Britannica Concise 2005

from Old English thursdaeg ("Thor's day")*

Friday

from Old English frTgedaeg ("Frigg's day")*

Saturday

from Old English translation of Latin Saturni dies ("Saturn's day")

*ln translating the Latin names, the Germanic peoples sometimes substituted the names of their own gods. Thus, Martis dies ("Mars's day") became tlwesdaeg ("Tyr's day"), Mercurii dies ("Mercury's day") became wodnes- daeg ("Woden's day"), and Veneris dies ("Venus's day") became frTgedaeg ("Frigg's da/').

Months

Month

Derivation

January (31 days)

from the Roman republican calendar month Januarius, named for Janus, god of beginnings

February (28, 29

from the Roman month Februarius, named for Februa, the festi-

in leap year)

val of purification held on the 15th

March (31)

from the Roman month Martius, named for Mars

April (30)

from the Roman month Aprilis, perhaps derived from the

Greek Aphrodite (the month being sacred to her Roman equivalent, Venus), or from Latin aperire, "to open," for the unfolding of buds and blossoms

May (31)

from the Roman month Maius, probably named for the god¬ dess Maia

June (30)

from the Roman month Junius, probably named for Juno

July (31)

from the Roman month Julius (formerly Quintilis), named for

Julius Caesar in 44 BC

August (31)

from the Roman month Augustus (formerly Sextilis), named for Augustus in 8 BC

September (30)

seventh month of the early Roman republican calendar, from

Latin septem, "seven"

October (31)

eighth month of the republican calendar, from Latin ocfo,

"eight"

November (30)

ninth month of the republican calendar, from Latin novem,

"nine"

December (31)

tenth month of the republican calendar, from Latin decern,

"ten"

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Dayak ► De Forest i 519

Dayak \'dl-,ak\ Any member of a non-Muslim indigenous people of the southern and western interior of the island of Borneo. Dayak is a generic term that has no precise ethnic or tribal significance but distinguishes the indigenous people from the largely Malay population of the coastal areas. Most Dayaks are riverine people who live in small longhouse communi¬ ties. Children live with their parents until marriage, and boys, who usu¬ ally seek brides outside their own village, go to live in their wife’s community. Their subsistence economies rest on the shifting cultivation of hill rice, supplemented by fishing and hunting. They number more than two million.

Dayan \dl-'an\, Moshe (b. May 20, 1915, Deganya, Palestine—d. Oct. 16, 1981, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel) Israeli soldier and statesman. Born of Russian parents in Israel’s first kibbutz, he became a guerrilla fighter against Arab raiders during the period of the British mandate. Although jailed briefly by the British for his involvement with the Hagana organi¬ zation, he lost an eye fighting alongside British forces in Syria during World War II (1939—45). He was a commander in the Israeli army during the first Arab-Israel war (1948-49). He was army chief of staff during the Suez Crisis (1956) and later agriculture minister (1959-64). He was appointed defense minister just before the Six-Day War (1967), and the Israeli victory brought him widespread adulation; he served until 1974. He joined the Likud party government as foreign minister when it came into power in 1977 and helped broker the 1978 Camp David Accords.

Dayananda Sarasvati Xdo-'ya-non-do-.so-ros-'vo-teV orig. Mula Sankara (b. 1824, Tankara, Gujarat, India—d. Oct. 30, 1883, Ajmer, Rajputana) Hindu ascetic and social reformer. A Brahman, he rejected what he considered idol worship at age 14 after seeing mice swarm over an image of Shiva, attracted by offerings placed before it. His religious quest led him to Yoga, and, to escape an arranged marriage, he joined the ascetic Sarasvati order. He spent 15 years traveling in search of religious truth, and in 1863 he began preaching his vision of reinstating a purified Vedic religion. He debated orthodox Hindu scholars and Christian mis¬ sionaries and in 1875 founded Arya Samaj. He opposed child marriage and the ban on remarriage by widows, and he opened Vedic study to all castes.

daylight saving time System for uniformly advancing clocks, espe¬ cially in summer, so as to extend daylight hours during conventional waking time. In the Northern Hemisphere, clocks are usually set ahead one hour in late March or in April and are set back one hour in late Sep¬ tember or in October. In the U.S. and Canada, daylight saving time begins on the first Sunday in April and ends on the last Sunday in October.

daylily or day lily Any plant of the genus Hemerocallis, in the lily family, consisting of about 15 species of perennial herbaceous plants dis¬ tributed from central Europe to eastern Asia. Members have long-stalked clusters of funnel- or bell-shaped flowers that range in colour from yel¬ low to red and are each short-lived (hence “day” lily). Day lilies have fleshy roots and narrow, sword-shaped leaves that are grouped at the base of the plant. The fruit is a capsule. Some species are cultivated as orna¬ mentals or for their edible flowers and buds.

Dayr al-Bahrl or Deir al-Bahrl \'dar-el-'ba-re\ Temple site, Egypt. Located on the western bank of the Nile River near the remains of Thebes and opposite the ruins of Karnak, it encompasses the remains of three temples associated with three different Egyptian rulers: the funerary temple of King Mentuhotep II (built c. 1970 bc); a temple built by Thut- mose III (c. 1435 bc); and the terraced temple of Queen Hatshepsut (built c. 1470 bc), much of which has been restored.

Dayton City (pop., 2000: 166,179), southwestern Ohio, U.S. Settled on the Miami River in 1796 by a group of Revolutionary War veterans, it developed as a river port shipping agricultural produce. The 1829 open¬ ing of the Miami and Erie Canal between Dayton and Cincinnati and the 1851 arrival of the railroad stimulated its industrial growth. It was home to Wilbur and Orville Wright and is also their place of burial. The city is a market and distribution centre. It is the site of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (established 1946) and the Air Force Institute of Technology (1947). Home to several colleges and universities, it also has an art insti¬ tute and a symphony orchestra.

Daytona Beach Coastal city (pop., 2000: 64,112), northeastern Florida, U.S. Located south of Jacksonville, it was founded by Mathias Day in 1870 and incorporated in 1876. In 1926 the cities of Seabreeze, Daytona, and Daytona Beach were incorporated as Daytona Beach. The

Ormond-Daytona beach of hard, white sand has been used for automo¬ bile speed trials since 1903. The city is known for the Daytona Interna¬ tional Speedway.

Dazai \da-'zl\, Osamu orig. Shuji Tsushima (b. June 19, 1909, Kanagi, Aomori prefecture, Japan—d. June 13, 1948, Tokyo) Japanese novelist. At the end of World War II he emerged as the literary voice of his time, capturing the period of postwar confusion when traditional val¬ ues were discredited. The son of a wealthy landowner and politician, he often used his background as material in his fiction. Tsugaru (1944) is perhaps his best novel. His postwar works— The Setting Sun (1947), Vil¬ lon’s Wife (1947), and No Longer Human (1948)—were increasingly despairing in tone, reflecting the crisis that led to his suicide at age 38.

DC See direct current

DDT in full dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane Synthetic insecticide belonging to the family of organic halogens. In 1939 its toxicity to a wide variety of insects was discovered (by Paul Hermann Muller, who was awarded a Nobel Prize for his work) and effectively used against many disease vectors. By the 1960s, many species of insects had developed populations resistant to DDT; meanwhile, this highly stable compound was accumulating along the food chain and having toxic effects on vari¬ ous birds and fishes. During the 1960s it and similar chemicals were found to have severely reduced the populations of certain birds, including the bald eagle.

de or te Vde\ Chinese "virtue" In Daoism, the potentiality of dao that is present in all things; in Confucianism, the virtue of internal goodness and propriety. In both systems it is regarded as the active principle of dao , and it is thus the life or moral principle. In the Daodejing, de is described as the unconscious functioning of the physical self, which can live har¬ moniously with nature. Personal de is thought to flourish when one aban¬ dons ambition and the spirit of contention for a life of naturalness, leading to an awareness of the underlying unity that permeates the universe.

De Beers Consolidated Mines World’s largest producer and dis¬ tributor of diamonds. Diamonds were first discovered in southern Africa in the mid 1860s on the de Beer farm. The urban centre that resulted is now known as Kimberley. Two diamond mines dug there (no longer in operation) were at one time the world’s most productive. Cecil Rhodes bought a claim to the De Beers mine in 1871, and eventually bought claims to most of southern Africa’s diamond mines. To keep prices high and demand steady, he formed the London Diamond Syndicate in the 1890s as a means of limiting the supply of diamonds reaching the mar¬ ket. Renamed the Central Selling Organization (CSO), it came to control nearly 80% of the world diamond trade by the late 1980s. Dwindling demand caused the CSO to be replaced by the Diamond Trading Com¬ pany (DTC) in 2000. It was among the first companies in South Africa to sponsor drug treatments for its workers infected with HIV. De Beers also has interests in synthetic diamonds, minerals and ores, and in min¬ ing production and processing equipment. Through its large market share and its willingness to work with competitors, De Beers has continued to influence the price and availability of diamonds worldwide, prompting accusations that it has engaged in unfair trading practices. A controlling interest in the company is held by Anglo American PLC.

de Colmar Vdi-'kol-.marV Charles Xavier Thomas (b. 1785, Col¬ mar, Fr.—d. 1870, Paris) French mathematician. In 1820, while serving in the French army, he built his first arithmometer, which could perform basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The first mechanical calculator to gain widespread use, it became a commercial success and was still being used up to World War I.

De Forest, Lee (b. Aug. 26, 1873, Council Bluffs, Iowa, U.S.—d. June 30, 1961, Hollywood, Calif.) U.S. inventor. He had invented many gad¬ gets by age 13, including a working silverplating apparatus. After earn¬ ing a Ph.D. from Yale University, he founded the De Forest Wireless Telegraph Co. (1902) and the De Forest Radio Telephone Co. (1907). In 1907 he patented the Audion vacuum tube detector, which allowed more sensitive reception of radio signals such as his live broadcast of a perfor¬ mance by Enrico Caruso (1910). He developed a sound-on-film optical- recording system called Phonofilm and demonstrated it in theatres (1923— 27). A poor businessman who was twice defrauded by business partners, he eventually sold his patents at low prices to such firms as American Telephone & Telegraph Co., which profited highly from their commercial

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

520 I De Gasperi ► De Leon

development. Though embittered, he was widely honoured as the father of radio and the grandfather of television.

De Gasperi \da-gas-'pa-re\, Alcide (b. April 3, 1881, Pieve Tesino, near Trento, Tyrol, Austria-Hungary—d. Aug. 19, 1954, Sella di Valsug- ana, Italy) Italian prime minister (1945-53). He served in the Austrian parliament (1911-19) and sought the annexation of his native region of Tyrol to Italy. He later served in the Italian parliament (1921-27) as one of the founders of the Italian Popular Party. After 16 months’ imprison¬ ment as an antifascist, he became a Vatican librarian in 1929. In World War II he was active in the Resistance, and after the fall of the fascist regime he became leader of the newly formed Christian Democratic Party. As prime minister (1945-53), he enacted a new constitution, instituted land reform, and oversaw Italy’s postwar economic reconstruction. Under his leadership Italy joined NATO, and he helped organize the Council of Europe and the European Coal and Steel Community.

de Gaulle, Charles (-Andre-Marie-Joseph) (b. Nov. 22, 1890, Lille, France—d. Nov. 9, 1970, Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises) French sol¬ dier, statesman, and architect of France’s Fifth Republic. He joined the army in 1913 and fought with distinction in World War I. He was promoted to the staff of the supreme war council in 1925. In 1940 he was promoted to brigadier general and served briefly as undersecretary of state for defense under Paul Reynaud. After the fall of France to the Germans, he left for England and started the Free French movement. Devoted to France and dedicated to its liberation, he moved to Algiers in 1943 and became president of the French Committee of National Liberation, at first jointly with Henri-Honore Giraud. After the liberation of Paris, he returned and headed two provisional governments, then resigned in 1946. He opposed the Fourth Republic, and in 1947 he formed the Rally of the French People (RPF), but severed his connections with it in 1953. He retired from pub¬ lic life and wrote his memoirs. When an insurrection in Algeria threat¬ ened to bring civil war to France, he returned to power in 1958, as prime minister with powers to reform the constitution. That same year he was elected president of the new Fifth Republic, which ensured a strong presi¬ dency. He ended the Algerian War and transformed France’s African ter¬ ritories into 12 independent states. He withdrew France from NATO, and his policy of neutrality during the Vietnam War was seen by many as anti- Americanism. He began a policy of detente with Iron Curtain countries and traveled widely to form a bond with French-speaking countries. After the civil unrest of May 1968 by students and workers, he was defeated in a referendum on constitutional amendments and resigned in 1969.

De Grey River \do-'gra\ River, northwestern Western Australia. It rises as the Oakover River in the Robertson Range and flows north. Midway in its course, it turns northwest to join the Nullagine River and becomes the De Grey, continuing 118 mi (190 km) to the Indian Ocean. In 1888 the rich Pilbara goldfield attracted many settlers to the river’s valley. The river supports pastureland for the grazing of sheep and cattle.

De Havilland, Sir Geoffrey (b. July 27, 1882, Haslemere, Surrey, Eng.—d. May 21, 1965, Watford, Hertfordshire) British aircraft designer and manufacturer. In 1910 he built and flew an airplane with a 50-horsepower engine. He formed his own company in 1920 and built the commercially successful two-seater Moth. In World War II the twin- engined Mosquito was the company’s most successful product. After the war he pioneered the manufacture of jet-propelled airplanes with his Comet passenger jet and Vampire and Venom jet fighters.

de Havilland \d9-'ha-v3-bnd\, Olivia (Mary) (b. July 1, 1916, Tokyo, Japan) U.S. film actress. Born to British parents, she was raised in California. She made her film debut in 1935 and played the delicate heroine opposite Errol Flynn in swashbucklers such as Captain Blood (1935) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). She revealed dramatic depth in Gone with the Wind (1939), To Each His Own (1946, Academy Award), The Snake Pit (1948), and The Heiress (1949, Academy Award). Her victory in a landmark lawsuit against Warner Brothers (1945) limited actors’ contracts to seven years, including suspension periods. She moved to Paris in 1955 and made only rare film appearances thereafter.

de Klerk \do-'klerk\, F(rederik) W(illem) (b. March 18, 1936, Johannesburg, S.Af.) President of South Africa (1989-94). He brought the apartheid system to an end and negotiated a transition to majority rule. Replacing P.W. Botha as leader of the National Party and president, de Klerk quickly moved to release all important political prisoners, includ¬ ing Nelson Mandela, and to lift the ban on the African National Congress. He and Mandela jointly received the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize. Following

the country’s first universal suffrage elections in 1994, Mandela became president and de Klerk was appointed second deputy president. He retired from politics in 1997.

de Kooning, Willem (b. April 24, 1904, Rotterdam, Neth.—d. March 19, 1997, East Hampton, N.Y., U.S.) Dutch-born U.S. painter. He stud¬ ied art in Rotterdam and entered the U.S. as a stowaway in 1926. Settling in Hoboken, N.J., he supported himself as a house painter before moving to New York City, where he came under the influence of Arshile Gorky. He supported himself by working for the WPA Federal Art Project. In the 1930s and ’40s his work was both figurative and abstract; the two ten¬ dencies eventually fused in images that combined biomorphic and geo¬ metric shapes. In the 1940s he became one of the leading exponents of Abstract Expressionism and particularly of action painting. Among his best- known works is a series of deliberately vulgar images of women done with roughly applied pigment and raw colours (e.g., Woman /, 1950-52; Woman and Bicycle, 1953). In 1963 he moved to East Hampton; in his later years he produced clay sculpture that was cast into bronze.

de la Mare, Walter (John) (b. April 25, 1873, Charlton, Kent, Eng.—d. June 22, 1956, Twickenham, Middlesex) British poet and nov¬ elist. De la Mare was of French Huguenot descent. He was educated in London and worked for the Standard Oil Co. (1890-1908) before turn¬ ing to writing, initially under the pseudonym Walter Ramal. He wrote for both adults and children. His collection Come Hither (1923) was espe¬ cially highly praised. Memoirs of a Midget (1921) was his best-known novel. His Collected Stories for Children appeared in 1947.

de la Renta, Oscar (b. July 22, 1932, Santo Domingo, Dorn.Rep.) Dominican-born U.S. fashion designer. After studies in Santo Domingo and Madrid, he became staff designer for Cristobal Balenciaga in Madrid. He moved to New York City in 1962 and started his own company to produce women’s ready-to-wear fashions. In 1973 he founded Oscar de la Renta Couture and expanded into household linens, menswear, and perfumes. In the 1970s he introduced the ethnic look with “Gypsy” and Russian themes; more recently he has produced romantic evening clothes in taffeta, chiffon, velvet, brocade, and fur. From 1993 to 2002 he designed couture for the house of Pierre Balmain.

de la Roche Vdo-la-'roshX, Mazo (b. Jan. 15, 1879, Newmarket, Ont., Can.—d. July 12, 1961, Toronto) Canadian author. She is best known for a series of novels centred on the Whiteoak family of Jalna, an estate in her native Ontario. These sagas of the family’s history, more popular in the U.S. and Europe than in Canada, were the basis of a film, Jalna (1935), and a play, Whiteoaks (1936). She also wrote children’s stories, travel books, drama, and an autobiography.

De La Warr Vde-b-.warX, Thomas West, 12th Baron or Baron Delaware (b. July 9, 1577—d. June 7, 1618, at sea off the coast of Virginia or New England) English founder of Virginia. After serving under the earl of Essex in the Netherlands and Ireland, he became a member of the Virginia Company and was appointed governor of the colony in 1610. He and 150 settlers arrived at Jamestown as another group was abandon¬ ing it. He established two forts at the mouth of the James River and rebuilt Jamestown. Delaware Bay, the Delaware River, and the state of Delaware were named for him.

De Laurentiis \da-laii-'ren-tes,\ English V.de-lor-'en-shosV Dino (b. Aug. 8, 1919, Torre Annunziata, Italy) Italian-U.S. film producer. He pro¬ duced his first film at age 20 and scored his first hit with Bitter Rice (1948). He formed a joint production company with Carlo Ponti and produced films such as Federico Fellini’s La strada (1954, Academy Award) and The Nights of Cabiria (1956, Academy Award). In the early 1960s he built a studio, Dinocitta, where he made several epics; their lack of success forced him to sell the studio in the early 1970s. He then moved to the U.S., where he produced films such as Serpico (1973), Ragtime (1981), and Hannibal (2001).

De Leon, Daniel (b. Dec. 14, 1852, Curasao, Netherlands Antilles—d. May 11, 1914, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Dutch-born U.S. socialist. Arriv¬ ing in the U.S. in 1874, he joined joined the Socialist Labor Party in 1890 and soon became one of its leaders. Finding the labour-union leadership insufficiently radical, he led a faction that seceded from the Knights of Labor in 1895, later forming the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance (STLA). In 1905 he helped found the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), which absorbed the STLA. In 1908 he was refused a seat at the IWW convention by extremists who rejected political activity of the sort

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

de Man ► Dead Sea Scrolls I 521

he advocated and who favoured more violent tactics. He then created the unsuccessful Workers’ International Industrial Union.

de Man Xdo-'manV Paul (b. Dec. 6, 1919, Antwerp, Belg.—d. Dec. 21, 1983, New Haven, Conn., U.S.) Belgian-born U.S. literary critic. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1947, attended Harvard University, and in 1970 joined the faculty at Yale University, where he remained the rest of his life. His groundbreaking Blindness and Insight (1971) made Yale the American centre for deconstructive literary criticism (see deconstruction). His other works include Allegories of Reading (1979), The Rhetoric of Romanticism (1984), and Aesthetic Ideology (1988). His reputation was undermined with the posthumous revelation of his wartime anti-Semitic writings for the pro-Nazi Belgian newspaper Le Soir.

de Mille \da-'mil\, Agnes (George) (b. Sept. 18, 1905, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Oct. 7, 1993, New York City) U.S. dancer and choreog¬ rapher. She graduated from UCLA, moved back to New York, and soon was touring the U.S. with her own mime-dance concerts (1929-40). In her choreographed works for Ballet Theatre (later American Ballet Theatre), she made innovative use of American themes, folk dances, and idioms; in Rodeo (1942) she used tap dance for the first time in a ballet. She cho¬ reographed many Broadway musicals, including Oklahoma! (1943), Car¬ ousel (1945), Brigadoon (1947), and Paint Your Wagon (1951), and she wrote several books on dance and an autobiography.

De Niro \d9-'nir-o\, Robert (b. Aug. 17, 1943, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. film actor. He made his debut in 1968 and played in minor films until his critically acclaimed performance in Bang the Drum Slowly (1973). He starred in Mean Streets (1973) and other films directed by Martin Scorsese, including Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980, Acad¬ emy Award), and GoodFellas (1990). Noted for his intensely committed performances, he also starred in The Godfather, Part II (1974, Academy Award), The Deer Hunter (1978), Once upon a Time in America (1984), Heat (1997), and Meet the Parents (2000). He directed his first film, A Bronx Tale, in 1993.

