Britannica Concise 2005 - читать бесплатно онлайн полную версию книги автора Encyclopedia Britannica (ч. 20)

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capital

numeral

sign sign

The alphabet and the digits 0-9 in the modern Braille system. Each letter or digit consists of six "cells" that are either embossed or left blank to form a unique pat¬ tern. Large dots indicate raised cells; smaller dots indicate cells that are left blank.

266 I Braille ► brake

also exist for other languages, for mathematical and technical material, and for musical notation. Braille may be handwritten—from right to left— using a stylus to press dots into a piece of paper between hinged metal plates; when the sheet is turned over, the dots face up and are read from left to right. Braille typewriters and electric embossing machines are also used.

Braille \'bray\, Louis (b. Jan. 4, 1809, Coupvray, near Paris, France—d. Jan. 6, 1852, Paris) French educator who developed the Braille system of printing and writing for the blind.

Himself blinded at the age of three in an accident, he went to Paris in 1819 to attend the National Institute for Blind Children, and from 1826 he taught there. Braille adapted a method created by Charles Barbier to develop his own simplified system.

brain Concentration of nerve tissue in the front or upper end of an ani¬ mal’s body. It handles sensory infor¬ mation, controls motion, is vital to instinctive acts, and in higher verte¬ brates is the centre of learning. Ver¬ tebrate brains consist of the

hindbrain (rhombencephalon), mid¬ brain (mesencephalon), and fore¬ brain (prosencephalon). The

hindbrain comprises the medulla oblongata and the pons, which con¬ nects the spinal cord with higher brain levels and transfers information from the cerebral cortex to the cerebellum. The midbrain, a major sensory integration centre in other vertebrates, serves primarily to link the hind¬ brain and forebrain in mammals. Large nerve bundles connect the cer¬ ebellum to the medulla, pons, and midbrain. In the forebrain the two cerebral hemispheres are connected by a thick bundle of nerve fibres (cor¬ pus callosum) and are divided by two deep grooves into four lobes (fron¬ tal, parietal, temporal, and occipital). The cerebrum, the largest part of the human brain, is involved with its more complex functions. Motor and sensory nerve fibres from each hemisphere cross over in the medulla to control the opposite side of the body.

brain death State of irreversible destruction of the brain. Before the invention of life-support systems, brain death always led quickly to death of the body. Ethical considerations are crucial to defining criteria for brain death, which in most countries must be met before efforts to extend life may be ended. Such criteria include deep coma with a known cause, absence of any brainstem functions (e.g., spontaneous respiration, pupil reactions, gag and cough reflexes), and exclusion of hypothermia, drugs, and poison as causes. Electroencephalography is useful but not essential in determining brain death. Organ donors must be declared brain-dead before their organs may be removed for transplant. The question of when life support can legally be ended has been the subject of numerous court cases.

brain laterality See laterality

Brain Trust Group of advisers to Franklin Roosevelt in his 1932 presi¬ dential campaign. Its principal members were the Columbia University professors Raymond Moley, Rexford Tugwell, and Adolf A. Berle, Jr. (1895— 1971). They presented Roosevelt with analyses of national social and economic problems and helped him devise public-policy solutions. The group did not meet after Roosevelt became president, but members served in government posts. See also New Deal.

brainwashing Systematic effort to destroy an individual’s former loy¬ alties and beliefs and to substitute loyalty to a new ideology or power. It has been used by religious cults as well as by radical political groups such as the Chinese Communists in 1949. The techniques of brainwashing usually involve isolation from former associates and sources of informa¬ tion; an exacting regimen calling for absolute obedience and humility; strong social pressures and rewards for cooperation; physical and psycho¬ logical punishments for noncooperation, including social ostracism and criticism, deprivation of food, sleep, and social contacts, bondage, and torture; and constant reinforcement. Its effects are sometimes reversed through deprogramming, which combines confrontation and intensive psychotherapy.

brake Device for decreasing the speed of a body or stopping its motion. Most brakes act on rotating mechanical elements and absorb kinetic energy mechanically, hydrodynamically, or electrically. Mechanical brakes are the most common; they dissipate the kinetic energy as heat generated by mechanical friction between a rotating drum or disk and a stationary fric¬ tion element. A hydrodynamic (fluid) brake has a rotor (rotating element) and a stator (stationary element). Resistance to rotation is created by fluid

Louis Braille, portrait bust by an unknown artist.

ARCHIV FUR KUNST UND GESCHICHTE, BERUN

cerebrum — frontal lobe

— parietal lobe corpus callosum

occipital lobe thalamus midbrain

hypothalamus

pituitary gland

temporal lobe

pons-

medulla oblongata spinal cord-

Side view of the brain showing its major structures. The large cerebrum is divided into two halves, or hemispheres, connected by the corpus callosum, a band of nerve fibres. Two grooves divide the hemispheres into four lobes: frontal, temporal, pari¬ etal, and occipital. Many nerve cells are found in the convoluted cerebrum's outer surface, or cerebral cortex, which controls sensory and motor activities. The thala¬ mus relays incoming sensory impulses from the spinal cord to the cortex. The hypo¬ thalamus's many functions include control of breathing, blood flow, temperature regulation, and emotions. The pituitary gland is attached to and regulated by the hypothalamus. The midbrain relays signals between the forebrain and hindbrain. The cerebellum, along with the cerebrum, plays a role in voluntary movement as well as balance. The pons serves as a relay point linking the medulla oblongata, midbrain, cerebellum, and cerebrum. The medulla, lying between the pons and the spinal cord and continuous with both, plays a role in essential involuntary regula¬ tory and reflexive responses (including breathing, swallowing, and heartbeat) and relays signals between the spinal cord and other brain regions.

brake shoe

piston

caliper housing

brake

piston

boot

hub

disc (rotor)

piston seal

A disc brake assembly. Wheel rotation is slowed by friction when the hydraulic pis¬ tons squeeze the caliper, pressing the brake pads (shoe and lining assemblies) against the spinning disc (rotor), which is bolted to the wheel hub.

brake ► Brandes I 267

friction and circulation of the liquid (usually water) from a series of pock¬ ets in the rotor to a series of complementary pockets in the stator. See also AIR BRAKE.

brake See bracken

Bramah, Joseph (b. April 13, 1748, Stainborough, Yorkshire, Eng.—d. Dec. 9, 1814, London) British engineer and inventor. Originally a cabinetmaker, Bramah in 1784 devised a pick-proof lock, which defied all efforts for 67 years. Since the success of his locks depended on their complexity, they could be produced in quantity only after the creation of a set of well-designed and precisely engineered machine tools, for which he hired a brilliant young blacksmith, Henry Maudslay. Their prototype machines were essential to the founding of the machine-tool industry. Bra¬ mah’s hydraulic press found many industrial uses and led to the devel¬ opment of hydraulic machinery.

Bramante \bra-'man-ta\, Donato (b. 1444, probably at Monte Asdru- valdo, Duchy of Urbino—d. April 11, 1514, Rome) Italian architect and perspectivist painter. The son of a farmer, he was working as a painter by 1477. His early architectural works included the church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro (c. 1480), in which the choir is painted in perspec¬ tive to give an illusion of a much larger space. In 1499 he went to Rome, where he spent the rest of his life. His Tempietto was the first mas¬ terpiece of the High Renaissance.

Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, he drew up plans for the immense Belvedere courtyard in the Vatican (begun c. 1505) and the new St.

Peter's Basilica (begun 1506), his greatest work. These ambitious projects were far from complete at the time of his death. Despite the grandiose scale of the St. Peter’s undertaking, Bramante continued to work on other projects and played an important role in Julius II’s plans for rebuilding Rome.

bramble Any plant of the genus Rubus (rose family), consisting of usu¬ ally prickly shrubs, including raspberries and blackberries. Brambles grow wild throughout North America, as well as in Europe and Asia, and are widely cultivated for their fruits.

Brampton City (pop., 2001: 325,428), southeastern Ontario, Canada. Located west of Toronto, it was founded c. 1830. It was incorporated as a town in 1873 and as a city in 1976. Its industries include flower grow¬ ing, tanning, lumbering, and the manufacture of automobiles, shoes, sta¬ tionery, furniture, and optical equipment.

Bran Vbran\ In Celtic religion, a gigantic deity described in the Mabino- gion as king of Britain. He was so large that he and his court lived in a tent rather than a house. When Bran was mortally wounded, he asked his companions to cut off his head and keep it with them, telling them it would provide entertainment and allow them to forget their sorrows. His com¬ panions passed 80 joyous years, eventually following his instructions and burying the head on the White Mount in London, where it protected England from invaders until it was finally unearthed.

bran Edible broken seed coat, or protective outer layer, of wheat, rye, or other cereal grain, separated from the kernel. In flour processing, it is normally removed from the ground kernels by sifting them in a rotating, meshed, cylindrical frame; whole-grain flours retain the bran. Wheat bran, the most widely processed, contains 16% protein, 11% natural fibre, and 50% carbohydrate. Most bran is coarsely ground for stock feed. In a more refined form, it is used in breakfast cereal, breads, and muffins for its value to the human digestive system as roughage.

Branch Davidians Religious sect that believes in the imminent return of Jesus Christ. It was founded in 1935 near Waco, Texas, by Victor Houteff as a breakaway group from the Seventh-Day Adventists. Under the leadership of Vernon Howell, a charismatic and apocalyptic preacher who would take the name David Koresh (1959-1993), it stockpiled weap¬ ons at its compound, where some 130 followers were living by 1993. That

year, after a shoot-out in which four federal agents were killed, federal law-enforcement agencies besieged the compound for 51 days. The stand¬ off ended, at the orders of Attorney General Janet Reno, in a conflagra¬ tion in which some 80 members died, including several children and Koresh himself. Intense controversy about the precise circumstances and the necessity of the final assault led to a Congressional investigation, which in 2000 exonerated federal agents.

Brancusi, Constantin (b. Feb. 21, 1876, Hobija, Rom.—d. March 16, 1957, Paris, Fr.) Romanian-born French sculptor. He became adept at carving wooden farm implements as a child and later studied in Bucharest and Munich and at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, having walked most of the way from Munich. He first exhibited in Paris in 1906. In 1908 he executed Sleeping Muse , influenced by Auguste Rodin, and The Kiss, his first truly original work. He developed a geometric style that became his hallmark, reducing natural forms to an abstract simplicity. He exhibited five works, including Mademoiselle Pogany, in the 1913 Armory Show. One of his favourite themes was a bird in flight; his most famous treatment was the celebrated polished-bronze Bird in Space (1919). Through numer¬ ous exhibitions in the U.S. and Europe, he achieved great fame and suc¬ cess, and he is regarded as a pioneer of modern abstract sculpture.

Brandeis Vbran-.dlsV, Louis (Dembitz) (b. Nov. 13, 1856, Louisville, Ky., U.S.—d. Oct. 5, 1941, Wash¬ ington, D.C.) U.S. jurist. The son of Bohemian Jewish immigrants, he attended schools in Kentucky and Germany before obtaining his law degree from Harvard (1877). As a lawyer in Boston (1877-1916), he was known as “the people’s attor¬ ney” for his defense of the constitu¬ tionality of several state hours-and- wages laws, his devising of a savings-bank life-insurance plan for working people, and his efforts to strengthen the government’s anti¬ trust power. His work influenced passage in 1914 of the Clayton Anti- Trust Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act. He also developed what came to be called the “Brandeis brief,” in which economic and socio¬ logical data, historical material, and expert opinion are marshaled to support a legal argument. Appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States (1916), he was noted for his devo¬ tion to freedom OF speech. Many of his minority opinions, in which he was often aligned with Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., later were accepted by the court in the New Deal era. His appointment as the first Jewish justice was vigorously opposed by some business interests and anti-Semitic groups. He served until 1939. Brandeis University is named for him.

Brandenburg Historical region and province of Prussia. The earliest Germanic inhabitants were replaced by Slavic Wends, who in turn were overcome in the 12th century by Albert the Bear, margrave of Branden¬ burg. It became one of the seven electorates of the Holy Roman Empire in 1356. Under the elector Frederick William (1640-88), Brandenburg-Prussia grew to be a leading power. It became a province of Prussia in 1815 and remained such after the unification of Germany (1871) and until the end of World War II. After the war, the eastern portion became part of Poland and the western portion part of East Germany. After Germany’s reunifi¬ cation in 1990, the western part became a German state. Brandenburg city, or Brandenburg an der Havel (pop., 2002 est.: 76,400), was formerly the residence of Prussia’s reigning family.

Brandenburg Gate The only remaining town gate of Berlin, it is located at the western end of the avenue Unter den Linden. Carl G. Lang- hans (1732-1808), who built the gate (1789-93), modeled it after the pro- pylaeum of the Athenian Acropolis. On top was the “Quadriga of Victory,” a statue of a chariot drawn by four horses. Heavily damaged in World War II, the gate was restored in 1957-58. From 1961 to 1989 the Berlin Wall shut off access to it for both eastern and western Germans; the gate was reopened in 1989 with the reunification of East and West Berlin.

Brandes Vbran-d9s\, Georg (Morris Cohen) (b. Feb. 4, 1842, Copenhagen, Den.—d. Feb. 19, 1927, Copenhagen) Danish critic and

Tempietto, San Pietro in Montorio, Rome, designed by Donato Bramante,

G. BERENGO GARDIN-© DEA PICTURE LIBRARY

Louis Brandeis.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C.

