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4,062 |
Bilskirnir
|
**Bilskirnir** (Old Norse \"lightning-crack\") is the hall of the god Thor in Norse mythology. Here he lives with his wife Sif and their children. According to *Grímnismál*, the hall is the greatest of buildings and contains 540 rooms, located in Asgard, as are all the dwellings of the gods, in the kingdom of Þrúðheimr (or Þrúðvangar according to *Gylfaginning* and *Ynglinga saga*).
## Modern influence {#modern_influence}
- The hall inspired the name of an Asgard starship commanded by Supreme Commander Thor, in the television series Stargate SG-1 named Beliskner.
- There is a NS / pagan black metal band from Hesse, Germany named Bilskirnir.
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4,063 |
Brísingamen
|
In Norse mythology, ***Brísingamen**\'\' (or***Brísinga men**\'\') is the torc or necklace of the goddess Freyja, of which little else is known for certain.
## Etymology
The name is an Old Norse compound *brísinga-men* whose second element is *men* \"(ornamental) neck-ring (of precious metal), torc\".`{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|German sources use ''[[:de:Halsband|Halsband]]''<ref>e.g., Simek, Rudolf (1984) ''Lexikon der germanischen Mythologie'', s.v. "{{URL|1=https://archive.org/details/lexikondergerman0000sime/page/n551/mode/2up?q=Brisingamen |2=Brisingamen}}"</ref> lit. "neck-band", which differentiates from ''[[:de:Halskette|Halskette]]'' for 'necklace'.}}`{=mediawiki}
The etymology of the first element is uncertain. It has been derived from Old Norse *brísingr*, a poetic term for \"fire\" or \"amber\" mentioned in the anonymous versified word-lists (*þulur*) appended to many manuscripts of the Prose Edda, making Brísingamen \"gleaming torc\", \"sunny torc\", or the like. However, *Brísingr* can also be an ethnonym, in which case *Brísinga men* is \"torc of the Brísings\"; the Old English parallel in *Beowulf* supports this derivation, though who the Brísings (Old Norse *Brísingar*) may have been remains unknown.
## Attestations
### *Beowulf*
Brísingamen is referred to in the Anglo-Saxon epic *Beowulf* as *Brosinga mene*. The brief mention in *Beowulf* is as follows (trans. by Howell Chickering, 1977):
The *Beowulf* poet is clearly referring to the legends about Theoderic the Great. The *Þiðrekssaga* tells that the warrior Heime (*Háma* in Old English) takes sides against Ermanaric (\"Eormanric\"), king of the Goths, and has to flee his kingdom after robbing him; later in life, Hama enters a monastery and gives them all his stolen treasure. However, this saga makes no mention of the great necklace.
### *Poetic Edda* {#poetic_edda}
In the poem *Þrymskviða* of the *Poetic Edda*, Þrymr, the king of the jǫtnar, steals Thor\'s hammer, Mjölnir. Freyja lends Loki her falcon cloak to search for it; but upon returning, Loki tells Freyja that Þrymr has hidden the hammer and demanded to marry her in return. Freyja is so wrathful that all the Æsir's halls beneath her are shaken and the necklace Brísingamen breaks off from her neck. Later, Thor borrows Brísingamen when he dresses up as Freyja to go to the wedding at Jǫtunheimr.
### *Prose Edda* {#prose_edda}
*Húsdrápa*, a skaldic poem partially preserved in the *Prose Edda*, relates the story of the theft of Brísingamen by Loki. One day when Freyja wakes up and finds Brísingamen missing, she enlists the help of Heimdallr to help her search for it. Eventually they find the thief, who turns out to be Loki and who has transformed himself into a seal. Heimdallr turns into a seal as well and fights Loki (trans. Byock 2005): `{{Blockquote|...it was on this occasion that [Heimdall] and Loki came to blows over the ring of the Brisings. The skald Ulf Uggason devotes a lengthy passage to that story in his poem ''Husdrapa'', and it is stated there that Heimdall and Loki took on the shape of seals.}}`{=mediawiki} After a lengthy battle at Singasteinn, Heimdallr wins and returns Brísingamen to Freyja.
Snorri Sturluson quoted this old poem in *Skáldskaparmál*, saying that because of this legend Heimdallr is called \"Seeker of Freyja\'s Necklace\" (*Skáldskaparmál*, section 8) and Loki is called \"Thief of Brísingamen\" (*Skáldskaparmál*, section 16). A similar story appears in the later *Sörla þáttr*, where Heimdallr does not appear.
### *Sörla þáttr* {#sörla_þáttr}
Sörla þáttr is a short story in the later and extended version of the *Saga of Olaf Tryggvason* in the manuscript of the *Flateyjarbók*, which was written and compiled by two Christian priests, Jon Thordson and Magnus Thorhalson, in the late 14th century. In the end of the story, the arrival of Christianity dissolves the old curse that traditionally was to endure until Ragnarök.
The battle of Högni and Heðinn is recorded in several medieval sources, including the skaldic poem *Ragnarsdrápa*, *Skáldskaparmál* (section 49), and *Gesta Danorum*: king Högni\'s daughter, Hildr, is kidnapped by king Heðinn. When Högni comes to fight Heðinn on an island, Hildr comes to offer her father a necklace on behalf of Heðinn for peace; but the two kings still battle, and Hildr resurrects the fallen to make them fight until Ragnarök. None of these earlier sources mentions Freyja or king Olaf Tryggvason, the historical figure who Christianized Norway and Iceland in the 10th Century.
## Archaeological record {#archaeological_record}
A Völva was buried c. 1000 with considerable splendour in Hagebyhöga in Östergötland, Sweden. In addition to being buried with her wand, she had received great riches which included horses, a wagon and an Arabian bronze pitcher. There was also a silver pendant, which represents a woman with a broad necklace around her neck. This kind of necklace was only worn by the most prominent women during the Iron Age and some have interpreted it as Freyja\'s necklace Brísingamen. The pendant may represent Freyja herself.
## Modern influence {#modern_influence}
Alan Garner wrote a children\'s fantasy novel called *The Weirdstone of Brisingamen*, published in 1960, about an enchanted teardrop bracelet.
Diana Paxson\'s novel *Brisingamen* features Freyja and her necklace.
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has a perfumed oil scent named Brisingamen.
Freyja\'s necklace Brisingamen features prominently in Betsy Tobin\'s novel *Iceland*, where the necklace is seen to have significant protective powers.
The Brisingamen feature as a major item in Joel Rosenberg\'s Keepers of the Hidden Ways series of books. In it, there are seven jewels that were created for the necklace by the Dwarfs and given to the Norse goddess. She in turn eventually split them up into the seven separate jewels and hid them throughout the realm, as together they hold the power to shape the universe by its holder. The book\'s plot is about discovering one of them and deciding what to do with the power they allow while avoiding Loki and other Norse characters.
In Christopher Paolini\'s *The Inheritance Cycle*, the word \"brisingr\" means fire. This is probably a distillation of the word *brisinga*.
Ursula Le Guin\'s short story *Semley\'s Necklace*, the first part of her novel *Rocannon\'s World*, is a retelling of the Brisingamen story on an alien planet.
Brisingamen is represented as a card in the *Yu-Gi-Oh!* Trading Card Game, \"Nordic Relic Brisingamen\".
Brisingamen was part of MMORPG *Ragnarok Online* lore, which is ranked as \"God item\". The game is heavily based from Norse mythology.
In the *Firefly Online* game, one of the planets of the Himinbjörg system (which features planets named after figures from Germanic mythology) is named Brisingamen. It is third from the star, and has moons named Freya, Beowulf, and Alberich.
The Brisingamen is an item that can be found and equipped in the video game, *Castlevania: Lament of Innocence*.
In the French comics *Freaks\' Squeele*, the character of Valkyrie accesses her costume change ability by touching a decorative torc necklace affixed to her forehead, named Brizingamen.
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4,064 |
Borsuk–Ulam theorem
|
In mathematics, the **Borsuk--Ulam theorem** states that every continuous function from an *n*-sphere into Euclidean *n*-space maps some pair of antipodal points to the same point. Here, two points on a sphere are called antipodal if they are in exactly opposite directions from the sphere\'s center.
Formally: if $f: S^n \to \R^n$ is continuous then there exists an $x\in S^n$ such that: $f(-x)=f(x)$.
The case $n=1$ can be illustrated by saying that there always exist a pair of opposite points on the Earth\'s equator with the same temperature. The same is true for any circle. This assumes the temperature varies continuously in space, which is, however, not always the case.
The case $n=2$ is often illustrated by saying that at any moment, there is always a pair of antipodal points on the Earth\'s surface with equal temperatures and equal barometric pressures, assuming that both parameters vary continuously in space.
The Borsuk--Ulam theorem has several equivalent statements in terms of odd functions. Recall that $S^n$ is the *n*-sphere and $B^n$ is the *n*-ball:
- If $g : S^n \to \R^n$ is a continuous odd function, then there exists an $x\in S^n$ such that: $g(x)=0$.
- If $g : B^n \to \R^n$ is a continuous function which is odd on $S^{n-1}$ (the boundary of $B^n$), then there exists an $x\in B^n$ such that: $g(x)=0$.
## History
According to `{{harvtxt|Matoušek|2003|p=25}}`{=mediawiki}, the first historical mention of the statement of the Borsuk--Ulam theorem appears in `{{harvtxt|Lyusternik|Shnirel'man|1930}}`{=mediawiki}. The first proof was given by `{{harvs|first=Karol|last=Borsuk|authorlink=Karol Borsuk|year=1933|txt}}`{=mediawiki}, where the formulation of the problem was attributed to Stanisław Ulam. Since then, many alternative proofs have been found by various authors, as collected by `{{harvtxt|Steinlein|1985}}`{=mediawiki}.
## Equivalent statements {#equivalent_statements}
The following statements are equivalent to the Borsuk--Ulam theorem.
### With odd functions {#with_odd_functions}
A function $g$ is called *odd* (aka *antipodal* or *antipode-preserving*) if for every $x$, $g(-x)=-g(x)$.
The Borsuk--Ulam theorem is equivalent to each of the following statements:
\(1\) Each continuous odd function $S^n\to \R^n$ has a zero.
\(2\) There is no continuous odd function $S^n \to S^{n-1}$.
Here is a proof that the Borsuk-Ulam theorem is equivalent to (1):
($\Longrightarrow$) If the theorem is correct, then it is specifically correct for odd functions, and for an odd function, $g(-x)=g(x)$ iff $g(x)=0$. Hence every odd continuous function has a zero.
($\Longleftarrow$) For every continuous function $f:S^n\to \R^n$, the following function is continuous and odd: $g(x)=f(x)-f(-x)$. If every odd continuous function has a zero, then $g$ has a zero, and therefore, $f(x)=f(-x)$.
To prove that (1) and (2) are equivalent, we use the following continuous odd maps:
- the obvious inclusion $i: S^{n-1}\to \R^n\setminus \{0\}$,
- and the radial projection map $p: \R^n\setminus \{0\} \to S^{n-1}$ given by $x \mapsto \frac{x}{|x|}$.
The proof now writes itself.
$((1) \Longrightarrow (2))$ We prove the contrapositive. If there exists a continuous odd function $f:S^n\to S^{n-1}$, then $i\circ f$ is a continuous odd function $S^n\to \R^n\setminus \{0\}$.
$((1) \Longleftarrow (2))$ Again we prove the contrapositive. If there exists a continuous odd function $f:S^n\to \R^{n}\setminus\{0\}$, then $p\circ f$ is a continuous odd function $S^n\to S^{n-1}$.
## Proofs
### 1-dimensional case {#dimensional_case}
The 1-dimensional case can easily be proved using the intermediate value theorem (IVT).
Let $g$ be the odd real-valued continuous function on a circle defined by $g(x)=f(x)-f(-x)$. Pick an arbitrary $x$. If $g(x)=0$ then we are done. Otherwise, without loss of generality, $g(x)>0.$ But $g(-x)<0.$ Hence, by the IVT, there is a point $y$ at which $g(y)=0$.
### General case {#general_case}
#### Algebraic topological proof {#algebraic_topological_proof}
Assume that $h: S^n \to S^{n-1}$ is an odd continuous function with $n > 2$ (the case $n = 1$ is treated above, the case $n = 2$ can be handled using basic covering theory). By passing to orbits under the antipodal action, we then get an induced continuous function $h': \mathbb{RP}^n \to \mathbb{RP}^{n-1}$ between real projective spaces, which induces an isomorphism on fundamental groups. By the Hurewicz theorem, the induced ring homomorphism on cohomology with $\mathbb F_2$ coefficients \[where $\mathbb F_2$ denotes the field with two elements\],
$$\mathbb F_2[a]/a^{n+1} = H^*\left(\mathbb{RP}^n; \mathbb{F}_2\right) \leftarrow H^*\left(\mathbb{RP}^{n-1}; \mathbb F_2\right) = \mathbb F_2[b]/b^{n},$$
sends $b$ to $a$. But then we get that $b^n = 0$ is sent to $a^n \neq 0$, a contradiction.
One can also show the stronger statement that any odd map $S^{n-1} \to S^{n-1}$ has odd degree and then deduce the theorem from this result.
#### Combinatorial proof {#combinatorial_proof}
The Borsuk--Ulam theorem can be proved from Tucker\'s lemma.
Let $g : S^n \to \R^n$ be a continuous odd function. Because *g* is continuous on a compact domain, it is uniformly continuous. Therefore, for every $\epsilon > 0$, there is a $\delta > 0$ such that, for every two points of $S_n$ which are within $\delta$ of each other, their images under *g* are within $\epsilon$ of each other.
Define a triangulation of $S_n$ with edges of length at most $\delta$. Label each vertex $v$ of the triangulation with a label $l(v)\in {\pm 1, \pm 2, \ldots, \pm n}$ in the following way:
- The absolute value of the label is the *index* of the coordinate with the highest absolute value of *g*: $|l(v)| = \arg\max_k (|g(v)_k|)$.
- The sign of the label is the sign of *g* at the above coordinate, so that: $l(v) = \sgn (g(v)_{|l(v)|}) |l(v)|$.
Because *g* is odd, the labeling is also odd: $l(-v) = -l(v)$. Hence, by Tucker\'s lemma, there are two adjacent vertices $u, v$ with opposite labels. Assume w.l.o.g. that the labels are $l(u)=1, l(v)=-1$. By the definition of *l*, this means that in both $g(u)$ and $g(v)$, coordinate #1 is the largest coordinate: in $g(u)$ this coordinate is positive while in $g(v)$ it is negative. By the construction of the triangulation, the distance between $g(u)$ and $g(v)$ is at most $\epsilon$, so in particular $|g(u)_1 - g(v)_1| = |g(u)_1| + |g(v)_1| \leq \epsilon$ (since $g(u)_1$ and $g(v)_1$ have opposite signs) and so $|g(u)_1| \leq \epsilon$. But since the largest coordinate of $g(u)$ is coordinate #1, this means that $|g(u)_k| \leq \epsilon$ for each $1 \leq k \leq n$. So $|g(u)| \leq c_n \epsilon$, where $c_n$ is some constant depending on $n$ and the norm $|\cdot|$ which you have chosen.
The above is true for every $\epsilon > 0$; since $S_n$ is compact there must hence be a point *u* in which $|g(u)|=0$.
## Corollaries
- No subset of $\R^n$ is homeomorphic to $S^n$
- The ham sandwich theorem: For any compact sets *A*~1~, \..., *A~n~* in $\R^n$ we can always find a hyperplane dividing each of them into two subsets of equal measure.
## Equivalent results {#equivalent_results}
Above we showed how to prove the Borsuk--Ulam theorem from Tucker\'s lemma. The converse is also true: it is possible to prove Tucker\'s lemma from the Borsuk--Ulam theorem. Therefore, these two theorems are equivalent. `{{Analogous fixed-point theorems}}`{=mediawiki}
## Generalizations
- In the original theorem, the domain of the function *f* is the unit *n*-sphere (the boundary of the unit *n*-ball). In general, it is true also when the domain of *f* is the boundary of any open bounded symmetric subset of $\R^n$ containing the origin (Here, symmetric means that if *x* is in the subset then -*x* is also in the subset).
- More generally, if $M$ is a compact *n*-dimensional Riemannian manifold, and $f: M \rightarrow \mathbb{R}^n$ is continuous, there exists a pair of points *x* and *y* in $M$ such that $f(x) = f(y)$ and *x* and *y* are joined by a geodesic of length $\delta$, for any prescribed $\delta > 0$.
- Consider the function *A* which maps a point to its antipodal point: $A(x) = -x.$ Note that $A(A(x))=x.$ The original theorem claims that there is a point *x* in which $f(A(x))=f(x).$ In general, this is true also for every function *A* for which $A(A(x))=x.$ However, in general this is not true for other functions *A*.
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Bragi
|
**Bragi** (Old Norse) is the skaldic god of poetry in Norse mythology.
## Etymology
The theonym Bragi probably stems from the masculine noun *bragr*, which can be translated in Old Norse as \'poetry\' (cf. Icelandic *bragur* \'poem, melody, wise\') or as \'the first, noblest\' (cf. poetic Old Norse *bragnar* \'chiefs, men\', *bragningr* \'king\'). It is unclear whether the theonym semantically derives from the first meaning or the second.
A connection has been also suggested with the Old Norse *bragarfull*, the cup drunk in solemn occasions with the taking of vows. The word is usually taken to semantically derive from the second meaning of *bragr* (\'first one, noblest\'). A relation with the Old English term *brego* (\'lord, prince\') remains uncertain.
*Bragi* regularly appears as a personal name in Old Norse and Old Swedish sources, which according to linguist Jan de Vries might indicate the secondary character of the god\'s name.
## Attestations
Snorri Sturluson writes in the *Gylfaginning* after describing Odin, Thor, and Baldr: `{{blockquote|One is called Bragi: he is renowned for wisdom, and most of all for fluency of speech and skill with words. He knows most of skaldship, and after him skaldship is called ''bragr'', and from his name that one is called ''bragr''-man or -woman, who possesses eloquence surpassing others, of women or of men. His wife is [[Iðunn]].}}`{=mediawiki}
In *Skáldskaparmál* Snorri writes: `{{blockquote|How should one periphrase Bragi? By calling him ''husband of Iðunn'', ''first maker of poetry'', and ''the long-bearded god'' (after his name, a man who has a great beard is called Beard-Bragi), and ''son of Odin''.}}`{=mediawiki}
That Bragi is Odin\'s son is clearly mentioned only here and in some versions of a list of the sons of Odin (see Sons of Odin). But \"wish-son\" in stanza 16 of the *Lokasenna* could mean \"Odin\'s son\" and is translated by Hollander as *Odin\'s kin*. Bragi\'s mother is possibly Frigg.
In that poem Bragi at first forbids Loki to enter the hall but is overruled by Odin. Loki then gives a greeting to all gods and goddesses who are in the hall save to Bragi. Bragi generously offers his sword, horse, and an arm ring as peace gift but Loki only responds by accusing Bragi of cowardice, of being the most afraid to fight of any of the Æsir and Elves within the hall. Bragi responds that if they were outside the hall, he would have Loki\'s head, but Loki only repeats the accusation. When Bragi\'s wife Iðunn attempts to calm Bragi, Loki accuses her of embracing her brother\'s slayer, a reference to matters that have not survived. It may be that Bragi had slain Iðunn\'s brother.
A passage in the *Poetic Edda* poem *Sigrdrífumál* describes runes being graven on the sun, on the ear of one of the sun-horses and on the hoofs of the other, on Sleipnir\'s teeth, on bear\'s paw, on eagle\'s beak, on wolf\'s claw, and on several other things including on Bragi\'s tongue. Then the runes are shaved off and the shavings are mixed with mead and sent abroad so that Æsir have some, Elves have some, Vanir have some, and Men have some, these being speech runes and birth runes, ale runes, and magic runes. The meaning of this is obscure.
The first part of Snorri Sturluson\'s *Skáldskaparmál* is a dialogue between Ægir and Bragi about the nature of poetry, particularly skaldic poetry. Bragi tells the origin of the mead of poetry from the blood of Kvasir and how Odin obtained this mead. He then goes on to discuss various poetic metaphors known as *kennings*.
Snorri Sturluson clearly distinguishes the god Bragi from the mortal skald Bragi Boddason, whom he often mentions separately. The appearance of Bragi in the *Lokasenna* indicates that if these two Bragis were originally the same, they have become separated for that author also, or that chronology has become very muddled and Bragi Boddason has been relocated to mythological time. Compare the appearance of the Welsh Taliesin in the second branch of the Mabinogi. Legendary chronology sometimes does become muddled. Whether Bragi the god originally arose as a deified version of Bragi Boddason was much debated in the 19th century, especially by the scholars Eugen Mogk and Sophus Bugge. The debate remains undecided.
In the poem *Eiríksmál* Odin, in Valhalla, hears the coming of the dead Norwegian king Eric Bloodaxe and his host, and bids the heroes Sigmund and Sinfjötli rise to greet him. Bragi is then mentioned, questioning how Odin knows that it is Eric and why Odin has let such a king die. In the poem *Hákonarmál*, Hákon the Good is taken to Valhalla by the valkyrie Göndul and Odin sends Hermóðr and Bragi to greet him. In these poems Bragi could be either a god or a dead hero in Valhalla. Attempting to decide is further confused because *Hermóðr* also seems to be sometimes the name of a god and sometimes the name of a hero. That Bragi was also the first to speak to Loki in the *Lokasenna* as Loki attempted to enter the hall might be a parallel. It might have been useful and customary that a man of great eloquence and versed in poetry should greet those entering a hall. He is also depicted in tenth-century court poetry of helping to prepare Valhalla for new arrivals and welcoming the kings who have been slain in battle to the hall of Odin.
## Skalds named Bragi {#skalds_named_bragi}
### Bragi Boddason {#bragi_boddason}
In the *Prose Edda* Snorri Sturluson quotes many stanzas attributed to **Bragi Boddason** the old (*Bragi Boddason inn gamli*), a Norwegian court poet who served several Swedish kings, Ragnar Lodbrok, Östen Beli and Björn at Hauge who reigned in the first half of the 9th century. This Bragi was reckoned as the first skaldic poet, and was certainly the earliest skaldic poet then remembered by name whose verse survived in memory.
Snorri especially quotes passages from Bragi\'s *Ragnarsdrápa*, a poem supposedly composed in honor of the famous legendary Viking Ragnar Lodbrok (\'Hairy-breeches\') describing the images on a decorated shield which Ragnar had given to Bragi. The images included Thor\'s fishing for Jörmungandr, Gefjun\'s ploughing of Zealand from the soil of Sweden, the attack of Hamdir and Sorli against King Jörmunrekk, and the never-ending battle between Hedin and Högni.
### Bragi son of Hálfdan the Old {#bragi_son_of_hálfdan_the_old}
**Bragi son of Hálfdan the Old** is mentioned only in the *Skjáldskaparmál*. This Bragi is the sixth of the second of two groups of nine sons fathered by King Hálfdan the Old on Alvig the Wise, daughter of King Eymund of Hólmgard. This second group of sons are all eponymous ancestors of legendary families of the north. Snorri says:
> Bragi, from whom the Bragnings are sprung (that is the race of Hálfdan the Generous).
Of the Bragnings as a race and of Hálfdan the Generous nothing else is known. However, *Bragning* is often, like some others of these dynastic names, used in poetry as a general word for \'king\' or \'ruler\'.
### Bragi Högnason {#bragi_högnason}
In the eddic poem *Helgakviða Hundingsbana II*, **Bragi Högnason**, his brother Dag, and his sister Sigrún were children of Högne, the king of East Götaland. The poem relates how Sigmund\'s son Helgi Hundingsbane agreed to take Sigrún daughter of Högni as his wife against her unwilling betrothal to Hodbrodd son of Granmar the king of Södermanland. In the subsequent battle of Frekastein (probably one of the 300 hill forts of Södermanland, as *stein* meant \"hill fort\") against Högni and Granmar, all the chieftains on Granmar\'s side are slain, including Bragi, except for Bragi\'s brother Dag.
## In popular culture {#in_popular_culture}
In the 2002 Ensemble Studios game *Age of Mythology*, Bragi is one of nine minor gods Norse players can worship.
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4,071 |
Bronski Beat
|
*Pandoc failed*: ```
Error at (line 216, column 1):
unexpected end of input
```
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4,079 |
BPP (complexity)
|
In computational complexity theory, a branch of computer science, **bounded-error probabilistic polynomial time** (**BPP**) is the class of decision problems solvable by a probabilistic Turing machine in polynomial time with an error probability bounded by 1/3 for all instances. **BPP** is one of the largest *practical* classes of problems, meaning most problems of interest in **BPP** have efficient probabilistic algorithms that can be run quickly on real modern machines. **BPP** also contains **P**, the class of problems solvable in polynomial time with a deterministic machine, since a deterministic machine is a special case of a probabilistic machine.
+---------------------------------+
| BPP algorithm (1 run) |
+=================================+
| \"padding-left:4em;\"\>produced |
| |
| }} |
+---------------------------------+
| |
+---------------------------------+
| |
+---------------------------------+
| BPP algorithm (*k* runs) |
+---------------------------------+
| \"padding-left:4em;\"\>Answer |
| |
| produced}} |
+---------------------------------+
| |
+---------------------------------+
| |
+---------------------------------+
| for some constant *c* \> 0 |
+---------------------------------+
Informally, a problem is in **BPP** if there is an algorithm for it that has the following properties:
- It is allowed to flip coins and make random decisions
- It is guaranteed to run in polynomial time
- On any given run of the algorithm, it has a probability of at most 1/3 of giving the wrong answer, whether the answer is YES or NO.
## Definition
A language *L* is in **BPP** if and only if there exists a probabilistic Turing machine *M*, such that
- *M* runs for polynomial time on all inputs
- For all *x* in *L*, *M* outputs 1 with probability greater than or equal to 2/3
- For all *x* not in *L*, *M* outputs 1 with probability less than or equal to 1/3
Unlike the complexity class **ZPP**, the machine *M* is required to run for polynomial time on all inputs, regardless of the outcome of the random coin flips.
Alternatively, **BPP** can be defined using only deterministic Turing machines. A language *L* is in **BPP** if and only if there exists a polynomial *p* and deterministic Turing machine *M*, such that
- *M* runs for polynomial time on all inputs
- For all *x* in *L*, the fraction of strings *y* of length *p*(\|*x*\|) which satisfy `{{tmath|1=M(x,y) = 1}}`{=mediawiki} is greater than or equal to 2/3
- For all *x* not in *L*, the fraction of strings *y* of length *p*(\|*x*\|) which satisfy `{{tmath|1=M(x,y) = 1}}`{=mediawiki} is less than or equal to 1/3
In this definition, the string *y* corresponds to the output of the random coin flips that the probabilistic Turing machine would have made. For some applications this definition is preferable since it does not mention probabilistic Turing machines.
In practice, an error probability of 1/3 might not be acceptable; however, the choice of 1/3 in the definition is arbitrary. Modifying the definition to use any constant between 0 and 1/2 (exclusive) in place of 1/3 would not change the resulting set **BPP**. For example, if one defined the class with the restriction that the algorithm can be wrong with probability at most 1/2^100^, this would result in the same class of problems. The error probability does not even have to be constant: the same class of problems is defined by allowing error as high as 1/2 − *n*^−*c*^ on the one hand, or requiring error as small as 2^−*n^c^*^ on the other hand, where *c* is any positive constant, and *n* is the length of input. This flexibility in the choice of error probability is based on the idea of running an error-prone algorithm many times, and using the majority result of the runs to obtain a more accurate algorithm. The chance that the majority of the runs are wrong drops off exponentially as a consequence of the Chernoff bound.
## Problems
All problems in **P** are obviously also in **BPP**. However, many problems have been known to be in **BPP** but not known to be in **P**. The number of such problems is decreasing, and it is conjectured that **P** = **BPP**.
For a long time, one of the most famous problems known to be in **BPP** but not known to be in **P** was the problem of determining whether a given number is prime. However, in the 2002 paper *PRIMES is in **P***, Manindra Agrawal and his students Neeraj Kayal and Nitin Saxena found a deterministic polynomial-time algorithm for this problem, thus showing that it is in **P**.
An important example of a problem in **BPP** (in fact in **co-RP**) still not known to be in **P** is polynomial identity testing, the problem of determining whether a polynomial is identically equal to the zero polynomial, when you have access to the value of the polynomial for any given input, but not to the coefficients. In other words, is there an assignment of values to the variables such that when a nonzero polynomial is evaluated on these values, the result is nonzero? It suffices to choose each variable\'s value uniformly at random from a finite subset of at least *d* values to achieve bounded error probability, where *d* is the total degree of the polynomial.
## Related classes {#related_classes}
If the access to randomness is removed from the definition of **BPP**, we get the complexity class **P**. In the definition of the class, if we replace the ordinary Turing machine with a quantum computer, we get the class **BQP**.
Adding postselection to **BPP**, or allowing computation paths to have different lengths, gives the class **BPP**~path~. **BPP**~path~ is known to contain **NP**, and it is contained in its quantum counterpart **PostBQP**.
A Monte Carlo algorithm is a randomized algorithm which is likely to be correct. Problems in the class **BPP** have Monte Carlo algorithms with polynomial bounded running time. This is compared to a Las Vegas algorithm which is a randomized algorithm which either outputs the correct answer, or outputs \"fail\" with low probability. Las Vegas algorithms with polynomial bound running times are used to define the class **ZPP**. Alternatively, **ZPP** contains probabilistic algorithms that are always correct and have expected polynomial running time. This is weaker than saying it is a polynomial time algorithm, since it may run for super-polynomial time, but with very low probability.
## Complexity-theoretic properties {#complexity_theoretic_properties}
alt=Diagram of randomised complexity classes\|thumb\|upright=1.25\|BPP in relation to other probabilistic complexity classes (ZPP, RP, co-RP, BQP, PP), which generalise P within PSPACE. It is unknown if any of these containments are strict.
It is known that **BPP** is closed under complement; that is, **BPP** = **co-BPP**. **BPP** is low for itself, meaning that a **BPP** machine with the power to solve **BPP** problems instantly (a **BPP** oracle machine) is not any more powerful than the machine without this extra power. In symbols, **BPP**^**BPP**^ = **BPP**.
The relationship between **BPP** and **NP** is unknown: it is not known whether **BPP** is a subset of **NP**, **NP** is a subset of **BPP** or neither. If **NP** is contained in **BPP**, which is considered unlikely since it would imply practical solutions for NP-complete problems, then **NP** = **RP** and **PH** ⊆ **BPP**.
It is known that **RP** is a subset of **BPP**, and **BPP** is a subset of **PP**. It is not known whether those two are strict subsets, since we don\'t even know if **P** is a strict subset of **PSPACE**. **BPP** is contained in the second level of the polynomial hierarchy and therefore it is contained in **PH**. More precisely, the Sipser--Lautemann theorem states that $\mathsf{BPP} \subseteq \Sigma_2 \cap \Pi_2$. As a result, **P** = **NP** leads to **P** = **BPP** since **PH** collapses to **P** in this case. Thus either **P** = **BPP** or **P** ≠ **NP** or both.
Adleman\'s theorem states that membership in any language in **BPP** can be determined by a family of polynomial-size Boolean circuits, which means **BPP** is contained in **P/poly**. Indeed, as a consequence of the proof of this fact, every **BPP** algorithm operating on inputs of bounded length can be derandomized into a deterministic algorithm using a fixed string of random bits. Finding this string may be expensive, however. Some weak separation results for Monte Carlo time classes were proven by `{{harvtxt|Karpinski|Verbeek|1987a}}`{=mediawiki}, see also `{{harvtxt|Karpinski|Verbeek|1987b}}`{=mediawiki}.
### Closure properties {#closure_properties}
The class BPP is closed under complementation, union, intersection, and concatenation.
### Relativization
Relative to oracles, we know that there exist oracles A and B, such that **P**^A^ = **BPP**^A^ and **P**^B^ ≠ **BPP**^B^. Moreover, relative to a random oracle with probability 1, **P** = **BPP** and **BPP** is strictly contained in **NP** and **co-NP**.
There is even an oracle in which `{{tmath|1=\mathsf{BPP}=\mathsf{EXP}^\mathsf{NP} }}`{=mediawiki} (and hence `{{tmath|1=\mathsf{P<NP<BPP=EXP=NEXP} }}`{=mediawiki}), which can be iteratively constructed as follows. For a fixed E^NP^ (relativized) complete problem, the oracle will give correct answers with high probability if queried with the problem instance followed by a random string of length *kn* (*n* is instance length; *k* is an appropriate small constant). Start with *n*=1. For every instance of the problem of length *n* fix oracle answers (see lemma below) to fix the instance output. Next, provide the instance outputs for queries consisting of the instance followed by *kn*-length string, and then treat output for queries of length ≤(*k*+1)*n* as fixed, and proceed with instances of length *n*+1.
The lemma ensures that (for a large enough *k*), it is possible to do the construction while leaving enough strings for the relativized `{{math|{{sans-serif|E<sup>NP</sup>}}}}`{=mediawiki} answers. Also, we can ensure that for the relativized `{{math|{{sans-serif|E<sup>NP</sup>}}}}`{=mediawiki}, linear time suffices, even for function problems (if given a function oracle and linear output size) and with exponentially small (with linear exponent) error probability. Also, this construction is effective in that given an arbitrary oracle A we can arrange the oracle B to have `{{math|{{sans-serif|P}}<sup>A</sup>≤{{sans-serif|P}}<sup>B</sup>}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|1={{sans-serif|EXP}}<sup>{{sans-serif|NP}}<sup>A</sup></sup>={{sans-serif|EXP}}<sup>{{sans-serif|NP}}<sup>B</sup></sup>={{sans-serif|BPP}}<sup>B</sup>}}`{=mediawiki}. Also, for a `{{math|{{sans-serif|1=[[ZPP (complexity)|ZPP]]=EXP}}}}`{=mediawiki} oracle (and hence `{{math|{{sans-serif|1=ZPP=BPP=EXP<NEXP}}}}`{=mediawiki}), one would fix the answers in the relativized E computation to a special nonanswer, thus ensuring that no fake answers are given.
## Derandomization
The existence of certain strong pseudorandom number generators is conjectured by most experts of the field. Such generators could replace true random numbers in any polynomial-time randomized algorithm, producing indistinguishable results. The conjecture that these generators exist implies that randomness does not give additional computational power to polynomial time computation, that is, **P** = **RP** = **BPP**. More strongly, the assumption that **P** = **BPP** is in some sense equivalent to the existence of strong pseudorandom number generators.
László Babai, Lance Fortnow, Noam Nisan, and Avi Wigderson showed that unless **EXPTIME** collapses to **MA**, **BPP** is contained in
$$\textsf{i.o.-SUBEXP} = \bigcap\nolimits_{\varepsilon>0} \textsf{i.o.-DTIME} \left (2^{n^\varepsilon} \right).$$ The class **i.o.-SUBEXP**, which stands for infinitely often **SUBEXP**, contains problems which have sub-exponential time algorithms for infinitely many input sizes. They also showed that **P** = **BPP** if the exponential-time hierarchy, which is defined in terms of the polynomial hierarchy and **E** as **E^PH^**, collapses to **E**; however, note that the exponential-time hierarchy is usually conjectured *not* to collapse.
Russell Impagliazzo and Avi Wigderson showed that if any problem in **E**, where
$$\mathsf{E} = \mathsf{DTIME} \left( 2^{O(n)} \right),$$ has circuit complexity 2^Ω(*n*)^ then **P** = **BPP**.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,080 |
BQP
|
alt=Diagram of randomised complexity classes\|thumb\|upright=1.25\|BQP in relation to other probabilistic complexity classes (ZPP, RP, co-RP, BPP, PP), which generalise P within PSPACE. It is unknown if any of these containments are strict. In computational complexity theory, **bounded-error quantum polynomial time** (**BQP**) is the class of decision problems solvable by a quantum computer in polynomial time, with an error probability of at most 1/3 for all instances. It is the quantum analogue to the complexity class **BPP**.
A decision problem is a member of **BQP** if there exists a quantum algorithm (an algorithm that runs on a quantum computer) that solves the decision problem with high probability and is guaranteed to run in polynomial time. A run of the algorithm will correctly solve the decision problem with a probability of at least 2/3.
+---------------------------------+
| BQP algorithm (1 run) |
+=================================+
| \"padding-left:4em;\"\>produced |
| |
| }} |
+---------------------------------+
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+---------------------------------+
| |
+---------------------------------+
| BQP algorithm (*k* runs) |
+---------------------------------+
| \"padding-left:4em;\"\>Answer |
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| produced}} |
+---------------------------------+
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+---------------------------------+
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+---------------------------------+
| for some constant *c* \> 0 |
+---------------------------------+
## Definition
**BQP** can be viewed as the languages associated with certain bounded-error uniform families of quantum circuits. A language *L* is in **BQP** if and only if there exists a polynomial-time uniform family of quantum circuits $\{Q_n\colon n \in \mathbb{N}\}$, such that
- For all $n \in \mathbb{N}$, *Q~n~* takes *n* qubits as input and outputs 1 bit
- For all *x* in *L*, $\mathrm{Pr}(Q_{|x|}(x)=1)\geq \tfrac{2}{3}$
- For all *x* not in *L*, $\mathrm{Pr}(Q_{|x|}(x)=0)\geq \tfrac{2}{3}$
Alternatively, one can define **BQP** in terms of quantum Turing machines. A language *L* is in **BQP** if and only if there exists a polynomial quantum Turing machine that accepts *L* with an error probability of at most 1/3 for all instances.
Similarly to other \"bounded error\" probabilistic classes, the choice of 1/3 in the definition is arbitrary. We can run the algorithm a constant number of times and take a majority vote to achieve any desired probability of correctness less than 1, using the Chernoff bound. The complexity class is unchanged by allowing error as high as 1/2 − *n*^−*c*^ on the one hand, or requiring error as small as 2^−*n^c^*^ on the other hand, where *c* is any positive constant, and *n* is the length of input.
## Relationship to other complexity classes {#relationship_to_other_complexity_classes}
BQP is defined for quantum computers; the corresponding complexity class for classical computers (or more formally for probabilistic Turing machines) is **BPP**. Just like **P** and **BPP**, **BQP** is low for itself, which means `{{math|{{sans-serif|1=BQP<sup>BQP</sup> = BQP}}}}`{=mediawiki}. Informally, this is true because polynomial time algorithms are closed under composition. If a polynomial time algorithm calls polynomial time algorithms as subroutines, the resulting algorithm is still polynomial time.
**BQP** contains **P** and **BPP** and is contained in **AWPP**, **PP** and **PSPACE**. In fact, **BQP** is low for **PP**, meaning that a **PP** machine achieves no benefit from being able to solve **BQP** problems instantly, an indication of the possible difference in power between these similar classes. The known relationships with classic complexity classes are:
$$\mathsf{P \subseteq BPP \subseteq BQP\subseteq AWPP \subseteq PP \subseteq PSPACE\subseteq EXP}$$
As the problem of `{{tmath|1=\mathsf{P}\ \stackrel{?}{=}\ \mathsf{PSPACE} }}`{=mediawiki} has not yet been solved, the proof of inequality between **BQP** and classes mentioned above is supposed to be difficult. The relation between **BQP** and **NP** is not known. In May 2018, computer scientists Ran Raz of Princeton University and Avishay Tal of Stanford University published a paper which showed that, relative to an oracle, BQP was not contained in PH. It can be proven that there exists an oracle A such that $\mathsf{BQP}^\mathrm{A}\nsubseteq\mathsf{PH}^\mathrm{A}$. In an extremely informal sense, this can be thought of as giving PH and BQP an identical, but additional, capability and verifying that BQP with the oracle (BQP^A^) can do things PH^A^ cannot. While an oracle separation has been proven, the fact that BQP is not contained in PH has not been proven. An oracle separation does not prove whether or not complexity classes are the same. The oracle separation gives intuition that BQP may not be contained in PH.
It has been suspected for many years that Fourier Sampling is a problem that exists within BQP, but not within the polynomial hierarchy. Recent conjectures have provided evidence that a similar problem, Fourier Checking, also exists in the class BQP without being contained in the polynomial hierarchy. This conjecture is especially notable because it suggests that problems existing in BQP could be classified as harder than NP-Complete problems. Paired with the fact that many practical BQP problems are suspected to exist outside of P (it is suspected and not verified because there is no proof that P ≠ NP), this illustrates the potential power of quantum computing in relation to classical computing.
Adding postselection to **BQP** results in the complexity class **PostBQP** which is equal to **PP**.
### A complete problem for Promise-BQP {#a_complete_problem_for_promise_bqp}
Promise-BQP is the class of promise problems that can be solved by a uniform family of quantum circuits (i.e., within BQP). Completeness proofs focus on this version of BQP. Similar to the notion of NP-completeness and other complete problems, we can define a complete problem as a problem that is in Promise-BQP and that every other problem in Promise-BQP reduces to it in polynomial time.
#### APPROX-QCIRCUIT-PROB {#approx_qcircuit_prob}
The APPROX-QCIRCUIT-PROB problem is complete for efficient quantum computation, and the version presented below is complete for the Promise-BQP complexity class (and not for the total BQP complexity class, for which no complete problems are known). APPROX-QCIRCUIT-PROB\'s completeness makes it useful for proofs showing the relationships between other complexity classes and BQP.
Given a description of a quantum circuit `{{mvar|C}}`{=mediawiki} acting on `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki} qubits with `{{mvar|m}}`{=mediawiki} gates, where `{{mvar|m}}`{=mediawiki} is a polynomial in `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki} and each gate acts on one or two qubits, and two numbers $\alpha, \beta \in [0,1], \alpha > \beta$, distinguish between the following two cases:
- measuring the first qubit of the state $C|0\rangle^{\otimes n}$ yields $|1\rangle$ with probability $\geq \alpha$
- measuring the first qubit of the state $C|0\rangle^{\otimes n}$ yields $|1\rangle$ with probability $\leq \beta$
Here, there is a promise on the inputs as the problem does not specify the behavior if an instance is not covered by these two cases.
**Claim.** Any BQP problem reduces to APPROX-QCIRCUIT-PROB.
**Proof.** Suppose we have an algorithm `{{mvar|A}}`{=mediawiki} that solves APPROX-QCIRCUIT-PROB, i.e., given a quantum circuit `{{mvar|C}}`{=mediawiki} acting on `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki} qubits, and two numbers $\alpha, \beta \in [0,1], \alpha > \beta$, `{{mvar|A}}`{=mediawiki} distinguishes between the above two cases. We can solve any problem in BQP with this oracle, by setting $\alpha = 2/3, \beta = 1/3$.
For any $L \in \mathsf{BQP}$, there exists family of quantum circuits $\{Q_n\colon n \in \mathbb{N}\}$ such that for all $n \in \mathbb{N}$, a state $|x\rangle$ of $n$ qubits, if $x \in L, Pr(Q_n(|x\rangle)=1) \geq 2/3$; else if $x \notin L, Pr(Q_n(|x\rangle)=0) \geq 2/3$. Fix an input $|x\rangle$ of `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki} qubits, and the corresponding quantum circuit $Q_n$. We can first construct a circuit $C_x$ such that $C_x|0\rangle^{\otimes n} = |x\rangle$. This can be done easily by hardwiring $|x\rangle$ and apply a sequence of CNOT gates to flip the qubits. Then we can combine two circuits to get $C' = Q_nC_x$, and now $C'|0\rangle^{\otimes n} = Q_n|x\rangle$. And finally, necessarily the results of $Q_n$ is obtained by measuring several qubits and apply some (classical) logic gates to them. We can always defer the measurement and reroute the circuits so that by measuring the first qubit of $C'|0\rangle^{\otimes n} = Q_n|x\rangle$, we get the output. This will be our circuit `{{mvar|C}}`{=mediawiki}, and we decide the membership of $x \in L$ by running $A(C)$ with $\alpha = 2/3, \beta = 1/3$. By definition of BQP, we will either fall into the first case (acceptance), or the second case (rejection), so $L \in \mathsf{BQP}$ reduces to APPROX-QCIRCUIT-PROB.
### BQP and EXP {#bqp_and_exp}
We begin with an easier containment. To show that $\mathsf{BQP} \subseteq \mathsf{EXP}$, it suffices to show that APPROX-QCIRCUIT-PROB is in EXP since APPROX-QCIRCUIT-PROB is BQP-complete.
Note that this algorithm also requires $2^{O(n)}$ space to store the vectors and the matrices. We will show in the following section that we can improve upon the space complexity.
### BQP and PSPACE {#bqp_and_pspace}
Sum of histories is a technique introduced by physicist Richard Feynman for path integral formulation. APPROX-QCIRCUIT-PROB can be formulated in the sum of histories technique to show that $\mathsf{BQP} \subseteq \mathsf{PSPACE}$.
Consider a quantum circuit `{{mvar|C}}`{=mediawiki}, which consists of `{{mvar|t}}`{=mediawiki} gates, $g_1, g_2, \cdots, g_m$, where each $g_j$ comes from a universal gate set and acts on at most two qubits. To understand what the sum of histories is, we visualize the evolution of a quantum state given a quantum circuit as a tree. The root is the input $|0\rangle^{\otimes n}$, and each node in the tree has $2^n$ children, each representing a state in $\mathbb C^n$. The weight on a tree edge from a node in `{{mvar|j}}`{=mediawiki}-th level representing a state $|x\rangle$ to a node in $j+1$-th level representing a state $|y\rangle$ is $\langle y|g_{j+1}|x\rangle$, the amplitude of $|y\rangle$ after applying $g_{j+1}$ on $|x\rangle$. The transition amplitude of a root-to-leaf path is the product of all the weights on the edges along the path. To get the probability of the final state being $|\psi\rangle$, we sum up the amplitudes of all root-to-leave paths that ends at a node representing $|\psi\rangle$.
More formally, for the quantum circuit `{{mvar|C}}`{=mediawiki}, its sum over histories tree is a tree of depth `{{mvar|m}}`{=mediawiki}, with one level for each gate $g_i$ in addition to the root, and with branching factor $2^n$.
Notice in the sum over histories algorithm to compute some amplitude $\alpha_x$, only one history is stored at any point in the computation. Hence, the sum over histories algorithm uses $O(nm)$ space to compute $\alpha_x$ for any `{{mvar|x}}`{=mediawiki} since $O(nm)$ bits are needed to store the histories in addition to some workspace variables.
Therefore, in polynomial space, we may compute $\sum_x |\alpha_x|^2$ over all `{{mvar|x}}`{=mediawiki} with the first qubit being `{{val|1}}`{=mediawiki}, which is the probability that the first qubit is measured to be 1 by the end of the circuit.
Notice that compared with the simulation given for the proof that $\mathsf{BQP} \subseteq \mathsf{EXP}$, our algorithm here takes far less space but far more time instead. In fact it takes $O(m\cdot 2^{mn} )$ time to calculate a single amplitude!
### BQP and PP {#bqp_and_pp}
A similar sum-over-histories argument can be used to show that $\mathsf{BQP} \subseteq \mathsf{PP}$.
### P and BQP `{{anchor|BQP, P, and NP}}`{=mediawiki} {#p_and_bqp}
We know $\mathsf{P} \subseteq \mathsf{BQP}$, since every classical circuit can be simulated by a quantum circuit.
It is conjectured that BQP solves hard problems outside of P, specifically, problems in NP. The claim is indefinite because we don\'t know if P=NP, so we don\'t know if those problems are actually in P. Below are some evidence of the conjecture:
- Integer factorization (see Shor\'s algorithm)
- Discrete logarithm
- Simulation of quantum systems (see universal quantum simulator)
- Approximating the Jones polynomial at certain roots of unity
- Harrow-Hassidim-Lloyd (HHL) algorithm
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4,082 |
Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human
|
***Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human*** (1995) is a science fiction novel by American writer K. W. Jeter. It is a continuation of both the film *Blade Runner* and the novel upon which the film was based, Philip K. Dick\'s *Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?*
## Plot
Several months after the events depicted in *Blade Runner*, Deckard has retired to an isolated shack outside the city, taking the replicant Rachael with him in a Tyrell transport container, which slows down the replicant aging process. He is approached by a woman who explains she is Sarah Tyrell, niece of Eldon Tyrell, heiress to the Tyrell Corporation and the human template (\"templant\") for the Rachael replicant. She asks Deckard to hunt down the \"missing\" sixth replicant. At the same time, the templant for Roy Batty hires Dave Holden, the blade runner attacked by Leon, to help him hunt down the man he believes is the sixth replicant---Deckard.
Deckard and Holden\'s investigations lead them to re-visit Sebastian, Bryant, and John Isidore (from the book *Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?*), learning more about the nature of the blade runners and the replicants.
When Deckard, Batty, and Holden finally clash, Batty\'s super-human fighting prowess leads Holden to believe he has been duped all along and that Batty is the sixth replicant, leading to Holden shooting him. Deckard returns to Sarah with his suspicion: there is *no* sixth replicant. Sarah, speaking via a remote camera, confesses that she invented and maintained the rumor herself in order to deliberately discredit and eventually destroy the Tyrell Corporation because her uncle Eldon had based Rachel on her and then abandoned the real Sarah. Sarah brings Rachael back to the Corporation to meet with Deckard, and they escape.
However, Holden, recovering from his injuries during the fight, later uncovers the truth: Rachael has been killed by Tyrell agents, and the \"Rachael\" who escaped with Deckard was actually Sarah. She has completed her revenge by both destroying Tyrell and taking back Rachael\'s place.
## Characters
- Rick Deckard: The Tyrell Corporation finally locates him, residing at a cabin in the woods with the frozen Rachael. In exchange for getting Rachael back, Deckard agrees to hunt the missing sixth replicant.
- Roy Batty: The man which Tyrell used as the template for his combat replicants is in fact a man of considerable instability, suffering from a brain disorder that prevents him from experiencing fear.
- Sarah Tyrell: The niece of Eldon Tyrell, Sarah locates and hires Deckard to eliminate the final replicant in order to retain her corporation\'s hold over the market.
- Dave Holden: Starting off bed-ridden after his attack by the replicant Leon, Holden is rescued by Roy who in turn leads him to some startling revelations.
- J.R. Isidore: A lowly employee of a vet\'s office, Isidore also works as an underground replicant sympathizer, having made modifications to replicants in order to help them escape detection.
## Relationship to other works {#relationship_to_other_works}
The book\'s plot draws from other material related to *Blade Runner* in a number of ways:
- Deckard, Pris, Sebastian, Leon, Batty, and Holden all appeared in *Blade Runner*.
- Many of the parts of the \"conspiracy\" are based on errors or plot holes identified by fans of the original movie, such as Leon\'s ability to bring a gun into the Tyrell building, or the reference to the sixth replicant.
- The character of John Isidore, and his \"pet hospital\", is taken from Dick\'s original novel *Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?*, although that book contained no suggestion that the shop ran a sideline in modifying replicants.
- *Blade Runner*\'s Sebastian was based on *Electric Sheep*\'s Isidore, though Jeter features them as separate characters in *The Edge of Human*.
- The idea of replicant models being mass-produced, and in particular a woman identical to Rachael existing, is also from *Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?*; although in that book, Pris was the replicant double of Rachael, and there was no suggestion that replicants were constructed based on human templates.
- The etymology of the term \"blade runner\" is revealed to come from the German phrase *bleib ruhig*, meaning \"remain calm.\" It was supposedly developed by the Tyrell Corporation to prevent news about replicants malfunctioning.
However, it also contradicts material in some ways:
- Sebastian was stated as being dead in the movie, yet he is alive in *The Edge of Human*.
- Pris was clearly stated as being a replicant in both the movie and the original novel, yet *The Edge of Human* claims she was human.
- Pris was clearly destroyed by Deckard in both the movie and the original novel. Sebastian\'s ability to bring Pris back to life as a replicant introduces numerous problems: the book implies that Sebastian was able to do this without realising that her original body was human. It is likewise unclear why Deckard would have left her, or any suspected replicant he retired, in a state from which they could be repaired.
- \"The Final Cut\" of *Blade Runner* removed the reference of a surviving sixth replicant, as it was normally considered a leftover from an early script.
## Reception
Michael Giltz of *Entertainment Weekly* gave the book a \"C−\", feeling that \"only hardcore fans will be satisfied by this tale\" and saying Jeter\'s \"habit of echoing dialogue and scenes from the film is annoying and begs comparisons he would do well to avoid.\" Tal Cohen of *Tal Cohen\'s Bookshelf* called *The Edge of Human* \"a good book\", praising Jeter\'s \"further, and deeper, investigation of the questions Philip K. Dick originally asked\", but criticized the book for its \"needless grandioseness\" and for \"rel\[ying\] on *Blade Runner* too heavily, \[as\] the number of new characters introduced is extremely small\...\"
Ian Kaplan of BearCave.com gave the book three stars out of five, saying that while he was \"not entirely satisfied\" and felt that the \"story tends to be shallow\", \"Jeter does deal with the moral dilemma of the Blade Runners who hunt down beings that are virtually human in every way.\" J. Patton of *The Bent Cover* praised Jeter for \"\[not\] try\[ing\] to emulate Philip K. Dick\", adding, \"This book also has all the grittiness and dark edges that the movie showed off so well, along with a very fast pace that will keep you reading into the wee hours of the night.\"
## Failed film adaptation {#failed_film_adaptation}
In the late 1990s, *Edge of Human* had been adapted into a screenplay by Stuart Hazeldine, *Blade Runner Down*, that was to be filmed as the sequel to the 1982 film *Blade Runner*. Ultimately neither this script nor the Jeter novel were used for the eventual sequel, *Blade Runner 2049*, which follows a different story.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,086 |
Brainfuck
|
Mindfuck\|GRM. Brainfuck}} `{{Multiple issues|
{{Unreliable sources|date=April 2023}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2023}}
}}`{=mediawiki} `{{Infobox programming language
| name = Brainfuck
| file_ext = .b, .bf
| paradigm = [[Esoteric programming language|Esoteric]], [[Imperative programming|imperative]], [[Structured programming|structured]]
| released = September 1993
| designer = Urban Müller
| typing = Typeless
| influenced_by = [[P′′]], [[Esoteric programming language#FALSE|FALSE]]
| influenced = [[Malbolge]]
}}`{=mediawiki} **Brainfuck** is an esoteric programming language created in 1993 by Swiss student Urban Müller. Designed to be extremely minimalistic, the language consists of only eight simple commands, a data pointer, and an instruction pointer.
Brainfuck is an example of a so-called Turing tarpit: it can be used to write any program, but it is not practical to do so because it provides so little abstraction that the programs get very long or complicated. While Brainfuck is fully Turing-complete, it is not intended for practical use but to challenge and amuse programmers. Brainfuck requires one to break down commands into small and simple instructions.
The language takes its name from the slang term *brainfuck*, which refers to things so complicated or unusual that they exceed the limits of one\'s understanding, as it was not meant or made for designing actual software but to challenge the boundaries of computer programming.
Because the language\'s name contains profanity, many substitutes are used, such as brainfsck, branflakes, brainoof, brainfrick, BrainF, and BF.
## History
Müller designed Brainfuck with the goal of implementing the smallest possible compiler, inspired by the 1024-byte compiler for the FALSE programming language. Müller\'s original compiler was implemented in Motorola 68000 assembly on the Amiga and compiled to a binary with a size of 296 bytes. He uploaded the first Brainfuck compiler to Aminet in 1993. The program came with a \"Readme\" file, which briefly described the language, and challenged the reader \"Who can program anything useful with it? :)\". Müller also included an interpreter and some examples. A second version of the compiler used only 240 bytes.
## Language design {#language_design}
The language consists of eight commands. A brainfuck program is a sequence of these commands, possibly interspersed with other characters (which are ignored). The commands are executed sequentially, with some exceptions: an instruction pointer begins at the first command, and each command it points to is executed, after which it normally moves forward to the next command. The program terminates when the instruction pointer moves past the last command.
The brainfuck language uses a simple machine model consisting of the program and instruction pointer, as well as a one-dimensional array of at least 30,000 byte cells initialized to zero; a movable data pointer (initialized to point to the leftmost byte of the array); and two streams of bytes for input and output (most often connected to a keyboard and a monitor respectively, and using the ASCII character encoding).
The eight language commands each consist of a single character:
Character Instruction Performed
----------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
`>` Increment the data pointer by one (to point to the next cell to the right).
`<` Decrement the data pointer by one (to point to the next cell to the left).
`+` Increment the byte at the data pointer by one.
`-` Decrement the byte at the data pointer by one.
`.` Output the byte at the data pointer.
`,` Accept one byte of input, storing its value in the byte at the data pointer.
`[` If the byte at the data pointer is zero, then instead of moving the instruction pointer forward to the next command, jump it *forward* to the command after the *matching* `]` command.
`]` If the byte at the data pointer is nonzero, then instead of moving the instruction pointer forward to the next command, jump it *back* to the command after the *matching* `[` command.
`[` and `]` match as parentheses usually do: each `[` matches exactly one `]` and vice versa, the `[` comes first, and there can be no unmatched `[` or `]` between the two.
Brainfuck programs are usually difficult to comprehend. This is partly because any mildly complex task requires a long sequence of commands and partly because the program\'s text gives no direct indications of the program\'s state. These, as well as Brainfuck\'s inefficiency and its limited input/output capabilities, are some of the reasons it is not used for serious programming. Nonetheless, like any Turing-complete language, Brainfuck is theoretically capable of computing any computable function or simulating any other computational model if given access to an unlimited amount of memory and time. A variety of Brainfuck programs have been written. Although Brainfuck programs, especially complicated ones, are difficult to write, it is quite trivial to write an interpreter for Brainfuck in a more typical language such as C due to its simplicity. Brainfuck interpreters written in the Brainfuck language itself also exist.
## Examples
### Adding two values {#adding_two_values}
As a first, simple example, the following code snippet will add the current cell\'s value to the next cell: Each time the loop is executed, the current cell is decremented, the data pointer moves to the right, that next cell is incremented, and the data pointer moves left again. This sequence is repeated until the starting cell is 0.
``` bf
[->+<]
```
This can be incorporated into a simple addition program as follows:
``` bf
++ Cell c0 = 2
> +++++ Cell c1 = 5
[ Start your loops with your cell pointer on the loop counter (c1 in our case)
< + Add 1 to c0
> - Subtract 1 from c1
] End your loops with the cell pointer on the loop counter
At this point our program has added 5 to 2 leaving 7 in c0 and 0 in c1
but we cannot output this value to the terminal since it is not ASCII encoded
To display the ASCII character "7" we must add 48 to the value 7
We use a loop to compute 48 = 6 * 8
++++ ++++ c1 = 8 and this will be our loop counter again
[
< +++ +++ Add 6 to c0
> - Subtract 1 from c1
]
< . Print out c0 which has the value 55 which translates to "7"!
```
### Hello World! {#hello_world}
The following program prints \"Hello World!\" and a newline to the screen:
``` bf
[ This program prints "Hello World!" and a newline to the screen; its
length is 106 active command characters. [It is not the shortest.]
This loop is an "initial comment loop", a simple way of adding a comment
to a BF program such that you don't have to worry about any command
characters. Any ".", ",", "+", "-", "<" and ">" characters are simply
ignored, the "[" and "]" characters just have to be balanced. This
loop and the commands it contains are ignored because the current cell
defaults to a value of 0; the 0 value causes this loop to be skipped.
]
++++++++ Set Cell #0 to 8
[
>++++ Add 4 to Cell #1; this will always set Cell #1 to 4
[ as the cell will be cleared by the loop
>++ Add 2 to Cell #2
>+++ Add 3 to Cell #3
>+++ Add 3 to Cell #4
>+ Add 1 to Cell #5
<<<<- Decrement the loop counter in Cell #1
] Loop until Cell #1 is zero; number of iterations is 4
>+ Add 1 to Cell #2
>+ Add 1 to Cell #3
>- Subtract 1 from Cell #4
>>+ Add 1 to Cell #6
[<] Move back to the first zero cell you find; this will
be Cell #1 which was cleared by the previous loop
<- Decrement the loop Counter in Cell #0
] Loop until Cell #0 is zero; number of iterations is 8
The result of this is:
Cell no : 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Contents: 0 0 72 104 88 32 8
Pointer : ^
>>. Cell #2 has value 72 which is 'H'
>---. Subtract 3 from Cell #3 to get 101 which is 'e'
+++++++..+++. Likewise for 'llo' from Cell #3
>>. Cell #5 is 32 for the space
<-. Subtract 1 from Cell #4 for 87 to give a 'W'
<. Cell #3 was set to 'o' from the end of 'Hello'
+++.------.--------. Cell #3 for 'rl' and 'd'
>>+. Add 1 to Cell #5 gives us an exclamation point
>++. And finally a newline from Cell #6
```
For readability, this code has been spread across many lines, and blanks and comments have been added. Brainfuck ignores all characters except the eight commands `+-<>[],.` so no special syntax for comments is needed (as long as the comments do not contain the command characters). The code could just as well have been written as:
``` bf
++++++++[>++++[>++>+++>+++>+<<<<-]>+>+>->>+[<]<-]>>.>---.+++++++..+++.>>.<-.<.+++.------.--------.>>+.>++.
```
### ROT13
This program enciphers its input with the ROT13 cipher. To do this, it must map characters A-M (ASCII 65--77) to N-Z (78--90), and vice versa. Also it must map a-m (97--109) to n-z (110--122) and vice versa. It must map all other characters to themselves; it reads characters one at a time and outputs their enciphered equivalents until it reads an EOF (here assumed to be represented as either -1 or \"no change\"), at which point the program terminates.
``` bf
-,+[ Read first character and start outer character reading loop
-[ Skip forward if character is 0
>>++++[>++++++++<-] Set up divisor (32) for division loop
(MEMORY LAYOUT: dividend copy remainder divisor quotient zero zero)
<+<-[ Set up dividend (x minus 1) and enter division loop
>+>+>-[>>>] Increase copy and remainder / reduce divisor / Normal case: skip forward
<[[>+<-]>>+>] Special case: move remainder back to divisor and increase quotient
<<<<<- Decrement dividend
] End division loop
]>>>[-]+ End skip loop; zero former divisor and reuse space for a flag
>--[-[<->+++[-]]]<[ Zero that flag unless quotient was 2 or 3; zero quotient; check flag
++++++++++++<[ If flag then set up divisor (13) for second division loop
(MEMORY LAYOUT: zero copy dividend divisor remainder quotient zero zero)
>-[>+>>] Reduce divisor; Normal case: increase remainder
>[+[<+>-]>+>>] Special case: increase remainder / move it back to divisor / increase quotient
<<<<<- Decrease dividend
] End division loop
>>[<+>-] Add remainder back to divisor to get a useful 13
>[ Skip forward if quotient was 0
-[ Decrement quotient and skip forward if quotient was 1
-<<[-]>> Zero quotient and divisor if quotient was 2
]<<[<<->>-]>> Zero divisor and subtract 13 from copy if quotient was 1
]<<[<<+>>-] Zero divisor and add 13 to copy if quotient was 0
] End outer skip loop (jump to here if ((character minus 1)/32) was not 2 or 3)
<[-] Clear remainder from first division if second division was skipped
<.[-] Output ROT13ed character from copy and clear it
<-,+ Read next character
] End character reading loop
```
### Simulation of abiogenesis {#simulation_of_abiogenesis}
In 2024, a Google research project used a slightly modified 10-command version of Brainfuck as the basis of an artificial digital environment. In this environment, they found that replicators arose naturally and competed with each other for domination of the environment.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,091 |
Bartolomeo Ammannati
|
**Bartolomeo Ammannati** (18 June 1511 -- 13 April 1592) was an Italian architect and sculptor, born at Settignano, near Florence, Italy. He studied under Baccio Bandinelli and Jacopo Sansovino (assisting on the design of the Library of St. Mark\'s, the Biblioteca Marciana, Venice) and closely imitated the style of Michelangelo.
He was more distinguished in architecture than in sculpture. He worked in Rome in collaboration with Vignola and Vasari), including designs for the Villa Giulia, but also for works at Lucca. He labored during 1558--1570, in the refurbishment and enlargement of Pitti Palace, creating the courtyard consisting of three wings with rusticated facades, and one lower portico leading to the amphitheatre in the Boboli Gardens. His design mirrored the appearance of the main external façade of Pitti. He was also named *Consul* of Accademia delle Arti del Disegno of Florence, which had been founded by the Duke Cosimo I in 1563.
In 1569, Ammannati was commissioned to build the Ponte Santa Trinita, a bridge over the Arno River. The three arches are elliptic, and though very light and elegant, has survived, when floods had damaged other Arno bridges at different times. Santa Trinita was destroyed in 1944, during World War II, and rebuilt in 1957.
Ammannati designed what is considered a prototypic Mannerist sculptural ensemble in the Fountain of Neptune (*Fontana del Nettuno*), prominently located in the Piazza della Signoria in the center of Florence. The assignment was originally given to the aged Bartolommeo Bandinelli; however when Bandinelli died, Ammannati\'s design, bested the submissions of Benvenuto Cellini and Vincenzo Danti, to gain the commission. From 1563 and 1565, Ammannati and his assistants, among them Giambologna, sculpted the block of marble that had been chosen by Bandinelli. He took Grand Duke Cosimo I as model for Neptune\'s face. The statue was meant to highlight Cosimo\'s goal of establishing a Florentine Naval force. The ungainly sea god was placed at the corner of the Palazzo Vecchio within sight of Michelangelo\'s David statue, and the then 87-year-old sculptor is said to have scoffed at Ammannati--- saying that he had ruined a beautiful piece of marble--- with the ditty: \"Ammannati, Ammanato, che bel marmo hai rovinato!\" Ammannati continued work on this fountain for a decade, adding around the perimeter a cornucopia of demigod figures: bronze reclining river gods, laughing satyrs and marble sea horses emerging from the water.
In 1550 Ammannati married Laura Battiferri, an elegant poet and an accomplished woman. Later in his life he had a religious crisis, influenced by Counter-Reformation piety, which resulted in condemning his own works depicting nudity, and he left all his possessions to the Jesuits.
He died in Florence in 1592.
## Works
- *Victory* (1540), marble, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence
- *Leda with the Swan*, marble, also in Bargello, Florence
- *Venus* (1558--59), marble, Prado Museum, Madrid
- *Parnassus* (1563), marble, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence
- *Allegory of Winter* (1563--65), stone, Villa Medici, Castello
- *Goddess Opi* (1572--75), bronze, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence
## Gallery
<File:Pigna> - Collegio romano 1080166.JPG\|The Jesuit College in Rome, 1582--1584, was one of Ammannati\'s later designs. <File:Venus> by Baccio Bandinelli (Prado, E-171) 01.jpg\|*Venus*, a variation on the classical type known as Venus Pudica. However, the arms are the result of an 18th-century restoration, as the original had the arms cut off in order to allow water to flow out. <File:Bartolomeo> ammannati (attr.), vasca con arme busdraghi e dragone, 04.JPG\|Dragon <File:Parco> di Castello, fontana del Gennaio 1.JPG\|Parco di Villa Reale di Castello (Villa di Castello), Fountain of January (*Fontana del Gennaio*) in Florence, Italy <File:Da> bartolomeo ammannati, giustizia, firenze tardo 16mo secolo.JPG\|Justice <File:Cristo> e la cananea di Alessandro Allori detail.jpg\|Christ and Canaanite woman by Alessandro Allori. Commissioned by Ammannati for funeral of his wife poet Laura Battiferri (painted as old woman with the book).
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4,093 |
Bertrand Andrieu
|
**Bertrand Andrieu** (24 November 1761 -- 6 December 1822) was a French engraver of medals. He was born in Bordeaux. In France, he was considered as the restorer of the art, which had declined after the time of Louis XIV. During the last twenty years of his life, the French government commissioned him to undertake every major work of importance.
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4,100 |
Bretwalda
|
***Bretwalda*** (also ***brytenwalda*** and ***bretenanwealda***, sometimes capitalised) is an Old English word. The first record comes from the late 9th-century *Anglo-Saxon Chronicle*. It is given to some of the rulers of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from the 5th century onwards who had achieved overlordship of some or all of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. It is unclear whether the word dates back to the 5th century and was used by the kings themselves or whether it is a later, 9th-century, invention. The term *bretwalda* also appears in a 10th-century charter of Æthelstan. The literal meaning of the word is disputed and may translate to either \'wide-ruler\' or \'Britain-ruler\'.
The rulers of Mercia were generally the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kings from the mid 7th century to the early 9th century but are not accorded the title of *bretwalda* by the *Chronicle*, which had an anti-Mercian bias. The *Annals of Wales* continued to recognise the kings of Northumbria as \"Kings of the Saxons\" until the death of Osred I of Northumbria in 716.
## Bretwaldas
### Listed by the *Anglo-Saxon Chronicle* {#listed_by_the_anglo_saxon_chronicle}
- Ælle of Sussex (488--c. 514)
- Ceawlin of Wessex (560--592, died 593)
- Æthelberht of Kent (590--616)
- Rædwald of East Anglia (c. 600--around 624)
- Edwin of Deira (616--633)
- Oswald of Northumbria (633--642)
- Oswiu of Northumbria (642--670)
- Egbert of Wessex (829--839)
- Alfred of Wessex (871--899)
### Mercian rulers with similar or greater authority {#mercian_rulers_with_similar_or_greater_authority}
- Penda of Mercia (626/633--655)
- Wulfhere of Mercia (658--675)
- Æthelred of Mercia (675--704, died 716)
- Æthelbald of Mercia (716--757)
- Offa of Mercia (757--796)
- Cœnwulf of Mercia (796--821)
### Other claimants {#other_claimants}
- Æthelstan of Wessex (927--939)
## Etymology
The first syllable of the term *bretwalda* may be related to *Briton* or *Britain*. The second element is taken to mean \'ruler\' or \'sovereign\'. Thus, one interpretation might be \'sovereign of Britain\'. Otherwise, the word may be a compound containing the Old English adjective *brytten* (\'broad\', from the verb *breotan* meaning \'to break\' or \'to disperse\'), an element also found in the terms *bryten rice* (\'kingdom\'), *bryten-grund* (\'the wide expanse of the earth\') and *bryten cyning* (\'king whose authority was widely extended\'). Though the origin is ambiguous, the draughtsman of the charter issued by Æthelstan used the term in a way that can only mean \'wide-ruler\'.
The latter etymology was first suggested by John Mitchell Kemble who alluded that \"of six manuscripts in which this passage occurs, one only reads *Bretwalda*: of the remaining five, four have *Bryten-walda* or *-wealda*, and one *Breten-anweald*, which is precisely synonymous with Brytenwealda\"; that Æthelstan was called *brytenwealda ealles ðyses ealondes*, which Kemble translates as \'ruler of all these islands\'; and that *bryten-* is a common prefix to words meaning \'wide or general dispersion\' and that the similarity to the word *bretwealh* (\'Briton\') is \"merely accidental\".
## Contemporary use {#contemporary_use}
The first recorded use of the term *Bretwalda* comes from a West Saxon chronicle of the late 9th century that applied the term to Ecgberht, who ruled Wessex from 802 to 839. The chronicler also wrote down the names of seven kings that Bede listed in his *Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum* in 731. All subsequent manuscripts of the *Chronicle* use the term *Brytenwalda*, which may have represented the original term or derived from a common error.
There is no evidence that the term was a title that had any practical use, with implications of formal rights, powers and office, or even that it had any existence before the 9th-century. Bede wrote in Latin and never used the term and his list of kings holding *imperium* should be treated with caution, not least in that he overlooks kings such as Penda of Mercia, who clearly held some kind of dominance during his reign. Similarly, in his list of bretwaldas, the West Saxon chronicler ignored such Mercian kings as Offa.
The use of the term *Bretwalda* was the attempt by a West Saxon chronicler to make some claim of West Saxon kings to the whole of Great Britain. The concept of the overlordship of the whole of Britain was at least recognised in the period, whatever was meant by the term. Quite possibly it was a survival of a Roman concept of \"Britain\": it is significant that, while the hyperbolic inscriptions on coins and titles in charters often included the title *rex Britanniae*, when England was unified the title used was *rex Angulsaxonum*, (\'king of the Anglo-Saxons\'.)
## Modern interpretation by historians {#modern_interpretation_by_historians}
For some time, the existence of the word *bretwalda* in the *Anglo-Saxon Chronicle*, which was based in part on the list given by Bede in his *Historia Ecclesiastica*, led historians to think that there was perhaps a \"title\" held by Anglo-Saxon overlords. This was particularly attractive as it would lay the foundations for the establishment of an English monarchy. The 20th-century historian Frank Stenton said of the Anglo-Saxon chronicler that \"his inaccuracy is more than compensated by his preservation of the English title applied to these outstanding kings\". He argued that the term *bretwalda* \"falls into line with the other evidence which points to the Germanic origin of the earliest English institutions\".
Over the later 20th century, this assumption was increasingly challenged. Patrick Wormald interpreted it as \"less an objectively realized office than a subjectively perceived status\" and emphasised the partiality of its usage in favour of Southumbrian rulers. In 1991, Steven Fanning argued that \"it is unlikely that the term ever existed as a title or was in common usage in Anglo-Saxon England\". The fact that Bede never mentioned a special title for the kings in his list implies that he was unaware of one. In 1995, Simon Keynes observed that \"if Bede\'s concept of the Southumbrian overlord, and the chronicler\'s concept of the \'Bretwalda\', are to be regarded as artificial constructs, which have no validity outside the context of the literary works in which they appear, we are released from the assumptions about political development which they seem to involve\... we might ask whether kings in the eighth and ninth centuries were quite so obsessed with the establishment of a pan-Southumbrian state\".
Modern interpretations view the concept of *bretwalda* overlordship as complex and an important indicator of how a 9th-century chronicler interpreted history and attempted to insert the increasingly powerful Saxon kings into that history.
## Overlordship
A complex array of dominance and subservience existed during the Anglo-Saxon period. A king who used charters to grant land in another kingdom indicated such a relationship. If the other kingdom were fairly large, as when the Mercians dominated the East Anglians, the relationship would have been more equal than in the case of the Mercian dominance of the Hwicce, which was a comparatively small kingdom. Mercia was arguably the most powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom for much of the late 7th though 8th centuries, though Mercian kings are missing from the two main \"lists\". For Bede, Mercia was a traditional enemy of his native Northumbria and he regarded powerful kings such as the pagan Penda as standing in the way of the Christian conversion of the Anglo-Saxons. Bede omits them from his list, even though it is evident that Penda held a considerable degree of power. Similarly powerful Mercia kings such as Offa are missed out of the West Saxon *Anglo-Saxon Chronicle*, which sought to demonstrate the legitimacy of their kings to rule over other Anglo-Saxon peoples.
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4,101 |
Brouwer fixed-point theorem
|
**Brouwer\'s fixed-point theorem** is a fixed-point theorem in topology, named after L. E. J. (Bertus) Brouwer. It states that for any continuous function $f$ mapping a nonempty compact convex set to itself, there is a point $x_0$ such that $f(x_0)=x_0$. The simplest forms of Brouwer\'s theorem are for continuous functions $f$ from a closed interval $I$ in the real numbers to itself or from a closed disk $D$ to itself. A more general form than the latter is for continuous functions from a nonempty convex compact subset $K$ of Euclidean space to itself.
Among hundreds of fixed-point theorems, Brouwer\'s is particularly well known, due in part to its use across numerous fields of mathematics. In its original field, this result is one of the key theorems characterizing the topology of Euclidean spaces, along with the Jordan curve theorem, the hairy ball theorem, the invariance of dimension and the Borsuk--Ulam theorem. This gives it a place among the fundamental theorems of topology. The theorem is also used for proving deep results about differential equations and is covered in most introductory courses on differential geometry. It appears in unlikely fields such as game theory. In economics, Brouwer\'s fixed-point theorem and its extension, the Kakutani fixed-point theorem, play a central role in the proof of existence of general equilibrium in market economies as developed in the 1950s by economics Nobel prize winners Kenneth Arrow and Gérard Debreu.
The theorem was first studied in view of work on differential equations by the French mathematicians around Henri Poincaré and Charles Émile Picard. Proving results such as the Poincaré--Bendixson theorem requires the use of topological methods. This work at the end of the 19th century opened into several successive versions of the theorem. The case of differentiable mappings of the `{{mvar|''n''}}`{=mediawiki}-dimensional closed ball was first proved in 1910 by Jacques Hadamard and the general case for continuous mappings by Brouwer in 1911.
## Statement
The theorem has several formulations, depending on the context in which it is used and its degree of generalization. The simplest is sometimes given as follows:
:;In the plane: Every continuous function from a closed disk to itself has at least one fixed point.
This can be generalized to an arbitrary finite dimension:
:;In Euclidean space:Every continuous function from a closed ball of a Euclidean space into itself has a fixed point.
A slightly more general version is as follows:
:;Convex compact set:Every continuous function from a nonempty convex compact subset *K* of a Euclidean space to *K* itself has a fixed point.
An even more general form is better known under a different name:
:;Schauder fixed point theorem:Every continuous function from a nonempty convex compact subset *K* of a Banach space to *K* itself has a fixed point.
## Importance of the pre-conditions {#importance_of_the_pre_conditions}
The theorem holds only for functions that are *endomorphisms* (functions that have the same set as the domain and codomain) and for nonempty sets that are *compact* (thus, in particular, bounded and closed) and *convex* (or homeomorphic to convex). The following examples show why the pre-conditions are important.
### The function *f* as an endomorphism {#the_function_f_as_an_endomorphism}
Consider the function
$$f(x) = x+1$$ with domain \[-1,1\]. The range of the function is \[0,2\]. Thus, f is not an endomorphism.
### Boundedness
Consider the function
$$f(x) = x+1,$$ which is a continuous function from $\mathbb{R}$ to itself. As it shifts every point to the right, it cannot have a fixed point. The space $\mathbb{R}$ is convex and closed, but not bounded.
### Closedness
Consider the function
$$f(x) = \frac{x+1}{2},$$ which is a continuous function from the open interval $(-1,1)$ to itself. Since the point $x=1$ is not part of the interval, there is no point in the domain such that $f(x) = x$. The set $(-1,1)$ is convex and bounded, but not closed. On the other hand, the function $f$ does have a fixed point in the *closed* interval $[-1,1]$, namely $x=1$. The closed interval $[-1,1]$ is compact, the open interval $(-1,1)$ is not.
### Convexity
Convexity is not strictly necessary for Brouwer\'s fixed-point theorem. Because the properties involved (continuity, being a fixed point) are invariant under homeomorphisms, Brouwer\'s fixed-point theorem is equivalent to forms in which the domain is required to be a closed unit ball $D^n$. For the same reason it holds for every set that is homeomorphic to a closed ball (and therefore also closed, bounded, connected, without holes, etc.).
The following example shows that Brouwer\'s fixed-point theorem does not work for domains with holes. Consider the function $f(x)=-x$, which is a continuous function from the unit circle to itself. Since *-x≠x* holds for any point of the unit circle, *f* has no fixed point. The analogous example works for the *n*-dimensional sphere (or any symmetric domain that does not contain the origin). The unit circle is closed and bounded, but it has a hole (and so it is not convex) . The function *f* `{{em|does}}`{=mediawiki} have a fixed point for the unit disc, since it takes the origin to itself.
A formal generalization of Brouwer\'s fixed-point theorem for \"hole-free\" domains can be derived from the Lefschetz fixed-point theorem.
### Notes
The continuous function in this theorem is not required to be bijective or surjective.
## Illustrations
The theorem has several \"real world\" illustrations. Here are some examples.
1. Take two sheets of graph paper of equal size with coordinate systems on them, lay one flat on the table and crumple up (without ripping or tearing) the other one and place it, in any fashion, on top of the first so that the crumpled paper does not reach outside the flat one. There will then be at least one point of the crumpled sheet that lies directly above its corresponding point (i.e. the point with the same coordinates) of the flat sheet. This is a consequence of the *n* = 2 case of Brouwer\'s theorem applied to the continuous map that assigns to the coordinates of every point of the crumpled sheet the coordinates of the point of the flat sheet immediately beneath it.
2. Take an ordinary map of a country, and suppose that that map is laid out on a table inside that country. There will always be a \"You are Here\" point on the map which represents that same point in the country.
3. In three dimensions a consequence of the Brouwer fixed-point theorem is that, no matter how much you stir a delicious cocktail in a glass (or think about milk shake), when the liquid has come to rest, some point in the liquid will end up in exactly the same place in the glass as before you took any action, assuming that the final position of each point is a continuous function of its original position, that the liquid after stirring is contained within the space originally taken up by it, and that the glass (and stirred surface shape) maintain a convex volume. Ordering a cocktail shaken, not stirred defeats the convexity condition (\"shaking\" being defined as a dynamic series of non-convex inertial containment states in the vacant headspace under a lid). In that case, the theorem would not apply, and thus all points of the liquid disposition are potentially displaced from the original state.
## Intuitive approach {#intuitive_approach}
### Explanations attributed to Brouwer {#explanations_attributed_to_brouwer}
The theorem is supposed to have originated from Brouwer\'s observation of a cup of gourmet coffee. If one stirs to dissolve a lump of sugar, it appears there is always a point without motion. He drew the conclusion that at any moment, there is a point on the surface that is not moving. The fixed point is not necessarily the point that seems to be motionless, since the centre of the turbulence moves a little bit. The result is not intuitive, since the original fixed point may become mobile when another fixed point appears.
Brouwer is said to have added: \"I can formulate this splendid result different, I take a horizontal sheet, and another identical one which I crumple, flatten and place on the other. Then a point of the crumpled sheet is in the same place as on the other sheet.\" Brouwer \"flattens\" his sheet as with a flat iron, without removing the folds and wrinkles. Unlike the coffee cup example, the crumpled paper example also demonstrates that more than one fixed point may exist. This distinguishes Brouwer\'s result from other fixed-point theorems, such as Stefan Banach\'s, that guarantee uniqueness.
### One-dimensional case {#one_dimensional_case}
In one dimension, the result is intuitive and easy to prove. The continuous function *f* is defined on a closed interval \[*a*, *b*\] and takes values in the same interval. Saying that this function has a fixed point amounts to saying that its graph (dark green in the figure on the right) intersects that of the function defined on the same interval \[*a*, *b*\] which maps *x* to *x* (light green).
Intuitively, any continuous line from the left edge of the square to the right edge must necessarily intersect the green diagonal. To prove this, consider the function *g* which maps *x* to *f*(*x*) − *x*. It is ≥ 0 on *a* and ≤ 0 on *b*. By the intermediate value theorem, *g* has a zero in \[*a*, *b*\]; this zero is a fixed point.
Brouwer is said to have expressed this as follows: \"Instead of examining a surface, we will prove the theorem about a piece of string. Let us begin with the string in an unfolded state, then refold it. Let us flatten the refolded string. Again a point of the string has not changed its position with respect to its original position on the unfolded string.\"
## History
The Brouwer fixed point theorem was one of the early achievements of algebraic topology, and is the basis of more general fixed point theorems which are important in functional analysis. The case *n* = 3 first was proved by Piers Bohl in 1904 (published in *Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik*). It was later proved by L. E. J. Brouwer in 1909. Jacques Hadamard proved the general case in 1910, and Brouwer found a different proof in the same year. Since these early proofs were all non-constructive indirect proofs, they ran contrary to Brouwer\'s intuitionist ideals. Although the existence of a fixed point is not constructive in the sense of constructivism in mathematics, methods to approximate fixed points guaranteed by Brouwer\'s theorem are now known.
### Before discovery {#before_discovery}
At the end of the 19th century, the old problem of the stability of the solar system returned into the focus of the mathematical community. Its solution required new methods. As noted by Henri Poincaré, who worked on the three-body problem, there is no hope to find an exact solution: \"Nothing is more proper to give us an idea of the hardness of the three-body problem, and generally of all problems of Dynamics where there is no uniform integral and the Bohlin series diverge.\" He also noted that the search for an approximate solution is no more efficient: \"the more we seek to obtain precise approximations, the more the result will diverge towards an increasing imprecision\".
He studied a question analogous to that of the surface movement in a cup of coffee. What can we say, in general, about the trajectories on a surface animated by a constant flow? Poincaré discovered that the answer can be found in what we now call the topological properties in the area containing the trajectory. If this area is compact, i.e. both closed and bounded, then the trajectory either becomes stationary, or it approaches a limit cycle. Poincaré went further; if the area is of the same kind as a disk, as is the case for the cup of coffee, there must necessarily be a fixed point. This fixed point is invariant under all functions which associate to each point of the original surface its position after a short time interval *t*. If the area is a circular band, or if it is not closed, then this is not necessarily the case.
To understand differential equations better, a new branch of mathematics was born. Poincaré called it *analysis situs*. The French Encyclopædia Universalis defines it as the branch which \"treats the properties of an object that are invariant if it is deformed in any continuous way, without tearing\". In 1886, Poincaré proved a result that is equivalent to Brouwer\'s fixed-point theorem, although the connection with the subject of this article was not yet apparent. A little later, he developed one of the fundamental tools for better understanding the analysis situs, now known as the fundamental group or sometimes the Poincaré group. This method can be used for a very compact proof of the theorem under discussion.
Poincaré\'s method was analogous to that of Émile Picard, a contemporary mathematician who generalized the Cauchy--Lipschitz theorem. Picard\'s approach is based on a result that would later be formalised by another fixed-point theorem, named after Banach. Instead of the topological properties of the domain, this theorem uses the fact that the function in question is a contraction.
### First proofs {#first_proofs}
At the dawn of the 20th century, the interest in analysis situs did not stay unnoticed. However, the necessity of a theorem equivalent to the one discussed in this article was not yet evident. Piers Bohl, a Latvian mathematician, applied topological methods to the study of differential equations. In 1904 he proved the three-dimensional case of our theorem, but his publication was not noticed.
It was Brouwer, finally, who gave the theorem its first patent of nobility. His goals were different from those of Poincaré. This mathematician was inspired by the foundations of mathematics, especially mathematical logic and topology. His initial interest lay in an attempt to solve Hilbert\'s fifth problem. In 1909, during a voyage to Paris, he met Henri Poincaré, Jacques Hadamard, and Émile Borel. The ensuing discussions convinced Brouwer of the importance of a better understanding of Euclidean spaces, and were the origin of a fruitful exchange of letters with Hadamard. For the next four years, he concentrated on the proof of certain great theorems on this question. In 1912 he proved the hairy ball theorem for the two-dimensional sphere, as well as the fact that every continuous map from the two-dimensional ball to itself has a fixed point. These two results in themselves were not really new. As Hadamard observed, Poincaré had shown a theorem equivalent to the hairy ball theorem. The revolutionary aspect of Brouwer\'s approach was his systematic use of recently developed tools such as homotopy, the underlying concept of the Poincaré group. In the following year, Hadamard generalised the theorem under discussion to an arbitrary finite dimension, but he employed different methods. Hans Freudenthal comments on the respective roles as follows: \"Compared to Brouwer\'s revolutionary methods, those of Hadamard were very traditional, but Hadamard\'s participation in the birth of Brouwer\'s ideas resembles that of a midwife more than that of a mere spectator.\"
Brouwer\'s approach yielded its fruits, and in 1910 he also found a proof that was valid for any finite dimension, as well as other key theorems such as the invariance of dimension. In the context of this work, Brouwer also generalized the Jordan curve theorem to arbitrary dimension and established the properties connected with the degree of a continuous mapping. This branch of mathematics, originally envisioned by Poincaré and developed by Brouwer, changed its name. In the 1930s, analysis situs became algebraic topology.
### Reception
The theorem proved its worth in more than one way. During the 20th century numerous fixed-point theorems were developed, and even a branch of mathematics called fixed-point theory. Brouwer\'s theorem is probably the most important. It is also among the foundational theorems on the topology of topological manifolds and is often used to prove other important results such as the Jordan curve theorem.
Besides the fixed-point theorems for more or less contracting functions, there are many that have emerged directly or indirectly from the result under discussion. A continuous map from a closed ball of Euclidean space to its boundary cannot be the identity on the boundary. Similarly, the Borsuk--Ulam theorem says that a continuous map from the *n*-dimensional sphere to **R**^n^ has a pair of antipodal points that are mapped to the same point. In the finite-dimensional case, the Lefschetz fixed-point theorem provided from 1926 a method for counting fixed points. In 1930, Brouwer\'s fixed-point theorem was generalized to Banach spaces. This generalization is known as Schauder\'s fixed-point theorem, a result generalized further by S. Kakutani to set-valued functions. One also meets the theorem and its variants outside topology. It can be used to prove the Hartman-Grobman theorem, which describes the qualitative behaviour of certain differential equations near certain equilibria. Similarly, Brouwer\'s theorem is used for the proof of the Central Limit Theorem. The theorem can also be found in existence proofs for the solutions of certain partial differential equations.
Other areas are also touched. In game theory, John Nash used the theorem to prove that in the game of Hex there is a winning strategy for white. In economics, P. Bich explains that certain generalizations of the theorem show that its use is helpful for certain classical problems in game theory and generally for equilibria (Hotelling\'s law), financial equilibria and incomplete markets.
Brouwer\'s celebrity is not exclusively due to his topological work. The proofs of his great topological theorems are not constructive, and Brouwer\'s dissatisfaction with this is partly what led him to articulate the idea of constructivity. He became the originator and zealous defender of a way of formalising mathematics that is known as intuitionism, which at the time made a stand against set theory. Brouwer disavowed his original proof of the fixed-point theorem.
## Proof outlines {#proof_outlines}
### A proof using degree {#a_proof_using_degree}
Brouwer\'s original 1911 proof relied on the notion of the degree of a continuous mapping, stemming from ideas in differential topology. Several modern accounts of the proof can be found in the literature, notably `{{harvtxt|Milnor|1965}}`{=mediawiki}.
Let $K=\overline{B(0)}$ denote the closed unit ball in $\mathbb R^n$ centered at the origin. Suppose for simplicity that $f:K\to K$ is continuously differentiable. A regular value of $f$ is a point $p\in B(0)$ such that the Jacobian of $f$ is non-singular at every point of the preimage of $p$. In particular, by the inverse function theorem, every point of the preimage of $f$ lies in $B(0)$ (the interior of $K$). The degree of $f$ at a regular value $p\in B(0)$ is defined as the sum of the signs of the Jacobian determinant of $f$ over the preimages of $p$ under $f$:
$$\operatorname{deg}_p(f) = \sum_{x\in f^{-1}(p)} \operatorname{sign}\,\det (df_x).$$
The degree is, roughly speaking, the number of \"sheets\" of the preimage *f* lying over a small open set around *p*, with sheets counted oppositely if they are oppositely oriented. This is thus a generalization of winding number to higher dimensions.
The degree satisfies the property of *homotopy invariance*: let $f$ and $g$ be two continuously differentiable functions, and $H_t(x)=tf+(1-t)g$ for $0\le t\le 1$. Suppose that the point $p$ is a regular value of $H_t$ for all *t*. Then $\deg_p f = \deg_p g$.
If there is no fixed point of the boundary of $K$, then the function
$$g(x)=\frac{x-f(x)}{\sup_{y\in K}\left|y-f(y)\right|}$$
is well-defined, and
$H(t,x) = \frac{x-tf(x)}{\sup_{y\in K}\left|y-tf(y)\right|}$
defines a homotopy from the identity function to it. The identity function has degree one at every point. In particular, the identity function has degree one at the origin, so $g$ also has degree one at the origin. As a consequence, the preimage $g^{-1}(0)$ is not empty. The elements of $g^{-1}(0)$ are precisely the fixed points of the original function *f*.
This requires some work to make fully general. The definition of degree must be extended to singular values of *f*, and then to continuous functions. The more modern advent of homology theory simplifies the construction of the degree, and so has become a standard proof in the literature.
### A proof using the hairy ball theorem {#a_proof_using_the_hairy_ball_theorem}
The hairy ball theorem states that on the unit sphere `{{mvar|''S''}}`{=mediawiki} in an odd-dimensional Euclidean space, there is no nowhere-vanishing continuous tangent vector field `{{mvar|'''w'''}}`{=mediawiki} on `{{mvar|''S''}}`{=mediawiki}. (The tangency condition means that `{{mvar|'''w'''('''x''') ⋅ '''x'''}}`{=mediawiki} = 0 for every unit vector `{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki}.) Sometimes the theorem is expressed by the statement that \"there is always a place on the globe with no wind\". An elementary proof of the hairy ball theorem can be found in `{{harvtxt|Milnor|1978}}`{=mediawiki}.
In fact, suppose first that `{{mvar|'''w'''}}`{=mediawiki} is *continuously differentiable*. By scaling, it can be assumed that `{{mvar|'''w'''}}`{=mediawiki} is a continuously differentiable unit tangent vector on `{{mvar|'''S'''}}`{=mediawiki}. It can be extended radially to a small spherical shell `{{mvar|''A''}}`{=mediawiki} of `{{mvar|''S''}}`{=mediawiki}. For `{{mvar|''t''}}`{=mediawiki} sufficiently small, a routine computation shows that the mapping `{{mvar|'''f'''<sub>''t''</sub>}}`{=mediawiki}(`{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki}) = `{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki} + `{{mvar|''t'' '''w'''('''x''')}}`{=mediawiki} is a contraction mapping on `{{mvar|''A''}}`{=mediawiki} and that the volume of its image is a polynomial in `{{mvar|''t''}}`{=mediawiki}. On the other hand, as a contraction mapping, `{{mvar|'''f'''<sub>''t''</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} must restrict to a homeomorphism of `{{mvar|''S''}}`{=mediawiki} onto (1 + `{{mvar|''t''<sup>2</sup>}}`{=mediawiki})^`{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}^ `{{mvar|''S''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{mvar|''A''}}`{=mediawiki} onto (1 + `{{mvar|''t''<sup>2</sup>}}`{=mediawiki})^`{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}^ `{{mvar|''A''}}`{=mediawiki}. This gives a contradiction, because, if the dimension `{{mvar|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} of the Euclidean space is odd, (1 + `{{mvar|''t''<sup>2</sup>}}`{=mediawiki})^`{{mvar|''n''}}`{=mediawiki}/2^ is not a polynomial.
If `{{mvar|'''w'''}}`{=mediawiki} is only a *continuous* unit tangent vector on `{{mvar|''S''}}`{=mediawiki}, by the Weierstrass approximation theorem, it can be uniformly approximated by a polynomial map `{{mvar|'''u'''}}`{=mediawiki} of `{{mvar|''A''}}`{=mediawiki} into Euclidean space. The orthogonal projection on to the tangent space is given by `{{mvar|'''v'''}}`{=mediawiki}(`{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki}) = `{{mvar|'''u'''}}`{=mediawiki}(`{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki}) - `{{mvar|'''u'''}}`{=mediawiki}(`{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki}) ⋅ `{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki}. Thus `{{mvar|'''v'''}}`{=mediawiki} is polynomial and nowhere vanishing on `{{mvar|''A''}}`{=mediawiki}; by construction `{{mvar|'''v'''}}`{=mediawiki}/\|\|`{{mvar|'''v'''}}`{=mediawiki}\|\| is a smooth unit tangent vector field on `{{mvar|''S''}}`{=mediawiki}, a contradiction.
The continuous version of the hairy ball theorem can now be used to prove the Brouwer fixed point theorem. First suppose that `{{mvar|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} is even. If there were a fixed-point-free continuous self-mapping `{{mvar|'''f'''}}`{=mediawiki} of the closed unit ball `{{mvar|''B''}}`{=mediawiki} of the `{{mvar|''n''}}`{=mediawiki}-dimensional Euclidean space `{{mvar|''V''}}`{=mediawiki}, set
$${\mathbf w}({\mathbf x}) = (1 - {\mathbf x}\cdot {\mathbf f}({\mathbf x}))\, {\mathbf x} - (1 - {\mathbf x}\cdot {\mathbf x})\, {\mathbf f}({\mathbf x}).$$
Since `{{mvar|'''f'''}}`{=mediawiki} has no fixed points, it follows that, for `{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki} in the interior of `{{mvar|''B''}}`{=mediawiki}, the vector `{{mvar|'''w'''}}`{=mediawiki}(`{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki}) is non-zero; and for `{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{mvar|''S''}}`{=mediawiki}, the scalar product\
`{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki} ⋅ `{{mvar|'''w'''}}`{=mediawiki}(`{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki}) = 1 -- `{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki} ⋅ `{{mvar|'''f'''}}`{=mediawiki}(`{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki}) is strictly positive. From the original `{{mvar|''n''}}`{=mediawiki}-dimensional space Euclidean space `{{mvar|''V''}}`{=mediawiki}, construct a new auxiliary\
(`{{mvar|''n'' + 1}}`{=mediawiki})-dimensional space `{{mvar|''W''}}`{=mediawiki} = `{{mvar|''V''}}`{=mediawiki} x **R**, with coordinates `{{mvar|''y''}}`{=mediawiki} = (`{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{mvar|''t''}}`{=mediawiki}). Set
$${\mathbf X}({\mathbf x},t)=(-t\,{\mathbf w}({\mathbf x}), {\mathbf x}\cdot {\mathbf w}({\mathbf x})).$$
By construction `{{mvar|'''X'''}}`{=mediawiki} is a continuous vector field on the unit sphere of `{{mvar|''W''}}`{=mediawiki}, satisfying the tangency condition `{{mvar|'''y'''}}`{=mediawiki} ⋅ `{{mvar|'''X'''}}`{=mediawiki}(`{{mvar|'''y'''}}`{=mediawiki}) = 0. Moreover, `{{mvar|'''X'''}}`{=mediawiki}(`{{mvar|'''y'''}}`{=mediawiki}) is nowhere vanishing (because, if `{{var|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki} has norm 1, then `{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki} ⋅ `{{mvar|'''w'''}}`{=mediawiki}(`{{mvar|''x''}}`{=mediawiki}) is non-zero; while if `{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki} has norm strictly less than 1, then `{{mvar|''t''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{mvar|'''w'''}}`{=mediawiki}(`{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki}) are both non-zero). This contradiction proves the fixed point theorem when `{{mvar|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} is even. For `{{mvar|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} odd, one can apply the fixed point theorem to the closed unit ball `{{mvar|''B''}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{mvar|''n'' + 1}}`{=mediawiki} dimensions and the mapping `{{mvar|'''F'''}}`{=mediawiki}(`{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki},`{{mvar|''y''}}`{=mediawiki}) = (`{{mvar|'''f'''}}`{=mediawiki}(`{{mvar|'''x'''}}`{=mediawiki}),0). The advantage of this proof is that it uses only elementary techniques; more general results like the Borsuk-Ulam theorem require tools from algebraic topology.
### A proof using homology or cohomology {#a_proof_using_homology_or_cohomology}
The proof uses the observation that the boundary of the *n*-disk *D*^*n*^ is *S*^*n*−1^, the (*n* − 1)-sphere.
Suppose, for contradiction, that a continuous function `{{nowrap|''f'' : ''D''<sup>''n''</sup> → ''D''<sup>''n''</sup>}}`{=mediawiki} has *no* fixed point. This means that, for every point x in *D*^*n*^, the points *x* and *f*(*x*) are distinct. Because they are distinct, for every point x in *D*^*n*^, we can construct a unique ray from *f*(*x*) to *x* and follow the ray until it intersects the boundary *S*^*n*−1^ (see illustration). By calling this intersection point *F*(*x*), we define a function *F* : *D*^*n*^ → *S*^*n*−1^ sending each point in the disk to its corresponding intersection point on the boundary. As a special case, whenever *x* itself is on the boundary, then the intersection point *F*(*x*) must be *x*.
Consequently, *F* is a special type of continuous function known as a retraction: every point of the codomain (in this case *S*^*n*−1^) is a fixed point of *F*.
Intuitively it seems unlikely that there could be a retraction of *D*^*n*^ onto *S*^*n*−1^, and in the case *n* = 1, the impossibility is more basic, because *S*^0^ (i.e., the endpoints of the closed interval *D*^1^) is not even connected. The case *n* = 2 is less obvious, but can be proven by using basic arguments involving the fundamental groups of the respective spaces: the retraction would induce a surjective group homomorphism from the fundamental group of *D*^2^ to that of *S*^1^, but the latter group is isomorphic to **Z** while the first group is trivial, so this is impossible. The case *n* = 2 can also be proven by contradiction based on a theorem about non-vanishing vector fields.
For *n* \> 2, however, proving the impossibility of the retraction is more difficult. One way is to make use of homology groups: the homology *H*~*n*−1~(*D*^*n*^) is trivial, while *H*~*n*−1~(*S*^*n*−1^) is infinite cyclic. This shows that the retraction is impossible, because again the retraction would induce an injective group homomorphism from the latter to the former group.
The impossibility of a retraction can also be shown using the de Rham cohomology of open subsets of Euclidean space *E*^*n*^. For *n* ≥ 2, the de Rham cohomology of *U* = *E*^*n*^ -- (0) is one-dimensional in degree 0 and *n* -- 1, and vanishes otherwise. If a retraction existed, then *U* would have to be contractible and its de Rham cohomology in degree *n* -- 1 would have to vanish, a contradiction.
### A proof using Stokes\' theorem {#a_proof_using_stokes_theorem}
As in the proof of Brouwer\'s fixed-point theorem for continuous maps using homology, it is reduced to proving that there is no continuous retraction `{{mvar|''F''}}`{=mediawiki} from the ball `{{mvar|''B''}}`{=mediawiki} onto its boundary ∂`{{mvar|''B''}}`{=mediawiki}. In that case it can be assumed that `{{mvar|''F''}}`{=mediawiki} is smooth, since it can be approximated using the Weierstrass approximation theorem or by convolving with non-negative smooth bump functions of sufficiently small support and integral one (i.e. mollifying). If `{{mvar|ω}}`{=mediawiki} is a volume form on the boundary then by Stokes\' theorem,
$$0<\int_{\partial B}\omega = \int_{\partial B}F^*(\omega) = \int_BdF^*(\omega)= \int_BF^*(d\omega)=\int_BF^*(0) = 0,$$ giving a contradiction.
More generally, this shows that there is no smooth retraction from any non-empty smooth oriented compact manifold `{{mvar|''M''}}`{=mediawiki} onto its boundary. The proof using Stokes\' theorem is closely related to the proof using homology, because the form `{{mvar|ω}}`{=mediawiki} generates the de Rham cohomology group `{{mvar|''H''<sup>''n''-1</sup>}}`{=mediawiki}(∂`{{mvar|''M''}}`{=mediawiki}) which is isomorphic to the homology group `{{mvar|''H''<sub>''n''-1</sub>}}`{=mediawiki}(∂`{{mvar|''M''}}`{=mediawiki}) by de Rham\'s theorem.
### A combinatorial proof {#a_combinatorial_proof}
The BFPT can be proved using Sperner\'s lemma. We now give an outline of the proof for the special case in which *f* is a function from the standard *n*-simplex, $\Delta^n,$ to itself, where
$$\Delta^n = \left\{P\in\mathbb{R}^{n+1}\mid\sum_{i = 0}^{n}{P_i} = 1 \text{ and } P_i \ge 0 \text{ for all } i\right\}.$$
For every point $P\in \Delta^n,$ also $f(P)\in \Delta^n.$ Hence the sum of their coordinates is equal:
$$\sum_{i = 0}^{n}{P_i} = 1 = \sum_{i = 0}^{n}{f(P)_i}$$
Hence, by the pigeonhole principle, for every $P\in \Delta^n,$ there must be an index $j \in \{0, \ldots, n\}$ such that the $j$th coordinate of $P$ is greater than or equal to the $j$th coordinate of its image under *f*:
$$P_j \geq f(P)_j.$$
Moreover, if $P$ lies on a *k*-dimensional sub-face of $\Delta^n,$ then by the same argument, the index $j$ can be selected from among the `{{nowrap|''k'' + 1}}`{=mediawiki} coordinates which are not zero on this sub-face.
We now use this fact to construct a Sperner coloring. For every triangulation of $\Delta^n,$ the color of every vertex $P$ is an index $j$ such that $f(P)_j \leq P_j.$
By construction, this is a Sperner coloring. Hence, by Sperner\'s lemma, there is an *n*-dimensional simplex whose vertices are colored with the entire set of `{{nowrap|''n'' + 1}}`{=mediawiki} available colors.
Because *f* is continuous, this simplex can be made arbitrarily small by choosing an arbitrarily fine triangulation. Hence, there must be a point $P$ which satisfies the labeling condition in all coordinates: $f(P)_j \leq P_j$ for all $j.$
Because the sum of the coordinates of $P$ and $f(P)$ must be equal, all these inequalities must actually be equalities. But this means that:
$$f(P) = P.$$
That is, $P$ is a fixed point of $f.$
### A proof by Hirsch {#a_proof_by_hirsch}
There is also a quick proof, by Morris Hirsch, based on the impossibility of a differentiable retraction. Let *f* denote a continuous map from the unit ball D^n^ in n-dimensional Euclidean space to itself and assume that *f* fixes no point. By continuity and the fact that D^n^ is compact, it follows that for some ε \> 0, ∥x - *f*(x)∥ \> ε for all x in D^n^. Then the map *f* can be approximated by a smooth map retaining the property of not fixing a point; this can be done by using the Weierstrass approximation theorem or by convolving with smooth bump functions. One then defines a retraction as above by sending each x to the point of ∂D^n^ where the unique ray from x through *f*(x) intersects ∂D^n^, and this must now be a differentiable mapping. Such a retraction must have a non-singular value p ∈ ∂D^n^, by Sard\'s theorem, which is also non-singular for the restriction to the boundary (which is just the identity). Thus the inverse image *f*^-1^(p) would be a compact 1-manifold with boundary. Such a boundary would have to contain at least two endpoints, and these would have to lie on the boundary of the original ball. This would mean that the inverse image of one point on ∂D^n^ contains a different point on ∂D^n^, contradicting the definition of a retraction D^n^ → ∂D^n^.
R. Bruce Kellogg, Tien-Yien Li, and James A. Yorke turned Hirsch\'s proof into a computable proof by observing that the retract is in fact defined everywhere except at the fixed points. For almost any point *q* on the boundary --- assuming it is not a fixed point --- the 1-manifold with boundary mentioned above does exist and the only possibility is that it leads from *q* to a fixed point. It is an easy numerical task to follow such a path from *q* to the fixed point so the method is essentially computable. gave a conceptually similar path-following version of the homotopy proof which extends to a wide variety of related problems.
### A proof using oriented area {#a_proof_using_oriented_area}
A variation of the preceding proof does not employ the Sard\'s theorem, and goes as follows. If $r\colon B\to \partial B$ is a smooth retraction, one considers the smooth deformation $g^t(x):=t r(x)+(1-t)x,$ and the smooth function
$$\varphi(t):=\int_B \det D g^t(x) \, dx.$$ Differentiating under the sign of integral it is not difficult to check that *`{{prime|φ}}`{=mediawiki}*(*t*) = 0 for all *t*, so *φ* is a constant function, which is a contradiction because *φ*(0) is the *n*-dimensional volume of the ball, while *φ*(1) is zero. The geometric idea is that *φ*(*t*) is the oriented area of *g*^*t*^(*B*) (that is, the Lebesgue measure of the image of the ball via *g*^*t*^, taking into account multiplicity and orientation), and should remain constant (as it is very clear in the one-dimensional case). On the other hand, as the parameter *t* passes from 0 to 1 the map *g*^*t*^ transforms continuously from the identity map of the ball, to the retraction *r*, which is a contradiction since the oriented area of the identity coincides with the volume of the ball, while the oriented area of *r* is necessarily 0, as its image is the boundary of the ball, a set of null measure.
### A proof using the game Hex {#a_proof_using_the_game_hex}
A quite different proof given by David Gale is based on the game of Hex. The basic theorem regarding Hex, first proven by John Nash, is that no game of Hex can end in a draw; the first player always has a winning strategy (although this theorem is nonconstructive, and explicit strategies have not been fully developed for board sizes of dimensions 10 x 10 or greater). This turns out to be equivalent to the Brouwer fixed-point theorem for dimension 2. By considering *n*-dimensional versions of Hex, one can prove in general that Brouwer\'s theorem is equivalent to the determinacy theorem for Hex.
### A proof using the Lefschetz fixed-point theorem {#a_proof_using_the_lefschetz_fixed_point_theorem}
The Lefschetz fixed-point theorem says that if a continuous map *f* from a finite simplicial complex *B* to itself has only isolated fixed points, then the number of fixed points counted with multiplicities (which may be negative) is equal to the Lefschetz number
$$\displaystyle \sum_n(-1)^n\operatorname{Tr}(f|H_n(B))$$ and in particular if the Lefschetz number is nonzero then *f* must have a fixed point. If *B* is a ball (or more generally is contractible) then the Lefschetz number is one because the only non-zero simplicial homology group is: $H_0(B)$ and *f* acts as the identity on this group, so *f* has a fixed point.
### A proof in a weak logical system {#a_proof_in_a_weak_logical_system}
In reverse mathematics, Brouwer\'s theorem can be proved in the system WKL~0~, and conversely over the base system RCA~0~ Brouwer\'s theorem for a square implies the weak Kőnig\'s lemma, so this gives a precise description of the strength of Brouwer\'s theorem.
## Generalizations
The Brouwer fixed-point theorem forms the starting point of a number of more general fixed-point theorems.
The straightforward generalization to infinite dimensions, i.e. using the unit ball of an arbitrary Hilbert space instead of Euclidean space, is not true. The main problem here is that the unit balls of infinite-dimensional Hilbert spaces are not compact. For example, in the Hilbert space ℓ^2^ of square-summable real (or complex) sequences, consider the map *f* : ℓ^2^ → ℓ^2^ which sends a sequence (*x*~*n*~) from the closed unit ball of ℓ^2^ to the sequence (*y*~*n*~) defined by
$$y_0 = \sqrt{1 - \|x\|_2^2}\quad\text{ and}\quad y_n = x_{n-1} \text{ for } n \geq 1.$$
It is not difficult to check that this map is continuous, has its image in the unit sphere of ℓ^2^, but does not have a fixed point.
The generalizations of the Brouwer fixed-point theorem to infinite dimensional spaces therefore all include a compactness assumption of some sort, and also often an assumption of convexity. See fixed-point theorems in infinite-dimensional spaces for a discussion of these theorems.
There is also finite-dimensional generalization to a larger class of spaces: If $X$ is a product of finitely many chainable continua, then every continuous function $f:X\rightarrow X$ has a fixed point, where a chainable continuum is a (usually but in this case not necessarily metric) compact Hausdorff space of which every open cover has a finite open refinement $\{U_1,\ldots,U_m\}$, such that $U_i \cap U_j \neq \emptyset$ if and only if $|i-j| \leq 1$. Examples of chainable continua include compact connected linearly ordered spaces and in particular closed intervals of real numbers.
The Kakutani fixed point theorem generalizes the Brouwer fixed-point theorem in a different direction: it stays in **R**^*n*^, but considers upper hemi-continuous set-valued functions (functions that assign to each point of the set a subset of the set). It also requires compactness and convexity of the set.
The Lefschetz fixed-point theorem applies to (almost) arbitrary compact topological spaces, and gives a condition in terms of singular homology that guarantees the existence of fixed points; this condition is trivially satisfied for any map in the case of *D*^*n*^.
## Equivalent results {#equivalent_results}
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,109 |
Leg theory
|
**Leg theory** is a bowling tactic in the sport of cricket. The term *leg theory* is somewhat archaic, but the basic tactic remains a play in modern cricket.
Simply put, leg theory involves concentrating the bowling attack at or near the line of leg stump. This may or may not be accompanied by a concentration of fielders on the leg side. The line of attack aims to cramp the batsman, making him play the ball with the bat close to the body. This makes it difficult to hit the ball freely and score runs, especially on the off side. Since a leg theory attack means the batsman is more likely to hit the ball on the leg side, additional fielders on that side of the field can be effective in preventing runs and taking catches.
Stifling the batsman in this manner can lead to impatience and frustration, resulting in rash play by the batsman which in turn can lead to a quick dismissal. Concentrating attack on the leg stump is considered by many cricket fans and commentators to lead to boring play, as it stifles run scoring and encourages batsmen to play conservatively.
Leg theory can be a moderately successful tactic when used with both fast bowling and spin bowling, particularly leg spin to right-handed batsmen or off spin to left-handed batsmen. However, because it relies on lack of concentration or discipline by the batsman, it can be risky against patient and skilled players, especially batsmen who are strong on the leg side. The English opening bowlers Sydney Barnes and Frank Foster used leg theory with some success in Australia in 1911--12. In England, at around the same time, Fred Root was one of the main proponents of the same tactic.
## Fast leg theory {#fast_leg_theory}
In 1930, England captain Douglas Jardine, together with Nottinghamshire\'s captain Arthur Carr and his bowlers Harold Larwood and Bill Voce, developed a variant of leg theory in which the bowlers bowled fast, short-pitched balls that would rise into the batsman\'s body, together with a heavily stacked ring of close fielders on the leg side. The idea was that when the batsman defended against the ball, he would be likely to deflect the ball into the air for a catch.
Jardine called this modified form of the tactic *fast leg theory*. On the 1932--33 English tour of Australia, Larwood and Voce bowled fast leg theory at the Australian batsmen. It turned out to be extremely dangerous, and most Australian players sustained injuries from being hit by the ball. Wicket-keeper Bert Oldfield\'s skull was fractured by a ball hitting his head (although the ball had first glanced off the bat and Larwood had an orthodox field), almost precipitating a riot by the Australian crowd.
The Australian press dubbed the tactic *Bodyline*, and claimed it was a deliberate attempt by the English team to intimidate and injure the Australian players. Reports of the controversy reaching England at the time described the bowling as *fast leg theory*, which sounded to many people to be a harmless and well-established tactic. This led to a serious misunderstanding amongst the English public and the Marylebone Cricket Club -- the administrators of English cricket -- of the dangers posed by Bodyline. The English press and cricket authorities declared the Australian protests to be a case of sore losing and \"squealing\".
It was only with the return of the English team and the subsequent use of Bodyline against English players in England by the touring West Indian cricket team in 1933 that demonstrated to the country the dangers it posed. The MCC subsequently revised the Laws of Cricket to prevent the use of \"fast leg theory\" tactics in future, also limiting the traditional tactic.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,110 |
Blythe Danner
|
**Blythe Katherine Danner** (born February 3, 1943) is an American actress. Accolades she has received include two Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Izzy Huffstodt on *Huff* (2004--2006), and a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress for her performance in *Butterflies Are Free* on Broadway (1969--1972). Danner was twice nominated for the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for portraying Marilyn Truman on *Will & Grace* (2001--06; 2018--20), and the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for her roles in *We Were the Mulvaneys* (2002) and *Back When We Were Grownups* (2004). For the latter, she also received a Golden Globe Award nomination.
Danner played Dina Byrnes in *Meet the Parents* (2000) and its sequels *Meet the Fockers* (2004), *Little Fockers* (2010) and an upcoming fourth film which is set to release in 2026. She has collaborated on several occasions with Woody Allen, appearing in three of his films: *Another Woman* (1988), *Alice* (1990), and *Husbands and Wives* (1992). Her other notable film credits include *1776* (1972), *Hearts of the West* (1975), *The Great Santini* (1979), *Mr. & Mrs. Bridge* (1990), *The Prince of Tides* (1991), *To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar* (1995), *The Myth of Fingerprints* (1997), *The X-Files* (1998), *Forces of Nature* (1999), *The Love Letter* (1999), *The Last Kiss* (2006), *Paul* (2011), *Hello I Must Be Going* (2012), *I\'ll See You in My Dreams* (2015), and *What They Had* (2018).
Danner is the sister of Harry Danner and the widow of Bruce Paltrow.
## Early life {#early_life}
Danner was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Katharine and Harry Earl Danner, a bank executive. She has a brother, opera singer and actor Harry Danner, a sister and a maternal half-brother. Danner has Pennsylvania Dutch, some English and Irish ancestry; her maternal grandmother was a German immigrant, and one of her paternal great-grandmothers was born in Barbados to a family of European descent.
Danner graduated from George School, a Quaker high school located near Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1960.
## Career
A graduate of Bard College, Danner\'s first roles included the 1967 musical *Mata Hari* and the 1968 Off-Broadway production of *Summertree*. Her early Broadway appearances included *Cyrano de Bergerac* (1968) and her Theatre World Award-winning performance in *The Miser* (1969). She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for portraying a free-spirited divorcée in *Butterflies Are Free* (1970). In 1972, Danner portrayed Martha Jefferson in the film version of *1776*. That same year, she played the unknowing wife of a husband who committed murder, opposite Peter Falk and John Cassavetes, in the *Columbo* episode \"Étude in Black\".
Her earliest starring film role was opposite Alan Alda in *To Kill a Clown* (1972). Danner appeared in the episode of *M\*A\*S\*H* entitled \"The More I See You\", playing the love interest of Alda\'s character Hawkeye Pierce. She played lawyer Amanda Bonner in television\'s *Adam\'s Rib*, opposite Ken Howard as Adam Bonner. She played Zelda Fitzgerald in *F. Scott Fitzgerald and \'The Last of the Belles\'* (1974). She was the eponymous heroine in the film *Lovin\' Molly* (1974) (directed by Sidney Lumet). She appeared in *Futureworld*, playing Tracy Ballard with co-star Peter Fonda (1976). In the 1982 TV movie *Inside the Third Reich*, she played the wife of Albert Speer. In the film version of Neil Simon\'s semi-autobiographical play *Brighton Beach Memoirs* (1986), she portrayed a middle-aged Jewish mother. She has appeared in two films based on the novels of Pat Conroy, *The Great Santini* (1979) and *The Prince of Tides* (1991), as well as two television movies adapted from books by Anne Tyler, *Saint Maybe* and *Back When We Were Grownups*, both for the Hallmark Hall of Fame.
Danner appeared opposite Robert De Niro in the 2000 comedy hit *Meet the Parents*, and its sequels, *Meet the Fockers* (2004) and *Little Fockers* (2010). On May 30, 2025, it was announced that Danner would return for a fourth film which is scheduled to release on November 25, 2026.
From 2001 to 2006, she regularly appeared on NBC\'s sitcom *Will & Grace* as Will Truman\'s mother Marilyn. From 2004 to 2006, she starred in the main cast of the comedy-drama series *Huff*. In 2005, she was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards for her work on *Will & Grace*, *Huff*, and the television film *Back When We Were Grownups*, winning for her role in *Huff*. The following year, she won a second consecutive Emmy Award for *Huff*. For 25 years, she has been a regular performer at the Williamstown Summer Theater Festival, where she also serves on the board of directors.
In 2006, Danner was awarded an inaugural Katharine Hepburn Medal by Bryn Mawr College\'s Katharine Houghton Hepburn Center. In 2015, Danner was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
## Environmental activism {#environmental_activism}
Danner has been involved in environmental issues such as recycling and conservation for over 30 years. She has been active with INFORM, Inc., is on the Board of Environmental Advocates of New York and the board of directors of the Environmental Media Association, and won the 2002 EMA Board of Directors Ongoing Commitment Award. In 2011, Danner joined Moms Clean Air Force, to help call on parents to join in the fight against toxic air pollution.
## Health care activism {#health_care_activism}
After the death of her husband Bruce Paltrow from oral cancer, she became involved with the nonprofit Oral Cancer Foundation. In 2005, she filmed a public service announcement to raise public awareness of the disease and the need for early detection. She has since appeared on morning talk shows and given interviews in such magazines as *People*. The Bruce Paltrow Oral Cancer Fund, administered by the Oral Cancer Foundation, raises funding for oral cancer research and treatment, with a particular focus on those communities in which healthcare disparities exist.
She has also appeared in commercials for Prolia, a brand of denosumab used in the treatment of osteoporosis.
## Personal life {#personal_life}
Danner was married to producer and director Bruce Paltrow, who died of oral cancer in 2002. She and Paltrow had two children together, actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.
Danner\'s niece is the actress Katherine Moennig, the daughter of her maternal half-brother William.
Danner co-starred with her daughter in the 1992 television film *Cruel Doubt* and again in the 2003 film *Sylvia*, in which she portrayed Aurelia Plath, mother to Gwyneth\'s title role of Sylvia Plath.
Danner is a practitioner of transcendental meditation, which she has described as \"very helpful and comforting\".
## Acting credits {#acting_credits}
-- -----------------------------------------------------
Denotes productions that have not yet been released
-- -----------------------------------------------------
: Key
### Film
Year Title Role Notes
------ ----------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------- -------------------------
1972 *To Kill a Clown* Lily Frischer
*1776* Martha Jefferson
1974 *Lovin\' Molly* Molly Taylor
1975 *Hearts of the West* Miss Trout
1976 *Futureworld* Tracy Ballard
1979 *The Great Santini* Lillian Meechum
1983 *Inside the Third Reich* Margarete Speer
*Man, Woman and Child* Sheila Beckwith
1985 **Guilty Conscience** Louise Jamison
1986 *Brighton Beach Memoirs* Kate Jerome
1988 *Another Woman* Lydia
1990 *Mr. & Mrs. Bridge* Grace Barron
*Alice* Dorothy Smith
1991 *The Prince of Tides* Sally Wingo
1992 *Husbands and Wives* Rain\'s Mother
1995 *Napoleon* Mother Dingo
*Homage* Katherine Samuel
*To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar* Beatrice
1997 *The Myth of Fingerprints* Lena
*Mad City* Mrs. Banks
1998 *The Proposition* Syril Danning
*No Looking Back* Claudia\'s Mother
*The X-Files* Jana Cassidy
1999 *Forces of Nature* Virginia Cahill
*The Love Letter* Lillian MacFarquhar
*Things I Forgot to Remember* Mrs. Bradford
2000 *Meet the Parents* Dina Byrnes
2001 *The Invisible Circus* Gail O\'Connor
2003 *Three Days of Rain* Woman in Cab
*Sylvia* Aurelia Plath
2004 *Howl\'s Moving Castle* Madam Suliman Voice role; English dub
*Meet the Fockers* Dina Byrnes
2006 *Stolen* Isabella Stewart Gardner
*The Last Kiss* Anna
2008 *The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2* Greta Randolph
2009 *Waiting for Forever* Miranda Twist
*Beyond All Boundaries* Elsa Maxwell Voice; Documentary
*The Lightkeepers* Mrs. Bascom
2010 *Little Fockers* Dina Byrnes
2011 *Paul* Tara Walton
*What\'s Your Number?* Ava Darling
*Detachment* Mrs. Perkins
2012 *The Lucky One* Ellie Green
*Hello I Must Be Going* Ruth Minsky
2014 *Murder of a Cat* Edie Moisey
2015 *I\'ll See You in My Dreams* Carol Petersen
*Tumbledown* Linda Jespersen
2018 *What They Had* Ruth O'Shea
*Hearts Beat Loud* Marianne Fisher
*The Chaperone* Mary O\'Dell
2019 *The Tomorrow Man* Ronnie Meisner
*Strange but True* Gail Erwin
2023 *Happiness for Beginners* Gigi
2026 *Untitled Meet the Parents film* `{{dagger}}`{=mediawiki} Dina Byrnes
### Television
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
+==============+======================================================+==========================+==========================================================+
| 1970 | *George M!* | Agnes Nolan Cohan | Television film |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1971 | *Dr. Cook\'s Garden* | Janey Rausch | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1972 | *Columbo* | Janice Benedict | Episode: \"Etude in Black\" |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1973 | *Adam\'s Rib* | Amanda Bonner | 13 episodes |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1974 | *F. Scott Fitzgerald and \'The Last of the Belles\'* | Zelda Fitzgerald | Television film |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *Sidekicks* | Prudy Jenkins | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1975 | *Great Performances* | Nina Zarechnaya | Episode: \"The Seagull\" |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1976 | *M\*A\*S\*H* | Carlye Breslin Walton | Episode: \"The More I See You\" |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story* | Eleanor Twitchell Gehrig | Television film |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *Great Performances* | Alma Winemiller | Episode: \"Eccentricites of a Nightingale\" |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1977 | *The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer* | Mrs. Custer | Television film |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1978 | *Are You in the House Alone?* | Anne Osbourne | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1979 | *Too Far to Go* | Joan Barlow Maple | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *You Can\'t Take It with You* | Alice Sycamore | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1982 | *Inside the Third Reich* | Margarete Speer | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *Saturday Night Live* | Guest host | Episode: \"Blythe Danner / Rickie Lee Jones\" |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1983 | *In Defense of Kids* | Ellen Wilcox | Television film |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1984 | *Guilty Conscience* | Louise Jamison | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues* | Anne Sullivan | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1988--1989 | *Tattingers* | Hillary Tattinger | 13 episodes |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1989 | *Money, Power, Murder* | Jeannie | Television film |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1990 | *Judgment* | Emmeline Guitry | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1992 | *Getting Up and Going Home* | Lily | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *Cruel Doubt* | Bonnie Van Stein | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *Tales from the Crypt* | Margaret | Episode: \"Maniac at Large\" |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *Lincoln* | Elizabeth Todd Edwards | Television film |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1993 | *Tracey Ullman Takes on New York* | Eleanor Levine | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *Great Performances* | Narrator | Episode: \"The Maestros of Philadelphia\" |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1994 | *Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All* | Bianca Honicut | Television film |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *Leave of Absence* | Elisa | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1997 | *Thomas Jefferson* | Martha Jefferson | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *A Call to Remember* | Paula Tobias | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 1998 | *From the Earth to the Moon* | Narrator | Episode: \"Le voyage dans la lune\" |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *Saint Maybe* | Bee Bedloe | Television film |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *Murder She Purred: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery* | Mrs. Murphy | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 2001--2006,\ | *Will & Grace* | Marilyn Truman | Recurring role |
| 2018--2020 | | | |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 2002 | *We Were the Mulvaneys* | Corinne Mulvaney | Television film |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *Presidio Med* | Dr. Harriet Lanning | 3 episodes |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 2003 | *Two and a Half Men* | Evelyn Harper | Episode: \"Most Chicks Won\'t Eat Veal\" (unaired pilot) |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 2004 | *Back When We Were Grownups* | Rebecca Holmes Davitch | Television film |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 2004--2006 | *Huff* | Isabelle Huffstodt | Main role |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 2009 | *Medium* | Louise Leaming | Episode: \"A Taste of Her Own Medicine\" |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *Nurse Jackie* | Maureen Cooper | Episode: \"Tiny Bubbles\" |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 2011--2012 | *Up All Night* | Dr. Angie Chafin | 3 episodes |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 2015 | *The Slap* | Virginia Latham | Episode: \"Anouk\" |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 2016 | *Madoff* | Ruth Madoff | 4 episodes |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| | *Odd Mom Out* | Jill\'s Mom | Episode: \"Fasting and Furious\" |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 2017 | *Gypsy* | Nancy | 4 episodes |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 2018 | *Patrick Melrose* | Nancy Valance | Miniseries |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 2021 | *American Gods* | Demeter | 2 episodes |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
| 2021--2023 | *Ridley Jones* | Sylvia Jones (voice) | Recurring role |
+--------------+------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
### Stage
Year Title Role Venue
------------ ------------------------------- ----------------------- ------------------------------- --
1965 *The Glass Menagerie* Laura Wingfield Theater Company of Boston
1967 *Three Sisters* Irina Prozorova Trinity Square Playhouse
1968 *Cyrano de Bergerac* Sister Marthe Vivian Beaumont Theater
*Up Eden* Violet Beam Jan Hus Playhouse Theater
*Lovers* Margaret Mary Enright Vivian Beaumont Theater
1969 *Someone\'s Comin\' Hungry* Connie Odum Pocket Theatre
*The Miser* Elise Vivian Beaumont Theater
1969--1972 *Butterflies Are Free* Jill Tanner Booth Theatre
1971 *Major Barbara* Barbara Undershaft Mark Taper Forum
1972 *Twelfth Night* Viola Vivian Beaumont Theater
1974 *The Seagull* Nina Zarechnaya Williamstown Theatre Festival
1975 *Ring Round the Moon* Isabelle Williamstown Theatre Festival
1977 *The New York Idea* Cynthia Karslake Brooklyn Academy of Music
1979 *Children of the Sun* Lisa Williamstown Theatre Festival
1980 *Betrayal* Emma Trafalgar Theatre
1980--1981 *The Philadelphia Story* Tracy Samantha Lord Vivian Beaumont Theater
1987 *Blithe Spirit* Elvira Condomine Neil Simon Theatre
1988 *Much Ado About Nothing* Beatrice Delacorte Theater
*A Streetcar Named Desire* Blanche DuBois Circle in the Square Theatre
1989 *Love Letters* Melissa Gardner Promenade Theatre
1991 *Picnic* Rosemary Sydney Williamstown Theatre Festival
1994 *The Seagull* Irina Arkadina Williamstown Theatre Festival
1995 *Sylvia* Kate New York City Center
1995--1996 *Moonlight* Bel Laura Pels Theatre
1998 *The Deep Blue Sea* Hester Collyer Criterion Center Stage Right
2000 *Tonight at 8.30* Jane Featherways Williamstown Theatre Festival
2001 *Follies* Phyllis Rogers Stone Belasco Theatre
2002 *Carousel* Mrs. Mullin Carnegie Hall
2003 *All About Eve* Karen Richards Ahmanson Theatre
2006 *Suddenly Last Summer* Violet Venable Laura Pels Theatre
2012--2013 *Nice Work If You Can Get It* Millicent Winter Imperial Theatre
2014 *The Country House* Anna Paterson Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
## Awards and nominations {#awards_and_nominations}
Year Nominated work Award Result
------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------
1969 *The Miser* Theatre World Award
1970 *Butterflies Are Free* Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play
1976 *Futureworld* Saturn Award for Best Actress
1977 *The New York Idea* Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play
1980 *Betrayal* Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play
1988 *A Streetcar Named Desire* Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
2001 *Follies* Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical
2002 *We Were the Mulvaneys* Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
2004 *Back When We Were Grownups* Golden Globe Award for Best Actress -- Miniseries or Television Film
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
2005 *Huff* Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
*Will & Grace* Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
2006 *Huff* Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
*Suddenly Last Summer* Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play
*Will & Grace* Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
*The Last Kiss* Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress -- Motion Picture
2015 *I\'ll See You in My Dreams* Gotham Award for Best Actress
Satellite Award for Best Actress -- Motion Picture
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,111 |
Bioleaching
|
**Bioleaching** is the extraction or liberation of metals from their ores through the use of living organisms. Bioleaching is one of several applications within biohydrometallurgy and several methods are used to treat ores or concentrates containing copper, zinc, lead, arsenic, antimony, nickel, molybdenum, gold, silver, and cobalt.
Bioleaching falls into two broad categories. The first, is the use of microorganisms to oxidize refractory minerals to release valuable metals such and gold and silver. Most commonly the minerals that are the target of oxidization are pyrite and arsenopyrite.
The second category is leaching of sulphide minerals to release the associated metal, for example, leaching of pentlandite to release nickel, or the leaching of chalcocite, covellite or chalcopyrite to release copper.
## Process
Bioleaching can involve numerous ferrous iron and sulfur oxidizing bacteria, including *Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans* (formerly known as *Thiobacillus ferrooxidans*) and *Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans* (formerly known as *Thiobacillus thiooxidans*). As a general principle, in one proposed method of bacterial leaching known as Indirect Leaching, Fe^3+^ ions are used to oxidize the ore. This step is entirely independent of microbes. The role of the bacteria is further oxidation of the ore, but also the regeneration of the chemical oxidant Fe^3+^ from Fe^2+^. For example, bacteria catalyse the breakdown of the mineral pyrite (FeS~2~) by oxidising the sulfur and metal (in this case ferrous iron, (Fe^2+^)) using oxygen. This yields soluble products that can be further purified and refined to yield the desired metal.
**Pyrite leaching** (FeS~2~): In the first step, disulfide is spontaneously oxidized to thiosulfate by ferric ion (Fe^3+^), which in turn is reduced to give ferrous ion (Fe^2+^):
: (1) $\mathrm{FeS_2 + 6 \ Fe^{\,3+} + 3 \ H_2O \longrightarrow 7 \ Fe^{\,2+} + S_2O_3^{\,2-} + 6 \ H^+}$ spontaneous
The ferrous ion is then oxidized by bacteria using oxygen:
: (2) $\mathrm{4 \ Fe^{\,2+} + \ O_2 + 4 \ H^+ \longrightarrow 4 \ Fe^{\,3+} + 2 \ H_2O}$ (iron oxidizers)
Thiosulfate is also oxidized by bacteria to give sulfate:
: (3) $\mathrm{S_2O_3^{\,2-} + 2 \ O_2 + H_2O \longrightarrow 2 \ SO_4^{\,2-} + 2 \ H^+}$ (sulfur oxidizers)
The ferric ion produced in reaction (2) oxidized more sulfide as in reaction (1), closing the cycle and given the net reaction:
: (4) $\mathrm{2 \ FeS_2 + 7 \ O_2 + 2 \ H_2O \longrightarrow 2 \ Fe^{\,2+} + 4 \ SO_4^{\,2-} + 4 \ H^+}$
The net products of the reaction are soluble ferrous sulfate and sulfuric acid.
The microbial oxidation process occurs at the cell membrane of the bacteria. The electrons pass into the cells and are used in biochemical processes to produce energy for the bacteria while reducing oxygen to water. The critical reaction is the oxidation of sulfide by ferric iron. The main role of the bacterial step is the regeneration of this reactant.
The process for copper is very similar, but the efficiency and kinetics depend on the copper mineralogy. The most efficient minerals are supergene minerals such as chalcocite, Cu~2~S and covellite, CuS. The main copper mineral chalcopyrite (CuFeS~2~) is not leached very efficiently, which is why the dominant copper-producing technology remains flotation, followed by smelting and refining. The leaching of CuFeS~2~ follows the two stages of being dissolved and then further oxidised, with Cu^2+^ ions being left in solution.
**Chalcopyrite leaching**:
: (1) $\mathrm{CuFeS_2 + 4 \ Fe^{\,3+} \longrightarrow Cu^{\,2+} + 5 \ Fe^{\,2+} + 2 \ S_0}$ spontaneous
: (2) $\mathrm{4 \ Fe^{\,2+} + O_2 + 4 \ H^+ \longrightarrow 4 \ Fe^{\,3+} + 2 \ H_2O}$ (iron oxidizers)
: (3) $\mathrm{2 \ S^0 + 3 \ O_2 + 2 \ H_2O \longrightarrow 2 \ SO_4^{\,2-} + 4 \ H^+}$ (sulfur oxidizers)
net reaction:
: (4) $\mathrm{CuFeS_2 + 4 \ O_2 \longrightarrow Cu^{\,2+} + Fe^{\,2+} + 2 \ SO_4^{\,2-}}$
In general, sulfides are first oxidized to elemental sulfur, whereas disulfides are oxidized to give thiosulfate, and the processes above can be applied to other sulfidic ores. Bioleaching of non-sulfidic ores such as pitchblende also uses ferric iron as an oxidant (e.g., UO~2~ + 2 Fe^3+^ ==\> UO~2~^2+^ + 2 Fe^2+^). In this case, the sole purpose of the bacterial step is the regeneration of Fe^3+^. Sulfidic iron ores can be added to speed up the process and provide a source of iron. Bioleaching of non-sulfidic ores by layering of waste sulfides and elemental sulfur, colonized by *Acidithiobacillus* spp., has been accomplished, which provides a strategy for accelerated leaching of materials that do not contain sulfide minerals.
## Further processing {#further_processing}
The dissolved copper (Cu^2+^) ions are removed from the solution by ligand exchange solvent extraction, which leaves other ions in the solution. The copper is removed by bonding to a ligand, which is a large molecule consisting of a number of smaller groups, each possessing a lone electron pair. The ligand-copper complex is extracted from the solution using an organic solvent such as kerosene:
: Cu^2+^~(aq)~ + 2LH(organic) → CuL~2~(organic) + 2H^+^~(aq)~
The ligand donates electrons to the copper, producing a complex - a central metal atom (copper) bonded to the ligand. Because this complex has no charge, it is no longer attracted to polar water molecules and dissolves in the kerosene, which is then easily separated from the solution. Because the initial reaction is reversible, it is determined by pH. Adding concentrated acid reverses the equation, and the copper ions go back into an aqueous solution.
Then the copper is passed through an electro-winning process to increase its purity: An electric current is passed through the resulting solution of copper ions. Because copper ions have a 2+ charge, they are attracted to the negative cathodes and collect there.
The copper can also be concentrated and separated by displacing the copper with Fe from scrap iron:
: Cu^2+^~(aq)~ + Fe~(s)~ → Cu~(s)~ + Fe^2+^~(aq)~
The electrons lost by the iron are taken up by the copper. Copper is the oxidising agent (it accepts electrons), and iron is the reducing agent (it loses electrons).
Traces of precious metals such as gold may be left in the original solution. Treating the mixture with sodium cyanide in the presence of free oxygen dissolves the gold. The gold is removed from the solution by adsorbing (taking it up on the surface) to charcoal.
## With fungi {#with_fungi}
Several species of fungi can be used for bioleaching. Fungi can be grown on many different substrates, such as electronic scrap, catalytic converters, and fly ash from municipal waste incineration. Experiments have shown that two fungal strains (*Aspergillus niger, Penicillium simplicissimum*) were able to mobilize Cu and Sn by 65%, and Al, Ni, Pb, and Zn by more than 95%. *Aspergillus niger* can produce some organic acids such as citric acid. This form of leaching does not rely on microbial oxidation of metal but rather uses microbial metabolism as source of acids that directly dissolve the metal.
## Feasibility
### Economic feasibility {#economic_feasibility}
Bioleaching is in general simpler and, therefore, cheaper to operate and maintain than traditional processes, since fewer specialists are needed to operate complex chemical plants. And low concentrations are not a problem for bacteria because they simply ignore the waste that surrounds the metals, attaining extraction yields of over 90% in some cases. These microorganisms actually gain energy by breaking down minerals into their constituent elements. The company simply collects the ions out of the solution after the bacteria have finished.
Bioleaching can be used to extract metals from low concentration ores such as gold that are too poor for other technologies. It can be used to partially replace the extensive crushing and grinding that translates to prohibitive cost and energy consumption in a conventional process. Because the lower cost of bacterial leaching outweighs the time it takes to extract the metal.
High concentration ores, such as copper, are more economical to smelt rather bioleach due to the slow speed of the bacterial leaching process compared to smelting. The slow speed of bioleaching introduces a significant delay in cash flow for new mines. Nonetheless, at the largest copper mine of the world, Escondida in Chile the process seems to be favorable.
Economically it is also very expensive and many companies once started can not keep up with the demand and end up in debt.
### In space {#in_space}
In 2020 scientists showed, with an experiment with different gravity environments on the ISS, that microorganisms could be employed to mine useful elements from basaltic rocks via bioleaching in space.
## Environmental impact {#environmental_impact}
The process is more environmentally friendly than traditional extraction methods. For the company this can translate into profit, since the necessary limiting of sulfur dioxide emissions during smelting is expensive. Less landscape damage occurs, since the bacteria involved grow naturally, and the mine and surrounding area can be left relatively untouched. As the bacteria breed in the conditions of the mine, they are easily cultivated and recycled.
Toxic chemicals are sometimes produced in the process. Sulfuric acid and H^+^ ions that have been formed can leak into the ground and surface water turning it acidic, causing environmental damage. Heavy ions such as iron, zinc, and arsenic leak during acid mine drainage. When the pH of this solution rises, as a result of dilution by fresh water, these ions precipitate, forming \"Yellow Boy\" pollution. For these reasons, a setup of bioleaching must be carefully planned, since the process can lead to a biosafety failure. Unlike other methods, once started, bioheap leaching cannot be quickly stopped, because leaching would still continue with rainwater and natural bacteria. Projects like Finnish Talvivaara proved to be environmentally and economically disastrous.
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Boiling point
|
The **boiling point** of a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals the pressure surrounding the liquid and the liquid changes into a vapor.
The boiling point of a liquid varies depending upon the surrounding environmental pressure. A liquid in a partial vacuum, i.e., under a lower pressure, has a lower boiling point than when that liquid is at atmospheric pressure. Because of this, water boils at 100°C (or with scientific precision: 99.97 C) under standard pressure at sea level, but at 93.4 C at 1905 m altitude. For a given pressure, different liquids will boil at different temperatures.
The **normal boiling point** (also called the **atmospheric boiling point** or the **atmospheric pressure boiling point**) of a liquid is the special case in which the vapor pressure of the liquid equals the defined atmospheric pressure at sea level, one atmosphere. At that temperature, the vapor pressure of the liquid becomes sufficient to overcome atmospheric pressure and allow bubbles of vapor to form inside the bulk of the liquid. The **standard boiling point** has been defined by IUPAC since 1982 as the temperature at which boiling occurs under a pressure of one bar.
The heat of vaporization is the energy required to transform a given quantity (a mol, kg, pound, etc.) of a substance from a liquid into a gas at a given pressure (often atmospheric pressure).
Liquids may change to a vapor at temperatures below their boiling points through the process of evaporation. Evaporation is a surface phenomenon in which molecules located near the liquid\'s edge, not contained by enough liquid pressure on that side, escape into the surroundings as vapor. On the other hand, boiling is a process in which molecules anywhere in the liquid escape, resulting in the formation of vapor bubbles within the liquid.
## Saturation temperature and pressure {#saturation_temperature_and_pressure}
*Main article: Vapor--liquid equilibrium* A *saturated liquid* contains as much thermal energy as it can without boiling (or conversely a *saturated vapor* contains as little thermal energy as it can without condensing).
**Saturation temperature** means *boiling point*. The saturation temperature is the temperature for a corresponding saturation pressure at which a liquid boils into its vapor phase. The liquid can be said to be saturated with thermal energy. Any addition of thermal energy results in a phase transition.
If the pressure in a system remains constant (isobaric), a vapor at saturation temperature will begin to condense into its liquid phase as thermal energy (heat) is removed. Similarly, a liquid at saturation temperature and pressure will boil into its vapor phase as additional thermal energy is applied.
The boiling point corresponds to the temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid equals the surrounding environmental pressure. Thus, the boiling point is dependent on the pressure. Boiling points may be published with respect to the NIST, USA standard pressure of 101.325 kPa (1 atm), or the IUPAC standard pressure of 100.000 kPa (1 bar). At higher elevations, where the atmospheric pressure is much lower, the boiling point is also lower. The boiling point increases with increased pressure up to the critical point, where the gas and liquid properties become identical. The boiling point cannot be increased beyond the critical point. Likewise, the boiling point decreases with decreasing pressure until the triple point is reached. The boiling point cannot be reduced below the triple point.
If the heat of vaporization and the vapor pressure of a liquid at a certain temperature are known, the boiling point can be calculated by using the Clausius--Clapeyron equation, thus:
$$T_\text{B} = \left(\frac{1}{T_0} - \frac{R\,\ln \frac{P}{P_0}}{\Delta H_\text{vap}}\right)^{-1}$$
where:
$$T_\text{B}$$ is the boiling point at the pressure of interest,
$$R$$ is the ideal gas constant,
$$P$$ is the vapor pressure of the liquid,
$$P_0$$ is some pressure where the corresponding $T_0$ is known (usually data available at 1 atm or 100 kPa (1 bar)),
$$\Delta H_\text{vap}$$ is the heat of vaporization of the liquid,
$$T_0$$ is the boiling temperature,
$$\ln$$ is the natural logarithm.
**Saturation pressure** is the pressure for a corresponding saturation temperature at which a liquid boils into its vapor phase. Saturation pressure and saturation temperature have a direct relationship: as saturation pressure is increased, so is saturation temperature.
If the temperature in a system remains constant (an *isothermal* system), vapor at saturation pressure and temperature will begin to condense into its liquid phase as the system pressure is increased. Similarly, a liquid at saturation pressure and temperature will tend to flash into its vapor phase as system pressure is decreased.
There are two conventions regarding the *standard boiling point of water*: The *normal boiling point* is commonly given as 100 °C (actually 99.97 °C following the thermodynamic definition of the Celsius scale based on the kelvin) at a pressure of 1 atm (101.325 kPa). The IUPAC-recommended *standard boiling point of water* at a standard pressure of 100 kPa (1 bar) is 99.61 °C. For comparison, on top of Mount Everest, at 8848 m elevation, the pressure is about 34 kPa and the boiling point of water is 71 °C. The Celsius temperature scale was defined until 1954 by two points: 0 °C being defined by the water freezing point and 100 °C being defined by the water boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure.
## Relation between the normal boiling point and the vapor pressure of liquids {#relation_between_the_normal_boiling_point_and_the_vapor_pressure_of_liquids}
The higher the vapor pressure of a liquid at a given temperature, the lower the normal boiling point (i.e., the boiling point at atmospheric pressure) of the liquid.
The vapor pressure chart to the right has graphs of the vapor pressures versus temperatures for a variety of liquids. As can be seen in the chart, the liquids with the highest vapor pressures have the lowest normal boiling points.
