Britannica Concise 2005

feudalism Term that emerged in the 17th century that has been used to describe economic, legal, political, social, and economic relationships in the European Middle Ages. Derived from the Latin word feudum (fief) but unknown to people of the Middle Ages, the term “feudalism” has been used most broadly to refer to medieval society as a whole, and in this way may be understood as a socio-economic system that is often called mano¬ rialism. It has been used most narrowly to describe relations between lords and vassals that involve the exchange of land for military service. Feu¬ dalism in this sense is thought to have emerged in a time of political dis¬ order in the 11th century as a means to restore order, and it was later a key element in the establishment of strong monarchies. “Feudalism” also has been applied, often inappropriately, to non-Western societies where institutions similar to those of medieval Europe are thought to have existed. The many ways “feudalism” has been used have drained it of specific meaning, however, and caused some scholars to reject it as a use¬ ful concept for understanding medieval society.

Feuerbach Vfoi-or-.bakV Ludwig (Andreas) (b. July 28, 1804, Landshut, Bavaria—d. Sept. 13, 1872, Rechenberg, Ger.) German phi¬ losopher. The son of an eminent jurist, he studied under G.W.F. Hegel in Berlin but later abandoned Hegelian idealism for a naturalistic material¬ ism. In Thoughts on Death and Immortality (1830), he attacked the con¬ cept of personal immortality. His Abelard and Heloise (1834) and Pierre Bayle (1838) were followed by On Philosophy and Christianity (1839), in which he claimed that “Christianity has in fact long vanished not only from the reason but from the life of mankind.” In The Essence of Chris¬ tianity (1841), he proposed that God is merely the outward projection of mankind’s inward nature. Some of his views were later endorsed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Feuillants \fce-'ya n \ Club Conservative French political club in the French Revolution, which met in the former monastery of the Feuillants (Reformed Cistercians) in Paris. It was founded in 1791 by deputies who left the Jacobin Club in opposition to a petition calling for the replacement of the king. The Feuillants feared that radicalization of the Revolution would lead to destruction of the monarchy and private property. The club

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670 I fever ► Fichte

represented a substantial group in the Legislative Assembly, but it disap¬ peared when the insurrection of 1792 overthrew the monarchy.

fever or pyrexia \pI-'rek-se-9\ Abnormally high body temperature or a disease characterized by it. It most often occurs with infection. Normal core body temperature, measured orally, does not exceed 99°F (37.2°C). Up to 105°F (40.6°C), fever causes weakness and is best treated with aspi¬ rin, acetaminophen, or other antipyretic drugs. At 108°F (42.2°C) or more, it can lead to convulsions and death. In treatment, it is important to know the underlying cause. Fever appears to be a defense against infectious dis¬ ease, stimulating leukocytes and increasing antibody production and per¬ haps killing or inhibiting bacteria and viruses that live within a narrow temperature range.

Feydeau \fa-'do\, Georges (-Leon-Jules-Marie) (b. Dec. 8,1862, Paris, France—d. June 5, 1921, Paris) French playwright. Also an actor and director, he wrote 39 plays between 1881 and 1916, taking the farce to new heights on the French stage. His plots often depended on far¬ fetched cases of mistaken identity, and he used complicated mechanical props and elaborate stage settings. His plays included The Girl from Max¬ im’s (1899), A Flea in Her Ear (1907), and Keep an Eye on Amelie! (1908). His farces have remained in the repertoire of the Comedie- Francaise.

Feynman Vfin-monV Richard P(hillips) (b. May 11, 1918, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Feb. 15, 1988, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. theoretical physicist. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University. During World War II he worked on the Manhattan Project. From 1950 he taught at the California Institute of Technology. The Feynman diagram was one of the many problem-solving tools he invented. With Julian Schwinger (b. 1918) and Shinichiro Tomonaga (1906-79), he shared a 1965 Nobel Prize for his brilliant work on quantum electrodynamics. He was principally respon¬ sible for identifying the cause of the 1986 Challenger disaster. Famed for his wit, he also wrote best-selling books on science. His work, which tied together all the varied phenomena at work in light, radio, electricity, and magnetism, altered the way scientists understand the nature of waves and particles.

Feynman diagram Graphical method of representing the interactions of elementary particles. It was invented by Richard P. Feynman, who intro¬ duced the diagrams as an aid to calculating the processes that occur between electrons and photons. A Feynman diagram consists of two axes, one representing space, the other representing time. Electrons are repre¬ sented as straight lines, while photons are shown as wavy lines. The inter¬ action between particles appears as a junction of three lines, or a vertex. Feynman diagrams are now used to show all types of particle interac¬ tions.

Fez See Fes

Fezzan \fe-'zan\ Arab/c Fazzan \fa-'zan\ ancient Phazania Historic region, southwestern Libya. A part of the Sahara, most of its inhabitants dwell in oases in the interior. Southern Fezzan is noted for its date palms, which cover several hundred thousand acres scattered in numerous oases. It was conquered by the Romans in the 1st century bc and by the Arabs in the 7th century ad. The Ottomans made it part of their empire in 1842. Fezzan was made part of Tripoli by the Italians in 1912, and it became a province of the United Kingdom of Libya (1951-63). Thereafter it was part of Libya.

Fianna Fail Vfe-o-ns-'foiL Irish "Soldiers of Destiny" Political party in Ireland, also called, loosely, the Republican Party. It was formally constituted in 1926 by those opposed to the treaty with Britain that in 1921 brought about the Irish Free State. They were organized and led by Eamon de Valera. Fianna Fail remained the principal governing party from 1932 until 1973, but from 1961 it did so with the aid of other parties. It returned to power in coalition governments in the 1980s and ’90s. Its main opposition was from Fine Gael.

Fiat SpA International holding company and major Italian manufacturer of automobiles, trucks, and industrial vehicles and components. In 1899 Giovanni Agnelli (1866-1945) founded the firm that was incorporated as Fiat in 1906; he led the firm until his death. His grandson Giovanni Agnelli (1921-2003) served as chairman from 1966 until 1996, when his title became honorary. Paulo Fresco was named chairman in 1998. In 1979 the corporation converted to a holding company; in 1986 it acquired the sports-car manufacturer Alfa Romeo SpA. Among its automobile brands are Ferrari and Lancia.

Fibiger \'fe-be-gor\, Johannes Andreas Grib (b. April 23, 1867, Silkeborg, Den.—d. Jan. 30, 1928, Copenhagen) Danish pathologist. He found that rats that had suffered stomach-tissue inflammation caused by the larvae of a worm infecting cockroaches the rats had eaten subsequently developed stomach tumours, and he induced tumours in mice and rats by feeding them infected cockroaches. His work, for which he received a 1926 Nobel Prize, supported the prevailing concept that cancer is caused by tissue irritation and led to production of chemical carcinogens for use in cancer research.

Fibonacci sequence \,fi-b3-'na-che\ In mathematics, a sequence of numbers with surprisingly useful applications in botany and other natu¬ ral sciences. Beginning with two l’s, each new term is generated as the sum of the previous two: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, ... . The 13th-century math¬ ematician Leonardo of Pisa (c. 1170-after 1240), also known as Fibonacci, discovered the sequence but did not explore its uses, which have turned out to be wide and various. For example, the number of pet¬ als in most types of flowers and numbers involved in branching and seed- formation patterns come from the Fibonacci sequence. The ratio of any two successive terms approaches the value of the golden ratio as the terms become large.

fibre, dietary Food material not digestible by the human small intes¬ tine and only partially digestible by the large intestine. Fibre is beneficial in the diet because it relieves and prevents constipation, appears to reduce the risk of colon cancer, and reduces plasma cholesterol levels and there¬ fore the risk of heart disease. Fibre also slows gastric emptying and con¬ tributes to satiety. Whole grains, vegetables, nuts, and fruits are all good sources. See also nutrition.

fibre optics Thin transparent fibres of glass or plastic that transmit light through their length by internal reflections, used for transmitting data, voice, and images. Fibre-optic technology has virtually replaced copper wire in long-distance telephone lines and is used to link computers in local area networks, with digitized light pulses replacing the electric current formerly used for the signal. Telecommunication using fibre optics is usu¬ ally conducted with infrared light. Fibre optics uses light in the visible wavelengths to transmit images directly, in various technical devices such as those developed for endoscopy.

fibreglass or glass fibre Fibrous form of glass, developed in the 1930s. Liquid glass issues in fine streams through hundreds of fine nozzles, and the solidifying streams are gathered into a single strand and wound onto a spool. Strands can be twisted into yams, woven into fab¬ rics, or chopped into short pieces and then bonded into mats. Glass fila¬ ments and yams add strength and electrical resistivity to molded plastic products. Glass fabrics are used as electrical insulators and as reinforc¬ ing belts in automobile tires. Discontinuous fibres are formed into wools, mats, or boards, commonly used in buildings, appliances, and plumbing.

fibrillation See atrial fibrillation, ventricular fibrillation fibrolite See sillimanite

fibromyalgia Chronic syndrome that is characterized by musculoskel¬ etal pain, often at multiple sites. The cause is unknown. A significant num¬ ber of persons with fibromyalgia also have mental disorders, especially depression. Many also have overlap¬ ping symptoms of other so-called functional somatic syndromes— especially chronic fatigue syndrome—such as fatigue, stiffness, irritable bowel syndrome, and sleep disturbances. It is common in young and middle-aged women. No treat¬ ment has been proved fully effective, although medications, physical therapy, or counseling may reduce disability and help the patient cope.

Fichte Vfik-t3\, Johann Gott¬ lieb (b. May 19, 1762, Rammenau,

Upper Lusatia, Saxony—d. Jan. 27,

1814, Berlin) German philosopher and patriot. Fichte’s Science of Knowledge (1794), a reaction to the critical philosophy of Immanuel Kant and especially to Kant’s Critique of

Johann Gottlieb Fichte, lithograph by F.A. Zimmermann after a painting by H.A. Daehling.

DEUTSCHE FOTOTHEK, DRESDEN, GER.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Ficino ► Fielding I 671

Practical Reason (1788), was his most original and characteristic work. To demonstrate that practical reason is really the root of reason in its entirety, the absolute ground of all knowledge as well as of humanity altogether, he started from a supreme principle, the ego, which is inde¬ pendent and sovereign, so that all other knowledge is deducible from it. In his famous patriotic lectures Addresses to the German Nation (1807- OS) he attempted to rally German nationalists against Napoleon. He is regarded as one of the great transcendental idealists. His son Immanuel Hermann von Fichte (1796-1879) was also a philosopher.

Ficino Xfe-'che-noV Marsilio (b. Oct. 19, 1433, Figline, Republic of Florence—d. Oct. 1, 1499, Careggi, near Florence) Italian philosopher, theologian, and linguist. His translations and commentaries on the writ¬ ings of Plato and other Classical Greek authors marked the beginning of the Florentine Platonist Renaissance. In conceiving the universe as a hier¬ archy of substances that descends from God to matter, he was strongly influenced by Neoplatonism and medieval views. The Cambridge Platonists and related movements in France and Italy reflect Ficino’s interpretation of Platonism. Of his original writings, Platonic Theology (1482) and Book on the Christian Religion (1474) are most significant.

fiddler crab Any of about 65 species of decapods (genus Uca) whose males hold one claw, always much larger than the other, somewhat like a violin. Both claws of the female are relatively small. Fiddler crabs often live in large numbers on beaches in temperate to tropical regions of the world. They inhabit water-covered burrows up to about 1 ft (30 cm) deep and feed on algae and other organic matter. Common North American species (e.g., marsh fiddler, china-back fiddler) live all along the U.S. Atlantic coast. Brightly coloured, they range in body size from about 1 to 1.2 in. (2.5 to 3 cm).

Fides \'fi-dez\ Roman goddess of good faith and honesty, who oversaw the integrity of the Romans. She was closely associated with Jupiter, and her temple was built near his on the Capitoline Hill in 254 bc. In the later Roman period she was called Fides Publica (“Public Faith”) and was con¬ sidered the guardian of treaties and other state documents, which were placed in her temple for safekeeping.

fiduciary \f3-'du-she- l er-e\ In law, a person in a position of authority whom the law obligates to act solely on behalf of the person he or she represents and in good faith. Examples of fiduciaries are agents, execu¬ tors, trustees, guardians, and officers of corporations. Unlike people in ordinary business relationships, fiduciaries may not seek personal benefit from their transactions with those they represent.

Fiedler Vfed-larV, Arthur (b. Dec. 17, 1894, Boston, Mass., U.S.—d. July 10, 1979, Brookline, Mass.) U.S. conductor. Son of a distinguished violinist, he was trained in Berlin and joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1915. In the 1920s he began conducting and recording with his own Boston Sinfonietta and various choral groups. In 1929 he orga¬ nized a series of open-air concerts, which was successful enough to even¬ tually become an institution, the Boston Pops. Thereafter his name was inextricably linked with the Pops, which achieved enormous success under his direction.

fief Vfef\ In European feudalism, a vassal’s source of income, granted to him by his lord in exchange for his services. The fief usually consisted of land and the labor of peasants who were bound to cultivate it. The income it provided supported the vassal, who fought for his lord as a knight. Dignities, offices, and money rents were also given in fief.

Field In physics, a region in which each point is affected by a force. Objects fall to the ground because they are affected by the force of earth’s gravitational field (see gravitation). A paper clip, placed in the magnetic field surrounding a magnet, is pulled toward the magnet, and two like magnetic poles repel each other when one is placed in the other’s mag¬ netic field. An electric field surrounds an electric charge; when another charged particle is placed in that region, it experiences an electric force that either attracts or repels it. The strength of a field, or the forces in a particular region, can be represented by field lines; the closer the lines, the stronger the forces in that part of the field. See also electromagnetic FIELD.

Field, Marshall (b. Aug. 18, 1834, near Conway, Mass., U.S.—d. Jan. 16, 1906, New York, N.Y.) U.S. department-store owner. Born on a farm, he became an errand boy for a dry-goods store at age 16. He moved to Chicago and was hired in 1856 by a mercantile house, in which he later attained full partnership. In 1867 he and a partner bought the merchan¬

dising firm they had joined two years earlier, and in 1888 he bought out his partner, creating Marshall Field and Co. In his store Field emphasized customer service, liberal credit, the one-price system, and the acceptance of returned merchandise. His department store was the first to have a res¬ taurant for shoppers.

Field, Sally (b. Nov. 6, 1946, Pasadena, Calif., U.S.) U.S. film actress. She played saccharine television roles in Gidget (1965-66) and The Fly¬ ing Nun (1967-70) before developing her talent at the Actors Studio (1973-75), from which she emerged as a dramatic actress in the televi¬ sion movie Sybil (1977, Emmy Award). Hollywood finally rewarded her with strong roles in Norma Rae (1979, Academy Award), Absence of Malice (1981), Places in the Heart (1984, Academy Award), and Steel Magnolias (1989). Her other films include Soapdish (1991), Mrs. Doubt- fire (1993), and Forrest Gump (1994).

Field, Stephen J(ohnson) (b. Nov. 4, 1816, Haddam, Conn., U.S.—-d. April 9, 1899, Washington, D.C.) U.S. jurist. After graduating from Williams College in 1837, he practiced law in New York with his brother, the legal reformer David Dudley Field (1805-94). In 1849 he moved to California, where he later joined the state supreme court. In 1863 he was appointed by Pres. Abraham Lincoln to the Supreme Court of the United States; he served until 1897. He became chief architect of the constitutional approach that largely exempted U.S. industry from gov¬ ernment regulation after the American Civil War, basing his interpretation principally on the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment (1868), which had been passed as a civil-rights measure. Field’s stance toward industry would be maintained by the Court until the 1930s.

field hockey or hockey Game played with curve-ended sticks between two teams of 11 players. It is played on a field 100 yd (91.4 m) by 60 yd (55 m) in size. The object is to use the sticks to direct a ball into the opponent’s goal. Field hockey originated in English schools in the late 19th century, and the British Army introduced it into India and the Far East. By 1928 it had become India’s national game. Men’s field hockey has been included in the Olympic Games since 1908, women’s since 1980. The game was introduced into the U.S. in 1901 and became particularly popular at women’s schools, colleges, and clubs. Several international championship tournaments are held during the year, includ¬ ing the World Cup.

field mouse or wood mouse In general, any mouse that normally lives in fields; more strictly, any of about seven species of small, long¬ tailed mice in the genus Apodemus (family Muridae). Field mice in this genus are found in fields, woodlands, and mountain meadows in the warm and temperate parts of Eurasia. They are grayish or light or reddish brown and are 2-5 in. (6-12 cm) long excluding the tail. They generally live in burrows and build nests of grass and other plants. They eat seeds, roots, and other plant material, occasionally damaging crops or young trees.