268 I Brando ► brass

scholar. His published lectures at the University of Copenhagen, Main Currents in 19th-Century Thought, 6 vol. (1872-90), catalyzed the break¬ through from Romanticism to realism in Danish literature. His calls for writers to work in the service of progressive ideas and the reform of mod¬ ern society, along with his championing of such writers as Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, earned strong conservative opposition but exerted enormous influence throughout Scandinavia. His other critical works include Men of the Modern Breakthrough (1883) and Danish Poets

(1877).

Brando, Marlon, (Jr.) (b. April 3, 1924, Omaha, Neb., U.S.—d. July 1, 2004, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. actor. He gained stardom on Broadway as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (1947). An early mem¬ ber of the Actors Studio, he brought its method acting style to his first film, The Men (1950). His slurred, mumbling delivery marked his rejec¬ tion of classical dramatic training, and his true and passionate perfor¬ mances proved him one of the great actors of his generation. After starring in the screen version of Streetcar (1951), he appeared in films such as The Wild One (1954), On the Waterfront (1954, Academy Award), The God¬ father (1972, Academy Award), Last Tango in Paris (1972), and Apoca¬ lypse Now (1979).

Brandt, Bill orig. Hermann Wilhelm Brandt (b. May 1904, Ham¬ burg, Ger.—d. Dec. 20, 1983, London, Eng.) German-born British pho¬ tographer. In 1929 he worked in the studio of Man Ray in Paris. He returned to England in 1931 and took up photojournalism, documenting English industrial workers in the 1930s and covering the home front dur¬ ing World War II. His work reveals the influence of Eugene Atget, Bras- SAi, and Henri Cartier-Bresson. He is best known for his photographs of British life and especially for his unconventional nudes; he placed his wide-angle camera at close range to the human body, causing a distorted effect that transformed the human body into a series of abstract designs.

Brandt, Willy orig. Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm (b. Dec. 18, 1913, Liibeck, Ger.—d. Oct. 8/9, 1992,

Unkel, near Bonn) German states¬ man. As a young Social Democrat, he fled to Norway to avoid arrest after the rise of the Nazis in the 1930s. There he assumed the name Willy Brandt and worked as a jour¬ nalist. Returning to Germany after World War II, he was elected to par¬ liament in 1949 and became mayor of West Berlin (1957-66), a post in which he achieved world fame. He led a coalition government as chan¬ cellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (1969-74). As chancellor, he improved relations with East Ger¬ many, other communist nations in eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union and helped strengthen the European Economic Community. For these efforts he received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1971. He remained the leader of the Social Democratic Party until 1987.

brandy Alcoholic beverage distilled from wine or a fermented fruit mash. The name comes from the Dutch brandewijn, “distilled wine.” Most bran¬ dies are aged and contain about 50% alcohol by volume. Some are dark¬ ened with caramel. They are usually served alone as after-dinner drinks but are sometimes used in mixed drinks or dessert dishes or as fuel in flamed dishes such as crepes suzettes and cherries jubilee. They are also used as the base of various liqueurs. The finest brandy is usually thought to be French cognac.

Brandywine, Battle of the (Sept. 11, 1777) Battle in the American Revolution. British Gen. William Howe attempted to remove Pennsylvania from the war by engaging troops under Gen. George Washington on Brandywine Creek, 25 mi (40 km) from the revolutionary capital of Phila¬ delphia. In the end, the British troops occupied the battlefield but failed to destroy Washington’s army or cut it off from Philadelphia. This fail¬ ure contributed to the later British defeat at the Battle of Saratoga.

Brant, Joseph (b. 1742, banks of the Ohio River—d. Nov. 24, 1807, near Brantford, Ont., Can.) Mohawk Indian chief and Christian mission¬ ary. Brant was converted to the Anglican church while attending a school

for Indians in Connecticut. He fought for the British in the last French and Indian War (1754-63).

He led four of the six Iroquois nations on the British side in the American Revolution, winning several notable battles. After the war Brant was granted land along the Grand River in Ontario, Can., where he ruled peacefully and continued his missionary work.

Brant, Sebastian (b. 1458?,

Strassburg—d. May 10, 1521,

Strassburg) German poet. He taught law and later was appointed imperial councillor and court palatine by Maximilian I. His varied writings include works on law, religion, poli¬ tics, and especially morals. His best- known work is The Ship of Fools (1494), an allegory telling of fools on a ship bound for a “fool’s para¬ dise.” The most famous German literary work of the 15th century, it ridi¬ cules the vices of the age and gave rise to a whole school of fool’s literature.

Braque \'brak\, Georges (b. May 13, 1882, Argenteuil, France—d. Aug. 31, 1963, Paris) French painter. He studied painting in Le Havre, then in Paris at a private academy and briefly at the Ecole des Beaux- Arts. Though his earliest works were influenced by Impressionism, his first important paintings (1905-07) were in the style of Fauvism pioneered by Andre Derain and Henri Matisse; in 1907 he exhibited and sold six of these paintings at the Salon des Independants. Abandoning Fauvism in 1907, he invented with Pablo Picasso the revolutionary new style known as Cubism. He painted mostly still lifes featuring geometric shapes and low-key colour harmonies. In 1912 he introduced the collage, or papier colie (pasted-paper picture), by attaching three pieces of wallpaper to the drawing Fruit Dish and Glass. By the 1920s he was a prosperous, well- established modern master. In 1923 and 1925 he designed stage sets for Sergey Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. He enjoyed a long and prestigious career; in his later years he was honoured with important exhibitions throughout the world. In 1961 he became the first living artist to have his works exhibited in the Louvre.

Bras d'Or \bra-'dor\ Lake Salt lake, Nova Scotia, Canada. Located on Cape Breton Island, it is about 50 mi (80 km) long and has an area of 360 sq mi (932 sq km). Its extension, Little Bras d’Or, connects it to the Atlantic Ocean on the north, while a man-made canal connects it to the Atlantic on the south. The lake is a popular summer resort area.

Brasilia City (pop., 2000: 2,043,169), capital of Brazil. It lies on the Parana River. Though the idea of having the country’s capital located in the interior was proposed as early as 1789, Brasilia’s construction began only in 1956. It was designed by the Brazilian architects Liicio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer. In 1960 the government began its move from Rio de Jan¬ eiro. The city is a governmental rather than an industrial centre, although many Brazilian companies have headquarters there. Brasilia National Park is nearby.

Brasov or Brashov \bra-'shov\ German Kronstadt \'kron-,shtat\ City (pop., 2002: 588,366), Romania. It lies in the foothills of the Tran¬ sylvanian Alps north of Bucharest. Founded by Teutonic Knights in 1211, it became the centre of a Saxon colony trading in cloth and metalwork throughout much of Walachia and Moldavia. The substantial autonomy of its German inhabitants ended in 1876 with the abolition of their separate national status. Brasov is today a centre for heavy manufacturing.

brass Alloy of copper and zinc, important for its hardness and workabil¬ ity. Brass was first used c. 1200 bc in the Near East, then extensively in China after 220 bc, and soon thereafter by the Romans. In ancient docu¬ ments, including the Bible, the term brass is often used to denote bronze (copper/tin alloy). The malleability of brass depends on its zinc content; brasses with more than 45% zinc are not workable. Alpha brasses con¬ tain less than 40% zinc; beta brasses (40-45% zinc) are less ductile than alpha brasses but stronger. A third group includes brasses with additional elements. Among these are lead brasses, which are more easily machined;

Joseph Brant, portrait by Charles Will- son Peale, 1797; in Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia

COURTESY OF THE INDEPENDENCE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK COLLECTION, PHILADELPHIA

brass instrument ► Brazil I 269

naval and admiralty brasses, in which a small amount of tin improves resistance to corrosion by seawater; and aluminum brasses, which pro¬ vide strength and corrosion resistance where the naval brasses may fail.

brass instrument Musical wind instrument, usually made of brass or other metal, in which the vibration of the player’s lips against a cup- or funnel-shaped mouthpiece causes the initial vibration of an air column. The TRUMPET, TROMBONE, FRENCH HORN, TUBA, EUPHONIUM, SOUSAPHONE, CORNET, flugelhorn, and bugle, as well as historical instruments such as the ophi- cleide, comett, and serpent, are considered brass instruments (though the last two were made of wood); the saxophones, though made of brass, are REED INSTRUMENTS classified as WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS.

BrassaV\bra-'sI\ orig. Gyula Halasz (b. Sept. 9, 1899, Brasso, Tran¬ sylvania, Austria-Hungary—d. July 8, 1984, Eze, France) Hungarian- born French photographer, poet, and sculptor. His pseudonym derives from his native city. In 1924 he settled in Paris, where he became acquainted with Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, and Salvador Dali. He earned his living as a journalist and found it necessary to use a camera for his assignments. In the 1930s he became known for his dramatic photographs of Paris nightlife. Books of his pho¬ tographs, including Paris After Dark (1933) and Pleasures of Paris (1935), brought him international fame.

brassica Any plant of the large genus Brassica , in the mustard family, containing about 40 Old World spe¬ cies and including the cabbages, mus¬ tards, and rapes. B. oleracea has many edible varieties, such as broc¬ coli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and kohlrabi. Also included in this genus are the turnip ( B. rapa ), the rutabaga (B. napobrassica ), and the Chinese cabbages (B. pekinensis and B. chinensis).

Bratislava \ l bra-ti- , sla-vo\ German Pressburg \'pres-,burk\ Hungar¬ ian Pozsony \'po-,zhon y \ City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 428,672), capital of Slovakia. Settled first by Celts and Romans, it was ultimately inhabited by Slavs in the 8th century. As Pressburg, it developed as a trade centre and became a free royal town in 1291. The first university in what was then Hungary was founded there in 1467. The city served as the Hungar¬ ian capital (1541-1784) and was the seat of the Diet until 1848. The Treaty of Pressburg (1805) was signed here by Napoleon and Francis II follow¬ ing the Battle of Austerlitz. After World War I, on the formation of Czecho¬ slovakia, it became capital of the province of Slovakia, and it became the national capital on Slovakia’s independence in 1992.

Brattain \'bra-t 3 n\, Walter H(ouser) (b. Feb. 10, 1902, Amoy, China—d. Oct. 13, 1987, Seattle, Wash., U.S.) U.S. scientist. His Ameri¬ can parents brought him to the U.S. soon after his birth. After earning a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, he became a researcher at Bell Laboratories in 1929. With John Bardeen and William B. Shockley, he shared the 1956 Nobel Prize for Physics for the development of the tran¬ sistor and for investigation of the properties of semiconductors.

Brauchitsch Vbrau-kichX, (Heinrich Alfred) Walther von (b.

Oct. 4, 1881, Berlin, Ger.—d. Oct. 18, 1948, Hamburg) German army officer. A member of the general staff in World War I, he rose to become field marshal and army commander in chief (1938). In World War II, he successfully directed Germany’s ground war until Adolf Hitler forced his resignation after suffering major losses in Russia in 1941. He survived the war but died shortly before his scheduled trial as a war criminal.

Braudel \bro-'del\, (Paul Achille) Fernand (b. Aug. 24, 1902, Lumeville, France—d. Nov. 28, 1985, Haute-Savoie) French historian and educator. While a prisoner of the Germans during World War II, Braudel wrote from memory his thesis on the history of the Mediterranean region in the 16th century, later published as The Mediterranean and the Medi¬ terranean World in the Age of Phillip II (1949). With Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre, he became an influential leader of the Annales school, which emphasized the effects of factors such as climate, geography, and

demographics on history. His second major work was Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century (1967, 1979).

Braun Vbraun\, Eva (b. Feb. 6, 1912, Munich, Ger.—d. April 30, 1945, Berlin) Mistress of Adolf Hitler. A saleswoman in the shop of Hitler’s photographer, she became Hitler’s mistress in the 1930s, living first in a house he provided in Munich, then at his chalet in Berchtesgaden. He never allowed her to be seen in public with him, and she had no influence on his political life. In April 1945 she joined him in Berlin, against his orders, as the Allied Powers were closing in on the capital. In recognition of her loy¬ alty, he married her in a civil cer¬ emony in the Chancellery bunker on April 29. The next day Eva Hitler ended her life by taking poison; her husband shot himself. In accordance with his instructions, their bodies were burned.

Braun \'braun\, Wernher von

(b. March 23, 1912, Wirsitz, Ger.—d. June 16, 1977, Alexandria, Va., U.S.) German-bom U.S. rocket engineer. Born into an aristocratic fam¬ ily, he received his doctorate from the University of Berlin. In 1936 he became technical director of the new military development facility at Peenemiinde, an essential centre for the rearmament of Nazi Germany, forbidden by the Versailles accords. Liquid-fueled rocket aircraft and jet- assisted takeoffs were successfully demonstrated there, and the V-2 long- range ballistic missile and the Wasserfall supersonic antiaircraft missile were developed. By 1944 the sophistication of the rockets and missiles being tested at Peenemiinde was many years ahead of that of any other country. After World War II he and his team surrendered to the U.S.; they were immediately set to work on guided missiles by the U.S. Army, and in 1952 he became technical director (later chief) of the Army’s ballistic weapon program. Under his leadership, the Redstone, Jupiter-C, Juno, and Pershing missiles were developed. In 1958 he and his group launched the first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1 . After NASA was formed, von Braun led the development of some of the large Saturn space launch vehicles; the engi¬ neering success of each of the Saturn class of space boosters remains unmatched in rocket history.

