Britannica Concise 2005 - читать бесплатно онлайн полную версию книги автора Encyclopedia Britannica (ч. 2)

Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'arl See Abu al-Hasan al-AsH c ARi

AbG ‘All Hasan ibn ‘All See Nizam al-Mulk

Abu Bakr \9-,bu-'ba-k3r\ (b. c. 573, Mecca, Hejaz, Arabian Peninsula—d. Aug. 23, 634, Medina) One of the close Companions of the Prophet Muhammad and the first Muslim caliph. Some Muslim traditions say he was the first male convert to Islam after Muhammad. He became caliph after Muhammad’s death in 632, and during his two years in that office he consolidated central Arabia under Muslim control, engaging in the wars of apostasy ( riddah ). He also realized the urgency of expanding the regions under Muslim control in order to maintain peace among Arab tribes.

Abu Dhabi Arabic Abu ZabI City (pop., 1995: 398,695), capital of AbG ZabI emirate and national capital of the United Arab Emirates. It occu¬ pies most of the small island of Abu ZabI, which is connected to the mainland by a bridge. Settled in 1761, it was of little importance until the discovery of oil in 1958. Oil royalties thereafter revolutionized its politi¬ cal and economic position, and it has grown into a modem city.

AbO HanTfah \3- 1 bu-ha- , ne-f3\ (al-Nu'mdn ibn Thabit) (b. 699, Kufah, Iraq—d. 767, Baghdad) Muslim jurist and theologian. The son of a merchant in Kufah, he gained wealth in the silk trade and studied law under the noted jurist Hammad. After Hammad’s death (738), Abu Hanl- fah became his successor. He was the first to develop systematic legal doctrines from the accumulated Islamic legal tradition. Primarily a scholar, he neither accepted a judgeship nor took direct part in court poli¬ tics; he supported the successors of ‘Au over the ruling Umayyad and 'Abbasid dynasties. His doctrinal system became one of four canonical schools of Islamic law (Sharia) and is still widely followed in India, Paki¬ stan, Turkey, Central Asia, and Arab countries.

Abu Muslim Xa-.bu-'mus-limX (d. 755) Leader of a revolutionary move¬ ment in Khorasan whose efforts brought down the Umayyad dynasty. Born into the mawall (non-Arab Muslim) class and of humble origins, he met an agent of the 'Abbasid family while in prison (741). After his arranged release, he was sent to Khorasan (745-746) to instigate a revolt. Recruit-

8 I Abu Qir ► academy

ing from various discontented groups, he succeeded in overthrowing the last Umayyad caliph, Marwan II (750), and was rewarded with the gov¬ ernorship of Khorasan. His popularity led the second 'Abbasid caliph, al-Mansur, to view him as a threat and have him put to death. See also ‘Abbasid dynasty.

Abu Qir \,a-bu-'ker\ Bay Inlet of the Mediterranean Sea, lying near the Rosetta mouth of the Nile along the coast of Egypt. It was the scene of the Battle of the Nile (1798), in which an English fleet under Horatio Nel¬ son defeated the French fleet of Napoleon I.

Abu Simbel Site of two temples built by Ramses II in the 13th century bc. The area, at the southern frontier of pharaonic Egypt, lies near Egypt’s current border with The Sudan. The temples were unknown to the outside world until their rediscovery in 1813.

The larger temple displays four 67-ft (20-m) seated figures of Ramses; the smaller was dedicated to Queen Nefertari. When the reservoir created by the building of Aswan High Dam threatened to submerge the site in the early 1960s, an international team disassembled both temples and reconstructed them 200 ft (60 m) above the riverbed.

Abu Zabi or Abu Dhabi Larg¬ est constituent emirate (pop., 2003 est.: 1,591,000) of the United Arab Emirates. Bounded to the north and west by the Persian Gulf, to the south and southwest by Saudi Arabia, and to the east by Oman, it has an area of 28,210 sq mi (73,060 sq km). It has numerous offshore islands, and inter¬ nally it partially surrounds Dubayy and has a short boundary with Al-Shariqah (Sharjah). Since the 18th century the A1 Bu Falah, a clan of the Banu Yas confederation, has held power. In 1761 they found wells of potable water at the site of Abu Dhabi city, and they made their headquar¬ ters there from 1795. In the 19th century territorial conflicts with Muscat (Masqat) and Oman and with the ancestors of the Sa‘0d dynasty (which now rules Saudi Arabia) led to border disputes that have remained largely unsettled. Abu Zabi signed an agreement with Great Britain in 1892, placing its foreign affairs under British control. When Britain withdrew from the Persian Gulf in 1968, the emirate and the other Trucial States formed the United Arab Emirates. Its rich oil fields make it and Dubayy the federation’s two most prosperous emirates.

Abu Zayd \ab-u-'zld\, Nasr Hamid (b. Oct. 7, 1943, Tanta, Egypt) Egyptian scholar. He attended Cairo University and received a Ph.D. in Arab and Islamic studies. His research and writings on Quranic exegesis, including his well-known Critique of Islamic Discourse (1995), offended some Islamic fundamentalists. In 1993 a colleague denounced him in a major Cairo mosque, and Islamic radicals successfully sought a nullifi¬ cation of his marriage from an Egyptian family court on the grounds that his writings demonstrated his apostasy (and under Egyptian law a Mus¬ lim woman may not be married to a non-Muslim man). Though the court declined to pass judgment, an appeals court divorced Abu Zayd and his wife, a decision confirmed by the Egyptian Supreme Court. The case attracted widespread concern among intellectuals and human rights groups. Since 1995 Abu Zayd and his wife have lived in exile in The Netherlands.

Abuja \a-'bii-ja\ City (pop., 2003 est.: 452,000), federal capital of Nige¬ ria. Construction of the city, at a site chosen for its healthful climate and central location about 300 mi (480 km) northeast of Lagos, began in 1976 under the architect Tange Kenzo. It officially replaced Lagos as the capi¬ tal in 1991.

Abydos \3-'bi-d9s\ Sacred city, one of the most important archaeologi¬ cal sites of ancient Egypt. It was a royal necropolis of the first two dynas¬ ties and later a pilgrimage centre for the worship of Osiris. The pharaohs, including Thutmose III and Ramses III, embellished the temple to Osiris, and some pharaohs had cenotaphs at Abydos. The temple of Seti I, one of the most beautiful, has helped decode Egyptian history: in a long gallery is a

relief, the so-called Abydos list of kings, showing Seti and his son Ram¬ ses making offerings to the cartouches of 76 dead predecessors.

Abydos Ancient Anatolian town northeast of modern Qanakkale, Tur¬ key, on the eastern side of the Dardanelles. It was colonized c. 670 bc by the Milesians (see Miletus). Xerxes I crossed the strait on a bridge of boats to invade Greece in 480 bc. Abydos is celebrated for its resistance to Philip V of Macedon in 200 bc and for the legend of Hero and Leander.

abyssal plain \3-'bis-3l\ Flat seafloor area at a depth of 10,000-20,000 ft (3,000-6,000 m), generally adjacent to a continent. The larger plains are hundreds of miles wide and thousands of miles long. The plains are largest and most common in the Atlantic Ocean, less common in the Indian Ocean, and even rarer in the Pacific Ocean, where they occur mainly as small, flat floors of marginal seas or as long, narrow bottoms of trenches. They are thought to be the upper surfaces of land-derived sediment that accumulates in abyssal depressions.

Abyssinia See Ethiopia

Abyssinian cat \,ab-3-'si-ne-3n\ Breed of domestic cat, considered more similar to the sacred cat of ancient Egypt than any other living cat. It is lithe and has slender legs and a long, tapering tail. Its short, finely textured coat is ruddy reddish brown, with individual hairs distinctively ticked, or tipped, with bands of black or brown. The nose is red, and the tail tip and backs of the hindlegs are black. The Abyssinian is affection¬ ate and quiet, though generally shy with strangers.

Abzug Vab-z3g\, Bella orig. Bella Savitzky (b. July 24, 1920, New York, N.Y., U.S.—-d. March 31, 1998, New York City) U.S. lawyer and politician. She studied law at Columbia University and subsequently took on numerous union, civil liberties, and civil rights cases, representing several people charged by Sen. Joseph McCarthy. She founded and chaired (1961-70) the antiwar Women Strike for Peace and later the National Women’s Political Caucus. In the House of Representatives (1971-77), she was known for her flamboyant style, her opposition to the Vietnam War, and her outspoken support for the Equal Rights Amendment, abor¬ tion rights, and child-care legislation.

AC See ALTERNATING CURRENT

acacia \9-'ka-sh3\ Any of the approximately 800 species of trees and shrubs that make up the genus Aca¬ cia, of the mimosa family. Acacias are native to tropical and subtropical regions of the world, particularly Australia and Africa. Sweet acacia (A. farnesiana ) is native to the south¬ western U.S. Acacias have distinc¬ tive, finely divided leaflets, and their leafstalks may bear thorns or sharp spines at their base. Their small, often fragrant, yellow or white flow¬ ers have many stamens apiece, giv¬ ing each a fuzzy appearance. On the plains of southern and eastern Africa, acacias are common features of the landscape. Several species are important economically, yielding substances such as gum arabic and tannin, as well as valuable timber.

academic degree See academic

DEGREE

Academie Francaise \a-ka-da- 'me-fra n -'sez\ Literary academy in France. The Academie Frangaise was established by Cardinal Richelieu in 1634 to maintain standards of liter¬ ary taste and to establish the literary language. In modern times it has endeavoured (somewhat absurdly) to purify French of foreign loanwords. Its membership is limited to 40. Despite its conservatism, most of France’s great writers, including Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine, Voltaire, and Victor Hugo, have been members.

academy Society of learned individuals organized to advance art, sci¬ ence, literature, music, or some other cultural or intellectual area of endeavour. The word comes from the name of an olive grove outside

Sandstone figures of Ramses II in front of the main temple at Abu Simbel near Aswan, Egypt.

Spreading wattle (Acacia genistifolia), an Australian acacia in which the leaf¬ stalks are flattened and function as leaves

C. RALPH AND DAPHNE KELLER/AUSTRALASIAN NATURE TRANSPARENCIES

Academy Awards ► account receivable I 9

ancient Athens, the site of Plato’s famous school of philosophy in the 4th century bc. Academies appeared in Italy in the 15th century and reached their greatest influence in the 17th—18th centuries. Their purpose gener¬ ally was to provide training and, when applicable, to create exhibiting or performance opportunities for their members or students. Most European countries now have at least one academy sponsored by or otherwise con¬ nected with the state. See also Academie Francaise.

Academy Awards Annual awards of merit in the U.S. presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Academy was formed in 1927 by Louis B. Mayer and others to raise the standards of film production, and its first awards were presented in 1929. The awards (nick¬ named Oscars) recognize excellence in acting, directing, screenwriting, and other activities related to film production.

Acadia North American possession of France in the 17th—18th century, centred in what is now Nova Scotia. Acadia was probably intended to include the other present Maritime Provinces as well as parts of Maine and Quebec. The first European settlement was founded by Samuel de Cham¬ plain and Pierre du Gast in 1604. The area at times was also claimed by the British and was contested often in the 18th-century colonial wars; in 1713 Nova Scotia came under British rule. In 1755 many French-speaking Acadians were deported by the British because of imminent war with France; several thousand settled in French-ruled Louisiana, where their descendants were known as Cajuns. The event was the theme for Henry W. Longfellow’s Evangeline.

Acadia National Park Preserve on the coast of Maine, U.S. It has an area of 65 sq mi (168 sq km). Originally established as Sieur de Monts National Monument (1916), it became the first national park in the east¬ ern U.S. as Lafayette National Park (1919) and was renamed Acadia in 1929. It consists mainly of a forested area on Mount Desert Island, domi¬ nated by Cadillac Mountain.

Acadia University Privately endowed university in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. Founded in 1838, it took its current name and status in 1891. It has faculties of arts, professional studies, science, theology, edu¬ cation, and graduate studies. Acadia ranks among the country’s top under¬ graduate institutions.

Acadian orogeny Vs-'ka-de-on-o-'ra-jo-neV Mountain-building event that affected the northern portion of the Appalachian Geosyncune from present-day New York to Newfoundland during the Devonian period. The orogeny was most intense in northern New England. Its origin has been ascribed to the collision of the northeastern portion of the North Ameri¬ can Plate with western Europe. Evidence for the orogeny includes defor¬ mation of pre-Devonian and Devonian rocks.

acanthus \3-'kan-thos\ Any of the more than 2,500 plant species that make up the family Acanthaceae, of the figwort order. Acanthus are found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. Most are herbaceous plants or shrubs that grow in tropical rainforests; some are climbers (vines) or trees. Acanthus have simple leaves arranged in opposite pairs on the twigs and enlarged cells called cystoliths in streaks or protuberances in the vegeta¬ tive parts. The bisexual flowers are bilaterally symmetrical and usually crowded together in clusters. Individual flowers are enclosed by leaflike bracts, which are often coloured and large. Acanthus are mainly of hor¬ ticultural interest and include some ornamentals.

Acapulco in full Acapulco de Juarez City and port (pop., 2000: 619,253), southwestern Mexico. Situated on a deep semicircular bay, it has the best harbour on Mexico’s Pacific coast. It was discovered by Hernan Cortes in 1531, and a settlement was founded in 1550. Until 1815 it was a main depot for Spanish colonial fleets going to the Far East. It has become a major international resort for tourists attracted by its sce¬ nic beauty, climate, and excellent beaches.

Acarnania V.a-kor-'na-ne-oV District, ancient Greece, bounded by the Ionian Sea, the Ambracian Gulf, and the Achelous River. First settled in the 7th-6th centuries bc, it developed into a federal state by the late 5th century bc; its capital was Stratus. It later came under Athenian, Theban, and Macedonian rule. Part of Acarnania recovered its independence in 231 bc and began an alliance with Philip V of Macedon. Rome overthrew the Macedonian dynasty in 167 bc, and Acarnania survived until Augus¬ tus incorporated many Acamanians into his new city Nicopolis Actia.

acceleration Rate of change of velocity. Acceleration, like velocity, is a vector quantity: it has both magnitude and direction. The velocity of an

object moving on a straight path can change in magnitude only, so its acceleration is the rate of change of its speed. On a curved path, the velocity may or may not change in magnitude, but it will always change in direction, which means that the acceleration of an object moving on a curved path can never be zero. If velocity is stated in metres per second (m/s) and the time interval in seconds (s), then the units of acceleration are metres per second per second (m/s/s, or m/s 2 ). See also centripetal ACCELERATION.

accelerator, particle See particle accelerator

accelerometer \ik- 1 se-b- , ra-m3-t3r\ Instrument that measures accel¬ eration. Because it is difficult to measure acceleration directly, the device measures the force exerted by restraints placed on a reference mass to hold its position fixed in an accelerating body. The output is usually either a varying electrical voltage or displacement of a moving pointer over a fixed scale. Specially designed accelerometers are used in varied applications: control of industrial vibration test equipment, detection of earthquakes (seismographs), and input to navigational and inertial guidance systems.

accent In prosody, a rhythmically significant stress on the syllables of a verse, usually at regular intervals. Though the term is often used inter¬ changeably with stress, some prosodists use accent to mean the empha¬ sis determined by normal language usage and stress to mean emphasis determined by metrical pattern.

acceptance Short-term credit instrument consisting of a written order that requires a buyer to pay a specified sum to the seller at a given date, signed by the buyer as a promise to honor the obligation. Acceptances are often used in export/import transactions: an exporter may require a buyer to sign and return an acceptance, which the exporter can then sell to the bank at a discount, thereby obtaining payment promptly. The buyer then has until the bill’s maturity date to dispose of the goods and pay the promised sum (now owed to the bank). See also bill of exchange; promis¬ sory note.

acclimatization Any of numerous gradual, long-term responses of an individual organism to changes in its environment. The responses are more or less habitual and reversible should conditions revert to an earlier state. These criteria differentiate acclimatization from homeostasis; from growth and development (which cannot be reversed); and from evolution¬ ary adaptation (which occurs in a population over generations). Acclima¬ tization can occur in anticipation of a change and enable organisms to survive conditions beyond their natural experience. Examples include adaptations to seasonal changes and adjustments to changes in altitude.

accordion Portable musical instrument that uses a hand-pumped bel¬ lows and two keyboards to sound free reeds, small metal tongues that vibrate when air flows past them.

The keyboards on either side of the bellows effectively resemble indi¬ vidual reed organs. The right-hand keyboard plays the treble line or lines. Most of the keys on the left- hand (bass) keyboard sound three- note chords; “free-bass” accordions permit the playing of single-note lines. A prototype accordion, using buttons rather than keys, was pat¬ ented in Berlin in 1822 by Friedrich Buschmann (also inventor of the har¬ monica). The instrument gained wide popularity in dance bands and as a folk instrument. See also concertina.

account payable Any amount owed as the result of a purchase of goods or services on a credit basis. Although a firm making a purchase issues no written promise of payment, it enters the amount owed as a cur¬ rent liability in its accounts. Companies often incur this type of short¬ term debt in order to finance their inventories, especially in industries where inventory turnover is rapid. See also account receivable.

account receivable Any amount owed to a business as the result of a purchase of goods or services from it on a credit basis. Although the firm making the sale receives no written promise of payment, it enters the amount due as a current asset in its books. Accounts receivable constitute a major portion of the assets of many companies, and they may even be sold or pledged as collateral to obtain loans. See also account payable; factoring.

10 I accounting ► Acheson

accounting Systematic development and analysis of information about the economic affairs of an organization. The actual recording and sum¬ marizing of financial transactions is known as bookkeeping. When the data thus produced are abstracted in reports (usually quarterly or annually) for the use of persons outside the organization, the process is called finan¬ cial accounting. Three reports are typically generated in financial account¬ ing: the balance sheet, which summarizes the firm’s assets and liabilities; the income statement, which reports the firm’s gross proceeds, expenses, and profit or loss; and the statement of cash flow, which analyzes the flow of cash into and out of the firm. The creation of reports (usually monthly) for internal planning and decision-making is called managerial account¬ ing. Its aim is to provide managers with reliable information on the costs of operations and on standards with which those costs can be compared, to assist them in budgeting.

Accra Va-kro, o-'kra\ Capital and largest city (pop., 2001 est.: 1,551,200) of Ghana, on the Gulf of Guinea. When the Portuguese first settled on the coast in 1482, the site was occupied by the Ga people. Three fortified trading posts were built 1650-80 by the Danes, the Dutch, and the Brit¬ ish. The Danes and Dutch left the region in 1850 and 1872, respectively, and in 1877 Accra became the capital of the British Gold Coast colony. The city became Ghana’s administrative, economic, and educational cen¬ tre after the country gained its independence in 1957. Tema, 17 mi (27 km) east, has taken over Accra’s former port functions.

acculturation See culture contact

accused, rights of the In law, the rights and privileges of a person accused of a crime. In most modem legal systems these include the pre¬ sumption of innocence until proved guilty, trial by jury, representation by counsel, the right to present witnesses and evidence to establish one’s innocence, and the right to cross-examine one’s accusers. Also important are a prohibition against an unreasonable search and seizure, the right to a speedy trial, and guarantees of freedom from double jeopardy and of the right to appeal. In the U.S. a person accused of a crime must be notified immediately of the right to secure counsel and the right to refuse to answer questions if answering might be incriminating (see Miranda v. Arizona ).

acetaminophen Vs-.se-to-'min-o-fonV Drug used to relieve mild head¬ ache or muscle and joint pain and to reduce fever. An organic compund, it relieves pain by inhibiting prostaglandin synthesis in the central nervous system and reduces fever by acting on the temperature-regulating centre of the brain. Unlike aspirin, it has no anti-inflammatory effect. It also is much less likely to irritate the stomach and cause peptic ulcers, is not linked with Reye syndrome, and can be taken by persons using anticoagulants or allergic to aspirin. Overdosages can cause fatal liver damage. A common brand name in much of the world is Tylenol. See also ibuprofen.

acetate C 2 H 3 0 2 _ ion, a salt, ester, or acylal derived from acetic acid. Acetates are important in the biochemical synthesis of fats from carbo¬ hydrates in plants and animals. Industrially, metal acetates are used in printing, vinyl acetate in plastic production, cellulose acetate in photo¬ graphic films and textiles (one of the first synthetic fibres, often called simply acetate), and volatile organic esters as solvents.

acetic acid \o-'se-tik\ Most important carboxylic acid (CH 3 COOH). Pure (“glacial”) acetic acid is a clear, syrupy, corrosive liquid that mixes readily with water. Vinegar is its dilute solution, from fermentation and oxidation (see oxidation-reduction) of natural products. Its salts and esters are acetates. It occurs naturally as a metabolic intermediate in body fluids and plant juices. Industrial production is either synthetic, from acetylene, or biological, from ethanol. Industrial chemicals made from it are used in printing and as plastics, photographic films, textiles, and solvents.

acetone Va-s3-,ton\ or dimethyl ketone Vdl-'me-thol-'ke-.tonX Sim¬ plest and most important ketone (CH 3 COCH 3 ). It is a colourless, flam¬ mable liquid, boiling at 133 °F (56.2 °C). Many fats, resins, and organic materials dissolve easily in it, so it is used to make artificial fibres, explo¬ sives, resins, paints, inks, cosmetics (including nail-polish remover), coat¬ ings, and adhesives. Acetone is used as a chemical intermediate in pharmaceuticals and many other compounds.

acetylcholine \3-,se-t 3 l-'ko-len\ Ester of choline and acetic acid, a neu¬ rotransmitter active at many nerve synapses and at the motor end plate of vertebrate voluntary muscles. It affects several of the body’s systems, including the cardiovascular system (decreases heart rate and contraction strength, dilates blood vessels), gastrointestinal system (increases peristal¬ sis in the stomach and amplitude of digestive contractions), and urinary

system (decreases bladder capacity, increases voluntary voiding pressure). It also affects the respiratory system and stimulates secretion by all glands that receive parasympathetic nerve impulses (see autonomic nervous sys¬ tem). It is important in memory and learning and is deficient in the brains of those with late-stage Alzheimer disease.

acetylene or ethyne \'e-,thm\ Simplest alkyne, C 2 H 2 . A colourless, flammable, explosive gas, it is used as a fuel in welding and cutting met¬ als and as a raw material for many organic compounds and plastics. It is produced by reaction of water with calcium carbide, passage of a hydro¬ carbon through an electric arc, or partial combustion of methane. Decom¬ posing it liberates heat; depending on degree of purity, it is also an explosive. An acetylene torch reaches about 6,000 °F (3,300 °C), hotter than combustion of any other known gas mixture. See also hydrocarbon.