De Quincey, Thomas (b. Aug. 15, 1785, Manchester, Lancashire, Eng.—d. Dec. 8, 1859, Edinburgh, Scot.) English essayist and critic. While a student at Oxford he first took opium to relieve the pain of facial neuralgia. He became a lifelong addict, an experience that inspired his best-known work, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1822), whose highly poetic and imaginative prose has made it an enduring masterpiece of English style. As a critic he is best known for the essay “On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth” (1823).

De Sica Xdo-'se-koV, Vittorio (b. July 7, 1901, Sora, Italy—d. Nov. 13, 1974, Paris, France) Italian film director and actor. He joined an acting company in 1923 and soon became a matinee idol. He appeared on screen as a leading man in a series of light comedies, and he excelled in a dra¬ matic role in Roberto Rossellini’s General della Rovere (1959). He directed his first film in 1940 and, working with screenwriter Cesare Zavattini, made a major contribution to the Neorealism of the postwar Italian cin¬ ema with Shoeshine (1946, Academy Award) and The Bicycle Thief ( 1948, Academy Award). His later films include Umberto D. (1952), Two Women (1961), Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (1963, Academy Award), and The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1971, Academy Award).

De Stijl See De Stijl

de Valera V.dev-o-'ler-oV, Eamon orig. Edward de Valera (b. Oct.

14, 1882, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d.

Aug. 29, 1975, Dublin, Ire.) Irish politician and patriot. Bom in the U.S. to a Spanish father and an Irish mother, at age two he was sent to live with his mother’s family in Ireland when his father died. In 1913 he joined the Irish Volunteers and in 1916 helped lead the rebels in the Easter Rising. He was elected presi¬ dent of Sinn Fein in 1918. Repudiat¬ ing the treaty that formed the Irish Free State because it provided for the partition of Ireland, he supported the republican resistance in the ensuing civil war. In 1924 he founded Fianna

Fail, which won the 1932 elections. As prime minister (1932-48), he took the Irish Free State out of the British Commonwealth and made his coun¬ try a “sovereign” state, renamed Ireland, or Eire. He proclaimed Ireland neutral in World War II. After twice serving again as prime minister (1951-54, 1957-59), he became president of Ireland (1959-73).

de Valois \d3-val-'wa\, Dame Ninette orig. Edris Stannus (b.

June 6, 1898, Blessington, Co. Wicklow, Ire.—d. March 8, 2001, Lon¬ don, Eng.) Irish-born British dancer, choreographer, and founder of the precursor to the Royal Ballet. She appeared in revues and pantomimes from 1914 before joining the Ballets Russes as a soloist in 1923. She founded the Academy of Choreographic Art in 1926 to teach movement to actors and cofounded the Camargo Society in 1930. In 1931 she founded and directed the Vic-Wells Ballet; this became the Sadler’s Wells Ballet (1946-56) and later the Royal Ballet (1956), which she directed until 1963. She choreographed many ballets in the 1930s and ’40s and remained active with the company until 1971.

De Voto \di -'vo-to\, Bernard (Augustine) (b. Jan. 11, 1897, Ogden, Utah, U.S.—d. Nov. 13, 1955, New York, N.Y.) U.S. journalist, historian, and critic. De Voto taught at Northwestern and Harvard universities, briefly edited The Saturday Review (1936-38), and wrote a column for Harper’s (1935-55). Known for his works on American literature and the history of the western frontier as well as for his vigorous, outspoken style, he was one of the most widely read critics and historians of his day. Among his nonfiction works are Mark Twain’s America (1932), Across the Wide Missouri (1948, Pulitzer Prize), and The Course of Empire

(1952).

de Vries \do-'vres\, Hugo (Marie) (b. Feb. 16, 1848, Haarlem, Neth.—d. May 21, 1935, near Amsterdam) Dutch botanist and geneticist. He taught at the University of Amsterdam (1878-1918), where he intro¬ duced the experimental study of organic evolution. His rediscovery in 1900 (simultaneously with Carl Erich Correns and Erich Tschermak von Seysenegg) of Gregor Mendel’s principles of heredity and his own theory of biological mutation explained concepts about the nature of variation of species that made possible the universal acceptance and active investiga¬ tion of Charles Darwin’s theory of organic evolution. De Vries discovered and named the phenomenon known as mutation, and he also contributed to knowledge of the role of osmosis in plant physiology. See also William Bateson.

de Wolfe, Elsie orig. Ella Anderson de Wolfe (b. Dec. 20, 1865, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. July 12, 1950, Versailles, Fr.) U.S. interior designer. A New York City socialite, she worked as a professional actress (1890-1904) before becoming a designer. Her design principles of sim¬ plicity, airiness, and visual unity helped change the fashion of interior design away from Victorian ornamentation. She was the first female pro¬ fessional interior designer in the U.S. She spent much of her life in France as a noted hostess. During World War I she nursed soldiers; she received the Croix de Guerre for her relief work.

DEA See Drug Enforcement Administration

Dead Sea Arabic Al-Bahr al-Mayyit Hebrew Yam Ha Melah ancient Lacus Asphaltites Landlocked salt lake between Israel and Jordan. The lowest body of water on Earth, it averages about 1,312 ft (400 m) below sea level. It is 50 mi (80 km) long and up to 11 mi (18 km) wide. Its eastern shore is Jordanian, while the southern half of its western shore is Israeli; the northern half of the western shore is within the West Bank, occupied by Israel since the Six- Day War (1967). The Dead Sea lies between Judaea to the west and the Transjordanian plateaus to the east; the Jordan River flows in from the north. It has been associated with biblical history since the time of Abraham.

Dead Sea Scrolls Caches of ancient, mostly Hebrew, manuscripts found at several sites on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea (1947- 56). The writings date from between the 3rd century bc and the 2nd cen¬ tury ad and total 800-900 manuscripts in 15,000 fragments. Many scholars believe that those deposited in 11 caves near the ruins of Qum- ran belonged to a sectarian community whom most scholars believe were Essenes, though other scholars suggest Sadducees or Zealots. The commu¬ nity rejected the rest of the Jewish people and saw the world as sharply divided between good and evil. They cultivated a communal life of ritual purity, called the “Union,” led by a messianic “Teacher of Righteousness.” The Dead Sea Scrolls as a whole represent a wider spectrum of Jewish belief and may have been the contents of libraries from Jerusalem hid-

De Valera, c. 1965

COURTESY OF THE IRISH EMBASSY; PHOTOGRAPH, LENSMEN LTD. PRESS PHOTO AGENCY, DUBLIN

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

522 I deafness ► Debre

den during the war of ad 66-73. They also cast new light on the emer¬ gence of Christianity and the relationship of early Christian and Jewish religious traditions. See also Damascus Document.

deafness Partial or total inability to hear. In conduction deafness, the passage of sound vibrations through the ear is interrupted. The obstacle may be earwax, a ruptured eardrum, or stapes fixation, which prevents the stapes bone from transmitting sound vibrations to the inner ear. In senso¬ rineural deafness, a defect in the sensory cells of the inner ear (e.g., injury by excessive noise) or in the vestibulocochlear or eighth cranial nerves prevents the transmission of sound impulses to the auditory centre in the brain. Some deaf people are helped by hearing aids or cochlear implants; others can learn to communicate with sign language and/or lip reading.

Deak \'de-ak\, Ferenc (b. Oct. 17, 1803, Sojtor, Hung., Austrian Empire—d. Jan. 28/29, 1876, Budapest) Hungarian politician. He entered the Hungarian Diet in 1833, becoming a leader of the reform movement for the political emancipation of Hungary. Appointed minister of justice in 1848, he was the principal author of the reforming “April laws.” In the 1860s he put forth Hungary’s conditions for reconciliation with Austria in terms that led to the Compromise of 1867, establishing the dual mon¬ archy of Austria-Hungary, and he helped to complete the legislation deriv¬ ing from the Compromise.

Dean, Dizzy orig. Jay Hanna Dean (b. Jan. 16, 1911, Lucas, Ark., U.S.—d. July 17, 1974, Reno, Nev.) U.S. baseball pitcher. Dean joined the St. Louis Cardinals in 1932, and in five seasons with them led the National League four times in complete games and four times in strike¬ outs. In 1937 he teamed with his brother Paul (nicknamed “Daffy”) to pitch the Cardinals to a World Series victory; he won 30 games and lost 7 that year and remains the last 30-game winner in the National League. He developed arm trouble the same year and never fully regained his form. He ended his career with the Chicago Cubs after being traded for the 1938 season. He was known for his colourful personality, which, after his retire¬ ment at age 30, served him well as a broadcaster.

Dean, James (Byron) (b. Feb. 8, 1931, Marion, Ind., U.S.—d. Sept. 30, 1955, near Paso Robles, Calif.)

U.S. film actor. He played bit parts in four films before trying the Broad¬ way stage, where his role in The Immoralist (1954) led to a screen test and a brilliant though brief movie career. His starring role in East of Eden (1955) brought him an Acad¬ emy Award nomination. As a misun¬ derstood teenager in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) he personified the con¬ fused and restless youth of the 1950s. He was featured as a noncon¬ formist ranch hand in his last film.

Giant (1956). His death at age 24 in an automobile crash caused anguish among his fans and contributed to his idolization as a cult figure.

Dean, John Wesley, III (b. Oct.

14, 1938, Akron, Ohio, U.S.) U.S. lawyer and White House counsel. He received a law degree from Georgetown University in 1965. In 1970 he was appointed White House counsel by Pres. Richard Nixon. In 1972 Nixon asked Dean to investigate whether White House personnel were involved in the Watergate Hotel break-in (see Watergate scandal). Dean refused to issue a proposed fictitious report denying a cover-up. When indications of White House involvement grew stronger, he began telling federal investi¬ gators what he knew. Nixon fired him in April 1973; two months later Dean testified before a Senate committee about obstruction of justice by White House officials, including the president. He spent four months in prison for his role in the Watergate cover-up. His revelations contributed to Nixon’s decision to resign in 1974.

Deane, Silas (b. Dec. 24, 1737, Groton, Conn.—d. Sept. 23, 1789, at sea near Deal, Kent, Eng.) U.S. diplomat. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, which in 1776 secretly sent him to France to obtain financial and military assistance. The shiploads of arms he secured con¬ tributed to the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga. In 1777 he, Benjamin Franklin, and Arthur Lee negotiated treaties of commerce and

alliance with France. Lee later insinuated that Deane had embezzled money; though the allegations were never proved, they ruined Deane’s reputation.

Dearborn City (pop., 2000: 97,775), southeastern Michigan, U.S. Settled in 1795, it originated as a stagecoach stop between Detroit and Chicago. It was the birthplace of Henry Ford and the headquarters of the Ford Motor Co. Industrial development began with the building of the Ford assembly plant in 1917 and continued with related automotive indus¬ tries. It was incorporated as a city in 1927.

Dearborn, Henry (b. Feb. 23,1751, Hampton, N.H.—d. June 6, 1829, Roxbury, Mass., U.S.) U.S. army officer and secretary of war (1801-09). He fought in the American Revolution and later was appointed marshal for the District of Maine (1789-93). He represented Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives (1793-97), was secretary of war under Pres. Thomas Jefferson, and ordered the establishment of Fort Dearborn at “Chikago” in 1803. In the War of 1812, he commanded several failed attempts to invade Canada and was later recalled by Pres. James Madison.

death penalty See capital punishment

Death Valley Valley, southeastern California, U.S. The lowest, hottest, driest portion of North America, it is about 140 mi (225 km) long and 5-15 mi (8-24 km) wide. The Amargosa River flows into it from the south and contains a small pool, Badwater, near which is the lowest point in North America at 282 ft (86 m) below sea level. Death Valley was for¬ merly an obstacle to pioneer settlers (hence its name); it later was a cen¬ tre of borax mining. Declared a national monument in 1933, it was made a national park in 1994; the park covers 5,269 sq mi (13,648 sq km) and extends into Nevada.

deathwatch beetle Borer insect (beetle species Xestobium refuvillo- sum ) that tends to be small (less than 0.5 in., or 1-9 mm) and cylindrical.

When disturbed, it usually pulls in its legs and plays dead. It makes a tick¬ ing or clicking sound by bumping its head or jaws against the sides of the tunnels it creates as it bores into old furniture and wood, a sound that, according to superstition, forecasts a death.

DeBakey \da-'ba-ke\, Michael (Ellis) (b. Sept. 7, 1908, Lake Charles, La., U.S.) U.S. surgeon. He received his M.D. from Tulane Uni¬ versity. In 1932 he devised the “roller pump,” to be used in heart- lung machines. His work with the U.S. Surgeon General’s office led to the development of mobile army sur¬ gical hospitals (MASH units). He also developed an efficient method of grafting frozen blood vessels to correct aortic aneurysms and pioneered the use of plastic tubing instead of grafts (1956). He was the first to per¬ form a successful coronary artery bypass, and in 1963 he was the first to insert a mechanical device into the chest to assist the heart. He edited the Yearbook of Surgery (1958-70). His many awards include the Medal of Freedom.

deble Vdyeb-la, 'deb-la\ Wooden female figure carved by the Senufo people of West Africa. It was used as a “rhythm pounder” in dance ritu¬ als to promote the fertility of the soil. The Poro (or Lo) male secret soci¬ ety held the figures by the upper arms and pounded them on the ground to keep the rhythm as they performed the fertility dance. The figures were also placed in the fields during digging contests.

Deborah (fl. 12th century bc) Prophet and heroine of the Hebrew scrip¬ tures. Her story is told in the book of Judges. With her general, Barak, she is credited with defeating the Canaanite armies led by Sisera. The Israelite victory over the Canaanites, which was aided by a thunderstorm that Israel saw as the coming of God from Mount Sinai, was celebrated in the “Song of Deborah” (Judges 5), possibly the earliest portion of the Bible.

Debre \d3-'bra\, Michel (-Jean-Pierre) (b. Jan. 15, 1912, Paris, France—d. Aug. 2, 1996, Montlouis-sur-Loire) French politician. He began his career in civil service and advanced steadily. In World War II he escaped from German imprisonment to join the Resistance, working in the

James Dean in G/anf(1956).

© 1956 GIANT PRODUCTIONS, COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.; PHOTOGRAPH, CULVER PICTURES

Deathwatch beetle (Xestobium refuvillo- sum)

G. E. HYDE FROM THE NATURAL HISTORY PHOTOGRAPHIC AGENCY-EB INC.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Debrecen ► Decatur I 523

underground in German-occupied France. In 1945 he joined Charles de Gaulle’s provisional government and later served in the senate (1948-58). He was the principal author of the constitution of the Fifth Republic and its first premier (1959-62). He served in the National Assembly (1963-68), then in various cabinet posts, including minister of defense (1969-73).

Debrecen \'de-bret-,sen\ City (pop., 2001: 211,034), eastern Hungary. An important city in eastern Hungary, it has long been a market centre and a religious, political, and cultural arena. Chartered in the 14th cen¬ tury, it became prominent during and after the Turkish occupation. Hun¬ gary’s short-lived independence from the Habsburgs was proclaimed there in 1849; the city later reverted to Austrian control. During World War II it was briefly the seat of the interim Hungarian government. The Great Reformed Church and Lajos Kossuth University (1912) are located there.

Debs, Eugene V(ictor) (b. Nov. 5, 1855, Terre Haute, Ind., U.S.—d. Oct. 20, 1926, Elmhurst, Ill.) U.S. labour organizer. Debs left home at age 14 to work in the railroad shops.

As a locomotive fireman, he became an early advocate of industrial union¬ ism, and he became president of the American Railway Union in 1893.

His involvement in the Pullman Strike led to a six-month prison term in 1895. In 1898 he helped found the U.S. Socialist Party; he would run as its presidential candidate five times (1900-20). In 1905 he helped found the Industrial Workers of the World.

Debs was charged with sedition in 1918 after denouncing the 1917 Espionage Act; he conducted his last presidential campaign from prison, winning 915,000 votes before being released by presidential order in

debt Something owed. Anyone having borrowed money or goods from another owes a debt and is under obligation to return the goods or repay the money, usually with interest. For governments, the need to borrow in order to finance a deficit budget has led to the development of various forms of national debt. See also bankruptcy; debtor and creditor; usury.

debtor and creditor Respectively, a person who owes a debt and a person to whom the debt is owed. Usually the debtor has received some¬ thing from the creditor, in return for which the debtor has promised to make repayment at a later time. If the debtor fails to repay by the dead¬ line, a formal collection process may commence. It is sometimes possible to attach the debtor’s property, wages, or bank account as a means of forcing payment. Imprisonment of the debtor is a practice no longer fol¬ lowed. See also garnishment, lien.

Debussy \,de-byu-'se\, (Achille-) Claude (b. Aug. 22, 1862, Saint- Germain-en-Laye, France—d.

March 25, 1918, Paris) French com¬ poser. Born into near poverty, he showed an early gift for the piano.

He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1873, and soon thereafter he was employed as pianist by Nadezhda von Meek, Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s patroness. Influenced by the Symbol¬ ist poets and Impressionist painters, he was early inclined toward a com¬ positional style of great originality, shunning the strictures of traditional counterpoint and harmony to achieve new effects of great subtlety.

Regarded as the founder of musical Impressionism, he used unusual voice leading and timbral colours to evoke pictorial images and moods, espe¬ cially of languor and hedonism. His significance in weakening the hold of traditional tonal harmony equals that of Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner,

and Arnold Schoenberg. Given his effect on such composers as Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Bela Bartok, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, and Pierre Boulez, he can be seen as the most influential French composer of the last three centuries. His works include the opera Pelleas et Melisande (1902), the orchestral works Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun (1894) and La Mer (1905), and the piano Preludes (1910, 1913).

Debye \d3-'bl\, Peter orig. Petrus Josephus Wilhelmus Debije

(b. March 24, 1884, Maastricht, Neth.—d. Nov. 2, 1966, Ithaca, N.Y., U.S.) Dutch-born U.S. physical chemist. His first important research, on electric dipole moments, advanced knowledge of the arrangement of atoms in molecules and of the distances between atoms. He showed that X-ray crystallography worked on powders, obviating the difficult first step of preparing good crystals. In 1923 he and Erich Huckel extended Svante Arrhenius’s theory of the dissociation of salts in solution, proving that ion¬ ization is complete. He also investigated light scattering in gases. He won the Nobel Prize in 1936.

Decadents Group of poets of the end of the 19th century, including some French Symbolists (see Symbolist movement), notably Stephane Mal- larme and Paul Verlaine, and the later generation of England’s Aesthetic movement (see Aestheticism), notably Arthur Symons and Oscar Wilde. Many nonpoets, including the novelist Joris-Karl Huysmans and the artist Aubrey Beardsley, are also often associated with the Decadents. The Deca¬ dents emphasized art for art’s sake (see Walter Pater), seeing it as autono¬ mous and opposed to nature and to the materialistic preoccupations of industrialized society, and therefore stressed the bizarre, incongruous, and artificial in both their work and their lives.

Decansky, Stefan See Stefan Decansky

decapod Any of more than 8,000 species (order Decapoda) of crusta¬ ceans having five pairs of legs attached to the thorax. The shrimps and shrimplike species, which can be as small as 0.5 in. (12 mm) long, have a slender body with a long abdomen, a well-developed fantail, and, often, long, slender legs. The crabs and crablike species, whose claw span can measure 13 ft (4 m), have a flattened body and, frequently, stout short legs and a reduced tail fan. Decapods are primarily marine and are most abundant in shallow tropical waters, but they are commercially valuable throughout the world. Some species (e.g., hermit and fiddler crabs) are adapted to terrestrial environments. See also crab; crayfish; lobster; shrimp.

Decapolis \di-'ka-p3-lis\ League of 10 ancient Greek cities, including Damascus, in eastern Palestine. It was formed after the Roman conquest in 63 bc for mutual protection against their Semitic neighbors. The name also denotes the roughly contiguous territory formed by these cities, all but one of which lay east of the Jordan River. Subject to the Roman gov¬ ernor of Syria, the league survived until the 2nd century ad.

DeCarava, Roy (b. Dec. 9, 1919, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. pho¬ tographer. He took up photography in the late 1940s. In 1952 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in support of his project to photograph the people of his native Harlem. Many of these photos were compiled in the book The Sweet Flypaper of Life (1955), with text written by the poet Langston Hughes. DeCarava’s interest in education led him to found A Photographer’s Gallery—which sought to educate the public about photography—in 1955 and an association of African American photogra¬ phers in 1963. He is perhaps best known for his portraits of jazz musi¬ cians.

decathlon Composite athletic contest that consists of 10 different track- and-field competitions: the 100-, 400-, and 1,500-m runs, the 110-m high hurdles, the javelin and discus throws, shot put, pole vault, high jump, and long jump. Introduced as a three-day event at the 1912 Olympic Games, it later became a two-day event. Competitors are scored according to a table established by the International Amateur Athletic Federation. Decathletes are often regarded as the finest all-around athletes in the world.