Field of Cloth of Gold Setting for meetings between Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France in June 1520, near Calais, France. Splen¬ did temporary palaces were erected for each king, and jousts and other entertainments were held. The splendor of the meetings vastly impressed contemporaries, but the political results were negligible. In July Henry met Emperor Charles V, Francis’s rival, near Calais, and they agreed to make no new alliances with France for two years.

field theory In mathematics, the study of the structure of a set of objects (e.g., numbers) with two combining operations (e.g., addition and multiplication). Such a system, known as a field, must satisfy certain properties: associative law, commutative law, distributive law, an additive identity (“zero”), a muliplicative identity (“one”), additive inverses (see inverse function), and multiplicative inverses for nonzero elements. The sets of rational numbers, real numbers, and complex numbers are fields under ordinary addition and multiplication. The investigation of polynomial equations and their solutions led to the development of field theory.

field trial Competitive trial of sporting dogs under conditions that approximate or simulate those found in the hunting field. Dogs represent¬ ing individual breeds, or classes of breeds (e.g., bird dogs, spaniels, hounds), are judged on such factors as pace, range, keenness of nose, handling response, hunting ability, and game and gun manners.

Fielding, Henry (b. April 22, 1707, Sharpham Park, Somerset, Eng.—d. Oct. 8, 1754, Lisbon, Port.) British novelist and playwright. Fielding attended Eton College but left early and lost his family’s sup¬ port. In his 25 plays, all written early, he was essentially a satirist of

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

672 I fieldlark > figure skating

political corruption; because of his sharp commentary he was eventually effectively banished from the theatre, whereupon he took up the study of law. In 1748 he was appointed a magistrate, in which role he established a new tradition of justice and suppression of crime in London. He prob¬ ably wrote Shamela (1741), a burlesque of Samuel Richardson’s Pamela that he never claimed. In the entertaining and original Joseph Andrews (1742) he also parodies Richardson’s novel. Tom Jones (1749), his most popular work, is noted for its great comic gusto, vast gallery of charac¬ ters, and contrasted scenes of high- and lowlife. The more sober Amelia (1751) anticipates the Victorian domestic novel. In these works he helped develop the English novel as a planned, realistic narrative genre survey¬ ing contemporary society.

fieldlark See pipit

Fields, Dame Grade orig. Grace Stansfield (b. Jan. 9, 1898, Rochdale, Lancashire, Eng.—d. Sept. 27, 1979, Capri, Italy) English music-hall comedienne. She performed in music halls from age 13 and gained notice in the touring revue Mr. Tower of London (1918-25). She became tremendously popular with an act composed of low-comedy songs such as “The Biggest Aspidistra in the World” and sentimental ballads such as “My Blue Heaven,” performing on radio and television and in films such as Sally in Our Alley (1931) and Sing As We Go (1934).

Fields, Dorothy (b. July 15, 1905, Allenhurst, N.J., U.S.—d. March 28, 1974, New York, N.Y.) U.S. lyricist and librettist. Born to a family active in theatre (her father Lew was a comedian and impresario, and her brothers Herbert and Joseph were librettists). Fields taught drama and wrote poetry and later wrote songs for Broadway and Cotton Club revues with Jimmy McHugh, including “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” and “On the Sunny Side of the Street.” With Jerome Kern, she later wrote songs for Hollywood, including “The Way You Look Tonight.” Returning to Broadway, she wrote the book or lyrics for many musicals, including Annie Get Your Gun (1946) and Sweet Charity (1966).

Fields, W.C. orig. William Claude Dukenfield (b. Jan. 29, 1880, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—d. Dec. 25, 1946, Pasadena, Calif.) U.S. actor and screenwriter. He was a vaudeville headliner as a juggler and appeared for seven seasons (1915-21) in the Ziegfeld Follies. His starring role in the stage hit Poppy (1923) brought him to Hollywood for its film adap¬ tation, Sally of the Sawdust (1925). He emerged as a top film comedian only after the advent of sound pictures, when audiences could hear his distinctive raspy voice. His screen personality—an unlovable but hilari¬ ous con man, braggart, misanthrope, and hater of children and dogs—was largely his own. Fields wrote and improvised the action for most of his films, which include comedies such as You Can *t Cheat an Honest Man (1939), My Little Chickadee (1940), The Bank Dick (1940), and Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941). His only serious role was Mr. Micawber in David Copperfield (1935).

Fiesole, Mi no da See Mino da Fiesole

Fife Council area (pop., 2001: 349,249) and historic county, eastern Scot¬ land. An ancient Pictish kingdom, Fife became one of Scotland’s leading provinces and one of the kingdom’s seven earldoms. Modem Fife con¬ sists largely of an agricultural northeast and an industrial southwest. Coal mining long dominated its industry but has all but ceased; manufacturing and light industries now predominate. The service sector includes con¬ sulting services for Scotland’s petroleum industry. Fife’s administrative headquarters is Glenrothes.

Fifth Republic System of government in France from 1959 to the present. Under the constitution crafted by Charles de Gaulle with the help of Michel Debre, executive power was increased at the expense of the National Assembly. It came into being in 1959 after de Gaulle was elected president, with Debre as his prime minister. In 1962 de Gaulle pushed through a constitutional amendment that provided for direct popular elec¬ tion of the president, and in 1965 he became the first French president elected by popular vote since 1848. He was succeeded by Georges Pom¬ pidou (1969-74), Valery Giscard d'Estaing (1974-81), Francois Mitterrand (1981-95), and Jacques Chirac (from 1995).

fig Any plant of the genus Ficus , in the mulberry family, especially Ficus carica, the common fig. Yielding the well-known figs of commerce, F. carica is native to an area from Asiatic Turkey to northern India, but natural seedlings grow in most Mediterranean countries, where figs are used extensively, both fresh and dried. It is a bush or small tree with broad, rough, deciduous leaves (see deciduous tree). Hundreds of different vari¬

eties are grown in various parts of the world. The fig was one of the first fruit trees to come under cultivation. Its fruit contains significant amounts of calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and iron.

Figaro, Le Morning daily newspaper published in Paris, once one of the great newspapers of France and of the world. Founded in 1826 as a witty gossip sheet on the arts, by 1866 it was a well-written daily filled with political discourse. Though the paper’s reputation faltered at times and it suspended publication during World War II, in the postwar years it became the voice of the French upper middle class, providing broad subject cov¬ erage while maintaining an independent editorial stance. In the 1960s and ’70s the staff was rent by conflicts over its leadership. In 1975 the paper was bought by the conservative Robert Hersant, who ran it until his death in 1996. U.S. investment firm Carlyle Group owned a minority share in Le Figaro Group from 1999 to 2002, when full ownership passed to Socpresse.

fighter aircraft Aircraft designed primarily to secure control of essen¬ tial airspace by destroying enemy aircraft in combat. Designed for high speed and maneuverability, they are armed with weapons capable of strik¬ ing other aircraft in flight. Developed early in World War I, they engaged in aerial combat with other fighters, shot down enemy bombers, and con¬ ducted various tactical missions. Most were biplanes with wooden frames and cloth skins, equipped with light machine guns synchronized to fire through the propeller. World War II saw the development of all-metal monoplanes that exceeded speeds of 450 mph (725 kph). Famous fight¬ ers of the period included the Focke-Wulf 190, the P-47 and P-51, and the Zero. Jet aircraft were produced at the end of the war, and jet fighters such as the U.S. Sabre and the Soviet MiG saw extensive service in the Korean War and later conflicts. See also air warfare, F-l 5, F-l 6.

Fighting Falcon See F-l 6 fighting fish See Siamese fighting fish

Figueres \fe-'ger-as\ (Ferrer), Jose (b. Sept. 25, 1906, San Ramon, Costa Rica—d. June 8, 1990, San Jose) Costa Rican statesman and presi¬ dent (1948-49, 1953—58, 1970-74). Educated in Costa Rica, Mexico, and the U.S., he became an opponent of the right-wing regime of Rafael Angel Calderon, and in 1948 he led an uprising to force Calderon to yield the presidency to the democratically elected Otilio Ulate. A junta dominated by Figueres wrote a new constitution that abolished the army and gave women the right to vote, and the presidency was turned over to Ulate in 1949. Figueres himself was elected president by a landslide in 1953; gov¬ erning as a moderate socialist, he adopted a pro-U.S. policy and quickly outlawed the Communist Party. Returned to power in 1970, he became a symbol of the democratic left and is given much credit for Costa Rica’s enduring stability and democracy.

figure of speech Form of expres¬ sion used to convey meaning or heighten effect, often by comparing or identifying one thing with another that has a meaning or connotation familiar to the reader or listener. An integral part of language, figures of speech are found in oral literatures as well as in polished poetry and prose and in everyday speech. Common figures of speech include simile, meta¬ phor, personification, hyperbole, irony, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and puns.

figure skating Sport in which ice skaters, singly or in pairs, perform various jumps, spins, and footwork. The figure skate blade has a special serrated toe pick, or toe rake, at the front. Figure-skating events, held in the 1908 and 1920 Olympic Games, have constituted part of the Winter Olympics since they were inaugu¬ rated in 1924. Until 1991, competi¬ tion included a compulsory section in which prescribed figures were traced. Competition for individuals includes two free-skating programs: a short

Michelle Kwan (U.S.) performing at the world figure-skating championships, Vancouver, B.C., Can., 2001.

JEFF HAYNES-AFP/GETTY IMAGES

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

figurehead ► film noir I 673

program with mandatory requirements and a long program designed to show the skater’s skill and grace. Jumps fall into two main groups: the edge jumps (such as the axel, the salchow, and the loop), which take off from one foot; and the toe jumps (such as the toe loop, the flip, and the lutz), which are edge jumps assisted by a vault off the toe pick of the other foot. Addi¬ tional pair moves, involving a man and a woman skating together, include lifts and throw jumps. Figure-skating programs are judged on both techni¬ cal merit and artistic impression. See also ice dancing.

figurehead Ornamental symbol or figure placed on a prominent part

of a ship, usually at the bow. It could be a religious symbol, a national emblem, or a figure symbolizing the ship’s name. The custom of decorat¬ ing a ship probably began in ancient Egypt or India and was followed by the Chinese, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans. As early as 1000 bc, the stem- and sternposts were carved and painted to distinguish one ship from another. The Vikings built ships with high bows and a projecting stem bearing a menacing figurehead, simi¬ lar to the ships of William I the Con¬ queror as seen in the Bayeux Tapestry. Figureheads have historically varied in size from 18 in. (45 cm) to 8-9 ft (2.5 m). They remained popular until after World War I.

figwort Any of about 200 species of coarse plants that make up the genus Scrophularia (family Scro- phulariaceae), native to open wood¬ lands in the Northern Hemisphere, smelling plants with purple, greenish, spikes.

Figurehead from the Oseberg ship, Viking, about ad 800; in the Museum of National Antiquities, Oslo

© UNIVERSITETETS OLDSAKSAMLING, OSLO, NORWAY; PHOTOGRAPHER, EIRIK IRGENS JOHNSEN

Figworts are tall, frequently foul- or yellow flowers in large branched

Fiji officially Republic of Fiji Country and archipelago, South Pacific Ocean. It lies east of Vanuatu and southwest of Samoa. Area: 7,055 sq mi (18,272 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 846,000. Capital: Suva. The majority of Fijians are of mixed Melanesian-Polynesian ancestry, with a large South Asian minority. Languages: English (official), Fijian. Reli¬ gions: Christianity (mostly Protestant, also other Christians, Roman Catholic), Hinduism, Islam. Currency: Fiji dollar. Fiji lies 1,300 mi (2,100 km) north of New Zealand and comprises some 540 islets and 300 islands, of which about 100 are inhabited. The main islands are Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. Fiji also includes, since 1881, Rotuma, an island located about 400 mi (640 km) to the northwest. The two large islands are moun¬ tainous and volcanic in origin, rising abruptly from densely populated coasts to forested central mountains. The smaller islands are also volca¬ nic, and all are ringed by rocky shoals and coral reefs. The coastal deltas of the principal rivers contain most of the fertile arable land. The climate is tropical oceanic. Fiji has a market economy based largely on agricul¬ ture (particularly sugar production), tourism, and light industries; gold and silver are mined. Fiji is a republic with two legislative houses; its chief of state is the president, while the head of government is the prime min¬ ister. Archaeological evidence shows that the islands were occupied in the late 2nd millennium bc. The first European sighting was by the Dutch in the 16th century; in 1774 the islands were sighted by Capt. James Cook, and in 1792 Capt. William Bligh explored them. Traders and the first mis¬ sionaries arrived in 1835, and European settlers began arriving in the 1860s. In 1874 Fiji was proclaimed a crown colony. It became indepen¬ dent as a member of the Commonwealth in 1970 and was declared a republic in 1987 following a military coup. Elections in 1992 restored civilian rule. A new constitution was approved in 1997.

Filarete V.fe-la-'re-taX orig. Antonio di Pietro Averlino (b. c. 1400, Florence?—d. c. 1469, Rome) Italian architect and sculptor. In 1451 he entered the service of the duke of Milan. He designed the Ospedale Mag- giore in Milan (1457-65), which is among the first Renaissance buildings in Lombardy. He is chiefly important for his Trattato d’architettura (“Treatise on Architecture”), which describes an ideal Renaissance city called Sforzinda. Among the projects he envisioned was a tower of vice and virtue, with a brothel on the 1st floor and an astronomical observa¬ tory on the 10th.

filarial worm Any of a group of parasitic nematodes that usually require two hosts to complete the life cycle: an arthropod and another animal, which is bitten by the arthropod. The female worm produces large numbers of microscopic, active embryos, called microfilariae, that pass into the bloodstream of the primary host. These enter the body of an insect when it bites the infected animal; within the insect the microfilariae grow into larvae, which are passed to an animal the insect bites, where they complete their growth. See also heartworm.

filbert or hazel (nut) Any of about 15 species of deciduous trees and shrubs that make up the genus Corylus, in the birch family, native to the northern temperate zone; also, the edible nuts they produce. Choice nuts are produced by two Eurasian trees, the European filbert (C. aveliana) and the giant filbert (C. maxima), and by hybrids of these species. Some varieties are valuable hedgerow and ornamental trees. An oil from C. avellana is used in food products, perfumes, and soaps; the tree yields a soft, reddish-white timber that is useful for small articles such as tool handles and walking sticks.

file In hardware and metalworking, bar- or rod-shaped tool of hardened steel with many small cutting edges raised on its surfaces. Files are used for smoothing or forming objects, especially of metal. A file’s cutting or abrading action results from rubbing it, usually by hand, against the work- piece. The single-cut file has rows of parallel teeth cut diagonally across the working surfaces. The double-cut file has rows of teeth crossing each other. Rasp teeth are disconnected and round on top; rasp files are usu¬ ally very coarse and are used primarily on wood and soft materials.

file transfer protocol See FTP

filibuster Tactic of delaying action on a bill by talking long enough to wear down the majority in order to win concessions or force withdrawal of the bill. The tactic is normally employed by a group that cannot mus¬ ter enough votes to defeat a bill by vote. Filibustering is possible in the U.S. Senate because Senate rules allow unlimited debate on a bill. A fili¬ buster may be carried out by a group or a single member, and the speech need not be related to the bill under discussion. Calling for a vote to limit debate (cloture)—which requires 60 votes, the votes of three-fifths of the entire membership, in the U.S. Senate—or holding around-the-clock ses¬ sions to tire the speakers are measures used to defeat filibusters.

Fillmore, Millard (b. Jan. 7, 1800, Locke Township, N.Y., U.S.—d. March 8, 1874, Buffalo, N.Y.) 13th president of the U.S. (1850-53).

Born into poverty, he became an indentured apprentice at age 15. He studied law with a local judge and began to practice in Buffalo in 1823.

Initially identified with the Anti- Masonic Party (1828-34), he fol¬ lowed his political mentor, Thurlow Weed, to the Whigs and was soon a leader of the party’s northern wing.

