Skip this Advertisement

A-Z Browse

  • backarc basin (ocean basin)
    Behind the volcanic line of island arcs are sometimes found young, narrow ocean basins. These basins are bounded on the opposite side by submarine ridges. Such interarc, or backarc, basins are sites of seafloor spreading directly caused by the dynamics of subduction. They originate at the volcanic line, so that the outer bounding submarine ridge, or third arc, represents an older portion of the......
  • backbiting (chemistry)
    ...at some point in the middle of the chain, thus forming a new radical site from which chain growth continues. This reaction, shown in Figure 4, is referred to as backbiting or, more technically, chain transfer. The result is a polymer chain with the branched structure of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), also shown in Figure 1B. Chain-transfer reactions may also occur intermolecularly....
  • backblocks farce (film genre)
    ...dominated by the development of two genres: the bushranging film, as exemplified by The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), which depicted the life of Ned Kelly; and the “backblocks” farce, a genre that satirized farming families of the era. The most significant film of the silent era was The Sentimental Bloke (1919), a tale of a......
  • backboard (sports)
    ...deflect the ball to favour one side and hinder the other; in 1895 teams were urged to provide a 4-by-6-foot (1.2-by-1.8-metre) screen for the purpose of eliminating interference. Soon after, wooden backboards proved more suitable. Glass backboards were legalized by the professionals in 1908–09 and by colleges in 1909–10. In 1920–21 the backboards were moved 2 feet (0.6 metr...
  • backbone (anatomy)
    in vertebrate animals, the flexible column extending from neck to tail, made of a series of bones, the vertebrae. The major function of the vertebral column is protection of the spinal cord; it also provides stiffening for the body and attachment for the pectoral and pelvic girdles and many muscles. In humans an additional function is to transmit body weight in walking and standing....
  • Backbone Mountain (mountain, Maryland, United States)
    highest point in Maryland, U.S., reaching an elevation of 3,360 feet (1,024 metres). It is located on a ridge of the Allegheny and Appalachian mountains, located in Garrett county 12 miles (19 km) south of Oakland. The ridge is 35 miles (56 km) long and extends southwestward into Preston and Tucker counties of West Virginia....
  • Backbone Range (landform, Japan)
    The Chūgoku Range consists of three landforms—the Backbone Range, the Kibi Plateau, and the Iwami Plateau. The Backbone Range constitutes a sharp divide between the Sea of Japan and the Inland Sea, broken only by the gorge of the Gōno River in the west. The Gōno River has been bordered by an important highway since ancient times. The Kammuri Mountains to the west of the...
  • backcross (genetics)
    the mating of a hybrid organism (offspring of genetically unlike parents) with one of its parents or with an organism genetically similar to the parent. The backcross is useful in genetics studies for isolating (separating out) certain characteristics in a related group of animals or plants. In animal breeding, a backcross is often called a topcross. Grading usually refers to the mating of averag...
  • Bäcken (work by Aspenström)
    ...the poet treats his metaphysical and social concerns in a symbolic form. Aspenström also wrote a number of poetic dramas. He re-created the world of his childhood in Bäcken (1958; “The Brook”), a series of short stories. He wrote several collections of essays on current issues, including Sommar (1968;......
  • Backer, Jacob (Dutch painter)
    ...seems to be the case, for instance, in his portrait of the famous, banned Remonstrant preacher Johannes Wtenbogaert (1577–1644), who was also portrayed by Michiel Janszoon van Miereveld and Jacob Adriaenszoon Backer....
  • Backfire (Soviet aircraft)
    ...such bombers altogether, while the United States and the Soviet Union switched to a new generation of aircraft equipped with variable wings. The two countries developed the medium-range F-111 and Tu-26 Backfire and the long-range B-1 and Tu-160 Blackjack, respectively. These planes were designed to slip under early-warning radar at low level and to approach military targets using......
