Britannica Concise 2005

Akhalk'alak‘i Marlteuli *Gardat

\ lC Ghana I 757

Gethsemane \geth-'se-ni3-ne\ Garden outside Jerusalem associated with the last hours of Jesus. According to Christian tradition, it is where Jesus prayed after the Last Supper and before his arrest and Crucifixion. The name Gethsemane originates from a Hebrew term meaning “oil press,” suggesting that the garden was a grove of olive trees. Though its exact location cannot be determined, Armenian, Greek, Latin, and Rus¬ sian churches have accepted an olive grove on the western slope of the Mount of Olives as the site.

Getty, J(ean) Paul (b. Dec. 15, 1892, Minneapolis, Minn., U.S.—d. June 6, 1976, Sutton Place, Surrey, Eng.) U.S. oil billionaire, reputed to be the richest man in the world at his death. The son of an oil million¬ aire, he began buying and selling oil leases in Oklahoma in 1913. He acquired Pacific Western Oil Corp. in 1932 and soon gained control of several independent oil companies. He renamed his oil concern Getty Oil Co. in 1956. His most lucrative venture was a 60-year oil concession in Saudi Arabia. His financial empire eventually encompassed some 200 enterprises. A zealous art collector, he founded the J. Paul Getty Museum near Malibu, Calif., in 1953.

Getty Museum, J. Paul Museum established by Jean Paul Getty to house his large collection of artworks, to which he continued to add. The original museum occupied a wing added to his ranch house in Malibu, Calif., U.S. His collections soon outgrew that location, and in 1974 they were moved to a new building in Malibu, a lavish re-creation of a Roman villa uncovered at Herculaneum. On Getty’s death the museum became the most richly endowed in the world. It now is housed in the Getty Cen¬ ter, a striking six-building complex in Los Angeles designed by Richard Meier, which opened with great publicity in 1997. Its collections include European paintings, sculpture, drawings, and decorative arts to 1900, illu¬ minated manuscripts, and photographs. Greek and Roman antiquities remain in the Malibu villa. The collections reflect Getty’s preference for paintings of the Renaissance and the Barcx^ue period and for French fur¬ niture.

Getty Trust, J. Paul Private operating foundation founded in 1953 by Jean Paul Getty to establish the J. Paul Getty Museum. Originally located in Malibu, Cal., it now occupies five buildings in the Getty Center in Los Angeles, each building housing one of the institutes it established when it diversified its activities in 1983. One institute develops computerized databases on art-historical information; the others support art restoration and conservation, interdisciplinary research in art history and the related humanities, art education, and training in museum management. The Getty Grants Program supports projects around the world involving the history and understanding of art and its conservation.

Gettysburg Town (pop., 2000: 7,490), southern Pennsylvania, U.S. The site of a momentous American Civil War battle (see Battle of Gettys¬ burg), the town and the surrounding area are now in Gettysburg National Military Park, which preserves 3,865 acres (1,564 hectares), including the battlefield. The Soldiers’ Monument in Gettysburg National Cemetery marks the spot where Pres. Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address. The site includes more than 1,200 Civil War monuments, mark¬ ers, and tablets.

Gettysburg Address (Nov. 19, 1863) Speech by Pres. Abraham Lin¬ coln at the dedication of a cemetery at Gettysburg, Pa., for those killed at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. The main address was delivered by the renowned orator Edward Everett (1794- 1865) and lasted two hours. Lincoln’s brief speech, honouring the Union dead and the principles of democracy and equality they died for, lasted two minutes. Soon recognized as an extraordinary piece of prose poetry, it remains one of the most famous speeches ever delivered in the U.S.

Gettysburg, Battle of (July 1-3, 1863) Major engagement in the American Civil War at Gettysburg, Pa., regarded as the war’s turning point. After defeating Union forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Robert E. Lee decided to invade the North with 75,000 troops. When he learned that the Union’s Army of the Potomac had a new commander, George Meade, he led his own troops to Gettysburg, a strategic crossroads. On the first day of battle, Meade’s advance force under John Buford held the site until reinforcements arrived. On the second day, the Confederates attacked Union lines at Little Round Top, Cemetery Hill, Devil’s Den, the Wheat- field, and the Peach Orchard. On the third day, Lee sent 15,000 troops to assault Cemetery Ridge, held by 10,000 Union troops under Winfield S Hancock. A Confederate spearhead broke through the Union artillery defense but was stopped by a fierce Union counterattack on three sides.

At night under cover of a heavy rain on July 4, Lee led his troops back to Virginia; Meade was later criticized for not pursuing him. Losses totaled about 23,000 casualties among 88,000 Union troops and over 20,000 casualties among 75,000 Confederates.

Getz, Stan orig. Stanley Gayetzby (b. Feb. 2, 1927, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—d. June 6, 1991, Malibu, Calif.) U.S. jazz saxophonist. Getz was influenced by Lester Young and became known for his light tone and ethereal approach while performing as one of the “Four Brothers” of Woody Herman’s Second Herd (1947-49). With the advent of the cool jazz of the 1950s, he began to dominate jazz popularity polls, and his incorporation of Brazilian bossa nova music in the early 1960s brought him to a wider public and commercial success.

Geulincx \'gce-liqks\, Arnold known as Philaretus \ l fi-lo- , re-t3s\ (b. Jan. 31, 1624, Antwerp, Spanish Netherlands—d. November 1669, Leiden, Neth.) Flemish metaphysician and logician. He taught at the Uni¬ versity of Louvain from 1646 but was dismissed in 1658, probably because of his sympathy with Jansenism. He took refuge at Leiden, where he became a Calvinist. He lived in poverty until 1662, when he obtained a position at the University of Leiden. He was a major exponent of the doctrine known as occasionalism. His major works include On Virtue (1665), Know Thyself (1675), and True Metaphysics (1691).

geyser \'gI-zor\ (Icelandic geysir, “to rush forth”) Any hot spring that discharges jets of steam and water intermittently, generally associated with recent volcanic activity and produced by the heating of underground waters that have come into contact with, or are very close to, magma. Geyser discharges as high as 1,600 ft (500 m) have been recorded, but 160 ft (50 m) is much more common (e.g.. Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park). Occasionally, a geyser will adopt an extremely regular and predictable pattern of intermittent activity and discharge for a few minutes every hour or so.

Gezira Vjo-'ze-roV or Al-JazTrah N.al-jo-'ze-roV Region, east-central Sudan. Southeast of the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile rivers, it is the site of one of the largest irrigation projects in the world. Begun by the British in 1925, the project distributes the waters of the Blue Nile through a 2,700-mi (4,300-km) network of canals and ditches. It has made the region the most productive agricultural area of The Sudan.

Ghadamis or Ghudamis \g9-'da-mis\ Oasis and town (pop., latest est.: 15,900), northwestern Libya. Located near the Libyan-Algerian bor¬ der, it is at the junction of ancient Saharan caravan routes. It was the Roman stronghold Cydamus (whose ruins remain), and an episcopal see under the Byzantine Empire; columns of a Christian church still remain in the Sid! Badri Mosque. A centre for the Arab slave trade through the 19th century, it is now a caravan depot linked to the Mediterranean Sea coast.

Ghaghara River Yga-gs-r q\ formerly Gogra \'go-gra\ Nepali Kar- nali \kar-'na-le\ River, northern India, Nepal, and China. A major tribu¬ tary of the Ganges, it rises as the Karnali in the Tibetan Himalayas and flows southeast into Nepal. Cutting south across the Siwalik Hills, it splits into two branches, to rejoin in India and form the Ghaghara proper. It flows southeast to enter the Ganges after a 600 mi (970 km) course. Together with the Ganges and its tributaries, it formed the vast alluvial plain of northern Bihar. Along its lower course it is also called the Sarju River and the Deoha.

Ghana Yga-no\ officially Republic of Ghana formerly Gold Coast Country, West Africa. Area: 92,098 sq mi (238,533 sq km). Popu¬ lation (2005 est.): 21,946,000. Capital: Accra. Ghana is home to Akan, Mossi, Ewe, and Ga-Adangme peoples. Languages: English (official), Akan, Ewe, Hausa. Religions: Christianity (Protestant, other Christians, Roman Catholic), traditional beliefs, Islam. Currency: cedi. The land is generally flat, dominated by the Volta River basin. The north is character¬ ized by grassland plains; the south is heavily forested. The southern coastal plain is the historical Gold Coast. The varied wildlife includes lions, leopards, and elephants. Ghana has a developing mixed economy based largely on agriculture and mining. Cacao is the mainstay of the economy; mineral exports include gold and diamonds. Ghana is a repub¬ lic with one legislative house; its head of state and government is the president. The modem state is named for the ancient Ghana empire that flourished until the 13th century ad in the western Sudan, about 500 mi (800 km) northwest of the modern state. The Akan peoples then founded their first states in modern Ghana. Gold-seeking Mande traders arrived by the 14th century and Hausa merchants by the 16th. During the 15th cen-

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758 i Ghana empire ► Ghent

tury the Mande founded the states of Dag- omba and Mamprussi in the northern half of the region. The Asante (Ashanti), an Akan people, originated in the central for¬ est region and formed a strongly central¬ ized empire that was at its height in the 18th—19th century. European exploration of the region began early in the 15th century, when the Por¬ tuguese landed on the Gold Coast; they later established a settlement at Elmina as headquarters for the slave trade. By the mid-18th century the Gold Coast was dominated by numerous forts controlled by Dutch, Brit¬ ish, and Danish merchants. Britain made the Gold Coast a crown colony in 1874, and British protectorates over the Asante and the northern ter¬ ritories were established in 1901. In 1957 the Gold Coast became the independent state of Ghana. Since independence several political coups have occurred, but the coup of 1981 produced a government that lasted into the 1990s and made a smooth transition into another administration at the beginning of the 21st century.

Ghana empire First of the great medieval trading empires of western Africa (7th-13th century). Located in what is now southeastern Mauri¬ tania and part of Mali, it acted as intermediary between Arab and Berber salt traders to the north and gold and ivory producers to the south. Gold was secured through barter from those living at the empire’s southern limit and exchanged in the capital for commodities, especially salt. As the empire grew richer it extended its reach, incorporating gold-producing southern lands and cities to the north. The king exacted tribute from the princes of subject tribes. Ghana began to decline with the rise of the Mus¬ lim Almoravids; the Almoravid leader Abu Bakr seized the Ghanaian capi¬ tal of Kumbi in 1076. The empire’s subject peoples began to break away, and in 1240 the empire’s remains were incorporated into the Sundiata empire of Mali.

Ghannouchi \gan-'nu-she\, Rachid al- also spelled Rashid al-Ghannush? (b. c. 1941, Tunisia) Tunisian political activist and cofounder of Hizb al-NAHDAH (Renaissance Party). After studying phi¬ losophy in Damascus and at the Sorbonne in Paris, he returned to Tuni¬ sia and joined the Qur’anic Preservation Society (1970). In 1981 he helped organize the Islamic Tendency Movement, which later became Hizb al-Nahdah; this action resulted in his imprisonment (1981-84, 1987-88). In 1993 Britain granted him political asylum.

Ghats VgotsV Eastern and Western Two mountain ranges form¬ ing the edges of the Deccan plateau in southern India. The Eastern Ghats extend about 700 mi (1,100 km) along the southeastern and eastern coast north to the mouth of the Mahanadi River; their average elevation is about 2,000 ft (600 m). The Western Ghats run some 800 mi (1,300 km) along the southwestern and western coast north to the mouth of the Tapti River;

their average elevations range from 3,000 ft (900 m) to 5,000 ft (1,500 m). Because they receive heavy rainfall during the monsoon season, the Western Ghats comprise peninsular India’s principal watershed.

Ghazal \ga-'zal\ River or Bahr al-Ghazal \,bar-al-ga-'zal\ River, southwestern Sudan. Formed by the confluence of the 'Arab and Jur riv¬ ers in a swampy area of southern Sudan, it is 445 mi (716 km) long. It flows east to unite at Lake No with the Jabal River and form the White Nile River. It was mapped in 1772 by the French geographer Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville.

Ghazal? \ga-‘za-le\, al- or al-Ghazzal? in full Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Tus? al-Ghazal? (b. 1058, Tus, Iran—d. Dec. 18, 1111, Tus) Muslim theologian and mystic. He studied philosophy and religion and became chief professor of the Nizamiyyah college in Baghdad in 1091. A spiritual crisis prompted him to abandon his career in 1095 and adopt the life of a poor Sufi. He did not return to teaching until 1106, persuaded by those who believed he was a centennial renewer of Islam. His great work, Ihyd * 'ulum al-din (“Revival of the Religious Sciences”), explained Islamic doctrines and practices and traced their connection with Sufi mysticism.

Ghazan \ga-‘zan\, Mahmud (b. Nov. 5, 1271, Abaskun, Iran—d. May 11, 1304) Most prominent leader of the Mongol Il-Khanid dynasty in Per¬ sia. In 1284 his father, the ruler Arghun, made him viceroy of northeast¬ ern Persia, where he defended the frontier against the Chagatai Mongols. In 1295 he converted from Buddhism to Islam before taking the throne. He successfully fought his family’s enemy, the MamlOk dynasty, in Syria, defeating their army at Hims. The Mamluks reoccupied Syria on his departure. Despite three more attempts to regain the city, he was unable to do so. He spoke many languages and was said to have been learned in a variety of fields. He commissioned his famous vizier, Rashid al-Dln, to compose a history of the Mongols, which was later expanded to include information on all those with whom the Mongols had come in contact.

ghazel or ghazal or gazel Vgoz-ul ,\ Arabic Vga-zal\ In Islamic lit¬ erature, a lyric poem, generally short and graceful in form and typically dealing with love. The genre developed in late 7th-century Arabia. Gha- zels begin with a rhymed couplet whose rhyme is repeated in all subse¬ quent even lines, while the odd lines are unrhymed. The two main types of ghazel are native to the Hejaz (what is now western Saudi Arabia) and Iraq. It reached its greatest refinement in the works of Hafez. American poets such as Adrienne Rich have used variations of the form.

Ghaznavid Vgcez-no-vsdN dynasty (977-1186) Turkish dynasty that ruled in Khorasan (northeastern Iran), Afghanistan, and northern India. It was founded by Sebiiktigin (r. 977-997), a former slave. His son MahmOd (998-1030) enlarged the empire to its greatest extent; during his reign, FerdowsT wrote the epic Shah-nameh (“Book of Kings”). Mahmud’s grandson Mas'ud I (1031—41 ) lost the western half of the empire to the SeuGq dynasty. The Ghaznavids continued to rule their eastern provinces until they were defeated by the Ghurid dynasty in 1186. They are noted for their architecture and for their patronage of the arts and sciences. See also al-BiRUNi.

Ghent Vgent\ Flemish Gent Vkent\ French Gand Vga n \ City (pop., 2000 est.: 224,180), capital of East Flanders province, northwestern Bel¬ gium. One of the chief towns of the medieval county of Flanders, Ghent was one of the largest towns in northern Europe by the 13th century. Its pros¬ perity was based on its manufacture of luxury cloths, which were famous throughout Europe. It began to decline in the late 16th century, when its cloth was unable to compete with England’s. Its economy revived with the introduction of cotton-spinning machinery (in particular, a power loom smuggled out of England), and it subsequently became the centre of the Belgian textile industry. Ghent has many fine museums, notably the Museum of Fine Arts, which contains a treasury of paintings by Flemish masters who lived and worked in Ghent during the 16th and 17th centuries. Belgium’s second largest port, it is also a horticultural centre.

Ghent, Pacification of (Nov. 8, 1576) Declaration by which the northern and southern provinces of the Low Countries put aside their reli¬ gious differences and united in revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs. As the first major expression of national consciousness in The Netherlands, it called for the expulsion of Spanish troops from the Low Countries, the restoration of provincial and local prerogatives, and an end to the perse¬ cution of Calvinists. The Spanish governor soon resumed hostilities, how¬ ever, and religious differences within the region caused a split in 1579

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Gheorghiu-Dej ► Giannini I 759

between the Calvinist north (the Union of Utrecht) and the Catholic south (the Union of Arras). The general union ended in 1584.

Gheorghiu-Dej \'gy6r-gyu-'da\, Gheorghe (b. Nov. 8, 1901, Bar- lad, Rom.—d. March 19, 1965, Bucharest) Romanian politician. He became head of the Communist Party in 1944 and held key government economic posts (1946-52). After purging the party of rivals closely iden¬ tified with Soviet policies, he became prime minister (1952-55) and gradually adopted economic and foreign policies that served Romania’s national interests. As president of the State Council (1961-65), he pur¬ sued a program of industrialization, despite the objections of other Soviet- bloc countries that wanted Romania to remain agricultural. He further demonstrated Romania’s independence by forming cordial relations with noncommunist nations and with China.

Gherardo delle Notte See Gerrit van Honthorst

ghetto Formerly, a street or quarter of a city set apart as a legally enforced residential area for Jews. Forced segregation of Jews spread throughout Europe in the 14th-15th centuries. Ghettos were customarily enclosed with walls and gates and kept locked at night and during Chris¬ tian festivals. Since outward expansion was usually impossible, most ghettos grew upward; congestion, fire hazards, and unsanitary conditions often resulted. Ghettos were abolished in western Europe in the 19th cen¬ tury; those revived by the Nazi Party (see Warsaw Ghetto Uprising) were overcrowded holding places preliminary to extermination. More recently, the term ghetto has been applied to impoverished urban areas exclusively settled by a minority group or groups and perpetuated by economic and social pressures rather than legal and physical measures.