He served in the U.S. House of Rep¬ resentatives (1833-35, 1837—43), where he became a follower of Henry Clay. In 1848 the Whigs nominated Fillmore as vice president, and he was elected with Z\chary Taylor. He became president on Taylor’s death in 1850. Though he abhorred slavery, he supported the Compromise of 1850 and insisted on federal enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act.

His stand, which alienated the North, led to his defeat by Winfield Scott at the Whigs’ nominating convention in 1852. He was an early champion of U.S. commercial expansion in the Pacific. In 1853 he sent Matthew Perry with a fleet of warships to Japan to force its isolationist government to enter into trade and diplomatic relations. He returned to Buffalo and was nominated for president by the Know-Nothing Party in 1856.

film See MOTION PICTURE

film noir \'nwar\ French "dark film" Film genre that offers dark or fatalistic interpretations of reality. The term is applied to U.S. films of the late 1940s and early ’50s that often portrayed a seamy or criminal under¬ world and cynical characters. The films were noted for their use of stark,

Millard Fillmore.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

674 i film theory ► Finland

expressionistic lighting and stylized camera work, often employed in urban settings. The genre includes films such as John Huston’s The Mal¬ tese Falcon (1941), Jacques Tourneur’s Out of the Past (1947), Alfred Hitchcock’s Spellbound (1945), and Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity (1944) and Sunset Boulevard (1950). The trend was on the wane by the mid-1950s, but the influence of these films is evident in many subsequent ones, including classics such as Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974) and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982). More recent examples include LA. Confidential (1997) and The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001).

film theory Theory developed to explain the nature of films and how they produce emotional and mental effects on the audience. It recognizes the cinema as a distinct art form. See also auteur theory, documentary film, Sergei Eisenstein, film noir, New Wave.

filter-pressing Process that occurs during crystallization of certain igneous rocks, in which liquid is separated from the crystals by pressure. As the crystals grow and accumulate in magma, a crystal mesh may be formed. Pressure applied by the weight of crystals above or by outside forces may force the more mobile liquid out of the mesh and also may fracture or crush the remaining crystals. Filter-pressing has been used to explain the formation of rocks consisting of only one kind of mineral.

fin whale or finback whale or razorback whale or common rorqual Vror-kwolV Swift, slender-bodied baleen whale ( Balaenoptera physalus) named for the ridge on its back. It is 59-89 ft (18-27 m) long, with a triangular dorsal fin, short baleen, and several dozen grooves along its throat and chest. It is gray, with white on the underparts and on the right side of the lower jaw. It is found in oceans worldwide, in groups of a few to several hundred. It lives in polar waters in summer, feeding on crustaceans and small fishes, and moves to warmer waters in winter to breed. Once commercially valuable, it has been substantially reduced in numbers by overhunting and is now listed as an endangered species.

finance Process of raising funds or capital for any kind of expenditure. Consumers, business firms, and governments often do not have the funds they need to make purchases or conduct their operations, while savers and investors have funds that could earn interest or dividends if put to productive use. Finance is the process of channeling funds from savers to users in the form of credit, loans, or invested capital through agencies including commercial banks, savings and loan associations, and such non¬ bank organizations as credit unions and investment companies. Finance can be divided into three broad areas: business finance, personal finance, and public finance. All three involve generating budgets and managing funds for the optimum results. See also corporate finance.

finance company Specialized financial institution that supplies credit for the purchase of consumer goods and services. Finance companies pur¬ chase unpaid customer accounts at a discount from merchants and collect payments due from customers. They also grant small loans directly to consumers at a relatively high rate of interest.

Financial Times Morning daily newspaper published in London. Founded in 1888, it competed for many years with four other finance- oriented papers, finally in 1945 absorbing the last of them. Known as one of England’s best papers, it specializes in reporting international business and financial news while maintaining an independent editorial outlook. Printed as a broadsheet on distinctive pink newsprint, it has had a strong influence on the British government’s financial policies, and its circula¬ tion is one of the world’s highest among financial newspapers.

finback whale See fin whale

finch Any of several hundred species of small, conical-billed, seed-eating songbirds (in several families), including the bunting, canary, cardinal, chaffinch, crossbill, Darwin's (Galapagos) finch, goldfinch, grass finch, grosbeak, sparrow, and weaver. Finches are small, compact birds 3-10 in. (10-27 cm) long. Most use their heavy bill to crack seeds; many also eat insects. Many finches are brightly coloured, often with shades of red and yellow. Found throughout the temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere and South America and in parts of Africa, finches are among the domi¬ nant birds in many areas, both in numbers of individuals and species. They are often kept as singing cage birds.

Fine Gael Vfe-no-'gaH Irish "Gaelic Nation" Major political party in Ireland, also known as United Ireland Party. It was founded in 1933 in the amalgamation of several parties, including the Cumann na nGaedheal (“Society of Gaels”), which had been formed by members of the Dail

(assembly) who accepted the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921. It held power briefly in 1948, but Fianna Fail dominated Irish politics until 1973. From the mid-1970s, both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail vied for power in com¬ petitive elections, with Fine Gael forming several coalition governments.

finery process Early method of converting cast iron to wrought iron, superseding the bloomery process after blast furnaces became widespread. Pieces of cast iron (see pig iron) were placed on a finery hearth, on which charcoal was being burned with a plentiful supply of air, so that carbon in the iron was removed by oxidation, leaving semisolid malleable iron behind. From the 15th century on, this two-stage process gradually replaced direct making of malleable iron. It was in turn replaced by the PUDDLING PROCESS.

Finger Lakes Group of narrow, glacial lakes, western New York state, U.S. They lie in north-to-south valleys between Syracuse and Geneseo. The region, which embraces more than 20 state parks, is noted for its scenery, has many resorts, and produces fruits (especially grapes) and vegetables. Seneca Lake, the largest in the group, is 67 sq mi (174 sq km).

fingerprinting Act of taking an impression of a person’s fingerprint. Because each person’s fingerprints are unique, fingerprinting is used as a method of identification, especially in police investigations. The standard method of fingerprint classification was developed by Sir Francis Galton and Sir Edward Henry; their system was officially introduced at Scotland Yard in 1901. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation maintains a finger¬ print file on more than 250 million people; fingerprints retrieved from a crime scene may be compared with those on file to identify suspects. DNA analysis, which examines regions of DNA unique to each person, is some¬ times called DNA fingerprinting.

Fink, Mike (b. 1770/80, Fort Pitt, Pa.—d. 1823, Fort Henry? [North Dakota]) U.S. keelboatman. He won fame in his youth as a local marks¬ man and Indian scout. Later, when keelboats became the chief vessels of commerce on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, he was known as “king of the keelboatmen.” Renowned as a marksman, roisterer, and champion rough-and-tumble fighter, he became a legendary hero of the American tall tale; even in his own time, his name was synonymous with the brag¬ gadocio of Western frontiersmen. He was shot and killed on a fur-trapping expedition to the upper Missouri River.

Finke River \'fiqk\ River, central Australia. Rising south of Mount Ziel in the MacDonnell Ranges, it flows southeast for some 400 mi (640 km) through the southern Northern Territories and northern South Australia. It reaches Lake Eyre in South Australia only during times of flood, when it may spread for hundreds of square miles beyond its banks. It contains Finke Gorge National Park.

Finland officially Republic of Finland Country, northern Europe. Area: 130,559 sq mi (338,145 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 5,244,000. Capital: Helsinki. The majority of the people are Finns; there is a small Sami (Lapp) population in Lapland. Languages: Finnish and Swedish are both “national” languages; the Sami speak a Finno-Ugric language. Reli¬ gion: Christianity (predominantly Protestant; also Eastern Orthodox). Currency: euro. Finland is one of the world’s most northern and geo¬ graphically remote countries, about one-third of it lying north of the Arc¬ tic Circle. Heavily forested, it contains thousands of lakes, numerous rivers, and extensive areas of marshland. Except for a small highland region in the extreme northwest, Finland’s relief doesn’t vary greatly. The south has relatively mild weather; the north has severe and prolonged winters and short summers. Finland has a developed free-market economy combined with state ownership of a few key industries. It is among the wealthiest countries in Europe and in the world. Lumbering is a major industry, and manufacturing is highly developed; service industries are also notable. Finland is a republic with one legislative house; its chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. Archaeological discoveries have led some to suggest that human habita¬ tion in Finland dates back at least 100,000 years. Ancestors of the Sami apparently were present in Finland by about 7000 bc. The ancestors of the present-day Finns came from the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland in the 1st millennium bc. The area was gradually Christianized from the 11th century ad. From the 12th century Sweden and Russia contested for supremacy in Finland, until in 1323 Sweden ruled most of the country. Russia was ceded part of Finnish territory in 1721; in 1808 Alexander I of Russia invaded Finland, which in 1809 was formally ceded to Russia. The subsequent period saw the growth of Finnish nationalism. Russia’s losses

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Finlay ► Fiordland I 675

in World War I and the Russian Revolution of 1917 set the stage for Finland’s inde¬ pendence in 1917. Finland was defeated by the Soviet Union in the Russo-Finnish War (1939—40) but renewed its fight with the Soviets (the “War of Continu¬ ation”) after Germany attacked the U.S.S.R. in 1941. In 1944, facing defeat again, Finland made peace with the Soviets, ceding territory and paying reparations. Finland’s economy recovered after World War II. It joined the European Union in 1995.

Finlay \fin-'ll\, Carlos J(uan) (b. Dec. 3, 1833, Puerto Principe, Cuba—d. Aug. 20, 1915, Havana) Cuban epidemiologist. He is known for his discovery that yellow fever is transmitted by a mosquito. Though he published experimental evidence in 1886, his ideas were ignored for nearly 20 years. He urged the study of means of transmission and stated that the carrier was the mosquito Culex fasciatus (now called Aedes aegypti). In 1900 Walter Reed confirmed Finlay’s theory, leading to the eradication of yellow fever in Cuba and Panama by William Gorgas. After his death, the Cuban government created the Finlay Institute for Investi¬ gations in Tropical Medicine.

Finley, Charles O(scar) (b. Feb. 22,1918, Ensley, Ala., U.S.—d. Feb. 19, 1996, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. baseball club owner. Bom on a farm in Ala¬ bama, Finley worked in a steel mill after his family moved to Gary, Ind. During a protracted illness Finley conceived of the insurance company that would make him a millionaire in two years. He became a wealthy executive and in 1960 acquired the Kansas City (later Oakland) Athlet¬ ics. Under Finley they achieved three consecutive World Series victories (1972-74), even as he constantly stirred controversy among players, man¬ agers, civic leaders, and baseball officials with his promotional ideas. He sold the team in 1980.

Finn MacCumhaill or Finn MacCool Vfin-mo-'kiiU Hero of the Irish Gaelic tales and ballads of the Fenian cycle. He was chief of a band of warriors, the Fianna Eireann, who were skilled in poetry, hunting, and warfare and supposedly flourished in the 3rd century ad. In time, the king and people turned against the Fianna, and they were defeated in the Battle of Gabhra, which Finn’s son Oisin survived.

Finnbogadottir, Vigdis (b. April 15, 1930, Reykjavik, Ice.) Teacher and president of Iceland (1980-96). After graduating from Reykjavik Col¬ lege in 1949, Finnbogadottir attended the University of Grenoble and the Sorbonne in France and the University of Uppsala in Sweden. She also studied in Denmark and at the University of Iceland, where she later taught. From 1972 to 1980, while serving as director of the Reykjavik Theatre Company, Finnbogadottir presented French lessons and cultural programming on Iceland State Television. In 1980 she was drafted as a

candidate for the presidency of Iceland and was narrowly elected, defeat¬ ing three male opponents, thereby becoming the first woman in the world to be elected head of state in a national election. She was reelected three times (1984, 1988, and 1992) before retiring from office in 1996.

Finney, Albert (b. May 9, 1936, Salford, Lancashire, Eng.) British actor. He established himself as a Shakespearean actor in the late 1950s. In 1960 he won praise as a working-class rebel in the play Billy Liar and the film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. He played the lead in Luther on Broadway and became an international star in the film Tom Jones (1963). He later starred in films such as Two for the Road (1967), The Dresser (1983), Under the Volcano (1984), Miller’s Crossing (1990), and Erin Brockovich (2000).

Finnish language Finno-Ugric language of Finland, spoken by some six million people worldwide, including perhaps 200,000 speakers in North America. Finnish was an unwritten language until the 16th century, when Mikael Agricola (1509-57) produced an alphabet book (1543) and a translation of the New Testament (1548); he is regarded as the founder of the Finnish literary language. Finnish was accorded official status in 1809, when Finland entered the Russian Empire after six centuries of Swedish domination. The publication in 1835 of the national folk epic, the Kalevala, created from folk songs collected by Elias Lonnrot, gave increased impetus to the movement to forge a common national language encompassing all dialect areas. Finnish shares with other Baltic Finnic languages a stock of ancient loanwords from Germanic, Baltic, Slavic, and Sami.

Finno-Ugric \'yu-grik\ languages Branch of the Uralic language family spoken by about 25 million people in northeastern Europe, north¬ ern Asia, and (through immigration) North America. More than 20 mil¬ lion are accounted for by two languages, Finnish and Hungarian. The Ugric subbranch comprises Hungarian and Ob-Ugrian. The latter consists of two language complexes of western Siberia, Khanty and Mansi, spoken by fewer than 15,000 people. The Finnic branch comprises the Sami (Saami, Lappish) languages, the Baltic Finnic languages, Mordvin, Mari, and the Permic languages. Sami is spoken by some 20,000 people in northern Scandinavia and adjacent Russia. Baltic Finnic comprises Finnish, Esto¬ nian (with 1.1 million speakers worldwide), and a string of declining lan¬ guages in Latvia and Russia. Mordvin is spoken by 1.1 million people in scattered enclaves of central European Russia. Mari is also spoken in cen¬ tral Russia and in scattered areas east toward the Ural Mountains; its two major varieties have about 600,000 speakers. The Permic languages, spread over a broad swath of northeastern European Russia, comprise Udmurt (spoken by some 500,000 people) and Komi (spoken by fewer than 400,000 people but with two literary forms). Finno-Ugric languages written in Russia use variants of the Cyrillic alphabet, while those outside Russia use the Latin alphabet.

Finno-Ugric \ l fi-no- , yii-grik\ religion Pre-Christian belief systems of the Finno-Ugric peoples, who lived in northern Scandinavia, Siberia, the Baltic region, and central Europe. Surviving Finno-Ugric groups include the Sami (Lapps), Finns, Estonians, and Magyars. The geographic and cul¬ tural diversity of these peoples led to the evolution of varying religious beliefs. The most common Finno-Ugric creation myth is the earth-diver myth, in which the Devil is forced to dive into the sea and gather sand, from which God forms the earth. Another myth tells of the creation of the world from a cosmic egg. The chief deities usually included a sky god and an earth mother. While the major gods were remote, there were guard¬ ian spirits at hand to regulate daily life; they resided in households, natu¬ ral sites such as lakes and forests, and natural phenomena such as wind or fire. Ancestor worship was practiced. Religious functionaries included shamans, sacrificing priests, guardians of the sanctuary, professional weeping women, and performers of wedding ceremonies. Cult centres ranged from home sanctuaries to sacred groves and sacrificial stones.

Fionn cycle See Fenian cycle fiord See fjord

Fiordland Vfy6rd-,land\ National Park Park, southern South Island, New Zealand. Established in 1952, it is one of the largest national parks in the world, with an area of 4,834 sq mi (12,519 sq km). It is renowned for the grandeur of its fjords, mountains, forests, waterfalls, and lakes. The park is bordered by mountains on the east and by the Tasman Sea on all other sides. It is the site of Sutherland Falls, one of the highest water¬ falls in the world, which drops 1,904 ft (580 m) in three cascades.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

676 i fir ► First International

fir Properly, any of about 40 species of trees that make up the genus Abies, in the pine family. Many other evergreen conifers (e.g., Douglas fir, hemlock fir) are also commonly called firs. True firs are native to North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. They are distinguished from other genera in the pine family by their needlelike leaves, which grow directly from the branch and have bases, shaped like suction cups, that leave conspicuous circular scars when the leaves fall. North America boasts 10 native species of fir, found chiefly from the Rocky Mountains westward. The wood of most western North American firs is inferior to that of pine or spruce but is used for lumber and pulpwood. Of the two fir species that occur in the eastern U.S. and Canada, the better known is the balsam fir (A. balsamea ), a popular ornamental and Christmas tree.