For example, at any given temperature, methyl chloride has the highest vapor pressure of any of the liquids in the chart. It also has the lowest normal boiling point (−24.2 °C), which is where the vapor pressure curve of methyl chloride (the blue line) intersects the horizontal pressure line of one atmosphere (atm) of absolute vapor pressure.
The critical point of a liquid is the highest temperature (and pressure) it will actually boil at.
See also Vapour pressure of water.
## Boiling point of chemical elements {#boiling_point_of_chemical_elements}
The element with the lowest boiling point is helium. Both the boiling points of rhenium and tungsten exceed 5000 K at standard pressure; because it is difficult to measure extreme temperatures precisely without bias, both have been cited in the literature as having the higher boiling point.
## Boiling point as a reference property of a pure compound {#boiling_point_as_a_reference_property_of_a_pure_compound}
As can be seen from the above plot of the logarithm of the vapor pressure vs. the temperature for any given pure chemical compound, its normal boiling point can serve as an indication of that compound\'s overall volatility. A given pure compound has only one normal boiling point, if any, and a compound\'s normal boiling point and melting point can serve as characteristic physical properties for that compound, listed in reference books. The higher a compound\'s normal boiling point, the less volatile that compound is overall, and conversely, the lower a compound\'s normal boiling point, the more volatile that compound is overall. Some compounds decompose at higher temperatures before reaching their normal boiling point, or sometimes even their melting point. For a stable compound, the boiling point ranges from its triple point to its critical point, depending on the external pressure. Beyond its triple point, a compound\'s normal boiling point, if any, is higher than its melting point. Beyond the critical point, a compound\'s liquid and vapor phases merge into one phase, which may be called a superheated gas. At any given temperature, if a compound\'s normal boiling point is lower, then that compound will generally exist as a gas at atmospheric external pressure. If the compound\'s normal boiling point is higher, then that compound can exist as a liquid or solid at that given temperature at atmospheric external pressure, and will so exist in equilibrium with its vapor (if volatile) if its vapors are contained. If a compound\'s vapors are not contained, then some volatile compounds can eventually evaporate away in spite of their higher boiling points.
In general, compounds with ionic bonds have high normal boiling points, if they do not decompose before reaching such high temperatures. Many metals have high boiling points, but not all. Very generally---with other factors being equal---in compounds with covalently bonded molecules, as the size of the molecule (or molecular mass) increases, the normal boiling point increases. When the molecular size becomes that of a macromolecule, polymer, or otherwise very large, the compound often decomposes at high temperature before the boiling point is reached. Another factor that affects the normal boiling point of a compound is the polarity of its molecules. As the polarity of a compound\'s molecules increases, its normal boiling point increases, other factors being equal. Closely related is the ability of a molecule to form hydrogen bonds (in the liquid state), which makes it harder for molecules to leave the liquid state and thus increases the normal boiling point of the compound. Simple carboxylic acids dimerize by forming hydrogen bonds between molecules. A minor factor affecting boiling points is the shape of a molecule. Making the shape of a molecule more compact tends to lower the normal boiling point slightly compared to an equivalent molecule with more surface area.
+-------------+------------+-----------------+
| Common name | *n*-butane | isobutane |
+=============+============+=================+
| IUPAC name | butane | 2-methylpropane |
+-------------+------------+-----------------+
| Molecular\ | | |
| form | | |
+-------------+------------+-----------------+
| Boiling\ | −0.5 | −11.7 |
| point (°C) | | |
+-------------+------------+-----------------+
: Comparison of butane (`{{nobold|C<sub>4</sub>H<sub>10</sub>}}`{=mediawiki}) isomer boiling points
+-------------+-------------+----------------+---------------------+
| Common name | *n*-pentane | isopentane | neopentane |
+=============+=============+================+=====================+
| IUPAC name | pentane | 2-methylbutane | 2,2-dimethylpropane |
+-------------+-------------+----------------+---------------------+
| Molecular\ | | | |
| form | | | |
+-------------+-------------+----------------+---------------------+
| Boiling\ | 36.0 | 27.7 | 9.5 |
| point (°C) | | | |
+-------------+-------------+----------------+---------------------+
: Comparison of pentane isomer boiling points
Most volatile compounds (anywhere near ambient temperatures) go through an intermediate liquid phase while warming up from a solid phase to eventually transform to a vapor phase. By comparison to boiling, a sublimation is a physical transformation in which a solid turns directly into vapor, which happens in a few select cases such as with carbon dioxide at atmospheric pressure. For such compounds, a sublimation point is a temperature at which a solid turning directly into vapor has a vapor pressure equal to the external pressure.
## Impurities and mixtures {#impurities_and_mixtures}
In the preceding section, boiling points of pure compounds were covered. Vapor pressures and boiling points of substances can be affected by the presence of dissolved impurities (solutes) or other miscible compounds, the degree of effect depending on the concentration of the impurities or other compounds. The presence of non-volatile impurities such as salts or compounds of a volatility far lower than the main component compound decreases its mole fraction and the solution\'s volatility, and thus raises the normal boiling point in proportion to the concentration of the solutes. This effect is called **boiling point elevation**. As a common example, salt water boils at a higher temperature than pure water.
In other mixtures of miscible compounds (components), there may be two or more components of varying volatility, each having its own pure component boiling point at any given pressure. The presence of other volatile components in a mixture affects the vapor pressures and thus boiling points and dew points of all the components in the mixture. The dew point is a temperature at which a vapor condenses into a liquid. Furthermore, at any given temperature, the composition of the vapor is different from the composition of the liquid in most such cases. In order to illustrate these effects between the volatile components in a mixture, a **boiling point diagram** is commonly used. Distillation is a process of boiling and \[usually\] condensation which takes advantage of these differences in composition between liquid and vapor phases.
## Boiling point of water with elevation {#boiling_point_of_water_with_elevation}
Following is a table of the change in the boiling point of water with elevation, at intervals of 500 meters over the range of human habitation \[the Dead Sea at -430.5 m to La Rinconada, Peru at 5100 m\], then of 1,000 meters over the additional range of uninhabited surface elevation \[up to Mount Everest at 8849 m\], along with a similar range in Imperial.
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| Elevation\ | Boiling point\ | | Elevation\ | Boiling point\ |
| (m) | (°C) | | (ft) | (°F) |
+============+================+===+============+================+
| −500 | 101.6 | | −1,500 | 214.7 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| 0 | 100.0 | | 0 | 212.0 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| 500 | 98.4 | | 1,500 | 209.3 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| 1,000 | 96.7 | | 3,000 | 206.6 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| 1,500 | 95.1 | | 4,500 | 203.9 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| 2,000 | 93.4 | | 6,000 | 201.1 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| 2,500 | 91.7 | | 7,500 | 198.3 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| 3,000 | 90.0 | | 9,000 | 195.5 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| 3,500 | 88.2 | | 10,500 | 192.6 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| 4,000 | 86.4 | | 12,000 | 189.8 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| 4,500 | 84.6 | | 13,500 | 186.8 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| 5,000 | 82.8 | | 15,000 | 183.9 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| 6,000 | 79.1 | | 16,500 | 180.9 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| 7,000 | 75.3 | | 20,000 | 173.8 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| 8,000 | 71.4 | | 23,000 | 167.5 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| 9,000 | 67.4 | | 26,000 | 161.1 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
| | | | 29,000 | 154.6 |
+------------+----------------+---+------------+----------------+
: Boiling point of water
## Element table {#element_table}
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Bock
|
**Bock** (`{{IPA|de|bɔk|lang|De-Bock.ogg}}`{=mediawiki}) is a strong German beer, usually a dark lager.
## History
The style now known as *Bock* was first brewed in the 14th century in the Hanseatic town of Einbeck in Lower Saxony.
The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced \"Einbeck\" as \"ein Bock\" (\"a billy goat\"), and thus the beer became known as \"Bock\". A goat often appears on bottle labels.
Bock is historically associated with special occasions, often religious festivals such as Christmas, Easter, or Lent (**Lentenbock**). Bock has a long history of being brewed and consumed by Bavarian monks as a source of nutrition during times of fasting.
## Styles
Substyles of Bock include:
- **Maibock** (*May Bock*), a paler, more hopped version generally made for consumption at spring festivals. Due to its lighter colour, it is also referred to as **Heller Bock**; from German *hell* (bright, light in colour).
- **Doppelbock** (*Double Bock*), a stronger and maltier version
- **Eisbock** (*Ice Bock*), a much stronger version made by partially freezing the beer and removing the ice that forms
- **Weizenbock** (*Wheat Bock*), a wheat beer made from 40 to 60% wheat
Traditionally Bock is a sweet, relatively strong (6.3--7.6% by volume), lightly hopped lager registering between 20 and 30 International Bitterness Units (IBUs). The beer should be clear, with colour ranging from light copper to brown, and a bountiful, persistent off-white head. The aroma should be malty and toasty, possibly with hints of alcohol, but no detectable hops or fruitiness. The mouthfeel is smooth, with low to moderate carbonation and no astringency. The taste is rich and toasty, sometimes with a bit of caramel. The low-to-undetectable presence of hops provides just enough bitterness so that the sweetness is not cloying and the aftertaste is muted.
### Maibock
The **Maibock** style -- also known as **Heller Bock** or **Lente Bock** in the Netherlands`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki}is a strong pale lager, lighter in colour and with more hop presence.
Colour can range from deep gold to light amber with a large, creamy, persistent white head, and moderate to moderately high carbonation, while alcohol content ranges from 6.3% to 8.1% by volume. The flavour is typically less malty than a traditional Bock, and may be drier, hoppier, and more bitter, but still with a relatively low hop flavour, with a mild spicy or peppery quality from the hops, increased carbonation and alcohol content.
### Doppelbock
*Doppelbock* or *Double Bock* is a stronger version of traditional Bock that was first brewed in Munich by the Paulaner Friars, a Franciscan order founded by St. Francis of Paula.
Historically, Doppelbock was high in alcohol and sweetness. The story is told that it served as \"liquid bread\" for the Friars during times of fasting when solid food was not permitted. In 2011, journalist J. Wilson proved this was at least *possible* by consuming only doppelbock and water for the 46 days of Lent. However, historian Mark Dredge, in his book *A Brief History of Lager*, says that this story is myth and that the monks produced Doppelbock to supplement their order\'s vegetarian diet all year.
Today, Doppelbock is still strong`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki}ranging from 7% to 12% or more by volume. It is clear, with colour ranging from dark gold, for the paler version, to dark brown with ruby highlights for a darker version. It has a large, creamy, persistent head (although head retention may be impaired by alcohol in the stronger versions). The aroma is intensely malty, with some toasty notes, and possibly some alcohol presence as well; darker versions may have a chocolate-like or fruity aroma. The flavour is very rich and malty, with noticeable alcoholic strength, and little or no detectable hops (16--26 IBUs). Paler versions may have a drier finish.
The monks who originally brewed Doppelbock named their beer \"Sankt-vater-bier\" (\"Blessed Father beer\"). This was eventually shortened to \"Salvator\" (literally \"Savior\"), which today is trademarked by Paulaner.
Brewers of modern Doppelbock often add \"-ator\" to their beer\'s name as a signpost of the style; there are 200 \"-ator\" Doppelbock names registered with the German patent office.
The following are representative examples of the style: Paulaner Salvator, Ayinger Celebrator, Weihenstephaner Korbinian, Andechser Doppelbock Dunkel, Spaten Optimator, Augustiner Brau Maximator, Tucher Bajuvator, Weltenburger Kloster Asam-Bock, Capital Autumnal Fire, EKU 28, Eggenberg Urbock 23º, Bell\'s Consecrator, Moretti La Rossa, Samuel Adams Double Bock, Tröegs Tröegenator Double Bock, Wasatch Brewery Devastator, Great Lakes Doppelrock, Abita Andygator, Wolverine State Brewing Company Predator, Burly Brewing\'s Burlynator, Monteith\'s Doppel Bock, and Christian Moerlein Emancipator Doppelbock.
### Eisbock
Eisbock is a traditional specialty beer of the Kulmbach district of Bavaria, made by partially freezing a Doppelbock and removing the water ice to concentrate the flavour and alcohol content, which ranges from 8.6% to 14.3% by volume.
It is clear, with a colour ranging from deep copper to dark brown in colour, often with ruby highlights. Although it can pour with a thin off-white head, head retention is frequently impaired by the higher alcohol content. The aroma is intense, with no hop presence, but frequently can contain fruity notes, especially of prunes, raisins, and plums. Mouthfeel is full and smooth, with significant alcohol, although this should not be hot or sharp. The flavour is rich and sweet, often with toasty notes, and sometimes hints of chocolate, always balanced by a significant alcohol presence.
The following are representative examples of the style: Colorado Team Brew \"Warning Sign\", Kulmbacher Reichelbräu Eisbock, Eggenberg, Schneider Aventinus Eisbock, Urbock Dunkel Eisbock, Franconia Brewing Company Ice Bock 17%.
The strongest ice beer, Strength in Numbers, was a one-time collaboration in 2020 between Schorschbrau of Germany and BrewDog of Scotland, who had competed with each other in the early years of the 21st century to produce the world\'s strongest beer. *Strength in Numbers* was created using traditional ice distillation, reaching a final strength of 57.8% ABV.
### Weizenbock
Weizenbock is a style that replaces some of the barley in the grain bill with 40--60% wheat. It was first produced in Bavaria in 1907 by G. Schneider & Sohn and was named *Aventinus* after 16th-century Bavarian historian Johannes Aventinus. The style combines darker Munich malts and top-fermenting wheat beer yeast, brewed at the strength of a Doppelbock.
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Bantu languages
|
The **Bantu languages** (English: `{{IPA-cen|UK|ˌ|b|æ|n|ˈ|t|uː}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{IPA-cen|US|ˈ|b|æ|n|t|uː}}`{=mediawiki} Proto-Bantu: \*bantʊ̀), or **Ntu languages** are a language family of about 600 languages of Central, Southern, Eastern and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages.
The total number of Bantu languages is estimated at between 440 and 680 distinct languages, depending on the definition of \"language\" versus \"dialect\". Many Ntu languages borrow words from each other, and some are mutually intelligible. Some of the languages are spoken by a very small number of people, for example the Kabwa language was estimated in 2007 to be spoken by only 8500 people but was assessed to be a distinct language.
The total number of Ntu language speakers is estimated to be around 350 million in 2015 (roughly 30% of the population of Africa or 5% of the world population). Bantu languages are largely spoken southeast of Cameroon, and throughout Central, Southern, Eastern, and Southeast Africa. About one-sixth of Bantu speakers, and one-third of Bantu languages, are found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The most widely spoken Ntu language by number of speakers is Swahili, with 16 million native speakers and 80 million L2 speakers (2015). Most native speakers of Swahili live in Tanzania, where it is a national language, while as a second language, it is taught as a mandatory subject in many schools in East Africa, and is a lingua franca of the East African Community.
Other major Ntu languages include Lingala with more than 20 million speakers (Congo, DRC), followed by Zulu with 13.56 million speakers (South Africa), Xhosa at a distant third place with 8.2 million speakers (South Africa and Zimbabwe), and Shona with less than 10 million speakers (if Manyika and Ndau are included), while Sotho-Tswana languages (Sotho, Tswana and Pedi) have more than 15 million speakers (across Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa, and Zambia). Zimbabwe has Kalanga, Matebele, Nambiya, and Xhosa speakers. *Ethnologue* separates the largely mutually intelligible Kinyarwanda and Kirundi, which together have 20 million speakers.
## Name
The similarity among dispersed Bantu languages had been observed as early as the 17th century. The term *Bantu* as a name for the group was not coined but \"noticed\" or \"identified\" (as *Bâ-ntu*) by Wilhelm Bleek as the first European in 1857 or 1858, and popularized in his *Comparative Grammar* of 1862. He noticed the term to represent the word for \"people\" in loosely reconstructed Proto-Bantu, from the plural noun class prefix *\*ba-* categorizing \"people\", and the root *\*ntʊ̀-* \"some (entity), any\" (e.g. Xhosa *umntu* \"person\", *abantu* \"people\"; Zulu *umuntu* \"person\", *abantu* \"people\").
There is no native term for the people who speak Bantu languages because they are not an ethnic group. People speaking Bantu languages refer to their languages by ethnic endonyms, which did not have an indigenous concept prior to European contact for the larger ethnolinguistic phylum named by 19th-century European linguists. Bleek\'s identification was inspired by the anthropological observation of groups frequently self-identifying as \"people\" or \"the true people\" (as is the case, for example, with the term *Khoikhoi*, but this is a *kare* \"praise address\" and not an ethnic name).
The term *narrow Bantu*, excluding those languages classified as Bantoid by Malcolm Guthrie (1948), was introduced in the 1960s.
The prefix *ba-* specifically refers to people. Endonymically, the term for cultural objects, including language, is formed with the *ki-* noun class (Nguni *ísi-*), as in KiSwahili (Swahili language and culture), IsiZulu (Zulu language and culture) and KiGanda (Ganda religion and culture).
In the 1980s, South African linguists suggested referring to these languages as *KiNtu.* The word *kintu* exists in some places, but it means \"thing\", with no relation to the concept of \"language\". In addition, delegates at the African Languages Association of Southern Africa conference in 1984 reported that, in some places, the term *Kintu* has a derogatory significance. This is because *kintu* refers to \"things\" and is used as a dehumanizing term for people who have lost their dignity.
In addition, *Kintu* is a figure in some mythologies.
In the 1990s, the term *Kintu* was still occasionally used by South African linguists. But in contemporary decolonial South African linguistics, the term *Ntu languages* is used.
Within the fierce debate among linguists about the word \"Bantu\", Seidensticker (2024) indicates that there has been a \"profound conceptual trend in which a \"purely technical \[term\] without any non-linguistic connotations was transformed into a designation referring indiscriminately to language, culture, society, and race\".\"
## Origin
The Bantu languages descend from a common Proto-Bantu language, which is believed to have been spoken in what is now Cameroon in Central Africa. An estimated 2,500--3,000 years ago (1000 BC to 500 BC), speakers of the Proto-Bantu language began a series of migrations eastward and southward, carrying agriculture with them. This Bantu expansion came to dominate Sub-Saharan Africa east of Cameroon, an area where Bantu peoples now constitute nearly the entire population. Some other sources estimate the Bantu Expansion started closer to 3000 BC.
The technical term Bantu, meaning \"human beings\" or simply \"people\", was first used by Wilhelm Bleek (1827--1875), as the concept is reflected in many of the languages of this group. A common characteristic of Bantu languages is that they use words such as *muntu* or *mutu* for \"human being\" or in simplistic terms \"person\", and the plural prefix for human nouns starting with *mu-* (class 1) in most languages is *ba-* (class 2), thus giving *bantu* for \"people\". Bleek, and later Carl Meinhof, pursued extensive studies comparing the grammatical structures of Bantu languages.
## Classification
thumb\|upright=1.59\|The approximate locations of the sixteen Guthrie Bantu zones, including the addition of a zone J around the Great Lakes. The Jarawan languages are spoken in Nigeria.
The most widely used classification is an alphanumeric coding system developed by Malcolm Guthrie in his 1948 classification of the Bantu languages. It is mainly geographic. The term \"narrow Bantu\" was coined by the *Benue--Congo Working Group* to distinguish Bantu as recognized by Guthrie, from the Bantoid languages not recognized as Bantu by Guthrie.
In recent times,`{{when|date=July 2017}}`{=mediawiki} the distinctiveness of Narrow Bantu as opposed to the other Southern Bantoid languages has been called into doubt, but the term is still widely used.
There is no true genealogical classification of the (Narrow) Bantu languages. Until recently`{{when|date=July 2017}}`{=mediawiki} most attempted classifications only considered languages that happen to fall within traditional Narrow Bantu, but there seems to be a continuum with the related languages of South Bantoid.
At a broader level, the family is commonly split in two depending on the reflexes of proto-Bantu tone patterns: many Bantuists group together parts of zones A through D (the extent depending on the author) as *Northwest Bantu* or *Forest Bantu*, and the remainder as *Central Bantu* or *Savanna Bantu*. The two groups have been described as having mirror-image tone systems: where Northwest Bantu has a high tone in a cognate, Central Bantu languages generally have a low tone, and vice versa.
Northwest Bantu is more divergent internally than Central Bantu, and perhaps less conservative due to contact with non-Bantu Niger--Congo languages; Central Bantu is likely the innovative line cladistically. Northwest Bantu is not a coherent family, but even for Central Bantu the evidence is lexical, with little evidence that it is a historically valid group.
Another attempt at a detailed genetic classification to replace the Guthrie system is the 1999 \"Tervuren\" proposal of Bastin, Coupez, and Mann. However, it relies on lexicostatistics, which, because of its reliance on overall similarity rather than shared innovations, may predict spurious groups of conservative languages that are not closely related. Meanwhile, *Ethnologue* has added languages to the Guthrie classification which Guthrie overlooked, while removing the Mbam languages (much of zone A), and shifting some languages between groups (much of zones D and E to a new zone J, for example, and part of zone L to K, and part of M to F) in an apparent effort at a semi-genetic, or at least semi-areal, classification. This has been criticized for sowing confusion in one of the few unambiguous ways to distinguish Bantu languages. Nurse & Philippson (2006) evaluate many proposals for low-level groups of Bantu languages, but the result is not a complete portrayal of the family. *Glottolog* has incorporated many of these into their classification.
The languages that share Dahl\'s law may also form a valid group, Northeast Bantu. The infobox at right lists these together with various low-level groups that are fairly uncontroversial, though they continue to be revised. The development of a rigorous genealogical classification of many branches of Niger--Congo, not just Bantu, is hampered by insufficient data.
### Computational phylogenetic classifications {#computational_phylogenetic_classifications}
Simplified phylogeny of northwestern branches of Bantu by Grollemund (2012):
Other computational phylogenetic analyses of Bantu include Currie et al. (2013), Grollemund et al. (2015), Rexova et al. 2006, Holden et al., 2016, and Whiteley et al. 2018.
### Glottolog classification {#glottolog_classification}
Glottolog (**2021**) does not consider the older geographic classification by Guthrie relevant for its ongoing classification based on more recent linguistic studies, and divides Bantu into four main branches: Bantu A-B10-B20-B30, Central-Western Bantu, East Bantu and Mbam-Bube-Jarawan.
## Language structure {#language_structure}
Guthrie reconstructed both the phonemic inventory and the vocabulary of Proto-Bantu.
The most prominent grammatical characteristic of Bantu languages is the extensive use of affixes (see Sotho grammar and Ganda noun classes for detailed discussions of these affixes). Each noun belongs to a class, and each language may have several numbered classes, somewhat like grammatical gender in European languages. The class is indicated by a prefix that is part of the noun, as well as agreement markers on verb and qualificative roots connected with the noun. Plurality is indicated by a change of class, with a resulting change of prefix. All Bantu languages are agglutinative.
The verb has a number of prefixes, though in the western languages these are often treated as independent words. In Swahili, for example, *Kitoto kidogo kimekisoma* (for comparison, *Kamwana kadoko karikuverenga* in Shona language) means \'The small child has read it \[a book\]\'. *kitoto* \'child\' governs the adjective prefix *ki-* (representing the diminutive form of the word) and the verb subject prefix *a-*. Then comes perfect tense *-me-* and an object marker *-ki-* agreeing with implicit *kitabu* \'book\' (from Arabic *kitab*). Pluralizing to \'children\' gives *Vitoto vidogo vimekisoma* (*Vana vadoko varikuverenga* in Shona), and pluralizing to \'books\' (*vitabu*) gives *vitoto vidogo vimevisoma*.
Bantu words are typically made up of open syllables of the type CV (consonant-vowel) with most languages having syllables exclusively of this type. The Bushong language recorded by Vansina, however, has final consonants, while slurring of the final syllable (though written) is reported as common among the Tonga of Malawi. The morphological shape of Bantu words is typically CV, VCV, CVCV, VCVCV, etc.; that is, any combination of CV (with possibly a V- syllable at the start). In other words, a strong claim for this language family is that almost all words end in a vowel, precisely because closed syllables (CVC) are not permissible in most of the documented languages, as far as is understood.
This tendency to avoid consonant clusters in some positions is important when words are imported from English or other non-Bantu languages. An example from Chewa: the word \"school\", borrowed from English, and then transformed to fit the sound patterns of this language, is *sukulu*. That is, *sk-* has been broken up by inserting an epenthetic *-u-*; *-u* has also been added at the end of the word. Another example is *buledi* for \"bread\". Similar effects are seen in loanwords for other non-African CV languages like Japanese. However, a clustering of sounds at the beginning of a syllable can be readily observed in such languages as Shona, and the Makua languages.
With few exceptions, such as Kiswahili and Rutooro, Bantu languages are tonal and have two to four register tones.
### Reduplication
Reduplication is a common morphological phenomenon in Bantu languages and is usually used to indicate frequency or intensity of the action signalled by the (unreduplicated) verb stem.
- Example: in Swahili, *piga* means \"strike\", *pigapiga* means \"strike repeatedly\".
Well-known words and names that have reduplication include:
- Bafana Bafana, a football team
- Chipolopolo, a football team
- Eric Djemba-Djemba, a footballer
- Lomana LuaLua, a footballer
Repetition emphasizes the repeated word in the context that it is used. For instance, \"Mwenda pole hajikwai,\" means \"He who goes slowly doesn\'t trip,\" while, \"Pole pole ndio mwendo,\" means \"A slow but steady pace wins the race.\" The latter repeats \"pole\" to emphasize the consistency of slowness of the pace.
As another example, \"Haraka haraka\" would mean \"hurrying just for the sake of hurrying\" (reckless hurry), as in \"Njoo! Haraka haraka\" \[come here! Hurry, hurry\].
In contrast, there are some words in some of the languages in which reduplication has the opposite meaning. It usually denotes short durations, or lower intensity of the action, and also means a few repetitions or a little bit more.
- Example 1: In (Xi)Tsonga and (Chi)Shona, *famba* means \"walk\" while *famba-famba* means \"walk around\".
- Example 2: in isiZulu and (si)Swati *hamba* means \"go\", *hambahamba* means \"go a little bit, but not much\".
- Example 3: in both of the above languages *shaya* means \"strike\", *shayashaya* means \"strike a few more times lightly, but not heavy strikes and not too many times\".
- Example 4: In Shona *`{{wikt-lang|sn|kwenya}}`{=mediawiki}* means \"scratch\", *Kwenyakwenya* means \"scratch excessively or a lot\".
- Example 5: In Luhya *cheenda* means \"walk\",*cheendacheenda* means \"take a walk but not far off\", as in buying time before something is ready or a situation or time is right.
### Noun class {#noun_class}
The following is a list of nominal classes in Bantu languages:
Singular classes Plural classes
------------------ --------- ----------------
Number Prefix Number
1 *\*mʊ-* 2
3 *\*mu-* 4
5 *\*dɪ-* 6
7 *\*ki-* 8
9 *\*n-* 10
11 *\*du-*
12 *\*ka-* 13
14 *\*bu-*
15 *\*ku-*
16 *\*pa-*
17 *\*ku-*
18 *\*mu-*
19 *\*pɪ-*
### Syntax
Virtually all Bantu languages have a subject--verb--object word order, with some exceptions, such as the Nen language, which has a subject--object--verb word order.
## By country {#by_country}
Following is an incomplete list of the principal Bantu languages of each country. Included are those languages that constitute at least 1% of the population and have at least 10% the number of speakers of the largest Bantu language in the country.
Most languages are referred to in English without the class prefix (*Swahili*, *Tswana*, *Ndebele*), but are sometimes seen with the (language-specific) prefix (*Kiswahili*, *Setswana*, *Sindebele*). In a few cases prefixes are used to distinguish languages with the same root in their name, such as Tshilubà and Kiluba (both *Luba*), Umbundu and Kimbundu (both *Mbundu*). The prefixless form typically does not occur in the language itself, but is the basis for other words based on the ethnicity. So, in the country of Botswana the people are the *Batswana*, one person is a *Motswana*, and the language is *Setswana*; and in Uganda, centred on the kingdom of *Buganda*, the dominant ethnicity are the *Baganda* (singular *Muganda*), whose language is *Luganda*.
### Lingua franca {#lingua_franca}
- Swahili (Kiswahili) (350,000; tens of millions as L2)
### Angola
- South Mbundu (Umbundu) (4 million)
- Central North Mbundu (Kimbundu) (3 million)
- North Bakongo (Kikongo) (576,800)
- Ovambo (Ambo) (Oshiwambo) (500,000)
- Luvale (Chiluvale) (500,000)
- Chokwe (Chichokwe) (500,000)
### Botswana
- Tswana (Setswana) (1.6 million)
- Kalanga (Ikalanga) (150,000)
### Burundi
: *Swahili is a recognized national language*
- Kirundi (8.5 -- 10.5 million)
### Cameroon
- Beti (1.7 million: 900,000 Bulu, 600,000 Ewondo, 120,000 Fang, 60,000 Eton, 30,000 Bebele)
- Basaa (230,000)
- Duala (350,000)
- Manenguba languages (230,000)
### Central African Republic {#central_african_republic}
- Mbati (60,000)
- Aka (30,000)
- Pande (8,870)
- Ngando (5,000)
- Ukhwejo
- Kako
- Mpiemo
- Bodo
- Kari
### Comoros
- Shingazija
- Shindzuani
- Shimwali
### Democratic Republic of the Congo {#democratic_republic_of_the_congo}
: *Swahili is a recognized national language*
- Lingala (Ngala) (2 million; 7 million with L2 speakers)
- Luba-Kasai (Tshiluba) (6.5 million)
- Kituba (4.5 million), a Bantu creole
- Kongo (Kikongo) (3.5 million)
- Luba-Katanga (Kiluba) (1.5+ million)
- Songe (Lusonge) (1+ million)
- Nande (Orundandi) (1 million)
- Tetela (Otetela) (800,000)
- Yaka (Iyaka) (700,000+)
- Shi (700,000)
- Yombe (Kiyombe) (670,000)
- Lele (Bashilele) (26,000)
### Equatorial Guinea {#equatorial_guinea}
- Beti (Fang) (300,000)
- Bube (40,000)
### Eswatini
- Swazi (Siswati) (1 million)
### Gabon
- Baka
- Barama
- Bekwel
- Benga
- Bubi
- Bwisi
- Duma
- Fang (500,000)
- Kendell
- Kanin
- Sake
- Sangu
- Seki
- Sighu
- Simba
- Sira
- Northern Teke
- Western Teke
- Tsaangi
- Tsogo
- Vili (3,600)
- Vumbu
- Wandji
- Wumbvu
- Yangho
- Yasa
### India
- Sidi
### Kenya
: *Swahili is the national language. English and Swahili are official languages.*
- Gikuyu (8 million)
- Luhya (6.8 million)
- Kamba (4 million)
- Meru (Kimeru) (2.7 million)
- Gusii (2 million)
- Mijikenda (Giriama, Kambe, Ribe, Rabai, Kauma, Chonyi, Jibana, Digo and Duruma)
- Taita
- Embu
- Mbeere
- Pokomo
- Kuria
- Suba
- Swahili
### Lesotho
- Sesotho (1.8 million)
- Zulu (Isizulu) (300,000)
- Xhosa (Isixhosa)
### Madagascar
- Shimaore
- Shindzuani
### Malawi
- Chewa (Nyanja) (Chichewa) (7 million)
- Tumbuka (1 million)
- Yao (1 million)
### Mayotte
- Shimaore
### Mozambique
: *Swahili is a recognized national language*
- Makhuwa (4 million; 7.4 million all Makua)
- Tsonga (Xitsonga) (3.1 million)
- Shona (Ndau) (1.6 million)
- Lomwe (1.5 million)
- Sena (1.3 million)
- Tswa (1.2 million)
- Chuwabu (1.0 million)
- Chopi (800,000)
- Ronga (700,000)
- Chewa (Nyanja) (Chichewa) (600,000)
- Yao (Chiyao) (500,000)
- Nyungwe (Cinyungwe/Nhungue)(400,000)
- Tonga (400,000)
- Makonde (400,000)
- Nathembo (25,000)
### Namibia
- Ovambo (Ambo, Oshiwambo) (1,500,000)
- Herero (200,000)
- Kavango (100,000)
- Lozi (Silozi)
### Nigeria
- Jarawa (250,000)
- Mbula-Bwazza (100,000)
- Kulung (40,000)
- Bile (38,000)
- Lame (10,000)
- Mama (2,000--3,000)
- Shiki (1,200)
- Gwa
- Labir
- Dulbu
### Pakistan
- Sidi
### Republic of the Congo {#republic_of_the_congo}
- Kituba (1.2+ million) \[a Bantu creole\]
- Kongo (Kikongo) (1.0 million)
- Teke languages (500,000)
- Yombe (350,000)
- Suundi (120,000)
- Mbosi (110,000)
- Lingala (100,000; ? L2 speakers)
### Rwanda
: *Swahili, Kinyarwanda, English, and French are official languages*
- Kinyarwanda (Kinyarwanda) (10 -- 12 million)
### Somalia
- Swahili (Mwini dialect)
- Chimwini
- Mushungulu
### South Africa {#south_africa}
According to the South African National Census of 2011:`{{full citation needed|date=July 2017}}`{=mediawiki}
- Zulu (Isizulu) (11,587,374)
- Xhosa (Isixhosa) (8,154,258)
- Sepedi (4,618,576)
- Tswana (Setswana) (4,067,248)
- Sotho (Sesotho) (3,849,563)
- Tsonga (Xitsonga) (2,277,148)
- Swazi (Siswati) (1,297,046)
- Venda (Tshivenda) (1,209,388)
- Southern Ndebele (Transvaal Ndebele) (1,090,223)
- Total Nguni: 22,406,049 (61.98%)
- Total Sotho-Tswana: 13,744,775 (38.02%)
- Total official indigenous language speakers: 36,150,824 (69.83%)
### Tanzania
: *Swahili is the national language*
- Sukuma (5.5 million)
- Gogo (1.5 million)
- Haya (Kihaya) (1.3 million)
- Chaga (Kichaga) (1.2+ million : 600,000 Mochi, 300,000+ Machame, 300,000+ Vunjo)
- Nyamwezi (1.0 million)
- Makonde (1.0 million)
- Ha (1.0 million)
- Nyakyusa (800,000)
- Hehe (800,000)
- Luguru (700,000)
- Bena (600,000)
- Shambala (650,000)
- Nyaturu (600,000)
### Uganda
: *Swahili and English are official languages*
- Luganda (9,295,300)
- Runyankore (4,436,000)
- Lusoga (3,904,600)
- Rukiga (3,129,000)
- Masaba (Lumasaba) (2.7 million)
- Runyoro (1,273,000)
- Konjo (1,118,000)
- Rutooro (1,111,000)
- Lugwere (816,000)
- Kinyarwanda (750,000)
- Samia (684,000)
- Ruuli (250,000)
- Talinga Bwisi (133,000)
- Gungu (110,000)
- Amba (56,000)
- Singa
### Yemen
- Socotra Swahili
### Zambia
- Aushi (Unknown)
- Bemba (3.3 million)
- Tonga (1.0 million)
- Chewa (Nyanja) (Chichewa) (800,000)
- Kaonde (240,000)
- Lozi (Silozi) (600,000)
- Lala-Bisa (600,000)
- Nsenga (550,000)
- Tumbuka (Chitumbuka) (500,000)
- Lunda (450,000)
- Nyiha (400,000+)
- Mambwe-Lungu (400,000)
### Zimbabwe
- Shona languages (15 million incl. Karanga, Zezuru, Korekore, Ndau, Manyika)
- Northern Ndebele (IsiNdebele) (estimated 2 million)
- Tonga
- Chewa/ Nyanja (Chichewa/ChiNyanja)
- Venda
- Kalanga
- Xhosa
## Geographic areas {#geographic_areas}
Map 1 shows Bantu languages in Africa and map 2 a magnification of the Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon area, as of July 2017. `{{multiple image|align=none
|image1=Niger-Congo map.png
|width1=300
|image2=Nigeria Benin Cameroon languages.png
|width2=310
|footer=Localization of the Niger–Congo languages
}}`{=mediawiki}
## Bantu words popularised in western cultures {#bantu_words_popularised_in_western_cultures}
A case has been made out for borrowings of many place-names and even misremembered rhymes -- chiefly from one of the Luba varieties -- in the USA.
Some words from various Bantu languages have been borrowed into western languages. These include: `{{unreferenced section|date=September 2015}}`{=mediawiki} `{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
*{{Wikt-lang|sw|boma|Boma}}
*[[Bomba (Ecuador)|Bomba]]
*[[Bongo drum|Bongos]]
*{{Wikt-lang|sw|bwana|Bwana}}
*[[Candombe]]
*[[Chimpanzee]]
*[[Gumbo]]
*"{{lang|sw|[[Hakuna matata]]}}"
*{{lang|zu|[[Impala]]}}
*{{lang|zu|[[Indaba]]}}
*{{lang|sw|[[Jenga]]}}
*[[Jilo]]
*[[Jumbo (disambiguation)|Jumbo]]
*[[Mbira|Kalimba]]
*[[Kwanzaa]]
*[[Mamba]]
*[[wikt:mambo|Mambo]]
*[[Mbira]]
*{{lang|bnt|[[Marimba]]}}
*[[Rumba]]
*{{lang|sw|[[Safari]]}}
*{{lang|bnt|[[Samba]]}}
*{{lang|sw|[[Simba]]}}
*{{lang|zu|[[Ubuntu philosophy|Ubuntu]]}}
}}`{=mediawiki}
## Writing systems {#writing_systems}
Along with the Latin script and Arabic script orthographies, there are also some modern indigenous writing systems used for Bantu languages:
- The Mwangwego alphabet is an abugida created in 1979 that is sometimes used to write the Chewa language and other languages of Malawi.
- The Mandombe script is an abugida that is used to write the Bantu languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, mainly by the Kimbanguist movement.
- The Isibheqe Sohlamvu or Ditema tsa Dinoko script is a featural syllabary used to write the Sintu or Southern Bantu languages.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,132 |
Branco River
|
The **Branco River** (*Rio Branco*; Engl: *White River*) is the principal affluent of the Rio Negro from the north.
## Basin
The river drains the Guayanan Highlands moist forests ecoregion. It is enriched by many streams from the Tepui highlands which separate Venezuela and Guyana from Brazil. Its two upper main tributaries are the Uraricoera and the Takutu. The latter almost links its sources with those of the Essequibo; during floods headwaters of the Branco and those of the Essequibo are connected, allowing a level of exchange in the aquatic fauna (such as fish) between the two systems.
The Branco flows nearly south, and finds its way into the Negro through several channels and a chain of lagoons similar to those of the latter river. It is 350 mi long, up to its Uraricoera confluence. It has numerous islands, and, 235 mi above its mouth, it is broken by a bad series of rapids.
## Discharge
Average, minimum and maximum discharge of the Branco River at near mouth. Period from 1998 to 2022.
Year Discharge (m^3^/s)
------ -------------------- ------- --------
Min Mean Max Min
1998 5,664 16,435
1999 1,792 9,538 22,576
2000 2,506 9,725 28,697
2001 788 6,551 17,791
2002 1,271 5,219 18,760
2003 640 4,375 13,320
2004 756 4,244 11,959
2005 729 7,868 19,893
2006 2,457 9,899 22,644
2007 845 7,271 15,118
2008 2,739 7,630 17,280
2009 486 4,318 10,735
2010 278 2,754 8,040
## Water chemistry {#water_chemistry}
As suggested by its name, the Branco (literally \"white\" in Portuguese) has whitish water that may appear almost milky due to the inorganic sediments it carries. It is traditionally considered a whitewater river, although the major seasonal fluctuations in its physico-chemical characteristics makes a classification difficult and some consider it clearwater. Especially the river\'s upper parts at the headwaters are clear and flow through rocky country, leading to the suggestion that sediments mainly originate from the lower parts. Furthermore, its chemistry and color may contradict each other compared to the traditional Amazonian river classifications. The Branco River has pH 6--7 and low levels of dissolved organic carbon.
Alfred Russel Wallace mentioned the coloration in \"On the Rio Negro\", a paper read at the 13 June 1853 meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, in which he said: \"\[The Rio Branco\] is white to a remarkable degree, its waters being actually milky in appearance\". Alexander von Humboldt attributed the color to the presence of silicates in the water, principally mica and talc. There is a visible contrast with the waters of the Rio Negro at the confluence of the two rivers. The Rio Negro is a blackwater river with dark tea-colored acidic water (pH 3.5--4.5) that contains high levels of dissolved organic carbon.
## River capture {#river_capture}
Until approximately 20,000 years ago the headwaters of the Branco River flowed not into the Amazon, but via the Takutu Graben in the Rupununi area of Guyana towards the Caribbean. Currently in the rainy season much of the Rupununi area floods, with water draining both to the Amazon (via the Branco River) and the Essequibo River.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,160 |
Battle of Lostwithiel
|
The **Battle of Lostwithiel** took place over a 13-day period from 21 August to 2 September 1644, around the town of Lostwithiel and along the River Fowey valley in Cornwall during the First English Civil War. A Royalist army led by Charles I of England defeated a Parliamentarian force commanded by the Earl of Essex.
Although Essex and most of the cavalry escaped, between 5,000 and 6,000 Parliamentarian infantry were forced to surrender. Since the Royalists were unable to feed so many, they were given a pass back to their own territory, arriving in Southampton a month later having lost nearly half their number to disease and desertion.
Considered one of the worst defeats suffered by Parliament over the course of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, it secured South West England for the Royalists until early 1646.
## Background
During April and May 1644, Parliamentarian commanders Sir William Waller and the Earl of Essex combined their armies and carried out a campaign against King Charles and the Royalist garrisons surrounding Oxford. Trusting Waller to deal with the King in Oxfordshire, Essex divided the Parliamentarian army on 6 June and headed southwest to relieve the Royalist siege of Lyme in Dorset. Lyme had been under siege by King Charles\' nephew, Prince Maurice, and the Royalists for nearly two months.
South-West England at that time was largely under the control of the Royalists. The town of Lyme, however, was a Parliamentarian stronghold and served as an important seaport for the Parliamentarian fleet of the Earl of Warwick. As Essex approached Lyme in mid-June Prince Maurice ended the siege and took his troops west to Exeter.
Essex then proceeded further southwest toward Cornwall with the intent to relieve the siege of Plymouth. Plymouth was the only other significant Parliamentarian stronghold in the South-West and it was under siege by Richard Grenville and Cornish Royalists. Essex had been told by Lord Robartes, a wealthy politician and merchant from Cornwall, that the Parliamentarians would gain considerable military support if he moved against Grenville and freed Plymouth. Given Lord Robartes\' advice, Essex advanced toward Plymouth. His action caused Grenville to end the siege. Essex then advanced further west, believing that he could take full control of the South-West from the Royalists.
Meanwhile, in Oxfordshire, King Charles battled with the Parliamentarians and defeated Sir William Waller at the Battle of Cropredy Bridge on 29 June. On 12 July after a Royalist council of war recommended that Essex be dealt with before he could be reinforced, King Charles and his Oxford army departed Evesham. King Charles accepted the council\'s advice, not solely because it was good strategy, but more so because his Queen was in Exeter, where she had recently given birth to the Princess Henrietta and had been denied safe conduct to Bath by Essex.
## Trapped in Cornwall {#trapped_in_cornwall}
On 26 July, King Charles arrived in Exeter and joined his Oxford army with the Royalist forces commanded by Prince Maurice. On that same day, Essex and his Parliamentary force entered Cornwall. One week later, as Essex bivouacked with his army at Bodmin, he learned that King Charles had defeated Waller; brought his Oxford army to the South-West; and joined forces with Prince Maurice. Essex had also seen that he was not getting the military support from the people of Cornwall as Lord Robartes asserted. At that time, Essex understood that he and his army were trapped in Cornwall and his only salvation would be reinforcements or an escape through the port of Fowey by means of the Parliamentarian fleet.
Essex immediately marched his troops five miles south to the small town of Lostwithiel arriving on 2 August. He immediately deployed his men in a defensive arc with detachments on the high ground to the north at Restormel Castle and the high ground to the east at Beacon Hill. Essex also sent a small contingent of foot south to secure the port of Fowey aiming to eventually evacuate his infantry by sea. At Essex\'s disposal was a force of 6,500 foot and 3,000 horse.
Aided through intelligence provided by the people of Cornwall , King Charles followed westward, slowly and deliberately cutting off the potential escape routes that Essex might attempt to utilize. On 6 August King Charles communicated with Essex, calling for him to surrender. Stalling for several days, Essex considered the offer but ultimately refused.
On 11 August, Grenville and the Cornish Royalists entered Bodmin forcing out Essex\'s rear-guard cavalry. Grenville then proceeded south across Respryn Bridge to meet and join forces with King Charles and Prince Maurice. It is estimated that the Royalist forces at that time were composed of 12,000 foot and 7,000 horse. Over the next two days the Royalists deployed detachments along the east side of the River Fowey to prevent a Parliamentarian escape across country. Finally the Royalists sent 200 foot with artillery south to garrison the fort at Polruan, effectively blocking the entrance to the harbour of Fowey. At about that time, Essex learned that reinforcements under the command of Sir John Middleton were turned back by the Royalists at Bridgwater in Somerset.
## First battle - 21--30 August 1644 {#first_battle___2130_august_1644}
At 07:00 hours on 21 August, King Charles launched his first attack on Essex and the Parliamentarians at Lostwithiel. From the north, Grenville and the Cornish Royalists attacked Restormel Castle and easily dislodged the Parliamentarians who fell back quickly. From the east, King Charles and the Oxford army captured Beacon Hill with little resistance from the Parliamentarians. Prince Maurice and his force occupied Druid Hill. Casualties were fairly low and by nightfall the fighting ended and the Royalists held the high ground on the north and east sides of Lostwithiel.
For the next couple of days the two opposing forces exchanged fire only in a number of small skirmishes. On 24 August, King Charles further tightened the noose encircling the Parliamentarians when he sent Lord Goring and Sir Thomas Bassett to secure the town of St Blazey and the area to the southwest of Lostwithiel. This reduced the foraging area for the Parliamentarians and access to the coves and inlets in the vicinity of the port of Par.
Essex and the Parliamentarians were now totally surrounded and boxed into a two-mile by five-mile area spanning from Lostwithiel in the north to the port of Fowey in the south. Knowing that he would not be able to fight his way out, Essex made his final plans for an escape. Since a sea evacuation of his cavalry would not be possible, Essex ordered his cavalry commander William Balfour to attempt a breakout to Plymouth. For the infantry, Essex planned to retreat south and meet Lord Warwick and the Parliamentarian fleet at Fowey. At 03:00 hours on 31 August, Balfour and 2,000 members of his cavalry executed the first step of Essex\'s plan when they successfully crossed the River Fowey and escaped intact without engaging the Royalist defenders.
## Second battle - 31 August - 2 September 1644 {#second_battle___31_august___2_september_1644}
Early on the morning on 31 August, the Parliamentarians ransacked and looted Lostwithiel and began their withdrawal south. At 07:00 hours, the Royalists observed the actions of the Parliamentarians and immediately proceeded to attack. Grenville attacked from the north. King Charles and Prince Maurice crossed the River Fowey, joined up with Grenville, and entered Lostwithiel. Together the Royalists engaged the Parliamentarian rear-guards and quickly took possession of the town. The Royalist also sent detachments down along the east side of the River Fowey to protect against any further breakouts and to capture the town of Polruan.
The Royalists then began to pursue Essex and the Parliamentarian infantry down the river valley. At the outset the Royalist pushed the Parliamentarians nearly three miles south through the hedged fields, hills and valleys. At the narrow pass near St. Veep, Philip Skippon, Essex\'s commander of the infantry, counter-attacked the Royalists and pushed them back several fields attempting to give Essex time to set up a line of defense further south. At 11:00 hours, the Royalist cavalry mounted a charge and won back the territory lost. There was a lull in the battle at 12:00 hours as King Charles waited for his full army to come up and reform.
The fighting resumed and continued through the afternoon as the Parliamentarians tried to disengage and continue south. At 16:00 hours, the Parliamentarians tried again to counter-attack with their remaining cavalry only to be driven back by King Charles\' Life Guard. About a mile north of Castle Dore, the Parliamentarians right flank began to give way. At 18:00 hours when the Parliamentarians were pushed back to Castle Dore they made their last attempt to rally only to be pushed back and surrounded.
About that time the fighting ended with the Royalists satisfied in their accomplishments of the day. Exhausted and discouraged, the Parliamentarians hunkered down for the night. Later that evening under the darkness of night, Essex and his command staff stole away to the seashore where they used a fishing boat to flee to Plymouth, leaving Skippon in command.
Early on 1 September, Skippon met with his officers to inform them about Essex\'s escape and to discuss alternatives. It was decided that they would approach King Charles and seek terms. Concerned that Parliamentarian reinforcements might be on their way, the King quickly agreed on 2 September to generous terms. The battle was over. Six thousand Parliamentarians were taken as prisoners. Their weapons were taken away and they were marched to Southampton. They suffered the wrath of the Cornish people in route and as many as 3,000 died of exposure and disease along the way. Those that survived the journey were, however, eventually set free. Total casualties associated with the battle were extremely high especially when considering those who died on the march back to Southampton. To those numbers as many as 700 Parliamentarians are estimated to have been killed or wounded during the fighting in Cornwall along with an estimated 500 Royalists.
## Aftermath
The Battle of Lostwithiel was a great victory for King Charles and the greatest loss that the Parliamentarians would suffer in the First English Civil War. For King Charles the victory secured the South-West for the remainder of the war and mitigated criticism for a while against the Royalist war effort.
For the Parliamentarians, the defeat resulted in recriminations with Middleton ultimately being blamed for his failure to break through with reinforcements. The Parliamentarian failure at Lostwithiel along with the failure to defeat King Charles at the Second Battle of Newbury ultimately led Parliament to adopt the Self-denying Ordinance and led to the implementation of the New Model Army.
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Bill Walsh
|
**William Ernest Walsh** (November 30, 1931 -- July 30, 2007) was an American professional and college football coach. He served as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and the Stanford Cardinal, during which time he popularized the West Coast offense. After retiring from the 49ers, Walsh worked as a sports broadcaster for several years and then returned as head coach at Stanford for three seasons.
Walsh went 102--63--1 (wins-losses-ties) with the 49ers, winning 10 of his 14 postseason games along with six division titles, three NFC Championship titles, and three Super Bowls. He was named NFL Coach of the Year in 1981 and 1984. In 1993, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is widely considered amongst the greatest coaches in NFL history.
## Early life {#early_life}
Walsh was born in Fremont, California. He attended Hayward High School in Hayward in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he played running back. Walsh played quarterback at the College of San Mateo for two seasons. (Both John Madden and Walsh played and coached at the College of San Mateo early in their careers.) After playing at the College of San Mateo, Walsh transferred to San José State University, where he played tight end and defensive end. He also participated in intercollegiate boxing, winning the golden glove.
Walsh graduated from San Jose State with a bachelor\'s degree in physical education in 1955. After two years in the U.S. Army participating on their boxing team, Walsh built a championship team at Washington High School in Fremont before becoming an assistant coach at Cal, Stanford and then the Oakland Raiders in 1966.
## College coaching career {#college_coaching_career}
He served under Bob Bronzan as a graduate assistant coach on the Spartans football coaching staff and graduated with a master\'s degree in physical education from San Jose State in 1959. His master\'s thesis was entitled *Flank Formation Football \-- Stress: Defense*. Thesis 796.W228f.
Following graduation, Walsh coached the football and swim teams at Washington High School in Fremont, California. While there he interviewed for an assistant coaching position with the new head coach of the University of California, Berkeley California Golden Bears football team, Marv Levy.
\"I was very impressed, individually, by his knowledge, by his intelligence, by his personality, and hired him,\" Levy said. Levy and Walsh, two future NFL Hall of Famers, would never produce a winning season for the Golden Bears.
Leaving Berkeley, Walsh did a stint at Stanford University as an assistant coach of its Cardinal football team before beginning his pro coaching career.
## Professional coaching career {#professional_coaching_career}
### Early years {#early_years}
Walsh began his pro coaching career in 1966 as an assistant with the AFL\'s Oakland Raiders. There he was versed in the downfield-oriented \"vertical\" passing offense favored by Al Davis, an acolyte of Sid Gillman.
Walsh left the Raiders the next year to become the head coach and general manager of the San Jose Apaches of the Continental Football League (CFL). He led the Apaches to second place in the Pacific Division, but the team ceased all football operations prior to the start of the 1968 CFL season.
In 1968, Walsh joined the staff of head coach Paul Brown of the AFL expansion Cincinnati Bengals, where he coached wide receivers from 1968 to 1970. It was there that Walsh developed the philosophy now known as the \"West Coast offense\". Cincinnati\'s new quarterback, Virgil Carter, was known for his great mobility and accuracy but lacked a strong arm necessary to throw deep passes. To suit his strengths, Walsh suggested a modification of the downfield based \"vertical passing scheme\" he had learned during his time with the Raiders with one featuring a \"horizontal\" approach that relied on quick, short throws, often spreading the ball across the entire width of the field. In 1971 Walsh was given the additional responsibility of coaching the quarterbacks, and Carter went on to lead the league in pass completion percentage.
Ken Anderson eventually replaced Carter as starting quarterback, and, together with star wide receiver Isaac Curtis, produced a consistent, effective offensive attack.
When Brown retired as head coach following the 1975 season and appointed Bill \"Tiger\" Johnson as his successor, Walsh resigned and served as an assistant coach in 1976 for the San Diego Chargers under head coach Tommy Prothro. In a 2006 interview, Walsh claimed that during his tenure with the Bengals, Brown \"worked against my candidacy\" to be a head coach anywhere in the league. \"All the way through I had opportunities, and I never knew about them\", Walsh said. \"And then when I left him, he called whoever he thought was necessary to keep me out of the NFL.\" Walsh also claimed that Brown kept talking him down any time Brown was called by NFL teams considering hiring Walsh as a head coach.
In 1977, Walsh was hired by Stanford University as the head coach of its Cardinal football team, where he stayed for two seasons. He was quite successful, with his teams posting a 9--3 record in 1977 with a win in the Sun Bowl, and going 8--4 in 1978 with a win in the Bluebonnet Bowl. His notable players at Stanford included quarterbacks Guy Benjamin, Steve Dils, wide receivers James Lofton and Ken Margerum, linebacker Gordy Ceresino, and running back Darrin Nelson. Walsh was the Pac-8 Conference Coach of the Year in 1977.
### 49ers head coach {#ers_head_coach}
On January 9, 1979, Walsh resigned as head coach at Stanford, and San Francisco 49ers team owner Edward J. DeBartolo, Jr. fired head coach Fred O\'Connor and general manager Joe Thomas following a 2--14 in 1978 season. Walsh was appointed head coach of the 49ers the next day.
The 49ers went 2-14 again in 1979. Hidden behind that record were organizational changes made by Walsh that set the team on a better course, including selecting Notre Dame quarterback Joe Montana in the third round of the 1979 NFL draft.
In 1980, starting quarterback Steve DeBerg got the 49ers off to a 3--0 start, but after a week 6 blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys by a score of 59--14, Walsh gave Montana a chance to start. On December 7 vs. the New Orleans Saints, the second-year player brought the 49ers back from a 35--7 halftime deficit to a 38--35 overtime win. In spite of this switch, the team struggled to a 6--10 finish -- a record that belied a championship team in the making.
#### 1981 championship
In 1981, Walsh\'s efforts as head coach led the team to a 13--3 regular season. The 13 wins were a franchise record at the time, and were three more than they had won in the previous three seasons combined. Key victories were two wins each over the Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas Cowboys. The Rams were only two seasons removed from a Super Bowl appearance, and had dominated the series with the 49ers since 1967, winning 23, losing 3 and tying 1. San Francisco\'s two wins over the Rams in 1981 marked the shift of dominance in favor of the 49ers that lasted until 1998 with 30 wins (including 17 consecutively) against only 6 defeats. The 49ers blew out the Cowboys in week 6 of the regular season. On *Monday Night Football* that week, the win was not included in the halftime highlights. Walsh felt that this was because the Cowboys were scheduled to play the Rams the next week in a Sunday night game and that showing the highlights of the 49ers\' win would potentially hurt the game\'s ratings. However, Walsh used this as a motivating factor for his team, who felt they were disrespected.
The 49ers faced the Cowboys again in the NFC title game. The contest was very close, and in the fourth quarter Walsh called a series of running plays as the 49ers marched down the field against the Cowboys\' prevent defense, which had been expecting the 49ers to mainly pass. The 49ers came from behind to win the game on Joe Montana\'s pass completion to Dwight Clark for a touchdown, a play that came to be known simply as The Catch, propelling Walsh to his first appearance in a Super Bowl. Walsh would later write that the 49ers\' two wins over the Rams showed a shift of power in their division, while the wins over the Cowboys showed a shift of power in the conference.
Two weeks later, on January 24, 1982, San Francisco faced the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI, winning 26--21 for the team\'s first NFL championship. Only a year removed from back-to-back two-win seasons, the 49ers had risen from the cellar to the top of the NFL in just two seasons. What came to be known as the West Coast offense developed by Walsh had proven a winner.
In all, Walsh served as 49ers head coach for 10 years, winning three Super Bowl championships, in the 1981, 1984, and 1988 seasons, and establishing a new NFL record.
Walsh had a disciplined approach to game-planning, famously scripting the first 10--15 offensive plays before the start of each game. His innovative play calling and design earned him the nickname \"The Genius\". In the ten-year span under Walsh, San Francisco scored 3,714 points (24.4 per game), the most of any team in the league.
In addition to Joe Montana, Walsh drafted Ronnie Lott, Charles Haley, and Jerry Rice, each one going on to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He also traded a 2nd and 4th round pick in the 1987 draft for Steve Young, who took over from Montana, led the team to Super Bowl success, and was enshrined in Canton after his playing career. Walsh\'s success at every level of football, especially with the 49ers, earned him his own ticket to Canton in 1993.
On January 22, 1989, Walsh coached his final game with the 49ers, the memorable Super Bowl XXIII in which San Francisco beat Cincinnati 20--16. Walsh resigned as the 49ers head coach after the game. Walsh admitted years later that he immediately regretted the decision saying that he left too soon.
### Coaching tree {#coaching_tree}
#### Upline
Walsh\'s upline coaching tree included working as assistant for American Football League great and Hall of Fame head coach Al Davis and NFL legend and Hall of Famer Paul Brown, and, through Davis, AFL great and Hall of Fame head coach Sid Gillman of the then AFL Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers.
#### Downline
Tree updated through December 9, 2015.
Many Walsh assistants went on to become head coaches,. including George Seifert, Mike Holmgren, Ray Rhodes, and Dennis Green. Seifert succeeded Walsh as 49ers head coach, and guided San Francisco to victories in Super Bowl XXIV and Super Bowl XXIX. Holmgren won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers, and made 3 Super Bowl appearances as a head coach: 2 with the Packers, and another with the Seattle Seahawks. These coaches in turn have their own disciples who have used Walsh\'s West Coast system, such as former Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan and former Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak. Mike Shanahan was an offensive coordinator under George Seifert and went on to win Super Bowl XXXII and Super Bowl XXXIII during his time as head coach of the Denver Broncos. Kubiak was first a quarterback coach with the 49ers, and then offensive coordinator for Shanahan with the Broncos. In 2015, he became the Broncos\' head coach and led Denver to victory in Super Bowl 50. Dennis Green trained Tony Dungy, who won a Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts, and Brian Billick with his brother-in law and linebackers coach Mike Smith. Billick won a Super Bowl as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens.
Mike Holmgren trained many of his assistants to become head coaches, including Jon Gruden and Andy Reid. Gruden won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Reid served as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999 to 2012, and guided the Eagles to multiple winning seasons and numerous playoff appearances, including 1 Super Bowl appearance. Ever since 2013, Reid has served as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. He was finally able to win a Super Bowl, when his Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV, and two consecutive when his Chiefs defeated the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII and the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. In addition to this, Marc Trestman, former head coach of the Chicago Bears, served as offensive coordinator under Seifert in the 90\'s. Gruden himself would train Mike Tomlin, who led the Pittsburgh Steelers to their sixth Super Bowl championship, and Jim Harbaugh, whose 49ers would face his brother, John Harbaugh, whom Reid himself trained, and the Baltimore Ravens at Super Bowl XLVII, which marked the Ravens\' second World Championship.
Bill Walsh was viewed as a strong advocate for African-American head coaches in the NFL and NCAA. Thus, the impact of Walsh also changed the NFL into an equal opportunity for African-American coaches. Along with Ray Rhodes and Dennis Green, Tyrone Willingham became the head coach at Stanford, then later Notre Dame and Washington. One of Mike Shanahan\'s assistants, Karl Dorrell, went on to be the head coach at UCLA. Walsh directly helped propel Dennis Green into the NFL head coaching ranks by offering to take on the head coaching job at Stanford.
### Later years {#later_years}
After leaving the coaching ranks immediately following his team\'s victory in Super Bowl XXIII, Walsh went to work as a broadcaster for NBC, teaming with Dick Enberg to form the lead broadcasting team, replacing Merlin Olsen.
During his time with NBC, rumors began to surface that Walsh would coach again in the NFL. There were at least two known instances.
First, according to a February 2015 article by Mike Florio of NBC Sports, after a 5--11 season in 1989, the Patriots fired Raymond Berry and unsuccessfully attempted to lure Walsh to Foxborough to become head coach and general manager. When that failed, New England promoted defensive coordinator Rod Rust; the team split its first two games and then lost 14 straight in 1990.
Second, late in the 1990 season, Walsh was rumored to become Tampa Bay\'s next head coach and general manager after the team fired Ray Perkins and promoted Richard Williamson on an interim basis. Part of the speculation was fueled by the fact that Walsh\'s contract with NBC, which ran for 1989 and 1990, would soon be up for renewal, to say nothing of the pressure Hugh Culverhouse faced to increase fan support and to fill the seats at Tampa Stadium. However, less than a week after Super Bowl XXV, Walsh not only declined Tampa Bay\'s offer, but he and NBC agreed on a contract extension. Walsh would continue in his role with NBC for 1991. Meanwhile, after unsuccessfully courting then-recently fired Eagles coach Buddy Ryan or Giants then-defensive coordinator Bill Belichick to man the sidelines for Tampa Bay in 1991, the Bucs stuck with Williamson. Under Williamson\'s leadership, Tampa Bay won only three games in 1991.
On January 15, 1992, Walsh agreed to return to Stanford to serve as their head coach with a five-year contract with an annual salary of \$350,000 to replace Dennis Green; he immediately named Terry Shea as offensive coordinator. That year, he led the Cardinal to a 10--3 record and a Pacific-10 Conference co-championship; it was the first conference championship for the program since 1971. Stanford finished the season with a victory over Penn State in the Blockbuster Bowl on January 1, 1993, and a #9 ranking in the final AP Poll. In November 1994, after consecutive losing seasons, Walsh left Stanford and retired from coaching.
In 1996, Walsh returned to the 49ers as an administrative aide. Walsh was the vice president and general manager for the 49ers from 1999 to 2001 and was a special consultant to the team for three years afterwards.
In 2004, Walsh was appointed as special assistant to the athletic director at Stanford. In 2005, after then-athletic director Ted Leland stepped down, Walsh was named interim athletic director. He also acted as a consultant for his alma mater San Jose State University in their search for an athletic director and Head Football Coach in 2005.
Walsh was also the author of three books, a motivational speaker, and taught classes at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Walsh was a board member for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, which is named after Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott, and is awarded annually to college football\'s Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. Walsh served as a keynote speaker at the award\'s banquet.
## Awards and honors {#awards_and_honors}
- 1989 -- Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
- 1993 -- Pro Football Hall of Fame
- 1998 -- San Jose State Hall of Fame and the SJSU Tower Award, the highest award given by SJSU
## Personal life {#personal_life}
Bill married his college sweetheart Geri, and had 3 children; Steve, Craig and Elizabeth.
## Death
Bill Walsh died of leukemia on July 30, 2007, at his home in Woodside, California.
Following Walsh\'s death, the playing field at the former Candlestick Park was renamed \"Bill Walsh Field\". Additionally, the regular San Jose State versus Stanford football game was renamed the \"Bill Walsh Legacy Game\". Super Bowl XLII was also dedicated to Walsh\'s memory; at the end of the player introduction ceremonies, his son, Craig, accompanied by Ronnie Lott, Jerry Rice and Steve Young, performed the ceremonial coin toss with New York Giants captain Michael Strahan, playing his final career NFL game, calling the toss on behalf of his Giants co-captains and the New England Patriots\' captains.
## Head coaching record {#head_coaching_record}
### College
### NFL
Team Year Regular Season
---------- ------ ---------------- -------
Won Lost Ties Win %
SF 1979 2 14
SF 1980 6 10
SF 1982 3 6
SF Total 92 59
Total 92 59
## Books
- Bill Walsh and Glenn Dickey, *Building a Champion: On Football and the Making of the 49ers*. St Martin\'s Press, 1990. (`{{ISBN|0-312-04969-2}}`{=mediawiki}).
- Bill Walsh, Brian Billick and James A. Peterson, *Finding the Winning Edge*. Sports Publishing, 1998. (`{{ISBN|1-571-67172-2}}`{=mediawiki}).
- Bill Walsh with Steve Jamison and Craig Walsh, *The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership*. Penguin Group Publishing, 2009 (`{{ISBN|978-1-59184-266-8}}`{=mediawiki}).
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Benelux
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The **Benelux Union** (*Benelux Unie*; *Union Benelux*; *Benelux-Union*; *Benelux-Unioun*) or **Benelux** is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portmanteau formed from joining the first few letters of each country\'s name and was first used to name the customs agreement that initiated the union (signed in 1944). It is now used more generally to refer to the geographic, economic, and cultural grouping of the three countries.
The Benelux is an economically dynamic and densely populated region, with 5.6% of the European population (29.55 million residents) and 7.9% of the joint EU GDP (€36,000/resident) on 1.7% of the whole surface of the EU. In 2015, 37% of the total number of EU cross-border workers worked in the Benelux; 35,000 Belgian residents work in Luxembourg, while 37,000 others cross the border to work in the Netherlands each day. In addition, 12,000 Dutch and close to a thousand Luxembourg residents work in Belgium.
The main institutions of the Union are the Committee of Ministers, the Council of the Union, the General Secretariat, the Interparliamentary Consultative Council and the Benelux Court of Justice while the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property covers the same land but is not part of the Benelux Union.
The Benelux General Secretariat is located in Brussels. It is the central platform of the Benelux Union cooperation. It handles the secretariat of the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Benelux Union and the sundry committees and working parties. The General Secretariat provides day-to-day support for the Benelux cooperation on the substantive, procedural, diplomatic and logistical levels. The Secretary-General is Frans Weekers from the Netherlands and there are two deputies: Deputy Secretary-General Michel-Etienne Tilemans from Belgium and Deputy Secretary-General Jean-Claude Meyer from Luxembourg.
The presidency of the Benelux is held in turn by the three countries for a period of one year. Luxembourg holds the presidency for 2025.
About 80 percent of the Benelux population speaks Dutch, about 20 percent speaks French and one percent Luxembourgish as their native language. A small minority under one percent are native German speakers.
## History
In 1944, exiled representatives of the three countries signed the London Customs Convention, the treaty that established the Benelux Customs Union. Ratified in 1947, the treaty was in force from 1948 until it was superseded by the Benelux Economic Union. The initial form of economic cooperation expanded steadily over time, leading to the signing of the treaty establishing the Benelux Economic Union (*Benelux Economische Unie*, *Union Économique Benelux*) on 3 February 1958 in The Hague, which came into force on 1 November 1960. Initially, the purpose of cooperation among the three partners was to put an end to customs barriers at their borders and ensure free movement of persons, capital, services, and goods between the three countries. This treaty was the first example of international economic integration in Europe since the Second World War.
The three countries therefore foreshadowed and provided the model for future European integration, such as the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community (EEC), and the European Community--European Union (EC--EU). The three partners also launched the Schengen process, which came into operation in 1985. Benelux cooperation has been constantly adapted and now goes much further than mere economic cooperation, extending to new and topical policy areas connected with security, sustainable development, and the economy. In 1965, the treaty establishing a Benelux Court of Justice was signed. It entered into force in 1974. The court, composed of judges from the highest courts of the three states, has to guarantee the uniform interpretation of common legal rules. This international judicial institution is located in Luxembourg.
### Renewal of the agreement {#renewal_of_the_agreement}
The 1958 Treaty between the Benelux countries establishing the Benelux Economic Union was limited to a period of 50 years. During the following years, and even more so after the creation of the European Union, the Benelux cooperation focused on developing other fields of activity within a constantly changing international context.
At the end of the 50 years, the governments of the three Benelux countries decided to renew the agreement, taking into account the new aspects of the Benelux-cooperation -- such as security -- and the new federal government structure of Belgium. The original establishing treaty, set to expire in 2010, was replaced by a new legal framework (called the Treaty revising the Treaty establishing the Benelux Economic Union), which was signed on 17 June 2008.
The new treaty has no set time limit and the name of the *Benelux Economic Union* changed to *Benelux Union* to reflect the broad scope on the union. The main objectives of the treaty are the continuation and enlargement of the cooperation between the three member states within a larger European context. The renewed treaty explicitly foresees the possibility that the Benelux countries will cooperate with other European member states or with regional cooperation structures. The new Benelux cooperation focuses on three main topics: internal market and economic union, sustainability, justice and internal affairs. The number of structures in the renewed Treaty has been reduced and thus simplified.
### Benefits of the Benelux cooperation {#benefits_of_the_benelux_cooperation}
1. **Security and emergency services**
- Thanks to the Benelux Police Treaty (2023), police forces can operate across borders, strengthening the fight against crime.
- Ambulances and fire services can operate across borders, ensuring faster response times in emergencies.
2. **Recognition of diplomas**
- Higher education diplomas are automatically recognized within the Benelux, making it easier to work and study in another Benelux country. This prevents extra administrative costs and time loss.
3. **Economy and transport**
- The removal of administrative barriers, such as with digital freight documents, makes cross-border transport more efficient and cost-effective for businesses.
4. **Sustainability**
- The Benelux countries cooperate on energy transition and the circular economy, contributing to a sustainable and future-proof region.
The Benelux Union also serves as a testing ground for European cooperation. Initiatives such as diploma recognition and cross-border truck inspections set an example for further European harmonization.
## Benelux pilot projects 2025 {#benelux_pilot_projects_2025}
### Activities since 2008 {#activities_since_2008}
Benelux seeks region-to-region cooperation, be it with France and Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia) or beyond with the Baltic States, the Nordic Council, the Visegrad countries, or even further. In 2018, a renewed political declaration was adopted between Benelux and North Rhine-Westphalia to give cooperation a further impetus.
The Benelux is particularly active in the field of intellectual property. The three countries established a Benelux Trademarks Office and a Benelux Designs Office, both situated in The Hague. In 2005, they concluded a treaty establishing the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property, which replaced both offices upon its entry into force on 1 September 2006. This organisation is the official body for the registration of trademarks and designs in the Benelux. In addition, it offers the possibility to formally record the existence of ideas, concepts, designs, prototypes and the like.
Some examples of recent Benelux initiatives include: automatic level recognition of diplomas and degrees within the Benelux for bachelor\'s and master\'s programs in 2015, and for all other degrees in 2018; common road inspections in 2014; and a Benelux pilot with digital consignment notes (e-CMR) in 2017; a new Benelux Treaty on Police Cooperation in 2018, providing for direct access to each other\'s police databases and population registers within the limits of national legislation, and allowing some police forces to cross borders in some situations. The Benelux is also committed to working together on adaptation to climate change. A joint political declaration in July 2020 called on the European Commission to prioritise cycling in European climate policy and Sustainable Transport strategies, to co-finance the construction of cycling infrastructure, and to provide funds to stimulate cycling policy.
On 5 June 2018, the Benelux Treaty celebrated its 60 years of existence. In 2018, a Benelux Youth Parliament was created.
In addition to cooperation based on a Treaty, there is also political cooperation in the Benelux context, including summits of the Benelux government leaders. In 2019 a Benelux summit was held in Luxembourg. In 2020, a Benelux summit was held -- online, due to the COVID-19 pandemic -- under Dutch Presidency on 7 October between the prime ministers.
As of 1 January 2017, a new arrangement for NATO Air Policing started for the airspace of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg (Benelux). The Belgian Air Component and the Royal Netherlands Air Force will take four-month turns to ensure that Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) fighter jets are available at all times to be launched under NATO control.
### Cooperation with other geopolitical regions {#cooperation_with_other_geopolitical_regions}
The Benelux countries also work together in the so-called Pentalateral Energy Forum, a regional cooperation group formed of five members---the Benelux states, France, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Formed on 6 June 2007, the ministers for energy from the various countries represent a total of 200 million residents and 40% of the European electricity network.
In 2017 the members of the Benelux, the Baltic Assembly, three members of the Nordic Council (Sweden, Denmark and Finland), and all the other countries EU member states, sought to increase cooperation in the Digital Single Market, as well as discussing social matters, the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union, immigration and defence cooperation. Foreign relations in the wake of Russia\'s annexation of Crimea and the 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum were also on the agenda.
Since 2008 the Benelux Union works together with the German Land (state) North Rhine-Westphalia.
In 2018 Benelux Union signed a declaration with France to strengthen cross-border cooperation.
## Politics
### Benelux institutions {#benelux_institutions}
Under the 2008 treaty there are five Benelux institutions: the Benelux Committee of Ministers, the Benelux Council, the Benelux Parliament, the Benelux Court of Justice, the Benelux Secretariat General. Beside these five institutions, the Benelux Organisation for Intellectual Property is also an independent organisation.
**Benelux Committee of Ministers:** The Committee of Ministers is the supreme decision-making body of the Benelux. It includes at least one representative at ministerial level from the three countries. Its composition varies according to its agenda. The ministers determine the orientations and priorities of Benelux cooperation. The presidency of the Committee rotates between the three countries on an annual basis.
**Benelux Council:** The council is composed of senior officials from the relevant ministries. Its composition varies according to its agenda. The council\'s main task is to prepare the dossiers for the ministers.
**Benelux InterParliamentary Consultative Council:** The Benelux Parliament (officially referred to as an \"Interparliamentary Consultative Council\") was created in 1955. This parliamentary assembly is composed of 49 members from the respective national parliaments (21 members of the Dutch parliament, 21 members of the Belgian national and regional parliaments, and 7 members of the Luxembourg parliament). Its members inform and advise their respective governments on all Benelux matters. On 20 January 2015, the governments of the three countries, including, as far as Belgium is concerned, the community and regional governments, signed in Brussels the Treaty of the Benelux Interparliamentary Assembly. This treaty entered into force on 1 August 2019. This superseded the 1955 Convention on the Consultative Interparliamentary Council for the Benelux. The official name has been largely obsolete in daily practice for a number of years: both internally in the Benelux and in external references, the name Benelux Parliament has been used *de facto* for a number of years now.
**Benelux Court of Justice:** The Benelux Court of Justice is an international court. Its mission is to promote uniformity in the application of Benelux legislation. When faced with difficulty interpreting a common Benelux legal rule, national courts must seek an interpretive ruling from the Benelux Court, which subsequently renders a binding decision. The members of the Court are appointed from among the judges of the \'Cour de cassation\' of Belgium, the \'Hoge Raad of the Netherlands\' and the \'Cour de cassation\' of Luxembourg.
**Benelux General Secretariat:** The General Secretariat, which is based in Brussels, forms the cooperation platform of the Benelux Union. It acts as the secretariat of the Committee of Ministers, the council and various commissions and working groups. The General Secretariat has years of expertise in the area of Benelux cooperation and is familiar with the policy agreements and differences between the three countries. Building on what already been achieved, the General Secretariat puts its knowledge, network and experience at the service of partners and stakeholders who endorse its mission. It initiates, supports and monitors cooperation results in the areas of economy, sustainability and security.
The Secretary General of the Benelux is Frans Weekers (NL), the Deputy Secretary General is Michel-Etienne Tilemans (BE) and Jean-Claude Meyer (LU)
Benelux works together on the basis of an annual plan embedded in a four-year joint work programme.
### Benelux legal instruments {#benelux_legal_instruments}
The Benelux Union involves intergovernmental cooperation.
The Treaty establishing the Benelux Union explicitly provides that the Benelux Committee of Ministers can resort to four legal instruments (art. 6, paragraph 2, under a), f), g) and h)):
1\. **Decisions**
Decisions are legally binding regulations for implementing the Treaty establishing the Benelux Union or other Benelux treaties.
Their legally binding force concerns the Benelux states (and their sub-state entities), which have to implement them. However, they have no direct effect towards individual citizens or companies (notwithstanding any indirect protection of their rights based on such decisions as a source of international law). Only national provisions implementing a decision can directly create rights and obligations for citizens or companies.
2\. **Agreements**
The Committee of Ministers can draw up agreements, which are then submitted to the Benelux states (and/or their sub-state entities) for signature and subsequent parliamentary ratification. These agreements can deal with any subject matter, also in policy areas that are not yet covered by cooperation in the framework of the Benelux Union.
These are in fact traditional treaties, with the same direct legally binding force towards both authorities and citizens or companies. The negotiations do however take place in the established context of the Benelux working groups and institutions, rather than on an ad hoc basis.
3\. **Recommendations**
Recommendations are non-binding orientations, adopted at ministerial level, which underpin the functioning of the Benelux Union. These (policy) orientations may not be legally binding, but given their adoption at the highest political level and their legal basis vested directly in the Treaty, they do entail a strong moral obligation for any authority concerned in the Benelux countries.
4\. **Directives**
Directives of the Committee of Ministers are mere inter-institutional instructions towards the Benelux Council and/or the Secretariat-General, for which they are binding. This instrument has so far only been used occasionally, basically in order to organize certain activities within a Benelux working group or to give them impetus.
All four instruments require the unanimous approval of the members of the Committee of Ministers (and, in the case of agreements, subsequent signature and ratification at national level).
## Characteristics
### Countries
Country Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg
------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------
Official name
Official languages
Population (2024) 11,763,650 `{{data Netherlands|poptoday|formatnum}}`{=mediawiki} 672,050
Area
Population density 385/km^2^ (998/sq mi) 441/km^2^ (1,141/sq mi) 260/km^2^ (673/sq mi)
Capital city Brussels Amsterdam Luxembourg City
Largest urban areas
Form of government Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Current head of state King Philippe King Willem-Alexander Grand Duke Henri
Current head of government Prime Minister Bart de Wever Prime Minister Dick Schoof Prime Minister Luc Frieden
Main religions
GDP nominal (2025) US\$689.364 billion US\$1.273 trillion US\$96.993 billion
GDP per capita nominal (2025) US\$58,248 US\$70,606 US\$141,079
GDP (PPP) (2025) US\$889.833 billion US\$1.511 trillion US\$106.505 billion
GDP per capita (PPP) (2025) US\$75,187 US\$83,823 US\$154,914
Currency Euro Euro, also uses USD (in some cases) Euro
: Benelux Countries Comparison
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4,177 |
Barge
|
A **barge** is typically a flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and marine water environments. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but on inland waterways, most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels. The term *barge* has a rich history, and therefore there are many types of barges.
## History of the barge {#history_of_the_barge}
### Etymology
*Barge* is attested from 1300, from Old French *barge*, from Vulgar Latin *barga*. The word originally could refer to any small boat; the modern meaning arose around 1480. *Bark* \"small ship\" is attested from 1420, from Old French *barque*, from Vulgar Latin *barca* (400 AD). A more precise meaning (see Barque) arose in the 17th century and often takes the French spelling for disambiguation. Both are probably derived from the Latin *barica*, from Greek *baris* \"Egyptian boat\", from Coptic *bari* \"small boat\", hieroglyphic Egyptian D58-G29-M17-M17-D21-P1 and similar *ba-y-r* for \"basket-shaped boat\". By extension, the term \"embark\" literally means to board the kind of boat called a \"barque\".
### British river barges {#british_river_barges}
#### 18th century {#th_century}
In Great Britain, a merchant barge was originally a flat bottomed merchant vessel for use on navigable rivers. Most of these barges had sails. For traffic on the River Severn, the barge was described thus: \"The lesser sort are called barges and frigates, being from forty to sixty feet in length, having a single mast and square sail, and carrying from twenty to forty tons burthen.\" The larger vessels were called trows. On the River Irwell, there was reference to barges passing below Barton Aqueduct with their mast and sails standing. Early barges on the Thames were called west country barges.
#### 19th century {#th_century_1}
In the United Kingdom, the word barge had many meanings by the 1890s, and these varied locally. On the Mersey, a barge was called a \'Flat\', on the Thames a Lighter or barge, and on the Humber a \'Keel\'. A Lighter had neither mast nor rigging. A keel did have a single mast with sails. Barge and lighter were used indiscriminately. A local distinction was that any flat that was not propelled by steam was a barge, although it might be a sailing flat.
The term Dumb barge was probably taken into use to end the confusion. The term Dumb barge surfaced in the early nineteenth century. It first denoted the use of a barge as a mooring platform in a fixed place. As it went up and down with the tides, it made a very convenient mooring place for steam vessels. Within a few decades, the term dumb barge evolved and came to mean: \'a vessel propelled by oars only\'. By the 1890s, Dumb barge was still used only on the Thames.
By 1880, barges on British rivers and canals were often towed by steam tugboats. On the Thames, many dumb barges still relied on their poles, oars and the tide. Others dumb barges made use of about 50 tugboats to tow them to their destinations. While many coal barges were towed, many dumb barges that handled single parcels were not.
#### The Thames barge and Dutch barge today {#the_thames_barge_and_dutch_barge_today}
On the British river system and larger waterways, the Thames sailing barge, and Dutch barge and unspecified other styles of barge, are still known as barges. The term Dutch barge is nowadays often used to refer to an accommodation ship, but originally refers to the slightly larger Dutch version of the Thames sailing barge.
### British canals: narrowboats and widebeams {#british_canals_narrowboats_and_widebeams}
During the Industrial Revolution, a substantial network of canals was developed in Great Britain from 1750 onward. Whilst the largest of these could accommodate ocean-going vessels, e.g. the later Manchester Ship Canal, a complex network of smaller canals was also developed. These smaller canals had locks, bridges and tunnels that were at minimum only 7 ft wide at the waterline. On wider sections, standard barges and other vessels could trade, but full access to the network necessitated the parallel development of the narrowboat, which usually had a beam a couple of inches less to allow for clearance, e.g. 6 ft . It was soon realized that the narrow locks were too limiting, and later locks were therefore doubled in width to 14 ft. This led to the development of the widebeam canal boat. The narrowboat (one word) definition in the *Oxford English Dictionary* is: `{{Blockquote|Narrowboat: a British canal boat of traditional long, narrow design, steered with a tiller; spec. one not exceeding 7 feet (approx. 2.1 metres) in width or 72 feet (approx. 21.9 metres) in length}}`{=mediawiki}
The narrowboats were initially also known as barges, and the new canals were constructed with an adjacent towpath along which draft horses walked, towing the barges. These types of canal craft are so specific that on the British canal system the term \'barge\' is no longer used to describe narrowboats and widebeams. Narrowboats and widebeams are still seen on canals, mostly for leisure cruising, and now engine-powered.
### Crew and pole {#crew_and_pole}
The people who moved barges were known as lightermen. Poles are used on barges to fend off other nearby vessels or a wharf. These are often called \'pike poles\'. The long pole used to maneuver or propel a barge has given rise to the saying \"I wouldn\'t touch that \[subject/thing\] with a barge pole.\"
### The 19th century American barge {#the_19th_century_american_barge}
In the United States a barge was not a sailing vessel by the end of the 19th century. Indeed, barges were often created by cutting down (razeeing) sailing vessels. In New York this was an accepted meaning of the term barge. The somewhat smaller scow was built as such, but the scow also had its sailing counterpart the sailing scow.
## The modern barge {#the_modern_barge}
### The iron barge {#the_iron_barge}
The innovation that led to the modern barge was the use of iron barges towed by a steam tugboat. These were first used to transport grain and other bulk products. From about 1840 to 1870 the towed iron barge was quickly introduced on the Rhine, Danube, Don, Dniester, and rivers in Egypt, India and Australia. Many of these barges were built in Great Britain.
Nowadays \'barge\' generally refers to a dumb barge. In Europe, a Dumb barge is: *An inland waterway transport freight vessel designed to be towed which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion*. In America, a barge is generally pushed.
### Modern use {#modern_use}
Barges are used today for transporting low-value bulk items, as the cost of hauling goods that way is very low and for larger project cargo, such as offshore wind turbine blades. Barges are also used for very heavy or bulky items; a typical American barge measures 195 x, and can carry up to about 1500 ST of cargo. The most common European barges measure 76.5 x and can carry up to about 2450 t.
As an example, on June 26, 2006, in the US a 565 ST catalytic cracking unit reactor was shipped by barge from the Tulsa Port of Catoosa in Oklahoma to a refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Extremely large objects are normally shipped in sections and assembled after delivery, but shipping an assembled unit reduces costs and avoids reliance on construction labor at the delivery site, which in the case of the reactor was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Of the reactor\'s 700 mi journey, only about 40 miles were traveled overland, from the final port to the refinery.
The Transportation Institute at Texas A&M found that inland barge transportation in the US produces far fewer emissions of carbon dioxide for each ton of cargo moved compared to transport by truck or rail. According to the study, transporting cargo by barge produces 43% less greenhouse gas emissions than rail and more than 800% less than trucks. Environmentalists claim that in areas where barges, tugboats and towboats idle may produce more emissions like in the locks and dams of the Mississippi River.
Self-propelled barges may be used for traveling downstream or upstream in placid waters; they are operated as an unpowered barge, with the assistance of a tugboat, when traveling upstream in faster waters. Canal barges are usually made for the particular canal in which they will operate.
Unpowered vessels---barges---may be used for other purposes, such as large accommodation vessels, towed to where they are needed and stationed there as long as necessary. An example is the Bibby Stockholm.
## Types
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- Ferrocement or `{{annotated link|Type B ship#Concrete Barge|"Concrete" Barge}}`{=mediawiki}
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- Severn `{{annotated link|trow}}`{=mediawiki}
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In the United States, \"deck barge\" may refer to flat deck barges, work flats, fuel flats or flats. Smaller flats are used in shipyards to permit workers to access vessels in drydocks.
## Gallery
<File:PénicheRecyclageFerrailles2008Deûle2.jpg%7CA> self propelled barge carrying recycling material on Deûle channel in Lambersart, France <File:Barge> with cars.jpg\|Self-propelled car barge on the River Danube <File:Péniches> sur le Canal du Midi.jpg\|Barges near Toulouse, France <File:Andromeda> (ship, 1958) Hannover Mittellandkanal 2006 by-RaBoe.jpg\|Self-propelled barge *Andromeda* in canal at Hanover, Germany <File:Messina> Karden Bug.jpg\|Tank barge on the River Moselle, Germany <File:CrushedStoneBarge.jpg%7CSelf-propelled> barge carrying bulk crushed stone <File:IjmuidenBarge.jpg%7CSelf-propelled> barge in the port of IJmuiden, Netherlands <File:Pegasus> barge being moved by Freedom Star and towboat American 2.jpg\|Deck barge carrying the Space Shuttle external tank for STS-119 under tow to Port Canaveral, Florida, United States <File:Yangzhou-Modern-Grand-Canal-boats-3351.JPG%7CSelf-propelled> barges on the Grand Canal of China near Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China <File:CoalbargePittsburgh.JPG%7CCoal> barges passing Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on the Ohio River <File:Suphannahongsa-docked.jpg%7CRoyal> Barge *Suphannahong* docked at Wat Arun pier, one of the Thai royal barges featured in the royal barge ceremony <File:Donna> York.jpg\|Towboat *Donna York* pushing barges of coal up the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky, United States <File:Ilia> Efimovich Repin (1844-1930) - Volga Boatmen (1870-1873).jpg\|*Barge Haulers on the Volga* (1870--73), by Ilya Repin <File:Kapal> tongkang.jpg\|*Tongkang* or car barge, landed on Ketapang Port, Banyuwangi, Indonesia <File:Slipway> at portland.JPG\|Slipway at Portland Harbour, Dorset, England, holding a split dump barge (on right) <File:Barge> on Mosel by Kues (1).jpg\|Barge on the river Mosel in Germany <File:Water> Barge YW-59.jpg\|US Navy Water Type B ship Barge, YW-59, launched August 29, 1941 <File:YFN-958-Covered> Lighter Barge-Non-Self-Propelled.jpg\|YFN-958 a covered lighter barge, non-self-propelled. Built by Mare Island Navy Shipyard in 1944. <File:Concrete> Barge - Erie Canal - Lock 13 - 3.jpg\|Ferrocement Barge, US-102, in the Erie Canal <File:Ww2> concrete barge, National Waterway Museum.jpg\|WW2 concrete barge at the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, UK <File:Sun> Shining Into a Barge.jpg\|Sun shining into the empty asphalt barge *Endeavour* while under repair in Muskegon, Michigan <File:Pelican> Barge, Darling Harbor, Sydney, NSW, AU.jpg\|A barge decorated to look like a pelican carrying a jumbotron display, Sydney <File:AWB> Rajawali Natuna.jpg\|Accommodation Work Barge <File:Prem> Tinsulanonda International School barge in Bangkok.jpg\|A restored teak barge used for educational programmes on the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok
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4,181 |
Battle
|
thumb\|upright=1.35\|British (red) and French (blue) armies begin engagement of the decisive Battle of Waterloo, with Prussian forces (gray) arriving from the northeast \|alt=Overhead diagram of movement of forces at Battle of Waterloo A **battle** is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force commitment. An engagement with only limited commitment between the forces and without decisive results is sometimes called a skirmish.
The word \"battle\" can also be used infrequently to refer to an entire operational campaign, although this usage greatly diverges from its conventional or customary meaning. Generally, the word \"battle\" is used for such campaigns if referring to a protracted combat encounter in which either one or both of the combatants had the same methods, resources, and strategic objectives throughout the encounter. Some prominent examples of this would be the Battle of the Atlantic, Battle of Britain, and the Battle of France, all in World War II.
Wars and military campaigns are guided by military strategy, whereas battles take place on a level of planning and execution known as operational mobility. German strategist Carl von Clausewitz stated that \"the employment of battles \... to achieve the object of war\" was the essence of strategy.
## Etymology
Battle is a loanword from the Old French *bataille*, first attested in 1297, from Late Latin *battualia*, meaning \"exercise of soldiers and gladiators in fighting and fencing\", from Late Latin (taken from Germanic) *battuere* \"beat\", from which the English word battery is also derived via Middle English *batri*.
## Characteristics
The defining characteristic of the fight as a concept in military science has changed with the variations in the organisation, employment and technology of military forces. The English military historian John Keegan suggested an ideal definition of battle as \"something which happens between two armies leading to the moral then physical disintegration of one or the other of them\" but the origins and outcomes of battles can rarely be summarized so neatly. Battle in the 20th and 21st centuries is defined as the combat between large components of the forces in a military campaign, used to achieve military objectives. Where the duration of the battle is longer than a week, it is often for reasons of planning called an operation. Battles can be planned, encountered or forced by one side when the other is unable to withdraw from combat.
A battle always has as its purpose the reaching of a mission goal by use of military force. A victory in the battle is achieved when one of the opposing sides forces the other to abandon its mission and surrender its forces, routs the other (i.e., forces it to retreat or renders it militarily ineffective for further combat operations) or annihilates the latter, resulting in their deaths or capture. A battle may end in a Pyrrhic victory, which ultimately favors the defeated party. If no resolution is reached in a battle, it can result in a stalemate. A conflict in which one side is unwilling to reach a decision by a direct battle using conventional warfare often becomes an insurgency.
Until the 19th century the majority of battles were of short duration, many lasting a part of a day. (The Battle of Preston (1648), the Battle of Nations (1813) and the Battle of Gettysburg (1863) were exceptional in lasting three days.) This was mainly due to the difficulty of supplying armies in the field or conducting night operations. The means of prolonging a battle was typically with siege warfare. Improvements in transport and the sudden evolving of trench warfare, with its siege-like nature during the First World War in the 20th century, lengthened the duration of battles to days and weeks. This created the requirement for unit rotation to prevent combat fatigue, with troops preferably not remaining in a combat area of operations for more than a month.
The use of the term \"battle\" in military history has led to its misuse when referring to almost any scale of combat, notably by strategic forces involving hundreds of thousands of troops that may be engaged in either one battle at a time (Battle of Leipzig) or operations (Battle of Wuhan). The space a battle occupies depends on the range of the weapons of the combatants. A \"battle\" in this broader sense may be of long duration and take place over a large area, as in the case of the Battle of Britain or the Battle of the Atlantic. Until the advent of artillery and aircraft, battles were fought with the two sides within sight, if not reach, of each other. The depth of the battlefield has also increased in modern warfare with inclusion of the supporting units in the rear areas; supply, artillery, medical personnel etc. often outnumber the front-line combat troops.
Battles are made up of a multitude of individual combats, skirmishes and small engagements and the combatants will usually only experience a small part of the battle. To the infantryman, there may be little to distinguish between combat as part of a minor raid or a big offensive, nor is it likely that he anticipates the future course of the battle; few of the British infantry who went over the top on the first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, would have anticipated that the battle would last five months. Some of the Allied infantry who had just dealt a crushing defeat to the French at the Battle of Waterloo fully expected to have to fight again the next day (at the Battle of Wavre).
## Battlespace
Battlespace is a unified strategic concept to integrate and combine armed forces for the military theatre of operations, including air, information, land, sea and space. It includes the environment, factors and conditions that must be understood to apply combat power, protect the force or complete the mission, comprising enemy and friendly armed forces; facilities; weather; terrain; and the electromagnetic spectrum.
## Factors
Battles are decided by various factors, the number and quality of combatants and equipment, the skill of commanders and terrain are among the most prominent. Weapons and armour can be decisive; on many occasions armies have achieved victory through more advanced weapons than those of their opponents. An extreme example was in the Battle of Omdurman, in which a large army of Sudanese Mahdists armed in a traditional manner were destroyed by an Anglo-Egyptian force equipped with Maxim machine guns and artillery.
On some occasions, simple weapons employed in an unorthodox fashion have proven advantageous; Swiss pikemen gained many victories through their ability to transform a traditionally defensive weapon into an offensive one. Zulus in the early 19th century were victorious in battles against their rivals in part because they adopted a new kind of spear, the iklwa. Forces with inferior weapons have still emerged victorious at times, for example in the Wars of Scottish Independence. Disciplined troops are often of greater importance; at the Battle of Alesia, the Romans were greatly outnumbered but won because of superior training.
Battles can also be determined by terrain. Capturing high ground has been the main tactic in innumerable battles. An army that holds the high ground forces the enemy to climb and thus wear themselves down. Areas of jungle and forest, with dense vegetation act as force-multipliers, of benefit to inferior armies. Terrain may have lost importance in modern warfare, due to the advent of aircraft, though the terrain is still vital for camouflage, especially for guerrilla warfare.
Generals and commanders also play an important role, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, Khalid ibn Walid, Subutai and Napoleon Bonaparte were all skilled generals and their armies were extremely successful at times. An army that can trust the commands of their leaders with conviction in its success invariably has a higher morale than an army that doubts its every move. The British in the naval Battle of Trafalgar owed its success to the reputation of Admiral Lord Nelson.
## Types
Battles can be fought on land, at sea, and in the air. Naval battles have occurred since before the 5th century BC. Air battles have been far less common, due to their late conception, the most prominent being the Battle of Britain in 1940. Since the Second World War, land or sea battles have come to rely on air support. During the Battle of Midway, five aircraft carriers were sunk without either fleet coming into direct contact.
- A pitched battle is an encounter where opposing sides agree on the time and place of combat.
- A *battle of encounter* (or *encounter battle*) is a meeting engagement where the opposing sides collide in the field without either having prepared their attack or defence.
- A *battle of attrition* aims to inflict losses on an enemy that are less sustainable compared to one\'s own losses. These need not be greater numerical losses -- if one side is much more numerous than the other then pursuing a strategy based on attrition can work even if casualties on both sides are about equal. Many battles of the Western Front in the First World War were intentionally (Verdun) or unintentionally (Somme) attrition battles.
- A *battle of breakthrough* aims to pierce the enemy\'s defences, thereby exposing the vulnerable flanks which can be turned.
- A *battle of encirclement*---the `{{interlanguage link|Kesselschlacht|de}}`{=mediawiki} of the German battle of manoeuvre (*\[\[bewegungskrieg\]\]*)---surrounds the enemy in a pocket.
- A *battle of envelopment* involves an attack on one or both flanks; the classic example being the double envelopment of the Battle of Cannae.
- A *battle of annihilation* is one in which the defeated party is destroyed in the field, such as the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile.
Battles are usually hybrids of different types listed above.
A *decisive battle* is one with political effects, determining the course of the war such as the Battle of Smolensk or bringing hostilities to an end, such as the Battle of Hastings or the Battle of Hattin. A decisive battle can change the balance of power or boundaries between countries. The concept of the *decisive battle* became popular with the publication in 1851 of Edward Creasy\'s *The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World*. British military historians J.F.C. Fuller (*The Decisive Battles of the Western World*) and B.H. Liddell Hart (*Decisive Wars of History*), among many others, have written books in the style of Creasy\'s work.
### Land
There is an obvious difference in the way battles have been fought. Early battles were probably fought between rival hunting bands as unorganized crowds. During the Battle of Megiddo, the first reliably documented battle in the fifteenth century BC, both armies were organised and disciplined; during the many wars of the Roman Empire, barbarians continued to use mob tactics.
As the Age of Enlightenment dawned, armies began to fight in highly disciplined lines. Each would follow the orders from their officers and fight as a unit instead of individuals. Armies were divided into regiments, battalions, companies and platoons. These armies would march, line up and fire in divisions.
Native Americans, on the other hand, did not fight in lines, using guerrilla tactics. American colonists and European forces continued using disciplined lines into the American Civil War.
A new style arose from the 1850s to the First World War, known as trench warfare, which also led to tactical radio. Chemical warfare also began in 1915.
By the Second World War, the use of the smaller divisions, platoons and companies became much more important as precise operations became vital. Instead of the trench stalemate of 1915--1917, in the Second World War, battles developed where small groups encountered other platoons. As a result, elite squads became much more recognized and distinguishable. Maneuver warfare also returned with an astonishing pace with the advent of the tank, replacing the cannon of the Enlightenment Age. Artillery has since gradually replaced the use of frontal troops. Modern battles resemble those of the Second World War, along with indirect combat through the use of aircraft and missiles which has come to constitute a large portion of wars in place of battles, where battles are now mostly reserved for capturing cities.
### Naval
One significant difference of modern naval battles, as opposed to earlier forms of combat is the use of marines, which introduced amphibious warfare. Today, a marine is actually an infantry regiment that sometimes fights solely on land and is no longer tied to the navy. A good example of an ancient naval battle is the Battle of Salamis. Most ancient naval battles were fought by fast ships using the battering ram to sink opposing fleets or steer close enough for boarding in hand-to-hand combat. Troops were often used to storm enemy ships as used by Romans and pirates. This tactic was usually used by civilizations that could not beat the enemy with ranged weaponry. Another invention in the late Middle Ages was the use of Greek fire by the Byzantines, which was used to set enemy fleets on fire. Empty demolition ships utilized the tactic to crash into opposing ships and set it afire with an explosion. After the invention of cannons, naval warfare became useful as support units for land warfare. During the 19th century, the development of mines led to a new type of naval warfare. The ironclad, first used in the American Civil War, resistant to cannons, soon made the wooden ship obsolete. The invention of military submarines, during World War I, brought naval warfare to both above and below the surface. With the development of military aircraft during World War II, battles were fought in the sky as well as below the ocean. Aircraft carriers have since become the central unit in naval warfare, acting as a mobile base for lethal aircraft.
### Aerial
Although the use of aircraft has for the most part always been used as a supplement to land or naval engagements, since their first major military use in World War I aircraft have increasingly taken on larger roles in warfare. During World War I, the primary use was for reconnaissance, and small-scale bombardment. Aircraft began becoming much more prominent in the Spanish Civil War and especially World War II. Aircraft design began specializing, primarily into two types: bombers, which carried explosive payloads to bomb land targets or ships; and fighter-interceptors, which were used to either intercept incoming aircraft or to escort and protect bombers (engagements between fighter aircraft were known as dog fights). Some of the more notable aerial battles in this period include the Battle of Britain and the Battle of Midway. Another important use of aircraft came with the development of the helicopter, which first became heavily used during the Vietnam War, and still continues to be widely used today to transport and augment ground forces. Today, direct engagements between aircraft are rare -- the most modern fighter-interceptors carry much more extensive bombing payloads, and are used to bomb precision land targets, rather than to fight other aircraft. Anti-aircraft batteries are used much more extensively to defend against incoming aircraft than interceptors. Despite this, aircraft today are much more extensively used as the primary tools for both army and navy, as evidenced by the prominent use of helicopters to transport and support troops, the use of aerial bombardment as the \"first strike\" in many engagements, and the replacement of the battleship with the aircraft carrier as the center of most modern navies.
## Naming
Battles are usually named after some feature of the battlefield geography, such as a town, forest or river, commonly prefixed \"Battle of\...\". Occasionally battles are named after the date on which they took place, such as The Glorious First of June. In the Middle Ages it was considered important to settle on a suitable name for a battle which could be used by the chroniclers. After Henry V of England defeated a French army on October 25, 1415, he met with the senior French herald and they agreed to name the battle after the nearby castle and so it was called the Battle of Agincourt. In other cases, the sides adopted different names for the same battle, such as the Battle of Gallipoli which is known in Turkey as the Battle of Çanakkale. During the American Civil War, the Union tended to name the battles after the nearest watercourse, such as the Battle of Wilsons Creek and the Battle of Stones River, whereas the Confederates favoured the nearby towns, as in the Battles of Chancellorsville and Murfreesboro. Occasionally both names for the same battle entered the popular culture, such as the First Battle of Bull Run and the Second Battle of Bull Run, which are also referred to as the First and Second Battles of Manassas.
Sometimes in desert warfare, there is no nearby town name to use; map coordinates gave the name to the Battle of 73 Easting in the First Gulf War. Some place names have become synonymous with battles, such as the Passchendaele, Pearl Harbor, the Alamo, Thermopylae and Waterloo. Military operations, many of which result in battle, are given codenames, which are not necessarily meaningful or indicative of the type or the location of the battle. Operation Market Garden and Operation Rolling Thunder are examples of battles known by their military codenames. When a battleground is the site of more than one battle in the same conflict, the instances are distinguished by ordinal number, such as the First and Second Battles of Bull Run. An extreme case are the twelve Battles of the Isonzo---First to Twelfth---between Italy and Austria-Hungary during the First World War.
Some battles are named for the convenience of military historians so that periods of combat can be neatly distinguished from one another. Following the First World War, the British Battles Nomenclature Committee was formed to decide on standard names for all battles and subsidiary actions. To the soldiers who did the fighting, the distinction was usually academic; a soldier fighting at Beaumont Hamel on November 13, 1916, was probably unaware he was taking part in what the committee named the Battle of the Ancre. Many combats are too small to be battles; terms such as \"action\", \"affair\", \"skirmish\", \"firefight\", \"raid\", or \"offensive patrol\" are used to describe small military encounters. These combats often take place within the time and space of a battle and while they may have an objective, they are not necessarily \"decisive\". Sometimes the soldiers are unable to immediately gauge the significance of the combat; in the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo, some British officers were in doubt as to whether the day\'s events merited the title of \"battle\" or would be called an \"action\".
## Effects
Battles affect the individuals who take part, as well as the political actors. Personal effects of battle range from mild psychological issues to permanent and crippling injuries. Some battle-survivors have nightmares about the conditions they encountered or abnormal reactions to certain sights or sounds and some experience flashbacks. Physical effects of battle can include scars, amputations, lesions, loss of bodily functions, blindness, paralysis and death. Battles affect politics; a decisive battle can cause the losing side to surrender, while a Pyrrhic victory such as the Battle of Asculum can cause the winning side to reconsider its goals. Battles in civil wars have often decided the fate of monarchs or political factions. Famous examples include the Wars of the Roses, as well as the Jacobite risings. Battles affect the commitment of one side or the other to the continuance of a war, for example the Battle of Inchon and the Battle of Huế during the Tet Offensive.
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4,182 |
Berry Berenson
|
**Berinthia** \"**Berry**\" **Berenson-Perkins** (`{{née}}`{=mediawiki} **Berenson**; April 14, 1948 -- September 11, 2001) was an American actress, model and photographer. She was the widow of actor Anthony Perkins.
She died in the September 11 attacks, as a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11. It crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.
## Early life {#early_life}
Berry Berenson was born in Murray Hill, Manhattan, New York City. Her mother was born Maria-Luisa Yvonne Radha de Wendt de Kerlor, better known as Gogo Schiaparelli, a socialite of Italian, Swiss, & French ancestry. Her father, Robert Lawrence Berenson, was an American career diplomat turned shipping executive. He was of Russian-Jewish and Polish-Jewish descent, and his family\'s original surname was Valvrojenski.
Berenson\'s maternal grandmother was the Italian-born fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, and her maternal grandfather was Wilhelm de Wendt de Kerlor, a Theosophist and psychic medium. Her elder sister, Marisa Berenson, became a well-known model and actress. She also was a great-grandniece of Giovanni Schiaparelli, an Italian astronomer who believed he had discovered canals on Mars, and a second cousin, once removed, of art expert Bernard Berenson (1865--1959), and his sister Senda Berenson (1868--1954), an athlete and educator who was one of the first two women elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
## Career
Following a brief modeling career in the late 1960s, Berenson became a freelance photographer. In 1972, Berenson\'s fiancé Richard Bernstein was hired as the cover artist for Andy Warhol\'s *Interview* magazine. Berenson would recruit models for the cover and photograph them, and Bernstein illustrated the images. By 1973, her photographs had been published in *Life*, *Glamour*, *Vogue* and *Newsweek*.
Berenson studied acting at New York\'s The American Place Theatre with Wynn Handman along with Richard Gere, Philip Anglim, Penelope Milford, Robert Ozn, Ingrid Boulting and her sister Marisa.
As an actress, Berenson starred opposite her husband Anthony Perkins in the 1978 Alan Rudolph film *Remember My Name*. She also appeared with Jeff Bridges in the 1979 film *Winter Kills*, and with Malcolm McDowell in *Cat People* (1982).
## Personal life {#personal_life}
Berenson was engaged to artist Richard Bernstein. In 1972, Berenson had an affair with actor Anthony Perkins and they married on August 9, 1973, in Wellfleet, Massachusetts while she was three months pregnant. The couple raised two sons: actor-director Oz Perkins and folk/rock singer-songwriter Elvis Perkins. Although Perkins was gay, they remained married until Perkins died from AIDS-related complications on September 12, 1992.
## Death
Berenson died on September 11, 2001, a day before the ninth anniversary of Perkins' death, as she was returning home to Los Angeles from a vacation on Cape Cod. She and the other passengers and crew aboard American Airlines Flight 11 died when the plane was hijacked and deliberately crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks on the US.
At the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Berenson\'s name is inscribed on Panel N-76 at the North Pool.
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4,187 |
Bactericide
|
A **bactericide** or **bacteriocide**, sometimes abbreviated **Bcidal**, is a substance which kills bacteria. Bactericides are disinfectants, antiseptics, or antibiotics. However, material surfaces can also have bactericidal properties based solely on their physical surface structure, as for example biomaterials like insect wings.
## Disinfectants
The most used disinfectants are those applying
- active chlorine (i.e., hypochlorites, chloramines, dichloroisocyanurate and trichloroisocyanurate, wet chlorine, chlorine dioxide, etc.),
- active oxygen (peroxides, such as peracetic acid, potassium persulfate, sodium perborate, sodium percarbonate, and urea perhydrate),
- iodine (povidone-iodine, Lugol\'s solution, iodine tincture, iodinated nonionic surfactants),
- concentrated alcohols (mainly ethanol, 1-propanol, called also n-propanol and 2-propanol, called isopropanol and mixtures thereof; further, 2-phenoxyethanol and 1- and 2-phenoxypropanols are used),
- phenolic substances (such as phenol (also called \"carbolic acid\"), cresols such as thymol, halogenated (chlorinated, brominated) phenols, such as hexachlorophene, triclosan, trichlorophenol, tribromophenol, pentachlorophenol, salts and isomers thereof),
- cationic surfactants, such as some quaternary ammonium cations (such as benzalkonium chloride, cetyl trimethylammonium bromide or chloride, didecyldimethylammonium chloride, cetylpyridinium chloride, benzethonium chloride) and others, non-quaternary compounds, such as chlorhexidine, glucoprotamine, octenidine dihydrochloride etc.),
- strong oxidizers, such as ozone and permanganate solutions;
- heavy metals and their salts, such as colloidal silver, silver nitrate, mercury chloride, phenylmercury salts, copper sulfate, copper oxide-chloride etc. Heavy metals and their salts are the most toxic and environment-hazardous bactericides and therefore their use is strongly discouraged or prohibited
- strong acids (phosphoric, nitric, sulfuric, amidosulfuric, toluenesulfonic acids), pH \< 1, and
- alkalis (sodium, potassium, calcium hydroxides), such as of pH \> 13, particularly under elevated temperature (above 60 °C), kills bacteria.
## Antiseptics
As antiseptics (i.e., germicide agents that can be used on human or animal body, skin, mucosae, wounds and the like), few of the above-mentioned disinfectants can be used, under proper conditions (mainly concentration, pH, temperature and toxicity toward humans and animals). Among them, some important are
- properly diluted chlorine preparations (f.e. Dakin\'s solution, 0.5% sodium or potassium hypochlorite solution, pH-adjusted to pH 7--8, or 0.5--1% solution of sodium benzenesulfochloramide (chloramine B)), some
- iodine preparations, such as iodopovidone in various galenics (ointment, solutions, wound plasters), in the past also Lugol\'s solution,
- peroxides such as urea perhydrate solutions and pH-buffered 0.1 -- 0.25% peracetic acid solutions,
- alcohols with or without antiseptic additives, used mainly for skin antisepsis,
- weak organic acids such as sorbic acid, benzoic acid, lactic acid and salicylic acid
- some phenolic compounds, such as hexachlorophene, triclosan and Dibromol, and
- cationic surfactants, such as 0.05--0.5% benzalkonium, 0.5--4% chlorhexidine, 0.1--2% octenidine solutions.
Others are generally not applicable as safe antiseptics, either because of their corrosive or toxic nature.
## Antibiotics
Bactericidal antibiotics kill bacteria; bacteriostatic antibiotics slow their growth or reproduction.
Bactericidal antibiotics that inhibit cell wall synthesis: the beta-lactam antibiotics (penicillin derivatives (penams), cephalosporins (cephems), monobactams, and carbapenems) and vancomycin.
Also bactericidal are daptomycin, fluoroquinolones, metronidazole, nitrofurantoin, co-trimoxazole, telithromycin.
Aminoglycosidic antibiotics are usually considered bactericidal, although they may be bacteriostatic with some organisms.
As of 2004, the distinction between bactericidal and bacteriostatic agents appeared to be clear according to the basic/clinical definition, but this only applies under strict laboratory conditions and it is important to distinguish microbiological and clinical definitions. The distinction is more arbitrary when agents are categorized in clinical situations. The supposed superiority of bactericidal agents over bacteriostatic agents is of little relevance when treating the vast majority of infections with gram-positive bacteria, particularly in patients with uncomplicated infections and noncompromised immune systems. Bacteriostatic agents have been effectively used for treatment that are considered to require bactericidal activity. Furthermore, some broad classes of antibacterial agents considered bacteriostatic can exhibit bactericidal activity against some bacteria on the basis of in vitro determination of MBC/MIC values. At high concentrations, bacteriostatic agents are often bactericidal against some susceptible organisms. The ultimate guide to treatment of any infection must be clinical outcome.
## Surfaces
Material surfaces can exhibit bactericidal properties because of their crystallographic surface structure.
Somewhere in the mid-2000s it was shown that metallic nanoparticles can kill bacteria. The effect of a silver nanoparticle for example depends on its size with a preferential diameter of about 1--10 nm to interact with bacteria.
In 2013, cicada wings were found to have a selective anti-gram-negative bactericidal effect based on their physical surface structure. Mechanical deformation of the more or less rigid nanopillars found on the wing releases energy, striking and killing bacteria within minutes, hence called a mechano-bactericidal effect.
In 2020 researchers combined cationic polymer adsorption and femtosecond laser surface structuring to generate a bactericidal effect against both gram-positive *Staphylococcus aureus* and gram-negative *Escherichia coli* bacteria on borosilicate glass surfaces, providing a practical platform for the study of the bacteria-surface interaction.
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4,192 |
Bunsen
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|
4,194 |
Bohrium
|
**Bohrium** is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol **Bh** and atomic number 107. It is named after Danish physicist Niels Bohr. As a synthetic element, it can be created in particle accelerators but is not found in nature. All known isotopes of bohrium are highly radioactive; the most stable known isotope is ^270^Bh with a half-life of approximately 2.4 minutes, though the unconfirmed ^278^Bh may have a longer half-life of about 11.5 minutes.
In the periodic table, it is a d-block transactinide element. It is a member of the 7th period and belongs to the group 7 elements as the fifth member of the 6d series of transition metals. Chemistry experiments have confirmed that bohrium behaves as the heavier homologue to rhenium in group 7. The chemical properties of bohrium are characterized only partly, but they compare well with the chemistry of the other group 7 elements.
## Introduction
## History
\[\[<File:Niels> Bohr.jpg\|thumb\|left\|upright\|Element 107 was originally proposed to be named after Niels Bohr, a Danish nuclear/theoretical
physicist, with the name *nielsbohrium* (Ns). This name was later changed by IUPAC to *bohrium* (Bh).\]\]
### Discovery
Two groups claimed discovery of the element. Evidence of bohrium was first reported in 1976 by a Soviet research team led by Yuri Oganessian, in which targets of bismuth-209 and lead-208 were bombarded with accelerated nuclei of chromium-54 and manganese-55, respectively. Two activities, one with a half-life of one to two milliseconds, and the other with an approximately five-second half-life, were seen. Since the ratio of the intensities of these two activities was constant throughout the experiment, it was proposed that the first was from the isotope bohrium-261 and that the second was from its daughter dubnium-257. Later, the dubnium isotope was corrected to dubnium-258, which indeed has a five-second half-life (dubnium-257 has a one-second half-life); however, the half-life observed for its parent is much shorter than the half-lives later observed in the definitive discovery of bohrium at Darmstadt in 1981. The IUPAC/IUPAP Transfermium Working Group (TWG) concluded that while dubnium-258 was probably seen in this experiment, the evidence for the production of its parent bohrium-262 was not convincing enough.
In 1981, a German research team led by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research (GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung) in Darmstadt bombarded a target of bismuth-209 with accelerated nuclei of chromium-54 to produce 5 atoms of the isotope bohrium-262:
: \+ `{{nuclide|link=yes|chromium|54}}`{=mediawiki} → `{{nuclide|link=yes|bohrium|262}}`{=mediawiki} + `{{SubatomicParticle|link=yes|neutron}}`{=mediawiki}
This discovery was further substantiated by their detailed measurements of the alpha decay chain of the produced bohrium atoms to previously known isotopes of fermium and californium. The IUPAC/IUPAP Transfermium Working Group (TWG) recognised the GSI collaboration as official discoverers in their 1992 report.
### Proposed names {#proposed_names}
In September 1992, the German group suggested the name *nielsbohrium* with symbol *Ns* to honor the Danish physicist Niels Bohr. The Soviet scientists at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia had suggested this name be given to element 105 (which was finally called dubnium) and the German team wished to recognise both Bohr and the fact that the Dubna team had been the first to propose the cold fusion reaction, and simultaneously help to solve the controversial problem of the naming of element 105. The Dubna team agreed with the German group\'s naming proposal for element 107.
There was an element naming controversy as to what the elements from 104 to 106 were to be called; the IUPAC adopted *unnilseptium* (symbol *Uns*) as a temporary, systematic element name for this element. In 1994 a committee of IUPAC recommended that element 107 be named *bohrium*, not *nielsbohrium*, since there was no precedent for using a scientist\'s complete name in the naming of an element. This was opposed by the discoverers as there was some concern that the name might be confused with boron and in particular the distinguishing of the names of their respective oxyanions, *bohrate* and *borate*. The matter was handed to the Danish branch of IUPAC which, despite this, voted in favour of the name *bohrium*, and thus the name *bohrium* for element 107 was recognized internationally in 1997; the names of the respective oxyanions of boron and bohrium remain unchanged despite their homophony.
## Isotopes
Bohrium has no stable or naturally occurring isotopes. Several radioactive isotopes have been synthesized in the laboratory, either by fusing two atoms or by observing the decay of heavier elements. Twelve different isotopes of bohrium have been reported with atomic masses 260--262, 264--267, 270--272, 274, and 278, one of which, bohrium-262, has a known metastable state. All of these but the unconfirmed ^278^Bh decay only through alpha decay, although some unknown bohrium isotopes are predicted to undergo spontaneous fission.
The lighter isotopes usually have shorter half-lives; half-lives of under 100 ms for ^260^Bh, ^261^Bh, ^262^Bh, and ^262m^Bh were observed. ^264^Bh, ^265^Bh, ^266^Bh, and ^271^Bh are more stable at around 1 s, and ^267^Bh and ^272^Bh have half-lives of about 10 s. The heaviest isotopes are the most stable, with ^270^Bh and ^274^Bh having measured half-lives of about 2.4 min and 40 s respectively, and the even heavier unconfirmed isotope ^278^Bh appearing to have an even longer half-life of about 11.5 minutes.
The most proton-rich isotopes with masses 260, 261, and 262 were directly produced by cold fusion, those with mass 262 and 264 were reported in the decay chains of meitnerium and roentgenium, while the neutron-rich isotopes with masses 265, 266, 267 were created in irradiations of actinide targets. The five most neutron-rich ones with masses 270, 271, 272, 274, and 278 (unconfirmed) appear in the decay chains of ^282^Nh, ^287^Mc, ^288^Mc, ^294^Ts, and ^290^Fl respectively. The half-lives of bohrium isotopes range from about ten milliseconds for ^262m^Bh to about one minute for ^270^Bh and ^274^Bh, extending to about 11.5 minutes for the unconfirmed ^278^Bh, which may have one of the longest half-lives among reported superheavy nuclides.
## Predicted properties {#predicted_properties}
Very few properties of bohrium or its compounds have been measured; this is due to its extremely limited and expensive production and the fact that bohrium (and its parents) decays very quickly. A few singular chemistry-related properties have been measured, but properties of bohrium metal remain unknown and only predictions are available.
### Chemical
Bohrium is the fifth member of the 6d series of transition metals and the heaviest member of group 7 in the periodic table, below manganese, technetium and rhenium. All the members of the group readily portray their group oxidation state of +7 and the state becomes more stable as the group is descended. Thus bohrium is expected to form a stable +7 state. Technetium also shows a stable +4 state whilst rhenium exhibits stable +4 and +3 states. Bohrium may therefore show these lower states as well.`{{Fricke1975}}`{=mediawiki} The higher +7 oxidation state is more likely to exist in oxyanions, such as perbohrate, `{{chem|BhO|4|-}}`{=mediawiki}, analogous to the lighter permanganate, pertechnetate, and perrhenate. Nevertheless, bohrium(VII) is likely to be unstable in aqueous solution, and would probably be easily reduced to the more stable bohrium(IV).
The lighter group 7 elements are known to form volatile heptoxides M~2~O~7~ (M = Mn, Tc, Re), so bohrium should also form the volatile oxide Bh~2~O~7~. The oxide should dissolve in water to form perbohric acid, HBhO~4~. Rhenium and technetium form a range of oxyhalides from the halogenation of the oxide. The chlorination of the oxide forms the oxychlorides MO~3~Cl, so BhO~3~Cl should be formed in this reaction. Fluorination results in MO~3~F and MO~2~F~3~ for the heavier elements in addition to the rhenium compounds ReOF~5~ and ReF~7~. Therefore, oxyfluoride formation for bohrium may help to indicate eka-rhenium properties. Since the oxychlorides are asymmetrical, and they should have increasingly large dipole moments going down the group, they should become less volatile in the order TcO~3~Cl \> ReO~3~Cl \> BhO~3~Cl: this was experimentally confirmed in 2000 by measuring the enthalpies of adsorption of these three compounds. The values are for TcO~3~Cl and ReO~3~Cl are −51 kJ/mol and −61 kJ/mol respectively; the experimental value for BhO~3~Cl is −77.8 kJ/mol, very close to the theoretically expected value of −78.5 kJ/mol.
### Physical and atomic {#physical_and_atomic}
Bohrium is expected to be a solid under normal conditions and assume a hexagonal close-packed crystal structure (^*c*^/~*a*~ = 1.62), similar to its lighter congener rhenium. Early predictions by Fricke estimated its density at 37.1 g/cm^3^, but newer calculations predict a somewhat lower value of 26--27 g/cm^3^.
The atomic radius of bohrium is expected to be around 128 pm. Due to the relativistic stabilization of the 7s orbital and destabilization of the 6d orbital, the Bh^+^ ion is predicted to have an electron configuration of \[Rn\] 5f^14^ 6d^4^ 7s^2^, giving up a 6d electron instead of a 7s electron, which is the opposite of the behavior of its lighter homologues manganese and technetium. Rhenium, on the other hand, follows its heavier congener bohrium in giving up a 5d electron before a 6s electron, as relativistic effects have become significant by the sixth period, where they cause among other things the yellow color of gold and the low melting point of mercury. The Bh^2+^ ion is expected to have an electron configuration of \[Rn\] 5f^14^ 6d^3^ 7s^2^; in contrast, the Re^2+^ ion is expected to have a \[Xe\] 4f^14^ 5d^5^ configuration, this time analogous to manganese and technetium. The ionic radius of hexacoordinate heptavalent bohrium is expected to be 58 pm (heptavalent manganese, technetium, and rhenium having values of 46, 57, and 53 pm respectively). Pentavalent bohrium should have a larger ionic radius of 83 pm.
## Experimental chemistry {#experimental_chemistry}
In 1995, the first report on attempted isolation of the element was unsuccessful, prompting new theoretical studies to investigate how best to investigate bohrium (using its lighter homologs technetium and rhenium for comparison) and removing unwanted contaminating elements such as the trivalent actinides, the group 5 elements, and polonium.
In 2000, it was confirmed that although relativistic effects are important, bohrium behaves like a typical group 7 element. A team at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) conducted a chemistry reaction using six atoms of ^267^Bh produced in the reaction between ^249^Bk and ^22^Ne ions. The resulting atoms were thermalised and reacted with a HCl/O~2~ mixture to form a volatile oxychloride. The reaction also produced isotopes of its lighter homologues, technetium (as ^108^Tc) and rhenium (as ^169^Re). The isothermal adsorption curves were measured and gave strong evidence for the formation of a volatile oxychloride with properties similar to that of rhenium oxychloride. This placed bohrium as a typical member of group 7. The adsorption enthalpies of the oxychlorides of technetium, rhenium, and bohrium were measured in this experiment, agreeing very well with the theoretical predictions and implying a sequence of decreasing oxychloride volatility down group 7 of TcO~3~Cl \> ReO~3~Cl \> BhO~3~Cl.
: 2 Bh + 3 `{{chem|O|2}}`{=mediawiki} + 2 HCl → 2 `{{chem|BhO|3|Cl}}`{=mediawiki} + `{{chem|H|2}}`{=mediawiki}
The longer-lived heavy isotopes of bohrium, produced as the daughters of heavier elements, offer advantages for future radiochemical experiments. Although the heavy isotope ^274^Bh requires a rare and highly radioactive berkelium target for its production, the isotopes ^272^Bh, ^271^Bh, and ^270^Bh can be readily produced as daughters of more easily produced moscovium and nihonium isotopes.
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4,196 |
Barnard's Star
|
\| gravity = `{{val|4.90|0.09}}`{=mediawiki} \| temperature = `{{Val|3195|28|fmt=commas}}`{=mediawiki} \| metal_fe = `{{val|-0.56|0.07}}`{=mediawiki} \| rotation = `{{val|114.06|2.30}}`{=mediawiki} days \| age_gyr = ≈ 10 }} `{{Starbox catalog
| names = {{odlist | name=[[List of nearest stars|Proxima Ophiuchi]]<ref name=an230_77/> | name2="Barnard's Runaway Star"<ref>{{cite journal | title=A Model of our Stellar Neighborhood | last=Lippincott | first=Sarah Lee | author-link=Sarah Lee Lippincott | journal=Astronomical Society of the Pacific Leaflets | volume=8 | issue=377 | page=207 | year=1960 | bibcode=1960ASPL....8..207L }}</ref> | name3="Greyhound of the Skies"<ref name=bis11_12_170/> | BD=+04°3561a | Gl=140-024 | GJ=699 | HIP=87937 | LFT=1385 | LHS=57 | LTT=15309 | V=V2500 Ophiuchi | 2MASS=J17574849+0441405 }}, [[GCTP]] 4098.00, [[Henry Lee Giclas|Gl]] 140-024, [[Calar Alto Observatory|Karmn]] J17578+046, Munich 15040,<ref>{{cite journal| bibcode=1890AnBog...1....1S | title=Erstes Müchner Sternverzeichniss enthaltend die mittleren Örter von 33082 Sternen | last1=Seeliger | first1=Hugo | last2=Bauschinger | first2=Julius | journal=Neue Annalen der Koeniglichen Sternwarte in Bogenhausen bei Muenchen | year=1890 | volume=1 | page=1 }}</ref> [[Alexander N. Vyssotsky|Vyssotsky]] 799, {{langx|la|Velox Barnardi}}<ref name=rukl1999/>
}}`{=mediawiki} `{{Starbox reference
| Simbad = BD%2B043561a
| NSTED = GJ-699
| ARICNS = 01453
}}`{=mediawiki} `{{Starbox image
|image={{Location map|100x100|AlternativeMap=Ophiuchus_constellation_map.svg
|alt=Barnard's Star is located in the constellation Ophiuchus.
|caption=Location of Barnard's Star in the constellation [[Ophiuchus]]|border=infobox|mark=Red_pog.png|marksize=9|width=300
|label=Barnard's Star
|position=left
|lat=75.2
|long=29.2
}}|caption=
}}`{=mediawiki} `{{Starbox end}}`{=mediawiki}
**Barnard\'s Star** is a small red dwarf star in the constellation of Ophiuchus. At a distance of 5.96 ly from Earth, it is the fourth-nearest-known individual star to the Sun after the three components of the Alpha Centauri system, and is the closest star in the northern celestial hemisphere. Its stellar mass is about 16% of the Sun\'s, and it has 19% of the Sun\'s diameter. Despite its proximity, the star has a dim apparent visual magnitude of +9.5 and is invisible to the unaided eye; it is much brighter in the infrared than in visible light.
Barnard\'s Star is among the most studied red dwarfs because of its proximity and favorable location for observation near the celestial equator. Historically, research on Barnard\'s Star has focused on measuring its stellar characteristics, its astrometry, and also refining the limits of possible extrasolar planets. Although Barnard\'s Star is ancient, it still experiences stellar flare events, one being observed in 1998.
Barnard\'s Star hosts a system of four close-orbiting, sub-Earth-mass planets; Barnard\'s Star b was discovered in 2024 and another three were confirmed in 2025. Previously, it was subject to multiple claims of much larger planets that were subsequently disproven.
## Discovery and naming {#discovery_and_naming}
The star is named after Edward Emerson Barnard, an American astronomer who in 1916 measured its proper motion as 10.3 arcseconds per year relative to the Sun, the highest known for any star. The star had previously appeared on Harvard University photographic plates in 1888 and 1890.
In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalogue and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN approved the name *Barnard\'s Star* for this star on 1 February 2017 and it is now included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names.
## Description
Barnard\'s Star is a red dwarf of the dim spectral type M4 and is too faint to see without a telescope; its apparent magnitude is 9.5.
At 7--12 billion years of age, Barnard\'s Star is considerably older than the Sun, which is 4.5 billion years old, and it might be among the oldest stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Barnard\'s Star has lost a great deal of rotational energy; the periodic slight changes in its brightness indicate that it rotates once in 130 days (the Sun rotates in 25). Given its age, Barnard\'s Star was long assumed to be quiescent in terms of stellar activity. In 1998, astronomers observed an intense stellar flare, showing that Barnard\'s Star is a flare star. Barnard\'s Star has the variable star designation V2500 Ophiuchi. In 2003, Barnard\'s Star presented the first detectable change in the radial velocity of a star caused by its motion. Further variability in the radial velocity of Barnard\'s Star was attributed to its stellar activity.
The proper motion of Barnard\'s Star corresponds to a relative lateral speed of 90 km/s. The 10.3 arcseconds it travels in a year amount to a quarter of a degree in a human lifetime, roughly half the angular diameter of the full Moon.
The radial velocity of Barnard\'s Star is `{{val|−110|u=km/s}}`{=mediawiki}, as measured from the blueshift due to its motion toward the Sun. Combined with its proper motion and distance, this gives a \"space velocity\" (actual speed relative to the Sun) of `{{val|142.6|0.2|u=km/s}}`{=mediawiki}. Barnard\'s Star will make its closest approach to the Sun around 11,800 CE, when it will approach to within about 3.75 light-years.
left\|thumb\|upright=1.2\|Distances to the nearest stars from 20,000 years ago until 80,000 years in the future Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the Sun at a position currently 4.24 light-years distant from it. However, despite Barnard\'s Star\'s even closer pass to the Sun in 11,800 CE, it will still not then be the nearest star, since by that time Proxima Centauri will have moved to a yet-nearer proximity to the Sun. At the time of the star\'s closest pass by the Sun, Barnard\'s Star will still be too dim to be seen with the naked eye, since its apparent magnitude will only have increased by one magnitude to about 8.5 by then, still being 2.5 magnitudes short of visibility to the naked eye.
Barnard\'s Star has a mass of about 0.16 solar masses (`{{Solar mass|link=y}}`{=mediawiki}), and a radius about 0.2 times that of the Sun. Thus, although Barnard\'s Star has roughly 150 times the mass of Jupiter (`{{Jupiter mass|link=y}}`{=mediawiki}), its radius is only roughly 2 times larger, due to its much higher density. Its effective temperature is about 3,220 kelvin, and it has a luminosity of only 0.0034 solar luminosities. Barnard\'s Star is so faint that if it were at the same distance from Earth as the Sun is, it would appear only 100 times brighter than a full moon, comparable to the brightness of the Sun at 80 astronomical units.
Barnard\'s Star has 10--32% of the solar metallicity. Metallicity is the proportion of stellar mass made up of elements heavier than helium and helps classify stars relative to the galactic population. Barnard\'s Star seems to be typical of the old, red dwarf population II stars, yet these are also generally metal-poor halo stars. While sub-solar, Barnard\'s Star\'s metallicity is higher than that of a halo star and is in keeping with the low end of the metal-rich disk star range; this, plus its high space motion, have led to the designation \"intermediate population II star\", between a halo and disk star. However, some recently published scientific papers have given much higher estimates for the metallicity of the star, very close to the Sun\'s level, between 75 and 125% of the solar metallicity.
## Planetary system {#planetary_system}
In August 2024, by using data from ESPRESSO spectrograph of the Very Large Telescope, the existence of an exoplanet with a minimum mass of `{{val|0.37|0.05|ul=Earth mass}}`{=mediawiki} and orbital period of 3.15 days was confirmed. This constituted the first convincing evidence for a planet orbiting Barnard\'s Star. Additionally, three other candidate low-mass planets were proposed in this study. All of these planets orbit closer to the star than the habitable zone. The confirmed planet is designated Barnard\'s Star b (or Barnard b), a re-use of the designation originally used for the refuted super-Earth candidate. An examination of TESS photometry revealed no planetary transits, implying that the system is not viewed edge-on.
In March 2025, an independent follow-up study confirmed all four planets. The data ruled out planets with masses greater than `{{val|0.57|ul=Earth mass}}`{=mediawiki} in the habitable zone of Barnard\'s Star with 99% confidence. With a minimum mass of only `{{val|0.193|u=Earth mass}}`{=mediawiki}, Barnard\'s Star e is the least massive exoplanet yet detected by the radial velocity method. The best-fit orbital solution implies the planets have slightly eccentric orbits, but simulations suggest that these orbits would be unstable while circular orbits remain stable, so the eccentricities may be overestimated.
### Previous planetary claims {#previous_planetary_claims}
Barnard\'s Star has been subject to multiple claims of planets that were later disproven. From the early 1960s to the early 1970s, Peter van de Kamp argued that planets orbited Barnard\'s Star. His specific claims of large gas giants were refuted in the mid-1970s after much debate. In November 2018, a candidate super-Earth planetary companion was reported to orbit Barnard\'s Star. It was believed to have a minimum mass of `{{earth mass|3.2|sym=y|link=y}}`{=mediawiki} and orbit at `{{val|0.4|ul=AU}}`{=mediawiki}. However, work presented in July 2021 refuted the existence of this planet.
#### Astrometric planetary claims {#astrometric_planetary_claims}
For a decade from 1963 to about 1973, a substantial number of astronomers accepted a claim by Peter van de Kamp that he had detected, by using astrometry, a perturbation in the proper motion of Barnard\'s Star consistent with its having one or more planets comparable in mass with Jupiter. Van de Kamp had been observing the star from 1938, attempting, with colleagues at the Sproul Observatory at Swarthmore College, to find minuscule variations of one micrometre in its position on photographic plates consistent with orbital perturbations that would indicate a planetary companion; this involved as many as ten people averaging their results in looking at plates, to avoid systemic individual errors. Van de Kamp\'s initial suggestion was a planet having about `{{Jupiter mass|1.6}}`{=mediawiki} at a distance of 4.4 AU in a slightly eccentric orbit, and these measurements were apparently refined in a 1969 paper. Later that year, Van de Kamp suggested that there were two planets of 1.1 and `{{Jupiter mass|0.8}}`{=mediawiki}.
Other astronomers subsequently repeated Van de Kamp\'s measurements, and two papers in 1973 undermined the claim of a planet or planets. George Gatewood and Heinrich Eichhorn, at a different observatory and using newer plate measuring techniques, failed to verify the planetary companion. Another paper published by John L. Hershey four months earlier, also using the Swarthmore observatory, found that changes in the astrometric field of various stars correlated to the timing of adjustments and modifications that had been carried out on the refractor telescope\'s objective lens; the claimed planet was attributed to an artifact of maintenance and upgrade work. The affair has been discussed as part of a broader scientific review.
Van de Kamp never acknowledged any error and published a further claim of two planets\' existence as late as 1982; he died in 1995. Wulff Heintz, Van de Kamp\'s successor at Swarthmore and an expert on double stars, questioned his findings and began publishing criticisms from 1976 onwards. The two men were reported to have become estranged because of this.
#### Refuted 2018 planetary claim {#refuted_2018_planetary_claim}
In November 2018, an international team of astronomers announced the detection by radial velocity of a candidate super-Earth orbiting in relatively close proximity to Barnard\'s Star. Led by Ignasi Ribas of Spain their work, conducted over two decades of observation, provided strong evidence of the planet\'s existence. However, the existence of the planet was refuted in 2021, when the radial velocity signal was found to originate from long-term activity on the star itself, related to its rotation. Further studies in the following years confirmed this result.
Dubbed Barnard\'s Star b, the planet was thought to be near the stellar system\'s snow line, which is an ideal spot for the icy accretion of proto-planetary material. It was thought to orbit at 0.4 AU every 233 days and had a proposed minimum mass of `{{earth mass|3.2|sym=y|link=y}}`{=mediawiki}. The planet would have most likely been frigid, with an estimated surface temperature of about -170 C, and lie outside Barnard Star\'s presumed habitable zone. Direct imaging of the planet and its tell-tale light signature would have been possible in the decade after its discovery. Further faint and unaccounted-for perturbations in the system suggested there may be a second planetary companion even farther out.
#### Refining planetary boundaries {#refining_planetary_boundaries}
For the more than four decades between van de Kamp\'s rejected claim and the eventual announcement of a planet candidate, Barnard\'s Star was carefully studied and the mass and orbital boundaries for possible planets were slowly tightened. M dwarfs such as Barnard\'s Star are more easily studied than larger stars in this regard because their lower masses render perturbations more obvious.
Null results for planetary companions continued throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including interferometric work with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1999. Gatewood was able to show in 1995 that planets with `{{Jupiter mass|10}}`{=mediawiki} were impossible around Barnard\'s Star, in a paper which helped refine the negative certainty regarding planetary objects in general. In 1999, the Hubble work further excluded planetary companions of `{{Jupiter mass|0.8}}`{=mediawiki} with an orbital period of less than 1,000 days (Jupiter\'s orbital period is 4,332 days), while Kuerster determined in 2003 that within the habitable zone around Barnard\'s Star, planets are not possible with an \"*M* sin *i*\" value greater than 7.5 times the mass of the Earth (`{{Earth mass|sym=y|link=y}}`{=mediawiki}), or with a mass greater than 3.1 times the mass of Neptune (much lower than van de Kamp\'s smallest suggested value).
In 2013, a research paper was published that further refined planet mass boundaries for the star. Using radial velocity measurements, taken over a period of 25 years, from the Lick and Keck Observatories and applying Monte Carlo analysis for both circular and eccentric orbits, upper masses for planets out to 1,000-day orbits were determined. Planets above two Earth masses in orbits of less than 10 days were excluded, and planets of more than ten Earth masses out to a two-year orbit were also confidently ruled out. It was also discovered that the habitable zone of the star seemed to be devoid of roughly Earth-mass planets or larger, save for face-on orbits.
Even though this research greatly restricted the possible properties of planets around Barnard\'s Star, it did not rule them out completely as terrestrial planets were always going to be difficult to detect. NASA\'s Space Interferometry Mission, which was to begin searching for extrasolar Earth-like planets, was reported to have chosen Barnard\'s Star as an early search target, however the mission was shut down in 2010. ESA\'s similar Darwin interferometry mission had the same goal, but was stripped of funding in 2007.
The analysis of radial velocities that eventually led to the announcement of a candidate super-Earth orbiting Barnard\'s Star was also used to set more precise upper mass limits for possible planets, up to and within the habitable zone: a maximum of `{{earth mass|0.7|sym=y|link=y}}`{=mediawiki} up to the inner edge and `{{earth mass|1.2|sym=y}}`{=mediawiki} on the outer edge of the optimistic habitable zone, corresponding to orbital periods of up to 10 and 40 days respectively. Therefore, it appears that Barnard\'s Star indeed does not host Earth-mass planets or larger, in hot and temperate orbits, unlike other M-dwarf stars that commonly have these types of planets in close-in orbits.
## Stellar flares {#stellar_flares}
### 1998
In 1998 a stellar flare on Barnard\'s Star was detected based on changes in the spectral emissions on 17 July during an unrelated search for variations in the proper motion. Four years passed before the flare was fully analyzed, at which point it was suggested that the flare\'s temperature was 8,000 K, more than twice the normal temperature of the star. Given the essentially random nature of flares, Diane Paulson, one of the authors of that study, noted that \"the star would be fantastic for amateurs to observe\".
The flare was surprising because intense stellar activity is not expected in stars of such age. Flares are not completely understood, but are believed to be caused by strong magnetic fields, which suppress plasma convection and lead to sudden outbursts: strong magnetic fields occur in rapidly rotating stars, while old stars tend to rotate slowly. For Barnard\'s Star to undergo an event of such magnitude is thus presumed to be a rarity. Research on the star\'s periodicity, or changes in stellar activity over a given timescale, also suggest it ought to be quiescent; 1998 research showed weak evidence for periodic variation in the star\'s brightness, noting only one possible starspot over 130 days.
Stellar activity of this sort has created interest in using Barnard\'s Star as a proxy to understand similar stars. It is hoped that photometric studies of its X-ray and UV emissions will shed light on the large population of old M dwarfs in the galaxy. Such research has astrobiological implications: given that the habitable zones of M dwarfs are close to the star, any planet located therein would be strongly affected by solar flares, stellar winds, and plasma ejection events.
### 2019 {#section_1}
In 2019, two additional ultraviolet stellar flares were detected, each with far-ultraviolet energy of 3×10^22^ joules, together with one X-ray stellar flare with energy 1.6×10^22^ joules. The flare rate observed to date is enough to cause loss of 87 Earth atmospheres per billion years through thermal processes and ≈3 Earth atmospheres per billion years through ion loss processes on Barnard\'s Star b.
## Environment
thumb\|upright=1.5\|The position of Barnard\'s Star on a radar map among all stellar objects or stellar systems within 9 light years (ly) from the map\'s center, the Sun (Sol).
Barnard\'s Star shares much the same neighborhood as the Sun. The neighbors of Barnard\'s Star are generally of red dwarf size, the smallest and most common star type. Its closest neighbor is currently the red dwarf Ross 154, at a distance of 1.66 parsecs (5.41 light-years). The Sun (5.98 light-years) and Alpha Centauri (6.47 light-years) are, respectively, the next closest systems. From Barnard\'s Star, the Sun would appear on the diametrically opposite side of the sky at coordinates RA=`{{RA|5|57|48.5}}`{=mediawiki}, Dec=`{{DEC|−04|41|36}}`{=mediawiki}, in the westernmost part of the constellation Monoceros. The absolute magnitude of the Sun is 4.83, and at a distance of 1.834 parsecs, it would be a first-magnitude star, as Pollux is from the Earth.
## Proposed exploration {#proposed_exploration}
### Project Daedalus {#project_daedalus}
Barnard\'s Star was studied as part of Project Daedalus. Undertaken between 1973 and 1978, the study suggested that rapid, uncrewed travel to another star system was possible with existing or near-future technology. Barnard\'s Star was chosen as a target partly because it was believed to have planets.
The theoretical model suggested that a nuclear pulse rocket employing nuclear fusion (specifically, electron bombardment of deuterium and helium-3) and accelerating for four years could achieve a velocity of 12% of the speed of light. The star could then be reached in 50 years, within a human lifetime. Along with detailed investigation of the star and any companions, the interstellar medium would be examined and baseline astrometric readings performed.
The initial Project Daedalus model sparked further theoretical research. In 1980, Robert Freitas suggested a more ambitious plan: a self-replicating spacecraft intended to search for and make contact with extraterrestrial life. Built and launched in Jupiter\'s orbit, it would reach Barnard\'s Star in 47 years under parameters similar to those of the original Project Daedalus. Once at the star, it would begin automated self-replication, constructing a factory, initially to manufacture exploratory probes and eventually to create a copy of the original spacecraft after 1,000 years.
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Bayer designation
|
A **Bayer designation** is a stellar designation in which a specific star is identified by a Greek or Latin letter followed by the genitive form of its parent constellation\'s Latin name. The original list of Bayer designations contained 1564 stars. The brighter stars were assigned their first systematic names by the German astronomer Johann Bayer in 1603, in his star atlas *Uranometria*. Bayer catalogued only a few stars too far south to be seen from Germany, but later astronomers (including Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille and Benjamin Apthorp Gould) supplemented Bayer\'s catalog with entries for southern constellations.
## Scheme
Bayer assigned a lowercase Greek letter (alpha (α), beta (β), gamma (γ), etc.) or a Latin letter (A, b, c, etc.) to each star he catalogued, combined with the Latin name of the star\'s parent constellation in genitive (possessive) form. The constellation name is frequently abbreviated to a standard three-letter form. For example, Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus (the Bull) is designated *α Tauri* (abbreviated *α Tau*, pronounced *Alpha Tauri*), which means \"Alpha of the Bull\".
Bayer used Greek letters for the brighter stars, but the Greek alphabet has only twenty-four letters, while a single constellation may contain fifty or more stars visible to the naked eye. When the Greek letters ran out, Bayer continued with Latin letters: uppercase *A*, followed by lowercase *b* through *z* (omitting *j* and *v*, but *o* was included), for a total of another 24 letters.
Bayer did not label \"permanent\" stars with uppercase letters (except for *A*, which he used instead of *a* to avoid confusion with *α*). However, a number of stars in southern constellations have uppercase letter designations, like B Centauri and G Scorpii. These letters were assigned by later astronomers, notably Lacaille in his *Coelum Australe Stelliferum* and Gould in his *Uranometria Argentina*. Lacaille followed Bayer\'s use of Greek letters, but this was insufficient for many constellations. He used first the lowercase letters, starting with *a*, and if needed the uppercase letters, starting with *A*, thus deviating somewhat from Bayer\'s practice. Lacaille used the Latin alphabet three times over in the large constellation Argo Navis, once for each of the three areas that are now the constellations of Carina, Puppis and Vela. That was still insufficient for the number of stars, so he also used uppercase Latin letters such as N Velorum and Q Puppis. Lacaille assigned uppercase letters between R and Z in several constellations, but these have either been dropped to allow the assignment of those letters to variable stars or have actually turned out to be variable.