Achaean Any member of an ancient Greek people identified in Homer as those who, with the Danaoi and the Argeioi, attacked Troy. Some iden¬ tify them with the Mycenaeans of the 14th—13th century bc; others say that they arrived in the 12th-century Dorian invasions. They may have held power only a few generations before being replaced by the Dorians. Herodotus claims the later Achaeans of the northern Peloponnese (see Achaean League) were descended from these earlier Achaeans.

Achaean League \o-'ke-3n\ 3rd-century bc confederation of towns of Achaea, an area in the northern Peloponnese of ancient Greece. Twelve cities had joined together by the 4th century bc to combat piracy, but they disbanded after the death of Alexander the Great. Ten cities renewed the league in 280 bc, later admitting non-Achaean cities to defend themselves against Macedonia, then Sparta, and finally Rome. Rome dissolved the league after defeating it in 146 bc. Later a smaller league was formed that existed into the Roman imperial age.

Achaemenian \,a-k3-'me-ne-3n\ dynasty (559-330 bc) Early Per¬ sian dynasty. It derives its name from Achaemenes, who is thought to have lived in the early 7th century bc. From his son Teispes were descended two lines of kings. The older line included Cyrus I, Cambyses I, Cyrus II (the Great), and Cambyses II; the junior line began with Darius I and ended with the death of Darius III after his defeat by Alexander the Great (330 bc). Its greatest rulers were Cyrus II (r. 559-c. 529 bc), who actually established the Persian empire and from whose reign it is dated; Darius I, who secured the borders from external threats; and Xerxes I, who com¬ pleted many of Darius’s public works. At its height, the Achaemenian Empire reached from Macedonia to northern India and from the Cauca¬ sus Mountains to the Persian Gulf. The ruins of one of its capitals, Per- sepous, survive from its golden age.

Achebe \a-'cha-ba\, (Albert) Chinua(lumogu) (b. Nov. 16, 1930, Ogidi, Nigeria) Nigerian Igbo novelist. Concerned with emergent Africa at its moments of crisis, he is acclaimed for depictions of the disorien¬ tation accompanying the imposition of Western customs and values on traditional African society. Things Fall Apart (1958) and Arrow of God (1964) portray traditional Igbo life as it clashes with colonialism. No Longer at Ease (1960), A Man of the People (1966), and Anthills of the Savannah (1988) deal with corruption and other aspects of postcolonial African life. Home and Exile (2000) is in part autobiographical, in part a defense of Africa against Western distortions.

Achelous River V.a-ko-'lo-osX Longest river in Greece. It rises in the Pindus Mountains and flows south 140 mi (220 km) to the Ionian Sea. Hydroelectric dams harness its waters at Kastraki and Kremasta. In ancient mythology, Achelous was a protean river god, who was van¬ quished by Hercules.

Acheson Va-cho-sonN, Dean (Gooderham) (b. April 11, 1893, Mid¬ dletown, Conn., U.S.—d. Oct. 12, 1971, Sandy Spring, Md.) U.S. secre¬ tary of state (1949-53). After graduating from Yale University and Harvard Law School, he practiced law in Washington, D.C. In 1941 he joined the State Department, where he later served as undersecretary (1945-47). In 1947 he helped design the Truman Doctrine and the Mar¬ shall Plan. As secretary of state under Harry S. Truman, he promoted the formation of NATO and was a principal creator of U.S. foreign policy in the early years of the Cold War. During congressional hearings held by Sen. Joseph McCarthy, Acheson refused to fire any alleged subversives in the State Department, including Alger Hiss. He established the policies of nonrecognition of China and aid to the regime of Chiang Kai-shek in Tai¬ wan, and he supported U.S. aid to the French colonial regime in Indo-

Acheson ► acorn I 11

china. After leaving office, he continued to advise successive presidents. His memoir Present at the Creation won a 1970 Pulitzer Prize.

Acheson, Edward Goodrich (b. March 9, 1856, Washington, Pa., U.S.—d. July 6, 1931, New York, N.Y.) U.S. inventor. He helped develop the incandescent lamp and in 1881 installed the first electric lights for Tho¬ mas Alva Edison in Italy, Belgium, and France. Attempting to produce artificial diamonds, he created instead the highly effective abrasive mate¬ rial Carborundum. He later found that the silicon vaporizes from Carbo¬ rundum at 7,500 °F (4,150 °C), leaving graphitic carbon, and patented his GRAPHiTE-making process in 1896.

Acheulean Vo-'shii-le-onX industry Stone-tool industry of the Lower Paleolithic Period characterized by bifacial stone tools with round cutting edges and typified especially by an almond-shaped (amygdaloid) flint hand ax measuring 8-10 in. (20-25 cm) in length and flaked over its entire surface. Other implements include cleavers, borers, knives, and choppers. The name derives from the site near St.-Acheul, in northern France, where such tools were first discovered. Acheulean industry was extremely long- lived (1,500,000-110,000 years ago) and is associated with both Homo erectus and archaic Homo sapiens.

Achilles \a -'ki-lez\ In Greek mythology, the bravest and strongest of the Greek warriors in the Trojan War. Because his mother dipped him into the River Styx, he was invulnerable except at the heel by which she held him. During the war against Troy Achilles took 12 nearby cities, but after a quarrel with Agamemnon he refused further service. He allowed his beloved cousin Patroclus to fight in his armor, and when Hector slew Patroclus, Achilles returned to battle, killed Hector, and dragged his body around the walls of Troy. Homer mentions Achilles’ funeral but not the circumstances of his death; the later poet Arctinus relates that Paris killed Achilles with an arrow guided by Apollo.

Achilles Painter (fl. 5th century bc) Greek vase painter, named for an amphora decorated with a painting of Achilles and Briseis attributed to him. He was active in Athens in the time of Pericles and was a contem¬ porary of Phidias. His Achilles vase (c. 450 bc) is among the finest sur¬ viving examples of red-figure pottery from the Classical period. He is also known for his lekythoi (funerary vases with coloured figures on a white background), which are regarded as the most reliable documentation of monumental Greek paintings. Over 200 extant vase paintings are attrib¬ uted to him.

Achinese X.a-cho-'nezX One of the main ethnic groups on the island of Sumatra, Indon. In the 13th century the Achinese became the first people in the archipelago to adopt Islam. After expelling the Portuguese in the 17th century, the sultanate of Acheh was dominant in northern Sumatra until it was conquered by the Dutch in 1904 (see Achinese War). Now part of the Indonesian republic, the Achinese are restive and are administered within a special district. They trace their descent through both maternal and paternal lines. Women have a high social position, and they do not wear veils. The group numbers roughly 2.1 million.

Achinese War (1873 -1904) Armed conflict between The Netherlands and the Muslim sultanate of Acheh in northern Sumatra. The Dutch con¬ sidered the sultanate to be within their northern Sumatran sphere of influ¬ ence and invaded it. Although the sultan capitulated, the Achinese people engaged the Dutch in a prolonged and costly guerrilla war, which the Dutch were able to win only by researching the area and devising a new “castle strategy” that relied on fortified bases.

acid Any substance that in water solution tastes sour, changes the colour of acid-base indicators (e.g., litmus), reacts with some metals (e.g., iron) to yield hydrogen gas, reacts with bases to form salts, and promotes cer¬ tain chemical reactions (e.g., acid catalysis). Acids contain one or more hydrogen atoms that, in solution, dissociate as positively charged hydro¬ gen ions. Inorganic, or mineral, acids include sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, and phosphoric acid. Organic acids include carboxylic acids, phenols, and sulfonic acids. Broader definitions of acids cover situ¬ ations in which water is not present. See also acid-base theory.

acid and basic rocks Division of igneous rocks on the basis of their silicate mineral content, these minerals usually being the most abundant in such rocks. Rocks are described as acid, intermediate, basic, and ultraba- sic, in order of decreasing silica content, because it was earlier thought that silica is present in rock magmas in the form of silicic acid. In mod¬

em usage the terms do not refer to acidity in the chemical sense. In gen¬ eral, the gradation from acid to basic corresponds to an increase in colour (i.e., light to dark).

acid-base theory Any of several theories that give rise to alternative definitions of acids and bases. The original theory was based on Svante Arrhenius’s electrolytic theory of solutions and involved the dissociation of water into hydrogen and hydroxide ions. To explain the behaviour of a chemical, particularly if water is not present, two other theories were developed. The most widely accepted and useful is the Brpnsted-Lowry definition (1923): An acid is a chemical that tends to lose a proton (H + ), and a base is a chemical that tends to gain a proton. Another is the Lewis definition (also 1923): An acid (see electrophile) is a chemical that can accept an electron pair from a base (see nucleophile), which they share to form a covalent bond. The three theories have superficial similarities but subtle and important differences for certain applications.

acid rain Any precipitation, including snow, that contains a heavy con¬ centration of sulfuric and nitric acids. This form of pollution is a serious environmental problem in the large urban and industrial areas of North America, Europe, and Asia. Automobiles, certain industrial operations, and electric power plants that burn fossil fuels emit the gases sulfur diox¬ ide and nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere, where they combine with water vapour in clouds to form sulfuric and nitric acids. The highly acidic precipitation from these clouds may contaminate lakes and streams, dam¬ aging fish and other aquatic species; damage vegetation, including agri¬ cultural crops and trees; and corrode the outsides of buildings and other structures (historic monuments are especially vulnerable). Though usu¬ ally most severe around large urban and industrial areas, acid precipita¬ tion may also occur at great distances from the source of the pollutants.

Ackermann, Konrad Ernst (baptized Feb. 4, 1712, Schwerin, Mecklenburg—d. Nov. 13, 1771, Hamburg) German actor-manager. After training with a theatre company that specialized in German adaptations of French plays, he led a troupe on tour throughout Europe in the 1750s. He became known for domestic drama and for playing roles that com¬ bined the comic and the sentimental. In 1765 he opened a theatre in Ham¬ burg, considered the first German national theatre, and later turned its management over to his stepson, Friedrich L. Schroder (1744-1816), who brought Shakespeare to the German stage. See also actor-manager system.

ACLU See American Civil Liberties Union

acne \'ak-ne\ Inflammatory disease of the oil glands of the skin. Acne vulgaris, probably the most frequent chronic skin disorder, results from an interplay of hereditary factors, hormones, and bacteria, beginning in the teen years when overactive sebaceous glands are stimulated by high levels of androgens. Its primary lesion, the blackhead, may be open or closed; it consists of a plug of skin oil (sebum), cell debris, and micro¬ organisms in a hair follicle. Acne has four grades of severity, with increas¬ ing degrees of spread, inflammation, pustule formation, and scarring. Methods of treatment vary from skin medication to antibiotics and hor¬ mones; many cases eventually resolve spontaneously.

Acoma Va-ko-moX Indian pueblo, west-central New Mexico, U.S. It is located on a reservation west of Albuquerque and is known as the “Sky City.” Its people live in terraced dwellings made of stone and adobe atop a sandstone butte 357 ft (109 m) high. Settled in the 10th century, it is believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited place in the U.S. In 1540 Spanish explorer Francisco Vazquez de Coronado described it as the strongest defensive position in the world.

Aconcagua X.a-kon-'ka-gwaX, Mount Mountain, western Argentina, on the Chilean border. Located in the Andes Mountains at an elevation of 22,834 ft (6,960 m), it is widely considered the highest peak in the West¬ ern Hemisphere. It is of volcanic origin but is not itself an active volcano. The summit was first reached in 1897.

aconite X'a-ka-.nltX Any member of two genera of perennial herbaceous plants of the buttercup family: Aconitum (monkshood or wolfsbane), con¬ sisting of summer-flowering poisonous plants, and Eranthis (winter aco¬ nite), consisting of spring-flowering ornamentals. The dried tuberous root of A. napellus was formerly used as a sedative and a painkiller.

acorn Nut of the oak. Acorns are usually seated in or surrounded by a woody cupule. They mature within one to two seasons, and their appear¬ ance varies depending on the species of oak. Acorns provide food for wildlife and are used to fatten swine and poultry.

12 I Acosta ► acting

Acosta \a-'k6-sta\, Uriel orig. Gabriel da Costa (b. c. 1585, Oporto, Port.—d. April 1640, Amsterdam, Neth.) Portuguese Jewish free¬ thinker. Born into a Marrano family, he came to feel that there was no salvation through the Roman Catholic church and converted to Judaism. His mother and brother also converted, and he and his family fled to Amsterdam. In 1616 he attacked rabbinic Judaism as nonbiblical and was excommunicated. When he enlarged on his criticisms in 1623-24, deny¬ ing the immortality of the soul, he was arrested and fined. He recanted but was later excommunicated again. He recanted publicly in 1640, after which he wrote a short autobiography. Example of a Human Life , and shot himself.

acoustics \3-'ku-stiks\ Science of production, control, transmission, reception, and effects of sound. Its principal branches are architectural, environmental, musical, and engineering acoustics, and ultrasonics. Envi¬ ronmental acoustics focuses on controlling noise produced by aircraft engines, factories, construction machinery, and general traffic. Musical acoustics deals with the design and use of musical instruments and how musical sounds affect listeners. Engineering acoustics concerns sound recording and reproduction systems. Ultrasonics deals with ultrasonic waves, which have frequencies above the audible range, and their appli¬ cations in industry and medicine.

acoustics, architectural Relationship between sound produced in a space and its listeners, of particular concern in the design of concert halls and auditoriums. Good acoustic design takes into account such issues as reverberation time; sound absorption of the finish materials; echoes; acoustic shadows; sound intimacy, texture, and blend; and external noise. Architectural modifications (e.g., orchestral shells, canopies, and undu¬ lating or angled ceilings and walls) may act as focusing elements to improve sound quality.

acquired immunodeficiency syndrome See AIDS Acre See 'Akko

acrobatics Art of jumping, tumbling, and balancing. The art is of ancient origin; acrobats performed leaps, somersaults, and vaults at Egyp¬ tian and Greek events. Acrobatic feats were featured in the commedia dell'arte theatre in Europe and in jingxi (“Peking opera”) in China. The later use of apparatuses such as poles, tightropes, and flying trapezes made acrobatics a major attraction in circus performances. Its popularity increased in the 20th century with such performers as the Flying Wallen- das (see Karl Wallenda).

acromegaly V.a-kro-'me-go-leN Growth and metabolic disorder in which the skeletal extremities enlarge when a pituitary gland tumor causes over¬ production of growth hormone after maturity. It is often associated with pituitary gigantism. Acromegaly is characterized by gradual enlargement of hands and feet, exaggeration of facial features, skin thickening, and enlargement of most internal organs, along with headaches, excessive sweating, and high blood pressure. Acromegalic individuals are likely to develop congestive heart failure, muscle weakness, joint pain, osteoporo¬ sis, and often diabetes mellitus and visual problems, including blindness. If treatment with surgery and/or radiation fails, then hormone therapy is used. Treatment can cause hormone deficiency, necessitating hormone replace¬ ment therapy; spontaneous events may also cause hormone deficiency.

acropolis (Greek: “city at the top”) Central, defensively oriented dis¬ trict in ancient Greek cities, located on the highest ground and contain¬ ing the chief municipal and religious buildings. The renowned Athens Acropolis (5th century bc), atop a craggy walled hill, is home to four main edifices—the Propylaea (see propylaeum), Parthenon, Erechtheum (Ionic temple noted for its caryatid porch), and Temple of Athena Nike—all built from white marble plentiful in the region. See photograph opposite.

acrostic Originally, a short verse composition, constructed so that one or more sets of letters (such as the initial, middle, or final letters of the lines), taken consecutively, form words. An acrostic in which the initial letters form the alphabet is called an abecedarius. Ancient Greek and Latin writers, medieval monks, and Renaissance poets are among those who devised acrostics. Today the term is used for a type of word puzzle uti¬ lizing the acrostic principle. A popular form is double acrostics, puzzles constructed so that the middle or last, as well as initial, letters of lines may form words.

acrylic compound Any of a class of synthetic plastics, resins, and oils used to manufacture many products. By varying the starting reagents

(such as acrylic acid, C 3 H 4 0 2 , or acrylonitrile, C 3 H 3 N) and the process of forming, a material may be produced that is hard and transparent, soft and resilient, or a viscous liquid. Acrylic compounds are used to make molded structural and optical parts, jewelry, adhesives, coating com¬ pounds, and textile fibres. Lucite and Plexiglas are trademarks used for glasslike acrylic materials.

acrylic \9-'kri-lik\ painting Painting executed in the medium of acrylic resins—synthetic resins that dry rapidly, are water-soluble, and serve as a vehicle for any pigment. Its effects may range from the transparent bril¬ liance of watercolour to the density of oil paint. Acrylics are less affected by heat and deterioration than oils. They were first used by artists in the 1940s but became popular with Pop artists when they were produced commercially in the 1960s.

Act of Union See Act of Union (1707), Act of Union (1800)

Acta Latin "Acts" In ancient Rome, the daily minutes of public busi¬ ness and a record of political and social events. Julius Caesar in 59 bc ordered that the Senate’s daily doings ( acta diurna, commentaria Sena- tus) be made public; Caesar Augustus later prohibited publication, though the Senate’s acts continued to be recorded and could be read with special permission. There were also public registers (acta diurna urbis, “daily minutes of the city”) of the acts of the popular assemblies and the courts as well as births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. These constituted a daily gazette, a prototype of the modern newspaper.

ACTH in full adrenocorticotropic \3- , dre-no- l kor-ti-ko- , tro-pik\ hormone Polypeptide hormone made in the pituitary gland. It regulates the activity of part of the adrenal cortex (see adrenal glands), the produc¬ tion site of important steroid hormones that affect electrolyte and water balance and the metabolism of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. ACTH is found in vertebrates (except jawless fishes); in mammals it contains 39 amino acids. Overproduction of ACTH is one cause of Cushing syndrome.

actin One of two proteins responsible for contraction of muscle cells and the motility of other cells. It occurs as a monomer, G-actin, a globular protein, and in living cells as a polymer, F-actin, which resembles two strings of beads twisted around each other into thin filaments. The fila¬ ments occur in regular structures, alternated and interwoven with thick filaments that contain myosin, the other major muscle protein. The thick and thin filaments slide past each other, under the control of calcium ions, resulting in contraction (shortening) and relaxation (lengthening) of the muscle cells.

acting Art of representing a character on a stage or before a camera by means of movement, gesture, and intonation. Acting in the Western tra¬ dition originated in Greece in the 6th century bc; the tragedian Thespis is traditionally regarded as founder of the profession. Aristotle defined act¬ ing as “the right management of the voice to express various emotions” and declared it a natural gift that he doubted could be taught. Acting declined as an art in the Middle Ages, when Christian liturgical drama was performed by craft guilds and amateurs. Modern professional acting emerged in the 16th century with Italy’s commedia dell'arte troupes. It

The Acropolis, Athens.

actinide ► Acuff I 13

flourished during the era of William Shakespeare. Not until the 18th cen¬ tury, however, was acting considered a profession to be taken seriously, through the efforts in England of the actor-manager David Garrick and the talents of actors such as Sarah Siddons, Edmund Kean, and Henry Irving. Modern acting styles have been influenced by Konstantin Stanislavsky’s emphasis on the actor’s identification with his role and by Bertolt Brecht’s insistence on the objectivity and discipline of the actor. The Stanislavsky method was adopted in the U.S. by Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler (1901— 92) and is the basis of most contemporary training, which features the cultivation of emotional and sense memory, physical and vocal training, and improvisation.

actinide \ l ak-t9-,nld\ Any of the series of 15 consecutive chemical ele¬ ments in the periodic table from actinium to lawrencium (atomic numbers 89-103). All are radioactive heavy metals; and only the first four (actinium, thorium, protactinium, and uranium) occur in nature in appre¬ ciable quantities. The other 11 (the transuranium elements) are unstable and are produced only artificially. Actinides are transition elements, so their atoms have similar configurations and similar physical and chemical behaviour; the most usual valences are 3 and 4.

actinolite \ak- , ti-n 3 l-,It\ Colourless to green amphibole mineral, darken¬ ing with increased iron content from green to black. It has a prismatic and splintery texture and is abundant in regionally metamorphosed (see meta¬ morphism) rocks such as schists. Actinolite has a monoclinic crystal struc¬ ture, and it may alter to chlorite. See also asbestos.

actinomycete \,ak-ti-no-'mI-set\ Any of a group of generally low- oxygen-utilizing bacteria identified by a branching growth pattern that results in large threadlike structures. The filaments may break apart to form rods or spheroidal shapes. Some actinomycetes can form spores. Many species occur in soil and are harmless to animals and higher plants; others are important disease-causing agents. For diagnostic purposes in human infections, the presence of sulfur granules is used.