Firdusi See FerdowsT

fire Rapid burning of combustible material, producing heat and usually accompanied by flame. For eons, lightning was the only source of fire. The earliest controlled use of fire seems to date to c. 1,420,000 years ago, but not until c. 7000 bc did Neolithic humans acquire reliable firemaking techniques, including friction from hardwood drills and sparks struck from flint against pyrites. Fire was used initially for warmth, light, and cooking; later it was used in fire drives in hunting and warfare, and for clearing forests of underbrush to facilitate hunting. The first agricultural¬ ists used fire to clear fields and produce ash for fertilizer; such “slash- and-burn” cultivation is still used widely today. Fire also came to be used for firing pottery and for smelting bronze (c. 3000 bc) and later iron (c. 1000 bc). Much of the modern history of technology and science can be characterized as a continual increase in the amount of energy available through fire and brought under human control.

fire ant Any of a genus ( Solenopsis ) of insects in the ant family, several species of which are common in southern North America. They are red or yellowish and can inflict a severe sting. The semipermanent nest consists of a loose mound with open craters for ventilation. The workers (see caste) are notorious for damaging planted grain and attacking poultry.

fire escape Means of rapid egress from a building, primarily intended for use in case of fire. Building codes define an exit as an enclosed and protected path of escape in the event of a fire, leading from an exit access through a combination of corridors, stairways, and doors to an exit dis¬ charge at an exterior court or public way. The term fire escape usually refers to open iron or steel balconies with steep stairways on the outside of buildings; often a retrofit of older buildings, these are rare in new con¬ struction. Other means of escape are by balconies leading to adjacent buildings, or through chutes, often used in hospitals.

Fire Island Elongated sandspit, off the southern shore of Long Island, New York state, U.S. The island measures 32 mi (51 km) long and 0.5 mi (1 km) at its widest, and its name refers to fires that were built there as signals to ships during the War of 1812; a lighthouse was built at its western tip in 1858. Now a popular summer resort, it is connected to Long Island by two bridges and by ferry. Fire Island (now Robert Moses) State Park was opened in 1908, and a 19,000-acre (7,700-hectare) section of the island was dedicated as a national seashore in 1964.

fire walking Religious ceremony that involves walking across hot coals, red-hot stones, or burning wood. It has been practiced in many parts of the world, including ancient Greece, India, Japan, China, Tahiti, New Zealand, Bulgaria, and Spain. The most common form of fire walking involves striding across a layer of embers spread thinly over the bottom of a shallow trench. More rarely, devotees may walk through a blazing log fire. The reasons for fire walking include purification and as an ordeal to prove innocence. Devotees believe that only those who lack faith will be burned, and many fire walkers do escape without injury.

firefly or lightning bug Any of the nocturnal luminous beetles of the family Lampyridae, consisting of about 1,900 species that inhabit tropi¬ cal and temperate regions (including the common glowworm). Adult fire¬ flies are 0.2-1 in. (5-25 mm) long and have light-producing organs on the underside of the abdomen. The soft, flattened, dark-brown or black body is often marked with orange or yellow. Some adult fireflies do not eat; others feed on pollen and nectar. Most fireflies produce short, rhythmic flashes in a pattern that is characteristic of the species and an important mating signal.

fireplace Opening made in the base of a chimney to hold an open fire. The opening is framed, usually ornamentally, by a mantel (or mantel¬ piece). A medieval development that replaced the open central health for

heating and cooking, the fireplace was sometimes large enough to accom¬ modate a sitting space called an inglenook. Early fireplaces were made of stone; later, brick came into use. In 1624 Louis Savot developed a fire¬ place in which air was drawn through passages under the hearth and dis¬ charged into the room through a grill, a design adapted in the 20th century.

fireproofing Use of fire-resistant materials in a building to prevent structural collapse and allow safe egress of occupants in case of fire. The fire-resistive ratings of various materials and constructions are established by laboratory tests and usually specified in terms of hours a material or assembly can be expected to withstand exposure to fire. Building codes require application of cementitious material or insulation to structural steel frames, fire-resistant construction (e.g., using concrete block) of enclosures around exits, flame-spread ratings of finish materials such as carpeting and wall coverings, and use of such inherently fire-resistant materials as reinforced concrete and heavy timber.

Firestone, Harvey S(amuel) (b. Dec. 20, 1868, Columbiana, Ohio, U.S.—d. Feb. 7, 1938, Miami Beach, Fla.) U.S. industrialist. Firestone established a retail tire business in 1896 and in 1900 formed a company to sell rubber carriage tires. In 1904 his business began manufacturing auto¬ mobile tires. Sales to Ford Motor Co. helped put Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. at the top of the U.S. tire industry. Firestone promoted the use of trucks for hauling freight and lobbied for the construction of vast highway sys¬ tems. He ran his company until 1932, when his son replaced him. Firestone was purchased by Bridgestone Tire Co., a Japanese firm, in 1988.

firewall Computer security system that controls the flow of data from one computer or network to another. Firewalls are mainly intended to pro¬ tect the resources of a private network from being directly accessed by a user from an external network, especially via the Internet. Users inside the private network may also be prevented from directly accessing exter¬ nal computers. To accomplish this, all communications are routed through a “proxy server” that determines whether a message or file will be allowed to enter or exit the private network.

fireweed Perennial wildflower (Epilobium angustifolium) of the evening-primrose family. Its spikes of whitish to magenta flowers, which grow up to 5 ft (1.5 m) high, can be a spectacular sight on prairies of the temperate zone. Its seeds can lie dormant for many years, awaiting the warmth necessary for germination. Fireweed is one of the first plants to appeal' after a forest or brush fire; it also rapidly covers scrub or wood¬ land areas that have been cleared by machine. It has limited use in wild gardens, where it must be carefully checked and confined.

fireworks Explosives or combustibles used for display. Of ancient Chi¬ nese origin, fireworks evidently developed out of military rockets and explosive missiles and accompanied the spread of military explosives westward to Europe in the Middle Ages. In force-and-spark compositions, potassium nitrate, sulfur, and ground charcoal are used; additional ingre¬ dients produce various types of sparks. In flame compositions, such as the stars that shoot out of rockets, potassium nitrate, salts of antimony, and sulfur may be used; for coloured fire, potassium chlorate or perchlorate is combined with a metal salt that determines the colour. Rockets are lifted by recoil from the jet of fire thrown out by the burning composition.

first cause In philosophy, the uncreated or self-created cause to which every series of causes must ultimately be traced. Used by ancient Greek thinkers, the concept was adopted by the Christian tradition and became the basis of one version of the cosmological argument for the existence of God. According to this argument, every observed event is the result of a series of causes that must end in a first cause, which is God. The argu¬ ment was given its classic formulation by St. Thomas Aquinas. It was rejected by many later thinkers, including David Hume and Immanuel Kant.

First International officially International Working Men's Association Federation of workers’ groups, founded in 1864 by Brit¬ ish and French trade-union leaders. Its structure was highly centralized, based on local groups that were integrated into national federations. It was split by conflicting schools of socialist thought, including those of Karl Marx, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Louis-Auguste Blanqui, and Mikhail Bakunin. A clash between Marx’s centralized socialism and Bakunin’s anarchism in 1872 caused the International to split, and it was dissolved in 1876. Though it was feared at the time as a formidable power with millions of members, and several countries tried to have it outlawed, its membership was never more than 20,000 and it served mainly as a uni¬ fying force for labour in Europe.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

first lady ► fish hawk I 677

first lady Wife of the president of the U.S. Although the first lady’s role has never been codified or officially defined, she figures prominently in the country’s political and social life. Representative of her husband on official and ceremonial occasions both at home and abroad, the first lady is closely watched for some hint of her husband’s thinking and for a clue to his future actions. The wife of the president played a public role from the founding of the U.S., but the title first lady did not come into general use until much later, near the end of the 19th century. By the end of the 20th century, the title had been absorbed into other languages and was often used, without translation, for the wife of a country’s leader—even in countries where the leader’s consort received far less attention and exerted much less influence than did her counterpart in the U.S. Although unpaid and unelected, she is able to influence behaviour and opinion, and some first ladies have used their influence to affect legislation on impor¬ tant matters such as temperance reform, housing improvement, and wom¬ en’s rights.

FIS See Islamic Salvation Front

Fischer-Dieskau Vfi-shor-'des-.kauX, Dietrich (b. May 28, 1925, Ber¬ lin, Ger.) German baritone and conductor. He had his first extensive per¬ formance experience as a prisoner of war in Italy, and he made his professional debut in 1947. One of the most remarkable singers of his time, he was equally successful in the often mutually exclusive realms of opera and lied. His lyrical voice was supported by his commanding pres¬ ence, intelligent musicianship, and superb artistry. He recorded most of the standard art-song repertoire, as well as numerous unusual and con¬ temporary works; his many premieres included Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem (1962).

fiscus Latin "basket" Treasury of the Roman emperor, so-called because the money was stored in baskets. Funds were also stored in the public treasury, the aerarium. The fiscus took in taxes from imperial prov¬ inces, forfeited property, and unclaimed lands. After Vespasian, it became independent of the aerarium and controlled most of the empire’s income, supplying funds for the army and fleet, official salaries, and postal sub¬ sidies.

fiscal policy Measures employed by governments to stabilize the economy, specifically by adjusting the levels and allocations of taxes and government expenditures. When the economy is sluggish, the government may cut taxes, leaving taxpayers with extra cash to spend and thereby increasing levels of consumption. An increase in public-works spending may likewise pump cash into the economy, having an expansionary effect. Conversely, a decrease in government spending or an increase in taxes tends to cause the economy to contract. Fiscal policy is often used in tan¬ dem with monetary policy. Until the 1930s, fiscal policy aimed at main¬ taining a balanced budget; since then it has been used “countercyclically,” as recommended by John Maynard Keynes, to offset the cycle of expan¬ sion and contraction in the economy. Fiscal policy is more effective at stimulating a flagging economy than at cooling an inflationary one, partly because spending cuts and tax increases are unpopular and partly because of the work of economic stabilizers. See also business cycle.

Fischer projection Method of representing the three-dimensional structures of molecules on a page, devised by Emil Fischer. By convention, horizontal lines represent bonds projecting from the plane of the paper toward the viewer, and vertical lines represent bonds projecting away from the viewer. Fischer projections are a convenient way to depict chiral mol¬ ecules (see optical activity) and distinguish between pairs of enantiomers (see racemate). They are most often used to depict isomers of the sugars. See also chemical formula.

Fischer, Bobby orig. Robert James Fischer (b. March 9, 1943, Chicago, Ill., U.S.) U.S. chess mas¬ ter. He became a grandmaster at age 15, then a record. In 1972 Fischer defeated Boris Spassky to become the only American to win the world chess championship. An intense and eccentric personality, he was a devout Christian fundamentalist who frequently condemned the Soviet Union for godlessness; he was deprived of his title in 1975 after refusing to meet his Soviet chal¬ lenger, Anatoly Karpov. He remained out of the game thereafter except for a victorious private rematch with Spassky in Yugoslavia in 1992; the game violated U.S. sanctions against Yugoslavia, and Fischer has remained abroad ever since.

Fischer, Emil (Hermann) (b. Oct. 9, 1852, Euskirchen, Prussia—d. July 15, 1919, Berlin, Ger.) German organic chemist. He received his Ph.D. in 1874. He determined the structures of uric acid, caffeine, and related compounds, showing that all are derivatives of a single compound he named purine. This led him to study protein structure and the ways in which amino acids are combined in proteins. He determined the molecu¬ lar structures of glucose, fructose, and many other sugars, verifying his results by synthesizing each, and distinguished the 15 stereoisomers of glucose (see isomer; configuration; optical activity). His researches into the sugars were of unparalleled importance to organic chemistry and earned him in 1902 the second Nobel Prize for Chemistry. His investigations of fermentation laid the foundations of enzyme chemistry.

Bobby Fischer, 1971.

AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS

fish Any of more than 24,000 species of cold-blooded vertebrates found worldwide in fresh and salt water. Living species range from the primi¬ tive lampreys and HAGFiSHes through the cartilaginous sharks, skates, and rays to the abundant and diverse bony FiSHes. Species range in length from 0.4 in. (10 mm) to more than 60 ft (20 m). The body is generally tapered at both ends. Most species that inhabit surface or midwater regions are streamlined or are flattened side to side; most bottom dwellers are flat¬ tened top to bottom. Tropical species are often brightly coloured. Most species have paired fins and skin covered with either bony or toothlike scales. Fish generally respire through gills. Most bony fishes have a swim bladder, a gas-filled organ used to adjust swimming depth. Most species lay eggs, which may be fertilized externally or internally. Fishes first appeared more than 450 million years ago.

opercle 1st dorsal fin 2nd dorsal fin

(gill cover) (spiny rays) (soft rays)

External features of a bony fish.

© MERRIAM-WEBSTER INC.

Fish, Hamilton (b. Aug. 3, 1808, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Sept. 6, 1893, New York City) U.S. secretary of state (1869-77). He served New York state as lieutenant governor (1847-48), governor (1849-50), and U.S. senator (1851-57). As secretary of state in the administration of Pres.

Ulysses S. Grant, he helped draft the Treaty of Washington (1871), which provided for international arbitration of the dispute with Britain over the Alabama claims; he also obtained an agreement with Spain regarding its seizure of the U.S. ship Virginius. As a respected member of Grant’s cabi¬ net, he worked to counter graft, improper appointments, and viola¬ tions of the civil liberties of African Americans.

Hamilton Fish.

fish duck See MERGANSER library of congress, Washington, d.c.

fish farming See aquaculture fish hawk See osprey

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

678 i fish poisoning ► Fitzgerald

fish poisoning Illness from eating varieties of poisonous fishes. Most cases are caused by one of three toxins: ciguatera poisoning, from fishes in whose flesh dinoflagellates have produced toxins; tetraodon poisoning, from a nerve toxin in certain pufferlike fish (fugu); and scombroid poi¬ soning from spoilage bacteria in fish of the mackerel family. Shellfish poisoning from eating certain mussels, clams, and oysters has in some instances been traced to the plankton they sometimes feed on.

fisher Rare species of marten ( Martes pennanti, family Mustelidae) found in northern forests of North America. The fisher is related to wea¬ sels and is similarly shaped. It has a bushy tail, tapered muzzle and low, rounded ears. Adults are usually 20-25 in. (50-63 cm) long, excluding the 13-17-in. (33-43-cm) tail, and weigh 3-15 lb (1.4-6.8 kg). Fishers hunt on the ground and in trees, attacking various rodents and other ani¬ mals; they also eat fruits and sometimes nuts. It has been trapped for its valuable brownish black fur.

Fisher, Irving (b. Feb. 27, 1867, Saugerties, N.Y., U.S.—d. April 29, 1947, New Haven, Conn.) U.S. economist best known for his work in the field of capital theory. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University. As a professor at Yale (1892-1935), he examined the relationship between changes in the quantity of money and the general level of prices. He also promoted the concept of the “compensated dollar”—a dollar of constant purchasing power, defined in terms of an index of commodity prices rather than in terms of a given weight of gold. See also price index.

Fisher (of Kilverstone), John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1 st Baron

(b. Jan. 25, 1841, Ceylon—d. July 10, 1920, London, Eng.) British admi¬ ral and first sea lord. He entered the navy at 13 and saw combat in Crimea, China, and Egypt. Promoted to the Admiralty board in 1892, he became first sea lord in 1904. He reorganized and strengthened the British navy to counter the rapid expansion of the German navy, and his reforms and innovations—including the conception of the battleship Dreadnought, which revolutionized naval construction—ensured the Royal Navy’s dominance in World War I. He retired in 1910; recalled in 1914 by Win¬ ston Churchill, he resigned the next year in protest against the Dardanelles Campaign.