## Order by magnitude class {#order_by_magnitude_class}
In most constellations, Bayer assigned Greek and Latin letters to stars within a constellation in rough order of apparent brightness, from brightest to dimmest. The order is not necessarily a precise labeling from brightest to dimmest: in Bayer\'s day stellar brightness could not be measured precisely. Instead, stars were traditionally assigned to one of six magnitude classes (the brightest to first magnitude, the dimmest to sixth), and Bayer typically ordered stars within a constellation by class: all the first-magnitude stars (in some order), followed by all the second-magnitude stars, and so on. Within each magnitude class, Bayer made no attempt to arrange stars by relative brightness. As a result, the brightest star in each class did not always get listed first in Bayer\'s order---and the brightest star overall did not necessarily get the designation \"Alpha\". A good example is the constellation Gemini, where Pollux is Beta Geminorum and the slightly dimmer Castor is Alpha Geminorum.
In addition, Bayer did not always follow the magnitude class rule; he sometimes assigned letters to stars according to their location within a constellation, or the order of their rising, or to historical or mythological details. Occasionally the order looks quite arbitrary.
Of the 88 modern constellations, there are at least 30 in which Alpha is not the brightest star, and four of those lack a star labeled \"Alpha\" altogether. The constellations with no Alpha-designated star include Vela and Puppis---both formerly part of Argo Navis, whose Greek-letter stars were split among three constellations. Canopus, the former α Argus, is now α Carinae in the modern constellation Carina. Norma\'s Alpha and Beta were reassigned to Scorpius and re-designated N and H Scorpii respectively, leaving Norma with no Alpha. Francis Baily died before designating an Alpha in Leo Minor, so it also has no Alpha. (The star 46 Leonis Minoris would have been the obvious candidate.)
## Orion as an example {#orion_as_an_example}
In Orion, Bayer first designated Betelgeuse and Rigel, the two 1st-magnitude stars (those of magnitude 1.5 or less), as Alpha and Beta from north to south, with Betelgeuse (the shoulder) coming ahead of Rigel (the foot), even though the latter is usually the brighter. (Betelgeuse is a variable star and can at its maximum occasionally outshine Rigel.) Bayer then repeated the procedure for the stars of the 2nd magnitude, labeling them from *gamma* through *zeta* in \"top-down\" (north-to-south) order. Letters as far as Latin *p* were used for stars of the sixth magnitude. upright=1.4\|right\|thumb\|Orion constellation map
+-------------+----------------+-----------+----------------+
| Bayer\ | Bayer\'s class | Apparent\ | Proper\ |
| Designation | | Magnitude | Name |
+=============+================+===========+================+
| α Orionis | First | 0.45 | Betelgeuse |
+-------------+----------------+-----------+----------------+
| β Orionis | First | 0.18 | Rigel |
+-------------+----------------+-----------+----------------+
| γ Orionis | Second | 1.64 | Bellatrix |
+-------------+----------------+-----------+----------------+
| δ Orionis | Second | 2.23 | Mintaka |
+-------------+----------------+-----------+----------------+
| ε Orionis | Second | 1.69 | Alnilam |
+-------------+----------------+-----------+----------------+
| ζ Orionis | Second | 1.70 | Alnitak |
+-------------+----------------+-----------+----------------+
| η Orionis | Third | 3.42 | Algjebbah |
+-------------+----------------+-----------+----------------+
| θ Orionis | Third | | (Orion nebula) |
+-------------+----------------+-----------+----------------+
| ι Orionis | Third | 2.77 | Hatysa |
+-------------+----------------+-----------+----------------+
| κ Orionis | Third | 2.07 | Saiph |
+-------------+----------------+-----------+----------------+
: `{{nowrap|Bayer's brightest three classes of stars in Orion}}`{=mediawiki}
## Bayer\'s miscellaneous labels {#bayers_miscellaneous_labels}
Although Bayer did not use uppercase Latin letters (except *A*) for \"fixed stars\", he did use them to label other items shown on his charts, such as neighboring constellations, \"temporary stars\", miscellaneous astronomical objects, or reference lines like the Tropic of Cancer. In Cygnus, for example, Bayer\'s fixed stars run through *g*, and on this chart Bayer employs *H* through *P* as miscellaneous labels, mostly for neighboring constellations. Bayer did not intend such labels as catalog designations, but some have survived to refer to astronomical objects: P Cygni for example is still used as a designation for Nova Cyg 1600. Tycho\'s Star (SN 1572), another \"temporary star\", appears as B Cassiopeiae. In charts for constellations that did not exhaust the Greek letters, Bayer sometimes used the leftover Greek letters for miscellaneous labels as well.
## Revised designations {#revised_designations}
Ptolemy designated four stars as \"border stars\", each shared by two constellations: Alpheratz (in Andromeda and Pegasus), Elnath (in Taurus and Auriga), Nu Boötis (Nu^1^ and Nu^2^)(in Boötes and Hercules) and Fomalhaut (in Piscis Austrinus and Aquarius). Bayer assigned the first three of these stars a Greek letter from both constellations: `{{nowrap|[[Alpha Andromedae]] {{=}}`{=mediawiki} Delta Pegasi}}, `{{nowrap|[[Beta Tauri]] {{=}}`{=mediawiki} Gamma Aurigae}}, and `{{nowrap|[[Nu Boötis]] {{=}}`{=mediawiki} Psi Herculis}}. (He catalogued Fomalhaut only once, as Alpha Piscis Austrini.) When the International Astronomical Union (IAU) assigned definite boundaries to the constellations in 1930, it declared that stars and other celestial objects can belong to only one constellation. Consequently, the redundant second designation in each pair above has dropped out of use.
Bayer assigned two stars duplicate names by mistake: `{{nowrap|[[Xi Arietis]]}}`{=mediawiki} (duplicated as `{{nowrap|Psi Ceti}}`{=mediawiki}) and `{{nowrap|[[Kappa Ceti]]}}`{=mediawiki} (Kappa^1^ and Kappa^2^) (duplicated as `{{nowrap|g Tauri}}`{=mediawiki}). He corrected these in a later atlas, and the duplicate names were no longer used.
Other cases of multiple Bayer designations arose when stars named by Bayer in one constellation were transferred by later astronomers to a different constellation. Bayer\'s Gamma and Omicron Scorpii, for example, were later reassigned from Scorpius to Libra and given the new names Sigma and Upsilon Librae. (To add to the confusion, the star now known as Omicron Scorpii was not named by Bayer but was assigned the designation o Scorpii (Latin lowercase \'o\') by Lacaille---which later astronomers misinterpreted as omicron once Bayer\'s omicron had been reassigned to Libra.)
A few stars no longer lie (according to the modern constellation boundaries) within the constellation for which they are named. The proper motion of Rho Aquilae, for example, carried it across the boundary into Delphinus in 1992.
A further complication is the use of numeric superscripts to distinguish neighboring stars that Bayer (or a later astronomer) labeled with a common letter. Usually these are double stars (mostly optical doubles rather than true binary stars), but there are some exceptions such as the chain of stars π^1^, π^2^, π^3^, π^4^, π^5^ and π^6^ Orionis. The most stars given the same Bayer designation but with an extra number attached to it is Psi Aurigae. (ψ^1^, ψ^2^, ψ^3^, ψ^4^, ψ^5^, ψ^6^, ψ^7^, ψ^8^, ψ^9^, ψ^10^, although according to the modern IAU constellation boundaries, ψ^10^ lies in Lynx).
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4,204 |
Bay of Quinte
|
The **Bay of Quinte** (`{{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|w|ɪ|n|t|i}}`{=mediawiki}) is a long, narrow bay shaped like the letter \"Z\" on the northern shore of Lake Ontario in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is just west of the head of the Saint Lawrence River that drains the Great Lakes into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. It is located about 200 km east of Toronto and 350 km west of Montreal.
The name \"Quinte\" is derived from \"*Kenté*\" or Kentio, an Iroquoian village located near the south shore of the Bay. Later on, an early French Catholic mission was built at Kenté, located on the north shore of what is now Prince Edward County, leading to the Bay being named after the Mission. Officially, in the Mohawk language, the community is called ***Kenhtèːke***, which means \"the place of the bay\". The Cayuga name is *Tayędaːneːgęˀ* or *Detgayęːdaːnegęˀ*, \"land of two logs.\"
The Bay, as it is known locally, provides some of the best trophy walleye angling in North America as well as most sport fish common to the great lakes. The bay is subject to algal blooms in late summer. Zebra mussels as well as the other invasive species found in the Great Lakes are present.
The Quinte area played a vital role in bootlegging during prohibition in the United States, with large volumes of liquor being produced in the area, and shipped via boat on the bay to Lake Ontario finally arriving in New York State where it was distributed. Prohibition-era illegal sales of liquor accounted for many fortunes made in and around Belleville.
Tourism in the area is significant, especially in the summer months due to the Bay of Quinte and its fishing, local golf courses, provincial parks, and wineries.
## Geography
The northern side of the bay is defined by Ontario\'s mainland, while the southern side follows the shore of the Prince Edward County headland. Beginning in the east with the outlet to Lake Ontario, the bay runs west-southwest for 25 km to Picton (although this section is also called Adolphus Reach), where it turns north-northwest for another 20 km as far as Deseronto. From there it turns south-southwest again for another 40 km, running past Big Island on the south and Belleville on the north. The width of the bay rarely exceeds 2 km. The bay ends at Trenton (Quinte West) and the Trent River, both also on the north side. The Murray Canal has been cut through the \"Carrying Place\", the few kilometres separating the end of the bay and Lake Ontario on the west side. The Trent River is part of the Trent-Severn Waterway, a canal connecting Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe and then Georgian Bay on Lake Huron.
There are several sub-bays off the Bay of Quinte, including Hay Bay, Big Bay, and Muscote Bay. `{{OSM Location map
| width=650| height=260
| coord = {{coord|44.091|-77.18}}
| zoom =10 <!--(1=whole world, 18=a street)-->
| caption = Map of the Bay of Quinte, an arm of Lake Ontario, that runs for some 80 km between Prince Edward County and the 'mainland' of Hastings County, in south-east Ontario.
| minimap=file
| mini-file = Ontario Locator Map.svg
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| label2= Wellington| mark-coord2={{coord|43.952|-77.3505}}| mark-title2=[[Wellington, Ontario]]
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| mark-coord14= {{coord|44.198|-77.586}}| label14=River Trent | label-pos14=center|ldy14=8
| label-angle14=75|label-color14=hard blue|label-size14=9| mark-size14=0|mark-title14=River Trent
| mark-coord15= {{coord|44.0688|-76.9448}}| label15=Adolphus Reach | label-pos15=center|ldy15=-8
| label-angle15=-39|label-color15=hard blue|label-size15=9| mark-size15=0|mark-title15=Adolphus Reach
| arc-coordA= {{coord|44.0072|-76.932}}| arc-textA=LAKE ONTARIO| arc-angleA=-50|arc-gapA=2|arc-radiusA=0.8| arc-text-colorA=soft blue| arc-text-sizeA=10
}}`{=mediawiki}
## Bay of Quinte Region {#bay_of_quinte_region}
**Quinte** is also a region comprising several communities situated along the Bay of Quinte, including Quinte West, Brighton and the City of Belleville, which is the largest city in the Quinte Region, and represents a midpoint between Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto.
The Greater Bay of Quinte area includes the municipalities of Brighton, Quinte West, Belleville, Prince Edward County, and Greater Napanee as well as the Native Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. Overall population of the area exceeds 200,000.
### Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte {#mohawks_of_the_bay_of_quinte}
The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte (Kenhtè:ke Kanyen\'kehá:ka) live on traditional Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. Their reserve Band number 244, their current land base, is 73 km2 on the Bay of Quinte in southeastern Ontario east of Belleville and immediately to the west of Deseronto.
The community takes its name from a variant spelling of Mohawk leader Joseph Brant\'s traditional Mohawk name, Thayendanegea (standardized spelling Thayentiné:ken), which means \'two pieces of fire wood beside each other\'. Officially, in the Mohawk language, the community is called **\"Kenhtè:ke\"** (Tyendinaga), which means \"on the bay\", and was the birthplace of Tekanawí:ta. The Cayuga name is Tyendinaga, *Tayęda:ne:gęˀ or Detgayę:da:negęˀ*, \"land of two logs.\"
### Communities
- Belleville
- Quinte West
- Brighton
- Shannonville
- Napanee
- Deseronto
- Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory
- Rossmore
- Ameliasburgh
- Picton
- Consecon
- Carrying Place
### Education
The Quinte Region, specifically the City of Belleville, is home to Loyalist College of Applied Arts and Technology. Other post-secondary schools in the region include Maxwell College of Advanced Technology, CDI College, and Quinte Literacy. Secondary schools in the region include Albert College (private school) and Sir James Whitney (a school for the deaf and severely hearing-impaired).
### Industry and employment {#industry_and_employment}
The Bay of Quinte region is a hub for industry in eastern Ontario. The region is home to a diverse cluster of domestic and multi-national manufacturing and logistics companies. Sectors include; food processing, auto-parts, plastics and packaging, consumer goods, and more. The region\'s close proximity to North American markets, strong labour force and start-up and operating costs have attracted attention and new investment from companies all over the globe. Industry in the Bay of Quinte region is supported by a workforce of over 11,000.
Investment attraction and industrial retention are supported regionally by the Quinte Economic Development Commission.
Just a few of over 350 industries located in the Bay of Quinte Region include:
- Schütz Canada, German manufacturer of intermediate bulk containers
- Essroc Canada a division of Italcementi
- Magna Autosystems - lighting division (3 facilities)
- Hannon Climate Control Canada Ltd.---Automotive parts
- Procter and Gamble Inc.--- Feminine hygiene products
- Kellogg --- Breakfast cereal manufacturer
- Kruger - manufacturing facial and toilet tissue for the away from home market
- Hain Celestial - manufacturing Yves Veggie Cuisine products
- Sprague Foods - canned and jarred soups and beans
- Donini Chocolate - a division of John Vince Foods
- Redpath Sugar
- Trenton Cold Storage Group Inc.---Refrigerated warehousing and distribution. Custom co-packing
- Lactalis Canada---Black Diamond Cheese Division---Cheese manufacturing and packaging
- Avaya---A telecommunications research and product development centre
- Research Casting International---Canadian company specializing in moulding and casting for the production of museum exhibits
- Cooney Transport Ltd.---Trucking company
- Wellington Mushroom Farm / Highline Produce---Mushroom farm
- Domtech---Copper wiring
- ClearWater Design Canoe and Kayak---Boat manufacturer
- The SAB Group of Companies Limited---Consumer goods company
- Mapco Plastics---Biodegradable plastic packaging manufacturer
- Citipack Distribution---Cash and carry
- Babars Bazaar---International commodity trading
- Jobsters Staffing---Staffing agency
## Images
<File:Bay> of Quinte picnic 1909.jpg\|Picnic on the Bay in August 1909 <File:Bay> of Quinte at Night.JPG\|The Bay of Quinte at night, with a view of CFB Trenton.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
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Bipedalism
|
**Bipedalism** is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an animal moves by means of its two rear (or lower) limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a **bipedal** manner is known as a **biped** `{{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|aɪ|p|ɛ|d}}`{=mediawiki}, meaning \'two feet\' (from Latin *bis* \'double\' and *pes* \'foot\'). Types of bipedal movement include walking or running (a **bipedal gait**) and hopping.
Several groups of modern species are habitual bipeds whose normal method of locomotion is two-legged. In the Triassic period some groups of archosaurs (a group that includes crocodiles and dinosaurs) developed bipedalism; among the dinosaurs, all the early forms and many later groups were habitual or exclusive bipeds; the birds are members of a clade of exclusively bipedal dinosaurs, the theropods. Within mammals, habitual bipedalism has evolved multiple times, with the macropods, kangaroo rats and mice, springhare, hopping mice, pangolins and hominin apes (australopithecines, including humans) as well as various other extinct groups evolving the trait independently. A larger number of modern species intermittently or briefly use a bipedal gait. Several lizard species move bipedally when running, usually to escape from threats. Many primate and bear species will adopt a bipedal gait in order to reach food or explore their environment, though there are a few cases where they walk on their hind limbs only. Several arboreal primate species, such as gibbons and indriids, exclusively walk on two legs during the brief periods they spend on the ground. Many animals rear up on their hind legs while fighting or copulating. Some animals commonly stand on their hind legs to reach food, keep watch, threaten a competitor or predator, or pose in courtship, but do not move bipedally.
## Etymology
The word is derived from the Latin words *bi(s)* \'two\' and *ped-* \'foot\', as contrasted with quadruped \'four feet\'.
## Advantages
Limited and exclusive bipedalism can offer a species several advantages. Bipedalism raises the head; this allows a greater field of vision with improved detection of distant dangers or resources, access to deeper water for wading animals and allows the animals to reach higher food sources with their mouths. While upright, non-locomotory limbs become free for other uses, including manipulation (in primates and rodents), flight (in birds), digging (in the giant pangolin), combat (in bears, great apes and the large monitor lizard) or camouflage.
The maximum bipedal speed appears slower than the maximum speed of quadrupedal movement with a flexible backbone -- both the ostrich and the red kangaroo can reach speeds of 70 km/h, while the cheetah can exceed 100 km/h. Even though bipedalism is slower at first, over long distances, it has allowed humans to outrun most other animals according to the endurance running hypothesis. Bipedality in kangaroo rats has been hypothesized to improve locomotor performance, `{{Clarify|date=January 2012}}`{=mediawiki} which could aid in escaping from predators.
## Facultative and obligate bipedalism {#facultative_and_obligate_bipedalism}
Zoologists often label behaviors, including bipedalism, as \"facultative\" (i.e. optional) or \"obligate\" (the animal has no reasonable alternative). Even this distinction is not completely clear-cut --- for example, humans other than infants normally walk and run in biped fashion, but almost all can crawl on hands and knees when necessary. There are even reports of humans who normally walk on all fours with their feet but not their knees on the ground, but these cases are a result of conditions such as Uner Tan syndrome --- very rare genetic neurological disorders rather than normal behavior. Even if one ignores exceptions caused by some kind of injury or illness, there are many unclear cases, including the fact that \"normal\" humans can crawl on hands and knees. This article therefore avoids the terms \"facultative\" and \"obligate\", and focuses on the range of styles of locomotion *normally* used by various groups of animals. Normal humans may be considered \"obligate\" bipeds because the alternatives are very uncomfortable and usually only resorted to when walking is impossible.
## Movement
There are a number of states of movement commonly associated with bipedalism.
1. Standing. Staying still on both legs. In most bipeds this is an active process, requiring constant adjustment of balance.
2. Walking. One foot in front of another, with at least one foot on the ground at any time.
3. Running. One foot in front of another, with periods where both feet are off the ground.
4. Jumping/hopping. Moving by a series of jumps with both feet moving together.
5. Skipping. A form of bipedal locomotion that combines the step and hop.
## Bipedal animals {#bipedal_animals}
The great majority of living terrestrial vertebrates are quadrupeds, with bipedalism exhibited by only a handful of living groups. Humans, gibbons and large birds walk by raising one foot at a time. On the other hand, most macropods, smaller birds, lemurs and bipedal rodents move by hopping on both legs simultaneously. Tree kangaroos are able to walk or hop, most commonly alternating feet when moving arboreally and hopping on both feet simultaneously when on the ground.
### Extant reptiles {#extant_reptiles}
Many species of lizards become bipedal during high-speed, sprint locomotion, including the world\'s fastest lizard, the spiny-tailed iguana (genus *Ctenosaura*).
#### Early reptiles and lizards {#early_reptiles_and_lizards}
The first known biped is the bolosaurid *Eudibamus* whose fossils date from 290 million years ago. Its long hind-legs, short forelegs, and distinctive joints all suggest bipedalism. The species became extinct in the early Permian.
### Archosaurs (includes crocodilians and dinosaurs) {#archosaurs_includes_crocodilians_and_dinosaurs}
#### Birds
All birds are bipeds, as is the case for all theropod dinosaurs. However, hoatzin chicks have claws on their wings which they use for climbing.
#### Other archosaurs {#other_archosaurs}
Bipedalism evolved more than once in archosaurs, the group that includes both dinosaurs and crocodilians. All dinosaurs are thought to be descended from a fully bipedal ancestor, perhaps similar to *Eoraptor*.
Dinosaurs diverged from their archosaur ancestors approximately 230 million years ago during the Middle to Late Triassic period, roughly 20 million years after the Permian-Triassic extinction event wiped out an estimated 95 percent of all life on Earth. Radiometric dating of fossils from the early dinosaur genus *Eoraptor* establishes its presence in the fossil record at this time. Paleontologists suspect *Eoraptor* resembles the common ancestor of all dinosaurs; if this is true, its traits suggest that the first dinosaurs were small, bipedal predators. The discovery of primitive, dinosaur-like ornithodirans such as *Marasuchus* and *Lagerpeton* in Argentinian Middle Triassic strata supports this view; analysis of recovered fossils suggests that these animals were indeed small, bipedal predators.
Bipedal movement also re-evolved in a number of other dinosaur lineages such as the iguanodonts. Some extinct members of Pseudosuchia, a sister group to the avemetatarsalians (the group including dinosaurs and relatives), also evolved bipedal forms -- a poposauroid from the Triassic, *Effigia okeeffeae*, is thought to have been bipedal. Pterosaurs were previously thought to have been bipedal, but recent trackways have all shown quadrupedal locomotion.
### Mammals
A number of groups of extant mammals have independently evolved bipedalism as their main form of locomotion`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki} for example, humans, ground pangolins, the extinct giant ground sloths, numerous species of jumping rodents and macropods. Humans, as their bipedalism has been extensively studied, are documented in the next section. Macropods are believed to have evolved bipedal hopping only once in their evolution, at some time no later than 45 million years ago.
Bipedal movement is less common among mammals, most of which are quadrupedal. All primates possess some bipedal ability, though most species primarily use quadrupedal locomotion on land. Primates aside, the macropods (kangaroos, wallabies and their relatives), kangaroo rats and mice, hopping mice and springhare move bipedally by hopping. Very few non-primate mammals commonly move bipedally with an alternating leg gait. Exceptions are the ground pangolin and in some circumstances the tree kangaroo. One black bear, Pedals, became famous locally and on the internet for having a frequent bipedal gait, although this is attributed to injuries on the bear\'s front paws. A two-legged fox was filmed in a Derbyshire garden in 2023, most likely having been born that way.
#### Primates
thumb\|upright=1.15\|A Man Running; by Eadweard Muybridge Most bipedal animals move with their backs close to horizontal, using a long tail to balance the weight of their bodies. The primate version of bipedalism is unusual because the back is close to upright (completely upright in humans), and the tail may be absent entirely. Many primates can stand upright on their hind legs without any support. Chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, gibbons and baboons exhibit forms of bipedalism. On the ground sifakas move like all indrids with bipedal sideways hopping movements of the hind legs, holding their forelimbs up for balance. Geladas, although usually quadrupedal, will sometimes move between adjacent feeding patches with a squatting, shuffling bipedal form of locomotion. However, they can only do so for brief amounts, as their bodies are not adapted for constant bipedal locomotion.
Humans are the only primates who are normally biped, due to an extra curve in the spine (i.e. the lumbar lordosis) which shifts the center of gravity more dorsally and thus stabilizes the upright position, as well as shorter arms relative to the legs than is the case for the nonhuman great apes. The evolution of human bipedalism began in primates about four million years ago, or as early as seven million years ago with *Sahelanthropus* or about 12 million years ago with *Danuvius guggenmosi*. One hypothesis for human bipedalism is that it evolved as a result of differentially successful survival from carrying food to share with group members, although there are alternative hypotheses.
Injured individuals
Injured chimpanzees and bonobos have been capable of sustained bipedalism.
Three captive primates, one macaque Natasha and two chimps, Oliver and Poko (chimpanzee), were found to move bipedally. Natasha switched to exclusive bipedalism after an illness, while Poko was discovered in captivity in a tall, narrow cage. Oliver reverted to knuckle-walking after developing arthritis. Non-human primates often use bipedal locomotion when carrying food, or while moving through shallow water.
## Limited bipedalism {#limited_bipedalism}
### Limited bipedalism in mammals {#limited_bipedalism_in_mammals}
Other mammals engage in limited, non-locomotory, bipedalism. A number of other animals, such as rats, raccoons, and beavers will squat on their hindlegs to manipulate some objects but revert to four limbs when moving (the beaver will move bipedally if transporting wood for their dams, as will the raccoon when holding food). Bears will fight in a bipedal stance to use their forelegs as weapons. A number of mammals will adopt a bipedal stance in specific situations such as for feeding or fighting. Ground squirrels and meerkats will stand on hind legs to survey their surroundings, but will not walk bipedally. Dogs (e.g. Faith) can stand or move on two legs if trained, or if birth defect or injury precludes quadrupedalism. The gerenuk antelope stands on its hind legs while eating from trees, as did the extinct giant ground sloth and chalicotheres. The spotted skunk will walk on its front legs when threatened, rearing up on its front legs while facing the attacker so that its anal glands, capable of spraying an offensive oil, face its attacker.
### Limited bipedalism in non-mammals (and non-birds) {#limited_bipedalism_in_non_mammals_and_non_birds}
Bipedalism is unknown among the amphibians. Among the non-archosaur reptiles bipedalism is rare, but it is found in the \"reared-up\" running of lizards such as agamids and monitor lizards. Many reptile species will also temporarily adopt bipedalism while fighting. One genus of basilisk lizard can run bipedally across the surface of water for some distance. Among arthropods, cockroaches are known to move bipedally at high speeds. Bipedalism is rarely found outside terrestrial animals, though at least two species of octopus walk bipedally on the sea floor using two of their arms, allowing the remaining arms to be used to camouflage the octopus as a mat of algae or a floating coconut.
## Evolution of human bipedalism {#evolution_of_human_bipedalism}
There are at least twelve distinct hypotheses as to how and why bipedalism evolved in humans, and also some debate as to when. Bipedalism evolved well before the large human brain or the development of stone tools. Bipedal specializations are found in *Australopithecus* fossils from 4.2 to 3.9 million years ago and recent studies have suggested that obligate bipedal hominid species were present as early as 7 million years ago. Nonetheless, the evolution of bipedalism was accompanied by significant evolutions in the spine including the forward movement in position of the foramen magnum, where the spinal cord leaves the cranium. Recent evidence regarding modern human sexual dimorphism (physical differences between male and female) in the lumbar spine has been seen in pre-modern primates such as *Australopithecus africanus*. This dimorphism has been seen as an evolutionary adaptation of females to bear lumbar load better during pregnancy, an adaptation that non-bipedal primates would not need to make. Adapting bipedalism would have required less shoulder stability, which allowed the shoulder and other limbs to become more independent of each other and adapt for specific suspensory behaviors. In addition to the change in shoulder stability, changing locomotion would have increased the demand for shoulder mobility, which would have propelled the evolution of bipedalism forward. The different hypotheses are not necessarily mutually exclusive and a number of selective forces may have acted together to lead to human bipedalism. It is important to distinguish between adaptations for bipedalism and adaptations for running, which came later still.
The form and function of modern-day humans\' upper bodies appear to have evolved from living in a more forested setting. Living in this kind of environment would have made it so that being able to travel arboreally would have been advantageous at the time. Although different to human walking, bipedal locomotion in trees was thought to be advantageous. It has also been proposed that, like some modern-day apes, early hominins had undergone a knuckle-walking stage prior to adapting the back limbs for bipedality while retaining forearms capable of grasping. Numerous causes for the evolution of human bipedalism involve freeing the hands for carrying and using tools, sexual dimorphism in provisioning, changes in climate and environment (from jungle to savanna) that favored a more elevated eye-position, and to reduce the amount of skin exposed to the tropical sun. It is possible that bipedalism provided a variety of benefits to the hominin species, and scientists have suggested multiple reasons for evolution of human bipedalism. There is also not only the question of why the earliest hominins were partially bipedal but also why hominins became more bipedal over time. For example, the postural feeding hypothesis describes how the earliest hominins became bipedal for the benefit of reaching food in trees while the savanna-based theory describes how the late hominins that started to settle on the ground became increasingly bipedal.
### Multiple factors {#multiple_factors}
Napier (1963) argued that it is unlikely that a single factor drove the evolution of bipedalism. He stated \"*It seems unlikely that any single factor was responsible for such a dramatic change in behaviour. In addition to the advantages of accruing from ability to carry objects -- food or otherwise -- the improvement of the visual range and the freeing of the hands for purposes of defence and offence may equally have played their part as catalysts.\"* Sigmon (1971) demonstrated that chimpanzees exhibit bipedalism in different contexts, and one single factor should be used to explain bipedalism: preadaptation for human bipedalism. Day (1986) emphasized three major pressures that drove evolution of bipedalism: food acquisition, predator avoidance, and reproductive success. Ko (2015) stated that there are two main questions regarding bipedalism 1. Why were the earliest hominins partially bipedal? and 2. Why did hominins become more bipedal over time? He argued that these questions can be answered with combination of prominent theories such as Savanna-based, Postural feeding, and Provisioning.
### Savannah-based theory {#savannah_based_theory}
According to the Savanna-based theory, hominines came down from the tree\'s branches and adapted to life on the savanna by walking erect on two feet. The theory suggests that early hominids were forced to adapt to bipedal locomotion on the open savanna after they left the trees. One of the proposed mechanisms was the knuckle-walking hypothesis, which states that human ancestors used quadrupedal locomotion on the savanna, as evidenced by morphological characteristics found in *Australopithecus anamensis* and *Australopithecus afarensis* forelimbs, and that it is less parsimonious to assume that knuckle walking developed twice in genera *Pan* and *Gorilla* instead of evolving it once as synapomorphy for *Pan* and *Gorilla* before losing it in Australopithecus. The evolution of an orthograde posture would have been very helpful on a savanna as it would allow the ability to look over tall grasses in order to watch out for predators, or terrestrially hunt and sneak up on prey. It was also suggested in P. E. Wheeler\'s \"The evolution of bipedality and loss of functional body hair in hominids\", that a possible advantage of bipedalism in the savanna was reducing the amount of surface area of the body exposed to the sun, helping regulate body temperature. In fact, Elizabeth Vrba\'s turnover pulse hypothesis supports the savanna-based theory by explaining the shrinking of forested areas due to global warming and cooling, which forced animals out into the open grasslands and caused the need for hominids to acquire bipedality.
Others state hominines had already achieved the bipedal adaptation that was used in the savanna. The fossil evidence reveals that early bipedal hominins were still adapted to climbing trees at the time they were also walking upright. It is possible that bipedalism evolved in the trees, and was later applied to the savanna as a vestigial trait. Humans and orangutans are both unique to a bipedal reactive adaptation when climbing on thin branches, in which they have increased hip and knee extension in relation to the diameter of the branch, which can increase an arboreal feeding range and can be attributed to a convergent evolution of bipedalism evolving in arboreal environments. Hominine fossils found in dry grassland environments led anthropologists to believe hominines lived, slept, walked upright, and died only in those environments because no hominine fossils were found in forested areas. However, fossilization is a rare occurrence---the conditions must be just right in order for an organism that dies to become fossilized for somebody to find later, which is also a rare occurrence. The fact that no hominine fossils were found in forests does not ultimately lead to the conclusion that no hominines ever died there. The convenience of the savanna-based theory caused this point to be overlooked for over a hundred years.
Some of the fossils found actually showed that there was still an adaptation to arboreal life. For example, Lucy, the famous *Australopithecus afarensis*, found in Hadar in Ethiopia, which may have been forested at the time of Lucy\'s death, had curved fingers that would still give her the ability to grasp tree branches, but she walked bipedally. \"Little Foot\", a nearly-complete specimen of *Australopithecus africanus*, has a divergent big toe as well as the ankle strength to walk upright. \"Little Foot\" could grasp things using his feet like an ape, perhaps tree branches, and he was bipedal. Ancient pollen found in the soil in the locations in which these fossils were found suggest that the area used to be much more wet and covered in thick vegetation and has only recently become the arid desert it is now.
### Traveling efficiency hypothesis {#traveling_efficiency_hypothesis}
An alternative explanation is that the mixture of savanna and scattered forests increased terrestrial travel by proto-humans between clusters of trees, and bipedalism offered greater efficiency for long-distance travel between these clusters than quadrupedalism. In an experiment monitoring chimpanzee metabolic rate via oxygen consumption, it was found that the quadrupedal and bipedal energy costs were very similar, implying that this transition in early ape-like ancestors would not have been very difficult or energetically costing. This increased travel efficiency is likely to have been selected for as it assisted foraging across widely dispersed resources.
### Postural feeding hypothesis {#postural_feeding_hypothesis}
The postural feeding hypothesis has been recently supported by Dr. Kevin Hunt, a professor at Indiana University. This hypothesis asserts that chimpanzees were only bipedal when they eat. While on the ground, they would reach up for fruit hanging from small trees and while in trees, bipedalism was used to reach up to grab for an overhead branch. These bipedal movements may have evolved into regular habits because they were so convenient in obtaining food. Also, Hunt\'s hypotheses states that these movements coevolved with chimpanzee arm-hanging, as this movement was very effective and efficient in harvesting food. When analyzing fossil anatomy, *Australopithecus afarensis* has very similar features of the hand and shoulder to the chimpanzee, which indicates hanging arms. Also, the *Australopithecus* hip and hind limb very clearly indicate bipedalism, but these fossils also indicate very inefficient locomotive movement when compared to humans. For this reason, Hunt argues that bipedalism evolved more as a terrestrial feeding posture than as a walking posture.
A related study conducted by University of Birmingham, Professor Susannah Thorpe examined the most arboreal great ape, the orangutan, holding onto supporting branches in order to navigate branches that were too flexible or unstable otherwise. In more than 75 percent of observations, the orangutans used their forelimbs to stabilize themselves while navigating thinner branches. Increased fragmentation of forests where A. afarensis as well as other ancestors of modern humans and other apes resided could have contributed to this increase of bipedalism in order to navigate the diminishing forests. Findings also could shed light on discrepancies observed in the anatomy of A. afarensis, such as the ankle joint, which allowed it to \"wobble\" and long, highly flexible forelimbs. If bipedalism started from upright navigation in trees, it could explain both increased flexibility in the ankle as well as long forelimbs which grab hold of branches.
### Provisioning model {#provisioning_model}
One theory on the origin of bipedalism is the behavioral model presented by C. Owen Lovejoy, known as \"male provisioning\". Lovejoy theorizes that the evolution of bipedalism was linked to monogamy. In the face of long inter-birth intervals and low reproductive rates typical of the apes, early hominids engaged in pair-bonding that enabled greater parental effort directed towards rearing offspring. Lovejoy proposes that male provisioning of food would improve the offspring survivorship and increase the pair\'s reproductive rate. Thus the male would leave his mate and offspring to search for food and return carrying the food in his arms walking on his legs. This model is supported by the reduction (\"feminization\") of the male canine teeth in early hominids such as *Sahelanthropus tchadensis* and *Ardipithecus ramidus*, which along with low body size dimorphism in *Ardipithecus* and *Australopithecus*, suggests a reduction in inter-male antagonistic behavior in early hominids. In addition, this model is supported by a number of modern human traits associated with concealed ovulation (permanently enlarged breasts, lack of sexual swelling) and low sperm competition (moderate sized testes, low sperm mid-piece volume) that argues against recent adaptation to a polygynous reproductive system.
However, this model has been debated, as others have argued that early bipedal hominids were instead polygynous. Among most monogamous primates, males and females are about the same size. That is sexual dimorphism is minimal, and other studies have suggested that *Australopithecus afarensis* males were nearly twice the weight of females. However, Lovejoy\'s model posits that the larger range a provisioning male would have to cover (to avoid competing with the female for resources she could attain herself) would select for increased male body size to limit predation risk. Furthermore, as the species became more bipedal, specialized feet would prevent the infant from conveniently clinging to the mother`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki} hampering the mother\'s freedom and thus make her and her offspring more dependent on resources collected by others. Modern monogamous primates such as gibbons tend to be also territorial, but fossil evidence indicates that *Australopithecus afarensis* lived in large groups. However, while both gibbons and hominids have reduced canine sexual dimorphism, female gibbons enlarge (\'masculinize\') their canines so they can actively share in the defense of their home territory. Instead, the reduction of the male hominid canine is consistent with reduced inter-male aggression in a pair-bonded though group living primate.
### Early bipedalism in homininae model {#early_bipedalism_in_homininae_model}
Recent studies of 4.4 million years old *Ardipithecus ramidus* suggest bipedalism. It is thus possible that bipedalism evolved very early in homininae and was reduced in chimpanzee and gorilla when they became more specialized. Other recent studies of the foot structure of *Ardipithecus ramidus* suggest that the species was closely related to African-ape ancestors. This possibly provides a species close to the true connection between fully bipedal hominins and quadruped apes. According to Richard Dawkins in his book \"The Ancestor\'s Tale\", chimps and bonobos are descended from *Australopithecus* gracile type species while gorillas are descended from *Paranthropus*. These apes may have once been bipedal, but then lost this ability when they were forced back into an arboreal habitat, presumably by those australopithecines from whom eventually evolved hominins. Early hominines such as *Ardipithecus ramidus* may have possessed an arboreal type of bipedalism that later independently evolved towards knuckle-walking in chimpanzees and gorillas and towards efficient walking and running in modern humans (see figure). It is also proposed that one cause of Neanderthal extinction was a less efficient running.
### Warning display (aposematic) model {#warning_display_aposematic_model}
Joseph Jordania from the University of Melbourne recently (2011) suggested that bipedalism was one of the central elements of the general defense strategy of early hominids, based on aposematism, or warning display and intimidation of potential predators and competitors with exaggerated visual and audio signals. According to this model, hominids were trying to stay as visible and as loud as possible all the time. Several morphological and behavioral developments were employed to achieve this goal: upright bipedal posture, longer legs, long tightly coiled hair on the top of the head, body painting, threatening synchronous body movements, loud voice and extremely loud rhythmic singing/stomping/drumming on external subjects. Slow locomotion and strong body odor (both characteristic for hominids and humans) are other features often employed by aposematic species to advertise their non-profitability for potential predators.
### Other behavioural models {#other_behavioural_models}
There are a variety of ideas which promote a specific change in behaviour as the key driver for the evolution of hominid bipedalism. For example, Wescott (1967) and later Jablonski & Chaplin (1993) suggest that bipedal threat displays could have been the transitional behaviour which led to some groups of apes beginning to adopt bipedal postures more often. Others (e.g. Dart 1925) have offered the idea that the need for more vigilance against predators could have provided the initial motivation. Dawkins (e.g. 2004) has argued that it could have begun as a kind of fashion that just caught on and then escalated through sexual selection. And it has even been suggested (e.g. Tanner 1981:165) that male phallic display could have been the initial incentive, as well as increased sexual signaling in upright female posture.
### Thermoregulatory model {#thermoregulatory_model}
The thermoregulatory model explaining the origin of bipedalism is one of the simplest theories so far advanced, but it is a viable explanation. Dr. Peter Wheeler, a professor of evolutionary biology, proposes that bipedalism raises the amount of body surface area higher above the ground which results in a reduction in heat gain and helps heat dissipation. When a hominid is higher above the ground, the organism accesses more favorable wind speeds and temperatures. During heat seasons, greater wind flow results in a higher heat loss, which makes the organism more comfortable. Also, Wheeler explains that a vertical posture minimizes the direct exposure to the sun whereas quadrupedalism exposes more of the body to direct exposure. Analysis and interpretations of Ardipithecus reveal that this hypothesis needs modification to consider that the forest and woodland environmental preadaptation of early-stage hominid bipedalism preceded further refinement of bipedalism by the pressure of natural selection. This then allowed for the more efficient exploitation of the hotter conditions ecological niche, rather than the hotter conditions being hypothetically bipedalism\'s initial stimulus. A feedback mechanism from the advantages of bipedality in hot and open habitats would then in turn make a forest preadaptation solidify as a permanent state.
### Carrying models {#carrying_models}
Charles Darwin wrote that \"Man could not have attained his present dominant position in the world without the use of his hands, which are so admirably adapted to the act of obedience of his will\". Darwin (1871:52) and many models on bipedal origins are based on this line of thought. Gordon Hewes (1961) suggested that the carrying of meat \"over considerable distances\" (Hewes 1961:689) was the key factor. Isaac (1978) and Sinclair et al. (1986) offered modifications of this idea, as indeed did Lovejoy (1981) with his \"provisioning model\" described above. Others, such as Nancy Tanner (1981), have suggested that infant carrying was key, while others again have suggested stone tools and weapons drove the change. This stone-tools theory is very unlikely, as though ancient humans were known to hunt, the discovery of tools was not discovered for thousands of years after the origin of bipedalism, chronologically precluding it from being a driving force of evolution. (Wooden tools and spears fossilize poorly and therefore it is difficult to make a judgment about their potential usage.)
### Wading models {#wading_models}
The observation that large primates, including especially the great apes, that predominantly move quadrupedally on dry land, tend to switch to bipedal locomotion in waist deep water, has led to the idea that the origin of human bipedalism may have been influenced by waterside environments. This idea, labelled \"the wading hypothesis\", was originally suggested by the Oxford marine biologist Alister Hardy who said: \"It seems to me likely that Man learnt to stand erect first in water and then, as his balance improved, he found he became better equipped for standing up on the shore when he came out, and indeed also for running.\" It was then promoted by Elaine Morgan, as part of the aquatic ape hypothesis, who cited bipedalism among a cluster of other human traits unique among primates, including voluntary control of breathing, hairlessness and subcutaneous fat. The \"aquatic ape hypothesis\", as originally formulated, has not been accepted or considered a serious theory within the anthropological scholarly community. Others, however, have sought to promote wading as a factor in the origin of human bipedalism without referring to further (\"aquatic ape\" related) factors. Since 2000 Carsten Niemitz has published a series of papers and a book on a variant of the wading hypothesis, which he calls the \"amphibian generalist theory\" (*Amphibische Generalistentheorie*).
Other theories have been proposed that suggest wading and the exploitation of aquatic food sources (providing essential nutrients for human brain evolution or critical fallback foods) may have exerted evolutionary pressures on human ancestors promoting adaptations which later assisted full-time bipedalism. It has also been thought that consistent water-based food sources had developed early hominid dependency and facilitated dispersal along seas and rivers.
### Consequences
Prehistoric fossil records show that early hominins first developed bipedalism before being followed by an increase in brain size. The consequences of these two changes in particular resulted in painful and difficult labor due to the increased favor of a narrow pelvis for bipedalism being countered by larger heads passing through the constricted birth canal. This phenomenon is commonly known as the obstetrical dilemma.
Non-human primates habitually deliver their young on their own, but the same cannot be said for modern-day humans. Isolated birth appears to be rare and actively avoided cross-culturally, even if birthing methods may differ between said cultures. This is due to the fact that the narrowing of the hips and the change in the pelvic angle caused a discrepancy in the ratio of the size of the head to the birth canal. The result of this is that there is greater difficulty in birthing for hominins in general, let alone to be doing it by oneself.
## Physiology
Bipedal movement occurs in a number of ways and requires many mechanical and neurological adaptations. Some of these are described below.
### Biomechanics
#### Standing
Energy-efficient means of standing bipedally involve constant adjustment of balance, and of course these must avoid overcorrection. The difficulties associated with simple standing in upright humans are highlighted by the greatly increased risk of falling present in the elderly, even with minimal reductions in control system effectiveness.
#### Shoulder stability {#shoulder_stability}
Shoulder stability would decrease with the evolution of bipedalism. Shoulder mobility would increase because the need for a stable shoulder is only present in arboreal habitats. Shoulder mobility would support suspensory locomotion behaviors which are present in human bipedalism. The forelimbs are freed from weight-bearing requirements, which makes the shoulder a place of evidence for the evolution of bipedalism.
#### Walking
Unlike non-human apes that are able to practice bipedality such as *Pan* and *Gorilla*, hominins have the ability to move bipedally without the utilization of a bent-hip-bent-knee (BHBK) gait, which requires the engagement of both the hip and the knee joints. This human ability to walk is made possible by the spinal curvature humans have that non-human apes do not. Rather, walking is characterized by an \"inverted pendulum\" movement in which the center of gravity vaults over a stiff leg with each step. Force plates can be used to quantify the whole-body kinetic & potential energy, with walking displaying an out-of-phase relationship indicating exchange between the two. This model applies to all walking organisms regardless of the number of legs, and thus bipedal locomotion does not differ in terms of whole-body kinetics.
In humans, walking is composed of several separate processes:
- Vaulting over a stiff stance leg
- Passive ballistic movement of the swing leg
- A short \'push\' from the ankle prior to toe-off, propelling the swing leg
- Rotation of the hips about the axis of the spine, to increase stride length
- Rotation of the hips about the horizontal axis to improve balance during stance
#### Running
Early hominins underwent post-cranial changes in order to better adapt to bipedality, especially running. One of these changes is having longer hindlimbs proportional to the forelimbs and their effects. As previously mentioned, longer hindlimbs assist in thermoregulation by reducing the total surface area exposed to direct sunlight while simultaneously allowing for more space for cooling winds. Additionally, having longer limbs is more energy-efficient, since longer limbs mean that overall muscle strain is lessened. Better energy efficiency, in turn, means higher endurance, particularly when running long distances.
Running is characterized by a spring-mass movement. Kinetic and potential energy are in phase, and the energy is stored & released from a spring-like limb during foot contact, achieved by the plantar arch and the Achilles tendon in the foot and leg, respectively. Again, the whole-body kinetics are similar to animals with more limbs.
### Musculature
Bipedalism requires strong leg muscles, particularly in the thighs. Contrast in domesticated poultry the well muscled legs, against the small and bony wings. Likewise in humans, the quadriceps and hamstring muscles of the thigh are both so crucial to bipedal activities that each alone is much larger than the well-developed biceps of the arms. In addition to the leg muscles, the increased size of the gluteus maximus in humans is an important adaptation as it provides support and stability to the trunk and lessens the amount of stress on the joints when running.
### Respiration
Quadrupeds, have more restrictive breathing respire while moving than do bipedal humans. \"Quadrupedal species normally synchronize the locomotor and respiratory cycles at a constant ratio of 1:1 (strides per breath) in both the trot and gallop. Human runners differ from quadrupeds in that while running they employ several phase-locked patterns (4:1, 3:1, 2:1, 1:1, 5:2, and 3:2), although a 2:1 coupling ratio appears to be favored. Even though the evolution of bipedal gait has reduced the mechanical constraints on respiration in man, thereby permitting greater flexibility in breathing pattern, it has seemingly not eliminated the need for the synchronization of respiration and body motion during sustained running.\"
Respiration through bipedality means that there is better breath control in bipeds, which can be associated with brain growth. The modern brain utilizes approximately 20% of energy input gained through breathing and eating, as opposed to species like chimpanzees who use up twice as much energy as humans for the same amount of movement. This excess energy, leading to brain growth, also leads to the development of verbal communication. This is because breath control means that the muscles associated with breathing can be manipulated into creating sounds. This means that the onset of bipedality, leading to more efficient breathing, may be related to the origin of verbal language.
## Bipedal robots {#bipedal_robots}
For nearly the whole of the 20th century, bipedal robots were very difficult to construct and robot locomotion involved only wheels, treads, or multiple legs. Recent cheap and compact computing power has made two-legged robots more feasible. Some notable biped robots are ASIMO, HUBO, MABEL and QRIO. Recently, spurred by the success of creating a fully passive, un-powered bipedal walking robot, those working on such machines have begun using principles gleaned from the study of human and animal locomotion, which often relies on passive mechanisms to minimize power consumption.
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Brian De Palma
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**Brian Russell De Palma** (`{{IPA|it|de ˈpalma|}}`{=mediawiki}; born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for work in the suspense, crime, and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading member of the New Hollywood generation.
*Carrie* (1976), his adaptation of Stephen King\'s novel of the same name, gained him prominence as a young filmmaker. He enjoyed commercial success with *Dressed to Kill* (1980), *The Untouchables* (1987) and *Mission: Impossible* (1996) and made cult classics such as *Greetings* (1968), *Hi, Mom!* (1970), *Sisters* (1972), *Phantom of the Paradise* (1974), and *The Fury* (1978).
As a young director, De Palma dreamed of being the \"American Godard\". His style is allusive; he paid homage to Alfred Hitchcock in *Obsession* (1976) and *Body Double* (1984); *Blow Out* (1981) is based on Michelangelo Antonioni\'s *Blowup* (1966), and *Scarface* (1983), his remake of Howard Hawks\'s 1932 film, is dedicated to Hawks and Ben Hecht. His work has been criticized for its violence and sexual content but has also been championed by American critics such as Roger Ebert and Pauline Kael. In 2015, he was interviewed about his work in a well-received documentary by Noah Baumbach.
## Early life and education {#early_life_and_education}
De Palma was born on September 11, 1940, in Newark, New Jersey, the youngest of three boys. His Italian-American parents were Vivienne DePalma (née Muti), and Anthony F. DePalma, an orthopedic surgeon who was the son of immigrants from Alberona, Province of Foggia. He was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, and attended various Protestant and Quaker schools, eventually graduating from Friends\' Central School. He had a poor relationship with his father, and would secretly follow him to record his adulterous behavior; this would eventually inspire the teenage character in De Palma\'s *Dressed to Kill* (1980). When he was in high school, he built computers. He won a regional science-fair prize for his project \"An Analog Computer to Solve Differential Equations\".
Enrolled at Columbia University as a physics student, De Palma became enraptured with filmmaking after seeing Orson Welles\'s *Citizen Kane* (1941) and Alfred Hitchcock\'s *Vertigo* (1958). After receiving his undergraduate degree in 1962, De Palma enrolled at the newly mixed-gender Sarah Lawrence College as a graduate student in their theater department, earning an M.A. in the discipline in 1964 and becoming one of the first male students in a predominantly female school. Once there, influences as various as drama teacher Wilford Leach, the Maysles brothers, Michelangelo Antonioni, Andy Warhol and Jean-Luc Godard, impressed upon De Palma the many styles and themes that would shape his work in the coming decades.
## Career
### 1963--1976: Rise to prominence {#rise_to_prominence}
An early association with a young Robert De Niro resulted in *The Wedding Party*. The film, co-directed with Wilford Leach and producer Cynthia Munroe, had been shot in 1963 but remained unreleased until 1969, when De Palma\'s star had risen sufficiently in the Greenwich Village filmmaking scene. De Niro was unknown at the time; the credits mistakenly display his name as \"Robert `{{sic|hide=y|Den|ero}}`{=mediawiki}\". The film is noteworthy for its invocation of silent film techniques and use of the jump-cut. De Palma followed this style with various small films for the NAACP and the Treasury Department.
During the 1960s, De Palma began making a living producing documentaries, notably *The Responsive Eye* (1966), about *The Responsive Eye* op-art exhibit curated by William Seitz for MoMA in 1965. In an interview with Joseph Gelmis from 1969, De Palma described the film as \"very good and very successful. It\'s distributed by Pathe Contemporary and makes lots of money. I shot it in four hours, with synched sound. I had two other guys shooting people\'s reactions to the paintings, and the paintings themselves.\"
*Dionysus in \'69* (1969) was De Palma\'s other major documentary from this period. The film records the Performance Group\'s performance of Euripides\'s *The Bacchae*, starring, amongst others, De Palma regular William Finley. The play is noted for breaking traditional barriers between performers and audience. The film\'s most striking quality is its extensive use of the split-screen. De Palma recalls that he was \"floored\" by this performance upon first sight, and in 1973 recounts how he \"began to try and figure out a way to capture it on film. I came up with the idea of split-screen, to be able to show the actual audience involvement, to trace the life of the audience and that of the play as they merge in and out of each other.\"
De Palma\'s most significant features from this decade are *Greetings* (1968) and *Hi, Mom!* (1970). Both films star De Niro and espouse a leftist revolutionary viewpoint in the spirit of the time. *Greetings* was entered into the 19th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won a Silver Bear award. His other major film from this period is the slasher comedy *Murder a la Mod* (1968). Each of these films experiments with narrative and intertextuality, reflecting De Palma\'s stated intention to become the \"American Godard\".
In 1970, De Palma left New York for Hollywood at age thirty to make *Get to Know Your Rabbit* (1972), starring Orson Welles and Tommy Smothers. Making the film was a crushing experience for De Palma, as Smothers did not like many of De Palma\'s ideas. Here he made several small, studio and independently released films. Among them were the horror film *Sisters* (1972), the rock musical *Phantom of the Paradise* (1974) and *Obsession* (1976), a variation on theme of Alfred Hitchcock\'s *Vertigo* (1958) scored by Hitchcock\'s frequent collaborator Bernard Herrmann.
### 1976--1979: Breakthrough
In November 1976, De Palma released an adaptation of Stephen King\'s novel *Carrie*. Though some see the psychic thriller as De Palma\'s bid for a blockbuster, the project was in fact small, underfunded by United Artists, and well under the cultural radar during the early months of production, as King\'s novel was not yet a bestseller. De Palma gravitated toward the project and changed crucial plot elements based upon his own predilections. The cast was mostly young and relatively new, though Sissy Spacek and John Travolta had gained attention for previous work in, respectively, film and sitcoms. *Carrie* became De Palma\'s first genuine box-office success, garnering Spacek and Piper Laurie Oscar nominations for their performances. Pre-production for the film had coincided with the casting process for George Lucas\'s *Star Wars*, and many of the actors cast in De Palma\'s film had been earmarked as contenders for Lucas\'s movie, and vice versa. Its suspense sequences are buttressed by teen comedy tropes, and its use of split-screen, split-diopter and slow motion shots tell the story visually rather than through dialogue. As for Lucas\'s project, De Palma complained in an early viewing of *Star Wars* that the opening text crawl was poorly written and volunteered to help edit the text to a more concise and engaging form.
The financial and critical success of *Carrie* allowed De Palma to pursue more personal material. Alfred Bester\'s novel *The Demolished Man* had fascinated De Palma since the late 1950s and appealed to his background in mathematics and avant-garde storytelling. Its unconventional unfolding of plot (exemplified in its mathematical layout of dialogue) and its stress on perception have analogs in De Palma\'s filmmaking. He sought to adapt it numerous times, though the project would carry a substantial price tag, and has yet to appear on-screen (Steven Spielberg\'s 2002 adaptation of Philip K. Dick\'s *Minority Report* bears striking similarities to De Palma\'s visual style and some of the themes of *The Demolished Man*). The result of his experience with adapting *The Demolished Man* was the 1978 science fiction psychic thriller *The Fury*, starring Kirk Douglas, Carrie Snodgress, John Cassavetes and Amy Irving. The film was admired by Jean-Luc Godard, who featured a clip in his mammoth *Histoire(s) du cinéma*, and Pauline Kael, who championed both *The Fury* and De Palma. The film boasted a larger budget than *Carrie*, though the consensus view at the time was that De Palma was repeating himself, with diminishing returns.
### 1980--1996: Established career {#established_career}
The 1980s were marked by some of De Palma\'s best known films, including the erotic thriller *Dressed to Kill* (1980) starring Michael Caine and Angie Dickinson. Although the film received critical acclaim, it caused controversy for its negative depiction of the transgender community. The following year he directed *Blow Out* (1981), a variation on Michelangelo Antonioni\'s *Blow-Up* (1966) and Francis Ford Coppola\'s *The Conversation* (1974) starring John Travolta, Nancy Allen and John Lithgow. The film received critical acclaim. Kael wrote: \"De Palma has sprung to the place that Robert Altman achieved with films such as *McCabe & Mrs. Miller* and *Nashville* and that Francis Ford Coppola reached with *The Godfather* films---that is, to the place where genre is transcended and what we\'re moved by is an artist\'s vision. It\'s a great movie.\"
De Palma directed *Scarface* (1983), a remake of Howard Hawks\'s 1932 film, starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer with a screenplay by Oliver Stone. The film received mixed reviews with its negative depictions of ethnic stereotypes, as well as its violence and profanity. It has since been re-evaluated and is now considered a cult classic. The following year he made another erotic thriller, *Body Double* (1984), starring Craig Wasson and Melanie Griffith. The film also received mixed reviews but has since had a reassessment and found acclaim. De Palma directed the music video for Bruce Springsteen\'s single \"Dancing in the Dark\" the same year. In 1987, De Palma directed the crime film *The Untouchables*, loosely based on the book of the same name and adapted by David Mamet. The film stars Kevin Costner, Andy Garcia, Robert De Niro and Sean Connery, the last of whom won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film. It received critical acclaim and box-office success. De Palma\'s Vietnam War film *Casualties of War* (1989) won critical praise but performed poorly in theatres and *The Bonfire of the Vanities* (1990) was a notorious failure with both critics and audiences. De Palma then had subsequent successes with *Raising Cain* (1992) and *Carlito\'s Way* (1993). *Mission: Impossible* (1996) was his highest-grossing film and started a successful franchise*.*
### 1998--present: Career slump {#present_career_slump}
De Palma\'s work after *Mission: Impossible* has been less well received. His ensuing films *Snake Eyes* (1998), *Mission to Mars* (2000), and *Femme Fatale* (2002) all failed at the box office and received generally poor reviews, though *Femme Fatale* has since been revived in the eyes of many film critics and became a cult classic. His 2006 adaptation of *The Black Dahlia* was also unsuccessful and is currently the last movie De Palma has directed with backing from Hollywood.
A political controversy erupted over the portrayal of US soldiers in De Palma\'s 2007 film *Redacted*. Loosely based on the 2006 Mahmudiyah killings by American soldiers in Iraq, the film echoes themes that appeared in *Casualties of War*. *Redacted* received a limited release in the United States and grossed less than \$1 million against a \$5 million budget.
De Palma\'s output has slowed since the release of *Redacted*, with subsequent projects often falling into development hell, due mostly to creative differences. In 2012, his film *Passion* starring Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival but received mixed reviews and was financially unsuccessful.
De Palma\'s next project was the thriller *Domino* (2019), released two years after the film began production. It received generally negative reviews and was released direct-to-VOD in the United States, grossing less than half a million dollars internationally. De Palma has also expressed dissatisfaction with both the production of the film and the final result; \"I never experienced such a horrible movie set.\"
In 2018, De Palma published his debut novel in France, *Les serpents sont-ils nécessaires?* (English translation: *Are Snakes Necessary?*), co-written with Susan Lehman. It was published in the U.S. in 2020. De Palma and Lehman also wrote a second book, currently unpublished, called *Terry*, based on one of De Palma\'s passion projects about a French film production making an adaptation of *Thérèse Raquin*.
It was announced in 2018 that De Palma would write and direct a horror film titled *Predator*, inspired by the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases, and would direct Wagner Moura in a film titled *Sweet Vengeance*, based on two real-life murder cases. Filming on the latter was to have begun in early 2019 in Montevideo. In a 2020 interview with the *Associated Press*, De Palma confirmed that *Predator* was retitled *Catch and Kill* and added that he was to have started filming in August that same year.
Despite rumors of his supposed retirement after having had *Sweet Vengeance* and *Catch and Kill* fall through, De Palma revealed to *Vulture* in September 2024 that he had \"one other\" undisclosed film he was planning to make, and that he was in the process of trying to cast it.
## Filmmaking style, techniques and trademarks {#filmmaking_style_techniques_and_trademarks}
De Palma\'s films can fall into two categories: his thriller films (*Sisters*, *Body Double*, *Obsession*, *Dressed to Kill*, *Blow Out*, *Raising Cain*) and his mainly commercial films (*The Untouchables*, *Carlito\'s Way*, and *Mission: Impossible*). He has often produced \"De Palma\" films one after the other before going on to direct a different genre, but would always return to his familiar territory. Because of the subject matter and graphic violence of some of De Palma\'s films, such as *Dressed to Kill*, *Scarface* and *Body Double*, they are often at the center of controversy with the Motion Picture Association of America, film critics and the viewing public.
### Inspirations
De Palma frequently quotes and refers to other directors\' work. His early work was inspired by the films of Jean-Luc Godard. Michelangelo Antonioni\'s *Blowup* and Francis Ford Coppola\'s *The Conversation* plots were used for the basis of *Blow Out*. *The Untouchables*{{\'}} finale shoot out in the train station is a clear borrowing from the Odessa Steps sequence in Sergei Eisenstein\'s *The Battleship Potemkin*. The main plot from *Rear Window* was used for *Body Double*, while it also used elements of *Vertigo*. *Vertigo* was also the basis for *Obsession*. *Dressed to Kill* was a note-for-note homage to Hitchcock\'s *Psycho*, including such moments as the surprise death of the lead actress and the exposition scene by the psychiatrist at the end.
### Camera shots {#camera_shots}
Film critics have often noted De Palma\'s penchant for unusual camera angles and compositions. He often frames characters against the background using a canted angle shot. Split-screen techniques have been used to show two separate events happening simultaneously. To emphasize the dramatic effect of a certain scene De Palma has employed a 360-degree camera pan. Slow sweeping, panning, and tracking shots are often used throughout his films, often through precisely-choreographed long takes lasting for minutes without cutting. Split focus shots, often referred to as \"di-opt\", are used by De Palma to emphasize the foreground person/object while simultaneously keeping a background person/object in focus. Slow-motion is frequently used in his films to increase suspense.
## Personal life {#personal_life}
De Palma has been married and divorced three times, to actress Nancy Allen (1979--1983), producer Gale Anne Hurd (1991--1993), and Darnell Gregorio (1995--1997). He has one daughter from his marriage to Hurd, and one daughter from his marriage to Gregorio. He resides in Manhattan, New York.
## Reception and legacy {#reception_and_legacy}
De Palma is often cited as a leading member of the New Hollywood generation of film directors, a distinct pedigree who either emerged from film schools or are overtly cine-literate. His contemporaries include Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, John Milius, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, and Ridley Scott. His artistry in directing and use of cinematography and suspense in several of his films has often been compared to the work of Alfred Hitchcock. Psychologists have been intrigued by De Palma\'s fascination with pathology, by the aberrant behavior aroused in characters who find themselves manipulated by others.
De Palma has encouraged and fostered the filmmaking careers of directors such as Mark Romanek and Keith Gordon, the latter of whom collaborated with him twice as an actor, both in 1979\'s *Home Movies* and 1980\'s *Dressed to Kill*. Filmmakers influenced by De Palma include Terrence Malick, Quentin Tarantino, Ronny Yu, Don Mancini, Nacho Vigalondo, and Jack Thomas Smith. During an interview with De Palma, Quentin Tarantino said that *Blow Out* is one of his all-time favorite films, and that after watching *Scarface* he knew how to make his own film. John Travolta\'s performance as Jack Terry in *Blow Out* even resulted in Tarantino casting him as Vincent Vega in his 1994 film *Pulp Fiction*, which would go on to reinvigorate Travolta\'s then-declining career. Tarantino also placed *Carrie* at number eight in a list of his favorite films.
Critics who frequently admire De Palma\'s work include Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert. Kael wrote in her review of *Blow Out*, \"At forty, Brian De Palma has more than twenty years of moviemaking behind him, and he has been growing better and better. Each time a new film of his opens, everything he has done before seems to have been preparation for it.\" In his review of *Femme Fatale*, Roger Ebert wrote about the director: \"De Palma deserves more honor as a director. Consider also these titles: *Sisters*, *Blow Out*, *The Fury*, *Dressed to Kill*, *Carrie*, *Scarface*, *Wise Guys*, *Casualties of War*, *Carlito\'s Way*, *Mission: Impossible*. Yes, there are a few failures along the way (*Snake Eyes*, *Mission to Mars*, *The Bonfire of the Vanities*), but look at the range here, and reflect that these movies contain treasure for those who admire the craft as well as the story, who sense the glee with which De Palma manipulates images and characters for the simple joy of being good at it. It\'s not just that he sometimes works in the style of Hitchcock, but that he has the nerve to.\"
The influential French film magazine *Cahiers du Cinéma* has placed five of De Palma\'s films (*Carlito\'s Way*, *Mission: Impossible*, *Snake Eyes*, *Mission to Mars*, and *Redacted*) on their annual top ten list, with *Redacted* placing first on the 2008 list. The magazine also listed *Carlito\'s Way* as the greatest film of the 1990s.
Julie Salamon has written that critics have accused De Palma of being \"a perverse misogynist\", to which De Palma has responded with, \"I\'m always attacked for having an erotic, sexist approach`{{Snd}}`{=mediawiki} chopping up women, putting women in peril. I\'m making suspense movies! What else is going to happen to them?\"
His films have also been interpreted as feminist and examined for their perceived queer affinities. In *Film Comment*{{\'s}} \"Queer and Now and Then\" column on *Femme Fatale*, film critic Michael Koresky writes that \"De Palma\'s films radiate an undeniable queer energy\" and notes the \"intense appeal\" De Palma\'s films have for gay critics. In her book *The Erotic Thriller in Contemporary Cinema*, Linda Ruth Williams writes that \"De Palma understood the cinematic potency of dangerous fucking, perhaps earlier than his feminist detractors\".
Robin Wood considered *Sisters* an overtly feminist film, writing that \"one can define the monster of *Sisters* as women\'s liberation; adding only that the film follows the time-honored horror film tradition of making the monster emerge as the most sympathetic character and its emotional center.\" Pauline Kael\'s review of *Casualties of War*, \"A Wounded Apparition\", describes the film as \"feminist\" and notes that \"De Palma was always involved in examining (and sometimes satirizing) victimization, but he was often accused of being a victimizer\". Helen Grace, in a piece for *Lola*, writes that upon seeing *Dressed to Kill* amidst calls for a boycott from feminist groups Women Against Violence Against Women and Women Against Pornography, that the film \"seemed to say more about masculine anxiety than about the fears that women were expressing in relation to the film\". De Palma has also expressed contrition for the depiction of a transgender murderer in the film, saying in a 2016 interview \"I don\'t know what the transgender community would think \[of the film now\]\... Obviously I realize that it\'s not good for their image to be transgender and also be a psychopathic murderer. But I think that \[perception\] passes with time. We\'re in a different time.\" In the same interview, he said he was \"glad\" that the film had become a \"a favorite of the gay community\".
David Thomson wrote in his entry for De Palma, \"There is a self-conscious cunning in De Palma\'s work, ready to control everything except his own cruelty and indifference.\" Matt Zoller Seitz objected to this characterisation, writing that there are films from the director which can be seen as \"straightforwardly empathetic and/or moralistic\".
His life and career in his own words was the subject of the 2015 documentary *De Palma,* directed by Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow.
## Filmography
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Year | Title | Distribution |
+======+===============================+===================================+
| 1968 | *Murder a la Mod* | Aries Documentaries |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| | *Greetings* | Sigma III |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1969 | *The Wedding Party* | Ajay Film Company |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1970 | *Hi, Mom!* | Sigma III |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1972 | *Get to Know Your Rabbit* | Warner Bros. |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| | *Sisters* | American International Pictures |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1974 | *Phantom of the Paradise* | 20th Century Fox |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1976 | *Obsession* | Columbia Pictures |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| | *Carrie* | United Artists |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1978 | *The Fury* | 20th Century Fox |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1979 | *Home Movies* | United Artists |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1980 | *Dressed to Kill* | Filmways Pictures |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1981 | *Blow Out* | |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1983 | *Scarface* | Universal Pictures |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1984 | *Body Double* | Columbia Pictures |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1986 | *Wise Guys* | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1987 | *The Untouchables* | Paramount Pictures |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1989 | *Casualties of War* | Columbia Pictures |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1990 | *The Bonfire of the Vanities* | Warner Bros. |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1992 | *Raising Cain* | Universal Pictures |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1993 | *Carlito\'s Way* | |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1996 | *Mission: Impossible* | Paramount Pictures |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 1998 | *Snake Eyes* | Paramount Pictures\ |
| | | Buena Vista International |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 2000 | *Mission to Mars* | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 2002 | *Femme Fatale* | Warner Bros. |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 2006 | *The Black Dahlia* | Universal Pictures |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 2007 | *Redacted* | Magnolia Pictures |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 2012 | *Passion* | Entertainment One |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| 2019 | *Domino* | Signature Entertainment |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| | | |
+------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
: Directed features
## Awards and nominations {#awards_and_nominations}
Year Title Academy Awards BAFTA Awards
------------- --------------------------- ---------------- ------ --------------
Nominations Wins Nominations Wins Nominations
1974 *Phantom of the Paradise* 1
1976 *Obsession* 1
*Carrie* 2
1980 *Dressed to Kill*
1983 *Scarface*
1984 *Body Double*
1987 *The Untouchables* 4 1 4
1989 *Casualties of War*
1993 *Carlito\'s Way*
2006 *The Black Dahlia* 1
Total 9 1 4
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,232 |
Barter
|
`{{Economic anthropology}}`{=mediawiki} In trade, **barter** (derived from *bareter*) is a system of exchange in which participants in a transaction directly exchange goods or services for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. Economists usually distinguish barter from gift economies in many ways; barter, for example, features immediate reciprocal exchange, not one delayed in time. Barter usually takes place on a bilateral basis, but may be multilateral (if it is mediated through a trade exchange). In most developed countries, barter usually exists parallel to monetary systems only to a very limited extent. Market actors use barter as a replacement for money as the method of exchange in times of monetary crisis, such as when currency becomes unstable (such as hyperinflation or a deflationary spiral) or simply unavailable for conducting commerce.
No ethnographic studies have shown that any present or past society has used barter without any other medium of exchange or measurement, and anthropologists have found no evidence that money emerged from barter. Nevertheless, economists since the times of Adam Smith (1723--1790) often imagined pre-modern societies for the sake of showing how the inefficiency of barter explains the emergence of money and the economy, and hence the discipline of economics itself.
## Economic theory {#economic_theory}
### Adam Smith on the origin of money {#adam_smith_on_the_origin_of_money}
Adam Smith sought to demonstrate that markets (and economies) pre-existed the state. He argued that money was not the creation of governments. Markets emerged, in his view, out of the division of labour, by which individuals began to specialize in specific crafts and hence had to depend on others for subsistence goods. These goods were first exchanged by barter. Specialization depended on trade but was hindered by the \"double coincidence of wants\" which barter requires, i.e., for the exchange to occur, each participant must want what the other has. To complete this hypothetical history, craftsmen would stockpile one particular good, be it salt or metal, that they thought no one would refuse. This is the origin of money according to Smith. Money, as a universally desired medium of exchange, allows each half of the transaction to be separated.
Barter is characterized in Adam Smith\'s \"*The Wealth of Nations*\" by a disparaging vocabulary: \"haggling, swapping, dickering\". It has also been characterized as negative reciprocity, or \"selfish profiteering\".
### David Graeber\'s theory {#david_graebers_theory}
Anthropologists such as David Graeber have argued, in contrast, \"that when something resembling barter *does* occur in stateless societies it is almost always between strangers.\" Barter occurred between strangers, not fellow villagers, and hence cannot be used to naturalistically explain the origin of money without the state. Since most people who engaged in trade knew each other, exchange was fostered through the extension of credit. Marcel Mauss, author of \'The Gift\', argued that the first economic contracts were to *not* act in one\'s economic self-interest, and that before money, exchange was fostered through the processes of reciprocity and redistribution, not barter. Everyday exchange relations in such societies are characterized by generalized reciprocity, or a non-calculative familial \"communism\" where each takes according to their needs, and gives as they have.
### Features of bartering {#features_of_bartering}
Often the following features are associated with barter transactions:
**There is a demand focus for things of a different kind.**
: Most often, parties trade goods and services for goods or services that differ from what they are willing to forego.
**The parties of the barter transaction are both equal and free.**
: Neither party has advantages over the other, and both are free to leave the trade at any point in time.
**The transaction happens simultaneously.**
: The goods are normally traded at the same point in time. Nonetheless delayed barter in goods may rarely occur as well. In the case of services being traded however, the two parts of the trade may be separated.
**The transaction is transformative.**
: A barter transaction \"moves objects between the regimes of value\", meaning that a good or service that is being traded may take up a new meaning or value under its recipient than that of its original owner.
**There is no criterion of value.**
: There is no real way to value each side of the trade. There is bargaining taking place, not to do with the value of each party\'s good or service, but because each player in the transaction wants what is offered by the other.
### Advantages
Since direct barter does not require payment in money, it can be utilized when money is in short supply, when there is little information about the credit worthiness of trade partners, or when there is a lack of trust between those trading.
Barter is an option to those who cannot afford to store their small supply of wealth in money, especially in hyperinflation situations where money devalues quickly.
Barter economies are usually free from interest and usury. The German-Argentine economist Silvio Gesell created a Robinson Crusoe economy thought experiment in Part V of *The Natural Economic Order* which showed that interest rates are a purely monetary phenomenon that tends to be absent from barter economies.
### Limitations
The limitations of barter are often explained in terms of its inefficiencies in facilitating exchange in comparison to money.
It is said that barter is \'inefficient\' because:
There needs to be a \'double coincidence of wants\'
: For barter to occur between two parties, both parties need to have what the other wants.
There is no common measure of value/ No Standard Unit of Account
: In a monetary economy, money plays the role of a measure of the value of all goods, so their values can be assessed against each other; this role may be absent in a barter economy.
Indivisibility of certain goods
: If a person wants to buy a certain amount of another\'s goods, but only has for payment one indivisible unit of another good which is worth more than what the person wants to obtain, a barter transaction cannot occur.
Lack of standards for deferred payments
: This is related to the absence of a common measure of value, although if the debt is denominated in units of the good that will eventually be used in payment, it is not a problem.
Difficulty in storing wealth
: If a society relies exclusively on perishable goods, storing wealth for the future may be impractical. However, some barter economies rely on durable goods like sheep or cattle for this purpose.
## History
### Silent trade {#silent_trade}
Other anthropologists have questioned whether barter is typically between \"total\" strangers, a form of barter known as \"silent trade\". Silent trade, also called silent barter, dumb barter (\"dumb\" here used in its old meaning of \"mute\"), or depot trade, is a method by which traders who cannot speak each other\'s language can trade without talking. However, Benjamin Orlove has shown that while barter occurs through \"silent trade\" (between strangers), it occurs in commercial markets as well. \"Because barter is a difficult way of conducting trade, it will occur only where there are strong institutional constraints on the use of money or where the barter symbolically denotes a special social relationship and is used in well-defined conditions. To sum up, multipurpose money in markets is like lubrication for machines - necessary for the most efficient function, but not necessary for the existence of the market itself.\"
In his analysis of barter between coastal and inland villages in the Trobriand Islands, Keith Hart highlighted the difference between highly ceremonial gift exchange between community leaders, and the barter that occurs between individual households. The haggling that takes place between strangers is possible because of the larger temporary political order established by the gift exchanges of leaders. From this, he concludes that barter is \"an atomized interaction predicated upon the presence of society\" (i.e. that social order established by gift exchange), and not typical between strangers.
### Times of monetary crisis {#times_of_monetary_crisis}
As Orlove noted, barter may occur in commercial economies, usually during periods of monetary crisis. During such a crisis, currency may be in short supply, or highly devalued through hyperinflation. In such cases, money ceases to be the universal medium of exchange or standard of value. Money may be in such short supply that it becomes an item of barter itself rather than the means of exchange. Barter may also occur when people cannot afford to keep money (as when hyperinflation quickly devalues it).
An example of this would be during the Crisis in Bolivarian Venezuela, when Venezuelans resorted to bartering as a result of hyperinflation. The increasingly low value of bank notes, and their lack of circulation in suburban areas, meant that many Venezuelans, especially those living outside of larger cities, took to trading over their own goods for even the most basic of transactions.
Additionally, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, barter exchanges reported a double-digit increase in membership, due to the scarcity of fiat money, and the degradation of monetary system sentiment.
### Exchanges
Economic historian Karl Polanyi has argued that where barter is widespread, and cash supplies limited, barter is aided by the use of credit, brokerage, and money as a unit of account (i.e. used to price items). All of these strategies are found in ancient economies including Ptolemaic Egypt. They are also the basis for more recent barter exchange systems.
While one-to-one bartering is practised between individuals and businesses on an informal basis, organized barter exchanges have developed to conduct third party bartering which helps overcome some of the limitations of barter. A barter exchange operates as a broker and bank in which each participating member has an account that is debited when purchases are made, and credited when sales are made.
Modern barter and trade has evolved considerably to become an effective method of increasing sales, conserving cash, moving inventory, and making use of excess production capacity for businesses around the world. Businesses in a barter earn trade credits (instead of cash) that are deposited into their account. They then have the ability to purchase goods and services from other members utilizing their trade credits -- they are not obligated to purchase from those whom they sold to, and vice versa. The exchange plays an important role because they provide the record-keeping, brokering expertise and monthly statements to each member. Commercial exchanges make money by charging a commission on each transaction either all on the buy side, all on the sell side, or a combination of both. Transaction fees typically run between 8 and 15%. A successful example is International Monetary Systems, which was founded in 1985 and is one of the first exchanges in North America opened after the TEFRA Act of 1982.
### Organized barter (retail barter) {#organized_barter_retail_barter}
Since the 1930s, organized barter has been a common type of barter where company\'s join a barter organization (barter company) which serves as a hub to exchange goods and services without money as a medium of exchange. Similarly to brokerage houses, barter company facilitates the exchange of goods and services between member companies, allowing members to acquire goods and services by providing their own as payment. Member companies are required to sign a barter agreement with the barter company as a condition of their membership. In turn, the barter company provides each member with the current levels of supply and demand for each good and service which can be purchased or sold in the system. These transactions are mediated by barter authorities of the member companies. The barter member companies can then acquire their desired goods or services from another member company within a predetermined time. Failure to deliver the good or service within the fixed time period results in the debt being settled in cash. Each member company pays an annual membership fee and purchase and sales commission outlined in the contract. Organized barter increases liquidity for member companies as it mitigates the requirement of cash to settle transactions, enabling sales and purchases to be made with excess capacity or surplus inventory. Additionally, organized barter facilitates competitive advantage within industries and sectors. Considering the quantity of transactions depending on the supply-demand balance of the goods and services within the barter organization, member companies tend to face minimal competition within their own operating sector.
### Corporate barter {#corporate_barter}
Producers, wholesalers and distributors tend to engage in corporate barter as a method of exchanging goods and services with companies they are in business with. These bilateral barter transactions are targeted towards companies aiming to convert stagnant inventories into receivable goods or services, to increase market share without cash investments, and to protect liquidity. However, issues arise as to the imbalance of supply and demand of desired goods and services and the inability to efficiently match the value of goods and services exchanged in these transactions.
#### Labour notes {#labour_notes}
The Owenite socialists in Britain and the United States in the 1830s were the first to attempt to organize barter exchanges. Owenism developed a \"theory of equitable exchange\" as a critique of the exploitative wage relationship between capitalist and labourer, by which all profit accrued to the capitalist. To counteract the uneven playing field between employers and employed, they proposed \"schemes of labour notes based on labour time, thus institutionalizing Owen\'s demand that human labour, not money, be made the standard of value.\" This alternate currency eliminated price variability between markets, as well as the role of merchants who bought low and sold high. The system arose in a period where paper currency was an innovation. Paper currency was an IOU circulated by a bank (a promise to pay, not a payment in itself). Both merchants and an unstable paper currency created difficulties for direct producers.
An alternate currency, denominated in labour time, would prevent profit taking by middlemen; all goods exchanged would be priced only in terms of the amount of labour that went into them as expressed in the maxim \'Cost the limit of price\'. It became the basis of exchanges in London, and in America, where the idea was implemented at the New Harmony communal settlement by Josiah Warren in 1826, and in his Cincinnati \'Time store\' in 1827. Warren ideas were adopted by other Owenites and currency reformers, even though the labour exchanges were relatively short lived.
In England, about 30 to 40 cooperative societies sent their surplus goods to an \"exchange bazaar\" for direct barter in London, which later adopted a similar labour note. The British Association for Promoting Cooperative Knowledge established an \"equitable labour exchange\" in 1830. This was expanded as the National Equitable Labour Exchange in 1832 on Grays Inn Road in London. These efforts became the basis of the British cooperative movement of the 1840s. In 1848, the socialist and first self-designated anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon postulated a system of *time chits*.
Michael Linton coined the term \"local exchange trading system\" (LETS) in 1983 and for a time ran the Comox Valley LETSystems in Courtenay, British Columbia. LETS networks use interest-free local credit so direct swaps do not need to be made. For instance, a member may earn credit by doing childcare for one person and spend it later on carpentry with another person in the same network. In LETS, unlike other local currencies, no scrip is issued, but rather transactions are recorded in a central location open to all members. As credit is issued by the network members, for the benefit of the members themselves, LETS are considered mutual credit systems.
#### Local currencies {#local_currencies}
The first exchange system was the Swiss WIR Bank. It was founded in 1934 as a result of currency shortages after the stock market crash of 1929. \"WIR\" is both an abbreviation of Wirtschaftsring (economic circle) and the word for \"we\" in German, reminding participants that the economic circle is also a community.
In Australia and New Zealand, the largest barter exchange is Bartercard, founded in 1991, with offices in the United Kingdom, United States, Cyprus, UAE, Thailand, and most recently, South Africa. Other than its name suggests, it uses an electronic local currency, the trade dollar. Since its inception, Bartercard has amassed a trading value of over US\$10 billion, and increased its customer network to 35,000 cardholders.
The Crédito was a local currency started on 1 May 1995 in Bernal, Argentina, at a garage sale, which was the first of many neighbourhood barter markets (*mercados de trueque*) and barter clubs (*clubes de trueque*) that emerged in Argentina during the 1998--2002 Argentine great depression. At the barter clubs, people could exchange goods and services, often using créditos. An estimated 2.5 million Argentinians used the Crédito between 2001 and 2003. The currency started as a local exchange trading system (LETS), but was soon replaced by a number of printed currencies. After further experimentation with a LETS called *nodine* (from *no dinero*, \"not money\"), it finally became the *Crédito* (Spanish for \"credit\"), a printed currency again.
## Bartering in business {#bartering_in_business}
In business, barter has the benefit that one gets to know each other, one discourages investments for rent (which is inefficient) and one can impose trade sanctions on dishonest partners.
According to the International Reciprocal Trade Association, the industry trade body, more than 450,000 businesses transacted \$10 billion globally in 2008 -- and officials expect trade volume to grow by 15% in 2009.
It is estimated that over 450,000 businesses in the United States were involved in barter exchange activities in 2010. There are approximately 400 commercial and corporate barter companies serving all parts of the world. There are many opportunities for entrepreneurs to start a barter exchange. Several major cities in the U.S. and Canada do not currently have a local barter exchange. There are two industry groups in the United States, the National Association of Trade Exchanges (NATE) and the International Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA). Both offer training and promote high ethical standards among their members. Moreover, each has created its own currency through which its member barter companies can trade. NATE\'s currency is known as the BANC and IRTA\'s currency is called Universal Currency (UC).
In Canada, barter continues to thrive. The largest b2b barter exchange is International Monetary Systems (IMS Barter), founded in 1985. P2P bartering has seen a renaissance in major Canadian cities through Bunz - built as a network of Facebook groups that went on to become a stand-alone bartering based app in January 2016. Within the first year, Bunz accumulated over 75,000 users in over 200 cities worldwide.
Corporate barter focuses on larger transactions, which is different from a traditional, retail oriented barter exchange. Corporate barter exchanges typically use media and advertising as leverage for their larger transactions. It entails the use of a currency unit called a \"trade-credit\". The trade-credit must not only be known and guaranteed but also be valued in an amount the media and advertising could have been purchased for had the \"client\" bought it themselves (contract to eliminate ambiguity and risk). Soviet bilateral trade is occasionally called \"barter trade\", because although the purchases were denominated in U.S. dollars, the transactions were credited to an international clearing account, avoiding the use of hard cash.
## Tax implications {#tax_implications}
In the United States, Karl Hess used bartering to make it harder for the IRS to seize his wages and as a form of tax resistance. Hess explained how he turned to barter in an op-ed for *The New York Times* in 1975. However the IRS now requires barter exchanges to be reported as per the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982. Barter exchanges are considered taxable revenue by the IRS and must be reported on a 1099-B form. According to the IRS, \"The fair market value of goods and services exchanged must be included in the income of both parties.\"
Other countries, though, do not have the reporting requirement that the U.S. does concerning proceeds from barter transactions, but taxation is handled the same way as a cash transaction. If one barters for a profit, one pays the appropriate tax; if one generates a loss in the transaction, they have a loss. Bartering for business is also taxed accordingly as business income or business expense. Many barter exchanges require that one register as a business.
In countries like Australia and New Zealand, **barter** transactions require the appropriate tax invoices declaring the value of the transaction and its reciprocal GST component. All records of **barter** transactions must also be kept for a minimum of five years after the transaction is made. The Australian Taxation Office additionally considers sponsorships between businesses and influencers that are paid in non-monetary goods to be a form of taxable barter transaction.
## Recent developments {#recent_developments}
In Spain (particularly the Catalonia region) there is a growing number of exchange markets. These barter markets or swap meets work without money. Participants bring things they do not need and exchange them for the unwanted goods of another participant. Swapping among three parties often helps satisfy tastes when trying to get around the rule that money is not allowed.
Other examples are El Cambalache in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico and post-Soviet societies.
The recent blockchain technologies are making it possible to implement decentralized and autonomous barter exchanges that can be used by crowds on a massive scale. BarterMachine is an Ethereum smart contract based system that allows direct exchange of multiple types and quantities of tokens with others. It also provides a solution miner that allows users to compute direct bartering solutions in their browsers. Bartering solutions can be submitted to BarterMachine which will perform collective transfer of tokens among the blockchain addresses that belong to the users. If there are excess tokens left after the requirements of the users are satisfied, the leftover tokens will be given as reward to the solution miner.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,249 |
Barcelonnette
|
**Barcelonnette** (`{{IPA|fr|baʁsəlɔnɛt}}`{=mediawiki}; *Barciloneta de Provença*, also *Barcilona*; obsolete *Barcellonetta*) is a commune of France and a subprefecture in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d\'Azur region. It is located in the southern French Alps, at the crossroads between Provence, Piedmont and the Dauphiné, and is the largest town in the Ubaye Valley. The town\'s inhabitants are known as *Barcelonnettes*.
## Toponymy
Barcelonnette was founded and named in 1231, by Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence. While the town\'s name is generally seen as a diminutive form of Barcelona in Catalonia, Albert Dauzat and Charles Rostaing point out an earlier attestation of the name *Barcilona* in Barcelonnette in around 1200, and suggest that it is derived instead from two earlier stems`{{Specify|reason=language not named|date=March 2023}}`{=mediawiki} signifying a mountain, \**bar* and \**cin* (the latter of which is also seen in the name of Mont Cenis).
In the Vivaro-Alpine dialect of Occitan, the town is known as *Barcilona de Provença* or more rarely *Barciloneta* according to the classical norm; under the Mistralian norm it is called *Barcilouna de Prouvença* or *Barcilouneto*. In *Valéian* (the dialect of Occitan spoken in the Ubaye Valley), it is called *Barcilouna de Prouvença* or *Barcilounéta*. *Barcino Nova* is the town\'s Latin name meaning \"new Barcelona\"; *Barcino* was the Roman name for Barcelona in Catalonia from its foundation by Emperor Augustus in 10 BC, and the name was changed to *Barcelona* only during the Middle Ages.
The inhabitants of the town are called *Barcelonnettes*, or *Vilandroises* in Valéian.
## History
### Origins
The Barcelonnette region was populated by Ligures from the 1st millennium BC onwards, and the arrival of the Celts several centuries later led to the formation of a mixed Celto-Ligurian people, the Vesubians. Polybius described the Vesubians as belligerent but nonetheless civilised and mercantile, and Julius Caesar praised their bravery. The work *History of the Gauls* also places the Vesubians in the Ubaye Valley.
Following the Roman conquest of Provence, Barcelonnette was included in a small province with modern Embrun as its capital and governed by Albanus Bassalus. This was integrated soon afterwards into Gallia Narbonensis. In 36 AD, Emperor Tiberius transferred Barcelonnette to the province of the Cottian Alps. The town was known as *Rigomagensium* under the Roman Empire and was the capital of a civitas (a provincial subdivision), though no Roman money has yet been found in the canton of Barcelonnette.
### Medieval town {#medieval_town}
The town of Barcelonnette was founded in 1231 by Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence. According to Charles Rostaing, this act of formal \"foundation\", according certain privileges to the town, was a means of regenerating the destroyed town of *Barcilona*. The town was afforded a *consulat* (giving it the power to administer and defend itself) in 1240.
Control of the area in the Middle Ages swung between the Counts of Savoy and of Provence. In 1388, after Count Louis II of Provence had left to conquer Naples, the Count of Savoy Amadeus VIII took control of Barcelonnette; however, it returned to Provençal control in 1390, with the d\'Audiffret family as its lords. On the death of Louis II in 1417 it reverted to Savoy, and, although Count René again retook the area for Provence in 1471, it had returned to Savoyard dominance by the start of the 16th century, by which point the County of Provence had become united with the Kingdom of France due to the death of Count Charles V in 1481.
### Ancien Régime {#ancien_régime}
During Charles V\'s invasion of Provence in 1536, Francis I of France sent the Count of Fürstenberg\'s 6000 *Landsknechte* to ravage the area in a scorched earth policy. Barcelonnette and the Ubaye Valley remained under French sovereignty until the second Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis on 3 April 1559.
In 1588 the troops of François, Duke of Lesdiguières entered the town and set fire to the church and convent during their campaign against the Duke of Savoy. In 1600, after the Treaty of Vervins, conflict returned between Henry IV of France and Savoy, and Lesdiguières retook Barcelonnette until the conclusion of the Treaty of Lyon on 17 January the following year. In 1628, during the War of the Mantuan Succession, Barcelonnette and the other towns of the Ubaye Valley were pillaged and burned by Jacques du Blé d\'Uxelles and his troops, as they passed through towards Italy to the Duke of Mantua\'s aid. The town was retaken by the Duke of Savoy in 1630; and in 1691 it was captured by the troops of the Marquis de Vins during the War of the League of Augsburg.
Between 1614 and 1713, Barcelonnette was the seat of one of the four prefectures under the jurisdiction of the Senate of Nice. At this time, the community of Barcelonnette successfully purchased the *seigneurie* of the town as it was put to auction by the Duke of Savoy; it thereby gained its own justicial powers. In 1646, a college was founded in Barcelonnette.
A \"significant\" part of the town\'s inhabitants had, by the 16th century, converted to Protestantism, and were repressed during the French Wars of Religion.
The *viguerie* of Barcelonnette (also comprising Saint-Martin and Entraunes) was reattached to France in 1713 as part of a territorial exchange with the Duchy of Savoy during the Treaties of Utrecht. The town remained the site of a *viguerie* until the French Revolution. A decree of the council of state on 25 December 1714 reunited Barcelonnete with the general government of Provence.
### Revolution
Barcelonnette was one of few settlements in Haute-Provence to acquire a Masonic Lodge before the Revolution, in fact having two:
- the lodge of *Saint-Jean-d\'Écosse des amis réunis*, affiliated with the *Saint-Jean-d\'Écosse* lodge in Marseille;
- the lodge of *Saint-Jean*, affiliated with the *Saint-Jean-de-Jérusalem d\'Avignon* lodge founded in 1749.
In March 1789, riots took place as a result of a crisis in wheat production. In July, the Great Fear of aristocratic reprisal against the ongoing French Revolution struck France, arriving in the Barcelonnette area on 31 July 1789 (when the news of the storming of the Bastille first reached the town) before spreading towards Digne.
This agitation continued in the Ubaye Valley; a new revolt broke out on 14 June, and famine was declared in April 1792. The patriotic society of the commune was one of the first 21 created in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in spring 1792, by the envoys of the departmental administration. Around a third of the male population attended at the club. Another episode of political violence occurred in August 1792.
Barcelonnette was the seat of the District of Barcelonnette from 1790 to 1800.
### Modern history {#modern_history}
In December 1851, the town was home to a movement of republican resistance towards Napoleon III\'s coup. Though only a minority of the population, the movement rebelled on Sunday 7 December, the day after the news of the coup arrived. Town officials and gendarmes were disarmed and placed in the maison d\'arrêt. A committee of public health was created on 8 December; on 9 December the inhabitants of Jausiers and its surroundings formed a colony under the direction of general councillor Brès, and Mayor Signoret of Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye. This was stopped, however, on 10 December before it could reach Barcelonnette, as the priest of the subprefecture had intervened. On 11 December, several officials escaped and found refuge in L\'Argentière in Piedmont. The arrival of troops on 16 December put a final end to the republican resistance without bloodshed, and 57 insurgents were tried; 38 were condemned to deportation (though several were pardoned in April).
Between 1850 and 1950, Barcelonnette was the source of a wave of emigration to Mexico. Among these emigrants was Jean Baptiste Ebrard, founder of the Liverpool department store chain in Mexico. On the edges of Barcelonnette and Jausiers there are several houses and villas of colonial style (known as *maisons mexicaines*), constructed by emigrants to Mexico who returned to France between 1870 and 1930. A plaque in the town commemorates the deaths of ten Mexican citizens who returned to Barcelonnette to fight in the First World War.
During the Second World War, 26 Jews were arrested in Barcelonnette before being deported. The 89th *compagnie de travailleurs étrangers* (Company of Foreign Workers), consisting of foreigners judged as undesirable by the Third Republic and the Vichy regime and committed to forced labour, was established in Barcelonnette.
The 11th Battalion of *Chasseurs alpins* was garrisoned at Barcelonnette between 1948 and 1990.
## Geography
Barcelonnette is situated in the wide and fertile Ubaye Valley, of which it is the largest town. It lies at an elevation of 1132 m (3717 ft) on the right bank of the Ubaye River, and is surrounded by mountains which reach peaks of over 3000 m; the tallest of these is the Needle of Chambeyron at 3412 m. Barcelonnette is situated 210 km from Turin, 91 km from Nice and 68 km from Gap.
### Biodiversity
As a result of its relief and geographic situation, the Ubaye Valley has an \"abundance of plant and animal species\". The fauna is largely constituted of golden eagles, marmots, ibex and vultures, and the flora includes a large proportion of larches, génépis and white asphodels.
### Climate
The Ubaye Valley has an alpine climate and winters are harsh as a result of the altitude, but there are only light winds as a result of the relief. There are on average almost 300 days of sun and 700 mm of rain per year.
### Hazards
None of the 200 communes of the department is entirely free of seismic risk; the canton of Barcelonnette is placed in zone 1b (low risk) by the determinist classification of 1991 based on seismic history, and zone 4 (average risk) according to the probabilistic EC8 classification of 2011. The commune is also vulnerable to avalanches, forest fires, floods, and landslides. Barcelonnette is also exposed to the possibility of a technological hazard in that road transport of dangerous materials is allowed to pass through on the RD900.
The town has been subject to several orders of natural disaster: floods and mudslides in 1994 and 2008, and landslides in 1996 and 1999. The strongest recorded earthquakes in the region occurred on 5 April 1959, with its epicentre at Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye and a recorded intensity of 6.5 at Barcelonnette, and on 17 February 1947, with its epicentre at Prazzo over the Italian border.
## Architecture
- The town hall was constructed in the 1930s after the destruction of the Saint Maurice chapel in July 1934. Its pediment was originally from the old Dominican convent and was identified in 1988. No houses in the town date from before the 17th century, the town having been rebuilt after the fire of 1628. The old hospital in the town dates from 1717.
- The old gendarmerie on Place Manuel was originally constructed to house the subprefecture in 1825 in a neoclassical style, and its façade occupies one entire side of the square. Place Manuel was named after the Restoration politician Jacques-Antoine Manuel; the fountain in the centre of the square contains his image sculpted by David d\'Angers.
- The parish church was originally built in the Middle Ages, but was destroyed in the fire of 1628. It was quickly reconstructed between 1634 and 1638, and further between 1643 and 1644. This was later demolished in 1926--27 to allow the construction of the current church, though this still contains the steeple from the 17th-century reconstruction.
- The Cardinalis tower was constructed in the 14th century as a bell tower for the Dominican convent, which was founded on the bequest of Hugh of Saint-Cher. It was damaged in the wars of the 17th century and was rebuilt, though parts still exist from the original construction. It is classed as a monument historique of France.
The subprefecture has been situated since 1978 in a *maison mexicaine*, the Villa l\'Ubayette, constructed between 1901 and 1903.
## Population
In 1471, the community of Barcelonnette (including several surrounding parishes) comprised 421 fires (households). In 1765, it had 6,674 inhabitants, but emigration, particularly to Mexico, slowed the town\'s growth in the period before the Second World War. According to the census of 2017, Barcelonnette has a population of 2,598 (municipal population) across a total area of 16.42 km^2^. The town is characterised by low population density. Between 1990 and 1999 the town\'s annual mean population growth was -0.6%, though between 1999 and 2007 this increased to an average of -0.2%.
## Economy
The city is mainly a tourist and resort centre, serving many ski lodges. The Pra-Loup resort is 7 km from Barcelonnette; Le Sauze is 5 km away. It and the Ubaye Valley are served by the Barcelonnette -- Saint-Pons Airfield. Notably, Barcelonnette is the only subprefecture of France not served by rail transport; the Ubaye line which would have linked Chorges to Barcelonnette was never completed as a result of the First World War and the construction of the Serre-Ponçon Dam between 1955 and 1961.
## Education
An *école normale* (an institute for training primary school teachers) was founded in Barcelonnette in 1833, and remained there until 1888 when it was transferred to Digne. The *lycée André-Honnorat de Barcelonnette*, originally the *collège Saint-Maurice* and renamed after the politician André Honnorat in 1919, is located in the town; Pierre-Gilles de Gennes and Carole Merle both studied there. Currently, three schools exist in Barcelonnette: a public nursery school, a public elementary school, and a private school (under a contract by which the teachers are paid by the national education system).
In 2010 the *lycée André-Honnorat* opened a boarding school aimed at gifted students of poorer social backgrounds, in order to give them better conditions in which to study. It is located in the *Quartier Craplet*, formerly the garrison of the 11th Battalion of *Chasseurs Alpins* and then the French Army\'s *Centre d\'instruction et d\'entraînement au combat en montagne* (CIECM).
## Transportation
Barcelonnette -- Saint-Pons Airfield (IATA: BAE, ICAO LFMR) is located at Saint Pons, 3 km (2 miles) west of Barcelonnette.
## International links {#international_links}
Barcelonnette is twinned with:
- Valle de Bravo, Mexico
It is also the site of a Mexican honorary consulate.
## Notable residents {#notable_residents}
- Jacques-Antoine Manuel (1775--1827), lawyer, politician and orator.
- Paul Reynaud (1878--1966), liberal politician and lawyer
- Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (1932--2007), physicist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1991
- Daniel Spagnou (born 1940), UMP politician
- Bruno Dary (born 1952), general and military governor of Paris
- Pierre Bottero (1964--2009), a French writer.
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Baiuvarii
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thumb\|upright=1\|Reconstruction of the grave of the Kemathen warrior, who is believed to have been a Bavarian The **Baiuvarii** or **Bavarii**, sometimes simply called **Bavarians** (*Baiuwaren*; *Bajuwaren*) were a Germanic people who lived in and near present-day southern Bavaria, which is named after them.
They began to appear in records by the 6th century AD, and their culture, language and political institutions are the predecessors of those of the medieval Duchy of Bavaria and Margraviate of Austria.
Among the Baiuvarii the Bavarian language developed, which is West Germanic language related to Standard German, still spoken not only by modern-day Bavarians, but also by Austrians and South Tyroleans.
## Name
The name of the Baiuvarii is also spelled *Baiuvari*. It probably means \"men from Bohemia\". The placename Bohemia is believed to be connected to that of the Boii, a Celtic people who partly left the region before the Roman era and then were dominated by Germanic peoples. The Baiuvarii gave their name to the region of Bavaria.
## Language
The language of the Baiuvarii is classified as Germanic. It is uncertain whether they originally spoke an East Germanic or West Germanic language. Early evidence regarding the language of the Baiuvarii is limited to personal names and a few Runic inscriptions. By the 8th century AD, the Baiuvarii were speakers of an early form of the Austro-Bavarian language within the West Germanic family.
## History
The name is first attested in Latin sources in the 6th century AD.
- The early 6th century biography of Severinus of Noricum describes the region without mentioning them.
- One of the earliest references to the Baiuvarii is the Frankish Table of Nations from about 520, which describes them as a people with kinship to the Burgundians, Thuringians and Lombards.
- In his *Getica* (551), Jordanes described how the Suebian people under the rule of the 5th century king or warlord named Hunimund moved to the southern side of the Danube to live in an Alpine area near the Alemanni, with the Franks on their west, Thuringians to their north, Burgundians to their south, and the *Baibaros* to their east, who are generally understood to have been the Bavarians.
- In a poem about a pilgrimage to Augsburg in 565, Venantius Fortunatus mentions the land Baioaria on the river Lech, which flows north from the Austrian alps to the German Danube. They were between the Allemanni on the Danube and the Breuni who were based near the river Inn.
Evidence from the etymology of their name implies that the Baiuvarii, being named after Bohemia, can not have existed under that name before the 1st century AD. During this period Maroboduus, king of the Germanic Marcomanni, lead his people into their area which had previously been inhabited by the Celtic Boii. Whether the Baiuvarii settled Bavaria in a specific later migration, after Maroboduus, either from the north (Bohemia) or from Pannonia, is uncertain.
A possible earlier record of the Baiuvarii, is the 2nd century mention of the Banochaemae, whose name appears to have a similar etymology. Claudius Ptolemy described them in his *Geography* as living near the Elbe, east of the Melibokus mountains, and north of the Asciburgius mountains.
According to Karl Bosl, Bavarian migration to present-day Bavaria is a legend. The early Baiuvarii are often associated with the Friedenhain-Přešťovice archaeological group, but this is controversial. During the time of Attila in the 5th century, the entire Middle Danube region saw the entry of many new peoples from north and east of the Carpathians, and the formation and destruction of many new and old political entities.
It is thus more probable that the Baiuvarii emerged in the provinces of Noricum ripense and Raetia secunda following Odoacer\'s withdrawal of population to Italy in 488, and the subsequent expansion of Italian Ostrogothic, and Merovingian Frankish influence into the area. They are believed to have incorporated elements from several Germanic peoples, including the Sciri, Heruli, Suebi, Alemanni, Naristi, Thuringi and Lombards. They might also have included non-Germanic Romance people (romanized Celtic people).
The region was under the influence of the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Theodoric the Great. During this period, the Frankish king Theudebert I (died 548) claimed control from the North Sea to Pannonia. After his death, his uncle Chlothar I appointed Garibald I as *dux* of Bavaria. He established the Agilolfings dynasty with his power base at Augsburg or Regensburg. By the 8th century, many Baiuvarii had converted to Christianity.
Through their ruling Agilolfings dynasty, they were closely connected with the Franks.
## Culture
A collection of Bavarian tribal laws was compiled in the 8th century. This document is known as *Lex Baiuvariorum*. Elements of it possibly date back to the 6th century. It is very similar to *Lex Thuringorum*, which was the legal code of the Thuringi, with whom the Baiuvarii had close relations.
The funerary traditions of the Baiuvarii are similar to those of the Alemanni, but quite different from those of the Thuringi.
The Baiuvarii are distinguished by the presence of individuals with artificially deformed craniums in their cemeteries. These individuals were predominantly female; there is no undisputed evidence of males with artificially deformed skulls in Bavaria. Genetic and archeological evidence shows that these women were migrants from eastern cultures, who married Bavarii males, suggesting the importance of exogamy within the Bavarii culture. The migrant women were fully integrated in to Bavarii culture.
In 2018, genomic research showed that these foreign women had southeastern European and East Asian ancestry. The presence of these women among the Bavarii people indicates that men from the Bavarii culture practiced exogamy, preferentially marrying women from eastern populations.
## Genetics
A genetic study published in the *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America* in 2018 examined the remains of 41 individuals buried at a Bavarian cemetery ca. 500 AD. Of these, 11 whole genomes were generated. The males were found to be genetically homogeneous and of north-central European origin. The females were less homogeneous, carried less Northern European ancestry, and were found to combine Southeast European and East Asian ancestry.
There were significant gender differences in skin, hair and eye pigmentation in the sample. While 80% of the Bavarii males had blond hair and blue eyes, the women had much higher rates of brown eyes and darker hair colors. The local women with East Asian and Southern European-related ancestry, generally had brown eyes, and 60% were dark haired.
No significant admixture with Roman populations from territories further south of the area was detected. Among modern populations, the surveyed male individuals did not have modified skulls and were found to be most closely related to modern-day Germans.
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Burgundians
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The **Burgundians** were an early Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared east in the middle Rhine region in the third century AD, and were later moved west into the Roman Empire, in Gaul. In the first and second centuries AD, they or a people with the same name were mentioned by Roman writers living west of the Vistula river, in the region of Germania, which is now part of Poland.
The Burgundians were first mentioned near the Rhine regions together with the Alamanni as early as the 11th panegyric to Emperor Maximian given in Trier in 291 AD, referring to events that must have happened between 248 and 291, and these two peoples apparently remained neighbours for centuries.
By 411 AD, Burgundians had established control over Roman cities on the Rhine, between Franks and Alamanni, including Worms, Speyer and Strasbourg. In 436 AD, Aëtius defeated the Burgundians on the Rhine with the help of Hunnish forces, and then in 443, he re-settled the Burgundians within the empire, in eastern Gaul. This Gaulish domain became the Kingdom of the Burgundians, which much later became a component of the Frankish Empire. The name of the kingdom survives in the regional appellation Burgundy, which is now a region of France although the modern region represents only a part of that kingdom.
Another part of the Burgundians formed a contingent in Attila\'s Hunnic army by 451 AD.
Before clear documentary evidence begins, the Burgundians may have originally emigrated from the Baltic island of Bornholm to the Vistula region.
## Name
The ethnonym Burgundians is commonly used in English to refer to the *Burgundi* (*Burgundionei*, *Burgundiones* or *Burgunds*) who settled in eastern Gaul and the western Alps during the 5th century AD. The much larger original Kingdom of the Burgundians barely intersected the modern *Bourgogne* and more closely matched the boundaries of Franche-Comté in northeastern France, the Rhône-Alpes in southeastern France, Romandy in west Switzerland, and Aosta Valley, in north west Italy.
In modern usage, however, \"Burgundians\" can sometimes refer to later inhabitants of the geographical *Bourgogne* or *Borgogne* (Burgundy), named after the old kingdom, but not corresponding to the original boundaries of it. Between the 6th and 20th centuries, the boundaries and political connections of \"Burgundy\" have changed frequently. In modern times the only area still referred to as Burgundy is in France, which derives its name from the Duchy of Burgundy. But in the context of the Middle Ages the term Burgundian (or similar spellings) can refer even to the powerful political entity the Dukes controlled which included not only Burgundy itself but had actually expanded to have a strong association with areas now in modern Belgium and Southern Netherlands. The parts of the old Kingdom not within the French controlled Duchy tended to come under different names, except for the County of Burgundy.
## History
### Uncertain origins {#uncertain_origins}
The origins of the Burgundians before they reached the area near the Roman-controlled Rhine is a subject of various old proposals, but these are doubted by some modern historians. As remarked by Susan Reynolds, citing Ian N. Wood: `{{blockquote|Wood suggests that those who were called Burgundians in their early sixth-century laws were not a single ethnic group, but covered any non-Roman follower of Gundobad and Sigismund. Some of the leaders of Goths and Burgundians may have descended from long-distant ancestors somewhere around the Baltic. Maybe, but everyone has a lot of ancestors, and some of theirs may well have come from elsewhere. There is, as [[Walter Goffart]] has repeatedly argued, little reason to believe that sixth-century or later references to what looks like names for Scandinavia, or for places in it, mean that traditions from those particular ancestors had been handed through thick and thin.}}`{=mediawiki}
They have long been associated with Scandinavian origin based on place-name evidence and archaeological evidence (Stjerna) and many consider their tradition to be correct (e.g. Musset, p. 62). According to such proposals, the Burgundians are believed to have then emigrated to the Baltic island of Bornholm (\"the island of the Burgundians\" in Old Norse). By about 250 AD, the population of Bornholm had largely disappeared from the island. Most cemeteries ceased to be used, and those that were still used had few burials (Stjerna, in German 1925:176). In *Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar* (*The Saga of Thorstein, Viking\'s Son*), a man (or group) named Veseti settled on a holm (island) called *borgundarhólmr* in Old Norse, i.e. Bornholm. Alfred the Great\'s translation of *Orosius* uses the name *Burgenda land* to refer to a territory next to the land of Sweons (\"Swedes\"). The 19th century poet and mythologist Viktor Rydberg asserted from an early medieval source, *Vita Sigismundi*, that they themselves retained oral traditions about their Scandinavian origin.
### Roman accounts {#roman_accounts}
A people with the same name, Burgundiones, were described by early Roman writers as living in present-day Poland.
- In the first century AD, authors such as Tacitus and Pliny the Elder knew little concerning the Germanic peoples east of the Elbe river, or on the Baltic Sea. Pliny (IV.28), however, mentions a group with the specific Latin name as it would be used in France, *Burgundiones*, among the Vandalic *Germani* - a group which also included the Gutones, Varini and the otherwise unknown Carini.
- Claudius Ptolemy, writing in the 2nd century, listed the *Burguntes* (a more unusual form) as living between the Suevus (probably the Oder) and Vistula rivers, north of the Lugian tribes the *Omani* and *Diduni*, and south of the *Aelvaeones*.
It has also been proposed that there several important Germanic tribes later found settled near Roman frontiers originally had their origins around the Baltic sea, including the Rugii, Goths, Gepidae, Vandals, and others. According to such proposals, their movement south created turmoil along the entire Roman frontier. Southwards migrations are believed to have triggered the Marcomannic Wars, which resulted in widespread destruction and the first invasion of Italy in the Roman Empire period. Writing in the 6th century, Jordanes reported that during the 3rd century AD, the Burgundians had been living near the Vistula basin, where they were almost annihilated by Fastida, king of the Gepids, whose kingdom was also originally near the mouth of the Vistula.
In the late 3rd century AD, the Burgundians appeared on the east bank of the Rhine, apparently confronting Roman Gaul. Zosimus (1.68) reports them being defeated by the emperor Probus in 278 near a river, together with the Silingi and Vandals. A few years later, Claudius Mamertinus mentions them along with the Alamanni, a Suebic people. These two peoples had moved into the Agri Decumates on the eastern side of the Rhine, an area still referred to today as Swabia, at times attacking Roman Gaul together and sometimes fighting each other. He also mentions that the Goths had previously defeated the Burgundians.
Ammianus Marcellinus, on the other hand, claimed that the Burgundians descended from the Romans. The Roman sources do not speak of any specific migration from Poland by the Burgundians, and so there have historically been some doubts about the link between the eastern and western Burgundians.
In 369/370 AD, the Emperor Valentinian I enlisted the aid of the Burgundians in his war against the Alamanni.
Approximately four decades later, the Burgundians appear again. Following Stilicho\'s withdrawal of troops to fight Alaric I the Visigoth in 406--408 AD, a large group of peoples from central Europe north of the Danube came west and crossed the Rhine, entering the Empire near the lands of the Burgundians who had moved much earlier. The dominant groups were Alans, Vandals (Hasdingi and Silingi), and Danubian Suevi. The majority of these Danubian peoples moved through Gaul and eventually established themselves in kingdoms in Roman Hispania. One group of Alans was settled in northern Gaul by the Romans.
Some Burgundians were settled as *foederati* in the Roman province of Germania Prima along the Middle Rhine. Other Burgundians, however, remained outside the empire and apparently formed a contingent in Attila\'s Hunnic army by 451 AD.
### Kingdom
#### Rhineland
In 411, the Burgundian king Gundahar (or *Gundicar*) set up a puppet emperor, Jovinus, in cooperation with Goar, king of the Alans. With the authority of the Gallic emperor that he controlled, Gundahar settled on the left (Roman) bank of the Rhine, between the river Lauter and the Nahe, seizing Worms, Speyer, and Strassburg. Apparently as part of a truce, the Emperor Honorius later officially \"granted\" them the land, with its capital at the old Celtic Roman settlement of Borbetomagus (present Worms).
Despite their new status as *foederati*, Burgundian raids into Roman Upper Gallia Belgica became intolerable and were ruthlessly brought to an end in 436, when the Roman general Aëtius called in Hun mercenaries, who overwhelmed the Rhineland kingdom in 437. Gundahar was killed in the fighting, reportedly along with the majority of the Burgundian tribe.
The destruction of Worms and the Burgundian kingdom by the Huns became the subject of heroic legends that were afterwards incorporated in the *Nibelungenlied*---on which Wagner based his Ring Cycle---where King Gunther (Gundahar) and Queen Brünhild hold their court at Worms, and Siegfried comes to woo Kriemhild. (In Old Norse sources the names are *Gunnar*, *Brynhild*, and *Gudrún* as normally rendered in English.) In fact, the *Etzel* of the *Nibelungenlied* is based on Attila the Hun.
#### Settlement in eastern Gaul {#settlement_in_eastern_gaul}
For reasons not cited in the sources, the Burgundians were granted *foederati* status a second time, and in 443 were resettled by Aëtius in Sapaudia`{{Refn|group=n|The territory, which has no modern counterpart, was perhaps bounded by the rivers Ain and Rhône, [[Lake Geneva]], the Jura and the Aar, though historians differ, and there seems to be insufficient evidence.<ref>Norman H. Baynes, reviewing A. Coville, ''Recherches sur l'Histoire de Lyon du Ve au IXe Siècle (450–800)'' in ''The English Historical Review'' '''45''' No. 179 (July 1930:470 474) p 471.</ref>}}`{=mediawiki}, part of the Gallo-Roman province of Maxima Sequanorum. Burgundians probably even lived near *Lugdunum*, known today as Lyon. A new king, Gundioc or *Gunderic*, presumed to be Gundahar\'s son, appears to have reigned following his father\'s death. The historian Pline tells us that Gunderic ruled the areas of Saône, Dauphiny, Savoie and a part of Provence. He set up Vienne as the capital of the kingdom of Burgundy. In all, eight Burgundian kings of the house of Gundahar ruled until the kingdom was overrun by the Franks in 534.
As allies of Rome in its last decades, the Burgundians fought alongside Aëtius and a confederation of Visigoths and others against Attila at the Battle of Châlons (also called \"The Battle of the Catalaunian Fields\") in 451. The alliance between Burgundians and Visigoths seems to have been strong, as Gundioc and his brother Chilperic I accompanied Theodoric II to Spain to fight the Sueves in 455.
#### Aspirations to the empire {#aspirations_to_the_empire}
Also in 455, an ambiguous reference *infidoque tibi Burdundio ductu* implicates an unnamed treacherous Burgundian leader in the murder of the emperor Petronius Maximus in the chaos preceding the sack of Rome by the Vandals. The Patrician Ricimer is also blamed; this event marks the first indication of the link between the Burgundians and Ricimer, who was probably Gundioc\'s brother-in-law and Gundobad\'s uncle.
In 456, the Burgundians, apparently confident in their growing power, negotiated a territorial expansion and power sharing arrangement with the local Roman senators.
In 457, Ricimer overthrew another emperor, Avitus, raising Majorian to the throne. This new emperor proved unhelpful to Ricimer and the Burgundians. The year after his ascension, Majorian stripped the Burgundians of the lands they had acquired two years earlier. After showing further signs of independence, he was murdered by Ricimer in 461.
Ten years later, in 472, Ricimer--who was by now the son-in-law of the Western Emperor Anthemius--was plotting with Gundobad to kill his father-in-law; Gundobad beheaded the emperor (apparently personally). Ricimer then appointed Olybrius; both died, surprisingly of natural causes, within a few months. Gundobad seems then to have succeeded his uncle as Patrician and king-maker, and raised Glycerius to the throne.
In 474, Burgundian influence over the empire seems to have ended. Glycerius was deposed in favor of Julius Nepos, and Gundobad returned to Burgundy, presumably at the death of his father Gundioc. At this time or shortly afterwards, the Burgundian kingdom was divided among Gundobad and his brothers, Godigisel, Chilperic II, and Gundomar I.
#### Consolidation of the kingdom {#consolidation_of_the_kingdom}
According to Gregory of Tours, the years following Gundobad\'s return to Burgundy saw a bloody consolidation of power. Gregory states that Gundobad murdered his brother Chilperic, drowning his wife and exiling their daughters (one of whom was to become the wife of Clovis the Frank, and was reputedly responsible for his conversion). This is contested by, e.g., Bury, who points out problems in much of Gregory\'s chronology for the events.
In c. 500, when Gundobad and Clovis were at war, Gundobad appears to have been betrayed by his brother Godegisel, who joined the Franks; together Godegisel\'s and Clovis\' forces \"crushed the army of Gundobad\". Gundobad was temporarily holed up in Avignon, but was able to re-muster his army and sacked Vienne, where Godegisel and many of his followers were put to death. From this point, Gundobad appears to have been the sole king of Burgundy. This would imply that his brother Gundomar was already dead, though there are no specific mentions of the event in the sources.
Either Gundobad and Clovis reconciled their differences, or Gundobad was forced into some sort of vassalage by Clovis\' earlier victory, as the Burgundian king appears to have assisted the Franks in 507 in their victory over Alaric II the Visigoth.
During the upheaval, sometime between 483 and 501, Gundobad began to set forth the *Lex Gundobada* (see below), issuing roughly the first half, which drew upon the *Lex Visigothorum*. Following his consolidation of power, between 501 and his death in 516, Gundobad issued the second half of his law, which was more originally Burgundian.
#### Fall
The Burgundians were extending their power over eastern Gaul---that is western Switzerland and eastern France, as well as northern Italy. In 493, Clovis, king of the Franks, married the Burgundian princess Clotilda (daughter of Chilperic), who converted him to the Catholic faith.
At first allied with Clovis\' Franks against the Visigoths in the early 6th century, the Burgundians were eventually conquered at Autun by the Franks in 532 after a first attempt in the Battle of Vézeronce. The Burgundian kingdom was made part of the Merovingian kingdoms, and the Burgundians themselves were by and large absorbed as well.
## Physical appearance {#physical_appearance}
The 5th century Gallo-Roman poet and landowner Sidonius, who at one point lived with the Burgundians, described them as a long-haired people of immense physical size: `{{blockquote|Why... do you [an obscure senator by the name of Catullinus] bid me compose a song dedicated to Venus... placed as I am among long-haired hordes, having to endure Germanic speech, praising often with a wry face the song of the gluttonous Burgundian who spreads rancid butter on his hair? ... You don't have a reek of garlic and foul onions discharged upon you at early morn from ten breakfasts, and you are not invaded before dawn... by a crowd of giants.<ref name="Heater197">{{harvnb|Heather|2007|pp=196–197}}</ref>}}`{=mediawiki}
## Language
The Burgundians and their language were described as Germanic by the poet Sidonius Apollinaris. Herwig Wolfram has interpreted this as being because they had entered Gaul from *Germania*.
More specifically their language is thought to have belonged to the East Germanic language group, based upon their presumed equivalence to the Burgundians named much earlier by Pliny in the east, and some names and placenames. However, this is now considered uncertain. Little is known of the language. Some proper names of Burgundians are recorded, and some words used in the area in modern times are thought to be derived from the ancient Burgundian language, but it is often difficult to distinguish these from Germanic words of other origin, and in any case the modern form of the words is rarely suitable to infer much about the form in the old language.
The language appears to have become extinct during the late 6th century, likely due to the early conversion of the Burgundians to Latin Christianity.
## Religion
Somewhere in the east the Burgundians had converted to the Arian Christianity from earlier Germanic paganism. Their Arianism proved a source of suspicion and distrust between the Burgundians and the Catholic Western Roman Empire.
Divisions were evidently healed or healing circa 500, however, as Gundobad, one of the last Burgundian kings, maintained a close personal friendship with Avitus, the bishop of Vienne. Moreover, Gundobad\'s son and successor, Sigismund, was himself a Catholic, and there is evidence that many of the Burgundian people had converted by this time as well, including several female members of the ruling family.
## Law
The Burgundians left three legal codes, among the earliest from any of the Germanic tribes.
The *Liber Constitutionum sive Lex Gundobada* (\"The Book of Constitutions or Law of Gundobad\"), also known as the *Lex Burgundionum*, or more simply the *Lex Gundobada* or the *Liber*, was issued in several parts between 483 and 516, principally by Gundobad, but also by his son, Sigismund. It was a record of Burgundian customary law and is typical of the many Germanic law codes from this period. In particular, the *Liber* borrowed from the *Lex Visigothorum* and influenced the later *Lex Ripuaria*. The *Liber* is one of the primary sources for contemporary Burgundian life, as well as the history of its kings.
Like many of the Germanic tribes, the Burgundians\' legal traditions allowed the application of separate laws for separate ethnicities. Thus, in addition to the *Lex Gundobada*, Gundobad also issued (or codified) a set of laws for Roman subjects of the Burgundian kingdom, the *Lex Romana Burgundionum* (*The Roman Law of the Burgundians*).
In addition to the above codes, Gundobad\'s son Sigismund later published the *Prima Constitutio*.
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Dots and boxes
|
**Dots and boxes** is a pencil-and-paper game for two players (sometimes more). It was first published in the 19th century by French mathematician Édouard Lucas, who called it ***la pipopipette***. It has gone by many other names, including **dots and dashes**, **game of dots**, **dot to dot grid**, **boxes**, and **pigs in a pen**.
The game starts with an empty grid of dots. Usually two players take turns adding a single horizontal or vertical line between two unjoined adjacent dots. A player who completes the fourth side of a 1×1 box earns one point and takes another turn. A point is typically recorded by placing a mark that identifies the player in the box, such as an initial. The game ends when no more lines can be placed. The winner is the player with the most points. The board may be of any size grid. When short on time, or to learn the game, a 2×2 board (3×3 dots) is suitable. A 5×5 board, on the other hand, is good for experts.
## Strategy
upright=1.35\|thumb\|Example game of Dots and Boxes on a 2×2 square board. The second player (\"B\") plays a rotated mirror image of the first player\'s moves, hoping to divide the board into two pieces and tie the game. But the first player (\"A\") makes a *sacrifice* at move 7 and B accepts the sacrifice, getting one box. However, B must now add another line, and so B connects the center dot to the center-right dot, causing the remaining unscored boxes to be joined in a *chain* (shown at the end of move 8). With A\'s next move, A gets all three of them and ends the game, winning 3--1. thumb\|upright=1.35\|The \"double-cross\" strategy: faced with position 1, a novice player would create position 2 and lose. An experienced player would create position 3 and win. For most novice players, the game begins with a phase of more-or-less randomly connecting dots, where the only strategy is to avoid adding the third side to any box. This continues until all the remaining (potential) boxes are joined into *chains* -- groups of one or more adjacent boxes in which any move gives all the boxes in the chain to the opponent. At this point, players typically take all available boxes, then *open* the smallest available chain to their opponent. For example, a novice player faced with a situation like position 1 in the diagram on the right, in which some boxes can be captured, may take all the boxes in the chain, resulting in position 2. But with their last move, they have to open the next, larger chain, and the novice loses the game.
A more experienced player faced with position 1 will instead play the *double-cross strategy*, taking all but 2 of the boxes in the chain and leaving position 3. The opponent will take these two boxes and then be forced to open the next chain. By achieving position 3, player A wins. The same double-cross strategy applies no matter how many long chains there are: a player using this strategy will take all but two boxes in each chain and take all the boxes in the last chain. If the chains are long enough, then this player will win.
The next level of strategic complexity, between experts who would both use the double-cross strategy (if they were allowed to), is a battle for control: an expert player tries to force their opponent to open the first long chain, because the player who first opens a long chain usually loses. Against a player who does not understand the concept of a sacrifice, the expert simply has to make the correct number of sacrifices to encourage the opponent to hand them the first chain long enough to ensure a win. If the other player also sacrifices, the expert has to additionally manipulate the number of available sacrifices through earlier play.
In combinatorial game theory, Dots and Boxes is an impartial game and many positions can be analyzed using Sprague--Grundy theory. However, Dots and Boxes lacks the normal play convention of most impartial games (where the last player to move wins), which complicates the analysis considerably.
## Unusual grids and variants {#unusual_grids_and_variants}
Dots and Boxes need not be played on a rectangular grid`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki}it can be played on a triangular grid or a hexagonal grid.
Dots and boxes has a dual graph form called \"Strings-and-Coins\". This game is played on a network of coins (vertices) joined by strings (edges). Players take turns cutting a string. When a cut leaves a coin with no strings, the player \"pockets\" the coin and takes another turn. The winner is the player who pockets the most coins. Strings-and-Coins can be played on an arbitrary graph.
In analyses of Dots and Boxes, a game that starts with outer lines already drawn is called a *Swedish board* while the standard version that starts fully blank is called an *American board*. An intermediate version with only the left and bottom sides starting with drawn lines is called an *Icelandic board*.
A related game is Dots, played by adding coloured dots to a blank grid, and joining them with straight or diagonal line in an attempt to surround an opponent\'s dots.
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Broadcast domain
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A **broadcast domain** is a logical division of a computer network, in which all nodes can reach each other by broadcast at the data link layer. A broadcast domain can be within the same LAN segment or it can be bridged to other LAN segments.
In terms of current popular technologies, any computer connected to the same Ethernet repeater or switch is a member of the same broadcast domain. Further, any computer connected to the same set of interconnected switches or repeaters is a member of the same broadcast domain. Routers and other network-layer devices form boundaries between broadcast domains.
The notion of a broadcast domain can be compared with a collision domain, which would be all nodes on the same set of inter-connected repeaters and divided by switches and network bridges. Collision domains are generally smaller than and contained within broadcast domains. While some data-link-layer devices are able to divide the collision domains, broadcast domains are only divided by network-layer devices such as routers or layer-3 switches. Separating VLANs divides broadcast domains as well.
## Further explanation {#further_explanation}
The distinction between broadcast and collision domains comes about because simple Ethernet and similar systems use a shared medium for communication. In simple Ethernet (without switches or bridges), data frames are transmitted to all other nodes on a network. Each receiving node checks the destination address of each frame and simply ignores any frame not addressed to its own MAC address or the broadcast address.
Switches act as buffers, receiving and analyzing the frames from each connected network segment. Frames destined for nodes connected to the originating segment are not forwarded by the switch. Frames destined for a specific node on a different segment are sent only to that segment. Only broadcast frames are forwarded to all other segments. This reduces unnecessary traffic and collisions.
In such a switched network, transmitted frames may not be received by all other reachable nodes. Nominally, only broadcast frames will be received by all other nodes. Collisions are localized to the physical-layer network segment they occur on. Thus, the broadcast domain is the entire inter-connected layer-2 network, and the segments connected to each switch or bridge port are each a collision domain. To clarify; repeaters do not divide collision domains but switches do. This means that since switches have become commonplace, collision domains are isolated to the specific segment between the switch port and the connected node. Full-duplex segments, or links, don\'t form a collision domain as there is a dedicated channel between each transmitter and receiver, eliminating the possibility of collisions.
## Broadcast domain control {#broadcast_domain_control}
With a sufficiently sophisticated switch, it is possible to create a network in which a broadcast domain is strictly controlled. One implementation of this concept is a private VLAN. Another implementation is possible with Linux and iptables. One analogy is that by creating multiple VLANs, the number of broadcast domains increases, but the size of each broadcast domain decreases. This is because a VLAN defines a broadcast domain.
This is achieved by designating one or more *provider* nodes, either by MAC address or switch port. Broadcast frames are allowed to originate from these sources and are sent to all other nodes. Broadcast frames from all other sources are directed only to the provider nodes. Traffic from other sources not destined to the provider nodes (peer-to-peer traffic) is blocked.
The result is a network based on a nominally shared transmission system; like Ethernet, but in which client nodes cannot communicate with each other, only with the provider. Allowing direct data link layer communication between client nodes exposes the network to various security attacks, such as ARP spoofing.
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Beechcraft
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**Beechcraft** is an American brand of civil aviation and military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of **Beech Aircraft Corporation**, an American manufacturer of general aviation, commercial, and military aircraft, ranging from light single-engined aircraft to twin-engined turboprop transports, business jets, and military trainers. Beech later became a division of Raytheon and then Hawker Beechcraft before a bankruptcy sale turned its assets over to Textron (parent company of Beech\'s historical cross-town Wichita rival, Cessna Aircraft Company). It remains a brand of Textron Aviation.
## History
Beech Aircraft Company was founded in Wichita, Kansas, in 1932 by Walter Beech as president, his wife Olive Ann Beech as secretary, Ted A. Wells as vice president of engineering, K. K. Shaul as treasurer, and investor C. G. Yankey as vice president. The company began operations in an idle Cessna factory. With designer Ted Wells, they developed the first aircraft under the Beechcraft name, the classic Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing, which first flew in November 1932. Over 750 Staggerwings were built, with 352 manufactured for the United States Army Air Forces and 67 for the United States Navy during World War II.
Beechcraft was not Beech\'s first company, as he had previously formed Travel Air in 1924 and the design numbers used at Beechcraft followed the sequence started at Travel Air, and were then continued at Curtiss-Wright, after Travel Air had been absorbed into the much larger company in 1929. Beech had become president of Curtiss-Wright\'s airplane division and VP of sales, but was dissatisfied with being so far removed from aircraft production. He quit to form Beechcraft, using the original Travel Air facilities and employing many of the same people. Model numbers prior to 11/11000 were built under the \"Travel Air\" name, while Curtiss-Wright built the CW-12, 14, 15, and 16 as well as previous successful Travel Air models (mostly the model 4).
In 1942 Beech won its first Army-Navy \"E\" Award production award and became one of the elite five percent of war contracting firms in the country to win five straight awards for production efficiency, mostly for the production of the Beechcraft Model 18 which remains in widespread use worldwide. Beechcraft ranked 69th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.
After the war, the Staggerwing was replaced by the revolutionary Beechcraft Bonanza with a distinctive V-tail. Perhaps the best known Beech aircraft, the single-engined Bonanza has been manufactured in various models since 1947. The Bonanza has had the longest production run of any airplane, past or present, in the world. Other important Beech aircraft are the King Air and Super King Air line of twin-engined turboprops, in production since 1964, the Baron, a twin-engined variant of the Bonanza, and the Beechcraft Model 18, originally a business transport and commuter airliner from the late 1930s through the 1960s, which remains in active service as a cargo transport.
In 1950, Olive Ann Beech was installed as president and CEO of the company, after the sudden death of her husband from a heart attack on November 29 of that year. She continued as CEO until Beech was purchased by Raytheon Company on February 8, 1980. Ted Wells had been replaced as chief engineer by Herbert Rawdon, who remained at the post until his retirement in the early 1960s.
Throughout much of the mid-to-late 20th century, Beechcraft was considered one of the \"Big Three\" in the field of general aviation manufacturing, along with Cessna and Piper Aircraft.
In 1973, Beechcraft found Beechcraft Heritage Museum to host its historical aircraft.
In 1994, Raytheon merged Beechcraft with the Hawker product line it had acquired in 1993 from British Aerospace, forming Raytheon Aircraft Company. In 2002, the Beechcraft brand was revived to again designate the Wichita-produced aircraft. In 2006, Raytheon sold Raytheon Aircraft to Goldman Sachs creating Hawker Beechcraft. Since its inception Beechcraft has resided in Wichita, Kansas, also the home of chief competitor Cessna, the birthplace of Learjet and of Stearman, whose trainers were used in large numbers during WW II.
The entry into bankruptcy of Hawker Beechcraft on May 3, 2012, ended with its emergence on February 16, 2013, as a new entity, Beechcraft Corporation, with the Hawker Beechcraft name being retired. The new and much smaller company produce the King Air line of aircraft as well as the T-6 and AT-6 military trainer/attack aircraft, as well as the piston-powered single-engined Bonanza and twin-engined Baron aircraft. The jet line was discontinued, but the new company continues to support the aircraft already produced with parts, plus engineering and airworthiness documentation.
By October 2013, the company, now financially turned around, was up for sale.
On December 26, 2013, Textron agreed to purchase Beechcraft, including the discontinued Hawker jet line, for \$1.4 billion. The sale was concluded in the first half of 2014, with government approval. Textron CEO Scott Donnelly indicated that Beechcraft and Cessna would be combined to form a new light aircraft manufacturing concern, Textron Aviation, that would result in US\$65M--\$85M in annual savings over keeping the companies separate. Textron has kept both the Beechcraft and Cessna names as separate brands.
## Products
*Main article: List of Beechcraft models*
As of July 2019, Textron Aviation was producing the following models under the Beechcraft brand name:
- Beechcraft Bonanza series -- single-engined piston general aviation aircraft
- Beechcraft Baron -- twin-engined piston utility aircraft
- Beechcraft Denali
- (Super) King Air
- C-12 Huron (military version)
- Beechcraft T-6 Texan II/CT-156 Harvard II -- single-engined turboprop military trainer, based on Pilatus PC-9
## Facilities
- Beech Factory Airport -- houses Beechcraft\'s head office, manufacturing facility, and runway for test flights
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Biconditional introduction
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In propositional logic, **biconditional introduction** is a valid rule of inference. It allows for one to infer a biconditional from two conditional statements. The rule makes it possible to introduce a biconditional statement into a logical proof. If $P \to Q$ is true, and if $Q \to P$ is true, then one may infer that $P \leftrightarrow Q$ is true. For example, from the statements \"if I\'m breathing, then I\'m alive\" and \"if I\'m alive, then I\'m breathing\", it can be inferred that \"I\'m breathing if and only if I\'m alive\". Biconditional introduction is the converse of biconditional elimination. The rule can be stated formally as:
$$\frac{P \to Q, Q \to P}{\therefore P \leftrightarrow Q}$$
where the rule is that wherever instances of \"$P \to Q$\" and \"$Q \to P$\" appear on lines of a proof, \"$P \leftrightarrow Q$\" can validly be placed on a subsequent line.
## Formal notation {#formal_notation}
The *biconditional introduction* rule may be written in sequent notation:
$$(P \to Q), (Q \to P) \vdash (P \leftrightarrow Q)$$
where $\vdash$ is a metalogical symbol meaning that $P \leftrightarrow Q$ is a syntactic consequence when $P \to Q$ and $Q \to P$ are both in a proof;
or as the statement of a truth-functional tautology or theorem of propositional logic:
$$((P \to Q) \land (Q \to P)) \to (P \leftrightarrow Q)$$
where $P$, and $Q$ are propositions expressed in some formal system.
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Biconditional elimination
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**Biconditional elimination** is the name of two valid rules of inference of propositional logic. It allows for one to infer a conditional from a biconditional. If $P \leftrightarrow Q$ is true, then one may infer that $P \to Q$ is true, and also that $Q \to P$ is true. For example, if it\'s true that I\'m breathing if and only if I\'m alive, then it\'s true that if I\'m breathing, I\'m alive; likewise, it\'s true that if I\'m alive, I\'m breathing. The rules can be stated formally as:
$$\frac{P \leftrightarrow Q}{\therefore P \to Q}$$ and
$$\frac{P \leftrightarrow Q}{\therefore Q \to P}$$
where the rule is that wherever an instance of \"$P \leftrightarrow Q$\" appears on a line of a proof, either \"$P \to Q$\" or \"$Q \to P$\" can be placed on a subsequent line.
## Formal notation {#formal_notation}
The *biconditional elimination* rule may be written in sequent notation:
$$(P \leftrightarrow Q) \vdash (P \to Q)$$ and
$$(P \leftrightarrow Q) \vdash (Q \to P)$$
where $\vdash$ is a metalogical symbol meaning that $P \to Q$, in the first case, and $Q \to P$ in the other are syntactic consequences of $P \leftrightarrow Q$ in some logical system;
or as the statement of a truth-functional tautology or theorem of propositional logic:
$$(P \leftrightarrow Q) \to (P \to Q)$$
$$(P \leftrightarrow Q) \to (Q \to P)$$
where $P$, and $Q$ are propositions expressed in some formal system.
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Batavi (Germanic tribe)
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Batavia\|and\|Batavi (disambiguation){{!}}Batavi}} The **Batavi** `{{IPA|la|bäˈt̪äːu̯iː|}}`{=mediawiki} were an ancient Germanic tribe that lived around the modern Dutch Rhine delta in the area that the Romans called Batavia, from the second half of the first century BC to the third century AD. The name is also applied to several military units employed by the Romans that were originally raised among the Batavi. The tribal name, probably a derivation from *batawjō* (\"good island\", from Germanic *bat-* meaning \"good, excellent\", which is also in the English \"better\", and *awjō* meaning \"island, land near water\"), may refer to the fertile Betuwe region.
## Location
The Batavi themselves are not mentioned by Julius Caesar in his commentary *Commentarii de Bello Gallico*, although he is often thought to have founded his dynasty\'s Germanic bodyguard, which was at least in later generations dominated by Batavi. But he did mention the \"Batavian island\" in the Rhine river. The island\'s easternmost point is at a split in the Rhine, one arm being the Waal the other the Lower Rhine/Old Rhine (hence the Latin name *Insula Batavorum*, \"Island of the Batavi\"). Much later Tacitus wrote that they had originally been a tribe of the Chatti, a tribe in Germany also never mentioned by Caesar (unless they were his \"Suebi\"), who were forced by internal dissension to move to their new home. The time when this happened is unknown, but Caesar does describe forced movements of tribes from the east in his time, such as the Usipetes and Tencteri.
Tacitus also reports that before their arrival the area had been \"an uninhabited district on the extremity of the coast of Gaul, and also of a neighbouring island, surrounded by the ocean in front, and by the river Rhine in the rear and on either side\". This view, however, is contradicted by the archeological evidence, which shows continuous habitation from at least the third century BC onward.
The strategic position, to wit the high bank of the Waal offering an unimpeded view far into Germania Transrhenana (Germania Beyond the Rhine), was recognized first by Drusus, who built a massive fortress (*castra*) and a headquarters (*praetorium*) in imperial style. The latter was in use until the Batavian revolt.
Archeological evidence suggests they lived in small villages, composed of six to 12 houses in the very fertile lands between the rivers, and lived by agriculture and cattle-raising. Finds of horse skeletons in graves suggest a strong equestrian preoccupation. On the south bank of the Waal (in what is now Nijmegen) a Roman administrative center was built, called *Oppidum Batavorum*. An Oppidum was a fortified warehouse, where a tribe\'s treasures were stored and guarded. This centre was razed during the Batavian Revolt. The Smetius Collection was instrumental in settling the debate about the exact location of the Batavians.
## Military units {#military_units}
The first Batavi commander we know of is named Chariovalda, who led a charge across the Vīsurgis (Weser) river against the Cherusci led by Arminius during the campaigns of Germanicus in *Germania Transrhenana*.
Tacitus (*De origine et situ Germanorum* XXIX) described the Batavi as the bravest of the tribes of the area, hardened in the Germanic wars, with cohorts under their own commanders transferred to Britannia. They retained the honour of the ancient association with the Romans, not required to pay tribute or taxes and used by the Romans only for war: \"They furnished to the Empire nothing but men and arms\", Tacitus remarked. Well regarded for their skills in horsemanship and swimming---for men and horses could cross the Rhine without losing formation, according to Tacitus. Dio Cassius describes this surprise tactic employed by Aulus Plautius against the \"barbarians\"---the British Celts--- at the battle of the River Medway, 43:
> The barbarians thought that Romans would not be able to cross it without a bridge, and consequently bivouacked in rather careless fashion on the opposite bank; but he sent across a detachment of Germanic tribesmen, who were accustomed to swim easily in full armour across the most turbulent streams. \[\...\] Thence the Britons retired to the river Thames at a point near where it empties into the ocean and at flood-tide forms a lake. This they easily crossed because they knew where the firm ground and the easy passages in this region were to be found; but the Romans in attempting to follow them were not so successful. However, the Germans swam across again and some others got over by a bridge a little way up-stream, after which they assailed the barbarians from several sides at once and cut down many of them. (Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 60:20)
It is uncertain how they were able to accomplish this feat. The late fourth century writer on Roman military affairs Vegetius mentions soldiers using reed rafts, drawn by leather leads, to transport equipment across rivers. But the sources suggest the Batavi were able to swim across rivers actually wearing full armour and weapons. This would only have been possible by the use of some kind of buoyancy device: Ammianus Marcellinus mentions that the *Cornuti* regiment swam across a river floating on their shields \"as on a canoe\" (357). Since the shields were wooden, they may have provided sufficient buoyancy
The Batavi were used to form the bulk of the Emperor\'s personal Germanic bodyguard from Augustus to Galba. They also provided a contingent for their indirect successors, the Emperor\'s horse guards, the *Equites singulares Augusti*.
A Batavian contingent was used in an amphibious assault on Ynys Mon (Anglesey), taking the assembled Druids by surprise, as they were only expecting Roman ships.
Numerous altars and tombstones of the cohorts of Batavi, dating to the second century and third century, have been found along Hadrian\'s Wall, notably at Castlecary and Carrawburgh. As well as in Germany, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania and Austria.
### Revolt of the Batavi {#revolt_of_the_batavi}
Despite the alliance, one of the high-ranking Batavi, Julius Paullus, to give him his Roman name, was executed by Fonteius Capito on a false charge of rebellion. His kinsman Gaius Julius Civilis was paraded in chains in Rome before Nero; though he was acquitted by Galba, he was retained at Rome, and when he returned to his kin in the year of upheaval in the Roman Empire, 69, he headed a Batavian rebellion. He managed to capture Castra Vetera, the Romans\' lost two legions, while two others (I Germanica and XVI Gallica) were controlled by the rebels. The rebellion became a real threat to the Empire when the conflict escalated to northern Gaul and Germania. The Roman army retaliated and invaded the *insula Batavorum*. A bridge was built over the river Nabalia, where the warring parties approached each other on both sides to negotiate peace. The narrative was told in great detail in Tacitus\' History, book iv, although, unfortunately, the narrative breaks off abruptly at the climax. Following the uprising, Legio X *Gemina* was housed in a stone *castra* to keep an eye on the Batavians.
## Fate of the Batavi {#fate_of_the_batavi}
The Batavi were still mentioned in 355 during the reign of Constantius II (317--361), when their island was already dominated by the Salii, a Frankish tribe that had sought Roman protection there in 297 after having been expelled from their own country by the Saxons.
Constantius Gallus added inhabitants of Batavia to his legions, \"of whose discipline we still make use.\" It has been assumed they merged with the Salii shortly before or after and, after having been expelled by another tribe (it has been proposed this was the Chamavi), shared their subsequent migration to Toxandria. In the Late Roman army there was a unit called *Batavi*.
The name of the Bavarian town of Passau descends from the Roman *Batavis*, which was named after the Batavi. The town\'s name is old as it shows the typical effects of the High German consonant shift (b \> p, t \> ss).
## The Batavian revival {#the_batavian_revival}
In the 16th-century emergence of a popular foundation story and origin myth for the Dutch people, the Batavians came to be regarded as their ancestors during their national struggle for independence during the Eighty Years\' War. The mix of fancy and fact in the *Cronyke van Hollandt, Zeelandt ende Vriesland* (called the *Divisiekroniek*) by the Augustinian friar and humanist Cornelius Gerardi Aurelius, first published in 1517, brought the spare remarks in Tacitus\' newly rediscovered *Germania* to a popular public; it was being reprinted as late as 1802. Contemporary Dutch virtues of independence, fortitude and industry were fully recognizable among the Batavians in more scholarly history represented in Hugo Grotius\' *Liber de Antiquitate Republicae Batavicorum* (1610). The origin was perpetuated by Romeyn de Hooghe\'s *Spiegel van Staat der Vereenigden Nederlanden* (\"Mirror of the State of the United Netherlands,\" 1706), which also ran to many editions, and it was revived in the atmosphere of Romantic nationalism in the late eighteenth-century reforms that saw a short-lived Batavian Republic and, in the colony of the Dutch East Indies, a capital that was named Batavia. Though since Indonesian independence the city is called Jakarta, its inhabitants up to the present still call themselves *Betawi* or *Orang Betawi*, i.e. \"People of Batavia\" -- a name ultimately derived from the ancient Batavians.
The success of this tale of origins was mostly due to resemblance in anthropology, which was based on tribal knowledge. Being politically and geographically inclusive, this historical vision filled the needs of Dutch nation-building and integration in the 1890--1914 era.
However, a disadvantage of this historical nationalism soon became apparent. It suggested there were no strong external borders, while allowing for the fairly clear-cut internal borders that were emerging as the society polarized into three parts. After 1945, the tribal knowledge lost its grip on anthropology and mostly vanished. Modern variants of the Batavian founding myth are made more accurate by pointing out that the Batavians were one part of the ancestry of the Dutch people - together with the Frisians, Franks and Saxons -- by tracing patterns of DNA. Echoes of this cultural continuity can still be found among various areas of Dutch modern culture, such as the very popular replica of the ship *Batavia* that can today be found in Lelystad.