Ghibellines See Guelphs and Ghibellines

Ghiberti \ge-'ber-te\, Lorenzo (b. c. 1378, Pelago—d. Dec. 1, 1455, Florence) Italian sculptor, goldsmith, and designer active in Florence. He was trained as a goldsmith and painter. In 1402 he won a competition for the commission to make a pair of bronze doors for the Baptistery of Flo¬ rence Cathedral, defeating Filippo Brunelleschi. The honour brought him immediate fame and prominence. Work on the doors lasted from 1403 to 1424. In 1425 he was asked to make a second pair, known as the Gates of Paradise, which he completed in 1452. The reliefs on the first door are the major sculptural works of the International Gothic style in Italy; those on the second, in a more advanced style, are among the finest examples of Italian Renaissance art. Among his other commissions were three bronze statues for Or San Michele (1413-29) and two reliefs for the Baptistery of Siena Cathedral (1417-27). He directed a large workshop with many assistants, including Donatello and Paolo Uccello. His treatise on art his¬ tory and theory includes the earliest surviving autobiography of an artist.

Ghirlandaio X.gir-bn-'da-yoX, Domenico orig. Domenico di Tommaso Bigordi (b. 1449, Florence—d. Jan. 11, 1494, Florence) Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, active in Florence. He trained with Alesso Baldovinetti. In 1481-82 he painted several frescoes, includ¬ ing the Calling of Sts. Peter and Andrew in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. His greatest fresco cycle, commissioned by an agent of the Medici, was painted in the choir of Santa Maria Novella in Florence (1485-90); depict¬ ing scenes from the lives of the Virgin and St. John the Baptist in con¬ temporary dress against detailed patrician interiors, it has become a major source of current knowledge on the furnishings of a late 15th-century Florentine palace. With his two brothers he directed one of the most pros¬ perous workshops in Florence; they also produced numerous altarpieces. His finest portrait is The Old Man and His Grandson (c. 1480-90).

ghost Soul or specter of a deceased person. Belief in ghosts has been common since ancient times and is reflected in folklore around the world. It is based on the notion that the spirit is separable from the body and can continue its existence after the death of the body. Ghosts are believed to inhabit the netherworld and to be capable of returning to the world of the living, appearing as living beings or in a nebulous likeness of the deceased. They are thought to be especially likely to haunt places or people connected with some strong emotion of their past life, such as fear, remorse, or the terror of a violent death. The traditional visual manifes¬ tations of haunting include ghostly apparitions, the movement of objects, or the appearance of strange lights; auditory signs include disembodied laughter and screams, knocking, or footsteps.

Ghost Dance Nineteenth-century Native American cult. It represented an attempt by Indian peoples in the western U.S. to rehabilitate their tra¬ ditional cultures. The Ghost Dance arose in 1889, when the Paiute prophet-

dreamer Wovoka announced the imminent return of the dead (hence “ghost”), the ousting of the whites, and the restoration of Indian lands, food supplies, and way of life, all of which would be hastened by dances and songs revealed in Wovoka’s spiritual visions. The Ghost Dance spread rapidly. It coincided with the Sioux outbreak of 1890, which culminated in the massacre at Wounded Knee, where the “ghost shirts” failed to pro¬ tect the wearers as promised by Wovoka. The cult soon became obsolete.

Ghudamis See Ghadamis

Ghulam Ahmad \'gu-lam-'ak-mad\, MTrza (b. c. 1839, Qadian, India—d. May 26, 1908, India) Indian Muslim leader, founder of the Ahmadiyyah sect. Born into a prosperous family, he led a life of contempla¬ tion and religious study. Claiming in 1889 to have had a special revelation from God, he gathered a small band of disciples. He declared himself to be the mahdi and the reincarnation of Muhammad, Jesus, and Krishna. He was opposed by the orthodox Muslim community, but a number of his teachings became the basis of the beliefs of the Ahmadiyyah. He attempted to estab¬ lish missionary organizations and schools on the Christian model but did not try to reconcile Christian and Muslim doctrine.

Gl Bill (of Rights) or Servicemen's Readjustment Act (1944) U.S. legislation that provided benefits to World War II veterans. Through the Veterans Administration (VA), the bill provided grants for school and college tuition, low-interest mortgage and small-business loans, job train¬ ing, hiring privileges, and unemployment payments. Amendments to the act provided for full disability coverage and the construction of additional VA hospitals. Later legislation extended the benefits to all who had served in the armed forces.

Giacometti \ja-k3-'me-te\, Alberto (b. Oct. 10, 1901, Borgonovo, Switz.—d. Jan. 11, 1966, Chur)

Swiss sculptor and painter. His father was a Post-Impressionist painter, and his brother Diego was a well-known furniture designer. After studying art in Geneva (1919-20) and Paris (1922-25), he developed a style related to the Cubist sculpture of Alexander Archipenko and the post- Cubist work of Jacques Lipchitz. His work also showed the influence of African and Oceanic art. After experimenting with abstraction in the 1930s, he became increasingly focused on finding ways to capture a sense of reality in sculpture. For Gia¬ cometti an artwork was to become an almost existential evocation of real¬ ity. By the 1940s he had developed his signature style, producing thin, attenuated sculptures of solitary, skeletal figures and heads. He became well known, especially in the U.S., through two exhibitions in New York City (1948, 1950) and an essay on his art by Jean-Paul Sartre. In 1963 he designed a stage set for a production of a Samuel Beckett play.

Giambologna \jam-bo-'lon-ya\ or Giovanni da Bologna or Jean Boulogne \bii-'16n y \ (b. 1529, Douai, Spanish Neth.—d. Aug. 13, 1608, Florence) Flemish-born Italian sculptor. After studies under Jacques Dubroeucq, he went to Rome in 1550, where his style was influenced by Hellenistic sculpture and the works of Michelangelo; he settled in Florence in 1552. He produced many of his most important works for the Medici family, but it was the Fountain of Neptune (1563-66) in Bologna that made him famous. His bronze equestrian statue of Cosimo I (1587-93), the first of its kind made in Florence, became a pattern for similar statues all over Europe. His garden sculptures—notably for Florence’s Boboli Gardens and for three Medici villas, including the colossal Apennine (1570-80) at Pratolino—enjoyed great popularity. He was also a prolific manufacturer of bronze statuettes; many of his working models still survive. He was the outstanding sculptor of Italian Mannerism.

Giannini \je-9-'ne-ne\, A(madeo) P(eter) (b. May 6, 1870, San Jose, Calif., U.S.—d. June 3, 1949, San Mateo, Calif.) U.S. banker and innovator in personal banking products. The son of Italian immigrants, he left school at age 13 to work in the family wholesale produce business,

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

760 i giant ► Gibraltar

becoming a partner in 1889. In 1904 he and five partners founded the Bank of Italy in San Francisco. Their bank followed an unorthodox pro¬ gram of making loans to small farmers and businessmen and actively soliciting customers. In 1909 he began buying banks elsewhere in Cali¬ fornia, eventually creating the first statewide branch-banking system in the U.S. He established the Transamerica Corporation in 1928. After acquiring a second network of branch banks, he merged the two in 1930 under the name Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association. By the time of his death, Bank of America had more than 500 branch banks, with more than $6 billion in deposits.

giant See gigantism

giant order See colossal order

giant sequoia See big tree

giant silkworm moth See saturniid moth

giant star Star with a relatively large radius for its mass and tempera¬ ture; this yields a large radiating area, so such stars are bright. Subclasses include supergiant stars, red giants (with low temperatures, but very bright), and subgiants (with slightly reduced radii and brightness). Some giants are hundreds of thousands of times brighter than the Sun. Giants and supergiants may have masses 10-30 times that of the Sun and vol¬ umes millions of times greater and are thus low-density stars.

Giap, Vo Nguyen See Vo Nguyen Giap

Giardia lamblia \je-'ar-de-9-'lam-ble-9\ or G. intestinalis Single- celled protozoan parasite. Pear- or beet-shaped, the cells have two nuclei and eight flagella and attach with a sucking organ to human intestinal mucous membranes. They cause the disease giardiasis. Generally spread when traces of human feces containing the parasite are ingested, giardia¬ sis is most common among children in close contact with other children, but it also occurs among adults. Diarrhea, pain, and distension of the stomach may occur. It is common wherever there is contamination of domestic or surface water in lakes, rivers, and reservoirs, and it is a major cause of diarrhea worldwide. Beaver feces are often responsible for gia¬ rdiasis among campers who take water from lakes and rivers.

gibbon Vgi-banN Any of about six species (genus Hylobates) of lesser APES (family Hylobatidae), found in Indo-Malayan forests. Gibbons use their long arms to swing from branch to branch. They walk erect on the ground, live in small groups, and feed on shoots and fruits, as well as on some insects, birds’ eggs, and young birds. They have long hair and are about 16-26 in. (40-65 cm) long.

Their coats vary from tan or silvery to brown or black. They have large canine teeth, and their voices are noted for their volume, musical qual¬ ity, and carrying power.

Gibbon Vgi-bsnV Edward (b.

May 8, 1737, Putney, Surrey,

Eng.—d. Jan. 16, 1794, London)

British historian. Educated at the University of Oxford and in Switzer¬ land, Gibbon wrote his early works in French. In London he became a member of Samuel Johnson’s bril¬ liant intellectual circle. On a trip to Rome he was inspired to write the history of the city. His Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 6 vol. (1776-88), is a continuous narrative from the 2nd century ad to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Though Gibbon’s conclusions have been modified by later scholars, his acumen, historical perspective, and superb literary style have given his work its lasting reputation as one of the greatest historical works.

Gibbons, Orlando (b. 1583, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Eng.—d. June 5, 1625, Canterbury, Kent) English composer and organist. Son of a musi¬ cian, he became organist of the Chapel Royal c. 1605 and remained there the rest of his life, serving also as organist at Westminster Abbey for his last two years. A versatile composer, he wrote several Anglican services,

some 40 anthems, about 50 secular keyboard pieces, about 35 fantasias for chamber ensembles, and some 15 madrigals.

Gibbons v. Ogden U.S. Supreme Court decision (1824) that estab¬ lished that states could not, by legislative enactment, interfere with the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce. The state of New York had authorized a monopoly on steamboat operation in its waters, an action upheld by a state chancery court, but the Supreme Court ruled that com¬ peting steamboat operators were protected by the terms of a federal license to engage in trade along a coast. The decision, an important development in the interpretation of the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution, freed all navigation from monopoly control.

Gibbs, J(osiah) Willard (b. Feb. 11, 1839, New Haven, Conn., U.S.—d. April 28,1903, New Haven) U.S. theoretical physicist and chem¬ ist. He became the first person to earn an engineering doctorate from Yale University, where he taught from 1871 until his death. He began his career in engineering but turned to theory, analyzing the equilibrium of James Watt’s steam-engine governor. His major works were on fluid thermody¬ namics and the equilibrium of heterogeneous substances, and he devel¬ oped statistical mechanics. Gibbs was the first to expound with mathematical rigour the “relation between chemical, electrical, and ther¬ mal energy and capacity for work.” Though little of his work was appre¬ ciated during his lifetime, his application of thermodynamic theory to chemical reactions converted much of physical chemistry from an empiri¬ cal to a deductive science, and he is regarded as one of the greatest U.S. scientists of the 19th century.

Gibbs, William Francis (b. Aug. 24, 1886, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—d. Sept. 6, 1967, New York, N.Y.) U.S. naval architect. He initially studied law but turned to naval architecture, studying for a year in seclu¬ sion, and with his brother Frederick H. Gibbs designed a transatlantic liner. During World War I they designed ships for the U.S. government, and after the war they were commissioned to recondition the Leviathan. Gibbs’s design for the Malolo (1927), with its numerous watertight com¬ partments and other safety features, became an industry standard. In 1940 he designed a cargo ship suitable for mass production; using prefabrica¬ tion techniques, he reduced production time from as long as four years to as little as four days, an innovation of enormous value in World War II. His passenger liner United States (1952) set speed records in transat¬ lantic service.

Gibeon Ygi-be-onX Ancient city of Canaan. It is located north of Jerus¬ alem at modem Al-Jib in the West Bank. According to the Bible, its inhab¬ itants made an alliance with the Israelite military leader Joshua during his conquest of Canaan but were instead made slaves. Excavations in 1956 by a U.S. expedition revealed that the site had been occupied during the Early and Middle Bronze Ages and in the latter part of the Late Bronze Age, just before Joshua’s conquest of Canaan; the town then was a depen¬ dency of Jerusalem and was probably not fortified.

Gibraltar \j9-'brol-t3r\ British colony, on the Mediterranean coast of southern Spain. Area: 2.25 sq mi (5.8 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 27,884. It occupies a narrow peninsula 3 mi (5 km) long and 0.75 mi (1.2 km) wide that is known as the Rock. It appears from the east as a series

The Rock of Gibraltar

HANS HUBER

Gibbons (family Hylobatidae).

EDMUND APPEL/PHOTO RESEARCHERS

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Gibraltar ► Gideon I 761

of sheer, inaccessible cliffs, which makes it strategically important. It is the site of a British air and naval base that guards the Strait of Gibraltar. The Moors held Gibraltar from 711 to 1462, and in 1501 it was annexed by Spain. Captured by the British in 1704, it became a British crown colony in 1830. Gibraltar was an important port in World Wars I and II. The sovereignty of the territory has remained a source of constant fric¬ tion between the United Kingdom and Spain, though residents voted in 1967 to remain part of Britain. Spain lifted its border blockade in the mid-1980s. Perhaps its most famous residents are the Barbary macaques, who occupy many of Gibraltar’s caves and are Europe’s only free-living monkeys.

Gibraltar, Strait of ancient Fretum Herculeum Channel, con¬ necting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. Lying between southernmost Spain and northwesternmost Africa, it is 36 mi (58 km) long and narrows to 8 mi (13 km) between Point Marroquf (Spain) and Point Cires (Morocco). At the strait’s eastern extreme, 14 mi (23 km) apart, stand the Pillars of Hercules, which have been identified as the Rock of Gibraltar and Jebel Musa in Ceuta. It has long been of great strategic and economic importance.

Gibran \ji-'bran\, Khalil orig. Jubran Khalil Jubran (b. Jan. 6, 1883, Bsharri, Leb.—d. April 10, 1931, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Lebanese- born U.S. philosophical essayist, novelist, poet, and artist. He immigrated with his parents to Boston in 1895 and later settled in New York City. His works, written in both Arabic and English, are full of lyrical outpourings and express his deeply religious and mystical nature. The Prophet (1923), a book of poetic essays, achieved cult status among American youth for several generations.

Gibson, Althea (b. Aug. 25, 1927, Silver, S.C., U.S.—d. Sept. 28, 2003, East Orange, N.J.) U.S. tennis player. She was the first black player to win the French (1956), Wimbledon (1957-58), and U.S. Open (1957— 58) singles championships. She won a total of 11 grand-slam events. Ranked first in the U.S. in 1957 and 1958, she was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press both years, the first African Ameri¬ can to receive that honour.

Gibson, Bob orig. Pack Robert Gibson (b. Nov. 9, 1935, Omaha, Neb., U.S.) U.S. baseball pitcher. Gibson was an outstanding high-school baseball and basketball player. As a right-handed pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals (1961-75) who was at his best in crucial games, Gibson won seven of the nine World Series games in which he pitched. In 1968 he started 34 games, completed 28, and had an earned run average of 1.12. He pitched quickly, and his best pitches were a fastball and a slider. Dur¬ ing his career he had 3,117 strikeouts, making him the first pitcher to accumulate more than 3,000 since Walter Johnson in the 1920s.

Gibson, Charles Dana (b. Sept. 14, 1867, Roxbury, Mass., U.S.—d. Dec. 23, 1944, New York, N.Y.) U.S. illustrator. He studied at New York’s Art Students League and began to contribute drawings to Life, Scribner’s, Harper’s, and Century. His “Gibson girl” drawings, relying on his wife as a model, defined the U.S. ideal of spirited feminine beauty at the turn of the century, and his refined pen-and-ink style was widely imitated. Collier’s reportedly paid him the unprecedented sum of $50,000 to pro¬ duce a double-page illustration every week for a year. He also published several collections of satirical drawings of high society.

Gibson, Eleanor J(ack) orig. Eleanor Jack (b. Dec. 7, 1910, Peo¬ ria, Ill., U.S.—d. Dec. 30, 2002, Columbia, S.C.) U.S. psychologist. She taught at Smith College (1931—49) and Cornell University (from 1949). In her major work, Principles of Perceptual Learning and Development (1969), she proposed that perceptual learning is a process of discovering how to transform previously overlooked potentials of sensory stimulation into effective information. In books such as The Psychology of Reading (1975), she also contributed to studies of the reading process. She received the National Medal of Science in 1992. James J. Gibson was her husband.