Fisher, Sir R(onald) A(ylmer) (b. Feb. 17, 1890, East Finchley, Middlesex, Eng.—d. July 29, 1962, Adelaide, S.Aus., Austl.) British stat¬ istician and geneticist. As statistician for an agricultural research institute, he investigated the linkage of genes for different traits. To avoid uninten¬ tional bias in selection of materials used in experiments, he introduced the principle of randomization. It states that before an experimental effect can be attributed to a given cause or treatment, the experiment must be repeated on control units of the material and that all material used in experiments must be selected at random from the whole population it intends to represent. He also developed the concept of the analysis of variance, a statistical procedure used to design experiments that answer several questions at once.

fishing or sport fishing Sport of catching fish—freshwater or saltwater—typically with rod, line, and hook. Fishing is as old as the human ability to use tools to capture prey. The first significant modem innovations, including use of a reel, a rod with line guides, and a hook with an offset point, came in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Horse¬ hair was used as line until the mid 19th century, when it was replaced by textile materials; these in turn were replaced by nylon in the 1930s. Wood and bamboo rods yielded to rods of fibreglass and other synthetic mate¬ rials. Forms of sport fishing practiced today include fly fishing (freshwa¬ ter), in which a fly-like hook is repeatedly cast upon the water surface to attract biting fish; bait fishing (fresh- and saltwater), in which live or arti¬ ficial bait is set or drawn below the surface; and big-game fishing (salt¬ water), in which heavy-duty tackle is used to land large marine species (including tuna, marlin, and swordfish) from a motorized boat.

fishing industry Taking, processing, and marketing of fish and other seafood from oceans, rivers, and lakes. Fishing is one of the primary forms of food production; it ranks with farming and probably predates it. The fishing industry employs more than 5 million people worldwide. The major countries engaged in marine fishing are Japan, China, the U.S., Chile, Peru, India, South Korea, Thailand, and the countries of northern Europe. The aquatic life harvested includes both marine and freshwater species of fish, shellfish, mammals, and seaweed. They are processed into food for human consumption, animal feeds, fertilizers, and ingredients for use in other commercial commodities.

Fisk, James (b. April 1, 1834, Bennington, Vt., U.S.—d. Jan. 7, 1872, New York, N.Y.) U.S. financier. He worked his way up from circus hand to stockbroker and corporate official. He joined Daniel Drew and Jay Gould against Cornelius Vanderbilt in the “Erie War,” in which the three tried to maintain control of the Erie Railroad Co. by issuing fraudulent stock. They also attempted to corner the gold market by inflating the price, a venture that led to the panic of 1869. Known as “the Barnum of Wall Street,” Fisk produced theatrical shows and dallied with showgirls; he was fatally shot by an associate at age 37 after quarreling over business matters and a mis¬ tress.

fission-track dating Method of determining the age of a mineral that utilizes the damage done by the spontaneous fission of uranium-238, the most abundant isotope of uranium. The fission results in radiation damage, or fission tracks, that can be made visible by preferential leaching (removal of material by solution) of the host substance with a suitable chemical reagent; the leaching process allows the etched fission-track pits to be viewed and counted under a microscope. The amount of uranium present can be determined by irradiation that produces thermal fission of uranium-235, which produces another population of tracks, related to the uranium concentration of the mineral. Thus, the ratio of naturally pro¬ duced, spontaneous fission tracks to induced fission tracks is a measure of the age of the sample. See also dating.

fitnah \'fit-no\ Arabic "trial" or "test" In the Islamic tradition, trials or temptations that test the unity of the Muslim community. The term may be used to describe insurrection or civil warfare or, more specifically, to define a tribunal over doctrinal issues, broadly similar to the Christian Inquisition. There were four fitnahs in the early history of Islam. The first (656-661) followed the murder of the third caliph, 'Uthman ibn ‘Affan. It brought up the question of 'All’s right to rule and prompted a military con¬ flict that eventually resulted in the schism between the Sunnite and the ShTite branches. The second coincided with the caliphate of Yazid I (680- 683); it was a continuation of the struggle between claimants to the caliph¬ ate and led to the death of al-HusAYN ibn c AlT at the Battle of Karbala 5 — another formative event in the Sunnite-Shfite split. The third fitnah (744- 750) resulted in the ascendancy of the 'Abbasid dynasty. The fourth evolved from the caliphate’s support for the Mu'tazilite theological school and suc¬ cessfully challenged the caliph’s authority to enforce doctrinal rigour.

FitzGerald, Edward (b. March 31, 1809, Bredfield, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, Eng.—d. June 14, 1883, Merton, Norfolk) British writer. After graduating from Cambridge University, he lived chiefly in seclusion. He is best known for The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (1859), a free adap¬ tation from Omar Khayyam’s verses that is itself a classic of English lit¬ erature. Many of its images, such as “A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and thou” and “The moving finger writes, and, having writ, moves on” have passed into common currency. He also freely translated Six Dramas of Calderon (1853).

Fitzgerald, Ella (b. April 25, 1917, Newport News, Va., U.S.—d. June 15, 1996, Beverly Hills, Calif.) U.S. singer. She won an amateur contest at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre in 1934 and became the star of drummer Chick Webb’s big band the following year. Her association with manager and impresario Norman Granz in the late 1940s led to performances with Jazz at the Philharmonic and a famous series of “Songbook” recordings, each featuring the work of a single popular-song composer. Fitzgerald was one of the greatest scat singers in jazz; her clear, girlish voice and virtuosity made her one of the best-selling vocal recording artists in history.

Fitzgerald, F(rancis) Scott (Key) (b. Sept. 24, 1896, St. Paul, Minn., U.S.—d. Dec. 21, 1940, Hollywood, Calif.) U.S. novelist and short-story writer. Fitzgerald attended Princeton University but dropped out with bad grades. In 1920 he married Zelda Sayre (1900-48), daugh¬ ter of a respected Alabama judge. His works, including the early novels This Side of Paradise (1920) and The Beautiful and Damned (1922) and the story collections Tales of the Jazz Age (1922) and All the Sad Young Men (1926), capture the Jazz Age’s vulgarity and dazzling promise. His brilliant The Great Gatsby (1925; film, 1926, 1949, 1974; TV movie 2001), a story of American wealth and corruption, was eventually acclaimed one of the century’s greatest novels. In 1924 Scott and Zelda became part of the expatriate community on the French Riviera, the set¬ ting of Tender Is the Night (1934; film, 1962). His fame and prosperity proved disorienting to them both, and he became seriously alcoholic. Zelda never fully recovered from a mental breakdown in 1932 and spent most of her remaining years in a sanitarium. In 1937 Scott moved to Hol-

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Fitzroy River ► Flagler I 679

lywood to write film scripts; the experience inspired the unfinished The Last Tycoon (1941; film, 1976). He died of a heart attack at age 44.

Fitzroy River River, eastern Queensland, Australia. Formed by the con¬ fluence of the Dawson and Mackenzie rivers, on the slopes of the East¬ ern Highlands, it flows northeast across the Broadsound Range and then southeast to enter the Coral Sea after a course of 180 mi (290 km). It is navigable 35 mi (56 km) from its mouth.

Fitzroy River River, northern Western Australia. It rises in the Durack Range and flows southwest through the King Leopold Ranges and the Geikie Gorge (where freshwater crocodiles are found). Turning northwest, it completes its flow of 350 mi (560 km), emptying into the Indian Ocean at King Sound. Sandbars and snags prevent navigation. Fitzroy Crossing, a town on the upper river, is in an area of large waterholes that sustain wildlife; just above it is the Geikie Gorge National Park.

Fiume question Vfyii-maV Post-World War I controversy over control of the Adriatic port of Fiume (modern Rijeka, Croatia). The secret Treaty of London (1915) had assigned Fiume to Yugoslavia, but the Italians claimed it at the Paris Peace Conference. In 1919 Gabriele D'Annunzio mustered a small force and occupied Fiume. After Italy concluded the Treaty of Rapallo (1920) with Yugoslavia, which provided for a free state, it sent a battleship to scare him off. When Benito Mussolini came to power, he pressed for a new treaty (1924) that recognized Fiume as Italian and the suburb of Susak as Yugoslav. After World War II, Fiume became part of Yugoslavia.

Five, The or The Mighty Five Group of Russian composers who, in the 1860s, banded together in an attempt to create a truly national school of Russian music. The Five were Cesar Cui (1835-1918), Aleksandr Boro¬ din, Mily Balakirev, Modest Mussorgsky, and Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. A somewhat larger group around this core was referred to as “the Mighty Handful.”

Five Articles Oath See Charter Oath

Five Classics Chinese Wujing Five ancient Chinese books associated with Confucius. For more than 2,000 years they were invoked as authori¬ ties on Chinese society, government, literature, and religion. Chinese stu¬ dents usually studied the shorter Four Books before attempting the Five Classics, which consist of the Yijing (“Classic of Changes”), the Shujing (“Classic of History”), the Classic of Poetry, the Collection of Rituals, and the Chunqiu (“Spring and Autumn Annals”). The Five Classics were taught from 136 bc (when Confucianism became the state ideology of China) until the early 20th century. Proficiency in the texts was required for any scholar applying for a post in the vast government bureaucracy. After 1950 only select texts were taught in public schools. See Chinese EXAMINATION SYSTEM.

Five Dynasties Period in Chinese history betweeen the fall of the Tang dynasty (907) and the founding of the Song dynasty (960), when five would-be dynasties (the Hou Liang, the Hou Tang, the Hou Jin, the Hou Han, and the Hou Zhou) followed one another in quick succession in northern China. The period is also called the Ten Kingdoms because of the 10 regimes that dominated separate regions of southern China in the same period. Though unstable politically, culturally it was a period of great accomplishment. Printing with wooden blocks was fully developed; the first complete printing of the Confucian Classics was completed in 953. The form of lyric poetry called ci {tz’u) flourished, and flower paint¬ ing, previously distinctively Buddhist, became a branch of nonreligious painting.

Five Pecks of Rice Daoist-inspired popular movement that occurred near the end of China’s Han dynasty (206 bc-ad 220) and greatly weak¬ ened the government. It became a prototype of the religiously inspired popular rebellions that were to erupt periodically in China throughout its history. Its founder, Zhang Daoling, is considered the first patriarch of the Daoist church in China. He was originally a faith healer, and the move¬ ment’s name came from the five pecks of rice a year that clients paid him for their cure or as dues to the cult. During a time of poverty and misery, Zhang’s grandson Zhang Lu set up an independent theocratic state that grew to encompass all of present-day Sichuan province. In ad 215 Zhang Lu surrendered to Cao Cao. See also Daoism; White Lotus; Yellow Turbans.

Five-Year Plans Method of planning economic growth over limited periods, through the use of quotas, used first in the Soviet Union and later in other socialist states. In the Soviet Union, the first Five-Year Plan

(1928-32), implemented by Joseph Staun, concentrated on developing heavy industry and collectivizing agriculture, at the cost of a drastic fall in consumer goods. The second plan (1933-37) continued the objectives of the first. Collectivization led to terrible famines, especially in the Ukraine, that caused the deaths of millions. The third (1938-42) empha¬ sized the production of armaments. The fourth (1946-53) again stressed heavy industry and military buildup, angering the Western powers. In China, the first Five-Year Plan (1953-57) stressed rapid industrial devel¬ opment, with Soviet assistance; it proved highly successful. Shortly after the second plan began in 1958, the Great Leap Forward was announced; its goals conflicted with the five-year plan, leading to failure and the withdrawal of Soviet aid in 1960.

fjord or fiord \fe-'ord\ Long, narrow arm of the sea, often extending well inland, that results from marine inundation of a glaciated valley.

Many fjords are remarkably deep; it is assumed that the huge glaciers that formed in these valleys were so heavy that they eroded the bottoms of the valleys far below sea level.

After the glaciers melted, the waters of the sea invaded the valleys.

flag Combination of symbols repre¬ sented on a piece of cloth, serving as a medium of social, typically politi¬ cal, communication. It is usually rectangular and attached by one edge to a staff or is hoisted on a pole with halyards. Flags appear to be as old as civilized human society, though their origin is not well understood. The Chinese may have been the first to develop cloth flags, and it is believed that they were introduced to Europe by returning Crusaders. Most national flags in use today were designed in the 19th and 20th centuries.

flagellants Vfla-ja-lantsV Medieval religious sects that included public beatings with whips as part of their discipline and devotional practice. Flagellant sects arose in northern Italy, and had become large and wide¬ spread by c. 1260. Groups marched through European towns, whipping each other to atone for their sins and calling on the populace to repent. They gained many new members in the mid-14th century while the Black Death was ravaging Europe. Though periodically suppressed by the authorities, flagellant sects enjoyed sporadic resurgences into the 16th century.

Bradshaw Sound, Fiordland, west coast of South Island, New Zealand

COURTESY OF THE NEW ZEALAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY; PHOTOGRAPH, T. ULYATT

flagellum Ulo-'jel-onY Hairlike structure that acts mainly as an organelle of movement in the cells of many liv¬ ing organisms. Characteristic of the protozoan group Mastigophora, fla¬ gella also occur on the sex cells of algae, fungi (see fungus), mosses, and slime molds. Flagellar motion causes water currents necessary for respira¬ tion and circulation in sponges and cnidarians. Most motile bacteria move by means of flagella. The structures and patterns of movement of flagella in prokaryotes differ from those in eukaryotes. See also ciuum.

Flagler, Henry M(orrison) (b.

Jan. 2, 1830, Hopewell, N.Y.,

U.S.—d. May 20, 1913, West Palm Beach, Fla.) U.S. financier. He ini¬ tially worked as a grain merchant.

His friendship with John D. Rock¬ efeller led to their establishing a firm that in 1870 became the Standard Oil Co. Flagler served as a director of Standard Oil of New Jersey until

He was hugely influential in the development of Florida as a vaca¬ tion centre, involving himself in such enterprises as extending the Florida East Coast Railway, dredging Miami’s harbour, and the construction of a chain of luxury hotels.

The bacterium Proteus vulgaris (greatly magnified) showing flagella

l> LEE D. SIMON-PHOTO RESEARCHERS

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

680 I Flagstad ► flatfish

Flagstad Vflag-sta,\ English Vflag-.stadV Kirsten (Marie) (b. July 12, 1895, Hamar, Nor.—d. Dec. 7, 1962, Oslo) Norwegian soprano. Bom to musician parents, she made her operatic debut in 1913. In 1934 she sang Sieglinde in Die Walkiire and Gutrune in Gotterdammerung at Bayreuth. Recognized as the greatest Wagnerian soprano of her genera¬ tion, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1935. With New York as her base, she toured widely until 1941, returning to Norway to be with her husband, a member of Vidkun Quisling’s government. Though cleared of charges of collaboration with the Germans, her later U.S. appearances were controversial. She was the first director of the Royal Norwegian Opera (1958-60).

Flaherty Vfla-sr-te, 'fla-3r-te\, Robert (Joseph) (b. Feb. 16, 1884, Iron Mountain, Mich., U.S.—d. July 23, 1951, Dummerston, Vt.) U.S. filmmaker, considered the father of the documentary. He grew up in remote northern Canada and later led explorations of the area (1910-16). He lived with the Eskimos for 16 months and filmed their way of life. His result¬ ing film, Nanook of the North (1922), was an international success and established the model for the documentary film. His later documentaries include Moana (1926), Tabu (1931), Man of Aran (1934), The Land (1942), and Louisiana Story (1948).

flake tool Stone Age devices, usually flint (see chert and flint), shaped by flaking off small particles or by breaking off a large flake to use as a tool. Prehistoric humans preferred flint and similar siliceous stones because of the ease with which they could be chipped and for their sharp cutting edges. They also used sandstones, quartzites, quartz, obsidian, and volcanic rocks. Stone tools were chipped by striking a block of flint with a hammer of stone, wood, or bone or by striking the block itself on the edge of a fixed stone. Pressure flaking consists of applying pressure by means of a pointed stick or bone near the edge of a flake or blade, to detach small flakes, and was used mostly to put the finishing touches on tools. See also stone-tool industry.