Braunschweig Vbraun-,shfik\ English Brunswick Administrative district, Lower Saxony, Germany. A possession of the Welf family, the duchy of Braunschweig (Brunswick-Llineberg) was created by Emperor Frederick II in 1235 and included the lands surrounding the town of Braunschweig. The electorate of Hanover was included in 1692; its rul¬ ers established the English royal house of Hanover. The duchy became part of the German Empire in 1871 and a German state after 1919. After World War II the region was incorporated into the state of Lower Sax¬ ony. The city of Braunschweig (Brunswick; pop., 2003 est.: 245,076) is today an important industrial centre.

Brazil officially Federative Republic of Brazil Country, east- central South America. Area: 3,287,612 sq mi (8,514,877 sq km). Popu¬ lation (2005 est.): 184,016,000. Capital: Brasilia. Most Brazilians are of European or mixed (Indian-European, European-African) ancestry. Bra¬ zil’s ethnic groups have intermixed since the earliest days of its colonial history; Indian peoples who have experienced no mixing with immigrants are restricted to the most remote parts of the Amazon River basin. Lan¬ guage: Portuguese (official). Religions: Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholic; also Protestant); also traditional beliefs. Currency: real. Brazil may be divided into many regions, but the Amazon lowlands and the Brazilian Highlands (often called the Central Highlands or Central Plateau) dominate the landscape. The highlands, a plateau with an aver¬ age elevation of 3,300 ft (1,000 m), are primarily in the southeast, while the Amazon lowlands, with elevations below 800 ft (250 m), are in the north. The Amazon River basin, with its more than 1,000 known tributar¬ ies, occupies nearly half of the country’s total area. Brazil’s other rivers include the Sao Francisco, Parnafba, Paraguay, Alto Parana, and Uruguay. Except for the islands of Marajo and Caviana at the mouth of the Ama¬ zon and Maraca to the north, there are no large islands along the roughly 4,600 mi (7,400 km) of Brazil’s Atlantic Ocean coast. There are good

"'Bijoux' in Place Pigalle Bar," by Bras- saV, 1932.

BRASSAI—RAPHO/PHOTO RESEARCHERS

Eva Braun, 1944

HEINRICH HOFFMANN, MUNICH

270 I Brazil nut ► bread

harbours at Belem, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, and Porto Alegre.

The country’s immense forests are a source of many products, while its savannas support cattle raising. Agri¬ culture is important, and mineral reserves are large. Brazil has a devel¬ oping market economy based mainly on manufacturing, financial services, and trade. It is a federal republic with two legislative houses; its chief of state and government is the presi¬ dent. Little is known about Brazil’s early indigenous inhabitants.

Though the area was theoretically allotted to Portugal by the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, it was not for¬ mally claimed by discovery until Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral accidentally touched land in 1500. It was first settled by the Por¬ tuguese in the early 1530s on the northeastern coast and at Sao Vicen¬ te (near modem Sao Paulo); the French and Dutch created small settlements over the next century. A viceroyalty was established in 1640, and Rio de Janeiro became the capi¬ tal in 1763. In 1808 Brazil became the refuge and seat of the govern¬ ment of John VI of Portugal when Napoleon I invaded Portugal; ulti¬ mately the Kingdom of Portugal,

Brazil, and Algarve was proclaimed, and John ruled from Brazil (1815—

21). On John’s return to Portugal,

Pedro I proclaimed Brazilian inde¬ pendence. In 1889 his successor,

Pedro II, was deposed, and a consti¬ tution mandating a federal republic was adopted. Beginning in the 20th century, immigration increased and manufacturing grew, and there were frequent military coups and suspen¬ sions of civil liberties. Construction of a new capital at Brasilia, intended to spur development of the country’s interior, worsened the inflation rate.

After 1979 the military government began a gradual return to democratic practices, and in 1989 the first popular presidential election in 29 years was held. A severe economic crisis began in the late 1990s.

Brazil nut Edible seed of a large South American tree, Bertholletia excelsa (family Lecythidaceae), and one of the major commercially traded nuts in the world. The hard-walled fruit, resembling a large coconut, con¬ tains 8-24 nuts (seeds) arranged in it like sections of an orange. Each nut has a very hard shell and is three-sided in shape. Brazil nuts are high in fat and protein and taste somewhat like almond or coconut. The tree grows wild in stands in the Amazon River basin, reaching heights of 150 ft (45 m) or more.

brazing Process for joining two pieces of metal by applying heat and adding a filler metal. The filler, which has a lower melting point than the metals to be joined, is either pre-placed or fed into the joint as the parts are heated. In brazing parts with small clearances, the filler is able to flow into the joint by capillarity. The temperature of the molten filler in braz¬ ing exceeds 800°F (430°C). In soldering, a related process, the filler metal remains below that temperature. Brazed joints are usually stronger than soldered joints. Most metals can be brazed, and the range of available brazing alloys has increased as new alloys and new service requirements are introduced. Brazed joints are highly reliable and are used extensively on rockets, jet engines, and aircraft parts. See also welding.

Brazos Vbra-Z3s\ River River, central Texas, U.S. Formed in eastern New Mexico, it flows southeast 1,280 mi (2,060 km) into the Gulf of

Mexico. The city of Waco is one of the largest on the river. Near its mouth it connects with the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The lower river valley was a major site of early Anglo-American settlement in Texas; one of the first English-speaking colonies there was founded by Stephen Austin at San Felipe de Austin in 1822. The river’s original name was Brazos de Dios (“Arms of God”).

Brazza \bra-'za\, Pierre (-Paul-Francois-Camille) Savorgnan

de (b. Jan. 26, 1852, near Rome [Italy]—d. Sept. 14, 1905, Dakar, Seneg., French West Africa) French explorer and colonial administrator. Born to Italian nobility in Brazil, he joined the French navy. In 1875-78 he explored the Ogooue River (in present-day Gabon). Racing his British- U.S. counterpart, Henry Morton Stanley, Brazza was sent to explore the Congo River region. There he founded the French (Middle) Congo, explored Gabon, and founded the city of Brazzaville (1883), adding some 200,000 sq mi (500,000 sq km) to the French colonial empire. From 1886 to 1897 he governed a colony there.

Brazzaville Vbra-z9-,vil\ River port (pop., 1992 est.: 937,579), capital of Republic of the Congo. Lying on the north bank of the Congo River across from Kinshasa, it was founded in 1883 by Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza. Developed as a European administrative and residential center, it was used as a base for later claims of France to lands to the northeast; it became the capital of French Equatorial Africa. The river port forms the terminus of the Congo-ocean transport system, with steamer service to the Congo’s upper reaches and a railroad to Pointe-Noire 245 mi (394 km) west.

bread Baked food product. It is made of flour or meal that is moistened into a dough, kneaded, and usually leavened with yeast. A major food since prehistoric times, bread has been made worldwide in various forms using a variety of ingredients and methods. Flat, unleavened bread, the earliest

breadfruit ► Bremen I 271

form, is still eaten in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The principal grains used in such breads are wheat, barley, millet, buckwheat, rye, and corn. Raised bread, common in Europe and the U.S., is usually made of wheat or rye. Both contain the elastic protein substance gluten, which traps gas produced by fermentation during leavening, helping the bread to rise. While the simplest breads contain only flour, water, and yeast, other common ingredients are milk, shortening (fats, butter, oils), salt, eggs, and sugar. Bread is a source of complex carbohydrates and B vitamins (see vitamin B complex); whole-wheat bread contains more protein, vitamins, minerals, and fibre than white-flour bread. See also baking.

breadfruit Fruit of either of two closely related trees belonging to the mulberry family. Artocarpus communis (also called A. incisa or A. altilis ) provides a staple food of the South Pacific. Its greenish to brownish-green, round fruits have a white, fibrous pulp. Treculia africana, native to tropi¬ cal Africa, is less important as a food crop. Cultivated in the Malay Archi¬ pelago (where it is thought to be indigenous) since remote antiquity, the breadfruit was spread throughout the tropical South Pacific in prehistoric times. It is high in starch and is seldom eaten raw. Unable to tolerate frost, the tree has not been successfully grown in the U.S., even in southern¬ most Florida. In the South Seas, cloth is made from the inner bark, the wood is used for canoes and furniture, and glue and caulking material are obtained from the milky juice.

bream European food and game fish (Abramis brama) of the carp fam¬ ily (Cyprinidae). Found in lakes and slow rivers, the bream lives in schools and eats worms, mollusks, and other small animals. Deep¬ bodied, with flat sides and a small head, it is silvery with a bluish or brown back. It is usually about 12-20 in. (30-50 cm) long and weighs up to 13 lbs (6 kg). Other species called bream include the sil¬ ver bream (Blicea bjoorkna), the golden shiner, and the sea breams (family Sparidae).

breast cancer Malignant tumour in a breast, usually in women after menopause. Risk factors include fam¬ ily history of breast cancer, prolonged menstruation, late first pregnancy (after age 30), obesity, alcohol use, and some benign tumours. Most breast cancers are adenocarcinomas. Any lump in the breast needs investigation because it may be cancer. Treatment may begin with radical or modified mastectomy or lumpectomy (in which only the tumour is removed), fol¬ lowed by radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or removal of the ovaries or adrenal glands.

breathing See respiration

Brebeuf \bra-'boef. Saint Jean de (b. March 25, 1593, Conde-sur- Vire, Normandy—d. March 16, 1649, Saint-Ignace, New France; canon¬ ized 1930; feast day October 19) French Jesuit missionary to New France. Ordained in 1623, he arrived in New France in 1625 to work as a mis¬ sionary among the Huron. Forced out by the English in 1629, he returned to “Huronia” in 1634. In 1648 the Iroquois began their war against the Huron, and in 1649 they captured Brebeuf and tortured him to death. His writings include historical narratives and a Huron grammar. He is regarded as the patron saint of Canada.

breccia Vbre-choX Coarse sedimentary rock consisting of angular or nearly angular fragments larger than 0.08 in. (2 mm). Breccia commonly results from processes such as landslides or geologic faulting, in which rocks are fractured. It can also be of igneous explosive origin (e.g., a vol¬ canic breccia).

Brecht Vbrekt\, Bertolt orig. Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht

(b. Feb. 10, 1898, Augsburg, Ger.—d. Aug. 14, 1956, East Berlin, E.Ger.) German playwright and poet. He studied medicine at Munich (1917-21) before writing his first plays, including Baal (1922). Other plays followed, including A Man’s a Man (1926), as well as a considerable body of poetry. With the composer Kurt Weill he wrote the satirical musicals The Three¬ penny Opera (1928; film, 1931), which gained him a wide audience, and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1930). In these years he became a Marxist and developed his theory of epic theatre. With the rise of the Nazis he went into exile, first in Scandinavia (1933-41), then in

the U.S., where he wrote his major essays and the plays Mother Cour¬ age and Her Children (1941), The Life of Galileo (1943), The Good Woman of Sichuan (1943), and The Caucasian Chalk Circle (1948).

Harassed for his politics, in 1949 he returned to East Germany, where he established the Berliner Ensemble theatre troupe and staged his own plays, including The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (1957). He outlined his theory of drama in A Little Organum for the Theatre (1949).

Breckinridge, John C(abell)

(b. Jan. 21, 1821, near Lexington,

Ky., U.S.—d. May 17, 1875, Lex¬ ington) U.S. politician, vice presi¬ dent (1857—61), and Confederate army officer. He practiced law and later served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1851-55). In 1856 he was elected vice president under James Buchanan. In 1860 the Demo¬ cratic Party split into factions over the slavery issue, and Breckinridge became the Southern wing’s nominee for president. Defeated by Abraham Lincoln, he worked for compromise; but after the firing on Fort Sumter he urged Kentucky to secede. He became a general in the Confederate army and took part in the Vicksburg, Wilderness, and Shenandoah Valley campaigns. He served as Confederate secretary of war in 1865. After the war he fled to England for three years before returning to Kentucky to resume his law practice.

Breda \bra-'da\, Declaration of (1660) Document issued by the exiled King Charles II in Breda, the Netherlands, making certain promises in return for his restoration to the English throne. It expressed his desire for a general amnesty, liberty of conscience, an equitable settlement of land disputes, and full payment of arrears to the army. He left the spe¬ cifics to the Convention Parliament. See also Restoration.

breeding Application of genetic principles in animal husbandry, agri¬ culture, and horticulture to improve desirable qualities. Ancient agricul¬ turists improved many plants through selective cultivation. Modern plant breeding centers on pollination; pollen from the chosen male plant, and no other pollen, must be transferred to the female plant. Animal breeding consists of choosing the ideal trait (e.g., fine wool, high milk production), selecting the breeding stock, and determining the mating system (e.g., whether mating animals are unrelated, mildly related, or highly inbred).