  • backgammon (board game)
    game played by moving counters on a board or table, the object of the game being a race to a goal, with the movement of the counters being controlled by the throw of two dice. Elements of chance and skill are nicely balanced in backgammon so that each is usually essential to victory. The game became highly popular worldwide in the late 20th century....
  • background extinction rate (biology)
    To discern the effect of modern human activity on the loss of species requires determining how fast species disappeared in the absence of that activity. Studies of marine fossils show that species last about 1–10 million years (see the table, second column). Assume that all these extinctions happened independently and gradually—i.e., the “normal” way—rathe...
  • background matching (biology)
    in animals, the use of biological coloration to mask location, identity, and movement, providing concealment from prey and protection from predators. Background matching is a type of concealment in which an organism avoids recognition by resembling its background in coloration, form, or movement. In disruptive coloration, the identity and location of an animal may be concealed through a......
  • background radiation (astrophysics)
    As one measures the relative speeds of galaxies using the Doppler shift of characteristic radiation emissions, one finds that all galaxies are moving away from one another. Those that are moving the fastest are systems that are the farthest away (Hubble’s law). The speeds and distances give the appearance of an explosion. Extrapolating backward in time, one obtains an estimate as to when th...
  • backhander (sports)
    There are three common types of shots in hockey: the slap shot, the wrist shot, and the backhander. The slap shot has been timed at more than 100 miles an hour (160 km an hour). The slap shot differs from the wrist shot in that the player brings his stick back until it is nearly perpendicular with the ice and then brings the stick down in an arc, swatting the puck as he follows through. It is......
  • Backhaus, Wilhelm (German pianist)
    German pianist who was best known for his interpretation of the works of Ludwig van Beethoven....
  • backhoe
    In certain cases placer material is most economically excavated with a shore-mounted dragline or backhoe and a floating (barge-mounted) concentrating plant. (The digging equipment may also be mounted on a separate barge or on the same barge as the plant.) Material is dug from the sides and bottom of the mining pond and deposited into the washing plant’s hopper. Oversized material is rejecte...
  • Backhuysen, Ludolf (Dutch painter)
    Dutch painter, celebrated for his sea pieces....
  • Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women (work by Faludi)
    ...she joined the San Francisco bureau of The Wall Street Journal, and in 1991 she won a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism. That same year saw the publication of her influential book Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women. The book, which argues that the media distort news about women in order to retaliate against feminist advances, resulted in a National Book......
  • backlight (electronics)
    The backlight of LCDs typically accounts for more than 80 percent of the display’s power consumption. For mobile complex displays, battery lifetime is of great importance, and clearly the development of products that can be viewed in ambient light without recourse to backlighting is highly desirable. Such displays are known as reflective displays, and they can be realized in a number of way...
  • backpacking (recreation)
    recreational activity of hiking while carrying clothing, food, and camping equipment in a pack on the back. Originally, in the early 20th century, backpacking was practiced in the wilderness as a means of getting to areas inaccessible by car or by day hike. It demands physical conditioning and practice, knowledge of camping and survival techniques, and selection of equipment of a minimum weight co...
  • backsaw (tool)
    Among the saws that are neither loops nor disks are three of the most common hand saws used by the carpenter: the ripsaw, the crosscut saw, and the backsaw. The first two have roughly triangular blades about 50 cm (20 inches) long, 10 cm (4 inches) wide at the handle, and tapering to about 5 cm (2 inches) at the opposite end. Ripsaws are used for cutting wood with the grain, crosscut saws for......
  • backshore (geology)
    ...profile typically can be divided into two distinct parts: (1) the seaward and relatively steep sloping foreshore, which is essentially the intertidal beach, and (2) the landward, nearly horizontal backshore. Beach profiles take on two different appearances, depending on conditions at any given time. During quiescent wave conditions, the beach is said to be accretional, and both the foreshore......