Decatur \di-'ka-tor\ City (pop., 2000: 81,860), central Illinois, U.S. Situ¬ ated on the Sangamon River east of Springfield, it was founded in 1829. In 1860 it was the site of Abraham Lincoln’s first endorsement by a party convention for the presidential nomination. It is a commercial centre for the surrounding agricultural region. Industries include the processing of com and soybeans and the manufacture of tractors and other vehicles.

Decatur Ndi-'ka-torX, Stephen (b. Jan. 5, 1779, Sinepuxent, Md., U.S.—d. March 22, 1820, Bladensburg, Md.) U.S. naval officer. He

Eugene V. Debs.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C.

Claude Debussy, painting by Marcel Baschet, 1884; in the Versailles Museum.

GIRAUDON/ART RESOURCE, NEW YORK

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

524 I Deccan ► decolonization

entered the navy in 1798. In the Tripolitan War, he led a daring expedi¬ tion into the harbour of Tripoli to burn a captured U.S. ship. In the War of 181 2 he commanded the USS United States and captured the British ship Macedonian. In 1815 he commanded a squadron in the Mediterra¬ nean that forced a peace with the Barbary states on U.S. terms. At a ban¬ quet on his return he gave a toast that included the words “Our country, right or wrong.” In the same year he was made a navy commissioner, an office he held until he was killed in a duel.

Deccan Peninsula of India south of the Narmada River. It is marked by the tableland between the Western and Eastern Ghats ranges. Its average elevation is about 2,000 ft (600 m). Its principal rivers, the Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri (Cauvery), flow from the Western Ghats eastward to the Bay of Bengal. Its early inhabitants were a Dravidian-speaking popu¬ lation not reached by the 2nd-millennium-BC Aryan invasion. Ruled by Mauryan (4th-2nd centuries bc) and Gupta (4th-6th centuries ad) dynas¬ ties, it became an independent Muslim kingdom in 1347. Later split up into five Muslim sultanates, the Deccan was largely conquered by the Mughal dynasty in the 17th century. In the 18th century it was the scene of rivalry between the British and French and subsequently of the British struggle against the Maratha confederacy. It remained under British con¬ trol until India gained independence in 1947.

Decembrist revolt (December 1825) Unsuccessful uprising by Rus¬ sian revolutionaries. Following the death of Alexander I, a group of lib¬ eral members of the upper classes and military officers staged a rebellion in an effort to prevent the accession of Nicholas I. The poorly organized revolt was easily suppressed. Afterwards 289 Decembrists were tried; five were executed, 31 imprisoned, and the rest banished to Siberia. Their martyrdom inspired later generations of Russian dissidents.

decibel (dB) Unit for measuring the relative intensities of sounds or the relative amounts of acoustic or electric power. Because it requires about a tenfold increase in power for a sound to register twice as loud to the human ear, a logarithmic scale is useful for comparing sound intensity. Thus, the threshold of human hearing (absolute silence) is assigned the value of 0 dB and each increase of 10 dB corresponds to a tenfold increase in intensity and a doubling in loudness. The “threshold of pain” for inten¬ sity varies from 120 to 130 dB among different individuals. A related unit is the bel = 10 dB.

Nonlinear (Decibel) and Linear (Intensity) Scales

Decibels

Intensity*

Type of sound

130

10

artillery fire at close proximity (threshold of pain)

120

1

amplified rock music; near jet engine

no

10 -'

loud orchestral music, in audience

100

10 2

electric saw

90

10- 3

bus or truck interior

80

10- 4

automobile interior

70

10- 5

average street noise; loud telephone bell

60

10- 6

normal conversation; business office

50

10- 7

restaurant; private office

40

10" 8

quiet room in home

30

10- 9

quiet lecture hall; bedroom

20

10 - 1 °

radio, television, or recording studio

10

10 -"

soundproof room

0

10-' 2

absolute silence (threshold of hearing)

*ln watts per square meter.

deciduous tree Broad-leaved tree that sheds all its leaves during one season. Deciduous forests are found in three middle-latitude regions with a temperate climate characterized by a winter season and year-round pre¬ cipitation: eastern North America, western Eurasia, and northeastern Asia. They also extend into more arid regions along stream banks and around bodies of water. Oaks, beeches, birches, chestnuts, aspens, elms, maples, and basswoods (or lindens) are the dominant trees in mid-latitude deciduous forests. Other plants that shed their leaves seasonally may also be called deciduous. See also conifer, evergreen.

decision theory In statistics and related subfields of philosophy, the theory and method of formulating and solving general decision problems. Such a problem is specified by a set of possible states of the environment or possible initial conditions; a set of available experiments and a set of

possible outcomes for each experiment, giving information about the state of affairs preparatory to making a decision; a set of available acts depend¬ ing on the experiments made and their consequences; and a set of pos¬ sible consequences of the acts, in which each possible act assigns to each possible initial state some particular consequence. The problem is dealt with by assessing probabilities of consequences conditional on different choices of experiments and acts and by assigning a utility function to the set of consequences according to some scheme of value or preference of the decision maker. An optimal solution consists of an optimal decision function, which assigns to each possible experiment an optimal act that maximizes the utility, or value, and a choice of an optimal experiment. See also cost-benefit analysis, game theory.

Decius \'de-shos\, Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus (b. c. 201, Budalia, Pannonia Inferior—d. June 251, Abrittus, Moesia) Roman emperor (249-251). Of uncertain origins, he served as senator, consul, and provincial military commander before taking the throne from Philip the Arabian. He resisted the Gothic invasion of Moesia and instituted the first organized persecution of Christians throughout the empire (250), which only served to strengthen the Christian cause. He ended the per¬ secutions in 251, shortly before he was defeated and killed by the Goths.

Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776) Document approved by the Continental Congress that announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Britain. The armed conflict during the American Revolution gradually convinced the colonists that separation from Britain was essential. Several colonies instructed their delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence. On June 7, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia offered a resolution for independence. The congress appointed Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sher¬ man, and Robert R. Livingston to draft a declaration. Jefferson was per¬ suaded to write the draft, which was presented with few changes on June 28. It began with a declaration of individual rights and then listed the acts of tyranny by George III that formed the justification for seeking inde¬ pendence. After debate and changes to accommodate regional interests, including deletion of a condemnation of slavery, it was approved on July 4 as “The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America.” It was signed by Congress president John Hancock, printed, and read aloud to a crowd assembled outside, then engrossed (written in script) on parchment and signed by the 56 delegates.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen Mani¬ festo adopted by France’s National Assembly in 1789, which contained the principles that inspired the French Revolution. One of the basic char¬ ters of human liberties, it served as the preamble to the Constitution of 1791. Its basic principle was that “all men are born free and equal in rights,” specified as the rights of liberty, private property, the inviolabil¬ ity of the person, and resistance to oppression. It also established the prin¬ ciple of equality before the law and the freedoms of religion and speech. The Declaration represented a repudiation of the pre-Revolutionary monarchical regime.

Declaratory Act (1766) Declaration by the British Parliament that accompanied repeal of the Stamp Act. It stated that Parliament’s author¬ ity was the same in America as in Britain and asserted Parliament’s author¬ ity to make laws binding on the American colonies.

declaratory judgment In law, a judgment merely declaring a right or establishing the legal status or interpretation of a law or instrument. It is binding but is distinguished from other judgments or court opinions in that it includes no executive element (an order that something be done); instead it simply declares or defines rights to be observed or wrongs to be eschewed by litigants, or expresses the court’s view on a contested question of law.

decolonization Process by which colonies become independent of the colonizing country. Decolonization was gradual and peaceful for some British colonies largely settled by expatriates but violent for others, where native rebellions were energized by nationalism. After World War II, Euro¬ pean countries generally lacked the wealth and political support neces¬ sary to suppress faraway revolts; they also faced opposition from the new superpowers, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, both of which had taken positions against colonialism. Korea was freed in 1945 by Japan’s defeat in the war. The U.S. relinquished the Philippines in 1946. Britain left India in 1947, Palestine in 1948, and Egypt in 1956; it withdrew from Africa in the 1950s and ’60s, from various island protectorates in the 1970s and ’80s, and from Hong Kong in 1997. The French left Vietnam in 1954 and

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

decompression chamber ► defamation I 525

gave up its North African colonies by 1962. Portugal gave up its African colonies in the 1970s; Macau was returned to the Chinese in 1999.

decompression chamber See hyperbaric chamber

decompression sickness also called the bends or caisson dis¬ ease Harmful effects of rapid change from a higher- to a lower-pressure environment. Small amounts of the gases in air are dissolved in body tis¬ sues. When pilots of unpressurized aircraft go to high altitudes or when divers breathing compressed air return to the surface, external pressure on the body decreases and the gases come out of solution. Rising slowly allows the gases to enter the bloodstream and be taken to the lungs and exhaled; with a quicker ascent, the gases (mostly nitrogen) form bubbles in the tissues. In the nervous system, they can cause paralysis, convul¬ sions, motor and sensory problems, and psychological changes; in the joints, severe pain and restricted mobility (the bends); in the respiratory system, coughing and difficulty breathing. Severe cases include shock. Recompression in a hyperbaric chamber followed by gradual decompres¬ sion cannot always reverse tissue damage.

deconstruction Method of philosophical and literary analysis, derived mainly from the work of Jacques Derrida, that questions the fundamental conceptual distinctions, or “oppositions,” in Western philosophy through a close examination of the language and logic of philosophical and liter¬ ary texts. Such oppositions are characteristically “binary” and “hierarchi¬ cal,” involving a pair of terms in which one member of the pair is assumed to be primary or fundamental, the other secondary or derivative; examples include nature/culture, speech/writing, and mind/body. To “deconstruct” an opposition is to explore the tensions and contradictions between the hierarchical ordering assumed in the text and other aspects of the text’s meaning, especially its figurative or performative aspects. The decon¬ struction “displaces” the opposition by showing that neither term is pri¬ mary; the opposition is a product, or “construction,” of the text rather than something given independently of it. The speech/writing opposition, according to which speech is “present” to the speaker or author and writ¬ ing “absent,” is a manifestation of what Derrida calls the “logocentrism” of Western culture—i.e., the general assumption that there is a realm of “truth” existing prior to and independent of its representation by linguis¬ tic signs. In polemical discussions about intellectual trends of the late 20th century, deconstruction was sometimes used pejoratively to suggest nihil¬ ism and frivolous skepticism. In popular usage the term has come to mean a critical dismantling of tradition and traditional modes of thought. See also postmodernism; poststructuralism.

Decoration Day See Memorial Day

decorative arts Arts concerned with the design and decoration of objects that are utilitarian rather than purely aesthetic, including ceramics, glassware, basketry, jewelry, metalwork, furniture, and textiles. The separa¬ tion of the decorative arts from the fine arts is a modern distinction.

deduction In logic, a type of inference or argument that purports to be valid, where a valid argument is one whose conclusion must be true if its premises are true (see validity). Deduction is thus distinguished from induc¬ tion, where there is no such presumption. Valid deductive arguments may have false premises, as demonstrated by the example: “All men are mor¬ tal; Cleopatra is a man; therefore, Cleopatra is mortal.” Invalid deductive arguments sometimes embody formal fallacies (i.e., errors of reasoning based on the structure of the propositions in the argument); an example is “affirming the consequent”: “If A then B; B; therefore, A” (see fallacy; FORMAL AND INFORMAL).

deed See escrow

Deep Blue Computer chess-playing system designed by IBM. In 1996 Deep Blue made history by defeating Garry Kasparov in one of their six games—the first time a computer had won a game against a world cham¬ pion under tournament conditions. In the 1997 rematch, it won the decid¬ ing sixth game in only 19 moves; its 3.5-2.5 victory (it won two games and had three draws) marked the first time a current world champion had lost a match to a computer under tournament conditions. In its final con¬ figuration, the IBM RS6000/SP computer used 256 processors working in tandem, with an ability to evaluate 200 million chess positions per sec¬ ond.

deep-sea trench or oceanic trench Any long, narrow, steep-sided depression in the ocean bottom in which maximum oceanic depths (24,000-36,000 ft, or 7,000-11,000 m) occur. The deepest known depres¬

sion of this kind is the Mariana Trench. Most trenches occur at subduction zones, where one tectonic plate is thrust under another.

deep-sea vent Hydrothermal (hot-water) vent formed on the ocean floor when seawater circulates through hot volcanic rocks, often located where new oceanic crust is being formed. Vents also occur on submarine volcanoes. In either case, the hot solution emerging into cold seawater precipitates mineral deposits that are rich in iron, copper, zinc, and other metals. Outflow of these heated waters probably accounts for 20% of the Earth’s heat loss. Exotic biological communities are now known to exist around the vents; these ecosystems are totally independent of energy from the Sun, depending not on photosynthesis but rather on chemosynthesis by sulfur-fixing bacteria.

deer Any of the ruminants in the family Cervidae, which have two large and two small hooves on each foot and antlers on the males of most spe¬ cies and on the females of some species. Deer live mainly in forests but may be found in deserts, tundra, and swamps and on high mountainsides. They are native to Europe, Asia, North America, South America, and northern Africa and have been introduced widely elsewhere. Females are usually called does, and males bucks. Deer range in shoulder height from the 12-in. (30-cm) pudu (genus Pudu ) to the 6.5-ft (2-m) moose. They typically have a compact body, short tail, and long, slender ears. They shed their antlers each year, and new ones grow in. The general form of the antler varies among species. Deer feed on grass, twigs, bark, and shoots. They are hunted for their meat, hides, and antlers. See also cari¬ bou, ELK, MULE DEER, MUNTJAC, RED DEER, ROE DEER, WHITE-TAILED DEER.

Rival European red deer stags (Cervus elaphus) fighting for possession of a hind in the rutting season.

STEFAN MEYERS GDT/ARDEA LONDON

deer mouse or white-footed mouse Any of about 60 species (genus Peromyscus, family Cricetidae) of small, delicate rodents that are active at night and are found in habitats from Alaska to South America. They often outnumber all other mammals in an area. Deer mice are 3-6.5 in. (8-17 cm) long (excluding the long tail) and have large eyes, soft fur, and relatively large ears. Colours range from white to brown or blackish, with white underparts and feet. They eat plant and animal matter and nest in burrows or trees. Clean, easily cared for, and prolific, they are often used as laboratory animals.

Deere, John (b. Feb. 7. 1804, Rutland, Vt„ U.S.—d. May 17, 1886, Moline, Ill.) U.S. inventor and manufacturer of agricultural implements. He was apprenticed to a blacksmith and later set up his own smithy and moved to Illinois. There he found, through the frequent repairs he had to make, that wood and cast-iron plows, used in the eastern U.S. from the 1820s, were unsuited to the heavy, sticky prairie soils. By 1838 he had sold three steel plows of his own design; by 1846 he had sold about 1,000, and by 1857 10,000. In 1868 Deere & Co. was incorporated, and it went on to become the largest U.S. manufacturer of farm machinery.

defamation In law, issuance of false statements about a person that injure his reputation or that deter others from associating with him. Libel and slander are the legal subcategories of defamation. Libel is defama-

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

526 I defecation ► Degas

tion in print, pictures, or any other visual symbols. A libel plaintiff must generally establish that the alleged libel refers to him or her specifically, that it was published to others (third parties), and that some injury occurred as a result. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that public per¬ sons (e.g., celebrities or politicians) alleging libel may recover damages only if they prove that the statement in question was made with “actual malice”—i.e., with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth (New York Times v. Sullivan, 1964). Slander is defamation by oral communication. An action for slander may be brought without alleging and proving special injury if the statement has a plainly harmful character, as by imputing to the plaintiff criminal guilt, serious sexual misconduct, or a characteristic negatively affecting his business or pro¬ fession. The defense in defamation cases often takes the form of seeking to establish the truth of the statements in question.

defecation \,def-3-'ka-sh9n\ or bowel movement Elimination of feces from the digestive tract. Peristalsis moves feces through the colon to the rectum, where they stimulate the urge to defecate. The rectum short¬ ens, pushing the feces into the anal canal, where internal and external sphincters allow them to be passed or retained. Chest, abdominal, and pelvic muscles are used to pass them. Long delay of defecation causes constipation and hardened feces. See also diarrhea, incontinence.

defense economics Field of national economic management con¬ cerned with peacetime and wartime military expenditures. It arose in response to the greater scale and sophistication of warfare in the 20th century. Most nations seek to avoid the vast financial and human costs of war—which include the lost earnings of those killed or injured, lifetime medical care needed for those permanently incapacitated, and losses to the economy caused by diverting resources from investments in future economic capacity—by maintaining a level of military preparedness suf¬ ficient to deter aggressors. Peacetime defense economics focuses on issues of allocation of resources between the military and civilian sectors, the relative size and character of the various armed forces, and the choice and design of their weapons.

defense mechanism In psychoanalytic theory, an often unconscious mental process (such as repression) that makes possible compromise solu¬ tions to personal problems or conflicts. The compromise generally involves concealing from oneself internal drives or feelings that threaten to lower self-esteem or provoke anxiety. The term was first used by Sig¬ mund Freud in 1894. The major defense mechanisms are repression, the process by which unacceptable desires or impulses are excluded from con¬ sciousness; reaction formation, a mental or emotional response that rep¬ resents the opposite of what one really feels; projection, the attribution of one’s own ideas, feelings, or attitudes (especially blame, guilt, or sense of responsibility) to others; regression, reversion to an earlier mental or behavioral level; denial, the refusal to accept the existence of a painful fact; rationalization, the substitution of rational and creditable motives for the true (but threatening) ones; and sublimation, the diversion of an instinc¬ tual desire or impulse from its primitive form to a more socially or cul¬ turally acceptable form. See also ego; neurosis; psychoanalysis.

deficit financing In government, the practice of spending more money than is received as revenue, the difference being made up by borrowing or minting new funds. The term usually refers to a conscious attempt to stimulate the economy by lowering tax rates or increasing government expenditures. Critics of deficit financing regularly denounce it as an example of shortsighted government policy. Advocates argue that it can be used successfully in response to a recession or depression, proposing that the ideal of an annually balanced budget should give way to that of a budget balanced over the span of a business cycle. See also John May¬ nard Keynes; national debt.

definition In philosophy, the specification of the meaning of an expres¬ sion relative to a language. Definitions may be classified as lexical, osten- sive, and stipulative. Lexical definition specifies the meaning of an expression by stating it in terms of other expressions whose meaning is assumed to be known (e.g., a ewe is a female sheep). Ostensive defini¬ tion specifies the meaning of an expression by pointing to examples of things to which the expression applies (e.g., green is the color of grass, limes, lily pads, and emeralds). Stipulative definition assigns a new mean¬ ing to an expression (or a meaning to a new expression); the expression defined (definiendum) may either be a new expression that is being intro¬ duced into the language for the first time, or an expression that is already current.

deflation Contraction in the volume of available money or credit that results in a general decline in prices. A less extreme condition is known as disinflation. Attempts are sometimes made to bring on deflation (through raising interest rates and tightening the money supply) in order to combat inflation and slow the economy. Deflation is characteristic of depressions and RECESSIONS.

Defoe \di-'fo\, Daniel orig. Daniel Foe (b. 1660, London, Eng.—d. April 24, 1731, London) British nov¬ elist, pamphleteer, and journalist. A well-educated London merchant, he became an acute economic theorist and began to write eloquent, witty, often audacious tracts on public affairs. A satire he published resulted in his being imprisoned in 1703, and his business collapsed. He traveled as a government secret agent while continuing to write prolifically. In 1704-13 he wrote practically single- handedly the periodical Review, a serious and forceful paper that influ¬ enced later essay periodicals such as The Spectator. His Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain, 3 vol.

(1724-26), followed several trips to Scotland. Late in life he turned to fic¬ tion. He achieved literary immortal¬ ity with the novel Robinson Crusoe (1719), which drew partly on mem¬ oirs of voyagers and castaways. He is also remembered for the vivid, picaresque Moll Flanders (1722); the nonfictional Journal of the Plague Year (1722), on the Great Plague in London in 1664-65; and Roxana (1724), a prototype of the modem novel.

defoliant Chemical dust or spray applied to plants to cause their leaves to drop off prematurely. Defoliants sometimes are applied to crop plants such as cotton to facilitate harvesting. They have also been used in war¬ fare to eliminate enemy food crops and potential areas of concealment (as in the Vietnam War). See also Agent Orange.

deforestation Process of clearing forests. Rates of deforestation are particularly high in the tropics, where the poor quality of the soil has led to the practice of routine clear-cutting to make new soil available for agri¬ cultural use. Deforestation can lead to erosion, drought, loss of biodiver¬ sity through extinction of plant and animal species, and increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. Many nations have undertaken afforestation or reforestation projects to reverse the effects of deforestation, or to increase available timber. See also greenhouse effect.

deformation and flow Alteration in size or shape of a body under the influence of mechanical forces. Flow is a change in deformation that continues as long as the force is applied. Gases and liquids normally flow relatively freely, while solids deform when subjected to forces. Most sol¬ ids initially deform elastically (see elasticity), though rigid material such as metals, concrete, or rocks can sustain large forces while undergoing little deformation. If enough force is applied, even these materials will reach their elastic limit, at which point brittle substances fracture while ductile materials (see ductility) rearrange their internal structure, the result being plastic deformation (see plasticity).