Breisgau \'brls-,gau\ Historic region, southwestern Germany. Located between the Rhine River and the Black Forest, it was once part of the Roman empire. From the 3rd century ad it was occupied by the Germanic Ale- manni. It became a countship in the early Middle Ages, and in 1120 the town of Freiburg im Breisgau was founded. In the 14th century the Habs- burgs incorporated most of it into their domains. Breisgau was subjected to destructive sieges during the Thirty Years' War, and for a time was held by the Swedes. It now forms part of the state of Baden-Wurttemberg.

Brel, Jacques (b. April 8, 1929, Brussels, Belg.—d. Oct. 9, 1978, Bobigny, near Paris, France) Belgian singer and songwriter. He began his career singing in French cafes. His songs, frequently sharply satirical and often implicitly religious, became hugely popular in Europe. He acted in and directed a number of films from 1967 to 1973. His U.S. reputation was made by the revue Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris

(1968).

Bremen City (pop., 2002 est.: city, 540,950; metro, area, 849,800), northwestern Germany. Located on the Weser River, it was established as a diocese in 787 by Charlemagne and was the seat of an archbishopric from 845. In the 10th century it became an economic centre of northern Germany, especially after entering the Hanseatic League in 1358. It joined the German Confederation in 1815 and the reconstituted German Empire in 1871. It suffered extensive damage in World War II; after the war Bre¬ men, with nearby Bremerhaven (pop., 2002 est.: 195,863), became a state of West Germany. Today the state, covering 156 sq mi (404 sq km), forms an integral part of the German economy and serves as headquarters for many industries.

Bream (Abramis brama)

W.S. Pin- ERIC HOSKING

272 I Bremen ► Breton

Bremen \'bra-mon\ Former duchy, Germany. Lying between the lower Weser and lower Elbe rivers and northwest of the former duchy of BRUNSWICK-Liineburg, it covered an area of about 2,000 sq mi (5,200 sq km). It was made an archbishopric in the 13th century, and in 1648 became a duchy under the supremacy of Sweden. In 1715 it became part of the electorate of Hanover.

bremsstrahlung \'brem-,shtral-9q\ German "braking radiation"

Electromagnetic radiation produced by a sudden slowing down or deflec¬ tion of charged particles, especially electrons, passing through matter in the vicinity of the strong electric fields of atomic nuclei. It occurs as cos¬ mic rays pass through the Earth’s atmosphere and accounts for continuous X-ray spectra.

Brendan, Saint (b. 484/486, Tralee, Ire.—d. 578, Annaghdown, County Galway; feast day May 16) Celtic saint and hero of legendary Atlantic voyages. Educated by St. Ita at her school in southwestern Ire¬ land, he became a monk and priest and was put in charge of the abbey at Ardfert. He later founded monasteries in Ireland and Scotland, notably Clonfert (561). A famous traveler, he voyaged to the Hebrides and per¬ haps to Wales and Brittany. He was immortalized in Voyage of Brendan, an Irish epic translated into Latin in the 10th century that told of his jour¬ ney to a “Promised Land of Saints,” and St. Brendan’s Island was long sought by explorers.

Brennan, William J(oseph), Jr. (b. April 25, 1906, Newark, N.J., U.S.—d. July 24, 1997, Arlington, Va.) U.S. jurist. He studied under Felix Frankfurter at Harvard Law School, receiving his degree in 1931. He practiced labour law in New Jersey until 1949, when he was appointed to the state Superior Court. He rose through the ranks of the New Jersey courts, where he was noted for his administrative skill. Although a Demo¬ crat, he was named to the Supreme Court of the United States by Republi¬ can Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. He came to be regarded as one of the most influential jurists in its history. A liberal constructionist and an articulate defender of the Bill of Rights, he is perhaps best remembered for his role in a series of obscenity cases, beginning with Roth v. United States (1957), many of which broadened the protection accorded to pub¬ lishers while seeking to balance individual freedoms with the interests of the community. In New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), he wrote that even false statements about public officials are protected under the 1st and 14th Amendments unless “actual malice” can be demonstrated. He also wrote the majority opinion in Baker v. Carr (1962). He opposed capital punish¬ ment and supported abortion rights, affirmative action, and school deseg¬ regation. He served until 1990; his decisions numbered more than 1,350.

Brent, Margaret (b. c. 1600, Gloucestershire, Eng.—d. 1669/71, Westmoreland county, Va.) British colonial landowner in North America. She arrived in Maryland in 1638 and obtained a patent for 70 acres, becoming the first woman in the colony to hold land in her own right. By 1657 she was among the colony’s largest landowners. In a border dispute with Virginia in 1646, she organized a group of armed volunteers to sup¬ port the Maryland colony’s governor, Leonard Calvert. On his death in 1647, she became executor of his estate and settled a dispute over back pay for his soldiers that had nearly led to civil war.

Brentano \bren-'ta-no\, Clemens (b. Sept. 9, 1778, Ehrenbreitstein, near Koblenz—d. July 28, 1842, Aschaffenburg, Bavaria) German poet, novelist, and dramatist. He was one of the founders of the Heidelberg Romantic school, which emphasized German folklore and history. With his brother-in-law Achim von Arnim (1781-1831), he published Des Kna- ben Wunderhorn (1805-08; The Youth’s Magic Horn), a collection of German folk lyrics (including successful imitations of folk style) that became an important inspiration to lyric poets and composers such as Gustav Mahler. Among his most successful works are his fairy tales, par¬ ticularly Gockel, Hinkel and Gackeleia (1838).

Brentano \bren-'ta-no\, Franz (Clemens) (b. Jan. 16, 1838, Marien- berg, Hesse-Nassau—d. March 17, 1917, Zurich, Switz.) German phi¬ losopher. Nephew of Clemens Brentano, he was ordained a priest in 1864 and taught at the University of Wurzburg (1866-73). Religious doubts led to his resignation from the priesthood in 1873. To present a system¬ atic psychology that would serve as a science of the soul, he wrote the influential Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint (1874). He became the founder of act psychology, or intentionalism, which concerns itself with the mind’s “acts” or processes (e.g., perception, judgment, loving, and hating) rather than its contents. He later taught at the University of

Vienna (1874-80, 1881-95) and published works such as Inquiry into Sense Psychology (1907) and The Classification of Psychological Phe¬ nomena (1911).

Brescia Vbra-sha, 'bre-shoV ancient Brixia City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 187,865), Lombardy region, northern Italy. Originally a Celtic stronghold, it was occupied by the Romans c. 200 bc and became the seat of a Roman colony in 27 bc. It was devastated by the Goths (ad 412) and plundered by Attila (452). It was a free city from 936 to 1426. It passed to Venice, France, and Austria before being united with Italy in 1860. Historic struc¬ tures include Roman ruins and 11th- and 17th-century cathedrals. The art treasures in its numerous churches include works by painters of the 15th- and 16th-century Brescia school.

Breshkovsky, Catherine (b. 1844—d. Sept. 12, 1934, near Prague, Czech.) Russian revolutionary. After becoming involved with the Narod¬ nik (or Populist) revolutionary group in the 1870s, she was arrested and exiled to Siberia for the years 1874-96. In 1901 she helped organize the Socialist Revolutionary Party, and her involvement again led to her arrest and exile to Siberia (1910-17). Though she became known as the “little grandmother of the Revolution,” she opposed the Bolsheviks after their 1917 victory and emigrated to Prague.

Breslau See Wroclaw

Breslin, Jimmy orig. James Earl Breslin (b. Oct. 17, 1929, Jamaica, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. columnist and novelist. During his long news¬ paper career Breslin became known as a tough-talking voice of his native Queens, a working-class New York City borough. He started as a copy- boy, then established himself as a sportswriter; later, as a syndicated col¬ umnist and contributor to numerous publications, he wrote with passion and personal involvement on politics and social issues, often focusing on injustice and corruption. He won a 1986 Pulitzer Prize for newspaper col¬ umns championing ordinary citizens. Among his books are the novel The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight (1969).

Bresson, Henri Cartier- See Henri Cartier-Bresson

Bresson \br3-'so n \, Robert (b. Sept. 25, 1901, Bromont-Lamonthe, Puy-de Dome, France—d. Dec. 18, 1999) French film director. He worked as a painter and photographer before making his first film in 1934. His feature-length Les Anges du peche (1943) established his austere, intel¬ lectual style. Noted for intense psychological probing and the subordina¬ tion of plot to visual imagery, he also directed The Diary of a Country Priest (1950), A Man Escaped (1956), Pickpocket (1959), Balthazar (1966), Lancelot of the Lake (1974), and L’Argent (1983).

Brest-Litovsk Vbrest-li-'tofskV, Treaty of (March 3, 1918) Peace treaty signed at Brest-Litovsk (now in Belarus) by the Central Powers with Soviet Russia, concluding hostilities between those countries in World War I. Russia lost the Ukraine, its Polish and Baltic territories, and Fin¬ land by signing the treaty, which was later annulled by the Armistice.

Bretigny \bra-ten-'ye. Treaty of (1360) Treaty between England and France that ended the first phase of the Hundred Years' War. Marking a serious setback for the French, the treaty was signed after Edward the Black Prince defeated and captured John II of France at the Battle of Poitiers (1356). The French ceded extensive territories in northwestern France to England and agreed to ransom John at a cost of three million gold crowns, while King Edward III renounced his claim to the French throne. The treaty failed to establish a lasting peace, and the war began again in 1369.

Breton Xbrs-'touV Andre (b. Feb. 18, 1896, Tinchebray, France—d. Sept. 28, 1966, Paris) French writer, critic, and editor. In 1919 he helped found the Dada magazine Litterature. Influenced by psychiatry and the Symbolist movement, he wrote poetry using the automatic-writing tech¬ nique. In 1924 his Manifeste du surrealisme provided a definition of Sur¬ realism, of which he was the chief promoter. In the 1930s he joined and then broke with the Communist Party; in 1938 he founded the Federation de l’Art Revolutionnaire Independant with Leon Trotsky in Mexico. He spent World War II in the U.S. and returned to France in 1946. His Poemes appeared in 1948. He also wrote essays, works of criticism, and novels, including Nadja (1928).

Breton \'bre-t 3 n\ language Celtic language spoken in Brittany in France. It was introduced in the 5th-6th centuries by immigrants from southern Britain. Breton is attested in glosses in Latin manuscripts of the 8th-10th centuries, but no continuous text is known before the 15th cen¬ tury. The modem language is divided into four groups of very diverse

Bretton Woods Conference ► Bricker I 273

dialects; this disunity has hindered efforts to form orthographic and lit¬ erary standards. Though Breton may have half a million speakers, use of the language is generally thought to be in sharp decline among younger people despite a resurgence of regional particularism in western Europe.

Bretton Woods Conference officially United Nations Mon¬ etary and Financial Conference (July 1-22, 1944) Meeting held at Bretton Woods, N.H., to make financial arrangements for the postwar era after the expected defeat of Germany and Japan. Representatives of 44 countries, including the Soviet Union, agreed to create the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) and the Interna¬ tional Monetary Fund. See also John Maynard Keynes.

bretwalda \bret-'wal-d3\ or brytenwalda \ l bri-t3n-'wal-d3\ Any of several Anglo-Saxon kings with lordship over kingdoms beyond their own. Used in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the title probably means “ruler of the Britons.” It was given to Egbert (died 839) of Wessex and to seven earlier kings: Aelle of Sussex (fl. late 5th century), Ceawlin of Wessex (died 593), Aethelberht of Kent (died 616), Raedwald of East Anglia (died 616/27), Edwin of Northumbria (died 632), Oswald of Northumbria (died 641), and Oswiu of Northumbria (died 670).

Breuer Vbroi-orV Marcel (Lajos) (b. May 21, 1902, Pecs, Hung.—d. July 1, 1981, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Hungarian-U.S. architect and furni¬ ture designer. He studied and then taught at the Bauhaus (1920-28), where in 1925 he invented the famous tubular steel chair. He moved to Cam¬ bridge, Mass., in 1937 to teach at Harvard University and practice with Walter Gropius. Their synthesis of Bauhaus internationalism with New England regional wood-frame building greatly influenced domestic archi¬ tecture throughout the U.S. He was one of the most influential exponents of the International Style. His major architectural commissions include UNESCO’s Paris headquarters (1953-58) and the Whitney Museum of American Art (1966).

Brewer, David J(osiah) (b. June 20, 1837, Smyrna, Ottoman Empire—d. March 28, 1910, Washington, D.C., U.S.) U.S. jurist. Born to U.S. missionaries, he grew up in Connecticut and practiced law in Kan¬ sas from 1858. He served in local judgeships (1861-70), on the state supreme court (1870-84), and on the federal circuit court. Appointed by Pres. Benjamin Harrison to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1889, he generally joined conservatives in resisting the trend toward increased federal power and responsibility. In 1895-97 he led the panel that settled the boundary dispute between Venezuela and British Guiana.

Brewster, William (b. 1567, England—d. April, 1644, Plymouth, Mass.) Anglo-American Puritan leader of Plymouth Colony in Massachu¬ setts. He studied briefly at the University of Cambridge and became leader of a small Puritan congregation at Scrooby. Government persecution forced Brewster and his followers to emigrate to Holland in 1608, and he printed religious books in Leiden. In 1620 he joined the first group of Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower on the voyage to North America. When the colonists landed at Plymouth, Brewster became the senior elder of the colony, serving as its religious leader and as an adviser to Gov. William Bradford.