  • backstaff (nautical instrument)
    ...observer to look directly into the Sun. Coloured shades were fitted to the crosspiece, but the decisive improvement was made in 1594 by the English navigator John Davis. His instrument, called the backstaff because it was used with the observer’s back to the Sun, remained common even after 1731 when the octant (an early form of the modern sextant) was demonstrated independently by John H...
  • backstroke (swimming)
    The backstroke began to develop early in the 20th century. In this stroke, the swimmer’s body position is supine, the body being held as flat and streamlined as possible. The arms reach alternately above the head and enter the water directly in line with the shoulders, palm outward with the little finger entering the water first. The arm is pulled back to the thigh. There is a slight body r...
  • backup intercept control system (military technology)
    ...or foe (IFF) equipment constitute the forward elements of complex systems that have appeared throughout the world. Examples include the semiautomatic ground environment (SAGE), augmented by a mobile backup intercept control system called BUIC in the United States, NATO air defense ground environment (NADGE) in Europe, a similar system in Japan, and various land-mobile, airborne, and ship comman...
  • Backus, Bob (American athlete)
    American weight thrower who dominated his sport during the 1950s; he won seven consecutive Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) titles in the 25.4-kg (56-lb) weight throw (1953–59) and captured an eighth title in the event in 1965; he won six consecutive AAU titles in the 15.9-kg (35-lb) weight throw (1954–59) and a seventh in 1961; he also won a gold medal in the hammer throw at the 1955 Pa...
  • Backus, Isaac (American clergyman and historian)
    controversial American religious leader and historian....
  • Backus, John (American computer scientist)
    American computer scientist who led the team at IBM that during the 1950s designed FORTRAN (formula translation), the first important algorithmic language for computers and the most continuously used high-level language in information technology. The development of FORTRAN was instrumental in paving the way for modern software. Backus, who tired of laborious hand coding, was granted permission to...
  • Backus, Robert (American athlete)
    American weight thrower who dominated his sport during the 1950s; he won seven consecutive Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) titles in the 25.4-kg (56-lb) weight throw (1953–59) and captured an eighth title in the event in 1965; he won six consecutive AAU titles in the 15.9-kg (35-lb) weight throw (1954–59) and a seventh in 1961; he also won a gold medal in the hammer throw at the 1955 Pa...
  • backward dive (sport)
    ...forward dives, in which the person faces the water, dives out from the edge of the board or platform, and rotates forward one-half or more turns before entering the water. The second comprises the backward dives, in which the diver stands at the edge, facing away from the water, then springs and rotates backward. The third is the reverse group, in which the diver takes off in the forward......
  • backward pawn (chess)
    ...rooks adjoining open files along which to attack. A pawn on an open file whose advance is restrained by an enemy pawn on an adjoining file and that is unguardable by any other pawn is termed a backward pawn. Two pawns that occupy the same file (through captures) are called doubled pawns....
  • Backwoods of Canada, The (work by Traill)
    ...Moodie and Catherine Parr Strickland Traill. Moodie’s harsh, yet at times comical, Roughing It in the Bush (1852) was written to discourage prospective emigrants, but Traill’s Backwoods of Canada (1836) presents a more favourable picture of the New World....
  • Bacolod (Philippines)
    city, northwestern portion of the island of Negros, Philippines. On a coastal plain washed by Guimaras Strait, it lies opposite Guimaras Island and has been called the Philippine sugar capital because of its central location within the nation’s most important sugar-producing area. Bacolod’s growth began after 1800, when it was first used as a convenient gathering p...
  • bacon (pork)
    a side of a pig that, after removal of the spare ribs, is cured, either dry or in pickle, and smoked. Some varieties, notably Canadian bacon, are cut from the loin portion of the pork, which is more lean....
  • Bacon, Albion Fellows (American reformer and author)
    American reformer and writer, remembered largely for her campaigns to improve public housing standards....
  • Bacon, Delia Salter (American author)
    American writer who developed the theory, still subscribed to by some, that Francis Bacon and others were the true authors of the works attributed to William Shakespeare....