Action Francaise \ak-se-'o n -fra n -'sez\ (“French Action”) Influential right-wing antirepublican group in early 20th-century France, whose views were promoted in a newspaper of the same name. The Action Francaise movement, led by Charles Maurras, espoused the antiparlia¬ mentarian, anti-Semitic, and strongly nationalist views inspired by the Alfred Dreyfus Affair. The movement peaked after World War I, when nationalist feeling was strong. It was denounced by the papacy in 1926, and ceased to exist after World War II because of its association with the collaborationist Vichy government (see Vichy France).

action painting Direct, instinctual, dynamic style of painting that involves the spontaneous application of vigorous, sweeping brush strokes and the chance effects of dripping and spilling paint onto the canvas. The term characterizes the work of Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Franz Kune. The “automatic” techniques developed in Europe by the Sur¬ realists in the 1920s and ’30s had great influence on U.S. artists, who regarded a picture not merely as a finished product but as a record of the process of its creation. It was a major force in Abstract Expressionism in the 1950s. See also automatism, Tachism.

action potential Brief (about one-thousandth of a second) reversal of electric polarization of the membrane of a nerve or muscle cell. Stimu¬ lation of the cell by certain chemicals or by sensory receptor cells causes depolarization of the membrane, permitting an impulse to move along the nerve fibre (in nerve cells) or causing the cell to contract (in muscle cells).

Actium Vak-she-omV Battle of (31 bc) Naval battle off Acarnania, Greece, between Octavian (later Augustus) and Mark Antony. With 500 ships and 70,000 infantry, Antony camped at Actium, between the Ionian Sea and the Ambracian Gulf. Octavian, with 400 ships and 80,000 infan¬ try, cut Antony’s line of communication from the north. Desertion by allies and a lack of supplies forced Antony to act. Outmaneuvered on land, he followed Cleopatra’s advice to attack Octavian at sea. Antony’s larger fleet included his own and Cleopatra’s ships. In the heat of battle Cleo¬ patra fled with her galleys, and Antony followed with a few ships. His fleet surrendered immediately, his army a week later. Octavian’s victory left him undisputed ruler of the Roman world.

activation energy Minimum amount of energy (heat, electromagnetic radiation, or electrical energy) required to activate atoms or molecules to a condition in which it is equally likely that they will undergo chemical reaction or transport as it is that they will return to their original state. Chemists posit a transition state between the initial conditions and the

product conditions and theorize that the activation energy is the amount of energy required to boost the initial materials “uphill” to the transition state; the reaction then proceeds “downhill” to form the product materi¬ als. Catalysts (including enzymes) lower the activation energy by altering the transition state. Activation energies are determined by experiments that measure them as the constant of proportionality in the equation describing the dependence of reaction rate on temperature, proposed by Svante Arrhenius. See also entropy, heat of reaction.

active galactic nucleus Small region at the centre of a galaxy that emits a prodigious amount of energy in the form of radio, optical. X-ray, or gamma radiation or high-speed particle jets. Many classes of “active galaxies” have been identified; they appear similar in many respects to quasars. Astronomers suspect that the observed energy is generated as matter accretes onto a supermassive black hole with a mass millions or even billions of times that of the Sun. The accreting matter can outshine the rest of the galaxy as it is heated in very high-speed collisions outside the black hole’s event horizon. It is believed that many galaxies harbour these central black holes and that they might have been quasars in their early history, although they now appear to be dormant unless orbiting matter is accreting onto the black hole.

activity coefficient Number expressing the ratio of a substance’s chemical activity to its molar concentration (see mole). The measured concentration of a substance may not be an accurate indicator of its chemi¬ cal effectiveness as represented by the equation for a particular reaction; in such cases, the activity is calculated by multiplying the concentration by the activity coefficient. In solutions, the activity coefficient is a mea¬ sure of how much the solution differs from an ideal solution.

Acton (of Aldenham), John Emerich Edward Dahlberg Acton, 1st Baron (b. Jan.10, 1834, Naples, Kingdom of Naples—d. June 19, 1902, Tegernsee, Bavaria, German Empire) English historian. He served in the House of Commons (1859-65). Editor of the Roman Catholic monthly The Rambler (1859-64), he resigned because of papal criticism of his scientific approach to history. An adviser to William E. Gladstone from 1865, he was raised to the peerage in 1869. In 1895 he was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge. He later coordinated the massive publication project of The Cambridge Mod¬ ern History. A critic of nationalism, he coined the familial - aphorism “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

actor-manager system Method of theatrical production prevalent in 19th-century England and the U.S. In this system, an actor formed a theatre company, chose the plays he wanted to produce, played the lead¬ ing roles in them, and managed the company’s business arrangements. The first actor-managers emerged in the 17th century, and in the 18th cen¬ tury actor-managers such as Colley Cibber and David Garrick gained promi¬ nence. The system produced high performance standards, typified by 19th-century figures such as William Macready, Henry Irving, and Herbert Tree. It waned as actor-managers were replaced first by stage managers and later by directors.

Actors Studio Professional actors’ workshop based in New York City. Founded in 1947 by the directors Cheryl Crawford, Eua Kazan, and Rob¬ ert Lewis as a leading centre of the Stanislavsky method, it was directed by Lee Strasberg from 1948 to 1982. In 1962 it launched a company, and a workshop was established in Los Angeles in 1966. Actors work together without the pressures of commercial production. Membership is by invi¬ tation; six or seven new members are chosen yearly from 1,000 auditions. Members have included Marlon Brando, AAarilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, and Robert De Niro.

actuary One who calculates insurance risks and premiums. Actuaries compute the probability of the occurrence of such events as birth, mar¬ riage, illness, accidents, and death. They also evaluate the hazards of property damage or loss and the legal liability for the safety and well¬ being of others. Usually employed by insurance companies, actuaries set premium rates based on statistical studies, establish underwriting proce¬ dures, and determine the amounts of money required to assure the pay¬ ment of benefits.

Acuff \'a-kof\, Roy (Claxton) (b. Sept. 15, 1903, Maynardsville, Tenn., U.S.—d. Nov. 23, 1992, Nashville, Tenn.) U.S. singer, songwriter, and fiddler. He turned to music after an aborted baseball career and gained immediate popularity with his recordings of “The Great Speckled Bird” and “The Wabash Cannonball.” Reasserting the mournful musical tradi-

14 I acupressure ► Adams

tions of Southeastern rural whites, he became a national radio star on the “Grand Ole Opry” broadcasts. In 1942 he and songwriter Fred Rose founded Acuff-Rose Publishing, the first publishing house exclusively for country music. In 1962 Acuff was elected the first living member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

acupressure or shiatsu \she-'at-su\ Alternative-medicine practice in which pressure is applied to points on the body aligned along 12 main meridians (pathways), usually for a short time, to improve the flow of vital force (Qi). Though often referred to by its Japanese name, shiatsu, it originated in China thousands of years ago. A single point may be pressed to relieve a specific symptom or condition, or a series of points can be worked on to promote overall well-being. Some studies suggest that acu¬ pressure can be effective for certain health problems, including nausea, pain, and stroke-related weakness. Risks are minimal with cautious use. See also acupuncture.

acupuncture Medical technique in which needles are inserted into the skin and underlying tissues, devised in China before 2500 bc. One or more small metal needles are inserted at precise points along 12 meridians (pathways) in the body, through which the vital life force (qi) is believed to flow, in order to restore yin-yang balance and treat disease caused by yin-yang imbalance. Acupuncture appears to relieve pain and is used as an anesthetic for surgery. Theories to explain its effects include stimula¬ tion of release of natural opiates, blockage of pain-signal transmission, and a placebo effect. See also acupressure.

Ada Va -do\ High-level computer programming language whose develop¬ ment was initiated in 1975 by the U.S. Dept, of Defense and standard¬ ized in 1983. Ada (named for the countess of Lovelace) was intended to be a common language for use on the department’s computers, which were produced by many different manufacturers. It is similar to Pascal but contains many additional features convenient for the development of large-scale, multiplatform programs. The 1995 revision, called Ada 95, Supports OBJECT-ORIENTED PROGRAMMING.

Adad \a-'dad\ Babylonian and Assyrian god of weather, the son of Anu ( sometimes called the son of Bel). He was known as the Lord of Abun¬ dance for rains that made the land bloom, but he sent death-dealing storms to his enemies. He was also the god of oracles and divination. Though widely worshiped, he was a minor god and appears to have had no cult center of his own.

Ada I Va-doL Historical Islamic state, eastern Africa, southwest of the Gulf of Aden, with its capital at Harer (now in Ethiopia). Its rivalry with Christian Ethiopia began in the 14th century. In the early 16th century Adal launched a series of attacks. By 1533 Adal, now led by Ahmed Gran, succeeded in gaining control of most of central Ethiopia. Gran was killed in battle in 1543, and the Oromo invasions of the later 16th century ended Adal’s power.

Adalbert Yad-^-.bartV, Saint orig. Vojtech (b. 956, Libice?, Bohemia—d. April 23, 997, near Gdansk, Pol.; feast day April 23) Czech prelate. Descended from the princes of Bohemia, he was trained in the¬ ology at Magdeburg. Elected the first native bishop of Prague in 982, he promoted the political aims of the Bohemian prince by extending the influence of the church beyond the Czech kingdom. Failing to convert his people, he retired in 988 to a monastery near Rome. On papal orders, he returned in 992 to find little change. Disillusioned, he left Bohemia in 994 to become a missionary along the Baltic coast, where he was martyred in 997. An account of his life was written by his friend and disciple St. Bruno of Querfurt. He was recognized as a saint soon after his death.

Adam, Robert (b. July 3, 1728, Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scot.—d. March 3, 1792, London, Eng.) Scottish architect and designer. Son of the architect William Adam, he apprenticed in his father’s offices. He traveled in Europe in 1754-58, studying architectural theory and Roman ruins. On his return to London, he and his brother James (1732-94) developed an essentially decorative style—known as the Adam style—that was marked by a new lightness and freedom in the use of the Classical elements of architecture. This style is most remembered for its application in interi¬ ors, which were characterized by contrasting room shapes and delicate Classical ornaments. Robert Adam’s executed works, mainly remodeled interiors and exteriors of private houses, include Osterley Park (1761-80) in Middlesex and Kedleston Hall (c. 1765-70) in Derbyshire. Other works include the Adelphi development in London (1768-72) and the Univer¬ sity of Edinburgh (1789). He was also a leading furniture designer; his

style, popularized by designer George Hepplewhite, was meant to harmo¬ nize with his interior architecture down to the last detail.

Adam and Eve In the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions, the par¬ ents of the human race. Genesis gives two versions of their creation. In the first, God creates “male and female in his own image” on the sixth day. In the second, Adam is placed in the Garden of Eden, and Eve is later created from his rib to ease his loneliness. For succumbing to temptation and eating the fruit of the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil, God banished them from Eden, and they and their descendants were forced to live lives of hardship. Cain and Abel were their children. Chris¬ tian theologians developed the doctrine of original sin based on the story of their transgression; in contrast, the Quran teaches that Adam’s sin was his alone and did not make all people sinners.

Adamawa \,a-da-'ma-wa\ Traditional emirate centered in what is now Adamawa state, eastern Nigeria. It was founded by Modibbo Adama in the early 19th century. He moved the capital several times before finally settling it in 1841 in Yola. The British Royal Niger Company established trading posts there; when the emir tried to force them out in 1901, they captured the town. Adamawa was partitioned in 1901 between British Northern Nigeria and German Kamerun (Cameroon). In 1919 the Cam¬ eroon portion was divided between the French and the British. The emir¬ ate’s territories eventually came to form almost all of northern Cameroon and part of eastern Nigeria.

Adamawa-Ubangi X.ad-o-'ma-wo-ii-'baq-geV languages formerly Adamawa-Eastern languages Branch of the huge Niger-Congo language family. Adamawa-Ubangi languages are spoken in eastern Nige¬ ria, northern Cameroon, southwestern Chad, and western Central African Republic. The branch has two divisions, Adamawa in the west and Ubangi in the east. The Adamawa group comprises 80 languages, the least-studied languages in the Niger-Congo family. Nearly all have fewer than 100,000 speakers. The Ubangi group includes 40 languages and extends across a much broader region, from northern Cameroon across the Central Africa Republic to adjacent parts of southern Sudan and northern Congo (Kin¬ shasa). Ubangi languages with more than a million speakers include those of the Banda, Gbaya, Ngbaka, and Zande peoples. Sango, a restructured form of one or more languages of the Ngbandi group of Ubangi, has become a lingua franca of the Central African Republic.

Adamov Xo-'da-movV Arthur (b. Aug. 23, 1908, Kislovodsk, Russia—d. March 16, 1970, Paris, France) Russian-born French play¬ wright. He settled in Paris in 1924, and his first major work, written after suffering a nervous breakdown, was his autobiography, The Confession (1938-43). Influenced by August Strindberg and Franz Kafka, he began writing plays in 1947. Professor Taranne (1953) and Ping-Pong (1955) expressed a view of life’s meaninglessness that was characteristic of the Theatre of the Absurd. In Paolo Paoli (1957) and later plays, he abandoned Absurdism for radical political theatre influenced by Bertolt Brecht. He died from a drug overdose, an apparent suicide.

Adams, Abigail orig. Abigail Smith (b. Nov. 22, 1744, Weymouth, Mass.—d. Oct. 28, 1818, Quincy, Mass., U.S.) U.S. first lady. She was the daughter of a Congregational minister. Educated entirely at home, she became an avid reader of history. She married John Adams in 1764 and raised four children, including John Quincy Adams, in Quincy, Mass. In 1774 she began a prolific correspondence with her husband, who was attending the Continental Congress in Philadelphia; she described daily life and discussed public affairs during the American Revolution with wit and political acuity. She continued her letters to family and friends while in Europe (1784-88) and Washington, D.C. (1789-1801), during her hus¬ band’s diplomatic and presidential careers. She was considered an influ¬ ential adviser to him.

Adams, Ansel (b. Feb. 20, 1902, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.—d. April 22, 1984, Carmel, Calif.) U.S. photographer. In 1927 he published Parme- lian Prints of the High Sierras, photographs that imitated Impressionist painting by suppressing detail in favour of soft, misty effects achieved in the darkroom. Adams was known for his dramatic images of mountain landscapes. He became one of the outstanding technicians in the history of photography; Making a Photograph (1935) was the first of his many books on photographic technique. He worked consistently to foster pub¬ lic awareness of photography as a fine art. In 1940 he helped organize the first public collection of photographs, at the Museum of Modern Art, and in 1946 he established, at the California School of Fine Arts, the first aca¬ demic photography department.

Adams ► Adamson I 15

Adams, Charles Francis (b. Aug. 18, 1807, Boston, Mass., U.S.—d. Nov. 21, 1886, Boston) U.S. diplo¬ mat. The son of John Quincy Adams and the grandson of John Adams, he served in the Massachusetts legisla¬ ture and edited a Whig journal. He helped form the antislavery Free-Soil Party and in 1848 was chosen its can¬ didate for U.S. vice president. As ambassador to Britain (1861-68) he was instrumental in securing Brit¬ ain’s neutrality during the American Civil War and in promoting the arbi¬ tration of the Alabama claims.

Adams, Gerry orig. Gerard Adams (b. Oct. 6, 1948, Belfast,

N.Ire.) Irish nationalist and president of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). He was interned without trial as a suspected terrorist in 1972, 1973-76, and 1978.

He became vice president of Sinn Fein in 1978 and persuaded the group to enter candidates in the 1981 elections. Elected to the British House of Commons in 1983, he refused to take the oath of allegiance and never took his seat. In 1991, as Sinn Fein’s president (from 1983), he began to shift its strategy toward negotiation; his efforts led to indirect talks with the British government and a 1993 agreement (the Downing Street Declaration) by the British and Irish prime ministers to consider the future of Northern Ireland. He was credited with the IRA’s 1994 cease-fire announcement and was pivotal in winning support for the Good Friday Agreement (1998), which led to the creation of a power-sharing assembly in Northern Ireland.

Adams, Henry (Brooks) (b. Feb. 16, 1838, Boston, Mass., U.S.—d. March 27, 1918, Washington, D.C.) U.S. historian and man of letters. A product of Boston’s elite Brahmin class and a descendant of two presi¬ dents, he was infused with disgust for American politics of his time. As a young newspaper correspondent and editor, he called for social and political reforms, but he later became disillusioned with a world he char¬ acterized as devoid of principle. That loss of faith was reflected in his novel Democracy (1880). His study of U.S. democracy culminated in his nine-volume History of the United States of America (1889-91), which received immediate acclaim. In Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres (1913) he described the medieval worldview as reflected in its architecture. The Education of Henry Adams (1918), his best-known work and one of the outstanding autobiographies of Western literature, traced his confronta¬ tions with the uncertainties of the 20th century.

Adams, John (b. Oct. 30, 1735, Braintree, Mass.—d. July 4, 1826, Quincy, Mass., U.S.) U.S. politician, first vice president (1789-97) and second president (1797-1801) of the U.S. After graduating from Harvard College in 1755, he practiced law in Boston. In 1764 he married Abigail Smith (see Abigail Adams). Active in the American independence move¬ ment, he was elected to the Massa¬ chusetts legislature and served as a delegate to the Continental Congress (1774-78), where he was appointed to a committee with Thomas Jefferson and others to draft the Declaration of Independence. In 1776-78 he was appointed to many congressional committees, including one to create a navy and another to review foreign affairs. He served as a diplomat in France, the Netherlands, and England (1778—88). In the first U.S. presidential election, he received the second largest number of votes and became vice president under George Washington. Adams’s term as president was marked by controversy over

his signing of the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798 and by his alliance with the conservative Federalist Party. In 1800 he was defeated for reelection by Jefferson and retired to live a secluded life in Massachusetts. In 1812 he overcame his bitterness toward Jefferson, with whom he began an illu¬ minating correspondence. Both men died on July 4, 1826, the Declara¬ tion’s 50th anniversary. John Quincy Adams was his son.

Adams, John (Coolidge) (b. Feb. 15, 1947, Worcester, Mass., U.S.) U.S. composer. After studying at Harvard University he taught at the San Francisco Conservatory and conducted widely. His compositions, initially strongly influenced by minimalism, became tempered by expressive ele¬ ments. His Nixon in China (1987) and The Death of Klinghoffer (1991) are two of the best-known operas of the late 20th century. Other celebrated works include Harmonium (1980), Grand Pianola Music (1982), and Harmonielehre (1984-85).

Adams, John Quincy (b. July 11, 1767, Braintree, Mass.—d. Feb. 23, 1848, Washington, D.C., U.S.) Sixth president of the U.S. (1825-29). He was the eldest son of John Adams, second president of the U.S., and Abigail Adams. He accompanied his father to Europe on diplomatic mis¬ sions (1778-80) and was later appointed U.S. minister to the Netherlands (1794) and to Prussia (1797). In 1801 he returned to Massachusetts and served in the U.S. Senate (1803-08). Resuming his diplomatic service, he became U.S. minister to Russia (1809-11) and to Britain (1815-17). Appointed secretary of state (1817-24), he was instrumental in acquiring Florida from Spain and in drafting the Monroe Doctrine. He ran for the presidency in 1824 against three other candidates; none received a major¬ ity of the electoral votes, though Andrew Jackson received a plurality. By constitutional design, the selection of the president went to the House of Representatives, where Adams was elected after receiving crucial support from Henry Clay, who had finished third in the initial balloting. He appointed Clay secretary of state, which further angered Jackson. Adams’s presidency was unsuccessful; when he ran for reelection, Jackson defeated him. In 1830 he was elected to the House, where he served until his death. He was outspoken in his opposition to slavery; in 1839 he proposed a constitutional amendment forbidding slavery in any new state admitted to the Union. Southern congressmen prevented discussion of antislavery petitions by passing gag rules (repealed in 1844 as a result of Adams’s persistence). In 1841 he successfully defended the slaves in the Amistad mutiny case.