Gibson, James J(erome) (b. Jan. 27, 1904, McConnelsville, Ohio, U.S.—d. Dec. 11, 1979, Ithaca, N.Y.) U.S. psychologist and philosopher. He taught at Smith College (1928-49) and Cornell University (1949-72). He is best known for his adherence to realism and his extensive experi¬ mental studies of visual perception explicating that view. In his first major work, The Perception of the Visual World (1950), he proposed that per¬ ception is unmediated by associations or information processing but rather is direct. He argued for an examination of the organism’s dynamic world in search of the information that specified the state of that world. He

developed his position in The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems (1966) and The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception (1979). His followers organized the International Society for Ecological Psychology. Eleanor J. Gibson was his wife.

Gibson, Josh in full Joshua Gibson (b. Dec. 21, 1911, Buena Vista, Ga., U.S.—d. Jan. 20, 1947, Pittsburgh, Pa.) U.S. baseball player. Gib¬ son played as a catcher in the Negro leagues for the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1927-29, 1932-36) and the Homestead (Pa.) Grays (1930-31, 1937-46). Though precise records do not exist, he is believed to have led the Negro leagues in home runs for 10 consecutive seasons and to have had a career batting average of .347. His catching ability was praised by major-league stars against whom he played in exhibition games. Often called “the black Babe Ruth,” he was one of the greatest players kept from the major leagues by the unwritten rule barring black ballplayers. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.

Gibson, Mel (Columcille) (b. Jan. 3, 1956, Peekskill, N.Y, U.S.) U.S.-bom Australian film actor and director. He moved with his family to Australia at age 12. After his screen debut in 1977, he won a follow¬ ing in the futuristic action film Mad Max (1979), which was followed by the sequels Road Warrior (1981) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). He won international acclaim for his roles in Gallipoli (1981), The Year of Living Dangerously (1983), and The Bounty (1984), played a tough cop in the violent Lethal Weapon (1987) and its sequels (1989, 1992, 1998), and directed and starred in The Man Without a Face (1993) and Braveheart (1995, Academy Awards for best picture and director).

Gibson, William (Ford) (b. March 17, 1948, Conway, S.C., U.S.) U.S.-bom Canadian science-fiction writer. He attended the University of British Columbia. With his first novel, Neuromancer (1984), he emerged as a leading exponent of cyberpunk, a school of science fiction whose works are characterized by countercultural antiheroes trapped in a dehu¬ manized, high-tech future. His concept of cyberspace (a term he coined), a computer-simulated reality, is a major contribution to the genre. His later books include Count Zero (1986), Burning Chrome (1986), Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988), The Difference Engine (1990; with Bruce Sterling), and Virtual Light (1993).

Gibson Desert Arid zone, Western Australia. Located south of the Great Sandy Desert, it constitutes Gibson Desert Nature Reserve and is home to many desert animals. Measuring about 250 mi (400 km) from north to south and 520 mi (840 km) from east to west, it was named for Alfred Gibson, an explorer who was lost there in the 1870s.

Gide Vzhed\, Andre (-Paul-Guillaume) (b. Nov. 22, 1869, Paris, France—d. Feb. 19, 1951, Paris)

French writer. The son of a law pro¬ fessor, Gide began writing at an early age. His early prose poem Fruits of the Earth (1897) reflects his increas¬ ing awareness of his homosexuality.

The novellas The Immoralist (1902) and Strait Is the Gate (1909) showed his mastery of classical construction, and Lafcadio ’s Adventures displayed his gift for mordant satire. In 1908 he cofounded La Nouvelle Revue Frangaise, the literary review that would unite progressive French writ¬ ers for 30 years. The autobiographi¬ cal If It Die... (1924) is among the great works of confessional litera¬ ture. Corydon (1924), a defense of homosexuality, was violently attacked. The Counterfeiters (1926) is his most complex novel. He become a champion of society’s vic¬ tims and outcasts and was for a time attracted to communism; with the outbreak of World War II he gained a greater appreciation for tradition. He received the Nobel Prize for Litera¬ ture in 1947.

Gideon Judge and hero of ancient Israel, whose deeds are described in the Old Testament Book of Judges. The book contains two versions of Gideon’s story. In one account, he led his tribe of Manasseh in a victo¬ rious campaign against the Midianites, then fashioned an idolatrous image

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762 i Gielgud ► Gilbert

from the booty and led Israel into immorality. In another version, he replaced worship of the local deity, Baal, with that of Yahweh (the God of Israel), and the power of Yahweh enabled his tribe to destroy the Mid- ianites.

Gielgud Vgil-.gud, 'gel-,gud\, Sir (Arthur) John (b. April 14, 1904, London, Eng.—d. May 21, 2000, near Aylesbury) British actor and direc¬ tor. He made his London debut in 1921 and joined the Old Vic company in 1929, becoming widely acclaimed for a series of Shakespearean per¬ formances, notably Hamlet and Richard II, and also excelling in plays such as The School for Scandal, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Seagull, and Tiny Alice. He directed several repertory seasons in the 1940s and toured the world with the solo recital Ages of Man (1958-59). He appeared in many films, including Arthur (1981, Academy Award) and Shine (1996).

Giers Vgyers\, Nikolay (Karlovich) (b. May 21, 1820, Radzivilov, Volhynia region, Russia—d. Jan. 26, 1895, St. Petersburg) Russian for¬ eign minister in the reign of Alexander III. Succeeding Aleksandr, Prince Gorchakov, as foreign minister in 1882, he tried to maintain the Three Emperors' League with Germany and Austria-Hungary, but, when it lapsed (1887), he negotiated the Reinsurance Treaty with Germany only. When that alliance was not renewed (1890), he concluded a formal Russo- French agreement (1894) that became the basis for the Russo-Franco- British alliance against the Central Powers in World War I.

GIF Vgif\ in full Graphics Interchange Format Standard computer file format for graphic images. GIF files use data compression to reduce the file size. The original version of the format was developed by Com¬ puServe in 1987. The current version supports animated GIFs (a graph¬ ics image that moves). GIF and JPEG are the most commonly used graphics formats on the Internet.

gift exchange Transfer of goods or services that, although regarded as voluntary by those involved, is part of expected social behaviour. First studied by Marcel Mauss, the gift-exchange cycle entails obligations to give, receive, and return, each phase being surrounded with sanctions and calculations involving prestige and the maintenance of social relations. Some sacrifices may be viewed as gifts to supernatural powers from which a return in the form of aid or approval is expected; and the transfer of women in marriage between kin groups usually involves social obligations similar to those found in gift exchange. See also potlatch.

gifted child Child naturally endowed with a high degree of general mental ability or extraordinary ability in a specific domain. Although the designation of giftedness is largely a matter of administrative conve¬ nience, the best indications of giftedness are often those provided by teachers and parents, supplemented by data from IQ tests and cumulative school records. In most countries an IQ level above a certain point (vari¬ ously, 120-135) may qualify the child for advanced educational programs. See also genius.

gigantism Excessive growth, resulting from heredity, diet, or growth regulation disorder. Androgen deficiency causes long bones to continue growing after they would normally stop. Overproduction of growth hormone —usually due to a tumour—causes pituitary gigantism (see pitu¬ itary gland). With gradual but continuous growth, height may reach 8 ft (240 cm), with normal proportions. Greater susceptibility to infection, injury, and metabolic disorders shortens the life span. Surgery or radia¬ tion can be employed to curtail further growth. Gigantism often occurs With ACROMEGALY.

gigue Vzheg\ Dance derived from the English jig that was popular as a lively court dance in 17th-century Europe. Originally a solo dance, in its courtly form it was danced by couples in formal ballet style to music in 6 /s or l2 A time. As a musical form, it became the last movement in the standard suite.

Gijon \ke-‘kon\ Seaport city (pop., 2001: 266,419), on the Bay of Bis¬ cay, Asturias autonomous community, northwestern Spain. Founded before Roman times, it was captured by the Moors early in the 8th cen¬ tury. It was retaken c. 737 and served as the capital of the kingdom of Asturias until 791. It was burned during civil wars in 1395. In the 16th and 17th centuries it suffered many pirate attacks. The remnants of the Spanish Armada took refuge in Gijon in 1588. It is the site of Roman baths and medieval palaces.

Gikuyu See Kikuyu

Gil Robles \kel-'ro-blas\ (y Quinones), Jose Maria (b. Nov. 27, 1898, Salamanca, Spain—d. Sept. 14, 1980, Madrid) Spanish politician. A lawyer, in 1931 he formed the Catholic party Accion Popular, which became the main component of the right-wing coalition CEDA, a pow¬ erful bloc in the Spanish Second Republic after 1933. In 1935 he served as minister of war. In 1936 he led an alliance of CEDA and other con¬ servative parties in the Cortes, but the majority of seats were held by the leftist Popular Front. When the Spanish Civil War broke out, he purchased arms for the rebels, then lived in exile in Portugal (1936-53, 1962-64). He worked to establish a Christian Democratic party in Spain and after Franco’s death (1975) reemerged briefly as a political leader.

Gila Vhe-ta\ Cliff Dwellings National Monument National pre¬ serve, southwestern New Mexico, U.S. Located in the Gila National For¬ est near the headwaters of the Gila River, it contains groups of small but well-preserved Pueblo Indian dwellings in natural cavities of an overhang¬ ing cliff 150 ft (45 m) high. The dwellings were inhabited c. ad 100-1300. Established in 1907, the monument occupies 533 acres (216 hectares).

Gila monster One of the only two species (both in the family Helo- dermatidae) of venomous lizards, named for the Gila River basin and found in the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico. The Gila monster {Heloderma suspectum ) grows to about 20 in. (50 cm) long, is stout¬ bodied with black and pink blotches or bands, and has beadlike scales. During warm weather, it feeds at night on small mammals, birds, and eggs and stores fat in the tail and abdomen for the winter. It is sluggish but has a strong bite. The venom (a neurotoxin) is conducted along grooves in the teeth from glands in the lower jaw. Bites are rarely fatal to humans. The other venomous species is the Mexican beaded lizard ( H . horridum ).

Gila River River, New Mexico and Arizona, U.S. Rising in southwestern New Mexico in the Elk Mountains, near the Gila Cuff Dwellings National Monument, it flows 630 mi (1,015 km) west over desert land to the Colo¬ rado River at Yuma, Ariz. Coolidge Dam (1928) on the Gila near Globe, Ariz., is used for irrigation; the dam, together with Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River, stores all available surface water, so the Gila riverbed is dry down to the Colorado. Its valley is the chief habitat of the Gila monster.

Gilbert, Cass (b. Nov. 24, 1859, Zanesville, Ohio, U.S.—d. May 17, 1934, Brockenhurst, Hampshire, Eng.) U.S. architect. He briefly attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then worked briefly for the firm of McKim, Mead & White. For some years his 60-story Woolworth Build¬ ing (1910-13) in New York City, with its Gothic detail in terra-cotta over a steel frame, was regarded as a model of tall commercial building design (it was for years the tallest building in the world). Other works include the U.S. Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. (completed 1935), and the campuses of the universities of Minnesota and Texas. Though not highly original, Gilbert was an acknowledged leader of his profession in the U.S. during a period in which monumental architecture predominated.

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey (b. c. 1539—d. September 1583, at sea near the Azores) English soldier and navigator. The half brother of Sir Walter Raleigh, he proposed in his Discourse (1566) a voyage in search of the Northwest Passage. Queen Elizabeth I rejected the idea and sent him to Ire¬ land (1567-70), where he ruthlessly suppressed an uprising, for which he was knighted. In 1578 he set out with seven ships, intending to colonize North America, but through his poor leadership some ships returned to England and others turned to piracy. He sailed again in 1583, this time arriving in Newfoundland, which he claimed in the name of the queen.

Gilbert, Sir W(illiam) S(chwenck) (b. Nov. 18, 1836, London, Eng.—d. May 29, 1911, Harrow Weald, Middlesex) British librettist. His early ambition was for a legal career, but in 1861 he began to publish comic ballads, illustrated by himself and signed “Bab.” In 1870 he met Arthur Sullivan, and they soon produced the light opera Thespis (1871), which was followed by Trial by Jury (1875) and four productions staged by Richard D’Oyly Carte: The Sorcerer (1877), H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), The Pirates of Penzance (1879), and Patience (1881). Carte built the Savoy Theatre in 1881 for productions of the partners’ work, which became known as the “Savoy Operas”; these later operettas included Iolanthe (1882), Princess Ida (1884), The Mikado (1885), Ruddigore (1887), The Yeomen of the Guard (1888), and The Gondoliers (1889). Mounting tensions between Gilbert and Sullivan led to a break, but they reunited in 1893 to produce Utopia Limited and later The Grand Duke (1896). Gilbert died of a heart attack brought on while rescuing a woman from drowning. His lyrics include some of the finest comic verse ever written in English.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Gilbert and Ellice Islands ► ginkgo I 763

Gilbert and Ellice Islands Former British colony, western central Pacific Ocean. The colony consisted of the Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu (formerly Ellice islands), the northern Line Islands, and the Phoenix Islands. First vis¬ ited by Europeans by the early 19th century, the group was proclaimed a British protectorate in 1892 and made a crown colony in 1916. In 1979 the colony was divided and formed parts of independent Kiribati and Tuvalu.

Gilbert Islands Group of 16 coral atolls (pop., 1995: 65,939), part of the island nation of Kiribati, western Pacific Ocean. The islands, including Tarawa, the largest, occupy a total land area of 105 sq mi (272 sq km). The British visited them in the 18th and 19th centuries, and in 1892 they became a British protectorate. In 1916 they became part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands crown colony. They were occupied by Japanese forces from 1941 to 1943 and saw heavy fighting. Made a separate territory in 1976, they became part of Kiribati in 1979.

Gilchrist \'gil-krist\, Percy Carlyle (b. Dec. 27, 1851, Lyme Regis, Dorset, Eng.—d. Dec. 16, 1935, England) British metallurgist. In 1876— 77, with his cousin Sidney Gilchrist Thomas (1850-85), he devised the basic Bessemer process of making steel in Bessemer converters from phosphorus-containing pig iron. In the Thomas-Gilchrist process, the lin¬ ing used in the converter is basic rather than acidic, and it captures the acidic phosphorus oxides formed upon blowing air through molten iron made from the high-phosphorus iron ore prevalent in Europe. The pro¬ cess subsequently became widely used.

Gilead Vgi-le-3d\ Area of ancient Palestine, east of the Jordan River. Now northwestern Jordan, it was bounded to the north by the Yarmuk River and to the southwest by what were known then as the plains of Moab. Sometimes the name is used in a more general sense to describe the entire region east of the Jordan River and west of the Arabian Desert. The name first appears in the biblical account of the last meeting of Jacob and Laban (Gen. 31:21-22). The scene of the battle between Gideon and the Midianites, it was also the home of the prophet Elijah.

Gilgamesh Vgil-go-.mesh, gil-'ga-moshV Hero of the ancient Akkadian- language Epic of Gilgamesh. The great literary work of ancient Mesopot¬ amia, the epic is known from 12 incomplete tablets discovered at Nineveh in the library of Ashurbanipal. Gaps in the narrative have been filled in with fragments found elsewhere. The character Gilgamesh is probably based on the Gilgamesh who ruled Uruk in the 3rd millennium bc. The epic presents Gilgamesh as a great warrior and builder, who rejects the marriage proposal of the goddess Ishtar. With the aid of his friend and companion Enkidu, he kills the divine bull that Ishtar sends to destroy him. Enkidu’s death prompts Gilgamesh to seek Utnapishtim, survivor of the legendary flood, to learn how to escape death. He obtains a youth- renewing plant only to have it stolen. The epic ends with the return of the spirit of Enkidu, who gives a dismal report on the underworld.

Gill, Brendan (b. Oct. 4, 1914, Hartford, Conn., U.S.—d. Dec. 27, 1997, New York, N.Y.) U.S. writer. He is chiefly known for his pieces in The New Yorker , where he spent some 60 years, many of them as staff film critic (1960-67), theatre critic (1968-87), and architecture critic (1992-97). His many books include the memoir Here at The New Yorker (1975). A leading preservationist, he led the successful fight to save Grand Central Station.

Gilles de Rais See Bluebeard

Gillespie, Dizzy orig. John Birks Gillespie (b. Oct. 21, 1917, Cheraw, S.C., U.S.—d. Jan. 6, 1993,

Englewood, N.J.) U.S. jazz trum¬ peter, composer, arranger, and bandleader, one of the primary inno¬ vators of bebop. Gillespie was influ¬ enced by Roy Eldridge and played with the big bands of Cab Calloway,

Earl Hines, and Billy Eckstine before leading small groups in the mid- 1940s. He pioneered bebop with saxophonist Charlie Parker and pia¬ nist Thelonious Monk. Bringing this approach to his big band in the late 1940s, Gillespie popularized the use of Afro-Cuban rhythms in jazz. He alternated between large and small ensembles for the rest of his career. His virtuosity and comic wit (in addi¬

tion to his puffed cheeks and trademark 45° upturned trumpet bell) made him one of the most charismatic and influential musicians in jazz.