Breyer Vbri-orN, Stephen (Gerald) (b. Aug. 15, 1938, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.) U.S. jurist. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1964. After clerking for Arthur Goldberg (1964-65), he taught at Harvard (1967-81). He served as special counsel (1974-75) and chief counsel (1979-81) of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee before being appointed to the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (1980); he became its chief judge in 1990. From 1985 to 1989 he served on the commission that devised guidelines for federal sentencing. He was nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1994 by Pres. Bill Clinton. He was known as a pragmatic moderate acceptable to both Republicans and Democrats.

Brezhnev \'brezh-,nef\, Leonid (llich) (b. Dec. 19, 1906, Kamen- skoye, Ukraine, Russian Empire—d. Nov. 10, 1982, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet leader. He worked as an engineer and director of a tech¬ nical school in Ukraine and held local posts in the Communist Party, becoming regional party secretary in 1939. In World War II he was a political commissar in the Red Army and rose to major general (1943). In the 1950s he supported Nikita Khrushchev and became a member of the Politburo, though in 1964 he was the leader of a coalition that ousted Khrushchev, and soon he emerged as general secretary of the party (1966- 82). He developed the Brezhnev Doctrine, which asserted the right of Soviet intervention in such Warsaw Pact countries as Czechoslovakia

(1968). In the 1970s he attempted to normalize relations with the West and to promote detente with the U.S. He was made marshal of the Soviet Union in 1976 and chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in 1977, becoming the first to hold the leadership of both the party and the state. He greatly expanded the Soviet Union’s military-industrial complex, but in so doing he deprived the rest of the Soviet economy. Despite frail health, he retained his hold on power to the end.

Brian Boru Vbren-bs-'riiX (b. 941, near Killaloe, Ire.—d. April 23, 1014, Clontarf, near Dublin) High king of Ireland (1002-14). He became king of Munster in 976, won control of the southern half of Ireland from the high king Maelsechlainn in 997, and replaced him in 1002. Leinster and the Norsemen of Dublin united against him in 1013 with help from abroad; at the Battle of Clontarf, won by his son Murchad, Brian was killed in his tent by fleeing Norsemen (see Vikings). A line of princes, the O’Briens, descended from him.

Briand \bre-'a n \, Aristide (b. March 28, 1862, Nantes, France—d. March 7, 1932, Paris) French statesman. He became secretary-general of the French Socialist Party in 1901 and served in the Chamber of Deputies (1902-32). Between 1909 and 1929 he served 11 times as premier of France, and he held 26 ministerial posts between 1906 and 1932. His achievements included the Pact of Locarno and the Kellogg-Briand Pact. For his efforts for international cooperation, the League of Nations, and world peace, he shared the 1926 Nobel Prize for Peace with Gustav Stre- SEMANN.

bribery Crime of giving a benefit (e.g., money) in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust (e.g., an official or witness). Accepting a bribe also constitutes a crime. Bribery is typically punishable as a felony (see felony and misdemeanour). In any charge of bribery, some element of “corrupt purpose” must be implied or proved. Thus, in the absence of a complete statutory prohibition on the granting of favours to a public official, a gift is not a bribe unless it is given with some intent to influence the recipient’s official behaviour. See also extortion.

Brice, Fanny orig. Fannie Borach (b. Oct. 29, 1891, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. May 29, 1951, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. comedian and singer. She played in vaudeville and burlesque shows, where the producer Florenz Ziegfeld discovered her in 1910. She became a headliner in his Follies with her musical numbers and comedy routines, including satiric sketches of ballet dancers and fan dancers as well as affecting torch songs such as “My Man.” The char¬ acter of Baby Snooks, an incorrigible little girl, which she created to amuse her friends, became a Follies favou¬ rite, and in that character Brice was featured on radio from 1936 until her death. The Broadway musical Funny Girl (1964; film, 1968) was based on her life.

brick Small building unit in the form of a rectangular block, first produced in a sun-dried form at least 6,000 years ago. Clay, the basic ingredient, is mined from open pits, formed, and then fired in a kiln to produce strength, hardness, and heat resistance. Brick was the chief building material in the ancient Near East. Its versatility was expanded in ancient Rome by improvements in manu¬ facture and by new techniques of bonding. Brick came to be widely used in Western Europe for the protection it offered against fire. See also MASONRY, MORTAR.

Bricker, John W(illiam) (b. Sept. 6, 1893, Madison county, Ohio, U.S.—d. March 22, 1986, Columbus, Ohio) U.S. politician, governor of Ohio (1939^-5) and U.S. senator (1947-59). He graduated from Ohio State University (1916), then practiced law and later served as the state’s attorney general (1933-37). Elected governor, he became the first Repub¬ lican to win three consecutive terms. He was Thomas Dewey’s running mate in the 1944 presidential race. As a U.S. senator, he led efforts to curb the president’s power in foreign affairs. In 1953 he sponsored a constitutional amendment to limit U.S. participation in international treaties; opposed by John Foster Dulles, it was narrowly defeated.

274 I bridewealth ► Bridget

bridewealth Payment made by the groom or his kin to the kin of the wife in order to ratify the marriage. The practice is common in most parts of the globe in one form or another, but it is perhaps most prevalent in Africa. It is most often a matter of social and symbolic as well as eco¬ nomic reciprocity, being part of a long series of exchanges between the two intermarrying families. It represents a pledge that the wife will be well treated and serves as compensation for her family’s loss. Payment may consist of goods or, less frequently, services, and it may be paid in one sum or regularly over a long period of time. See also dowry.

bridge Structure that spans horizontally to allow pedestrians and vehicles to cross a void. Bridge construction has always presented civil engineering with its greatest challenges. The simplest bridge is the beam (or girder) bridge, consisting of straight, rigid beams of steel or concrete placed across a span. Ancient Roman bridges are famous for their rounded arch form, which permitted spans much longer than those of stone beams and were more durable than wood. A modem version of the arch bridge might have a tmssed arch anchored to the abutments and a deck hanging from the arch by vertical cables. Suspension bridges (e.g., Brooklyn Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge) are capable of spanning great distances; their main support members are cables composed of thousands of strands of wire supported by two towers and anchored at each end, and the deck is sus¬ pended by vertical cables hung from the main cables. In cable-stayed bridges, cables fan out and down from a central tower to various points on the deck; variations of this design have resulted in bridges of striking design and very long span. Other bridges include the truss bridge, popu¬ lar (e.g., for railroad bridges) because it uses a relatively small amount of material to carry large loads, and the cantilever bridge, typically made with three spans, with the outer spans anchored down at the shore and the central span resting on the cantilevered arms.

ARCH BRIDGE

pier trussed arch arch upper chord portal frame

BEAM BRIDGE

overpass continuous beam parapet

deck underpass pier

anchorage

side span

SUSPENSION BRIDGE

suspension suspender

approach

ramp

deck centre span

tower abutment

Three common types of bridge design.

bridge Card game similar to whist. Bridge is any one of several games, including games such as auction bridge and contract bridge, which retain the essential features of whist: Four players participate, two against two in partnership. They play with a 52-card pack, all cards of which are dealt face downward one at a time, clockwise. When play begins, the object is to win tricks, consisting of one card from each player in rotation. The players must, if able, contribute a card of the suit led, and the trick is won by the highest card. All tricks taken in excess of the first six tricks are known as odd tricks. Before play begins, a suit may be designated the trump suit, in which case any card in it beats any card of the other suits. In all types of bridge a certain number points are needed to win a game, and two games won by the same team allows them to win the rubber.

Bridgeport City (pop., 2000: 139,529), southwestern Connecticut, U.S. Located on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Pequonnock River, it was settled in 1639. Its earlier names included Newfield and Stratfield; Bridgeport was chosen in 1800. P.T. Barnum was once its mayor, and his star attraction “Tom Thumb” was bom there. The city evolved into an industrial centre following the arrival of the railroad in 1840. In the late 20th century, its industrial base eroded, causing financial problems for the city.

Bridger, Jim orig. James Bridger (b. March 17, 1804, Richmond, Va., U.S.—d. July 17, 1881, near Kansas City, Mo.) U.S. frontiersman. From 1822 he led fur-trapping expeditions to Utah and Idaho. He was apparently the first white man to visit the Great Salt Lake (1824) and among the first to explore Wyoming’s Yellowstone River region. In 1843 he established Fort Bridger, Wyo., as a fur-trading post on the Oregon Trail. After the 1850s he worked as a government scout. He became leg¬ endary for his knowledge of the territory and its Indian inhabitants.

Bridges, Calvin Blackman (b. Jan. 11, 1889, Schuyler Falls, N.Y., U.S.—d. Dec. 27, 1938, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. geneticist. He entered Columbia University in 1909 and assisted Thomas Hunt Morgan in design¬ ing experiments using Drosophila that showed that variations in the insect could be traced to observable changes in its genes. These experiments led to the construction of gene maps and proved the chromosome theory of heredity. In 1928 Bridges and Morgan moved to California Institute of Technology, where Bridges continued gene mapping and later discovered an important class of drosophila mutants caused by gene duplications.

Bridges, Harry orig. Alfred Bryant Renton (b. July 28, 1901, Kensington, near Melbourne, Vic., Austl.—d. March 30, 1990, San Fran¬ cisco, Calif., U.S.) Australian-born U.S. labour leader. He arrived in the U.S. as a seaman in 1920, and he soon settled in San Francisco and became active in the local branch of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA). In 1937 he led the Pacific Coast division out of the ILA and reconstituted it as the International Longshoremen’s and Ware¬ housemen’s Union (ILWU), affiliated with the CIO (see AFL-CIO). His aggressive labour tactics and Communist Party connections led the CIO to expel the ILWU in 1950 during a purge of allegedly communist- dominated unions, and opponents tried unsuccessfully to have Bridges deported. He retired as president of the ILWU in 1977.

Bridges, Robert (Seymour)

(b. Oct. 23, 1844, Walmer, Kent, Eng.—d. April 21, 1930, Boar’s Hill, Oxford) English poet. He published several long poems and poetic dra¬ mas, but his reputation rests on the lyrics collected in Shorter Poems (1890, 1894), which reveal his mas¬ tery of prosody. His 1916 edition of the poetry of his friend Gerard Man- ley Hopkins rescued it from obscurity. He was poet laureate of England from 1913 until his death.

Bridget, Saint (b. c. 1303, Swed.—d. July 23, 1373, Rome; canonized Oct. 8, 1391; feast day July 23) Mystic and patron saint of Sweden. She had religious visions from an early age but married and had eight children, including St. Catherine of Sweden. On the death of her husband (1344), she retired to

Robert Bridges, gold-point drawing by W. Strang; in the National Portrait Gallery, London

COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON

Bridgetown ► Brissot I 275

a life of prayer. She lived in Rome after 1350, striving to bring the pope back from Avignon. In response to a revelation, she founded a new reli¬ gious order in 1370, the Brigittines. In 1372, inspired by another vision, she journeyed to the Holy Land and died soon after her return to Rome.

Bridgetown Capital (pop., 1990: 6,070) of Barbados, West Indies. Located on Carlisle Bay at the southwestern end of Barbados, it is the island’s only port of entry. Founded in 1628, it was originally called Indian Bridge. The name St. Michael’s Town came into favor c. 1660 and remained in use into the 19th century. The town was ravaged repeatedly by fires, and in 1854 a cholera epidemic killed some 20,000 people. Landmarks include St. Michael’s Anglican Cathedral, built of coral rock. Economic mainstays include sugar refining, rum distilling, and tourism.

brier also spelled briar term generally applied to any plant with a woody and thorny or prickly stem, such as those of the genera Rosa, Rubus, Smilax, and Erica. White, or tree, heath {E. arborea) is found in southern France and the Mediterranean region. Its roots and knotted stems are used for making briarwood tobacco pipes. Its leaves are needlelike and its flowers almost white.

brig Two-masted sailing ship with square rigging on both masts. Brigs were both naval and mercantile vessels. As merchantmen, they often fol¬ lowed coastal trading routes, but ocean voyages were not uncommon, and some were even used for whaling and sealing. Naval brigs carried 10-20 guns on a single deck. In the 18th—19th century, they served as couriers for battle fleets and as training vessels for cadets. Brigs of the early U.S. Navy won distinction on the Great Lakes in the War of 1812. Because square rigging required a large crew, merchant brigs became uneconomi¬ cal, and in the 19th century they began to give way to vessels such as the schooner and the bark.

brigade \bri-'gad\ Military unit commanded by a brigadier general or a colonel and composed of two or more subordinate units, such as regiments or battalions. Two or more brigades make up a division.

Brigham \,brig-9m\ Young University Private university in Provo, Utah, U.S. Founded in 1875 by the Mormon church president Brigham Young, it continues to be supported by the Mormon church. It comprises nine colleges as well as schools of management and law. Important research facilities include laboratories for nuclear, plasma, and solid-state physics, aquatic ecology, and veterinary pathology and institutes for the study of food and agriculture and of computer-aided manufacturing.