Adams, Samuel (b. Sept. 27, 1722, Boston, Mass.—d. Oct. 2, 1803, Boston, Mass., U.S.) American Revolutionary leader. A cousin of John Adams, he graduated from Harvard College in 1740 and briefly practiced law. He became a strong opponent of British taxation measures and orga¬ nized resistance to the Stamp Act. He was a member of the state legisla¬ ture (1765-74), and in 1772 he helped found the Committees of Correspondence. He influenced reaction to the Tea Act of 1773, organized the Boston Tea Party, and led opposition to the Intolerable Acts. A delegate to the Continental Congress (1774-81), he continued to call for separa¬ tion from Britain and signed the Declaration of Independence. He helped draft the Massachusetts constitution in 1780 and served as the state’s governor (1794-97).

Adams, Walter S(ydney) (b. Dec. 20, 1876, Syria—d. May 11, 1956, Pasadena, Calif., U.S.) Syrian-born U.S. astronomer. He returned to the U.S. with his missionary parents when he was eight and studied at Dartmouth College, the University of Chicago, and the University of Munich. Using spectroscopy, he investigated sunspots and the rotation of the Sun, the velocities and distances of thousands of stars, and planetary atmospheres. In 1904 he joined the original staff of Mount Wilson Obser¬ vatory, where he served as director (1923-46). He took an important part in planning the 200-in. (5-m) telescope for the Palomar Observatory.

Adam's Peak Mountain, south-central Sri Lanka. Standing 7,360 ft (2,243 m) high, it is sacred and a place of pilgrimage to Buddhists, Mus¬ lims, and Hindus. On its summit, it has a large hollow, 5 ft (1.5 m) long, that is venerated as the footprint of Buddha, Adam, and Shiva, respectively. Many pilgrims of all faiths visit the peak every year.

Adamson, Joy orig. Joy-Friederike Victoria Gessner (b. Jan. 20, 1910, Troppau, Silesia, Austria-Hungary—d. Jan. 3, 1980, Shaba National Reserve, Kenya) Czech-born British naturalist. Educated in Vienna, she moved to Kenya in 1939. She became known worldwide for books describing how she and her husband, George, raised a lion cub, Elsa, and returned it to its natural habitat: Born Free (1960), Living Free (1961), and Forever Free (1962). The books were adapted into two films.

Charles Francis Adams

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C.

John Adams, oil painting by Gilbert Stuart, 1826; in the National Collec¬ tion of Fine Arts, Washington, D.C.

COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL COLLECTION OF FINE ARTS, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, WASHINGTON D.C.

16 I Adamson ► additive

She later repeated her rehabilitation success with cheetah and leopard cubs. In addition to writing other books, she founded the Elsa Wild Ani¬ mal Appeal (1961), an international conservation fund. She was killed by a disgruntled employee.

Adamson, Robert See Hill, David Octavius, and Robert Adamson

Adana \,a-da-'na\ City (pop., 1997: 1,041,509), south-central Turkey, on the Seyhan River. An agricultural and industrial centre and one of Tur¬ key’s largest cities, it probably overlies a Hittite settlement that dates from c. 1400 bc. Conquered by Alexander the Great in 335-334 bc, it was later a Roman military station. It came under the rule of the 'Abbasid dynasty at the end of the 7th century ad and changed hands intermittently until the late 14th century, when it fell into the hands of the Ramazan dynasty, a Turkmen group that remained influential even after the city’s conquest by the Ottoman Empire in 1516. Adana’s prosperity has long derived from the fertile valleys behind it and its position as a bridgehead on the trade routes connecting Anatolia and the Arabian Peninsula.

Adanson \a-da n -so n \, Michel (b. April 7, 1727, Aix-en-Provence, France—d. Aug. 3, 1806, Paris) French botanist. He studied theology, classics, and philosophy in Paris before traveling to Senegal, where he lived several years. He returned with a large collection of plant speci¬ mens, now in the National Museum of Natural History. In Families of Plants (1763), he described his classification system; it was opposed by Carolus Linnaeus, whose system eventually prevailed. He was the first to classify mollusks. He also studied electricity in torpedo fish and the effects of electrical current on regenerating frog legs and heads. He is now known mainly for introducing the use of statistical methods in botanical studies.

Adapa \3-'da-p3\ Legendary sage of the Sumerian city of Eridu. Endowed with great intelligence by Ea but still mortal, he was the hero of the Sumerian myth of the Fall of Man. Adapa was fishing when he was blown into the sea by the southern wind, whose wings he broke in rage. The heavenly doorkeepers Tammuz and Ningishzida interceded for him when he was summoned before Anu for punishment, but when Anu offered him the bread and water of eternal life, he refused, and human¬ kind thus became mortal.

adaptation In biology, the process by which an animal or plant becomes fitted to its environment. It is the result of natural selection act¬ ing on inherited variation. Even simple organisms must be adapted in many ways, including structure, physiology, and genetics; movement or dispersal; means of defense and attack; and reproduction and develop¬ ment. To be useful, adaptations must often occur simultaneously in dif¬ ferent parts of the body.

ADD See attention deficit disorder

Adda River \'ad-da\ River, Lombardy region, Italy. It flows southward 194 mi (313 km) through Lake Como and across the Lombardy Plain before joining the Po River above Cremona. It is used extensively for hydroelectric power in its upper course and for irrigation on the plain. Historically, it has served as a strategic defense line in wars dating back to the Roman period.

Addams, Charles (Samuel) (b. Jan. 7, 1912, Westfield, N.J., U.S.—d. Sept. 29, 1988, New York, N.Y.) U.S. cartoonist. He worked briefly as a commercial artist before selling his first cartoon to The New Yorker in 1933. He became famous for darkly humorous cartoons depict¬ ing morbid behaviour by sinister-looking characters, especially a family of ghouls whose activities travestied those of a conventional family; in one popular image, they prepare to pour boiling oil on a group of Christ¬ mas carolers. These evolved into The Addams Family, a 1960s television series that generated two Hollywood films.

Addams, Jane (b. Sept. 6, 1860, Cedarville, Ill., U.S.—d. May 21, 1935, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. social reformer. Addams graduated from Rock¬ ford Female Seminary in Illinois in 1881 and was granted a degree the following year when the institution became Rockford College. During a trip to Europe in 1887-88 she visited the Toynbee Hall settlement house in London, which sparked her interest in social reform. Determined to create something like Toynbee Hall in the U.S., in 1889 she cofounded Hull House in Chicago, one of the first settlement houses in North America to provide practical services and educational opportunities for the poor. She subsequently championed social reforms such as juvenile- court law, justice for immigrants and African Americans, worker’s rights and compensation, and women’s suffrage. In 1910 she became the first

female president of the National Conference of Social Work. An ardent pacifist, she served in 1915 as chair of the International Congress of Women and helped form the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and the American Civil Liberties Union. In 1931 she shared the Nobel Prize for Peace with Nicholas M. Butler.

adder Any of several venomous snakes of the viper family (Viperidae) and the death adder, a viperlike elapid. Vipers include the common adder, puff adders, and night adders.

Adders occur in Europe, Asia,

Africa, and Australia. They range in length from 18 in. to 5 ft (45 cm to 1.5 m). The puff adder of Africa and the death adder of Australia and the nearby islands are particularly ven¬ omous, with a bite potentially lethal to humans. The name is also used for other snakes (e.g., the hognose SNAKE).

Adderley, Cannonball orig. Julian Edwin Adderley (b. Sept. 15, 1928, Tampa, Fla., U.S.—d. Aug. 8, 1975, Gary, Ind.) U.S. jazz saxo¬ phonist. He worked as a music teacher and led army bands before mov¬ ing to New York City in the mid-1950s. Acclaimed as a stylistic heir of Charlie Parker, he was also influenced by the more traditional rhythm-and- blues phrasing of Benny Carter. He performed with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1957 to 1959, then led an ensemble with his brother, cornetist Nat Adderley (1931-2000). In the 1960s he introduced gospel-music harmo¬ nies to his music.

Addis Ababa Vad-dis-'a-ba-.ba, 'a-dos-'a-bs-boX Capital and largest city (pop., 1994: 2,112,737) of Ethiopia. It lies on a plateau in the coun¬ try’s geographic centre at an altitude of about 8,000 ft (2,450 m). The city was founded as the capital in 1887 because of the unsatisfactory location of the former capital, Entoto. Addis Ababa was the capital of Italian East Africa 1935-41. It has become the national centre for higher education, banking and insurance, and trade. Several international organizations have their headquarters there, including the Organization of African Unity. In recent decades it has suffered unrest and extensive damage as a result of the country’s political instability.

Addison, Joseph (b. May 1, 1672, Milston, Wiltshire, Eng.—d. June 17, 1719, London) English essayist, poet, and dramatist. His poem on the Battle of Blenheim, The Campaign (1705), brought him to the attention of leading Whigs and paved the way to important government posts (including secretary of state) and lit¬ erary fame. With Richard Steele, he was a leading contributor to and guiding spirit of the periodicals The Tatler (1709-11) and The Spectator (1711-12, 1714). One of the most admired masters of English prose, he brought to perfection the periodical essay. His Cato (1713), a highly suc¬ cessful play with political overtones, is one of the important tragedies of the 18th century.

Addison disease Disease in which gradual atrophy of the adrenal cortex causes the adrenal glands to produce insufficient quantities of the steroid hydrocortisone while causing the pituitary gland to produce excess quantities of pituitary hormones. Most of the cortex tissue is destroyed by the time symptoms (including weakness, abnormal coloration, weight loss, and hypotension) appear. Hydrocortisone-replacement therapy is often successful, usually given with other hormones to stabilize sodium levels. More than half of cases are believed to be due to an autoimmune reaction (see autoimmune disease); the remainder are caused by destruction of the adrenal gland by granuloma (e.g., tuberculosis).

additive In foods, any of various chemical substances added to produce desirable effects. Additives include such substances as artificial or natu¬ ral colourings and flavourings; stabilizers, emulsifiers, and thickeners;

Puff adder (Bitis arietans)

Joseph Addison, oil painting by Michael Dahl, 1719; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON

Adelaide ► Adler I 17

preservatives and humectants (moisture-retainers); and supplementary nutrients. Though many additives are harmless or even beneficial, others reduce nutritional value or conceal inferior raw materials or processing.

Adelaide City (pop., 2004 est.: 1,124,315) and capital, South Austra¬ lia. Adelaide lies at the base of the Mount Lofty Ranges on the Torrens River, near its harbour facilities at Port Adelaide. Founded in 1836, it was incorporated in 1840 as Australia’s first municipal government. Its rise as an agricultural marketing centre and the proximity of natural mineral deposits contributed to its economic growth. It is an industrial centre and has petroleum refineries as well as connections by pipeline to natural gas fields. Landmarks include the University of Adelaide, Parliament House, Government House, and two cathedrals.

Aden Va-don, 'a-don\ Seaport city (pop., 2004 prelim.: 580,000), south¬ ern Yemen, on the Gulf of Aden. It was a principal terminus of the spice road of western Arabia for about 1,000 years before the 3rd century ad. It then became a trading centre under Yemeni, Ethiopian, and Arab con¬ trol. The Ottoman Empire captured the city in 1538, and the British (who established a garrison there around 1800) governed it from India (1839— 1937). It grew in importance as a coaling station and transshipment point after the opening of the Suez Canal. It was made a crown colony in 1937, incorporated in the Federation of South Arabia (1963-67), and served as the capital of South Yemen until that republic’s merger with North Yemen in 1990.

Aden, Gulf of Arm of the Indian Ocean between the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia. To the west, it narrows into the Gulf of Tadjoura; its east¬ ern limit is the meridian of Cape Guardafui. In these terms it is about 550 mi (885 km) long; geologically, it extends a total of 920 mi (1,480 km), to the eastern limits of the continental shelf beyond the Khuriyya Muriyya islands to the north and the island of Socotra to the south. Its marine life is rich in quantity and variety. Its coastline lacks large-scale fishing facili¬ ties but supports many fishing towns, as well as the major ports Aden and Djibouti.

Adena Vo-'de-noX culture Culture of various communities of ancient North American Indians who occupied the middle Ohio River valley c. 500 bc-ad 100. The Adena usually lived in villages containing circular houses constructed of poles and bark. They subsisted by hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plant foods, and they used a variety of stone tools and simple pottery. Adena ornaments of copper, mica, and seashells indicate trade with faraway peoples. See also Woodland culture.

Adenauer \'a-d 3 n-aur\, Konrad (b. Jan. 15, 1876, Cologne, German Empire—d. April 19, 1967, Rhon- dorf, W.Ger.) German statesman, first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Ger¬ many). Elected to the Cologne city council (1906), he served as the city’s lord mayor (1917-33). He was elected to the Prussian Staatsrat (state council) in 1920 and served as its speaker (1928-33). He lost his posts when the Nazis came to power, and in 1944 he was sent to a concen¬ tration camp. As World War II drew to a close, he played an important role in the formation of the Christian Democratic Union. As chancellor from 1949, Adenauer stressed indi¬ vidualism under the rule of law. His fear of Soviet expansion made him a strong supporter of NATO. He worked hard to reconcile Germany with its former enemies, especially France. He retired his post in 1963.

adenine \'a-d 3 n-,en\ Organic compound of the purine family, often called a base, consisting of two rings, each containing both nitrogen and carbon atoms, and an amino group. It occurs free in tea and in combined form in nucleic acids, ATP, vitamin B 12 , and several coenzymes. In DNA its complementary base is thymine. It or its corresponding nucleoside or nucle¬ otide may be prepared from nucleic acids by selective techniques of HYDROLYSIS.

adenoids Va-d 3 n-,6idz\ or pharyngeal tonsils N.far-on-'je-ol, fo-'rin-je-olX Mass of lymphoid tissue, similar to the (palatine) tonsils, on the back wall of the nasal pharynx. If the adenoids become infected in child¬ hood, their inflammation can obstruct nasal breathing and sinus drainage (promoting sinusitis) and block the eustachian tubes that connect to the middle ear (setting the stage for otitis). Surgical removal of enlarged or infected adenoids is frequently recommended.

adenosine triphosphate See ATP

adenovirus \ 1 a-d 3 n-o-'vI-r9s\ Any of a group of spheroidal viruses, made up of DNA wrapped in a protein coat, that cause sore throat and fever in humans, hepatitis in dogs, and several diseases in fowl, mice, cattle, pigs, and monkeys. An adenovirus develops within the nucleus of an infected cell. In humans, adenoviruses, like cold viruses, may cause infections of the upper respiratory tract, the eyes, and frequently the lymph nodes. Like cold viruses, adenoviruses are often found in inactive infec¬ tions in clinically healthy persons. Because only a few adenoviruses com¬ monly cause illness in humans, vaccines against them are possible.

Ades Vad-9s\, Thomas (b. March 1, 1971, London, Eng.) British com¬ poser. Trained as a pianist at the Guildhall School, he later attended King’s College, Cambridge. Initial recognition came for his virtuoso piano play¬ ing, but he started to write music in 1990 (Five Eliot Landscapes ) and was instantly acclaimed as a major composer for his inventiveness and remarkably assured technique. His controversial opera Powder Her Face (1995), about a 20th-century divorce scandal, attracted international atten¬ tion, as did his large symphonic work Asyla (1997).

ADHD See ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER

Adi Granth \,a-de-'granth\ (Punjabi: “First Book”) Sacred scripture of Sikhism. Composed of nearly 6,000 hymns of the Sikh Gurus and Hindu and Islamic saints, it is the central object of worship in all gurdwaras (temples). It is ritually opened and closed daily and is read continuously on special occasions. First compiled in 1604 by Arjan, it included his own hymns and those of his predecessors and the devotional songs of saints. In 1704 the last Guru, Gobind Singh, added more hymns and decreed that after his death the Granth would take the place of the Guru. Written mostly in Punjabi or Hindi, it contains the Mul Mantra (basic prayer), Japji (the most important scripture, written by Nanak), and hymns arranged accord¬ ing to the ragas in which they are to be sung.

Adige Va-de-ja\ River River, 255 mi (410 km) long, the longest in Italy after the Po. It rises below the Resia Pass and flows southeast through the Venosta valley. After receiving the Isarco River at Bolzano, it turns south across the Po lowlands to enter the Adriatic Sea south of Chioggia. It sup¬ plies hydroelectric power in its upper Alpine section and irrigation for the Veneto. Its floods, notably those of 1951 and 1966, do great damage and require constant control of the riverbank. The Adige has been the scene of many battles, especially in the Austrian-Italian campaign of 1916.

adipose tissue or fatty tissue Connective tissue consisting mainly of fat cells, specialized to synthesize and contain large globules of fat, within a structural network of fibres. It is found mainly under the skin but also in deposits between the muscles, in the intestines and in their mem¬ brane folds, around the heart, and elsewhere. The fat stored in this tissue comes from dietary fats or is produced in the body. It acts as a fuel reserve for times of starvation or great exertion, helps conserve body heat, and forms pads between organs.

Adirondack V.a-do-'ran-.dakX Mountains Mountains in northeastern New York state, U.S. They extend south from the St. Lawrence River val¬ ley and Lake Champlain to the Mohawk River valley. The Adirondack region covers more than 6 million acres (2.4 million hectares). It has more than 40 summits higher than 4,000 ft (1,219 m); the tallest, Mount Marcy (5,344 ft [1,629 mj), is the state’s highest. Samuel de Champain became the first European to sight the Adirondacks in 1609. The area was sparsely settled when in 1892 the state legislature created Adirondack Park, which has grown over the years to become, at more than 5 million acres (2 mil¬ lion hectares), the largest U.S. state or national park outside of Alaska.

Adler, Alfred (b. Feb. 7, 1870, Penzing, Austria—d. May 28, 1937, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scot.) Austrian psychiatrist. He earned his medical degree in Vienna, and from his earliest years as a physician he stressed consideration of the individual in relation to his total environ¬ ment. A student and associate of Sigmund Freud (1902-11), he eventually broke with Freud over the importance of early-childhood sexual conflicts

Konrad Adenauer.

©KARSH/WOODFIN CAMP AND ASSOCIATES

18 I Adler ► adrenal

in the development of psychopathology. With his followers he developed the school of individual psychology—the humanistic study of drives, feel¬ ings, emotions, and memory in the context of the individual’s overall life plan. Adler advanced the theory of the inferiority complex to explain cases of psychopathology; Adlerian psychotherapy sought to direct patients emotionally disabled by inferiority feelings toward maturity, common sense, and social usefulness. He established the first child guidance clinic in 1921 in Vienna. He taught in the U.S. (at Columbia University and the Long Island College of Medicine) from 1927 until his death. His works include Understanding Human Nature (1927) and What Life Should Mean to You (1931).

Adler, Guido (b. Nov. 1, 1855, Eibenschiitz, Moravia, Austrian Empire—d. Feb. 15, 1941, Vienna, Austria) Austrian musicologist. After studying music theory and composition at the Vienna Conservatory, he studied music history at the University of Vienna under Eduard Hanslick (1825-1904), whom he succeeded as professor. He worked with Philipp Spitta (1841-94) and Friedrich Chrysander in founding musicology as an academic discipline. Among his distinguished students were Karl Geir- inger (1899-1989), Knud Jeppesen (1892-1974), Anton Webern, and Egon Wellesz (1885-1974).

Adler, Larry orig. Lawrence Cecil Adler (b. Feb. 10, 1914, Bal¬ timore, Md., U.S.—d. Aug. 7, 2001, London, Eng.) U.S. harmonica player. Though he was initially unable to read music, he learned classical compositions by ear and became the first person to perform concert music on the harmonica. His musicality attracted many composers to write espe¬ cially for him, including Darius Milhaud and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Accused of communist sympathies and blacklisted in the early 1950s, he was unable to find work in the U.S. and took up residence in England.