Gilman, Charlotte (Anna) Perkins (Stetson) (b. July 3, 1860, Hartford, Conn., U.S.—d. Aug. 17, 1935, Pasadena, Calif.) U.S. feminist theorist, writer, and lecturer. She gained worldwide fame as a lecturer on women, ethics, labour, and society. In her best-known work, Women and Economics (1898), she proposed that women’s sexual and maternal roles had been overemphasized to the detriment of their social and economic potential and that only economic independence could bring true freedom. Her other works include the celebrated short story “The Yellow Wallpa¬ per” (1899).

Gilmore, Patrick (Sarsfield) (b. Dec. 25, 1829, County Galway, Ire.—d. Sept. 24, 1892, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.) Irish-born U.S. bandmas¬ ter. He immigrated to the U.S. at age 19. In 1859 he took over the Bos¬ ton Brigade Band (later known as Gilmore’s Band). During the Civil War, the entire band enlisted in the Union army. A flamboyant showman, Gilmore organized extravaganza performances in 1869 and 1872 with more than 10,000 performers; the first featured cannon fire and 100 fire¬ men beating anvils, and the second employed a chorus of 20,000. From 1872 until his death he led the New York 22nd Regiment Band, giving 150 concerts in Europe in 1878. His innovations reduced the heavy reli¬ ance on brass instruments in favour of the higher proportion of reeds characteristic of modern concert bands.

gin Colorless distilled liquor. Made from neutral grain spirits, it acquires its distinctive flavour from juniper berries and aromatics (such as anise and caraway seeds). Its origin is attributed to a 17th-century Dutch medical researcher, Franciscus Sylvius. Two principal types are marketed: a malty- flavoured and full-bodied Netherlands type (alcohol content about 35% by volume) and a dry, purified type favoured in Britain and the U.S. (40- 47% alcohol by volume). Dry gin, which has more flavouring ingredients, is served either unmixed or in cocktails. Dutch gins are usually served unmixed or with water.

gin rummy Rummy game for two players in which each is dealt 10 cards and a player may win a hand by matching or sequencing by suit all the cards in it by drawing from a deck. Play may also end when the unmatched cards count up to 10 points or less. If a player matches all the cards he is “gin.” The first player to reach 100 points wins. The game was introduced in New York in 1909.

ginger Herbaceous perennial plant {Zingiber officinale ; family Zingib- eraceae), probably native to South Asia, or its aromatic, pungent rhizome, which is used as a spice, flavouring, food, and medicine. The spice has a slightly biting taste and is used, usually dried and ground, to flavour breads, sauces, curry dishes, confections, pickles, and ginger ale. The fresh rhizome is used in cooking. The leafy stems of the plant bear flow¬ ers in dense conelike spikes. Oil distilled from the rhizome is used in foods and perfumes.

gingerbread In architecture and design, elaborately detailed embel¬ lishment, either lavish or superfluous. Though the term is occasionally applied to such highly detailed and decorative styles as the Rococo, it usually refers to the hand-carved and -sawn wood ornamentation of the Carpenter Gothic style.

ginkgo Tree {Ginkgo biloba, fam¬ ily Ginkgoaceae) that is the only liv¬ ing representative of the gymnosperm order Ginkgoales.

Native to China, it is often termed a living fossil because it is unclear whether uncultivated groups can be found in the wild. It has been planted since ancient times in Chinese and Japanese temple gardens and is now valued in many parts of the world as an attractive, fungus- and insect- resistant ornamental tree. It tolerates cold weather and, unlike most gym- nosperms, can survive the adverse atmospheric conditions of urban areas. Pyramidal in shape, it has a columnar, sparingly branched trunk.

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)

GRANT HEILMAN

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

764 I Ginsberg ► Giovanni di Paolo

The light-coloured wood, soft and weak, has little economic value. The fan-shaped, leathery leaves, most divided into two lobes by a central notch, resemble the leaflets of the maidenhair fern. The silvery nut, when roasted, is considered a delicacy. Studies have suggested that Ginkgo biloba supplements can enhance memory function in the elderly and delay the onset of Alzheimer disease.

Ginsberg, Allen (Irwin) (b. June 3, 1926, Newark, N.J., U.S.—d. April 5, 1997, New York, N.Y.) U.S. poet. Ginsberg was the son of a poet. He attended Columbia University, where he met Jack Kerouac. His epic poem Howl (1956), a denunciation of the failings of American society, became the most famous poem of the Beat movement; in it and later works, largely inspired by Walt Whitman, he celebrated the pleasures of psycho¬ tropic drugs, footloose wandering, and homosexuality. Kaddish (1961) is a long confessional poem about his mother’s insanity and suicide. His collections include Reality Sandwiches (1963), The Fall of America (1972), and Mind Breaths (1978). Ginsberg’s life was one of ceaseless travel, poetry readings, and left-wing political activity, and he was a guru of the American youth counterculture in the 1960s and ’70s.

Ginsburg, Ruth Bader orig. Ruth Joan Bader (b. March 15, 1933, Brooldyn, N.Y., N.Y., U.S.) U.S. jurist. Although she graduated at the top of her class at Columbia Law School (1959), she was turned down for numerous jobs because of her gender. From 1972 to 1980 she taught at Columbia, where she became the first tenured female professor. As director of the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, she argued six landmark cases on gender equality before the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1980 she was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, and in 1993 she was appointed by Pres. Bill Clinton to the Supreme Court as only its second female justice. A member of the court’s minority moderate-liberal bloc, she favoured caution, moderation, and restraint.

ginseng \'jin-'seq\ Either of two herbs of the family Araliaceae or their roots, which have long been used as a drug in East Asia and as the ingre¬ dient for a stimulating tea. Panax quinquefolium, the North American ginseng, is native from Quebec and Manitoba southward to the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico. Asian ginseng ( P. schinseng ) is native to Manchuria and Korea and is cultivated in Korea and Japan. Ginseng has a sweetly aromatic flavour. Its root has long been regarded by the Chinese as a panacea for illness; its purported effects include improved mental perfor¬ mance, ability to learn, and memory and sensory awareness.

Gioberti \jo-'ber-te\, Vincenzo (b. April 5, 1801, Turin, Piedmont—d. Nov. 26, 1852, Paris, France) Italian philosopher and politician whose writings helped bring about the unification of the Italian states. Ordained a priest (1825), he became court chaplain of Sardinia (1831), but was briefly imprisoned (1833) for involvement in a republican plot. He exiled himself to Paris and Brussels, where he published works advocating a united Italy headed by the pope. He returned to Italy in 1847 and became premier of Sardinia-Piedmont (1848-49). His philosophy centered on his concept of being and is termed “ontologism.”

Giolitti \jo-'let-te\/ Giovanni (b. Oct. 22, 1842, Mondovi, Piedmont, Kingdom of Sardinia—d. July 17, 1928, Cavour, Italy) Italian politician and prime minister five times between 1892 and 1921. He served in par¬ liament (1882-1928). As a political leader, he used the technique later called giolittisma, which emphasized personal deals rather than party loy¬ alty, as well as electoral corruption. As prime minister (1892-93), he instituted reforms but became enveloped in a bank scandal; he cleared himself but greatly damaged his successor, Francesco Crispi. As minister of the interior (1901-03) and prime minister (1903-05, 1906-09), he was both praised and criticized for his calm attitude toward widespread strikes. In his fourth ministry (1911-14) he oversaw the Italo-Turkish War, then opposed Italy’s entrance into World War I. In his final term as premier (1920-21), he undertook Italy’s reconstruction. He tolerated the early Fascists but in 1924 withdrew his support.

Giordano \jor-'da-no\, Luca (b. Oct. 18, 1632, Naples—d. Jan. 3, 1705, Naples) Italian painter active in Naples. He was inspired by the work of Jose de Ribera and (after extensive travel in Florence, Rome, and Venice) that of Paolo Veronese and Pietro da Cortona, whose influence is most evident in his huge ceiling fresco in the gallery of the Medici- Riccardi Palace (1682-85/86), Florence. In 1692 he went to Spain as court painter to Charles II; his frescoes in El Escorial are considered his best works of the period. In 1702 he returned to Naples, where he completed his last great work, the ceiling of the Treasury Chapel of the Certosa di

San Martino (1704). His oil and fresco output was enormous, and his sub¬ ject matter ranged from religious to mythological themes; his nickname was Luca fa presto (“Luca, work quickly”). Many of his frescoes in Naples were destroyed or damaged in World War II.

Giorgione \jor-'j6-ne\ or Giorgio da Castelfranco orig. Gior¬ gio Barbarelli (b. c. 1477, Castelfranco Veneto, Republic of Venice—d. 1510, Venice) Italian painter active in Venice. Nothing is known of his early life. The technique, colour, and mood of his pictures suggest that he studied with Giovanni Bellini in Venice in the 1490s. His major public commission was the execution of frescoes on the exterior of the German Exchange, now known only through engravings and ruined fragments. Of the few paintings attributed to Giorgione, two were com¬ pleted by other artists after his death, one by Titian. Though almost every aspect of his work is debated, including the attribution, dating, and inter¬ pretation of paintings associated with him, it is clear that he was a pio¬ neer in the technique of oil painting on canvas and a master of creating mood and mystery, as epitomized in The Tempest (c. 1505), a milestone in Renaissance landscape painting. He had far-reaching influence on por¬ traiture; many early 16th-century artists imitated his style. See also Vene¬ tian SCHOOL.

Giotto Vj6t-to\ (di Bondone) (b. 1266-67/1276, Vespignano, near Florence—d. Jan. 8, 1337, Florence) First of the great Italian painters, active in Florence. He decorated chapels and churches in Assisi, Rome, Padua, Florence, and Naples with frescoes and panel paintings. Because little of his life and few of his works are documented, attributions and a stylistic chronology of his paintings remain problematic and often highly speculative. His works in Rome include the heavily restored mosaic of Christ Walking on the Water over the entrance to St. Peter’s Basilica, and an altarpiece from St. Peter’s, now in the Vatican Museum. In Padua, his fresco of the Last Judgment decorates the western wall of the Arena Chapel, and the rest of the chapel is covered with his narrative frescoes featuring scenes from the lives of the Virgin Mary and Christ. Later in his career he executed frescoes in four chapels in the church of Santa Croce in Florence, two of which survive. In 1334 he was appointed sur¬ veyor of Florence Cathedral; his design for the campanile was altered after his death. The most important extant panel painting attributed to him is The Madonna in Glory (c. 1305-10). He achieved great fame in his life¬ time, and he is considered the father of European painting for breaking with the impersonal stylizations of Byzantine art and introducing new ideals of naturalism and humanity, three-dimensional space, and three- dimensional form. The course of Italian painting was dominated by his students and followers. His work points to the innovations of the Renais¬ sance style that developed a century later.

Lamentation, fresco by Giotto, c. 1305-06; in the Arena Chapel, Padua, Italy.

SCALA/ART RESOURCE

Giovanni da Bologna See Giambologna

Giovanni di Paolo \j6-'van-ne-de-'pau-lo\ (di Grazia) (b. c. 1403, Siena, Republic of Siena—d. 1482, Siena) Italian painter active in Siena. A prolific artist, he produced his most characteristic works from the 1440s,

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Gippsland ► Gish I 765

notably the monumental altarpiece The Presentation of Christ in the Temple (1447-49), 12 scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist, and a Madonna (1463) altarpiece in Pienza Cathedral. He also painted count¬ less other religious panels. His tormented spirituality and expressionistic style were little appreciated until his reputation was revived in the 20th century.

Gippsland Vgips-,land\ Region, southeastern Victoria, Australia. It extends northwest from Western Port (near Melbourne) to the New South Wales border and south from the Eastern Highlands to the coast; it has an area of 13,600 sq mi (35,200 sq km). Fertile and well watered, Gippsland is the focus of the state’s dairy industry, while its petroleum and natural gas are tapped from offshore wells in the Bass Strait. Tourism is also important in the southeastern area, which has coastal resorts and the Lakes National Park. The first settlers were attracted by gold finds in the 1850s; farmers arrived after the completion of a rail line from Mel¬ bourne in 1887.

giraffe species of ruminant ( Giraffa Camelopardalis ) that is the tallest of all mammals. It reaches an overall height of 18 ft (5.5 m) or more. The legs and neck are extremely long.

The giraffe has a short body, a tufted tail, a short mane, and short, skin- covered horns. The back slopes downward to the hindquarters. The coat is pale buff, with reddish brown spots. It feeds primarily on acacia leaves. It lives in herds on savannas and in open bush country and is native to most of sub-Saharan Africa.

Giraffes are still numerous in eastern Africa, where they are protected, but hunting has reduced their popula¬ tions elsewhere. The only other member of the family Giraffidae is the okapi.

Giraldus Cambrensis Xjo-'rol- dos-kam-'bren-sosX or Gerald of Wales (b. c. 1146, Manorbier Castle, Pembrokeshire, Wales—d. c.

1223) Historian and archdeacon of Brecknock, Wales (1175-1204). Edu¬ cated in Paris, he returned to Wales and struggled unsuccessfully to become bishop of St. David’s, hoping to make it independent of Canter¬ bury. He advised Henry II of England and Henry’s son John, especially on Welsh and Irish issues. His accounts of life in the late 12th century have proved valuable to historians.

Girard \zhe-'rar,\ English \j3-'rard\, Stephen (b. May 20, 1750, Bor¬ deaux, France—d. Dec. 26, 1831, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) French-born American financier and philanthropist. He became a sailor at age 14; by 1774 he was commanding a French ship involved in American coastal trade with the West Indies. He settled in Philadelphia during the Ameri¬ can Revolution and resumed trading in 1783. He developed an efficient, worldwide trading fleet and amassed a fortune. In 1812 he bought out the Bank of the United States, renaming it the Bank of Stephen Girard. Dur¬ ing the War of 1812 he purchased government bonds, which by 1814 con¬ stituted 95% of the U.S.’s war loan. He bequeathed his fortune to social- welfare institutions, including Stephen Girard College for male orphans (founded 1833).

Girardon \zhe-rar-'d6 n \, Francois (baptized March 17, 1628, Troyes, Fr.—d. Sept. 1, 1715, Paris) French sculptor. He studied in Troyes and in Rome, and in 1657 he became a member of the French Royal Academy. In 1666 he received his most famous commission, the Apollo Tended by the Nymphs, for the Grotto of Thetis at Versailles. Of his other works at Versailles, the most notable are The Bath of the Nymphs (1668-70) and The Rape of Persephone (1677-79). Although superficially a Baroque art¬ ist, Girardon’s deep-seated Classical tendencies also emerge in the serene solemnity of his two principal works outside Versailles: an equestrian statue of Louis XIV (1683-92), destroyed in the French Revolution, and the tomb of Cardinal Richelieu in the church of the Sorbonne (1675-94). Though influenced by the work of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, his own style was more restrained.

Giraud \zhe-'ro\, Henri (-Honore) (b. Jan. 18, 1879, Paris, France—d. March 11, 1949, Dijon) French army officer. In World War II he commanded forces in northern France but was captured by the Ger¬ mans in 1940. He escaped in 1942 and soon became commander in chief of the French forces in North Africa. In 1943 he was copresident with Charles de Gaulle of the French Committee of National Liberation, but retired in 1944 over differences with de Gaulle.

Giraudoux\zhe-ro-'du\, (Hyppolyte-) Jean (b. Oct. 29, 1882, Bel- lac, France—d. Jan. 31, 1944, Paris) French novelist, essayist, and play¬ wright. He made the diplomatic service his career, while becoming known as an avant-garde writer with early poetic novels such as Suzanne et le Pacifique (1921). He created an impressionistic form of drama by empha¬ sizing dialogue and style rather than realism. In such works as Electre (1937) and Cantique des cantiques (1938), he sought inspiration in Clas¬ sical or biblical tradition. His most famous works are Tiger at the Gates (1935), about the Trojan War, and The Madwoman of Chaillot (1946).

girder In building construction, a large main supporting beam, commonly of steel or reinforced concrete, that carries a heavy transverse (crosswise) load. In a floor system, beams and joists transfer their loads to the gird¬ ers, which in turn frame into the columns.

Gironde Estuary \zhe-'ro n d\ Estuary on the Bay of Biscay, southwest¬ ern France. Formed by the confluence of the Garonne and Dordogne riv¬ ers, it extends for about 45 mi (72 km) inland. It is navigable for oceangoing vessels, although it has sandbanks and strong tides.

Girondin \j9-'ran-din\ or Girondist Label applied to a loose group¬ ing of republican politicians, some of them originally from the departe- ment of Gironde, who played a leading role in the Legislative Assembly from October 1791 to September 1792 during the French Revolution. Their opponents often called them Brissotins, after their most prominent spokes¬ man, Jacques-Pierre Brissot. While in dominance, they supported foreign war as a means to unite the people behind the Revolution. In 1792 the National Convention was divided between them and the more radical Montagnards; in 1793 they were driven from the National Convention and the Montagnards seized power. Many Girondins were guillotined in the Reign of Terror.

GIS See geographic information system

Giscard d'Estaing \zhis-kar-des-'ta n \, Valery (b. Feb. 2, 1926, Koblenz, Ger.) French political leader, third president of the Fifth Republic (1974-81). He was elected to the National Assembly in 1956.