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Bocce
|
***italics=no*** (`{{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɒ|tʃ|i|audio=en-us-bocce.oga}}`{=mediawiki}, or `{{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɒ|tʃ|eɪ}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{IPA|it|ˈbɔttʃe|lang}}`{=mediawiki}), sometimes anglicized as **bocce ball**, **bocci**, or **boccie**, is a ball sport belonging to the boules family. Developed into its present form in Italy, it is closely related to English bowls and French *\[\[pétanque\]\]*, with a common ancestry from ancient games played in the Roman Empire. Bocce is played around Western, Southern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as in overseas areas with historical Italian immigrant population, including Australia, North and South America, principally Argentina and the southern Brazilian states of Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. Initially only played by Italian immigrants, the game has slowly gained popularity among descendant generations and outside the Italian diaspora.
## History
Having developed from games played in the Roman Empire, bocce developed into its present form in Italy, where it is called **bocce**, the plural of the Italian word **boccia** which means \'bowl\' in the general sporting sense. It spread around Europe and also in regions to which Italians have migrated. The first form of regulation was described in the book \"Gioco delle bocchie\" by Raffaele Bisteghi in 1753. In South America it is known as **bochas**, or *bolas criollas* (\'Criollo balls\') in Venezuela, and **bocha** in southern Brazil. The accessibility of bocce to people of all ages and abilities has seen it grow in popularity among Special Olympics programmes globally, and it is now the third most-played sport among Special Olympics athletes.
## Geographical spread {#geographical_spread}
The sport is also very popular on the eastern side of the Adriatic, especially in Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the sport is known in Croatian as **boćanje** (\'playing **boće**\') or **balote** (colloquially also **bućanje**). In Slovenia the sport is known as **balinanje** or colloquially \'playing **boče**\', or **bale** (from Italian **bocce** and Venetian **bałe**, meaning \'balls\'). There are numerous bocce leagues in the United States (USA).
Bocce was brought to Venezuela between 1498 and 1510 by a Spanish friar or by Priest Sojo, great-uncle of Simón Bolívar. The Venezuelan modality became popular during the 1930s and is played in several Caribbean islands, including Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire. In 1946, bocce was included in the first Venezuelan National Sports Games, and in 1956 the National Venezuelan Federation of Creole Bocce was founded.
Bocce is also played in Brazil. The sport was brought between 1880 and 1930 by the Italian families of Baggio, Zanetti, Tedesco, Merlin, Pazello, Bolisenha, Ricetti, Fressatos and Dorigos. The sport became popular on Curitiba and in 1952 the families created the bocci club Sociedade 25 de Maio. The city has also developed their own modality of bocce, \"bocha clássico\" (classic bocce). On 25 May, the city celebrates the bocce day.
Brazil is also notorious in the paralympic bocce modality. During the 2012 Summer Paralympics, the country conquered three gold medals and one bronze medal in the BC2 and BC4 categories. Brazil hosted the paralympic bocce world championship twice. On Rio 2016, Brazil conquered a gold medal and a silver medal in the BC3 and BC4 categories. On 2022, the World Championship was hosted again on Rio de Janeiro, and Brazil conquered one gold, three silver and three bronze medals. In 2025, Curitiba hosted the Youth Bocce World Cup.
## Rules and play {#rules_and_play}
Bocce is traditionally played on a natural soil or asphalt court up to 27.5 m in length and 2.5 to wide. While the court walls are traditionally made of wood or stone, many social leagues and Special Olympics programs now use inflatable \'Packabocce\' PVC courts due to their portability and ease of storage. Bocce balls can be made of wood (traditional), metal, baked clay, or various kinds of plastic. Unlike lawn bowls, bocce balls are spherical and have no inbuilt bias.
A game can be conducted between two players, or two teams of two, three, or four. A match is started by a randomly chosen side being given the opportunity to throw a smaller ball, the **jack** (called a **boccino** (\'little bocce\') or **pallino** (\'bullet\' or \'little ball\') in Italian, depending on local custom), from one end of the court into a zone 5 m in length, ending 2.5 m from the far end of the court. If the first team misses twice, the other team is awarded the opportunity to place the jack anywhere they choose within the prescribed zone. Casual play is common in reasonably flat areas of parks and yards lacking a bocce court, but players should agree to the minimum and maximum distance the jack may be thrown before play begins.
The side that first attempted to place the jack is given the opportunity to bowl first. Once the first bowl has taken place, the other side has the opportunity to bowl. From then on, the side which does *not* have the ball closest to the jack has a chance to bowl, up until one side or the other has used their four balls. At that point, the other side bowls its remaining balls. The object of the game is for a team to get as many of its balls as possible closer to the target ball (jack, boccino, pallino) than the opposing team. The team with the closest ball to the jack is the only team that can score points in any frame. The scoring team receives one point for each of their balls that is closer to the jack than the closest ball of the other team. The length of a game varies by region but is typically from 7 to 13 points.
Players are permitted to throw the ball in the air using an underarm action only. This is generally used to knock either the jack or another ball away to attain a more favorable position. Tactics can get quite complex when players have sufficient control over the ball to throw or roll it accurately.
## Variants
### Punto raffa volo {#punto_raffa_volo}
Also known as PRV, punto raffa volo is the main international competition form of bocce. The name refers to the three legal types of throws in the game: punto, or lagging the ball toward the pallino; raffa, shooting a ball with an aerial throw that hits the ground and rolls toward the target; and volo, hitting a ball on the fly or a short hop. The rules of PRV are strict and reward precision and accuracy. Rules violations allow the opposing team to keep the result or reset the game to its set-up before the rules violation (and pulling the foul ball off the court). This reset is accomplished by marking the ground with chalk to indicate the placement of each ball and the pallino.
Rules include (but are not limited to):
- When lagging a ball toward the target, the thrown ball may not move another ball or the pallino more than 70 cm (in Italy, some leagues enforce a 50 cm rule).
- When throwing a raffa or volo, the player must declare which ball will hit first.
- Players cannot throw a ball off the side walls.
- The back wall is dead for missed shots and any balls that hit the back wall while lagging (there are some variations of the lagging rule that may allow the pallino to be pushed into the back wall).
### Open bocce {#open_bocce}
Played mainly in the U.S. and Canada, open bocce features a basic set of rules as compared with PRV. In open bocce, there are fewer limitations on lagging (side walls are live, balls can be moved any distance), and missed targets while shooting are allowed. Some clubs play with the back wall live, while other clubs play with the back wall as dead if a ball hits the back wall on the fly without striking a ball or the pallino. Other variations include angled corners and gutters at the end of the court rather than a back wall.
### Bocce volo {#bocce_volo}
A variation called **bocce volo** uses a metal ball, which is thrown overhand (palm down), after a run-up to the throwing line. In that latter respect, it is similar to the French boules game **\[\[jeu provençal\]\]** also known as **boule lyonnaise** which is internationally called sport-boules. Another French variant of the game is called **\[\[pétanque\]\]**, and (lacking the run-up) is more similar in some respects to traditional **bocce**.
### Boccia
Another development, for persons with disabilities, is called **boccia**. It is a shorter-range game, played with leather balls on an indoor, smooth surface. Boccia was first introduced to the Paralympics at the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Summer Games and is one of the only two Paralympic sports that do not have an Olympic counterpart (the other being goalball).
### Classic bocce {#classic_bocce}
A Brazilian variety of bocce where the ball is rolled on the floor instead of thrown.
### Creole bocce {#creole_bocce}
A Venezuelan variety of bocce, where 4 red balls, 4 green balls and one 5 cm ball (called Mingo) are thrown at once in the field.
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Beatmatching
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**Beatmatching** or **pitch cue** is a DJ technique of pitch shifting or time stretching an upcoming track to match its tempo to that of the currently playing track, and to adjust them such that the beats (and, usually, the bars) are synchronized---e.g. the kicks and snares in two house records hit at the same time when both records are played simultaneously. Beatmatching is a component of **beatmixing** which employs beatmatching combined with equalization, attention to phrasing and track selection in an attempt to make a single mix that flows together and has a good structure.
Beatmatching is a core technique for DJing electronic dance music, and it is standard practice in clubs to keep a constant beat throughout the night, even if DJs change in the middle.
## Technique
The beatmatching technique consists of the following steps:
1. While a record is playing, start a second record playing, but only monitored through headphones, not being fed to the main PA system. Use gain (or *trim*) control on the mixer to match the levels of the two records.
2. Restart and slip-cue the new record at the right time, on beat with the record currently playing.
3. If the beat on the new record hits before the beat on the current record, then the new record is too fast; reduce the pitch and manually slow the speed of the new record to bring the beats back in sync.
4. If the beat on the new record hits after the beat on the current record, then the new record is too slow; increase the pitch and manually increase the speed of the new record to bring the beats back in sync.
5. Continue this process until the two records are in sync with each other. It can be difficult to sync the two records perfectly, so manual adjustment of the records is necessary to maintain the beat synchronization.
6. Gradually fade in parts of the new track while fading out the old track. While in the mix, ensure that the tracks are still synchronized, adjusting the records if needed.
7. The fade can be repeated several times, for example, from the first track, fade to the second track, then back to first, then to second again.
One of the key things to consider when beatmatching is the tempo of both songs, and the musical theory behind the songs. Attempting to beatmatch songs with completely different beats per minute (BPM) will result in one of the songs sounding too fast or too slow.
When beatmatching, a popular technique is to vary the equalization of both tracks. For example, when the kicks are occurring on the same beat, a more seamless transition can occur if the lower frequencies are taken out of one of the songs, and the lower frequencies of the other song is boosted. Doing so creates a smoother transition.
### Pitch and tempo {#pitch_and_tempo}
The pitch and tempo of a track are normally linked together: spin a disc 5% faster and both pitch and tempo will be 5% higher. However, some modern DJ software can change pitch and tempo independently using time-stretching and pitch-shifting, allowing harmonic mixing. There is also a feature in modern DJ software which may be called \"master tempo\" or \"key adjust\" which changes the tempo while keeping the original pitch.
## History
Francis Grasso was one of the first people to beatmatch in the late 1960s, being taught the technique by Bob Lewis.
These days`{{when|date=May 2016}}`{=mediawiki} beat-matching is considered central to DJing, and features making it possible are a requirement for DJ-oriented players. In 1978, the Technics SL-1200MK2 turntable was released, whose comfortable and precise sliding pitch control and high torque direct drive motor made beat-matching easier and it became the standard among DJs. With the advent of the compact disc, DJ-oriented compact disc players with pitch control and other features enabling beat-matching (and sometimes scratching), dubbed CDJs, were introduced by various companies. More recently, software with similar capabilities has been developed to allow manipulation of digital audio files stored on computers using turntables with special vinyl records (e.g. Final Scratch, M-Audio Torq, Serato Scratch Live) or computer interface (e.g. Traktor DJ Studio, Mixxx, VirtualDJ). Other software including algorithmic beat-matching is Ableton Live, which allows for realtime music manipulation and deconstruction. Freeware software such as Rapid Evolution can detect the beats per minute and determine the percent BPM difference between songs.
Most modern DJ hardware and software now offer a \"sync\" feature which automatically adjusts the tempo between tracks being mixed so the DJ no longer needs to beatmatch manually.
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Benjamin
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**Benjamin** (*בִּנְיָמִין}}* *Bīnyāmīn*; \"Son of (the) right\") was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob\'s twelfth and youngest son overall in Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition. He was also considered the progenitor of the Israelite Tribe of Benjamin. Unlike Rachel\'s first son, Joseph, Benjamin was born in Canaan according to biblical narrative.
In the Samaritan Pentateuch, Benjamin\'s name appears as \"`{{Transliteration|smp|Binyamēm}}`{=mediawiki}\" (Samaritan Hebrew: *ࠁࠪࠍࠬࠉࠣࠌࠜࠉࠌࠬ*, \"son of days\"). In the Quran, Benjamin is referred to as a righteous young child, who remained with Jacob when the older brothers plotted against Joseph. Later rabbinic traditions name him as one of four ancient Israelites who died without sin, the other three being Chileab, Jesse and Amram.
## Name
The name is first mentioned in letters from King Sîn-kāšid of Uruk (1801--1771 BC), who called himself "King of Amnanum" and was a member of the Amorite tribal group the "Binu-Jamina" (single name "Binjamin"; Akkadian `{{Transliteration|akk|Mar-Jamin}}`{=mediawiki}). The name means \"Sons/Son of the South\" and is linguistically related as a forerunner to the Old Testament name \"Benjamin\".
According to the Hebrew Bible, Benjamin\'s name arose when Jacob deliberately changed the name \"Benoni\", the original name of Benjamin, since Benoni was an allusion to Rachel\'s dying just after she had given birth, as it means \"son of my pain\". Textual scholars regard these two names as fragments of naming narratives coming from different sources - one being the Jahwist and the other being the Elohist.
Unusual for one of the 12 tribes of Israel, the Bible does not explain the etymology of Benjamin\'s name. Medieval commentator Rashi gives two different explanations, based on Midrashic sources. \"Son of the south\", with south derived from the word for the right hand side, referring to the birth of Benjamin in Canaan, as compared with the birth of all the other sons of Jacob in Aram. Modern scholars have proposed that \"son of the south\" / \"right\" is a reference to the tribe being subordinate to the more dominant tribe of Ephraim. Alternatively, Rashi suggests it means \"son of days\", meaning a son born in Jacob\'s old age. The Samaritan Pentateuch consistently spells his name \"בנימים\", with a terminal mem, (\"Binyamim\"), which could be translated literally as \"spirit man\" but is in line with the interpretation that the name was a reference to the advanced age of Jacob when Benjamin was born.
According to classical rabbinical sources, Benjamin was only born after Rachel had fasted for a long time, as a religious devotion with the hope of a new child as a reward. By then Jacob had become over 100 years old. Benjamin is treated as a young child in most of the Biblical narrative, but at one point is abruptly described as the father of ten sons. Textual scholars believe that this is the result of the genealogical passage, in which his children are named, being from a much later source than the Jahwist and Elohist narratives, which make up most of the Joseph narrative, and which consistently describe Benjamin as a child.
By allusion to the biblical Benjamin, in French, Polish and Spanish, \"Benjamin\" (*benjamin*/ *beniamin* /*benjamín*, respectively) is a common noun meaning the youngest child of a family, especially a particularly favoured one (with a similar connotation to \"baby of the family\").
## Israelites in Egypt {#israelites_in_egypt}
The Torah\'s Joseph narrative, at a stage when Joseph is unrecognised by his brothers, describes Joseph as testing whether his brothers have reformed by secretly planting a silver cup in Benjamin\'s bag. Then, publicly searching the bags for it, and after *finding* it in Benjamin\'s possession, demanding that Benjamin become his slave as a punishment.
The narrative goes on to state that when Judah (on behalf of the other brothers) begged Joseph not to enslave Benjamin and instead enslave him, since enslavement of Benjamin would break Jacob\'s heart. This caused Joseph to recant and reveal his identity. The midrashic book of Jasher argues that prior to revealing his identity, Joseph asked Benjamin to find his missing brother (i.e. Joseph) via astrology, using an astrolabe-like tool. It continues by stating that Benjamin divined that the *man on the throne* was Joseph, so Joseph identified himself to Benjamin (but not the other brothers), and revealed his scheme (as in the Torah) to test how fraternal the other brothers were.
Some classical rabbinical sources argue that Joseph identified himself for other reasons. In these sources, Benjamin swore an oath, on the memory of Joseph, that he was innocent of theft, and, when challenged about how believable the oath would be, explained that remembering Joseph was so important to him that he had named his sons in Joseph\'s honour. These sources go on to state that Benjamin\'s oath touched Joseph so deeply that Joseph was no longer able to pretend to be a stranger. In the narrative, just prior to this test, when Joseph had first met all of his brothers (but not identified himself to them), he had held a feast for them; the narrative heavily implies that Benjamin was Joseph\'s favorite brother, since he is overcome with tears when he first meets Benjamin in particular, and he gives Benjamin five times as much food as he apportions to the others. According to textual scholars, this is really the Jahwist\'s account of the reunion after Joseph identifies himself, and the account of the threat to enslave Benjamin is just the Elohist\'s version of the same event, with the Elohist being more terse about Joseph\'s emotions towards Benjamin, merely mentioning that Benjamin was given five times as many gifts as the others.
## Jacob\'s blessing {#jacobs_blessing}
Upon his death, the patriarch Jacob blesses his youngest son: \"Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he consumes the foe, And in the evening he divides the spoil\" (Genesis 49:27). This wolf symbolism has been interpreted to refer to several elements of the Tribe of Benjamin, including its heroic members like King Saul and Mordecai, the tribe\'s often warlike nature, and the tribe\'s jurisdiction over the Temple in Jerusalem in which sacrifices were \'devoured\' by flame.
## Origin
Biblical scholars believe, due to their geographic overlap and their treatment in older passages, that Ephraim and Manasseh were originally considered one tribe, that of *Joseph*. According to several biblical scholars, Benjamin was also originally part of this single tribe, but the biblical account of Joseph as his father became lost.
The description of Benjamin being born after the arrival in Canaan is thought by some scholars to refer to the tribe of Benjamin coming into existence by branching from the Joseph group after the tribe had settled in Canaan. A number of biblical scholars suspect that the distinction of the *Joseph tribes* (including Benjamin) is that they were the only Israelites which went to Egypt and returned, while the main Israelite tribes simply emerged as a subculture from the Canaanites and had remained in Canaan throughout.
According to this view, the story of Jacob\'s visit to Laban to obtain a wife originated as a metaphor for this migration, with the property and family which were gained from Laban representing the gains of the Joseph tribes by the time they returned from Egypt. According to textual scholars, the Jahwist version of the Laban narrative only mentions the Joseph tribes and Rachel, and does not mention the other tribal matriarchs whatsoever.
## Benjamin\'s sons {#benjamins_sons}
According to Genesis 46:21, Benjamin had ten sons: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. The name of his wife/wives are not given, but the Book of Jubilees calls his wife Ijasaka and the Book of Jasher mentions two wives, Mechalia the daughter of Aram and Aribath the daughter of Shomron. The classical rabbinical tradition adds that each son\'s name honors Joseph:
- *Belah* (meaning *swallow*), in reference to Joseph disappearing (*being swallowed up*)
- *Becher* (meaning *first born*), in reference to Joseph being the first child of Rachel
- *Ashbel* (meaning *capture*), in reference to Joseph having suffered captivity
- *Gera* (meaning *grain*), in reference to Joseph living in a *foreign* land (Egypt)
- *Naaman* (meaning *grace*), in reference to Joseph having graceful speech
- *Ehi* (meaning *my brother*), in reference to Joseph being Benjamin\'s only full-brother (as opposed to half-brothers)
- *Rosh* (meaning *elder*), in reference to Joseph being older than Benjamin
- *Muppim* (meaning *double mouth*), in reference to Joseph passing on what he had been taught by Jacob
- *Huppim* (meaning *marriage canopies*), in reference to Joseph being married in Egypt, while Benjamin was not there
- *Ard* (meaning *wanderer*/*fugitive*), in reference to Joseph being like a rose
There is a disparity between the list given in Genesis 46 and that in Numbers 26, where the sons of Benjamin are listed along with the tribes they are the progenitors of.
- *Belah*, progenitor of the Belaites, is in both lists
- *Ashbel*, progenitor of the Ashbelites, is in both lists
- *Ahiram*, progenitor of the Ahiramites, appears in this list but not the first
- *Shupham*, progenitor of the Shuphamites, corresponds to Muppim from the first list
- *Hupham*, progenitor of the Huphamites, corresponds to Huppim from the first list
Becher, Gera, Ehi, and Rosh are omitted from the second list. Ard and Naaman, who are the sons of Benjamin according to Numbers 26, are listed as the sons of Belah and are the progenitors of the Ardites and the Naamites respectively.
## In Islam {#in_islam}
Though not named in the Quran, Benjamin (*بنيامين* Binyāmīn) is referred to as the righteous youngest son of Jacob, in the narrative of Joseph in Islamic tradition. Apart from that, however, Islamic tradition does not provide much detail regarding Benjamin\'s life, and refers to him as being born from Jacob\'s wife Rachel. As with Jewish tradition, it also further links a connection between the names of Benjamin\'s children and Joseph.
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Books of Chronicles
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The **Book of Chronicles** (*דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים* `{{Transliteration|he|Dīvrē-hayYāmīm}}`{=mediawiki}, \"words of the days\") is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (**1--2 Chronicles**) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third section of the Jewish Tanakh, the Ketuvim (\"Writings\"). It contains a genealogy starting with Adam and a history of ancient Judah and Israel up to the Edict of Cyrus in 539 BC.
The book was translated into Greek and divided into two books in the Septuagint in the mid-3rd century BC. In Christian contexts Chronicles is referred to in the plural as the **Books of Chronicles**, after the Latin name *chronicon* given to the text by Jerome, but is also referred to by its Greek name as the **Books of Paralipomenon**. In Christian Bibles, they usually follow the two Books of Kings and precede Ezra--Nehemiah, the last history-oriented book of the Protestant Old Testament.
## Summary
The Chronicles narrative begins with Adam, Seth and Enosh, and the story is then carried forward, almost entirely through genealogical lists, down to the founding of the United Kingdom of Israel in the \"introductory chapters\", 1 Chronicles 1--9. The bulk of the remainder of 1 Chronicles, after a brief account of Saul in chapter 10, is concerned with the reign of David. The next long section concerns David\'s son Solomon, and the final part is concerned with the Kingdom of Judah, with occasional references to the northern Kingdom of Israel (2 Chronicles 10--36). The final chapter covers briefly the reigns of the last four kings, until Judah is destroyed and the people taken into exile in Babylon. In the two final verses, identical to the opening verses of the Book of Ezra, the Persian king Cyrus the Great conquers the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and authorises the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem and the return of the exiles.
## Structure
Originally a single work, Chronicles was divided into two in the Septuagint, a Greek translation produced in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. It has three broad divisions:
1. the genealogies in chapters 1--9 of 1 Chronicles
2. the reigns of David and Solomon (constituting the remainder of 1 Chronicles, and chapters 1--9 of 2 Chronicles); and
3. the narrative of the divided kingdom, focusing on the Kingdom of Judah, in the remainder of 2 Chronicles.
Within this broad structure there are signs that the author has used various other devices to structure his work, notably through drawing parallels between David and Solomon (the first becomes king, establishes the worship of Israel\'s God in Jerusalem, and fights the wars that will enable the Temple to be built, then Solomon becomes king, builds and dedicates the Temple, and reaps the benefits of prosperity and peace).
1 Chronicles is divided into 29 chapters and 2 Chronicles into 36 chapters. Biblical commentator C. J. Ball suggests that the division into two books introduced by the translators of the Septuagint \"occurs in the most suitable place\", namely with the conclusion of David\'s reign as king and the initiation of Solomon\'s reign.
The Talmud considered Chronicles one book.
## Composition
### Origins
The last events recorded in Chronicles take place in the reign of Cyrus the Great, the Persian king who conquered Babylon in 539 BC; this sets the earliest possible date for this passage of the book.
Chronicles appears to be largely the work of a single individual. The writer was probably male, probably a Levite (temple priest), and probably from Jerusalem. He was well-read, a skilled editor, and a sophisticated theologian. He aimed to use the narratives in the Torah and former prophets to convey religious messages to his peers, the literary and political elite of Jerusalem in the time of the Achaemenid Empire.
Jewish and Christian tradition identified this author as the 5th-century BC figure Ezra, who gives his name to the Book of Ezra; Ezra is also believed by the Talmudic sages to have written both his own book (i. e., Ezra--Nehemiah) and Chronicles up to his own time, the latter having been finished by Nehemiah. Later critics, skeptical of the long-maintained tradition, preferred to call the author \"the Chronicler\". However, many scholars maintain support for Ezra\'s authorship, not only based on centuries of work by Jewish historians, but also due to the consistency of language and speech patterns between Chronicles and Ezra--Nehemiah. Professor Emeritus Menahem Haran of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem explains, \"the overall unity of the Chronistic Work is ... demonstrated by a common ideology, the uniformity of legal, cultic and historical conceptions and specific style, all of which reflect one opus.\"
One of the most striking, although inconclusive, features of Chronicles is that its closing sentence is repeated as the opening of Ezra--Nehemiah. In antiquity, such repeated verses, like the \"catch-lines\" used by modern printers, often appeared at the end of a scroll to facilitate the reader\'s passing on to the correct second book-scroll after completing the first. This scribal device was employed in works that exceeded the scope of a single scroll and had to be continued on another scroll.
The latter half of the 20th century, amid growing skepticism in academia regarding history in the Biblical tradition, saw a reappraisal of the authorship question. Though there is a general lack of corroborating evidence, many now regard it as improbable that the author of Chronicles was also the author of the narrative portions of Ezra--Nehemiah. These critics suggest that *Chronicles* was probably composed between 400 and 250 BC, with the period 350--300 BC the most likely. This timeframe is achieved by estimates made based on genealogies appearing in the Greek Septuagint. This theory bases its premise on the latest person mentioned in Chronicles, Anani. Anani is an eighth-generation descendant of King Jehoiachin according to the Masoretic Text. This has persuaded many supporters of the Septuagint\'s reading to place Anani\'s likely date of birth a century later than what had been largely accepted for two millennia.
### Sources
Much of the content of Chronicles is a repetition of material from other books of the Bible, from Genesis to Kings, and so the usual scholarly view is that these books, or an early version of them, provided the author with the bulk of his material. It is, however, possible that the situation was rather more complex, and that books such as Genesis and Samuel should be regarded as contemporary with Chronicles, drawing on much of the same material, rather than a source for it. Despite much discussion of this issue, no agreement has been reached. It is also likely that Chronicles preserved ancient heterodox traditions regarding Israel\'s history.
### Genre
The translators who created the Greek version of the Jewish Bible (the Septuagint) called this book *Paralipomenon*, \"Things Left Out\", indicating that they thought of it as a supplement to another work, probably Genesis--Kings, but the idea seems inappropriate, since much of Genesis--Kings has been copied almost without change. Some modern scholars proposed that Chronicles is a midrash, or traditional Jewish commentary, on Genesis--Kings, but again this is not entirely accurate since the author or authors do not comment on the older books so much as use them to create a new work. Recent suggestions have been that it was intended as a clarification of the history in Genesis--Kings, or a replacement or alternative for it.
## Themes
Presbyterian theologian Paul K. Hooker argues that the generally accepted message the author wished to give to his audience was a theological reflection, not a \"history of Israel\":
1. God is active in history, and especially the history of Israel. The faithfulness or sins of individual kings are immediately rewarded or punished by God. (This is in contrast to the theology of the Books of Kings, where the faithlessness of kings was punished on later generations through the Babylonian exile).
2. God calls Israel to a special relationship. The call begins with the genealogies, gradually narrowing the focus from all mankind to a single family, the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob. \"True\" Israel is those who continue to worship Yahweh at the Temple in Jerusalem (in the southern Kingdom of Judah), with the result that the history of the historical Kingdom of Israel is almost completely ignored.
3. God chose David and his dynasty as the agents of his will. According to the author of Chronicles, the three great events of David\'s reign were his bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, his founding of an eternal royal dynasty, and his preparations for the construction of the Temple.
4. God chose a site in Jerusalem as the location for the Temple, the place where God should be worshiped. More time and space are spent on the construction of the Temple and its rituals of worship than on any other subject. By stressing the central role of the Temple in pre-exilic Judah, the author also stresses the importance of the newly rebuilt Persian-era Second Temple to his own readers.
5. God remains active in Israel. The past is used to legitimize the author\'s present: this is seen most clearly in the detailed attention he gives to the Temple built by Solomon, but also in the genealogy and lineages, which connect his own generation to the distant past and thus make the claim that the present is a continuation of that past.
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Borel measure
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In mathematics, specifically in measure theory, a **Borel measure** on a topological space is a measure that is defined on all open sets (and thus on all Borel sets). Some authors require additional restrictions on the measure, as described below.
## Formal definition {#formal_definition}
Let $X$ be a locally compact Hausdorff space, and let $\mathfrak{B}(X)$ be the smallest σ-algebra that contains the open sets of $X$; this is known as the σ-algebra of Borel sets. A Borel measure is any measure $\mu$ defined on the σ-algebra of Borel sets. A few authors require in addition that $\mu$ is locally finite, meaning that every point has an open neighborhood with finite measure. For Hausdorff spaces, this implies that $\mu(C)<\infty$ for every compact set $C$; and for locally compact Hausdorff spaces, the two conditions are equivalent. If a Borel measure $\mu$ is both inner regular and outer regular, it is called a regular Borel measure. If $\mu$ is both inner regular, outer regular, and locally finite, it is called a Radon measure. Alternatively, if a regular Borel measure $\mu$ is tight, it is a Radon measure.
If $X$ is a separable complete metric space, then every Borel measure $\mu$ on $X$ is a Radon measure.
## On the real line {#on_the_real_line}
The real line $\mathbb R$ with its usual topology is a locally compact Hausdorff space; hence we can define a Borel measure on it. In this case, $\mathfrak{B}(\mathbb R)$ is the smallest σ-algebra that contains the open intervals of $\mathbb R$. While there are many Borel measures *μ*, the choice of Borel measure that assigns $\mu((a,b])=b-a$ for every half-open interval $(a,b]$ is sometimes called \"the\" Borel measure on $\mathbb R$. This measure turns out to be the restriction to the Borel σ-algebra of the Lebesgue measure $\lambda$, which is a complete measure and is defined on the Lebesgue σ-algebra. The Lebesgue σ-algebra is actually the *completion* of the Borel σ-algebra, which means that it is the smallest σ-algebra that contains all the Borel sets and can be equipped with a complete measure. Also, the Borel measure and the Lebesgue measure coincide on the Borel sets (i.e., $\lambda(E)=\mu(E)$ for every Borel measurable set, where $\mu$ is the Borel measure described above). This idea extends to finite-dimensional spaces $\mathbb R^n$ (the Cramér--Wold theorem, below) but does not hold, in general, for infinite-dimensional spaces. Infinite-dimensional Lebesgue measures do not exist.
## Product spaces {#product_spaces}
If *X* and *Y* are second-countable, Hausdorff topological spaces, then the set of Borel subsets $B(X\times Y)$ of their product coincides with the product of the sets $B(X)\times B(Y)$ of Borel subsets of *X* and *Y*. That is, the Borel functor
: $\mathbf{Bor}\colon\mathbf{Top}_\mathrm{2CHaus}\to\mathbf{Meas}$
from the category of second-countable Hausdorff spaces to the category of measurable spaces preserves finite products.
## Applications
### Lebesgue--Stieltjes integral {#lebesguestieltjes_integral}
The Lebesgue--Stieltjes integral is the ordinary Lebesgue integral with respect to a measure known as the Lebesgue--Stieltjes measure, which may be associated to any function of bounded variation on the real line. The Lebesgue--Stieltjes measure is a regular Borel measure, and conversely every regular Borel measure on the real line is of this kind.
### Laplace transform {#laplace_transform}
One can define the Laplace transform of a finite Borel measure *μ* on the real line by the Lebesgue integral
: $(\mathcal{L}\mu)(s) = \int_{[0,\infty)} e^{-st}\,d\mu(t).$
An important special case is where *μ* is a probability measure or, even more specifically, the Dirac delta function. In operational calculus, the Laplace transform of a measure is often treated as though the measure came from a distribution function *f*. In that case, to avoid potential confusion, one often writes
: $(\mathcal{L}f)(s) = \int_{0^-}^\infty e^{-st}f(t)\,dt$
where the lower limit of 0^−^ is shorthand notation for
: $\lim_{\varepsilon\downarrow 0}\int_{-\varepsilon}^\infty.$
This limit emphasizes that any point mass located at 0 is entirely captured by the Laplace transform. Although with the Lebesgue integral, it is not necessary to take such a limit, it does appear more naturally in connection with the Laplace--Stieltjes transform.
### Moment problem {#moment_problem}
One can define the moments of a finite Borel measure *μ* on the real line by the integral
: $m_n = \int_a^b x^n\,d\mu(x).$
For $(a,b)=(-\infty,\infty),\;(0,\infty),\;(0,1)$ these correspond to the Hamburger moment problem, the Stieltjes moment problem and the Hausdorff moment problem, respectively. The question or problem to be solved is, given a collection of such moments, is there a corresponding measure? For the Hausdorff moment problem, the corresponding measure is unique. For the other variants, in general, there are an infinite number of distinct measures that give the same moments.
### Hausdorff dimension and Frostman\'s lemma {#hausdorff_dimension_and_frostmans_lemma}
Given a Borel measure *μ* on a metric space *X* such that *μ*(*X*) \> 0 and *μ*(*B*(*x*, *r*)) ≤ *r^s^* holds for some constant *s* \> 0 and for every ball *B*(*x*, *r*) in *X*, then the Hausdorff dimension dim~Haus~(*X*) ≥ *s*. A partial converse is provided by the Frostman lemma:
**Lemma:** Let *A* be a Borel subset of **R**^*n*^, and let *s* \> 0. Then the following are equivalent:
- *H*^*s*^(*A*) \> 0, where *H*^*s*^ denotes the *s*-dimensional Hausdorff measure.
- There is an (unsigned) Borel measure *μ* satisfying *μ*(*A*) \> 0, and such that
$$\mu(B(x,r))\le r^s$$
: holds for all *x* ∈ **R**^*n*^ and *r* \> 0.
### Cramér--Wold theorem {#cramérwold_theorem}
The Cramér--Wold theorem in measure theory states that a Borel probability measure on $\mathbb R^k$ is uniquely determined by the totality of its one-dimensional projections. It is used as a method for proving joint convergence results. The theorem is named after Harald Cramér and Herman Ole Andreas Wold.
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BBC Red Button
|
**BBC Red Button** is a brand used for digital interactive television services provided by the BBC, and broadcast in the United Kingdom. The services replaced Ceefax, the BBC\'s analogue teletext service. BBC Red Button\'s text services were due to close on 30 January 2020, but the switch-off was suspended on 29 January 2020 following protests.
## History and branding {#history_and_branding}
The service was launched on 23 September 1999 as BBC Text. It was relaunched in November 2001 under the **BBCi** brand and operated under this name until late 2008, when it was rebranded as BBC Red Button. The \"red button\" name refers to the common interface on remote controls for digital televisions and set-top boxes, a red push-button that launches digital teletext services.
Although initially marketed as a spectacular new form of television, by 2008 this had given way to positioning interactive television as \'everyday\'. This was due in part to the institutional landscape of television in the UK.
In September 2009, the BBC celebrated 10 years of the digital interactive TV service.
### BBC Text (1999--2001) {#bbc_text_19992001}
BBC Text originally launched on digital terrestrial services on 23 September 1999, and was later introduced on satellite and cable platforms. In the first phase, the service was created using content migrated from the existing analogue teletext service, Ceefax. A digital text service had been available since the launch of digital terrestrial television in November 1998, but the BBC Text service was not publicly launched until November 1999, due to a lack of availability of compatible set-top boxes.
BBC Text was considerably more advanced than Ceefax, in that it offered a richer visual interface, with the possibility of photographic images and designed graphics (as opposed to Ceefax graphics which were composed of simple blocks of colour). BBC Text also enabled channel association, the ability for the user to retain their selected television channel visible in one section of the screen whilst viewing the text service, in contrast to Ceefax, which could only be viewed as a full-screen display, or as a semitransparent overlay (i.e. opaque blocks of colour on top of the television channel, with the black background now transparent; not \'translucent blocks of colour with a translucent black background\') above the television picture. The original text service had no return path, this being made available in later phases.
BBC Text pioneered an early form of \"on-demand\" interactive television, called Enhanced TV. During the 1999 Wimbledon Championships, the BBC presented a service that allowed viewers to select a video stream of different matches, and access additional information such as player profiles, scores and interactive quizzes. Although the experimental service was publicly available, there were no digital set-top boxes or receivers available on the market that could decode the signal, and the service was presented to the public only via BBC demonstrations using prototype receivers.
### The BBCi brand (2001--2008) {#the_bbci_brand_20012008}
The BBCi brand launched in November 2001 and was conceived as a cohesive multi-platform brand name for all the BBC\'s digital interactive services, encompassing the corporation\'s digital teletext, interactive television and website services. According to the BBC, the \"i\" in BBCi stood for \"interactivity\" as well as \"innovation\".
The various services all took on a common interface device, an \"i-bar\" branded with the BBCi logo, which sought to emphasise the brand across different technologies by providing similar navigation. For example, the BBC website, which had previously been called BBC Online, took on the BBCi brand from 2001, displaying an i-bar across the top of every page, offering category-based navigation: Categories, TV, Radio, Communicate, Where I Live, A-Z Index, and a search. Similarly, BBC interactive television services all offered a horizontal i-bar along the bottom of television screens, with four colour-coded interactions linked to the four colour buttons on TV remote controls.
In 2003 some minor changes were made to the service, which saw a new \"bridge\"-style home page (the current style still used today `{{when|date=March 2025}}`{=mediawiki}) replacing the previous i-bar, and all sections remained the same as before, but their headings along the top of the screen were colour-coded rather than using a single shade of blue. A further revamp took place in 2004 which saw a new look to all the section pages, as well as the introduction of Ceefax-style page numbers and an index page, replacing the previous BBCi menu, and an option to press \"0\" on the remote control to switch between the service and full screen TV. The previous home page was also retained in line with the new look, but with the \"MAIN MENU\" option becoming \"INDEX\". More changes took place in 2005, which included a new BBCi logo and another new \"bridge\"-style home page --- which, unlike the previous home page, doesn\'t show any references of the current channel and programme, as it instead features MHEG text overlays giving highlights of the service. Additionally, new \"Fastext\" style buttons were introduced, and the colour scheme of the index page has changed from blue to black.
After three years of consistent use across different platforms, the BBC began to drop the BBCi brand gradually; on 6 May 2004, the BBC website was renamed bbc.co.uk, after the main URL used to access the site. Interactive TV services continued under the BBCi brand until late 2008.
### The BBC Red Button brand (2008) {#the_bbc_red_button_brand_2008}
From 2008, the BBC gradually began to drop the BBCi name from its digital interactive TV services also, replacing it with the name BBC Red Button. The BBCi logo continued in on-screen presentation for some time.
### BBC Red Button HD {#bbc_red_button_hd}
In June 2013, a HD version of BBC Red Button was launched for the summertime. It closed on 25 November 2013 after the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. It returned each year along with the other BBC Red Button channels as a temporary channel for the duration of the Wimbledon tennis tournament. On 26 March 2018, CBBC HD began its downtime and the relaunch of BBC Red Button HD took place to cover the 2018 Commonwealth Games. It was added on Sky on channel 981 and Freeview channel 602 on 3 April 2018 and closed on 16 April 2018 after the Games had concluded. Later in 2021, it was originally supposed to be closed on the end of Wimbledon but was kept on air for the 2020 Olympics.
On 15 February 2023, as part of the BBC\'s plan to upgrade all of its channels to high-definition as standard, the high-definition video feed of BBC Red Button was made the default on all television platforms, replacing the long-standing \"standard definition\" feed which was used outside of significant sporting events.
### BBC Connected Red Button (2012) {#bbc_connected_red_button_2012}
BBC Connected Red Button launched in December 2012 on Virgin TiVo and on some Freeview and Freesat \'Smart TVs\' in December 2013. The service is a composite IP and broadcast service and may be the future of Red Button on internet connected televisions.
#### BBC Red Button+ (2015) {#bbc_red_button_2015}
The service was renamed BBC Red Button+ in April 2015. It launched with an updated brand.
### Partial closure (2020) {#partial_closure_2020}
After nearly 21 years of service, the BBC announced in 2019 that due to financial cuts, the text services on Red Button on all platforms would be removed from 30 January 2020. The video services, used during events like Wimbledon and the Olympic Games, however, would continue.
On 29 January 2020, the BBC announced their suspension of the switch-off due to protests, one day before the service was due to have started being phased out. This announcement comes following a petition, organised by the National Federation of the Blind of the UK (NFBUK), which was submitted to the BBC and Downing Street. The petition expresses NFBUK\'s concerns with the switch-off, citing that the service is \"vital for visually impaired, deaf, disabled and older people, as well as many other people who want to find out information independently in an easy, convenient and accessible format, who are not online.\" They\'re concerned that the withdrawal of the service would leave many already vulnerable people into further isolation and marginalisation from society. NFBUK states they cannot understand how the BBC can meet their obligations set in the Royal Charter following the cut of the Red Button Teletext service.
## Availability
BBC Red Button is available on all digital television platforms in the UK, including digital cable through Virgin Media, digital satellite through Sky and Freesat and digital terrestrial television through Freeview. On Freeview interactivity does not permit users to submit data (such as answering questions in a quiz or requesting video on demand), as the platform does not provide a return path.
The BBC currently provides one video stream to all platforms, which can be accessed directly from Freeview channel 601, Freesat channel 980, Sky channel 970 (UK only) and Virgin Media UK channel 991. Until mid-February 2023, the feed provided was only in standard definition, with a high-definition version of RB 1 (the primary feed) used for high-profile sporting events, which included the Olympics and Wimbledon. Since 15 February 2023 the standard definition feed has been replaced across all platforms with a high-definition version, as part of the BBC\'s plan to upgrade its channel offering into high-definition. One advantage of the feed is the DVR ability as the conventional Red Button interaction restricts DVR record / pause / rewind functions, and is a major caveat for many.
Prior to 2023, the BBC had the ability to increase the amount of streams during major events and had done so on numerous occasions, as follows:
:\*2012 Olympics: For the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the BBC provided 24 live streams in standard and high-definition for the duration of the games. Additional online streams could also be accessed through the internet-connected BBC Red Button+.
:\*2016 Olympics: eight red button video streams were broadcast to all platforms during the 2016 Olympics. This was in addition to BBC Four continually broadcasting Olympic coverage and either BBC One or BBC Two broadcasting main coverage during the course of the each day.
:\*The Championships, Wimbledon: six additional channels were provided for a variety of outer courts. Red Button 1 was duplicated in high definition, with RB 2 to RB 6 only in standard definition. The 2022 edition of the tournament was the last to offer this functionality.
As of 2023, the BBC will no longer be providing additional Red Button streams for any events. Instead, it will be directing viewers to watch additional feeds via the BBC iPlayer. 2023 Wimbledon was the first major tournament not to provide any additional feeds on linear television.
BBC Red Button 1 HD (originally launched as SD only) is a channel available on Freeview, Freesat, Sky, and Virgin Media. It showcases many live events, such as live music (especially from BBC Radio live shows) and sports like football and rugby. It also features an extended version of Final Score, offering more in-depth analysis of the matches they cover. When the BBC announced the closure of all their SD channels on satellite, BBC Red Button 1 became permanently HD for the first time in its history (it was occasionally in HD for certain events like Wimbledon). Virgin Media followed suit by adding BBC Red Button 1 HD to their service and removing the SD version.
## Content
Generally, BBC Red Button offers text and video based services, as well as enhanced television programmes which offer extra information, video or quizzes.
In September 2005, BBCi launched an update to the interactivity available from the BBC\'s Radio channels on Freeview. Originally only Radiotext was available. After the update, users could access information about the programme, schedules, news, sport and weather. From 2005, Freeview users could access the CBBC Extra video stream.
The same team behind the BBC\'s digital text service also launched the early incarnations of the BBC\'s Interactive Wimbledon and Interactive Open Golf services in 2000, which were awarded an Interactive BAFTA that year.
The News Multiscreen was removed from the digital service in October 2009, to make room for future Freeview HD broadcasts.
As of July 2022, the Question Time page on p155 appears to be outdated since January 2018, as it still states that the show will be returning on January 11 from Islington.
Here is a table of the contents of the BBC Red Button as of March 2023:
Numbers Name Category Notes
------------ ----------------------------------- --------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
100 Home Page
101 News Headlines News Index of all stories on p104
102 News Index News Index of categories in News Section
104 Top News Story News Use left and right buttons to scroll through all stories indexed on 101, stories no longer have their own page
144 Index of all UK Political stories
153 Technology News
154 Science News
155 Question Time News Unedited since January 2018
160 Around the UK Index of UK Regional News sections
199 Index of all sections
200 Business Business *Loans & Home* and *Savings* were removed from the Business pages in May 2012.
201 Business news Business
204 Business top story Business
220 Shares Business
230 Markets Business
240 Currencies - Foreign Exchange Business
300 Sport index Sport
301 Sports news Sport
302 Football index Sport
304 Sport top story Sport
340 Cricket index Sport
360 Formula 1 index Sport
368 Rugby Union index Sport
370 Rugby League index Sport
390 Around the UK (Sport) Sport Regional sports headlines
400 Weather Weather
401 Forecast maps index Weather
405 Warnings Weather Severe weather warnings and flood warnings
430 Travel Travel The BBC Travel website closed in February 2017. As such there is no direct online successor to the Red Button travel pages.
431 UK motorways Travel
432 Rail Travel
435 Ferries Travel
436 London Transport Travel
437 Regional roads Travel
481 Golf Sport
485 Tennis Sport
501 Entertainment news Entertainment
504 Entertainment top story Entertainment
660 Racing Sport
700 Election Results News Only active when required (e.g. following a major UK or European election)
888 Subtitles Help Information on how subtitling can be accessed via digital TV; unlike Ceefax, subtitles cannot be accessed directly from BBC RB
1010 UK News News
1020 World News News
1030 Health News News
3901 Regional sport - England Sport
3905 Regional sport - Scotland Sport
3910 Regional sport - Wales Sport
3915 Regional sport - Northern Ireland Sport
4010 UK Summary Weather
4100 World Cities Weather
4011--4017 UK Forecast Maps Weather
9990 Help Help
## Compatibility
The service was initially compatible with ONdigital and ITV Digital boxes, though loading speeds were slower than newer Freeview boxes.
Page numbers were introduced in 2004 to aid navigation, with 3-digit page numbers matching with those of the analogue Ceefax in 2006. Pages exclusive to digital are given a four digit number. An index navigation screen was also introduced, replacing the previous BBCi Menu.
The Teletext service from the UK commercial broadcasters had stopped supporting the old boxes in 2005. As of 2010, the ONdigital boxes only load pages 100 and 199 and some interactive services that use channel 301, if any other page is loaded it exits the service.
Usage of these boxes dwindled further as technology developed. They used \"original\" technology and as such were not upgradable. Following each regional changeover to full digital TV broadcasting, the remaining units are no longer of use, as they do not support the \"8K-mode\" for DVB-T introduced across the UK as part of the digital switchover.
On Freely, the service is available to users who have an aerial.
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Backplane
|
A **backplane** or **backplane system** is a group of electrical connectors in parallel with each other, so that each pin of each connector is linked to the same relative pin of all the other connectors, forming a computer bus. It is used to connect several printed circuit boards together to make up a complete computer system. Backplanes commonly use a printed circuit board, but wire-wrapped backplanes have also been used in minicomputers and high-reliability applications.
A backplane is generally differentiated from a motherboard by the lack of on-board processing and storage elements. A backplane uses plug-in cards for storage and processing.
## Usage
Early microcomputer systems like the Altair 8800 used a backplane for the processor and expansion cards.
Backplanes are normally used in preference to cables because of their greater reliability. In a cabled system, the cables need to be flexed every time that a card is added or removed from the system; this flexing eventually causes mechanical failures. A backplane does not suffer from this problem, so its service life is limited only by the longevity of its connectors. For example, DIN 41612 connectors (used in the VMEbus system) have three durability grades built to withstand (respectively) 50, 400 and 500 insertions and removals, or \"mating cycles\". To transmit information, Serial Back-Plane technology uses a low-voltage differential signaling transmission method for sending information.
In addition, there are bus expansion cables which will extend a computer bus to an external backplane, usually located in an enclosure, to provide more or different slots than the host computer provides. These cable sets have a transmitter board located in the computer, an expansion board in the remote backplane, and a cable between the two.
## Active vis-à-vis passive backplanes {#active_vis_à_vis_passive_backplanes}
Backplanes have grown in complexity from the simple Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) (used in the original IBM PC) or S-100 style where all the connectors were connected to a common bus. Due to limitations inherent in the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) specification for driving slots, backplanes are now offered as **passive** and **active**.
True passive backplanes offer no active bus driving circuitry. Any desired arbitration logic is placed on the daughter cards. Active backplanes include chips which buffer the various signals to the slots.
The distinction between the two isn\'t always clear, but may become an important issue if a whole system is expected to not have a single point of failure (SPOF) . Common myth around passive backplane, even if it *is* single, is not usually considered a SPOF. Active back-planes are even more complicated and thus have a non-zero risk of malfunction. However one situation that can cause disruption both in the case of Active and Passive Back-planes is while performing maintenance activities i.e. while swapping boards there is always a possibility of damaging the Pins/Connectors on the Back-plane, this may cause full outage for the system as all boards mounted on the back-plane should be removed in order to fix the system. Therefore, we are seeing newer architectures where systems use high speed redundant connectivity to interconnect system boards point to point with No Single Point of Failure anywhere in the system.
## Backplanes vis-à-vis motherboards {#backplanes_vis_à_vis_motherboards}
When a backplane is used with a plug-in single-board computer (SBC) or system host board (SHB), the combination provides the same functionality as a motherboard, providing processing power, memory, I/O and slots for plug-in cards. While there are a few motherboards that offer more than 8 slots, that is the traditional limit. In addition, as technology progresses, the availability and number of a particular slot type may be limited in terms of what is currently offered by motherboard manufacturers.
However, backplane architecture is somewhat unrelated to the SBC technology plugged into it. There are some limitations to what can be constructed, in that the SBC chip set and processor have to provide the capability of supporting the slot types. In addition, virtually an unlimited number of slots can be provided with 20, including the SBC slot, as a practical though not an absolute limit. Thus, a PICMG backplane can provide any number and any mix of ISA, PCI, PCI-X, and PCI-e slots, limited only by the ability of the SBC to interface to and drive those slots. For example, an SBC with the latest i7 processor could interface with a backplane providing up to 19 ISA slots to drive legacy I/O cards.
## Midplane
Some backplanes are constructed with slots for connecting to devices on both sides, and are referred to as midplanes. This ability to plug cards into either side of a midplane is often useful in larger systems made up primarily of modules attached to the midplane.
Midplanes are often used in computers, mostly in blade servers, where server blades reside on one side and the peripheral (power, networking, and other I/O) and service modules reside on the other. Midplanes are also popular in networking and telecommunications equipment where one side of the chassis accepts system processing cards and the other side of the chassis accepts network interface cards.
Orthogonal midplanes connect vertical cards on one side to horizontal boards on the other side. One common orthogonal midplane connects many vertical telephone line cards on one side, each one connected to copper telephone wires, to a horizontal communications card on the other side.
A \"virtual midplane\" is an imaginary plane between vertical cards on one side that directly connect to horizontal boards on the other side; the card-slot aligners of the card cage and self-aligning connectors on the cards hold the cards in position.
Some people use the term \"midplane\" to describe a board that sits between and connects a hard drive hot-swap backplane and redundant power supplies.
## `{{Anchor|STORAGE|Backplanes in storage}}`{=mediawiki}Backplanes in storage {#backplanes_in_storage}
Servers commonly have a backplane to attach hot swappable hard disk drives and solid state drives; backplane pins pass directly into hard drive sockets without cables. They may have single connector to connect one disk array controller or multiple connectors that can be connected to one or more controllers in arbitrary way. Backplanes are commonly found in disk enclosures, disk arrays, and servers.
Backplanes for SAS and SATA HDDs most commonly use the SGPIO protocol as means of communication between the host adapter and the backplane. Alternatively SCSI Enclosure Services can be used. With Parallel SCSI subsystems, SAF-TE is used.
## Platforms
### PICMG
A single-board computer meeting the PICMG 1.3 specification and compatible with a PICMG 1.3 backplane is referred to as a System Host Board.
In the Intel Single-Board Computer world, PICMG provides standards for the backplane interface: PICMG 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 provide ISA and PCI support, with 1.2 adding PCIX support. PICMG 1.3 provides PCI-Express support.
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Book of Nehemiah
|
The **Book of Nehemiah** in the Hebrew Bible largely takes the form of a first-person memoir by Nehemiah, a Hebrew prophet and high official at the Persian court, concerning the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile and the dedication of the city and its people to God\'s laws (Torah).
Since the 16th century, Nehemiah has generally been treated as a separate book within the Bible. Before then, it had been combined with the Book of Ezra; but in Latin Christian Bibles from the 13th century onwards, the Vulgate\'s Book of Ezra was divided into two texts called the First and Second Books of Ezra, respectively. This separation became canonised with the first printed Bibles in Hebrew and Latin. Mid-16th century Reformed Protestant Bible translations produced in Geneva, such as the Geneva Bible, were the first to introduce the title \"Book of Nehemiah\" for the text formerly called the \"Second Book of Ezra\".
The historicity of Nehemiah, his objectives, and the \"Nehemiah memoir\" have recently become very controversial in biblical scholarship, with maximalists viewing it as a historical account and minimalists doubting whether Nehemiah existed.
## Summary
The events take place in the second half of the 5th century BC. Listed together with the Book of Ezra as Ezra--Nehemiah, it represents the final chapter in the historical narrative of the Hebrew Bible.
The original core of the book, the first-person memoir, may have been combined with the core of the Book of Ezra around 400 BC. Further editing probably continued into the Hellenistic era.
The book tells how Nehemiah, at the court of the king in Susa, is informed that Jerusalem is without walls, and resolves to restore them. The king appoints him as governor of Judah and he travels to Jerusalem. There he rebuilds the walls, despite the opposition of Israel\'s enemies, and reforms the community in conformity with the law of Moses. After 12 years in Jerusalem, he returns to Susa but subsequently revisits Jerusalem. He finds that the Israelites have been backsliding and taking non-Hebrew wives, and he stays in Jerusalem to enforce the Law.
*Chapters*
1. In the 20th year of Artaxerxes I of Persia, Nehemiah, cup-bearer to the king in Susa (the Persian capital), learns that the wall of Jerusalem is destroyed. He prays to God, confessing the sins of Israel, then reminding God of His promise to restore the Promised Land. He asks God for success in asking King Artaxerxes for permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild its wall.
2. While Nehemiah is serving wine the king notices his sadness. Nehemiah humbly confesses it is because the city of his ancestors is in ruins and asks permission to rebuild the city wall. The king agrees. Nehemiah then asks for letters of safe-conduct and for permission to obtain timber from the royal forest. The king agrees to these requests and additionally dispatches a military escort to accompany Nehemiah to Jerusalem. When Nehemiah arrives he secretly inspects the wall before encouraging the local leaders to join him in rebuilding. However, when Sanballat of Samaria, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab hear about it they mock the Israelites and accused them of rebelling against the king.
3. The families and leaders of Jerusalem each take a gate or a section of wall and begin rebuilding.
4. The leaders of the opposing tribes -- Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, Geshem the Arab, and the men of Ashdod -- plot together to attack Jerusalem, which forces the Hebrews rebuilding the wall to work with weapons in their hands.
5. Nehemiah, having seen the Hebrew nobles oppressing the poor, orders the cancellation of all debt and mortgages; previous governors have been corrupt and oppressive, but he has been righteous and just.
6. Sanballat accuses Nehemiah of planning rebellion against Artaxerxes, and Nehemiah is opposed even by Hebrew nobles and prophets, but the wall is completed.
7. Nehemiah appoints officials and sets guards on the wall and gates; he plans to register the Hebrews, and finds the census of those who had returned earlier.
8. Nehemiah assembles the people and has Ezra read to them the law-book of Moses; Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites institute the Feast of Booths, in accordance with the Law.
9. The Hebrews assemble in penance and prayer, recalling their past sins, God\'s help to them, and his promise of the land.
10. The priests, Levites and the Israelite people enter into a covenant, agreeing to separate themselves from the surrounding peoples and to keep the Law.
11. Jerusalem is repopulated by the Hebrews living in the towns and villages of Judah and Benjamin.
12. A list of priests and Levites who returned in the days of Cyrus (the first returnees from Babylon) is presented; Nehemiah, aided by Ezra, oversees the dedication of the walls and the rebuilt city.
13. After 12 years Nehemiah returns to Susa; he later comes back to Jerusalem, and finds that there has been backsliding in his absence. He takes measures to enforce his earlier reforms and asks for God\'s favour.
## Historical background {#historical_background}
The book is set in the 5th century BC. Judah is one of several provinces within a larger satrapy (a large administrative unit) within the Achaemenid Empire. The capital of the empire is at Susa. Nehemiah is a cup-bearer to king Artaxerxes I of Persia -- an important official position.
At his own request Nehemiah is sent to Jerusalem as governor of Yehud, the official Persian name for Judah. Jerusalem had been conquered and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC and Nehemiah finds it still in ruins. His task is to rebuild the walls and to re-populate the city. He faces opposition from three powerful neighbours, the Samaritans, the Ammonites, and the Arabs, as well as the city of Ashdod, but manages to rebuild the walls. He then purifies the Hebrew community by enforcing its segregation from its neighbours and enforces the laws of Moses.
## Textual history {#textual_history}
The single Hebrew book Ezra--Nehemiah, with title \"Ezra\", was translated into Greek around the middle of the 2nd century BC. Slightly later a second, and very different Greek translation was made, in the form of 1 Esdras, from which the deeds of Nehemiah are entirely absent, those sections either being omitted or re-attributed to Ezra instead; and initially early Christians reckoned this later translation as their biblical \'Book of Ezra\', as had the 1st century Jewish writer Josephus. From the third century the Christian Old Testament in Greek supplemented the text of 1 Esdras with the older translation of Ezra--Nehemiah, naming the two books Esdras A and Esdras B respectively; and this usage is noted by the 3rd century Christian scholar Origen, who remarked that the Hebrew \'book of Ezra\' might then be considered a \'double\' book. Jerome, writing in the early 5th century, noted that this duplication had since been adopted by Greek and Latin Christians. Jerome himself rejected the duplication in his Vulgate translation of the Bible into Latin from the Hebrew; and consequently all early Vulgate manuscripts present Ezra--Nehemiah as a single book, as too does the 8th century commentary of Bede, and the 9th century bibles of Alcuin and Theodulf of Orleans. However, sporadically from the 9th century onwards, Latin bibles are found that separate the Ezra and Nehemiah sections of Ezra--Nehemiah as two distinct books, then called the first and second books of Ezra; and this becomes standard in the Paris Bibles of the 13th century. It was not until 1516/17, in the first printed Rabbinic Bible of Daniel Bomberg that the separation was introduced generally in Hebrew Bibles.
In later medieval Christian commentary, this book is referred to as the \'second book of Ezra\', and never as the \'Book of Nehemiah\"; equally citations from this book are always introduced as \"Ezra says \...\", and never as \'Nehemiah says \...\".
## Composition and date {#composition_and_date}
The combined book Ezra--Nehemiah of the earliest Christian and Hebrew period was known as Ezra and was probably attributed to Ezra himself; according to a rabbinic tradition, however, Nehemiah was the real author but was forbidden to claim authorship because of his bad habit of disparaging others.
The Nehemiah Memorial, chapters 1--7 and 11--13, may have circulated as an independent work before being combined with the Ezra material to form Ezra--Nehemiah. Determining the composition of the Memorial depends on the dates of Nehemiah\'s mission: It is commonly accepted that \"Artaxerxes\" was Artaxerxes I (there were two later kings of the same name), and that Nehemiah\'s first period in Jerusalem was therefore 445--433 BC; allowing for his return to Susa and second journey to Jerusalem, the end of the 5th century BC is therefore the earliest possible date for the Memorial. The Nehemiah Memorial is interrupted by chapters 8--10, which concern Ezra. These have sometimes been identified as another, separate work, the Ezra Memorial (EM), but other scholars believe the EM to be fictional and heavily altered by later editors. Both the Nehemiah and Ezra material are combined with numerous lists, Censuses and other material.
The first edition of the combined Ezra--Nehemiah may date from the early 4th century BC; further editing continued well into the following centuries.
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Book of Jeremiah
|
The **Book of Jeremiah** (*ספר יִרְמְיָהוּ*) is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and the second of the Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. The superscription at chapter Jeremiah 1:1--3 identifies the book as \"the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah\". Of all the prophets, Jeremiah comes through most clearly as a person, ruminating to his scribe Baruch about his role as a servant of God with little good news for his audience.
His book is intended as a message to the Jews in exile in Babylon, explaining the disaster of exile as God\'s response to Israel\'s pagan worship: the people, says Jeremiah, are like an unfaithful wife and rebellious children, their infidelity and rebelliousness made judgment inevitable, although restoration and a new covenant are foreshadowed. Authentic oracles of Jeremiah are probably to be found in the poetic sections of chapters 1 through 25, but the book as a whole has been heavily edited and added to by the prophet\'s followers (including, perhaps, his companion, the scribe Baruch) and later generations of Deuteronomists.
It has come down in two distinct though related versions, one in Hebrew, the other known from the Septuagint Greek translation. The dates of the two (Greek and Hebrew) can be suggested by the fact that the Greek shows concerns typical of the early Persian period, while the Masoretic (i.e., Hebrew) shows perspectives which, although known in the Persian period, did not reach their realisation until the 2nd century BCE.
## Structure
: (Taken from Michael D. Coogan\'s *A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament*; other sources will give slightly different divisions)
It is difficult to discern any structure in Jeremiah, probably because the book had such a long and complex composition history. It can be divided into roughly six sections:
- Chapters 1--25 (The earliest and main core of Jeremiah\'s message)
- Chapters 26--29 (Biographic material and interaction with other prophets)
- Chapters 30--33 (God\'s promise of restoration including Jeremiah\'s \"new covenant\" which is interpreted differently in Judaism than it is in Christianity)
- Chapters 34--45 (Mostly interaction with Zedekiah and the fall of Jerusalem)
- Chapters 46--51 (Divine punishment to the nations surrounding Israel)
- Chapter 52 (Appendix that retells 2 Kings)
## Summary
### Historical background {#historical_background}
The background to Jeremiah is briefly described in the superscription to the book: Jeremiah began his prophetic mission in the thirteenth year of king Josiah (about 627 BC) and continued after the eleventh year of king Zedekiah (586 BC), \"when Jerusalem went into exile in the sixth month\". During this period, Josiah instituted religious reforms, Babylon destroyed Assyria, Egypt briefly imposed vassal status on Judah, Babylon defeated Egypt and made Judah a Babylonian vassal (605 BC), Judah revolted but was subjugated again by Babylon (597 BC), and Judah revolted once more.
This revolt was the final one: Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple and exiled its king and many of the leading citizens in 586 BC, ending Judah\'s existence as an independent or quasi-independent kingdom and inaugurating the Babylonian exile.
### Overview
The book can be conveniently divided into biographical, prose and poetic strands, each of which can be summarised separately. The biographical material is to be found in chapters 26--29, 32, and 34--44, and focuses on the events leading up to and surrounding the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587 BCE; it provides precise dates for the prophet\'s activities beginning in 609 BCE. The non-biographical prose passages, such as the Temple sermon in chapter 7 and the covenant passage in `{{bibleverse-nb|Jeremiah|11:1–17|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, are scattered throughout the book; they show clear affinities with the Deuteronomists, the school of writers and editors who shaped the series of history books from Judges to Kings, and while it is unlikely they come directly from Jeremiah, they may well have their roots in traditions about what he said and did.
The poetic material is found largely in chapters 1--25 and consists of oracles in which the prophet speaks as God\'s messenger. These passages, dealing with Israel\'s unfaithfulness to God, the call to repentance, and attacks on the religious and political establishment, are mostly undated and have no clear context, but it is widely accepted that they represent the teachings of Jeremiah and are the earliest stage of the book. Allied to them, and also probably a reflection of the authentic Jeremiah, are further poetic passages of a more personal nature, which have been called Jeremiah\'s confessions or spiritual diary. In these poems the prophet agonises over the apparent failure of his mission, is consumed by bitterness at those who oppose or ignore him, and accuses God of betraying him.
## Composition
### Texts and manuscripts {#texts_and_manuscripts}
Jeremiah exists in two versions: a Greek translation, called the Septuagint, dating from the last few centuries BCE and found in the earliest Christian manuscripts, and the Masoretic Hebrew text of traditional Jewish bibles. The Greek version is shorter than the Hebrew by about one eighth, and arranges the material differently. Equivalents of both versions were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, so it is clear that the differences mark important stages in the transmission of the text.
Most scholars hold that the Hebrew text underlying the Septuagint version is older than the Masoretic text, and that the Masoretic evolved either from this or from a closely related version. The shorter version ultimately became canonical in Greek Orthodox churches, while the longer was adopted in Judaism and in Western Christian churches.
### Composition history {#composition_history}
It is generally agreed that the three types of material interspersed through the book -- poetic, narrative, and biographical -- come from different sources or circles. Authentic oracles of Jeremiah are probably to be found in the poetic sections of chapters 1--25, but the book as a whole has been heavily edited and added to by followers (including perhaps the prophet\'s companion, the scribe Baruch) and later generations of Deuteronomists. The date of the final versions of the book (Greek and Hebrew) can be suggested by the fact that the Greek shows concerns typical of the early Persian period, while the Masoretic (i.e., Hebrew) shows perspectives which, although known in the Persian period, did not reach their realisation until the 2nd century BCE.
### Literary development {#literary_development}
The Book of Jeremiah grew over a long period of time. The Greek stage, looking forward to the fall of Babylon and aligning in places with Second Isaiah, had already seen major redaction (editing) in terms of overall structure, the superscriptions (sentences identifying following passages as the words of God or of Jeremiah), the assignment of historical settings, and arrangement of material, and may have been completed by the late Exilic period (last half of the 6th century BCE); the initial stages of the Masoretic Hebrew version may have been written not long afterwards, although chapter 33:14--26 points to a setting in post-exilic times.
### Jeremiah
According to its opening verses the book records the prophetic utterances of the priest Jeremiah son of Hilkia from the town of Anatot, \"to whom the word of YHWH came in the days of king Josiah\" and after. Jeremiah lived during a turbulent period, the final years of the kingdom of Judah, from the death of king Josiah (609 BCE) and the loss of independence that followed, through the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the exile of much its population (587/586). The book depicts a remarkably introspective prophet, impetuous and often angered by the role into which he has been thrust, alternating efforts to warn the people with pleas to God for mercy, until he is ordered to \"pray no more for this people.\" He does a number of prophetic symbolic acts, walking about in the streets with a yoke about his neck and engaging in other efforts to attract attention. He is taunted and retaliates, is thrown in jail as the result, and at one point is thrown into a pit to die.
### Jeremiah and the Deuteronomists {#jeremiah_and_the_deuteronomists}
The Deuteronomists were a school or movement who edited the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings into a more or less unified history of Israel (the so-called Deuteronomistic History) during the Jewish exile in Babylon (6th century BCE). It is argued`{{by whom?|date=September 2024}}`{=mediawiki} that the Deuteronomists played an important role in the production of the book of Jeremiah; for example, there is clear Deuteronomistic language in chapter 25, in which the prophet looks back over twenty-three years of unheeded prophecy. From the Deuteronomistic perspective the prophetic role implied, more than anything else, concern with law and covenant after the manner of Moses. On this reading Jeremiah was the last of a long line of prophets sent to warn Israel of the consequences of infidelity to God; unlike the Deuteronomists, for whom the call for repentance was always central, Jeremiah seems at some point in his career to have decided that further intercession was pointless, and that Israel\'s fate was sealed.
### Jeremiah as a new Moses {#jeremiah_as_a_new_moses}
The book\'s superscription claims that Jeremiah was active for forty years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah (627 BCE) to the fall of Jerusalem in 587. It is clear from the last chapters of the book, however, that he continued to speak in Egypt after the assassination of Gedaliah, the Babylonian-appointed governor of Judah, in 582. This suggests that the superscription is trying to make a theological point about Jeremiah by comparing him to Moses -- whereas Moses spent forty years leading Israel from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land, Jeremiah\'s forty years saw Israel exiled from the land and Jeremiah himself ultimately in exile in Egypt.
## Themes
### Covenant
Much of Jeremiah\'s prophetic preaching is based on the theme of the covenant between God and Israel (God would protect the people in return for their exclusive worship of him); Jeremiah insists that the covenant is conditional, and can be broken by Israel\'s apostasy (worship of gods other than Yahweh, the God of Israel). The people, says Jeremiah, are like an unfaithful wife and rebellious children: their infidelity and rebelliousness makes judgement inevitable. Interspersed with this are references to repentance and renewal, although it is unclear whether Jeremiah thought that repentance could ward off judgement or whether it would have to follow judgement. The theme of restoration is strongest in chapter 31:32, which looks to a future in which a New Covenant, made with Israel and Judah, will not be broken. This is the theme of the \"New Covenant\" passage at chapter 31:31--34, drawing on Israel\'s past relationship with God through the covenant at Sinai to foresee a new future in which Israel will be obedient to God.
### The \"Confessions\" of Jeremiah {#the_confessions_of_jeremiah}
Scholars from Heinrich Ewald onwards have identified several passages in Jeremiah which can be understood as \"confessions\": they occur in the first section of the book (chapters 1--25) and are generally identified as Jeremiah 11:18--12.6, 15:10--21, 17:14--18, 18:18--23, and 20:7--18. In these five passages, Jeremiah expresses his discontent with the message he is to deliver, but also his steadfast commitment to the divine call despite the fact that he had not sought it out. Additionally, in several of these \"confessions\", Jeremiah prays that the Lord will take revenge on the wicked. (for example, Jeremiah 12:3).
Jeremiah\'s \"confessions\" are a type of individual lament. Such laments are found elsewhere in the psalms and the Book of Job. Like Job, Jeremiah curses the day of his birth (Jeremiah 20:14--18 and Job 3:3--10). Likewise, Jeremiah\'s exclamation \"For I hear the whispering of many: Terror is all around!\" matches Psalm 31:13 exactly. However, Jeremiah\'s laments are made unique by his insistence that he has been called by Yahweh to deliver his messages. These laments \"provide a unique look at the prophet\'s inner struggle with faith, persecution, and human suffering\".
### Prophetic gestures {#prophetic_gestures}
Prophetic gestures, also known as sign-acts or symbolic actions, were a form of communication in which a message was delivered by performing symbolic actions. Not unique to the book of Jeremiah, these were often bizarre and violated the cultural norms of the time. They served the purposes of both drawing an audience and causing that audience to ask questions, giving the prophet an opportunity to explain the meaning of the behavior. The recorder of the events in the written text (i.e. the author of the text) had neither the same audience nor, potentially, the same intent that Jeremiah had in performing these prophetic gestures.
The following is a list -- not exhaustive -- of noteworthy sign-acts found in Jeremiah:
- Jeremiah 13:1--11: The wearing, burial, and retrieval of a linen waistband.
- Jeremiah 16:1--9: The shunning of the expected customs of marriage, mourning, and general celebration.
- Jeremiah 19:1--13: the acquisition of a clay jug and the breaking of the jug in front of the religious leaders of Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 27--28: The wearing of an oxen yoke and its subsequent breaking by a false prophet, Hananiah.
- Jeremiah 32:6--15: The purchase of a field in Anathoth for the price of seventeen silver shekels.
- Jeremiah 35:1--19: The offering of wine to the Rechabites, a tribe known for living in tents and refusing to drink wine.
## Later interpretation and influence {#later_interpretation_and_influence}
### Judaism
The influence of Jeremiah during and after the Exile was considerable in some circles, and three additional books, the Book of Baruch, Lamentations, and the Letter of Jeremiah, were attributed to him in Second Temple Judaism (Judaism in the period between the building of the Second Temple in about 515 BCE and its destruction in 70 CE); in the Greek Septuagint they stand between Jeremiah and the Book of Ezekiel, but only Lamentations is included in modern Jewish or Protestant bibles (the Letter of Jeremiah appears in Catholic bibles as the sixth chapter of Baruch). Jeremiah is mentioned by name in Chronicles and the Book of Ezra, both dating from the later Persian period, and his prophecy that the Babylonian exile would last 70 years was taken up and reapplied by the author of the Book of Daniel in the 2nd century BCE.
### Christianity
The understanding of the early Christians that Jesus represented a \"new covenant\" is based on Jeremiah 31:31--34, in which a future Israel will repent and give God the obedience he demands. The Gospel\'s portrayal of Jesus as a persecuted prophet owes a great deal to the account of Jeremiah\'s sufferings in chapters 37--44, as well as to the \"Songs of the Suffering Servant\" in Isaiah.
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Book of Isaiah
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The **Book of Isaiah** (*ספר ישעיהו* `{{IPA|he|ˈsɛ.fɛr jə.ʃaʕ.ˈjaː.hu|}}`{=mediawiki}) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC prophet Isaiah ben Amoz, but there is evidence that much of it was composed during the Babylonian captivity and later. Johann Christoph Döderlein suggested in 1775 that the book contained the works of two prophets separated by more than a century, and Bernhard Duhm originated the view, held as a consensus through most of the 20th century, that the book comprises three separate collections of oracles: **Proto-Isaiah** (chapters 1--39), containing the words of the 8th-century BC prophet Isaiah; **Deutero-Isaiah**, or \"the Book of Consolation\", (chapters 40--55), the work of an anonymous 6th-century BCE author writing during the Exile; and **Trito-Isaiah** (chapters 56--66), composed after the return from Exile. Isaiah 1--33 promises judgment and restoration for Judah, Jerusalem and the nations, and chapters 34--66 presume that judgment has been pronounced and restoration follows soon. While few scholars today attribute the entire book, or even most of it, to one person, the book\'s essential unity has become a focus in more recent research.
The book can be read as an extended meditation on the destiny of Jerusalem into and after the Exile. The Deutero-Isaian part of the book describes how God will make Jerusalem the centre of his worldwide rule through a royal saviour (a messiah) who will destroy the oppressor (Babylon); this messiah is the Persian king Cyrus the Great, who is merely the agent who brings about Yahweh\'s kingship. Isaiah speaks out against corrupt leaders and for the disadvantaged, and roots righteousness in God\'s holiness rather than in Israel\'s covenant.
Isaiah was one of the most popular works among Jews in the Second Temple period (c. 515 BCE -- 70 CE). In Christian circles, it was held in such high regard as to be called \"the Fifth Gospel\", and its influence extends beyond Christianity to English literature and to Western culture in general, from the libretto of Handel\'s *Messiah* to a host of such everyday phrases as \"swords into ploughshares\" and \"voice in the wilderness\".
## Structure
General scholarly consensus through most of the 20th century saw three separate collections of oracles in the book of Isaiah. A typical outline based on this understanding of the book sees its underlying structure in terms of the identification of historical figures who might have been their authors:
- 1--39: Proto-Isaiah, containing the words of the original Isaiah;
- 40--55: Deutero-Isaiah, the work of an anonymous Exilic author;
- 56--66: Trito-Isaiah, an anthology of about twelve passages.
While one part of the general consensus still holds, this perception of Isaiah as made up of three rather distinct sections underwent a radical challenge in the last quarter of the 20th century. The newer approach looks at the book in terms of its literary and formal characteristics, rather than authors, and sees in it a two-part structure divided between chapters 33 and 34:
- 1--33: Warnings of judgment and promises of subsequent restoration for Jerusalem, Judah and the nations;
- 34--66: Judgment has already taken place and restoration is at hand.
## Summary
Seeing Isaiah as a two-part book (chapters 1--33 and 34--66) with an overarching theme leads to a summary of its contents like the following:
- The book opens by setting out the themes of judgment and subsequent restoration for the righteous. God has a plan which will be realised on the \"Day of Yahweh\", when Jerusalem will become the centre of his worldwide rule. On that day the world will come to Zion (Jerusalem) for instruction, but first the city must be punished and cleansed of evil. Israel is invited to join in this plan. Chapters 5--12 explain the significance of the Assyrian judgment against Israel: righteous rule by the Davidic king will follow after the arrogant Assyrian monarch is brought down. Chapters 13--27 announce the preparation of the nations for Yahweh\'s world rule; chapters 28--33 announce that a royal saviour (the messiah) will emerge in the aftermath of Jerusalem\'s punishment and the destruction of her oppressor.
- The oppressor (now identified as Babylon rather than Assyria) is about to fall. Chapters 34--35 tell how Yahweh will return the redeemed exiles to Jerusalem. Chapters 36--39 tell of the faithfulness of king Hezekiah to Yahweh during the Assyrian siege as a model for the restored community. Chapters 40--54 state that the restoration of Zion is taking place because Yahweh, the creator of the universe, has designated the Persian king Cyrus the Great as the promised messiah and temple-builder. Specifically, Chapter 53 predicts a suffering servant who will be the messiah the prophet speaks of in previous verses. Chapters 55--66 are an exhortation to Israel to keep the covenant. God\'s eternal promise to David is now made to the people of Israel/Judah at large. The book ends by enjoining righteousness as the final stages of God\'s plan come to pass, including the pilgrimage of the nations to Zion and the realisation of Yahweh\'s kingship.
The older understanding of this book as three fairly discrete sections attributable to identifiable authors leads to a more atomised picture of its contents, as in this example:
- **Proto-Isaiah**/**First Isaiah** (chapters 1--39):
- 1--12: Oracles against Judah mostly from Isaiah\'s early years;
- 13--23: Oracles against foreign nations from his middle years;
- 24--27: The \"Isaiah Apocalypse\", added at a much later date;
- 28--33: Oracles from Isaiah\'s later ministry
- 34--35: A vision of Zion, perhaps a later addition;
- 36--39: Stories of Isaiah\'s life, some from the Book of Kings
- **Deutero-Isaiah**/**Second Isaiah** (chapters 40--55), with two major divisions, 40--48 and 49--55, the first emphasizing Israel, the second Zion and Jerusalem:
- An introduction and conclusion stressing the power of God\'s word over everything;
- A second introduction and conclusion within these in which a herald announces salvation to Jerusalem;
- Fragments of hymns dividing various sections;
- The role of foreign nations, the fall of Babylon, and the rise of Cyrus as God\'s chosen one;
- Four \"servant songs\" personalising the message of the prophet;
- Several longer poems on topics such as God\'s power and invitations to Israel to trust in him;
- **Trito-Isaiah**/**Third Isaiah** (chapters 56--66):
- A collection of oracles by unknown prophets in the years immediately after the return from Babylon.
## Composition
### Authorship
While it is widely accepted that the book of Isaiah is rooted in a historic prophet called Isaiah, who lived in the Kingdom of Judah during the 8th century BCE, it is also widely accepted that this prophet did not write the entire book of Isaiah.
- Historical situation: Chapters 40--55 presuppose that Jerusalem has already been destroyed (they are not framed as prophecy) and the Babylonian exile is already in effect -- they speak from a present in which the Exile is about to end. Chapters 56--66 assume an even later situation, in which the people are already returned to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple is already under way.
- Anonymity: Isaiah\'s name suddenly stops being used after chapter 39.
- Style: There is a sudden change in style and theology after chapter 40; numerous key words and phrases found in one section are not found in the other.
The composition history of Isaiah reflects a major difference in the way authorship was regarded in ancient Israel and in modern societies; the ancients did not regard it as inappropriate to supplement an existing work while remaining anonymous. While the authors are anonymous, it is plausible that all of them were priests, and the book may thus reflect Priestly concerns, in opposition to the increasingly successful reform movement of the Deuteronomists.
### Historical context {#historical_context}
The historic Isaiah ben Amoz lived in the Kingdom of Judah during the reigns of four kings from the mid to late 8th-century BCE. During this period, Assyria was expanding westward from its origins in modern-day northern Iraq towards the Mediterranean, destroying first Aram (modern Syria) in 734--732 BCE, then the Kingdom of Israel in 722--721, and finally subjugating Judah in 701. Proto-Isaiah is divided between verse and prose passages, and a currently popular theory is that the verse passages represent the prophecies of the original 8th-century Isaiah, while the prose sections are \"sermons\" on his texts composed at the court of Josiah a hundred years later, at the end of the 7th century.
The conquest of Jerusalem by Babylon and the exile of its elite in 586 BCE ushered in the next stage in the formation of the book. Deutero-Isaiah addresses himself to the Jews in exile, offering them the hope of return. This was the period of the meteoric rise of Persia under its king Cyrus the Great -- in 559 BCE he succeeded his father as ruler of a small vassal kingdom in modern eastern Iran, by 540 he ruled an empire stretching from the Mediterranean to Central Asia, and in 539 he conquered Babylon. Deutero-Isaiah\'s predictions of the imminent fall of Babylon and his glorification of Cyrus as the deliverer of Israel date his prophecies to 550--539 BCE, and probably towards the end of this period.
The Persians ended the Jewish exile, and by 515 BCE the exiles, or at least some of them, had returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the Temple. The return, however, was not without problems: the returnees found themselves in conflict with those who had remained in the country and who now owned the land, and there were further conflicts over the form of government that should be set up. This background forms the context of Trito-Isaiah.
## Themes
### Overview
The Book of Isaiah focuses on the main role of Jerusalem in God\'s plan for the world, seeing centuries of history as though they were all the single vision of the 8th-century prophet Isaiah.
- Proto-Isaiah speaks of Israel\'s desertion of God and what will follow: Israel will be destroyed by foreign enemies, but after the people, the country and Jerusalem are punished and purified, a remnant of Israel will live in God\'s place in Zion, governed by God\'s chosen king, under the presence and protection of God.
- Deutero-Isaiah has as its subject the liberation of Israel from captivity in Babylon in another Exodus, which the God of Israel will arrange using Cyrus, the Persian conqueror, as his agent.
- Trito-Isaiah concerns Jerusalem, the Temple, the Sabbath, and Israel\'s salvation. (More explicitly, it concerns questions current among Jews living in Jerusalem and Judea in the post-Exilic period about who is a God-loving Jew and who is not).
Walter Brueggemann has described this overarching narrative as \"a continued meditation upon the destiny of Jerusalem\".
### Holiness, righteousness, and God\'s plan {#holiness_righteousness_and_gods_plan}
God\'s plan for the world is based on his choice of Jerusalem as the place where he will manifest himself, and of the line of David as his earthly representative -- a theme that may possibly have originated with Jerusalem\'s reprieve from Assyrian attack in 701 BCE. God is \"the holy one of Israel\"; justice and righteousness are the qualities that mark the essence of God, and Israel has offended God through unrighteousness. Isaiah speaks out for the poor and the oppressed and against corrupt princes and judges, but unlike the prophets Amos and Micah he roots righteousness not in Israel\'s covenant with God but in God\'s holiness.
### Monotheism
Isaiah 44:6 contains the first clear statement of Yahwist monotheism: \"I am the first and I am the last; beside me there is no God\". In Isaiah 44:09--20, this develops into a satire on the making and worship of idols, mocking the foolishness of the carpenter who worships the idol that he himself has carved. While Yahweh had shown his superiority to other gods before, in Second Isaiah he becomes the sole God of the world. This model of monotheism became the defining characteristic of post-Exilic Judaism and provided the basis for Christianity and for Islam.
### A new Exodus {#a_new_exodus}
A central theme in Second Isaiah is that of a new Exodus -- the return of the exiled people Israel from Babylon to Jerusalem. The author imagines a ritualistic return to Zion (Judah), led by Yahweh. The importance of this theme is indicated by its placement at the beginning and end of Second Isaiah (40:3--5, 55:12--13). This new Exodus is repeatedly linked with Israel\'s Exodus from Egypt to Canaan under divine guidance, but with new elements. These links include the following:
- The original Exodus participants left \"in great haste\" (Ex 12:11, Deut 16:3), whereas the participants in this new Exodus will \"not go out in great haste\" (Isa 52:12).
- The land between Egypt and Canaan of the first Exodus was a \"great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland\" (Deut 8:15), but in this new Exodus, the land between Babylon (Mesopotamia) and the Promised Land will be transformed into a paradise, where the mountains will be lowered and the valleys raised to create level road (Isa 40:4).
- In the first Exodus, God provided water, but sparingly. In the new Exodus, God will \"make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water\" (Isa 41:18).
## Later interpretation and influence {#later_interpretation_and_influence}
### 2nd Temple Judaism (515 BCE -- 70 CE) {#nd_temple_judaism_515_bce_70_ce}
Isaiah was one of the most popular works in the period between the foundation of the Second Temple c. 515 BCE and its destruction by the Romans in 70 CE. Isaiah\'s \"shoot \[which\] will come up from the stump of Jesse\" is alluded to or cited in the Psalms of Solomon and various apocalyptic works including the Similitudes of Enoch, 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra, and the third of the Sibylline oracles, all of which understood it to refer to a/the messiah and the messianic age. Isaiah 6, in which Isaiah describes his vision of God enthroned in the Temple, influenced the visions of God in works such as the \"Book of the Watchers\" section of the Book of Enoch, the Book of Daniel and others, often combined with the similar vision from the Book of Ezekiel. A very influential portion of Isaiah was the four so-called Songs of the Suffering Servant from Isaiah 42, 49, 50 and 52, in which God calls upon his servant to lead the nations (the servant is horribly abused, sacrifices himself in accepting the punishment due others, and is finally rewarded). Some Second Temple texts, including the Wisdom of Solomon and the Book of Daniel identified the Servant as a group -- \"the wise\" who \"will lead many to righteousness\" (Daniel 12:3) -- but others, notably the Similitudes of Enoch, understood it in messianic terms.
### Christianity
The earliest Christians, building on the messianic interpretation of Enoch, interpreted Isaiah 52:13--53:12, the fourth of the songs, as a prophecy of the death and exaltation of Jesus, a role which Jesus himself accepted according to Luke 4:17--21. The Book of Isaiah has been immensely influential in the formation of Christianity, from the devotion to the Virgin Mary to anti-Jewish polemic, medieval passion iconography, and modern Christian feminism and liberation theology. The regard in which Isaiah was held was so high that the book was frequently called \"the Fifth Gospel\": the prophet who spoke more clearly of Christ and the Church than any others. Its influence extends beyond the Church and Christianity to English literature and to Western culture in general, from the libretto of Handel\'s *Messiah* to a host of such everyday phrases as \"swords into ploughshares\" and \"voice in the wilderness\".
Isaiah provides 27 of the 37 quotations from the prophets in the Pauline epistles, and takes pride of place in the Gospels and in Acts of the Apostles. Isaiah 7:14, where the prophet is assuring king Ahaz that God will save Judah from the invading armies of Israel and Syria, forms the basis for Matthew 1:23\'s doctrine of the virgin birth, while Isaiah 40:3--5\'s image of the exiled Israel led by God and proceeding home to Jerusalem on a newly constructed road through the wilderness was taken up by all four Gospels and applied to John the Baptist and Jesus. Isaiah 43: 18-19 Has become popular in modern-day Christianity, especially among Christian groups. This passage was meant to comfort and inspire a displaced and downtrodden people. God, speaking through Isaiah, reminds the Israelites of His faithfulness. He calls them to remember His past deliverance---such as the exodus from Egypt---but not to remain stuck in it. Instead, He promises a new act of salvation, one even greater than before. "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. \"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it. I am making a way in the wilderness. and streams in the wasteland.\" Experts point to Chapter 53 and its discussion of a suffering servant as a striking prediction of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the messiah predicted by Isaiah.
Isaiah seems always to have had a prominent place in Hebrew Bible use, and it is probable that Jesus himself was deeply influenced by Isaiah. Thus many of the Isaiah passages that are familiar to Christians gained their popularity not directly from Isaiah but from the use of them by Jesus and the early Christian authors -- this is especially true of the Book of Revelation, which depends heavily on Isaiah for its language and imagery.
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Bilinear map
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In mathematics, a **bilinear map** is a function combining elements of two vector spaces to yield an element of a third vector space, and is linear in each of its arguments. Matrix multiplication is an example.
A bilinear map can also be defined for modules. For that, see the article pairing.
## Definition
### Vector spaces {#vector_spaces}
Let $V, W$ and $X$ be three vector spaces over the same base field $F$. A bilinear map is a function $B : V \times W \to X$ such that for all $w \in W$, the map $B_w$ $v \mapsto B(v, w)$ is a linear map from $V$ to $X,$ and for all $v \in V$, the map $B_v$ $w \mapsto B(v, w)$ is a linear map from $W$ to $X.$ In other words, when we hold the first entry of the bilinear map fixed while letting the second entry vary, the result is a linear operator, and similarly for when we hold the second entry fixed.
Such a map $B$ satisfies the following properties.
- For any $\lambda \in F$, $B(\lambda v,w) = B(v, \lambda w) = \lambda B(v, w).$
- The map $B$ is additive in both components: if $v_1, v_2 \in V$ and $w_1, w_2 \in W,$ then $B(v_1 + v_2, w) = B(v_1, w) + B(v_2, w)$ and $B(v, w_1 + w_2) = B(v, w_1) + B(v, w_2).$
If $V = W$ and we have `{{nowrap|1=''B''(''v'', ''w'') = ''B''(''w'', ''v'')}}`{=mediawiki} for all $v, w \in V,$ then we say that *B* is *symmetric*. If *X* is the base field *F*, then the map is called a *bilinear form*, which are well-studied (for example: scalar product, inner product, and quadratic form).
### Modules
The definition works without any changes if instead of vector spaces over a field *F*, we use modules over a commutative ring *R*. It generalizes to *n*-ary functions, where the proper term is *multilinear*.
For non-commutative rings *R* and *S*, a left *R*-module *M* and a right *S*-module *N*, a bilinear map is a map `{{nowrap|''B'' : ''M'' × ''N'' → ''T''}}`{=mediawiki} with *T* an `{{nowrap|(''R'', ''S'')}}`{=mediawiki}-bimodule, and for which any *n* in *N*, `{{nowrap|''m'' ↦ ''B''(''m'', ''n'')}}`{=mediawiki} is an *R*-module homomorphism, and for any *m* in *M*, `{{nowrap|''n'' ↦ ''B''(''m'', ''n'')}}`{=mediawiki} is an *S*-module homomorphism. This satisfies
: *B*(*r* ⋅ *m*, *n*) = *r* ⋅ *B*(*m*, *n*)
: *B*(*m*, *n* ⋅ *s*) = *B*(*m*, *n*) ⋅ *s*
for all *m* in *M*, *n* in *N*, *r* in *R* and *s* in *S*, as well as *B* being additive in each argument.
## Properties
An immediate consequence of the definition is that `{{nowrap|1=''B''(''v'', ''w'') = 0<sub>''X''</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} whenever `{{nowrap|1=''v'' = 0<sub>''V''</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} or `{{nowrap|1=''w'' = 0<sub>''W''</sub>}}`{=mediawiki}. This may be seen by writing the zero vector 0~*V*~ as `{{nowrap|0 ⋅ 0<sub>''V''</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} (and similarly for 0~*W*~) and moving the scalar 0 \"outside\", in front of *B*, by linearity.
The set `{{nowrap|''L''(''V'', ''W''; ''X'')}}`{=mediawiki} of all bilinear maps is a linear subspace of the space (viz. vector space, module) of all maps from `{{nowrap|''V'' × ''W''}}`{=mediawiki} into *X*.
If *V*, *W*, *X* are finite-dimensional, then so is `{{nowrap|''L''(''V'', ''W''; ''X'')}}`{=mediawiki}. For $X = F,$ that is, bilinear forms, the dimension of this space is `{{nowrap|dim ''V'' × dim ''W''}}`{=mediawiki} (while the space `{{nowrap|''L''(''V'' × ''W''; ''F'')}}`{=mediawiki} of *linear* forms is of dimension `{{nowrap|dim ''V'' + dim ''W''}}`{=mediawiki}). To see this, choose a basis for *V* and *W*; then each bilinear map can be uniquely represented by the matrix `{{nowrap|''B''(''e''<sub>''i''</sub>, ''f''<sub>''j''</sub>)}}`{=mediawiki}, and vice versa. Now, if *X* is a space of higher dimension, we obviously have `{{nowrap|1=dim ''L''(''V'', ''W''; ''X'') = dim ''V'' × dim ''W'' × dim ''X''}}`{=mediawiki}.
## Examples
- Matrix multiplication is a bilinear map `{{nowrap|M(''m'', ''n'') × M(''n'', ''p'') → M(''m'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki}.
- If a vector space *V* over the real numbers $\R$ carries an inner product, then the inner product is a bilinear map $V \times V \to \R.$
- In general, for a vector space *V* over a field *F*, a bilinear form on *V* is the same as a bilinear map `{{nowrap|''V'' × ''V'' → ''F''}}`{=mediawiki}.
- If *V* is a vector space with dual space *V*^∗^, then the canonical evaluation map, `{{nowrap|1=''b''(''f'', ''v'') = ''f''(''v'')}}`{=mediawiki} is a bilinear map from `{{nowrap|''V''<sup>∗</sup> × ''V''}}`{=mediawiki} to the base field.
- Let *V* and *W* be vector spaces over the same base field *F*. If *f* is a member of *V*^∗^ and *g* a member of *W*^∗^, then `{{nowrap|1=''b''(''v'', ''w'') = ''f''(''v'')''g''(''w'')}}`{=mediawiki} defines a bilinear map `{{nowrap|''V'' × ''W'' → ''F''}}`{=mediawiki}.
- The cross product in $\R^3$ is a bilinear map $\R^3 \times \R^3 \to \R^3.$
- Let $B : V \times W \to X$ be a bilinear map, and $L : U \to W$ be a linear map, then `{{nowrap|(''v'', ''u'') ↦ ''B''(''v'', ''Lu'')}}`{=mediawiki} is a bilinear map on `{{nowrap|''V'' × ''U''}}`{=mediawiki}.
## Continuity and separate continuity {#continuity_and_separate_continuity}
Suppose $X, Y,$ and $Z$ are topological vector spaces and let $b : X \times Y \to Z$ be a bilinear map. Then *b* is said to be **`{{visible anchor|separately continuous}}`{=mediawiki}** if the following two conditions hold:
1. for all $x \in X,$ the map $Y \to Z$ given by $y \mapsto b(x, y)$ is continuous;
2. for all $y \in Y,$ the map $X \to Z$ given by $x \mapsto b(x, y)$ is continuous.
Many separately continuous bilinear that are not continuous satisfy an additional property: hypocontinuity. All continuous bilinear maps are hypocontinuous.
### Sufficient conditions for continuity {#sufficient_conditions_for_continuity}
Many bilinear maps that occur in practice are separately continuous but not all are continuous. We list here sufficient conditions for a separately continuous bilinear map to be continuous.
- If *X* is a Baire space and *Y* is metrizable then every separately continuous bilinear map $b : X \times Y \to Z$ is continuous.
- If $X, Y, \text{ and } Z$ are the strong duals of Fréchet spaces then every separately continuous bilinear map $b : X \times Y \to Z$ is continuous.
- If a bilinear map is continuous at (0, 0) then it is continuous everywhere.
### Composition map {#composition_map}
Let $X, Y, \text{ and } Z$ be locally convex Hausdorff spaces and let $C : L(X; Y) \times L(Y; Z) \to L(X; Z)$ be the composition map defined by $C(u, v) := v \circ u.$ In general, the bilinear map $C$ is not continuous (no matter what topologies the spaces of linear maps are given). We do, however, have the following results:
Give all three spaces of linear maps one of the following topologies:
1. give all three the topology of bounded convergence;
2. give all three the topology of compact convergence;
3. give all three the topology of pointwise convergence.
- If $E$ is an equicontinuous subset of $L(Y; Z)$ then the restriction $C\big\vert_{L(X; Y) \times E} : L(X; Y) \times E \to L(X; Z)$ is continuous for all three topologies.
- If $Y$ is a barreled space then for every sequence $\left(u_i\right)_{i=1}^{\infty}$ converging to $u$ in $L(X; Y)$ and every sequence $\left(v_i\right)_{i=1}^{\infty}$ converging to $v$ in $L(Y; Z),$ the sequence $\left(v_i \circ u_i\right)_{i=1}^{\infty}$ converges to $v \circ u$ in $L(Y; Z).$
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Boiled leather
|
**Boiled leather**, often referred to by its French translation, **cuir bouilli** (`{{IPA|fr|kɥiʁ buji|lang}}`{=mediawiki}), was a historical material common in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period and used for various purposes. It was leather that had been treated so that it became tough and rigid, as well as able to hold moulded decoration. It was the usual material for the robust carrying-cases that were made for important pieces of metalwork, instruments such as astrolabes, personal sets of cutlery, books, pens and the like. It was used for some armour, being both much cheaper and much lighter than plate armour, but could not withstand a direct blow from a blade, nor a gunshot.
Alternative names are \"moulded leather\" and \"hardened leather\". In the course of making the material it becomes very soft, and can be impressed into a mould to give it the desired shape and decoration, which most surviving examples have. Pieces such as chests and coffers also usually have a wooden inner core.
Various recipes for making cuir bouilli survive, and do not agree with each other; probably there were a range of recipes, partly reflecting different final uses. Vegetable-tanned leather is generally specified. Scholars have debated the subject at length and attempted to recreate the historical material. Many, but not all, sources agree that the process involved immersion of the leather in water, but not actual boiling.
## Military use {#military_use}
Cuir bouilli was used for cheap and light armour, although it was much less effective than plate armour, which was extremely expensive and too heavy for much to be worn by infantry (as opposed to knights fighting on horseback). However, cuir bouilli could be reinforced against slashing blows by the addition of metal bands or strips, especially in helmets. Modern experiments on simple cuir bouilli have shown that it can reduce the depth of an arrow wound considerably, especially if coated with a crushed mineral facing mixed with glue, as one medieval Arab author recommended.
In addition, \"armour based on hide has the unique advantage that it can, in extremis, provide some nutrition\" when actually boiled. Josephus records that the Jewish defenders in the Siege of Jerusalem in AD 70 were reduced to eating their shields and other leather kit, as was the Spanish expedition of Tristan de Luna in 1559.
Versions of cuir bouilli were used since ancient times, especially for shields, in many parts of the world. Although in general leather does not survive long burial, and excavated archaeological evidence for it is rare, an Irish shield of cuir bouilli with wooden formers, deposited in a peat bog, has survived for some 2,500 years. It was commonly used in the Western world for helmets; the pickelhaube, the standard German helmet, was not replaced by a steel stahlhelm until 1916, in the midst of World War I. As leather does not conduct heat the way metal does, firemen continued to use boiled leather helmets until World War II, and the invention of strong plastics.
The word cuirass for a breastplate indicates that these were originally made of leather. In the Late Middle Ages, the heyday of plate armour, cuir bouilli continued to be used even by the rich for horse armour and often for tournament armour, as well as by ordinary infantry soldiers. Tournaments were increasingly regulated in order to reduce the risk to life, and in 1278 Edward I of England organized one in Windsor Great Park at which cuir bouilli armour was worn, and the king provided swords made of whale bone and parchment.
The account of the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 by Jean de Wavrin, who was present on the French side, describes the crucial force of English longbowmen as having on their heads either cuir bouilli helmets, or wicker with iron strips, or nothing (the last, he says, were also barefoot).
A few pieces of Roman horse armour in cuir bouilli have been excavated. Evidence from documents such as inventories show that it was common in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, and used by the highest ranks, but survivals are very few. In 1547 the Master of Armoury in the Tower of London ordered 46 sets of bards and crinets in preparation for the final invasion of Scotland in the war known as the Rough Wooing. In September that year the English cavalry were crucial in the decisive victory at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh. The German Count Palatine of the Rhine had six sets of cuir bouilli horse armour for his and his family\'s use in the 16th century. Often the shaffron for the horse\'s head would be in steel, though leather ones are also known.
Cuir bouilli was also very common for scabbards. However surviving specimens of leather armour are rare, more so than the various types of civilian containers. It is believed that many leather pieces are depicted in sculpted tomb monuments, where they are more highly decorated than metal pieces would have been. Cuir bouilli was also often used for elaborate figurative crests on some helmets.
The material is mentioned in Froissart\'s *Chronicles of the Hundred Years\' War*, and Geoffrey Chaucer, in his Canterbury Tales, written in the late 1300s, says of the knight Sir Thopas:
(Note: *jambeaux* are greaves -- shin armour).
The large decorative crests that came to top some helmets in the late Middle Ages were often made of cuir bouilli, as is the famous example belonging to the Black Prince and hung with other \"achievements\" over his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral. His wooden shield also has the heraldic animals appliqued in cuir bouilli.
## Examples of other uses {#examples_of_other_uses}
As well as the crests on helmets described above, cuir bouilli was probably used sculpturally in various contexts, over a wood or plaster framework where necessary. When Henry V of England died in France, his effigy in cuir bouilli was placed on top of his coffin for the journey back to England.
A near life-size crucifix in the Vatican Museums is in cuir bouilli over wood. This is of special interest to art historians because it was made in 1540 as a replica of a crucifix in silver presented by Charlemagne some 740 years before; an object of great interest as possibly the first of the long line of monumental crucifixes in Western art. In 1540, the original silver was melted down for church plate to replace that looted in the Sack of Rome in 1527. It seems likely that the leather was moulded directly from the original and it is possible that the wooden core underneath is actually the Carolingian original, with the leather replacing the sheets of silver originally fitted over the wood.
Cuir bouilli has also been employed to bind books, mainly between the 9th and 14th centuries. Other uses include high boots for especially tough use, which were called \"postillion\'s boots\" in England. Another use was for large bottles or jugs called \"blackjacks\", \"bombards\", or \"costerns\". There is an English reference to these from 1373.
<File:Portable> Reliquary Case MET sf1984-24-2s4.jpg\|Portable Reliquary Case, French, c. 1400, 12.6 cm long <File:Box> MET sf56-150abs3.jpg\|Late 15th-century box, 4 x 12 x 7.4 cm, Italian. The interior is painted. <File:Box> MET sf49-61-1abs1.jpg\|Box, probably for ink powder, 15th-century Italian, textile interior and wood core <File:Book> Box MET sf52-131abs1.jpg\|Book case, 15th-century Italian <File:Case> (étui) with an amorous inscription MET sf50-53-1s3.jpg\|Etui \"with an amorous inscription\", 1450--1500, Italian, 21 cm long <File:Case> (étui) with an amorous inscription MET sf50-53-1d1.jpg\|Detail of last. This piece has a wooden core. <File:Pechelbronn-Musée> du Pétrole (17).jpg\|French miner\'s hat, after 1840 <File:Hunting> Knife, Sharpener, and Sheath MET DP102099.jpeg\|Hunting Knife, Sharpener, and Sheath. French, c. 1880, as a fake 15th-century set. <File:Braunschweigisches> Husaren-Regiment Nr. 17 Totenkopf Paradehelm Cut out.jpg\|Braunschweigisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 17, Death\'s Head pickelhaube <File:Historischer> Feuerwehrhelm (Elektriker), sächsische Form, um 1910 (DFM).JPG\|German fireman\'s helmet (specialist electrician), c. 1910, containing no metal parts at all
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Buffer overflow
|
In programming and information security, a **buffer overflow** or **buffer overrun** is an anomaly whereby a program writes data to a buffer beyond the buffer\'s allocated memory, overwriting adjacent memory locations.
Buffers are areas of memory set aside to hold data, often while moving it from one section of a program to another, or between programs. Buffer overflows can often be triggered by malformed inputs; if one assumes all inputs will be smaller than a certain size and the buffer is created to be that size, then an anomalous transaction that produces more data could cause it to write past the end of the buffer. If this overwrites adjacent data or executable code, this may result in erratic program behavior, including memory access errors, incorrect results, and crashes.
Exploiting the behavior of a buffer overflow is a well-known security exploit. On many systems, the memory layout of a program, or the system as a whole, is well defined. By sending in data designed to cause a buffer overflow, it is possible to write into areas known to hold executable code and replace it with malicious code, or to selectively overwrite data pertaining to the program\'s state, therefore causing behavior that was not intended by the original programmer. Buffers are widespread in operating system (OS) code, so it is possible to make attacks that perform privilege escalation and gain unlimited access to the computer\'s resources. The famed Morris worm in 1988 used this as one of its attack techniques.
Programming languages commonly associated with buffer overflows include C and C++, which provide no built-in protection against accessing or overwriting data in any part of memory and do not automatically check that data written to an array (the built-in buffer type) is within the boundaries of that array. Bounds checking can prevent buffer overflows, but requires additional code and processing time. Modern operating systems use a variety of techniques to combat malicious buffer overflows, notably by randomizing the layout of memory, or deliberately leaving space between buffers and looking for actions that write into those areas (\"canaries\").
## Technical description {#technical_description}
A buffer overflow occurs when data written to a buffer also corrupts data values in memory addresses adjacent to the destination buffer due to insufficient bounds checking.`{{Ref RFC|4949|notes=no|rp=41}}`{=mediawiki} This can occur when copying data from one buffer to another without first checking that the data fits within the destination buffer.
### Example
In the following example expressed in C, a program has two variables which are adjacent in memory: an 8-byte-long string buffer, A, and a two-byte big-endian integer, B.
``` c
char A[8] = "";
unsigned short B = 1979;
```
Initially, A contains nothing but zero bytes, and B contains the number 1979.
variable name A
--------------- ----------------- ----
value \[null string\]
hex value 00 00
Now, the program attempts to store the null-terminated string `{{code|"excessive"}}`{=mediawiki} with ASCII encoding in the A buffer.
``` c
strcpy(A, "excessive");
```
is 9 characters long and encodes to 10 bytes including the null terminator, but A can take only 8 bytes. By failing to check the length of the string, it also overwrites the value of B:
variable name A
--------------- ------- -------
value \'e\' \'x\'
hex 65 78
B\'s value has now been inadvertently replaced by a number formed from part of the character string. In this example \"e\" followed by a zero byte would become 25856.
Writing data past the end of allocated memory can sometimes be detected by the operating system to generate a segmentation fault error that terminates the process.
To prevent the buffer overflow from happening in this example, the call to strcpy could be replaced with strlcpy, which takes the maximum capacity of A (including a null-termination character) as an additional parameter and ensures that no more than this amount of data is written to A:
``` c
strlcpy(A, "excessive", sizeof(A));
```
When available, the strlcpy library function is preferred over strncpy which does not null-terminate the destination buffer if the source string\'s length is greater than or equal to the size of the buffer (the third argument passed to the function). Therefore A may not be null-terminated and cannot be treated as a valid C-style string.
## Exploitation
The techniques to exploit a buffer overflow vulnerability vary by architecture, operating system, and memory region. For example, exploitation on the heap (used for dynamically allocated memory), differs markedly from exploitation on the call stack. In general, heap exploitation depends on the heap manager used on the target system, while stack exploitation depends on the calling convention used by the architecture and compiler.
### Stack-based exploitation {#stack_based_exploitation}
There are several ways in which one can manipulate a program by exploiting stack-based buffer overflows:
- Changing program behavior by overwriting a local variable located near the vulnerable buffer on the stack;
- By overwriting the return address in a stack frame to point to code selected by the attacker, usually called the shellcode. Once the function returns, execution will resume at the attacker\'s shellcode;
- By overwriting a function pointer or exception handler to point to the shellcode, which is subsequently executed;
- By overwriting a local variable (or pointer) of a different stack frame, which will later be used by the function that owns that frame.
The attacker designs data to cause one of these exploits, then places this data in a buffer supplied to users by the vulnerable code. If the address of the user-supplied data used to affect the stack buffer overflow is unpredictable, exploiting a stack buffer overflow to cause remote code execution becomes much more difficult. One technique that can be used to exploit such a buffer overflow is called \"trampolining\". Here, an attacker will find a pointer to the vulnerable stack buffer and compute the location of their shellcode relative to that pointer. The attacker will then use the overwrite to jump to an instruction already in memory which will make a second jump, this time relative to the pointer. That second jump will branch execution into the shellcode. Suitable instructions are often present in large code. The Metasploit Project, for example, maintains a database of suitable opcodes, though it lists only those found in the Windows operating system.
### Heap-based exploitation {#heap_based_exploitation}
A buffer overflow occurring in the heap data area is referred to as a heap overflow and is exploitable in a manner different from that of stack-based overflows. Memory on the heap is dynamically allocated by the application at run-time and typically contains program data. Exploitation is performed by corrupting this data in specific ways to cause the application to overwrite internal structures such as linked list pointers. The canonical heap overflow technique overwrites dynamic memory allocation linkage (such as malloc meta data) and uses the resulting pointer exchange to overwrite a program function pointer.
Microsoft\'s GDI+ vulnerability in handling JPEGs is an example of the danger a heap overflow can present.
### Barriers to exploitation {#barriers_to_exploitation}
Manipulation of the buffer, which occurs before it is read or executed, may lead to the failure of an exploitation attempt. These manipulations can mitigate the threat of exploitation, but may not make it impossible. Manipulations could include conversion to upper or lower case, removal of metacharacters and filtering out of non-alphanumeric strings. However, techniques exist to bypass these filters and manipulations, such as alphanumeric shellcode, polymorphic code, self-modifying code, and return-to-libc attacks. The same methods can be used to avoid detection by intrusion detection systems. In some cases, including where code is converted into Unicode, the threat of the vulnerability has been misrepresented by the disclosers as only Denial of Service when in fact the remote execution of arbitrary code is possible.
### Practicalities of exploitation {#practicalities_of_exploitation}
In real-world exploits there are a variety of challenges which need to be overcome for exploits to operate reliably. These factors include null bytes in addresses, variability in the location of shellcode, differences between environments, and various counter-measures in operation.
#### NOP sled technique {#nop_sled_technique}
A NOP-sled is the oldest and most widely known technique for exploiting stack buffer overflows. It solves the problem of finding the exact address of the buffer by effectively increasing the size of the target area. To do this, much larger sections of the stack are corrupted with the no-op machine instruction. At the end of the attacker-supplied data, after the no-op instructions, the attacker places an instruction to perform a relative jump to the top of the buffer where the shellcode is located. This collection of no-ops is referred to as the \"NOP-sled\" because if the return address is overwritten with any address within the no-op region of the buffer, the execution will \"slide\" down the no-ops until it is redirected to the actual malicious code by the jump at the end. This technique requires the attacker to guess where on the stack the NOP-sled is instead of the comparatively small shellcode.
Because of the popularity of this technique, many vendors of intrusion prevention systems will search for this pattern of no-op machine instructions in an attempt to detect shellcode in use. A NOP-sled does not necessarily contain only traditional no-op machine instructions. Any instruction that does not corrupt the machine state to a point where the shellcode will not run can be used in place of the hardware assisted no-op. As a result, it has become common practice for exploit writers to compose the no-op sled with randomly chosen instructions which will have no real effect on the shellcode execution.
While this method greatly improves the chances that an attack will be successful, it is not without problems. Exploits using this technique still must rely on some amount of luck that they will guess offsets on the stack that are within the NOP-sled region. An incorrect guess will usually result in the target program crashing and could alert the system administrator to the attacker\'s activities. Another problem is that the NOP-sled requires a much larger amount of memory in which to hold a NOP-sled large enough to be of any use. This can be a problem when the allocated size of the affected buffer is too small and the current depth of the stack is shallow (i.e., there is not much space from the end of the current stack frame to the start of the stack). Despite its problems, the NOP-sled is often the only method that will work for a given platform, environment, or situation, and as such it is still an important technique.
#### The jump to address stored in a register technique {#the_jump_to_address_stored_in_a_register_technique}
The \"jump to register\" technique allows for reliable exploitation of stack buffer overflows without the need for extra room for a NOP-sled and without having to guess stack offsets. The strategy is to overwrite the return pointer with something that will cause the program to jump to a known pointer stored within a register which points to the controlled buffer and thus the shellcode. For example, if register A contains a pointer to the start of a buffer then any jump or call taking that register as an operand can be used to gain control of the flow of execution.
In practice a program may not intentionally contain instructions to jump to a particular register. The traditional solution is to find an unintentional instance of a suitable opcode at a fixed location somewhere within the program memory. Figure E on the left contains an example of such an unintentional instance of the i386 `jmp esp` instruction. The opcode for this instruction is `FF E4`. This two-byte sequence can be found at a one-byte offset from the start of the instruction `call DbgPrint` at address `0x7C941EED`. If an attacker overwrites the program return address with this address the program will first jump to `0x7C941EED`, interpret the opcode `FF E4` as the `jmp esp` instruction, and will then jump to the top of the stack and execute the attacker\'s code.
When this technique is possible the severity of the vulnerability increases considerably. This is because exploitation will work reliably enough to automate an attack with a virtual guarantee of success when it is run. For this reason, this is the technique most commonly used in Internet worms that exploit stack buffer overflow vulnerabilities.
This method also allows shellcode to be placed after the overwritten return address on the Windows platform. Since executables are mostly based at address `0x00400000` and x86 is a little endian architecture, the last byte of the return address must be a null, which terminates the buffer copy and nothing is written beyond that. This limits the size of the shellcode to the size of the buffer, which may be overly restrictive. DLLs are located in high memory (above `0x01000000`) and so have addresses containing no null bytes, so this method can remove null bytes (or other disallowed characters) from the overwritten return address. Used in this way, the method is often referred to as \"DLL trampolining\".
## Protective countermeasures {#protective_countermeasures}
Various techniques have been used to detect or prevent buffer overflows, with various tradeoffs. The following sections describe the choices and implementations available.
### Choice of programming language {#choice_of_programming_language}
Assembly, C, and C++ are popular programming languages that are vulnerable to buffer overflow in part because they allow direct access to memory and are not strongly typed. C provides no built-in protection against accessing or overwriting data in any part of memory. More specifically, it does not check that data written to a buffer is within the boundaries of that buffer. The standard C++ libraries provide many ways of safely buffering data, and C++\'s Standard Template Library (STL) provides containers that can optionally perform bounds checking if the programmer explicitly calls for checks while accessing data. For example, a `vector`\'s member function `at()` performs a bounds check and throws an `out_of_range` exception if the bounds check fails. However, C++ behaves just like C if the bounds check is not explicitly called. Techniques to avoid buffer overflows also exist for C.
Languages that are strongly typed and do not allow direct memory access, such as COBOL, Java, Eiffel, Python, and others, prevent buffer overflow in most cases. Many programming languages other than C or C++ provide runtime checking and in some cases even compile-time checking which might send a warning or raise an exception, while C or C++ would overwrite data and continue to execute instructions until erroneous results are obtained, potentially causing the program to crash. Examples of such languages include Ada, Eiffel, Lisp, Modula-2, Smalltalk, OCaml and such C-derivatives as Cyclone, Rust and D. The Java and .NET Framework bytecode environments also require bounds checking on all arrays. Nearly every interpreted language will protect against buffer overflow, signaling a well-defined error condition. Languages that provide enough type information to do bounds checking often provide an option to enable or disable it. Static code analysis can remove many dynamic bound and type checks, but poor implementations and awkward cases can significantly decrease performance. Software engineers should carefully consider the tradeoffs of safety versus performance costs when deciding which language and compiler setting to use.
### Use of safe libraries {#use_of_safe_libraries}
The problem of buffer overflows is common in the C and C++ languages because they expose low level representational details of buffers as containers for data types. Buffer overflows can be avoided by maintaining a high degree of correctness in code that performs buffer management. It has also long been recommended to avoid standard library functions that are not bounds checked, such as `gets`, `scanf` and `strcpy`. The Morris worm exploited a `gets` call in fingerd.
Well-written and tested abstract data type libraries that centralize and automatically perform buffer management, including bounds checking, can reduce the occurrence and impact of buffer overflows. The primary data types in languages in which buffer overflows are common are strings and arrays. Thus, libraries preventing buffer overflows in these data types can provide the vast majority of the necessary coverage. However, failure to use these safe libraries correctly can result in buffer overflows and other vulnerabilities, and naturally any bug in the library is also a potential vulnerability. \"Safe\" library implementations include \"The Better String Library\", Vstr and Erwin. The OpenBSD operating system\'s C library provides the strlcpy and strlcat functions, but these are more limited than full safe library implementations.
In September 2007, Technical Report 24731, prepared by the C standards committee, was published. It specifies a set of functions that are based on the standard C library\'s string and IO functions, with additional buffer-size parameters. However, the efficacy of these functions for reducing buffer overflows is disputable. They require programmer intervention on a per function call basis that is equivalent to intervention that could make the analogous older standard library functions buffer overflow safe.
### Buffer overflow protection {#buffer_overflow_protection}
Buffer overflow protection is used to detect the most common buffer overflows by checking that the stack has not been altered when a function returns. If it has been altered, the program exits with a segmentation fault. Three such systems are Libsafe, and the *StackGuard* and *ProPolice* gcc patches.
Microsoft\'s implementation of Data Execution Prevention (DEP) mode explicitly protects the pointer to the Structured Exception Handler (SEH) from being overwritten.
Stronger stack protection is possible by splitting the stack in two: one for data and one for function returns. This split is present in the Forth language, though it was not a security-based design decision. Regardless, this is not a complete solution to buffer overflows, as sensitive data other than the return address may still be overwritten.
This type of protection is also not entirely accurate because it does not detect all attacks. Systems like StackGuard are more centered around the behavior of the attacks, which makes them efficient and faster in comparison to range-check systems.
### Pointer protection {#pointer_protection}
Buffer overflows work by manipulating pointers, including stored addresses. PointGuard was proposed as a compiler-extension to prevent attackers from reliably manipulating pointers and addresses. The approach works by having the compiler add code to automatically XOR-encode pointers before and after they are used. Theoretically, because the attacker does not know what value will be used to encode and decode the pointer, one cannot predict what the pointer will point to if it is overwritten with a new value. PointGuard was never released, but Microsoft implemented a similar approach beginning in Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 SP1. Rather than implement pointer protection as an automatic feature, Microsoft added an API routine that can be called. This allows for better performance (because it is not used all of the time), but places the burden on the programmer to know when its use is necessary.
Because XOR is linear, an attacker may be able to manipulate an encoded pointer by overwriting only the lower bytes of an address. This can allow an attack to succeed if the attacker can attempt the exploit multiple times or complete an attack by causing a pointer to point to one of several locations (such as any location within a NOP sled). Microsoft added a random rotation to their encoding scheme to address this weakness to partial overwrites.
### Executable space protection {#executable_space_protection}
Executable space protection is an approach to buffer overflow protection that prevents execution of code on the stack or the heap. An attacker may use buffer overflows to insert arbitrary code into the memory of a program, but with executable space protection, any attempt to execute that code will cause an exception.
Some CPUs support a feature called NX (\"No eXecute\") or XD (\"eXecute Disabled\") bit, which in conjunction with software, can be used to mark pages of data (such as those containing the stack and the heap) as readable and writable but not executable.
Some Unix operating systems (e.g. OpenBSD, macOS) ship with executable space protection (e.g. W\^X). Some optional packages include:
- PaX
- Exec Shield
- Openwall
Newer variants of Microsoft Windows also support executable space protection, called Data Execution Prevention. Proprietary add-ons include:
- BufferShield
- StackDefender
Executable space protection does not generally protect against return-to-libc attacks, or any other attack that does not rely on the execution of the attackers code. However, on 64-bit systems using ASLR, as described below, executable space protection makes it far more difficult to execute such attacks.
### Capability Hardware Enhanced RISC Instructions {#capability_hardware_enhanced_risc_instructions}
CHERI (Capability Hardware Enhanced RISC Instructions) is a computer processor technology designed to improve security. It operates at a hardware level by providing a hardware-enforced type (a CHERI capability) that authorises access to memory. Traditional pointers are replaced by addresses accompanied by metadata that limit what can be accessed through any given pointer.
### Address space layout randomization {#address_space_layout_randomization}
Address space layout randomization (ASLR) is a computer security feature that involves arranging the positions of key data areas, usually including the base of the executable and position of libraries, heap, and stack, randomly in a process\' address space.
Randomization of the virtual memory addresses at which functions and variables can be found can make exploitation of a buffer overflow more difficult, but not impossible. It also forces the attacker to tailor the exploitation attempt to the individual system, which foils the attempts of internet worms. A similar but less effective method is to rebase processes and libraries in the virtual address space.
### Deep packet inspection {#deep_packet_inspection}
The use of deep packet inspection (DPI) can detect, at the network perimeter, very basic remote attempts to exploit buffer overflows by use of attack signatures and heuristics. This technique can block packets that have the signature of a known attack. It was formerly used in situations in which a long series of No-Operation instructions (known as a NOP-sled) was detected and the location of the exploit\'s payload was slightly variable.
Packet scanning is not an effective method since it can only prevent known attacks and there are many ways that a NOP-sled can be encoded. Shellcode used by attackers can be made alphanumeric, metamorphic, or self-modifying to evade detection by heuristic packet scanners and intrusion detection systems.
### Testing
Checking for buffer overflows and patching the bugs that cause them helps prevent buffer overflows. One common automated technique for discovering them is fuzzing. Edge case testing can also uncover buffer overflows, as can static analysis. Once a potential buffer overflow is detected it should be patched. This makes the testing approach useful for software that is in development, but less useful for legacy software that is no longer maintained or supported.
## History
Buffer overflows were understood and partially publicly documented as early as 1972, when the Computer Security Technology Planning Study laid out the technique: \"The code performing this function does not check the source and destination addresses properly, permitting portions of the monitor to be overlaid by the user. This can be used to inject code into the monitor that will permit the user to seize control of the machine.\" Today, the monitor would be referred to as the kernel.
The earliest documented hostile exploitation of a buffer overflow was in 1988. It was one of several exploits used by the Morris worm to propagate itself over the Internet. The program exploited was a service on Unix called finger. Later, in 1995, Thomas Lopatic independently rediscovered the buffer overflow and published his findings on the Bugtraq security mailing list. A year later, in 1996, Elias Levy (also known as Aleph One) published in *Phrack* magazine the paper \"Smashing the Stack for Fun and Profit\", a step-by-step introduction to exploiting stack-based buffer overflow vulnerabilities.
Since then, at least two major internet worms have exploited buffer overflows to compromise a large number of systems. In 2001, the Code Red worm exploited a buffer overflow in Microsoft\'s Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 and in 2003 the SQL Slammer worm compromised machines running Microsoft SQL Server 2000.
In 2003, buffer overflows present in licensed Xbox games have been exploited to allow unlicensed software, including homebrew games, to run on the console without the need for hardware modifications, known as modchips. The PS2 Independence Exploit also used a buffer overflow to achieve the same for the PlayStation 2. The Twilight hack accomplished the same with the Wii, using a buffer overflow in *The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess*.
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Book of Judges
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The **Book of Judges** is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom in the Books of Samuel, during which Biblical judges served as temporary leaders.
The stories follow a consistent pattern: the people are unfaithful to Yahweh; he therefore delivers them into the hands of their enemies; the people repent and entreat Yahweh for mercy, which he sends in the form of a leader or champion; the judge delivers the Israelites from oppression and they prosper, but soon they fall again into unfaithfulness and the cycle is repeated. The pattern also expresses a repeating cycle of wars. But in the last verse (21:25) there is a hint that the cycle can be broken---with the establishment of a monarchy.
Scholars consider many of the stories in Judges to be the oldest in the Deuteronomistic history, with their major redaction dated to the 8th century BCE and with materials such as the Song of Deborah dating from much earlier.
## Contents
Judges can be divided into three major sections: a double prologue (chapters 1:1--3:6), a main body (3:7--16:31), and a double epilogue (17--21).
### Prologue
The book opens with the Israelites in the land that God has promised to them, but worshiping \"foreign gods\" instead of Yahweh, the God of Israel, and with the Canaanites still present everywhere. Chapters 1:1--2:5 are thus a confession of failure, while chapters 2:6--3:6 are a major summary and reflection from the Deuteronomists.
The opening thus sets out the pattern which the stories in the main text will follow:
1. Israel \"does evil in the eyes of Yahweh\",
2. The people are given into the hands of their enemies and cry out to Yahweh,
3. Yahweh raises up a leader,
4. The \"spirit of Yahweh\" comes upon the leader,
5. The leader manages to defeat the enemy, and
6. Peace is regained.
Once peace is regained, Israel does right and receives Yahweh\'s blessings for a time, but relapses later into doing evil and repeats the pattern above.
Judges follows the Book of Joshua and opens with a reference to Joshua\'s death. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges suggests that \"the death of Joshua may be regarded as marking the division between the period of conquest and the period of occupation\", the latter being the focus of the Book of Judges. The Israelites meet, probably at the sanctuary at Gilgal or at Shechem, and ask the Lord who should be first (in order of time, not of rank) to secure the land they are to occupy.
### Main text {#main_text}
The main text gives accounts of six major judges and their struggles against the oppressive kings of surrounding nations, as well as the story of Abimelech, an Israelite leader (a judge \[shofet\] in the sense of \"chieftain\") who oppresses his own people. The cyclical pattern set out in the prologue is readily apparent at the beginning, but as the stories progress it begins to disintegrate, mirroring the disintegration of the world of the Israelites. Although some scholars consider the stories not to be presented in chronological order, the judges in the order in which they appear in the text are:
- Othniel (3:9--11) vs. Cushan-Rishathaim, King of Aram; Israel has 40 years of peace until the death of Othniel. (The statement that Israel has a certain period of peace after each judge is a recurrent theme.)
- Ehud (3:11--29) vs. Eglon of Moab
- Deborah, directing Barak the army captain (4--5), vs. Jabin of Hazor (a city in Canaan) and Sisera, his captain (Battle of Mount Tabor)
- Gideon (6--8) vs. Midian, Amalek, and the \"children of the East\" (apparently desert tribes)
- Jephthah (11--12:7) vs. the Ammonites
- Samson (13--16) vs. the Philistines
There are also brief glosses on six minor judges: Shamgar (Judges 3:31; after Ehud), Tola and Jair (10:1--5), Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon (12:8--15; after Jephthah). Some scholars have inferred that the minor judges were actual adjudicators, whereas the major judges were leaders and did not actually make legal judgments. The only major judge described as making legal judgments is Deborah (4:4).
### Epilogue
By the end of Judges, Yahweh\'s treasures are used to make idolatrous images, the Levites become corrupt, the tribe of Dan conquers a remote village instead of the Canaanite cities, and the tribes of Israel make war on the tribe of Benjamin, their own kinsmen. The book concludes with two appendices, stories which do not feature a specific judge:
- Micah\'s Idol (Judges 17--18), how the tribe of Dan conquers its territory in the north.
- Levite\'s concubine (Judges 19--21): the gang rape of a Levite\'s concubine leads to war between the Benjamites and the other Israelite tribes, after which hundreds of virgins are taken captive as wives for the decimated Benjamites.
Despite their appearance at the end of the book, certain characters (like Jonathan, the grandson of Moses) and idioms present in the epilogue show that the events therein \"must have taken place\... early in the period of the judges.\"
### Chronology
Judges contains a chronology of its events, assigning a number of years to each interval of judgment and peace. It is overtly schematic and was likely introduced at a later period.
### Manuscript sources {#manuscript_sources}
Four of the Dead Sea Scrolls feature parts of Judges: 1QJudg, found in Qumran Cave 1; 4QJudg^a^ and 4QJudg^b^, found in Qumran Cave 4; and XJudges, a fragment discovered in 2001.
The earliest complete surviving copy of the Book of Judges in Hebrew is in the Aleppo Codex (10th century CE).
The Septuagint (Greek translation) is found in early manuscripts such as the Codex Colberto-Sarravianus (c. AD 400; contains many lacunae) and the Fragment of Leipzig (c. AD 500).
## Composition
`{{See also|Judges 1#Composition and historicity|Textual variants in the Book of Judges}}`{=mediawiki}
### Historicity
Biblical archaeology in the 19th and 20th centuries supported viewing Judges as historical, but there is currently disagreement among scholars on whether the book reflects early Israelite history.
Scholars hold a variety of opinions about the dating and historicity of the Book of Judges. Some scholars doubt whether any of the people named as judges existed, while others still find truth throughout the book. For Israel Finkelstein, the historical reliability of the Book of Judges cannot be assessed by the possible inclusion of heroic tales from earlier eras because it is impossible to know to what extent those tales are based on authentic memories of local heroes and wars preserved over the centuries in the form of epic poems or popular folktales. Lester Grabbe generally considers the Book of Judges too problematic to use as a historical source for much the same reasons, but acknowledges that an actual historical core can be found in the Judges stories and cannot be ruled out by archeological evidence.
Among anthropologists, few believe in a leap from independent tribes to monarchy. Most accept an intermediate stage of chiefdom as described in the Book of Judges. These chiefdoms were inter-tribal confederacies temporarily formed for the purpose of war and led by military chief, called Judge. Historian Max Ostrovsky finds the law of bun (herem) a characteristic element of chiefdom-level warfare worldwide, wherever culture reached the level of chiefdom. Similar buns were practiced before the introduction of slavery and empire which are more characteristic of monarchies. Hence the accounts of the Book of Judges probably reflect historical reality.
### Sources
The basic source for Judges was a collection of loosely connected stories about tribal heroes who saved the people in battle. This original \"book of saviours\" made up of the stories of Ehud, Jael and parts of Gideon, had already been enlarged and transformed into \"wars of Yahweh\" before being given the final Deuteronomistic revision. In the 20th century, the first part of the prologue (chapters 1:1--2:5) and the two parts of the epilogue (17--21) were commonly seen as miscellaneous collections of fragments tacked onto the main text, and the second part of the prologue (2:6--3:6) as an introduction composed expressly for the book.
More recently, this view has been challenged, and there is an increasing willingness to see Judges as the work of a single individual, working by carefully selecting, reworking and positioning the source material to introduce and conclude his themes. Archaeologist Israel Finkelstein proposed that the author(s) of the \"book of saviours\" collected these folk tales in the time of King Jeroboam II to argue that the king\'s Nimshide origins, which appear to originate in the eastern Jezreel Valley, were part of the \"core\" territory of Israel.
### The Deuteronomistic History {#the_deuteronomistic_history}
A statement repeated throughout the epilogue, \"In those days there was no king in Israel\" implies a date in the monarchic period for the redaction (editing) of Judges. Twice, this statement is accompanied with the statement \"every man did that which was right in his own eyes\", implying that the redactor is pro-monarchy, and the epilogue, in which the tribe of Judah is assigned a leadership role, implies that this redaction took place in Judah.
Since the second half of the 20th century most scholars have agreed with Martin Noth\'s thesis that the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings form parts of a single work. Noth maintained that the history was written in the early Exilic period (6th century BCE) in order to demonstrate how Israel\'s history was worked out in accordance with the theology expressed in the book of Deuteronomy (which thus provides the name \"Deuteronomistic\"). Noth believed that this history was the work of a single author, living in the mid-6th century BCE, selecting, editing and composing from his sources to produce a coherent work. Frank Moore Cross later proposed that an early version of the history was composed in Jerusalem in Josiah\'s time (late 7th century BCE); this first version, Dtr1, was then revised and expanded to create a second edition, that identified by Noth, and which Cross labelled Dtr2.
Scholars agree that the Deuteronomists\' hand can be seen in Judges through the book\'s cyclical nature: the Israelites fall into idolatry, God punishes them for their sins with oppression by foreign peoples, the Israelites cry out to God for help, and God sends a judge to deliver them from the foreign oppression. After a period of peace, the cycle recurs. Scholars also suggest that the Deuteronomists also included the humorous and sometimes disparaging commentary found in the book such as the story of the tribe of Ephraim who could not pronounce the word \"*shibboleth*\" correctly (12:5--6).
## Themes and genre {#themes_and_genre}
The essence of Deuteronomistic theology is that Israel has entered into a covenant (a treaty, a binding agreement) with the God Yahweh, under which they agree to accept Yahweh as their God (hence the phrase \"God of Israel\") and Yahweh promises them a land where they can live in peace and prosperity. Deuteronomy contains the laws by which Israel is to live in the promised land, Joshua chronicles the conquest of Canaan, the promised land, and its allotment among the tribes, Judges describes the settlement of the land, Samuel the consolidation of the land and people under David, and Kings the destruction of kingship and loss of the land. The final tragedy described in Kings is the result of Israel\'s failure to uphold its part of the covenant: faithfulness to Yahweh brings success, economic, military and political, but unfaithfulness brings defeat and oppression.
This is the theme played out in Judges: the people are unfaithful to Yahweh and He therefore delivers them into the hands of their enemies; the people then repent and entreat Yahweh for mercy, which He sends in the form of a judge; the judge delivers the Israelites from oppression, but after a while they fall into unfaithfulness again and the cycle is repeated. Israel\'s apostasy is repeatedly invoked by the author as the cause of threats to Israel. The oppression of the Israelites is due to their turning to Canaanite gods, breaking the covenant and \"doing evil in the sight of the lord\".
Further themes are present: the \"sovereign freedom of Yahweh\" (God does not always do what is expected of him); the \"satirisation of foreign kings\" (who consistently underestimate Israel and Yahweh); the concept of the \"flawed agent\" (judges who are not adequate to the task before them) and the disunity of the Israelite community, which gathers pace as the stories succeed one another.
The book is as intriguing for the themes it leaves out as for what it includes: the Ark of the Covenant, which is given so much importance in the stories of Moses and Joshua, is almost entirely missing, cooperation between the various tribes is limited, and there is no mention of a central shrine for worship and only limited reference to a High Priest of Israel (the office to which Aaron was appointed at the end of the Exodus story).
Although Judges probably had a monarchist redaction (see above), the book contains passages and themes that represent anti-monarchist views. One of the major themes of the book is Yahweh\'s sovereignty and the importance of being loyal to Him and His laws above all other gods and sovereigns. Indeed, the authority of the judges comes not through prominent dynasties nor through elections or appointments, but rather through the Spirit of God.
Anti-monarchist theology is most apparent toward the end of the Gideon cycle in which the Israelites beg Gideon to create a dynastic monarchy over them and Gideon refuses. The rest of Gideon\'s lifetime saw peace in the land, but after Gideon\'s death, his son Abimelech ruled Shechem as a Machiavellian tyrant guilty for much bloodshed (see chapters 8 and 9). However, the last few chapters of Judges (specifically, the stories of Samson, Micah, and Gibeah) highlight the violence and anarchy of decentralized rule.
Judges is remarkable for the number of female characters who \"play significant roles, active and passive, in the narratives.\" Rabbi Joseph Telushkin wrote,
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Books of Samuel
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1 SA\|LSA (disambiguation){{!}}lsa\|Isa (disambiguation){{!}}Isa}} `{{Tanakh OT|Nevi'im|historical}}`{=mediawiki} The **Book of Samuel** (*translit=Sefer Shmuel*) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (**1--2 Samuel**) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) that constitute a theological history of the Israelites and that aim to explain God\'s law for Israel under the guidance of the prophets.
According to Jewish tradition, the book was written by Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, who together are three prophets who had appeared within 1 Chronicles in its account of David\'s reign. Modern scholarly thinking posits that the entire Deuteronomistic history was composed c. 630--540 BCE by combining a number of independent texts of various ages.
The book begins with Samuel\'s birth and Yahweh\'s call to him as a boy. The story of the Ark of the Covenant follows. It tells of Israel\'s oppression by the Philistines, which brought about Samuel\'s anointing of Saul as Israel\'s first king. But Saul proved unworthy, and God\'s choice turned to David, who defeated Israel\'s enemies, purchased the threshing floor where his son Solomon would build the First Temple, and brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. Yahweh then promised David and his successors an everlasting dynasty.
In the Septuagint, a basis of the Christian biblical canons, the text is divided into two books, now called the First and Second Book of Samuel.
## Biblical narrative {#biblical_narrative}
`{{Long plot|section|date=June 2022}}`{=mediawiki}
The Jerusalem Bible divides the two Books of Samuel into five sections. Further subheadings are also based on subdivisions in that version:
1 Samuel 1:1--7:17. Samuel\
1 Samuel 8:1--15:35. Samuel and Saul\
1 Samuel 16:1--2 Samuel 1:27. Saul and David\
2 Samuel 2:1--20:26. David\
2 Samuel 21:1--24:25. Supplementary Information\
### 1 Samuel
#### Samuel (1:1--7:17) {#samuel_11717}
##### The childhood of Samuel (1:1--4:1a) {#the_childhood_of_samuel_1141a}
A man named Elkanah, an Ephraimite from the city of Ramathaim-Zophim, has two wives, Peninnah and Hannah, the latter of whom is his favourite wife. A rivalry between the two develops based on the fact that Peninnah has children and Hannah does not. The childless Hannah vows to Yahweh, the lord of hosts, that if she has a son, he will be dedicated to God. Eli, the priest of Shiloh, where the Ark of the Covenant is located, thinks she is drunk, but when he realises she is praying, he blesses her. A child named Samuel is born, and Samuel is dedicated to the Lord as a Nazirite`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki}the only one besides Samson to be identified in the Bible. Hannah sings a song of praise upon the fulfilment of her vow.
Eli\'s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, sin against God\'s laws and the people, specifically by demanding raw rather than boiled meat for sacrifice and having sex with the Tabernacle\'s serving women. However, Samuel grows up \"in the presence of the Lord\": his family visits him each year, bringing him a new coat, and Hannah has five more children. Eli tries to persuade his sons to stop their wickedness but fails. As punishment for this, a holy man arrives, prophesying that Eli\'s family will be cut off and none of his descendants will see old age.
One night, God calls Samuel, and, thinking Eli is calling him three times, he rushes to Eli. Eli informs him that God wishes to speak to him, and God informs Samuel that the earlier prophecy about Eli\'s family is correct. Samuel is initially afraid to inform Eli, but Eli tells him not to be, and that God will do what is good in His sight. Over time, Samuel grows up and is recognised as a prophet.
##### The Ark in Philistine hands (4:1b--7:17) {#the_ark_in_philistine_hands_41b717}
The Philistines, despite their initial worries when hearing the Israelite ritual of the entrance of the Ark of the Covenant, defeat the Israelites at the Battle of Aphek, capturing the Ark and killing Hophni and Phinehas, thus fulfilling the earlier prophecy. When Eli hears of these two events, particularly the capture of the Ark, he falls off his chair and dies. His daughter-in-law, in turn, goes into labour at this, and names her son Ichabod (\'without glory\') in commemoration of the capture of the Ark.
Meanwhile, the Philistines take the Ark to the temple of their god Dagon, who recognizes the supremacy of Yahweh. The Philistines are afflicted with plagues, are unable to take the Ark into any city on account of the fear of the populations of those cities, and return the ark to the Israelites, but to the territory of the tribe of Benjamin, to the city of Beth Shemesh, rather than to Shiloh, from where it is passed to the city of Kiriath Jearim, where a new priest, Eleazar, son of Abinadab, is appointed to guard the ark for the twenty years it is there. The Philistines attack the Israelites gathered at Mizpah in Benjamin. Samuel appeals to God, the Philistines are decisively beaten, and the Israelites reclaim their lost territory. Samuel sets up the Eben-Ezer (the stone of help) in remembrance of the battle, and takes his place as judge of Israel.
#### Samuel and Saul (8:1--15:35) {#samuel_and_saul_811535}
##### The institution of the monarchy (8:1--12:25) {#the_institution_of_the_monarchy_811225}
In Samuel\'s old age, he appoints his sons Joel and Abijah as judges but, because of their corruption, the people ask for a king to rule over them. God directs Samuel to grant the people their wish despite his concerns: God gives them Saul from the tribe of Benjamin, whom Samuel anoints during an attempt by Saul to locate his father\'s lost donkeys. He then invites Saul to a feast, where he gives him the best piece of meat, and they talk through the night on the roof of Samuel\'s house. Samuel tells Saul to return home, telling him the donkeys have been found and his father is now worrying about him, as well as describing a series of signs Saul will see on the way home. Saul begins to prophesy when he meets some prophets, confusing his neighbours. Eventually, Samuel publicly announces Saul as king, although not without controversy.
Shortly after, Nahash of Ammon lays siege to Jabesh Gilead and demands that everyone in the city have their right eye gouged out as part of the peace treaty. The Jabeshites send out messengers, looking for a saviour. When Saul hears of the situation, he gathers a 330,000-strong army and launches a surprise attack at night, leading Israel to victory and saving Jabesh, thus proving those who doubted him wrong. Saul\'s kingship is renewed.
Samuel is aware he is the final judge and that the age of kings is about to begin, and speaks to the Israelites, demonstrating his innocence and recapping the history of Israel. He calls on the Lord to send thunder and rain, and rebukes the people for their desire for a king. Nonetheless, he tells them that as long as they refrain from idol worship, they will not perish -- but if they do, calamity will befall the kingdom.
##### The beginning of Saul\'s reign (13:1--15:35) {#the_beginning_of_sauls_reign_1311535}
Despite his numerous military victories, Saul disobeys Yahweh\'s instructions. First of all, after a battle against the Philistines, he does not wait for Samuel to arrive before he offers sacrifices. Meanwhile, it turns out that the Philistines have been killing and capturing blacksmiths in order to ensure the Israelites do not have weapons, and so the Israelites go to war essentially with sharpened farm instruments. Saul\'s son Jonathan launches a secret attack by climbing a pass into the Philistine camp and kills twenty people in the process. The panic this creates leads to a victory for the Israelites. Jonathan finds some honey and eats it, despite a royal decree not to eat until evening.
Jonathan begins to doubt his father, reasoning an even greater victory could have been achieved if the men had eaten. The royal decree has other unintended knock-on effects, namely that the men start killing and eating animals without draining the blood. To counteract this, Saul sets up an altar so the proper laws can be observed. When a priest suggests asking God before launching another attack, God is silent, leading Saul to set up a pseudo-legal procedure to ascertain whose fault it is that God has abandoned them. The lot falls on Jonathan, but the men refuse to let him be executed since he is the reason for their victory.
Over time, Saul fights the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the Zobahites, the Philistines and the Amalekites, winning victory over them all. His kingdom is in a constant state of war, and he constantly recruits new heroes to his army. However, he disobeys God\'s instruction to destroy Amalek: Saul spares Agag, the Amalekite ruler, and the best portion of the Amalekite flocks to present them as sacrifices. Samuel rebukes Saul and tells him that God has now chosen another man to be king of Israel. Samuel then kills Agag himself.
#### Saul and David (16:1--31:13) {#saul_and_david_1613113}
##### David at court (16:1--19:7) {#david_at_court_161197}
Samuel travels to Bethlehem to visit a man named Jesse, with God promising Samuel can anoint one of his sons as king. However, while inspecting Jesse\'s sons, God tells Samuel that none of them are to be king. God tells Samuel to anoint David, the youngest brother, as king. Saul becomes ill and David comes to play the harp to him. Saul takes a liking to David and David enters Saul\'s court as his armor-bearer and harpist.
A new war against the Philistines begins, and a Philistine champion named Goliath emerges, challenging any Israelite to one-on-one combat, with the loser\'s people becoming subject to the winner. David goes to take food to his brothers in the Israelite camp, learns of the situation and the reward Saul is willing to give to the person who kills him great wealth, his daughter\'s hand in marriage and exemption from taxes for the killer\'s family and tells Saul he will kill Goliath. Saul wants him to wear his armour, but David finds he cannot because he is not used to it. Seeing David\'s youth, Goliath begins to curse him. David slings a stone into Goliath\'s forehead, and Goliath dies. David cuts off Goliath\'s head with Goliath\'s sword.
Jonathan befriends David. Saul begins to send David on military missions and quickly promotes him given his successes, but begins to become jealous of David after the Israelites make up a song about how much more successful David is than Saul. One day, Saul decides to kill David with a spear, but David avoids him. Saul realises that God is now with David and no longer with him, making him scared of David. He therefore seeks other ways to pacify David. First, he sends him on military campaigns, but this only makes him more successful.
Next, he tries to marry him off to his daughter Merab, but David refuses, and so Merab is married off to the nobleman Adriel. However, Michal, another of Saul\'s daughters, is in love with David. Although David is still unsure about becoming son-in-law to the king, Saul requires only 100 Philistine foreskins as dowry. Although this is a plan to have David captured by the Philistines, David kills 200 Philistines and brings their foreskins back to Saul.
Saul then plots David\'s death, but Jonathan talks him out of it.
##### The flight of David (19:8--21:16) {#the_flight_of_david_1982116}
Once again Saul tries to kill David with his spear, and so David decides to escape, lowered out of a window by Michal, who then takes an idol, covers it in clothes and places goat\'s hair on its head to cover David\'s escape. David visits Samuel. When Saul finds this out, he sends men to capture David, but when they see Samuel they begin prophesying, as does Saul when he tries to capture David himself.
David then visits Jonathan, and they argue about whether Saul actually wants to kill David. David proposes a test: he is to dine with the king the following day for the New Moon festival. However, he will hide in a field and Jonathan will tell Saul that David has returned to Bethlehem for a sacrifice. If the king accepts this, he is not trying to kill him, but if he becomes angry, he is. Jonathan devises a code to relay this information to David: he will come to the stone Ezel, shoot three arrows at it and tell a page to find them. If he tells the page the arrows are on his side of the stone, David can come to him, but if he tells them they are beyond the stone, he must run away. When Jonathan puts the plan into action, Saul attempts to kill him with his spear. Jonathan relays this to David using his code and the two weep as they are separated.
David arrives at Nob, where he meets Ahimelech the priest, a great-grandson of Eli. Pretending he is on a mission from the king and is going to meet his men, he asks for supplies. He is given the showbread and Goliath\'s sword. He then flees to Gath and seeks refuge at the court of King Achish, but feigns insanity since he is afraid of what the Philistines might do to him.
##### David the outlaw (22:1--26:25) {#david_the_outlaw_2212625}
David travels to the cave of Adullam near his home, where his family visit him, until he finds refuge for them at the court of the king of Moab in Mizpah.