Adler, Mortimer J(erome) (b. Dec. 28, 1902, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. June 28, 2001, San Mateo, Calif.) U.S. philosopher, educator, and editor. He earned a doctorate in philosophy from Columbia Univer¬ sity (1928) and taught philosophy of law from 1930 at the University of Chicago, where with Robert M. Hutchins he promoted the idea of liberal education through regular discussions of the great books. Together they edited the 54-volume Great Books of the Western World (1952); for Ency- CLOPAlDIA Britannica, Inc., they edited an annual, The Great Ideas Today (from 1961), and the 10-volume Gateway to the Great Books (1963). In 1969 Adler became director of planning for the 15th edition of Encyclo- pcedia Britannica , published in 1974. His many books include How to Read a Book (1940), How to Think About God (1980), Six Great Ideas (1981), and Ten Philosophical Mistakes (1985).

administrative law Law regulating the powers, procedures, and acts of public administration. It applies to all public officials and public agen¬ cies. As distinguished from legislative and judicial authority, administra¬ tive authority entails the power to issue rules and regulations based on statutes, grant licenses and permits to facilitate the conduct of govern¬ ment business, initiate investigations of and provide remedies for com¬ plaints or problems, and issue orders directing parties to conform to governing statutes or rules. An administrative-law judge is a government official with quasi-judicial powers, including the authority to conduct hearings, make findings of fact, and recommend resolution of disputes concerning the agency’s actions.

admiral butterfly Any of several species of butterflies (family Nymph- alidae) that are colourful, fast-flying, and much prized by collectors. The migratory red admiral ( Vanessa atalanta ), widespread in Europe, Scandi¬ navia, North America, and North Africa, feeds on stinging nettles. The Indian red admiral (V indica) is found in the Canary Islands and India. The white admiral ( Limenitis Camilla, or Basilarchia arthemis), a Eur¬ asian and North American species, feeds on honeysuckle.

Admiralty, High Court of See High Court of Admiralty

Admiralty Islands Island group (pop., 2000 est.: 41,748), Papua New Guinea. An extension of the Bismarck Archipelago comprising about 40 islands, the Admiralty Islands lie about 190 mi (300 km) north of the mainland of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. Most of the land area of the islands is contained in Manus Island, which is the site of Lorengau, the islands’ principal settlement. First sighted by the Dutch explorer Willem Schouten in 1616, it was named by the British captain Philip Carteret in 1767. Subsequently ruled by the Germans, Australians, and Japanese, the islands were made part of the UN Trust Territory of

New Guinea in 1946. When Papua New Guinea attained independence in 1975, the islands became part of that country.

admiralty law See maritime law

adobe \3-'do-be\ Handmade sun-dried bricks formed from a mixture of heavy clay and straw found in arid regions. As a building material, adobe dates back thousands of years and is found in many parts of the world. Molds for shaping the bricks were brought to the New World by the Spanish. Excellent insulating properties make adobe an ideal material for both dwellings and ovens; home interiors retain heat in winter and stay cool in summer. The adobe buildings at Taos, N.M., are typical of Native American pueblo dwellings.

adolescence Period of life from puberty to adulthood (roughly ages 12-20) characterized by marked physiological changes, development of sexual feelings, efforts toward the construction of identity, and a progres¬ sion from concrete to abstract thought. Adolescence is sometimes viewed as a transitional state, during which youths begin to separate themselves from their parents but still lack a clearly defined role in society. It is gen¬ erally regarded as an emotionally intense and often stressful period.

Adonis \3-'da-nos\ In Greek mythology, a youth of remarkable beauty, the favorite of Aphrodite. As a child he was put in the care of Persephone, who refused to allow him to return from the underworld. Zeus ruled that he should spend a third of the year with Persephone, a third with Aph¬ rodite, and a third on his own. He became a hunter and was killed by a boar. In answer to Aphrodite’s pleas, Zeus allowed him to spend half the year with her and half in the underworld. Mythically, Adonis represents the cycle of death and resurrection in winter and spring. He is identified with the Babylonian god Tammuz.

adoption Act of transferring parental rights and duties to someone other than the adopted person’s biological parents. The practice is ancient and occurs in all cultures. Traditionally, its goal was to continue the male line for the purposes of inheritance and succession; most adoptees were male (and sometimes adult). Contemporary laws and practices aim to promote child welfare and the development of families. In the latter part of the 20th century, there was a relaxation of traditional restrictions on age dif¬ ferences between adoptive parents and children, on the parents’ minimum income level, on the mother’s employment outside the home, and on placements across religious and ethnic lines. Single-parent adoptions and adoptions by same-sex couples also became more acceptable. Beginning in the 1970s, a growing adoptees-rights movement in the United States called for the repeal of confidentiality laws in most states that prevented adoptees as adults from viewing their adoption records, including their original birth certificates.

Adorno Xa-'dor-noV Theodor (Wiesengrund) (b. Sept. 11, 1903, Frankfurt am Main, Ger.—d. Aug. 6, 1969, Visp, Switz.) German phi¬ losopher. He immigrated to England in 1934 to escape Nazism. He lived for 10 years in the U.S. (1938-48) before returning to Frankfurt, where he taught and headed the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research (see Frankfurt School). He is notable for his books and essays on philosophy, literature, psychology, sociology, and music (which he studied with Alban Berg). For Adorno, the great task of modernist music, literature, and art was to keep alive the possible social alternatives to capitalism, which phi¬ losophy and political theory could no longer imagine. His works include Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947; with Max Horkheimer), Minima Mora- lia (1951), and Notes to Literature (4 vols., 1958-74).

Adour \3-'dur\ River River, southwestern France. Flowing northwest from the Pyrenees, it traverses the scenic Campan valley; beyond Tarbes it feeds irrigation canals, most importantly the Canal d’Alaric. After a course of 208 mi (335 km), it empties into the Bay of Biscay below Bay¬ onne.

adrenal \9-'dre-n 3 l\ gland or suprarenal \ 1 su-pr9-'re-n 3 l\ gland Either of two small, triangular endocrine glands over the kidneys. In humans, each gland weighs about 0.15 oz (4.5 g) and consists of an inner medulla, which produces the catecholamine hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine, and an outer cortex (about 90% of the gland), which secretes the steroid hormones aldosterone, cortisol, and androgens (the last two in response to ACTH from the pituitary gland). Diseases of the adre¬ nal glands include pheochromocytoma (a tumour of the medulla) and the cortical disorders Addison disease, adrenal hypertrophy, Cushing syndrome, and primary aldosteronism.

adrenaline ► advertising I 19

adrenaline See epinephrine

Adrian \'a-dre-3n\ IV orig. Nicholas Breakspear (b. 1100?, Abbot’s Langley, near St. Albans, Hertfordshire, Eng.—d. Sept. 1, 1159, Anagni, near Rome [Italy]) Pope (1154-59), the only Englishman ever to hold the office. He served in France and Italy before a successful mission to Scandinavia led to his election as pope. Adrian crowned Frederick I Bar- barossa emperor in 1155, after Frederick had turned over Arnold of Bres¬ cia, leader of a revolt in Rome. The relationship quickly soured, however, as a result of Adrian’s policy toward the Normans of southern Italy and his assertion that Frederick had received the imperial crown as a benefice. His controversial bull Laudabiliter supposedly gave Ireland to Henry II of England, a claim that was later refuted. Adrian’s refusal to recognize the king of Sicily, William I, stirred revolt in the Campania.

Adrian, Edgar Douglas later 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge

(b. Nov. 30, 1889, London, Eng.—d. Aug. 4, 1977, London) British elec¬ trophysiologist. He amplified electrical potential variations in nerve impulses from sense organs to record ever smaller changes, eventually recording impulses from single sensory endings and motor nerve fibres. His work clarified the physical basis of sensation and the mechanism of muscular control. Adrian’s later studies of brain electrical activity included investigations into epilepsy and the location of cerebral lesions. He shared a 1932 Nobel Prize with Charles Sherrington.

Adrianople, Battle of or Battle of Hadrianopolis (ad 378) Battle fought in what is now Edirne, Tur., that marked the beginning of serious Germanic incursions into Roman territory. It pitted the Roman army under the emperor Valens against the horsemen of the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, and other Germanic tribes. The Roman army was annihilated and Valens died on the battlefield. His successor, Theodosius I, and the Goths agreed in 382 that the Goths would help with imperial defenses in exchange for food subsidies. The treaty set the pattern for later barbarian intrusions.

Adrianople, Treaty of see Treaty of Edirne

Adriatic Sea Arm of the Mediterranean Sea, lying between Italy and the Balkan Peninsula. It is about 500 mi (800 km) long, with an average width of 110 mi (175 km), a maximum depth of 4,035 ft (1,324 m), and an area of 50,590 sq mi (131,050 sq km). The Italian coast is relatively straight and continuous, having no islands, but the Balkan coast is full of islands, generally running parallel to the shore. The Strait of Otranto at its southeasterly limit links it with the Ionian Sea.

adsorption Capability of a solid substance (adsorbent) to attract to its surface molecules of a gas or solution (adsorbate) with which it is in con¬ tact. Physical adsorption depends on van der Waals forces of attraction between molecules and resembles condensation of liquids. In chemical adsorption (often called chemisorption; see catalysis), the gas is held to the surface by chemical forces specific to the chemicals involved, and formation of the bond may require an activation energy.

'Adullam Vo-'dol-omN Ancient village, Israel, about 15 mi (24 km) south¬ west of Jerusalem. A cave in its vicinity was from early times a place of refuge; it is mentioned several times in the Bible (e.g., as the place where David hid from Saul).

adult education See continuing education

adultery Sexual relations between a married person and someone other than his or her spouse. Prohibitions against adultery are found in virtu¬ ally every society; Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions all condemn it, and in some Islamic countries it is still punishable by death. Attitudes toward adultery in different cultures have varied widely. Under the Code of Hammurabi (18th century bc) in Babylonia it was punishable by death by drowning, and in ancient Rome an offending woman could be killed, though men were not severely punished. In western Europe and North America, adultery by either spouse is a ground for divorce, though in the U.S. the shift to no-fault divorce significantly reduced the importance of adultery as an element in divorce proceedings. The spread of Western ideas of equality in marriage has resulted in pressure for equal marital rights for women in traditional African and Southeast Asian societies.

adulthood Period in the human life span in which full physical and intellectual maturity have been attained. Adulthood is commonly thought of as beginning at age 20 or 21. It includes middle age (commencing around age 40) and old age (from about age 60). Physically, it is char¬ acterized by the peaking (around age 30) and gradual decline of bodily

functioning; the postpeak phase includes diminished acuity of the senses, reduction in muscular and skeletal mass, buildup of cholesterol in the arteries, weakening of the heart muscle, and diminished production of hormones. Some slowing in the rate of central-nervous-system process¬ ing also begins with middle age, but it is generally compensated for by an increased capacity to retain practical information and apply accumu¬ lated cultural knowledge. In old age, most individuals experience a sig¬ nificant decline in physical capacity, and many eventually also suffer impaired mental function.

Advaita \3d-'vl-t3\ (Sanskrit: “Nondualism”) Most influential school of Vedanta. It originated with Gaudapada’s 7th-century commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad. Gaudapada builds on the Mahayana Buddhist phi¬ losophy of emptiness, asserting that there is no duality; the mind, awake or dreaming, moves through maya (illusion). The mind’s ignorance con¬ ceals the truth that there is no becoming and no individual soul or self (jiva), only a temporary delineation from the atman (all-soul). In the 8th century Sankara developed Advaita further, arguing that the world is unreal and that the Upanishads teach the nature of Brahman, the only real¬ ity. The extensive Advaita literature influences modem Hindu thought.

Advent In the Christian calendar, the first season of the church year, a period of preparation for the birth of Jesus. Advent begins on the Sunday nearest to November 30 and continues until Christmas. Viewed as a peni¬ tential season, it is also considered a time of preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. The origin of Advent is unknown, but it was observed as early as the 6th century. In many countries it is celebrated with popu¬ lar customs such as the lighting of Advent candles.

Adventist Member of any of a group of Protestant churches that arose in the U.S. in the 19th century and believe that the Second Coming of Christ is close at hand. Adventism was founded during a period marked by millennialism by William Miller (1782-1849), a former U.S. army officer, who asserted that Christ would return to separate saints from sin¬ ners and inaugurate his 1,000-year kingdom on earth sometime in the year before March 21, 1844. After that date passed, Miller and his followers set a new date, Oct. 22, 1844. The “Great Disappointment” was followed by a Mutual Conference of Adventists in 1845. Those who persisted con¬ cluded that Miller had misinterpreted the signs and that, though Christ had begun the “cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary,” he would not appear until he had completed that task. These Millerites founded the Seventh- Day Adventists in 1863; other Adventist groups include the Evangelical Adventists and the Advent Christian Church. Seventh-Day Adventists observe Saturday as the Sabbath and avoid eating meat and using narcot¬ ics or stimulants.

adversary procedure In Anglo-American law, the principal method of offering evidence in court. It requires the opposing sides to present per¬ tinent information and to introduce and cross-examine witnesses before a jury and/or a judge. Each side must conduct its own investigation. In criminal proceedings, the prosecution represents the government and has at its disposal the police department with its investigators and laborato¬ ries; the defense must arrange and pay for its own investigation. (Legal aid is available for the poor.) In civil (noncriminal) proceedings the adver¬ sary system works similarly, except that both sides engage private attor¬ neys to prepare their cases. Skillful questioning often produces testimony that can be interpreted in various ways; in cross-examination, lawyers seek to alter the jury’s initial perception of the testimony.

adverse possession In Anglo-American property law, holding of real property (see real and personal property) with the knowledge and against the will of one who has a superior ownership interest in it. Statutes of limitation in most U.S. states allow an adverse possessor to acquire legal title if the owner does not seek timely possession.

advertising Techniques and practices used to bring products, services, opinions, or causes to public notice for the purpose of persuading the pub¬ lic to respond in a certain way. Weekly newspapers in London first carried advertisements in the 17th century; by the 18th century such advertising was flourishing. The first advertising agencies were established in the 19th century to broker for space in newspapers, and by the early 20th century agencies were producing the advertising message itself, including copy and artwork. Most advertising promotes goods for sale, but similar meth¬ ods are used in public service messages to promote causes, charities, or political candidates. In many countries, advertising is the most important source of income for the media through which it is conducted. In addition to newspapers, magazines, and broadcast media, advertising media

20 I Adwa ► aepyornis

include direct mail (see direct-mail marketing), billboards and posters, tran¬ sit advertising, the Internet, and promotional items such as matchbooks or calendars. Advertisers attempt to choose media that are favoured by the advertisers’ target audience. See also marketing; merchandising.

Adwa Vad-9-w9\, Battle of or Battle of Adowa (March 1, 1896) Military clash at Adwa, in north-central Ethiopia, between the Ethiopian army of King Menilek II and Italian forces. The decisive Ethiopian victory produced independence for Ethiopia and checked Italy’s attempt to build an empire in Africa comparable to that of the French or British. The colony of Eritrea was carved out in the ensuing peace negotiations.

adze or adz Hand tool for shaping wood. A handheld stone chipped to form a blade, it is one of the earliest tools, and was used widely in the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. By Egyptian times, it had acquired a wooden haft (handle) with a copper or bronze blade set flat at the top of the haft to form a T. In this form but with a steel blade, it continued to be the prime hand tool for shaping and trimming wood; the carpenter stands on or astride a log or other piece of timber, swinging the adze like a pick, down and between the legs.

A \'a-'e\ orig. George William Russell (b. April 10, 1867, Lurgan, County Armagh, Ire.—d. July 17, 1935, Bournemouth, Hampshire, Eng.) Irish poet and mystic. A leading figure in the Irish Literary Renaissance, he published many books of verse, including Homeward (1894). Though ini¬ tially considered by many to be the equal of William Butler Yeats, he did not develop as a poet, and many critics found him facile, vague, and monotonous. His pseudonym arose from a proofreader’s query about an earlier pseudonym, jEon.

Aegean \e-'je-9n\ civilizations The Bronze Age civilizations that arose and flourished c. 3000-1000 bc in the region bordering the Aegean Sea. They included Crete, the Cyclades, the Greek mainland south from Thessaly, including the Peloponnese, and Macedonia, Thrace, and western Anatolia. The most significant were the Minoan and Mycenaean civiliza¬ tions. The term also sometimes refers to Neolithic civilizations in the same region c. 7000-3000 bc.

Aegean \e-'je-9n\ Islands Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, particu¬ larly the Cyclades, Sporades, and Dodecanese groups. The Cyclades con¬ sist of about 30 islands. The Dodecanese, or Southern Sporades, include Kalimnos, Karpathos, Cos, Leros, Patmos, Rhodes, and Simi. The Spo¬ rades, or Northern Sporades, include Skyros, Skopelos, and Skiathos.

Aegean Sea Arm of the Mediterranean Sea, lying between Greece and Turkey. About 380 mi (610 km) long and 186 mi (300 km) wide, it has a total area of some 83,000 sq mi (214,000 sq km) and a maximum depth of 11,627 ft (3,543 m). The straits of the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, and the Bosporus connect it with the Black Sea. The Aegean was the cradle of the great early civilizations of Crete and Greece. Thira, one of its numerous islands, has been linked with the legend of Atlantis.

Aegina \e-'jl-n9\ Island in the Saronic group of Greece. Located 16 mi (26 km) southwest of Piraeus, it has an area of 32 sq mi (83 sq km). Its chief town and port, Aegina, lies over the ancient town of the same name. Inhabited since c. 3000 bc, it became a maritime power after the 7th cen¬ tury bc; its period of glory, reflected in Pindar’s poetry, was in the 5th cen¬ tury bc. Its economic rivalry with Athens led to frequent warfare, and in 431 bc the Athenians deported all its population. It came under Roman rule in 133 bc. It was briefly the capital of independent Greece (1826-28). See photograph opposite.

aegirine Va-g9-,ren\ Pyroxene mineral, sodium and iron silicate (NaFe +3 Si 2 0 6 ), commonly found in alkaline igneous rocks, particularly in syenites (composed of an alkali feldspar and a ferromagnesian min¬ eral) and syenite pegmatites. It also occurs in schists. Aegirine is gener¬ ally dark green to greenish black.

aegis Ye-jas\ In ancient Greece, the leather cloak or breastplate associ¬ ated with Zeus. It was worn most prominently by Zeus’s daughter Ath¬ ena (whose aegis bore the head of Medusa) but occasionally also by other gods (e.g., Apollo in the Iliad).

Aegospotami X.e-gs-'spa-ts-.mlX, Battle of (405 bc) Naval victory of Sparta over Athens in the final battle of the Peloponnesian War. The Spar¬ tans under Lysander surprised the Athenians at anchor off Aegospotami, in Thrace, and defeated them decisively. The Athenians escaped with only 20 of 180 ships, and the Spartans put almost 4,000 captured Athenians to death. The victory led the Spartans to march on Athens, and the Athe¬ nians surrendered in 404 bc.

Aehrenthal Ve-rsn-.talX, Aloys, Count Lexa von (b. Sept. 27, 1854, Gross-Skal, Bohemia—d. Feb. 17, 1912, Vienna, Austria-Hungary) Austro-Hungarian diplomat. As foreign minister of Austria-Hungary (1906-12), he aggressively revived the empire’s dormant foreign policy. His proclamation of the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 provoked fears of war with Russia, inflamed Serbia’s Austrophobe pas¬ sions, and drew international censure, leading to the Bosnian crisis.

Aeneas \i-'ne-3s\ Mythical hero of Troy and Rome. He was the son of Aphrodite and Anchises, a member of Trojan royal family. According to Homer, he was second only to his cousin Hector in defending Troy dur¬ ing the Trojan War. Virgil’s Aeneid tells of Aeneas’s escape after Troy’s fall, carrying his elderly father on his back, and of his journey to Italy, where his descendants became the rulers of Rome. See also Dido.

Aeolian harp \e-'o-le-9n\ Stringed instrument played by the wind (named for the wind god Aeolus). It is usually a long, narrow, shallow box with soundholes and 10 or 12 strings strung lengthwise between two bridges. The strings are of the same length but different thicknesses and are all tuned to the same pitch; the wind makes them vibrate in succes¬ sively higher harmonics. The harp may be hung, or set horizontally under a window sash. The first known Aeolian harp was constructed c. 1650 by Athanasius Kircher (1601-1680).