He served as finance minister under Charles de Gaulle (1962-66) and Georges Pompidou (1969-74); in his first term of office France attained its first balanced budget in 30 years, but his conservative policies helped cause a recession and he was dis¬ missed. In 1974 he became president after defeating Francois Mitterrand and helped strengthen the European Economic Community. In 1981 he was defeated in another runoff election with Mitterrand. Giscard later served in the National Assembly (1984-89) and the European Parliament (1989—

93). In 2001 he was appointed by the European Union to chair a conven¬ tion charged with drafting a consti¬ tution for the organization.

Gish, Lillian (Diana) (b. Oct. 14, 1893, Springfield, Ohio, U.S.—d. Feb. 27, 1993, New York, N.Y.) U.S. film and theater actress. She acted on Broadway and with touring companies from age five, often with her sister, Dorothy (1898-1968). Their screen careers began when D.W. Grif¬ fith featured them in An Unseen Enemy (1912). Lillian won international fame in The Birth of a Nation (1915) and starred as the luminous heroine of other Griffith films such as Broken Blossoms (1919), Way Down East (1920), and Orphans of the Storm (1921). Dorothy was a popular star in light comedies through the 1920s, but her career was overshadowed by her sister’s durable fame. After the hits La Boheme and The Scarlet Let-

Masai giraffe (Giraffa Camelopardalis tippelskirchi).

© ANIMALS ANIMALS, 1971

Valery Giscard d'Estaing, 1985.

©1985 THIERRY BOCCON-GIBOD/BIACK STAR

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

766 i Gislebertus ► gladiator

ter (both 1926), Lillian’s film career waned and she returned to the stage in plays such as Uncle Vanya (1930), Hamlet (with John Gielgud, 1936), Life with Father (1940), and The Trip to Bountiful (1953). Returning to the screen, she was acclaimed in The Night of the Hunter (1955), A Wed¬ ding (1978), and The Whales of August (1987).

Gislebertus \,gez-l3-'ber-tus\ (fl. c. 1120-1140, France) French sculp¬ tor. His most notable works are the tympanum sculpture of the western doorway of the Romanesque cathedral at Autun, depicting the Last Judg¬ ment, a masterpiece of expressionistic carving; a large-scale reclining nude Eve for the northern doorway; and some 60 carved capitals in the interior and doorways illustrating biblical scenes. His imagination was far-reaching, and his work had a lasting effect on the development of French Gothic art.

Gissing, George (Robert) (b. Nov. 22, 1857, Wakefield, Yorkshire, Eng.—d. Dec. 28, 1903, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France) British novelist. He had a brilliant academic career but an unhappy personal life; twice involved in miserable marriages, he experienced the life of near poverty and constant drudgery that he described in New Grub Street, 3 vol. (1891), his best-known work, and The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft (1903). Inspired by Honore de Balzac, he wrote a cycle of 22 novels, which included Born in Exile (1892) and The Odd Women (1893). His realistic novels of lower-middle-class life are noted for their acute perception of women’s social position and psychology.

Giuliani, Rudolph W(illiam) or Rudy Giuliani (b. May 28,1944, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. politician, who was mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2002. Beginning in 1970, he worked for the U.S. government, holding positions in the office of the U.S. attorney and in the Department of Justice. He practiced law privately (1977-81) but returned to the Justice Department as associate attorney general (1981-83). In 1983 he was appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. In 1994 he became New York City’s first Republican mayor in two decades. Credited with cutting crime, improving the quality of life, and benefiting business, he won a second term in 1997, though critics charged that he defended police misconduct and gutted essential programs. After the Sep¬ tember 11 attacks in 2001, Giuliani was praised for his strong leadership of the city through the crisis.

Giulini \jii-'le-ne. Carlo Maria (b. May 9, 1914, Barletta, Italy—d. June 14, 2005, Brescia) Italian conductor. He studied viola and compo¬ sition at Santa Cecilia in Rome and, after years as a violist, became a conductor in 1944. That same year he was appointed musical director for Italian Radio. In 1950 he organized the Milan Radio Orchestra. After sev¬ eral years at La Scala in Milan, he left opera at the peak of his interna¬ tional career in 1967; he thereafter devoted his time to conducting symphony orchestras. His recordings of operas and choral works by Wolf¬ gang Amadeus Mozart and Giuseppe Verdi were widely acclaimed, and he subsequently held important orchestral posts in Chicago (1968-78), Vienna (1973-76), and, lastly, Los Angeles (1978-84).

Giulio Romano \'ju-le-6-ro-'ma-no\ orig. Giulio di Pietro di Fil¬ ippo de' Gianuzzi (b. 1492/99, Rome, Papal States—d. Nov. 1, 1546, Mantua, Duchy of Mantua) Italian painter and architect. Apprenticed to Raphael in Rome, on his master’s death he became Raphael’s principal heir and artistic executor, completing several of Raphael’s important Vat¬ ican frescoes. From 1524 he lived in Mantua, where he came to domi¬ nate artistic activity at the Gonzaga court and developed a personal, anti- Classical style. His most important commission, the Palazzo del Te (begun 1526), was one of the first Mannerist buildings to deliberately flout the tenets of Classical architecture. He achieved great fame in his lifetime, and his work presaged the illusionistic ceiling painting of the Baroque PERIOD.

Givenchy \zhe-va n -'she\, Hubert de (b. Feb. 21, 1927, Beauvais, Fr.) French fashion designer. After studying art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, he designed for the Paris fashion houses of Robert Piguet, Lucien Lelong, and Elsa Schiaparelli. In 1952 he opened his own house and introduced his first collection, featuring separates, high-style coats, and elegant ball gowns. In 1957 he and Cristobal Balenciaga introduced the “sack” silhou¬ ette (clothes without waistlines). His designs for Audrey Hepburn in Break¬ fast at Tiffany’s (1961) popularized the high-bosomed dress without sleeves or belt. In the 1960s his ready-to-wear boutiques brought high fashion at low prices to women throughout the world.

Giza See AI-Jizah

Gjellerup Vgyel-9-rUp\, Karl Adolph (b. June 2, 1857, Roholte, Den.—d. Oct. 11, 1919, Klotzsche, Ger.) Danish poet and novelist. The son of a parson, he studied theology, but after coming under the influence of Darwinism and the ideas of Georg Brandes, he considered himself an atheist, which he proclaimed in An Idealist (1878) and The Teutons’ Apprentice (1882). In his later years he became interested in Buddhism and other Asian religions, and he wrote about reincarnation in The Pil¬ grim Kamanita (1906). He shared the 1917 Nobel Prize for Literature with Henrik Pontoppidan.

glacial age See ice age

glacier Large mass of perennial ice that forms on land through the recrystallization of snow and that moves forward under its own weight. The term ice sheet is commonly applied to a glacier that occupies an extensive tract of relatively level land and that flows from the centre out¬ ward. Glaciers occur where snowfall in winter exceeds melting in sum¬ mer, conditions that prevail only in high mountain areas and polar regions. Glaciers occupy about 11% of the Earth’s land surface but hold roughly three-fourths of its fresh water; 99% of glacier ice lies in Antarctica and Greenland.

Glacier Bay Narrow inlet of the Pacific Ocean, southeastern Alaska coast, U.S. About 60 mi (97 km) long, it contains 16 active glaciers that descend from the St. Elias Mountains to the east and Fairweather Range to the west. The bay has fjordlike inlets and many largely treeless islands, used as rookeries by thousands of seabirds. It is the focus of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Natural area, south¬ eastern Alaska, U.S. Located on the Gulf of Alaska, it was proclaimed a national monument in 1925, established as a national park and preserve in 1980, and designated a World Heritage site in 1992. It covers 5,040 sq mi (13,053 sq km). It includes Glacier Bay, much of Mount Fairweather, and the U.S. portion of the Alsek River. Among its great tidewater gla¬ ciers is Muir Glacier, which rises 265 ft (81 m) above the water and is nearly 2 mi (3 km) wide. The park also includes a dramatic range of plant species and such wildlife as brown and black bears, mountain goats, whales, seals, and eagles.

Glacier National Park National preserve, northwestern Montana, U.S. Set in the state’s Rocky Mountains wilderness, it adjoins the Cana¬ dian border and Canada’s Waterton Lakes National Park. The two parks together compose the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, dedi¬ cated in 1932. Glacier National Park was established in 1910 and encom¬ passes 1,013,572 acres (410,178 hectares). The park, with its active glaciers, straddles the Continental Divide.

Glacier National Park National preserve, British Columbia, Canada. Lying in the heart of the Selkirk Mountains, within the northern bend of the Columbia River, it was established in 1886; it occupies an area of 521 sq mi (1,349 sq km). Snowcapped peaks flanked by ice fields and glaciers form an alpine panorama. Outstanding features are the Illecillewaet Gla¬ cier and the Nakimu Caves in the Cougar Valley.

glaciology \gla-she-'a-lo-je\ Scientific discipline concerned with all aspects of ice on landmasses. It deals with the structure and properties of glacier ice, its formation and distribution, the dynamics of ice flow, and the interactions of ice accumulations with climate. Glaciological research is conducted in a variety of ways, including radar sounding, boreholes, lateral tunnels, and remote sensing with satellite-borne infrared and mul- tispectral scanners.

Glackens, William (James) (b. March 13, 1870, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—d. May 22, 1938, Westport, Conn.) U.S. painter. He worked as a newspaper illustrator in Philadelphia and later in New York City. In 1891 he met Robert Henri, and he subsequently became a member of The Eight and the Ash Can school. He favoured colourful street scenes of urban middle-class life, heavily influenced by Impressionism. He was a prolific draftsman, and his drawings (e.g.. Seated Woman, 1902) reveal an elegant style not seen in his paintings. In 1912 he traveled to Europe to buy paint¬ ings for the collection of Albert C. Barnes. In 1913 he helped organize and exhibited in the Armory Show.

gladiator Latin swordsman Professional combatant in ancient Rome who engaged in fights to the death as sport. Gladiators originally performed at Etruscan funerals, the intent being to give the dead man armed attendants in the next world. At Rome gladiator matches were

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

gladiolus ► glass I 767

wildly popular from 264 bc. By the time of Julius Caesar, 300 pairs would fight at a single show; by the time of Trajan, 5,000 combatants of various classes would fight. In the late Roman republic the audience called for death with thumbs downward (or thumbs toward their breasts) and for mercy with handkerchiefs (or thumbs downward, according to some sources). The victor earned palm branches or money, and after a few victories a gladiator could be freed. Most were slaves or criminals, but a talented or handsome one could become a favourite of society; since they often served as bodyguards, they occasionally became politically important. Domitian delighted in using dwarfs and women as gladiators. With the coming of Christianity the games began to fall into disfavour, but they may have continued into the 6th century. See also Spartacus.

gladiolus \,gla-de-'o-l3s\ Any of about 300 species of flowering plants of the genus Gladiolus, in the IRIS family, native to Europe, Africa, and the Mediterranean and widely cultivated for cut flowers. The flowering spike, which springs from a corm, reaches 2-3 ft (60-90 cm) in height and has many funnel-shaped flowers, all clustered on one side of the stem. There are six petal-like floral parts and sparse, swordlike leaves. Cultivated gladioli, which come in all colours, have been developed mostly from southern and eastern African species.

Gladstone, William E(wart) (b. Dec. 29, 1809, Liverpool, Eng.—d. May 19, 1898, Hawarden, Flintshire,

Wales) British politician and prime minister (1868-74, 1880-85, 1886,

1892-94). He entered Parliament in 1833 as a Tory, but after holding various government posts, including chancellor of the Exchequer (1852—

55, 1859-66), he slowly converted to liberalism and became Liberal Party leader in 1866. In his first term as prime minister (1868-74), he over¬ saw national education reform, vot¬ ing reform (see Ballot Act), and the disestablishment of the Irish Protes¬ tant church (1869). In 1875-76 he denounced the indifference of Ben¬ jamin Disraeli’s government to the Bulgarian Horrors. In his second term, he secured passage of the Reform Bill of 1884. His cabinet authorized the occupation of Egypt (1882), but his failure to rescue Gen.

Charles George Gordon in Khartoum (1885) cost Gladstone much popularity and his government’s defeat. In 1886, throwing his weight behind support for Irish Home Rule, he was able to regain control of Parliament, but when his Home Rule Bill was rejected he resigned. He devoted the next six years to trying to convince the elec¬ torate to grant Home Rule to Ireland. Liberals won a majority again in 1892, and in his fourth cabinet he piloted through another Home Rule Bill, but it was soundly rejected by the House of Lords. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Glama River See Glomma River

gland Collection of cells or tissue that removes specific substances from the blood, alters or concentrates them, and then either releases them for further use by the body or eliminates them. Typically, the functional cells of a gland rest on a membrane and are surrounded by a meshwork of blood vessels. Endocrine, or ductless, glands (e.g., pituitary, thyroid, adrenal) dis¬ charge hormones into the bloodstream directly rather than through ducts (see endocrine system). Exocrine glands (e.g., digestive, mammary, salivary, sweat) discharge their products through ducts.

Glaser Vgla-zorX, Donald (Arthur) (b. Sept. 21, 1926, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.) U.S. physicist. He received his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology, then joined the faculty at the University of Michi¬ gan. There he developed the bubble chamber, an instrument that became widely used in the study of subatomic particles because it allows precise measurement of the particles’ paths. He was awarded a 1960 Nobel Prize.

Glasgow \'glas-go\ City and council area (pop., 2001: 577,689), west¬ ern Scotland. Located on the River Clyde 20 mi (32 km) from its mouth on the Atlantic coast, Glasgow forms an independent council area that lies entirely within the historic county of Lanarkshire. The largest city in

William E. Gladstone.

CULVER PICTURES

Scotland, Glasgow began to develop with the arrival (c. 550 ad) of St. Kentigern (St. Mungo), who established a religious community. The present cathedral (13th century) was built on the site of the chapel. Glas¬ gow was made a royal burgh in 1450 and prospered in the 18th century, when American produce (tobacco, sugar, and rum) made fortunes for Glasgow merchants. Its economy wavered as the tobacco trade was cut off by the American Revolution and the cotton industry by the American Civil War. With the Industrial Revolution came coal mining, iron founding, and, especially, shipbuilding. Manufactures now include textiles, food and beverages, and chemicals. A notable education centre, Glasgow has many cultural amenities, including the Scottish Opera, the Scottish Ballet, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. The Glasgow Science Centre includes the 459-ft- (140-m-) high Glasgow Tower, the tallest freestanding structure in Scotland and the only structure of its height in the world that revolves 360° from its base.

Glasgow, Ellen (Anderson Gholson) (b. April 22, 1873, Rich¬

mond, Va., U.S.—d. Nov. 21, 1945, Richmond) U.S. novelist. She was irregularly schooled and lived the life of a Southern belle. With Vir¬ ginia (1913), she completed a five- novel series (begun 1900) depicting the state’s social history. She was past age 50 when she gained critical notice for Barren Ground (1925). The Sheltered Life (1932) is part of a trilogy of ironic novels of manners. Her realistic depiction of Virginia life helped direct Southern literature away from sentimentality and nos¬ talgia.

Ellen Glasgow, miniature by an unknown artist; in the collection of the Virginia Historical Society.

COURTESY OF THE VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Glasgow, University of Public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1451 and reorga¬ nized in 1577. In the 18th century its faculty included such eminent fig¬ ures as Adam Smith and James Black;

James Watt was an assistant there. In the 19th century the faculty included Joseph Lister and William Thomson (Lord Kelvin). The university faculties represent the arts, divinity, law, medicine, science, veterinary medicine, and engineering. The rector is elected triennially by the students.

Glashow \'gla-sho\, Sheldon Lee (b. Dec. 5, 1932, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. theoretical physicist. He joined the faculty at Harvard Univer¬ sity in 1967. With Steven Weinberg (b. 1933) and Abdus Salam (1926- 1996), he received a 1979 Nobel Prize for formulation of the electroweak theory, unifying electromagnetism and the weak force. In extending the early, limited theory of Weinberg and Salam to include more classes of elementary particles, he had to invent an important new property (charm) for QUARKS.

glasnost Vglas-.nost, 'glas-,n6st\ (Russian: “openness”) Soviet policy of open discussion of political and social issues. It was instituted by Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s and began the democratization of the Soviet Union. Glasnost also permitted criticism of government officials and allowed the media freer dissemination of news and information. See also PERESTROIKA.

glass Solid material, typically a mix of inorganic compounds, usually transparent or translucent, hard, brittle, and impervious to the natural ele¬ ments (“vitreous properties”). It is made by cooling molten ingredients fast enough so no visible crystals form. A poor conductor of heat and electricity, glass takes on colours when certain metal oxides are included in the mix. Most glass breaks easily. Obsidian is a naturally occurring glass. Everyday glass (soda-lime or soda-lime-silica) is made of silica (silicon dioxide), soda (sodium carbonate), and limestone (calcium car¬ bonate), with magnesia (magnesium oxide) for sheet glass or alumina (aluminum oxide) for bottle glass. Fused silica is an excellent glass but expensive because of pure silica’s very high melting point. Borosilicate glass (e.g., Pyrex) is used for cookware and laboratory glassware because it expands very little when heated. Lead crystal is used for fine tableware. It has a heavy feel because of its lead oxide content and a sparkle due to its high refraction index. Even more specialized glasses include optical, photosensitive, metallic, and fibre-optic. Since glass has no sharp melting

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

768 i glass ► gley

point, most types can be shaped while hot and plastic by many techniques, mostly blowing or molding. See also volcanic glass.

glass, architectural Glass used in structures. Glass was first used for windows in Roman imperial times. Lack of transparency and the diffi¬ culty encountered in making any but small panes eventually led to the introduction of stained-glass windows in the 12th century. Clear, colorless glass proved difficult to achieve until the Venetian manufacture of cris- tallo (see Venetian glass). Large sheets of glass first became practicable when the French introduced plate glass in the 17th century. Mechaniza¬ tion of glass forming did not occur until the late 19th century. The float- glass method currently in use, which eliminated the need for grinding and polishing, was introduced in the 1950s. Special glass products today include insulated (multipane) assemblies, laminated security glass (wired glass), and glass blocks and bricks (see masonry).