Degas \d3-'ga\, (Hilaire-Germain-) Edgar (b. July 19,1834, Paris, France—d. Sept. 27, 1917, Paris) French painter, graphic artist, and sculp¬ tor. The son of a wealthy banker, he entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1855. He spent much time in Italy studying and copying the Old Masters and became a skilled draftsman, producing history paintings and portraits. In the 1860s he was introduced to Impressionism by Edouard Manet and gave up his academic aspirations, turning for his subject matter to the fast-moving city life of Paris, particularly the ballet, theatre, circus, race¬ track, and cafes. Influenced by Japanese prints and the new medium of photography, he used displaced figure groupings and unfamiliar perspec¬ tive to create figure groups seen informally and in movement, similar in effect to snapshots. His fascination with the ballet and the racetrack sprang from his interest in picturing people absorbed in the practiced movements of their occupations. He often worked in pastel, his favourite medium, producing series of women, bathers, ballerinas, and horse races. From c.

Daniel Defoe, engraving by M. Van der Gucht, after a portrait by J. Tav¬ erner, first half of the 18th century.

COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

degree ► Delagoa Bay I 527

1880 he modeled wax figures, which were cast in bronze after his death. He was the first of the Impressionists to achieve recognition.

degree, academic Title conferred by a college or university to indi¬ cate completion of a course of study or extent of academic achievement. In medieval Europe there were only two degrees: master (a scholar of arts and grammar) and doctor (a scholar of philosophy, theology, medicine, or law). The baccalaureate, or bachelor’s degree, was originally simply a stage toward mastership. In contemporary France the baccalaureat is con¬ ferred on the completion of secondary education, the licence on comple¬ tion of a three- to four-year program of university study, the maitrise on the passing of advanced examinations, and the doctoral on completion of several years of advanced academic studies. Other contemporary degrees include the Bachelor of Arts (B.A. or A.B.) or Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree, typically awarded after a four-year program of college study; the Master of Arts (M.A.) or Master of Science (M.S.) degree, earned after a year or two of additional study; and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), earned after several years of post-baccalaureate study and research. In the mid-20th century the Associate of Arts degree (A. A.) began to be awarded by U.S. junior colleges. Common professional degrees are the Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.) and the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.). Honorary degrees are granted without regard to academic achievement.

dehydration Method of food preservation in which moisture (prima¬ rily water) is removed. Dehydration inhibits the growth of microorgan¬ isms and often reduces the bulk of food. It is an ancient practice, used by prehistoric peoples in sun-drying seeds, by North American Indians in sun-drying meat strips, and by the Japanese in drying fish and rice. It was used to prepare troop rations in World War II, and in recent decades campers and relief agencies have discovered its advantages. Commercial dehydration equipment includes tunnel dryers, kilns, and vacuum dryers. A combination of dehydration and freezing is used in the process of freeze-drying, whereby solid food remains frozen while its liquid escapes as vapour. The dairy industry is one of the largest producers of dehydrated foods, including whole milk, skim milk, and eggs.

dehydration Loss of water, almost always along with salt, from the body, caused by restricted water intake or excessive water loss. Early symptoms of water deprivation are thirst, decreased saliva, and impaired swallowing. (When more electrolytes than water are lost, osmosis pulls water into cells, and there is no thirst.) Later, tissues shrink, including the skin and eyes. Mild fever rises as plasma volume and cardiac output decrease, and perspiration decreases or stops, greatly reducing heat loss. Urine output falls, and the kidneys cannot filter wastes from the blood. Irre¬ versible shock can occur at this point. The cause of dehydration is treated first; then water and electrolytes must be given in the correct proportions.

Deinarchus See Dinarchus

Deinonychus \dl-'na-ni-k9s\ Genus of clawed theropod dinosaurs that flourished in western North America during the Early Cretaceous period (144-99 million years ago). Deinonychus walked and ran on two legs, yet its killing devices, large sickle-like talons 5 in. (13 cm) long on the sec¬ ond toe of each foot, required it to stand on one foot while slashing at its prey with the other. Its long, outstretched tail was enclosed in bundles of bony rods that grew out of the tail vertebrae, making it very rigid. About 8-13 ft (2.4-4 m) long and weighing 100-150 lbs (45-68 kg), it had a large brain and was evidently a fast, agile predator.

Deir el-Bahri See Dayr al-Bahr}

Deira Yda-re\ Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Britain. Located in the eastern part of modem Yorkshire, it stretched from the River Humber to the River Tees. Its first recorded king, Aelle, reigned from ad 560. By the last quarter of the 7th century it had been united with its neighbour Bernicia to form the kingdom of Northumbria.

Deirdre Vdir-dre, 'dar-dra\ In medieval Irish literature, the heroine of The Fate of the Sons of Usnech, the great love story (written in the 8th or 9th century) of the Ulster cycle. A Druid foretold at Deirdre’s birth that many men would die on her account, and she was raised in seclusion. A woman of great beauty, she rejected the advances of King Conor (see Conchobar), married Noisi, one of the sons of Usnech, and fled with him to Scotland. Lured back to Ireland, Noisi and his brothers were murdered, and Deirdre killed herself to avoid marrying Conor. In the 20th century the story was dramatized by William Butler Yeats and John Millington Synge.

Deism Belief in God based on reason rather than revelation or the teach¬ ing of any specific religion. A form of natural religion, Deism originated in England in the early 17th century as a rejection of orthodox Christian¬ ity. Deists asserted that reason could find evidence of God in nature and that God had created the world and then left it to operate under the natu¬ ral laws he had devised. The philosopher Edward Herbert (1583-1648) developed this view in On Truth (1624). By the late 18th century Deism was the dominant religious attitude among Europe’s educated classes; it was accepted by many upper-class Americans of the same era, including the first three U.S. presidents.

Delacour \,del-3-'kur\, Jean Theodore (b. Sept. 26, 1890, Paris, Fr.—d. Nov. 5, 1985, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.) French-born U.S. avi- culturist. After his boyhood collection of more than 1,300 live birds was destroyed during World War I, he made expeditions worldwide and assembled a huge new collection at the Chateau de Cleres in Normandy. He bred pheasants in captivity, discovered and named many new bird and mammal species, founded the magazine L’Oiseau (1920), and wrote the standard work The Birds of French Indochina (1931). When the Germans again destroyed his aviary, he emigrated to the U.S., but he later reestab¬ lished his aviary and zoo at Cleres.

Delacroix X.de-lo-'krwaV (Ferdinand-) Eugene (-Victor) (b. April 26, 1798, Charenton-Saint-Maurice, France—d. Aug. 13, 1863, Paris) French painter. As a young man he was strongly influenced by the Roman¬ ticism of the painter Theodore Gericault and the Polish-born composer and pianist Frederic Chopin. In 1822 he exhibited the painting Dante and Vir¬ gil in Hell, a landmark in the development of French 19th-century Roman¬ ticism. In his subsequent choice of subjects, Delacroix often showed an affinity with Lord Byron and other Romantic poets of his time. His work was characterized by an uninhibited expression of energy and movement, a fascination with violence, destruction, and the more tragic aspects of life, and a sensuous use of colour. After his success at the Paris Salon, he was commissioned to decorate government buildings; he became one of the most distinguished monumental mural painters in the history of French art. He explored the new medium of lithography and in 1827 executed 17 lithographs for an edition of Faust. In 1830 he painted Liberty Leading the People to commemorate the July Revolution that brought Louis- Philippe to the French throne. His use of colour influenced the development of Impressionism.

Liberty Leading the People, oil on canvas by Eugene Delacroix, 1830; in the Lou¬ vre, Paris.

GIRAUDON/ART RESOURCE, NEW YORK CITY

Delagoa Bay V.del-o-'go-oV Bay, southeastern coast of Mozambique. Some 19 mi (31 km) long and 16 mi (26 km) wide, with Inhaca Island, a tourist resort, at its mouth, it also is the site of Maputo, the nation’s capital. First explored by the Portuguese in 1544, it was important as an outlet for ivory and slaves, a way station for Indian Ocean trade, and a route to the South African diamond mines and goldfields. Ownership was

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

528 I DeLancey ► Deledda

contested by the Portuguese, Dutch, English, and Boers until it was awarded by arbitration to Portugal in 1875.

DeLancey, James (b. Nov. 27, 1703, New York, N.Y.—d. July 30, 1760, New York City) American administrator and jurist. He was sent to Cambridge and later studied law in London. Returning to New York, he became a member of the governor’s council in 1729 and a judge of the colony’s supreme court in 1731. As chief justice (1733), he presided at the libel trial of John Peter Zenger. He opposed the royal governor, George Clinton, and used his influence in England to obtain Clinton’s recall in 1753. He later served as lieutenant governor (1753-55, 1757-60).

Delano, Jane A(rminda) (b. March 12, 1862, Montour Falls, N.Y., U.S.—d. April 15, 1919, Savenay, Fr.) U.S. nurse and educator. She became superintendant of nurses in Jacksonville, Fla., where she used mosquito netting to prevent the spread of yellow fever even before the mosquito was known to carry it. In Bisbee, Ariz., she established a hos¬ pital for miners with scarlet fever. She oversaw the enlistment of over 20,000 U.S. nurses for overseas duty during World War I.

Delany, Martin R(obison) (b. May 6, 1812, Charles Town, Virginia, U.S.—d. Jan. 24, 1885, Xenia, Ohio) U.S. abolitionist and physician. After working in Pittsburgh, Pa., as a doctor’s assistant, he founded a newspaper, Mystery, in the 1840s to publicize the grievances of blacks; he later copublished the North Star (1846-49) with Frederick Douglass. One of the first blacks admitted to Harvard Medical School (1850-51), he later practiced in Pittsburgh. He developed a strong interest in foreign colonization by black Americans and went to Africa to investigate sites. He moved to Canada in 1856 and returned early in the American Civil War to recruit for the 54th Massachusetts Volunteers, for which he also served as surgeon. He was made a major, the first black to receive a regular army commission. He later served in the Freedmen's Bureau.

Delany, Samuel R(ay) (b. April 1, 1942, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. science-fiction novelist and critic. Born into a distinguished African American family, he attended the City College of New York and pub¬ lished his first novel in 1962. His highly imaginative works, which gar¬ nered wide critical admiration, address racial and social issues, sexuality, heroic quests, and the nature of language. Dhalgren (1975), his most con¬ troversial novel, tells of a young bisexual man searching for identity in a large, decaying city. Other works include the novels Babel-17 (1966, Nebula Award), The Einstein Intersection (1967, Nebula Award), and Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand (1984), and scripts for film, radio, and Wonder Woman comic books. Among his nonfiction works are Longer Views: Extended Essays (1996) and Shorter Views: Queer Thoughts and the Politics of the Paraliterary (1999).

Delaunay \d3-lo-'na\, Robert (b. April 12, 1885, Paris, Fr.—d. Oct.

25, 1941, Montpellier) French

painter. He spent his early career as a part-time designer of stage scenery and came under the influence of Neo-Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cub¬ ism. In 1909-11 his colour experi¬ ments culminated in a series of paintings of the Eiffel Tower, which combined fragmented Cubist forms with dynamic movement and vibrant colour. The introduction of bright colour to Cubism—a style that came to be known as Orphism— distinguished his work from that of the more orthodox Cubist painters and influenced the artists of Der Blaue Reiter. With his wife, the Ukrainian-born painter and textile designer Sonia Terk Delaunay (1885-1979), he painted abstract mural decorations for the 1937 Paris Exposition.

Delaware State (pop., 2000:

783,600), middle Atlantic region,

U.S. It lies on the Atlantic Ocean and is bordered by Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. Covering

2,026 sq mi (5,247 sq km), its capital is Dover. Originally inhabited by Algonquian tribes, Delaware’s first permanent white settlement was by Swedes at Fort Christina, now Wilmington, in 1638. In 1655 New Sweden was taken by the Dutch of New Amsterdam and in 1664 by the English. Delaware was thereafter a part of New York until 1682, when it was ceded to William Penn. It was governed by Pennsylvania until 1776, although it was granted its own assembly in 1704. The first state to ratify the U.S. Con¬ stitution in 1787, it is the nation’s second smallest state but one of its most densely populated. Chemical manufacturing is the major industry, fol¬ lowed by food processing. Delaware’s most important transportation artery is the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, deepened for ocean shipping, which shortens the water route between Philadelphia and Baltimore.

Delaware or Lenape \le-'na-pa\ Confederation of North American Indians living mostly in Oklahoma, U.S. Thousands more live in Wis¬ consin and Kansas, U.S., and in Ontario, Can. They speak a language of the Algonquian family. They once occupied the Atlantic seaboard from southern Delaware to western Long Island, especially the Delaware River valley, for which the confederation was named. To other Algonquian divi¬ sions, the Lenape were the “grandfathers,” believed to be the original tribe from which all others sprang, and they were highly respected. They depended primarily on agriculture but also hunted and fished. They were grouped in three clans based on maternal descent; these were in turn divided into lineages, whose members lived together in a longhouse. They were governed by a council of lineage sachems (chiefs), who directed the public affairs of the community; the eldest woman of the lineage appointed the sachem. The Delaware were the Indians most friendly to William Penn; they were rewarded by the infamous Walking Purchase, a treaty that deprived them of their own lands and forced them to settle on lands assigned to the Iroquois. After 1690 they drifted westward. They sided with the French in the French and Indian War (1754-63) and helped defeat the British general Edward Braddock. In 1867 most of the remain¬ ing Delaware were removed to Oklahoma. Some 8,300 people claimed sole Delaware descent in the 2000 U.S. census.

Delaware Bay Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. Forming part of the New Jersey-Delaware state border, it extends southeast for 52 mi (84 km) from the junction of the Delaware River with Alloway Creek to its entrance between Cape May and Cape Henlopen. Bordered by marshy lowlands, the bay is an important link in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.

Delaware River River in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York, U.S. Formed by the junction of its eastern and western branches in southern New York, it flows about 405 mi (650 km) to empty into the Atlantic Ocean at Delaware Bay. Navigable to Trenton, N.J., it is spanned by the Commodore Barry Bridge, completed in 1974.

Delbruck Vdel-.briekV Max (b. Sept. 4, 1906, Berlin, Ger.—d. March 9, 1981, Pasadena, Calif., U.S.) German-born U.S. biologist. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Gottingen in 1930, and in 1937 he immi¬ grated to the U.S., where he joined the California Institute of Technology faculty. In 1939 he discovered a one-step process for growing bacterioph¬ ages that would induce a phage, after an hour of inactivity, to multiply to produce several hundred thousands of progeny. In 1946 he and A.D. Her- shey independently discovered that the genetic material of different kinds of viruses can combine to create new types of viruses, a process previously believed to be limited to higher, sexually reproducing forms of life. In 1969 he shared a Nobel Prize with Hershey and their colleague Salvador Luria.

Delcasse \del-ka-'sa\, Theophile (b. March 1, 1852, Pamiers, France—d. Feb. 22, 1923, Nice) French politician. A journalist, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1885 and served in cabinet posts from 1893. As foreign minister in six successive governments (1898— 1905), he reached agreement with the British that led to the Entente Cor- diale. Considered the principal architect of the new system of European alliances formed before World War I, he also paved the way for the Anglo- Russian agreement of 1907. He later served as minister of the marine (1911-13) and again as foreign minister (1914-15).

Deledda \da-'lad-da\, Grazia (b. Sept. 27, 1871, Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy—d. Aug. 15, 1936, Rome) Italian novelist. She wrote her first sto¬ ries, influenced by the verismo (“realism”) school, at age 17. In her approximately 40 novels, including After the Divorce (1902), Elias Por- tolu (1903), and Ashes (1904), the ancient ways of her native Sardinia often conflict with modem mores. Her later novel The Mother (1920) and the posthumously published autobiographical novel Cosima (1937) were widely admired. She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926.

Eiffel Tower, an oil painting on canvas by Robert Delaunay from 1910-11, is on display at the Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland. The painting was one of Delaunay's contributions to the art movement called cubism.

DEPOSITED BY EMANUEL HOFFMANN-FOUNDATION IN KUNSTMUSEUM BASEL, SWITZERLAND; PHOTOGRAPH, HANS HINZ

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Deleuze ► Della Robbia family I 529

Deleuze \da-'lcez\/ Gilles (b. Jan. 18, 1925, Paris, France—d. Nov. 4, 1995, Paris) French antirationalist philosopher and literary critic. He began his study of philosophy at the Sorbonne in 1944 and was appointed to the faculty there in 1957; he later taught at the University of Lyons and the University of Paris VIII (Vincennes). His first major publications, David Hume (1952) and Nietzsche and Philosophy (1962), were histori¬ cal studies of thinkers who emphasized the limited powers of human rea¬ son. In Difference and Repetition (1968), he argued against the devaluation of “difference” in Western metaphysics and tried to show that difference inheres in repetition itself. A central theme of his work during this period was the “Eleatic-Platonic bias” of Western metaphysics—i.e., its preference for unity over multiplicity (“the one” over “the many”) and for sameness over difference. According to Deleuze, this bias falsifies the nature of experience, which consists of multiplicities rather than unities. In Anti-Oedipus (1972), the first volume of a two-volume work ( Capital¬ ism and Schizophrenia ), Deleuze and the radical psychoanalyst Felix Guattari (1930-92) attacked traditional psychoanalysis for suppressing human desire in the service of normalization and control. The second vol¬ ume, A Thousand Plateaus (1980), condemned all rationalist metaphys¬ ics as “state philosophy.” Depressed by chronic illness, Deleuze committed suicide.

Delft City (pop., 2001 est.: 96,180), southwestern Netherlands. Founded in 1075 and chartered in 1246, it was a trade centre in the 16th-17th cen¬ turies and was famous for its delftware pottery. It was the birthplace of jurist Hugo Grotius (1583) and painter Jan Vermeer (1632). Landmarks include a Gothic church, a Renaissance-style town hall, and a 17th- century armory. Principal manufactures include ceramics.

delftware or delft Tin-glazed earthenware, with blue-and-white or polychrome decoration, first made in the early 17th century at Delft, Hol¬ land. Dutch potters later introduced the art of tin glazing to England along with the name, which now applies to wares manufactured in the Nether¬ lands and England. It is distinguished from faience (made in France, Ger¬ many, Spain, and Scandinavia) and majolica (made in Italy).

Delhi \'de-le\ National capital territory (pop., 2001: 13,850,507), north- central India. Bordered by the states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, it has an area of 573 sq mi (1,483 sq km) and comprises the cities of Delhi (popularly known as Old Delhi) and New Delhi (India’s capital) and adja¬ cent rural areas. Delhi was the capital of a Muslim dynasty from 1206 until it was laid waste by Timur in 1398. It again was made the capital by the Mughal Babur in 1526. Although the Mughal capital was relocated to Agra, Delhi was beautified by Shah Jahan beginning in 1638. Pillaged by Nadir Shah in 1739, it surrendered to the Marathas in 1771 before being taken by the British in 1803. Delhi was a centre of the Indian Mutiny in 1857. It replaced Calcutta (now Kolkata) as the capital of British India in 1912, at which time construction began on the section of the city that became New Delhi. The capital was moved to New Delhi in 1931, and it became the capital of independent India in 1947. The area’s economy and population centre mainly in Old Delhi, while government is concentrated in New Delhi. The government is the chief employer. The territory is also the transportation hub for north-central India.

Delhi sultanate Principal Muslim sultanate in northern India during the 13th to the 16th centuries. Its creation owed much to the campaigns of Muhammad of Ghur and his lieutenant Qutb al-Dln Aybak between 1175 and 1206. During the reign of Sultan Iltutmish (1211-36), a perma¬ nent capital was established at Delhi and political ties with Ghur were severed. From 1290 to 1320, under the Khaljl dynasty, the sultanate was an imperial power. Its power was shattered by Timur’s invasion (1398— 99), but it somewhat recovered under the Lodi (Afghan) dynasty (1451— 1526). It fell again to Babur (1526), was reestablished briefly, then finally was subsumed into Akbar’s Mughal Empire in 1556.