  • Bacon, Edmund Norwood (American urban planner)
    American urban planner (b. May 2, 1910, Philadelphia, Pa.—d. Oct. 14, 2005, Philadelphia), revitalized Philadelphia as executive director of the City Planning Commission (1949–70). During his tenure he oversaw the development of Penn Center, a downtown project of office buildings, shops, and hotels. He designed plans for the development of Market East, Penn’s Landing, Society ...
  • Bacon, Francis (British painter)
    British painter whose powerful, predominantly figural images express isolation, brutality, and terror....
  • Bacon, Francis Thomas (British engineer)
    British engineer who developed the first practical hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells, which convert air and fuel directly into electricity through electrochemical processes....
  • Bacon, Francis, Viscount Saint Alban, Baron of Verulam (British author, philosopher, and statesman)
    lord chancellor of England (1618–21). A lawyer, statesman, philosopher, and master of the English tongue, he is remembered in literary terms for the sharp worldly wisdom of a few dozen essays; by students of constitutional history for his power as a speaker in Parliament and in famous trials and as James I’s lord chancellor; and intellectually as a man who claimed all knowledge as hi...
  • Bacon, Henry (American architect)
    American architect, best-known as the designer of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C....
  • Bacon, James (Australian politician)
    ...state was struck by tragedy in 1996, when an assassin killed 35 people in Port Arthur. Indifferent performance by successive Liberal governments led in 1998 to a decisive ALP electoral victory under James (“Jim”) Bacon; during his six-year tenure, Bacon achieved more than had any of his most recent predecessors. Management of the state’s finances improved; the transportatio...
  • Bacon, Jim (Australian politician)
    ...state was struck by tragedy in 1996, when an assassin killed 35 people in Port Arthur. Indifferent performance by successive Liberal governments led in 1998 to a decisive ALP electoral victory under James (“Jim”) Bacon; during his six-year tenure, Bacon achieved more than had any of his most recent predecessors. Management of the state’s finances improved; the transportatio...
  • Bacon, John (American clergyman and legislator)
    American clergyman, legislator, and judge who was an early advocate of civil and religious liberty....
  • Bacon, John (British sculptor [1740-1799])
    British Neoclassical sculptor who perfected certain sculpturing techniques....
  • Bacon, John (English theologian and philosopher)
    English theologian and philosopher who, although he did not subscribe to the heterodox doctrine of the great Muslim philosopher Averroës, was regarded by the Renaissance Averroists as Princeps Averroistarum (“the prince of the Averroists”), and who strongly influenced the Carmelite scholastics for two centuries....
  • Bacon, John (British sculptor [1777-1859])
    ...sculpture at the Royal Academy and one of the few British artists of the period with an international reputation. The last generation of Neoclassicists included the sculptors Sir Richard Westmacott, John Bacon the Younger, Sir Francis Chantrey, Edward Hodges Baily, John Gibson, and William Behnes....
  • Bacon, John M. (English inventor)
    In 1903 the Rev. John M. Bacon invented the forerunner of the modern hot-air balloon in England. While coal gas was plentiful and inexpensive locally, expeditionary forces had severe logistic problems with producing hydrogen in the field or transporting heavy compressed-gas cylinders. Bacon promoted the concept of performing military observations with a hot-air balloon that would burn......
  • Bacon, John, the Elder (British sculptor [1740-1799])
    British Neoclassical sculptor who perfected certain sculpturing techniques....
  • Bacon, John, the Younger (British sculptor [1777-1859])
    ...sculpture at the Royal Academy and one of the few British artists of the period with an international reputation. The last generation of Neoclassicists included the sculptors Sir Richard Westmacott, John Bacon the Younger, Sir Francis Chantrey, Edward Hodges Baily, John Gibson, and William Behnes....