Flamboyant style Phase of late Gothic architecture in 15th-century France and Spain. It evolved out of the Rayonnant style's increasing emphasis on decoration. Its most conspicuous feature is the dominance in stone window tracery of a flamelike S-shaped curve. Wall surface was reduced to the minimum to allow an almost continuous window expanse. Structural logic was obscured by covering buildings with elaborate trac¬ ery. Attractive French examples include Notre-Dame d’Epine near Chalons-sur-Mame, Saint-Maclou in Rouen (c. 1500-14), and the north¬ ern spire of Chartres Cathedral. Spanish Flamboyant architects developed their own intricate forms of vaulting with curvilinear patterns; the Capilla del Condestable in Burgos Cathedral (1482-94) and Segovia Cathedral (begun 1525) provide examples. Flamboyant Gothic, which became increasingly ornate, gave way in France to Renaissance forms in the 16th century.

f la men Vfla-monV One of 15 priests in ancient Rome, each of whom was devoted to the service of a specific god. The most important were those who served Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus. Chosen from the patrician class and supervised by the pontifex maximus (chief priest), they offered daily sacrifices and led strictly regulated lives. Their wives assisted them and were also bound by ritual regulations. In imperial times a group of famines were devoted to the worship of deified emperors.

flamenco UJo-'meq-koV Form of song, dance, and instrumental (mostly guitar) music commonly associated with the Andalusian RoMa (Gypsies) of southern Spain. (There, the Roma people and their language are known as Calo, or Gitano.) The roots of flamenco, though somewhat mysterious, seem to lie in the Roma migration from Rajasthan (in northwest India) to Spain between the 9th and 14th centuries. Its essence is cante, or song, often accompanied by guitar music and improvised dance. The cante jondo (“profound song” or “deep song”), thought to be the oldest form, is characterized by profound emotion and deals with themes of death, anguish, despair, or religious doubt. After the mid-19th century, flamenco song was usually accompanied by guitar music and a palo seco (Span¬ ish: “dry stick,” a stick that was beat on the floor to keep time) and a dancer performing a series of choreographed dance steps and improvised styles. Baile, or dance, has been the dominant element of flamenco since that time, though it is never performed without accompaniment. Essen¬ tial to traditional flamenco is the duende, an intensely focused, trancelike state of transcendent emotion. It is usually enhanced by rhythmic hand clapping and encouraging interjections (jaleo ) from fellow performers.

flamethrower Military assault weapon that projects a stream of blaz¬ ing oil or gasoline against enemy positions. It consists of one or more fuel tanks, a cylinder of compressed gas to supply the propelling force, and a flexible hose with a trigger-nozzle that ignites and sprays the fuel. Por¬ table flamethrowers are carried on the backs of ground troops; larger units may be installed on tank turrets. Modern flamethrowers, first used in combat in World War I, were used by all major powers in World War II and later wars. They are often used in areas of dense underbrush and against fortified positions at close range.

flamingo Any of five species of tall wading birds constituting the fam¬ ily Phoenicopteridae. The plumage is mainly pink, and the face is bare. Flamingos have webbed feet, a slender body, a long thin neck, large wings, and a short tail. They are about 3-5 ft (90-150 cm) tall. Flamingos flock by the hundreds (sometimes by the millions) in flight formations and wading groups. They walk the shallows, stirring up organic matter, espe¬ cially tiny mollusks and crustaceans, which they strain from the muddy water with their sievelike bills. The various species are found along Atlan¬ tic and Gulf coasts of tropical and subtropical North America and in South America, Africa, southern Europe, Asia, Madagascar, and India.

Flamininus N.flam-s-'nl-e-nosV Titus Quinctius (b. c. 227 bc —d. 174) Roman general and consul (198 bc). As consul he tried to formulate a peace treaty with Philip V of Macedonia, but negotiations broke down and fighting broke out. He defeated Philip at Cynoscephalae (197) and granted freedom to the Greeks (196), for which he was hailed as a sav¬ iour. He kept Roman troops in Greece until 194. After the defeat of Anti- ochus III and Aetolia at Thermopylae (191), he helped reestablish peace in Greece.

Flaminius Vfta-'min-e-osV Gaius (d. 217 bc) Roman political leader. As tribune (232) he supported Roman expansion in northern Italy; his land bill (232) gave land to Roman plebeians and gained him great popularity, but the bill’s passage was seen as the cause of the Gallic invasion of 225 (repelled in 223), and he was held responsible. He was elected consul in 223 and 217. As censor (220) he built the Circus Flaminius in Rome and the Via Flaminia to Ariminum (Rimini). He died fighting Hannibal in the Second Punic War.

Flanders Flemish Vlaanderen Vvlan-do-ronV Medieval principality extending along the coast of the Low Countries. Its lands are now included in the French departement of Nord, the Belgian provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders, and the Dutch province of Zeeland. Ruled by Bald¬ win I in 862, Flanders began to grow as a commercial centre, fostered by its strategic location between the Mediterranean Sea and the Scandina¬ vian and Baltic countries. It passed to Burgundy in 1384 and then to the Austrian Habsburgs in 1477. It remained part of the Netherlands under Spanish rule in the 17th century. It was the scene of fighting during both World War I and World War II. Limited autonomy was granted to Bel¬ gian Flanders in the 1980s, and it became one of the three regions in the new federation of Belgium in 1993.

Flandin \fla n -'da n \, Pierre-Etienne (b. April 12, 1889, Paris, France—d. June 13, 1958, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat) French politician. He served in the Chamber of Deputies (1914-40) and held various ministe¬ rial posts in the Third Republic, serving briefly as premier (1934-35). As foreign minister when the Germans marched into the Rhineland in 1936, he failed to convince the French and British governments to act and accepted German dominance, though when he returned briefly as foreign minister in the Vichy regime, he resisted German demands. Later charged with treason, he was acquitted in 1946.

flare star Star that varies in brightness repeatedly but sporadically, sometimes by more than one magnitude, within a few minutes. The cause is thought to be the eruption of flares like those observed on the Sun but much larger (see solar flare). Prox- ima Centauri, in Alpha Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, is a flare star.

flat See playa

flatfish Any of about 600 species (order Pleuronectiformes) of oval¬ shaped, flattened bony FiSHes (e.g., flounder, turbot) found from tropical to cold waters. Most are marine and live at moderate depths along the

Flatfish (scophthalmus)

JACQUES SIX

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

flatfoot ► flea I 681

continental shelf, but some enter or live permanently in fresh water. Flat¬ fishes are carnivorous bottom dwellers that habitually rest on one side, often partly buried in the sand or mud. Some can also change colour to blend with their surroundings. Both eyes are on one side of the head. The eyed side of the fish (uppermost as it lies on the bottom) is pigmented, but the lower, blind side is normally white. Species vary from 4 in. (10 cm) to 7 ft (2 m) long, and some (e.g., the Atlantic halibut) may weigh as much as 720 lb (325 kg). Many species are highly valued as food. See also plaice; sole.

flatfoot Congenital or acquired flatness of the arch of the foot, in which the foot and heel usually also roll outward, resulting in a splayfooted position. Initially, it may result from ligament stretching and muscle weak¬ ness. Later, altered shape of the bones may make the deformity rigid. In a few cases it seems to result from excessive weight or an injury. Symp¬ toms may include pain, spasm, and awkward gait, but many patients have no disability or pain. Treatment to correct arch and heel position employs proper shoes and muscle strengthening; arch supports are indicated only for severe pain or excessive fatigue.

Flathead North American Indian people living in Montana, U.S. Salish is what they call themselves, and their language is of Salishan linguistic stock. The name Flathead is now customary, although it is a misnomer; they themselves did not practice head-flattening, but some of their slaves came from tribes that did. The Flatheads, who inhabited what is now western Montana, were the easternmost group of the Plateau Indians, but they exhib¬ ited many cultural traits of the Plains Indians just east over the Rocky Moun¬ tains. They acquired horses and went on bison hunts on the Plains, often warring with Plains tribes. The Plains tepee was the usual dwelling. Western Flatheads used bark canoes, and fishing was important for all groups. Reli¬ gious belief centred on guardian spirits, with whom one communicated in visions. Since 1872 the Flatheads have resided primarily on a reservation north of Missoula, Mont. In the 2000 U.S. census some 3,300 individuals claimed sole Salish descent and about 3,500 Salish and Kootenoi.

Flathead River River, southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and western Montana, U.S. Rising in the MacDonald Range, it flows south for 240 mi (385 km) across the Canada-U.S. boundary into Montana. After passing between the Whitefish Range and Glacier National Park, it enters Flathead Lake and emerges to join the Clark Fork. The Flathead valley is a resort region with diversified farming and fruit growing, lumbering, and mining.

Flatt, Lester (Raymond) (b. June 19, 1914, Duncan’s Chapel, near Sparta, Tenn., U.S.—d. May 11, 1979, Nashville, Tenn.) U.S. bluegrass and country music guitarist and singer. He worked in textile mills until the late 1930s, when he and his wife, Gladys, began performing as a duo. In 1945 he joined Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys. There he met Earl Scruggs (b. 1924), a native of Flint Hill, N.C., who had played banjo since age 5 and had begun playing on radio by the age of 15. Scruggs eventually per¬ fected a picking technique involving the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand that came to be called the “Scruggs style.” In 1948 the two men left Monroe’s band to form Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys. They made dozens of records in the 1950s and ’60s and hosted their own syndicated radio and TV shows. Scruggs’s original instrumental compositions, including “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” were especially popular. They parted ways in 1969 when Scruggs joined his sons Gary and Randy (and later Steve) in the Earl Scruggs Revue.

flatworm or platyhelminth Any of a phylum (Platyhelminthes) of soft-bodied, usually much-flattened worms, including both free-living and parasitic species. Flatworms live in a variety of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats worldwide. They range in length from much less than an inch (a fraction of a millimeter) to 50 ft (15 m) and are of three main types: turbellarians (including the planarian), trematodes (see fluke), and cestodes (see tapeworm). Flatworms are bilaterally symmetrical and lack respiratory, skeletal, and circulatory systems and a body cavity. Turbel¬ larians are mostly free-swimming, but trematodes and cestodes are para¬ sites.

Flaubert \flo-'ber\, Gustave (b. Dec. 12, 1821, Rouen, France—d. May 8, 1880, Croisset) French novelist. Flaubert abandoned law studies at age 22 for a life of writing. His masterpiece, Madame Bovary (1857), a sharply realistic portrayal of provincial bourgeois boredom and adul¬ tery, led to his trial (and narrow acquittal) on charges of immorality. His other novels include the exotic Salammbo (1862), set in ancient Carthage; A Sentimental Education (1869), a classic bildungsroman of disillusion¬

ment in a time of social and political change; and The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1874), notable for its depiction of spiritual torment. Trois Contes (1877) contains three novel¬ las set in the ancient, medieval, and contemporary periods. Renowned for his lapidary style, he is regarded as the foremost exponent of French REALISM.

Flavian dynasty \'fla-ve-9n\ (ad 69-96) Ancient Roman imperial dynasty of Vespasian and his sons Titus and Domitian, members of the Flavia gens, or clan. Vespasian sought to give the office of emperor permanent form, by means of a for¬ mal system of titles to replace per¬ sonal names, an insistence on the rights of office, and a move to make Caesarism (dictatorship) hereditary by natural descent or adoption. Wor¬ ship of the deified caesars (subem¬ perors) became the symbol of imperial continuity and legitimacy.

flavin \'fla-v3n\ Any of a class of organic compounds, pale yellow bio¬ logical pigments that fluoresce green. They occur in compounds essential to life as coenzymes in metabolism. Plants and microbes can synthesize them, but animals must consume them in the diet. Riboflavin is the best- known flavin.

flavonoid \ , fla-v3- l noid\ or flavone Organic compound, any member of a class of biological pigments containing no nitrogen that are found in many plants. They include anthoxanthins, which give yellow colours, often to flower petals, and anthocyanins, largely responsible for the red colouring of buds and young shoots and the purple and purple-red colours of autumn leaves. Their biological function is unknown; they may attract pollinators and seed dispersers.

flax family Family Linaceae (order Linales), composed of about 14 genera of herbaceous plants and shrubs found throughout the world. The genus Linum includes flax, perhaps the most important member of the family, grown for linen fibre and linseed oil and as a garden ornamental. Reinwardtia species are primarily low shrubs, grown in greenhouses and outdoors in warm climates; R. indica, yellow flax, is notable for its large yellow flowers, borne in profusion in late fall and early winter.

Flaxman, John (b. July 6, 1755, York, Eng.—d. Dec. 7, 1826, Lon¬ don) British sculptor, illustrator, and designer. In 1770 he entered the Royal Academy schools. After 1775 he worked for pottery designer Josiah Wedgwood, producing designs based on Classical antiquity. He directed the Wedgwood studio in Rome (1787-94), but his book illustrations were of far greater importance; his illustrations for the Iliad (1793), Odyssey (1795), and Divine Comedy (1807) became very well known. The lead¬ ing Neoclassical artist in England, he became the Royal Academy’s first professor of sculpture (1810). In his own day his reputation as a sculp¬ tor, notably of monuments with large groups of free-standing figures, was exceeded only by that of Antonio Canova and Bertel Thorvaldsen.

flea Any member of 1,600 species and subspecies of small, wingless, bloodsucking (parasitic) insects (order Siphonaptera), found from the Arctic Circle to the Arabian deserts.

Specialized anatomical structures allow the flea to attach itself to the skin of mammals or birds and con¬ sume their blood. Though domestic cats and dogs are well-known hosts, rodents are the mammals most com¬ monly afflicted by fleas. The adult flea is 0.04-0.4 in. (1-10 mm) long and lives from a few weeks to more than a year. Powerful leg muscles allow it to jump distances up to 200 times its body length. Flea infesta¬ tions have had enormous consequences; fleas were the principal transmis¬ sion agents of the bubonic plague in the medieval epidemics.

Gustave Flaubert, detail of a drawing by E.F. von Liphart, 1880; in the Biblio- theque Municipale, Rouen, France.

COURTESY OF THE BIBLIOTHEQUE MUNICIPALE, ROUEN; PHOTOGRAPH, ELLEBE

Flea (Ctenocephalides)

WILUAM E. FERGUSON

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

682 i flea beetle ► Flint

flea beetle Any member of the beetle subfamily Alticinae (family Chry- somelidae), found worldwide. It is tiny (less than 0.25 in. [6 mm] long) and dark or metallic in colour. The enlarged hind legs are adapted for jumping. Flea beetles are important pests of cultivated plants (e.g., grapes, cucumbers, melons, tobacco, potatoes, and tomatoes). The adults feed on the leaves, the larvae on the roots. Some flea beetles carry plant diseases (e.g., early potato blight).

Fleischer, Max and Dave (respectively b. July 19, 1883, Vienna, Austria—d. Sept. 11, 1972, Woodland Hills, Calif., U.S.;b. July 14, 1894, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. June 25, 1979, Hollywood, Calif.) U.S. ani¬ mators. The brothers worked as newspaper cartoonists before founding their own studio in 1921 to make animated cartoons. In the mid 1920s they produced the first sound-on-film animations. They later created and produced the popular cartoon series Betty Boop (1931-39), Popeye the Sailor (1929-42), and Superman (1941-42) and the feature-length car¬ toon Gulliver’s Travels (1939).

Fleming, Sir Alexander (b. Aug. 6, 1881, Lochfield, Ayr, Scot.—d. March 11, 1955, London, Eng.) Scottish bacteriologist. While serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps in World War I, he conducted research on antibacterial substances that would be nontoxic to humans. In 1928 he inadvertently discovered penicillin when he noticed that a mold contami¬ nating a bacterial culture was inhibiting the bacteria’s growth. He shared a 1945 Nobel Prize with Ernst Boris Chain and Howard Walter Florey, who both carried Fleming’s basic discovery further in isolating, purifying, testing, and producing penicillin in quantity.

Fleming, Ian (Lancaster) (b. May 28, 1908, London, Eng.—d. Aug. 12, 1964, Canterbury, Kent) British suspense novelist. He worked as a Moscow journalist, banker, stockbroker, naval intelligence officer, and newspaper manager before publishing Casino Roy ale (1953), the first of 12 novels featuring James Bond, the stylish, high-living secret service agent 007, one of the most successful characters of 20th-century fiction. Packed with violent action, espionage, and sex, all 12 books—including From Russia, with Love (1957), Dr. No (1958), Goldfinger (1959), and Thunderball (1961)—became popular movies.

Fleming, Peggy (Gale) (b. July 27, 1948, San Jose, Calif., U.S.) U.S. figure skater. She won the first of five consecutive U.S. women’s cham¬ pionships when she was 15. She finished first in the world championship three consecutive years (1966-68) and won a gold medal at the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble, France. She was celebrated for her exceptional grace and artistic expression.

