of King John and Prince Arthur, the eldest son of Henry VII. Cathedral Grammar School and Royal Grammar School were founded in the 16th century.

word processing Preparation of textual documents on computer. A word-processing system typically consists simply of a personal computer linked to a computer printer, but it may instead employ a terminal linked to a mainframe computer. Word processing differs from typewriter typing in numerous ways. Electronic text can be moved around at will; mis¬ spelled terms can be corrected throughout the document by means of a single command; spelling and grammar checkers can automatically alert the user to apparent errors of spelling, punctuation, and syntax; and the document’s format, layout, and type fonts and sizes can be changed repeatedly until a satisfactory design is achieved. Since all editing ideally occurs on-screen, word processing can result in decreased paper usage and simplified editing. When the final draft is ready, the document can be printed out (in multiple copies if necessary), sent as an e-mail attachment, shared on a computer network, or simply stored as an electronic file.

Worde Vword\, Wynkyn de orig. Jan van Wynkyn (b.

Alsace—d. 1534/35) Alsatian-born British printer. He was employed at William Caxton’s press from its founding in 1476 until Caxton’s death, when he took over the concern. Unlike Caxton and many other contem¬ porary printers, he did not edit or translate. An astute businessman, he published at least 600 titles after 1501, and he was the first printer in England to use italic type (1524).