Glass, Carter (b. Jan. 4, 1858, Lynchburg, Va., U.S.—d. May 28, 1946, Washington, D.C.) U.S. politician. Largely self-educated, he pursued a successful career in journalism, eventually becoming proprietor of two Lynchburg newspapers. In the U.S. House of Representatives (1902-18), he sponsored legislation that established the Federal Reserve System. As secretary of the treasury (1918-20) he supported efforts by Pres. Wood- row Wilson to bring the U.S. into the League of Nations. Appointed, then elected, to the U.S. Senate (1920^46), he became a leader of the conser¬ vative Southern Democratic bloc. An expert on monetary policy, he coau¬ thored legislation that established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) in 1933. Though he supported Franklin Roosevelt for president in 1932, he soon became one of his sharpest critics.

glass, decorative See Amelung glass, Baccarat glass, Bohemian glass,

CAMEO GLASS, CUT GLASS, LUSTERED GLASS, STAINED GLASS, VENETIAN GLASS, WATER¬ FORD GLASS

Glass, Philip (b. Jan. 31, 1937, Baltimore, Md., U.S.) U.S. composer. He studied mathematics and philosophy at the University of Chicago and then studied composition at the Juilliard School and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. His later studies with the Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar in 1966 and the tabla player Alla Rakha produced a radical shift in his compositional style. He became the leading exponent of musical “minimalism,” employ¬ ing insistently repeated notes and chords, subtly shifting timbres, and blocklike harmonic progressions without contrapuntal voice leading. He achieved fame suddenly with the opera Einstein on the Beach (1975) and went on to write more than 20 operas, including Satyagraha (1980), Akh- naten (1984), and The Voyage (1992). His other works include many film scores, such as Koyaanisqatsi (1983) and The Thin Blue Line (1988), and the recordings Glassworks (1981) and Songs from Liquid Days (1986). He collaborated with a wide range of writers, artists, and musicians, including Robert Wilson, Allen Ginsberg, Doris Lessing, David Bowie, and Paul Simon. Glass’s work appealed to fans of rock and popular music, and at the turn of the 21st century he was perhaps the world’s most famous living composer.

glass fiber See fiberglass

glaucoma \glau-'ko-m3, glo-'ko-moN Disease marked by increased pressure in the eye. A result of blockage of the flow of fluid (aqueous humour) at the outer edge of the iris, this pressure is transmitted to the optic nerve head and the retina. Chronic glaucoma can be treated with drugs that contract the pupil. Acute glaucoma may be intermittent. Per¬ manent relief requires surgery to provide an outlet for the fluid. Either type causes vision impairment or blindness if untreated.

glaucophane schist facies Vglo-ko-.fan-'shist-'fa-shezX One of the major divisions of the mineral facies classification of metamorphic rocks, encompassing rocks whose peculiar mineralogy suggests that they formed under conditions of high pressure and relatively low temperature (gener¬ ally less than about 662°F, or 350°C); such conditions are not typical of the normal geothermal gradient in the earth. The minerals that chiefly occur include soda amphibole (glaucophane), soda pyroxene (jadeite), garnet, lawsonite, and pumpellyite. Quartz, muscovite, chlorite, epidote, and plagioclase may also be present. Classic deposits occur in western California.

Glaucus Vglo-kssV Name of several figures in Greek mythology. One Glaucus was the young son of King Minos; he fell into a jar of honey and died, and the court seer restored him to life with a magic herb. Glaucus Pontius was a sea god; originally a fisherman and diver, he ate a magic plant and became divine. Glaucus, son of Sisyphus and father of Bellero-

phon, fed his horses human flesh and was tom to pieces by them. Another Glaucus was a grandson of Bellerophon, who assisted King Priam in the Trojan War.

Glazunov Vgla-zo-.nofX, Aleksandr (Konstantinovich) (b. Aug. 10, 1865, St. Petersburg, Russia—d. March 21, 1936, Paris, France) Rus¬ sian composer. A compositional prodigy, he achieved success with his Symphony No. 1 at age 16. He became a protege of the art patron M.P. Belyayev, who took him to western Europe; there he began to build an international reputation. He became director of the St. Petersburg Con¬ servatory in 1905. Though honoured by the government after the revo¬ lution, from 1928 he lived largely abroad. His music is generally conservative and Romantic. His works include the ballets Raymonda (1897) and The Seasons (1899); eight symphonies; concertos for piano (two), violin, and saxophone; and many orchestral tone poems and suites.

Gleason, Jackie orig. Herbert John Gleason (b. Feb. 26, 1916, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.—d. June 24, 1987, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) U.S. comedian and actor. He performed in carnivals and nightclubs and later played minor roles in films and on the stage. He achieved success in the television comedy series Cavalcade of Stars (1950-52), The Jackie Glea¬ son Show (1952-59, 1961-70), and The Honeymooners (1955-56), which centred on his most beloved character, bus driver Ralph Kramden. He starred on Broadway in Take Me Along (1959, Tony Award) and received acclaim for his screen performances in The Hustler (1961), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), and Soldier in the Rain (1963). He later was fea¬ tured in Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and its sequels (1980, 1983).

Glendale City (pop., 2000: 218,812), south-central Arizona, U.S. Located in the Salt River valley, west of Phoenix, it was founded in 1892 and is an agricultural trading centre for fruits, vegetables, and cotton. Nearby this rapidly growing city is the American Graduate School of International Management, which trains employees of U.S. firms for work abroad.

Glendale City (pop., 2000: 194,973), southwestern California, U.S. Located north of Los Angeles, at the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley, it was laid out in 1886. It was part of Rancho San Rafael (1784), the first Spanish land grant in California. Aircraft, optical instruments, and pharmaceuticals are among its manufactures. The city’s Forest Lawn Memorial Park is known for its elaborate statuary.

Glendower \glen-'dau-3r\, Owen Welsh Owain Glyndwr (b. c.

1354—d. 1416) Self-proclaimed prince of Wales who led an unsuccess¬ ful rebellion against England. Educated in England, he returned to Wales and touched off an uprising against Henry IV (under whom he had pre¬ viously fought) in northern Wales in 1400. He was soon in control of most of Wales and had set up a Welsh Parliament. In 1403 his alliance with English nobles was crushed at Shrewsbury, and a later French alliance also failed; his strongholds at Aberystwyth and Harlech fell to the future Henry V in 1408-09. Glendower nonetheless remained active as a guer¬ rilla warrior as late as 1412. His rebellions were the last major Welsh attempts to throw off English rule.

Glenn, John H(erschel), Jr, (b. July 18, 1921, Cambridge, Ohio, U.S.) U.S. astronaut and senator. He flew 59 missions as a Marine Corps pilot in World War II and 90 during the Korean War. The oldest of the seven astronauts selected in 1959 for the Mercury project’s spaceflight training, he was a backup pilot for Alan B. Shepard and Virgil I. Grissom (1926-67), who made the first two U.S. suborbital flights into space. Glenn was selected for the orbital flight, and in February 1962 his space capsule. Friendship 7, was launched and made three orbits. He retired from the space program in 1964 and pursued his interest in politics, serv¬ ing as U.S. Senator from Ohio (1975-99). In 1998, at age 77, he made his second spaceflight (as part of the crew of the space shuttle Discovery), becoming the oldest person to go into space.

Glenrothes \glen-‘ra-this\ Town (pop., 1995 est.: 36,000), Fife council area and historic county, eastern Scotland. It was established in 1948 as the country’s second new town to provide housing for coal miners near the experimental Rothes Colliery. When the coal-mining industry declined, new industries were developed, including the manufacture of electronic components, computers, and plastics.

gley \'gla\ Sticky clay soil or soil layer formed under the surface of some waterlogged soils. Characteristic of poorly drained areas, gley soils con¬ tain reduced amounts of iron and other elements and are gray and mottled in colour.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

glider ► Gloucestershire I 769

glider Nonpowered heavier-than-air craft capable of sustained flight. Early experimenters in glider flight included George Cayley, who built the first man-carrying glider in 1853, and Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896), who introduced tail stabilizers on his first practical man-carrying craft in 1891. Improvements by Octave Chanute (1832-1910) in 1896 and by Wilbur and Orville Wright in 1902 perfected the control needed for developing the Wrights’ powered airplane in 1903. The slender-winged glider was launched by being towed behind an airplane or a car. Gliders were used in World War II to carry troops. Today they are mainly used for recre¬ ation; the sailplane type is built for soaring on the lift from thermals. See also HANG GLIDING.

gliding See soaring

Glinka, Mikhail (Ivanovich) (b. June 1, 1804, Novospasskoye, Russia—d. Feb. 15, 1857, Berlin, Prussia ) Russian composer. He stud¬ ied in Italy and Berlin, and in 1836 his first opera, A Life for the Tsar, immediately earned him a reputation as Russia’s leading composer. Ele¬ ments of Russian folk music were heard even more clearly in the opera Ruslan and Ludmila (1842) and the orchestral work Kamarinskaya (1848). The influence of these works on later Russian composers, includ¬ ing Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, was significant, and Glinka is regarded as the father of the Russian national school.

Global Positioning System (GPS) Precise satellite-based naviga¬ tion and location system originally developed for U.S. military use. GPS is a fleet of more than 24 communications satellites that transmit signals globally around the clock. With a GPS receiver, one can quickly and accurately determine the latitude, the longitude, and in most cases the altitude of a point on or above Earth’s surface. A single GPS receiver can find its own position in seconds from GPS satellite signals to an accuracy of one metre; accuracy within one centimetre can be achieved with sophis¬ ticated military-specification receivers. This capability has reduced the cost of acquiring spatial data for making maps while increasing carto¬ graphic accuracy. Other applications include measuring the movement of polar ice sheets or even finding the best automobile route between given points.

global warming Increase in the global average surface temperature resulting from enhancement of the greenhouse effect, primarily by air pol¬ lution. In 2001 the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change esti¬ mated that by 2100 global average surface temperatures would increase 2.5 to 10.4 °F (1.4 to 5.8 °C), depending on a range of scenarios for greenhouse gas emissions. Many scientists predict that such an increase would cause polar ice caps and mountain glaciers to melt rapidly, sig¬ nificantly raising the levels of coastal waters, and would produce new patterns and extremes of drought and rainfall, seriously disrupting food production in certain regions. Other scientists maintain that such predic¬ tions are overstated. The 1992 Earth Summit and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change attempted to address the issue of global warming, but in both cases the efforts were hindered by conflicting national economic agendas and dis¬ putes between developed and developing nations over the cost and con¬ sequences of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.

globalization Process by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standard¬ ized around the world. Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communications and transportation technologies and services, mass migration and the movement of peoples, a level of economic activity that has outgrown national markets through industrial combinations and commercial groupings that cross national frontiers, and international agreements that reduce the cost of doing busi¬ ness in foreign countries. Globalization offers huge potential profits to companies and nations but has been complicated by widely differing expectations, standards of living, cultures and values, and legal systems as well as unexpected global cause-and-effect linkages. See also free trade.

Globe and Mail, The Daily newspaper published in Toronto, the most prestigious and influential journal in Canada. It was formed in 1936 when George McCullagh bought and merged two competing papers, the liberal Globe (founded 1844) and the conservative Mail and Empire (founded 1872 as The Mail). The paper sees its role as “independent but not neu¬ tral.” Its publication of the texts of speeches, parliamentary debates, and other documents has made it Canada’s newspaper of record. It is espe¬ cially strong in international news coverage.

Globe Theatre London theatre in which the plays of William Shakes¬ peare were performed after 1599. It was built by two brothers, Cuthbert and Richard Burbage; half the shares were kept by the Burbages, and the rest were assigned equally to Shakespeare and other members of the Chamberlain's Men. The wooden theatre, built in the shape of an O with no roof over the central area, was destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt in 1614, and finally pulled down in 1644. Reconstructed (beginning 1987) near the site of the original theatre, the new Globe Theatre inaugurated its first regular season in 1996.

globular cluster Any large group of old, Population II (see Popula¬ tions I and II) stars closely packed in a symmetrical, somewhat spherical form. About 150 have been identified in the Milky Way Galaxy. Most are distributed in a spherical volume above and below the Galaxy’s disk (see galactic halo). Globular clusters contain many more stars (10,000- 1,000,000) than open clusters do and can be several hundred light-years in diameter. Because they are so distant from the solar system, most are not visible to the unaided eye. Omega Centauri and a few others can be seen without a telescope as hazy patches of light.

globulin Vglab-yo-lonV Any of a major class of proteins insoluble in pure water and soluble in dilute saline (salt) solutions. In their natural state, the protein chain is folded into a globular form. Globulins are found in many plants, especially cereals. Globulins in animal fluids include enzymes, anti¬ bodies (the GAMMA GLOBULINS), LIPOPROTEINS, COMPLEMENT Components, TRANS¬ PORT proteins, and various types of fibrous and contractile proteins.

glockenspiel Vgla-kon-.spel, ‘gla-kan-.shpelN Percussion instrument consisting of a set of tuned steel bars, arranged like a piano keyboard, which are struck with hammers. An alternative form of the instrument is played by means of an actual keyboard. Its normal range is 2 Vi octaves. The bell lyre, held vertically, is the portable form of glockenspiel used in marching bands.

Glomma River formerly Glama River River, eastern Norway. The longest river in Scandinavia, it rises in a series of small streams near the Swedish-Norwegian border. It flows south, then west into Lake 0yeren. From there it continues south to Sarpsborg and enters Oslo Fjord at Fre- drikstad, after a course of 372 mi (599 km). It is a major source of hydro¬ electric power. It is navigable up to Sarpsfoss, the waterfall at Sarpsborg.

Glorious Revolution or Bloodless Revolution or Revolution of 1688 In English history, the events of 1688-89 that resulted in the deposition of James II and the accession of his daughter Mary II and her husband William III. James’s overt Roman Catholicism, his suspension of the legal rights of dissenters, and the prospect of a Catholic heir to the throne brought discontent to a head, which caused opposition leaders to invite the Protestant William of Orange to bring an army to redress the nation’s grievances. The support remaining for James dwindled, and he fled to France. The Convention Parliament asked William and Mary to rule jointly and set out the Bill of Rights.

glossolalia See tongues, speaking in

Gloucester Vglas-toA ancient Glevum City and administrative dis¬ trict (pop., 2001: 109,888), administrative and historic county of Glouces¬ tershire, southwestern England. The county seat of Gloucestershire, it lies on the River Severn and is linked by ship canal to docks in the Severn estuary. It was founded as the Roman colony of Glevum in ad 96-98. An abbey was founded there in 681; the town later became the capital of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia. Important economically even before the Norman Conquest (1066), it was incorporated in 1483 and continued to flourish as a trading centre. It has varied industries, including the manu¬ facture of railway rolling stock and aircraft, and light and heavy engi¬ neering works.

Gloucestershire Vglas-tor-.shirX Administrative (pop., 2001: 564,559), geographic, and historic county, southwestern England. It is located at the head of the River Severn estuary on the Welsh border; Gloucester is the county seat. The Severn bisects the county from north to south. Prehis¬ toric peoples were active in the area, as the numerous burial mounds indi¬ cate; later, the Romans had military camps within the county, and Gloucester was a Roman town of note. After the departure of the Romans, the Saxons occupied the area. Throughout the Middle Ages Gloucester¬ shire was a battlefield, reflected in the imposing Norman defensive castles built on the Welsh frontier. The county’s Cotswold area is important eco¬ nomically. Most of its eastern half is scenic, and a large area is set aside as the Dean National Forest Park.

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

770 i glove ► glycol

glove Covering for the hand with separate sections for the fingers and

the thumb, usually extending over the wrist or part of the arm. Linen gloves were found in the tomb of Tut¬ ankhamen in Egypt. Medieval Euro¬ pean nobles wore both fabric and leather gloves, often jeweled and embroidered. By the 14th century gloves were worn generally by upper-class men; but in the 16th cen¬ tury Catherine de Medicis, queen consort of Henry li of France, made gloves for women fashionable. Glovemaking became an industry in 1834 when the glove-cutting die was invented in France. Fabric gloves of antiquity were made of woven mate¬ rial, but modern fabric gloves are knitted of cotton, wool, or synthetic fibres.

glowworm Any crawling, lumi¬ nous insect that emits light either continuously or in prolonged glows rather than in the brief flashes char¬ acteristic of most FIREFLIES. GIOW- worms include larvae and adult (often wingless) females of fireflies and certain other beetle species and larvae of certain gnat species. They are widely distributed. The great diversity in the size, number, loca¬ tion, and structure of the biolumines- cent organs suggests that the light- producing ability of the various species evolved independently.