Aeolus Ye-a-lssV Greek god of the winds. In the Odyssey Homer repre¬ sents Aeolus as the mortal ruler of the floating island of Aeolia. He gives Odysseus a favourable wind for his voyage and a bag in which the unfavourable winds are confined, but Odysseus’s careless companions open the bag, releasing the winds and driving their ship back to shore. Later writers depicted Aeolus as a minor god rather than a human being. The Aeolian harp is named for him.

aeon or eon \'e-,an\ In Gnosticism or Manichaeism, one of the orders of spirits, or spheres of being, emanating from the godhead. The first aeon emanated directly from unmanifested divinity and was charged with divine force. Aeons increased in number and decreased in divine energy with increased remoteness from the divinity. At sufficient remoteness, error became possible and was the source of the material universe. Aeons may be viewed positively, as embodiments of the divine, or negatively, as media through which the soul must pass to reach its divine origin.

aepyornis \,e-pe-'6r-n3s\ or elephant bird Any of a group of giant flightless birds in the extinct genus Aepyornis, found as fossils in Pleis-

The temple of Aphaea, Aegina, Greece

SUSAN MCCARTNEY-PHOTO RESEARCHERS

Aegirine crystals from Magnet Cove, Arkansas

BY COURTESY OF THE FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, CHICAGO; PHOTOGRAPH, JOHN H. GERARD

aerarium ► aesthetics I 21

tocene and post-Pleistocene deposits on Madagascar. Most were massively constructed (some stood more than 10 ft, or 3 m, high) and had a small skull and a long slim neck. Remains of aepyomis and its eggs (as large as 3 ft, or 1 m, in circumference) are common. Its ancestry is uncertain.

aerarium (Saturni) Central treasury of ancient Rome, housed in the Temple of Saturn. During the republic (509-27 bc), two quaestors man¬ aged the treasury and the Senate controlled it. All revenues were paid into the aerarium, and approved payments were made from it. Under the prin- cipate (27 bc-ad 305) the aerarium lost funds and importance as emper¬ ors and magistrates bypassed Senate control and drew directly from the fisci (provincial treasuries). From ad 6 Augustus used taxes to fund the aerarium militare, a public treasury, to reward veterans, and the aerar¬ ium Saturni became the treasury of the city of Rome.

aerial See antenna

aerial perspective Method of producing a sense of depth in a paint¬ ing by imitating the effect of atmosphere that makes objects look paler, bluer, and hazier or less distinct in the middle and far distance. The term was coined by Leonardo da Vinci, but the technique can be seen in ancient Greco-Roman wall paintings (e.g., at Pompeii). It was discovered that dust and moisture in the atmosphere caused the scattering of light passing through it; short-wavelength light (blue) is scattered most and long- wavelength light (red) least. Italian painters in Leonardo’s time used the device; it was exploited by 15th-century northern European artists and later by J.M.W. Turner.

aerobatics Sport of performing maneuvers such as rolls, loops, stalls, spins, and dives with an airplane. As an organized sport, rather than as an air show attraction (“stunt flying”), aerobatics began international com¬ petition in 1960 under the auspices of the Federation Aeronautique Inter¬ nationale.

aerobics System of physical conditioning for increasing the efficiency of the body’s intake of oxygen. Aerobic exercises (e.g., running, jogging, swimming, dancing) stimulate heart and lung activity. To produce a ben¬ efit, aerobic training must raise the heart rate (pulse) to the exerciser’s target level for at least 20 minutes and include at least three sessions a week. The concept of aerobics was pioneered by Kenneth H. Cooper and popularized in his books Aerobics (1968) and The Aerobics Way (1977).

aerodynamics Branch of physics concerned with the forces acting on bodies passing through air and other gaseous fluids. It explains the prin¬ ciples of flight of aircraft, rockets, and missiles. It is also involved in the design of automobiles, trains, and ships, and even stationary structures such as bridges and tall buildings, which must withstand high winds. Aerodynamics emerged as a discipline around the time of Wilbur and Orville Wright’s first powered flight in 1903. Developments in the field have led to major advances in turbulence theory and supersonic flight.

Aeroflot \,ar-9-'fl6t\ -Russian Airlines National airline of the former Soviet Union. Founded in 1928 as Dobroflot, it was reorganized as Aer¬ oflot in 1932. During the Soviet era Aeroflot was the world’s largest air¬ line, with about 15% of all civil air traffic. After the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, Aeroflot surrendered its monopoly over commercial air travel in the former Soviet states. It was renamed Aeroflot-Russian Air¬ lines in June 2000.

aerosol System of tiny liquid or solid particles evenly distributed in a finely divided state through a gas, usually air. Aerosol particles partici¬ pate in chemical processes and influence the electrical properties of the atmosphere. Though true aerosol particles range in diameter from a few nanometres to about one micrometre, the term is commonly used to refer to fog or cloud droplets and dust particles, which can have diameters of more than 100 micrometres. See also colloid; emulsion.

aerospace engineering Field concerned with the development, design, construction, testing, and operation of airplanes and spacecraft. The field has its roots in balloon flight, gliders, and airships, and in the 1960s it was broadened to include space vehicles. Principal technologies are those of aerodynamics, propulsion, structure and stability, and control. Aerospace engineers in academic, industrial, and government research centres cooperate in designing new products. Flight testing of prototypes follows, and finally quantity production and operation take place. Impor¬ tant developments in aerospace engineering include the metal monocoque fuselage, the cantilevered monoplane wing, the jet engine, supersonic flight, and spaceflight.

aerospace medicine Branch of medicine, pioneered by Paul Bert, dealing with atmospheric flight (aviation medicine) and space flight (space medicine). Intensive preflight simulator training and attention to design of equipment and spacecraft promote the safety and effectiveness of humans exposed to the stresses of flight and can prevent some problems. The world’s first unit for space research was established in the U.S. in 1948. Physicians trained in aerospace medicine are known as flight sur¬ geons.

Aeschines Ves-ko-.nezX (b. 390 bc —d. c. 314 bc) Athenian orator. He and Demosthenes, who later became his bitter opponent, participated in 346 bc in forging a peace between Athens and Macedonia. Demosthenes later accused Aeschines of treason because he had promoted the Mace¬ donian cause during the negotiations. At a trial (343) Aeschines was acquitted by a narrow majority. In 339 he helped incite the war that led to the Battle of Chaeronea and to Macedonian control of central Greece. In 336 he opposed as illegal a motion to honour Demosthenes; the mat¬ ter came to trial in 330, and Aeschines suffered an overwhelming defeat.

Aeschylus Ves-ko-.bsX (b. 525/524—d. 456/455 bc, Gela, Sicily) Greek tragic dramatist. He fought with the Athenian army at Marathon (490) and in 484 achieved the first of his many victories at the major dramatic competition in Athens. He wrote over 80 plays, but only 7 are extant; the earliest of these, Persians, was performed in 472 bc. Other plays that sur¬ vive are the Oresteia trilogy ( Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides ), Seven Against Thebes, The Suppliants, and Prometheus Bound. Considered the father of Greek tragic drama, he added a second actor to the performance, an innovation that enabled the later develop¬ ment of dialogue and created true dramatic action. He was the first of the three great Greek tragedians, preceding Sophocles and Euripides.

Aesculapius See Asclepius

Aesir \'a-zir\ In Germanic religion, one of the two main groups of dei¬ ties, the other being the Vanir. Odin, his wife Frigg, Tyr (the god of war), and Thor were the four Aesir common to the Germanic nations. Balder and Loki were considered Aesir by other peoples. The Aesir were a war¬ like race and were originally dominant over the Vanir, but after numer¬ ous defeats in battle they were forced to grant the Vanir equal status. The poet-god Kvasir was born out of the peace ritual in which the two races mingled their saliva in the same vessel.

Aesop \'e-,sap\ Supposed author of a collection of Greek fables, almost certainly a legendary figure. Though Herodotus, in the 5th century bc, said that he was an actual personage,

“Aesop” was probably no more than a name invented to provide an author for fables centring on beasts. Aeso¬ pian fables emphasize the social interactions of human beings, and the morals they draw tend to embody advice on how to deal with the com¬ petitive realities of life. The Western fable tradition effectively begins with these tales. Modern editions list some 200 Aesopian fables.

Aestheticism \es- , thet-9-,siz-9m\

Late 19th-century European arts movement that centred on the doc¬ trine that art exists for the sake of its beauty alone. It began in reaction to prevailing utilitarian social philoso¬ phies and to the perceived ugliness and philistinism of the industrial age. Its philosophical foundations were laid by Immanuel Kant, who proposed that aesthetic standards could be separated from morality, utility, or plea¬ sure. James McNeill Whistler, Oscar Wilde, and Stephane Mallarme raised the movement’s ideal of the cultivation of refined sensibility to perhaps its highest point. Aestheticism had affinities with French Symbolism and was a precursor of Art Nouveau.

aesthetics \es-'thet-iks\ Philosophical study of the qualities that make something an object of aesthetic interest and of the nature of aesthetic value and judgment. It encompasses the philosophy of art, which is chiefly concerned with the nature and value of art and the principles by which it should be interpreted and evaluated. Three broad approaches to the sub-

Aesop, with a fox, from the central medallion of a kylix, c. 470 bc; in the Gregorian Etruscan Museum, the Vati¬ can

AUNARI/ART RESOURCE

22 I Aethelberht I ► Afghanistan

ject have been taken, each distinguished by the types of questions it treats as foremost: (1) the study of aesthetic concepts, often specifically through the examination of uses of aesthetic language; (2) the study of the states of mind—responses, attitudes, emotions—held to be involved in aesthetic experience; and (3) the study of objects deemed aesthetically interesting, with a view to determining what about them makes them so. Seminal works in the field include the Symposium of Plato ; the Rhetoric of Aris¬ totle; Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue (1725), by Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746); “Of the Standard of Taste” (in Four Dissertations [1757]), by David Hume; On the Sublime and Beautiful (1757), by Edmund Burke; Critique of Judgment (1790), by Immanuel Kant; The Sense of Beauty (1896), by George Santayana; The Psychology of Imagination (1948), by Jean-Paul Sartre; and two works by Ludwig Witt¬ genstein, Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology, and Reli¬ gious Belief (1966) and Culture and Value (1977).

Aethelberht I See Ethelbert I

Aethelred Unraed See Ethelred II

Aetolia \e-'to-le-3\ District north of the Gulf of Corinth, ancient Greece. Aetolia figures prominently in early legend. By 367 bc it had been orga¬ nized by various tribes into a federal state comprising the Aetolian League. Coming under Roman rule, it was incorporated into the province of Achaea (see Achaean League) in 27 bc by Augustus. Governed later by Albania and Venice, it came under Turkish rule in ad 1450. It was the scene of fierce fighting in the War of Greek Independence (1821-29). Mod¬ em Aetolia is linked with Acarnania as a department of Greece.

Aetolian \e-'to-le-3n\ League Federal state of ancient Aetolia in cen¬ tral Greece, probably based on a looser tribal community. A leading power by c. 340 bc, the Aetolian League resisted invasions by Macedonia in 322 and 314-311, expanded into Delphi, and allied with Boeotia c. 300. It fended off the Gauls in 279 and formed an alliance with Macedonia (c. 270-240). The league’s power in central Greece was confirmed with the defeat of the Boeotians (245). From the late 3rd century Aetolia began to lose power and territory to Macedonia, culminating in the sacking of the league’s federal capital, Thermum, by Philip V in 220. The league then allied with Rome against Macedonia and defeated Philip at Cynosceph- alae (197). Rome later forced it into a permanent alliance (189) that cost it territory, power, and independence.

Afars and Issas, French Territory of the See Djibouti

Affair of the Diamond Necklace (1785) Scandal at the court of Louis XVI that discredited the French monarchy on the eve of the French Revolution. An adventuress, the countess de la Motte, schemed to acquire a valuable diamond necklace by duping cardinal de Rohan into believing that Queen Marie-Antoinette wanted to obtain it surreptitiously and that he could gain her favour by facilitating its purchase. When the plot came to light, Louis XVI had the cardinal arrested. Though acquitted, the arbi¬ trary treatment of the cardinal deepened impressions of the autocratic nature of the king’s government.

affective disorder Mental disorder characterized by dramatic changes or extremes of mood. Affective disorders may include manic or depres¬ sive episodes less severe than those of bipolar disorder, such as anxiety and depression. Symptoms include elevated, expansive, or irritable moods, with hyperactivity, pressured (rapid and forced) speech, and inflated self-esteem; or dejected moods, characterized by lack of interest in life, sleep disturbances, agitation, and feelings of worthlessness or guilt.

affenpinscher Va-fon-.pin-choA Sturdy breed of toy dog, known since the 17th century. Standing 10 in. (26 cm) high or less and weighing 7-8 lbs (3-3.5 kg), it is a TERRiER-like dog with small, erect ears, round black eyes, and a short, docked tail. Its wiry, preferably black coat is short on parts of the body but longer on the legs and face, where it produces the monkeylike expression for which the breed is named (from German Affe, “ape”).

affidavit \,a-f3-'da-v9t\ Written statement made voluntarily, confirmed by the oath or affirmation of the party making it, and signed before an officer empowered to administer such oaths. It usually names the place of execution and certifies that the person making it states certain facts and appeared before the officer on a certain date and “subscribed and swore” to the statement.

affirmative action In the U.S., the effort to improve the employment and educational opportunities of women and members of minority groups through preferential treatment in job hiring, college admissions, the

awarding of government contracts, and the allocation of other social ben¬ efits. First undertaken at the federal level following passage of the land¬ mark Civil Rights Act of 1964, affirmative action was designed to counteract the lingering effects of generations of past discrimination. The main criteria for inclusion in affirmative action programs are race, sex, ethnic origin, religion, disability, and age. The Supreme Court of the United States placed important limitations on affirmative action programs in its 1978 ruling in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke; several sub¬ sequent Supreme Court decisions (e.g., Adarand Constructors v. Pena in 1995 and Texas v. Hopwood in 1996) imposed further restrictions. In 1996 California voters passed Proposition 209, which prohibited government agencies and institutions from discriminating against or giving preferen¬ tial treatment to individuals or groups on the basis of race, sex, colour, ethnicity, or national origin. Similar measures were subsequently passed in other states. In 2003, in two landmark rulings involving admission to the University of Michigan and its law school, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed the constitutionality of affirmative action but ruled that race could not be the preeminent factor in such decisions.

Affleck, Thomas (b. 1745, Aberdeen, Scot.—d. 1795, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) Scottish-bom U.S. cabinetmaker. Trained in England, he moved to Philadelphia, where he produced outstanding furniture in the Chippen¬ dale style for Gov. John Penn and other leading citizens. The Marlborough- style leg (straight, grooved, with a block foot) and elaborate carving characterize his work.

afforestation See deforestation

Afghan hound Breed of dog developed as a hunter in the hill coun¬ try of Afghanistan. It was brought to Europe in the late 19th century by British soldiers returning from the Indian-Afghan border wars. It hunts by sight, and in Afghanistan it has been used to pursue leopard and gazelle. Its high, wide hipbones are well adapted to rough country. It stands 24-28 in. (61-71 cm) high and weighs 50-60 lbs (23-27 kg). It has floppy ears, a long topknot, and a long silky coat of various colours.

Afghan wars Series of wars in Afghanistan during the 19th, 20th, and early 21st centuries. In the 19th century Britain twice invaded Afghanistan (the first and second Anglo-Afghan Wars; 1839-40 and 1878-80). The British were unable to fully subdue the country, and the third Anglo-Afghan War (1919) led to its full independence. The outbreak of civil war in 1978 led to an inva¬ sion by the Soviet Union the following year (the Afghan War). For the next 10 years the Soviets supported the communist government against a coalition of Islamic insurgents, the mujahideen, who toppled the regime in 1992. A group of disaffected fighters known as the Taliban had taken con¬ trol of most of the country by 1996. The ensuing stalemate was broken in 2001 when the U.S. overthrew the Taliban for supporting international terrorism.

Afghani, Jamal al-DTn al- See Jamal al-Din al-AfghanI

Afghanistan officially Islamic State of Afghanistan Country, south-central Asia. Area: 249,347 sq mi (645,807 sq km). Population (2005 est.: 23,867,000). Capital: Kabul. About two-fifths of the people belong to the Pashtun ethnic group; other ethnic groups include Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Hazara. Languages: Pashto, Persian (both official). Religions: Islam (official; predominantly Sunni); also Zoroastrianism. Currency: afghani. Afghanistan has three distinctive regions: the northern plains are the major agricultural area; the southwestern plateau consists primarily of desert and semiarid landscape; and the central highlands, including the Hindu Kush, separate these regions. Afghanistan has a developing economy based largely on agriculture; its significant mineral resources remain largely untapped because of the Afghan War of the 1980s and subsequent fighting. Traditional handicrafts remain important; woolen carpets are a major export. The area was part of the Persian Achaemenian Empire in the 6th century bc and was conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4th century bc. Hindu influence entered with the Hephthalites and Sasanians; Islam became entrenched during the rule of the Saffarids, c. ad 870.

Afghan hound

SALLY ANNE THOMPSON

AFL-CIO ► Africa I 23

UZBEKISTAN

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Afghanistan was divided between the Mughal Empire of India and the Safavid empire of Persia until the 18th century, when other Persians under Nadir Shah took control. Britain fought several wars in the

area in the 19th century. From the 1930s the country had a stable mon¬ archy, which was overthrown in the 1970s. Marxist reforms sparked rebel¬ lion, and Soviet troops invaded. Afghan guerrillas prevailed, and the Soviets withdrew in 1989. In 1992 rebel factions overthrew the govern¬ ment and established an Islamic republic. In 1996 the Taliban militia took power in Kabul and enforced a harsh Islamic order. The militia’s unwill¬ ingness to extradite extremist leader Osama bin Laden and members of his al-Qaeda militant organization following the September 11 attacks in 2001 led to military conflict with the U.S. and allied nations, the overthrow of the Taliban, and the establishment of an interim government.

AFL-CIO in full American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations U.S. federation of labour unions formed in 1955 by the merger of the AFL and the CIO. The AFL was founded in 1886 as a loose federation of craft unions under the leadership of Samuel Gompers. Member unions retained autonomy and received protection of their workers and jurisdiction over a certain industrial territory. The CIO was founded in 1935 as the Committee for Industrial Organization by a splinter group of AFL unions whose leaders believed in organizing skilled and unskilled workers across entire industries; at its first convention in 1938, it adopted its current name and elected John L. Lewis president. For two decades the AFL and CIO were bitter rivals for the leadership of the U.S. labour movement, but they formed an alliance in the increasingly conservative, antilabour climate of the postwar era, and in 1955 they merged under the leadership of George Meany. AFL-CIO membership reached 17 million in the late 1970s but declined from the 1980s as the U.S. manufacturing sector shrank. AFL-CIO activities include recruiting and organizing members, conducting educational campaigns, and sup¬ porting political candidates and legislation deemed beneficial to labour. See also Lane Kirkland; Knights of Labor; Walter Reuther.

Aflaq Vaf-lak\, Michel (b. 1910, Damascus, Syria—d. June 23, 1989, Paris, France) Syrian social and political leader. While studying at the University of Paris (1929-34), he came to believe that the Arab nation¬ alist struggle had to oppose both the native aristocracy and foreign rul¬ ers. Hoping to unite all the Arab states into a single socialist nation through nonviolence, he helped establish the Ba'th Party in 1946 and served as its teacher, theorist, and organizer. He persuaded the Syrian government to form the United Arab Republic with Egypt in 1958, but Syria withdrew from it in 1961. His career in Syrian politics ended in 1966 when he moved to Lebanon. See also Pan-Arabism.

aflatoxin X.a-fta-'tak-sonN Complex of toxins formed by molds of the genus Aspergillus, which frequently contaminate improperly stored nuts (especially peanuts), grains, meals, and certain other foods. Discovered after an outbreak of “turkey X disease” in England in 1960, aflatoxins may cause liver disease and cancer and may trigger Reye syndrome.

Afonso I known as Afonso the Conqueror (b. 1109/11, Guima- raes. Port.—d. Dec. 6, 1185, Coimbra) First king of Portugal (1139-85). He defeated his mother to take the throne (1128), ruling first as a vassal of his cousin Alfonso VII of Leon but later securing Portuguese indepen¬ dence and gaining the title of king (1139). He defeated nearby Muslims and imposed tribute on them, then took Lisbon (1147) with the help of Crusaders. Afonso eventually extended Portugal beyond the Tagus River. He shared power with his son Sancho I and left him a stable, independent monarchy.

Afonso III (b. May 5, 1210, Coimbra, Port.—d. Feb. 16, 1279, Lisbon) King of Portugal (1248-79). He emigrated to France and became, by marriage, count of Boulogne. He gained the Portuguese crown when his older brother Sancho II was deposed by order of the pope. As king, Afonso regained control of the district of Faro (1249) and completed the recon¬ quest of the Algarve from the Muslims. His reign saw the first admission of commoners to the Portuguese Cortes (parliament). Afonso’s assertion of the royal right to repossess church lands led to his excommunication by the pope.