Bright, John (b. Nov. 16, 1811, Rochdale, Lancashire, Eng.—d. March 27, 1889, Rochdale) British reform politician and orator. He entered Par¬ liament in 1843 and served three times as a member of William E. Glad¬ stone’s cabinet. He was active in campaigns for free trade, lower grain prices, and parliamentary reform. His Quaker beliefs shaped his politics, which consisted mainly of demands for an end to inequalities between individuals and between peoples. He denounced the Crimean War, sup¬ ported the Reform Bill of 1867, and was a cofounder (with Richard Cob- den) of the Anti-Corn Law League.

Bright disease Type of nephritis without pus formation or edema. It may or may not recur. The acute stage involves severe inflammation and back pain, deficient kidney function, swelling, and hypertension. In the subacute stage the kidney enlarges, blood does not reach its surface and red blood cells are damaged (leading to anemia), and its tissue breaks down, releas¬ ing excess blood protein into urine. In the chronic stage a small, shriv¬ eled, scarred kidney cannot filter nitrogen compounds from the blood, causing uremia. Treatment focuses on symptom relief.

Brighton Town (pop., 1995 est.: 143,000), southern England. Lying on the English Channel south of London, it was for several centuries a small fishing village, but it gained popularity in the late 18th century when the prince of Wales (later George IV) made the first of his many visits. His powerful patronage stamped the town with the distinguished character still seen in its Regency-style squares. Victorian Brighton grew rapidly with the opening of the railway connecting it to London (1841).

Brigit Vbri-joA In Celtic religion, the goddess of poetry, crafts, prophecy, and divination. She was equivalent to the Roman Minerva and the Greek Athena and substantially the same as the northern British goddess Brig- antia. In Ireland she was worshiped by th efilid, a poetic and priestly class. She was one of three daughters of Dagda, all named Brigit, the others being associated with healing and the craft of the smith. Some of the lore surrounding Brigit was transferred to the 5th-century Irish abbess St.

Brigid. Her feast day, February 1, is the date of the pagan festival Imbolc, when the ewes came into milk. Her great monastery at Kildare was prob¬ ably founded on a pagan sanctuary, and many holy wells in the British Isles are dedicated to her.

Brillat-Savarin \bre-ya-sa-va-'ra n \, (Jean-) Anthelme (b. April 1, 1755, Belley, Fra.—d. Feb. 2, 1826, Paris) French lawyer and gastronome. Mayor of the town of Belley, he fled France during the Reign of Terror but returned to sit on France’s highest court, where he remained the rest of his life. His celebrated Physiologie du gout (“Physiology of Taste”; Eng. trans. A Handbook of Gastronomy), published in 1825, is less a treatise on cuisine than a witty compendium of anecdotes and observations intended to enhance the pleasures of the table; only the occasional recipe is included.

brine shrimp Any of several small crustaceans (genus Artemia) inhab¬ iting brine pools and other highly salty inland waters throughout the world. A. salina, which occurs in vast numbers in Great Salt Lake,

Utah, is commercially important.

Young brine shrimp hatched there from dried eggs are used widely as food for fish and other small animals in aquariums. Up to 0.6 in. (15 mm) long, the brine shrimp’s body has a distinguishable head and a slender abdomen. It normally swims upside down, and it feeds primarily on green algae, which it filters from the water with its legs.

Brinkman, Johannes Andreas (b. March 22, 1902, Rotterdam, Neth.—d. May 6, 1949, Rotterdam) Dutch architect. After graduating from the Delft Technical University, he helped design the van Nelle tobacco factory (1928-30) in Rotterdam, one of the most architecturally important industrial buildings of the 1920s. An outstanding example of Modernist architecture, its unbroken expanses of glass convey a strong feeling of lightness and transparency.

Brisbane Vbriz-.banN City (pop., 2004 est.: urban agglom. 1,774,890), southeastern Queensland, Australia. Lying on the northern bank of the Brisbane River above its mouth at Moreton Bay, the site was first explored by the English in 1823. It was founded as a penal colony in 1824 and was declared a town in 1834 when it was named in honour of Sir Thomas Brisbane, former governor of New South Wales. Made the capital of Queensland in 1859, it was joined with South Brisbane in the 1920s to form Greater Brisbane. The city, connected by bridges and ferries, is Aus¬ tralia’s third largest; it is the hub of rail lines and highways and a busy port. It is the site of the Queensland Cultural Centre and a university.

Brisbane, Albert (b. Aug. 22, 1809, Batavia, N.Y., U.S.—d. May 1, 1890, Richmond, Va.) U.S. social reformer. The son of wealthy landown¬ ers, he went to Europe in 1828 to study social reform with great thinkers of his age. Disappointed with Francois Guizot in Paris and G.W.F. Hegel in Berlin, he later discovered the works of Charles Fourier, under whom he studied for two years. In 1834 he returned to the U.S. and later estab¬ lished a Fourier community in New Jersey. His book Social Destiny of Man (1840) attracted widespread attention. In his newspaper column in the New York Tribune he explained the Fourier system of self-sustaining communities, which he called Associationism. His son Arthur (1864- 1936) was editor of the New York Evening Journal (1897-1921) and the Chicago Herald and Examiner (from 1918).

brise-soleil \,brez-so-'la\ (French: “breaks the sun”) Sun baffle of ver¬ tical or horizontal louvers outside the windows or extending over the entire surface of a building’s facade, especially precast concrete grids of the type developed by Le Corbusier. Many traditional methods exist for reducing the effects of the sun’s glare, such as the projecting upper-story window of latticework ( mashrabiyah or mushrabiyah ) used in Islamic architecture, pierced screens as used at the Taj Mahal, or blinds of split bamboo {sudare) as used in Japan.

brisling See sprat

Brissot \bre-'so\ (de Warville), Jacques-Pierre (b. Jan. 15, 1754, Chartres, France—d. Oct. 31, 1793, Paris) French revolutionary politician. He founded the popular newspaper Le Patriote Frangais and became a leader of the Girondins (often called Brissotins) in the French Revolution. Elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1791, he advocated war against

Brine shrimp (Artemia salina)

DOUGLAS P. WILSON

276 I Bristol ► British Library

Austria, arguing that war would consolidate the Revolution. Along with other Girondins, he was arrested and guillotined during the Reign of Terror.

Bristol City and unitary authority (pop., 2001: 380,615), southwestern England. Lying at the confluence of the Rivers Avon and Frome, the city received its first charter in 1155. Long a centre of commerce, it was the point of departure in 1497 of John Cabot in his search for a route to Asia. During the 17th—18th centuries it prospered in the triangular trade (rum, molasses, and slaves) between West Africa and the West Indian and American plantation colonies. Though Bristol suffered a decline in trade in the early 19th century, it soon rebounded with the coming of the rail¬ way. It suffered severe damage from bombing in World War II but was rebuilt. Today it is an important shipping centre, especially for oil and food products.

Bristol Channel Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, southwestern England. It extends about 85 mi (135 km) between southern Wales and southwestern England, ranging from 5 to 43 mi (8-69 km) wide. Lundy Island, once a pirate stronghold, lies in the centre of the channel; it is maintained as a trust preserve. Ships using the English port of Bristol and the Welsh ports of Swansea and Cardiff pass through the channel.

Britain Name historically applied to the island of Great Britain. Britain is used especially when referring to its pre-Roman and Roman periods and to its early Anglo-Saxon period. It is the Anglicized form of Latin Britannia. See also United Kingdom.

Britain, Battle of (June 1940-April 1941) Series of intense raids directed against Britain by the German air force in World War II. The air attacks, intended to prepare the way for a German invasion, were directed against British ports and RAF bases. In September 1940 the attacks turned to London and other cities in a “blitz” of bombings for 57 consecutive nights, which was followed by intermittent raids until April 1941. The RAF was outnumbered but succeeded in blocking the German air force through superior tactics, advanced air defenses, and the penetration of German secret codes.

British Airways in full British Airways PLC International passen¬ ger airline based in London. In 1936 British Airways Ltd. was founded through the merger of three smaller airlines. A merger with Imperial Air¬ ways in 1939 created British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). The British Airways name returned in 1974 with the government-mandated merger of BOAC and British European Airways (BEA). The airline was privatized in 1987. It merged with British Caledonian later that year. Brit¬ ish Airways is one of Europe’s largest air carriers.

British American Tobacco PLC formerly British-American Tobacco Company Ltd. (1902-76) and B.A.T Industries PLC (1976-98) British conglomerate that is one of the world’s largest manu¬ facturers of tobacco products. The company’s international headquarters are in London, while its chief American subsidiary, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation, is headquartered in Louisville, Ky. Its acquisitions have included the American Tobacco Company (1994), which represents such cigarette brands as Pall Mall and Lucky Strike; Rothmans Interna¬ tional (1999), known for its Dunhill and Rothmans brands; and Canada’s largest cigarette company, Imperial Tobacco (2000).

British Broadcasting Corp. See BBC

British Columbia Province (pop., 2003 est.: 4,146,600), western Canada. It is bounded by Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, Alberta, the Pacific Ocean, and the U.S. (including Alaska). The province has an area of 364,764 sq mi (944,735 sq km), and its capital is Victoria. The area was inhabited by indigenous peoples, including Coast Salish, Nootka, Kwakiutl, and Haida. It was visited in 1578 by Sir Francis Drake and in 1778 by Capt. James Cook, who was searching for the Northwest Passage. Capt. George Vancouver surveyed the coast (1792-94), and over¬ land expeditions were made by several explorers, including Alexander Mackenzie and Simon Fraser. The British and Americans contended over Vancouver Island for years, until it was recognized as British and made a crown colony in 1849. The mainland became the colony of British Colum¬ bia in 1858; with the colony of Vancouver Island, it joined Canada in 1871 as the province of British Columbia. The province now has a prosperous economy based on diverse sources, including logging, mining, agricul¬ ture, and shipping.

British Columbia, University of Canadian public university in Van¬ couver. It is one of the largest universities in Canada and the oldest in the

province (founded 1908). It comprises faculties of agricultural sciences, applied science, arts, commerce and business administration, dentistry, education, forestry, graduate studies, law, medicine, pharmacy, theology, and science. Plant research is conducted at the UBC Botanical Garden, which is open to the public. The university has extensive study-abroad and continuing-education programs.

British Commonwealth See Commonwealth

British East Africa Territory under former British control, Africa. Brit¬ ish penetration of the area began at Zanzibar in the late 19th century. In 1888 the British East Africa Co. established claims to territory in what is now Kenya. British protectorates were subsequently established over the sultanate of Zanzibar and the kingdom of BUganda (see Uganda). In 1919 Britain was awarded the former German territory of Tanganyika as a League of Nations mandate. All these territories achieved political inde¬ pendence in the 1960s.

British Empire Worldwide system of dependencies—colonies, protec¬ torates, and other territories—that over a span of three centuries came under the British government. Territorial acquisition began in the early 17th century with a group of settlements in North America and West Indian, South Asian, and African trading posts founded by private individuals and trading companies. In the 18th century the British took Gibraltar, estab¬ lished colonies along the Atlantic seacoast of North America and in the Car¬ ibbean Sea, and began to add territory in India. With its victory in the French and Indian War (1763), the empire secured Canada and the eastern Mississippi Valley and gained supremacy in India. From the late 18th cen¬ tury it began to build power in Malaya and acquired the Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon (see Sri Lanka), and Malta. The British settled Australia in 1788 and subsequently New Zealand. Aden was secured in 1839, and Hong Kong in 1841. Britain went on to control the Suez Canal (1875-1956). In the 19th-century European partition of Africa, Britain acquired Nigeria, Egypt, the territories that would become British East Africa, and part of what would become the Union (later Republic) of South Africa. After World War I, Britain secured mandates to German East Africa, part of the Cameroons, part of Togo, German South-West Africa, Mesopotamia, Palestine, and part of the German Pacific islands. Britain gradually evolved a system of self- government for some colonies after the U.S. gained independence, as set forth in Lord Durham’s report of 1839. Dominion status was given to Canada (1867), Australia (1901), New Zealand (1907), the Union of South Africa (1910), and the Irish Free State (1921). Britain declared war on Ger¬ many in 1914 on behalf of the entire empire; after World War I the domin¬ ions signed the peace treaties themselves and joined the League of Nations as independent states. In 1931 the Statute of Westminster recognized them as independent countries “within the British Empire,” referring to the “British Commonwealth of Nations,” and from 1949, the Commonwealth of Nations. The British Empire, therefore, developed into the Common¬ wealth in the mid-20th century, as former British dependencies obtained sovereignty but retained ties to the United Kingdom.

British Expeditionary Force (BEF) Home-based regular British army forces sent to northern France at the start of World Wars I and II to support the French armies. Britain wished to help France in case of a Ger¬ man attack, and the BEF was created in 1908 to ensure that British forces would be trained and ready to respond quickly. It consisted of six infan¬ try divisions and one cavalry division. Five divisions sent to France at the outbreak of World War I sustained heavy losses and were succeeded by vast British armies. Divisions sent to France early in World War II (1939) returned to England when France fell the next year.

British Guiana See Guyana British Honduras See Belize

British Invasion Musical movement. In the mid 1960s the popularity of a number of British rock-and-roll (“beat”) groups spread rapidly to the U.S., beginning with the triumphant arrival of Liverpool’s Beatles in New York in 1964 and continuing with the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and others. Building on 1950s U.S. models, these groups incorporated such local musical traditions as skiffle (acoustic drummerless ensembles), dancehall, and Celtic folk.