One of Saul\'s servants, Doeg the Edomite, saw David at Nob, and informs Saul that he was there. Saul arrives at the town, concludes that the priests are supporting David and has Doeg kill them all. One priest gets away: Abiathar, son of Ahimelech, who goes to join David. David accepts him, since he feels somewhat responsible for the massacre. David liberates the village of Keilah from the Philistines with the help of God and Abiathar. When God tells him that Saul is coming and the citizens of Keilah will hand him over to Saul, David and his men escape to the desert of Ziph, where Jonathan comes and recognises him as the next king. Some Ziphites inform Saul that David is in the desert, but Saul\'s search is broken off by another Philistine invasion.
After the invasion, Saul learns David is now living in the desert of En Gedi and resumes his search for him. At one point, he enters a cave to relieve himself. David and his men are further back in the cave. They discuss the possibility of killing Saul, but David opts to merely cut a corner off his robe and use this as proof that he does not in fact wish to kill Saul. Saul repents of how he has treated David, recognises him as the next king and makes him promise not to kill off his descendants.
Samuel dies, and, after mourning him, David moves on to the Desert of Paran. Here he meets the shepherds of a Calebite named Nabal, and his men help protect them. At sheep-shearing time, he sends some of his men to ask for food. Nabal refuses, preferring to keep his food for his household. When his wife, Abigail, hears of this, she takes a large amount of supplies to David herself. This turns out to be at exactly the right moment, since David had just threatened to kill everyone in Nabal\'s home. Abigail begs for mercy, and David agrees, praising her wisdom. That night Nabal has a feast, so Abigail waits until morning to tell him what she has done. He has a heart attack and dies ten days later. David marries Abigail and a woman from Jezreel named Ahinoam, but in the meantime Saul has married David\'s first wife, Michal, off to a nobleman named Palti, son of Laish.
Saul decides to return to pursuing David, and the Ziphites alert him as to David\'s whereabouts. Saul returns to the desert of Ziph and sets up camp. One night, David and two companions, Achimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah (his nephew), go to Saul\'s camp and find him asleep on the ground. Abishai advocates killing him, but David once again resists, content with taking a spear and water jug lying by Saul\'s head. The next morning, David advises Abner, Saul\'s captain, to put the soldiers to death for not protecting Saul, citing the absence of the spear and water jug as evidence. Saul interrupts, and once again repents of his hunt. He blesses David, David returns his spear and Saul returns home.
##### David among the Philistines (27:1--31:13) {#david_among_the_philistines_2713113}
David joins the Philistines out of fear of Saul, taking his wives with him and brutally destroying his enemies, largely the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites, but makes the Philistines believe he is attacking the Israelites, the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites instead. King Achish is pleased with him, and supposes he will continue to serve him. Eventually, the Philistines go to war with the Israelites, and David goes with them.
Meanwhile, Saul is growing increasingly anxious about the upcoming battle, but cannot get advice from God. He decides to attempt to contact Samuel from beyond the grave. While he has expelled all the witches and spiritists, he learns that one remains at Endor. After Saul assures her she will not be punished, she agrees to summon Samuel. Samuel is not happy to be disturbed, and reveals that the Philistines will win the battle, with Saul and his sons dying in the process. Saul is shocked and, although at first reluctant, eats some food and leaves.
Back in the Philistine camp, several of the rulers are not happy with the idea of fighting alongside David, suspecting he may defect during the battle. Achish therefore reluctantly sends David back instead of bringing him to Jezreel with the Philistine army. When David and his men arrive in Ziklag, they find it sacked by the Amalekites, and David\'s wives taken captive. After seeking God\'s advice, David decides to pursue the raiding Amalekites, finding the Egyptian slave of one, abandoned when he became ill, who can show them the band. When they are located and found to be feasting, David fights all day, with only 400 escaping on camels. David recovers everything and returns to the Besor Valley, where 200 men who were too exhausted to come with him have been guarding supplies. David announces all are to share in the treasure, and even sends some to the elders of Judah when he returns to Ziklag.
Meanwhile, the Battle of Mount Gilboa is raging on and, as Samuel said, the Philistines are winning. Saul\'s three sons have been killed, and he himself has been wounded by arrows. Saul asks his armor-bearer to run his sword through him rather than let him be captured by the Philistines, but does it himself when the armor-bearer refuses. When they see the battle going badly, the Israelites flee their towns, allowing the Philistines to occupy them. The next day, the Philistines find Saul, behead him, and take his armour to the temple of Astarte and his body to Beth Shan. When they hear what has happened, the citizens of Jabesh Gilead take his body and perform funerary rites in their city.
### 2 Samuel {#samuel_1}
#### Saul and David (continued) (1:1--1:27) {#saul_and_david_continued_11127}
##### David among the Philistines (continued) (1:1--1:27) {#david_among_the_philistines_continued_11127}
Back in Ziklag, three days after Saul\'s death, David receives news that Saul and his sons are dead. It transpires that the messenger is an Amalekite who, at Saul\'s insistence, had killed Saul to speed his death along, and brought his crown to David. David orders his death for having killed God\'s anointed. At this point, David offers a majestic eulogy, where he praises the bravery and magnificence of both his friend Jonathan and King Saul.
#### David (2:1--20:26) {#david_212026}
##### David King of Judah (2:1--4:12) {#david_king_of_judah_21412}
David returns to Hebron at God\'s instruction. The elders of Judah anoint David as king, and as his first act he offers a reward to the people of Jabesh Gilead for performing Saul\'s funerary rites. Meanwhile, in the north, Saul\'s son Ish-bosheth, supported by Abner, has taken control of the northern tribes. David and Ish-bosheth\'s armies meet at the Pool of Gibeon, and Abner and Joab, another son of Zeruiah and David\'s general, agree to have soldiers fight in one-on-one combat. All this achieves is twelve men on each side killing each other, but a battle follows and David wins. During the Benjaminites\' retreat, Joab\'s brother Asahel chases Abner and Abner kills him, shocking everyone. Joab and Abishai continue Asahel\'s pursuit. A truce is declared when they reach a hill to avoid further bloodshed, and Abner and his men are able to cross the Jordan.
The war continues as David builds a family. Meanwhile, the House of Saul is getting weaker. When Ish-bosheth accuses Abner of sleeping with Saul\'s concubine Rizpah, Abner offers to join David, which David accepts as long as he brings Michal with him. At the same time, David sends a petition to Ish-bosheth for the return of Michal, which Ish-bosheth agrees to. Patiel follows her crying until he is told to return home. Following the return of Michal, Abner agrees to get the elders of Israel to agree to make David king. Joab believes Abner was lying in his purpose of coming to David and, after recalling him to Hebron, kills him in revenge for Asahel. David curses Joab\'s family to always contain a leper, someone disabled or someone hungry. He then holds a funeral for Abner.
By this point, the only other surviving member of Ish-bosheth\'s family is Mephibosheth, Jonathan\'s disabled son, who was dropped by his nurse as she attempted to escape the palace after the deaths of Saul and Jonathan. Ish-bosheth is murdered by Rechab and Baanah, two of his captains who hope for a reward from David, who stab him and cut off his head. They bring his head to David, but David has them killed for killing an innocent man. They are hanged by the pool of Hebron and Ish-bosheth\'s head is buried in Abner\'s tomb.
##### David King of Judah and of Israel (5:1--8:18) {#david_king_of_judah_and_of_israel_51818}
David is anointed king of all Israel.
Against all odds, David captures Jerusalem from the Jebusites. He takes over the fortress of Zion and builds up the area around it. Hiram I, king of Tyre sends craftsmen to build David a palace. Meanwhile, David\'s family continues to grow. The Philistines decide to attack Israel now that David is king, but God allows David to defeat them in two battles, first in Baal Perizim and next in the Valley of Rephaim.
The Ark is currently still in Baalah (another name for Kiriath Jearim), but David wants to bring it to Jerusalem. He puts it on a cart and employs the priests Uzzah and Ahio, both sons of Abinadab and brothers of Eleazar, to accompany it. A grand procession with musical instruments is organised, but comes to a sudden halt when the oxen stumble, causing Uzzah to touch the Ark and die. David is afraid to take it any further and stores it in the house of a man named Obed-Edom. When, after three months, Obed-Edom and his family have received nothing but blessings, David takes the Ark to Jerusalem. As part of the ceremony bringing the Ark into the city, David dances in front of it wearing nothing but an ephod. Michal sees this and is annoyed, but David says it was for the Lord, and thus it was not undignified. Michal never has any children.
David wishes to build a temple, arguing that he should not be living in a palace while God lives in a tent. Nathan, a prophet, agrees. However, that night Nathan has a dream in which God informs him that David should not build him a temple for three reasons. Firstly, God has not commanded it, and has never complained about living in a tent before. Secondly, God is still working to build David and his house up and establish the Israelites in the Promised Land. Thirdly, God will establish one of David\'s sons as king. He will build the temple, and his house will never be out of power. When Nathan reports this to David, David prays to God, thanking him for these revelations. David defeats the enemies of Israel, slaughtering Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, Syrians, and Arameans. He then appoints a cabinet.
##### David\'s family and the intrigues for the succession (9:1--20:26) {#davids_family_and_the_intrigues_for_the_succession_912026}
###### Mephibosheth (9:1--9:13) {#mephibosheth_91913}
David asks if anyone from the House of Saul is still alive so that he can show kindness to them in memory of Jonathan. Ziba, one of Saul\'s servants, tells him about Mephibosheth. David informs Mephibosheth that he will live in his household and eat at his table, and Mephibosheth moves to Jerusalem.
###### The Ammonite war and birth of Solomon (10:1--12:31) {#the_ammonite_war_and_birth_of_solomon_1011231}
Nahash, king of Ammon dies and his son Hanun succeeds him. David sends condolences, but the Ammonites suspect his ambassadors are spies and humiliate them before sending them back to David. When they realise their mistake, they fear retaliation from David and amass an army from the surrounding tribes. When David hears that they are doing this, he sends Joab to lead his own army to their city gates, where the Ammonites are in battle formation. Joab decides to split the army in two: he will lead an elite force to attack the Aramean faction, while the rest of the army, led by Abisai, will focus on the Ammonites.
If either enemy force turns out to be too strong, the other Israelite force will come to help their comrades. The Arameans flee from Joab, causing the Ammonites to also flee from Abishai. The Israelite army returns to Jerusalem. The Arameans regroup and cross the Euphrates, and this time David himself wins a decisive victory at Helam. The Arameans realise they cannot win, make peace with Israel and refuse to help the Ammonites again. The following spring, Joab destroys the Ammonites.
While Joab is off at war, David remains in Jerusalem. One morning, he is standing on the roof of his palace when he sees a naked woman performing ablutions after her period. David learns her name is Bathsheba, and they have sex. She becomes pregnant. Seeking to hide his sin, David recalls her husband, Uriah the Hittite, from battle, David encourages him to go home and see his wife, but Uriah declines in case David might need him, and sleeps in the doorway to the palace that night. David, in spite of inviting Uriah to feasts, continues to be unable to persuade him to go home.
David then deliberately sends Uriah on a suicide mission. David loses some of his best warriors in this mission, so Joab tells the messenger reporting back to tell David that Uriah is dead. David instructs Joab to continue the attack of the city. After Bathsheba has finished mourning Uriah, David marries her and she gives birth.
Nathan comes to David and tells him a parable. In a town, there are a rich man and a poor man. The rich man has much livestock, but the poor man has only one lamb whom he loves like a child. One day, the rich man has a guest for dinner, and instead of slaughtering one of his own livestock, took the poor man\'s lamb and cooked it. David angrily insists the rich man be put to death, but Nathan tells him he is the man, saying he has committed a sin to get something he already had plenty of (wives), and prophesies that his family will be gripped by violence, and someone will have affairs with his wives publicly.
David repents, and Nathan tells him that while he is forgiven and will not die, his son with Bathsheba will. The child becomes ill, and David spends his time fasting and praying, but to no avail, because the child dies. David\'s attendants are scared to tell him the news, worried about what he may do. He surprises everyone by ending his fasting, saying that he was fasting and praying was an attempt to persuade God to save his child, whereas fasting now isn\'t going to bring the child back. After they have mourned, David and Bathsheba have another child, who they name Solomon (also called Jedediah).
Back on the front line, in the city of Rabbah, Joab has gained control of the water supply. Joab invites David to finish capturing the city so that it may be named after himself. David gathers an army and travels up himself. He wins a victory, crowns himself king of the Ammonites, takes a large amount of plunder and puts the Ammonites into forced labour before returning to Jerusalem.
###### Absalom (13:1--20:26) {#absalom_1312026}
A complicated controversy begins to develop within the palace. Amnon, David\'s son by Ahinoam, becomes lovesick for Tamar, David\'s daughter by Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. Amnon\'s advisor and cousin Jonadab suggests he pretend to be ill and ask Tamar to come and prepare bread for him so he can eat out of her hand. When she comes to his house, Amnon tells her to come to his bedroom. Here, after she refuses to have sex with him, Amnon rapes her. He then forces her to leave the house. She rips the gown which symbolises she is a virgin, puts ashes on her hand and walks around wailing. Tamar\'s brother, Absalom, and David learn about this and become angry.
Two years later, Absalom is shearing sheep at Baal Hazor and invites David and all his sons to come. David refuses, but blesses him and sends Amnon and the rest of his sons to him. Absalom holds a feast and gets Amnon drunk. He then instructs his servants to kill Amnon in revenge for his rape of Tamar. David\'s other sons are disgusted and return to Jerusalem. David hears a rumour that Absalom has killed all of David\'s sons, but Jonadab assures him that only Amnon is dead. Meanwhile, Absalom goes to live with his grandfather in Geshur for three years. After David has finished mourning Amnon, he considers visiting Absalom.
Joab wants to help David, so he tells a wise woman from Tekoa to travel to Jerusalem pretending to be in mourning and speak to the king. The woman tells a story about her two sons, one of whom killed the other and whose death is now being called for. After some cajoling, David agrees to issue a decree ensuring that her son is not killed. The woman turns this back on David, and asks, then, why he has not forgiven his own son.
After the woman admits that Joab put her up to this, David agrees to allow Absalom back to Jerusalem, but insists he does not come to the palace. Absalom becomes popular in Jerusalem due to his good looks. His family also grows during this time. Two years pass without Absalom being recalled to court. When Joab refuses to help him, Absalom sets his field on fire. This gets Joab\'s attention, and finally Absalom manages to convince him to persuade David to allow him back to court.
Absalom purchases a magnificent chariot, and begins campaigning to become a judge, principally by waiting outside the city gate, listening to the concerns of people coming to the king and pretending there is no-one to hear them, as well as embracing anyone who bows to him. Four years pass, and Absalom travels to Hebron, claiming to be fulfilling a vow, but in fact he hatches a plan to get the tribes of Israel to proclaim him king. The 200 guests who follow him do not know of his plan, and while he is at Hebron Absalom summons Ahitophel, David\'s counselor.
David is told of the increasing support for Absalom and decides to flee Jerusalem. He takes with him his wives and concubines, with the exception of ten, and a number of Cerethites, Pelethites and Gittites, led by a general named Ittai, who comes with David only after insisting on it. Abiathar and another priest named Zadok, together with a number of Levites who are guarding the Ark, also come, but go back when David tells them to return the Ark to Jerusalem. The procession climbs the Mount of Olives, where he meets his confidant Hushai the Arkite, who he sends back to Jerusalem to act as a spy, seeking to disrupt Ahitophel\'s plans.
On the other side of the mountain, David meets Ziba, who brings donkeys and fruit as supplies. He claims that Mephibosheth is hoping to be restored to the throne of Saul in the chaos, and David grants Ziba Mephibosheth\'s estates. As the party approaches Bahurim, a Benjaminite named Shimei begins cursing and stoning David for the bloodshed he caused in the House of Saul. Abishai suggests executing him, but David considers that God has told Shibei to curse him and lets him carry on.
Back in Jerusalem, Ahitophel and Hushai arrive at Absalom\'s court. Absalom is at first suspicious of Hushai\'s presence, but ultimately accepts him. Ahitophel suggests Absalom sleeps with David\'s concubines who he left to take care of the palace in order to entrench the division between David and Absalom, so Absalom pitches a tent on the palace roof and does this in the view of all the Israelites. Ahitophel then suggests launching a sneak attack on David with 12,000 men. Hushai points out that David and his men are fighters, and that they could defeat the men, reducing morale. He suggests Absalom form a much larger army and lead it into battle himself.
God has decided to frustrate Ahitophel\'s advice so that Absalom can be defeated, so Absalom follows Hushai\'s advice. Hushai then goes to Zadok and Abiathar and tells them to get word to David to cross the fords. Their sons, Ahimaaz and Jonathan, respectively, are staying at En Rogel, where they receive the message. Unfortunately, one of Absalom\'s spies sees them so they have to hide in a well in Bahurim. The well\'s owner\'s wife hides them and lies to Absalom\'s men that they have crossed the brook. After Absalom\'s men are gone, the pair make it to King David and he manages to cross the Jordan in time.
David and Absalom meet at Mahanaim, and David\'s allies bring his army food, given his army is tired and exhausted after its time in the wilderness. David divides his army into thirds: one led by Joab, one led by Abishai and one led by Ittai. David intends to come out with his men, but his generals veto it. He decides to stay at the city, and instructs his generals to be gentle with Absalom. The battle is fought in the Wood of Ephraim. This proves to be a victory for David, in part because of the treacherous terrain. As Absalom meets David\'s men, he passes under a tree. His long hair gets caught in the tree and he is hanged. Joab gets word of this, finds him and plunges three javelins into his heart, killing him. Joab declares the battle over and buries Absalom. Absalom\'s monument is the pillar he built during his lifetime.
Ahimaaz and a Cushite run to tell David the news of his victory and his son\'s death. Ahimaaz declares the victory, but is not sure yet what the situation with Absalom is. The Cushite bears the same news, but also tells David that Absalom is dead. David begins to mourn, wishing he had died instead of Absalom. This prompts his men to start mourning as well, causing Joab to enter his tent in an attempt to talk sense into him. Joab points out that the battle has saved not only David\'s life, but the lives of his wives and concubines, and thus it is humiliating for the men to have to mourn for the enemy. David agrees to come out and encourage the men.
Given the sudden change in situation, the elders of Israel begin to argue about what to do next. David convinces the elders of Judah to escort him back to Jerusalem. They are joined by Shimei, who apologises to David. Abishai once again calls for the death penalty, but once again David grants clemency. Mephibosheth also comes to David, and explains the earlier situation: he had wanted to come with David and had told Ziba to saddle his donkeys, but Ziba had betrayed and slandered him. David offers to allow him and Ziba to split the land, but Mephibosheth allows Ziba to take the lot in celebration of David\'s triumph.
David invites his host in Mahanaim, Barzillai, to return to Jerusalem with him, but Barzillai protests on the basis that he is now eighty years old and thus will gain no enjoyment from coming. He gives David his servant Kimham in his place, and David promises to look after him. A scuffle breaks out between the Judahites and the other Israelites about why they specifically got to escort the king home. Attempting to resolve the issue, a Benjaminite named Sheba son of Bichri launches a rebellion against David, which all the tribes except Judah back.
Back in Jerusalem, David begins to sort out the issues that were caused by his absence. First, he puts the ten concubines who were left behind into a guarded house and gives them pensions but does not sleep with them, allowing them to live the rest of their lives as widows. He then begins to sort out a defence against Sheba. He tells Amasa, the general whom he wishes to replace Joab, to summon the Judahite troops and have them in Jerusalem within three days, something he fails at. David therefore tells Abishai to start pursuing Sheba to effectively put down his rebellion before it has begun.
Amasa meets Abishai and Joab at Gibeon. Amasa goes to meet Joab, but Joab\'s dagger falls out of his tunic, stabbing Amasa in the stomach, killing him. He is covered with a cloth and placed in a field, and the army continues pursuing Sheba. They meet him at Abel Beth Maakah, a stronghold of Sheba\'s rebellion, and begin to lay siege to it. A wise woman asks them why they want to destroy the city, and Joab responds they don\'t want to destroy it, but merely end Sheba\'s rebellion. The wise woman cuts off Sheba\'s head and throws it to Joab from the city walls, thus ending the siege.
#### Supplementary information (21:1--24:25) {#supplementary_information_2112425}
2 Samuel concludes with four chapters, chapters 21 to 24, that lie outside the chronological succession narrative of Saul and David, a narrative that will continue in The Book of Kings. Chapter 21 tells the story of a three-year long famine which takes place at the start of David\'s reign. God explains this is a punishment for Saul\'s genocide of the Gibeonites, a people group who are the remnants of the Amorites, whom Israel had promised to spare but Saul has massacred. David calls the Gibeonites and asks what he can do to make amends, hoping this will end the famine.
The Gibeonites ask for seven of Saul\'s descendants to kill, and David agrees. He spares Mephibosheth, but hands over Rizpah\'s sons Armoni and Mephibosheth and the five sons of Merab and Adriel. They are killed by the Gibeonites and their bodies are exposed at the start of the barley harvest. Rizpah protects the bodies, and David agrees to take the bones of Saul, Jonathan and those killed by the Gibeonites and bury them in the tomb of Kish in Zelah. This pleases God and the famine ends.
Another war then occurs with the Philistines. In the first battle, Abishai kills Ishbi-benob, a Philistine who had sworn to kill David, which leads to David\'s army refusing to let him fight alongside them again for his own protection. The second battle takes place at Gob, and this time Sibbekai the Hushathite kills a Philistine named Saph. A third battle also takes place in Gob, where Elhanan, son of Jair kills Goliath. In the fourth battle, at Gath, Jonathan, son of Shimeah, kills a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.
Chapter 22 is similar to Psalm 18, and is a song David sang when he was delivered from Saul.
Chapter 23 begins with David\'s last words, a subdued speech in which David expresses gladness at the goodness of his house. It then tells stories of a group of men identified as \'David\'s Mighty Warriors\'. Josheb-Basshebeth, Eleazar, son of Dodai and Shammah, son of Agee the Hararite all single-handedly win battles against the Philistines. One day, while David and his men are hiding in the cave of Adullam, David becomes homesick and, hearing the Philistines have taken over Bethlehem, cries out desiring water from Bethlehem\'s well.
These three men risk their lives to work their way through Philistine lines and bring water from the well back to David. David refuses to drink it and offers it to God because his warriors risked their lives for it. Abishai, we learn, achieved his high position by single-handedly killing three hundred men. Another warrior, Benaniah, son of Jehoiada, kills Moab\'s two mightiest warriors, a lion, and a huge Egyptian with his own spear. The chapter finishes by listing David\'s other mighty warriors, known as the Thirty.
Chapter 24 tells the story of more calamities on Israel. God is angry once again at Israel, so he instructs David to take a census. Joab has his reservations, but ultimately relents. When the results come in, David realises what he has done, and begs God for mercy. Gad the prophet offers David three choices of punishment: three years of famine, three months of pursuit by his enemies or three days of plague. David chooses the plague. 70,000 people die.
After three days the angel of death reaches Jerusalem, and is on the threshing floor of a man named Araunah the Jebusite, when God tells him to stop. David is horrified, arguing that it should be him and his family who are punished. Gad tells David to build an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Araunah offers to sell the land to David for free but David insists on paying. David pays fifty shekels of silver and builds the altar, stopping the plague.
## Composition
### Versions
1 and 2 Samuel were originally (and, in most Jewish bibles, still are) a single book, but the first Greek translation, called the Septuagint and produced around the 2nd century BCE, divided it into two; this was adopted by the Latin translations used in the early Christian church of the West, and finally introduced into Jewish bibles around the early 16th century.
In imitation of the Septuagint what is now commonly known as 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, are called by the Vulgate, 1 Kings and 2 Kings respectively. What are now commonly known as 1 Kings and 2 Kings would be 3 Kings and 4 Kings in Bibles dating from before 1516. It was in 1517 that use of the division we know today, used by Protestant Bibles and adopted by Catholics, began. Traditional Catholic and Orthodox Bibles still preserve the Septuagint name; for example, the Douay--Rheims Bible.
The Hebrew text that is used by Jews today, called the Masoretic Text, differs considerably from the Hebrew text that was the basis of the first Greek translation, and scholars are still working at finding the best solutions to the many problems this presents.
### Historical accuracy {#historical_accuracy}
The Books of Samuel are considered to be based on both historical and legendary sources, primarily serving to fill the gap in Israelite history after the events described in Deuteronomy. According to Donald Redford, the Books of Samuel exhibit too many anachronisms to have been compiled in the 11th century BCE.
### Authorship and date of composition {#authorship_and_date_of_composition}
According to passages 14b and 15a of the Bava Basra tractate of the Talmud, the book was written by Samuel up until 1 Samuel 25, which notes the death of Samuel, and the remainder by the prophets Gad and Nathan. Critical scholars from the 19th century onward have rejected this idea. However, even prior to this, the medieval Jewish commentator Isaac Abarbanel noted that the presence of anachronistic expressions (such as \"to this day\" and \"in the past\") indicated that there must have been a later editor such as Jeremiah or Ezra. Martin Noth in 1943 theorized that Samuel was composed by a single author as part of a history of Israel: the Deuteronomistic history (made up of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings). Although Noth\'s belief that the entire history was composed by a single individual has been largely abandoned, his theory in its broad outline has been adopted by most scholars.
The Deuteronomistic view is that an early version of the history was composed in the time of king Hezekiah (8th century BCE); the bulk of the first edition dates from his grandson Josiah at the end of the 7th century BCE, with further sections added during the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE) and the work was substantially complete c. 550 BCE. Further editing was apparently done even after then. For example, A. Graeme Auld, Professor of Hebrew Bible at the University of Edinburgh, contends that the silver quarter-shekel which Saul\'s servant offers to Samuel in 1 Samuel 9 \"almost certainly fixes the date of this story in the Persian or Hellenistic period\".
The 6th-century BCE authors and editors responsible for the bulk of the history drew on many earlier sources, including (but not limited to) an \"ark narrative\" (1 Samuel 4:1--7:1 and perhaps part of 2 Samuel 6), a \"Saul cycle\" (parts of 1 Samuel 9--11 and 13--14), the \"history of David\'s rise\" (1 Samuel 16:14--2 Samuel 5:10), and the \"succession narrative\" (2 Samuel 9--20 and 1 Kings 1--2). The oldest of these, the \"ark narrative,\" may even predate the Davidic era.
This view of late compilation for Samuel has faced serious scholarly opposition on the basis that evidence for the Deuteronimistic history is scant, and that Deuteronimistic advocates are not in consensus as to the origin and extent of the History. Secondly, the basic theological concerns identified with the Deuteronimistic school are tenets central to Hebrew theology in texts that are widely regarded as predating Josiah. Thirdly, there are notable differences in style and thematic emphasis between Deuteronomy and Samuel. Finally, there are widely acknowledged structural parallels between the Hittite suzerain treaty of the 2nd millennium BCE and the Book of Deuteronomy itself, far before the time of Josiah. The alternative view is that it is difficult to determine when the events of Samuel were recorded: \"There are no particularly persuasive reasons to date the sources used by the compiler later than the early tenth century events themselves, and good reason to believe that contemporary records were kept (cf. 2 Sam. 20:24--25).\"
### Sources
The sources used to construct 1 and 2 Samuel are believed to include the following:
- *Call of Samuel* or *Youth of Samuel* (1 Samuel 1--7): From Samuel\'s birth his career as Judge and prophet over Israel. This source includes the *Eli narrative* and part of the ark narrative.
- *Ark narrative* (1 Samuel 4:1b--7:1 and 2 Samuel 6:1--20): the ark\'s capture by the Philistines in the time of Eli and its transfer to Jerusalem by David -- opinion is divided over whether this is actually an independent unit.
- *Jerusalem source*: a fairly brief source discussing David conquering Jerusalem from the Jebusites.
- *Republican source*: a source with an anti-monarchial bias. This source first describes Samuel as decisively ridding the people of the Philistines, and begrudgingly appointing an individual chosen by God to be king, namely Saul. David is described as someone renowned for his skill at playing the harp, and consequently summoned to Saul\'s court to calm his moods. Saul\'s son Jonathan becomes friends with David, which some commentators view as romantic, and later acts as his protector against Saul\'s more violent intentions. At a later point, having been deserted by God on the eve of battle, Saul consults a medium at Endor, only to be condemned for doing so by Samuel\'s ghost, and told he and his sons will be killed. David is heartbroken on discovering the death of Jonathan, tearing his clothes as a gesture of grief.
- *Monarchial source*: a source with a pro-monarchial bias and covering many of the same details as the *republican source*. This source begins with the divinely appointed birth of Samuel. It then describes Saul as leading a war against the Ammonites, being chosen by the people to be king, and leading them against the Philistines. David is described as a shepherd boy arriving at the battlefield to aid his brothers, and is overheard by Saul, leading to David challenging Goliath and defeating the Philistines. David\'s warrior credentials lead to women falling in love with him, including Michal, Saul\'s daughter, who later acts to protect David against Saul. David eventually gains two new wives as a result of threatening to raid a village, and Michal is redistributed to another husband. At a later point, David finds himself seeking sanctuary amongst the Philistine army and facing the Israelites as an enemy. David is incensed that anyone should have killed Saul, even as an act of mercy, since Saul was anointed by Samuel, and has the individual responsible, an Amalekite, killed.
- *Court History of David* or *Succession narrative* (2 Samuel 9--20 and 1 Kings 1--2): a \"historical novel\", in Alberto Soggin\'s phrase, telling the story of David\'s reign from his affair with Bathsheba to his death. The theme is of retribution: David\'s sin against Uriah the Hittite is punished by God through the destruction of his own family, and its purpose is to serve as an apology for the coronation of Bathsheba\'s son Solomon instead of his older brother Adonijah. Some textual critics have posited that given the intimacy and precision of certain narrative details, the Court Historian may have been an eyewitness to some of the events he describes, or at the very least enjoyed access to the archives and battle reports of the royal house of David.
- *Redactions*: additions by the redactor to harmonize the sources together; many of the uncertain passages may be part of this editing.
- *Various*: several short sources, none of which have much connection to each other, and are fairly independent of the rest of the text. Many are poems or pure lists.
### Manuscript sources {#manuscript_sources}
Four of the Dead Sea Scrolls feature parts of the books of Samuel: 1QSam, found in Qumran Cave 1, contains parts of 2 Samuel; and 4QSam^a^, 4QSam^b^ and 4QSam^c^, all found in Qumran Cave 4. Collectively they are known as The Samuel Scroll and date from the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE.
The earliest complete surviving Hebrew copy of the books of Samuel is in the Aleppo Codex (10th century CE). The complete Greek text of Samuel is found in older manuscripts such as the 4th-century Codex Sinaiticus.
## Themes
The Book of Samuel is a theological evaluation of kingship in general and of dynastic kingship and David in particular. The main themes of the book are introduced in the opening poem (the \"Song of Hannah\"): (1) the sovereignty of Yahweh, God of Israel; (2) the reversal of human fortunes; and (3) kingship. These themes are played out in the stories of the three main characters, Samuel, Saul and David.
### Samuel {#samuel_2}
Samuel answers the description of the \"prophet like Moses\" predicted in Deuteronomy 18:15--22: like Moses, he has direct contact with Yahweh, acts as a judge, and is a perfect leader who never makes mistakes. Samuel\'s successful defense of the Israelites against their enemies demonstrates that they have no need for a king (who will, moreover, introduce inequality), yet despite this the people demand a king. But the king they are given is Yahweh\'s gift, and Samuel explains that kingship can be a blessing rather than a curse if they remain faithful to their God. On the other hand, total destruction of both king and people will result if they turn to wickedness.
### Saul
Saul is the chosen one: tall, handsome and \"goodly\", a king appointed by Yahweh, and anointed by Samuel, Yahweh\'s prophet, and yet he is ultimately rejected. Saul has two faults which make him unfit for the office of king: carrying out a sacrifice in place of Samuel, and failing to exterminate the Amalekites, in accordance to God\'s commands, and trying to compensate by claiming that he reserved the surviving Amalekite livestock for sacrifice.
### David
One of the main units within Samuel is the \"History of David\'s Rise\", the purpose of which is to justify David as the legitimate successor to Saul. The narrative stresses that he gained the throne lawfully, always respecting \"the Lord\'s anointed\" (i.e. Saul) and never taking any of his numerous chances to seize the throne by violence. As God\'s chosen king over Israel, David is also the son of God (\"I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me\...\" -- 2 Samuel 7:14). God enters into an eternal covenant (treaty) with David and his line, promising divine protection of the dynasty and of Jerusalem through all time.
2 Samuel 23 contains a prophetic statement described as the \"last words of David\" (verses 1--7) and details of the 37 \"mighty men\" who were David\'s chief warriors (verses 8--39). The Jerusalem Bible states that last words were attributed to David in the style of Jacob and Moses. Its editors note that \"the text has suffered considerably and reconstructions are conjectural\".
1 Kings 2:1-9 contains David\'s final words to Solomon, his son and successor as king.
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Books of Kings
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The **Book of Kings** (*סֵפֶר מְלָכִים*, *Sēfer Məlāḵīm*) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (**1--2 Kings**) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of ancient Israel also including the books of Joshua, Judges, and Samuel.
Biblical commentators believe the Books of Kings mixes legends, folktales, miracle stories and \"fictional constructions\" in with the annals for the purpose of providing a theological explanation for the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah by Babylon in c. 586 BC and to provide a foundation for a return from Babylonian exile. The two books of Kings present a history of ancient Israel and Judah, from the death of King David to the release of Jehoiachin from imprisonment in Babylon---a period of some 400 years (c. 960). Scholars tend to treat the books as consisting of a first edition from the late 7th century BC and of a second and final edition from the mid-6th century BC.
## Contents
The Jerusalem Bible divides the two Books of Kings into eight sections:
- 1 Kings 1:1--2:46. The Davidic succession
- 1 Kings 3:1--11:43. Solomon in all his glory
- 1 Kings 12:1--13:34. The political and religious schism
- 1 Kings 14:1--16:34. The two kingdoms until Elijah
- 1 Kings 17:1 -- 2 Kings 1:18. The Elijah cycle
- 2 Kings 2:1--13:25. The Elisha cycle
- 2 Kings 14:1--17:41. The two kingdoms to the fall of Samaria
- 2 Kings 18:1--25:30. The last years of the kingdom of Judah
### 1 Kings
#### The Davidic succession (1:1--2:46) {#the_davidic_succession_11246}
David is by now old, and so his attendants look for a virgin to look after him. They find Abishag, who looks after him but they do not have sexual relations. Adonijah, David\'s fourth son, born after Absalom, decides to claim the throne. With the support of Joab, David\'s general, and Abiathar, the priest, he begins a coronation procession. He begins the festivities by offering sacrifices at En Rogel in the presence of his brothers and the royal officials, but does not invite Nathan the prophet; Benanaiah, captain of the king\'s bodyguard, or the bodyguard itself; or even his own brother Solomon.
Nathan comes to Bathsheba, Solomon\'s mother, and informs her what is going on. She goes to David and reminds him that he said Solomon would be his successor. As she is speaking to him, Nathan enters and explains the full situation to David. David reaffirms his promise that Solomon will be king after him and arranges for him to be anointed at the Gihon Spring. The anointing is performed by Zadok the priest. Following this, the population of Jerusalem proclaims Solomon king. This is heard by Adonijah and his fellow feasters, but they do not know what is happening until Abiathar\'s son Jonathan arrives and informs them. With Solomon officially enthroned, Adonijah fears for his life and claims sanctuary; Solomon decides to spare him unless he does something evil.
David advises his son on how to be a good king and to punish David\'s enemies, and then dies. Adonijah comes to Bathsheba and asks to marry Abishag. Solomon suspects this request is to strengthen Adonijah\'s claim to the throne and has Benaiah put him to death. He then takes away Abiathar\'s priesthood as punishment for supporting Adonijah, thus fulfilling the prophecy made to Eli at the start of 1 Samuel.
Joab hears what is going on and himself claims sanctuary, but when he refuses to come out of the tabernacle, Solomon instructs Benaiah to kill him there. He then replaces Joab with Benaiah and Abiathar with Zadok. Solomon then instructs Shimei ben Gera, the Benjaminite who cursed David as he was fleeing from Absalom, to move to Jerusalem and not to leave. One day, two of Shimei\'s slaves run away to Gath and Shimei pursues them. When he returns to Jerusalem, Solomon has him put to death for leaving Jerusalem.
#### Solomon in all his glory (3:1--11:43) {#solomon_in_all_his_glory_311143}
##### Solomon the sage (3:1--4:34) {#solomon_the_sage_31434}
Solomon makes an alliance with Egypt and marries the Pharaoh\'s daughter. After this, he continues the ancient practice of travelling between the high places and offering sacrifices. When he is at Gibeon, God speaks to him in a dream and offers him anything he asks for. Solomon, being young, asks for \"an understanding heart to judge\" (שָׁפַט). God is pleased and grants him not only \"a wise\...heart\" (חכם), but also wealth, honor, and longevity, on the condition that Solomon is righteous like his father David. Solomon returns to Jerusalem and holds a feast for his servants in front of the Ark of the Covenant.
After the Judgment of Solomon amazes the Israelites, he appoints a cabinet and reorganizes the governance of Israel at a local level. The nation of Israel prospers and Solomon\'s provisions increase.
##### Solomon the builder (5:1--9:25) {#solomon_the_builder_51925}
Over a period of seven years, Solomon works to fulfill David\'s vow of building a temple to God with wood provided by the king of Tyre, Hiram I, an old friend of David\'s. He also builds himself a palace, which takes him thirteen years. Once the Temple is finished, Solomon hires a Tyrian half-Naphtalite named Huram to create the furnishings.
When finished, the things which David prepared for the Temple are brought in, and Solomon organizes a ceremony during which the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant into the Temple. A cloud fills the Temple, preventing the priests from continuing the ceremony. Solomon explains that this is the presence of God, and takes the opportunity to make a dedication speech. The dedication is completed with sacrifices, and a celebration is held for fourteen days. God speaks to Solomon and accepts his prayer, re-affirming his vow to David that his House will be kings forever unless they begin worshipping idols.
Solomon gives twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram as thanks for his help, but they are virtually worthless. He begins building and improvement works in various cities in addition to his major projects in Jerusalem and puts the remaining Canaanites into slavery.
##### Solomon the trader (9:26--10:29) {#solomon_the_trader_9261029}
Solomon builds a navy.
The Queen of Sheba hears of Solomon\'s wisdom and travels to Jerusalem to meet him. Upon arriving, she praises him, saying she did not fully believe the stories about Solomon until she came to see him. The Queen gives Solomon 120 talents and a large amount of spices and precious stones, prompting Hiram to send a large amount of valuable wood and precious stones in response. Solomon also gives the Queen gifts and she returns to her country. Solomon by now has 666 talents of gold, and decides to forge shields and cups. He also maintains trading relations with Hiram, from whose country he receives many exotic goods. Overall, Israel becomes a net exporter of golden goods.
##### His decline (11:1--43) {#his_decline_11143}
Solomon amasses 700 wives and 300 concubines, many from foreign countries, including from countries God told the Israelites not to intermarry with. Solomon begins to adopt elements from their religions, and builds shrines in Jerusalem to foreign deities. God informs Solomon that because he has broken his commandments, the entire kingdom except one tribe will be taken away from his son.
At the same time, Solomon begins to amass enemies. A young prince named Hadad who managed to escape Joab\'s attempted genocide of the Edomites, hears Joab and David are dead, and returns to Edom to lead his people. Meanwhile, to the north, the Syrian king Rezon, whose Zobahite army was defeated by David, allies himself with Hadad and causes havoc for Israel from his base in Damascus.
On the home front, Jeroboam, who supervised the building of Solomon\'s palace terraces and the reconstruction of the city walls, encounters the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite on the road out of Jerusalem. Ahijah tears his cloak into twelve parts and gives ten of them to Jeroboam, saying that Jeroboam will rule over ten tribes of Israel upon Solomon\'s death as punishment for Solomon\'s idol worship. In response, Solomon tries to kill Jeroboam, but he flees to Egypt. Solomon dies after having reigned for forty years and is succeeded by his son Rehoboam.
#### The political and religious schism (12:1--13:34) {#the_political_and_religious_schism_1211334}
Rehoboam travels to Shechem to be proclaimed king. Upon hearing this, Jeroboam returns from Egypt and joins Rehoboam\'s older advisors in asking for the people to be treated better than under Solomon. Instead, Rehoboam turns to his friends for advice, and proclaims that he will treat the people worse. This greatly displeases the Israelites. When he sends a new minister of forced labour named Adoniram, they stone him to death. Rehoboam returns to safety in Jerusalem. The Israelites proclaim Jeroboam king. Judah remains loyal to Rehoboam, and he also controls Benjamin. From these two tribes, Rehoboam amasses an army to attack the north, but the prophet Shemaiah prevents the war.
Back in Shechem, Jeroboam becomes worried about the possible return of his tribes to loyalty to the House of David, and decides the best way to prevent this is to stop them worshipping the God of Israel, since he considers the point at which they are most likely to defect to be when they travel to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices. To this end, he sets up golden calves at altars at Bethel and Dan and appoints his own priests and festivals. One day, a prophet comes by and announces that some day a Davidic king named Josiah will be born and violently abolish Jeroboam\'s religion. Seeking to seize him, Jeroboam stretches out his hand, but it becomes withered and, as a sign, the altar splits open and its ashes pour out. Despite all this, Jeroboam does not change his ways. Later, the prophet is tested by a false prophet from Samaria and fails, dying in a lion attack as punishment. The Samarian prophet mourns his demise and requests to be buried next to him upon his own death.
#### The two kingdoms until Elijah (14:1--16:34) {#the_two_kingdoms_until_elijah_1411634}
Jeroboam\'s son Abijah becomes ill, so Jeroboam tells his wife to go in disguise to Ahijah, who has become blind with age. God tells Ahijah of the arrival of Jeroboam\'s wife. Ahijah prophesies the end of the House of Jeroboam, beginning with the death of Abijah, who will be the only member of the royal house to be buried. He prophesies that a usurper king will arise who will accomplish this. Jeroboam dies, and is succeeded by his son Nadab.
Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Judah, the people set up high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles to foreign gods, and even allow male temple prostitution. The pharaoh Shishak sacks Jerusalem and takes all the royal and Temple treasures, including Solomon\'s gold shields, prompting Rehoboam to make bronze ones to replace them. Rehoboam dies and is succeeded by his son Abijah, a grandson of Absalom. Abijah is as bad as his father, but God continues to protect him and his family because of the promise He made to David. When Abijah dies, he is succeeded by his son Asa.
Asa, in contrast to his father and grandfather, is a good king, on par with David. He abolishes male temple prostitution and destroys idols, and even deposed his grandmother as Queen mother due to idolatry. He moves a collection of gold and silver objects back into the Temple. However, when he goes to war against Baasha of Israel, he gives the royal and Temple gold and silver to Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, to get him to break a treaty with Israel and attack with him. Ben-Hadad is surprisingly successful, and Baasha must withdraw from Ramah, leading Asa to issue a decree that Ramah\'s fortifications be taken down and used to build Geba and Mizpah. Asa dies an old man and is succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat.
Back in Israel, Nadab is on the throne. Like his father, he is evil. Baasha, son of an Issacharite named Ahijah, plots to kill him and succeeds in a sneak attack, taking him by surprise during the Siege of Gibbethon, a Philistine city. He then proceeds to kill Jeroboam\'s whole family, fulfilling the prophecy of Ahijah the prophet. However, Baasha commits the same sins as Jeroboam. God therefore informs the prophet Jehu that he will also end the House of Baasha. Baasha dies and is succeeded by his son Elah, who soon falls victim to a plot led by his charioteer Zimri. Zimri becomes king after Elah\'s killing, and fulfills the prophecy of Jehu; however, Zimri\'s army now proclaims its commander Omri as king and returns to Tirzah to lay siege to it. Seeing he is losing, Zimri sets fire to the palace.
The start of Omri\'s reign faces factionalism, with half his subjects supporting Tibni, son of Gibnath as king. He buys the hill of Shemer, upon which he builds the city of Samaria. However, he is the worst king yet. When he dies, he is succeeded by his son Ahab, who himself overtakes Omri in his evilness. Upon his marriage to Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidon, he introduces the worship of Baal, building him a temple and setting up an Asherah pole. Meanwhile, a nobleman named Hiel of Bethel activates the curse proclaimed by Joshua by rebuilding Jericho, resulting in the death of his oldest and youngest sons.
#### The Elijah cycle (17:1--22:54) {#the_elijah_cycle_1712254}
##### The great drought (17:1--18:46) {#the_great_drought_1711846}
A new prophet arises in Israel, named Elijah, who informs Ahab of a years-long drought about to begin. God then tells Elijah to hide in the Kerith Ravine, where he drinks from the stream and is fed by ravens. When the brook dries up, God tells Elijah to travel to Zarephath, where a widow will feed him. She is more than happy to give him water, but when he asks for bread, she informs him that she is just about to make a small loaf -- only enough that she and her son may eat it as their last meal. Elijah instructs her to make him some anyway, telling her that she will not run out of food until the famine is over. Soon, the widow\'s son becomes ill and dies. At the widow\'s insistence, Elijah raises him from the dead.
Three years later, God tells Elijah to return to Ahab because the drought is coming to an end. On the way, Elijah meets his administrator Obadiah, who was hiding prophets during Jezebel\'s persecutions, and asks him to tell Ahab of his arrival. Seeking to end the worship of Baal for good, Elijah tells Ahab to invite four hundred priests of Baal and four hundred of Asherah to the top of Mount Carmel. There, he upbraids the people for their duplicity, telling them to choose either worship of the God of Israel or of Baal.
He then proposes a challenge: he and the priests will each prepare a sacrifice, and then call upon their respective gods to send fire to burn it. When the priests attempt to call down fire, none comes. On the other hand, despite having the Israelites pour much water over his altar, when Elijah prays for fire God sends it, accepting the sacrifice. Elijah orders the priests of Baal be killed, and informs Ahab of the coming rain. Climbing to the top of the mountain, Elijah sends his servant to look out to sea. After returning seven times, the servant eventually sees a small cloud rising far out at sea. Elijah tells the servant to inform Ahab to return to Jezreel in his chariot, while Elijah manages to run ahead of him.
##### Elijah at Horeb (19:1--21) {#elijah_at_horeb_19121}
When she hears what has happened, Jezebel threatens to kill Elijah, causing him to run for his life. In the wilderness near Beersheba, Elijah, fed up, asks God to kill him. Instead, an angel supplies him with food, which gives him the strength to continue a further forty days until he reaches Mount Horeb, where he falls asleep in a cave. When Elijah wakes up, God tells him He is about to pass by. An earthquake occurs and a fire starts, but neither contain God.
Instead, God appears in the form of a whisper. After hearing Elijah\'s concerns about being killed, he instructs him to go to Damascus, where he is to anoint Hazael as king of Aram, Jehu as king of Israel and Elisha as Elijah\'s own successor. Elijah finds Elisha plowing with oxen. Elisha says goodbye to his parents, kills his oxen and cooks them by burning his plowing equipment. He distributes the meat to his neighbours and sets off to follow Elijah.
##### The Aramean wars (20:1--43) {#the_aramean_wars_20143}
Ben-Hadad II, the new king of Aram, raises an army and sends messengers demanding all Ahab\'s gold and silver, and the best of his wives and children. While agreeing to this demand, after consulting his advisors he decides not to accept a follow-up demand requesting anything else of value in his palace or his officials\' houses. In response to this situation, Ben-Hadad attacks Samaria. At this point, Ahab receives a prophecy that his junior officers will defeat Ben-Hadad if Ahab starts the battle. Ben-Hadad tells his men to take the advancing troops alive, but each junior officer kills his Aramean equivalent.
The Arameans, including Ben-Hadad, begin a retreat, but Ahab\'s army inflicts heavy losses. The prophet who brought the first prophecy tells Ahab to improve his defences, since the Arameans will attack again. Ben-Hadad\'s advisors reason that the reason they lost was because God lives in the hills, leading them to attack Aphek, a city on the plains, the following spring. In response to this, God agrees to give the Israelites another victory to demonstrate his omnipresence. After a disastrous first day, Ben-Hadad sends messengers to Ahab, begging him to spare him. Ahab sends for Ben-Hadad, who offers to return the land his father took from Israel. The two kings sign a treaty and Ben-Hadad leaves.
After failing to get another prophet to strike him with his weapon, resulting in that prophet\'s death by lion, a prophet manages to get someone else to do it and appears before Ahab, telling him a parable about how his failing to guard a man in battle means he now must pay a talent. When he removes his headband, and Ahab sees he is a prophet, he tells Ahab that he will die because he spared Ben-Hadad, who God had told him to kill.
##### Naboth\'s vineyard (21:1--28) {#naboths_vineyard_21128}
Some time later, Ahab attempts to buy a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. When Naboth will not sell it to him on account of it being his inheritance, Ahab sulks and refuses to eat. Jezebel proclaims a day of fasting, upon which two false witnesses accuse Naboth of cursing God and the king. He is stoned to death, allowing Ahab to take possession of the vineyard. In response, God tells Elijah to confront Ahab and inform him that he will die in the vineyard and that his descendants and Jezebel will be wiped out. This has marked the peak of Ahab\'s evilness, and indeed the evilness of any king of Israel. Ahab repents, so God allows the disaster Elijah prophesied to come during the reign of his son instead.
##### Another war with Aram (22:1--38) {#another_war_with_aram_22138}
Three years pass with peace between Aram and Israel. Aram still possesses Ramoth-Gilead and, when Jehoshaphat agrees for the Judahite army to accompany him on a campaign during a state visit, Ahab decides to take it back. Four hundred prophets agree this is a good idea, but Jehoshaphat asks to speak with a prophet of God. Ahab reluctantly calls Micaiah, whom he dislikes for never prophesying in his favour. When he arrives, a prophet named Zedekiah uses a strange hat with horns to claim that Ahab will have victory over the Arameans.
Michaiah tells Ahab that if he attacks Ramoth-Gilead, he will die and Israel will be leaderless but that this is part of God\'s plan. Zedekiah slaps him, leading Michaiah to prophesy impending destruction, and Ahab tells his jailer to put Michaiah in prison with no food or water until Ahab returns safely.
Ahab and Jehoshaphat begin their campaign, agreeing that Ahab will be disguised while Jehoshaphat will wear his royal robes. The Arameans, being under instructions to kill no one except Ahab, begin pursuing Jehoshaphat but cease their pursuit when they see he is not Ahab. Ahab is hit between the plates of his armour by a random Aramean arrow. He withdraws from the battle and dies that evening. He is buried, his chariot is washed in a pool where prostitutes bathe, and his blood is licked by dogs.
##### After the death of Ahab (22:39--53) {#after_the_death_of_ahab_223953}
Ahab\'s son Ahaziah succeeds him.
Jehoshaphat has been a good king his entire reign, following the example of his father Asa. He has not destroyed the high places, but he has kept peace with Israel. He has also gotten rid of the remaining male temple prostitutes and there is now a provincial governor rather than a king in Edom. He has built a merchant navy, but it was wrecked at Ezion-Geber. Ahaziah suggests they join forces in this regard, but Jehoshaphat refuses. He dies and is succeeded by his son Jehoram.
Ahaziah does evil and allows the idol worship which flourished under his father to continue.
### 2 Kings {#kings_1}
#### The Elijah cycle (continued) (1:1--18) {#the_elijah_cycle_continued_1118}
##### After the death of Ahab (continued) (1:1--18) {#after_the_death_of_ahab_continued_1118}
Ahaziah falls through a lattice on an upper floor and injures himself. He sends a party to Ekron to consult its god, Baal-Zebub, about whether he will recover. The messengers are met by Elijah, who tells them to inform Ahaziah that he will die where he is for seeking advice from a non-Israelite god. Ahaziah sends two captains and fifty men each to summon Elijah, but both parties are consumed by fire at Elijah\'s command. When Ahaziah sends a third group, God tells Elijah to go with them and deliver his prophecy directly. Ahaziah dies and, having no sons, his brother Joram succeeds him.
#### The Elisha cycle (2:1--13:25) {#the_elisha_cycle_211325}
##### Its opening (2:1--25) {#its_opening_2125}
Elijah and Elisha are walking from Gilgal. Elijah asks that Elisha stay where they are, but Elisha insists on coming with him to Bethel. Elijah informs him that he is going to be taken by God. Elisha seems to have some kind of knowledge of this. Once again, Elijah asks Elisha to stay where they are, but Elisha insists on coming with him to Jericho. Eventually, they reach the Jordan, where fifty prophets are. Elijah strikes the water with his cloak, the water divides, and the pair cross over. Elijah asks what Elisha wants when he is gone, and Elisha asks for a double portion of his spirit, which Elijah says will be given to him if he watches him go.
Suddenly, a fiery horse-drawn chariot takes Elijah and he ascends to heaven in a whirlwind. After mourning, Elisha picks up Elijah\'s cloak and himself uses it to part the Jordan. This leads the other prophets to recognise him as Elijah\'s successor, and offer to look for Elijah, an offer which Elisha refuses. They persist but, naturally, are unable to find him. As Elisha\'s first task, he throws salt into a spring in Jericho, resolving the locals\' water problem by purifying the water. When Elisha leaves for Bethel, some boys start jeering him on account of his baldness. Bears come and maul them.
##### The Moabite war (3:1--27) {#the_moabite_war_3127}
Joram is evil but gets rid of the sacred stone of Baal. After the death of Ahab, the king of Moab refused to continue paying tribute to Israel, so Joram teams up with Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom to put down the rebellion. They attack through the Desert of Edom but soon run out of water. They ask Elisha for advice. He first makes it very clear that he is only doing this for Jehoshaphat\'s sake and then calls for a harpist. Elisha prophesies a coming flood in the valley in addition to a complete defeat of Moab.
The water comes but looks like blood to the Moabites, which they conclude can only have come from the three kings having killed each other. However, when they cross, Israel wins a great victory and completely plunders the land. When the king of Moab sacrifices his firstborn son on the city walls, the Israelites are overwhelmed by great wrath and withdraw.
##### Some miracles of Elisha (4:1--6:7) {#some_miracles_of_elisha_4167}
Elisha meets a widow whose creditors are threatening to take her two sons into slavery as payment. When he finds out the only other thing she has is a small jar of olive oil, he tells her to go and ask all her neighbours for jars. He tells her to pour oil into the jars, and it holds out until every jar is filled. Elisha finally tells her to sell the oil, pay the creditors and live off the rest. He then moves on to Shunem, where a woman invites him to eat and soon decides to build a room for use whenever he passes through.
His servant Gehazi informs him that she has no son, so Elisha tells her that she will have a child within a year, as payment for her kindness. One day, the child is helping his father\'s reapers when he complains of a pain in his head. He is returned to his mother and dies. His mother therefore seeks out Elisha, whom she meets at Mount Carmel. He tells Gehazi to quickly make his way to the house and lay his staff on the boy\'s face. When Elisha gets there with the woman, Gehazi informs him that this has not worked.
Elisha prays, paces, and lays himself on the boy, who then awakens. Elisha continues on to Gilgal, where a famine is raging. Seeking to help the local prophets, he tells his servant to cook a stew. One of the prophets inadvertently adds some poisonous berries to the pot, but Elisha adds some flour, negating the poison. A man comes from Baal-Shalish with twenty loaves of bread. Elisha uses them to miraculously feed the hundred people present.
An Aramean general named Naaman has leprosy. He hears of Elisha from an Israelite slave-girl and receives permission from the king to travel in an attempt to have his leprosy cured. He travels first to the king of Israel, but is eventually called by Elisha, who sends a messenger to tell him to wash seven times in the Jordan. He does what Elisha told him to and his leprosy is cured. Naaman offers Elisha a gift of thanks, but Elisha refuses. Naaman contents himself with taking earth back to Damascus in order to build an altar to God and asking God\'s forgiveness for when he has to participate in Aramean religious rituals when accompanying the king. As Naaman is leaving Gehazi catches up with him and lies about prophets arriving so that at least he can get a gift. As punishment for this, Elisha curses him to become leprous.
Several other prophets begin complaining that their meeting place with Elisha is too small, so he agrees to allow them to build a new one on the banks of the Jordan. During the building, someone\'s borrowed axehead falls in the river but miraculously floats.
##### The Aramean wars (6:8--8:29) {#the_aramean_wars_68829}
By this point, Aram is back at war with Israel. Elisha warns the king of Israel where the Arameans are camped several times, frustrating the king of Aram, who seeks him out. One morning, Elisha wakes up to find Dothan, the city where he is staying, surrounded by Arameans. His servant is frightened, until Elisha shows him the angels protecting them. He then prays that the Aramean army go blind, and they do. He then leads them to Samaria, where their eyes are opened.
The king of Israel asks Elisha whether he should kill them, but Elisha instead tells him to treat them with hospitality. This ends the war, but soon Ben-Hadad is back at war and laying siege to Samaria. The resulting famine gets so severe that soon people resort to cannibalism. The king feels the best way to deal with the situation is to execute Elisha, blaming God for the famine. Elisha prophesies that huge amounts of the finest flour and barley will soon come to Samaria, but that the king\'s official will not taste any of it.
Four lepers sit at the gate of Samaria and decide to surrender to the Arameans in the hope of not dying in the famine. God made the Arameans hear horses and chariots the night before and, thinking the Hittites and Egyptians were helping the Israelites, they fled. The lepers find the abandoned camp and tell the king. The Samaritans then go and plunder the camp, driving down the price of food in the city. In the chaos, the king\'s official who was with him when he went to see Elisha is trampled to death.
Elisha has warned the Shunammite woman about the famine, so she and her husband have gone to live in Philisitia. Upon return, she goes to the king to appeal for her land back. When she arrives, Gehazi is telling the king about how Elisha raised her son from the dead. This works in her favour, and her house and land are restored to her, as well as all her income. Next, Elisha goes to Damascus, where Ben-Hadad is ill. When he hears of Elisha\'s arrival, Ben-Hadad sends Hazael to him with a gift to ask whether he will get better. Elisha tells Hazael to tell the king that he will, even though he will in fact die, and Hazael will become king and cause much damage to Israel. The next day, Hazael smothers the king and succeeds him.
Back in Judah, Jehoram is king. Unlike his father and grandfather, he is evil and follows the ways of Israel, even marrying a daughter of Ahab. However, he is not destroyed, again because of God\'s covenant with David. His reign is plagued with instability, including revolts in Edom, who restores its monarchy, and Libnah. Jehoram dies and is succeeded by his son Ahaziah, who, like his father, follows in Ahab\'s footsteps. Ahaziah and Joram go to war together against Hazael. Joram is wounded, and after the battle Ahaziah goes to Jezreel to see him.
##### The history of Jehu (9:1--10:36) {#the_history_of_jehu_911036}
Elisha tells a prophet to go to Ramoth-Gilead and anoint a commander of the royal guard named Jehu as king. Jehu leads his troops to Jezreel to challenge Joram. Joram sends two messengers, but both join Jehu. Jehu accuses Joram of continuing the idolatry of Jezebel. Joram flees, warning Ahaziah, but is struck in his heart between his shoulders and dies. Jehu tells his charioteer Bidkar to place him in Naboth\'s field. Jehu wants to kill Ahaziah too, but merely succeeds in wounding him, although he dies from his injuries at Megiddo.
His body is taken back to Jerusalem for burial. As Jehu enters Jezreel, Jezebel looks out of a window and compares him to Zimri. Two eunuchs push her out of a window at Jehu\'s behest and she dies. When two servants later go to prepare her body for burial as a king\'s daughter, they find nothing but some bones. She has been eaten by dogs, in accordance with Elijah\'s prophecy.
Jehu writes to Samaria, challenging the palace officials to pick Ahab\'s strongest son, put him on the throne and have him challenge Jehu. They refuse, and so Jehu instead asks for the heads of Ahab\'s seventy sons. After he has had them put inside the city gate of Jezreel, Jehu massacres the remaining members of the House of Ahab in order to fulfil Elijah\'s prophecy. Jehu then sets off for Samaria. On the way, he meets some of Ahaziah\'s relatives and has them killed too. Further along, he meets Jehonadab, who becomes his ally.
Upon finally reaching Samaria, he kills the rest of Ahab\'s family. Under the guise of preparing a sacrifice for Baal, he next summons all the priests of Baal. After the sacrifice is over, he has guards enter the temple and kill them. He destroys the sacred stone and tears down the temple, replacing it with a toilet, thus ending the worship of Baal. However, he does not destroy the golden calves at Bethel and Dan, which was Jeroboam\'s original sin. Nonetheless, God is pleased with his destruction of the Baal religion, and promises that his House will reign in Israel for four generations. However, Jehu is not meticulous in his worship of God, so God allows Hazael to conquer large portions of Israel. Jehu dies and is succeeded by his son Jehoahaz.
##### From the reign of Athaliah to the death of Elisha (11:1--13:25) {#from_the_reign_of_athaliah_to_the_death_of_elisha_1111325}
Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, seizes the throne after the death of her son and begins killing off members of the royal family. Ahaziah\'s sister, Jehosheba, manages to hide her nephew Joash. Seven years later, Jehosheba\'s husband, the priest Jehoiada, introduces Joash to the army, and informs all five units that they will now be required to guard the Temple on the Sabbath in order to protect Joash. He also gives them all the spears and shields from David\'s day that are kept in the Temple. Joash is crowned and anointed, and proclaimed king by the army. Athaliah claims treason, but Jehoiada has her taken back to the palace and killed. Next, the altars of Baal are destroyed, thus ending the religion in Judah as well. Finally, Joash is taken back to the palace and enthroned.
Joash is a good king, but does not remove the high places. When he grows up, his first act is to reform priestly pay, and use whatever is left to repair the Temple. Twenty-three years later, when the Temple is still not repaired, Joash once again reforms priestly pay so that all money from the Temple treasury goes towards repairs. Instead, the priests will earn money from offerings. This succeeds, and the Temple is repaired. Hazael is back at war with Israel, and it looks like he will cross the border and attack Jerusalem, so Joash sends him gifts and he leaves. Joash is assassinated and is succeeded by his son Amaziah.
Jehoahaz is evil, so God allows Hazael to continue oppressing Israel. He repents, so God allows the war to end. However, Jehoahaz does not get rid of Jeroboam\'s religion, or remove the Asherah pole in Samaria. In addition, the war has almost completely eradicated the Israelite army. Jehoahaz dies and is succeeded by his son Jehoash, who continues the evil of the previous kings of Israel. He goes to war with Amaziah. The key event of Joash\'s reign, is the death of Elisha. When Joash goes to see him, he tells him to shoot an arrow out of the east window, and prophesies that, based on this, the Arameans will be defeated at Aphek.
He then tells him to throw arrows at the floor. Joash throws three, which Elisha is angry about, since it means there will only be three victories there. He then dies and is buried. During a Moabite raid, some Israelite men burying a dead body panic and throw the body in Elisha\'s tomb. As soon as it touches Elisha\'s bones, the dead body returns to life. Hazael\'s wars have plagued Israel since the reign of Jehoahaz, but God does not destroy Israel because of the Abrahamic and Israelite covenants. Hazael dies and is succeeded by his son Ben-Hadad III. As prophesied, Jehoash defeats him three times, taking back the towns Hazael conquered.
#### The two kingdoms to the fall of Samaria (14:1--17:41) {#the_two_kingdoms_to_the_fall_of_samaria_1411741}
Amaziah is a good king, but the high places have still not been abolished. Upon assumption of the throne, he executes his father\'s assassins, but spares their children in accordance with the Mosaic law. Amaziah defeats the Edomites and challenges Israel, but Jehoash advises him to stay at home. The pair meet at Beth Shemesh and Israel thoroughly defeats Judah, scattering Amaziah\'s troops and allowing Jehoash to sack Jerusalem. Jehoash dies and is succeeded by his son Jeroboam II. Amaziah faces a conspiracy and is killed in Lachish. He is buried in Jerusalem and succeeded by his son Azariah, who recovers and rebuilds Elath.
Jeroboam II is evil. He restores Israelite territory from Lebo-Hamath to the Dead Sea, in accordance with a prophecy by Jonah. This is because God has promised not to destroy Israel and has seen how much the Israelites are suffering. He dies and is succeeded by his son Zechariah.
Azariah is a good king, although the high places still exist. He is, however, a leper, and so is relieved of his responsibilities while his son Jotham acts as regent. Azariah dies and Jotham succeeds him.
Zechariah is evil, and falls victim of a conspiracy by Shallum, who assassinates and succeeds him, thus fulfilling God\'s promise to Jehu that his family would rule for four generations. Shallum is himself assassinated and succeeded by Menahem, who attacks Tiphsah, sacks it and rips open its pregnant women. During Menahem\'s reign, Pul of Assyria (also called Tiglath-Pileser) attacks Israel.
Menahem raises taxes to pay Pul both to leave and to support him on the throne. Menahem dies and is succeeded by his son Pekahiah, who is assassinated by his official Pekah and fifty mercenaries from Gilead. During Pekah\'s reign, Pul comes back and captures many towns in northern Israel, including all of the land belonging to the Tribe of Naphtali, and deports their populations to Assyria. Pekah is assassinated by Hoshea, who succeeds him as king.
Jotham is a good king, but, again, the high places are still being used. He rebuilds the Upper Gate of the Temple. Aram and Israel attack Judah during his reign. He dies and is succeeded by his son Ahaz. Ahaz is a bad king, even going so far as to sacrifice his son. Rezin, king of Aram, retakes Elath and gives it to Edom during the ongoing attacks. In an attempt to resolve the situation, Ahaz writes to Pul for help, which he gives by capturing Damascus, deporting its citizens and killing Rezin. Ahaz travels to Damascus to meet Pul, and while there sends a sketch of a new altar back to Jerusalem, which is built before he returns. He places it in the Temple upon his arrival. To symbolise his deference to the king of Assyria, he then removes much of the decoration in the Temple. He dies and is succeeded by his son Hezekiah.
Hoshea is evil, but not as bad as the preceding kings of Israel. During Hoshea\'s reign, Shalmaneser of Assyria attacks Israel in response to Israel\'s maintaining diplomatic relations with Egypt and refusing to pay tribute to Assyria. Shalmaneser conquers Samaria and deports its citizens to Media. All this happens because Israel has broken the commandments, principally by worshipping other gods and ignoring the prophets. This leaves only Judah, and even they are guilty of following the religious practices introduced by Israel. The king of Assyria then sends his subjects to resettle Samaria, led by an Israelite priest, whose job is to teach them the rites God requires. While they take this on board, they nonetheless continue worshipping their own national gods.
#### The last years of the Kingdom of Judah (18:1--25:30) {#the_last_years_of_the_kingdom_of_judah_1812530}
##### Hezekiah, the prophet Isaiah; Assyria (18:1--20:21) {#hezekiah_the_prophet_isaiah_assyria_1812021}
Hezekiah, the 13th king of Judah, does \"what \[is\] right in the Lord\'s sight just as his ancestor David had done\". He institutes a far-reaching religious reform: centralising sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem, and destroying the images of other gods, including the Nehushtan, the bronze snake Moses erected in the wilderness, which the Israelites have turned into an idol. He breaks his alliance with the Assyrians and defeats the Philistines. Following the capture of Samaria, the Assyrians attack Judah, but withdraw in return for money. The Assyrians soon attack again, and send a threatening and blasphemous message to Hezekiah, supposing that he has sought an alliance with Egypt.
The Assyrian commander then attempts to turn the Judahites against Hezekiah, claiming that he is powerless to protect him, but Hezekiah pre-empts and stops this from happening. When Hezekiah hears the message, he sends a delegation to the prophet Isaiah, who tells them that God will save Jerusalem and the kingdom from Assyria. When Sennacherib, king of Assyria, hears of the advance of Tirhakah, king of Cush, he retreats, but warns of a coming invasion. Hezekiah prays, and Isaiah sends another prophecy of Assyria\'s destruction. God sends an angel to kill the Assyrians, and the remaining Assyrians retreat in horror. Sennacherib is killed by his sons and is succeeded by a third son.
Hezekiah becomes ill, and Isaiah tells him he will die. Hezekiah prays, and God agrees to give him fifteen more years if he goes to the temple in three days. Isaiah prescribes a poultice of figs, and Hezekiah recovers. When Hezekiah goes to the Temple and stands on the steps of Ahaz, his shadow moves back ten steps, thus proving God\'s words to be true. The king of Babylon sends an embassy to Hezekiah, who shows them everything in the palace. Isaiah prophesies that one day the Babylonians will carry away everything in the palace. However, there is peace for the rest of Hezekiah\'s reign. Hezekiah builds an aqueduct consisting of a pool and a tunnel before he dies. He is succeeded by his son Manasseh.
##### Two wicked kings (21:1--26) {#two_wicked_kings_21126}
Manasseh reverses his father\'s reforms, murders the innocent, and sets up altars in the Temple. This breaches the Davidic-Solomonic covenant, and so God announces that he will destroy Jerusalem because of this apostasy by the king. He is succeeded by his son Amon. Amon follows in his father\'s footsteps, and is eventually assassinated by his officials. The assassins are executed, and Amon is succeeded by his son Josiah.
##### Josiah and the religious reform (22:1--23:30) {#josiah_and_the_religious_reform_2212330}
Josiah begins his reign with a rebuilding of the Temple. During this effort, Hilkiah, the high priest, finds a copy of the Book of Deuteronomy and has Shaphan, the royal secretary, read it to the king. When Josiah hears the laws which have been broken, he becomes sorrowful and sends a delegation to the prophetess Huldah to ask what to do. Huldah tells the delegation that God will destroy Jerusalem, but not until after Josiah has died.
Josiah plans a ceremony to renew the Mosaic covenant. First, he reads to the people from the scroll and has them all renew the covenant. Then, he has Hilkiah remove all the objects dedicated to other gods from the Temple, burn them in the Kidron Valley and take the ashes to Bethel. Finally, he fires the priests of the other gods, desecrates the high places and gets rid of the male shrine prostitutes and weavers of Asherah in the temple.
While he is at Bethel, in the midst of destroying the tombs there, he finds the tomb of the prophet who prophesied his coming and spares it along with that of the Samarian prophet who had then tested him. He then instructs his people to celebrate Passover, since its celebration had fallen out of use for many years. He gets rid of the mediums and spiritists. He is the best king in the history of Israel and Judah. Josiah goes to battle against Necho II of Egypt and the king of Assyria, but is defeated and killed by Necho at Megiddo.
##### The destruction of Jerusalem (23:31--25:30) {#the_destruction_of_jerusalem_23312530}
Necho takes Josiah\'s successor, Jehoahaz, captive and imposes huge demands on Judah. He places another of Josiah\'s sons, Jehoiakim, on the throne, who pays the demands by increasing taxes. Both of Josiah\'s successors are evil.
Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon invades, and Jehoiakim becomes his vassal for three years until he rebels. In response to this, in order to fulfil what God had said with regards to Manasseh, a large number of raiders from neighbouring kingdoms and empires attack Judah. This time, there is no support from Egypt because it has already been invaded by the Babylonians. Jehoiakim dies and is succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, who is also evil. Nebuchadnezzar lays siege to Jerusalem, and the Judahites surrender.
Nebuchadnezzar takes Jehoiachin and his family hostage, and takes away everything from the Temple and the palace, fulfilling Isaiah\'s prophecy to Hezekiah. He then takes away everyone into exile except the very poorest people. He then puts Jehoiachin\'s uncle, Zedekiah, on the throne. Zedekiah is also evil. Eventually, he rebels against Nebuchadnezzar and Jerusalem is put under siege for two years. Finally, famine overcomes the city and the walls are broken through. Zedekiah\'s punishment, which he serves at Riblah, is to watch his sons being killed before having his eyes gouged out and being carried as prisoner to Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar burns down Jerusalem, including the Temple, the palace and all the important buildings. The walls are broken down, and everyone left is carried off, except some of the poorest people to act as farmers. He also kills the remaining priests at Riblah. He appoints Gedaliah as provincial governor. However, he is eventually killed by the last remaining member of the royal family, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and a large number of Judahites and Babylonians flee to Egypt. Awel-Murduk becomes king of Babylon on Nebuchadnezzar\'s death. He releases Jehoiachin, gives him a place at his table and an allowance, and places him higher in honour than all other kings in Babylon other than himself.
## Composition
### Textual history {#textual_history}
In the Hebrew Bible (the Bible used by Jews), First and Second Kings are a single book, as are the First and Second Books of Samuel. When this was translated into Greek in the last few centuries BC, Samuel was joined with Kings in a four-part work called the Book of Kingdoms. Orthodox Christians continue to use the Greek translation (the Septuagint), but when a Latin translation (called the Vulgate) was made for the Western church, Kingdoms was first retitled \"The Book of Kings, parts One to Four\", and eventually both Samuel and Kings were separated into two books each.
Thus, the books now commonly known as 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel are known in the Vulgate as 1 Kings and 2 Kings (in imitation of the Septuagint). What are now commonly known as 1 Kings and 2 Kings would be 3 Kings and 4 Kings in old Bibles before the year 1516, such as in the Vulgate and the Septuagint. The division known today, used by Protestant Bibles and adopted by Catholics, came into use in 1517. Some Bibles---for example, the Douay Rheims Bible---still preserve the old denomination.
### Deuteronomistic history {#deuteronomistic_history}
According to Jewish tradition the author of Kings was Jeremiah, who would have been alive during the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. The most common view today accepts Martin Noth\'s thesis that Kings concludes a unified series of books which reflect the language and theology of the Book of Deuteronomy, and which biblical scholars therefore call the Deuteronomistic history.
Noth argued that the History was the work of a single individual living in the 6th century BC, but scholars today tend to treat it as made up of at least two layers, a first edition from the time of Josiah (late 7th century BC), promoting Josiah\'s religious reforms and the need for repentance, and (2) a second and final edition from the mid-6th century BC. Further levels of editing have also been proposed, including: a late 8th century BC edition pointing to Hezekiah of Judah as the model for kingship; an earlier 8th-century BC version with a similar message but identifying Jehu of Israel as the ideal king; and an even earlier version promoting the House of David as the key to national well-being.
### Sources
The editors/authors of the Deuteronomistic history cite a number of sources, including (for example) a \"Book of the Acts of Solomon\" and, frequently, the \"Annals of the Kings of Judah\" and a separate book, \"Chronicles of the Kings of Israel\". The \"Deuteronomic\" perspective (that of the book of Deuteronomy) is particularly evident in prayers and speeches spoken by key figures at major transition points: Solomon\'s speech at the dedication of the Temple is a key example. The sources have been heavily edited to meet the Deuteronomistic agenda, but in the broadest sense they appear to have been:
- For the rest of Solomon\'s reign the text names its source as \"the book of the acts of Solomon\", but other sources were employed, and much was added by the redactor.
- Israel and Judah: The two \"chronicles\" of Israel and Judah provided the chronological framework, but few details, apart from the succession of monarchs and the account of how the Temple of Solomon was progressively stripped as true religion declined. A third source, or set of sources, were cycles of stories about various prophets (Elijah and Elisha, Isaiah, Ahijah and Micaiah), plus a few smaller miscellaneous traditions. The conclusion of the book (2 Kings 25:18--21, 27--30) was probably based on personal knowledge.
- A few sections were editorial additions not based on sources. These include various predictions of the downfall of the northern kingdom, the equivalent prediction of the downfall of Judah following the reign of Manasseh, the extension of Josiah\'s reforms in accordance with the laws of Deuteronomy, and the revision of the narrative from Jeremiah concerning Judah\'s last days.
### Manuscript sources {#manuscript_sources}
Three of the Dead Sea Scrolls feature parts of Kings: 5QKgs, found in Qumran Cave 5, contains parts of 1 Kings 1; 6QpapKgs, found in Qumran Cave 6, contains 94 fragments from all over the two books; and 4QKgs, found in Qumran Cave 4, contains parts of 1 Kings 7--8. The earliest complete surviving copy of the book(s) of Kings is in the Aleppo Codex (10th century CE).
## Themes and genre {#themes_and_genre}
Kings is \"history-like\" rather than history in the modern sense, mixing legends, folktales, miracle stories and \"fictional constructions\" in with the annals, and its primary explanation for all that happens is God\'s offended sense of what is right; it is therefore more fruitful to read it as theological literature in the form of history. The theological bias is seen in the way it judges each king of Israel on the basis of whether he recognises the authority of the Temple in Jerusalem (none do, and therefore all are \"evil\"), and each king of Judah on the basis of whether he destroys the \"high places\" (rivals to the Temple in Jerusalem); it gives only passing mention to important and successful kings like Omri and Jeroboam II and ignores one of the most significant events in ancient Israel\'s history, the battle of Qarqar.
The major themes of Kings are God\'s promise, the recurrent apostasy of the kings, and the judgement this brings on Israel:
- Promise: In return for Israel\'s promise to worship Yahweh alone, Yahweh makes promises to David and to Israel -- to David, the promise that his line will rule Israel forever, to Israel, the promise of the land they will possess.
- Apostasy: the great tragedy of Israel\'s history, meaning the destruction of the kingdom and the Temple, is due to the failure of the people, but more especially the kings, to worship Yahweh alone (Yahweh being the God of Israel).
- Judgement: Apostasy leads to judgement. Judgement is not punishment, but simply the natural (or rather, God-ordained) consequence of Israel\'s failure to worship Yahweh alone.
Another and related theme is that of prophecy. The main point of the prophetic stories is that God\'s prophecies are always fulfilled, so that any not yet fulfilled will be so in the future. The implication, the release of Jehoiachin and his restoration to a place of honour in Babylon in the closing scenes of the book, is that the promise of an eternal Davidic dynasty is still in effect, and that the Davidic line will be restored.
## Textual features {#textual_features}
### Chronology
The standard Hebrew text of Kings presents an impossible chronology. To take just a single example, Omri\'s accession to the throne of the Kingdom of Israel is dated to the 31st year of Asa of Judah meanwhile the ascension of his predecessor, Zimri, who reigned for only a week, is dated to the 27th year of Asa. The Greek text corrects the impossibilities but does not seem to represent an earlier version. A large number of scholars have claimed to solve the difficulties, but the results differ, sometimes widely, and none has achieved consensus status.
### Kings and 2 Chronicles {#kings_and_2_chronicles}
The second Book of Chronicles covers much the same time-period as the books of Kings, but it ignores the northern Kingdom of Israel almost completely, David is given a major role in planning the Temple, Hezekiah is given a much more far-reaching program of reform, and Manasseh of Judah is given an opportunity to repent of his sins, apparently to account for his long reign. It is usually assumed that the author of Chronicles used Kings as a source and emphasised different areas as he would have liked it to have been interpreted.
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Book of Esther
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The **Book of Esther** (*Megillat Ester*; *Ἐσθήρ*; *Liber Esther*), also known in Hebrew as \"the Scroll\" (\"the Megillah\"), is a book in the third section (`{{Transliteration|he|[[Ketuvim]]}}`{=mediawiki}, *כְּתוּבִים* \"Writings\") of the Hebrew Bible. It is one of the Five Scrolls (`{{Transliteration|he|Megillot}}`{=mediawiki}) in the Hebrew Bible and later became part of the Christian Old Testament. The book relates the story of a Jewish woman in Persia, born as Hadassah but known as Esther, who becomes queen of Persia and thwarts a genocide of her people.
The story takes place during the reign of King Ahasuerus in the First Persian Empire. Queen Vashti, the wife of King Ahasuerus, is banished from the court for disobeying the king\'s orders. A beauty pageant is held to find a new queen, and Esther, a young Jewish woman living in Persia, is chosen as the new queen. Esther\'s cousin Mordecai, who is a Jewish leader, discovers a plot to kill all of the Jews in the empire by Haman, one of the king\'s advisors. Mordecai urges Esther to use her position as queen to intervene and save their people. Esther reveals her Jewish identity to the king and begs for mercy for her people. She exposes Haman\'s plot and convinces the king to spare the Jews. The Jewish festival of Purim is established to celebrate the victory of the Jews of the First Persian Empire over their enemies, and Esther becomes a heroine of the Jewish people.
The books of Esther and Song of Songs are the only books in the Hebrew Bible that do not mention God explicitly. According to biblical scholars, the narrative of Esther was written to provide an etiology for Purim\'s origin.
The Book of Esther is at the center of the Jewish festival of Purim and is read aloud twice from a handwritten scroll, usually in a synagogue, during the holiday: once in the evening and again the following morning. The distribution of charity to those in need and the exchange of gifts of foods are also practices observed on the holiday that are mandated in the book.
## Setting and structure {#setting_and_structure}
### Setting
The biblical Book of Esther is set in the Persian capital of Susa (*Shushan*) in the third year of the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus. The name *Ahasuerus* is equivalent to *Xerxes* (both deriving from the Persian *Khshayārsha*), and Ahasuerus is usually identified in modern sources as Xerxes I, who ruled between 486 and 465 BCE, as it is to this monarch that the events described in Esther are thought to fit the most closely.
Assuming that Ahasuerus is indeed Xerxes I, the events described in Esther began around the years 483--482 BCE, and concluded in March 473 BCE.
Classical sources such as Josephus, the Jewish commentary *Esther Rabbah* and the Christian theologian Bar Hebraeus, as well as the Greek Septuagint translation of Esther, instead identify Ahasuerus as either Artaxerxes I (reigned 465 to 424 BCE) or Artaxerxes II (reigned 404 to 358 BCE).
On his accession, however, Artaxerxes II lost Egypt to pharaoh Amyrtaeus, after which it was no longer part of the Persian empire. In his *Historia Scholastica* Petrus Comestor identified Ahasuerus (Esther 1:1) as Artaxerxes III (358--338 BCE) who reconquered Egypt.
### Structure
The Book of Esther consists of an introduction (or exposition) in chapters 1 and 2; the main action (complication and resolution) in chapters 3 to 9:19; and a conclusion in 9:20--10:3.
The plot is structured around banquets (*mišˈte*, plural *מִשְׁתָּאוֹת* *mištāˈoṯ* or *מִשְׁתִּים* *mišˈtim*), a word that occurs twenty times in Esther and only 24 times in the rest of the Hebrew bible. This is appropriate given that Esther describes the origin of a Jewish feast, the feast of Purim, but Purim itself is not the subject and no individual feast in the book is commemorated by Purim. The book\'s theme, rather, is the reversal of destiny through a sudden and unexpected turn of events: the Jews seem destined to be destroyed, but instead are saved. In literary criticism such a reversal is termed \"peripety\", and while on one level its use in Esther is simply a literary or aesthetic device, on another it is structural to the author\'s theme, suggesting that the power of God is at work behind human events.
The book of Esther has more Akkadian and Aramaic loanwords than any other biblical work and the names of the key protagonists, Mordecai and Esther, for example, have been read as allusions to the gods Marduk and Ishtar, who, symbolizing respectively Babylonia and Assyria, were twin powers that brought about the fall of Susa, where the narrative of Esther is set and where the Elamite god Humban/Humman (compare Haman) exercised divine sovereignty. Purim practices like eating "Haman\'s ears", ear-shaped loaves of bread or pieces of pastry are similar to those in Near Eastern ritual celebrations of Ishtar\'s cosmic victory. Likewise other elements in Purim customs such as making a racket with a ratchet, masquerading and drunkenness have all been adduced to propose that such a kind of pagan festival akin to rites associated with Ishtar of Nineveh, which shares these same features, lay behind the development of this story.
## Summary
King Ahasuerus, ruler of the Persian Empire, holds a lavish 180-day banquet for his court and dignitaries from across the 127 provinces of his empire (Esther 1:1--4), and afterwards, a seven-day banquet for all inhabitants of the capital city, Shushan (1:5--9). On the seventh day of the latter banquet, Ahasuerus orders the queen, Vashti, to display her beauty before the guests by coming before them wearing her crown (1:10--11). She refuses, infuriating Ahasuerus, who, on the advice of his counselors, removes her from her position as an example to other women who might be emboldened to disobey their husbands (1:12--19). A decree follows that \"every man should bear rule in his own house\" (1:20--22).
Ahasuerus then makes arrangements to choose a new queen from a selection of beautiful young women throughout the empire (2:1--4). Among these women is a Jewish orphan named Esther, who was raised by her cousin or uncle, Mordecai (2:5--7). She finds favour in the King\'s eyes and is crowned his new queen, but does not reveal her Jewish heritage (2:8--20). Shortly afterwards, Mordecai discovers a plot by two courtiers, Bigthan and Teresh, to assassinate Ahasuerus. The conspirators are apprehended and hanged, and Mordecai\'s service to the King is officially recorded (2:21--23).
Ahasuerus appoints Haman as his viceroy (3:1). Mordecai, who sits at the palace gates, falls into Haman\'s disfavour, as he refuses to bow down to him (3:2--5). Haman discovers that Mordecai refuses to bow on account of his being a Jew, and in revenge, plots to kill not just Mordecai but all the Jews in the empire (3:6). He obtains Ahasuerus\' permission to execute this plan against payment of ten thousand talents of silver, and casts lots (\"purim\") to choose the date on which to do this`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki} the thirteenth of the month of Adar (3:7--12). A royal decree is issued throughout the kingdom to slay all Jews on that date (3:13--15).
When Mordecai discovers the plan, he goes into mourning and implores Esther to intercede with the King (4:1--5). But she fears presenting herself to the King unsummoned, an offense punishable by death (4:6--12). Instead, she directs Mordecai to have all Jews fast for three days for her and vows to fast as well (4:15--16). On the third day, she goes to Ahasuerus, who stretches out his scepter to her to indicate that she should not be punished (5:1--2). She invites him to a feast in the company of Haman (5:3--5). During the feast, she asks them to attend a further feast the next evening (5:6--8). Meanwhile, Haman is again offended by Mordecai and, at his wife\'s suggestion, has a gallows built to hang him (5:9--14).
That night, Ahasuerus cannot sleep and orders the court records be read to him (6:1). He is reminded that Mordecai interceded in the previous plot against his life and discovers that Mordecai never received any recognition (6:2--3). Just then, Haman appears to request the King\'s permission to hang Mordecai, but before he can make this request, Ahasuerus asks Haman what should be done for the man that the King wishes to honour (6:4--6). Assuming that the King is referring to Haman himself, Haman suggests that the man be dressed in the King\'s royal robes and crown and led around on the King\'s royal horse, while a herald calls: \"See how the King honours a man he wishes to reward!\" (6:7--9). To his surprise and horror, the King instructs Haman to do so to Mordecai (6:10--11).
Immediately afterwards, Ahasuerus and Haman attend Esther\'s second banquet. The King promises to grant her any request, and she reveals that she is Jewish and that Haman is planning to exterminate her people, including herself (7:1--6). Overcome by rage, Ahasuerus leaves the room; meanwhile Haman stays behind and begs Esther for his life, falling upon her in desperation (7:7). The King comes back at this very moment and thinks Haman is sexually assaulting the queen; this makes him angrier and he orders Haman hanged on the very gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai (7:8--10).
Unable to annul a formal royal decree, the King instead adds to it, permitting the Jews to join and destroy any and all of those seeking to kill them (8:1--14). On 13 Adar, Haman\'s ten sons and 500 other men are killed in Shushan (9:1--12). Upon hearing of this Esther requests it be repeated the next day, whereupon 300 more men are killed (9:13--15). In the other Persian provinces, 75,000 people are killed by the Jews, who are careful to take no plunder (9:16--17). Mordecai and Esther send letters throughout the provinces instituting an annual commemoration of the Jewish people\'s redemption, in a holiday called Purim (lots) (9:20--28). Ahasuerus remains very powerful and continues his reign, with Mordecai assuming a prominent position in his court (10:1--3).
## Authorship and date {#authorship_and_date}
The *Megillat Esther* (Book of Esther) became the last of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible to be canonized by the Sages of the Great Assembly. According to the Talmud, it was a redaction by the Great Assembly of an original text by Mordecai. It is usually dated to the 4th century BCE.
The Greek book of Esther, included in the Septuagint, is a retelling of the events of the Hebrew Book of Esther rather than a translation and records additional traditions which do not appear in the traditional Hebrew version, in particular the identification of Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes II and details of various letters. It is dated around the late 2nd to early 1st century BCE. The Coptic and Ethiopic versions of Esther are translations of the Greek rather than the Hebrew Esther.
A Latin version of Esther was produced by Jerome for the Vulgate. It translates the Hebrew Esther but interpolates translations of the Greek Esther where the latter provides additional material. Predating the Vulgate, however, the *Vetus Latina* (\"Old Latin\") was apparently translated from a different Greek version not included in the Septuagint.
Several Aramaic targumim of Esther were produced in the Middle Ages, of which three survive -- the *Targum Rishon* (\"First Targum\" or 1TgEsth) and *Targum Sheni* (\"Second Targum\" or 2TgEsth) dated c. 500--1000 CE, which include additional legends relating to Purim, and the *Targum Shelishi* (\"Third Targum\" or 3TgEsth), which Berliner and Goshen-Gottstein argued was the ur-Targum from which the others had been expanded, but which others consider only a late recension of the same. 3TgEsth is the most manuscript-stable of the three, and by far the most literal.
## Historicity
The apparent historical difficulties, the internal inconsistencies, the pronounced symmetry of themes and events, the plenitude of quoted dialogue, and the gross exaggeration in the reporting of numbers (involving time, money, and people) all point to Esther as a work of fiction, its vivid characters (except for Xerxes) being the product of the author\'s creative imagination. There is no reference to known historical events in the story; a general consensus, though this consensus has been challenged, has maintained that the narrative of *Esther* was invented in order to provide an etiology for Purim, and the name Ahasuerus is usually understood to refer to a fictionalized Xerxes I, who ruled the Achaemenid Empire between 486 and 465 BCE. Longman, Dillard, and Jobes feel that the historical issues in the Book of Esther are not insurmountable; they can be resolved with some thought and effort. Longman and Dillard also feel that the book should be read as a historical narrative since the author presents it as history.
Biblical scholar Michael Coogan further argues that the book contains specific details regarding certain subject matter (for example, Persian rule) which are historically inaccurate. For example, Coogan discusses an inaccuracy regarding the age of Esther\'s cousin (or, according to others, uncle) Mordecai. In Esther 2:5--6, either Mordecai or his great-grandfather Kish is identified as having been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar II in 597 BCE: \"Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jeconiah king of Judah\". If this refers to Mordecai, he would have had to live over a century to have witnessed the events described in the Book of Esther. However, the verse may be read as referring not to Mordecai\'s exile to Babylon, but to his great-grandfather Kish\'s exile.
In her article \"The Book of Esther and Ancient Storytelling\", biblical scholar Adele Berlin discusses the reasoning behind scholarly concern about the historicity of Esther. Much of this debate relates to the importance of distinguishing history and fiction within biblical texts, as Berlin argues, in order to gain a more accurate understanding of the history of the Israelite people. Berlin quotes a series of scholars who suggest that the author of Esther did not mean for the book to be considered as a historical writing, but intentionally wrote it to be a historical novella. The genre of novellas under which Esther falls was common during both the Persian and Hellenistic periods to which scholars have dated the book of Esther (see for example the deuterocanonical Book of Judith).
However, there are certain elements of the book of Esther that are historically accurate. The story told in the book of Esther takes place during the rule of Ahasuerus, who amongst others has been identified as the 5th-century Persian king Xerxes I (reigned 486--465 BCE). The author also displays an accurate knowledge of Persian customs and palaces. \"Levenson claims that it is \'best seen as a historical novella set within the Persian empire\'\". *The New Oxford Annotated Bible* (2018) states \"Esther is not a work of history but a historical novella, that is, a fictional story set within a historical framework.\" Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones agrees (in 2023). *The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia* (1939) offers a dissenting opinion, stating that \"research has heaped up confirmation of the historical character of the book.\" Baldwin (1984) sees the Book of Esther as true and historically accurate, quoting Robert Gordis: "There is nothing intrinsically impossible or improbable in the central incident when the accretions due to the storyteller\'s art are set aside."
In the mainstream academia, the consensus is that \"the book is fictional, a kind of historical novella written to provide an etiology, a narrative explanation, for the Jewish festival of Purim.\" According to Noss (1993), the historicity of the work is supported by the precision with which the author locates his story within time; the inclusion of the Persian names of the months is part of the author\'s case for historical authenticity.
## Historical reading {#historical_reading}
Those arguing in favour of a historical reading of Esther most commonly identify Ahasuerus with Xerxes I (ruled 486--465 BCE), although in the past it was often assumed that he was Artaxerxes II (ruled 405--359 BCE). The Hebrew *Ahasuerus* (*ʔaḥašwērōš*) is most likely derived from Persian *Xšayārša*, the origin of the Greek *Xerxes*. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that Xerxes sought his harem after being defeated in the Greco-Persian Wars. He makes no reference to individual members of the harem except for a domineering Queen consort named Amestris, whose father, Otanes, was one of Xerxes\'s generals. (In contrast, the Greek historian Ctesias refers to a similar father-in-law/general figure named Onaphas.) Amestris has often been identified with Vashti, but this identification is problematic, as Amestris remained a powerful figure well into the reign of her son, Artaxerxes I, whereas Vashti is portrayed as dismissed in the early part of Xerxes\'s reign. Alternative attempts have been made to identify her with Esther, although Esther is an orphan whose father was a Jew named Abihail.
As for the identity of Mordecai, the similar names *Marduka* and *Marduku* have been found as the name of officials in the Persian court in over thirty texts from the period of Xerxes I and his father Darius I, and may refer to up to four individuals, one of whom might be the model for the biblical Mordecai.
The \"Old Greek\" Septuagint version of Esther translates the name Ahasuerus as *Artaxerxes*, a Greek name derived from the Persian *Artaxšaθra*. Josephus too relates that this was the name by which he was known to the Greeks, and the Midrashic text *Esther Rabba* also makes the identification. Bar Hebraeus identified Ahasuerus explicitly as Artaxerxes II; however, the names are not necessarily equivalent: Hebrew has a form of the name *Artaxerxes* distinct from *Ahasuerus*, and a direct Greek rendering of *Ahasuerus* is used by both Josephus and the Septuagint for occurrences of the name outside the Book of Esther. Instead, the Hebrew name Ahasuerus accords with an inscription of the time that notes that Artaxerxes II was named also *Aršu*, understood as a shortening of *Aḫšiyaršu* the Babylonian rendering of the Persian *Xšayārša* (Xerxes), through which the Hebrew *ʔaḥašwērōš* (Ahasuerus) is derived. Ctesias related that Artaxerxes II was also called *Arsicas* which is understood as a similar shortening with the Persian suffix *-ke* that is applied to shortened names. Deinon related that Artaxerxes II was also called *Oarses* which is also understood to be derived from *Xšayārša*.
Another view attempts to identify him instead with Artaxerxes I (ruled 465--424 BCE), whose Babylonian concubine, Kosmartydene, was the mother of his son Darius II (ruled 424--405 BCE). Jewish tradition relates that Esther was the mother of a King Darius and so some try to identify Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes I and Esther with Kosmartydene.
Based on the view that the Ahasuerus of the Book of Tobit is identical with that of the Book of Esther, some have also identified him as Nebuchadnezzar\'s ally Cyaxares (ruled 625--585 BCE). In certain manuscripts of Tobit, the former is called *Achiachar*, which, like the Greek *Cyaxares*, is thought to be derived from Persian *Huwaxšaθra*. Depending on the interpretation of Esther 2:5--6, Mordecai or his great-grandfather Kish was carried away from Jerusalem with Jeconiah by Nebuchadnezzar, in 597 BCE. The view that it was Mordecai would be consistent with the identification of Ahasuerus with Cyaxares. Identifications with other Persian monarchs have also been suggested.
Jacob Hoschander has argued that the name of Haman and that of his father Hamedatha are mentioned by Strabo as *Omanus* and *Anadatus,* worshipped with Anahita in the city of Zela. Hoschander suggests that Haman may, if the connection is correct, be a priestly title and not a proper name. Strabo\'s names are unattested in Persian texts as gods; however the Talmud and Josephus interpret the description of courtiers bowing to Haman in Esther 3:2 as worship. (Other scholars assume \"Omanus\" refers to Vohu Mana.)
In his *Historia Scholastica* Petrus Comestor identified Ahasuerus (Esther 1:1) as Artaxerxes III who reconquered Egypt.
## Interpretation
In the Book of Esther, the Tetragrammaton does not appear, but some argue it is present, in hidden form, in four complex acrostics in Hebrew: the initial or last letters of four consecutive words, either forwards or backwards comprise YHWH. These letters were distinguished in at least three ancient Hebrew manuscripts in red.
Christine Hayes contrasts the Book of Esther with apocalyptic writings, the Book of Daniel in particular: both Esther and Daniel depict an existential threat to the Jewish people, but while Daniel commands the Jews to wait faithfully for God to resolve the crisis, in Esther the crisis is resolved entirely through human action and national solidarity. God, in fact, is not mentioned, Esther is portrayed as assimilated to Persian culture, and Jewish identity in the book is an ethnic category rather than a religious one.
This contrasts with traditional Jewish commentaries, such as the commentary of the Vilna Gaon, which states \"But in every verse it discusses the great miracle. However, this miracle was in a hidden form, occurring through apparently natural processes, not like the Exodus from Egypt, which openly revealed the might of God.\" This follows the approach of the Talmud, which states that \"(The Book of) Esther is referenced in the Torah in the verse \'And I shall surely hide (in Hebrew, \'haster astir,\' related to \'Esther\') My Face from them on that day.
André Lacocque also sees the Book of Esther as being fundamentally theological and that its main message was to correct the mistakes of ancestors. These mistakes included being lenient against Amalekites and plundering goods, which King Saul was guilty of. Another message was that diasporic Jews were responsible for the welfare of their host community, who held unpredictable views about Jews. These views ranged from violent antisemitism to passionate philosemitism, where Jews are arbitrarily promoted to higher positions due to being \'sexy\'. Lacocque compares this to Joseph\'s governance of Egypt in the Book of Genesis, which benefitted native Egyptians and Hebrew immigrants.
Although marriages between Jews and Gentiles are not permitted in orthodox Judaism, even in case of Pikuach nefesh, Esther is not regarded as a sinner, because she remained passive, and risked her life to save that of the entire Jewish people.
Azīz Pajand, a Persian Jew, published \"Purim\" in 1966, which offered an Iranophilic interpretation of the Book of Esther. Here, Haman was the Amalekite enemy of \'pure-blooded Iranians\' and Jews. Thus, Purim became a holiday that celebrates salvation for all Iranians from the \'Hamanites\'. He also emphasizes the role of Jewish-Persian cooperation in realizing the Book of Esther\'s denouement. Pajand justified his interpretation to dispel accusations that the Book of Esther was anti-Iranian and because he believed that Iranians were \"travellers in the way of truth\". In contrast, Haman violated the Zoroastrian ideal of "Good thoughts; Good words; and Good deeds". Lacocque likewise observes that the \"enemies of the Jews\" were never arbitrarily branded as Amalekites before being killed, in comparison to Haman and his sons, which discredits any motive of Jewish ultranationalism.
Albert Barnes similarly argues that the philosemitic Persian establishment was perplexed at Haman\'s decree (`{{Bibleverse|Esther|3:15}}`{=mediawiki}), and that they were supportive of Esther\'s efforts against the \"enemies of the Jews\". The latter were mostly found \"among the idolatrous people of the subject nations\", whom the Persians did not care for. The ones in Susa, however, consisted of Haman\'s faction, led by his ten sons, and fugitives who believed they were free to kill the Jews once the latter\'s \"privileges have expired\", thus why they were killed the next day. Matthew Poole sees the subsequent hanging of Haman\'s sons as a cruel Jewish and Persian custom that punishes offenders for \'abusing\' the king.
John Gill sees the conversion of Persian allies (`{{Bibleverse|Esther|8:17}}`{=mediawiki}) as an example of \'conversion under duress\' but does not discount alternative explanations. They include being impressed by the \'Divine Providence\' working in the Jews\' favor and seeking the favor of Esther and Mordecai, who gained immense power. But ultimately, the Persian allies and Jews celebrated Purim together and taught their children to read the Book of Esther (`{{Bibleverse|Esther|9:27}}`{=mediawiki}).
According to Rabbi Mordechai Neugroschel, there is a code in the Book of Esther which lies in the names of Haman\'s 10 sons. Three of the Hebrew letters---a tav, a shin and a zayin---are written smaller than the rest, while a vav is written larger. The outsized vav---which represents the number six---corresponds to the sixth millennium of the world since creation, which, according to Jewish tradition, is the period between 1240 and 2240 CE. As for the tav, shin and zayin, their numerical values add up to 707. Put together, these letters refer to the Jewish year 5707, which corresponds to the secular 1946--1947. In his research, Neugroschel noticed that ten Nazi defendants in the Nuremberg Trials were executed by hanging on 16 October 1946, which was the date of the final judgement day of Judaism, Hoshana Rabbah. Additionally, Hermann Göring, an eleventh Nazi official sentenced to death, committed suicide, parallel to Haman\'s daughter in Tractate Megillah.
## Additions to Esther {#additions_to_esther}
An additional six chapters appear interspersed in Esther in the Septuagint, an early Greek translation of the Bible. This was noted by Jerome in compiling the Latin Vulgate. Additionally, the Greek text contains many small changes in the meaning of the main text. Jerome recognized the former as additions not present in the Hebrew Text and placed them at the end of his Latin translation. This placement is used in Catholic Bible translations based primarily on the Vulgate, such as the Douay--Rheims Bible and the Knox Bible, with chapters numbered up to 16. In contrast, the Nova Vulgata incorporates the additions to Esther directly into the narrative itself, as do most modern Catholic English translations based on the original Hebrew and Greek (e.g., Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition, New American Bible, New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition). The numbering system for the additions therefore differs with each translation. The Nova Vulgata accounts for the additional verses by numbering them as extensions of the verses immediately following or preceding them (e.g., Esther 11:2--12 in the old Vulgate becomes Esther 1:1a--1k in the Nova Vulgata), while the NAB and its successor, the NABRE, assign letters of the alphabet as chapter headings for the additions (e.g., Esther 11:2--12:6 in the Vulgate becomes Esther A:1--17). The RSVCE and the NRSVCE place the additional material into the narrative, but retain the chapter and verse numbering of the old Vulgate.
### Contents
These additions are:
- an opening prologue that describes a dream had by Mordecai, printed ahead of chapter 1 in RSVCE
- the contents of the decree against the Jews, included within chapter 3 in RSVCE
- an extension to the dialogue between Hathach and Mordecai, placed after 4:8 in RSVCE
- prayers for God\'s intervention offered by Mordecai and by Esther, both in chapter in RSVCE
- an expansion of the scene in which Esther appears before the king, with a mention of God\'s intervention, included in chapter 5 in RSVCE
- a copy of the decree in favor of the Jews, added to chapter 8 in RSVCE
- a passage in which Mordecai interprets his dream (from the prologue) in terms of the events that followed, added to chapter 10 in RSVCE
- a colophon appended to the end of chapter 10, also referenced as 11:1, which reads:
It is unclear to which version of Greek Esther this colophon refers, and who exactly are the figures mentioned in it.
By the time the Greek version of Esther was written, the foreign power visible on the horizon as a future threat to Judah was the kingdom of Macedonia under Alexander the Great, who defeated the Persian empire about 150 years after the time of the story of Esther; the Septuagint version noticeably calls Haman a \"Bougaion\" (*βουγαῖον*), possibly in the Homeric sense of \"bully\" or \"braggart\", whereas the Hebrew text describes him as an Agagite.
### Canonicity
The canonicity of these Greek additions has been a subject of scholarly disagreement practically since their first appearance in the Septuagint.`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki} Martin Luther, being perhaps the most vocal Reformation-era critic of the work, considered even the original Hebrew version to be of very doubtful value.
The Council of Basel--Ferrara--Florence confirmed its status as canonical between 1431 and 1445.
The Council of Trent, the summation of the Counter-Reformation, reconfirmed the entire book, both Hebrew text and Greek additions, as canonical. The Book of Esther is used twice in commonly used sections of the Catholic Lectionary. In both cases, the text used is not only taken from a Greek addition. The readings also include the prayer of Mordecai, and nothing of Esther\'s own words is ever used.`{{clarify|date=December 2022}}`{=mediawiki} The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the Septuagint version of Esther, as it does for all of the Old Testament.
In contrast, the additions are included in the Biblical apocrypha, usually printed in a separate section (if at all) in Protestant bibles. The additions, called \"The rest of the Book of Esther\", are specifically listed in the Thirty-Nine Articles, Article VI, of the Church of England as non-canonical, though \"read for example of life and instruction of manners\".
## Modern retelling {#modern_retelling}
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Year | Type | Cast or creator | Description |
+======+============+========================+==========================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================+
| 1511 | Painting | Michelangelo | There are several paintings depicting Esther and her story, including *The Punishment of Haman* by Michelangelo, in a corner of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1660 | Painting | Rembrandt van Rijn | In 1660, Rembrandt van Rijn\'s painting of *Esther\'s Banquet* depicts how Esther approached the men at their level to make the request of erasing the decree. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1689 | Poem | Lucrezia Tornabuoni | The Italian Renaissance poet Lucrezia Tornabuoni chose Esther as one of biblical figures on which she wrote poetry. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1689 | Stageplay | Jean Baptiste Racine | Jean Baptiste Racine wrote *Esther*, a tragedy, at the request of Louis XIV\'s wife, Françoise d\'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1718 | Stageplay | Handel | Handel wrote the oratorio *Esther* based on Racine\'s play. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1881 | Poem | Christina Rossetti | The eighth poem of 14 in Rossetti\'s sonnet-of-sonnets sequence *Monna Innominata* portrays Esther as brave, beautiful, wise and witty, as \'subtle as a snake\', and the woman who \'built her people\'s house that it should stand\'. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1958 | Book | Gladys Malvern | In 1958, a book entitled *Behold Your Queen!* was written by Gladys Malvern and illustrated by her sister, Corinne Malvern. It was chosen as a selection of the Junior Literary Guild. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1960 | Stageplay | Saunders Lewis | The play entitled *Esther* (1960), written by Welsh dramatist Saunders Lewis, is a retelling of the story in Welsh. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1960 | Movie | Joan Collins | A 1960 movie about the story, *Esther and the King*, starring Joan Collins. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1978 | Miniseries | Victoria Principal | A 1978 miniseries entitled *The Greatest Heroes of the Bible* starred Victoria Principal as Esther, Robert Mandan as Xerxes, and Michael Ansara as Haman. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1979 | TV movie | Olivia Hussey | A 1979 television film entitled *The Thirteenth Day: The Story of Esther* and aired on ABC-TV, starring Olivia Hussey as Esther, Tony Musante as King Ahasuerus, and Harris Yulin as Haman. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1981 | Animation | Superbook | Episode 25 of the 1981 anime series Superbook involves this story |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1983 | Musical | J. Edward Oliver,\ | The 1983 musical entitled *Swan Esther* was written by J. Edward Oliver and Nick Munns and released as a concept album with Stephanie Lawrence and Denis Quilley. *Swan Esther* has been performed by the Young Vic, a national tour produced by Bill Kenwright and some amateur groups. |
| | | Nick Munns | |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1986 | Movie | Amos Gitai | Israeli film directed by Amos Gitai entitled *Esther*. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1987 | Book | Tomie dePaola | Children\'s book titled *Queen Esther* written and illustrated by award-winning American author Tomie dePaola and published by HarperCollins. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1992 | Animation | Helen Slater | In 1992, a 30-minute, fully animated video, twelfth in Hanna-Barbera\'s *The Greatest Adventure* series, titled *Queen Esther* features the voices of Helen Slater as Queen Esther, Dean Jones as King Ahasuerus, Werner Klemperer as Haman, and Ron Rifkin as Mordecai. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1999 | TV movie | Louise Lombard | TV movie from the *Bible Collection* that follows the biblical account very closely, *Esther*, starred Louise Lombard in the title role and F. Murray Abraham as Mordecai. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2000 | Animation | *VeggieTales* | *VeggieTales* released \"Esther\... The Girl Who Became Queen\". |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2005 | Book | Ginger Garrett | *Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther* by Ginger Garrett. 2005, NavPress.`{{importance inline|date=July 2015}}`{=mediawiki} |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2006 | Movie | Tiffany Dupont,\ | A movie about Esther and Ahasuerus, entitled *One Night with the King*, stars Tiffany Dupont and Luke Goss. It was based on the novel *Hadassah: One Night with the King* by Tommy Tenney and Mark Andrew Olsen. |
| | | Luke Goss | |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ?? | ?? | ?? | Esther is one of the five heroines of the Order of the Eastern Star.`{{importance inline|date=July 2015}}`{=mediawiki} |
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| 2011 | Song | Maccabeats | On March 8, 2011, the Maccabeats released a music video called \"Purim Song\". |
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| 2012 | Book | J. T. Waldman | In 2012, a graphic adaptation of the Book of Esther was illustrated by J. T. Waldman and appeared in volume one of *The Graphic Canon*, edited by Russ Kick and published by Seven Stories Press. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2013 | Movie | Jen Lilley | *The Book of Esther* is a 2013 movie starring Jen Lilley as Queen Esther and Joel Smallbone as King Xerxes. |
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| 2015 | Book | Angela Hunt | Hunt, Angela \"Esther: Royal Beauty\" (A Dangerous Beauty Novel) (2015) |
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| 2016 | Book | Rebecca Kanner | Kanner, Rebecca, \"Esther\" (2016) |
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| 2011 | Book | Joan Wolf | Wolf, Joan,\"A Reluctant Queen: The Love Story of Esther\" (2011) |
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| 2011 | Book | Roseanna M. White | White, Roseanna, M. \"Jewel of Persia\" (2011) |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2020 | Book | Jill Eileen Smith | Smith, Jill, Eileen.\"Star of Persia: Esther\'s Story\" (2020) |
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| 2013 | Book | H.B. Moore | H.B. Moore.\"Esther the Queen\" (2013) |
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| 2014 | Movie | CJ Kramer | \"Megillas Lester\", an animated comedy loosely based on the Book of Esther, where a boy named Daniel Lesterovich (a.k.a., \"Lester\") is knocked out and travels back in time to the story of the Megillah, and nearly changes history by accidentally saving Queen Vashti. (2014) |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2020 | Book | Elizabeth Mack | Mack, Elizabeth. \"The Queen of Persia\" (2020) |
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| 2019 | Book | Diana Taylor | Taylor, Diana, Wallis.\"Hadassah, Queen Esther of Persia\" (2019) |
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| 2020 | Stageplay | Sight & Sound Theatres | Sight & Sound Theatres produced \"Queen Esther,\" a stage production (2020) |
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| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,389 |
Book of Lamentations
|
The **Book of Lamentations** (*אֵיכָה*, `{{Transliteration|he|ʾĒḵā}}`{=mediawiki}, from its incipit meaning \"how\") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible, it appears in the Ketuvim (\"Writings\") as one of the Five Megillot (\"Five Scrolls\") alongside the Song of Songs, Book of Ruth, Ecclesiastes, and the Book of Esther. In the Christian Old Testament, it follows the Book of Jeremiah, for the prophet Jeremiah is traditionally understood to have been its author. By the mid-19th century, German scholars doubted Jeremiah\'s authorship, a view that has since become the prevailing scholarly consensus. Most scholars also agree that the Book of Lamentations was composed shortly after Jerusalem\'s fall in 586 BCE.
Some motifs of a traditional Mesopotamian \"city lament\" are evident in the book, such as mourning the desertion of the city by God, its destruction, and the ultimate return of the deity; others \"parallel the funeral dirge in which the bereaved bewails\... and\... addresses the \[dead\]\". The tone is bleak: God does not speak, the degree of suffering is presented as overwhelming, and expectations of future redemption are minimal. Nonetheless, the author repeatedly makes clear that the city---and even the author himself---has profusely sinned against God, thus justifying God\'s wrath. In doing so, the author does not blame God but rather presents God as righteous, just, and sometimes even merciful.
## Summary
The book consists of five separate poems. In the first chapter, the city sits as a desolate weeping widow overcome with miseries. In chapter 2, these miseries are described in connection with national sins and acts of God. Chapter 3 speaks of hope for the people of God: that the chastisement would only be for their good; a better day would dawn for them. Chapter 4 laments the ruin and desolation of the city and temple but traces it to the people\'s sins. Some of chapter 5 is a prayer that Zion\'s reproach may be taken away in the repentance and recovery of the people. In some Greek copies, and in the Latin Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic versions, the last chapter is headed \"The Prayer of Jeremiah\".
## Themes
Lamentations combines elements of the *kinah*, a funeral dirge for the loss of the city, and the \"communal lament\" pleading for the restoration of its people. It reflects the view, traceable to Sumerian literature of a thousand years earlier, that the destruction of the holy city was a punishment by God for the communal sin of its people. However, while Lamentations is generically similar to the Sumerian laments of the early 2nd millennium BCE (e.g., \"Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur,\" \"Lament for Sumer and Ur,\" and the \"Nippur Lament\"), the Sumerian laments were recited on the occasion of the rebuilding of a temple and, therefore, have optimistic endings. In contrast, the book of Lamentations was written before the return/rebuilding and thus contains only lamentations and pleas to God with no response or resolution.
Beginning with the reality of disaster, Lamentations concludes with the bitter possibility that God may have finally rejected Israel. Sufferers in the face of grief are not urged to have confidence in the goodness of God; in fact, God is accountable for the disaster. The poet acknowledges that this suffering is a just punishment. Still, God is held to have had a choice over whether to act in this way and at this time. Hope arises from a recollection of God\'s past goodness, but although this justifies a cry to God to act in deliverance, there is no guarantee that he will. Repentance will not persuade God to be gracious since he can give or withhold grace as he chooses. In the end, the possibility is that God has finally rejected his people and may not again deliver them. Nevertheless, it also affirms confidence that the mercies of Yahweh (the God of Israel) never end but are new every morning.
## Structure
Lamentations consists of five distinct (and non-chronological) poems, corresponding to its five chapters. Two of its defining characteristic features are the alphabetic acrostic and its qinah meter. However, few English translations capture either; even fewer attempt to capture both.
### Acrostic
The first four chapters are written as acrostics. Chapters 1, 2, and 4 each have 22 verses, corresponding to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the first lines beginning with the first letter of the alphabet, the second with the second letter, and so on. Chapter 3 has 66 verses, so that each alphabet letter begins three lines.
The fifth poem, corresponding to the fifth chapter, is not acrostic but still has 22 lines.
Although some claim that purpose or function of the acrostic form is unknown, it is frequently thought that a complete alphabetical order expresses a principle of completeness, from `{{Transliteration|he|[[aleph|alef]]}}`{=mediawiki} (first letter) to `{{Transliteration|he|[[taw|tav]]}}`{=mediawiki} (22nd letter); the English equivalent would be \"from A to Z\".
English translations that attempt to capture this acrostic nature are few in number. They include those by Ronald Knox and by David R. Slavitt. In both cases their mapping of the 22 Hebrew letters into the Latin alphabet\'s 26 uses \'A\' to \'V\' (omitting W, X, Y and Z), thus lacking the \"A to Z\" sense of completeness.
#### Acrostic ordering {#acrostic_ordering}
Unlike standard alphabetical order, in the middle chapters of Lamentations, the letter `{{Transliteration|he|[[Pe (Semitic letter)|pe]]}}`{=mediawiki} (the 17th letter) comes before `{{Transliteration|he|[[ayin]]}}`{=mediawiki} (the 16th). In the first chapter, the Masoretic text uses the standard modern alphabetical order; however, in the Dead Sea Scrolls version of the text (4QLam/4Q111, c. 37 BCE -- 73 CE), even the first chapter uses the `{{Transliteration|he|pe-ayin}}`{=mediawiki} order found in chapters 2, 3, and 4.
### `{{Transliteration|he|Qinah}}`{=mediawiki}
The book\'s first four chapters have a well-defined *qinah* rhythm of three stresses followed by two, although the fifth chapter lacks this. Dobbs-Allsopp describes this meter as \"the rhythmic dominance of unbalanced and enjambed lines\". Again, few English translations attempt to capture this. Exceptions include Robert Alter\'s *Hebrew Bible* and the *New American Bible Revised Edition*.
## Composition
The traditional ascription of authorship to Jeremiah derives from the impetus to ascribe all biblical books to inspired biblical authors. Jeremiah, a prophet who prophesied its demise at the time, was an obvious choice. In 2 Chronicles 35:25 Jeremiah is said to have composed a lament for the death of King Josiah, but there is no reference to Josiah in the book of Lamentations and no reason to connect it to Jeremiah. However, the modern consensus amongst scholars is that Jeremiah did not write Lamentations; like most ancient literary texts, the author or authors remain anonymous.
Scholars are divided over whether the book is the work of one or multiple authors. According to the latter position, a different poet wrote each of the book\'s chapters and then joined to form the book. One clue pointing to multiple authors is that the gender and situation of the first-person witness changes---the narration is feminine in the first and second lamentations, but masculine in the third, while the fourth and fifth are eyewitness reports of Jerusalem\'s destruction. Conversely, the similarities of style, vocabulary, and theological outlook and the uniform historical setting are arguments for one author.
The book\'s language fits an Exilic date (586--520 BCE), and the poems probably originated from Judeans who remained in the land. The fact that the acrostics of chapters 2--4 follow the `{{Transliteration|he|pe-ayin}}`{=mediawiki} order of the pre-Exilic Paleo-Hebrew alphabet further supports the position that they are not postexilic compositions. However, the sequence of the chapters is not chronological, and the poems were not necessarily written by eyewitnesses to the events. The book was compiled between 586 BCE and the end of the 6th century BCE, when the Temple was rebuilt. Because Second Isaiah, whose work is dated to 550--538 BCE, seems to have known at least parts of Lamentations, the book was probably in circulation by the mid-6th century, but the exact time, place, and reason for its composition are unknown.
## In liturgy {#in_liturgy}
Lamentations is recited annually by Jews on the fast day of Tisha B\'Av (the Ninth of Av) (July--August), mourning the destructions of both the First Temple (by the Babylonians in 586 BCE) and the Second Temple (by the Romans in 70 CE). In many manuscripts and for synagogue liturgical use, Lamentations 5:21 is repeated after verse 22, so that the reading does not end with a painful statement---a practice also performed for the last verse of Isaiah, Ecclesiastes, and Malachi, \"so that the reading in the Synagogue might close with words of comfort\".
In Christian tradition, readings from Lamentations are part of the Holy Week liturgies.
In Western Christianity, readings (often chanted) and choral settings of extracts from the book are used in the Lenten religious service known as *\[\[Tenebrae\]\]* (Latin for \'darkness\'). In the Church of England, readings are used at Morning and Evening Prayer on the Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week, and at Evening Prayer on Good Friday.
In the Coptic Orthodox Church, the book\'s third chapter is chanted on the 12th hour of the Good Friday service, which commemorates the burial of Jesus.
## Surviving manuscripts {#surviving_manuscripts}
Many of the oldest surviving manuscripts are from centuries after the period of authorship. In Hebrew, the Leningrad Codex (1008) is a Masoretic Text version. Since 1947, the whole book is missing from the Aleppo Codex. Fragments containing parts of the book in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls: 4Q111 (30--1 BCE), 3Q3 (30 BCE--50 CE), 5Q6 (50 CE), and 5Q7 (30 BCE--50 CE).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. The Septuagint translation added an introductory line before the first stanza:
: *And it came to pass, after Israel was taken captive, and Jerusalem made desolate, that Jeremias sat weeping, and lamented with this lamentation over Jerusalem, and said,*
Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (6th century).
## In music {#in_music}
- The King James Version of Lamentations 1:12 are cited as texts in the English-language oratorio \"Messiah\" by George Frideric Handel (HWV 56).
```{=html}
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```
- Handel also used verses from Lamentations in the Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline\'s second movement, \"The Ways of Zion do Mourn.\"
- Edward Gibbons adapted some of the text in his verse anthem *How hath ye City sate solitary*.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,399 |
Beaver
|
**Beavers** (genus ***Castor***) are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (*Castor canadensis*) and the Eurasian beaver (*C. fiber*). Beavers are the second-largest living rodents, after capybaras, weighing up to 50 kg. They have stout bodies with large heads, long chisel-like incisors, brown or gray fur, hand-like front feet, webbed back feet, and tails that are flat and scaly. The two species differ in skull and tail shape and fur color. Beavers can be found in a number of freshwater habitats, such as rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. They are herbivorous, consuming tree bark, aquatic plants, grasses and sedges.
Beavers build dams and lodges using tree branches, vegetation, rocks and mud; they chew down trees for building material. Dams restrict water flow, forming ponds, and lodges (usually built in ponds) serve as shelters. Their infrastructure creates wetlands used by many other species, and because of their effect on other organisms in the ecosystem, beavers are considered a keystone species. Adult males and females live in monogamous pairs with their offspring. After their first year, the young help their parents repair dams and lodges; older siblings may also help raise newly born offspring. Beavers hold territories and mark them using scent mounds made of mud, debris, and castoreum---a liquid substance excreted through the beaver\'s urethra-based castor sacs. Beavers can also recognize their kin by their anal gland secretions and are more likely to tolerate them as neighbors.
Historically, beavers have been hunted for their fur, meat, and castoreum. Castoreum has been used in medicine, perfume, and food flavoring; beaver pelts have been a major driver of the fur trade. Before protections began in the 19th and early 20th centuries, overhunting had nearly exterminated both species. Their populations have since rebounded, and they are listed as species of least concern by the IUCN Red List of mammals. In human culture, the beaver symbolizes industriousness, especially in connection with construction; it is the national animal of Canada.
## Etymology
The English word *beaver* comes from the Old English word *beofor* or *befor* and is connected to the German word *biber* and the Dutch word *bever*. The ultimate origin of the word is an Indo-European root for `{{gloss|brown}}`{=mediawiki}. Cognates of *beaver* are the source for several European placenames, including those of Beverley, Bièvres, Biberbach, Biebrich, Bibra, Bibern, Bibrka, Bobr, Bober, Bóbrka, Bjurholm, Bjurälven, and Bjurum. The genus name *Castor* has its origin in the Greek word *κάστωρ* `{{transliteration|grc|kastōr}}`{=mediawiki} and translates as `{{gloss|beaver}}`{=mediawiki}.
## Taxonomy
Carl Linnaeus coined the genus name *Castor* as well as the specific (species) epithet *fiber* for the Eurasian species. German zoologist Heinrich Kuhl coined *C. canadensis* in 1820. Many scientists considered both names synonymous for one same species until the 1970s, when chromosomal evidence became available confirming both as separate where the Eurasian has 48 chromosomes, while the North American has 40. The difference in chromosome numbers prevents them from interbreeding. Twenty-five subspecies have been classified for *C. canadensis*, and nine have been classified for *C. fiber*.
There are two extant species: the North American beaver (*Castor canadensis*) and the Eurasian beaver (*C. fiber*). The Eurasian beaver is slightly longer and has a more lengthened skull, triangular nasal cavities (as opposed to the square ones of the North American species), a lighter fur color, and a narrower tail.
### Evolution
Beavers belong to the rodent suborder Castorimorpha, along with Heteromyidae (kangaroo rats and kangaroo mice), and the gophers. Modern beavers are the only extant members of the family Castoridae. They originated in North America in the late Eocene and colonized Eurasia via the Bering Land Bridge in the early Oligocene, coinciding with the *Grande Coupure*, a time of significant changes in animal species around 33`{{spaces}}`{=mediawiki}million years ago (myr).
The more basal castorids had several unique features: more complex occlusion between cheek teeth, parallel rows of upper teeth, premolars that were only slightly smaller than molars, the presence of a third set of premolars (P3), a hole in the stapes of the inner ear, a smooth palatine bone (with the palatine opening closer to the rear end of the bone), and a longer snout. More derived castorids have less complex occlusion, upper tooth rows that create a V-shape towards the back, larger second premolars compared to molars, absence of a third premolar set and stapes hole, a more grooved palatine (with the opening shifted towards the front), and reduced incisive foramen. Members of the subfamily *Palaeocastorinae* appeared in late-Oligocene North America. This group consisted primarily of smaller animals with relatively large front legs, a flattened skull, and a reduced tail---all features of a fossorial (burrowing) lifestyle.
In the early Miocene (about 24 mya), castorids evolved a semiaquatic lifestyle. Members of the subfamily Castoroidinae are considered to be a sister group to modern beavers, and included giants like *Castoroides* of North America and *Trogontherium* of Eurasia. *Castoroides* is estimated to have had a length of 1.9 -- and a weight of 90 --. Fossils of one genus in Castoroidinae, *Dipoides*, have been found near piles of chewed wood, though *Dipoides* appears to have been an inferior woodcutter compared to *Castor*. Researchers suggest that modern beavers and Castoroidinae shared a bark-eating common ancestor. Dam and lodge-building likely developed from bark-eating, and allowed beavers to survive in the harsh winters of the subarctic. There is no conclusive evidence for this behavior occurring in non-*Castor* species.
The genus *Castor* likely originated in Eurasia. The earliest fossil remains appear to be *C. neglectus*, found in Germany and dated 12--10 mya. Mitochondrial DNA studies place the common ancestor of the two living species at around 8 mya. The ancestors of the North American beaver would have crossed the Bering Land Bridge around 7.5 mya. *Castor* may have competed with members of Castoroidinae, which led to niche differentiation. The fossil species *C. praefiber* was likely an ancestor of the Eurasian beaver. *C. californicus* from the Early Pleistocene of North America was similar to but larger than the extant North American beaver.\'
## Characteristics
Beavers are the second-largest living rodents, after capybaras. They have a head--body length of 80 --, with a 25 -- tail, a shoulder height of 30 --, and generally weigh 11 --, but can be as heavy as 50 kg. Males and females are almost identical externally. Their bodies are streamlined like marine mammals and their robust build allows them to pull heavy loads. A beaver coat has 12,000--23,000 hairs/cm^2^ (77,000--148,000 hairs/in^2^) and functions to keep the animal warm, to help it float in water, and to protect it against predators. Guard hairs are 5 -- long and typically reddish brown, but can range from yellowish brown to nearly black. The underfur is 2 -- long and dark gray. Beavers molt every summer.
Beavers have large skulls with powerful chewing muscles. They have four chisel-shaped incisors that continue to grow throughout their lives. The incisors are covered in a thick enamel that is colored orange or reddish-brown by iron compounds. The lower incisors have roots that are almost as long as the entire lower jaw. Beavers have one premolar and three molars on all four sides of the jaws, adding up to 20 teeth. The molars have meandering ridges for grinding woody material. The eyes, ears and nostrils are arranged so that they can remain above water while the rest of the body is submerged. The nostrils and ears have valves that close underwater, while nictitating membranes cover the eyes. To protect the larynx and trachea from water flow, the epiglottis is contained within the nasal cavity instead of the throat. In addition, the back of the tongue can rise and create a waterproof seal. A beaver\'s lips can close behind the incisors, preventing water from entering their mouths as they cut and bite onto things while submerged.
The beaver\'s front feet are dexterous, allowing them to grasp and manipulate objects and food, as well as dig. The hind feet are larger and have webbing between the toes, and the second innermost toe has a \"double nail\" used for grooming. Beavers can swim at 8 km/h; only their webbed hind feet are used to swim, while the front feet fold under the chest. On the surface, the hind limbs thrust one after the other; while underwater, they move at the same time. Beavers are awkward on land but can move quickly when they feel threatened. They can carry objects while walking on their hind legs.
The beaver\'s distinctive tail has a conical, muscular, hairy base; the remaining two-thirds of the appendage is flat and scaly. The tail has multiple functions: it provides support for the animal when it is upright (such as when chewing down a tree), acts as a rudder when it is swimming, and stores fat for winter. It also has a countercurrent blood vessel system which allows the animal to lose heat in warm temperatures and retain heat in cold temperatures.
The beaver\'s sex organs are inside the body, and the male\'s penis has a cartilaginous baculum. They have only one opening, a cloaca, which is used for reproduction, scent-marking, defecation, and urination. The cloaca evolved secondarily, as most mammals have lost this feature, and may reduce the area vulnerable to infection in dirty water. The beaver\'s intestine is six times longer than its body, and the caecum is double the volume of its stomach. Microorganisms in the caecum allow them to process around 30 percent of the cellulose they eat. A beaver defecates in the water, leaving behind balls of sawdust. Female beavers have four mammary glands; these produce milk with 19 percent fat, a higher fat content than other rodents. Beavers have two pairs of glands: castor sacs, which are part of the urethra, and anal glands. The castor sacs secrete castoreum, a liquid substance used mainly for marking territory. Anal glands produce an oily substance which the beaver uses as a waterproof ointment for its coat. The substance plays a role in individual and family recognition. Anal secretions are darker in females than males among Eurasian beavers, while the reverse is true for the North American species. Compared to many other rodents, a beaver\'s brain has a hypothalamus that is much smaller than the cerebrum; this indicates a relatively advanced brain with higher intelligence. The cerebellum is large, allowing the animal to move within a three-dimensional space (such as underwater) similar to tree-climbing squirrels. The neocortex is devoted mainly to touch and hearing. Touch is more advanced in the lips and hands than the whiskers and tail. Vision in the beaver is relatively poor; the beaver eye cannot see as well underwater as an otter. Beavers have a good sense of smell, which they use for detecting land predators and for inspecting scent marks, food, and other individuals.
Beavers can hold their breath for as long as 15 minutes but typically remain underwater for no more than five or six minutes. Dives typically last less than 30 seconds and are usually no more than 1 m deep. When diving, their heart rate decreases to 60 beats per minute, half its normal pace, and blood flow is directed more towards the brain. A beaver\'s body also has a high tolerance for carbon dioxide. When surfacing, the animal can replace 75 percent of the air in its lungs in one breath, compared to 15 percent for a human.
## Distribution and status {#distribution_and_status}
The IUCN Red List of mammals lists both beaver species as least concern. The North American beaver is widespread throughout most of the United States and Canada and can be found in northern Mexico. The species was introduced to Finland in 1937 (and then spread to northwestern Russia) and to Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia, in 1946. `{{As of|2019}}`{=mediawiki}, the introduced population of North American beavers in Finland has been moving closer to the habitat of the Eurasian beaver. Historically, the North American beaver was trapped and nearly extirpated because its fur was highly sought after. Protections have allowed the beaver population on the continent to rebound to an estimated 6--12`{{spaces}}`{=mediawiki}million by the late 20th century; still far lower than the originally estimated 60--400`{{spaces}}`{=mediawiki}million North American beavers before the fur trade. The introduced population in Tierra del Fuego is estimated at 35,000--50,000 individuals `{{As of|2016|lc=y}}`{=mediawiki}.
The Eurasian beaver\'s range historically included much of Eurasia, but was decimated by hunting by the early 20th century. In Europe, beavers were reduced to fragmented populations, with combined population numbers being estimated at 1,200 individuals for the Rhône of France, the Elbe in Germany, southern Norway, the Neman river and Dnieper Basin in Belarus, and the Voronezh river in Russia. The beaver has since recolonized parts of its former range, aided by conservation policies and reintroductions. Beaver populations now range across western, central, and eastern Europe, and western Russia and the Scandinavian Peninsula. Beginning in 2009, beavers have been successfully reintroduced to parts of Great Britain. `{{As of|2020|alt=|pre=In|bare=y}}`{=mediawiki}, the total Eurasian beaver population in Europe was estimated at over one million. Small native populations are also present in Mongolia and northwestern China; their numbers were estimated at 150 and 700, respectively, `{{As of|2016|lc=y}}`{=mediawiki}. Under New Zealand\'s Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, beavers are classed as a \"prohibited new organism\" preventing them from being introduced into the country.
## Ecology
Beavers live in freshwater ecosystems such as rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. Water is the most important component of beaver habitat; they swim and dive in it, and it provides them refuge from land predators. It also restricts access to their homes and allows them to move building objects more easily. Beavers prefer slower moving streams, typically with a gradient (steepness) of one percent, though they have been recorded using streams with gradients as high as 15 percent. Beavers are found in wider streams more often than in narrower ones. They also prefer areas with no regular flooding and may abandon a location for years after a significant flood.
Beavers typically select flat landscapes with diverse vegetation close to the water. North American beavers prefer trees being 60 m or less from the water, but will roam several hundred meters to find more. Beavers have also been recorded in mountainous areas. Dispersing beavers will use certain habitats temporarily before finding their ideal home. These include small streams, temporary swamps, ditches, and backyards. These sites lack important resources, so the animals do not stay there permanently. Beavers have increasingly settled at or near human-made environments, including agricultural areas, suburbs, golf courses, and shopping malls.
Beavers have an herbivorous and a generalist diet. During the spring and summer, they mainly feed on herbaceous plant material such as leaves, roots, herbs, ferns, grasses, sedges, water lilies, water shields, rushes, and cattails. During the fall and winter, they eat more bark and cambium of woody plants; tree and shrub species consumed include aspen, birch, oak, dogwood, willow and alder. There is some disagreement about why beavers select specific woody plants; some research has shown that beavers more frequently select species which are more easily digested, while others suggest beavers principally forage based on stem size. Beavers may cache their food for the winter, piling wood in the deepest part of their pond where it cannot be reached by other browsers. This cache is known as a \"raft\"; when the top becomes frozen, it creates a \"cap\". The beaver accesses the raft by swimming under the ice. Many populations of Eurasian beaver do not make rafts, but forage on land during winter.
Beavers usually live up to 10 years. Felids, canids, and bears may prey upon them. Beavers are protected from predators when in their lodges, and prefer to stay near water. Parasites of the beaver include the bacteria *Francisella tularensis*, which causes tularemia; the protozoan *Giardia duodenalis*, which causes giardiasis (beaver fever); and the beaver beetle and mites of the genus *Schizocarpus*. They have also been recorded to be infected with the rabies virus.
### Infrastructure
Beavers need trees and shrubs to use as building material for dams, which restrict flowing water to create a pond for them to live in, and for lodges, which act as shelters and refuges from predators and the elements. Without such material, beavers dig burrows into a bank to live. Dam construction begins in late summer or early fall, and they repair them whenever needed. Beavers can cut down trees up to 15 cm wide in less than 50 minutes. Thicker trees, at 25 cm wide or more, may not fall for hours. When chewing down a tree, beavers switch between biting with the left and right side of the mouth. Tree branches are then cut and carried to their destination with the powerful jaw and neck muscles. Other building materials, like mud and rocks, are held by the forelimbs and tucked between the chin and chest.
Beavers start building dams when they hear running water, and the sound of a leak in a dam triggers them to repair it. To build a dam, beavers stack up relatively long and thick logs between the banks. Heavy rocks keep them stable, and grass is packed between them. Beavers continue to pile on more material until the dam slopes in a direction facing upstream. Dams can range in height from 20 cm to 3 m and can stretch from 0.3 m to several hundred meters long. Beaver dams are more effective in trapping and slowly leaking water than man-made concrete dams. Lake-dwelling beavers do not need to build dams.
Beavers make two types of lodges: bank lodges and open-water lodges. Bank lodges are burrows dug along the shore and covered in sticks while the more complex freestanding, open-water lodges are built over a platform of piled-up sticks. The lodge is mostly sealed with mud, except for a hole at the top which acts as an air vent. Both types are accessed by underwater entrances. The above-water space inside the lodge is known as the \"living chamber\", and a \"dining area\" may exist close to the water entrance. Families routinely clean out old plant material and bring in new material.
North American beavers build more open-water lodges than Eurasian beavers. Beaver lodges built by new settlers are typically small and sloppy. More experienced families can build structures with a height of 2 m and an above-water diameter of 6 m. A lodge sturdy enough to withstand the coming winter can be finished in just two nights. Both lodge types can be present at a beaver site. During the summer, beavers tend to use bank lodges to keep cool and use open-water lodges during the winter. The air vent provides ventilation, and newly added carbon dioxide can be cleared in an hour. The lodge remains consistent in oxygen and carbon dioxide levels from season to season.
Beavers in some areas will dig canals connected to their ponds. The canals fill with groundwater and give beavers access and easier transport of resources, as well as allow them to escape predators. These canals can stretch up to 1 m wide, 0.5 m deep, and over 0.5 km long. It has been hypothesized that beavers\' canals are not only transportation routes but an extension of their \"central place\" around the lodge and/or food cache. As they drag wood across the land, beavers leave behind trails or \"slides\", which they reuse when moving new material.
### Environmental effects {#environmental_effects}
The beaver works as an ecosystem engineer and keystone species, as its activities can have a great impact on the landscape and biodiversity of an area. Aside from humans, few other extant animals appear to do more to shape their environment. When building dams, beavers alter the paths of streams and rivers, allowing for the creation of extensive wetland habitats. In one study, beavers were associated with large increases in open-water areas. When beavers returned to an area, 160% more open water was available during droughts than in previous years, when they were absent. Beaver dams also lead to higher water tables in mineral soil environments and in wetlands such as peatlands. In peatlands particularly, their dams stabilize the constantly changing water levels, leading to greater carbon storage.
Beaver ponds, and the wetlands that succeed them, remove sediments and pollutants from waterways, and can stop the loss of important soils. These ponds can increase the productivity of freshwater ecosystems by accumulating nitrogen in sediments. Beaver activity can affect the temperature of the water; in northern latitudes, ice thaws earlier in the warmer beaver-dammed waters. Beavers may contribute to climate change. In Arctic areas, the floods they create can cause permafrost to thaw, releasing methane into the atmosphere.
As wetlands are formed and riparian habitats are enlarged, aquatic plants colonize the newly available watery habitat. One study in the Adirondacks found that beaver engineering lead to an increase of more than 33 percent in herbaceous plant diversity along the water\'s edge. Another study in semiarid eastern Oregon found that the width of riparian vegetation on stream banks increased several-fold as beaver dams watered previously dry terraces adjacent to the stream. Riparian ecosystems in arid areas appear to sustain more plant life when beaver dams are present. Beaver ponds act as a refuge for riverbank plants during wildfires, and provide them with enough moisture to resist such fires. Introduced beavers at Tierra del Fuego have been responsible for destroying the indigenous forest. Unlike trees in North America, many trees in South America cannot grow back after being cut down. Beaver activity impacts communities of aquatic invertebrates. Damming typically leads to an increase of slow or motionless water species, like dragonflies, oligochaetes, snails, and mussels. This is to the detriment of rapid water species like black flies, stoneflies, and net-spinning caddisflies. Beaver floodings create more dead trees, providing more habitat for terrestrial invertebrates like *Drosophila* flies and bark beetles, which live and breed in dead wood. The presence of beavers can increase wild salmon and trout populations, and the average size of these fishes. These species use beaver habitats for spawning, overwintering, feeding, and as havens from changes in water flow. The positive effects of beaver dams on fish appear to outweigh the negative effects, such as blocking of migration. Beaver ponds have been shown to be beneficial to frog populations by protecting areas for larvae to mature in warm water. The stable waters of beaver ponds also provide ideal habitat for freshwater turtles.
Beavers help waterfowl by creating increased areas of water. The widening of the riparian zone associated with beaver dams has been shown to increase the abundance and diversity of birds favoring the water\'s edge, an impact that may be especially important in semi-arid climates. Fish-eating birds use beaver ponds for foraging, and in some areas, certain species appear more frequently at sites where beavers were active than at sites with no beaver activity. In a study of Wyoming streams and rivers, watercourses with beavers had 75 times as many ducks as those without. As trees are drowned by rising beaver impoundments, they become an ideal habitat for woodpeckers, which carve cavities that may be later used by other bird species. Beaver-caused ice thawing in northern latitudes allows Canada geese to nest earlier.
Other semi-aquatic mammals, such as water voles, muskrats, minks, and otters, will shelter in beaver lodges. Beaver modifications to streams in Poland create habitats favorable to bat species that forage at the water surface and \"prefer moderate vegetation clutter\". Large herbivores, such as some deer species, benefit from beaver activity as they can access vegetation from fallen trees and ponds.
## Behavior
Beavers are mainly nocturnal and crepuscular, and spend the daytime in their shelters. In northern latitudes, beaver activity is decoupled from the 24-hour cycle during the winter, and may last as long as 29 hours. They do not hibernate during winter, and spend much of their time in their lodges.
### Family life {#family_life}
The core of beaver social organization is the family, which is composed of an adult male and an adult female in a monogamous pair and their offspring. Beaver families can have as many as ten members; groups about this size require multiple lodges. Mutual grooming and play fighting maintain bonds between family members, and aggression between them is uncommon.
Adult beavers mate with their partners, though partner replacement appears to be common. A beaver that loses its partner will wait for another one to come by. Estrus cycles begin in late December and peak in mid-January. Females may have two to four estrus cycles per season, each lasting 12--24 hours. The pair typically mate in the water and to a lesser extent in the lodge, for half a minute to three minutes.
Up to four young, or kits, are born in spring and summer, after a three or four-month gestation. Newborn beavers are precocial with a full fur coat, and can open their eyes within days of birth. Their mother is the primary caretaker, while their father maintains the territory. Older siblings from a previous litter also play a role.
After they are born, the kits spend their first one to two months in the lodge. Kits suckle for as long as three months, but can eat solid food within their second week and rely on their parents and older siblings to bring it to them. Eventually, beaver kits explore outside the lodge and forage on their own, but may follow an older relative and hold onto their backs. After their first year, young beavers help their families with construction. Beavers sexually mature around 1.5--3 years. They become independent at two years old, but remain with their parents for an extra year or more during times of food shortage, high population density, or drought.
### Territories and spacing {#territories_and_spacing}
Beavers typically disperse from their parental colonies during the spring or when the winter snow melts. They often travel less than 5 km, but long-distance dispersals are not uncommon when previous colonizers have already exploited local resources. Beavers are able to travel greater distances when free-flowing water is available. Individuals may meet their mates during the dispersal stage, and the pair travel together. It may take them weeks or months to reach their final destination; longer distances may require several years. Beavers establish and defend territories along the banks of their ponds, which may be 1 -- in length.
Beavers mark their territories by constructing scent mounds made of mud and vegetation, scented with castoreum. Those with many territorial neighbors create more scent mounds. Scent marking increases in spring, during the dispersal of yearlings, to deter interlopers. Beavers are generally intolerant of intruders and fights may result in deep bites to the sides, rump, and tail. They exhibit a behavior known as the \"dear enemy effect\"; a territory-holder will investigate and become familiar with the scents of its neighbors and react more aggressively to the scents of strangers passing by. Beavers are also more tolerant of individuals that are their kin. They recognize them by using their keen sense of smell to detect differences in the composition of anal gland secretions. Anal gland secretion profiles are more similar among relatives than unrelated individuals.
### Communication
Beavers within a family greet each other with whines. Kits will attract the attention of adults with mews, squeaks, and cries. Defensive beavers produce a hissing growl and gnash their teeth. Tail slaps, which involve an animal hitting the water surface with its tail, serve as alarm signals warning other beavers of a potential threat. An adult\'s tail slap is more successful in alerting others, who will escape into the lodge or deeper water. Juveniles have not yet learned the proper use of a tail slap, and hence are normally ignored. Eurasian beavers have been recorded using a territorial \"stick display\", which involves individuals holding up a stick and bouncing in shallow water.
## Interactions with humans {#interactions_with_humans}
Beavers sometimes come into conflict with humans over land use; individual beavers may be labeled as \"nuisance beavers\". Beavers can damage crops, timber stocks, roads, ditches, gardens, and pastures via gnawing, eating, digging, and flooding. They occasionally attack humans and domestic pets, particularly when infected with rabies, in defense of their territory, or when they feel threatened. Some of these attacks have been fatal, including at least one human death. Beavers can spread giardiasis (\'beaver fever\') by infecting surface waters, though outbreaks are more commonly caused by human activity.
Flow devices, like beaver pipes, are used to manage beaver flooding, while fencing and hardware cloth protect trees and shrubs from beaver damage. If necessary, hand tools, heavy equipment, or explosives are used to remove dams. Hunting, trapping, and relocation may be permitted as forms of population control and for removal of individuals. The governments of Argentina and Chile have authorized the trapping of invasive beavers in hopes of eliminating them. The ecological importance of beavers has led to cities like Seattle designing their parks and green spaces to accommodate the animals. The Martinez beavers became famous in the mid-2000s for their role in improving the ecosystem of Alhambra Creek in Martinez, California.
Zoos have displayed beavers since at least the 19th century, though not commonly. In captivity, beavers have been used for entertainment, fur harvesting, and for reintroduction into the wild. Captive beavers require access to water, substrate for digging, and artificial shelters. Archibald Stansfeld \"Grey Owl\" Belaney pioneered beaver conservation in the early 20th century. Belaney wrote several books, and was first to professionally film beavers in their environment. In 1931, he moved to a log cabin in Prince Albert National Park, where he was the \"caretaker of park animals\" and raised a beaver pair and their four offspring.
### Commercial use {#commercial_use}
Beavers have been hunted, trapped, and exploited for their fur, meat, and castoreum. Since the animals typically stayed in one place, trappers could easily find them and could kill entire families in a lodge. Many pre-modern people mistakenly thought that castoreum was produced by the testicles or that the castor sacs of the beaver were its testicles, and females were hermaphrodites. Aesop\'s Fables describes beavers chewing off their testicles to preserve themselves from hunters, which is impossible because a beaver\'s testicles are internal. This myth persisted for centuries, and was corrected by French physician Guillaume Rondelet in the 1500s. Beavers have historically been hunted and captured using deadfalls, snares, nets, bows and arrows, spears, clubs, firearms, and leg-hold traps. Castoreum was used to lure the animals.