Flemish art Art of the 15th to early 17th century in Flanders. The pre¬ cursors of the Flemish school were located in Dijon, the first capital of the dukes of Burgundy, who established a powerful Flemish-Burgundian politi¬ cal alliance that lasted from 1363 to 1482. Philip III (the Good) moved the Burgundian capital to Bruges and in 1425 hired Jan van Eyck as his painter. The next generation of artists built on van Eyck’s heritage and, toward the end of the 15th century, began looking to Italy for pictorial inspiration. Rogier van der Weyden, Petrus Christus, Dirck Bouts, Hugo van der Goes, Hans Memling, and Gerard David brought innovation, but little of their work compared to van Eyck’s artistic vision. In the 16th century Pieter Bruegel the Elder, under the influence of Hieronymus Bosch, depicted peasant life with an eye for the grotesque. The great master of the 17th century, Peter Paul Rubens, demonstrated unrivaled skill in oil painting; his style epitomized the Flemish Baroque period. See also Early Netherlandish art.

Flemish language See Dutch ianguage Fletcher, John See Francis Beaumont

Fleury \floe-'re\, Andre-Hercule de (b. June 22, 1653, Lodeve, France—d. Jan. 29, 1743, Paris) French cardinal and chief minister of Louis XV (1726-43). A priest, he was made almoner (distributor of alms) for Louis XIV. In 1715 he was appointed tutor for the future Louis XV, who later created Fleury a cardinal and minister of state (1726). Domes¬ tically, Fleury restored economic and financial stability to France; in for¬ eign policy, his efforts prevented the hostilities between Spain and Britain in 1727 from becoming a European conflict. Drawn into the War of the Polish Succession (1733-38) on the side of Stanislaw I, Louis’s father-in- law, he was able to limit the conflict’s scope.

Flexner, Abraham (b. Nov. 13, 1866, Louisville, Ky., U.S.—d. Sept. 21, 1959, Falls Church, Va.) U.S. educator. He taught high school for almost 20 years. When the Carnegie Foundation asked him to evaluate

the 155 U.S. and Canadian medical colleges, his report (1910) had a sen¬ sational impact; many of the colleges he severely criticized closed, and others revised their policies and curricula. Flexner thereafter channeled over half a billion dollars from the Rockefeller Foundation into improv¬ ing U.S. medical education. In 1930 he founded the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., to which he brought some of the world’s out¬ standing scientists.

Flick, Friedrich (b. July 10, 1883, Ernsdorf, near Bonn, Ger.—d. July 20, 1972, near Lake Constance, Switzerland) German industrialist. Before World War II he built an industrial empire that included iron-ore and coal mines, steel mills, trucks, airplanes, and munitions. He became Adolf Hit¬ ler’s biggest industrial supplier, and at the NOrnberg trials he was con¬ victed of using slave labour in his mines and plants. Though much of his empire was confiscated, he later amassed another fortune in coal and steel, and at the time of his death was probably West Germany’s wealthiest man.

flicker Any of six species of New World woodpeckers (genus Colaptes ) noted for spending much time on the ground eating ants. The sticky saliva of the flicker is alkaline, perhaps to counteract the formic acid that ants secrete. Its bill is more slender than that of most woodpeckers and is slightly down-curved. Most flickers have a white rump, black breast band, and varied head markings, and most are about 13 in. (33 cm) long.

flight recorder Instrument that records the performance and condi¬ tion of an aircraft in flight. Regulatory agencies require these devices on commercial aircraft to make possible the analysis of crashes or other unusual occurrences. They are housed in heavy steel within layers of insulation, protecting them against impacts and fires. The recording tape is also protected against inadvertent erasure and contact with seawater. It records airspeed, altitude, heading, vertical acceleration, and aircraft pitch. It also includes a separate device that records voice communi¬ cation within the aircraft and by radio. Both recorders are carried in the tail of the aircraft.

Flinders, Matthew (b. March 16, 1774, Donington, Lincolnshire, Eng.—d. July 19, 1814, London) British mariner and hydrographer. In two expeditions (1795-99, 1801-03) he circumnavigated Australia and Tasmania, charting their coasts and waters. His Voyage to Terra Australis (1814) recounted his adventures. His name was given to several geo¬ graphic entities in Australia. Funders Petrie was his grandson.

Flinders Ranges Mountain region north of Adelaide, South Australia. Continuing the Mount Lofty Ranges from Gulf St. Vincent, it extends some 500 mi (800 km) to the northeast. The Flinders exceed 3,000 ft (900 m) at several points, reaching 3,842 ft (1,171 m) at St. Mary Peak, the state’s second highest peak. The ranges feature scenic landscapes and include Flinders Ranges National Park and Gammon Ranges National Park.

Flinders River River, Queensland, Australia. It rises on the southwest¬ ern slopes of the Gregory Range and flows west and then north to the Gulf of Carpentaria through two mouths, the second known as the Bynoe River, after a course of 520 mi (837 km). The river’s valley was first settled in 1864; its lands are used in part for raising cattle and sheep. Only its lowest 70 mi (113 km) are usually perennial, with the rest of the river drying up during certain seasons of the year.

flint See CHERT AND FLINT

Flint City (pop., 2000: 124,943), eastern Michigan, U.S. Originally the site of a trading post, the city was laid out in 1836 and became a fur¬ trading and agricultural centre. Abundant supplies of timber led to the development in 1886 of the Durant-Dort Carriage Co., and by 1900 it was producing more than 100,000 horse-drawn vehicles a year. Some of the

Yellow-shafted flicker (Colaptes aura- tus)

B.M. SHAUB

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

flintlock ► Florida I 683

companies became suppliers for what would become the General Motors Corp. By the 1950s, the city was second only to Detroit in U.S. automo¬ bile manufacturing. The closing of various GM plants in the 1980s and ’90s left Flint with a shrinking economy. The GMI Engineering and Man¬ agement Institute (1919) and the University of Michigan-Flint (1956) are located there.

flintlock Ignition system for firearms developed in the early 16th cen¬ tury. It superseded the matchlock and the wheel lock and remained in use until the mid-19th century. The most successful version, the true flintlock, was invented in France in the 17th century. When the trigger was pulled, a spring action caused the frizzen (striker) to strike the flint, showering sparks onto the gunpowder in the priming pan; the ignited powder, in turn, fired the main charge in the bore, propelling the ball.

Flodden, Battle of (Sept. 9, 1513) English victory over the Scots, fought in Flodden Field, near Branxton, Northumberland, Eng. To honour his alliance with France and divert troops from the main English army, then in France under Henry VIII, James IV of Scotland crossed the English border on August 22 with an army of about 30,000 men supported by artillery. Henry’s lieutenant, the future 3rd duke of Norfolk, gathered an army of 20,000 and issued a challenge to James, who agreed to fight on September 9. By nightfall the Scottish army had been annihilated and James was dead, together with more than 10,000 of his subjects.

flood High-water stage in which water overflows its natural or artificial banks onto normally dry land, such as a river inundating its floodplain. Uncontrollable floods likely to cause considerable damage commonly result from excessive rainfall in a brief period, but they may also result from ice jams during the spring rise in rivers, and from tsunamis. Com¬ mon measures of flood control include improving channels, constructing protective levees and storage reservoirs, and implementing programs of soil and forest conservation to retard and absorb runoff from storms.

floor Rigid building assembly that divides space horizontally into sto¬ ries. It forms the bottom of a room. It may consist of joist-supported wood planks or panels, decking or panels supported by wood or steel beams, a slab of stone or concrete on the ground, or a reinforced-concrete slab car¬ ried by concrete beams and columns. The floor assembly must support its own dead load plus the live load of occupants, activities, and furnishings. The horizontal supports beneath its top surface—and the vertical supports into which they frame—must be sufficiently large and spaced closely enough to prevent sagging of the assembly.

floor covering Finish material on floors, including wood strips, par¬ quet, linoleum, vinyl, asphalt tile, rubber, cork, epoxy resins, ceramic tile, and carpeting. Wood-strip flooring, attached to a subfloor of plywood, is most popular, especially for residences. Vinyl tiles and sheets have dis¬ placed linoleum in most residential and commercial work. Nonslip rubber and cork are used for commercial and industrial applications. Terrazzo provides a hard, durable surface for public spaces. The Greeks used pebble mosaics as early as the 8th century bc. Tessellated pavement (mosaics of regularly shaped cubes) appeared in the Hellenistic Age and by the 1st century ad had come into popular use in and around buildings through¬ out the Roman empire. Inlaid stone, popular in Byzantine, Renaissance, and Gothic architecture, is now only occasionally applied in lobbies and entrance ways of grand spaces.

floor exercise Event in gymnastics competition consisting of various ballet and tumbling movements (including jumps, somersaults, and hand¬ stands) performed without apparatus. Women’s routines are performed with musical accompaniment, men’s routines without it. The whole rou¬ tine must be performed with rhythm and harmony and must be designed to use a major portion of an area 12 m (39 ft 4 in.) square. It was included as an Olympic medal event for men in 1936 and for women in 1952.

floppy disk or diskette Magnetic storage medium used with com¬ puters. Floppy disks are made of flexible plastic coated with a magnetic material, and are enclosed in a hard plastic case. They are typically 3.5 in. (9 cm) in diameter. Data are arranged on their surfaces in concentric tracks. A disk is inserted in the computer’s floppy disk drive, an assem¬ bly of magnetic heads and a mechanical device for rotating the disk for reading or writing purposes. A small electromagnet, called a magnetic head, writes a binary digit (1 or 0) onto the disk by magnetizing a tiny spot on the disk in different directions, and reads digits by detecting the magnetization direction of the spots. With the increasing use of e-mail attachments and other means to transfer files from computer to computer,

the use of floppy disks has waned, though they are still widely used to keep second (backup) copies of valuable files.

Flora Roman goddess of flowering plants. Her cult was supposedly intro¬ duced into Rome during its earliest years by the Sabine king Titus Tatius. Her temple stood near Rome’s Circus Maximus, and her festival, the Flo- ralia, was instituted in 238 bc.

flora All species of plants that are found in a particular region, period, or special environment. Six floral kingdoms are commonly distinguished: Boreal (Holarctic), Paleotropical, Neotropical, South African (Capensic), Australian, and Antarctic. These kingdoms are further broken down into subkingdoms and regions, over which there is some dispute.

floral decoration Art of arranging living or dried plant material for adornment of the body or home, for public and religious ceremonies, or for festivals. Line, form, colour, texture, balance, porportion, and scale are important aspects of floral arrangement, as is the container. The ear¬ liest pictorial example is a 2nd-century Roman mosaic from the villa of Hadrian at Tivoli depicting a basket of cut flowers. Dutch and French still-life paintings of the 17th—18th centuries show the popularity of flo¬ ral arrangements. Their long history in China and Japan is often associ¬ ated with religious and philosophical beliefs; Japanese forms have become influential in the West. See also ikebana.

Florence Italian Firenze \fe-'rent-sa\ City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 352,227), capital of Tuscany, central Italy. Built on both sides of the Arno River, the city has been during its long history a republic, a seat of the duchy of Tuscany, and a capital (1865-71) of Italy. Founded as a Roman military colony in the 1st century bc, it was controlled in turn by the Goths, Byzantines, and Lombards. A leading city of Tuscany by the late 12th century, it was ruled after 1434 by the powerful Medici family. It became a republic under religious reformer Girolamo Savonarola, after whose downfall the Medici were restored as dukes of Florence (1531). Florence’s vernacular became the Italian language, and from the 14th to the 16th century Florence was among the greatest cities of Europe, preeminent in commerce, finance, learning, and the arts. Many notables flourished there, including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Filippo Brunelleschi, Dante, Nic- colo Machiavelli, and Galileo. The buildings, including the Baptistery of St. John, the Gothic Duomo, and the Uffizi Gallery, are works of art them¬ selves abounding in yet more works of art. Among the palaces and parks are the Pitti Palace and its Boboli Gardens. The university was founded in 1321. The economy is based primarily on tourism, though it also has developed newer sectors such as information technology and high-fashion clothing. The region around the city has a modern and dynamic economy based on small industrial production and quality exports.

Florentine canvas work See bargello

Florey, Howard Walter, Baron (b. Sept. 24, 1898, Adelaide, S.Aus., Austl.—d. Feb. 21, 1968, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Eng.) Australian pathologist. Educated in Britain and the U.S., Florey taught at the Uni¬ versity of Oxford from 1935. Investigating tissue inflammation and secre¬ tion of mucous membranes, he succeeded in purifying lysozyme, a bacteria-destroying enzyme found in tears and saliva, and characterized the substances it acted on. He surveyed other naturally occurring anti¬ bacterial substances, concentrating on penicillin, which he, with Ernst Boris Chain, isolated and purified for general clinical use. The two demonstrated penicillin’s curative properties in human studies and developed methods for producing it in quantity. In 1945 he shared a Nobel Prize with Chain and Alexander Fleming, and in 1965 he was created a life peer.

floriculture Branch of ornamental horticulture concerned with growing and marketing flowers and ornamental plants, as well as with flower arrangement. Because flowers and potted plants are largely produced in plant-growing structures in temperate climates, floriculture is largely thought of as a greenhouse industry; however, many flowers are cultivated outdoors. Both the production of bedding plants and the production of cut¬ tings to be grown in greenhouses or for indoor use (foliage plants) are usually considered part of floriculture. See also nursery.

Florida State (pop., 2000: 15,982,378), southeastern U.S. Comprising a peninsula and adjoining mainland areas, it is bordered by Alabama and Georgia, with the Gulf of Mexico lying to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. It covers 58,599 sq mi (151,771 sq km); its capital is Talla¬ hassee. Indian groups entered Florida from the north as early as 10,000 years ago. It was explored by Juan Ponce de Leon c. 1513, and in 1565 Spaniards founded St. Augustine. Florida became a British possession in

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

684 I Florida ► flower

1763 after the French and Indian War. The area reverted to Spanish con¬ trol after the American Revolution (1783) but was used by the British as a base of operations during the War of 1812. Andrew Jackson’s capture of Pensacola during the First Seminole War (see Seminole Wars) led to the cession of Florida to the U.S. in 1819. Florida became a state in 1845. It seceded from the Union in 1861, then was readmitted in 1868. In the late 20th century it became one of the fastest growing states in the U.S. It produces about 75% of the nation’s citrus fruits and is second only to California in vegetable production. Tourism is a leading industry, with Disney World a major attraction. Electronics manufacture is important, and the aerospace industry, led by the Kennedy Space Center (see Cape Canaveral), employs many thousands of people. The state, and especially the city of Miami with its large Cuban population, plays a major economic role in the Caribbean region. Among its many recreational areas is Ever¬ glades National Park.

Florida, Straits of Passage connecting the Gulf of Mexico with the Atlantic Ocean. Extending for about 110 mi (180 km) between the Florida Keys on the north and Cuba and the Bahamas on the south, the straits mark the area where the Florida Current, the initial part of the Gulf Stream, flows east out of the Gulf of Mexico. The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon first recorded sailing through the straits in 1513.

Florida Controversy, West See West Florida Controversy

flotation or froth flotation Most widely used process for extracting many minerals from their ores. The method separates and concentrates ores by altering their surfaces so that they are either repelled or attracted by water. Unwetted particles, which adhere to air that is bubbled through the water, will float in the froth, while wetted particles will sink. The process was developed on a commercial scale early in the 20th century to remove very fine mineral particles that formerly had gone to waste in gravity con¬ centration plants. With its use to concentrate copper, lead, and zinc min¬ erals, which commonly accompany one another in their ores, many complex ore mixtures formerly of little value have become major sources of certain metals.

flounder Any of about 300 species of flatfishcs (order Pleuronecti- formes). When born, the flounder is bilaterally symmetrical, with an eye on each side, and it swims near the sea’s surface. After a few days, it begins to lean to one side, and the eye on that side migrates to what eventually becomes the top side.