  • Bacon, Nathaniel (American colonist)
    Virginia planter and leader of Bacon’s Rebellion. His wife’s disinheritance (her father opposed her marriage) and his involvement in a plan to defraud a neighbour of his inheritance contributed to Bacon’s decision to migrate to North America. Financed by his father, Bacon acquired two estates along the James River in Virginia. Less than a year after his arri...
  • Bacon, Roger (English philosopher and scientist)
    English Franciscan philosopher and educational reformer who was a major medieval proponent of experimental science. Bacon studied mathematics, astronomy, optics, alchemy, and languages. He was the first European to describe in detail the process of making gunpowder, and he proposed flying machines and motorized ships and carriages. Bacon (as he himself complacently remarked) dis...
  • Bacon, Sir Francis (British author, philosopher, and statesman)
    lord chancellor of England (1618–21). A lawyer, statesman, philosopher, and master of the English tongue, he is remembered in literary terms for the sharp worldly wisdom of a few dozen essays; by students of constitutional history for his power as a speaker in Parliament and in famous trials and as James I’s lord chancellor; and intellectually as a man who claimed all knowledge as hi...
  • Bacon, Sir Nicholas (English government official)
    high official in the government of Queen Elizabeth I and father of the renowned philosopher Francis Bacon....
  • Bacon, Tom (British engineer)
    British engineer who developed the first practical hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells, which convert air and fuel directly into electricity through electrochemical processes....
  • Baconian method (philosophy)
    methodical observation of facts as a means of studying and interpreting natural phenomena. This essentially empirical method was formulated early in the 17th century by Francis Bacon, an English philosopher, as a scientific substitute for the prevailing systems of thought, which, to his mind, relied all to often on fanciful guessing and the mere citing of authorities to establish truths of scienc...
  • Bacon’s Rebellion (United States history)
    ...ate together, played together, and frequently ran away together. Moreover, the poor of all colours protested together against the policies of the government (at least 25 percent of the rebels in Bacon’s Rebellion were blacks, both servants and freedmen). The social position of Africans and their descendants for the first six or seven decades of American history seems to have been open an...
  • Baconthorpe, Johannes de (English theologian and philosopher)
    English theologian and philosopher who, although he did not subscribe to the heterodox doctrine of the great Muslim philosopher Averroës, was regarded by the Renaissance Averroists as Princeps Averroistarum (“the prince of the Averroists”), and who strongly influenced the Carmelite scholastics for two centuries....
  • Baconthorpe, John (English theologian and philosopher)
    English theologian and philosopher who, although he did not subscribe to the heterodox doctrine of the great Muslim philosopher Averroës, was regarded by the Renaissance Averroists as Princeps Averroistarum (“the prince of the Averroists”), and who strongly influenced the Carmelite scholastics for two centuries....
  • Bacovia, George (Romanian author)
    ...Dobrogeanu Gherea’s theories followed Karl Marx, although Western modernism also influenced Romanian writers. Ovid Densuşianu clearly followed Symbolism, as did the poets Ion Minulescu and George Bacovia (G. Vasiliu), while Impressionism was taken up by literary critic Eugen Lovinescu and poet Nicolae Davidescu, whose epic Cântecul omului (1928–37; “The...
  • Bács-Kiskun (county, Hungary)
    megye (county), southern Hungary. The largest county in Hungary, Bács-Kiskun extends eastward from the Danube to the Tisza River. It is bordered by the counties of Pest to the north, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok to the northeast, and Csongrá...
  • bacteremia (pathology)
    the presence of bacteria in the bloodstream, whether associated with active disease or not. The transient bacteremia that follows dental manipulation or surgical procedures may have little significance in the otherwise healthy individual with a functioning immune system. By contrast, extensive bacteremia, when it is associated with the release of bacterial tox...
  • bacteria
    any of a group of microscopic single-celled organisms that live in enormous numbers in almost every environment on the surface of Earth, from deep-sea vents to the digestive tracts of humans....