British Library National library of Great Britain, formed by the Brit¬ ish Library Act (1972) and organized July 1, 1973. It consists of the former British Museum library, the National Central Library, the National Lending Library for Science and Technology, and the British National Bibliogra¬ phy. The British Museum library, founded in 1753 based on earlier col-

British Museum ► Broca I 277

lections and later increased by the addition of royal libraries, had the right to a free copy of all books published in the United Kingdom. Its collec¬ tion included a rich series of charters (including those of the Anglo-Saxon kings), codices, psalters, and other papers ranging from the 3rd century bc to modern times. The present-day British Library receives a copy of every publication produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

British Museum Britain’s national museum of archaeology and antiq¬ uities, established in London in 1753 when the government purchased three large private collections consisting of books, manuscripts, prints, drawings, paintings, medals, coins, seals, cameos, and natural curiosities. In 1881 the natural-history collections were transferred to another build¬ ing to form the Natural History Museum, and in 1973 the library collec¬ tions were consolidated to form the British Library. Among the museum’s most famous holdings are the Elgin Marbles, the Rosetta Stone, the Port¬ land Vase, and Chinese ceramics. In 1808 the department of prints and drawings opened with over 2,000 drawings. It is now one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive collections.

British North America Act (1867) Act of the British Parliament by which three British colonies—Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada—were united as “one Dominion under the name of Canada.” The act also divided the province of Canada into the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. It served as Canada’s “constitution” until 1982, when it became the basis of the Canada Act.

British Somaliland Former British protectorate, southern shore of the Gulf of Aden, eastern Africa. In the Middle Ages it was a powerful Arab sultanate; it was broken up in the 17th century. Its coast came under Brit¬ ish influence in the early 19th century, but formal control was not acquired until it was taken from Egypt in 1884. It fell under Italian control in World War II. In 1960 it was united with the former Italian Somaliland to form Somalia. In 1991 a government opposition group declared the region comprising the former British Somaliland to be an independent state; however, it was not internationally recognized. See also Somaliland.

British Virgin Islands See British Virgin Islands

Brittany French Bretagne Vbro-'tanA Peninsula that forms a histori¬ cal and governmental region, northwestern France. Known in ancient times as Armorica, it comprised the coastal area between the Seine and Loire rivers. Inhabited by Celts, it was conquered by Julius Caesar and organized as a Roman province. Invaded in the 5th century ad by Brit¬ ons (Celtic people from Britain), the extreme northwestern part was there¬ after called Brittany. Subdued by Clovis I, it was never effectively part of the Merovingian or Carolingian kingdom. France claimed Brittany in the 13th century, but it remained a separate state until the 15th century. It was formally incorporated into France in 1532 and had province status until the French Revolution. Roughly coextensive with but smaller than the his¬ torical region, the current administrative region of Brittany (pop., 2004 est.: 3,011,000) covers 10,505 sq mi (27,209 sq km). Its capital is Rennes. It is an important agricultural region.

Britten of Aldeburgh, (Edward) Benjamin Britten, Baron (b.

Nov. 22, 1913, Lowestoft, Suffolk,

Eng.—d. Dec. 4, 1976, Aldeburgh,

Suffolk) British composer. He stud¬ ied at the Royal College of Music, where he met the tenor Peter Pears (1910-86), who would become his lifelong companion. His auspicious Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge (1937), for string orchestra, won him international acclaim. In 1945 his opera Peter Grimes estab¬ lished him as a leading opera com¬ poser. In 1948 he cofounded the Aldeburgh Festival, which became one of the most important English music festivals and the centre of Britten’s musical activities. His operas include The Rape of Lucretia (1946), The Turn of the Screw (1954), and Death in Venice (1973); they are admired for their skillful set¬ ting of English words and their orchestral interludes, as well as for their dramatic aptness and depth of psychological characterization. His large

choral work War Requiem (1961) was greatly acclaimed. His best-known orchestral piece is The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (1946). In 1976 he became the first British composer in history to be ennobled.

Brno Vbsr-noX German Brunn VbruinX City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 379,185), southeastern Czech Republic. Located southeast of Prague, it lies in an area that shows evidence of prehistoric inhabitance and traces of Celtic and Slavic settlements in the 5th-6th centuries ad. German colo¬ nization in the 13th century stimulated its growth; it received city status in 1243. In various wars in the 15th—19th centuries, it was besieged by the Swedes, Prussians, and French. Before World War I it was the capital of the Austrian crown land of Moravia. The inhabitants, predominantly German before World War II, are now mainly Czech. Gregor Mendel worked on his theory of heredity (1865) in the monastery at Brno.

broaching machine Machine tool, usually hydraulically operated, for finishing surfaces by drawing or pushing a cutter called a broach entirely over and past the surface. A broach has a series of cutting teeth arranged in a row or rows, graduated in height from the teeth that cut first to those that cut last. Each tooth removes only a few thousandths of an inch, and the total depth of cut is distributed over all the teeth. Broaching is par¬ ticularly suitable for internal surfaces such as holes and internal gears, but it can also shape external gears and flat surfaces.

broad jump See long jump

broadband Term describing the radiation from a source that produces a broad, continuous spectrum of frequencies (contrasted with a laser, which produces a single frequency or very narrow range of frequencies). A typi¬ cal broadband-light source that can be used for either emission or absorp¬ tion spectroscopy is a metal filament heated to a high temperature, such as a tungsten lightbulb. Sunlight is also broadband radiation. See also BROADBAND TECHNOLOGY.

broadband technology Telecommunications devices, lines, or tech¬ nologies that allow communication over a wide band of frequencies, and especially over a range of frequencies divided into multiple independent channels for the simultaneous transmission of different signals. Broad¬ band systems allow voice, data, and video to be broadcast over the same medium at the same time. They may also allow multiple data channels to be broadcast simultaneously.

broadcasting Transmission of sound or images by radio or television. After Guglielmo Marconi’s discovery of wireless broadcasting in 1901, radio broadcasting was undertaken by amateurs. The first U.S. commer¬ cial radio station, KDKA of Pittsburgh, began operation in 1920. The number of stations increased rapidly, as did the formation of national radio networks. To avoid radio monopolies, Congress passed the Radio Act of 1927, which created the Federal Communications Commission to over¬ see broadcast operations. In the 1930s and ’40s, the “golden age of radio,” innovations in broadcast techniques and programming made radio the most popular entertainment medium. Television broadcasting began in Germany and Britain in the 1930s. After World War II, the U.S. took the lead, and television stations soon overshadowed radio networks. Color television broadcasts began in 1954 and became widespread in the 1960s. By the 1980s, satellite transmission of live television further expanded the field of broadcasting. See also ABC, BBC, CBS, CNN, NBC, PBS.

Broadway Theatre district in New York City. It is named for the avenue that runs through the Times Square area in central Manhattan, where most of the larger theatres are located. Broadway attracted theatre producers and impresarios from the mid-19th century. The number and size of the theatres grew with New York’s increasing prosperity, and by the 1890s the brightly lit street was called “the Great White Way.” By 1925, the height of theatrical activity in New York, about 80 theatres were located on or near Broadway; by 1980 only about 40 remained. In the 1990s the revitalization of the seedy Times Square neighbourhood attracted larger audiences, though high production costs limited the viability of serious plays in Broadway theatres, which often chose to mount big musicals and other crowd-pleasing commercial ventures. See also Off- Broadway.

Broca Vbro-koV Paul (b. June 28, 1824, Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, Fr.—d. July 9, 1880, Paris) French surgeon. His study of brain lesions contrib¬ uted significantly to understanding of the origins of aphasia. Much of Broca’s research concerned the comparative study of the skulls of the races of humankind, work that aided the development of modern physi¬ cal anthropology. He originated methods to study the brain’s form, struc¬ ture, and surface features and sections of prehistoric skulls. His discovery

278 I brocade ► Bronte

(1861) of the brain’s speech centre (convolution of Broca) was the first anatomical proof of localization of brain function.

brocade Woven fabric having a raised floral or figured design that is introduced during the weaving pro¬ cess. The design, appearing only on the fabric face, is usually made in a satin or twill weave (see weaving).

The background may be twill, satin, or plain weave. The rich, fairly heavy fabric is frequently used for evening dresses, draperies, and upholstery.

broccoli Plant (Brassica oleracea,

Botrytis group) closely related to cabbage in the mustard family. A fast¬ growing, upright, branched, annual plant, it bears dense green clusters of edible flower buds. Native to the eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor, it was introduced to the U.S. probably in colonial times. Broccoli thrives in moderate to cool climates.

Its flavour resembles that of cabbage but is somewhat milder. It is one of the most broadly nutritious of all common vegetables.

Broch \'brok\, Hermann (b. Nov.

1, 1886, Vienna—d. May 30, 1951,

New Haven, Conn., U.S.) German writer. A student of physics, math¬ ematics, and philosophy, Broch pub¬ lished his first major work, The Sleepwalkers (1931-32), when he was in his 40s. A trilogy tracing the disintegration of European society between 1888 and 1918, it exempli¬ fies his innovative multidimensional novels in its use of many different narrative forms to present a wide range of experiences. His other novels include The Death of Virgil (1945), which presents the last 18 hours of Virgil’s life, and The Spell (1953), a portrayal of a Hitlerian stranger’s domination of a village. He also wrote essays, letters, and reviews.

Brocken Highest point in the Harz Mountains, central Germany. Its granite peak reaches 3,747 ft (1,142 m). When the sun is low, shadows from the peak become magnified, casting gigantic silhouettes on the upper surfaces of low-lying clouds or fog below the mountain. This effect, known as the Brocken bow or Brocken spectre, has mystical significance in the mountain’s folklore. Traditional rites enacted there on Walpurgis Night became connected with the legend of Faust.

Brodsky, Joseph orig. losip Aleksandrovich Brodsky (b. May

24, 1940, Leningrad, Russia, U.S.S.R.—d. Jan. 28, 1996, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Russian-born U.S. poet. In the Soviet Union his independent spirit and irregular work record led to a five-year sentence to hard labour. Exiled in 1972, he settled in New York. He was poet laureate of the U.S. from 1991 to 1992. His lyric and elegiac poems ponder the universal concerns of life, death, and the meaning of existence. Brodsky’s poetry collections include A Part of Speech (1980), History of the Twentieth Century (1986), and To Urania (1988). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1987.

Broglie \'broi\ family French noble family, descended from a Pied¬ montese family of the 17 th century, that produced many high-ranking sol¬ diers, politicians, and diplomats. Prominent members included Frangois- Marie, 1st duke de Broglie (1671-1745), general and marshal of France; Victor-Frangois, 2nd duke de Broglie (1718-1814), a soldier and marshal of France; Victor, 3rd duke de Broglie (1785-1870), a prime minister who campaigned against reactionary forces; and Albert, 4th duke de Broglie (1821-1901), who served as premier in the early years of the French Third Republic. The family also included the physicist Louis-Victor, 7th duke de Broglie.

Broglie \'broi\, Louis-Victor (-Pierre-Raymond), duke de (b.

Aug. 15, 1892, Dieppe, France—d. March 19, 1987, Paris) French physi¬ cist. A descendant of the de Broglie family of diplomats and politicians, he was inspired to study atomic physics by the work of Max Planck and Albert Einstein. In his doctoral thesis he described his theory of electron waves,

then extended the wave-particle duality theory of light to matter. He is noted both for his discovery of the wave nature of electrons and for his research on quantum theory. Einstein built on de Broglie’s idea of “matter-waves”; based on this work, Erwin Schrodinger constructed the system of wave mechanics. De Broglie remained at the Sorbonne after 1924 and taught theoretical physics at the Henri Poincare Institute (1928-62). He was awarded a Nobel Prize for Physics in 1929 and UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize in 1952.

bromegrass Any of about 100 annual and perennial species of weeds and forage grasses that make up the genus Bromus, in the family Poaceae (Gramineae). Found in temperate and cool climates, bromegrasses have flat, thin leaves and open, spreading, erect or drooping flower clusters. More than 40 species are found in the U.S.; about half are native grasses. Rescue grass ( B. catharticus), a forage and pasture grass, and smooth brome ( B. inermis ), a forage plant and soil binder, are the economically important species. Downy brome or cheatgrass (B. tectorum), ripgut grass (B. diandrus ), and foxtail brome ( B . rubens) are dangerous to grazing ani¬ mals; their spines can puncture the animals’ eyes, mouths, and intestines, leading to infection and possible death.

bromeliad \br6-'me-le-,ad\ Any of the flowering plants of the order Bromeliales, containing a single family, Bromeliaceae, with almost 2,600 species. All but 1 species are native to the tropical New World and the West Indies. Bromeliad flowers have three parts, like lilies, but with con¬ trasting sepals and petals. Many bromeliads are short-stemmed epiphytes. Many species bear flowers in a long spike, with coloured bracts below or along the spike. Most have fleshy fruit, but some produce dry pods. Span¬ ish moss and the edible fruit of the pineapple are the major economic prod¬ ucts of the family. The leaves of some species contain fibres that are made into rope, fabric, and netting. The largest known bromeliad is the giant Puya raimondii of Peru and Bolivia, which may grow to more than 30 ft (9 m). Some species are cultivated indoors as ornamentals for their colour¬ ful flowers and foliage.