Castoreum was used for a variety of medical purposes; Pliny the Elder promoted it as a treatment for stomach problems, flatulence, seizures, sciatica, vertigo, and epilepsy. He stated it could stop hiccups when mixed with vinegar, toothaches if mixed with oil (by administering into the ear opening on the same side as the tooth), and could be used as an antivenom. The substance has traditionally been prescribed to treat hysteria in women, which was believed to have been caused by a \"toxic\" womb. Castoreum\'s properties have been credited to the accumulation of salicylic acid from willow and aspen trees in the beaver\'s diet, and has a physiological effect comparable to aspirin. Today, the medical use of castoreum has declined and is limited mainly to homeopathy. The substance is also used as an ingredient in perfumes and tinctures, and as a flavouring in food and drinks.
Various Native American groups have historically hunted beavers for food, they preferred its meat more than other red meats because of its higher calorie and fat content, and the animals remained plump in winter when they were most hunted. The bones were used to make tools. In medieval Europe, the Catholic Church considered the beaver to be part mammal and part fish, and allowed followers to eat the scaly, fishlike tail on meatless Fridays during Lent. Beaver tails were thus highly prized in Europe; they were described by French naturalist Pierre Belon as tasting like a \"nicely dressed eel\".
Beaver pelts were used to make hats; felters would remove the guard hairs. The number of pelts needed depended on the type of hat, with Cavalier and Puritan hats requiring more fur than top hats. In the late 16th century, Europeans began to deal in North American furs due to the lack of taxes or tariffs on the continent and the decline of fur-bearers at home. Beaver pelts caused or contributed to the Beaver Wars, King William\'s War, and the French and Indian War; the trade made John Jacob Astor and the owners of the North West Company very wealthy. For Europeans in North America, the fur trade was a driver of the exploration and westward exploration on the continent and contact with native peoples, who traded with them. The fur trade peaked between 1860 and 1870, when over 150,000 beaver pelts were purchased annually by the Hudson\'s Bay Company and fur companies in the United States. The contemporary global fur trade is not as profitable due to conservation, anti-fur and animal rights campaigns.
### In culture {#in_culture}
The beaver has been used to represent productivity, trade, tradition, masculinity, and respectability. References to the beaver\'s skills are reflected in everyday language. The English verb \"to beaver\" means working with great effort and being \"as busy as a beaver\"; a \"beaver intellect\" refers to a way of thinking that is slow and honest. Though it typically has a wholesome image, the beaver\'s name has been used as a sexual term for the human vulva.
Native American myths emphasize the beaver\'s skill and industriousness. In the mythology of the Haida, beavers are descended from the Beaver-Woman, who built a dam on a stream next to their cabin while her husband was out hunting and gave birth to the first beavers. In a Cree story, the Great Beaver and its dam caused a world flood. Other tales involve beavers using their tree chewing skills against an enemy. Beavers have been featured as companions in some stories, including a Lakota tale where a young woman flees from her evil husband with the aid of her pet beaver.
Europeans have traditionally thought of beavers as fantastical animals due to their amphibious nature. They depicted them with exaggerated tusk-like teeth, dog- or pig-like bodies, fish tails, and visible testicles. French cartographer Nicolas de Fer illustrated beavers building a dam at Niagara Falls, fantastically depicting them like human builders. Beavers have also appeared in literature such as Dante Alighieri\'s *Divine Comedy* and the writings of Athanasius Kircher, who wrote that on Noah\'s Ark the beavers were housed near a water-filled tub that was also used by mermaids and otters.
The beaver has long been associated with Canada, appearing on the first pictorial postage stamp issued in the Canadian colonies in 1851 as the so-called \"Three-Penny Beaver\". It was declared the national animal in 1975. The five-cent coin, the coat of arms of the Hudson\'s Bay Company, and the logos for Parks Canada and Roots Canada use its image. Frank and Gordon are two fictional beavers that appeared in Bell Canada\'s advertisements between 2005 and 2008. However, the beaver\'s status as a rodent has made it controversial, and it was not chosen to be on the Arms of Canada in 1921. The beaver has commonly been used to represent Canada in political cartoons, typically to signify it as a friendly but relatively weak nation. In the United States, the beaver is the state animal of New York and Oregon. It is also featured on the coat of arms of the London School of Economics.
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BCS theory
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In physics, the **Bardeen--Cooper--Schrieffer** (**BCS**) **theory** (named after John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and John Robert Schrieffer) is the first microscopic theory of superconductivity since Heike Kamerlingh Onnes\'s 1911 discovery. The theory describes superconductivity as a microscopic effect caused by a condensation of Cooper pairs. The theory is also used in nuclear physics to describe the pairing interaction between nucleons in an atomic nucleus.
It was proposed by Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer in 1957; they received the Nobel Prize in Physics for this theory in 1972.
## History
Rapid progress in the understanding of superconductivity gained momentum in the mid-1950s. It began with the 1948 paper, \"On the Problem of the Molecular Theory of Superconductivity\", where Fritz London proposed that the phenomenological London equations may be consequences of the coherence of a quantum state. In 1953, Brian Pippard, motivated by penetration experiments, proposed that this would modify the London equations via a new scale parameter called the coherence length. John Bardeen then argued in the 1955 paper, \"Theory of the Meissner Effect in Superconductors\", that such a modification naturally occurs in a theory with an energy gap. The key ingredient was Leon Cooper\'s calculation of the bound states of electrons subject to an attractive force in his 1956 paper, \"Bound Electron Pairs in a Degenerate Fermi Gas\".
In 1957 Bardeen and Cooper assembled these ingredients and constructed such a theory, the BCS theory, with Robert Schrieffer. The theory was first published in April 1957 in the letter, \"Microscopic theory of superconductivity\". The demonstration that the phase transition is second order, that it reproduces the Meissner effect and the calculations of specific heats and penetration depths appeared in the December 1957 article, \"Theory of superconductivity\". They received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1972 for this theory.
In 1986, high-temperature superconductivity was discovered in La-Ba-Cu-O, at temperatures up to 30 K. Following experiments determined more materials with transition temperatures up to about 130 K, considerably above the previous limit of about 30 K. It is experimentally very well known that the transition temperature strongly depends on pressure. In general, it is believed that BCS theory alone cannot explain this phenomenon and that other effects are in play. These effects are still not yet fully understood; it is possible that they even control superconductivity at low temperatures for some materials.
## Overview
At sufficiently low temperatures, electrons near the Fermi surface become unstable against the formation of Cooper pairs. Cooper showed such binding will occur in the presence of an attractive potential, no matter how weak. In conventional superconductors, an attraction is generally attributed to an electron-lattice interaction. The BCS theory, however, requires only that the potential be attractive, regardless of its origin. In the BCS framework, superconductivity is a macroscopic effect which results from the condensation of Cooper pairs. These have some bosonic properties, and bosons, at sufficiently low temperature, can form a large Bose--Einstein condensate. Superconductivity was simultaneously explained by Nikolay Bogolyubov, by means of the Bogoliubov transformations.
In many superconductors, the attractive interaction between electrons (necessary for pairing) is brought about indirectly by the interaction between the electrons and the vibrating crystal lattice (the phonons). Roughly speaking the picture is the following:
> An electron moving through a conductor will attract nearby positive charges in the lattice. This deformation of the lattice causes another electron, with opposite spin, to move into the region of higher positive charge density. The two electrons then become correlated. Because there are a lot of such electron pairs in a superconductor, these pairs overlap very strongly and form a highly collective condensate. In this \"condensed\" state, the breaking of one pair will change the energy of the entire condensate - not just a single electron, or a single pair. Thus, the energy required to break any single pair is related to the energy required to break *all* of the pairs (or more than just two electrons). Because the pairing increases this energy barrier, kicks from oscillating atoms in the conductor (which are small at sufficiently low temperatures) are not enough to affect the condensate as a whole, or any individual \"member pair\" within the condensate. Thus the electrons stay paired together and resist all kicks, and the electron flow as a whole (the current through the superconductor) will not experience resistance. Thus, the collective behavior of the condensate is a crucial ingredient necessary for superconductivity.
### Details
BCS theory starts from the assumption that there is some attraction between electrons, which can overcome the Coulomb repulsion. In most materials (in low temperature superconductors), this attraction is brought about indirectly by the coupling of electrons to the crystal lattice (as explained above). However, the results of BCS theory do *not* depend on the origin of the attractive interaction. For instance, Cooper pairs have been observed in ultracold gases of fermions where a homogeneous magnetic field has been tuned to their Feshbach resonance. The original results of BCS (discussed below) described an s-wave superconducting state, which is the rule among low-temperature superconductors but is not realized in many unconventional superconductors such as the d-wave high-temperature superconductors.
Extensions of BCS theory exist to describe these other cases, although they are insufficient to completely describe the observed features of high-temperature superconductivity.
BCS is able to give an approximation for the quantum-mechanical many-body state of the system of (attractively interacting) electrons inside the metal. This state is now known as the BCS state. In the normal state of a metal, electrons move independently, whereas in the BCS state, they are bound into Cooper pairs by the attractive interaction. The BCS formalism is based on the reduced potential for the electrons\' attraction. Within this potential, a variational ansatz for the wave function is proposed. This ansatz was later shown to be exact in the dense limit of pairs. Note that the continuous crossover between the dilute and dense regimes of attracting pairs of fermions is still an open problem, which now attracts a lot of attention within the field of ultracold gases.
### Underlying evidence {#underlying_evidence}
The hyperphysics website pages at Georgia State University summarize some key background to BCS theory as follows:
- **Evidence of a band gap at the Fermi level** (described as \"a key piece in the puzzle\")
: the existence of a critical temperature and critical magnetic field implied a band gap, and suggested a phase transition, but single electrons are forbidden from condensing to the same energy level by the Pauli exclusion principle. The site comments that \"a drastic change in conductivity demanded a drastic change in electron behavior\". Conceivably, pairs of electrons might perhaps act like bosons instead, which are bound by different condensate rules and do not have the same limitation.
- **Isotope effect on the critical temperature, suggesting lattice interactions**
: The Debye frequency of phonons in a lattice is proportional to the inverse of the square root of the mass of lattice ions. It was shown that the superconducting transition temperature of mercury indeed showed the same dependence, by substituting the most abundant natural mercury isotope, ^202^Hg, with a different isotope, ^198^Hg.
- **An exponential rise in heat capacity near the critical temperature for some superconductors**
: An exponential increase in heat capacity near the critical temperature also suggests an energy bandgap for the superconducting material. As superconducting vanadium is warmed toward its critical temperature, its heat capacity increases greatly in a very few degrees; this suggests an energy gap being bridged by thermal energy.
- **The lessening of the measured energy gap towards the critical temperature**
: This suggests a type of situation where some kind of binding energy exists but it is gradually weakened as the temperature increases toward the critical temperature. A binding energy suggests two or more particles or other entities that are bound together in the superconducting state. This helped to support the idea of bound particles -- specifically electron pairs -- and together with the above helped to paint a general picture of paired electrons and their lattice interactions.
## Implications
BCS derived several important theoretical predictions that are independent of the details of the interaction, since the quantitative predictions mentioned below hold for any sufficiently weak attraction between the electrons and this last condition is fulfilled for many low temperature superconductors - the so-called weak-coupling case. These have been confirmed in numerous experiments:
- The electrons are bound into Cooper pairs, and these pairs are correlated due to the Pauli exclusion principle for the electrons, from which they are constructed. Therefore, in order to break a pair, one has to change energies of all other pairs. This means there is an energy gap for single-particle excitation, unlike in the normal metal (where the state of an electron can be changed by adding an arbitrarily small amount of energy). This energy gap is highest at low temperatures but vanishes at the transition temperature when superconductivity ceases to exist. The BCS theory gives an expression that shows how the gap grows with the strength of the attractive interaction and the (normal phase) single particle density of states at the Fermi level. Furthermore, it describes how the density of states is changed on entering the superconducting state, where there are no electronic states any more at the Fermi level. The energy gap is most directly observed in tunneling experiments and in reflection of microwaves from superconductors.
- BCS theory predicts the dependence of the value of the energy gap Δ at temperature *T* on the critical temperature *T*~c~. The ratio between the value of the energy gap at zero temperature and the value of the superconducting transition temperature (expressed in energy units) takes the universal value $\Delta(T=0) = 1.764 \, k_{\rm B}T_{\rm c},$ independent of material. Near the critical temperature the relation asymptotes to $\Delta(T \to T_{\rm c})\approx 3.06 \, k_{\rm B}T_{\rm c}\sqrt{1-(T/T_{\rm c})}$ which is of the form suggested the previous year by M. J. Buckingham
based on the fact that the superconducting phase transition is second order, that the superconducting phase has a mass gap and on Blevins, Gordy and Fairbank\'s experimental results the previous year on the absorption of millimeter waves by superconducting tin.
- Due to the energy gap, the specific heat of the superconductor is suppressed strongly (exponentially) at low temperatures, there being no thermal excitations left. However, before reaching the transition temperature, the specific heat of the superconductor becomes even higher than that of the normal conductor (measured immediately above the transition) and the ratio of these two values is found to be universally given by 2.5.
- BCS theory correctly predicts the Meissner effect, i.e. the expulsion of a magnetic field from the superconductor and the variation of the penetration depth (the extent of the screening currents flowing below the metal\'s surface) with temperature.
- It also describes the variation of the critical magnetic field (above which the superconductor can no longer expel the field but becomes normal conducting) with temperature. BCS theory relates the value of the critical field at zero temperature to the value of the transition temperature and the density of states at the Fermi level.
- In its simplest form, BCS gives the superconducting transition temperature *T*~c~ in terms of the electron-phonon coupling potential *V* and the Debye cutoff energy *E*~D~: $k_{\rm B}\,T_{\rm c} = 1.134E_{\rm D}\,{e^{-1/N(0)\,V}},$ where *N*(0) is the electronic density of states at the Fermi level. For more details, see Cooper pairs.
- The BCS theory reproduces the **isotope effect**, which is the experimental observation that for a given superconducting material, the critical temperature is inversely proportional to the square-root of the mass of the isotope used in the material. The isotope effect was reported by two groups on 24 March 1950, who discovered it independently working with different mercury isotopes, although a few days before publication they learned of each other\'s results at the ONR conference in Atlanta. The two groups are Emanuel Maxwell, and C. A. Reynolds, B. Serin, W. H. Wright, and L. B. Nesbitt. The choice of isotope ordinarily has little effect on the electrical properties of a material, but does affect the frequency of lattice vibrations. This effect suggests that superconductivity is related to vibrations of the lattice. This is incorporated into BCS theory, where lattice vibrations yield the binding energy of electrons in a Cooper pair.
- Little--Parks experiment - One of the first indications to the importance of the Cooper-pairing principle.
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Bubble and squeak
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**Bubble and squeak** is an English dish made from cooked potatoes and cabbage, mixed together and fried. The food writer Howard Hillman classes it as one of the \"great peasant dishes of the world\". The dish has been known since at least the 18th century, and in its early versions it contained cooked beef; by the mid-20th century the two vegetables had become the principal ingredients.
## History
The name of the dish, according to the *Oxford English Dictionary* (OED), alludes to the sounds made by the ingredients when being fried. The first recorded use of the name listed in the OED dates from 1762; *The St James\'s Chronicle*, recording the dishes served at a banquet, included \"Bubble and Squeak, garnish\'d with Eddowes Cow Bumbo, and Tongue\". A correspondent in *The Public Advertiser* two years later reported making \"a very hearty Meal on fryed Beef and Cabbage; though I could not have touched it had my Wife recommended it to me under the fashionable Appellation of *Bubble and Squeak*\". In 1791 another London paper recorded the quarterly meeting of the Bubble and Squeak Society at Smithfield.
thumb\|upright=1.5\|alt=scan of early 19th century page of text, giving ingredients as in the adjoining paragraph to this image\|Maria Rundell\'s recipe, 1806 The dish as it is made in modern times differs considerably from its first recorded versions, in which cooked beef was the main ingredient and potatoes did not feature. The earliest-known recipe is in Maria Rundell\'s *A New System of Domestic Cookery*, published in 1806. It consists wholly of cabbage and rare roast beef, seasoned and fried. This method is followed by William Kitchiner in his book *Apicius Redivivus, or The Cook\'s Oracle* (1817); in later editions he adds a couplet at the top of his recipe:
` When 'midst the frying Pan in accents savage,`\
` The Beef, so surly, quarrels with the Cabbage.`` `
Mrs Beeton\'s recipe in her *Book of Household Management* (1861) similarly combines cooked beef with cabbage (and, in her recipe, onions) but no potato. An 1848 recipe from the US is similar, but adds chopped carrots. In all of these, the meat and vegetables are served next to each other, and not mixed together.
In 1872 a Lancashire newspaper offered a recipe for \"delicious bubble and squeak\", consisting of thinly-sliced beef fried with cabbage and carrot, but not potatoes, although by then they had been a major crop in Lancashire for decades. In the 1880s potatoes began to appear in recipes. In 1882 the \"Household\" column of *The Manchester Times* suggested: `{{blockindent|'''Bubble and Squeak'''. – Mash four potatoes, chop a plateful of cold greens, season with a small saltspoonful of salt and the same of pepper; mix well together, and fry in dissolved dripping or butter (three ounces), stirring all the time. Cut about three-quarters of a pound of cold, boiled beef into neat, thin slices. Fry slightly over a slow fire six minutes. Put the vegetables round the dish and the meat in the centre. Serve very hot.<ref>"The Household Column", ''The Manchester Times'', 11 March 1882, p. 7</ref>|}}`{=mediawiki}
Potatoes featured in a recipe printed in a Yorkshire paper in 1892 but, as in earlier versions, the main ingredients were beef and cabbage.
## Modern versions {#modern_versions}
thumb\|upright=1.25\|Bubble and squeak, left Possibly because of the scarcity of beef during food rationing in and after the Second World War, by the latter half of the 20th century the basic ingredients were widely considered to be cooked and mashed (or coarsely crushed) potato and chopped cooked cabbage. Those are the only two ingredients in Delia Smith\'s 1987 recipe. Clarissa Dickson Wright\'s 1996 version consists of crushed cooked potatoes, finely chopped raw onion, and cooked cabbage (or brussels sprouts), seasoned with salt and pepper, mixed together and shallow-fried until browned on the exterior. Like Smith, Dickson Wright specifies dripping (or lard) for frying, finding vegetable oil unsuitable for frying bubble and squeak, because the mixture will not brown adequately. Several other cooks find oil or butter satisfactory.
Fiona Beckett (2008), like Smith and Dickson Wright, stipulates no ingredients other than potato and cabbage, but there are many published variants of the basic recipe. Gary Rhodes favours sliced brussels sprouts, rather than cabbage, with gently cooked sliced onions and mashed potato, fried in butter. He comments that although the basic ingredients of bubble and squeak and colcannon are similar, the two are very different dishes, the former being traditionally made from left-overs and fried to give a brown crust, and the latter \"a completely separate dish of potato, spring onion and cabbage, served almost as creamed potatoes\".
Jeff Smith (1987) adds grated courgettes and chopped ham and bacon. Mark Hix (2005) adds cooked and chopped leeks and swede to the mix. Jamie Oliver (2007) adds chestnuts and \"whatever veg you like -- carrots, Brussels, swedes, turnips, onions, leeks or Savoy cabbage\". Nigel Slater, in a 2013 recipe using Christmas leftovers, adds chopped goose, ham and pumpkin to the mixture.
The mixture is then shallow fried, either shaped into round cakes or as a single panful and then sliced. The first method is suggested by Delia Smith, Hix and Slater; Rhodes finds both methods satisfactory; Dickson Wright, Oliver and Jeff Smith favour the whole-pan method.
## Outside Britain {#outside_britain}
Bubble and squeak is familiar in Australia; a 1969 recipe adds peas and pumpkin to the basic mix. The dish is not common in the US but is not unknown; an American recipe from 1913 resembles Rundell\'s version, with the addition of a border of mashed potato. In 1983 the American food writer Howard Hillman included bubble and squeak in his survey *Great Peasant Dishes of the World*. More recently *Forbes* magazine ran an article about the dish in 2004. A Canadian newspaper in 1959 reported a minor controversy about the origins of the dish, with readers variously claiming it as Australian, English, Irish and Scottish. In 1995, another Canadian paper called the dish \"universally beloved\".
## Similar dishes {#similar_dishes}
- Panackelty, from north-east England
- Rumbledethumps, stovies and clapshot from Scotland
- Colcannon and champ, from Ireland
- Stoemp from Belgium
- Calentao, from Colombia
- Biksemad, from Denmark
- Bauernfrühstück and Stemmelkort, from Germany
- Aloo tikki, from India
- Stamppot, from the Netherlands
- Trinxat, from the La Cerdanya region of Catalonia, northeast Spain and Andorra
- Matevž, from Slovenia
- Pyttipanna, Pyttipanne and Pyttipannu from Sweden, Norway and Finland
- Hash, from the United States
## Other uses of term {#other_uses_of_term}
The OED gives a secondary definition of \"bubble and squeak\": \"figurative and in figurative contexts. Something resembling or suggestive of bubble and squeak, especially in consisting of a variety of elements\". In 1825 a reviewer in *The Morning Post* dismissed a new opera at Covent Garden as \"a sort of bubble and squeak mixture of English and Italian\". The OED gives examples from the 18th to the 21st centuries, including, from Coleridge, \"\... the restless Bubble and Squeak of his Vanity and Discontent\", and from D. H. Lawrence, \"I can make the most lovely bubble and squeak of a life for myself\". In cockney rhyming slang the phrase was formerly used for \"beak\" (magistrate) and more recently \"Bubble\" has been used for \"Greek\".
The term has been borrowed by authors of children\'s books as names for a pair of puppies and (by two different authors) pairs of mice.
In the late 1940s, George Moreno Jr., an American animator living and working in England, borrowed the term, re-spelling it \"Bubble and Squeek,\" for a series of cartoon shorts released by Associated British-Pathe. The star characters of Moreno\'s cartoons were a humanized taxi (Squeek) and its driver (Bubble).
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Breast reconstruction
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**Breast reconstruction** is the surgical process of rebuilding the shape and look of a breast, most commonly in women who have had surgery to treat breast cancer. It involves using autologous tissue, prosthetic implants, or a combination of both with the goal of reconstructing a natural-looking breast. This process often also includes the rebuilding of the nipple and areola, known as nipple-areola complex (NAC) reconstruction, as one of the final stages.
Generally, the aesthetic appearance is acceptable to the woman, but the reconstructed area is commonly completely numb afterwards, which results in loss of sexual function as well as the ability to perceive pain caused by burns and other injuries.
## Timing
Breast reconstruction can be performed either immediately following the mastectomy or as a separate procedure at a later date, known as immediate reconstruction and delayed reconstruction, respectively. The decision of when breast reconstruction will take place is patient-specific and based on many different factors. Breast reconstruction is a large undertaking that usually requires multiple operations. These subsequent surgeries may be spread out over weeks or months.
### Immediate reconstruction {#immediate_reconstruction}
Breast reconstruction is termed \"immediate\" when it takes place during the same procedure as the mastectomy. Within the United States, approximately 35% of women who have undergone a total mastectomy for breast cancer will choose to pursue immediate breast reconstruction. One of the inherent advantages of immediate reconstruction is the potential for a single-stage procedure. This also means that the cost of immediate reconstruction is often far less to the patient. It can also reduce hospital costs by having fewer procedures and requiring a shorter length of the stay as an inpatient. Additionally, immediate reconstruction often has a better cosmetic result because of the preservation of anatomic landmarks and skin. With regards to psychosocial outcomes, opinions on timing have shifted in favor of immediate reconstruction. Originally, delayed reconstruction was believed to provide patients with time to psychologically adjust to the mastectomy and its effects on body image. However, this opinion is no longer widely held. Compared to delayed procedures, immediate reconstruction can have a more positive psychological impact on patients and their self-esteem, most likely due to the post-operative breast more closely resembling the natural breast compared to the defect left by mastectomy alone.
### Delayed reconstruction {#delayed_reconstruction}
Delayed breast reconstruction is considered more challenging than immediate reconstruction. Frequently not just breast volume, but also skin surface area needs to be restored. Many patients undergoing delayed breast reconstruction have been previously treated with radiation or have had a reconstruction failure with immediate breast reconstruction. In nearly all cases of delayed breast reconstruction tissue must be borrowed from another part of the body to make the new breast. Patients expected to receive radiation therapy as part of their adjuvant treatment are also commonly considered for delayed autologous reconstruction due to significantly higher complication rates with tissue expander-implant techniques in those patients. While waiting to begin breast reconstruction until several months after radiation therapy may decrease the risk of complications, this risk will always be higher in patients who have received radiation therapy. As with many other surgeries, patients with significant medical comorbidities (e.g., high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes) and smokers are higher-risk candidates. Surgeons may choose to perform delayed reconstruction to decrease this risk.
## Techniques
There are several techniques for breast reconstruction. These options are broadly categorized into two different groups:
### Implant-based reconstruction {#implant_based_reconstruction}
This is the most common technique used worldwide. Implant-based reconstruction is an option for patients who have sufficient skin after mastectomy to cover a prosthetic implant and allow for a natural shape. For women undergoing bilateral mastectomies, implants provide the greatest opportunity for symmetrical shape and lift. Additionally, these procedures are generally much faster than flap-based reconstruction since tissue does not have to be taken from another part of the patient\'s body.
Implant-based reconstruction may be one- or two-staged. In one-stage reconstruction, a permanent implant is inserted at the time of mastectomy. During two-stage reconstruction, the surgeon will insert a tissue expander underneath the pectoralis major muscle of the chest wall at the time of mastectomy. This temporary silastic implant is used to hold tension on the mastectomy flaps. In doing so, the tissue expander prevents the breast tissue from contracting and allows for use of a larger implant later on compared to what would be safe at the time of the mastectomy. Following this initial procedure, the patient must return to the clinic on multiple occasions for saline to be injected into a tube inside the tissue expander. By doing this slowly over the course of several weeks, the space beneath the pectoralis major muscle is safely expanded to an appropriate size without causing too much stress on the breast tissue. A second procedure is then necessary to remove the tissue expander and replace it with the final, permanent prosthetic implant.
Although in the past, prosthetic implants were placed directly under the skin, this method has fallen out of favor because of the greater risk of complications, including visible rippling of the implant and capsular contracture. The sub-pectoral technique described above is now preferred because it provides an additional muscular layer between the skin and the implant, decreasing the risk of visible deformity. Oftentimes, however, the pectoralis major muscle is not sufficiently large enough to cover the inferior portion of the prosthetic implant. If this is the case, one option is to use an acellular dermal matrix to cover the exposed portion of the prosthetic implant, improving both functional and aesthetic outcomes. This prepectoral space has recently, however, come back into practice, with comparable rates of post-operative complications and implant loss to submuscular placement. Both delayed and direct-to-implant reconstruction in this plane has been shown to be favourable.
Of note, a Cochrane review published in 2016 concluded that implants for use in breast reconstructive surgery have not been adequately studied in good quality clinical trials. \"These days - even after a few million women have had breasts reconstructed -- surgeons cannot inform women about the risks and complications of different implant-based breast reconstructive options on the basis of results derived from Randomized Controlled Trials.\"
### Flap-based reconstruction {#flap_based_reconstruction}
Flap-based reconstruction uses tissue from other parts of the patient\'s body (i.e., autologous tissue) such as the back, buttocks, thigh or abdomen. In surgery, a \"flap\" is any type of tissue that is lifted from a donor site and moved to a recipient site using its own blood supply. Usually, the blood supply is a named vessel. Flap-based reconstruction may be performed either by leaving the donor tissue connected to the original site (also known as a pedicle flap) to retain its blood supply (where the vessels are tunneled beneath the skin surface to the new site) or by cutting the donor tissue\'s vessels and surgically reconnecting them to a new blood supply at the recipient site (also known as a free flap or free tissue transfer). The latissimus dorsi is a prime example of such a flap since it can remain attached to its primary blood source which preserves the skins functioning, and is associated with better outcomes in comparison to other muscle and skin donor sites.
One option for breast reconstruction involves using the latissimus dorsi muscle as the donor tissue. As a back muscle, the latissimus dorsi is large and flat and can be used without significant loss of function. It can be moved into the breast defect while still attached to its blood supply under the arm pit (axilla). A latissimus flap is often used to recruit soft-tissue coverage over an underlying implant; however, if the latissimus flap can provide enough volume, then occasionally it is used to reconstruct small breasts without the need for an implant. The latissimus dorsi flap has a number of advantages, but despite the advances in surgical techniques, it has remained vulnerable to skin dehiscence or necrosis at the donor site (on the back). The Mannu flap is a form of latissimus dorsi flap which avoids this complication by preserving a generous subcutaneous fat layer at the donor site and has been shown to be a safe, simple and effective way of avoiding wound dehiscence at the donor site after extended latissimus dorsi flap reconstruction.
Another possible donor site for breast reconstruction is the abdomen. The TRAM (transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous) flap or its technically distinct variants of microvascular \"perforator flaps\" like the DIEP/SIEA flaps are all commonly used. In a TRAM procedure, a portion of the abdominal tissue, which includes skin, subcutaneous fat, minor muscles, and connective tissues, is taken from the patient\'s abdomen and transplanted to the breast site. Both TRAM and DIEP/SIEA use the abdominal tissue between the umbilicus (or \"belly button\") and the pubis. The DIEP flap and free-TRAM flap require advanced microsurgical technique and are less common as a result. Both can provide enough tissue to reconstruct large breasts and are a good option for patients who would prefer to maintain their pre-operative breast volume. These procedures are preferred by some breast cancer patients because removal of the donor site tissue results in an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) and allow the breast to be reconstructed with one\'s own tissues instead of a prosthetic implant that uses foreign material. That said, TRAM flap procedures can potentially weaken the abdominal wall and torso strength, but they are generally well tolerated by most patients. Perforator techniques such as the DIEP (deep inferior epigastric perforator) flap and SIEA (superficial inferior epigastric artery) flap require precise dissection of small perforating vessels through the rectus muscle and, thus, do not require removal of abdominal muscle. Because of this, these flaps have the advantage of maintaining the majority of abdominal wall strength.
Other donor sites for autologous breast reconstruction include the buttocks, which provides tissue for the SGAP and IGAP (superior and inferior gluteal artery perforator, respectively) flaps. The purpose of perforator flaps (DIEP, SIEA, SGAP, IGAP) is to provide sufficient skin and fat for an aesthetic reconstruction while minimizing post-operative complications from harvesting the underlying muscles. DIEP reconstruction generally produces the best outcome for most women. See free flap breast reconstruction for more information.
Mold-assisted reconstruction is a potential adjunctive process to help in flap-based reconstruction. By using a laser and 3D printer, a patient-specific silicone mold can be used as an aid during surgery, used as a guide for orienting and shaping the flap to improve accuracy and symmetry.
## Adjunctive procedures {#adjunctive_procedures}
To restore the appearance of the pre-operative breast, there are a few options regarding the nipple-areolar complex (NAC):
- A nipple prosthesis can be used to restore the appearance of the reconstructed breast. Impressions can be made and photographs can be used to accurately replace the nipple lost with some types of mastectomies. This can be instrumental in restoring the psychological well-being of the breast cancer survivor. The same process can be used to replicate the remaining nipple in cases of a single mastectomy. Ideally, a prosthesis is made around the time of the mastectomy and it can be used just weeks after the surgery.
- Nipple-areolar complex reconstruction can also be performed surgically. Within the first year following breast reconstruction, flaps can undergo contraction and decrease in size by up to 50%. Although flaps are made larger initially for this reason, it is hard to accurately predict the final breast volume. Because of this, NAC reconstruction is considered the very last stage of breast reconstruction, delayed until after breast mound reconstruction is completed (including additional procedures such as fat grafting or excess tissue removal) so that the positioning of the NAC can be planned precisely. There are several methods of reconstructing the nipple-areolar complex:
- **Nipple grafting (nipple sharing):** If a patient undergoes a single mastectomy with reconstruction and the opposite breast is preserved, then one option is to remove part of the preserved nipple and transfer it to the reconstructed breast. This also requires that the patient has sufficient nipple-areolar tissue to be removed as nipple grafting will decrease the native nipple\'s projection by about 50%. One of the benefits of this procedure is that the color and texture of the NAC is identical to that of the opposite breast.
- **Local tissue flaps:** For patients who have undergone bilateral mastectomies (as well as patients receiving a unilateral mastectomy who do not want to pursue nipple grafting), a nipple can be created by raising a small, local flap in the target area and producing a raised mound of skin very similar in shape to a nipple. To create an areola, a circular incision may be made around the new nipple and sutured back again. While this option does produce the shape and outline of the NAC, it does not affect the skin color. To make it appear more natural, the nipple and areolar region may then be tattooed to produce a darker skin color more similar to a natural nipple and areola.
- **Local tissue flaps, with acellular dermis graft:** As above, a nipple may be created by raising a small flap in the target area and producing a raised mound of skin. A graft of acellular dermis (such as cadaver-derived material) can then be inserted into the core of the new nipple acting as a support which may help maintain the projection of the nipple for a longer time.
- The nipple and areolar region may be tattooed later. There are, however, some important issues in relation to NAC tattooing that should be considered prior to opting for tattooing, such as the choice of pigments and equipment used for the procedure.
When looking at the entire process of breast reconstruction, patients typically report that NAC reconstruction is the least satisfying step. Compared to a normal nipple, the reconstructed nipple often has less projection (how far the nipple extends beyond the breast mound) and lacks sensation. In women who have undergone a single mastectomy with reconstruction, another challenge is aesthetically matching the reconstructed NAC to the native breast.
## Outcomes
The typical outcome of breast reconstruction surgery is a breast mound with a pleasing aesthetic shape, with a texture similar to a natural breast, but which feels completely or mostly numb for the woman herself. This loss of sensation, called *somatosensory loss* or the inability to perceive touch, heat, cold, and pain, sometimes results in women burning themselves or injuring themselves without noticing, or not noticing that their clothing has shifted to expose their breasts. \"I can\'t even feel it when my kids hug me,\" said one mother, who had nipple-sparing breast reconstruction after a bilateral mastectomy. The loss of sensation has long-term medical consequences, because it makes the affected women unable to feel itchy rashes, infected sores, cuts, bruises, or situations that risk sunburns or frostbite on the affected areas.
More than half of women treated for breast cancer develop upper quarter dysfunction, including limits on how well they can move, pain in the breast, shoulder or arm, lymphedema, loss of sensation, and impaired strength. The risk of dysfunction is higher among women who have breast reconstruction surgery. One in three have complications, one in five need further surgery and the procedure fails in 5%.
Some methods have specific side effects. The transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flap method results in weakness and loss of flexibility in the abdominal wall. Reconstruction with implants have a higher risk of long-term pain.
Outcomes-based research on quality of life improvements and psychosocial benefits associated with breast reconstruction served as the stimulus in the United States for the 1998 Women\'s Health and Cancer Rights Act, which mandated that health care payer cover breast and nipple reconstruction, contralateral procedures to achieve symmetry, and treatment for the sequelae of mastectomy. This was followed in 2001 by additional legislation imposing penalties on noncompliant insurers. Similar provisions for coverage exist in most countries worldwide through national health care programs.
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Β-Lactam
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A **β-lactam** (***beta-*lactam**) ring is a four-membered lactam. A *lactam* is a cyclic amide, and *beta*-lactams are named so because the nitrogen atom is attached to the β-carbon atom relative to the carbonyl. The simplest β-lactam possible is 2-azetidinone. β-lactams are significant structural units of medicines as manifested in many β-lactam antibiotics. Up to 1970, most β-lactam research was concerned with the penicillin and cephalosporin groups, but since then, a wide variety of structures have been described.
## Clinical significance {#clinical_significance}
The β-lactam ring is part of the core structure of several antibiotic families, the principal ones being the penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems, and monobactams, which are, therefore, also called β-lactam antibiotics. Nearly all of these antibiotics work by inhibiting bacterial cell wall biosynthesis. This has a lethal effect on bacteria, although any given bacteria population will typically contain a subgroup that is resistant to β-lactam antibiotics. Bacterial resistance occurs as a result of the expression of one of many genes for the production of β-lactamases, a class of enzymes that break open the β-lactam ring. More than 1,800 different β-lactamase enzymes have been documented in various species of bacteria. These enzymes vary widely in their chemical structure and catalytic efficiencies. When bacterial populations have these resistant subgroups, treatment with β-lactam can result in the resistant strain becoming more prevalent and therefore more virulent. β-lactam derived antibiotics can be considered one of the most important antibiotic classes but prone to clinical resistance. β-lactam exhibits its antibiotic properties by imitating the naturally occurring d-Ala-d-Ala substrate for the group of enzymes known as penicillin binding proteins (PBP), which have as function to cross-link the peptidoglycan part of the cell wall of the bacteria.
The β-lactam ring is also found in some other drugs such as the cholesterol absorption inhibitor drug ezetimibe.
## Synthesis
The first synthetic β-lactam was prepared by Hermann Staudinger in 1907 by reaction of the Schiff base of aniline and benzaldehyde with diphenylketene in a \[2+2\] cycloaddition (Ph indicates a phenyl functional group):
:
Many methods have been developed for the synthesis of β-lactams.
The **Breckpot β-lactam synthesis** produces substituted β-lactams by the cyclization of beta amino acid esters by use of a Grignard reagent. Mukaiyama\'s reagent is also used in modified Breckpot synthesis.
:
## Reactions
Due to ring strain, β-lactams are more readily hydrolyzed than linear amides or larger lactams. This strain is further increased by fusion to a second ring, as found in most β-lactam antibiotics. This trend is due to the amide character of the β-lactam being reduced by the aplanarity of the system. The nitrogen atom of an ideal amide is sp^2^-hybridized due to resonance, and sp^2^-hybridized atoms have trigonal planar bond geometry. As a pyramidal bond geometry is forced upon the nitrogen atom by the ring strain, the resonance of the amide bond is reduced, and the carbonyl becomes more ketone-like. Nobel laureate Robert Burns Woodward described a parameter *h* as a measure of the height of the trigonal pyramid defined by the nitrogen (as the apex) and its three adjacent atoms. *h* corresponds to the strength of the β-lactam bond with lower numbers (more planar; more like ideal amides) being stronger and less reactive. Monobactams have *h* values between 0.05 and 0.10 angstroms (Å). Cephems have *h* values in of 0.20--0.25 Å. Penams have values in the range 0.40--0.50 Å, while carbapenems and clavams have values of 0.50--0.60 Å, being the most reactive of the β-lactams toward hydrolysis.
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Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg
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The **Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg** (*Hochstift Brandenburg*) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the 12th century until it was secularized during the second half of the 16th century. It should not be confused with the larger Diocese of Brandenburg (*Dioecesis Brandenburgensis*) established by King Otto I of Germany in 948, in the territory of the *Marca Geronis* (Saxon Eastern March) east of the Elbe river. The diocese, over which the prince-bishop exercised only spiritual authority, was a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Magdeburg, its seat was Brandenburg an der Havel.
## History
The Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire for some time, probably starting about 1161/1165. However, the Brandenburg bishops never managed to gain control over a significant territory, being overshadowed by the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which was originally seated in the same city. Chapter and cathedral, surrounded by further ecclesiastical institutions, were located on the *Dominsel* (Cathedral Island), which formed a prince-episcopal cathedral immunity district (*Domfreiheit*), distinct from the city of Brandenburg. Only in 1929 the - meanwhile former - immunity district was incorporated into the city itself.
As rulers of imperial immediacy, regnant in a, however, dispersed territory partitioned into the four bailiwicks (*Ämter*) of Brandenburg/Havel, Ketzin, Teltow and Ziesar. The prince-bishops from the early 14th century onwards resided in their fortress in Ziesar on the road to Magdeburg. The last actual bishop was Matthias von Jagow (d. 1544), who took the side of the Protestant Reformation, married, and in every way furthered the undertakings of the Hohenzollern elector Joachim II.
There were two more nominal bishops, but on the petition of the latter of these, the electoral prince John George of Brandenburg appointed in 1560, the secularisation of the bishopric was undertaken and finally accomplished in 1571, in spite of legal proceedings to reassert the imperial immediacy of the prince-bishopric within the Empire and so to likewise preserve the diocese, which dragged on into the 17th century.
## Prince-bishops {#prince_bishops}
### Catholics
- 1138--1160: Wiggar
- 1160--1173: Wilman
- 1173--1179: Sigfried I
- 1179--1190: Baldran
- 1190--1192: Alexius
- 1192--1205: Norbert
- 1205--1216: Baldwin
- 1216--1220: Siegfried II
- 1221--1222: Ludolf von Schanebeck, claimant, but not enthroned
- 1221--1222: Wichmann von Arnstein, counter-claimant, also not enthroned
- 1222--1241: Gernot
- 1241--1251: Ruotger von Kerkow
- 1251--1261: Otto von Mehringen
- 1261--1278: Heinrich I von Osthenen (or *Ostheeren*)
- 1278--1287: Gebhard
- 1287--1290: Heidenreich
- 1290--1291: Richard, refused the appointment
- 1291--1296: Dietrich, not enthroned
- 1296--1302: Vollrad von Krempa
- 1303--1316: Friedrich von Plötzkau
- 1316--1324: Johann I von Tuchen
- 1324--1327: Heinrich II Count of Barby, not enthroned
- 1327--1347: Ludwig Schenk von Reindorf (or *Neuendorf*)
- 1347--1365: Dietrich II Kothe
- 1366--1393: Dietrich III von der Schulenburg
- 1393--1406: Heinrich III von Bodendiek (or *Bodendieck*)
- 1406--1414: Henning von Bredow
- 1414: Friedrich von Grafeneck, Prince-Bishop of Augsburg 1413--1414
- 1415--1420: Johann von Waldow, Bishop of Lebus 1420--1423
- 1420: Friedrich von Grafeneck, again
- 1421--1459: Stephan Bodecker
- 1459--1472: Dietrich IV von Stechow
- 1472--1485: Arnold von Burgsdorff
- 1485--1507: Joachim I von Bredow
- 1507--1520: Hieronymus Schulz (or *Scultetus*), Bishop of Havelberg 1521--1522
- 1520--1526: Dietrich V von Hardenberg
### Lutherans
- 1526--1544: Matthias von Jagow
- 1544--1546: *Sede vacante*
- 1546--1560: Joachim of Münsterberg-Oels
- 1560--1569/71: John George of Brandenburg, regent (*Verweser*)
- 1569/71: Joachim Frederick of Brandenburg
Secularized and merged into Brandenburg.
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Booker Prize
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The **Booker Prize**, formerly the **Booker Prize for Fiction** (1969--2001) and the **Man Booker Prize** (2002--2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, which was published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. The winner of the Booker Prize receives `{{Currency|50,000|GBP}}`{=mediawiki}, as well as international publicity that usually leads to a significant sales boost. When the prize was created, only novels written by Commonwealth, Irish and South African (and later Zimbabwean) citizens were eligible to receive the prize; in 2014, eligibility was widened to any English-language novel---a change that proved controversial.
A five-person panel consisting of authors, publishers and journalists, as well as politicians, actors, artists and musicians, is appointed by the Booker Prize Foundation each year to choose the winning book. Gaby Wood has been the chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation since 2015.
A high-profile literary award in British culture, the Booker Prize is greeted with anticipation and fanfare around the world. Literary critics have noted that it is a mark of distinction for authors to be selected for inclusion in the shortlist or to be nominated for the \"longlist\".
A sister prize, the International Booker Prize, is awarded for a work of fiction translated into English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. Unlike the Booker Prize, short story collections are eligible for the International Booker Prize. The £50,000 prize money is split evenly between the author and translator of the winning novel.
## History and administration {#history_and_administration}
The prize was established as the \"Booker Prize for Fiction\" after the company Booker, McConnell Ltd began sponsoring the event in 1969; it became commonly known as the \"Booker Prize\" or the \"Booker\". Jock Campbell, Charles Tyrrell and Tom Maschler were instrumental in establishing the prize.
When administration of the prize was transferred to the Booker Prize Foundation in 2002, the title sponsor became the investment company Man Group, which opted to retain \"Booker\" as part of the official title of the prize. The foundation is an independent registered charity funded by the entire profits of Booker Prize Trading Ltd, of which it is the sole shareholder. The prize money awarded with the Booker Prize was originally £5,000. It doubled in 1978 to £10,000 and was subsequently raised to £50,000 in 2002 under the sponsorship of the Man Group, making it one of the world\'s richest literary prizes. Each of the shortlisted authors receives £2,500 and a specially bound edition of their book.
The original Booker Prize trophy was designed by the artist Jan Pieńkowski and the design was revived for the 2023 prize.
### 1969--1979
The first winner of the Booker Prize was P. H. Newby in 1969 for his novel *Something to Answer For*. W. L. Webb, *The Guardian*{{\'}}s Literary Editor, was chair of the inaugural set of judges, which included Rebecca West, Stephen Spender, Frank Kermode and David Farrer.
In 1970, the prize\'s second year, Bernice Rubens became the first woman to win the Booker Prize, for *The Elected Member*.
The rules of the Booker changed in 1971; previously, it had been given retrospectively, to books published in the year prior to each award. In 1971, eligibility was changed to make the year of a novel\'s publication the same as the year of the award, which was made in November; in effect, this meant that books published in 1970 were not considered for the Booker in either year. Forty years later, the Booker Prize Foundation announced in January 2010 the creation of a special award called the \"Lost Man Booker Prize\", with the winner chosen from a longlist of 22 novels published in 1970. The prize was won by J. G. Farrell for *Troubles*, though the author had died in 1979.
In 1972, winning writer John Berger, known for his Marxist worldview, protested during his acceptance speech against Booker McConnell. He blamed Booker\'s 130 years of sugar production in the Caribbean for the region\'s modern poverty. Berger donated half of his £5,000 prize to the British Black Panther movement, because it had a socialist and revolutionary perspective in agreement with his own.
### 1980--1999 {#section_1}
In 1980, Anthony Burgess, writer of *Earthly Powers*, refused to attend the ceremony unless it was confirmed to him in advance whether he had won. His was one of two books considered likely to win, the other being *Rites of Passage* by William Golding. The judges decided only 30 minutes before the ceremony, giving the prize to Golding. Both novels had been seen as favourites to win leading up to the prize, and the dramatic \"literary battle\" between two senior writers made front-page news.
Alice Munro\'s *The Beggar Maid* was shortlisted in 1980, and remains the only short-story collection to be shortlisted (although another short-story collection, Banu Mushtaq\'s *Heart Lamp: Selected Stories* later won the International Booker Prize in 2025).
In 1981, nominee John Banville wrote a letter to *The Guardian* requesting that the prize be given to him so that he could use the money to buy every copy of the longlisted books in Ireland and donate them to libraries, \"thus ensuring that the books not only are bought but also read -- surely a unique occurrence\". The prize was eventually won by Salman Rushdie\'s *Midnight\'s Children*.
Judging for the 1983 award produced a draw between J. M. Coetzee\'s *Life & Times of Michael K* and Salman Rushdie\'s *Shame*, leaving chair of judges Fay Weldon to choose between the two. According to Stephen Moss in *The Guardian*, \"Her arm was bent and she chose Rushdie\", only to change her mind as the result was being phoned through. At the award ceremony, Fay Weldon used her speech to attack the assembled publishers, accusing them of exploiting and undervaluing authors. \"I will ask you if in your dealings with authors you are really being fair, and honourable, and right? Or merely getting away with what you can? If you are not careful, you will kill the goose that lays your golden eggs.\"
In 1992, the jury split the prize between Michael Ondaatje\'s *The English Patient* and Barry Unsworth\'s *Sacred Hunger*. This prompted the foundation to draw up a rule that made it mandatory for the appointed jury to make the award to just a single author/book.
The choice of James Kelman\'s book *How Late It Was, How Late* as 1994 Booker Prize winner proved to be one of the most controversial in the award\'s history. Rabbi Julia Neuberger, one of the judges, declared it \"a disgrace\" and left the event, later deeming the book to be \"crap\"; WHSmith\'s marketing manager called the award \"an embarrassment to the whole book trade\"; Waterstones in Glasgow sold a mere 13 copies of Kelman\'s book the following week. In 1994, *The Guardian*{{\'}}s literary editor Richard Gott, citing the lack of objective criteria and the exclusion of American authors, described the prize as \"a significant and dangerous iceberg in the sea of British culture that serves as a symbol of its current malaise\".
In 1996, A. L. Kennedy served as a judge; in 2001, she called the prize \"a pile of crooked nonsense\" with the winner determined by \"who knows who, who\'s sleeping with who, who\'s selling drugs to who, who\'s married to who, whose turn it is\".
In 1997, the decision to award Arundhati Roy\'s *The God of Small Things* proved controversial. Carmen Callil, chair of the previous year\'s Booker judges, called it an \"execrable\" book and said on television that it should not even have been on the shortlist. Booker Prize chairman Martyn Goff said Roy won because nobody objected, following the rejection by the judges of Bernard MacLaverty\'s shortlisted book due to their dismissal of him as \"a wonderful short-story writer and that *Grace Notes* was three short stories strung together\".
### 2000--2019 {#section_2}
Before 2001, each year\'s longlist of nominees was not publicly revealed. From 2001, the longlisted novels started to be published each year, and in 2007 the number of nominees was capped at 12 or 13 each year.
John Sutherland, who was a judge for the 1999 prize, was reported as saying in 2001:
In 2001, Peter Carey become the first author to win the Booker Prize for a second time. Carey was the first of four writers to have won the Booker Prize twice, the others being J. M. Coetzee, Hilary Mantel, and Margaret Atwood.
The Booker Prize created a permanent home`{{when|date=February 2025}}`{=mediawiki} for the archives from 1968 to present at Oxford Brookes University Library. The Archive, which encompasses the administrative history of the Prize from 1968 to date, collects together a diverse range of material, including correspondence, publicity material, copies of both the Longlists and the Shortlists, minutes of meetings, photographs and material relating to the awards dinner (letters of invitation, guest lists, seating plans). Embargoes of ten or twenty years apply to certain categories of material; examples include all material relating to the judging process and the Longlist prior to 2002.
Between 2005 and 2008, the Booker Prize alternated between writers from Ireland and India. \"Outsider\" John Banville began this trend in 2005 when his novel *The Sea* was selected as a surprise winner: Boyd Tonkin, literary editor of *The Independent*, famously condemned it as \"possibly the most perverse decision in the history of the award\" and rival novelist Tibor Fischer poured scorn on Banville\'s victory. Kiran Desai of India won in 2006. Anne Enright\'s 2007 victory came about due to a jury split over Ian McEwan\'s novel *On Chesil Beach*. The following year it was India\'s turn again, with Aravind Adiga narrowly defeating Enright\'s fellow Irishman Sebastian Barry.
thumb\|upright=0.75\|2015 logo of the then Man Booker Prize
Historically, the winner of the Booker Prize was required to be a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Republic of Ireland, or Zimbabwe. It was announced on 18 September 2013 that future Booker Prize awards would consider authors from anywhere in the world, so long as their work was in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. This change proved controversial in literary circles. Former winner A. S. Byatt and former judge John Mullan said the prize risked diluting its identity, whereas former judge A. L. Kennedy welcomed the change. Following this expansion, the first winner not from the Commonwealth, Ireland, or Zimbabwe was American Paul Beatty in 2016. Another American, George Saunders, won the following year. In 2018, publishers sought to reverse the change, arguing that the inclusion of American writers would lead to homogenisation, reducing diversity and opportunities everywhere, including in America, to learn about \"great books that haven\'t already been widely heralded\".
Man Group announced in early 2019 that the year\'s prize would be the last of eighteen under their sponsorship. A new sponsor, Crankstart -- a charitable foundation run by Sir Michael Moritz and his wife, Harriet Heyman -- then announced it would sponsor the award for five years, with the option to renew for another five years. The award title was changed to simply \"The Booker Prize\".
In 2019, despite having been unequivocally warned against doing so, the foundation\'s jury -- under the chair Peter Florence -- split the prize, awarding it to two authors, in breach of a rule established in 1993. Florence justified the decision, saying: \"We came down to a discussion with the director of the Booker Prize about the rules. And we were told quite firmly that the rules state that you can only have one winner \... and as we have managed the jury all the way through on the principle of consensus, our consensus was that it was our decision to flout the rules and divide this year\'s prize to celebrate two winners.\" The two were British writer Bernardine Evaristo for her novel *Girl, Woman, Other* and Canadian writer Margaret Atwood for *The Testaments*. Evaristo\'s win marked the first time the Booker had been awarded to a black woman, while Atwood\'s win, at 79, made her the oldest winner. Atwood had also previously won the prize in 2000.
### 2020--present
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual award ceremony was replaced with a livestream from the Roundhouse in London, without the shortlisted authors in attendance. The winner was Douglas Stuart for his debut novel *Shuggie Bain*, which had been rejected by more than 30 publishers.
2021\'s small-scale ceremony, once again impacted by COVID-19, saw South African writer Damon Galgut, who had been shortlisted in 2003 and 2010, win the prize for *The Promise*.
2022 saw a re-imagined winner ceremony at the Roundhouse, hosted by comedian Sophie Duker and featuring a keynote speech by singer Dua Lipa. The prize was won by Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka for his second novel, *The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida*.
In 2023, for the first time, the shortlist featured three writers named Paul (Paul Lynch, Paul Murray and Paul Harding). The prize was won by Irish writer Paul Lynch for his novel *Prophet Song*. In the media, reaction was mixed. In *The Guardian*, Justine Jordan wrote that \"This is a novel written to jolt the reader awake to truths we mostly cannot bear to admit\", while in *The Daily Telegraph*, Cal Revely-Calder wrote that *Prophet Song* is \"political fiction at its laziest\" and \"the weak link in a strong shortlist\".
The 2024 prize was won by Samantha Harvey for *Orbital*, the first book set in space to win the prize and, at 136 pages, the second shortest book to win the Booker after Penelope Fitzgerald\'s *Offshore*. Harvey was also the first woman to win the Booker since 2019. Since winning the Booker, *Orbital* became a UK bestseller, selling more than 20,000 print copies in the UK in the week following its win, making it the fastest selling winner of the Booker Prize since records began.
## Judging
The selection process for the winner of the prize commences with the appointment of a panel of five judges, which changes each year. Gaby Wood, the chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, chooses the judges in consultation with an advisory committee made up of senior figures from the UK publishing industry. On rare occasions a judge may be selected a second time. Judges are selected from amongst leading literary critics, writers, academics and leading public figures.
Unlike some other literary prizes, each judge is expected to read all of the books that have been submitted. (In 2023, the judges read 163 books over seven months.) After doing so, they select a longlist of 12 or 13 titles (the \"Booker Dozen\"), before each reading those books for a second time. They then select a shortlist of six titles, and read the six books a third time before selecting a winner.
The Booker judging process and the very concept of a \"best book\" being chosen by a small number of literary insiders is controversial for many. *The Guardian* introduced the \"Not the Booker Prize\" voted for by readers partly as a reaction to this. Author Amit Chaudhuri wrote: \"The idea that a \'book of the year\' can be assessed annually by a bunch of people -- judges who have to read almost a book a day -- is absurd, as is the idea that this is any way of honouring a writer.\"
The author Julian Barnes once dismissed the prize as \"posh bingo\" for the apparently arbitrary way winners are selected. On winning the prize in 2011 he joked that he had revised his opinion, telling reporters that he had realised \"the judges are the wisest heads in literary Christendom\".
For many years, the winner was announced at a formal, black-tie dinner in London\'s Guildhall in early October. However, in 2020, with COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in place, the winner ceremony was broadcast in November from the Roundhouse, in partnership with the BBC. The ceremony returned to the Roundhouse for a more casual in-person ceremony in 2022, before moving to Old Billingsgate in London in 2023 and 2024.
## Winners
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Year | Author | Title | Genre(s) | Country |
+======+======================+=====================================+===============================+==================================+
| 1969 | P. H. Newby | *Something to Answer For* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1970 | Bernice Rubens | *The Elected Member* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1971 | V. S. Naipaul | *In a Free State* | Literary fiction | \ |
| | | | | `{{flag|TTO}}`{=mediawiki} |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1972 | John Berger | *G.* | Experimental literature | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1973 | J. G. Farrell | *The Siege of Krishnapur* | Literary fiction | \ |
| | | | | `{{flag|IRL}}`{=mediawiki} |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1974 | Nadine Gordimer | *The Conservationist* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| | Stanley Middleton | *Holiday* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1975 | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | *Heat and Dust* | Historical fiction | \ |
| | | | | `{{flag|DE|Weimar}}`{=mediawiki} |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1976 | David Storey | *Saville* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1977 | Paul Scott | *Staying On* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1978 | Iris Murdoch | *The Sea, the Sea* | Philosophical novel | \ |
| | | | | `{{flag|IRL}}`{=mediawiki} |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1979 | Penelope Fitzgerald | *Offshore* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1980 | William Golding | *Rites of Passage* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1981 | Salman Rushdie | *Midnight\'s Children* | Magic realism | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1982 | Thomas Keneally | *Schindler\'s Ark* | Biographical novel | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1983 | J. M. Coetzee | *Life & Times of Michael K* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1984 | Anita Brookner | *Hotel du Lac* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1985 | Keri Hulme | *The Bone People* | Mystery novel | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1986 | Kingsley Amis | *The Old Devils* | Comic novel | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1987 | Penelope Lively | *Moon Tiger* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1988 | Peter Carey | *Oscar and Lucinda* | Historical fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1989 | Kazuo Ishiguro | *The Remains of the Day* | Historical fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1990 | A. S. Byatt | *Possession* | Historiographic metafiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1991 | Ben Okri | *The Famished Road* | Magic realism | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1992 | Michael Ondaatje | *The English Patient* | Historiographic metafiction | \ |
| | | | | `{{flag|LKA}}`{=mediawiki} |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| | Barry Unsworth | *Sacred Hunger* | Historical fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1993 | Roddy Doyle | *Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1994 | James Kelman | *How Late It Was, How Late* | Stream of consciousness | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1995 | Pat Barker | *The Ghost Road* | War novel | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1996 | Graham Swift | *Last Orders* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1997 | Arundhati Roy | *The God of Small Things* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1998 | Ian McEwan | *Amsterdam* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 1999 | J. M. Coetzee | *Disgrace* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2000 | Margaret Atwood | *The Blind Assassin* | Historical fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2001 | Peter Carey | *True History of the Kelly Gang* | Historical fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2002 | Yann Martel | *Life of Pi* | Fantasy and adventure fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2003 | DBC Pierre | *Vernon God Little* | Black comedy | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2004 | Alan Hollinghurst | *The Line of Beauty* | Historical fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2005 | John Banville | *The Sea* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2006 | Kiran Desai | *The Inheritance of Loss* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2007 | Anne Enright | *The Gathering* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2008 | Aravind Adiga | *The White Tiger* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2009 | Hilary Mantel | *Wolf Hall* | Historical fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2010 | Howard Jacobson | *The Finkler Question* | Comic novel | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2011 | Julian Barnes | *The Sense of an Ending* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2012 | Hilary Mantel | *Bring Up the Bodies* | Historical fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2013 | Eleanor Catton | *The Luminaries* | Historical fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2014 | Richard Flanagan | *The Narrow Road to the Deep North* | Historical fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2015 | Marlon James | *A Brief History of Seven Killings* | Historical/experimental novel | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2016 | Paul Beatty | *The Sellout* | Satire | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2017 | George Saunders | *Lincoln in the Bardo* | Historical/experimental novel | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2018 | Anna Burns | *Milkman* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2019 | Margaret Atwood | *The Testaments* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| | Bernardine Evaristo | *Girl, Woman, Other* | Experimental literature | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2020 | Douglas Stuart | *Shuggie Bain* | Literary fiction | \ |
| | | | | `{{flag|USA}}`{=mediawiki} |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2021 | Damon Galgut | *The Promise* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2022 | Shehan Karunatilaka | *The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida* | Fantasy | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2023 | Paul Lynch | *Prophet Song* | Dystopian novel | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| 2024 | Samantha Harvey | *Orbital* | Literary fiction | |
+------+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
## Special awards {#special_awards}
In 1971, the nature of the prize was changed so that it was awarded to novels published in that year instead of in the previous year; therefore, no novel published in 1970 could win the Booker Prize. This was rectified in 2010 by the awarding of the \"Lost Man Booker Prize\" to J. G. Farrell\'s *Troubles*.
In 1993, a special Booker of Bookers prize was awarded to mark the prize\'s 25th anniversary. Three previous judges of the award, Malcolm Bradbury, David Holloway and W. L. Webb, met and chose Salman Rushdie\'s *Midnight\'s Children*, the 1981 winner, as \"the best novel out of all the winners\".
In 2006, the Man Booker Prize set up a \"Best of Beryl\" prize, for the author Beryl Bainbridge, who had been nominated five times and yet failed to win once. The prize is said to count as a Booker Prize. The nominees were *An Awfully Big Adventure*, *Every Man for Himself*, *The Bottle Factory Outing*, *The Dressmaker* and *Master Georgie*, which won.
Similarly, The Best of the Booker was awarded in 2008 to celebrate the prize\'s 40th anniversary. A shortlist of six winners was chosen --- Rushdie\'s *Midnight\'s Children*, Coetzee\' *Disgrace*, Carey\'s *Oscar and Lucinda*, Gordimer\'s *The Conservationist*, Farrell\'s *The Siege of Krishnapur*, and Barker\'s *The Ghost Road* --- and the decision was left to a public vote; the winner was again *Midnight\'s Children*.
In 2018, to celebrate the 50th anniversary, the Golden Man Booker was awarded. One book from each decade was selected by a panel of judges: Naipaul\'s *In a Free State* (the 1971 winner), Lively\'s *Moon Tiger* (1987), Ondaatje\'s *The English Patient* (1992), Mantel\'s *Wolf Hall* (2009) and Saunders\' *Lincoln in the Bardo* (2017). The winner, by popular vote, was *The English Patient*.
## Nomination
Since 2014, each publisher\'s imprint may submit a number of titles based on their longlisting history (previously they could submit two). Non-longlisted publishers can submit one title, publishers with one or two longlisted books in the previous five years can submit two, publishers with three or four longlisted books are allowed three submissions, and publishers with five or more longlisted books can have four submissions.
In addition, previous winners of the prize are automatically considered if they enter new titles. Books may also be called in: publishers can make written representations to the judges to consider titles in addition to those already entered. In the 21st century the average number of books considered by the judges has been approximately 130.
## Related awards for translated works {#related_awards_for_translated_works}
A separate prize for which any living writer in the world may qualify, the Man Booker International Prize, was inaugurated in 2005. Until 2015, it was given every two years to a living author of any nationality for a body of work published in English or generally available in English translation. In 2016, the award was significantly reconfigured, and is now given annually to a single book in English translation, with a £50,000 prize for the winning title, shared equally between author and translator. The award has been known as the International Booker Prize since the Man Group ended its association with the prizes in 2019.
A Russian version of the Booker Prize was created in 1992 called the Booker-Open Russia Literary Prize, also known as the Russian Booker Prize. In 2007, Man Group plc established the Man Asian Literary Prize, an annual literary award given to the best novel by an Asian writer, either written in English or translated into English, and published in the previous calendar year.
For many years, as part of *The Times*{{\'s}} Literature Festival in Cheltenham, a Booker event was held on the last Saturday of the festival. Four guest speakers/judges debated a shortlist of four books from a given year from before the introduction of the Booker Prize, and a winner was chosen. Unlike the real Booker Prize (1969 through 2014), writers from outside the Commonwealth were also considered. In 2008, the winner for 1948 was Alan Paton\'s *Cry, the Beloved Country*, beating Norman Mailer\'s *The Naked and the Dead*, Graham Greene\'s *The Heart of the Matter* and Evelyn Waugh\'s *The Loved One*. In 2015, the winner for 1915 was Ford Madox Ford\'s *The Good Soldier*, beating *The Thirty-Nine Steps* (John Buchan), *Of Human Bondage* (W. Somerset Maugham), *Psmith, Journalist* (P. G. Wodehouse) and *The Voyage Out* (Virginia Woolf).
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4,450 |
Book of Obadiah
|
The **Book of Obadiah** is a book of the Bible whose authorship is attributed to Obadiah. Obadiah is one of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the final section of Nevi\'im, the second main division of the Hebrew Bible. The text consists of a single chapter, divided into 21 verses with 440 Hebrew words, making it the shortest book in the Tanakh (The Hebrew Bible), though there are three shorter New Testament epistles in Greek (Philemon with 335 words, 2 John with 245 words, and 3 John with 219 words). The Book of Obadiah is a prophecy concerning the divine judgment of Edom and the restoration of Israel.
The majority of scholars date the Book of Obadiah to shortly after the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC. Other scholars hold that the book was shaped by the conflicts between Yehud and the Edomites in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE and evolved through a process of redaction.
## Content
The Book of Obadiah is based on a prophetic vision concerning the fall of Edom, a mountain-dwelling nation whose founding father was Esau. Obadiah describes an encounter with Yahweh, who addresses Edom\'s arrogance and charges them for their \"violence against your brother Jacob\".
Throughout most of the history of Judah, Edom was controlled absolutely from Jerusalem as a vassal state. Obadiah said that the high elevation of their dwelling place in the mountains of Seir had gone to their head, and they had puffed themselves up in pride. \"\'Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,\' declares the `{{Lord}}`{=mediawiki}\".
In the Siege of Jerusalem (597 BC), Nebuchadnezzar II sacked Jerusalem, carted away the King of Judah, and installed a puppet ruler. The Edomites helped the Babylonians loot the city. Obadiah, writing this prophecy around 590 BCE, suggests the Edomites should have remembered that blood was thicker than water. \"On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them\... You should not march through the gates of my people in the day of their disaster, nor gloat over them in their calamity in the day of their disaster, nor seize their wealth in the day of their disaster.\"
Obadiah said in judgment that Yahweh would wipe out the house of Esau forever, and not even a remnant would remain. The Edomites\' land would be possessed by the lands of the south and they would cease to exist as a people. The Day of the Lord was at hand for all nations, and one day, the children of Israel would return victorious from their exile and possess the land of Edom, the fields of Ephraim, the land of Gilead, the lowland of Philistia, and the fields of Samaria.
## Scholarly issues {#scholarly_issues}
### Dating Obadiah {#dating_obadiah}
The date of composition is disputed and is difficult to determine due to the lack of personal information about Obadiah, his family, and his historical milieu: the date must therefore be determined based on the prophecy itself. Edom is to be destroyed due to its lack of defense for its brother nation, Israel, when it was under attack. There are two major historical contexts within which the Edomites could have committed such an act. These are during 853--841 BCE when Jerusalem was invaded by Philistines and Arabs during the reign of Jehoram of Judah (recorded in 2 Kings `{{bibleverse-nb|2 Kings|8:20–22|KJV}}`{=mediawiki} and 2 Chronicles `{{bibleverse-nb|2 Chronicles|21:8–20|KJV}}`{=mediawiki} in the Christian Old Testament) and 607--586 BCE when Jerusalem was attacked by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, which led to the Babylonian exile of Israel (recorded in Psalm 137). The earlier period would place Obadiah as a contemporary of the prophet Elijah.
The later date would place Obadiah as a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah. A sixth-century date for Obadiah is a \"near consensus\" position among scholars. `{{bibleverse|Obadiah|1-9|KJV}}`{=mediawiki} contains parallels to the Book of Jeremiah `{{bibleverse-nb|Jeremiah|49:7-22|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}. The passage in the Book of Jeremiah dates from the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim (604 BCE), and therefore `{{bibleverse|Obadiah|11-14|KJV}}`{=mediawiki} seems to refer to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II (586 BCE). It is more likely that Obadiah and the Book of Jeremiah together were drawing on a common source presently unknown to us rather than Jeremiah drawing on previous writings of Obadiah as his source. There is also much material found in `{{bibleverse|Obadiah|10-21|KJV}}`{=mediawiki} which Jeremiah does not quote, and which, had he had it laid out before him, would have suited his purpose admirably.
### Sepharad
The term \"Sepharad\" mentioned in the 20th verse of Obadiah comes from the Hebrew word for Spain`{{dubious|date=June 2025}}`{=mediawiki}.
## Scriptural parallels {#scriptural_parallels}
The exact expression \"the Day of the Lord\", from `{{bibleverse|Obadiah|1:15|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, has been used by other authors throughout the Old and New Testaments, as follows:
### Old Testament {#old_testament}
- Isaiah 2, 13, 34, 58, Jeremiah `{{bibleverse-nb|Jeremiah|46:10|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, Lamentations `{{bibleverse-nb|Lamentations|2:22|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, Ezekiel `{{bibleverse-nb|Ezekiel|13:5|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, Joel 1, 2, 3, Amos `{{bibleverse-nb|Amos|5:18|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{bibleverse-nb|Amos|5:20|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, Zephaniah 1, 2, Zechariah `{{bibleverse-nb|Zechariah|14:1|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, Malachi 4:5
### New Testament {#new_testament}
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2, `{{bibleverse|2 Peter|3:10|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, Acts 2:20, `{{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|5:5|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{bibleverse|2 Corinthians|1:14|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}
For other parallels, compare `{{bibleverse|Obadiah|1:1–8|KJV}}`{=mediawiki} with `{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|49:7–16|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}.
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Book of Jonah
|
thumb\|upright=1.25\|Illustrated *Jonah* from the 15th-century Kennicott Bible `{{Tanakh OT|Nevi'im|prophetic}}`{=mediawiki}
The **Book of Jonah** is one of the twelve minor prophets of the Nevi\'im (\"Prophets\") in the Hebrew Bible, and an individual book in the Christian Old Testament where it has four chapters. The book tells of a Hebrew prophet named Jonah, son of Amittai, who is sent by God to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh, but attempts to escape his divine mission.
The story has a long interpretive history and has become well known through popular children\'s stories. In Judaism, it is the Haftarah portion read during the afternoon of Yom Kippur to instill reflection on God\'s willingness to forgive those who repent, and it remains a popular story among Christians. The story is also retold in the Quran.
Mainstream Bible scholars generally regard the story of the Book of Jonah as fictional, and often at least partially satirical. Most scholars consider the Book of Jonah to have been composed long after the events it describes due to its use of words and motifs exclusive to postexilic Aramaic sources.
## Date
The prophet Jonah (*יוֹנָה*, *Yonā*) is mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25, which places Jonah\'s life during the reign of Jeroboam II, King of Israel, (786--746 BC), but the book of Jonah itself does not name a king or give any other details that would give the story a firm date. Most scholars consider the Book of Jonah to have been composed long after the events it describes due to its use of words and motifs exclusive to postexilic Aramaic sources. A later date is sometimes proposed, with Katherine Dell arguing for the Hellenistic period (332--167 BC).
Evangelical Assyriologist Donald Wiseman takes issue with the idea that the story is late (or a parable). Among other arguments he mentions that the \"Legends of Agade\" (see Sargon of Akkad and Rabisu) date to the time of the Old Babylonian Empire, though later versions \"usually taken as a late composition, propagandistic fairy tale or historical romance can now, on the basis of new discoveries of earlier sources, be shown to be based on a serious and reliable historical record\".
## Narrative
Unlike the other Minor Prophets, the book of Jonah is almost entirely narrative with the exception of the psalm in the second chapter. The actual prophetic word against Nineveh is given only in passing through the narrative. The story of Jonah has a setting, characters, a plot, and themes; it also relies heavily on such literary devices as irony.
## Chapter and verse divisions {#chapter_and_verse_divisions}
The original text was written in Hebrew language. Chapters 1 and 2 are divided differently in the Hebrew and English versions: verse 2:1 in the Hebrew version is equivalent to Jonah 1:17 in the English version.
## Outline
An outline of the book of Jonah:
1. Jonah flees his mission (chapters 1--2)
1. Jonah\'s disobedience, and its consequences (1:1--17)
2. Jonah\'s deliverance and thanksgiving (2:2--9)
2. Jonah fulfills his mission (chapters 3--4)
1. Jonah\'s obedience and Nineveh\'s repentance (3:1--10)
2. Jonah\'s displeasure at the Lord\'s salvation.
### Summary
Jonah is the central character in the Book of Jonah, in which God (\"the `{{LORD}}`{=mediawiki}\") commands him to go to the city of Nineveh to prophesy against it for their great wickedness against God. However, Jonah instead attempts to run from God by going to Jaffa and sailing to Tarshish. A huge storm arises and the sailors, realizing that it is no ordinary storm, cast lots and discover that Jonah is to blame. Jonah admits this and states that if he is thrown overboard, the storm will cease. The sailors refuse to do this and continue rowing, but all their efforts fail and they are eventually forced to throw Jonah overboard. As a result, the storm calms and the sailors then offer sacrifices to God. Jonah is miraculously saved by being swallowed by a \"great fish\", in whose belly he spends three days and three nights.
While inside the great fish, Jonah prays to God in thanksgiving and commits to paying what he has vowed. Jonah\'s prayer has been compared with some of the Psalms, and with the Song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:1-10.
God then commands the fish to vomit Jonah out.
In **chapter 3**, God once again commands Jonah to travel to Nineveh and to prophesy to its inhabitants. This time he obeys God\'s command, and goes into the city, crying, \"In forty days Nineveh shall be overthrown.\" After Jonah has walked across Nineveh, the people of Nineveh begin to believe his word and proclaim a fast. The king of Nineveh then puts on sackcloth and sits in ashes, making a proclamation which decrees fasting, the wearing of sackcloth, prayer, and repentance. God sees their repentant hearts and spares the city at that time. The entire city is humbled and broken, with the people (and even the animals) in sackcloth and ashes.
In **chapter 4**, displeased by the Ninevites\' repentance, Jonah refers to his earlier flight to Tarshish while asserting that, since God is merciful, it was inevitable that God would turn from the threatened calamities. He then leaves the city on its eastern side, and makes himself a shelter, waiting to see whether or not the city will be destroyed. God causes a plant, in Hebrew a `{{transliteration|he|[[kikayon]]}}`{=mediawiki}, also called a gourd in the King James Version, to grow over Jonah\'s shelter to give him some shade from the sun. Later, God causes a worm to bite the plant\'s root and it withers. Jonah, now being exposed to the full force of the sun, becomes faint and pleads for God to kill him. In response, God offers Jonah one final rebuke:
The book ends abruptly at this point.
## Interpretive history {#interpretive_history}
### Early Jewish interpretation {#early_jewish_interpretation}
Fragments of the book were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, most of which follow the Masoretic Text closely and with Mur XII reproducing a large portion of the text. As for the non-canonical writings, the majority of references to biblical texts were made as appeals to authority. The Book of Jonah appears to have served less purpose in the Qumran community than other texts, as the writings make no references to it.
### Late Jewish interpretation {#late_jewish_interpretation}
The 18th century Lithuanian master scholar and kabbalist, Elijah of Vilna, known as the Vilna Gaon, authored a commentary on the biblical Book of Jonah as an allegory of reincarnation.
### Early Christian interpretation {#early_christian_interpretation}
#### New Testament {#new_testament}
thumb\|upright=1.25\|Christ rises from the tomb, alongside Jonah spit onto the beach, a typological allegory. From a 15th-century Biblia pauperum. The earliest Christian interpretations of Jonah are found in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. Both Matthew and Luke record a tradition of Jesus\' interpretation of the Book of Jonah (notably, Matthew includes two very similar traditions in chapters 12 and 16).
As with most Old Testament interpretations found in the New Testament, the interpretation ascribed to Jesus is primarily typological. Jonah becomes a \"type\" for Jesus. Jonah spent three days in the belly of the fish; Jesus will spend three days in the tomb. Here, Jesus plays on the imagery of Sheol found in Jonah\'s prayer. While Jonah metaphorically declared, \"Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,\" Jesus will literally be in the belly of Sheol. Finally, Jesus compares his generation to the people of Nineveh. Jesus fulfills his role as a type of Jonah, however his generation fails to fulfill its role as a type of Nineveh. Nineveh repented, but Jesus\' generation, which has seen and heard one even greater than Jonah, fails to repent. Through his typological interpretation of the Book of Jonah, Jesus has weighed his generation and found it wanting.
#### Augustine of Hippo {#augustine_of_hippo}
The debate over the credibility of the miracle of Jonah is not simply a modern one. The credibility of a human being surviving in the belly of a great fish has long been questioned. In c. 409 AD, Augustine of Hippo wrote to Deogratias concerning the challenge of some to the miracle recorded in the Book of Jonah. He writes:
Augustine responds that if one is to question one miracle, then one should question all miracles as well (section 31). Nevertheless, despite his apologetic, Augustine views the story of Jonah as a figure for Christ. For example, he writes: \"As, therefore, Jonah passed from the ship to the belly of the whale, so Christ passed from the cross to the sepulchre, or into the abyss of death. And as Jonah suffered this for the sake of those who were endangered by the storm, so Christ suffered for the sake of those who are tossed on the waves of this world.\" Augustine credits his allegorical interpretation to the interpretation of Christ himself (Matthew 12:39--40), and he allows for other interpretations as long as they are in line with Christ\'s.
### Medieval commentary tradition {#medieval_commentary_tradition}
The *Ordinary Gloss*, or *\[\[Glossa Ordinaria\]\]*, was the most important Christian commentary on the Bible in the later Middle Ages. Ryan McDermott comments that \"The Gloss on Jonah relies almost exclusively on Jerome\'s commentary on Jonah (c. 396), so its Latin often has a tone of urbane classicism. But the Gloss also chops up, compresses, and rearranges Jerome with a carnivalesque glee and scholastic directness that renders the Latin authentically medieval.\" \"The Ordinary Gloss on Jonah\" has been translated into English and printed in a format that emulates the first printing of the Gloss.
The relationship between Jonah and his fellow Jews is ambivalent, and complicated by the Gloss\'s tendency to read Jonah as an allegorical prefiguration of Jesus Christ. While some glosses in isolation seem crudely supersessionist (\"The foreskin believes while the circumcision remains unfaithful\"), the prevailing allegorical tendency is to attribute Jonah\'s recalcitrance to his abiding love for his own people and his insistence that God\'s promises to Israel not be overridden by a lenient policy toward the Ninevites. For the glossator, Jonah\'s pro-Israel motivations correspond to Christ\'s demurral in the Garden of Gethsemane (\"My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me\") and the Gospel of Matthew\'s and Paul\'s insistence that \"salvation is from the Jews\" (John 4:22). While in the Gloss the plot of Jonah prefigures how God will extend salvation to the nations, it also makes abundantly clear---as some medieval commentaries on the Gospel of John do not---that Jonah and Jesus are Jews, and that they make decisions of salvation-historical consequence as Jews.`{{opinion|date=February 2022}}`{=mediawiki}
### Modern
In Jungian analysis, the belly of the whale can be seen as a symbolic death and rebirth, which is also an important stage in comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell\'s \"hero\'s journey\".
NCSY Director of Education David Bashevkin sees Jonah as a thoughtful prophet who comes to religion out of a search for theological truth and is constantly disappointed by those who come to religion to provide mere comfort in the face of adversity inherent to the human condition. \"If religion is only a blanket to provide warmth from the cold, harsh realities of life,\" Bashevkin imagines Jonah asking, \"did concerns of theological truth and creed even matter?\" The lesson taught by the episode of the tree at the end of the book is that comfort is a deep human need that religion provides, but that this need not obscure the role of God.
## Jonah and the \"big fish\" {#jonah_and_the_big_fish}
thumb\|upright=1.5\|*Jonah and the Whale* (1621) by Pieter Lastman
The Hebrew text of Jonah reads `{{transliteration|he|dag gadol}}`{=mediawiki} (*דג גדול*, `{{transliteration|he|dāḡ gāḏōl}}`{=mediawiki}), literally meaning \"great fish\". The Septuagint translated this into Greek as `{{transliteration|grc|kētos megas}}`{=mediawiki} (*κῆτος μέγας*), \"huge whale/sea monster\"; and in Greek mythology the term was closely associated with sea monsters. Saint Jerome later translated the Greek phrase as *piscis grandis* in his Latin Vulgate, and as *cētus* in Matthew. At some point, *cētus* became synonymous with whale (cf. cetyl alcohol, which is alcohol derived from whales). In his 1534 translation, William Tyndale translated the phrase in Jonah 2:1 as \"greate fyshe\", and he translated the word `{{transliteration|grc|kētos}}`{=mediawiki} (Greek) or *cētus* (Latin) in Matthew as \"whale\". Tyndale\'s translation was later followed by the translators of the King James Version of 1611 and has enjoyed general acceptance in English translations.
In the book of Jonah chapter 1 verse 17, the Hebrew bible refers to the fish as `{{transliteration|he|dag gadol}}`{=mediawiki}, \"great fish\", in the masculine. However, in chapter 2 verse 1, the word which refers to fish is written as `{{transliteration|he|dagah}}`{=mediawiki}, meaning female fish. The verses therefore read: \"And the lord provided a great fish (`{{transliteration|he|dag gadol}}`{=mediawiki}, *דָּג גּדוֹל*, masculine) for Jonah, and it swallowed him, and Jonah sat in the belly of the fish (still male) for three days and nights; then, from the belly of the (`{{transliteration|he|dagah}}`{=mediawiki}, *דָּגָה*, female) fish, Jonah began to pray.\"
## Jonah and the gourd vine {#jonah_and_the_gourd_vine}
The Book of Jonah closes abruptly, with an epistolary warning based on the emblematic trope of a fast-growing vine present in Persian narratives, and popularized in fables such as *The Gourd and the Palm-tree* during the Renaissance, for example by Andrea Alciato.
St. Jerome differed from St. Augustine in his Latin translation of the plant known in Hebrew as *קיקיון* (`{{transliteration|he|qīqayōn}}`{=mediawiki}), using *hedera* (from the Greek, meaning \"ivy\") over the more common Latin *cucurbita*, \"gourd\", from which the English word *gourd* (Old French *coorde*, *couhourde*) is derived. The Renaissance humanist artist Albrecht Dürer memorialized Jerome\'s decision to use an analogical type of Christ\'s \"I am the Vine, you are the branches\" in his woodcut *Saint Jerome in His Study*.
## Surviving ancient manuscripts {#surviving_ancient_manuscripts}
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this book in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).
Fragments of this book in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (cumulatively covering the whole book), including 4Q82 (4QXII^g^; 25 BCE) with extant verses 1:1‑9, 2:3‑11, 3:1, 3:3, and 4:5‑11; and Wadi Murabba\'at Minor Prophets (Mur88; MurXIIProph; 75--100 CE) with extant verses 1:14‑16, 2:1‑7; 3:2‑5, 3:7‑10; 4:1‑2, and 4:5.
The oldest known complete version of the book is the Crosby-Schøyen Codex, part of the Bodmer Papyri, which dates to the 3rd century, and is written in Coptic.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (**B**; $\mathfrak{G}$^B^; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (**S**; BHK: $\mathfrak{G}$^S^; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (**A**; $\mathfrak{G}$^A^; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (**Q**; $\mathfrak{G}$^Q^; 6th century).
Fragments containing parts of this book in Greek were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q76 (4QXII^a^; 150--125 BCE) with extant verses 1:1--5, 1:7--10, 1:15--17 (1:17 = 2:1 in Hebrew Bible), 2:6 (verses 2:1,7 in Masoretic Text), and 3:2; 4Q81 (4QXII^f^; 175--50 BCE) with extant verses 1:6--8, 1:10--16; 4Q82 (4QXII^g^; 25 BCE) with extant verses 1:1--9, 2:2--10 (verses 2:3--11 in Masoretic Text), 3:1--3, and 4:5--11; and Wadi Murabba\'at Minor Prophets (Mur88; MurXIIProph; 75--100 CE) with extant verses 1:1--17 (1:1--16, 2:1 in Hebrew Bible), 2:1--10 (verses 2:1--11 in Masoretic Text), 3:1--10, and 4:1--11., and Naḥal Ḥever (8ḤevXII^gr^; 1st century CE) with extant verses 2:1--6 (verses 2:1--7 in Masoretic Text), 3:2--5, 3:7--10, 4:1--2, and 4:5.
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Book of Micah
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The **Book of Micah** is the sixth of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. The book has seven chapters. Ostensibly, it records the sayings of Micah, whose name is *Mikayahu* (*מִיכָיָ֫הוּ*), meaning \"Who is like Yahweh?\", an 8th-century BCE prophet from the village of Moresheth in Judah (Hebrew name from the opening verse: מיכה המרשתי).
The book has three major divisions, chapters 1--2, 3--5 and 6--7, each introduced by the word \"Hear\", with a pattern of alternating announcements of doom and expressions of hope within each division. Micah reproaches unjust leaders, defends the rights of the poor against the rich and powerful; while looking forward to a world at peace centered on Zion under the leadership of a new Davidic monarch.
While the book is relatively short, it includes lament (1:8--16; 7:8--10), theophany (1.3--4), a hymnic prayer of petition and confidence (7:14--20), and the \"covenant lawsuit\" (6:1--8), a distinct genre in which Yahweh (God) sues Israel for breach of contract of the Mosaic covenant.
The formation of the Book of Micah is debated, with a consensus that its final stage occurred during the Persian period or Hellenistic period, but uncertainty remains about whether it was formed at the time or merely finalized.
## Setting
`{{See also|Nevi'im|Prophets in Judaism}}`{=mediawiki} The opening verse identifies the prophet as \"Micah of Moresheth\" (a town in southern Judah), and states that he lived during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, roughly 750--700 BCE.
This corresponds to the period when, after a long period of peace, Israel, Judah, and the other nations of the region came under increasing pressure from the aggressive and rapidly expanding Neo-Assyrian empire. Between 734 and 727 Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria conducted almost annual campaigns in the Levant, reducing the Kingdom of Israel, the Kingdom of Judah and the Philistine cities to vassalage, receiving tribute from Ammon, Moab and Edom, and absorbing Damascus (the Kingdom of Aram) into the Empire. On Tiglath-Pileser\'s death Israel rebelled, resulting in an Assyrian counter-attack and the destruction of the capital,`{{Broken anchor|date=2024-07-31|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)#Destruction of the kingdom|reason= The anchor (Destruction of the kingdom) [[Special:Diff/1061590831|has been deleted]].}}`{=mediawiki} Samaria, in 721 after a three-year siege. Micah 1:2--7 draws on this event: Samaria, says the prophet, has been destroyed by God because of its crimes of idolatry, oppression of the poor, and misuse of power. The Assyrian attacks on Israel (the northern kingdom) led to an influx of refugees into Judah, which would have increased social stresses, while at the same time the authorities in Jerusalem had to invest huge amounts in tribute and defense.
When the Assyrians attacked Judah in 701 they did so via the Philistine coast and the Shephelah, the border region which included Micah\'s village of Moresheth, as well as Lachish, Judah\'s second largest city. This in turn forms the background to verses 1:8--16, in which Micah warns the towns of the coming disaster (Lachish is singled out for special mention, accused of the corrupt practices of both Samaria and Jerusalem). In verses 2:1--5 he denounces the appropriation of land and houses, which might simply be the greed of the wealthy and powerful, or possibly the result of the militarizing of the area in preparation for the Assyrian attack.
## Composition
The formation of the Book of Micah is a topic of scholarly debate. The 2021 Oxford Handbook of the Minor Prophets summarizes:
"There is a consensus that the book has a long history of formation with the Persian (or even Hellenistic) period as its last stage. However, it is contested whether it was formed in these days or only finalized after a longer history of tradition."
Some, but not all, scholars accept that only chapters 1--3 contain material from the late 8th-century BCE prophet Micah. According to scholars, the latest material comes from the post-Exilic period after the Temple was rebuilt in 515 BCE, so that the early 5th century BCE seems to be the period when the book was completed. The first stage was the collection and arrangement of some spoken sayings of the historical Micah (the material in chapters 1--3), in which the prophet attacks those who build estates through oppression and depicts the Assyrian invasion of Judah as Yahweh\'s punishment on the kingdom\'s corrupt rulers, including a prophecy that the Temple will be destroyed.
The prophecy was not fulfilled in Micah\'s time, but a hundred years later when Judah was facing a similar crisis with the Neo-Babylonian Empire, Micah\'s prophecies were reworked and expanded to reflect the new situation. Still later, after Jerusalem fell to the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the book was revised and expanded further to reflect the circumstances of the late exilic and post-exilic community.
## Surviving early manuscripts {#surviving_early_manuscripts}
The oldest surviving manuscripts were made hundreds of years after the period or periods of authorship. The earliest surviving Masoretic Text versions include the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). Since 1947, the current text of the Aleppo Codex is missing Micah 1:1 to 5:1.
Fragments containing parts of this book in the original Biblical Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q82 (25 BCE); and Wadi Murabba\'at Minor Prophets (75--100 CE).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (6th century). The Book of Micah is missing in the extant Codex Sinaiticus. Some fragments containing parts of this book in Greek were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, that is, Naḥal Ḥever 8Ḥev1 (late 1st century BCE).
## Content
### Structure
At the broadest level, Micah can be divided into three roughly equal parts:
- Judgment against the nations and their leaders
- Restoration of Zion (chapters 4--5, which belong together despite their possibly unclear connection, probably exilic and post-exilic);
- God\'s lawsuit against Israel and expression of hope (chapters 6--7, also probably exilic and post-exilic).
James Limburg sees the word \"Hear\" in Micah 1:2, 3:1 and 6:1 as the marker for three separate sections, noting that Amos 3:1, 4:1, 5:1 and 8:4 mark similar divisions within the Book of Amos, another of the minor prophets.
Within this broad three-part structure are a series of alternating oracles of judgment and promises of restoration:
- 1.1 Superscription
- 1.2--2.11 Oracles of judgment
- 2.12--13 Oracles of restoration
- 3.1--12 Oracles of judgment
- 4.1--5.15 Oracles of restoration
- 6.1--7.6 Oracles of judgment
- 7.7--20 Oracles of restoration
### Verse numbering {#verse_numbering}
There is a difference in verse numbering between English Bibles and Hebrew texts, with Micah 4:14 in Hebrew texts being Micah 5:1 in English Bibles, and the Hebrew 5:1 etc. being numbered 5:2 etc. in English Bibles. This article generally follows the common numbering in Christian English Bible versions.
### Subsections
- **The Heading**: As is typical of prophetic books, an anonymous editor or scribe has supplied the name of the prophet, an indication of his time of activity, and an identification of his speech as the \"word of Yahweh\", a generic term carrying a claim to prophetic legitimacy and authority. Samaria and Jerusalem are given prominence as the foci of the prophet\'s attention. Unlike prophets such as Isaiah and Hosea, no record of his father\'s name has been retained.
- **Judgment against Samaria (1:2--7)**: Drawing upon ancient traditions for depicting a theophany, the prophet depicts the coming of Yahweh to punish the city, whose sins are idolatry and the abuse of the poor.
- **Warnings to the cities of Judah (1:8--16)**: Samaria has fallen, Judah is next. Micah describes the destruction of the lesser towns of Judah (referring to the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib, 701 BCE). For these passages of doom on the various cities, paronomasia is used. Paronomasia is a literary device which \'plays\' on the sound of each word for literary effect. For example, the inhabitants of Beth-le-aphrah (\"house of dust\") are told to \"roll yourselves in the dust\" (1:14). Though most of the paronomasia is lost in translation, it is the equivalent of \'Ashdod shall be but ashes,\' where the fate of the city matches its name.
- **Misuse of power denounced (2:1--5)**: Denounces those who appropriate the land and houses of others. The context may be simply the amassing wealth for its own sake, or could be connected with the militarisation of the region for the expected Assyrian attack.
- **Threats against the prophet (2:6--11)**: The prophet is warned not to prophesy. He answers that the rulers are harming God\'s people, and want to listen only to those who advocate the virtues of wine.
- **A later promise (2:12--13)**: These verses assume that judgment has already fallen and Israel is already scattered abroad.
- **Judgment on wicked Zion (3:1--4)**: Israel\'s rulers are accused of gaining more wealth at the expense of the poor, by any means. The metaphor of flesh being torn from the people illustrates the length to which the ruling classes and socialites would go to further increase their wealth. Prophets are corrupt, seeking personal gain. Jerusalem\'s rulers believe that God will always be with them, but God will be with his people, and Jerusalem will be destroyed.
- **Prophets for Profit (3:5-8)**: those condemned by Micah are explicitly called \"prophets\", while he appears to distance himself from personally being called a prophet.
- **A concluding judgment (3:9-12)** drawing together chapters 2--3.
- **Zion\'s future hope (4:1--5)**: This is a later passage, almost identical to Isaiah 2:2--4. In the \"latter days\", \"last days\", or \"the days to come\", Zion (meaning the Temple) will be rebuilt, but by God, and based not on violence and corruption but on the desire to learn God\'s laws, beat swords to ploughshares and live in peace.
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- **Further promises to Zion (4:6--7)**: This is another later passage, promising Zion that she will once more enjoy her former independence and power.
- **Deliverance from distress in Babylon (4:9--5:1, 4:9-14 in Hebrew Bible numbering)** The similarity with Isaiah 41:15--16 and the references to Babylon suggest a later period for this material, although it is unclear whether a period during or after the siege of 586 is meant. Despite their trials, God will not desert his people.
- **The promised ruler from Bethlehem (5:1\[2\]--14)**: This passage is usually dated to the exile. Although Micah 4:9 has asked \"is there no king\" in Zion, this chapter predicts that the coming Messiah will emerge from Bethlehem, the traditional home of the Davidic monarchy, to restore Israel. Assyria will invade (some translations prefer \"*if* the Assyrians invade\"), but she will be stricken, and Israel\'s punishment will lead to the punishment of the nations. Williamson treats Micah 4:8-5:6 as one unit, with \"a clear and balanced structure\".
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- **A Covenant lawsuit (6:1--5)**: Yahweh accuses Israel (the people of Judah) of breaking the covenant through their lack of justice and honesty, after the pattern of the kings of Israel (northern kingdom).
- **Torah Liturgy (6:6--8)**: Micah speaks on behalf of the community asking what they should do in order to get back on God\'s good side. Micah then responds by saying that God requires only \"to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God\", thus declaring that the burnt offering of both animals and humans (which may have been practiced in Judah under Kings Ahaz and Manasseh) is not necessary for God.
- **The City as a Cheat (6:9--16)**: The city is reprimanded for its dishonest trade practices.
- **Lament (7:1--7)**: The first passage in the book in the first person: whether it comes from Micah himself is disputed.`{{by whom|date=September 2024}}`{=mediawiki} Honesty and decency have vanished, families are filled with strife. The Jerusalem Bible suggests that verse 7, *For my part, I look to Yahweh \...* may have been the conclusion of the original book, before additional poems on Israel\'s restoration were added.
- **A song of fallen Jerusalem (7:8--10)**: The first person voice continues, but now it is the city who speaks. She recognises that her destruction is deserved punishment from God. The recognition gives grounds for hope that God is still with her.
- **A prophecy of restoration (7:11--13)**: Fallen Jerusalem is promised that she will be rebuilt and that her power will be greater than ever (a contrast with the vision of peace in 4:1--5).
- **A prayer for future prosperity (7:14--17)**: The mood switches from a request for power to grateful astonishment at God\'s mercy. Hermann Gunkel and Bo Reicke identify the last chapter as a ritual text possibly connected to a festival such as the Israelite New Year.
- **A hymn of praise for the incomparable God (7:18-20)**: the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine in the United States notes that these final verses \"contain a hymn of praise for the incomparable God, who pardons sin and delights in mercy\".
## Themes
Micah addresses the future of Judah/Israel after the Babylonian exile. Like Isaiah, the book has a vision of the punishment of Israel and creation of a \"remnant\", followed by world peace centered on Zion under the leadership of a new Davidic monarch; the people should do justice, turn to Yahweh, and await the end of their punishment. However, whereas Isaiah sees Jacob/Israel joining \"the nations\" under Yahweh\'s rule, Micah looks forward to Israel ruling over the nations. Insofar as Micah appears to draw on and rework parts of Isaiah, it seems designed at least partly to provide a counterpoint to that book.
## Allusions in the New Testament {#allusions_in_the_new_testament}
There are several allusions to the Book of Micah in the New Testament:
- Matthew\'s Gospel quotes from the Book of Micah in relation to Jesus being born in Bethlehem:
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- Jesus\' words in Matthew 10:36 reflect Micah\'s warning that families will be divided:
: Although the wording is different, Jerome comments that \"we should always take note when a passage is cited out of the Old Testament, whether the sense only, or the very words are given\".
- John\'s Gospel has a possible allusion to the identification of the mysterious \"him\" that God causes to see marvels or marvelous things:
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Book of Nahum
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The **Book of Nahum** is the seventh book of the 12 minor prophets of the Hebrew Bible. The book has three chapters. It is attributed to the prophet Nahum. The most general historical setting of Nahum as a prophet was 663 BC to 612 BC, while the historical setting that produced the book of Nahum is debated, with proposed timeframes ranging from shortly after the fall of Thebes in 663 BC to the Maccabean period around 175-165 BC. Another view, held by the ancient historian Josephus, proposes that the book of Nahum was from the reign of Jotham. This identification is supported by both the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, both of which refer to Thebes in the present tense rather than the past tense. Its principal theme is the destruction of the Assyrian city of Nineveh.
## Background
Scholars with a preference for Hebrew manuscripts place the writing of the book after the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal\'s Sack of Thebes in 663 B.C. This view is the current majority opinion because the city of Thebes is referred to in the past tense in the Masoretic Text of Nahum 3:8-10. However, both the Septuagint and Vulgate refer to the city in the present tense, and the former opinion held by scholars was that Nahum lived about a century earlier, before both the captivity of the ten lost tribes and the Sack of Thebes.
The first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus places Nahum\'s life during the reign of Jotham. This view was also held by the Catholic scholar Thomas Worthington in his notes for the original Douay-Rheims Bible, writing: \"Nahum prophesied about 50 years after Jonah \... 135 before the destruction of Niniveh.\" In this view, rather than Ashurbanipal, Nahum\'s prophecy would have been directed at Tiglath-Pileser III, who revitalized the Neo-Assyrian Empire into a world power again and conquered most of the Levant, defeating and subjugating previously influential kingdoms, including Aram-Damascus. Tiglath-Pileser was contemporary with the reign of Jotham.
Some scholars hold that \"the book of the vision\" was written at the time of the fall of Nineveh, at the hands of the Medes and Babylonians in 612 BC. possibly around 615 BC, before the downfall of Assyria. The oracles must be dated after the Assyrian destruction of Thebes, Egypt in 663 BC, as this event is mentioned in Nahum 3:8.
### Author
Little is known about Nahum\'s personal history. His name means \"comfort\", and he came from the town of *Elkosh* or *Alqosh* (Nahum 1:1), which scholars have attempted to identify with several cities, including the modern \`Alqush of Assyria and Capernaum of northern Galilee. He was a very nationalistic Hebrew, and lived among the Elkoshites in peace.
### Historical context {#historical_context}
The subject of Nahum\'s prophecy is the approaching complete and final destruction of Nineveh, which was the capital of the great and flourishing Assyrian empire at that time. Ashurbanipal was at the height of his glory. Nineveh was a city of vast extent, and was then the center of the civilization and commerce of the world, according to Nahum a \"bloody city all full of lies and robbery\", a reference to the Neo-Assyrian Empire\'s military campaigns and demand of tribute and plunder from conquered cities.
Jonah had already uttered his message of warning, and Nahum was followed by Zephaniah, who also predicted the destruction of the city.
Nineveh was destroyed apparently by fire around 625 BC, and the Assyrian empire came to an end, an event which changed the face of Asia. Archaeological digs have uncovered the splendor of Nineveh in its zenith under Sennacherib (705--681 BC), Esarhaddon (681--669 BC), and Ashurbanipal (669--633 BC). Massive walls were eight miles in circumference. It had a water aqueduct, palaces and a library with 20,000 clay tablets, including accounts of a creation in Enuma Elish and a flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh.
The Babylonian chronicle of the fall of Nineveh tells the story of the end of Nineveh. Nabopolassar of Babylon joined forces with Cyaxares, king of the Medes, and laid siege for three months.
Assyria lasted a few more years after the loss of its fortress, but attempts by Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II to rally the Assyrians failed due to opposition from king Josiah of Judah, and it seemed to be all over by 609 BC.
## Overview
Beyond its superscription, Nahum 1:1, the Book of Nahum consists of two parts: a prelude in chapter one, followed by chapters two and three, which describe the fall of Nineveh, which later took place in 612 BC. Davidson notes that there are two parts to the superscription:
- *The burden of Nineveh*, or \"an oracle against Nineveh\", probably an editorial addition, and
- *The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite*, which \"may \... have come from the hand of the prophet himself\".
Nineveh is compared to Thebes, the Egyptian city that Assyria itself had destroyed in 663 BC. Nahum describes the siege and frenzied activity of Nineveh\'s troops as they try in vain to halt the invaders. Poetically, he becomes a participant in the battle, and with subtle irony, barks battle commands to the defenders. Nahum uses numerous similes and metaphor that Nineveh will become weak \"like the lion hiding in its den\". It concludes with a taunt song and funeral dirge of the impending destruction of Nineveh and the \"sleep\" or death of the Assyrian people and demise of the once great Assyrian conqueror-rulers.
## Surviving early manuscripts {#surviving_early_manuscripts}
The original text was written in Biblical Hebrew.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are the Masoretic Text, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).
Fragments of this book were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including **4QpNah**, known as the \"Nahum Commentary\" (1st century BC); 4Q82 (4QXII^g^; 1st century BC). and Wadi Murabba\'at MurXII (1st century AD).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC, with extant manuscripts including Codex Vaticanus (**B**; $\mathfrak{G}$^B^; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (**S**; BHK: $\mathfrak{G}$^S^; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (**A**; $\mathfrak{G}$^A^; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (**Q**; $\mathfrak{G}$^Q^; 6th century). Some fragments containing parts of this chapter (a revision of the Septuagint) were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, i.e., Naḥal Ḥever (8ḤevXII^gr^; 1st century AD).
## Themes
### The fall of Nineveh {#the_fall_of_nineveh}
Nahum\'s prophecy carries a particular warning to the Ninevites of coming events, although he is partly in favor of the destruction. One might even say that the book of Nahum is \"a celebration of the fall of Assyria\". And this is not just a warning or speaking positively of the destruction of Nineveh, it is also a positive encouragement and \"message of comfort for Israel, Judah, and others who had experienced the \"endless cruelty\" of the Assyrians.\"
The prophet Jonah shows us where God shows concern for the people of Nineveh, while Nahum\'s writing testifies to his belief in the righteousness/justice of God and how God dealt with those Assyrians in punishment according to \"their cruelty\". The Assyrians had been used as God\'s \"rod of \[...\] anger, and the staff in their hand \[as\] indignation.\"
### The nature of God {#the_nature_of_god}
From its opening, Nahum affirms God to be slow to anger, but that God will by no means ignore the guilty; God will bring his vengeance and wrath to pass. God is presented as a God who will punish evil, but will protect those who trust in Him. The opening passage states: \"God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked\".
\"The LORD is slow to anger and Quick to love; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished.\"
\"The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.\"
## Importance
God\'s judgement on Nineveh is \"all because of the wanton lust of a harlot, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft.\" Infidelity, according to the prophets, related to spiritual unfaithfulness. For example: \"the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD.\" John of Patmos used a similar analogy in Revelation chapter 17.
The prophecy of Nahum was referenced in the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit. In Tobit 14:4 (NRSV) a dying Tobit says to his son Tobias and Tobias\' sons:
> \[My son\] hurry off to Media, for I believe the word of God that Nahum spoke about Nineveh, that all these things will take place and overtake Assyria and Nineveh. Indeed, everything that was spoken by the prophets of Israel, whom God sent, will occur.
However, some versions, such as the King James Version, refer to the prophet Jonah instead.
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Book of Haggai
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The **Book of Haggai** (`{{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|æ|ɡ|aɪ}}`{=mediawiki}; *Sefer Ḥaggay*) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and is the third-to-last of the Twelve Minor Prophets. It is a short book, consisting of only two chapters. The historical setting dates around 520 BC, before the Temple had been rebuilt. The original text was written in Biblical Hebrew.
## Authorship
The Book of Haggai is named after the prophet Haggai whose prophecies are recorded in the book. The authorship of the book is uncertain. Some presume that Haggai wrote the book himself but he is repeatedly referred to in the third person which makes it unlikely that he wrote the text: it is more probable that the book was written by a disciple of Haggai who sought to preserve the content of Haggai\'s spoken prophecies.
There is no biographical information given about the prophet in the Book of Haggai. Haggai\'s name is derived from the Hebrew verbal root *hgg*, which means \"to make a pilgrimage\". W. Sibley Towner suggests that Haggai\'s name might come \"from his single-minded effort to bring about the reconstruction of that destination of ancient Judean pilgrims, the Temple in Jerusalem\".
## Date
The *Book of Haggai* records events in 520 BC, some 18 years after Cyrus had conquered Babylon and issued a decree in 538 BC, allowing the captive Judahites to return to Judea. Cyrus saw the restoration of the temple as necessary for the restoration of religious practices and a sense of peoplehood, after the long exile. The precise date of the written text is uncertain but most likely dates to within a generation of Haggai himself. A traditional consensus dates the completion of the text to c. 515 BC. Other scholars consider the book to be completed around 417 BC, arguing that it did not refer to Darius the Great (Darius I), but to Darius II (424-405 BC).
## Early surviving manuscripts {#early_surviving_manuscripts}
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this book in Biblical Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments of the Hebrew text of this book were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q77 (4QXII^b^; 150--125 BCE) 4Q80 (4QXII^e^; 75--50 BCE); and Wadi Murabba\'at Minor Prophets (Mur88; MurXIIProph; 75-100 CE).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (**B**; $\mathfrak{G}$^B^; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (**S**; BHK: $\mathfrak{G}$^S^; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (**A**; $\mathfrak{G}$^A^; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (**Q**; $\mathfrak{G}$^Q^; 6th century).
## Synopsis
`{{multiple image
| align = right
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| image1 = CodexGigas 116 MinorProphets.jpg
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| footer = The whole Book of Haggai in [[Latin]] as a part of [[Codex Gigas]], made around 13th century.
}}`{=mediawiki} Haggai\'s message is filled with an urgency for the people to proceed with the rebuilding of the second Jerusalem temple. Haggai attributes a recent drought to the people\'s refusal to rebuild the temple, which he sees as key to Jerusalem's glory. The book ends with the prediction of the downfall of kingdoms, with one Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, as the Lord\'s chosen leader.
The first chapter contains the first address (2--11) and its effects (12--15). The second chapter contains the second prophecy (1--9), delivered a month after the first; the third prophecy (10--19), delivered two months and three days after the second; and the fourth prophecy (20--23), delivered on the same day as the third.
These discourses are referred to in Ezra 5:1 and 6:14. (Compare Haggai 2:7, 8 and 22) Haggai reports that three weeks after his first prophecy the rebuilding of the Temple began on September 7 521 BC. \"They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the King.\" (Haggai 1:14--15) and the Book of Ezra indicates that it was finished on February 25 516 BC \"The Temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.\" (Ezra 6:15)
## Outline
1. Divine Announcement: The Command to Rebuild the Temple (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|1:1–15}}`{=mediawiki} )
1. Introduction: Reluctant Rebuilders (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|1:1–2}}`{=mediawiki} )
2. Consider your ways: fruitless prosperity (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|1:3–12}}`{=mediawiki} )
3. Promise and Progress (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|1:13–15}}`{=mediawiki} )
2. Divine Announcement: The Coming Glory of the Temple (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|2:1–2.9}}`{=mediawiki} )
1. God will fulfill his promise (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|2:1–5}}`{=mediawiki} )
2. Future Splendor of the temple (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|2:6–9}}`{=mediawiki} )
3. Divine Announcement: Blessings for a Defiled People (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|2.10–19}}`{=mediawiki} )
1. Former Misery (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|2.10–17}}`{=mediawiki} )
2. Future Blessing (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|2.18–19}}`{=mediawiki} )
4. Divine Announcement: Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|2.20–23}}`{=mediawiki} )
## Musical usage {#musical_usage}
The King James Version of Haggai 2:6--7 is used in the libretto of the English-language oratorio \"Messiah\" by George Frideric Handel (HWV 56).
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Book of Zechariah
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The **Book of Zechariah** is a Jewish text attributed to Zechariah, a Hebrew prophet of the late 6th century BC. In the Hebrew Bible, the text is included as part of the Twelve Minor Prophets, itself a part of the second division of that work. In the Christian Old Testament, the Book of Zechariah is considered to be a separate book and consists of fourteen chapters.
## Historical context {#historical_context}
One of the three prophets from the post-exilic period, Zechariah\'s prophecies took place during the reign of Darius the Great. Chapters 1--8 of the book are contemporary with the prophecies of Haggai, while chapters 9--14 (often termed Second Zechariah) are thought to have been written much later---in the 5th century, during the late Persian or early Ptolemaic period. Scholars believe that Ezekiel, with his blending of ceremony and vision, heavily influenced the visionary works of Zechariah 1--8.
During the exile, a significant portion of the population of the Kingdom of Judah was taken to Babylon, where the prophets told them to make their homes, suggesting they would spend a long time there. Cyrus the Great conquered the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539 BC. The following year, he released the Edict of Cyrus, which marked the beginning of the first return to Judah under Sheshbazzar.
Darius acceded to the throne in 522 BC. He divided the many regions of the empire into provinces, each of which was overseen by a governor. Zerubbabel was appointed by Darius as governor over Judah (now redesignated the province of Yehud Medinata of the Persian Empire). Under the reign of Darius, Zechariah also emerged, focusing his prophecies on the rebuilding of the Temple. Unlike the Babylonians, the Persian Empire went to great lengths to keep cordial relations between vassal and lord. The rebuilding of the Temple was encouraged by the Persian monarchs in hopes that it would stabilize the local population. This policy was good politics on the part of the Persians, and the Jews viewed it as a blessing from God.
## Prophet
The name \"Zechariah\" means \"God remembered.\" Not much is known about Zechariah\'s life other than what may be inferred from the book. It has been speculated that his grandfather Iddo was the head of a priestly family who returned with Zerubbabel and that Zechariah may have been a priest as well as a prophet. This is supported by Zechariah\'s interest in the Temple and the priesthood, and from Iddo\'s preaching in the Books of Chronicles.
## Authorship
Most modern scholars believe the Book of Zechariah was written by at least two different people. Zechariah 1--8, sometimes referred to as First Zechariah, was written in the 6th century BC and contains oracles from the historical prophet Zechariah, who lived in the Achaemenid Empire during the kingdom of Darius the Great. Zechariah 9--14, often called Second Zechariah, contains within the text no datable references to specific events or individuals, but most scholars give the text a date in the 5th century BC. Second Zechariah, in the opinion of some scholars, appears to make use of the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, the Deuteronomistic history, and the themes from First Zechariah. This has led some to believe that the writer(s) or editor(s) of Second Zechariah may have been a disciple of the prophet Zechariah. There are some scholars who go even further and divide Second Zechariah into Second Zechariah (9--11) and Third Zechariah (12--14) since each begins with a heading oracle.
## Composition
The return from exile is the theological premise of the prophet\'s visions in chapters 1--6. Chapters 7--8 address the quality of life God wants his renewed people to enjoy, containing many encouraging promises to them. Chapters 9--14 comprise two \"oracles\" of the future.
### Chapters 1 to 6 {#chapters_1_to_6}
The book begins with a preface in verses 1:1-6, which recalls the role of the \"former prophets\" in calling Israel in times past to repentance. Then follows a series of eight visions succeeding one another in one night, which may be regarded as a symbolical history of Israel, intended to furnish consolation to the returned exiles and to stir up hope in their minds. These visions include seeing four horses, four horns and four craftsmen, a man with a measuring line, Joshua the High Priest, a gold lampstand and two olive trees, a flying scroll and a woman in a basket, and four chariots. The symbolic action, the crowning of Joshua, describes how the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of God\'s Messiah.
The German commentators Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch enumerate seven visions, arguing that the visions conventionally numbered as the sixth and the seventh are better treated as a single vision.
### Chapters 7 and 8 {#chapters_7_and_8}
Two years after the initial visions, chapters 7 and 8 are delivered. They are an answer to the question whether the days of mourning for the destruction of the city should be kept any longer. The answer is addressed to the entire people, assuring them of God\'s presence and blessing.
### Chapters 9 to 14 {#chapters_9_to_14}
This section consists of two \"oracles\" or \"burdens\": the opening words of both chapter 9 and chapter 12 (and also the first chapter of Malachi) announce \"The burden of the word of the Lord\".
- The first oracle (Zechariah 9--11) gives an outline of the course of God\'s providential dealings with his people down to the time of the coming of the Messiah, although the opening \"burden\" is addressed to the foreign nations.
- The second oracle (Zechariah 12--14) points out the glories that await Israel in \"the latter day\", the final conflict and triumph of God\'s kingdom. The \"burden\" in Zechariah 12:1 stands against Israel.
Katrina Larkin argues that there is a unity across these six chapters established by a series of short \"linking passages\" at 9:9-10, 10:1-2, 11:1-3, 11:17 and 13:7-9\". She refers to these passages as compact and metrical, addressed directly to their audience, which contain material linking with both the previous and the subsequent text.
## Themes
The purpose of this book is not strictly historical but theological and pastoral. The main emphasis is that God is at work, and all his good deeds, including the construction of the Second Temple, are accomplished \"not by might nor by power, but by \[his\] Spirit\". Ultimately, YHWH plans to live again with his people in Jerusalem. He will save them from their enemies and cleanse them from sin. However, God requires repentance, a turning away from sin towards faith in him.
Zechariah\'s concern for purity is apparent in the temple, priesthood, and all areas of life as the prophecy gradually eliminates the governor\'s influence in favour of the high priest, and the sanctuary becomes ever more clearly the centre of messianic fulfillment. The prominence of prophecy is quite apparent in Zechariah, but it is also true that Zechariah (along with Haggai) allows prophecy to yield to the priesthood; this is particularly apparent in comparing Zechariah to Third Isaiah (chapters 55--66 of the Book of Isaiah), whose author was active sometime after the first return from exile.
Most Christian commentators read the series of predictions in chapters 7 to 14 as Messianic prophecies, either directly or indirectly. These chapters helped the writers of the Gospels understand Jesus\'s suffering, death, and resurrection, which they quoted as they wrote of Jesus\'s final days. Much of the Book of Revelation, which narrates the denouement of history, is also colored by images in Zechariah.
### Apocalyptic literature {#apocalyptic_literature}
Chapters 9--14 of the Book of Zechariah are an early example of apocalyptic literature. Although not as fully developed as the apocalyptic visions described in the Book of Daniel, the \"oracles\", as they are titled in these chapters, contain apocalyptic elements. One theme these oracles contain is descriptions of the Day of the Lord, when \"the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle\". These chapters also contain \"pessimism about the present, but optimism for the future based on the expectation of an ultimate divine victory and the subsequent transformation of the cosmos\".
The final portion in Zechariah states that on the Day of the Lord, \"there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the `{{LORD}}`{=mediawiki}\", proclaiming the need for purity in the Temple, which would come when God judged at the end of time. The Hebrew word *כְנַעֲנִי*, often translated as \"Canaanite\", is alternatively translated as \"trader\" or \"trafficker\", as in other translations.
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Book of Zephaniah
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250px \|thumb\|The Leningrad Codex (AD. 1008) contains the complete text of the Book of Zephaniah in Hebrew. The **Book of Zephaniah** `{{IPAc-en|ˌ|z|ɛ|f|ə|ˈ|n|aɪ|.|ə}}`{=mediawiki} (*צְפַנְיָה*, *Ṣəfanyā*; sometimes Latinized as *Sophonias*) is the ninth of the Twelve Minor Prophets of the Old Testament and Tanakh, preceded in all traditions by the Book of Habakkuk and followed by the Book of Haggai. The book has three chapters. Zephaniah is a male given name which is usually interpreted to mean \"Yahweh has hidden/protected\", or \"Yahweh hides\". The church father Jerome of Stridon interpreted Zephaniah\'s name to mean \"the watchman of the Lord\". The original text of the prophecy was written in Biblical Hebrew.
Scholars propose various dates of composition; some scholars argue that the book was probably composed during the reign of Josiah (late-seventh century BCE), while others hold that an original core of oracles was expanded and edited in exilic or later times.
## Authorship and date {#authorship_and_date}
thumb\|upright=1.1\|A 13th-century Latin Bible, possibly from Toulouse, with part of the Book of Zephaniah (Latin *Sophonias*) The book\'s superscription attributes its authorship to \"Zephaniah son of Cushi son of Gedaliah son of Amariah son of Hezekiah, in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah\". All that is known of Zephaniah comes from within the text.
The name \"Cushi,\" Zephaniah\'s father, means \"Cushite\" or \"Ethiopian\", and the text of Zephaniah mentions the sin and restoration of *Cushim*. While some have concluded from this that Zephaniah was dark-skinned or African, Ehud Ben Zvi maintains that, based on the context, \"Cushi\" must be understood as a personal name rather than an indicator of nationality. Abraham ibn Ezra interpreted the name Hezekiah in the superscription as King Hezekiah of Judah, though that is not a claim advanced in the text of Zephaniah.
As with many of the other prophets, there is no external evidence to directly associate composition of the book with a prophet by the name of Zephaniah. Some scholars, such as Kent Harold Richards and Jason DeRouchie, consider the words in Zephaniah to reflect a time early in the reign of King Josiah (640--609 BC) before his reforms of 622 BC took full effect, in which case the prophet may have been born during the reign of Manasseh (698/687--642 BC). Others argue that some portion of the book is postmonarchic, that is, dating to later than 586 BC when the Kingdom of Judah fell in the Siege of Jerusalem. Some who consider the book to have largely been written by a historical Zephaniah have suggested that he may have been a disciple of the prophet Isaiah, because of the two books\' similar focus on rampant corruption and injustice in Judah. The Jerusalem Bible links Zephaniah 2:11 and 3:9-10 with the Book of Consolation (Isaiah 40-55).
## Purpose
If Zephaniah was largely composed during the monarchic period, then its composition was occasioned by Judah\'s refusal to obey its covenant obligations toward Yahweh despite having seen northern Israel\'s exile a generation or two previously, an exile which the Judahite literary tradition attributed to Yahweh\'s anger aroused by Israel\'s disobedience to the covenant. In this historical context, Zephaniah urges Judah to obedience to Yahweh, saying that \"perhaps\" he will forgive them if they do.
## Themes
thumb\|upright=1.15\|Illustration depicting Zephaniah addressing the people, from a French 16th-century Bible *The HarperCollins Study Bible* supplies headings for sections within the book as follows:
Verse (NRSV) Heading 1:1 (Superscription) 1:2--13 The Coming Judgment on Judah 1:14--18 The Great Day of the Lord 2:1--15 Judgment on Israel\'s Enemies 3:1--7 The Wickedness of Jerusalem 3:8--13 Punishment and Conversion of the Nations 3:14--20 Song of Joy
-------------- --------- ----- ------------------ --------- ------------------------------ ---------- --------------------------- --------- ------------------------------- -------- ----------------------------- --------- ------------------------------------------ ---------- -------------
: Verse and chapter headings in the HCSB
More consistently than any other prophetic book, Zephaniah focuses on \"the day of the Lord\", developing this tradition from its first appearance in Amos. The day of the Lord tradition also appears in Isaiah, Ezekiel, Obadiah, Joel, and Malachi.
The book begins by describing Yahweh\'s judgement. With a triple repetition of \"I will sweep away\" in Zephaniah 1:2--3, Zephaniah emphasizes the totality of the destruction, as the number three often signifies perfection in the Bible. The order of creatures in Zephaniah 1:2 (\"humans and animals \... the birds \... the fish\") is the opposite of the creation order in Genesis 1:1--28, signifying an undoing of creation. This is also signified by the way that \"from the face of the earth\" forms an *inclusio* around Zephaniah 1:2-3, hearkening back to how the phrase is used in the Genesis flood narrative in Genesis 6:7, Genesis 7:4, and Genesis 8:8, where it also connotes an undoing of creation.
As is common in prophetic literature in the Bible, a \"remnant\" survives Yahweh\'s judgement, by humbly seeking refuge in Yahweh. The book concludes with an announcement of hope and joy, as Yahweh \"bursts forth in joyful divine celebration\" over his people.
## Later influence {#later_influence}
Because of its hopeful tone of the gathering and restoration of exiles, `{{Bibleverse|Zephaniah|3:20|NRSV}}`{=mediawiki} has been included in Jewish liturgy.
Zephaniah served as a major inspiration for the medieval Catholic hymn \"Dies Irae,\" whose title and opening words are from the Vulgate translation of `{{Bibleverse|Zephaniah|1:15–16|NRSV}}`{=mediawiki}.
## Surviving early manuscripts {#surviving_early_manuscripts}
The original manuscript of this book has been lost. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this book in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this book in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q77 (4QXII^b^; 150--125 BCE), 4Q78 (4QXII^c^; 75--50 BCE), and Wadi Murabba\'at Minor Prophets (Mur88; MurXIIProph; 75-100 CE).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (6th century). Some fragments containing parts of the Septuagint version of this book were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, i.e., Naḥal Ḥever (1st century CE).
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Book of Habakkuk
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The **Book of Habakkuk** is the eighth book of the Twelve Minor Prophets of the Hebrew Bible. The book has three chapters. It is attributed to the prophet Habakkuk. Most scholars agree that the book was probably composed in the period during Jehoiakim\'s reign as king of Judah (609--597 BC). It is an important text in Judaism, and passages from the book are quoted by authors of the New Testament, and its message has inspired modern Christian hymn writers.
Of the three chapters in the book, the first two are a dialogue between Yahweh and the prophet. Verse 4 in chapter 2, stating that \"the just shall live by his faith\", plays an important role in Christian thought. It is used in the Epistle to the Romans, Epistle to the Galatians, and the Epistle to the Hebrews as the starting point of the concept of faith. A copy of these two chapters is included in the Habakkuk Commentary, found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Chapter 3 is now recognized as a liturgical piece. It is debated whether chapter 3 and the first two chapters were written by the same author.
## Background
The prophet Habakkuk is generally believed to have written his book in the mid-to-late 7th century BC. It was likely written shortly after the Battle of Nineveh (612 BC) established the Neo-Babylonian Empire but before the Babylonian Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC) and subsequent Babylonian captivity.
### Author
In the opening verse, Habakkuk identifies himself as a prophet. Due to the liturgical nature of Habakkuk\'s book, some scholars think that the author may have been a temple prophet. Temple prophets are described in 1 Chronicles 25:1 as using lyres, harps and cymbals. Some feel that this is echoed in Habakkuk 3:19b, and that Habakkuk may have been a Levite and cantor in Solomon\'s Temple.
There is no biographical information on the prophet Habakkuk. The only canonical information that exists comes from the book that is named for him. His name comes either from the Hebrew word חבק (*ḥavaq*) meaning \"embrace\", or else from an Akkadian word *hambakuku*, for a kind of plant.
Although his name does not appear in any other part of the Bible, Rabbinic tradition holds Habakkuk to be the Shunammite woman\'s son, who was restored to life by Elisha in 2 Kings 4:16. The prophet Habakkuk is also mentioned in the narrative of Bel and the Dragon, part of the deuterocanonical additions to Daniel in a late section of that book. In the superscription of the Old Greek version, Habakkuk is called the son of Joshua of the tribe of Levi. In this book, Habakkuk is lifted by an angel to Babylon to provide Daniel with food while he is in the lion\'s den.
### Historical context {#historical_context}
It is unknown when Habakkuk lived and preached, but the reference to the rise and advance of the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 1:6--11 places him in the middle to last quarter of the 7th century BC. One possible period might be during the reign of Jehoiakim, from 609 to 598 BC. The Neo-Babylonian Empire was growing in power in this period. The Babylonians marched against Jerusalem in 598 BC. Jehoiakim died while the Babylonians marched towards Jerusalem, and Jehoiakim\'s eighteen-year-old son Jeconiah assumed the throne. Upon the Babylonians\' arrival, Jehoiachin and his advisors quickly surrendered Jerusalem and Zedekiah was appointed as a puppet king. With the transition of rulers and the young age and inexperience of Jehoiachin, they could not stand against the Babylonian forces. There is a sense of an intimate knowledge of the Babylonian brutality in 1:12--17.
## Overview
The book of Habakkuk is a book of the Hebrew Bible and stands eighth in a section known as the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Masoretic Text (𝕸) and the Septuagint. In 𝕸, it follows Nahum and precedes Zephaniah, who are considered to be his contemporaries.
The book consists of three chapters and it is neatly divided into three different genres:
- A discussion between God and Habakkuk
- An oracle of woe
- A psalm, \"Habakkuk\'s song\".
## Themes
The major theme of Habakkuk is trying to grow from a faith of perplexity and doubt to the height of absolute trust in God. Habakkuk addresses his concerns over the fact that God will use the Babylonian empire to execute judgment on Judah for their sins.
Habakkuk openly questions the wisdom of God. In the first part of the first chapter, the Prophet sees the injustice among his people and asks why God does not take action. \"Yahweh, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you "Violence!" and will you not save?\" -- (Habakkuk 1:2)
In the middle part of Chapter 1, God explains that he will send the Chaldeans (also known as the Babylonians) to punish his people. In 1:5: \"Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you.\" In 1:6: \"For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.\"
One of the \"Eighteen Emendations to the Hebrew Scriptures\" appears at 1:12. According to the professional Jewish scribes, the Sopherim, the text of 1:12 was changed from \"You \[God\] do not die\" to \"We shall not die\". The Sopherim considered it disrespectful to say to God, \"*You* do not die.\"
In the final part of the first chapter, the prophet expresses shock at God\'s choice of instrument for judgment, in 1:13: \"You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he\[\...\]?\"`{{better source needed|date=September 2024}}`{=mediawiki}
In Chapter 2, he awaits God\'s response to his challenge. God explains that He will also judge the Chaldeans, and much more harshly. \"Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you, because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all who dwell in it. Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house.\" (Habakkuk 2:8-9)
Finally, in Chapter 3, Habakkuk expresses his ultimate faith in God, even if he does not fully understand: \"For though the fig tree doesn't flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls: 3:18 yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!\" Some scholars suggest that the final chapter may be a later independent addition to the book, in part because it is not included among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
## Surviving early manuscripts {#surviving_early_manuscripts}
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this book in Hebrew language are found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, i.e., **1QpHab**, known as the \"Habakkuk Commentary\" (later half of the 1st century BC), and of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes Codex Cairensis (895 CE), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this book in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q82 (4QXII^g^; 25 BCE) with extant verses 4?; and Wadi Murabba\'at Minor Prophets (Mur88; MurXIIProph; 75-100 CE) with extant verses 1:3--13, 1:15, 2:2--3, 2:5--11, 2:18--20, and 3:1--19.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (**B**; $\mathfrak{G}$^B^; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (**S**; BHK: $\mathfrak{G}$^S^; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (**A**; $\mathfrak{G}$^A^; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (**Q**; $\mathfrak{G}$^Q^; 6th century). Fragments containing parts of this book in Greek were also found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, that is, Naḥal Ḥever 8Ḥev1 (8ḤevXII^gr^); (late 1st century BCE) with extant verses 1:5--11, 1:14--17, 2:1--8, 2:13--20, and 3:8--15.
## Importance
The Book of Habakkuk is accepted as canonical by adherents of the Jewish and Christian faiths.
### Judaism
The Book of Habakkuk is the eighth book of the Twelve Prophets of the Hebrew Bible, and this collection appears in all copies of texts of the Septuagint, the Ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible completed by 132 BC. Likewise, the book of Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus), also written in the 2nd century BC, mentions \"The Twelve Prophets\".
A partial copy of Habakkuk itself is included in the Habakkuk Commentary, a *pesher* found among the original seven Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947. The Commentary contains a copy of the first two chapters of Habakkuk, but not of the third chapter. The writer of the *pesher* draws a comparison between the Babylonian invasion of the original text and the Roman threat of the writer\'s own period. What is even more significant than the commentary in the *pesher* is the quoted text of Habakkuk itself. The divergences between the Hebrew text of the scroll and the standard Masoretic Text are startlingly minimal. The biggest differences are word order, small grammatical variations, addition or omission of conjunctions, and spelling variations, but these are small enough not to damage the meaning of the text.
Some scholars suggest that Chapter 3 may be a later independent addition to the book, in part because it is not included among the Dead Sea Scrolls. However, this chapter does appear in all copies of the Septuagint, as well as in texts from as early as the 3rd century BC. This final chapter is a poetic praise of God, and has some similarities with Exodus 19, and with texts found in the Book of Daniel. However, the fact that the third chapter is written in a different style, as a liturgical piece, does not necessarily mean that Habakkuk was not also its author.
### Qumran community {#qumran_community}
A commentary on the first two chapters of the book was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran. The omission of chapter 3 from the version within the Dead Sea Scrolls has been attributed to incompatibilities with the theology of the Qumran sect.
## Habakkuk 2:4 {#habakkuk_24}
The Talmud (Makkot 24a) mentions that various Biblical figures grouped the 613 commandments into categories that encapsulated all of the 613. At the end of this discussion, the Talmud concludes, \"Habakkuk came and established \[the 613 mitzvoth\] upon one, as it is stated: \'But the righteous person shall live by his faith\' (Habakkuk 2:4)\".
Habakkuk 2:4 is well known in Christianity. In the New International Version of the bible it reads:
: *See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright*
: *but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.*
Although the second half of this passage is only three words in the original Hebrew,`{{refn|group=lower-alpha|The [[s:he:חבקוק ניקוד|Hebrew text]] is {{Script/Hebrew|וְצַדִּיק בֶּאֱמוּנָתוֹ יִחְיֶה}}}}`{=mediawiki} it is quoted three times in the New Testament. Paul the Apostle quotes it once in his Epistle to the Romans, and again in his Epistle to the Galatians; its third use is in the Epistle to the Hebrews. It became one of the most important of the verses that were used as foundations of the doctrines of the Protestant reformation.
There is controversy about the translation of the verse: the word \"emunah\" is most often translated as \"faithfulness\", though the word in this verse has been traditionally translated as \"faith\".
The word \"emunah\" is not translated as \"belief\" other than in Habakkuk 2:4, Clendenen, E. Ray defended the translation of the word as \"faith\" on the basis of the context of the verse, arguing that it refers to *Genesis 15:6*, which used the word \"*he'ĕmin\"* \'believed\' of which \"*'ĕmȗnāh*\" is derived from, he also argued that the Essenes in the Qumran community likely understood the verse as referring to faith in the Teacher of Righteousness instead of faithfulness.
Martin Luther believed that Habakkuk 2:4 taught the doctrine of faith alone, commenting on the verse \"For this is a general saying applicable to all of God\'s words. These must be believed, whether spoken at the beginning, middle, or end of the world\".
Rashi interpreted the verse to be about Jeconiah.
The Targum interpreted the verse as \"The wicked think that all these things are not so, but the righteous live by the truth of them\".
Pseudo-Ignatius understood the verse to be about faith.
## Habakkuk 2:6-20: the taunting riddle {#habakkuk_26_20_the_taunting_riddle}
The melitzah ḥidah, or the taunting riddle, is the oracle revealed to Habakkuk the prophet. It is a mashal, which is a proverb and a parable. It is also known as a witty satire, a mocking and an enigma. The riddle is 15 verses long, from verse 6 to verse 20, and is divided into five woes which consist of three verses each.
### Hebrew Text {#hebrew_text}
The following table shows the Hebrew text of Habakkuk 2:6-20 with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).
Verse Hebrew text English translation (JPS 1917)
------- ------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, And a taunting riddle against him, And say: 'Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! How long? and that ladeth himself with many pledges!
7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall exact interest of thee, And awake that shall violently shake thee, And thou shalt be for booties unto them?
8 } Because thou hast spoiled many nations, All the remnant of the peoples shall spoil thee; Because of men\'s blood, and for the violence done to the land, To the city and to all that dwell therein.
9 Woe to him that gaineth evil gains for his house, That he may set his nest on high, That he may be delivered from the power of evil!
10 Thou hast devised shame to thy house, By cutting off many peoples, And hast forfeited thy life.
11 } For the stone shall cry out of the wall, And the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, And establisheth a city by iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts That the peoples labour for the fire, And the nations weary themselves for vanity?
14 } For the earth shall be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.
15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, That puttest thy venom thereto, and makest him drunken also, That thou mayest look on their nakedness!
16 Thou art filled with shame instead of glory, Drink thou also, and be uncovered; The cup of the LORD'S right hand shall be turned unto thee, And filthiness shall be upon thy glory.
17 For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee, And the destruction of the beasts, which made them afraid; Because of men\'s blood, and for the violence done to the land, To the city and to all that dwell therein.
18 } What profiteth the graven image, That the maker thereof hath graven it, Even the molten image, and the teacher of lies; That the maker of his work trusteth therein, To make dumb idols?
19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood: 'Awake', To the dumb stone: 'Arise! ' Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, And there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
20 } But the LORD is in His holy temple; Let all the earth keep silence before Him.
## Habakkuk 3:1 {#habakkuk_31}
: *A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.*
This verse is a heading for the final chapter. The exact meaning of \"Shigionoth\" is not known. The New Living Translation treats the word as an addition in the Hebrew text which \"probably\" indicates the prayer\'s musical setting, and the Jerusalem Bible suggests that the prayer adopts \"the tone as for dirges\".
## Musical uses {#musical_uses}
Modern Christian hymns have been inspired by the words of the prophet Habakkuk:
- the Christian hymn \"The Lord is in His Holy Temple\", written in 1900 by William J. Kirkpatrick, is based on Habakkuk 2:20.
- the fourth verse of William Cowper\'s hymn \"Sometimes a Light Surprises\", written in 1779, quotes Habakkuk 3:17--18:
Irish composer Charles Villiers Stanford set slightly revised portions of text from the first and second chapters of Habakkuk in his choral composition for choir, soprano and tenor soloist and organ, \"For Lo, I Raise Up\".
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B (programming language)
|
**B** is a programming language developed at Bell Labs circa 1969 by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie.
B was derived from BCPL, and its name may possibly be a contraction of BCPL. Thompson\'s coworker Dennis Ritchie speculated that the name might be based on Bon, an earlier, but unrelated, programming language that Thompson designed for use on Multics.`{{refn|group=note|"Its name most probably represents a contraction of BCPL, though an alternate theory holds that it derives from Bon [Thompson 69], an unrelated language created by Thompson during the Multics days. Bon in turn was named either after his wife Bonnie or (according to an encyclopedia quotation in its manual), after [[Bon|a religion]] whose rituals involve the murmuring of magic formulas."<ref name="chist">{{cite journal| first = Dennis M.| last = Ritchie| author-link = Dennis Ritchie| title = The Development of the C Language| date=March 1993 | journal = ACM SIGPLAN Notices| volume = 28 | issue = 3| pages = 201–208| url = http://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/chist.html| doi = 10.1145/155360.155580|doi-access = free}}</ref>}}`{=mediawiki}
B was designed for recursive, non-numeric, machine-independent applications, such as system and language software. It was a typeless language, with the only data type being the underlying machine\'s natural memory word format, whatever that might be. Depending on the context, the word was treated either as an integer or a memory address.
As machines with ASCII processing became common, notably the DEC PDP-11 that arrived at Bell Labs, support for character data stuffed in memory words became important. The typeless nature of the language was seen as a disadvantage, which led Thompson and Ritchie to develop an expanded version of the language supporting new internal and user-defined types, which became the ubiquitous C programming language.
## History
Circa 1969, Ken Thompson and later Dennis Ritchie developed B basing it mainly on the BCPL language Thompson used in the Multics project. B was essentially the BCPL system stripped of any component Thompson felt he could do without in order to make it fit within the memory capacity of the minicomputers of the time. The BCPL to B transition also included changes made to suit Thompson\'s preferences (mostly along the lines of reducing the number of non-whitespace characters in a typical program). Much of the typical ALGOL-like syntax of BCPL was rather heavily changed in this process. The assignment operator `:=` reverted to the `=` of Rutishauser\'s Superplan, and the equality operator `=` was replaced by `==`.
Thompson added \"two-address assignment operators\" using `x =+ y` syntax to add y to x (in C the operator is written `+=`). This syntax came from Douglas McIlroy\'s implementation of TMG, in which B\'s compiler was first implemented (and it came to TMG from ALGOL 68\'s `x +:= y` syntax). Thompson went further by inventing the increment and decrement operators (`++` and `--`). Their prefix or postfix position determines whether the value is taken before or after alteration of the operand. This innovation was not in the earliest versions of B. According to Dennis Ritchie, people often assumed that they were created for the auto-increment and auto-decrement address modes of the DEC PDP-11, but this is historically impossible as the machine didn\'t exist when B was first developed.
The semicolon version of the for loop was borrowed by Ken Thompson from the work of Stephen Johnson.
B is typeless, or more precisely has one data type: the computer word. Most operators (e.g. `+`, `-`, `*`, `/`) treated this as an integer, but others treated it as a memory address to be dereferenced. In many other ways it looked a lot like an early version of C. There are a few library functions, including some that vaguely resemble functions from the standard I/O library in C. In Thompson\'s words: \"B and the old old C were very very similar languages except for all the types \[in C\]\".
Early implementations were for the DEC PDP-7 and PDP-11 minicomputers using early Unix, and Honeywell `{{nowrap|[[GE-600 series|GE 645]]}}`{=mediawiki} 36-bit mainframes running the operating system GCOS. The earliest PDP-7 implementations compiled to threaded code, and Ritchie wrote a compiler using TMG which produced machine code. In 1970 a PDP-11 was acquired and threaded code was used for the port; an assembler, `{{samp|[[dc (Unix)|dc]]}}`{=mediawiki}, and the B language itself were written in B to bootstrap the computer. An early version of yacc was produced with this PDP-11 configuration. Ritchie took over maintenance during this period.`{{r|reader}}`{=mediawiki}
The typeless nature of B made sense on the Honeywell, PDP-7 and many older computers, but was a problem on the PDP-11 because it was difficult to elegantly access the character data type that the PDP-11 and most modern computers fully support. Starting in 1971 Ritchie made changes to the language while converting its compiler to produce machine code, most notably adding data typing for variables. During 1971 and 1972 B evolved into \"New B\" (NB) and then C.
B is almost extinct, having been superseded by the C language. However, it continues to see use on GCOS mainframes (`{{as of|2014|lc=y}}`{=mediawiki}) and on certain embedded systems (`{{as of|2000|lc=y}}`{=mediawiki}) for a variety of reasons: limited hardware in small systems, extensive libraries, tooling, licensing cost issues, and simply being good enough for the job. The highly influential AberMUD was originally written in B.
## Examples
The following examples are from the *Users\' Reference to B* by Ken Thompson:
``` c
/* The following function will print a non-negative number, n, to
the base b, where 2<=b<=10. This routine uses the fact that
in the ASCII character set, the digits 0 to 9 have sequential
code values. */
printn(n,b) {
extrn putchar;
auto a;
/* Wikipedia note: the auto keyword declares a variable with
automatic storage (lifetime is function scope), not
"automatic typing" as in C++11. */
if(a=n/b) /* assignment, not test for equality */
printn(a, b); /* recursive */
putchar(n%b + '0');
}
```
``` c
/* The following program will calculate the constant e-2 to about
4000 decimal digits, and print it 50 characters to the line in
groups of 5 characters. The method is simple output conver-
sion of the expansion
1/2! + 1/3! + ... = .111...
where the bases of the digits are 2, 3, 4, ... */
main() {
extrn putchar, n, v;
auto i, c, col, a;
i = col = 0;
while(i<n)
v[i++] = 1;
while(col<2*n) {
a = n+1;
c = i = 0;
while(i<n) {
c =+ v[i]*10;
v[i++] = c%a;
c =/ a--;
}
putchar(c+'0');
if(!(++col%5))
putchar(col%50?' ':'*n');
}
putchar('*n*n');
}
v[2000];
n 2000;
```
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Beer–Lambert law
|
The **Beer--Bouguer--Lambert (BBL) extinction law** is an empirical relationship describing the attenuation in intensity of a radiation beam passing through a macroscopically homogenous medium with which it interacts. Formally, it states that the intensity of radiation decays exponentially in the absorbance of the medium, and that said absorbance is proportional to the length of beam passing through the medium, the concentration of interacting matter along that path, and a constant representing said matter\'s propensity to interact.
The extinction law\'s primary application is in chemical analysis, where it underlies the **Beer--Lambert law**, commonly called **Beer\'s law**. Beer\'s law states that a beam of visible light passing through a chemical solution of fixed geometry experiences absorption proportional to the solute concentration. Other applications appear in physical optics, where it quantifies astronomical extinction and the absorption of photons, neutrons, or rarefied gases.
Forms of the BBL law date back to the mid-eighteenth century, but it only took its modern form during the early twentieth.
## History
The first work towards the BBL law began with astronomical observations Pierre Bouguer performed in the early eighteenth century and published in 1729. Bouguer needed to compensate for the refraction of light by the earth\'s atmosphere, and found it necessary to measure the local height of the atmosphere. The latter, he sought to obtain through variations in the observed intensity of known stars. When calibrating this effect, Bouguer discovered that light intensity had an exponential dependence on length traveled through the atmosphere (in Bouguer\'s terms, a geometric progression).
Bouguer\'s work was then popularized in Johann Heinrich Lambert\'s *Photometria* in 1760. Lambert expressed the law, which states that the loss of light intensity when it propagates in a medium is directly proportional to intensity and path length, in a mathematical form quite similar to that used in modern physics. Lambert began by assuming that the intensity `{{mvar|I}}`{=mediawiki} of light traveling into an absorbing body would be given by the differential equation $-\mathrm{d}I=\mu I \mathrm{d}x,$ which is compatible with Bouguer\'s observations. The constant of proportionality `{{math|μ}}`{=mediawiki} was often termed the \"optical density\" of the body. As long as `{{math|μ}}`{=mediawiki} is constant along a distance `{{mvar|d}}`{=mediawiki}, the exponential attenuation law, $I=I_0 e^{-\mu d}$ follows from integration.
In 1852, August Beer noticed that colored solutions also appeared to exhibit a similar attenuation relation. In his analysis, Beer does not discuss Bouguer and Lambert\'s prior work, writing in his introduction that \"Concerning the absolute magnitude of the absorption that a particular ray of light suffers during its propagation through an absorbing medium, there is no information available.\" Beer may have omitted reference to Bouguer\'s work because there is a subtle physical difference between color absorption in solutions and astronomical contexts.`{{Original research inline|date=October 2024}}`{=mediawiki} Solutions are homogeneous and do not scatter light at common analytical wavelengths (ultraviolet, visible, or infrared), except at entry and exit. Thus light within a solution is reasonably approximated as due to absorption alone. In Bouguer\'s context, atmospheric dust or other inhomogeneities could also scatter light away from the detector. Modern texts combine the two laws because scattering and absorption have the same effect. Thus a scattering coefficient `{{math|μ<sub>s</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} and an absorption coefficient `{{math|μ<sub>a</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} can be combined into a total extinction coefficient `{{math|μ {{=}}`{=mediawiki} μ~s~ + μ~a~}}.
Importantly, Beer also seems to have conceptualized his result in terms of a given thickness\' opacity, writing \"If `{{math|λ}}`{=mediawiki} is the coefficient (fraction) of diminution, then this coefficient (fraction) will have the value `{{math|λ<sup>2</sup>}}`{=mediawiki} for double this thickness.\" Although this geometric progression is mathematically equivalent to the modern law, modern treatments instead emphasize the logarithm of `{{math|λ}}`{=mediawiki}, which clarifies that concentration and path length have equivalent effects on the absorption. An early, possibly the first, modern formulation was given by Robert Luther and Andreas Nikolopulos in 1913.
## Mathematical formulations {#mathematical_formulations}
There are several equivalent formulations of the BBL law, depending on the precise choice of measured quantities. All of them state that, provided that the physical state is held constant, the extinction process is linear in the intensity of radiation and amount of radiatively-active matter, a fact sometimes called the **fundamental law of extinction**. Many of them then connect the quantity of radiatively-active matter to a length traveled `{{mvar|ℓ}}`{=mediawiki} and a concentration `{{mvar|c}}`{=mediawiki} or number density `{{Mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki}. For concentrations expressed as moles per volume, the latter two are related by Avogadro\'s number: `{{Math|''n'' {{=}}`{=mediawiki} *N*~A~*c*}}.