  • bacterial conjunctivitis (human and animal disease)
    ...through a person’s own nasal or sinus mucosa. Eye discharge is generally thick and coloured, as opposed to the watery discharge of viral conjunctivitis. The organisms most commonly responsible for bacterial conjunctivitis in humans are Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, and Haemophilus influenzae (which...
  • bacterial croup (pathology)
    Bacterial croup, also called epiglottitis, is a more serious condition that is often caused by Haemophilus influenzae type B. It is characterized by marked swelling of the epiglottis, a flap of tissue that covers the air passage to the lungs and that channels food to the esophagus. The onset is usually abrupt, with high fever and breathing difficulties. Because of the marked......
  • bacterial disease
    ...
  • bacterial endocarditis (pathology)
    Traditionally, infective endocarditis has been classified as acute or subacute. Acute infective endocarditis generally is caused by Staphylococcus, Pneumococcus, or Gonococcus bacteria or by fungi. This form of endocarditis develops rapidly, with fever, malaise, and......
  • bacterial genetics
    Microorganisms were generally ignored by the early geneticists because they are small in size and were thought to lack variable traits and the sexual reproduction necessary for a mixing of genes from different organisms. After it was discovered that microorganisms have many different physical and physiological characteristics that are amenable to study, they became objects of great interest to......
  • bacterial growth curve (biology)
    Growth of bacterial cultures is defined as an increase in the number of bacteria in a population rather than in the size of individual cells. The growth of a bacterial population occurs in a geometric or exponential manner: with each division cycle (generation), one cell gives rise to 2 cells, then 4 cells, then 8 cells, then 16, then 32, and so forth. The time required for the formation of......
  • bacterial meningitis (disease)
    Bacterial meningitis usually has three main stages. At first, the bacteria multiply in the nasal passages and throat, often causing no painful symptoms. Next, they invade the blood, introducing toxic substances into the circulation and causing fever; if the infection is caused by N. meningitidis, a rash may appear and develop into hemorrhagic spots (petechiae and......
  • bacterial myositis (pathology)
    Bacterial myositis, an inflammation of muscle tissues as the result of a bacterial infection, is commonly localized and occurs after an injury. Staphylococcus and Streptococcus organisms are usually responsible. General indications of infection, such as fever and increased numbers of white blood cells, are accompanied by local signs of inflammation, such as......
  • bacterial toxin
    The prefixes “exo-” and “endo-” are retained in classifying the bacterial toxins mainly for historical reasons rather than because they are found either outside or inside the bacterial cell. The main differences in these toxins lie in their chemical structure....
  • bacterial virus (virus)
    any of a group of viruses that infect bacteria. Bacteriophages were discovered independently by Frederick W. Twort in Great Britain (1915) and Félix d’Hérelle in France (1917). D’Hérelle coined the term bacteriophage, meaning “bacteria eater,” to describe the agent’s bacteriocidal abili...
  • bacterial wilt (plant disease)
    Bacterial wilt, caused by numerous species of the genera Corynebacterium, Erwinia, Pseudomonas, and Xanthomonas, induces stunting, wilting, and withering, starting usually with younger leaves. Stems, which often shrivel and wither, show discoloured water-conducting tissue. A bacterial ooze is often evident when infected stems are cut and squeezed. Rapidly expanding, dark green,......
  • bacteriochlorophyll (plant anatomy)
    ...was probably the first step in the evolution of self-sustaining life. Chlorophyll exists in several forms. Chlorophylls a and b are the chief forms in higher plants and green algae; bacteriochlorophyll is found in certain photosynthetic bacteria. ...
  • Bacteriodes fragilis (bacteria)
    ...they are closed off and protected from the immune system, as occurs in the boils in the skin formed by staphylococci and the cavities in the lungs formed by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Bacteroides fragilis is the most numerous inhabitant of the human intestinal tract and causes no difficulties for the host as long as it remains there. If this bacterium gets into the body by......