Afonso the Great See Afonso de Albuquerque

Africa Second largest continent on Earth. It is bounded by the Mediter¬ ranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean and is divided almost equally by the Equator. Area: 11,717,370 sq mi (30,348,110 sq km). Population (2001 est.): 816,524,000. Africa is com¬ posed largely of a rigid platform of ancient rocks that underlies vast pla¬ teau regions in the interior. Its average elevation is about 2,200 ft (670 m), but elevations range from 19,340 ft (5,895 m) at Mount Kilimanjaro to 515 ft (157 m) below sea level at Lake Assal. The Sahara, the world’s largest contiguous desert, occupies more than one-fourth of the total land area. The continent’s hydrology is dominated by the Nile River in the north, the Niger River in the west, and the Congo River in central Africa. Less than one-tenth of the land area is arable, while nearly one-fourth is for¬ ested or wooded. The peoples of Africa probably speak more languages than those of any other continent. Arabic is predominant from Egypt to Mauritania and in The Sudan. Northern Africans speak a family of lan¬ guages known as Afro-Asiatic. The vast majority of sub-Saharan peoples speak Bantu languages of the Niger-Congo family, while smaller num¬ bers in central Africa speak Nilo-Saharan languages and in southern Africa Khoisan languages. Peoples of European descent are found mostly in the south; Dutch (Boer) migrations began in the 17th century, and the English first settled in what is now Kenya and Zimbabwe in the 19th cen¬ tury. Africa as a whole is a developing region. Agriculture is the key sec¬ tor of the economy in most countries. Diamond and gold mining are especially important in the south, while petroleum and natural gas are produced particularly in the west. Most African governments are con¬ trolled by the military or a single party. Many legal systems combine laws introduced by European powers during the colonial era with traditional law, though North African countries derive many laws from Islam. Afri¬ can leaders have sought to develop a pan-African approach to the conti¬ nent’s political and military affairs through the Organization of African Unity and its successor, the African Union. Africa is widely recognized as the birthplace of humankind. Archaeological evidence indicates that the continent has been inhabited by humans and their hominid forebears for some 4,000,000 years or more. Anatomically modern humans are believed to have appeared about 100,000 years ago in the eastern region of sub- Saharan Africa. Somewhat later these early humans spread into northern Africa and the Middle East and, ultimately, to the rest of the world. Afri¬ ca’s first great historical kingdom, Egypt, arose along the Nile c. 3000 bc and flourished for nearly 3,000 years. The Phoenicians established a colony at Carthage and controlled the western Mediterranean for nearly 600 years. While northern Africa was dominated by the Romans for several centuries, the first known empire in western Africa was Ghana (5th—11th century ad). Muslim empires included those of Mali (c. 1250-1400) and Songhai (c. 1400-1591). In eastern and central Africa the emphasis was on trade with Arabia, and several powerful city-states, including Moga¬ dishu and Mombasa, were established. The Portuguese explored the west¬ ern coast in the 15th century. Before the late 19th century, Europe showed little interest in colonizing Africa, but by 1884 European countries had

24 I Africa ► Afrikaner

begun a scramble to partition the continent, and by 1920 much of it was under colonial rule. Anticolonial sentiment developed gradually, becom¬ ing widespread after 1950, and one by one the colonies became indepen¬ dent, the last in 1990. Political instability, refugee problems, famine, and AIDS are the chief problems facing the continent at the start of the 21st century. See map on following page.

Africa Proconsular Roman province. It was founded after Rome defeated Carthage in 146 bc and was subsequently extended to include Numidia and the northern part of modem Libya. Between 30 bc and ad 180, other parts of northern Africa, including Cyrenaica and Mauretania, became part of the Roman Republic and Empire. In the 5th century the region was taken by the Vandals, though areas were later reconquered by the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire; the Muslims conquered the area in the late 7th century.

Africa, Horn of See Horn of Africa

African ant bear See aardvark

African arts Visual, performing, and literary arts of sub-Saharan Africa. What gives art in Africa its special character is the generally small scale of most of its traditional societies, in which one finds a bewildering variety of styles. The earliest evidence of visual art is provided by fig¬ ures scratched and painted on rocks c. 3000 bc. Pastoral cultures in the east emphasize personal adornment; sculpture predominates in the agri¬ cultural societies in the west and south. Clay figurines found in Nigeria date to 500 bc. Metalworking was practiced from the 9th century ad. Sculptures in stone, ivory, and wood date from the 16th-17th centuries; some of the finest wood sculptures date from the 20th century. Architec¬ ture dominates the arts of the north and of the eastern coast, where Islam and Christianity exerted their influence; important work includes mag¬ nificent mosques built of mud and rock-hewn churches. Perhaps the most distinctive features of African music are the complexity of rhythmic pat¬ terning achieved by a great variety of drums and the relationship between melodic form and language tone structure. Without this the text of a song is rendered meaningless; but, even in purely instrumental music, melodic pattern is likely to follow speech tone. Dances are realized in radically different styles throughout Africa. Movement patterns often depend upon the way in which environmental, historical, and social circumstances have been articulated in working, social, and recreational movements. Often there is no distinction between ritual celebration and social recreation. The masquerade is a complex art form employing many media; masquerades may entertain, be used to fight disease, be consulted as oracles, initiate boys to manhood, impersonate ancestors, judge disputes, or execute crimi¬ nals. The mask is essentially a dramatic device enabling performers to stand apart from their everyday role in the community. The content and style of urban African theatre are influenced by both African dramatic tra¬ ditions and Western theatre. The literary arts of Africa—especially its oral traditions—are immensely rich and varied. They include myths, praise songs, epic poetry, folktales, riddles, spells, and proverbs. Written litera¬ tures have existed for several centuries in Hausa, Swahili, and Amharic. In the 20th century, written literatures in other African languages also developed, alongside those in English, French, and Portuguese. See also Buu style; deble; segoni-kun; telum figure; trickster tale; and African authors by name, such as Chinua Achebe; Aime Cesaire; Birago Diop; Athol Fugard; Nadine Gordimer; Wole Soyinka; Amos Tutuola.

African languages Languages indigenous to Africa that belong to the Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, Khoisan, and Afro-Asiatic language phyla. Africa is the most polyglot continent; estimates of the number of African languages range from 1,000 to more than 1,500. Many have numerous dialects. Distinctions in tone play a significant role in nearly all sub- Saharan languages. Contact between people who do not speak the same language has necessitated the development of lingua francas such as Swa¬ hili in East Africa, Lingala in the Congo River basin (see Bantu languages), Sango in the Central African Republic (see Adamawa-Ubangi languages), and Arabic across much of the Sahel.

African lily or lily of the Nile Perennial evergreen herbaceous plant (Agapcinthus africanus) of the lily family, native to Africa. In summer, long stalks bear many funnel-shaped flowers. The attractive, thick, dark green leaves are sword-shaped. There are many varieties, some with white or purple flowers and others with patterned leaves. If grown in a climate with frost, they must be kept in containers and moved indoors to survive the cold weather.

African lion dog See Rhodesian ridgeback

African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME Church) African American Methodist denomination formally organized in 1816. It origi¬ nated with a group of black Philadelphians who withdrew in 1787 from St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church (see Methodism) because of racial discrimination and built Bethel African Methodist Church. In 1799 Richard Allen became minister of Bethel, and in 1816 he was consecrated bishop of the newly organized African Methodist Episcopal Church. Lim¬ ited at first to the Northern states, the church spread rapidly in the South after the Civil War. It founded many colleges and seminaries, notably Wilberforce University (1856) in Ohio. In the late 20th century the church claimed 3,500,000 members and 8,000 congregations. Its headquarters are in Washington, D.C.

African National Congress (ANC) South African political party and black nationalist organization. Founded in 1912 (as the South African Native National Congress), the ANC was long dedicated to the elimination of apartheid. In response to government massacres of demonstrators at Sharpeville (1960) and Soweto (1976), it carried out acts of sabotage and guerrilla warfare. The campaign was largely ineffective because of strin¬ gent South African internal security measures, including an official ban on the ANC between 1960 and 1990. In 1991, with the ban lifted, Nelson Mandela succeeded Oliver Tambo as ANC president. In 1994 the party swept the country’s first elections based on universal suffrage; the ANC led a coalition government that initially included members of its longtime rival, the National Party, and Mandela became South Africa’s president. In 1999 Thabo Mbeki replaced him as president of the ANC and of South Africa. See also Inkatha Freedom Party; Albert Lutuli; Pan-African movement.

African religions Indigenous religions of the African continent. The introduced religions of Islam (in northern Africa) and Christianity (in southern Africa) are now the continent’s major religions, but traditional religions still play an important role, especially in the interior of sub- Saharan Africa. The numerous traditional African religions have in com¬ mon the notion of a creator god, who made the world and then withdrew, remaining remote from the concerns of human life. Prayers and sacrifi¬ cial offerings are usually directed toward secondary divinities, who are intermediaries between the human and sacred realms. Ancestors also serve as intermediaries (see ancestor worship). Ritual functionaries include priests, elders, rainmakers, diviners, and prophets. Rituals are aimed at maintaining a harmonious relationship with cosmic powers, and many have associated myths that explain their significance. Animism is a com¬ mon feature of African religions, and misfortune is often attributed to WITCHCRAFT AND SORCERY.

African Union (AU) African intergovernmental organization. It is the successor to the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The AU was estab¬ lished in 2002 to promote unity and solidarity among African states, spur economic development, and promote international cooperation. The OAU was established in 1963 with similar goals, and during its tenure the group mediated several border disputes on the African continent. More eco¬ nomic in nature and with a stronger mandate to intervene in conflicts, the AU replaced the OAU in 2002. In 2004 the AU’s Pan-African Parliament was inaugurated, and the organization agreed to create a peacekeeping force. The AU’s headquarters are in Addis Ababa, Eth.

African violet Any plant of the genus Saintpaulia, of the gesneriad family, especially S. ionantha. African violets are native to high eleva¬ tions in tropical eastern Africa. They are small, hairy, usually stemless herbaceous plants with crowded, long-stalked leaves. The violet, white, or pink flowers bloom most of the year. They are popular houseplants, and hundreds of varieties have been developed, including half-sized min¬ iatures.

Afrikaans \,af-ri-'kanz\ language Germanic language of South Africa. It was developed from 17th-century Dutch by descendants of Euro¬ pean settlers, indigenous KHOlSAN-speaking peoples, and African and Asian slaves in the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope. It differs from Dutch in its sound system, in some grammatical simplification, and in vocabulary. Afrikaans is spoken as a first language by close to six million South Afri¬ cans and as a second or third language by several million more; there are also about 150,000 Afrikaans speakers in Namibia. Standard Afrikaans was formally separated from Dutch and made an official language in South Africa in 1925; it is one of 11 official South African languages.

Afrikaner V.af-ri-'kan-orV formerly Boer Historically, any South Afri¬ can of Dutch or Huguenot descent whose native language is Afrikaans. Beginning in the late 20th century, the term also was used for all Afri-

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26 I Afro-Asiatic languages ► Agassiz

kaans speakers, regardless of ethnicity. The Afrikaners were originally called Boers (“farmers”), since many Dutch and Huguenot settlers of the old Cape Colony (founded 1652) became frontier farmers in the Trans¬ vaal and the Orange Free State. They established self-sufficient patriarchal communities, developed their own language and subculture, and were committed to a policy of racial segregation, later referred to as apartheid. They fought a bitter war with the British (the South African War, 1899— 1902) over the right to govern the frontier territories. Though defeated, they retained their old language and culture and eventually attained politi¬ cally the power they had failed to win militarily. They dominated South African politics for most of the 20th century but were obliged to give up national power after the first elections based on universal suffrage in 1994. See also Cape Town; Great Trek; National Party.

Afro-Asiatic languages formerly Hamito-Semitic languages

Family of about 250 languages spoken in North Africa, parts of sub- Saharan African, and the Middle East. It includes such languages as Ara¬ bic, Hebrew, Amharic, and Hausa. The total number of speakers is estimated to be more than 250 million. The major branches of Afro-Asiatic are Semitic, Berber, Egyptian, Cushitic, Omotic, and Chadic. Berber languages are spoken by perhaps 15 million people in enclaves scattered across North Africa from Morocco to northwestern Egypt and in parts of the western Sahara. Cushitic consists of some 30 languages spoken by more than 30 million people in northeastern Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya, and a few areas of northeastern Tanzania. Omotic, for¬ merly classified as part of Cushitic, is a cluster of perhaps more than 30 languages spoken by 2-3 million people, most of whom live near the Omo River in southwestern Ethiopia. Chadic comprises about 140 languages, spoken in northern Nigeria, southern Niger, southern Chad, and northern Cameroon; except for Hausa, it is likely that no individual Chadic lan¬ guage has more than half a million speakers.

Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Brazilian, and Afro-American reli¬ gions Religions among persons of African ancestry in the Caribbean, Brazil, and U.S. These include Haitian vodun, the Jamaican Rastafarian movement, Santeria, and Candomble and other Macumba sects in Brazil. Similarly syncretistic religions appeared in the U.S. during the era of sla¬ very. The Nation of Islam combines black nationalism with an unortho¬ dox version of Islam. Black Protestant churches (especially Baptist and Pentecostal) have imported some forms of lively worship from Africa.

Afrocentrism Cultural, political, and ideological movement. Most Afrocentrists are African Americans who regard all blacks as syncretic Africans and who believe that their worldview should positively reflect traditional African values. Afrocentrists argue that for centuries blacks and other nonwhites have been dominated, through slavery and colonization, by Europeans and that European culture is either irrelevant or hostile to efforts by non-Europeans to achieve self-determination. Rooted in his¬ torical black nationalist movements such as Ethiopianism, Pan-Africanism, and Negritude, Afrocentrism asserts the cultural primacy of ancient Egypt and is seen as a spur to political activism. In addition to emphasizing cooperation and spirituality, it champions contemporary African Ameri¬ can expressive culture (language, cuisine, music, dance, and clothing). Coined by Molefi Asante in the 1980s, the term Afrocentrism was popu¬ larized by such books as Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classi¬ cal Civilization, 2 vol. (1987-91), by Martin Bernal. The book remains controversial among mainstream scholars who charge it with historical inaccuracy, scholarly ineptitude, and racism—prompting countercharges of racism from some of its defenders.

afterburner Second combustion chamber in a turbojet or turbofan engine, immediately in front of the engine’s exhaust nozzle. The injec¬ tion and combustion of extra fuel in this chamber provide additional thrust for takeoff or supersonic flight; in most cases, the afterburner can nearly double the thrust of a turbojet engine. The jet nozzle must be larger when using the afterburner, so an automatic, adjustable nozzle is an essential component of the afterburner system. Because the afterburner sharply increases fuel consumption and is generally less effective at subsonic speeds, its use is usually restricted to supersonic military aircraft.

afterpiece Supplementary entertainment offered after a full-length play in 18th-century England. A short comedy, farce, or pantomime was pre¬ sented to lighten the five-act Neoclassical tragedy that was commonly performed. A reduced admission price for latecomers, usually after the third act, enabled less-sophisticated playgoers and working people to see the end of the drama and the one-act afterpiece.

aftosa See foot-and-mouth disease

Aga Khan \,a-g3-'kan\ Persian Agha Khan or Aqa Khan Title of the imams of the Nizarl Isma'ilT sect of ShTite Islam. The title was first granted in 1818 to Hasan 'All Shah (1800-81) by the shah of Iran. As Aga Khan I, he later revolted against Iran (1838) and, defeated, fled to India. His eldest son, 'All Shah (d. 1885), was briefly Aga Khan II. 'All Shah’s son Sultan Sir Mohammed Shah (1877-1957) became Aga Khan III. He acquired a leading position among India’s Muslims, served as president of the All-India Muslim League, and played an important part in the Round Table conferences on Indian constitutional reform (1930-32); in 1937 he was appointed president of the League of Nations. He chose as his successor his grandson Karim al-Husayn Shah (b. 1937), who, as Aga Khan IV, became a strong leader; he founded the Aga Khan Foundation, an international philanthropic organization, and other agencies offering educational and other services.

Agadir \,a-ga-'dir\ Seaport city (pop., 1994: 155,240), southwestern Morocco on the Atlantic coast. It was occupied in the 16th century by the Portuguese but later became an independent Moroccan port. After the 1911 Moroccan Crisis, it was occupied by French troops in 1913. Mod¬ ern growth began with the port’s construction in 1914 and the develop¬ ment of the fishing industry. In 1960 the city was virtually destroyed by a pair of earthquakes, a tidal wave, and a fire; a new city centre was rebuilt south of its original location. It is also a marketplace for the surrounding agricultural area.

Agamemnon N.a-gs-'mem-.nanX In Greek legend, the son of Atreus, brother of Menelaus, and king of Mycenae and commander of the Greek forces that attacked Troy. By his wife, Clytemnestra, Agamemnon had a son, Orestes, and three daughters. When Paris carried off Menelaus’s wife, Helen, Agamemnon called on the Greeks to unite in a war of revenge against the Trojans. Artemis sent a calm or contrary winds to prevent the Greek fleet from sailing, and Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphige- neia to appease the goddess. After the Trojan War he returned home, where he was killed by his wife and her lover, Aegisthus. His murder was avenged by Orestes. These events formed the basis of Aeschylus' great dramatic trilogy the Oresteia.

Agana See Hagatna

agape \a-'ga-pa\ In the New Testament, the fatherly love of God for humans and their reciprocal love for God. The term extends to the love of one’s fellow humans. The Church Fathers used the Greek term to des¬ ignate both a rite using bread and wine and a meal of fellowship that included the poor. The historical relationship between this meal, the Lord’s Supper, and the Eucharist, the meal of fellowship and the sacra¬ ment, is uncertain.

agaric \'a-gar-ik\ Any fungus of the family Agaricaceae, including the familiar commercially grown mushroom. Agarics have SPORE-bearing cells (basidia) located on thin sheets called gills. Best known of the agarics is the genus Agaricus (Psalliota ), which includes some 60 species, the most prominent being the edible meadow, or field, mushroom, A. campestris, and the common cultivated mushroom, A. bisporus.

Agartala \3-'g3r-t9-b\ City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 189,387), capital of Tripura state, India. It lies near the Bangladesh border on the Haroa River in an intensively cultivated plain. The commercial centre of the area, it also contains a maharaja’s palace, a temple, and several colleges affili¬ ated with the University of Calcutta.

Agassi Va-go-seV, Andre (Kirk) (b. April 29, 1970, Las Vegas, Nev., U.S.) U.S. tennis player. Agassi won the Wimbledon men’s singles in 1992, the U.S. Open in 1994, and the Australian Open in 1995. By 1997 he had dropped to 122 in the international rankings, but he recovered to become the world’s top-ranked player by 2000. In 2001 he married retired German tennis player Steffi Graf. Agassi is known for his aggressive style and demeanour on and off the court.

Agassiz \'a-go-se\, Alexander (Emmanuel Rodolphe) (b. Dec. 17, 1835, Neuchatel, Switz.—d. March 27, 1910, at sea, mid-Atlantic Ocean) Swiss-born U.S. marine zoologist, oceanographer, and mining engineer. The son of Louis Agassiz, he emigrated in 1849 to the U.S., where he conducted significant systematic zoological work on echinoderms (e.g., starfish). He developed and supervised what became the world’s foremost copper mine (Calumet, Mich.) while also improving conditions for min¬ ers. He also pursued marine and coral reef studies. His observations made

Agassiz ► Agent Orange I 27

on an 1875 trip to the western coast of South America led him to chal¬ lenge Charles Darwin’s theory of coral reef formation.

Agassiz, Elizabeth Cabot orig. Elizabeth Cabot Cary (b. Dec. 5, 1822, Boston, Mass., U.S.—d. June 27, 1907, Arlington Heights, Mass.) U.S. naturalist and educator. She was educated at home, and in 1850 she married Louis Agassiz. She helped organize and manage several of his field expeditions, and together they founded a marine laboratory in Buzzards Bay, Mass. After his death she pursued her idea of a college for women to be taught by the Harvard University faculty. She was instrumen¬ tal in launching the Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women (1882); she served as its president until 1894, when it was renamed Rad- cliffe College, and she continued as president until 1899.

Agassiz Va-go-seV (Jean) Louis (Rodolphe) (b. May 28, 1807, Motier, Switz.—d. Dec. 14, 1873, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.) Swiss-born U.S. naturalist, geologist, and teacher. After studies in Switzerland and Germany, he moved to the U.S. in 1846. He did landmark work on gla¬ cier activity and extinct fishes. He became famous for his innovative teaching methods, which encouraged learning through direct observation of nature, and his term as a zoology professor at Harvard University revo¬ lutionized the study of natural history in the U.S.; every notable Ameri¬ can teacher of natural history in the late 19th century was a pupil either of Agassiz or of one of his students. In addition, he was an outstanding science administrator, promoter, and fund-raiser. He was a lifelong oppo¬ nent of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. His second wife, Elizabeth Agassiz, cofounder and first president of Radcliffe College, and his son, Alexander Agassiz, were also noted naturalists.

agate \'a-got\ Common, semiprecious silica mineral, a variety of chal¬ cedony that occurs in bands of vary¬ ing colour and transparency.

Varieties are characterized by pecu¬ liarities in the shape and colour of the bands, which are seen in sections cut at right angles to the layers.

Agate is found throughout the world, commonly in cavities in eruptive rocks and in geodes. Brazil and Uru¬ guay are major producers of agates; they are also found in Oregon, Wash¬ ington, Idaho, Montana, and other western U.S. states. Agate is essen¬ tially quartz. Much commercial agate is artificially dyed to make the naturally dull-gray stones more colourful.

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument Natural “depository” of an extinct animal community on the Niobrara River, northwestern Nebraska, U.S. The beds, laid down as sedimentary deposits 20 million years ago, bear the remains of prehistoric mammals. Discovered c. 1878, the site was named for its proximity to rock formations containing agates. A national monument since 1965, it covers 2,269 acres (918 hectares).