Delian League Vde-le-onX Confederacy of ancient Greek states led by Athens and based on the island of Delos. Founded in 478 bc to combat Persia, its members included Aegean states and islands; Athens supplied commanders and assessed tributes of ships or money. It achieved a major victory in 467-466 when its fleet drove out Persian garrisons on the southern Anatolian coast. After 454 its leaders moved the treasury to Ath¬ ens for safekeeping, used it to rebuild the city’s temples, and treated the league as the Athenian empire. Most league members sided with Athens in the Peloponnesian War, which diverted the league from its Persian campaign. After defeating Athens in battle in 405, Sparta disbanded the

league in 404. Fear of Sparta helped revive the league in the early 4th century, but it weakened as Sparta declined and was crushed by Philip II at the Battle of Chaeronea (338).

Delibes \do-Teb\, (Clement Philibert) Leo (b. Feb. 21, 1836, Saint- Germain-du-Val, France—d. Jan. 16, 1891, Paris) French composer. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire and worked as a church organist and as accompanist and chorus master at the Paris Opera. Though he com¬ posed almost 30 operas, operettas, and ballets, as well as many choral pieces, he is remembered today for three works: the ballets Coppelia (1870) and Sylvia (1876) and the opera Lakme (1883).

DeLillo \de-'lil-o\, Don (b. Nov. 20, 1936, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. novelist. Born to immigrant parents, DeLillo worked in advertising before beginning to write seriously. His postmodernist works portray the unrest and alienation of an America cosseted by material excess and stupefied by empty mass culture and politics. Ratner’s Star (1976) attracted atten¬ tion with its baroque comic sense and verbal facility. His vision later turned darker and his characters more willful in their destructiveness and ignorance, as in Players (1977) and White Noise (1985). Libra (1988) portrays Lee Harvey Oswald, Underworld (1997) portrays 1950s America, and The Body Artist (2001) centres on a woman who has to deal with the fact of her husband’s suicide.

delinquency Criminal behaviour carried out by a juvenile. Young males make up the bulk of the delinquent population (about 80% in the U.S.) in all countries in which the behaviour is reported. Theories regard¬ ing delinquency’s causes focus on the social and economic characteris¬ tics of the offender’s family, the values communicated by the parents, and the nature of youth and criminal subcultures, including gangs. In general, both “push” and “pull” factors are involved. Most delinquents apparently do not continue criminal behaviour into their adult lives but rather adjust to societal standards. The most common punishment for delinquent offenders is probation, whereby the delinquent is given a suspended sen¬ tence and in return must live by a prescribed set of rules under the super¬ vision of a probation officer. See also criminology; penology.

delirium Condition of disorientation, confused thinking, and rapid alter¬ nation between mental states. The patient is restless, cannot concentrate, and undergoes emotional changes (e.g., anxiety, apathy, euphoria), some¬ times with hallucinations. Delirium usually results from a disorder affect¬ ing the brain such as central nervous system infection, head trauma, or mental disorder. In severe cases of withdrawal from alcohol, delirium tre¬ mens results not from the excessive alcohol consumption alone but from exhaustion, malnutrition (particularly lack of thiamine), and dehydration.

delirium tremens \di-Tir-e-3m-'tre-menz\ (DTs) Delirium seen in severe cases of alcohol withdrawal (see alcoholism) complicated by exhaustion, lack of food, and dehydration, usually preceded by physical deterioration due to vomiting and restlessness. The whole body trembles, sometimes with seizures, disorientation, and hallucinations. Delirium tre¬ mens lasts 3-10 days, with a reported death rate of up to 20%. Halluci¬ nations may develop independently of delirium tremens and may last days to weeks.

Delius \'de-le-3s\, Frederick (Theodore Albert) (b. Jan. 29, 1862, Bradford, Yorkshire, Eng.—d. June 10, 1934, Grez-sur-Loing, France) British-born French composer. Bom to German parents in England, he studied music in Leipzig and elsewhere, and in 1887 Edvard Grieg con¬ vinced his parents to let him pursue a musical career. He moved to France, eventually settling in a village near Paris. After World War I he gradually succumbed to paralysis and blindness, the consequence of syphilis. His works, influenced by Claude Debussy, include the operas A Village Romeo and Juliet (1901) and Fennimore and Gerda (1910); the tone poems Brigg Fair (1907) and On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (1912); and the choral works Appalachia (1903) and A Mass of Life (1908).

delivery See parturition

Della Robbia family \,dal-la-'r6b-y3\ Family of Italian artists active in Florence. The first works of Luca (di Simone di Marco) Della Robbia (1399/1400-1482) were reliefs sculptured in marble, most notably those for the Cantoria (singing-gallery) of Florence Cathedral (1432-37). He is remembered mainly for his development of glazed terra-cotta as a medium for sculpture; his major terra-cotta works include roundels of the Apostles (c. 1444) in Filippo Brunelleschi’s Pazzi Chapel in Santa Croce. In time the Della Robbia studio became a potters’ workshop-industry, famous espe¬ cially for its renderings of the Madonna and Child in white enamel on a

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

530 I dell'Abbate ► Demiurge

blue ground. Andrea (di Marco) Della Robbia (1435-1525), Luca’s nephew, assumed control of the workshop c. 1470. Trained as a marble sculptor, his best-known works are ten roundels of infants on the facade of Florence’s Foundling Hospital (c. 1487). Giovanni Della Robbia (1469-1529), the most distinguished of Andrea’s sons, took control of the family workshop after his father’s death. His early works, notably a lavabo in Santa Maria Novella (1497) and medallions in the Loggia of San Paolo (1493-95), were collaborations with his father.

dell'Abbate, Niccolo See Niccolo dell’ABBATE

Delmarva Peninsula Peninsula, eastern U.S. Extending between Chesapeake and Delaware bays, it is about 180 mi (290 km) long and up to 70 mi (110 km) wide. Encompassing parts of the states of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia—hence its name—it includes Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Fishing and tourism are economically important to the area.

Delors \da-T6r\, Jacques (Lucien Jean) (b. July 20, 1925, Paris, Fr.) French statesman. In 1962 he left his position in banking for a series of government positions, including minister of economics and finance. As president of the European Commission (EC) from 1985 to 1995, he pushed through reforms and persuaded the member states to agree to the creation of a single market in 1993, the first step toward full economic and political integration in the European Union. When his term expired, he was considered a leading contender for the French presidency, but he declined to run.

Delos Vde-,las\ Greek Dhilos Vthe-.losX Island, Greece. One of the smallest of the Cyclades, it was an ancient centre of religious, political, and commercial life in the Aegean. It was the legendary birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. The Delian League was established there in 478 bc, following the Persian Wars. Made a free port by Rome in 166 bc, Delos was a flourishing commercial post and slave market. Sacked in 88 bc dur¬ ing the Mithradatic Wars, it gradually declined and was abandoned. Its impressive ruins have been extensively excavated.

Delphi \'del-,fi\ Site of the ancient temple and oracle of Apollo in Greece. Located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, it was the centre of the world in ancient Greek religion. According to legend, the oracle was originally sacred to Gaea, and Apollo acquired it by slaying her child, the serpent Python. From 582 bc Delphi was the site of the Pythian Games. The oracle was consulted not only on private matters but also on affairs of state, such as the founding of new colonies.

delphinium See larkspur

delta Low-lying plain composed of stream-borne sediments deposited by a river at its mouth. Deltas have been important to humankind since prehistoric times. Sands, silts, and clays deposited by floodwaters were extremely productive agriculturally; and major civilizations flourished in the deltaic plains of the Nile and Tigris-Euphrates rivers. In recent years geologists have discovered that much of the world’s petroleum resources are found in ancient deltaic rocks. Deltas vary widely in size, structure, composition, and origin, though many are triangular (the shape of the Greek letter delta).

dema deity \'da-ms \ Any of several mythical ancestral beings of the Marind-Anim people of southern New Guinea. In their mythology, the killing of a divine ancestor (a dema deity) brings about the transition from the ancestral world to the human one. In Ceramese mythology, for example, the goddess Hainuwele grows from a coconut blossom and is dismembered by dema men; when the pieces of her body are buried, they become new plant species, especially tubers, the chief food of the Cer¬ amese. Such myths offer explanations for the origin of agriculture as well as for human sexuality and death.

deme \'dem\ Greek demos In ancient Greece, a country district or vil¬ lage, as distinct from a pous. In the democratic reforms (508-507 bc) pro¬ moted by Cleisthenes, the demes of Attica (the area around Athens) gained a voice in local and state government. The Attic demes had their own police powers, cults, and officials. Males aged 18 years became registered members of the deme. Members decided deme matters and kept property records for taxation. Each deme sent representatives to the Athenian boule in proportion to its size. The term continued to be applied to local dis¬ tricts in Hellenistic and Roman times.

dementia \di-'men-shs\ Chronic, usually progressive deterioration of intellectual functions. Most common in the elderly, it usually begins with short-term-memory loss once thought a normal result of aging but now

known to result from Alzheimer disease. Other common causes are Pick disease and vascular disease. Dementia also occurs in Huntington chorea, paresis (see paralysis), and some types of encephalitis. Treatable causes include hypothyroidism (see thyroid gland), other metabolic diseases, and some malignant tumours. Treatment may arrest dementia’s progress but usually does not reverse it.

Demerara X.de-ms-'rar-sV River River, eastern Guyana. Rising in the forests of central Guyana, it flows north for 215 mi (346 km) to the Atlan¬ tic Ocean at Georgetown. Oceangoing steamers ascend 65 mi (105 km) to Linden to take on bauxite; smaller ships reach Malali, 25 mi (40 km) farther upstream, beyond which lie numerous rapids.

Demeter \di-'me-tsr\ In Greek religion, a consort of Zeus and the god¬ dess of agricuture, especially grain.

Though rarely mentioned by Homer and not an Olympian deity, she is probably an ancient goddess. She is best remembered for her role in the story of Persephone, in which her lack of attention to the harvest causes a famine. In addition to appearing as a goddess of agriculture, Demeter was sometimes worshiped as a divinity of the Underworld and as a goddess of health, birth, and marriage.

Demetrius I Poliorcetes \do- , me-tre-ss... l pa-le- l 6r-'se-tez\ (b. 336 bc, Macedonia—d. 283, Cilicia)

King of Macedonia (294-288). As a young general he fought to rebuild the empire of his father, Antigonus I Monophthalmus. Under his father’s command, he initially failed in his assaults on Egypt and Nabataea, but he later freed Athens from Mace¬ donia (307) and defeated Ptolemy I Soter (306), restoring some of his father’s domain. He fought alongside his father at the Battle of Ipsus (301), where Antigonus was killed, and later retook Athens (294). He became king of Macedonia as Demetrius I Poliorcetes (“the Besieger”) after kill¬ ing Alexander V (r. 297-294). Driven out in 288, he surrendered to Seleu- cus I Nicator in 285.

DeMille \d3-'mil\ A Cecil B(lount) (b. Aug. 12, 1881, Ashfield, Mass., U.S.—d. Jan. 21, 1959, Hollywood, Calif.) U.S. film director and pro¬ ducer. In 1913 he joined Jesse Lasky (1880-1958) and Samuel Goldwyn to form the forerunner of Paramount Communications. Their first venture, The Squaw Man (1914), was the first full-length feature film produced in Hollywood, and it established DeMille as a director. He made numerous comedies before creating biblical spectacles such as The Ten Command¬ ments (1923, remade 1956) and The King of Kings (1927). He was known for his flamboyance and his taste for huge casts and extravagant sets. Among his 70 other films are Samson and Delilah (1949) and The Great¬ est Show on Earth (1952, Academy Award for best picture). He also hosted the popular weekly Lux Radio Theatre (1936-45).

Deming, W(illiam) Edwards (b. Oct. 14, 1900, Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.—d. Dec. 20, 1993, Washington, D.C.) U.S. statistician, educator, and advocate of quality-control methods in industrial production. He received his Ph.D. in mathematical physics from Yale University, and he subse¬ quently taught at New York University for 46 years. From the 1930s he employed statistical analysis to achieve better industrial quality control. In 1950 he was invited to Japan to teach executives and engineers. His ideas, which centred on tallying product defects, analyzing and address¬ ing their causes, and recording the effects of the changes on subsequent quality, were eagerly adopted there and eventually helped Japanese prod¬ ucts dominate the market in much of the world. In 1951 Japan instituted the Deming Prize, awarded to corporations that win a rigorous quality control competition. Deming’s ideas were taken up by U.S. corporations in the 1980s, particularly under the rubric of Total Quality Management.

Demiurge \'de-me-srj\ Subordinate god who shapes and arranges the physical world. In his dialogue Timaeus, Plato identified the Demiurge as the force that fashioned the world from the preexisting materials of chaos. In Gnosticism of the early Christian era, the Demiurge is regarded as an

Demeter of Cnidus, sculpture, mid-4th century bc; in the British Museum.

COURTESY OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

democracy ► Dempsey i 531

inferior deity who had created the imperfect, material world and who belonged to the forces of evil opposing the supreme God of goodness.

democracy Form of government in which supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodic free elections. In a direct democracy, the public participates in government directly (as in some ancient Greek city-states, some New England town meetings, and some cantons in modern Switzerland). Most democracies today are represen¬ tative. The concept of representative democracy arose largely from ideas and institutions that developed during the European Middle Ages and the Enlightenment and in the American and French Revolutions. Democracy has come to imply universal suffrage, competition for office, freedom of speech and the press, and the rule of law. See also republic.

Democratic Party One of the two major political parties in the U.S., historically the party of labour, minorities, and progressive reformers. In the 1790s a group of Thomas Jefferson’s supporters called themselves “Democratic Republicans” or “Jeffersonian Republicans” to demonstrate their belief in the principle of popular government and their opposition to monarchism. The party adopted its present name in the 1830s, during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Democrats won nearly every presidential election in the years 1836-60, but the issue of slavery split the party. The Southern Democrats called for the protection of slavery in the new terri¬ tories, whereas the Northern Democrats, led by Stephen A. Douglas, advo¬ cated allowing each territory to decide by popular sovereignty whether to accept slavery within its borders. As a result, in 1860 the new antislavery Republican Party won its first national victory under Abraham Lincoln. From 1861 to 19 1 3 the only Democratic president was Grover Cleveland; in these years the party was basically conservative and agrarian-oriented, and its members were opposed to protective tariffs. It returned to power under Woodrow Wilson, instituting greater federal regulation of banking and industry, but the Republicans’ frank embrace of big business drew voters amid the prosperity of the 1920s. Democrats became dominant again in 1932, electing Franklin D. Roosevelt. A coalition of urban workers, small farmers, liberals, and others sustained Democrats in office until 1953, and the party regained the presidency with the election of John F. Kennedy in 1960. In the 1970s and ’80s the Democrats held the presidency only during the single term of Jimmy Carter (1976-81) but retained majority control of the House of Representatives. They regained the presidency in 1992 with the election of Bill Clinton but lost control of both the House and the Senate in 1994. In the presidential election of 2000, Clinton’s vice president, Al Gore, was defeated by Republican George W. Bush. In 2004 the party’s presidential nominee, John Kerry, was defeated by Bush, and the Demo¬ crats lost seats in both houses of Congress. The modem Democratic Party generally supports a strong federal government with powers to regulate business and industry in the public interest; federally financed social ser¬ vices and benefits for the poor, the unemployed, the aged, and other groups; and the protection of civil rights.

Democratic Republic of the Congo See Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democrats of the Left (DS ) formerly (1921-91) Italian Commu¬ nist Party (1991-98) Democratic Party of the Left Major Italian political party. Founded as the Partito Comunista Italiano (PCI) in 1921 by dissidents of the Italian Socialist Party’s left wing, it was outlawed with other political parties by Benito Mussolini’s fascist government in 1926 and went underground. It participated in the Italian Resistance in World War II. After the war it joined in coalition governments and was consis¬ tently successful at the polls. In 1956, after the crimes of Joseph Stalin were revealed, Palmiro Togliatti tried to dissociate the PCI from the Soviet Union. Enrico Berlinguer, as party leader from 1972 to 1984, became the leading proponent of Eurocommunism. In order to consolidate left-wing forces and broaden its base, the party changed its name to Democratic Party of the Left in 1991; it became one of Italy’s largest political parties and western Europe’s largest communist party. In 1998 it renamed itself Democrats of the Left.

Democritus \di-'ma-kr3-t9s\ (b. c. 460—d. c. 370 bc) Greek philoso¬ pher. Though only a few fragments of his work survive, he was appar¬ ently the first to describe invisible “atoms” as the basis of all matter. His atoms—indestructible, indivisible, incompressible, uniform, and differing only in size, shape, and motion—anticipated with surprising accuracy those discovered by 20th-century scientists. For his amusement at human foibles, he has been called “the Laughing Philosopher.” See also atomism.

demography \di-'ma-gr3-fe\ Statistical study of human populations, especially with reference to size and density, distribution, and vital sta¬ tistics. Contemporary demographic concerns include the global birth rates, the interplay between population and economic development, the effects of birth control, urban congestion, illegal immigration, and labour force statistics. The basis for most demographic research lies in population cen- suses and the registration of vital statistics.

demon or daemon \'de-man\ In religions worldwide, any of various evil spirits that mediate between the supernatural and human realms. The term comes from the Greek word daimon, a divine or semidivine power that determined a person’s fate. Zoroastrianism had a hierarchy of demons, which were in constant battle with Ahura Mazda. In Judaism it was believed that demons inhabited desert wastes, ruins, and graves and inflicted physical and spiritual disorders on humankind. Christianity placed Satan or Beelzebub at the head of the ranks of demons, and Islam designated Iblis or Satan as the leader of a host of evil jinn. Hinduism has many demons, called asuras, who oppose the devas (gods). In Buddhism demons are seen as tempters who prevent the achievement of nirvana.

Demosthenes \di-'mas-th3-,nez\ (b. 384 bc, Athens—d. Oct. 12, 322, Calauria, Argolis) Athenian states¬ man known as the greatest orator of ancient Greece. According to Plu¬ tarch, he was a stutterer in his youth and improved his speech by placing pebbles in his mouth and practicing before a mirror. His talents were rec¬ ognized early, and powerful clients engaged him as a speechwriter.

Throughout his life he espoused democratic principles. He roused Athens against Philip II by his great “Philippics,” and later against Phil¬ ip’s son Alexander the Great. In so doing he incurred the enmity of Aeschines, who argued that Philip’s intentions were peaceable; Demos¬ thenes succeeded in having Aeschines ostracized (330), but he was himself later forced into exile (324). Recalled after Alexander’s death (323), he fled Alexander’s suc¬ cessor and committed suicide.

Dempsey, Jack orig. William Harrison Dempsey (b. June 24,

1895, Manassa, Colo., U.S.—d. May 31, 1983, New York, N.Y.) U.S. boxer. Dempsey started fighting in 1914 under the name Kid Blackie.

After compiling an impressive num¬ ber of first-round knockouts, in 1919 he was matched against world heavyweight champion Jess Willard.

Dempsey defeated Willard in three rounds. He then held the heavy¬ weight title until his defeat by Gene Tunney in 1926 in a 10-round deci¬ sion. In the next year’s rematch, in the famous “Long Count” bout,

Dempsey would not go to a neutral comer after knocking Tunney down; this delayed the start of the count against Tunney and gave him extra time to recover and win the fight.

Nicknamed the “Manassa Mauler,”

Dempsey was known as a ferocious fighter who kept continuously on the offensive. He fought exhibition matches in the 1930s before retiring in 1940; he later became a success¬ ful restaurateur. In 84 fights he com¬ piled a record of 62 wins, 51 by knockout.

Demosthenes, marble statue, detail of a Roman copy of a Greek original of c. 280 bc; in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

532 I demurrer ► Denmark

demurrer \di-'m9r-9r\ In law, a plea in response to an allegation that admits its truth but also asserts that it is not sufficient as a cause of action. In the U.S., demurrers are no longer used in federal procedure (having been replaced by motions to dismiss or motions for more definite state¬ ment) but are still used in some states. A general demurrer challenges the sufficiency of the substance of an allegation, whereas a special demurrer challenges the structure or form of an allegation.

Demuth Vdo-'miithX, Charles (b. Nov. 8,1883, Lancaster, Pa., U.S.—d. Oct. 23, 1935, Lancaster) U.S. painter. He studied in Philadelphia and later in Europe. On his return he became an important channel for the transmission of modem European movements into American art. Best known as an exponent of Precision- ism, he excelled at watercolour and executed an outstanding series of flowers, circuses, and cafe scenes.

Later he incorporated advertisements and billboard lettering into hard- edged, abstract cityscapes. Among his well-known works are his so-called “poster portraits” such as I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold (1928), a symbolic portrait of the poet William Carlos Williams.