A collimated beam (directed radiation) with cross-sectional area `{{Mvar|S}}`{=mediawiki} will encounter `{{Math|''Sℓn''}}`{=mediawiki} particles (on average) during its travel. However, not all of these particles interact with the beam. Propensity to interact is a material-dependent property, typically summarized in absorptivity `{{Math|ϵ}}`{=mediawiki} or scattering cross-section `{{Math|σ}}`{=mediawiki}. These almost exhibit another Avogadro-type relationship: `{{Math|ln(10)ε {{=}}`{=mediawiki} *N*~A~σ}}. The factor of `{{math|ln(10)}}`{=mediawiki} appears because physicists tend to use natural logarithms and chemists decadal logarithms.
Beam intensity can also be described in terms of multiple variables: the intensity `{{Mvar|I}}`{=mediawiki} or radiant flux `{{Math|Φ}}`{=mediawiki}. In the case of a collimated beam, these are related by `{{Math|Φ {{=}}`{=mediawiki} *IS*}}, but `{{Math|Φ}}`{=mediawiki} is often used in non-collimated contexts. The ratio of intensity (or flux) in to out is sometimes summarized as a transmittance coefficient `{{Math|''T'' {{=}}`{=mediawiki} `{{frac|''I''|''I''<sub>0</sub>}}`{=mediawiki}}}.
When considering an extinction law, dimensional analysis can verify the consistency of the variables, as logarithms (being nonlinear) must always be dimensionless.
### Formulation
The simplest formulation of Beer\'s relates the optical attenuation of a physical material containing a single attenuating species of uniform concentration to the optical path length through the sample and absorptivity of the species. This expression is$$\log_{10} (I_0/I)=A=\varepsilon \ell c$$The quantities so equated are defined to be the absorbance `{{Mvar|A}}`{=mediawiki}, which depends on the logarithm base. The Naperian absorbance `{{Math|τ}}`{=mediawiki} is then given by `{{Math|τ {{=}}`{=mediawiki} ln(10)*A*}} and satisfies $\ln(I_0/I)=\tau=\sigma\ell n.$
If multiple species in the material interact with the radiation, then their absorbances add. Thus a slightly more general formulation is that $\begin{align}
\tau &= \ell\sum_i \sigma_i n_i, \\[4pt]
A &= \ell\sum_i \varepsilon_i c_i,
\end{align}$where the sum is over all possible radiation-interacting (\"translucent\") species, and `{{mvar|i}}`{=mediawiki} indexes those species.
In situations where length may vary significantly, absorbance is sometimes summarized in terms of an attenuation coefficient $\begin{alignat}{3}
\mu_{10}&=\frac{A}{l}&&=\epsilon c \\
\mu&=\frac{\tau}{l}&&=\sigma n.
\end{alignat}$
In atmospheric science and radiation shielding applications, the attenuation coefficient may vary significantly through an inhomogenous material. In those situations, the most general form of the Beer--Lambert law states that the total attenuation can be obtained by integrating the attenuation coefficient over small slices `{{math|''dz''}}`{=mediawiki} of the beamline: $\begin{alignat}{3}
A&=\int{\mu_{10}(z)\,dz}&&=\int{\sum_i{\epsilon_i(z)c_i(z)}\,dz}, \\
\tau&=\int{\mu(z)\,dz}&&=\int{\sum_i{\sigma_i(z)n_i(z)}\,dz}.
\end{alignat}$These formulations then reduce to the simpler versions when there is only one active species and the attenuation coefficients are constant.
## Derivation
There are two factors that determine the degree to which a medium containing particles will attenuate a light beam: the number of particles encountered by the light beam, and the degree to which each particle extinguishes the light.
Assume that a beam of light enters a material sample. Define `{{mvar|z}}`{=mediawiki} as an axis parallel to the direction of the beam. Divide the material sample into thin slices, perpendicular to the beam of light, with thickness `{{math|d''z''}}`{=mediawiki} sufficiently small that one particle in a slice cannot obscure another particle in the same slice when viewed along the `{{mvar|z}}`{=mediawiki} direction. The radiant flux of the light that emerges from a slice is reduced, compared to that of the light that entered, by $\mathrm{d\Phi_e}(z) = -\mu(z)\Phi_\mathrm{e}(z) \mathrm{d}z,$ where `{{mvar|μ}}`{=mediawiki} is the (Napierian) attenuation coefficient, which yields the following first-order linear, ordinary differential equation$$\frac{\mathrm{d}\Phi_\mathrm{e}(z)}{\mathrm{d}z} = -\mu(z)\Phi_\mathrm{e}(z).$$ The attenuation is caused by the photons that did not make it to the other side of the slice because of scattering or absorption. The solution to this differential equation is obtained by multiplying the integrating factor$\exp\left(\int_0^z \mu(z')\mathrm{d}z' \right)$throughout to obtain$\frac{\mathrm{d}\Phi_\mathrm{e}(z)}{\mathrm{d}z}\, \exp\left(\int_0^z \mu(z')\mathrm{d}z' \right) + \mu(z)\Phi_\mathrm{e}(z)\, \exp\left(\int_0^z \mu(z')\mathrm{d}z' \right) = 0,$which simplifies due to the product rule (applied backwards) to$\frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}z}\left[\Phi_\mathrm{e}(z) \exp\left(\int_0^z \mu(z')\mathrm{d}z' \right)\right] = 0.$
Integrating both sides and solving for `{{math|Φ<sub>e</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} for a material of real thickness `{{mvar|ℓ}}`{=mediawiki}, with the incident radiant flux upon the slice $\mathrm{\Phi_e^i} = \mathrm{\Phi_e}(0)$ and the transmitted radiant flux $\mathrm{\Phi_e^t} = \mathrm{\Phi_e}(\ell)$ gives$\mathrm{\Phi_e^t} = \mathrm{\Phi_e^i} \exp\left(-\int_0^\ell \mu(z)\mathrm{d}z \right),$and finally$T = \mathrm{\frac{\Phi_e^t}{\Phi_e^i}} = \exp\left(-\int_0^\ell \mu(z)\mathrm{d}z \right).$
Since the decadic attenuation coefficient `{{math|''μ''<sub>10</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} is related to the (Napierian) attenuation coefficient by $\mu_{10} = \tfrac{\mu}{\ln 10},$ we also have$\begin{align}
T &= \exp\left(-\int_0^\ell \ln(10)\,\mu_{10}(z)\mathrm{d}z \right) \\[4pt]
&= 10^{\;\!\wedge} \!\! \left( -\int_0^\ell \mu_{10}(z)\mathrm{d}z \right).
\end{align}$
To describe the attenuation coefficient in a way independent of the number densities `{{mvar|n<sub>i</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} of the `{{mvar|N}}`{=mediawiki} attenuating species of the material sample, one introduces the attenuation cross section $\sigma_i = \tfrac{\mu_i(z)}{n_i(z)}.$ `{{mvar|σ<sub>i</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} has the dimension of an area; it expresses the likelihood of interaction between the particles of the beam and the particles of the species `{{mvar|i}}`{=mediawiki} in the material sample$$T = \exp\left(-\sum_{i = 1}^N \sigma_i \int_0^\ell n_i(z)\mathrm{d}z \right).$$
One can also use the molar attenuation coefficients $\varepsilon_i = \tfrac{\mathrm{N_A}}{\ln 10}\sigma_i,$ where `{{math|N<sub>A</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} is the Avogadro constant, to describe the attenuation coefficient in a way independent of the amount concentrations $c_i(z) = n_i \tfrac{z}{\mathrm{N_A}}$ of the attenuating species of the material sample$$\begin{align}
T &= \exp\left(-\sum_{i = 1}^N \frac{\ln(10)}{\mathrm{N_A}}\varepsilon_i \int_0^\ell n_i(z)\mathrm{d}z \right) \\[4pt]
&= \exp\left(-\sum_{i = 1}^N \varepsilon_i \int_0^\ell \frac{n_i(z)}{\mathrm{N_A}}\mathrm{d}z\right)^{\ln(10)} \\[4pt]
&= 10^{\;\!\wedge} \!\! \left(-\sum_{i = 1}^N \varepsilon_i \int_0^\ell c_i(z)\mathrm{d}z \right).
\end{align}$$
### Validity
Under certain conditions the Beer--Lambert law fails to maintain a linear relationship between attenuation and concentration of analyte. These deviations are classified into three categories:
1. Real---fundamental deviations due to the limitations of the law itself.
2. Chemical---deviations observed due to specific chemical species of the sample which is being analyzed.
3. Instrument---deviations which occur due to how the attenuation measurements are made.
There are at least six conditions that need to be fulfilled in order for the Beer--Lambert law to be valid. These are:
1. The attenuators must act independently of each other.
2. The attenuating medium must be homogeneous in the interaction volume.
3. The attenuating medium must not scatter the radiation---no turbidity---unless this is accounted for as in DOAS.
4. The incident radiation must consist of parallel rays, each traversing the same length in the absorbing medium.
5. The incident radiation should preferably be monochromatic, or have at least a width that is narrower than that of the attenuating transition. Otherwise a spectrometer as detector for the power is needed instead of a photodiode which cannot discriminate between wavelengths.
6. The incident flux must not influence the atoms or molecules; it should only act as a non-invasive probe of the species under study. In particular, this implies that the light should not cause optical saturation or optical pumping, since such effects will deplete the lower level and possibly give rise to stimulated emission.
If any of these conditions are not fulfilled, there will be deviations from the Beer--Lambert law.
The law tends to break down at very high concentrations, especially if the material is highly scattering. Absorbance within range of 0.2 to 0.5 is ideal to maintain linearity in the Beer--Lambert law. If the radiation is especially intense, nonlinear optical processes can also cause variances. The main reason, however, is that the concentration dependence is in general non-linear and Beer\'s law is valid only under certain conditions as shown by derivation below. For strong oscillators and at high concentrations the deviations are stronger. If the molecules are closer to each other interactions can set in. These interactions can be roughly divided into physical and chemical interactions. Physical interaction do not alter the polarizability of the molecules as long as the interaction is not so strong that light and molecular quantum state intermix (strong coupling), but cause the attenuation cross sections to be non-additive via electromagnetic coupling. Chemical interactions in contrast change the polarizability and thus absorption.
In solids, attenuation is usually an addition of absorption coefficient $\alpha$ (creation of electron-hole pairs) or scattering (for example Rayleigh scattering if the scattering centers are much smaller than the incident wavelength). Also note that for some systems we can put $1/\lambda$ (1 over inelastic mean free path) in place of `{{nowrap|<math>\mu</math>.}}`{=mediawiki}
## Applications
### In plasma physics {#in_plasma_physics}
The BBL extinction law also arises as a solution to the BGK equation.
### Chemical analysis by spectrophotometry {#chemical_analysis_by_spectrophotometry}
The Beer--Lambert law can be applied to the analysis of a mixture by spectrophotometry, without the need for extensive pre-processing of the sample. An example is the determination of bilirubin in blood plasma samples. The spectrum of pure bilirubin is known, so the molar attenuation coefficient `{{mvar|ε}}`{=mediawiki} is known. Measurements of decadic attenuation coefficient `{{math|''μ''<sub>10</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} are made at one wavelength `{{mvar|λ}}`{=mediawiki} that is nearly unique for bilirubin and at a second wavelength in order to correct for possible interferences. The amount concentration `{{mvar|c}}`{=mediawiki} is then given by $c = \frac{\mu_{10}(\lambda)}{\varepsilon(\lambda)}.$
For a more complicated example, consider a mixture in solution containing two species at amount concentrations `{{math|''c''<sub>1</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''c''<sub>2</sub>}}`{=mediawiki}. The decadic attenuation coefficient at any wavelength `{{mvar|λ}}`{=mediawiki} is, given by $\mu_{10}(\lambda) = \varepsilon_1(\lambda) c_1 + \varepsilon_2(\lambda) c_2.$
Therefore, measurements at two wavelengths yields two equations in two unknowns and will suffice to determine the amount concentrations `{{math|''c''<sub>1</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''c''<sub>2</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} as long as the molar attenuation coefficients of the two components, `{{math|''ε''<sub>1</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''ε''<sub>2</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} are known at both wavelengths. This two system equation can be solved using Cramer\'s rule. In practice it is better to use linear least squares to determine the two amount concentrations from measurements made at more than two wavelengths.
Mixtures containing more than two components can be analyzed in the same way, using a minimum of `{{mvar|m}}`{=mediawiki} wavelengths for a mixture containing `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki} components. So, in general:
$A_{\lambda_i} = \sum_{j=1}^{n} \epsilon_{j, \lambda_i} c_j l$
where $A_{\lambda_i}$is the absorbance at wavelength $\lambda_i$, $\epsilon_{j, \lambda_i}$ is the molar absorptivity of component $j$ at $\lambda_i$, $c_j$ is the concentration of component $j$, and $l$ is the path length.
The law is used widely in infra-red spectroscopy and near-infrared spectroscopy for analysis of polymer degradation and oxidation (also in biological tissue) as well as to measure the concentration of various compounds in different food samples. The carbonyl group attenuation at about 6 micrometres can be detected quite easily, and degree of oxidation of the polymer calculated.
### In-atmosphere astronomy {#in_atmosphere_astronomy}
The Bouguer--Lambert law may be applied to describe the attenuation of solar or stellar radiation as it travels through the atmosphere. In this case, there is scattering of radiation as well as absorption. The optical depth for a slant path is `{{math|1=''{{prime|τ}}'' = ''mτ''}}`{=mediawiki}, where `{{mvar|τ}}`{=mediawiki} refers to a vertical path, `{{mvar|m}}`{=mediawiki} is called the relative airmass, and for a plane-parallel atmosphere it is determined as `{{math|1=''m'' = sec ''θ''}}`{=mediawiki} where `{{mvar|θ}}`{=mediawiki} is the zenith angle corresponding to the given path. The Bouguer-Lambert law for the atmosphere is usually written $T = \exp \big( -m(\tau_\mathrm{a} + \tau_\mathrm{g} + \tau_\mathrm{RS} + \tau_\mathrm{NO_2} + \tau_\mathrm{w} + \tau_\mathrm{O_3} + \tau_\mathrm{r} + \cdots) \bigr),$ where each `{{mvar|τ<sub>x</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} is the optical depth whose subscript identifies the source of the absorption or scattering it describes:
- refers to aerosols (that absorb and scatter);
- are uniformly mixed gases (mainly carbon dioxide (CO~2~) and molecular oxygen (O~2~) which only absorb);
- is nitrogen dioxide, mainly due to urban pollution (absorption only);
- are effects due to Raman scattering in the atmosphere;
- is water vapour absorption;
- is ozone (absorption only);
- is Rayleigh scattering from molecular oxygen (`{{chem2|O2}}`{=mediawiki}) and nitrogen (`{{chem2|N2}}`{=mediawiki}) (responsible for the blue color of the sky);
- the selection of the attenuators which have to be considered depends on the wavelength range and can include various other compounds. This can include tetraoxygen, HONO, formaldehyde, glyoxal, a series of halogen radicals and others.
is the *optical mass* or *airmass factor*, a term approximately equal (for small and moderate values of `{{mvar|θ}}`{=mediawiki}) to `{{tmath|\tfrac{1}{\cos \theta},}}`{=mediawiki} where `{{mvar|θ}}`{=mediawiki} is the observed object\'s zenith angle (the angle measured from the direction perpendicular to the Earth\'s surface at the observation site). This equation can be used to retrieve `{{math|''τ''<sub>a</sub>}}`{=mediawiki}, the aerosol optical thickness, which is necessary for the correction of satellite images and also important in accounting for the role of aerosols in climate.
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Bakelite
|
**Bakelite** (`{{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|eɪ|k|ə|l|aɪ|t}}`{=mediawiki} `{{Respell|BAY|kə|lyte}}`{=mediawiki}), formally **`{{Soft hyphen|poly|oxy|benzyl|methylene|glycol|anhydride}}`{=mediawiki}**, is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed by Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland in Yonkers, New York, in 1907, and patented on December 7, 1909.
Bakelite was one of the first plastic-like materials to be introduced into the modern world and was popular because it could be molded and then hardened into any shape.
Because of its electrical nonconductivity and heat-resistant properties, it became a great commercial success. It was used in electrical insulators, radio and telephone casings, and such diverse products as kitchenware, jewelry, pipe stems, children\'s toys, and firearms.
The retro appeal of old Bakelite products has made them collectible.
The creation of a synthetic plastic was revolutionary for the chemical industry, which at the time made most of its income from cloth dyes and explosives. Bakelite\'s commercial success inspired the industry to develop other synthetic plastics. As the world\'s first commercial synthetic plastic, Bakelite was named a National Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society.
## History
The reaction between phenol and aldehyde was first reported in 1872 by Adolf von Baeyer, though its use as a commercial product was not considered at the time.
Leo Baekeland was already wealthy due to his invention of Velox photographic paper when he began to investigate the reactions of phenol and formaldehyde in his home laboratory. Chemists had begun to recognize that many natural resins and fibers were polymers.`{{Source?|date=December 2024|reason=way too early}}`{=mediawiki} Baekeland\'s initial intent was to find a replacement for shellac, a material in limited supply because it was made naturally from the secretion of lac insects (specifically *Kerria lacca*). He produced a soluble phenol-formaldehyde shellac called Novolak, but it was not a market success, even though it is still used to this day (e.g., as a photoresist).
He then began experimenting on strengthening wood by impregnating it with a synthetic resin rather than coating it. By controlling the pressure and temperature applied to phenol and formaldehyde, he produced a hard moldable material that he named Bakelite, after himself and the heat curing process it required. It was the first synthetic thermosetting plastic produced, and Baekeland speculated on \"the thousand and one \... articles\" it could be used to make. He considered the possibilities of using a wide variety of filling materials, including cotton, powdered bronze, and slate dust, but was most successful with wood and asbestos fibers, though asbestos was gradually abandoned by all manufacturers in the latter quarter of the 20th century due to stricter environmental laws.
Baekeland filed a substantial number of related patents. Bakelite, his \"method of making insoluble products of phenol and formaldehyde\", was filed on July 13, 1907, and granted on December 7, 1909. He also filed for patent protection in other countries, including Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, Russia, and Spain. He announced his invention at a meeting of the American Chemical Society on February 5, 1909.
thumb\|upright \|The first semi-commercial Bakelizer, from Baekeland\'s laboratory, 1935
Baekeland started semi-commercial production of his new material in his home laboratory, marketing it as a material for electrical insulators. In the summer of 1909, he licensed the continental European rights to Rütger AG. The subsidiary formed at that time, Bakelite AG, was the first to produce Bakelite on an industrial scale.
By 1910, Baekeland was producing enough material in the US to justify expansion. He formed the General Bakelite Company of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, as a U.S. company to manufacture and market his new industrial material, and made overseas connections to produce it in other countries.
The Bakelite Company produced \"transparent\" cast resin (which did not include filler) for a small market during the 1910s and 1920s. Blocks or rods of cast resin, also known as \"artificial amber\", were machined and carved to create items such as pipe stems, cigarette holders, and jewelry. However, the demand for molded plastics led the company to concentrate on molding rather than cast solid resins.
The Bakelite Corporation was formed in 1922 after patent litigation favorable to Baekeland, from a merger of three companies: Baekeland\'s General Bakelite Company; the Condensite Company, founded by J. W. Aylesworth; and the Redmanol Chemical Products Company, founded by Lawrence V. Redman. Under director of advertising and public relations Allan Brown, who came to Bakelite from Condensite, Bakelite was aggressively marketed as \"the material of a thousand uses\". A filing for a trademark featuring the letter B above the infinity symbol was made August 25, 1925, and claimed the mark was in use as of December 1, 1924. A wide variety of uses were listed in their trademark applications.
thumb \| Color chart for Bakelite \"jewel\" quality colors (cast resin or \"Clear Material\"), 1924
The first issue of *Plastics* magazine, October 1925, featured Bakelite on its cover and included the article \"Bakelite -- What It Is\" by Allan Brown. The range of colors that were available included \"black, brown, red, yellow, green, gray, blue, and blends of two or more of these\". The article emphasized that Bakelite came in various forms.
In a 1925 report, the United States Tariff Commission hailed the commercial manufacture of synthetic phenolic resin as \"distinctly an American achievement\", and noted that \"the publication of figures, however, would be a virtual disclosure of the production of an individual company\".
In the UK, Bakelite Limited, a merger of three British phenol formaldehyde resin suppliers (Damard Lacquer Company Limited of Birmingham, Mouldensite Limited of Darley Dale and Redmanol Chemical Products Company of London), was formed in 1926. A new Bakelite factory opened in Tyseley, Birmingham, around 1928. It was the \"heart of Bakelite production in the UK\" until it closed in 1987.
A factory to produce phenolic resins and precursors opened in Bound Brook, New Jersey, in 1931.
In 1939, the companies were acquired by Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation.
In 2005, German Bakelite manufacturer Bakelite AG was acquired by Borden Chemical of Columbus, Ohio, now Hexion Inc.
In addition to the original Bakelite material, these companies eventually made a wide range of other products, many of which were marketed under the brand name \"Bakelite plastics\". These included other types of cast phenolic resins similar to Catalin, and urea-formaldehyde resins, which could be made in brighter colors than `{{Soft hyphen|poly|oxy|benzyl|methylene|glycol|anhydride}}`{=mediawiki}.
Once Baekeland\'s heat and pressure patents expired in 1927, Bakelite Corporation faced serious competition from other companies. Because molded Bakelite incorporated fillers to give it strength, it tended to be made in concealing dark colors. In 1927, beads, bangles, and earrings were produced by the Catalin company, through a different process which enabled them to introduce 15 new colors. Translucent jewelry, poker chips and other items made of phenolic resins were introduced in the 1930s or 1940s by the Catalin company under the Prystal name. The creation of marbled phenolic resins may also be attributable to the Catalin company.
## Synthesis
Making Bakelite is a multi-stage process. It begins with the heating of phenol and formaldehyde in the presence of a catalyst such as hydrochloric acid, zinc chloride, or the base ammonia. This creates a liquid condensation product, referred to as *Bakelite A*, which is soluble in alcohol, acetone, or additional phenol. Heated further, the product becomes partially soluble and can still be softened by heat. Sustained heating results in an \"insoluble hard gum\". However, the high temperatures required to create this tend to cause violent foaming of the mixture when done at standard atmospheric pressure, which results in the cooled material being porous and breakable. Baekeland\'s innovative step was to put his \"last condensation product\" into an egg-shaped \"Bakelizer\". By heating it under pressure, at about 150 C, Baekeland was able to suppress the foaming that would otherwise occur. The resulting substance is extremely hard and both infusible and insoluble.
<File:Weigh> Room Liquid Materials 1935 Bakelite Review Silver Anniversary p12.tif \| Weigh room <File:Still> room 1935 Bakelite Review Silver Anniversary p12.tif \| Still room <File:Bakelite> Cooling Room 1935 Bakelite Review Silver Anniversary p13.tif \| Cooling room <File:Resin> and Varnish inspection laboratory 1935 Bakelite Review Silver Anniversary p17.tif \| Resin and varnish inspection laboratory <File:Test> samples 1935 Bakelite Review Silver Anniversary p17.tif \| Testing resin samples <File:Resin> and Varnish Development Laboratory 1935 Bakelite Review Silver Anniversary p17.tif \| Development laboratory
### Compression molding {#compression_molding}
Molded Bakelite forms in a condensation reaction of phenol and formaldehyde, with wood flour or asbestos fiber as a filler, under high pressure and heat in a time frame of a few minutes of curing. The result is a hard plastic material. Asbestos was gradually abandoned as filler because many countries banned the production of asbestos.
Bakelite\'s molding process had a number of advantages. Bakelite resin could be provided either as powder or as preformed partially cured slugs, increasing the speed of the casting. Thermosetting resins such as Bakelite required heat and pressure during the molding cycle but could be removed from the molding process without being cooled, again making the molding process faster. Also, because of the smooth polished surface that resulted, Bakelite objects required less finishing. Millions of parts could be duplicated quickly and relatively cheaply.
### Phenolic sheet {#phenolic_sheet}
Another market for Bakelite resin was the creation of phenolic sheet materials. A phenolic sheet is a hard, dense material made by applying heat and pressure to layers of paper or glass cloth impregnated with synthetic resin. Paper, cotton fabrics, synthetic fabrics, glass fabrics, and unwoven fabrics are all possible materials used in lamination. When heat and pressure are applied, polymerization transforms the layers into thermosetting industrial laminated plastic.
Bakelite phenolic sheet is produced in many commercial grades and with various additives to meet diverse mechanical, electrical, and thermal requirements. Some common types include:
- Paper reinforced NEMA XX per MIL-I-24768 PBG. Normal electrical applications, moderate mechanical strength, continuous operating temperature of 250 °F.
- Canvas-reinforced NEMA C per MIL-I-24768 TYPE FBM NEMA CE per MIL-I-24768 TYPE FBG. Good mechanical and impact strength with a continuous operating temperature of 250 °F.
- Linen-reinforced NEMA L per MIL-I-24768 TYPE FBI NEMA LE per MIL-I-24768 TYPE FEI. Good mechanical and electrical strength. Recommended for intricate high-strength parts. Continuous operating temperature convert 250 °F.
- Nylon reinforced NEMA N-1 per MIL-I-24768 TYPE NPG. Superior electrical properties under humid conditions, fungus resistant, continuous operating temperature of 160 °F.
## Properties
Bakelite has a number of important properties. It can be molded very quickly, decreasing production time. Moldings are smooth, retain their shape, and are resistant to heat, scratches, and destructive solvents. It is also resistant to electricity, and prized for its low conductivity. It is not flexible.
Phenolic resin products may swell slightly under conditions of extreme humidity or perpetual dampness. When rubbed or burnt, Bakelite has a distinctive, acrid, sickly-sweet or fishy odor.
## Applications
The characteristics of Bakelite made it particularly suitable as a molding compound, an adhesive or binding agent, a varnish, and a protective coating, as well as for the emerging electrical and automobile industries because of its extraordinarily high resistance to electricity, heat, and chemical action.
The earliest commercial use of Bakelite in the electrical industry was the molding of tiny insulating bushings, made in 1908 for the Weston Electrical Instrument Corporation by Richard W. Seabury of the Boonton Rubber Company. Bakelite was soon used for non-conducting parts of telephones, radios, and other electrical devices, including bases and sockets for light bulbs and electron tubes (vacuum tubes), supports for any type of electrical components, automobile distributor caps, and other insulators. By 1912, it was being used to make billiard balls, since its elasticity and the sound it made were similar to ivory.
During World War I, Bakelite was used widely, particularly in electrical systems. Important projects included the Liberty airplane engine, the wireless telephone and radio phone, and the use of micarta-bakelite propellers in the NBS-1 bomber and the DH-4B aeroplane.
Bakelite\'s availability and ease and speed of molding helped to lower the costs and increase product availability so that telephones and radios became common household consumer goods. It was also very important to the developing automobile industry. It was soon found in myriad other consumer products ranging from pipe stems and buttons to saxophone mouthpieces, cameras, early machine guns, and appliance casings. Bakelite was also very commonly used in the pistol grip, hand guard, and buttstock of firearms. Also magazines for Kalashnikov rifles - though components of the AKM, and some early AK-74 rifles are frequently mistakenly identified as using Bakelite, but most were made with AG-4S. Other uses through the first half of the 20th century include knife handles and \"scales\".
Beginning in the 1920s, it became a popular material for jewelry. Designer Coco Chanel included Bakelite bracelets in her costume jewelry collections. Designers such as Elsa Schiaparelli used it for jewelry and also for specially designed dress buttons. Later, Diana Vreeland, editor of *Vogue*, was enthusiastic about Bakelite. Bakelite was also used to make presentation boxes for Breitling watches.
By 1930, designer Paul T. Frankl considered Bakelite a \"Materia Nova\", \"expressive of our own age\". By the 1930s, Bakelite was used for game pieces like chess pieces, poker chips, dominoes, and mahjong sets. Kitchenware made with Bakelite, including canisters and tableware, was promoted for its resistance to heat and to chipping. In the mid-1930s, Northland marketed a line of skis with a black \"Ebonite\" base, a coating of Bakelite. By 1935, it was used in solid-body electric guitars. Performers such as Jerry Byrd loved the tone of Bakelite guitars but found them difficult to keep in tune.
Charles Plimpton patented BAYKO in 1933 and rushed out his first construction sets for Christmas 1934. He called the toy Bayko Light Constructional Sets, the words \"Bayko Light\" being a pun on the word \"Bakelite\".
During World War II, Bakelite was used in a variety of wartime equipment including pilots\' goggles and field telephones. It was also used for patriotic wartime jewelry. In 1943, the thermosetting phenolic resin was even considered for the manufacture of coins, due to a shortage of traditional material. Bakelite and other non-metal materials were tested for usage for the one cent coin in the US before the Mint settled on zinc-coated steel.
During World War II, Bakelite buttons were part of British uniforms. These included brown buttons for the Army and black buttons for the RAF.
In 1947, Dutch art forger Han van Meegeren was convicted of forgery, after chemist and curator Paul B. Coremans proved that a purported Vermeer contained Bakelite, which van Meegeren had used as a paint hardener.
By the late 1940s, newer materials were superseding Bakelite in many areas. Phenolics are less frequently used in general consumer products today due to their cost and complexity of production, and brittle nature. They still appear in some applications where their specific properties are required, such as small precision-shaped components, molded disc brake cylinders, saucepan handles, electrical plugs, switches and parts for electrical irons, printed circuit boards, as well as in the area of inexpensive board and tabletop games produced in China, Hong Kong, and India. Items such as billiard balls, dominoes and pieces for board games such as chess, checkers, and backgammon are constructed of Bakelite for its look, durability, fine polish, weight, and sound. Common dice are sometimes made of Bakelite for weight and sound, but the majority are made of a thermoplastic polymer such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). Bakelite continues to be used for wire insulation, brake pads and related automotive components, and industrial electrical-related applications. Bakelite stock is still manufactured and produced in sheet, rod, and tube form for industrial applications in the electronics, power generation, and aerospace industries, and under a variety of commercial brand names.
Phenolic resins have been commonly used in ablative heat shields. Soviet heatshields for ICBM warheads and spacecraft reentry consisted of asbestos textolite, impregnated with Bakelite. Bakelite is also used in the mounting of metal samples in metallography.
<File:Ericsson> bakelittelefon 1931.jpg\|Ericsson Bakelite telephone, c. 1931 <File:Bakelite> letter opener.jpg\|Bakelite letter opener c. 1920 <File:Bakelite> radio.jpg\|Bakelite radio at Bakelite museum <File:Old> Bakelit light switches and socket.jpg\|Old tumbler switch composed of Bakelite <File:Bakelite> Domino (5467420994).jpg\|A Bakelite domino <File:AK74andAKS74U.jpg>\|AK74 and AKS74 with Bakelite magazines and grips
## Collectibles
Bakelite items, particularly jewelry and radios, have become popular collectibles.
The term *Bakelite* is sometimes used in the resale market as a catch-all for various types of early plastics, including Catalin and Faturan, which may be brightly colored, as well as items made of true Bakelite material.
Due to its aesthetics, a similar material *fakelite* (fake bakelite) exists made from modern safer materials which do not contain asbestos.
## Patents
The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Baekeland a patent for a \"Method of making insoluble products of phenol and formaldehyde\" on December 7, 1909. Producing hard, compact, insoluble, and infusible condensation products of phenols and formaldehyde marked the beginning of the modern plastics industry.
## Similar plastics {#similar_plastics}
- Catalin is also a phenolic resin, similar to Bakelite, but contains different mineral fillers that allow the production of light colors.
- Condensites are similar thermoset materials having much the same properties, characteristics, and uses.
- Crystalate is an early plastic.
- Faturan is a phenolic resin, also similar to Bakelite, that turns red over time, regardless of its original color.
- Galalith is an early plastic derived from milk products.
- Micarta is an early composite insulating plate that used Bakelite as a binding agent. It was developed in 1910 by the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, which put the new material to use for casting synthetic blades for Westinghouse electric fans.
- Novotext is a brand name for cotton textile-phenolic resin.
- G-10 or garolite is made with fiberglass and epoxy resin.
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4,493 |
Outline of biology
|
`{{Self-reference|The following [[Outline (list)|outline]] is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Wikipedia articles on [[Biology]].}}`{=mediawiki} `{{TopicTOC-Biology}}`{=mediawiki}
**Biology** -- The natural science that studies life. Areas of focus include structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy.
## History of biology {#history_of_biology}
- History of anatomy
- History of biochemistry
- History of biotechnology
- History of botany
- History of ecology
- History of genetics
- History of evolutionary thought:
- Darwinism
- Eclipse of Darwinism (Lamarckism, Orthogenesis, Structuralism, and Mutationism)
- Modern (evolutionary) synthesis
- History of molecular evolution
- History of speciation
- History of marine biology
- History of medicine
- History of model organisms
- History of molecular biology
- Natural history
- History of neuroscience
- History of plant systematics
- History of pathology
- History of virology
- History of zoology
## Overview
- Biology
- Science
- Life
- Properties: Adaptation -- Energy processing -- Growth -- Order -- Regulation -- Reproduction -- Response to environment
- Biological organization: atom -- molecule -- cell -- tissue -- organ -- organ system -- organism -- population -- community -- ecosystem -- biosphere
- Approach: Reductionism -- emergent property -- mechanistic
- Biology as a science:
- Natural science
- Scientific method: observation -- research question -- hypothesis -- testability -- prediction -- experiment -- data -- statistics
- Scientific theory -- scientific law
- Research method
- List of research methods in biology
- Scientific literature
- List of biology journals: peer review
## Chemical basis {#chemical_basis}
Outline of biochemistry
- Atoms and molecules
- matter -- element -- atom -- proton -- neutron -- electron-- Bohr model -- isotope -- chemical bond -- ionic bond -- ions -- covalent bond -- hydrogen bond -- molecule
- Water:
- properties of water -- solvent -- cohesion -- adhesion -- surface tension -- pH
- Organic compounds:
- carbon -- carbon-carbon bonds -- hydrocarbon -- monosaccharide -- amino acids -- nucleotide -- functional group -- monomer -- adenosine triphosphate (ATP) -- lipids -- oil -- sugar -- vitamins -- neurotransmitter -- wax
- Macromolecules:
- polysaccharide: cellulose -- carbohydrate -- chitin -- glycogen -- starch
- proteins: primary structure -- secondary structure -- tertiary structure -- conformation -- native state -- protein folding -- enzyme -- receptor -- transmembrane receptor -- ion channel -- membrane transporter -- collagen -- pigments: chlorophyll -- carotenoid -- xanthophyll -- melanin -- prion
- lipids: cell membrane -- fats -- phospholipids
- nucleic acids: DNA -- RNA
## Cells
Outline of cell biology
- Cell structure:
- Cell coined by Robert Hooke
- Techniques: cell culture -- flow cytometry -- microscope -- light microscope -- electron microscopy -- SEM -- TEM -- live cell imaging
- Organelles: Cytoplasm -- Vacuole -- Peroxisome -- Plastid
- Cell nucleus
- Nucleoplasm -- Nucleolus -- Chromatin -- Chromosome
- Endomembrane system
- Nuclear envelope -- Endoplasmic reticulum -- Golgi apparatus -- Vesicles -- Lysosome
- Energy creators: Mitochondrion and Chloroplast
- Biological membranes:
- Plasma membrane -- Mitochondrial membrane -- Chloroplast membrane
- Other subcellular features: Cell wall -- pseudopod -- cytoskeleton -- mitotic spindle -- flagellum -- cilium
- Cell transport: Diffusion -- Osmosis -- isotonic -- active transport -- phagocytosis
- Cellular reproduction: cytokinesis -- centromere -- meiosis
- Nuclear reproduction: mitosis -- interphase -- prophase -- metaphase -- anaphase -- telophase
- programmed cell death -- apoptosis -- cell senescence
- Metabolism:
- - enzyme - activation energy - proteolysis -- cooperativity
- Cellular respiration
- - Glycolysis -- Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex -- Citric acid cycle -- electron transport chain -- fermentation
- Photosynthesis
- - light-dependent reactions -- Calvin cycle
- Cell cycle
- mitosis -- chromosome -- haploid -- diploid -- polyploidy -- prophase -- metaphase -- anaphase -- telophase -- cytokinesis -- meiosis
## Genetics
Outline of Genetics
- Inheritance
- heredity -- Mendelian inheritance -- gene -- locus -- trait -- allele -- polymorphism -- homozygote -- heterozygote -- hybrid -- hybridization -- dihybrid cross -- Punnett square -- inbreeding
- genotype--phenotype distinction -- genotype -- phenotype -- dominant gene -- recessive gene
- genetic interactions -- Mendel\'s law of segregation -- genetic mosaic -- maternal effect -- penetrance -- complementation -- suppression -- epistasis -- genetic linkage
- Model organisms: *Drosophila* -- *Arabidopsis* -- *Caenorhabditis elegans* -- mouse -- *Saccharomyces cerevisiae* -- *Escherichia coli* -- Lambda phage -- *Xenopus* -- chicken -- zebrafish -- *Ciona intestinalis* -- amphioxus
- Techniques: genetic screen -- linkage map -- genetic map
- DNA
- Nucleic acid double helix
- Nucleobase: adenine (A) -- cytosine (C) -- guanine (G) -- thymine (T) -- uracil (U)
- DNA replication -- mutation -- mutation rate -- proofreading -- DNA mismatch repair -- point mutation -- crossover -- recombination -- plasmid -- transposon
- Gene expression
- Central dogma of molecular biology: nucleosome -- genetic code -- codon -- transcription factor -- transcription -- translation -- RNA -- histone -- telomere
- heterochromatin -- promoter -- RNA polymerase
- Protein biosynthesis -- ribosomes
- Gene regulation
- operon -- activator -- repressor -- corepressor -- enhancer -- alternative splicing
- Genomes
- DNA sequencing -- high throughput sequencing -- bioinformatics
- Proteome -- proteomics -- metabolome -- metabolomics
- DNA paternity testing
- Biotechnology (see also Outline of biochemical techniques and Molecular biology):
- DNA fingerprinting -- genetic fingerprint -- microsatellite -- gene knockout -- imprinting -- RNA interference Genomics -- computational biology -- bioinformatics -- gel electrophoresis -- transformation -- PCR -- PCR mutagenesis -- primer -- chromosome walking -- RFLP -- restriction enzyme -- sequencing -- shotgun sequencing -- cloning -- culture -- DNA microarray -- electrophoresis -- protein tag -- affinity chromatography -- x-ray diffraction -- proteomics -- mass spectrometry -- CRISPR -- gene therapy
- Genes, development, and evolution
- Apoptosis
- French flag model
- Pattern formation
- Evo-devo gene toolkit
- Transcription factor
## Evolution
Outline of evolution (see also evolutionary biology)
- Evolutionary processes
- evolution
- microevolution: adaptation -- selection -- natural selection -- directional selection -- sexual selection -- genetic drift -- sexual reproduction -- asexual reproduction -- colony -- allele frequency -- neutral theory of molecular evolution -- population genetics -- Hardy--Weinberg principle
- Speciation
- Species
- Phylogeny
- Lineage (evolution) -- evolutionary tree -- cladistics -- species -- taxon -- clade -- monophyletic -- polyphyly -- paraphyly -- heredity -- phenotypic trait -- nucleic acid sequence -- synapomorphy -- homology -- molecular clock -- outgroup (cladistics) -- maximum parsimony (phylogenetics) -- Computational phylogenetics
- Linnaean taxonomy: Carl Linnaeus -- domain (biology) -- kingdom (biology) -- phylum -- class (biology) -- order (biology) -- family (biology) -- genus -- species
- Three-domain system: archaea -- bacteria -- eukaryote -- protist -- fungi -- plant -- animal
- Binomial nomenclature: scientific classification -- *Homo sapiens*
- History of life
- Origin of life -- hierarchy of life -- Miller--Urey experiment
- Macroevolution: adaptive radiation -- convergent evolution -- extinction -- mass extinction -- fossil -- taphonomy -- geologic time -- plate tectonics -- continental drift -- vicariance -- Gondwana -- Pangaea -- endosymbiosis
## Diversity
- Bacteria and Archaea
- Protists
- Plant diversity
- Green algae
- Chlorophyta
- Charophyta
- Bryophytes
- Marchantiophyta
- Anthocerotophyta
- Moss
- Pteridophytes
- Lycopodiophyta
- Polypodiophyta
- Seed plants
- Cycadophyta
- Ginkgophyta
- Pinophyta
- Gnetophyta
- Magnoliophyta
- Fungi
- Yeast -- mold (fungus) -- mushroom
- Animal diversity
- Invertebrates:
- sponge -- cnidarian -- coral -- jellyfish -- Hydra (genus) -- sea anemone
- flatworms -- nematodes
- arthropods: crustacean -- chelicerata -- myriapoda -- arachnids -- insects -- annelids -- molluscs
- Vertebrates:
- fishes: -- agnatha -- chondrichthyes -- osteichthyes
- Tiktaalik
- tetrapods
- amphibians
- reptiles
- birds
- flightless birds -- Neognathae -- dinosaurs
- mammals
- placental: primates
- marsupial
- monotreme
- Viruses
- DNA viruses -- RNA viruses -- retroviruses
## Plant form and function {#plant_form_and_function}
- Plant body
- Organ systems: root -- shoot -- stem -- leaf -- flower
- Plant nutrition and transport
- Vascular tissue -- bark (botany) -- Casparian strip -- turgor pressure -- xylem -- phloem -- transpiration -- wood -- trunk (botany)
- Plant development
- tropism -- taxis
- seed -- cotyledon -- meristem -- apical meristem -- vascular cambium -- cork cambium
- alternation of generations -- gametophyte -- antheridium -- archegonium -- sporophyte -- spore -- sporangium
- Plant reproduction
- angiosperms -- flower -- reproduction -- sperm -- pollination -- self-pollination -- cross-pollination -- nectar -- pollen
- Plant responses
- Plant hormone -- ripening -- fruit -- Ethylene as a plant hormone -- toxin -- pollinator -- phototropism -- skototropism -- phototropin -- phytochrome -- auxin -- photoperiodism -- gravity
## Animal form and function {#animal_form_and_function}
- General features: morphology (biology) -- anatomy -- physiology -- biological tissues -- organ (biology) -- organ systems
- Water and salt balance
- Body fluids: osmotic pressure -- ionic composition -- volume
- Diffusion -- osmosis) -- Tonicity -- sodium -- potassium -- calcium -- chloride
- Excretion
- Nutrition and digestion
- Digestive system: stomach -- intestine -- liver -- nutrition -- primary nutritional groups metabolism -- kidney -- excretion
- Breathing
- Respiratory system: lungs
- Circulation
- Circulatory system: heart -- artery -- vein -- capillary -- Blood -- blood cell
- Lymphatic system: lymph node
- Muscle and movement
- Skeletal system: bone -- cartilage -- joint -- tendon
- Muscular system: muscle -- actin -- myosin -- reflex
- Nervous system
- Neuron -- dendrite -- axon -- nerve -- electrochemical gradient -- electrophysiology -- action potential -- signal transduction -- synapse -- receptor --
- Central nervous system: brain -- spinal cord
- limbic system -- memory -- vestibular system
- Peripheral nervous system
- Sensory nervous system: eye -- vision -- audition -- proprioception -- olfaction --
- Integumentary system: skin cell
- Hormonal control
- Endocrine system: hormone
- Animal reproduction
- Reproductive system: testes -- ovary -- pregnancy
- Fish#Reproductive system
- Mammalian reproductive system
- Human reproductive system
- Mammalian penis
- Os penis
- Penile spines
- Genitalia of bottlenose dolphins
- Genitalia of marsupials
- Equine reproductive system
- Even-toed ungulate#Genitourinary system
- Bull#Reproductive anatomy
- Carnivora#Reproductive system
- Fossa (animal)#External genitalia
- Female genitalia of spotted hyenas
- Cat anatomy#Genitalia
- Genitalia of dogs
- Canine penis
- Bulbus glandis
- Animal development
- stem cell -- blastula -- gastrula -- egg (biology) -- fetus -- placenta - gamete -- spermatid -- ovum -- zygote -- embryo -- cellular differentiation -- morphogenesis -- homeobox
- Immune system
- antibody -- host -- vaccine -- immune cell -- AIDS -- T cell -- leucocyte
- Animal behavior
- Behavior: mating -- animal communication -- seek shelter -- migration (ecology)
- Fixed action pattern
- Altruism (biology)
## Ecology
Outline of ecology
- Ecosystems:
- Ecology -- Biodiversity -- habitat -- plankton -- thermocline -- saprobe
- Abiotic component: water -- light -- radiation -- temperature -- humidity -- atmosphere -- acidity
- Microbe -- biomass -- organic matter -- decomposer -- decomposition -- carbon -- nutrient cycling -- solar energy -- topography -- tilt -- Windward and leeward -- precipitation Temperature -- biome
- Populations
- Population ecology: organism -- geographical area -- sexual reproduction -- population density -- population growth -- birth rate -- death Rate -- immigration rate -- exponential growth -- carrying capacity -- logistic function -- natural environment -- competition (biology) -- mating -- biological dispersal -- endemic (ecology) -- growth curve (biology) -- habitat -- drinking water -- resource -- human population -- technology -- Green revolution
- Communities
- Community (ecology) -- ecological niche -- keystone species -- mimicry -- symbiosis -- pollination -- mutualism -- commensalism -- parasitism -- predation -- invasive species -- environmental heterogeneity -- edge effect
- Consumer--resource interactions: food chain -- food web -- autotroph -- heterotrophs -- herbivore -- carnivore -- trophic level
- Biosphere
- lithosphere -- atmosphere -- hydrosphere
- biogeochemical cycle: nitrogen cycle -- carbon cycle -- water cycle
- Climate change: Fossil fuel -- coal -- oil -- natural gas -- World energy consumption -- Climate change feedback -- Albedo -- water vapor Carbon sink
- Conservation
- Biodiversity -- habitats -- Ecosystem services -- biodiversity loss -- extinction -- Sustainability -- Holocene extinction -- bioremediation
## Branches
- Anatomy -- study of form in animals, plants and other organisms, or specifically in humans. Simply, the study of internal structure of living organisms.
- Physiology -- study of the internal workings of organisms and the functions of anatomical structures.
- Comparative anatomy -- the study of evolution of species through similarities and differences in their anatomy.
- Gross anatomy -- study of anatomy at the macroscopic level
- Histology -- also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues.
- Neuroanatomy -- the study of the nervous system.
- Osteology -- study of bones.
- Radiographic anatomy -- study of anatomy through radiography
- Surface anatomy -- study of external features of a body
- Biochemistry -- study of the chemical reactions required for life to exist and function, usually a focus on the cellular level.
- Biophysics -- study of biological processes through the methods traditionally used in the physical sciences.
- Biomechanics -- the study of the mechanics of living beings.
- Cellular biophysics -- study of physical principles underlying cell function
- Neurophysics -- study of the development of the nervous system on a molecular level.
- Molecular biophysics -- study of physical properties of biomolecules at the molecular level
- Quantum biology -- application of quantum mechanics and theoretical chemistry to biological objects and problems.
- Virophysics -- study of mechanics and dynamics driving the interactions between virus and cells.
- Biotechnology -- new and sometimes controversial branch of biology that studies the manipulation of living matter, including genetic modification and synthetic biology.
- Bioinformatics -- use of information technology for the study, collection, and storage of genomic and other biological data.
- Bioengineering -- study of biology through the means of engineering with an emphasis on applied knowledge and especially related to biotechnology.
- Synthetic biology -- research integrating biology and engineering; construction of biological functions not found in nature.
- Botany -- study of plants.
- Economic botany -- study of relationship between people and plants, including the practical uses of plants
- Ethnobotany -- study of a region\'s plants and their usage by people
- Photobiology -- scientific study of the interactions of light (technically, non-ionizing radiation) and living organisms. The field includes the study of photosynthesis, photomorphogenesis, visual processing, circadian rhythms, bioluminescence, and ultraviolet radiation effects.
- Phycology -- scientific study of algae.
- Plant anatomy -- study of internal structure of plants
- Plant ecology -- study of how plants interact with each other and their environment
- Plant genetics -- study of heredity and variation in plants
- Plant pathology -- study of plant diseases
- Plant physiology -- subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants.
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- Cell biology -- study of the cell as a complete unit, and the molecular and chemical interactions that occur within a living cell.
- Histology -- study of the anatomy of cells and tissues of plants and animals using microscopy.
- Chronobiology -- field of biology that examines periodic (cyclic) phenomena in living organisms and their adaptation to solar- and lunar-related rhythms.
- Dendrochronology -- study of tree rings, using them to date the exact year they were formed in order to analyze atmospheric conditions during different periods in natural history.
- Developmental biology -- study of the processes through which an organism forms, from zygote to full structure
- Embryology -- study of the development of embryo (from fecundation to birth).
- Gerontology -- study of aging processes.
- Ecology -- study of the interactions of living organisms with one another and with the non-living elements of their environment.
- Behavioral ecology -- the study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressure
- Ecosystem ecology -- study of biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems and their interactions within an ecosystem
- Landscape ecology -- study of relationships between ecological processes in the environment and particular ecosystems
- Microbial ecology -- study of the relationships between microorganisms and their environments
- Population ecology -- study of dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment
- Urban ecology -- study of the relationships between living organisms with each other and their urban environment.
- Biogeography -- study of the distribution of species spatially and temporally.
- Evolutionary biology -- study of the origin and descent of species over time.
- Evolutionary developmental biology -- field of biology that compares the developmental processes of different organisms to determine the ancestral relationship between them, and to discover how developmental processes evolved.
- Paleobiology -- discipline which combines the methods and findings of the life sciences with the methods and findings of the earth science, paleontology.
- Paleoanthropology -- the study of fossil evidence for human evolution, mainly using remains from extinct hominin and other primate species to determine the morphological and behavioral changes in the human lineage, as well as the environment in which human evolution occurred.
- Paleobotany -- study of fossil plants.
- Paleontology -- study of fossils and sometimes geographic evidence of prehistoric life.
- Paleopathology -- the study of pathogenic conditions observable in bones or mummified soft tissue, and on nutritional disorders, variation in stature or morphology of bones over time, evidence of physical trauma, or evidence of occupationally derived biomechanic stress.
- Genetics -- study of genes and heredity.
- Molecular genetics -- study of the bimolecular mechanisms behind the structure and function of DNA
- Quantitative genetics -- study of phenotypes that vary continuously (in characters such as height or mass)---as opposed to discretely identifiable phenotypes and gene-products (such as eye-colour, or the presence of a particular biochemical).
- Marine biology -- study of ocean ecosystems, plants, animals, and other living beings.
- Microbiology -- study of microscopic organisms (microorganisms) and their interactions with other living things.
- Bacteriology -- study of bacteria
- Immunology -- study of immune systems in all organisms.
- Mycology -- study of fungi
- Parasitology -- study of parasites and parasitism.
- Virology -- study of viruses
- Biochemistry
- Molecular biology -- study of biology and biological functions at the molecular level, with some cross over from biochemistry.
- Structural biology -- a branch of molecular biology, biochemistry, and biophysics concerned with the molecular structure of biological macromolecules.
- Health sciences and human biology -- biology of humans.
- Medicine -- Diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of illness.
- Endocrinology -- study of the endocrine system.
- Oncology -- study of cancer processes, including virus or mutation, oncogenesis, angiogenesis, and tissues remoldings.
- Pharmacology -- study of medication and drugs
- Epidemiology -- major component of public health research, studying factors affecting the health of populations.
- Neuroscience -- study of the nervous system, including anatomy, physiology and emergent proprieties.
- Behavioral neuroscience -- study of physiological, genetic, and developmental mechanisms of behavior in humans and other animals.
- Cellular neuroscience -- study of neurons at a cellular level.
- Cognitive neuroscience -- study of biological substrates underlying cognition, with a focus on the neural substrates of mental processes.
- Computational neuroscience -- study of the information processing functions of the nervous system, and the use of digital computers to study the nervous system.
- Developmental neuroscience -- study of the cellular basis of brain development and addresses the underlying mechanisms.
- Molecular neuroscience -- studies the biology of the nervous system with molecular biology, molecular genetics, protein chemistry and related methodologies.
- Neuroanatomy -- study of the anatomy of nervous tissue and neural structures of the nervous system.
- Neuroendocrinology -- studies the interaction between the nervous system and the endocrine system, that is how the brain regulates the hormonal activity in the body.
- Neuroethology -- study of animal behavior and its underlying mechanistic control by the nervous system.
- Neuroimmunology -- study of the nervous system, and immunology, the study of the immune system.
- Neuropharmacology -- study of how drugs affect cellular function in the nervous system.
- Neurophysiology -- study of the function (as opposed to structure) of the nervous system.
- Systems neuroscience -- studies the function of neural circuits and systems.
- Theoretical Biology -- the mathematical modeling of biological phenomena.
- Systems biology -- computational modeling of biological systems.
- `{{visible anchor|Zoology}}`{=mediawiki} -- study of animals, including classification, physiology, development, and behavior. Subbranches include:
- Arthropodology -- biological discipline concerned with the study of arthropods, a phylum of animals that include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others that are characterized by the possession of jointed limbs.
- Acarology -- study of the taxon of arachnids that contains mites and ticks.
- Arachnology -- scientific study of spiders and related animals such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, collectively called arachnids.
- Entomology -- study of insects.
- Coleopterology -- study of beetles.
- Lepidopterology -- study of a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies (called lepidopterans).
- Myrmecology -- scientific study of ants.
- Carcinology -- study of crustaceans.
- Myriapodology -- study of centipedes, millipedes, and other myriapods.
- `{{visible anchor|Ethology}}`{=mediawiki} -- scientific study of animal behavior, usually with a focus on behavior under natural conditions.
- Helminthology -- study of worms, especially parasitic worms.
- Herpetology -- study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and gymnophiona) and reptiles (including snakes, lizards, amphisbaenids, turtles, terrapins, tortoises, crocodilians, and the tuataras).
- Batrachology -- subdiscipline of herpetology concerned with the study of amphibians alone.
- Ichthyology -- study of fishes. This includes bony fishes (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fishes (Agnatha).
- Malacology -- branch of invertebrate zoology which deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods.
- Teuthology -- branch of Malacology which deals with the study of cephalopods.
- Mammalogy -- study of mammals, a class of vertebrates with characteristics such as homeothermic metabolism, fur, four-chambered hearts, and complex nervous systems. Mammalogy has also been known as \"mastology,\" \"theriology,\" and \"therology.\" There are about 4,200 different species of animals which are considered mammals.
- Cetology -- branch of marine mammal science that studies the approximately eighty species of whales, dolphins, and porpoise in the scientific order Cetacea.
- Primatology -- scientific study of primates
- Human biology -- interdisciplinary field studying the range of humans and human populations via biology/life sciences, anthropology/social sciences, applied/medical sciences
- Biological anthropology -- subfield of anthropology that studies the physical morphology, genetics and behavior of the human genus, other hominins and hominids across their evolutionary development
- Human behavioral ecology -- the study of behavioral adaptations (foraging, reproduction, ontogeny) from the evolutionary and ecologic perspectives (see behavioral ecology). It focuses on human adaptive responses (physiological, developmental, genetic) to environmental stresses.
- Nematology -- scientific discipline concerned with the study of nematodes, or roundworms.
- Ornithology -- scientific study of birds.
- Interdisciplinary fields
- Astrobiology -- study of potential life outside of Earth.
- Bioarchaeology -- study of human and animal remains from archaeological sites.
- Geobiology -- study of the interactions between the physical Earth and the biosphere.
- Biolinguistics -- biological study of language.
- Biological anthropology -- study of the development of the human species.
## Biologists
Lists of notable biologists
- List of notable biologists
- List of Nobel Prize winners in physiology or medicine
- Lists of biologists by author abbreviation
- List of authors of names published under the ICZN
Lists of biologists by subject
- List of biochemists
- List of ecologists
- List of neuroscientists
- List of physiologists
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British thermal unit
|
The **British thermal unit** (**Btu**) is a measure of heat, which is a form of energy. It was originally defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. It is also part of the United States customary units. The SI unit for energy is the joule (J); one Btu equals about 1,055 J (varying within the range of 1,054--1,060 J depending on the specific definition of Btu; see below).
While units of heat are often supplanted by energy units in scientific work, they are still used in some fields. For example, in the United States the price of natural gas is quoted in dollars per the amount of natural gas that would give 1 million Btu (1 \"MMBtu\") of heat energy if burned.
## Definitions
A Btu was originally defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of liquid water by one degree Fahrenheit at a constant pressure of one atmospheric unit. There are several different definitions of the Btu that differ slightly. This reflects the fact that the temperature change of a mass of water due to the addition of a specific amount of heat (calculated in energy units, usually joules) depends slightly upon the water\'s initial temperature. As seen in the table below, definitions of the Btu based on different water temperatures vary by up to 0.5%.
Variant Energy (J) Notes
---------------- ----------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thermochemical ≈1,054.35 Originally, the thermochemical Btu was defined as the heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water from its freezing point to its boiling point, divided by 180 (the temperature change being 180 °F). The basis for its modern definition in terms of SI units is the conceptually similar *thermochemical calorie*, originally defined as the heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of water from freezing to boiling divided by 100 (the temperature change being 100 °C). The thermochemical calorie is exactly 4.184 J by definition of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The thermochemical Btu is calculated by converting from grams to pounds and from Celsius to Fahrenheit.
≈1,054.80 Used for American natural gas pricing.
≈1,054.68 {{cite book title=Renewable Energy Focus e-Mega Handbook
≈1,059.67 Uses the calorie value of water at its maximum density (4 °C).
IT ≈1,055.06 An early effort to define heat units directly in terms of energy units, and hence to remove the direct association with the properties of water, was made by the International Steam Table Conferences. These conferences originally adopted the simplified definition that 860 \"IT\" calories corresponded to exactly 1 international watt-hour (not the same as a modern watt-hour). This definition ultimately became the statement that 1 IT calorie is exactly 4.1868 J. {{cite book
### Prefixes
Units of kBtu are used in building energy use tracking and heating system sizing. Energy Use Index (EUI) represents kBtu per square foot of conditioned floor area. \"k\" stands for 1,000.
The unit **MBtu** is used in natural gas and other industries to indicate 1,000 Btu. However, there is an ambiguity in that the metric system (SI) uses the prefix \"M\" to indicate \'Mega-\', one million (1,000,000). Even so, \"MMBtu\" is often used to indicate one million Btu particularly in the oil and gas industry.
Energy analysts accustomed to the metric \"k\" (\'kilo-\') for 1,000 are more likely to use MBtu to represent one million, especially in documents where M represents one million in other energy or cost units, such as MW, MWh and \$.
The unit \'therm\' is used to represent 100,000 Btu. A decatherm is 10 therms or one million Btu. The unit *quad* is commonly used to represent one quadrillion (10^15^) Btu.
## Conversions
One Btu is approximately:
- (kilojoules)
- (watt hours)
- (calories)
- (kilocalories)
- 25,031 to 25,160 ft⋅pdl (foot-poundal)
- (foot-pounds-force)
- 5.40395 (lbf/in^2^)⋅ft^3^
A Btu can be approximated as the heat produced by burning a single wooden kitchen match or as the amount of energy it takes to lift a 1 lb weight 778 ft.
### For natural gas {#for_natural_gas}
- In natural gas pricing, the Canadian definition is that `{{val|1000000|u=Btu|fmt=commas}}`{=mediawiki} ≡ `{{val|1.054615|u=GJ}}`{=mediawiki}.
- The energy content (high or low heating value) of a volume of natural gas varies with the composition of the natural gas, which means there is no universal conversion factor for energy to volume. 1 ft3 of average natural gas yields ≈ 1,030 Btu (between 1,010 Btu and 1,070 Btu, depending on quality, when burned)
- As a coarse approximation, 1000 ft3 of natural gas yields ≈ `{{val|1000000|u=Btu|fmt=commas}}`{=mediawiki} ≈ `{{val|1|u=GJ}}`{=mediawiki}.
- For natural gas price conversion `{{val|1000|u=m3|fmt=commas}}`{=mediawiki} ≈ 36.9 million Btu and `{{val|1000000|u=Btu|fmt=commas}}`{=mediawiki} ≈ `{{val|27.1|u=m3}}`{=mediawiki}
### Btu/h
The SI unit of power for heating and cooling systems is the watt. Btu *per hour* (Btu/h) is sometimes used in North America and the United Kingdom - the latter for air conditioning mainly, though \"Btu/h\" is sometimes abbreviated to just \"Btu\". *MBH*---thousands of Btu per hour---is also common.
- 1 W is approximately 1 W
- 1,000 Btu/h is approximately 1000 Btu/h
- 1 hp is approximately 1 hp
## Associated units {#associated_units}
- 1 *ton of cooling*, a common unit in North American refrigeration and air conditioning applications, is 12,000 Btu/h. It is the rate of heat transfer needed to freeze 1 ST of water into ice in 24 hours.
- In the United States and Canada, the R-value that describes the performance of thermal insulation is typically quoted in square foot degree Fahrenheit hours per British thermal unit (ft^2^⋅°F⋅h/Btu). For one square foot of the insulation, one Btu per hour of heat flows across the insulator for each degree of temperature difference across it.
- 1 *therm* is defined in the United States as 100,000 Btu using the `{{not a typo|Btu<sub>59 °F</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} definition. In the EU it was listed in 1979 with the BTU~IT~ definition and planned to be discarded as a legal unit of trade by 1994. United Kingdom regulations were amended to replace therms with joules with effect from 1 January 2000. `{{As of|2013}}`{=mediawiki} the therm was still used in natural gas pricing in the United Kingdom.
- 1 *quad* (short for quadrillion Btu) is 10^15^ Btu, which is about 1 exajoule (`{{val|1.055|e=18|u=J}}`{=mediawiki}). Quads are used in the United States for representing the annual energy consumption of large economies: for example, the U.S. economy used 99.75 quads in 2005. One quad/year is about 33.43 gigawatts.
The Btu should not be confused with the Board of Trade Unit (BTU), an obsolete UK synonym for kilowatt hour (1 kW.h).
The Btu is often used to express the conversion-efficiency of heat into electrical energy in power plants. Figures are quoted in terms of the quantity of heat in Btu required to generate 1 kW⋅h of electrical energy. A typical coal-fired power plant works at 10500 Btu/kWh, an efficiency of 32--33%.
The centigrade heat unit (CHU) is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 lb of water by one Celsius degree. It is equal to 1.8 Btu or 1,899 joules. In 1974, this unit was \"still sometimes used\" in the United Kingdom as an alternative to Btu.
Another legacy unit for energy in the metric system is the calorie, which is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius.
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4,505 |
Backbone cabal
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The **backbone cabal** was an informal organization of large-site news server administrators of the worldwide distributed newsgroup-based discussion system Usenet. It existed from about 1983 until around 1988.
The cabal was created in an effort to facilitate reliable propagation of new Usenet posts. While in the 1970s and 1980s many news servers only operated during night time to save on the cost of long-distance communication, servers of the backbone cabal were available 24 hours a day. The administrators of these servers gained sufficient influence in the otherwise anarchic Usenet community to be able to push through controversial changes, for instance the Great Renaming of Usenet newsgroups during 1987.
## History
Mary Ann Horton recruited membership in and designed the original physical topology of the Usenet Backbone in 1983. Gene \"Spaf\" Spafford then created an email list of the backbone administrators, plus a few influential posters. This list became known as the Backbone Cabal and served as a \"political (i.e. decision making) backbone\". Other prominent members of the cabal were Brian Reid, Richard Sexton, Chuq von Rospach and Rick Adams.
## In internet culture {#in_internet_culture}
During most of its existence, the cabal (sometimes capitalized) steadfastly denied its own existence; those involved would often respond \"There is no Cabal\" (sometimes abbreviated as \"TINC\"\').
The result of this policy was an aura of mystery, even a decade after the cabal mailing list disbanded in late 1988 following an internal fight.
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Body substance isolation
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**Body substance isolation** is a practice of isolating all body substances (blood, urine, feces, tears, etc.) of individuals undergoing medical treatment, particularly emergency medical treatment of those who might be infected with illnesses such as HIV, or hepatitis so as to reduce as much as possible the chances of transmitting these illnesses. BSI is similar in nature to universal precautions, but goes further in isolating workers from pathogens, including substances now known to carry HIV.
## Place of body substance isolation practice in history {#place_of_body_substance_isolation_practice_in_history}
Practice of Universal precautions was introduced in 1985--88. In 1987, the practice of Universal precautions was adjusted by a set of rules known as body substance isolation. In 1996, both practices were replaced by the latest approach known as standard precautions (health care). Nowadays and in isolation, practice of body substance isolation has just historical significance.
Body substance isolation went further than universal precautions in isolating workers from pathogens, including substances now currently known to carry HIV. These pathogens fall into two broad categories, bloodborne (carried in the body fluids) and airborne. The practice of BSI was common in Pre-Hospital care and emergency medical services due to the often unknown nature of the patient and his/her disease or medical conditions. It was a part of the National Standards Curriculum for Prehospital Providers and Firefighters.Types of body substance isolation included:
- Hospital gowns
- Medical gloves
- Shoe covers
- Surgical mask or N95 Respirator
- Safety Glasses
It was postulated that BSI precautions should be practiced in environment where treaters were exposed to bodily fluids, such as:
- blood, semen, preseminal fluid, vaginal secretions, synovial fluid, amniotic fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, pleural fluid, peritoneal fluid, marrow, pericardial fluid, feces, nasal secretions, urine, vomitus, sputum, mucus, cervical mucus, phlegm, saliva, breastmilk, colostrum, and secretions and blood from the umbilical cord
Such infection control techniques that were recommended following the AIDS outbreak in the 1980s. Every patient was treated as if infected and therefore precautions were taken to minimize risk. Other conditions which called for minimizing risks with BSI:
- Diseases with air-borne transmission (e.g., tuberculosis)
- Diseases with droplet transmission (e.g., mumps, rubella, influenza, pertussis)
- Transmission by direct or indirect contact with dried skin (e.g., colonisation with MRSA) or contaminated surfaces
- Prion diseases (e.g., Creutzfeldt--Jakob disease)
or any combination of the above.
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Burroughs Corporation
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The **Burroughs Corporation** was a major American manufacturer of business equipment. The company was founded in 1886 as the American Arithmometer Company by William Seward Burroughs. The company\'s history paralleled many of the major developments in computing. At its start, it produced mechanical adding machines, and later moved into programmable ledgers and then computers. It was one of the largest producers of mainframe computers in the world, also producing related equipment including typewriters and printers.
In the 1960s, the company introduced a range of mainframe computers that were well regarded for their performance running high level languages. These formed the core of the company\'s business into the 1970s. At that time the emergence of superminicomputers and the dominance of the IBM System/360 and 370 at the high end led to shrinking markets, and in 1986 the company purchased former competitor Sperry UNIVAC and merged their operations to form Unisys.
## Early history {#early_history}
In 1886, the American Arithmometer Company was established in St. Louis, Missouri, to produce and sell an adding machine invented by William Seward Burroughs (grandfather of Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs). In 1904, six years after Burroughs\' death, the company moved to Detroit and changed its name to the Burroughs Adding Machine Company. It was soon the biggest adding machine company in America.
## Evolving product lines {#evolving_product_lines}
The adding machine range began with the basic, hand-cranked Class 1 which was only capable of adding. The design included some revolutionary features, foremost of which was the dashpot which governed the speed at which the operating lever could be pulled so allowing the mechanism to operate consistently correctly. The machine also had a full-keyboard with a separate column of keys 1 to 9 for each decade where the keys latch when pressed, with interlocking which prevented more than one key in any decade from being latched. The latching allowed the operator to quickly check that the correct number had been entered before pulling the operating lever. The numbers entered and the final total were printed on a roll of paper at the rear, so there was no danger of the operator writing down the wrong answer and there was a copy of the calculation which could be checked later if necessary.
The Class 2 machine, called the \"duplex\" and built in the same basic style, provided a means of keeping two separate totals. The Class 6 machine was built for bookkeeping work and provided the ability for direct subtraction.
Burroughs released the Class 3 and Class 4 adding machines which were built after the purchase of the Pike Adding Machine Company around 1910. These machines provided a significant improvement over the older models because operators could view the printing on the paper tape. The machines were called \"the visible\" for this improvement.
In 1925 Burroughs released a much smaller machine called \"the portable\". Two models were released, the Class 8 (without subtraction) and the Class 9 with subtraction capability. Later models continued to be released with the P600 and top-of-the-range P612 offered some limited programmability based upon the position of the movable carriage. The range was further extended by the inclusion of the Series J ten-key machines which provided a single finger calculation facility, and the Class 5 (later called Series C) key-driven calculators in both manual and electrical assisted comptometers.
In the late 1960s, the Burroughs sponsored \"nixi-tube\" provided an electronic display calculator. Burroughs developed a range of adding machines with different capabilities, gradually increasing in their capabilities. A revolutionary adding machine was the *Sensimatic*, which was able to perform many business functions semi-automatically. It had a moving programmable carriage to maintain ledgers. It could store 9, 18 or 27 balances during the ledger posting operations and worked with a mechanical adder named a Crossfooter. The Sensimatic developed into the *Sensitronic* which could store balances on a magnetic stripe which was part of the ledger card. This balance was read into the accumulator when the card was inserted into the carriage. The Sensitronic was followed by the E1000, E2000, E3000, E4000, E6000 and the E8000, which were computer systems supporting card reader/punches and a line printer.
Later, Burroughs was selling more than adding machines, including typewriters.
## Move into computers {#move_into_computers}
The biggest shift in company history came in 1953: the Burroughs Adding Machine Company was renamed the Burroughs Corporation and began moving into digital computer products, initially for banking institutions. This move began with Burroughs\' purchase in June 1956, of the ElectroData Corporation in Pasadena, California, a spinoff of the Consolidated Engineering Corporation which had designed test instruments and had a cooperative relationship with Caltech in Pasadena. ElectroData had built the Datatron 205 and was working on the Datatron 220. The first major computer product that came from this marriage was the B205 tube computer. In 1968 the L and TC series range was produced (e.g. the TC500---Terminal Computer 500) which had a golf ball printer and in the beginning a 1K (64 bit) disk memory. These were popular as branch terminals to the B5500/6500/6700 systems, and sold well in the banking sector, where they were often connected to non-Burroughs mainframes. In conjunction with these products, Burroughs also manufactured an extensive range of cheque processing equipment, normally attached as terminals to a medium systems such as B200/B300 and larger systems such as a B2700 or B1700.
In the 1950s, Burroughs worked with the Federal Reserve Bank on the development and computer processing of magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) especially for the processing of bank cheques. Burroughs made special MICR/OCR sorter/readers which attached to their medium systems line of computers (2700/3700/4700) and B200/B300 systems and this entrenched the company in the computer side of the banking industry.
## A force in the computing industry {#a_force_in_the_computing_industry}
Burroughs was one of the nine major United States computer companies in the 1960s, with IBM the largest, Honeywell, NCR Corporation, Control Data Corporation (CDC), General Electric (GE), Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), RCA and Sperry Rand (UNIVAC line). In terms of sales, Burroughs was always a distant second to IBM. In fact, IBM\'s market share was so much larger than all of the others that this group was often referred to as \"IBM and the Seven Dwarves.\" By 1972 when GE and RCA were no longer in the mainframe business, the remaining five companies behind IBM became known as the BUNCH, an acronym based on their initials.
At the same time, Burroughs was very much a competitor. Like IBM, Burroughs tried to supply a complete line of products for its customers, including Burroughs-designed printers, disk drives, tape drives, computer printing paper and typewriter ribbons.
### Developments and innovations {#developments_and_innovations}
The Burroughs Corporation developed three highly innovative architectures, based on the design philosophy of \"language-directed design\". Their machine instruction sets favored one or many high level programming languages, such as ALGOL, COBOL or FORTRAN. All three architectures were considered mainframe class machines:
- The Burroughs Large Systems machines started with the B5000 in 1961. The B5500 came a few years later when large rotating disks replaced drums as the main external memory media. These B5000 Series systems used the world\'s first virtual memory multi-programming operating system. They were followed by the B6500/B6700 in the later 1960s, the B7700 in the mid-1970s, and the A series in the 1980s. The underlying architecture of these machines is similar and continues today as the Unisys ClearPath MCP line of computers: stack machines designed to be programmed in an extended Algol 60. Their operating systems, called MCP (Master Control Program---the name later borrowed by the screenwriters for *Tron*), were programmed in ESPOL (Executive Systems Programming Oriented Language, a minor extension of ALGOL) and DCALGOL (Data Communications ALGOL) and later in NEWP (with further extensions to ALGOL) almost a decade before Unix. The command interface developed into a compiled structured language with declarations, statements and procedures called WFL (Work Flow Language).
Many computer scientists`{{who|date=June 2024}}`{=mediawiki} consider these series of computers to be technologically groundbreaking. Stack oriented processors, with 48 bit word length where each word was defined as data or program contributed significantly to a secure operating environment, long before spyware and viruses affected computing. The modularity of these large systems was unique: multiple CPUs, multiple memory modules and multiple I/O and Data Comm processors permitted incremental and cost effective growth of system performance and reliability.
In industries like banking, where continuous operations was mandatory, Burroughs Large Systems penetrated nearly every large bank, including the Federal Reserve Bank. Burroughs built the backbone switching systems for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) which sent its first message in 1977. Unisys is still the provider to SWIFT today.
- Burroughs produced the B2500 or \"medium systems\" computers aimed primarily at the business world. The machines were designed to execute COBOL efficiently. This included a BCD (Binary Coded Decimal) based arithmetic unit, storing and addressing the main memory using base 10 numbering instead of binary. The designation for these systems was Burroughs B2500 through B49xx, followed by Unisys V-Series V340 through V560.
- Burroughs produced the B1700 or \"small systems\" computers that were designed to be microprogrammed, with each process potentially getting its own virtual machine designed to be the best match to the programming language chosen for the program being run.
- The smallest general-purpose computers were the B700 \"microprocessors\" which were used both as stand-alone systems and as special-purpose data-communications or disk-subsystem controllers.
- Burroughs manufactured an extensive range of accounting machines including stand-alone systems such as the Sensimatic, L500 and B80 and dedicated terminals including the TC500 and specialised check processing equipment.
- In 1982, Burroughs began producing personal computers, the B20 and B25 lines with the Intel 8086/8088 family of 16-bit chips as the processor. These ran the BTOS operating system, which Burroughs licensed from Convergent Technologies. These machines implemented an early local area network to share a hard disk between workgroup users. These microcomputers were later manufactured in Kunming, China for use in China under agreement with Burroughs.
- Burroughs collaborated with University of Illinois on a multiprocessor architecture developing the ILLIAC IV computer in the early 1960s. The ILLIAC had up to 128 parallel processors while the B6700 & B7700 only accommodated a total of 7 CPUs and/or I/O units (the 8th unit was the memory tester).
- Burroughs made military computers, such as the D825 (the \"D\" prefix signifying it was for defense industrial use), in its Great Valley Laboratory in Paoli, Pennsylvania. The D825 was, according to some scholars, the first true multiprocessor computer. Paoli was also home to the Defense and Space Group Marketing Division.
- In 1964 Burroughs had completed the D830 which was another variation of the D825 designed specifically for real-time applications, such as airline reservations. Burroughs designated the B8300 after Trans World Airlines (TWA) ordered one in September 1965. A system with three instruction processors was installed at TWA\'s reservations center in Rockleigh, New Jersey in 1968. The system, which was called George, with an application programmed in JOVIAL, was intended to support some 4000 terminals, but the system experienced repeated crashes due to a filing system disk allocation error when operating under a large load. A fourth processor was added but did nothing to resolve the problem. The problem was resolved in late 1970 and the system became stable. The decision to cancel the project was being made at the very time that the problem was resolved. TWA cancelled the project and acquired one IBM System/360 Model 75, two IBM System/360 model 65s, and IBM\'s PARS software for its reservations system. TWA sued Burroughs for non-fulfillment of the contract, but Burroughs counter-sued, stating that the basic system did work and that the problems were in TWA\'s applications software. The two companies reached an out-of-court settlement.
- Burroughs developed a half-size version of the D825 called the D82, cutting the word size from 48 to 24 bits and simplifying the computer\'s instruction set. The D82 could have up to 32,768 words of core memory and continued the use of separate instruction and I/O processors. Burroughs sold a D82 to Air Canada to handle reservations for trips originating in Montreal and Quebec. This design was further refined and made much more compact as the D84 machine which was completed in 1965. A D84 processor/memory unit with 4096 words of memory occupied just 1.4 cuft. This system was used successfully in two military projects: field test systems used to check the electronics of the Air Force General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark fighter plane and systems used to control the countdown and launch of the Army\'s Pershing 1 and 1a missile systems.
## Merger with Sperry {#merger_with_sperry}
In September 1986, Burroughs Corporation merged with Sperry Corporation to form Unisys. For a time, the combined company retained the Burroughs processors as the A- and V-systems lines. As the market for large systems shifted from proprietary architectures to common servers, the company eventually dropped the V-Series line, although customers continued to use V-series systems `{{as of | 2010 | lc =on}}`{=mediawiki}. `{{As of | 2017}}`{=mediawiki} Unisys continues to develop and market the A-Series, now known as ClearPath.
## Burroughs Payment Systems `{{anchor|Reemergence of the Burroughs name}}`{=mediawiki} {#burroughs_payment_systems}
In 2010, Unisys sold off its Payment Systems Division to Marlin Equity Partners, a California-based private investment firm, which incorporated it as **Burroughs Payment Systems, Inc.** (later just **Burroughs, Inc.**), based in Plymouth, Michigan.
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Béla Bartók
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**Béla Viktor János Bartók** (`{{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|eɪ|l|ə|_|ˈ|b|ɑːr|t|ɒ|k}}`{=mediawiki}; `{{IPA|hu|ˈbɒrtoːk ˈbeːlɒ|lang}}`{=mediawiki}; 25 March 1881 -- 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hungary\'s greatest composers. Among his notable works are the opera *Bluebeard\'s Castle*, the ballet *The Miraculous Mandarin*, *Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta*, the Concerto for Orchestra and six string quartets. Through his collection and analytical study of folk music, he was one of the founders of comparative musicology, which later became known as ethnomusicology. Per Anthony Tommasini, Bartók \"has empowered generations of subsequent composers to incorporate folk music and classical traditions from whatever culture into their works and was \"a formidable modernist who in the face of Schoenberg's breathtaking formulations showed another way, forging a language that was an amalgam of tonality, unorthodox scales and atonal wanderings.\"
## Biography
### Childhood and early years (1881--1898) {#childhood_and_early_years_18811898}
Bartók was born in the Banatian town of Nagyszentmiklós in the Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Sânnicolau Mare, Romania) on 25 March 1881. On his father\'s side, the Bartók family was a Hungarian lower noble family, originating from Borsodszirák, Borsod. His paternal grandmother was a Catholic of Bunjevci origin, but considered herself Hungarian. Bartók\'s father (1855--1888) was also named Béla. Bartók\'s mother, Paula (née Voit) (1857--1939), spoke Hungarian fluently. A native of Turócszentmárton (present-day Martin, Slovakia), she had German, Hungarian and Slovak or Polish ancestry.
Béla displayed notable musical talent very early in life. According to his mother, he could distinguish between different dance rhythms that she played on the piano before he learned to speak in complete sentences. By the age of four he was able to play 40 pieces on the piano, and his mother began formally teaching him the next year.
In 1888, when he was seven, his father, the director of an agricultural school, died suddenly. His mother then took Béla and his sister, Erzsébet, to live in Nagyszőlős (present-day Vynohradiv, Ukraine) and then in Pressburg (present-day Bratislava, Slovakia). Béla gave his first public recital aged 11 in Nagyszőlős, to positive critical reception.`{{Page needed|date=April 2016}}`{=mediawiki} Among the pieces he played was his own first composition, written two years previously: a short piece called \"The Course of the Danube\". Shortly thereafter, László Erkel accepted him as a pupil.
### Early musical career (1899--1908) {#early_musical_career_18991908}
From 1899 to 1903, Bartók studied piano under István Thomán, a former student of Franz Liszt, and composition under János Koessler at the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest. There he met Zoltán Kodály, who made a strong impression on him and became a lifelong friend and colleague. In 1903, Bartók wrote his first major orchestral work, *Kossuth*, a symphonic poem that honored Lajos Kossuth, hero of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.
The music of Richard Strauss, whom he met in 1902 at the Budapest premiere of *Also sprach Zarathustra*, strongly influenced his early work. When visiting a holiday resort in the summer of 1904, Bartók overheard a young nanny, Lidi Dósa from Kibéd in Transylvania, sing folk songs to the children in her care. This sparked his lifelong dedication to folk music.
Beginning in 1907, he came under the influence of French composer Claude Debussy, whose compositions Kodály had brought back from Paris. Bartók\'s large-scale orchestral works were still in the style of Johannes Brahms and Richard Strauss, but he wrote a number of small piano pieces which showed his growing interest in folk music. The first piece to show clear signs of this new interest is the String Quartet No. 1 in A minor (1908), which contains folk-like elements. He began teaching as a piano professor at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. This position freed him from touring Europe as a pianist. Among his notable students were Fritz Reiner, Sir Georg Solti, György Sándor, Ernő Balogh, Gisela Selden-Goth, and Lili Kraus. After Bartók moved to the United States, he taught Jack Beeson and Violet Archer.
In 1908, Bartok and Kodály traveled into the countryside to collect and research old Magyar folk melodies. Their growing interest in folk music coincided with a contemporary social interest in traditional national culture. Magyar folk music had previously been categorised as Gypsy music. The classic example is Franz Liszt\'s *Hungarian Rhapsodies* for piano, which he based on popular art songs performed by Romani bands of the time. In contrast, Bartók and Kodály discovered that the old Magyar folk melodies were based on pentatonic scales, similar to those in Asian folk traditions, such as those of Central Asia, Anatolia and Siberia.
Bartók and Kodály set about incorporating elements of such Magyar peasant music into their compositions. They both frequently quoted folk song melodies *verbatim* and wrote pieces derived entirely from authentic songs. An example is Bartok\'s two volumes entitled *For Children* for solo piano, containing 80 folk tunes to which he wrote accompaniment. Bartók\'s style in his art music compositions was a synthesis of folk music, classicism, and modernism. His melodic and harmonic sense was influenced by the folk music of Hungary, Romania, and other nations. He was especially fond of the asymmetrical dance rhythms and pungent harmonies found in Bulgarian music. Most of his early compositions offer a blend of nationalist and late Romantic elements.
### Middle years and career (1909--1939) {#middle_years_and_career_19091939}
#### Personal life {#personal_life}
In 1909, at the age of 28, Bartók married Márta Ziegler (1893--1967), aged 16. Their son, Béla Bartók III, was born the next year. After nearly 15 years together, Bartók divorced Márta in June 1923. Two months after his divorce, he married Ditta Pásztory (1903--1982), a piano student, ten days after proposing to her. She was aged 19, he 42. Their son, Péter, was born in 1924.
Raised as a Catholic, by his early adulthood Bartók had become an atheist. He later became attracted to Unitarianism and publicly converted to the Unitarian faith in 1916. Although Bartók was not conventionally religious, according to his son Béla Bartók III, \"he was a nature lover: he always mentioned the miraculous order of nature with great reverence\". As an adult, Béla III later became lay president of the Hungarian Unitarian Church.
#### Opera
In 1911, Bartók wrote what was to be his only opera, *Bluebeard\'s Castle*, dedicated to Márta. In creating *Bluebeard\'s Castle*, Bartók uses symbolism to show parallels between unconscious motivation and fate. The opera in showing fate has a strong interaction between the characters and gives the idea that people are not able to control what the outcome will be. He entered it for a prize by the Hungarian Fine Arts Commission, but they rejected his work as not fit for the stage. In 1917 Bartók revised the score for the 1918 première and rewrote the ending. Following the 1919 revolution, in which he actively participated, he was pressured by the Horthy regime to remove the name of librettist Béla Balázs from the opera, as Balázs was of Jewish origin, was blacklisted, and had left the country for Vienna. *Bluebeard\'s Castle* received only one revival, in 1936, before Bartók emigrated. For the remainder of his life, although devoted to Hungary, its people and its culture, he never felt much loyalty to the government or its official establishments.
#### Folk music and composition {#folk_music_and_composition}
thumb\|upright=1.3\|Béla Bartók using a phonograph to record Slovak folk songs sung by peasants in Zobordarázs (*Dražovce*, today part of Nitra, Slovakia) After his disappointment over the Fine Arts Commission competition, Bartók wrote little for two or three years, preferring to concentrate on collecting and arranging folk music. He found the phonograph an essential tool for collecting folk music for its accuracy, objectivity, and manipulability. He collected first in the Carpathian Basin (then the Kingdom of Hungary), where he notated Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, and Bulgarian folk music. The developmental breakthrough for Bartok arrived when he collaboratively collected folk music with Zoltán Kodály through the medium of a phonomotor, on which they studied classification possibilities (for individual folk songs) and recorded hundreds of cylinders. Bartok\'s compositional command of folk elements is expressed in such an authentic and undiluted a manner because of the scales, sounds, and rhythms that were so much a part of his native Hungary that he automatically saw music in these terms. He also collected in Moldavia, Wallachia, and (in 1913) Algeria. The outbreak of World War I forced him to stop the expeditions, but he returned to composing with a ballet called *The Wooden Prince* (1914--1916) and the String Quartet No. 2 in (1915--1917), both influenced by Debussy.
Bartók\'s score for *The Miraculous Mandarin*, another ballet, was influenced by Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg and Richard Strauss. Though started in 1918, the story\'s sexual content kept it from being performed until 1926. He next wrote his two violin sonatas (written in 1921 and 1922, respectively), which are among his most harmonically and structurally complex pieces.
In March 1927, he visited Barcelona and performed the *Rhapsody for piano* Sz. 26 with the Orquestra Pau Casals at the Gran Teatre del Liceu. During the same stay, he attended a concert by the Cobla Barcelona at the Palau de la Música Catalana. According to the critic Joan Llongueras i Badia, \"he was very interested in the sardanas, above all, the freshness, spontaneity and life of our music \[\...\] he wanted to know the mechanism of the tenoras and the tibles, and requested data on the composition of the cobla and extension and characteristics of each instrument\".
In 1927--1928, Bartók wrote his Third and Fourth String Quartets, after which his compositions demonstrated his mature style. Notable examples of this period are *Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta* (1936) and Divertimento for String Orchestra (1939). The Fifth String Quartet was composed in 1934, and the Sixth String Quartet (his last) in 1939. In 1936 he travelled to Turkey to collect and study Turkish folk music. He worked in collaboration with Turkish composer Ahmet Adnan Saygun mostly around Adana.
### World War II and final years (1940--1945) {#world_war_ii_and_final_years_19401945}
In 1940, as the European political situation worsened after the outbreak of World War II, Bartók was increasingly tempted to flee Hungary. He strongly opposed the Nazis and Hungary\'s alliance with Germany and the Axis powers under the Tripartite Pact. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, Bartók refused to give concerts in Germany and broke away from his publisher there. His anti-fascist political views caused him a great deal of trouble with the establishment in Hungary. In his will recorded on 4 October 1940, he requested that no square or street be named after him until the Budapest squares Oktogon and Kodály körönd, or in fact any square or street in Hungary, no longer bore the names of Mussolini or Hitler, as they did at the time he wrote his will. Having first sent his manuscripts out of the country, Bartók reluctantly emigrated to the US with his wife, Ditta Pásztory, in October 1940. They settled in New York City after arriving on the night of 29--30 October by a steamer from Lisbon. After joining them in 1942, their younger son Péter Bartók enlisted in the United States Navy, where he served in the Pacific during the remainder of the war and later settled in Florida, where he became a recording and sound engineer. His elder son by his first marriage, Béla Bartók III, remained in Hungary and later worked as a railroad official until his retirement in the early 1980s.
Although he became an American citizen in 1945 shortly before his death, Bartók never felt fully at home in the United States. He initially found it difficult to compose in his new surroundings. Although he was well known in America as a pianist, ethnomusicologist and teacher, he was not well known as a composer. There was little American interest in his music during his final years. He and his wife Ditta gave some concerts, but demand for them was low. Bartók, who had made some recordings in Hungary, also recorded for Columbia Records after he came to the US; many of these recordings (some with Bartók\'s own spoken introductions) were later issued on LP and CD.
Bartók was supported by a \$3000-yearly research fellowship from Columbia University for several years (more than \$50,000 in 2024 dollars). He and Ditta worked on a large collection of Serbian and Croatian folk songs in Columbia\'s libraries. Bartók\'s economic difficulties during his first years in America were mitigated by publication royalties, teaching and performance tours. While his finances were always precarious, he did not live and die in poverty as was the common myth. He had enough friends and supporters to ensure that there was sufficient money and work available for him to live on. Bartók was a proud man and did not easily accept charity. Despite being short on cash at times, he often refused money that his friends offered him out of their own pockets. Although he was not a member of the ASCAP, the society paid for any medical care he needed during his last two years, to which Bartók reluctantly agreed. According to Edward Jablonski\'s 1963 article, \"At no time during Bartók\'s American years did his income amount to less than \$4,000 a year\" (about \$70,000 in 2024 dollars). The first symptoms of his health problems began late in 1940, when his right shoulder began to show signs of stiffening. In 1942, symptoms increased and he started having bouts of fever. Bartók\'s illness was at first thought to be a recurrence of the tuberculosis he had experienced as a young man, and one of his doctors in New York was Edgar Mayer, director of Will Rogers Memorial Hospital in Saranac Lake, but medical examinations found no underlying disease. Finally, in April 1944, leukemia was diagnosed, but by this time, little could be done.
As his body slowly failed, Bartók found more creative energy and produced a final set of masterpieces, partly thanks to the violinist Joseph Szigeti and the conductor Fritz Reiner (Reiner had been Bartók\'s friend and champion since his days as Bartók\'s student at the Royal Academy). Bartók\'s last work might well have been the String Quartet No. 6 but for Serge Koussevitzky\'s commission for the Concerto for Orchestra. Koussevitsky\'s Boston Symphony Orchestra premiered the work in December 1944 to highly positive reviews. The Concerto for Orchestra quickly became Bartók\'s most popular work, although he did not live to see its full impact.
In 1944, he was also commissioned by Yehudi Menuhin to write a Sonata for Solo Violin. In 1945, Bartók composed his Piano Concerto No. 3, a graceful and almost neo-classical work, as a surprise 42nd birthday present for Ditta, but he died just over a month before her birthday, with the scoring not quite finished. He had also sketched his Viola Concerto, but had barely started the scoring at his death, leaving completed only the viola part and sketches of the orchestral part. Béla Bartók died at age 64 in a hospital in New York City from complications of leukemia (specifically, of secondary polycythemia) on 26 September 1945. His funeral was attended by only ten people. Aside from his widow and their son, other attendees included György Sándor.
Bartók\'s body was initially interred in Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. During the final year of communist Hungary in the late 1980s, the Hungarian government, along with his two sons, Béla III and Péter, requested that his remains be exhumed and transferred back to Budapest for burial, where Hungary arranged a state funeral for him on 7 July 1988. He was re-interred at Budapest\'s Farkasréti Cemetery, next to the remains of Ditta, who died in 1982, one year after what would have been Béla Bartók\'s 100th birthday.
The two unfinished works were later completed by his pupil Tibor Serly. György Sándor was the soloist in the first performance of the Third Piano Concerto on 8 February 1946. Ditta Pásztory-Bartók later played and recorded it. The Viola Concerto was revised and published in the 1990s by Bartók\'s son; this version may be closer to what Bartók intended. Concurrently, Peter Bartók, in association with Argentine musician Nelson Dellamaggiore, worked to reprint and revise past editions of the Third Piano Concerto.
## Music
Bartók\'s music reflects two trends that dramatically changed the sound of music in the 20th century: the breakdown of the diatonic system of harmony that had served composers for the previous two hundred years; and the revival of nationalism as a source for musical inspiration, a trend that began with Mikhail Glinka and Antonín Dvořák in the last half of the 19th century. In his search for new forms of tonality, Bartók turned to Hungarian folk music, as well as to other folk music of the Carpathian Basin and even of Algeria and Turkey; in so doing he became influential in that stream of modernism which used indigenous music and techniques.
One characteristic style of music is his Night music, which he used mostly in slow movements of multi-movement ensemble or orchestral compositions in his mature period. It is characterised by \"eerie dissonances providing a backdrop to sounds of nature and lonely melodies\". An example is the third movement (Adagio) of his *Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta*. His music can be grouped roughly in accordance with the different periods in his life.
### Early years (1890--1902) {#early_years_18901902}
The works of Bartók\'s youth were written in a classical and early romantic style touched with influences of popular and romani music.`{{Page needed|date=September 2018}}`{=mediawiki} Between 1890 and 1894 (9 to 13 years of age) he wrote 31 piano pieces. Although most of these were simple dance pieces, in these early works Bartók began to tackle some more advanced forms, as in his ten-part programmatic *A Duna folyása* (\"The Course of the Danube\", 1890--1894), which he played in his first public recital in 1892.
In Catholic grammar school Bartók took to studying the scores of composers \"from Bach to Wagner\", his compositions then advancing in style and taking on similarities to Schumann and Brahms. Following his matriculation into the Budapest Academy in 1890 he composed very little, though he began to work on exercises in orchestration and familiarized himself thoroughly with the operas of Wagner. In 1902 his creative energies were revitalized by the discovery of the music of Richard Strauss, whose tone poem *Also sprach Zarathustra*, according to Bartók, \"stimulated the greatest enthusiasm in me; at last I saw the way that lay before me\". Bartók also owned the score to *A Hero\'s Life*, which he transcribed for the piano and committed to memory.
### New influences (1903--1911) {#new_influences_19031911}
Under the influence of Strauss, Bartók composed in 1903 *Kossuth*, a symphonic poem in ten tableaux on the subject of the 1848 Hungarian war of independence, reflecting the composers growing interest in musical nationalism. A year later he renewed his opus numbers with the *Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra* serving as Opus 1. Driven by nationalistic fervor and a desire to transcend the influence of prior composers, Bartók began a lifelong devotion to folk music, which was sparked by his overhearing nanny Lidi Dósa\'s singing of Transylvanian folk songs at a Hungarian resort in 1904. Bartók began to collect Magyar peasant melodies, later extending to the folk music of other peoples of the Carpathian Basin, Slovaks, Romanians, Rusyns, Serbs and Croatians. He used fewer and fewer romantic elements, in favour of an idiom that embodied folk music as intrinsic and essential to its style. Later in life he commented on the incorporation of folk and art music:
> The question is, what are the ways in which peasant music is taken over and becomes transmuted into modern music? We may, for instance, take over a peasant melody unchanged or only slightly varied, write an accompaniment to it and possibly some opening and concluding phrases. This kind of work would show a certain analogy with Bach\'s treatment of chorales. \... Another method \... is the following: the composer does not make use of a real peasant melody but invents his own imitation of such melodies. There is no true difference between this method and the one described above. \... There is yet a third way \... Neither peasant melodies nor imitations of peasant melodies can be found in his music, but it is pervaded by the atmosphere of peasant music. In this case we may say, he has completely absorbed the idiom of peasant music which has become his musical mother tongue.
Bartók became first acquainted with Debussy\'s music in 1907 and regarded his music highly. In an interview in 1939 Bartók said:
> Debussy\'s great service to music was to reawaken among all musicians an awareness of harmony and its possibilities. In that, he was just as important as Beethoven, who revealed to us the possibilities of progressive form, or as Bach, who showed us the transcendent significance of counterpoint. Now, what I am always asking myself is this: is it possible to make a synthesis of these three great masters, a living synthesis that will be valid for our time?
Debussy\'s influence is present in the Fourteen Bagatelles (1908). These made Ferruccio Busoni exclaim: \"At last something truly new!\" Until 1911, Bartók composed widely differing works which ranged from adherence to romantic style, to folk song arrangements and to his modernist opera *Bluebeard\'s Castle*. The negative reception of his work led him to focus on folk music research after 1911 and abandon composition with the exception of folk music arrangements.
### Inspiration and experimentation (1916--1921) {#inspiration_and_experimentation_19161921}
His pessimistic attitude towards composing was lifted by the stormy and inspiring contact with Klára Gombossy in the summer of 1915. This interesting episode in Bartók\'s life remained hidden until it was researched by Denijs Dille between 1979 and 1989. Bartók started composing again, including the Suite for piano opus 14 (1916), and *The Miraculous Mandarin* (1919) and he completed *The Wooden Prince* (1917).
Bartók felt the result of World War I as a personal tragedy. Many regions he loved were severed from Hungary: Transylvania, the Banat (where he was born), and Bratislava (Pozsony, where his mother had lived). Additionally, the political relations between Hungary and other successor states to the Austro-Hungarian empire prohibited his folk music research outside of Hungary. Bartók also wrote the noteworthy *Eight Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs* in 1920 and the sunny *Dance Suite* in 1923, the year of his second marriage.
### \"Synthesis of East and West\" (1926--1945) {#synthesis_of_east_and_west_19261945}
In 1926, Bartók needed a significant piece for piano and orchestra with which he could tour in Europe and America. He was particularly inspired by American composer Henry Cowell\'s controversial use of intense tone clusters on the piano while touring western Europe. Bartók happened to be present at one of these concerts and (to avoid causing offence) later requested Cowell\'s permission to use his technique, which Cowell granted. In the preparation for writing his first Piano Concerto, he wrote his Sonata, *Out of Doors*, and *Nine Little Pieces*, all for solo piano, and all of which prominently utilize clusters. He increasingly found his own voice in his maturity. The style of his last period`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki} named \"Synthesis of East and West\"`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki} is hard to define let alone to put under one term. In his mature period, Bartók wrote relatively few works but most of them are large-scale compositions for large settings. Only his voice works have programmatic titles and his late works often adhere to classical forms.
Among Bartók\'s most important works are the six string quartets (1909, 1917, 1927, 1928, 1934, and 1939), the *Cantata Profana* (1930), which Bartók declared was the work he felt and professed to be his most personal \"credo\", the *Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta* (1936), the Concerto for Orchestra (1943) and the Third Piano Concerto (1945).`{{Page needed|date=January 2019}}`{=mediawiki} He made a lasting contribution to the literature for younger students: for his son Péter\'s music lessons, he composed *Mikrokosmos*, a six-volume collection of graded piano pieces.
## Musical analysis {#musical_analysis}
Paul Wilson lists as the most prominent characteristics of Bartók\'s music from late 1920s onwards the influence of the Carpathian basin and European art music, and his changing attitude toward (and use of) tonality, but without the use of the traditional harmonic functions associated with major and minor scales.
Although Bartók claimed in his writings that his music was always tonal, he rarely used the chords or scales normally associated with tonality, and so the descriptive resources of tonal theory are of limited use. George `{{harvtxt|Perle|1955}}`{=mediawiki} and Elliott `{{harvtxt|Antokoletz|1984}}`{=mediawiki} focus on his alternative methods of signaling tonal centers, via axes of inversional symmetry. Others view Bartók\'s axes of symmetry in terms of atonal analytic protocols. Richard `{{harvtxt|Cohn|1988}}`{=mediawiki} argues that inversional symmetry is often a byproduct of another atonal procedure, the formation of chords from transpositionally related dyads. Atonal pitch-class theory also furnishes resources for exploring polymodal chromaticism, projected sets, privileged patterns, and large set types used as source sets such as the equal tempered twelve tone aggregate, octatonic scale (and alpha chord), the diatonic and *heptatonia secunda* seven-note scales, and less often the whole tone scale and the primary pentatonic collection.
He rarely used the simple aggregate actively to shape musical structure, though there are notable examples such as the second theme from the first movement of his Second Violin Concerto, of which he commented that he \"wanted to show Schoenberg that one can use all twelve tones and still remain tonal\". More thoroughly, in the first eight measures of the last movement of his Second Quartet, all notes gradually gather with the twelfth (G`{{music|♭}}`{=mediawiki}) sounding for the first time on the last beat of measure 8, marking the end of the first section. The aggregate is partitioned in the opening of the Third String Quartet with C`{{music|♯}}`{=mediawiki}--D--D`{{music|♯}}`{=mediawiki}--E in the accompaniment (strings) while the remaining pitch classes are used in the melody (violin 1) and more often as 7--35 (diatonic or \"white-key\" collection) and 5--35 (pentatonic or \"black-key\" collection) such as in no. 6 of the *Eight Improvisations*. There, the primary theme is on the black keys in the left hand, while the right accompanies with triads from the white keys. In measures 50--51 in the third movement of the Fourth Quartet, the first violin and cello play black-key chords, while the second violin and viola play stepwise diatonic lines. On the other hand, from as early as the Suite for piano, Op. 14 (1914), he occasionally employed a form of serialism based on compound interval cycles, some of which are maximally distributed, multi-aggregate cycles. Ernő Lendvai analyses Bartók\'s works as being based on two opposing tonal systems, that of the acoustic scale and the axis system, as well as using the golden section as a structural principle.
Milton Babbitt, in his 1949 review of Bartók\'s string quartets, criticized Bartók for using tonality and non-tonal methods unique to each piece. Babbitt noted that \"Bartók\'s solution was a specific one, it cannot be duplicated\". Bartók\'s use of \"two organizational principles\"---tonality for large scale relationships and the piece-specific method for moment to moment thematic elements---was a problem for Babbitt, who worried that the \"highly attenuated tonality\" requires extreme non-harmonic methods to create a feeling of closure.
## Catalogues
The cataloguing of Bartók\'s works is somewhat complex. Bartók assigned opus numbers to his works three times, the last of these series ending with the Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1, Op. 21 in 1921. He ended this practice because of the difficulty of distinguishing between original works and ethnographic arrangements, and between major and minor works. Since his death, three attempts---two full and one partial---have been made at cataloguing. The first, and still most widely used, is András Szőllősy\'s chronological Sz. numbers, from 1 to 121. Denijs Dille subsequently reorganised the juvenilia (Sz. 1--25) thematically, as DD numbers 1 to 77. The most recent catalogue is that of László Somfai; this is a chronological index with works identified by BB numbers 1 to 129, incorporating corrections based on the Béla Bartók Thematic Catalogue.
On 1 January 2016, Bartók\'s works entered the public domain in the European Union.
## Discography
Together with his like-minded contemporary Zoltán Kodály, Bartók embarked on an extensive programme of field research to capture the folk and peasant melodies of Magyar, Slovak and Romanian language territories. At first they transcribed the melodies by hand, but later they began to use a phonomotor, a wax cylinder recording machine invented by Thomas Edison. Compilations of Bartók\'s field recordings, interviews, and original piano playing have been released over the years, largely by the Hungarian record label Hungaroton:
-
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- Bartók, Béla. 2003. *Bartók Sonata for 2 Pianos & Percussion, Suite for 2 Pianos.* Apex 0927-49569-2. CD recording.
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A compilation of field recordings and transcriptions for two violas was also recently released by Tantara Records in 2014.
On 18 March 2016 Decca Classics released *Béla Bartók: The Complete Works*, the first ever complete compilation of all of Bartók\'s compositions, including new recordings of never-before-recorded early piano and vocal works. However, none of the composer\'s own performances are included in this 32-disc set.
## Statues and other memorials {#statues_and_other_memorials}
- A statue of Bartók stands in Brussels, Belgium, near the central train station in a public square, Spanjeplein-Place d\'Espagne.
- A statue stands outside Malvern Court, London, south of the South Kensington tube station, and just north of Sydney Place. An English Heritage blue plaque, unveiled in 1997, now commemorates Bartók at 7 Sydney Place, where he stayed when performing in London.
- A statue of him was installed in front of the house in which Bartók spent his last eight years in Hungary, at Csalán út 29, in the hills above Budapest. It is now operated as the Béla Bartók Memorial House (Bartók Béla Emlékház). Copies of this statue also stand in Makó (the closest Hungarian city to his birthplace, which is now in Romania), Paris, London and Toronto.
- A bust and plaque located at his last residence, in New York City at 309 W. 57th Street, inscribed: \"The Great Hungarian Composer / Béla Bartók / (1881--1945) / Made His Home In This House / During the Last Year of His Life\".
- A bust of him is located in the front yard of Ankara State Conservatory, Ankara, Turkey, next to the bust of Ahmet Adnan Saygun.
- In 1999, Bartók was inducted into the American Classical Musical Hall of Fame.
- A bust of him is located in the front yard of Ankara State Conservatory, Ankara, Turkey, next to the bust of Ahmet Adnan Saygun.
- A bronze statue of Bartók, sculpted by Imre Varga in 2005, stands in the front lobby of The Royal Conservatory of Music, 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
- A bronze bust of Bartók stands in the Anton Scudier Central Park in Timișoara, Romania. This park has an \"Alley of Personalities\", set up in 2009 and featuring busts of famous \"Romanians\". Sânnicolau Mare (Nagyszentmiklós in Hungarian), the small town where Bartók was born in 1881, is situated some 58 kilometres north-west of Timișoara, and is just inside Romania today, near the border with Hungary.
- A statue of Bartók, sculpted by Imre Varga, stands near the river Seine in the public park at Square Béla-Bartók, 26 place de Brazzaville, in Paris, France.
- Also to be noted, in the same park, a sculptural transcription of the composer\'s research on tonal harmony, the fountain/sculpture *Cristaux* designed by Jean-Yves Lechevallier in 1980.
- An expressionist sculpture by Hungarian sculptor András Beck in Square Henri-Collet, Paris 16th arrondissement.
- A statue of him also stands in the city centre of Târgu Mureș, Romania.
- A statue (seated) of Bartók is also situated in front of Nákó Castle, in his hometown, Nagyszentmiklós.
- Bartok has star on the Walk of Fame on Karlsplatz-Passage in Vienna.
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Northern bobwhite
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The **northern bobwhite** (***Colinus virginianus***), also known as the **Virginia quail** or (in its home range) **bobwhite quail**, is a ground-dwelling bird native to Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Cuba, with introduced populations elsewhere in the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia. It is a member of the group of species known as New World quail (Odontophoridae). They were initially placed with the Old World quail in the pheasant family (Phasianidae), but are not particularly closely related. The name \"bobwhite\" is an onomatopoeic derivation from its characteristic whistling call. Despite its secretive nature, the northern bobwhite is one of the most familiar quails in eastern North America, because it is frequently the only quail in its range. Habitat degradation has contributed to the northern bobwhite population in eastern North America declining by roughly 85% from 1966 to 2014. This population decline is apparently range-wide and continuing.
There are 20 subspecies of northern bobwhite, many of which are hunted extensively as game birds. One subspecies, the masked bobwhite (*Colinus virginianus ridgwayi*), is listed as endangered with wild populations located in the northern Mexican state of Sonora and a reintroduced population in Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in southern Arizona.
## Taxonomy
The northern bobwhite was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his *Systema Naturae* under the binomial name *Tetrao virginianus*. Linnaeus specified the type location as \"America\" but this has been restricted to the state of Virginia. Linnaeus based his account on the \"American partridge\" that had been described and illustrated by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his book *The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands*. The northern bobwhite is now one of four species placed in the genus *Colinus* that was introduced in 1820 by the German naturalist Georg August Goldfuss.
### Subspecies
There are 20 recognized subspecies in four groups. One subspecies, the Key West bobwhite (*C. v. insulanus*), is extinct. The subspecies are listed in taxonomic order:
- Eastern group
- *C. v. virginianus* (Linnaeus, 1758) - Virginia bobwhite - eastern North America from Ontario south to northern Florida (includes former subspecies *marilandicus* and *mexicanus*)
- *C. v. floridanus* (Coues, 1872) -- Florida bobwhite -- peninsular Florida
- †*C. v. insulanus* (Howe, 1904) -- Key West bobwhite -- the Florida Keys (extinct)
- *C. v. cubanensis* (GR Gray, 1846) -- Cuban bobwhite -- Cuba and Isla de la Juventud; introduced to Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos islands
- *C. v. taylori* (Lincoln, 1915) -- plains bobwhite -- South Dakota to northern Texas, western Missouri and northwestern Arkansas
- *C. v. texanus* (Lawrence, 1853) -- Texas bobwhite -- southwestern Texas to northern Mexico
- *C. v. aridus* (Lawrence, 1853) -- Jaumave bobwhite -- west-central Tamaulipas to southeastern San Luis Potosí
- *C. v. maculatus* (Nelson, 1899) -- spot-bellied bobwhite -- central Tamaulipas to northern Veracruz and southeastern San Luis Potosí
- Grayson\'s group
- *C. v. graysoni* (Lawrence, 1867) -- Grayson\'s bobwhite -- west-central Mexico
- *C. v. nigripectus* (Nelson, 1897) -- Puebla bobwhite -- eastern Mexico
- Black-breasted group
- *C. v. pectoralis* (Gould, 1843) -- black-breasted bobwhite -- eastern slopes and mountains of central Veracruz
- *C. v. godmani* (Nelson, 1897) -- Godman\'s bobwhite -- eastern slopes and mountains of central Veracruz
- *C. v. minor* (Nelson, 1901) -- least bobwhite -- northeastern Chiapas and Tabasco
- *C. v. thayeri* (Bangs and Peters, 1928) -- Thayer\'s bobwhite -- northeastern Oaxaca
- Masked group
- *C. v. ridgwayi* (Brewster, 1885) -- masked bobwhite -- north-central Sonora; reintroduced to Arizona
- *C. v. atriceps* (Ogilvie-Grant, 1893) -- black-headed bobwhite -- interior of western Oaxaca
- *C. v. harrisoni* (Orr and Webster, 1968) -- Harrison\'s bobwhite -- southwestern Oaxaca
- *C. v. coyoleos* (Müller, PLS, 1776) -- Coyoleos bobwhite -- Pacific Coast of Oaxaca and Chiapas
- *C. v. salvini* (Nelson, 1897) -- Salvin\'s bobwhite -- coastal and southern Chiapas
- *C. v. insignis* (Nelson, 1897) -- Guatemalan bobwhite -- Guatemala (Rio Chiapas Valley) and southeastern Chiapas (includes former subspecies *nelsoni*)
The holotype specimen of *Ortyx pectoralis* Gould ([Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1842 (1843), p.182.](https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30679944)) is held in the collections of the National Museums Liverpool at the World Museum, with accession number D3713. The specimen died in the aviary at Knowsley Hall, Lancashire and came to the Liverpool national collection via the 13th Earl of Derby\'s collection, which was bequeathed to the people of Liverpool in 1851.
## Description
The northern bobwhite is a moderately-sized quail, and is the only small galliform native to eastern North America. The bobwhite can range from 24 to in length with a 33 to wingspan. As indicated by body mass, weights increase in birds found further north, as corresponds to Bergmann\'s rule. In Mexico, northern bobwhites weigh from 129 to whereas in the north they average 170 to and large males can attain as much as 255 g. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 9.7 to, the tail is 5 to the culmen is 1.3 to and the tarsus is 2.7 to. It has the typical chunky, rounded shape of a quail. The bill is short, curved and brown-black in color. This species is sexually dimorphic. Males have a white throat and brow stripe bordered by black. The overall rufous plumage has gray mottling on the wings, white scalloped stripes on the flanks, and black scallops on the whitish underparts. The tail is gray.
The clear whistle \"bob-WHITE\" or \"bob-bob-WHITE\" call is very recognizable. The syllables are slow and widely spaced, rising in pitch a full octave from beginning to end. Other calls include lisps, peeps, and more rapidly whistled warning calls.
## Distribution and habitat {#distribution_and_habitat}
The northern bobwhite can be found year-round in agricultural fields, grassland, open woodland areas, roadsides and wood edges. Its range covers the southeastern quadrant of the United States from the Great Lakes and southern Minnesota east to New York State and southern Massachusetts, and extending west to southern Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado front-range foothills to 7,000 feet, and all but westernmost Texas.
It is absent from the southern tip of Florida (where the extinct Key West bobwhite subspecies once lived) and the highest elevations of the Appalachian Mountains, but occurs in eastern Mexico and in Cuba, and has been introduced to Hispaniola (both the Dominican Republic and Haiti), the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands (formerly), Puerto Rico, France, China, Portugal, and Italy. Isolated populations also have been introduced in Oregon and Washington. The northern bobwhite has also been introduced to New Zealand.
There is no self-sustaining population in Pennsylvania, where the bird is considered extirpated; it is also considered extirpated in the states of New Hampshire and Connecticut. Its distribution in New York has been limited to Suffolk and Nassau Counties on Long Island, as well as potential population pockets in Upstate New York. The bird is considered declining or extirpated throughout much of the Northeastern United States. Similarly, the bird is almost extirpated from Ontario (and Canada as a whole), with the only self-sustaining population confirmed to exist recorded on Walpole Island.
## Behavior and ecology {#behavior_and_ecology}
Like most game birds, the northern bobwhite is shy and elusive. When threatened, it will crouch and freeze, relying on camouflage to stay undetected, but will flush into low flight if closely disturbed. It is generally solitary or paired early in the year, but family groups are common in the late summer and winter roosts may have two dozen or more birds in a single covey.
### Breeding
The species was once considered monogamous, but with the advent of radio telemetry, the sexual behavior of bobwhites has better been described as ambisexual polygamy. Either parent may incubate a clutch for 23 days, and the precocial young leave the nest shortly after hatching. The main source of nest failure is predation, with nest success averaging 28% across their range. However, the nest success of stable populations is typically much higher than this average, and the aforementioned estimate includes values for declining populations.
Brooding behavior varies in that amalgamation (kidnapping, adopting, creching, gang brooding) may occur. An incubating parent may alternatively stay with its young. A hen may re-nest up to four times until she has a successful nest. However, it is extremely rare for bobwhites to hatch more than two successful nests within one nesting season.
### Food and feeding {#food_and_feeding}
The northern bobwhite\'s diet consists of plant material and small invertebrates, such as snails, ticks, grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, crickets, and leafhoppers. Plant sources include seeds, wild berries, partridge peas, and cultivated grains. It forages on the ground in open areas with some spots of taller vegetation.
Optimal nutrient requirements for bobwhite vary depending on the age of bird and the time of the year. For example, the optimal protein requirement for egg laying hens (23% protein) is much higher than for males (16%).
## Relationship to humans {#relationship_to_humans}
### Introduced populations {#introduced_populations}
#### European Union {#european_union}
Northern bobwhite were introduced into Italy in 1927, and are reported in the plains and hills in the northwest of the country. Other reports from the EU are in France, Spain, and the Balkans. As bobwhites are highly productive and popular aviary subjects, it is reasonable to expect other introductions have been made in other parts of the EU, especially in the U.K. and Ireland, where game-bird breeding, liberation, and naturalization are relatively common practices.
#### New Zealand {#new_zealand}
From 1898 to 1902, some 1,300 birds were imported from America and released in many parts of the North and South Islands, from Northland to Southland. The bird was briefly on the Nelson game shooting licence, but: \"It would seem that the committee was a little too eager in placing these Quail on the licence, or the shooters of the day were over-zealous and greedy in their bag limits, for the Virginian Quail, like the Mountain Quail were soon a thing of the past.\" The Taranaki (Acclimatisation) Society released a few in 1900 and was confidant that in a year or two they might offer good sport; two years later, broods were reported and the species was said to be *steadily increasing*; but after another two years they seemed *to have disappeared* and that was the end of them. The Otago (Acclimatisation) Society imported more in 1948, but these releases did no good. After 1923, no more genuinely wild birds were sighted until 1952, when a small population was found northwest of Wairoa in the Ruapapa Road area. Since then, bobwhite have been found at several localities around Waikaremoana, in farmland, open bush and along roadsides.
More birds have been imported into New Zealand by private individuals since the 1990s and a healthy captive population is now held by backyard aviculturists and have been found to be easily cared for and bred and are popular for their song and good looks. A larger proportion of the national captive population belong to a few game preserves and game bird breeders. Though the birds would be self-sustaining in the wild if they were protected; it is tricky to guess what the effect of an annual population subsidy and hunting has on any of the original populations from the Acclimatisation Society releases.
An albino hen was present in a covey in Bayview, Hawkes Bay for a couple of seasons sometime around 2000.
### Captivity
#### Housing
Bobwhites are generally compatible with most parrots, softbills and doves. This species should, however, be the only ground-dwelling species in the aviary. Most individuals will do little damage to finches, but one should watch that nests are not being crushed when the species perches at night. Single pairs are preferred, unless the birds have been raised together as a group since they were chicks. Some fighting will occur between cocks at breeding time. One cock may be capable of breeding with several hens, but the fertility seems to be highest in the eggs from the *preferred* hen. Aviary style is a compromise between what is tolerated by the bird and what is best for the bird. Open parrot-style type aviaries may be used, but some birds will remain flighty and shy in this situation. In a planted aviary, this species will generally settle down to become quite tame and confiding. Parents with chicks will roost on the ground, forming a circular arrangement, with heads facing outwards. In the early morning and late afternoon, the cock will utter his call, which, although not loud, carries well and may offend noise-sensitive neighbors. Most breeding facilities keep birds in breeding groups on wire up off the ground.
#### Feeding
In the wild the northern bobwhite feeds on a variety of weed and grass seeds, as well as insects. These are generally collected on the ground or from low foliage. Birds in the aviary are easily catered for with a commercial small seed mix (finch, budgerigar, or small parrot mix) when supplemented with greenfeed. Live food is not usually necessary for breeding, but will be ravenously accepted. High protein foods such as chicken grower crumble are more convenient to supply and will be useful for the stimulation of breeding birds. Extra calcium is required, especially by laying hens; it can be supplied in the form of shell grit, or cuttlefish bone.
#### Breeding {#breeding_1}
If a nesting site and privacy are not provided, hens will lay anywhere within an open aviary. Hens that do this may, in a season, lay upwards of 80 eggs, which can be taken for artificial incubation and the chicks hand-raised. Hens with nesting cover that do make a nest (on the ground) will build up 8--25 eggs in a clutch, with eggs being laid daily.
#### Mutations and hybrids {#mutations_and_hybrids}
Some captive bobwhite hybrids recorded are between blue quail (scaled quail), Gambel\'s quail, California quail, and mountain quail. It has long been suggested that there are Japanese quail hybrids being bred commercially; however, there is a distinct lack of photographic proof to substantiate this. Inter-subspecific hybrids have been common.
Several mutations have long been established, including Californian Jumbo, Wisconsin Jumbo, Northern Giant, Albino, Snowflake, Blonde, Fawn, Barred, Silver, and Red.
## Status
The northern bobwhite is rated as a Near-threatened species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The northern bobwhite is threatened across its range due to habitat loss and habitat degradation. Changing land use patterns and changing fire regimes have caused once prime habitat to become unfavorable for the bobwhite.
### Masked bobwhite {#masked_bobwhite}
The masked bobwhite subspecies, *C. v. ridgwayi*, is listed as endangered in the U.S. The birds were twice declared extirpated in Arizona in the past century. It was originally endemic to southern Arizona in the U.S., and northern Sonora in Mexico. It is considered a *Critically Imperiled Subspecies* by NatureServe.
The masked bobwhite was in decline since its discovery in 1884. By 1900, the subspecies was already extinct in the U.S. Populations remained in Mexico, but their study was curtailed by political events in Mexico, including the Mexican Revolution and the last of the Yaqui Wars. A population of the masked bobwhite was finally discovered and studied in Mexico, in 1931 and 1932.
A native population historically existed in Sonora, but by 2017, its population appeared to be declining, or possibly extinct. A 2017 study recorded no wild sightings of the bird in Sonora. Decline of the species has been attributed to intense livestock grazing in an ecosystem that does not rejuvenate quickly.
A captive flock was established in Arizona in the 1970s. The George Miksch Sutton Avian Research Center (Sutton Center) became involved with conservation efforts in 2017 to establish a breeding population at the Sutton Center in Oklahoma, in order to reintroduce birds to Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge (BANWR). In 2019, biologists from the Sutton Center transported 1,000 chicks by road vehicle to Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. In 2020, a projected total of 1,200 birds will be transported by airplanes to BANWR. These recent actions are supplemental, and in addition to other conservation efforts in the past, seem to aid the subspecies\' future conservation efforts.
## In popular culture {#in_popular_culture}
In *Eek! The Cat* episode \"PolitEekly Correct\", while Sharky is chasing Eek, they cause a quail named Bob White to lose his signature call. They travel across the United States and eventually recover his distinctive \"bobwhite\" call.
In 2023, the masked bobwhite subspecies will be featured on a United States Postal Service Forever stamp as part of the *Endangered Species* set, based on a photograph from Joel Sartore\'s *Photo Ark*. The stamp will be dedicated at a ceremony at the National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall, South Dakota.
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Burnt-in timecode
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**Burnt-in timecode** (often abbreviated to **BITC** by analogy to VITC) is a human-readable on-screen version of the timecode information for a piece of material superimposed on a video image. BITC is sometimes used in conjunction with \"real\" machine-readable timecode but more often used in copies of original material onto a nonbroadcast format such as VHS so that the VHS copies can be traced back to their master tape and the original timecodes easily located.
Many professional VTRs can \"burn\" (overlay) the tape timecode onto one of their outputs. This output (which usually also displays the setup menu or on-screen display) is known as the *super out* or *monitor out*. The *character* switch or menu item turns this behaviour on or off. The *character* function also displays the timecode on the preview monitors in linear editing suites.
Videotapes that are recorded with timecode numbers overlaid on the video are referred to as *window dubs*, named after the \"window\" that displays the burnt-in timecode on-screen.
When editing was done using magnetic tapes that were subject to damage from excessive wear, it was common to use a window dub as a working copy for the majority of the editing process. Editing decisions would be made using a window dub, and no specialized equipment was needed to write down an edit decision list, which would then be replicated from the high-quality masters.
Timecode can also be superimposed on video using a dedicated overlay device, often called a \"window dub inserter\". This inputs a video signal and its separate timecode audio signal, reads the timecode, superimposes the timecode display over the video, and outputs the combined display (usually via composite), all in real time. Stand-alone timecode generators/readers often have the window dub function built in.
Some consumer cameras, in particular DV cameras, can \"burn\" (overlay) the tape timecode onto the composite output. This output is typically semitransparent and may include other tape information. It is usually activated by turning on the \"display\" info in one of the camera\'s submenus. While not as \"professional\" as an overlay created by a professional VCR, it is a cheap alternative that is just as accurate.
Timecode is stored in the metadata areas of captured DV AVI files, and some software is able to \"burn\" (overlay) this into the video frames. For example, DVMP Pro is able to \"burn\" timecode or other items of DV metadata (such as date and time, iris, shutter speed, gain, white balance mode, etc.) into DV AVI files.
OCR techniques can be used to read BITC in situations where other forms of timecode are not available.
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Bra–ket notation
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**Bra--ket notation**, also called **Dirac notation**, is a notation for linear algebra and linear operators on complex vector spaces together with their dual space both in the finite-dimensional and infinite-dimensional case. It is specifically designed to ease the types of calculations that frequently come up in quantum mechanics. Its use in quantum mechanics is quite widespread.
Bra--ket notation was created by Paul Dirac in his 1939 publication *A New Notation for Quantum Mechanics*. The notation was introduced as an easier way to write quantum mechanical expressions. The name comes from the English word \"bracket\".
## Quantum mechanics {#quantum_mechanics}
In quantum mechanics and quantum computing, bra--ket notation is used ubiquitously to denote quantum states. The notation uses angle brackets, `{{char|<math>\langle</math>}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{char|<math>\rangle</math>}}`{=mediawiki}, and a vertical bar `{{char|<math>|</math>}}`{=mediawiki}, to construct \"bras\" and \"kets\".
A **ket** is of the form $|v \rangle$. Mathematically it denotes a vector, $\boldsymbol v$, in an abstract (complex) vector space $V$, and physically it represents a state of some quantum system.
A **bra** is of the form $\langle f|$. Mathematically it denotes a linear form $f:V \to \Complex$, i.e. a linear map that maps each vector in $V$ to a number in the complex plane $\Complex$. Letting the linear functional $\langle f|$ act on a vector $|v\rangle$ is written as $\langle f | v\rangle \in \Complex$.
Assume that on $V$ there exists an inner product $(\cdot,\cdot)$ with antilinear first argument, which makes $V$ an inner product space. Then with this inner product each vector $\boldsymbol \phi \equiv |\phi\rangle$ can be identified with a corresponding linear form, by placing the vector in the anti-linear first slot of the inner product: $(\boldsymbol\phi,\cdot) \equiv \langle\phi|$. The correspondence between these notations is then $(\boldsymbol\phi, \boldsymbol\psi) \equiv \langle\phi|\psi\rangle$. The linear form $\langle\phi|$ is a covector to $|\phi\rangle$, and the set of all covectors forms a subspace of the dual vector space $V^\vee$, to the initial vector space $V$. The purpose of this linear form $\langle\phi|$ can now be understood in terms of making projections onto the state $\boldsymbol \phi,$ to find how linearly dependent two states are, etc.
For the vector space $\Complex^n$, kets can be identified with column vectors, and bras with row vectors. Combinations of bras, kets, and linear operators are interpreted using matrix multiplication. If $\Complex^n$ has the standard Hermitian inner product $(\boldsymbol v, \boldsymbol w) = v^\dagger w$, under this identification, the identification of kets and bras and vice versa provided by the inner product is taking the Hermitian conjugate (denoted $\dagger$).
It is common to suppress the vector or linear form from the bra--ket notation and only use a label inside the typography for the bra or ket. For example, the spin operator $\hat \sigma_z$ on a two-dimensional space $\Delta$ of spinors has eigenvalues $\pm \frac{1}{2}$ with eigenspinors $\boldsymbol \psi_+,\boldsymbol \psi_- \in \Delta$. In bra--ket notation, this is typically denoted as $\boldsymbol \psi_+ = |+\rangle$, and $\boldsymbol \psi_- = |-\rangle$. As above, kets and bras with the same label are interpreted as kets and bras corresponding to each other using the inner product. In particular, when also identified with row and column vectors, kets and bras with the same label are identified with Hermitian conjugate column and row vectors.
Bra--ket notation was effectively established in 1939 by Paul Dirac; it is thus also known as Dirac notation, despite the notation having a precursor in Hermann Grassmann\'s use of $[\phi{\mid}\psi]$ for inner products nearly 100 years earlier.
## Vector spaces {#vector_spaces}
### Vectors vs kets {#vectors_vs_kets}
In mathematics, the term \"vector\" is used for an element of any vector space. In physics, however, the term \"vector\" tends to refer almost exclusively to quantities like displacement or velocity, which have components that relate directly to the three dimensions of space, or relativistically, to the four of spacetime. Such vectors are typically denoted with over arrows ($\vec r$), boldface ($\mathbf{p}$) or indices ($v^\mu$).
In quantum mechanics, a quantum state is typically represented as an element of a complex Hilbert space, for example, the infinite-dimensional vector space of all possible wavefunctions (square integrable functions mapping each point of 3D space to a complex number) or some more abstract Hilbert space constructed more algebraically. To distinguish this type of vector from those described above, it is common and useful in physics to denote an element $\phi$ of an abstract complex vector space as a ket $|\phi\rangle$, to refer to it as a \"ket\" rather than as a vector, and to pronounce it \"ket-$\phi$\" or \"ket-A\" for `{{math|{{ket|''A''}}}}`{=mediawiki}.
Symbols, letters, numbers, or even words---whatever serves as a convenient label---can be used as the label inside a ket, with the $|\ \rangle$ making clear that the label indicates a vector in vector space. In other words, the symbol \"`{{math|{{ket|''A''}}}}`{=mediawiki}\" has a recognizable mathematical meaning as to the kind of variable being represented, while just the \"`{{math|''A''}}`{=mediawiki}\" by itself does not. For example, `{{math|{{ket|1}} + {{ket|2}}}}`{=mediawiki} is not necessarily equal to `{{math|{{ket|3}}}}`{=mediawiki}. Nevertheless, for convenience, there is usually some logical scheme behind the labels inside kets, such as the common practice of labeling energy eigenkets in quantum mechanics through a listing of their quantum numbers. At its simplest, the label inside the ket is the eigenvalue of a physical operator, such as $\hat x$, $\hat p$, $\hat L_z$, etc.
### Notation
Since kets are just vectors in a Hermitian vector space, they can be manipulated using the usual rules of linear algebra. For example:
$$\begin{align}
|A \rangle &= |B\rangle + |C\rangle \\
|C \rangle &= (-1+2i)|D \rangle \\
|D \rangle &= \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} e^{-x^2} |x\rangle \, \mathrm{d}x \,.
\end{align}$$
Note how the last line above involves infinitely many different kets, one for each real number `{{math|''x''}}`{=mediawiki}.
Since the ket is an element of a vector space, a **bra** $\langle A|$ is an element of its dual space, i.e. a bra is a linear functional which is a linear map from the vector space to the complex numbers. Thus, it is useful to think of kets and bras as being elements of different vector spaces (see below however) with both being different useful concepts.
A bra $\langle\phi|$ and a ket $|\psi\rangle$ (i.e. a functional and a vector), can be combined to an operator $|\psi\rangle\langle\phi|$ of rank one with outer product
$$|\psi\rangle\langle\phi| \colon |\xi\rangle \mapsto |\psi\rangle\langle\phi|\xi\rangle ~.$$
### Inner product and bra--ket identification on Hilbert space {#inner_product_and_braket_identification_on_hilbert_space}
The bra--ket notation is particularly useful in Hilbert spaces which have an inner product that allows Hermitian conjugation and identifying a vector with a continuous linear functional, i.e. a ket with a bra, and vice versa (see Riesz representation theorem). The inner product on Hilbert space $(\ , \ )$ (with the first argument anti linear as preferred by physicists) is fully equivalent to an (anti-linear) identification between the space of kets and that of bras in the bra--ket notation: for a vector ket $\psi = |\psi\rangle$ define a functional (i.e. bra) $f_\phi = \langle\phi|$ by
$$(\phi,\psi) = (|\phi\rangle, |\psi\rangle) =: f_\phi(\psi) = \langle\phi| \, \bigl(|\psi\rangle\bigr) =: \langle\phi{\mid}\psi\rangle$$
#### Bras and kets as row and column vectors {#bras_and_kets_as_row_and_column_vectors}
In the simple case where we consider the vector space $\Complex^n$, a ket can be identified with a column vector, and a bra as a row vector. If, moreover, we use the standard Hermitian inner product on $\Complex^n$, the bra corresponding to a ket, in particular a bra `{{math|{{bra|''m''}}}}`{=mediawiki} and a ket `{{math|{{ket|''m''}}}}`{=mediawiki} with the same label are conjugate transpose. Moreover, conventions are set up in such a way that writing bras, kets, and linear operators next to each other simply imply matrix multiplication. In particular the outer product $|\psi\rangle\langle\phi|$ of a column and a row vector ket and bra can be identified with matrix multiplication (column vector times row vector equals matrix).
For a finite-dimensional vector space, using a fixed orthonormal basis, the inner product can be written as a matrix multiplication of a row vector with a column vector: $\langle A | B \rangle \doteq A_1^* B_1 + A_2^* B_2 + \cdots + A_N^* B_N =
\begin{pmatrix} A_1^* & A_2^* & \cdots & A_N^* \end{pmatrix}
\begin{pmatrix} B_1 \\ B_2 \\ \vdots \\ B_N \end{pmatrix}$ Based on this, the bras and kets can be defined as: $\begin{align}
\langle A | &\doteq \begin{pmatrix} A_1^* & A_2^* & \cdots & A_N^* \end{pmatrix} \\
| B \rangle &\doteq \begin{pmatrix} B_1 \\ B_2 \\ \vdots \\ B_N \end{pmatrix}
\end{align}$ and then it is understood that a bra next to a ket implies matrix multiplication.
The conjugate transpose (also called *Hermitian conjugate*) of a bra is the corresponding ket and vice versa: $\langle A |^\dagger = |A \rangle, \quad |A \rangle^\dagger = \langle A |$ because if one starts with the bra $\begin{pmatrix} A_1^* & A_2^* & \cdots & A_N^* \end{pmatrix} \,,$ then performs a complex conjugation, and then a matrix transpose, one ends up with the ket $\begin{pmatrix} A_1 \\ A_2 \\ \vdots \\ A_N \end{pmatrix}$
Writing elements of a finite dimensional (or mutatis mutandis, countably infinite) vector space as a column vector of numbers requires picking a basis. Picking a basis is not always helpful because quantum mechanics calculations involve frequently switching between different bases (e.g. position basis, momentum basis, energy eigenbasis), and one can write something like \"`{{math|{{ket|''m''}}}}`{=mediawiki}\" without committing to any particular basis. In situations involving two different important basis vectors, the basis vectors can be taken in the notation explicitly and here will be referred simply as \"`{{math|{{ket|''−''}}}}`{=mediawiki}\" and \"`{{math|{{ket|''+''}}}}`{=mediawiki}\".
### Non-normalizable states and non-Hilbert spaces {#non_normalizable_states_and_non_hilbert_spaces}
Bra--ket notation can be used even if the vector space is not a Hilbert space.
In quantum mechanics, it is common practice to write down kets which have infinite norm, i.e. non-normalizable wavefunctions. Examples include states whose wavefunctions are Dirac delta functions or infinite plane waves. These do not, technically, belong to the Hilbert space itself. However, the definition of \"Hilbert space\" can be broadened to accommodate these states (see the Gelfand--Naimark--Segal construction or rigged Hilbert spaces). The bra--ket notation continues to work in an analogous way in this more general context.
Banach spaces are a different generalization of Hilbert spaces. In a Banach space `{{math|{{mathcal|B}}}}`{=mediawiki}, the vectors may be notated by kets and the continuous linear functionals by bras. Over any vector space without a given topology, we may still notate the vectors by kets and the linear functionals by bras. In these more general contexts, the bracket does not have the meaning of an inner product, because the Riesz representation theorem does not apply.
## Usage in quantum mechanics {#usage_in_quantum_mechanics}
The mathematical structure of quantum mechanics is based in large part on linear algebra:
- Wave functions and other quantum states can be represented as vectors in a separable complex Hilbert space. (The exact structure of this Hilbert space depends on the situation.) In bra--ket notation, for example, an electron might be in the \"state\" `{{math|{{ket|''ψ''}}}}`{=mediawiki}. (Technically, the quantum states are *rays* of vectors in the Hilbert space, as `{{math|''c''{{ket|''ψ''}}}}`{=mediawiki} corresponds to the same state for any nonzero complex number `{{math|''c''}}`{=mediawiki}.)
- Quantum superpositions can be described as vector sums of the constituent states. For example, an electron in the state `{{math|{{sfrac|1|√2}}{{ket|1}} + {{sfrac|''i''|√2}}{{ket|2}}}}`{=mediawiki} is in a quantum superposition of the states `{{math|{{ket|1}}}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|{{ket|2}}}}`{=mediawiki}.
- Measurements are associated with linear operators (called observables) on the Hilbert space of quantum states.
- Dynamics are also described by linear operators on the Hilbert space. For example, in the Schrödinger picture, there is a linear time evolution operator `{{math|''U''}}`{=mediawiki} with the property that if an electron is in state `{{math|{{ket|''ψ''}}}}`{=mediawiki} right now, at a later time it will be in the state `{{math|''U''{{ket|''ψ''}}}}`{=mediawiki}, the same `{{math|''U''}}`{=mediawiki} for every possible `{{math|{{ket|''ψ''}}}}`{=mediawiki}.
- Wave function normalization is scaling a wave function so that its norm is 1.
Since virtually every calculation in quantum mechanics involves vectors and linear operators, it can involve, and often does involve, bra--ket notation. A few examples follow:
### Spinless position--space wave function {#spinless_positionspace_wave_function}
The Hilbert space of a spin-0 point particle can be represented in terms of a \"position basis\" `{{math|{ {{ket|'''r'''}} }<nowiki/>}}`{=mediawiki}, where the label `{{math|'''r'''}}`{=mediawiki} extends over the set of all points in position space. These states satisfy the eigenvalue equation for the position operator: $\hat{\mathbf{r}}|\mathbf{r}\rangle = \mathbf{r}|\mathbf{r}\rangle.$ The position states are \"generalized eigenvectors\", not elements of the Hilbert space itself, and do not form a countable orthonormal basis. However, as the Hilbert space is separable, it does admit a countable dense subset within the domain of definition of its wavefunctions. That is, starting from any ket `{{math|{{ket|Ψ}}}}`{=mediawiki} in this Hilbert space, one may *define* a complex scalar function of `{{math|'''r'''}}`{=mediawiki}, known as a wavefunction, $\Psi(\mathbf{r}) \ \stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\ \lang \mathbf{r}|\Psi\rang \,.$
On the left-hand side, `{{math|Ψ('''r''')}}`{=mediawiki} is a function mapping any point in space to a complex number; on the right-hand side, $\left|\Psi\right\rangle = \int d^3\mathbf{r} \, \Psi(\mathbf{r}) \left|\mathbf{r}\right\rangle$ is a ket consisting of a superposition of kets with relative coefficients specified by that function.
It is then customary to define linear operators acting on wavefunctions in terms of linear operators acting on kets, by $\hat A(\mathbf{r}) ~ \Psi(\mathbf{r}) \ \stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\ \lang \mathbf{r}|\hat A|\Psi\rang \,.$
For instance, the momentum operator $\hat \mathbf {p}$ has the following coordinate representation, $\hat{\mathbf{p} } (\mathbf{r}) ~ \Psi(\mathbf{r}) \ \stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\ \lang \mathbf{r} |\hat \mathbf{p}|\Psi\rang = - i \hbar \nabla \Psi(\mathbf{r}) \,.$
One occasionally even encounters an expression such as $\nabla |\Psi\rang$, though this is something of an abuse of notation. The differential operator must be understood to be an abstract operator, acting on kets, that has the effect of differentiating wavefunctions once the expression is projected onto the position basis, $\nabla \lang\mathbf{r}|\Psi\rang \,,$ even though, in the momentum basis, this operator amounts to a mere multiplication operator (by `{{math|''iħ'''''p'''}}`{=mediawiki}). That is, to say, $\langle \mathbf{r} |\hat \mathbf{p} = - i \hbar \nabla \langle \mathbf{r}| ~,$ or $\hat \mathbf{p} = \int d^3 \mathbf{r} ~| \mathbf{r}\rangle ( - i \hbar \nabla) \langle \mathbf{r}| ~.$
### Overlap of states {#overlap_of_states}
In quantum mechanics the expression `{{math|{{bra-ket|''φ''|''ψ''}}}}`{=mediawiki} is typically interpreted as the probability amplitude for the state `{{math|''ψ''}}`{=mediawiki} to collapse into the state `{{math|''φ''}}`{=mediawiki}. Mathematically, this means the coefficient for the projection of `{{math|''ψ''}}`{=mediawiki} onto `{{math|''φ''}}`{=mediawiki}. It is also described as the projection of state `{{math|''ψ''}}`{=mediawiki} onto state `{{math|''φ''}}`{=mediawiki}.
### Changing basis for a spin-1/2 particle {#changing_basis_for_a_spin_12_particle}
A stationary spin-`{{1/2}}`{=mediawiki} particle has a two-dimensional Hilbert space. One orthonormal basis is: $|{\uparrow}_z \rangle \,, \; |{\downarrow}_z \rangle$ where `{{math|{{ket|↑<sub>''z''</sub>}}}}`{=mediawiki} is the state with a definite value of the spin operator `{{math|''S<sub>z</sub>''}}`{=mediawiki} equal to +`{{1/2}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|{{ket|↓<sub>''z''</sub>}}}}`{=mediawiki} is the state with a definite value of the spin operator `{{math|''S<sub>z</sub>''}}`{=mediawiki} equal to −`{{1/2}}`{=mediawiki}.
Since these are a basis, *any* quantum state of the particle can be expressed as a linear combination (i.e., quantum superposition) of these two states: $|\psi \rangle = a_{\psi} |{\uparrow}_z \rangle + b_{\psi} |{\downarrow}_z \rangle$ where `{{math|''a<sub>ψ</sub>''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''b<sub>ψ</sub>''}}`{=mediawiki} are complex numbers.
A *different* basis for the same Hilbert space is: $|{\uparrow}_x \rangle \,, \; |{\downarrow}_x \rangle$ defined in terms of `{{math|''S<sub>x</sub>''}}`{=mediawiki} rather than `{{math|''S<sub>z</sub>''}}`{=mediawiki}.
Again, *any* state of the particle can be expressed as a linear combination of these two: $|\psi \rangle = c_{\psi} |{\uparrow}_x \rangle + d_{\psi} |{\downarrow}_x \rangle$
In vector form, you might write $|\psi\rangle \doteq \begin{pmatrix} a_\psi \\ b_\psi \end{pmatrix} \quad \text{or} \quad |\psi\rangle \doteq \begin{pmatrix} c_\psi \\ d_\psi \end{pmatrix}$ depending on which basis you are using. In other words, the \"coordinates\" of a vector depend on the basis used.
There is a mathematical relationship between $a_\psi$, $b_\psi$, $c_\psi$ and $d_\psi$; see change of basis.
## Pitfalls and ambiguous uses {#pitfalls_and_ambiguous_uses}
There are some conventions and uses of notation that may be confusing or ambiguous for the non-initiated or early student.
### Separation of inner product and vectors {#separation_of_inner_product_and_vectors}
A cause for confusion is that the notation does not separate the inner-product operation from the notation for a (bra) vector. If a (dual space) bra-vector is constructed as a linear combination of other bra-vectors (for instance when expressing it in some basis) the notation creates some ambiguity and hides mathematical details. We can compare bra--ket notation to using bold for vectors, such as $\boldsymbol \psi$, and $(\cdot,\cdot)$ for the inner product. Consider the following dual space bra-vector in the basis $\{|e_n\rangle\}$, where $\{\psi_n\}$ are the complex number coefficients of $\langle \psi |$: $\langle\psi| = \sum_n \langle e_n| \psi_n$
It has to be determined by convention if the complex numbers $\{\psi_n\}$ are inside or outside of the inner product, and each convention gives different results.
$\langle\psi| \equiv (\boldsymbol\psi, \cdot ) = \sum_n (\boldsymbol e_n, \cdot ) \, \psi_n$ $\langle\psi| \equiv (\boldsymbol\psi, \cdot ) = \sum_n (\boldsymbol e_n \psi_n, \cdot ) = \sum_n (\boldsymbol e_n, \cdot ) \, \psi_n^*$
### Reuse of symbols {#reuse_of_symbols}
It is common to use the same symbol for *labels* and *constants*. For example, $\hat \alpha |\alpha\rangle = \alpha |\alpha \rangle$, where the symbol $\alpha$ is used simultaneously as the *name of the operator* $\hat \alpha$, its *eigenvector* $|\alpha\rangle$ and the associated *eigenvalue* $\alpha$. Sometimes the *hat* is also dropped for operators, and one can see notation such as $A |a\rangle = a |a \rangle$.
### Hermitian conjugate of kets {#hermitian_conjugate_of_kets}
It is common to see the usage $|\psi\rangle^\dagger = \langle\psi|$, where the dagger ($\dagger$) corresponds to the Hermitian conjugate. This is however not correct in a technical sense, since the ket, $|\psi\rangle$, represents a vector in a complex Hilbert-space $\mathcal{H}$, and the bra, $\langle\psi|$, is a linear functional on vectors in $\mathcal{H}$. In other words, $|\psi\rangle$ is just a vector, while $\langle\psi|$ is the combination of a vector and an inner product.
### Operations inside bras and kets {#operations_inside_bras_and_kets}
This is done for a fast notation of scaling vectors. For instance, if the vector $|\alpha \rangle$ is scaled by $1/\sqrt{2}$, it may be denoted $|\alpha/\sqrt{2} \rangle$. This can be ambiguous since $\alpha$ is simply a label for a state, and not a mathematical object on which operations can be performed. This usage is more common when denoting vectors as tensor products, where part of the labels are moved **outside** the designed slot, e.g. $|\alpha \rangle = |\alpha/\sqrt{2} \rangle_1 \otimes |\alpha/\sqrt{2} \rangle_2$.
## Linear operators {#linear_operators}
### Linear operators acting on kets {#linear_operators_acting_on_kets}
A linear operator is a map that inputs a ket and outputs a ket. (In order to be called \"linear\", it is required to have certain properties.) In other words, if $\hat A$ is a linear operator and $|\psi\rangle$ is a ket-vector, then $\hat A |\psi\rangle$ is another ket-vector.
In an $N$-dimensional Hilbert space, we can impose a basis on the space and represent $|\psi\rangle$ in terms of its coordinates as a $N \times 1$ column vector. Using the same basis for $\hat A$, it is represented by an $N \times N$ complex matrix. The ket-vector $\hat A |\psi\rangle$ can now be computed by matrix multiplication.
Linear operators are ubiquitous in the theory of quantum mechanics. For example, observable physical quantities are represented by self-adjoint operators, such as energy or momentum, whereas transformative processes are represented by unitary linear operators such as rotation or the progression of time.