Agatha, Saint (fl. 3rd century ad?, Sicily; feast day February 5) Leg¬ endary Christian martyr. Born in Palermo or Catania, she resisted the advances of a Roman prefect sent to govern Sicily. After brutal torture she was sent to the stake, but as the fire was lit a great earthquake occurred, and the crowd demanded her release. She was led away to prison, where she died. Though she appears in lists of martyrs as early as the 6th century, the legend may be unfounded.

Agathocles \3-'ga-th3-klez\ (b. 361 bc, Thermae Himeraeae, Sicily—d. 289) Tyrant of Syracuse (317-304?) and self-styled king of Sicily (304?- 289). He moved to Syracuse as a youth and served in its army. After two failed attempts, he overthrew the Syracusan oligarchy (317) and took power. He waged wars with other Sicilian Greek cities (316-313?) and with Carthage (311), almost capturing Carthage itself before he was defeated (307). He concluded a favourable treaty (306) that curtailed Carthaginian expansion in Sicily. Harsh domestic measures kept him in power, and he declared himself king of Sicily; his reign was peaceful thereafter. He restored Syracusan liberty in his will, but after his death the Carthaginians were once again a power in Sicily.

agave \o-'ga-ve\ family Family Agavaceae of the lily order (Liliales), comprising more than 700 species of short-stemmed, often woody plants found in tropical, subtropical, and temperate areas. They have narrow,

lance-shaped, sometimes fleshy or toothed leaves, which are clustered at the base of the plant. Most have large flower clusters. The fruit is a cap¬ sule or berry. Plants of the genus Agave are important primarily for the fibres obtained from their leaves. Sisal hemp, from A. sisalana, is the most valuable hard fibre. Some species of Agave contain a sap that is fermented to produce the intoxicating drinks known as tequila, pulque, and mescal. Many species of yucca are popular as ornamentals; other ornamentals in the agave family include plants of the genera Dasylirion, Nolina, Cordyline, Dracaena , and Sansevieria.

age set Formally organized social group consisting of every male (or female) of comparable age. In societies where the practice traditionally occurs (e.g., the Nuer of the southern Sudan or the Masai of Kenya and Tanzania), a person belongs, either from birth or from a determined age, to a named age set that passes through a series of life stages, or age grades, each of which has a distinctive status or social and political role. See also rite of passage; social status.

Agee Va-je\, James (b. Nov. 27, 1909, Knoxville, Tenn., U.S.—d. May 16, 1955, New York, N.Y.) U.S. poet and novelist. Agee attended Harvard University. In the 1930s and ’40s, film reviews for Time and The Nation made him a pioneer in serious film criticism. His lyrical Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941), with photographs by Walker Evans, docu¬ ments the daily lives of poverty-stricken Alabama sharecroppers. After 1948 Agee worked mainly as a screenwriter, notably on The African Queen (1951) and The Night of the Hunter (1955). He is best known for his autobiographical novel A Death in the Family (1957, Pulitzer Prize).

Agenais \azh-'ne, a-zho-'na\ or Agenois \a-zhe-'nwa\ Historical region, southwestern France. In ancient Gaul, Agenais was the country of the Nitiobriges, then a Gallo-Roman civitas, whose limits became those of the diocese of Agen. It was acquired by the dukes of Aquitaine in 1036. When Eleanor of Aquitaine married the future Henry II of England in 1152, Agenais became the possession of the English kings. It alternated between French and British rule until it was reunited to the French crown in 1615.

Agence France-Presse \a-zha n s-fra n s-'pres\ (AFP) French coopera¬ tive news agency. Based in Paris, it has roots in the Bureau Havas, cre¬ ated in 1832, which in 1835 became the Agence Havas, the world’s first true news agency. The Agence Havas was active until the German occu¬ pation of France in 1940, when many of its personnel went underground. After the liberation of Paris in 1944, underground journalists emerged to form AFP. The French government assigned the assets of Agence Havas to AFP, which quickly became one of the world’s leading wire news ser¬ vices. AFP operates bureaus in Africa, Asia-Pacific countries, Latin America, the Middle East, North America, and Europe.

agency In law, a relationship in which one party (the agent) acts on behalf of and under the control of another (the principal) in dealing with third parties. It has its roots in ancient servant-master relations. Agency becomes a legal issue when the agent injures or wrongs a third party. In Anglo-American law, principals are bound by and liable for the acts of such agents as stockbrokers, business agents, contractors, real-estate agents, lawyers, union representatives, managing partners, and private detectives. See also regulatory agency.

agenesis \a-'je-no-s9s\ Failure of all or part of an organ to develop dur¬ ing embryonic growth. Many forms of agenesis are lethal, such as absence of the entire brain (anencephaly), but agenesis of one organ of a pair may cause little problem. Agenesis of a kidney, bladder, testicle, ovary, thy¬ roid, and lung are known. Agenesis of the arms or legs is called mer- omelia (absence of one or both hands or feet), phocomelia (normal hands and feet but no arms or legs), and amelia (complete absence of a limb or limbs). Agenesis may be caused by absence of embryonic tissue or by chemical exposure in the uterus, and it is often associated with other con¬ genital disorders.

Agent Orange Mixture of herbicides. It contains approximately equal amounts of esters of 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) and 2,4,5-T (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid) and trace amounts of dioxin. About 13 million gallons were sprayed by U.S. military forces onto Vietnam’s for¬ ests and crops during the Vietnam War, with the dual purpose of destroy¬ ing cover for enemy movements and destroying food sources. Exposure to Agent Orange has been blamed for an abnormally high incidence of miscarriages, skin diseases, cancers, birth defects, and malformations among Vietnamese and of cancers and other disorders in U.S., Australian, and New Zealand servicemen and their families.

28 I ageratum ► agouti

ageratum \ l a-j3- , ra-t3m\ Any plant of the genus Ageratum, of the com¬ posite family, native to tropical South America. Ageratum have toothed, oval leaves that are opposite each other on the stem; compact clusters of blue, pink, lilac, or white flowers; and small, dry fruits. Dwarf varieties are used as edging plants. Some ageratum are variously known as floss- flower and pussyfoot.

Agesilaus \3-je-s3-'la-9s\ II (b. c. 444 bc —d. 360, Cyrene, Cyrenaica) King of Sparta (399-360) and commander of its army during most of the era of Spartan supremacy (404-371). A member of the Eurypontid fam¬ ily, he took the throne with Lysander’s help while Sparta was fighting Per¬ sia. He defeated the allied Thebes, Athens, Argos, and Corinth in the Corinthian War (395-387), despite losing some ground in central Greece and a battle with the Persian fleet in 394. He dissolved the Boeotian League, but battles against the Boeotian Confederacy (371) and Thebes (370, 361) ended Sparta’s ascendancy. He died en route to Sparta from a mercenary engagement in Egypt.

agglomerate No-'gla-mo-roA Large, coarse, angular rock fragments associated with lava flow that are ejected during explosive volcanic erup¬ tions. Although they may appear to resemble sedimentary conglomerates, agglomerates are igneous rocks that consist almost wholly of angular or rounded lava fragments of varying size and shape. Some geologists sort agglomerates into bombs, blocks, and breccia. Bombs are ejected in a mol¬ ten state, becoming rounded upon solidification, and blocks are erupted as solid fragments. Upon accumulation and solidification of the angular fragments (also known as pyroclastics), they form agglomerates.

aggressive behaviour Any action of an animal intended to injure an opponent or prey animal or to cause an opponent to retreat. Aggres¬ sion may be caused by various stimuli. Within its own group, an animal must display aggressive postures to maintain its position within the hier¬ archy (e.g., the pecking order of chickens). A threat by itself, as in ruffled feathers or teeth revealed in a snarl, is usually sufficient to maintain an already-established social order. Aggression often occurs just before mat¬ ing season, when males win their choice of females and territories.

Agha Khan See Aga Khan

Aghlabid Vag-ls-bidX dynasty (800-909) Arab Muslim dynasty that ruled Ifriqiyyah (Tunisia and eastern Algeria) through a succession of 11 emirs. Nominally subject to the ‘Abbasid dynasty, they in fact were inde¬ pendent. High points of Aghlabid rule included the conquest of Sicily (827-829), the flowering of their capital city, Kairouan (9th century), and naval control of the central Mediterranean Sea. Public works included a system for conserving and distributing water.

Agiads \'a-je-odz\ Line of Spartan kings named after Agis I (11th cen¬ tury bc?). Agis was traditionally held to be the son of one of the legend¬ ary twins who founded Sparta. Agis II (d. 400/398 bc) commanded the Spartan army during most of the Peloponnesian War (431-404) against Athens. Agis III (d. 331 bc) led the Greek cities in an unsuccessful revolt against Alexander the Great. The last of the line was Agis IV (d. 241 bc), who failed in his attempt to reform the unequal distribution of land and wealth in Sparta, ultimately losing his crown and his life to Leonidas II.

Agincourt Va-jin-kort\, Battle of (October 25, 1415) Battle resulting in the decisive victory of the English over the French in the Hundred Years' War. In pursuit of his claim to the French throne, Henry V invaded Nor¬ mandy with an army of 11,000 men in August 1415. The English took Harfleur in September, but with their forces cut in half by battle and dis¬ ease, they resolved to return to England. At Agincourt they were cornered by a French army of 20,000-30,000 men, including many mounted knights in heavy armor. On a cramped battlefield where the superior French numbers offered little advantage, Henry made skillful use of his lightly equipped, mobile archers. The French were disastrously defeated, losing over 6,000 men, while the English lost fewer than 450.

aging Gradual change in an organism that leads to increased risk of weakness, disease, and death. It takes place in a cell, an organ, or the total organism over the entire adult life span of any living thing. There is a decline in biological functions and in ability to adapt to metabolic stress. Changes in organs include the replacement of functional cardiovascular cells with fibrous tissue. Overall effects of aging include reduced immunity, loss of muscle strength, decline in memory and other aspects of cognition, and loss of colour in the hair and elasticity in the skin. In women, the pro¬ cess accelerates after menopause. See also gerontology and geriatrics.

agitprop Va-jot-.prapX Political strategy in which techniques of agita¬ tion and propaganda are used to influence public opinion. Originally described by the Marxist theorist Georgy Plekhanov and then by Vladimir Ilich Lenin, it called for both emotional and reasoned arguments. The term, a shortened form for the Agitation and Propaganda Section of the Com¬ munist Party in the former Soviet Union, has been used in English, typi¬ cally with a negative connotation, to describe any work—especially in drama and other art forms—that aims to indoctrinate the public and achieve political goals.

Agnes, Saint (fl. 4th century, Rome; feast day January 21) Legendary Christian martyr, the patron saint of girls. According to tradition, she was a beautiful virgin who turned away all suitors, declaring that she could have no spouse but Jesus. The rejected suitors informed Roman officials that she was a Christian, and she was punished by being exposed in a brothel. There she was left miraculously unharmed; the only man who attempted to violate her was struck blind, and she healed him with prayer. She was later murdered during the persecutions ordered by Diocletian.

Agnew, Spiro T(heodore) (b. Nov. 9, 1918, Baltimore, Md., U.S.—d. Sept. 17, 1996, Berlin, Md.) U.S. politician, the only vice presi¬ dent forced to resign. He studied law at the University of Baltimore and began a law practice in a Baltimore suburb in 1947. He was elected Bal¬ timore county executive in 1962 and then governor of Maryland in 1967. In 1968 and 1972 he was elected vice president on the Republican ticket headed by Richard Nixon. His sometimes colourful denunciations of Viet¬ nam War protesters and other opponents of the Nixon administration brought him much attention in the news media. Investigated for extortion, bribery, and income-tax violations allegedly committed during his gov¬ ernorship, he resigned the vice presidency in 1973 and pleaded no con¬ test to a single income-tax charge. He was fined $10,000 and sentenced to three years of unsupervised probation. Disbarred in 1974, he became a consultant to foreign businesses.

Agni Hindu god of fire, second only to Indra in Vedic mythology. He is the fire of the sun, of lightning, and of the hearth of worship, and is the divine personification of the fire of sacrifice. He is thus the messenger between human and divine orders. Agni is described as ruddy-hued and with two faces, one beneficent and one malignant. In the Rig Veda he is sometimes identified with Rudra, the forerunner of Shiva.

Agnon \ag-'non\, S.Y. orig. Shmuel Yosef Halevi Czaczkes (b.

July 17, 1888, Buczacz, Galicia, Austria-Hungary—d. Feb. 17, 1970, Rehovot, Israel) Israeli writer. Bom into a Polish Galician family, Agnon settled in Palestine in 1907 and chose Hebrew as his literary language. The Day Before Yesterday (1945), perhaps his greatest novel, examines the problem facing the Westernized Jew who immigrates to Israel. Other works include the novels The Bridal Canopy (1919) and A Guest for the Night (1938). He is regarded as one of the greatest modem Hebrew nov¬ elists and short-story writers. In 1966 he and Nelly Sachs shared the Nobel Prize for Literature.

agnosticism Vag-'nas-to-.siz-oirA Doctrine that one cannot know the existence of anything beyond the phenomena of experience. It is popu¬ larly equated with religious skepticism, and especially with the rejection of traditional Christian beliefs under the impact of modern scientific thought. T.H. Huxley popularized philosophical agnosticism after coining the term agnostic (as opposed to gnostic) in 1869, to designate one who repudiated traditional Judeo-Christian theism but was not a doctrinaire atheist (see atheism). Agnosticism may mean no more than the suspension of judgment on ultimate questions because of insufficient evidence, or it may constitute a rejection of traditional Christian tenets.

agora Va-go-roV In ancient Greek cities, an open space serving as an assembly area and backdrop for commercial, civic, social, and religious activities. Use of the agora varied in different periods. Located in the middle of the city or near the harbor, it was often enclosed by public buildings, colonnades containing shops, and stoas for protection from sun and bad weather. The highest honor for a citizen was to be granted a tomb in the agora. See photograph on following page.

Agoracritus or Agorakritos \,a-g9-'rak-r3-t3s\ (fl. 5th century bc) Greek sculptor. A student of Phidias, his most notable work was the colos¬ sal marble statue of Nemesis at Rhamnus. A fragment of the head is in the British Museum, and fragments of the pedestal reliefs are in Athens.

agouti \9-'gu-te\ Any of several species (genus Dasyprocta) of rabbit¬ sized rodents that occur in the American tropics (southern Mexico to

Agra ► Agrippina I 29

Plaster model of the Agora, Athens, as it might have appeared in the 2nd century

AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS

northern South America). Agoutis are 16-24 in. (40-60 cm) long and have a long body, small ears, either a vestigial tail or none at all, and slender feet with long, hooflike claws. Their wiry fur is reddish brown to blackish, with individual hairs banded in what is called the agouti pattern. Agoutis generally live in forests and eat roots, leaves, and fruit.

Agra \'a-gro\ City (pop., 2001:

1,275,134), west-central Uttar Pradesh state, India. It was founded by Sikandar Lodi in the early 16th century on the Yamuna River southeast of Delhi and was intermittently the Mughal capital. The city fell successively to the Jats and the Marathas in the late 18th century and finally to the British in 1803. It is the site of the Taj Mahal and the imperial tomb of Akbar.

Agra monte \a-gra-'mon-ta\ (y Simoni), Aristides (b. June 3,1868, Camagiiey, Cuba—d. Aug. 19, 1931, New Orleans, La., U.S.) Cuban-bom U.S. physician, pathologist, and bacteriologist. Reared in New York City, he received his M.D. from Columbia University. He was a member of the U.S. Army’s Reed Yellow Fever Board, which discovered in 1901 the role of mosquitoes in transmitting yellow fever. As a professor at the Univer¬ sity of Havana (1900-30), he became an influential leader of scientific medicine in Cuba.

Agri Dagi See Mount Ararat

agribusiness Agriculture operated by business; specifically, that part of a modem national economy devoted to the production, processing, and distribution of food and fibre products and byproducts. Commercial farm¬ ing has largely supplanted the family farm in production of cash crops. Some food-processing firms that operate farms have begun to market fresh produce under their brand names. In recent years, conglomerates involved in nonagricultural businesses have entered agribusiness by buying and operating large farms.

Agricola Vo-'gri-ko-loV Georgius orig. Georg Bauer (b. March 24, 1494, Clauchau, Saxony—d. Nov. 21, 1555, Chemnitz) German scholar and scientist known as the father of mineralogy. A town physician in Sax¬ ony (1527-33), he was among the first to found a natural science upon observation as opposed to speculation. His De re metallica (1556) dealt chiefly with mining and smelting; his De natura fossilium (1546), con¬ sidered the first mineralogy textbook, presented the first scientific classi¬ fication of minerals (based on their physical properties) and described many new minerals, their occurrence, and mutual relationships.

Agricola No-'grik-o-bV Gnaeus Julius (b. June 13, ad 40, Forum Julii, Gallia Narbonensis—d. Aug. 23, 93) Roman general. After Agricola served as tribune and quaestor in Britain and Asia, Vespasian appointed him governor of Britain (77/78-84). In that role he conquered parts of Wales and northern England, then advanced into Scotland and set a fron¬ tier between the Firths of Clyde and Forth. In 83 he crossed the Forth and defeated the Caledonians at Mons Graupius; he then occupied Scotland to the fringe of the Highlands, with forts at the main passes and a fortress

at Inchtuthil. Recalled to Rome, Agricola was offered the proconsulship of Asia but chose retirement. His life is known through the writings of his son-in-law Tacitus.

Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) New Deal pro¬ gram to restore U.S. agricultural prosperity during the Great Depression. Established by an act of Congress in 1933, the AAA sought to curtail farm production of certain staples, in order to raise prices. It also established the Commodity Credit Corp., to make loans to farmers and to purchase and store crops in order to maintain farm prices. The program had lim¬ ited success before it was declared unconstitutional in 1936.

Agricultural Revolution Gradual transformation of the traditional agricultural system that began in Britain in the 18th century. Aspects of this complex transformation, which was not completed until the 19th cen¬ tury, included the reallocation of land ownership to make farms more compact and an increased investment in technical improvements, such as new machinery, better drainage, scientific methods of breeding, and experimentation with new crops and systems of crop rotation. The agri¬ cultural revolution was an essential prelude to the Industrial Revolution.

agriculture Science or art of cultivating the soil, growing and harvest¬ ing crops, and raising livestock. Agriculture probably first developed in South Asia and Egypt, then spread to Europe, Africa, the rest of Asia, the islands of the central and South Pacific, and finally to North and South America. Agriculture in the Middle East is believed to date from 9000- 7000 bc. Early cultivated crops include wild barley (Middle East), domes¬ ticated beans and water chestnuts (Thailand), and pumpkins (the Americas). Domestication of animals occurred during roughly the same period. Slash-and-burn land-clearing methods and crop rotation were early agricultural techniques. Steady improvements in tools and methods over the centuries increased agricultural output, as did mechanization, selective breeding and hybridization, and, in the 20th century, the use of herbicides and insecticides. More of the world’s aggregate manpower is devoted to agriculture than to all other occupations combined.

agrimony Va-gro-.mo-neX Any plant of the genus Agrimonia, of the rose family, especially A. eupatoria. This species is a herbaceous, hardy perennial native to Europe but widespread in other northern temperate regions, where it grows in hedge banks and the borders of fields. Its leaves yield a yellow dye. The leaflets are oval with toothed margins; the small, stalkless yellow flowers are borne in a long terminal spike. The fruit is a tiny burr. A. gryposepala, a similar species, is widespread in the U.S.

Agrippa b-'grip-oX, Marcus Vipsanius (b. 63 bc? —d. March, 12 bc, Campania) Powerful deputy of Augustus. He helped Octavian (later Augustus) take power after Julius Caesar’s murder (44 bc), defeating Sextus Pompeius in 36 and Mark Ant¬ ony at the Battle of Actium in 31. He went on to quell rebellions, found colonies, administer parts of the empire, and give to Rome funds for public works and buildings. In 23 Augustus seemed to make him heir, and Agrippa married Augustus’s daughter, Julia. His administrative and military skills were particularly directed to the eastern empire, where in 15 he met with and made an ally of Herod of Judaea. Agrippa’s writ¬ ings (now lost) influenced Strabo and Puny the Elder. His daughter Agrippina the Elder (14? bc-ad 33) was the wife of Germanicus Caesar, mother of Caliguia and Agrippina the Younger, and grandmother of Nero.

Agrippina X.ag-ri-'pI-noV the Younger (b. ad 15—d. 59) Mother of Nero and a major influence in the early years of his reign. Daughter of Agrippina the Elder (c. 14 bc-ad 33) and sister of Caugula, she was exiled (39—41) for conspiring against Caligula. Her first husband, Gnaeus Domi- tius Ahenobarbus, was Nero’s father. Accused of poisoning her second husband (49), she married Claudius, her uncle, and had him adopt Nero

Agouti (Dasyprocta).

WARREN GARST/TOM STACK & ASSOCIATES