English kid glove, embroidered in silk and metal thread, c. 1600; in the Met¬ ropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

COURTESY OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW VORK CITY, PURCHASE, ROGERS FUND, 1953

gloxinia \glak-'si-ne-o\ Any of the 20 plant species, native to Brazil,

that make up the genus Sinningia in the gesneriad family, especially S. speciosa, an ornamental potted plant. Gloxinias produce large, erect, bell¬ shaped flowers in rich, velvety colours, usually violet or purple. The genus Gloxinia of the same family contains six species that are not cultivated.

Gluck Vgluk\, Christoph Willibald later Ritter (knight) von Gluck (b. July 2, 1714, Erasbach, Upper Palatinate, Bavaria—d. Nov. 15, 1787, Vienna, Austria) German opera composer. Son of a forester, he ran away to study music in Prague. He traveled widely, writing operas for various cities, before settling in 1750 in Vienna, where he would remain— except for an interlude in Paris (1773-79)—the rest of his life. In 1762, with the librettist Ranieri di Calzabigi (1714-95), he wrote his famous opera Orfeo eel Euridice, in which he borrowed aspects of French opera to achieve a simplified dramatic style that decisively broke with the static and calcified Italian style. His preface to Alceste (1767) laid out the musico-dramatic principles of his “reform opera”; the goal was “simplic¬ ity, truth and naturalness.” In 1773 he moved to Paris, where his former pupil Marie-Antoinette was on the verge of becoming queen. There he won acclaim for Iphigenie en Aulide (1774), Armide (1777), and Iphigenie en Tauride (1779). His other operas (numbering more than 40 in all) include Paride ed Elena (1770) and Echo et Narcisse (1779). He also wrote five ballets, of which Don Juan (1761) was one of the first successful ballets d’action.

glucose or dextrose or grape sugar or corn sugar Organic compound, a simple sugar (monosaccharide), chemical formula C 6 H 12 0 6 . The product of photosynthesis in plants, it is found in fruits and honey. As the major circulating free sugar in blood, it is the source of energy in cell function and a major participant in metabolism. Control of its level and metabolism is of great importance (see insulin). Glucose and fructose make up sucrose. Glucose units in long chains make up polysaccharides (e.g., cellulose, glycogen, starch). Glucose is used in foods, medicine, brewing, and wine making and as the source of various other organic chemicals.

glue Adhesive substance resembling gelatin, extracted from animal tis¬ sue, particularly hides and bones, or from fish, casein (milk protein), or vegetables. Glue was used as early as 3000 bc in wooden-furniture con¬

struction in Egypt. Synthetic resin adhesives such as the epoxies are replac¬ ing glue for many uses, but glue is still widely used as an adhesive in woodworking and in certain manufacturing and other industrial processes.

Glueck Vgluk\, Sheldon; and Glueck, Eleanor orig. Eleanor Touroff (respectively b. Aug. 15, 1896, Warsaw—d. March 10, 1980, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.; b. April 12, 1898, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.—d. Sept. 25, 1972, Cambridge, Mass.) U.S. criminologists. Sheldon Glueck immi¬ grated to the U.S. from Poland as a child. He married Eleanor Touroff in 1922. As researchers at Harvard Law School, they studied the careers of criminals and juvenile delinquents and are especially known for the Gluecks’ Social Prediction Tables, which attempted to identify potential delinquents at age six or even younger. See delinquency.

glutamic acid \glu-'ta-mik\ One of the nonessential amino acids, closely related to glutamine. The two constitute a substantial fraction of the amino acids in many proteins (10-20% in many cases and up to 45% in some plant proteins). An important metabolic intermediate as well as a neu¬ rotransmitter molecule in the central nervous system, glutamic acid finds uses in medicine and biochemical research. Its sodium salt is the food flavour enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG).

glutamine \'glu-t3-,men\ One of the nonessential amino acids, closely related to glutamic acid. It is especially important in the cellular metabo¬ lism of animals as the only amino acid capable of readily crossing the blood-brain barrier. It is used in medicine and biochemical research and as a feed additive.

gluten Mixture of proteins not readily soluble in water that occurs in wheat and most other cereal grains. Its presence in flour makes produc¬ tion of leavened baked goods (see baking) possible because the chainlike gluten molecules form an elastic network that traps carbon dioxide gas and expands with it. The properties of gluten vary with its composition, which differs according to the source. Thus, doughs range from soft and exten¬ sible to tough and elastic, depending on the gluten in the flours. Persons with an allergy to gluten can often eat rice or spelt products.

glycerol Ygli-ss-.roA or glycerin Clear, colourless, viscous, sweet¬ tasting liquid organic compound of the alcohol family, chemical formula HOCH 2 CHOHCH 2 OH. With three hydroxyl (—OH) groups, it can form three types of esters (monoglycerides, diglycerides, and triglycerides). Mono- and diglycerides are common food additives. Fats and oils are triglycerides; their processing into soap was the chief source of glycerol until the mid-20th century, when industrial synthesis took over. Glycerol has thousands of uses, including as an emulsifier, softening agent, plas¬ ticizer, and stabilizer in baked goods, ice cream, and tobacco; in skin lotions, mouthwashes, and cough medicines; as a protective medium for freezing red blood cells, sperm, corneas, and other tissues; in printing inks and in the gums and resins in paints and coatings; in antifreeze mixtures; as a nutrient in fermentation; and as a raw material for nitroglycerin.

glyceryl trinitrate See nitroglycerin

glycine Ygll-.senV One of the nonessential amino acids. The simplest amino acid (NH 2 CH 2 COOH), it occurs in many proteins; especially rich sources are silk fibroin and gelatin. It has a sweet taste and is used to reduce the bitter flavour of saccharin. Other uses are in organic synthesis and biochemical research, as a nutrient and feed additive, and to retard rancidity in animal and vegetable fats.

glycogen Vgll-k3-jan\ Principal storage carbohydrate of animals, occur¬ ring primarily in the liver and resting muscles. It is also found in various bacteria, fungi, and yeasts. Glycogen is a branched polysaccharide, a long chain of glucose units, into which it is broken down when energy is needed.

glycogen storage disease or glycogenosis Ygll-ko-jo-'no-sosV Any of numerous types of hereditary enzyme deficiency resulting in altered metabolism of glycogen. The problems are classified in two groups, those affecting the liver and those involving striated muscle, both primary gly¬ cogen storage sites. Symptoms in the liver group range from symptom¬ atic hypoglycemia with ketosis to asymptomatic liver enlargement (hepatomegaly). In the muscle group, they range from weakness and cramps to fatal heart enlargement.

glycogenosis See glycogen storage disease

glycol Vgll-.kolN Any of a class of organic compounds of the alcohol family in which two hydroxyl groups (—OH; see functional group) are

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

glycolysis ► go I 771

attached to different carbon atoms. The term is often used for the simplest of the class, ethylene glycol (1,2-ethanediol). Propylene glycol (1,2- propanediol), much like ethylene glycol but not toxic, is used extensively in foods, cosmetics, and oral hygiene products as a solvent, preservative, and moisture-retaining agent. Other important glycols include 1,3- butanediol and 1,4-butanediol, used as raw materials for plastics and other chemicals; 2-ethyl-1,3-hexanediol, an insect repellent; and 2-methyl-2- propyl-1,3-propanediol, the raw material of the tranquilizer meprobamate.

glycolysis \gli-'ka-b-s9s\ or glycolytic pathway or Embden- Meyerhof-Parnas pathway \ , em-d3n- , mI-3r- l hof- , par-nos\ Sequence of 10 chemical reactions taking place in most cells that breaks down glucose, releasing energy that is then captured and stored in ATP. One molecule of glucose (plus coenzymes and inorganic phosphate) makes two molecules of pyruvate (or pyruvic acid) and two molecules of ATP. The pyruvate enters into the tricarboxylic acid cycle if enough oxygen is present or is fermented into lactic acid or ethanol if not. Thus, glycolysis produces both ATP for cellular energy requirements and building blocks for synthesis of other cellular products. See also Gustav Georg Embden, Otto Meyerhof.

glycoside \ , glI-ko- l sId\ Any of a wide variety of naturally occurring organic compounds in which a carbohydrate portion consisting of one or more sugars or sugar derivatives is combined with a hydroxy compound (a compound containing an —OH group). Since sugars themselves are hydroxy compounds, polysaccharides are glycosides by definition. Other glycosides include various flower and fruit pigments, several antibiotics (e.g., streptomycin), and the cardiac glycosides (see digitalis).

GM See General Motors Corp.

Gnadenhutten Massacre Vjo-'na-don-.ho-tonX (March 8, 1782) Mur¬ der of 96 Indians, mostly Delawares, by American troops at an Ohio vil¬ lage during the American Revolution. The Indians, converted peaceful Christians, were under suspicion because of their neutrality in the war. An American officer, David Williamson, and his militia, seeking revenge for Indian raids on frontier settlements, pretended friendship with the Indi¬ ans, then disarmed them and returned to kill them in cold blood; two scalped boys escaped to relate the slayings.

Gnam-ri-srong-brtsan N'nam-'re-'sroq-bort-'sanV (b. c. 570—d. c. 619) Descendant of a line of rulers of Yarlong, united tribes in central and southern Tibet that became known to China’s Sui dynasty (581-618). After his assassination, he was succeeded by his son, Srong-brtsan-sgam-po (c. 608-650), who continued his father’s military expansion and established his capital at Lhasa. Srong-brtsan-sgam-po became so powerful that the Tang dynasty (618-907) entered into a marriage alliance with him in 641.

gnat Any member of several species of small dipterans, most of which bite or annoy humans. Midges are also sometimes called gnats. In North America the name is also applied to the blackfly, fruit fly, and other small flies that hover about the eyes of humans and other animals.

gnatcatcher Any of about 11 species of small songbirds (genus Poliop- tila) often treated as a subfamily of the Old World warbler family Sylvi- idae. The blue-gray gnatcatcher, 4.5 in. (11 cm) long, with its long white- edged tail, looks like a tiny mocking¬ bird. It breeds locally from eastern Canada and California to the Baha¬ mas and Guatemala and winters from the southern U.S. southward.

The black-tailed gnatcatcher lives in the deserts of the southwestern U.S.; the other species are found in Cen¬ tral and South America and Cuba.

Gneisenau Vgnl-zo-.nauV

August (Wilhelm Anton),

Count Neidhardt von (b. Oct.

27, 1760, Schildau, near Torgau,

Saxony—d. Aug. 23, 1831, Posen,

Prussia) Prussian field marshal and military reformer. Along with Ger¬ hard J.D. VON ScHARNHORST, he remolded the Prussian army shat¬ tered by Napoleon (1806) from a

mercenary force into an instrument of modem warfare, introducing uni¬ versal military service. In 1811-12 he traveled on secret missions to nego¬ tiate a new war against Napoleon, which was renewed in 1813. As chief of staff to Gebhard von BlOcher, he planned Prussian, and sometimes Rus¬ sian, strategy. Gneisenau’s insistence on the decisive battle and relentless pursuit proved successful at the Battle of Waterloo.

gneiss Vnls\ Medium- to coarse-grained metamorphic rock with paral¬ lel, somewhat irregular banding that has little tendency to split along planes. Gneiss is the principal rock over extensive metamorphic terrains. Orthogneiss is formed by the metamorphism of igneous rocks; paragneiss results from the metamorphism of original sedimentary rocks. Pencil gneiss contains rod-shaped individual minerals or segregations of miner¬ als, and augen gneiss contains large lenticular mineral grains or mineral aggregates having the appearance of eyes scattered through the rock.

Gnosticism Vnas-to-.si-zonA Religious and philosophical movement popular in the Roman world in the 2nd-3rd century ad. The term, based on the Greek gnosis (“secret knowledge”), was coined in the 17th cen¬ tury, when it was applied liberally to ancient Christian heretical sects, especially those described by their orthodox contemporaries as radically dualistic and world-denying, and those who sought salvation through eso¬ teric revelation and mystical spirituality. In the late 19th and the early 20th century, that view of Gnosticism was replaced with several group¬ ings, and the discovery of the Nag Hammadi texts in 1945 greatly enhanced the understanding of Gnosticism. The relationship with ancient Christianity remains uncertain, but the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary (which portrays Mary Magdalene as a leading apostle) are gen¬ erally seen as being grounded in Gnosticism. They emphasized the teach¬ ings of Jesus, rather than his death and resurrection, as the key to salvation. The teachings of Valentinus were the basis of the Gospel of Truth, a fusion of Christian and Gnostic beliefs. Other texts previously considered Gnos¬ tic are now assigned to distinct religious traditions, especially Hermeti- cism (see Hermetic writings), Mandaeanism, and Manichaeism. The texts of the Sethians have the best claim to the designation “Gnostic”; they describe one supreme, good God and the creation, by a junior heavenly being (Sophia), of an arrogant creature who then claims to be God. That creature withholds from humanity moral knowledge and eternal life, but Sophia plants the divine spirit within people to save them. Male and female saviours (including Jesus) were sent from the world above to instruct humanity in the knowledge of the true God and humanity’s own divine nature. In general, Gnostics taught cosmological dualism, strict asceticism, repudiation of material creation as evil, docetism, and the existence of the divine spark in humans.

gnu Vnti\ or wildebeest Either of two species of African antelope (genus Connochaetes). The gnu stands higher at the shoulder than at the rump, reaching a shoulder height of 3^4 ft (1-1.3 m). The southern African form, the white-tailed gnu, or black wildebeest, is dark brown with long black tufts on the snout, chin, throat, and chest, and a black mane and flowing white tail. Today it exists only in national parks and preserves. The brindled gnu, or blue wildebeest, is reasonably abundant over much of central and South Africa. It is silvery gray with dark vertical bands on the sides and has a black mane, tail, and face, whitish cheeks, and a tuft of dark hair on chin and throat. Both sexes of both species have horns. Gnu live in often large, constantly moving herds and graze on the grasses and scrub of open plains.

go Chinese weiqi or wei-ch'i Korean baduk Game that involves two players alternately placing black and white stones on a board check¬ ered by 19 vertical lines and 19 horizontal lines. The players attempt to conquer territory by surrounding vacant areas or capture stones by sur¬ rounding them. Points are awarded by conquering and capturing and reduced by losing one’s stones. The game is also played in electronic for¬ mats. Go probably originated in China, possibly as early as c. 2300 bc. It was brought to Japan c. ad 500, where it developed into the modern game. Most identified with Japan, is also popular in China and Korea and is played worldwide.

White-bearded gnu (Connochaetes taurinus albojubatus )

LEONARD LEE RUE III

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

772 i Go-Daigo ► Goddard

Go-Daigo \'go-dI-'go\ (b. Nov. 26, 1288, Kyoto, Japan—d. Sept. 19, 1339, Mount Yoshino, near Nara) Emperor of Japan whose efforts to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate (see Kamakura period) resulted in a split in the imperial family. When Go-Daigo came to the throne in 1318, political authority was divided between the de jure government of the emperor and the de facto government of the SHOGUN (military ruler) in Kamakura. However, neither emperor nor shogun had real power, their positions being controlled by powerful families. Go-Daigo sought to regain and hold the reins of government himself; but he alienated Ash- ikaga Takauji (see Ashikaga family), whose support had been crucial to his victory, by neglecting to appoint him to the position of shogun. Takauji rebelled and, victorious, elevated another member of the imperial family to the throne. Go-Daigo fled south to the Yoshino Mountains and estab¬ lished a rival court there. The period of Northern and Southern Courts (nanboku cho) that followed lasted until 1392. See also Hojo family.

Goa \'go-o\ State (pop., 2001: 1,347,668), southwestern India. Located on the western coast, it is bordered by Maharashtra and Karnataka states and has a 65-mi (105-km) coastline on the Arabian Sea. It has an area of 1,429 sq mi (3,702 sq km), which includes the offshore island of Goa. The capital is Panaji. Ruled by Hindu dynasties until 1472, it came under the Portuguese in 1510. Their settlement of Old Goa became the capital of Portuguese India. After India attained independence in 1947, it demanded that Portugal cede Goa. Indian troops finally occupied Goa in 1961; it was incorporated into India in 1962 as part of the territory of Goa, Daman, and Diu. It became a state in 1987. Goa is predominantly agricultural; its distinctive architecture and fine beaches also make it a popular tourist destination.

goat Any hollow-horned ruminant in the bovid genus Capra. Goats have a lighter build and straighter hair than sheep; their horns arch backward; and the tail is short. Males usually have a beard. Wild goats include the ibex and markhor. Domesticated goats are descended from the pasang, which is probably native to Asia. In China, Great Britain, Europe, and North America, the domestic goat is primarily a milk producer; much of the milk is used to make cheese. Some breeds, notably the Angora and cashmere, are raised for their wool; young goats are the source of kid leather.

goatsucker See nightjar

Gobelin \go-'bla n \ family French dyers and cloth makers. In the late 15th century, the brothers Jean (d. 1476) and Philibert Gobelin discovered a scarlet dye and opened a dyeing factory near Paris, which flourished until the late 16th century. In 1601 Henry IV brought in Flemish weavers and they began to produce tapestries. In 1662 Louis XIV reorganized the factory and appointed Charles Le Brun director; it produced tapestry and upholstery furnishings for the royal palaces until 1694. By the 18th cen¬ tury only tapestries were manufactured, under the inspection of Jean- Baptiste Oudry and Francois Boucher. The factory was closed during the French Revolution but was reopened by Napoleon. Since 1826 it has manufactured carpets and tapestries.