  • Bacteriological Weapons Convention of 1972
    This principle explains, to some extent, the prohibition on the use of certain weapons. Hence, the use of chemical and bacteriological weapons was banned by the 1925 Geneva Protocol. By the Bacteriological Weapons Convention of 1972, states party to it agreed never in any circumstances to develop, produce, stockpile, retain, or acquire bacteriological or biological weapons or toxins. If a ban......
  • bacteriology (science)
    branch of microbiology dealing with the study of bacteria....
  • bacteriophage (virus)
    any of a group of viruses that infect bacteria. Bacteriophages were discovered independently by Frederick W. Twort in Great Britain (1915) and Félix d’Hérelle in France (1917). D’Hérelle coined the term bacteriophage, meaning “bacteria eater,” to describe the agent’s bacteriocidal abili...
  • bacteriostatic (drug)
    Sulfa drugs are bacteriostatic; i.e., they inhibit the growth and multiplication of bacteria but do not kill them. They act by interfering with the synthesis of folic acid (folate), a member of the vitamin B complex present in all living cells. Most bacteria make their own folic acid from simpler starting materials; humans and other higher animals, however, must obtain folic acid in the diet.......
  • bacterium
    any of a group of microscopic single-celled organisms that live in enormous numbers in almost every environment on the surface of Earth, from deep-sea vents to the digestive tracts of humans....
  • Bactra (Afghanistan)
    village in northern Afghanistan that was formerly Bactra, the capital of ancient Bactria. It lies 14 miles (22 km) west of the city of Mazār-e Sharīf and is situated along the Balkh River. A settlement existed at the site as early as 500 bc, and the town was captured by Alexander the Great about 330 bc. Thereafter it w...
  • Bactra-Zariaspa (Afghanistan)
    village in northern Afghanistan that was formerly Bactra, the capital of ancient Bactria. It lies 14 miles (22 km) west of the city of Mazār-e Sharīf and is situated along the Balkh River. A settlement existed at the site as early as 500 bc, and the town was captured by Alexander the Great about 330 bc. Thereafter it w...
  • Bactria (ancient country, Central Asia)
    ancient country lying between the mountains of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya (ancient Oxus River) in what is now part of Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Bactria was especially important between about 600 bc and about ad 600, serving for much of that time as a meeting place not only for overland trade between East and West but also for the crosscurrents of re...
  • Bactrian camel (mammal)
    animal fibre obtained from the camel and belonging to the group called specialty hair fibres. The most satisfactory textile fibre is gathered from camels of the Bactrian type. Such camels have protective outer coats of coarse fibre that may grow as long as 15 inches (40 cm). The fine, shorter fibre of the insulating undercoat, 1.5–5 inches (4–13 cm) long, is the product generally......
  • Bactrian language
    ...have been themselves mutually intelligible. The main known languages of this group are Khwārezmian (Chorasmian), Sogdian, and Saka. Less well-known are Old Ossetic (Scytho-Sarmatian) and Bactrian, but from what is known it would seem likely that these languages were equally distinctive. There was probably more than one dialect of each of the languages of the eastern group, although......
  • Bactriana (ancient country, Central Asia)
    ancient country lying between the mountains of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya (ancient Oxus River) in what is now part of Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Bactria was especially important between about 600 bc and about ad 600, serving for much of that time as a meeting place not only for overland trade between East and West but also for the crosscurrents of re...
  • Bactris (plant genus)
    ...abundance of palms may also be considered in relation to numbers of species per genus, in that a few palm genera have large numbers of species. Calamus with about 379 is the largest and Bactris (the peach palm) with approximately 239 is second. Several other genera, Licuala, Pinanga, Chamaedorea, and Daemonorops, have more than 100 species each. Nearly a third of......