Denali See Mount McKinley

Denali \do-'na-le\ National Park Preserve, southern central Alaska, U.S. Established in 1980, it comprises the former Mount McKinley National Park (1917) and Denali National Monument (1978). Highlights of the park include Mount Mc¬ Kinley, the large glaciers of the Alaska Range, and abundant wildlife. The park’s total area is 5,000,000 acres (2,025,000 hectares).

denaturation Vde-.na-cho-'ra-shonN Biochemical process modifying a protein’s natural configuration. It involves breaking many weak (hydro¬ gen and hydrophobic) bonds (see bonding) that maintain the protein’s highly ordered structure. This usually results in loss of biological activ¬ ity (e.g., loss of an enzyme’s ability to catalyze reactions). Denaturation can be brought about by heating; treatment with alkalis, acids, urea, or detergents; or even vigorous shaking of the protein solution. It can be reversed in some cases (e.g., serum albumin, hemoglobin), if conditions favourable to the protein are restored, but not in others. The term is also used to describe the process of rendering ethanol unfit to drink.

Dench, Dame Judi(th Olivia) (b. Dec. 9, 1934, York, Yorkshire, Eng.) British actress. She made her stage debut in 1957 as Ophelia in Hamlet , and Shakespearean works became her specialty. She also per¬ formed in musical roles, starring in the London premiere of Cabaret in 1968. Among her many other notable credits were the 1981-84 TV series A Fine Romance and the films 84 Charing Cross Road (1986), Mrs. Brown (1997)—in which she starred as Queen Victoria—and Shakespeare in Love (1998, Academy Award).

dendrochronology \ 1 den-dro-kr9-'na-l3-je\ Method of scientific dat¬ ing based on the analysis of tree rings. Because the width of annular rings varies with climatic conditions, laboratory analysis of timber core samples allows scientists to reconstruct the conditions that existed when a tree’s rings developed. By taking thousands of samples from different sites and different strata within a particular region, researchers can build a com¬ prehensive historical sequence that becomes a part of the scientific record. Such master chronologies are used by archaeologists, climatologists, and others.

Deneuve \d3-'noev\, Catherine orig. Catherine Dorleac (b. Oct. 22, 1942, Paris, France) French film actress. She appeared in films from age 13 and won fame with her role in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964). Her cool blond beauty and skillful portrayals in Roman Polanski’s Repul¬ sion (1965) and Luis Bunuel’s Belle de jour (1967) and Tristana (1970) made her an international star. Her numerous other films include The Last Metro (1980) and Indochine (1992).

Deng Xiaoping Vdoq-'shau-'piqV or Teng Hsiao-p'ing (b. Aug. 22, 1904, Guang’an, Sichuan province, China—d. Feb. 19, 1997, Beijing)

Chinese communist leader, China’s most powerful figure from the late 1970s until his death. In the 1950s he became a vice-premier of the Peo¬ ple’s Republic of China and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He fell from favour during the Cultural Revolution but was rehabilitated in 1973 under the sponsorship of Zhou Enlai. Though seen as a likely successor to Zhou as premier, Deng was again ousted, this time by the Gang of Four, when Zhou died in 1976. However, Mao Zedong died later that year, and in the ensuing power struggle the Gang of Four was arrested; Deng was rehabilitated for a second time. His proteges Zhao Ziyang and Hu Yaobang became premier and CCP general secretary, respectively. Both embraced Deng’s wide-reaching reform program, which abandoned many orthodox communist doctrines and introduced free-enterprise elements into the economy. Hu died in April 1989, and Zhao was dismissed from the government after the Tiananmen Square incident in June. Deng gradually relinquished his official posts but con¬ tinued to guide China behind the scenes until his death.

dengue \'deq-ge\ or breakbone fever or dandy fever Infec¬ tious, disabling mosquito-borne fever. Other symptoms include extreme joint pain and stiffness, intense pain behind the eyes, a return of fever after brief pause, and a characteristic rash. Dengue is caused by a virus carried by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes, usually A. aegypti, which also carries yellow fever. There are four strains of virus; infection with one type does not confer immunity to the remaining three. Treatment focuses on relieving symptoms. Patients should be isolated during the first three days, when mosquitoes can pick up the disease from them. Prevention relies on mosquito control.

Dengyo Daishi See Saicho

Denikin \dyi-'nye-kyin\, Anton (Ivanovich) (b. Dec. 16, 1872, near Warsaw, Pol., Russian Empire—d. Aug. 8, 1947, Ann Arbor, Mich., U.S.) Russian general. A professional in the imperial Russian army, he was a lieutenant-general in World War I. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, he and Lavr Kornilov were arrested for conspiring to overthrow the pro¬ visional government. They fled south to the Don River region and assumed command of the anti-Bolshevik (“White”) forces in the Russian Civil War. In 1919 Denikin launched a major offensive toward Moscow, but his forces were defeated by the Red Army at Orel. Forced to retreat, he turned over his command to Pyotr Wrangel (1920), then fled Russia and later settled in France.

denim Durable Twin-woven fabric with coloured (usually blue) warp (lengthwise) and white filling (crosswise) threads, also sometimes woven in coloured stripes. The name originated in the French serge de Nimes. Denim is usually all-corrON, though it is sometimes made of a cotton- synthetic mixture. Decades of use in the clothing industry, especially in the manufacture of overalls and trousers worn for heavy labour, have demonstrated denim’s durability, a quality that, along with its comfort, made denim jeans extremely popular for leisure wear in the late 20th cen¬ tury.

Denis, Ruth Saint See Ruth Saint Denis

Denis \do-'ne,\ English \'de-nos\, Saint or Saint Denys (d. 258?, Paris; Western feast day October 9; Eastern feast day October 3) Patron saint of France and traditionally the first bishop of Paris. Probably born in Rome, he was, according to the 6th-century historian and bishop Gre¬ gory of Tours, one of seven bishops sent to convert the people of Gaul during the reign of Decius. Little is known of his life; he is believed to have been martyred during the persecutions of the emperor Valerian. A 9th-century legend says that he was beheaded on Montmartre and that his decapitated body carried his head to the area northeast of Paris where the Benedictine abbey of St. Denis was founded.

denitrifying bacteria \ l de- , nl-tr9- 1 fi-iq\ Soil microorganisms whose action results in the conversion of nitrates in soil to free atmospheric nitrogen, thus exhausting soil fertility and reducing agricultural produc¬ tivity. Without denitrification, earth’s nitrogen supply would eventually accumulate in the oceans, since nitrates are highly soluble and are con¬ tinuously leached from the soil into nearby bodies of water. See also nitri¬ fying BACTERIA.

Denmark officially Kingdom of Denmark Country, north-central Europe. Area: 16,640 sq mi (43,098 sq km). Its territory includes Green¬ land and the Faroe Islands, which are self-governing dependencies. Popu¬ lation (2005 est.): 5,416,000. Capital: Copenhagen. The majority of the population is Danish. Language: Danish (official). Religions: Christian-

"I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold," oil on composition board by Charles Demuth, 1928; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

COURTESY OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW VORK CITY, THE ALFRED STIEGUTZ COLLECTION, 1949

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Dennison ► deontological ethics I 533

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peninsula and an archipelago to its east.

The two largest islands, Zealand (SjalLIAND) and Funen (Fyn), together make up about one-fourth of the country’s total land area. With a 4,500-mi (7,300-km) coastline, Denmark has a generally temperate and often wet climate. It has a mixed economy based on services and manufacturing. It boasts one of the world’s oldest and most comprehensive social welfare systems, and its standard of living is among the highest in the world. Denmark is a constitutional monarchy. Its chief of state is the Danish monarch, and the head of government is the prime minister. Denmark may have been inhabited as early as about 100,000 bc. About 500 ad the first foreign mentions of Danes as a tribe appeared. During the Viking period the Danes expanded their territory, and by the 11th century the united Danish kingdom included parts of what are now Sweden, England, and Norway. Scandinavia was united under Danish rule from 1397 until 1523, when Sweden became independent; a series of debilitating wars with Sweden in the 17th century resulted in the Treaty of Copenhagen (1660), which established the modern Scandinavian frontiers. Denmark gained and lost various other territories, including Norway, in the 19th and 20th centuries; it went through three constitutions between 1849 and 1915 and was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1940-45. A founding member of NATO (1949), Denmark adopted its current constitution in 1953. It became a member of the European Economic Community in 1973 but modi¬ fied its membership during the 1990s in response to some Danes’ con¬ cerns regarding environmental protection and social welfare. In the early 21st century, Denmark’s handling of immigrants, though a small statis¬ tical minority, raised great debate.

Dennison, Aaron Lufkin (b. March 6, 1812, Freeport, Mass., U.S.—d. Jan. 9, 1895, Birmingham, Eng.) U.S. watch manufacturer. After studying the methods used at the Springfield Armory, he mastered the tech¬ nical difficulties of machine production of small parts, set up a factory in Waltham, Mass., in 1850, and began to produce the first inexpensive factory-made watches with interchangeable parts. His introduction of machinery into the manufacture of paper boxes and other paper products resulted in the founding of the Dennison Manufacturing Co. He is regarded as the father of American watchmaking.

density Mass of a unit volume of a material substance. It is calculated by dividing an object’s mass by its volume. In the International System of Units, and depending on the units of measurement used, density can be expressed in grams per cubic centimetre (g/cm 3 ) or kilograms per cubic

metre (kg/m 3 ). The expression “particle density” refers to the number of particles per unit volume, not to the density of a single particle. See also SPECIFIC GRAVITY.

density current Any current in either a liquid or a gas that is kept in motion by the force of gravity acting on small differences in density. A density difference can exist between two fluids or between different parts of the same fluid. Density currents flow along ocean and lake bottoms, because the water entering is colder, saltier, or contains more suspended sediment and thus is denser than the surrounding water. Density currents are a factor in water pollution, as the industrial discharge of large amounts of polluted or heated water can generate density currents that affect neigh¬ bouring human or animal communities.

density function In statistics, a function whose integral is calculated to find probabilities associated with a continuous random variable (see continuity, probability theory). Its graph is a curve above the horizontal axis that defines a total area, between itself and the axis, of 1. The percentage of this area included between any two values coincides with the prob¬ ability that the outcome of an observation described by the density func¬ tion falls between those values. Every random variable is associated with a density function (e.g., a variable with a normal distribution is described by a bell curve).

dentistry Profession concerned with the teeth and mouth. It includes repair or removal of decayed teeth, straightening and adjustment of teeth for proper occlusion, and design, manufacture, and fitting of false teeth and other prosthetic devices. X-rays are used to show conditions not vis¬ ible on examination. Using local anesthesia, caries in teeth are drilled to remove diseased areas and filled with various materials. Decay that reaches a tooth’s root risks infection of the nerve and requires root-canal surgery. Teeth that must be extracted are replaced by crowns for single teeth and full or partial dentures or implants for more. Dentists also edu¬ cate patients on oral hygiene, examine and clean teeth, and apply fluo¬ ride compounds for decay resistance.

D'Entrecasteaux V.don-tro-'kas-toX Islands Island group, Papua New Guinea. Located in the South Pacific Ocean, the group includes Nor- manby, Fergusson, and Goodenough islands and many islets, atolls, and reefs. Most are volcanic, precipitous, and forested. They have a combined land area of 1,213 sq mi (3,142 sq km). They were named by the French navigator Bruni d’Entrecasteaux in 1793. The chief settlement is Dobu, located on an islet between Normanby and Fergusson.

Denver City (pop., 2000: 554,636), capital of Colorado, U.S. On the South Platte River just east of the Rocky Mountains, its elevation of 5,280 ft (1,609 m) gives it the nickname “Mile High City.” An early stopping place for Indians and trappers, it was settled in 1858 as St. Charles, abruptly renamed Denver City (the “city” was eventually dropped), and combined with the rival town of Auraria in 1860, becoming the territo¬ rial capital as Denver City in 1867. The 1870s and ’80s saw a silver boom that ended in 1893, but new gold discoveries helped prevent a major decline. Modem Denver, a transportation, industrial, and commercial hub, has one of the nation’s largest livestock markets. It is a major centre for winter sports, with many ski areas in the vicinity. The Denver branch of the U.S. Mint (opened 1906) produces about 50% of U.S. coinage and is the nation’s second largest gold depository.

deontic logic \de-'an-tik\ Branch of modal logic that studies the per¬ mitted, the obligatory, and the forbidden, which are characterized as deon¬ tic modalities (Greek, deontos : “of that which is binding”). It seeks to systematize the abstract, purely conceptual relations between propositions in this sphere, such as the following: If an act is obligatory, then its per¬ formance must be permitted and its omission forbidden. In given circum¬ stances, every act is such that either it or its omission is permitted. Modal logic leaves to substantive disciplines such as ethics and law the concrete questions of what specific acts or states of affairs are to be forbidden, per¬ mitted, or the like.

deontological ethics Ethical theories that maintain that the moral rightness or wrongness of an action depends on its intrinsic qualities, and not (as in consequentialism) on the nature of its consequences. Deonto¬ logical ethics holds that at least some acts are morally wrong in them¬ selves (e.g., lying, breaking a promise, punishing the innocent, murder). It often finds expression in slogans such as “Duty for duty’s sake.” Deon¬ tological theories are often formulated in such a way that the rightness of an action consists in its conformity to a moral rule or command, such as

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

534 I Depardieu ► derivatives

“Do not bear false witness.” The most important exponent of deontolog- ical ethics is Immanuel Kant. See also categorical imperative.

Depardieu \d9-par-'dyoe\, Gerard (b. Dec. 27, 1948, Chateauroux, France) French film actor. He made his film debut in 1965 and played minor parts until his performance in Going Places (1974) brought him a major role in Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900 (1976). He became French cin¬ ema’s top male star in the 1980s and also made films elsewhere in Europe and in the U.S. Noted for a screen image that combined sensitivity with masculine strength, he delivered compelling performances in The Last Metro (1980), The Return of Martin Guerre (1981), Jean de Florette (1986), Matron of the Spring (1986), Cyrano de Bergerac { 1990), and Tous les matins du monde (1992).

department store Retail establishment that sells a wide variety of goods. These usually include ready-to-wear apparel and accessories, yard goods and household textiles, housewares, furniture, electrical appliances, and accessories. In addition to departments (supervised by managers and buyers) for the various categories of goods, there are departmental divi¬ sions to handle, for example, merchandising, advertising, service, accounting, and financial strategy. The Bon Marche in Paris, which began as a small shop in the early 19th century, is often considered the first department store. The first U.S. department store chains—J.C. Penney and Sears, Roebuck and Co.— date to the 1920s. See also Harrods.

dependency In international relations, a weak state dominated by or under the jurisdiction of a more powerful state but not formally annexed by it. Examples include American Samoa (U.S.) and Greenland (Denmark). The dominant state may control certain of its affairs, such as defense, for¬ eign relations, and internal security, and allow it autonomy in domestic affairs such as education, health, and infrastructural development. In the 1960s and ’70s the term referred to an approach to understanding third- world development that emphasized the constraints imposed by the glo¬ bal political and economic order.

depletion allowance In tax law, the deductions from gross income allowed investors in exhaustible commodities (such as minerals, oil, or gas) for the depletion of the deposits. The depletion allowance is intended as an incentive to stimulate investment in this high-risk industry, though critics argue that mineral deposits are valuable enough to justify high lev¬ els of investment even without tax incentives. See also depreciation.

deposit account Either of two basic bank deposit accounts. The demand deposit is payable on demand (see check). Theoretically, the time deposit is payable only after a fixed interval of time; in practice, with¬ drawals from most small time-deposit accounts are paid on demand.

depreciation Accounting charge for the decline in value of an asset spread over its economic life. Depreciation includes deterioration from use, age, and exposure to the elements, as well as decline in value caused by obsolescence, loss of usefulness, and the availability of newer and more efficient means of serving the same purpose. It does not include sudden losses caused by fire, accident, or disaster. Depreciation is often used in assessing the value of property (e.g., buildings, machinery) or other assets of limited life (e.g., a leasehold or copyright) for tax pur¬ poses. See also depletion allowance; investment credit.

depression In economics, a major downswing in the business cycle char¬ acterized by sharply reduced industrial production, widespread unemploy¬ ment, a serious decline or cessation of growth in construction, and great reductions in international trade and capital movements. Unlike recessions, which may be limited to a single country, severe depressions such as the Great Depression encompass many nations. See also deflation; inflation.

depression Neurotic or psychotic disorder marked by sadness, inac¬ tivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies. Probably the most com¬ mon psychiatric complaint, depression has been described by physicians from at least the time of Hippocrates, who called it melancholia. Its course is extremely variable from person to person; it may be fleeting or perma¬ nent, mild or severe. Depression is more common in women than in men. The rates of incidence increase with age in men, while the peak for women is between the ages of 35 and 45. Its causes can be both psychosocial (e.g., the loss of a loved one) and biochemical (chiefly, reduced quanti¬ ties of the monoamines norepinephrine and serotonin). Treatment is usu¬ ally a combination of psychotherapy and drug therapy (see antidepressant).

A person who experiences alternating states of depression and extreme elation is said to suffer from bipolar disorder.

Depression of T 929 See Great Depression

Depretis \da-'pre-tes\, Agostino (b. Jan. 13, 1813, Mezzana Corti, Kingdom of Italy—d. July 29, 1887, Stradella, Italy) Italian politician. In 1848 he was elected to the first Piedmontese parliament and was reelected thereafter until his death. After Italy was unified, he served in several cabinet posts (1862-67). He became premier in 1876 and was the domi¬ nant force in Italian politics until 1887. Among his notable achievements were the signing of the Triple Alliance and his government policy of tras- formismo, bringing together members of different parties in the same cabinet.

depth charge or depth bomb Weapon used by ships or aircraft to attack submerged submarines. Developed by the British in World War I for use against German submarines, it consisted of a canister filled with explosives and dropped off the stern of a ship near a submerged subma¬ rine. It rarely exploded close enough to sink the submarine, but its shock waves loosened the submarine’s joints and damaged its instruments, forc¬ ing it to the surface, where naval gunfire could finish it off. Modem depth charges can be fired as far as 2,000 yards (1,800 m) from a ship’s deck or launched from aircraft. Atomic depth charges have a nuclear warhead and a vastly increased killing radius.

Derain \d3-'raii\, Andre (b. June 10, 1880, Chatou, Fr.—d. Sept. 8, 1954, Garches) French painter, graphic artist, and designer. After study¬ ing in Paris at the Academie Carriere and Academie Julian, he developed his early style in association with his friends Maurice de Vlaminck and Henri Matisse; the three were the principal exponents of Fauvism. Their land¬ scapes and figure studies featured brilliant colours, broken brushstrokes, and impulsive lines. By the 1920s, however, Derain had turned to the Neoclassical style (see Classicism and Neoclassicism). He produced numer¬ ous book illustrations and designs for stage sets, notably for Sergey Diaghi- lev’s Ballets Russes.

Derby One of the classic English horse races (established 1780), run in June over a 1 Vi-mi (2,400 m) course at Epsom Downs, Surrey. Many other horse races have been named for the Derby (e.g., the Kentucky Derby), and the term itself has come to signify a race or contest of any type.

Derby \'dar-be\, Edward (George Geoffrey Smith) Stanley, 14th earl of (b. March 29, 1799, Knowsley Park, Lancashire, Eng.—d. Oct. 23, 1869, London) English statesman. Having entered Parliament as a Whig in 1820, he later joined the Conservatives and became leader of the Conservative Party (1846-68) and prime minister (1852, 1858, and 1866-68). Legislation adopted during his tenure included the removal of Jewish discrimination in Parliament membership, the transfer of India’s administration from the East India Company to the crown, and the Reform Bill of 1 867. He is remembered as one of England’s greatest parliamen¬ tary orators.