Gobi \'go-be\ Desert Desert, Central Asia. One of the great desert and semidesert regions of the world, the Gobi stretches across Central Asia over large areas of Mongolia and China. It occupies an arc of land 1,000 mi (1,609 km) long and 300-600 mi (500-1,000 km) wide, with an esti¬ mated area of 500,000 sq mi (1,300,000 sq km). Contrary to the image often associated with a desert, much of the Gobi is not sandy but covered with bare rock.

Gobind Singh \go- l bin-d3- , siq-g9, 'go-.bind-'siqN orig. Gobind Rai (b. 1666, Patna, Bihar, India—d. Oct. 7, 1708, Nanded, Maharashtra) Sikh Guru. The son of Guru Tegh Bahadur (1664-75), he was trained in the martial arts in the Punjab. When he was nine his father was executed, and he became the 10th and last Guru of Sikhism, presiding over the Sikh court at Anandpur. A scholar and poet, he is credited with putting the Adi Granth into its final form. His other great achievement was the founding (1699) of the Khalsa, the egalitarian community that gave Sikhism its political and religious definition and galvanized its martial energies. He was con¬ tinually at war with local Hindu chiefs and the Mughal authorities, who together forced the Sikhs out of Anandpur in 1704 and killed his four sons. After the death of Aurangzeb, he supported the claim of the future emperor, Bahadur Shah (1643-1712), to the throne. He was assassinated before he could persuade Bahadur Shah to allow the Sikhs’ return to Anandpur.

Gobineau \g6-be-'no\, Joseph-Arthur, count de (b. July 14, 1816, Ville-d’Avray, France—d. Oct. 13, 1882, Turin, Italy) French dip¬ lomat and writer. While serving in the diplomatic service (1849-77), he wrote the Essay on the Inequality of Human Races (1853-55), which asserted the superiority of the white race over others and labeled the “Aryans,” or Germanic peoples, as the summit of civilization. He claimed that white societies flourished as long as they remained free of “black and yellow strains” and that dilution would lead to corruption. His theory of racial determinism in Essay influenced the racist policies of such figures as Robert F. Wagner, Houston Stewart Chamberlain, and Adolf Hitler.

goby Any of more than 800 species of carnivorous fishes (suborder Gobioidei, order Perciformes), found worldwide but especially abundant in the tropics. Most species are small bottom dwellers with a weak suction cup formed by the fusion of their pelvic fins. About 700 species are typi¬ cally elongated, sometimes scaleless fishes found along shores and among reefs in tropical and temperate seas. They have two dorsal fins and a rounded tail, lack a lateral line (sensory organ along the side of the body), and are often brightly coloured. Most adults are no longer than 4 in. (10 cm).

God Deity or Supreme Being. Each of the major monotheistic world religions worships a Supreme Being, who is the sole god of the universe, the maker of all things, omniscient and all-powerful. God is also good. In ancient Israel God was named Yahweh. The God of the Hebrew Bible also became the God of Christianity, but generic words, such as theos in Greek or Deus in Latin, were often used to refer to him. In Islam the term is Allah. See also monotheism.

god and goddess Generic terms for the many deities of ancient and modern polytheistic religions. There may be deities of earthly and celes¬ tial phenomena as well as deities related to human values, pastimes, and institutions, including love, marriage, hunting, war, and the arts. They may be capable of being killed but are often immortal and always more pow¬ erful than humans, though they are often described in human terms, with all the flaws, thoughts, and emotions of humans. See also polytheism.

Godard \g6-'dar\, Jean-Luc (b. Dec. 3, 1930, Paris, France) French film director. He wrote film criticism for the influential journal Cahiers du cinema before impressing audiences with his first feature film, the improvisatory and original Breathless (1960), which established him as the apostle of the New Wave. He continued to explore new techniques in films such as My Life to Live (1962), Pierrot le fou (1965), Alphaville (1965), and Weekend (1968), using the camera creatively to express politi¬ cal commentary. He returned to themes of more universal concern with Every Man for Himself (1979) and Passion (1982) but stirred controversy with his updated nativity story in Hail Mary! (1985). He received wide critical acclaim for Histoire(s) du Cinema (1997), a video study of French film, and In Praise of Love (2001).

Godavari River \go-'da-vo-re\ River, central India. It rises in the West¬ ern Ghats and flows east across the Deccan Plateau, along the Maharashtra- Andhra Pradesh border. It crosses Andhra Pradesh state, and turns southeast for its last 200 mi (320 km) before reaching the Bay of Bengal. Its total length is about 910 mi (1,465 km). The development of an irrigation-canal system, linking its delta with that of the Krishna River to the southwest, has made the land one of the richest rice-growing areas of India. The Godavari, throughout its entire length, is sacred to the Hindus.

Goddard family New England cabinetmakers. Of English ancestry, the Goddards intermarried with the Townsend family, equally famous cabi¬ netmakers. John Goddard (1723-1785), the son of a carpenter, moved in the 1720s from Massachusetts to Newport, R.I., where he and his brother worked for Job Townsend. By the 1760s Goddard had established his own workshop and become Newport’s leading cabinetmaker, producing simple adaptations in the Queen Anne style. He originated the blockfront, a dis¬ tinctive front for desks, secretaries, and cabinets, decorated with his char¬ acteristic carved shell ornaments; pieces were made of mahogany from the West Indies and South America. Some 20 Goddard and Townsend craftsmen of four generations are known. Goddard-Townsend furniture was among the finest made in North America in the 18th century.

Goddard, Robert Hutchings (b. Oct. 5, 1882, Worcester, Mass., U.S.—d. Aug. 10, 1945, Baltimore, Md.) U.S. inventor, regarded as the father of modern rocketry. He received his doctorate (1911) from Clark University, where he taught for much of his career. In laboratory work there, he proved that thrust and consequent propulsion can take place in

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Godden ► Goebbels I 773

a vacuum and was the first to develop a ROCKET engine using liquid pro¬ pellants (static tested in 1925). In 1926 Goddard successfully launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket (gasoline and liquid oxygen) from a farm in Massachusetts. In 1935, having relocated his testing site to New Mexico, he was the first to send a liquid-fueled rocket faster than the speed of sound. He patented the first practical automatic steering apparatus for rockets, developed staged rockets designed to gain great altitudes, and developed the first rocket-fuel pumps, self-cooling rocket engines, and other components of a propulsion system designed for space exploration. Much of his work anticipated that of Wernher von Braun in Germany but was ignored by the U.S. government until after his death at the end of World War II.

Godden, Rumer in full Margaret Rumer Godden Haynes- Dixon (b. Dec. 10, 1907, Eastbourne, Sussex, Eng.—d. Nov. 8, 1998, Dumfries, Scot.) British writer. She grew up in India, and after attending school in Britain she returned to spend many years there. Her novel Black Narcissus (1939; film, 1947) brought her popular success. The story of a group of English nuns in the Himalayas, it deals with her recurring themes of cultural conflicts and obsessive love. She often wrote about children, as in The River (1946; filmed by Jean Renoir in 1951) and The Greengage Summer (1958; film, 1961), and wrote almost two dozen books for chil¬ dren.

Godel Vgoe-d3l,\ English \ , go(r)-d9l\ / Kurt (b. April 28, 1906, Briinn, Austria-Hungary—d. Jan. 14, 1978, Princeton, N.J., U.S.) Austrian-born U.S. mathematician and logician. He began his career on the faculty of the University of Vienna, where he produced his groundbreaking proof (see Godel's theorem) in the early 1930s. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1940 and taught at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. There his close friendship with Albert Einstein led him into the field of general relativity theory and to solutions of some of Einstein’s equations. A quiet and unas¬ suming man, Godel did not at first recognize the importance of his famous theorem, and later in life he declined many of the honours that it brought him.

Godel's theorem Principle of the foundations of mathematics. One of the most important discoveries of 20th-century mathematics, it states the impossibility of defining a complete system of axioms that is also consis¬ tent (does not give rise to contradictions). Any formal system (e.g., a computer program or a set of mathematical rules and axioms) powerful enough to generate meaningful statements can generate statements that are true but that cannot be proven or derived within the system. As a con¬ sequence, mathematics cannot be placed on an entirely rigorous basis. Named for Kurt Godel, who published his proof in 1931, it immediately had consequences for philosophy (particularly logic) and other areas. Its ramifications continue to be debated.

Godey's Lady's Book \'go-dez\ Monthly magazine for women, one of the most successful and influential periodicals in 19th-century America. Founded in 1830 in Philadelphia by Louis Antoine Godey, it became an important arbiter of fashion and etiquette. It also published works by such writers as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry W. Longfellow, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Edited by Godey until 1836, the magazine was then edited by Sara Josepha Hale until 1877. It ceased publication in 1898.

Godfrey, Arthur (Morton) (b. Aug. 31, 1903, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. March 16, 1983, New York) U.S. radio and television entertainer. His relaxed manner and affable banter as a radio host won him such a wide following that he had two daily shows and a weekly show on CBS in the 1940s. His variety show, which transferred to television as Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts and later The Arthur Godfrey Show (1948-60), launched the careers of numerous popular entertainers.

Godfrey of Bouillon \bii-'yo n \ (b. c. 1060—d. July 18, 1100, Jerusa¬ lem) Duke of Lower Lorraine (1089—1100) and a leader of the First Crusade who became the first Latin ruler in Palestine (1099). He joined the crusade in 1096 and captured Jerusalem from the Muslims in 1099; refusing the title of king, he was instead called Defender of the Holy Sepulchre. He made truces with nearby Muslim cities and fought off an Egyptian attack, but he alienated other crusaders and left the kingdom weakened.

Godfrey of Saint-Victor (b. c. 1125—d. 1194, Paris) French monk, philosopher, theologian, and poet. About 1160 Godfrey entered the mon¬ astery of Saint-Victor in Paris. He left after 20 years for a rural priory, where he wrote his principal work, Microcosmus, an attempt to system¬ atize history and knowledge into a rational structure. Recalling Classical

philosophy and that of the early Church Fathers, it asserts that mankind is a microcosm containing the material and spiritual elements of reality. In his other notable work, The Fount of Philosophy (c. 1176), he pro¬ posed a classification of learning. His writings are considered prime examples of 12th-century humanism.

godi \'go-de\ In pre-Christian Scandinavia, a priest-chieftain. Worship of the Norse gods was organized around them, and in Iceland, where there was no king, they became the ruling class. They dominated the Icelandic assembly, made laws, and appointed judges. When Iceland was converted to Christianity c. 1000, they controlled the organization of the new reli¬ gion. Many of them built churches, and some were ordained priests.

Godiva \g3-'dl-v9\, Lady (fl. c. 1040-1080) Anglo-Saxon gentle¬ woman famous for her legendary ride nude through Coventry, Eng. She was the wife of Leofric, earl of Mercia (d. 1057), with whom she founded a monastery at Coventry. There is no evidence connecting the rider with the historical Godiva. According to the legend, Leofric, exasperated over Godiva’s ceaseless imploring that he reduce Coventry’s heavy taxes, declared he would do so if she rode naked through the crowded market¬ place. She did so, her long hair covering all of her body except her legs; as a result Leofric removed all tolls except those on horses. A later chronicle asserts that Godiva required the townsmen to remain indoors at the time fixed for her ride. Peeping Tom, a citizen who looked out his window, became part of the legend in the 17th century, and in most accounts he was struck blind or dead.

Godoy \gd-'d6i\, Manuel de (b. May 12, 1767, Castuera, Spain—d. Oct. 4, 1851, Paris, France) Spanish politician. He entered the royal body¬ guard in 1784 and soon became the lover of Maria Luisa, wife of the future Charles IV. On Charles’s accession (1788) Godoy continued as a royal favourite and was made duke de Alcudia and prime minister (1792- 98, 1801-08). In 1795 Godoy negotiated a favourable peace after Spain’s defeat by France and was awarded the title Prince of the Peace. He allied Spain with France against England, which brought a Spanish naval defeat at Cape St. Vincent (1797) and the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Tra¬ falgar. In 1808, when it was learned that Napoleon planned to seize parts of Spain in the Peninsular Wars, the Spanish court tried to flee. Charles was forced to abdicate, and Godoy accompanied him into exile.

Godthab See Nuuk

Godunov \'go-d 3 n-,6f\, Boris (Fyodorovich) (b. c. 1551—d. April 23, 1605, Moscow, Russia) Tsar of Russia (1598-1605). After serving in the court of Ivan IV, he was named guardian to Ivan’s dim-witted son Fyo¬ dor I and became the virtual ruler of Russia as Fyodor’s chief adviser from 1584. When Fyodor’s little brother Dmitry died mysteriously in 1591, Godunov was suspected of having had him put to death. When Fyodor died without heirs in 1598, an assembly of clergy and gentry elected Godunov tsar. A capable ruler, he instituted many reforms, but continu¬ ing boyar opposition and a general famine (1601-03) eroded his popular¬ ity. The False Dmitry led an army into Russia, and on Boris’s sudden death, resistance broke down, and the country lapsed into the Time of Troubles.

Godwin, William (b. March 3, 1756, Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cam¬ bridgeshire, Eng.—d. April 7, 1836, London) British writer. He became a Presbyterian minister but soon lost his faith. His Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793) captivated Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, Robert Southey, and Percy B. Shelley (who was to become his son-in-law), condemning the institution of marriage, among other things. The Adventures of Caleb Wil¬ liams (1794) was his masterpiece. He married Mary Wollstonecraft in 1797, but she died soon after the birth of their daughter, Mary (see Mary Shelley), conceived before their marriage.

Goebbels Vgce-b3ls,\ English Vg3(r)-b3lz\, (Paul) Joseph (b. Oct. 29, 1897, Rheydt, Ger.—d. May

Joseph Goebbels, c. 1935.

INTERFOTO-FRIEDRICH RAUCH, MUNICH

© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

774 i Goerdeler ► Goibniu

1, 1945, Berlin) German Nazi leader. After earning a doctorate from Heidelberg University, he joined the Nazi Party and was appointed district leader in Berlin by Adolf Hitler in 1926. A gifted speaker, Goebbels also edited the party’s journal and began to create the Fiihrer myth around Hit¬ ler, instituting the party demonstrations that helped convert the masses to Nazism. After Hitler seized power in 1933, Goebbels took control of the national propaganda machinery. During World War II he carried on a per¬ sonal propaganda blitz to raise hopes on the home front. Named chancellor in Hitler’s will, he remained with Hitler to the end. One day after Hitler’s suicide, Goebbels and his wife killed themselves and their six children.

Goerdeler Vgcer-do-brV, Karl Friedrich (b. July 31, 1884, Schneidemiihl, Ger.—d. Feb. 2, 1945, Berlin) German politician. He served as second mayor of Konigsberg (1920-30) and mayor of Leipzig (1930-37). A member of the rightist German National People's Party, he had to resign as mayor of Leipzig when his relations with the Nazi Party deteriorated. He collaborated with conservative generals led by Ludwig Beck against Hitler, after whose overthrow Goerdeler was to become chan¬ cellor. When the July Plot failed in 1944, he went into hiding, but was soon arrested by the Gestapo in Poland and hanged.

Goering, Hermann See Hermann Goring

Goes Vgus\, Hugo van der (b. c. 1440—d. 1482, Roode Kloster, near Brussels) Flemish painter. Nothing is known of his life before 1467, when he became a master in the painters’ guild in Ghent. He received numer¬ ous commissions from the town of Ghent (processional banners, heraldic shields, etc.) through 1475. He was elected dean of the guild in 1474. The next year, at the height of his career, he entered a monastery near Brus¬ sels as a lay brother, though he continued to paint and travel. A mental breakdown in 1481 led to a suicide attempt, and he died the following year. His masterpiece and only documented work is a large triptych known as the Portinari Altarpiece (c. 1473-78); an outstanding early example of northern realism, it shows psychological insight and an emotional inten¬ sity unprecedented in Flemish art. A poignant and disturbing Death of the Virgin is also attributed to him.

Goethals Vgo-tholzV George Washington (b. June 29, 1858, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.—d. Jan. 21,1928, New York, N.Y.) U.S. army officer and engineer. After graduating from West Point, he served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where he gained experience in the construction of canals and harbours; he also taught engineering at West Point. Appointed by Pres. Theodore Roosevelt to direct the building of the Panama Canal, he successfully confronted complex problems of both engineering and logis¬ tics. He was appointed the Canal Zone’s first governor (1914-17). In World War I, he directed procurement for and the movement of U.S. troops at home and abroad. After retiring in 1919, he served as a consultant to many organizations, including the Port of New York Authority.