  • Bactris gasipaes (tree)
    edible nut of the peach palm (Bactris gasipaes, or in some classifications Guilielma gasipaes), family Arecaceae (Palmae), that is grown extensively from Central America as far south as Ecuador. The typical 18-metre (60-foot) mature peach palm bears up to five clusters of 50 to 80 orange-yellow fruits, each of which is 5–7.5 cm (2–3 inches) in diameter. The fruit......
  • Bactrites (paleontology)
    genus of extinct cephalopods (animals related to the modern squid, octopus, and nautilus) found as fossils in marine rocks from the Devonian to the Permian periods (between 408 and 245 million years ago). Some authorities have identified specimens dating back to the Silurian Period (beginning 438 million years ago), but their classification is uncertain. The shell consists of a linear series of c...
  • Baculites (paleontology)
    genus of extinct cephalopods (animals related to the modern squid, octopus, and nautilus) found as fossils in Late Cretaceous marine rocks (formed from 97.5 to 66.4 million years ago). Baculites, restricted to a narrow time range, is an excellent guide or index fossil for Late Cretaceous time and rocks. The distinctive shell begins with a tightly coiled portion that becomes straight in for...
  • baculum (anatomy)
    the penis bone of certain mammals. The baculum is one of several heterotropic skeletal elements—i.e., bones dissociated from the rest of the body skeleton. It is found in all insectivores (e.g., shrews, hedgehogs), bats, rodents, and carnivores and in all primates except humans. Such wide distribution suggests that it appeared early in mammalian evolution. ...
  • Bad and the Beautiful, The (film by Minnelli [1952])
    Screenplay: Charles Schnee for The Bad and the BeautifulMotion Picture Story: Frederic M. Frank, Theodore St. John, Frank Cavett for The Greatest Show on EarthStory and Screenplay: T.E.B. Clarke for The Lavender Hill MobCinematography, Black-and-White:......
  • Bad Aussee (Austria)
    town, central Austria, in the Traun Valley, southeast of Bad Ischl. The former centre of the Salzkammergut (salt region), it has the 15th-century Kammerhof (old offices of the salt administration) and two 14th- to 15th-century churches. Anna Plochl (1804–85), the wife of Archduke Johann, was born in Bad Aussee. Salt mining is still important. The town i...
  • Bad Boys (film)
    ...(1992). His first dramatic role was in the film version of the successful stage play Six Degrees of Separation (1993). The action comedy-thriller Bad Boys (1995), however, proved to be the turning point in his film career. While the movie was not a critical success, it made more than $100 million worldwide, proving Smith’s star power.......
  • Bad Company (British rock group)
    ...(1992). His first dramatic role was in the film version of the successful stage play Six Degrees of Separation (1993). The action comedy-thriller Bad Boys (1995), however, proved to be the turning point in his film career. While the movie was not a critical success, it made more than $100 million worldwide, proving Smith’s star power........
  • Bad Gandersheim (Germany)
    city, Lower Saxony Land (state), north-central Germany. It lies in the Leine River valley. Bad Gandersheim is remarkable for an 11th-century convent church containing the tombs of famous abbesses and for the former abbey, which was moved there in 852 by the duke of Saxony, whose daughters were the first two abbesses. Loui...
  • Bad Girl (film by Borzage [1931])
    Other Nominees...
Skip this Advertisement

Link to this article and share the full text with the readers of your Web site or blog-post.

If you think a reference to this article on "" will enhance your Web site, blog-post, or any other web-content, then feel free to link to this article, and your readers will gain full access to the full article, even if they do not subscribe to our service.

You may want to use the HTML code fragment provided below.

copy link

We welcome your comments. Any revisions or updates suggested for this article will be reviewed by our editorial staff. Contact us here.

Regular users of Britannica may notice that this comments feature is less robust than in the past. This is only temporary, while we make the transition to a dramatically new and richer site. The functionality of the system will be restored soon.

The Britannica Store
A-Z Browse

Image preview