### Linear operators acting on bras {#linear_operators_acting_on_bras}
Operators can also be viewed as acting on bras *from the right hand side*. Specifically, if `{{math|'''''A'''''}}`{=mediawiki} is a linear operator and `{{math|{{bra|''φ''}}}}`{=mediawiki} is a bra, then `{{math|{{bra|''φ''}}'''''A'''''}}`{=mediawiki} is another bra defined by the rule $\bigl(\langle\phi|\boldsymbol{A}\bigr) |\psi\rangle = \langle\phi| \bigl(\boldsymbol{A}|\psi\rangle\bigr) \,,$ (in other words, a function composition). This expression is commonly written as (cf. energy inner product) $\langle\phi| \boldsymbol{A} |\psi\rangle \,.$
In an `{{math|''N''}}`{=mediawiki}-dimensional Hilbert space, `{{math|{{bra|''φ''}}}}`{=mediawiki} can be written as a `{{math|1 × ''N''}}`{=mediawiki} row vector, and `{{math|'''''A'''''}}`{=mediawiki} (as in the previous section) is an `{{math|''N'' × ''N''}}`{=mediawiki} matrix. Then the bra `{{math|{{bra|''φ''}}'''''A'''''}}`{=mediawiki} can be computed by normal matrix multiplication.
If the same state vector appears on both bra and ket side, $\langle\psi|\boldsymbol{A}|\psi\rangle \,,$ then this expression gives the expectation value, or mean or average value, of the observable represented by operator `{{math|'''''A'''''}}`{=mediawiki} for the physical system in the state `{{math|{{ket|''ψ''}}}}`{=mediawiki}.
### Outer products {#outer_products}
A convenient way to define linear operators on a Hilbert space `{{math|{{mathcal|H}}}}`{=mediawiki} is given by the outer product: if `{{math|{{bra|''ϕ''}}}}`{=mediawiki} is a bra and `{{math|{{ket|''ψ''}}}}`{=mediawiki} is a ket, the outer product $|\phi\rang \, \lang \psi|$ denotes the rank-one operator with the rule $\bigl(|\phi\rang \lang \psi|\bigr)(x) = \lang \psi | x \rang |\phi \rang.$
For a finite-dimensional vector space, the outer product can be understood as simple matrix multiplication: $|\phi \rangle \, \langle \psi | \doteq
\begin{pmatrix} \phi_1 \\ \phi_2 \\ \vdots \\ \phi_N \end{pmatrix}
\begin{pmatrix} \psi_1^* & \psi_2^* & \cdots & \psi_N^* \end{pmatrix}
= \begin{pmatrix}
\phi_1 \psi_1^* & \phi_1 \psi_2^* & \cdots & \phi_1 \psi_N^* \\
\phi_2 \psi_1^* & \phi_2 \psi_2^* & \cdots & \phi_2 \psi_N^* \\
\vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\
\phi_N \psi_1^* & \phi_N \psi_2^* & \cdots & \phi_N \psi_N^* \end{pmatrix}$ The outer product is an `{{math|''N'' × ''N''}}`{=mediawiki} matrix, as expected for a linear operator.
One of the uses of the outer product is to construct projection operators. Given a ket `{{math|{{ket|''ψ''}}}}`{=mediawiki} of norm 1, the orthogonal projection onto the subspace spanned by `{{math|{{ket|''ψ''}}}}`{=mediawiki} is $|\psi\rangle \, \langle\psi| \,.$ This is an idempotent in the algebra of observables that acts on the Hilbert space.
### Hermitian conjugate operator {#hermitian_conjugate_operator}
Just as kets and bras can be transformed into each other (making `{{math|{{ket|''ψ''}}}}`{=mediawiki} into `{{math|{{bra|''ψ''}}}}`{=mediawiki}), the element from the dual space corresponding to `{{math|''A''{{ket|''ψ''}}}}`{=mediawiki} is `{{math|{{bra|''ψ''}}''A''<sup>†</sup>}}`{=mediawiki}, where `{{math|''A''<sup>†</sup>}}`{=mediawiki} denotes the Hermitian conjugate (or adjoint) of the operator `{{math|''A''}}`{=mediawiki}. In other words, $|\phi\rangle = A |\psi\rangle \quad \text{if and only if} \quad \langle\phi| = \langle \psi | A^\dagger \,.$
If `{{math|''A''}}`{=mediawiki} is expressed as an `{{math|''N'' × ''N''}}`{=mediawiki} matrix, then `{{math|''A''<sup>†</sup>}}`{=mediawiki} is its conjugate transpose.
## Properties
Bra--ket notation was designed to facilitate the formal manipulation of linear-algebraic expressions. Some of the properties that allow this manipulation are listed herein. In what follows, `{{math|''c''<sub>1</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''c''<sub>2</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} denote arbitrary complex numbers, `{{math|''c''*}}`{=mediawiki} denotes the complex conjugate of `{{math|''c''}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{math|''A''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''B''}}`{=mediawiki} denote arbitrary linear operators, and these properties are to hold for any choice of bras and kets.
### Linearity
- Since bras are linear functionals, $\langle\phi| \bigl( c_1|\psi_1\rangle + c_2|\psi_2\rangle \bigr) = c_1\langle\phi|\psi_1\rangle + c_2\langle\phi|\psi_2\rangle \,.$
- By the definition of addition and scalar multiplication of linear functionals in the dual space, $\bigl(c_1 \langle\phi_1| + c_2 \langle\phi_2|\bigr) |\psi\rangle = c_1 \langle\phi_1|\psi\rangle + c_2 \langle\phi_2|\psi\rangle \,.$
### Associativity
Given any expression involving complex numbers, bras, kets, inner products, outer products, and/or linear operators (but not addition), written in bra--ket notation, the parenthetical groupings do not matter (i.e., the associative property holds). For example:
$$\begin{align}
\lang \psi| \bigl(A |\phi\rang\bigr) = \bigl(\lang \psi|A\bigr)|\phi\rang \, &\stackrel{\text{def}}{=} \, \lang \psi | A | \phi \rang \\
\bigl(A|\psi\rang\bigr)\lang \phi| = A\bigl(|\psi\rang \lang \phi|\bigr) \, &\stackrel{\text{def}}{=} \, A | \psi \rang \lang \phi |
\end{align}$$ and so forth. The expressions on the right (with no parentheses whatsoever) are allowed to be written unambiguously *because* of the equalities on the left. Note that the associative property does *not* hold for expressions that include nonlinear operators, such as the antilinear time reversal operator in physics.
### Hermitian conjugation {#hermitian_conjugation}
Bra--ket notation makes it particularly easy to compute the Hermitian conjugate (also called *dagger*, and denoted `{{math|†}}`{=mediawiki}) of expressions. The formal rules are:
- The Hermitian conjugate of a bra is the corresponding ket, and vice versa.
- The Hermitian conjugate of a complex number is its complex conjugate.
- The Hermitian conjugate of the Hermitian conjugate of anything (linear operators, bras, kets, numbers) is itself---i.e., $\left(x^\dagger\right)^\dagger=x \,.$
- Given any combination of complex numbers, bras, kets, inner products, outer products, and/or linear operators, written in bra--ket notation, its Hermitian conjugate can be computed by reversing the order of the components, and taking the Hermitian conjugate of each.
These rules are sufficient to formally write the Hermitian conjugate of any such expression; some examples are as follows:
- Kets:
\\bigl(c_1\|\\psi_1\\rangle + c_2\|\\psi_2\\rangle\\bigr)\^\\dagger = c_1\^\* \\langle\\psi_1\| + c_2\^\* \\langle\\psi_2\| \\,.
- Inner products: $\langle \phi | \psi \rangle^* = \langle \psi|\phi\rangle \,.$ Note that `{{math|{{bra-ket|''φ''|''ψ''}}}}`{=mediawiki} is a scalar, so the Hermitian conjugate is just the complex conjugate, i.e., $\bigl(\langle \phi | \psi \rangle\bigr)^\dagger = \langle \phi | \psi \rangle^*$
- Matrix elements: \\begin{align}
\\langle \\phi\| A \| \\psi \\rangle\^\\dagger &= \\left\\langle \\psi \\left\| A\^\\dagger \\right\|\\phi \\right\\rangle \\\\ \\left\\langle \\phi\\left\| A\^\\dagger B\^\\dagger \\right\| \\psi \\right\\rangle\^\\dagger &= \\langle \\psi \| BA \|\\phi \\rangle \\,. \\end{align}
- Outer products: $\Big(\bigl(c_1|\phi_1\rangle\langle \psi_1|\bigr) + \bigl(c_2|\phi_2\rangle\langle\psi_2|\bigr)\Big)^\dagger = \bigl(c_1^* |\psi_1\rangle\langle \phi_1|\bigr) + \bigl(c_2^*|\psi_2\rangle\langle\phi_2|\bigr) \,.$
## Composite bras and kets {#composite_bras_and_kets}
Two Hilbert spaces `{{math|''V''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''W''}}`{=mediawiki} may form a third space `{{math|''V'' ⊗ ''W''}}`{=mediawiki} by a tensor product. In quantum mechanics, this is used for describing composite systems. If a system is composed of two subsystems described in `{{math|''V''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''W''}}`{=mediawiki} respectively, then the Hilbert space of the entire system is the tensor product of the two spaces. (The exception to this is if the subsystems are actually identical particles. In that case, the situation is a little more complicated.)
If `{{math|{{ket|''ψ''}}}}`{=mediawiki} is a ket in `{{math|''V''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|{{ket|''φ''}}}}`{=mediawiki} is a ket in `{{math|''W''}}`{=mediawiki}, the tensor product of the two kets is a ket in `{{math|''V'' ⊗ ''W''}}`{=mediawiki}. This is written in various notations:
$$|\psi\rangle|\phi\rangle \,,\quad |\psi\rangle \otimes |\phi\rangle\,,\quad|\psi \phi\rangle\,,\quad|\psi ,\phi\rangle\,.$$
See quantum entanglement and the EPR paradox for applications of this product.
## The unit operator {#the_unit_operator}
Consider a complete orthonormal system (*basis*), $\{ e_i \ | \ i \in \mathbb{N} \} \,,$ for a Hilbert space `{{math|''H''}}`{=mediawiki}, with respect to the norm from an inner product `{{math|{{angbr|·,·}}}}`{=mediawiki}.
From basic functional analysis, it is known that any ket $|\psi\rangle$ can also be written as $|\psi\rangle = \sum_{i \in \mathbb{N}} \langle e_i | \psi \rangle | e_i \rangle,$ with `{{math|{{bra-ket|·|·}}}}`{=mediawiki} the inner product on the Hilbert space.
From the commutativity of kets with (complex) scalars, it follows that $\sum_{i \in \mathbb{N}} | e_i \rangle \langle e_i | = \mathbb{I}$ must be the *identity operator*, which sends each vector to itself.
This, then, can be inserted in any expression without affecting its value; for example $\begin{align}
\langle v | w \rangle &= \langle v | \left( \sum_{i \in \mathbb{N}} | e_i \rangle \langle e_i| \right) | w \rangle \\
&= \langle v | \left( \sum_{i \in \mathbb{N}} | e_i \rangle \langle e_i| \right) \left( \sum_{j \in \mathbb{N}} | e_j \rangle \langle e_j |\right)| w \rangle \\
&= \langle v | e_i \rangle \langle e_i | e_j \rangle \langle e_j | w \rangle \,,
\end{align}$ where, in the last line, the Einstein summation convention has been used to avoid clutter.
In quantum mechanics, it often occurs that little or no information about the inner product `{{math|{{bra-ket|''ψ''|''φ''}}}}`{=mediawiki} of two arbitrary (state) kets is present, while it is still possible to say something about the expansion coefficients `{{math|1={{bra-ket|''ψ''|''e<sub>i</sub>''}} = {{bra-ket|''e<sub>i</sub>''|''ψ''}}*}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|{{bra-ket|''e<sub>i</sub>''|''φ''}}}}`{=mediawiki} of those vectors with respect to a specific (orthonormalized) basis. In this case, it is particularly useful to insert the unit operator into the bracket one time or more.
For more information, see Resolution of the identity, ${\mathbb I} = \int\! dx~ | x \rangle \langle x |= \int\! dp ~| p \rangle \langle p |,$ where $|p\rangle = \int dx \frac{e^{ixp / \hbar} |x\rangle}{\sqrt{2\pi\hbar}}.$
Since `{{math|1={{bra-ket|''x''{{prime}}|''x''}} = ''δ''(''x'' − ''x''{{prime}})}}`{=mediawiki}, plane waves follow, $\langle x | p \rangle = \frac{e^{ixp / \hbar}}{\sqrt{2\pi\hbar}}.$
In his book (1958), Ch. III.20, Dirac defines the *standard ket* which, up to a normalization, is the translationally invariant momentum eigenstate $|\varpi\rangle=\lim_{p\to 0} |p\rangle$ in the momentum representation, i.e., $\hat{p}|\varpi\rangle=0$. Consequently, the corresponding wavefunction is a constant, $\langle x|\varpi\rangle \sqrt{2\pi \hbar}=1$, and $|x\rangle= \delta(\hat{x}-x) |\varpi\rangle \sqrt{2\pi \hbar},$ as well as $|p\rangle= \exp (ip\hat{x}/\hbar ) |\varpi\rangle.$
Typically, when all matrix elements of an operator such as $\langle x| A |y\rangle$ are available, this resolution serves to reconstitute the full operator, $\int dx \, dy \, |x\rangle \langle x| A |y\rangle \langle y | = A \,.$
## Notation used by mathematicians {#notation_used_by_mathematicians}
The object physicists are considering when using bra--ket notation is a Hilbert space (a complete inner product space).
Let $(\mathcal H, \langle\cdot,\cdot\rangle)$ be a Hilbert space and `{{math|''h'' ∈ {{mathcal|H}}}}`{=mediawiki} a vector in `{{math|{{mathcal|H}}}}`{=mediawiki}. What physicists would denote by `{{math|{{ket|''h''}}}}`{=mediawiki} is the vector itself. That is, $|h\rangle\in \mathcal{H} .$
Let `{{math|{{mathcal|H}}*}}`{=mediawiki} be the dual space of `{{math|{{mathcal|H}}}}`{=mediawiki}. This is the space of linear functionals on `{{math|{{mathcal|H}}}}`{=mediawiki}. The embedding $\Phi:\mathcal H \hookrightarrow \mathcal H^*$ is defined by $\Phi(h) = \varphi_h$, where for every `{{math|''h'' ∈ {{mathcal|H}}}}`{=mediawiki} the linear functional $\varphi_h:\mathcal H\to\mathbb C$ satisfies for every `{{math|''g'' ∈ {{mathcal|H}}}}`{=mediawiki} the functional equation $\varphi_h(g) = \langle h, g\rangle = \langle h\mid g\rangle$. Notational confusion arises when identifying `{{math|''φ<sub>h</sub>''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''g''}}`{=mediawiki} with `{{math|{{bra|''h''}}}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|{{ket|''g''}}}}`{=mediawiki} respectively. This is because of literal symbolic substitutions. Let $\varphi_h = H = \langle h\mid$ and let `{{math|1=''g'' = G = {{ket|''g''}}}}`{=mediawiki}. This gives $\varphi_h(g) = H(g) = H(G)=\langle h|(G) = \langle h|\bigl(|g\rangle\bigr) \,.$
One ignores the parentheses and removes the double bars.
Moreover, mathematicians usually write the dual entity not at the first place, as the physicists do, but at the second one, and they usually use not an asterisk but an overline (which the physicists reserve for averages and the Dirac spinor adjoint) to denote complex conjugate numbers; i.e., for scalar products mathematicians usually write $\langle\phi ,\psi\rangle=\int \phi (x)\overline{\psi(x)}\, dx \,,$ whereas physicists would write for the same quantity $\langle\psi |\phi \rangle = \int dx \, \psi^*(x) \phi(x)~.$
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Blizzard
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A **blizzard** is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time---typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow that has already fallen is being blown by wind. Blizzards can have an immense size and usually stretch to hundreds or thousands of kilometres.
## Definition and etymology {#definition_and_etymology}
In the United States, the National Weather Service defines a blizzard as a severe snow storm characterized by strong winds causing blowing snow that results in low visibilities. The difference between a blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind, not the amount of snow. To be a blizzard, a snow storm must have sustained winds or frequent gusts that are greater than or equal to 56 km/h with blowing or drifting snow which reduces visibility to 400 m or less and must last for a prolonged period of time---typically three hours or more.
Environment Canada defines a blizzard as a storm with wind speeds exceeding 40 km/h accompanied by visibility of 400 m or less, resulting from snowfall, blowing snow, or a combination of the two. These conditions must persist for a period of at least four hours for the storm to be classified as a blizzard, except north of the arctic tree line, where that threshold is raised to six hours. The Australia Bureau of Meteorology describes a blizzard as, \"Violent and very cold wind which is laden with snow, some part, at least, of which has been raised from snow covered ground.\"
While severe cold and large amounts of drifting snow may accompany blizzards, they are not required. Blizzards can bring whiteout conditions, and can paralyze regions for days at a time, particularly where snowfall is unusual or rare.
A severe blizzard has winds over 72 km/h, near zero visibility, and temperatures of -12 C or lower. In Antarctica, blizzards are associated with winds spilling over the edge of the ice plateau at an average velocity of 160 km/h.
Ground blizzard refers to a weather condition where loose snow or ice on the ground is lifted and blown by strong winds. The primary difference between a ground blizzard as opposed to a regular blizzard is that in a ground blizzard no precipitation is produced at the time, but rather all the precipitation is already present in the form of snow or ice at the surface.
The *Oxford English Dictionary* concludes the term *blizzard* is likely onomatopoeic, derived from the same sense as *blow, blast, blister, and bluster*; the first recorded use of it for weather dates to 1829, when it was defined as a \"violent blow\". It achieved its modern definition by 1859, when it was in use in the western United States. The term became common in the press during the harsh winter of 1880--81.
## United States storm systems {#united_states_storm_systems}
In the United States, storm systems powerful enough to cause blizzards usually form when the jet stream dips far to the south, allowing cold, dry polar air from the north to clash with warm, humid air moving up from the south.
When cold, moist air from the Pacific Ocean moves eastward to the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains, and warmer, moist air moves north from the Gulf of Mexico, all that is needed is a movement of cold polar air moving south to form potential blizzard conditions that may extend from the Texas Panhandle to the Great Lakes and Midwest. A blizzard also may be formed when a cold front and warm front mix together and a blizzard forms at the border line.
Another storm system occurs when a cold core low over the Hudson Bay area in Canada is displaced southward over southeastern Canada, the Great Lakes, and New England. When the rapidly moving cold front collides with warmer air coming north from the Gulf of Mexico, strong surface winds, significant cold air advection, and extensive wintry precipitation occur.
Low pressure systems moving out of the Rocky Mountains onto the Great Plains, a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, can cause thunderstorms and rain to the south and heavy snows and strong winds to the north. With few trees or other obstructions to reduce wind and blowing, this part of the country is particularly vulnerable to blizzards with very low temperatures and whiteout conditions. In a true whiteout, there is no visible horizon. People can become lost in their own front yards, when the door is only 10 ft away, and they would have to feel their way back. Motorists have to stop their cars where they are, as the road is impossible to see.
### Nor\'easter blizzards {#noreaster_blizzards}
A nor\'easter is a macro-scale storm that occurs off the New England and Atlantic Canada coastlines. It gets its name from the direction the wind is coming from. The usage of the term in North America comes from the wind associated with many different types of storms, some of which can form in the North Atlantic Ocean and some of which form as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. The term is most often used in the coastal areas of New England and Atlantic Canada. This type of storm has characteristics similar to a hurricane. More specifically, it describes a low-pressure area whose center of rotation is just off the coast and whose leading winds in the left-forward quadrant rotate onto land from the northeast. High storm waves may sink ships at sea and cause coastal flooding and beach erosion. Notable nor\'easters include The Great Blizzard of 1888, one of the worst blizzards in U.S. history. It dropped 40 - of snow and had sustained winds of more than 45 mph that produced snowdrifts in excess of 50 ft. Railroads were shut down and people were confined to their houses for up to a week. It killed 400 people, mostly in New York.
## Historic events {#historic_events}
### 1972 Iran blizzard {#iran_blizzard}
The 1972 Iran blizzard, which caused 4,000 reported deaths, was the deadliest blizzard in recorded history. Dropping as much as 26 feet of snow, it completely covered 200 villages. After a snowfall lasting nearly a week, an area the size of Wisconsin was entirely buried in snow.
### 2008 Afghanistan blizzard {#afghanistan_blizzard}
The 2008 Afghanistan blizzard, was a fierce blizzard that struck Afghanistan on 10 January 2008. Temperatures fell to a low of -30 C, with up to 180 cm of snow in the more mountainous regions, killing at least 926 people. The weather also claimed more than 100,000 sheep and goats, and nearly 315,000 cattle died.
### The Snow Winter of 1880--1881 {#the_snow_winter_of_18801881}
The winter of 1880--1881 is widely considered the most severe winter ever known in many parts of the United States.
The initial blizzard in October 1880 brought snowfalls so deep that two-story homes experienced *accumulations*, as opposed to drifts, up to their second-floor windows. No one was prepared for deep snow so early in the winter. Farmers from North Dakota to Virginia were caught flat with fields unharvested, what grain that had been harvested unmilled, and their suddenly all-important winter stocks of wood fuel only partially collected. By January train service was almost entirely suspended from the region. Railroads hired scores of men to dig out the tracks but as soon as they had finished shoveling a stretch of line a new storm arrived, burying it again.
There were no winter thaws and on February 2, 1881, a second massive blizzard struck that lasted for nine days. In towns the streets were filled with solid drifts to the tops of the buildings and tunneling was necessary to move about. Homes and barns were completely covered, compelling farmers to construct fragile tunnels in order to feed their stock.
When the snow finally melted in late spring of 1881, huge sections of the plains experienced flooding. Massive ice jams clogged the Missouri River, and when they broke the downstream areas were inundated. Most of the town of Yankton, in what is now South Dakota, was washed away when the river overflowed its banks after the thaw.
#### Novelization
Many children---and their parents---learned of \"The Snow Winter\" through the children\'s book *The Long Winter* by Laura Ingalls Wilder, in which the author tells of her family\'s efforts to survive. The snow arrived in October 1880 and blizzard followed blizzard throughout the winter and into March 1881, leaving many areas snowbound throughout the winter. Accurate details in Wilder\'s novel include the blizzards\' frequency and the deep cold, the Chicago and North Western Railway stopping trains until the spring thaw because the snow made the tracks impassable, the near-starvation of the townspeople, and the courage of her future husband Almanzo and another man, Cap Garland, who ventured out on the open prairie in search of a cache of wheat that no one was even sure existed.
### The Storm of the Century {#the_storm_of_the_century}
The Storm of the Century, also known as the Great Blizzard of 1993, was a large cyclonic storm that formed over the Gulf of Mexico on March 12, 1993, and dissipated in the North Atlantic Ocean on March 15. It is unique for its intensity, massive size and wide-reaching effect. At its height, the storm stretched from Canada towards Central America, but its main impact was on the United States and Cuba. The cyclone moved through the Gulf of Mexico, and then through the Eastern United States before moving into Canada. Areas as far south as northern Alabama and Georgia received a dusting of snow and areas such as Birmingham, Alabama, received up to 12 in with hurricane-force wind gusts and record low barometric pressures. Between Louisiana and Cuba, hurricane-force winds produced high storm surges across northwestern Florida, which along with scattered tornadoes killed dozens of people. In the United States, the storm was responsible for the loss of electric power to over 10 million customers. It is purported to have been directly experienced by nearly 40 percent of the country\'s population at that time. A total of 310 people, including 10 from Cuba, perished during this storm. The storm cost \$6 to \$10 billion in damages.
## List of blizzards {#list_of_blizzards}
### North America {#north_america}
#### 1700 to 1799 {#to_1799}
- The Great Snow 1717 series of four snowstorms between February 27 and March 7, 1717. There were reports of about five feet of snow already on the ground when the first of the storms hit. By the end, there were about ten feet of snow and some drifts reaching 25 ft, burying houses entirely. In the colonial era, this storm made travel impossible until the snow simply melted.
- Blizzard of 1765. March 24, 1765. Affected area from Philadelphia to Massachusetts. High winds and over 2 ft of snowfall recorded in some areas.
- Blizzard of 1772. \"The Washington and Jefferson Snowstorm of 1772\". January 26--29, 1772. One of largest D.C. and Virginia area snowstorms ever recorded. Snow accumulations of 3 ft recorded.
- The \"Hessian Storm of 1778\". December 26, 1778. Severe blizzard with high winds, heavy snows and bitter cold extending from Pennsylvania to New England. Snow drifts reported to be 15 ft high in Rhode Island. Storm named for stranded Hessian troops in deep snows stationed in Rhode Island during the Revolutionary War.
- The Great Snow of 1786. December 4--10, 1786. Blizzard conditions and a succession of three harsh snowstorms produced snow depths of 2 ft to 4 ft from Pennsylvania to New England. Reportedly of similar magnitude of 1717 snowstorms.
- The Long Storm of 1798. November 19--21, 1798. Heavy snowstorm produced snow from Maryland to Maine.
#### 1800 to 1850 {#to_1850}
- Blizzard of 1805. January 26--28, 1805. Cyclone brought heavy snowstorm to New York City and New England. Snow fell continuously for two days where over 2 ft of snow accumulated.
- New York City Blizzard of 1811. December 23--24, 1811. Severe blizzard conditions reported on Long Island, in New York City, and southern New England. Strong winds and tides caused damage to shipping in harbor.
- Luminous Blizzard of 1817. January 17, 1817. In Massachusetts and Vermont, a severe snowstorm was accompanied by frequent lightning and heavy thunder. St. Elmo\'s fire reportedly lit up trees, fence posts, house roofs, and even people. John Farrar professor at Harvard, recorded the event in his memoir in 1821.
- Great Snowstorm of 1821. January 5--7, 1821. Extensive snowstorm and blizzard spread from Virginia to New England.
- Winter of Deep Snow in 1830. December 29, 1830. Blizzard storm dumped 36 in in Kansas City and 30 in in Illinois. Areas experienced repeated storms thru mid-February 1831.
- \"The Great Snowstorm of 1831\" January 14--16, 1831. Produced snowfall over widest geographic area that was only rivaled, or exceeded by, the 1993 Blizzard. Blizzard raged from Georgia, to Ohio Valley, all the way to Maine.
- \"The Big Snow of 1836\" January 8--10, 1836. Produced 30 in to 40 in of snowfall in interior New York, northern Pennsylvania, and western New England. Philadelphia got a reported 15 in and New York City 2 ft of snow.
#### 1851 to 1900 {#to_1900}
- Plains Blizzard of 1856. December 3--5, 1856. Severe blizzard-like storm raged for three days in Kansas and Iowa. Early pioneers suffered.
- \"The Cold Storm of 1857\" January 18--19, 1857. Produced severe blizzard conditions from North Carolina to Maine. Heavy snowfalls reported in east coast cities.
- Midwest Blizzard of 1864. January 1, 1864. Gale-force winds, driving snow, and low temperatures all struck simultaneously around Chicago, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
- Plains Blizzard of 1873. January 7, 1873. Severe blizzard struck the Great Plains. Many pioneers from the east were unprepared for the storm and perished in Minnesota and Iowa.
- Great Plains Easter Blizzard of 1873. April 13, 1873
- Seattle Blizzard of 1880. January 6, 1880. Seattle area\'s greatest snowstorm to date. An estimated 4 ft fell around the town. Many barns collapsed and all transportation halted.
- The Hard Winter of 1880-81. October 15, 1880. A blizzard in eastern South Dakota marked the beginning of this historically difficult season. Laura Ingalls Wilder\'s book *The Long Winter* details the effects of this season on early settlers.
- In the three year winter period from December 1885 to March 1888, the Great Plains and Eastern United States suffered a series of the worst blizzards in this nation\'s history ending with the Schoolhouse Blizzard and the Great Blizzard of 1888. The massive explosion of the volcano Krakatoa in the South Pacific late in August 1883 is a suspected cause of these huge blizzards during these several years. The clouds of ash it emitted continued to circulate around the world for many years. Weather patterns continued to be chaotic for years, and temperatures did not return to normal until 1888. Record rainfall was experienced in Southern California during July 1883 to June 1884. The Krakatoa eruption injected an unusually large amount of sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas high into the stratosphere which reflects sunlight and helped cool the planet over the next few years until the suspended atmospheric sulfur fell to ground.
- Plains Blizzard of late 1885. In Kansas, heavy snows of late 1885 had piled drifts 10 ft high.
- Kansas Blizzard of 1886. First week of January 1886. Reported that 80 percent of the cattle were frozen to death in that state alone from the cold and snow.
- January 1886 Blizzard. January 9, 1886. Same system as Kansas 1886 Blizzard that traveled eastward.
- Great Plains Blizzards of late 1886. On November 13, 1886, it reportedly began to snow and did not stop for a month in the Great Plains region.
- Great Plains Blizzard of 1887. January 9--11, 1887. Reported 72-hour blizzard that covered parts of the Great Plains in more than 16 in of snow. Winds whipped and temperatures dropped to around -50 F. So many cows that were not killed by the cold soon died from starvation. When spring arrived, millions of the animals were dead, with around 90 percent of the open range\'s cattle rotting where they fell. Those present reported carcasses as far as the eye could see. Dead cattle clogged up rivers and spoiled drinking water. Many ranchers went bankrupt and others simply called it quits and moved back east. The \"Great Die-Up\" from the blizzard effectively concluded the romantic period of the great Plains cattle drives.
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- Schoolhouse Blizzard of 1888 North American Great Plains. January 12--13, 1888. What made the storm so deadly was the timing (during work and school hours), the suddenness, and the brief spell of warmer weather that preceded it. In addition, the very strong wind fields behind the cold front and the powdery nature of the snow reduced visibilities on the open plains to zero. People ventured from the safety of their homes to do chores, go to town, attend school, or simply enjoy the relative warmth of the day. As a result, thousands of people---including many schoolchildren---got caught in the blizzard.
- Great Blizzard of March 1888 March 11--14, 1888. One of the most severe recorded blizzards in the history of the United States. On March 12, an unexpected northeaster hit New England and the mid-Atlantic, dropping up to 50 in of snow in the space of three days. New York City experienced its heaviest snowfall recorded to date at that time, all street railcars were stranded, and the storm led to the creation of the NYC subway system. Snowdrifts reached up to the second story of some buildings. Some 400 people died from this blizzard, including many sailors aboard vessels that were beset by gale-force winds and turbulent seas.
- Great Blizzard of 1899 February 11--14, 1899. An extremely unusual blizzard in that it reached into the far southern states of the US. It hit in February, and the area around Washington, D.C., experienced 51 hours straight of snowfall. The port of New Orleans was totally iced over; revelers participating in the New Orleans Mardi Gras had to wait for the parade routes to be shoveled free of snow. Concurrent with this blizzard was the extremely cold arctic air. Many city and state record low temperatures date back to this event, including all-time records for locations in the Midwest and South. State record lows: Nebraska reached -47 F, Ohio experienced -39 F, Louisiana bottomed out at -16 F, and Florida dipped below zero to -2 F.
#### 1901 to 1939 {#to_1939}
- Great Lakes Storm of 1913 November 7--10, 1913. \"The White Hurricane\" of 1913 was the deadliest and most destructive natural disaster ever to hit the Great Lakes Basin in the Midwestern United States and the Canadian province of Ontario. It produced 90 mph wind gusts, waves over 35 ft high, and whiteout snowsqualls. It killed more than 250 people, destroyed 19 ships, and stranded 19 others.
- Blizzard of 1918. January 11, 1918. Vast blizzard-like storm moved through Great Lakes and Ohio Valley.
- 1920 North Dakota blizzard March 15--18, 1920
- Knickerbocker Storm January 27--28, 1922
#### 1940 to 1949 {#to_1949}
- Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940 November 10--12, 1940. Took place in the Midwest region of the United States on Armistice Day. This \"Panhandle hook\" winter storm cut a 1000 mi through the middle of the country from Kansas to Michigan. The morning of the storm was unseasonably warm but by mid afternoon conditions quickly deteriorated into a raging blizzard that would last into the next day. A total of 145 deaths were blamed on the storm, almost a third of them duck hunters who had taken time off to take advantage of the ideal hunting conditions. Weather forecasters had not predicted the severity of the oncoming storm, and as a result the hunters were not dressed for cold weather. When the storm began many hunters took shelter on small islands in the Mississippi River, and the 50 mph winds and 5 ft waves overcame their encampments. Some became stranded on the islands and then froze to death in the single-digit temperatures that moved in over night. Others tried to make it to shore and drowned.
- North American blizzard of 1947 December 25--26, 1947. Was a record-breaking snowfall that began on Christmas Day and brought the Northeast United States to a standstill. Central Park in New York City got 26 in of snowfall in 24 hours with deeper snows in suburbs. It was not accompanied by high winds, but the snow fell steadily with drifts reaching 10 ft. Seventy-seven deaths were attributed to the blizzard.
- The Blizzard of 1949 - The first blizzard started on Sunday, January 2, 1949; it lasted for three days. It was followed by two more months of blizzard after blizzard with high winds and bitter cold. Deep drifts isolated southeast Wyoming, northern Colorado, western South Dakota and western Nebraska, for weeks. Railroad tracks and roads were all drifted in with drifts of 20 ft and more. Hundreds of people that had been traveling on trains were stranded. Motorists that had set out on January 2 found their way to private farm homes in rural areas and hotels and other buildings in towns; some dwellings were so crowded that there was not enough room for all to sleep at once. It would be weeks before they were plowed out. The Federal government quickly responded with aid, airlifting food and hay for livestock. The total rescue effort involved numerous volunteers and local agencies plus at least ten major state and federal agencies from the U.S. Army to the National Park Service. Private businesses, including railroad and oil companies, also lent manpower and heavy equipment to the work of plowing out. The official death toll was 76 people and one million livestock. [Youtube video *Storm of the Century - the Blizzard of \'49*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl6Iz4dXGdg) [Storm of the Century - the Blizzard of \'49](https://www.weather.gov/unr/1949-01)
#### 1950 to 1959 {#to_1959}
- Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950 November 24--30, 1950
- March 1958 Nor\'easter blizzard March 18--21, 1958.
- The Mount Shasta California Snowstorm of 1959 -- The storm dumped 189 in of snow on Mount Shasta. The bulk of the snow fell on unpopulated mountainous areas, barely disrupting the residents of the Mount Shasta area. The amount of snow recorded is the largest snowfall from a single storm in North America.
#### 1960 to 1969 {#to_1969}
- March 1960 Nor\'easter blizzard March 2--5, 1960
- December 1960 Nor\'easter blizzard December 12--14, 1960. Wind gusts up to 50 mph.
- March 1962 Nor\'easter Great March Storm of 1962 -- Ash Wednesday. North Carolina and Virginia blizzards. Struck during Spring high tide season and remained mostly stationary for almost 5 days causing significant damage along eastern coast, Assateague island was under water, and dumped 42 in of snow in Virginia.
- North American blizzard of 1966 January 27--31, 1966
- Chicago Blizzard of 1967 January 26--27, 1967
- February 1969 nor\'easter February 8--10, 1969
- March 1969 Nor\'easter blizzard March 9, 1969
- December 1969 Nor\'easter blizzard December 25--28, 1969.
#### 1970 to 1979 {#to_1979}
- The Great Storm of 1975 known as the \"Super Bowl Blizzard\" or \"Minnesota\'s Storm of the Century\". January 9--12, 1975. Wind chills of -50 F to -80 F recorded, deep snowfalls.
- Groundhog Day gale of 1976 February 2, 1976
- Buffalo Blizzard of 1977 January 28 -- February 1, 1977. There were several feet of packed snow already on the ground, and the blizzard brought with it enough snow to reach Buffalo\'s record for the most snow in one season -- 199.4 in.
- Great Blizzard of 1978 also called the \"Cleveland Superbomb\". January 25--27, 1978. Was one of the worst snowstorms the Midwest has ever seen. Wind gusts approached 100 mph, causing snowdrifts to reach heights of 25 ft in some areas, making roadways impassable. Storm reached maximum intensity over southern Ontario Canada.
- Northeastern United States Blizzard of 1978 -- February 6--7, 1978. Just one week following the Cleveland Superbomb blizzard, New England was hit with its most severe blizzard in 90 years since 1888.
- Chicago Blizzard of 1979 January 13--14, 1979
#### 1980 to 1989 {#to_1989}
- February 1987 Nor\'easter blizzard February 22--24, 1987
#### 1990 to 1999 {#to_1999}
- 1991 Halloween blizzard Upper Mid-West US, October 31 -- November 3, 1991
- December 1992 Nor\'easter blizzard December 10--12, 1992
- 1993 Storm of the Century March 12--15, 1993. While the southern and eastern U.S. and Cuba received the brunt of this massive blizzard, the Storm of the Century impacted a wider area than any in recorded history.
- February 1995 Nor\'easter blizzard February 3--6, 1995
- Blizzard of 1996 January 6--10, 1996
- April Fool\'s Day Blizzard March 31 -- April 1, 1997. US East Coast
- 1997 Western Plains winter storms October 24--26, 1997
- Mid West Blizzard of 1999 January 2--4, 1999
#### 2000 to 2009 {#to_2009}
- January 25, 2000 Southeastern United States winter storm January 25, 2000. North Carolina and Virginia
- December 2000 Nor\'easter blizzard December 27--31, 2000
- North American blizzard of 2003 February 14--19, 2003 (Presidents\' Day Storm II)
- December 2003 Nor\'easter blizzard December 6--7, 2003
- North American blizzard of 2005 January 20--23, 2005
- North American blizzard of 2006 February 11--13, 2006
- Early winter 2006 North American storm complex Late November 2006
- Colorado Holiday Blizzards (2006--07) December 20--29, 2006 Colorado
- February 2007 North America blizzard February 12--20, 2007
- January 2008 North American storm complex January, 2008 West Coast US
- North American blizzard of 2008 March 6--10, 2008
- 2009 Midwest Blizzard 6--8 December 2009, a bomb cyclogenesis event that also affected parts of Canada
- North American blizzard of 2009 December 16--20, 2009
- 2009 North American Christmas blizzard December 22--28, 2009
#### 2010 to 2019 {#to_2019}
- February 5--6, 2010 North American blizzard February 5--6, 2010 Referred to at the time as Snowmageddon was a Category 3 (\"major\") nor\'easter and severe weather event.
- February 9--10, 2010 North American blizzard February 9--10, 2010
- February 25--27, 2010 North American blizzard February 25--27, 2010
- October 2010 North American storm complex October 23--28, 2010
- December 2010 North American blizzard December 26--29, 2010
- January 31 -- February 2, 2011 North American blizzard January 31 -- February 2, 2011. Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011
- 2011 Halloween nor\'easter October 28 -- Nov 1, 2011
- Hurricane Sandy October 29--31, 2012. West Virginia, western North Carolina, and southwest Pennsylvania received heavy snowfall and blizzard conditions from this hurricane
- November 2012 nor\'easter November 7--10, 2012
- December 17--22, 2012 North American blizzard December 17--22, 2012
- Late December 2012 North American storm complex December 25--28, 2012
- February 2013 nor\'easter February 7--20, 2013
- February 2013 Great Plains blizzard February 19 -- March 6, 2013
- March 2013 nor\'easter March 6, 2013
- October 2013 North American storm complex October 3--5, 2013
- Buffalo, NY blizzard of 2014. Buffalo got over 6 ft of snow during November 18--20, 2014.
- January 2015 North American blizzard January 26--27, 2015
- Late December 2015 North American storm complex December 26--27, 2015 Was one of the most notorious blizzards in the state of New Mexico and West Texas ever reported. It had sustained winds of over 30 mph and continuous snow precipitation that lasted over 30 hours. Dozens of vehicles were stranded in small county roads in the areas of Hobbs, Roswell, and Carlsbad New Mexico. Strong sustained winds destroyed various mobile homes.
- January 2016 United States blizzard January 20--23, 2016
- February 2016 North American storm complex February 1--8, 2016
- February 2017 North American blizzard February 6--11, 2017
- March 2017 North American blizzard March 9--16, 2017
- Early January 2018 nor'easter January 3--6, 2018
- March 2019 North American blizzard March 8--16, 2019
- April 2019 North American blizzard April 10--14, 2019
#### 2020 to present {#to_present}
- December 5--6, 2020 nor\'easter December 5--6, 2020
- January 31 -- February 3, 2021 nor\'easter January 31 -- February 3, 2021
- February 13--17, 2021 North American winter storm February 13--17, 2021
- March 2021 North American blizzard March 11--14, 2021
- January 2022 North American blizzard January 27--30, 2022
- December 2022 North American winter storm December 21--26, 2022
- March 2023 North American winter storm March 12--15, 2023
- January 8--10, 2024 North American storm complex January 8--10, 2024
- January 10--13, 2024 North American storm complex January 10--13, 2024
- January 5--6, 2025 United States blizzard January 5--6, 2025
- 2025 Gulf Coast blizzard January 20--22, 2025
### Canada
- The Eastern Canadian Blizzard of 1971 -- Dumped a foot and a half (45.7 cm) of snow on Montreal and more than 2 ft elsewhere in the region. The blizzard caused the cancellation of a Montreal Canadiens hockey game for the first time since 1918.
- Saskatchewan blizzard of 2007 -- January 10, 2007, Canada
### United Kingdom {#united_kingdom}
- Great Frost of 1709
- Blizzard of January 1881
- Winter of 1894--95 in the United Kingdom
- Winter of 1946--1947 in the United Kingdom
- Winter of 1962--1963 in the United Kingdom
- January 1987 Southeast England snowfall
- Winter of 1990--91 in Western Europe
- February 2009 Great Britain and Ireland snowfall
- Winter of 2009--10 in Great Britain and Ireland
- Winter of 2010--11 in Great Britain and Ireland
- Early 2012 European cold wave
### Other locations {#other_locations}
- 1954 Romanian blizzard
- 1972 Iran blizzard
- Winter of 1990--1991 in Western Europe
- July 2007 Argentine winter storm
- 2008 Afghanistan blizzard
- 2008 Chinese winter storms
- Winter storms of 2009--2010 in East Asia
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,568 |
Bank of China Tower (Hong Kong)
|
The **Bank of China Tower** (**BOC Tower**) is a skyscraper located in Central, Hong Kong. Located at 1 Garden Road on Hong Kong Island, the tower houses the headquarters of the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited. One of the most recognisable landmarks in Hong Kong, the building is notable for its distinct shape and design, consisting of triangular frameworks covered by glass curtain walls.
The building was designed by Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei and L. C. Pei of I. M. Pei and Partners. At a height of 315 m, reaching 367.4 m high including a 52.4 m spire, the building is the fourth tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, after International Commerce Centre, Two International Finance Centre (2 IFC) and Central Plaza. It was the tallest building in Hong Kong and Asia from 1990 to 1992, and it was the first supertall skyscraper outside the United States, the first to break the 305 m (1,000 ft) mark. It was surpassed by Central Plaza on the same island in 1992.
Construction began on 18 April 1985 on the former site of Murray House, and was completed five years later in 1990. Sporting a steel-column design, the building is accessible from the MTR\'s Central station. The building lies between Cotton Tree Drive and Garden Road.
## History
### Site
The 6700 m2 site on which the building is constructed was formerly the location of Murray House. After its brick-by-brick relocation to Stanley, the site was sold by the Government for \"only HK\$1 billion\" in August 1982 amidst growing concern over the future of Hong Kong in the run-up to the transfer of sovereignty.
The building was initially built by the Hong Kong Branch of the Bank of China; its Garden Road entrance continues to display the name \"Bank of China\", rather than BOCHK. The top four and the bottom 19 stories are used by the Bank, while the other floors are leased out. Ownership has since been transferred to BOCHK, although the Bank of China has leased back several floors for use by its own operations in Hong Kong.
### Favouritism controversy {#favouritism_controversy}
The Government had apparently given preferential treatment to Chinese companies, and was again criticised for the apparent preferential treatment to the BOCHK.
The price paid was half the amount of the 6250 m2 Admiralty II plot, for which the MTR Corporation paid HK\$1.82 billion in cash. The BOC would make initial payment of \$60 million, with the rest payable over 13 years at 6% interest. The announcement of the sale was also poorly handled, and a dive in business confidence ensued. The Hang Seng Index fell 80 points, and the HK\$ lost 1.5% of its value the next day.
### Construction
The tower was built by Japanese contractor Kumagai Gumi. Superstructure work began in May 1986. The tower is a steel-frame structure.
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 interrupted publicity surrounding the building\'s design and construction. A press conference scheduled for 24 May 1989, two weeks before the incident, was intended to show off the building\'s \"designer socialist furnishings\", but was called off as the student demonstrations in Beijing escalated. The public relations firm that organised the conference explained to the *South China Morning Post* that \"under the circumstances, it has been decided to stop any publicity to do with the Bank of China.\"
Once developed, gross floor area was expected to be 100000 m2. The original project was intended for completion on the auspicious date of 8 August 1988. However, owing to project delays, groundbreaking took place in March 1985, almost two years late, with the completion also facing a nearly two-year delay. It was topped out in 1989, and occupied on 15 June 1990.
## Architecture
Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect I. M. Pei, the building is 315.0 m high with two masts reaching 367.4 m high. The 72-storey building is located near Central MTR station. This was the tallest building in Hong Kong and Asia from 1990 to 1992, the first building outside the United States to break the 305 m (1,000 ft) mark, and the first composite space frame high-rise building. That also means it was the tallest outside the United States from its completion year, 1990. It is now the fourth tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, after International Commerce Centre, Two International Finance Centre and Central Plaza.
A small observation deck on the 43rd floor of the building was once open to the public, but is now closed.
The whole structure is supported by the four steel columns at the corners of the building, with the triangular frameworks transferring the weight of the structure onto these four columns. It is covered with glass curtain walls. Structural engineer Leslie E. Robertson, best known for his work on the Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center, provided the structural engineering design, while Jaros, Baum & Bolles was the mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer.
While its distinctive look makes it one of Hong Kong\'s most identifiable landmarks today, it was the source of some controversy at one time, as the bank is the only major building in Hong Kong to have bypassed the convention of consulting with feng shui masters on matters of design prior to construction.
The building has been criticised by some practitioners of feng shui for its sharp edges and its negative symbolism by the numerous \'X\' shapes in its original design, though Pei modified the design to some degree before construction following this feedback. The building\'s profile from some angles resembles that of a meat cleaver and it is sometimes referred to as a \"vertical knife\". This earned it the nickname *一把刀* (*yaat baa dou*) in Cantonese, literally meaning \'one knife\'.
## Transport
The Bank of China Tower can be accessed by the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) by walking through Chater Garden from Central station Exit J2.
## In popular culture {#in_popular_culture}
- In the 1988 film *Police Story 2*, the building was shown during its construction
- In the 2012 film *Battleship*, the building is torn in half by a crashing alien spaceship and its spire falls into the streets of Hong Kong, killing many people.
- In *Star Trek: Voyager*, the building is used as the exterior of Starfleet Communications Research Center.
- The building is seen on the attraction It\'s a Small World at Hong Kong Disneyland.
- The building was featured in the film *Transformers: Age of Extinction*, where Bumblebee and Dinobot Strafe makes their final stand against the Decepticon drone Stinger.
- The building appears in *Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie* for several scenes.
- The building was featured in the city-building games *SimCity 3000* and *SimCity 4* as a placeable landmark.
- The building was featured in the 2017 mobile game *TheoTown* as a vanilla landmark.
- The building (renamed to Mortensen Electric) appears in the 2012 action-adventure video game *Sleeping Dogs* in the Central District.
- In the 2021 movie *Godzilla vs. Kong*, the building is featured prominently throughout the battle between Godzilla and Kong in Hong Kong. Despite being in close proximity to the battle, the tower is not destroyed and is still standing at the end of the battle.
- The building is present in the Dockside track in the videogame Burnout 3: Takedown
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,573 |
Bugzilla
|
**Bugzilla** is a web-based general-purpose bug tracking system and testing tool originally developed and used by the Mozilla project, and licensed under the Mozilla Public License.
Released as open-source software by Netscape Communications in 1998, it has been adopted by a variety of organizations for use as a bug tracking system for both free and open-source software and proprietary projects and products. Bugzilla is used, among others, by the Mozilla Foundation, WebKit, Linux kernel, FreeBSD, KDE, Apache, Eclipse and LibreOffice. Red Hat uses it, but is gradually migrating its product to use Jira. It is also self-hosting.
## History
Bugzilla was originally devised by Terry Weissman in 1998 for the nascent Mozilla.org project, as an open source application to replace the in-house system then in use at Netscape Communications for tracking defects in the Netscape Communicator suite. Bugzilla was originally written in Tcl, but Weissman decided to port it to Perl before its release as part of Netscape\'s early open-source code drops, in the hope that more people would be able to contribute to it, given that Perl seemed to be a more popular language at the time.
Bugzilla 2.0 was the result of that port to Perl, and the first version was released to the public via anonymous CVS. In April 2000, Weissman handed over control of the Bugzilla project to Tara Hernandez. Under her leadership, some of the regular contributors were coerced into taking more responsibility, and Bugzilla development became more community-driven. In July 2001, facing distraction from her other responsibilities in Netscape, Hernandez handed control to Dave Miller, who was still in charge `{{as of|2020|lc=on}}`{=mediawiki}.
Bugzilla 3.0 was released on May 10, 2007, and brought a refreshed UI, an XML-RPC interface, custom fields and resolutions, mod_perl support, shared saved searches, and improved UTF-8 support, along with other changes.
Bugzilla 4.0 was released on February 15, 2011, and Bugzilla 5.0 was released in July 2015.
### Timeline
Bugzilla\'s release timeline:
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## Requirements
Bugzilla\'s system requirements include:
- A compatible database management system
- A suitable release of Perl 5
- An assortment of Perl modules
- A compatible web server
- A suitable mail transfer agent, or any SMTP server
Currently supported database systems are MariaDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and SQLite. Bugzilla is usually installed on Linux using the Apache HTTP Server, but any web server that supports CGI such as Lighttpd, Hiawatha, Cherokee can be used. Bugzilla\'s installation process is command line driven and runs through a series of stages where system requirements and software capabilities are checked.
## Design
While the potential exists in the code to turn Bugzilla into a technical support ticket system, task management tool, or project management tool, Bugzilla\'s developers have chosen to focus on the task of designing a system to track software defects.
## Zarro Boogs {#zarro_boogs}
Bugzilla returns the string \"zarro boogs found\" instead of \"0 bugs found\" when a search for bugs returns no results. \"Zarro Boogs\" is intended as a \'buggy\' statement itself (a misspelling of \"zero bugs\") and is thus a meta-statement about the nature of software debugging, implying that even when no bugs have been identified, some may exist.
The following comment is provided in the Bugzilla source code to developers who may be confused by this behaviour:
: ***Zarro Boogs Found***
: This is just a goofy way of saying that there were no bugs found matching your query. When asked to explain this message, Terry Weissman had the following to say:
```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
: I\'ve been asked to explain this \... way back when, when Netscape released version 4.0 of its browser, we had a release party. Naturally, there had been a big push to try and fix every known bug before the release. Naturally, that hadn\'t actually happened. (This is not unique to Netscape or to 4.0; the same thing has happened with every software project I\'ve ever seen.) Anyway, at the release party, T-shirts were handed out that said something like \"Netscape 4.0: Zarro Boogs\". Just like the software, the T-shirt had no known bugs. Uh-huh. So, when you query for a list of bugs, and it gets no results, you can think of this as a friendly reminder. Of \*course\* there are bugs matching your query, they just aren\'t in the bugsystem yet\...
: --- Terry Weissman
: *From The Bugzilla Guide -- 2.16.10 Release: Glossary*
## WONTFIX
WONTFIX is used as a label on issues in Bugzilla and other systems. It indicates that a verified issue will not be resolved for one of several possible reasons including fixing would be too expensive, complicated or risky.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,584 |
Baryon
|
In particle physics, a **baryon** is a type of composite subatomic particle that contains an odd number of valence quarks, conventionally three. Protons and neutrons are examples of baryons; because baryons are composed of quarks, they belong to the hadron family of particles. Baryons are also classified as fermions because they have half-integer spin.
The name \"baryon\", introduced by Abraham Pais, comes from the Greek word for \"heavy\" (βαρύς, *barýs*), because, at the time of their naming, most known elementary particles had lower masses than the baryons. Each baryon has a corresponding antiparticle (antibaryon) where their corresponding antiquarks replace quarks. For example, a proton is made of two up quarks and one down quark; and its corresponding antiparticle, the antiproton, is made of two up antiquarks and one down antiquark.
Baryons participate in the residual strong force, which is mediated by particles known as mesons. The most familiar baryons are protons and neutrons, both of which contain three quarks, and for this reason they are sometimes called *triquarks*. These particles make up most of the mass of the visible matter in the universe and compose the nucleus of every atom (electrons, the other major component of the atom, are members of a different family of particles called leptons; leptons do not interact via the strong force). Exotic baryons containing five quarks, called pentaquarks, have also been discovered and studied.
A census of the Universe\'s baryons indicates that 10% of them could be found inside galaxies, 50 to 60% in the circumgalactic medium, and the remaining 30 to 40% could be located in the warm--hot intergalactic medium (WHIM).
## Background
Baryons are strongly interacting fermions; that is, they are acted on by the strong nuclear force and are described by Fermi--Dirac statistics, which apply to all particles obeying the Pauli exclusion principle. This is in contrast to the bosons, which do not obey the exclusion principle.
Baryons, alongside mesons, are hadrons, composite particles composed of quarks. Quarks have baryon numbers of *B* = `{{sfrac|1|3}}`{=mediawiki} and antiquarks have baryon numbers of *B* = −`{{sfrac|1|3}}`{=mediawiki}. The term \"baryon\" usually refers to *triquarks*---baryons made of three quarks (*B* = `{{sfrac|1|3}}`{=mediawiki} + `{{sfrac|1|3}}`{=mediawiki} + `{{sfrac|1|3}}`{=mediawiki} = 1).
Other exotic baryons have been proposed, such as pentaquarks---baryons made of four quarks and one antiquark (*B* = `{{sfrac|1|3}}`{=mediawiki} + `{{sfrac|1|3}}`{=mediawiki} + `{{sfrac|1|3}}`{=mediawiki} + `{{sfrac|1|3}}`{=mediawiki} − `{{sfrac|1|3}}`{=mediawiki} = 1), but their existence is not generally accepted. The particle physics community as a whole did not view their existence as likely in 2006, and in 2008, considered evidence to be overwhelmingly against the existence of the reported pentaquarks. However, in July 2015, the LHCb experiment observed two resonances consistent with pentaquark states in the Λ`{{su|p=0|b=b}}`{=mediawiki} → J/ψK`{{su|p=−}}`{=mediawiki}p decay, with a combined statistical significance of 15σ .
In theory, heptaquarks (5 quarks, 2 antiquarks), nonaquarks (6 quarks, 3 antiquarks), etc. could also exist.
## Baryonic matter {#baryonic_matter}
Nearly all matter that may be encountered or experienced in everyday life is baryonic matter, which includes atoms of any sort, and provides them with the property of mass. Non-baryonic matter, as implied by the name, is any sort of matter that is not composed primarily of baryons. This might include neutrinos and free electrons, dark matter, supersymmetric particles, axions, and black holes.
The very existence of baryons is also a significant issue in cosmology because it is assumed that the Big Bang produced a state with equal amounts of baryons and antibaryons. The process by which baryons came to outnumber their antiparticles is called baryogenesis.
## Baryogenesis
Experiments are consistent with the number of quarks in the universe being conserved alongside the total baryon number, with antibaryons being counted as negative quantities. Within the prevailing Standard Model of particle physics, the number of baryons may change in multiples of three due to the action of sphalerons, although this is rare and has not been observed under experiment. Some grand unified theories of particle physics also predict that a single proton can decay, changing the baryon number by one; however, this has not yet been observed under experiment. The excess of baryons over antibaryons in the present universe is thought to be due to non-conservation of baryon number in the very early universe, though this is not well understood.
## Properties
### Isospin and charge {#isospin_and_charge}
The concept of isospin was first proposed by Werner Heisenberg in 1932 to explain the similarities between protons and neutrons under the strong interaction. Although they had different electric charges, their masses were so similar that physicists believed they were the same particle. The different electric charges were explained as being the result of some unknown excitation similar to spin. This unknown excitation was later dubbed *isospin* by Eugene Wigner in 1937.
This belief lasted until Murray Gell-Mann proposed the quark model in 1964 (containing originally only the u, d, and s quarks). The success of the isospin model is now understood to be the result of the similar masses of u and d quarks. Since u and d quarks have similar masses, particles made of the same number then also have similar masses. The exact specific u and d quark composition determines the charge, as u quarks carry charge +`{{sfrac|2|3}}`{=mediawiki} while d quarks carry charge −`{{sfrac|1|3}}`{=mediawiki}. For example, the four Deltas all have different charges (`{{SubatomicParticle|Delta++}}`{=mediawiki} (uuu), `{{SubatomicParticle|Delta+}}`{=mediawiki} (uud), `{{SubatomicParticle|Delta0}}`{=mediawiki} (udd), `{{SubatomicParticle|Delta-}}`{=mediawiki} (ddd)), but have similar masses (\~1,232 MeV/c^2^) as they are each made of a combination of three u or d quarks. Under the isospin model, they were considered to be a single particle in different charged states.
The mathematics of isospin was modeled after that of spin. Isospin projections varied in increments of 1 just like those of spin, and to each projection was associated a \"charged state\". Since the \"Delta particle\" had four \"charged states\", it was said to be of isospin *I* = `{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki}. Its \"charged states\" `{{SubatomicParticle|Delta++}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{SubatomicParticle|Delta+}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{SubatomicParticle|Delta0}}`{=mediawiki}, and `{{SubatomicParticle|Delta-}}`{=mediawiki}, corresponded to the isospin projections *I*~3~ = +`{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki}, *I*~3~ = +`{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}, *I*~3~ = −`{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}, and *I*~3~ = −`{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki}, respectively. Another example is the \"nucleon particle\". As there were two nucleon \"charged states\", it was said to be of isospin `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}. The positive nucleon `{{SubatomicParticle|Nucleon+}}`{=mediawiki} (proton) was identified with *I*~3~ = +`{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki} and the neutral nucleon `{{SubatomicParticle|Nucleon0}}`{=mediawiki} (neutron) with *I*~3~ = −`{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}. It was later noted that the isospin projections were related to the up and down quark content of particles by the relation:
: $I_\mathrm{3}=\frac{1}{2}[(n_\mathrm{u}-n_\mathrm{\bar{u}})-(n_\mathrm{d}-n_\mathrm{\bar{d}})],$
where the *n*\'s are the number of up and down quarks and antiquarks.
In the \"isospin picture\", the four Deltas and the two nucleons were thought to be the different states of two particles. However, in the quark model, Deltas are different states of nucleons (the N^++^ or N^−^ are forbidden by Pauli\'s exclusion principle). Isospin, although conveying an inaccurate picture of things, is still used to classify baryons, leading to unnatural and often confusing nomenclature.
### Flavour quantum numbers {#flavour_quantum_numbers}
The strangeness flavour quantum number *S* (not to be confused with spin) was noticed to go up and down along with particle mass. The higher the mass, the lower the strangeness (the more s quarks). Particles could be described with isospin projections (related to charge) and strangeness (mass) (see the uds octet and decuplet figures on the right). As other quarks were discovered, new quantum numbers were made to have similar description of udc and udb octets and decuplets. Since only the u and d mass are similar, this description of particle mass and charge in terms of isospin and flavour quantum numbers works well only for octet and decuplet made of one u, one d, and one other quark, and breaks down for the other octets and decuplets (for example, ucb octet and decuplet). If the quarks all had the same mass, their behaviour would be called *symmetric*, as they would all behave in the same way to the strong interaction. Since quarks do not have the same mass, they do not interact in the same way (exactly like an electron placed in an electric field will accelerate more than a proton placed in the same field because of its lighter mass), and the symmetry is said to be broken.
It was noted that charge (*Q*) was related to the isospin projection (*I*~3~), the baryon number (*B*) and flavour quantum numbers (*S*, *C*, *B*′, *T*) by the Gell-Mann--Nishijima formula:
: $Q = I_3 +\frac{1}{2}\left(B + S + C + B^\prime + T\right),$
where *S*, *C*, *B*′, and *T* represent the strangeness, charm, bottomness and topness flavour quantum numbers, respectively. They are related to the number of strange, charm, bottom, and top quarks and antiquark according to the relations:
: \\begin{align}
` S &= -\left(n_\mathrm{s} - n_\mathrm{\bar{s}}\right), \\`\
` C &= +\left(n_\mathrm{c} - n_\mathrm{\bar{c}}\right), \\`\
` B^\prime &= -\left(n_\mathrm{b} - n_\mathrm{\bar{b}}\right), \\`\
` T &= +\left(n_\mathrm{t} - n_\mathrm{\bar{t}}\right),`
\\end{align} meaning that the Gell-Mann--Nishijima formula is equivalent to the expression of charge in terms of quark content:
: $Q = \frac{2}{3}\left[(n_\mathrm{u} - n_\mathrm{\bar{u}}) + (n_\mathrm{c} - n_\mathrm{\bar{c}}) + (n_\mathrm{t} - n_\mathrm{\bar{t}})\right] - \frac{1}{3}\left[(n_\mathrm{d} - n_\mathrm{\bar{d}}) + (n_\mathrm{s} - n_\mathrm{\bar{s}}) + (n_\mathrm{b} - n_\mathrm{\bar{b}})\right].$
### Spin, orbital angular momentum, and total angular momentum {#spin_orbital_angular_momentum_and_total_angular_momentum}
Spin (quantum number *S*) is a vector quantity that represents the \"intrinsic\" angular momentum of a particle. It comes in increments of `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki} ħ (pronounced \"h-bar\"). The ħ is often dropped because it is the \"fundamental\" unit of spin, and it is implied that \"spin 1\" means \"spin 1 ħ\". In some systems of natural units, ħ is chosen to be 1, and therefore does not appear anywhere.
Quarks are fermionic particles of spin `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki} (*S* = `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}). Because spin projections vary in increments of 1 (that is 1 ħ), a single quark has a spin vector of length `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}, and has two spin projections (*S*~z~ = +`{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki} and *S*~z~ = −`{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}). Two quarks can have their spins aligned, in which case the two spin vectors add to make a vector of length *S* = 1 and three spin projections (*S*~z~ = +1, *S*~z~ = 0, and *S*~z~ = −1). If two quarks have unaligned spins, the spin vectors add up to make a vector of length *S* = 0 and has only one spin projection (*S*~z~ = 0), etc. Since baryons are made of three quarks, their spin vectors can add to make a vector of length *S* = `{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki}, which has four spin projections (*S*~z~ = +`{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki}, *S*~z~ = +`{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}, *S*~z~ = −`{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}, and *S*~z~ = −`{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki}), or a vector of length *S* = `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki} with two spin projections (*S*~z~ = +`{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}, and *S*~z~ = −`{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}).
There is another quantity of angular momentum, called the orbital angular momentum (azimuthal quantum number *L*), that comes in increments of 1 ħ, which represent the angular moment due to quarks orbiting around each other. The total angular momentum (total angular momentum quantum number *J*) of a particle is therefore the combination of intrinsic angular momentum (spin) and orbital angular momentum. It can take any value from `{{nowrap|''J'' {{=}}`{=mediawiki} {{!}}*L* − *S*{{!}}}} to `{{nowrap|''J'' {{=}}`{=mediawiki} {{!}}*L* + *S*{{!}}}}, in increments of 1.
+--------+------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Spin,\ | Orbital angular\ | Total angular\ | Parity,\ | Condensed\ |
| *S* | momentum, *L* | momentum, *J* | *P* | notation, *J*^*P*^ |
+========+==================+=========================================================================================+==========+=====================================================================================================+
| | 0 | | \+ | ^+^ |
+--------+------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1 | , `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki} | − | ^−^, `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}^−^ |
+--------+------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 2 | , `{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki} | \+ | ^+^, `{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki}^+^ |
+--------+------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 3 | , `{{sfrac|5|2}}`{=mediawiki} | − | ^−^, `{{sfrac|5|2}}`{=mediawiki}^−^ |
+--------+------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 0 | | \+ | ^+^ |
+--------+------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1 | , `{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki} | − | ^−^, `{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki}^−^, `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}^−^ |
+--------+------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 2 | , `{{sfrac|5|2}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki} | \+ | ^+^, `{{sfrac|5|2}}`{=mediawiki}^+^, `{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki}^+^, `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}^+^ |
+--------+------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 3 | , `{{sfrac|7|2}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{sfrac|5|2}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki} | − | ^−^, `{{sfrac|7|2}}`{=mediawiki}^−^, `{{sfrac|5|2}}`{=mediawiki}^−^, `{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki}^−^ |
+--------+------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
: Baryon angular momentum quantum numbers for *L* = 0, 1, 2, 3
Particle physicists are most interested in baryons with no orbital angular momentum (*L* = 0), as they correspond to ground states---states of minimal energy. Therefore, the two groups of baryons most studied are the *S* = `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}; *L* = 0 and *S* = `{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki}; *L* = 0, which corresponds to *J* = `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}^+^ and *J* = `{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki}^+^, respectively, although they are not the only ones. It is also possible to obtain *J* = `{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki}^+^ particles from *S* = `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki} and *L* = 2, as well as *S* = `{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki} and *L* = 2. This phenomenon of having multiple particles in the same total angular momentum configuration is called *degeneracy*. How to distinguish between these degenerate baryons is an active area of research in baryon spectroscopy.
### Parity
If the universe were reflected in a mirror, most of the laws of physics would be identical---things would behave the same way regardless of what we call \"left\" and what we call \"right\". This concept of mirror reflection is called \"intrinsic parity\" or simply \"parity\" (*P*). Gravity, the electromagnetic force, and the strong interaction all behave in the same way regardless of whether or not the universe is reflected in a mirror, and thus are said to conserve parity (P-symmetry). However, the weak interaction does distinguish \"left\" from \"right\", a phenomenon called parity violation (P-violation).
Based on this, if the wavefunction for each particle (in more precise terms, the quantum field for each particle type) were simultaneously mirror-reversed, then the new set of wavefunctions would perfectly satisfy the laws of physics (apart from the weak interaction). It turns out that this is not quite true: for the equations to be satisfied, the wavefunctions of certain types of particles have to be multiplied by −1, in addition to being mirror-reversed. Such particle types are said to have negative or odd parity (*P* = −1, or alternatively *P* = --), while the other particles are said to have positive or even parity (*P* = +1, or alternatively *P* = +).
For baryons, the parity is related to the orbital angular momentum by the relation:
: $P=(-1)^L.\$
As a consequence, baryons with no orbital angular momentum (*L* = 0) all have even parity (*P* = +).
## Nomenclature
Baryons are classified into groups according to their isospin (*I*) values and quark (*q*) content. There are six groups of baryons: nucleon (`{{SubatomicParticle|Nucleon}}`{=mediawiki}), Delta (`{{SubatomicParticle|Delta}}`{=mediawiki}), Lambda (`{{SubatomicParticle|Lambda}}`{=mediawiki}), Sigma (`{{SubatomicParticle|Sigma}}`{=mediawiki}), Xi (`{{SubatomicParticle|Xi}}`{=mediawiki}), and Omega (`{{SubatomicParticle|Omega}}`{=mediawiki}). The rules for classification are defined by the Particle Data Group. These rules consider the up (`{{SubatomicParticle|Up quark}}`{=mediawiki}), down (`{{SubatomicParticle|Down quark}}`{=mediawiki}) and strange (`{{SubatomicParticle|Strange quark}}`{=mediawiki}) quarks to be *light* and the charm (`{{SubatomicParticle|Charm quark}}`{=mediawiki}), bottom (`{{SubatomicParticle|Bottom quark}}`{=mediawiki}), and top (`{{SubatomicParticle|Top quark}}`{=mediawiki}) quarks to be *heavy*. The rules cover all the particles that can be made from three of each of the six quarks, even though baryons made of top quarks are not expected to exist because of the top quark\'s short lifetime. The rules do not cover pentaquarks.
- Baryons with (any combination of) three `{{SubatomicParticle|link=yes|Up quark}}`{=mediawiki} and/or `{{SubatomicParticle|link=yes|Down quark}}`{=mediawiki} quarks are `{{SubatomicParticle|link=yes|Nucleon}}`{=mediawiki}s (*I* = `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}) or `{{SubatomicParticle|link=yes|Delta}}`{=mediawiki} baryons (*I* = `{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki}).
- Baryons containing two `{{SubatomicParticle|link=yes|Up quark}}`{=mediawiki} and/or `{{SubatomicParticle|link=yes|Down quark}}`{=mediawiki} quarks are `{{SubatomicParticle|link=yes|Lambda}}`{=mediawiki} baryons (*I* = 0) or `{{SubatomicParticle|link=yes|Sigma}}`{=mediawiki} baryons (*I* = 1). If the third quark is heavy, its identity is given by a subscript.
- Baryons containing one `{{SubatomicParticle|link=yes|Up quark}}`{=mediawiki} or `{{SubatomicParticle|link=yes|Down quark}}`{=mediawiki} quark are `{{SubatomicParticle|link=yes|Xi}}`{=mediawiki} baryons (*I* = `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki}). One or two subscripts are used if one or both of the remaining quarks are heavy.
- Baryons containing no `{{SubatomicParticle|link=yes|Up quark}}`{=mediawiki} or `{{SubatomicParticle|link=yes|Down quark}}`{=mediawiki} quarks are `{{SubatomicParticle|link=yes|Omega}}`{=mediawiki} baryons (*I* = 0), and subscripts indicate any heavy quark content.
- Baryons that decay strongly have their masses as part of their names. For example, Σ^0^ does not decay strongly, but Δ^++^(1232) does.
It is also a widespread (but not universal) practice to follow some additional rules when distinguishing between some states that would otherwise have the same symbol.
- Baryons in total angular momentum *J* = `{{sfrac|3|2}}`{=mediawiki} configuration that have the same symbols as their *J* = `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki} counterparts are denoted by an asterisk ( \* ).
- Two baryons can be made of three different quarks in *J* = `{{sfrac|1|2}}`{=mediawiki} configuration. In this case, a prime ( ′ ) is used to distinguish between them.
- *Exception*: When two of the three quarks are one up and one down quark, one baryon is dubbed Λ while the other is dubbed Σ.
Quarks carry a charge, so knowing the charge of a particle indirectly gives the quark content. For example, the rules above say that a `{{SubatomicParticle|charmed Lambda+}}`{=mediawiki} contains a c quark and some combination of two u and/or d quarks. The c quark has a charge of (*Q* = +`{{sfrac|2|3}}`{=mediawiki}), therefore the other two must be a u quark (*Q* = +`{{sfrac|2|3}}`{=mediawiki}), and a d quark (*Q* = −`{{sfrac|1|3}}`{=mediawiki}) to have the correct total charge (*Q* = +1).
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,589 |
Braille embosser
|
A **braille embosser** is an impact printer that renders text as tactile braille cells. Using braille translation software, a document or digital text can be embossed with relative ease. This makes braille production efficient and cost-effective. Braille translation software may be free and open-sourced or paid. Braille embossers can emboss single-sided or double-sided (called interpoint) and can produce 6- or 8-dot braille.
Blind users tend to call other printers \"ink printers,\" to distinguish them from their braille counterparts. This is often the case regardless of the type of printer being discussed (e.g., thermal printers being called \"ink printers\" even though they use no ink).
As with ink printers and presses, embossers range from those intended for consumers to those used by large publishers. The price of embossers increase with the volume of braille it produces .
## Types
The fastest industrial braille embosser is probably the \$92,000 Belgian-made NV Interpoint 55, first produced in 1991, which uses a separate air compressor to drive the embossing head and can output up to 800 braille characters per second. Adoption was slow at first; in 2000 the National Federation of the Blind said there were only three of these in the US, one owned by the NFB itself and the other two by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. As of 2008, there are more than 60 in use across the world.
Smaller desktop braille embossers are more common and can be found in libraries, universities, and specialist education centers, as well as being privately owned by blind individuals. It may be necessary to use an acoustic cabinet or hood to dampen the noise level.
Braille embossers usually need special braille paper which is thicker and more expensive than normal paper. Some high-end embossers are capable of printing on normal paper. Embossers can be either one-sided or two-sided. Two-sided embossing requires lining up the dots so they do not overlap (called \"interpoint\" because the points on the other side are placed in between the points on the first side). Two-sided embossing uses less paper and reduces the size of the output.
Once one copy of a document has been produced, printing further copies is often quicker by means of a device called a thermoform, which produces copies on soft plastic. However, the resulting braille is not as easily readable as braille that has been freshly embossed, in much the same way that a poor-quality photocopy is not as readable as the original. Hence large publishers do not generally use thermoforms.
Some embossers can produce \"dotty Moon\", i.e., Moon type shapes formed by dots.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,592 |
Basic Role-Playing
|
***Basic Role-Playing*** (***BRP***) is a tabletop role-playing game which originated in the *RuneQuest* fantasy role-playing game. Chaosium released the *BRP* standalone booklet in 1980 in the boxed set release of the second edition of *RuneQuest*. Greg Stafford and Lynn Willis are credited as the authors. Chaosium used the percentile skill-based system as the basis for most of their games, including *Call of Cthulhu*, *Stormbringer*, and *Elfquest*.
## History
The core rules were written by Steve Perrin as part of his game *RuneQuest*. It was Greg Stafford\'s idea to simplify the rules (eliminating such mechanics as Strike Ranks and Hit Locations) and issue them in a 16-page booklet called *Basic Role-Playing*. Since the first *BRP* release, designers including Sandy Petersen, Lynn Willis, and Steve Henderson, have contributed to the system.
The system was notable for being the first role-playing game system to introduce a full skill system to characters regardless of their profession. This was developed in *RuneQuest* but was also later adopted by the more skill-oriented *Call of Cthulhu* RPG.
*BRP* was conceived of as a generic system. Specific rule systems for support differing genres could be added to the core rules in a modular fashion. In order to underscore this, in 1982 Chaosium released the *Worlds of Wonder* box set, which contained a revised main booklet and several booklets providing the additional rules for playing in specific genres. The superhero-themed *Superworld* originated as part of this set. A third edition of the core booklet, now entitled *Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System*, was released in 2002.
In 2004, Chaosium began publishing the *Basic Roleplaying* monographs, a series of paperback booklets. The first four monographs (*Players Book*, *Magic Book*, *Creatures Book*, and *Gamemaster Book*) was the same as *RuneQuest* third Edition, but with trademarked elements removed, as Chaosium had lost the rights to the name but retained copyright to the rules text. Additional monographs allowing for new mechanics, thereby extending the system to other genres, were released in the following years. Many of these monographs reproduced rules from other Chaosium-published *BRP* games that had gone out of print.
Jason Durall and Sam Johnson gathered up previous works and updated them to a new edition. published in 2008. This comprehensive book, *Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System* was nicknamed the \"Big Gold Book\". It allowed game masters to build their own game out of the included subsystems. A quickstart booklet for new players accompanied it. In 2011, it was updated to a second edition.
In 2020, Chaosium released *Basic Roleplaying* in abbreviated form (vs. the 2008 edition) as a System Reference Document (SRD).
A new edition, updating the 2008/2011 editions and titled *Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine*, appeared in 2023, initially as a PDF, later as a hardbound book, and later still as a standalone SRD under the \"ORC License\" (Open RPG Creative) and has since spun off a market of multiple commercial products, both standalone BRP adventures and full-fledged RPG\'s, published under the terms of the ORC license. The full text (not the art, trade dress, etc.) of the PDF and print version was also ORC-licensed as a SRD.
## Licensed adaptations {#licensed_adaptations}
Preexisting RPG and fiction settings converted to the system by Chaosium using the *BRP* ruleset include *Ringworld*, *Hawkmoon*, and an adaptation of the French RPG *Nephilim*.
## Rules system {#rules_system}
*BRP* is similar to other generic systems such as *GURPS*, *Hero System*, or *Savage Worlds* in that it uses a simple resolution method which can be broadly applied. It uses a core set of seven characteristics: Size, Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Power, and Appearance or Charisma. From these, a character derives scores in various skills, expressed as percentages. These skill scores are the basis of play. When attempting an action, the player rolls percentile dice to attempt to get a result equal to or lower than the character\'s skill score. Each incarnation of the *BRP* rules changed or added to the core ideas and mechanics, so that games are not identical. For example, in *Call of Cthulhu*, skills may never be over 100%, while in *Stormbringer* skills in excess of 100% are within reach for all characters. Scores can increase through experience checks, the mechanics of which vary in an individual game.
The system treats armor and defense as separate: the act of parrying is a defensive skill that reduces an opponent\'s chance to successfully land an attack, and the purpose of armor is to absorb damage.
In most *BRP* games there is no difference between the player character race systems and that of monsters or other opponents. By varying ability scores, the same system is used for a human hero as a troll villain. This approach allows for players to play a variety of nonhuman species.
## Adaptations of the system {#adaptations_of_the_system}
Chaosium was an early adopter of licensing out its *BRP* system to other companies, something that was unique at the time they began but commonplace now thanks to the d20 licenses. This places *BRP* in the notable position of being one of the first products to allow other game companies to develop games or game aids for their work. For example, *Other Suns*, published by Fantasy Games Unlimited, used them under license. *BRP* was also used as the base for the Swedish game *Drakar och Demoner* from Target Games.
## Reception
In the July 1981 edition of *The Space Gamer* (Issue No. 41), Ronald Pehr commented that \"*Basic Role-Playing* is too little too late. *RuneQuest* is long established, does an adequate job of teaching role-playing, and there are now even more games to choose from. If you want to teach role-playing to a very young, but literate, child, *Basic Role-Playing* is excellent. Otherwise, for all its charm, it\'s not much use.\".
In the August 1981 edition of *Dragon* (Issue 52), John Sapienza noted that *Basic Roleplaying* was \"not a fantasy role-playing game as such, but a handbook on how to role-play and a simple combat system to help the beginner get into the act.\" Despite this, Sapienza called it \"one of the best introductions to the practical social interactions in gaming that I have read, and will give beginning gamers the kind of guidance they typically do not get in the full-scale games they will graduate to, since game writers usually spend their time on mechanics instead of on the proper relationships between player and player, player and referee, or player and character.\" He concluded, \"*Basic Role-Playing* is a truly universal introduction to the hobby --- highly recommended.\"
### Awards
The *BRP* itself has been the recipient, via its games, of many awards. Most notable was the 1981 Origins Award for *Best Roleplaying Rules of 1981* for *Call of Cthulhu*. Other editions of *Call of Cthulhu* have also won Origins Awards including the Hall of Fame award. The *BRP* Character Generation software has also won awards for its design.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,595 |
Wireless broadband
|
thumb \|right \|upright=1.3 \|Three fixed wireless dishes with protective covers on top of 307 W. 7th Street, Fort Worth, Texas, around 2001
**Wireless broadband** is a telecommunications technology that provides high-speed wireless Internet access or computer networking access over a wide area. The term encompasses both fixed and mobile broadband.
## The term broadband {#the_term_broadband}
Originally the word \"broadband\" had a technical meaning, but became a marketing term for any kind of relatively high-speed computer network or Internet access technology. According to the 802.16-2004 standard, broadband means \"having instantaneous bandwidths greater than 1 MHz and supporting data rates greater than about 1.5 Mbit/s.\" The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently re-defined the word to mean download speeds of at least 25 Mbit/s and upload speeds of at least 3 Mbit/s.
## Technology and speeds {#technology_and_speeds}
thumb\|right \|A typical WISP Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) installed on a residence A wireless broadband network is an outdoor fixed and/or mobile wireless network providing point-to-multipoint or point-to-point terrestrial wireless links for broadband services.
Wireless networks can feature data rates exceeding 1 Gbit/s. Many fixed wireless networks are exclusively half-duplex (HDX), however, some licensed and unlicensed systems can also operate at full-duplex (FDX) allowing communication in both directions simultaneously.
Outdoor fixed wireless broadband networks commonly use a priority TDMA based protocol in order to divide communication into timeslots. This timeslot technique eliminates many of the issues common to 802.11 Wi-Fi protocol in outdoor networks such as the hidden node problem.
Few wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) provide download speeds of over 100 Mbit/s; most broadband wireless access (BWA) services are estimated to have a range of 50 km from a tower. Technologies used include Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS) and Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS), as well as heavy use of the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands and one particular access technology was standardized by IEEE 802.16, with products known as WiMAX.
WiMAX is highly popular in Europe but has not been fully accepted in the United States because cost of deployment. In 2005 the Federal Communications Commission adopted a Report and Order that revised the FCC\'s rules to open the 3650 MHz band for terrestrial wireless broadband operations.
Another system that is popular with cable internet service providers uses point-to-multipoint wireless links that extend the existing wired network using a transparent radio connection. This allows the same DOCSIS modems to be used for both wired and wireless customers.
## Development in the United States {#development_in_the_united_states}
On November 14, 2007, the Commission released Public Notice DA 07--4605 in which the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau announced the start date for licensing and registration process for the 3650--3700 MHz band. In 2010 the FCC adopted the TV White Space Rules (TVWS) and allowed some of the better no line of sight frequency (700 MHz) into the FCC Part-15 Rules. The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, a national association of WISPs, petitioned the FCC and won.
Initially, WISPs were found only in rural areas not covered by cable or DSL. These early WISPs would employ a high-capacity T-carrier, such as a T1 or DS3 connection, and then broadcast the signal from a high elevation, such as at the top of a water tower. To receive this type of Internet connection, consumers mount a small dish to the roof of their home or office and point it to the transmitter. Line of sight is usually necessary for WISPs operating in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands with 900 MHz offering better NLOS (non-line-of-sight) performance.
### Residential Wireless Internet {#residential_wireless_internet}
Providers of fixed wireless broadband services typically provide equipment to customers and install a small antenna or dish somewhere on the roof. This equipment is usually deployed as a service and maintained by the company providing that service. Fixed wireless services have become particularly popular in many rural areas where cable, DSL or other typical home internet services are not available.
### Business Wireless Internet {#business_wireless_internet}
Many companies in the US and worldwide have started using wireless alternatives to incumbent and local providers for internet and voice service. These providers tend to offer competitive services and options in areas where there is a difficulty getting affordable Ethernet connections from terrestrial providers such as ATT, Comcast, Verizon and others. Also, companies looking for full diversity between carriers for critical uptime requirements may seek wireless alternatives to local options.
### Demand for spectrum {#demand_for_spectrum}
To cope with increased demand for wireless broadband, increased spectrum would be needed. Studies began in 2009, and while some unused spectrum was available, it appeared broadcasters would have to give up at least some spectrum. This led to strong objections from the broadcasting community. In 2013, auctions were planned, and for now any action by broadcasters is voluntary.
## Mobile wireless broadband {#mobile_wireless_broadband}
In the United States, mobile broadband technologies include services from providers such as Verizon, AT&T Mobility, and T-Mobile which allow a more mobile version of Internet access. Consumers can purchase a PC card, laptop card, USB equipment, or mobile broadband modem, to connect their PC or laptop to the Internet via cell phone towers. This type of connection would be stable in almost any area that could also receive a strong cell phone connection. These connections can cost more for portable convenience as well as having speed limitations in all but urban environments.
On June 2, 2010, after months of discussion, AT&T became the first wireless Internet provider in the US to announce plans to charge according to usage. As the only iPhone service in the United States, AT&T experienced the problem of heavy Internet use more than other providers. About 3 percent of AT&T smart phone customers account for 40 percent of the technology\'s use. 98 percent of the company\'s customers use less than 2 gigabytes (4000 page views, 10,000 emails or 200 minutes of streaming video), the limit under the \$25 monthly plan, and 65 percent use less than 200 megabytes, the limit for the \$15 plan. For each gigabyte in excess of the limit, customers would be charged \$10 a month starting June 7, 2010, though existing customers would not be required to change from the \$30 a month unlimited service plan. The new plan would become a requirement for those upgrading to the new iPhone technology later in the summer.
## Licensing
A wireless connection can be either licensed or unlicensed. In the US, licensed connections use a private spectrum the user has secured rights to from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The unlicensed mobile wireless broadband, in US operates on CBRS Which has three tiers. Tier 1 -- Incumbent Access, reserved for US Federals Government, Tier 2 -- Priority Access, a paid access with priority on the spectrum, Tier 3 -- General Authorized Access (GAA), a shared spectrum. In other countries, spectrum is licensed from the country\'s national radio communications authority (such as the ACMA in Australia or Nigerian Communications Commission in Nigeria (NCC)). Licensing is usually expensive and often reserved for large companies who wish to guarantee private access to spectrum for use in point to point communication. Because of this, most wireless ISP\'s use unlicensed spectrum which is publicly shared.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,628 |
Bilinear transform
|
The **bilinear transform** (also known as **Tustin\'s method**, after Arnold Tustin) is used in digital signal processing and discrete-time control theory to transform continuous-time system representations to discrete-time and vice versa.
The bilinear transform is a special case of a conformal mapping (namely, a Möbius transformation), often used for converting a transfer function $H_a(s)$ of a linear, time-invariant (LTI) filter in the continuous-time domain (often named an analog filter) to a transfer function $H_d(z)$ of a linear, shift-invariant filter in the discrete-time domain (often named a digital filter although there are analog filters constructed with switched capacitors that are discrete-time filters). It maps positions on the $j \omega$ axis, $\mathrm{Re}[s]=0$, in the s-plane to the unit circle, $|z| = 1$, in the z-plane. Other bilinear transforms can be used for warping the frequency response of any discrete-time linear system (for example to approximate the non-linear frequency resolution of the human auditory system) and are implementable in the discrete domain by replacing a system\'s unit delays $\left( z^{-1} \right)$ with first order all-pass filters.
The transform preserves stability and maps every point of the frequency response of the continuous-time filter, $H_a(j \omega_a)$ to a corresponding point in the frequency response of the discrete-time filter, $H_d(e^{j \omega_d T})$ although to a somewhat different frequency, as shown in the Frequency warping section below. This means that for every feature that one sees in the frequency response of the analog filter, there is a corresponding feature, with identical gain and phase shift, in the frequency response of the digital filter but, perhaps, at a somewhat different frequency. The change in frequency is barely noticeable at low frequencies but is quite evident at frequencies close to the Nyquist frequency.
## Discrete-time approximation {#discrete_time_approximation}
The bilinear transform is a first-order Padé approximant of the natural logarithm function that is an exact mapping of the *z*-plane to the *s*-plane. When the Laplace transform is performed on a discrete-time signal (with each element of the discrete-time sequence attached to a correspondingly delayed unit impulse), the result is precisely the Z transform of the discrete-time sequence with the substitution of
$$\begin{align}
z &= e^{sT} \\
&= \frac{e^{sT/2}}{e^{-sT/2}} \\
&\approx \frac{1 + s T / 2}{1 - s T / 2}
\end{align}$$
where $T$ is the numerical integration step size of the trapezoidal rule used in the bilinear transform derivation; or, in other words, the sampling period. The above bilinear approximation can be solved for $s$ or a similar approximation for $s = (1/T) \ln(z)$ can be performed.
The inverse of this mapping (and its first-order bilinear approximation) is
$$\begin{align}
s &= \frac{1}{T} \ln(z) \\
&= \frac{2}{T} \left[\frac{z-1}{z+1} + \frac{1}{3} \left( \frac{z-1}{z+1} \right)^3 + \frac{1}{5} \left( \frac{z-1}{z+1} \right)^5 + \frac{1}{7} \left( \frac{z-1}{z+1} \right)^7 + \cdots \right] \\
&\approx \frac{2}{T} \frac{z - 1}{z + 1} \\
&= \frac{2}{T} \frac{1 - z^{-1}}{1 + z^{-1}}
\end{align}$$
The bilinear transform essentially uses this first order approximation and substitutes into the continuous-time transfer function, $H_a(s)$
$$s \leftarrow \frac{2}{T} \frac{z - 1}{z + 1}.$$
That is
$$H_d(z) = H_a(s) \bigg|_{s = \frac{2}{T} \frac{z - 1}{z + 1}}= H_a \left( \frac{2}{T} \frac{z-1}{z+1} \right). \$$
## Stability and minimum-phase property preserved {#stability_and_minimum_phase_property_preserved}
A continuous-time causal filter is stable if the poles of its transfer function fall in the left half of the complex s-plane. A discrete-time causal filter is stable if the poles of its transfer function fall inside the unit circle in the complex z-plane. The bilinear transform maps the left half of the complex s-plane to the interior of the unit circle in the z-plane. Thus, filters designed in the continuous-time domain that are stable are converted to filters in the discrete-time domain that preserve that stability.
Likewise, a continuous-time filter is minimum-phase if the zeros of its transfer function fall in the left half of the complex s-plane. A discrete-time filter is minimum-phase if the zeros of its transfer function fall inside the unit circle in the complex z-plane. Then the same mapping property assures that continuous-time filters that are minimum-phase are converted to discrete-time filters that preserve that property of being minimum-phase.
## Transformation of a General LTI System {#transformation_of_a_general_lti_system}
A general LTI system has the transfer function $H_a(s) = \frac{b_0 + b_1s + b_2s^2 + \cdots + b_Qs^Q}{a_0 + a_1s + a_2s^2 + \cdots + a_Ps^P}$ The order of the transfer function `{{math|''N''}}`{=mediawiki} is the greater of `{{math|''P''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''Q''}}`{=mediawiki} (in practice this is most likely `{{math|''P''}}`{=mediawiki} as the transfer function must be proper for the system to be stable). Applying the bilinear transform $s = K\frac{z - 1}{z + 1}$ where `{{math|''K''}}`{=mediawiki} is defined as either `{{math|2/''T''}}`{=mediawiki} or otherwise if using frequency warping, gives $H_d(z) = \frac{b_0 + b_1\left(K\frac{z - 1}{z + 1}\right) + b_2\left(K\frac{z - 1}{z + 1}\right)^2 + \cdots + b_Q\left(K\frac{z - 1}{z + 1}\right)^Q}
{a_0 + a_1\left(K\frac{z - 1}{z + 1}\right) + a_2\left(K\frac{z - 1}{z + 1}\right)^2 + \cdots + b_P\left(K\frac{z - 1}{z + 1}\right)^P}$ Multiplying the numerator and denominator by the largest power of `{{math|(''z'' + 1)<sup>−1</sup>}}`{=mediawiki} present, `{{math|(''z'' + 1)<sup>−''N''</sup>}}`{=mediawiki}, gives $H_d(z) = \frac{b_0(z+1)^N + b_1K(z-1)(z+1)^{N-1} + b_2K^2(z-1)^2(z+1)^{N-2} + \cdots + b_QK^Q(z-1)^Q(z+1)^{N-Q}}
{a_0(z+1)^N + a_1K(z-1)(z+1)^{N-1} + a_2K^2(z-1)^2(z+1)^{N-2} + \cdots + a_PK^P(z-1)^P(z+1)^{N-P}}$ It can be seen here that after the transformation, the degree of the numerator and denominator are both `{{math|''N''}}`{=mediawiki}.
Consider then the pole-zero form of the continuous-time transfer function $H_a(s) = \frac{(s - \xi_1)(s - \xi_2) \cdots (s - \xi_Q)}{(s - p_1)(s - p_2) \cdots (s - p_P)}$ The roots of the numerator and denominator polynomials, `{{math|''ξ<sub>i</sub>''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''p<sub>i</sub>''}}`{=mediawiki}, are the zeros and poles of the system. The bilinear transform is a one-to-one mapping, hence these can be transformed to the z-domain using $z = \frac{K + s}{K - s}$ yielding some of the discretized transfer function\'s zeros and poles `{{math|''ξ'<sub>i</sub>''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''p'<sub>i</sub>''}}`{=mediawiki} $\begin{aligned}
\xi'_i &= \frac{K + \xi_i}{K - \xi_i} \quad 1 \leq i \leq Q \\
p'_i &= \frac{K + p_i}{K - p_i} \quad 1 \leq i \leq P
\end{aligned}$ As described above, the degree of the numerator and denominator are now both `{{math|''N''}}`{=mediawiki}, in other words there is now an equal number of zeros and poles. The multiplication by `{{math|(''z'' + 1)<sup>−''N''</sup>}}`{=mediawiki} means the additional zeros or poles are $\begin{aligned}
\xi'_i &= -1 \quad Q < i \leq N \\
p'_i &= -1 \quad P < i \leq N
\end{aligned}$ Given the full set of zeros and poles, the z-domain transfer function is then $H_d(z) = \frac{(z - \xi'_1)(z - \xi'_2) \cdots (z - \xi'_N)}
{(z - p'_1)(z - p'_2) \cdots (z - p'_N)}$
## Example
As an example take a simple low-pass RC filter. This continuous-time filter has a transfer function
$$\begin{align}
H_a(s) &= \frac{1/sC}{R+1/sC} \\
&= \frac{1}{1 + RC s}.
\end{align}$$
If we wish to implement this filter as a digital filter, we can apply the bilinear transform by substituting for $s$ the formula above; after some reworking, we get the following filter representation:
: {\|
\|- \|$H_d(z) \$ \|$=H_a \left( \frac{2}{T} \frac{z-1}{z+1}\right) \$ \|- \| \|$= \frac{1}{1 + RC \left( \frac{2}{T} \frac{z-1}{z+1}\right)} \$ \|- \| \|$= \frac{1 + z}{(1 - 2 RC / T) + (1 + 2RC / T) z} \$ \|- \| \|$= \frac{1 + z^{-1}}{(1 + 2RC / T) + (1 - 2RC / T) z^{-1}}. \$ \|}
The coefficients of the denominator are the \'feed-backward\' coefficients and the coefficients of the numerator are the \'feed-forward\' coefficients used for implementing a real-time digital filter.
## Transformation for a general first-order continuous-time filter {#transformation_for_a_general_first_order_continuous_time_filter}
It is possible to relate the coefficients of a continuous-time, analog filter with those of a similar discrete-time digital filter created through the bilinear transform process. Transforming a general, first-order continuous-time filter with the given transfer function
$$H_a(s) = \frac{b_0 s + b_1}{a_0 s + a_1} = \frac{b_0 + b_1 s^{-1}}{a_0 + a_1 s^{-1}}$$
using the bilinear transform (without prewarping any frequency specification) requires the substitution of
$$s \leftarrow K \frac{1 - z^{-1}}{1 + z^{-1}}$$
where
$$K \triangleq \frac{2}{T}$$.
However, if the frequency warping compensation as described below is used in the bilinear transform, so that both analog and digital filter gain and phase agree at frequency $\omega_0$, then
$$K \triangleq \frac{\omega_0}{\tan\left(\frac{\omega_0 T}{2}\right)}$$.
This results in a discrete-time digital filter with coefficients expressed in terms of the coefficients of the original continuous time filter:
$$H_d(z)=\frac{(b_0 K + b_1) + (-b_0 K + b_1)z^{-1}}{(a_0 K + a_1) + (-a_0 K + a_1)z^{-1}}$$
Normally the constant term in the denominator must be normalized to 1 before deriving the corresponding difference equation. This results in
$$H_d(z)=\frac{\frac{b_0 K + b_1}{a_0 K + a_1} + \frac{-b_0 K + b_1}{a_0 K + a_1}z^{-1}}{1 + \frac{-a_0 K + a_1}{a_0 K + a_1}z^{-1}}.$$
The difference equation (using the Direct form I) is
$$y[n] = \frac{b_0 K + b_1}{a_0 K + a_1} \cdot x[n] + \frac{-b_0 K + b_1}{a_0 K + a_1} \cdot x[n-1] - \frac{-a_0 K + a_1}{a_0 K + a_1} \cdot y[n-1] \ .$$
## General second-order biquad transformation {#general_second_order_biquad_transformation}
A similar process can be used for a general second-order filter with the given transfer function
$$H_a(s) = \frac{b_0 s^2 + b_1 s + b_2}{a_0 s^2 + a_1 s + a_2} = \frac{b_0 + b_1 s^{-1} + b_2 s^{-2}}{a_0 + a_1 s^{-1} + a_2 s^{-2}} \ .$$
This results in a discrete-time digital biquad filter with coefficients expressed in terms of the coefficients of the original continuous time filter:
$$H_d(z)=\frac{(b_0 K^2 + b_1 K + b_2) + (2b_2 - 2b_0 K^2)z^{-1} + (b_0 K^2 - b_1 K + b_2)z^{-2}}{(a_0 K^2 + a_1 K + a_2) + (2a_2 - 2a_0 K^2)z^{-1} + (a_0 K^2 - a_1 K + a_2)z^{-2}}$$
Again, the constant term in the denominator is generally normalized to 1 before deriving the corresponding difference equation. This results in
$$H_d(z)=\frac{\frac{b_0 K^2 + b_1 K + b_2}{a_0 K^2 + a_1 K + a_2} + \frac{2b_2 - 2b_0 K^2}{a_0 K^2 + a_1 K + a_2}z^{-1} + \frac{b_0 K^2 - b_1 K + b_2}{a_0 K^2 + a_1 K + a_2}z^{-2}}{1 + \frac{2a_2 - 2a_0 K^2}{a_0 K^2 + a_1 K + a_2}z^{-1} + \frac{a_0 K^2 - a_1 K + a_2}{a_0 K^2 + a_1 K + a_2}z^{-2}}.$$
The difference equation (using the Direct form I) is
$$y[n] = \frac{b_0 K^2 + b_1 K + b_2}{a_0 K^2 + a_1 K + a_2} \cdot x[n] + \frac{2b_2 - 2b_0 K^2}{a_0 K^2 + a_1 K + a_2} \cdot x[n-1] + \frac{b_0 K^2 - b_1 K + b_2}{a_0 K^2 + a_1 K + a_2} \cdot x[n-2] - \frac{2a_2 - 2a_0 K^2}{a_0 K^2 + a_1 K + a_2} \cdot y[n-1] - \frac{a_0 K^2 - a_1 K + a_2}{a_0 K^2 + a_1 K + a_2} \cdot y[n-2] \ .$$
## Frequency warping {#frequency_warping}
To determine the frequency response of a continuous-time filter, the transfer function $H_a(s)$ is evaluated at $s = j \omega_a$ which is on the $j \omega$ axis. Likewise, to determine the frequency response of a discrete-time filter, the transfer function $H_d(z)$ is evaluated at $z = e^{ j \omega_d T}$ which is on the unit circle, $|z| = 1$. The bilinear transform maps the $j \omega$ axis of the *s*-plane (which is the domain of $H_a(s)$) to the unit circle of the *z*-plane, $|z| = 1$ (which is the domain of $H_d(z)$), but it is **not** the same mapping $z = e^{sT}$ which also maps the $j \omega$ axis to the unit circle. When the actual frequency of $\omega_d$ is input to the discrete-time filter designed by use of the bilinear transform, then it is desired to know at what frequency, $\omega_a$, for the continuous-time filter that this $\omega_d$ is mapped to.
$$H_d(z) = H_a \left( \frac{2}{T} \frac{z-1}{z+1}\right)$$
: {\|
\|- \|$H_d(e^{ j \omega_d T})$ \|$= H_a \left( \frac{2}{T} \frac{e^{ j \omega_d T} - 1}{e^{ j \omega_d T} + 1}\right)$ \|- \| \|$= H_a \left( \frac{2}{T} \cdot \frac{e^{j \omega_d T/2} \left(e^{j \omega_d T/2} - e^{-j \omega_d T/2}\right)}{e^{j \omega_d T/2} \left(e^{j \omega_d T/2} + e^{-j \omega_d T/2 }\right)}\right)$ \|- \| \|$= H_a \left( \frac{2}{T} \cdot \frac{\left(e^{j \omega_d T/2} - e^{-j \omega_d T/2}\right)}{\left(e^{j \omega_d T/2} + e^{-j \omega_d T/2 }\right)}\right)$ \|- \| \|$= H_a \left(j \frac{2}{T} \cdot \frac{ \left(e^{j \omega_d T/2} - e^{-j \omega_d T/2}\right) /(2j)}{\left(e^{j \omega_d T/2} + e^{-j \omega_d T/2 }\right) / 2}\right)$ \|- \| \|$= H_a \left(j \frac{2}{T} \cdot \frac{ \sin(\omega_d T/2) }{ \cos(\omega_d T/2) }\right)$ \|- \| \|$= H_a \left(j \frac{2}{T} \cdot \tan \left( \omega_d T/2 \right) \right)$ \|}
This shows that every point on the unit circle in the discrete-time filter z-plane, $z = e^{ j \omega_d T}$ is mapped to a point on the $j \omega$ axis on the continuous-time filter s-plane, $s = j \omega_a$. That is, the discrete-time to continuous-time frequency mapping of the bilinear transform is
$$\omega_a = \frac{2}{T} \tan \left( \omega_d \frac{T}{2} \right)$$
and the inverse mapping is
$$\omega_d = \frac{2}{T} \arctan \left( \omega_a \frac{T}{2} \right).$$
The discrete-time filter behaves at frequency $\omega_d$ the same way that the continuous-time filter behaves at frequency $(2/T) \tan(\omega_d T/2)$. Specifically, the gain and phase shift that the discrete-time filter has at frequency $\omega_d$ is the same gain and phase shift that the continuous-time filter has at frequency $(2/T) \tan(\omega_d T/2)$. This means that every feature, every \"bump\" that is visible in the frequency response of the continuous-time filter is also visible in the discrete-time filter, but at a different frequency. For low frequencies (that is, when $\omega_d \ll 2/T$ or $\omega_a \ll 2/T$), then the features are mapped to a *slightly* different frequency; $\omega_d \approx \omega_a$.
One can see that the entire continuous frequency range
: $-\infty < \omega_a < +\infty$
is mapped onto the fundamental frequency interval
: $-\frac{\pi}{T} < \omega_d < +\frac{\pi}{T}.$
The continuous-time filter frequency $\omega_a = 0$ corresponds to the discrete-time filter frequency $\omega_d = 0$ and the continuous-time filter frequency $\omega_a = \pm \infty$ correspond to the discrete-time filter frequency $\omega_d = \pm \pi / T.$
One can also see that there is a nonlinear relationship between $\omega_a$ and $\omega_d.$ This effect of the bilinear transform is called **frequency warping**. The continuous-time filter can be designed to compensate for this frequency warping by setting $\omega_a = \frac{2}{T} \tan \left( \omega_d \frac{T}{2} \right)$ for every frequency specification that the designer has control over (such as corner frequency or center frequency). This is called **pre-warping** the filter design.
It is possible, however, to compensate for the frequency warping by pre-warping a frequency specification $\omega_0$ (usually a resonant frequency or the frequency of the most significant feature of the frequency response) of the continuous-time system. These pre-warped specifications may then be used in the bilinear transform to obtain the desired discrete-time system. When designing a digital filter as an approximation of a continuous time filter, the frequency response (both amplitude and phase) of the digital filter can be made to match the frequency response of the continuous filter at a specified frequency $\omega_0$, as well as matching at DC, if the following transform is substituted into the continuous filter transfer function. This is a modified version of Tustin\'s transform shown above.
$$s \leftarrow \frac{\omega_0}{\tan\left(\frac{\omega_0 T}{2}\right)} \frac{z - 1}{z + 1}.$$
However, note that this transform becomes the original transform
$$s \leftarrow \frac{2}{T} \frac{z - 1}{z + 1}$$
as $\omega_0 \to 0$.
The main advantage of the warping phenomenon is the absence of aliasing distortion of the frequency response characteristic, such as observed with Impulse invariance.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,631 |
Brian Boitano
|
**Brian Anthony Boitano** (born October 22, 1963) is an American figure skater from Sunnyvale, California. He is the 1988 Olympic champion, the 1986 and 1988 World Champion, and the 1985--1988 U.S. National Champion.
Boitano turned professional following the 1988 season. Under new rules by the ISU, he returned to competition in 1993 and competed at the 1994 Winter Olympics, where he placed sixth. In 1996, he was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame and the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
## Early life {#early_life}
Brian Boitano was born in 1963 and raised in Mountain View, California. Boitano is a graduate of Marian A. Peterson High School in Sunnyvale, California. He is of Italian American descent, with family from northern Italy. As an adult, he has lived in San Francisco.
## Figure skating career {#figure_skating_career}
### Early career {#early_career}
Beginning skating as a child, Brian Boitano won a gold medal at the Junior U.S. Championships in 1978 and first made his mark on the international scene when he won the bronze medal at the 1978 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, beating future rival Brian Orser for that medal.
Early in his career, Boitano was known primarily for his jumping. He, along with several other skaters, helped push the technical envelope of men\'s skating. In 1982, Boitano became the first American to land a triple Axel. In 1987, he introduced his signature jump, the \'Boitano triple Lutz\', in which the skater raises his left arm above his head. He attempted a quadruple jump throughout the 1986--87 season and at the 1988 World Figure Skating Championships, but did not cleanly land the jump; he double-footed the landing on two occasions.
At the 1983 World Championships, he became the first skater to ever land all six triple jumps in competition. He would eventually include and successfully land eight triple jumps in his free skate program, the maximum number possible (see Zayak rule). He would jump two flip jumps and two triple Axels to compete with his rival, Brian Orser, who jumped one triple flip and one triple Axel. It was not until failing to defend his World title in 1987 that Boitano focused specifically on improving his artistry. Toward this end, he worked with renowned choreographer Sandra Bezic.
Boitano placed second at the 1984 United States Figure Skating Championships, earning a place in the 1984 Winter Olympics. He placed 5th at the Olympics, setting the stage for his success over the next four years.
### World Champion {#world_champion}
Following the 1984 Olympics, several skaters emerged as likely medal hopes following the retirement of Scott Hamilton.
Boitano won the 1985 United States Figure Skating Championships, the first of his four titles. At the first World Championships of the post-Hamilton era in 1985, Alexander Fadeev won, with Brian Orser finishing in second place and Boitano in third place. He had injured tendons in his right ankle a few weeks before the 1986 U.S. Championships but went on to win his second national title. At the 1986 World Championships, Boitano took the title, while Fadeev had a disastrous free skate despite having been in an excellent position to win; Orser finished in second place once again.
During the 1986--87 season, Boitano had introduced three new elements to his programs: the \'Tano triple lutz and a quadruple toe loop, as well as wearing a blindfold, although he never succeeded in landing a clean quadruple jump in competition. The 1987 World Championships were held in Cincinnati, giving the defending world champion a home-field advantage. The outcome of the event would set the tone for the 1988 Olympics. He fell on his quadruple toe loop attempt and placed second.
After losing the world title to Orser at home, Boitano and his coach Linda Leaver decided that some changes needed to be made if he was to become the Olympic champion. He had always been good at the technical requirements (\"The first mark\"), but he was weak on the artistic (\"the second mark\"). He was a self-described \"jumping robot.\" In order to help his growth as an artist, he hired choreographer Sandra Bezic to choreograph his programs for the 1987--1988 Olympic season.
Bezic choreographed two programs that featured clean lines and accentuated the skating abilities of the 5\' 11\" Boitano. The short program was based on Giacomo Meyerbeer\'s ballet *Les Patineurs*, in which he plays a cocky young man showing off his tricks, using movements dating to the 19th century. In one moment, he wipes ice shavings, also called snow, off his skate blade and tosses it over his shoulder after landing a triple Axel combination. The free skating program was based on the film score, *Napoleon*, detailing various phases of a soldier\'s life.
Boitano debuted his new programs at 1987 Skate Canada, held in the Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This was where he would compete against Brian Orser for the Olympic title three months later. His new programs were received with standing ovations by the audience. Although Orser won the competition, Boitano skated clean, landing seven triple jumps, including a footwork section into a jump, but popped his planned second triple Axel. The team was so confident about the strength of his new programs that they omitted the quadruple toe loop which, if landed, could have put him a shoulder above Orser in technical merit.
The short program at the 1988 United States Figure Skating Championships proved to be a highlight. Boitano received marks of 6.0 from eight of the nine judges for presentation, the second mark. His free skate was flawed. Due to delays, he did not skate until after midnight. Still, he won the competition, and went into the Olympics as the national champion (U.S.), as did Orser (representing Canada).
### 1988 Olympics: Battle of the Brians {#olympics_battle_of_the_brians}
Going into the Olympics, Boitano and Brian Orser each had won a world title and each had an excellent, balanced repertoire. Boitano was known as the slightly better technician and Orser as the better artist. `{{according to whom|date=March 2023}}`{=mediawiki} Adding to the rivalry, Boitano and Orser were both performing military-themed programs. Boitano\'s free skate was set to music from *Napoleon and Josephine*, the television miniseries. For his free skate, Boitano wore a blue stretch suit with red braids and epaulets, and used military gestures and postures as much as his music allowed.
The Battle of the Brians at the 1988 Winter Olympics was the highlight of Boitano\'s amateur career. Boitano and Orser were effectively tied going into the free skating portion of the event and whoever won that portion would win the event. Alexander Fadeev had won the compulsory figures section of the competition, with Boitano second and Orser third. In the short program, Orser placed first and Boitano second. The free skating was, at the time, worth 50% of the score, and so Boitano\'s lead would not be enough to hold him in first place if he lost the free skate.
Boitano skated a clean, technically excellent long program, with eight triple jumps, including two axels, and a triple flip-triple toe loop combination. Landing his second triple axel jump cleanly was probably a critical factor in the battle. Orser made one small mistake on a jump and omitted his planned second triple axel. Boitano won the battle in a 5--4 split. It was later discovered that the Canadian Figure Skating Association had engaged in \"vote trading\" with several countries on the judging panel, particularly East Germany and the USSR. This ultimately backfired, as the Soviet judge refused to follow this agreement and voting \"with his conscience,\" placing Boitano first. Had he followed his federation\'s directive, Boitano would have lost the gold medal. The judge was promptly suspended by his federation. Experts questioned why the scores were so close between the two skaters because Boitano had two triple axels, two triple flips and a triple triple combination, elements that were not included in Orser\'s program.
With his win, Boitano became the first Olympic champion to land the full complement of six types of triple jumps. Boitano won the gold medal, wearing skates with American flag appliqués. These are now part of the collections of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution.
Following the Olympics, both Orser and Boitano went to the 1988 World Championships, which Boitano won. Boitano turned professional soon after.
### Professional career and return to amateur standing {#professional_career_and_return_to_amateur_standing}
Following the Olympics, Boitano went on to dominate competitions in the professional ranks, winning ten straight professional competitions, including five consecutive World Professional Championship titles and four consecutive wins at the Challenge of Champions. Boitano also appeared in *Carmen on Ice*, for which he won an Emmy. He performed with Champions on Ice for many years. He wanted to return to amateur competition and make another run at the Olympics.
In June 1993, the International Skating Union (ISU) introduced a clause, commonly known as the \"Boitano rule,\" which allowed professionals to reinstate as \"amateur\" or \"eligible\" skaters. Many others joined Boitano, including Ukrainian Viktor Petrenko, 1988 bronze medalist and 1992 gold medalist. The ISU decision was the result of Boitano\'s active involvement during the early 1990s, when the International Olympic Committee lifted the remaining limits on athletes\' remuneration. Previously, the committee had been accused of rejecting Western professionals, while allowing Eastern Bloc state-sponsored \"amateurs\" to compete. Boitano reinstated as an amateur to compete in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
Boitano competed at the 1994 United States Figure Skating Championships, led after the short program, but lost to Scott Davis in the long program in a 6--3 split decision. Boitano was named to the Olympic team. Going into the Olympics as a medal favorite in a strong field, Boitano missed his triple Axel combination during the short program for the first time in his career. This mistake proved extremely costly, and knocked Boitano out of medal contention. He skated a good long program and finished 6th.
Boitano returned to the professional ranks afterward. In 1996 he was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame and the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
## Personal life {#personal_life}
In December 2013, Boitano was named to the United States delegation to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. In conjunction with that appointment, Boitano publicly came out as gay.
The Sochi games and Russia were the targets of criticism and LGBT activism because of a Russian anti-gay \"propaganda\" law passed in June 2013. In January 2014, Boitano told the Associated Press that he had never wanted to come out until he was named to the delegation.
Boitano\'s older brother, Mark Boitano, is a real estate agent and former politician. He served as a member of the New Mexico Senate from 1997 to 2013.
## Celebrity and popular culture career {#celebrity_and_popular_culture_career}
### *South Park* song {#south_park_song}
A caricature of Boitano as a superhero appears as a semi-recurring character in the cartoon series *South Park*. The film *South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut* (1999) features a musical number titled \"What Would Brian Boitano Do?\". He was also featured in *Jesus vs. Santa*.
### Food Network show {#food_network_show}
On August 23, 2009, Food Network debuted a new series entitled *What Would Brian Boitano Make?*, which borrows both its name and opening musical theme from the *South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut* song. The show features Boitano preparing meals for his friends. The series was picked up for a ten-episode second season.
### Other television and film appearances {#other_television_and_film_appearances}
- Boitano starred, along with Katarina Witt and archrival Brian Orser, in the 1990 German dance film *Carmen on Ice*; Boitano played Don Jose. All three won an Emmy Award for \"Outstanding performance in classical music/dance programming\".
- He was featured in the Super Bowl XXVI halftime show \"Winter Magic\", along with Gloria Estefan and Dorothy Hamill.
- Boitano had a cameo in the 2007 film *Blades of Glory* as a world skating federation judge.
- He and fellow figure skater Michelle Kwan had a cameo as themselves in the 2005 Disney film, *Ice Princess*, appearing as commentators during the Sectionals competition.
- He appeared on *Giada at Home* for one episode.
- He appeared as a guest judge on *Top Chef Masters*, Season 4 episode 3. The episode is titled \"What would Brian Boitano Make?\"
- He appeared on Fox Business Network\'s *Stossel*, episode \"Spontaneous Order\" (February 10, 2011).
- He appeared in an episode of *Check, Please! Bay Area*, a restaurant review program which airs on KQED-TV in San Francisco.
- He hosted a series on HGTV, called *The Brian Boitano Project*, which premiered January 16, 2014, in which he purchased a near derelict ancestral home in Northern Italy, home to many Boitanos. During the series he gives the home in Favale di Malvaro a sympathetic restoration/renovation and shops flea markets with two nieces to find decor and furnishings. Local artisans, carpenters, masons and painters create a gem where he can live part-time and host Boitanos from afar.
- Boitano appeared as a guest on Season 18 of the reality series *Hell\'s Kitchen*, where he along with Gordon Ramsay and Traci Des Jardins co-judged the team challenge in the episode \"Hell Freezes Over\".
## Programs
+------------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
+============+=================+==========================================+============================================+
| 1993--1994 | Carousel Waltz\ | Appalachian Spring/Lincoln Portrait\ | Elegy For Harp And Strings\ |
| | Richard Rodgers | by Aaron Copland | Lee Holdridge |
+------------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| 1987--1988 | Les Patineurs\ | Silent movie Napoleon\ | Adventures of Don Juan\ |
| | (Meyerbeer) | (Carmine Coppola / Francis Ford Coppola) | from the Errol Flynn movie\ |
| | | | Parlami d\'amore Mariu (Italian love song) |
+------------+-----------------+------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------+
## Results
International
-----------------------
Event
Olympics
Worlds
Skate America
Skate Canada
NHK Trophy
St. Ivel
Nebelhorn
St. Gervais
International: Junior
Junior Worlds
National
U.S. Champ.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,633 |
List of political scandals in the United Kingdom
|
This is a **list of political scandals in the United Kingdom** in chronological order. Scandals implicating political figures or governments of the UK, often reported in the mass media, have long had repercussions for their popularity. Issues in political scandals have included alleged or proven financial and sexual matters, or various other allegations or actions taken by politicians that led to controversy. In British media and political discourse, such scandals have sometimes been referred to as **political sleaze** since the 1990s. Notable scandals include the Marconi scandal, Profumo affair and the 2009 expenses scandal. `{{Dynamic list}}`{=mediawiki}
## 1890s
- Liberator Building Society scandal, in which the Liberal Party MP Jabez Balfour was exposed as running several fraudulent companies to conceal financial losses. Balfour fled to Argentina, but was eventually arrested and imprisoned.
## 1910s {#s_1}
- Marconi scandal of insider trading by Liberal Party Ministers including:
- Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, the Attorney General
- The Master of Elibank, Lord Murray, the Treasurer of the Liberal Party,
- David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, the Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel, Postmaster General; was falsely implicated. (1912)
- Shell Crisis of 1915, which led to the fall of H. H. Asquith\'s Liberal Party government during World War I.
## 1920s {#s_2}
- Lloyd George and the honours scandal. Honours sold for large campaign contributions (1922)
- Zinoviev Letter (1924)
## 1930s {#s_3}
- Jimmy Thomas budget leak (1936)
## 1940s {#s_4}
- Hugh Dalton budget leak (1947)
- John Belcher corruptly influenced -- led to Lynskey Tribunal
## 1950s {#s_5}
- British Malayan headhunting scandal (1952). Involved generals, politicians, and activists, sparked by the *Daily Worker\'s* leaked photos of war crimes (notably headhunting) committed by British troops during the Malayan Emergency.
- Crichel Down and the resignation of Thomas Dugdale (1954)
- Suez Crisis (1956)
## 1960s {#s_6}
- Vassall affair (1963): civil servant John Vassall, working for Minister Tam Galbraith, was revealed to be a spy for the Soviet Union and was arrested. The affair was investigated in the Vassall tribunal.
- Profumo affair (1963): Secretary of State for War John Profumo had an affair with Christine Keeler (to whom he had been introduced by artist Stephen Ward) who was having an affair with a Soviet spy at the same time.
- The Robert Boothby (Conservative), Tom Driberg (Labour), Kray brothers affair and consequent cover-up involving senior politicians of both parties. The *Daily Mirror* published some details of the matter and was falsely sued for libel.
## 1970s {#s_7}
- Corrupt architect John Poulson and links to Conservative Home Secretary Reginald Maudling, Labour council leader T. Dan Smith and others (1972--1974): Maudling resigned, Smith sentenced to imprisonment.
- Earl Jellicoe and Lord Lambton sex scandal (1973): Conservatives, junior defence minister Lambton is arrested for using prostitutes and Cabinet minister Jellicoe also confesses.
- Labour MP John Stonehouse\'s faked suicide (1974)
- Harold Wilson\'s Prime Minister\'s Resignation Honours (known satirically as the \"Lavender List\") gives honours to a number of wealthy businessmen. (May 1976)
- Peter Jay\'s appointment as British Ambassador to the US by his father in law, the then Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan. At the time Jay was a journalist with little diplomatic experience. (1976)
- \"Rinkagate\": the Thorpe affair. Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe was arrested and tried for allegedly paying a hitman to murder his lover, model Norman Scott, while walking his dog on Exmoor; the hitman only shot the dog, Rinka. Thorpe was forced to resign due to his clandestine gay affairs, but was acquitted of conspiracy to murder.
## 1980s {#s_8}
- Joseph Kagan, Baron Kagan, earlier ennobled by the Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson\'s notorious Lavender List (1976), was convicted of fraud (1980)
- Cecil Parkinson affair with secretary Sara Keays resulting in their child, Flora Keays (1983)
- Al Yamamah contract alleged to have been obtained by bribery (1985)
- Westland affair (1986): The Defence Secretary, Michael Heseltine, resigned from his Cabinet job in a disagreement with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over the Westland affair. Heseltine walked out of a meeting at Number 10 as his views on the future of the Westland helicopter company were being ignored at the time.
- Jeffrey Archer and the prostitute allegations (1986), and his subsequent conviction for perjury (2001)
- Westminster cemeteries scandal (1987)
- Edwina Currie resigns as a junior Health minister after claiming that millions of British eggs were infected with salmonella, stating that \"most of \[British\] egg production\" was infected (1988)
- \"Homes for votes\" gerrymandering scandal (1987--1989)
## 1990s {#s_9}
- Arms-to-Iraq and the closely connected Iraqi Supergun affair (1990)
- David Mellor resignation after press disclosure of his affair with Antonia de Sancha and gratis holiday from a daughter of a PLO official (1992)
- Michael Mates gift of a watch (\"Don\'t let the bastards grind you down\") to Asil Nadir (1993)
- Monklandsgate dominated the 1994 Monklands East by-election. It mainly consisted of allegations of sectarian spending discrepancies between Protestant Airdrie and Catholic Coatbridge, fuelled by the fact that all 17 of the ruling Labour group were Roman Catholics. (1994)
- *Back to Basics*, a government policy slogan portrayed by opponents and the press as a morality campaign to compare it with a contemporaneous succession of sex scandals in John Major\'s government which led to the resignation of Tim Yeo and the Earl of Caithness, among others (1994)
- Cash-for-questions affair involving Neil Hamilton, Tim Smith and Mohamed Al-Fayed (1994)
- Jonathan Aitken and the Paris Ritz Hotel bill allegations, and his subsequent conviction for perjury after his failed libel action against *The Guardian*, resulting in Aitken being only the third person to have to resign from the Privy Council in the 20th century. (1995)
- Conservative MP Jerry Hayes was \"outed\" as a homosexual by the *News of the World* with the headline \"TORY MP 2-TIMED WIFE WITH UNDER-AGE GAY LOVER\". Hayes had met Young Conservative Paul Stone at the 1991 Conservative conference and that same evening, \"committed a lewd act which was in breach of the law at the time\". Stone had been 18 at the time, whilst the legal age for homosexual sex in 1991 was 21. Hayes had previously supported Section 28. (1997)
- Bernie Ecclestone was involved in a political scandal when it transpired he had given the Labour Party a million pound donation -- which raised eyebrows when the incoming Labour government changed its policy to allow Formula One to continue being sponsored by tobacco manufacturers. The Labour Party returned the donation when the scandal came to light. (1997)
- Peter Mandelson, Trade and Industry Secretary, resigned after failing to disclose £373,000 loan from Paymaster General Geoffrey Robinson. (1998)
- Ron Davies resigned from the cabinet after being robbed by a man he met at Clapham Common (a well-known gay cruising ground) and then lying about it (1998)
## 2000s {#s_10}
- Officegate (2001). Henry McLeish, Labour First Minister of Scotland, failed to refund the House of Commons for income he had received from the sub-let of his constituency office in Glenrothes while still a Westminster MP.
- Keith Vaz, Peter Mandelson and the Hinduja brothers. Mandelson was forced to resign for a second time due to misleading statements. (2001)
- Jo Moore, within an hour of the September 11 attacks, sent an email to the press office of her department suggesting: \"It\'s now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury. Councillors\' expenses?\" Although prior to the catastrophic collapse of the towers, the phrase \"a good day to bury bad news\" (not actually used by Moore) has since been used to refer to other instances of attempting to hide one item of news behind a more publicised issue.
- Betsygate (2002), which revolved around the level of pay that Iain Duncan Smith\'s wife Elisabeth received as his diary secretary.
- In 2002, Edwina Currie revealed that she had had an affair, beginning in 1984, with John Major before he became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Major had frequently pushed his *Back To Basics* agenda (see above), which was taken by the media as a form of moral absolutism.
- The Burrell affair -- allegations about the behaviour of the British royal family and their servants with possible constitutional implications. (2002)
- Ron Davies stood down from the Welsh assembly following accusations of illicit gay sex. Davies had claimed he had been badger-watching in the area. (2003)
- The apparent suicide of Dr. David Kelly and the *Hutton Inquiry*. On 17 July 2003, Kelly, an employee of the Ministry of Defence, apparently committed suicide after being misquoted by BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan as saying that Tony Blair\'s Labour government had knowingly \"sexed up\" the \"September Dossier\", a report into Iraq and weapons of mass destruction. The government was cleared of wrongdoing, while the BBC was strongly criticised by the subsequent inquiry, leading to the resignation of the BBC\'s chairman and director-general.
- In April 2004, Beverly Hughes was forced to resign as minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Counter Terrorism when it was shown that she had been informed of procedural improprieties concerning the granting of visas to certain categories of workers from Eastern Europe. She had earlier told the House of Commons that if she had been aware of such facts she would have done something about it.
- In 2005, David McLetchie, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, was forced to resign after claiming the highest taxi expenses of any MSP. These included personal journeys, journeys related solely with his second job as a solicitor, and Conservative Party business, for example travel to Conservative conferences. Conservative backbench MSP Brian Monteith had the whip withdrawn for briefing against his leader to the *Scotland on Sunday* newspaper.
- Liberal Democrats Home Affairs spokesman Mark Oaten resigned after it was revealed by the *News of the World* that he paid rentboys to perform sexual acts on him.
- David Mills financial allegations (2006). Tessa Jowell, Labour cabinet minister, was embroiled in a scandal about a property remortgage allegedly arranged to enable her husband, David Mills, to realise £350,000 from an off-shore hedge fund, money he allegedly received as a gift following testimony he had provided for Silvio Berlusconi in the 1990s. Nicknamed by the press as \"Jowellgate\".
- Cash for Honours (2006). In March 2006 it emerged that the Labour Party had borrowed millions of pounds in 2005 to help fund their general election campaign. While not illegal, on 15 March the Treasurer of the party, Jack Dromey, stated publicly that he had neither knowledge of nor involvement in these loans and had only become aware when he read about it in the newspapers. A story was running at the time that Dr Chai Patel and others had been recommended for life peerages after lending the Labour party money. He called on the Electoral Commission to investigate the issue of political parties taking out loans from non-commercial sources.
- Angus McNeil (2007). The married SNP MP who made the initial police complaint over the cash for honours scandal was forced to make an apology after it was revealed that in 2005 he had a \"heavy petting\" session with two teenage girls aged 17 and 18`{{bsn|reason=low quality tabloid newspaper|date=April 2025}}`{=mediawiki} in a hotel room at the same time his wife was pregnant with their third child.
- News of the World royal phone hacking scandal
- In November 2007, it emerged that more than £400,000 had been accepted by the Labour Party from one person through a series of third parties, causing the Electoral Commission to seek an explanation. Peter Watt resigned as the General Secretary of the party the day after the story broke and was quoted as saying that he knew about the arrangement but had not appreciated that he had failed to comply with the reporting requirements.
- On 24 January 2008, Peter Hain resigned his two cabinet posts (Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Secretary of State for Wales) after the Electoral Commission referred donations to his Deputy Leadership campaign to the police.
- Derek Conway (2008): The Conservative Party MP was found to have reclaimed salaries he had paid to his two sons who had in fact not carried out the work to the extent claimed. He was ordered to repay £16,918, suspended from the House of Commons for 10 days and removed from the party whip.
- Cash for influence (2009): Details of covertly recorded discussions with four Labour Party peers which covered their ability to influence legislation and the consultancy fees that they charged (including retainer payments of up to £120,000) were published by *The Sunday Times*.
- United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal (2009): Widespread actual and alleged misuse of the permitted allowances and expenses claimed by Members of Parliament and attempts by MPs and peers to exempt themselves from Freedom of Information legislation.
## 2010s {#s_11}
### 2010
- The Iris Robinson scandal in which First Minister of Northern Ireland Peter Robinson stepped aside for six weeks in January 2010 following revelations of his wife\'s involvement in an extramarital affair, her attempted suicide, and allegations that he had failed to properly declare details of loans she had procured for her lover to develop a business venture.
- Red Sky scandal, involving contracts given to company Red Sky by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.
- The 2010 cash for influence scandal, in which undercover reporters for the *Dispatches* television series posed as political lobbyists offering to pay Members of Parliament to influence policy.
- On 29 May 2010 Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws resigned from the Cabinet and was referred to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards after *The Daily Telegraph* newspaper published details of Laws claiming around £40,000 in expenses on a second home owned by a secret partner between 2004 and 2009, whilst House of Commons rules have prevented MPs from claiming second home expenses on properties owned by a partner since 2006. By resigning Laws became the shortest serving Minister in modern British political history with less than 18 days\' service as a Cabinet Minister.
### 2011 {#section_1}
- On 14 October 2011 Secretary of State for Defence Liam Fox resigned from the Cabinet after he \"mistakenly allowed the distinction between \[his\] personal interest and \[his\] government activities to become blurred\" over his friendship with Adam Werritty. (He again served as a cabinet minister under Theresa May.)
- News International phone hacking scandal
- The Ed Balls document leak was exposed by *The Daily Telegraph* and showed that shadow chancellor Ed Balls was involved in a supposed plot known as \'Project Volvo\' to oust Tony Blair as leader and replace him with Gordon Brown shortly after the 2005 election.
### 2012 {#section_2}
- Conservative Party \'cash for access\' scandal involving Peter Cruddas and Sarah Southern, March 2012.
- In February 2012, Liberal Democrat MP Chris Huhne resigned from the Cabinet when he was charged with perverting the course of justice over a 2003 speeding case. His wife Vicky Pryce had claimed that she was driving the car, and accepted the licence penalty points on his behalf so that he could avoid being banned from driving. Huhne pleaded guilty at his trial, resigned as a member of parliament, and he and Pryce were sentenced to eight months in prison for perverting the course of justice.
- In October 2012, Andrew Mitchell resigned from his post as Chief Whip following allegations made about his conduct during an altercation with police at Downing Street on 19 September, the incident becoming known as \"plebgate\".
### 2013 {#section_3}
- In the 2013 Labour Party Falkirk candidate selection, which began following the announcement that the incumbent MP Eric Joyce was to step down at the 2015 general election, allegations were made on the significant infiltration of the selection process by the Unite trade union, the Labour Party\'s largest financial backer.
### 2014 {#section_4}
- In April 2014 Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, resigned following pressure relating to the results of an investigation into her past expenses claims.
- On 20 November 2014 Emily Thornberry resigned her shadow cabinet position shortly after polls closed in the Rochester and Strood by-election. Earlier in the day, she had received criticism after tweeting a photograph of a house in the constituency adorned with three flags of St. George and the owner\'s white van parked outside on the driveway, under the caption \"Image from #Rochester\", provoking accusations of snobbery. She was criticised by fellow Labour Party MPs, including leader Ed Miliband who said her tweet conveyed a \"sense of disrespect\".
- Namagate, involving allegations that First Minister of Northern Ireland Peter Robinson may have financially benefitted from a deal with National Asset Management Agency (NAMA).
### 2015 {#section_5}
- In September 2015, Lord Ashcroft published a biography of David Cameron, which suggested that the then Prime Minister took drugs regularly and performed an \"outrageous initiation ceremony\" which involved inserting \"a private part of his anatomy\" into the mouth of a dead pig during his time in university. This became known as \"piggate\". It also led to questions about the Prime Minister\'s honesty with party donors\' known tax statuses as Lord Ashcroft suggested he had openly discussed his non-domiciled status with him in 2009, earlier than previously thought.
### 2017 {#section_6}
- In 2017 the contaminated blood scandal, in which many haemophiliacs died from infected Factor medicine, hit the headlines and Parliament with allegations of an \"industrial scale\" criminal cover-up. MP Ken Clarke retracted remarks from his autobiography relating to the scandal and a public inquiry was initiated.
- The Renewable Heat Incentive scandal in Northern Ireland, in which Arlene Foster set up a green energy scheme but failed to introduce cost controls, creating perverse incentives which eventually led to a £480m bill to the Northern Ireland budget. There were allegations that members of the Democratic Unionist Party attempted to postpone the closure of the scheme, which gave way to a spike in applications and causing the public purse millions of pounds. In January 2017, the scandal caused the resignation of the deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, after Foster refused to stand aside as First Minister pending an investigation, collapsing the Executive Office and triggering an early election of the Northern Ireland Assembly. The resulting political rifts meant the Assembly did not meet again until 2020.
### 2018 {#section_7}
- The 2018 Windrush scandal, involving members of the Windrush generation being wrongly detained, deported, or threatened with deportation which caused the resignation of the then Home Secretary, Amber Rudd.
## 2020s {#s_12}
### 2020 {#section_8}
- The Dominic Cummings scandal, where Dominic Cummings, chief strategist of prime minister Boris Johnson, broke COVID-19 pandemic restrictions during the UK\'s first nationwide lockdown while experiencing symptoms of the disease. Cummings and Johnson rejected calls for the former to resign. It was suggested that the scandal undermined the public\'s compliance with pandemic restrictions.
- The Alex Salmond scandal concerned how the Scottish Government, led by incumbent first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, breached its own guidelines in its investigation into the harassment claims against Sturgeon\'s predecessor as first minister, Alex Salmond. The Scottish Government lost a judicial review into their actions and had to pay over £500,000 to Salmond for legal expenses. Salmond claimed that senior figures in Sturgeon\'s government and the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) conspired against him for political reasons. Critics accused Sturgeon of breaking the ministerial code which resulted in calls for her resignation. Sturgeon disputed the allegations, arguing that while mistakes had been made, her government acted appropriately.
### 2021 {#section_9}
- The Greensill scandal, in which former prime minister David Cameron approached a number of government ministers on behalf of Greensill Capital to lobby for the company to receive Covid Corporate Financing Facility loans.
- *The Sun* published pictures and then video of leaked CCTV footage from inside the Department of Health of health secretary Matt Hancock and Gina Coladangelo kissing in a breach of COVID-19 social distancing guidance. Boris Johnson accepted Matt Hancock\'s apology and stated that he \"considers the matter closed\", but Hancock resigned as health secretary the following day.
- In November 2021, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards found that Conservative MP Owen Paterson had broken paid advocacy rules, but instead of approving his suspension, the government enforced a three-line whip on Conservative MPs to pass a motion that the investigation was \"clearly flawed\". After an outcry from opposition parties, the government made a U-turn and Paterson resigned.
- Partygate, involving social gatherings by Downing Street and Conservative Party staff during COVID-19 restrictions in late 2020.
### 2022 {#section_10}
- Neil Parish, Conservative MP for Tiverton and Honiton, was forced to resign in April after it was discovered that he had watched pornography in the House of Commons on at least two occasions.
- Chris Pincher scandal: The deputy chief whip of the Conservative Party, Chris Pincher, resigned on 30 June following allegations about him groping two men.`{{Cite news |date=2 July 2022 |title=Tory MP Chris Pincher suspended by party over 'drunken groping' claims |work=[[Sky News]] |url=https://news.sky.com/story/tory-mp-chris-pincher-suspended-by-party-over-drunken-groping-claims-12643558}}`{=mediawiki}
Further allegations of harassment emerged against Pincher, along with claims that prime minister Boris Johnson had already been informed of his behaviour. The incremental effect of this and other recent controversies led to the resignation of 59 Conservative politicians, including Rishi Sunak as chancellor and Sajid Javid as health secretary. This in turn led to Boris Johnson committing to resign as leader of the Conservative Party, and thus as prime minister when his replacement as leader had been chosen by his party.
### 2023 {#section_11}
- Operation Branchform: A Police Scotland investigation into possible fundraising fraud in the Scottish National Party begun in 2021 came to a head in 2023 with the arrests of SNP Chief Executive Peter Murrell, Party Treasurer Colin Beattie, and former Party Leader and First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon over a three-month period. Both Peter Murrell and Colin Beattie resigned their party roles immediately after their arrests. The highly-publicised arrests and perceived delays in bringing the investigation (which continued for nearly two more years) to a conclusion led both the SNP\'s supporters and its opponents to claim that the investigation had been politicised. Murrell was ultimately charged with embezzlement in 2024 and appeared in court for the first time in March 2025.
- Michael Matheson iPad scandal: Scottish Health Secretary Michael Matheson incurred nearly £11,000 in roaming charges after taking a Scottish Parliamentary iPad on a family holiday to Morocco. When this was publicised, Matheson initially attempted to claim the charges as a parliamentary expense, but later admitted that the iPad had been used by his sons to stream football matches and agreed to personally pay back the full cost of the data roaming bill. Following an investigation by the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body, Matheson resigned as Health Secretary in February 2024. Matheson was subsequently banned from Holyrood for 27 days and had his salary withdrawn for 54 days, the heaviest sanction ever given to an MSP.
### 2024 {#section_12}
- In March 2024, *The Guardian* reported that Frank Hester, the largest ever donor to the Conservative Party, had made comments in a 2019 company meeting about the MP Diane Abbott. The paper reported that he said that looking at Abbott makes you \"want to hate all black women\" and that she \"should be shot\", as well as making comments about a female executive from another organisation, saying \"it would be much better if she died\", and about his own Asian female employees, saying \"we take the piss out of the fact that all our Chinese girls sit together in Asian corner\".
- Election betting scandal: Following the scheduling of the 2024 general election for 4 July, it was discovered that Craig Williams, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, had placed a £100 bet on the election being in July. Further investigation uncovered multiple similar bets made by Conservative Party members and MPs, including cabinet minister Alister Jack, as well as police officers on Sunak\'s protection detail. The Gambling Commission ultimately charged Williams and fourteen other people with criminal offences under the Gambling Act 2005.
### 2025 {#section_13}
- Tulip Siddiq, City Minister and Economic Secretary to the Treasury, was implicated in corruption investigations into her aunt, the deposed Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina. Siddiq was accused of helping her aunt to embezzle £3.9 billion during the construction of a nuclear power plant in 2013. She ultimately resigned on 14 January.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,641 |
British Steel (1967–1999)
|
**British Steel** was a major British steel producer. It originated from the nationalised **British Steel Corporation** (**BSC**), formed in 1967, which was privatised as a public limited company, **British Steel plc**, in 1988. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The company merged with Koninklijke Hoogovens to form Corus Group in 1999.
## History
The Labour Party came to power at the 1945 general election, pledging to bring several industries into state ownership. In 1946, it put the first steel development plan into practice with the aim of increasing capacity. It passed the Iron and Steel Act 1949, which meant nationalisation of the industry, as the government bought out the shareholders, and created the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain. American Marshall Plan aid in 1948--50 reinforced modernisation efforts and provided funding for them. However, the nationalisation was reversed by the Conservative government after 1952.
The industry was re-nationalised in 1967 under another Labour government, becoming British Steel Corporation (BSC). But by then, 20 years of political manipulation had left companies, such as British Steel, with serious problems: a complacency with existing equipment, plants operating below full capacity (hence the low efficiency), poor-quality assets, outdated technology, government price controls, higher coal and oil costs, lack of funds for capital improvement, and increasing competition on the world market.
By the 1970s, the Labour government\'s main goal for the declining industry was to keep employment high. Since British Steel was a major employer in depressed regions, it was decided to keep many mills and facilities operating at a loss. In the 1980s, Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher re-privatised BSC as British Steel. Under private control, the company dramatically cut its workforce and underwent a radical reorganisation and massive capital investment to again become competitive in the world marketplace.
Alasdair M. Blair (1997), Professor of International Relations and Head of the Department of Politics and Public Policy at De Montfort University, has explored the history of British Steel since the Second World War to evaluate the impact of government intervention in a market economy. He suggests that entrepreneurship was lacking in the 1940s; the government could not persuade the industry to upgrade its plants. For generations, the industry had followed a piecemeal growth pattern that proved relatively inefficient in the face of world competition.
### Nationalisation
BSC was formed from the assets of former private companies which had been nationalised, largely under the Labour government of Harold Wilson, on 28 July 1967. Wilson\'s was the second attempt at nationalisation; the post-war government of Clement Attlee had created the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain in 1951 taking public ownership of 80 companies but this had been largely reversed by the following Conservative governments of the 1950s with only Britain\'s largest steel company, Richard Thomas and Baldwins, remaining in public ownership.
BSC was established under the Iron and Steel Act 1967, which vested in the corporation the shares of the fourteen major UK-based steel companies then in operation, being:
- David Colville & Sons;
- Consett Iron Company Ltd;
- Dorman Long & Company Ltd;
- English Steel Corporation Ltd;
- GKN Steel Company Ltd;
- John Summers & Sons Ltd;
- The Lancashire Steel Corporation Ltd;
- The Park Gate Iron and Steel Company Ltd;
- Richard Thomas and Baldwins Ltd;
- Round Oak Steelworks Ltd;
- South Durham Steel & Iron Company Ltd;
- The Steel Company of Wales Ltd;
- Stewarts & Lloyds, Ltd; and
- The United Steel Companies Ltd.
At the time of its formation, BSC comprised around ninety per cent of the UK\'s steelmaking capacity; it had around 268,500 employees and around 200 wholly or partly-owned subsidiaries based in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Africa, South Asia, and South America.
Dorman Long, South Durham and Stewarts and Lloyds had merged as British Steel and Tube Ltd before vesting took place. BSC later arranged an exchange deal with Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds Ltd (GKN), the parent company of GKN Steel, under which BSC acquired Dowlais Ironworks at Merthyr Tydfil and GKN took over BSC\'s Brymbo Steelworks near Wrexham.
### Restructuring
According to Blair (1997), British Steel faced serious problems at the time of its formation, including obsolescent plants; plants operating under capacity and thus at low efficiency; outdated technology; price controls that reduced marketing flexibility; soaring coal and oil costs; lack of capital investment funds; and increasing competition on the world market. By the 1970s, the government adopted a policy of keeping employment high in the declining industry. This especially impacted BSC since it was a major employer in a number of depressed regions.
One of the arguments made in favour of nationalisation was that it would enable steel production to be rationalised. This involved concentrating investment on major integrated plants, placed near the coast for ease of access by sea, and closing older, smaller plants, especially those that had been located inland for proximity to coal supplies.
From the mid-1970s, British Steel pursued a strategy of concentrating steelmaking in five areas: South Wales, South Yorkshire, Scunthorpe, Teesside and Scotland. This policy continued following the Conservative victory at the 1979 general election. Other traditional steelmaking areas faced cutbacks. Under the Labour government of James Callaghan, a review by Lord Beswick had led to the reprieve of the so-called \'Beswick plants\', for social reasons, but subsequent governments were obliged under EU rules to withdraw subsidies. Major changes resulted across Europe, including in the UK:
- At Consett, the closure of the British Steel works in 1980 marked the end of steel production in Derwent Valley and the sharp decline of the area.
- At Corby, the closure of the former Stewarts & Lloyds site in the early-1980s saw the loss of 11,000 jobs, leading to an initial unemployment rate of over 30%.
- In Wales, works at East Moors (Cardiff) closed in 1978.
- Shotton closure of the heavy end with the loss of over 6,000 jobs.
- In Scotland, Western Europe\'s largest hot strip steel mill Ravenscraig steelworks, near Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, was closed by British Steel in 1992, leading to high levels of unemployment in the area. It also led to the closure of several local support and satellite businesses, such as the nearby British Steel Clydesdale Works in Mossend, Clyde Alloy in Netherton and equipment maker Anderson Strathclyde. Demolition of the site\'s landmark blue gasometer in 1996, and the subsequent cleanup operation, has created the largest brownfield site in Europe. This huge area between Motherwell and Wishaw is in line to be transformed into the new town of Ravenscraig, a project partly funded by Corus.
### Privatisation
The Conservative manifesto for the 1987 general election noted that \"British Steel has more than doubled its productivity since 1979 and made a profit last year for the first time in over ten years.\"
Following Margaret Thatcher\'s re-election, on 3 December 1987 the Conservative government formally announced in a statement by Kenneth Clarke, Minister of State for Trade and Industry, that it intended to privatise the British Steel Corporation.
On 5 September 1988 the assets, rights and liabilities of British Steel Corporation were transferred to British Steel plc, registered under the Companies Act as company number 2280000, by the British Steel Act 1988.
The government retained a special share which carried no voting rights but until 31 December 1993, permitted the government to stop any one party controlling more than 15% of the shares.
British Steel employees were given a free allocation of shares, and offered two free shares for each they purchased up to £165, discounted shares up to £2,200, and priority on applying for shares up to £10,000.
Dealing in shares opened on the London Stock Exchange on 5 December 1988.
### Post-privatisation {#post_privatisation}
The privatised company later merged with the Dutch steel producer Koninklijke Hoogovens to form Corus Group on 6 October 1999. Corus itself was taken over in March 2007 by the Indian steel operator Tata Steel.
## Chairmen
- Lord Melchett (1967--1973)
- Monty Finniston (1973--1976)
- Charles Villiers (1976--1980)
- Ian MacGregor (1980--1983)
- Robert Haslam (1983--1986)
- Robert Scholey (1986--1992)
- Sir Brian Moffat (1992--1999)
Ian MacGregor later became famous for his role as Chairman of the National Coal Board during the UK miners\' strike (1984--1985). During the strike the \"Battle of Orgreave\" took place at British Steel\'s coking plant.
## Sponsorships
In 1971 British Steel sponsored Sir Chay Blyth in his record-making non-stop circumnavigation against the winds and currents, known as \'The Impossible Voyage\'. In 1992 they sponsored the British Steel Challenge, the first of a series of \'wrong way\' races for amateur crews.
British Steel had agreed a sponsorship deal with Middlesbrough Football Club during the 1994--95 season, with a view to British Steel-sponsored Middlesbrough shirts making their appearance the following season. But the sponsorship deal was terminated before it commenced after it was revealed that British steel only made up a tiny fraction of steel used in construction of the stadium, and that the bulk of the steel had been imported from Germany.
## In popular culture {#in_popular_culture}
The English rock band XTC mentioned British Steel in their 1979 song Making Plans for Nigel.
The heavy metal band Judas Priest named their 1980 album *British Steel* after the British Steel Corporation. Lead singer Rob Halford explained in an interview that the \'sounds of heavy metal\' have been with him since childhood, due to the close proximity of the BSC plant where he grew up.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
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