With this development comes changes in bones, nerves, and muscles, and the underside loses its colour. As an adult, the flounder lives on the sea bottom with the eyed side on top.

flour Finely ground cereal grain or other starchy portions of plants. Flour, especially wheat flour, is a basic ingredient of baked goods (see baking). In the production of refined flour, the starchy endosperm is separated from the other parts of the kernel by milling through rollers. In the production of whole-wheat flour, all parts of the kernel are used. Following milling, the particles of endosperm (called semolina) are ground to flour and often bleached to imitate natural aging. Flour grades are based on the residual amount of branny particles. When flour is mixed with water to make dough, its protein content is converted to gluten, an elastic substance that forms a continuous network throughout the dough and is capable of retain¬ ing gas, thus causing the baked product to expand, or rise.

flow See DEFORMATION AND FLOW, LAMINAR flow, TURBULENT FLOW

flow meter Device that measures the velocity of a gas or liquid. It has applications in medicine as well as in chemical engineering, aeronautics, and meteorology. Examples include pitot tubes, venturi tubes, and rotame¬ ters (tapered graduated tubes with a float inside that is supported by the flowing fluid at a level that depends on the flow rate). Ultrasonic flow meters, in which reflecting ultrasound off a flowing liquid leads to a Dop¬ pler shift (see Doppler effect) that is calibrated to provide the flow rate of the liquid, have important industrial applications and have also been used to measure arterial blood flow.

flowchart Graphical representation of a process, such as a manufac¬ turing operation or a computer operation, indicating the various steps

taken as the product moves along the production line or the problem moves through the computer. Individual operations can be represented by closed boxes, with arrows between boxes indicating the order in which the steps are taken and divergent paths determined by variable results.

flower Reproductive portion of any flowering plant (angiosperm). Popu¬ larly, the term applies especially when part or all of the reproductive structure is distinctive in colour and form. Flowers present a multitude of combinations of colour, size, form, and anatomical arrangement. In some plants, individual flowers are very small and are borne in a distinctive cluster (inflorescence). Each flower consists of a floral axis that bears the essential organs of reproduction (stamens and pistils) and usually acces¬ sory organs (sepals and petals); the latter may serve both to attract pol¬ linating insects (see pollination) and to protect the essential organs. Flower parts are arrayed usually in whorls, but sometimes spirally. Four distinct whorls are common: the outer calyx (sepals), the corolla (petals), the androecium (stamens), and, in the centre, the gynoecium (pistils). The sepals are usually greenish and often resemble reduced leaves; the petals are usually colourful and showy. Pollen is produced in the stamens. A pollen-receptive stigma rests atop each pistil. The pistil, made up of one or more carpels, encloses an ovary that contains the ovules, or potential seeds. After fertilization, the ovary enlarges to form the fruit. Flowers have been symbols of beauty in most civilizations of the world, and flower giv¬ ing is still among the most popular of social amenities.

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The life cycle of a flowering plant. (1) A pollen grain is released from the anther and settles on the stigma. (2) A pollen tube forms and grows through the style toward the ovule opening (micropyle). (3) Two of the nuclei (polar nuclei) in the ovule's embryo sac migrate to the centre to form a single cell. Three cells migrate to the micropyle, and one enlarges to become the egg. Two sperm that have formed from mitotic division of the pollen grain's generative cell enter the embryo sac through the micropyle. (4) One sperm fuses with the egg, resulting in a fertilized egg (zygote), which develops into an embryo. The second sperm fuses with the two polar nuclei to form the endosperm nucleus. (5) This nucleus divides to form a tissue (endosperm) that provides nutrients for the developing embryo.

© MERRIAM-WEBSTER INC.

Flounder ( Platichthys )

F. GREENAWAY-NATURAL HISTORY PHOTOGRAPHIC AGENCY/EB INC.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

flowering plant ► flux I 685

flowering plant Any of the more than 250,000 species of angiosperms (division Magnoliophyta) having roots, stems, leaves, and well-developed conductive tissues (xylem and phloem). They are often differentiated from gymnosperms by their production of seeds within a closed chamber (the ovary) within the flower, but this distinction is not always clear-cut. The division is composed of two classes: monocots and dicots (see cotyledon). Monocots have flower parts in threes, scattered conducting strands in the stem, and usually prominent parallel veins in the leaves, and they lack a cambium. Dicots have flower parts in fours or fives, conducting strands arranged in a cylinder, a net-veined pattern in the leaves, and a cambium. Flowering plants reflect an immense diversity in habit, size, and form; they account for more than 300 families growing on every continent, including Antarctica. Flowering plants have adapted to almost every habi¬ tat. Most reproduce sexually by seeds via the specialized reproductive organs that are present in all flowers.

flu See INFLUENZA

fliigelhorn Brass musical instrument, a valved bugle. It has three valves and a wider bore than the cornet and is usually pitched in B-flat. The fliigelhorn was invented in Austria in the 1830s. It has maintained its identity—particularly its bore and its squat shape—better than has the formerly very similar cornet. Long used in European military bands, it is now also used in jazz and popular music.

fluid Any liquid or gas that cannot sustain a shearing force when at rest and that undergoes a continuous change in shape (see flow) when sub¬ jected to such a stress. Compressed fluids exert an outward pressure that is perpendicular to the walls of their containers. A perfect fluid lacks vis¬ cosity, but real fluids do not.

fluid mechanics Study of the effects of forces and energy on liquids and gases. One branch of the field, hydrostatics, deals with fluids at rest; the other, fluid dynamics, deals with fluids in motion and with the motion of bodies through fluids. Liquids and gases are both treated as fluids because they often have the same equations of motion and exhibit the same flow phenomena. The subject has numerous applications in fields varying from aeronautics and marine engineering to the study of blood flow and the dynamics of swimming.

fluke or trematode Any member of almost 6,000 species of parasitic flatworms. Flukes are found world¬ wide and range in size from about 0.2 to 4 in. (5-100 mm) long. They most commonly parasitize fish, frogs, and turtles, but also humans, domestic animals, and invertebrates such as mollusks and crustaceans.

They include external parasites (ectoparasites), internal parasites (endoparasites), and semi-external parasites (those that attach to the lin¬ ing of the mouth, to gills, or to the cloaca). Most flukes are flattened and leaflike or ribbonlike and have muscular suckers on the bottom surface, as well as hooks and spines, for attachment to the host. Fluke infestations may cause illness (e.g., schistosomiasis) or death in humans.

fluorescence Emission of electromagnetic radiation, usually visible light, caused by excitation of atoms in a material, which then reemit almost immediately (within about 10 -8 seconds). The initial excitation is usually caused by absorption of energy from incident radiation or particles, such as X-rays or electrons. Because reemission occurs so quickly, the fluores¬ cence ceases as soon as the exciting source is removed, unlike phosphores¬ cence, which persists as an afterglow. A fluorescent lightbulb is coated on the inside with a powder and contains a gas; electricity causes the gas to emit ultraviolet radiation, which then stimulates the tube coating to emit light. The pixels of a television or computer screen fluoresce when elec¬ trons from an electron gun strike them. Fluorescence is often used to ana¬ lyze molecules, and the addition of a fluorescing agent with emissions in the blue region of the spectrum to detergents causes fabrics to appear whiter in sunlight. X-ray fluorescence is used to analyze minerals.

fluorescent lamp Type of electric discharge lamp consisting of a glass tube filled with a mixture of argon and mercury vapor. A current of elec¬ tricity causes the vapor to produce ultraviolet radiation that, in turn, excites a phosphor coating on the inside of the tube, causing it to fluo¬ resce, or reradiate the energy as visible light. Fluorescent lamps are cooler

and more efficient than incandescent lamps. They are commonly installed with diffusers as part of a suspended ceiling system. See also fluorescence.

fluoridation of water Addition of fluoride compounds to water (see fluorine) at one part per million to reduce dental caries (cavities). This practice is based on the lower rates of caries seen in areas with moderate natural fluoridation of water and on studies showing that sound teeth con¬ tain more fluoride than cavity-prone teeth and that fluorides help prevent or reduce dental caries. Fluoridation decreases the number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth in children (which increases if fluoridation is stopped), but it has provoked controversy in some cases. Excess fluoride may cause tooth mottling (a problem of appearance only) and, in higher doses, bone abnormalities. Fluoridation also helps prevent rickets in infants and children and helps the thyroid maintain a normal basal meta¬ bolic rate.

fluorine Vflur-.en, 'fl6r-,en\ Nonmetallic chemical element, chemical symbol F, atomic number 9. The lightest halogen, it is the most reactive element, forming compounds with all others except helium, neon, and argon (the lighter noble GASes). Its only valence is 1, in F 2 (the diatomic molecule) and fluorides. A toxic, pale yellow gas with a pungent odour, it can be produced only by electrolysis under special conditions. Its chief source is fluorite; it also occurs in cryolite, fluorapatite, seawater, bones, and teeth. Hydrogen fluoride (HF) is a raw material for many other fluo¬ rides. Its water solution, hydrofluoric acid, is used to clean metals and to polish, etch, or frost glass. Other fluorides are useful catalysts and raw materials. Sodium fluoride (NaF) is added to water and tin fluoride (SnF 2 ) to dental-care products to reduce dental caries (see fluoridation of water). Fluorocarbons are hydrocarbons in which some hydrogen atoms have been replaced by fluorine atoms; examples include Freons and Teflon.

fluorite or fluorspar Common halide mineral, calcium fluoride (CaF 2 ); the principal fluorine mineral. Fluorite occurs most commonly as a vein mineral and is often associated with lead and silver ores; it also occurs in cavities, sedimentary rocks, pegmatites, and hot-springs areas. It is wide¬ spread in China, South Africa, Mongolia, France, Mexico, Russia, and the central U.S. Fluorite is used in the manufacture of steel, aluminum fluoride, artificial cryolite, and aluminum. It is used in glassmaking, in iron and steel enamelware, in the production of hydrofluoric acid, in the refining of lead and antimony, and (as a catalyst) in the manufacture of high-octane fuels.

Flushing Northern section, Queens, New York, New York, U.S. Located at the head of Flushing Bay in the East River, it was settled in 1645 by English nonconformists and became a centre for Quakers (see Society of Friends). In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it flourished as a township and then a village until it was absorbed by Queens in 1898. Flushing Meadow-Corona Park was the site of the 1939-40 and 1964-65 New York world’s fairs (the Hall of Science remains as an exhibition centre), and in 1946-49 it was the temporary headquarters for the UN. Flushing is the scene of the U.S. Open tennis championships and home to Shea Stadium.

flute Woodwind instrument in which the sound is produced by blowing against a sharp edge. In its broad sense, a flute may be end-blown, like the recorder, or may have a globular shape, like the ocarina. In its nar¬ row sense, discussed below, flute refers to the transverse flute of Western music. The transverse flute, a tubular instrument held sideways to the right, appeared in Greece and Etruria by the 2nd century bc. By the 16th century a family of boxwood flutes, with fingerholes but no keys, was in use in Europe. Keys began to be added in the late 17th century. Theobald Boehm’s 19th-century innovations resulted in the modern flute, which per¬ mits thorough expressive control and great agility. The cylindrical tube may be made of wood or, more often, a precious metal or alloy. Its range is from about middle C to the C three octaves higher. The flute family includes the piccolo (pitched an octave higher), the alto flute, and the rare bass flute. See also shakuhachi.

flux In metallurgy, any substance introduced in the smelting of ores to promote fluidity and to remove objectionable impurities in the form of slag. Limestone is commonly used for this purpose in smelting iron ores. Other materials used as fluxes are silica, dolomite, lime, borax, and fluo¬ rite. In soldering, the flux removes oxide films, promotes wetting, and prevents reoxidation of the surfaces during heating. Rosin is widely used as a noncorrosive flux when electronic equipment is soldered; in other applications, a water solution of zinc chloride and ammonium chloride may be used.

Liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica)

GRANT HEILMAN

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

686 I Fluxus ► Foch

Fluxus \'fbk-s3s\ International avant-garde group of artists founded in Germany by U.S. artist George Maciunas (1931-78) in 1962. Its mem¬ bers, including Joseph Beuys, John Cage, and Yves Klein, explored media ranging from performance art to poetry to experimental music. Opposed to tradition and professionalism in the arts, the Fluxus group shifted the emphasis from what an artist makes to the artist’s personality, actions, and opinions. Throughout the 1960s and ’70s they staged “action” events, engaged in politics and public speaking, and produced sculptural works featuring unconventional materials. Though it was an influential move¬ ment in Europe, the group’s work frequently conflicted with authority and aroused much controversy.

fly In general, almost any small flying insect. In entomology, the term refers specifically to the approximately 85,000 species of two-winged, or “true,” flies (dipterans). Other insects called flies have wing structures that differ from that of dipterans.

Fly River River, New Guinea Island. One of the island’s largest rivers, it flows almost wholly through Papua New Guinea. For a short stretch of its middle course, it forms the border between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Rising in the Victor Emanuel Range in the central highlands, it flows south for about 700 mi (1,100 km) to the Coral Sea; much of it is navigable.

flycatcher Any of numerous small passerine birds that capture insects on the wing, particularly more than 100 Old World species of the family Muscicapidae and more than 400 New World species called tyrant fly¬ catchers (family Tyrannidae). The most common Old World species, the spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata), is 5.5 in. (14 cm) long and streaked grayish brown. It inhabits open woodlands and gardens eastward from Europe, where it breeds, through Asia. Tyrant flycatchers include the manakins, pewees, kingbirds, becards, and cotingas, among others. Most have a large head, short legs, and a broad bill (e.g., phoebes).

flying buttress Masonry structure typically consisting of an inclined bar carried on a half arch that extends (“flies”) from the upper part of a wall to a pier some distance away and carries the thrust of a roof or vault. A pinnacle (vertical ornament of pyramidal or conical shape) often crowns the pier, adding weight and enhancing stability. The flying buttress evolved in the Gothic era from earlier simpler, hidden supports. The design increased the supporting power of the buttress and allowed for the creation of the high-ceilinged churches typical of Gothic architecture.

flying fish Any of about 40 species of oceanic fishes (family Exoco- etidae). They are found worldwide in warm waters and are noted for their ability to “fly.” All species are less than 18 in. (45 cm) long and have winglike, rigid fins and an unevenly forked tail. Two-winged species have only the pectoral fins enlarged; four-winged species have both the pec¬ toral and the pelvic fins enlarged. Rather than flying, they actually glide after jumping from the water. They can make several consecutive glides; the strongest fliers can travel as much as 600 ft (180 m) in a single glide, and compound glides may cover 1,300 ft (400 m). The behaviour is pri¬ marily a means of escaping predators.

Flying Fortress See B-17

flying shuttle Machine that represented an important step toward auto¬ matic weaving. It was invented by John Kay in 1733. In previous looms, the shuttle was thrown, or passed, through the threads by hand, and wide fabrics required two weavers seated side by side passing the shuttle between them. Kay mounted his shuttle on wheels in a track and used paddles to shoot the shuttle from side to side when the weaver jerked a cord. Using the flying shuttle, one weaver could weave fabrics of any width more quickly than two could before.

flying squirrel Any member of two distinct groups of rodents that are able to make gliding leaps by means of parachute-like membranes con¬ necting their forelegs and hind legs on each side. North American and Eurasian flying squirrels, in the squirrel family (Sciuridae), are slender, long-limbed forest dwellers with soft fur and large eyes. They are 3-24 in. (8-60 cm) long, excluding the often-flattened tail, and feed on nuts, fruit, other plant material, and insects. They seldom descend to the ground. They can glide 200 ft (about 60 m) or more from one tree to another. The scaly-tailed flying squirrels of Africa (family Anomaluridae) have rows of scales on the underside of their tufted tail that help them climb and cling to trees. They are similar in appearance and feeding preferences to the sciurids and are about 4-16 in. (10—40 cm) long without the tail.

Flying Tigers or American Volunteer Group Group of U.S. civilian volunteer pilots recruited by Col. Claire Chennault to fight the Japanese in Burma (Myanmar) and China in 1941-42. Surprise, mobil¬ ity, precision flying, and unorthodox tactics enabled the Tigers to outwit the Japanese and inflict considerable damage on their air and ground forces.

Flynn, Errol (Leslie Thomson) (b. June 20, 1909, Hobart, Tas., Austl.—d. Oct. 14, 1959, Vancouver, B.C., Can.) Australian-U.S. film actor. He sought adventure in New Guinea before turning to acting in Australia and England. In 1935 Warner Brothers brought him to Holly¬ wood, and he became an instant success as the swashbuckling hero of Captain Blood. He continued to play dashing heroes through the 1940s in films such as The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Sea Hawk (1940), They Died with Their Boots On (1941), and Gentleman Jim (1942). After a period marred by scandal and bad roles, he returned to critical and popular praise in The Sun Also Rises (1957).