Derbyshire \'dar-be-,shir\ or Derby \'dar-be\ Administrative (pop., 2001: 734,581), geographic, and historic county, central England. The landscape varies from the moorlands of the north to the Trent lowlands in the south. Industry ranges from tourism in the High Peak district to mining and engineering in the eastern and southern coalfields. Apart from gaining the rural district of Tintwistle from Cheshire, the traditional county was unaltered by the administrative reorganization in 1974; its county seat is Matlock.

derivative In mathematics, a fundamental concept of differential calculus representing the instantaneous rate of change of a function. The first deriva¬ tive of a function is a function whose values can be interpreted as slopes of tangent lines to the graph of the original function at a given point. The derivative of a derivative (known as the second derivative) describes the rate of change of the rate of change, and can be thought of physically as acceleration. The process of finding a derivative is called differentiation.

derivative, partial See partial derivative

derivatives In finance, contracts whose value is derived from another asset, which can include stocks, bonds, currencies, interest rates, com¬ modities, and related indexes. Purchasers of derivatives are essentially wagering on the future performance of that asset. Derivatives include such widely accepted products as futures and options. Concern over the risky nature of derivatives grew after some well-publicized corporate losses in 1994 involving Procter & Gamble, Metallgesellschaft AG of Germany, and

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

dermatitis ► desalination I 535

Orange County, Calif. Anxiety intensified after the collapse in 1995 of the London-based merchant bank Barings PLC (now part of the Dutch ING Group NV). Securities regulators from 16 countries then agreed on mea¬ sures to improve control of derivatives.

dermatitis or eczema \ig-'ze-ms, 'eg-z3-m3\ Inflammation of the skin, usually itchy, with redness, swelling, and blistering. Causes and patterns vary. Contact dermatitis appears at the site of contact with an irritating substance or allergen. Atopic dermatitis, with patches of dry skin, occurs in infants, children, and young adults with genetic hypersensitivities (atopy). Stasis dermatitis affects the ankles and lower legs because of chronic poor blood flow in the veins. Seborrheic dermatitis appears as scaly skin, most often on the scalp (dandruff) and areas rich in sebaceous glands. Neurodermatitis is apparently caused by repeated scratching of an itchy skin area.

dermatology Medical specialty dealing with diseases of the skin. Its scientific basis was established in the mid-19th century by Ferdinand von Hebra (1816-1880), whose approach was based on microscopic examina¬ tion of skin lesions. Starting in the 1930s, an emphasis on biochemistry and physiology led to more sophisticated and effective treatments. Dermatol¬ ogy deals with fungal diseases, skin cancers, psoriasis, and life-threatening skin diseases such as pemphigus, scleroderma, and lupus erythematosus.

dermestid \d9r-'mes-t3d\ (beetle) Any member of about 700 species (family Dermestidae) of widely distributed beetles that are household pests. Usually brown or black, some are brightly coloured or patterned, and they vary in shape from elongated to oval. Dermestids range from 0.05 to 0.5 in. (1 to 12 mm) long and are covered with hairs or scales that easily flake off. The wormlike larvae feed on furs, skins, feathers, horn, and hair; some feed on cheese and dried meats or on carpets, rugs, furniture, and cloth¬ ing. Two are museum pests that have destroyed collections of stuffed ani¬ mals; museums and collectors must either have pestproof display shelves or continuously apply pesticides. The larvae of carrion-feeding species are sometimes used to clean the soft tissue attached to animal skeletons.

Dermot Macmurrough Vdar-mot-mok-'mor-oV or Diarmaid Macmurchada Vdir-mid-mok-'mur-ko-doX (d. May 1, 1171) Irish king of Leinster (1126-71). He faced a number of rivals in claiming the throne of his father, Enna, and he asserted his authority by killing or blinding 17 rebel chieftains (1141). He abducted another Irish king’s wife in 1153, beginning a bitter feud in which he was driven from Ireland (1166). He returned with the backing of Anglo-Norman lords (including the earl of Pembroke), and in 1170 they captured Dublin. Pembroke married Der- mot’s daughter and became ruler of Leinster after his death. Dermot’s appeal for Norman help in settling an internal dispute thus proved instru¬ mental in the Norman conquest of Ireland.

Deroulede \da-rii-'led\ / Paul (b. Sept. 2, 1846, Paris, France—d. Jan. 30, 1914, Nice) French politician and poet. An ardent nationalist and advocate of revenge against Germany, he helped found the revanchist Ligue des Patriotes (League of Patriots), supported Georges Boulanger, and campaigned against Alfred Dreyfus. After trying to overthrow the gov¬ ernment in 1899, he was exiled in 1900 but allowed to return in 1905. His patriotic poems include the collection Chants du soldat (1872).

Derrida \de-re-'da\, Jacques (b. July 15, 1930, El Biar, Alg.—d. Oct. 8, 2004, Paris, France) Algerian-born French philosopher. Derrida taught principally at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris (1964-84). His cri¬ tique of Western philosophy encompasses literature, linguistics, and psy¬ choanalysis. His thought is based on his disapproval of the search for an ultimate metaphysical certainty or source of meaning that has character¬ ized most of Western philosophy. Instead, he offers deconstruction, which is in part a way of reading philosophic texts intended to make explicit the underlying metaphysical suppositions and assumptions through a close analysis of the language that attempts to convey them. His works on deconstructive theory and method include Speech and Phenomena (1967), Writing and Difference (1967), and Of Grammatology (1967). Among his other works are Psyche: Invention of the Other (1987) and Resistances of Psychoanalysis (1996).

Derry See Londonderry (district); Londonderry (town)

Dershowitz, Alan (Morton) (b. Sept. 1, 1938, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. lawyer. He graduated from Yale Law School and clerked for Justice Arthur Goldberg before being appointed to the faculty of Harvard Law School at age 25. Known as a civil liberties lawyer, he appeared for the defense in many highly publicized criminal cases, including those of

Claus von Bulow and O.J. Simpson. His journal articles and widely syn¬ dicated newspaper columns were published in collections such as The Abuse Excuse (1994); his other books include Reasonable Doubts (1966) and The Best Defense (1982).

dervish In Islam, a member of a Sufi fraternity. These mystics stressed emotional aspects of devotion through ecstatic trances, dancing, and whirling. Dervishes can be either resident in the community or lay mem¬ bers; wandering or mendicant dervishes are called fakirs and are often regarded as holy men who possess miraculous powers. Though viewed as unorthodox and extreme by most Muslims, the movement has endured to the present. See also Sufism.

Derwent Vdor-wontV River River, Tasmania, Australia. Rising in Lake St. Clair, it flows 113 mi (182 km) southeast to enter Storm Bay through a 3.5-mi- (5.5-km-) wide estuary. Its major upper-course tributaries have been extensively developed for hydropower. The city of Hobart is situ¬ ated on the estuary, 12 mi (19 km) from the river’s mouth. This stretch of the river forms an excellent deepwater port and is spanned by the Tas¬ man Bridge.

Derwent Water Lake, Cumbria, England. Located in the Lake District, it is about 3 mi (5 km) long and 0.5-1.25 mi (0.8-2 km) wide, with a maximum depth of 72 ft (22 m). The River Derwent enters its southern end and leaves the lake’s northern end near the market town of Keswick. Several sites on its shores are National Trust property and are frequented by tourists. Lords Island, one of several in the lake, was once the resi¬ dence of the earls of Derwentwater.

Des Moines \di-'m6in\ City (pop., 2000: 198,682), capital of Iowa, U.S. Located at the juncture of the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers, Fort Des Moines was established in 1843 to protect the rights of the Sauk and Fox Indians. The area was opened to white settlers in 1845. East Des Moines developed and by 1856 had amalgamated with Fort Des Moines to form the present city, which became the capital in 1857. The state’s largest city, it is a communications hub and a major manufacturing, governmental, and publishing centre (especially for farm journals). It is the site of Drake University (1881).

Des Moines River River, southwestern Minnesota into Iowa, U.S. Rising near Pipestone, it flows 525 mi (845 km) southeast to join the Mis¬ sissippi River near Keokuk, Iowa. Above Humboldt, Iowa, it is known as the West Fork. From the late 1830s until the end of the American Civil War, it was the main commercial artery for central Iowa. It was early utilized for power, and, although none survive, 80 grain mills were built (1840-90) along its banks.

Des Plaines \des-'planz\ River River, northeastern Illinois, U.S. Ris¬ ing in southeastern Wisconsin, it flows south into Illinois past Chicago, to join the Kankakee River after a course of 150 mi (241 km). In 1900 Chicago completed a drainage canal from the southern branch of the Chi¬ cago River to the Des Plaines. It is part of the Illinois Waterway (1933), which allows modern barge traffic to pass between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River.

Desai Vda-.sl, de-'slV, Anita orig. Anita Mazumdar (b. June 24, 1937, Mussoorie, India) Indian novelist and author of children’s books. Considered India’s premier imagist writer, she excels in evoking charac¬ ter and mood through visual images. Her works include Fire on the Moun¬ tain (1977), Clear Light of Day (1980), Baumgartner’s Bombay (1988), Journey to Ithaca (1995), and the story collection Diamond Dust (2000).

Desai \de-'sl\, Morarji (Ranchhodji) (b. Feb. 29, 1896, Bhadeli, Gujarat, India—d. April 10, 1995, Bombay) Prime minister of India (1977-79). The son of a village teacher, he joined the provincial civil ser¬ vice of Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1918. He joined Mohandas K. Gan¬ dhi’s struggle in 1930 and spent almost 10 years in British jails in the 1930s and ’40s. In 1969 he became chairman of the opposition to Indira Gandhi; he was detained in solitary confinement (1975-77) for his politi¬ cal activities. When elections were held in 1977, he became prime min¬ ister; by 1979, however, his coalition had unraveled, and he resigned.

desalination or desalting Removal of dissolved salts from seawa¬ ter and from the salty waters of inland seas, highly mineralized ground- waters, and municipal wastewaters. Desalination makes such otherwise unusable waters fit for human consumption, irrigation, industrial applica¬ tions, and other purposes. Distillation is the most widely used desalination process; freezing and thawing, electrodialysis, and reverse osmosis are

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

536 I Descartes ► Desmond

also used. All are energy-intensive and therefore expensive. Currently, more than 2 billion gallons (8 million cu m) of fresh water are produced each day by several thousand desalination plants throughout the world, the largest plants being in the Arabian Peninsula.

Descartes \da-'kart\, Rene (b. March 31, 1596, La Haye, Touraine, France—d. Feb. 11, 1650, Stockholm, Swed.) French mathematician, sci¬ entist, and philosopher, considered the father of modern philosophy. Edu¬ cated at a Jesuit college, he joined the military in 1618 and traveled widely for the next 10 years. In 1628 he settled in Holland, where he would remain until 1649. Descartes’s ambition was to introduce into philosophy the rigour and clarity of mathematics. In his Meditations on First Philoso¬ phy (1641), he undertook the methodical doubt of all knowledge about which it is possible to be deceived, including knowledge based on author¬ ity, the senses, and reason, in order to arrive at something about which he can be absolutely certain; using this point as a foundation, he then sought to construct new and more secure justifications of his belief in the exist¬ ence and immortality of the soul, the existence of God, and the reality of an external world. This indubitable point is expressed in the dictum Cogito ergo sum (“I think, therefore I am”). His metaphysical dualism distin¬ guished radically between mind, the essence of which is thinking, and matter, the essence of which is extension in three dimensions. Though his metaphysics is rationalistic (see rationalism), his physics and physiology are empiricistic (see empiricism) and mechanistic (see mechanism). In math¬ ematics, he founded analytic geometry and reformed algebraic notation.

descent System of acknowledged social parentage whereby a person may claim kinship ties with another. Descent systems vary widely. The practical importance of descent comes from its use as a means for indi¬ viduals to assert rights, duties, privileges, or status. Descent has special influence when rights to succession, inheritance, or residence follow kin¬ ship lines. One method of limiting the recognition of kinship is to empha¬ size the relationship through one parent only. Such unilineal kinship systems are of two main types—patrilineal systems, in which the rela¬ tionships through the father are emphasized; and matrilineal systems, in which maternal relationships are stressed. These systems differ radically from cognatic systems, in which everyone has similar obligations to, and expectations from, both paternal and maternal kin. The cognatic system is somewhat vague and tends to characterize the more industrialized coun¬ tries, in which individual rights and duties are increasingly defined insti¬ tutionally or legally.

desensitization or hyposensitization Treatment to eliminate allergic reactions (see allergy) by injecting increasing strengths of puri¬ fied extracts of the substance that causes the reaction. This creates spe¬ cial antibodies (blocking antibodies) in the patient’s serum that combine with the allergen, blocking its reaction with allergic antibodies. Desensi¬ tization can also be required when a penicillin-sensitive person needs to be treated with penicillin. See also anaphylaxis, antigen.

desert Large, extremely dry area of land with fairly sparse vegetation. It is one of the Earth’s major types of ecosystems. Areas with a mean annual precipitation of 10 in. (250 mm) or less are generally considered deserts. They include the high-latitude circumpolar areas as well as the

Agave shawii growing in a desert in North America.

© ROBERT AND UNDA MITCHELL

more familiar hot, arid regions of the low and mid-latitudes. Desert ter¬ rain may consist of rugged mountains, high plateaus, or plains; many occupy broad mountain-rimmed basins. Surface materials include bare bedrock, plains of gravel and boulders, and vast tracts of shifting sand. Wind-blown sands, commonly thought to be typical of deserts, make up only about 2% of North American deserts, 10% of the Sahara, and 30% of the Arabian desert.

desert varnish or patina Thin, dark red to black mineral coating (generally iron and manganese oxides and silica) deposited on pebbles and rocks on the surface of desert regions. As dew and soil moisture brought to the surface by capillary action evaporate, their dissolved min¬ erals are deposited on the surface. Wind abrasion removes the softer salts and polishes the surface to a glossy finish. Both high evaporation rates and sufficient precipitation are necessary for desert varnish to form.

desertification Spread of a desert environment into arid or semiarid regions, caused by climatic changes, human influence, or both. Climatic factors include periods of temporary but severe drought and long-term climatic changes toward dryness. Human factors include artificial climatic alteration, as through the removal of vegetation (which can lead to unnatu¬ rally high erosion), excessive cultivation, and the exhaustion of water supplies. Desertification drains an arid or semiarid land of its life¬ supporting capabilities. It is characterized by a declining groundwater table, salt accumulation in topsoil and water, a decrease in surface water, increasing erosion, and the disappearance of native vegetation.

Desiderio da Settignano Vda-se-'der-yo-da-.sat-ten-'ya-noN (b. c. 1430, Settignano, republic of Florence—d. January 1464, Florence) Ital¬ ian sculptor. Born into a family of stonemasons, he entered the Stone and Wood Carvers’ Guild of Florence in 1453. He based his style on Dona¬ tello’s work of the 1430s, and his skill as a marble cutter established him as a master of bas-relief. His delicate, sensitive, original technique was best expressed in portrait busts of women and children. His most impor¬ tant public work was the tomb of Carlo Marsuppini in the church of Santa Croce; the tomb’s rich architectural detail makes it one of the most out¬ standing of all Florentine wall monuments.

designer drug Synthetic version of a controlled narcotic substance. Designer drugs usually are synthesized for the first time in an attempt to create a chemical whose molecular structure differs only slightly from that of some well-known controlled substance but whose effects are essentially the same. Because of the difference in molecular structure, the designer drug, unlike the controlled substance, ordinarily will not be specifically listed as illicit by law-enforcement organizations. Many designer drugs are manufactured in clandestine laboratories, often by amateurs; for this reason they are sometimes more dangerous than the drugs they are intended to replace. One of the best-known is MDMA (3,4- methylene¬ dioxymethamphetamine), a variation of methamphetamine, popularly called Ecstasy. Nonnarcotic synthetic chemical compounds designed to interact with specific proteins and enzymes in order to combat disease also have been called designer drugs.

desktop publishing (DTP) Use of a personal computer to perform publishing tasks. DTP allows an individual to combine text, numerical data, and graphic elements in a document that can be output on a printer or a phototypesetter. A typical DTP system includes a personal computer, a high-resolution printer, and input devices such as an optical scanner. Text and graphic elements are commonly created or manipulated with several separate software programs and then combined with a page- makeup program. Powerful DTP programs offer full-featured graphics capabilities.

desmid Vdez-modX Any of a group of one-celled, microscopic green algae characterized by great varia¬ tion in cell shape. Typically the cell is divided symmetrically into semi¬ cells connected at a central point.

Desmids are found worldwide, usu¬ ally in acid bogs or lakes. Since most species have a limited range, the presence of specific desmids is help¬ ful in characterizing water samples.

Desmond Ancient territorial divi¬ sion, Ireland. From the 11th to the

Desmid (Micrasterias), highly magni¬ fied

WINTON PATNODE-PHOTO RESEARCHERS

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Desmoulins ► deuterium I 537

17th century, the name was often used for two quite distinct areas. Gaelic Desmond extended over part of modern Counties Kerry and Cork; Anglo- Norman Desmond extended over northern Kerry, most of the modern county of Limerick, southwestern Tipperary, eastern and southern County Cork, and eastern Waterford.

Desmoulins \da-mu-'la n \, (Lucie-Simplice-) Camille (-Benoist)

(b. March 2, 1760, Guise, France—d. April 5, 1794, Paris) French jour¬ nalist influential in the French Revolution. Though a stammer had impeded him as a lawyer, he suddenly emerged as an inspiring orator when the Revolution began, inciting the storming of the Bastille. In his pamphlets and newspapers he campaigned for the deposition of the king and the establishment of a republic. Elected to the National Convention, he joined other Montagnards in a struggle against the Girondins. Later he and Georges Danton became leaders of a moderate faction, the Indulgents. After attacking the Committee of Public Safety’s Reign of Terror, he was guillotined along with other Dantonists.

Dessalines \,da-s9-Ten\, Jean-Jacques (b. c. 1758, West Africa—d. Oct. 17, 1806, Jacmel, Haiti) Emperor of Haiti who drove out the French in 1804. He was a slave of a black master in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) in 1791 when he joined a slave rebellion. He became a lieutenant of Toussaint-Louverture but submitted to the French expedition that deposed Toussaint in 1802. Napoleon’s decision to reintroduce slavery led Dessa¬ lines and others to rebel, and with British help they expelled the French. In 1804 Dessalines proclaimed the island independent under its Arawa- kan name, Haiti, and proclaimed himself emperor the following year. He made it illegal for whites to own property and killed thousands; he also discriminated against mulattoes. He was killed during a mulatto revolt.

destroyer Fast naval vessel used to protect other ships. The term was first applied to vessels built in the 1890s to protect battleships from tor¬ pedo boats. By World War I destroyers were often sent ahead of the battle fleet to scout for the enemy, beat back its destroyers with cannon fire, and then launch torpedoes against its battleships and cruisers. When the sub¬ marine became the main torpedo-launching vessel, destroyers armed with depth charges protected convoys and battle fleets against submarine attack. In World War II, with the addition of radar and antiaircraft guns, its escort role included air defense. Modern destroyers are run by a crew of about 300 and equipped with surface-to-air missiles, antiship missiles, and one or two big guns. Many carry submarine-hunting helicopters, and some carry cruise missiles.

detached retina Separation of most layers of the retina of the eye from the choroid, the pigmented middle layer of the eyeball. With age, small tears can develop in the retina, and the vitreous humour inside the eye¬ ball leaks through, separating the retina from the choroid. The disease ret- rolental fibroplasia or accidents can also cause retinal detachment. It usually develops slowly, without pain. Floating black spots and flashes of light appear in the affected eye, and vision becomes increasingly blurred. Without prompt treatment, it causes permanent blindness. Draining the fluid behind the retina and applying heat, a laser beam, or extreme cold causes scarring that seals the tears and prevents the retina from detach¬ ing again.

detective story Type of popular literature dealing with the step-by- step investigation and solution of a crime, usually murder. The first detec¬ tive story was Edgar Alian Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841). The genre soon expanded to novel length. Sherlock Holmes, the first fictional detective to become a household name, first appeared in Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet (1887). The 1930s was the golden age of the detective novel, exemplified by the books of Dashiell Hammett. The introduction of mass-produced paperback books in the late 1930s made detective stories readily accessible to a wide public, and well-known fictional detectives were created by G.K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Raymond Chandler, Mickey Spillane, and Georges Simenon. Among present-day mystery writers RD. James and Dick Fran¬ cis rank high.

detente \da-'tant\ Period of the easing of Cold War tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union from 1967 to 1979. The era was a time of increased trade and cooperation with the Soviet Union and the signing of the SALT treaties. Relations cooled again with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

detergent Any of various surfactants (substances that reduce surface tension) used to dislodge dirt from soiled surfaces and retain it in suspen¬

sion, allowing it to be rinsed away. The term usually refers to synthetic substances and excludes soaps. The characteristic features of a molecule of any detergent are a hydrophilic (water-attracting) end and a hydrophobic (oil-attracting) end. In ionic detergents, the hydrophilic property is con¬ ferred by the ionized part of the molecule. In nonionic detergents, hydro- philicity is based on the presence of multiple hydroxyl groups or other hydrophilic groups. Besides those used in water to clean dishes and laun¬ dry, detergents that function in other solvents are used in lubricating oils, gasolines, and dry-cleaning solvents to prevent or remove unwanted deposits. They are also used as emulsifying agents (see emulsion).

determinant In linear algebra, a numerical value associated with a matrix having the same number of rows as columns. It is particularly use¬ ful in solving systems of (linear) equations and in the study of vectors. For a two-by-two matrix, the determinant is the product of the upper left and lower right terms minus the product of the lower left and upper right terms. Determinants of larger matrices involve more complicated arith¬ metic combinations of the terms and are usually solved using a calcula¬ tor or computer.

determinism In philosophy, the doctrine that all events, including human decisions, are completely determined by previously existing causes. The traditional free will problem arises from the question, Is moral responsibility consistent with the truth of determinism? Among those who believe it is not consistent, some, maintaining the truth of determinism, have concluded that no one is morally responsible for what he does (and therefore that punishment for criminal actions is unjustified); others, maintaining the reality of moral responsibility, have concluded that deter¬ minism is false. Those who believe that moral responsibility is consistent with determinism are known as compatibilists (see compatibilism). Pierre- Simon Laplace is responsible for the classical formulation of determinism in the 18th century. For Laplace, the present state of the universe is the effect of its previous state and the cause of the state that follows it. If a mind, at any given moment, could know all the laws and all the forces operating in nature and the respective positions and momenta of all its components, it could thereby know with certainty the future and the past of every entity.

deterrence Military strategy whereby one power uses the threat of reprisal to preclude an attack from an adversary. The term largely refers to the basic strategy of the nuclear powers and the major alliance systems. The premise is that each nuclear power maintains a high level of instant and overwhelming destructive capability against any aggressor. It relies on two basic conditions: the ability to retaliate after a surprise attack must be perceived as credible, and retaliation must be perceived as a possibil¬ ity, if not a certainty.