bromine Vbro- 1 men\ Nonmetallic chemical element, chemical symbol Br, atomic number 35. One of the halogens, it is a deep red, fuming liq¬ uid at ordinary temperatures (freezing point 19 °F [-7.2 °C]; boiling point 138 °F [59 °C]) that contains diatomic molecules (Br 2 ), and it does not occur free in nature. It is obtained from seawater and brines or salt beds. Extremely irritating and toxic, bromine is a strong oxidizing agent (see oxidation-reduction). Its compounds, in which it may have valence 1, 3, 5, or 7, have many uses, including as petroleum additives (ethylene dibro¬ mide), in photographic emulsions (silver bromide), as sedatives, and in flour (potassium bromate).

bronchiectasis V.braq-ke-'ek-to-sosV Abnormal expansion of bronchi in the lungs. It usually results when preexisting lung disease causes bron¬ chial inflammation and obstruction. Bronchial wall fibres degenerate, and bronchi become dilated or paralyzed, preventing removal of secretions, which stagnate. Infection spreads and intensifies. Evidence of the disease includes presence of infective agents, excess mucous secretions, and, in children, fatigue and growth retardation. Complications include recurrent pneumonia, lung abscesses, spitting up blood, and, in chronic cases, toe and finger clubbing. Treatment involves frequent, long-term drainage or (if the disease is on one side only) surgical removal of affected lung seg¬ ments and antibiotics.

bronchitis \braq-'kI-tos\ Inflammation in the bronchi of the lungs. Microbes and foreign matter that have entered the airways cause inflam¬ mation of the bronchi and stimulate excess secretion of mucus. Symp¬ toms include a productive cough and a sensation of chest congestion. Long-term repetitive injury, as from smoking, may lead to chronic bron¬ chitis, in which severe, irreversible damage leaves the lungs open to infec¬ tion and fibrosis. Smoking-related chronic bronchitis often occurs in association with emphysema (together called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Treatment includes drugs to dilate the bronchi and promote coughing, antibiotics, and lifestyle adaptations (e.g., quitting smoking).

Bronte Vbran-te\ sisters Family of English writers. The daughters of an Anglican clergyman, they were brought up in Haworth on the York¬ shire moors. Their mother died early. Charlotte Bronte (April 21, 1816- March 31, 1855) attended the Clergy Daughter’s School with her sister Emily and subsequently taught school and served as a governess. She and Emily made an unsuccessful attempt to open a school. Her novel Jane Eyre (1847), an immediate success, was a powerful narrative of a woman in conflict with her natural desires and social situation that gave a new

Detail of handwoven Italian silk bro¬ caded on silk with floral motif, c.

1730-50.

COURTESY OF SCALAMANDRE, NEW YORK CITY

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea variety ital- ica).

G.R. ROBERTS

Brontosaurus ► Brooke Raj I 279

truthfulness to Victorian fiction. It was followed by the novels Shirley (1849) and Villette (1853). In 1854 she married her father’s curate, and she died soon after at age 38. Emily (Jane) Bronte (July 30, 1818-Dec. 19, 1848) was perhaps the greatest writer of the three. Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell (1846), published jointly by the sisters (who assumed pseudonyms to avoid the special treatment that they believed reviewers accorded to women), contained 21 of her poems. Many critics believe that her verse alone reveals poetic genius. Her one novel, Wuthering Heights (1847), is a highly imaginative story of passion and hatred set on the Yorkshire moors. Though not a success when published, it later came to be considered one of the finest novels in English. Soon after its pub¬ lication, her health began to fail, and she died of tuberculosis at 30. Anne Bronte (Jan. 17, 1820-May 28, 1849) contributed 21 poems to Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell’, she wrote two novels, Agnes Grey (1847) and The Tenant ofWildfell Hall (1848). Anne died of tuberculosis at 29.

Brontosaurus See Apatosaurus

Bronx Borough (pop., 2000: 1,332,650), New York, New York, U.S. One of New York City’s five boroughs, it is the only mainland borough, and it is connected to Manhattan by a dozen bridges and railroad tunnels and to Queens by the Triborough, Bronx-Whitestone, and Throgs Neck bridges. The site was called Keskesbeck by the Indians who sold it in 1639 to the Dutch West India Company. The borough was a part of Westchester county until 1898, when it was incorporated into the city of New York. Though primarily residential, much of its more than 80 mi (130 km) of waterfront is used for shipping, warehouses, and industry. It is home to baseball’s Yankee Stadium. It has an extensive park system and includes the Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Gardens.

Bronx Zoo formally New York Zoological Park Zoo in New

York City. It opened in 1899 on 265 acres (107 hectares) in the north¬ western area of the Bronx. In 1941 it added the 4-acre (1.6-hectare) Afri¬ can Plains, which features large groups of animals in natural surroundings. The zoo also includes the World of Darkness (the world’s first major exhibit of nocturnal animals, added in the 1960s), the World of Birds (a huge, indoor free-flight exhibit), the Rare Animal Range (near-extinct species in natural settings), a Children’s Zoo, Wild Asia (Asian mammals and birds), and the Congo Gorilla Forest. Managed by the New York Zoological Society and financed by the society and the city, it supports much research and oversees the Wildlife Survival Center on St. Cathe¬ rine’s Island, Georgia.

bronze Alloy traditionally composed of copper and tin. Bronze was first made before 3000 bc (see Bronze Age) and is still widely used, though iron often replaced bronze in tools and weapons after about 1000 bc because of iron’s abundance compared to copper and tin. Bronze is harder than copper, more readily melted, and easier to cast. It is also harder than iron and far more resistant to corrosion. Bell metal (which produces pleas¬ ing sounds when struck) is bronze with 20-25% tin content. Statuary bronze, with less than 10% tin and an admixture of zinc and lead, is tech¬ nically a brass. The addition of less than 1% phosphorus improves the hardness and strength of bronze; that formulation is used for pump plung¬ ers, valves, and bushings. Also useful in mechanical engineering are man¬ ganese bronzes, with little or no tin but considerable amounts of zinc and up to 4.5% manganese. Aluminum bronzes, containing up to 16% alumi¬ num and small amounts of other metals such as iron or nickel, are espe¬ cially strong and corrosion-resistant; they are cast or wrought into pipe fittings, pumps, gears, ship propellers, and turbine blades. Most “copper” coins are actually bronze, typically with about 4% tin and 1% zinc, or copper plating over base metal.

Bronze Age Third phase in the development of material culture among the ancient peoples of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, following the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods and preceding the Iron Age. The term also denotes the first period in which metal was used. The date at which the age began varied by region; in Greece and China it began before 3000 bc, in Britain not until c. 1900 bc. The beginning of the period is some¬ times called the Chalcolithic (Copper-Stone) Age, referring to the initial use of pure copper (along with its predecessor, stone). By 3000 bc the use of copper was well known in the Middle East, had extended westward into the Mediterranean area, and was beginning to infiltrate Europe. Only in the 2nd millennium bc did true bronze come to be widely used. The age was marked by increased specialization and the invention of the wheel and the ox-drawn plow. From c. 1000 bc the ability to heat and forge iron brought the Bronze Age to an end.

Bronzino \br6n-'dze-n6\, II orig. Agnolo di Cosimo (b. Nov. 17, 1503, Monticelli, duchy of Milan—d. Nov. 23, 1572, Florence)

Italian painter active in Florence. He was the student and adopted son of Jacopo da Pontormo. He excelled as a portraitist and was court painter to Cosimo I for most of his career. His portraits were emotionally inexpres¬ sive, but in their elegance and deco¬ rative qualities they embodied the courtly ideal under the Medici dukes.

His work influenced European court portraiture for the next century, while his polished, sophisticated reli¬ gious and mythological paintings epitomized the Mannerist style of his time (see Mannerism). In 1563 he became a founding member of the Accademia del Disegno.

brooch Ornamental pin with a clasp to attach it to a garment.

Brooches developed from the Greek and Roman fibula, which resembled

"Portrait of a Young Man" (possibly Guidobaldo II, duke of Urbino), oil painting by ll Bronzino; in the Metro¬ politan Museum of Art, New York City.

a decorative safety pin and was used THE metropolitan museum of art as a fastening for cloaks and tunics.

Brooches have been made in a wide variety of shapes throughout history, the ornamentation and design varying from region to region. In the 19th century, with the expansion of wealth and the creation of a market for inexpensive jewelry, the brooch became a popular form of personal deco¬ ration.

Brook, Sir Peter (Stephen Paul) (b. March 21, 1925, London, Eng.) British director and producer. After directing plays in Stratford- upon-Avon, he became director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Gar¬ den (1947-50). He directed several innovative Shakespearean productions that aroused controversy. Appointed codirector of the Royal Shakespeare Co. in 1962, he directed critically acclaimed productions of King Lear (1962) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1970). He won international fame with his avant-garde direction of Peter Weiss’s play Marat/Sade (1964). His films include Lord of the Flies (1962), King Lear (1969), and the six-hour Mahabharata (1989). In 1970 he cofounded, with Jean-Louis Barrault, the International Centre for Theatre Research.

Brook Farm (Institute of Agriculture and Education) Short¬ lived utopian experiment in communal living (1841—47) in West Roxbury, Mass, (near Boston), founded by George Ripley. The best known of the many utopian communities organized in the U.S. in the mid-19th century, Brook Farm was to combine the thinker and the worker, to guarantee the greatest mental freedom, and to prepare a society of liberal, cultivated persons whose lives would be more wholesome and simpler than they could be amid the pressure of competitive institutions. It is remembered for the distinguished literary figures and intellectual leaders associated with it, including Charles A. Dana, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller, Horace Greeley, James Russell Lowell, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Ralph Waldo Emerson (though not all of them were actual members). It was also noted for the modem educational theory of its excellent school. See also Oneida Community.

brook trout or speckled trout Popular freshwater game fish (Salvelinus fontinalis), a variety of char, that is valued for its flavour and its fighting qualities when hooked. The brook trout is a native of the northeastern U.S. and Canada and has been transplanted to many parts of the world. It lives in cold, clean waters and carries dark, wormlike mark¬ ings on the back and red and whitish spots on the body. The brook trout may weigh up to 6 lbs (3 kg). Some individuals migrate to large lakes or the sea and grow much larger and more silvery.

Brooke Raj (1841-1946) Dynasty of British rajas that ruled Sarawak (now a state in Malaysia) for a century. Sir James Brooke (1803-68) served with the British East India Company and fought in the first Anglo- Burmese War (1824-26) before using his family fortune to outfit a schoo¬ ner and sail for the Indies (1838). He was awarded the title of raja of Sarawak by the sultan of Brunei for helping suppress a rebellion. Brooke established a secure government on Sarawak and was succeeded by his

280 I Brooke ► Browder

nephew. Sir Charles Anthony Johnson Brooke (1829-1917), who had spent much of his life on Sarawak, knew the local language, and respected local beliefs and customs. Under him, social and economic changes were limited. His eldest son, Sir Charles Vyner de Windt Brooke (1874-1963), succeeded him and began a modernization program after World War I. He terminated Brooke rule in 1946, ceding Sarawak to Britain.

Brooke, Rupert (b. Aug. 3, 1887, Rugby, Warwickshire, Eng.—d. April 23, 1915, Skyros, Greece)

English poet. His best-known work, the sonnet sequence 1914 (1915), which includes the popular poem “The Soldier,” expresses an idealism in the face of death that is in strong contrast to later poetry of trench war¬ fare. His death at age 27 in World War I contributed to his idealized image in the interwar period.

Brooklyn Borough (pop., 2000:

2,465,326), New York, New York,

U.S. Separated from Manhattan by the East River, it is bordered to the south by the Atlantic Ocean. Brook¬ lyn is connected to Manhattan by bridges (including the Brooklyn Bridge), a vehicular tunnel, and rapid transit services. The first settlement in the area by Dutch farmers in 1636 was soon followed by other villages, including Breuckelen (1645). The Battle of Long Island was fought in Brooklyn in 1776. It became a bor¬ ough of New York City in 1898. Brooklyn is both residential and indus¬ trial and also handles considerable oceangoing traffic. Among its educational institutions is Pratt Institute. Coney Island is located there.

Brooklyn Bridge Suspension bridge built (1869-83) over the East River to link Brooklyn to Manhattan island. It was designed by the cable manufacturer John A. Roebung and his son Washington. A brilliant feat of 19th-century engineering, the bridge was the first to use steel for cable wire and the first in which explosives were used inside a pneumatic cais¬ son during construction. In 1869 John was killed in one of at least 27 fatal construction accidents; his son saw the project to completion. The bridge’s main span of 1,595 ft (486 m) was the longest in the world to date. It opened to such fanfare that within 24 hours an estimated quarter- million people crossed over it, using an elevated walkway designed to give pedestrians a dramatic view of the city.

Brooks Islands See Midway

Brooks Range Mountain range, northern Alaska, U.S. It extends about 600 mi (1,000 km) from Kotzebue Sound to the Canadian border. Its highest peak is Mount Isto, at 9,060 ft (2,760 m). Forming the northwest¬ ern end of the Rocky Mountains, it lies within Gates of the Arctic National Park. Huge reserves of oil were discovered at Prudhoe Bay, and the range is crossed at Atigun Pass by the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.