Detroit City (pop., 2000: 951,270), largest in Michigan, U.S. Located on the Detroit River and founded by the French in 1701, it became a trad¬ ing centre for the Great Lakes region. It surrendered to the British during the French and Indian War, then came under U.S. control in 1796. The capital of Michigan from 1805 to 1847, it grew as one of the country’s shipping and flour-milling centres. In the 20th century it became the auto¬ mobile capital of the world with the help of Henry Ford. The city’s indus¬ trial growth attracted migrants, at first Europeans and later Southern blacks, who by 1990 made up three-fourths of the population. The decline in the area’s automotive industry brought economic hardship in the late 20th century. Wayne State University (1868) is the city’s oldest college.

Detroit River River, southeastern Michigan, U.S. Forming part of the boundary between Michigan and Ontario, Can., it connects Lake St. Clair with Lake Erie. It flows south for 32 mi (51 km) past Detroit and Wind¬ sor, Ont., where a bridge and tunnel connect the two cities. The largest islands in the river are Belle Isle (a city park of Detroit) and Grosse lie (a residential area with an airport), both in Michigan, and Fighting Island in Ontario. The river is heavily used by both pleasure craft and Great Lakes shipping.

deus ex machina Vda-os-.eks-'ma-ki-no, 'da-os-.eks-mo-'she-noN Stage device in Greek and Roman drama in which a god appeared in the sky by means of a crane (Greek, mechane ) to resolve the plot of a play. Plays by Sophocles and particularly Euripides sometimes require the device. The term now denotes something that appears suddenly and unexpectedly and provides an artificial solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty.

deuterium \du-'tir-e-9m\ or heavy hydrogen Isotope of hydrogen, chemical symbol 2 H or D, atomic number 1 (but atomic weight approxi-

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

538 I deuterium oxide ► Devrient family

mately 2). Harold C. Urey won a Nobel Prize for its discovery and iso¬ lation. Its nucleus contains one proton and one neutron. A stable substance found in naturally occurring hydrogen compounds to the extent of about 0.015%, deuterium can be purified by distillation of hydrogen or by elec¬ trolysis of water. It enters into all the same chemical reactions as ordinary hydrogen; it forms D 2 and HD, analogous to molecular hydrogen (H 2 ), and D 2 0 (heavy water), analogous to ordinary water (H 2 0). Nuclear fusion of deuterium atoms or of deuterium and tritium at high temperatures releases enormous amounts of energy. Such reactions have been used in nuclear weapons and experimental power reactors. Deuterium is useful as a tracer in research into reaction mechanisms and biochemical pathways.

deuterium oxide See heavy water

Deuteronomic Reform Vdti-to-ro-'na-mikA Religious reformation in Judah during the reign of King Josiah (c. 640-609 bc). As Assyria’s hold on Israel weakened, Josiah waged a campaign against foreign cults and had their altars and idols removed from the Temple. He called for a return to the observance of Mosaic Law, based on the book of the Law discov¬ ered in the Temple of Jerusalem (c. 622 bc), believed to be the same book as the law code in the Book of Deuteronomy. Rural sanctuaries and fer¬ tility cults were destroyed and the worship of Yahweh (the God of Israel) was centralized at Jerusalem.

deva Vda-vo, 'de-vo\ (Sanskrit: “divine”) In the Vedic religion of India, one of many divine powers, roughly divided into sky, air, and earth divini¬ ties. During the Vedic period, the gods were divided into two classes, the devas and the asuras. In India the devas gradually came to be more pow¬ erful, and the asuras came to be thought of as demons. In the monothe¬ istic systems that emerged by the late Vedic period, the devas were subordinate to one supreme being.

devaluation Reduction in the exchange value of a country’s monetary unit in terms of gold, silver, or foreign currency. By decreasing the price of the home country’s exports abroad and increasing the price of imports in the home country, devaluation encourages the home country’s export sales and discourages expenditures on imports, thus improving its balance OF PAYMENTS.

devaraja N.da-vo-'ra-jaN In ancient Cambodia, the cult of the “god- king,” established early in the 9th century by Jayavarman II (c. 770-850), founder of the Khmer empire. The cult taught that the king was a mani¬ festation of the god Shiva. For centuries it provided Khmer kings with the religious basis of their royal authority.

development, biological Gradual changes in size, shape, and func¬ tion during an organism’s life that translate its genetic potentials (geno¬ type) into functioning mature systems (phenotype). It includes growth but not repetitive chemical changes (metabolism) or changes over more than one lifetime (evolution). DNA directs the development of a fertilized egg so that cells become specialized structures that carry out specific func¬ tions. In humans, development progresses through the embryo and fetus stages before birth and continues during childhood. Other mammals fol¬ low a similar course. Amphibians and insects go through distinctive stages that are quite different. In plants, the basic pattern is determined by the arrangement of lateral buds around a central growing stem. Different rates of growth of the plant’s component elements then determine its shape and that of various parts. In both animals and plants, growth is greatly influ¬ enced by hormones; factors within individual cells probably also play a role.

development bank National or regional financial institution designed to provide medium- and long-term capital for productive invest¬ ment. Such investment is usually accompanied by technical assistance. Some development banks are government-owned and -operated, while others are private. Many have been established under the auspices of the World Bank. Among the largest are the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the African Development Bank.

developmental psychology Branch of psychology concerned with changes in cognitive, motivational, psychophysiological, and social func¬ tioning that occur throughout the human life span. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, developmental psychologists were concerned prima¬ rily with child psychology. In the 1950s they became interested in the rela¬ tionship between child rearing and adult personality, as well as in examining adolescence in its own right. By the late 20th century they had become interested in all aspects of psychological development and change over the entire life span.

Devi \'da-ve\ Term used to designate a goddess in Hinduism. It is some¬ times used as an honorific title for women, and it may also refer to local female divinities throughout India. In the 5th-6th century, Hindu texts first began to identify Devi as the Great Goddess and the embodiment of mat¬ ter, energy, and illusion. She is represented in a variety of aspects, both good and evil, including the beautiful but menacing Durga, the destruc¬ tive Kali, and the sexually powerful Shakti (see shakti).

devil Spirit or power of evil. Though sometimes used to refer to demons, the term more often designates the prince of evil spirits. In the Bible the Devil is known as Satan, Beelzebub, and Lucifer. In Judaism, Satan emerges as subservient to God and as an adversary and accuser of Job and other humans. In postbiblical traditions he emerges as the tempter of human¬ kind and is responsible for all the sins in the Bible. Christian theology holds that his main task is to tempt humans to reject the way of life and redemption in favour of sin and death. In the Qur’an the Devil is frequently associated with IblTs; he tempts the unfaithful but not the true believer. In Hinduism there is no principal devil, although there are a variety of demons or devilish beings. Buddhists also recognize the existence of many demons, and Mara, the Buddha’s opponent and tempter, is sometimes identified as a specific devil.

devil ray See manta ray devilfish See manta ray

Devils Island French Tie du Diable \ l el-due- l dyabl®\ Rocky islet off the Atlantic coast of French Guiana. The smallest of the three lies du Salut, it is a narrow strip of land 3,900 ft (1,200 m) long and 1,320 ft (400 m) wide. Part of a penal settlement since 1852, it housed the convicts’ leper colony until the islands were made a maximum-security area. It shared the notoriety for cruelty of the mainland French Guiana penal colony. Spies and political prisoners, including Alfred Dreyfus, were held there. The island’s use as a penal colony was phased out by the early 1950s.

Devils Tower National Monument National preserve, northeast¬ ern Wyoming, U.S. The first U.S. national monument, it was established in 1906 near the Belle Fourche River. It includes 1,347 acres (545 hect¬ ares) and features a natural rock tower, the remnant of a volcanic intru¬ sion now exposed by erosion. The tower has a flat top and is 865 ft (264 m) high.

Devolution, War of (1667-68) Conflict between France and Spain over possession of the Spanish Netherlands. Louis XIV began the war on the pretext that the custom of devolution, whereby daughters of a first mar¬ riage were preferred to sons of subsequent marriages regarding property inheritance, should apply to sovereign territories also. That would mean that his wife, Marie-Therese (1638-1683), should succeed her father, Philip IV, in the Spanish Netherlands. The French army advanced into Flanders in May 1667 and easily secured its objectives. A peace was reached at Aix-la-Chapelle, whereby France gave up Franche-Comte but retained conquered towns in Flanders.

Devon \'de-von\ Administrative (pop., 2001: 704,499), geographic, and historic county, southwestern England. It lies between Cornwall, Dorset, and Somerset, and it has coasts on the Bristol Channel and English Chan¬ nel. Exeter is its long-established county seat. Its area includes the moor¬ lands of Dartmoor, inhabited from prehistoric times and now a popular tourist area. Livestock-based agriculture is the main industry; Devonshire clotted cream is still produced.

Devonian \di-'vo-ne-3n\ Period Interval of geologic time from 417 to 354 million years ago; it was the fourth period of the Paleozoic Era. During the Devonian, a giant continent was situated in the Southern Hemi¬ sphere (see Gondwana), and other landmasses were located in the equa¬ torial regions. Siberia was separated from Europe by a broad ocean, and North America and Europe were joined. Many types of primitive marine and freshwater fish appeared and proliferated, and the period is sometimes referred to as the Age of Fishes. Ferns and primitive gymnosperms diver¬ sified and created the first forests.

Devrient, Wilhelmine Schroder- See Wilhelmine Schroder- Devrient

Devrient Vdov-re-'a", dev-'rent\ family German theatrical family. Lud¬ wig Devrient (1784-1832) was the greatest actor of the Romantic period in Germany. At the Dessau court theatre he developed his talent for char¬ acter parts. After his Berlin debut in The Robbers (1814), he played Fal- staff, Shylock, King Lear, and Richard III to great acclaim. His eldest

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

dew ► Dhaka I 539

nephew, Karl August Devrient (1797-1872), acted in Dresden, Karlsruhe, and principally Hannover (1839-72), where he was popular in plays by Shakespeare, Goethe, and Schiller. Karl’s brother Eduard (1801-77) began his career as an opera singer, then worked as an actor and stage director in Dresden (1844-52) and Karlsruhe (1852-70), where he directed German classics and made new translations of Shakespeare’s plays. Karl’s other brother, Emil (1803-72), made his stage debut in 1821 and acted with the Dresden court theatre (1831-68); his greatest successes were as Hamlet and as Goethe’s Tasso. Eduard’s son Otto (1838-94) acted in various companies, then became a director in Karlsruhe and other Ger¬ man cities. In Weimar he produced his own version of Goethe’s Faust (1876); he also wrote several tragedies. Karl’s son Max (1857-1929) made his debut in Dresden in 1878 and in 1882 joined the famed Vienna Burgtheater.

dew Deposit of water droplets formed at night by the condensation of water vapour from the air onto the surfaces of exposed objects. Dew forms on clear nights, when exposed surfaces lose heat by radiation and are thus usually colder than the air. The cold surface cools the air in its vicinity, and, if the air is humid enough, it may cool below its dew point, the tem¬ perature at which water vapour condenses out of the air onto the surface. See also frost.

Dewar \ , d(y)ii-9r\ / Sir James (b. Sept. 20,1842, Kincardine-on-Forth, Scot.—d. March 27, 1923, London, Eng.) British chemist and physicist. In 1891 he built a machine for producing liquid oxygen in quantity. His Dewar flask for storing liquefied gases—a double-walled flask has insu¬ lating vacuum between the inner and outer walls—became essential in low-temperature scientific work; its principle is used in the Thermos bottle. Dewar was the first to liquefy and solidify hydrogen, and his 1905 discovery that cooled charcoal can help create high vacuums was useful in atomic physics.

dewberry Any blackberry (genus Rubus ) that is so lacking in woody fibre in the stems that it trails along the ground. In the eastern and south¬ ern U.S., several trailing native species of Rubus, especially R. flagellaris, R. baileyanus, R. hispidus, R. enslenii, and R. trivialis , produce excellent fruits. Some varieties, especially Lucretia, are cultivated.

Dewey, George (b. Dec. 26, 1837, Montpelier, Vt., U.S.—d. Jan. 16, 1917, Washington, D.C.) U.S. naval commander. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1858 and served with Union naval forces in the American Civil War. In 1897 he com¬ manded the U.S. Asiatic Squadron.

In the Spanish-American War he sailed from Hong Kong to the Phil¬ ippines to defeat the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Mania Bay (1898); he opened fire with the command, “You may fire when you are ready, Grid- ley.” His victory, with no loss of U.S. ships, led to U.S. acquisition of the Philippines. In 1899 Congress cre¬ ated for him the rank of admiral of the navy.

Dewey, John (b. Oct. 20, 1859,

Burlington, Vt., U.S.—d. June 1,

1952, New York, N.Y.) U.S. philosopher and educator who was one of the founders of pragmatism, a pioneer in functional psychology, and a leader of the Progressive movement in U.S. education. He received a Ph.D. (1884) from Johns Hopkins University and taught 10 years at the Uni¬ versity of Michigan before moving to the University of Chicago. Influ¬ enced by G. Stanley Hall and William James, he developed an instrumentalist theory of knowledge that conceived of ideas as tools for the solution of problems encountered in the environment. Believing the experimental methods of modern science provided the most promising approach to social and ethical problems, he applied this view to studies of democracy and liberalism. He asserted that democracy provided citi¬ zens with the opportunity for maximum experimentation and personal growth. His writings on education, notably The School and Society (1899) and The Child and the Curriculum (1902), emphasized the interests of the child and the use of the classroom to cultivate the interplay between thought and experience. At Chicago he created laboratory schools to test

his theories. His work in psychology focused on the total organism in its efforts to adjust to the environment. In 1904 Dewey joined the Columbia University faculty. In 1925 he published his magnum opus. Experience and Nature.

Dewey, Melvil(le Louis Kossuth) (b. Dec. 10, 1851, Adams Cen¬ ter, N.Y., U.S.—d. Dec. 26, 1931, Lake Placid, Fla.) U.S. librarian. He graduated from Amherst College in 1874, whereupon he became acting librarian there. In 1876 he published A Classification and Subject Index for Cataloguing and Arranging the Books and Pamphlets of a Library, in which he outlined the Dewey Decimal Cassification system. He was one of the founders of the American Library Association and of Library Jour¬ nal (both 1876). He set up the School of Library Economy, the first U.S. institution for training librarians. He also reorganized the N.Y. State Library (1889-1906) and established the system of traveling libraries and picture collections. A cofounder of the Spelling Reform Assn., he respelled his own name.

Dewey, Thomas E(dmund) (b. March 24, 1902, Owosso, Mich., U.S.—d. March 16, 1971, Bal Harbour, Fla.) U.S. attorney and politician. He became an assistant U.S. attorney in New York in 1931 and was elected district attorney in 1937. His successful prosecution of organized-crime figures won him three terms as governor of New York (1943-55), during which he pursued policies of political and fiscal moderation. He received the Republican presidential nomination in 1944 but was soundly defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt; nominated again in 1948, he was widely pre¬ dicted to defeat the incumbent, Harry S. Truman, but Truman retained the vote of farmers and labour to prevail. Dewey retired from politics in 1955 but continued to advise Republican administrations.

Dewey Decimal Classification or Dewey Decimal System

System for organizing the contents of a library based on the division of all knowledge into 10 groups. Each group is assigned 100 numbers. Sub¬ divisions eventually extend into decimal numbers; for example, the his¬ tory of England is placed at 942, the history of the Stuart period at 942.06, and the history of the English Commonwealth at 942.063. The system was first formulated in 1873 by Melvil Dewey. Many libraries add a book number created from the Cutter, or Cutter-Sanborn, Tables, which further specify author and genre. The Library of Congress Cassification has largely replaced the Dewey system.

dextrose See glucose

Dezhnev Vdezh-nyif\, Cape Russian Mys Deshneva

Vmos-dezh-'nyo-voV Cape, extreme eastern Russia. It is the easternmost point of the Chukchi Peninsula and of the entire Eurasian landmass. It is separated from Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska by the Bering Strait (see Bering Sea).

Dga'I-dan or Galdan Vgal-'dan\ (b. 1644?, Central Asia—d. May 3, 1697, East Turkistan) Leader of the Dzungar tribes of Mongols, who built an empire that reached from Tibet in the southwest to the borders of Rus¬ sia in the northeast. As a younger son of a powerful chief, Dga’I-dan was sent to Tibet, where he was trained as a Buddhist lama. His older broth¬ er’s death gave Dga’I-dan the opportunity to exercise political power; he avenged the death and went on to conquer eastern Turkistan (modern Sichuan, China) and Outer Mongolia. He led his armies toward Beijing but was defeated by the Kangxi emperor, who personally led some 80,000 troops armed with Western artillery.

Dge-lugs-pa or Gelukpa Vga-liik-ba\ Yellow Hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism, the chief religion in Tibet since the 17th century. It was founded in the 14th century by Tsong-kha-pa (1357-1419). His reforms included strict monastic discipline, celibacy, and improved education for monks. The head of the chief monastery at Lhasa first received the title of Daai Lama from Altan Khan in 1578. With his aid the Dge-lugs-pa triumphed over the Karma-pa, or Red Hat, sect. The Dge-lugs-pa ruled Tibet until the Chinese Communist takeover (1950); the sect continues to exist, but many of its members, including the Dalai Lama, remain in exile.

Dhaka or Dacca Yda-ko, 'da-k9\ City (pop., 2001 prelim.: city, 5,644,235; metro, area, 10,403,597), capital of Bangadesh. It can be traced to the 1st millennium ad, but it did not rise to prominence until the 17th century, when it served as the Mughal capital of Bengal province. It came under British control in 1765 and was the capital of Eastern Bengal and Assam province (1905-12). The capital of East Bengal province in 1947 and of East Pakistan in 1956, it suffered heavy damage during Ban¬ gladesh’s war of independence in 1971. Together with its port, Dhaka is

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540 I Dhar ► dialect

the country’s leading industrial cen¬ tre. Its historic buildings include temples, churches, and more than 700 mosques, some of which date to the 15 th century.

Dhar Vdar\ Town (pop., 2001 pre¬ lim.: 75,472), western Madhya Pradesh state, central India. On the northern slopes of the Vindhya Range, it commands one of the gaps leading to the Narmada River valley.

An ancient town, it was famous as the capital of the Rajputs (9th-14th centuries). It was conquered by the Muslims in the 14th century, was under Mughal dominion, and fell to the Marathas in 1730. Long a centre of culture and learning, its fine historic sites include the Pillar Mosque (1405), built out of the remains of Jaina temples.

dharma In Hinduism, the religious and moral law governing individual and group conduct. It is treated in the dharmasutras, the oldest collection of Hindu laws, and in the compilations of law and custom called the dhar- mashastras. In Buddhism, dharma is the universal truth common to all indi¬ viduals at all times, and it is regarded as one of the primary sources of Buddhist doctrine and practice. In Jainism, dharma signifies moral virtue as well as the eternal life force.

Dhiban See Dibon

Dhofar Liberation Front See Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman

dhow \'dau\ One- or two-masted Arab sailing vessel, usually with lateen rigging (slanting, triangular sails), common on the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. On the larger types, called baggalas and booms, the mainsail is considerably bigger than the mizzensail. Bows are sharp, with a forward and upward thrust, and the sterns of the larger dhows may be windowed and decorated.

Di Prima \di- , pre-mo\ / Diane (b. Aug. 6, 1934, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. poet. Di Prima settled in Greenwich Village and became one of the few women to attain prominence in the Beat movement. In 1961 she cofounded Floating Bear, a monthly featuring notable Beat writers. Her collections include Earthsong (1968), The Book of Hours (1970), and Pieces of a Song (1990). She also founded two publishing houses that specialized in young poets. In 2001 she published Recollections of My Life as a Woman: The New York Years.